Image via Getty/Diego Radames/SOPA Images/LightRocket A Spanish rapper is standing trial for cutting off a British teachers penis with a kitchen knife as part of a consensual arrangement to gin up views on a video of the amputation. The Independent reports that Aaron Beltran is charged by Spanish authorities of wounding after police came upon the grisly scene in March 2019. Beltran was living with an English teacher named Andrew Breach in Zaragosa, Spain and his roommate allegedly proposed the video. Prosecutors claim the pair worked out a deal where Beltran would remove Breachs penis with a kitchen knife and Breach would pay him depending on the number of hits the video recieved. The payment ranged from around $240 to a max of around $3,000. The Sun shared a description of the incident included in the indictment. On the afternoon of March 8, just before 7:15 p.m. when both men were in the victims bedroom, Andrew tied his pajama cord round the bottom of his penis to avoid hemorrhaging, the indictment said. The accused, who was sat on a chair in front of him, cut his penis with a 12-inch kitchen knife which was never found because the accused got rid of it. Police officers who spoke to the Independent said Breach revealed the scheme while he was hospitalized. Doctors were able to sucessfully reattach his penis and reports claim it is functional. When interviewing the victim in hospital he told us the accused cut off his penis. Andrew said he did not feel 100 per cent a man and wanted to get rid of his penis, an unnamed officer said. He agreed a deal with the accused to pay him 200 which would depend on how many views the video of the amputation received on You Tube. It was done on the basis of hits. Breach denies this story, saying he was alone in removing his own penis. He told the court that the whole ordeal was his own doing. I cut off my own penis. I was unwell. It was myself, he said. Though prosecutors accept that the alleged attack was a consensual arangement, they dont believe that exempts Beltran from criminal charges. Beltran faces over four years in prison if he is found guilty. Hes not the first rapper to make headlines over a penis amputation incident, either. Back in 2014, Wu-Tang Clan affiliate Christ Bearer chopped off his own penis with a kitchen knife while high on PCP and meth. The rapper later blamed severe depression and drug use for his decision making in later interviews. The chairman of the Church of Pentecost, Apostle Eric Nyamekye has taken a dosage of the 60,000 Covid-19 vaccines that arrived in Ghana on Wednesday. The highly-revered man of God took a dosage of the vaccine publicly on Monday and has joined other personalities who have taken dosage of the vaccine. President Akufo-Addo and his wife Rebecca Akufo-Addo were the first to be vaccinated on Monday. The president and his wife took the dosage of the vaccine at the 37 Military Hospital in Accra on Monday, March 1, 2021. A similar exercise was done to the Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia and his wife, Samira Bawumia at the Police Hospital. The exercise is aimed at boosting public confidence in the new vaccine procured for the citizens Below is Apostle Eric Nyamekye undergoing vaccination 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 Green Ginger Wine Its time, its time, for green ginger wine, we would chant every Friday night as we danced around the kitchen, my lovers hand at my waist, my arm around his wife. We drank wine from goblets as their toddler yelled happily at our feet. It would be a long time before I admitted to myself that sex with him no longer felt right, that I was more in love with our life together than I was with my lover. When I broke up with him, I stayed friends with his wife, and wondered if their child would remember me. Melanie Pryor Iran has ruled out holding informal talks with the United States and other three European countries on ways to revive the nuclear deal and instead, the Islamic Republic laid emphasis that Washington must list all sanctions crippling its economy, unilaterally. Just last week, US President Joe Bidens administration had offered peaceful negotiations with Tehran led by European allies as it sought to salvage the 2015 nuclear deal which is on the verge to collapse. Now that Iran has categorically refused to do at the time, Washington also expressed that it is disappointed but still expressed willingness to re-engage in meaningful diplomacy on the matter. Why Iran refused talks with US? Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Saeed Khatibzadeh said on Sunday had said that considering the recent actions and the statements made by the United States and three other European powers, Tehran is not willing to hold the informal meeting with the nations. Considering the recent actions and statements by the United States and three European powers, Iran does not consider this the time to hold an informal meeting with these countries, which was proposed by the EU foreign policy chief, foreign ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said on Sunday, according to Iranian media. Read - US Ambassador Talks Russia, Iran, China Relations Read - IAEA Chief Says Agency Will Not Be bargaining Chip In Iran Nuclear Deal The tiff between Iran and the US has escalated in recent years especially after former US President Donald Trumps administration withdrew from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) commonly known as the Iran nuclear deal and imposed crippling sanctions on the Islamic Republic. However, the Trump-led US strike that killed top Iranian general Qasem Soleimani in January 2020 truly pushed both nations to extremes. Since several Iranian officials including President Hassan Rouhai have revealed that Tehran will avenge Soleimanis murder. Iran now is believed to be searching for an opportunity to take revenge from the United States over Soleimani killing who was a key figure in the nation and a senior Revolutionary Guards commander. Amid rising tensions, US has still not scrapped the sanctions amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Read - 'We're Striking At It': Israel PM Netanyahu Blames Iran For Blast On Ship In Gulf Of Oman While Washington wants Tehran to give up malign activities on the nuclear front, Iran has made it evident that there will not be any bilateral negotiations over the JCPOA until all sanctions are unilaterally removed. Khatibzadeh had said, We have not had any bilateral discussions with the United States and there will be no change in Iran's stance if the United States does not change course from the wrong path it has taken. "We are close to two months since the Biden administration took office, and until this moment in time, the Biden administration has not said a word about returning to the commitments agreed by the United States under the JCPOA (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action)," Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesperson added. Read - Iran's Judo Suspension Lifted By Court Of Arbitration For Sports; 'overstepped Authority' Read - EU Calls For 'time & Space' To Deal With Iran's Nuclear Diplomacy After Tehran Snubs Bloc Ben Lambert / Hearst Connecticut Media A sex offender who failed to register his status when he moved from Alamba to Connecticut was sentenced to two years in prison for the offense, federal prosecutors said. Yamil Diaz, 48, was sentenced Monday by Judge Jeffrey Meyer in New Haven to 24 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release, the U.S. Attorneys office said. Hoy, el Ministerio de Salud empezo la aplicacion de la segunda dosis de la vacuna contra la COVID-19 en los hospitales de Lima Metropolitana. #PongoElHombro ???? pic.twitter.com/se8TD7aTAd France will allow people under 75 with existing health problems to get the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine, the health minister said, departing from an earlier stance that the vaccine should be for the under-65s only. The reassessment is likely to help speed up France's vaccination campaign which many have criticized as too slow. As of Saturday, 4.55 million people had received at least one shot of an AstraZeneca, Pfizer/BioNTech or Moderna vaccine. That compares to 6.17 million in Germany and up to 20.9 million in Britain. Health Minister Olivier Veran told France ... What will it take to get the world to recognize and account for the Chinese Communist Partys mass atrocities? Americas example, it seems. Eight days ago, Canada became the second country to recognize the CCPs repression of Uyghurs and other Turkic peoples as genocide following a vote of its parliament. On Thursday, just three days later, the Netherlands became the third after a vote in its parliament. Perhaps the political support for those votes would have been there without the Trump administrations eleventh-hour designation of Beijings anti-Uyghur campaign as a genocide in January. But its increasingly clear that that decision reportedly made by then-secretary of state Mike Pompeo over the objections of the career officials on his legal team, and later endorsed by his successor Antony Blinken has made all the difference in spurring more international action. At least, thats what Sjoerd Sjoerdsma, the Dutch member of parliament who authored the resolution that passed on Thursday, told National Review. His party had been following the developments out of Chinas Western Xinjiang region for months, proposing legislation to call for various sanctions on those responsible. When the U.S. and Canada moved, it made sense to follow suit, Sjoerdsma said in a message the night of the vote. If we are to take a lesson from last weeks votes, what stands out is that their condemnation of the CCPs atrocities cut broadly across ideological lines. Although the U.S. determination was made by the executive branch with backing from both major parties, in both Ottawa and the Hague, political forces in the opposition made it a point to highlight their governments failures to hold China to account. It is shameful that Justin Trudeau and the Liberal government refuse to call the horrific conduct by the Chinese Communist Party what it is, a genocide, said Erin OToole, the leader of Canadas Conservative Party, during a news conference following the Canadian vote. (Trudeau and most of his government declined to show up for the vote.) Story continues Sjoerdsma, who belongs to the center-left D66 party, had similar criticism of the ruling conservative VVD party, led by Prime Minister Mark Rutte. The VVD has always been slow to recognize that countries mistreating their citizens is not only a threat to the human rights we hold dear, but ultimately to the international order that provides us with the stability to flourish, he told me. Just as the list of political parties with an apparent interest in sweeping Chinas mass atrocities under the rug crosses ideological boundaries, so too does the list of parties with a burning desire to acknowledge them. Of course, it would be ideal if Trudeau and Rutte had led the way on these motions, bringing together cross-party coalitions determined to punish Beijing for its crimes. But the successful efforts of their respective parliamentary opponents are the next best thing, and suggest that more-concrete victories e.g., enacting sanctions and boycotting the 2022 Winter Olympics, which are slated to take place in Beijing could be won in the future. Its been a bit over a month since the U.S. became the first country in the world to officially call the CCPs targeting of the Uyghurs genocide, and its related targeting of all of Xinjiangs Turkic minorities crimes against humanity. Other countries might now take that initial signal, as well as the Canadian and Dutch votes, as reason to finally do the same. For weeks now, the British parliament has been considering a genocide amendment, which would allow British courts to make a determination that genocide is taking place. That fight has pitted rebel Tory MPs against Boris Johnsons government, which worries that such a determination could legally prohibit the ratification of new trade deals with China. Johnson, who has a long record of promoting strong trade ties with Beijing, recently faced criticism for calling himself fervently Sinophile. And though his government condemned Chinas Uyghur atrocities at the U.N. Human Rights Council last week, it has proposed a milder alternative to the rebel MPs proposal in an effort to protect those ties. Its not like the Cold War where you could simply say, Well, Russia [is] bad [so] we dont need to deal with Russia, Charles Parton, a former British diplomat and a senior associate fellow at the Royal United Services Institute, told National Review. But, he added that the U.S., Canadian, and Dutch moves could increase the pressure on Johnson to act more forcefully. I dont think our government wants to be seen to be too far out on a limb when it comes to something as nasty as genocide. With similar discussions taking place in the Belgian and Australian parliaments, neglecting to call Beijings perfidies genocide and act accordingly might soon make a developed country an outlier amongst its peers. Better late than never. More from National Review Then, on Saturday, The New York Times published an article about Charlotte Bennett, a 25-year-old former entry-level staffer in the governors office who accused him of asking invasive questions, including whether she was monogamous and had sex with older men. She said she interpreted the remarks as sexual advances. Mr. Cuomos office denied Ms. Boylans allegations at the time. On Sunday, following Ms. Bennetts account, Mr. Cuomo issued a statement in which he denied propositioning or touching anyone inappropriately, but apologized for workplace comments that he said have been misinterpreted as an unwanted flirtation. On Monday, following a public back-and-forth over who would conduct the investigation, Ms. James received the governors authorization to open an inquiry under a section of state law that allows her office to inquire into matters concerning the public peace, public safety and public justice. The claims from both women are now at the center of that investigation, the contours of which are still materializing but could prod deeply into the inner workings of the governors office and how sexual misconduct allegations are handled there. Mr. Cuomos office has indicated that the governors office would voluntarily cooperate fully and that it had instructed all state employees to do so as well. Investigators will ultimately produce a public report, which is bound to include a summary and analysis of their findings, maybe even recommendations. Experts said the civil inquiry could look at whether Mr. Cuomo violated the states human rights laws and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, a federal law that protects against harassment because of a persons sex. These women do have the option, potentially, to bring claims against their employer, the State of New York, for Governor Cuomos conduct, Ms. Pirrotti said, adding that the facts in the report could help victims recover economic and emotional distress damages. But this fast update pace has somehow been abandoned in the iOS world, as the iPhone and CarPlay version of Google Maps hasnt received a single update in 91 days.Thats right, the latest Google Maps update landed on December 1, 2020, and given its already March 2, 2021, many people are wondering what exactly is happening with it. Is this an abandoned app? Is Google giving up on Google Maps for iPhone and CarPlay? Should we start looking for an alternative?No, no, and no.Google Maps is still alive and kicking, and the app keeps getting updates on Android , but the lack of new releases on iOS is most likely related to a change that Apple has implemented in the App Store and which has caused quite a controversy in the dev world.Apple requires app developers to share new privacy labels in the App Store to tell users exactly how their data is used, though its still surprising Google needs so much time to comply with this new policy.Whats even worse is the search giant has remained completely tight-lipped on everything related to the iOS updates for Google Maps, so nobody can tell exactly when a new release is supposed to go live. But right now, it certainly looks like a good idea to avoid holding your breath waiting for a new version.On the other hand, Google Maps isnt the only Google app that hasnt received a new update on iOS in a long time, likely because of the same reason. And given the search giant has slowly started rolling out new versions of other iPhone apps, expect a Google Maps update to be here rather sooner than later. WFP appeals for solution to Yemen fuel shortages that threaten to worsen widespread food insecurity Armenia ex-president Kocharyan gives interview to Russia newspaper Armenia acting deputy PM on unblocking of roads with Azerbaijan: There will be no troops standing there Nikkei: Toyota and Honda stop car production in Malaysia Armenia official on deploying international observers at Azerbaijan border: You will hear reaction on this matter soon USAID helps UN World Food Programme support displaced people in Armenia Armenia official: Work of trilateral working group on roads unblocking has stopped after recent incidents Russias Putin to Armenias Pashinyan: Relations between our countries are developing very successfully Armenia health minister: Improper storage of fallen soldiers bodies, remains was my omission 108 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia Armenia President to children: I believe that you will make our country much better Armenia CEC publicizes complete lists of political forces registered to run in snap parliamentary elections World oil prices going up Queen Elizabeth turns down PM's offer to name new royal yacht after Prince Philip Armenia parliament discusses 2020 state budget report Newspaper: Armenia acting FM resigns after 3rd attempt Newspaper: Yerevan mayor to leave office Israel, UAE sign tax treaty Newspaper: Even vagrants are persuaded, taken to Armenia acting PM Pashinyans rally in Vanadzor Swedish defense minister demands explanation from Denmark over spy scandal Acting Deputy PM: Armenia has not discussed and will not discuss issues within logic of "corridor" Armenia Central Electoral Commission determines numbers of political parties for elections Armenia 2nd President visits Cathedral of the Holy Mother of God in Gyumri (PHOTOS) Opposition Armenia bloc representative: We're running in elections to win Azerbaijan MFA comments on calls for release of Armenian POWs with infinite hypocrisy EC: Vaccinated citizens should be exempted from tests, quarantine when traveling within EU Armenia Ombudsman discusses rights of 6 captured Armenian servicemen with ICRC Delegation head EU ready to use all the tools at its disposal to change Turkey's behavior Yerevan court obliges to abolish violation of rights of Armenia Supreme Judicial Council ex-chairman Greek and Turkish leaders to meet in June on sidelines of NATO summit Armenia Central Electoral Commission to set up 2,008 polling stations for snap parliamentary elections Iranian companies to participate in reconstructing territories under Azerbaijan's control Opposition Armenia bloc's representative on acting PM's invitation to debate with 1st and 2nd Presidents Armenia acting FM dismissed upon presidential decree Body of brother of Armenian criminal authority "Don Pipo" found under bridge 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 Gov. Gavin Newsom urged schools across the state to take a more aggressive stance in getting students back into classrooms, saying $2 billion in grants for districts to reopen should be enough to address lingering anxiety and roadblocks. We have the capacity to get these kids safely back to in-person instruction, Newsom said Tuesday at a Palo Alto news conference. Its about the children. Its about their emotional well-being. The visit to a Peninsula school came a day after Newsom announced a deal with legislators to provide $6.6 billion to state schools to navigate reopening and the impact of distance learning on students. Of that, $2 billion is allocated for districts that reopen for in-person instruction by April 1, with specific students in seats by then, depending on whether a county is in the states most restrictive purple tier or the less restrictive red tier. Schools that reopen after April 1 will lose 1% of funding each day they remain closed, up until May 15. Legislators are expected to vote on the measure Thursday. Newsom opened the news conference after reading to students in one of the classrooms at Barron Park Elementary School, which has returned to in-person learning. Ive got four kids at home, so its familiar but the setting was not as familiar being here in a classroom safely reading to kids, plexiglass, appropriately distanced, ventilation, doors open, windows open, proving that we can get our kids back in school, not just here but all across the state of California, for that matter, all across this country, he said. Its an imperative and we have example after example of success. Not every school district has the same resources as Palo Alto, Newsom said. No one is naive about that, and thats exactly why yesterday we announced the $6.6 billion commitment with the Legislature ... to provide support for districts that need more sanitation, need more ventilation, need more peer-to-peer support, more staff support. Newsom declined to say whether he would consider ordering reluctant schools to reopen, but said he would continue to work in a collaborative spirit. Its unclear how many local districts will be able to meet the criteria to get the reopening grants, which include bringing back all elementary students who want to come back, vulnerable students in all grades and students in at least one additional grade in middle or high schools. San Francisco school officials said the funding does not change the timeline for reopening, which includes getting classrooms ready and requires a deal with the teachers union on what the school day will look like. Oakland officials said they are moving toward the goal of starting the reopening process this month. Gov. Newsom made clear that he and the state Legislature want to see students back in class for in-person learning by the end of this month, said district spokesman John Sasaki. For several months now, the district has been working towards an opening of our campuses this spring. We have taken countless steps to ensure that campuses, staff and students are ready for this transition. Despite the state funding, many of the states 6 million public school students likely wont go back into schools this spring. Newsom said, however, he is optimistic about reopening most of California by August, with enough vaccine available to all state residents. We will not only open our schools for in-person instruction but a vast portion of our business sectors as well, he said. I am confident we can get our kids back safely for in-person instruction (this fall). COVID Resources Coronavirus Map Tracking COVID-19 cases across the Bay Area and California. Legislators backed the school reopening plan in a pair of hearings Tuesday, setting it up for passage later this week. But despite an optimistic pronouncement by Assembly Member Phil Ting, D-San Francisco, that the framework can take all the excuses off the table, it was clear that it would be far from enough to get many students across the state back into classrooms. Even some of the lawmakers who said they would support the measure expressed doubt that it offered enough resources for in-person instruction to resume in their own districts. Several criticized an approach that they said would be a boon to wealthier schools already on their way to reopening, while leaving behind their low-income communities of color. Im once again worried about being at the end of the list, said Assembly Member Cristina Garcia, D-Bell Gardens (Los Angeles County). Inequitable access to vaccines remains a major issue. Legislators representing Latino and Black communities that have been hit harder by the coronavirus said families are afraid to send their children back into classrooms before their own households were protected from exposure. And while the bill does not include a requirement that teachers get vaccinated before schools can reopen, there appears to be little desire in Sacramento to push back on the demands that have proliferated in local negotiations. Im not asking any teacher to return to the classroom without being vaccinated, said Assembly Member Patrick ODonnell, a Long Beach Democrat and former teacher. I wouldnt return to the classroom without being vaccinated and Ive had COVID. Meghan Bobrowsky, Alexei Kosoff and Jill Tucker are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. Email: meghan.bobrowsky@sfchronicle.com, alexei.koseff@sfchronicle.com, jtucker@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @meghanbobrowsky, @alexeikoseff, @jilltucker Mark Mulligan /Staff photographer As people worldwide reflect on the past pandemic-riddled year, memories of barren shelves and a mysterious run on toilet paper surface among the early recollections. The stress on grocery stores like H-E-B led to the implementation of necessary purchasing limits that became part of the new normal, but came to an end on Monday, roughly a year later. In Texas, stores like H-E-B felt the brunt of the panic. The grocery chain responded to the early weeks of the coronavirus pandemic by implementing product limits to protect the supply chain in mid-March 2020. Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-02 08:12:53|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close BEIJING, March 2 (Xinhua) -- The following are the updates on the global fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. - - - - HAVANA -- Cuba's Public Health Ministry on Monday reported 811 new COVID-19 cases in 24 hours, bringing the total number of cases to 50,590, as well as two more deaths for an accumulation of 324. During his daily televised report, the ministry's national director of hygiene and epidemiology Francisco Duran said that of the total number of cases in one day, 804 were community transmitted, indicating that community transmission is still very high. - - - - PARIS -- France has recorded a total of 86,803 coronavirus-related fatalities as of Monday, with 375 new deaths registered in the past 24 hours, according to health authorities. According to figures posted on the government data website, the number of new cases dropped to 4,703 on Monday from 19,952 reported a day before due to the closure of many testing centers at the weekend. - - - - WARSAW -- The recently accelerated new wave of COVID-19 infections in Poland is primarily caused by the variant first identified in Britain, Polish Health Minister Adam Niedzielski said Monday. "The increasing share of the mutation (detected in Britain) can result in a higher number," he said, adding that the coronavirus reproduction rate currently stood at 1.19 in Poland. - - - - WASHINGTON -- Director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Rochelle Walensky warned Monday the country is at risk of losing its recent progress in the battle against COVID-19 if states are rolling back health measures. "I am really worried about reports that more states are rolling back the exact public health measures we have recommended to protect people from COVID-19," she said. - - - - JERUSALEM -- Israel's Ministry of Health reported 5,479 new COVID-19 cases on Monday, raising the total tally in the country to 779,958. The death toll from the COVID-19 in Israel reached 5,760 after 22 new fatalities were added, while the number of patients in serious condition decreased from 776 to 737, out of 1,238 hospitalized patients. - - - - HARARE -- Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa on Monday lauded China for donating COVID-19 vaccines to Zimbabwe as the country embarks on its inoculation program. China last week pledged to donate an additional 200,000 Sinopharm COVID-19 doses in additional to 200,000 doses received in the country last month. Enditem Millions of small businesses could be eligible for new or beefed-up grant programs if some of the provisions in the House-passed Covid-19 relief bill become law. The grants, part of the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 passed by the House on Saturday, would still need to be considered in the Senate version of the legislation and passed by Congress before heading to President Joe Biden for his signature. And parts of the legislation might already be in jeopardy, with Democrats dealing with a setback on a $15-per-hour minimum wage that will likely prevent its inclusion in the Senate version. The legislation so far provides tens of billions of dollars in grant programs for small businesses, including an additional $15 billion for the Small Business Administrations Targeted Economic Injury Disaster Loan Advance program. The program was originally born out of the Economic Injury Disaster Loan Advance program started last March, in which small businesses could apply for a disaster loan and receive a cash grant of $10,000 regardless of whether they were ultimately approved for a loan. Scores of small businesses said they were shortchanged, receiving just $1,000 per employee instead of the full cash grant, while many more received nothing at all. Congress approved in December another $20 billion to fund that program, but demand might still outstrip supply. SBA received about 10.1 million applications for the original EIDL advances last year. The agency approved about 5.8 million of them, valued at a total of $20 billion, or an average of $3,500 per advance, according to a September report by the Government Accountability Office. The agency only recently began reaching out to small businesses that did not get initial grants to apply for the new program, but there were stipulations, including having seen at least a 30% reduction in revenue and having fewer than 300 employees, among other guidance. The new legislation would direct the SBA to make additional supplemental grants to small businesses that have seen a revenue loss of at least 50% and are located in a low-income census tract and have 10 or fewer employees. The legislation also includes $25 billion for an entirely new grant program at the SBA, this one directed at restaurants. About $5 billion would be set aside for businesses with less than $500,000 in 2019 revenue, and grants overall would be limited to $10 million per entity, with a limitation of $5 million per physical location, and businesses would be limited to 20 locations. The grants would be based on subtracting 2020 revenue from 2019 revenue, and priority would be given to restaurants owned by women, veterans and socially and economically disadvantaged owners. The grants could be used for payroll, mortgage, rent, utilities, supplies, food and beverage expenses and operational expenses, among other items. The new restaurant grant program is similar to a previously authorized grant program for shuttered venues, which would get an additional $1.5 billion under the new legislation. But the SBA has yet to set a date for the shuttered venue program, which is a big problem for small businesses considering it, because the venues cannot apply for both that program and the Paycheck Protection Program. The PPP reopened Jan. 19 for all small businesses and expires on March 31. Meanwhile the Biden administrations decision in February to tweak the PPP could mean more money for some small businesses and gig workers. And the December legislation that authorized the second round of PPP loans for 2021 also included tax relief as well as simplified PPP loan forgiveness applications for loans of $150,000 or less. The program also now covers personal protective equipment and other Covid-19 expenses, which allows small businesses to receive full forgiveness for any spending related to those measures. Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-02 20:36:28|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close Photo taken on March 2, 2021 shows a box loaded with COVID-19 vaccines at Sarajevo International Airport in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic visited Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) and presented a donation of 5,000 COVID-19 vaccines (10,000 doses) to its neighbor, the Presidency of BiH said Tuesday in a press release. (Photo by Nedim Grabovica/Xinhua) SARAJEVO, March 2 (Xinhua) -- Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic visited Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) and presented a donation of 5,000 COVID-19 vaccines (10,000 doses) to its neighbor, the Presidency of BiH said Tuesday in a press release. "We live with each other and next to each other," Vucic told reporters at the Sarajevo International Airport, adding that it's perfectly common to help a neighbor. Chairman of the Presidency of BiH, Milorad Dodik, thanked Vucic for the donation. "This donation speaks very loud and clear about the policies that have been pursued by Serbia," said Dodik. These 5,000 AstraZeneca vaccines are the first to arrive in the Federation of BiH (FBIH) -- one of the two BiH entities -- which has not yet started its vaccination campaign. The other BiH entity, Republika Srpska (RS), started the vaccine rollout for medical workers on Feb. 12, upon the arrival of the first shipment of 2,000 doses of Russia's Sputnik V vaccines. Republika Srpska has also ordered vaccines from China's Sinopharm, said Minister of Health and Social Welfare of the RS Alen Seranic. Enditem Supreme Court blocks countys ban on indoor worship gatherings, calls 9th Circuit ruling 'erroneous' Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment The U.S. Supreme Court has blocked a California countys ban on indoor worship services weeks after officials ordered places of worship to remain closed until further notice due to the COVID-19 pandemic even though the high court had weeks earlier lifted a statewide ban on religious gatherings. The court ruled Friday in favor of five churches that Santa Clara County must allow indoor worship services to resume at 20% capacity. The order went as far as calling the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals earlier ruling in favor of the countys restrictions erroneous. The Supreme Courts three liberal justices dissented. This outcome is clearly dictated by this courts decision in the South Bay United Pentecostal Church v. Newsom, Fridays Supreme Court order states. In the South Bay case, the justices ruled that the state could cap indoor services at 25% of the buildings capacity and continue to ban singing and chanting. In a concurring opinion of the South Bay case, Chief Justice John Roberts wrote that he understands the states arguments that singing indoors poses a heightened risk of transmitting COVID-19 but doesnt believe the state had scientific reasoning for wanting to ban in-person worship entirely when some churches are large and cavernous. The county, however, believed that its ban was legal because it imposed the same large gathering restrictions on churches that it had on other secular business establishments. Santa Clara County Counsel James Williams called the decision disappointing and said the courts order was issued without any analysis at all of the Countys gathering rules. He claimed that the countys rules have always been neutral and applied equally to all gatherings across-the-board. Indoor gatherings of all kinds remain very risky, and we continue to urge all religious institutions to carefully follow the public health recommendations to avoid spread of COVID-19 among their congregations and the broader community, Williams said in a statement. Williams added that the county is allowed to restrict the capacity of religious gatherings to 20% instead of the states 25% limit because thats the limit it has imposed on all indoor businesses and facilities. The county told the court Thursday in a letter that COVID-19 cases in the county had continued to decline and would soon likely lift its ban on indoor gatherings as early as March 3. The courts decision on Friday was in response to an ongoing lawsuit that was filed by a group of five churches in the country against the countys order. The five churches are Gateway City Church, The Spectrum Church, The Home Church, Orchard Community Church and Trinity Bible Church. In November, Pastor Mike McClure of Calvary Chapel in Santa Clara said he was called to preach the Gospel even though he faced fines of at least $350,000 and a lawsuit for holding indoor services since May 31 in violation of Gov. Newsoms restrictions on churches at the time. Last November, the Supreme Court also issued a temporary injunction against New York Gov. Andrew Cuomos controversial restrictions on indoor worship gatherings. Earlier this month, a federal court issued a permanent injunction against Cuomos restrictions. 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. Central Pennsylvania counties are preparing to accept applications from businesses eligible for grants under Pennsylvanias Hospitality Industry Recovery Program. Starting March 15, eligible businesses including hotels, bars, and restaurants can apply for the grants. The statewide program initiated by Gov. Tom Wolf is allocating $145 million in funding for businesses adversely affected by the coronavirus pandemic. The block grants are given to counties based on population proportion. Grants will be awarded in $5,000 increments with a $50,000 maximum. Wolf has emphasized the program will provide immediate relief for small businesses. The legislature approved the measure unanimously and it was enacted in February. For so many businesses in the hospitality industry, taking the necessary steps that keep employees and patrons safe directly hurts their bottom line. After all the hardships businesses have endured, and all of the work they have done to keep their communities safer, they need and deserve our help, he said. Cumberland County said it has received $2.9 million while Dauphin County will allocate about $3.12 million. There are so many Dauphin County businesses that have endured closures, capacity crunches, and staff lay-offs during this unprecedented pandemic, said Jeff Haste, Dauphin County Commissioner Chair. These funds will serve as much-needed lifelines. To be eligible, businesses must demonstrate their economic loss due to the pandemic and be intending to stay open following application. Eligible businesses must have less than 300 full-time employees and a tangible net worth of not more than $15 million. To assist Dauphin County businesses with their applications, Capital Region Economic Development Corporation will host a webinar on March 11. According to the county, CREDC also will process and underwrite eligible applications, prioritize requests in accordance with program legislation and present applications to the counties for consideration. Once grants are awarded, CREDC will contract with grantees and process grant disbursements. To be eligible, applicants must: New Delhi: Keralas Malappuram district has created a much bigger buzz after a private educational institute namely Al Farooque English medium school in Pandikkad, introduced two different uniforms for students in terms of their intelligence quotient and academic skills. According to the organization, this new unique system will help students improve their performance and hence will secure higher grades in examinations through out the year. While academically sharp students were given white shirts and tops, average and underperforming students were directed to wear red check shirts and tops. All the students were advised to follow the same in the new academic session which started back in June. Though the decision has been taken to trigger a healthy competition among students, many parents have found it discriminatory. They have further knocked a child welfare body after their protest was ignored by the school management body. The Childline officials have also found the process highly discriminatory which will raise mental agony of the students. "We were told the average students will yearn for white and work hard but we find it too discriminatory," a mother was quoted while talking about the same. Also Read: Kerala love jihad case: SC asks cops to share probe details with NIA "When we asked the school principal he came out with a weird explanation that it will create a healthy competition and help students. He was not bothered about the psychological problem it triggered," Childline district coordinator Anwar Karakadan stated about the matter. However, a spokesman of the Al Farooque group has further promised to discontinue the new uniform immediately and take action against the principal. The decision came after the state education department has sought a report from the district education officer regarding the same. Around 900 students are at present studying in Al Farooque English medium school and the mental health of these young minds cannot be ignored like this. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: In the Ayodhya matter, Supreme Court on Friday granted three-month time for making translation of the historic documents. The SC fixed the matter for further hearing till December 5. Sunni Waqf board told SC that the translation of historic documents is not complete yet. The apex court, after an intense deliberation for more than one-and-half-hours, reached a consensus on commencement of the hearing on the cross-appeals filed against the 2010 judgement of the Allahabad High Court. The high court had ruled a three-way division of the disputed 2.77 acre area at Ayodhya among the parties the Sunni Waqf Board, the Nirmohi Akhara and the Ram Lalla. A specially constituted bench, headed by Justice Dipak Misra, asked the contesting parties to complete the translation of the exhibits of the documents likely to be relied upon into English within 12 weeks since these were in eight different languages. The bench, also comprising justices Ashok Bhushan and Abdul Nazeer, asked the Uttar Pradesh government to complete within 10 weeks the translation of the evidence recorded for adjudication of the title dispute in the high court into English. The bench made it clear that the parties would have to strictly adhere to the time frame fixed by it and no adjournment shall be given in any circumstances. Senior counsel C S Vaidyanathan, appearing for Lord Ram Lalla and Additional Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing the UP government, pressed for early hearing of the matter, but senior advocates Kapil Sibal, Anoop George Chaudhari and Rajeev Dhavan, representing other parties, were not in favour of commencement of the hearing before January next year. With PTI inputs For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. "I'm thrilled at the opportunity to expand my responsibilities and continue to grow as a PR professional. I look forward to advancing my career at one of the leading global crisis communications agencies." Red Banyan, a specialized consulting firm focused on managing complex, high-stakes communications issues, has promoted Stephanie Grau to Account Executive. Based in Ft. Lauderdale, FL., Grau will manage a variety of accounts, cultivate media relationships and conduct media outreach, identify media opportunities and do in-depth industry research. Grau is a recent graduate of the University of Michigan Ann Arbor, where she earned a BA in English with a minor in Business Administration. Throughout her undergraduate career, she was heavily involved with research and interned at multiple media and tech companies, including a Fortune 1000 company. Stephanie's energy, creativity and can-do attitude give her an edge that is invaluable to our team. She is a tireless, dedicated employee with an incredible work ethic, said Red Banyan Chief Operating Officer Robbin Lubbehusen. She is great fit for our team. Established in 2010, Red Banyan is renowned nationally and internationally as the go-to option for crisis communications. Headquartered in Ft. Lauderdale, Red Banyan also has offices in Washington, D.C., Atlanta, and Los Angeles. Its LA hub was recently launched in September 2020 to better serve celebrity crisis clients and others on the West Coast. Red Banyan also provides litigation support, media relations and other strategic communications services. Grau added: "I'm thrilled at the opportunity to expand my responsibilities and continue to grow as a PR professional. I look forward to advancing my career at one of the leading global crisis communications agencies." About Red Banyan Red Banyan is a specialized communications firm and crisis management firm focused on solving complex, highly sensitive and mission-critical communications challenges. Specializing in crisis communications, corporate public relations, government relations, and legal-pr firm Red Banyan provides an integrated approach to communications rooted in strategy. Learn more at http://www.redbanyan.com, become a fan on the Red Banyan Facebook page and follow the firm on Twitter and LinkedIn. Subscriber content preview By MATT O'BRIEN AP Technology Writer An artificial intelligence commission led by former Google CEO Eric Schmidt is urging the U.S. to boost its AI skills to counter China, including by pursuing AI-enabled weapons something that Google itself has shied away from on ethical grounds. Schmidt and current executives from Google, Microsoft, Oracle and Amazon are among the 15 members of the National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence, which released its final report to Congress on Monday. . . . The network of 32 national Justice and Peace Commissions of the bishops conferences of Europe has expressed its solidarity for the people of Myanmar in their call for the restoration of democracy. By Lisa Zengarini The Conference of European Justice and Peace Commissions (Justice & Peace Europe), has joined its voice to the call for an immediate end to the use of force against peaceful protesters in Myanmar and for a return to democracy in the country. After a month of peaceful demonstrations against the military coup, which deposed National League for Democracy (NLD) leader Aung San Suu Kyi on February 1, violence dramatically escalated on Sunday with the killing of at least 18 protesters. The violence was strongly condemned, amongst others, by the UN human rights office (OHCHR). Card. Bo: hatred never drives away hatred On the same day, Cardinal Charles Bo of Yangon, president of the Bishops Conference of Myanmar, launched a new heartfelt call to stop the violence and for reconciliation. In his homily for the Second Sunday of Lent, he stressed the need to return to the hard life of creating hope and peace, saying that all Myanmars people should enter into a mind-set of reconciliation and dialogue. He warned that only love and that an eye for an eye makes the whole world blind. Justice & Peace Europe: seek the common good In their statement, the European Justice and Peace Commissions express concern on latest reports indicating a significant increase in violence and the casualties and suffering arising for society and citizens and convey their support to the people of Myanmar in their defence of democracy and solidarity with the peaceful protesters. They join Pope Franciss appeal of February 7 to those having political responsibility to show sincere willingness to serve the common good, promoting social justice and national stability in view of a harmonious and democratic coexistence. Return to democratic rule, dialogue Justice & Peace Europe also urges a prompt release of all political prisoners and supports the call of the Catholic Bishops of Myanmar to the military authorities to refrain from violence and seek reconciliation, while adhering to democratic principles and fully respecting human rights, including the right to life, the prohibition of torture, the freedom of assembly, media and expression. Welcoming the recent conclusions of the Council of the European Union on Myanmar, the European Justice and Peace Commissions finally encourage the EU to use all channels of dialogue with key stakeholders in view of facilitating a peaceful and swift reinstatement of power to legitimate democratic institutions. Since the military coup, more than 350 people have been arrested, including Aung San Suu Kyi, on charges of illegally importing walkie-talkies and of organizing illegal protests during the COVID-19 pandemic, and many other officials, activists and religious. A month after JSW Energy terminated its plans to acquire Ind-Barath Energy (Utkal) Ltd, Chennai-based Star Thermal Power Ltd has submitted a Rs 1,700 crore offer to take over the incomplete plant in Odisha. Star Thermal offered up to Rs 1,200 crore for the pit-head 700 MW Odisha-based thermal power plant, which is going through the insolvency process at National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT). Besides, it agreed to infuse Rs 500 crore within a year to complete the construction of the plant. Star Thermal's offer is 30 per cent higher than that of JSW Energy's offer. The under-construction power plant has coal linkage from Mahanadi Coalfields, a Coal India subsidiary, and PPAs signed with Odisha and Tamil Nadu governments. ALSO READ: DHFL receives no objection from RBI; files resolution application with NCLT Ind-Barath Energy was admitted to the Hyderabad Bench of the NCLT and earlier both JSW Energy and Vedanta were in the race to acquire the insolvent firm. JSW Energy had agreed to make an upfront payment of Rs 850 crore for the asset. Last month though, it invoked the material adverse change (MAC) clause. Thereafter, JSW Energy has served a notice to the resolution professional and consortium of creditors to terminate the resolution plan and said that in the intervening period of 15 months since the submission of resolution plan, a material adverse change event as defined by the resolution plan has occurred. According to Star Thermal website, the promoters are natives of Tamil Nadu and they were partners in a Dubai-based $6 billion conglomerate, which is involved in execution of various infrastructure projects, especially in power generation, transmission and distribution. They were engaged in international commodity trading, desalination projects, civil construction and shipping in UAE. They have also executed World Bank projects in Bangladesh and Thailand. ALSO READ: NCLT gives DGCA till Mar 2 to respond on Jet Airways slots 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. KENNEWICK, Wash., March 2, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Senske Services announces the acquisition of assets of Sun Pest Management in Clarkston, WA. Senske is a family-owned provider of premier lawn, tree, and pest control services throughout the Western United States. Founded in 1969, Sun Pest Management has provided professional pest control and lawn care in the Lewis-Clark Valley for more than five decades. Services will continue uninterrupted by the current team of employees doing business as Sun Pest by Senske Services. Russ Craber, Sun Pest Owner, sought an acquisition partner and felt that Senske would be a good fit for his customers and employees. According to Mr. Craber, "The Senske name is solid regionally, and still expanding with purpose and planning; I'm glad to give my former employees the benefits that can be provided by a larger entity, and one with a similar culture to our own." When asked about the deal, Senske President Chris Senske noted, "We look forward to expanding into southeastern Washington. With over 50 years of experience, we are lucky to have their team join the Senske family as we continue to grow and expand." Clarkston represents the sixth location in Washington for Senske Services. About Senske Services: Senske Services is a market-leading, multi-state home services company focused on growing organically and through mergers and acquisitions in the Western United States. Senske is a family-owned business, operating since 1947 with a strong legacy and heritage tied to its core values of integrity, community, and loyalty. The Senske family of brands includes Senske Pest Control, Senske Lawn and Tree Care, Senske Grounds Maintenance, Washington Tree & Lawn Care, and Christmas Decor by Senske. Senske is actively exploring expansion opportunities; for companies interested in selling their lawn care or pest control business, contact Bjorn Gjerde at 509.374.5007 or visit www.senske.com. SOURCE Senske Lawn & Tree Care Inc Related Links www.senske.com Eybpooshs Works to Improve Renewable Energy Reliability March 01, 2021 When Matineh Eybpoosh (MS 12, PhD 15) was presented with the opportunity to co-found her own company, she jumped at the chance. Her entrepreneurial motivation led to the development of WattLearn Inc., a company that builds software for energy storage batteriesand by extension, increases the penetration of renewables across the electricity grid. Eybpoosh founded the company alongside fellow CMU alum Julian Lamy (EPP 16) and has led the company as its CEO since 2017. Eybpoosh explains that WattLearns core capability is to use machine learning for optimal operation of grid-connected battery projects. We are on track to operate multiple grid-scale batteries this year. These energy storage projects will help stabilize the impact of renewable energy generation on the grid, and therefore increase its resiliency and reliability, she explains. After gaining her BSc at Tabriz University of Iran, Eybpoosh continued her studies at Middle East Technical University (METU) in Ankara, Turkey. While there, she took a course where students from five different universities across the globe collaborated remotely. The goal was to help students develop intercultural collaboration skills as they worked in remote teams on a project, she says. Later, she volunteered to write an academic paper about this experience. Through writing this paper, she became connected to professors at CEE and applied to earn her Masters and PhD. CMU felt like the right place for me, Eybpoosh says. I always say it was one of the best decisions I have ever made. Throughout her graduate studies, Eybpoosh was focused on becoming an academic. I really enjoy doing research, and teaching even more, she says. But after completing an internship at Pittsburgh-based kWantera, she decided to apply her academic knowledge and skillsets to the issues faced in the industry. She began a career in data science, deepening her understanding of challenges in the energy domain. At the time, Eybpoosh didnt have a plan to start her own business, but paid close attention to the different aspects of running a company and managing a team. "Now that I look back, nothing could have better prepared me for the often diverse and multi-disciplinary problems out there. On the other hand, my instructors taught me how to become a good researcher, which Ive found it to be a very important skill to have as an entrepreneur." Leaving her role as the director of data science to launch WattLearn allowed Eybpoosh to have a broader impact in addressing some of the pressing environmental and climate issues of our generations, while fulfilling an entrepreneurship passion. After one year in Pittsburgh, the company moved to the Bay Area where it eventually had a successful exit through an acquisition. During its journey, WattLearn has been recognized as one of the front runner startups in the field, winning first place in CMUs 2017 TransTech Energy Business Development Competition. The company was also invited to present at the Energy Storage Summit 2017, won the Peoples Choice Award as the best energy startup at Plug & Play innovation platform, and was a finalist startup presenter at the VERGE 18 conference. Eybpoosh says that her education at CEE was instrumental in helping her in both business and engineering. At CEE, you are always encouraged to participate in multi-disciplinary projects and courses. Now that I look back, nothing could have better prepared me for the often diverse and multi-disciplinary problems out there. On the other hand, my instructors taught me how to become a good researcher, which Ive found it to be a very important skill to have as an entrepreneur. They would not accept anything less, so I had to live up to their standards if I wanted to graduate. She adds that CEE taught her to always look at the complete picture. I learned how to ask the right questions that would lead me to a true problem. Only after that could I look for the solution. 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. 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. [March 02, 2021] Fortress Capital Acquisition Corp. Announces the Separate Trading of its Class A Ordinary Shares and Warrants, Commencing March 5, 2021 Fortress Capital Acquisition Corp. (the "Company") announced that commencing March 5, 2021, holders of the units sold in the Company's initial public offering of 40,000,000 units may elect to separately trade the Class A ordinary shares and warrants included in the units. Class A ordinary shares and warrants that are separated will trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbols "FCAX" and "FCAX WS," respectively. Those units not separated will continue to trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol "FCAX.U." No fractional warrants will be issued upon separation of the units and only whole warrants will trade. This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy the securities of the Company, nor shall there be any sale of these securities in any state or jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such state or jurisdiction. The offering was made only by means of a prospectus. Copies of the prospectus may be obtained from Citigroup Global Markets Inc., c/o Broadridge Financial Solutions, 1155 Long Island Avenue, Edgewood, New York 11717, via telephone at (800) 831-9146; or Goldman Sachs & Co.LLC, 200 West Street, New York, NY 10282, Attn: Prospectus Department, by telephone at (866) 471-2526 or by emailing prospectus-ny@ny.email.gs.com. About Fortress Capital Acquisition Corp. Fortress Capital Acquisition Corp. is a special purpose acquisition company formed for the purpose of effecting a merger, share exchange, asset acquisition, share purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses. Forward-Looking Statements This press release may include "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. All statements other than statements of historical fact included in this press release are forward-looking statements. When used in this press release, words such as "anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "expect," "intend" and similar expressions, as they relate to us or our management team, identify forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements are based on the beliefs of management, as well as assumptions made by, and information currently available to, the Company's management. Actual results could differ materially from those contemplated by the forward-looking statements as a result of certain factors detailed in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (" SEC (News - Alert) "). All subsequent written or oral forward-looking statements attributable to us or persons acting on our behalf are qualified in their entirety by this paragraph. Forward-looking statements are subject to numerous conditions, many of which are beyond the control of the Company, including those set forth in the Risk Factors section of the Company's registration statement and prospectus for the Company's initial public offering filed with the SEC. The Company undertakes no obligation to update these statements for revisions or changes after the date of this release, except as required by law. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210302005803/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] You have permission to edit this article. Edit Close A 33-year-old Haitian woman has been charged with attempted murder in the Boston area after she allegedly threw her newborn baby into a trash can last week during a break from work. The baby boy was later found by a Good Samaritan. Marie Merisier of Milton, Massachusetts, was detained Friday and charged with attempted murder and reckless endangerment. She does not speak English. According to prosecutors from the Suffolk District Attorney's Office, Merisier had been working in the Dorchester home of a 73-year-old man when she went to the bathroom for an extended period of time. The man told authorities that the woman had asked for a pair of scissors before entering the bathroom, NECN reports. He added that noises could be heard from the bathroom, including that of a baby crying. The woman was inside the bathroom for roughly an hour, the man added. Scroll down for video Marie Merisier, a 33-year-old Haitian woman living in Milton, Massachusetts, was detained Friday and charged with attempted murder and reckless endangerment As she came out the bathroom the elderly man 'heard the newborn crying inside' her 'leather bag,' the Boston Herald reports. The man offered to call Merisier an ambulance but she refused and left the home, prompting him to call 911. A woman named Silvana Sanchez happened to be walking by Pat's Pizza - roughly 200ft from the apartment - when she heard the baby's cries coming from a trash barrel. She immediately flagged for EMS, who discovered the baby in a double-knotted plastic bag. The small boy was rushed to a hospital for treatment and is said to be in good condition. He has been placed in a temporary foster home under the direction and watch of the state Department of Children and Families. Prosecutors say video show the mother disposing of a plastic bag in a trash can at Pat's Pizza just 200ft from the Dorchester home where she gave birth. A woman discovered the baby boy and EMS rushed him to the hospital Merisier was also taken to a local hospital after police tracked her phone to her home in Milton, Massachusetts, according to WHDH. 'It is because of all of these swift actions that this beautiful newborn is alive and now hopefully able to thrive,' Suffolk District Attorney Rachael Rollins said. 'I had the opportunity to briefly visit the baby on Saturday and was so happy to see nurses pampering, spoiling and singing to, feeding and generally pouring love and affection into this beautiful child.' Merisier was seen on video disposing of the plastic bag in the trash barrel, the DA said. The woman told authorities that she believed the baby to be dead. Merisier is said to only speak Haitian Creole and reportedly has no family in the area, making it difficult for her to afford bail - which her defense attorneys argues practically keeps her held without bail. At the start of the pandemic, she was laid off from a job she had at a Haitian restaurant. Merisier was also taken to a local hospital after police tracked her phone to her home in Milton, Massachusetts Merisier is said to only speak Haitian Creole and reportedly has no family in the area 'This case involved an impossible, complicated set of questions about mental health, prepartum and postpartum, hormonal, emotional and mental health crises,' said defense attorney Cristina Rodrigues. Under the state's Baby Safe Haven Law - created in 2004 - people aren't charged with abuse or neglect, nor do they have their parental rights waived if they partake in 'voluntary abandonment' of a baby 7 days old or younger to a hospital, police department or manned fire station. Merisier was ordered to be held on $100,000 bail on Monday. She pleaded not guilty Dorchester District Court to the charges of attempted murder and reckless endangerment. A North Korean propaganda outlet Tuesday strongly criticized a U.S. professor over his controversial claim that victims of Japan's wartime sexual slavery are voluntary prostitutes, calling him a "disgusting money grubber" and "pseudo scholar." This marked the first time that a North Korean media outlet has mentioned J. Mark Ramseyer, Mitsubishi professor of Japanese Legal Studies at Harvard Law School, since he caused a stir by describing the former sex slaves as prostitutes under voluntary contracts. "Ramseyer is a Harvard professor masquerading as an academic and he has gone beyond supporting Japanese reactionaries' shameless and ruthless acts to cover up their past wrongdoings and insulted and despised victims of sex slavery as voluntary prostitutes," DPRK Today said in an interview with an official at the North's historical research institute. The website mentioned in detail Ramseyer's claim that Japan did not force sexual slavery upon women and that so-called comfort women made a lot of money by engaging in prostitution, saying that it is in line with an argument by some right-wing groups in Japan. The website dismissed Ramseyer as nothing but a pro-Japanese scholar just bent on making money. "Ramseyer went to Japan as soon as he was born and lived there until the age of 18 and went to school by receiving support from Mitsubishi," DPRK Today said. "He is a disgusting money grubber and pseudo academia who is still receiving support from Mitsubishi even now." The website reported on growing criticism among academics and political communities in other countries, including South Korea and the United States. Historians have said around 200,000 Asian women, mostly Koreans, were forcibly sent to front-line brothels to provide sex services for Japanese soldiers during World War II. North Korea has long demanded Japan's sincere apology and compensation for its colonial-era atrocities during its 1910-45 colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula. On Monday, North Korea's state TV carried a documentary featuring comfort women as the country marked the anniversary of the March 1 independence movement against Japan's colonial rue. (Yonhap) Perus oil industry is in crisis, with 2020 being one of its worst years on record. It was a year marred by the harsh fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic, violent protests, and political instability. By November 2020, Perus peak industry body; the National Society of Mining, Petroleum, and Energy, had released a statement (Spanish) claiming the national petroleum industry was in crisis. In that statement, the group pushed for the national government of Lima to resolve the many crises which were impacting petroleum industry operations. Those issues could not have occurred at a worse time. Peru was hit particularly hard by the COVID-19 pandemic, despite being one of the first countries in South America to implement a total lockdown. Aside from the tremendous human cost of the pandemic, with Peru having the fifth-highest number of cases in Latin America, the economy took a big hit. The International Monetary Fund estimated for 2020 that Perus gross domestic production shrank by almost 14%, the worst decline in Latin America after Venezuela. This coupled with ongoing political instability hit Peru particularly hard, magnifying the fallout from the pandemic while sharply exacerbating the gap between the countrys rich and poor. That underscores why the national government in Lima is focused on kickstarting the economy and reinvigorating the oil industry. The impact of the pandemic, heightened political instability and social conflict on Perus hydrocarbon sector has been significant, causing production as well as exploration and development activities to decline. By June 2020, data from Perus Ministry of Energy and Mines showed that crude oil production had fallen to a multi-year low of 29,940 barrels daily. Natural gas output which was 832,775 cubic feet daily for the same period was 5% higher than the pandemic low hit in April 2020. During December 2020 Peru pumped 31,624 barrels of crude oil per day, while natural gas liquids came to 90,979 barrels and natural gas was almost 1.4 million cubic feet, which saw total hydrocarbon output of 357,347 barrels of oil equivalent daily which was 6% lower than a month earlier and 1% less than for the equivalent period in 2019. When combined with the latest Baker Hughes rig count showing that there are no active drill rigs in Peru, it indicates that there is some way to go before Perus hydrocarbon sector recovers. The November 2020 appointment of caretaker President Francisco Sagastia finally brought Perus political crisis to an end. That event, which led to the appointment of three presidents in a week during November 2020, nationwide protests, and the deaths of demonstrators was an ill-timed disaster for the Andean country. Peru will go to the polls in April 2021 to elect a president from the 22 candidates vying for the top job in a country where tensions between the executive and legislative branches of government remain heightened. OPC Markets: A New Way Of Trading Energy Aside from the pandemic and political instability in Lima, a key issue impacting Perus hydrocarbon sector is its lack of social license and the considerable opposition of local communities in the countrys Amazon to the petroleum industry. Perus Amazon, where deeply impoverished indigenous communities are opposed to the oil industry is responsible for a notable proportion of the countrys hydrocarbon reserves and production. The significant opposition of local indigenous communities to the petroleum industry was magnified by the pandemic which only worsened the vast socioeconomic gulf between Perus rich and poor. According to data from hydrocarbon regulator Perupetro 48% of Perus 344.5 million barrels of proven oil reserves is in the Amazon. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic and production disruptions caused by violent protests, oilfield invasions and attacks on infrastructure almost half of Perus total oil production came from the Amazon. Data from Perus energy ministry indicates that hydrocarbon output has yet to recover to pre-pandemic levels. During December 2020, the Andean country pumped on average 31,624 barrels of crude oil daily, 90,979 barrels of natural gas liquids and 234,744 barrels of natural gas which were 33.5%, 1%, and 7% lower year over year respectively. The primary reasons for this are production shut-ins caused by community blockades and protests, infrastructure outages, and a chronic lack of investment, with protests and heightened geopolitical risk deterring international energy companies. To kickstart the hydrocarbon sector and unlock the wealth contained in Perus considerable petroleum resources, Lima and the hydrocarbon regulator have embarked on a strategy aimed at boosting investment as well as production. A key stumbling block for attracting investment and reactivating the hydrocarbon sector has been ongoing conflict and violent protests by indigenous communities against the petroleum industry. During 2020 protests disrupted the operation of Perus ONP pipeline, which connects oilfields in the Amazon to the Pacific coast, for 85 days. Canadian oil producer PetroTal was forced to shutter operations at its Bretana oilfield in the northeastern department of Loreto after violent clashes between protestors and authorities in August 2020. To stem the protests, so that the ONP pipeline and PetroTal could recommence operations, Lima agreed to provide greater financial assistance to local communities through a $1.7 billion aid package to be spent over six years. Frontera Energy suspended production and declared force majeure at its Peru Block 192 during early 2020 because of community action and withdrew from the operation. Similar events saw Geopark and Pluspetrol declare force majeure and announce they were withdrawing from Blocks 64 and 8 respectively. Perus top producing oilfields until the end of 2018 were in Block 192 and Block 8 thus the cessation of operations at those blocks had a sharp impact on Perus crude oil output. Perupetro announced last month it planned to find new operators for those blocks as part of Limas strategy to boost oil production. Perus hydrocarbon regulator also announced that during 2021 it will hold its first bid round in 10-years, offering 10 oil blocks, six on the north coast and four in the Amazon, during 2021. These plans, the petroleum industry, and government hopes will allow Peru to return to full production of 60,000 to 70,000 barrels of crude oil daily, numbers not seen since before the pandemic. In fact, 2020 crude oil production averaged 39,738 barrels daily, a 25% decrease compared to a year earlier and a multi-decade low. Annual natural gas liquids and natural gas output also fell sharply declining by 7% and 20% year over year respectively. As a result, total hydrocarbon output only reached 299,163 barrels of oil equivalent daily, its lowest level since 2010. Low proven oil reserves, declining production, and a lack of adequate refining capacity are all contributing to ever-rising imports of petroleum, fuels, and other related products to meet domestic fuel demand. This is weighing on Perus balance of trade and economy, which with the increased fallout from the pandemic makes now the time for Lima to focus on increasing energy self-sufficiency. Those developments underscore the urgency with which Lima must successfully implement strategies to stabilize the oil industry, substantially reduce conflict, which is best achieved by expanding its social license, and promoting foreign investment. By Matthew Smith for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: 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. LANSING Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessels office sent a cease and desist letter to a Grand Rapids-based online clothing retailer for allegedly failing to fulfill customer orders or provide requested refunds, among other violations of the Michigan Consumer Protection Act (MCPA). The letter was sent to Fitness Tee Co. LLC, which operates its online storefront on at least two websites, the Fitness Tee Co. and the Fitness Tee Co. Outlet. The Attorney Generals office received multiple complaints about the business and its products, including that the quality of the apparel was not what consumers expected; customers were unable to contact anyone at the business to address their concerns or provide requested refunds; and orders were not being fulfilled in a timely manner. The business owner blamed many of the issues on the COVID-19 pandemic and related operational cutbacks but admitted to accepting new orders even though others remained unfulfilled. My office will continue to enforce this states consumer protection laws to ensure hardworking Michiganders are not taken advantage of by negligent businesses that fail to uphold their end of the transaction, Nessel said. Companies that deceive, mislead or otherwise prey on unsuspecting customers may find that they have become targets of the Department of Attorney General, and I encourage all consumers who have a complaint about a business to file it with my office. The Attorney Generals office may file a lawsuit or seek court subpoenas to open a formal investigation and gather more information about the companys business operations. The state and business could also enter into an assurance of voluntary compliance, which is a tool provided for in the MCPA that allows the dispute to be settled outside of court. Throughout National Consumer Protection Week and the entire month of March, consumers can follow along on the Departments Facebook, Twitter and Instagram pages for daily consumer protection information. Your connection to consumer protection is just a click or phone call away. Consumer complaints can be filed online at the Attorney Generals website, or by calling 877-765-8388. 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. American Red Cross Motor Corps members are shown in formation at Fort Benjamin Harrison in 1918 in this photo from the IUPUI Center for Digital Scholarship. Red Cross volunteers played a vital role during the 1918 influenza pandemic in moving supplies, making masks and getting nurses where they were needed. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. BERLIN, March 2, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- A 4 trillion mismatch is forming between bank lending that aims to be 'Paris-aligned' and the market for this corporate lending in Europe, according to new analysis from EU-funded non-profit CDP Europe and global management consulting firm Oliver Wyman. Running hot: accelerating Europe's path to Paris, released today, estimates that 95% of all corporate lending in Europe comes from banks with a Paris-alignment ambition. But under 1 in 10 European companies so far have emissions targets aligned with Paris' well-below 2C goal meaning banks financing these companies are far from Paris-aligned today.2 The research is based on nearly 1,000 European companies worth around 80% of Europe's market value disclosing data in 2020 to CDP, which runs the global environmental disclosure system, and wider market research. The gap is starting to close. The latest corporate data shows momentum behind better target-setting among companies, with the best decarbonizing fast. 56% of companies report now having a transition plan in place rising to over three quarters in the energy sector. Encouragingly, over 50% of European companies by market value have now joined the Science Based Targets initiative, which approves whether emissions targets are aligned with the Paris agreement.3 The best companies, in terms of decarbonization, reported total emissions reductions of 15% last year, and cut carbon intensity (emissions per revenue) by one fifth. But wide differences exist. In the steel and electric utilities sectors, the data shows the best companies are up to 4 times as carbon efficient as the lowest performing. And just 35% of companies in the highest-impact industries are so-far disclosing data on their most important indirect Scope 3 emissions, which make up a minimum (and underreported) 80% of all total emissions reported. The report authors also modeled three potential scenarios for 2030, setting out alternative rates of acceleration in corporate target-setting. Based on this, capping warming at 1.5C would take an 8x increase in the current ambition level of European corporates on emissions.4 The scenarios are based on CDP scores, which give an overall indication of a company's current climate performance, and CDP temperature ratings, which assigns a temperature pathway to companies based on emissions reduction targets. The report also points to the key role banks and investors play in achieving this target. Currently, only half of institutions assess if clients or investee companies have Paris-aligned strategies. But without more engagement, the report estimates that in a 'modest acceleration' scenario banks may need to adjust their lending portfolios by 20-30% to meet their Paris goals. Overall, Europe's corporate sector is on track for 2.7 C of global warming by the end of the century with countries ranging from 2.3C (Switzerland) to 3.0C (United Kingdom, Belgium, Italy). The new report is presented today at the CDP Europe Awards , held with the European Investment Bank on Euronews, where speakers include Angela Merkel and the European Commissioner for Financial Stability, Financial Services and the Capital Markets Union. Maxfield Weiss, Executive Director of CDP Europe, said of the results: "The European corporate sector is running hot. Based on current ambition, it's on a 2.7C path of warming over a degree more than climate science says we need to achieve to prevent climate change's most catastrophic impacts. That leading corporates across many sectors are now setting ambitious targets and delivering emissions reductions is positive, and shows rapid decarbonization is doable. But with less than 1 in 10 companies having ambitious enough targets, our new data shows we need far more action from corporates and financial institutions to make good on our goals. Banks and investors have their own big ambitions: now we need them to engage companies more to raise the level of disclosure and action so we accelerate Europe's path to Paris and to deliver the European Green Deal." James Davis, Partner, Financial Services and Head of Sustainable Finance Europe, Oliver Wyman, added: "This year's paper includes encouraging developments, with more than half of companies setting out transition plans, and many making real strides in cutting emissions. But it also shows how much we need to hasten the pace if we are to hit the Paris targets. Many of the region's leading financial institutions have set out a big ambition to align their lending and investments with Paris and that will help create a virtuous circle - those companies who are getting ahead of the transition should find it easier to raise capital." The full CDP Europe Report is available for download here: www.cdp.net/europeanreport About CDP CDP is a global non-profit that runs the world's environmental disclosure system for companies, cities, states and regions. Founded in 2000 and working with over 590 investors with $110 trillion in assets, CDP pioneered using capital markets and corporate procurement to motivate companies to disclose their environmental impacts, and to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, safeguard water resources and protect forests. Over 10,000 organizations around the world disclosed data through CDP in 2020, including more than 9,600 companies worth over 50% of global market capitalization, and over 940 cities, states and regions, representing a combined population of over 2.6 billion. Fully TCFD aligned, CDP holds the largest environmental database in the world, and CDP scores are widely used to drive investment and procurement decisions towards a zero carbon, sustainable and resilient economy. CDP is a founding member of the Science Based Targets initiative, We Mean Business Coalition, The Investor Agenda and the Net Zero Asset Managers initiative. Visit cdp.net or follow us @CDP to find out more. About Oliver Wyman Oliver Wyman is a global leader in management consulting. With offices in 60 cities across 29 countries, Oliver Wyman combines deep industry knowledge with specialized expertise in strategy, operations, risk management, and organization transformation. The firm has more than 5,000 professionals around the world who work with clients to optimize their business, improve their operations and risk profile, and accelerate their organizational performance to seize the most attractive opportunities. Oliver Wyman is a business of Marsh & McLennan Companies [NYSE: MMC]. For more information, visit www.oliverwyman.com . Follow Oliver Wyman on Twitter @OliverWyman. 1 Based on disclosed emissions reduction target data analyzed by CDP and weighted by total emissions, using the CDP temperature ratings dataset . 2 Under 10% of companies, weighted by the amount they borrow from banks. 3 https://sciencebasedtargets.org/ 4 The potential scenarios modelled suggest that to reach the 1.5C target, a minimum of 65% of European companies would need to have targets in line with at least well-below 2 C, and 30% would require 1.5C targets. This compares to today's 8% and 7% figures. SOURCE Oliver Wyman Related Links www.oliverwyman.com Former Nepal PM Baburam Bhattarai speaking on the ongoing political crisis in his country. By Ashoke Raj New Delhi [India], March 2 (ANI): Nepal's former Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai on Tuesday thanked India for the help extended to the Himalayan nation during the COVID-19 pandemic. Former PM Bhattarai, who is in New Delhi for his medical check-up, said he wanted to thank India on behalf of the people of Nepal. "Thank you Indian government for providing Covid-19 vaccines. Nepal is feeling very happy and relief after getting vaccines," Baburam told ANI. Nepal last month received the second shipment of one million doses of the coronavirus vaccines. The AstraZeneca vaccine is manufactured by the Serum Institute of India (SII) under the name Covishield. Commenting on the rough patch between India and Nepal, the former Prime Minister said he tried to improve the relationship in the early days of his government. "The relationship was good in the beginning, later there were miscommunications in the Government of India and Nepal and the relations between two countries deteriorated," Bhattarai said. "I have been advocating always in favour of building good relation, good economy situations and strong security relation with Nepal and India," he added. Whether Chinese influence on Nepal affected India-Nepal relation, Bhattarai said, "It's not right. We've close people-to-people relation, economic and historical relations between us. How can it get affected due to someone else? Both sides must sit together to resolve it." (ANI) Jihadists, government forces and a "private militia" backing the authorities have indiscriminately killed hundreds of civilians in troubled northeastern Mozambique, Amnesty International said in a report Tuesday. Violence stoked by armed Islamists in gas-rich Cabo Delgado province has left at least 2,600 people dead since 2017, about half of them civilians, according to the NGO Armed Conflict Location and Event Data (ACLED). Local people are "caught between the Mozambican security forces, the private militia fighting alongside the government and the armed opposition group locally known as 'Al-Shabaab' -- none of which respect their right to life, or the rules of war", said Amnesty's regional chief, Deprose Muchena. "All three have committed war crimes, causing the deaths of hundreds of civilians." The watchdog said the government hired South African private military company Dyck Advisory Group (DAG) after it had "lost a number of battles" in its quest to regain control of the region. The mercenaries have fired guns from helicopters and dropped hand grenades indiscriminately into crowds, according to Amnesty. In a statement late on Tuesday, DAG said it would investigate the allegations, which were "of great concern" because it had detailed human rights policies and took its obligations seriously. "To this end we have commissioned an investigation to be conducted under the aegis of our company lawyers," it said, adding the investigators would include experts with backgrounds in policing, anti-terrorism and human rights. Government officials contacted by AFP refused to comment and Interior Minister Amade Miquidade did not answer calls. The authorities have previously denied their soldiers had committed any atrocities in Cabo Delgado. Amnesty said its analysis was based on interviews with dozens of people among almost 670,000 internally displaced people, as well as reviews of videos and pictures, including satellite imagery. Story continues Amnesty said it had probed an attack by helicopter at a hospital in the port town of Mocimboa da Praia last June, and schools had come under fire in other incidents. It said it had verified video of another incident in September, in which government troops beat a naked woman with a wooden stick, shooting her 36 times and leaving her body on the highway. - 'Summarily executed' - In another gruesome killing, security forces blindfolded and shot several men in Quissanga before dumping their bodies in a mass grave, Amnesty said. After that attack, "government security forces took women to be raped at the nearby base they had set up, where they also detained, beat, and summarily executed more men", it said. The jihadists are also accused of heinous acts of violence with machetes, including numerous beheadings and desecration of corpses. Concerns have grown that the use of foreign private militia in the conflict is exacerbating the crisis. Jasmine Opperman, a security expert and analyst for ACLED, said DAG's deployment was a "desperate attempt to get air support" by the government, as well as an attempt to dodge accountability. "They have transgressed the laws on many fronts," she said, urging Maputo to secure "direct support that is accountable at all costs". International Crisis Group consultant in Southern Africa Piers Pigou called for "credible investigations" into the allegations of atrocities. It was vital that "every effort is made to minimise possibilities of transgression," he added. ho-str-sn/jxb Man accused of assault on law enforcement officer at illegal Moscow rally faces trial RAPSI, Vladimir Burnov 17:27 02/03/2021 MOSCOW, March 2 (RAPSI) A case against Pavel Green-Romanov, a defendant in a case over assault on a National Guard officer at the unauthorized rally in Moscow in late January, has reached court. The case is to be heard by Moscows Meshchansky District Court, its press service has told RAPSI. According to investigators, the defendant used pepper spray against a National Guard officer on January 31. Green-Romanov pled guilty in full. He is in detention. Unauthorized rallies in support of Navalny were held in Moscow and other Russian cities in late January and early February. By John J. Ski Sygielski In an economy hit hard by the effects of COVID-19, it is more critical than ever for Pennsylvania to open its pocketbook in support of community colleges. As president and CEO of HACC, Central Pennsylvanias Community College the states first and largest community college I am made aware every day of the struggles our students face as they dedicate effort, scarce resources and limited time to create a better future for themselves and their loved ones. With our open admissions and open arms, community colleges are the Ellis Island of postsecondary education and training. For nearly six decades, community colleges responded quickly to the immediate needs of our business communities. For example, when the pandemic hit in March 2020, HACC quickly adapted to remote instruction for police, fire, emergency management services, paramedic and pre-hospital nursing students so that they could continue with their programs. Then, to meet Pennsylvanias need for more first responders on the front lines of the pandemic, we swiftly moved to implement strict policies and procedures to safely return these students to campus for classroom and hands-on training required for their certification. HACCs responsiveness to the current needs of the Pennsylvania economy reflects our mission to provide educational pathways and training for people from all walks of life. In 2018-19, HACC provided workforce training experiences to approximately 22,235 students, many of whom received customized training to meet the needs of their employers. In addition, HACC has more than 30 short-term programs, many of which are offered remotely and can lead to employment opportunities. Unfortunately, Gov. Wolfs proposed 2021-22 budget does not include operating or capital funding increases for community colleges. As budget deliberations begin, I implore our state legislators to recognize the vital role community colleges play in the recovery of our states economy. I strongly urge them to allocate necessary funds to keep our programs operating and provide resources available to the many citizens who are struggling to find the means to meet their most basic needs. For fiscal year 2021-22, community colleges are seeking a 5% increase in community college operating appropriations, from $243.8 million to $256 million, and asking to transfer $49.8 million to the community college capital fund. HACC and each of Pennsylvanias community colleges stand ready to provide the backbone of support for Pennsylvanias return to a thriving, innovative home for industry and businesses large and small. However, we cannot do it alone. We need increased state dollars to ensure our success. John J. Ski Sygielski, MBA, Ed.D., is president and CEO of HACC, Central Pennsylvanias Community College, and chair of the Pennsylvania Commission for Community Colleges Board of Directors. BRIDGEPORT The trial of a lawsuit challenging the selection of Rebeca Garcia as the Police Departments assistant chief has been continued for a second time. Superior Court Judge Barry Stevens on Tuesday granted a motion by the city to continue the trial to April 29 after the federal sentencings of the trials two star witnesses, former Police Chief Armando Perez and former Personnel Director David Dunn, were continued until April 11 and 12, respectively. Perez and Dunn are facing prison terms after they earlier pleaded guilty in federal court to conspiring to rig the examination process that made Perez chief and lying to the FBI about it. They were originally scheduled to be sentenced this month but requested continuances. Stevens had previously continued the trial from January to March to allow Perez and Dunn to be available to testify. Deputy City Attorney John Bohannon Jr. told Judge Stevens that he had spoken to the lawyers for Perez and Dunn and they had indicated that their clients desire to participate in the defense of this action, but both lawyers emphasized their professional preference and desire to maintain the status quo through conclusion of the sentencing process. Bohannon declined comment on Stevens decision. The suit was filed in December by captains Brian Fitzgerald, Steven Lougal and Roderick Porter. They claim that the appointment of Garcia to assistant chief is unlawful and invalid. She was made acting police chief following Perezs arrest. The lawsuit states that under the city charter the position of assistant chief is considered a classified service and must follow the competitive hiring provisions of the charter starting with a list of people eligible for the position and the scheduling of a competitive test for the job. The plaintiffs possess qualifications, in the least, equal to those of Captain Rebecca (sic) Garcia, and, under the City Charter must be allowed to compete for the position of assistant police chief, unless legitimately disqualified, the suit states. Thomas Bucci, who represents the three captains in the lawsuit, declined comment on the continuance. But in an objection filed in court, he argued there is no legal basis for Dunn and/or Perez to refuse to testify in the trial of this matter. The issues involved in this case are separate and distinct from the issues that gave rise to their guilty pleas for which they are awaiting sentencing. The preference and desire of counsel for Dunn and/or Perez to maintain the status quo through the conclusion of the sentencing process are not legitimate reasons to continue the trial, or for Dunn and/or Perez to refuse to testify at trial, or for Dunn and/or Perez to invoke their rights under the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution, Bucci stated. The Nagol is Back! VTOs guide to this years Nagol, plus where to stay and play in south, central and north Pentecost. Mumbai, March 2 : The Maharashtra Congress on Tuesday reiterated its demand to lodge a complaint in the Feb. 22 suicide of Union Territory of Dadra & Nagar Haveli's Independent MP Mohan Delkar, in a Mumbai hotel room. Raising the issue in the state legislature, state Congress President and MLA Nana Patole said that Delkar was a prominent tribal leader who was elected to parliament seven times. In his suicide note running into several pages, Delkar is understood to have named the UT's Administrator and former Bharatiya Janata Party's Gujarat minister Praful K. Patel, and some others. "He had raised the issue of how he was tortured, raise his grievances on several occasions, with the Prime Minister, Union Home Minister, the Lok Sabha and other platforms. Delkar tried to get justice...Finally, he decided to come to Mumbai and end his life," Patole said. Despite this, the Congress chief rued that no cognizance has been taken in the matter and he called upon the Maha Vikas Aghadi government to initiate immediate action against all the culprits Delkar has mentioned in his suicide note. Last Sunday, on the eve of the legislature session, Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray had raised the issue of Delkar's tragic end and solicited the cooperation of the PM if the Mumbai Police was required to visit the UT for the probe. Earlier, on Feb. 23, a delegation led by Maharashtra Congress Spokesperson Sachin Sawant had submitted a memorandum to state Home Minister Anil Deshmukh demanding a probe into the suicide of Delkar. Delkar had in a video-statement released mid-2020, explained how he was deeply dejected, depressed and under political duress, harassment by the various agencies and local police, first highlighted by IANS (Feb. 23), which probably drove him to take the extreme step on Feb. 22, shocking national political circles Mexico & Banderas Bay Area News Rehabilitation of Puerto Vallarta's Estero El Salado The rehabilitation of the 169 hectares urban eco-reserve represents an investment of 25 million pesos. Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, Mexico - On a working tour of this municipality last Friday, Governor Enrique Alfaro RamArez gave the green light for work to begin on a Master Plan for the restoration of the Estero El Salado in Puerto Vallarta. The estuary's rehabilitation plan, which represents "This investment is being made to recover our environmental capital in Puerto Vallarta, after all the work we did to expand the protection area of this estuary, now it is time for the recovery work, for equipping the facilities that are already here, so that the Estero El Salado will be a space that the people of Puerto Vallarta can enjoy, while protecting the environment and the ecological balance," explained the Governor. Governor Alfaro added that this intervention will be an important step in the preservation of the estuary. The first phase contemplates the rehabilitation of the entrance in order to improve security and universal accessibility; improving the entrance bay for the ascent and descent of people, creating a new multi functional plaza, tending to the walkways & docks, and the implementation of a management policy. The second phase is the area of the observation tower, which will be completely renovated. The new tower will have an elevator and a forklift with a universal access approach for people with disabilities. The perimeter fencing will also be renovated. The estuary's landscape and habitat characteristics are favorable to tropical birds, clusters of colorful crabs, amphibians and reptiles - including crocodiles - and other wildlife species. For his part, then municipal president, Arturo DAvalos PeAa, said that the Estero El Salado is a natural lung that the municipality has in the urban area, and that for that reason environmental groups and citizens defend its preservation. "Today we are going to start works that are going to be very important and that are going to detonate so that citizens, tourists, boys and girls can come to take tours... and how great that it is also self-sufficient... but what this is all about, is that we are going to take care of it, to ensure that it is functional and that it continues to be protected," emphasized the former mayor. Jaime Alberto Torres Guerrero, director of the Estero El Salado, said that the area is now ready for intervention, as is his team, who will supervise the works in the master plan. More Information: a Among the objectives of the project are: to preserve the natural area, to carry out scientific research, and to promote care for the environment among the people who come to visit the estuary, both Puerto Vallarta residents and tourists. a In developing the Master Plan, the Secretariat for Planning and Citizen Participation carried out a public consultation in order to listen to the voices of environmentalists, visitors and the general population that is interested in the issues of protection, dissemination and promotion of the natural wonders that inhabit the ecosystem. a Similarly, Semadet and SIOP carried out a socialization process with the Scientific Council, the Municipal Ecology Council, collectives and civil associations. Source: jalisco.gob.mx - On a working tour of this municipality last Friday, Governor Enrique Alfaro RamArez gave the green light for work to begin on a Master Plan for the restoration of the Estero El Salado in Puerto Vallarta.The estuary's rehabilitation plan, which represents an investment of 25 million pesos, was agreed upon through public consultation with the neighbors, universities and environmentalists, who demanded that the works respect the ecological balance of the Protected Natural Area."This investment is being made to recover our environmental capital in Puerto Vallarta, after all the work we did to expand the protection area of this estuary, now it is time for the recovery work, for equipping the facilities that are already here, so that the Estero El Salado will be a space that the people of Puerto Vallarta can enjoy, while protecting the environment and the ecological balance," explained the Governor.Governor Alfaro added that this intervention will be an important step in the preservation of the estuary.The first phase contemplates the rehabilitation of the entrance in order to improve security and universal accessibility; improving the entrance bay for the ascent and descent of people, creating a new multi functional plaza, tending to the walkways & docks, and the implementation of a management policy.The second phase is the area of the observation tower, which will be completely renovated. The new tower will have an elevator and a forklift with a universal access approach for people with disabilities. The perimeter fencing will also be renovated.For his part, then municipal president, Arturo DAvalos PeAa, said that the Estero El Salado is a natural lung that the municipality has in the urban area, and that for that reason environmental groups and citizens defend its preservation."Today we are going to start works that are going to be very important and that are going to detonate so that citizens, tourists, boys and girls can come to take tours... and how great that it is also self-sufficient... but what this is all about, is that we are going to take care of it, to ensure that it is functional and that it continues to be protected," emphasized the former mayor.Jaime Alberto Torres Guerrero, director of the Estero El Salado, said that the area is now ready for intervention, as is his team, who will supervise the works in the master plan.a Among the objectives of the project are: to preserve the natural area, to carry out scientific research, and to promote care for the environment among the people who come to visit the estuary, both Puerto Vallarta residents and tourists.a In developing the Master Plan, the Secretariat for Planning and Citizen Participation carried out a public consultation in order to listen to the voices of environmentalists, visitors and the general population that is interested in the issues of protection, dissemination and promotion of the natural wonders that inhabit the ecosystem.a Similarly, Semadet and SIOP carried out a socialization process with the Scientific Council, the Municipal Ecology Council, collectives and civil associations. Site Map Print this Page Email Us Top She was seen later that evening just missing her current boyfriend at Nobu in Malibu. But earlier in the day on Monday, Kourtney Kardashian was spotted heading to a dermatology appointment in Beverly Hills, California. The Keeping Up With The Kardashians star, 41, donned a white hoodie sweatshirt and formfitting black sweatpants for the outing. On Monday: Kourtney Kardashian was spotted heading to a dermatology appointment in Beverly Hills She kept a low profile in rectangular chunky sunshades and a black face mask to protect from the coronavirus pandemic. Kourtneys long, straight dark hair flowed down over her shoulders all the way past her elbows. She shouldered a black knapsack, and was later seen holding a white tote shopping bag. Keeping it casual: The Keeping Up With The Kardashians star, 41, donned a white hoodie sweatshirt and formfitting black sweatpants for the outing The eldest Kardashian sister chose expensive footwear for her trip to the doctors. She was seen wearing tan, white and black Nike Jordan 1 Retro Low OG SP Travis Scott sneakers, which can be valued up to the vicinity of $1,000 per pair. Kourt made sure to show off the fancy kicks on her Instagram Story on Monday. Expensive kicks: Kourt was seen wearing Nike Jordan 1 Retro Low OG SP Travis Scott sneakers, which she made sure to show off on her Instagram Story on Monday Kardashian is currently dating former Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker. Barker was seen arriving at Nobu for dinner on Monday night about an hour after Kourtney left with her eldest son Mason, 11, whom she shares with ex Scott Disick. Also on Monday, the reality superstar posed on the Instagram account for her lifestyle brand Poosh in a dusty pink bra and panty set with her younger son Reign Aston, six. Also on Monday: The reality superstar posed on the Instagram account for her lifestyle brand Poosh in a dusty pink bra and panty set with her younger son Reign Kardashian and Disick share their two sons, along with daughter Penelope Scotland, eight. The pair were together, on and off, from 2006 until 2015. And while Kourtney is currently enjoying her new romance with Travis, her ex has moved on to a new hot young flame since splitting from Sophia Richie last year. Disick, 37, has been seeing Real Housewife of Beverly Hills Lisa Rinnas 19-year-old daughter, Amelia Gray Hamlin. The Nagol is Back! VTOs guide to this years Nagol, plus where to stay and play in south, central and north Pentecost. New Delhi: The Delhi Police on Tuesday (March 2, 2021) afternoon closed the Ghazipur border, hours after it reopened a portion of NH-9 for the traffic movement. The one side of the National Highway (NH)-9 which goes towards Ghaziabad from Delhi was opened for traffic around 2 AM on Tuesday. The stretch has been closed since January 26 when violence broke out during the farmers' tractor rally in Delhi on Republic Day. This is to be noted that thousands of farmers have been protesting against the Centre's three new farm laws since late November 2020, at various borders of the national capital. They are agitating against these three laws - the Farmers' Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020; the Farmers Empowerment and Protection Agreement of Price Assurance and Farm Services Act 2020; and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020. Live TV When Vladimir Putin demonized LGBTQ people as part of his 2012 presidential re-election campaign and subsequently imposed regressive laws forbidding the positive portrayal of homosexuality in Russia (the infamous Law for the Purpose of Protecting Children from Information Advocating for a Denial of Traditional Family Values, or gay propaganda law), some commentators began referring to a pink curtain. It was a somewhat ironic nod to the iron curtain label applied to the totalitarian Soviet Union during the Cold War of the 20th century. Other eastern European right-wing politicians followed Putins lead in scapegoating and demonizing queer people as part of their bids for power lent further validity to the label. On the flip side, some commentators began referring to the rainbow curtain encompassing the more liberal and tolerant Western European countries. There was a certain validity to these descriptors, but South African journalist Mark Gevisser draws a more analytically useful distinction in his use of the term the Pink Line. He argues that the critical distinction is not simply between a tolerant West and an intolerant East. Its far more complex than that. There is a line one that is moving, shifting, and intensely contested but it cannot be drawn so neatly on a map. The Pink Line, he writes, divides those places increasingly integrating queer people into their societies as full citizens, and those finding new ways to shut them out now that they had come into the open. As much as that line appears in many cases to coincide with national borders, it operates on multiple levels, he explains. It can be drawn in places like Israel that might respect the rights of one group of queer people (gay Israelis) while treating another group (gay Palestinians) differently. It can be drawn in different counties of the United States, where one school board might adopt policies to support trans children with inclusive bathroom policies, while a neighbouring school board might do the opposite and push them out by imposing discriminatory rules. In countries where homosexuality is illegal, the Pink Line could distinguish more permissive large cities often havens of cosmopolitan liberalism from their more restrictive rural counterparts. Or it could work in the opposite direction, manifesting in rural communities where Indigenous queer and gender non-conforming traditions are still respected, in contrast to large centres where police might actively be engaging in witch-hunts against expressions of queer identity. It can even emerge inside families, manifesting in parents who could be okay with their kid being gay but not with them wanting to take puberty blockers as part of a gender transition. There is a line, but its a more amorphous and complex one than many people realize. Gevisser has been writing about the Pink Line since 2012 for a variety of publications. The author of Defiant Desire Gay and Lesbian Lives in South Africa (Routledge, 1995) in addition to other books on South African politics, hes now compiled his globe-spanning body of research on the subject into a masterful book-length study that offers one of the broadest and most insightful surveys yet of queer struggles around the world. The Pink Line: Journeys Across the Worlds Queer Frontiers combines analysis and reportage to help readers understand the complex ways in which this Pink Line is manifesting and changing in todays world. The strength of Gevissers work lies in the power of his reportage. Analytical chapters alternate with extended reportage, constructing narratives of queer life that are rich, detailed, and deeply compelling. Unlike other journalists who base books on short stints in the field, Gevissers work in this area spans over a decade, so the stories he tells offer a much more informed and insightful glimpse into the complexity of queer life around the world. His story of Amira and Maha, two Egyptian lesbians, spans the moment they met through their participation in the Egyptian revolution of 2011, their opening of a queer cafe in 2012, their closure of the cafe in the face of rising homophobic violence (spurred on in great part by the present military regime which seized power in 2013), and their escape from Cairo and resettlement in Amsterdam as refugees. These stories dont necessarily have happy endings: the strain of those years took its toll and the couple split up by the end of the account, Amira returning to Egypt and Maha remaining in Amsterdam, deeply depressed by her daily experience of racism as a refugee in the Netherlands. Still, the story of their relationship and their struggle cant help but inspire their vibrant personalities and demands for recognition bursting from the page. Another journalist might have produced an entire feature on any one aspect of their story, but providing the entirety of the story renders the authentic complexity of queer lives much more visible. There are no easy answers to problems faced by protagonists along the Pink Line, and the responses they come up with are complex and complicated, imperfect and fraught with danger. Knowing and understanding that is vital to producing effective responses to the very real problems generated by the Pink Line. Theres a lot packed into this study, which touches not just on the reality of queer experience in different parts of the globe but also on refugees and activists broader challenges in those areas. In the opening chapter, Gevisser follows the story of Tiwonge Chimbalanga, a trans woman from Malawi who was arrested after marrying a man (gay marriage, and homosexuality more broadly, is illegal in Malawi, which doesnt recognize trans identities either) and sentenced to 14 years hard labour. After international pressure was applied, she was pardoned Malawis president made it clear on national television he was doing it under pressure and resettled as a refugee in South Africa. Gevisser relates the complexity of her resettlement: her dependence on donations from the United Nations and well-intentioned supporters (including Gevisser himself); her struggle to achieve financial autonomy while rightly feeling the world owes her for the hardship shes endured; challenges with alcoholism; navigating her rightful demand for dignity with the reality of a world that responds to refugees who have lost everything by turning its back on them and ignoring them. Refugee stories are complicated, and Gevisser doesnt shy away from presenting them in their full complexity: with respect, honesty, and a sympathetic ear toward the untenable position refugees find themselves in. Gevisser constructs a broad and holistic picture of the global nature of the fight against homo-/transphobia. His in-depth reportage explores the lives of queer protagonists in Malawi, Egypt, South Africa, Russia, Mexico, Israel, Palestine, India, and the United States. These in-depth features of peoples lives are supplemented with political analyses of neighbouring countries and regions. The picture that emerges is that of a profound, viciously fought global battle in which queer people gay men, lesbians, trans and gender non-conforming people are fighting for their lives, dignity, and rights while also being deliberately scapegoated and targeted by authoritarian right-wing regimes around the world. In country after country Russia, Hungary, Poland, Egypt, Turkey, Brazil, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines; the list goes on right-wing populists have seized power in considerable part by mobilizing hatred against queer people. Local tactics vary from depicting queer people as traitors and enemies within to the more seemingly sympathetic approach of pathologizing queer identities as a disease to be treated lest it infect the nation but they all form a common playbook from which authoritarian regimes draw. How these geopolitical struggles impact the lives of queer people vary. For example, Israel prides itself on being a model of liberal tolerance in the otherwise mostly authoritarian Middle East, cultivating a vibrant queer culture (albeit one challenged, sometimes violently, by Orthodox Jewish radicals and militants). Yet the Israeli secret service has also actively deployed programs to find, entrap and blackmail gay Palestinians as a way of gathering intelligence. Even the authoritarian playbook finds a social utility in queers from time to time, beyond scapegoating them. While many authoritarian regimes argue queer people comprise an external threat to the nation, some right-wing politicians in Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands have flipped the argument on its head and use gay rights as an excuse to promote Islamophobia, arguing that queer positivity is an intrinsically European value that immigrants and refugees will threaten. Media and popular culture also play a critical role in the Pink Line operation, Gevisser observes. In the twenty-first century, the Pink Line is not so much a line as a territory, he writes. It is a borderland where queer people try to reconcile the liberation and community they might have experienced online or on TV or in safe spaces, with the constrains of the street and the workplace, the courtroom and the living room. It is a place where queer people shuttle across time zones each time they look up from their smartphones at the people gathered around the family table; as they climb the steps from the underground nightclub back into the nation-state. In one zone, time quickens, in the other it dawdles; spending your life criss-crossing from zone to zone can make you quite dizzy. Indeed, its often the visibility of queer identities that most worry authoritarian regimes. China is a case in point: the country decriminalized homosexual sex in 1997 and depathologized homosexuality in 2001. But as queer culture became visible and prominent, the regime got frightened and has responded with a sharp about-turn, banning abnormal sexual relationships on both traditional and online social media in the past five years, and going to extreme lengths to reinforce binary gender identities. Ta Cuong, and now the Taipan Discovery Zone, have the potential to add to Blackstones growing massive sulphide mining inventory, providing further impetus for the restart of the existing 450,000 tonnes concentrator. Blackstone is advancing the Ta Khoa Project in Vietnam through to a pre-feasibility study ( ) ( ) (FRA:B9S) substantial holder Delphi Unternehmensberatung AG has increased its stake in the nickel sulphide explorer to 14.48% from 13.43%. This move further demonstrates the German investor's strong support of junior resource companies with solid exploration success, strong projects and firm development plans. Delphi increased its substantial status through a series of on-market and off-market purchases from November 30 to February 24. The Heidelberg-based investor and its related entities now hold more than 46.59 million shares in Blackstone. Follow-up drilling planned at Ta Cuong Blackstone recently discovered significant new sulphide mineralisation in a previously untested zone within the Ta Cuong Prospect at its Ta Khoa Nickel Sulphide Project in Vietnam. Ta Cuong, and now the Taipan Discovery Zone (TDZ) within it, have the potential to add significantly to Blackstones massive sulphide mining inventory at Ta Khoa, providing further impetus for the restart of the existing 450,000 tonnes per annum concentrator. Follow-up drilling is being planned to test several proximal electromagnetic (EM) geophysics targets as well as the extent of the intensely mineralised TDZ. The company expects to provide an update regarding ongoing drilling at Ta Cuong, the anticipated King Snake assays, along with results from infill drilling at Ban Chang and Ban Phuc DSS over the coming weeks. [March 02, 2021] Covectra Strengthens Board of Directors with Two New Key Appointments WESTBOROUGH, Mass., March 2, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Covectra, a leader in serialization and track & trace solutions, announced the appointment of Renaat Van den Hooff and Gary Miloscia to its Board of Directors, effective February 15, 2021. "On behalf of the entire Board of Directors, it is a pleasure to welcome Renaat and Gary, two highly accomplished industry veterans, to our team," said Steve Wood, President and Chief Executive Officer of Covectra. "Their collective experience across a range of diverse strategic roles will be highly instrumental as we continue to advance our product development and build out our pipeline. I look forward to working with them and leveraging their unique expertise." Mr. Van den Hooff brings to the Covectra Board of Directors over 35 years of global operating experience in the healthcare industry, with specific expertise in consumer pharmaceuticals, medical devices and supplies/services for the pharmaceutical industry. He held various senior leadership positions, as CEO and board member of Temptime Corporation and as President and CEO of a public startup healthcare compan that developed and sold innovative wound care products. He had a 20-year career with Johnson & Johnson, serving the latter time there as President of the J&J-Merck consumer pharmaceuticals joint venture worldwide. Mr. Van den Hoof has also been involved for almost 20 years with the National Multiple Sclerosis Foundation where he has served on the Board of Trustees and chaired multiple strategic committees supporting the CEO. He holds a Bachelor's degree from VLEKHO and a Masters degree from the Vlerick School of Management at the University of Ghent, Belgium. Mr. Gary Miloscia has over 22 years of experience in a number of management positions. He currently serves as CFO for Covectra ,where he is responsible for all strategic business and financial planning and analysis as well as marketing activities. Prior to joining Covectra, he held senior level positions at Fidelity Investments, Health Dialog and American Express. Mr. Miloscia holds a Bachelor of Science in Finance from Rutgers University and an MBA in Finance from the Indiana University Kelley School of Business. About Covectra Covectra provides complete serialization, track & trace, and authentication technologies to secure, trace and manage products across the entire supply chain, extending to the unit dose level. Transforming supply chains with end unit traceability from the packaging line to the cloud, we enable customers to ensure brand protection, product safety and supply chain integrity in the pharmaceutical, food & beverage, luxury goods, and tobacco industries. With over 3 billion serial numbers issued worldwide, Covectra helps to combat counterfeiting & product diversion and to facilitate product recalls. To learn more, visit us at www.covectra.com, or follow us on Twitter at @COVECTRA1 and LinkedIn. FOR MEDIA INQUIRIES: Laura MacSweeney Red Javelin 339-221-0614 laura@redjavelin.com View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/covectra-strengthens-board-of-directors-with-two-new-key-appointments-301238609.html SOURCE Covectra [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] AstraZeneca vaccines have not yet been recommended for over-65s - Hauke-Christian Dittrich/Pool via REUTERS Germany was under pressure to change its Covid vaccination strategy on Sunday after the country's top vaccine regulator acknowledged that advice against giving the AstraZeneca jab to over 65s had been flawed. The announcement came as a term of German scientists called on the government to follow the UK in delaying second doses after a study showed it could save up to 15,000 lives. Thomas Mertens, the head of Germanys Standing Committee on Vaccination (Stiko), said on Saturday that the country was likely to change its controversial guidelines against not to give the AstraZeneca vaccine to over 65s, saying errors had been made. Promising a new, updated recommendation very soon, Mertens said: somehow the whole thing went very badly. We had the data that we had and based on this data we made the recommendation. But we never criticized the vaccine. We only criticised the fact that the data situation for the age group over 65 was not good or not sufficient, he said on Germanys ZDF news network. Mr Mertens said the commission believed the AstraZeneca vaccine was very good and that their opinion of the vaccine was now even better with the addition of the new data. Sitko's refusal to approve AstraZeneca for over 65s, despite its approval by the European Medicines Agency for anyone over 18, led to a backlash against the vaccine in Germany. Around three quarters of the country's 1.4 million delivered doses are still sitting in cold storage as a result. It emerged this week that four out of five AstraZeneca vaccine doses delivered to EU countries are yet to be used. Markus Soder, the prime minister of Bavaria, on Sunday joined his counterparts in Baden-Wuerttemberg, Hamburg and Saxony to demand the doses should be made available immediately. "Rather than have it lying around, it should be used to vaccinate whoever wants it. No dose should be left over or thrown away. Everyone who is vaccinated protects himself and others," he said in an interview with Bild. Story continues In total, 11 of the 27 EU member states initially declined to recommend the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine for the elderly, including Italy, Spain, France, Germany, Belgium, Greece, Denmark, The Netherlands, Sweden, Poland and Austria. Austria last week however said it would reverse its decision, while France has indicated it will reopen the approval process to consider recommending the vaccine for seniors. French President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday said he would gladly take the AstraZeneca vaccine, just a few weeks after claiming the vaccine was quasi-ineffective for over 65s. Meanwhile, a team of pandemic researchers said delaying the second dose of the BioNTech-Pfizer and Moderna vaccines beyond the current 28 days would speed up the vaccination process, provide greater protection for the population and result in up to 10,000 or 15,000 fewer deaths in Germany. A study by a team from Berlins Humbolt University and the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research concluded delaying the second dose would also prevent vaccine mutations from continuing to gain traction. French president Emmanuel Macron was criticised for questioning the Astra Zeneca jab's effectiveness - REUTERS/ BENOIT TESSIER Dirk Brockmann, a Berlin-based pandemic researcher, told Germanys Deutsche Welle news service on Sunday that a change in strategy would boost the countrys lagging vaccination rollout. According to that data, there is complete protection against death from Covid in the risk groups after the first dose. That's a huge success, said Prof Brockmann. "We are now seeing the third wave, so this change could protect a lot more people in the high-risk groups from death and serious illness," he said. Germanys vaccination advisory committee is reportedly considering extending the time between the first and second doses to 60 or even 90 days. The UK has now administered first vaccines to 20 million people, 37 per cent of its population. The majority of the doses are AstraZeneca, with doses administered 12 weeks apart. Studies have found that giving the doses further apart than the original four weeks which was planned provides a stronger immune response, especially in the elderly. Last week research tracking the population of Scotland found the AstraZeneca vaccine cut hospital admissions by 94 per cent. Less data is available on the rate at which the vaccine has cut infections and transmission, but last week Public Health England said the trends were in line with those found for the Pfizer jabs, where one dose has cut infections by between 57 and 70 per cent. The criminal justice system has challenges when it comes to clients like Ms. Hartman. We have to find the appropriate services. Prison and jail are not the answer for someone like her, she said. That doesnt solve the problem. There is no answer in locking someone up with her particular issues or clients like her ... so we have to find a different solution. 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. Fiscal Y-T-D Sales Total $4.7 Million CHICO, CA / ACCESSWIRE / March 2, 2021 / AmeraMex International, Inc. (OTCQB:AMMX), a provider of heavy equipment for logistics companies, infrastructure construction and forestry conservation, announced that it has received equipment orders totaling $407,000. Sales, year-to-date, total $4.7 million. The first order is for three Yard Trucks being shipped to a commercial freight yard. The truck is designed for moving trailers in or around freight yards. It is built to accommodate a hydraulic lifting fifth wheel allowing the operator to move trailers without exiting the cab or cranking the landing gear. Once a trailer has been moved the operator can lower the trailer back to the ground and uncouple the fifth wheel without leaving the cab. Fully loaded yard truck. The second order is for a Taylor TX330 33,000- pound capacity forklift. The forklift is being shipped to a trucking company in California. The third order is for a new ASV RT-120 Forestry Skid Steer. The RT-120 is shipping to a fencing contractor in Central California for forestry conservation. The RT-120 Forestry features a rated operating capacity of 3,745 pounds and a tipping load of 10,700 pounds. It offers ASV's patented Posi-Track rubber-track suspension and includes both suspended wheels and axles, allowing it to achieve faster speeds. This machine offers a fully-flexible 20" tracks with 15 inches of ground clearance. The fourth order is for a Yard Truck shipping to a commercial farmer in Northern California. All equipment is expected to ship before the end of the month. 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, www.AMMX.net 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 or Marty@McCloudCommunications.com SOURCE: AmeraMex International, Inc. View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/632901/AmeraMex-International-Receives-Orders-Totaling-407000 Natalie Winters in an interview with The Epoch Tims' Crossroads on Feb. 28, 2021. (Screenshot/The Epoch Times) CCP Uses Private Dinners and Paid Trips to Influence Media and Politicians: Investigative Reporter The Chinese regime uses private dinners and paid trips to push for favorable reports or policies from the media and politicians, according to Natalie Winters, an investigative reporter with The National Pulse. We uncovered that an organization by the name of the China-United States Exchange Foundation [CUSEF] specifically seeks to co-opt and neutralize any opposition to the Chinese Communist Party [CCP], and really target elites in the West to push policies that advance the desires of the Chinese Communist Party, Winters told The Epoch Times Crossroads. Winters pointed out that CUSEF has been identified repeatedly by the U.S. government as working with Chinas United Front Work Department, an affiliate of the CCP central committee. The CUSEF was established in 2008 in Hong Kong, labeled as an independent, non-profit and non-governmental foundation committed to the belief that a positive and peaceful relationship between China and the United States. They were paying journalists, reporters, editors from basically every Western media outletNewsweek, even Fox, CNN, Washington Postall these outlets that love to lecture us on journalistic integrity, to take trips to China to tour not only military facilities, tour Huawei, meet with Chinese Communist Party officials, Winters said. And in exchange, when you read the Foreign Agent Registration Act filings, you see that they were forced to essentially provide favorable coverage and disseminate positive information with regards to China, she added. Winters pointed out that these activities were aided and abetted by Western lobbying firms, specifically BLJ Worldwide. In a Foreign Agent Registration Act (FARA) filing (pdf) last year BLJ Worldwide stated: BLJ has also helped CUSEF to engage openly with academic and thought leaders, including through the use of salon-style dinners. We also supported trips to China for the following media outlets Winters suggested that the media and universities, Hollywood, and current and former officials have taken such trips to China and have been given a very curated view of the CCP. So no wonder why they treat it with such kid gloves and are very kind to them, Winters said. Winters suggested that the media treats China softly when reporting the genocide of Uyghurs. Sometimes media also refuse to cover certain stories, such as the recent controversy over Hunter Bidens hard drive, she said. This isnt just my opinion or conspiracy theories. These are within the Foreign Agent Registration Act filings. These are explicitly what theyre hired to do, what theyre supposed to do, Winters added. Even [President] Joe Biden actually met with the chairman of the organization when he visited China in 2013. That same trip he conveniently saw his son ink a very lucrative deal with the Bank of China and other entities, she said. The CUSEF chairman is Tung Chee Hwa, first chief executive to Hong Kong and currently a vice chairman of the Chinese Peoples Political Consultative Conference. When the Chinese Communist Party attempts to overtake the United States, its not that they necessarily want to fly a Chinese flag over the White House, Winters continued. They just want everybody whos in that White House to somehow have liaised with them, whether through an organization like CUSEF, they want them to come from university programs that have been entirely funded and bankrolled by the Chinese Communist Party. Winters also pointed out that the Congressional Black Caucus, which is made up of most African American Congress members, had a very intense relationship with CUSEF for around a decade. Members of this caucus, which include [Vice President] Kamala Harris, include Squad members like [Rep.] Ilhan Omar, they have actually sent their student-age constituents to China on these sponsored trips, the same ones that the media outlets have been going on, Winters added. They toured Huawei facilities. Its absolutely astounding. Winters said that many students who go on these trips write blog posts for the CUSEF website. And in one of the posts, one of the poor girls who went on the trip, she actually talked about how China is an amazing communist country that outperforms the United States in virtually every level, Winters added. So that is propaganda at its absolute finest. CUSEF supported student visits to China. (Screenshot/FARA filing on May 15, 2019) Winters also pointed out that the first group of students that went to China was called the Marcia Fudge Inaugural Cohort because Rep. Marcia Fudge (D-Ohio) spearheaded the whole effort. Fudge was nominated by Biden to be secretary of Housing and Urban Development. That is not something that I would want my name on or anywhere near or subject my constituents to, Winters said. Absolutely bizarre. CUSEF is not the only organization that works for the CCP. On Dec. 4, 2020, the Trump administration terminated five China-funded propaganda programs, including CUSEF. Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the five programs are disguised as cultural exchanges and are fully funded and operated by the PRC government as soft power propaganda tools. AUSTIN, Texas - Texas is lifting its mask mandate, Gov. Greg Abbott said Tuesday, making it the largest state to no longer require one of the most effective ways to slow the spread of the coronavirus. A mask required sign is displayed on the entrance to a business Tuesday, March 2, 2021, in Dallas. (AP Photo/LM Otero) AUSTIN, Texas - Texas is lifting its mask mandate, Gov. Greg Abbott said Tuesday, making it the largest state to no longer require one of the most effective ways to slow the spread of the coronavirus. The announcement in Texas, where the virus has killed more than 43,000 people, rattled doctors and big city leaders who said they are now bracing for another deadly resurgence. One hospital executive in Houston said he told his staff they would need more personnel and ventilators. Federal health officials this week urgently warned states to not let their guard down, warning that the pandemic is far from over. To prevent the spread of Covid-19, travelers wear masks as the make their way through Love Field Tuesday, March 2, 2021, in Dallas. (AP Photo/LM Otero) Abbott, a Republican, has faced sustained criticism from his party in America's biggest red state over the statewide mask mandate which was imposed eight months ago as well as business occupancy limits that Texas will also scuttle next week. The mask order was only ever lightly enforced, even during the worst outbreaks of the pandemic. Removing statewide mandates does not end personal responsibility, said Abbott, speaking from the crowded dining room of a restaurant in Lubbock, surrounded by several people not wearing masks. Its just that now state mandates are no longer needed, he said. The repeals take effect March 10. FILE - In this Feb. 16, 2021, file photo, Scotty Davis, right, waits for his to-go order in a dark restaurant during a cold weather blackout in Richardson, Texas. Texas on Tuesday, March 2, 2021, became the biggest state to lift its mask rule, joining a growing movement by governors and other leaders across the U.S. to loosen COVID-19 restrictions despite pleas from health officials not to let down their guard yet. (AP Photo/LM Otero, File) The full impact of Texas' reversal was still coming into focus. Target, one of the nation's biggest retailers, said it would continue requiring customers to wear masks in Texas. Mark Cuban, owner of the NBA's Dallas Mavericks, said he had no immediate plans to change the limits on fans at the American Airlines Center, where the biggest crowd so far this season was about 3,000 spectators. Restaurant owners began confronting whether they, too, would relax COVID-19 safeguards in their dining rooms that were already allowed to be almost fully open. School administrators scrambled to figure out the ramifications for the state's 5 million public school students. Local officials will have some ability to impose new rules if cases spike, Abbott said, but those powers will be limited. While weve made significant progress, Id hate to have that go away, said Tinku Saini, the CEO of Tarka Indian Kitchen, which has locations across Texas. He said he would now allow customers to go maskless but still require face coverings for staff. At Bobs Steak & Chop House in Dallas, founder Bob Sambol welcomed the ability to make decisions for his own restaurant again, even though he has not decided what approach he'll take. I have a week, thank God," Sambol said. A customer enters a store with a face mask required sign displayed Tuesday, March 2, 2021, in Dallas. Texas is lifting a COVID-19 mask mandate that was imposed last summer but has only been lightly enforced. Republican Gov. Greg Abbotts announcement Tuesday makes Texas the largest state to do away with a face covering order. (AP Photo/LM Otero) Abbott joins a growing number of governors across the U.S. who are easing coronavirus restrictions. Like the rest of the country, Texas has seen the number of cases and deaths plunge. Hospitalizations are at the lowest levels since October, and the seven-day rolling average of positive tests has dropped to about 7,600 cases, down from more than 10,000 in mid-February. Only California and New York have reported more COVID-19 deaths than Texas. Absolutely reckless, California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, tweeted in response to Abbotts announcement. Texas is fully reopening just ahead of the spring break holiday, which health experts worry could lead to more spread. Abbotts rollbacks come just as the U.S. is picking up the pace of vaccinating people -- with victory over the virus in sight. In Texas, 7.1% of its nearly 30 million residents have been fully vaccinated, according to state data reported to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Bartender Alyssa Dooley talks with customers at Mo's Irish Pub, Tuesday, March 2, 2021, in Houston. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott announced that he is lifting business capacity limits and the state's mask mandate starting next week. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip) The fact that things are headed in the right direction doesn't mean we have succeeded in eradicating the risk," said Dr. Lauren Ancel Meyers, a professor of integrative biology and director of the University of Texas COVID-19 Modeling Consortium. She said the recent deadly winter freeze in Texas that left millions of people without power forcing families to shelter closely with others who still had heat could amplify transmission of the virus in the weeks ahead, although it remains too early to tell. Masks, she said, are one of the most effective strategies to curb the spread. The top county leader in Houston, Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo, said at best the reversal was wishful thinking. At worst, it is a cynical attempt to distract Texans from the failures of state oversight of our power grid," said Hidalgo, a Democrat. Dr. Joseph Varon, chief medical officer at Houstons United Memorial Medical Center, said he called the hospitals top leaders immediately after Abbotts announcement and said they will need more staff and ventilators. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott delivers an announcement, broadcasted on the TV in the background, as a crowd watches him make it at Montelongo's Mexican Restaurant on Tuesday, March 2, 2021, in Lubbock, Texas. Governor Abbott announced that he is rescinding executive orders that limit capacities for businesses and the statewide mask mandate. (Justin Rex/Lubbock Avalanche-Journal via AP) I am just concerned that I am going to have a tsunami of new cases, Varon said. I truly hope I am wrong. But unfortunately history seems to repeat itself. Early in the pandemic, Abbott stripped local officials of their power to implement tougher COVID-19 restrictions, but now says counties can impose mitigation strategies" if virus hospitalizations exceed 15% of all hospital capacity in their region. However, Abbott forbade local officials from imposing penalties for not wearing a face covering. Retailers and other businesses will also still be allowed to impose capacity limits and other restrictions on their own. Abbott imposed the statewide mask mandate in July during a deadly summer surge. But enforcement was spotty at best, and some sheriffs refused to police the restrictions at all. And as the pandemic dragged on, Abbott ruled out a return to tough COVID-19 rules, arguing that lockdowns do not work. Politically, the restrictions elevated tensions between Abbott and his own party, with the head of the Texas GOP at one point leading a protest outside the governor's mansion. Meanwhile, mayors in Texas' biggest cities argued that Abbott wasn't doing enough. Most of the country has lived under mask mandates during the pandemic, with at least 37 states requiring face coverings to some degree. But those orders are increasingly falling by the wayside: North Dakota, Montana and Iowa have also lifted mask orders in recent weeks. In Texas, it was only last week that emergency restrictions on restaurants and businesses were relaxed in the Rio Grande Valley, which has been walloped by the virus like few other places in America. I appreciate Governor Abbott's desire to return to normalcy, but I remain concerned that, at least in Hidalgo County, we may be moving too quickly," Hidalgo County Judge Richard Cortez said. Associated Press writers Nomaan Merchant and Juan A. Lozano in Houston; Jake Bleiberg, Schuyler Dixon and Terry Wallace in Dallas; and Jim Vertuno in Austin contributed to this report. GREENVILLE The FBI has charged a Greer man in connection with the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol after a special agent testified Tuesday that a tipster pointed out a string of messages he sent to family members boasting about the attack and claiming he stole items from Capitol Police. William Robert Norwood III, 37, faces four charges related to the riot, including theft of government property for allegedly stealing an officer's helmet and tactical vest, which an FBI agent said were later found in a storage trailer in Greenville. Norwood also faces charges of obstruction of Congress, violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds, and knowingly entering or remaining in any restricted building or grounds without lawful authority. After a lengthy bond hearing at the Federal Courthouse in Greenville on March 2, U.S. Magistrate Judge Kevin McDonald ordered Norwood be kept in detention. Norwood was arrested late at night on Feb. 25 by tactical teams of officers at his home on Locust Hill Road in Greer. The investigation began with a tip on Jan. 16. The tipster said a relative had received texts from Norwood in which he "claimed to have assaulted federal officers on Jan. 6." FBI special agents in South Carolina interviewed the tipster on Jan. 19. The tipster said Norwood had claimed to do "terrible things" inside the U.S. Capitol, including assaulting law enforcement. FBI agents obtained Norwood's telephone number and took screenshots of the text messages from Norwood. In those messages, Norwood who goes by "Robbie" wrote on Jan. 5: "I'm dressing in all black. I'll look just like ANTIFA. I'll get away with anything." Later, on Jan. 7, the morning after the Capitol attack, Norwood wrote: "It worked... I got away with things that others were shot or arrested for." Also on Jan. 7, Norwood texted: "The cop shot a female Trump supporter. Then allowed 'ANTIFA Trump supporters' to assault him. I was one of them. I was there. I took his [expletive]." Norwoods attorney, Benjamin T. Stepp, told the court the group chat included Norwood, his mother, father and sister. Norwood also texted the group chat a photo of himself wearing what appears to be a U.S. Capitol Police tactical vest. FBI Special Agent Tanya Evanina said the vest includes markings for the Capitol Police. The FBI also found a drink coaster from inside the Capitol building. Norwood said he pocketed the coaster while inside the building. Norwood also told the court he briefly entered House Speaker Nancy Pelosis office but left quickly after he said he overhead someone in the office say he was going to steal a computer. In the group texts, Norwood claimed he helped assault Capitol police and stole their protective gear. When another member of the group chat criticized him, he replied, The cops who acted s***** got exactly what they deserved ... The ones who were cool, got help. But Norwood recanted parts of that story when he was interviewed by the FBI a few days later, according to charging documents. During that interview in the FBIs Greenville field office, Norwood said he traveled with his wife to Washington, D.C., to attend President Donald Trumps rally on the day of the riot. He said he got separated from his wife as they approached the Capitol building and admitted to agents that he entered the building and reached the Capitol Rotunda. He claimed he tried to turn back and leave but couldn't because of the crowd. On March 2, Norwood took the stand himself and tried to explain his actions. Cuffed at the wrists and ankles, he wore an orange jail jumpsuit and had the same beard as shown in a Jan. 6 photo from the Washington Monument the FBI obtained from the group chat. He told the court he listened to Trump's speech at the Ellipse that morning and then walked with the crowd to the Capitol. He said he got caught in a melee of people pushing and shoving that surged past police barricades, under a tent set up for the inauguration, and up the steps toward the Capitol. He said police were shooting pepper balls and spray, and he was hit in the face. His glasses were knocked off. He poured water on his face to soothe the sting but others pushed him along toward the entrance. "I had no choice," he said. But once inside, he said he wandered around for a half-hour and tried to find an exit. At one point he headed toward the House balcony, he said. At another, he said he went into an office and "turns out it's Nancy (Pelosi)'s office." Norwood told the FBI he didnt assault any police officers. Instead, he said, he helped protect police from other rioters, at one point forming a human chain to safeguard certain officers. Norwood said he only claimed to have assaulted police in order to sound tough, the FBI said. Sign up for our Greenville weekly update newsletter. Sign up for weekly roundups of our top stories, news and culture from the Upstate. This newsletter is hand-curated by a member of our Greenville news staff. Email Sign Up! Norwood said he didnt take the police vest and helmet off of an officer, as he had claimed in the group chat. Instead, he said, he and others who stormed the Capitol got the gear from an equipment pile that was lying on the west side of the Capitol building. Norwood said he left the police vest and helmet in the Hampton Inn hotel room where he stayed that night, according to charging documents. Norwood told the court he lied about the vest and helmet to agents who questioned him on Jan. 22 in Greenville but reiterated other claims he made about assisting police inside the Capitol rather than assaulting them. "I wasn't there to hurt anyone," he said. He said he made the claims in the group chat about assaulting an officer to get a rise out of his sister as part of a longstanding political argument. "It's not true," he said of the assault. "But I said it." His sister, Traci Dubois, told the court she and her brother differ greatly in their ideologies and politics. She said she wasn't surprised to learn he was going to Washington on Jan. 6. She also said she was interviewed by the FBI about her brother's actions and the messages, which she said was a text group chat she created. "I don't think he's violent," she said. Assistant U.S. Attorney Max Cauthen of Greenville told the court their main concern was that Norwood was a danger to law enforcement. He and Evanina spelled out how they believed Norwood grew suspicious of an FBI tail before his arrest Feb. 25 and parked his car at a Dollar General near his house and walked the rest of the way, then sped off in his wife's Jeep Cherokee with the headlights off after dark. A surveillance team tailed him but Evanina said he lost them on Wade Hampton Boulevard when he made a U-turn and went into a private storage facility. Later that night, agents reported that he returned home and again turned his headlights off before he pulled into his driveway. Norwood said he was trying to evade his father-in-law, who owned the home and told him after Jan. 6 that he couldn't stay there anymore. Norwood said he grew suspicious that night when he noticed two county police cruisers parked at the Dollar General. "They might be here for me," he said he told his wife. They were. At least three tactical teams of FBI and joint task force officers announced themselves from the front yard by a megaphone at about 11:45 p.m. Norwood said he put his empty hands through the door first and came outside. He said he previously removed all weapons from his home because he knew the FBI would come for him at some point. The FBI found an AR-15 and ammo in his storage trailer and a Glock on the floorboard of his truck. He doesn't have any prior convictions. McDonald ordered him held on detention, saying he was concerned that he had not been truthful to the FBI at first, had boasted about his Capitol exploits and that his court testimony wasn't entirely credible. I am concerned with his own texting, his own words to his family, including his mother, that he had assaulted an officer, McDonald said. Stepp, Norwoods attorney, said his client has admitted to and would most likely be found guilty of the charges, including theft, but argued Norwood wasnt a flight risk and the maximum penalty at this point for the charges would likely be a year in jail. Stepp said it is also likely the U.S. District Court in the District of Columbia would intervene and issue some sort of bond or monitoring for Norwood like it has for multiple other high-profile defendants in the Capitol riot. UofSC civil rights center unveils historical marker commemorating landmark protest The Center for Civil Rights History and Research at the University of South Carolina unveiled a new historical marker on March 2 to commemorate the courage of hundreds of students who marched on the South Carolina State House 60 years ago. Many of the students were arrested, and the appeal of their convictions eventually was heard by the U.S. Supreme Court, leading to a legal precedent protecting the rights of protesters. The marker, at the corner of Gervais and Main streets, was unveiled in a ceremony organized by the center, along with state and local leaders and community partners. In addition to the marker, a granite monument titled "We Shall Not Be Moved," which includes the names of all participants who were arrested, will be installed at a later date at a location to be determined. The historic protest took place March 2, 1961, when high school and college students marched to the State House to protest racial inequality. The students were told they could march around the State House one time in silence. After they started singing patriotic and religious songs, 187 protesters were arrested for breach of peace. The Rev. James Edwards touches a monument to protesters in the 1961 march on the State House. That monument will be permanently installed at a later date. Almost two years later in a landmark decision, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Edwards v. South Carolina that the state had violated the protesters First Amendment rights. This victory before the United States Supreme Court fortified the rights of protesters in ongoing struggles for justice and equality. As we dedicate a historical marker, we honor the courage of young women and men who refused to back down in their quest for justice for all, said Bobby Donaldson, director of the Center for Civil Rights History and Research. Rev. James Edwards Jr., the lead plaintiff in the appeal, said, We wanted to let the leaders of South Carolina know that we were determined to fight for justice and equal opportunity. We wanted to send that message directly to the people in the State House. On the morning Edwards departed the Benedict College campus and made his way to Zion Baptist Church and then to the State House, he had no idea that he was marching into the pages of history, Donaldson said. For peacefully protesting, he and hundreds of students went to jail and faced prosecution. Their protest led to a landmark United States Supreme Court case. Now, Rev. Edwards name is etched in stone near the very place where he battled racial injustice 60 years ago, Donaldson said. Edwards called the marker and monument a gift from God. I felt overwhelmed and blessed to see my civil rights work remembered, Edwards said. When I am passed and gone, my name will be seen and known. My children and grandchildren when know that Ive done something for my people. I can run my hand across a stone and feel my name. It is not a tombstone in a cemetery somewhere, but a marker and a monument right across from the Capitol where I protested. Im glad God kept me here to see this day. For state Rep. Leola Robinson-Simpson (D-Greenville), also a participant in the march, the marker unveiling was both solemn and joyous because many of the march participants have passed away and because were still fighting for justice, she said. Former chief justice of the S.C. Supreme Court Jean Toal, who was present at the march, put the legal case in historical perspective, pointing out that Edwards v. South Carolina was the first civil rights decision based on the First Amendment. Previous civil rights cases including Brown v. Board of Education and its predecessor in South Carolina, Briggs v. Elliot relied upon the 14th Amendment. We had not had a decision that rested on the First Amendment as a protection for the expression of views to end segregation. This was the seminal event protecting so many demonstrations in the future, Toal said. Rep. James Clyburn (D-S.C.), who participated in the 1961 march as a S.C. State University student, also addressed the legal precedent set by the ruling through a tribute in the Congressional Record: I can attest that we were committed to the fight for civil rights and had no idea that our actions would contribute to preserving the right to peacefully protest for future generations. Of the historical marker, Clyburn said, Remembering our history is important. History is informative and should be instructive. This marker reminds us of past sacrifices and hopefully will guide us as we continue our pursuit of a more perfect union. The unveiling of the marker was a partnership of the UofSC Center for Civil Rights History and Research, which organized the program; Columbia SC 63: Our Story Matters, which funded the marker with community support; the city of Columbia; and Historic Columbia. To uncover and tell the deeper story of the 1961 march, the center in partnership with Columbia SC 63 identified people involved, conducted oral histories and documented their stories. Share this Story! Let friends in your social network know what you are reading about Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Concordia University, St. Paul "CSPs partnership with Allina Health provides one of the best training opportunities for cardiac sonography students, - Dr. Katie Fischer, Dean of the College of Health and Science, CSP. Concordia University, St. Paul (CSP) has entered a partnership with Minneapolis-based Allina Health to help develop and launch a new degree program in echocardiography. CSP will collaborate with Allina Health on curriculum development, instruction, and staffing for the new program. Students will be able to earn an Associates in Applied Science in Echocardiography at the conclusion of this two-year program. CSP launched the program with its first cohort of students during the current spring semester, with new cohorts starting each fall semester thereafter. The two-year program will provide significant real world learning opportunities with students doing clinical learning at Allina Health facilities alongside experienced cardiac sonographers and other medical personnel on site. Students will also have extensive classroom and online learning experiences to prepare them for their medical careers. CSPs partnership with Allina Health provides one of the best training opportunities for cardiac sonography students, Dean of the College of Health and Science, Dr. Katie Fischer said. This unique program blends the strong emphasis on clinical experience starting in a students first semester in the program. Students will be able to apply the content learned in the classroom and scan labs to real clinical practice, making their educational experience extremely relevant and real for their chosen profession. This partnership is ideal for a cardiac sonographer to gain hands-on experience from day one into the program, said DMS program chair Jennifer Zafke (MS, RDMS). In addition, the two-year Associates program can quickly prepare them for rewarding careers in the medical field with a specialty that is expected to expand for years to come. Working with Allina Health on everything from curriculum to clinicals creates a powerful, rewarding learning opportunity. Echocardiography is a fascinating field, said Heidi Goblirsch, Clinical Program Coordinator and Echocardiography Supervisor at United Hospital, part of Allina Health. This non-invasive exam provides the cardiology team information on a patients heart chamber size and function, valvular structure and strength and the veins and arteries leading to and from the heart. We work closely with patients and cardiologists to obtain information needed in helping diagnose their cardiac concern. Cardiac sonographers have an in-depth understanding of the cardiovascular system and how it relates to the rest of the body. This clinic-based training program allows for emphasis on understanding the entire cardiovascular system while highlighting the importance of quality patient care. Echocardiography is an essential cornerstone of cardiac health diagnostics and patient care. It is often the first step in assessing countless issues related to heart health, said Andy Jacobson, Manager of Non-Invasive Cardiac Imaging at United Hospital, part of Allina Health. Demand for echocardiography is growing at a high rate nationally and that growth is not expected to slow for years to come. The partnership with Concordia University, Saint Paul, will help fill a void in the medical industry by preparing the next generation of cardiac sonographers who will become essential members of the overall cardiac care process. CSP offers two concentrations in diagnostic medical sonography (DMS), general sonography and cardiac (echocardiography) sonography. Diagnostic medical sonographers are trained to operate specialized equipment that sends sound waves into areas of the patients body. Cardiac (echocardiography) sonographers specialize in imaging of the heart, its function, and blood flow, while general sonographers specialize in all other areas of the body, such as obstetric and gynecologic, the abdomen, small parts, vascular, musculoskeletal, and neurosonography. Concordias DMS program offers a more cost-effective and efficient career path option compared to similar programs in Minnesota, as its two-year AAS model provides students with the same credentials to work as a sonographer as a four-year degree, saving students both time and money. Students interested in applying for Concordias DMS program should visit csp.edu/dms to learn about admission requirements. About Allina Health Allina Health is dedicated to the prevention and treatment of illness and enhancing the greater health of individuals, families and communities throughout Minnesota and western Wisconsin. A not-for-profit health care system, Allina Health cares for patients from beginning to end-of-life through its 90+ clinics, 11 hospitals, 15 retail pharmacies, specialty care centers and specialty medical services that provide home care, senior transitions, hospice care, home oxygen and medical equipment, and emergency medical transportation services. Learn more at allinahealth.org and join us on Facebook and Twitter. About Concordia University, St. Paul Founded in 1893, Concordia University, St. Paul is a private Lutheran liberal arts university that delivers academic programs that are responsive to the needs of our students and relevant to the demands of the job market. One of the most affordable private universities in Minnesota, Concordia St. Pauls student body consists of more than 5,500 students representing all 50 states and 29 different countries. For more information please visit csp.edu. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. ADVERTISEMENT The National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) says it has jammed the signals of a pirate radio claiming to be Radio Biafra in most parts of Lagos. Ekanem Antia, the Deputy Director, Public Affairs of NBC, made the disclosure in a statement by the management of the commission on Monday in Abuja. Mr Antia said the illegal radio which broadcast incendiary messages was notorious for spewing fake, inflammatory and inciting content. The NBC Act, CAP N11, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004 spells out in chapter two, subsection two, that: No person shall operate or use any apparatus or premises for the transmission of sound or vision by cable, television, radio, satellite or any other medium of broadcast, from anywhere in Nigeria, except under and in accordance with the provisions of this Act. Also, Section 15.4.1 of the Nigeria Broadcasting Code provides that: the police shall prosecute any person engaged in any form of broadcasting or in possession of any broadcast equipment or apparatus in the country without a licence or permit for the purpose, he said. According to him, the commission, therefore, warns the public that anybody who attempts to operate broadcasting in Nigeria without legal authorisation of the NBC will be prosecuted and the equipment, confiscated according to Law. Mr Antia stated that the State Security Services and the Nigerian Police had been requested to bring the culprits behind the illegality to book. (NAN) The China National Space Administration (CNSA) releases mid-flight images of Mars probe Tianwen-1 on Oct. 1, 2020. (CNSA/Handout via Xinhua) BEIJING, March 2 (Xinhua) -- Three possible names for China's first Mars rover have come out after a 40-day global online poll. "Zhurong," a fire god in ancient Chinese mythology, tops the list while "Nezha," a beloved Chinese mythological figure, and "Hongyi," which means having a broad and strong mind in Chinese, ranked second and third, respectively. The China National Space Administration in January unveiled a list of 10 selections for the name after a global naming campaign that kicked off in late July 2020. Netizens at home and abroad were invited to vote on 10 candidates from Jan. 20 to Feb. 28. Starting Tuesday, a panel of experts will also vote for the final candidates. The administration will decide the top three names based on public voting and expert opinions. China launched Tianwen-1 on July 23, 2020. The spacecraft, consisting of an orbiter, a lander and a rover, entered the parking orbit of Mars after performing an orbital maneuver on Feb. 24. Yonathan Azran, Patient and Founder, HUGGA I created HUGGA to help patients feel connected to home. Every detail of every piece is designed to be cozy and comfortable with great attention given to functional and modesty features. HUGGA, the worlds first premium brand to innovate patient-centered garments, is celebrating their official launch with their Nominate and Celebrate a Patient Program. Offering hospital grade and antimicrobial gowns and masks, along with hospital robes, socks, sleeves, and beanies that are luxurious, functional and stylish, HUGGA was founded to bring the feeling of home into the hospital, reminding patients that they are not alone, even when they cannot see their loved ones. Individuals can nominate deserving patients on the companys website and each month, 20 of the nominees will receive a cozy, comfortable HUGGA accessory, along with a personal card from the brand. Since being diagnosed with acute Crohns disease at seven years old, I have spent a lot of time in hospitals, said Yonathan Azran, Patient and Founder, HUGGA. Everything from the sterile, impersonal environment to the uncomfortable, reusable gowns made recovery difficult. While my body healed, my emotional life suffered. I craved real connection but felt separate from the rest of the world and alone. I created HUGGA to help patients feel connected to home. Every detail of every piece is designed to be cozy and comfortable with great attention given to functional and modesty features. HUGGA products are unisex, washable, and designed to meet a myriad of patient needs. The current line features six styles: The Never Give Up Gown, The Hotelish Robe, Yonathans Favorite Socks, Be a Hero Masks, The Better Bedhead Beanie, and (Nothing Up My) Sleeves. The line is offered in soft, dove grey tones in sizes S/M and L/XL. Products are sold individually and in three different sets aptly named Care Packages. ABOUT HUGGA HUGGA, the worlds first premium brand to redefine the patient experience, was founded in Los Angeles, California in 2020 with the mission of helping patients feel confident, nurtured and loved. HUGGA gowns and accessories are hospital grade, anti-microbial, luxuriously soft, and designed for stylish comfort and mobility. Founder Yonathan Azran has spent much of his life in the hospital in a continuing battle with a serious auto-immune disease. He founded the brand to bring the comfort of home to the hospital. The brand name HUGGA was inspired by the Danish word hyyge, which means coziness, comfort, and well-being. Sold separately and also available in customized care packages, HUGGAs unisex products are designed to provide loving comfort to patients. Products and a portion of the companys proceeds are donated to organizations who assist those who need help paying their medical bills. Get to know Yonathan Azran as he shares his journey and the story of HUGGA on these two award winning NBC programs, hosted by Sandie Newton: NBCares Silver Linings Desert Living HUGGA is on Facebook and Instagram Details still pending on third agreement between Emmet and Bay Bluffs KYODO NEWS - Mar 2, 2021 - 11:13 | All, Japan, Coronavirus, 3/11 Fukushima The government said Tuesday it will hold a memorial service next week to mark the 10th anniversary of the devastating earthquake and tsunami that struck northeastern Japan but that it will be scaled back due to the coronavirus pandemic. The state-sponsored ceremony will be held on March 11 at the National Theatre in Tokyo following a cancellation last year due to the virus situation in Japan, according to Chief Cabinet Secretary Katsunobu Kato. However, Kato said the event will be the last in its current form and that future memorial events will depend on the situation at the time. Emperor Naruhito and his wife Empress Masako are scheduled to attend the afternoon event. The emperor is expected to give a speech, the top government spokesman said. Kato added measures will be taken to prevent the spread of the virus, and the public will not be allowed to offer flowers at the venue. Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga and guests will observe a moment of silence at 2:46 p.m., when the huge quake shook eastern and northeastern Japan a decade ago, triggering tsunami as well as a nuclear crisis at the Fukushima Daiichi plant and killing more than 15,000 people. The ceremony had been held every year since 2012, with around 940 people attending the event in 2019. Former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe offered flowers and delivered an address at his office last year following the decision to cancel the service. New Delhi, March 2 : With $ 83 billion, Mukesh Ambani, Chairman, Reliance Industries Limited (RIL), is the richest man in India, second richest in Asia and 8th richest in the world. As per the Hurun Rich List 2021, Mumbai-based Mukesh Ambani, 63, saw his wealth go up 24% to $83 billion, on the back of a surge in the value of energy and telecom giant Reliance. India's largest exporter, Reliance accounts for 8% of the country's exports and 5% of India's total revenues from customs and excise duty. Reliance is planning a calculated shift to renewable energy and has decided to venture into the battery-making business ahead of the electric vehicle boom. With 177 billionaires residing in India, India retains third spot with 55 new additions. With $83 billion, Mukesh Ambani, 63, of Reliance is the richest person in India. Healthcare, Consumer Goods, and Chemicals led the way, with 37, 26, and 19 billionaires each. Mumbai is by far the billionaire capital with 61, followed by New Delhi with 40. The average age was 66. There are a further 32 billionaires of Indian origin, living outside of India, led by LN Mittal of ArcelorMittal in London. As per the list, 150 saw their wealth increase, of which 50 were new faces. Sixteen decreased and 10 dropped off. Twelve stayed the same. Notable increases include Gautam Adani, 58, & family who saw his wealth almost double to $32bn, on the back of Adani Green Energy growing to a $20bn valuation. Shiv Nadar & family, saw his wealth rise to $27bn, up $10bn, backed by a 66% increase in the share price of the software and services giant HCL. NR Narayana Murthy, 74, was up 35% to $3.1bn. His son-in-law Rishi Sunak, 40, is the UK Chancellor of the Exchequer, the most powerful person in the British government after the prime minister. Pankaj Munjal and family, 58, of cycle manufacturer Hero Cycles, made it to the list for the first time with $1.2bn on the back of the surging e-bike demand in India. Other notables are Murli Divi, 69, and family, of pharma major Divi's Laboratories and Kumar Mangalam Birla and family of the global conglomerate Aditya Birla Group who grew 72% to US$7.4bn and 61% to US$9.2bn respectively. The notable dropouts included scandal hit BR Shetty who lost his billionaire status for the first time. Shetty's assets have been ordered to be globally frozen by UK Courts. Ritesh Aggarwal, 27, of hotel chain Oyo Rooms, lost his billionaire status after the impact of Covid-19. Kishore Biyani of Future Retail, the fastest wealth creator in 2018, dropped out after over-leveraging that blew out of control due to Covid-19. Rajesh Mehta also dropped out. The Hurun Global Rich List 2021 ranked 3228 billionaires from 2402 companies and 68 countries. 2312 saw their wealth increase, of which 610 were new faces. 635 saw their wealth decrease, and there were 194 drop-offs. 32 died. 282 saw their wealth stay the same. The average age is 65. Hurun Report chairman and chief researcher Rupert Hoogewerf said, "Despite the disruption caused by Covid-19, this year has seen the biggest wealth increase of the last decade. A stock markets boom, driven partly by quantitative easing, and flurry of new listings have minted eight new dollar billionaires a week for the past year. The world has never seen this much wealth created in just one year, much more than perhaps could have been expected for a year so badly disrupted by Covid-19." "The speed of wealth creation is nothing short of staggering. Three individuals added more than US$50bn in a single year, led by Elon Musk with US$151bn, on the back of the rise of e-cars, whilst e-commerce billionaires Jeff Bezos of Amazon and Colin Huang of Pinduoduo added US$50bn each. At this rate, expect to see fifty or more break through the US$100bn mark within the next five years." The company has engaged Southern Geoscience Consultants to recompile and review EM and diamond core drilling data collected during nickel exploration activities in 2002 and 2003. PVW Resources NL ( ) has validated the exploration potential of the Jungle Well Project within the companys Leonora Project after completing a desktop review of 2002 Moving Loop Electromagnetics (MLTEM) datasets. The aim of the recompilation and review of data was to identify and improve exploration targets. Historical datasets are invaluable in the exploration process and PVWs work is an example of the use of historical data to refine targets. PVW company has also engaged Southern Geoscience Consultants (SGC) to begin planning Fixed Loop Electromagnetic surveying (FLTEM) to further refine drill targets over multiple conductors. Work highlights potential PVW Resources executive director George Bauk said: This work undertaken on granted mining lease M37/135 highlights the potential of the Leonora projects. Review of historical ground geophysics and follow-up, including diamond core drilling with results to 13.22 metres at 1.74 g/t gold from 276 metres, add to the pipeline of prospects to be explored. The Leonora project has immediate potential, and we look forward to commencing our exploration efforts in the June quarter. Following the completion of FLTEM activities and interpretation, exploration drilling will then aim to test and confirm the source of the conductors. The news was welcomed by investors with shares up 10% to 16.5 cents. EM survey The company consulted with SGC to recompile and review EM and diamond core drilling data collected during nickel exploration activities in 2002 and 2003. This included an MLTEM survey over a large portion of M37/135 and FLTEM surveys over two conductors along with diamond drilling utilised to test the same two conductors. Historic ground EM datasets, a commonly utilised method of geophysical exploration for various commodities, over the Jungle Well Project area have been restored from the archive and historical exploration at the project has shown this method can be applied to sulphide hosted gold mineralisation. Significant gold mineralisation is associated with porphyry hosted sulphide mineralisation, intersected in historic diamond drilling which targeted EM conductors. Leonora Project The companys 100%-owned Leonora Project is spread over 195 square kilometres and comprises follow-up targets at Jungle Well and Brilliant Well tenures. Jungle Well has a 26,000-tonne JORC resource which was mined previously in the mid-1990s during a low gold price. Drilling is planned to explore the extension of the existing pit as well as along strike following up an intersection of 13.2 metres at 1.74 g/t which was drilled while exploring for nickel. Brilliant Well Project is south of the Bundarra Gold Project owned by ( ) (OTCMKTS:NESRF) (NYSE:STIC) with historical gold intersections including 4 metres at 4.09 g/t and 10 metres at 3.36 g/t. Conductors lie along with the Jungle Well mineralised trend, and along with parallel trends to the east where the magnetic data maps a complex series of folded and faulted bedrock units. Tanami Project The companys wholly-owned Tanami Project is in the Tanami Region on northeast WA that hosts the large Callie Project being mined by Newmont Corporation (NYSE:NEM) ( ). Over the past three years, the company has put together a 1,100 square kilometres contiguous land package with solid geological information and historical drill results that require immediate follow-up. Previous exploration in early 2010 resulted in 12 metres at 2.94 g/t gold from the surface and 5 metres at 6.99 g/t also from the surface. Kalgoorlie Project The company has a 96-square-kilometre tenement package at Kalgoorlie, considered as the gold heartland in Western Australia. Near-term, drill targets include regional bedrock targets that recorded previous drill results of 6 metres at 2.61 g/t and 4 metres at 2.39 g/t as well as new conceptual targets. Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp speaks to the media during a press conference at the Georgia State Capitol in Atlanta, Ga., on April 27, 2020. (Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images) Georgia Governor Not Sure Hed Sign Omnibus Election Reform Bill Georgias governor on Tuesday said he was uncertain hed sign election integrity bills that reach his desk, including an omnibus the Georgia House passed on Monday, but expressed support of reforming election laws. Theres tons of things floating around right now. I think we probably have over 100 bills that House members and Senate members have introduced. Im certainly very supportive of putting the photo ID requirement on absentee ballots by mail and other things, making sure that theres a fair process, and that that process can be observed and that those observers are close enough to the process to actually see it, Gov. Brian Kemp, a Republican, said on the The Hugh Hewitt Show. Ive heard a lot of complaints from people and I know why folks are frustrated. Ive always had an answer. We need to make it easy to vote and hard to cheat, he added. Kemp said the goal is to have accessible, fair elections in Georgia and noted his awareness of the state House passing HB 531, an omnibus that would reform a number of election rules, on Monday. Theres a lot of proposals out there right now; the House passed one today. But we still got a little ways to go through the process, Kemp said. When the host asked him if he would sign anything that reaches his desk, Kemp demurred. Well, it depends on what it is and whats in it. I mean, theres so many proposals that some of them compete against each other. So I wouldnt say that I would sign every single one of them but Im very supportive and weve had great conversations with the speaker of the House, the lieutenant governor, the legislative leadership, and individual members about really some good ideas to further secure the vote. I mean, I dont know who could be against that, he added. Georgias Senate is slated to take up the omnibus, but its version of the legislation has some differences. One is that the upper chamber is seeking to eliminate no-excuse absentee voting. Republicans control both chambers in Georgia, along with the governors mansion. But if Kemp were to veto a bill, they would struggle to get the votes to override a veto. Republicans hold a 103-76 seat majority in the House, and a 34-22 majority in the Senate. Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan, a Republican, is the current president of the Senate. Kemp was elected in 2018 with backing from former President Donald Trump. He may face primary challengers in 2022, since Trump grew frustrated with his lack of action on alleged voter fraud following the 2020 presidential election. LONDON : The Indian authorities have moved the High Court in London to seek permission to appeal against a magistrates court order turning down the extradition on human rights grounds of Kuldeep Singh, wanted in India as an alleged member of the banned terrorist organisation Khalistan Zindabad Force (KZF). Singh, also known as Keepa Sidhu, is charged with conspiring with others to commit terror activities in Punjab dating back to 2015-16, including a plot to assassinate the then chief minister Parkash Singh Badal and deputy chief minister Sukhbir Singh Badal. The 44-year-old is also accused of recruiting youths in Punjab to the banned organisation by offering them money and organising a meeting of separatists in a gurdwara. District Judge Gareth Branston, presiding over the extradition case at Westminster Magistrates Court in London, ruled in January that as the offences carry maximum sentences and "no possibility of a review of such a life sentence with a view to its commutation, remission, termination or conditional release" it would be contrary to Article 3 of the European Convention of Human Rights. "There is no dispute that these offences carry maximum sentences of life imprisonment. There is no dispute that Singh faces a real risk that he will receive such a sentence of life imprisonment," reads the judgment, dated January 25. The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), appearing on behalf of the Indian government in the legal proceedings, confirmed that the grounds of appeal against Singhs discharge were lodged on February 19, with his lawyers scheduled to file a response this Friday. "We have appealed the decision to discharge Singh. We havent had the permission decision yet," a CPS spokesperson said. Singh faces a total of four charges in India, under Sections 17, 18 and 20 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act 1967 related to raising funds for terrorism, conspiracy and being a member of a terror outfit, and Section 25 of the Arms Act 1959, related to firearms offences. The court documents note that he is accused of being a point of contact in Punjab and liaising with the head of the KZF, who was residing in Pakistan, and other co-accused members of the banned organisation, who lived in Belgium and England. Singh, who entered the UK illegally in 2005, was on immigration bail when he was arrested at Loughborough Immigration Reporting Centre in eastern England in October 2019. In September 2020, the Indian authorities were successful in revoking bail granted to him at the magistrates court level. "I do place significant weight on the fact that Singh entered the United Kingdom illegally and remained at large and undetected for a period of some eight years. That suggests that he is a resourceful man and is a man who is capable of going to ground for an extended period when he chooses," noted Justice Swift, presiding over that appeal at the High Court last year. Singh who used a Punjabi interpreter in court then remained remanded in judicial custody for the duration of the extradition hearings before District Judge Branston, which concluded in December last year. In his judgment in January, Judge Branston accepted the Indian government assurances regarding prison conditions under which Singh would be kept as "clear, binding and sufficient". "There is no evidence that Singh has previously been ill-treated in India. This country has considered and accepted previous assurances by the Indian government. There is no cogent evidence to suggest that they will not be complied with," he said. He also noted that it is undisputed that there is evidence of a conspiracy to commit criminal offences in India but questioned the proportionality of a life term without parole. The judge said: "In my judgment, if such a sentence were imposed upon Singh in the context of this case, then such a sentence would plainly be grossly disproportionate to the offending alleged. "Whilst clearly very serious allegations, Singh is alleged to have been involved in the funding and recruitment of terrorist activity. As is observed, there is no evidence that anyone was actually killed as a result of his alleged activities. He is accused of acts preparatory to terrorist offences." On prison conditions and the sentencing provisions in India, he relied on evidence and reports presented by Dr V. Suresh and D. Nagasalia, Advocates of the Madras High Court, and Arjun Sheoran, Advocate of the High Court of Punjab and Haryana. Besides the human rights issue relating to a life sentence without parole, the court also found that there is "insufficient evidence to make a case requiring an answer by Kuldeep Singh". If permission to appeal against the magistrates court order is granted, either on paper or through oral submissions, the case would then proceed for a High Court hearing. Subscribe to Mint Newsletters * Enter a valid email * Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. March 02 : A magistrates court in Mumbai issued a bailable warrant against Kangana Ranaut in a criminal complaint filed by veteran lyricist Javed Akhtar alleging defamation. After the actress did not appear before the court, the warrant was issued against her. The court had issued the summon to Kangana in February 2021. Javed Akhtars advocate Vrinda Grover urged the court to issue the warrant as Ranaut did not comply with the court order neither her advocate filed any application seeking an exemption for her. The veteran lyricist had alleged in his complaint that the Panga actress made defamatory statements against him in an interview on national television. It is a clear campaign to malign and tarnish the reputation of the complainant (Akhtar) in the eyes of the general public, the petition read. Akhtar had recorded his statement in January this year. The court had summoned Kangana on the basis of this complaint. On February 1, 2021, the Mumbai Court after hearing arguments made by lawyer Niranjan Mundergi on behalf of Akhtar, issued a process against Ranaut for offences under sections 499 and 500 of the Indian Penal code pertaining to defamation. On July 19, while speaking to a national TV channel, Kangana linked Akhtar to the suicide of actor Sushant Singh Rajput. A criminal complaint was filed on November 3 before the Andheri metropolitan magistrate under Sections 499 (defamation) and 500 (punishment for defamation) of the Indian Penal Code. After Aktar recorded his statement against Rangana last month, the actress took to her Twitter handle and wrote, Geedaron ka ek jhund aur ek sherni .... mazaa aayega (A herd of jackals and a lioness .... will enjoy. Geedaron ka ek jhund aur ek sherni .... mazaa aayega https://t.co/xzsL7eQlYu Kangana Ranaut (@KanganaTeam) February 1, 2021 Kangana took to her Twitter handle once again and wrote, I have been conducting meetings at my house, today Aksht Ranaut who founded Manikarnika Films with me also single handedly handling all 700 cases filed on me, insisted that today I attend important meeting regarding Emergency at the office, I wasnt ready and my heart broke again. The 23-year-old man authorities say opened fire in the parking lot of a Walmart Supercenter in Whitehall on Friday, killing an Allentown woman and injuring a man, was involved in a custody dispute with the injured man, court records say. The records obtained Monday by lehighvalleylive.com shed more light on the case. According to court documents, Edward Joel Rosario-Jimenez of Whitehall Township arrived sometime before 7 p.m. to the Walmart on MacArthur Road. He was driving a black Toyota SUV with three other people, one of whom was the mother of a child who was to be part of a custody exchange in the stores parking lot. Court records do not indicate the relationship between Rosario-Jimenez and the childs mother. The Toyota, authorities said, pulled up behind a vehicle with at least two occupants the childs father and 20-year-old Nicolette Law of Allentown who were parked in the stores merchandise pick-up section. Court records do not indicate if a child was in either vehicle or state the relationship between Law and the childs father. Witnesses reported to investigators hearing arguing about the custody exchange before the gunfire. Responding officers shortly before 7 p.m. found Law and the male victim hit by gunshots in the parking lot. The mother told investigators that Rosario-Jimenez began arguing with the childs father, then shot him and Law. The man is hospitalized, authorities said. Lehigh County District Attorney Jim Martins office wouldnt say if the child was in the car or if the transfer ever took place. The office also declined to comment on other questions on the relationships among the adults and the medical condition of the childs father. Law was taken to Lehigh Valley Hospital-Cedar Crest in Salisbury Township, where she was pronounced dead at 7:40 p.m. Friday, according to the Lehigh County Coroners Office. Authorities have identified the woman killed in Fridays shooting outside the Walmart Supercenter as 20-year-old Nicolette Law of Allentown. Everyone fled in the Toyota after the gunfire, leaving Rosario-Jimenez behind in the parking lot, court records state. A handgun used in the crime was seized by investigators from a snowbank adjacent to the parking lot, authorities said. Rosario-Jimenez was taken into custody in Whitehall Township on Sunday. He admitted to the shooting, according to court records. Rosario-Jimenez was charged Sunday with criminal homicide, attempted criminal homicide and aggravated assault, as well as carrying a firearm without a license, all felonies. He was taken to Lehigh County jail without bail. He is due back in court for a preliminary hearing tentatively scheduled for noon on March 8 before District Judge Donna Butler. Pamela Sroka-Holzmann may be reached at pholzmann@lehighvalleylive.com. More: Monster mother killed 6-year-old son with car while trying to abandon him at Ohio park: reports Heres why Dauphin County officials sent a 16-year-old straight to adult prison 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. Thank you for reading! Please purchase a subscription to read our premium content. If you have a subscription, please log in or sign up for an account on our website to continue. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo speaks during a press conference before the opening of a mass COVID-19 vaccination site in the Queens borough of New York on Feb. 24, 2021. (Seth Wenig/POOL/AFP via Getty Images) Third Woman Accuses Cuomo of Making Unwanted Advances A third woman has come forward with harassment allegations against New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, as calls for the Democrats resignation continue to grow. Anna Ruch, 33, told The New York Times late Monday that she and the governor met at a wedding in September 2019, where he made unwanted advances toward her. She alleged that he placed his hand on her bare lower back, called her aggressive when she promptly removed it, and then put his hands on her face and asked if he could kiss her. I was so confused and shocked and embarrassed, Ruch told The New York Times. I turned my head away and didnt have words in that moment. The news outlet published a photograph of the incident showing both of the governors hands on her neck and face. Ruchs account follows allegations from two of Cuomos former aides in recent days. Both Lindsey Boylan, the former deputy secretary for economic development and special adviser to Cuomo, and Charlotte Bennett, another former aide to the governor, have accused Cuomo of sexual harassment. Boylan, a Democrat running for the post of Manhattan borough president, in a post published last week, accused Cuomo of making inappropriate remarks, and allegedly touching and kissing her without consent. She said he would go out of his way to touch me on my lower back, arms, and legs, compare her to one of his rumored former girlfriends, and once suggested that they should play strip poker on a flight from an event in October 2017. Bennett, a former executive assistant and health policy adviser to Cuomo, accused the governor of sexually harassing her, including asking inappropriate questions. I understood that the governor wanted to sleep with me, and felt horribly uncomfortable and scared, Bennett told The New York Times. And was wondering how I was going to get out of it and assumed it was the end of my job. Cuomos office didnt immediately respond to a request for comment by The Epoch Times about Ruchs account. The Epoch Times also reached out to Ruchs photography business. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo holds a protective mask to his face as he and Secretary to the Governor Melissa DeRosa arrive for a briefing at New York Medical College in Valhalla, N.Y., on May 7, 2020. (Mike Segar/Reuters) Ruch told The New York Times that she was left feeling uneasy after Cuomo touched her back. I promptly removed his hand with my hand, which I would have thought was a clear enough indicator that I was not wanting him to touch me, she said. I felt so uncomfortable and embarrassed when really he is the one who should have been embarrassed, she added, recalling the moment the governor placed his hands on her cheeks. That particular encounter was captured in several photographs by a friend on Ruchs cellphone. Its the act of impunity that strikes me, Ruch said. I didnt have a choice in that matter. I didnt have a choice in his physical dominance over me at that moment. And thats what infuriates me. And even with what I could do, removing his hand from my lower back, even doing that was not clear enough. It was when my friend looked at me and said, Are you OK? with such genuine concern in her face that I realized how obviously inappropriate it was, Ruch added, not only to me but to those around me as well. The 63-year-old governor is facing increasing calls to resign following the sexual harassment allegations, which come at a time when hes facing intense scrutiny over how his state handled the COVID-19 pandemic. The pattern of sexual harassment and predatory behavior by Governor Cuomo is unacceptable, and I believe the women coming forward, New York City Councilman Antonio Reynoso said on Twitter. New York state Sen. Alessandra Biaggi, a Democrat, called for Cuomos resignation in a Twitter post on Feb. 27. As a New Yorker, a legislator, Chair of the Senate Ethics and Internal Governance Committee, and a survivor of sexual abuse, I am calling for Governor Cuomo to resign, Biaggi wrote. Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) on Feb. 27 said the governor should immediately resign, calling him a criminal sexual predator. Bennetts account of Cuomos sickening workplace sexual harassment and grooming is so horrific it makes your skin crawl, she said in a statement. Cuomos office has denied the allegations from both Boylan and Bennett. In a statement on Feb. 28, he acknowledged that some of his interactions with women may have been insensitive or too personal. The statement maintained that Cuomo has never inappropriately touched anybody and said his office would cooperate with an investigation. New York Attorney General Letitia James said Sunday she rejected Cuomos proposal for an independent review. The states Executive Law clearly gives my office the authority to investigate this matter once the governor provides a referral, James, a Democrat, said. On Monday, James said she was launching the probe after Cuomos office sent her the referral. After news of Ruchs account was published, Bennett extended her support in a tweet. His inappropriate and aggressive behavior cannot be justified or normalized. Thank you for your courage and strength, Bennett wrote. I feel nauseous thinking about Annas experience, Boylan wrote on Twitter. I am sending her love and light. Charlotte and I are with you, Anna. 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. PORTLAND, Ore., March 2, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Allied Market Research recently published a report, titled, "Turbo Generator Market by Type (Gas Turbine Generator, Steam Turbine Generator, and Water Turbine Generator), Cooling System (Air-Cooled, Water-Cooled, and Hydrogen-Cooled), and End-User (Coal Power Plants, Gas Power Plants, Nuclear Power Plants, and Others): Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 20202027". As per the report, the global turbo generator industry was pegged at $10.4 billion in 2019, and is anticipated to reach $12.6 billion by 2027, growing at a CAGR of 3.1% from 2020 to 2027. Major determinants of the market growth Rise in need of continuous & stable power supply, rapid growth in gas power plants, and rapid urbanization & industrialization drive the growth of the global turbo generator market. However, implementation of strict government regulations toward environmental pollution and rapid development in the renewable energy sector hamper the growth. On the contrary, surge in investment in electrification of remote & rural areas is expected to create lucrative opportunities for the market growth in the future. Download Sample PDF (250 Pages PDF with Insights): https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/request-sample/7934 Covid-19 scenario: Due to the Covid-19 outbreak, several governments have imposed a ban on imports and exports, which disrupted the supply chain. The lockdown across various countries hampered the manufacturing of turbo generator. However, the market is estimated to recover by the first quarter of 2021 due to governments' decision to resume various manufacturing factoring and increase in the demand for electricity from the various industries. The gas turbine generator segment dominated the market By type, the gas turbine generator segment held the largest share in 2019, accounting for around three-fifths of the market, owing to increase in demand for gas turbine generators for electricity generation from various industries such as oil & gas, power, and large industries. However, the steam turbine generator segment is projected to register the highest CAGR of 3.3% from 2020 to 2027, due to increase in demand for steam turbine generator from fossil fuel power plants, nuclear power plants, geothermal power plants, and thermal power plants. Get detailed COVID-19 impact analysis on the Turbo Generator Market: https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/request-for-customization/7934?reqfor=covid The gas power plants segment to manifest the highest CAGR through 2027 By end user, the gas power plants segment is anticipated to manifest the highest CAGR of 3.5% during the forecast period, owing to rise in demand for natural gas-fired power plants and shale gas revolution and increase in gas-powered generation. However, the coal power plants segment held the largest share in 2019, contributing to more than half of the market, due to increase in demand for electricity from the developing and developed economies. Asia-Pacific, followed by Europe and North America, held the largest share By region, the market across Asia-Pacific dominated the market in 2019, accounting for around two-thirds of the market. Moreover, the region is estimated to portray the highest CAGR of 3.2% during the forecast period. This is due to presence of large number of key players, availability of the manufacturing facilities in these countries, and rise in demand for disinfectant & antimicrobial chemicals from the developing countries in the region. On the other hand, the market across North America is anticipated to register a CAGR of 2.8% during the forecast period. Schedule a FREE Consultation Call with Our Analysts/Industry Experts to Find Solution for Your Business @ https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/connect-to-analyst/7934 Major market players Andritz AG Bharat Heavy Electrical Limited Ansaldo Energia S.p.A. Ebara Corporation Beijing BEIZHONG Steam Turbine Generator Co., Ltd. Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. General Electric Suzlon Energy Ltd. Siemens AG Toshiba Corporation Interested in Procure Data? Visit Here: https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/turbo-generator-market/purchase-options Access AVENUE- A Subscription-Based Library (Premium on-demand, subscription-based pricing model) at: https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/library-access Avenue is a user-based library of global market report database, provides comprehensive reports pertaining to the world's largest emerging markets. It further offers e-access to all the available industry reports just in a jiffy. By offering core business insights on the varied industries, economies, and end users worldwide, Avenue ensures that the registered members get an easy as well as single gateway to their all-inclusive requirements. Avenue Library Subscription | Request for 14 days free trial of before buying: https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/avenue/trial/starter Similar Reports We Have: Diesel Generator Market Global diesel generator market is expected to reach $37.1 billion by 2027, registering a CAGR of 9.8% from 2020 to 2027. String Inverter Market - Global string inverter market is projected to reach $4.6 billion by 2027, growing at a CAGR of 6.3% from 2020 to 2027. Smart Energy Market - Global smart energy market is projected to reach $253.1 billion by 2027, growing at a CAGR of 9.6% from 2020 to 2027. Uninterrupted Power Supply (UPS) System Market Global uninterrupted power supply system market is projected to reach $9.4 billion by 2027, growing at a CAGR of 4.3% from 2020 to 2027. Wave Energy Market- Global wave energy market is projected to reach $141.1 million by 2027, growing at a CAGR of 17.8% from 2020 to 2027. Floating Wind Turbine Market - Global floating wind turbine market is projected to reach $30.6 billion by 2027, growing at a CAGR of 32.5% from 2020 to 2027. Wind Turbine Market - Global Wind Turbine Market is projected to reach $134,600 million by 2023, growing at a CAGR of 7.2% from 2017 to 2023. Nuclear Power Plant and Equipment Market - Global nuclear power plant and equipment market is anticipated to generate revenue of $49,038 million by 2025, growing at a CAGR of 3.7% from 2018 to 2025. Pre-Book Now with 10% Discount: Heat Recovery Steam Generator Market: Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 20202027 Generator Market: Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2021-2028 Stationary Generators Market: Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 20202027 Turbine Market: Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 20202027 Gas Turbine Market: Global opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 20202027 Micro Turbine Market: Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 20192027 Floating Power Plant Market: Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 20202027 About us: Allied Market Research (AMR) is a full-service market research and business-consulting wing of Allied Analytics LLP based in Portland, Oregon. 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MONTREAL - Quebec has reached a deal with pharmacies that will allow them to start administering COVID-19 vaccines by mid-March to help the province get ahead of more contagious virus variants, Health Minister Christian Dube said Tuesday. Seniors pass a congratulatory sign after receiving their COVID-19 vaccinations at the Palais de Congress site as Quebec begins mass vaccinations based on age across the province, Monday, March 1, 2021, in Montreal.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ryan Remiorz MONTREAL - Quebec has reached a deal with pharmacies that will allow them to start administering COVID-19 vaccines by mid-March to help the province get ahead of more contagious virus variants, Health Minister Christian Dube said Tuesday. Some 350 pharmacies in the Montreal area will start taking appointments by March 15 for people as young as 70, he said. The program will eventually expand to more than 1,400 pharmacies across the province that will administer about two million doses, Dube added. The Montreal region is being prioritized in part because of the presence of more contagious variants, such as the B.1.1.7 mutation that was first identified in the United Kingdom, Dube said, adding that pharmacy vaccination was originally scheduled to begin in early April but was sped up. "We're afraid," Dube said about the possibility that the U.K. mutation will cause infections to rise quickly in the province's biggest city. "Were afraid the Montreal region is the calm before the storm." Quebec reported 588 new cases of COVID-19 Tuesday and eight more deaths attributed to the novel coronavirus. Hospitalizations rose by 16 to 628, and 121 people were in intensive care, a drop of one. Dube said that while the general COVID-19 curve is dropping, cases of the U.K. variant are rising quickly, especially in the greater Montreal area. The province has confirmed 137 cases of variants, most of which have been identified in Montreal and involve the U.K. mutation. There are also 1,095 presumptive variant cases across Quebec, according to the province's public health institute. He said Quebec is screening all its positive Montreal-area COVID-19 tests, and that 12 to 15 per cent are coming back as variants. Vaccination, he said, "is our weapon of massive risk reduction." The province began vaccinating older members of the general public at mass vaccine centres on Monday, and administered 16,458 doses that day. COVID-19 vaccinations are open to Quebecers aged 85 and older in outlying regions, while they are open to people as young as 70 in the Montreal area. Quebec is not the only province that has announced plans to vaccine in pharmacies. Health officials in Nova Scotia said Tuesday vaccination rollout plans for this month include the province's first pharmacy clinics. Prototype pharmacy clinics will launch in Halifax and Shelburne on March 9, Port Hawkesbury on March 16 and Springhill on March 23. Ontario has said that in the coming months, it plans to expand access to COVID-19 vaccines to a number of settings, including pharmacies. That plan is contingent on the province receiving a greater quantity of vaccine, the Ministry of Health has said. Benoit Morin, the head of an association representing Quebec pharmacy owners, says close to 1,500 of the groups 1,900 members have offered to vaccinate. He said the recent flu shot campaign has prepared pharmacists for the demands of giving COVID-19 vaccines because the same distancing and health measures had to be followed. Morin said pharmacy vaccination could be a good choice for people who cant or dont want to go to mass vaccine centres, but he urged people to take the first appointments they can get rather than waiting for pharmacies. "If I had the chance to get a vaccine today or to wait for the pharmacy, Id go today," he said in an interview Tuesday. This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 2, 2021. MILFORD Forty-five years ago, as the United States prepared to celebrate the 1976 bicentennial, a Milford church commemorated the lives of six men whose service helped win American independence. Job Caesar, Pomp Cyrus, Juba Freeman, Peter Gibbs, William Sower, and Congo Zado were Black Revolutionary War soldiers from Milford honored for their service by the congregation of First Baptist Church with a memorial marker, which was dedicated on May 8, 1976. Milford native Jennyfer Holmes was baptized into the North Street church that same year, and has spent years researching the six men commemorated on the churchs monument and in the churchs collection of historical documents. When I saw that record, I completely got goose-bumps, said Holmes, the First Baptist Church historian and a second-generation member of the congregation. To think of that day and time and based on the church recordit was such a jewel to find. The six Black soldiers are buried alongside 46 other Revolutionary War soldiers in Milford Cemetery, across from the church. The monument in the cemetery, erected by an act of the Connecticut General Assembly in 1852, is dedicated to American Revolutionary War prisoners whom the townspeople attempted to save when the British abandoned them on a Milford beach and who died from smallpox in 1777. Richard Platt, Milford's official city historian whose family settled in the city in 1639, credited the Rev. Charles Walker of First Baptist Church with getting the six soldiers recognized. I was chair of the Bicentennial Observance Commission in 1976 and members of the First Baptist Church formed their own committee to commemorate Milfords Black soldiers in the Revolutionary War, he said. This was largely under the influence of Reverend Walker. Walker had initiated a successful state-wide effort in 1976 to commemorate Connecticut's Black participants in the Revolutionary War. In photos supplied by Platt, groups from New Haven and as far away as Rhode Island joined the large parade through downtown to the Milford Green to honor the men. Holmes said research into the background of the six soldiers has been challenging. The men appear to be among about 300 slaves and free Black men from Connecticut who enlisted, and they possibly served together in the all-Black Second Company of the Fourth Connecticut Regiment, under the command of David Humphreys, according to a 2020 post by the University of Oregons Special Collection. It was difficult because documents are written in Olde English style for one. Plus, the only view has been through Revolutionary War rolls and service records, Holmes said. My understanding is that they were all privates. I believe Pomp Cyrus enlisted earliest in 1776. I cant tell by the writing if he was born in 1740 or 1750. Records indicate the majority enlisted in May 1777. Other historical records offer tantalizing glimpses into their lives. Cyrus was named in a 1779 probate case in New Haven. Freeman married his wife Betty in 1778 at St. Johns Episcopal Church in Stamford. Gibbs may have spent part of his post-war life at sea after his 1783 discharge. In September of 1802 there is a Peter Gibbs listed as a seaman aboard the ship Orion that departed from Corunna, Spain for Philadelphia, she said. Could it be that he went overseas and came back? Id like to think so. Other challenges include names that either changed, or varied in spelling in different records. For William Sower there are places in the records that his last name is spelled Sower, which is how it is spelled on the marker, but there were a couple of places where it was spelled Soward, Holmes said. Juba Freeman may have changed his name during his life, possibly to indicate his emancipation, she said. I was piecing it together and I do wonder if Freeman had a new last name. Historically there were a lot of Black folks at the time, who in gaining their freedom may have changed their last names to Freeman, she said. I cant be sure if that was the case with Juba or not. Holmes said she has been able to determine that Juba and Betty Freeman married on Sept. 20, 1778 and by 1810 were living in New Haven. As she continues her background search on Job Caesar and Congo Zado, Holmes said she is also hopeful there is more to find out about Betty Freeman, who lived in the Stamford area where she and Juba were married. At the time Betty was listed as a servant to a Mrs. Hayes, Holmes said. On my list of things to do is to find who would have been that Mrs. Hayes at that time in Stamford. Holmes believes her quest toward the betterment of life is built into her DNA. I probably came out of the womb civic-minded like my mom Lillian and dad Aldin, said Holmes, who works for the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving, which is dedicated to making Greater Hartford an inclusive, positive place to work and raise a family. My folks had me involved in Sunday School, Girl Scouts, from a young age. Reverend Walker was my first pastor at the church, and was a gentleman of his time, she said. Personally, and professionally I do like to help others. Its in my blood. william.bloxsom@hearstmediact.com Twitter: @blox354 New York, March 2 : Processing of non immigrant visas, including H1B cases are taking a backseat for now as the Joe Biden administration turns its attention to more than 470,000 immigrant visa cases currently pending in US consulates across the globe - a 7x year on year uptick in this category since January 2020, according to latest data from US government. Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas was non committal on whether Trump era bans on H1B (which expire March 31) would be lifted or how the Biden administration plans to proceed. "You know, I don't really -- I hate to end the questioning on a question, the answer to which I am not certain," he said at a White House briefing Monday. "Individuals fleeing persecution" is high priority, Mayorkas explained. Pointing to the US job market meltdown during the pandemic, former President Donald Trump had frozen permanent residency for immigrants and halted temporary work visas for skilled workers, managers and au pairs in the H-1B, H-4, H-2B, L-1 and J categories. On February 24, the Biden administration issued a proclamation revoking the Trump ban that blocked individuals from entering the United States on immigrant visas but did not lift the freeze on H-1B, J-1, and L-1 visas, which remain in effect and are set to expire on March 31. In two separate briefings on Monday, the Biden administration made it clear that non immigrant visa cases are not the priority right now. "We have prioritized the processing of immigrant visas. Full stop," said Julie Stufft, Consular Affairs Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary for Visa Services. Stufft said the US will continue to prioritize immigrant visas for spouses and children of US citizens. Restrictions remain in place on visa issuance and entry into the United States for people from China, Iran, Brazil, UK, Ireland, South Africa, and 26 countries of the Schengen area but exceptions are made for spouses and children of US citizens and legal permanent residents. At this time, more than 90 percent of America's 136 immigrant visa processing posts are processing "some immigrant visa services" while the remainder are only able to deliver emergency services. Only 43 of 233 nonimmigrant visa processing posts are processing routine nonimmigrants, all the others are only doing emergency services. -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text In ordinary times, film festivals celebrate the creativity of artists who make movies, and crowds flock to screenings to be part of the fun. In the pandemic era, however, safety protocols still restrict large gatherings. As a result, the people behind festivals have had to draw on their own creativity, while sending the message that the show must go on, though in a new form. With that reality in mind, the Portland International Film Festival has been reimagined for 2021, following in the footsteps of both international festivals and Oregon events. Its really been quite a journey, says Amy Dotson, the Northwest Film Centers director and curator of film and new media. Dotson came to the film center, which is part of the Portland Art Museum, in September 2019, after many years with the New York-based Independent Filmmaker Project. Dotson was presiding over her first Portland International Film Festival in 2020, when the coronavirus pandemic struck, and venues of all sorts were forced to suddenly alter course. I really wasnt expecting this, in any sense of the word, Dotson says of the upheaval the pandemic has brought. But Im so glad Im part of this community. Ive learned so much, so fast. People have been incredibly generous. Im grateful for all the folks here in Portland, and nationally, and internationally, that have reached out. Looking back at the pandemics impact on the 2020 festival, Dotson recalls being gathered, in person, with winners of the inaugural Cinema Unbound Awards, created to honor innovators in film and related arts. That March event, held at the Portland Art Museums Kridel Grand Ballroom, in some ways now feels to her like the last night on Earth, as Dotson says. "Death of Nintendo" is a coming-of-age comedy set during the 1990s in the Philippines. The movie is part of the 2021 Portland International Film Festival. (Photo: Courtesy of the Northwest Film Center) But while the 44th Portland International Film Festival, which runs March 5-14, will offer virtual screenings, Dotson says this approach also directly reflects the Cinema Unbound concept that is central to how she sees the film center, and its mission. The pandemic has made the question, What does it mean to be a little more unbound? even more relevant, Dotson says. What does it mean to have an organization like this, based in Portland, where the world can go out to Portland, and Portland can go out to the world? We had just started to scratch the surface of that before the pandemic. The journey, as Dotson describes it, has been a good one, she says. Its physically unbound us from having to be in a movie theater, and its mentally unbound us. Even if the film center doesnt have its usual indoors theater, Dotson suggests that People feel welcome. We also really deepened our connection to the Portland Art Museum, a goal that fits her vision of erasing boundaries for audiences, and between artists. We can really be a place where art and cinema collide, Dotson says. And thats what were focusing on. As an example of making the most of virtual programming, the 2021 Cinema Unbound Awards, which will be presented Thursday, March 4 as a fundraising kickoff for the festival, includes creators including British director Steve McQueen (Small Axe) who dont need to physically attend to be honored. Related: NW Film Center 2021 Cinema Unbound Awards honor Steve McQueen, Gus Van Sant, more I think the pivot that Amy is making, which helps make Portland a destination for outside artists, is significant, says Tim Williams, executive director of Oregon Film. Shes thinking very dynamically, Williams says. He gives credit to other Oregon festivals, such as those based in Bend and Ashland, that adapted to COVID era programming restrictions. Kate Winslet and Jim Carrey in the 2004 film, "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind," one of the movies that will screen as part of the Portland International Film Festival's Cinema Unbound Drive-In at Zidell Yards series. (Photo: Courtesy of the Northwest Film Center) What Amy has done is sort of expand on that, Williams says. You can just watch movies on your computer, and thats one experience. Or you can get a pass and experience the other stuff thats going on. There are multiple touch points. Williams also praises the breadth of the festival programming, which includes international work, as well as features and shorts made in Oregon. Over its 10-day run, the 2021 festival features more than 80 films, programs, events and drive-in screenings that include work from more than 34 countries. The international scope may not be new. Since it began in 1977, the festival has introduced local moviegoers to films from all over the world. But this years event will bring features, shorts and events to viewers as they watch from home, through virtual screenings. Kyle MacLachlan in director David Lynch's 1984 adaptation of "Dune," which wil screen at the Cinema Unbound Drive-In at Zidell Yards, as part of the 2021 Portland International Film Festival. (Photo: Courtesy of the Northwest Film Center) Those seeking the 2021 version of a more direct experience can attend the Cinema Unbound Drive-In at Zidell Yards, where such movies as Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, David Lynchs 1984 version of Dune, and Snowpiercer will be shown. The film festival showcase follows a popular summer drive-in series staged by the film center and the art museum at Zidell Yards. While the necessities of adjusting to the pandemic may have unexpected benefits, Dotson notes that in talking to colleagues at festivals in Toronto, Venice, and the Sundance Film Festival, shes been reminded that, We want to all be together. Were missing our community. Its also true, Dotson adds, that the virtual format allows for more experimentation, and flexibility. Audience members can decide when they want to watch a virtual screening, and how they want to watch. And were not just local but national in our reach this year, Dotson says. There could be people that used to live in Portland and now live somewhere else, who can still watch the films. Its allowed the silos be broken down. In conversations with some filmmakers this year, Dotson says, shes heard that they feel more creatively unbound than ever. Its really not enough to color outside the lines as an artist, or organization. We need to redraw the line entirely. "See You Next Time" is a short-form documentary about a Brooklyn-based Chinese nail technician and her Black client. The film is part of the 2021 Portland International Film Festival. (Photo: Courtesy of the Northwest Film Center) HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE 44TH PORTLAND INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL For the first time this year, the Portland International Film Festival was co-curated by artists, programmers, and producers from a variety of backgrounds. The Northwest Film Center and Portland Art Museum provided these recommendations from some of the programmers: Amy Dotson, Northwest Film Center director, and Portland Art Museum Curator of Film and New Media: Dotsons highlights include the Cinema Unbound Drive-In at Zidell Yards, featuring such titles as Sorry to Bother You, and The Matrix; a competition titled Future/future, featuring the work of upcoming filmmakers from around the world (including Portland director Alicia J. Roses A Kaddish for Bernie Madoff); Where Theres Smoke, a personal, interactive work from Lance Weiler; and Spectral Transmissions: Ghosts of Futures Past, a stylized multimedia event in which contributors share thoughts about the past, future and present. Gina Duncan, Curator and Producing Director, Sundance Film Festival: Duncan has assembled a special program called Cinema/Care, which focuses on independent filmmakers, and ways in which members of the community -- directors and viewers alike can support the artists during these challenging times. The Cinema/Care program will feature a March 6 discussion with independent filmmakers to address these topics. Directors and films are Debra Granik (whose Leave No Trace was filmed in Oregon); Andrew Ahn (Driveways); Loira Limbal (Through the Night); and Crystal Kayiza (See You Next Time). Jim Kolmar, South by Southwest (SXSW) programmer: Kolmars highlights include Brielle Brilliants Firstness; Yoni Goldstein and Meredith Zielkes A Machine to Live In; Zora Iman Crews and Alec Tibaldis The Daphne Project; and Emma Seligmans Shiva Baby. "La Tienda" is a short documentary that is part of the Portland International Film Festival. The film tells the story of two letterpress printers, and their vision of creating bilingual art. (Photo: Courtesy of the Northwest Film Center) Ben Popp, Head of Artist Services, Northwest Film Center: Popp is a veteran of the Northwest Filmmakers Festival, which was folded into the Portland International Film Festival last year. His picks include Roses A Kaddish for Bernie Madoff; along with other works by Portland-based filmmakers, including Skye Fitzgeralds Hunger Ward, and Devin Fei-Fan Taus Whos On Top: LGBTQs Summit Mt. Hood. Short film recommendations include See Me, La Tienda, and Tides of Hyperion; and Poetic Cinema and Persona Tales: Three Short Films by Sky Hopinka, which also features a conversation between the artist and Kathleen Ash-Milby, the Portland Art Museums Curator of Native American Art. Shrihari Sathe, film producer and director: Sathes picks include The Shepherdess and the Seven Songs, from India; Identifying Features, from Mexico; Bitter Love, from Sweden, Finland and Poland; and There Is No Evil, from the Czech Republic, Germany and Iran. There are several ways to watch the programming in the 2021 Portland International Film Festival. A pass that provides access to all virtual screenings during the festival is $150; a pass for all Cinema Unbound Drive-In screenings is $250; a combined all-access pass to all virtual and drive-in screenings is $350. Student discount options are also available, as are individual virtual tickets, and individual tickets to drive-in screenings. For details, and information about how to purchase, go to https://nwfilm.org/festivals/44th-portland-international-film-festival/ or https://cinemaunbound.org/ Subscribe to our free weekly What to Watch newsletter. Email: -- Kristi Turnquist kturnquist@oregonian.com 503-221-8227 @Kristiturnquist Pressure has been building for teachers and other school employees to jump to the front of the line in Pennsylvanias COVID-19 vaccine distribution to allow a return to in-person classes. The authorization of the Johnson & Johnsons COVID-19 vaccine could be their ticket to do just that. On Monday, a state Department of Education official said updated information about vaccine distribution to educators is forthcoming. A state Department of Health spokeswoman elaborated on that point, saying specific details are hoped to be announced later this week. The states COVID-19 Vaccine Joint Task Force continues to work on a plan for the rollout of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, health department spokeswoman Maggi Barton said in response to a question about school employees becoming a higher priority for vaccinations. The task force includes members of Gov. Tom Wolfs administration officials and a bipartisan group of lawmakers. Pennsylvania State Education Association President Rich Askey is among those who have been calling for faster access to the vaccine for school employees. We are encouraged by recent news reports suggesting that a plan is in the works to accomplish this goal, Askey said. Such a plan would be extraordinarily good news for the health and safety of everyone in our schools. The men and women who teach and serve our students have gone above and beyond for their students in a time of unprecedented challenge. Our schools are essential, and vaccinating the dedicated people who make them work is critical to keeping everyone in them safe and healthy. On Monday, four Democratic members of Congress from Pennsylvania issued a joint letter to Gov. Wolf urging him to develop a faster vaccine timeline, particularly for teachers. U.S. Reps. Madeleine Dean, Chrissy Houlahan, Mary Gay Scanlon and Susan Wild signed the letter, which said it would help get students back into classrooms. Expediting educators timeline for vaccine eligibility will enable them to better plan for their future curriculum and support their students learning, they wrote. During Mondays House budget hearing with education department officials, Rep. Lynda Schlegel Culver, R-Northumberland County, asked if the department intended to set a policy requiring teachers to receive a COVID-19 shot. She said that has been a concern expressed to her from teachers and superintendents as to whether it could be made a condition of employment. Acting Education Secretary Noe Ortega said, We expect that all school districts, public schools, are going to be honoring all applicable laws when it relates to employment and requirements around things like vaccinations. Deputy Secretary Matt Stem later added, Theres no plan for the department to take any specific position on requiring vaccinations. As we work with the Department of Health and other agencies, thats not a conversation thats been had. But what we will do and anticipate doing this very soon is putting out more information regarding vaccinations to the field because we know this is an important mitigation strategy. PSEA, meanwhile, is encouraging its members to consult with their health care providers in deciding whether to receive a vaccination, said its spokesman Chris Lilienthal. Every person has a unique health history that has to be taken into account. Members also have the clear right to decide if they want to get the vaccine, Lilienthal said. So, PSEA would not favor a mandatory approach to vaccinations for COVID-19 at this time. Pennsylvania has no state law that specifically addresses whether an employer can require an employee to receive a COVID-19 vaccine as a condition of employment, according to a state Department of Labor & Industry spokeswoman. However, Rep. Russ Diamond, R-Lebanon County, has introduced legislation that would empower employees to have the right to refuse a vaccination. Schlegel Culver, who is a cosponsor of Diamonds bill, told PennLive that while she thinks the vaccinations are important, I think it should be up to everybodys individual needs and where theyre at in their life and it should be their choice. When you tell people they have to do something, thats when people are like, Why do I have to? If you provide them with information and let them make an informed decision, they are normally going to be doing whats best for them and thats what they should be doing, she said. A spokeswoman for the Pennsylvania School Boards Association said her organization has not provided guidance on whether or not districts should make vaccinations a requirement for employment but has discussed it with district officials as question arise. It is a local decision and as such, the discussions weve had include the need for evaluation of all the complexities involved, as well as the need for school leaders to work with their school solicitor and take into account the interests of their students, staff and community, said PSBA spokeswoman Annette Stevenson. During the budget hearing, Schlegel Culver shared that she heard talk about teachers being moved up the vaccine priority list into the Phase 1A from where they have been scheduled in Phase 1B. She further added that she heard intermediate units would be used as clinics where the school employees could receive the vaccination. I think theres likely to be some information that were sharing in more detail within the next few days and the department is going to leverage all of our resources to be helpful in collaborating and leading in that space and working with members of the task force, Stem said. Last month, nine public education advocacy groups sent a letter to Wolf urging him to prioritize school staff in the COVID-19 vaccination distribution as 26 other states did. The governors office responded that they were following the CDCs recommendation to give health care workers and the most vulnerable to serious illness first dibs on the vaccine, noting vaccine supplies are limited. However, the weekend approval of a third vaccine to join Pfizer and Moderna is expected to bump up the supply with Johnson & Johnson vaccines expected to be arriving in states as soon as Tuesday. Jan Murphy may be reached at jmurphy@pennlive.com. Follow her on Twitter at @JanMurphy. 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. MASON CITY, Iowa - A local high school senior is being recognized in a nationwide scholarship competition. Mason City High's Britta Elsbernd took the PSAT, and because of her high score, she's now a finalist for the National Merit Scholarship. Approximately 1.5 million high school students enter the program each year, and the district has not had a finalist for the scholarship for several years. In appreciation of marking this achievement, Elsbernd was recognized during Monday night's school board meeting. She is upbeat about the honor. "I was proud that I achieved a goal that I had been working on." Elsbernd is offering advice for those looking to continue their education at the secondary level. "Go for whatever you want to achieve. You never know how close you're going to get, or how easy it can be. Do your best on everything and go for your goals." After graduation, Elsbernd is planning to attend Luther College, and major in music and English. The following greetings were sent by five Berlin bus drivers to the Frankfurt WISAG workers who have been on hunger strike at Frankfurt Airport since Wednesday, February 24. Berlin bus drivers on strike, April 2019 To the hunger-striking WISAG colleagues at Rhine-Main Airport. Dear colleagues, We bus drivers in Berlin read about your action on the World Socialist Web Site (WSWS). We regret you have to resort to such extreme measures to draw attention to your situation. We pledge all our solidarity in your struggle! It is crystal clear that the WISAG company is exploiting the Corona pandemic to increase its profits and crush workers rights. This must be stopped and you must be given back your jobs! Here in Berlin, WISAG airport ground workers underwent the same experience. Just 60 from a total of 350 workers at Tegel airport were taken on at the new BER Schonefeld airport where the working conditions are very poor. For many years, the Berlin Senate (formerly a coalition of the Social Democratic Party and the Left Party, currently a coalition of the SPD, Left Party and Greens) worked together with the Verdi trade union to ramp up work pressure and drive down wages for Berlin airport workers. The situation is no different for us bus drivers at the Berlin Transport Company (BVG), where a systematic reduction of wages and social benefits has been taking place for years. With the help of Verdi, wages have been reduced to an extremely low level while work stress has been intensified by extending working hours and weekly shifts. Exploitation via low-wage labourthis principle is increasingly being extended to all occupational sectors. Whether airport service workers, auto workers, Amazon employees, workers and employees in the social and health sectors or in public transport: from the standpoint of management and the trade unionists who sit on the company boards, we are nothing more than a workforce to be blackmailed and hired or fired at will. The coronavirus pandemic further exacerbates these conditions. The British Medical Journal rightly dubbed the way political leaders have dealt with the dangers of contagion as social murder. Governments have given billions of euros to the shareholders of the airline industry, the auto industry and other big corporations. At the same time, like you, hundreds of thousands have had to live on 60 percent of their net wages since the start of the pandemic. Now, we are supposed to work harder and longer to recover the billions of euros handed out to the wealthy. Politicians, union bosses and shareholders have no problem with the fact that our costs of living have been rising steadilyeven prior to the pandemic. The loss of wages and the constant threat of unemployment endangers our very existence! Not only are hundreds of thousands of jobs to be destroyed, many more thousands of lives will be lost by keeping open factories, schools and daycare centres. The pandemic and the campaign to force workers back to work under unsafe conditions endanger the health and lives of us all. The current attacks on your jobs and wages are attacks on us all. They are part of the global class war against the international working class. We welcome your struggle but realise that together we must turn this struggle into a broad political campaign. We must take the defence of jobs and wages into our own hands. We therefore call on you to form an independent action committee to contact fellow workers in other cities and countries and prepare a general strike against the attacks of the governments and corporations. Solidarity greetings from Ekin Degirmencioglu Sefa Almaz Andy B. Velimir Stanjevic Andy Niklaus The Supreme Court heard arguments on Tuesday in a case that could have an impact on voting access for minorities, one of the ongoing political battles in US history. The case, Brnovich vs Democratic National Committee, involves two Republican-backed electoral laws in the southwestern state of Arizona and is seen as a test of the 1965 Voting Rights Act. The act was designed to prohibit discrimination against African Americans at the ballot box and is considered one of the landmark achievements of the civil rights movement. It prevented state and local authorities, for example, from enacting measures such as literacy and general knowledge tests that could prevent minorities from voting. The Supreme Court in 2013 struck down part of the act, which had required states with a history of voter discrimination to first receive a green light from the federal authorities before changing any voting rules. At issue in the case now before the nation's highest court is a section of the act that prohibits adoption of any law that would restrict minority voting access, even if discrimination is not intentional. One of the laws passed by the Republican-majority legislature in Arizona would make it a felony for anyone other than a family member, caregiver or postal worker to collect and deliver an absentee ballot. The other would prevent a provisional ballot from being counted if it is cast in a precinct other than the one where a voter is registered. A federal appeals court ruled last year that the laws would adversely impact African Americans, Hispanics and Native Americans, who for socioeconomic reasons are less able to travel to polling stations. Supporters of the state laws argued in the Supreme Court, where conservative-leaning justices have a 6-3 majority, that the laws are necessary to prevent voter fraud. Michael Carvin, an attorney defending the voting laws, said the justices need only to examine whether the "same opportunities" are provided to all voters. Story continues "Socioeconomic factors are irrelevant," Carvin said. The outcome of the case is seen as particularly important for the Democratic Party, which receives more support from minority voters than the Republican Party. African Americans, for example, voted overwhelmingly for Democrat Joe Biden in the November presidential election, which former president Donald Trump falsely claimed was marred by voter fraud. According to the Brennan Center for Justice, laws have been drafted in dozens of states since January alone that would restrict voting access. chp/cl/sst ST. PETERSBURG, Fla., March 02, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Climate First Bank (In Organization), a values-based community bank, today announces the additions of Edmund OCarroll as Executive Vice President and Senior Loan Officer and Brian Kruse as Vice President, Branch Manager and Small Business Banker. OCarroll is a seasoned professional and commercial banker with demonstrated success in executive management, sales management and operations. OCarroll has led various leadership initiatives and held senior-level positions at a number of major banks including Florida Bank, Fifth Third Bank, Gulf Shore Bank and Seacoast Bank. As Executive Vice President and Senior Loan Officer at Climate First Bank (I/O), OCarroll will underwrite standard commercial and consumer loans, as well as specialized green loans and financing options. I have extensive experience in the values-based financing and am grateful for the opportunity to grow Climate First Bank (I/O) into a premier leader in the industry, said OCarroll, Tampa resident and founder of EROC Advisors, LLC. Ive already hit the ground running and am excited to help move the Bay Area towards a more sustainable future. Upon opening in Spring 2021, the banks operations will be overseen by financial services expert Kruse, a long-time St. Petersburg resident with more than 20 years of experience in the financial sector. In his new role as Vice President, Branch Manager and Small Business Banker, he will drive Climate First Bank (I/O) to serve the community and the environment while also achieving and exceeding all business development and revenue generation goals. I believe in Climate First Banks (I/O) mission to address and reverse climate issues. We need to work together to get the planet back where it needs to be, said Kruse. Im especially excited to go back to my community banking roots and work hand in hand with the residents of St. Pete. I am incredibly excited to be joined by Ed and Brian not only are they passionate about our mission to change finance, but they are also proven professionals with world-class track-records, said Ken LaRoe, founder and CEO of Climate First Bank (I/O). I am pleased to share that weve already raised over $23 million in signed commitments and I look forward to seeing our success grow even more under their leadership. Founded by veteran banker Ken LaRoe, Climate First Bank (I/O) is the nations first environmentally conscious bank. Its mission is to support communities and local businesses while also moving the needle to reverse the current climate crisis. The institution will encourage green infrastructure and promote sustainable business practices with an unrivaled solar loan program. Additionally, the de novo bank will provide traditional banking services through a seamless mobile and digital experience. Fulfilling a growing demand for more socially responsible institutions, Climate First Bank (I/O) plans to expand its impact by opening additional locations throughout Tampa and St. Petersburg. The premier location will be carbon neutral the day it opens and each new branch will be retrofitted to the highest sustainability standards in LEED, Green Globes and Energy Star. About Climate First Bank (I/O) Climate First Bank (I/O) is a values-based community bank that will offer a complete, full-service menu of simple and easy-to-use traditional banking products. Those products will be enhanced with modern technology to meet the expectations of todays consumers. In addition to offering standard banking services, the company will place a special emphasis on non-governmental organizations (NGO) and businesses committed to sustainability. Eco-conscious customers will find dedicated loan options for solar photovoltaic (PV), energy retrofits and infrastructure to help combat the climate crisis. Stay tuned for the latest updates, and to learn more visit https://climatefirstbank.com. Media Contact Abigail Lacaillade Uproar PR for Climate First Bank (I/O) (407) 547-9700 alacaillade@uproarpr.com The companys diamond core drilling at Golden Grove North will test priority zinc-copper-gold targets as delineated by the recently completed maiden drilling program and moving loop electromagnetic survey. ( ) ( ) has entered into an at-the-market subscription agreement (ATM) with Acuity Capital, providing the company with up to A$10 million of standby equity capital over the coming 28-month period. Importantly, VMS retains full control of all aspects of the subscription process including having sole discretion as to whether to utilise the ATM, the maximum number of shares to be issued, the minimum issue price of shares and the timing of each subscription (if any). ATM details There are no requirements on VMS to utilise the ATM and VMS may terminate the ATM at any time, without cost or penalty. Acuity Capital and the ATM do not place any restrictions at any time on VMS raising capital through other methods. If Venture Minerals does decide to utilise the ATM, the company is able to set an issue price floor (at its sole discretion), with the final issue price being calculated as the greater of that floor price set by VMS and a 10% discount to a Volume Weighted Average Price (VWAP) over a period of VMS's choosing (again at the sole discretion of VMS). As security for the ATM, VMS has agreed to place 50 million VMS shares from its LR7.1 capacity, at nil cash consideration to Acuity Capital. Venture Minerals may at any time cancel the ATM as well as buyback (and cancel) those shares for no cash consideration (subject to shareholder approval). Phase two drilling at Golden Grove North On February 23, the company started second phase exploration drilling at the Golden Grove North Project in Western Australia with diamond core drilling underway. The drill program will test priority zinc-copper-gold targets and follow-up results from reconnaissance-style drilling at the Orcus prospect and maiden drill holes testing several newly identified strong EM conductors situated along the 5-kilometre-long VMS target zone. A maiden drill program of three holes for 1,311 metres has also been completed at Kulin and this tested multiple gold targets beneath the broad mineralised trenches that returned intervals of up to 31 metres at 1.0 g/t gold and 20 metres at 0.6 g/t. [March 02, 2021] IMS2021 and Microwave Week Announces In-Person and Virtual Attendance Options The 2021 IEEE MTT-S International Microwave Symposium (IMS2021) and Microwave Week, the world's largest event for RF and microwave technology will be presented in a hybrid format, comprised of in-person and virtual participation options. The in-person event will be held June 6-11, 2021 at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta, GA. A virtual event will follow June 20-25, 2021. Both events will be centered around the theme of "Connecting for a Smarter, Safer World." "The Steering Committee and Event Management team is doing everything possible to make IMS2021 and Microwave Week accessible to the RF and microwave community. We are committed to presenting a symposium and exhibition that addresses the health and safety considerations so essential in our current environment," said John Papapolymerou, IMS2021 General Co-Chair. "Our IMS2021 venue in Atlanta, the Georgia World Congress Center (GWCC), was the first facility in the US to achieve the Global BioRisk Advisory Council's GBAC StarTM Accreditation, which recognizes facilities that implement the industry's highest standards of cleaning for Covid-19. We are and will continue to work closely with the GWCC, our partners, and event management team to adhere to currently advised health and safety precautions." A full list of ealth and safety protocols for the event can be found at https://ims-ieee.org/health-and-safety. "While our goal remains to have an in-person event, we recognize that attendance in Atlanta may not be possible for everyone. We want to make sure IMS2021 and Microwave Week are available to anyone who would like to participate, so we will have a virtual event two weeks after the in-person one in Atlanta," said Steven Kenney, IMS2021 General Co-Chair. "This event will feature all the content from the in-person event as well as some new content. As a special thank you to our in-person attendees who pick up their badges in Atlanta, we will provide a complimentary virtual events pass at the same level that they registered for in Atlanta." The IMS2021 Virtual Event will continue to be available in an on-demand format through July 2, 2021. About IMS The International Microwave Symposium (IMS) is the annual conference and exhibition of the IEEE (News - Alert) Microwave Theory and Techniques Society (MTT-S). IMS features a large trade show with a large commercial exhibition featuring over 600 companies and a technical program offering technical sessions, interactive forums, plenary and panel sessions, workshops, technical lectures, application seminars, and a wide variety of other technical and social activities. The program covers the latest microwave and RF advancements in emerging areas such as 5G, automobile radar, wearable electronics, the Internet of Things, wireless HDMI, medical applications, satellite communications, and more. For more information, visit www.ims-ieee.org or follow IMS on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210302005161/en/ [ Back To www.mobilitytechzone.com\LTE's Homepage ] ADVERTISEMENT Dangote Sugar Refinery (DSR) said its gross sales for 2020 accelerated by one third or N53.211 billion to N214.298 billion, with Nigerias commercial capital Lagos contributing 49 per cent of its total sales in Africas biggest economy. Revenue drew strength from the performance of its flagship brand, the 50kg sugar, which accounted for N206.444 billion or at least 96 per cent of its share of the sugar market, DSR audited earnings report obtained by PREMIUM TIMES showed Tuesday. Last July, sub-Saharan Africas biggest maker of the sweetener added stepped up its expansion drive through a merger with Adamawa-based Savannah Sugar, bringing milling capacity up by 50,000 tonnes and per annum installed capacity to 1.44 metric tonnes. Pre-tax profit rose 53 per cent to N45.622 billion from N29.820 billion, according to the document retrieved from the Nigerian Stock Exchange website. Profit for the year climbed one third from N22.361 billion to N29.775 billion. However, earnings were limited by a spike in the cost of sales by 31 per cent from N122.801 billion to N160.552 billion the same way a 112 per cent leap in taxation, on the account of carrying forward deferred tax, also capped gains. The shareholders fund of DSR swelled from N108.136 billion to N124.712 billion, seeing a 15 per cent increase. DSR, in which Africas richest man Aliko Dangote and his Dangote Industries Limited hold 5.38 per cent and 66.87 per cent stakes respectively, outperformed the Nigerian food industry, which returned 31.5 per cent over the past year, according to Sydney-based Simply Wall Street. DSR shares are up by 2.35 per cent at N18.3 per share in Lagos at 12:01 WAT on Tuesday. The Telegraph SIR Charles Moore makes reference to an article he wrote a year ago under the heading Was Covid-19 created in the lab?. In it he described work by two scientists, Angus Dalgleish and Birger Sorensen, who concluded that it was what is called a chimera it was built by human beings to see how infectious it could be to human beings. Lord Moore wrote that this does not mean that the purpose was to make people ill. He presumed it was to learn more about vaccines against viruses. A more disturbing interpretation might be that the research had a military purpose. Sir Richard Dearlove (a former head of MI6) was interested in the work of Dalgleish and Sorensen. As a teenager in the Fifties, I was invited to the microbiological research establishment at Porton Down by my uncle, its director. It was the height of the Cold War and he told me: Dont worry about nuclear war biological warfare is far more dangerous. Bill Filmer Lindfield, West Sussex SIR The Wuhan lab theory would make a plausible James Bond plot (which would be a first), but I find the species-leap theory more frightening. Michael Heaton Warminster, Wiltshire SIR With the genesis of Covid-19 still unclear, the accidental escape from laboratory theory may finally gain legs. Beijing still has much to explain with regard to the dreadful pandemic it appears to have inflicted on the world. It demonised whistleblowers when the virus emerged, then appears to have lied once person-to-person transmission was deemed likely and the epidemic gained pace. The World Health Organisation appeared to be both tardy and shy in conducting the necessary engagement. Members of its investigation team are said to have spent a mere three hours in the Wuhan laboratory. China is less than generous in welcoming outside scrutiny. That perhaps was to be expected. More disturbing is the stance taken by Facebook and others, which dismissed this theory far too readily at the outset. The time to seek the truth with all due rigour has now surely arrived. All evidence, no matter how unpalatable, must be objectively explored, to help prevent or mitigate the next time. The developing world in particular will struggle to cope with the lasting effects of this catastrophic event. While realpolitik may allow China to be an emerging superpower, it can still be held accountable for any lapses identified. Colonel Rob Davie (retd) Salisbury, Wiltshire SIR The lab theory was dismissed from the moment Donald Trump endorsed it. As with Brexit, the supposed intelligentsia could not countenance the possibility that Mr Trump, like Nigel Farage, might be right about something. Closed minds have costly consequences. Keith Phair Felixstowe, Suffolk The Johnson wedding SIR Boris Johnsons surprise confirmation of his status as a Catholic has raised many eyebrows, particularly in relation to his reputation with the ladies. However, I think Rome will provide a good home for him. Oscar Wilde, when questioned about his own late conversion to Catholicism, said that he was attracted to the faith because in this Church, Every saint has a past, and every sinner has a future. Anna Mackey Dublin, Ireland SIR When a Prime Minister is married for a third time, is it called a wedding or a reshuffle? Neville Stangroom Dereham, Norfolk SIR No, that was a fake wedding. The real one took place three days earlier, conducted in the garden of No 10 by the Archbishop of Canterbury with Dilyn as sole witness. Peter Thompson Sutton, Surrey SIR Typical! The Prime Minister gets married and Matt is away. Keith Macpherson Clevedon, Somerset SIR Bethan Holts report describes Carrie Johnson renting her dress as a very modern move, but I hired my wedding dress back in 1966. I chose a first hiring, even though it was more expensive, rather than a second, as I wanted to be the first to wear the dress. I couldnt afford a new dress, so was being practical. After all, my husband hired his morning coat. This year my husband and I celebrate 55 years of marriage. Lynda Burke Knowle, Warwickshire Beep, beep SIR Traffic reduction schemes, now known as low traffic neighbourhoods, are not that new. Portsmouth had a 20mph speed limit the whole way through. After an emergency trip I was directed home through Portsmouth. Seeing the first 20mph sign I stayed in second gear. Seeing more signs, I proceeded through the whole city in second gear, average speed 5mph. This meant every traffic light was green by the time I arrived at it. Very smooth. The traffic mayhem behind me was the citys problem not mine. Car engines do not like second gear. The pollution my car emitted must have been awful for residents. Maybe elected councillors are not familiar with car engineering. Sue Doughty Twyford, Berkshire Offended by the Duke SIR I have just read the report about Kings College. The idea of those staff members being offended by the Duke of Edinburghs photo is almost too much to bear. Can you imagine what traumatic lives these poor people must lead every day striving mightily from dawn to dusk, seeking out all offensive matter? The very idea horrifies me and has left me decidedly depressed. I am seeking an immediate appointment with Harrys therapist. Robert Chatterton Caythorpe, Lincolnshire SIR Cambridge has been worrying about micro-aggression. Should university lecturers or students found guilty of micro-aggressions receive micro-punishments? For example, someone found guilty of not giving eye contact could be stared at for five minutes. Brian Armstrong North Shields, Northumberland Abolished by the BBC SIR In his article Reform of the BBC must start at the very top, William Lewis suggests that a journalist editor-in-chief should be answerable to an independent editorial board. From 1990 to 1996 I was a member of such a board, the General Advisory Council (about 40 of us). We were supposedly a sounding-board for BBC policy. What usually happened was that the top managers told us how well they were doing, leaving precious little time for our questions. Under Sir Terry Heisers chairmanship we eventually insisted on setting the agenda ourselves. One result was that in 1993 we successfully challenged the director-general John Birts remuneration arrangements. It wasnt long before the BBC declared its Advisory Council redundant and abolished us. If an independent editorial board ever comes into being it will need a really strong mandate. The Earl of Northesk Elsworth, Cambridgeshire Tick-box banking SIR NatWest informed me that I could not have an appointment in a branch to open a new account because of Covid fears (Letters, May 31). Despite my husband and I having banked with them for over 40 years and currently holding, between us, eight different accounts with them, we had to spend nearly an hour on the phone trying to open a joint account. Having established who we were, was it then necessary for us to be treated as if we were new naive customers who had never had an account? We had to resupply information possessed by the bank about us, and were subjected to sales pitches for accounts we already hold. The hapless individual at the end of the phone was only interested in completing his script rather than applying a modicum of common sense. A face-to-face meeting might have avoided all of this. Dilys Taylor Birmingham Rude rhymes SIR That jingle from Aristophanes Frogs pinein kai binein, (Christopher Howse, The rudest word in Greek is no laughing matter, Comment, May 29), could be rendered in English as supping and tupping, or possibly boozing and floozing. Richard George St Albans, Hertfordshire A Saturday Derby lacks that holiday feeling The leadership of the National Democratic Congress has urged its members, particularly those in Parliament to reject ministerial nominees who rendered insincere apologies at the vetting committee sittings. The decision was taken at a National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting of the opposition party. A statement signed by the NDCs General Secretary, Johnson Asiedu Nketia, also asked their Members of Parliament to hold the nominees responsible for their actions and/or statements that violate the obligations imposed on Public Office Holders by the 1992 Constitution. Read below a copy of the NDCs Statement A communique issued at the end of an Emergency National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) held on Monday, March 1, 2021. The National Executive Committee (NEC) of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) held an emergency meeting in Accra today Monday, 1st March 2021. The meeting discussed a wide range of pressing issues of national interest. 1. The meeting discussed among other things, the ongoing vetting of Ministerial nominees and urged the NDC Parliamentary caucus to be firm and resolute in their duties on the Appointment Committee. It urged them to reject insincere apologies rendered by some of the nominees at the Vetting Committee sittings and hold them responsible for their actions and/or statements that violate the obligations imposed on Public Office Holders by the 1992 Constitution. 2. Also, the NEC meeting noted with concern, the clandestine activities of some security agencies which have embarked on the arbitrary and malicious arrest and detention of citizens for exercising their right to free speech on social media. It urged Ghanaians to rise up against the creeping culture of silence and dictatorship being imposed on the nation. 3. *NEC noted with alarm, the letter written on behalf of the Judicial Service of Ghana through its lawyers, [email protected] to some media houses which sought to censor their duty to hold public institutions, including the courts, accountable for their actions. We note that the letter from the Judicial Service seeks to limit the right to free speech and press freedom to mere praise-singing of the Judiciary, even in the face of several unjust rulings from the apex Court. NEC holds the view that the Judicial Service has no right or authority to threaten anyone, much less the Media, for performing their constitutionally mandated duties. There are clear procedures laid out in our laws for dealing with specific infractions of media ethics and laws. We find the letter from the Judicial Service an affront to free speech and press freedom which threatens the pillars of democracy that the people of Ghana have nurtured over the years. We condemn it in no uncertain terms and call on the Judicial Service to withdraw same without delay, as a sign of respect for the democratic culture of free speech and press freedom.* 4. It is the expectation of NEC, that good sense and love for the country will prevail and that, the Akufo-Addo government and other institutions of state will henceforth, abort any plans to terrorize the citizens of Ghana in order to suppress dissent and quell demands for probity and accountability as enshrined in the 1992 constitution. Finally, as Ghanaians await the verdict of the Supreme Court on the election petition, NEC urges all NDC members and supporters to remain calm and resolute. It is the prayer of NEC that the Supreme Court will uphold and promote probity, accountability and transparency, and give effect to the will of the people expressed on 7th December 2020 in its judgment on the matter. The party will on its part, stop at nothing to rid the Jean Mensah-led Electoral Commission of its partisan biases and prejudices, and ensure transparency and fairness in national elections. ISSUED IN ACCRA THIS 1ST DAY OF MARCH, 2021 Signed, Hon. JOHNSON ASIEDU-NKETIAH GENERAL SECRETARY. Source: Isaac Kwame Owusu/Peacefmonline.com/[email protected] Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video On Monday, the White House expressed its support for the police reform bill named after George Floyd, which aims to ban chokeholds during arrests and regulate the qualified immunity protection law enjoyed by law enforcement. The proposed bill is still pending in the House and was named in honor of the Minnesota man who died in May of 2020 after a police officer kneeled on his neck during an arrest. The police held Floyd in the position despite the man's pleas for help and repeatedly saying that he cannot breathe. On Wednesday, House Democrats also reintroduced the legislation on the police reform. George Floyd's death also sparked nationwide protests last year as people marched on the streets against racial injustice and police brutality, CNN reported. In a statement, the Biden administration urged the passage of the bill. The White House stated that rebuilding the trust between people and the law enforcement entrusted to serve and protect is essential in making the communities safer. The White House also stated that trust could not be rebuilt if the police are not held accountable for systemic racism, systemic misconduct, and abuse of power in the police departments. The House Resolution 1280, also known as the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act of 2021, has several provisions which aim to overhaul the qualified immunity that the law enforcement officers have. It also has several provisions which ban no-knock warrants in federal drug cases and prohibits racial profiling. Moreover, the George Floyd Policing Act also forbids chokeholds at the federal level. It would also classify chokeholds as a violation of civil rights. The House also aims to establish a national registry of police misconduct that the Department of Justice would maintain. The proposed bill could be voted in the House within the week. According to NBC News, Jerry Nadler, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, the legislation would address excessive force by the police and police misconduct while also creating greater transparency within law enforcement. He added that it would grant a direct avenue for the victims to redress. Read also: Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 Vaccine Receives Backlash from Church Nadler further said that the legislation demonstrates how committed the federal government is to re-examining the practices of law enforcement and building a better relationship between them and the community. Furthermore, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi also stated that the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act would curb police brutality incidents and address the problem with systemic racism. She added that the proposed law would establish new standards in combating police misconduct, as reported on the speaker's website. Last year, a different version of the bill had been passed along partisan groups just after George Floyd's death. However, it was stalled in the Senate, which was largely controlled by the Republicans then. In the statement it released on Monday, the White House stated that it urges the House to pass the legislation and that it looks forward to enacting a landmark law enforcement reform law together with Congress. Related article: New York AG Denies Any Independent Probe by Cuomo For Sexual Harassment on Women @ 2021 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Calloway Pursuit Leads to New Concord Man's Arrest By West Kentucky Star Staff NEW CONCORD - A New Concord man was arrested Monday afternoon after a police pursuit in Calloway County.The Calloway County Sheriff's Office says a deputy attempted to stop a truck at around 3:45 p.m. on Kline Trail in the New Concord community.The driver of the vehicle, 53-year-old Dennis Payton, attempted to flee and a pursuit began. Payton eventually got out of the vehicle and fled on foot. He was apprehended a short time later.Deputies said a search of the area led to the discovery of marijuana and other personal items.Payton was arrested and booked into the Calloway County Jail on charges of first-degree fleeing or evading police in a motor vehicle, first-degree fleeing or evading police on foot, two counts of first-degree wanton endangerment, possession of marijuana, operating a motor vehicle under the influence, and various traffic violations. The drilling program of around 10,000 metres will test 10 high priority targets where auger geochemical anomalies are coincident with priority geophysical targets. Aircore drilling at Coolaloo Gold Project in the Mt Magnet area of Western Australia. ( ) has started its maiden aircore drilling program of around 10,000 metres at its 100%-owned Coolaloo Project, 25 kilometres south of Mt Magnet in Western Australia. The program will comprehensively test 10 high priority targets and will target where auger geochemical anomalies are coincident with priority geophysical targets. The company believes these areas, which are undrilled, have the potential to reveal a maiden gold discovery. A geophysical program completed by Southern Geoscience Consultants has outlined the priority targets. Excited to commence maiden drilling Westar managing director Karl Jupp said: We are extremely excited to commence our maiden drill program at the Coolaloo Gold Project, following the successful geochemical and geophysical results that have highlighted the gold potential to make a new discovery. This extensive drill program represents the culmination of diligent work from the Westar exploration team and represents the progression of Westars strategy in rapidly advancing exploration across the project portfolio. The aircore drilling program is designed to penetrate the regolith to basement and will provide a first-pass geological and geochemical assessment of the high-priority drill targets as well as providing information to refine the companys interpretation of the bedrock geology. Multiple styles Coolaloo is considered prospective for hosting multiple styles of mineralisation including: BIF hosted mineralisation (analogous to the 2-million-ounce Hill 50 mineralisation); Shear hosted gold mineralisation within granite-greenstone contacts; and Porphyries in granodiorite on granite contacts. New tenement Westar has also secured a new tenement, E59/2509, immediately to the south of the Coolaloo Project. Coolaloo South tenement, or Murrawalla Hill, consolidates Westars landholding in the Mt Magnet region to more than 300 square kilometres. The company will begin to develop exploration plans at Murrawalla Hill, utilising the existing knowledge from the adjacent Coolaloo Project. Following the completion of drilling at Coolaloo, Westar will immediately start its maiden RC drill program at the Winjangoo Gold Project, also in the Mt Magnet area. The Telegraph SIR Charles Moore makes reference to an article he wrote a year ago under the heading Was Covid-19 created in the lab?. In it he described work by two scientists, Angus Dalgleish and Birger Sorensen, who concluded that it was what is called a chimera it was built by human beings to see how infectious it could be to human beings. Lord Moore wrote that this does not mean that the purpose was to make people ill. He presumed it was to learn more about vaccines against viruses. A more disturbing interpretation might be that the research had a military purpose. Sir Richard Dearlove (a former head of MI6) was interested in the work of Dalgleish and Sorensen. As a teenager in the Fifties, I was invited to the microbiological research establishment at Porton Down by my uncle, its director. It was the height of the Cold War and he told me: Dont worry about nuclear war biological warfare is far more dangerous. Bill Filmer Lindfield, West Sussex SIR The Wuhan lab theory would make a plausible James Bond plot (which would be a first), but I find the species-leap theory more frightening. Michael Heaton Warminster, Wiltshire SIR With the genesis of Covid-19 still unclear, the accidental escape from laboratory theory may finally gain legs. Beijing still has much to explain with regard to the dreadful pandemic it appears to have inflicted on the world. It demonised whistleblowers when the virus emerged, then appears to have lied once person-to-person transmission was deemed likely and the epidemic gained pace. The World Health Organisation appeared to be both tardy and shy in conducting the necessary engagement. Members of its investigation team are said to have spent a mere three hours in the Wuhan laboratory. China is less than generous in welcoming outside scrutiny. That perhaps was to be expected. More disturbing is the stance taken by Facebook and others, which dismissed this theory far too readily at the outset. The time to seek the truth with all due rigour has now surely arrived. All evidence, no matter how unpalatable, must be objectively explored, to help prevent or mitigate the next time. The developing world in particular will struggle to cope with the lasting effects of this catastrophic event. While realpolitik may allow China to be an emerging superpower, it can still be held accountable for any lapses identified. Colonel Rob Davie (retd) Salisbury, Wiltshire SIR The lab theory was dismissed from the moment Donald Trump endorsed it. As with Brexit, the supposed intelligentsia could not countenance the possibility that Mr Trump, like Nigel Farage, might be right about something. Closed minds have costly consequences. Keith Phair Felixstowe, Suffolk The Johnson wedding SIR Boris Johnsons surprise confirmation of his status as a Catholic has raised many eyebrows, particularly in relation to his reputation with the ladies. However, I think Rome will provide a good home for him. Oscar Wilde, when questioned about his own late conversion to Catholicism, said that he was attracted to the faith because in this Church, Every saint has a past, and every sinner has a future. Anna Mackey Dublin, Ireland SIR When a Prime Minister is married for a third time, is it called a wedding or a reshuffle? Neville Stangroom Dereham, Norfolk SIR No, that was a fake wedding. The real one took place three days earlier, conducted in the garden of No 10 by the Archbishop of Canterbury with Dilyn as sole witness. Peter Thompson Sutton, Surrey SIR Typical! The Prime Minister gets married and Matt is away. Keith Macpherson Clevedon, Somerset SIR Bethan Holts report describes Carrie Johnson renting her dress as a very modern move, but I hired my wedding dress back in 1966. I chose a first hiring, even though it was more expensive, rather than a second, as I wanted to be the first to wear the dress. I couldnt afford a new dress, so was being practical. After all, my husband hired his morning coat. This year my husband and I celebrate 55 years of marriage. Lynda Burke Knowle, Warwickshire Beep, beep SIR Traffic reduction schemes, now known as low traffic neighbourhoods, are not that new. Portsmouth had a 20mph speed limit the whole way through. After an emergency trip I was directed home through Portsmouth. Seeing the first 20mph sign I stayed in second gear. Seeing more signs, I proceeded through the whole city in second gear, average speed 5mph. This meant every traffic light was green by the time I arrived at it. Very smooth. The traffic mayhem behind me was the citys problem not mine. Car engines do not like second gear. The pollution my car emitted must have been awful for residents. Maybe elected councillors are not familiar with car engineering. Sue Doughty Twyford, Berkshire Offended by the Duke SIR I have just read the report about Kings College. The idea of those staff members being offended by the Duke of Edinburghs photo is almost too much to bear. Can you imagine what traumatic lives these poor people must lead every day striving mightily from dawn to dusk, seeking out all offensive matter? The very idea horrifies me and has left me decidedly depressed. I am seeking an immediate appointment with Harrys therapist. Robert Chatterton Caythorpe, Lincolnshire SIR Cambridge has been worrying about micro-aggression. Should university lecturers or students found guilty of micro-aggressions receive micro-punishments? For example, someone found guilty of not giving eye contact could be stared at for five minutes. Brian Armstrong North Shields, Northumberland Abolished by the BBC SIR In his article Reform of the BBC must start at the very top, William Lewis suggests that a journalist editor-in-chief should be answerable to an independent editorial board. From 1990 to 1996 I was a member of such a board, the General Advisory Council (about 40 of us). We were supposedly a sounding-board for BBC policy. What usually happened was that the top managers told us how well they were doing, leaving precious little time for our questions. Under Sir Terry Heisers chairmanship we eventually insisted on setting the agenda ourselves. One result was that in 1993 we successfully challenged the director-general John Birts remuneration arrangements. It wasnt long before the BBC declared its Advisory Council redundant and abolished us. If an independent editorial board ever comes into being it will need a really strong mandate. The Earl of Northesk Elsworth, Cambridgeshire Tick-box banking SIR NatWest informed me that I could not have an appointment in a branch to open a new account because of Covid fears (Letters, May 31). Despite my husband and I having banked with them for over 40 years and currently holding, between us, eight different accounts with them, we had to spend nearly an hour on the phone trying to open a joint account. Having established who we were, was it then necessary for us to be treated as if we were new naive customers who had never had an account? We had to resupply information possessed by the bank about us, and were subjected to sales pitches for accounts we already hold. The hapless individual at the end of the phone was only interested in completing his script rather than applying a modicum of common sense. A face-to-face meeting might have avoided all of this. Dilys Taylor Birmingham Rude rhymes SIR That jingle from Aristophanes Frogs pinein kai binein, (Christopher Howse, The rudest word in Greek is no laughing matter, Comment, May 29), could be rendered in English as supping and tupping, or possibly boozing and floozing. Richard George St Albans, Hertfordshire A Saturday Derby lacks that holiday feeling - Joint venture company (Company) will combine the Baker Hughes Subsea Drilling Systems (SDS) business and MHWirth to better serve customers while simultaneously driving productivity and cost synergies - Company will have dual operational headquarters in Houston, TX and Kristiansand, Norway HOUSTON and FORNEBU, Norway, March 2, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Baker Hughes (NYSE:BKR) and Akastor ASA (Oslo:AKAST) have announced an agreement to create a joint venture company (Company) that will bring together Baker Hughes' Subsea Drilling Systems (SDS) business with Akastor's wholly owned subsidiary, MHWirth AS (MHWirth). The Company will deliver a global full-service offshore drilling equipment offering that will provide customers with a broad portfolio of products and services. The transaction will result in a leading equipment provider with integrated delivery capabilities, financial strength, and flexibility to address a full range of customer priorities. The Company will be owned 50-50 by Baker Hughes and Akastor, and following the closing of the transaction, the Company's operations will be managed from current offices in Houston, Texas, and Kristiansand, Norway. Merrill A. "Pete" Miller will serve as chairman and chief executive officer. Miller has been in the oil and gas industry over 40 years holding various leadership roles including chairman, president and chief executive officer of National Oilwell Varco. The Company's broader scope of services will also provide a more solid foundation for future growth, including the capability to participate in the oil & gas industry's transition towards more energy-efficient solutions, as well as deploying technologies and service solutions to make the sector more competitive through increased drilling efficiency. "I would like to express sincere gratitude to the good work and dedication shown by the respective teams of Baker Hughes and Akastor for making this happen despite the current challenges caused by the global COVID-19 pandemic," said Karl Erik Kjelstad, CEO of Akastor. "I strongly believe that this Company will give a solid basis for both organizations to meet the current challenges in today's market and to continue as a leader in developing advanced and efficient drilling solutions that support the industry's transition towards more sustainable operations." "This transaction is a major step for MHWirth, and the transformation strategy announced in February 2019," said Kristian M. Rkke, chairman of Akastor. "The Company will offer customers a strengthened product offering and investors attractive value creation. This transaction will also allow Akastor to maximize, and ultimately realize, value to its shareholders." "The oil and gas industry is rapidly evolving, and we are constantly looking at new and innovative ways of delivering value to our customers," said Neil Saunders, executive vice president of Oilfield Equipment at Baker Hughes. "This Company is the perfect fit between our respective portfolios and further transforms our core operations for long-term success, bringing complementary solutions to market and offering our customers a full offshore drilling equipment package." MHWirth is a global provider of advanced drilling solutions and services designed to offer customers a safer, more efficient and reliable alternative. MHWirth has a global span covering five continents with offices in 13 countries. Baker Hughes' SDS business is a division of the Oilfield Equipment segment of Baker Hughes and is headquartered in Houston. SDS provides integrated drilling products and services worldwide, with service and manufacturing facilities in 11 countries and a competitive portfolio, including world-class blowout preventor (BOP) systems, controls and riser equipment. The closing of the transaction is subject to customary conditions, including regulatory approvals, and is expected to occur in the second half of 2021. Morgan Stanley, Paul Weiss, Thommessen, and EY are acting as advisors for Baker Hughes. Goldman Sachs, BAHR, Sidley Austin, and EY are acting as advisors for Akastor. Key Financial information The table below provides certain estimated pro-forma financial information for the combined operations of SDS and MHWirth. This information is unaudited, based on management accounts for the respective companies and provided for illustrative purposes only. It may not be representative of reported figures following completion of the transaction. Further, the information may not necessarily be comparable to similar information presented by other companies nor relied upon as any indication of what the Company's financial position or results of operations actually would have been had the transaction been consummated as of the dates indicated. USD in million1 FY 2020 Aggregated estimates(unaudited) FY 2019Aggregated estimates(unaudited) FY 2018 Aggregated estimates(unaudited) Revenue2 713 850 731 Adjusted EBITDA (IAS 17)3 102 139 93 Note: 1 Average FX used for corresponding period 2 Pro forma MHWirth Group figures include MHWirth, Bronco Manufacturing (which has been part of MHWirth since June 2019) and Step Oiltools (which became part of MHW Group in February 2020) 3 Items affecting comparability comprises material items outside normal business such as net gains or losses from business and assets disposals, costs for closure of business operations and restructurings, and other costs of non-recurring nature. Transaction structure and main conditions The Company shall be owned 50/50 by Baker Hughes and Akastor. Akastor shall contribute its shares in MHWirth to the Company in return for 50% of the shares and USD 120 million in consideration, of which USD 100 million is payable in cash at closing. Baker Hughes shall contribute the SDS business to the Company in return for the other 50% of the shares and USD 200 million in consideration, of which USD 120 million is payable in cash at closing. The Company shall issue notes to Baker Hughes and Akastor representing the balance of the consideration owed to them. The notes shall be subordinated to the Company's external debt financing. The Company will finance the cash consideration payable to Baker Hughes and Akastor by way of a USD 220 million bank facility. In addition, the Company will also be financed by a USD 80 million working capital facility. The Transaction Agreement entered into by Akastor and Baker Hughes provides for customary terms for agreements of this nature, including representations and warranties relating to the businesses being contributed as well as an agreed form shareholders agreement customary for a 50/50 controlled company, including governance and exit provisions. Completion of the Transaction is subject to customary conditions, including regulatory approval. The closing of the Transaction is expected to take place in 2H 2021. Implications for Akastor's corporate credit facility and accounting policies The transaction will require the refinancing of Akastor's existing corporate credit facility. Akastor has received commitments for a NOK 1,250 million revolving credit facility that will be entered into prior to closing of the transaction. Following completion of the transaction, it is expected that MHWirth no longer shall be accounted for as a consolidated subsidiary of Akastor. Instead, it is expected that Akastor shall treat the Company as a joint venture for accounting purposes and that, following which Akastor shall recognise 50% of the equity of the Company and 50% of the Company net profits in its accounts based on the "equity method". Implications for Baker Hughes' accounting policies Following completion of the transaction, it is expected that SDS will no longer be accounted for under Baker Hughes' Oilfield Equipment segment. Instead, it is expected that BKR shall treat the Company as a joint venture for accounting purposes, following which BKR shall recognise 50% of the equity of the Company and 50% of the Company net profits in its accounts based on the "equity method". About Baker Hughes: Baker Hughes (NYSE: BKR) is an energy technology company that provides solutions to energy and industrial customers worldwide. Built on a century of experience and with operations in over 120 countries, our innovative technologies and services are taking energy forward - making it safer, cleaner and more efficient for people and the planet. Visit us at bakerhughes.com. About MHWirth and Akastor: MHWirth is a wholly owned subsidiary of Akastor and accounts for a material part of Akastor's revenues and assets. Akastor has reported MHWirth as a separate segment in its financial statements. MHWirth, with its subsidiaries, is a self-sufficient group which is a global provider of integrated drilling solutions and services with world class technology, leading engineering and project management capabilities. The MHWirth group delivered in the range of 25% of all offshore drilling packages for floaters between years 2000 and 2018. With its headquarters in Kristiansand, MHWirth's global operations covers five continents with offices in 13 countries. Akastor is a Norway-based oil-services investment company with a portfolio of industrial holdings and other investments. The company has a flexible mandate for active ownership and long-term value creation. The management of Akastor and MHWirth will hold an investor conference in relation to the announced transaction on Tuesday March 2, 2021 at 14:00 CET, which will be held as a webcast only and audiocasted live. There will be a Q&A session following the presentation. The replay will be made available on Akastor's website. Live webcast and replay link: https://channel.royalcast.com/landingpage/hegnarmedia/20210302_2/ The presentation will be available at www.akastor.com. For further information, please contact: Baker Hughes Investor Relations Jud Bailey +1 281-809-9088 investor.relations@bakerhughes.com Baker Hughes Media Relations Thomas Millas +1 713-879-2862 Thomas.millas@bakerhughes.com Akastor yvind Paaske Chief Financial Officer Tel: +47 917 59 705 Oyvind.paaske@akastor.com This information is subject to the disclosure requirements pursuant to Regulation EU 596/2014 (MAR) article 17, cf section 5.12 of the Norwegian Securities Trading Act. This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com The following files are available for download: https://mb.cision.com/Public/18618/3296423/b340c190fa9587cb.pdf Akastor ASA stock exchange release 2 March 2021 SOURCE Akastor ASA A woman accused of publishing pictures of two teenagers convicted of the murder of another teenager has brought a High Court challenge against the District Court's decision to refuse jurisdiction and that should be heard before the Circuit Court. The action has been taken by Edel Doherty who claims the district court's decision is procedurally flawed and should be set aside. She is one of ten people facing charges, under the 2001 Children's Act of publishing images of two teenagers which identified them as being persons accused and convicted of a serious crime. The section of the act she has allegedly breached is a hybrid offence. This means it can be prosecuted before either the District Court, where the maximum penalty is 12 months in jail and or a 1,000 fine, or the Circuit Court, where the maximum is three years in jail and or a fine of 10,000. Her case was before Dublin District Court last October where it is claimed the district judge dealing with the matter accepted jurisdiction, directed the DPP to disclose evidence to the accused's solicitor and adjourned the matter to a date in January. However, she claims when the matter came back before the court the matter was heard by a different District Court judge. Despite being told that the directions had already been given for summarily disposal the Judge reheard the facts, and decided they were not minor, unfit for summary trial. and adjourned the case for the service of the book of evidence. She claims that this was done without proper reasons being given and was a manifestly unfair decision as she had assumed that the matter would proceed before the District Court. Ms Doherty, from Rory O'Connor House, Hardwick Street, Dublin 1. is one of several persons who have brought judicial reviews proceedings arising out of their return for trials after their alleged publication of the images. Represented in her judicial review proceedings against the DPP by Kathleen Leader SC, instructed by solicitor David Thompson, Ms Doherty seeks various orders and declarations from the court. These include an order quashing the decision that the offences that Ms Doherty is accused of are not minor offences and were not fit to be tried summarily before the District Court. She also seeks declarations from the court that the District Court's Decision was made in excess of jurisdiction, in breach of fair procedures, and was not in accordance with the law. The matter came before Mr Justice Charles Meenan on Monday, who was informed that there were a number of other similar actions either pending or about to be brought before the courts. The Judge who granted Ms Doherty's lawyers permission, on an ex-parte basis, to bring her challenge, said it would be better if all the cases were heard together. The actions will all be mentioned before the court later this month. Former President Donald Trump speaks at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Orlando, Fla., on Feb. 28, 2021. (Screenshot/CPAC via NTD) Trump 2024 Is (Practically) Inevitable Commentary In an earlier article, I explored the possibilities for the Republican Party should Donald Trump decide not to run for the presidency in 2024. I have to admit, however, that it was pretty much of an academic exercise, the kind we pundits (Am I one of those? Yikes!) are paid to do. But as the night follows the day and Pluto, whether its a planet or not, revolves around the sun, Trump will be the Republican candidate in 2024. You dont have to been sitting fifty or sixty feet from him during his electric CPAC speech, as I was, to know that. You only have to be a sentient human being. Donald Trump loved being president and he does not like to lose. Only a force majeure of untold dimensions or a serious health setback would stop him, as he blithely put it, from winning the presidency a third time. Now Im not going to weigh in on the controversy over who won in 2020. Others will do that. But I will ask one Zen-ish question. The Democrats and their press buddies keep demanding the concrete evidence the Republicans have that Trump won. What concrete evidence do they have that he lost? Anyway, whether it will be 2.0 or 3.0, what should we look for in the Trump of 2024? Will he change? Has he changed? Or will Trump always be Trump? I am going to suggest that we may be getting an improved version. For one thing, as many mentioned, he looked younger and fitter at CPAC. But that could be transitory. What is more interesting is that he has ceased, for the most part, one of his more irritating flawspunching down. When is the last time you have heard him go after the likes of Rosie ODonnell? Not for a while. He picks his enemies better nowfor legitimate reasons and to more effect. He brushed aside Mitch McConnell in an almost casual manner during the CPAC speech that made it clear who is really the boss of the Republican Partyand its not the now minority leader. This may lead to the correction of what, in the view of many, was Trumps greatest overall flawa surprising inability to pick right people to work with him. What in the Sam Hill was Anthony Scaramucci ever doing in the White House, even for five minutes? Or Omarosa? More importantly, Trump did not immediately fire James Comey. I suppose he thought he could win over the treacherous FBI director with his charm, forgetting or ignorant of Trumans famous admonition If you want a friend in Washington, get a dog. Of course, it could be argued that Obama was worse. The Reverend Al Sharpton practically lived in the West Wing but Barrack had his own reasons for exploiting the notorious race-baiter. Still, as Reagan aptly put it, People are policy, and I strongly suspect the 2024 Trump would be much more careful about who is around him. You can bet Christopher Wray will be out the door in a heartbeat, among many others. In fairness, Trump also had some extraordinary people on his team, many of whom we can assume will be brought backLarry Kudlow, Steve Minuchin, Stephen Miller, Peter Navarro, Robert Lighthizer, not to mention son-in-law Jared Kushner of Abraham Accords fame, to name just a few of many. And speaking of those Abraham Accordsquite possibly the most important peace agreement of this century and some decades beforeyou can look for them to be extended to Saudi Arabia and many others under Trump 2024, even if they luff or are undermined during the Biden Administration. Trump, I would argue, has grown and learned a great deal as president. Nothing is better training for president than being president. Its the ultimate on the job training. He will be an improved version. He will seem more presidential and, at CPAC, he already did, oddly because he was out of office. But his biggest weakness in his second (or third, whatever) presidency will be the obvious one. He will be a lame duck. Thats what happens. In our system, presidents lose power in their second term because they no longer hold the threat of re-election. But one thing is more certain than any of this. Years from now, decades, possibly centuries, pundits, writers, historians, college professors (if they still exist) will be going over and over the United States in the first quarter of the Twenty-First Century that will be known as the Age of Trump. Why, they will ponder endlessly, was America so passionately, even violently split, almost as never before, over a man who did no more than lower taxes a few percent, build part of a border wall similar to those in many other countries and try to help settle an enmity between Arabs and Israelis that had gone for over seventy years? That is a mystery that will take 22nd Century versions of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Agatha Christie, Ian Fleming, John LeCarre, Graham Greene, and Raymond Chandler, all working together, to solve. Roger L. Simon is an award-winning novelist, Oscar-nominated screenwriter, co-founder of PJMedia, and now, editor-at-large for The Epoch Times. His most recent books are The GOAT (fiction) and I Know Best: How Moral Narcissism Is Destroying Our Republic, If It Hasnt Already (nonfiction). He can be found on Parler as @rogerlsimon. Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times. What makes it plausible is that it doesnt depend on some complex plot for a one-world government; it just depends on the human and bureaucratic capacity for error and the authoritarian tendency toward cover-up. And this points to an excellent rule for anyone who looks at an official narrative and thinks that something seems suspicious: In following your suspicions, never leap to a malignant conspiracy to explain something that can be explained by incompetence and self-protection first. Avoid theories that seem tailored to fit a predetermined conclusion After the November election, I spent a fair amount of time arguing with conservatives who were convinced that it had been stolen for Joe Biden, and after a while I noticed that I was often playing Whac-a-Mole: They would raise a fishy-seeming piece of evidence, I would show them something debunking it, and then they would just move on to a different piece of evidence that assumed a different kind of conspiracy shifting from stuffed ballot boxes in urban districts to computer shenanigans in suburban districts, say without losing an iota in their certainty. That kind of shift doesnt prove the new example false, but it should make you suspect that whats happening is a search for facts to fit a predetermined narrative, rather than just the observation of a suspicious fact with an open mind about where it leads. If youre reading someone who cant seem to internalize the implications of having an argument proved wrong, or who constantly cites easily discredited examples, youre not being discerning; youve either wandered into someones ideological fixation or youre a mark for intentional fake news. Take fringe theories more seriously when the mainstream narrative has holes For example: If you tell me that the C.I.A. killed John F. Kennedy, I will be dismissive, because the boring official narrative of his assassination hawkish president killed by a Marxist loner who previously tried to assassinate a right-wing general fits the facts perfectly well on its own. But if you tell me that some mysterious foreign intelligence agency was involved in Jeffrey Epsteins strange career, I will be more open to your theories, because so much about Epsteins dizzying ascent from prep school math teacher to procurer to the famous and the rich remains mystifying even now. Likewise, every fringe theory about U.F.O.s that theyre some kind of secret military supertechnology, that theyre really aliens, that theyre something stranger still became a lot more plausible in the last couple of years, because the footage released by Pentagon sources created a mystery that no official or consensus narrative has adequately explained. Just because you start to believe in one fringe theory, you dont have to believe them all This kind of slippage is clearly a feature of conspiratorial thinking: Joining an out-group that holds one specific outlandish opinion seems to encourage a sense that every out-group must be on to something, every outlandish opinion must be right. Thus the person who starts out believing that Epstein didnt kill himself ends up going full QAnon. Or the person who decides that the Centers for Disease Control is wrong about their chronic illness ends up refusing chemotherapy for cancer. But at the same time, there is no intellectually necessary reason why believing in one piece of secret knowledge, one specific conspiracy theory, should require a general belief in every fringe idea. Houston has become the first US city to record cases of every major Covid-19 variant found in the country, amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Analysis from scientists at Houston Methodist in Texas found 28 types of Covid-19 variants in patients in the city, with the origins ranging from Brazil, the UK, California and New York City. The scientists found 28 cases of the variants, after recently sequencing genomes from around 3,000 patients who had tested positive for Covid-19. The numbers of the major variants we have identified in our large sequencing study are disquieting, Dr James Musser, who led the study, told the Houston Chronicle on Monday. The genome data indicate that these important variants are now geographically widely distributed in the Houston metropolitan region, he added. Recommended Covid vaccines rescued by boat after heavy rain causes flooding in Kentucky Evidence suggests that the Brazil variant may be more contagious than the original strain, but scientists believe that the vaccines available in the US offer protection against them. Researchers at the University of Texas Medical Branch claimed last month that the Pfizer vaccine, which is one of three available treatments in the US, is less effective against the South African variant than the UK one, but stressed that it is still offers adequate protection. Dr Wesley Long, a Methodist infectious disease expert who assisted with the Houston study, reiterated that claim, telling the Chronicle that any differences in effectiveness will be minor. It doesnt mean that (current vaccines) are useless, he told the Chronicle on Monday. That doesnt mean that (the new strains) go through walls or defeat masks or that they change the way they are transmitted. All of the rules that weve used against Covid still apply, Dr Long added. He urged residents to continue practicing coronavirus measures, including social distancing and wearing face masks, to help prevent further spread of the more contagious variants. Rochelle Walensky, the Director of the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), warned on Monday that she is really worried about US states rolling back on similar coronavirus measures amid the new variants being recorded across the country. Please hear me clearly: at this level of cases, with variants spreading, we stand to completely lose the hard-earned ground we have gained, Dr Walensky said. These variants are a very real threat to our people and our progress, she added. Dr Walensky urged US residents to continue with Covid-19 measures, adding: We have the ability to stop a potential fourth surge of cases in this country. Please stay strong in your conviction. Over the weekend, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved a one-dose vaccine from Johnson & Johnson, with more than 4 million doses already shipped to states across the US. The country has also vaccinated more than 50 million people, with that figure expected to rise rapidly with three vaccines now being administered. Since the start of the pandemic, Texas has recorded more than 2.66 million coronavirus cases and at least 44,078 deaths, as it has been one of the worst affected states in the US. According to Johns Hopkins University, there are now more than 28.6 million people who have tested positive for the coronavirus in the US. The death toll has reached 514,660. Myanmar's military junta and the envoy sent by its toppled civilian government have launched contradictory claims over who represents the country at the United Nations, officials said Tuesday. Ambassador Kyaw Moe Tun spectacularly broke with the junta before the General Assembly on Friday in an emotional plea for help to restore ousted civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi. The next day, the junta said the envoy had been sacked, but on Monday, Kyaw Moe Tun sent a letter to the president of the UN General Assembly to say that he still holds the post. "The perpetrators of the unlawful coup... have no authority to countermand the legitimate authority of the president of my country," said the letter obtained by AFP, referring to Suu Kyi. "I wish therefore to confirm to you that I remain Myanmar's permanent representative to the United Nations," he added. On Tuesday, Myanmar's foreign ministry sent a note verbale to the UN, also obtained by AFP, claiming Kyaw Moe Tun had been removed. "The ministry of foreign affairs... has the honour to inform that the state administration council of the republic of the Union of Myanmar terminated the duties and responsibilities of ambassador Kyaw Moe Tun," the note said. "At present, Tin Maung Naing, deputy permanent representative ambassador, has been assigned as the charge d'affaires ad interim of the permanent mission," the note added. UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric told a press briefing that the body had received the two "contradictory" letters. "We are taking a look at those letters, where they came from and what we will do," he said. The United States backed Kyaw Moe Tun and hailed his "bravery," with a State Department spokesman saying "we understand that the permanent representative remains in his position." "We will continue to oppose the military coup and we will continue to support the restoration of Burma's democratically elected civilian government," the US spokesman said. Story continues US envoy to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield also met virtually with Kyaw Moe Tun on Tuesday to express her support. UN accreditation and protocol committees will look into the issue and then refer it to the General Assembly. Dujarric said that the UN envoy to Myanmar, Christine Schraner Burgener, who is currently in Switzerland, "continues her conversations with various parties regarding the current situation." On Friday, Burgener said that "it is important the international community does not lend legitimacy or recognition to this regime," and called for the international community to press for a return to democracy. prh/jm/bgs/to Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Proceeds from the offering will be used for a drilling program on the southern portion of Salar del Diablo, which will allow the company to boost its 60% stake in the property to 80% One World Lithium Inc (CSE:OWLI) (OTCMKTS:OWRDF) announced Tuesday that it had closed an oversubscribed non-brokered private placement raising just over C$2.25 million to advance its Salar del Diablo lithium brine property in Mexico. The company had originally planned to raise C$1.5 million, but wound up issuing an additional 15,022,210 units for $751,110.50, netting gross proceeds of $2,251,110.50. All told, OWL issued just over 45 million units priced at C$0.05 in the oversubscribed offering. Each unit consisted of one share and one warrant exercisable at $0.10 per share for a three-year period. Proceeds from the offering will be used primarily for a drilling program on the southern portion of Salar del Diablo, which will allow the company to boost its 60% stake in the property to 80%. Additional funds will go towards advancing its potential lithium separation technology and working capital, according to OWL. Closing the private placement is a milestone for the company to fund an aggressive exploration program at its Salar del Diablo Lithium Brine Project as well as advancing the potential for a critical fluid separation technology, OWL CEO Doug Fulcher said in a statement. We appreciate our shareholders confidence. OWL said it had received binding commitments for participation in the offering from a member of its board of directors, including the extended management team in the aggregate of $30,000 or 600,000 units. Salar del Diablo is located in the State of Baja California, Mexico. OWL will earn the additional 20% property interest on completing its two remaining drill holes with an option to purchase a further 10% property interest for a total of a 90% working interest in the 103,450-hectare project The company also said it had granted incentive stock options under its stock option plan to certain directors, officers, management and consultants to purchase up to an aggregate of 4.9 million shares, exercisable on or before March 01, 2023, at a price $0.13 per share, which was the closing price of the companys shares on the Canadian Stock Exchange on March 01, 2021. Contact Angela at angela@proactiveinvestors.com Follow her on Twitter @AHarmantas Meet Noah Myers, the Autistic Tennessee Teen Who Hiked 100 Miles in the Great Smoky Mountains Here's to the next 100 miles, Noah and crew! How's this for feel-good inspiration? 17-year-old Noah Myers has hiked 100 miles in the Great Smoky Mountains. An impressive feat for anyone, but especially impressive for Noah, who has autism and is nonverbal. "He's autistic, and he doesn't like things that challenge him. And then we said, 'you know, he's old enough to understand that sometimes you just gotta do hard things'" Noah's mother Angela Miles told Knoxville, Tennessee's WBIR-TV. Noah, his mom, and stepfather have been hiking for the past 10 years, and the boy's parents have been able to use natural water features along the trails an incentive to motivate him. "He loves water. He absolutely loves water. So we used hiking to waterfalls as a reward," Miles shared "We get excited to see him explore the world through his eyes because he looks at everything so different. So, it's a good bonding [experience]. Not only that, but he can be himself. If he has a meltdown, we just sit down and let him work through it," Miles said. Now, by hitting 100 miles and receiving his commemorative pin, the Eastern Tennessee teen has fulfilled quite the accomplishment, not only for him, but as an ambassador of those in the autism community. Miles also reflected on her gratitude for the hikers they've met along the way: "They just say, 'you'll get through it. Just give him a minute.' And, they've offered 'does he need an extra water?' or 'hey, I've got a thing of bubbles. Does he want some bubbles to play with?' They're not judging. They're offering any help that they can. I've had them sit down with him on the trail and just sit there and not say a word, and then he just works through it and looks at 'em like, "oh where did you come from?'" Miles said. Story continues "We really like blew it out of proportion. We just kept telling him how proud we were of him, and he will point to his little pin...like he knows he's earned that. He understands that part," Miles said. Here's to the next 100 miles, Noah and crew! Syrian researcher and human rights defender Radeef Mustafa has decried the alleged torture of Islam Alloush, writes Shaam News. The picture published by the family of the former spokesperson for Jaysh al-Islam (Army of Islam), Majdi Nameh, known as Islam Alloush, which depicts great signs of torture that he was subjected to in French prisons, provoked great human rights reactions. Some condemned these acts in countries that respect international law and the rights of detainees, while skeptics called for making sure the picture was real before taking any action. The official account of the family of Nameh, who is detained in France, published a picture showing the signs of torture their son had been subjected to after his arrest. Nameh appeared in the picture, in a deplorable condition, as a result of severe torture that was apparent on his face. Sources close to his family said that he was subjected to great psychological and physical torture, the effects of which are clear on his body. Syrian researcher and human rights defender, Radeef Mustafa, said in an interview with Shaam News Network that the case of Alloush is a brutal, medieval crime that disregards all forms of humanity, especially that it happened in France. He emphasized that the issue of Namehs arrest, and given the charges against him according to his familys statement, makes us believe that the issue is not related to individual responsibility for a committed crime, but rather to Namehs affiliation with a military group, knowing that he was a media spokesperson and therefore, this is an indication that the accusations attributed to Nameh are not plausible. Regarding doubts about the authenticity of the photo, Mustafa pointed out that Namehs brother confirmed that the published image was obtained from his siblings defense lawyer, which means the French authorities are required to clarify the situation. He stressed the need to pressure the French authorities and file a case before the French Public Prosecutor regarding the crime of torture and ill-treatment as well as an investigation into the particulars of the detention, its method, and why the anti-terrorist forces were involved and not the police. The familys statement pointed out that they initially believed that the case as portrayed by the media was related to the disappearance of activist Razan Zeitouneh and her companions, but they later realized that it was a criminalization case affecting Nameh because of his joining Jaysh al-Islam and recruiting children in addition to other charges that reveal the seriousness of [the accusations against] Nameh and their extension to include everyone who took up arms against Assad. The family considered that the lawsuit against Nameh is malicious and does not aim to pursue the truth, but is rather an attempt to seek revenge, because it is based on testimonies against Nameh, which the family has seen, and which are solely based on content on social networking sites and rumors that no reasonable person can possibly believe. The Syrian Center for Media and Freedom of Expression has previously stated that Alloush was arrested in France on charges of committing war crimes, pointing to his arrest on Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2020, after several reports indicated his involvement in war crimes in eastern Ghouta. Jaysh al-Islam released a statement regarding the incident, in which it was certain that the lawsuits filed by human rights organizations against it aim to discredit and insult the Syrian revolution factions in order to pressure them to accept the solutions imposed on us by countries under the banner of international classification. 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. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. Yes, Theyre Open is a web series highlighting local bars and restaurants that are open for takeout, delivery, pickup or dining during the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak. Live streams from the featured restaurants are broadcast on the Advance Facebook page every weekday at around 3 p.m. On Monday, the Advance/SILive.com visited Shawafel House at 1419 Forest Ave., which is open for pickup from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Saturday. The restaurant, which opened four months ago, is closed on Sunday. To place an order, call 718-285-4175 or visit myshawafel.com. Staten Island restaurant owners: If you would like your establishment featured for free as part of Yes, Theyre Open, email reporter Victoria Priola at vpriola@siadvance.com. YES, THEYRE OPEN: Shawafel House offers pickup at 1419 Forest Ave. The restaurant is open 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Saturday, closed on Sundays. To place orders, call 718-285-4175 or visit myshawafel.com. Posted by Staten Island Advance on Monday, March 1, 2021 WANT MORE YES, THEYRE OPEN? Check out the listings below or check out all of our previous coverage here. Grand Sahara Mediterranean Grill, 1828 Hylan Blvd. Palermo Pizzeria & Restaurant, 95 Page Ave. Ungaro Coal Fired Pizza Cafe, 1298 Forest Ave. Bocelli Restaurant, 1250 Hylan Blvd. Jimmy Max, 280 Watchogue Rd. As storm clouds blanketed the Brisbane CBD late on Tuesday, severe thunderstorms forecast for south-east Queensland had dumped more than 70 millimetres of rainfall in some regions. The Bureau of Meteorology warned that just before 5pm severe thunderstorms were detected on the weather radar near Redbank Plains, Wacol and Greenbank, moving towards the north. Storm clouds cover Brisbane late on Tuesday. Credit:Fairfax Media The Brisbane inner city, Upper Brookfield and Enoggera Reservoir were expected to be hit by 5.20pm, while the storms were expected to reach Strathpine, Boondall and Lake Samsonvale half an hour later. Strathpine, Kallangur and Dayboro is expected to be hit by 6pm and Caboolture, Mount Mee and Wamuran by 6.30pm. [March 02, 2021] Intercontinental Exchange Announces the Retirement of Chief Financial Officer Scott A. Hill Following 14 Years of Distinguished Service Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (NYSE: ICE), a leading operator of global exchanges and clearing houses and provider of mortgage technology, data and listings services, announced that Chief Financial Officer Scott Hill plans to retire on May 14, 2021, capping a 14-year career at ICE that saw the firm expand consistently through organic growth and acquisitions, delivering a compound annual growth rate in adjusted earnings per share of 16% during Hill's tenure. Warren Gardiner, ICE's Vice President of Investor Relations, will assume the CFO role following ICE's 2021 Annual Meeting of Shareholders on May 14. Mr. Hill will continue to serve as an advisor to the company through February 2023. "Scott joined ICE in 2007, shortly after our IPO, providing strong and steady leadership over the financial management of the company and yet, from his first days at the company to today, he has delivered so much more as a visionary for our growth, steward of our culture, and mentor to many who have joined us on our remarkable journey," said Jeffrey Sprecher, Founder, Chairman and CEO of Intercontinental Exchange. "I am personally grateful to Scott for his measured and wise counsel over the years and, as a firm, we have all benefitted from his broad expertise and tireless service, and we're glad that he will remain with us to assist in a smooth transition as Warren Gardiner assumes his duties as CFO." At ICE, Mr. Hill has led all aspects of the company's finance and accounting functions, treasury, tax, audit and controls, human resources and investor relations. As the company expanded into new products and geographies, Mr. Hill also played an integral role in mergers and acquisitions and, at various times during his tenure, provided operational leadership in global clearing and other areas of the business. Mr. Hill arrived at ICE from IBM (News - Alert) , were he served for 16 years in accounting, financial and strategy leadership positions in the U.S., Europe and Japan. A native of Texas, Mr. Hill earned a BBA in Finance from the University of Texas in Austin and an MBA from NYU's Stern School of Business. Since 2017, Warren Gardiner has led ICE's award-winning investor relations program. During his tenure at ICE,Mr. Gardiner has also played an integral role in business development, as well as financial planning and analysis. In his expanded role as CFO, Warren will lead ICE's finance, accounting, treasury, tax and audit functions, as well as investor relations. Mr. Gardiner joined ICE from Evercore ISI (News - Alert) , where he served as a senior research analyst covering the U.S. exchanges and Financial Information sector. Mr. Gardiner holds a B.A. in Managerial Economics from Union College and is a CFA charter holder. "Since joining ICE, Warren has worked closely with Scott and his team to further enhance both our financial reporting and communications to our stakeholders," said Jeff Sprecher. "As we continue to grow, his intimate knowledge of our industry, business, and culture has positioned him well to expand his responsibilities and to help us build on the track record of outstanding returns for which ICE has always been known." Mr. Gardiner's appointment as CFO is effective as of May 15, 2021. Mr. Hill will actively assist with the CFO transition through the end of the year and will remain an advisor through February 2023. About Intercontinental Exchange Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE: ICE) is a Fortune 500 company and provider of marketplace infrastructure, data services and technology solutions to a broad range of customers including financial institutions, corporations and government entities. We operate regulated marketplaces, including the New York Stock Exchange, for the listing, trading and clearing of a broad array of derivatives contracts and financial securities across major asset classes. Our comprehensive data services offering supports the trading, investment, risk management and connectivity needs of customers around the world and across asset classes. As a leading technology provider for the U.S. residential mortgage industry, ICE Mortgage Technology provides the technology and infrastructure to transform and digitize U.S. residential mortgages, from application and loan origination through to final settlement. Trademarks of ICE and/or its affiliates include Intercontinental Exchange, ICE, ICE block design, NYSE and New York Stock Exchange. Information regarding additional trademarks and intellectual property rights of Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. and/or its affiliates is located here. Key Information Documents for certain products covered by the EU Packaged Retail and Insurance-based Investment Products Regulation can be accessed on the relevant exchange website under the heading "Key Information Documents (KIDS)." Safe Harbor Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 -- Statements in this press release regarding ICE's business that are not historical facts are "forward-looking statements" that involve risks and uncertainties. For a discussion of additional risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual results to differ from those contained in the forward-looking statements, see ICE's Securities and Exchange Commission ( SEC (News - Alert) ) filings, including, but not limited to, the risk factors in ICE's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2020, as filed with the SEC on February 4, 2021. ICE-CORP Source (News - Alert) : Intercontinental Exchange View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210302006108/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] State officials said more than 90% of its supply of 83,000 doses will be distributed to mass vaccination sites. The city of Chicago, which gets its own supply of vaccines, is receiving 22,300 doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, according to the CDC. A University of Tokyo graduate school has criticized Hong Kong authorities for charging one of its students for violating the territory's national security law. The university's Graduate School of Public Policy said in an English statement on Monday that PhD student Au Nok Hin was arrested as part of a broad crackdown, the day after he returned to Hong Kong. He had been studying at the school. Au is one of the 47 defendants who went on trial in Hong Kong on Monday, on a charge of conspiracy to commit subversion. The statement says his passport, computer and smartphone are still confiscated, and are all vital for his academic work. It says this infringes on "Mr. Au Nok Hin's unwavering determination to concentrate on his PhD project, which has the full support of the Graduate School." The statement continues, "We have no doubt that he will be cleared of his charges in the very near future and eagerly await his return to our academic community in person where he belongs." Au is a former member of Hong Kong's Legislative Council. He is accused of calling for an unofficial primary poll to choose pro-democracy candidates for a Council election, which was due last September but was postponed. Others facing the same charge include former University of Hong Kong associate professor Benny Tai. A California high school teacher sparked outrage by using a 'slant eyes' gesture while explaining racial stereotypes against Asians during an online class. Nicole Burkett, a Spanish teacher and student adviser at Grant Union High School in Sacramento, was placed under investigation after a video of her making the offensive gesture went viral on TikTok. 'If your eyes go up, you're Chinese. If they go down, they're Japanese. If they're just straight, you don't know,' Burkett told students on Zoom last Thursday as she pulled her eyes up and down at the corners. The teacher was said to be trying to explain a racist school-yard taunt called 'Chinese, Japanese, Dirty Knees', which she said was prevalent in the 80s. As the video spread online some students came out to defend Burkett, claiming that the gesture was taken out of context, ABC10 reported. The outlet said Burkett had posted about receiving death threats on her personal Instagram page. Scroll down for video Sacramento high school teacher Nicole Burkett is receiving death threats after she used 'slant eyes' while explaining racial stereotypes against Asians during an online class last week Burkett was placed under investigation after a video of her making the offensive gesture went viral on TikTok (left and right). 'If your eyes go up, you're Chinese. If they go down, they're Japanese. If they're just straight, you don't know,' Burkett told students on Zoom last Thursday as she pulled her eyes up and down at the corners School officials quickly condemned Burkett's actions and said an internal investigation is underway. 'The video is shocking and disappointing and does not represent the values held by Twin Rivers and the community,' Grant Union Principal Darris Hinson said in a statement. 'Please know that Twin Rivers is committed to providing all students with a safe and civil learning environment in which all members of the school community are treated with dignity and respect.' Burkett (pictured) has reportedly posted about receiving death threats on her personal Instagram page Several parents spoke out against Burkett, including Maria Sepulveda, who has three children in the Twin Rivers Unified School District (TRUSD). She accused Burkett of reinforcing 'divisive behavior and attitudes.' 'It's really harmful to the students right now. It's not helpful to the community at all,' Sepulveda told KCBS Radio. A Change.org petition demanding an apology and 200 hours of community service for Burkett has garnered nearly 6,000 signatures as of Tuesday morning. The petition, led by the Sacramento Asian/ Pacific Islander (API) Regional Network, also called for TRUSD to implement an ethnic studies curriculum and require all educators to undergo racial equity training. Burkett, joined the district in 2017, has declined to comment on the scandal when approached by multiple media outlets. 'I have been advised to not make any statements until my union representative gets back to me,' she told the Sacramento Bee. It is unclear whether Burkett was placed on leave pending the internal investigation. Her bio on the school's website lists her as the adviser of the Lao Xang Noy and KPOP (Korean pop music) clubs. 'I love teaching and supporting all students at Grant,' the bio reads. Burkett joined the Twin Rivers Unified School District in 2017. She currently works as a Spanish teacher and student adviser at Grant Union High School (pictured) The incident comes amid a rise in hate crimes against Asian Americans in recent years. In 2020 alone, anti-Asian hate crimes rose by more than 150 percent in 16 of the largest US cities, according to California State University's Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism. The spike has been attributed in part to former President Donald Trump's rhetoric blaming China for the coronavirus. The 'slant eyes' stereotype dates back to the late 19th century, when propaganda portrayed Asian immigrants as a threat to the US, according to the Sacramento Bee. Several local politicians spoke out against Burkett after the video went viral and said her actions could help fuel further violence against Asian Americans. 'Perpetuating racist stereotypes of Asian Americans is harmful under any circumstance, but they are particularly egregious at a time when anti-Asian racism and violence is at an all-time high,' Sacramento City Council Member Mai Vang said in the statement. 'Students should feel safe in their learning environments and the actions of this teacher violates that safety and creates a climate that excuses hateful acts. The leaders of the Twin Rivers USD must take immediate action to investigate the situation.' State Sen Dr Richard Pan, who chairs the API Legislative Caucus, also blasted Burkett. 'For many of us who are Asian, the gestures that were made in that video are not unfamiliar to us. We've seen it repeatedly, unfortunately, throughout our lives,' Pan said. 'While we can't stop individuals from expressing prejudice and hate, we can as a community say, this is not acceptable for us as a community.' The Leadership of the Appointments Committee of Parliament has debunked media reports which suggested the rejection of three of President Akufo-Addo's Ministerial nominees. It follows widespread speculations that the three includes Minister for Information Designate, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, Minister Designate for Agriculture, Dr Owusu Afriyie Akoto and Minister-Designate for Fisheries and Aquaculture, Mavis Hawa Koomson have been rejected by the minority side of the Committee. However, responding to the matter in Parliament on Tuesday Chairman of the Committee, Joseph Osei-Owusu, rejected the claim noting that the Committee's duty is only to vet nominees and make recommendations to plenary. He said it is not the duty of the Committee or any of its members to make a pronouncement on the acceptance or rejection of a notice. We should not take out of here matters which have not been decided by the Committee and discussed as if they are the Committee's decision. This Committee has no power to reject anybody. Our duty is to make recommendations to the house. The house may refuse or reject our recommendations. There is nothing going on here which is final. If we understand that, that will influence our discussion, he said. Mr Osei-Owusu however admonished members of the Committee to desist from making public pronouncements on the nomination of persons who appear before it. So I encourage you to stay away from public pronouncements on things that undermine the integrity of the Committee, he added. Ranking Member of the Committee Haruna Idrissu further clarified that about eight nominees have been asked to provide further particulars on some matters later in the week before reports on them are finalized. 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 Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain The Rev. Jose Luis Garayoa survived typhoid fever, malaria, a kidnapping and the Ebola crisis as a missionary in Sierra Leone, only to die of COVID-19 after tending to the people of his Texas church who were sick from the virus and the grieving family members of those who died. Garayoa, 68, who served at El Paso's Little Flower Catholic Church, was one of three priests living in the local home of the Roman Catholic Order of the Augustinian Recollects who contracted the disease. Garayoa died two days before Thanksgiving. Garayoa was aware of the dangers of COVID, but he could not refuse a congregant who sought comfort and prayers when that person or a loved one fought the disease, according to retired hairstylist Maria Luisa Placencia, one of the priest's parishioners. "He could not see someone suffering or worried about a child or a parent and not want to pray with them and show compassion," Placencia said. Garayoa's death underscores the personal risks taken by spiritual leaders who comfort the sick and their families, give last rites or conduct funerals for people who have died of COVID. Many also face challenges in leading congregations that are divided over the seriousness of the pandemic. Ministering to the ill or dying is a major role of spiritual leaders in all religions. Susan Dunlap, a divinity professor at Duke University, said COVID creates an even greater feeling of obligation for clergy, because many patients are isolated from family members, she said. People near death often want to interact with God or make things right, Dunlap said, and a clergy member "can help facilitate that." Such spiritual work is key to the work of hospital chaplains, but it can expose them to virus being spread in the air or sometimes through touch. Jayne Barnes, a chaplain at the Billings Clinic in Montana, said she tries to avoid physical contact with COVID patients, but it can be difficult to resist a brief touch, which is often the best way to convey compassion. "It's almost an awkward moment when you see a patient in distress, but you know you shouldn't hold their hand or give them a hug," Barnes said. "But that doesn't mean that we can't be there for them. These are people who cannot have visitors, and they have a lot they want to say. Sometimes they are angry with God, and they let me know about that. I'm there to listen." Still, there are times, Barnes said, that the despair is so profound she cannot help but "put on a glove and hold a patient's hand." Barnes was diagnosed with COVID near Thanksgiving. She has recovered and has a "better understanding" of what patients are enduring. Dealing with so much suffering affects even the most hardened doctors and nurses, she said. Billings Clinic staffers were devastated when a beloved physician died of COVID, and rallied behind a popular nurse who was seriously ill but recovered. "We're not only taking care of the patients; we are also there for the staff, and I think we have been an important asset,'' she said of the hospital's chaplains. In Abington, Pennsylvania, Pastor Marshall Mitchell of Salem Baptist Church said he believes part of his spiritual duty is to persuade his congregation and the broader African American community to take precautions to avoid COVID. That is why Mitchell allowed photographers to capture the moment in December when he received his first dose of a vaccine. "As pastor of one of the largest churches in the Philadelphia region, it is incumbent on me to demonstrate the powers of both science and faith," he said. Mitchell said he might have credibility in convincing other African Americans, who have been disproportionately affected by COVID, that a vaccine can save lives. Many are skeptical. The politicization of COVID precautions such as masks and social distancing has put many pastors in a difficult position. Mitchell said he has no patience for people who refuse to wear masks. "I keep them the hell away from me," he said. Jeff Wheeler, lead pastor of Central Church in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, said that his church encourages mask-wearing and that most congregants comply. However, the underlying tension is reflected in his message to members on the church's website: "As we move forward, we simply ask you to avoid shaming, judging or making critical comments to those wearing or not wearing masks," it reads. Sheikh Tarik Ata, who leads the Orange County Islamic Foundation in California, said that the Quran calls for Muslims to take actions to ensure their health and that congregants largely comply with COVID guidelines "So, our members don't have a problem with mask mandates," he said. COVID has hit the Orange County Muslim population hard, Ata said. Religion has become an important source of comfort for members who have lost their jobs and struggled with illness or finding child care. "Our faith says that no matter how difficult the situation, we always have access to God and the future will be better," Ata said. Adam Morris, the rabbi at Temple Micah in Denver, said he has turned to online video to meet with congregants sick with the coronavirus. When meeting with his congregation members in person, such as during graveside services, he worries that with his mask on people might miss seeing the concern and compassion he feels for their plight. He conducts in-person graveside funerals for a small number of mourners but requires all participants to wear masks. Observant Muslims and Jews believe it is important to bury the dead quickly after death, Morris said. "Some traditions and rituals must go forward," Morris said, "COVID or not." Explore further Follow the latest news on the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak 2021 Kaiser Health News. 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. Manitoba's weeks-long lag in detecting highly contagious COVID-19 variants stemmed from a delay in asking the private lab conducting nearly half the tests to send along samples, the Free Press has learned. Manitoba's weeks-long lag in detecting highly contagious COVID-19 variants stemmed from a delay in asking the private lab conducting nearly half the tests to send along samples, the Free Press has learned. It wasnt until Feb. 7 that the Manitoba government asked Dynacare to send COVID-19 samples on a daily basis to the Cadham Provincial Laboratory so they could be screened for variants of concern. That explains why it took 18 days to detect the first documented B.1.1.7 variant case in Manitoba, as well as the three-week lag in reporting at least two other variant cases linked to specific flights. None of the five confirmed cases of the U.K. variant in Manitoba have led to secondary infections. Yet the province waited until six weeks after Canada restricted flights from Britain, on Dec. 24, to ramp up its surveillance of variants. "In January of this year, a request was made to send samples on a regular basis which we complied with. It was not sent daily but was sent batched," Dynacare spokesman Mark Bernhardt wrote. "Then on February 7th, a request was made to send all positive COVID-19 samples to Cadham on a daily basis, which we have complied with." Bernhardt said Dynacare takes 12 to 24 hours to test samples and then ships them to Cadham. The province says it takes up to a day for Cadham to screen for possible variants, and suspected cases are then sent to National Microbiology Laboratory for in-depth sequencing, which should take four to seven days, according to the Public Health Agency of Canada. That turnaround period should be in place as of Feb. 7. But before then, households with variant cases were likely not told about the need to have housemates isolate for as long as 24 days, a measure the province put in place to contain the spread of new strains. For example, the province announced three variant cases on Feb. 19, two of which appeared on the province's registry of flights with COVID-19 exposure that dated back to Jan. 26 and 30. This suggests the COVID-19 carriers would have learned they were variant cases and that their housemates needed to keep isolating only after completing their quarantines. Provincial officials have never offered any explanation for why the sequencing process had been taking as long as three weeks. Instead, officials highlighted the provinces role in a national genomic surveillance project, and defended the work of Cadham scientists. This lack of transparency has alarmed Manitobans working in health care and diagnostics, who have pointed the Free Press in the direction of possible causes of the unexplained delay, including the lag in requesting Dynacare samples. Provincial officials have stressed that Manitoba has done a better job than many jurisdictions in containing variant cases, thanks to restrictions on interprovincial travel and enhanced isolation rules. On Monday, a Health Department spokeswoman said the new protocol should further help contain the risk of variants. "Weve quickly changed our processes and improved efficiencies over the last few weeks," the spokeswoman wrote, such as screening all positive COVID-19 samples for the three main variants that are causing the most global concern. Dynacare accounts for about 40 per cent of Manitoba's COVID-19 tests. In January, the firm conducted 22,488 of the provinces total 57,180 reported tests, and in February it did 20,245 of the reported 46,563 tests. Meanwhile, Manitoba has said it was monitoring for variants since early in the pandemic, even before mutant strains took over in Britain, South Africa and Brazil. Yet it appears Cadhams surveillance regime involved few Dynacare samples. "For most of 2020, we were not requested to send any positive samples to Cadham," Bernhardt wrote. dylan.robertson@freepress.mb.ca With files from Michael Pereira Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. BISHKEK -- Kyrgyz organized-crime figure Kamchy Kolbaev, who was added by Washington to a list of major global drug-trafficking suspects in 2011, has been released from pretrial detention and ordered not to leave Bishkek. Aisulu Jaasynova, spokeswoman at the Bishkek City Court, told RFE/RL that the decision to change Kolbaevs pretrial restrictions was made on March 2. She did not say why the decision was made. Kolbaev, who is known as a "thief-in-law," a title traditionally given to kingpins among criminal groups in former Soviet republics, was detained on suspicion of organizing a criminal group and participating in the activities of an organized criminal group on October 22, 2020. The U.S. Embassy in Bishkek welcomed Kolbaev's detention at the time it was announced and expressed hope that Kyrgyz authorities would "prosecute and continue to detain this dangerous criminal leader in the interest of public safety. In late 2012, Kolbaev was extradited to Kyrgyzstan from the United Arab Emirates at Bishkek's request and sentenced to 5 1/2 years in prison on extortion charges. His prison term was later shortened to three years without explanation. In June 2014, Kolbaev was granted an early release, which Kyrgyz officials explained by saying that each day spent by an inmate in a detention center is equal to two days in a penal colony. Weeks before his early release, the U.S. State Department offered a reward of up to $1 million for information leading to the disruption of the financial mechanisms of Kolbaev's criminal network, which it described as being "part of the broader Brothers' Circle transnational criminal organization composed of leaders and members of several Eurasian criminal groups." FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla., March 2, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Kaycha Labs and TEQ Analytical Laboratories, two Colorado-based leaders in the independent cannabis lab testing market, have announced a strategic partnership. The two companies will be combining resources to position itself as the state's highest value-added testing company with a complete service offering. The companies have agreed to operate under the "Kaycha" brand and they will consolidate their operations at Kaycha Lab's 879 Federal Boulevard location in Denver, Colorado. Seth Wong, President of TEQ Analytical, highlighted, "By integrating our professional teams, quality systems, and proven SOPs, we will be positioned to provide even more value to clients. I am also excited that our TEQ clients will now have access to Kaycha's PureLIMS, a software platform that was built for the Cannabis and Hemp testing industry," Stephen Goldman, Kaycha's Chief Science Officer and Colorado Lab Director, noted. "We have always admired TEQ's customer service model and focus on quality and through our partnership, we will have more resources dedicated to making sure we are proactive in addressing our clients' needs." With nine lab locations across the country and three more under consideration, the combined company is uniquely qualified to service the testing needs of both regional and national cannabis companies. ABOUT KAYCHA LABS: Headquartered in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Kaycha Labs has testing labs in California, Colorado, Florida, Massachusetts, Nevada, Oklahoma, Oregon, and Tennessee. Kaycha's network of accredited labs is a leader in testing precision and speed, delivering results within 48 hours with sample automation and technology innovation. ABOUT TEQ ANALYTICAL LABORATORIES: Headquartered in Aurora, Colorado, TEQ Analytical was the first recreational marijuana laboratory in North America Accredited to ISO/IEC 17025 through A2LA. Led by a team with over 70 years of experience in the food, drug testing and agricultural industries, TEQ is recognized as an industry leader in cannabis potency, microbiological, and contaminant testing. For more information, visit KaychaLabs.com and on social media @KaychaLabs Media Contact: Kara Pound Simply180, Inc. [email protected] 386-237-4500 Related Images kaycha-labs-logo.png Kaycha Labs logo Related Links kaychalabs.com SOURCE Kaycha Labs Washington: When the US began rolling out coronavirus vaccines late last year, there was a lot of concern about vaccine hesitancy among African-Americans. Multiple polls showed that black Americans were significantly more sceptical about getting the jab than white or Hispanic Americans, reflecting a history of disturbing government experiments on black patients. But as the vaccine rollout progressed and more information became available, African Americans confidence in the coronavirus vaccine grew - a development that has pleased public health experts. Donald Trumps speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference showed they he remains revered by the Republican base. Credit:AP But one demographic group in America remains stubbornly and disturbingly wary of getting the vaccine: Republicans. A Medicare-style levy to fund and fix the failing aged care sector could cost taxpayers about $610 a year each and boost funds by almost $8 billion annually, but a health economist has warned that alone wont be enough to fund improvements in the sector. The government has left the door open to tax increases, including the royal commissions funding levy recommendation, Minister for Senior Australians and Aged Care Services Richard Colbeck saying they will consider all recommendations, including the levy, and respond in the May budget. A Medicare-style levy has been proposed to help fund changes to the aged care system. Credit:Edwina Pickles It will require additional resources - considerable additional resources - and thats one of the important considerations that we have to look at as we consider the report, he told ABC radio on Tuesday morning. We will consider all of the recommendations carefully, we will have a comprehensive response to those in the budget. Patna, March 2 : Political parties in Bihar will now be seen trying their luck in the upcoming Assembly elections in West Bengal. The interesting part is that the parties contesting together as allies in Bihar will now be pitted against one another. According to surveys for the West Bengal Assembly elections, it is certain that the main political contest is between the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) and the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Meanwhile, parties like the Lok Janshakti Party (LJP), Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM) and the Janata Dal (United), which are quite active in Bihar, have announced they will contest in the Bengal elections. Earlier, Jitan Ram Manjhi, the HAM Chief and former Bihar Chief Minister, visited West Bengal. Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejashwi Yadav has announced to support the TMC and held a meeting with West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday. After meeting Banerjee, Tejashwi had issued a statement saying the federal structure and constitutional institutions of the country are constantly being attacked by the Central government. At present, the country stands at a crucial crossroads. The Central Government is always busy in contesting elections in various states with the help of its institutions, and not working for the welfare of the people, the RJD leader added. Tejashwi said, "The RJD National President Lalu Prasad believes that it is time for the opposition parties to protect the democratic values of the country, commitment to ideology and do politics based on principles." It is certain that various parties of Bihar will make their presence felt in the West Bengal electoral ground. It is being speculated that these parties are trying to create hurdles and spoil the political chances of the TMC and the BJP. Lalu Prasad's RJD has already announced its support to the TMC. Jitan Ram Manjhi's HAM has also announced to contest on 26 seats in Bengal while the LJP has so far not announced how many seats it will contest. Sources say that small parties in Bihar do not have much political clout in West Bengal but in some Assembly constituencies in the border areas of Bihar, these parties have a sizeable presence. -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text The Congress workers on Tuesday staged a protest against senior leader and former Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad in Jammu for praising Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Holding party flags in their hands they raised slogans against Azad and burnt his effigy. They said his praise for PM Modi is not helping the Congress party. The protesting party workers said the Congress has given Azad the best of the positions but when it was his turn to help in reviving the party, he has started taking the BJP line. "He is weakening the Congress party by praising Narindra Modi who took away the rights of J&K and its statehood," party leader Shahnawaz Choudhary said. "We demand that Sonia Gandhi sack him." On Sunday, Azad had praised Prime Minister Narindra Modi at a function of the Gujjar Desh Charitable Trust in Jammu. While addressing members of the Gujjar community in the presence of some J&K Congress leaders, Azad said Prime Minister Modi doesn't hide about his humble background and the fact that he comes from a village. He had said he may have political differences with Prime Minister Modi but he appreciates that he doesn't hide his true self. He said those leaders who hide their true self are living in an artificial world. Thiruvananthapuram, March 2 : Leaders and ordinary party workers of the Congress in Kerala are watching eagerly as the list of candidates who will contest the April 6 assembly polls is being readied. Over the years the Congress party has been deeply divided in three and at times four factions led by leaders like Oommen Chandy, Ramesh Chennithala and Vayalar Ravi. When it comes to the selection of candidates, it's these faction leaders who have an edge and manage to get their candidates the party ticket. But of late, ever since Rahul Gandhi became a deciding factor, things started to change and at times he has put his foot down and slashed a few names these leaders came up with. A senior Congress leader on condition of anonymity said Gandhi of late has been able to assert his authority, which has not gone down well with the faction managers here, but all know that there is not much point in dissenting. "Gandhi has the support of three-time former Chief Minister and Defence Minister A.K. Antony, who is in the good books of the Gandhis. Antony, for three decades till the late nineties, headed his own faction, which was led by Chandy. But since the turn of the century, he is not involved in any factional issues, but his opinion carries weight with the Gandhis. He literally acts as a watchdog, so none of the faction leaders gets away easily," said the Congress leader. Even though if one looks at the electoral history in Kerala, no government has been able to retain power and this time, if the trend prevails, then the Congress-led UDF should form the next government when the votes are counted on May 2. But, though the UDF recorded a stunning victory in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections by winning 19 out of the 20 seats from the state, complacency set in amongst its leaders and grassroot workers. "Despite Pinarayi Vijayan being caught in scams and scandals, for some reason they managed to hold on to the lead that they had in the previous local body polls in 2015, when the polls was held in December last year. That came as a shock to the UDF and Vijayan seized on that and has started the election campaign with the tagline, the Left is surely returning to power again and this has sent shivers down the spines of practically every Congress worker. In a way, this realisation will only help the UDF, as all of them will work very hard for the April 6 assembly polls," added the leader. The Congress party this time is expected to contest around 94 of the 140 assembly seats, leaving the rest to its allies and 22 sitting legislators have all been cleared. Already the first round of fireworks began when angry Youth Congress workers in Kollam district raised the banner of revolt after word went around that the Chadayamanagalam assembly seat, always contested by the Congress party, might be given to the Indian Union Muslim League. On Tuesday, senior Congress leader A.V. Gopinath at Palakkad expressed his ire that the present state and national leadership is ignoring leaders who have served the party for long. "Even though I have not gone after anyone seeking a seat to contest, what has hurt me is the way some leaders are being sidelined. This should not happen and if need be, I might even contest, against the Congress. I don't think anyone can take me for granted forever," said Gopinath. MP and working president of the state Congress party K. Sudhakaran reacted by saying that he heard about Gopinath's unhappiness. "We will definitely speak to him and hear him and do our best to placate him," said Sudhakaran. Murmurs have also started among the rank and file in the party that more fireworks can be expected as a large number of familiar faces who have had a long innings and have contested many times are in the list of candidates. Those whose names have already invited displeasure include eight-time legislator K.C. Joseph, who is 75 and is seeking another term. The others whose names have been circulating and who have already raised hackles include Thampanoor Ravi, Palode Ravi, Joseph Vazhakan, P.C. Chacko, P.J. Kurian, Pandalam Sudhakaran, Sakthan Nadar, Bindhu Krishna, Laly Vincent, Lathika Subhash, Padmaja Venugopal (daughter of K. Karunakaran) Soornad Rajasekheran, to name a few. Fissures have surfaced in the Congress party in Pathanamthitta and posters have also appeared warning that things will be bad for the party if candidate selection is not done properly. The Congress party, on account of fielding familiar names, has lost very badly in districts like Kollam, Thrissur, Kozhikode, Palakkad and Alappuzha which together account for close to 45 per cent of the total seats in Kerala. Meanwhile Rahul Gandhi who made a quick trip to the state capital on Monday night enroute from Kanyakumari to Delhi held discussions with the top brass here. "He has already been actively involved in discussing the list and following his meeting with the leaders on Tuesday morning the selection committee had a meeting. In the coming days, the top leaders would leave to Delhi, from where the final list will be released," said another top leader, who did not wish to be identified. And if anyone thinks that there will be no fireworks then it would be wishful thinking, confided another Congress leader. -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text The Daily Beast Photo Illustration by The Daily Beast/GettyMike Lindell, the MyPillow CEO and Trumpist conspiracy-peddler, flew his private jet to the Republican Governors Association meeting the other day.The guvs promptly threw him out. But the incident got Molly Jong-Fast thinking: Does the MyPillow CEO think hes already a governor or something?Subscribe to The New Abnormal on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Amazon Music, or Overcast. To listen to our weekly members-only bonus episodes, join Beast Inside here. Already a member? You can listen here and sign up for new episode email alerts here.Spoiler: Making MyPillows does not make you my governor. Now, chances that Mike Lindell could actually become governor of a small Republican state, 80 percent, she quips on the latest episode of The New Abnormal. Like, its not even that hard for someone that famous and insane in the Republican party to become a governor.Lindell claims he wouldnt run to be a dogcatcher right now, because he doesnt trust the voting machines. Plus, hes from the blue state of Minnesota. So maybe the risk of a Governor Pillow isnt quite so high. But L.A. Times columnist Virginia Heffernan would like to quickly add something about Mike Lindell being a cosplay governor.I think we need to understand that being in politics leads to governing and governing is boring. It is not a PR operation, she says. And I feel like we have made these jobs celebrity roles. Public service should not beis notbeing on a reality show.Like, I feel like we need to really dial down the razzle-dazzle, really play up the drudgery, Heffernan continues. I just don't know why every single industrialist and every single lady with abs or gorgeous arms would want to be, of all things, a governor.Biden, Heffernan opines, is doing a pretty good job at the drudgerydollars going out, jabs going out, all leading to Trump signs going down. Sure, the Donald has his cultists, like Lindell. But, I don't think people can hold onto this much insanity for this long, especially when it's a tiny minority of people who believe it, Heffernan adds. Democrats need to know how to win.To which Jong-Fast replies, oh-so-gently: Are you freakin kidding me? With all of these Republican attempts to retcon the Capitol riots? To chop away at the right to vote? To instantiate their ability to overturn elections? All while Team Biden snoozes it away? The Democrats are bringing an ice cream sundae to a knife fight, Jong-Fast says.Plus! Politicos Tara Palmeri talks about her search to find Liz Cheney supporters in Wyoming. And Battle for the Soul author Edward-Isaac Dovere gives us a peek into how Biden sees the political landscape. The presidency that he has in front of him now, he knows, is so different from what he ever expected to have, Dovere says, And part of that is rethinking how he incorporates the progressivism within the party that took root and that was so much part of this campaign. And its just, its a really complicated evolution for him. Its not the presidency he thought itd be running in 2019 when he got into this race.Read more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more. LOS ANGELESThe Association of Sites Advocating Child Protection (ASACP) has announced that DialXS, XLoveCam, and LALExpo have been recognized as its Featured Sponsors for March 2021. Representing the broader digital media industrys most respected companies, ASACPs Featured Sponsors promote responsible business practices through ethical operation and proactive measures that help protect minors and other viewers from accidental exposure to age-restricted materials, improving the overall safety of childrens daily digital lives. ASACPs Executive Director Tim Henning said that the nonprofit associations success relies on support from those market-leading companies, organizations, and service providers that take a leadership role in the fight to keep children out of and away from adult-oriented materials. Todays top companies promote online child safety by sponsoring the association and taking several simple steps to help protect the innocence of youth, Henning explained. This support is vital in educating publishers and other stakeholders about these measures and how they can best be implemented. The financial and material support that ASACP receives from its sponsors, including DialXS, XLoveCam, and LALExpo, power its 25-year record of success and enables its free child protection resources, including market-specific Best Practices and a Code of Ethics for online businesses, app publishers, and all operators of age-restricted websites. ASACPs notable achievements are highlighted by its RTA (Restricted To Adults) meta labeling system that helps parents prevent childrens access to countless adult-oriented webpages and mobile apps; and its highly respected CP Reporting Tipline, which has processed more than 1 million user reports to date. As with all of ASACPs services, these tools are provided to all website and app publishers, as well as to concerned consumers and parents, free of charge, thanks to the ongoing generosity of its sponsors. For March, ASACP honors DialXS, XLoveCam, and LALExpo as its Featured Sponsors, recognizing the continued commitment that these companies make to keeping the internet safer for children and their families. DialXS An ASACP Title Sponsor, DialXS is a major international payment services provider that has operated since 2000 and is also the associations exclusive Travel Sponsor. Next to processing credit card transactions, the company also offers a wide range of local and trusted payment methods in most European nations, which is a proven way to boost conversions for their international operating merchants. In many European countries, people do not like to give their credit card details to an unknown merchant. They would rather pay using their already trusted ways to pay online, DialXS CEO Chris Visser stated. To optimize conversions, you need to provide the customer a preferred payment method in all targeted countries, and with many of our payment methods, there are no options for customers to do an unjustified chargeback. Like many companies, DialXS has noted significant market changes in the face of the coronavirus pandemicchanges that have benefited many brands in the adult space, but that has hurt ASACPs outreach efforts. DialXS takes online child protection extremely seriously and so we are pleased to provide ASACP with the support it deserves and to help enable its presence at international trade events, Visser stated. The pandemic poses a wide range of challenges, including barriers to travel that make it hard for the association to reach stakeholders, but together, we can make a difference for the children of the world. XLoveCam For more than 15 years, XLoveCam.com has offered a live cam platform that provides users, affiliates, and models with quality professional service. The company safely serves more than 1 million visitors every day using an infrastructure that is spread over five countries. In 2019, the site reported 125 million unique visitors and nearly 2 billion page views, with a 99.99 percent positive response rate among users. XLoveCam.com helps ASACP and the children they protect through our financial support, XLoveCam.com founder Patrick Koning said. XLoveCam.com is strongly in agreement with ASACP regarding the protection of children and being against child pornography. XLoveCam.com has set up barriers on its platforms, including RTA labeling, to keep children from accessing its sites; and also ensures that no illegal activity occurs on its platform, through 24/7 monitoring and applying a zero-tolerance policy. LALExpo An Official ASACP Media Sponsor since 2017, the Latin America Adult Business Expo (LALExpo) targets the vibrant Latin American market, attracting its international and Latin-American audience from companies representing all aspects of the online and adult business world. Because LALExpo is a business-to-business, education, and trade event, the general public is not permitted to attend, but a diverse range of companies from the billing, mobile tech, ad network, affiliate sector, and more are in attendance. This executive event is capped by the LALExpo Awards, honoring excellence across dozens of industry categories and market segments. Colombia has emerged as a vibrant center of the global camming community and broader digital media market, and LALExpos goal has always been to promote excellence and responsibility among the companies in this space, Anthony Rivera, an organizer of the event and co-founder of AJ Studios, said. Our roots are in the camming community and we serve this group made up of countless independent performers, providing an opportunity for all adults who wish to make a living and support their families and themselves through todays technology. Of course, with this opportunity comes a great responsibility to do the right thing, and to help ensure that only those who are legally able to enjoy camming and other adult entrepreneurial activities are doing so, Rivera added. This is why we support ASACP and its mission to educate and professionalize the industry in the name of protecting children, as well as restrict attendance at our event to adult business professionals only. ASACP is grateful and humbled by the commitment, generosity, and leadership displayed by its sponsors, including long-term supporters DialXS, XLoveCam, and LALExpo, Henning concluded. ASACPs Featured Sponsors take action concerning the problem of online child protection, and so can you and your company, too. To learn more about how a company can make a difference in the world by protecting children online, email [email protected]. M&A Ambit Group, Greenzone merger creates new digital transformation player A pair of federal government technology services companies have merged to unveil a larger player in digital transformation and other next-generation IT initiatives. The Ambit Group and GreenZone will go to market under the Ambit brand post-close, the companies said Tuesday. Private equity firm AE Industrial Partners supported the transaction through its Structured Solutions Fund that invests in medium-sized companies. Ambit will also have co-chief executives with its founder and CEO Kim Hayes being responsible for strategy and growth, while GreenZones CEO Ashequl Hoque overseeing operations and corporate development. Vienna, Virginia-headquartered Ambit focused on management consulting and business transformation services to federal agencies. GreenZone is headquartered in Arlington and touts its offerings in data analytics and management, software development, cybersecurity and business intelligence. Qasim Hussain, GreenZone chief operating officer, GreenZone, will shift to chief innovation officer to drive ideation and new technology solutions. Other members of the leadership team include Sandy Peavy as chief information officer, LC Cook as chief growth officer, and Eric Hansen as senior vice president of delivery operations. Former GreenZone owner and CEO Aliya Hussain is retiring from the company, according to the release. Atlantic Union Bank financed the deal. Agreeance served as Ambits M&A consultant. Holland & Knight acted as legal adviser to Ambit with Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman in the same role for GreenZone. A Dr. Seuss book is seen as children play during a press preview of an interactive exhibition dedicated to Dr. Seuss at the Children's Museum of Manhattan July 6, 2004 in New York City. (Mario Tama/Getty Images) Biden Omits Mention of Dr. Seuss From Read Across America Day Amid Concerns of Racist Undertones President Joe Biden appears to have removed legendary childrens book author Dr. Seuss from Read Across America Day, which is observed on March 2, the birthday of author. In a proclamation Monday, Biden declared Tuesday Read Across America Day, but left out mention of the childrens author, as has been presidential tradition in recent years. Presidents Donald Trump and Barack Obama both recognized the author in their respective proclamations during their time in office. Read Across America Day was launched by the National Education Association (NEA) in 1998 to encourage children to read. The association had, until 2018, partnered with Dr. Seuss Enterprises, before the contract ended. The White House didnt immediately respond to a request for comment and clarification. Dr. Seuss, whose real name was Theodor Seuss Geisel, was a lifelong liberal, included political satire in his childrens books, highlighting freedom and imagination and criticizing oppression, anti-Semitism, and even destruction of the environment. During World War II he contributed political cartoons to the PM, a short-lived New York City liberal tabloid. Aside from anti-Nazi themes, one cartoon portrayed Japanese-Americans as traitors. He had been the face of the annual event for more than two decades. In 2017, First Lady Melania Trump celebrated the day by reading the authors books to children in hospital, saying that his work has brought so much joy, laughter and enchantment into childrens lives all around the globe for generations. Through his captivating rhymes, Dr. Seuss has delighted and inspired children while teaching them to read, to dream, and to care, she said at the time. In his 2018 proclamation, Trump encouraged Americans to always remember the still-vibrant words of Dr. Seuss: You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose. In Virginia, one of the largest school districts, Loudoun County Public Schools (LCPS), decided against celebrating the authors books during Read Across America Day this year, citing strong racial undertones in many books written/illustrated by him. The district pushed back against reports that it had outright banned the authors books, saying that they are still available to be read by students in classrooms and libraries. Research in recent years has revealed strong racial undertones in many books written/illustrated by Dr. Seuss. Examples include anti-Japanese American political cartoons and cartoons depicting African Americans for sale captioned with offensive language, the district said in a statement. Given this research, and LCPS focus on equity and culturally responsive instruction, LCPS provided this guidance to schools during the past couple of years to not connect Read Across America Day exclusively with Dr. Seuss birthday. Dr. Seuss and his books are no longer the emphases of Read Across America Day in Loudoun County Public Schools, the statement added. LCPS said it instead encourages students to read all types of books that are inclusive, diverse and reflective of our student community, not simply celebrate Dr. Seuss. A video showing the president of Berkeley's teachers' union after refusing to send teachers back to school for in-class learning dropping his daughter off at an in-person preschool has outraged parents in reliably leftist Berkeley, California. This show of hypocrisy and elitism was too much for them. A group calling itself "Guerilla Momz" has posted just two videos, but they're powerful. The first, posted five days ago, focuses on a January 20 statement from Matt Meyer, the president of the Berkeley Federation of Teachers: Public health officials have been saying that schools can open safely in the red tier if there is rigorous adherence to risk mitigation practices such as mask wearing and social distancing, and community transmission as well. But these are kids. They don't rigorously adhere to anything. Teachers are asking for a more conservative tier for reopening because of our real-life expertise in classroom management. Teachers and caregivers know that kids will sometimes follow the rules and sometimes they won't. Real life children do not keep their masks on. They do not keep distance from each other or their teachers. Given the realities of working with real children in-person, we need to account for the inevitable lapses in risk mitigation practices by choosing a standard of lower transmission for re-opening. This video got almost no views. What set the Berkeley parent community on fire was the video that Guerilla Momz posted three days ago. To ominous music, it shows a sign on a gate in Berkeley, California, on February 18. The sign notifies people that the Berkeley Unified School District has closed the "entire field and campus" for 24 hours a day "until further notice." Over still shots of empty hallways and classrooms, text banners state: Berkeley public schools have been blocked from reopening for a *year*. Thousands of our children are suffering learning loss, social isolation, and mental health breakdowns. And suddenly, there's live footage of a masked man walking while holding the hand of a blurred out small child. "Meet Matt Meyer, president of Berkeley Teachers Union. He takes his child to private school every weekday while blocking Berkeley from opening schools because 'it is not safe.'" The video also captures the fact that as Meyer walks his toddler to her preschool, he's wearing a hoodie that has emblazoned on the back the words "Berkeley Federation of Teachers Local 1078." When the video shifts to Meyer, freed from childcare, walking back to his car, it reiterates that "our children are suffering learning loss, social isolation, and mental health breakdowns." It then shows an empty playground and demands, "Open our public schools now. Fulltime. In person. Not just for your child. For every child." This video exploded on the internet yesterday. In addition to over 200,000 views, it got written up in the local papers, the local PBS station, Tucker Carlson, the New York Post, and even England's Daily Mail (which, as always, has the most detailed coverage). And of course, there are the responses to the video on the internet: Teachers unions need to be disbanded immediately. Give students the money to make their own decisions. These people dont believe what they are pushing, its for power. Stop harming our children! Fund the students. Brian Gress (@bgresshrh) February 28, 2021 Just shocked at how brazen these people are. Shows how entitled they are. As if this isnt something ppl would figure out. Ilana (@NYC_essentialSW) February 28, 2021 Thank you for posting this. To the naysayers, Berkeley parents have watched the BFT move so many goalposts it isnt funny. The hypocrisy of this is hysterical. Who needs daycare now... sidefree (@sidepenja) March 1, 2021 Parents who have had their lives put on hold as their children struggle at home with the travesty that is distance learning are righteously angry. (I happen to think that much of public school education is also a travesty, but that's a subject for a different post.) Meyer pushed back, claiming that the video was "very inappropriate" and that, despite his daughter being completely blurred, it intruded on her privacy. He also insisted that she needed to go to a private preschool because there were "no public options for kids her age." What Meyer seems to miss is that, because of his stand on in-person teaching, there are no public-school options for kids of any age in the Berkeley public school district. He also insisted that the difference was one of scale a tiny preschool versus a big public school but that's weak sauce when one considers that there is no evidence that schools are dangerous COVID vectors. People will tolerate a person's bad ideas if he lives with the consequences of those ideas. The outrage greeting Meyer's lifestyle choices reflects a growing sense, even among Berkeley residents, that the people controlling their destinies in very unpleasant ways have no intention of abiding by their own rules. Image: Matt Meyer. YouTube screen grab. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Drama "Nomadland" and satire "Borat Subsequent Moviefilm" won movie honors at the Golden Globes on Sunday in a mostly virtual bicoastal ceremony that was marked by impassioned calls for more diversity and the dominance of Netflix. "Nomadland," a moving drama about van dwellers in recession-hit America from Searchlight Pictures, also took the best director prize for Chinese-born Chloe Zhao. It made Zhao only the second woman to win at the Globes in that category, and the first woman director of Asian descent to win. "For everyone who has gone through this difficult and beautiful journey at some point in their lives, this is for you," said Zhao. "We don't say goodbye, we say see you down the road," she said, quoting a line from the movie. The two wins for "Nomadland" increased the profile of the film ahead of nominations in March for the Oscars. Sacha Baron Cohen, the creator of "Borat Subsequent Moviefilm" from Amazon Studios was named best comedy movie actor, while singer Andra Day was a surprise winner for her lead role in "The United States vs. Billie Holiday." "Donald Trump is contesting the result!" Baron Cohen joked about the win for the "Borat" sequel, which was a satire on the America of the former U.S. president. Netflix Inc's period drama "Mank," about "Citizen Kane" screenwriter Herman Mankiewicz, had gone into Sunday's show with a leading six nods but ended the night empty-handed. WASHINGTON, March 2, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- To ensure women-owned firms receive their fair share of federal government contracts, today, the U.S. Women's Chamber of Commerce ( http://www.uswcc.org ) calls on President Biden to sign a single Executive Order requiring small business suppliers are included in "Category Management Best-In-Class" (BIC) contracts. The U.S. Women's Chamber of Commerce and its members call on President Biden to sign a Presidential Executive Order to specifically: Recognize ALL Small Business spending as BIC Tier 3, regardless of the contract vehicle. Add a training requirement that all agency leadership and acquisition staff must receive training on the Category Management / BIC initiative that ensures small business inclusion. Require that new BIC vehicle awards be made in proportion to the population (i.e., proportion of large business vs. small business awards match the business population). In 2017 through an executive order, the federal government implemented the federal acquisition process known as "Category Management" through "Best-In-Class" solutions, which introduced the concept of "Tiered" procurements. This new and unregulated process resulted in larger contracts going to fewer and larger firms thus limiting competition to a list of preferred vendors comprising only a small percentage of the total contractor market. A November 2020 Report released by the GAO (GAO-21-40) on the impact of Category Management, found, "Of the tens of thousands of contracts eliminated by category management, 53% of them were small business contracts." "This anti-competitive contracting practice known as Category Management / Best-in-Class Contracts was quickly, and without thorough consideration and regulatory authority, inserted in front of the normal federal acquisition process seemingly as a predicate to the existing Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) and the requirements of the Small Business Act," states Margot Dorfman, CEO of the U.S. Women's Chamber of Commerce. "The lack of competition in this new, unregulated process drives up costs, and excludes small business thereby leaving out the vital contributions small business suppliers bring including agility, innovation, service, etc. Further, the nuanced needs of federal agencies and regions are ignored, which leads to challenges and extra costs. Local economies suffer as small businesses are locked out of key business opportunities -- which starts a downward spiral negatively impacting the industrial base and local economies." "Women-owned firms have been reporting for decades the difficulties they have accessing government contracts," continues Dorfman. "When small business suppliers depart from government contracting (either by choice or due to lack of opportunity), America suffers. Small businesses are the heartbeat of economic recovery. They are widely known to employ local talent, reinvest profits near to home to spur economic development, and bring growth and innovation to their communities." The U.S. Women's Chamber of Commerce (USWCC) is the leading advocate for women on economic and leadership issues. As the economic leader for women, the USWCC creates opportunities, drives progress, advocates, and provides tools and solutions to support the economic growth of women across America. The USWCC ( http://www.uswcc.org/ ) is a not-for-profit 501(c)6 organization founded in 2001 with over 500,000 members; its headquarters offices are located in Washington, D.C. Contact the USWCC at (202) 607-2488. Contact: Charmagne Manning, [email protected], (202) 607-2488. SOURCE U.S. Women's Chamber of Commerce Related Links www.uswcc.org KIRTLAND, Ohio Vintage Ohio, the large-scale wine festival held in Lake Metroparks Farmpark, is set to return this summer with a few changes. The fest, which showcases Ohio wines, will be noon to 9 p.m. Friday-Saturday, Aug. 6-7. This will be the 26th fest, after a hiatus in 2020 for coronavirus concerns. Those concerns remain a priority for Ohio Wine Producers Association Executive Director Donniella Winchell. Weve done a whole lot of logistical (work), Winchell said. The Farmpark has a close relationship with the health department. The fest includes food, cooking-school demonstrations, live-music stages, artisans and shopping. While the fest is five months away, and uncertainty lingers regarding herd immunity and the extent of vaccinations, Winchell said organizers are preparing for a safe event that follows health protocols. Wineries will pour in separate tents; no shared spaces will be used. Separate entrances will be set up. Logo face masks are being considered. Sanitization sprays will be employed. And the fest will be spread out over a larger area. Were just going to be very careful, said Winchell, who added that the 500 ticket-buyers last year will have admission honored. A preview dinner is scheduled for Wednesday, Aug. 4, and limited to about 100 people, she said. Only wines made from Ohio-grown vinifera will be served. Winchell also sang the praises of the quality of dry varietals being produced by the states wineries, saying she knows 82% of the public prefers sweet wines, but were trying to find ways to showcases dry ones. They are not as known as they should be, she said. Wineries will be allowed to bring a few more of their wines than in past years, so expect maybe eight to 10 instead of six. And wineries that have beer-producing facilities will be allowed to bring and serve their suds, she added. Winchell said even if Covid concerns are still top of mind, Social distancing on 40 acres is going to do very, very well. About Vintage Ohio: Lake Metroparks Farmpark is at 8800 Euclid Chardon Road, Kirtland, about 25 miles from downtown Cleveland. Tickets are $32 (advance), $37 (at the door), $47 (two-day sampler), $14 (designated driver), $4 (ages 4-17) and free (ages 3 and under). Related coverage: Vintage Ohio celebrates 25 years: How the wine festival grew I am on cleveland.coms life and culture team and cover food, beer, wine and sports-related topics. If you want to see my stories, heres a directory on cleveland.com. Bill Wills of WTAM-1100 and I talk food and drink usually at 8:20 a.m. Thursday morning. And tune in at 8:05 a.m. Fridays for Beer with Bona and Much, Much More with Munch Bishop on 1350-AM The Gambler. Twitter: @mbona30. Get a jumpstart on the weekend and sign up for Cleveland.coms weekly In the CLE email newsletter, your essential guide to the top things to in Greater Cleveland. It will arrive in your inbox on Friday mornings - an exclusive to-do list, focusing on the best of the weekend fun. Restaurants, music, movies, performing arts, family fun and more. Just click here to subscribe. All cleveland.com newsletters are free. The miner received amended assessments of A$359.4mln (200mln) primary tax and A$47.1mln (26mln) of interest ( ) said it will dispute extra taxes demanded by the Australian Taxation Office. The miner received amended assessments of A$359.4mln (200mln) primary tax and A$47.1mln (26mln) of interest, relating to the denial of interest deductions on an isolated borrowing used to pay an intragroup dividend in 2015. This is in addition to the A$8.4bn (4.6bn) of Australian income tax paid during the relevant period. The FTSE 100 group said this borrowing was repaid in 2018 and borrowing to fund the payment of a dividend is a normal commercial practice. It added that it is confident of its position and will dispute the assessments, while it will pay 50% of the primary tax up-front as part of the objections process in accordance with the usual practice. Shares were flat at 6,301p on Tuesday morning. Joggers should wear a face covering when running past others, experts have said. But they should run freely when they are in wide open spaces, they added. Scientists said there can be a danger for pedestrians when a puffing, panting jogger runs past them. Trish Greenhalgh, professor in primary care health sciences at the University of Oxford, told Good Morning Britain: There is no doubt the virus is in the air, there is no doubt that you can catch it if you inhale, and that someone else has exhaled. The exercising jogger the puffing and panting jogger you can feel their breath come and you can sometimes actually feel yourself inhale it, so theres no doubt that there is a danger there. Forty per cent of Covid cases happen by catching it from people who have no symptoms. So youre jogging along, you think youre fine, and then the next day you develop symptoms of Covid, but youve actually breathed that Covid onto someone perhaps you know, an old lady walking a dog or something like that. Devi Sridhar, professor of public health at the University of Edinburgh, added that people should wear masks in busy areas but when not surrounded by people they could take off your mask and run freely. It really depends how close they are to you and how heavily theyre breathing, she said. This can spread through the air and so it is important that runners should think I do think where am I running and Im trying to be attentive to pedestrians because the sidewalks are there for pedestrians in busy areas and high streets. To view this content, you'll need to update your privacy settings. Please click here to do so. [When] youre out in the park, take off your mask and run freely. I think we need some consideration for each other right now. Were in a pandemic and just, you know, think how it feels for other people. So if youre going to cycle in a busy area, wear a mask. Prof Greenhalgh added: Ive got a mask here and you can pull it up and pull it down and that takes two seconds to do. So wear it when youre going along, jogging on the high street. Take it off when you get to the parks, what I did this morning. Its not difficult. She also said that the World Health Organisation had dragged its feet over mask wearing. To view this content, you'll need to update your privacy settings. Please click here to do so. Former Labour deputy leader Tom Watson told the programme: For millions of people in the country, through lockdown three though winter, the only thing they have had is running. I dont think I could do a run with a mask on its hard enough for me to run without a mask. The strict rule that should be enforced is social distancing if youre a runner you should know obviously youre breathing more deeply and you should try not to run into people or run near them. But he added: Ill try the mask today I think it would be really hard, my glasses will steam up, but Ill give it a go. Presenter Piers Morgan told him: Tom, mask up, because if I see you charging towards me on my high street there is going to be a confrontation that you will regret. President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky has thanked President of the European Council Charles Michel for his support in resolving the situation in Donbas, and also expressed hope for further mobilizing pressure from EU countries on Russia. "I would be grateful for the further mobilization of EU pressure on Russia. Ukraine wants peace and is trying to achieve it through political and diplomatic means. And we can only do this together, feeling the support of international partners and your support, as the President of the European Council, for the sake of stability and security in the European Continent. Thank you for your presence in Donbas. This is a strong signal. Thank you that your journey to Ukraine began precisely from Donbas," Zelensky said during a joint briefing with Michel in Donbas on Tuesday. Zelensky expressed gratitude to the EU and Michel for the political support of Ukraine, for the diplomatic, for the sanctions pressure on the Russian Federation due to the failure to comply with the Minsk agreements and the occupation of Ukrainian territories. "I am confident that the European Council chaired by Charles Michel at the end of this month will have a tough stance on Russian aggression against Ukraine," the head of state added. In addition, Zelensky noted the large-scale efforts of the EU to help improve the humanitarian situation in the temporarily occupied territories, for supporting people, for helping local communities and businesses, as well as for assistance in demining under the auspices of the OSCE SMM. "Ukraine is doing everything possible so that citizens living in the temporarily occupied territories feel the maximum support of the state. Ukraine is doing everything possible to achieve peace," Zelensky summed up. David Cameron Says His Government Prepared for Influenza, Not Respiratory Diseases The UK was prepared for the wrong pandemic, former Prime Minister David Cameron said on Monday when questioned about the national security strategy of his government. As biosecurity came into the spotlight due to the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus pandemic, Parliaments National Security Strategy Committee on Jan. 4 launched an inquiry into how well the UKs national security machinery operates in preparation for future emergencies. Speaking as a witness at the inquirys first meeting on Monday, Cameron told his virtual audience that his government was aware of the risk of a pandemic after Ebola. We had a reminder of what a pandemic is when Ebola struck, he said. [And] the sort of global architecture of the World Health Organization was quite slow to respond. Although his government did categorize the risk of a pandemic as a tier 1 priority (pdf), Cameron said it was anticipating a wrong pandemic. I think the mistake that was made was that in thinking about future pandemics, the focus was very much on, on influenza, rather than on respiratory diseases, he said. More should have been learned from the experience with SARS, and the respiratory diseases in terms of our own preparedness, he said. Long-Term Strategic Thinking The Committees first report (pdf) on biosecurity and national security had acknowledged that the UK government had been preparing for the wrong pandemic, but said the problem runs deeper. We are not convinced that the nature of the disease [COVID-19] fully explains the difficulties the Government faced, the report reads. Rather, the challenges reflect long-present gaps in the planning and preparation for biological risks. Also speaking at the meeting was former National Security Adviser Peter Forbes Ricketts. Ricketts told the committee that the challenge is to get the government to pay more attention to a long-term strategy. Looking back, the area that it was most difficult to make the NSC [National Security Council] good at was the longer term strategic thinking, he said. I think it is extremely hard for senior ministers in the maelstrom of governing in the 24/7 era to make time for more [strategic thinking]. Ricketts said that its extremely difficult in the rush and tumble of events to have what some would call grand strategic thinking, but we should probably have thought more deeply about how to do that right from the outset. Another difficulty in preparing for future crises, Ricketts said, is money. Ministers of finance are very reluctant to spend serious money on redundant capacity that would be useful if an emerging threat happened, but equally would not be so useful if it didnt happen, as against spending money on the immediate crisis of the day, he said. So the money was spent on NHS winter crisis year by year and not on providing the kind of in reserve capacity that would have been really useful when the pandemics strike. And I think that thats a problem perhaps itd be easier now after this pandemic. But my worry would be that now we will spend the next five years preparing much better public health horizon scanning, and early warning, and preparedness, and well miss the next risk that is coming, which might be in the area of climate, or it might be in the area of the grid security, whatever it may be. I'm in no rush to meet Xi Jinping: KMT leader Johnny Chiang says the idea of 'one country, two systems' has no market in Taiwan. File image: Reuters The leader of Taiwan's main opposition party the Kuomintang (KMT) says he is in no rush to travel to the mainland to meet President Xi Jinping, and Beijing's proposals to get Taipei to accept Communist rule have "no market" in Taiwan. The KMT was trounced in presidential and parliamentary elections last year, unable to shake accusations by the ruling Democratic Progressive Party that they were Beijing's lackey. Johnny Chiang, elected as leader following the party's defeat, said on Tuesday that he was in no hurry to follow his predecessors footsteps and visit Beijing to meet old adversary the Communist Party, and its leader Xi. "We can wait, for a better timing. There's no insistence for it. It's not just a meeting for a meetings sake, but it needs to be meaningful, respectful," he said at party headquarters in central Taipei, adding the pandemic also made travel hard now. "The timing needs to be right, but more importantly there needs to be the precondition of equality and dignity, and it has to be beneficial for Taiwan." Chiang said they were maintaining routine contacts with the Communist Party, but there had been no high level communication. Xi met then-President Ma Ying-jeou in Singapore in 2015 in a landmark meeting, shortly before current President Tsai Ing-wen first won power. That meeting was cast as a meeting between the heads of the Communist Party and the KMT rather than one between heads of state. But political trust has "collapsed" since then, with small issues turning into slanging matches between Taipei and Beijing, said Chiang. He faces an uphill struggle to win back voter support at a time when Beijing pressure on Taiwan is unrelenting and many electors view the KMT as not properly Taiwanese. In July he faces re-election as party leader, though he reiterated he has no interest in running for president and would rather serve as a "kingmaker" in choosing its candidate for elections in 2024. But being firm with autocratic Beijing will be an important test of whether the KMT can get back into power Chiang described the mainland as the major threat Taiwan faces. Chiang said that Beijing's offer of using "one country, two systems" to entice Taiwan with a high degree of autonomy, like how Beijing is supposed to run unrest-hit Hong Kong, has "no market" on the island, where people like their freedoms. "We are already used to this kind of lifestyle. If you want Taiwan's people to change it - impossible." (Reuters) Bahrain's Housing Ministry has signed up Al Namal Contracting and Trading Company to build 132 housing units and necessary infrastructure on a government-owned land in Al Lawzi area of the kingdom. This comes as part of the kingdom's government-owned lands development programme, being implemented in cooperation with the private sector. The scheme was launched by the Housing Ministry as one of the initiatives aimed at involving real estate developers and contracting companies to implement social housing projects for the citizens who meet the eligibility criteria. Signed today (March 1) by Housing Minister Bassim bin Yacoob Al Hamar and Al Namal Contracting and Trading Companys Chairman Dr Varghese Kurian, the contract is the first of the pilot phase of the government-owned lands development programme. Following its completion, these units will be sold to the kingdoms citizens, who are on the waiting lists of the ministrys financing programmes, said the officials at the signing ceremony held in the presence of the Housing Ministrys Undersecretary, Shaikh Khalid bin Hmood Al Khalifa. Al Hamar said the programme was launched in cooperation with the private sector as part of efforts to achieve His Majesty King Hamads order to build 40,000 housing units. The ongoing partnership with the private sector has contributed to delivering more than 7,000 housing services, he noted. "This scheme is among the top priorities of the government, led by HRH Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the Crown Prince and Prime Minister," he added. The minister pointed out that following the successful completion of the pilot project, similar housing projects will be implemented across other governorates. "We plan to build nearly 15,000 homes on state-owned land plots, which will help provide the beneficiaries with more housing units at competitive prices," he added. 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. Jason Manford has revealed he discovered someone in Turkey created a fake Facebook account using his pictures to trick people into giving them money. The comedian, 39, took to social media and shared numerous screenshots from an account with the name 'Chris Pavilion' that was using his photos. The TV star said it was 'really weird' to see his pictures being used by someone else and told his fans he would 'never' ask them for money. Imposter: Jason Manford has revealed he discovered someone in Turkey created a fake Facebook account using his pictures to trick people into giving them money He wrote: 'A fan in Argentina sent me a Facebook profile based in Turkey of someone using my pictures to dupe people into giving them money! It's really weird to see my pictures being misused like this. 'Please know I would never ask you for money (well not directly, I'd love you to buy a tour ticket!) so don't be duped by Turkish Manford no matter how dashing he looks in photos!' The fake page had uploaded several snaps of Jason, including one alongside Irish comedian Tommy Tiernan who was referred to as 'Mr Johnson' by the impostor. In another photo, Jason could be seen posing outside the Television Centre in London despite the user tagging the post in Istanbul, Turkey. Fake: The comedian, 39, took to social media and shared numerous screenshots from an account with the name 'Chris Pavilion' that was using his photos Scam: The fake page had uploaded several snaps of Jason, including one alongside Irish comedian Tommy Tiernan who was referred to as 'Mr Johnson' by the impostor The fake page said 'Chris' worked in construction and attended the University of Advancing Technology in Tempe, Arizona. One photo of Jason was tagged in Arizona, however the logo for British bakery chain Greggs could be seen in the background. It comes after Jason recently signed up to host new BBC quiz show Unbeatable. The TV personality announced he will front the upcoming daytime show, in which four contestants will compete to find the best answer to a series of questions. Jason wrote: 'Please know I would never ask you for money (well not directly, I'd love you to buy a tour ticket!) so don't be duped by Turkish Manford' He said in a statement: 'I know how important daytime quizzes are for a lot of people. I used to sit with my Nana Manford and mum watching them. 'They keep the brain going, they're a chuckle and I'm really looking forward to being a part of this exciting new one. 'The great thing about Unbeatable is you don't even need to know the actual answer to appear clever. I feel like this is the quiz show I've been waiting for my whole life.' Unbeatable, which is set to debut on BBC One later this year, will be Jason's second go at hosting a quiz show following last year's First & Last. Active-duty service members suffer from sleep deprivation at a rate roughly double that of the civilian population, a shortfall that can contribute to mental health disorders and physical illness and affects readiness, according to a new Defense Department report to Congress. While the finding that troops do not get enough sleep is not new, the report, mandated by the fiscal 2020 National Defense Authorization Act, notes that sufficient sleep is not valued by commanders across the services. "Inadequate sleep appears to be more the rule than the exception," it adds. Related: Navy Unveils Updated Plan to Help Ship Watchstanders Get Better Sleep "Across military commands, attitudes toward sleep may range from viewing sleep as a controlled ration to asserting that a need for sleep is a sign of weakness," according to the report, "Study on Effects of Sleep Deprivation on Readiness of Members of the Armed Forces." A lack of sleep can result in accidents; physical issues, including traumatic brain injury; mental health conditions; and poor performance, according to the report. "Sleep may be the most important biological factor that determines service member health and combat readiness," it notes. Congress ordered the DoD to examine any policies it had on sleep and the causes of sleep deprivation, other than operations tempo and training requirements, among active-duty troops. The research found that, while some troops may suffer from insomnia, they commonly have "behaviorally induced insufficient sleep syndrome" -- a lack of sleep caused by working long hours; in shifts or in environments that are inhospitable to quality sleep; or lifestyle choices, such as watching television or playing video games late into the night. Not surprisingly, sleep deprivation is most common in combat and deployment settings and in training cadres, according to the report. Studies show that 86% of Army personnel in Afghanistan reported sleeping less than seven hours per night, while Air Force personnel reported an average total sleep time of 6.7 hours per night, with 15% reporting less than 4.5 hours per night. Another study of Navy personnel in Afghanistan showed an average total sleep time of 5.9 hours per night, with 67% reporting less than seven hours per night. "These results are consistent with other studies of Army and Marine Corps personnel, which demonstrate that 50% of deployed service members report sleeping five hours or less per night," the report states. Likewise, training settings "show significant rates of partial sleep deprivation, despite evidence that trainees perform better when they receive more sleep." For example, at the U.S. Military Academy, cadets sleep less than 5 hours per night during the week and under 7 hours per night on weekends. Troops at basic training get an average five to six hours of sleep a night and often are awoken several times a night for training. And soldiers in Ranger School typically get just three hours of sleep a night. "Although the belief exists that short-term sleep deprivation during training is necessary to prepare service members for combat environments that might require conducting operations with little sleep, sustained chronic partial sleep deprivation may become counterproductive to overall training objectives," the report states. Coffee, energy drinks and medications can be useful for counterbalancing fatigue, but they also can contribute to sleep deprivation or degradation, especially when consumed within six hours of a sleep window, it adds. The report, compiled by Acting Assistant Secretary of Defense for Manpower and Reserve Affairs Virginia Penrod, recommended that the DoD take steps to combat sleep deprivation in the ranks, including creating policies to safeguard sleep. The recommendations included: Allowing time for "tactical naps" of 20 minutes followed with a jolt of caffeine when periods of sleep deprivation are required due to operational necessity Allowing time for sleep banking (sleeping extra hours before a planned exercise) to allow members to perform at peak physical and mental capability when needed Directing leadership to a duty schedule that allows eight hours of sleep for those under their command Giving service members a location that is quiet and promotes restful sleep whenever possible Recognizing that caffeine use does not make up for sleep deprivation Giving aircrews extra time off to adjust their internal clocks after traveling across multiple time zones Training health professionals to recognize the symptoms of sleep deprivation and allow them to intervene when members exhibit symptoms of lack of sleep Providing military members with mobile applications that allow them to personally review and manage their sleep time In 2017, the Navy suffered two fatal ship collisions that killed 17 sailors. While investigations determined that the incidents were due to human error, sleep deprivation was cited as a concern in both accidents. The service subsequently instituted new guidelines for rest for surface ship crews, guidance that was updated late last year and directed commanders to establish watch rotations that implement a natural sleep-awake concept. Additional findings reported in the DoD study to Congress include: Nearly 76% of military members report getting less than seven hours of sleep per night, compared with 38% of civilians. Air Force members report the highest average nightly sleep time; the Army reports the least. Service members with duty-related sleep deprivation are far more likely to experience a motor vehicle accident or work-related injury. Samples from Army Rangers demonstrated a significant reduction in testosterone, considered critical for muscle recovery following physical activity, after military exercises requiring sleep loss. Want to Know More About the Military? Be sure to get the latest news about the military, as well as critical info about how to join and all the benefits of service. Subscribe to Military.com and receive customized updates delivered straight to your inbox. Saudi Arabia is the Perfect Sandstorm Revealed by Katherine Burlake in Her Book, The Bystander DENVER, COLO March 1, 2021. The kingdom is at a crossroads with the leadership in the royal family, and in danger of losing its century-long special relationship with the USA. Understanding a country that has stood behind a veil for the past century is difficult. In the novel, The Bystander, Saudi politics, culture, and the royal family relationships show how a Bedouin culture runs a country so vital to the world's oil supply. Of course, Saudi Arabia will reject the US intelligence report linking Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Riyadh has claimed that it took "all necessary judicial measures" in the case. The question the world wants to know is: What's Happened to Saudi Arabia? In Burlake's words, "Walk in the culture of Saudi Arabia, experience the desert, and understand how today it is formed by its history." For a riveting read to learn and understand why murder and mayhem is the norm in Saudi Arabia, author Katherine Burlake spent multiple years there as an insider. It's time for the "rest of the story." THE BYSTANDER The Bystander (Meroe Press, First Edition 2017, ISBN 978-1-95028266-1, $14.99) is available in hardcover, paperback, and eBook on Amazon at https://bit.ly/BystanderMystery ABOUT KATHERINE BURLAKE Katherine Burlake qualified as one of the first women Air Force Officers to attend the Air Force Navy Intelligence School and serve in the Vietnam War. Living in Thailand, England and Germany led her to the Department of State and Broadcasting Board of Governors reporting on embassy operations globally. She has traveled to over 130 countries while working for the Department of State. Burlake uses her experiences in international relations to write thrilling and engaging novels. including Afghanistan and Iraq. Katherine is published in the MacGuffin, The Face of War: A Baghdad Woman. Her vast experiences plus her four years working at the U.S. Embassy in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia bring in the trench experiences to her engaging novels. Colorado is now her home. Additional information on Katherine can be found on her website, www.KatherineBurlake.com. She is available for media interviews. Not long after Florida began its rollout of the coronavirus vaccines, Black leaders and others began raising alarms that the first doses were finding their way into the arms of mostly white senior citizens who supported Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, while their hard-hit communities were left in the cold. Now some numbers appear to support those suspicions. Of the 34 states that shared vaccination data by race and ethnicity, Florida ranks near the bottom in the rate at which Black residents have been inoculated even as the community has suffered a disproportionate share of Covid-19 deaths, concluded Aubrey Jewett, a political science professor at the University of Central Florida. Image: Covid-19 vaccinations Greater Bethel Missionary Baptist Church in Tampa (Octavio Jones / Reuters file) Using the most recent data from the Kaiser Family Foundation, Jewett noted that while Blacks make up about 15 percent of the state's population and account for 16 percent of the Covid-19 deaths, the community has received just 6 percent of the shots so far. "For vaccination equity for blacks, Florida ranks quite badly at 30th out of 34," Jewett said in an email. Latinos in Florida have also been vaccinated more slowly, Jewett found. While they account for 27 percent of the population and 24 percent of deaths, they have gotten just 16 percent of the vaccinations, Jewett calculated. "Some of the inequality for vaccines is simply because of the age disparity" in Florida's population, Jewett said. "A much higher percentage of whites are over the age of 65 compared to black and Hispanics whose population skews younger." Still, Jewett said, "I think for a first look this analysis holds up and is defensible." It also reflects the findings of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which reported Monday that Blacks and Hispanics don't appear to be getting vaccinated nationwide at the same rate as white people. Preliminary data from the CDC, culled from about half of the 12.9 million people vaccinated in the U.S. from Dec. 14 to Jan. 14, suggest that the Blacks and Hispanics in the first groups to get shots health care workers and long-term nursing home residents got a smaller share of the doses. DeSantis, who did not respond to a request for comment about the apparent disparities in vaccination rates, vowed last week to enlist the help of Black churches to vaccinate more elderly African Americans. "Churches that want to be involved in this program, we will absolutely work with them" DeSantis said. "We can get that teed up pretty quickly." Image: Ron DeSantis (Wilfredo Lee / AP) That has done little to erase the perception that DeSantis is playing politics with vaccine distribution and that people of color are being sidelined. "I feel that Gov. DeSantis is treating communities of color just as an afterthought," said state Rep. Omari Hardy, a Democrat whose mostly minority district includes parts of West Palm Beach and Delray Beach. Nor, Hardy said, is he surprised by Jewett's findings or the CDC results. He said the vaccine distribution system seems to be designed to make it harder for elderly Black people to get inoculated. "I know lots of elderly people in my community who are struggling to get vaccinated," Hardy said. "After we make an uproar, the governor throws a few vaccines at us at a church and then pats himself on the back. That's not right." Charlotte County Democratic Party Chair Teresa Jenkins agreed. "That's disgraceful," Jenkins said when told of Jewett's findings. "It certainly does confirm what we've maintained to be true that the vaccines are going first to white-dominated areas." Florida's numbers "don't lie," said former Ohio state Sen. Nina Turner, co-chair of the New York COVID Vaccine Task Force for Vaccine Equity and Education. "When I compare vaccine rollout numbers between New York and Florida what I see is a lack of understanding and attention to communities that needed the most attention," Turner said in an emailed response to several questions. "Local leaders have been very clear that the vaccine rollout in Florida has not served Black, Brown and poor communities well at all." The CDC recommendations prioritized health care workers and long-term nursing home residents first, followed by front-line workers, like police, firefighters and teachers, and people ages 75 and older not living in retirement homes. Senior citizens ages 65 to 74 are in the third group, according to the CDC guidelines. In Florida, however, DeSantis did not follow the CDC recommendations; he launched a "seniors first strategy" to vaccinate members of one of the state's most potent voting blocs first. Nearly half of Florida's residents 65 and older have received at least one shot of a vaccine, the South Florida Sun Sentinel reported Sunday. But Blacks and Hispanics are underrepresented in that group, the data show. Image: Bible-Based Fellowship Church in Tampa offers Covid vaccinations (Octavio Jones / Getty Images file) "A lot of our residents, they're just not being accounted for," Shirley Erazo, president and CEO of the Delray Beach Housing Authority, which serves a mostly minority, low-income population, told NBC affiliate WPTV of West Palm Beach. DeSantis has set up at least 19 pop-up vaccine centers across Florida, but the ones that have drawn the most attention and criticism are the ones that went up with little or no warning to local officials in planned communities where elderly Republican residents predominate. South of Tampa in Manatee County, the sheriff, acting on a complaint from the American Civil Liberties Union, is investigating whether a county commissioner violated any laws by helping DeSantis set up a pop-up site in a community that was built by a political supporter who then got her name and that of the developer on the vaccination list. Meanwhile, Florida's agriculture commissioner, Nikki Fried, has asked for a congressional investigation into "alleged political favoritism"in the distribution of the vaccines. And U.S. Rep. Charlie Crist has asked the Justice Department to investigate reports that DeSantis set up vaccination sites "in select locations to benefit political allies and donors, over the needs of higher risk community and existing county waitlists." Fried and Crist are Democrats who are reported to be considering running next year against DeSantis, a staunch ally of former President Donald Trump who even before the vaccine rollout was harshly criticized for having been slow to respond to the pandemic. "Florida got it right, and the lockdown states got it wrong," DeSantis insisted over the weekend at the opening of the Conservative Political Action Committee in Orlando. "We look around in other parts of our country, and in far too many places, we see schools closed, businesses shuttered and lives destroyed. And while so many governors over the last year had kept locking people down, Florida lifted people up." As of Monday, Florida had reported nearly 2 million confirmed cases of Covid-19, along with more than 31,000 deaths, according to the latest NBC News data. The majority of infections and deaths were reported after DeSantis declared in April that "we haven't seen an explosion in new cases" and began reopening the state over the objections of most health experts. Jewett, a longtime observer of Florida politics, said in an email that if he were to give DeSantis a grade for his handling of the pandemic and the vaccine rollout, it would be a C. "For many Republicans and conservatives, they would give DeSantis an 'A' based on the same data," he said. "From their perspective health outcomes were average (and better than many states that had severe lockdowns) and he did it without mask mandates and allowed businesses to reopen and operate and got school reopened." Democrats and liberals, however, would give DeSantis an F "based on the same data." "From their perspective health outcomes could have been much better if DeSantis had issued more regulations (or at least used his pull to encourage people to wear masks etc.) and DeSantis does not seem to care about equity at all and the results largely reflect this," Jewett said. Madam Joyce Bawa Mogtari, a lawyer and Special Aide to former President John Dramani Mahama has reacted to a statement released by the lawyers for the Ghana Judicial Service. The statement had asked media houses with damaging stories against the Justices of the Supreme Court to pull it down. According to Madam Mogtari, the statement should have come after the ruling of the ongoing 2020 election petition. "Maybe if this had come after the ruling; considering the timing in terms of the context, even reading the content of that correspondent leave enormous room and cause for worry . . ." she intimated. "They might have very good reason why they have taken this step but as a practitioner and a student of the law, I would like to just state without any fear of equivocation that I would expect that we do not turn this jurisdiction of contempt into a fetish but that we should seek to legislate accordingly and give clear guidelines and in that sense people will understand and people will get it". Nonetheless "I have no doubt that criticism will surely come . . . " Background Lawyers for the Ghana Judicial Service says it is "unacceptable" for media houses to "publish on your platforms, speeches and statements and publications which excite anger, hate and passion against the Justices presiding over the election petition". In a statement addressed to all media houses in the country, such "statements and speeches interfere with the due administration of justice as Justices of our client are threatened with ominous consequences following their decisions which do not meet the expectations of some members of the society". This concern has been heightened by the flurry of statements and speeches directed at our clients Justices, especially after the commencement of hearing of the election petition in the suit intituled John Dramani Mahama v Electoral Commission & Nana Addo, the statement read. The legal counsel is therefore demanding that the media houses involved "pull or cause to be pulled down and cleared from your platforms, all statements and speeches which convey and/or insinuate hateful, spiteful, vengeful and incendiary communication against Justices of our client especially those hearing the election petition". Failure to do this, action will be taken against them "to ensure that you do not abuse the right to free speech by deploying and/or permitting your platform to be deployed in a manner that not only threatens our constitutional order and democracy but obviously, adversely interferes with the due administration of justice and also, brings it, into disrepute". The statement, however, stopped short of mentioning the media houses involved. 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 Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. GUANGZHOU, China and LONDON, United Kingdom, March 2, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Yatsen Holding Limited ("Yatsen" or the "Company") (NYSE: YSG), a leader in the rapidly evolving China beauty market, today announced it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire prestige skincare brand Eve Lom from Manzanita Capital ("Manzanita"). Manzanita will retain a minority stake in the business and serve as a strategic partner going forward. The acquisition is expected to be completed within the next few weeks. Founded in 1985 by the renowned facialist Eve Lom, the brand's eponymous skincare collection is centred on the belief that the secret to radiant skin begins with the perfect cleanse. In the 35 years since the launch of the iconic Eve Lom Cleanser, the brand combines high quality natural ingredients with the latest scientific innovations to create a portfolio of luxurious and effective products, among which many are award-winning. Eve Lom is sold through a high-quality, global distribution network with notable strength in Asian markets, and with e-commerce channels the brand has built a loyal following worldwide. "We are delighted to welcome the globally beloved Eve Lom brand into our brand portfolio. Eve Lom is one of the best performing skincare brands famed for its profound brand heritage and unique formulas that combine luxury with high-performance results. The brand has developed an incredibly loyal following driven by its hero products such as the Eve Lom Cleanser, and demonstrated resilient sales and profitability even during COVID-19. We are excited to welcome Eve Lom's passionate team with diverse international background in the fashion and beauty industry to enrich our global brand building capabilities and product offerings," said Jinfeng Huang, founder, chairman and CEO of Yatsen. Andras Szirtes, Managing Partner of Manzanita, added, "Eve Lom has been part of the Manzanita family of brands for nearly 20 years and together we have been on an incredible journey of growth. We are proud to have watched Eve Lom's development from a niche brand into a global business with a presence across North America, Europe and Asia. We are very excited about the opportunity to partner with Yatsen. We are convinced that Yatsen's strong roots with Asian consumers, exceptional e-commerce capabilities and proven track record of innovation will further accelerate Eve Lom's growth." Financo acted as financial advisor in the transaction. About Yatsen Holding Limited Yatsen Holding Limited (NYSE: YSG) is a leader in the rapidly evolving China beauty market with the mission of creating an exciting new journey of beauty discovery for consumers in China and around the world. The Company has launched three fast-growing, successful color cosmetics and skincare brands: Perfect Diary, Little Ondine and Abby's Choice, and has recently acquired Galenic, an iconic premium skincare brand. Leveraging its digitally native direct-to-customer business model, the Company has built a platform with core capabilities that disrupt every part of the traditional beauty industry value chain and deliver greater value to its customers. The Company reaches and engages with customers directly both online and offline, with expansive presence across all major e-commerce, social and content platforms in China. For more information, please visit http://ir.yatsenglobal.com/. About Manzanita Manzanita Capital is a specialist investor focused on developing luxury and premium beauty companies into enduring global brands. Unconstrained by strict investment horizons, its long-term perspective is backed by patient family capital. Safe Harbor Statement This press release contains statements that may constitute "forward-looking" statements which are made pursuant to the "safe harbor" provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements can be identified by terminology such as "will," "expects," "anticipates," "aims," "future," "intends," "plans," "believes," "estimates," "likely to," and similar statements. Statements that are not historical facts, including statements about the Company's beliefs, plans, and expectations, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties. Further information regarding these and other risks is included in the Company's filings with the SEC. All information provided in this press release is as of the date of this press release, and the Company does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statement, except as required under applicable law. For investor and media inquiries, please contact: In China: Yatsen Holding Limited Investor Relations E-mail: [email protected] The Piacente Group, Inc. Emilie Wu Tel: +86-21-6039-8363 E-mail: [email protected] In the United States: The Piacente Group, Inc. Brandi Piacente Tel: +1-212-481-2050 E-mail: [email protected] SOURCE Yatsen Holding Limited Related Links http://ir.yatsenglobal.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. Amnesty International stripped Russian oppositionist Alexei Navalny of his status as a prisoner of conscience last week because of his history of hate speech. This step exposes the fraudulent character of the frenzied campaign in the bourgeois media, especially the New York Times in the US and Der Spiegel in Germany, aimed at portraying Navalny as a democratic opponent of Russian President Vladimir Putin. As the World Socialist Web Site has warned for years, far from being in any way democratic, Navalny is a crude anti-immigrant chauvinist. He advocates violence against Russias Muslim peoples from the Caucasus and former citizens of the Soviet Union who hail from Central Asia. At the center of Amnesty Internationals decision is a series of YouTube videos Navalny produced in the 2000s as part of building the National Russian Liberation Movement or NAROD [PEOPLE], which he co-founded with National Bolshevik Zakhar Prilepin in 2007. The videos bear the unmistakable hallmark of far-right propaganda. One titled, NAROD for the Legalization of Guns, begins with Navalny standing next to the label, Certified Nationalist. He perches behind a table with a pistol, a shoe and a fly swatter. Cockroaches and flies, screeching and growling, leap out at the viewer. Everyone knows we can use a fly swatter against flies and a shoe against cockroaches, states Navalny. A photo of individuals from the Caucasus seemingly outfitted in military fatigues appears. On it is the inscription, Homo Sapiens Bezpredelius, which means Homo Sapiens Borderless. Alexei Navalny talks to one of his lawyers during a hearing in the Moscow City Court in Moscow, Russia, Tuesday, Feb. 2, 2021. (Moscow City Court via AP) Navalny asks, But what happens if the cockroaches are too great and the flies too aggressive? A person dressed in black comes screaming towards him. Navalny shoots the man point-blank. A dead body appears. In that case, I recommend a pistol, states the Russian oppositionist. The vile video can be seen on his YouTube page here. In another clip titled, Become Nationalists!, Navalny, dressed as a dentist, tells the viewer, I frequently see cavities. Indicating that sometimes nationalists, going after these cavities, run amok, images then stream across the screen of skinheads attacking people, Nazis giving the Hitler salute and Nazi war criminals hanged at Nuremberg. But, adds Navalny, These arent real specialists. You need to precisely and firmly deport, he counsels. We then see frightened, presumably Central Asians being rounded up, as a yanked cavity rolls across the screen. Then an airplane appears. Only blockheads think that nationalism is violence, tempers Navalny. A tooth without a root is a dead tooth. Nationalists are those who do not want the word Russia to strike a blow at the Russian root. More rotten teeth are pulled as agonizing sounds play alongside. We have the right to be Russians in Russia, and we are defending this right, he concludes. Throughout this dialogue, Navalny uses the word russkiy to refer to Russians, which means only ethnically Russian people. There is another word in the language, rossisskiy, which denotes all people who are citizens of the Russian Federation, regardless of their specific ethnicity. Navalny is making clear that the country is not for these populations. These videos have been floating around the internet since the late 2000s. In the lead-up to Amnestys decision and afterwards, some press outlets have done some mild hand wringing over what they describe as Navalnys nationalism problem. But they have largely kept quiet about it for over a decade, and the descriptions of these videos in the media vastly understate their filthiness. A 2017 article by The Guardian, for instance, characterized the first of the two videos mentioned here as one in which Navalny speaks out in favour of relaxing gun controls. Navalny is unabashed. He defends the videos and his participation in Russias annual far-right event, the Russia March, which he helped organize for several years. He refuses to take down the YouTube clips or renounce their politics. The author of the above-mentioned 2017 Guardian article described the following exchange with Navalny about the subject: I ask him if he regrets those videos now, and hes unapologetic. He sees it as a strength that he can speak to both liberals and nationalists. But comparing migrants to cockroaches? That was artistic license, he says. So theres nothing at all from those videos or that period that he regrets? No, he says again, firmly. Prominent Russian-American journalist Masha Gessen, who spares no breath denouncing Putin for his authoritarian government and violations of human rights on the pages of the New York Times, the Washington Post and other leading news outlets, published a phony lament in the New Yorker on February 15, written as if Navalnys far-right politics were new to her. After giving some description of the oppositionists filthy outlook, Gessen justified his views, claiming that during the early Putin era, The only alternative seemed to be broadly ethno-nationalist ideas. Gessen concludes by noting that many people think Navalny should still win the Nobel Peace Prize, for which he was nominated in late January. The Kremlin is one of the most fervent exponents of Russian nationalism and anti-immigration chauvinism. By promoting these views, Navalny is not opposing Putin. He is seeking to convince the countrys far right that it can find a home in the so-called liberal, free market wing of the Russian bourgeoisie. There is nothing about Navalnys program that is progressive, much less democratic. He advocates privatizations and tax cuts. He wants to open up Russia to more foreign investment and give global corporations an equal chance to work the countrys masses to the bone, reining in to some extent the share of Russian profits that accrue to the Putin-dominated state bureaucracy. His anti-corruption crusadethe sort of thing that always and everywhere is an political empty vessel into which the most rancid politics can be pouredseeks to tap into widespread popular anger over the parasitism of the Russian ruling class, but keep it aimed at the Kremlin and away from capitalism as a whole. Navalnys Anti-Corruption Foundation is financed by major figures in big business, including Roman Borisovich (of the insurance giant Rosgosstrakh), Boris Zimin (son of telecommunications oligarch Dmitri Zimin), Alexander Lebedev (former Soviet intelligence chief and later billionaire media mogul) and Vladimir Ashurkov (an executive with the massive banking conglomerate, Alfa Group) to name just a few. The majority stakeholder in the leading pro-Navalny pressEkho Moskviis Gazprom Media, which is connected to the Russian energy giant Gazprom. None of these forces has a problem with corruption per se; they only have a problem with corruption that cuts across their money-making interests and Putins foreign policies. They advocate deepening ties with Washington and Berlin. Navalnys far-right politics have been no secret to either Amnesty International (AI) or his imperialist backers. One news report about AIs recent decision stated that the human rights organization only changed Navalnys status after coming under external pressure. AI denies this charge. Clearly, however, the organization felt that it might lose some credibility if it continued to laud someone who performs racially motivated mock executions on video as a prisoner of conscience. Sections of the ruling class may also be concerned that Navalnys extreme right-wing nationalist orientation may endanger other foreign policy objectives in the region, particularly on the question of Ukraine. A February 18 comment put out by a leading Washington think tank, the Atlantic Council, indicates that one of the biggest problems with Navalny is his support for Russias seizure of the Crimea and refusal to advocate for the peninsulas immediate return to Kiev, which is completely unacceptable to Western allies in Ukraine. However, German political scientist Andreas Umland, who has played a major role in justifying the Ukrainian far right and its role in the 2014 coup in Kiev, counsels that one cannot get too bent out of shape because Navalny is useful at the moment for undermining the Putin government. Should his usefulness prove short-lived, he can be dispensed with. It will certainly be sensible to adopt a more cautious attitude towards Navalny if he is eventually released from prison and if he then goes on to acquire political power. Today, however, his rise to prominence is principally a destabilizing factor that poses various challenges to Putins authoritarian rule, while offering the prospect of a new Russian democratization drive, writes Umland. White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany during a press briefing in the White House in Washington on Dec. 15, 2020. (Charlotte Cuthbertson/The Epoch Times) Former White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany Gets Fox News Gig Kayleigh McEnany, the former White House press secretary, has joined Fox News, the network announced Tuesday. In lieu of a formal announcement, host Harris Faulkner broke the news during her show The Faulkner Focus. It is my distinct pleasure today to welcome Kayleigh McEnany to the Fox family. We will be seeing much more of her in the future, Faulkner said, after interviewing the former press secretary. A Fox spokesperson told The Epoch Times via email that McEnany will be an on-air commentator. The news was expected. McEnany, 32, earlier this year filed a report with the Office of Government Ethics saying she had agreed to work for Fox starting in January. McEnany became the White House press secretary in April 2020, serving in the position until former President Donald Trump left office in January. She also worked for Trumps campaign and the Republican National Committee. McEnany previously held jobs at CNN and Fox, where she produced for Huckabee. She graduated from Harvard Law School in 2016. Kayleigh McEnany, the Trump 2020 campaign press secretary, before President Donald Trumps MAGA rally in Grand Rapids, Mich., on March 28, 2019. (Charlotte Cuthbertson/The Epoch Times) In Tuesdays interview, McEnany said she was shocked when protesters stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, recounting it a very hard, difficult day in the White House. She also said she sees differences between herself and her successor, Jen Psaki. Ill never forget watching one of the early press briefings where she was asked about Antifa riots and I believe she said that she hadnt spoken to the president about that. They let her move on, whereas if I would have been asked that about violence on the other side of the aisle that wouldnt have been an answer that flew, nor should it have, McEnany said. I think the standards are different but the American people are so smart, so wise, they see the difference, she added, describing some reporters as political operatives. McEnany left Psaki a note wishing her the best, similar to how Trump left President Joe Biden a note. McEnany was speaking during her first interview since leaving office. You have permission to edit this article. Edit Close KNOX COUNTY, Ind. (WTHI) - Knox County has been doing better in the last few weeks. Good Samaritan Hospital has supplied 500 additional doses of the Moderna vaccine to the county's clinic. Knox County saw two days last week with no new cases. Only 2 new cases were reported on Monday. Health officer Dr. Alan Stewart says the approval of the Johnson and Johnson vaccine is also big for Knox county. Stewart says, "The Johnson and Johnson has been approved and the state of Indiana is anticipating getting some Johnson and Johnson. On Saturday we got notice that we could apply to get some." Stewart says the 60 and above age group have not been coming out to the clinic as much as they'd hoped. He believes this is due to many of those folks still working. Knox County will change up its clinic hours in hopes of helping folks get vaccinated after they get off. They are also planning two outreach clinics. On Friday a clinic will be put on at the Knox County fairgrounds in Bicknell. Saturday another clinic will be at the bluejeans center in Monroe City. Stewart says the Johnson and Johnson vaccine is intended for these types of clinics. Stewart says, "People do not have to register before they come. We will be able to register them. We hope that this will get the population that may be reluctant to travel the distance. It'll also help the population that may not have been able to schedule their appointment on the computer." Outreach Clinics: Knox County Fairgrounds in Bicknell - Friday 3 pm to 6 pm; Blue Jean Center in Monroe City- Saturday 10 am to 1 pm An SUV packed with people and a semitruck slam into each other near the Mexican border, in Imperial County, Calif., on March 2, 2021. (Courtesy of KCAL/KCBS) 13 Dead After Major California Crash Involving Semi-Truck, SUV With 25 People: Officials At least 13 people have died after a Ford Expedition SUV was involved in a collision with a semi-truck in Imperial County, California, located just miles from the U.S.-Mexico border, officials said. Imperial Fire Department Battalion Chief Juan Rodelo told Fox 11 in Los Angeles that a mass casualty crash in Holtville occurred. A number of people have been injured, officials said. Twelve people were found dead when first responders reached the highway, which winds through fields in the agricultural southeastern corner of California. Another person died at a hospital, California Highway Patrol Chief Omar Watson said. A Ford Expedition typically seats eight people legally. The CHP did not immediately know why so many occupants had been crammed into the SUV. Obviously, that vehicle is not meant for that many people, Watson said. Its unfortunate that that many people were put into that vehicle because theres not enough safety constraints to safely keep those people in that vehicle. Several survivors were taken to nearby hospitals, including seven who were transported to El Centro Regional Medical Center, where one person died after arrival, officials told ABC News. The Expedition was carrying 27 passengers, officials told the Fox affiliate station. The semi-truck driver suffered minor injuries in the collision, added officials. The crash occurred in Imperial, which is about 100 miles east of San Diego and 15 miles from the Mexican border. The truck was traveling north on a two-lane highway, and the SUV was going west along a road where theres a stop sign before it intersects with the highway, CHP Officer Arturo Platero said. Authorities dont know how fast either vehicle was going. The speed limit for tractor-trailers on the highway is 55 mph (88.5 kph), according to CHP Officer Jake Sanchez. The other road is also 55 mph for vehicles. Macario Mora, a spokesman for Customs and Border Protection in Yuma and El Centro, said the Border Patrol was helping other law enforcement with the crash. He said the immigration status of those in the SUV was unknown and being investigated. AP contributed to this report. Study by researchers at the University of Campinas published in Physical Review Letters discusses both light dispersion by vibrations inside the device and light dissipation to the exterior, an aspect rarely studied hitherto (nanoparticle of gold [Au] above metal mirror, showing molecular vibration for organic molecule BPT. Credit: Andre Garcia Primo, UNICAMP Optomechanical microcavities are extremely small structures with diameters of less than 10 micrometers (about a tenth of a human hair) inside which light and mechanical vibrations are confined. Thanks to their small size and to efficient microfabrication techniques that enable them to hold intense light energy and interact with mechanical waves, microcavities can be used as mass and acceleration sensors and in Raman scattering (a spectroscopy technique deployed to analyze materials, including gases, liquids, and solids). A sound understanding of these phenomena can contribute in future to advances in areas such as biomedicine, including the development of sensors to detect molecules that serve as cancer markers, for example. A study conducted at the University of Campinas's Photonics Research Center (Photonicamp), in the state of Sao Paulo, Brazil, investigated a less well-known process associated with optomechanical coupling, creating a theoretical model that was validated by simulations and comparisons with experimental results recorded in the literature. The researchers report the study in an article published in Physical Review Letters. "Two independent phenomena take place in these systems," physicist Thiago Alegre told Agencia FAPESP. "On one hand, light exerts pressure on the cavity in which it's confined. On the other, mechanical vibrations scatter the light. Interaction between the two may occur in two different ways. If the scattered light remains inside the device, the result is called dispersive interaction. If the light escapes from the cavity, it's known as dissipative interaction." Alegre is a professor at the University of Campinas's Gleb Wataghin Institute of Physics (IFGW-UNICAMP) and a researcher with Photonicamp. He was the principal investigator for the study. The lead author of the article is Andre Garcia Primo, who was his Ph.D. student at the time. FAPESP supported the study via a direct doctorate scholarship awarded to Primo, and scholarships or grants for five other projects (17/19770-1, 20/06348-2, 18/15580-6, 18/15577-5 and 18/25339-4). Professors Newton Cesario Frateschi and Gustavo Silva Wiederhecker acted as principal investigators. Dispersive interaction is well-understood and a basis for important advances in optomechanics, such as the LIGO interferometer that detected gravitational waves in 2016, for example, but dissipative interaction has rarely been explored in experiments. "The scarcity of experiments is due mainly to the lack of a theoretical foundation capable of accounting for the strength of dissipative interaction for a given device," Alegre said. "Our study proposes a theoretical formulation for both dispersive and dissipative interaction." The proposal involves perturbation theory, which assumes that the optomechanical interaction is reasonably weak so that light and mechanical vibrations can be treated independently in an initial approximation. The description of optomechanical coupling is simplified when optical and mechanical behavior are calculated separately. "The novelty is the way we performed the last step," Primo said. "Essentially, contrary to what has always been done, we considered the behavior of light in the device to be physically and mathematically affected by the possibility that light can escape the cavity. When we took this into account, we realized that both the dispersive and dissipative interaction could be described with a high degree of precision." In the final part of the study, the researchers tested their theory by means of two experimental examples that are well-documented in the literature. In one experiment, they investigated an optomechanical cavity made of silicon and showed that both interactions, the dispersive and the dissipative, were relevant to explaining the phenomena observed. "We showed that our theory accords fully with the experiment performed and can therefore be deemed a valuable instrument to obtain devices in which these unconventional phenomena are boosted," Alegre said. The second example involved plasmonic optomechanical nanocavities made of gold. Nanocavities confine far smaller amounts of light than microcavities and essentially behave like nanolenses. It is possible to detect the mechanical motion of individual molecules coupled with these devices. This possibility has a wide array of applications, including the detection of chemical compounds in biological media to identify substances that can indicate pathological conditions, for example. "We showed with this theory that although it had never been reported, the dissipative scattering of light by molecules is extremely important for the optomechanical phenomena in these systems," Primo said. Alegre added that some of the results obtained in recent experiments and not yet fully understood are correctly described when the model produced by the study he led is taken into account. Explore further Device boosts interaction between light and motion More information: Andre G. Primo et al, Quasinormal-Mode Perturbation Theory for Dissipative and Dispersive Optomechanics, Physical Review Letters (2020). Journal information: Physical Review Letters Andre G. Primo et al, Quasinormal-Mode Perturbation Theory for Dissipative and Dispersive Optomechanics,(2020). DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.125.233601 Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Dwayne Louis Simard, one of the three men arrested in a weekend standoff in Winnipeg, has died in Stony Mountain prison. Dwayne Louis Simard, one of the three men arrested in a weekend standoff in Winnipeg, has died in Stony Mountain prison. Correctional Service Canada said Simard, 37, died on Monday, but it did not elaborate on the circumstances of his death, which is under investigation. Dwayne Louis Simard, 37, died in Stony Mountain prison on March 1. (Supplied / Winnipeg Police Service) Simard had been sentenced to two years and eight months for aggravated assault, which he began serving in November 2017. He was released in early September 2019, but two weeks later breached his conditions, police said at the time. He was arrested on Saturday along with two other men following an hours-long standoff at a home on the 600 block of McGee Street. Winnipeg Police Service Const. Jay Murray told reporters Sunday that officers arrived at the house to execute a pair of entry warrants shortly after 11 a.m. Saturday. It was believed two men who had outstanding arrest warrants were in the residence, Murray said, including Jesse James Daher, who is facing a charge of second-degree murder in the early October death of Mohamed Mohiadin Ahmed. Terry Ryan Monkman, 37, was reportedly taken into custody without incident. Daher, 28, surrendered to police at 6:40 p.m. Saturday. Ten minutes later, Simard exited the residence. All three were arrested and charged with weapons offences. Workers at Connecticut COVID-19 vaccination clinics are trying to make sure that everyone who gets a shot is eligible due to their age or profession. But they also understand there can be barriers to proving these things and they dont want to deny people because they do not have access to the proper paperwork. Were looking to control (the process) the best we can, but, at the same time, we dont want to make it so that if you dont have an ID or a license, you can never get vaccinated, said Dr. Rockman Ferrigno, associate chief medical officer and chief of emergency medicine at Bridgeport Hospital. With Connecticut opening up vaccinations to those age 55 and older, and those in the child care and education fields, the state Department of Public Health has issued guidelines for proving eligibility. Under the state guidelines, individuals should be asked to present verification of eligibility at the time of appointment. Verification of age could include a drivers license, passport or other identification showing the date of birth and verification of employment could include an ID card, paystub, child care license or a letter from the employer. However, state officials say people who are unable to produce the proper documentation may still be eligible to receive the vaccine. Those without identification must sign and date a form, in which they attest that they are eligible to receive the vaccine. Those who give false statements are subject to state statute penalties, DPH spokeswoman Maura Fitzgerald said. Fitzgerald said the state is counting on both those seeking vaccinations and providers to be honest and follow the rules. We are hoping that people wont resort to lying to jump the line, she said. The obligation is on the provider to ensure that the rules they agreed to when joining the vaccine program are followed, including confirming that the people they are vaccinating are actually eligible, and also on the individual to be honest about their eligibility status. Ferrigno said Bridgeport Hospital is trying adhere to the guidelines, but also understands that not everyone has documentation, for a variety of reasons. For instance, he said, someone who doesnt drive might not have a license. We dont have a perfect ability to shake everybody down at the door (to make sure they qualify), he said. Our work is to be really compassionate to people coming in for the vaccine and to realize that there are barriers for some people. So far, several providers said they have not faced problems with people unable to show proper identification. Director of Health Andrea Boissevain said those who show up at the Stratford Department of Healths clinics are asked to show ID to confirm their date of birth. No one has refused to provide that, she said. Most people are being very understanding. Weve had no issues of line jumping. If they dont qualify, we ask that they wait their turn, like we did with teachers in the very beginning. Amy Forni, a spokeswoman for Nuvance Health which includes Danbury, New Milford, Norwalk and Sharon hospitals said staff at their clinics havent had any issue with people not able to provide identification. As for those who cant provide a drivers license or other identification, Ferrigno said hes had no indications that people are not being honest about their age. Weve been having these conversations around, Do we think people are lying about their age? and we dont think a lot of people are doing that, he said. VANCOUVER, BC, March 2, 2021 /PRNewswire/ - TechX Technologies Inc. ("TechX'' or "the Company'') (CSE: TECX) (OTC: TECXF) (FRA: C0B:FF), a company focused in emerging technologies across growth sectors including: crypto, blockchain, AI and cloud technologies, is pleased to announce that it has signed a letter of intent ("LOI") to exchange certain information in pursuit of a potential transaction involving the acquisition of all of the outstanding share capital of Xport Digital Limited ("Xport"), an arms-length party. Xport is a crypto transfer gateway and digital wallet that offers cryptocurrency purchase services where users can buy from the listed cryptocurrencies on the platform including BTC, ETH and several other altcoins and tokens using a wide selection of payment methods. Xport also offers merchants two full-featured customizable widget gateway options to process credit card and crypto transactions instantly and securely. Xport Digital's crypto and credit card processing solutions provide real-time competitive pricing, KYC, fast and secure credit card processing and transfers of tokens to the user's wallet. Xport also offers token swapping and liquidity pool trading. Xport Digital Key Features: Fiat to Crypto Purchasing - Xport offers crypto purchasing with competitive market pricing and below market fees. DeFi Swaps - Liquidity pools are highly incentivized above the current market CRO DeFi yields. Xport utilizes a proprietary staking model that encourages participation and inclusion. Merchant wallet hosting - allows merchants to bring their own wallet or use the Xport Digital wallets for token distribution Merchant dashboard - Full-service dashboard to view transactions, administer refunds, automated reconciliation and reporting features Instant KYC - Real-time video and AI confirm customer identity within seconds and allow them to complete purchase within minutes Affiliate network - Robust affiliate program for users and affiliate networks to benefit from Xport's support to earn cash back, lower fees, and more OTC Trading deck - users can easily buy crypto and digital assets with a credit card or write transfer Lightning-fast execution with high liquidity Secure - Partners with acquirers that are PCI DSS compliant to ensure high security standards are being used Xport Digital has also completed the development of its crypto gateway platform, which is expected to launch in Q2 2021. "Xport Digital has distinguished itself as the true pathway to cryptocurrency gateway services with quick and secure crypto to fiat transactions, decentralized perpetual swaps, low cost fees, and merchant gateway services for the Xport crypto transfer and non crypto transfer widgets" said TechX CEO Peter Green. "Unlike payment processors like Stripe, Xport also has the ability to offer low-risk payment processing to high-risk businesses like crypto, cannabis, subscription services and nutraceuticals AND offer low-cost transaction fees and KYC, low chargebacks and customizable payment widgets." "Xport Digital is extremely excited for this opportunity and sees this as the next step in our journey towards influencing the crypto industry. Our experience in technology will be an unmatched driving force for our competitors in this space. Xport is an 'outside of the box' thinking organization and we see that our strategy has always been to create robust opportunities for new users and institutions to get involved in the evolution of crypto in today's financial markets" said Xport Digital Limited CEO, Aaron Carter. Readers are cautioned that the LOI entered into with Xport does not set forth the terms of the proposed transaction, nor have such terms been finalized. Completion of the proposed transaction is subject to a number of conditions, including, not limited to, completion of due diligence, negotiation of definitive documentation and the receipt of any required regulatory approvals. The proposed transaction cannot be completed until these conditions are satisfied and there can be no assurance that the proposed transaction will be completed at all. About TechX Technologies Inc. TechX Technologies Inc is a company focused on emerging technologies across growth sectors including: crypto, blockchain, AI and cloud technologies. Led by senior leaders and industry experts, TechX invests in and provides subject matter experts within portfolio companies to accelerate success and maximize value for shareholders. About XPort Digital Limited XPort Digital has distinguished itself as the true pathway to cryptocurrency gateway services with quick and secure crypto to fiat transactions, decentralized perpetual swaps, low cost fees, and merchant gateway services for the XPort crypto transfer and non crypto transfer widgets. XPort also utilizes EU and Asia compliance measures in terms of transaction security risk. We understand that cryptocurrencies offer numerous benefits to businesses and their customers. However, crypto based merchants have been struggling to accept fiat for digital assets from users due to the lack of proper crypto payment gateway solutions. This news release may contain certain "Forward-Looking Statements" within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and applicable Canadian securities laws. When or if used in this news release, the words "anticipate", "believe", "estimate", "expect", "target, "plan", "forecast", "may", "schedule" and similar words or expressions identify forward-looking statements or information. Such statements represent the Company's current views with respect to future events and are necessarily based upon a number of assumptions and estimates that, while considered reasonable by the Company, are inherently subject to significant business, economic, competitive, political and social risks, contingencies and uncertainties. Many factors, both known and unknown, could cause 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. The Company does not intend, and does not assume any obligation, to update these forward-looking statements or information to reflect changes in assumptions or changes in circumstances or any other events affecting such statements and information other than as required by applicable laws, rules and regulations. SOURCE TechX Technologies Inc. Related Links https://tech-x.io/ DUBLIN, March 1, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Regenerative Medicine Market Share, Size, Trends, & Industry Analysis Report, By Therapy; By Products; By Application; By Region: Segment Forecast, 2020-2026" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. The Regenerative Medicine Market is anticipated to reach over USD 79.23 billion by 2026 In 2019, the cell therapy dominated the global Regenerative Medicine market, in terms of revenue. North America is expected to be the leading contributor to the global market revenue in 2019. Regenerative medicine is a branch of medicine that regrows, and repairs the damaged cells in the human body. These medicines include the use of stem cells, tissue engineering, that further helps in developing new organ that function smoothly. These medicines have the caliber of developing an entire organ as these cells are multipotent. The cells are majorly isolated from bone marrow, and umbilical cord blood. The regenerative medicine market is primarily driven by the increasing number of individuals suffering from cancer, rising need to monitor and treating these chronic diseases in the limited time. Furthermore, stringent government policies, proper reimbursement policies, and increasing government healthcare expenditure for developing healthcare infrastructure to also boost the market growth in coming years. Also, rising number of organ transplantation, and increasing number of products in pipeline that are waiting for approval create major opportunity for the regenerative medicines in the coming years. However, some of the ethical and religious concerns for the use of stem cells, and lack of proper regulatory for the approval of various drugs would impede the market growth during the forecast period. North America generated the highest revenue in the Regenerative Medicine market in 2019, and is expected to be the leading region globally during the forecast period. Increasing number of patients suffering from chronic diseases, improved healthcare infrastructure and health facilities, accessibility of healthcare facilities, are the primary factors driving the market growth in this region. While, Asia Pacific to be the fastest growing region in the coming years. The growth in this region is majorly attributed to the developing healthcare infrastructure of the countries like India, & China, and rising awareness for the use of regenerative medicines as an effective treatment option for chronic diseases. The key players operating in the Regenerative Medicine market include Organogenesis Inc., Vericel Corporation, Osiris Therapeutics, Inc., Stryker Corporation, and NuVasive, Inc., Medtronic Plc., Acelity, Cook Biotech Inc., Integra LifeSciences, and C.R. Bard. These companies launch new products and collaborate with other market leaders to innovate and launch new products to meet the increasing needs and requirements of consumers. Key Topics Covered: 1. Overview and Scope 1.1. Research goal & scope 1.2. Research assumptions 1.3. Research Methodology 1.4. Key take-away 1.5. Stakeholders 2. Executive Summary 2.1. Market Definition 2.2. Market Segmentation 3. Regenerative Medicine Market Insights 3.1. Regenerative Medicine - Industry snapshot 3.2. Regenerative Medicine - Ecosystem analysis 3.3. Regenerative Medicine Market Dynamics 3.3.1. Regenerative Medicine - Market Forces 3.3.1.1. Regenerative Medicine Market Driver Analysis 3.3.1.2. Regenerative Medicine Market Restraint/Challenges analysis 3.3.1.3. Regenerative Medicine Market Opportunity Analysis 3.4. Industry analysis - Porter's five force 3.5. Regenerative Medicine Market PEST Analysis 3.6. Regenerative Medicine Market Value Chain Analysis 3.7. Regenerative Medicine Industry Trends 3.8. Competitive Ranking Analysis 4. Regenerative Medicine Market Size and Forecast by Therapy Type, 2015-2026 4.1. Key Findings 4.2. Tissue engineering 4.3. Cell Therapy 4.4. Immunotherapy 4.5. Gene Therapy 5. Regenerative Medicine Market Size and Forecast by Product Type, 2015-2026 5.1. Key Findings 5.2. Acellular Products 5.3. Cellular Products 5.4. Autologous Products 5.5. Allogeneic Products 6. Regenerative Medicine Market Size and Forecast by Application Type, 2015-2026 6.1. Key Findings 6.2. Oncology 6.3. Dermatology 6.4. Orthopedic 6.5. Cardiology 6.6. CNS Disease 6.7. Diabetes 7. Regenerative Medicine Market Size and Forecast by Region, 2015-2026 8. Company Profiles Organogenesis Inc. Vericel Corporation Osiris Therapeutics Inc. Stryker Corporation NuVasive Inc. Medtronic Plc. Acelity Cook Biotech Inc. Integra LifeSciences C.R. Bard For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/wzm8ju 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 Mumbai, March 2 : Actor Arjun Mathur can't stop raving about Manoj Bajpayee, his co-star in the upcoming mystery thriller "Silence: Can You Hear It". Arjun adds he learnt a lot working with Manoj. "Working with Manoj Bajpayee was a fantastic experience for me. There couldn't be a better film than 'Silence: Can You Hear It' to have shared screen space with him. There's just so much that he brings to his roles with his instincts that I took several helpful anecdotes and acting tips from him during the shoot of this film," Arjun said. Arjun, who was nominated at the International Emmy Awards in the Best Actor category for his role in "Four More Shots Please", has started shooting for second part of the show. He promises that fans will first see him in a completely different character with "Silence: Can You Hear It". "I play the role of a politician who is quite the gentleman. My character is of an MLA who is of a new-age variant altogether; one who has a modern outlook on things and a rather unconstitutional school of thought. I'm truly excited for the audience to see this film next month," shares the actor. The suspense thriller show will stream from March 26 on an OTT platform. One Hafsat Anka, a victim of Zamfara Government Girls Secondary School, Jangebe, abduction, has disclosed that their abductors threatened ... One Hafsat Anka, a victim of Zamfara Government Girls Secondary School, Jangebe, abduction, has disclosed that their abductors threatened to kill, fry and eat them if they misbehaved. Shortly after regaining freedom, Hafsat told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that they trekked over a long distance from the school, and had a stopover for some hours before they reached their destination. The student who said she would continue her studies as a day student revealed that the bandits wore military uniforms and claimed they defeated the security officials by invading the school. There was no clean water or good food, and we felt we had already spent years even though it was our first day and the bandits kept firing into the air to scare us. They were very young boys with one elder they called Kasalle or Yaya who gave them instructions, and he was the one that stopped them from touching any of us, Hafsat added. Posted Tuesday, March 2, 2021 10:55 am After federal agencies approved the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use this weekend, the Western States Pact met Monday to review the third COVID-19 vaccine. The Department of Health expects to hear and act on the Pact's recommendation late Monday or Tuesday. The pact is made up of the governors of Washington, Oregon, California, Nevada and Colorado, who work together to coordinate coronavirus policies. It is still not clear if the Johnson & Johnson vaccine will be targeted to certain groups, communities or settings in Washington. Washington is still in the first tier of Phase 1B of its vaccination prioritization plan. This means that health care workers, first responders and residents older than 65, and those over the age of 50 in multigenerational households can get vaccinated. Thus far, 1.5 million doses have been administered, and more than 1 million residents have initiated the vaccination process according to state data, but there are still hundreds of thousands of residents currently eligible who have yet to get access to the vaccine. There are more than 2.3 million Washington residents currently eligible to get the vaccine, including those living and working in long-term care settings, according to department estimates. Health officials hope the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine , compared to the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines that require two doses, will help speed vaccination efforts in the state. The third vaccine also is not dependent on ultra-cold storage like the other two vaccines, which make it more ideal for providers or settings without the freezers and technology needed to store the other vaccines. Washington likely will receive 60,900 doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine by the end of the week, but the department has not determined where they are sending those doses yet. The most densely populated parts of Washington will need more doses in the coming weeks to catch up with more rural parts of the state in vaccination efforts. Finding vaccine doses for health care workers and patients alike had been a challenge up until very recently at Puget Sound Kidney Centers, Harold Kelly, the chief executive, told reporters on Monday. "We still have many, many staff members that need to get their vaccine and a ton of patients that need to get their vaccine," he said. The Puget Sound Kidney Centers' staff treat hundreds of patients each week, many of whom are getting dialysis and at high-risk of complications should they contract COVID-19, Kelly said. The centers planned to coordinate vaccines for their its patients with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, but when those plans fell through, they asked the Washington State Hospital Association for connections to local providers for doses. Kelly said the Puget Sound Kidney Centers applied to be a vaccine distributor through the Department of Health but has yet to receive doses. He estimates that about 15% to 20% of their patients have initiated vaccination. With prioritization and support of other local providers, leaders hope those numbers will improve in the coming weeks. The Department of Health has revamped its webpage of vaccine locations, which shows providers that have appointments available in each county. This week, Washington was projected to receive 156,640 first doses and 123,160 second doses. "The need for both visual communication and online collaboration has never been more universal. In the last year alone, we've seen millions of teams adapt their approach to suit this new way of working. From brick and mortar businesses pivoting into online environments to Fortune 500 organizations transitioning to fully remote teams, we've seen countless examples of the way Canva's templates and digital collaboration suite have been able to empower teams of every size to continue doing their best work," said Rob Kawalsky, Canva's Head of Product. "The overnight shift to remote work was a huge transition for many people and companies across the globe during the pandemic. Yet as this research reveals, the new workflow models have proven to be a success in terms of establishing productive, engaged and connected teams in a virtual environment," explains Fingerprint for Success CEO, Michelle Duval. "Collaborating as a team is no longer defined by needing a real-time shared office space, but by how people work together using various online tools and virtual workspaces. It is super important for managers and people leaders in 2021 to understand the individual and team preferences in order to support future hybrid work-from-home and office productivity." The shift to remote work led to a productivity boom The initial move to remote work was found to be challenging for 46% of people surveyed, admitting maintaining focus and productivity at home was difficult. However, by the end of 2020 the sentiment changed. Half of Americans (50%) said that the shift to a home working environment made them more productive. The top reasons for improved personal productivity include: - A solo work space with no-one in sight was seen as the biggest contributor to boosting productivity, with 42% of Americans agreeing. - 46% said remote work improved online collaboration with colleagues. - The flexibility to work from anywhere also rated high (44%). Older generations like Gen X (40-55 years) see a solo space as being the most productive environment to work (61%), compared to 35% of millennials. More men prefer a solo work space at 45%, compared to 39% of women. However, some surveyed said they are most productive in a space with people and activity around them, with 39% of Americans agreeing. More women (44%) prefer a combined work space with activity around them, compared to 35% of men. Fingerprint For Success CEO and founder, Michelle Duval said: "These findings on collaboration, productivity and work environment validate previous research that open-plan working is not as productive as previously believed. In general, people prefer a solo work space with the opportunity to seek shared space when and as desired." "A productive team is no longer defined by needing a real-time shared environment, but by how people work together through the adoption of virtual tools and platforms, such as Canva." The shift to remote work as a result of COVID lockdowns led to improved collaboration and communication between co-workers Collaborating online with colleagues while working remotely was seen as an initial challenge for the majority of the population (51% of those surveyed). Americans said the sudden shift to remote work also initially impacted their ability to maintain connections with staff or colleagues (42%), and productivity (46%). Towards the end of 2020, however, Americans felt a different sentiment: - 76% said their relationships with co-workers improved while working remotely when compared to the start of 2020, with 38% strongly agreeing. - Almost half (46%) said they experienced improved collaboration working with teams and co-workers virtually during pandemic lockdowns; - The switch to remote work also helped improve communication between co-workers. 32% said they experienced increased communication with staff or employees while working via virtual tools or programs from home, noting this as one of the biggest positives from COVID lockdowns. - Virtual collaboration has been key to promote productivity. 43% said that the best way to achieve results within a team while working remotely is to collaborate on tasks with colleagues via virtual tools or programs. Canva's Head of Product, Rob Kawalsky, said: "When the pandemic first struck, we shifted our 1000+ person global team to a remote working environment virtually overnight. We were fortunate that most of our work was already happening online through our platform, which meant we were able to continue collaborating at speed and scale on everything from presentations to documents, sales decks and marketing material from anywhere in the world." Remote work boosts job satisfaction Americans feel more confident in their role after developing new valuable skills during lockdown Canva's research shows 75% of Americans have a new sense of confidence in their role and position within a team when compared to the start of 2020. Majority of Americans surveyed said they gained valuable new skills while working remotely in 2020. 42% learned new tools or programs, admitting that was one of the biggest positives of lockdown measures. Gen X (40-55 years) not only upskilled the most in 2020 (82%), but they're also the most confident in their position now compared to pre-pandemic (77%). Managing mental health was a struggle for all ages. Both older and younger generations admitted to being affected by anxiety during COVID lockdowns. Although respondents shared a common struggle to manage their mental health, Gen X (40-55 years) were the most likely to share they struggled to manage their anxiety at 23%. This compared to those aged 24-39 (at 16%). Fingerprint For Success CEO and founder, Michelle Duval said: "One of the unexpected benefits of the time in lockdown, after the initial overwhelm and anxiety of establishing a home set up, has been the successful adoption of new tools and platforms that enabled efficient online collaboration. In addition, people who thrive in a solo work space, and had the support of their employer and flexibility to work anywhere, appear to have responded positively to the work-from-home period, feeling more confident about their role in the future". COVID lockdowns shifted the way Americans communicated with co-workers, with visual tools and virtual platforms key to success Americans learnt new ways of sharing information while working remotely in lockdown. 1 in 4 (25%) of those surveyed said they felt more confident communicating information with colleagues via visual interactive documents or virtual presentations. 1 in 4 (25%) of those surveyed said they felt more confident communicating information with colleagues via visual interactive documents or virtual presentations. Verbal or visual documents, such as video calls, and virtual or talking presentations, were the most preferred method of communicating with colleagues from home, with 42% of Americans agreeing. Men were more likely than women to utilize visual documents (30% vs 21% women). Gen X respondents (40-55) were the most likely to utilize visuals at 35% . Emojis have proven to be a useful tool for those working remotely. - Millennials are the most active users of emojis in the workplace across the board. This compared to baby boomers (36%) are the least active. - Americans across all generations use the 'thumbs up' emoji in work communications the most (61%), followed by the 'high five' at 39%. - Male colleagues are more likely to use 'heart' emojis (27% vs 22% women) and the 'wink' emoji (21% vs 17%) in the workplace compared to females. The most popular emojis with millennials in the workplace include: - Thumbs up 62% - High five 41% - Raise the roof 34% - Okay 25% - Smiley face 25% - Hearts 25% - Wink 21% Canva 2020: Most Used Designs Globally More than 2.5 billion designs were created on Canva worldwide in 2020 129 million presentations were created in 2020 5.6 million Zoom backgrounds were used in 2020 a record result More than 3 million mindmaps and brainstorm designs were created globally Full fact sheet available here Looking to the future, most Americans want a hybrid working arrangement in 2021 The majority of Americans surveyed said a hybrid working environment has become the preferred way to work, with 52% of Americans opting for a dual work-home flexible arrangement in 2021. Almost a third (30%) of Americans would prefer to remain working from home full-time in 2021, with 28% of younger generations (18-39) preferring this option than returning to the office. Gen X (40-55) accounted for the majority (39%) who wanted to continue working from home full-time in the future. 18% of Americans however prefer full face-to-face office contact, with 25% of those aged over 56 years opting to return to the office in a full-time capacity. Americans discover new motivators to achieve results in lockdown lessons for leaders supporting teams in 2021 Research shows problem-solving skills were put to the test in lockdown. The majority of Americans (60%) admit the most successful way to motivate themselves and others in a remote environment, was to identify and solve problems versus setting individual goals. Almost half (47%) said setting clear goals and targets to work towards for the month, day or week kept them motivated, with 45% using a combination of goals and problems. Gen X (age 40-55) are more motivated by goals and targets (56%) vs Gen Z (26%), with Gen Z driven by identifying the biggest problems to solve (61%) within remote teams. Fingerprint for Success' Michelle Duval said: "Earlier data collected over the last two decades pre-pandemic consistently found U.S. workers were largely motivated by goal-setting. "However, these interesting COVID-influenced findings reveal there's been a shift towards more of a problem focus. Leaders and managers who have primarily relied on goal-orientated leadership, will need to adjust in 2021 and beyond in the way they support and motivate their teams through virtual environments and digital platforms". After the year that's been, Americans wish they could look ahead and predict the future as their office superpower for better teamwork. The top five most-voted office superpowers for better teamwork Ability to predict the future 51% Ability to pause time 45% The power of persuasion 42% Ability to read co-workers' minds 36% To have a photographic memory 34% What men want: men say they would want to have the ability to read co-workers' minds (43%) compared to 30% of women for the same skill. Both men and women said they would want to be able to pause time (45% and 46% respectively). The Human Resilience Of The COVID Year Infographics available here Challenges shifting to remote work Benefits experienced by end of 2020 Ability to collaborate with co-workers 51% Relationships with co-workers improved 76% Maintaining productivity at home 46% Feeling more confident in their role heading into 2021 75% Maintaining connections with colleagues 42% Increased personal productivity 50% Technical set up at home 39% Improved collaboration with colleagues 46% Separating home and work life 37% Enjoyed the flexibility to work from anywhere 44% Communication and making swift decisions 32% Upskilled by learning new tools or programs 42% Managing anxiety amid the uncertainty 17% Experienced more frequent communication with staff or team 32% Source: Canva x OnePoll survey (December, 2020). Based on 2000 U.S. respondents working from home. No Better Time to Grow Your Team on Canva As remote work becomes the norm, people continue to adopt new ways to collaborate with coworkers online, such as via Canva's real-time collaboration capabilities. Today, over 50 million people bring their visual creations to life on Canva across the globe each month. From small business owners collaborating on social media graphics, large enterprises keeping their assets on-brand across global offices, classrooms and non-profits sharing their vision through design, and staff creating greeting cards for colleagues while working remotely, designing together is here to stay. About Canva Launched in 2013, Canva is an intuitive online design platform with a mission to empower everyone in the world to design. Featuring a simple drag-and-drop user interface and a vast range of templates ranging from presentations, social media graphics, posters, apparel to videos, plus a huge library of fonts, stock photography, illustrations, video footage and audio clips, anyone can take an idea and create something beautiful. Canva is available on desktop, web, iOS and Android. About Fingerprint For Success Fingerprint for Success (F4S) is a professional and personal development platform on a mission to empower individuals and teams to work better together. Featuring a simple user interface and a vast range of tools for wellbeing, happiness, performance, diversity and inclusion, plus a huge library of AI and human coaching programs, anyone can set goals and achieve amazing things at work and in life. SOURCE Canva The Medical Board of California is investigating a plastic surgeon who attended a video traffic-court hearing from an operating room while performing surgery on a patient. The hearing was held virtually on Thursday, February 25, because of the COVID-19 pandemic. In the video which has now gone viral, Dr Scott Green was seen dressed in surgical scrubs while appearing for the court hearing with his camera briefly revealing a person on an operating table. As the hearing was about to kick off, Gary Link, a Sacramento superior court commissioner, said: Unless Im mistaken, Im seeing a defendant thats in the middle of an operating room appearing to be actively engaged in providing services to a patient, Link said. Is that correct, Mr. Green? Or should I say, Dr Green? Green confirmed that it was. Link continued, I do not feel comfortable for the welfare of a patient if youre in the process of operating that I would put on a trial notwithstanding the fact the officer is here today. Green then explained that there was another surgeon in the room who could perform the surgery. But Link disagreed. I dont think so. I dont think thats appropriate, he said, adding that he would reschedule the trial for a time when Dr. Green was not operating on a patient. We want to keep people healthy, we want to keep them alive. Thats important, Link said. He then set for Thursday, March 4, as a new trial date. Judge: Unless Im mistaken, Im seeing a defendant whos in the middle of an operating room appearing to be actively engaged in providing services to a patient. Is that correct, Mr. Green? Defendant: Yes, sir. Judge: Or should I say, Dr. Green. pic.twitter.com/iKpWwKsFEg Ajit Pai (@AjitPai) February 28, 2021 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 02/03/2021 - The Estonian labour market has outperformed most EU countries after the global financial crisis. The employment rate of people in working age stood at 73% in the third quarter of 2020, up from 61.3% in 2010 and above the OECD average of 66.7%. Estonia provides comprehensive and targeted support to jobseekers, workers and employers. The Public Employment Service provides effective policies addressing the individual needs of the clients and cooperates pro-actively with a wide range of stakeholders. However, many people still lack stable jobs and incomes and are not in touch with the Public Employment Service to get the support they need, according to a new OECD report. Connecting people with jobs: Improving the provision of active labour market policies in Estonia says that despite good labour market outcomes, about one quarter (26%) of the working age population could achieve better labour market outcomes through targeted support. Many of them face challenges related to their skills (68%) and family-related challenges (64%), such as care obligations. In many cases, they face several obstacles simultaneously and require an integrated approach. Estonias active labour market policies (ALMPs) are responsive to labour market needs. However, ALMPs reach only 39% of people who are weakly attached to the labour market, and only 33% of people who are out of employment for more than one year. Reinforcing outreach to vulnerable groups far from the labour market is crucial to ensure that more people in Estonia get the support they need, said Stefano Scarpetta, OECD Director for Employment, Labour and Social Affairs. Improved cooperation between the Public Employment Service and other relevant institutions providing social, health and education services would help reduce gaps in support to vulnerable groups. Notably, municipalities should be the first respondents, supporting vulnerable groups with social welfare services, and cooperating with other institutions when needed. Further improvements in the provision of ALMPs could be supported by a leaner regulatory framework. The current legal regulations support flexible and effective policy responses but are complex, which leads to administrative inefficiencies. A leaner regulatory framework would enable Estonia to support flexibility in policy design while maintaining the capacity to respond to labour market changes. The report is available at https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/employment/improving-the-provision-of-active-labour-market-policies-in-estonia_31f72c5b-en. * The report was prepared in the framework of technical support provided by the European Commissions Directorate-General for Structural Reform Support (DG-Reform) and the OECD to Estonias Ministry of Social Affairs, with funding from the European Unions Structural Reform Support Programme. Working with over 100 countries, the OECD is a global policy forum that promotes policies to improve the economic and social well-being of people around the world. The Pentagon on Monday sought to distance its enduring ties with Saudi Arabias military from the Biden administrations move to penalize Saudi personnel over the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Right now, I know of no changes to the military-to-military relationship, Pentagon press secretary John Kirby told reporters on Monday. Broadly speaking, certainly the relationship from a bilateral perspective is going to be different under this administration than it was under the last, Kirby said, citing a declassified intelligence report released last week that implicated Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in the murder of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi. Militarily speaking, we have obligations there in Saudi Arabia. And were going to continue to meet those obligations, Kirby said, without offering specifics. The new US administration last month announced it was canceling support for offensive operations by the Saudi-led military coalition in Yemens civil war, citing the conflicts humanitarian catastrophe. The Biden administration is treading a fine line, seeking to keep Saudi Arabia as a close partner and strategic bulwark against an increasingly assertive Iran, all while acting to fulfill campaign promises to hold accountable US allies that abuse human rights. Pentagon officials have been at the forefront of maintaining US partnerships with Middle Eastern states in recent weeks. The first Biden administration official to speak to Salman, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, reassured the crown prince last month of continued US defensive support amid renewed missile and drone barrages from Iran-linked groups in the region. That call came after a US freeze last month on major sales of some 10,000 guided bombs to Riyadh pending further review. The commander of all US forces in the region, Gen. Kenneth Frank McKenzie, sat down with Egypts President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi and Armed Forces chief Lt. Gen. Mohamed Farid Hegazi in Cairo last week during his latest visit to the region. Earlier this month, the United States announced a nearly $200 million naval missile sale to Cairo just hours after local authorities arrested relatives of an Egyptian-American activist. State Department spokesperson Ned Price has said the United States is looking into the incident. Last week, McKenzie also highlighted recent progress in helping Riyadh shore up gaps in its air defenses. The United States maintains Patriot missile batteries, Sentinel radars and a THAAD ballistic missile defense system at Saudi Arabias Prince Sultan Air Base vestiges of a 2019 cruise missile attack on Saudi Arabia carried out with Iranian-style weapons. The US military also continues to train with its Saudi counterpart, launching a joint air combat exercise on Sunday. Despite slapping visa bans on 76 Saudi nationals amid the release of the intelligence report on Khashoggis murder, the Biden administration has reportedly chosen not to penalize Salman, who was likely behind the assassination, according to the declassified assessment. US officials have avoided publicly confirming whether the crown prince, who also serves as defense minister, is on its so-called Khashoggi ban list, but suggested that further penalties remain on the table. The United Nations special rapporteur who led the bodys investigation into Khashoggis murder in 2018 called it dangerous and extremely problematic for the United States to refrain from penalizing Salman. Administration officials on Monday offered some reserved praise for the Gulf kingdoms steps to end the blockade on Qatar and release imprisoned womens rights activist Loujain al-Hathloul as well as two dual US-Saudi citizens. All of these constitute steps in the right direction, Price said Monday, emphasizing, however, that Riyadhs efforts remain very incomplete. We feel we can have the most influence over this relationship when we cast this as a recalibration rather than a rupture, Price told reporters on Monday. The Trump administration relied on the young crown prince as a channel of Washingtons policy to contain and roll back Iranian influence in the region, often whitewashing his governments alleged crimes in pursuit of regional goals. Biden vowed during his campaign to overhaul the relationship, saying during a television interview as recently as Friday that the rules are changing. But the administration faces increasing headwinds in the region as Iran vies for leverage ahead of attempts to revive the 2015 nuclear deal. Meanwhile, Russia continues to seek inroads in the Middle East, which Washington seeks to counter. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. BJP: Are not Tejashwi Yadav, other leaders from outside Bengal backing TMC outsiders? India oi-Deepika S Kolkata, Mar 02: The BJP on Tuesday asked the Trinamool Congress whether it would call Tejashwi Yadav of the RJD and leaders of other parties from outside West Bengal supporting the TMC in the election outsiders in the same way it has branded functionaries of the saffron party visiting the state. BJP spokesperson Shamik Bhattacharya also alleged that state Finance Minister Amit Mitra has provided misleading information on the MSME sector investment during the Covid-19 pandemic. 'Divisive forces' like the Indian Secular Front (ISF), led by influential Muslim cleric Abbas Siddiqui, has emerged because of the 'politics of appeasement' pursued by the TMC, he alleged and cautioned people against 'communal polarisation'. Bhattacharya claimed that Yadav violated the model code of conduct by meeting Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee at the state secretariat Nabanna on Monday and asking people originally hailing from Bihar to vote for the TMC from its compound. He, however, did not mention Yadav, the leader of the opposition in Bihar assembly, by name and described him as 'the son of a jailed RJD leader and former chief minister'. SP, RJD abandon Left, Congress in Bengal, extend support to Mamata 'We are hearing that a leader from Uttar Pradesh is also coming to the state after pledging his moral support to the TMC. NCP leader Sharad Pawar too is expected to come for the same reason,' Bhattacharya told a press conference here. By 'a leader from Uttar Pradesh', he apparently meant Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav. 'I have a simple question for the chief minister. You have branded our leaders Narendra Modi, Amit Shah and J P Nadda as outsiders. Then what are these leaders? 'The cheap parochial outsider narrative invented by your party to describe the country's prime minister, the home minister and our national president has now faltered,' Bhattacharya said. Any non-BJP leader is welcome to Bengal for campaigning against the saffron party, 'but my question is shouldn't they also be called outsiders', he said. On the newly formed ISF floated by Siddiqui, the cleric of Furfura Sharif in Hooghly district, Bhattacharya claimed that the Left is trying to use it for survival. The Left Front has agreed to leave for the ISF 30 seats as part of the Left-Congress-ISF alliance. Seat sharing talks are on between the ISF and the Congress. 'The BJP will fight against such forces till its last breath. We will not allow the return of pre-1947 situation in Bengal. The appeasement policies of the Trinamool Congress government led to the emergence of forces like Siddiqui,' he said. The state BJP spokesperson also accused Amit Mitra, the finance and industry minister of West Bengal, of providing misleading information about MSME sector investment during the time of the COVID-19 outbreak, violating the model code of conduct. 'Banks in Bengal lent Rs 63,000 Cr for investment to Medium-Sml industry,Aprl2020-Jan21, with State Gov's support. Result: 23 lakh new jobs as per GoI capital/labour ratio,' Mitra tweeted on Monday. According to the minister, crores of rupees were invested during the COVID-19 pandemic in West Bengal for new MSMEs, Bhattacharya said and wanted to know the source of the money. 'Actually, the money provided by the Centre to ensure existing industries do not close down during COVID situation and the lockdown has now been falsely cited as investments for new MSMEs,' he said and branded the state government as 'shilpa chor' (industry thief). Earlier, the TMC government used to be known as 'chal chor' (rice thief),'tripal chor' (tarpaulin thief), 'kendriya prakalpa chor' (central scheme thief), Bhattacharya claimed, referring to accusations that various items provided by the Centre did not reach the intended beneficiaries in the state. The chief minister herself had said during the peak of COVID-19 outbreak that it has affected livelihood of people and there has been no new employment opportunity, the BJP leader claimed. The state government took no initiative to improve the condition of industries, he alleged. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Tuesday, March 2, 2021, 20:56 [IST] Rep. Tom Tiffany (R-Wis.) participates in a ceremonial swearing-in at the U.S. Capitol in Washington on May 19, 2020. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images) House Lawmakers Introduce Bill to End US Adoption of One China Policy TAIPEI, TaiwanU.S. Reps. Tom Tiffany (R-Wis.) and Scott Perry (R-Pa.) have introduced legislation calling on the U.S. government to drop its one-China policy and resume formal diplomatic relations with Taiwan. For more than 40 years, American presidents of both political parties have repeated Beijings bogus lie that Taiwan is part of Communist Chinadespite the objective reality that it is not, stated Tiffany, according to a March 1 press release from his office. Taiwan is a free, democratic, and independent country, and its time U.S. policy reflected that fact, Tiffany added. It is time to do away with this outdated policy. The United States currently is not a formal diplomatic ally of Taiwan, since Washington changed its diplomatic recognition in favor of Beijing in 1979. Since then, the United States has maintained a non-diplomatic relationship with Taiwan based on the Taiwan Relations Act (TRA). The TRA authorizes the United States to supply Taiwan with military equipment for the islands self-defense. Moreover, the TRA calls for the setup of a nonprofit corporation called the American Institute in Taiwan, which is now the de-facto U.S. embassy on the island. The United States has long held a one-China policy, which asserts that there is only one sovereign state with the name China, but it is different from the one-China principle under which the Chinese regime asserts sovereignty over Taiwan. The Taiwan government has also rejected Chinas one-China principle. China claims Taiwan as a part of its territory and has threatened to reunite the island with the mainland with military action. However, Taiwan is a de-facto independent nation with its own democratic government, constitution, and military. As an independent nation that proudly collaborates with Taiwan across a wide spectrum of issues, its long past time the United States exercised our sovereign right to state what the world knows to be true: Taiwan is an independent country, and has been for over 70 years, stated Perry according to the press release. Aside from calling for the United States to drop its One China Policy, the bill (H.Con.Res.21) proposes that the U.S. government appoint an ambassador to Taiwan, and receive a Taiwanese ambassador to the United States. Currently, Taiwans official representative office in the United States is called the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office (TECRO), and it is headed by Representative Hsiao Bi-khim. The bill also proposes that the U.S. government should initiate formal negotiations with Taiwan for a bilateral free-trade agreement. Finally, the U.S. President and other U.S. officials should advocate for Taiwans full membership in the United Nations and other international organizations in which the United States is a member, according to the language of the bill. Taiwan is currently not a member of the World Health Organization because of objections by Beijing. The bill is a concurrent resolution that lacks the force of law. It also does not require the signature of the U.S. President to be enacted. Tiffany introduced a similar concurrent resolution (H.Con.Res.117) in September last year. That resolution was co-sponsored by Rep. Ted Yoho (R-Fla.). On Tuesday, Joanne Ou, spokeswoman of Taiwans Ministry of Foreign Affairs, thanked the two U.S. lawmakers in a daily briefing. She added that the ministry will continue to follow the development of the bill. Nearly 900 cattle that have been on a ship traveling the Mediterranean Sea for two months face being culled after veterinarians deemed them no longer fit for export, Spanish authorities said. A total of 895 cattle set sail from the Spanish port of Cartagena on 18 December on board the Karim Allah cargo ship, destined for export to Turkey. Turkish port authorities, however, refused to let them disembark, reportedly due to suspicions about their health. After a second failed attempt to unload the cattle in Libya, the boat returned to Cartagena, where Spanish authorities ordered it to dock on Thursday. After an official inspection by government veterinarians, Spain's minister of agriculture said the animals were to be culled. The veterinarians judged them to be both unfit for transport to another country of their return to Spain, the minister added. The ministry said the cattle originally left Spain with the proper health authorisations. Animal rights groups have denounced the imminent slaughter of the livestock. (Disclaimer: This story is auto-generated from a syndicated feed; only the image & headline may have been reworked by www.republicworld.com) The Missourians Opinion section is a public forum for the discussion of ideas. The views presented in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Missourian or the University of Missouri. If you would like to contribute to the Opinion page with a response or an original topic of your own, visit our submission form Amber Heard, who has been making the headlines for her tiff with ex-husband Johnny Depp, recently was trending on Twitter. Reports claimed that the actress was fired after violating the health and fitness clause in her contract for the upcoming DC Extended Universe (DCEU) film-Aquaman 2. As per reports, Amber Heard who was expected to perform some high-octane action sequences in Aquaman 2 was required to maintain a specific physique. A source close to Sausage Roll revealed that she did not pass her physical examination. "She's put on some pounds and is in terrible shape. There is a clause in her contract which says she is required to be in good form ahead of shooting and she violated that." However, Ryan Parker, Senior Staff Writer for The Hollywood Reporter, has now revealed, "Told by a reliable source that reports of Amber Heard being fired off 'Aquaman 2' are inaccurate." Over the weekend, Amber Heard was trending on social media with fans reacting to the rumours of her being fired from the upcoming DCEU project, Aquaman 2. Meanwhile, another report claimed that Game Of Thrones star, Emilia Clarke will be taking on the role. Amber Heard or Warner Bros. are yet to confirm or dismiss any of the rumours. Meanwhile, a Daniel Richtman insider has reported, "Amber Heard thinks WB is spreading rumours about her firing from Aquaman 2 to pressure her to leave on her own to show her people want her gone." Earlier, Johnny Depp fans had filed for a petition urging Heard's removal from Aquaman 2, after Warner Bros asked Depp to step back from the upcoming Fantastic Beasts film. The petition reportedly received over a million signatures last year. Notably, Heard plays Xebellian princess Mera in the DCEU. She first appeared in the 2017 release Justice League and reprised her role for the 2018 film Aquaman. Heard will also be seen reprising the role for Zack Snyder's Justice League, which will be releasing on HBO Max. ALSO READ: Amber Heard Reacts To Online Petition Demanding Her Removal From Aquaman 2 ALSO READ: Johnny Depp Claims Amber Heard Did Not Donate Million; Latter's Team Says She Intends To Fulfil Her Pledge Acting on the orders of Fijis Prime Minister and former military coup leader, Frank Bainimarama, authorities carried out a midnight raid at the Suva home of the vice-chancellor of the University of the South Pacific (USP) on February 3, and summarily deported him. Up to 15 immigration, police and military officials forced their way into the home of Professor Pal Ahluwalia, a Canadian national, revoked his work permit and escorted the vice-chancellor and his wife, Sandra Price, to Nadi international airport. They were forced under military guard onto a flight to Brisbane the next day. Fiji PM Frank Bainimarama The couple, who have Australian citizenship, were presented with a letter stating they had been declared prohibited immigrants by Bainimarama in his capacity as Fijis minister for immigration, who had ordered their deportation with immediate effect. Price said police and immigration officials threatened to break down doors surrounding the house from the front and rear. I was instructed to get dressed and they confiscated all electronic devices, including our phones, iPads, laptops, watches and passports. I was not left alone to change or even use the washroom. Where were my moral and human rights? There were at least 15 people in our house after curfew, she told the Guardian . Ahluwalia told Australias ABC he was in extreme shock after being roughed up during the process. This is a classic case of beating the whistleblower up, he said. Ahluwalias exposure of allegations of corruption and financial mismanagement under previous university administrations had earned the ire of the Fijian government. According to the deportation notice, Ahluwalias conduct was deemed prejudicial to peace, defence, public safety, public order, public morality, public health, security, or good government of the Fiji islands. The couple was deported for unspecified repeated breaches of the immigration act and their visa conditions. No details were given. University of South Pacific Vice Chancellor Professor Pal Ahluwalia (Source: Twitter) A police presence is being maintained at the USPs Laucala campus, in order to intimidate and pre-empt any protests. The university management has called on staff and students to remain calm for the safety and wellbeing of the university community. Ahluwalias expulsion was denounced in an open letter by USP students, staff and alumni as a coup, and likened it to gestapo tactics. Fijis Law Society joined the condemnation, while civil society group Civicus said the move would create a chilling effect for whistle-blowers and those who want to speak up and expose violations by officials in Fiji. The trade unions have mounted no campaign. The USP Staff Union (USPSU) mildly criticised the move, accusing the government of un-Pasifika behaviour and violation of human rights and due process. A meeting of the USPSU and the Association of USP Staff (AUSPS) held a prayer in solidarity with the deported academic. The unions are currently seeking a legal opinion over Ahluwalia's employment status. Attorney General Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum bluntly declared that the professors contract ended when his work permit was cancelled. The USP is a major regional institution, owned by 12 Pacific states with funding from Australia and New Zealand. Tensions between Ahluwalia and the government have existed since his appointment in 2019. Last year, he was suspended from his post by the university council for material misconduct, after exposing alleged corruption and mismanagement under the USP leadership group, with millions of dollars missing. Last June hundreds of students and staff protested the professors suspension and demanded the removal of the USP Executive Committee. Police searched the offices of the Fiji Times for photos of the students involved, including those from other Pacific countries. The USP Students Association objected to the intimidating presence of police at the campus protests. The controversy prompted warnings that the universitys autonomy and academic freedom was under threat. Ahluwalia was finally reinstated in September and cleared of the bogus allegations. After he submitted a report to the council, Auckland accountancy consultancy BDO was hired to investigate the allegations. When the damning report reached the council, it was suppressed and details kept from the public. The government meanwhile froze a $A28 million university grant, again prompting widespread condemnation. The BDO report was leaked, naming 25 senior USP staff accused of manipulating allowances to pay themselves hundreds of thousands of dollars they were not entitled to. BDO suggested Ahluwalias appointment was against the wishes of the government and of USP pro-chancellor Winston Thompson, citing evidence that efforts began, before the professor arrived, to frustrate his work. Thompson and the previous vice chancellor, Rajesh Chandra, were both regarded as very close to the regime. The government flatly refused to accept the BDOs findings, claiming its own Fiji Independent Commission Against Corruption (FICAC) found no corruption. In response, Nauru President and USP Chancellor Lionel Aingimea accused a small group of Fiji officials of hijacking the regional institution. Samoas prime minister, Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi, declared he would seek to rehouse the university in his country. He said the deportation was only the latest in a series of issues at the USP which came as no surprise, adding that many big organisations have actually left Fiji in a similar fashion. Aingimea last week condemned the ongoing standoff. He said the USP Council was not informed of his deportation by the Fijian authorities and had not revoked his employment contract. The USP was not a political institution, he said, and should not be treated as such. Aingimea also expressed concern that donors would be deterred from investing in the institution. New Zealand journalist Michael Field wrote on Pacific Newsroom that the attacks on the vice chancellor were directed by Thompson, a former ambassador to the United States, with close links to Bainimaramas FijiFirst party. Field noted: BDOs report made it clear Thompson was acting for FijiFirst, not USP or its students. Ahluwalia and Field both suggested that their expulsion was bound up with the existence of more evidence over corrupt practices involving government agencies. Ahluwalia claimed that the highly-connected Thompson has presided over several interesting, very interesting, downfalls of public institutions. The AsiaPacific Report NZ noted that with the USPs future in jeopardy, there has been a deafening silence from Australia and New Zealand. Statements by the two local powers merely expressed concern about USP, while failing to condemn the treatment of the vice chancellordoubtless to protect their diplomatic relations with Bainimarama, who is being cultivated as an ally to counter Chinas influence in the region. Ahluwalias case again highlights the pattern of repression by the Bainimarama regime, which still rests directly on the military despite elections in 2014 and 2018 fraudulently hailed as democratic by Canberra and Wellington. Harsh austerity measures are accompanied by intimidation of opposition parties and the working class, and rampant violence by the police and military. Sedition provisions in the Crimes Act and the Public Order Act have been used to target journalists, activists and government critics. The Media Act has been used to attack press freedom and prosecute journalists. Assemblies, protests and strikes are routinely banned. All these anti-democratic measures have been intensified under the cover of the COVID-19 pandemic. Fijis parliamentary speaker has now disallowed any debate on the deportation and crisis at USP. Ratu Epeli Nailatikau ruled that a written question from the opposition National Federation Party, and an Adjournment Motion from SODELPA, did not qualify as an urgent matter of public importance. Mike DiBattista/AP Phil Demers had a love affair like few others. After getting a job as a trainer at Niagara Falls, Ontarios Marineland of Canada, Demers was excited to hear that the famed park would be receiving a walrus. When that animal arrived, it immediately took an intense liking to Demers, smooshing up against him as a sign of affection and, as a result, earning herself the name Smooshi. During an early attempt to get bloodwork from Smooshi, Demers put his hand over the walrus face and, as he says, in that moment, I became her mom. Demers had imprinted on Smooshi, and as elucidated by Nathalie Bibeaus The Walrus and the Whistleblower (out March 4 on Discovery+), so too had Smooshi imprinted on Demers, creating a bond that was next to unbreakable. Their relationship soon became national news, as well as jokey fodder for Jimmy Kimmel Live! It was not to last, howeverat least in person. In September 2011, the parks water disinfection unit broke, meaning that chlorine levels had to be raised in the pools housing not only Smooshi but the other four walruses that Marinelands founder and owner John Holer had purchased, along with various other sea mammals. Through a combination of Demers commentary and covertly shot footage from inside the park facilities, The Walrus and the Whistleblower alleges that this crisis allegedly led to intense animal suffering, with sea lions losing their skin because they were isolated in dry cages for months, and Smooshi receiving chemical burns that caused her flippers to become inflamed and her fur to come off. On top of the already questionable medications they gave the animals, the documentary claims this treatment was too much for Demers to bear, and when Holer wouldnt fix the situation, Demers up and quit. How Scientologist Execs at Media Company e.Republic Made Workers Lives a Living Hell He did more than just leave his job, though. Having once been opposed to the protesters who regularly lined the sidewalks and entranceway outside Marineland, Demers instead joined them, and quickly became their loudest voice, not only exposing the parks supposed shady conduct but demanding that it hand over Smooshi. Long infuriated by those who sought to shut him down on the grounds that his operation was inherently inhumane, Holer viewed this as a betrayal perpetrated by a close confidant. A fight was thus born, carried out not only with lawyers but in the court of public opinion, as Demers used every available media opportunity to rail against Marinelanda place he had loved to work at, before his epiphanyand to advocate for Smooshis liberation from conditions that, he believed, were awful and outright dangerous. Story continues The fact that, in the ensuing years, Smooshis four walrus companions at Marineland have died under sketchy circumstancesthe park claims they were healthy until their sudden demises, which makes little sense and doesnt jibe with leaked reports from park employeesbolsters Demers case that something is greatly amiss at Canadas preeminent tourist spot, which since 1970 has been a well-known cultural presence due to its ubiquitous jingle-y TV commercials. The Walrus and the Whistleblowers raft of archival material establishes the national popularity of Marineland, just as its collection of home movie clips proves the amazing connection that Demers shared with Smooshi, whos seen chasing after, listening to, and snuggling her face up against her trainer with undeniable affection. Far from some fancifully exaggerated fairy tale, Demers and Smooshis union was the real (amazing) deal. In new interviews that drive the documentary, Demers comes across as an individual willing and eager for a fight, and The Walrus and the Whistleblower soon transforms from a portrait of his animal-rights awakening to a David vs. Goliath legal saga. Convinced that aggression is the best means of making his case, Demers chastises Marineland on Twitter (his posts are routinely plastered over Bibeaus frame) while fending off Holers various lawsuits. What he discovers, in real time over the course of the film, is that Holers strategy isnt to silence him through court decisions; rather, its to inundate him with litigation (and its immense attendant costs) until he opts, from sheer battle fatigue, to silence himself. The trauma of being out of ones natural element is central to The Walrus and the Whistleblower, with regards to both Smooshi and Demers, and director Bibeaus up-close-and-personal scenes with the latter paint him as a man adrift. Demers dogged combativeness is his greatest asset in his struggle against Marineland (and on behalf of Smooshi), but it sometimes also comes off as unpleasant belligerence, and the film wisely doesnt try to sand off his rough edges to make him a more palatable crusaderas when, during one of his rants, his girlfriend (and former Marineland employee) Christine can be seen wrinkling her nose at his tone and language. Bibeau takes a warts-and-all approach to depicting Demers, and in doing so, bolsters her actions authenticitywhich, in turn, goes a long way toward lending legitimacy to Demers cause. The Walrus and the Whistleblower eventually morphs into a story about many things: the activist power of social media, which gives little men a big voice; a rigged judicial system that lets corporations triumph in legal battles by simply drowning rivals in bureaucratic filings that interminably delay the process; the often terrible ways that water parks care for their captive creatures, and then allegedly cover up their misdeeds in order to maintain a sunshiny outward appearance for customers; and the genuine rapport that can develop between humans and animals. Though Bibeaus film gets a bit draggy in its middle section, and is prone to the occasional unnecessary visual flourish (shots of Demers naked in his bathtub, or sticking his face in water and screaming), it finds magic in the lasting, unshakeable affection between Demers and Smooshi. Theres no happily-ever-after conclusion (yet) to this tale; The Walrus and the Whistleblower ends on a note thats both hopeful and despondent. In that sense, it becomes something else as well: a study of the intense personal costs of being at the forefront of a fight against influential adversaries whose primary interest is crushing you, at all costs. Read more at The Daily Beast. Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now! Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more. The government has already indicated that it expects to complete BPCL privatisation by the first half of the fiscal beginning April (2021-22). Representational image New Delhi: Privatisation-bound Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) on Monday said it will exit Numaligarh refinery in Assam by selling its entire stake to a consortium of Oil India Ltd and Engineers India Ltd for Rs 9,876 crore. The sale of Numaligarh Refinery Ltd clears the way for privatisation of India's second-largest fuel retailer. In keeping with the Assam Peace Accord, the government had decided to keep Numaligarh Refinery Ltd (NRL) in the public sector. As part of this, BPCL was to sell its entire 61.65 per cent stake to state-owned firms. A consortium of Oil India Ltd, Engineers India Ltd, and the Government of Assam expressed interest in buying the stake and the BPCL board on Monday approved the sale. "The board of directors of BPCL at the meeting held on March 1, 2021, has approved the proposal for sale of entire equity shares of 445.35 crore held by BPCL in NRL to a consortium of OIL and EIL and to Government of Assam," the firm said in a filing to the stock exchanges. Total consideration would be Rs 9,875.96 crore. The consortium of OIL and Engineers India Ltd is likely to acquire 49 per cent and the rest 13.65 per cent will be sold to the Government of Assam. NRL operates a 3 million tonnes per annum oil refinery in Assam. OIL currently holds 26 per cent equity in NRL while the Government of Assam has around 12.35 per cent. Department of Investment and Public Asset Management Secretary Tuhin Kanta Pandey in a tweet said, "privatisation process of BPCL moves ahead with BPCL Board deciding to exit from NRL at a consideration of Rs 9,875.96 cr for its 61.65% stake with transfer of control. OIL, EIL and Government of Assam will be picking up the stake". Post NRL sale, BPCL would be left with three refineries at Mumbai, Kochi (Kerala) and Bina (Madhya Pradesh). The government is selling its entire 52.98 per cent stake in BPCL in the nation's biggest privatisation till date. Vedanta Group and private equity firms Apollo Global and I Squared Capital's Indian unit Think Gas have put in an expression of interest for buying the government's stake. The sale of NRL is the first step towards the disinvestment of BPCL. The government has already indicated that it expects to complete BPCL privatisation by the first half of the fiscal beginning April (2021-22). The sale is key to achieving the Rs 1.75 lakh crore disinvestment target set for 2021-22. BPCL will give the buyer ownership of around 15.33 per cent of India's oil refining capacity and 22 per cent of the fuel marketing share. NRL is looking to expand its refining capacity from 3 million tonnes per annum to 9 million tonnes a year at an investment of Rs 22,594 crore. The project is expected to be completed by 2024. The expansion also involves setting up of crude oil pipeline from Paradip in Odisha to Numaligarh and a product pipeline from Numaligarh to Siliguri in West Bengal. In the run-up to the privatisation, BPCL last month agreed to buyout Oman Oil Company's shares in the Bina refinery project for about Rs 2,400 crore. BPCL holds a 63.68 per cent stake in Bharat Oman Refineries Ltd (BORL), which built and operates a 7.8 million tonne oil refinery at Bina. It will buy 36.62 per cent of the equity share capital from OQ S.A.0.C. (formerly known as Oman Oil Company S.A.0.C.) for Rs 2,399.26 crore. BORL was incorporated in February 1994 to build a refinery at Bina. The unit initially could turn 6 million tonnes of crude oil annually into fuel, which was subsequently raised to 7.8 million tonnes. Paris, TX (75460) Today Rain showers this morning with some sunshine during the afternoon hours. High 77F. Winds W at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 50%.. Tonight Some clouds. Low around 60F. Winds NW at 5 to 10 mph. Courts in New York and New Hampshire have joined jurists in New Jersey in ruling that the cost of medical marijuana should be covered by state workers compensation systems. The New Hampshire Supreme Court on Tuesday overturned a decision by the state Compensation Appeals Board to deny injured worker Andrew Panaggios request for reimbursement for marijuana he purchased to relieve pain from a 1991 back injury. The high court said it did accept CNA Insurance Co.s argument that requiring it to reimburse a claimant for marijuana would be tantamount to requiring it to violate the federal Controlled Substance Act. The CSA does not criminalize the act of insurance reimbursement for an employees purchase of medical marijuana, the Supreme Court said in 4-0 decision. A New York State appellate court ruled on Feb. 25 that a workers compensation insurer must reimburse an injured worker for marijuana to relieve pain from workplace injuries, despite a state law that specifically exempts health insurers from providing coverage for medical marijuana costs. In a 5-0 decision, the 3rd Department of the New York Appellate Division upheld a State Workers Compensation Board ruling to grant a variance to medical treatment guidelines that allowed permanently disabled former police officer Daniel Quigley to seek reimbursement for the marijuana he uses to relieve pain from two prior workplace injuries. The appellate court said in an opinion written by Justice John C. Egan that a state law that specifically exempts insurers from paying for marijuana under the Public Health Law or Insurance Law makes no mention of the Workers Compensation Law. If the Legislature intended for said exemption to apply to workers compensation insurance carriers, it certainly could have included such language in the text of the statute; it chose not to, the opinion states. Attorney Thomas A. Robinson noted the decision in Matter of Quigley v Village of East Aurora in a post Monday on his Work Comp Writer blog. The New York ruling follows court decisions in New Jersey, Connecticut, Minnesota, Maine and New Mexico that allowed claimants reimbursement for medical marijuana use. The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court went the opposite direction when ruling on Oct. 27 that employers and insurers could not be required to pay for medical marijuana because the substance is illegal under the federal Controlled Substances Act. Both the New Hampshire and New York courts cited a Jan. 13, 2020 ruling by the New Jersey Appellate Division in rejecting an argument by the Village of East Aurora that requiring it to reimburse Quigley for marijuana would make it complicit in a criminal violation of the federal Controlled Substances Act. The New Hampshire Supreme Court said nothing prevents the federal government from prosecuting Panaggio for using marijuana, regardless whether CNA reimburses him. New Yorks Appellate Division said any such criminal transaction in this regard is necessarily completed prior to any request being made for reimbursement from the carrier; thus, as one cannot aid and abet a completed crime, under such circumstances, the carrier cannot be said to be aiding and abetting a crime and/or engaging in a conspiracy to commit same. The New York court said that Quigley suffered chronic pain to his right shoulder as a result of a 2004 work injury. His treating physician, Cheryl Hart, noted that medical marijuana would help her patient get off of the opioids he had been taking to control the pain. She reported in her variance request that Quigleys energy and mood improved after medical marijuana was introduced to his treatment regimen. Having reviewed Harts detailed and specific report, we find that the Boards decision to grant the requested variance to treat claimants chronic pain with medical marihuana is supported by substantial evidence and, as such, we decline to disturb it, the appellate court concluded, using an alternative spelling. According the National Council on Compensation Insurance, 15 states and the District of Columbia have legalized recreational use of marijuana and 35 states have legalized use for medical purposes. PARIS (Reuters) - Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy said on Tuesday he was ready to go all the way to the European Court of Human Rights to prove his innocence, his first public reaction after being found guilty of corruption and sentenced to prison on Monday. The court found that Sarkozy, 66, had tried to bribe a judge and peddle his influence after leaving office in exchange for inside information about an investigation into his 2007 campaign finances. Sarkozy is appealing the ruling. Sarkozy on Tuesday protested his innocence. He said he was the victim of a deep injustice, that the ruling was riddled with inconsistencies and that the political impartiality of some investigating judges was open to question. "I appealed the decision, maybe I will have to pursue this fight all the way to the European Court of Human Rights," Sarkozy told Le Figaro newspaper. "That would be painful for me to have to get my own country condemned, but I'm ready to do so because that would be the price of democracy." Sarkozy, a conservative who led France from 2007 to 2012, was sentenced to three years in prison. However, two years were suspended and the presiding judge said she was open to him staying out of jail if tagged with an electronic bracelet for the remaining year. That decision lies with another judge. He said he spent the evening after his conviction watching the U.S. drama series The Killing with his family. Senior politicians from the opposition centre-right have rallied to Sarkozy's defence. Some allies previously hoped he might be drawn out of retirement to run in the 2022 presidential vote. "Acquitted or not, it would change nothing politically," Sarkozy said. "I had said I wouldn't be a candidate and I stand by that." Sarkozy stands trial in another case related to illegal campaign financing later this month. (Reporting by Michel Rose, Sarah White and Dominique Vidalon; Editing by Chris Reese and Alistair Bell) 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. 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. First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Emine Dzheppar presented the Crimean Platform at the OSCE. "On March 1, Emine Dzheppar took part in an online briefing for delegations of OSCE participating States in the context of the seventh anniversary of the temporary occupation of Crimea," the press service of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine reports. The First Deputy Minister presented the plans of the Crimean Platform, called on the OSCE participating states to take an active part in its activities and the inaugural summit scheduled for August 23, 2021. "It is very important to jointly seek answers to the whole complex of consequences of the temporary occupation of Crimea and maintain this problem in the constant focus of the international community," Dzheppar stressed. As the Foreign Ministry noted, Permanent Representative of the President of Ukraine to the Autonomous Republic of Crimea Anton Korynevych and Deputy Minister of Defense of Ukraine for European Integration Anatoliy Petrenko spoke at the briefing. The foreign partners reaffirmed their unwavering support for Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity within its internationally recognized borders, strongly condemned human rights violations in Crimea, its militarization and Russia's promotion of misinformation to conceal the negative effects of the occupation. As reported, the Crimean Platform is a new consultative and coordination format initiated by Ukraine to improve the efficiency of the international response to the occupation of Crimea, respond to growing security challenges, step up international pressure on Russia, prevent further human rights violations, protect victims of the occupying power and to achieve the de-occupation of Crimea and its return to Ukraine. The Crimean Platform is expected to operate at the level of heads of state and government, foreign ministers, in the dimension of inter-parliamentary cooperation and expert network. The Crimean Platform is to be launched officially at an inaugural summit in Kyiv in 2021. As reported, Dzheppar stressed that the Verkhovna Rada should repeal the law on the free economic zone "Crimea" which is inconsistent with the policy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the need to step up sanctions against Russia over the occupation of the Crimean peninsula. ol [March 02, 2021] EY announces 2021 Better Working World Data Challenge focused on wildfire management through data analytics and AI - Global competition calls on aspiring data scientists to innovate for sustainable economic growth - AI models to focus on helping prevent loss of life, property and biodiversity caused by wildfires - Microsoft provides Azure cloud platform for participants to develop algorithms LONDON, March 2, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- EY today announces the 2021 Better Working World Data Challenge, a global competition for aspiring data scientists. The Challenge is part of the EY commitment to innovate and use technology to address some of the world's largest environmental and climate change problems. The focus of this year's competition is on leveraging data analytics and artificial intelligence (AI) to help find solutions to better manage wildfires. The global Challenge has been expanded to include all university students and non-students with less than two years of professional experience in data science or a related field, building on the inaugural 2019 program where participation was limited to university students from19 countries. EY is working in collaboration with Microsoft, which is providing its Azure cloud platform to participants. Individuals will use the platform along with satellite imagery provided by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to create algorithms to help wildfire management teams improve front-line decision-making during fire emergency responses. These models will include capabilities to generate fire-edge maps or predict where a fire may spread. Carmine Di Sibio, EY Global Chairman and CEO, says: "The EY purpose of building a better working world drives us every day. We are committed to enabling the next generation of talent in finding solutions to some of the most pressing challenges globally. Many countries have faced significant loss of life and disruption due to wildfires and we are proud to support efforts that can look to address this issue using the power of data and technology." During the three-month competition period, a series of webinars jointly provided by technologists from EY and Microsoft will provide participants with additional information about the tasks in the Challenge and help them familiarize themselves with the Azure environment, develop additional skills and refine their work. A network of wildfire authorities, earth observation groups and science education organizations will also provide support and knowledge so the participants' work can create maximum impact and change through data, AI and technology. Beatriz Sanz Saiz, EY Global Consulting Data and Analytics Leader, says: "It is essential to encourage aspiring data scientists and help them recognize that they can apply their skills to analyze real-world problems and develop algorithms that can have a lasting positive impact. We want participants to use the power of data science to find innovative solutions to the most complex and demanding problems. We are very excited to see the kinds of transformative AI models that our 2021 Better Working World Data Challenge participants will propose this year, and in years to come, to help build a better world." The winning algorithms will be announced in July 2021 and winners will receive cash prizes. Barbara Burgess EY Global Media Relations +1 973 216 7036 barbara.burgess@ey.com Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/708904/EY_Logo.jpg [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. ADVERTISEMENT Nigerias Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, on Tuesday, said some people are benefitting from the recurring cases of kidnapping and banditry across the country. He did not name these people. He made this comment shortly after the confirmation of the newly appointed service chiefs at plenary. The Senate confirmed the service chiefs after it adopted the report of the Senate joint committees on Defence, Army and Navy who screened the nominees. The lawmaker was congratulating the new service chiefs and admonishing them to work hard and tackle insecurity in the country when he said some people are benefiting from the kidnappings and banditry. Although he did not mention the names of the supposed beneficiaries, Mr Lawan said the menace has since become an industry. A situation whereby a group of people will go to a school and take over 300 students away on motorcycles is not accepted. Kidnapping without a trace is not acceptable. Something has to give because, apparently, this is becoming an industry, some people are benefiting from this and we have to unravel who these people are, and fight bandits and insurgents until we rescue our country, he said. He further advised the service chiefs to ensure inter-agency corporation and pledged the support of the National Assembly to the security sector. Mr Lawans statement comes on the heels of kidnappings in the north with the most recent being the abduction of students in Niger and another 317 in Zamfara State. The students have since been released. It also comes amidst controversies and speculations that the bandits are being paid millions to release their victims. Political leaders have denied paying bandits. Even Islamic cleric, Sheikh Gumi, who served as a mediator when some passengers and students were kidnapped in Niger State, had told the public that the bandits were not paid to release their victims. President Muhammadu Buhari recently advised state governors to desist from offering ransoms for the release of abductees promising that his administration would not cave in to the demands of criminal elements. Last week, a Core Group on Sri Lanka presented a resolution to the ongoing UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) meeting in Geneva. The resolution focuses on human rights issues, including war crimes during the 30-year civil war between the Sri Lankan military and the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). Entitled Promoting reconciliation, accountability and human rights in Sri Lanka, the resolution, with any modifications, will be put to the vote in the UNHRC on March 22. Tamil families fleeing war in January 2009 (Source: Wikimedia) The Core Group includes the UK, Canada, Germany, North Macedonia, Montenegro, and Malawi. Although Washington is not a member of the group, it was behind the resolution, having promoted it last December, following discussions with UK diplomats and Tamil groups in Sri Lanka, including the pro-US Tamil National Alliance. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken addressed the UNHRC meeting last week via video, calling for his countrys readmission to the UN body. Blinken hypocritically declared that President Bidens administration is placing democracy and human rights at the centre of its foreign policy. We encourage the Council to support resolutions at this session addressing issues of concern around the world, including ongoing human rights violations in Syria and North Korea, the lack of accountability for past atrocities in Sri Lanka, and the need for further investigation into the situation in South Sudan. US imperialism is the worlds supreme war criminal. In the last three decades alone, it has launched one war after another in the Middle East, the Balkans, Afghanistan and elsewhere, killing hundreds of thousands of innocent men, women and children. What US Secretary of State Blinken really meant was the Biden administration, just like its predecessors, will cynically use human rights violations to bring other countries into line with Washingtons geo-strategic interests. Blinken also condemned human rights violations by China and Russia in his video address. Blinkens speech and the Core Group resolution have nothing to do with defending human rights in Sri Lanka but are to persuade President Gotabhaya Rajapakse to break relations with Beijing and fully embrace Washingtons confrontation with China. Washington is concerned that the cash-strapped Colombo regime is becoming more dependent on Chinese investments and loans. The debt-ridden Sri Lankan economy is in unprecedented turmoil, seriously impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic and confronting falling exports and the devaluation of the countrys currency. The Core Group resolution calls for a comprehensive accountability process for all violations and abuses of human rights committed in Sri Lanka, including those by the LTTE. It also declares the importance of preserving and analysing evidence relating to violations and abuses of human rights in Sri Lanka with a view to advancing accountability by the High Commissioner for Human Rights. Such evidence would be used to support relevant judicial proceedings in member states of the UN, i.e., the prosecution of perpetrators of war crimes. Although not included in the resolution, UN High Commissioner of Human Rights Michelle Bachelets report on Sri Lanka in January specifically referred to a failure of accountability and proposed referring this to the International Criminal Court. Bachelet also called for targeted sanctions, including the imposition of travel bans and freezing the assets of those credibly accused of human rights violations in Sri Lanka. Addressing last weeks meeting, Bachelet offered support for judicial proceedings in other countries against the perpetrators of grave human rights violations in Sri Lanka. Successive Sri Lankan governments and its military committed numerous war crimes during the 30-year war against the LTTE which began in 1983. The Sri Lankan ruling elite and the media used the LTTEs terrorist and anti-democratic acts to cover up Colombos atrocities. President Mahinda Rajapakse resumed the war in 2006 with the backing of the US and other imperialist powers, as well as India, after a four-year fragile ceasefire. His brother, the then defence secretary and now president, Gotabhaya Rajapakse, supervised these bloody military operations. In the final months of the war, around 40,000 Tamil civilians were killed, according to UN estimates, and hundreds of young people who surrendered to the military were simply disappeared. Washington has never been seriously concerned about these war crimes. Colombo was heavily dependent on Beijing for financial assistance and supplies of weapons to prosecute its brutal war. The then Obama administrationwith Biden as vice presidentbegan its pivot to Asia to encircle and isolate China and was hostile to these relations. Washington used the UNHRC to bring a resolution on Sri Lanka and pressure it to distance itself from Beijing. When that failed, it orchestrated a regime-change operation to oust then President Mahinda Rajapakse and to replace him with Maithripala Sirisena. Sirisena and his prime minister, Ranil Wickremesinghe, reoriented Sri Lankas foreign policy towards Washington and its strategic partner India. The new regime immediately began integrating the Sri Lankan military with US military planning against China. In return, Washington helped Sri Lanka suppress calls for an international war crimes probe and swung its support behind a resolution proposing a so-called domestic judicial mechanism. Following the return to power of Gotabhaya Rajapakse and Mahinda Rajapakse as president and prime minister respectively in the 2019 and 2020 elections, Washington and New Delhi have consistently raised concerns about Colombos developing relations with Beijing. Colombo hopes to appease Washington and New Delhi by declaring that it only has economic relations with China. The Rajapakse regime, however, is heavily dependent on the military to bolster its autocratic rule and vowed to protect it from any war crime investigations. Addressing the UNHRC last week, Sri Lankan Foreign Affairs Minister Dinesh Gunawardena rejected Bachelets report. The recommendations and conclusions [in the report], he declared, reflect the preconceived, politicised and prejudicial agenda which certain elements have relentlessly pursued against Sri Lanka. While Gunawardena said nothing about on the Core Group resolution, President Rajapakse wrote to UNHRC member countries seeking their support for Sri Lanka. The diplomatic battle unfolding in the UNHRC over the resolution on Sri Lanka underscores the deepening geopolitical tensions between the US on one side and China and Russia on the other. Chinas Permanent Representative in Geneva Ambassador Chen Xu commended Sri Lanka for its efforts to actively promote and protect human rights, advance sustainable economic and social development, improve peoples living standard, protect the rights of the vulnerable groups, advance national reconciliation and combat terrorism. Without naming any country, Chen said that China opposes the politicisation and double standards on human rights, as well as using human rights as an excuse in interfering in other countries internal affairs. China is keen to maintainand bolsterits influence in Colombo as part of its efforts to counter US threats and in doing so has no concerns about human rights violations in Sri Lanka. Russias UNHRC envoy made similar statements opposing any interference in Sri Lankas internal affairs. Because of its regional and global influence, Colombo is eager to win Indian support and defeat the UNHRC resolution. But like Washington, New Delhi is hostile to Rajapakses relations with China and in 2015, backed the US regime-change operation to remove Mahinda Rajapakse as president. Last month, however, Colombo angered New Delhi by reneging on an agreement to hand over Colombo Ports Eastern Terminal as a joint venture amid growing opposition among workers against the privatisation of state-owned assets. Extreme-right nationalist elements that support the Rajapakse regime also whipped up an anti-Indian campaign against the agreement. Keen to secure a foothold in the strategically-located port, India blamed China, claiming it was behind this campaign to repudiate the agreement. Without taking a position on the Core Group resolution Mani Pandey, Indias envoy to the UN, said his country supports the aspirations of the Tamil minority. He called on Colombo to take the necessary steps for reconciliation, and implement the 13th amendment to the constitution of Sri Lankaa power-sharing arrangement with the Tamil elite. While Colombo is averse to any such power-sharing arrangement, India has continuously used the Tamil capitalist parties in Sri Lanka to pressure successive governments. The escalating efforts to bring Sri Lanka into line point to the advanced nature of US war planning against China. Washington is making clear to the Rajapakse regime that it must end its political balancing act and fully align itself with US imperialisms war preparations. AI experts, thought leaders, and early adopters from South-East Asia to gather at World AI Show Jakarta JAKARTA, Mar 1, 2021 (ACN Newswire) World AI Show is supported by the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology (Kominfo), the Government of Indonesia and Jakarta Smart City. The show is taking place on 4 March 2021 from 9am 5pm (Western Indonesia Time). As one of the highly ranked markets in the ASEAN for AI adoption, Indonesia has unveiled a national strategy for the development of AI and implement it on education, research, health services, food security, mobility, smart cities and public sector reforms. The virtual conference will convene stakeholders of the AI ecosystem in SE Asia including IT leaders from some of the most influential think tanks and top companies; to highlight and discuss core tech strategies and digital infrastructures that will drive the next phase of AI adoption in the post-Covid-19 era. The show will feature a ground-breaking collaboration of experts such as Dr Hammam Riza President, Agency of Assessment and Application of Technology (BPPT), Government of Indonesia; Alex Hubert Sales Engineering, Dataiku, APAC; Bambang Dwi Anggono Director of e-Government, Department of Communications and Informatics, Kemkominfo, Indonesia; Juan Intan Kanggrawan Head of Data Analytics, Jakarta Smart City, Indonesia; Kaspar Situmorang Executive Vice President, PT Bank Rakyat Indonesia; Rudy Dalimunthe VP of Customer Excellence, Tokopedia Indonesia; Cut Noosy Country Head of Customer Experience, Grab, Indonesia; Joy Gabriel Data Science & Technology Innovator, Telkom, Indonesia; Alexander Kurth Chief Data Officer, Allianz Indonesia to name a few. While the pandemic has closed many doors around the world, Indonesia offers an irrefutable case study in the application and development of AI, said Mithun Shetty, CEO of Trescon. He further added, \World AI Show will digitally connect key stakeholders in the Indonesian AI ecosystem to drive the future of AI in the region.\ The show will be hosted on the virtual events platform Vmeets to help participants network and conduct business in an interactive and immersive virtual environment. Participants can also engage with speakers in Q&A sessions and network with solution providers in virtual exhibition booths, private consultation rooms and private networking rooms. The Indonesian edition of World AI Show Jakarta is officially sponsored by Platinum Sponsor Tech Data and Dataiku; Gold Sponsors Microsoft and Denodo; Silver Sponsors ManageEngine, Sinergi Wahana Gemilang and Intetics. About World AI Show World AI Show is a thought-leadership-driven, business-focused, global series of events taking place in strategic locations across the world. It connects top AI experts, enterprises, government representatives, data scientists, technology leaders, startups, investors, researchers, academicians, and global AI innovators to discuss the impact of AI on commercial applications and the revolutionary ways it can transform businesses and government functions. For more information visit: https://jakarta.worldaishow.com/ For further details about the announcement, please contact: Genevive D\-\-souza Corporate Communications Manager marketing@tresconglobal.com Vietnam is currently going through a growth spurt while entering an era with more modern and people-centred considerations rising in prevalence. What role does soft power play in GDP growth as well as regional and global success? Vu Ba Phu, director general of the Vietnam Trade Promotion Agency under the Ministry of Industry and Trade Vietnams soft power stems from not only the promotion of its own values such as the heroic history, rich culture and traditions, and pacifist foreign policy but also the development and optimisation of a range of new positions and advantages. Amid the difficulties of 2020, the successful dispensing of its dual role as both ASEAN chair and non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council is testament to the successful application of soft power in Vietnams foreign policy. In 2020, the world lauded Vietnams rapid response and contributions to regional and international affairs thanks to its ability to grasp opportunities, taking the initiative in coping with dynamic situations and ensuring economic recovery while promoting multilateralism and international solidarity to get through the COVID-19 crisis. Vietnam not only dived deeper into the global economy and made increasing contributions to shaping the ground rules of international organisations, it also prepared for further comprehensive integration. Possibly the greatest achievements were extending Vietnams diplomatic relations to 187 out of 193 member states of the United Nations while completing negotiating and signing new-generation free trade agreements (FTAs), making the country an integral factor in all regional and intra-regional economic links. With these steps, Vietnam is now one of the most open economies in the world, with the ratio of foreign trade to GDP increasing from 136 per cent in 2010 to approximately 200 per cent in 2019. Amid COVID-19 shutdowns in early 2020, Vietnam was among the very few countries to achieve positive GDP growth of nearly 3 per cent. Vietnams soft power is a combination of many factors and has made significant contributions to increasing its prestige and position in the regional and international arena. Branding is a strong tool for advocacy among global stakeholders. How is Vietnam globalising its homegrown brands? In todays continuously evolving economy, the greater a brands recognition in the international market, the more strength it provides to its country. Notably, branding will play a crucial role as Vietnam steps up participation in more and more new-generation FTAs. Recognising this, the Vietnam Value Programme, launched in 2003, is the governments unique and long-term trade promotion programme aiming to build Vietnams image as a country of high-quality products and services, to increase the pride and attraction of the country and its people, and to boost foreign trade and national competitiveness. As the programme management agency, the Ministry of Industry and Trade of Vietnam (MoIT) has been actively supporting Vietnamese enterprises to improve their capacity through business development consultancy, establishing information systems, and updating branding knowledge. Promotion and public relations have also received a lot of attention to increase public and international awareness about the programme and Vietnam Value products through various channels. The MoIT also builds and promotes geographical indications and collective trademarks from across the country in foreign markets, improving competitiveness of businesses based on a reputation for quality, environmentally-friendly production, and professionalism, thereby consolidating the position of Vietnamese brands globally. Thanks to the support of the programme, many Vietnamese corporations and businesses have become aware of the importance of branding. Enterprises have gradually learned to promote their brands professionally, improving their competitiveness and reaffirming their position in the domestic and foreign markets. Many outstanding Vietnamese brands have resonated with regional and international consumers and partners. For example, Viettel is in the globes top 15 in terms of mobile subscribers and the top 40 in terms of revenue. Meanwhile, Truong Hai Auto Corporation is gradually rising to the top position in the ASEAN region and state-owned Khanh Hoa Salanganes Nest One Member LLC has the largest swiftlet exploitation output. TH Group is the first Vietnamese company to successfully penetrate the Chinese market, the second-largest dairy consumption market in the world. All these successes by individual brands have been continuously raising Vietnams national brand to a stronger global position. How has COVID-19 impacted Vietnams international relations? The far-reaching impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic have pushed many countries into a health and economic crisis. Despite the unprecedented challenges, Vietnam has been one of the worlds success stories in getting the outbreak under control, maintaining socioeconomic stability, and promoting bilateral and multilateral diplomatic activities. The initial great successes in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic were due to the successful combination of the nations strength, in which soft power played a significant role. Vietnam has proactively deployed its diplomatic strategy to orchestrate COVID-19 response, committed and stood ready to share information, and donated medical supplies to countries in need. The message of leaving no-one behind is one of the most vivid demonstrations of Vietnams wielding of soft power, proving the Vietnamese spirit of solidarity. That humanitarian spirit is also reflected in the help provided to overseas Vietnamese to return or the messages foreigners have posted about how fortunate they feel to be staying in the country during the outbreak. Its effective anti-pandemic policies, along with the responsibility and dignity Vietnam has shown on the international stage, have been highly appreciated by international friends. How will this successful use of soft power be turned into economic gains? With the efforts of the government and the collaboration of the Vietnamese people to prevent and control the pandemic, Vietnam is now well-known as a safe country. This renown makes it easy for Vietnam to draw international investment, events, and tourists, which bring great opportunities for economic development. Not only that, Vietnam has succeeded in turning the challenges of the COVID-19 crisis into advantages to enhance the image of Vietnamese products and national brands. Vietnam has defied the global trend with its brand value skyrocketing 29 per cent on-year, from $247 billion to $319 billion, ranking 33rd among the worlds top 100 national brands, and being the fastest-growing national brand in 2020. Soft power is an extremely valuable asset for Vietnam to turn challenges into opportunities. In the midst of difficulties, Vietnams use of soft power was not weakened but became stronger than ever. Thanks to strong social consensus, national solidarity, and unity, Vietnam has gained impressive achievements which effectively improved its image in the international arena. What are Vietnams goals for the next decade in terms of building up its soft power capabilities? Vietnam aspires to achieve comprehensive innovation and extensive international integration, to become a country with modern industries and high average income by 2030, then a developed country with high income by 2045. To reach higher international stature, soft power will play an even more cardinal role, requiring efforts from the entire political system, each enterprise, and each Vietnamese citizen. Firstly, Vietnam needs to create a systematic and long-term plan to promote soft power. It is also necessary to improve growth quality and labour productivity, and to promote creative industries, thereby improving the competitiveness of the economy as a whole. At the same time, it is necessary to continue to preserve and promote the diverse and rich values of Vietnamese culture. Concurrently, studies and assessments by experts drawing comments from the community will also pave the way to pick out the unique, remarkable cultural elements for focused investment and development, thereby making great contributions to Vietnams socioeconomic development. Vietnam should also increase its use of soft power in diplomacy. Globalisation is creating ever more complex interdependencies and in this environment, regional and global diplomacy should concentrate on leadership and mediation through softer means. It will also be necessary to prioritise and focus investment on scientific and technological development to ensure Vietnams competitiveness. The creation of high-quality and highly competitive products requires proper appreciation of ICT in building national soft power as well as applying new and innovative technologies in production. In addition to building and promoting soft power, Vietnam also needs to strengthen its hard power to create synergies, creating smart power in the new era to enhance integration and enhance its global strategic and economic position. 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. 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. Etihad Airways, the national airline of the UAE, has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Hub71, Abu Dhabis global tech ecosystem, to support the expansion of entrepreneurs innovating in Abu Dhabi. Following the MoU signing, Etihad will become the official airline partner of Hub71 which will offer more than 100 global startups within its tech community special rates and access to a dedicated booking platform to simplify their travel needs. Mohammad Al Bulooki, Chief Operating Officer of Etihad Aviation Group, said: Etihad is looking forward to collaborating with Hub71, a flagship initiative of Ghadan 21, Abu Dhabis accelerator programme. Together, both entities will play a vital role in supporting the Emirates development by investing in business, innovation and people. The MoU will support the governments efforts in diversifying the economy by rewarding businesses who choose to develop innovative technologies in Abu Dhabi. Through the partnership, Etihad will tap into Hub71s dynamic, fast-growing community and global network of partners to engage with its startup founders and entrepreneurs to launch innovation-driven activities. The airline will also explore mentorship opportunities, workshops, and community events. Technology and innovation play a key role in supporting the restart of the aviation industry during the Covid pandemic. Etihad looks forward to working with Hub71s global pool of innovators to actively source, support and enable the rapid trial and production of promising solutions for the aviation industry, added Al Bulooki. Hanan Al Yafei, Chief Executive Officer of Hub71, said: As the world prepares to open up, global connectivity will be vital for our growing community of startup founders to be in a position to export their innovative products and services to new markets. Our strategic partnership with Etihad Airways reflects the value we place in unlocking global opportunities from Abu Dhabi, and together we will help grow technology-driven businesses that can sustain the aviation industry with bold new ideas and innovations. The MoU was signed by Mohammad Al Bulooki, Chief Operating Officer of Etihad Aviation Group, and Hanan Harhara Al Yafei, Chief Executive Officer of Hub71. Hub71s tech community expanded from 35 startups to 102 in under two years, representing 191 per cent growth, and raised AED185 million ($50.4 million) for startups in 2020. Abu Dhabis global tech ecosystem now includes startups from Israel, South Korea, Czech Republic and Nigeria, which joined in December 2020. TradeArabia News Service While the county health department altered the way it reports data, which led to an increase in active cases, the number of people in mandatory isolation still pales in comparison to the highs in early January. On Feb. 28, there were 131 people in isolation the same number of active cases there was on Nov. 20 before the post-Thanksgiving surge. Hospitalizations are down to the lowest point in four months. As of Sunday, there were three COVID-related patients at Auburn Community Hospital. The seven-day average positivity rate is also much lower than it was in early January. At its peak, it was over 13%. Now, it's down to 1.8%. It hasn't been below 2% since mid-November. Case numbers and hospitalizations could continue to decline as more Cayuga County residents are vaccinated. According to the state's COVID-19 vaccine tracker, at least 13,743 residents have received one dose of the vaccination. Both doses have been administered to 7,233 residents. The solar corona viewed in white light during the total solar eclipse on Aug. 21, 2017 from Mitchell, Oregon. The moon blocks out the central part of the Sun, allowing the tenuous outer regions to be seen in full detail. The image is courtesy of Benjamin Boe and first published in "CME-induced Thermodynamic Changes in the Corona as Inferred from Fe XI and Fe XIV Emission Observations during the 2017 August 21 Total Solar Eclipse", Boe, Habbal, Druckmuller, Ding, Hoderova, & Starha, Astrophysical Journal, 888, 100, (Jan. 10, 2020). Credit: American Astronomical Society (AAS) About 17 years ago, J. Martin Laming, an astrophysicist at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory, theorized why the chemical composition of the Sun's tenuous outermost layer differs from that lower down. His theory has recently been validated by combined observations of the Sun's magnetic waves from the Earth and from space. His most recent scientific journal article describes how these magnetic waves modify chemical composition in a process completely new to solar physics or astrophysics, but already known in optical sciences, having been the subject of Nobel Prizes awarded to Steven Chu in 1997 and Arthur Ashkin in 2018. Laming began exploring these phenomena in the mid-1990s, and first published the theory in 2004. "It's satisfying to learn that the new observations demonstrate what happens 'under the hood' in the theory, and that it actually happens for real on the Sun," he said. The Sun is made up of many layers. Astronomers call its outermost layer the solar corona, which is only visible from earth during a total solar eclipse. All solar activity in the corona is driven by the solar magnetic field. This activity consists of solar flares, coronal mass ejections, high-speed solar wind, and solar energetic particles. These various manifestations of solar activity are all propagated or triggered by oscillations or waves on the magnetic field lines. "The very same waves, when they hit the lower solar regions, cause the change in chemical composition, which we see in the corona as this material moves upwards," Laming said. "In this way, the coronal chemical composition offers a new way to understand waves in the solar atmosphere, and new insights into the origins of solar activity." Christoph Englert, head of the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory's Space Science Division, points out the benefits for predicting the Sun's weather and how Laming's theory could help predict changes in our ability to communicate on Earth. "We estimate that the Sun is 91 percent hydrogen but the small fraction accounted for by minor ions like iron, silicon, or magnesium dominates the radiative output in ultraviolet and X-rays from the corona," he said. "If the abundance of these ions is changing, the radiative output changes." "What happens on the Sun has significant effects on the Earth's upper atmosphere, which is important for communication and radar technologies that rely on over-the-horizon or ground-to-space radio frequency propagation," Englert said. It also has an impact on objects in orbit. The radiation is absorbed in the Earth's upper atmospheric layers, which causes the upper atmosphere to form plasma, the ionosphere, and to expand and contract, influencing the atmospheric drag on satellites and orbital debris. "The Sun also releases high energy particles," Laming said. "They can cause damage to satellites and other space objects. The high energy particles themselves are microscopic, but it's their speed that causes them to be dangerous to electronics, solar panels, and navigation equipment in space." Englert said that reliably forecasting solar activity is a long-term goal, which requires us to understand the inner workings of our star. This latest achievement is a step in this direction. "There is a long history of advances in astronomy seeding technological progress, going all the way back to Galileo," Englert said. "We are excited to carry on this tradition in support of the U.S. Navy." Explore further Magnetic waves explain mystery of Sun's outer layer More information: J. Martin Laming. The FIP and Inverse FIP Effects in Solar Flares. arXiv:2101.03038 [astro-ph.SR] J. Martin Laming. The FIP and Inverse FIP Effects in Solar Flares. arXiv:2101.03038 [astro-ph.SR] arxiv.org/abs/2101.03038 D. Baker et al. Alfvenic Perturbations in a Sunspot Chromosphere Linked to Fractionated Plasma in the Corona. arXiv:2012.04308 [astro-ph.SR] arxiv.org/abs/2012.04308 The US maintained normal diplomatic relations with the government in Taiwan until 1979, when then-President Jimmy Carter abruptly cut off formal ties with Taipei and recognised the Communist regime in Beijing. New York : Two top Republican lawmakers have introduced a legislation in the House of Representatives calling for the United States to resume formal diplomatic relations with Taiwan and end the outdated and counter-productive one- China" policy. China views Taiwan as a rebel province that must be reunified with the mainland, even by force. Introduced by congressmen Tom Tiffany and Scott Perry, the bill directs the Biden administration to support Taiwan's membership in international organisations, and to initiate negotiations with Taipei on crafting a US-Taiwan Free Trade Agreement. For more than 40 years, American presidents of both political parties have repeated Beijing's bogus lie that Taiwan is part of Communist China despite the objective reality that it is not, said Tiffany. It is time to do away with this outdated policy, he said. As an independent Nation that proudly collaborates with Taiwan across a wide spectrum of issues, it's long past time The United States exercised our sovereign right to state what the world knows to be true: Taiwan is an independent country, and has been for over 70 years, said Perry. Lawmakers responded by approving the bipartisan Taiwan Relations Act , the cornerstone of continued US ties with the island. Former president Ronald Reagan upgraded the relationship during his term with the Six Assurances, which made clear that the US did not recognise Communist Chinese claims of sovereignty over Taiwan, the media release said. The two lawmakers said that despite the TRA and the Six Assurances, the US still lacks formal ties with Taiwan, inexplicably treating the island's democratically elected government the same way it treats brutal regimes in North Korea and Iran from a diplomatic perspective and in a category worse than that of Cuba's dictatorship, which President Obama and Vice President Biden recognised during their second term. In 2020, Tiffany proposed an amendment to the annual Pentagon spending bill that sought to rescind a set of unproductive, self-imposed restrictions limiting communications between US and Taiwanese officials. While House Democrats refused to allow a vote on the amendment at the time, Secretary Pompeo later enacted the policy, scrapping the so-called guidelines and enabling greater communication and coordination between Taipei and Washington. It is unclear whether the Biden administration will roll back the changes under pressure from Beijing. "America doesn't need a permission slip from the Chinese Communist Party to talk to its friends and partners around the world. Taiwan is a free, democratic and independent country, and it's time US policy reflected that fact, Tiffany said. The relations between the US and China are at an all-time low. The two countries are currently engaged in a bitter confrontation over various issues, including trade, the origins of the novel coronavirus pandemic, the communist giant's aggressive military moves in the disputed South China Sea and human rights. In February, Senator Rick Scott reintroduced the Taiwan Invasion Prevention Act, sponsored by Congressman Guy Reschenthaler in the US House of Representatives, to protect Taiwan from Communist China's growing aggression. The Taiwan Invasion Prevention Act further reinforces the US-Taiwan relationship and strengthens Taiwan's ability to resist Communist China's aggressive policies and military actions. Washington officially sticks to a "one-China" policy, acknowledging Taiwan being part of China and the People's Republic's status as the sole legitimate government of China, according to CNN. The policy forms the basis of Chinese diplomacy and policy-making and determines Sino-US relations, it said. A man who was last night still missing after he helped save his young son when their kayak capsized on the River Barrow was due to become a father again in the coming months, it has emerged. It is understood the man, named locally as Declan Reid (34), had been kayaking with his son on the river Barrow at Ardreigh Lock near Athy in Co Kildare beside his old family home. Mr Reid managed to keep his son (8) afloat and raise the alarm, and a young man who was passing-by jumped in and made it to the riverbank with the boy. But when he went back to save the father he could not be seen. Mr Reids father jumped into the river in a frantic effort to find his son but by then the current is believed to have swept him downstream. The search continued until light faded on Sunday night, and resumed again at first light yesterday. Garda and the civil defence were involved in river and riverbank searches, and also used drones to scan a distance of the river from above. Garda sergeant Ralph Holmes said the search was continuing along the river and the section of the Grand Canal beside it. Locals and family members looked on helplessly from the Lock as the search was carried out. Mr Reids partner, whose family said is seven months pregnant, also waited patiently and quietly for word. Expand Close Divers at Ardreigh Lock outside Athy, Co Kildare as the search continues for a man gone missing after a young child was rescued during a kayaking incident on Sunday evening. Monday March 1, 2021. PA Photo. See PA story IRISH River. Photo: Niall Carson/PA Wire / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Divers at Ardreigh Lock outside Athy, Co Kildare as the search continues for a man gone missing after a young child was rescued during a kayaking incident on Sunday evening. Monday March 1, 2021. PA Photo. See PA story IRISH River. Photo: Niall Carson/PA Wire The search involved a large number of rescue personnel from the gardai and civil defence, and locals brought trays of sandwiches and cases of bottled water to the scene to keep the crews fed throughout their difficult task. The house where the Reid family live was once the lock-keepers residence, and as such it is right beside the Lock where the Grand Canal meets the Barrow. The family run a successful plumbing business and are well known and respected locally. They were being comforted by close relatives and friends as the search went on. Declan Reid had been living in Dublin in recent years and was visiting his relatives on the fine Spring Sunday when the incident occured. The Lock and the surrounding area was being used as a base for the search and rescue crews and their vehicles, and several boats were launched from the Lock during the continued search. Declan was a strong man and spent a lot of time in the gym. He used all his energy to save his son and keep him afloat, said one man known to the family. The young boy was being treated in Portlaoise Hospital following his ordeal but was expected to make a full recovery. The young telecoms worker who jumped into the swollen and fast-flowing River Barrow to save the young boy from drowning after a tragic kayak capsize with his dad has said his lifeguard training stood to him and that life-saving swimming should be mandatory learning in schools. Expand Close Scott Mc Quaid from Athy Co KIldare who rescued the young boy from the Barrow River at Ardreigh Lock Photo by Steve Humphreys 1st March 2021 / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Scott Mc Quaid from Athy Co KIldare who rescued the young boy from the Barrow River at Ardreigh Lock Photo by Steve Humphreys 1st March 2021 Scott McQuaid (23), from Athy in Co Kildare, was walking along the banks of the Barrow with two friends at around 3pm on Sunday when he heard the cries for help from the water. We were at the lock and I heard the young boy crying for help. I barely had time to get my shoes off and went into the river, and as I got towards the middle of the river he either kicked towards me or his dad pushed him to me, Im not sure, he told the Irish Independent. The river was fast and high, and the current seemed to be pulling everything into the middle and down towards Carlow. The boy and his dad got separated from the kayak, and I got the boy and started making it towards the riverbank, but the current kept pulling us back towards the middle. At one stage I was shouting for help too. It took me around ten minutes to get the boy to the bank. He was calling for his dad, and he had taken on water, but I kept his head up and kept talking to him. He went quiet for a few minutes and he was kicking in the water to help me get to the bank. When we got there we were too tired to get out. We had to stand in the water at the edge for a few minutes to recover, he added. There were a few people on the riverbank, and the people in the house had called the emergency services, but we couldnt see the lads dad anywhere. His father had jumped in to try to get him but he had to swim back. The current was too much, said Scott. When we got the lad out of the water I got the clothes off him and tried to get him up and moving, but he was too tired to stand so I sat down with him and tried to rub some heat into him until a lady came from a nearby farm with a blanket which we wrapped around him, he added. I had done lifeguard training with Irish Water Safety back in 2016 or 2017, to be a pool lifeguard, and the training all came back to me. I remembered to get in behind the boy so he wouldnt drag me down, and how to keep his head up and kick for the bank. The training definitely helped me, and I would encourage anyone to do a course like it. Life-saving swimming should be taught in schools. I did swimming in school but there needs to be a higher standard, Scott explained. LOS ALAMOS, N.M., March 1, 2021-- A novel computer algorithm that could create a broadly reactive influenza vaccine for swine flu also offers a path toward a pan-influenza vaccine and possibly a pan-coronavirus vaccine as well, according to a new paper published in Nature Communications. "This work takes us a step closer to a pan-swine flu virus vaccine," said Bette Korber, a computational biologist at Los Alamos National Laboratory and a co-author on the paper. "The hope is to eventually be prepared with an effective and rapid response if another swine flu epidemic begins to spread in humans, but this swine flu vaccine could also be useful in a veterinary setting." The immune responses to the vaccine showed very promising breadth against diverse viral variants. "The same basic principles may be applicable to developing a pan-coronavirus vaccine to enable a rapid vaccine response to future coronavirus cross-species jumps," said Korber. The algorithm, Epigraph, has already been used to predict therapeutic HIV vaccine candidates, and it has also shown promising potential as a pan-filovirus vaccine against highly diverse Ebola and Marburg viruses, protecting against disease when tested in an animal model. Vaccination with the Epigraph-designed product led to the development of a strong cross-reactive antibody response in mice, the study showed. In swine, it induced strong cross-reactive antibody and T-cell responses. The research was conducted in close collaboration with researchers from the Nebraska Center for Virology at the University of Nebraska, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, and Los Alamos National Laboratory. "We developed the Epigraph strategy for this kind of problem, and it can, in theory, be applied to many diverse pathogens," said Korber, who created it in partnership with her husband, James Theiler, a Los Alamos Fellow. "The tool creates a cocktail of vaccine antigens designed to maximize efficacy across a highly diverse population." Since 2010, more than 460 swine-flu variant infections have been reported in humans in the United States. Pigs are susceptible to swine, avian, and human influenza viruses, making them the perfect "mixing vessel" for novel reassorted influenza viruses, the authors note. These novel reassorted viruses have significant pandemic potential if zoonosis (transfer from pigs to humans) occurs, as seen with 2009 H1N1 swine flu pandemic. ### The paper: Bullard, B.L., Corder, B.N., DeBeauchamp, J. et al. Epigraph hemagglutinin vaccine induces broad cross-reactive immunity against swine H3 influenza virus. Nat Commun 12, 1203 (2021). https:/ / doi. org/ 10. 1038/ s41467-021-21508-6 The funding: The Biodefense and Emerging Infectious Disease (BEI) Repository provided the USDA Swine Surveillance Influenza A virus isolates repository for reagents used in this study. This research was supported by the National Institutes of Health under Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award 1 T32 AI125207. About Los Alamos National Laboratory 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-21-21903 Woman following recipe on tablet when cooking cake A website that allowed users to view online recipes without adverts or introductory blurbs from food bloggers has been taken down, following a backlash from content creators. Recipeasly said it wanted to fix online recipes by removing adverts and life stories, however, it was taken down within hours after complaints and criticism on social media. Food writer Kat Kinsman tweeted: Wait, so you are just stealing content, eliminating context and creator revenue, and diminishing the labour that is the only way these recipes exist in the first place because you have decided the humans behind them are annoying? To view this content, you'll need to update your privacy settings. Please click here to do so. Tom Redman, one of the creators of the platform, tweeted that it was being taken offline following the backlash. He said: We have nothing but respect and admiration for the time, money, effort and years that go into creating great recipes & websites. We dont want to minimise your results for that hard work and weve built Recipeasly carefully to make sure this doesnt happen. Clearly, how were marketing Recipeasly doesnt demonstrate that respect at all. We missed the mark big time and Im sorry. Critics said the website would take advertising revenue away from largely female creators and bloggers. Jenna Farmer, 35, from Warwickshire, blogs about her experience with Crohns disease on her site A Balanced Belly. She told the PA news agency: The suggestion that we write these introductions to tell a story and the meaning behind the recipe and do that just to make money is really offensive. To view this content, you'll need to update your privacy settings. Please click here to do so. She said the blurb was really important to her recipes, and worried what would happen if that was removed. Mrs Farmer added: Lots of us pour our heart and soul into recipes so if youre a writer I think its natural to want to explain it. Its worth noting lots of the time you get emails saying things like is this suitable for x diet or can I swap x for x so Ive started to make my posts longer purely to anticipate these kinds of questions. Thats what worries me about this kind of site, because my recipes are so personal to gut health, I feel its important to explain the ingredients. To view this content, you'll need to update your privacy settings. Please click here to do so. She said the other issue was the removal of ad content, as she currently earns approximately 1.5p per page view. We dont make a lot of money, but its the time, and some people use professional equipment, she said, citing hosting fees and web designs as other expenses. People are getting those recipes for free, and the small act of scrolling and seeing an ad is why they are getting all those recipes for free, she said. The Recipeasly website landing page now says: Given the feedback, we are taking recipeasly.com down as we re-examine our impact. We commit to making changes where we have fallen short. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Friday that Equatorial Guinea would move its embassy to Jerusalem in the latest sign of improving ties with African nations. It would become the third country to move its embassy to the contested city, after the United States and Guatemala. Kosovo and Malawi have also announced plans to open embassies in Jerusalem. Israel captured east Jerusalem in the 1967 war and annexed it in a move not recognized internationally. The Palestinians want east Jerusalem to be the capital of their future state. Because of the city's contested status, most countries maintain embassies in Tel Aviv. During his term as president, Donald Trump broke with decades of U.S. policy by moving the embassy to Jerusalem in 2018 and recognizing the city as Israel's capital. The Palestinian Authority angrily condemned the move and cut off contacts with his administration in response. Netanyahu said he spoke to Equatorial Guinea's President Teodoro Mbasogo by phone and was told that the country would be moving its embassy to Jerusalem. Prime Minister Netanyahu noted that Israel is continuing to deepen its cooperation with African countries and said that Israel is returning to Africa and Africa is returning to Israel in a big way, Netanyahu's office said in a statement. Netanyahu has boasted of improving ties with several countries in Africa and Asia that long shunned Israel over the conflict with the Palestinians. (Disclaimer: This story is auto-generated from a syndicated feed; only the image & headline may have been reworked by www.republicworld.com) New Delhi, March 2 : The voice feature on PUBG game made two cheats become friends during the Covid induced lockdown. Both joined hands and started duping people through spoofed sms services to send phishing messages of points redemption. Police said on Tuesday the accused -- Tusar Tyagi and Shubham -- became friends while playing PUBG games during the lockdown period. Initially, Shubham started to provide UC game accessories to Tusar and spoke to him through VOIP calls. After they became friends, Shubham told him that he worked in Credit and Debit Cards phishing and had good knowledge to earn easy money in Cyberspace. He offered Tusar 20 per cent commission on the sale of his sellings. During January 2021 Shubham contacted Tusar and asked him to collect his smart mobile phones from Croma stores and to sell it in open market. "After keeping his commission of 20 per cent, he had to deposit the remaining amount in Shubham's wallet and bank account. Hence, Tusar started working for Shubham. He has deposited approx. Rs 2 lakh in Shubham's wallets and bank account till now," said Atul Thakur, DCP South Delhi. The matter came to light when an Advocate lodged a complaint at the Malviya Nagar police station that he had got an SMS on his mobile to redeem his Kotak Mahendra bank and RBL Bank credit cards. And, as soon as he clicked on the given web link and entered his card credentials, he lost Rs 1 lakh from his credit cards. Beneficiary accounts and wallets were investigated which revealed that the cheated amount had been credited in a Paytm account at first and then it was used for Croma Gift Voucher Accounts. The Delhi Police then alerted the Croma store at Preet Vihar and on February 28, the staff of Croma store informed the police as soon as 21-year-old Tusar Tyagi came to the store. He was arrested under Section 420/120B. The police team is now working to arrest his partner Shubham. Investigation is going on to trace more victims cheated by the two. You have permission to edit this article. Edit Close PITTSFIELD A sizable donation has taken Pike County Sheriffs Department closer to being able to furnish its deputies with body cameras without using taxpayer money. A Pike County resident who asked to remain anonymous donated $13,000 toward the equipment. Sheriff David Greenwood said the donation, along with others already received for the project, will provide the money needed to outfit deputies with the devices. Housebuilder Taylor Wimpey will pay out 125 million to replace cladding and improve fire safety on all blocks built in the last 20 years in the wake of the Grenfell Tower disaster. The money is set to be placed in a fund 'in order to provide certainty for customers and leaseholders and to avoid them bearing the cost of investment to ensure their buildings are safe', the company said. It comes just weeks after ministers set aside 3.5 billion in funding to help repair or replace cladding more than three years on from the tragic fire in west London, which left 72 dead. More than a million leaseholders face bills of up to 115,000 to fix unsafe homes and Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick told the Commons last month that those in blocks over 18 metres (60ft) high would no longer have to pay to replace flammable cladding. But MPs and leaseholders reacted with fury at the news that loans costing up to 600 a year will be forced on hundreds of thousands of homeowners in low and medium rise blocks potentially blighting resale values. And all victims still face bills of tens of thousands of pounds to fix other defects, such as missing fire breaks and combustible insulation. Today, Taylor Wimpey said the company fund would cover any block built in the past two decades, including those less than 18 metres tall which are not eligible for government grants. The firm added it has identified 232 apartment buildings that may require fire safety works. It declined to reveal a list of the sites, however. The tragic Grenfell Tower fire in west London in 2017 left 72 dead and has since sparked efforts to help repair or replace cladding Housebuilder Taylor Wimpey said today it will pay out 125 million to replace cladding and improve fire safety on all blocks built in the last 20 years Bosses made the announcement as they revealed a 36% fall in revenues in 2020 due to Covid-related hits to the business. Revenues hit 2.79 billion, whilst pre-tax profits fell 68% to 264 million. But the company said it was confident the housing market will strengthen and will continue to actively buy land for future developments as orders for new homes increased. It also announced a return of a dividend - handing out 151 million to shareholders or 4.14p a share. Chief executive Pete Redfern said: 'We are confident in the medium-term performance of the housing market and therefore accelerated our land purchases from May 2020 as high-quality land became available at attractive rates. 'We are now focusing on driving efficiencies across the business, the rollout of our new house type range and implementing our ambitious new environmental strategy. 'The UK housing market has been resilient and continues to reinforce our confidence in our outlook. 'We are a cash generative business with a strong balance sheet, and we are pleased to announce today that we will reinstate our ordinary dividend in line with our aim of providing a reliable income stream to our shareholders.' Speaking about the cladding fund, he told BBC Radio Four's Today programme this morning: 'The first set of buildings were identified a while ago through the initial review which focused on ACM [cladding] and all buildings over 18m, and of the 19 buildings 12 were completed and the others are in progress so we are well through them. 'It's important to understand that because the scope of this has widened as we've gone through the last 18 months. 'We're now largely talking about buildings under 20m and what we're trying to do is pick up anyone who's not covered by the government scheme, so that people who need what is known as an EWS1 form to certify their building safety, get a mortgage and move house, are covered by us today. 'It will take time and the work has to be done and managed by the freeholder on behalf of the leaseholders, but what we're saying is we will pay for that work to be done and, where appropriate, particularly where freeholders are small or don't have the skills, we'll provide them with assistance and advice. 'What it does say most importantly to individuals who own individual apartments is that we will pick up the main capital part of the cost of that work, even though it goes beyond the original standards at the time they were built and brings it up to a current expectation.' The announcement comes less than a month after rival housebuilder Persimmon announced it would spend 75 million to cover the costs of replacing unsafe cladding on 26 multi-storey buildings it had built. Persimmon said it would book the charge in its 2020 results to cover its contribution for work on the buildings, with its full-year figures set to be announced on March 3. Pete Redfern, chief executive officer of Taylor Wimpey, made the announcement earlier today Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick (pictured) recently announced an extra 3.5billion to replace unsafe cladding on high-rise buildings The Mail has previously called for all unsafe homes to be fixed by June 2022 and for leaseholders to be spared all of the crippling financial burden. Just 216 out of a possible 11,760 dangerous buildings have been fixed since the Grenfell tower inferno killed 72 in June 2017. The Government has said its overall pot of 5billion will ensure that leaseholders in high-rise buildings will not have to pay to replace unsafe cladding similar to that on Grenfell. But inspections carried out in the wake of the disaster have identified hundreds of buildings with safety defects apart from cladding, such as missing fire-breaks and timber balconies. These faults are excluded from the Government fund and the housing ministry has inserted a contract clause that says leaseholders cannot claim aid for cladding repairs without proving they have 'sufficient funding ... to complete all the works'. The clause in the contract makes clear these works cover non-cladding related safety defects. The average cost per flat of replacing unsafe cladding is estimated to be 22,500 and leaseholders face another 25,600 bill for other defects, according to the Association of Residential Managing Agents (Arma). Ministers have said building owners not leaseholders should pay these bills. However, critics say this is meaningless because leaseholders are legally liable. Clive Betts, Labour chairman of the Commons housing committee, said the clause was 'outrageous'. Meanwhile, more than 30 Tory MPs have also backed attempts to help homeowners lumbered with the cost of replacing faulty cladding in the wake of the disaster. Downing Street last week claimed that Steve McPartland's amendment to the Fire Safety Bill - which returns to the Commons tomorrow- would 'slow things down' as it introduces new rules governing repairs to high-rise homes. It comes after the public inquiry into the Grenfell disaster heard last month how a technical manager at the tower's cladding supplier told staff that poor fire test results on the product needed to be kept 'very confidential'. The request was sent in capital letters in 2010 by French national Claude Wehrle, a manager of cladding giant Arconic who has refused to come to Britain to give evidence to the inquiry on the London blaze. A sales director, Guy Scheidecker, responded 'this shouldn't even have been mentioned' - causing Claude Schmidt, the president of the corporation's French arm, to admit the email suggests customers had been misled. When asked by the inquiry's chief counsel Richard Millett QC why 'deception was being practised on your watch', he said he could not explain it. The Grenfell Tower Inquiry heard that Arconic's cladding panels - polyethylene (PE) panels - formed the system used at the tower in North Kensington and have been blamed for the rapid spread of the fire which killed 72. It also emerged that multinational corporation Arconic did not alert customers to the dangers of one of its products following a huge fire in Bucharest in 2009 because nobody died in the blaze. LONDON, March 2, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- LiteForex was recognised as the "Best ECN Broker, Africa", "Best Copy Trading Platform, Southeast Asia" and "Best Retail Forex Trading Platform, MENA" by Global Brands Magazine during the 2020 Forex Awards Program. LiteForex was chosen by Global Brands Magazine's jury among tough competition and was recognized for being a reliable Forex trading platform across many continents. The Global Brand Awards is an annual event held by Global Brands Magazine (GBM), an international publication headquartered in the UK. The award aims to recognize global brands achieving excellence in performance across a broad range of sectors while keeping its readers updated on key trends surrounding the branding world. LiteForex was evaluated based on customer service, satisfaction, innovation, consistent growth and quality of service. Aleksey Smirnov, CEO at LiteForex commented: "For over 15 years, LiteForex has been providing its clients with the opportunity to trade in the financial markets. The broker maintains a leading position in this area. I confidently declare that at the moment we have one of the best platforms for trading and copying trades, and I am glad that it has got such a prestigious award. Our team is constantly developing and improving the platform, working on new services and keeping the already functioning one up to date. 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Each year, GBM develops a series of awards for companies that stood out having a unique vision, exceptional service, innovative solutions and consumer-centric products, among their industry leaders. About Global Brand Awards: Global Brand Awards honours brands for their excellence in performance and rewards companies across different sectors for the quality of their services. The Brand Awards highlight accomplishments of organizations that have performed remarkably well in the field of Finance, Education, Hospitality, Automobiles, Lifestyle, Education, Real Estate, Technology and several more. The GBM Brand Awards recognize key players who make progress toward excellence by providing a platform to acknowledge their efforts. In addition, GBM strives to create awareness concerning the significance of such organizations and reward them for their notable efforts with the ultimate global recognition. SOURCE Global Brands Publications Limited Pune, India, March 02, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- According to the report, Off-Highway Vehicle Engine market size is projected to reach USD 15,809 Million by 2027. Off-Highway Vehicle Engine Market was worth USD 12,509 million in 2019 and will exhibit a CAGR of 7.1% during the forecast period. Implementation of agriculture mechanization programs in developing nations will act as a powerful growth driver for this market. Developing economies are heavily dependent on agriculture, and with their growing populations, the need for high farm yield is dire. To meet this challenge, governments and international organizations have been initiating various schemes to promote mechanization in the agriculture sector. For example, in India, under the Sub-Mission on Agricultural Mechanization, the government released INR 553crore to state governments in August 2020 to boost inclusive growth and productivity in agriculture through mechanization. Similarly, in Africa, the African Union is aggressively promoting the adoption of sustainable mechanization across the continent under its Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Program. Off-highway vehicles such as tractors and harvesters are thus expected to play a pivotal role in augmenting agricultural productivity in these regions. Request a Sample Copy of the Research Report: https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/enquiry/request-sample-pdf/off-highway-vehicle-engine-market-103589 Increasing Focus on Sustainable Engines to Feed Market Growth With traditional diesel engines used in heavy equipment emerging as major polluters, off-highway vehicle engine manufacturers are focusing on developing sustainable engines. For example, in April 2020, Komatsu Mining Corp. field tested its P&H 2650CX Hybrid Shovel, which exhibited the machines ability to lower fuel consumption by 40-50% compare to hydraulic excavators, while retaining its production capacity. Some companies are also innovating new technologies to optimize electrification of electric and hybrid vehicles in agriculture. Danfoss Editron, for instance, launched a novel 3D configurator in February 2020 that enables users to design their own electric or hybrid engine, including choices of drivetrain models and battery packs, as per individual requirements. Introduction of smart technologies in engine designing is thus expected to boost the off-highway vehicle engine market growth. Asia Pacific dominated the off-highway vehicle engine market share in 2019 with a market size of USD 8,754.0 million and the region is expected to lead the market during the forecast period as well. The major reason for the regions commanding position is the large-scale infrastructure development projects being initiated in the region, such as Indias Bharatmala and Sagarmala projects and Chinas Shanghai Urban Rail Transit Expansion. In Europe, the primary growth drivers will be the surging demand for commercial construction activities and rising uptake of heavy-duty agricultural machinery. On the other hand, the market in North America is anticipated to perform impressively owing to increasing government expenditure on municipal infrastructures. Click here to get the short-term and long-term impacts of COVID-19 on this Market. Please visit: https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/off-highway-vehicle-engine-market-103589 Asia Pacific to Hold Lions Share on the Back of Massive Infrastructural Development Projects Major companies in the off-highway vehicle engine market are tuning their strategies to align their offerings with the growing demand for electrified heavy-duty vehicles used in core sectors such as agriculture and construction. This strategy by key players is aimed at future-proofing their products in light of the heightening need for fuel- and energy-efficient machines and vehicles. Quick Buy - Off-Highway Vehicle Engine Market Research Report: https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/checkout-page/103589 September 2020: Proterra introduced the H Series battery packs, its customizable energy storage system for heavy-duty commercial vehicles. The new battery pack is narrow and compact, allowing it to be fitted comfortably into standard truck frame rails along with increased flexibility. March 2020: Komatsu released its PC30E-5 electric mini excavator in Japan, expanding its portfolio of electric forklift trucks and hybrid construction machinery. The excavator delivers the same output as a conventional internal combustion engine, while having zero exhaust emissions and significantly lower noise levels. Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. (Mumbai, India) AGCO Corporation (Georgia, US) Komatsu Ltd. (Tokyo, Japan) Kubota Corporation (Osaka, Japan) Cummins Inc. (Indiana, US) JC Bamford Excavators Ltd. (Rocester, UK) Hitachi Construction Machinery Co. Ltd. (Tokyo, Japan) Deere & Company (Illinois, US) Deutz AG (Cologne, Germany) Caterpillar Inc. (Illinois, US) Have Any Query? Ask Our Experts: https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/enquiry/speak-to-analyst/off-highway-vehicle-engine-market-103589 Global Off-Highway Vehicle Engine Market Segmentation: By Power Output: Construction: Less than 100, 101-200, 201-400, More than 400 Agriculture: Less than 30, 31-50, 51-80, 81-140, More than 140 By Fuel Type: Diesel Gasoline Others By Geography: North America (USA, Canada) Europe (UK, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Scandinavia and Rest of Europe) Asia Pacific (Japan, China, India, Australia, Southeast Asia and Rest of Asia Pacific) Latin America (Brazil, Mexico, Rest of Latin America) Middle East & Africa (South Africa, GCC, and Rest of Middle East & Africa) Get your Customized Research Report: https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/enquiry/customization/off-highway-vehicle-engine-market-103589 Have a Look at Related Reports: Automotive Sunroof Market Size , Share & Industry Analysis, By Material Type (Glass, Fabric), By Product Type (Pop-Up, Inbuilt, Tilt & Slide, Top Mount, Panoramic), By Vehicle Type (Passenger Cars, Light Commercial Vehicles, Electric Vehicles), and Regional Forecast, 2019-2026 Locomotive Market Size , Share & COVID-19 Impact Analysis, By Technology Type (IGBT Module, GTO Thyristor, and SiC Module), By Propulsion Type (Diesel and Electric) and Regional Forecasts, 2020-2027 Automotive Electric Turbocharger Market Size , Share & COVID-19 Impact Analysis, By Fuel Type (Gasoline and Diesel), by Vehicle Type (Passenger Car, Light Commercial Vehicle, and Heavy Commercial Vehicle) and Regional Forecast, 2019-2027 Automotive ECall Market Size , Share & COVID-19 Impact Analysis, By Type (Automatic and Manual), By Vehicle Type (Passenger Cars Light Commercial Vehicle and Heavy Commercial Vehicles) and Regional Forecasts, 2019-2026 Automotive V2X Market Size , Share & COVID-19 Impact Analysis, By Connectivity Type (DSRC and Cellular), By Vehicle Type (Passenger Car and Commercial Vehicle), By Communication Type (Vehicle-to-Infrastructure (V2I), Vehicle-to-Vehicle (V2V), Vehicle-to-Pedestrian (V2P), and Others), and Regional Forecasts, 2020-2027 About Us: Fortune Business Insights offers expert corporate analysis and accurate data, helping organizations of all sizes make timely decisions. 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Ltd. 308, Supreme Headquarters, Survey No. 36, Baner, Pune-Bangalore Highway, Pune - 411045, Maharashtra, India. (TNS) - Many COVID vaccination registration and information websites at the federal, state and local levels violate disability rights laws, hindering the ability of blind people to sign up for a potentially lifesaving vaccine, a KHN investigation has found.Across the country, people who use special software to make the web accessible have been unable to sign up for the vaccines or obtain vital information about COVID-19 because many government websites lack required accessibility features. At least 7.6 million people in the U.S. over age 16 have a visual disability.WebAIM, a nonprofit web accessibility organization, checked COVID vaccine websites gathered by KHN from all 50 states and the District of Columbia. On Jan. 27, it found accessibility issues on nearly all of 94 webpages, which included general vaccine information, lists of vaccine providers and registration forms.In at least seven states, blind residents said they were unable to register for the vaccine through their state or local governments without help. Phone alternatives, when available, have been beset with their own issues, such as long hold times and not being available at all hours like websites.Even the federal Centers for Disease Control and Preventions Vaccine Administration Management System, which a small number of states and counties opted to use after its rocky rollout, has been inaccessible for blind users.Those problems violate the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, which established the right to communications in an accessible format, multiple legal experts and disability advocates said. The federal Americans with Disabilities Act, a civil rights law that prohibits governments and private businesses from discriminating based on disability, further enshrined this protection in 1990.Doris Ray, 72, who is blind and has a significant hearing impairment, ran into such issues when she tried to sign up for a vaccine last month with the CDCs system, used by Arlington County in Virginia. As the outreach director for the ENDependence Center of Northern Virginia, an advocacy center run by and for people with disabilities, she had qualified for the vaccine because of her in-person work with clients.When she used screen-reading technology, which reads a websites text aloud, the drop-down field to identify her county did not work. She was unable to register for over two weeks, until a colleague helped her.This is outrageous in the time of a public health emergency, that blind people arent able to access something to get vaccinated, Ray said.Mark Riccobono, president of the National Federation of the Blind, wrote to the U.S. Health and Human Services Department in early December, laying out his concerns on vaccine accessibility.A national emergency does not exempt federal, state, and local governments from providing equal access, he wrote.Dr. Robert Redfield, who was then leading the CDC, responded that the interim vaccine playbook for health departments included a reminder of the legal requirements for accessible information.CDC spokesperson Jasmine Reed said in an email that VAMS is compliant with federal accessibility laws and that the agency requires testing of its services.But more than two months into a national vaccine campaign, those on the ground report problems at all levels.Some local officials who use VAMS are aware of the ongoing problems and blame the federal government. Arlington Assistant County Manager Bryna Helfer said that because VAMS is run by the federal government the county cannot access the internal workings to troubleshoot the system for blind residents.Connecticut Department of Public Health spokesperson Maura Fitzgerald said the state was aware of many accessibility issues with VAMS. She said it had staffed up its call center to handle the problems and was working with the federal government to improve VAMS and enable the functionality that was promised.Deanna OBrien, president of the National Federation of the Blind of New Hampshire, said she had heard from blind people unable to use the system. New Hampshires health department did not answer KHN questions about the problems.Blind people are particularly vulnerable to contracting the COVID virus because they often cannot physically distance themselves from others.When I go to the grocery store, I do not have the option of walking around and not being near a person, said Albert Elia, a blind attorney who works with the San Francisco-based TRE Legal Practice on accessibility cases. I need a person at the store to assist me in shopping.There is no standardized way to register for a COVID vaccine nationwide or fix the online accessibility problems. Some states use VAMS; some states have centralized online vaccination registration sites; others have a mix of state-run and locally run websites, or leave it all to local health departments or hospitals. Ultimately, state and local governments are responsible for making their vaccination systems accessible, whether they use the VAMS system or not.Once those portals open, its a race to see who can click the fastest, Riccobono said. We dont have time to do things like file a lawsuit, because, at the end of the day, we need to fix it today.Common programming failures that make sites hard to use for the visually impaired included text without enough contrast to distinguish words from the pages background and images without alternative text explaining what they showed, the WebAIM survey showed. Even worse, portions of the forms on 19 states pages were built so that screen readers couldnt decipher what information a user should enter on search bars or vaccine registration forms.The new vaccine pages had more errors than states main coronavirus pages but slightly fewer than state government websites in general, said WebAIM Associate Director Jared Smith.In Alameda County, California, when Bryan Bashin, 65, who is blind and CEO of the LightHouse for the Blind and Visually Impaired in San Francisco, tried to sign up on Feb. 9 for his vaccine appointment, he encountered multiple hurdles. The appointments slipped away. That night he received an email from the city of Berkeley offering vaccinations. But after two hours struggling with its inaccessible website, all the slots were again taken, he said in an email.He was only able to get an appointment after his sighted sister signed him up and has since received his first shot.Its an awful bit of discrimination, one as stinging as anything Ive experienced, Bashin said.Susan Jones, a blind 69-year-old in Indianapolis, had to rely on the Aira app, which allows a sighted person to operate her computer remotely, when she tried to register for her vaccine appointment.I resent that the assumption is that a sighted fairy godmother ought to be there at all times, said Sheela Gunn-Cushman, a 49-year-old also in Alameda County, who also had to rely on Aira to complete preregistration for a vaccine.Emily Creasy, 23, a visually impaired woman in Polk County, Oregon, said she tried unsuccessfully for a month to make the scheduling apparatus work with her screen reader. She finally received her first shot after her mother and roommate helped her.Even Sachin Dev Pavithran, 43, who is blind and executive director of the U.S. Access Board, an independent agency of the federal government that works to increase accessibility, said he struggled to access vaccine registration information in Logan, Utah.The Indiana Health Department, Public Health Division of Berkeley and Oregons Polk County Public Health did not respond to requests for comment. Utahs Bear River Health Department did not answer questions on the issue.After Alameda County received complaints from users that its site was not compatible with screen readers, officials decided to move away from its preregistration technology, Health Department spokesperson Neetu Balram said in mid-February. The county has since switched to a new form.If vaccine accessibility issues are not fixed across the country, though, lawsuits could come next, Elia said. Members of the blind community recently won landmark lawsuits against Dominos Pizza and the Winn-Dixie grocery chain after being unable to order online.And, Elia said, this is not ordering a pizza this is being able to get a potentially lifesaving vaccine.___(Kaiser Health News (KHN) is a national health policy news service. It is an editorially independent program of the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation which is not affiliated with Kaiser Permanente.)2021 Kaiser Health News. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. Fillogic helps retailers thrive in the new normal by offering unmatched logistics services such as forward-staging inventory, receiving and fulfilling high-demand products, and unlocking expedited shipping, including same-day, for ground prices. Fillogic, the Logistics-as-a-Service platform for retailers, announced today it has raised $2.5 million in seed round funding led by James McCann, Chairman and CEO of Food Retail Ventures who will be joining the Fillogic Board. Additional investors include Jamestown LP, GroundBreak Ventures, Revelry Ventures Partners, XRC Labs, Green Egg Ventures, and other strategic angels including Sandy Sigal. This brings the companys total funds raised to $3.5 million to date. We started Fillogic to transform the traditional retail ecosystem into an integrated logistics network that reaches the modern consumer wherever they are, said Bill Thayer, Co-Founder and Co-CEO of Fillogic. Fillogic Hubs at mall properties provide retailers with disproportionately lower cost logistics services, while enabling retailers to maximize the utilization of their assets - stores, inventory, and people - to unlock a competitive advantage. Fillogic helps retailers thrive in the new normal by offering unmatched logistics services such as forward-staging inventory, receiving and fulfilling high-demand products, and unlocking expedited shipping, including same-day, for ground prices. said Rob Caucci, Co-founder and Co-CEO of Fillogic. The seed round of funding will expand the Fillogic Hub Network nationwide to key strategic markets in the Mid-Atlantic, Atlanta, Los Angeles, Miami, Dallas, Phoenix and San Francisco. The funding will also support team growth and further development of its platform, including its Delivery Partner Network and proprietary routing technology. The company has experienced phenomenal growth with revenue gains in 2021 outpacing all of 2020. Food Retail Ventures is excited to partner with Rob and Bill on the journey to make Fillogic an indispensable part of our mall infrastructure. As ecommerce sales continue to grow in importance, no other company enables retailers to manage both inbound and outbound orders from their stores via a seamless integration with the parcel networks said James McCann Chairman and CEO. As technology continues to rapidly transform the retail landscape, Fillogic is on a mission to help retailers not just survive but thrive in their communities. Founded in 2018, Fillogic is based in New York City and operates micro distribution hubs across the Northeast region including in Connecticut, New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. For more information, visit Fillogic.com. About Fillogic Fillogic is a NYC-based technology company dedicated to maximizing efficiencies for Retailers and freight delivery networks via mall-based micro distribution hubs. The company was co-founded by Bill Thayer, a senior retail and logistics executive with more than 30 years of experience and positions ranging from COO/CIO at Loehmann's, CLO at C21 Stores, to technology consultant for Macy's, Barneys and more, and Rob Caucci, a serial tech entrepreneur with experience at top companies ranging from Danone to Booz Allen Hamilton, who also co-founded PijonBox, the subscription care package box for college students. About Food Retail Ventures Food Retail Ventures has invested in thirty of the most exciting early stage technology companies in the food and retail verticals. For more information, visit foodretailventures.com. Plant&Co aggressively pursuing franchising strategy for YamChops brand to drive the sale of plant-based & vegan foods throughout Canada and the United States Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - March 2, 2021) - Plant&Co. Brands Ltd. (CSE: VEGN) (FSE: VGP) (OTC Pink: VGANF) ("Plant&Co" or the "Company"), a modern health and wellness company curating delicious plant-based foods, is pleased to announce plans to aggressively expand its reach across North America by franchising the popular YamChopsTM~ Grown Not Raised TM ~ ("YamChops") vegan butcher stores. YamChops, a wholly owned subsidiary of Plant&Co, specializes in the preparation, distribution, and retail sales of over 45 proprietary plant-based meats, chicken, pork, fish, and many other delicious vegan food products. YamChops Logo To view an enhanced version of this logo, please visit: https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/6625/75798_81c2cabec49fa8f8_001full.jpg "We strongly believe a YamChops franchise system that is operated by an experienced entrepreneur or restaurant operator is poised for growth and market leadership due to our first-mover advantage in the emerging plant-based protein and vegan butcher markets," said Shawn Moniz, CEO of Plant&Co. "We have engaged top legal counsel and brought in top consultants with franchise expertise to support our effort of becoming one of the largest plant-based franchises in North America. We are in discussions with several very interested parties and expect those numbers to increase rapidly as we roll out our franchise systems and execute our retail sales strategy. We look forward to sharing YamChops' high-quality plant-based products like Montreal Style 'Steak', Szechuan 'Beef', and Chick*n Schnitzel with the rest of North America." As part of the recent acquisition of YamChops, Plant&Co acquired a franchise program to offer turnkey YamChops franchises including the following: Architectural/construction renderings with leading design firm Systems manuals and training programs Proprietary plant-based food products and recipes Strategic retail sales strategy Earlier YamChops location in Toronto To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/6625/75798_81c2cabec49fa8f8_002full.jpg Plant&Co offers the necessary corporate structure, and financial and technical resources to support individual franchisees and to promote franchise growth throughout North America. The Company has engaged Cassells Brock & Blackwell LLP, a national law firm with one of Canada's most sophisticated franchise law teams. Their dedicated team offers extensive practical experience with all types of growth models assisting both local start-ups and some of the world's largest brands on local and international franchise and related expansion strategies. Plant&Co also brings a history of technology development specializing in e-commerce and online training programs. Interested entrepreneurs can find more information regarding YamChops franchising opportunities by visiting the YamChops website: https://yamchops.com/pages/franchise Once featured on TV's famous Dragons Den, named NOW Magazine Reader's Choice Award for "Best Butcher & Best Deli" in Toronto, and recently recognized in a Wall Street Journal article as a leader in the race for a piece of the faux-meat market, YamChops is North America's first Plant-Based Butcher Shop. For over 12 successful years, it has specialized in the development, preparation, and distribution of plant-based meats and other vegan food products. YamChops has a retail location in the heart of Toronto's food district, a dynamic website, and it enjoys a high demand on five of the most popular food delivery platforms: Uber Eats, Skip the Dishes, Door Dash, Corner Shop and Ritual One, with more still to come! YamChops delicious plant-based food! To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/6625/75798_81c2cabec49fa8f8_003full.jpg Today, plant-based food products have entered the mainstream and are included on shopping lists of many consumers across North America. The sales of plant-based meats in North America, a food category that did not exist a decade ago, grew to almost US $800 million in 2019, up 37 per cent from 2017. According to research firm Meticulous Market Research the global plant-based food market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 11.9% from 2020 to 2027 to reach $74.2 billion by 2027. The Company announces that it has granted incentive stock options to purchase a total of 500,000 common shares at an exercise price of $0.52 per share for a period of two years to the chief financial officers in accordance with the provisions of its stock option plan. About Plant&Co Plant&Co. Brands Ltd. (CSE: VEGN) (FSE: VGP) (OTC Pink: VGANF) is a modern health and wellness company curating delicious plant-based foods. For more information please visit: www.PlantandCo.com. About YamChops YamChops is a plant-based butcher shop based in Toronto, Ontario. Vegans, vegetarians, flexitarians and even meat enthusiasts love visiting the beautifully curated shop located in the heart of Toronto's food district. Whether customers sample YamChops' Tunaless "Tuna", Chick*n Schnitzel, Szechuan "Beef", Montreal Style "Steak", or browse their vegan grocery market assisted by its knowledgeable staff, customers will have an unforgettable experience at YamChops vegan butcher shop. YamChops' mission is to provide extraordinary plant-based foods and provide extraordinary service to its customers, with a vision to expand its plant based culinary experience and make YamChops the destination of choice for all consumers. For more product information please visit: www.YamChops.com. About Holy Crap Foods Inc. At Holy Crap Foods Inc. our mission is to create products that create a healthy gut through simple, quality ingredients that ultimately feed the connection between gut and mind. Holy Crap is an organic breakfast cereal for today's consumer that expects their food to work hard for them. Our great tasting cereal helps maintain a healthy gut which creates a happy mind. For more information on the healthy and high-quality breakfast cereals visit: www.HolyCrap.com. For additional information, please contact: Shawn Moniz Chief Executive Officer Plant & Co. Brands Ltd. ir@plantandco.com 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 press release, which has been prepared by management. Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements All statements in this press release, other than statements of historical fact, are "forward-looking information" with respect to the Company within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Forward-looking information is frequently characterized by words such as "plan", "expect", "project", "intend", "believe", "anticipate", "estimate" and other similar words, or statements that certain events or conditions "may" or "will" occur. "Forward-looking information" in this news release includes information about the expectations, intentions, plans and future actions of the Company and YamChops. Forward-looking statements are based on the opinions and estimates at the date the statements are made and are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those anticipated in the forward-looking statements including, but not limited to delays or uncertainties with regulatory approvals, including that of the CSE. There are uncertainties inherent in forward-looking information, including factors beyond the Company's control. There are no assurances that the business plans for Plant&Co. or YamChops described in this news release will come into effect on the terms or time frame described herein. The Company undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking information if circumstances or management's estimates or opinions should change except as required by law. The reader is cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/75798 Amateur jockey Rob James enjoyed his finest moment in the saddle when partnering the Gordon Elliott-trained Milan Native to success at last year's Cheltenham Festival, but his reputation lays in ruins today after a video emerged online of him sitting on a dead horse. James has issued an apology over the disgusting clip, which shows him sitting on top of a dead horse on an unidentified gallop while three other people are shown in close proximity to the deceased five-year-old mare, with the video understood to have been taken on April 30, 2016. Laughs are audible when James sits on the horse before then patting her as he dismounts with the eight-second video ending and the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board (IHRB) have immediately launched an investigation into the matter this morning. This latest Irish racing controversy comes hot on the heels of Elliott being widely condemned after a photo of the leading jumps trainer sitting on a dead horse, while on the phone, at his gallops in 2019 emerged on social media on Saturday. Expand Close Horseracing authorities are investigating footage of Irish jockey Rob James sitting on a dead horse, just days after a separate image of horse trainer Gordon Elliott emerged / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Horseracing authorities are investigating footage of Irish jockey Rob James sitting on a dead horse, just days after a separate image of horse trainer Gordon Elliott emerged James, who has partnered 235 point-to-point winners to date, apologised for his "wholly inappropriate and disrespectful" while admitting that he was "heartbroken" by the damage he has caused to the equine industry. The 28-year-old finished fifth aboard the Colin Bowe-trained King Of Brazil in a Punchestown bumper yesterday and it was with the Wexford trainer, based locally to him, that he commenced his career at the age of 16. James has enjoyed considerable success for leading point-to-point handlers Donnchadh and Sean Doyle with his first winner between the flags coming in 2012 before being crowned champion novice rider In 2014. He landed a first Western Region title in the 2019-20 season and has partnered some of jump racing's biggest stars in their early days with Shishkin, Lostintranslation and Topofthegame among his many point-to-point mounts. James broke new ground last October when sending out his first winner as a point-to-point trainer, but it is his exploits in the saddle that he is best known for with Milan Native, owned by Michael O'Leary's Gigginstown House Stud, his biggest success. "I have always dreamed of this and it is unbelievable," James said after his sole Cheltenham Festival success last March. "The horse took me everywhere and jumped everywhere. Gordon is a genius and I am just grateful to Gigginstown for giving me the ride. I can't believe it." He would later expand on his friendship with Elliott in an irishracing.com blog: "I know Gordon a long time, wed be friendly enough and I will often school for him if he asks. I was second in the Thyestes Chase last year for Gigginstown and Gordon, on Alpha Des Obeaux." Read More Elliott would describe James as "a great fella" in the wake of Milan Native's Festival triumph, he said: "I am delighted for Rob James, who is a great fella. He is one of the top point-to-point riders and a nice fella too." James had been set to partner Gentle Jolie, trained by Sean Doyle, in the concluding bumper at Gowran Park today before the five-year-old was announced as a non-runner this morning due to "coughing". He now finds himself at the centre of a public outcry, however, and is the latest villain in one of racing's darkest times. The Hong Kong government has started COVID-19 vaccination for priority groups including people over 60 years old on Feb. 26. The picture shows two local officials being vaccinated with Chinese-made Sinovac COVID-19 vaccine. (Song Bilong/The Epoch Times) Hong Kong Man Dies Two Days After Receiving Chinese-Made COVID-19 Vaccine The Hong Kong government reported on Mar. 2 the death of an elderly man, two days after he received a Chinese-made COVID-19 vaccine. The health authorities are still investigating the cause of death to determine if it is connected to the vaccine. Since Feb. 26, the Hong Kong government has started the COVID-19 vaccination for priority and at-risk groups, including people over 60 years old, in the city. Hong Kong local media Apple Daily reported that a 63-year-old man with diabetes was inoculated with the COVID-19 vaccine made by Chinas Sinovac Biotechnology Co., Ltd. on Feb. 26. He developed acute breathing difficulties and died on Feb. 28. The Sinovac COVID-19 vaccine has an efficacy of 50.6 percent, according to media reports. A number of suspected side effects of the vaccine have been reported worldwide, including death. Hong Kong Health officials issued a statement saying that the mans death is still under investigation: At the moment, the causal relationship with the vaccination could not be ascertained. A third of all military personnel are refusing to take the COVID-19 vaccine, and in some units just 30% of enlistees are willing to have a shot, according to a new report. The figure is alarming commanders as the coronavirus pandemic continues to rage across the United States. Personnel who refuse the vaccine will face no repercussions due to a federal law that 'prohibits the mandatory application of medicines within the military that are not fully licensed by the US Food and Drug Administration', The Nation reports. At present, the Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccines have only been granted 'emergency use authorizations' by the FDA. But regulators and officials say the vaccines are safe and, in the case of the Moderna and Pfizer shots, at least 94% effective. The Johnson & Johnson vaccine was 66% effective in trials, but is a single shot rather than two. While it could take years for the shots to become fully licensed by the federal agency, the military may make the vaccine mandatory once that happens. 'Obviously, we're thinking about what happens when they become FDA-approved,' Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby stated on Monday. 'It would change the character of the decision-making process, about whether they could be mandatory or voluntary. But I don't want to get ahead of that process right now.' Some personnel are reluctant to receive the vaccine due to backlash from the military's rushed rollout of an anthrax vaccine back in the 1990s. In 1997, the government made it mandatory for personnel to receive the jab, but 'huge numbers of service members complained of debilitating side effects' and a lengthy legal battle ensued. One in three military members is refusing to take the COVID-19 vaccine, according to a new report in The Nation. In 2004, courts determined that the government had violated federal law by mandating the vaccine when it was revealed that the FDA hadn't 'adequately studied' how effective it was against the inhalation anthrax. Mandatory anthrax vaccinations resumed three years later following 'further testing and study'. Some young enlistees told The New York Times that that history has made them less inclined to receive the shot - even though it occurred almost a generation ago. 'I would prefer not to be the one testing this vaccine,' one 24-year-old service woman told the publication. As The Nation reports, 'the government and military have nasty histories of experimenting on people, including service members, without their knowledge or consent'. In some units, nearly three-quarters of enlistees are turning down the coveted shots- a figure that is alarming commanders given that the coronavirus pandemic continues to rage across the United States.Pictured: Military personnel preparing for the opening of a mass Covid-19 vaccination site in New York last month At the Joint Readiness Training Center at Fort Polk, Louisiana, as little as 30 percent of personnel are accepting the vaccine. Brigadier General David Doyle told The Associated Press that a majority of troops are turning down the shot because they believe it has been rushed. 'They tell me they don't have high confidence in the vaccine because they believe it was done too quickly,' he said. Other military members are refusing the jab because of misinformation and conspiracy theories. According to The Associated Press, one Marine last month refused to receive the vaccine because he believed it implanted a 'tracking device'. There is no merit to that theory. Military officials are hoping to speed up the authorization process in order to make it compulsory. 'I can tell you we're probably going to make it mandatory as soon as we can, just like we do with the flu vaccine,' Vice Admiral Andrew Lewis, commander of the Navy's 2nd Fleet, told the Associated Press. Military commanders concede they still do need to do a better job in debunking misinformation and making personnel feel less like they are experimental guinea pigs. Pictured: Navy Commander Chief Greg A. Vidaurri receives his second COVID-19 vaccine at Branch Health Clinic Washington Navy Yard last month In the meantime, however, they are focusing on messaging. They concede they still do need to do a better job in debunking misinformation and making personnel feel less like they are experimental guinea pigs. There are about 1.3 million active-duty troops, according to The Washington Post. As of mid-February, just 150,000 had received both doses of the COVID-19 vaccine. Still, at around 12 percent, that number is higher than the general population. As of Wednesday, around 25.5 million Americans have been fully vaccinated - about seven percent of the population. I have the fervent belief that Ngo has a lot to offer to the world in her new position. Her team will find in her a great team player and supporter whose passion is all about leading the way to excellence. I am hopeful that she will utilise this opportunity to help the worlds poor and work towards a more accommodative global economy. Yesterday, my friend and former colleague, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, took the reins at the Geneva offices of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), becoming the first female and first black Director General of the multi-lateral organisation. It was a day of fulfilment for her and a day of pride for some of us close to her and indeed all those in the demographics she represents. Yesterday was the culmination of a spirited determination by an individual who believes in herself. It was also a mark of an increasingly liberal and accommodative world in which all persons are treated on the basis of the value they bring to the table, other than other intangible considerations. It was heartwarming that some perverts who wanted the whole world to behave in a parochially primitive way in making this important decision were roundly defeated. They and their insularity have been thrown out, giving way for modernity, and my friend Ngo, as we fondly call her, to triumph. In Ngozi, I believe, the world has gotten the right nut for the bolt that is the WTO. At a time when the global economy is feeling the vibrating impact of a debilitating pandemic, and when mutual suspicion and horse-trading define international trade, the world definitely needs an arbiter who is firm, passionate and a stabiliser. We have that, and more, in Ngozi. Having worked closely with her for four years (2003-2007), and having followed her career and activities since then, it is not difficult to testify positively of Ngozis high performance and excellent leadership. Ngozi and Oby Ezekwesili are two great women that I worked with and benefited immensely from their brilliance, passion, great work ethic and commitment. At a time when there was still conservative misgivings about the leadership of women in our country, Ngozi and Oby served as trail-blazing achievers who silenced misogynistic naysayers. Ngo is one of the key architects of modern Nigeria, especially for her surpassing role in anchoring the economy and championing reforms whose impact changed the Nigerian government and economy for good. Those reforms impacted aspects of our lives from the public service, banking, pensions, and a host of other sectors. To her credit, unlike many a former senior official of her standing, Ngo never went back to destroy what she built. She always moved on. one remarkable attribute of Ngo is her carriage. She exudes confidence, charisma and gravitas. She never looked on herself as a woman, which makes it easy for everyone to see her as a leader. She is also not just an effective manager of human resources, or your typical bossy slave driver; she is a worker herself. Ngozi works every bit of her time. She is an exceptional manager who has mastered the art of insisting on the right thing, in the right way. She has the gift of identifying steps that need to be taken and challenges that need to be fixed, and would invariably get them fixed. Beyond her person, Ngo knows how to lead you to where you want to go, and where you ought to be as well. She is, without doubt, a shining example of amazing selflessness. I saw this at close range with the support she offered us in building the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), especially during our bid to get Nigeria out of the Financial Action Task Forces list of Non-Cooperative States and Territories. However, one remarkable attribute of Ngo is her carriage. She exudes confidence, charisma and gravitas. She never looked on herself as a woman, which makes it easy for everyone to see her as a leader. She is also not just an effective manager of human resources, or your typical bossy slave driver; she is a worker herself. Ngozi works every bit of her time. Rarely could you find a more hardworking person at that level. As an extremely brilliant person, she engages her team, and fellow senior government officials in dissecting issues beyond emotions and superficial bureaucratic niceties. These made her survive the slippery floors of power and the patriarchal milieu of the Nigerian political space. For a person in a country with sharp ethno-religious divisions, Ngo demonstrated the rare virtue of large-heartedness and accommodation. Unlike what many in her position are wont to do, Ngozi did not surround herself with persons from her southern part of the country, her ethnic group, or religion. I do not know if it was by choice or coincidence, but her personal secretary was a Fauziyya Ahmed, from Kogi State. Her police security attache was Alhaji Musa Abubakar Babura. The senior civil servant supervising her office was Alhaji Haruna Mohammed, from Katsina. For a long time when we were in government, Ngozis personal assistant was a certain Mohammed Yusuf, a Katsina man. But as a mark of genuineness of her intention, she never bragged about it, even at a time when she was ignorantly accused of ethnic chauvinism. There was something unique about Ngos offices; whether as Finance Minister in Nigeria or at the World Bank in Washington DC. There was always a portrait of Sir Ahmadu Bello, the Sardauna of Sokoto, conspicuously displayed. This is yet another oddity for those familiar with the Nigerian socio-political space. One day I asked one of her aides the reason for keeping the picture. Ahmadu Bello, he said, is Ngos personal hero. She adores him, as explained by the aide, for building essential institutions where they were needed. As a product of a university established by the Sardauna, I could identify with the reason. As a trade negotiator, Ngos other skills I admire would come in handy. She is an exceptional crisis manager in both her personal and official life. She wades into the toughest of situations and almost always comes out with great results, through her stoic and persuasive engagements. Her remarkable communication skills helped her in those instances, as they stand to do in this new task. And if theres any woman who possesses the rare ability to make her case with lucidity and tact, heres one. As a person, Ngo is comfortable with the high and mighty, the lowly and poor. Her humanity and genuine concern for the poor and vulnerable always manifest in her words and actions. In the aftermath of the Chibok girls kidnap, Ngo would often speak to me about it and what could be done about those girls and other vulnerable girls in dangerous places like them. Ngozis integrity is out of the ordinary. She is a woman of integrity in private and in public. She would always ensure that whatever she does or says is what she could defend anywhere. She also keeps her words in whatever she commits herself to doing. As a person, Ngo is comfortable with the high and mighty, the lowly and poor. Her humanity and genuine concern for the poor and vulnerable always manifest in her words and actions. In the aftermath of the Chibok girls kidnap, Ngo would often speak to me about it and what could be done about those girls and other vulnerable girls in dangerous places like them. We must insist, she would argue, that we do not fall into the hands of Boko Haram by ensuring that access to education is not denied to children of the poor in rural schools. Ngo also lived a decent, humble life. Her living condition, dress or what she eats are never different from the ordinary. Visitors to her house get served the same simple drinks and meals, the favourite snack being suya and peanuts. I have the fervent belief that Ngo has a lot to offer to the world in her new position. Her team will find in her a great team player and supporter whose passion is all about leading the way to excellence. I am hopeful that she will utilise this opportunity to help the worlds poor and work towards a more accommodative global economy. As I use this opportunity to congratulate my dear sister and friend, and wish her Godspeed in this new challenge, I equally hope that Nigeria will benefit from her again. ADVERTISEMENT Nuhu Ribadu, the founding chairman of Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), writes from Abuja. A 47-year-old man arrested in New Jersey last year after spending 17 years evading charges he sexually assaulted five young boys in Canada now faces child pornography charges in the United States, authorities said. Parthasarthie Kapoor, who had been on Quebecs 10-most wanted fugitive list since 2003, was arrested in Jan. 21, 2020 at Newark Liberty International Airport as he attempted to fly to India. U.S. authorities held Kapoor, who is originally from the Bronx, New York, on a provisional arrest warrant at the request of Canadian authorities. When they searched his luggage, they found five cell phones, acting U.S. Attorney Rachael A. Honig said Monday. A subsequent forensic examination of one of the cellular phones revealed numerous videos of children being sexually abused, Honig said in a statement. In a criminal complaint filed Feb. 25, an investigator with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security said one of Kapoors phones contained at least eight videos of children being sexually assaulted. Investigators were able to identify one of the child victims in the videos and determined Kapoors phone was associated with two phone numbers that were utilized by (the victim), according to the complaint. Kapoor appeared Monday in U.S. District Court via videoconference and was ordered held on the U.S. charges, Honig said. The status of the Canadian charges was not immediately clear on Tuesday morning. Thank you for relying on us to provide the journalism you can trust. Please consider supporting NJ.com with a subscription. Anthony G. Attrino may be reached at tattrino@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @TonyAttrino. Find NJ.com on Facebook. Lucknow: A 50-year-old man was allegedly shot dead in Uttar Pradesh's Hathras district by an accused out on bail in a case of molestation lodged in 2018 against the victim's daughter, police said on Tuesday. "The incident took place in Nozarpur village of Sasani area in Hathras on Monday afternoon when the daughters of Ambrish Sharma (50) had gone to a temple, where the wife and aunt of accused Gaurav Sharma were present. The women had heated arguments with each other after which both Gaurav and Ambrish also reached there," Hathras Superintendent of Police Vineet Jaiswal said. shot dead Both Gaurav and Ambrish also had a verbal duel after which the former called some other members of his family and shot Ambrish in a fit of rage, the SP said. Ambrish was rushed to the hospital where he was declared brought dead, the SP added. The victim had lodged a case of molestation of his daughter against Gaurav two and a half years ago and had also gone to jail. He said an FIR has been registered in this matter against Gaurav Sharma, Lalit Sharma, Rahitash Sharma, Nikhil Sharma and two others. Of them, Lalit has been arrested. Photo The FIR was lodged under various sections of the Indian Penal Code including 302 (murder) based on a complaint of the victim's daughter. In the FIR, it was alleged that the complainant was there in her potato field with her father Ambrish when Gaurav came in a white car with his accomplice and asked Ambrish to take back the case lodged against him while also urging him to get the matter settled with his daughter. "Before my father could say anything, he opened fire on him. We rushed him to the hospital, where he died," the girl said in the FIR. By a vote of 64-33, the Senate on Monday night confirmed Miguel Cardona as the new Education Secretary under the Biden administration. He will replace Betsy DeVos, who led the Education Department for four years under former President Donald Trump. ABC News reported that Miguel Cardona would lead the Education Department as schools across the nation try to leap and return to safe and face-to-face instruction. The first Latino to serve as education commissioner in Connecticut would help President Joe Biden in safely bringing back students and educators to the schools amid the COVID-19 pandemic. He would play a critical role in aiding school districts as they try to recover from a crisis that put all of their failures in the spotlight. Read also: CDC Issues Clearest Guidelines Yet for Safely Reopening Schools Amid Pandemic Miguel Cardona's Goals as Education Secretary During his confirmation hearing before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, Cardona said returning to the classroom safely was a top priority, including a goal to get a majority of K-8 students back to school. He added that he plans to address "inequities head on" and engage with "the vast, diverse community of people who have a stake in education." Cardona further noted that he recognized the frustration, distrust, and fear on this matter. But as education secretary, he vowed to do everything in his capability to create and roll out a strategy for reopening schools, including communication on how to put them back into operation safely, increased surveillance testing for educators, and prioritization of educators for vaccination. NPR reported that before being nominated as Education Secretary, Cardona served as Connecticut's education commissioner for the past year and a half. He also worked in public school as a fourth-grade teacher, principal, and assistant superintendent in Meriden, Connecticut. Cardona earlier argued that schools should reopen amid the coronavirus pandemic to address the equity gaps from growing wider. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has already released a road map to get students back into the classrooms safely. According to an NBC News report, the agency emphasized that wearing masks, practicing social distancing and other mitigation strategies were necessary to mitigate the spread of the COVID-19. However, vaccinating teachers was not included in the CDC fundamentals before reopening the schools. During the confirmation hearing, Miguel Cardona cited as an "example" some schools in the country that had been able to reopen safely while following mitigation strategies. ABC News reported that Cardona's confirmation comes as the Senate begins considering legislation that will provide nearly $130 billion for K-12 schools to reopen. Some lawmakers are not in favor of the large sum for schools following two previous relief packages. Miguel Cardona's Scope of Authority NBC News reported that Miguel Cardona has limited authority to force schools to reopen. Still, he would play a central role in achieving Biden's goal to make most elementary schools operate five days weekly within his first 100 days. Cardona will also be tasked to guide schools and share the best practices on how to teach amid the COVID-19 pandemic. According to Walden University, the vast majority of school governance is left to the states and individual school districts, noting that the Secretary of Education is not a school manager but a facilitator. A facilitator who would ensure that funds are distributed as intended and the needed research is presented to policymakers. NPR reported that Cardona echoed the Biden administration's position that not assessing the students and their performance level would be difficult for the administration to provide targeted support and resource allocation. Reports said Miguel Cardona is the first Latino to lead the U.S. Department of Education. Read more: Florida Teachers Sue State Over School Reopening WATCH: Senate Confirms Miguel Cardona as Education Secretary - From CBS News The Apostle Islands are a group of 22 islands located in the extreme northern part of the US state of Wisconsin, just off the edge of Bayfield Peninsula on the western waters of Lake Superior. The majority of the islands in the group are situated in Ashland County except for the islands of Eagle, Raspberry, Sand, and York which are located in Bayfield County. Covering a total land area of 281 km2, the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore comprises 21 Apostle islands along with a 19 km coastline strip on the Bayfield Peninsula. All the islands in the group are acclaimed for their high red sandstone cliffs as well as for the numerous sea caves and arches that form elegant ice-structures during the winter season. The Islands Map showing the Apostle Islands. The 22 islands in the Apostle Island archipelago are Madeline, Stockton, Gull, Eagle, Outer, Oak, Sand, Basswood, Bear, Michigan, Hermit, Cat, Otter, Manitou, Rocky, Long, Ironwood, York, Raspberry, Devils, South Twin, and North Twin Islands. Madeline Island is the largest among all the Apostle Islands and is the only island that is not a part of the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore. The island served as a spiritual center for the Indigenous Chippewa people of Lake Superior. The island has a permanent population of about 302 people, which significantly increases during the tourism season, and is also the only island in the archipelago that is open for private ownerships and commercial development purposes. The islands only town, La Pointe, located on the western part of the island, is also considered to be one of the oldest permanent settlements of the state of Wisconsin. Madeline Island can be accessed by car ferry services which run from the Wisconsin town of Bayfield to the island. Long Island is part of Sanborn town while the other islands of Ashland County are part of La Pointe town. The four islands of Bayfield County are part of the Bayfield and Russell towns. Brief History Red sandstone caves on Devils Island, Apostle Islands, Wisconsin. Geologists have estimated that the red sandstones of the Apostle Island archipelago were formed more than 600 million years ago during the late Precambrian era. The islands have faced repeated glaciations, with the most recent one being approximately 12,000 years ago. Thereafter, as a result of the deglaciation and the subsequent rise of the lake levels, the Apostle Islands were separated from the Bayfield Peninsula to form the archipelago. The islands were named by Jesuit missionaries in the honor of the 12 Apostles. First Nations peoples, mainly the Anishinaabe, were the first to inhabit these islands. For several centuries, the islands were inhabited by Indigenous nomadic Ojibwa people, who developed innovative agricultural techniques on and around the islands. After the arrival of the Europeans, the islands became a center for fur trade operations. The Apostle Islands serve as a popular recreation area for kayaking, camping, sailing, fishing, and scuba diving. There are numerous historic lighthouses scattered throughout the islands. Some of the famous lighthouses include the New Michigan Island Lighthouse, Devils Island Lighthouse, Sand Island Lighthouse, and Raspberry Island Lighthouse. Several sea caves are located along the shores of the Apostle Islands, which are visited by many tourists during the winter season, to witness the magnificent frozen structures. Flora And Fauna Ducks on an island in the Apostle archipelago. The Apostle Islands are mainly covered by a mixture of hardwood and conifer forests and more than 800 species of plants have been recorded in the National Lakeshore region. The important trees that are found on the island include white cedar, white spruce, balsam fir, birch, aspen, and tamarack. Some of the notable amphibian and reptile species that are found here are the gray treefrog, American toad, northern leopard frog, spotted salamander, northern red-bellied snake, and the common garter snake. The lakeshore area serves as an important nesting and breeding habitat for numerous avian species like herring gulls, cormorants, herons, swallows, bald eagles, and piping plover. The significant mammals that are found in the islands are black bears, whitetail deer, snowshoe hare, red squirrels, shrews, mice, etc. Advertisement Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon is fighting for her political life as she slammed 'utterly irresponsible' calls from Opposition MSPs to resign over her handling of the Alex Salmond sexual harassment case after bombshell legal advice appeared to blow holes in her defence. The Scottish Conservatives last night vowed to table a confidence vote in the SNP leader after the papers were published on the eve of her appearance at a hearing into the row over allegations levelled at her predecessor. They showed that the SNP administration knew that the court fight against Mr Salmond brought by the former First Minister in 2018 was doomed three months before he eventually won the case. But they went ahead with the court case anyway, and it ended up with former First Minister Mr Salmond being awarded more than 600,000 in costs and damages. There have been allegations that failing to heed the opinions of lawyers would have amounted to a breach of the ministerial code, a potential resignation matter. Last night it also emerged that evidence by two senior figures backed up many of Mr Salmond's claims about Ms Sturgeon in explosive submissions to the Holyrood inquiry over the botched investigation into complaints about him. Mr Salmond's lawyer Duncan Hamilton and former special adviser Kevin Pringle contradict Ms Sturgeon's submission to a Holyrood inquiry and fuel claims Ms Sturgeon misled the Scottish parliament over what she knew about the harassment claims against Mr Salmond and when. In an extraordinary statement, Ms Sturgeon denied breaking the ministerial code and called Tory moves to call a no-confidence vote during the pandemic 'utterly irresponsible'. She will give her full rebuttal today. A spokeswoman thundered: 'The First Minister will address all of the issues raised - and much more besides - at the committee tomorrow, while the independent adviser on the ministerial code will report in due course. But to call a vote of no confidence in the middle of a pandemic, before hearing a single word of the First Minister's evidence, is utterly irresponsible. 'It is for the public to decide who they want to govern Scotland and - while we continue to fight the Covid pandemic - with the election campaign starting in just 20 days, that is precisely what they will be able to do.' Scottish Justice Secretary Humza Yousaf rushed to Ms Sturgeon's defence, telling BBC Newsnight: 'No10 [Downing Street] are watching this not because they care about women who come forward to make allegations in relation to sexual harassment, but actually because what they want to do is try to weaken Nicola Sturgeon, weaken the SNP, because there have been 22 polls in a row that have shown that support for independence is the settled will of the Scottish people.' 'In terms of the allegations being made about the Scottish government, I have read a number of spurious conspiracy theories which I'm afraid have been completely built on sand. They have been washed away.' The Scottish Conservatives have accused Ms Sturgeon of breaching the ministerial code up to 38 times during the row, with party leader Douglas Ross claiming that the First Minister 'lied to the Scottish Parliament'. A Tory dossier highlights dozens of instances when they say Ms Sturgeon appears to have broken the ministerial code - including accusations of repeatedly misleading the Scottish Parliament about when she first knew of the allegations against Mr Salmond, delaying settling the judicial review despite legal advice, and meeting Mr Salmond on government business without any officials present or records being taken. Gordon Brown claimed that the feud between Ms Sturgeon and Mr Salmond is 'bringing the country down', telling ITV News: 'We're worried about the virus, we're worried about the economic recession, I'm worried about people coming together across the whole of Britain to deal with it, and we've got this feud about who said what when, and on the basis of some very bad behaviour.' Asked if Ms Sturgeon would have to resign if she is found to have broken the ministerial code, the former Prime Minister said: 'If we cannot uphold in public life the highest standards of integrity, and if we cannot trust each other that we will take seriously the vows we make when we go into office, then I think anything goes and it becomes anarchy, and I don't think that's the way forward.' They showed that Ms Sturgeon (pictured yesterday) and the SNP administration knew that its efforts to resist a judicial review brought by Mr Salmond in 2018 over the handling of complaints against him - over which he was exonerated - was likely to fail In six hours of brutal testimony last week, Alex Salmond laid out a case that senior SNP figures conspired to try to force him out of public life over harassment claims Nicola Sturgeon (left) has denied breaking the ministerial code and said she will give her full rebuttal today. The Conservative dossier (right) highlights dozens of instances when Ms Sturgeon appears to have broken the ministerial code What are the key issues in the row engulfing SNP? How and why did the Scottish government mishandle allegations against Alex Salmond? The Scottish government launched an investigation in 2017 after two women made formal complaints against Alex Salmond. He launched legal action against the government's handling of the investigation and won a judicial review in January 2019, receiving 512,000 to cover his legal fees. The parliamentary inquiry is examining how ministers and civil servants conducted the probe. Mr Salmond was charged with 13 counts of sexual assault, including attempted rape, but was acquitted of all charges in March 2020. Mr Salmond has claimed he was the victim of a conspiracy by senior SNP figures to end his role in public life. What did Nicola Sturgeon know and when? Ms Sturgeon originally told MSPs she learned of complaints against Mr Salmond on April 2, 2018, when the pair met at her house. That meeting is crucial as it is unclear whether it was SNP business, or government business - which should have been officially recorded. Peter Murrell, the chief executive of the SNP and Ms Sturgeon's husband, initially said he was not at home, but later revealed that he arrived home during the discussion. He insists he did not ask what they were talking about. Ms Sturgeon has also admitted she 'forgot' about a discussion with Mr Salmond's ex-chief of staff four days earlier where they talked about the issue. The ministerial code says that 'ministers who knowingly mislead the parliament will be expected to offer their resignation to the First Minister'. Ms Sturgeon is facing a separate independent investigation led by James Hamilton, who has to decide if she broke the ministerial code. However, it is thought that she is the final arbiter of whether the code has been breached. Does Mr Salmond have evidence of a conspiracy against him? Mr Salmond has said he is the victim of a 'prolonged, malicious' conspiracy by senior SNP and government figures. He has suggested Mr Murrell was part of efforts to damage him. Ms Sturgeon has demanded he presents hard evidence that is the case. However, he insisted that he is not in the dock and the government has already conceded it acted illegally. Why was Mr Salmond's evidence to the inquiry redacted? Mr Salmond's submission to the inquiry was released online on Monday, but the Crown Office raised concerns with Holyrood about it, asking for redactions. He has raised questions about why the step was taken and whether it amounted to inappropriate interference. Advertisement The Scottish Government launched an investigation into allegations of sexual harassment by Mr Salmond, the former first minister, but it was found to be unlawful, unfair and 'tainted by apparent bias' because of prior contact between the investigating officer and two of the women who complained. Redacted legal advice published by the Scottish Government tonight showed that lawyers advised them in September 2018 that there 'is a real risk that the court may be persuaded by the petitioner's case in respect of the ground of challenge based on ''procedural unfairness''.' On December 6, 2018 legal advisers told ministers that in their view the 'least worst option' would be to concede the petition. They wrote: 'We understand how unpalatable that advice will be, and we do not tender it lightly. 'But we cannot let the respondents sail forth into January's hearing without the now very real risks of doing so being crystal clear to all concerned.' It took the Scottish Government until January 8 for the Government to concede the case - a week before the full judicial review was due to start. Labour's shadow Scotland secretary Ian Murray said: 'It's little wonder the SNP Scottish government tried to block the publication of legal advice. 'They were told they were likely to lose case against the former first minister but made the political decision to continue proceed anyway - losing hundreds of thousands of taxpayers money in the process.' Tonight, Ms Sturgeon's version of events was thrown into doubt after two witnesses backed up Mr Salmond's claim that she misled parliament about a meeting with her predecessor. Written evidence from both Duncan Hamilton - a former SNP MSP and lawyer for Mr Salmond - and the SNP's former communications director Kevin Pringle contradict Ms Sturgeon's statements to parliament and her submission to a Holyrood inquiry. The current First Minister originally told parliament she became aware of the investigation into harassment claims against Mr Salmond when he told her at her Glasgow home on April 2, 2018. She subsequently admitted to having 'forgotten' a meeting four days earlier with his former chief of staff, Geoff Aberdein, in which the investigation was reportedly discussed. Ms Sturgeon said she understood the April 2 meeting to be about party business - the suggestion Mr Salmond was to quit the SNP - rather than government business, to explain why the meeting had not been recorded by a civil servant. But Mr Salmond asserts that there was 'no doubt' it was about the government's investigation of him and, under oath on Friday, told MSPs that three other people knew the meeting on March 29 was to arrange talks about the allegations. He named the witnesses as Mr Aberdein - his former chief of staff who met with Ms Sturgeon in her parliamentary office to allegedly arrange the April 2 meeting - Mr Pringle, and Mr Hamilton. While Mr Aberdein's evidence will not be published by the Holyrood inquiry into the government's unlawful investigation, responses from the other two men reveal they both believe Ms Sturgeon was aware the meeting would be about the government's investigation of Mr Salmond. Mr Hamilton, who attended the meeting as Mr Salmond's legal representative, wrote: 'I was aware that Mr Aberdein was meeting the First Minister at the Scottish Parliament on March 29 2018 for the purpose of discussing the complaints. 'Mr Aberdein made me aware of that meeting and its purpose in advance.' He explained that Mr Aberdein spoke to him after the meeting and had conveyed 'that a further meeting would be arranged to discuss the complaints with the First Minister'. 'That meeting was arranged for 2nd April 2018. I was invited to that meeting and travelled to it along with Mr Salmond and Mr Aberdein,' he wrote. I would further note that the letter received from the Scottish Government was the sole focus of the meeting. Key witnesses contradict Sturgeon's account of key meeting in early 2018 Duncan Hamilton, Mr Salmond's lawyer 'I can confirm that the First Minister did offer to assist. We discussed mediation. My clear recollection is that her words were: 'if it comes to it, I will intervene.' On the April 2 meeting: 'The letter received from the Scottish Government [informing Mr Salmond of the government probe] was the sole focus of the meeting. 'I can also confirm that I was told the name of a complainant by Mr Aberdein in the early part of March 2018... The name of the complainant had been given to Mr Aberdein by a senior government official.' Kevin Pringle, Mr Salmond's former special adviser 'I can confirm from my conversations with Mr Aberdein that he is in no doubt that a complainant's name was shared with him at the meeting. 'I know he was clear that the purpose of the meeting on 29 March 2018 was to discuss the two complaints that had been made against Mr Salmond.' Advertisement 'Further, when we arrived, everyone in the room knew exactly why we were there. No introduction to the subject was needed and no one was in any doubt what we were there to discuss.' Mr Pringle added: 'Based on my contact with Mr Aberdein, I know he was clear that the purpose of the meeting on March 29 2018 was to discuss the two complaints that had been made against Mr Salmond.' Ms Sturgeon has denied the claims, which are being investigated by a separate inquiry led by James Hamilton QC, and has refused to say whether she would resign if found to have broken the ministerial code. Mr Pringle also confirmed Mr Salmond's assertion that the name of one of the women had been revealed to Mr Aberdein, whom he said was in 'no doubt' it had happened. Asked about the suspected leak of a complainer's name during First Minister's Questions last week, Ms Sturgeon replied: 'To the very best of my knowledge, I do not think that happened.' The claim was corroborated by Mr Hamilton, who wrote: 'I can also confirm that I was told the name of a complainant by Mr Aberdein in the early part of March 2018. 'I cannot recall the precise date, but it was very shortly after March 7, the date Mr Salmond received his letter. The name of the complainant had been given to Mr Aberdein by a senior government official. 'I confirm that I am aware of the identity of the government official who gave the name of the complainant to Mr Aberdein. 'The fact that the government official had shared that information with Mr Aberdein was reported to me, and to Kevin Pringle, on a conference call. I had never heard of the individual named, but Mr Pringle had.' MSPs had voiced fury after it emerged Ms Sturgeon could 'dodge' questions today - as the legal advice was not due to be published until after he appearance. Her deputy John Swinney has been accused of treating Holyrood with 'contempt' by dragging his heels about handing over key documents. He previously admitted that lawyers had 'reservations' about continuing to resist the judicial review. However, he insisted that legal advice will show there were 'good public policy arguments and reasonable grounds' for continuing the wrangling. He agreed to release it after he himself faced a no confidence motion. INQUIRY DEMANDS INFORMATION ABOUT SALMOND'S ACCUSATIONS OF EVIDENCE SUPPRESSION Alex Salmond's lawyers and the Scottish Government have both been asked to release further information by the Holyrood inquiry into the unlawful investigation of the former first minister. Towards the end of Mr Salmond's evidence session on Friday, he suggested his lawyers would be 'extremely willing' to provide the committee with documents that have previously been denied to it by the Scottish Government. Speaking under oath, he said there had been an 'undeniable' pattern of non-disclosure and 'deliberate suppression of information that is inconvenient to the Government'. Committee convener Linda Fabiani has now written to David McKie of Levy and McRae to ask him to provide the transcript of the Commission and Diligence - the process used for the recovery of evidence during Mr Salmond's successful legal challenge of the Government's investigation. The committee has also asked for a copy of a witness statement, referenced during the evidence session, in which a government special adviser is alleged to have said they expected to lose the judicial review to Mr Salmond, but 'get him' in the criminal case. The former SNP leader suggested it was an indication that the Government hoped 'the criminal case would ride to the rescue, like the cavalry over the hill, and that somehow the civil case would never be heard'. He also cited evidence released to the committee that the Permanent Secretary - Scotland's most senior civil servant and the decision-maker in the investigation of Mr Salmond - had contacted two of the complainants during the process. Advertisement Scots Tory MSP Murdo Fraser said: 'John Swinney's response to the Scottish Parliament's requests for the legal advice have been a disgrace from start to finish. He is showing contempt for the inquiry committee and the entire Parliament. 'The Deputy First Minister grandstanded about finally providing hand-picked parts of the legal advice, overlooking that he only acted when his job was on the line. 'Whatever he provides may not even be published before the First Minister's evidence session, allowing her to avoid questions on it and dodge scrutiny yet again. 'The Scottish Conservatives will hold a No Confidence vote in the Deputy First Minister this Thursday if he has not respected the will of Parliament by then.' Mr Swinney's defence came in a letter to the Holyrood committee of inquiry ahead of its long-awaited session with Ms Sturgeon today. Reacting to developments, Scottish Tory leader Douglas Ross told BBC Newsnight that Ms Sturgeon 'has misled parliament' and 'lied to the people of Scotland'. 'We have credible witnesses confirming that she was aware of the allegations against Alex Salmond prior to when she previously said she was,' he said. 'And, crucially, a complainant's details were released to Mr Salmond's team. I mean that is just absolutely awful that the women at the heart of this have been so badly let down. And that is before we even look at the absolute waste of taxpayers' money, given that the Scottish government knew months before they finally gave up on their case, that it was doomed to failure.' 'There is now clear corroboration that Nicola Sturgeon has lied to parliament. And we have lost First Ministers of Scotland for far less. She is accused, and there is a huge amount of evidence now that she has misled parliament and misled the people of Scotland.' 'I think we have now calculated over 30 occasions when we believe Nicola Sturgeon has breached the Ministerial Code, a number of occasions when she has lied to parliament, where she has failed to correct the record. This is a damning indictment on her performance as First Minister and how she has led this government.' 'This whole sorry saga is dragging down Scottish politics and the reputation of the Scottish parliament. We need to clear things up and have a fresh start. I believe that can only begin if we see the resignation of the First Minister, who has clearly lied to parliament and the people of Scotland.' Mr Salmond's lawyers and the Scottish Government have also both been asked to release further information by the Holyrood inquiry into the unlawful investigation of the former first minister. Towards the end of Mr Salmond's evidence session on Friday, he suggested his lawyers would be 'extremely willing' to provide the committee with documents that have previously been denied to it by the Scottish Government. Speaking under oath, he said there had been an 'undeniable' pattern of non-disclosure and 'deliberate suppression of information that is inconvenient to the Government'. Committee convener Linda Fabiani has now written to David McKie of Levy and McRae to ask him to provide the transcript of the Commission and Diligence - the process used for the recovery of evidence during Mr Salmond's successful legal challenge of the Government's investigation. Giving evidence to a Holyrood committee yesterday, James Wolffe QC (left) said he had recused himself from key decisions over the handling of allegations against Alex Salmond. John Swinney (right) has been accused of dragging his heels over releasing the legal advice Mr Wolffe was grilled on the eve of the long-awaited appearance by Nicola Sturgeon Scottish Tories accuse SNP of deliberately fixing Sturgeon's committee grilling for same day as the Budget The Scottish Tories have accused the SNP of trying to protect Nicola Sturgeon by fixing her committee grilling for the same day as the Budget. The First Minister is finally set to give her testimony at Holyrood today - with her career on the line. But the showdown could be overshadowed with Rishi Sunak delivering his historic post-Covid Budget on the same day. A Scottish Tory spokesman said: 'The timing of this appearance is certainly very convenient for Nicola Sturgeon. 'During Alex Salmond's evidence last week, the SNP MSPs on the committee embarrassed themselves by trying to run out the clock. It was a hopeless filibuster attempt that failed. 'Now they're clearly trying to give their boss a helping hand by limiting when and how long she appears before the committee. 'At every turn the SNP are trying to shut down scrutiny and cover up what really happened in this sorry affair.' Advertisement The committee has also asked for a copy of a witness statement, referenced during the evidence session, in which a government special adviser is alleged to have said they expected to lose the judicial review to Mr Salmond, but 'get him' in the criminal case. The former SNP leader suggested it was an indication that the Government hoped 'the criminal case would ride to the rescue, like the cavalry over the hill, and that somehow the civil case would never be heard'. He also cited evidence released to the committee that the Permanent Secretary - Scotland's most senior civil servant and the decision-maker in the investigation of Mr Salmond - had contacted two of the complainants during the process. Mr Salmond explained: 'Perhaps the most significant thing about it is that that was the first time that my legal team, I, the committee, or anybody, knew about that. 'It was not disclosed across the judicial review, despite the duty of candour, which was explained to the Government by its own counsel and by Lord Pentland. 'It was not even disclosed in the criminal process, and I will not stray into that, but a specific search warrant was applied on the Government, a year past - October or November - that specifically asked for contact between the permanent secretary and complainants, and that contact was not disclosed even to a search warrant by the Crown Office.' He added: 'The Government ignored the provisions of a search warrant in the criminal case and, despite the impact on the administration of justice, still withheld key documents that should have been put before the jury. 'This committee has been blocked and tackled at every turn, with calculated and deliberate suppression of key evidence.' Describing the disclosure of Permanent Secretary Leslie Evans' involvement as 'almost beyond imagination', Mr Salmond said: 'That is not about the duty of candour; it is a refusal to produce information in the face of a search warrant, which is obstruction of justice. There are consequences for such things.' In a letter to Deputy First Minister John Swinney, the committee demanded that the Government hand over all records relating to a possible pause - known as sisting - to the judicial review if criminal charges were brought against Mr Salmond. Ms Fabiani wrote: 'The committee notes that in your letter sent yesterday evening you suggest you asked officials to assess all records relating to sisting the judicial review and have decided that it does not substantiate comments made in evidence by the former first minister. 'The committee requires to receive all records that refer to or relate to any consideration or discussion of sisting the judicial review. 'It is not for the Government to assess the evidence and inform the committee of its conclusions. It is for the committee to receive evidence from different parties, assess it and reach findings.' It also asks the Government to release a draft letter - if it exists - from the First Minister to former first ministers informing them of a new harassment claims policy that would include former ministers for the first time. In six hours of brutal testimony last week, Mr Salmond laid out a case that senior SNP figures conspired to try to force him out of public life over harassment claims. He was subsequently cleared of wrongdoing in a trial. He also vented fury that the Crown Office, led by Lord Advocate James Wolffe, had forced the redaction of sections of his written evidence to the committee. Mr Wolffe dismissed claims of interference in the Alex Salmond probe as 'wholly without foundation'. Giving evidence to the inquiry he said he had recused himself from key decisions over the allegations against the former First Minister. And he flatly rejected that idea that the Crown Office had insisted on the redaction of parts of Mr Salmond's written evidence in a bid to hamper the process. Mr Wolffe said: 'Any suggestion, from any quarter, that the Crown's decision-making has at any time been influenced by irrelevant considerations or improper motivations would be wholly without foundation. 'Insinuation and assertions to the contrary are baseless.' He said the crown had been criticised for 'actions it has taken to protect the identity of the complainers' at Alex Salmond's criminal trial, at which he was acquitted of all charges. The Scots Tories' allegations about Ms Sturgeon include repeatedly misleading the Scottish Parliament about when she first knew of the allegations against Mr Salmond, delaying settling the judicial review despite legal advice, and meeting Mr Salmond on government business without any officials present or records being taken The legal advice received by the Scottish government over Mr Salmond's judicial review of its complaints procedure is due to be published after ministers caved in. Mr Wolffe suggested he had not been asked whether the advice could be released until yesterday, as ministers had not believed the 'public interest' favoured its disclosure until then. The advice relates to Mr Salmond's successful legal challenge of the Scottish Government's harassment complaints procedure, which led to him being awarded more than 500,000. In a letter to the committee this morning, Mr Swinney said details of the legal advice would be released this afternoon - and they show 'reservations' about proceeding with the case. 'The documents confirm that, whilst reservations were raised about the judicial review following the identification of the issue of prior contact with the complainers in late October, there were good public policy arguments and reasonable grounds for the Government to continue to defend the judicial review and to seek a determination from the Court on the matters raised, until the events of late December 2018,' he wrote. The Scottish Tories submitted a motion of no confidence in Mr Swinney at Holyrood yesterday after accusing him of failing to comply with two parliamentary votes calling for the publication of legal advice. Tory whip Miles Brigg MSP said he will not withdraw the Motion of No Confidence until MSPs are given assurances that SNP Ministers will deliver everything the committee has requested. Mr Salmond insisted last week that, if the case was pursued by Ms Sturgeon against legal advice, it would be a breach of the ministerial code. Mr Swinney said: 'In normal circumstances, government legal advice is not released. Indeed, such is the importance of being able to get frank, private advice, it is almost unheard of for the legal advice to be released. 'But, we have to acknowledge that the issues at stake now are not normal. The very integrity of the legal system is being questioned. 'Serious allegations have been made. This material allows people to confirm that these allegations are false. 'We have already shared in private with the Scottish Parliament's committee on these issues the substance of the advice. 'Now, we recognise that in order to counter to the false claims being made by some, we must go further. Subject to the mandatory legal checks and processes, we will release the key legal advice.' It would have been the second time in less than a year that Mr Swinney faced a debate on his position after he survived a no-confidence in August thanks to the Scottish Greens. This time they had signalled they would vote against him. The Scottish parliament has twice voted to compel the release of the advice ministers and officials obtained during the judicial review brought about by the former SNP leader. However, they have previously refused to do so, citing legal privilege. In January 2019, the Government was forced to admit it had acted unlawfully and its investigation had been 'tainted by apparent bias' after Mr Salmond successfully challenged its investigation into complaints against him. The outcome of the probe was set aside when it emerged that the investigating officer had prior contact with two women who made allegations against Mr Salmond. It was previously revealed that the issue had been identified months before the Government conceded. But the inquiry is keen to know when ministers and officials were advised to drop their defence - and admit defeat. Mr Swinney's decision has received the prior agreement of the Law Officers in line with paragraph 2.40 of the Scottish Ministerial Code. Ahead of release, under the General Data Protection Regulation, legal notifications to individuals impacted are required. The Scottish Government said that these are expected to be complete and, subject to them, the Parliament will receive the material immediately thereafter. The Scottish Daily Mail's six questions Nicola Sturgeon MUST answer today Q: Why were meetings and conversations with Alex Salmond kept secret from the public? Miss Sturgeon met her predecessor at her home on April 2, 2018, when she claimed to first become aware of the government investigation into complaints about his conduct. She held two further meetings, on June 7 and again at her home on July 14. She also spoke to him twice by phone, in April and July. Despite government business being discussed on those five occasions, there was no mention of those meetings in her list of ministerial engagements, no civil servants were present and no minutes were taken. Was this a breach of the ministerial code? Q: Which account to MSPs was wrong - Miss Sturgeon's or her husband's? In his oral evidence Peter Murrell, SNP chief executive and husband of Miss Sturgeon, said her meeting with Mr Salmond related to a 'Scottish Government matter' and to 'Scottish Government business'. Yet she has said she felt the meeting regarded party business, as she thought he may be about to tell her he was resigning from the SNP. Whose account is correct, and which one is false? Q: Has parliament been misled on meetings? Miss Sturgeon told MSPs she found out about the complaints from Mr Salmond himself at the meeting on April 2, 2018. Yet she later admitted in written evidence she met his former chief of staff, Geoff Aberdein, on March 29. He told her Mr Salmond wanted to see her urgently and 'the matter might relate to allegations of a sexual nature'. Was she really in doubt about the subject of the meeting? Q: Taxpayers were landed with 500,000 bill after judicial review defeat. Could this have been averted? The Scottish Government's investigation into allegations about Mr Salmond was declared 'unlawful' in January 2019. Legal advice published last night revealed senior counsel warned the Government more than two months earlier that the issue of prior contact between an investigating officer and a complainant was a real problem which could have repercussions for the entire case. He said he discussed the issue with the Lord Advocate, who shared his concerns. Why was the case not conceded then, when that could have saved taxpayers hundreds of thousands of pounds? Q: Did a Sturgeon official leak complainer name? In his evidence, Mr Salmond said the name of a complainer was given to his chief of staff, Geoff Aberdein. His claim was corroborated by Duncan Hamilton, QC, who last night wrote to the inquiry to say Mr Aberdein told him a senior Scottish Government official shared the name in April 2018. Miss Sturgeon denied this at First Minister's Questions last week - was she telling the truth? Q: Mr Salmond now has corroboration for many of his claims - does Miss Sturgeon? The evidence by former SNP director of communications Kevin Pringle and Mr Hamilton backs up many of Mr Salmond's key claims. Mr Hamilton says he is prepared to make his comments under oath. Will Miss Sturgeon swear under oath that their claims are false? Nicola Sturgeon is facing calls to resign after her Government published legal advice relating to its botched probe into allegations of sexual harassment by Alex Salmond BLOW-BY-BLOW: THE SEVEN WARNINGS NICOLA STURGEON'S GOVERNMENT IGNORED THAT THEIR CASE WAS DOOMED by JACK WRIGHT for MailOnline Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon is facing calls from Opposition MSPs to resign after her Government published bombshell legal advice relating to its botched probe into allegations of sexual harassment by Alex Salmond. Deputy First Minister John Swinney agreed to hand over the papers under threat of a no-confidence vote, and admitted 'reservations were raised' by lawyers about the way allegations about Mr Salmond were investigated. The Scottish Government launched an investigation into allegations of sexual harassment by the former First Minister which was found to be unlawful, unfair and 'tainted by apparent bias' because of prior contact between the Investigating Officer and two of the women who complained. Redacted legal advice published by Mr Swinney last night showed that SNP ministers were warned they had 'a very real problem' defending their legal battle with Mr Salmond more than two months before it finally collapsed. Advice given to the Scottish Government on October 31, 2018 said there was 'an extremely concerning' issue that could gut their entire case - and that the 'least worst option' would be to concede the petition. They wrote: 'We understand how unpalatable that advice will be... But we cannot let the respondents sail forth into January's hearing without the now very real risks of doing so being crystal clear to all concerned.' MailOnline has gone through each document published by the Scottish Government to help you make sense of the political scandal which is rocking the nation. SEPTEMBER 27, 2018 : 'RISK IS THAT WITNESS STATEMENTS AND INITIAL REPORT BY INVESTIGATING OFFICER WERE NOT SHARED WITH SALMOND' In his letter published to Linda Fabiani, MSP chair of the Committee on the Scottish Government Handling of Harassment Complaints, Mr Swinney said legal advice from September 27, 2018 from senior and junior Counsel 'sets out an assessment of the merits of the petition brought by Mr Salmond and the Government's prospects of defending the proceedings at that point'. In a 13-page document to the SNP administration, the Government's lawyers were asked for their 'views on the merits of the petition [brought by Mr Salmond] and the prospects of successfully resisting the judicial review proceedings that have been raised' In a 13-page document to the SNP administration, the Government's lawyers were asked for their 'views on the merits of the petition [brought by Mr Salmond] and the prospects of successfully resisting the judicial review proceedings that have been raised'. The assessment explains that some of the grounds of challenge concern the validity and fairness of the Procedure for handling complaints against ministers and former ministers that was put in place in early 2018, while others concern the way in which the Procedure was applied to Mr Salmond. The lawyers say that 'several grounds of challenge are in our view 'time barred', arguing that 'complaints about the validity and fairness of the Procedure itself... should have been brought within 3 months of 7 March 2018, being the date on which the petitioner first became aware of the complaints and the investigation'. Though they say they believe that 'the majority of the grounds of challenge are weak and should be capable of being resisted successfully', they crucially concede: 'We think that there is a real risk that the Court may be persuaded by the petitioner's case in respect of the ground of challenge based on 'procedural unfairness''. They conclude: 'We consider that the areas of greatest risk are in relation to the fact that witness statements and the initial report prepared by the investigating officer were not shared with the petitioner'. In his letter to the Committee, Mr Swinney spun this by saying that the advice 'confirms that the majority of the grounds of challenge raised by Mr Salmond were assessed at that time as 'weak' and were considered capable of being resisted successfully'. He added: 'The document confirms that the Scottish Government was justified in defending the judicial review brought by Mr Salmond.' OCTOBER 30-31, 2018 : 'IT MAKES LITTLE SENSE TO CONTINUE TO DEFEND THE INDEFENSIBLE' Writing to the Committee, Mr Swinney said legal advice to the Scottish Government between October 30-31, 2018 demonstrated 'the development of Counsel's concerns around the issue of prior contact between the Investigating Officer and the two [Salmond sexual harassment] complainers and whether this could be reconciled with the text of paragraph 10 of the Scottish Government's Harassment Procedure'. Senior Counsel for the Scottish Government Roddy Dunlop QC of Axiom Associates then raised the prospect of conceding the point on October 31, describing the issue as 'concerning' After Mr Salmond's lawyers asked for information from the Scottish Government 'when, by what means and in what terms the complainers first initiated their complaints', lawyers advising the Scottish Government raised 'a discussion between the IO [Investigating Officer] and Complainer B'. Senior Counsel for the Scottish Government Roddy Dunlop QC of Axiom Associates then raised the prospect of conceding the point on October 31, describing the issue as 'extremely concerning'. He warned: 'The concern that arises is that the answer to the question 'when, by what means and in what terms the complainers first initiated their complaints' is that Complainer B, as I understand the position, first made her complaint to Judith McKinnon, Deputy Director of the People Directorate, in December 2017. 'That is of concern because it was, of course, Ms McKinnon that was subsequently appointed as the Investigating Officer under the Procedure which is presently under challenge. [...] I am told that it was thought that this did not present a problem to Ms McKinnon's appointment, as she had no prior involvement with the events giving rise to the complaint. 'I regret that I do not read the procedure in that way. [...] As presently advised I consider that this presents a very real problem indeed. The Petition is resisted on the basis that a fair Procedure was instituted and then followed. 'If I am correct... then the Procedure was not followed: rather, an express embargo was ignored in a way which may well vitiate the entire proceedings.' He went on: 'A swift decision is going to have to be taken thereafter as to whether (a) the issue is disclosed and any argument based thereon resisted, or (b) the issue is disclosed and the Petition is then conceded thereof. 'I can well understand the angst that even suggesting (b) will provoke, but if the proceedings are vitiated then it makes little sense to continue to defend the indefensible.' DECEMBER 6, 2018 : 'THE LEAST WORST OPTION WOULD BE TO CONCEDE THE PETITION' A letter written to Lord Advocate James Wolffe QC on December 6, 2018 stated that: 'Counsel are of the view that the 'least worst' option would be to concede the Petition. They understand how unpalatable that advice will be, and they do not tender it lightly'. Advice to the Scottish Government by Roddy Dunlop QC and Solicitor Advocate Christine O'Neill warned of 'substantial further development of the pleadings, accompanied by disclosure of a volume of information about, among other things, the discussions that took place Complainers A and B prior to them making formal complaints'. They argued that after Mr Salmond's lawyers introduced new grounds of challenge based on the Investigating Officer's prior contact with the complainers, 'with regret, we are now jointly of the view that those grounds are more likely than not to succeed'. 'At the outset, we recognise the dismay that this advice will cause,' they wrote. 'However, we feel it necessary to tender this advice, and the reasons for it, given the views which we have, independently at first and now of consensus, taken in this regard'. According to Mr Swinney: 'As the case progressed during November and early December, this issue was identified as the greatest area of risk for the Government's prospects in the judicial review.' DECEMBER 11, 2018 : LORD ADVOCATE - 'THERE ARE GOOD POLICY REASONS TO DEFEND THE CASE' The Deputy First Minister published documents showing that advice from December 6 was discussed in consultation with the Law Officers on December 11. It states that in a meeting with Lord Advocate James Wolffe (LA), the top Government lawyer was 'very clear that [there was] no question or need to drop the case' and that 'even if prospects are not certain it is important that our case is heard'. Senior Counsel Roddy Dunlop QC is said to have 'made clear that his note was not intended to convey that he didn't think we have a stateable case... They tested most of the arguments including the appointment of the IO [Investigating Officer] and concluded that we have credible arguments to make'. It went on: 'The argument on the appointment of the IO will turn on the extent to which we can persuade the court that there is an credible alternative to the objective reading test of para 10 of the procedure which is that what we had in mind was that the IO should not have had any prior involvement in the 'matters under investigation' i.e. the events being complained about.' The document also reveals that 'Counsel followed up the question of what Perm Sec [the Permanent Secretary] knew about the approaches from staff by late November'. 'While we are clear that there isn't a procedural bar to her knowing the detail at any point they are constructing an argument to the effect that early exposure to the detail resulted in her being predisposed to find against [the] FFM [former First Minister]', the emails state. 'The paper work doesn't shed much light on that.' Mr Swinney in his letter said that the minutes of December 11 showed 'that there remained good public policy reasons for continuing to defend the case and benefits in securing the clarity of a judicial finding from the Court'. DECEMBER 19, 2018 : EVIDENCE OF THE INVESTIGATING OFFICER'S PRIOR CONTACT WITH THE COMPLAINANTS 'MAKES A DEFENCE OF APPOINTING THE IO UNSTATEABLE' An extraordinary document presented to the Scottish Government by its lawyers showed that SNP ministers were warned that 'maintaining a defence of the appointment of the IO may be unstateable'. That morning, at the start of the first part of the Commission, the Government's lawyers said that they 'experienced extreme professional embarrassment as a result of assurances which we have given, both to our opponents and to the court, which assurances have been given on instructions, turning out to be false as a result of the revelation of further documents, highly relevant yet undisclosed'. New documents not handed to the Government's lawyers showed that the Investigating Officer had had contact with both complainants. The first document was a letter dated January 17, 2018 which stated: 'We met on 16 January 2018 to discuss your experience about the alleged misconduct of a former minister. Following this meeting you submitted a formal written complaint... I have been designated at the IO... The purpose of this letter is to invite you to a meeting to discuss your complaint in more detail'. A document presented to the Government by its lawyers showed that SNP ministers were warned 'maintaining a defence of the appointment of the IO may be unstateable' Legal advice warns: 'This letter suggests that there must have been other communications with Ms A in advance of the meeting of 16 January'. The second document referred to an email thread which showed that there 'must have been further contact undocumented in which the IO agreed to meet [complainant] Ms B. It is unclear whether this preceded or post dated the making of the complaint'. The lawyers told the Scottish Government: 'The complaint had only just been made. No one had appointed an IO for this complaint. The IO has effectively appointed herself in that regard. 'It seems inevitable, unless very prompt action indeed had been taken, [Redacted] see Ms B [Redacted] before the complaint was actually made, and accordingly before the IO could have had any legitimate interest in speaking to Ms B'. The lawyers then warned: 'As to the late nature of the revelation, this is unexplained, and frankly inexplicable. Given the nature of the searches described by as having been undertaken, we regret that we simply cannot understand why these documents have been made available only now. 'All of this gives rise to two concerns. First, we are now in a position where we think that maintaining a defence of the appointment of the IO may be unstateable. 'Given the timescales we are reluctant to take a final view on this, but there is a real risk that we so conclude. Second, we are each in a position which is, so far as dealings with the other side and the court are concerned, close to untenable'. According to Mr Swinney: 'Counsel's advice of 19 December following the Commissioner hearing that day... reflect[ed] the pressurised atmosphere of the process of identifying and handing over documents. 'As has been acknowledged in evidence to the Committee, the Scottish Government's handling of that process was flawed and this is regrettable. This, along with the subsequent Commission hearing on 21 December, was the moment at which the Scottish Government's case became no longer stateable.' DECEMBER 29, 2018 : LAWYERS OFFICIALLY ADVISE SNP MINISTERS TO CONCEDE SALMOND'S PETITION AFTER 'WATERSHED' HEARING Legal counsel advised the Scottish Government to conceded Mr Salmond's petition against its handling of its probe into sexual harassment allegations. They said: 'As you are aware, Counsel has offered advice on a number of occasions in relation to the prospects of the Scottish Government's (SG's) arguments prevailing in court. This advice has principally turned on Counsel's views on the appointment and actions of the Investigating Officer. Legal counsel advised the Scottish Government to conceded Mr Salmond's petition against its handling of its probe into sexual harassment allegations 'The key point to note is the 'watershed moment' of last Friday (21st December 2018), at which point the SG's case became, in Counsel's view, unstateable, given what emerged that day about the degree and nature of the contact between the IO and the prospective complainers prior to their formal complaints having been made. 'This information was contained in documents which were identified and produced for the Commission and Diligence Hearing last week, and had not been elicited by previous document searches. 'While there is no reason to believe that the IO was motivated by anything other than her desire to fulfil her role properly, we recognise that her actions give rise to a perception that there was an unfairness in the operation of the procedure in this case.' They also note that: 'The Lord Advocate and the Director of Legal Services share the view of Counsel about the likely prospects of success in defending the decision at Judical Review and the consequent advisability of conceding the petition at the earliest possibly opportunity.' The lawyers conclude: 'Having reviewed the material contained in this note, you may conclude that the Scottish Government is in a position where the only sensible and defensible action is to concede the petition and to plan for managing the attendant reputation and legal risks. The risks associated with proceeding to defend the Judicial Review could appear to be greater.' According to Mr Swinney: 'This was a shared view of both internal and external legal advisers. The case was reviewed and conceded quickly after this, taking account of further internal legal advice on the terms of the concession, which we are also sharing.' DECEMBER 31, 2018 : LORD ADVOCATE RECOMMENDS 'CAREFUL' CONCESSION OF SALMOND'S PETITION Lord Advocate James Wolffe told SNP ministers that 'the concession should be narrowly framed to reflect accurately and carefully the legal basis upon which Ministers are conceding the petition; and the basis of the concession should be explained as fully as it can be'. 'It may be unlikely that it will be possible to avoid the phrase 'apparent bias' being used at all, in all communications (including with the court),' Mr Wolffe went on. 'However, the use of that phrase should, in my view, be minimised, and should always be coupled with an appropriate explanation, intelligible to a lay person, of what that means - ie that the process must be seen to be impartial as well as actually impartial - and what it does not mean (ie that the process was actually tainted by bias).' Writing yesterday, the Deputy First Minister insisted: 'The documents published today demonstrate that the Scottish Government did not ignore legal advice in continuing to defend the judicial review, contrary to the terms of the Scottish Ministerial Code or the Civil Service Code. 'The documents demonstrate that there was no 'malicious' intent against Mr Salmond. The Scottish Government was within its rights to defend a judicial review raised against it by Mr Salmond and to continue to defend it whilst it still had a stateable case. There were good public policy reasons for continuing to defend the case and to seek a determination from the Court. 'Once it became clear that the Scottish Government no longer had a stateable case after the Commission hearings in late December 2018, the Government quickly reviewed the position and conceded the case. 'The view that the Government no longer had a stateable case was agreed by both internal and external advisers.' ACI World has named Toronto Pearson International Airport the Best Large Airport in North America serving more than 40 million passengers for the fourth consecutive year as part of its Airport Service Quality (ASQ) program, which recognizes airports across the globe that deliver the best customer experience in the opinion of their own passengers. Toronto Pearson also received the award for Best hygiene measures by region in North America thanks to its Healthy Airport initiative, a multilayered approach to creating a safe and healthy airport experience. The four foundational pillars of the Healthy Airport program are enhanced cleaning informed by an industrial hygienist; measures such as mask wearing and limited terminal access; innovative solutions such as UV-C light disinfection and air quality monitoring; and a commitment to advancing scientific knowledge through various testing trials. ') } else { console.log ('nompuad'); document.write(' ') } // --> ') } else if (width >= 425) { console.log ('largescreen'); document.write('') } else { console.log ('nompuad'); document.write('') } // --> Congratulations to Toronto Pearson on their well-deserved ASQ awards, which reflect their commitment to improve the passenger experience, said Luis Felipe de Oliveira, director general, ACI World. This years awards celebrate airports that are prioritizing the travel experience for passengers at a time when the voice of the passenger has never been more important. Deborah Flint, president and CEO, Greater Toronto Airports Authority, which operates the airport, said, The Covid-19 global health crisis created unprecedented challenges for airport operators, and we adapted our operations and incorporated health and hygiene at the forefront of providing an exceptional passenger experience at Toronto Pearson. I thank our passengers for the trust and confidence that theyve placed in us over the last year. Moreover, these awards are only possible due to the dedication and commitment of our employees, day in and day out. With our Pearson employee community and our partners, we commit to leading the best in the next era of the airport experience. The state announced Tuesday $34 million in federal CDBG, or Community Development Block Grant, funding for 41 communities from the Berkshires to Marthas Vineyard. The money can be used for local projects, including housing rehabilitation, small infrastructure projects, and for local social services like youth programming or food banks. Our administration is pleased to announce $34 million in federal funding to help 41 communities deliver vital services to residents and invest in local infrastructure, said Gov. Charlie Baker in a prepared release. These grants will help municipalities fill key budget gaps created by the pandemic, enabling them to advance critical long-term projects while continuing to support residents in the fight against COVID-19. The list includes nearly $15 million for 34 communities in the 1st Congressional District, according to U.S. Rep. Richard E. Neal, D-Springfield. During this time of need, Community Development Block Grants play an integral role in transforming the everyday lives of individuals and communities across the district, Neal said. These funds will assist local food pantries and youth programs, rehabilitate housing units, and fund infrastructure projects. Since its inception, this program has been a success and I continue to be a steadfast supporter of it. Cities and towns have different and diverse needs. This is a proven way for them to be addressed. The CDBG Program is a competitive program and the most direct funding that communities receive from the federal government, the state news release said. Funds can support a wide-range of projects to benefit low and moderate-income households in a community. Each year, the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) allocates funding to Massachusetts, through the Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD). DHCD manages both a competitive round for qualifying communities, such as todays awards, and allocates funding to the Commonwealths eleven mini-entitlement communities. The Community Development Block Grant Program provides municipalities with significant direct aid from the federal government, helping cities and towns address longstanding needs exacerbated by the pandemic, said Lt. Governor Karyn Polito. Now more than ever, we are grateful to our federal partners for this funding to support local programs such as child care, food banks and other safety net protections to ensure that residents across the Commonwealth have the resources they need to stay healthy and thrive. Projects on the list will help municipalities rehabilitate more than 350 housing units, fund 17 infrastructure improvement projects, and fund supportive programming for children, teenagers, victims of domestic violence, homeless individuals, and the elderly. The towns and projects statewide are: ADVERTISEMENT In a bid to put an end to banditry that has ravaged Zamfara State and other parts of the North-west and North-central states, President Muhammadu Buhari has declared the state a no-fly-zone. A no-fly zone, also known as a no-flight zone (NFZ), or air exclusion zone (AEZ) is a territory or area established by a military power over which certain aircraft are not permitted to fly. Such zones are usually set up in an enemy powers territory during a conflict, similar in concept to the aerial demilitarised zone. The National Security Adviser, Babagana Monguno, disclosed this to journalists at the end of the National Security Council meeting held in the Presidential Villa. According to the NSA, the president also banned all mining activities in the state. He had announced a similar ban in 2019. He said the ban is to curb the rising insecurity. He said the intelligence and security communities have been mandated to go after all non-state actors, whose activities have been fueling chaos, for prosecution. He said the president has charged the new service chiefs to reclaim all areas under the control of bandits, insurgents and kidnappers, kidnappers and all others involved in criminal activities across the country. We are not going to be blackmailed. The government has the responsibility to assert its will. Citizens can reside wherever they want to reside. Anybody who is a criminal should be brought to book, Mr Monguno said. The president has also warned against ethnic profiling. We have (had) enough of chaos. Any individual that thinks he can cause disunity should have a rethink. The new directive is coming on the heels of abductions of school children by armed bandits in parts of the country. PREMIUM TIMES had reported how students of Government Girls Secondary School, Jangebe, Zamfara were abducted Friday amidst the worsening security situation across Nigeria. We also reported how the students were safely returned The abduction in Zamfara occurred about two weeks after dozens of students and staff members were abducted by armed bandits from a school in Kagara, Niger State. The students in Niger were released on Saturday morning. Students of both schools however have regained their freedom and reunited with their parents. The abductions were part of a string of similar ones in recent years. A year into a pandemic that already has killed more than 7,500 South Carolinians and more than half a million Americans, we are making extraordinary progress toward reclaiming our lives from COVID-19. More than 15% of the U.S. population has been vaccinated, with more getting their shots daily. Add those to nearly 10% of the population who have tested positive with estimates of four or five times that many more having been infected and we are significantly reducing the number of available hosts who can spread the virus to others, including others whose bodies arent strong enough to survive an infection. In states such as South Carolina that have prioritized people who are most vulnerable to severe infection and death over those who are most likely to be exposed to the coronavirus, were starting to see more older residents venturing out of their self-imposed quarantine to resume a more normal lifestyle. But while all of that is reason for celebration, it is not reason to let our guard down particularly since a dramatic drop off in new infections starting in late January seems to be plateauing as new COVID variants spread. On Friday, we got a double-dose of warning from the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Dr. Rochelle Walenski, and from Dr. Anthony Fauci, who cautioned against the temptation to ease off on public health precautions, because the nation remains at that very precarious position that we were right before the fall surge where anything that could perturb that could give us another surge. Unfortunately, the other thing that happened Friday was that S.C. Gov. Henry McMaster did precisely what Drs. Walenski and Fauci warned against, once again jumping the gun and easing up on his meager restrictions as we start to head in the right direction, but long before were in a safe place. South Carolina, after all, was still reporting the second highest number of new infections per 100,000 people in the country last week. Sign up for our opinion newsletter Get a weekly recap of South Carolina opinion and analysis from The Post and Courier in your inbox on Monday evenings. Email Sign Up! There might not be a huge practical effect of Mr. McMasters decision to lift the 11 p.m. curfew on alcohol sales. The curfew was never as effective as the prohibition on congregating in bars, which he should have kept in place in the fall when he eliminated social-distancing requirements in restaurants and bars. Instead he replaced that very smart restriction with the alcohol curfew, thus encouraging college bars to reopen and pack in the COVID-spreading partiers. And certainly eliminating the theoretical restriction on large gatherings is unlikely to make South Carolina even more fertile ground for infection. As we explained last month, if you're serious about protecting the public health, you don't put the Commerce Department in charge of protecting the public health. The department rarely turned down applications for events with more than 250 people, and why would it? The bar wasn't very high to get approval, and there was no enforcement when the rules were blatantly disregarded even when off-duty police were working the events so all people unwilling to clear the bar had to do was lie about their plans. But while Mr. McMasters latest pullback in public health requirements might not have much practical effect, it sends an insidious message that the danger is behind us. Yes, the governor did make the point that its still dangerous, and we all need to remain cautious, but most people are simply going to see the restrictions lifted news and ignore his words. So think of this as an exclamation point on the governors responsible words: Yes, the virus is still alive and well in our communities, and it is still sickening and killing our most vulnerable friends and neighbors. And the only way to save them, and get our economy and our lives back to normal, is by getting our vaccines as soon as possible, staying home as much as we can, wearing our masks and staying as far from others as possible when we must go out, and washing our hands and cleaning surfaces compulsively. It should be noted, too, that by eliminating the requirements because so many of the most vulnerable South Carolinians have been vaccinated, Mr. McMaster has undermined his argument against allowing teachers to go ahead and get in line now for a vaccine, before all people 65 and older have been scheduled for a vaccination. If enough elderly residents have already been vaccinated that its safe to remove restrictions that were aimed at protecting them, by slowing community spread, then how is it possibly too dangerous to start vaccinating teachers which removes the overwrought objections to getting children back into the classroom five days a week? There is a yawning gap between any successful prosecution of historical sexual assault and the right of alleged victims to tell their stories. In that gap lies the right to the presumption of innocence and defamation law. The womans account is detailed and distressing but not a signed police statement. Credit:iStockphoto In that gap also lies the insufficient admissible evidence NSW Police referred to on Tuesday, when announcing they had closed their investigation into a womans allegation she was raped more than 30 years ago. She had taken her own life before making a formal statement to police. But she had made her accusations in an informal document that has been seen by many in politics and the media, including this author. The man she accused is now a federal cabinet minister, who strenuously denies the allegations. Company anticipates escalation in cultivation to have direct effect on revenue growth Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - March 2, 2021) - TransCanna Holdings Inc. (CSE: TCAN) (FSE: TH8) (OTC: TCNAF) ("TransCanna" or the "Company") has increased its cultivation capacity by 300%, enabling it to effectively triple production of its most profitable and in-demand product: exotic indoor flower. With this increased cultivation capacity, Lyfted Farms - hailed in the industry for its premium genetics and seasoned team of master cultivators - can now meet consumer-driven demand in Northern California while expanding into the sizable Southern California home containing over 23,000,000 residents. "We literally cannot keep up with demand as the vast majority of shipments are selling out within days of landing on retail shelves," said Alan Applonie, General Manager for TransCanna subsidiary, Lyfted Farms. "We have been waiting for the right time to enter the Southern California market but needed this increase in cultivation capacity to effectively build and preserve our reputation for unwavering quality and reliability with our retailers and consumers," said Mr. Applonie. In addition to increasing output, the strategic location of the Company's new Daly facility in Modesto, California, takes full advantage of California's lowest industrial electrical costs per kilowatt-hour. "Electricity is the largest direct cost for indoor cultivation so the location of our new facility gives us a massive competitive cost advantage that will increase our margins and empower us to offer consumers the best products at the most competitive prices," said Bob Blink, CEO of TransCanna. The additional cultivation rooms coming online within the Daly facility also unlock Lyfted Farms' ability to leverage its multi-decade relationships within the industry. The expansion in cultivation capacity opens the door for collaboration with other dominant California cannabis lifestyle brands. Ensuing co-branding efforts (soon to be revealed) will be powerful and will impact all meaningful cannabis market segments within the state. The new developments represent significant strides in TransCanna's mission to establish itself as California's leading cannabis conglomerate. About TransCanna TransCanna Holdings Inc. is a California-based, Canadian-listed company building cannabis-focused brands for the California lifestyle, through its wholly-owned California subsidiaries. TransCanna's wholly owned subsidiary Lyfted Farms is California's authentic cannabis brand whose pioneering spirit has been continuously providing the finest cannabis flower genetics and cultivation methods since 1984. The Lyfted Farms brand of exclusive cannabis flower is sold at premium retailers throughout the state. With its new cultivation facility in Daly, California, the company is now poised to become one of the largest and most efficient vertically integrated cannabis companies in the California market. For further information, please visit the Company's website at www.transcanna.com or email the Company at info@transcanna.com. On behalf of the Board of Directors Bob Blink, CEO Corporate Communications: 1.604.800.3589 Email irteam@transcanna.com Instagram @lyftedfarms For updated information with respect to our company, please see our filings on SEDAR atwww.sedar.com and on the CSE at www.thecse.com. FORWARD LOOKING INFORMATION: Certain information in this release may contain forward-looking statements, such as statements regarding future expansions and cost savings and plans regarding production increases and financings. This information is based on current expectations and assumptions, including assumptions concerning the completion of the expansion of the Daly Facility, government approval of pro-cannabis policies, greater access to financial services and increased cultivation capacity, that are subject to significant risks and uncertainties that are difficult to predict. Actual results might differ materially from results suggested in any forward-looking statements. Risks that could cause results to differ from those stated in the forward-looking statements in this release include unexpected increases in operating costs, a continued strain on farmers due to fires and the Coronavirus pandemic and competition from other retailers. All forward-looking statements, including any financial outlook or future-oriented financial information, contained in this release are made as of the date of this release and are included for the purpose of providing information about management's current expectations and plans relating to the future. The Company assumes no obligation to update the forward-looking statements, or to update the reasons why actual results could differ from those reflected in the forward-looking statements unless and until required by securities laws applicable to the Company. Additional information identifying risks and uncertainties is contained in the Company's filings with the Canadian securities regulators, which filings are available at www.sedar.com. 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. 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. NOT FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES OR FOR DISTRIBUTION TO U.S. NEWSWIRE SERVICES AND DOES NOT CONSTITUTE AN OFFER OF THE SECURITIES DESCRIBED HEREIN To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/75637 On the night of Aug. 6, 2019, Dianne Jordan was inside her Central City home when she heard gunshots ring out. Her grandson Gary stumbled to her door and cried out for help. Call the ambulance, Ive been shot! he said. She drove him to the hospital herself, but Gary didnt make it. On Thursday, Orleans Parish District Attorney Jason Williams office began the prosecution of two men accused of killing Jordan, 23. Both pleaded not guilty at their arraignment to second-degree murder charges handed up against them in a Jan. 28 indictment. Police allege that the 2019 killing of Gary Jordan, 23, was a random act of violence committed by two men who went hunting for another man. Failing to find him, they decided to shoot "anybody" walking down Josephine Street, police said in a warrant. Kevin Sturgis Jr. 22, and George Toca, 23, face life imprisonment in connection with Jordans death. Toca's lawyer said at the arraignment that the evidence against his client is "exceedingly weak." Meanwhile, prosecutors accuse Sturgis of living up to his purported nickname, Killer, at least once more. +4 Feds: New Orleans man suspected in deadly quadruple shooting in Hollygrove Surveillance footage and an Instagram video captured a New Orleans man toting guns during a string of violence including a deadly quadruple sh After Jordans slaying, Sturgis is accused in the July 17, 2020 killing of 24-year-old Ishmel Wiltz, whose body was found in an abandoned car at the intersection of Old Gentilly Road and Read Boulevard in New Orleans East. Sturgis pleaded not guilty in that killing, too. Both cases appear to be linked by a single tipster who came forward after Wiltzs death, according to court records. Soon after Wiltzs body was discovered, detectives learned that he had last been seen alive the night before his death in Hollygrove. They tracked down surveillance video from the neighborhood, which they said caught Wiltz interacting with Sturgis and another man named Jeremy Hicks, they said. The video captured Hicks, 27, driving Wiltzs red Lexus sedan, with Wiltz in the front passenger seat and Sturgis in the back. After the video turned up, police began looking for the men. The next month, they sent out a press release asking for the publics help in finding their persons of interest. The press release stirred up alarm, according to a witness who spoke to police. The unnamed tipster told authorities that Sturgis, Hicks and someone else known as Norman gathered inside Sturgis bedroom, in the presence of the witness, to discuss the steps theyd taken to cover up the crime. Sturgis and Hicks decided to go on the run, according to the tipster. At some point between that gathering and when Detective Patrick Guidry obtained a warrant on Sept. 13, the witness came forward to police. Wiltz was killed because he was suspected of stealing a gun from an associate of Sturgis and Hicks, the witness said. The witness also offered up details about Jordans killing. Top stories in New Orleans in your inbox Twice daily we'll send you the day's biggest headlines. Sign up today. e-mail address * Sign Up Sturgis supposedly said that Jordan was killed because he and Toca had decided to spin on someone they knew. The pair had no prior quarrel with Jordan, according to the witness. But when they couldnt find their intended target, they decided to shoot and kill anybody they saw walking on Josephine Street, according to the warrant. Jordan crossed their path, the witness said. Police believe that Sturgis and Toca used a rifle to gun down Jordan. Dianne Jordan said shes always suspected that her grandson wasnt the intended target of the shooting. Gary Jordan was a sweet young man who didnt take part in neighborhood beefs, she said. Less than a year later, Wiltzs body was found with a gunshot wound to the head in his car, which was left in the 10200 block of Old Gentilly Road. Toca, Hicks and Sturgis were arrested in September. Authorities said Sturgis was arrested in Gwinnett County, Georgia in late September and agreed to be extradited to New Orleans. All three men pleaded not guilty Thursday. Toca and Hicks attorneys argued that the evidence against them was weak at the arraignment, where they told Orleans Parish Criminal District Court Judge Camille Buras that their clients should receive a bail low enough for them to go free ahead of trial. Tocas lawyer, James Brockway of the Orleans Public Defenders, said the sum total of the evidence was the statement from the unnamed tipster who told police that Toca was the driver during the Josephine Street killing. +2 Homicides up in unincorporated Jefferson Parish 2020, fueled by domestic violence Homicides in unincorporated Jefferson Parish surged 12.5% in 2020, fueled by an increase in deadly domestic and family violence, authorities say. However, Assistant District Attorney Alex Calenda noted that Toca also has an open armed robbery count. Toca and Sturgis were arrested together before in an attempted second-degree murder case that was later dismissed, he said. Buras set Tocas bail at $250,000 and Sturgis bail at $350,000 in connection with Jordans killing. Meanwhile, Hicks lawyer said his client wasnt involved in Wiltzs death. My client was not at the scene at the time of this homicide, said lawyer Gregg Carter. Buras set Hicks total bail on second-degree murder and other counts in connection with Wiltzs killing at $450,000. She set Sturgis' total bail in the same case on first-degree murder and other counts at $500,000. New Delhi: The Supreme Court, while examining the issue of consensual sex between a couple living together, has sought to know whether sexual intercourse between them can be termed as rape. The top court also stayed the arrest of a man accused of raping his former partner for eight weeks and said that the trial court will decide on the question of the liberty of the petitioners in the case. A bench headed by Chief Justice SA Bobde and comprising Justices AS Bopanna and V Ramasubramanian said, "If a couple is living together as man and wife...the husband may be brutal, but could the sexual intercourse between the couple, who are living together, can be termed as rape?" The top court made these observations while hearing a plea of a person accused of rape by a woman, who had been in a live-in relationship with him for over two years. The woman had filed an FIR for rape after the man married another woman. Senior advocate Vibha Dutta Makhija, representing the accused, contended before the bench that the couple used to work together, and they were in a live-in relationship for over two years. The apex court bench, however, noted that making a false promise for marriage is wrong. According to advocate Aditya Vashisth who appeared on the behalf of the complainant, the couple was in a romantic relationship, but the woman she had clearly refused getting into a sexual intimacy before marriage. Vashisth argued that his clients consent was obtained by fraud. The top court was informed that the couple had gone to Manali, where they participated in a marriage ritual. The petitioner denied that any marriage took place, instead, he was a live-in relationship where they had consensual intimacy. In 2019, the Allahabad High Court had declined to entertain a plea by the petitioner to quash the FIR against him. The petitioner, through advocate Fuzail Ahmad Ayyubi, moved the top court challenging this order. The woman`s counsel highlighted that the petitioner had also beaten up his client when they were living together and emphasised consent for the sexual act was obtained by fraud after she was made to believe that the marriage was real. The bench observed, "No one should falsely promise marriage and break off. But that is different from saying the act of sexual intercourse is rape." The bench noted that it had settled this matter in its earlier verdicts. On the aspect of the petitioner beating up the complainant, the bench queried her counsel, "why don`t you file a case for assault and marital cruelty. Why file a rape case?" Makhija contended that the complainant had filed such complaints earlier too. "Its a habitual act of this lady. She did same with two others in the office," she added. The petitioner`s wife had also made an accused in the matter, as a co-conspirator. "There shall be a stay of the arrest of the petitioners for a period of eight weeks. Thereafter, the Trial Court will decide the question of the liberty of the petitioners. The special leave petition is dismissed as withdrawn with liberty as prayed for", said the top court in its order. The UP government informed the top court that the petitioner`s wife has not been chargesheeted by the police. "In view of this, Vibha Datta Makhija, learned senior counsel appearing on behalf of the petitioner, seeks permission to withdraw the special leave petition. Permission is granted. The special leave petition is dismissed as withdrawn", added the top court. (With IANS inputs) Live TV The new Johnson & Johnson vaccine arrives in Pennsylvania this week. Comments from Gov. Tom Wolf indicate it will go to teachers first, with other essential occupations to follow. Wolf previewed the plan in a Tuesday news conference following reports on eligibility for the new vaccine coming out of a legislative task force. An official announcement is expected Wednesday. The new vaccine only requires a single dose, which the governor said provides an unusual opportunity. Theres some really important front-line workers who should be included in that, like teachers and, not too far down the road, child-care workers and police and fire, grocery-store workers, bus drivers, Wolf said in video of the conference posted on social media. .@GovernorTomWolf today addressing those reports that discussions were happening with the COVID19 task force over the J&J vaccine and the possibility of rolling it out to teachers. See what he had to say about what's coming tomorrow #COVID19 pic.twitter.com/62jRAs4YmX Jamie Bittner (@JamieReports) March 2, 2021 The third publicly available COVID-19 vaccine, after the two-dose Moderna and Pfizer products, will not solve the states supply issue, a Pennsylvania health official said in a separate news conference on Tuesday. But it will help with some of the demand as Pennsylvania finishes stabilizing its supply of the two-dose Moderna vaccine this week. Vaccine distribution continues as rates of cases, hospitalizations and deaths continue to decline across the state. Tuesdays daily report from the Pennsylvania Department of Health logged 2,564 new coronavirus cases in Pa. and 74 more deaths. Nearly one year since the states first cases were identified, the statewide cumulative count now stands at 935,834 total cases and 24,100 lives lost. Locally in the Lehigh Valley, 200 new cases of COVID-19 and 11 more deaths were reported across Lehigh and Northampton counties in the states Tuesday report. The area now totals 57,866 cases and 1,416 deaths from the pandemic in the last year. (Cant see the chart? Click here.) Since the first vaccines arrived in Pennsylvania in December, almost 2.5 million doses have been administered. The state remains focused on Phase 1A of its vaccine distribution plan, which focuses on medical workers, seniors and people with high-risk conditions. Health officials have estimated there are between 4 million and 5 million residents who could fit those descriptions. There is still not enough vaccine available to meet current demand. There will be more vaccine coming, but patience is still required, Lindsey Mauldin, the health departments senior adviser for COVID-19 response, told reporters in a virtual briefing on Tuesday. She also said the state is on track to stabilize the shortfall of Moderna vaccine second-doses reported last month. Some providers had distributed the boosters as initial doses, leading to the shortage. Second-dose appointments had to be rescheduled and supplies shuffled to make up the difference. Mauldin said that the problem should be corrected by the end of this week, though scheduling will depend on individual providers capabilities. (Cant see the map? Click here.) The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advise patients to get their second shot within 42 days of their first. An expert with LVHN told lehighvalleylive.com that straying outside that window a few days or a week shouldnt seriously impact the vaccines ability to protect patients, though its best to get it as soon as its available. As of Tuesday, the state averaged 2,569 new cases a day over the last week. Thats far down from the peak of over 10,000 a day in December, but a more modest decline from 2,659 daily cases a week ago. (Cant see the chart? Click here.) The state reports at least 1,670 Pennsylvanians hospitalized with COVID-19 a number that has now dipped below both the spring 2020 and winter peaks. The state also is averaging 56 COVID-19 deaths reported a day, down from 84 daily death reports a week ago. The current rate is comparable to June, when it was trending down, and November, when it was steeply trending up. The health department reports that 91% of Pennsylvania COVID-19 patients have recovered so far, meaning they have survived at least 30 days from their initial test. That is the highest the states survival rate has been at any point during the pandemic. Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to lehighvalleylive.com. Steve Novak may be reached at snovak@lehighvalleylive.com. It's starting to look as if an unspoken side-effect of the Wuhan virus is that it drives bureaucrats insane. How else can one explain a flyer from a fairly populous municipality in central Canada telling parents to isolate their children in a room if they've been exposed to a positive classmate? The city later apologized, saying it was all a mistake, but by then people had followed these abusive guidelines. Canada's quarantine guidelines for travelers are equally subject to abuse, albeit of the financial kind. The Toronto Sun broke the news about the sadistic guidelines that the Regional Municipality of Peel in Ontario, Canada, which is home to almost 1.4 million people, issued to parents: Peel Health has issued guidelines to parents instructing them to keep any children who have been sent home because a classmate has tested positive for COVID-19 isolated in a separate room from all other family members for 14 days. The severe guidelines, which apply even to small children who are dismissed from child care, are being criticized by experts as harmful and not supported by science. The link in the above quotation no longer exists. However, the Wayback Machine grabbed the flyer that the municipality had put online telling people what to do "if your child is dismissed or child care" and "does not have any symptoms" (emphasis mine): The child must self-isolate, which means: Stay in a separate bedroom Eat in a separate room apart from others Use a separate bathroom, if possible If the child must leave their room, they should wear a mask and stay 2 metres apart from others It is strongly recommended to test for COVID-19 on or after the date listed in your letter The Sun spoke to experts who rightly castigated this sadistic policy: "This is cruel punishment for a child, especially for younger children, 4-10 years old," Dr. Susan Richardson, a microbiologist and infectious disease physician who is also a professor emerita at University of Toronto, wrote in an email to the Sun. "Shutting a child off from their parents and siblings for up to 14 days in this manner could produce significant and long-lasting emotional and psychological effects." [snip] "This does not seem practically possible and is highly likely to cause harm to children who would already be experiencing considerable distress with having to remain at home," Dr. Tess Clifford, the director of the Psychology Clinic at Queen's University, said in an email to the Sun. [snip] "I don't understand how any health-care professional has moved so far away from the fundamentals of public health and of doing no harm that they would think that basically incarcerating a child in a room for 14 days is in any way justified," said Dr. Martha Fulford, an infectious diseases physician at Hamilton Health Science who focuses on pediatrics. In the wake of the article, the Region of Peel announced that what it really meant to say is that the children and a caregiver should be isolated for 14 days. That more humane message didn't make it to at least a few parents who followed the guidelines as their tweets about their children's suffering prove: For those parents who believe that no parent would ever... pic.twitter.com/Rs67imQySC Peter Varelas (@varelas_peter) February 28, 2021 This is not the first time Canada has shown COVID madness. A woman who traveled to Portugal for a week to attend her father's funeral found herself stuck with a $3,458 hotel bill for a 15-hour stay. When her family landed in Canada, the officials told her to take her family for a mandatory stay in a government-approved hotel. In this case, the hotel was a nearby Crowne Plaza Hotel, which charged them $769 (Canadian) per night for a room with a minimum of three nights. The $769, though, did get them a boxed breakfast with toast, scrambled eggs, and an apple. When the family received negative COVID tests 15 hours after entering the hotel, they were finally allowed to go home and quarantine there. Both the government and the hotel should be covered with shame for this abuse. For a long time, Canada was the sane, calm neighbor to the north of a more volatile America. With Justin Trudeau's ascension to power and the appearance of the Wuhan virus, Canada has taken leave of its senses and I very much fear that, with Puppet Biden at America's helm, we're going that way, too. Image: Crying child by Zachary Kadolph on Unsplash. Appointment 2 March 2021 Ilona van Rooij took up her post as Director of Sales & Revenue for the entire Oostwegel Collection on 1 February 2021. After completing her Bachelor at the NHTV Academy of Hotel Management, Ilona was awarded the Master of Science (Management of Learning) at the University of Maastricht. She gained international work experience in London, among other places, and before her move, she worked as Commercial Director at DoubleTree by Hilton Amsterdam Central Station. Ilona van Rooij: "The passion, entrepreneurship and inspiring vision of Oostwegel Collection immediately appealed to me. As a wholehearted Limburger there is also a sense of pride in this beautiful collection of monumental hotels and restaurants in South Limburg. It is therefore, with full energy and enthusiasm I look forward to achieving great results together with the team in the coming years." Advent Technologies Holdings signed a joint development agreement (CRADA) with the US Department of Energys (DOE), Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). Under this CRADA, along with support from the DOEs Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technologies Office (HFTO), Advents team of scientists will work closely with its LANL, BNL, and NREL counterparts over the coming years in order to develop breakthrough materials that will help strengthen US manufacturing in the fuel cells sector and bring high-temperature proton exchange membrane (HT-PEM) fuel cells to the market. This project will also contribute to the acceleration of energy and transportation technologies that will enable a clean, zero-emissions energy future. The aim of HT-PEM fuel cells is to fulfill the promise of Any Fuel. Anywhere. They can allow ships to run on renewable methanol or ammonia, airplanes to run on dimethyl ether (DME) or hydrogen, and off-grid power generators to work with any green fuel that is easily transportable to remote locations. The ability to use any hydrogen-carrying fuel, in addition to pure hydrogen, is a major breakthrough in reducing the required infrastructure investments. The developing world is where the battle of climate change will be won or lost, and a low-cost infrastructure is a must. Synthetic eFuels will be produced by green hydrogen in the near future and thus be sustainable in such applications. HT-PEM technology allows for hydrogen fuel flexibility, while the competition is currently limited to very pure hydrogen that is compressed at 700bar. By forging this partnership, we are taking yet another step closer to realizing our clean energy future. Dr. Emory De Castro, Advents Chief Technology Officer The signed CRADA formalizes Advents role in this program, structures the joint development, and defines milestones and investment required to accelerate the technology scale-up. It also leverages state-of-the-art research facilities and talent at the DOEs LANL, BNL, and NREL sites, as well as Advents expertise in fabricating polymers, membranes, catalysts, and electrodes. The effort encompasses scaling up the critical components of this next-generation membrane assembly: BNL catalysts, LANL membrane, electrode binder, and membrane electrode assembly (MEA) architecture. Advents scientists and engineers will work side-by-side with the primary inventors to facilitate rapid process development. The LANL MEA that Advent will commercialize is based on a novel chemistry. It does not rely on water as the conducting medium but instead on an engineering plastic, thus allowing for a wider range and high-temperatures for reliable operation (80 C to 240 C). The technology developers expect that overall fuel cell system design will be simplified drastically, resulting in reduced system costs. Early results indicate a longer lifetime even compared to Advents current commercial products. In addition, the agreement with BNL will focus on commercializing ultra-low platinum electrode technology that can bring the platinum/kilowatts (kW) required number down 90% (a 10x improvement). Platinum is an essential precious metal that is used in mobility fuel cells, and the BNL technology has the potential to reduce costs along with supply chain and environmental problems. NREL will aid in developing manufacturing processes for these advanced materials. HT-PEM fuel cell technology will allow heavy-duty and other hard-to-decarbonize applications to operate with high efficiency while using hydrogen and mitigating water management problems. In February, Advent acquired UltraCell LLC, the fuel cell division of Bren-Tronics. UltraCell is a leader in lightweight fuel cells for the portable power market. Futures in New York fell for a third day, putting them on course for the worst run of losses since December. The alliance gathers on Thursday to decide how many barrels to return to a market that had its best ever start to a year before the current skid. Ahead of the gathering, Saudi Arabia has urged members to take a cautious approach even as signs of tightening emerge. Crude roared higher in the opening two months of 2021, aided by the deep OPEC+ supply cuts, which include unilateral reductions by the Saudis. The roll-out of vaccines and an investor charge into commodities has also underpinned the gains, which pushed prices in New York to the highest close since 2019. Investors are a little bit unsure whether OPEC will continue with the support they provided over the last few months with the supply cuts," said Daniel Hynes, a senior commodity strategist at Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd. If theres a higher-than-expected increase, that could make things difficult in the short term given demand is still showing signs of fragility, he said. The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies must decide how much output gets restored -- and at what pace -- with current reductions amounting to just over 7 million barrels a day, or 7% of global supply. Citigroup Inc. thinks the coalition will boost output by about 500,000 barrels a day next month, with Saudi Arabia unlikely to continue its voluntary curbs. While the pandemic has lessened as a concern for investors as vaccination campaigns intensify, the World Health Organization warned Monday a potent threat remains. Global cases rose for the first time in almost two months in the past week, WHO officials said at a media briefing Monday. Brents prompt timespread was 67 cents a barrel in backwardation on Monday. While thats a bullish structure -- with near-dated prices above later-dated ones -- its the lowest reading since mid-February. As OPEC+ weighs how many barrels to release, group leaders Saudi Arabia and Russia need to judge the likely response by U.S. shale producers. While most big publicly traded explorers in the U.S. are planning to keep output flat, smaller, private companies are seeking to grow supply after this years rally. The runway to the Thursdays full OPEC+ meeting starts later Tuesday with the groups Joint Technical Committee gathering. The JTCs role is to review the market conditions and members conformity levels with supply agreements. Traders and producers will be mindful last years March OPEC+ meeting ended in failure. Saudi Arabia and Russia failed to strike an accord, sparking a price war as output surged. That devastated prices just as the pandemic intensified. 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. Victoria is still on track to immunise 40,000 people against coronavirus in the first month of the vaccine program with public health experts arguing its slow and steady model, which has seen it lag behind other Australian states, was a wise approach. New data on Australias COVID-19 vaccine rollout has revealed performance on a state-by-state basis has varied significantly during the first week of the Pfizer distribution effort. The news comes as federal Health Minister Greg Hunt on Tuesday announced Australia had received its third shipment of Pfizer bringing the total to 443,000 in addition to 300,000 AstraZeneca doses already received. This means Australia now has a total of 733,000 doses that have arrived from overseas. Victoria will get another 76,000 vaccine doses in the next 10 days, Mr Hunt said. IRVINE, Calif., March 2, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Mazda North American Operations (MNAO) today reported total February sales of 26,008 vehicles, a decrease of 8.4 percent compared to February 2020. Year-to-date sales totaled 51,267 vehicles, a decrease of 1.4 percent. With 24 selling days in February, compared to 26 the year prior, the company posted an increase of 0.7 percent on a Daily Selling Rate (DSR) basis. Sales Highlights Sales of the CX-30 totaled 5,005 in February, an increase of 33.3 percent compared to February 2020 . . Sales of the CX-9 totaled 3,151 in February, an increase of 7.7 percent compared to February 2020 . . Sales of the MX-5 Miata totaled 836 vehicles, an increase of 3.6 percent compared to February 2020 . Mazda Motor de Mexico (MMdM) reported February sales of 4,240 vehicles, a decrease of 9.9 percent compared to February 2020. Mazda North American Operations is headquartered in Irvine, California, and oversees the sales, marketing, parts and customer service support of Mazda vehicles in the United States and Mexico through approximately 620 dealers. Operations in Mexico are managed by Mazda Motor de Mexico in Mexico City. For more information on Mazda vehicles, including photography and B-roll, please visit the online Mazda media center at InsideMazda.MazdaUSA.com/Newsroom. Follow MNAO's social media channels through Twitter and Instagram at @MazdaUSA and Facebook at Facebook.com/MazdaUSA. Month-To-Date Year-To-Date February February YOY % % MTD February February YOY % % MTD 2021 2020 Change DSR 2021 2020 Change DSR Mazda3 3,083 3,759 (18.0)% (11.1)% 6,129 6,255 (2.0)% 4.1% Mazda6 1,327 1,730 (23.3)% (16.9)% 2,725 3,485 (21.8)% (16.9)% MX-5 Miata 836 807 3.6% 12.2% 1,372 1,203 14.0% 21.2% CX-3 519 947 (45.2)% (40.6)% 893 2,093 (57.3)% (54.7)% CX-30 5,005 3,754 33.3% 44.4% 8,629 6,122 41.0% 49.8% CX-5 12,087 14,462 (16.4)% (9.5)% 25,670 27,370 (6.2)% (0.3)% CX-9 3,151 2,926 7.7% 16.7% 5,849 5,478 6.8% 13.4% CARS 5,246 6,296 (16.7)% (9.7)% 10,226 10,943 (6.6)% (0.7)% TRUCKS 20,762 22,089 (6.0)% 1.8% 41,041 41,063 (0.1)% 6.2% TOTAL 26,008 28,385 (8.4)% (0.7)% 51,267 52,006 (1.4)% 4.7% *Selling Days 24 26 48 51 SOURCE Mazda North American Operations Related Links www.mazdausa.com New Delhi, March 2 : The Supreme Court on Tuesday ordered the immediate release of court-appointed interim resolution professional (IRP) for managing the affairs of debt-ridden Jaypee Infratch Limited (JIL). The top court said that it was appalled by Jain's arrest in a criminal case by the Uttar Pradesh police and also issued notice to the erring cop. A bench comprising Justices A.M. Khanwilkar and Dinesh Maheshwari said: "We are appalled to see that the manner in which the Uttar Pradesh Police have handled this case emanating from FIR No. 0098/2021, registered at Police Station Beta-II in District Greater Noida, including to take the extreme step to arrest the interim resolution professional, Anuj Jain, who was working in that capacity pursuant to the order passed by the court and entrusted with the functioning of the company in question." The bench noted that the police officer dealing with the case doesn't seem to be familiar with the provision of privilege of the interim resolution professional appointed by the court in terms of Section 233 of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code. R.K. Raizada, senior counsel appearing for UP government, submitted that the investigating officer, Bijendra Singh, was of the view that Jain may leave India at any time to avoid prosecution and for securing his presence, he thought it necessary to arrest him from Mumbai. The bench said that it will examine this aspect of the matter elaborately at an appropriate time by treating this application as substantive writ petition filed by the applicant under Article 32 of the Constitution. "In the meantime, we direct immediate release of the applicant, Anuj Jain, who is presently in custody of Police Station, Beta-II, District Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh, and had been produced today before the court of Chief Judicial Magistrate, Gautam Buddh Nagar," the bench noted. Jain was arrested on Monday from Mumbai in connection with an FIR alleging that JIL, the operator of the 165 km Yamuna Expressway, and its IRP have not taken up the safety measures. The FIR was lodged against the caretakers of the highway after an accident. The top court also directed a senior official of the court to personally call the office of the concerned judge to ensure the immediate release of Jain, without imposing any conditions. "We also issue notice to the investigating officer, Bijender Singh, as to why appropriate action is not taken against him for taking such drastic action against the applicant. He shall file his personal affidavit explaining his position within two weeks from today," said the top court. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 3) Facebook committed to attend the next Senate hearing on online sexual abuse and exploitation of children in light of a possible contempt for its absence in the probe. We have heard their explanation that their policy team did not receive the invitation that was sent, and we will call a next hearing to provide a platform for Facebook and other social media outfits to explain their side and open themselves to questions from legislators, Senator Risa Hontiveros, chairperson of the Committee on Women, Children, Family Relations and Gender Equality, said in a statement on Wednesday. During the hearing on Tuesday, Hontiveros said the committee asked Facebook to explain its absence. And yes, we will consider as advised by Senators Kiko and Pia, we will consider holding them in contempt, she added, referring to colleagues Senator Francis Kiko Pangilinan and Senator Pia Cayetano. Pangilinan hit the social media giant for failing to send a representative as the senators discussed a report from the Department of Social Welfare and Development that it monitored 48 Facebook accounts that encourage illegal adoption. My understanding is many of this proliferation of abuses are through fake accounts of Facebook and Twitter. In fact, the DSWD and NBI (National Bureau of Investigation) a few weeks ago reported online adoptions by FB accounts that were fake 48 FB accounts, Pangilinan said. Another hearing will be held focusing on the policies of social media sites in reporting human trafficking activities. Janet Francisco, NBIs Anti-Human Trafficking Division head, shared that it takes time for them to gather evidence from social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter. Telecommunication companies would cite the Data Privacy Act and rules on cybercrime warrants, she said. Nahihirapan po kami na kumuha ng evidence na dinadaan sa social media platforms. Pati yung telcos and internet service providers na hindi nakikipagcooperate sa amin, Francisco said. [Translation: We find it difficult to gather evidence through social media platforms. Even the telcos and internet service providers do not cooperate.] Marami po silang mga alibi sa mga information na hinihingi namin like subscribers information pag hinihingan sila. They invoke the Data Privacy Act, the NBI official added. [Translation: They give various alibi whenever we ask subscribers information. They invoke the Data Privacy Act.] The NBI hopes that Facebook and other platforms could be mandated to report to the government suspicious activities on their sites. Currently, the Facebook team only reports to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, a private, non-profit corporation in the US. Trying to defend racings integrity is like trying to defend Conor McGregors chequered reputation outside of the octagon as the equine industry stumbles from one controversy to the next. The latest scandal is indefensible with a photo of Gordon Elliott emerging over the weekend which shows the leading jumps trainer sitting atop a dead horse on the gallops while on the phone and holding up two fingers in an apparent peace gesture. Its a disgusting photo which isnt a fair representation of those working in racing, but yet another example of the catalogue of incidents which continue to undermine the sport and leave many vilifying the industry. The statement which Elliott made to confirm the photos authenticity late on Sunday night was nothing short of bizarre as he threw further fuel on the fire in an effort to give context to the photo which was taken some time ago. Read More I was standing over the horse waiting to help with the removal of the body, in the course of which, to my memory I received a call and, without thinking, I sat down to take it. Hearing a shout from one of my team, I gestured to wait until I was finished, Elliott explained, while he made further apologies in an interview with the Racing Post last night. Nearly a year on from the 2020 Cheltenham Festival being branded as a carnival for the coronavirus, racings reputation has consistently been dragged through the mud in the last 12 months and its still reeling in the wake of the Viking Hoard case. It seems to be one embarrassing incident after another for Irish racing as the narrative moves from a doped horse and suspicious betting patterns to animal welfare with Elliott replacing banned trainer Charles Byrnes as the villain of the hour. Instances such as these continue to undermine the trust and faith which people have in the sport and animal rights protestors will rightfully have a field day given the nature of the image of the stricken horse, Morgan, taken on Elliotts Meath gallops in 2019. This adds further reputational damage to racing with the shadow of the Cheltenham Festival looming this day fortnight which also adds another question as to the timing of the photos release and an emotionally distraught Mick Fitzgerald summed up the mood of many on At The Races yesterday. The legendary jockey fought back tears as he expressed his sadness over an image which will haunt racing for some time and his comments were particularly noteworthy given how criticism is rarely thrown about between those in racing circles. When I read that statement, I felt so sad, a shellshocked Fitzgerald said. The number one thing that we have to get out to everybody is how much we care about these horses. It is so important that everybody who is watching this channel, who has any interest at all in our sport, knows that at the heart of this are people who love these animals. Its making me quite emotional. These horses have given me a life that Im privileged to have. It just makes me feel really sad. Fitzgerald realises that one persons misguided actions will ultimately hurt an entire industry by feeding an animal rights agenda that is already ensuring that the whip is likely to become a thing of the past on British racecourses in the near future. Elliotts immediate future on British soil is also uncertain following the British Horseracing Authoritys decision to suspend him pending the outcome of an Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board investigation. Elliotts case is likely to be for a potential breach of Rule 272 (i), which relates to behaviour that is prejudicial to the integrity or good reputation of horseracing. Nobody knows exactly what the future holds for three-time Aintree Grand National-winning trainer, but he faces a long and winding road if he is to rebuild his tarnished reputation in the sport which he has made his own over the past 15 years. After a day of widespread criticism, he told the Racing Post that it was an indefensible moment of madness on his part Elliott, who turns 43 today, may not hail from racing stock with his father a panel beater and his mother a housewife, but he is a big player at its top table with only Willie Mullins trumping his extraordinary training achievements in recent seasons. Whether that rise will lead to a spectacular fall like many before him remains to be seen with the possibility that stars like Envoi Allen, Sir Gerhard and Quilixios could depart for pastures new as his fate is in the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Boards (IHRB) hands. Michael OLeary, whose Gigginstown House Stud owned the seven-year-old Morgan, has vowed to support Elliott during his darkest hour, but others may not do likewise and these are the most trying times for the under-fire Cullentra handler. For a man with his insatiable thirst for winners, this saga can be nothing but a losing battle for him and the racing industry as a whole. The Capitol is being guarded by almost 5,000 troops ahead of March 4 - when QAnon followers believe Donald Trump will become president again. The US Capitol Police requested 4,900 National Guard troops remain in the nation's capital until at least March 12. It's not known publicly if there are any threats to the Capitol, which was the site of the pro-Trump insurrection on January 6 that left five dead. The Capitol remains heavily protected by wired fences as a critical March 4 date nears Wire fencing is in place to help the National Guard protect the Capitol grounds The National Guard is expected to keep 4,900 troops in Washington DC through March 12 March 4 is important for QAnon conspirators because it was the former inauguration date of the country before the 20th Amendment moved it up to its current date in January. Conspirators who believe Donald Trump's false claims that the election was 'rigged' believe that Trump will be able to claim the presidency on the historic inauguration date on Thursday. Trump, whose claims the election was 'stolen' from him and his supporters led to the Capitol siege, and his impeachment and suspension from Twitter, is continuing to fan the flames of anger among his supporters. During his remarks at CPAC on Sunday, he mentioned the possibility of winning for 'a third time' if he chooses to run for president again, a continuation of his 2020 victory claim. There are no public threats to the Capitol at this time as the National Guard protects it The violence at the Capitol on January 6 was fueled by Trump and left five dead Trump's hotel in Washington is also helping to fuel the claims of a potential change in leadership, as Forbes reports the room rates at the hotel for the nights of March 3 and March 4 far exceed the typical rates at the hotel. A king deluxe room, for example, is going for $1,331 per night, which is 180 percent above the base rate of the hotel. Other hotels in the area are not making the same price increases for the coming nights. 'Raising room prices will surely be interpreted by QAnon as Trumps support for the March 4 narrative,' said Jason Blazakis, senior fellow at the Soufan Center, a nonpartisan think tank. 'They absolutely try to interpret the words and actions of President Trump very carefully.' March 4 used to be the inauguration date for presidents, but the date was moved up by the advent of the 20th Amendment to reduce 'lame duck' time, according to CNET. Earlier this week, Trump again claimed that he was the true victor of the 2020 election Based on the interpretation QAnon has of the laws since then, Ulysses S. Grant is the last legitimate president of the country. QAnon beliefs have rarely been validated by the realities that have unfolded around the conspiracy's followers. Followers believe Trump is working against Satanic members of Hollywood and the Democratic Party who are running a pedophile ring, which led to the infamous Pizzagate incident. They also believe John F. Kennedy Jr. is still alive and that COVID-19 is a conspiracy that was invented to hurt Trump's reelection chances. Aspen, CO (81611) Today Partly to mostly cloudy. High 66F. Winds NNW at 10 to 15 mph.. Tonight Partly cloudy this evening with more clouds for overnight. Low 44F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph. The Deputy Chief Medical Officer at the Department of Health, Dr Ronan Glynn, has this evening expressed cautious optimism over the latest Covid-19 case numbers. The Department of Health has confirmed that 359 new cases of Covid-19 have been diagnosed in Ireland as of midnight last night - the lowest number of cases reported on a single day since mid-December. Fourteen additional Covid-19 related deaths have also been notified to the Health Protection Surveillance Centre (HPSC) today. Of those deaths, three occurred in March, 10 occurred in February and one occurred in November. Of the 359 new cases reported today, there are 159 in Dublin, 25 in Westmeath, 21 in Louth, 21 in Galway, 19 in Meath and the remaining 114 cases are spread across 19 other counties. In Cork, there are 15 new cases as of midnight last night. The 14-day incidence rate per 100,000 population in Cork up to March 1 was 66.3 and a total of 360 cases were recorded in Cork in the same 14-day period. Commenting on the new case numbers in the country today, Dr Glynn said the decrease in case numbers may be "attributable to a weekend effect", but said the drop is nonetheless welcome. While the low number of cases reported today may be attributable to a weekend effect, it is nevertheless very welcome and represents the lowest number of cases reported on a single day since mid-December," he said. While we continue to make good progress in Ireland, globally in the past week, the number of cases of Covid-19 has increased for the first time in seven weeks. "We must not allow this virus the opportunity to do the same here. "Please hold firm to the public health advice and together we can continue to protect and build on the progress we have made over the last two months," he continued. As of 8am today, 498 Covid-19 patients are hospitalised, of which 116 are in ICU. There have been 28 additional hospitalisations in the past 24 hours. As of February 27, 435,895 doses of Covid-19 vaccine have been administered in Ireland. Some 294,550 people have received their first dose, whilst 141,345 people have received their second dose So far in Ireland, there have been 220,630 confirmed cases of Covid-19 and 4,333 Covid-19 related deaths. Cancer cell during cell division. Credit: National Institutes of Health In a new commentary for the journal Science, an associate vice president for research at The University of Texas at Arlington argues that emerging protein-based immunotherapies could lead to highly effective "off-the-shelf" cancer treatments for more patients. Jon Weidanz, who also is a professor in the College of Nursing and Health Innovation at UTA, is the author of a perspective regarding the development of cancer immunotherapies. His article, "Targeting cancer with bispecific antibodies," will appear in the March 5 edition of Science. It evaluates the findings of three studies by researchers at Johns Hopkins University and proposes that an emerging method of protein-based immunotherapy that targets commonly occurring mutations in cancer cells or neoantigensmutated antigens produced by tumor cellscould lead to treatments that are effective for oncology patients. Immunotherapy, a method to treat illness by stimulating a person's immune system, is a developing alternative to traditional cancer treatments. "Up until recently patients were limited to four treatment options: surgery, radiation, chemotherapy and targeted therapy," Weidanz said. "However, the holy grail has always been to develop strategies that would harness the power of the immune system to attack and destroy the cancer. With recent breakthroughs in immuno-oncology along with the new findings being published in Science, it does appear we are closing in on cancer with new immunotherapies." As medicine has advanced, immunologists have discovered ways to engineer a person's T-cells, the white blood cells that fight and kill infected cells, to recognize and target cancer cells and eliminate them from the body. This approach has led to exciting advances in the field and remission in some patients. However, more work is required to make this form of T-cell therapy more broadly accessible. Alternatively, researchers have developed approaches that stimulate the immune system without removing T-cells from the body. These "off-the-shelf" protein-based treatments, known as bispecific T-cell engaging antibodies, have proven effective in treating patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia, a type of blood cancer. "The ideal is to create protein molecules that have two arms. One arm can recognize the cancer cell and bind to it. The other arm binds to T-cells," Weidanz said. "The protein drug then brings the T-cells into proximity with the tumor cells, which activate the T-cells to destroy the tumor cells." These two-armed, or bispecific, proteins would avoid healthy cells while destroying cancer cells. Weidanz argues that this method of protein-based immunotherapy could make a difference. The key comes down to the unique targets expressed by the cancer cells that the bispecific protein drug recognizes. Bispecific antibodies could bind to particular neoantigen targets found on tumor cells and recruit T-cells to destroy the cancer. "The beauty of bispecific proteins is that you could manufacture those proteins and put them on the shelf as an immunotherapy agent," Weidanz said. "If a doctor sees that a patient's cancer expresses the neoantigen target, they could be treated immediately. It's still a personalized medicine, but would not require engineering T-cells." An expert in immunology, Weidanz has more than 30 years of experience in biotechnology research with an emphasis on immunotherapy, especially related to oncology and product development to diagnose and treat cancer. His research lab at UTA investigates how the immune system identifies malignant cells with the goal of designing treatments that boost immune cells' ability to destroy cancerous cells. "Dr. Weidanz's substantial expertise in the field of immunology will lead us into the next generation of cancer management," said James Grover, interim vice president of research. "The developments of his lab and those of his many talented colleagues across the nation make this a pivotal moment in the history of a devastating disease." Weidanz said immunotherapy holds the promise of transforming cancer into a more manageable condition with better prognoses for patients. "We are getting to a point where we will be able to make cancer more of a chronic disease," Weidanz said. "Now, we look at five-year survival. Maybe we can start looking at 15- or 20-year survival readouts because we're able to manage the disease with immunotherapies that are being developed. It's a very exciting time." Explore further Mutant gene-targeted immunotherapy approach developed More information: Jon Weidanz, Targeting cancer with bispecific antibodies, Science (2021). Journal information: Science Jon Weidanz, Targeting cancer with bispecific antibodies,(2021). DOI: 10.1126/science.abg5568 Houstonians will now have a viable third vaccine option after Johnson & Johnson's COVID-19 vaccine arrives in Texas on Tuesday. Harris County is slated to receive 12,000 doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine this week, according to the Texas Department of State Health Services. "Over 200,000 doses will be included in next week's allocation," Texas DSHS tweeted. So, just how does the Johnson & Johnson vaccine stack up compared to Pfizer and Moderna? Memorial Hermann Infectious Disease Specialist Dr. Linda Yancey weighed in on the vaccine's effectiveness in protecting against the virus. The distinct advantage of the new Johnson & Johnson vaccine is the convenience of the one-shot immunization, Yancey told Chron. MAMMOGRAM CONFUSION: COVID-19 vaccine side-effect mirrors breast cancer symptoms, Houston doctor says "It's a one-shot vaccine. It's one and done. It's very convenient," Dr. Yancey said. "You don't have to worry about going back and getting the second vaccine. Three weeks later, you are 85 percent protected. It's going to be more convenient for the general public." When you compare efficacy data, Pfizer ranks at the highest with 95 percent effectiveness in preventing COVID-19, compared to Moderna at 94 percent. The Johnson & Johnson vaccine was found to be 66 percent effective at preventing moderate to severe cases of COVID-19, and 85 percent effective if disease is critical. The concern has been whether the current vaccines will hold effectiveness against new COVID-19 variants, including the UK, New York, California, South Africa and Brazil variants. "This vaccine is still effective against all these variants, as well as the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines," Dr. Yancey reassured. "If we can get people vaccinated as quickly as we can, the virus will stop spreading." One noted advantage of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine is flexibility in storage, Yancey said. Pfizer vaccines must be stored in ultra-cold temperatures or freezers, while the Johnson & Johnson vaccine only needs to be stored in a refrigerator. "It's so nice to have another vaccine that we can give," Yancey said. "This one is more flexible. This one can be stored at refrigerated temperatures, which means it can potentially go out to primary care centers, smaller pharmacies, or rural areas that you don't necessarily have access to Pfizer or Moderna vaccines." Yancey said that even though this new vaccine is a promising development, she is concerned about the possibility of a resurgence in COVID-19 cases after gatherings during Houston's winter storm. "We're very concerned about late winter and spring," Yancey said. "We just had that devastating winter storm in the area. A lot of people were sheltering together. We're still waiting to see if we see a COVID-19 bump after that. A lot of these variants move through the populations faster than the virus we've been dealing with." The protection against COVID-19 is not instantaneous after getting the vaccine shot, Yancey stressed. There have been side effects to this vaccine, according to the Johnson & Johnson findings. "Just want to remind people that right after you get that shot, it doesn't mean you're immediately protected," Yancey said. "It takes three weeks for the immune system to build up those antibodies that you will need." The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is deeply concerned that Iran may have undeclared nuclear material at an undisclosed location, Director-General Rafael Mariano Grossi said. "The presence of multiple uranium particles of anthropogenic origin, including isotopically altered particles, at a location which was not declared by Iran, is a clear indication that nuclear material and/or equipment contaminated by nuclear material has been present at this location," the agency's head said in his opening statement to the IAEA Board of Governors, introducing the agency's report on the verification and monitoring Iran's nuclear activities. "After 18 months, Iran has not provided the necessary, full and technically credible explanation for the presence of these particles. In the absence of a technically credible explanation from Iran, the Agency is deeply concerned that undeclared nuclear material may have been present at this undeclared location and that such nuclear material remains unreported by Iran under its Safeguards Agreement," he added. Grossi said Iran has not answered the agency's questions on the presence of such nuclear material at three different locations, adding that he expressed concern in his trip to Tehran last month. "I expressed my readiness to engage Iran in a proactive and focused effort to break the impasse, and to clarify and resolve these issues without further delay," Anadolu agency cited him as saying. On Feb. 15, Iran told the IAEA that it would stop implementing "voluntary transparency measures as envisaged in the JCPOA, as of February 23, 2021, including the provisions of the Additional Protocol and Modified code 3.1 of the subsidiary arrangements to Iran's Safeguards Agreement," Grossi recalled. He said Iran could not unilaterally modify agreed Subsidiary Arrangements according to Article 39 of its Safeguards Agreement and was "required to continue the implementation of the modified Code 3.1 of the Subsidiary Arrangements to that Agreement." "Not doing so, would be inconsistent with Iran's obligations under the Subsidiary Arrangements to its Safeguards Agreement." President Moon Jae-in speaks during a meeting at Cheong Wa Dae in Seoul, Tuesday. Yonhap South Korea proposed an extra budget of 15 trillion won (US$13.3 billion) Tuesday to finance another round of relief aid for smaller merchants and the underprivileged hit hard by the pandemic. The extra budget, the third-largest ever, will be used to fund the 19.5 trillion-won relief aid package, the fourth of its kind, designed to help ease economic pains caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the finance ministry. To finance the extra budget, the government plans to sell 9.9 trillion won in state bonds. The ministry plans to submit a supplementary budget proposal to the National Assembly on Thursday for approval. Smaller merchants and self-employed people have faced extended business slumps as the country implemented tougher virus curbs in early December for about two months over a resurgence in new coronavirus cases. Last year, the government has provided three rounds of pandemic emergency handouts totaling 31.4 trillion won, including the 14.3 trillion won in stimulus checks doled out to all households in May. In 2020, the country drew up supplementary budgets totaling 67 trillion won four times to cope with the economic fallout of the pandemic. The fourth round of the relief funds will be spent to support affected sectors, shore up the sluggish job market, and bolster the country's antivirus efforts, according to the ministry. Under the plan, the scope of recipients of the cash handouts was expanded to 3.85 million micro-businesses from the current 2.8 million beneficiaries. The maximum amount of support will be up to 5 million won per recipient, depending on the impact of virus curbs on business operations and declines in sales. The ministry said it will earmark 8.1 trillion won to support smaller merchants and self-employed people hit hard by the pandemic. A total of 2.8 trillion won will be set aside to prop up the sluggish job market. In particular, the government plans to spend 2.1 trillion won on creating jobs for young adults, those in their 40s and 50s, and women. The South Korean economy is on a mild recovery track, helped by robust exports. But its recovery is not even, with income gaps between haves and have-nots deepening, known as a K-shaped recovery. The country reported the largest job loss in more than two decades last year as the coronavirus outbreak dealt a severe blow to the segments handling face-to-face services. Of the extra budget, the remaining 4.1 trillion won will be used to support antivirus efforts, including purchases of COVID-19 vaccines and a nationwide inoculation campaign. South Korea began its vaccination program Friday, hoping to help people fast return to their normal daily lives and achieve herd immunity by November. The creation of another large extra budget is expected to inevitably reignite a debate over fiscal soundness. With the extra budget, the country's debt is expected to reach 965.9 trillion won this year, up from its previous estimate of 956 trillion won. The country is forecast to log a fiscal deficit of 89.6 trillion won this year, larger than an earlier estimated shortfall of 75.4 trillion won. Its debt-to-gross domestic product (GDP) ratio, a gauge of a nation's financial health, will likely reach 48.2 percent this year, higher than just below 40 percent before the pandemic. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) earlier said South Korea has fiscal room for increasing targeted support to affected sectors despite its rising fiscal deficit. Calls to dig deeper into state coffers are likely to mount as the ruling party sticks to the idea of providing universal support to all people over the pandemic. The country is also seeking to draw up a scheme to compensate business losses incurred by the pandemic for the self-employed. (Yonhap) SolarWinds was previously hacked by Russian hackers, which made huge headlines across the globe. Right now, the Texas-based software provider is facing an SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission) investigation after the security agency discovered that some of its largest investors sold their shares, which cost around $315 million in total, a few days before the massive online attack. Aside from the current SEC probe, SolarWinds also confirmed that other government investigations will arrive related to the cyber attack. These include the Justice Department and state attorneys general. "We are cooperating and providing information in connection with these investigations and inquiries," said SolarWinds via The Washington Post. The massive SolarWinds attack leads many authorities and critics to question the company's security. Some Congress members even asked Sudhakar, SolarWinds' chief executive, if the private companies can trust the giant software provider. SEC to investigate SolarWinds' largest investors There are a lot of things that are still unclear regarding the previous massive SolarWinds breach. These include the sudden decision of the company's biggest investors to sell their shares. The weird thing about their decision is that they sold their shares, which cost hundreds of millions of dollars, days before the attack. Since sold it in advance, the investors were able to avoid more than $100 million loss. Also Read: Hackers Leak Canadian Military Spy Plane's Design Docs: Bombardier's Other Breached Sensitive Data On the other hand, other companies that didn't withdraw their shares lost huge amounts of their money. These include Canada's largest pension fund since its new shares declined more than 40% after the massive cyberattack happened. The Securities and Exchange Commission said that it is going to investigate the company's largest investors and their previous stock sales. The security agency confirmed that they are going to determine if the investors knew about the massive hack before it even happened. Although this is the case, the SEC added that its investigation would still take years before it concludes. The possible reason why SolarWinds was hacked Previously, ZDNet reported that the software giant was hacked because of a simple reason. Security experts claimed that the Russian hackers were able to breach SolarWinds software because it has a very simple password, which is "solarwinds123." Kevin Thompson, the company's CEO, claimed that it all started after an intern set the company's important password to "solarwinds123." He added that the staff even shared the password on GitHub. If you want to know info about this, you can click here. For more news updates about SolarWinds and its upcoming investigation, always keep your tabs open here at TechTimes. This article is owned by TechTimes. Written by: Giuliano de Leon. 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Laxman Pai, Opalesque Asia: The overall global fintech funding across M&A, PE, and VC was US$105 billion across 2,861 deals in 2020: the third-highest level of investment in fintech ever said a report. According to the report by KPMG, except for M&A - which saw deal value drop over 50 percent (from $130 billion in 2019 to $61 billion in 2020) - the overall fintech market proved remarkably resilient in 2020 despite a broad array of uncertainties, from the global pandemic to the US presidential election. The report, Pulse of Fintech H2'20, revealed that following a short COVID-19 driven pause in H1'20, fintech investment bounced back strongly in H2'20, more than doubling from H1'20 ($33.4 billion) to H2'20 ($71.9 billion). The US was the dominant benefactor for fintech investment in 2020, while the payments space continued to dominate investment from a sector perspective. Strong VC investment throughout the year helped buoy overall fintech investment. Global fintech-focused VC investment reached $42 billion in 2020, including $20.5 billion in H2. Both the Americas ($23 billion) and EMEA ($9.2 billion) regions saw record highs of annual fintech-focused VC investment. US-based wealthtech Robinhood raised the most VC funding in H2'20: $1.3 billion across two rounds ($600 million and $668 million). Several digital banks also raised funding rounds greater than $500 million, including Sweden-based digital bank Klarna ($650 million), UK-bas...................... To view our full article Click here A former Ocean City High School choir teacher charged with sexually assaulting one of his students on a storage room futon in June 2016 began acting inappropriately toward the girl on a field trip nearly three months earlier, according to an affidavit of probable cause. While chaperoning an overnight school trip to Washington, D.C. in late March, Ricardo Valle touched the girls buttocks, charging documents released by the Cape May County Prosecutors Office on Tuesday state. Valle, now of Seabrook, Texas, is charged with two counts of sexual assault, one count of official misconduct, one count of endangering the welfare of a child and one count of criminal sexual contact, according to prosecutors. Valles untoward behavior continued following the trip. According to documents, he frequently wrote notes for the girl to get her out of class so the two and another student could hang out in a storage area off the choir room, authorities said. While the three spent time in the room which contained a futon Valle often placed his arm around the girl and rubbed her buttocks and play(ed) with her underwear strap. The victim visited Valle in the storage area at least 10 times, the affidavit said. The alleged sexual assault took place on the final day of school in June after several students stopped to see Valle in the choir room and he told them he planned to leave his teaching job to enroll in a masters program. As the other students left, Valle asked the girl to stay behind so he could say a proper goodbye, the affidavit said. The two then went into the storage area, where Valle allegedly forced the girl onto the futon and sexually assaulted her. Valle, now 34, was arrested on Saturday and is being held at the Harris County Jail ahead of his extradition to New Jersey. He resigned from his job on July 1, 2016, according to board of education meeting minutes. Valles attorney, John W. Tumelty, declined to comment when reached Tuesday. Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com. Jeff Goldman may be reached at jeff_goldman@njadvancemedia.com. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. An annual blood drive will be held Saturday in Tottenville in memory of John G. Chipura, an FDNY firefighter who lost his life responding to the World Trade Center attacks on Sept. 11, 2001. Chipura also served as a U.S. Marine and a city police officer. He started his life of community service as an Eagle Scout. An annual blood drive is the perfect way to honor him, said his brother, Gerard Chipura, of Tottenville. It is a great way to remember and honor Johns life and the sacrifice that he and so many other victims made in the Trade Center on 911,' he said. Donating blood, educating people on the importance of donations and the fact that so many people can pull together and help others immediately is the reason we do this every year. Giving blood is especially critical now, during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, Chipura said. There is, sadly, a whole new group of people who can benefit from blood and plasma donations, and that is COVID patients,' said Chipura, himself an FDNY captain at Engine Co. 164, Huguenot. Besides the many cancer patients, newborn babies, sickle cell patients and trauma victims that receive life-saving blood, there is now hope for COVID patients, who can be treated with convalescent plasma to help them recover. Since Boy Scout Troop 21 started the John G. Chipura Blood Drive 19 years ago, the Chipura family, friends and members of the NYPD, FDNY and BSA have donated more than 1,000 pints of blood in memory of Chipura. The blood drive will take place from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the gymnasium of Our Lady Help of Christians R.C. Church. Appointments are required and all COVID-19 social distancing guidelines will be followed. To make an appointment, call 1-800-933-2566 or visit: https://donate.nybc.org/donor/schedules/drive_schedule/279420 Donors must be at least 17 years old (16 years old with written consent from parent or legal guardian), weigh at least 110 pounds, and be in good health, according to the New York Blood Center. Those ages 16 to 18 are subject to additional height and weight restrictions. All donors: Must wear a mask or face covering. Will have their temperature taken. Must be 14 days symptom-free if recovering from COVID-19. May not donate if they have a positive diagnostic test or have experienced symptoms of COVID-19 within the past 14 days. May not donate if they are currently on self-quarantine restrictions per New York state guidelines. Donors should eat well and drink plenty of fluids before donating. They will be asked to present a blood donor card or identification. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full 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 2 March 2021 To be globally successful, Hilton must be locally successful, one hotel at a time, working together with a diverse array of owners who reflect the communities and guests we serve. Whether through supplier diversity programs, multicultural marketing to diverse customer segments, partnerships with nonprofit organizations or identifying inclusive paths to ownership, Hilton is helping pave the way to more diverse and inclusive growth. Advertisements A staunch advocate of these efforts is Tracy Prigmore, founder of TLTsolutions and She Has a Deal, and owner of Hampton Inn by Hilton Waldorf in Waldorf, MD. As Black History Month comes to a close and we look ahead to the start of Women's History Month, we spoke with Prigmore about her experience as a Black woman navigating the commercial real estate investment and ownership business, as well as her journey towards becoming a Hilton franchisee. She also shares her perspective on the importance of providing women and minorities with the resources and opportunities to do the same. Prigmore began dabbling in real estate investing after reading Robert T. Kiyosaki's Rich Dad, Poor Dad, a New York Times bestseller that advocates for financial independence. "Initially, I saw real estate investment as a way to increase my retirement funds, but it soon became a money-making hobby, and I was obsessed with how I was able to generate cash flow and passive income," she said. "From the beginning, I knew that I wanted to grow my portfolio with commercial real estate; however, I thought that only rich people owned commercial real estate. I was determined to buy as many houses as possible and trade up to commercial-a monopoly move of sorts." In 2016, Prigmore became a Hilton franchisee when she sponsored her first hotel investment, the 100-room Hampton Inn by Hilton Waldorf property. In the years since, she's expanded her investment portfolio to four hotels, including two Hiltons, and is actively seeking opportunities for further growth. Prigmore normally uses a detailed financial model and extensive research to make her investment decisions. However, in the case of her first franchise, her decision was influenced by a "life-changing" experience she had as a traveler staying at a Hampton Inn in Miami. "It was during my one-night stay at that property that I had the epiphany that I should invest in hotels," she said. "Prior to my stay at that Hampton Inn, I had taken a series of commercial real estate courses with the hope of transitioning from investing in houses to investing in commercial properties. I had been contemplating which commercial asset class that I should focus on; and until that epiphany, I was leaning toward multifamily and retail. It had not dawned on me that I could own a hotel until my stay at the Hampton Inn. I was formally introduced to the Hampton Inn brand at a Hilton development conference for women in New Orleans later that year." Prigmore credits Hilton's hospitality in making her feel welcome as a first-time franchisee as a key to her success. "Overall, my experience as a first-time franchisee at Hilton was amazing," she said. "I was confident in my ability to achieve success in this business; however, I was unsure about the process and whether or not I would be approved. Everyone at Hilton throughout the experience, from applying for the franchise license to completing the property improvement plan renovation, was helpful and made me feel welcomed and appreciated." Prigmore has had such a positive experience, she's now aiming to give back to people of color and women who wish to get into hotel ownership but face two big challenges: the lack of representation and access to capital. "Investing in hotels at any level requires capital, and qualifying for a loan requires the borrower to have significant net worth and liquidity, which is indicative of personal wealth," Prigmore explained. "However, there is a wealth gap between men and women, and that gap becomes much larger when you filter for Black people, especially Black women. Historically, due to gender biases and institutional or systemic racism, Black people were intentionally and legally prevented from opportunities to build wealth for themselves and their families." These challenges inspired Prigmore to form the She Has a Deal (SHaD) program, which aims to educate and inspire future women hotel owners and developers. "SHaD is focused on creating new pathways to ownership and preparing women to become sponsors of hotel investments," she said. "I can't predict what these pathways will look like, but I do know that it is not enough to have a seat at the table; it is essential to help women build their own tables. Ownership is the new glass ceiling and we are working to shatter it. With the She Has a Deal platform, women can learn, connect and invest." The SHaD signature program hosts a pitch competition for early-career women, in which they learn what it takes to successfully source, analyze, raise capital and close hotel real estate investment deals. The winning team is awarded $50,000 in hotel equity, becoming limited partners in a real hotel deal. In the near future, Prigmore hopes to expand the competition to add another pitching category for all women aspiring to hotel ownership, not just early careerists. "Introducing women and people of color to hotel ownership early on will change the trajectory of their lives," Prigmore said. "A woman entrepreneur once shared this Marian Wright Edelman quote with me, 'You cannot be what you cannot see.' God calls on us all to be servant leaders. I am listening. By unlocking the door to how it's done, we show them how absolutely possible and achievable the goal of hotel ownership can be if they are committed to putting in the work." "It never crossed my mind that owning a hotel was a career option for me. No one talked about, nor mentioned, hotel ownership to me or any real estate ownership as an option. I pursued a career option that I was aware of through family members and then modified it based on a conversation I had with a hotel guest about careers in healthcare administration. I researched the profession and later applied to graduate school to pursue it. Exposure matters." Prigmore is now looking toward the future, envisioning a more inclusive landscape for hotel ownership. "I envision the future of the hospitality industry to be more inclusive of women and people of color on the ownership and investment side of the business," she said, explaining that diversity would only reflect the diverse needs of today's travelers. "From my point of view, women are incredibly important to the hotel business because 85 percent of day-to-day buying decisions are made by women. Furthermore, women-led businesses are good investments." A Vietnamese university lecturer has won a prize in the UNDPs Ending Plastic Pollution Innovation Challenge. A mobile store of Refill ay project in Ha Long Bay. Nguyen Huu Nhan, a lecturer of Vietnam RMIT University, started a project named 'Refill ay' (Refill Here) to work with manufacturing businesses to set up mobile refilling stores for retail products such as detergent, cosmetics, spices and dried foods in residential areas so people can bring use own containers to reduce plastic waste. Born and raised in the US, Nhan returned to Vietnam in 2002. A year later, he joined the RMIT staff as an associate lecturer teaching marketing, management and entrepreneurship courses. He is also known as an environmental activist and has founded many projects and organisations working in environmental protection. He founded the non-profit organisation Vietnam Clean and Green and is a core partner of the Vietnam Zero Waste Alliance. Changing consumer behaviour "Every minute, disposable plastic leaks into the environment, causing a series of problems such as river and sea clogging, killing terrestrial and aquatic animals, contaminating the food chain, thereby causing human health problems," Nhan said. Meanwhile, the many plastic bottles, jars, and containers that consumers use can be reused many times, he added. However, there are currently not many convenient alternatives for purchasing the products in plastic bottles or bags, leading to more plastic waste being discharged into the environment, he said. Refill ay attempts to solve these problems before they become challenging by limiting the use of plastic. We offered an alternative to single-use plastic by going to customer sites such as at homes, offices, restaurants or hotels to refill reusable containers with reliable products, Nhan said. According to Nhan, there are already filling and waste-free stores that work very well in Vietnam but they often lack venues for customers to access them and don't have the brands customers want. Most of the stores sell expensive products that put middle-income earners off. In addition, the filling storers often require customers to bring their containers to be filled up. This is a major hurdle for customers who live far from the store, as they will find it more convenient to buy a new product near them, he said. The difference with Refill ay is it works with well-known, reputable and familiar brands such as OMO detergent and shampoo of Sunsilk and Clear to distribute to consumers. We aimed to get more people used to the idea of filling up. Through that, we wanted to change consumer behaviour and help reduce the amount of disposable plastic waste discharged into the environment, Nhan said. Nguyen Huu Nhan speaking about his idea. VNA/VNS Photos Pham Mai Environmental awareness The Ending Plastic Pollution Innovation Challenge (EPPIC) was organised by UNDP for the first time last year inviting contest teams ASEAN countries to share their ideas on reducing plastic waste and environmental pollution in Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines. As one of the four winning teams, Refill ay received an US$18,000 grant to implement the initiative in Ha Long Bay through the UNDP 9-month Impact Aim programme. The award will create an opportunity for us to connect with impact investors as well as other important development institutions in the ASEAN region, said Nhan. Sharing about his implementation plan in practice, Nhan said since May last year, he had received co-operation and consultation from government partners, non-governmental organisations and leading enterprises such as RMIT, Unilever, UNDP, KPMG, Vietnam Silicon Valley, Refillables Hoi An, Reform Plastic, the Women's Unions of Ha Long and HCM City. Refill ay was launched in Ha Long Bay last year and was well-received by local people. The project is expected to launch in HCM City. We are currently experimenting with products such as detergents, cosmetics, spices and dry foods, he said. The project continues to improve the product brands and maximise its feasibility for widespread application in these two markets, he said. According to the lecturer, this year, the project is looking for funding to develop business management applications, test models and promotions. In addition to mobile sales, the project will deploy many different forms of sales to meet the needs of people such as opening Refill ay stores in fixed retail and wholesale models. The project will also work with the Women's Unions of wards to place filling points in neighbourhoods to widely disseminate to people as well as create jobs for local people to earn extra incomes. In the future, we will develop many other new sales models to best meet the needs of the people, develop the project more and more and the waste of plastic into the environment would no longer exist, the lecturer said. The most important thing of the project is to help improve peoples environment protection awareness through the reuse of plastic with filling stores, he added. VNS Efforts made to reduce plastic waste in oceans The Vietnamese Government has over the past time exerted a great deal of effort in addressing plastic waste in oceans by introducing various policies and regulations to tackle the scourge. 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. Venezuelan Christians forced to eat pages of the Bible, have 'crosses' etched into their bodies Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment At least four Christian men recently suffered serious injuries after they were stabbed, forced to eat pages of the Bible, and had crosses etched into their skin by eight hooded men, according to a persecution watchdog organization. The attack by men suspected to be criminals from a drug gang took place at Restoration House in the city of Libertador on Feb. 16, Open Doors reported Friday. Restoration House is a church-led drug rehabilitation center in Venezuelas Merida State. The charity, which works with persecuted churches in over 60 nations, explained that Christians, who deter people from criminal lifestyles, are often seen as a threat to the illegal activities of drug gangs in Latin America. The criminals covered our faces and started to beat and stab us, a victim was quoted as saying. They drew X on our bodies and forced us to eat the Bible. While the four Christians have been discharged from the hospital, one of them remains in poor health due to two broken ribs and injuries to his lungs and head. Two others had casts put on their legs and arms. Weeks before the attack, in the middle of a meeting discussing neighborhood issues, two men said they were going to end the Restoration House because they did not agree with this type of program, Pastor Dugarte, who founded the center with his wife, told Open Doors. Pastor Dugarte remains strong in his faith, and he will carry on with the ministry in the predominantly Roman Catholic country. Calling for an investigation, the Evangelical Council of Venezuela attributed the attack to hatred towards religion, according to Premier Christian News. The cutting of crosses into the bodies of these young Christians, and the forced eating of pages of the Bible is deeply disturbing, Dr. David Landrum, Open Doors UKs director of advocacy and public affairs, was quoted as saying. This premeditated attack has all the hallmarks of the local collectives of the Maduro regime. This shows how Venezuela has become a dictatorial narco-state which is violently opposed to the drugs rehabilitation work of the church. Open Doors noted that while Venezuela is not in its 2021 World Watch List of the top-50 countries where Christians are persecuted, Christian persecution in other parts of Latin America is increasing. President Nicolas Maduro has been in office since 2013. In 2017, the U.S. Department of the Treasurys Office of Foreign Assets Control imposed sanctions against Venezuelan government officials and others accused of undermining democracy in Venezuela. Under Maduro, the Venezuelan government has deliberately and repeatedly abused the rights of citizens through the use of violence, repression, and criminalization of demonstrations, the department said in a statement at the time. At his direction, the regimes security forces have systematically repressed and criminalized opposition parties through arbitrary detention, military prosecution of civilians, and the excessive use of force against demonstrators. Any member of the opposition or critic of the regime risks being detained, imprisoned, assaulted, tortured, and assassinated. Maduros victory in the 2018 election was denounced as fraudulent by several countries, including the United States. The Norwegian Polar Institute has released footage of a passenger plane taking off from a blue-ice runway in Antarctica. The Icelandair jet was chartered to bring home 30 Norwegian researchers working at the Troll Research Station in Dronning Maud Land, Antarctica. The Boeing 767 jet landed in Antarctica on 26 February after flying from Keflavik airport in Iceland, with a stopover in Cape Town. It has now landed safely back in Iceland. From start to finish, the journey was more than 20,000 miles. The video shows the plane preparing for take-off from the Troll Airfield in Antarctica, one of five airstrips in the southernmost continent. The one-minute video, released on Twitter, begins by showing the jet parked on the blue-ice runway, surrounded by snow-capped mountains. Footage then shows passengers and crew boarding the plane and preparing for take-off. When everyones onboard, the video shows the jet ascend into the air and fly gracefully across Antarcticas majestic white mountainous landscapes. In a tweet, Icelandair said: This involved a lot of planning due to the unique conditions (e.g. a landing strip on ice). A logbook from co-pilot Bjartmar Orn Arnarson, published by Icelandair, said: The Norwegians have built a runway on the blue ice that is special because of its strength and structural nature. It has been beaten down with constant hurricane-force wind that has squeezed the air bubbles out of the ice, and it appears deep blue. And because of its solidness it can hold a massive airplane as the B767 and is really smooth. On the landing into Antarctica, he said: Flying downwind we visually located the runway and made a great smooth landing on the blue ice. Troll Research Station, around 235km from the coast, undertakes biological, glaciological and geological field work in the summer, as well as year-round monitoring of meteorology and radiation. Some of the scientists working at Troll had been there for more than 16 months, said Icelandair. DUSHANBE - Deputy Foreign Minister Mirwais Nab, who is paying an official visit to Tajikistan, met with the First Deputy of Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Tajikistan, Khusrav Noziri, in Dushanbe. During the meeting, both sides, while exchanged views on convening the 9th Ministerial Conference of the Heart of Asia - Istanbul Process, called the mentioned conference extremely important for strengthening regional and international consensus in support of the Afghan peace process. The Deputy Foreign Ministers of Afghanistan and Tajikistan discussed ways of concluding the bilateral agreements between Kabul and Dushanbe before the 9th Ministerial Conference of Heart of Asia - Istanbul Process. The two sides stressed the significance of the strategic agreement between both countries, calling it significant and valuable steps towards expanding intergovernmental and people-to-people relations between the two brotherly neighboring countries. According to propaganda website Uriminzokkiri on Sunday, the 620-page book enumerates Kim's alleged glorious achievements over his 10 years in power in seven chapters. The book puts the emphasis on his nuclear weapons development, inter-Korean summits, and buddying with U.S. President Donald Trump. The North Korean regime has published a "biography" of leader Kim Jong-un that aims to polish the portly dictator's tarnished halo after a year of unprecedented disaster for his repressive regime. South Korea is largely glossed over. The book touches on Kim's meeting with Trump in the border truce village of Panmunjom in June 2019, which South Korean President Moon Jae-in also attended, but omits Moon's name. Other failures are also omitted. It deals with the Singapore summit in June 2018 and the historic Panmunjom meeting in June 2019 over 15 pages, praising them as Kim's "great" achievements in foreign policy. But it says nothing about his second summit with Trump in Hanoi in February 2019, where Trump walked out. A chapter titled "A Nuclear Weapon for a Nuclear Weapon" elaborates on an alleged hydrogen bomb test in 2016 and another test to mount a hydrogen bomb on an intercontinental ballistic missile the following year. Separately, it also dwells on tests of two ICBMs. "Only strength can suppress hostile forces and nuclear deterrence can overpower tyrannical nuclear forces," it rhapsodizes. "We need to put an end to the history about the U.S.' one-sided nuclear blackmail with our own powerful nuclear weapons." Subscribe now! Enter your email address and grab your free daily dose of Phantoms and Monsters You will only receive one email per day PLEASE CHECK YOUR EMAIL AND CLICK THE LINK PROVIDED FOR SUBSCRIPTION AUTHORIZATION Delivered by FeedBurner The first polyamorous gay throuple who made history as the first family to list three dads on the same birth certificate have revealed they spent a staggering $120,000 on legal fees and medical procedures to conceive their first child via a surrogate. Doctor Ian Jenkins, 45, and his partners Alan Mayfield and Jeremy Allen Hodges, from San Diego, made legal history in 2017 when a judge agreed to put them all on the birth certificate of daughter Piper, now three, paving the way for other polyamorous families to gain greater legal recognition in the US. Now Ian is publishing a book, 'Three Dads and a Baby: Adventures in Modern Parenting', which details the hurdles they had to jump over to grow their family including failed IVF attempts, health scares with their surrogate, and expensive legal fees. Pricey: The first polyamorous family in California to put three dads on a birth certificate reveal that they spent $120,000 on legal fees and medical procedures for their surrogate Family: Ian Jenkins (right), Alan Mayfield (center) and Jeremy Allen Hodges (right) now have two kids, three-year-old Piper and 16-month-old Parker Ian and Alan have been together for seventeen years, since meeting during their medical residencies in Boston. They've been with their partner, Jeremy, who works at a zoo hospital, for eight years. Since welcoming Piper, the throuple has gone on to have a 16-month-old son, Parker, using an egg donor and a surrogate. Piper and Parker are genetic half-siblings. Jeremy is known to the children as 'daddy', while Alan is 'dada' and Ian is 'papa'. 'The fact that Piper has three parents is just not a big deal,' Ian, who authored the book, wrote according to the New York Post. 'I have three parents myself my mother, father and stepmother and no one thinks anything of it. 'Some people seem to think its about a ton of sex or something, or were unstable and must do crazy things. [But] its really remarkably ordinary and domestic in our house and definitely not "Tiger King,"' he went on. The men had been a trio for five years when they decided that they wanted to start a family, but their road to fatherhood has not been an easy one. 'Gay couples dont stumble into parenthood by accident. Its always a deliberate act, and a complicated one,' Ian wrote. Tame: Ian insists their relationship is not 'about a ton of sex' but is 'remarkably ordinary and domestic' 'Gay couples dont stumble into parenthood by accident. Its always a deliberate act, and a complicated one,' Ian (pictured with son Parker) wrote The three men gave a lot of thought to bringing a child into the world. 'We worried the most about whether our children could suffer any ill consequences of our decision to parent,' Ian wrote in an essay for SheKnows. Out soon: Ian has written a book called Three Men and a Baby, published this month Luckily, they were all on the same page about raising kids. They agreed to always put them first, raise them to be independent, never hit them, and teach them to be 'unafraid to show affection' 'All three of us had to overcome the restrictions society placed on us as gay men, and we wanted them to dream big, to be anyone and anything they wanted to be especially any girls we had,' he wrote. 'We knew society is still teaching girls to lead less, expect less, and play second fiddle to boys. Our parenting values lined up perfectly.' But they also knew that being a polyamorous family would introduce unique struggles. 'Was that selfish? Would our children be teased, or disadvantaged in any way? We had to admit they might,' Ian wrote. 'Kids get teased just for having two gay parents; ours could be teased for having three. 'Honestly, if we lived in a less welcoming community, Im not sure wed be parents. But wed chosen to live in California, and we had the luxury of friends and colleagues who welcomed us without reservation. We hoped everyone would be as welcoming, and perhaps curious and excited, about our unusual family plans (they were).' Not easy: Ian has detailed the 'complicated' process of egg donors, surrogates, and court battles on their way to parenthood Decisions: The men wondered whether they were being 'selfish' and their kids would be teased, but say they've been 'welcomed us without reservation' Once deciding it was the right move, the men got started on the technical aspects of creating a human being. First, two female friends, Julie and Stephanie, offered to donate their leftover embryos. The men found a another friend, Delilah, to carry them as their surrogate but the embryos ended up working out. That's when another friend, Meghan, donated her eggs. Genetic material secured, the trio next needed to find lawyers to keep everything running smoothly. 'We had to have contracts between each man and each woman. Then, when another cycle got planned, we realized the contracts had to be redone. Of course, redoing them means $500 an hour in fees,' Ian wrote in his book. 'And the requirement is to pay four lawyers [one to represent each father, plus one for the surrogate] to craft a parenting agreement, which no straight couple has probably ever been asked to sign.' Getting their surrogate pregnant was tricky, too. They had to switch IVF doctors after the one they started with disagreed with them about medical risks. They later learned that the same doctor seemed to have issues working with same-sex partners. Their final hurdle was getting all three of their names on the birth certificate once Piper was born, weighing 10 lb., 8 oz. Approval: The throuple had to go to court to argue their case before Piper was actually born 'Had we not one of us three parents would be a legal nobody to the kids,' Ian wrote. 'No right to visitation if we split up. No ability to consent for medical care. No say in decisions. No legal responsibilities. No automatic inheritance. This would have been really risky for the family.' The throuple had to go to court to argue their case before Piper was actually born. 'It was a pretty interesting, tense courtroom scene where at first it seemed like we were not going to be granted that, and we asked to speak in court and plead our viewpoint, and the judge ultimately changed her mind and granted us legal parentage of our child before she was born,' they told Australia's The Morning Show. 'Honestly, Im shocked it all worked out. But it did. We cleared the legal hurdles and survived health challenges. We paid a hefty financial price. We navigated a lot of stressful roadblocks to parenthood, but we didnt take on risks, or real discomfort,' he added in an essay for SheKnows. All in all, the price of bringing Piper into the world including IVF treatments and lawyers set them back $120,000. Since they won that court battle in 2017, they've gone on to welcome baby number two and say ll is happy at home. 'We all bring something different. Alan is the best at reading books, with an accent and backstory for every character,' Ian wrote. Expensive! All in all, the price of bringing Piper into the world including IVF treatments and lawyers set them back $120,000 'We work really hard to provide consistent parenting. The kids know theyre getting the same response from all of us,' Ian said. Jeremy makes bath bombs and lunches for the kids, while Ian cooks and makes forts. 'We work really hard to provide consistent parenting,' Ian told Your Money Geek. 'The kids know theyre getting the same response from all of us. 'Poly hasnt made this harder two parents need to be consistent, theres just one more perspective at the table for us, and weve all agreed on our style, including no physical punishment, constant reminders for politeness and sharing, and respect for others,' he added. They're currently teaching Piper to read, and she is in pre-school, where she tells classmates: 'You have two parents. I have three parents.' Previously, the throuple described their 'unique family' set up as 'just three tame, regular people who spend a lot of time talking about what to have for dinner,' but admitted that they have to be vigilant about how their kids are treated by others. 'We did have a slight attention to the fact that our kids might be perceived differently,' Ian told HuffPost in December. 'We didnt want them to become a target of teasing or bullying or online abuse.' Luckily, so far they say they have had 'zero push back' in their personal or professional lives. 'Our oldest now is in preschool, and the other parents and kids are like, "Cool! Tell us that story,"' Ian added. Previously, the throuple described their 'unique family' set up as 'just three tame, regular people who spend a lot of time talking about what to have for dinner' The family also said that 'continuous conversation' is the key to a healthy, polyamorous relationship when it comes to parenting. Jenkins explained: 'When our oldest develops the ability to have a tantrum like a reactor breaking down in Chernobyl, we all have to be on the same page. Whats the best approach? How much time for a time out? What do you call it? Does the parent need help or is it adding fuel to the fire?' They are currently navigating a familiar phase that of the 'favorite parent'. 'Piper has a favorite parent, and thats Jeremy,' Ian said. 'There are many times its been harder for me to connect with her because she wants Daddy.' He continued: 'Weve developed a strategy for evening the workload so Jeremy doesnt feel worn out and I get to share in the joys of having her. We all have a different role. Right now one of the best things is teaching her reading.' Ian said they also wanted to raise awareness of the need for more legal rights for polyamorous families and said they were lucky to be in a 'liberal' state like California because some US states were 'brutal' towards granting legal protections, like birth certificates, to polyamorous couples. 'I really worry about someone who lives somewhere thats not as accepting as California and wants to live this kind of life and cant move,' he said. 'Some states are just brutal. They make every effort to impair parenting by nontraditional families and are really unhelpful. Im hoping this starts the wheels turning that families come in lots of different arrangements.' Inspo: Ian's new book gets its name from the 1987 comedy film Three Men and a Baby starring Tom Selleck, Ted Danson and Steve Guttenberg All on board! Luckily, so far they say they have had 'zero push back' in their personal or professional lives In July 2020, the Massachusetts city of Somerville voted to grant polyamorous people some of the same legal rights as married spouses, including the right to be on a partner's health insurance and be allowed in hospital rooms, the New York Times reports. After Piper's birth, the fathers appealed to a local San Diego judge, who had initially refused to add them all to the certificate, claiming she was unable to set a precedent. There have been instances of adding a third parents name to a birth certificate after the child is born, and Ian was beginning to think thats what he and his partners would be forced to do when, as he put it, Alan went 'full mama bear.' Ian said: 'He basically interrupted the proceedings and told them to swear us all in. We all gave very tearful testimonies about why we needed to become parents. You could see the emotion on the judges face. 'She looked at all the options in front of her and found a way to use existing laws to give us the first birth certificate of its kind anywhere.' He added: 'If youve ever seen a courtroom drama where the innocent person gets off at the end it was like that.' Ian's new book, which is being published by Cleis Press and Simon and Schuster, gets its name from the 1987 comedy film Three Men and a Baby starring Tom Selleck, Ted Danson and Steve Guttenberg. MIAMI, March 2, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Solis Health Plans (Solis) is pleased to announce its accreditation from the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA), a private, non-profit organization dedicated to improving healthcare quality. The accredited status applies to Solis' Medicare Advantage HMO plans, indicating to members and providers that the plan is well managed, delivering high-quality care and service. Solis is currently the only new Medicare entrant based in South Florida with health plan accreditation (interim or otherwise) from NCQA. "NCQA is the gold standard of health care quality assessment and we are proud to achieve this rating," said Solis CEO Daniel Hernandez. "The accreditation showcases our commitment to providing exceptional plans and service for our members, along with a dedication to continuous improvement." Simply stated, an NCQA accreditation is about achieving and maintaining excellence in the member health care experience. Accreditation confirms that standards of quality are met in supporting the health care needs of Solis' at-risk population through a framework of standards. These standards certify the delivery of quality care and member connections, coordination of care, meeting members' cultural and linguistic needs, and ensuring the member experience and access to care is of the highest standard. NCQA accredits and certifies a wide range of health care organizations and manages the evolution of HEDIS (Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set), the performance measurement tool used by more than 90 percent of the nation's health plans to evaluate their performance in terms of clinical quality and customer service. HEDIS is a set of standardized performance measures designed to ensure that purchasers and consumers have the information they need to reliably compare the healthcare quality. NCQA Health Plan Accreditation is a widely recognized, evidence-based program dedicated to quality improvement and measurement. It provides a comprehensive framework for organizations to align and improve operations in areas that are most important to states, employers, and consumers. It's the only evaluation program that bases results on actual measurement of clinical performance (HEDIS measures) and consumer experience (CAHPS measures). About Solis Health Plans Solis Health Plans is a community-focused Florida Medicare Advantage health plan delivering outstanding member experience and exceptional service to its members, providers, and brokers and offers competitive plans with expanded benefits in multiple counties. The company is locally based and self-identifies as the Un-Corporate Plan: personal as opposed to bureaucratic, innovative instead of risk-averse, and accountable rather than ambiguous. Solis Health Plans is committed to exceeding expectations and to being the plan of choice for the communities served, with the goal of achieving better healthcare outcomes. For more information on Solis Health Plans, please visit www.solishealthplans.com . Solis Health Plans is an HMO with a Medicare contract and a contract with the Florida Medicaid Program for dually-eligible beneficiaries. Enrollment in Solis Health Plans depends on contract renewal. About NCQA NCQA is a private, nonprofit organization dedicated to improving health care quality. NCQA accredits and certifies a wide range of healthcare organizations. It also recognizes clinicians and practices in key areas of performance. NCQA's Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set (HEDIS) is the most widely used performance measurement tool in health care. NCQA's website (ncqa.org) contains information to help consumers, employers and others make more-informed health care choices. NCQA can be found online at ncqa.org, on Twitter @ncqa, on Facebook at facebook.com/NCQA.org/ and on LinkedIn at linkedin.com/company/ncqa. SOURCE Solis Health Plans, Inc. Related Links https://www.solishealthplans.com To the editor: One has to question the values and morals of the majority of Congressional Republicans who voted to acquit Trump, twice! For four long years they sat silent as Trump tweeted, called people names and lied to the American citizens on a daily basis. His lies helped fuel the insurrection of domestic terrorists, not the Mexicans from across the border or the Muslims from the Middle East. The conspiracy theory followers of Jan. 6 were American citizens! For four years, the majority of Republicans in Congress sat silently, listening and watching Trump act above the law because he felt he was above the law. The Congressional Republicans silence and lack of action simply implied that they condoned Trumps actions and lies. Among those silently condoning Trump is our own hometown representative, John Moolenaar. The majority of Congressional Republicans still refuse to publicly state that Trump lost the election. Again, the silence condones Trumps lack of concern for the rule of law. The latest concern is that the insurrectionists plan another attack on members of Congress during a joint session coming up hoping to get President Biden and as many members of Congress as possible. So far no one from Congress lost their lives, but they were only on the other side of the door from those rioting and destroying the Capitol. In fact, its questionable, that with mob mentality, they wouldnt have hung Vice President Pence had they found him in hiding all the while Trump was back at the White House watching his followers on TV destroy the Capitol and actually maiming and killing Capitol police. And it was done by those stating they support the police! Its time that the Republicans elected to Congress do some soul searching and realize they are part of the problem. In this case silence is not golden. ROGER SZESZULSKI Midland By Gabriela Baczynska BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Dubious intermediaries have offered governments across the European Union a total of about 1 billion non-existent COVID-19 vaccine doses worth about 14 billion euros, the bloc's anti-fraud agency told Reuters on Monday. Such middleman are asking for advance payments and giving no delivery details, Ville Itala, the head of the European anti-fraud office OLAF, said, stressing that pharmaceutical companies insist they sell directly to governments. "It's quite massive," he added. "They send an offer, which is not a real one. In fact, there is as such no vaccines attached to the offer from what we have seen so far," he said. The scams OLAF was investigating came from both professional criminals and individual opportunists tied in a long chain of intermediaries often leading outside the EU, Itala said. In Italy, authorities said they were investigating an offer for COVID-19 vaccines made by unnamed intermediaries to Veneto regional authorities amid warnings of growing vaccine fraud. Itala said OLAF was not yet aware of counterfeit vaccines being pushed on the EU market but that was bound to come: "Where there is a lot of money, the fraudsters find their way there." "There can be financial consequences. But there is also another aspect - trust of the people. That's why it's important now to prevent this, so that people can trust that if they go to take the vaccine, they are the real ones," he said. OLAF was working with EU governments, law enforcement agencies and pharmaceutical companies to bring criminals to justice though it was not aware for now of an EU government falling for such scams. Increasing fraud adds to problems in the EU's botched inoculation campaign, which has been marred by cuts in promised deliveries, roll-out delays and some social resistance, especially to the AstraZeneca shot. The bloc has so far administered vaccines to only around 5% of adult population - way behind Britain, Israel or the United States - compared to its target of 70% by the end of the summer. (Reporting by Gabriela Baczynska; Editing by Giles Elgood) 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. [March 02, 2021] Nabis Expands with New Service Offerings, Head of Business Development OAKLAND, Calif., March 2, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Nabis , one of California's largest licensed cannabis distributors, recently launched the Nabis Marketplace, a free wholesale service for licensed retailers. Nabis Marketplace brings a purchasing and delivery experience to the cannabis industry that resembles Amazon Prime. The Marketplace streamlines the wholesale ordering process by centralizing brands in one place and opening live communication between brands, retailers and the distributor. The Nabis Marketplace offers industry-leading services including live wholesale inventory updates, two-day delivery guaranteed, lower minimum delivery fees, customized delivery scheduling and exclusive promos. Launched in December 2020, brands currently available on the Marketplace include: NUG , PLUS , Dosist , Sherbinskis , LEUNE , Pabst Labs , Beezle , Ganja Gold , Rose Delights , Ember Valley , BLOOM , Madrone , Buddies , Cannabis On Fire , Biscotti & Tutti , Northern Emeralds , Bhang , Aster Farms and Drew Martin . In addition to the launch of Nabis Marketplace, the company has announced the appointment of Brian Dewey as the company's Head of Business Development. Prior to joining Nabis, Mr. Dewey spent 3 years working at KIVA, one of the most recognizable cannabis edibles brands in the nation, where he was the Vice President of Sales for KIVA Sales & Services. Prior to entering the cannabis space, Mr. Dewey spent almost 17 years in the alcohol industry working as the Senior Director of Sales for Stone Distributing after creating the national account strategy for Stone Brewing and held positions as Business Development & National Accounts at Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. "Brian brings a wealth of experience in a comparable highly-regulated industry and led the distribution services industry in cannabis since recreational legalization in California," said Jun S. Lee, President of Nabis. "His tenured experience as a business development executive and relationships in the cannabis industry will continue to help Nabis grow to be the number one cannabis distribution platform. We are thrilled for Brian to join our growing team." The expansion of services and leadership comes after a monumental year of growth for the company. In 2020, Nabis signed 60 new brand partnerships, and now ships over a quarter billion dollars' worth of cannabis products by retail value. Nabis is establishing the necessary distribution infrastructure and providing vital support to scale up the cannabis industry. About Nabis Nabis is a technology-focused cannabis distributor supporting nearly 100 individual brands and supplying more than 99% of California's dispensaries with top-tier products. Nabis offers clients compliant fulfillment logistics, warehousing, payment collection, financing, and sales and marketing services to reduce barriers to entry and accelerate brand growth. Founded in 2017 by software engineers Vince C. Ning and Jun S. Lee, Nabis is fueled by cutting-edge distribution technology designed in-house to support cannabis professionals and their businesses. Nabis works directly with brands to ensure lightning-fast fulfillment and provides actionable, industry-leading sales data and insights to help brands scale and grow. Learn more: Nabis.com Media Contact: Trevor Maniscalo Grasslands: A Journalism-Minded Agency 630-841-1017 View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/nabis-expands-with-new-service-offerings-head-of-business-development-301238018.html SOURCE Nabis [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Attacking the Centre, former Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh on Tuesday said unemployment is high in the country and its informal sector is in shambles following the "ill considered demonetisation decision" taken by the BJP-led government in 2016. He also criticised the central government for not holding regular consultations with the states. Manmohan Singh Inaugurating a development summit virtually organised by the Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Development Studies, Singh said temporary measures by the Government of India and the Reserve Bank to paper over the credit problem cannot blind us to the looming credit crisis ahead that could affect the small and medium sector. "Unemployment is high and the informal sector is in shambles, a crisis precipitated by the ill considered demonetisation decision taken in 2016", he said at "Pratheeksha 2030." The summit was organised to launch a Vision Document, a framework of ideas for development of Kerala well in advance of the state elections. Manmohan Singh He said in Kerala and in many other states, public finances are in disarray with states having to resort to excessive borrowing, which creates an intolerable burden on future budgets. Singh said while Kerala's social standards are high, there are other sectors that need strong attention in the future. Manmohan Singh "There are many roadblocks ahead that the state has to overcome. The global downturn of the last two or three years, aggravated by the pandemic, has made the global interface of Kerala more fragile. Noting that the focus on health and education has enabled Kerala to take advantage of job opportunities elsewhere in the country and in all parts of the world, Singh said this has led to a growing stream of remittances from abroad which created a booming real estate sector and sharp growth of the services sector, led by tourism and information technology. A University of Melbourne scientist suing tech conglomerate Apple said he suffered suffered second-degree burns to his leg when his iPhone exploded in his pocket. Melbourne man Robert De Rose said he realised his one-year-old iPhone X was smouldering when he felt intense pain on his thigh while sitting in his office in 2019. The father-of-two and another man are suing the tech giant for damages for separate incidents, as Mr De Rose alleged the company refused to respond to his complaint. A University of Melbourne scientist suing tech conglomerate Apple said he suffered suffered second-degree burns to his leg when his iPhone X (pictured) exploded in his pocket Melbourne man Robert De Rose (pictured) said he realised his one year old iPhone X was smouldering when he felt intense pain on his thigh while sitting in his office in 2019 Mr De Reosa said he heard the phone pop and fizz before feeling it crackle painfully on his thigh, and when he threw it away it continued to seethe. 'I heard a faint pop sound, followed by a fizz and then I felt intense pain on my right leg, so I immediately jumped up and I realised it was my phone,' Mr De Rose told Seven News. 'So I reached into my pocket, grabbed it and threw it on the floor where it continued to fizz like a skyrocket,' he said. 'I had ash everywhere, and my skin had peeled back.' The father of two and another man are suing the tech giant for damages for separate incidents. Pictured: The iPhone X Mr De Rosa said exploded in his pocket The researcher (pictured) said he complained directly to Apple but received no response The researcher claimed he complained directly to Apple but received no response. He wanted to warn others who own the device that it can be dangerous. Mr De Rose's lawyer Tony Carbone said he has filed a lawsuit for another man who is claiming damages for a burnt wrist after his Apple Watch overheated. Apple confirmed to Seven News the two incidents were being looked into, and said it took customer safety seriously. Shaheen Highlights New Legislation to Lower Health Care Costs & Expand Access to Care (Manchester, NH) This morning, U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) hosted a virtual meeting with Protect Our Care, Covering NH and health care advocates to highlight the 2021 Special Health Insurance Enrollment Period that was announced by President Biden in January. Shaheen also discussed her new legislation, the Improving Health Insurance Affordability Act, which would expand coverage to more than 4 million Americans who are currently uninsured and reduce premiums and deductibles for millions of additional individuals who already have coverage, which is especially critical amid the pandemic. The Special Enrollment Period runs until May 15th. Consumers can go to HealthCare.gov to review their options and enroll in coverage. The discussion can be viewed here. As our nation continues to combat the COVID-19 crisis, ensuring American families have access to affordable health care coverage has never been more important. President Bidens action to reopen health care enrollment through the Affordable Care Act will serve as a lifeline to the millions of Americans who lack health care coverage at this critical time, said Senator Shaheen. I was glad to join New Hampshire health care advocates this morning to help spread the word about the new special enrollment period to Granite Staters and discuss my new legislation that would help more families access affordable care. Lets be clear: health care is a right, not a privilege. Ill continue to work in Congress and with the Biden administration to ensure all Americans are able to access quality, affordable health care coverage they need. The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the need to ensure all Granite Staters and Americans have access to affordable health care coverage. As a result of the economic upheaval created by the crisis, millions of American workers have lost their employer-sponsored health insurance. In total, more than 30 million Americans currently lack health care coverage. By reopening enrollment for the Affordable Care Act, President Bidens decision, which follows Shaheens repeated calls, will allow millions of Americans to access affordable, lifesaving health care amid the pandemic. During the event, Shaheen highlighted tax credits and other financial assistance that may be available to help Granite State families pay for monthly premiums and deductibles. She also underscored the importance of protecting the health care law from ongoing Republican efforts to sabotage and strike it down. Last November, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in California v. Texas, a partisan lawsuit led by 18 attorneys general that calls for the entire ACA to be declared unconstitutional. Shaheen heard from health care advocates like Lisa Beaudoin, the Executive Director of Able NH, who underwent multiple surgeries to repair catastrophic injuries suffered after being struck by a distracted driver and would have been unable to afford her treatments and subsequent rehabilitation sessions without the ACA. Pepper Nappo-Mead also shared her story about how before the ACA, she was unable to get health care coverage due to having preexisting conditions. Shaheen has fought to protect the health care law and strengthen and expand access to health care for Granite Staters during the COVID-19 pandemic. Shaheen listens to health care advocates discuss the importance of signing up for affordable health care coverage through the Special Health Insurance Enrollment Period announced by President Biden (Newser) An unexpected twist in a bizarre case involving a group of Sarah Lawrence students that came into the public consciousness by way of a lengthy story from the Cut. "What happened to the group of bright college students who fell under the sway of a classmate's father?" Ezra Marcus and James D. Walsh asked in 2019. For one of them, the answer is this: She's been indicted. Isabella Pollok was one of the students who prosecutors claimed had fallen victim to Lawrence Ray, a then-50-year-old who in 2010 moved into his daughter's Sarah Lawrence dorm room, allegedly reeled students into a cult, and proceeded to use "physical, sexual, and psychological abuse" to extort almost $1 million from them. He was arrested in February 2020. Now prosecutors claim Pollok was not a victim but an accomplice and have charged her with racketeering, sex trafficking, and extortion conspiracy charges, reports the Cut. She has pleaded not guilty. story continues below Ray allegedly forced one female into four years of prostitution, and prosecutors now claim Ray recruited Pollok to "join the criminal scheme" and that she helped him collect money from the woman. The New York Times reports that when it comes to cults, the "line between victim and accomplice" can be difficult to make clear. Indeed, Pollok's family says the 29-year-old is a victim who has been under Ray's "spell" for a decade. Cult Education Institute head Rick Alan Ross flags parallels with the Nxivm/Keith Raniere case, in which five of his followers were charged. If Pollok wasn't willing to play ball with prosecutors, "she's cast her lot with Larry Ray," says Ross. Last month, Pollok was ordered to undergo an evaluation after her lawyer expressed concerns about her competency to stand trial. (Read more cult stories.) Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Email Whatsapp Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment Earlier this week I read Elli Oswalds insightful piece on the prevalence of sexual abuse in orphanages. Her writing was spurred by the horrific news that an American missionary had been convicted of sexually abusing children at an orphanage in Kenya. As Ms. Oswald wrote, its a disturbing truth that even Christian institutions that we would hope to be safe can be perverted into havens for abusers, particularly when strong oversight is missing. What are we, as people of faith, called upon to do in the face of this kind of abuse? I would argue that the most crucial thing each of us can do is lift up better alternatives. Its not enough to just criticize the orphanage system in general, from the stressed-out, underpaid social workers, to many Christians noble and honest attempts to care for kids in a group setting. Something more must be done. An alternative must exist. Lets call it family-based care. The core idea is to keep families together whenever possible. I am a first-generation Coptic Christian immigrant, and I first volunteered at an orphanage in my parents homeland of Egypt in 1988. Many aspects of life in the orphanage were shocking to me, but the most surprising thing I discovered was that many of the children there still had living adult family members who were simply too poor to care for them. I went on the found the Christian nonprofit Coptic Orphans on the belief that orphanages should be used only as a last resort. If the loss of a father traps a family in extreme poverty, as is too often the case, the next step should be a search for all available resources that could keep the child with his or her mother and close relatives. What do the mother and child need? Food, medical care, housing, education? We must provide those with the goal of keeping the family together, so that the children can thrive in the right environment. Independent research has shown that most of their needs can be better met within the family. How do I know this works? Ive seen it. By the grace of God, Coptic Orphans is blessed to work with over 550 loving church servants who regularly visit the homes of each of the nearly 11,000 orphans in our program. They cultivate a personal relationship with each child, treating them with respect and dignity. These servants assess each childs needs including how they can be more connected to their family and their Christian faith and strive to provide for them, relying on the generous support of the Egyptian Christian diaspora. Education, including individual tutoring and accelerated literacy courses, is the key tool used to help orphans break the cycle of poverty. Naturally, this model isnt going to work every single time. But most of the time, its the best way to preserve the childs emotional stability and ability to succeed in life. Im grateful for Elli Oswalds effort to shed light on abuse at orphanages, and I pray that alternative models of care become available to children all over the world. Scaling up the family-based model to serve the enormous number of orphans around the globe would be a challenge. But its important that alternatives exist. For that to happen, the conversation has to begin somewhere. Im glad that its happening on these pages. Temenos front-to-back software-as-a-service will help Croi Laighean to close the technology gap with the big banks to attract a new generation of members and drive growth Temenos SaaS supports Croi Laighean to achieve a hyper-efficient cost models and rapidly launch innovative personalized products Temenos (SIX: TEMN), the banking software company, today announced that Croi Laighean Credit Union has selected Temenos front-to-back Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) to transform its digital banking. This strategic move from a legacy, on premise system to a community banking solution powered by Temenos SaaS will ensure that Croi Laighean has the technology it needs now and into the future to compete on a level playing field with the big banks and fintech challengers. For Croi Laighean, a strong community presence and the best in digital banking is a winning combination that will help the credit union to differentiate with a service that appeals to members and supports growth. Paul Kennedy, CEO, Croi Laighean, commented: "We are delighted to partner with Temenos to transform our digital banking capability. The Temenos platform puts us on a par technologically with the world's biggest banks. The move from on premise software to Temenos SaaS was a strategic decision that will set us up for success long into the future. We are already well on the way to transitioning to the new system and look forward to launching new products and experiences for the benefit of our members this year." David Macdonald, President of Europe, Temenos, said: "We are proud to welcome Croi Laighean to the growing community of credit unions choosing Temenos SaaS to accelerate their digital ambitions and attract a new generation of members. The flexible deployment capabilities of our community banking solution is ideal for the credit unions in Ireland, delivering the opportunity for a fully managed service that is secure, resilient and future-proof. This is a big step forward for Croi Laighean and the start of an exciting journey for its members." Hosted on Microsoft Azure in Microsoft's Dublin data center, the service is already in use by a number of othercredit unions in Ireland, including Capital Credit Union, Credit Union Plus and Tullamore Credit Union. Temenos' community banking solution offers pre-packaged, front-to-back credit union products, processes and channels, all built on modern cloud-native and API-first technology. It gives Croi Laighean the capability to offer outstanding digital member experiences, bring new products to market faster and achieve efficiencies through increased automation and digitization of processes. Delivered as SaaS, Croi Laighean is always up-to-date with the latest in digital banking technology without the cost and risk of maintaining on premises systems. The Covid-19 pandemic has accelerated the shift towards digital banking and Temenos SaaS will help Croi Laighean to provide more member-friendly services, more efficiently, via mobile app on online. Before the pandemic, 60% of Croi Laighean members' weekly transactions were in branch compared to 40% via digital channels. By the start of 2021, the proportion of weekly transactions via digital had increased to over 80% and this is trend is only expected to continue. Ends About Temenos Temenos AG (SIX: TEMN) is the world's leader in banking software. Over 3,000 banks across the globe, including 41 of the top 50 banks, rely on Temenos to process both the daily transactions and client interactions of more than 1.2 billion banking customers. Temenos offers cloud-native, cloud-agnostic and AI-driven front office, core banking, payments and fund administration software enabling banks to deliver frictionless, omnichannel customer experiences and gain operational excellence. Temenos software is proven to enable its top-performing clients to achieve cost-income ratios of 26.8% half the industry average and returns on equity of 29%, three times the industry average. These clients also invest 51% of their IT budget on growth and innovation versus maintenance, which is double the industry average, proving the banks' IT investment is adding tangible value to their business. For more information, please visit www.temenos.com. About us Croi Laighean Credit Union now has over 38,000 members in our common bond which stretches from Rhode, Co. Offaly in the West to Leixlip, Co. Kildare in the East. We now have 7 branches: Edenderry, Coill Dubh, Clane, Leixlip, Allenwood, Carbury and Prosperous. For more information, please visit www.clcu.ie View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210301005641/en/ Contacts: Media Contacts Jessica Wolfe Scott Rowe Temenos Global Public Relations Tel: +1 610 232 2793 +44 20 7423 3857 Email: press@temenos.com Alistair Kellie Andrew Adie Newgate Communications on behalf of Temenos Tel: +44 20 7680 6550 Email: allnewgatetemenos@newgatecomms.com Croi Laighean Credit Union Martin Fitzgerald, Community Relations 087 979 8300 martin.fitzgerald@clcu.ie ALBANY, N.Y., March 2, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- In homes and enclosed spaces, air purifiers assist in decreasing airborne toxins such as viruses or bacteria, which are estimated to support growth of the global air purifier market. On the other hand, portable air purifiers have been found to be ineffective in protecting consumers from SARS-CoV-2 induced coronavirus. As a result, air purifier manufacturers are spreading awareness about the fact that air cleaners should be utilized in combination with other guidelines of CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) to effectively fight the ill-effects of the novel infection. Since medium and low-income groups are slow to spend money on non-essential goods and equipment, companies in the air purifier industry are likely to offer lucrative opportunity. Relaxation of travel and trade sanctions is expected to boost business sales and the world economy. The restarting of production plants helps in the alleviation of supply chain bottlenecks. This factors are likely to support development of the global air purifier market in the years to come. Due to a variety of reasons, the global air purifier market is projected to rise at an annual rate of 8% during the projected timeline. Several factors are influencing the global air purifier market, including growing health concerns and declining quality of the air. During the forecast timeframe, the global air purifier market is expected to be driven by manufacturers' innovations in product offerings and services, as well as penetration in developing countries. Download PDF Brochure: https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=34490 Key Findings of Market Report HEPA-based Air Purifiers to Spell Growth for the Market Air purifiers are becoming increasingly common for removing allergens including pet odour and dust. However, it is necessary to bear in mind that such devices need regular maintenance and daily cleaning. In certain cases, these systems are unsuccessful at completely extracting odours and gases. As a consequence, air purifier manufacturers and startup air purifier companies are concentrating on coming up with HEPA (High Performance Particulate Air)-based purifiers, which are rapidly becoming the gold standard for creating safe environments. These factors are likely to augur well for the global air purifier market in the near future. LG and Filtrete, both air purifier manufacturers, have joined the race to build HEPA-based air purifiers. Users prefer effective filtration mechanisms, mobile designs, and energy-efficient performance. In an effort to come up with a strong research base in successful air filtration technologies, manufacturers should collaborate with air quality researchers. Growing Demand for Sustainable Products to Open Plethora of Opportunities In the global air purifier market, sustainability is an increasingly rising theme. CleanAirZone, Luftqi, and OneLife air purifiers have gained popularity for reducing waste, thanks to washable filters that are able to remove the need for filter replacements. With the help of sustainably sourced materials like bamboo, manufacturers are rapidly gaining proficiency in environmentally friendly hardware and low-energy profiles. Compact air purifiers with deodorizers are becoming more common in automobiles. Consumers like their dust-free and allergen-free characteristics because they are quick to plug in and use. Air purifier manufacturers are implementing digitised displays in products that monitor air quality, temperature, and humidity. Growing demand for sustainable to Porducts to foster growth of the global air purifier market. Explore 220 pages of superlative research, current market scenario, and extensive geographical projections. Gain insights into the Air Purifier Market (Mounting Type: Fixed and Portable; Product Type: Upper Air, In-duct, Self-Contained/Standalone, and Others; Technology: HEPA Filtration, Activated Carbon Filters, Ionic Filter, Ultraviolet [UV] Technology, and Others; End User: Residential, Commercial, and Industrial; and Distribution Channel: Online and Offline) - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends, and Forecast, 2020-2030 at https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/air-purifiers-market.html Air Purifier Market: Growth Drivers Since air purifiers filter out bacteria, dust, viruses, and mites, their demand increased during the COVID-19 disease outbreak, when countries across the world introduced stay-at-home or work-from-home policies. In recent times, the industry has seen a substantial rise in company expenditure on advanced air purifier research and development. The objective of research is to improve the reliability, efficiency, and convenience of use of air purifiers. The Internet of Things (IoT) is having a huge effect on the air purifier industry because it allows consumers to work with a compatible smartphone, which displays air quality data and allows for remote control. Consumers tend to communicate with appliances in a convenient way, which has fuelled demand for smart air purifiers. Global Air Purifier Market: Key Competitors Daikin Industries, Ltd. Honeywell International, Inc. Koninklijke Philips N.V American Air & Water, Inc. Hitech Ultraviolet Pvt. Ltd. Sharp Corporation Request the Covid19 Impact Analysis at https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=covid19&rep_id=34490 Global Air Purifier Market: Segmentation Mounting Type Fixed Portable Product Type Upper Air In-duct Self Contained/Standalone Technology HEPA Filtration Activated Carbon Filters Ionic Filter Ultraviolet (UV) Technology End User Residential Commercial Industrial Distribution Channel Online Offline Explore Transparency Market Research's award-winning coverage of the Global Consumer Goods & Services Industry: Ball Clay Market Global ball clay market is on the course to surpass the US$ 1.2 Bn mark by the end of 2030. The increasing usage of ball clay to attain the desired plasticity and minimize the detrimental effect on ceramic materials is projected to remain one of the key factors anticipated to propel the demand for ball clay during the assessment period. Medical Loupes Market Global medical loupes market is estimated to exceed value of US$ 541 Mn by 2030, expanding at a CAGR of ~6% during the forecast period About Transparency Market Research Transparency Market Research is a global market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. Our experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather and analyse information. Our data repository is continuously updated and revised by a team of research experts, so that it always reflects the latest trends and information. With a broad research and analysis capability, Transparency Market Research employs rigorous primary and secondary research techniques in developing distinctive data sets and research material for business reports. 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] Website: http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com Press Release Source: https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/pressrelease/air-purifiers-market.htm Blog: https://tmrblog.com/ Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1085206/Transparency_Market_Research_Logo.jpg SOURCE Transparency Market Research What we are trying to do is manage the spread of the disease, so it doesnt overwhelm our health system as youve seen in New York and Italy. Ultimately, Western Australia cannot become an island in a global community which has COVID-19. That was WA Health Minister Roger Cook on March 31 last year as the first wave of WA coronavirus cases, which had been running early in the month at daily 20s and 30s, slowed to a trickle of single digits. Premier Mark McGowan is expected to be re-elected on March 13. Credit:Stephen Kiprillis Three days later, Mark McGowan announced the WA border would be closed to the rest of the country. It wont be forever, its a temporary closure to make sure we limit the spread of the virus in WA, the Premier said. While we are in this state of emergency, we need you to stay where you are. The quicker we can get through this, the quicker we can get back to normal. Sorry! This content is not available in your region When the woman threatened to go the police, Mr. Salgado laughed and said he was too powerful to take down, according to the investigative file opened by the attorney generals office. The states attorney general at the time, Xavier Olea, said in an interview that the woman handed over the photos that Mr. Salgado sent her of the rape, and text messages in which he threatened to kill her if she went to the authorities. Mr. Olea said he thought there was enough evidence to prosecute. But Guerreros governor told him to drop the case, Mr. Olea said, repeating an assertion he has made to Mexican media outlets. The governors spokesman declined to comment. He told me not to go forward with it; otherwise the current president would go for his jugular, Mr. Olea said, referring to Mr. Lopez Obrador. A spokesman for the president declined to comment. In a news release, the Guerrero Attorney Generals office said the investigation into the womans claims was under revision. The office said Mr. Olea was solely responsible for deciding and coordinating investigations while he was the states top prosecutor. Ms. Castaneda said she filed her own statement with the Guerrero attorney generals office in November, shortly before Mr. Salgado was named as the candidate. She said she also filed the accusations with the presidents party, which confirmed receiving them in an internal document obtained by The Times. Ms. Castaneda is being represented by Mr. Olea, the former attorney general, now in private practice. Last month, the current attorney generals office informed Ms. Castaneda that it would not pursue her case because the statute of limitations had passed, according to a letter it sent her viewed by The Times. The attorney generals office did not respond to requests for comment. Many years have passed, but I am here, Ms. Castaneda said. The pain is still here. Oscar Lopez contributed reporting from Mexico City. CARMEL, Ind., March 2, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- KAR Auction Services, Inc. d/b/a KAR Global (NYSE: KAR), a leading operator of digital marketplaces for wholesale used vehicles, announces that Peter Kelly will assume the role of Chief Executive Officer effective April 1, 2021. Kelly has served as KAR Global's president since 2019 and succeeds Jim Hallett who has led the company as CEO since 2009 and became Chairman in 2014. Hallett will become executive chairman of KAR Global and continue to advise the company on strategic and customer and investor relations matters. Hallett will continue serving as Chairman of the KAR Global Board of Directors, with Kelly being named as a new director beginning April 1, 2021. "Peter Kelly is a pioneer who helped ignite KAR's digital transformation almost a decade ago when he brought OPENLANE into our company," said Hallett. "Over the past several years, we've partnered closely to sharpen our strategy, evolve KAR's operating model and extend the company's leadership position in digital used vehicle marketplaces. Peter is a bold, decisive leader with a track record of building high-performing teams, and his entrepreneurial mindset makes him the perfect choice for our people and for KAR's future. I'm confident his leadership of our company and industry will continue to deliver meaningful value to our customers and our stockholders." Kelly joined KAR in 2011 through the company's acquisition of OPENLANE where he served as co-founder, president and CEO. At KAR, he rapidly scaled the startup technology to become the world's largest private-label online auction platform supporting more than 40 OEM and financial institution brands. Kelly became chief technology officer of KAR in 2013, was named president of KAR's digital services group in 2014, and was promoted to KAR president in 2019. In his role as president, Kelly was responsible for all KAR business units, operations and brands and oversaw the company's historic shift to 100% digital in 2020. Most recently, Kelly led the company's acquisition of BacklotCars, the fastest growing dealer-to-dealer platform in the United States. Over the coming months, Hallett and Kelly will work closely to ensure a seamless transition of management responsibilities while continuing to advance the company's strategic priorities. "The prospect of leading KAR further into our digital future is humbling and exciting," said Kelly. "The used vehicle industry is continuously evolving, creating new opportunities for growth and expansion in North America and internationally. Our combination of digital capabilities and physical infrastructure is unmatched in the industry and positions us well to capture these opportunities. I remain committed to investing in people, data and technology to deliver great outcomes for our customers and achieve our business goals." Hallett joined the company in 1993 as president of ADESA Canada. He became CEO of ADESA in 1996 and led the company's IPO in 2004. In 2007, Hallett architected the leveraged buyout of ADESA and merger with salvage auction provider Insurance Auto Auctions, Inc. ("IAA"). Hallett took the combined company public in 2009 as KAR Auction Services, Inc. and in 2019, led the successful spin-off of IAA which generated significant value for KAR stockholders. Under Hallett's leadership, KAR completed the acquisition of more than 50 wholesale auctions and other businesses, expanding the company across North America and Europe and growing annual sales to nearly 6 million vehicles in 2018. Hallett is the recipient of numerous industry and business awards including the 2014 National EY Entrepreneur of the Year and is widely recognized for his active philanthropy and tireless advocacy for the health, safety and wellbeing of auction employees and customers. "It has been an honor and a privilege to work with, collaborate with and learn from Jim," continued Kelly. "And I am very fortunate to begin my tenure as CEO from a position of strength reinforced by Jim's love for this industry and company, as well as his commitment to safety and innovation." KAR Contacts: Media Inquiries : Analyst Inquiries : Tobin Richer Mike Eliason (317) 665-0366 (317) 249-4559 [email protected] [email protected] About KAR KAR Auction Services, Inc. d/b/a KAR Global (NYSE: KAR), provides sellers and buyers across the global wholesale used vehicle industry with innovative, technology-driven remarketing solutions. KAR Global's unique end-to-end platform supports whole car, financing, logistics and other ancillary and related services, including the sale of nearly 3.1 million units valued at approximately $30 billion through our auctions in 2020. Our integrated physical, online and mobile marketplaces reduce risk, improve transparency and streamline transactions for customers in about 75 countries. Headquartered in Carmel, Indiana, KAR Global has employees across the United States, Canada, Mexico, Uruguay, U.K. and Europe. For more information and the latest KAR Global news, go to www.karglobal.com and follow us on Twitter @KARspeaks . Forward-Looking Statements Certain statements contained in this press release include "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and which are subject to certain risks, trends and uncertainties. In particular, statements made that are not historical facts may be forward-looking statements. Words such as "should," "may," "will," "anticipates," "expects," "intends," "plans," "believes," "seeks," "estimates," and similar expressions identify forward-looking statements. Such statements are based on management's current expectations, are not guarantees of future performance and are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from the results projected, expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause or contribute to such differences include those uncertainties regarding the impact of the COVID-19 virus on our business and the economy generally, and those other matters disclosed in the Company's Securities and Exchange Commission filings. The Company does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statements. SOURCE KAR Global Related Links http://www.karglobal.com Sharon Carr was arrested on a charge of first-degree burglary after Cheetos residue linked her to the scene of a home invasion in Tulsa on Friday An Oklahoma woman was jailed last week after Cheetos residue stuck in her teeth linked her to the scene of an attempted burglary, police have revealed. Sharon Carr was arrested on a charge of first-degree burglary after cops say she committed a home invasion in Tulsa on Friday at around 8pm. The Tulsa Police Department (TPD) were summoned to a home near 67th and South Sheridan to reports of a person attempting to force their way through a window. The female victim was alone in the residence with two small children. She told dispatchers another woman had pried a screen door off her window, climbed inside, but hadn't stolen anything. Moments after they arrived, investigators found an empty bag of Cheetos and a bottle of water on the floor near the open window. Moments after they arrived, investigators found an empty bag of Cheetos and a bottle of water on the floor near the open window. (Stock image) 'A good reminder that Cheetos dust can be pretty hard to get rid of,' TPD wrote in a post on Facebook Police said they believed the burglar dropped the bag of dust-covered cheese puffs as she made her hasty escape out of the home. Carr is believed to have fled after being spooked when she heard the residents inside the home. According to police, Carr emerged from the shadows as officers were still working the scene, KTUL reported. The victim then ID'd Carr as the burglar after seeing her. Carr was then further linked to the crime after officers found Cheetos residue stuck in her teeth. 'A good reminder that Cheeto dust can be pretty hard to get rid of,' TPD wrote in a post on Facebook. Carr was arrested on a first-degree burglary complaint. She offered no reason for committing the crime, police said. New Delhi: The chief of Jammu and Kashmir's Al-Qaeda affiliate, Zakir Musa, fled from security forces on Friday night with help of local stone-pelters. Reports said that the villagers poured out of their homes and pelted stones after security forces cordoned off the village of Zakir Musa. The clashes erupted as the security forces began conducting house-to-house searches in Noorpora village of Pulwama district. Read | J&K: Army launches cordon and search operation of Al-Qaeda's Zakir Musa in Tral area Police said more security personnel including the police, the army and the Central Reserve Police Force had been rushed to the area and three more villages were brought under the extended cordon. There were unconfirmed reports that Zakir Musa, a former Hizbul Mujahideen commander, could be in the area. But there was no official word on him. Zakir Musa broke off from Hizbul after declaring that the militancy in Kashmir was to set up a Caliphate. Read | Al-Qaeda names Zakir Musa as head of its Kashmir-based terror outfit Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Seychelles Tourism Board (STB) recently held its annual GCC Roadshow virtually, with nearly 100 trade partners from the GCC and several local partners from Seychelles signing up to join the event for a productive day of meetings. On the agenda, familiarisation and learning about the Seychelles Islands with the STB team including the Chief Executive, Sherin Francis, the Director for the UAE, Stephanie Lablache and the STB representative in Dubai, Ahmed Fathallah present virtually. A strong delegation from the local trade attended comprising of representatives from Masons Travel, Creole Travel Services, 7 Degree South, Summer Rain Tours and Jadore Seychelles on behalf of the Tour Operators and the hotel properties including North Island, Six Senses Zil Pasyon, Hilton Seychelles, Constance Hotels and Resorts, Eden Bleu, Mango House Seychelles and LEscale Resort Marina and Spa, completed the Seychelles delegation. Ahmed Fathallah kicked off the online event, stating: We always look forward to welcoming guests from the GCC to the beautiful islands. We totally understand that 2020 has not been a pleasant year for all of us, but we are positive that things will get better very soon. And we are sure that everyone will agree that if we put all our hands together, we can make it happen. Sherin Francis said: As we all know, 2020 has been a hard year for all of us, especially, us who work in the tourism industry. 2021 does not look any easier. But however, we do have some optimism. The news of the vaccine is actually a source of a lot of optimism across the world, and we are hopeful that with this positive development, we will start seeing the travel industry to make a comeback. Francis also mentioned the destinations optimism and measures established to protect both travellers and locals. She mentioned that the island paradise is welcoming vaccinated guests to their shores without the need for quarantine as well as non-vaccinated visitors who will have to adhere to additional measures. Following the welcome from the STB Team, buyers and exhibitors proceeded to conduct one on one meetings where they updated one another with the conditions of the market, and current safety protocols implemented by local stakeholders in Seychelles. Additionally, GCC trade partners were familiarised with the islands through product video presentations, giving them a deeper insight into what Seychelles has to offer, from accommodations to activities, something that will be especially useful as Seychelles starts to welcome more guests during the year. As the destinations Covid-19 immunization programme is underway, STB and its team continue to take innovative approaches and find various methods to keep on fostering and nurturing ties with trade partners and consumers across the GCC, an STB statement said. TradeArabia News Service GO Mortgage has been named as one of the 2021 Best Mortgage Companies to Work for. This program was created by National Mortgage News and Best Companies Group. This annual survey and awards program was designed to identify, recognize, and honor the best employers in the U.S. mortgage industry. This years list included 50 companies. National Mortgage News honored all the winners and revealed the final rankings in a special report published in March 2021. The companies that are a part of this years ranking have demonstrated exemplary support for their teams during an unprecedented year of upheaval, said Heidi Patalano, editor-in-chief of National Mortgage News at Arizent. Theyve been nimble in adapting to circumstances surrounding the pandemic at the same time that origination demand has exploded. Each of this years honorees should be proud of the company culture they have fostered at such a challenging time. Companies from across the United States entered a two-part survey process to determine the National Mortgage News Best Mortgage Companies to Work for. The first part consisted of evaluating each nominated company's workplace policies, practices, philosophy, systems, and demographics. The second part consisted of an employee survey to measure the employee experience. The combined scores determined the top companies and the final ranking. Best Companies Group managed the overall registration and survey process, analyzed the data, and determined the final rankings. "GO Mortgage is dedicated to providing a work environment that employees enjoy and are recognized for their efforts," said Chad Jampedro, president of GO Mortgage. Winning this award is an honor and showcases our focus on employee engagement. To be considered for participation, companies had to be a for-profit, not-for-profit business or government entity operating a facility with at least 15 employees working in the United States for at least one year. Additional conditions applied; for more information on eligibility and other aspects of the program, please visit http://www.bestmortgagecompaniestoworkfor.com. About GO Mortgage GO Mortgage is a Brookfield, Wisconsin-based mortgage lender that operates as a DBA of GSF Mortgage Corporation. GO Mortgage has access to a comprehensive portfolio of top-tier loan products and goes out of its way to educate its clients on the homeownership journey and assist them in finding the most affordable options for each unique home-buying scenario. GO Mortgage delivers a promise of excellence through its streamlined customer service, leveraging the latest technology in mortgage financing, and providing a complete set of home loan options including, purchase, refinance, renovation, and new construction financing. Visit GO Mortgage at https://www.gomortgage.com. Rishi Sunak faces a delicate balancing act when he delivers his second budget as Chancellor today. He risks a backlash if he hikes taxes too quickly, but is also under pressure to indicate how he plans to plug the vast hole in the nations finances. It is expected that many Covid support measures, such as furlough, will be extended. But he is also thought to be set on raising an extra 43 billion through tweaks to tax allowances and duties. Budget balance: Chancellor Rishi Sunak risks a backlash if he hikes taxes too quickly, but is also under pressure to indicate how he plans to plug the vast hole in the nations finances Further detail is expected on March 23 when the Treasury publishes a host of consultations on tax policy. Here Money Mail talks you through what to watch out for - and the bookies odds of policy changes going ahead. INCOME TAX The Chancellor is bound by a manifesto pledge not to raise the headline rate of income tax. Instead, Mr Sunak is expected to freeze tax thresholds for three years. The move will raise 6 billion and drag 1.6 million people into higher tax bands. Former party leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith has said this would be a mistake that would punish ordinary families. Freezing income tax thresholds: 4/6 aka a 60% chance CAPITAL GAINS TAX The Treasury has played down rumours this could be brought in line with income tax rates. It would see rates rise from 20 per cent on assets and 28 per cent on property to 40 per cent for higher-rate taxpayers. The tax is levied on business owners who sell parts of their firm, second homeowners and those who sell valuable possessions. Currently, around 300,000 people a year pay CGT which yields 9.5 billion. Bringing CGT rates in line with income tax: 6/4 aka a 40% chance Retirement: The threshold at which pension pots are taxed is expected to be frozen at around 1m CORPORATION TAX Rishi SUNAK is likely to raise the tax on business from 19 per cent to 20 per cent, and set out a pathway to raising it to 23 per cent by the end of this parliament. This could prove controversial at a time when many businesses are struggling. Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has said his party will oppose a rise in corporation tax, despite having campaigned for it at the last election. An exemption for entrepreneurs is possible. Raising corporation tax: EVENS aka a 50% chance PENSIONS TAX RELIEF The threshold at which pension pots are taxed is expected to be frozen at around 1 million. It is projected to affect 1.2 million people who will exceed the threshold when they start drawing income and may raise 250 million a year. Those who breach the threshold face a 25 per cent levy on any additional income from their pension pot. The charge rises to 55 per cent if they choose to draw down a lump sum. Freezing pensions tax relief threshold: 1/3 aka a 75% chance Boris Johnson on Monday confirmed reports in The Daily Mail that a ten-year freeze on fuel duty would continue FUEL DUTY FREEZE CONTINUES Boris Johnson on Monday confirmed reports in the Daily Mail that a ten-year freeze on fuel duty would continue. It was rumoured that the Chancellor had planned a 5p hike or to signal his intent to end the freeze which has seen the duty remain at 57.95p per litre for petrol and diesel since 2011. Sir Robert Chote, former chairman of the Office for Budget Responsibility, has said most economists think the Chancellor should finally bite the bullet. Raising fuel duty: 10/1 aka a 9% chance ALCOHOL DUTY LIFELINE The Treasury could cut alcohol duty in pubs and restaurants and increase it in supermarkets to encourage people to go out once coronavirus lockdown measures are eased. The Prime Minister confirmed the proposal is being examined after backbench MPs urged ministers to act to prevent hospitality firms being undercut by cheap supermarket booze. But the move may not be ready in time for the Budget. Cutting alcohol duty for pubs and restaurants: 5/2 aka a 29% chance The Treasury could cut alcohol duty in pubs and restaurants and increase it in supermarkets to encourage people to go out once lockdown measures are eased. HELP FOR HOMEBUYERS The Chancellor is set to extend the stamp duty holiday until the end of June. The tax break on property purchases worth up to 500,000 is due come to an end on March 31. The policy does little to help first-time buyers, who dont pay the tax on properties worth up to 300,000 anyway. In a bid to appease them, the Prime Minister has planned the introduction of 95 per cent mortgages backed by the state. Mr Johnson says that this could help first-time buyers who are struggling to raise a large deposit or get a loan. Critics say it will simply push prices further out of reach. Extending stamp duty holiday and 95 per cent mortgages: 1/7 aka a 87.5% chance A NEW GREEN SAVINGS BOND The UK is expected to become the first country to offer green savings bonds to small investors as it attempts to fuel a sustainable recovery. It is thought Mr Sunak will today confirm plans to launch the bonds, which will fund renewable energy projects. They will be offered through NS&I, but their size and structure is as yet unknown. Green savings bond: 1/50 aka a 98% chance Should the stamp duty holiday become a permanent vacation? Rumours are swirling ahead of the Budget that Rishi Sunak will extend the stamp duty holiday by three months? The idea is that this would help stop the collapse of chain after chain as buyers pull out, renegotiate or have to find more money if they miss the deadline. But wouldn't a three-month delay just kick the can down the road by another 12 weeks and lead to another cohort of buyers potentially affected? Would it be better to just make the stamp duty holiday a permanent vacation from a bad tax? On this podcast, Georgie Frost, Grace Gausden and Simon Lambert discuss the stamp duty break, whether it was a good idea and whether it should be extended or the tax cut altogether. Press play above or listen (and please subscribe if you like the podcast) at Apple Podcasts, Acast, Spotify and Audioboom or visit our This is Money Podcast page All odds have been supplied by Paddy Power. m.dilworth@dailymail.co.uk Five people sustained wounds in Saudi Southwestern province of Jazan following a missile attack by Yemen rebel Houthis, reports say Tuesday. Media spokesman for the Directorate of Civil Defense in Jazan, Col. Mohammed bin Yahya Al-Ghamdi told Saudi state-run news agency SPA that the projectile had fallen in a public street in one the border villages in the province near the border with Yemen. The victims include three Saudis and 2 Yemeni nationals. They reportedly suffered moderate injuries due to shrapnel and were transferred to hospital to receive medical care. Two houses, a grocery store, three vehicles and several materials were damaged from the flying shrapnel, Col. Al-Ghamdi also said. The Houthis-backed by Iran are fighting Saudi Arabia-backed regime of President Mansour Hadi, the kingdom-led international forces. The rebels have recently stepped up attacks on the kingdom. Last month another missile hit an airport causing a civilian aircraft on the tarmac to catch fire. There were no casualties. 1. Can you describe your role and the work it entails? 2. What unique circumstances are there in Maine? 3. How has the pandemic changed your work? 4. What projects are you working on right now? Peggy Schaffer has worked for nearly 15 years on broadband expansion in Maine , part of a growing group of state government broadband employees. With the COVID-19 pandemic putting a new emphasis on the importance of high-speed home Internet , Schaffers work has rarely been so relevant.recently spoke with her about her job and the unique challenges Maine presents. ConnectMaine was created in 2006 by the Legislature to expand broadband both connectivity and use statewide. We run two grant programs. One is a community planning grant, providing money to help communities expand broadband access. Then, we have a program to actually build out that access and infrastructure. It helps service providers to either expand their network or work with communities to build out an entire community network.Thats the job of ConnectMaine. Im the executive director. Im a state employee. The program part of me responds to the ConnectMaine Authority Board, but my direct supervisor is the commissioner of the Department of Economic and Community Development.Our challenges are distance, density and poverty. Even if we bring a connection to your house, if you cant afford it, you cant access it. In Maine, we have a lot of small Internet service providers. We had a lot of small, consolidated telephone companies. The problem is their networks werent made to talk to each other. Revamping that so that its a bigger network is difficult and expensive. We find its very hard for the incumbent provider to upgrade that service. Its a significant capital investment, and youre not gaining new customers or revenue. In Maine, we also go from mountains to coast. We have lots of islands. Many have bridges, but when you get to the edge of a road, theres nowhere for it to go. That again presents a cost challenge.Its done a couple things. Its overtaxed upload speed. People who had a connection adequate to watch Netflix suddenly have kids at home while theyre also trying to work, and their upspeed is not cutting it. So, theres been more attention on upspeed. The other piece is that when we first shut down last March, suddenly we had thousands of kids who didnt have any access to the Internet. We had a crisis. The Department of Education responded by buying Wi-Fi devices. Those Wi-Fi subscriptions ran out, and those kids are still home. Were trying to get people to understand that infrastructure doesnt happen overnight and its not cheap. That has been a major difference in the conversation.Weve been around since 2006, and we got our first major funds infusion this year. The Legislature approved a $15 million bond , and voters approved that by 75 percent. Now, that is more than weve spent in 14 years combined, and its still a drop in the bucket. We guess its somewhere around a $600 million hole to meet need and demand. This cannot be only the states or communities or providers problems. It requires a partnership between states, communities, providers and the federal government.Were currently using CARES Act money to connect students. We put out $5.6 million for it, and we can continue that program through the funding we have. We are also working on a project with our Department of Health and Human Services to provide free service to low-income parents until June. Were asking providers to come in with a bulk price. We know there are about 25,000 households with kids that we could hook up. Finally, the biggest project this year will be the actual distribution of the $15 million we have. Weve had the same grant process since 2006, and were in the process of revamping that. Twenty-one Republican governors and one Democrat are opposing a central section of President Joe Biden's COVID-19 stimulus bill, saying that a new relief package "punishes" states that did not entirely close down industries after the pandemic. Republican Governor: Biden's stimulus bill has a "biased" system Over the weekend, the governors, led by South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster, released a statement condemning a "biased" system used to assess how much money in direct assistance each state gets. Kansas Governor Laura Kelly, a Democrat, backed the statement as well. Biden's package, called the American Rescue Plan, proposes $350 billion in federal assistance to state and local governments to make up for lost tax revenue after the pandemic, as per USA Today. The majority of each state's funding will be focused on its unemployment rates rather than the total population. States with the highest unemployment rates last year will earn a higher share. The governors said in a statement that the deal "punishes states that took a measured path to the pandemic and entered the crisis with stable state finances and solid economies." "The willingness of a state to keep businesses open and people working should not be a condition for allocating funds." If Congress is trying to support nations, it can do so on a population-based basis." Biden's COVID-19 relief bill was approved by a mostly party-line vote of 219-212 in the Democratic-controlled House early Saturday morning. It now goes to the Senate, which is equally split, for a vote this week. In the meantime, the White House has declined to comment. Read also: Biden Reveals 3 Postal Service Board Nominees, Puts Pressure on Postmaster General According to an analysis from the office of Rep. Jason Smith of Missouri, the top Republican on the House Budget Committee, 33 states would get fewer funds if the formula was based on population. Twenty-three states have Republican governors, while ten have Democratic governors. Georgia, Florida, Virginia, South Carolina, and Alabama will see the largest decline in support, as per the analysis. Meanwhile, Virginia is the sole state with a Democratic governor. Texas, California, New Jersey, Nevada, and New York are the five states that will benefit the most from the stimulus bill by using unemployment as a criteria. Texas is the only state with a Republican governor. Governor Greg Abbott of Texas is not one of the 22 governors who have signed the statement. Although few Republican governors have expressed support for Biden's COVID-19 relief bill, it has gained public support from 32 Republican mayors who say their cash-challenged cities need it. Gov. Jim Justice of West Virginia has been one of the most vocal Republican governors in favor of the bill's passage. Other governors who supported the statement are: Kay Ivey (R-Ala.) Mike Dunleavy (R-Ark.) Doug Ducey (R-Ariz.) Ron DeSantis (R-Fla.) Brian Kemp (R-Ga.) Brad Little (R-Idaho) Eric Holcomb (R-Ind.) Kim Reynolds (R-Iowa) Tate Reeves (R-Miss.) Mike Parson (R-Mo.) Greg Gianforte (R-Mont.) Pete Ricketts (R-Neb.) Chris Sununu (R-N.H.) Doug Burgum (R-N.D.) Mike DeWine (R-Ohio) Kevin Stitt (R-Okla.) Kristi Noem (R-S.D.) Bill Lee (R-Tenn.) Spencer Cox (R-Utah) Mark Gordon (R-Wyo.) Stimulus Bill to be debated this week After the Senate concludes its scheduled hearings to approve three new Cabinet officials named to serve under President Joe Biden's presidency, congressional debates on the upcoming stimulus bill will resume this week. On Monday, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer announced that the Senate will start discussing Biden's $1.9 trillion economic stimulus package. "The Senate will have a busy week ahead of it. Today and tomorrow, the Senate will confirm two more members of President Biden's Cabinet," Schumer said. He added that these nominees will have a challenging and crucial task ahead as the government continues fighting against it, particularly the damage it caused to schools and the economy. Read also: New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo Responds to Sexual Harassment Allegations, Offers Apology Schumer spoke at a session in which lawmakers debated Miguel Cardona's appointment to be Biden's secretary of education and swore in Sonceria "Ann" Berry as the Senate's secretary of state. According to Newsweek on MSN, Berry is the country's first African-American Senate secretary and the eighth woman to hold the position. Secretary and Cecilia Rouse as chair of the president's Council on Economic Advisers (CEA) alongside Cardona. Rouse will become the country's first Black CEA chair and the fourth woman to head the council if her appointment is accepted. Although progressives in the Democratic Party were upset that the minimum wage increase was omitted from the stimulus bill, the procedural move could potentially help the stimulus package succeed, as at least two centrist Democrats in the Senate were opposed to it. Given the Republican Party's vehement resistance, a defection could jeopardize the whole strategy. The stimulus bill will have to come to the House for a final vote following the Senate vote, as per AFP via Yahoo. Democrats expect to approve the bill until March 14, when payments of extended unemployment benefits under a previous assistance package will run out. Read also: Will a Fourth Stimulus Check Be Possible as the Third Nears Its Distribution To Eligible Americans? @ 2021 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Jockey Davy Russell is congratulated by trainer Gordon Elliott (centre) after riding Tiger Roll to victory in the 2018 Grand National Runners trained by Ireland's Gordon Elliott could be barred from this month's Cheltenham Festival after British horse racing officials imposed a ban in response to a photograph of him sitting on a dead horse. In a statement issued Monday, the British Horseracing Authority (BHA), who had earlier described the picture as a "shocking image", said they would not allow Elliott to race horses in Britain while their Irish counterparts investigate a photograph that appeared on social media over the weekend. That could mean horses trained by Elliott are unable to run at the March 16-19 Cheltenham Festival, England's premier jumps meeting, where he is expected to have a string of fancied contenders, including two-time Aintree Grand National winner Tiger Roll. "The British Horseracing Authority will not allow the Irish trainer Gordon Elliott to race horses in Britain whilst the Irish authorities investigate an image that appeared on social media over the weekend," said a BHA statement. "The action taken by the BHA recognises that Mr Elliott is licensed in Ireland, whose regulatory body, the IHRB (Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board), is carrying out its own investigation." The statement went on to say that British rules of racing applied to Elliott once he had entered horses to race in the UK, with the BHA adding their "interim decision" to refuse to allow horses trained by Elliott to run in the country was "proportionate in these circumstances". Elliott's horses could, however, still make their way onto UK tracks while the Irish investigation is ongoing, as the BHA said owners would be permitted to transfer them to a different trainer and run them at a British meeting "providing they comply with the relevant rules". The 42-year-old Elliott apologised late Sunday, saying he had been waiting to help with the removal of the unnamed horse after it had died of an apparent heart attack on the gallops and had acted without thinking when his phone rang. Story continues "I apologise profoundly for any offence that this photo has caused," he said. "At what was a sad time, which it is when any horse under my care passes away, my initial reaction was to get the body removed from where it was positioned." Eliott added: "I was standing over the horse waiting to help with the removal of the body, in the course of which, to my memory I received a call and, without thinking, I sat down to take it." Michael O'Leary, Elliott's principal owner and the chief executive of Irish budget airline Ryanair, said he accepted the trainer's "sincere and unreserved apology". pi-jdg/jc Bethany Christian Services, the largest Christian adoption agency in the United States, has changed a longstanding policy and will now place children with LGBT parents for foster care and adoption across its operations in 32 states. The news was announced today in a ministry-wide email and first reported in The New York Times. President Chris Pulasky told employees that Bethany remains steadfast in its Christian faith, and that the new practices will allow the organization to further its mission to provide safe, loving, and stable homes to as many vulnerable children as possible. The change comes two years after Bethany opted to allow LGBT placements in its home state of Michigan. Pulasky was disappointed with the outcome of a lawsuit there, but at the time said if Bethany didnt comply with state requirements it would miss out on serving thousands of children in foster care. As legal fights over religious convictions on family and LGBT rights have continued to make their way through the courts and Congress, Bethany Christian decided to incorporate the move toward LGBT inclusion across the organization. We will now offer services with the love and compassion of Jesus to the many types of families who exist in our world today, Palusky said. Were taking an all hands on deck approach where all are welcome. Robin Fretwell Wilson, a legal expert and an adoptee, applauded the move as an example of a Christian organization finding a way forward in the culture wars. I was pleased to see them talk about this as all hands on deck, said Wilson, who directs University of Illinoiss Institute of Government and Public Affairs and is known for her role in advocating for Fairness for All legislation to safeguard religious liberty. We need Bethanyand all the Bethanys of this worldto continue their work They have recentered on their mission, on helping children, and they found in their theology a way to do it. The decision came as a disappointment, though, to some religious liberty advocates who wish to see greater legal accommodations for ministries to operate based on their convictions. The need is great for distinctively Christian adoption and foster care services, including that children need both mothers and fathers. Moreover, this move will harm already existing efforts to enable faith-based orphan care ministries to serve the vulnerable without capitulating on core Christian convictions, said Russell Moore, president of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission and author of Adopted for Life: The Priority of Adoption for Christian Families and Churches. The better way to serve is to hold the line when Caesar wants to be Messiah too. The state has no right to serve as lord over the conscience. Nonetheless, many evangelical orphan care ministries are working, and will continue to work, for vulnerable children in need of families, while still holding to the faith. The Supreme Court is currently weighing a case involving a Catholic foster care agency in Philadelphia that had its contract with the city terminated because it wouldnt work with LGBT couples. Since Bethany began accepting LGBT placements, it has become an option for Catholic Charities in Philadelphia to refer couples to if necessary. This illustrates what Catholic Social Services has said from the beginning: that there are many options available for LGBTQ families, and there is no need to take options away from children and families by shutting down agencies with different religious beliefs, said Lori Windham, senior counsel at religious liberty nonprofit Becket Fund. Bethany no longer includes in its position statement a line about upholding Gods design for marriage as between one man and one woman, but it doesnt come out and affirm same-sex marriage either. Faith in Jesus is at the core of our mission. But we are not claiming a position on the various doctrinal issues about which Christians of mutual good faith may disagree, said Nate Bult, Bethanys vice president. The organization continues to have staff sign a statment of faith based on the popular evangelical Lausanne Covenant, according to Bult, but has not required employees to adhere to a code of conduct or other restrictions around sexuality. The move toward LGBT inclusion was endorsed by three former executive directors of the 75-year-old Christian organization. Barna Group research found that three-quarters of self-identified Christians agree that Christian agencies should comply with LGBT requirements from the government rather than shutting down. At Bethany, we believe the Bible is the living Word of God, and we still believe in Gods plan for marriage and family as it is outlined in the Scriptures, Palusky wrote for CT in 2019. At the same time, it is clear to us that Bethany cannot cede the foster care space completely to the secular world and leave children without the opportunity to experience Jesus through our loving care. Bethany names spreading the love of Jesus as its primary motivation and holds regular prayer gatherings for staff. (During the pandemic, employees from across the US and six countries have been able to worship together online.) We acknowledge that discussions about doctrine are important, but our sole job is to determine if a family can provide a safe, stable environment for children, Bult said. Unlike many other child and family welfare organizations, Bethany is committed to partnering with churches to find as many families for vulnerable children as possible, and we seek to place children with families that share our mission. Protestant and Catholic organizations, motivated by their faiths teachings on caring for children and orphans, play a significant role in state-run foster care systems and have increasingly found themselves in conflict with anti-discrimination regulations over the past few years. The future of Christian-run adoption and foster agencies is also a core concern in the debate around the proposed Equality Act. In Texas, major Christian foster care providers such as Buckner International lobbied for a law passed in 2017 granting agencies the right to use faith-based requirements in placements, and in South Carolina, Miracle Hill Ministries was given a waiver in 2019 to refer non-Protestant applicants to other organizations. Approaches to adoption and foster care among Christians are also changing, with family unification and domestic adoption now bigger priorities. A year ago, Bethany also announced its plans to phase out international adoptions. 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. LILE-DES-SURS, Quebec, March 02, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Quebec Professional Association of Real Estate Brokers (QPAREB) has just released its residential real estate market statistics for the Montreal Census Metropolitan Area (CMA) for the month of February, based on the real estate brokers Centris provincial database. Condominium sales compensated for the decrease in single-family home sales in February. The drop in inventory of properties for sale and the skyrocketing prices of single-family homes partly explain the increase in condominium and plex transactions, said Charles Brant, director of market analysis at the QPAREB. "The gap between the median price of condominiums in the downtown Montreal area (decreasing) and the median price of condos in the suburbs (sharply increasing) is narrowing significantly," he added. February highlights Residential sales fell by 3 per cent in the Montreal CMA, the first time since 2015 that sales decreased in a month of February. The Island of Montreal performed well with a 6 per cent increase in sales, mainly due to condominium transactions, which jumped by 16 per cent. In contrast, sales fell significantly in all of the peripheral markets: Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu (-32 per cent), Laval (-14 per cent), Vaudreuil-Soulanges (-10 per cent), the South Shore (-8 per cent) and the North Shore (-3 per cent). Sales by property category: strong growth for plexes (+19 per cent) and condominiums (+8 per cent) across the CMA. Increase in active listings of condominiums (+10 per cent), mainly on the Island of Montreal (+54 per cent). Active listings of single-family homes continued to decline (-51 per cent), particularly in the areas on the periphery of the Island. With market conditions still very much to the advantage of sellers, median prices continue to accelerate dramatically against a backdrop of overbidding. The median price of single-family homes reached $460,000 (+28 per cent), which is $100,000 more than just 12 months ago. Median price increases were also very high for condominiums (+24 per cent) and plexes (+9 per cent). Additional information: Quarterly statistics Barometer for the province of Quebec Detailed and cumulative statistics for the province and regions If you would like additional information from the Market Analysis Department, such as specific data or regional details on the real estate market, please write to us . About the Quebec Professional Association of Real Estate Brokers The Quebec Professional Association of Real Estate Brokers (QPAREB) is a non-profit association that brings together more than 13,000 real estate brokers and agencies. It is responsible for promoting and defending their interests while taking into account the issues facing the profession and the various professional and regional realities of its members. The QPAREB is also an important player in many real estate dossiers, including the implementation of measures that promote homeownership. The Association reports on Quebec's residential real estate market statistics, provides training, tools and services relating to real estate, and facilitates the collection, dissemination and exchange of information. The QPAREB is headquartered in Quebec City and has its administrative offices in Montreal. It has two subsidiaries: Centris Inc. and the College de l'immobilier du Quebec. Follow its activities at qpareb.ca or via its social media pages: Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and Instagram. About Centris Centris is a dynamic and innovative technology company in the real estate sector. It collects data and offers solutions that are highly adapted to the needs of professionals. Among these solutions is Centris.ca, the most visited real estate website in Quebec. For more information: Image bank (credit QPAREB) available free of charge. Marjolaine Beaulieu Publicist Communications and Marketing 1-888-762-2440 or 514-762-2440, ext. 238 media@qpareb.ca A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/20e7964c-f529-41e4-9560-86d071d08131 Chief of Staff of the Egyptian Armed Forces Lieutenant General Mohamed Farid left Cairo on Monday, heading a high-ranking military delegation, to partake in the seventh meeting of the Egyptian-Sudanese Military Committee in Khartoum. Farid is expected to hold a number of meetings during his visit that will focus on military cooperation and the strategic partnership between Egypt and Sudan. Short link: The Kelowna Pride Society should have backchanneled their complaints with the RCMP over the safe space program. And what they are saying doesnt cut the mustard. They do not speak for all LGBT people in this community. KPS said they wanted community involvement, except during Thursday's meeting they had 2 people on the call from Vancouver. Thats not the local community! They also said the RCMP voluntarily paused the program. Of course, they did because if they did not then KPS would be protesting outside. 29 other communities have this program in place and yet somehow Kelowna is different. How so? Right now, no program is running and apparently, nothing is better than something. If KPS gets its way then be prepared for this program to be a disaster. Only a handful of companies will want to partake. They want staff to have trauma-informed care. They want staff to be trained in LGBT and BIPOC issues. Some are more concerned if the store will use the proper pronouns. Shouldnt the safety of the person be the number one priority? Not everybody is trained in first aid or CPR but if needed I am sure a majority of the population could help out. I have reached out to KPS on numerous occasions this week and they have yet to contact me back. Are they really that scared of an informed person making arguments against them? As well I am a Transgender individual, and they took the safe spaces program away from people like me. I sure hope once this program re-starts the RCMP do not pose for pictures with these people. Because thats what they really want. Where is their compromise? Rebecca Ann, Kelowna Northern Ireland's much-anticipated roadmap out of lockdown is expected to be published today - with a five-step, data-driven approach to loosening restrictions. It was delayed a day after Executive ministers asked civil servants to make the plan "clearer and more consistent" with solid reassurances from the Department of Health. Ministers met yesterday morning to examine the 'Pathway to Recovery' document but publication was delayed after some parties asked for more clarity. A source said: "There was no big row about the blueprint but some ministers wanted greater clarity. They said that the draft needed to be more clear and consistent. "It's very much data over dates in the document, but some parties have asked for even an outline of a timeframe or metrics - for example where the vaccination programme would sit beside the R rate. It was requested that there be solid reassurances given from the Department of Health about the document." The source added: "It is very important that there are no inconsistencies, and that the confusion we've seen before with such plans doesn't happen again." The source said there was broad agreement on the shape of the plan. It is expected to be unveiled on the floor of the Assembly by First Minister Arlene Foster and deputy First Minister Michelle O'Neill when it is ready. It will outline the sequence in which current lockdown restrictions will lift, with moves taken when the public health situation allows. It will focus on nine areas of life with each section incorporating five steps out of lockdown guided by data. The discussions took place as two more Covid-related deaths were recorded by the Department of Health - one was outside the latest 24-hour reporting period. A total of 258 hospital beds are occupied by Covid-19 patients - 34 are in intensive care. A further 138 cases of the virus were also announced yesterday, with cases continuing to fall sharply since the start of the year, when they were regularly running above 1,000 a day. Expand Close How NI Covid cases have fallen sharply since the start of the year / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp How NI Covid cases have fallen sharply since the start of the year The initial phase in the blueprint is understood to be called "cautious first steps". This is expected to see the 11pm curfew on takeaways being removed. Restaurants and pubs could be open by early summer under the roadmap. The first to resume business would be cafes and restaurants that don't serve alcohol. They would be permitted to offer outdoor table service. The Executive would then move into a "gradual easing" period with indoor meals being allowed in alcohol-free premises limited to a maximum of six people from two households. The third step, "further easing", would allow indoor table service in these premises to six people from various households. Mrs Foster has said the Executive will review the level of restrictions every three weeks. Northern Ireland's current lockdown and accompanying stay-at-home message is in place until April 1. Ministers are due to review that policy on March 18. The Executive has already outlined plans for a phased return of face-to-face learning at schools. Only vulnerable children and those of key workers have been attending classes in mainstream schools since January. P1 to P3 primary school children will return to school on March 8, and on March 22 secondary school children in key exam years - years 12-14 - will return to class. On that same date, the P1 to P3s are currently due to revert to home learning for one week ahead of the Easter holidays - to mitigate the impact on infection rates of the secondary school cohort's return. However, officials from the departments of health and education were tasked last week to examine that aspect of the plan and Mrs Foster has expressed hope that those primary pupils will ultimately be able to remain in school that week. No date has so far been given for the return of the wider school population. Posting on Twitter on Sunday night, Ms O'Neill referred to the roadmap and pledged: "There are much brighter days ahead, we will come through this." In England and Scotland, lockdown exit plans that include target dates for easing restrictions have already been published. However, the respective governments have said the lifting of the rules will only happen if certain conditions are met. In the Republic of Ireland, lockdown restrictions have been extended until April 5. Meanwhile, the vaccine programme has been extended to include people aged 60-64. People who are in this age bracket can now book a jab online at one of the trust vaccination centres. As of yesterday, 558,597 vaccines have been administered here - 525,400 were first doses and 33,197 were second doses. Mosques in Bahrain to re-open for Fajr, Dhuhr, Asr prayers from Thursday Mosques in Bahrain to re-open for Fajr, Dhuhr, Asr prayers from Thursday TDT | Manama The Daily Tribune www.newsofbahrain.com Mosques will re-open across Bahrain for the Fajr (Dawn), Dhuhr (Noon) and Asr (Afternoon) prayers starting Thursday. The decision is based on the opinions of the Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs and the recommendations of the National Medical taskforce for Combating the Coronavirus (COVD-19) and following consultations with the Sunni and Jaafari endowments, the Ministry of Justice, Islamic Affairs and Endowments said. The ministry stressed the importance of adhering to all precautionary measures to ensure the safety of all and added that decisions would be subject to periodic review based on developments. Congregational and Friday prayers were suspended in Bahrain on March 28 after mosques were shut to mitigate the spread of the coronavirus. Fajr prayers were allowed back in mosques on August 28, Dhuhr on November 1 and Asr on December 6. However, prayers and religious events at mosques were suspended on February 11 to protect the elderly people in light of spiking infections. Physically-able Muslims are required to perform five prayers daily in mosques Fajr, Dhuhr, Asr, Maghreb (Sunset) and Isha (Evening). Lakes high-quality product yielded improved capacity retention and better electrochemical behaviour in coin cells compared to the commercially available product from Tier 1 producers. ( ) (OTCMTS:LLKKF) has hit a new record high on confirming positive results from initial testing by ( ) (OTCQX:NVNXF), which show that its lithium carbonate performs better than commercially available battery-grade lithium carbonate in lithium-ion battery cells. The tests revealed that Lakes high-quality product yielded improved capacity retention and better electrochemical behaviour in coin cells compared to the commercially available product from Tier 1 producers. Shares have jumped as much as 23.5 per cent in early trading to A$0.475, a new record high, while the company's market cap sits at approximately A$390.4 million. Further testing Larger scale tests will be conducted using batch-scale synthesis to demonstrate repeatability, homogeneity and cell characterisation and validation in full lithium-ion wound pouch cells, as part of Novonixs pilot-scale cell line facilities in Nova Scotia, Canada. This will enable Lake and its potential partner and customers to make direct comparisons of Lakes lithium products performance in familiar battery chemistries. Novonix anticipates this testing process to take some months and will update the market as soon as results are available. "Excellent position to progress" Lake Resources managing director Steve Promnitz said: The results from Novonix demonstrate the high quality of Lakes high purity lithium in batteries and future results are anticipated to reinforce the initial results. This provides electric vehicle makers and battery makers confidence around Lakes product quality, which is particularly important, given the increasing demand for a high purity product. Lake is advancing the Kachi DFS amid a growing focus on sustainability and the need for a responsibly sourced product suitable for the supply chains of leading EV makers. With investor and industry engagement intensifying, Lake is in an excellent position to progress our product and unlock increased value for shareholders. Test results Novonix received commercial samples of NMC622-hydroxide precursor from Tier 1 producers, together with samples of Lakes high 99.97% purity lithium carbonate, to conduct a real-world direct comparison of Lakes product into NMC622 batteries and its suitability for the nickel cathode sector. The cathode material was tested for electrochemical properties using coin half-cell testing. Powders were characterised using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and x-ray diffraction (XRD) to understand morphology and phase purity. The XRD showed no impurities. Lakes lithium carbonate was used as received and also milled but no appreciable difference was noted in the resultant NMC powders once synthesised. NMC622 was mixed with conducting carbon and binder, cast on to an aluminium foil current collector, dried, punched and assembled into a lithium-ion battery half-cell which yielded similar voltage profiles, improved capacity retention and better electrochemical behaviour compared to the commercially available product from Tier 1 producers. Novonix provides high precision battery testing equipment to Tier 1 battery makers including Panasonic, CATL, Samsung, SK Innovation, LG Chem, Bosch, Honda and Dys Prominent evangelist Luis Palau, who has been battling lung cancer for the past few years, has entered hospice care, his son reported Monday night. Andrew Palau posted a statement to the Luis Palau Facebook page explaining that his 86-year-old father's battle with stage 4 lung cancer "took a turn for the worse" at the start of 2021. "He spent two weeks in the hospital in January, dealing with heart and lung issues. Although the doctors thought they had stabilized his condition and [we're] happy to send him home, he returned to the hospital on Friday, February 19th," stated Palau. "After meeting with doctors, the decision was made to stop all treatment and start on hospice care. All the medications and treatments were proving to be too much for his body to handle." Source:The Christian Post Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full 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 Moroccan Foreign Ministry has suspended ties with the German embassy in connection with a deep misunderstanding related to the disputed Western Sahara. The move comes amid diplomatic tensions over Western Sahara, as the US under Donald Trump took the unusual step of recognizing Morocco's sovereignty over the territory in December. A letter from Moroccan Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita, addressed to the rest of the Moroccan government, was leaked to the network, instructing to stop all contacts, interaction, and cooperation with the German embassy and embassy-related activities. A senior Moroccan government official confirmed to the Associated Press that the letter was authentic but said it was not intended to be released to the public. According to him, this decision is related to the recent position of Germany on the Sahara issue, especially after the US decision. The UN has expressed concern that Trump's decision - in exchange for the normalization of Morocco's diplomatic relations with Israel - could hinder negotiation efforts over the long-standing conflict in Western Sahara. Many countries, including Germany, support a political solution mediated by the UN. The Andrews governments state of emergency bill passed Parliament late on Tuesday after it agreed to a series of concessions in order to win the support of crossbench MPs. Children could pay half as much as adults for breaching COVID-19 rules and people would be able to appeal against their penalties to a new fines review officer, under the agreed changes to the bill. Health Minister Martin Foley has been negotiating with upper house MPs. Credit:Penny Stephens The government won the support of the Greens, Reason Party MP Fiona Patten and Animal Justice Party MP Andy Meddick to extend the emergency declaration until December after negotiations with Health Minister Martin Foley extended late into the night on Monday. The bill passed the upper house late on Tuesday night. School district across Montgomery County reacted Tuesday to the announcement from Gov. Greg Abbott that he was ending the states coronavirus restrictions, including the mask mandate. District officials said they were waiting for more guidance from the Texas Education Agency. In light of Governor Abbotts issuance of Executive Order GA-34 which goes into effect on March 10, 2021, Conroe ISD is seeking additional guidance from the Texas Education Agency regarding safety measures and health standards in place, announced in a message. All safety protocols will remain in effect in Conroe ISD schools and facilities until further clarification is obtained. In his last community YouTube Live update, CISD Superintendent Curtis Null encouraged the community to keep wearing masks and social distancing in order to limit the spread of COVID-19 in schools, and keep school open. So far, the district has not seen evidence that the virus is spreading in the classrooms, but Null credits this success to the protocols in place. It does take us all to follow protocols, do the right things both inside of our schools and outside of our schools, Null said in his YouTube Live in January. Other county districts are sharing similar sentiments and waiting for more guidance from TEA about how to move forward. TEA will be issuing new guidance this week. Until then, our safety protocols will remain in effect, Magnolia ISD wrote in a tweet Tuesday. We will send updates as quickly as decisions are made. Thank you for your patience. Willis ISD told its community that it will also be seeking more guidance from TEA but that in the meantime all current safety protocols will remain in place. While Splendora ISD also told its community that it will be seeking more guidance from Mike Morath, TEA Commissioner, the district did not address its current protocols. Today, Governor Abbott announced that the statewide mask order will be rescinded on Wednesday, March 10, the district tweeted out following Abbotts announcement. We are waiting for further guidance from Texas Education Agency Commissioner Mike Morath regarding our safety protocols and will share that information as soon as we receive it. TEA announced that updated public health guidance will be released this week. jamie.swinnerton@chron.com 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. Cyta CEO Andreas Neocleous in a recent interview with the Cyprus Mail raised an interesting point regarding the implementation of 5G and the resulting facilitation of advanced technology solutions on the island. Neocleous explained that while the telecommunications infrastructure will be there to support and enable the use of certain technologies in a variety of applications, this would not be enough for their successful implementation and long-term use. We still have to enhance the existing transportation infrastructure, parking infrastructure, re-invent city plans, as well as put in place related legislation and updated Highway Code, he said in reference to the rising popularity and availability of vehicles with automated driving features. These are not simple things, they require a strategic shift in policies and regulation, Neocleous added. Indeed, the need for a more holistic and considered approach is key for Cyprus in a wide array of fields but technology offers the most gleaming example. On February 2, Paphos mayor Phedonas Phedonos announced plans which aim to modernise the city and its administration through the use of a Geographic Information System (GIS). Think of GIS as a multi-dimensional, integrated tool for analysis and insight. It correlates data on multiple levels, allowing its users to manage and analyse that data for them to make the most informed decisions at any given moment. Moreover, it can allow organisations to monitor changes, observe trends and create forecasting reports which can in turn allow for better preparation or the application of corrective measures. For Paphos council the GIS system will ultimately be able to combine data provided by all public utility networks. This includes their own internal maps. In essence, if a new development project is under consideration, the council will be able to see how this affects or is affected by the water board, the electricity authority and the Department of Town Planning and Housing. Moreover, this can then in turn be combined with data relating to traffic, emissions, noise pollution, and more. Since then, Nicosia has also announced its own plans for the implementation of Smart City features. However, the Cypriot capital has gone one step ahead, stating that it will become the first smart city on the island. In truth, Nicosias plans are much more expansive in scope than Paphos, at least for the time being. The smart city plans for Nicosia include a fibre optic network, a wireless network, information points, mobility solutions digital signage, and smart LED lighting. However, one of the most intriguing parts of the project involves the installation of a number of sensors related to atmospheric pollution (measuring dust, temperature and air quality), the creation of a smart waste system, and a smart parking system. But while the data and its subsequent analysis will produce certain findings the crux of the matter is how those findings are acted upon. Cyprus has already suffered from its non-adherence to European Union-mandated climate change-related emissions targets. So while the council ascertains that the smart parking system will reduce emissions by decreasing traffic, any reduction in emissions would sadly not be enough to neither tangibly improve air quality nor bring down our cumulative emissions to the desired levels. Initiatives elsewhere in the world: Estonia, South Korea, Japan Cyprus taking its first Smart City steps at a later point than other cities elsewhere in the world is not necessarily a drawback. Being late to the party allows local administrations and governments to better scan the field and implement solutions that have been tried and tested elsewhere without having to suffer the teething problems of emerging technologies. South Korea, one of the leading countries in terms of Smart City implementation, started a smart mobility system in Seoul all the way back in 2003. This system was a response to the decreasing use of public buses and the shift of Korean drivers to personal vehicles, a problem faced by Cyprus today. The system integrated GPS and the citys bus management system to create a fluid public transport system which diverted buses to the route they were needed to the most at any given time during the day. In Estonia smart city features have been implemented in capital Tallinn . Beyond the availability of WiFi everywhere in the city, the Estonian government has also made a lot of data open to the public. In Japan, Toyota recently began work on its Woven City project, designed to be integrated from day one, rather than gradually implementing smart features into a pre-existing city or urban area. It will have three different but interconnected street types, one for automated vehicles, one for pedestrians and one for people using personal mobility vehicles. Moreover, the city will include wooden houses partly constructed by robots, and it will use a combination of solar energy, geothermal energy and hydrogen fuel cells. We will take on the challenge of creating a future where people of diverse backgrounds are able to live happily, said Toyota president Akio Toyoda. Concerns Of course, the implementation of 5G and smart city features are not without issues that need to be accounted for in the governments planning and should always be firmly addressed in any communications strategies going forward. These primarily concern the ethical issue of privacy. Private citizens will invariably welcome any schemes if they make their lives better, but will also need to be convinced that any technology solutions implemented will not be used maliciously. Two key factors the government needs to stay abreast of and incorporate in their planning includes the way to categorise and prioritise data (people are willing to share some information more readily than other pieces of information) and the purpose for which the data collection is taking place. As Dutch researcher Liesbet van Zoonen stated : the contrast between service and surveillance purposes [is] most paramount. Source: https://cyprus-mail.com/2021/03/01/smart-city-initiatives-a-promising-start-but-follow-through-is-crucial/ Australias COVID-19 vaccine maker CSL says it is open to making booster shots for AstraZeneca for new variants of coronavirus but warns new formulas may not be available until the end of the year. Representatives from the $122 billion biotechnology firm told senators at a COVID-19 committee hearing on Tuesday the company was close to hitting its target of making 1 million doses of AstraZenecas vaccine per week. The first locally-made doses of the product are due for release at the end of March. Senator Katy Gallagher listens as Dr Beverley Menner, executive director, COVID Vaccine Projects Lead and Christopher Larkins, senior vice-president, manufacturing operations. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen Senior vice-president of manufacturing operations at CSLs vaccine arm Seqirus, Christopher Larkins, told the committee the company could make any AstraZeneca booster products to target variants of the virus, such as that from South Africa, but not until the end of the year. By the time we have brought that into our facility, did the necessary qualification work and then the regulatory side of it with the TGA to get it approved I would estimate that were probably close to the end of the year [for booster doses to be ready], Mr Larkins said. The US, EU, and Australia call for political reconciliation and protections of freedom of expression. The U.S., EU, and Australia called on Cambodias government Tuesday to uphold the freedom of expression and pursue national reconciliation through inclusive dialogue after a court sentenced opposition leaders to lengthy jail terms and amid mass trials of dozens of the partys members. The Phnom Penh Municipal Court sentenced acting chief of the Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) Sam Rainsy to a 25-year jail term in absentia on Monday for plotting a coup as part of his attempt to return home from self-imposed exile in late 2019. Sam Rainsy, a dual French citizen who has lived in Paris since 2015 to avoid a string of charges and convictions he says are politically motivated, was convicted for an [attempted] attack in Cambodia in 2019. Eight other CNRP leadersSam Rainsy's wife Tioulong Saumura, Eng Chhai Eang, Mu Sochua, Ou Chanrith, Long Ry, Nuth Romdoul, Ho Vann, and Men Sothavarinwere also sentenced in absentia to between 20 and 22 years in jail. The nine, who were prohibited from returning to Cambodia to defend themselves in the trial, were also banned from voting or running as candidates in future elections. Cambodias courts are widely viewed as beholden to the government and Mondays verdict was swiftly condemned by analysts and rights groups as part of a bid by Prime Minister Hun Sen to ensure that the CNRP will remain unable to mount a challenge to his 36-year rule in upcoming commune and general elections, set for 2022 and 2023. Responding to the sentencing of the nine CNRP leaders, some of whom hold dual U.S. citizenship, U.S. Ambassador to Cambodia W. Patrick Murphy expressed Washingtons concerns via Twitter on Monday. We are troubled by sentences targeting political opposition leaders in Cambodia, particularly given a lack of due process, Murphy wrote. We urge authorities to reopen political space and allow all voices to be heard and to participate. Democratic governance Cambodias Supreme Court dissolved the CNRP in November 2017 and barred its members from taking part in political activities, two months after the arrest of party president Kem Sokha for his role in an alleged scheme to topple Hun Sens government. The ban, along with a wider crackdown on NGOs and the independent media, paved the way for Hun Sens ruling Cambodian Peoples Party (CPP) to win all 125 seats in the countrys 2018 general election. In November 2019, Sam Rainsy attempted to return to Cambodia to lead peaceful pro-democracy protests against the government. His plan to enter the country from Thailand was thwarted when he was refused permission to board a Thai Airways plane in Paris. Since then, Cambodia has carried out a series of mass trials against more than 130 CNRP supporters and civil society activists on charges of incitement and treason after speaking out critically about Hun Sens leadership and in support of Sam Rainsys return. On Tuesday, U.S. Embassy spokesperson Chad Roedemeier reiterated Washingtons stance on Mondays verdict and told RFAs Khmer Service that the U.S. views the freedoms of expression and association, the right to peaceful assembly, a free press, an active civil society, and tolerance of dissenting views as vital components of democratic governance. We urge the Government of Cambodia to protect freedoms of expression and association, as enshrined in the countrys constitution, and call on authorities to take meaningful steps to reopen civic and political space in the lead up to 2022 commune elections and 2023 national elections, he wrote in an emailed statement. Responding to U.S. criticism, Kata Orn, spokesperson for the government-aligned Cambodia Human Rights Committee, told RFA that decisions on such cases are made by the courts alone. The U.S. has the right to make requests to the court, but the Cambodian government cant interfere on its behalf because in Cambodia we have checks and balances between the legislative, executive and judicial branches, he said. EU and Australia Mondays verdict and the mass trials facing other CNRP supporters and civil society members also drew condemnation from the EU and Australia, both of which count dual citizens among the defendants. In a statement on Tuesday, EU Foreign Affairs and Security Policy spokesperson Nabila Massrali said that all Cambodian citizens, regardless of their political affiliation, should be guaranteed the right to a fair trial, based on the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, as well as Cambodias own constitution. The Cambodian authorities must respect the rule of law and due process, and ensure that the right to political participation and fundamental freedoms are fully respected, including freedom of expression, association and peaceful assembly, she said. The European Union reiterates its call on the Cambodian authorities to initiate a process of national reconciliation through genuine and inclusive dialogue. Last year, the EU suspended tariff-free access to its market under the Everything But Arms (EBA) scheme for around one-fifth of Cambodias exports, citing rollbacks on democracy and human rights. Several Western nations have threatened sanctions against Cambodia citing similar reasons. Australian Ambassador to Cambodia Pablo Kang also called out Hun Sens government over the legal proceedings against the opposition on Tuesday, following a meeting with Deputy Prime Minister Tea Banh, who also serves as Cambodias Defense Minister. Concerned re ongoing mass trials, incl of several Australians, + the long sentences imposed on prominent political figures, he wrote on Twitter. We urge transparency & fairness in all trials, and for the [Cambodia] Govt to rebuild relations with opposition members. Points I made to Deputy PM Tea Banh today. Political analyst Em Sovannara told RFA that the Phnom Penh Municipal Court had failed to provide adequate evidence proving the guilt of the CNRPs leaders. But he suggested that the verdict was preordained in order to meet the political goals of the ruling party. The CPPs strategy is to prepare its younger generation for rule without the opposition party, he said. However, the international community raised issues [against the verdict], saying it is not good for democracy and human rights and, as a result, Cambodia can expect to pay in foreign policy and trade. Reported by RFAs Khmer Service. Translated by Samean Yun. Written in English by Joshua Lipes. A National Guard soldier directing drivers is reflected in the mirror of a car waiting in a COVID-19 vaccination line Feb. 26, 2021, in Shelbyville, Tenn. Tennessee has continued to divvy up vaccine doses based primarily on how many people live in each county, and not on how many residents belong to eligible groups within those counties. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey) Rita Fentress was worried she might get lost as she traveled down the unfamiliar forested, one-lane road in rural Tennessee in search of a coronavirus vaccine. Then the trees cleared and the Hickman County Agricultural Pavilion appeared. The 74-year-old woman wasn't eligible to be vaccinated in Nashville, where she lives, because there were so many health care workers to vaccinate there. But a neighbor told her the state's rural counties had already moved to younger age groups and she found an appointment 60 miles away. "I felt kind of guilty about it," she said. "I thought maybe I was taking it from someone else." But late that February day, she said there were still five openings for the next morning. The U.S. vaccine campaign has heightened tensions between rural and urban America, where from Oregon to Tennessee to upstate New York complaints are surfacing of a realor perceivedinequity in vaccine allocation. In some cases, recriminations over how scarce vaccines are distributed have taken on partisan tones, with rural Republican lawmakers in Democrat-led states complaining of "picking winners and losers," and urbanites traveling hours to rural GOP-leaning communities to score COVID-19 shots when there are none in their city. In Oregon, state GOP lawmakers walked out of a Legislative session last week over the Democratic governor's vaccine plans, citing rural vaccine distribution among their concerns. In upstate New York, public health officials in rural counties have complained of disparities in vaccine allocation and in North Carolina, rural lawmakers say too many doses were going to mass vaccine centers in big cities. In this Jan. 22, 2021, file photo, vehicles snake through a line beside a farm field in Poplar Bluff, Mo., for the state's first mass COVID-19 vaccination event. As the unprecedented campaign to inoculate the most vulnerable Americans continues, those in some rural areas say they are getting slighted in favor of urban centers. (Robert Cohen/St. Louis Post-Dispatch via AP, File) In Tennessee, Missouri and Alabama, a dearth of shots in urban areas with the greatest number of health care workers has led senior citizens to snap up appointments hours from their homes. The result is a hodgepodge of approaches that can look like the exact opposite of equity, where those most likely to be vaccinated are people with the savvy and means to search out a shot and travel to wherever it is. "It's really, really flawed," said Amesh Adalja, a senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, who noted there are even vaccine hunters who will find a dose for money. "Ideally, allocations would meet the population's needs." With little more than general guidance from the federal government, states have taken it upon themselves to decide what it means to distribute the vaccine fairly and reach vulnerable populations. Tennessee, like many states, has divvied up doses based primarily on county population, not on how many residents belong to eligible groupssuch as health care workers. The Tennessee health commissioner has defended the allocation as the "most equitable," but the approach has also exposed yet another layer of haves and have-nots as the vaccine rollout accelerates. In Oregon, the issue led state officials to pause dose deliveries in some rural areas that had finished inoculating their health care workers while clinics elsewhere, including the Portland metro area, caught up. The dust-up last month prompted an angry response, with some state GOP lawmakers accusing the Democratic governor of playing favorites with the urban dwellers who elected her. National Guard personnel check in people as they wait to receive a COVID-19 vaccination Feb. 26, 2021, in Shelbyville, Tenn. Tennessee has continued to divvy up vaccine doses based primarily on how many people live in each county, and not on how many residents belong to eligible groups within those counties. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey, File) Public health leaders in Morrow County, a farming region in northeastern Oregon with one of the highest COVID-19 infection rates, said they had to delay two vaccine clinics because of the state's decision. Other rural counties delayed vaccines for seniors. States face plenty of challenges. Rural counties are less likely to have the deep-freeze equipment necessary to store Pfizer vaccines. Health care workers are often concentrated in big cities. And rural counties were particularly hard hit by COVID-19 in many states, but their residents are among the most likely to say they're "definitely not" going to get vaccinated, according to recent Kaiser Family Foundation polling. Adalja said most of these complications were foreseeable and could have been avoided with proper planning and funding. "There are people who know how to do this," he said. "They're just not in charge of it." In Missouri, where Facebook groups have emerged with postings about appointment availabilities in rural areas, state Senate Minority Leader John Rizzo, a Democrat from the Kansas City suburb of Independence, cited a need to direct more vaccine to urban areas. Jennifer Simon, an elementary school speech language pathologist, sits at her desk in her home Feb. 25, 2021, in Nashville, Tenn. Simon and a fellow teacher took a sick day from their schools and made a four-hour round trip to rural Van Buren County in Tennessee to get their COVID-19 vaccination. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey) The criticism drew an angry rebuke from Republican Gov. Mike Parson, who said vaccine distribution has been proportional to the population and critics are using "cherry-picked" data. "There is no division between rural and urban Missouri," Parson said during his weekly COVID-19 update last week. In Republican-led Tennessee, Health Commissioner Lisa Piercey notes that the Trump administration deemed the state's plan among the nation's most equitable. Extra doses go to 35 counties with a high social vulnerability index scoremany small and rural, but also Shelby County, which includes Memphis, with a large Black population. Last week, state officials revealed some 2,400 doses had been wasted in Shelby County over the past month due to miscommunication and insufficient record-keeping. The county also built up nearly 30,000 excessive doses in its inventory. The situation caused the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to investigate and the county health director to resign. In Nashville, Democratic Mayor John Cooper says the fact that city residents can get shots elsewhere is a positive, even if the road trips are "a little bit of a pain." Jennifer Simon, an elementary school speech language pathologist, poses Feb. 25, 2021, in Nashville, Tenn., to show the adhesive bandage marking where she received her COVID-19 vaccination. Simon and a fellow teacher took a sick day from their schools and made a four-hour round trip to rural Van Buren County in Tennessee to get their vaccinations. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey) In this Jan. 10, 2021, file photo, pharmacist Colleen Naughtin, right, administers the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine at a drive-thru vaccination clinic in Portland, Ore. Questions about how a limited supply of vaccine should be distributed have found a new focus in rural America and from Oregon to Tennessee to upstate New York, complaints are surfacing in rural areas of a realor perceivedinequity in vaccine allocation. (Kristyna Wentz-Graff/Pool Photo via AP, File) "I'm grateful that other counties have not said, 'Oh my gosh, you have to be a resident of this county always to get the vaccine,'" Cooper said. Nashville educators Jennifer Simon and Jessica Morris took sick days last week to make the four-hour round-trip to tiny Van Buren County, population less than 6,000. They got their first shots there in January, when Republican Gov. Bill Lee was pushing Nashville and Memphis area schools to return to in-person classes. Republican lawmakers even threatened to pull funding from districts that remained online. In-person classes started a couple weeks ago, but the city only began vaccinating teachers last week. "It was scary, frustrating, and feeling really betrayed," Simon said. Explore further Follow the latest news on the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission. Vizio has revived its plans to go public more than five years after its first attempt at an IPO. The TV and sound bar manufacturer has submitted a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission regarding its proposed initial public offering. According to Bloomberg, the company listed $100 million as the size of the offering, but that's just a placeholder that could change. Vizio is expected to reveal the real number of and the price of shares for purchase in another filing at a later a date. The company tried to go public for the first time back in 2015 with a filing that emphasized the sales of its smart TVs. However, it withdrew its plans a year later after it reached a deal to be acquired by Chinese company LeEco for $2 billion. Vizio was going to become a LeEco subsidiary until their deal fell apart following the latter's fall from grace the manufacturer even sued LeEco, which was then beset with financial problems, for the failed acquisition. In its new filing, Vizio said it sold 7.1 million smart TVs in 2020, 20 percent more than what it sold the year before that. Its net income for 2020 is $102 million on a revenue of over $2 billion, over four times its $23 million income on a $1.8 billion revenue from 2019. While it made most of its money from device sales, $147 million of its 2020 revenue came from its Platform+ service made up of its SmartCast operating system and its viewer data business Inscape. The Marine Corps identified a noncommissioned officer who died Sunday after going missing while surfing in Japan as Cpl. Rene PonceAvalos. PonceAvalos, a 22-year-old engineer equipment operator, joined the service in 2019 and quickly rose through the ranks "with the respect and admiration of peers and superiors alike," his commanding officer said. He was a member of Combat Logistics Battalion 31, which was assigned to the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit in Okinawa, and was meritoriously promoted to corporal in December. "Always eager to volunteer for both operations and community service, his motivation and spirit represented the best the Marine Corps has to offer," Lt. Col. Stanley P. Calixte, CLB-31's commanding officer, said of PonceAvalos in a statement. "Loved by his fellow Marines and sailors at Combat Logistics Battalion 31, he will be greatly missed." Read Next: Al Asad Missile Attack Nearly Killed 150 US Troops, Destroyed 30 Aircraft: Report PonceAvalos died at Nakagami Hospital at about 6 p.m. Sunday. He'd been surfing near Ikei Island with five Marines while on liberty when he was separated from the others at about 3 p.m. The Marines surfing with PonceAvalos contacted local authorities and the Japanese Coast Guard for help in finding their friend. He was located unresponsive about 100 yards from the shore by members of the Japanese Coast Guard. He was transported to the hospital by ambulance, where he later died. "On behalf of Combat Logistics Battalion 31, we extend our deepest condolences to the family and friends of Corporal Rene PonceAvalos," Calixte said. PonceAvalos enlisted into the Marine Corps out of Portland, Oregon. He attended Westview High School, where he was a member of the varsity wrestling team. Military officials are investigating the surfing accident. Ikei Island is a popular swimming spot east of central Okinawa that's accessible by bridge. Sections of the Ikei Island chain are listed among the most dangerous water locations in Okinawa. PonceAvalos is the second Marine to die in a surfing accident in seven months. In August, 1st Lt. Clark Perkins, a 25-year-old student pilot with Marine Aviation Training Support Group 22, died after a surfing mishap in Corpus Christi, Texas. -- Gina Harkins can be reached at gina.harkins@military.com. Follow her on Twitter @ginaaharkins. Related: Marine Lieutenant Who Died in Surfing Accident Was 'Rising Star' [March 02, 2021] Morgan Stanley Wealth Management Names 18 Women and Advocates to MAKERS Class of 2021 Morgan Stanley Wealth Management has recognized the achievements of 18 outstanding professionals as part of its partnership with MAKERS - a project dedicated to identifying and celebrating women of accomplishment across multiple fields along with the men who sponsor and champion women's achievement. "We congratulate our MAKERS Class of 2021 whose contributions are making a profound impact on the lives of our clients, employees and in our communities," said Andy Saperstein, Head of Morgan Stanley Wealth Management. "Our long partnership with MAKERS has provided a powerful platform to share their stories of breaking new ground as well as recognizing the men who advocate for them." "We are so proud of our MAKERS whose leadership and advocacy will have a lasting impact on the generations of women who follow them," said Shelley O'Connor, Chairman and CEO of Morgan Stanley U.S. Banks. "Their stories inspire their colleagues and advance our mission to be the firm of choice for women employees and women clients everywhere." Nominations were solicited from across Morgan Stanley's Wealth Management with a panel of senior managers selecting the 18 individuals to be recognized. They are: Sara Asatiani, First Vice President, Financial Advisor Krystal Barker Buissereth, Managing Director, Head of Financial Wellness Stefanie Gorres Blaney, Senior Vice President, Branch Manager Fely Cieza, Executive Director, Mid-Atlantic Regional Sales Manager Aimee Cogan, Managing Director, Financial Advisor Jessica Desjardins, Executive Director, Chief Operating Officer, Investment Platforms Wendi Eckardt, Managing Director, Pacific Coast PWM Regional Manager Doreen Eldred, Executive Director, Head of the Service Review Unit Marybeth Emson, Senior Vice President, Financial Advisor Kathleen Grasmeder, Managing Director, Financial Advisor LaShell Lentz, First Vice President, Financial Advisor Michele Mattison, Managing Director, Director of Program Management and isk, Corporate and Institutional Solutions Dianna Smith, Executive Director, Financial Advisor Joan Steinberg, Managing Director, Global Head of Philanthropy and President of the Morgan Stanley Foundation Michelle Stewart, Executive Director, Mid-Atlantic Region Manager, Morgan Stanley Private Bank, N.A. John Terry, Executive Director, Complex Manager Sue van der Linden, Senior Vice President, Financial Advisor Karen Veary, Managing Director, Head of U.S. Banks Business Risk, Regulatory Relations and Product Oversight Launched in 2012, MAKERS is a storytelling platform for the trailblazing women of today and tomorrow. Morgan Stanley Wealth Management is a founding partner of MAKERS, which encourages corporations to celebrate, acknowledge and connect their leading female employees to the larger MAKERS network. For more information, go to www.makers.com. The 2021 MAKERS will be profiled on the Morgan Stanley Forum for Women, Multicultural and LGBT+ Financial Advisors throughout the year. To visit the website, go to http://www.morganstanley.com/people/financial-advisors/diversity. At Morgan Stanley we foster a culture where female clients can grow their wealth as they plan for the future, female employees feel empowered and can thrive in their careers, and where we lead in our communities. For more information on how women are core to the success of our Modern Wealth strategy in Wealth Management visit Women Without Limits at https://www.morganstanley.com/what-we-do/wealth-management/women-without-limits. About Morgan Stanley Wealth Management Morgan Stanley Wealth Management, a global leader, provides access to a wide range of products and services to individuals, businesses and institutions, including brokerage and investment advisory services, financial and wealth planning, cash management and lending products and services, annuities and insurance, retirement and trust services. 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. 2021 Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC. Member SIPC. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210302005702/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] NY university suspends conservative student who criticized transgender ideology Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment A student at State University of New York Geneseo claims he was suspended from the education program for his conservative Instagram posts regarding gender and leftist ideologies. The Daily Wire obtained a copy of emails outlining why the university recently suspended student Owen Stevens. According to the conservative outlet, the school claimed that his posts called into question his ability to protect students' mental well-being in a classroom setting. Stevens will remain suspended from in-school field experience and courses until he completes a remediation plan that involves removing his Instagram videos, attending training and toning down his social media interaction. Stevens told The Daily Wire he refused to take part in the re-education training. The Christian Post reached out to SUNY Geneseo for comment about Stevens suspension. A response was not received before press time. CP also contacted Stevens but was told that legal counsel advised him not to speak with the media. The universitys response came as a result of Stevens Nov. 22 Instagram post discussing the biology of two genders and other posts expressing his conservative ideology on topics like leftism and Christopher Columbus. In the video, Stevens said: I am going to double down on this point right now and I want to make myself very clear, so hear what Im saying. A man is a man. A woman is a woman. A man is not a woman, and a woman is not a man, the student stated, pushing back against transgender ideology. A man cannot become a woman and a woman cannot become a man. If I am a man and I think Im a woman, Im still a man. If Im a woman who thinks I am a man, Im still a woman. Regardless of what you feel on the inside is irrelevant to your biological status. It doesnt change the biology. The biology is very clear and its binary and easy. You fall into either man or woman. Stevens met with the university and shared on social media that he was dismissed from school due to the nature of his Instagram posts. On Jan. 21, Stevens posted the universitys statement directed toward him: Mr. Stevens actions do not show the necessary commitment to or reasonably expected potential for meeting professional and ethical standards. Specifically, his Instagram posts do not show respect for the inherent dignity and worth of individuals whose identity or culture falls outside of his own narrow view of acceptable norms. In the caption to the screenshot post of the email, Stevens wrote, Here is my own school messaging me about dismissing me from school due to Instagram posts. This is only the beginning. Leftism destroys, Stevens argued. This is proof. Absolutely crazy. According to The Daily Wire, the dean of education emailed Stevens and said future teachers are required to support all aspects of gender identity and homosexuality, The dean allegedly said Stevens stance on gender conflicts with New Yorks Dignity for All Students Act. Stevens posted a separate email from the university presidents office addressed to the Geneseo campus community. Yesterday, I was made aware of a students Instagram posts pertaining to transgender people. I imagine that reading these sentiments from a member of the Geneseo community raises apprehension for trans, nonbinary, and gender nonconforming students and their allies, the president allegedly wrote. I want to take this opportunity to publicly restate my deep and personal commitment to promoting social justice. Stevens shared a screenshot of this email on his Instagram with this response, saying he will not be silenced by an ideologically driven anti truth administration. They are trying to discredit basic dissent from conservatives. Absolutely unreal, he contends. Stevens told The Daily Wire he had received threats due to the nature of his videos. Ive received threats and horrible incidents of students who all feel like they are making the world a better place by becoming the woke thought police, Stevens was quoted as saying. Overall, I want justice and the right thing to be done. Stevens, the host of the Just Owen podcast, adheres to conservative values and covers culture and politics through a Christian lens. Stevens Instagram account espouses his Christian and conservative views through videos and posts on topics such as abortion, race and gender. Members of the U.S. National Guard collect long guns from storage vehicles before beginning their shift protecting the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Feb. 8, 2021. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images) National Guard Confirms Reports of Undercooked Meals The National Guard on Tuesday confirmed that some troops in Washington have been served undercooked food. Less than .01 percent of the catered meals appear to be undercooked, Lt. Col. Robert Carver, director of the DC Joint Information Center, told The Epoch Times via email. There have been no cases of food-borne illness reported. Were working with our contractors to address concerns. We go to their places of business and spot check meals for cooking temperature and overall quality. We examine the kitchens for safety and cleanliness. Vendor facilities have been inspected multiple times, and no substantial issues have been recorded. Contracting personnel visit the D.C. Armory daily during the delivery of meals. We observe the deliveries, take pictures of the meals and talk to soldiers on the line about the food they get, he said. The Michigan National Guard had on Monday called reports of troops being served poorly prepared food are very concerning. The firsthand accounts and pictures of undercooked food being served clearly shows that what is being given to Michigans service members is unacceptable, the guard said in a statement to news outlets. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, a Democrat, called on acting Army Secretary John Whitley and Michigans adjutant general to communicate with National Guard Chief Gen. Dan Hokanson, who agreed to address the shortcomings of the current contract to provide food to troops, according to the Michigan guard. The health and wellbeing of our Michigan National Guard service members is paramount to their success as they continue to serve in missions in the United States and around the globe. Senior leaders of the Michigan National Guard will remain personally engaged with this issue and will continue to push for accountability and a solution to the ill-prepared meals being served, it added. Photographs published by WXYZ this week showed undercooked meat and metal shavings in food. The broadcaster said the pictures, provided by a whistleblower, were of meals that were served to troops. The whistleblower said nearly 75 meals were thrown out on Sunday after the shavings were found, and that some troops were sickened after consuming undercooked food. Sen. Gary Peters (D-Mich.) on Monday wrote to Whitley and Hokanson saying service members were forced to spend their own money to procure adequate sustenance because of the poor quality of the food from private catering companies. While I understand the ad hoc nature of these deployments and appreciate the tremendous efforts made by many of those under your command, it is simply unacceptable that these men and women are being fed chicken with the feathers still attached and raw ground beef, he wrote. After several attempts to rectify the situation, I believe the only appropriate course of action is for the immediate cancellation of the existing food contract, the disbursement of per diem for the remaining duration of the mission and to provide retroactive per diem. Members of the National Guard walk through U.S. Capitol grounds in Washington on Feb. 13, 2021. (Brandon Bell/Getty Images) Rep. Jack Bergman (R-Mich.) also sent a letter to Hokanson, calling for him to take immediate action to remedy the situation. Im pushing for an immediate fix to this problem, Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) wrote in a tweet on Tuesday. Carver, the National Guard spokesperson, said that 78,000 meals were provided daily when nearly 26,000 Guard members were in Washington at the peak of the current mission. Approximately 5,200 members from various states are still in Washington. Some 18,000 meals are being provided per day. That adds up to more than 1.2 million meals since the mission started. With that volume of catered meals, you would expect to see issues with some of them, and we have. At the end of the day, its in the militarys best interest to identify and solve problems that could adversely impact the ability of our force to perform the mission, he said. Guard members were deployed to the nations capitol in the wake of the Jan. 6 breach of the U.S. Capitol. Michigan has 983 members in Washington. Troops are supporting the Secret Service and the U.S. Capitol Police. According to the Michigan National Guard, Michigans troops are scheduled to return to Michigan shortly after March 12, the agreed upon end date for this deployment. While one designer created a door handle that can be opened with your wrist The creations including a toilet roll that comes with a miniature roll in the centre These effective solutions to everyday problems prove that sometimes the simplest ideas are the best. Snaps of the brilliant designs were taken in the UK and US, with the best examples collated in a gallery by Bored Panda. The handy creations included a toilet roll with a miniature roll in the centre, rather than an empty cardboard tube, and a toilet door that can be opened using your wrist, rather than having to touch the handle. People were also left thanking the clever technology whizzes who added an email feature that reminds you to upload attachments, and an alarm that checks if you meant to set an alarm for 'PM' rather than 'AM'. Here, FEMAIL shares a selection of some of the life-changing designs... These soap dispensers are specifically designed for before and after mealtimes, giving people both unscented and scented options to choice from. They were taken at an unknown location People often accidentally cut through stickers placed on their fruit and vegetables, but one US company cleverly used a hot stamp to identify the food rather than a sticker One technology genius, from the US, created an alarm feature that checks if you meant to set your alarm for 'PM' rather than 'AM', preventing any embarrassing work mishaps Another designer from the UK, created a toilet roll that contains a miniature and portable roll in the centre, rather than simply featuring a hollow cardboard roll Don't touch! These lift buttons allow you to use your feet rather than your hands Getting a closer look: This US pharmacy provides a magnifying glass so you can read the small print One designer, believed to be from the US, created a milk carton that shows people exactly how much milk they have left, rather than people trying to guess from the weight of the carton One clever librarian, from North Carolina, US, stopped people crouching on the floor to try and select a book as they lay books on the bottom shelf on their side so people could easily read the titles One bed sheet, shared by a user in the UK, had 'top or bottom' written on it, to indicate which way up to use it One yearbook photographer from the US cleverly left a gap in the centre of the crowd of students gathered on the bleachers so that nobody would become lost in the binding Snaps collated by BoredPanda show ingenious creations that make everyday tasks easier, including a sanitary toilet door handle that can be opened using your wrist. It was taken at an unknown location UK lifestyle compnay FatFace tried to encourage reusing their children's coats as it gave an option for multiple owners, making it much easier for parents who intend to hand-down the clothing One clever website designed a feature that stopped blocked users from logging out, meaning they cannot simply create another login to re-access the website One person bought a box of screws and was left pleasantly surprised when the screws came with exactly the correct tip, stopping the need for trial and error when trying to fit them. It was taken an an unknown location Everyone has experienced annoyance when you are left with liquid at the bottom of a spray bottle, but this designer has created a method to prevent any waste being leftover. It was taken at an unknown location Danish Toy giant LEGO made sure that people's gifts would remain a surprise by packaging all their gifts in unidentifiable boxes so the surprise would not be unintentionally ruined on delivery One sign taken in the US gave pet owners the exact temperature comparisons between the air temperature and the floor temperature to stop animals from hurting their paws on the hot floor One medical sign, believed to be taken in the UK, gave users a subtle way of signalling whether they wanted to talk about domestic violence or any other issues away from their partners - using coloured pens People have been praising US tech giant Gmail for their clever feature that checks with users if they have forgotten to attach a document after using the word 'attach' in their email text. One fan came easily equip with switches that show people exactly what each string does, as they are decorated with a small version of a lightbulb and a fan. It was taken in the US One company has an ingenious method for checking for animal cruelty, by asking if people want to pay for hydration for their turtle - and they won't sell to you if you click no, it was taken in the US People were left extremely thankful after they were faced with this easy test to prove they were not a robot rather than the usual difficult vocabulary and number tests. It was shared by a US user One US company dispelled any misconceptions that leaving the foil on food products will keep the food fresher as it kindly left a note advising people how best to keep their food fresh This game had its users at the forefront of its mind with this kind feature, which warned people who might be scared of spiders to enable 'arachnophobia safe mode' One US school library came up with a numbered system to easily show students where books on topics including pregnancy and depression are so they do not need to ask One kind British food company made sure that people were not ruining their best bedsheets while eating their food, as it warned them when their food was 'very saucy' 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. Echoing national trends, enrollment at Louisiana's community and technical colleges fell by as much as 28% and 11 of 12 schools showed declines, officials said Monday. The overall headcount for the fall, 2020 semester was 53,006 students compared to 59,936 for the fall of 2019 a 12% drop. The chief culprit for the dive is the coronavirus pandemic. "COVID absolutely had an impact on our enrollment," said Quintin Taylor, chief public affairs officer for the Louisiana Community and Technical College System. Students who attend two-year community and technical colleges are typically older than traditional college students, and more at the mercy of economic upheaval and unemployment. +3 'Clearly a huge demand': This new program at community colleges will retrain Louisiana's unemployed Louisiana's community and technical colleges are launching a program aimed at retraining 5,000 people who lost their jobs during the coronavir Many have families and attend school while also holding fulltime jobs, often in a bid to improve work skills to boost their salaries. The list includes Baton Rouge Community College, down 9% to 7,376 students; Delgado Community College in New Orleans, down 6% to 13,262 students and South Louisiana Community College, which has campuses in Lafayette and elsewhere, down 13% to 5,855 students. SOWELA in Lake Charles, which was buffeted by back-to-back hurricanes last year in addition to the pandemic, showed the largest decline at 28%, to 2,924 students. The college suffered between $75 million and $100 million in damages when Hurricane Laura struck the Lake Charles area on Aug. 27. Hurricane Delta arrived shortly after. Others are Northshore Technical Community College, Lacombe and other campuses, down 24% to 3,552 students; Central Louisiana Technical Community College in Alexandria, down 17% to 2,099 students and Northwest Louisiana Technical Community College, Shreveport and other campuses, down 16%, to 935 students. Taylor said that, in the early stages of the pandemic, many community college students had to scramble to make child care arrangements and to grapple with their own children's sudden change in instruction. "Our students are not the typical 18-, 19- and 20-year-old student," he said. He said another factor in the decline was that fact that, because of the pandemic, some high school graduates opted to attend four-year universities because the temporary suspension of ACT and SAT requirements allowed them to do so without having to achieve traditional qualifying scores. BRCC Chancellor Willie Smith said Monday his school took an unusual step to check on students. 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 "We did cold calling and said 'You have not enrolled, can we do anything?'" Smith recalled. "Most of the students just said they were concerned about the COVID, getting the virus." "They wanted to make sure we had socially-distanced rooms," Smith added. "It was mostly safety more than anything." Most of the drop in enrollment was among first-time freshmen. The average age of students at BRCC is 26. The chancellor said enrollment in technical classes also suffered because of state-ordered limits on room capacity in a bid to stop the spread of the virus. Smith said spring enrollment is down about 3 percent, which is better than most other community and technical schools around the state. Taylor also said there are signs that spring enrollment is better than fall and the outlook for students returning to campuses in the fall of 2021 is better still. "We feel good about what is on the horizon," he said. LCTCS President Monty Sullivan was out of the office Monday. The one outlier in the state on enrollment numbers is Nunez Community College in Chalmette, which showed a 3 percent increase in its enrollment, to 2,166 students. The picture in Louisiana mirrors national trends. Enrollment at community colleges fell 10% between the fall of 2019 and the fall of 2020, according to the National Student Clearinghouse. The drop in students at community colleges is in sharp contrast to how four-year colleges and universities have fared. LSU, other colleges set to get $268 million from coronavirus relief bill LSU and other public colleges and universities are set to get $268 million from the latest federal stimulus bill, up 82% from what schools got Despite national forecasts of big drops in enrollment, LSU and Northwestern State University had record-breaking numbers by signing their largest classes in school history. Nicholls State University also produced its biggest class since 1990. Bengaluru, March 2 : In light of elections in five states and a month-long budget legislature session, the BJP high command has reportedly directed the Karnataka BJP state prominent leaders to 'convince' major and medium water resource minister, Ramesh Jarakiholi to resign from his post in a day or two. A CD was released to all news channels in which Jarakiholi was caught on camera with a woman in a compromising position. A senior BJP leader from New Delhi told IANS that it is truly embarrassing to face such a scenario during such an hour. "He will be convinced to resign. This is not the first time that anyone who was caught on such tapes, they have been forced to quit or they have quit on their own," the leader added. The leader added that no party or leader can defend this kind of issue on public platforms. "We can defend corruption charges or any other criminal charges but no party or no leader can defend this kind of acts, that too when the BJP is gearing up to face elections in five states and a month long legislature session. Only a miracle can save Jarkhiholi from resigning," he observed. The leader said that Karnataka chief minister, B. S. Yeduiyurappa had convened a customary cabinet meeting last week itself ahead of the budget session. "This cabinet meeting would be perhaps the last cabinet meeting, if he chooses to attend it," the leader said. According to this leader, even when three of our ministers in the past had been caught watching 'alleged porn clips' during the legislature session, they too were asked to quit and now the party has given them prominent posts too. Some time ago, even one Karnataka BJP leader, caught on video tape in a compromising position with a man, now he has got a ministry also. "Therefore, it is certain that Jarakiholi will have to quit now and wait for his turn to make a comeback," he said. Meanwhile, seizing the opportunity, the Opposition Congress party launched a sit- in protest in Bengaluru demanding Karnataka chief minister, B. S. Yediyurappa to sack Jarakiholi with immediate effect. Kanpur : , March 2 (IANS) The Uttar Pradesh Special Task Force (STF) has arrested six persons on charges of providing shelter and financial aid to slain gangster Vikas Dubey and his aides. They have also been charged with disposing of a semi-automatic weapon from his native Bikru village where Dubey and his men had killed eight policemen, including a DSP, on July 3 last year. The arrests were made in Kanpur on Monday. Inspector General STF Amitabh Yash said that a resident of Bhind in Madhya Pradesh, who had purchased a semi-automatic 30 Springfield American rifle from the gang, has also been arrested. The STF also recovered a huge cache of arms and ammunition, including a semi-automatic 30 Springfield American rifle, an automatic carbine, a revolver, a single barrel gun and two country-made pistols, huge number of cartridges including of AK -47, 7.62, 30.06, 12, .38 and 315 bores, besides charger clips of 30.06 cartridge and an Apple phone belonging to Vikas, seven android phones belonging to his aides Amar Dubey and Prabhat Mishra, two four-wheelers including an Omni car, besides a PAN and Aadhaar card and Rs 2.5 lakh in cash. "The arrested persons include Vishnu Kashyap, Aman Shukla, Ram Ji, Abhinav Tiwari, Sanjay Parihar and Shubham Pal, all natives of Kanpur Dehat, and Manish Yadav of Bhind district of MP. They were arrested when they were planning to dispose of the remaining arms and ammunition of the slain criminals," the IG said. Vishnu Kashyap, a resident of Shivli in Kanpur Dehat and a childhood friend of slain criminal Prabhat Mishra, had played a major role in providing shelter and facilitating Vikas's escape. "He had borrowed a Swift DZire car from his friend Chotu and used it to transport Vikas, his nephew Amar and co-villager Prabhat to his brother-in-law Ramji's house in Tulsi Nagar where they stayed in the basement. They had also carried with them several arms and ammunition," the IG added. On July 3, Ramji took Amar Dubey to an orchard of one Sanjay Parihar in Kariyajhala village from Rasoolabad on his motorcycle. "There Amar Dubey asked Puttu Mishra to arrange for a safe hideout following which he had arranged their stay at the pump house. Amar was later joined by his uncle Vikas and Prabhat Mishra. However, on finding the place unsafe, Vikas again asked Puttu Mishra to arrange for a safer hideout. Subsequently, one Shivam Pal of Mangalpur had arranged a room for Vikas, where he stayed for two days," the official said. "Shivam had also made arrangements for the gangster's snacks, lunch and dinner, besides newspaper and TV for the latest update on Bikru massacre. After staying there for two days, one Shubham Pal had arranged an Omni car and dropped Vikas, Amar and Prabhat to Aurraiya and from where the three later escaped to Delhi," the IG said. The STF team, on Monday, had received specific input about the meeting of criminals, involved in giving shelter and facilitating escape to Vikas and his aides, near Bhauti Panki Padav underpass, where they were to dispose of the remaining arms and ammunition of Vikas and his aides to some unidentified people. "STF arrested them with arms and ammunition and a case under relevant sections has been registered against them," the IG said. It may be recalled that eight policemen, including DSP Devendra Mishra, were ambushed in the Bikru village in Chaubeypur area of Kanpur when they led a police team to arrest Vikas Dubey. Dubey was killed in an encounter in the morning of July 10 when a police vehicle carrying him from Ujjain to Kanpur met with an accident and he tried to escape. Before Dubey's encounter, five of his alleged associates were killed in separate encounters with police. Appointment 2 March 2021 The Retreat at Blue Lagoon, Iceland is delighted to announce that Icelandic Chef Agnar (Aggi) Sverrisson has taken up the role of Executive Chef at the hotel's fine dining restaurant, Moss. Born in Iceland, Aggi's cooking career began at the age of 18, leading him from Reykjavik to London to Luxembourg and back to England in 2002, where he joined Raymond Blanc at Le Manoir aux Quat'Saisons, the oldest two Michelin-starred restaurant in the country. Aggi was Chef Patron and owner of Michelin-starred Texture Restaurant and Champagne Bar in London, which received its first Michelin star in 2010 and retained for ten years, until earlier this year when Aggi took the decision to close the restaurant and return home to his native country. Located on the highest point of the UNESCO Global Geopark on which The Retreat at Blue Lagoon sits, Moss restaurant reimagines Iceland's culinary traditions through three tasting menus; five course, seven course, or vegan - leading guests through the country's seas, mountains, rivers, and farms, highlighting the purest seasonal and regional ingredients. Moss Restaurant also features a 10-seat Chef's Table made of lava rock that was quarried onsite, and the Wine Cellar, which was built into a cavern of multi-hued, frozen-in-time lava that erupted in 1226. Anchored by Old World wines - with a focus on Bordeaux and Burgundy - the Wine Cellar also houses New World wines from the Americas and Australia. Chef Aggi, who created the concept of the menu at Moss when it opened in 2018, will now be at the property full time and will work closely with Chef Ingi Thorarinn Fridriksson to evolve Moss into one of the best restaurants in Scandinavia. Two Indian farmers were held by Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) for allegedly smuggling contraband to the neighbouring country, the Tripura Police said on Monday. Four farmers of Karangichhara in the Khowai district went to cultivate their land on the other side of the fence on Saturday with permmission of the Border Security Force (BSF) through gate number 26, they said. "Two of the farmers returned and told the BSF that the other two were picked up by BGB," said Kiran Kumar, the Superintendent of Police of Khowai district. When BSF contacted BGB, they were informed that the two farmers left their land in the Indian territory and went 300 meters into Bangladesh and sold contraband, he said. The two farmers held in Bangladesh are Rajib Debbarma and Gurupada Debbarma, the officer said. "The BGB has handed them over to the Bangladeshi police. Rajib Debbarma's wife received a call from Gurupada on the same day, asking for the photocopy of their Aadhar Cards to be sent on the WhatsApp number of the phone from which he was calling," Kumar said. However, the family of the two farmers told reporters that they were picked up when they were farming on the field. The police officer said that BGB and BSF are likely to hold a flag meeting for an amicable resolution of the issue, which triggered tension in the area. India's fencing is 100 yards away from the International Border in adherence to the 'Indira-Mujib' pact signed in 1972. Due to this, there is a patch of Indian land on the other side of the fence. Tripura shares 856-km-long border with Bangladesh, of which 67 km is still unfenced. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 2) The Food And Drug Administration on Tuesday confirmed receipt of an application from China's state-owned pharmaceutical giant Sinopharm with regards to its vaccines emergency use in the country. FDA Director General Eric Domingo told CNN Philippines that a representative of the vaccine manufacturer filed an online application for EUA, but noted that the attached documents are still being reviewed. I did have my staff check it now And then online, yesterday afternoon, an applicant did send an application for EUA for Sinopharm. So meron ngang dumating daw kahapon (an application really was filed yesterday), Domingo said in an interview with The Source. So theyre looking at the documents now to see kung (if) complete or if there are any documents that need to be submitted before we officially accept the application, he added. It was Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque who revealed on Monday that the manufacturer sent an application for EUA in the Philippines. The FDA chief earlier said the evaluation on Sinopharms vaccine may take a longer period of time, since it has not received an EUA from any stringent regulatory body. The country's FDA has so far granted emergency use authorization to the vaccines of Pfizer-BioNTech, AstraZeneca, and China-based manufacturer Sinovac Biotech. Meanwhile, the EUA application of Russias Gamaleya Research Institute also remains pending, with the regulatory body still waiting for additional documents for the Sputnik V vaccine, Domingo said. RELATED: Moderna, Novavax next potential applicants for emergency use in PH FDA Locked-down Britons indulging in mood-lifting chocolate treats helped lift sales and profits at Hotel Chocolat over the second half of last year, with the company saying it has no plans to shut down permanently any of its 125 shops in the UK. The upmarket chocolatier, which also sells its products in the US and Japan, said online sales more than offset a decline at its stores, which had to shut down due to lockdown and Tier 4 restrictions towards the end of last year. Sales in the UK, its main market, rose 12 per cent in the six months to the end of December, with just over half coming through online, subscriptions and online experiences such as its 'virtual tasting' sessions. Mood-lifting: Sales rose 12% in the UK in last six months of 2020 That helped lift overall group revenues 11 per cent to 101.9million, with pre-tax profits rising 3 per cent to 15.5million, compared with 15million in the first half. Shares in AIM-listed Hotel Chocolat were up 3.5 per cent to 385p in afternoon trading on Tuesday, although they remain around 7 per cent lower than its pre-pandemic peak of 425p at the beginning of March last year. The company's 125 stores in the UK remain all closed at the moment but are set to reopen all on 12 April along with other non-essential stores following the Government's 'roadmap' unveiled last month for gradually exiting Covid restrictions. Chief executive Angus Thirlwell said that while he expects to see a slowdown in business in the city centre and travel locations, stores could see a boost from home workers working more flexibly in future. 'Some locations when we were allowed to reopen during the summer - mass transit and office-based city-centre stores were down, but the counterpoint is community-based high streets had a new lease of life and some were up on the previous year,' he told the PA news agency. 'More office-based and commuter locations could result in lower footfall but if people are going in two or three days a week, we expect to become destinations shoppers seek out.' Chief executive Angus Thirlwell said all 125 UK stores are set to reopen in April Current trading remains in line with expectations, the company said, with performance in the UK remaining 'encouraging' and new markets continuing to show 'promising growth'. Hotel Chocolat opened some 11 new stores in Japan, bringing the total to 19, which helped lift sales by 228 per cent in the country, while sales in the US were also 'strong'. The company said Brexit has not 'materially' impacted its business, even though it imports some of its some premium ingredients from the European Union, with only a 'modest' level of sales going to the EU via its website. Thirlwell said the company's focus remains on its US and Japanese businesses, which could be used as a hub for the regions, with potential to expand to other nearby locations including Canada in North America, alongside China and Singapore in the Far East. 'We will take a considered approach and see where works best for the brand,' he added. CIMC Enric and Hexagon Purus today signed two joint venture (JV) agreements that encompass cylinder and systems production for Fuel Cell Electric Vehicles (FCEVs) and hydrogen distribution in China and Southeast Asia. The Chinese market for Fuel Cell Electric Vehicles (FCEVs) is expected to grow to become the largest global market over the next decade and beyond. Initially, the CIMC-HEXAGON JVs will expand CIMC Enrics existing production and systems capacity for Type 3 (T3) cylinders and in parallel install Type 4 (T4) cylinder production and systems capacity for the Chinese market. The JVs expect to start production of high-pressure T3 fuel storage in 2021. Production line capacity will be designed to accommodate approximately 100,000 cylinders per annum, in a first stage towards the middle of the decade. Construction of the new facility is expected to commence as early as the second quarter 2021. Hexagon Purus AS (Hexagon Purus) today signed two joint venture agreements with CIMC Enric Holdings Limited (hereafter CIMC Enric), a leading global supplier of cryogenic and compressed gas storage and transportation solutions and manufacturer of clean energy equipment, headquartered in Shenzhen, Peoples Republic of China. CIMC Enric is listed on the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong (stock code: 03899.HK). Hexagon Purus, a global leader of Type 4 (T4) cylinder technology, is a separately listed Hexagon Composites company on the Oslo Stock Exchange (stock ticker: HPUR). The cooperation is a highly compelling partnership: Hexagon Purus world class T4 hydrogen cylinder and systems technologies and design with over 20 years of heritage and safety track record and CIMC Enrics extensive expertise in gas system development tailored to the Chinese market and its long-standing relationships with large Chinese vehicle manufacturers (OEMs) and gas distribution companies. The joint ventures will serve the fast-growing demand of the Chinese market for safe, lightweight and cost-efficient compressed hydrogen storage solutions. Relevant industrial standards for T4 cylinders are currently being implemented by the Chinese government. The joint ventures will also support the transition to zero emission mobility solutions in Southeast Asia. Story continues Powerful alliance China is on the rise to become the most significant global market for Fuel Cell electric vehicles. Its successful energy transition to hydrogen requires safe, advanced and cost-efficient high-pressure Type 4 fuel storage solutions that are proven in the global market. By joining forces in China, CIMC Enric and Hexagon Purus together contribute state-of-the-art Type 4 know-how, as well as the market presence of a top, trusted Chinese brand. Both companies have proud heritages of providing world class products and solutions to their customers, says Morten Holum, CEO of Hexagon Purus. Leo Yang, Executive Director and General Manager of CIMC Enric adds, China always thinks big and China has decided that hydrogen will be the next big thing, within this decade. The CIMC-HEXAGON joint ventures are set up to offer what the Chinese market for hydrogen storage will demand safe and proven products made by a team renowned for their integrity and world class designs and manufacturing processes. Together, CIMC Enric and Hexagon Purus have the financial backbone to scale up to serve the expected demand for both Type 3 and Type 4 cylinders as well as high pressure hydrogen transportation in China and Southeast Asia. Together, we will drive the energy transformation with a joint vision of a zero emission transportation sector. About the market China, the world's largest auto market with over 28 million vehicles sold annually, has set its sights on creating a world-leading market for fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs) within two decades. According to Chinese policymakers planning, the market will grow from more than 7,000 FCEVs by end of 2020, to 1.3 million FECVs by 2035. It is also expected that hydrogen will account for approximately 10% of primary energy consumption in China by 2050. The initial focus of the Chinese hydrogen strategy is on fuel cell electric buses and commercial vehicles. This will improve public awareness and showcase the safety of hydrogen. The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) announced its collective ambition to achieve 23% renewable energy integration into its energy system by 2025, and even more by 2035. The shift to zero emission vehicles is driven by the desire to improve air quality and reduce CO2 emissions, as well as to increase energy independence by utilizing large amounts of hydrogen already available in China. In addition, hydrogen provides cost-efficient storage for surplus renewable energy from wind and solar. Structure The cooperation will be organized around two joint ventures, a Cylinder JV and a Systems JV, both registered in Hong Kong. The Cylinder JV will be majority-owned by Hexagon Purus (Hexagon Purus will own 51% and CIMC Enric will own 49%) and the Systems JV will be majority-owned by CIMC Enric (CIMC Enric will own 51% and Hexagon Purus will own 49%). The JVs will form operating subsidiaries in 2021 and a joint sales and marketing team. Live video webcast Hexagon Purus will host a webcast to present the alliance on March 2nd at 12:00 Central European Time (CET)/19:00 China Standard Time (CST). Interested investors/analysts/media can access the live video presentation through this link: https://hexagonpurus.kg5.no/ . Presentation materials will be available in the Investor section of Hexagon Purus website (www.hexagonpurus.com). Interviews Following the webcast: Investors/analysts are invited to contact Dilip Warrier/Salman Alam to arrange one-to-one sessions Media are invited to contact Karen Romer to schedule interviews with Jon Erik Engeset, CEO Hexagon Composites and Morten Holum, CEO Hexagon Purus (See contact details below) Contacts: Karen Romer, SVP Communications, Hexagon Composites Telephone: +47 950 74 950 | karen.romer@hexagongroup.com Dilip Warrier, CFO, Hexagon Purus Telephone: +1 949-236-5528 | dilip.warrier@hexagonpurus.com Salman Alam, Vice President Corporate Development, Hexagon Purus Telephone: +476 12 713 | salman.alam@hexagonpurus.com About Hexagon Purus (stock ticker: HPUR) Hexagon Purus, a Hexagon Composites company, is a world leading provider of hydrogen type 4 high-pressure cylinders, battery packs and vehicle systems integration for fuel cell electric and battery electric vehicles. Hexagon Purus enables zero emission solutions for light, medium and heavy-duty vehicles, buses, ground storage, distribution, maritime, rail and aerospace. Learn more at www.hexagonpurus.com . About CIMC ENRIC Holdings Limited (stock code: 3899.HK) Founded in 2004, CIMC ENRIC Holdings Limited has been listed on the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong since 2005. The Company is affiliate to China International Marine Container (Group) ltd. (CIMC) and is principally engaged in transportation, storage and processing equipment that is widely used for the clean energy, chemical and environmental and liquid food industries. CIMC ENRIC has been a leading integrated service provider and key equipment manufacturer in the industry. The Company is among the worlds top players in both production and sales of ISO liquid tanks as well as high-pressure gas storage and transport vehicles. It is among Chinas top players in the market of cryogenic transport vehicles and cryogenic storage tanks and among top three in terms of domestic market shares for large storage tanks for LNG receiving stations, modular products for LNG refueling stations. CIMC ENRIC has built a global marketing network and have over 20 subsidiaries located in China, the Netherlands, Germany, Belgium, United Kingdom and Canada that operate production bases and internationally advanced R&D centers. For more information, please visit http://www.enricgroup.com This information is subject to the disclosure requirements pursuant to Section 5-12 the Norwegian Securities Trading Act Attachment Several provinces began expanding their COVID-19 vaccination programs to members of the general population on Monday, as new recommendations on the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine suggested it should be targeted at younger Canadians. Seniors receive their COVID-19 vaccinations at the Palais de Congress site as Quebec begins mass vaccinations based on age across the province, Monday, March 1, 2021 in Montreal. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ryan Remiorz Several provinces began expanding their COVID-19 vaccination programs to members of the general population on Monday, as new recommendations on the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine suggested it should be targeted at younger Canadians. A national panel of vaccine experts said provinces should not use the newly approved vaccine on people 65 and over out of concern there is limited data on how well the vaccine will work in older populations even though Health Canada approved the vaccine for all adults. Rather, the recommendations issued by the National Advisory Committee on Immunization noted that the AstraZeneca vaccine could help speed up vaccination for younger age groups, who otherwise would have to wait longer for protection. The arrival of a third vaccine raises the prospect of further accelerating Canada's efforts to inoculate the general population, which hit a new gear Monday in several provinces. Ontario, Quebec and B.C. started or announced plans to start vaccinating older seniors living in the community on Monday, after a first phase that focused largely on health-care workers, remote communities and long-term care. In Montreal, mass vaccine sites including the Olympic Stadium opened their doors to the public as the province began inoculating seniors who live in the hard-hit city. The government announced last week it would begin booking appointments for those aged 85 and up across the province, but that age limit has since dropped to 70 in some regions, including Montreal. The province has already finished vaccinating long-term care residents with a first dose and was almost finished in private seniors homes, the premier said Saturday. There were long lineups and some frustration among vaccine recipients at the Olympic Stadium, but at another site, Montreal's downtown convention centre, people reported a swift process. Julie Provencher, a spokeswoman with the regional health authority asked people not to be too harsh. "For the first day of the biggest mass vaccination in the history of humanity, I think it's going OK," she said in an interview. Several Ontario health units were also set to begin giving COVID-19 vaccines to their oldest residents after a provincial website for appointment bookings opened in six regions. Some health units reported thousands of bookings and high call volumes, as regions such as York, Windsor-Essex and Hamilton began taking appointments for seniors aged 80 or 85 and up, depending on the region. In York Region where those aged 80 and older could start scheduling and receiving their shots on Monday vaccination clinics were fully booked just two hours after they started taking appointments, according to a spokesman. At this time residents are urged to remain patient and will be notified as more appointment bookings become available, Patrick Casey said in a statement. A similar problem occurred in Nova Scotia, where the COVID-19 vaccination-booking web page was taken off-line Monday after it experienced technical issues the first day it opened to people aged 80 and over. The Health Department said high traffic to the site prompted the slowdown and suggested people could book by phone in the meantime. In British Columbia, Premier John Horgan and provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry outlined the next phase of the province's immunization plan, which covers all seniors 80 and over and Indigenous seniors 65 and up. Despite the good news, Horgan warned that the province still has several difficult months to come. "Although there is light at the end of the tunnel, were far from out of this," he said. The Public Health Agency of Canada is expecting delivery of about 445,000 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine this week and none from Moderna numbers that are down from last week's all-time high. It's unclear when the first doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine will arrive in the country, but a senior government official told The Canadian Press on background Sunday it could be as early as midweek. The advisory committee's recommendations raise the prospect of younger Canadians getting vaccine much earlier than originally planned. There are no concerns that the vaccine is unsafe, but the panel said the mRNA vaccines from Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna are preferred, especially for people 65 years old and above, "due to suggested superior efficacy." The advisory committee said AstraZeneca should be offered to people under 65 as long as the benefits of getting a good vaccine early outweigh any limitations the vaccine may have in terms of effectiveness. It also noted that because AstraZeneca, unlike the first two vaccines, is stable at normal refrigerated temperatures, it allows for "a variety of alternate vaccination sites." Both Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna reported about 95 per cent effectiveness at preventing COVID-19 overall, while AstraZeneca reported its vaccine to be about 62 per cent effective. B.C. announced it would extend to four months the time between first and second doses of COVID-19 vaccine in order to allow the province to vaccinate more people sooner. Henry said the decision was based on evidence that showed the first two approved vaccines provide "a high level of real-world protection" after one dose. Ontario confirmed Monday that it is considering following suit, adding that it's asking the federal government for guidance on possibly extending the intervals between doses. Despite the positivity surrounding vaccines, some Canadians were returning to lockdown on Monday. Those included residents of the Thunder Bay and Simcoe Muskoka health regions in Ontario as well as Prince Edward Island, which entered a 72-hour, provincewide lockdown Monday meant to stop two clusters of COVID-19 cases from spreading. In Alberta, the government delayed part of its next reopening plan but said libraries can open their doors and low-intensity group activities, like Pilates, can resume in gyms. This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 1, 2021. With files from Mia Rabson, Stephanie Marin and Holly McKenzie-Sutter Former Prime Minister David Cameron got his Covid vaccine today after he was called up 'in the normal way' - despite not being in his sixties. The 54-year-old former Tory leader said that he was 'proud' to have received the jab and hailed the NHS for its 'deeply impressive' roll-out. He tweeted a photograph of himself being injected at a clinic, understood to be in London, adding: 'Huge "thank you" to our brilliant NHS and all the amazing staff.' His successor Theresa May - 10 years his senior - tweeted about being jabbed on Friday while Tony Blair, 67, revealed he got his first dose on February 20. Also today, former Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt, 54, got his coronavirus jab, tweeting: 'Jab done! Thanks to Penny OHara and the brilliant volunteers at the RHS Hall including Shreya who actually vaccinated me. Brilliantly organised programme - congrats @MattHancock & @nadhimzahawi'. It is unclear why Mr Cameron was invited for the jab, given that the programme was only officially expanded to people over 60 on Monday. Local vaccination teams have been moving down through the age groups if they are ahead of schedule or if not enough people higher on the priority list come forward. The latter has been a particular problem in London, where uptake has lagged behind the rest of the country. Vaccine hesitancy among black, Asian and ethnic minority groups is thought to be behind poorer rates in the capital's boroughs. Representatives for Mr Cameron - who lives in Holland Park, West London but also has a home in the Cotswolds - said he did not have an undisclosed health condition and that he 'got the call in the normal way and went as soon as he could'. It will nonetheless fuel concerns that the vaccine roll out has become a 'postcode lottery'. Healthy people in their twenties and thirties have already been jabbed in some parts of the country. David Cameron today became the latest former Prime Minister to get a coronavirus vaccine Former Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt, 54, also tweeted he got his coronavirus jab today His successor Theresa May 10 years his elder tweeted about being jabbed on Friday For Labour leader and Prime Minister Tony Blair, 67, revealed he got his first dose on February 20 More than 20million Britons have now received their first dose of Covid vaccines, and about 800,000 people have been given both injections Mr Cameron tweeted: 'Huge "thank you" to our brilliant NHS & all the amazing staff & volunteers working on the UKs deeply impressive vaccine programme. 'I was proud to have my jab this morning & encourage everyone to take theirs when the call comes - it's crucial we look after ourselves & each other.' Twitter users instantly questioned why Mr Cameron received his vaccine despite being under 60, with one asking: 'How did David Cameron, 54, get his Vaccine?' Another tweeted: I'm 61. I haven't been contacted to have mine yet. How come you have yours?' - while a third said: 'You are 54, so do you have any underlying conditions?? If not how the heck have you got this??' It came after Theresa May shared a photo during her vaccination on Friday. She also made a plea for Brits to come forward for the jab. The 64-year-old visited Swallowfield Surgery in Reading, Berkshire, for the injection, but did not say if she received the Pfizer or Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine. She tweeted afterwards: I just had my first Covid-19 jab. It is safe, effective & painless. When its your turn, please #TakeTheVaccine. Only by protecting each other can we defeat this virus. Thanks to all the brilliant researchers, volunteers, NHS & military personnel for their truly heroic efforts. Twitter users questioned why Mr Cameron received his vaccine despite being under 60 Vaccine hesitancy among black, Asian and ethnic minority groups is thought to be behind poorer rates in the capital's boroughs Covid vaccines should protect younger adults even more than over-80s and could 'almost completely' stop transmission The coronavirus vaccines being rolled out in Britain should perform even better in younger adults than the elderly and could 'almost completely' stop transmission, a top Government scientist said today. Public Health England last night published its first major real-world analysis of the impact of the Pfizer and Oxford University vaccines on the UK's epidemic. The hugely encouraging data showed a single shot of either vaccine cut hospital rates in the over-80s by 80 per cent and stopped six in 10 people in the same age group from getting ill. Dr Mary Ramsay, PHE's head of immunisation who led the analysis, said today she expects the vaccines to give 'even stronger protection' to younger age groups. But she claimed the jabs' effect would not be as obvious in the figures because statistically younger people are less likely to die or fall ill with Covid in the first place. Dr Ramsay also told BBC Radio 4's Today programme there were 'very good signs' that the roll-out would cut infection rates across the nation. She added that she was hopeful that two doses 'could prevent people passing it on almost completely'. More than 20million Britons have now received their first dose of Covid vaccines, and about 800,000 people have been given both injections. The most elderly have been prioritised, who have made up most of the deaths and hospital admissions, along with heath and social care staff and people with underlying health conditions. Advertisement By the end of the week everyone in the top seven priority groups - which includes everyone above 60, clinically vulnerable younger people and those with underlying conditions - will have been offered a jab. NHS England said the programme, which has been proceeding at breakneck speed, will then move to offer vaccinations to around 5million people in their 50s as soon as next week, which should take two weeks to deliver. With about 2.5million people receiving their first dose of the vaccine per week, Britain is on course to offer jabs to everyone over the age of 50 by the week beginning March 15 - almost a month before its target - with the over-40s then expected to receive invitations later this month. More than 20million people in the UK have now been given their first dose of a vaccine in total and 800,000 have received both injections. But there are still lingering concerns that the rollout has become a postcode lottery. MailOnline's analysis of latest NHS figures, which go up to February 21 and were published on Thursday, show 90.3 per cent of all over-65s in England have had their first dose, with rates varying wildly across the nation. The data based on Office for National Statistics population estimates suggests that 15 areas of the country have already immunised at least half of all their residents. Yarmouth and Freshwater on the Isle of Wight topped the pack, dishing out 5,451 first doses. This would give it an uptake rate of 57.5 per cent, given that the area it is estimated to be home to 9,487 people. But 77 districts have vaccinated fewer than 10 per cent of residents, data suggested. Urban areas in northern cities performed worst, with Cathedral and Kelham in Sheffield jabbing just 3.19 per cent of all its 21,171 residents. It was followed by University North and Whitworth Street in Manchester (4.8 per cent), Arboretum, Forest and Trent University in Nottingham (4.82 per cent) and Leeds City Centre (5.19 per cent). Rates can vary because of population breakdowns, with the roll-out currently only just on NHS workers, over-65s, care home staff and residents and the seriously vulnerable. For example, younger people tend to live in cities so they would rightly have lower vaccination rates. Figures also revealed just 71.5 per cent of care home staff have been given a first dose of the vaccine. But the rate is barely over 50 per cent in London, where the roll-out is lagging behind. Meanwhile, Public Health England last night published its first major real-world analysis of the impact of the Pfizer and Oxford University vaccines on the UK's epidemic. The hugely encouraging data showed a single shot of either vaccine cut hospital rates in the over-80s by 80 per cent and stopped six in 10 people in the same age group from getting ill. The PHE data also suggests the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine, which was the first to be approved and rolled out a month before the Oxford/AstraZeneca jab, leads to an 83 per cent reduction in deaths from Covid. The team said they could not accurately predict the Oxford jab's impact on deaths yet, because there had not been enough time and data since it was rolled out. PHE also assessed protection against symptomatic COVID in those over 70. It found four weeks after the first jab, efficacy ranged between 57 to 61 per cent for the Pfizer vaccine and 60 to 73 per cent for the Oxford vaccine. A recent preclinical study by U.S. Military HIV Research Program (MHRP) researchers showed that an experimental therapy combining a TLR7 agonist and two broadly neutralizing antibodies delayed viral rebound in SHIV-infected macaques after antiretroviral therapy (ART) interruption. The experimental combination therapy consisted of TLR7 agonist GS-986 and two broadly neutralizing antibodies (bnAbs), N6-LS and PGT121, targeting different regions of the HIV envelope. The rhesus macaques were initiated on viral suppressive antiretroviral therapy 14 days post infection, a timespan from infection to treatment which mirrors what is feasible in acute HIV infection. Researchers then administered the experimental combination therapy, followed by ART pause and measured how long it took for SHIV viral load to rebound. "This study demonstrated that the combination of TLR7 agonist and dual bnAbs delayed viral rebound after ART interruption by 2-fold," said Dr. Denise Hsu, MHRP Associate Director of Therapeutics. "This approach may represent a potential strategy to target the HIV reservoir in HIV-infected individuals." A critical barrier to curing HIV is the reservoir of latent virus that remains hidden and infects cells throughout the body, leading to viral rebound in the vast majority of HIV-infected individuals after they discontinue ART. The hypothesis behind this strategy is that an agent such as the TLR7 agonist, bolstered by therapeutic bnAbs, can stimulate the immune system to clear latent HIV. The paper was published in PLOS Pathogens. MHRP, part of the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, collaborates with the Thai Red Cross AIDS Research Centre in Bangkok to identify acutely infected individuals and immediately start them on ART in a study called RV254. For the last few years, small clinical trials within this cohort have evaluated strategies aimed at inducing a cure or long-term remission of HIV. Interventions are wide-ranging and include therapeutic HIV vaccines and broadly neutralizing antibodies. During these studies, volunteers are taken off ART to test the effects of a candidate intervention. This method, called analytical treatment interruption (ATI), looks at the time it takes for the viral load to rebound after the interruption. Participants are followed closely and restart ART when viral load rises to a certain threshold. While we have seen some promise in our ATI trials, it has become clear that we need a combination intervention strategy to generate longer lasting viral suppression." Dr Sandhya Vasan, HJF Director, The U.S Military HIV Research Program Based on these new preclinical data and building, MHRP hopes to evaluate the combination of innate immune stimulation, active and passive immunization for the induction of HIV remission in early treated people living with HIV. 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. Over the last three years, IT Cosmetics conducted the world's largest study on women's confidence with strategic consulting firm Eranos. Through this work, IT Cosmetics found that confidence, contrary to popular belief, isn't an individual possession. Rather, it is something we all receive, give and share with others 1 . IT Cosmetics Founder, Jamie Kern Lima, is no stranger to summoning inner confidence. While working as a news anchor, she struggled with rosacea, a skin condition that causes redness and visible texture. Undeterred, Jamie turned her insecurities into action. She partnered with plastic surgeons and dermatologists to develop the beauty products she had been searching for. Jamie named her brand IT Cosmetics"IT" stands for Innovative Technologyand after years of rejection, she was given a chance to appear on QVC. She sold out of her Bye Bye Under Eye Concealer in less than 10 minutes! Jamie believed in herself and took a huge risk to do things differently, even when many advised her not to. She was vulnerable and fearless as she removed her makeup on live TV, revealing her skin condition. This courageous act resonated with women across the country, inspiring them to embrace their own beauty with confidence. Today, Jamie is continuing to lend her voice to inspire women to Go For IT and build each other up through her new book, Believe IT: How to Go from Underestimated to Unstoppable. "I poured my heart and soul into founding IT Cosmetics because I wanted people, like me, who didn't feel seen or heard in the beauty industry, to know they are beautiful, confident and loved," Jamie said. "It is my dream for all of us to lift each other up, celebrate our differences and support one another on our individual confidence journeys. That's what IT's all about!" Understanding Women's Confidence By conducting the world's largest study on women's confidence in partnership with strategic consulting firm Eranos, IT Cosmetics discovered that women's confidence is not a personal matterrather, it is a relational and collective issue. To underscore this finding, IT Cosmetics commissioned supplemental research to identify the women's confidence gaphow women see themselves versus how they view confident women. While the traits women link to confidence differ by country, the study found that the struggle with self-confidence is universal. It is a continual work in progress as women try new things and take steps forward in their personal and professional lives. For example: American women see confident women as being self-assured (76%) and courageous (67%), but only 29% and 23% associate themselves with those qualities 2 British women see confident women as being self-assured (50%) and courageous (56%), but only 14% and 18% associate themselves with those qualities 3 Chinese women see confident women as being brave (53%) and outspoken (52%), but only 26% and 42% associate themselves with those qualities 4 French women see confident women as being self-assured (47%) and goal-oriented (51%), but only 8% and 38% associate themselves with those qualities 5 German women see confident women as being purposeful (80%) and self-assured (62%), but only 34% and 25% associate themselves with those qualities 6 Mexican women see confident women as being purposeful (86%) and brave (64%), but only 53% and 47% associate themselves with those qualities7 Measurable Action to Support Women's Confidence Around the World IT Cosmetics is partnering with Kiva, a nonprofit that helps women close the economic opportunity gap through community-sourced loans, leading to increased job security and self-assuredness. This International Women's Day (March 8, 2021), IT Cosmetics is encouraging the IT Community to loan $25 to female entrepreneurs that IT Cosmetics will match (up to $100,000 U.S. dollars). IT Community members are also invited to apply for a loan to fuel their own passion project or career. By 2030, IT Cosmetics commits to lending $2 million to support women businesses through Kiva. Additionally, IT Cosmetics will use its platform to spotlight inspiring stories from members of the IT Community as they explore their own relationships with confidence. Driving Change From Within Beyond its Kiva partnership, IT Cosmetics will empower its community and employees to build and strengthen their own confidence by implementing Lean In Circles, workshops that foster connections between small groups of women to share experiences, build each other up, and celebrate successes. "IT Cosmetics believes that confidence comes from the inside and is cultivated when women have the self-assuredness and community networks to lift them up," Kristen Comings, Senior Vice President, Consumer Engagement at IT Cosmetics said. "We're thrilled to partner with Kiva and LeanIn.Org to empower the IT Community to begin or take the next step on their confidence journeys and to give them the support networks to help them thrive." To learn more about IT Cosmetics and watch our Go For IT video, please visit itcosmetics.com/goforit. Research Methodology IT Cosmetics partnered with strategic consulting firm Eranos to conduct live interviews with 176 women and gathered the results of 11,000 online surveys completed by American, French, German, Mexican, British, Chinese, Hong Kong regional, Japanese, Korean, Russian and Australian women. We defined one Women's Confidence (WOCO) score per country, to draw a comparison between women's confidence experiences in countries with vastly different cultures. IT Cosmetics partnered with Ipsos to conduct a U.S. poll between June 18 - June 21, 2019. For this survey, a sample of roughly 1,510 women were interviewed online in English. Additionally, IT Cosmetics conducted another survey with Toluna to conduct a poll among 3,247 women in the U.K., France, Germany, Mexico and China between September 1 September 6, 2019. About IT Cosmetics Innovative Technology is IT. Our mission is to make the world more beautiful through our products, through our actions and through our belief that everyone is beautiful and deserves to feel their most beautiful. Developed with plastic surgeons' insights and dermatologists' ingredient and skincare expertise, IT Cosmetics creates problem-solving, skin-loving makeup and skincare products that give you real results. IT exists to empower you to feel your most confident! Currently available in over 20 countries, IT Cosmetics is continuing to grow its global footprint. For more information on IT Cosmetics, visit itcosmetics.com. Problem Solving. Skin Loving. Confidence Building. About Kiva Kiva is an international 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization with a mission to expand financial access to help underserved communities thrive. Kiva was founded in San Francisco in 2005 and is comprised of three primary impact-first business lines: Kiva.org, Kiva Protocol and Kiva Capital Management. Kiva's crowdfunding platform, Kiva.org, allows individuals to lend as little as $25 to make a difference in someone's life. Kiva Protocol aims to establish financial identity and credit history for unbanked populations using distributed ledger technology (DLT), with its inaugural project currently being implemented in Sierra Leone. Kiva Capital Management is a forthcoming subsidiary of Kiva that will operate as an impact-first asset manager connecting Kiva's network of Field Partners with institutional capital, scaling Kiva's ability to lend to underserved populations around the world. About LeanIn.Org An initiative of the Sheryl Sandberg & Dave Goldberg Family Foundation, LeanIn.Org aims to drive systemic change by helping women achieve their ambitions and working to create a more equal world. LeanIn.Org runs programs to combat bias, conducts original research, provides free education materials, advocates for better public policies, and offers support through Lean In Circles, small groups of peers who meet regularly to learn and grow together. The Lean In community includes more than two million women and men and 50,000 Lean In Circles in 184 countries. The Sheryl Sandberg & Dave Goldberg Family Foundation, which also runs OptionB.Org, is a private operating nonprofit organization under IRS section 501(c)(3). Press Contacts: Monique Peterson of Golin: [email protected] Michelle Sachs of Golin: [email protected] 1 IT Cosmetics x Eranos Women's Confidence Briefing Paper 2020 2 IT Cosmetics x Ipsos Public Affairs Omnibus U.S. Survey June 2019 3 IT Cosmetics x Toluna International Survey September 2019 4 IT Cosmetics x Toluna International Survey September 2019 5 IT Cosmetics x Toluna International Survey September 2019 6 IT Cosmetics x Toluna International Survey September 2019 7 IT Cosmetics x Toluna International Survey September 2019 SOURCE IT Cosmetics Related Links http://itcosmetics.com In its decision, the commission found that aside from the confession, the evidence against Smith was almost nonexistent. Detectives never investigated any possible motive for why Smith would commit the murders, details in the purported confession didnt match physical evidence from the scene, and the detectives testimony about how Smiths statement was taken was not credible, the commissions report stated. In those same months of March and April 2020, all medical claim lines (including mental health claim lines) decreased by approximately half (53.3 percent in March 2020 and 53.4 percent in April 2020), FAIR Health found. That pattern of increased mental health claim lines and decreased medical claim lines continued through November 2020, though to a lesser extent. Defining the pediatric population as individuals aged 0-22 years, and focusing on the age groups 13-18 years and 19-22 years, FAIR Health studied the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on US pediatric mental health. To do so, FAIR Health analyzed data from its database of over 32 billion private healthcare claim records, tracking month-by-month changes from January to November 2020 compared to the same months in 2019. Aspects of pediatric mental health investigated include overall mental health, intentional self-harm, overdoses and substance use disorders, top mental health diagnoses, reasons for emergency room visits and state-by-state variations. The decrease in all medical claim lines is likely due to widespread restrictions on nonemergency medical care in spring 2020 and continuing avoidance of such care even after restrictions were lifted in May. It is striking, therefore, that one component of medical care, mental healthcare, increased significantly even while overall medical care was falling. Other findings reported in the white paper include: Comparing August 2019 to August 2020 in the Northeast, for the age group 13-18, there was a 333.93 percent increase in intentional self-harm claim lines as a percentage of all medical claim lines, a rate higher than that in any other region in any month studied for that age group. to in the Northeast, for the age group 13-18, there was a 333.93 percent increase in intentional self-harm claim lines as a percentage of all medical claim lines, a rate higher than that in any other region in any month studied for that age group. Claim lines for intentional self-harm as a percentage of all medical claim lines in the 13-18 age group increased 90.71 percent in March 2020 compared to March 2019 . The increase was even larger when comparing April 2020 to April 2019 , nearly doubling (99.83 percent). compared to . The increase was even larger when comparing to , nearly doubling (99.83 percent). For the age group 13-18, claim lines for overdoses increased 94.91 percent as a percentage of all medical claim lines in March 2020 and 119.31 percent in April 2020 over the same months the year before. Claim lines for substance use disorders also increased as a percentage of all medical claim lines in March (64.64 percent) and April (62.69 percent) 2020 as compared to their corresponding months in 2019. and 119.31 percent in over the same months the year before. Claim lines for substance use disorders also increased as a percentage of all medical claim lines in March (64.64 percent) and April (62.69 percent) 2020 as compared to their corresponding months in 2019. For the age group 6-12, from spring to November 2020 , claim lines for obsessive-compulsive disorder and tic disorders increased as a percentage of all medical claim lines from their levels in the corresponding months of 2019. , claim lines for obsessive-compulsive disorder and tic disorders increased as a percentage of all medical claim lines from their levels in the corresponding months of 2019. For the age group 13-18, in April 2020 , claim lines for generalized anxiety disorder increased 93.6 percent as a percentage of all medical claim lines over April 2019 , while major depressive disorder claim lines increased 83.9 percent and adjustment disorder claim lines 89.7 percent. , claim lines for generalized anxiety disorder increased 93.6 percent as a percentage of all medical claim lines over , while major depressive disorder claim lines increased 83.9 percent and adjustment disorder claim lines 89.7 percent. In general, the age group 19-22 had mental health trends similar to but less pronounced than the age group 13-18. FAIR Health President Robin Gelburd stated: "The COVID-19 pandemic has had a profound impact on mental health, particularly on that of young people. The findings in our new report have implications for all those responsible for the care of young people, including providers, parents, educators, policy makers and payors." This is the seventh in a series of studies released by FAIR Health on the COVID-19 pandemic. The first study examined projected US costs for COVID-19 patients requiring inpatient stays, the second the impact of the pandemic on hospitals and health systems, the third the impact on healthcare professionals, the fourth key characteristics of COVID-19 patients, the fifth the impact on the dental industry and the sixth risk factors for COVID-19 mortality. For the new white paper, click here. Follow us on Twitter @FAIRHealth About FAIR Health FAIR Health is a national, independent nonprofit organization that qualifies as a public charity under section 501(c)(3) of the federal tax code. It is dedicated to bringing transparency to healthcare costs and health insurance information through data products, consumer resources and health systems research support. FAIR Health possesses the nation's largest collection of private healthcare claims data, which includes over 32 billion claim records and is growing at a rate of over 2 billion claim records a year. FAIR Health licenses its privately billed data and data productsincluding benchmark modules, data visualizations, custom analytics and market indicesto commercial insurers and self-insurers, employers, providers, hospitals and healthcare systems, government agencies, researchers and others. Certified by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) as a national Qualified Entity, FAIR Health also receives data representing the experience of all individuals enrolled in traditional Medicare Parts A, B and D; FAIR Health includes among the private claims data in its database, data on Medicare Advantage enrollees. FAIR Health can produce insightful analytic reports and data products based on combined Medicare and commercial claims data for government, providers, payors and other authorized users. FAIR Health's systems for processing and storing protected health information have earned HITRUST CSF certification and achieved AICPA SOC 2 compliance by meeting the rigorous data security requirements of these standards. As a testament to the reliability and objectivity of FAIR Health data, the data have been incorporated in statutes and regulations around the country and designated as the official, neutral data source for a variety of state health programs, including workers' compensation and personal injury protection (PIP) programs. FAIR Health data serve as an official reference point in support of certain state balance billing laws that protect consumers against bills for surprise out-of-network and emergency services. FAIR Health also uses its database to power a free consumer website available in English and Spanish and an English/Spanish mobile app, which enable consumers to estimate and plan for their healthcare expenditures and offer a rich educational platform on health insurance. The website has been honored by the White House Summit on Smart Disclosure, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), URAC, the eHealthcare Leadership Awards, appPicker, Employee Benefit News and Kiplinger's Personal Finance. FAIR Health also is named a top resource for patients in Dr. Marty Makary's book The Price We Pay: What Broke American Health Careand How to Fix It and Elisabeth Rosenthal's book An American Sickness: How Healthcare Became Big Business and How You Can Take It Back. For more information on FAIR Health, visit fairhealth.org. Contact: Dean Sicoli Chief Communications Officer FAIR Health 646-664-1645 [email protected] 1 A claim line is an individual service or procedure listed on an insurance claim. SOURCE FAIR Health Related Links www.fairhealth.org Within hours after the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine on Saturday, truckloads of the life-saving medicine were rolling out of a distribution center in Kentucky. According to a state source, Tennessee will get at least 40,000 doses early this week, and in Hamilton County as well as the rest of America, it is a Godsend. The Health Department was able to give 5,000 doses this weekend which is a huge tribute to a lot of people, said County Mayor Jim Coppinger on Monday, and, yessir, we are able to give a whole lot more. Get us the vaccine and well get it into peoples arms the minute it gets here. Coming right up! The untold beauty of the J&J vaccine is its versatility. Manufactured by J&J subsidiary Janssen Biotech, the new vaccine is a one-dose injection, compared to the Moderna and Pfizer brands that require a follow-up injection. The J&J model can be stored in regular refrigeration not the sub-zero storage Moderna and Pfizer require and will be a boon to rural counties that do not have such equipment. The portability of the J&J vaccine greatly enhances the vaccines availability in all doctors' offices, hospital emergency rooms and other health outlets. Trials for the J&J vaccine showed incredible turnarounds when it was administered to hospitalized coronavirus patients. So, if state officials, albeit very wisely, divert the J&J vaccine to the 90 Tennessee counties that do not have fully functioning health departments as the five largest cities in the state do, that releases more of the first two vaccines to the larger metropolitan areas. Since late January, the weekly vaccine allotment for Tennessee has been 80,000 doses but by the end of this week, 196,000 doses are expected to arrive in state. The county mayor says, Obviously, with the Johnson & Johnson vaccine now being added, we are eager to ramp up our daily inoculations and hope well get down to those (age) 60-over much quicker. We have also been able to arrange clinics like the one at Brainerd High this weekend. We feel it is a huge responsibility to have these one-or-two-day clinics in areas where transportation is a hurdle and Becky (Barnes, head of the county health department) wants to do more of these neighborhood venues as more vaccine becomes available. Listen, what the health department has achieved in these first two months is wonderful. Right now, we are very comfortable offering first and second does appointments about a week out. In addition to the Riverfront and CARTA sites, our new facility at Enterprise South is really a pleasant surprise. (Go north on I-75 towards Ooltewah and take the Volkswagen Drive exit.) We have the capability to give more injections at all three sites so the addition of the J&J vaccine will hopefully allow us to do that pretty soon. By last night, it was believed Johnson&Johnson would have shipped 4 million doses with the promise of another 20 million doses during the month of March. A recent FDA analysis found the single-dose J&J was 85 percent effective but, remember, it was just made available this week and it is 100 percent effective against COVID-related death. All three vaccines are really good, COVID expert Anthony Fauci said on Meet the Press Sunday, and people should take what is first available to them. There is a fourth vaccine that could enter the rich USA market anytime -- a shot from AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford that is in use in Britain, Europe, South Asia, Brazil, Mexico and elsewhere. For instance, one in every three British citizens has already been dosed. It could make its USA debut in the coming weeks and bolster competition between the drug suppliers, much to the American publics benefit. Mayor Coppinger said the Health Departments Vaccine Appointment Call Center will give those without computer access the ability to make appointments over the phone. It is up-and-running. The computer-driven appointment system is working great, and it is the best and easiest way to make appointments. But our telephone bank is there for a reason and we urge our citizens without personal computer access to use it: * -- For first-dose appointments, call 423/209-5398 * -- For second-dose appointments, call 423/209-5399 * -- Spanish-speaking persons, call 423/209-5384 Our shipments vary. Right now, we are giving more Pfizer than Moderna, based solely on availability, Coppinger said but every health expert will tell you it isnt about the brand, it is about protection, and all three vaccines offer that. There is a three-week window between the first and second dose of Pfizer, versus a four-week wait between doses of Moderna, but the FDA just announced research, as published in the British medical journal The Lancet, that the vaccine was 85 percent effective at preventing symptomatic Covid-19 within 15 to 28 days after the first shot was administered. Since then, a dramatic slide in COVID cases has just plateaued and top health officials are racing against the clock to inoculate as many Americans as possible. Just as mysteriously as the cases of COVID have dropped in the past six weeks, the disease is rebounding. Our best epidemiologists can show that nationwide, the number of COVID-19 cases and deaths has increased again. Experts are concerned that newer, more infectious variants of the coronavirus that causes COVID-19 may be taking over. This is why there is such a mad race to inoculate as many Americans as possible and, while there is medical data to warrant prolonging the second shot in order to use those doses instead to benefit first-dose users. "Now is not the time to relax the critical safeguards that we know can stop the spread of COVID-19," Rochelle Walensky, director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said at a press briefing of the White House COVID-19 Response Team this from NBC News. Fact: the United States is still recording nearly 70,000 cases and more than 2,000 deaths per day. * * * Very sadly, Joe Biden and his followers are taking credit for the exploding number of additional virus doses that have become available but that is unfortunate. On the day Biden was sworn in as President, the fact is 10.5 million doses of vaccine had been given and the groundwork was well in place to produce millions more doses. What is true is President Biden has expedited the delivery but only the Democrats know why this misinterpretation of fact even matters. The fact is who cares? All that matters is the Americans are getting vaccines. Putting politics into saving lives is absolutely bogus. Please, search for solutions. Weve got the excuses down pat. Ignoring the facts does not change the facts. Lets go! royexum@aol.com By Kazuo Ishiguro Knopf. 320 pp. $28 - - - One hundred years ago, a play titled "R.U.R.," by Karel Capek, debuted in Prague and gave us the word "robot." Since then, androids have been dreaming of electric sheep, and we've been having nightmares about the robot apocalypse. But calamity rarely comes in the neat, clarifying ways we fear. Leave it to Kazuo Ishiguro to articulate our inchoate anxieties about the future we're building. "Klara and the Sun," his first novel since winning the Nobel Prize in 2017, is a delicate, haunting story, steeped in sorrow and hope. Readers still reeling from his 2005 novel "Never Let Me Go" will find here a gentler exploration of the price children pay for modern advancements. But if the weird complications of technology frame the plot, the real subject, as always in Ishiguro's dusk-lit fiction, is the moral quandary of the human heart. Klara, the narrator of this genre-straddling novel, is an Artificial Friend (AF), a popular class of androids designed to provide companionship to teenagers. Why young people would need artificial companionship is one of the chilling questions that Ishiguro raises but postpones so naturally that the horror feels almost incidental. When we meet Klara, she (it?) is on display in something like the Apple Store, an elegant retail shop catering to well-heeled parents. Older AFs such as Klara rotate with the latest models, competing for attention based on their specifications and social cachet. Klara's particular skill is empathetic observation. She sits in the store window like a teddy bear on Christmas Eve, waiting for a young person to notice and take her home. Powered by solar energy, Klara takes a keen interest in the sun. Its rays literally give her life, and she notices how daylight enlivens everyone outside the store, too. It's not such a leap for her to conclude that the sun is an omnipotent, often benevolent being capable of casting his invigorating light on whom he chooses. That faith, if you will, becomes the abiding premise of Klara's life - and the haunting complication of this novel. The story begins in earnest when Klara is purchased to be the companion for a bright but sickly teenager named Josie. She moves into an isolated country house and takes up her role as an attentive Artificial Friend. The housekeeper treats her with suspicion bordering on disgust, but Klara's programming doesn't include resentment, and, in any case, she gets along well with Josie, and Josie's mother seems particularly taken with her. There's a Jamesian quality to the searching, deliberate portrayal of life in Josie's remote house. Like Klara, Ishiguro attends closely to the way apparently innocuous conversations shift, the way joy drains from a frozen smile. This is a home recovering from grief and bracing for more. Josie's illness - like the life-threatening ailments in fairy tales - is never diagnosed, but it's the source of the home's ever-rising alarm. The possibility of her death ratchets up the pressure on Josie's mother to pretend that nothing is wrong even while preparing for the next terrifying loss. Klara, determined to help any way she can, is left to discern sensitivities she can sense but not entirely grasp. She may be an Artificial Friend, but there is nothing artificial about her friendship. "I knew my best course was to work harder than ever to be a good AF to Josie until the shadows receded," Klara tells us. "At the same time, what was becoming clear to me was the extent to which humans, in their wish to escape loneliness, made maneuvers that were very complex and hard to fathom." Beyond the dark enchantment of this peaceful house, Ishiguro suggests a world radically transformed. Another author would have been eager to elaborate on the dystopian features of the not-too-distant era, but Ishiguro always implies, never details. One reads Ishiguro in a defensive crouch, afraid to have our worst suspicions confirmed. We're left to intuit that the economy has been revolutionized, hollowing out the middle class. Odd new social practices have arisen, too, such as "interaction meetings" in which teenagers gather at one another's houses to practice getting along. For readers still social distancing while their children endure remote learning, this is unnervingly close to the bone. But the most unsettling reference in "Klara and the Sun" concerns a process called "lifting." It's some kind of genetic enhancement - rarely fatal - that has created a superclass of young people, completely altering adolescence, college admissions and employment possibilities. Creepy as this is, it's not so far off from current genetic research, and it certainly comports with the desires of frantic parents who will stop at nothing to promote their darlings. That's the real power of this novel: Ishiguro's ability to embrace a whole web of moral concerns about how we navigate technological advancements, environmental degradation and economic challenges even while dealing with the unalterable fact that we still die. Telling this story from Klara's algorithmic point of view is a perilous choice, even for an author used to risky narrative maneuvers. With her childlike intensity, Klara evinces a kind of devotion that could sound preprogrammed, like listening to the reassuring voice of an automatic telephone operator for 300 pages. But Ishiguro has perfectly calibrated Klara's uncanny tone, with a personality just warm enough and alien enough to feel like the Artificial Friend we all need. Even her radical faith in the sun, which could easily have slipped into a crude satire of Christians' faith in the Son, is moving and profound. Seeing her construct her own theodicy from the simple process of observing and reasoning is like watching the passage of two thousand years over a few months. Of course, tales of sensitive robots determined to help us survive our self-destructive impulses are not unknown in the canon of science fiction. But Ishiguro brings to this poignant subgenre a uniquely elegant style and flawless control of dramatic pacing. In his telling, Klara's self-abnegation feels both ennobling and tragic. Armenian News-NEWS.am spoke with Vardan Balayan, the Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) President's representative-at-large. Below is the text of this interview. Mr. General, in the post-war period, perhaps one of the most difficult and accountable obligations has fallen on your shoulders. It is about the work with the relatives of the fallen, the missing, the captives. Do you think that the work being done in that regard in our republic is at a sufficient level? In fact, what you want us to talk about is one of the toughest topics of the [recent Artsakh] war. The feelings I have when communicating with the relatives of our compatriots are indescribable. It would not be right to say that so far we have managed to carry out the minimum and meet the expectations of the parents who lost their sons and of the relatives of the missing. I do not think that what has been done is enough to give a good or bad assessment to our work. I am convinced that even if there is one unknown fate, the work done is incomplete. I assess my obligations as urgent until the return of our last captive compatriot and the clarification of the fate of the [last] missing person. Realizing the necessity and urgency of your work during this period, however, many people are probably interested in your view towards the crisis situation between the RA [Republic of Armenia] General Staff of the AF [Armed Forces] and the political authorities. Assessing the existing moods in the pan-Armenian field, I must say the following: I am very concerned about the internal political developments taking place in the RA; the concern of my people is my concern. Today, by the will of fate, I am entrusted to serve on the front of my Homeland where I am today. My greatest service to my people is to fulfill with honor the tasks set before me. I strive to do them with honor. And in overcoming the crisis, I expect common sense and the will to resolve problems. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Ouagadougou, March 2 (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 3rd Mar, 2021 ) :Four persons, including a pregnant woman, were killed in northern Burkina Faso on Tuesday when the ambulance they were in was blown up by an improvised bomb, sources told AFP. The ambulance driver, the pregnant woman and two people accompanying her were killed in the explosion in Gaskinde, close to the border with Mali in a region racked for years by militant attacks, a security source said. The vehicle from the medical centre in nearby Djibo was "completely blasted apart by the explosion", the source added. A source from the medical centre confirmed the attack had taken place. Growing up just 20 years ago, I was taught that boys and girls are different and that you are one or the other. As a boy, I knew that I would never be a girl, and society did not tell me otherwise. Today's America is different, for it tells children their sex can change based on their feelings and that society will honor those feelings even if biology says otherwise. Additionally, health care professionals, Hollywood elites, toy-manufacturers, and cookie-makers are encouraging children to embrace transgenderism. As recently as 2015, Dr. Paul R. McHugh, the former psychiatrist-in-chief for Johns Hopkins Hospital, classified transgenderism as a "mental disorder" and declared that changing one's sex is "biologically impossible." By 2019, though, the World Health Organization voted that transgenderism or gender incongruence is no longer a mental disorder and reclassified it as a part of sexual health. The rest of the medical community has quickly followed. This declassification has significantly helped normalize transgenderism. Transgenderism became mainstream after Bruce Jenner, the 1976 Summer Olympics' decathlon winner, announced that he had become a female named Caitlyn Jenner in 2015. At the time, President Obama congratulated Jenner's bravery, saying, "It takes courage to share your story." More recently, in 2020, actress Ellen Page announced she is transgender. She wrote on Twitter that her "pronouns are he/they and my name is Elliot." The medical community and Hollywood are not the only places that are normalizing transgenderism. Some toy- and cookie-manufacturers are as well. Last week, Hasbro announced that Mr. Potato Head would drop the Mr. to allow a gender-neutral Potato Head. In response, Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD)'s chief communications officer, Rich Ferraro, wrote, "By offering a toy that exits outside of the binary male and female, Hasbro is helping kids to simply see toys as toys, which encourages them to be their more authentic selves outside of the pressures of traditional gender norms." Since then, however, public pressure forced Hasbro to reinstate that all-important "Mr." Perhaps jealous of Hasbro's spotlight, Oreo tweeted that "trans people exist." Other countries are also dealing with transgenderism and witnessing the effects of its popularity among the young. Australian psychiatrist Stephen Stathis, who is responsible for diagnosing gender dysphoria, reported on a patient who said, "Doctor Steve...I want to be transgender. It's the new black." This cultural push ignores that men and woman are different, in brains and body. While a boy may feel like a girl, he is not. He is still a boy. Feelings cannot change a person's sex. It also ignores the problems with transgenderism. Per capita, more transgender people have attempted suicide 22% to 43% of them than any other demographic. Additionally, two thirds of all trans youths report recent self-harm. Believing you are in the wrong body takes a serious toll on your mental health. If someone takes hormone-blockers or has a so-called sex reassignment done, this likely will also negatively impact a person's mental well-being in the long run. For example, in 2020, Keira Bell, a 23-year-old woman from London, sued the National Health Service (NHS). Bell was only 16 when she went to the NHS for gender dysphoria treatment. After three one-hour therapy sessions, the NHS prescribed puberty-blockers. Three years later, it gave her a double-mastectomy. Once she had taken these steps, it was too late to go back. If I'd grown up now, rather than 20 years ago, I would have grown up in a different society. Some of my classmates might have wanted to be transgender because it would have been popular, especially if even the president said it was worthy of respect. Some girls, if they knew that their favorite actress considered herself a man, might have considered themselves boys. Normalizing transgenderism in America has produced more transgender persons. As in Australia, many children want to be transgender because it is cool. What they do not realize is that once they transition, either by hormone-blockers or genital mutilation, there is no going back. Instead of embracing transgenderism, boys and girls should be taught to appreciate their natural-born state. Parents should teach their children the differences between the sexes. Boys should be taught how to be men. Girls should be taught how to be women. Transgender individuals should seek psychological help. Our society would improve. Instead, our federal government is seeking through the Equality Act to enshrine transgenderism in American law. Image: Oreo tweet re trans. Twitter screen grab. HOUSTON, March 01, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Emerson Firm, PLLC announces a continuing investigation of a hugely significant issue involving the transmission system of Nissan Pathfinder vehicles. This matter relates to consumers who purchased or leased any 2015 through the present Nissan Pathfinder. If you purchased or leased any 2015 through the present Nissan Pathfinder in the United States, then you may have claims that can be pursued. It is believed that the transmission system in these vehicles is defective. Owners have reported a significant delay in the vehicles response while attempting to accelerate from a stop or while attempting to merge into freeway traffic, or pass another vehicle, which requires the ability to accelerate quickly. This delay in response is typically accompanied with reports of the engine revving while the driver depresses the gas pedal without little to no increase in vehicle speed. Vehicle owners have also experienced and reported stalling, jerking, lurching, shuddering, and/or shaking while operating their Class Vehicles, as well as premature transmission failure. These vehicles are equipped with a continuous variable transmission or CVT type of automatic transmission that does not use conventional gears to achieve the various ratios required during normal driving. Instead, it uses a segmented steel belt between pulleys that can be adjusted to change the reduction ratio in the transmission. This is supposed to occur smoothly and continuously. Like a conventional transmission, a CVT is electronically controlled by a Transmission Control Module or TCM. Nissan North America, Inc. (NNA) is a California corporation with its principal place of business located at One Nissan Way, Franklin, Tennessee 37067 and doing business in Tennessee and throughout the United States. Founded in 1933 and headquartered in Yokohama, Japan, Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. (NML) is a corporation organized under the laws of Japan. NML manufactures and distributes automobiles and related parts. It also provides financing services. NML delivers a comprehensive range of products under various brands that are manufactured in Japan, the United States, Mexico, the United Kingdom and other countries. NML is the parent and 100% owner of NNA. Emerson Firm, PLLC with offices in Houston, TX and Little Rock, AR, is a law firm specializing in results, integrity, and personal service. Emerson Firm represents automotive consumers throughout the nation and has significant class action experience with proven results. Emerson Firm lawyers have devoted their practice to complex commercial litigation for almost forty years and have recovered over a billion dollars for consumers in class actions throughout the United States. Guwahati, March 2 : Actor Ayushmann Khurrana, who is currently shooting for his film "Anek" in the Northeast, is greatly impressed by the work Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) has been doing in that region to control Covid-19. He recently filmed a video message for the entire unit stationed in Assam. In the video, he says: "I would like to congratulate all the majors and soldiers from the CISF Guwahati regiment on how right since Covid-19 unfolded, until now, they have contributed to the aviation security with patience and valour. I truly salute all your efforts to serve. I truly hope you stay safe and healthy." The actor has always spoken about the struggle people have had to undergo during the pandemic. Last year, he composed a poem saluting essential service providers and expressed his gratitude for them. He posted a video of him reciting the poem on Instagram and requested people to respect these workers even after the pandemic was over. On the work front, the actor will be shooting for "Anek" this month and will then go on to filming his next film "Doctor G". His next release is "Chandigarh Kare Aashiqui". -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-02 00:17:02|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close Students enter a school in Dublin, Ireland, on March 1, 2021. Primary and secondary schools in Ireland on Monday reopened as scheduled under a phased plan previously announced by the government. (Xinhua) DUBLIN, March 1 (Xinhua) -- Primary and secondary schools in Ireland on Monday reopened as scheduled under a phased plan previously announced by the government. Under the plan, all the primary school students up to 2nd class and Leaving Certificate students or the students in their last year of secondary school education can return to classrooms starting from March 1. The remaining students of primary schools and the fifth-year students of secondary schools will resume in-school education on March 15, followed by the reopening of all the secondary school classes on April 12. Announcing the plan last week, Prime Minister Micheal Martin said that the government will closely monitor the reopening of the schools in the country to ensure a safe return of in-school education. Over 320,000 primary and secondary schools on Monday returned to classrooms for the first time since the closure of schools in Ireland last December following the outbreak of the third wave of COVID-19 pandemic in the country, reported Irish national radio and television broadcaster RTE. Primary and secondary school students had missed a total of 33 days of in-classroom education since then, according to the report. While the government's plan for the phased reopening of schools is largely welcomed by students, parents and teachers, some express concerns over possible outbreaks of infections in school settings. Statistics from Ireland's Health Protection Surveillance Center showed that over the past two weeks to Feb. 27, a total of 1,403 children aged 12 years and younger in Ireland had been infected with COVID-19. Enditem ADVERTISEMENT The House of Representatives has urged the Nigerian Army to improve the welfare of its personnel, to avoid mass resignation. The House passed the resolution while adopting a report by its Committee on Army on the massive resignation of 360 soldiers last year. PREMIUM TIMES had, last year, reported how the then Chief of Army Staff, Tukur Buratai, approved the voluntary resignation of the soldiers. The soldiers, who cited loss of interest in the job are mostly those engaged in the decade-long war against Boko Haram in the Northeast, while others are from various other formations across the country. The army is currently engaged in various combat operations as insecurity worsens across the country. But apart from the 356 who left for losing interest in the army, 24 others are exiting because they want to take traditional title, making a total of 380 soldiers. A year after the exit of the 360 soldiers, another 127 soldiers indicated interest to exit the Nigerian Army. The soldiers, drawn from various formations of the army across the country, are all of the junior cadres, who are mostly at the forefront in the field. Other recommendations Amongst the recommendations approved by the lawmakers are -The army authorities should improve on the welfare of its personnel, especially those in battle fields or other combat operations to further make the soldiers more committed to their jobs and to the nation at large. -The army should effectively monitor or follow up in the delivery of the welfare packages in all the army formations to ensure that they reach out to all the beneficiaries (the soldiers) in a fair and equitable manner. The army should continuously embark on the orientation of soldiers, both old and new, about the reality of their jobs and the need to be committed to their country. This will reduce the number of soldiers leaving the army due to loss of interest. Lysander, N.Y. A 44-year-old man who police say fired the fatal shot that killed a father in Lysander last week has made bail, according to Onondaga County District Attorney William Fitzpatrick. William Kratz, 44, of Baldwinsville, had been assigned $75,000 cash bail or $150,000 bond after being charged with second-degree criminal possession of a weapon for having a ghost gun. Kratz was released 4:49 p.m. Sunday from the Onondaga County Justice Center, according to VineLink, a service that tracks inmate records, Kratz has not yet been charged with the death of William Delany, 44. Investigators are still trying to determine whether Kratz acted in self defense when he shot Delany and Delanys 27-year-old son Devon Delany. A grand jury will hear evidence to determine whether Kratz should face more charges in the shooting. Devon Delany and Kratz were arguing in their shared driveway -- the two were tenants in separate apartments at 2861 Cold Springs Road in Lysander -- over an SUV that had been keyed earlier in the day, according to Jessica Dolan, Delanys fiance. State police have said that a physical altercation happened just before the shooting. During the argument, William Delany grabbed a shovel as Alicia Kratz pointed a stun gun at both Delanys, Devon Delany said. William Delany swung the shovel, hitting Alicia Kratz in the face, authorities said. William Kratz fired a gun multiple times, hitting both William and Devon Delany, police and prosecutors said. Kratzs gun charge stems from his ownership of a so-called ghost gun. Ghost guns have no serial numbers and are not licensed to any owner. At a bail hearing Thursday, prosecutor Joseph Coolican said Kratz bought a kit to make the gun last year on his wifes credit card. At the time of the shooting, Kratz had a pending drunken driving charge and had admitted to varying drug use, Coolican said. Sometime in the past, Kratz had apparently tried to buy a gun in Ohio, but had been refused because he only had New York state identification, the prosecutor said. Got a tip, comment or story idea? Contact Chris Libonati via the Signal app for encrypted messaging at 585-290-0718, by phone at the same number, by email or on Twitter. Amaala, the ultra-luxury development located along Saudi Arabias northwestern coast, has signed an agreement with the Saudi Federation for Cyber Security, Programming and Drones (SAFCSP). The signing of the memorandum of understanding (MoU) will pave the way for the adoption of innovative and emerging technologies within the fields of drones, programming, and artificial Intelligence at Amaala, reported Saudi Gazette. Amaalas Chief Executive Officer John Pagano and Chief Executive Officer of SAFCSP, Muteb Alqany signed the MoU. Pagano said: Amaala is steadfast in its commitment to developing an ultra-luxury destination for the discerning traveller. The adoption of technology is integral to realizing the ambitions of Amaala, the embodiment of Saudi Arabias Vision 2030, which boldly captures the aspirations of its people by unlocking new, and significant opportunities in key fields including technology and innovation. Today marks the start of an important collaboration between Amaala and SAFCSP, one that reaffirms our commitment to identify and adopt ground-breaking technologies, from AI to the Internet of Things technology, to ensure Amaala is ready for the future. Alqany said: MoUs come within the vision of the Federation and its continuous efforts in building and empowering national capabilities in various technical fields. In a partnership with major government and private sectors to bring the Kingdom to the ranks of advanced countries in the manufacture of modern technical knowledge. 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. Pro-government forces in the Central African Republic (CAR) on Wednesday seized a stronghold of former president Francois Bozize, who was accused in December of plotting a coup, Prime Minister Firmin Ngrebada said. "I hail the capture of the town of Bossangoa by our forces and allies today," he said on Facebook, referring to a key pro-Bozize town 280 kilometres (175 miles) north of the capital Bangui. "Allies" is a term used by CAR's government for Russian paramilitaries and Rwandan troops who are supporting the beleaguered authorities against rebel groups. "Never again will bandits disturb people in this part of the country," Ngrebada vowed. A senior government official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said "fighting is still ongoing" but "resistance has been broken, the enemy is fleeing." In mid-December, six rebel groups united to launch an offensive against President Faustin Archange Touadera, just over a week before presidential and legislative elections. The government said the rebels had acted in concert with Bozize, who seized power in 2003 and was ousted a decade later -- an act that sparked a civil war along sectarian lines. Russia and Rwanda flew in military personnel to shore up the CAR's poorly- equipped armed forces, which are also backed by a 12,000 UN force, MINUSCA. The rebels attacked a string of towns in January and twice came close to the capital, but the government and its allies went on the counter-offensive. A map of Central African Republic locating the town of Bossangoa, seized by pro-government forces. / AFP A string of towns -- Boda, Boali, Bossembele, Bossemptele, Yaloke and Beloko -- have been recaptured and on February 16, Bangui's road lifeline to neighbouring Cameroon was reopened. The following day, the government said it had "completely liberated" Bambari, CAR's fifth biggest town, located in the centre of the country, and captured "numerous prisoners." - Shadow of Bozize - Bozize fled abroad after being toppled in 2013. He returned in late 2019, stoking fears that the troubled nation would be plunged once more into a full-fledged conflict as elections loomed on the horizon. Violence remains endemic in a country where two-thirds of the territory is controlled by militia groups. Touadera won re-election in the first round of the polls, according to official figures, but the turnout was just 35 percent as many voters were unable to cast their ballot. Bozize denies giving any support to the six rebel groups, who teamed up in December under the name of the Coalition of Patriots for Change, or CPC. On January 4, the government launched an inquiry into him for "rebellion." Thousands of people have died in the CAR since 2013 and more than a quarter of the population of 4.9 million have fled their homes. Of these, 675,000 are refugees in neighbouring countries. Thank you for reading! Please log in, or sign up for a new account and purchase a subscription to continue reading. Taipei: The de facto US and Canadian embassies in Taiwan have praised the quality of pineapples grown on the island, depicting photographs of their top diplomats in Taipei with the fruit after an import ban by China. China last week stopped the import of Taiwanese pineapples, citing harmful creatures it said could come with the fruit. Infuriated Taiwanese authorities called the ban a political move to further pressure the island, a charge that China denied. While neither the United States nor Canada, like most countries, have formal diplomatic ties with the Chinese-claimed island, both have their own disputes with Beijing over human rights, trade and other issues. EnWave Signs Technology Evaluation and License Option Agreement with Leading Turkish Dairy Company and Announces Equity Incentive Grant Posted by Publisher Internet EnWave Corporation (TSX-V:ENW | FSE:E4U) (?EnWave?, or the ?Company? https://www.commodity-tv.com/ondemand/companies/profil/enwave-corp/)?announced today that it has signed a technology evaluation and license option agreement (the ?TELOA?) with Suta? sut UrunleriI A.?. (?Suta??), a leading Turkish dairy company. Suta? will evaluate EnWave?s proprietary Radiant Energy Vacuum (?REV??) dehydration technology for the dehydration of premium dairy snacks and ingredients. EnWave will install a 10kW REV? machine at a site of Suta?? choosing in Turkey for a period of up to six months for research and development purposes. The TELOA grants Suta? the option to enter into a royalty-bearing commercial license to produce REV?-dried commercial dairy products for both domestic and international sales. REV? technology is currently being used commercially by more than a dozen dairy companies internationally. Equity Incentive Grant to Officer As part of the business transformation plan recently announced at NutraDried, Mr. Dan Henriques, EnWave?s Chief Financial Officer, has been appointed as Chief Operating Officer of NutraDried to oversee the streamlining of operations. In recognition of this appointment, the Company has granted Mr. Henriques an aggregate of 142,000 incentive stock options, subject to the terms of the Company?s Stock Option Plan (the ?Plan?), that are exercisable at the last closing price of the Company?s common shares on the TSX Venture Exchange (?TSXV?) on February 26, 2021. The incentive stock options are exercisable for a term of five years expiring on February 26, 2026 and will vest in accordance to the provisions set out in the Plan, or as otherwise required by the TSXV. The Company also granted Mr. Henriques an aggregate of 25,000 Restricted Share Rights (?RSRs?) pursuant to the Company?s Restricted Share Rights Plan. The RSRs granted will vest three years from the date of the award. About Suta? From 1975 onward, Suta? has been operating with a focus on milk and dairy products. Today, the company processes more than 900 million litres of milk per year in its four production facilities located in Turkey, Macedonia and Romania and offers 78 different products to its consumers. 8 of every 10 households in Turkey has at least one Suta? product on their home. Suta? employs 5000 people with 3.8 billion TL revenue. Suta?, through its \From Farm to Table\ Business Model manages and audits the entire process from the grass that the cows eat to the dairy products that reach the tables. As a result of this model, Suta? operates in an integrated structure consisting of feed plants, dairy cattle breeding farms, dairy plants, education centers and application farms, waste water treatment and biogas production facilities. In 2019, Suta? exported 16.5 million USD to 29 countries, including the U.S., Japan, UAE, Qatar, Libya, Iraq, Kuwait and Egypt. About EnWave EnWave Corporation, a Vancouver-based advanced technology company, has developed Radiant Energy Vacuum (?REV??) ? an innovative, proprietary method for the precise dehydration of organic materials. EnWave has further developed patented methods for uniformly drying and decontaminating cannabis through the use of REV? technology, shortening the time from harvest to marketable cannabis products.? REV? technology?s commercial viability has been demonstrated and is growing rapidly across several market verticals in the food, and pharmaceutical sectors, including legal cannabis. EnWave?s strategy is to sign royalty-bearing commercial licenses with innovative, disruptive companies in multiple verticals for the use of REV? technology. The company has signed over forty royalty-bearing licenses to date spanning twenty countries and five continents. In addition to these licenses, EnWave established a Limited Liability Corporation, NutraDried Food Company, LLC, to manufacture, market and sell all-natural dairy snack products in the United States, including the Moon Cheese? brand, as well as co-manufacture for third parties.? EnWave has introduced REV? as a disruptive dehydration platform in the food and cannabis sectors: faster and cheaper than freeze drying, with better end product quality than air drying or spray drying. EnWave currently offers two distinct commercial REV? platforms: nutraREV? which is a drum-based system that dehydrates organic materials quickly and at low-cost, while maintaining high levels of nutrition, taste, texture and colour; and, quantaREV? which is a tray-based system used for continuous, high-volume low-temperature drying. EnWave is also active in the pharmaceutical industry through a joint development agreement with GEA Lyophil, a leader in GMP drying machinery. More information about EnWave is available at www.enwave.net. Safe Harbour for Forward-Looking Information Statements: This press release may contain forward-looking information based on management\-\-s expectations, estimates and projections. All statements that address expectations or projections about the future, including statements about the Company\-\-s strategy for growth, product development, market position, expected expenditures, and the expected synergies following the closing are forward-looking statements. All third party claims referred to in this release are not guaranteed to be accurate. All third party references to market information in this release are not guaranteed to be accurate as the Company did not conduct the original primary research. These statements are not a guarantee of future performance and involve a number of risks, uncertainties and assumptions. Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. 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. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Copyright 1995 - . All rights reserved. The content (including but not limited to text, photo, multimedia information, etc) published in this site belongs to China Daily Information Co (CDIC). Without written authorization from CDIC, such content shall not be republished or used in any form. Note: Browsers with 1024*768 or higher resolution are suggested for this site. 0108263 License for publishing multimedia online Registration Number: 130349 Registration Number: 130349 Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-02 11:26:31|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close Chinese work team members arrive at Dushanbe International Airport, Tajikistan, May 24, 2020. (Chinese Embassy in Tajikistan/Handout via Xinhua) BEIJING, March 2 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping said on Monday that as this year marks the 100th anniversary of the Communist Party of China (CPC), China will push forward reform and opening-up from a higher starting point, bringing new opportunities for the comprehensive China-Tajikistan cooperation. Xi made the remarks during his telephone conversation with his Tajik counterpart, Emomali Rahmon. The Chinese president pointed out that since last year, the Chinese and Tajik people, in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic and the transformations rarely seen in a century, have sticked together through thick and thin, joined hands in unity and coordination, and achieved fruitful cooperation in various fields, especially in battling the pandemic. Xi said the two sides have supported each other on issues involving each other's core interests, which fully reflects the high level of the China-Tajikistan comprehensive strategic partnership. Tajik President Emomali Rahmon visits the Tajikistan booth at the International Pavilion of the International Horticultural Exhibition 2019 Beijing, in Beijing, capital of China, April 28, 2019. (Xinhua/Li He) China firmly supports Tajikistan in safeguarding its national sovereignty, security and stability, and is willing to strengthen the alignment of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) with Tajikistan's national development strategy until 2030, so as to promote the continuous development of China-Tajikistan relations, he added. Xi called on the two sides to push forward bilateral cooperation in the fields of economy, trade, investment, agriculture, interconnection and digital economy in an integrated manner, and to give priority to the construction of key BRI projects. China is ready to import more quality agricultural products from Tajikistan that meet market demands, Xi said, adding that China is also willing to provide assistance of COVID-19 vaccines to Tajikistan in a bid to promote the building of a community of common health for mankind. A staff shows cherries at an orchard in Hisor, west of Dushanbe, Tajikistan, June 12, 2019. (Xinhua/Sadat) Noting that this year marks the 20th anniversary of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), Xi said China will give full support to Tajikistan, currently holding the rotating presidency of SCO, and strengthen cooperation with Tajikistan, so as to promote greater development of the organization from a new starting point. Rahmon, for his part, extended the new year's greetings to Xi and the Chinese people, wishing the Chinese people a happy Spring Festival and new successes for China in the new year. He said under the strong leadership of President Xi and with the hard work of the Chinese people, China has made brilliant and historic achievements in poverty reduction, which the Tajik side expressed warm congratulations. Tajikistan highly appreciates China's important contribution to the world's fight against the pandemic, and appreciates China for its invaluable support in Tajikistan's battle against outbreak and efforts to boost economic and social development, he said. Tajikistan is willing to make joint efforts with China to continue to expand bilateral cooperation in politics, economy, trade, security, humanities and other fields in the spirit of good neighborliness and friendship, strengthen anti-epidemic cooperation and give new connotations to the comprehensive strategic partnership between the two sides, so as to promote new development in bilateral relations, he added. He also said that Tajikistan looks forward to close communication with China, and successfully completing the work of the rotating presidency of the SCO in a bid to ensure the summit a success. She started the year by shooting scenes for her Netflix film The Princess Switch 3 in Scotland. But Vanessa Hudgens enjoyed a rare break from her busy schedule as she returned to Los Angeles on Monday morning. The High School Musical star, 32, kissed her beloved pet dog Darla as she joined her BFF GG Magree at a cannabis dispensary in Los Feliz. She's back: Vanessa Hudgens returned to Los Angeles on Monday morning, after shooting scenes for her Netflix film The Princess Switch 3 in Scotland Showcasing her toned abs, the actress teamed a tiny crop top with patterned jeans, complete with a thick belt. The Sucker Punch star's edgy style was enhanced in the footwear department as she wore chunky platform boots. Vanessa's locks were pulled back into a high bun, while she opted for a make-up free apperance. Sweet reunion: The High School Musical star, 32, kissed her beloved pet dog Darla as she joined her BFF GG Magree at a cannabis dispensary in Los Feliz Gym-honed: Showcasing her toned abs, the actress teamed a tiny crop top with patterned jeans, complete with a thick belt In the trilogy, the screen star portrays Duchess Margaret Delacourt and baker Stacey De Novo from Chicago, and as well as party girl Lady Fiona Pembroke, with the latest edition scheduled for release on Netflix in December later this year. As with all professional film productions, the utmost precautions were taken to ensure all those on set are at minimal risk of infection. Vanessa was last seen in the UK in January 2020, when she filmed The Princess Switch: Switched Again - the sequel to 2018 rom-com The Princess Switch. Continuation: In the trilogy, the screen star portrays Duchess Margaret Delacourt and baker Stacey De Novo from Chicago, and as well as party girl Lady Fiona Pembroke The TV and film star, who shot to fame after appearing in the High School Musical films, initially played two characters in the Parent Trap-inspired plot. The 2018 film sees the Margaret and Stacey switch lives for two days, while the sequel finds the royal inheriting the throne to Montenaro and struggling to deal with the responsibilities and the rough patch she's hit with her beau Kevin (Nick Sagar). By the end of The Princess Switch: Switched Again, Margaret - who later becomes a queen - is engaged to her partner, and her evil cousin Fiona is arrested for fraud. New look: Later in the day, the media personality posed for the camera to show off her new hair after a visit to hairdresser Violet Teriti on social media Later in the day, the media personality slipped her gym-honed physique into a black crop top as she posed for the camera to show off her new hair after a visit to hairdresser Violet Teriti on social media. The TV and film star went Instagram official with her boyfriend Cole Tucker on Valentine's Day, after 12 weeks of dating. At 32, the brunette is eight years older than the MLB shortstop and outfielder, and their romance marks her first since her relationship with her beau of eight years Austin Butler, who she split form in 2019. A heavily tattooed man is behind bars accused of a savage stabbing attack on the streets of one of Sydney's wealthiest suburbs. Tyson Dellosta, 24, is facing one count of wounding a person with intent to cause grievous bodily harm following an alleged attack in Neutral Bay, on Sydney's lower north shore, on Sunday afternoon just after 4pm. Police allege Dellosta, 24, and another man, 39, confronted the alleged victim before Dellosta punched the man, 25, a number of times in the face and head. He then allegedly stabbed the man in the head, neck, back and chest before allegedly fleeing the scene on Park Ave in a white Mazda vehicle. Tyson Dellosta (pictured) is facing one count of wounding a person with intent to cause grievous bodily harm following an alleged violent attack in Neutral Bay Police also said attempts to locate the second man, 39, were continuing as part of an investigation The alleged victim was treated at the scene by paramedics before being rushed to nearby Royal North Shore Hospital in St Leonards for emergency surgery. On Monday morning, Dellosta was arrested at an address in Mona Vale on Sydney's northern beaches by detectives from the North Shore Police Area Command, the Manly Daily reported. Police seized a number of items at the scene, including a white Mazda. In Manly Local Court, Legal Aid solicitor Fiona Hadlington said Dellosta was not applying for bail. Bail was formally refused by Magistrate Bruce Williams, with the matter adjourned to April 29. Police also said attempts to locate the second man, 39, were continuing as part of an investigation. Nigerian schoolgirls freed from captivity Nigerian schoolgirls freed from captivity Gunmen have freed all 279 girls kidnapped from a boarding school in northwest Nigeria, officials said on Tuesday, as victims described how their abductors had beaten and threatened to shoot them. The pupils from Jangebe, a town in Zamfara state, were abducted just after midnight on Friday. All had now been freed, Zamfara Governor Bello Matawalle said. Umma Abubakar, among those released, described their ordeal. "Most of us got injured on our feet and we could not continue trekking, so they said they will shoot anybody who did not continue to walk," she said. Boarding schools in northern Nigeria have become targets for mass kidnappings for ransom by armed criminal gangs, a trend started by the jihadist group Boko Haram and continued by its offshoot, Islamic State West Africa Province. Friday's raid on the Government Girls Science Secondary School was the second such abduction in little over a week in the northwest, a region increasingly targetted by gangs. Matawalle said "repentant bandits" working with the government under an amnesty programme had helped secure the Jangebe girls' release. "Those repentant ones are working for us, and they are working for the government and they are working for security," he said. Initial reports put the number kidnapped at 317, but Zamfara government spokesman Sulaiman Tanau Anka said the total was 279, as some of the girls had run into the bush at the time of the raid. Reuters journalists in Zamfara's state capital, Gusau, saw dozens of girls in Muslim veils sitting in a hall in a state government building. A few parents arrived, and one father wept with joy after seeing his daughter. Most of the girls appeared unharmed, but at least a dozen were sent to hospital. Farida Lawali, 15, told how she and the other girls had been taken to a forest by the kidnappers. "They carried the sick ones that cannot move. We were walking in the stones and thorns," she said, sitting in the government house building, covered in a light blue veil. "They started hitting us with guns so that we could move," she added. "While they were beating them with guns, some of them were crying and moving at the same time." President Muhammadu Buhari, who met his top security officials on Tuesday, said news of the girls' release brought "overwhelming joy". He warned against paying ransoms to kidnappers, which the national government has denied doing. "Ransom payments will continue to prosper kidnapping," Buhari said, urging the police and the military to bring the kidnappers to justice. One father, whose seven daughters were among those kidnapped and freed, said the incident would not deter him from schooling his children. "It's a ploy to deny our girls... from getting the Western education in which we are far behind," Lawal Abdullahi said. "We should not succumb to blackmail. My advice to government is that they should take immediate precautions to stop further abductions." The UN children's agency Unicef urged the Nigerian government to protect schools so children will not be fearful of going to school, and parents afraid of sending their children to school. As recently as Saturday, gunmen released 27 teenage boys who had been kidnapped from their school on February 17 in Niger state. In 2014, Boko Haram abducted more than 270 schoolgirls from the northeasterly town of Chibok, in Nigeria's most high-profile school kidnapping. Around 100 remain missing. (Reuters) Commentary For Myanmar Military, Rule No. 1 in Riot Control Is Shoot to Kill A placard with a free Aung San Suu Kyi message against a background of a Myanmar army soldier is seen in February during an anti-regime protest in Yangon. / The Irrawaddy The military never fires into the air. It just shoots straight to hit. Thats what Myanmars late dictator Ne Win said once. His words are still true. Within one month of the new military regime staging a coup on Feb. 1, its army and security forces have shot at least 21 protesters to death. Almost all of them were shot execution stylein their heads and chests. General Ne Win said it to warn the people of Myanmar when they took to the streets to topple his military-turned-socialist regime in 1988. Tuesday was the 59th anniversary of his military coup in 1962. Over the past six decades, the militarys method of shooting to kill still seems to be its motto. Last Sunday alone, when a general strike, named the Milk Tea Alliance, was organized across the country, at least 15 innocent people were shot to death in different places. Among them, six were shot in the head, six in the chest and another in the throat. Ko Zin Lin Htet, 21, was one of thousands of protesters who gathered at Hledan, one of the main anti-coup protest sites in Yangon, on Sunday morning. When the military troops and police started firing at protesters, he was trying to cover his body with a wood pallet as a shield. Of course, it couldnt protect him from a live bullet. The bullet pierced his left eye and exited at the back of his head. He died on the spot. Right there, at the same time, Ko Nyi Nyi Aung Htet Naing was also shot in the chest. The 23-year-old network engineer found himself lying on the pavement after he was shot. Video footage showed that no one could rescue him, despite their best efforts, as the troops kept shooting protesters around him. He managed to ring his mother to say, I was shot, just before the young engineer took his last breath where he lay. The night before his death, he posted on his Facebook account: #How_Many_Dead_Bodies_UN_Need_To_Take_Action? urging, Lets post it together. Like other protesters, he urged the United Nations to intervene to stop the military dictatorship in the country. His profile picture on his social media account was posted together with a picture of the detained leader of the National League for Democracy, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, and her quote: The only real prison is fear and the real only freedom is freedom from fear. Next morning, he proved with his life that he was free from fear. His twin brother was lucky enough to survive. They came to the protest on that morning together and were later separated in the crowd before he was shot. On the same morning in Thingangyun Township, a few miles from Hledan, Ko Hein Htut Aung, 23, and his young wife came out of their tiny house to join the general strike against the dictatorship. While crossing a road to join a protest crowd, he was fatally shot through the throat. He died on the spot just beside his beloved wife, who was pregnant with their first child. Three of these protesters belong to Generation Z, or Gen Z, members of which have courageously and creatively been organizing varying but continuous protests across the country since soon after the military staged a coup toppling the elected ruling National League for Democracy government and arrested its leaders State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, President U Win Myint and many others. But these young protesters are not alone in this Spring Revolution, as it is named by the protesters, against the military dictatorship. One more person who sacrificed her life in Yangon on the same day was a 59-year-old teacher. In the morning, Daw Tin Nwe Yee joined the general strike together with a group of other teachers in Kyeemyindaing Township, not far from Hledan Junction. The group of teachers wearing their teachers uniforms of a white shirt and green longyi (sarong) were tear-gassed and shot at with rubber and live bullets by riot police and troops. Her shoulder was hit but she died of a heart attack, as she had heart disease. Like in Yangon, at least 10 more peopletwo teenage protesters in Bago, four protesters in Dawei, one protester in Pakokhu, Magawe Region, one in Mawlamyine, Mon State, and two bystanders in Mandalaywere shot dead on the same day. Almost all of them were shot in the head and chest too. The one who was shot dead in Mawlamyine was a Muslim protester. The 21-year-old, Zin Myo Thu, aka Rashid, was hit in the head. In Dawei, video footage showed that police officers jumped with joy as they shot at their targets. Behind them, an army officer guided them on how and where to shoot. The shooters didnt spare bystanders either. In Mandalay on Feb. 28, two bystanders were also fatally shot in the head. One was a Muslim mother who reportedly came out to buy snacks and medicines. There are snipers, protesters warned among themselves while the public helped keep a look out. Perhaps it was intended as a message from the military regime to terrorize all protesters across the country, to frighten them into ending their protests. But if that was the regimes intent, it failed. The protests go on. Even before Sundays general strike, at least six protesters were shot dead. The first victim after the coup was Ma Mya Thwet Thwet Khine, who was shot on Feb. 9 in Naypyitaw. The 20-year-old womans head was hit by a bullet that pierced her helmet. She lost consciousness on the spot and died 10 days later. Also in Mandalay on Feb. 20, several protesters suffered fatal shots to the head and chest. The boast by Gen. Ne Win, who introduced coup detats to Myanmar, has remained the motto for his successor generals since 1962. In the many protests against the military dictatorship since then, thousands of peaceful demonstrators have been shot dead by the military and security forces at different times. To name a few: the 1962 anti-military regime protest; the 1974 and 1976 protests; the 1988 nationwide uprising; the 2007 Saffron Revolution. Thats the stark difference between the Myanmar military and its counterparts in neighboring countries, especially this time. In Thailand, there have been protests against previous military regimes, and the incumbent government led by a former military general. However, they rarely kill protesters, though there have been crackdowns. At least, they refrain from shooting protesters in the head and chest with live bullets, execution style. As a deliberate insult to those shot dead, the state-run Myanmar Radio and Television (MRTV) announced on Monday that security forces have been ordered not to use live rounds during crowd control. In self-defense situations, security forces have to use crowd control-related gear, shooting only at areas below the waist, it added. What a cruel joke! Myanmars military hasnt changed at all over the past six decadesnot just in their willingness to stage self-justified coups, but also in their deliberate targeting of peaceful protesters with kill shots using live bullets. You may also like these stories: Indias Muted Response to Myanmar Military Coup Seen as a Strategic Move In Myanmar, Its Back to the Future but Not Quite Whos Culpable for Myanmars Coup? Denton, TX (76205) Today Considerable cloudiness. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 76F. Winds NW at 5 to 10 mph.. Tonight Partly cloudy skies. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 59F. Winds N at 5 to 10 mph. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Operates one of Canadas largest health care networks Delivers walk-clinics and family practices in 76 Walmart locations in Canada and 11 in Mexico Actively buying existing medical and paramedical clinics within its current footprint What Jack Nathan Medical does: Jack Nathan Medical Corp ( ) (OTCMKTS:JNHMF), operating as , runs one of Canadas largest health care networks. The company is improving access for millions of patients by co-locating physician and ancillary medical services conveniently inside ( ) stores. was established in 2006 and now delivers state-of-the-art, turn-key walk-clinics and family practices in 76 Walmart locations across Canada including British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, and Quebec, as well as 11 locations in Mexico. The company designs, builds, and sets-up its barrier-free medical and dental clinics via strategic partnerships with some of the brightest physicians across Canada. In addition to in-clinic physicians, patients can get help through the companys digital telemedicine. How is it doing: Jack Nathan Health kicked off 2021 with two acquisitions to strengthen its telemedicine operations and to expand the range of services and treatment options available to both practitioners and patients at its clinics, as the company seeks to become a full-service provider of medical, health, and wellbeing services and products. In January the company acquired Writi, a cloud-based medication-management software platform, available on mobile devices and web platforms. Writis Virtual Healthcare platform supports the secure digital communication, record maintenance, and workflow of resident-related orders and documentation. Writi is helping to contain the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19) with remote virtual check-ups from physicians and nurse practitioners, treating patients and prescribing using virtual billing, prescription fulfillment, and integration with various emergency medical retrieval services (EMRs). In addition, prescribers and healthcare workers can check in on patients in isolation and assess and treat patients remotely. The Writi service platform, in its early stage, is scaling and is used in long-term care (LTC) homes by over 800 frontline healthcare workers, serving 15 locations and 1598 resident beds. Writi has a stable and growing recurring revenue base, receiving a monthly recurring SaaS fee per resident beds, in LTC homes. A month later Jack Nathan Health acquired two profitable Redeem MediSpas locations, which are actually located in the companys medical walk-in clinics at Walmart in Maple and Brampton, Ontario. The so-called in-house acquisition is immediately accretive and highly complementary to the companys already well-established network of health clinics. Redeem MediSpa offers a complete range of both surgical and non-surgical treatments for facial and body rejuvenation and aesthetics, including treatments for migraines, laser therapy, anti-aging, face, and body skin tightening, PRP therapies, joint pain treatments, and hair loss - to name a few. In Mexico, the company is rapidly expanding its footprint via subsidiary JNH Medico Mexico, a provider of primary care medical clinics located in Walmart Supercentres and other Walmart Mexico formats under the Jack Nathan Health brand. Currently, 11 clinics are operating and the company plans to open 50 more in 2021. Rapid expansion in Walmart Mexico is fueled by modular, cost-effective construction which only takes days and requires no capital expenditure from Jack Nathan Health. To carry out the companys new business strategy heading into 2021 and beyond, Jack Nathan Health hired Dr Glenn Copeland as its chief medical officer. He will help the company expand corporate clinic operations in several locations across Canada in 2021. As the company actively buys existing medical and paramedical clinics within its current footprint, led by Dr Copeland, the company will be freed to integrate a technology backbone that improves efficiencies, level of care, patient metrics, and margins. In fact, the company is working on a system to integrate both clinic and patient services to drive patient engagement, clinic operations, and analytics. For its latest financial reporting period, ended October 31, 2020, the company announced that revenues for the first nine months of that year increased 12.6%. Adjusted EBITDA, (Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortization), a cash-flow metric, for the same time period increased by 103%. Inflection points: Become a leading integrated primary health care provider in Canada and globally Grow through expansion in Walmart, new stand-alone facilities, telemedicine, and acquisitions Expand digital footprint via e-commerce platform and retail product offerings Expand corporate clinic operations across Canada in 2021 Open 50 new clinics in Mexico in 2021 What the boss says: The acquisition of MediSpa provides a unique opportunity to further entrench Jack Nathan Health as a full-service provider of quality services, deepening our ability to close the circle of care for each patient by attending to their unique needs, according to Dr Glenn Copeland, Jack Nathan Health's CMO. I look forward to driving this integration forward as we expand our range of services, including the expansion of our digital footprint through the addition of an e-commerce platform and retail product offerings. Contact the author: patrick@proactiveinvestors.com Follow him on Twitter @PatrickMGraham Denton, TX (76205) Today Considerable cloudiness. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 76F. Winds NW at 5 to 10 mph.. Tonight Partly cloudy skies. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 59F. Winds N at 5 to 10 mph. 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. Liu Tianyu, a Chinese student studying at Buffalo University in the United States, has always valued independent thought. But he was subjected to a torrent of online abuse including death threats after he posted to the social media platform WeChat in support of Hong Kong, where the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is waging all-out war on public dissent and political opposition. Buffalo University later put two of the students who harassed Liu on disciplinary probation. Liu spoke to RFA's Mandarin Service about his encounter with online CCP supporters known as the Little Pinks: RFA: So can you tell us what happened? Liu Tianyu: Back in early , I posted a photo in support of the Hong Kong protest movement to WeChat Moments. I don't know which of my classmates saw it or how the word spread, but by Nov. 20, I was getting hundreds of insults and threats in the [official] WeChat group [of the CCP-backed Chinese Students and Scholars' Association, University of Buffalo chapter]." The most serious were from two men who threatened me with death. One said that he would kill me within the next three days and hold onto my ashes. The other warned me to be careful what I said and posted a photo of himself licking a knife, essentially threatening to kill me. That same day, I got in touch with the university's International Student Services, and they called the police. I went to the police station to give a statement the same day. RFA: A lot of people might have chosen to keep quiet when faced with such a situation. What made you report it to the police? Liu Tianyu: Three possible courses of action flashed through my mind at the time. One was to keep quiet and keep a low profile. Another was to hit back verbally. The third was to use the law. Now I'm in the U.S., I am somewhat removed from the persecution of the [CCP] system, and I feel a bit safer. If we don't speak out [here], then people back home will be even more intimidated, and the whole country will fall silent. I felt that I had an obligation to speak out, and I had no wish to hit back at them. It wasn't just about me. This needed to come to the attention of the rest of the world. Hong Kong protesters, and anyone who supports the Hong Kong protest movement are regarded as thugs in China. The rest of the world needs to decide for itself who the thugs are, and who are the peaceful protesters. RFA: Were you frightened to get so much abuse and even threats from such a large number of people? What impact did it have on you? Liu Tianyu: This incident has had a massive impact on my life. How did photos I posted to my private followers get leaked? I suspect that there are people who monitor the activity of all of the members of the official WeChat group of the Chinese Students and Scholars Association at Buffalo University. They click through to see what they are saying to their followers, and to spy on what they are saying and what they are following. It was scary, but it was more of a surprise. I didn't expect these people to come out with such things, and I didn't know any of these people beforehand. Yet they were willing to issue death threats over a few words from me, because of some difference in our opinions ... I didn't expect these students to behave in such a frenzied way. RFA: What happened after the school called the police? Liu Tianyu: I reported it to the police on Nov. 20, 2019. The police completed their investigation at the end of March last year. They concluded that there wasn't enough to prosecute, and referred the case to the Student Conduct and Advocacy Office at the university. They issued penalties before the end of last spring semester. I received notice that the persons involved had been punished in January. RFA: Were you disappointed with that outcome? Liu Tianyu: My request was that the person involved would be suspended, but they said they wouldn't do that because it was their first offense, and that no physical violence or injury had occurred. So they would allow the person to remain at the school on notice. This seemed like a reasonable view, so I accept it. Mostly, I am very grateful to the teachers and staff in the student office, who took care of me in many ways. I felt this was a strong point of American society. RFA: What about other students who sent abusive messages? Do you want them to be held accountable? Liu Tianyu: Hundreds of people were involved in this incident, at least. I only ever wanted the most serious punishment for the worst offenders. I don't think we can hold the others accountable if they didn't do anything particularly serious. They are all brainwashed: which is pathetic and hateful at the same time. I still hope that what I did will be a warning and a lesson to them. I was born and raised in mainland China for three decades, so I still have some fellow feeling for them. I just hope they can do better. RFA: Why are the Little Pinks getting more violent, do you think? Liu Tianyu: The difference between the way the Little Pinks think and way people who have received a normal education in civilized countries is that they .... won't fully enjoy the freedom of speech granted to us under the U.S. Constitution. They don't want to allow others to talk either: they want to shut them up. This all stems from the education system [in China], which suppresses many people's right to speak. Now they are exporting it to the U.S. I oppose all violence, including violence perpetrated by authoritarian regimes on their own people. I hate the suppression of peaceful protest and the stifling of freedom of speech. The main reason that I posted [the Hong Kong protest] photo was that I wanted people who follow me to pay attention to this issue. But I also welcome discussion, just not insults and death threats. Even if we don't agree, we can still talk to each other properly. RFA: Do you think they will learn from this? Liu Tianyu: It's hard to say. It is possible that the current class of students may learn from it, but every year, many more Chinese students will go to Buffalo University, all of whom have had the same brainwashing during their education in China. So unless things change back home, I'm not very optimistic. This isn't an isolated phenomenon ... so I want everyone to know this. If this happens to you, you can use the law to protect yourself. U.S. law supports freedom of speech and bans violence, incitement to violence, harm to others as well as threats of harm to others. Students who want to express their opinions freely, but who wind up excluded and threatened by their classmates, can use my methods to protect themselves. This is why I want to tell everyone what happened to me. Reported by Han Jie for RFA's Mandarin Service. Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie. COVID pandemic : TN govt announces all pass for students of Classes 1 to 8 01 Jun 2021 | 2:15 PM Chennai, June 1 (UNI) The Tamilnadu government today announced that all students of classes 1 to 8 were declared passed and were promoted to their next classes without holding the final exams for the year 2020-21 due to the COVID pandemic. see more.. LMO delivered to Andhra Pradesh through Oxygen Express crosses 2,000 MT on Jun 1 : SCR 01 Jun 2021 | 1:51 PM Hyderabad, Jun 1 (UNI) Indian Railways continuous endeavor to find new solutions to serve the nation and overcome unexpected challenges has once again been strengthened with the supply of Medical Oxygen to the state of Andhra Pradesh, crossing 2,000 MT of Liquid Medical Oxygen (LMO) in a short span of 16 days. see more.. Karnataka DCM bats for lifting lockdown in phased manner 01 Jun 2021 | 1:20 PM Bengaluru, Jun 1 (UNI) Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister Laxman Savadi on Tuesday favoured lifting of lockdown in a phased manner following decline in positive cases across the State. see more.. Siddaramaiah falls ill; doctors advised him total rest 01 Jun 2021 | 1:07 PM Bengaluru, Jun 1 (UNI) Leader of the Opposition in the Karnataka Legislative Assembly Siddaramaiah on Tuesday took ill with fever and Doctor advised him bed rest for the next two days. see more.. Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey and 21 other governors are speaking out against President Joe Bidens $1.9 COVID trillion stimulus package, saying it unfairly punishes some states. Led by South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster, the governors 21 Republicans and one Democrat have released a statement opposing provisions of how funding would be allocated to states under Bidens plan. The letter was first reported in USA Today. Bidens American Rescue Plan includes $350 billion in direct aid to states and city governments. Most of that funding would be based on unemployment figures and not overall population. Unlike all previous federal funding packages, the new stimulus proposal allocates aid based on a states unemployed population rather than its actual population, which punishes states that took a measured approach to the pandemic and entered the crisis with healthy state budgets and strong economies, the governors said. A states ability to keep businesses open and people employed should not be a penalizing factor when distributing funds. If Congress is going to provide aid to states, it should be on an equitable population basis, they said, adding states run by Democratic governors stand to do better under the proposal. Alabama is one of 33 states that could lose funding under the proposal, which was approved by the House last week and is now being debated in the Senate. Alabama could lose some $887 million under the proposal, according to an estimate provided by the governors. Joining Ivey for the statement were Republican governors from Arkansas, Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah and Wyoming. Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly was the only Democrat to join the statement. Millions of Britain's small and medium-sized businesses are awaiting the Budget with anticipation as any announcement could mean help or a serious struggle for survival. Prime Minister Boris Johnson's 'Roadmap to Recovery' revealed last week will have raised hopes as tentative dates for slowly reopening the economy were given. However, it is Chancellor Rishi Sunak's Budget, which takes place on Wednesday that will decide how they will - or won't - get there. Chancellor Rishi Sunak will deliver the highly anticipated Budget on 3 March Many businesses have been forced to close intermittently over the past 12 months, while some have been all but completely inoperative. The live events sector, for example, has been completely shut down and has lost 100 per cent of its income. The self-employed - who make up a big chunk of Britain's small business people - have also been hit and while some have had help from the Chancellor, others have been excluded. That includes those who have previously earned more than 50,000 and the recently self-employed, who have not been able to get the 2,500 grants that are the equivalent of the furlough scheme. Limited company directors can also not get this support, but some can furlough themselves - although if they have been taking income as dividends rather than salary they may not get much help. Anthony Impey, of business support network, Be the Business, said while the roadmap out of lockdown is cause for cautious optimism about the future, the UKs businesses still face an extended period before things return to a situation approaching normal. 'Those with staff furloughed or taking advantage of other government support will be eagerly awaiting the Chancellors speech this week,' he said. 'In the meantime, business leaders should continue to build on the changes theyve made to their businesses to keep going, whether that be investments in their skillset or productivity enhancing technology, to make sure that they will be in the best position possible to grow once restrictions ease and the economy opens up again.' One of the strongest rumours regarding what could come out of the Budget is the potential increase in corporation tax. Reports suggest a rise from 19 per cent to 24 per cent, though SME support groups and campaigners have urged any plans be targeted towards bigger businesses. Ed Molyneux, of small businesses cloud accounting software FreeAgent, agreed the approach would make sense for larger, more stable corporations. A corporation tax hike would be the final nail in the coffin for many SMEs Ed Molyneux, FreeAgent He said: 'While I understand there is still a need to increase government income to pay for the costs of coronavirus, SMEs have already been the worst affected by the impacts of the pandemic. 'It would only cause further damage if the Government was to hinder the recovery of small businesses with a significant rise in their post-covid tax. It would risk being the final nail in the coffin for many small businesses.' Meanwhile it is likely the furlough scheme, which has allowed small businesses to pay their staff at least 80 per cent of their salary while they are not in work, will be extended. The scheme, which has already been extended three times, has been a lifeline to SMEs during the pandemic, with research by Nucleus Commercial Finance finding that nearly half currently have some staff on furlough. However, the majority of SME leaders are calling for the government to go further. More than a quarter say the scheme should be extended until the end of July, 16 per cent until the end of October, and 11 per cent until the end of the year. A further 18 per cent believe it should be extended until the UK population has been vaccinated. Chirag Shah, of Nucleus Commercial Finance, said: 'While the scheme cannot go on forever, an abrupt end could leave many SMEs struggling to survive, exacerbating the financial and mental health challenges many business owners are facing. 'As the return to normal is still a long way off for the majority, its vital the Chancellor listens to business owners and lays out a clear plan of action, so SMEs can look ahead to the coming months with some degree of certainty.' SME insurance provider, Purbeck Personal Guarantee Insurance, however, believes the furlough scheme should be tapered off instead of extended, to help the burden of Government borrowing. The firm said reducing the Government support on a monthly basis from 80 per cent at the end of April by 10 per cent each month until the end of August 2021 would help businesses through the second quarter of the year. 'By this point, hopefully most will have received their first and possibly second vaccination and many businesses re-opened,' said managing director Todd Davison. 'The extension of the scheme to the summer is welcomed but this approach would help ease the pressure on public finances.' Ravi Anand, of SME alternative lender ThinCats, added: 'The sooner the Government can provide greater clarity around ongoing government support schemes and reassure entrepreneurs to continue to invest, rather than divest, businesses will be able to plan with much more confidence.' Help 'behind the scenes' suppliers! Brother-and-sister team Tom Mathew and Hannah Barlow run Dunsters Farm, a food service wholesaler in Greater Manchester. The business supplies a variety of catering customers from cafes and sandwich shops to hotels and restaurants. Its biggest customers are schools, colleges and universities. With approximately 70 to 80 per cent of its customers in the education sector and the rest in hospitality, the national lockdowns were a huge hit to Dunsters Farm. It pivoted by offering home deliveries to locals but has still found sales dropping by 20 per cent each lockdown. Dunsters Farm is a family business, now run by its third generation brother-and-sister team Tom and Hannah Tom and Hannah said: 'We have no option but to stay open to serve vital public sector services but customers who are open are buying very little. 'This is not enough to cover our costs of operating so to stay open we operate at a loss and have been left to foot the bill ourselves. 'Our customers in hospitality have been provided with business rates relief but the government have still not provided this support to wholesalers.' The duo hope to see this turn around as the hospitality sector's supply chain needs to survive in order for restaurants and hotels to survive. They said: 'The Government seem reluctant to support this vital but "behind the scenes" sector and appear much more likely to support sectors that are directly in the public eye. 'The pandemic has also further highlighted the need for business rates reform. The inflexibility of this tax has meant that despite having very few customers, food wholesalers have still had to pay their substantial business rates in full. Tom and Hannah added that the furlough scheme should be extended if not for everyone, then at least the companies who supply into sectors still under restrictions. They also said the the design of the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan scheme should be revisited, with most recipients thinking the pandemic would have been over by now. Tom added: 'I expect that with the extended lockdown, many businesses across the country are not yet in a position to cope with the interest kicking in and repayments starting. 'It would make a lot of sense for the Chancellor to extend the interest-free period of the CBILs for up to 24-months.' Another likely extension is for the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan scheme. However, some believe this still isn't good enough and that a successor scheme and/or a 'pay as you grow' initiative should be introduced for it. Purbeck Personal Guarantee Insurance's Davison said policymakers should be considering new measures to encourage lenders to provide critical funding to SMEs from the summer. He said: 'This scheme needs to incentivise responsible lending without being reliant on significant guarantees by the UK taxpayer. 'This could take the form of a wholesale solution with a government-backed portfolio guarantee up to a certain quota, as seen with the ENABLE Guarantee. It must be cost-effective to administer, easy to access and must be competitively priced for small businesses. Meanwhile, he thinks the 'pay as you grow' initiative, currently allowed to Bounce Back Loan borrowers, should be introduced for CBIL users. Small Business Britain's Michelle Ovens said there needs to be a longer term support plan 'Businesses would need to meet certain threshold criteria to demonstrate genuine repayment difficulties with solid repayment plans in order to be eligible for term extension or payment holidays,' he added. Other initiatives that small businesses would like to see include measures to reduce their costs, like a business rates holiday and cuts to VAT rates while grants and loan schemes should be improved. But overall, a more long-term plan that can help small businesses throughout the coronavirus pandemic and beyond is needed. Michelle Ovens, of Small Business Britain, said: 'I would hope to see a longer-term plan to support small businesses to not only survive and recover, but to return to growth. 'There is a need for a strategy to address and leverage the sweeping structural changes to the UK economy that the pandemic has wrought, such as changes to the high street and the mass adoption of digital and remote-working that has changed the face of business.' The Departments plans envisage that of all new-born calves would be EID tagged from July 1, 2022. The first steps in the introduction of mandatory electronic tagging (EID) for cattle could be taken this autumn if Department of Agriculture plans get stakeholder backing. Initial Department proposals, which have been seen by the Farming Independent, indicate that electronic cattle tags will be made available to all livestock farmers from October 1 this year. The Departments plans envisage that of all new-born calves would be EID tagged from July 1, 2022. It is understood that the new tags will cost farmers an additional 1/hd, or an extra 2.5 million annually for all calves born in the beef and dairy herds. The ICMSA has insisted that the factories and live shippers will have to fund a share of this expense, if farmers are to support the introduction of bovine EID tagging. Stakeholder submissions on the Department proposals have to be submitted by this Friday (March 5), with a final decision on the matter expected by the summer. The Department pointed to a number of benefits that could flow from the introduction of EID tagging of cattle. These include: Improved traceability as the scanning of EID tags facilitates automated reporting of animal movements to AIM; Improved accuracy, reliability and speed of data capture/transfer; Reduced administrative burden including elimination of animal and passport mismatches and amendments; Efficient use of time and labour; Greater safety around the reading of tags. It is envisaged by the Department that the introduction of EID could eventually result in the phasing out of the blue cards for cattle, which would be welcomed by farmers. The move to EID tagging is generally supported by the meat factories, live exporters and marts, as it would streamline the identification of stock going for slaughter and for sale. Close to 500,000 EID cattle tags were sold in 2020, according to the Department. Farmers who use automated feeding systems, particularly in the rearing of large numbers of calves, are among the main users of the new tags. In a presentation to the farm organisations the Department claimed that it was an opportune time to consider introduction of mandatory bovine EID to enhance and future proof the bovine traceability system. However, the big drawback for suckler and dairy farmers is the additional tagging cost. EID tags are estimated to cost around 1/hd more than conventional tags. ICMSA deputy president, Lorcan McCabe, insisted that farmers will have to receive some dividend from the introduction of EID tagging since they are expected to carry the cost of the tags. Farmers cannot be expected to take the additional cost that will deliver savings for others and if the Department want to move forward with this proposal, there is going to have to be a dividend for farmers as well. Those parties who benefit most need to make a financial contribution to the initiative, he said. The Department cannot continue to impose additional requirements on farmers for the so-called benefit of the entire industry. If the wider industry benefits, then the wider industry needs to contribute to the cost, Mr McCabe said. Under a parliamentary system of government Armenia is facing a number of problems that would not have arisen under a semi-presidential system, Armenian Parliament Vice Speaker, MP from the ruling My Step faction Alen Simonyan said at a briefing, commenting on Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan's proposal to hold a referendum on shifting to a semi-presidential system of government. "What we often encounter under the parliamentary system of government shows that for our region and in those unions we're in - the CSTO, the EAEU, which are basically "presidential clubs", a semi-presidential system of government can be a more convenient, effective option," Sputnik Armenia cited the politician as saying. The Vice Speaker called on the Prime Minister's proposal to be discussed. Simonyan also said that the results of the referendum, held under the instigator of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, former President Serzh Sargsyan, were rigged. Armenia switched from a semi-presidential system of government to a parliamentary one in 2018, a corresponding referendum was held in 2015. In celebration of the book's publication, Slott is hosting a live, virtual book launch party at 6:00 p.m. ET on Tuesday, March 2. The public is encouraged to attend the event that will feature an author Q&A with special guest Jill Schlesinger, CFP , CBS News Business Analyst and Host of the "Jill on Money" radio show and podcast, as well as trivia, giveaways and more. To attend the live event, visit irahelp.com/launchparty . "Taxes will be the single biggest factor that separates people from their retirement dreams. There has been monumental legislation in recent years that has created a major overhaul of the tax system, affecting virtually everyone in some way with countless implications," said Slott. "Now, more than ever before, it is crucial that Americans implement the latest planning strategies available to them. This book provides readers with an easy-to-understand step-by-step guide to disarm the retirement savings time bomb and navigate the latest retirement and tax planning laws and strategies so that they can better protect their hard-earned money." "The New Retirement Savings Time Bomb" is a complete action plan to help Americans ensure their 401(k)s, IRAs, and retirement savings aren't depleted by taxes by the time they need to use them. Slott shows readers in clear-cut layman's terms how to take back control over their retirement savings and financial future by walking them through five actionable steps to protect their retirement savings from the taxman. A sequel to his best-selling book, "The Retirement Savings Time Bomb And How to Defuse It," originally published in 2003, this new book covers the latest events impacting tax code, from the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act to the SECURE Act to the CARES Act and breaks down how retirement savers need to plan differently since these laws were enacted. "Right when you've finally made it to retirement, there is this looming uncertainty about how much of your own money you actually get to keep," added Slott. "That is why it is vital that Americans take action now to protect the assets they've spent a lifetime building from excessive taxation." Slott is recognized for his unparalleled ability to turn advanced tax strategies into understandable, actionable and entertaining advice. He regularly presents nationwide on IRA and estate planning strategies at both consumer events and conferences for financial advisors, insurance professionals, accountants and attorneys. His company, Ed Slott and Company, LLC, is the nation's leading provider of accurate, timely IRA expertise and analysis, helping navigate through the distribution phase of retirement. "The New Retirement Savings Time Bomb" is available now through book retailers nationwide. About the Author Ed Slott Ed Slott, CPA, is the nationally recognized IRA and retirement planning distribution expert, best-selling author and professional speaker. His latest books include Ed Slott's Retirement Decisions Guide: 2021 Edition (IRAHelp, 2021), Fund Your Future: A Tax-Smart Savings Plan in Your 20s and 30s (IRAHelp, 2021), and The New Retirement Savings Time Bomb (Penguin Random House, 2021). He has also hosted several public television programs, including his latest, Retire Safe & Secure! with Ed Slott (2021). As an AARP columnist, Slott also writes a monthly Q&A column where he answers consumers' retirement planning questions. He is a Professor of Practice at The American College of Financial Services and has been recognized by leading industry organizations for his significant thought leadership and contributions. His company, Ed Slott and Company, LLC, is the nation's leading provider of technical IRA education for financial advisors, CPAs and attorneys. Ed Slott's Elite IRA Advisor GroupSM is comprised of over 450 of the nation's top financial professionals who are dedicated to the mastery of advanced retirement account and tax planning laws and strategies. Visit irahelp.com for more information. AdvisorPR (702) 685-7450 SOURCE Ed Slott and Company Related Links https://www.irahelp.com/ The Daily Beast Photo Illustration by The Daily Beast/GettyMike Lindell, the MyPillow CEO and Trumpist conspiracy-peddler, flew his private jet to the Republican Governors Association meeting the other day.The guvs promptly threw him out. But the incident got Molly Jong-Fast thinking: Does the MyPillow CEO think hes already a governor or something?Subscribe to The New Abnormal on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Amazon Music, or Overcast. To listen to our weekly members-only bonus episodes, join Beast Inside here. Already a member? You can listen here and sign up for new episode email alerts here.Spoiler: Making MyPillows does not make you my governor. Now, chances that Mike Lindell could actually become governor of a small Republican state, 80 percent, she quips on the latest episode of The New Abnormal. Like, its not even that hard for someone that famous and insane in the Republican party to become a governor.Lindell claims he wouldnt run to be a dogcatcher right now, because he doesnt trust the voting machines. Plus, hes from the blue state of Minnesota. So maybe the risk of a Governor Pillow isnt quite so high. But L.A. Times columnist Virginia Heffernan would like to quickly add something about Mike Lindell being a cosplay governor.I think we need to understand that being in politics leads to governing and governing is boring. It is not a PR operation, she says. And I feel like we have made these jobs celebrity roles. Public service should not beis notbeing on a reality show.Like, I feel like we need to really dial down the razzle-dazzle, really play up the drudgery, Heffernan continues. I just don't know why every single industrialist and every single lady with abs or gorgeous arms would want to be, of all things, a governor.Biden, Heffernan opines, is doing a pretty good job at the drudgerydollars going out, jabs going out, all leading to Trump signs going down. Sure, the Donald has his cultists, like Lindell. But, I don't think people can hold onto this much insanity for this long, especially when it's a tiny minority of people who believe it, Heffernan adds. Democrats need to know how to win.To which Jong-Fast replies, oh-so-gently: Are you freakin kidding me? With all of these Republican attempts to retcon the Capitol riots? To chop away at the right to vote? To instantiate their ability to overturn elections? All while Team Biden snoozes it away? The Democrats are bringing an ice cream sundae to a knife fight, Jong-Fast says.Plus! Politicos Tara Palmeri talks about her search to find Liz Cheney supporters in Wyoming. And Battle for the Soul author Edward-Isaac Dovere gives us a peek into how Biden sees the political landscape. The presidency that he has in front of him now, he knows, is so different from what he ever expected to have, Dovere says, And part of that is rethinking how he incorporates the progressivism within the party that took root and that was so much part of this campaign. And its just, its a really complicated evolution for him. Its not the presidency he thought itd be running in 2019 when he got into this race.Read more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more. 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. Alabamas K-12 schools will roll out a new standardized test this month, but officials are working to soothe fears that districts could be penalized if not many students participate or if they test poorly. Rep. Terri Collins, R-Decatur, filed a resolution last week commending state educators and delaying grades for the state report card system that gives schools A through F letter grades. This (resolution) waives all accountability for the 2020-21 school year, Collins told AL.com. But it encourages all students to take the test. Collins gathered signatures of more than 40 of her colleagues on both sides of the aisle in support of the resolution. A vote is expected in the House some time this week. If approved, it then heads to the Senate. Read more: How to find and understand your schools report card Standardized testing which is in-person only is expected to happen even in schools that have remained in remote-only mode the entire school year. Schools are expected to coordinate ways to get students on-site to take the tests. Some tests are ongoing now, but the new Alabama Comprehensive Assessment Program, or ACAP, will begin regular testing March 15. The tests dont impact an individual students grades. State law governs the school grading program, and Collins said the resolution provides an out for the current school year. Grades werent given for the 2019-20 school year, either, after schools closed last March and officials were unable to give the test. Statewide, Alabama students most recent test results, from the 2018-19 school year, showed 47% of students were proficient in math, 46% were proficient in reading, and 37% were proficient in science. Most of Alabamas schools currently are open, with some students going only a few days a week and others back to five-day in-person learning. About half a dozen of Alabamas 138 school districts remain remote-only and have not taught in-person since March 2020. Birmingham City Schools plans to resume blended learning Monday, and Montgomery has said it plans to bring some students back on April 5. Alabama State Superintendent Eric Mackey told superintendents last week that officials will ask for waivers from some testing requirements with the U.S. Department of Education. A federal waiver could mean the state wont be penalized if fewer than 95% of students are tested, and could be exempt from identifying low-performing schools. This will be the first year a new test, called the Alabama Comprehensive Assessment Program, or ACAP, specifically developed to align with Alabamas learning standards, will be given to students in grades two through eight in English language arts and math. Students in fourth, sixth, and eighth grades also will be tested in science. The total testing time for the math, English language and science portions of the tests takes roughly four to six hours, depending on the grade and whether the science test is given. Mackey told board members in February he hopes at least 70% to 75% of students will take the test, which will allow statisticians enough results to develop a baseline for the new test. Collins said testing will help lawmakers and education officials target equitable funding as officials begin to assess which schools and districts may need the most help getting back up to speed after a year of pandemic learning. If you are an 85-year-old in Virginia living at home and hoping to get vaccinated for COVID, you'd better be black or Hispanic if you're in a hurry. A new wave of racism is sweeping across the country in the guise of "anti-racism" or "equity." A better term is "neo-racism," for unlike the previous waves of state-sanctioned racism under slavery, the KKK, and Jim Crow (all of them largely at the hands of Democrats), this wave of racism claims to be about fighting racism, though, in fairness, it is also largely being implemented at the hands of Democrats. Judicial Watch explains: In a move that is outraging senior citizens throughout Virginia, the state is shifting its COVID-19 vaccination distribution to prioritize black and Latino residents even as desperate 85-year-olds interviewed by Judicial Watch struggle to get the shot. Like several other states, Virginia is vaccinating its population in phases, with healthcare personnel and residents of long-term care facilities receiving utmost priority. With that population completed, according to the Virginia Department of Health, the second group includes a peculiar combination of frontline workers, people 65 and over, those with medical conditions, incarcerated criminals and those living in homeless shelters or "migrant labor camps." As if it were not bad enough that law-abiding seniors are considered as important to Virginia officials as convicts and illegal immigrants, now comes another slap in the face. In the next few weeks, the state will give preference to black and Latino residents 65 and over while much older white seniors, many in their 80s, cannot secure an appointment to get inoculated. The plan was announced a few days ago by Dr. Danny Avula, who was appointed by Governor Ralph Northam this year to be the state's vaccine coordinator. A Richmond news report calls it the latest step taken by Virginia to bake equity into its vaccination policies. In recent weeks, the article says, roughly 10,000 vaccines were channeled specifically toward trusted clinics in neighborhoods with older black residents. (snip) A computer-savvy, 85-year-old Virginia man who has tried in vain for weeks to get vaccinated told Judicial Watch the new state order giving minorities preference is "particularly disturbing." The man and his wife, also in her 80s, do not want to be identified because they are still trying to get the vaccine and fear criticizing the system might hurt their chances. In January the couple, residents of a suburb about 65 miles south of Richmond, signed up on the state website but lost their place after being told that the site was compromised. They have since tried signing up repeatedly with no luck. Many of their elderly friends are in the same discouraging situation, the couple said. "The governor has decided who gets the vaccine based on race/ethnicity," said another elderly Virginian who cannot get the shot after learning about the new distribution plan in a local media report. "The governor is a disgrace," said a Virginia native in her mid-80s. There is no question that the intent of these measures is to racially discriminate. Richmond.com provides the logic being used by the state: Black Virginians are dying from COVID-19 at 1.2 times the rate of white residents when adjusted for population, according to the COVID Tracking Project. Latinos are being infected at more than double the rate of whites. In October, the rate was five times higher than whites. Yet national data has revealed vast disparities between where the virus has devastated communities and where shots are given. In Virginia, white residents are getting vaccinations at 2.2 times the rate of Black residents. Factors include a history of discriminatory lending practices that pushed these populations into areas with less access to health care, limited internet and a lack of transportation. All of that is on top of navigating a fractured health care system that's in many ways shut them out. Oddly, there is no mention of the widely reported reluctance of many Black people to take a vaccine in the wake of the Tuskegee atrocity; it is all about victimology. One of the fundamental tenets of neo-racism is that victim classes have no personal agency, no ability to affect their situation. They are acted upon, not actors, which is terribly dehumanizing. But that element of racism is a major component of neo-racism. Like the old racism, it sees certain groups as inferior. But the neo-racists translate that into an imperative to discriminate against other groups, as if racial discrimination is a good thing if the right people (in their mind) are discriminated against. Virginia is far from the only state eying race as a criterion for vaccinations. Here is a screen shot of California's questionnaire for people applying for vaccinations: Martin Luther King's dream of judging us on the content of our character, not on the color of our skin, fades away in the rearview mirror of the car being driven by the neo-racist Democrats. Only 4 percent of the nations schoolchildren live in counties where coronavirus transmission is low enough for full-time in-person learning without additional restrictions, according to the guidelines established by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and an analysis of the agencys latest figures. Where Cases Are Low Enough for Elementary Schools to Fully Open Based on C.D.C. thresholds for weekly coronavirus cases and test-positivity rates by county. Full in-person learning Hybrid learning Wash. MAINE Mont. N.D. Minn. VT. Ore. N.H. Wis. Idaho N.Y. S.D. MASS. CONN. Wyo. Mich. R.I. Pa. Iowa Neb. N.J. Nev. Ohio MD. DEL. Ind. Ill. Utah W.Va. Colo. Calif. Kan. Va. Mo. Ky. N.C. Tenn. Okla. Ariz. Ark. N.M. S.C. Miss. Ga. Ala. La. Tex. Fla. Alaska HAWAII Source: New York Times analysis of data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention | Note: In Iowa, which stopped reporting cases by county on Feb. 20, categorizations are based on test positivity rates alone. President Bidens administration has made reopening schools a centerpiece of its coronavirus strategy. And the C.D.Cs recommendations call for every elementary school to be open in some fashion. But even after drastic drops in the number of new coronavirus cases, few counties in the United States meet the C.D.C.s thresholds to avoid major restrictions, which are based on both the number of cases and test-positivity rates. As of Thursday, those thresholds put most counties in categories where the agency recommended elementary schools reduce the number of students in classrooms with a mix of in-person and at-home learning. For middle and high schools, the thresholds and data suggest fully remote learning in large portions of the country. Read more: We interviewed health experts about whether elementary schools should be open. Heres what they said. The guidelines include exceptions for schools that adhere to strict safeguards or offer regular testing. They are not binding and say schools that are already open do not automatically need to close. Nonetheless, the guidelines have been controversial. Some experts have criticized them as stricter than necessary, and some large school districts decided to open under less stringent rules. Heres how the guidelines work: Full in-person learning is recommended in areas where the C.D.C. reports fewer than 50 new cases per 100,000 people in a week and a seven-day positivity rate of less than 8 percent. Only about one-sixth of Americas counties qualified as of late last week mostly in more sparsely populated areas across the Plains, the West and the Midwest. Schools in these areas are still supposed to take precautions, including wearing masks, washing hands, cleaning facilities and keeping everyone at least six feet apart to the greatest extent possible. The agency also says schools should make sure students, teachers, staff members and their close contacts who develop symptoms are tested, followed by isolation for those who test positive and quarantine for their close contacts. Hybrid learning , with some students in school and others learning online at home, is the recommendation when a community has 50 to 100 new weekly cases per 100,000 people or a seven-day positivity rate of 8 to 10 percent. In those areas, the goal is to reduce in-person attendance to maintain separation between students, according to the recommendations, which say the six-foot separation is required. In practice, some schools have reduced class sizes by allowing only high-needs students to attend in person, while other students learn virtually. Others have had students attend part time. Full-time remote learning is recommended for middle and high school students in areas with at least 100 new cases per 100,000 people or a seven-day positivity rate of 10 percent or greater. At those levels of community transmission, the agency continues to recommend hybrid learning for elementary school students, citing research suggesting that young children are less likely to spread the coronavirus within schools. Even for middle and high schools in this tier, there are exemptions. Schools can stay open if they can strictly implement all mitigation strategies, including masks and six feet of physical distancing, according to the agency. They also must have few cases a level the agency does not define. Schools also can shift to hybrid learning by offering weekly coronavirus tests for students and staff members to detect asymptomatic cases. Where Cases Are Low Enough for Middle and High Schools to Fully Open For schools without routine coronavirus testing or strict safeguards, based on C.D.C. thresholds for cases and test-positivity rates by county. Full in-person learning Hybrid learning Full-time remote learning Wash. Maine Mont. N.D. Minn. VT. Ore. N.H. Wis. Idaho N.Y. S.D. MASS. CONN. Wyo. Mich. R.I. Pa. Iowa Neb. N.J. Nev. Ohio MD. DEL. Ind. Ill. Utah W.Va. Colo. Calif. Kan. Va. Mo. Ky. N.C. Tenn. Okla. Ariz. Ark. N.M. S.C. Miss. Ga. Ala. La. Tex. Fla. Alaska HAWAII Source: New York Times analysis of data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention | Note: In Iowa, which stopped reporting cases by county on Feb. 20, categorizations are based on test positivity rates alone. Jasmine Reed, a C.D.C. spokeswoman, emphasized that the recommendations were not intended to prevent in-person learning. She said the agency objected to categorizing counties by recommendation level, adding that decisions about learning mode full in-person, hybrid, or virtual at each individual school should be made based on a combination of factors, including levels of community transmission, mitigation, and the number of cases in the school (including individuals in isolation and quarantine). It is hard to assess how many schools are following the C.D.C. recommendations. There are about 13,500 school districts in the United States. Many make reopening decisions at the local level. In-person instruction has been ordered statewide in Arkansas, Florida, Iowa and Texas, according to a tracker maintained by Education Week, though a number of counties in those states including nearly all in Florida fall into the C.D.C. recommendations for hybrid learning at elementary schools and remote learning for middle and high schools. Some districts looked at the guidelines and decided to go a different way. Massachusetts, for example, announced that it would follow recommendations from local physicians to keep students under 12 only three feet apart, instead of six. 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. LE MARS, Iowa, March 2, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Fans of fruit and frozen dessert, rejoice! Halo Top is adding Fruit Pops to its expansive better-for-you frozen dessert line-up. Made with real fruit and fruit juice, Fruit Pops come in five refreshing flavors including Strawberry, Coconut, Lime, Mango and Pineapple. Whether you're headed to the beach or cooling off at home, Halo Top's new Fruit Pops offer a tasty treat with up to 65% less sugar than the leading fruit bars in the frozen aisle. Halo Top's Fruit Pops are also low in calories, starting at 35 calories per pop. "At our core, Halo Top is here so fans can feel empowered to choose a treat that makes them feel good," said Chelsea Parker, Halo Top's senior marketing manager. "We knew dessert lovers were craving more frozen fruit offerings, without the sugar overload, and these convenient new Fruit Pops do just that, in all five juicy, delicious flavors." Each pop is packed with fruity flavor that will transport your taste buds to the tropics. The five new Fruit Pops flavors include: Strawberry: Made with real strawberries and fruit juice for a tart and sweet, better-for-you treat. Calories/pop: 40, Sugar/pop: 6g (Made with 50% less sugar than other leading fruit bars) Made with real strawberries and fruit juice for a tart and sweet, better-for-you treat. Calories/pop: 40, Sugar/pop: 6g Coconut: Made from real coconut cream, these pops offer nutty, sweet flavor and a creamy texture. Calories/pop: 90, Sugar/pop: 9g, (Made with 50% less sugar than other leading fruit bars) Made from real coconut cream, these pops offer nutty, sweet flavor and a creamy texture. Calories/pop: 90, Sugar/pop: 9g, Lime: Limes and real lime juice deliver a sweet and tangy burst of flavor in each pop. Calories/pop: 35, Sugar/pop: 5g (Made with 65% less sugar than other leading fruit bars) Limes and real lime juice deliver a sweet and tangy burst of flavor in each pop. Calories/pop: 35, Sugar/pop: 5g Mango: Made from real mango, this flavor is a refreshingly sweet and citrusy dessert you can feel good about eating. Calories/pop: 45, Sugar/pop: 6g (Made with 55% less sugar than other leading fruit bars) Made from real mango, this flavor is a refreshingly sweet and citrusy dessert you can feel good about eating. Calories/pop: 45, Sugar/pop: 6g Pineapple: Transport yourself to a private island with a lively tropical punch of flavor thanks to real pineapple and fruit juice. Calories/pop: 40, Sugar/pop: 5g (Made with 65% less sugar than other leading fruit bars) Halo Tops Fruit Pops (SRP: $4.79/box of six 2.5-fl. oz pops) are the latest in the dessert maker's collection of feel-good desserts which offer something for everyone in pint and pop form including dairy, dairy-free and keto friendly options. To taste the entire Fruit Pops line, head over to the freezer section of grocery retailers nationwide or visit the "Where to Buy" tab on www.halotop.com to locate a product near you. To learn more about Halo Top, visit www.halotop.com or Facebook, Instagram or Twitter. About Halo Top Halo Top was founded in 2011 on delivering premium desserts people can feel good about eating. Named in Nielsen's 2018 Top 25 Breakthrough Innovation Awards for the U.S. market, Halo Top has disrupted the frozen category and influenced the growth of the industry, leading to an acquisition by Wells Enterprises in September 2019. Halo Top is available nationwide in the freezer aisle. For more information, please visit www.halotop.com or follow Halo Top on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter. About Wells Enterprises Wells Enterprises, Inc. is the largest privately held, family-owned ice cream manufacturer in the United States. Founded in 1913 by Fred H. Wells, the company is still proudly owned by the Wells family today. Wells produces more than 200 million gallons of ice cream per year and distributes products in all 50 states. Wells manufactures its signature brand Blue Bunny, lower-calorie Halo Top, the iconic Bomb Pop, and Blue Ribbon Classics. Wells employs more than 4,000 ice cream aficionados across the country. The company is headquartered in Iowa and operates two manufacturing plants in Le Mars, Iowa, a manufacturing plant in Dunkirk, New York, a manufacturing plant in Lakewood, New Jersey and a manufacturing facility in Henderson, Nevada. As the world's largest manufacturer of ice cream in one location, Wells has made Le Mars the "Ice Cream Capital of the World." SOURCE Wells Enterprises For full access, please log in, register your subscription or subscribe. Try for 99 a month for two months, cancel or pause anytime. (Alliance News) - The following is a round-up of updates by London-listed companies, issued on Tuesday and not separately reported by Alliance News: All Active Asset Capital Ltd - London-based firm seeking investment opportunities in the technology, software and artificial intelligence space - Exercises first tranche of the option agreement with AAQUA BV, and has acquired 6,000 new AAQUA shares. Under the terms of the option, AAA can subscribe for up to 125,000 new AAQUA ordinary shares at EUR1,000 per share, being a total cost of EUR125 million if fully exercised. AAA paid a EUR1 million fee for the grant of the option to AAQUA in December 2020. The grant fee is offset against the initial exercise cost payable by AAA; and so AAA's incremental cost of this initial exercise is EUR5 million. Redx Pharma PLC - Macclesfield, England-based treatments for cancer and fibrotic disease - Starts search for US-based chief financial officer. Notes James Mead will continue in his role as CFO until a new appointment has been made at which point Mead will assume the role of chief operating officer. Chair Iain Ross adds: "In conjunction with these changes, Mead will step down from the board with immediate effect and will cease to be a director of the company. Going forward, the board will therefore consist of five non-executive directors and one executive director, the CEO." Verici Dx PLC - clinical diagnostics developer for organ transplant - Partners Lorenzo Gallon, at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine; Milagros Samaniego, at Henry Ford Health System and Daniel Maluf, at the University of Maryland, Baltimore to collaborate on company's clinical trial surrounding its two lead products, ClaravaTM and TutevaTM, and longer term, the validation of the fibrosis test. "The study uses next generation sequencing in the Verici Dx laboratory to create transcriptomic profiles to validate performance characteristics of the lead Verici Dx immune-phenotype signature tests," company explains. Amiad Water Systems Ltd - Israel-based water treatment and filtration systems - Launches Spin Klin Nova, a disc filtration system. "This cutting-edge solution, which is the culmination of years of R&D work, is the company's most efficient product to date. It includes multiple new features that are designed to make it as adaptable as possible to the needs of the customer while increasing ease of use," company says. Spin Klin Nova is available now in Israel and will be released globally later this month. Chariot Oil & Gas Ltd - Africa focused transition energy company - Signs memorandum of understanding along with its partner the Office National des Hydrocarbures et des Mines with the Ministry of Industry, Trade & Green and Digital Economy in Morocco. The MOU relates to the ministry's support of Chariot and ONHYM's Anchois gas development project as a potential provider of significant gas to the Moroccan gas market. Chariot's acting Chief Executive Adonis Pouroulis says: "The signing of this MOU is a significant step in our efforts to access the Moroccan gas markets. With the Kingdom of Morocco's support we intend to build on the positive conversations we are already having with entities involved in the Moroccan gas market, giving us greater confidence that we will sign the necessary agreements to expedite the development of this value accretive gas project, for the benefit of the Kingdom and Chariot's investors." Hurricane Energy PLC - Surrey-based oil and gas company - Says discussions on Lancaster field forward work programme, strategy, financing and balance sheet recapitalisation are ongoing. Looking at drilling the side-track in 2022 following further planning activity during 2021; or drilling the side-track together with the previously contemplated water injection well as a combined programme in 2022. If those do not pan out, considering drilling the side-track in 2022 and the water injection well in 2023. Hurricane adds: "Proposed side-track is more complex in nature than previous wells on Lancaster due to the incorporation of an intelligent completion and the challenges of delivering the well trajectory from the side-track location." Tern PLC - internet of things-focused investor - Pleased with recent momentum of portfolio companies. Notes Device Authority Ltd, Talking Medicines Ltd and Wyld Networks Ltd have had a good start to 2021 and have "promising" pipelines of business. Chief Executive Al Sisto says: "Device Authority's IoT summit last week, funded by its partner sponsors, was a particular milestone for the company, demonstrating the depth of their relationships and the important position their KeyScaler product has in the IoT. I wholly endorse one speaker from a global software company who commented that KeyScaler is 'the glue that holds the IoT together'." Adds: "I would also like to congratulate Talking Medicines on being selected as part of Healthcare UK's 'Fast 100'. This recognises Talking Medicines' innovation and their commitment to global expansion." Mkango Resources Ltd - explorer for rare earth elements in Malawi - Completes flotation pilot plant programme for the Songwe Hill rare earths project in Malawi. The results of the flotation pilot programme will be announced in due course, and the flotation concentrate produced will be supplied to ANSTO in Australia for hydrometallurgical piloting. "Discussions in relation to sites for a rare earth separation plant are ongoing - this will process the high grade, purified mixed rare earth carbonate produced at Songwe, enriched in high value neodymium, praseodymium, dysprosium and terbium," company adds. IXICO PLC - AI data analytics company - Says Cyclerion Therapeutics Inc, a new client, to support the company's Phase IIa clinical trial to investigate CY6463 for treatment of individuals with Alzheimer's disease. For the study, IXICO will provide advanced neuroimaging solutions involving structural magnetic resonance imaging, diffusion MRI, resting state functional MRI and arterial spin labelling. "Whilst this contract does not change management's expectations of financial performance for the year, it adds to the company's strong order book, further increases visibility of future revenues, and reflects an increasing diversification of the company's client base," company adds. Westmount Energy Ltd - South America-focused energy investor - Notes the Stena Carron drillship is moving from the Bulletwood-1 location on the Canje block, offshore Guyana, to a new drilling location on the Stabroek block. "Westmount is not a direct participant in the Canje Joint Venture and is therefore not aware of the outcome of the Bulletwood-1 well. The company awaits confirmation and disclosure of the Bulletwood-1 drilling results by the operator or other Canje JV partners. It is the company's intention to update the market as soon as these drilling results are publicly available," company adds. Company plans drilling of the second and third wells on the Canje block, Jabillo-1 and Sapote-1, over the coming months. Bahamas Petroleum Co - Caribbean and Atlantic margin focused oil and gas company - Notes Honourable Justice Petra Hanna-Weekes allowed the company's application and ordered the applicants to post USD200,000 security for costs within 30 days, pending which the proceedings will be stayed. BPC recently added as a respondent to the application brought by environmental groups against the government of the Bahamas. BPC was entitled to request that the applicants provide security for costs. Enteq Upstream PLC - oil & gas drilling technology company based in Buckinghamshire - Launches disruptive alternative to traditional rotary steerable systems. The SABER tool is now ready for next stage field trials. "The SABER tool uses internally directed pressure differentials to steer from the drill bit face, delivering true 'at-bit' geo-steering. This mechanically simple design also removes the need for traditional pistons and pads that are susceptible to reliability issues - an approach which can create a smoother and more precise wellbore with easy to manage directional control. SABER will offer a robust, reliable, simple and cost effective directional drilling alternative to current RSS options," Enteq explains. DP Aircraft I Ltd - Guernsey-based aircraft leasing company - Signs letter of intent with Thai Airways under which the parties have agreed to amend the existing lease terms. The new terms provide for a "power by the hour" arrangement until the end of next year, with scaled back monthly lease payments thereafter, reflecting the reduced rates now seen in the market. The lease term will be extended from October 2026 to December 2029, with the company retaining a right of early termination in October 2026. Agrees with Thai lenders to amend and restate the existing loan facility agreements in respect of the Thai assets. Mobile Streams PLC - mobile content and data intelligence company headquartered in London - Says Chinese language version of Streams will launch on March 14. Streams China is aimed specifically at the Chinese market for companies that want to sell their products and services to a western audience. Also notes revenues and customer growth continue to remain ahead of internal forecasts, and monthly Streams Data revenue has now exceeded the net revenue brought in via the legacy business. Says Streams SaaS platform which generated initial customer revenues in October, now generating monthly revenue of GBP12,000, up 33% year on year. "Whilst still at a modest level, with our pipeline of product development and marketing, we expect to see significant growth in 2021, with additional higher price points to come," company adds. By Paul McGowan; paulmcgowan@alliancenews.com Copyright 2021 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved. * Username This is the name that will be displayed next to your photo for comments, blog posts, and more. Choose wisely! A mineral property bank that specializes in acquisitions with revenue from options, sales, and royalties Holds 192 diversified assets in favorable jurisdictions in North America and Germany Maintains a strong management team and has no debt What Globex Mining Enterprises does: Globex Mining Enterprises Inc ( ) (OCTMKTS:GLBXF) is an exploration, royalty, and property bank company with a diversified portfolio of mid-stage exploration, development, and royalty properties in Canada, Germany, and the US. The breadth and scope of its portfolio are enormous: precious metals (gold, silver, platinum, palladium), base metals (copper, zinc, lead, nickel), specialty metals and minerals (manganese, titanium oxide, iron, molybdenum, uranium, lithium, rare earths) and industrial minerals and compounds (mica, silica, apatite, talc, magnesite). The company explores for its own account and options many of its numerous projects to other companies that pay Globex cash, shares, and royalties and undertake extensive exploration in order to earn an interest in Globex's projects -- of which there are currently 192. If the companys partners earn 100% of a property, they then provide Globex with what's called a gross metal royalty (GMR), a concept invented by the firm, which sees an actual percentage (for example 3%) of the physical metal produced at a project go to Globex. The company has 96 precious metals (gold), 60 base metals properties, and more than 36 specialty minerals projects. Globex also has 71 royalties and four active options -- GMR, cash, share, and exploration/development payments. Globex Mining, which has strong cash and share positions in other companies, is debt-free and owns all of its property and exploration assets. It also gets a stream of royalty and options payments and its stock has a history of minimal dilution. How is it doing: Globexs options partner, Inc, helped give an upbeat kick-off to 2021 by announcing a new silver, gold, lead zinc discovery on the Silver City project (Grauer Wolf) in Saxony, Germany. Drilling to date has confirmed high-grade silver mineralization over 12 kilometers of strike within 36 kilometers of strike potential on the project. Over in New Brunswick, the company acquired recently a 100% interest in the Bald Hill antimony property in Queens County in the south-central region of the province consisting of 26 claims covering the Bald Hill antimony deposit and surrounding area. The antimony (Sb) zone was most recently explored by Rockport Mining Corp and surface trenching returned up to 43% Sb over 2m and 2.90% Sb over 8.18 meters (m). An additional eight claims adjoining Globexs Devils Pike gold deposit property were also acquired. Globex also acquired a permitted Silica Quarry in Ontario near the Quebec border that awaits court approval. The property has a large historical resource of high-grade silica grading in the range of more than 98% SiO2. The company as well has optioned the Lac Suzanne Nord nickel, copper, cobalt property to Enertourbe Inc. The property has three claim packages totaling 23 claims spread over 1,278 hectares. Numerous showings of nickel, copper, and cobalt in sulphides occur on all the claim packages. Meanwhile, O3 Mining is working on Globexs Nordeau East and West royalty property east of Val-d'Or in Quebec. Similarly, Tres-Or and Kiboko are working on the optioned Fontana gold property, while Renforth Resources is completing the first phase (7,000-metre drill program) of a 15,000-meter program on its Parbec gold royalty property. And Radisson Mining is drilling on adjoining claims on gold zones that plunge into the groups Kewagama Gold Mine royalty asset. Inflection points: Anticipate more results from Excellons optioned Silver City project Permitting 2021 drilling program for Braunsdorf, Reichenbach, Peter Vein Tasked Novatem to run aerial surveys over several properties in 2021 What the boss says: "Antimony is a critical metal," said FGlobex Mini8ng CEO Jack Stoch in a recent interview with Proactive. commenting on the company's purchase of the Bald Hill antimony property in New Brunswick. "The US government has indicated the need for local supply; 60 to 75% of the material comes from China. The government is putting funds into companies that are looking for antimony. In quantity and grade, there is roughly a million tons of about between 4-5% antimony open along strike, open to depth ... it's a really nice project." Contact the author: patrick@proactiveinvestors.com Follow him on Twitter @PatrickMGraham Sorry! This content is not available in your region An elderly woman is injected with a dose of China's Sinovac Biotech CoronaVac vaccine for COVID-19 at the Jose Joaquin Vargas Special Women's Center in Sibate, Colombia, Wednesday, Feb. 24, 2021. The geriatric center specializing in treating psychiatric patients began vaccinating patients over 80 against the new coronavirus. (AP Photo/Fernando Vergara) Colombia on Monday became the first country in the Americas to receive a shipment of coronavirus vaccines from the United Nations-backed COVAX initiative, a program meant to ensure that the world's most vulnerable people are inoculated but that has so far struggled to assist nations around the globe. The arrival of 117,000 doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine to the South American country's capital, Bogota, came a few days after the anniversary of the first case of COVID-19 found in the region. The Pan American Health Organization said it expects to increase vaccine access in the region through the COVAX effort each month, with plans to bring about 280 million vaccines to the Americas and the Caribbean by the end of the year. But the initiative, formed to ensure fair access to vaccines by low- and middle-income countries, has been hampered by the severely limited global supply of doses and logistical problems. Although it aims to deliver 2 billion shots this year, it currently has legally binding agreements only for several hundred million shots. The organization said in a news release Monday that 36 countries in the region will receive vaccines through the initiative. Of those, 26 will do so through their own funds while 10 will receive the vaccines for free. "The arrival means that more health workers and high-risk populations can begin to be vaccinated," World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a statement. "The COVID-19 pandemic can only end if vaccination occurs in an equitable way, and I am truly delighted to see vaccine doses in South America and other regions begin to be rolled out this week through COVAX." COVAX is only planning to provide enough vaccine for 20% to 30% of the people in poorer countriesa figure that will still leave those nations vulnerable to coronavirus outbreaks. Experts estimate that at least 70% of a population needs to be protected against COVID-19 to prevent future epidemics. Colombia, the third largest country in Latin America by population, had already begun COVID-19 inoculations, receiving its first shipment of vaccines Feb. 15. The government has said it aims to vaccinate 35 million people this year, including hundreds of thousands of Venezuelan migrants and refugees who are currently living in the country. The country of 50 million people has recorded more than 2.25 million cases and over 59,700 deaths of COVID-19. Its government expects to get 20 million doses of vaccines through the COVAX initiative this year. "Today marks a very important milestone, today COVAX makes its first delivery in the Western Hemisphere, and the first country to receive it is Colombia," President Ivan Duque said during an event to announce the vaccine arrival. He added that the delivery makes clear "COVAX is active and works," and called on "all of us to accelerate the distribution of vaccines through COVAX in the Americas." The Pan American Health Organization on Monday said all countries in the region are expected to receive initial doses of the AstraZeneca/Oxford vaccines starting this month if they meet all conditions. In addition, Peru, El Salvador and Bolivia will also receive Pfizer/BioNTech vaccines soon once administrative, legal and regulatory requirements are met. Last week, Ghana was the first country in the world to receive vaccines through the COVAX initiative. The West African country received 600,000 doses of AstraZeneca vaccines Explore further Follow the latest news on the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission. Thiruvananthapuram, March 2 : The dawn to dusk statewide motor vehicle protest called by a joint protest committee in Kerala on Tuesday evoked a partial response. Barring the Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS) all the trade unions operating in the motor vehicle industry have supported the call for strike to protest against the fuel price hike. However, the state owned Kerala State Road Transport Corporation was seen operating a few services, so were public transport vehicles like three wheelers and four wheelers. Private vehicles were seen operating across the state, similar to a normal day. Even though the biggest traders body had expressed solidarity to the motor strike, all the shops in the state are open. However, most of the examinations scheduled for the day were postponed. -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text (Alliance News) - Meggitt PLC on Tuesday announced it has signed a "large multi-million pound" contract with Boeing Co for the supply of cockpit indicators for the Chicago, US-headquartered aerospace firm's 737 Max aircraft. The Coventry, England-based aerospace and defence firm said the contract will cover a suite of cockpit indicators across all versions of the aircraft. It also will expand Meggitt's current content on the 737 Max programme, which includes the engine and APU fire detection & suppression systems, electrical power conversion equipment, and elastomeric seals. Deliveries are scheduled to commence in second quarter of 2022. "We are delighted to be expanding our relationship with Boeing at this important time as the 737 Max returns to service and the wider aviation industry starts to look through the challenges of the last year towards a recovering outlook for air traffic globally," said Chief Executive Tony Wood. Shares in Meggitt were down 0.8% at 437.40 pence. Boeing shares closed 5.8% higher on Monday in New York at USD224.39, and were down 0.5% in pre-market trading. By Zoe Wickens; zoewickens@alliancenews.com Copyright 2021 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved. Two Indonesian producers expect 3-4% cement volume increase in 2021 02 March 2021 PT Semen Indonesia (SMGR ) and Indocement Tunggal Prakarsa (INTP) expect domestic cement volume to grow 3-4 per cent YoY in 2021. This could be achieved through a recovery in bulk cement, which declined in 2020 by 22 per cent YoY. Volume is expected to remain soft in the 1Q21 in Indonesia with turnaround expected to occur in the 2Q21, added UBS Global Research (Indonesia). In 2020 there was increased competition in Java and Kalimantan, but the average selling price for Tier-1 brands remained stable as pricing competition mostly occurred in Tier-2 brands (through higher promotion). SMGR and INTP expect pricing to remain flat in 2021, according to UBS Global Research (Indonesia). Meanwhile, SMGR believes the recent joint partnership agreement with Taiheiyo, in December 2020, would strengthen its export market and products offering. Competition The recent entrance of Semen Singa Merah (SSM Hongshi Cement) in the 4Q20 has only seen relatively small sales from SSM and the company is focussed on selling bulk cement that has yet to build brand power, according to SMGR. INTP stated that SSM is now trying to enter the bulk cement market in Central Java by offering lower prices. SMGR has prepared its Semen Padang brand and new masonry product for the East Java market, while INTP is still monitoring the situation on whether to introduce its Semen Rajawali brand (INTP's Tier-2 product) to the region. Meanwhile, there has been prolonged delay in the operations of Semen Grobogan plant (2Mta, located in Central Java) thus there is still some concern on its impact. However, Semen Merah Putih which raised its market share to 4.4 per cent in 2020 (2019: three per cent). In particular, Semen Merah Putih grew its presence outside Java after acquiring a new grinding mill in Sumatra and more optimal Bayah plant operation (7Mta) post commissioning of its second production line in 1H20. Environmental initiatives Faced with rising coal prices, SMGR and INTP have used lower calorific value coal, which is less impacted, but have refrained from signing long-term supply contracts. For 2021 both companies plan to increase alternative fuel usage (2020 INTP: nine per cent from total fuel, SMGR: four per cent), which would also help reduce carbon emission. Both companies have made efforts in reducing the clinker ratio, SMGR by increasing sales of non-OPC products while INTP by introducing hydraulic cement. Published under District scale opportunity at Dixie with initial resource estimate awaited Two types of gold discoveries on the same property Very well-financed What does: Ltd ( ) (OTCMKTS:GTBDF) struck a deal five years ago to acquire the Dixie mining claims in Ontarios prolific Red Lake gold mining district and has been successfully advancing the project since. Dixie consists of 9,140 hectares of contiguous claims that extend over 22 kilometers (km). The project lies around 25km southeast of the mining town of Red Lake and is accessible by a highway. The property has played host to some eye-catching drill assays and multiple high-grade gold discoveries, namely at the Dixie Limb, Hinge, Bear-Rimini, Yuma, Auro, Yauro, Viggo and Gap zones. Six of these are now considered one zone that is hosted by the LP Fault zone, which is basically an 18 km long target that is being continuously explored by the company. Great Bear now controls over 300 square km of highly prospective ground across four projects in the district - they are the Pakwash property, the Dedee property, and the Sobel property. As well as Dixie, these are all properties in which the firm is earning 100% interest. The renowned Red Lake gold district has historically produced around a whopping 30 million ounces of the yellow metal from 29 mines. How is it doing: has continued its run of positive exploration results throughout 2020 and into 2021. Beginning in January this year, Great Bear reported more drill results from the LP Fault, which continue to demonstrate the zone's credentials, including high grade and bulk tonnage gold mineralization. Highlight results have included 38.4 g/t gold over 5.5m from 36.5 to 42m depth in one hole and 29.17 g/t gold over 15.50 m from a depth of 41.80 to 57.30m. A deeper hole intersected 5.29 g/t gold over 29m from a depth of 397.50 to 426.50m, including high-grade core of 62.13 g/t gold over 1.60m from 405m to 406.60m. In March, Great Bear noted that deep holes had doubled the drill-confirmed vertical extent of the significant LP Fault target. And on April 22, the company posted assays from 13 holes at the LP Fault, which, it noted, remains open in all directions, and where the area of continuous gold mineralization has been extended by about 25% by drilling this year alone. Two 'step-down' holes extended mineralization by over 100m below previous drilling, with assays showing 11.18 grams per ton (g/t) gold over 6.75m from 524.2m to 530.95m depth in one hole, while infill drilling within 75m and 100m in previously undrilled gaps in the zone also continued to deliver high-grade and bulk-tonnage gold intercepts, the firm said. In May, the company reported results from its ongoing $45 million exploration program at the Dixie project. Highlights include new drill holes intersecting the LP Fault zone from around 20 to 500m vertical depth along 2.2 kilometers of strike length. The drill holes were also located above previous drilling, to extend gold mineralization towards surface, and within 75 to 100m of previously undrilled gaps in the zone. Two drill holes are step-ups that extend gold mineralization by more than 75m above previous drilling to the near-surface, while the company also highlighted new bulk-tonnage intercepts that included 3.07 g/t of gold over 35.6m from 117 to 152.6m downhole in drill hole BR-320, 1.11 g/t gold over 91.6m from 349.5 to 441.1m downhole in drill hole BR-285, and 1.00 g/t gold over 91.4m from 473.6 to 565m downhole in drill hole BR-286. Great Bear has released nearly 300 drill hole results from the LP Fault and anticipates at least 117 more will be completed by the end of 2021, for a total of at least 400 holes. Great Bear said a sixth rig is being added to the Dixie project to accelerate the 2021 drill program and will continue to infill as well as expand on the three main gold zones, including the Hinge, Dixie Limb and LP Fault zones. The company is fully financed through 2022 after closing a 'bought-deal' private placement launched in July 2020, raising total gross proceeds of nearly C$70 million. The offering was oversubscribed, with 14 institutional investors from across North America, Australia and Europe participating. The explorer also increased the exploration budget at Dixie to C$45 million from C$20 million previously. In all, the company aims to have drilled 600 holes at the site in total by the end of 2021, for around 400,000 meters (m) with 175,000m sunk in 2021. About 80% of the planned drilling will target the LP Fault, while 15% will target the Hinge and Dixie Limb zones. What the broker says: On May 19, Research Capital reiterated its Speculative Buy rating on Great Bear with a $36 price target soon after the company announced the results of the 17 drill holes from the LP Fault zone. The firm cited the fact that the holes were drilled both above previous intercepts and within 75m to 100m gaps in previous drilling, providing for the first time publicly detailed information on the first high-grade domain. We think investors will be able to better understand the potential of the deposit which we believe the market is undervaluing, Research Capital wrote. Inflection points: More exploration results A maiden resource estimate Gold price moves What the boss says: "We are now entering the final months of near-surface maiden mineral resource estimation drilling of the central LP Fault zone, and are modeling 17 distinct high-grade gold domains within the broader LP Fault gold mineralized system, CEO Chris Taylor said in a statement. Contact the author: patrick@proactiveinvestors.com Follow him on Twitter @PatrickMGraham The United States on Tuesday imposed sanctions on two commanders of Yemen's Houthi rebels, blaming them for civilian deaths and denouncing their ties with Iran as Washington seeks to halt the devastating war. The Treasury Department said it would freeze any assets of the air force and naval commanders of the Houthis, who have defied international appeals by pursuing an offensive to seize the government's last northern stronghold. With the rebels from the impoverished nation unlikely to have US bank accounts, the effects are largely symbolic but reinforce President Joe Biden's sharp criticism of Iran even as he opens the door to diplomacy and distances his administration from Saudi Arabia, which has been waging a devastating campaign to dislodge the Houthis. "These individuals command forces that are worsening the humanitarian crisis in Yemen," said Andrea Gacki, the director of the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control. "The United States remains committed to promoting accountability of Houthi leadership for their actions, which have contributed to the extraordinary suffering of the Yemeni people," she said in a statement. The Treasury Department said that both commanders had trained in Iran and acquired weapons from the clerical state, which has religious affinities with the Houthis and a shared hostility toward Saudi Arabia. The Houthi naval commander, Mansur al-Saadi, masterminded deadly attacks against international shipping in the Red Sea and put fishermen and other civilians at risk with naval mines, the Treasury Department said. The air force commander, Ahmad Ali Ahsan al-Hamzi, has carried out targeted drone strikes, it said. The action comes after the Biden administration in one of its first acts rescinded a designation that the Houthis, formally known as Ansar Allah, are a terrorist organization. Aid groups said that the label put their work at risk as they had no choice but to deal with the Houthis, who effectively are Yemen's governing authority in much of the country including the capital Sanaa. Story continues Former president Donald Trump's administration, which fiercely opposed Iran and was closely aligned with Saudi Arabia, had branded the Houthis as terrorists in its final days in office. The United Nations has called Yemen the world's worst humanitarian crisis and voiced disappointment after a pledging conference Monday raised $1.7 billion in aid, far below the appeal of $3.85 billion. (AFP) Almunajem Foods, one of the largest private food companies in Saudi Arabia, has announced the expansion of its meat processing factory in Jeddah to keep pace with increasing demand for its products and to localise the production of some of its imported products. The facilitys extension is already underway and is due to start production in July 2021, a statement said. The meat processing factory was first established in 1992 and produces a variety of meat and poultry products under the Companys owned brands Habra and Al Anaam Al Saudia and thereafter Dari was also added. The expansion will increase total production capacity by 60% to over 11,000 metric tonnes (MT) as well as doubling poultry products capacity. The meat factory expansion will also localise the production of the international poultry brand Doux, a global market leader for poultry products. Eng Thamer Bin Abdulaziz Abanumay, Chief Executive Officer at Almunajem Foods, said: As a leading Saudi household name with extensive experience accumulated over seven decades, we are committed to providing high quality food products to millions of families across the kingdom. With the expansion of the meat factory, we are expanding our local meat production to enable us to meet the high domestic demand, while diversifying and introducing a range of new poultry products. The companys business commenced in 1950 in the importation, marketing, and distribution of leading brands of frozen, chilled and dry foodstuff. Currently the size of its imports is more than 250,000 MT per year made up of over 700 SKUs imported from over 60 international well-known food producers. Almunajem Foods serves over 22,000 customer outlets including retail, food services and wholesale channels. To provide the best service to its customers, the Company has a fleet of over 1,000 specialized trucks to deliver the goods in addition to 12 temperature-controlled warehouses across the kingdom that has a combined storage capacity of 55,000 MT. The company has recently altered its name from Almunajem Cold Stores Company to Almunajem Foods and has changed its logo, in line with the companys future ambitions.--TradeArabia News Service 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 Roger Englander, an Emmy Award-winning TV producer and director of ambitious classical-music programming who brought Leonard Bernstein's popular "Young People's Concerts" to a global audience for more than 15 years, died Feb. 8 at a hospital in Newport, R.I. He was 94. The cause was pneumonia, said Michael Dupre, his companion and only immediate survivor. Englander, who had worked backstage in theater and opera, brought his musical expertise to television at the dawn of the medium in the late 1940s. He was then working in Philadelphia at NBC, when the network's unified range encompassed eight stations from Boston to Richmond. At the time, there were about 350,000 sets in the entire country, more than half of them in the New York metropolitan area. Few could anticipate what the small screen might become; two willful broadcasting giants, David Sarnoff of NBC and William Paley of CBS made vast fortunes on TV game shows, situation comedies and soap operas, but they felt impelled to put money back into news and cultural programs, much as they had been doing for years on radio. While in Philadelphia, Englander helped produce what is believed to be one of the first limited telecasts of a complete opera, Gian Carlo Menotti's "The Telephone." This led to an extended association with the composer, who soon wrote the first opera conceived entirely for television, "Amahl and the Night Visitors," which debuted on NBC in 1951. Englander had also known Bernstein since serving as a prop manager for the American premiere of Benjamin Britten's "Peter Grimes" in 1946 at the Tanglewood Music Center in Massachusetts. A decade later, Bernstein was considered one of the foremost conductors and composers of his generation - in 1957, his musical "West Side Story" opened on Broadway, and he was also named the youngest music director in the history of the New York Philharmonic. As he moved into television work, Bernstein asked Englander to assist him in episodes he was creating for "Omnibus," a CBS television program about the arts, and then in shaping a new series of "Young People's Concerts" on television. They collaborated on 53 hour-long "Young People's Concerts" - featuring the Philharmonic and presented on CBS from 1958 through 1972. At the height of the program's popularity in the 1960s, when there were four televised "Young People's Concerts" every year, the series was also carried throughout Western Europe as well as in Argentina, Japan, the Philippines, Australia and New Zealand. The charismatic Bernstein drew much of the critical acclaim for his skill as an educator and entertainer, creating a masterful blend of insight and dramatic momentum. But as the producer and director, Englander was left the task to complement Bernstein's teaching with lively visual representation. "I conduct the conductor," he once said. Filming at what was then Philharmonic Hall at New York's Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, he favored a mixture of panoramic long shots of the full orchestra along with tight close-ups of the players. He always circled back to Bernstein, who was seen from all directions. A favorite effect was to pan the camera from face to face of the children in the audience as they listened intently to the music. To the Chicago Tribune, Englander wryly explained the recipe for success in televising a "Young People's Concert": "The basic formula is a relatively simple one. First assemble more than a million dollars worth of color TV equipment, combine with 75 trained programming and engineer specialists, and place everything and everyone in and around Philharmonic Hall. Add a famous conductor-narrator in the person of Leonard Bernstein, include 106 excellent symphony musicians, and shoot for one hour." Englander always kept in mind the intended and mercurial audience of youngsters, who could be the ficklest of critics. "A children's audience is the toughest in the world," he told the United Press wire service in 1958. "That's why we often have turndowns from top talent. They're afraid of the small ones. Children aren't polite; if they don't like something, they let you know about it. ... But they're more receptive than adults. They listen with complete objectivity. We have found they even like 12-tone." The subjects included full programs devoted to Gustav Mahler, Jean Sibelius, Igor Stravinsky and Dmitri Shostakovich, as well as straightforward explanations of jazz and folk music. In late 1964, only a few months after the Beatles appeared on "The Ed Sullivan Show," Bernstein illustrated sonata form by singing the John Lennon-Paul McCartney ballad "And I Love Her," much to the delight of his youthful audience. A late-1960s episode was entitled "Berlioz Takes a Trip" and, while its emphasis on psychedelia was very much of its time, it still managed to convey a good deal of information about the "Symphonie Fantastique." Roger Leslie Englander was born in Cleveland on Nov. 23, 1926. His parents owned and operated a high-end clothing store. He studied piano, trumpet and French horn as a young man and conducted the band and the orchestra at Cleveland Heights High School. He graduated in 1945 from the University of Chicago. After a stint at the short-lived Chicago Opera Co., under conductor and artistic director Fausto Cleva, Englander made his way into TV. As director or producer of various programs over the decades, he supervised appearances by Jose Ferrer, Isaac Stern, Rosemary Clooney, Eileen Farrell and the Ballets Russe de Monte Carlo, among others. He also worked with the Little Orchestra Society and the New York City Opera. Classical fare, often featuring a massive orchestra, was expensive to create. And when Bernstein left the Philharmonic in 1969, CBS gradually lost interest in the "Young People's Concerts," abandoning them altogether in 1975. Englander then worked on a smaller, low-budget weekend arts program called "Camera Three" - produced by the New York CBS affiliate - but that, too, was gone by 1980. As computers became popular in the 1980s, Englander created an interactive CD-ROM guide to Mozart's opera "The Magic Flute." He also produced a series of historically valuable archival videotapes for Music Theater International, featuring writers, composers and directors of Broadway musicals explaining their productions for the record, for use by others who might take on revivals in the future. Englander was nominated for six Emmy Awards and won one, in 1965 for the sonata entry in the "Young People's Concerts" series. In addition to other professional honors, he wrote a beginners' guide to opera, "Opera: What's All The Screaming About?" (1983), and contributed articles for the New York Times and Opera News, among other publications. He moved to Newport from Manhattan soon after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. In a career devoted to popularizing classical music, Englander navigated the idiosyncratic and exacting styles of many eminent personalities. A major success for Englander was a program of pianist Vladimir Horowitz playing at Carnegie Hall that was telecast on CBS in 1968 with limited commercial interruption. Horowitz was notoriously demanding, but Englander accommodated his requests, down to covering the stage in talcum powder to prevent squeaking from the slipper-wearing camera crew. Supermarket giant Woolworths has abandoned a controversial trial of cashless stores following complaints from shoppers who still want to use notes and coins to buy their groceries. The trial, which started in June and spread to 14 metro stores across Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane, was spruiked as a way to make shopping as seamless as possible for busy inner-city customers. Woolworths has ditched a trial of cashless stores following a barrage of complaints from customers. Credit:Dallas Kilponen However, it was met with fierce opposition from some shoppers who said it was wrong for the stores to turn down their notes and coins. I refuse to shop at any of your card-only places, one customer wrote on Woolworths Facebook page. Cash is legal tender and I do not support the cash ban and will take my money elsewhere. Fairbanks, AK (99707) Today Cloudy with occasional rain showers. High 61F. Winds SSE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 60%.. Tonight Considerable cloudiness with occasional rain showers. Low 47F. Winds WSW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 50%. They just want their babysitters back, an Oakley School Board commissioner said while being broadcast live during a school board meeting. They probably just want their kids back in school so they can smoke weed in the house again. Parents of young children are literally the worst, most awful people 70% of the time, so you know youre under pressure, but you need to ignore them. They arent worth listening to (ever, really). This was posted by a community member on London Breeds Facebook page. All the rich white parents suddenly concerned about mental health can take a seat. Most of them are causing their kids anxiety by pressuring them to complete asynchronous work and feeding into their sense of entitlement. Sorry/not sorry. This was a tweet sent out by an Oakland teacher and secretary of the Oakland Education Association. These disparaging remarks and misguided criticisms feel to me each time as if I am being punched in the gut. Yes, I do want schools to reopen. No, it is not because I am a horrible person. For the majority of the pandemic, my son and I sheltered in place in a Single Room Occupancy hotel. Our SRO totaled 65 square feet, with no kitchen and no access to a kitchen, no couch, no desk, no nothing except a twin-sized bunk bed in which the top bunk was used solely as storage. We had two windows in our room, but since we faced a rat-infested alley, the windows were sealed shut and at no point were we ever graced with sunlight. We shared a filthy, tiny bathroom with 12 other residents. Our only furniture was a fold-up tray and one fold-up chair, and this is where we prepared our meals, where we ate our meals, and also where my son did his homework and distance learning. I cannot express to you how profoundly traumatic it was for my son to quarantine and attend remote school in this setting. When it was time to log onto his Zooms, he would start crying, his entire body convulsing and his eyes pinched closed as if to shut out the world. Each day I watched his spirit sink, deeper and deeper until it got to the point where every morning and every night I found him irrevocably thrust into a well of his own despair, his own anger, his own fed-up-ness with his everyday, all-day surroundings. He had no reprieve from our struggles, every day a reminder from the moment he woke up till the moment his head hit the pillow that his mother did not finish college, that his mother got divorced, that his mother made poor choices, and that his mother could not properly provide for him. Surviving the pandemic is not the only adverse childhood experience my son has had to endure. Five years ago he was also removed from my custody and placed in foster care. The pain and suffering he endured being separated from me, having lost everything in the blink of an eye, at such a young age, is a wound that remains open and raw till this very day. My son is only 8 years old today, but he can tell you what it is like to go to bed hungry because he didnt have enough to eat in foster care. He can also tell you what it is like to live in a house filled with strangers, where you are unloved and where nothing belongs to you. If only you had heard his cries when he was being torn from me. If only you had heard his desperation, heard the screams that woke him from sleep for so many months after he returned home. If you had heard that, if you had felt that pain and suffering of his, then you would understand how cruel it is to deprive children like him of the basic human right of in-person schooling and socialization. There are children who exist, and many of them, just like my son. Children who are among the most vulnerable, the most disadvantaged, the most traumatized and depressed. For these children, even before the pandemic, their daily lives presented with challenges that the general population could never even begin to fathom. Then the pandemic ushered in inequities so staggering that it is absolutely incomprehensible to me that local officials and teachers have not rushed this whole time to do everything they can to get these children back to normality. Over the past couple of weeks, things have really started moving along. The San Francisco Board of Education approved a tentative agreement between the teachers union and the city and county of San Francisco, Mayor London Breed announced that San Francisco will be moving into the red tier on Wednesday, and teachers now qualify for COVID-19 vaccinations. This collaborative spirit and forward momentum needs to keep happening, because at-risk children are suffering. Michelle Chan is a parents rights activist, writer, founding director of California Families Rise, and mother of the most amazing 8-year-old boy in the world. COLUMBIA Some of the recent basic training graduates at Fort Jackson slogged through relentless weekly ruck marches, countless days of marksmanship tests on the firing range and drill sergeants yelling in their ears. But for those nearly 1,000 trainees, there was also a peaceful routine of daily yoga and meditation. In one of the largest yoga studies ever conducted by the military, a battalion of Fort Jackson soldiers was tasked with doing daily poses led by a certified instructor. Additionally, there were two-hour "mindfulness sessions" to help them de-stress and relax before tucking into their bunks. The 10-week pilot program, which ended late last year, was led by the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research and the U.S. Army Center for Initial Military Training in Virginia. It came about as the military looks to modernize physical training by experimenting with programs like yoga and CrossFit as more Americans are unable to meet the required fitness requirements. While yoga and meditation is deeply connected to Hindu and Buddhist practices, the lessons were taught without religious references. At first, many soldiers, including Pfc. Lina Alani, a trainee in 2nd Battalion, 60th Infantry Regiment, were skeptical. But after a few weeks the troops got into the flow of it, and even bonded with their comrades. After attending the first two weeks of yoga I started really enjoying and benefiting from the positions that we were put in during the training, Alani told the Army post's newspaper, The Fort Jackson Leader. "I got to know the platoon really well during those sessions." The pilot program consisted of 1,800 soldiers. Half of them went through the daily routine of two 15-minute yoga sessions before and after physical activity, as well as two hours of guided mindfulness sessions guided meditation exercises that focus on reflection, breathing and contemplation for the first four weeks of training. The other half was the control group and did traditional basic training exercises. Col. Kevin Bigelman, the director of Holistic Health and Fitness at the U.S. Army Center for Initial Military Training, said it's too early to see if the findings were statistically significant in helping soldiers run farther, shoot straighter and march longer. Bigelman told The Post and Courier the feedback they heard from trainees was mostly positive. Sign up for our SC Military Digest newsletter Get exclusive military reporting, updates from Palmetto State bases, headlines from around the globe and more delivered to your inbox each Tuesday. Email Sign up! "One said they saw mindfulness as effective," Bigelman said. "Primarily during physical training before going to bed, and it helped combat nerves at the obstacle course, on the range and dealing with homesickness." Many of the trainees said the mindfulness sessions, narrated by a recording or led by a certified instructor, were the most beneficial part of the pilot program. Base leaders, like Post Command Sgt. Maj. Philson Tavernier, agree. As leaders we tend to put a lot of stress on soldiers, but we never teach them how to deal with stress," Tavernier told the Leader. "Mindfulness is not just about being a better soldier, it is about becoming a better person. The changes to the Army's traditional physical training has been a slow-moving but necessary process, according to the Department of Defense. Pentagon data from 2017 indicates 71 percent of young Americans between 17 and 24 are ineligible to serve in the military, with at least 59 percent of those men and women excluded because of health issues or inadequate physical fitness. Since 1980, the Army has used three tests to determine if men and women are able to do their duties: a two-mile run, pushups and situps. In 2019, the branch began sampling the Army Combat Fitness Test, which used CrossFit-type exercises such as leg tucks and medicine ball throws to gauge physical readiness. While the new workout was expected to become the test of record in October, the service made the decision last March to delay the start date due to COVID-19. Not everyone has been receptive. There's been a widespread amount of criticism of the new routines from older servicemembers and worries that the test is inequitable for men and women. Bigelman said there will always be critics when training changes. But, ultimately, he thinks the new routines will help build better servicemembers. "We're trying to improve the individual soldier," Bigelman said. "And really, we're trying to take care of their health and fitness, and optimize their physical and non-physical performance. So I think trying new experiences like yoga and mindfulness is beneficial." CHICOPEE Students and teachers at Comprehensive High School spent about two hours locked in classrooms after the schools email system was hacked and a threatening message was sent to all students, parents and staff. The message was signed by a male who claimed he placed improvised explosive devices in multiple classrooms in the school. I have IDEs in 10 classrooms. When they pick up any noise above 110 db (decibel) they go boom, so dont come near me (or) shoot me if you dont want boom. Chicopee and State Police were called to the school at 11:49 a.m., six minutes after the message was emailed, police said. We can confirm there were indeed no bombs in the building, Assistant Superintendent Alvin Morton said. The school immediately went into a shelter-in-place protocol that calls for all classroom doors to be locked and for students and staff to remain in their rooms. Education continues during the threat but there is little or no movement in the hallways, he said. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, between 250 and 300 students were in the school which normally has an enrollment of about 1,200. Students started learning in a hybrid system last week that has most attending school in-person two days a week and learning remotely the other three days. Some families have opted to only have their children learn remotely which reduces the student population more, Morton said. An interior and exterior search of the school was done by Chicopee officers. They were assisted by the Massachusetts State Police Explosive Detection dog teams which swept the exits and common areas, police said. Students, who usually are dismissed at 2:08 p.m., were allowed to leave school a few minutes early after police determined the building was safe and secure, Morton said. Police, school officials and the information technology department are investigating to determine who was involved in sending the email and how it originated. Anyone with information about the email is asked to call the Police Detective Bureau at 413-519-1740, police said. Investigators have not determined if the person whose name was used in the email had anything to do with the threat, Morton said. Related content: ANN ARBOR, MI One Ann Arbor council member said last June city officials had received, by his count, over 2,000 emails from citizens calling for defunding police. City Council is now two months away from adopting the next fiscal year budget for 2021-22, and community members are continuing to call for shifting some of the police departments budget of over $30 million to other programs. At a council meeting Monday night, March 1, several community activists and residents urged council to find the funding to launch an unarmed crisis response team so professionals with expertise in mental health can respond to mental health emergencies, rather than armed police. The budget is still being considered and this is the perfect time to reduce the police budget and direct that money to a new program of unarmed mental health crisis response, resident Michelle Hughes told council. Defunding police isnt about cutting their budget to make up for a budget shortfall, Hughes added. Its about investing that money in alternative programs that do a better and more equitable job of increasing public safety, programs like affordable housing and mental health care. City officials last month discussed putting an initial $234,000 in surplus funding toward piloting an unarmed response program, but community members are now calling on council to dig deeper. Should police respond to mental health emergencies? Ann Arbor exploring alternatives Lisa Jackson, chair of the citys police oversight commission, endorsed the idea Monday night. As part of possible budget cuts, she noted Police Chief Michael Cox recently identified more than $1.3 million in reductions in the police department, including elimination of 12 positions. At the same time, officials are considering putting an extra $3.6 million toward fighting climate change. To be very clear, environmental sustainability and a reimagining of public safety are not mutually exclusive, Jackson told council. Therefore, the Independent Community Police Oversight Commission sees this budget as a unique opportunity for the city to live up to its promise to reimagine public safety by also funding unarmed response programs in Ann Arbor. She described it as an opportunity to show police that investments in alternatives will benefit them as well. As for the initial idea of allocating $234,000, Jackson argued that wont be enough. That amount of money would not come anywhere close to providing unarmed crisis response services to our community for 24 hours a day, seven days a week, she said. And one of the reasons why we currently have police responding to mental health calls is that theyre the only department open and available 24-7, she said. An unarmed crisis response team would need to be available all the time, but $234,000 may only be enough to hire 2.5 crisis response professionals, Jackson said. Even assuming that theyre perfectly split into three eight-hour shifts and never, ever took a day off, we would only ever be able to have one person on duty at a time, one person on call for a community of well over 100,000 people, she said. Even if it were supplemented by federal grants, our imagination for what policing could look like needs to be bigger than whats allowed by ephemeral government grants, she said. Mayor Christopher Taylor said hes been discussing the idea of unarmed responses with the police chief and city administrator. Without regard to funding, which is of course critical and necessary, I want to touch upon some of the obstacles that we have in the development and implementation of an unarmed response system program, a program that I believe to be critical, Taylor said. But in order to make it successful, I think we need to understand and move forward with our eyes open because successful policy requires vision and flow charts. One of the primary challenges is city government has an absence of mental health expertise, because that resides with Washtenaw County Community Mental Health, Taylor said. The city also lacks control over the 911 dispatch system, which falls under the county sheriff, Taylor said. Unless were going to reinvent the wheel, if we are going to stand up meaningful, on-call, unarmed response in the city of Ann Arbor, as I want to do and I believe members of the community and this body do, were going to need to cooperate and participate with CMH and the sheriff, he said. For my part, Im committed to doing that to make sure that cooperation and participation becomes a reality. Taylor said he has asked staff to prepare a council resolution to provide direction on developing that type of program. He doesnt know when its going to come before council, but it is budget season and its an important issue, he said. Council will adopt a new annual budget in May. As for possibly reallocating a portion of the police budget for alternative responses to mental health crises, City Administrator Tom Crawford said the city budget does not allocate from one specific area to another and there are no cost estimates or feasible solutions for such a program yet. Cox did not respond to a request for comment. Trische Duckworth, a local activist and social worker who has organized several protests against police brutality and founded the group Survivors Speak, addressed council after Jackson spoke Monday night. There is such a huge need for this in our community, she said of unarmed crisis responders. Duckworth highlighted the death of Aura Rosser, a Black woman with mental health issues who was fatally shot by an Ann Arbor police officer responding to a domestic dispute in 2014, as an example of the need for alternatives. The police shooting of Rosser was justified because she approached officers with a knife, Prosecutor Brian Mackie determined in 2015. Not having unarmed crisis responders means families losing loved ones and children losing parents, Duckworth said. Were asking council to do what is necessary to find the funding for this program, so that this community can be safer, so that people of color can be safer, so that people who live with mental illness can be safer, she said. Were coming to you on behalf of Black and brown citizens, and we understand that most times its voices of the privileged that are listened to, but we are asking you to listen to the voices of the community that are crying out on behalf of Aura Rosser and those who could potentially be put in harms way if you continue to send armed officers to handle mental health crises. Lori Saginaw, who was co-chair of Ann Arbors police oversight task force three years ago, commended city officials for the goal to re-envision public safety. We know that so many situations are better handled by unarmed responders who are trained in trauma and deescalation, she said. If we can take the first steps to do it, it would be a huge positive impact on our community overall. We know that data shows that unarmed responders reduce the number of deaths and the possibility of it. Police officers face complex and multifaceted challenges in their line of work, Saginaw told council. And as much as they would wish to, there is no way that they can function as mental health experts, social workers or drug counselors, she said. Yet, in so many situations, thats exactly whats expected of them. So, sending officers armed with guns to resolve issues that do not require guns is something that I urge you to think of every possible way of ending. Calling it an amazing opportunity, she added, I feel we owe this to our officers and to our community. MORE FROM THE ANN ARBOR NEWS: Ann Arbor may trim police and fire budgets while putting millions extra toward climate change Ann Arbor hopes to end housing discrimination against people with criminal records A couple built an apartment above their garage. Ann Arbor officials want more like it. The story of Albert Wheeler, Ann Arbors first and only Black mayor See which Ann Arbor-area businesses were helped by states COVID-19 grants Manila, March 2 : Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has thanked China for donating a batch of the Sinovac Covid-19 vaccine, CoronaVac. "From the bottom of my heart and with immense gratitude, I thank you, the Chinese people and government, for being so generous," Duterte said during a televised public address on Monday night. The President said receiving the vaccines from China was another step forward in the Philippines' ongoing fight against the pandemic. "I convey my sincere gratitude to the Chinese people and the government of China for this gesture of friendship and solidarity, the hallmark of the Philippines-China partnership," he said in the speech. A batch of the Sinovac vaccines donated by China arrived in the Philippines on Sunday, the first Covid-19 jab to reach the Southeast Asian country, reports Xinhua news agency. Duterte went to the airport to witness the arrival of the vaccines. The Philippines launched its coronavirus vaccination drive on Monday morning, less than a day after the arrival of the Chinese vaccines. The Philippines has confirmed 578,381 Covid-19 cases, with 12,322 deaths. Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19) Egyptian Minister of International Cooperation Rania Al-Mashat met on Tuesday with the Swiss Ambassador to Egypt Paul Garnier and the new Head of the Swiss International Cooperation Office Valerie Liechti to discuss the Egypt-Switzerland bilateral economic relations and the future areas of cooperation for the period of 2021-2024. This comes within the framework of the ministrys endeavor to strengthen and develop economic cooperation relations between Egypt, international and regional states along with organisations. Al-Mashat discussed the new cooperation areas with the Swiss officials, suggesting that the focus be on climate action, renewable energy and women's empowerment, along with the engagement of the private sector in the national development framework. The international cooperation ministry intends on making 2021 the year that enhances public-private dialogue in the transformation work done to achieve a sustainable, green economy. Al-Mashat also praised the strategic relations in economic cooperation between Egypt and Switzerland, those that have been extended for more than four decades and that have also resulted in many partnership agreements in various fields. From his end, Paul Garnier said that he is looking forward to joint coordination during the upcoming period in the framework of strengthening economic cooperation relations between Egypt and Switzerland - in various fields - through the new cooperation program 2021/2024. As part of the ministrys development framework and Egypts '2030 Sustainable Development Vision', Al-Mashat emphasised that 2021 will be the year to provide more opportunities for the private sector to participate in development plans; especially through the environmental, social and governance principles that will help the country build a circular, green economy. On Monday, the ministry launched the digital campaign 'GameChangers', which aims to demonstrate the private sector's participation in development efforts, as well as the value of public-private partnerships to implement the national development agenda, achieve a sustainable future and to build towards a green economy. #GameChangers highlights the unique engagement of the public and private sectors in different development projects through the Global Partnerships Narrative: People at the Core, Projects in Action, and Purpose as the Driver. The partnership between Egypt and Switzerland extends for more than 40 years, during which the Swiss side contributed more than 700 million Swiss francs to finance the implementation of more than 200 projects in various sectors. During 2017, the joint strategy for cooperation 2017-2020 was launched to support the national development agenda in light of Egypt's Vision 2030, according to the international cooperation ministry. The ongoing development cooperation portfolio between Egypt and Switzerland amounts to $59 million to finance seven projects in the fields of industry, urban development, water, housing, waste management, communication and health. Short link: 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. 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. Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-02 11:41:16|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close A medical worker vaccinates a staff member at a temporary COVID-19 vaccination site at a company in the ZPark Phase 2 in Haidian District of Beijing, capital of China, Feb. 22, 2021. (Xinhua/Ren Chao) BEIJING, March 2 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping said on Monday night that China is willing to provide COVID-19 vaccines within its capabilities to Poland in accordance with the European country's demand. Xi made the remarks in a phone conversation with Polish President Andrzej Duda. Pointing out that Poland is a major country in Central and Eastern Europe as well as China's comprehensive strategic partner in Europe, Xi said that China has always attached great importance to the development of China-Poland relations. Since the outbreak of COVID-19, China and Poland have been looking out for and helping each other, with the two sides engaging in cooperation in pandemic prevention and control as well as resumption of work and production, which opened a new chapter of their friendship, he said. In the current situation, China and Poland should strengthen strategic communication, deepen pragmatic cooperation, and jointly address various risks and challenges, Xi said. China is willing to work with Poland to facilitate a stable and sustainable development of bilateral ties in the new year, he added. Xi said that China is willing to continue enhancing exchanges of experience in joint pandemic prevention and control with the Polish side, and in the meantime restoring mutual visits between their peoples in a safe and orderly manner. During the pandemic, the number and load of China-Europe freight train trips traveling to and from China and Poland have hit a record high, which reflected the high interdependence between the supply chains and industry chains in China, Poland, the wider European Union (EU), and demonstrated a huge potential for economic and trade cooperation between the two sides, he said. Aerial photo taken on Feb. 24, 2021 shows a crane transporting a container onto a China-Europe freight train at Changchun International Land Port in Changchun, northeast China's Jilin Province. (Xinhua/Zhang Nan) China is going to push for more imports of quality agricultural and food products from Poland through establishing relevant mechanisms under the cooperation framework of China-Central and Eastern European countries (CEEC), Xi said, adding that the completion of negotiations of the China-EU investment agreement will open up broader space for China-Poland cooperation. Xi said that at the recent China-CEEC Summit successfully convened via video link, he, along with CEEC leaders, reviewed the journey of China-CEEC cooperation, thoroughly summarized development experience, jointly looked ahead to development prospects, reached broad consensus, and made important planning and guidance for cooperation mechanism. He added that China is willing to work together with the Polish side, and takes the summit as a new starting point to push for greater outcomes for the China-CEEC cooperation and China-EU relations. Duda said Xi's state visit to Poland in 2016 has effectively promoted the development of Poland-China relations. Not long ago, President Xi successfully hosted the China-CEEC Summit via video link, which is of great importance to promoting cooperation between the two sides and helping CEEC achieve economic recovery after the pandemic. Airport employees unload cargoes containing medical supplies at Chopin International Airport in Warsaw, Poland on March 31, 2020. (Photo by Jaap Arriens/Xinhua) Poland highly appreciates Xi's commitment to making China's COVID-19 vaccine as a global public good and his willingness to carry out vaccine cooperation with CEEC, which shows China is playing the role of a responsible major country under the leadership of President Xi, Duda said. He added that Poland is willing to strengthen anti-pandemic cooperation with China, noting that China-Europe freight train service has played an important role in fighting the pandemic. Duda expressed the hope that the two sides will continue to maintain personnel exchanges and cooperation in various fields and promote the balanced growth of bilateral trade. Poland stands ready to make contributions to the cooperation between CEEC and China, he added. Duda said he looks forward to visiting China again after the pandemic, and is willing to maintain close and friendly exchanges with Xi to jointly lift Poland-China relations to a new level. CARLINVILLE Two counts of first degree murder were filed Tuesday in connection to a Feb. 1 Virden death. Macoupin County States Attorney Jordan J. Garrison announced charges were filed against Dalton M.K. Obermark, 20, of Carlinville, in the stabbing death of John Rennie of Virden. In addition to the murder charges, one count of possession of a stolen vehicle and one count of aggravated battery also were filed. Associate Judge Joshua A. Meyer set Obermarks bond at $1 million. It is alleged that Mr. Rennie was stabbed to death in his home, Garrison said. The safety and security ones home offers them is sacred. No one should have to suffer this type of brutal, senseless attack. Garrison thanked the Illinois State Police, Virden Police and the other agencies who worked swiftly to get this case charged, especially Special Agent Colin Subick, Sgt. Travis Irwin, and Tpr. Thomas Miller. Rennie, 58, was found dead in his home about 11:55 p.m. Feb. 1 after Virden Police were asked to check on his welfare. Because of visible trauma to Rennie, Illinois State Police criminal investigators were called. Obermark was arrested Feb. 3 in Russellville, Kentucky, near Bowling Green, in connection to Rennies death but he challenged extradition to Illinois. He has since been returned to Macoupin County. Obermarks next court date is a preliminary hearing set for 8:45 a.m. on March 10. Theres never been more time to catch up on that immense list of worthy movies youd like to watch, wrap up the final series of an iconic 00s show or just watch the one and only season of Marvels Inhumans on Disney+ and laugh and laugh. Ive been tackling a list of games that have long sat on my Switch and PlayStation, and Ive been making progress. Mass Effect Andromeda is my latest accomplishment, pulled to the front of the line thanks to the incoming remastered series. Ive written my thoughts in detail here , but the summary is that its probably going to disappoint you if youre a fan of the series, but there is love and attention here, spread out across what is arguably too thin a game, plot and universe. The Morning After There are still months of indoor time to go, and while new games are finally starting to appear after pandemic-related delays (Ive just started Bravely Default 2), theres enough time to tackle another game (or show) from your backlog. If you havent started it already, may I suggest Control? Mat Smith The Pro models will get most of the good stuff, according to analyst Ming-Chi Kuo. The Morning After Reputable analyst Ming-Chi Kuo says Apple will release four iPhone models in 2021, coming in the same sizes as the 2020 lineup. That means the mini variant will stick around for at least another year rejoice. The main upgrades, besides already rumored energy-efficient 120Hz screens and better cameras, could include bigger batteries and smaller display cutouts. Alas, Kuo said the iPhone won't move to USB-C in 2021 . Continue reading. A better balance of premium and practical Chromebook Samsungs new Chromebook is much easier to recommend than the original, according to Deputy Managing Editor Nathan Ingraham, who reviewed the new machine this week. The company made smart choices, resulting in a computer that should satisfy a much wider swath of potential customers. We wish the battery lasted longer, and there are much cheaper Chromebooks out there, but if you dont mind spending extra for a great screen, sound and industrial design, the Galaxy Chromebook should be under consideration. Continue reading. Story continues The Pixel 4 and 4 XL will get dual camera support for ARCore in the coming weeks. Google's augmented reality animals and other virtual 3D objects in Search could look more realistic on the Pixel 4 and 4 XL in the coming days. The Google Play Services for AR app, which unlocks experiences built using the tech giant's ARCore SDK, has been updated with "Dual camera stereo depth on supported devices." An update on Google Developers' list of ARCore supported devices noted that dual-camera support would be coming, specifically to the Google Pixel 4 and 4 XL. Its just a bit of a mystery why the Pixel 5 hasnt had the same treatment just yet. Continue reading. It's the first time in nearly a year. For the first time in nearly a year, all 270 Apple Stores in the US are open. When the pandemic first made its way stateside, Apple temporarily closed some of its retail locations and said at the time it planned to start reopening on March 27th, 2020. While many stores did reopen a few months later, there were some stores that stayed mostly shut. Now, just shy of a year later, stores in Dallas, Houston and San Antonio have reopened to the public. Many locations are still operating with restrictions. Some stores only offer in-person shopping if you make an appointment, while others only have express pickup and tech support. Continue reading. Chrome and Drive are still waiting on a refresh, however. The Morning After Google has updated the Gmail iOS app for the first time in months, along with Meet, Sheets, Docs, Calendar and Tasks. Aside from Tasks now supporting widgets on iOS 14, these are minor updates centered around bug fixes and performance improvements. It's the first time Google has rolled out new versions of these apps since Apple started forcing third-party developers to submit privacy nutrition labels possibly why Chrome is still holding out. Continue reading. The Neutron will carry small satellites for mega-constellations. The Morning After Rocket Lab is developing a larger rocket that can carry much bigger payloads than its Electron reusable rocket. At 131 feet tall, the Neutron launch vehicle will be more than double the size of its predecessor and will also outstrip it in terms of lift capacity: It will be capable of carrying 8 metric tons to low-Earth orbit compared to the Electron's 660-pound capacity. Designed for a future of mega-satellite constellations, the new rocket would take up multiple satellites for services like precise mapping and next-gen internet. The Neutrons larger payload means it can take multiple small satellites in batches to specific orbital planes, creating a "more targeted approach to building out" the massive projects, said Peter Beck, Rocket Lab founder and CEO. The Neutron's lift capacity means it should be able to transport 98 percent of all satellites forecast to launch through 2029. Continue reading. But wait, theres more... What's on TV this week: 'Coming 2 America' and 'WandaVision' finale 'The Sinking City' developer says its game was illegally uploaded to Steam Twitter will label tweets with misinformation about COVID-19 vaccines Google finally makes Assistant more useful for your work life EA delays the next Need for Speed to focus on Battlefield Instagram will let four users go live in a single stream Researchers build the fastest laser-based random number generator Brian Jennings, Owner and President of CSI: The combination of CSI and 12th Tech provides our clients new flexibility to deploy a combination of physical site audits with dealer self-audits or clearing audits to enhance risk mitigation efforts while lowering average per audit costs. 12th Tech, Inc. and Collateral Specialists Inc. (CSI) today announces CSI and 12th Tech are revolutionizing the floor plan audit process by making 12th Techs new Real-Time Intelligent (RTI) Auditing System available to the wholesale finance industry throughout the United States and Canada. The combined solution delivers a sophisticated, cloud-based and mobile auditing system with one of the premier independent auditing services in the country. 12th Techs new globally scalable system combines exceptional capabilities for real-time auditing and field communication through mobile networks to enable CSI to seamlessly support traditional third-party audits or in-house teams, dealer self-audits, or electronic asset identification. The RTI Auditing System enables dealer self-audits and Dealer Clearing Audits to complement physical audits leading to enhanced audit frequency, more effective risk mitigation, and decreased average per audit costs. CSI and our all-employee audit team have successfully delivered the highest quality auditing services to the market for more than 25 years, and now we are enhancing our capabilities by providing our customers with access to 12th Techs innovative, flexible, and robust Real-Time Auditing System, states Brian Jennings, Owner and President of Collateral Specialists Inc. The combination of CSI and 12th Tech provides our clients new flexibility to deploy a combination of physical site audits with dealer self-audits or clearing audits to enhance risk mitigation efforts while lowering average per audit costs. Mark Abrams, CEO and Founder of 12th Tech, saw the need for a robust, flexible, mobile, and easy-to-use auditing system that supports multiple auditing methodologies for clients and service providers. CSI is one of the premier auditing service providers with proven expertise and industry-leading clients throughout North America. We are very excited to be working with CSI to enable them to bring enhanced auditing capabilities to their existing and new clients, states Abrams. Kinetic Advantage is one of the industrys fastest growing independent finance companies and is utilizing both 12th Techs innovative Real-Time Auditing System and CSIs auditing services to help provide their dealers with an overall superior client experience. Joe Keadle, Senior Vice President of Corporate Operations at Kinetic Advantage, states, The combination of 12th Tech and CSI enables us to choose the best auditing method while also helping our dealers streamline and optimize their auditing processes. 12th Techs leading Real-Time Intelligent Auditing System increases the quality and quantity of the audit data, while CSI provides us a great team of auditing professionals who help us ensure a high quality and consistent audit experience for our dealers. The wizard-based mobile audit capabilities are optimized across phone, tablet, laptop, and desktop devices, offering our clients the ability to focus on their operational needs, while we streamline the audit process through this industry-leading technology. The 12th Tech Real-Time Auditing system is now available through CSI and CSI is now starting deployment to new and existing clients throughout the United States and Canada. About 12th Tech 12th Tech (http://www.12thtech.com/) is revolutionizing risk management and mitigation with its Real-Time Intelligent (RTI) Auditing system, providing innovative technology to support traditional in-house or third-party audits as well as enable dealer self-audits, automated Dealer Clearing Audits, electronic asset identification, and enhanced real-time auditing and reporting. 12th Techs RTI Auditing System dramatically reduces auditing costs and intelligently helps mitigate risk - allowing Finance Companies to finally have the choice to utilize the best auditing methods across their portfolio. Our robust, scalable, and adaptive solution leverages the latest technology advances and builds on a foundation of more than 20 years of experience providing auditing technology solutions to the financing industry. The 12th Tech team is dedicated to providing the worlds best auditing system--both now and the future--to ensure our clients success. About Collateral Specialists, Inc (CSI) Collateral Specialists Inc. (http://www.csina.com/) has over 25 years of experience providing banks, financial companies, manufacturers and other captive groups the inspection and reporting expertise required to verify their collateral. Founded in 1995 by James Jennings, the company is now led by Brian Jennings. With over 500 employees in all 50 states backed by 5 offices across the country, CSI has one of the largest and most experienced auditing teams across the country. CSI is available to assist lenders across multiple industries including automobiles, agricultural equipment, construction machinery, recreational vehicles, marine products, motorcycles and all-terrain vehicles. ### 12th Tech Media Contact: Reed Stager reedstager@12thtech.com 503-548-2727, x103 http://www.12thtech.com CSI Media Contact: Kevin Power kpower@csina.com 877-383-0373 http://www.csina.com SAN FRANCISCO (BCN) Four San Francisco supervisors on Monday announced they're backing an initiative to provide free summer programs for all San Francisco Unified School District elementary students to help families deal with the impacts of prolonged school closures. Under the new initiative called Summer Programs, Learning and Activities for Youth, or Summer PLAY, the city would provide free universal summer programs for all SFUSD elementary school students, with families being able to choose between educational or recreational programs. The initiative is being backed by supervisors Matt Haney, Hillary Ronen, Myrna Melgar and Connie Chan. "With students facing increased learning loss and isolation, access to summer camps, enrichment opportunities, and wrap around services will be more important than ever. Children desperately need opportunities to safely be together again. The Summer PLAY initiative will eliminate barriers, whether cost or capacity, to ensure every kid in our city has a spot in a summer program. We have to do this," Haney said in a statement. "The educational and emotional toll that the last year of school closures has had on SFUSD families is immeasurable, and our public school families are still in desperate need of support from the city," Ronen said. "Expanding summer programming and summer learning opportunities for SFUSD families is a necessary step that we as a city must take in order to bring some much needed stability and relief to our public school children and families." SFUSD schools first closed back in March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and have remained closed while students do distance learning. And although school district officials have reached a tentative agreement with labor unions and also released a plan for resuming in-person learning, it's unclear whether schools will reopen by the end of the school year. During Tuesday's Board of Supervisors meeting, Haney, Ronen, Melgar and Chan plan on jointly introducing a supplemental appropriation ordinance pledging $15 million to fund part of the program. The supervisors are also calling on the city's philanthropic partners to cover the remaining costs. Once introduced, the supplemental appropriation will be considered at a upcoming Board of Supervisors Budget and Finance Committee. 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. Sen. Ed Markey has reintroduced a bill to end qualified immunity, which, he said, prevents accountability for law enforcement officers. Intelligent.com, a trusted resource for online degree rankings and higher education planning, has announced the Top 50 Graphic Design Degree Programs for 2021. The comprehensive research guide is based on an assessment of 188 accredited colleges and universities in the nation. Each program is evaluated based on curriculum quality, graduation rate, reputation, and post-graduate employment. The 2021 rankings are calculated through a unique scoring system which includes student engagement, potential return on investment and leading third party evaluations. Intelligent.com analyzed 188 schools, on a scale of 0 to 100, with only 50 making it to the final list. The methodology also uses an algorithm which collects and analyzes multiple rankings into one score to easily compare each school. Students who pursue any one of these programs can expect to gain employment much quicker in comparison to candidates without a degree. In addition to accessibility and cost, the steady job growth in this market is one of the many reasons Intelligent.com researched and ranked the Top Graphic Design Degree Programs. To access the complete ranking, please visit: https://www.intelligent.com/best-graphic-design-degree-programs/ 2021 Graphic Design Degree Programs featured on Intelligent.com (in alphabetical order): Academy of Art University American University Appalachian State University Arizona State University Arkansas Tech University Art Center College of Design Bellevue University Boston University California Baptist University California Baptist University, Online California College of the Arts California Institute of the Arts Chapman University City University of New York, Queens College Cleveland Institute Of Art Cobleskill University Gateway Technical College Independence University Iowa State University Kentucky Wesleyan College Lesley University Liberty University Los Angeles Film School Maryland Institute College of Art Midway University New Paltz North Carolina State University Northeastern University Northwest Missouri State University Otis College of Art and Design Pennsylvania State University Pratt Institute Rhode Island School of Design Ringling College of Art and Design Rochester Institute of Technology Savannah College of Art and Design School of the Art Institute of Chicago School of Visual Arts Southern New Hampshire University State University of New York, Buffalo Temple University The Art Institutes The New School University of Florida University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Upper Iowa University Virginia Commonwealth University Wayne State College West Texas A&M University Yale School of Fine Art About Intelligent.com Intelligent.com provides unbiased research to help students make informed decisions about higher education programs. The website offers curated guides which include the best degree programs as well as information about financial aid, internships and even study strategies. With comprehensive, user-friendly guides and hundreds of program rankings, Intelligent.com is a trusted source among students and prospective students. To learn more, please visit https://www.intelligent.com/. The Chinese leadership under President Xi Jinping made poverty eradication a cornerstone of the domestic policies. The well-planned fight against extreme poverty has finally been won. As President Xi was distributing medals to collective units and individuals who played a significant role in helping to eradicate extreme poverty, the outside world was appreciating how the transfer of economic benefits to the common man has transformed China into a low to middle income country. A recent World Bank estimate showed that over 850 million people in China have escaped extreme poverty in the past four decades. It is certainly a people's miracle for poverty-stricken populations all over the world. President Xi's fight against extreme poverty has worldwide support. Multilateral agencies including UN, World Bank and leading figures from Bill Gates to Bernie Sanders, have publicly praised China and President Xi for his unrelenting fight to eradicate extreme poverty. Over the last four decades under market reforms, the country has made great progress collectively and millions are now enjoying a better life all over China. Never before in human history has poverty and destitution came anywhere close to being completely eliminated at a national level. Under President Xi's leadership, some 10 million people were lifted out of extreme poverty annually. His personal commitment to the cause of the poor is manifested by his actions. In his initial five-year leadership term from 2012, Mr. Xi visited 180 poor regions across 20 provinces in the country. His personable style and empathy with the poor are a big winner among the general public. On the other hand, his government ran this program at a cost of over $245 billion. And despite the worldwide COVID-19 crisis, the government did not lose sight of this most noble objective. In 2020 alone, the Chinese government spent over $4,000 on each extremely poor person to help them improve their income and life chances. The design of the poverty alleviation program was developed by identifying over 800 of the poorest counties across the country. This covered around 30 percent of the total area of China. Over a million officials were tasked to study and understand the unique nature of each of these counties. Officials and local leadership of each county had a number of tools at their disposal and freedom to develop localized poverty alleviation solutions. In some areas, the solution was to modernize local farming practices, help develop personal landholdings, cultivate a different type of crop or focus on increasing per acre yield. In other counties, they worked to provide access to jobs, move populations to a nearby town or a different city. For these people who moved to new places government provided facilities for retraining, accommodation, house ownership, local schools and business grants and loans. What an independent analyst may observe is that every area had an opportunity to develop and implement a tailor-made solution. This empowered local people and gave them resources to change their lives for the better. This locally developed and owned solution model was far removed from any type of central planning or restriction. It gave them real control and a sense of ownership as they were empowered to better their lives for themselves and their communities. As a result, millions of citizens are now active stakeholders in the local economy. They and their families are enjoying an improved lifestyle with access to better health, education, jobs and entrepreneurial opportunities. These are the fruits of a cohesive society that is working on a cooperative development model. Access to higher education has been another key factor in this fight against poverty. Enrollment rates for higher and vocational education have surged. If the current trajectory is maintained, Standard Chartered projects that by 2030, around 27 percent of China's workforce will have a university education. This would put the Chinese workforce composition on the same level as Germany's in 2019 and help to increase the number of people who are earning relatively higher salaries and further decrease income disparity. In order to continue the fight against poverty and consolidate the gains made since 2012, a new National Rural Revitalization Bureau has been set up. Its aim is to continue the fight against poverty, research and develop new strategies and test them in suitable locations, and then share the knowledge across the country. The department is tasked to further continue the fight against poverty and reduce the income disparity. Another important role this new department can play is to become the world's center of excellence in poverty reduction. It should help developing countries in their fight against poverty, provide them with theoretical and practical frameworks that have been proven successful in local counties. This center of excellence can initially work closely with the countries which are participating in the Belt and Road Initiative. So alongside helping them develop macro level infrastructure and economic projects, China can help them at a micro level. It can help them alleviate poverty among their citizens and help bring them benefits from the people's miracle. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full 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, March 2 : The Congress has asked the dissenting leaders to join hands with the party to combat the BJP and clarified about the alliance with the ISF and the Left. Abhishek Manu Singhvi, Senior Spokesperson of the party said, "Congress has got its quota of 92 seats and if Left has decided to allot seats to ISF." "The alliance in West Bengal is to fight the vicious politics of the BJP and its a secular alliance," Singhvi reiterated. The clarification was also issued by State Party President Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, after Anand Sharma on Monday objected to the alliance with the ISF and said that it has to be discussed in the Congress Working Committee. The Congress asked all the dissenting leaders to join hands to combat the Bharatiya Janata Party which is practicing "goonda politics". "I think the whole idea of this front is to fight the vitiating politics of BJP, therefore I would say each one of our senior and respected colleagues should join wholeheartedly and unconditionally in that fight together to combat this false propaganda of the BJP," Singhvi said. However, Singhvi chose not to comment on those who are attacking Ghulam Nabi Azad and Anand Sharma. Effigies of Azad were burnt in Jammu. Singhvi said "it is astonishing that you are asking this question not of Mr Azad, not of people who have equal rights to raise their voice what they think is right just as Mr Azad has the right." Acharya Pramod Krishnam has supported Anand Sharma's objection to the alliance with the ISF but many like Sanjay Nirupam criticized the dissenting camp for choosing to attack their own party at election time. Anand Sharma, facing flak from many quarters, changed tack and questioned the BJP on Tuesday raising different issues. Sharma tweeted, "Its monumental mismanagement of the economy has led to mounting job losses and closure of small businesses leading to despondency among the youth of the nation." "As we head into the assembly elections, the BJP must explain non-deliverance on promises it made and must apologize for the betrayal of people's trust. More than 200 farmers have died and the government remains indifferent to their plight," he said. Congress leaders loyal to Rahul Gandhi in private said that the timing has been bad for the dissenting leaders and they will lose the sympathy of the party workers after Azad praised the Prime Minister. The controversy between the G-23 leaders and the Rahul Gandhi camp started afresh in Jammu on February 27 when the group met and attacked the party and Azad praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi a day later. On Monday Anand Sharma questioned the ISF-Left-Congress alliance. Some people believe in letting their work speak for themselves. Designer Nachiket Barve is one of them. Low-profile and hardworking, he first shot into prominence when he earned the Maharashtra State Award for the 2015-film Katyar Kaljat Ghusali. That is when the film industry first took note of this talented designer. Then, he further upped his game when he won an award for best costume designer for the 2018-Marathi film, Ani Dr Kashinath Ghanekar. Currently in the throes of designing costumes for the PrabhasSaif blockbuster Adipurush, Nachiket is snowed under with work. So, when he does find time, he says, he prefers to dedicate those moments to his eleven-month-old daughter Aarohi and wife Surabhi. Im not a party person. I wake up early and spend my mornings with my daughter. I return late at night, so she is asleep by then. I really believe it is more important to spend quality time with your kid. My wife is currently on a maternity break and will join me soon, states Nachiket. Work before stars What comes across during our telephonic chat is the quiet confidence that Nachiket exudes. He may be designing for South-Indian heartthrob Prabhas and the Bollywood dude Saif Ali Khan, who play Lord Rama and Ravana, respectively, in Adipurush, but Nachiket remains unruffled. While he clearly respects the stars he is working with, what shows through is that he manages to strike up a good rapport with everyone. I have worked with Saif before in the 2020-film, Tanhaji. Prabhas is a gentleman, gracious and easy-going. When you work on a film, there is a lot of research and background work that goes in. Given the current times, one has to be prudent about your approach, especially if he is a historical figure. For instance, Sharad Kelkars costumes for his character of the Maratha leader Shivaji were well appreciated, explains Nachiket matter-of-factly. The costume designer then talks about the positive experience of working with the star couple in Tanhaji, Ajay Devgun and Kajol. Nachiket says, They were both amiable and it was a wonderful experience working with them. As regards handling creative differences, Nachiket believes that designing for films is a collaborative venture. Once you understand what the film demands in terms of the characters background and looks, and you can implement the directors vision, it becomes a memorable ride. Also, most of these producers who have reached out to me are familiar with my body of work, reveals the designer. Meeting the Bachchans Nachiket, who has completed almost fourteen years in the world of fashion, made his impact in 2007 at the Lakme Fashion Week, impressing international critics such as former editor of Vogue International, Suzy Menkes, and the former editor-in-chief of Vogue Paris, Carine Roitfield, who were bowled over with his work. He quickly made strides in the fashion world, too, winning the British Fashion Councils Young Fashion Entrepreneur of the Year in 2010. But he jumped into the spotlight when he worked on a prestigious jewellery ad with Amitabh and Jaya Bachchan. That was the time I had entered a set, he recollects. Speaking about the experience of working with the Bachchans, Nachiket cant help but gush. He is truly a legend. I remember, for the shoot I wanted him to wear a particular kind of footwear. He ended up bringing twenty pairs of shoes for me to choose from, he adds with a chuckle. Between the two of them, they have almost a hundred years of experience, and I have learnt so many finer nuances from both. Mrs Bachchan has a fine eye for detail and she even taught me how to iron a saree properly, he confesses. Recently, Nachiket did another jewellery commercial with the Bachchans and their daughter Shweta. Calling it a wonderful experience, he adds, Shweta is so stylish and even wore the first piece of my new collection, which will be launched across my stores in the country. So how does he do the balancing act? Im not someone who can multitask well. So, it helps to have a good team in place one can rely on. And this is how I am able to focus on my film projects, he concludes. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Advertisement The governors of Texas and Mississippi have announced they are lifting all COVID-19 restrictions and mask mandates, with businesses able to reopen at full capacity within a matter of days. Texas Governor Greg Abbott said Tuesday the state's mask mandates and restrictions will end on March 10 as he vowed it was time to 'open Texas 100 percent'. This makes the Lone Star State the largest to date to end a mask mandate put in place to prevent the spread of the coronavirus that has killed more than 42,000 Texans. Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves almost immediately followed suit announcing he is rolling back all county mask mandates and removing statewide restrictions on all businesses from tomorrow, with the exception of maintaining a 50 percent capacity on indoor arenas and keeping rules in place for K-12 schools. The sudden push to reopen came just hours after CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky warned states not to rush to ease COVID-19 restrictions too quickly, despite the fall in cases and the increased pace of the vaccine rollout. The same day, Joe Biden said the US is on track to vaccinate all adults by the end of May after he invoked the Defense Production Act to speed up the manufacturing of Johnson & Johnson's newly-approved one-dose shot. Most of the country has lived under mask mandates during the pandemic, with at least 37 states requiring face coverings to some degree. But those orders are increasingly falling by the wayside with North Dakota, Montana and Iowa also lifting mask orders in recent weeks. Texas is lifting its mask mandate, Gov Greg Abbott (left with President Joe Biden on February 26) said Tuesday, making it the largest state to end an order intended to prevent the spread of the coronavirus that has killed more than 42,000 Texans Abbott said at the press conference at a Mexican restaurant in Lubbock that he will issue a new executive order that will repeal most of his other COVID-19 restrictions. The state will lift all limits on the number of diners or customers allowed inside businesses from March 10. State-mandated COVID-19 restrictions are 'no longer needed' in Texas, Abbott said. 'Removing statewide mandates does not end personal responsibility,' he said. 'COVID has not suddenly disappeared. It's just that now state mandates are no longer needed.' The governor later tweeted: 'I just announced Texas is OPEN 100%. EVERYTHING. I also ended the statewide mask mandate.' Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves immediately followed Abbott's lead, lifting the state's COVID-19 restrictions and mask mandates effective from 5 pm March 3. Instead of mandates, the state's executive orders will be replaced by recommendations. 'Today, I signed what I expect will be one of my last executive orders regarding COVID-19. Our hospitalizations have plummeted, and our case numbers have fallen dramatically as well. 'In fact, our case numbers have fallen to the point where no county meets the original criteria for a mask mandate,' Reeves said during a press conference. He added: 'I am replacing our current orders with recommendations.' People are still being encouraged to wear masks and social distance while businesses will be left to make their own policies about reopening. The only places where restrictions will remain in effect will be in K-12 schools and indoor arenas. 'I believe the most consequential debate playing out in America today is whether children should be in the classroom learning,' Reeves said. Texas will also do away with limits on the number of diners that businesses can serve indoors, said Abbott, who made the announcement at a restaurant in Lubbock. People sit at a bar and restaurant in Austin, Texas, in June 2020 Schools, which reopened in Mississippi back in August, will still have mask mandates where social distancing is not possible. Indoor arenas will continue to be limited to a 50 percent capacity of attendees. Reeves vowed that 'the governor's office is getting out of the business of telling people what they can and can't do' but urged business owners and residents to 'assess the risks and rewards' of what they choose to do. 'There will still be COVID in our communities, perhaps for a significant amount of time in our state, and across the country. We will all need to decide for ourselves how to assess the risks and rewards of each and every activity we choose to pursue,' Reeves said. 'But the risk of overwhelming our hospitals with severe COVID cases is coming to a close and gets less and less with each and every day we see more of our vulnerable get vaccinated.' People aged 65 and over and people with pre-existing medical conditions are being urged to still avoid gatherings until they have been vaccinated. Reeves tweeted that it 'is time' for the state to do away with its rules. 'Starting tomorrow, we are lifting all of our county mask mandates and businesses will be able to operate at full capacity without any state-imposed rules,' he wrote. 'Our hospitalizations and case numbers have plummeted, and the vaccine is being rapidly distributed. It is time!' Like the rest of the country, Mississippi and Texas have seen the number of new cases and deaths plunge. In Texas, hospitalizations are at the lowest levels since October, and the seven-day rolling average of positive tests has dropped to about 7,600 cases, down from more than 10,000 in mid-February. However, Texas has been one of the hardest-hit by the pandemic, with only California and New York reporting more COVID-19 deaths than the state. Texas officials announced 1,637 new infections and another 59 deaths from the virus Tuesday. This comes as Texans are still reeling from the deadly winter storms last month that barreled into the state killing at least 30 and leaving millions without power for days on end. Like the rest of the country, Texas has seen the number of cases (depicted) and deaths plunge. Hospitalizations are at the lowest levels since October, and the seven-day rolling average of positive tests has dropped to about 7,600 cases, down from more than 10,000 in mid-February Texas on Tuesday reported 1,637 new infections and 59 new deaths, according to state data (depicted) The crisis sparked by the storm fueled fears of another growth in cases in the Lone Star State as people were forced to huddle in warming shelters after rolling power blackouts left 4.3 million people without power and more than 14.6 million were left without access to safe drinking water. Dr. Lauren Ancel Meyers, a professor of integrative biology and director of the University of Texas COVID-19 Modeling Consortium, said the storm could amplify transmission of the virus in the weeks ahead, although it remains too early to tell. Masks are one of the most effective strategies to curb the spread, she said, as she warned that 'the fact that things are headed in the right direction doesn't mean we have succeeded in eradicating the risk.' Texas is now lagging behind all other states but Georgia and Utah in its vaccine rollout as health officials were forced to cancel appointments and shutter sites during the storm and shipments of doses couldn't reach health centers along the treacherous roads. Just 12.7 percent of residents have had their first dose compared to 15.3 percent of all Americans. Abbott's announcement Tuesday comes after the Republican governor has faced sharp criticism from his party over the mask mandate, which was imposed eight months ago, and other COVID-19 restrictions. The mask mandate was only ever lightly enforced, even during the worst outbreaks of the pandemic. Abbott first imposed the statewide mask mandate in July during a deadly summer surge. But enforcement was spotty at best, and some sheriffs refused to police the restrictions at all. And as the pandemic dragged on, Abbott ruled out a return to tough COVID-19 rules, arguing that lockdowns do not work. Politically, the COVID-19 restrictions in the red state elevated tensions between Abbott and his own party, with the head of the Texas GOP at one point leading a protest outside the governor's mansion. Meanwhile, mayors in Texas' biggest cities argued that Abbott wasn't doing enough. Mississippi immediately followed Texas' decision. Mississippi Gov Tate Reeves tweeted Tuesday afternoon: 'Starting tomorrow, we are lifting all of our county mask mandates and businesses will be able to operate at full capacity without any state-imposed rules' Ahead of the repeal in Texas, Democratic lawmakers urged Abbott to reconsider. 'Texas will experience more cases, more hospitalizations and more deaths,' state Rep Richard Pena Raymond, a Democrat from the border city of Laredo, told Abbott in a letter Monday. Laredo, whose population is predominately Latino, has endured some of the worst outbreaks of the pandemic, running out of beds in hospital intensive care units as recently as January. The international trade hub has been among Texas' most aggressive cities in trying to blunt the spread of the virus, taking measures that have included curfews. 'Elected by the people, your most fundamental obligation is their health and safety. Please do not abrogate your duty,' Raymond said. Meanwhile, Mississippi reported 301 new infections and 44 deaths on Tuesday. The state has recorded a total of 295,295, infections and 6,724 deaths. The move in Texas and Mississippi to ease coronavirus restrictions comes despite warnings from the Biden administration that the pandemic is far from over and to avoid rushing to relax rules. CDC director Dr Rochelle Walensky warned Monday that she is 'really worried' about states reopening as cases plateau and holes in immunity offer an opportunity for dangerous new variants to derail American progress against the pandemic. 'I remain deeply concerned about a potential shift in the trajectory of the pandemic,' she said. 'We stand to completely lose the hard-earned ground that we have gained.' Biden also warned the 'fight is far from over' and urged Americans to continue to wear masks and social distance as he ramped up the vaccination program timeline Tuesday. Mississippi reported 301 new infections and 44 deaths on Tuesday. The state has recorded a total of 295,295, infections and 6,724 deaths. Attendees walk through the Mississippi State Fair in Jackson, Mississippi in October 2020 Mississippi reported 301 new infections; the state has recorded a total of 295,295, infections Mississippi reported 44 new deaths on Tuesday. The state has reported a total of 6,724 deaths since last year Texas and Mississippi (pictured) joined other states in easing coronavirus restrictions, despite warnings from health experts that the pandemic is far from over Biden said Tuesday the US will have enough doses for every adult in the country to be vaccinated by the end of May after the Defense Production Act was used to assist Merck with manufacturing Johnson & Johnson's COVID-19 vaccine. Because it's a one-dose vaccine more people can be vaccinated with fewer doses. 'When we came into office the prior administration had contracted for not nearly enough vaccine to cover adults in America,' he said pointing a finger at former President Donald Trump. 'We rectified that about three weeks ago and were able to say that we'll have enough vaccine supply for adults by the end of July.' 'I'm pleased to announce today as a consequence of the stepped up process that I've ordered and just outlined, this country will have enough vaccine supply - I'll say it again - for every adult in America by the end of May. That's progress,' the president added. He also announced an initiative to get schools reopened by prioritizing the vaccination of K-12 teachers and staff using the federal pharmacy program during a brief speech from the White House's State Dining Room. Dr Amesh Adalja, an infectious disease specialist at Johns Hopkins University, said he believes states and cities have leeway to ease some COVID-19 restrictions now because hospitals no longer are at capacity in most communities. 'I do think that masks are likely going to need to be kept in place for some time until we get more of our vulnerable populations vaccinated,' he said. 'It is important for restaurants who are increasing their capacity to remember that we are still in a pandemic and to continue to follow some of those rules,' Adalja said. Several states have been lifting COVID-19 restrictions some time before Texas and Mississippi and questions are mounting over where could be next for an easing of rules and mask mandates. In Massachusetts, Governor Charlie Baker lifted restaurant capacity limits entirely from Monday. Theaters can now open at 50 per cent capacity, with a maximum of 500 people. And capacity limits across all businesses have been raised to 50 per cent. In Missouri, where individual communities get to make the rules, the two biggest metropolitan areas - St Louis and Kansas City - have already relaxed some measures. Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas said Friday bars and restaurants could resume normal hours and all size limits on events and gatherings were lifted but kept the mask mandate in place. Over in Iowa, the governor recently lifted mask requirements and limits on the number of people allowed in bars and restaurants, while the town of Lawrence, home to the University of Kansas, now lets establishments stay open until midnight. Las Vegas on Monday became the latest of the nation's largest school districts to return children to classrooms. Pre-K children to third graders will go back two days a week, with other grades to be phased in by early April. CDC director Dr Rochelle Walensky (pictured) warned Monday that she is 'really worried' about states reopening as cases plateau and holes in immunity offer an opportunity for dangerous new variants to derail American progress against the pandemic And in California, Governor Gavin Newsom and legislative leaders reached an agreement aimed at getting most children back in classrooms by the end of March. Under the deal announced Monday, school districts could receive up to $6.6billion if they reopen by March 31. The precipitous decline in new infections over the past few weeks was treated as a blessing and a curse by public health officials like Walensky, who said she was encouraged by the somewhat mysterious trends, but cautioned that it was not yet time for the US to relax. Experts struggled to explain the downturn, attributing it in part to the number of Americans who now have immunity from prior infection, in part to people getting serious and following restrictions and, to a lesser degree, the early effects of vaccinations. More than 15 per cent of Americans have now had at least one dose. But now their fears seem to be coming true. The seven-day rolling average of new infections was up on Monday, to 64,794, according to a DailyMail.com analysis of Johns Hopkins University data. On Monday, 1,566 Americans died of COVID-19. That still marked a 3.5 per cent decrease over a week but, by comparison, fatalities fell nearly 23 percent between the preceding two Mondays (February 15 to February 22). Hospitalizations fell to their lowest level since November 1, 2020, with 46,738 people in inpatient for COVID-18 in the US. But scattered upticks in hospitalizations are being reported. Norman, Oklahoma has seen a slight increase in its number of hospitalized coronavirus patients. Iowa saw an increase of eight per cent over the weekend. More than 28.7 million cases of the virus have been reported in the US in the last year A year into the pandemic, public health experts admit that lockdowns may no longer have a place in the US response, and the need to get Americans back to work - safely - is hard to deny. But they're also seeing a familiar pattern that has set the US back in the past. 'We've been here before!' Dr William Shaffner, a Vanderbilt University public health professor told DailyMail.com during a recent interview when asked about the promising downturn in COVID-19 cases. 'Once again, we may be in that upward swing of the rollercoaster. I understand that it's imperative to open up the economy, but we have to control the virus first. 'I do have concern that here in the US, as cases have diminished , once again some political leaders are reflexively trying to open things up, saying we don't need to wear masks...that is D-U-M, DUM. If they haven't learned that by now, they're incapable of learning.' Of course, things aren't exactly the same as they were last spring, when states started relaxing restrictions amid a lull in new infections during the warm season. At that point in the pandemic, there were no authorized treatments for COVID-19, scientists were still learning just how transmissible it was, and why it was so deadly, and vaccines were in their early phases of development. Fast-forward 10 months, and the US has three authorized COVID-19 vaccines. Nearly 77 million Americans have had at least one dose and Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson are on track to provide the nation with enough doses to inoculate every adult by July. Already, the effects of the accelerating vaccine rollout are evident in nursing homes, where COVID-19 cases and deaths plummeted by 75 per cent since the vaccine rollout began in mid-December. Three-quarters of nursing home residents have had at least one dose of vaccine too, according to the CDC. After declining on a steep slope from the January peak through mid-February, new daily COVID-19 infections have plateaued in the US, with 58,812 new cases and 1,566 deaths on Monday, raising fears among health officials that states may relax restrictions too soon and fuel a fourth wave And access is expanding to other Americans. Vaccinations are open to anyone over 65, as well as health care workers and nursing home residents across the country. Many states have moved into their phase 1B stages, vaccinating additional groups like people with underlying conditions, teachers or other essential workers. Mike Lee, who owns Trezo Mare Restaurant & Lounge in Kansas City, said he hopes increased vaccine access, combined with warmer weather, will improve business. 'I think that people are excited to put this past them and be able to start to get back to their ways of doing things,' Lee said. But vaccinations aren't proceeding uniformly across the US, with some states lagging behind. In Missouri, where Lee's lounge is located, just 14.6 per cent of people have been vaccinated, below the national average of 15.3 per cent. The push to reopen comes as COVID-19 vaccine shipments to the states are ramping up. In total, more than 102 million doses of vaccines have been distributed by the CDC with 78.6 million shots in the arms of Americans, the CDC said Tuesday. More than 15 per cent of the nation's adults - or over 77 million people - have received at least one dose of vaccine. In total, over 51 million have received one or more doses, while 26 million have had the second dose as of Tuesday, meaning nearly eight per cent have been fully inoculated two-and-a-half months into the campaign to snuff out the virus, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Johnson & Johnson shipped out nearly 4 million doses of its newly authorized, one-shot COVID-19 vaccine Sunday night to be delivered to states for use starting on Tuesday. The company will deliver about 16 million more doses by the end of March and a total of 100 million by the end of June. That adds to the supply being distributed by Pfizer and Moderna and should help the nation amass enough doses by midsummer to vaccinate all adults. The White House is encouraging Americans to take the first dose available to them, regardless of manufacturer. In New York City, where limited indoor dining has resumed, officials said the J&J vaccine will help the city to inoculate millions more people by summer, including through door-to-door vaccinations of homebound senior citizens. Cases and hospitalizations have plunged since the end of January, and deaths have also dropped sharply, but they are still running at dangerously high levels and have even risen slightly over the past several days. 'We cannot be resigned to 70,000 cases a day and 2,000 daily deaths,' Walensky said. Employees with the McKesson Corporation scan a box of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine while filling an order at their shipping facility in Shepherdsville, Kentucky, on Monday Overall, the outbreak has killed more than a half-million Americans. The vaccine already is contributing to a decrease in severe cases and deaths among older people, and is 'quickly becoming a bigger contributor' nationally, Justin Lessler, an expert in infectious diseases at Johns Hopkins University, said in an email. 'I suspect we will see it overtake natural infection as the biggest driver of immunity late spring earliest, more likely midsummer,' Lessler said. The Biden administration wants to see all three vaccines distributed evenly, while also acknowledging that the easy-to-handle J&J vaccine will be used in pop-up mobile sites and locations without freezer storage capacity. The US ranks fourth in the world, behind Israel, the United Arab Emirates and Britain, in the number of doses administered relative to the population, according to data compiled by the University of Oxford. President Joe Biden fell well short of his goal of setting up 100 new federally operated mass-vaccination sites by the end of February, with just seven up and running. White House vaccination coordinator Jeff Zients also acknowledged that scheduling of vaccination appointments ' remains too difficult in too many places'. But he said the White House is working with states to improve scheduling systems and is exploring federal support for call centers to make it easier for people to get appointments. A decision by South Korean health authorities to allow more doses to be extracted from coronavirus vaccine vials sparked controversy on Tuesday as the country ramped up its vaccinations of healthcare workers and the elderly. The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) had allowed healthcare workers to use the remaining doses if they can squeeze more out of each vial with low dead space syringes, which minimize the amount of vaccine left in the syringe after use. While offering discretion over the use of remaining doses, KDCA made clear the authorities will not make the extraction of the extra doses a new standard or mandatory as it can burden the healthcare workers on site. Experts were divided about the decision for permitting up to seven doses to be extracted from Pfizer vaccine vials which are made to contain only six using the low dead space syringes, and up to 12 doses from AstraZeneca's vaccine, which would otherwise inoculate 10 people with normal syringes. Eom Joong-sik, professor of infectious diseases at Gachon University Gil Medical Center, warned of the risk of contamination during inaccurate extraction of the extra seventh dose. A worker trying to combine leftovers from two vials to make a full dose could lead to such problems, Eom said in a Facebook post. The government hasn't made it mandatory to squeeze extra dose out of a vial and there is a designated person in charge of extraction in large medical centres, which makes it easier for them to draw an extra dose safely, said Ki Mo-ran, professor of cancer control and population health at National Cancer Center. KDCA said 23,086 people were given first doses of AstraZeneca and Pfizer shots by Monday midnight. South Korea has reported 344 new cases on Monday, adding to the total tally of 90,372, with 1,606 deaths. Short link: With the quality of simulation training improved, especially through the adoption of modern, innovative training methods and techniques, the Ukrainian Ground Forces will be able to raise to a new level the standards of personnel training, both individual and collective. Commander of the Ukrainian Ground Forces, Colonel-General Oleksandr Syrsky said this in an interview with Defense Express, according to Ukrinform. "We've embarked on a sweeping campaign to put in place new means and techniques of combat training. Thus, we have brought the laser-based tactical engagement simulation (TES) systems MILES and LaserTag into company-level tactical exercises. This provides a combined benefit of saved resources, improved level of combat training and better team coordination," Syrsky said. According to the report, training sessions with laser-based TES systems proved to be a success, given that a decision had been taken to quickly enough field these systems to all military training centers and exercise ranges. Commander of the Ukrainian Ground Forces, Colonel-General Oleksandr Syrsky inspects a training facility / Photo courtesy of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine "Given the experience gained from exercises held in 2020, this year we plan to field LaserTag systems to all of the Ground Forces' unit training centers and combined arms exercise ranges," Syrsky said. On a parallel track, work has been continued to refurbish the fleet of combat vehicle driving simulators for individual and collective training. In addition, work has been underway to create collective training simulators based on the virtual training environment software facilities VBS-3 and VBS-4. op Hyundai Motor Group Chairman Chung Euisun, left, Honorary Chairman Chung Mong-koo By Nam Hyun-woo Hyundai Motor Group and Hyosung Group requested that the Fair Trade Commission (FTC) recognize their new chairmen, according to the Fair Trade Act, which regulates chaebol's business practices. This recognition bears significance because it determines the FTC's scope in considering whether certain companies are affiliated as a conglomerate or not. That status subsequently decides which companies are subject to regulations on conglomerate owners' unfair profiteering from intra-affiliate trading. According to industry officials, Hyundai Motor Group has recently requested the FTC to recognize Chairman Chung Euisun as the group's chief, according to the act. If the antitrust agency accepts this request and announces Chung as the chief, the automobile giant will have a new legal chief for the first time in 21 years. The FTC announces a list of the large conglomerates under a number of antitrust regulations every May. While doing so, the regulator also announces the de facto leader of those conglomerates. The Fair Trade Act states that, an "enterprise group means a group of companies or businesses that are substantially controlled by the same person." Apart from job titles, such as "CEO" or "chairman," the FTC recognizes this person as the de facto leader of a conglomerate and demands each group to designate someone, because this designation determines which companies are affiliated and subject to FTC regulations on conglomerates. Chung became chairman of the group in October last year, but the FTC still recognizes his father, Honorary Chairman Chung Mong-koo, as the legal head of the group. In principle, the FTC recognizes a group's legal chief depending on that person's actual influence. Given that Chung has been spearheading a series of new initiatives in the group's future businesses, such as autonomous driving, the transition to electric vehicles and hydrogen vehicles, odds are that Chung will be named the legal head of the group in this year's FTC announcement. However, others say it remains uncertain whether Chung will be recognized by the regulator, because he still has minor stakes in key affiliates of the group. Chung has a 2.62 percent stake in Hyundai Motor, a 1.74 percent stake in Kia and a 0.32 percent stake in Hyundai Mobis as of the end of the third quarter of last year. If he is recognized as chief of the group, a number of changes are expected in the list of Hyundai affiliates in relation to antitrust regulations in place to prevent unfair profiteering. Currently, the regulations are applicable to companies in which the owner's family members hold more than a 20 percent stake, and subsidiaries in which a leader's family members hold more than a 50 percent stake. Pending FTC recognition of Chung as leader, the group is anticipated to overhaul its shareholding structure between affiliates. Due to the aforementioned regulations, the Chungs have to lower their stake in Hyundai Glovis from 29.99 percent to 20 percent to comply with regulations. Industry officials say the capital infused from this reduction will be used to fund the shareholding structure overhaul. Hyosung Group Chairman Cho Hyun-joon Please enable cookies on your web browser in order to continue. The new European data protection law requires us to inform you of the following before you use our website: We use cookies and other technologies to customize your experience, perform analytics and deliver personalized advertising on our sites, apps and newsletters and across the Internet based on your interests. By clicking I agree below, you consent to the use by us and our third-party partners of cookies and data gathered from your use of our platforms. See our Privacy Policy and Third Party Partners to learn more about the use of data and your rights. You also agree to our Terms of Service. A primary school teacher is set to stand trial after she was accused of violently attacking two young pupils. The 55-year-old faces five charges of assault relating to a series of alleged attacks, including one incident where it is claimed she pushed a boy with such force he hit a classroom radiator. It is alleged she pinned a boy to the ground by sitting on his body before holding his arms to the ground with her knees. The teacher, who cannot be named due to reporting restrictions, pleaded not guilty to all the charges at a short hearing yesterday. She will face a three-day trial at Aberdeen Sheriff Court at the end of this month. The teacher will face a three-day trial at Aberdeen Sheriff Court at the end of this month Alongside one accusation of assault against the child in 2018, the woman also faces a series of charges against another boy, dating from March to July 2019. Prosecutors allege that in March 2019 she assaulted the boy by grabbing him by the body and dragging him along the ground at a school in Aberdeenshire. Another two incidents are said to have taken place in April that year. It is claimed the teacher pinned a boy to the ground by sitting on his body before holding his arms to the ground with her knees. The following month, she is accused of having assaulted the same child by shoving him on two separate occasions. Another incident is reported to have taken place in July 2019 where the woman is accused of grabbing the boy and dragging him along the ground, injuring him in the process. A spokesman for Aberdeenshire Council said: 'We await the outcome of court proceedings and continue to work closely with Police Scotland. We are also continuing to engage with the school community.' Tuesday, March 2nd, 2021 RCI Banque discloses updated binding MREL (1) requirement RCI Banque has received the notification from ACPR, the French Prudential and Resolution Supervision Authority, implementing the decision of the Single Resolution Board (SRB) and discloses its updated binding minimum requirement for own funds and eligible liabilities (MREL(1)). MREL requirement is no longer defined on consolidated basis but has been set on an individual basis for both RCI Banque S.A and its French subsidiary DIAC S.A. RCI Banque S.A. MREL requirement has been set at 8% of total risk exposure amount (TREA(2)) and 3% of leverage ratio exposure (LRE(3)) As of today, RCI Banque S.A. already complies with this MREL requirement. Future requirements will be subject to ongoing review. (1)MREL: Minimum Requirement for own funds and Eligible Liabilities. The Bank Recovery and Resolution Directive (BRRD) requires European banks to maintain a minimum amount of Own Funds and Eligible Liabilities that could absorb losses and allow them to restore their capital position, allowing banks to continuously perform their critical economic functions during and after a crisis. MREL represents one of the key tools in enhancing banks' resolvability. The purpose of this buffer of own funds and eligible liabilities is to avoid banking authorities having to resort to public funds. The MREL is set by the Single Resolution Board (SRB) on a per institution basis. The MREL requirement for RCI Banque is defined at an individual level. (2)"TREA" means the total risk exposure amount calculated in accordance with Article 92(3) of Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 (3)"LRE" or "leverage ratio exposure" means the total exposure measure calculated in accordance with Articles 429 and 429a of Regulation (EU) 575/20137 Contact Analysts and Investors Financial Communication + 33(0) 1 76 88 81 74 contact-investor@rcibs.com About RCI Banque S.A. Created and wholly owned by Groupe Renault, RCI Banque S.A. is a French bank specializing in automotive financing and services for the customers and dealership networks of Groupe Renault (Renault, Dacia, Alpine, Renault Samsung Motors and Lada) worldwide, the Nissan group (Nissan, Infiniti and Datsun) mainly in Europe, Brazil, Argentina and South Korea and through joint ventures in Russia and India, and Mitsubishi Motors in the Netherlands. RCI Bank and Services has been the new commercial identity of RCI Banque S.A. since February 2016. With 3,800 employees in 36 countries, the group financed over 1.5 million contracts (for new and used vehicles) in 2020 and sold more than 4.6 million services. At end-December 2020, average performing assets stood at 46.9 billion in financing and pre-tax income at 1.003 million. RCI Bank and Services has rolled out a deposits collection business in six countries since 2012. At end-December 2020, net collected deposits totaled 20.5 billion, or 43% of the company's net assets. Find out more about RCI Bank and Services: www.rcibs.com Follow us on Twitter: @RCIBS Attachment The MIT Press has announced the launch of Direct to Open (D2O). A first-of-its-kind sustainable framework for open access monographs, D2O moves professional and scholarly books from a solely market-based, purchase model where individuals and libraries buy single eBooks, to a collaborative, library-supported open access model. D2O gives institutions the opportunity to harness collective action to support access to knowledge. Beginning in 2022, all new MIT Press scholarly monographs and edited collections will be openly available on the MIT Press Direct eBook platform. Instead of purchasing a title once for a single collection, libraries now have the opportunity to fund them one time for the world through participant fees. Amy Brand, director and publisher of the MIT Press sees the model as a way to increase the impact and accessibility of high-quality scholarship. "Direct to Open brings libraries and the Press together collaboratively, stepping outside market models, to open up our high quality professional and scholarly works. Comprehensive access to OA scholarship will increase the impact of research and contribute to the knowledge-sharing mission of the academy." In addition to supporting open access for new scholarly monographs, partner libraries will also gain term access to an archive of gated titles, including classic works from luminaries such as Richard Feynman, Rosalind Krauss, Umberto Eco, Daniel Dennett, Noam Chomsky, Paul Krugman, Sherry Turkle, Slavoj ?iek, and many more. To keep the model affordable for all institutions, D2O will feature equitable and dynamic participation fees based on library type, size, and collections budget. The MIT Libraries has generously signed on as the special launch sponsor for the program. "The MIT Press has been a leader in open access publishing for more than two decades, and Direct to Open builds on and extends that legacy with an innovative funding model for book publishing using an equitable and collaborative approach," says Chris Bourg, director of Libraries at MIT. "The MIT Libraries is pleased to support this approach, which aims to make scholarly monographs open and available to all." The D2O pilot program provides an alternative to the traditional market-based business model for professional and scholarly monographs. Until the mid-1990s most U.S. university presses realized sales of 1,500-1,700 units per title, selling just enough copies--largely to academic libraries--to cover both direct and indirect costs. Monograph sales today are typically in the range of 300-500 units. Publishing these works now requires internal subsidy or partial subventions from institutional or philanthropic sources. The Direct to Open model makes the Press's core mission of curating and disseminating long-form scholarship more sustainable. "The D2O model is the kind of bold experiment that university presses and research libraries ought to be working on together to shape the emerging academic publishing ecosystem," notes Greg Eow, president for the Center for Research Libraries and member of the MIT Press Management Board. "D2O represents an opportunity in the current moment to reconstitute institutional relationships among mission aligned organizations, such as university presses and research libraries, to create an open knowledge commons. It is exactly the opportunity libraries should be supporting." ### D2O was developed with the generous support of the Arcadia Fund, a charitable fund of Lisbet Rausing and Peter Baldwin. In the summer of 2021, the Press will release a report on the D2O program that peer institutions can adopt and adapt, with the aim of making it possible for many more scholarly monographs published each year by university and other mission-driven presses to be discovered, accessed, and shared broadly. To learn more about D2O or to sign-up to become a participating institution, visit direct.mit.edu/books/pages/direct-to-open. Media Contact Kate Silverman Wilson Community and Resource Development Associate The MIT Press One Rogers Street | Cambridge, MA 02142 kswilson@mit.edu mitpress.mit.edu OPEN LETTER FROM FEMINISTS AND WOMENS GROUPS March 2, 2021 To, The Chief Justice of India, Justice S.A. Bobde. Honble Chief Justice of India, Shri Sharad Arvind Bobde, We the representatives of Indias womens movements and concerned citizens, are appalled and outraged at the remarks made by you during the hearing in Mohit Subhash Chavan vs. The State of Maharashtra & Anr. on 1st March 2021, as reported by the media. You were hearing the petition for protection from arrest, of a man accused of stalking, tying up, gagging, repeatedly raping a minor girl, and threatening to douse her in petrol and set her alight, to hurl acid at her, and to have her brother killed. The facts of the case are that the rape came to light when the minor school-going victim attempted suicide. You asked this man if he was willing to marry his victim, saying he should have thought of the consequences of seducing and raping a young girl. By suggesting that this rapist marry the victim, you, the Chief Justice of India, sought to condemn the victim to a lifetime of rape at the hands of the tormentor who drove her to attempt suicide! It fills us with rage that women bear the burden of having to explain the meaning of seduction, rape, and marriage even to the Chief Justice of India, a man, who unlike us, holds the power and duty to interpret the Constitution of India and sit in judgement. Shri Bobde, seduction is an act in which both parties participate consensually. Rape is a violation of consent and a persons bodily integrity, hence nothing but an act of violence. The two cannot be conflated under any circumstances. In another case (Vinay Pratap Singh vs State of UP) also reported in the media yesterday, you asked, If a couple is living together as man and wife, the husband may be a brutal man, but can you call the act of sexual intercourse between a lawfully wedded man and wife as rape? This comment not only legitimises any kind of sexual, physical and mental violence by the husband, but it normalises the torture that Indian women have been facing within marriages for years without any legal recourse. The Bombay High Court held the Sessions Court order giving bail to Mohit Subhash Chavan to be atrocious, adding that,the approach of the learned Judge from such a reasoning clearly shows his utter lack of sensitivity in such serious matters. These same observations apply to you, albeit in far greater measure. Your proposal of marriage as an amicable solution to rape of a minor girl is worse than atrocious and insensitive it is downright sinister and deeply erodes the right of victims to seek justice. Women in India continue to confront grossly patriarchal attitudes by persons in authority police personnel and even judges who propose compromise solutions for rape. The reality of what a compromise means is brought home by several judgments which note how the survivor or a relative committed suicide or was murdered for resisting a settlement with her rapist. (It is Not the Job of Courts to Arrange Compromise Marriages of Rape Survivors, The Wire, 26 June 2015) We bore witness when your predecessor sat in judgement over an accusation of sexual harassment against himself, and lobbed false, defamatory attacks on the complainant and her family from the Bench of the Supreme Court. You also colluded by refusing her the right to a fair hearing or even the enquiry report. In another case, you have refused to admit an appeal against the atrocious acquittal of a convicted rapist on the premise that a womans Feeble No might mean a Yes. You have asked why women farmers are being kept in protests against farm laws and asked for them to be sent back home again, implying that women lack the autonomy and personhood that men do. Then yesterday, you have that brutality by a husband against a wife could not constitute rape. Enough is enough. Your words, scandalise and lower the authority of the Court. Your continued presence as CJI puts every woman in India in danger. It sends a message to young girls that their dignity and autonomy are of no value. From the towering heights of the post of CJI of the Supreme Court, it sends the message to other courts, judges, police and all other law enforcing agencies that justice is not a constutional right of women in India. This will only lead to the further silencing of girls and women, a process that took decades to break. To the rapists, it sends the message that marriage is a licence to rape; and that by obtaining such a licence, the rapist can post facto decriminalise/legalise/sanitise his act. We demand that you retract your orders from your shameful day in court yesterday and tender an apology to the women of this country. We demand that you step down from the post of CJI without a moments delay. endorsed by: Well known womens rights activists such as: Annie Raja, Mariam Dhawale, Kavita Krishnan, Kamla Bhasin, Meera Sanghamitra, Arudhati Dhuru, Maimoona Mollah, Zakia Soman, Chayanika Shah, Hasina Khan About 50 groups and networks including All India Progressive Womens Association, All India Democratic Womens Association, National Federation of Indian Women, Saheli, Forum Against Oppression of Women, Bebaak Collective, Bharatiya Muslim Mahila aandolan, Domestic Workers Union, Dalit Womens Fight, BASO, Women and Transgender Orgs Joint Action Committee, Feminists in Resistance, Gather Sisters, Mahila Sampark Samiti, Human Rights Forum, Mazdoor Kisan Sangharsh Samiti, Jan Chetna Manch, Ekal Nari Shakti Sangathan, Peoples Union for Civil Liberties, Women Against Sexual Harassment, Orinam Collective, Jan Swasthya Abhiyan, New Socialist Initiative Eminent citizens, intellectuals, writers, journalists, and cultural artists such as Admiral L Ramdas, Aruna Roy, Nikhil Dey, Pamela Phillipose, Anand Sahay, Devaki Jain, John Dayal, Laxmi Murthy, Apoorvanand, Farah Naqvi, Ayesha Kidwai, Anja Kovacs, Geeta Seshu, Maya Rao, Sooni Taporevala, Anjali Monteiro, K.P Jayasankar, Nupur Basu, Anamika Haksar For more info: saheliwomen[a]gmail.com; Kavita Krishnan: 9560756628; Anuradha Banerji: 8860824559 The death in February of a Tibetan protester serving a 21-year prison term for sharing news of Tibetan protests with Radio Free Asia has temporarily slowed the flow of information from residents of Tibets Driru county, where local Tibetans have staged frequent protests against Chinese rule. Kunchok Jinpa, aged 51 and a Driru (Chinese, Biru) county resident, had vanished in custody after being detained in November 2013, and died on Feb. 6 in a hospital in Lhasa after being transferred from his prison in critical condition, Tibetan sources and rights groups said. Jinpa had suffered from paralysis and a brain hemorrhage resulting from torture in prison, and was at least the seventh Tibetan political prisoner reported during the last year to have died, either in prison or following release, from injuries inflicted in custody. He had gone to live and study in exile in India in 1989 and returned to Tibet in 1998 to work as a tour guide, and was widely respected in his community, sources told RFA in an earlier report. Jinpa had also been an important source of information for RFA,on protests in Tibets restive Driru county, where Chinese police have clamped down for years on communications to stop politically sensitive information from leaving the region. On May 23, 2013, Jinpa called RFAs live radio show Round Table Talk to inform listeners that at least 5,000 Tibetans were protesting mining activities planned by China on a sacred mountain, Naklha Dzambha, where similar protests had been launched two years before. Mining operations in Tibetan regions have led to frequent standoffs with Tibetans who accuse Chinese firms of disrupting sites of spiritual significance and polluting the environment as they extract local wealth for shipment back to China. And on Nov. 13 that same year, Jinpa again called RFA to say that three Tibetans had been arrested in Driru for putting up posters drawing attention to the conditions of Tibetans lives under Beijings rule and calling for Tibetan freedom. Wave of detentions The arrests followed a wave of detentions in the area of Tibetans resisting forced displays of loyalty to the Chinese state, including orders by authorities to fly the Chinese national flag from their homes. Villagers had refused to fly the flags, throwing them instead into a river, prompting a deadly crackdown in October in which security forces fired on protesters in Drirus Sengthang and Trinring villages, leaving four dead and at least 50 injured, sources said. Suspected by police of contacting RFA and other foreign news outlets, Jinpa was later arrested by Chinese police and sentenced to a 21-year prison term of which he served less than half before his death. Formerly an independent nation, Tibet was invaded and incorporated into China by force nearly 70 years ago, and the Dalai Lama and thousands of his followers fled into exile in India and other countries around the world following the failed 1959 uprising against Chinese rule. Chinese authorities maintain a tight grip on the region, restricting Tibetans political activities and peaceful expression of cultural and religious identity, and subjecting Tibetans to persecution, torture, imprisonment, and extrajudicial killings. Reported by RFAs Tibetan Service. Translated by Tenzin Dickyi. Written in English by Richard Finney. Kerala to issue Covid vaccination certificates with passport number for people who plan to go abroad Motor strike: Normal life hit in Kerala, public vehicles including keep off roads India oi-Madhuri Adnal Thiruvananthapuram, Mar 02: Normal life was affected in Kerala during the initial hours of Tuesday as a dawn-to- dusk motor strike, called by a joint committee of various trade unions to protest the spiralling fuel price in the country, began. State-run KSRTC buses did not operate while taxies, auto-rickshaws and private buses remained off the roads across the state since the agitation began by 6.00 am. Commercial vehicles including trucks and lorries were also not plying to express solidarity with the stir, called by Samyuktha Samara Samithi, an umbrella organnisation of various trade unions. Explained: Why traders, transporters are calling for Bharat Bandh? Though the Committee requested allprivate vehicles to keep off the road, they made it clear that they won''t block such vehicles. While the Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh, a pro-BJP union, kept away from the agitation,all other major trade unions including the Indian National Trade Union Congress (INTUC) and Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) vowed support to it. All the exams scheduled for Tuesday have been postponed in the southern state. The SSLC, plus two, VHSC exams also have been rescheduled to March 8, government sources said. Farmers' Protest: Delhi's Ghazipur border partially opens for vehicular traffic| Oneindia News The APJ Abdul Kalam Technology University and Kerala, Kochi, Kannur and Mahatma Gandhi universities have also postponedall examinations scheduled in view of the 12-hour- long vehicle strike. A shapeshifting queer being that gets its life from sex sounds cool as hell, but with, the latest from the Into the Dark anthology, something is lacking. Heres why I didn't love it. When the episode begins, were introduced to Tara (Dana Drori - Straight Up), squatting in open houses and living out of her car. She soon meets Sam (Casey Deidrick - In the Dark) and they begin a whirlwind romance that includes moving in together after knowing each other for, I would guesstimate a few weeks? When things go awry, like Tara becoming more irritable and not telling him whos on a phone call, Tara confesses that she had a stalker and he must have found her. Sam decides to propose to Tara, and of course, she says yes, because this is the Valentines Day episode after all, and things get worse from here. Soon, Sams earaches become unbearable, Tara begins acting shady, and Sam has a chance to meet Taras stalker her ex-husband. Once Tara, you know, kills her ex-husband (Evan Williams - Versailles) after he shows up at her house, Sam helps her hide the body and visits the location where Tara and an old friend used to be seen around a lot. There, he finds a corpse in the wall, making it just your average hideaway shack, Tara shapeshifts into Sam and sleeps with (see: assaults) his best friend/business partner, and Tara makes her big reveal: a giant tentacle lives inside of her stomach! Thats what the scar is! The episode concludes with Tara draining Sam and shapeshifting into him permanently, a fantastic shot of Sams ear falling off, and a man who also has a tentacle in his stomach finding Tara and introducing himself. Now that were all caught up, lets get into the pros and cons of this episode. Pro: the story itself. While its not the most original story, I thought the writers did a good job of setting it out from others by adding in the sexual aspect, and by allowing the female character to shapeshift. It was interesting to see how, in order to completely take over Sam, she worked on even mundane tasks such as a doctors appointment to get Sam just perfect for taking over. Con: the pacing. We dont even see a tentacle until the last act, and when we do, its lacking. The CGI could be better, and by the time we even get to this scene, youre just waiting for the episode to end rather than being excited for the reveal. The insane build-up to a very weak reveal was disappointing, to say the least. Pro: the ending. While, again, the build-up to this couldve been better, the ending left the episode open to a possible sequel of sorts sort of like they did with Pooka! in the sense that its a new story branching from something else. Con: I had nobody to root for. Almost all of the characters, save for Esther (Kasey Elise - The Dispute), were different forms of dumb horror-movie cliche, annoying, or doomed to die anyway. I know that tropes and cliches are tropes and cliches for a reason, but did we have to include so many ridiculous moments that made me dislike their characters? For example, after Tara tells Sam that she had a stalker and he must have found her when Sam is out one day, Tara hears knocking at her door and opens it. She doesnt ask who it is, she doesnt look out a window or call through the door, she straight up opens it. When she has a stalker out there. Obviously, we learn later that this is probably because she can take whoever was at the door using her tentacle, but when you dont know that, she appears a bit dumb. Then theres Sam. Not only was he strangely aggressive in wanting to get to know Tara better but he also does something just as dumb as Tara did with the door. When Tara is searching for him in Esthers apartment, he runs somewhere and slams the door shut behind him. Dude. Youre being followed! Why arent you trying to be absolutely silent? Overall, I think the premise itself was fun, but the delivery wasnt great, and I was bored fairly quickly. Both literally and figuratively, Into the Darks Tentacles is too quiet to make the impact the show so desperately needs. A painful tradeoff between a number of infected and negative economic impact must be considered before deciding on the lockdown strategy within a city. As national economies continue to crumble, citizens wonder whether their governments did a good job at regulating the lockdown measures. The Russian city of St. Petersburg is at the frontlines of this ongoing war with Covid-19. To combat this situation effectively, the Russian government allocated significant funds for the research. Results followed. Scientists from Peter the Great St.Petersburg Polytechnic University (SPbPU) modified the existing SIR class pandemic prediction, model. Now it is better. But why? What is the nature of this modification? Why is it necessary? And what kind of benefits does this modification provide? Let's take a look: The existing SIR (Susceptible - Infected - Recovered) class of models is widely known. There are many modifications to the SIR model. One of them is SEIR (Susceptible - Exposed - Infected - Recovered) The SEIR model was taken as a basis and then expanded to include another group: individuals in isolation or quarantine. That was the modification. But why is this so important? To account for individuals in isolation or quarantine? Let's read the quote from the study: "This modification of the SEIR model allows the number of susceptible individuals available for infection during modelling to be adjusted according to isolation scenarios (i.e., measures designed to prevent susceptible people from becoming infected). This means the model becomes more accurate, as the reduction of individuals in contact during the pandemic is objectively present in society. Moreover, the modification creates the possibility for scenario modelling. Scenario modelling involves assessing the epidemiological consequences of various strategies for countering the spread of an infectious disease in a given region." This model has been tested on data from St.Petersburg. A set of six experiments was sufficient to assess the impact of quarantine measures. The initial data for each experiment include isolated industries that indicate the timing of the introduction and lifting of isolation measures. The results of this first group demonstrate that the dynamics of the virus' spread have a nonlinear dependence on the number of workers employed in the isolated sectors of the economy. For example, the isolation of three economic sectors, which make up approximately 42% of the total number of workers, reduce the peak number of infected people by 6.2 times and the total number of patients by 4.83 times. Isolation of six sectors of the economy, accounting for 80% of the total number of workers, reduces the peak number of infected people by 75 times and the total number of recovered individuals by 56 times". The results of the second group show that the introduction of measures to isolate the economy and public life in the early stages of virus' spread can reduce the incidence of the disease and bring an earlier end to the pandemic. Conversely, the late introduction of isolation measures affects the dynamics of the disease's spread to a lesser extent. These results support assessments made by leading epidemiologists. These results indicate that the optimal disease-countering strategy is total isolation as early as possible. This modified version of the SEIR model can be used to develop strategies for countering the spread of infectious diseases. It also enables researchers to assess the possible mortality in each case as a proportion of the total infected and recovered population. The article develops a methodological apparatus of a SIR-class model for practical use in decision-making by regional leaders. The barometer indices edged higher and hit the day's high in morning trade. The Nifty reclaimed the 14,900 mark. All sectoral indices on the NSE were trading in the green. At 10:24 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 478.12 points or 0.96% at 50,327.53. The Nifty 50 index was up 143.15 points or 0.97% at 14,904.7. In broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index was up 1.21% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index was up 1.03%. The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was strong. On the BSE, 1719 shares rose and 762 shares fell. A total of 161 shares were unchanged. COVID-19 Update: Total COVID-19 confirmed cases worldwide stood at 114,417,054 with 2,537,563 deaths. India reported 168358 active cases of COVID-19 infection and 157248 deaths while 10798921 patients have been discharged, according to the data from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India. Economy: The gross GST revenue collected in the month of February 2021 came at Rs 1,13,143 crore of which CGST stood at Rs 21,092 crore, SGST at Rs 27,273 crore, IGST at Rs 55,253 crore (including Rs 24,382 crore collected on import of goods) and Cess at Rs 9,525 crore (including Rs 660 crore collected on import of goods). The GST revenues crossed Rs 1 lakh fifth time in a row and crossed Rs 1.1 lakh crore third time in a row post pandemic despite this being revenue collection of the month of February. The GST revenues for February are 7% higher than the GST revenues in the same month last year. During the month, revenue from import of goods was 15% higher and the revenues from domestic transactions are 5% higher than the revenues from these sources during the same month last year. Meanwhile, Communications Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad has said that on the first day of Telecom spectrum auction yesterday, winning bids received till 6 PM were worth 77 thousand 146 crore rupees. This has already substantially exceeded pre-bid estimates of 45 thousand crore rupees. He said, bidding took place for spectrum in 800, 900, 1,800, 2,100 and 2,300 Megahertz. Mr Prasad said, participants did not bid for 700 and 2,500 Megahertz. The auction of spectrum commenced at 10 AM yesterday and four rounds of bidding took place till 6 PM. Another one or two rounds are expected today. Three bidders, Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Idea and Reliance Jio Infocomm are participating in the auction. Buzzing Index: The Nifty IT gained 1.88% to 25,018.65, rising for second trading session in a row. The index added 2.95% in two days. L&T Infotech (up 3.63%), Mindtree (up 2.77%), Tech Mahindra (up 2.33%), Wipro (up 2.2%), Infosys (up 2.19%), TCS (up 1.64%) and Coforge (up 1.43%) were top gainers in IT segment. Stocks in Spotlight: Cipla surged 1.27%. The drug major has received final approval for its Abbreviated New Drug Application (ANDA) for Sumatriptan nasal spray, 20 mg from the United States Food and Drug Administration (USFDA). The product is an AB-rated generic therapeutic equivalent version of GlaxoSmithKline's Imitrex nasal spray. Imitrex is a serotonin (5-HT1B/1D) receptor agonist (triptan) indicated for acute treatment of migraine with or without aura in adults. Separately, Cipla announced that its subsidiary, Cipla Gulf FZ LCC, is expanding its partnership with Alvotech for the marketing and distribution of four biosimilar medicines in Australia and New Zealand. Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) fell 1.79% after the company informed about the termination of all existing contracts of mobile catering. In a regulatory filing made after market hours on Monday (1 March 2021), the company said that Ministry of Railways, in compliance of orders of High Court of Judicature at Madras, has directed IRCTC to terminate all existing contracts of mobile catering (currently kept in abeyance) involving scope of work of providing cooked food to passengers prepared from base kitchens as per the existing terms and conditions. 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 the heels of three straight million-dollar seasons, driver Mitchell Cushing has embarked on a westward journey one he hopes can help him reach the next stage of his fledgling career. Cushing, a 23-year-old Michigan native who began driving for his dad, Ron, at fairs in Maine where the Cushing family name is part of harness racing's fabric has been plying his trade in Ohio for the past three months after competing primarily in Maine and at Planridge Park and Saratoga Casino Hotel since gaining his full license. While Cushing did develop into one of the most sought after drivers in New England, a simple phone call to order a race bike from Ohio horseman Chad Foulk turned into the impetus for Cushing's move to the Buckeye State. Chad and I just got to talking, Cushing said in a recent profile from the United States Trotting Association. It really was nothing I had planned. He had mentioned to me coming out and wanting to try it out, and if I wanted to stay, he could offer me what he has for a sires stakes barn, so that was a pretty good offer. In addition to Foulk's stable, Cushing reconnected with trainer Mike Hitchcock, for whom he drove early in his career. I grew up driving for Mike Hitchcock ever since I was 19, and he had moved out there, Cushing continued. I gave him a call and told him my conversation with Chad. Mike said, Just tell me when youre coming, well get you set up, well go from there. Well put you on the horses and well get rolling. So far, Cushing has won 10 of his 126 starts this year and his drives have earned $104,622. And while he achieved respectable success at his east coast base, winning 617 races and earning $4.5 million in purses over the last three seasons, the long commutes to chase one or two odd drives are something he won't miss. I was living in Saratoga and driving 2-1/2 hours to go to Plainridge, which I made a good living at, Cushing said. Then I would drive three hours to Freehold on the weekend, and from Freehold, work my way to The Meadowlands and go home from there. Now, no matter when I get in the car, unless I were to go to Northfield or The Meadows, Im driving 75 miles, citing the drive from Grove City, Ohio, to Miami Valley Raceway and the even shorter trip to Eldorado Scioto Downs, which opens later in the spring. So, in that way, its a breath of fresh air. Its a quick drive, youre racing for one of the best purse structures in the country, and youre racing 14 or 15 races a day. Mitchell Cushing, pictured winning at Miami Valley Raceway with Better Days Ahead, is settling into his new surroundings in Ohio. Mitchell Cushing, pictured winning at Miami Valley Raceway with Better Days Ahead, is settling into his new surroundings in Ohio. In the past three months, Cushing hasn't quite gotten to nearly the start he had hoped, but he's optimistic that opportunities will pick up for him when many of the Midwest's top drivers return to Harrah's Hoosier Park later in the month. In a competitive sense, I wish it would be a little better, but I cant complain with how its going, he said. I cant complain, Im getting some work, Im doing well enough with what I have. Hitchcocks horses are doing very well, Im fortunate to get started with him. Itll be nice when Indiana opens up, Cushing said. Hopefully, things pick up a little more. Youve got a lot of good drivers here with Hoosier being closed. Theres a lot of helmets, theres more helmets than spots on the racetrack right now so hopefully well see a little bit of a change and a little bit of a pick-up, and well go from here. Right now, in the sense of money, its not far off of what Im used to getting. My results are not the same, but that will get there. The renaissance of racing in the Midwest thanks to strengthening sires stakes programs in both Ohio and Indiana can also pave a potential path to the Grand Circuit for Cushing, albeit an unconventional one by traditional wisdom. Ive talked to Chad at times and some other people, and if you want long-term goals Grand Circuit-wise, Ohio is strong anyway, he concluded. I think theyre going to make a big impact in the next couple years if not sooner. Pat McCann, the chief executive of hotel group Dalata, is to step down from his role following a transition period. Mr McCann, who has served as CEO since founding the company in 2007, is also stepping down from the board. Dermot Crowley, currently deputy CEO, will succeed Mr McCann, according a statement from the group. The announcement was made as the group reported a loss after tax of 101m in respect of last year. Read More The group said its proactive cost reductions and government support schemes protected employment and cash during periods of low occupancies. Dalata said its balance sheet, which includes hotel assets of 1.2bn, provides it with security and opportunity. Revenue at the group fell by 68pc last year to 136.8m, as tourism sector was particularly badly impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic. During the year the group had 31pc occupancy, compared to 83pc in 2019, according to annual results. The average room rate was 89 down from 113 the prior year. Dalata, whose brands include the Maldron and Clayton hotels, is Irelands largest hotel group. Commenting on his decision to step down, Mr McCann said: "It has been a privilege to lead Dalata. I am immensely proud of everything we have achieved but most of all, I am proud of our people, who continue to demonstrate dedication and resilience, in what has been a difficult year for many of them. I thank the board for their support over the years and wish Dermot every success in his role as CEO, which I have no doubt he will excel in." The company said the board of directors undertook a rigorous and extensive succession planning process led by its nomination committee, with input from international executive search firm Korn Ferry. Mr Crowley emerged as the leading candidate, and his appointment as CEO-designate is the unanimous decision of the board. John Hennessy, Dalata chairman, said Pat McCann has been instrumental in growing Dalata, and its Clayton and Maldron brands, into a leading player in the hotel sector in Ireland and the UK. Having founded the business in 2007, he has successfully transformed Dalata, creating a listed business comprising 44 hotels, 9261 bedrooms and a pipeline of 13 new hotels with 3300 rooms. His leadership and his ability to engage our people has been critical to that success. He added that he is delighted Mr Crowley will succeed Mr McCann. The board is confident that Dermot is the right person to lead Dalata in the period ahead, Mr Hennessy said. Mr Crowley was appointed as deputy CEO, business development and finance of Dalata in 2012. The Dublin-listed company said he played a key role in the flotation of Dalata in 2014 and led the acquisition of the Moran Bewley Hotel Group in 2015. Prior to joining Dalata Mr Crowley worked as head of development with Jurys Doyle and as a financial controller within Forte Hotels. WHAT ARE YOU WATCHING? Are you streaming the latest series? Revisiting a classic on cable? Pulling out your Blu-rays or DVDs? Let us know what you're watching by emailing eyest@bakersfield.com for possible inclusion in an upcoming column. On the morning of Feb. 10 in Chula Vista, Calif., a long line of people wrapped around a building and a sense of anticipation filled the air. At the sound of an approaching truck, some residents began waving excitedly, while others wiped tears from their eyes. This was no rock concert or celebrity sighting, however. It was the kickoff to a pop-up vaccination site run by local firefighters who have spent the past month going door-to-door in poor Hispanic neighborhoods vaccinating seniors for COVID-19 in an operation dubbed Operation Immunity. Knocking on doors, traveling to trailer parks and manning vaccination centers, the firefighters have so far inoculated more than 1,000 people residents who might have otherwise fallen through the cracks. Our firefighters realized that we have a large population within our community that didnt have the ability to jump in a car and drive down, didnt have the ability to get on the phone and make an appointment. Some folks didnt even have web access to get online and see where these vaccination centers were, Chula Vistas battalion chief Darrell Roberts told Yahoo News. As firefighters, we are very entwined in the community and we know where these people are at, so we started to do a community reach out. A Chula Vista resident gets vaccinated by a local firefighter. Since the start of the pandemic, there have been 27,453 cases of COVID-19 reported in the city of almost 300,000 residents and whose population is roughly 60 percent Hispanic. According to a July 2019 U.S. Census report, about 10 percent of Chula Vistas residents also fall below the poverty line. What the pandemic has shown is a lot of disparities within the health care system and people being able to access good health care, Chula Vista Mayor Mary Casillas Salas explained to Yahoo News. We knew that we had to do something extraordinary in order to make sure that our community that was heavily impacted by COVID-19 got the best immunization programs that we could possibly offer. Story continues Roberts says the fire department learned about many hard-to-reach residents through calls and requests on social media, where relatives have shared stories of incapacitated family members or those struggling with a language barrier. A 20-year Chula Vista fire department veteran, Roberts describes the first day of the program as an incredible moment in history for the firefighters as people welcomed them with thunderous applause from those whod come to get vaccinated at a local community center. Chula Vista residents wait in line to get vaccinated by firefighters. (City of Chula Vista) For many people, it was almost like a party atmosphere for them, realizing we were going to them, Roberts said. To see literally dozens of elderly people outside on their driveway waving to us as we were coming by, we were almost at a sense of urgency like we better get to these people before it gets dark. "I just appreciate they come here and help us out so we dont have to worry about going somewhere, Chula Vista resident Sung Ja Oh shared with KPBS radio. A lot of people cant drive the people who live here. Roberts said the expressions of gratitude were a therapeutic reprieve from the daily trauma that firefighters are exposed to, especially in the midst of another disastrous wildfire season for California. For many of our firefighters, one in particular, a 32-year veteran of the fire service and he says this last week was the most gratifying time as a firefighter that he has ever spent. That really says something about the program and how lucky we are to provide that service. The city's first goal is to continue to vaccinate those who are most vulnerable. We have no end goal, Salas said. As many of those vaccines become available to our city, we fully intend to deploy our firefighters and our ambulances to provide that service to our community. The next priority for Operation Immunity is vaccinating Chula Vistas homeless population, which numbers roughly 2,000 people. Roberts says hes hopeful that Johnson & Johnsons single-dose vaccine, which received an emergency-use authorization this weekend from the Food and Drug Administration, would be an easier route to take in inoculating a more transient community. Our firefighters are considered heroes in our community, Salas added. We know from many testimonies that they are incredibly grateful for what the city of Chula Vista and our firefighters are doing for them. ____ Read more from Yahoo News: For the past 15 years, Mely Dela Cruz has been looking after seniors in their homes, and she didn't stop when COVID-19 started to spread. For the past 15 years, Mely Dela Cruz has been looking after seniors in their homes, and she didn't stop when COVID-19 started to spread. The home-care aide has worked throughout the pandemic, meticulously donning her personal protective gear and asking her clients COVID-19 screening questions before she goes into their homes. "I didn't stop working," she said. "I know people need me they need help." Mely Dela Cruz, a home care aide for 15 years, asks clients questions to screen for COVID-19 before she enters their homes. (John Woods / Winnipeg Free Press) Filipina women such as Dela Cruz are bearing much of the brunt of COVID-19 in Manitoba. They are contracting the virus at higher rates, along with other racialized people who work in front-line jobs, newly released provincial data show. COVID-19 infection rates are higher among Indigenous, Filipino, African and South Asian residents of Manitoba, likely because they're over-represented in essential labour fields, says the COVID-19 by Race, Ethnicity and Indigeneity report, which was released Monday. Racialized people account for 51 per cent of positive COVID-19 cases in Manitoba, even though they make up only about 31 per cent of the province's population. Filipina women, in particular, appear to be testing positive at disproportionately high rates representing 12 per cent of Manitobans who became infected, although they account for seven per cent of the population. It's the first time the province has released race-based data it has been collecting since last May, when it became mandatory for public health nurses and contact-tracers to ask Manitobans who tested positive for COVID-19 to self-identify their ethnicity. Still, the question is only being asked about 67 per cent of the time in different health regions in the province, and the report notes the data would be more reliable if the question were consistently asked at least 75 per cent of the time. The sample sizes for particular industries are small, but the report indicates most of the COVID-19 infections are in the food manufacturing, transportation and service industries, including accommodations and retail. The burden of this virus, the report notes, is lowest for white men. "We knew early on that BIPOC (Black, Indigenous and people of colour) communities would be disproportionately affected, just as they are in other jurisdictions, so we really wanted to see the data to be able to report back to our partners and try to use this to find solutions," said Manitoba chief provincial public health officer Dr. Brent Roussin. When asked how, specifically, public health officials would use the data in the short term, Roussin said they will supply materials in more languages. The figures are unsurprising to many, and opposition politicians say the data comes too late to make proactive changes to policy. NDP Leader Wab Kinew said the government should have released the information sooner, during the height of the second wave of the pandemic, last fall. "Now that this information has been released, its incumbent on government to work with people from these communities to find ways that we can keep everybody in the province safe from COVID-19," he said. Liberal Leader Dougald Lamont said the province should factor in infection risks from different demographic groups when setting COVID-19 vaccination priorities. Lamont also said the information provided Monday would have been more useful had updated population figures been used. He noted that population data used in the report dates back to the 2016 census. Filipina women such as Mely Dela Cruz are bearing much of the brunt of COVID-19 in Manitoba, contracting the virus at higher rates, along with other racialized people who work in front-line jobs. (John Woods / Winnipeg Free Press) The report shows that governments need to do more to provide comprehensive paid sick leave to all employees, even those who work in precarious jobs, said NDP MLA Malaya Marcelino, critic for immigration and the status of women. Marcelino said she hears from women who work in care homes who have contracted the virus at work and brought it home to their families. They need proper sick pay, she said. "They're the ones who are keeping the economy going; they're the ones who are protecting everybody else, so that everybody else can stay home and stay safe. These women do not have the luxury to stay home and stay safe." For her part, Dela Cruz hasn't contracted COVID-19. She hears from people who express fear that she may be carrying the virus or bring it into their homes, but overall, she said she trusts her clients and they trust her. She's trying to stay upbeat. "I feel confident going to work because I've always been careful," she said. "So far, I'm OK." with files from Larry Kusch katie.may@freepress.mb.ca Twitter: @thatkatiemay Archdiocese of New Orleans says Johnson & Johnson COVID vaccine is 'morally compromised' Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment A Roman Catholic diocese is urging the faithful to refrain from taking one of the available coronavirus vaccines due to its use of aborted fetal cells in production and testing. The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New Orleans released a statement Friday expressing concern about the latest coronavirus vaccine granted approval for use in the United States, which was manufactured by Johnson & Johnson. The statement began by acknowledging that coronavirus vaccines have used "morally compromised cell lines created from two abortions that occurred, one in the 1970s and one in the 1980s." "The Archdiocese of New Orleans, in light of guidance from the Vatican, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, and The National Catholic Bioethics Center affirm that though there was some lab testing that utilized the abortion-derived cell line, the two vaccines currently available from Pfizer and Moderna do not rely on cell lines from abortions in the manufacturing process and therefore can be morally acceptable for Catholics as the connection to abortion is extremely remote," the statement continued. Citing the same guidance, the archdiocese maintained that it "must instruct Catholics that the latest vaccine from Janssen/Johnson & Johnson is morally compromised as it uses the abortion-derived cell line in development and production of the vaccine as well as the testing." "We advise that if the Moderna or Pfizer vaccine is available, Catholics should choose to receive either of those vaccines rather than to receive the new Johnson & Johnson vaccine because of its extensive use of abortion-derived cell lines." The Archdiocese of New Orleans' statement came as the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee unanimously recommended that the Johnson & Johnson vaccine receive an Emergency Use Authorization Friday. On Saturday, the company reported that the FDA issued the Emergency Use Authorization, clearing the way for the vaccine to be administered in the U.S. Unlike the vaccines created by Moderna and Pfizer, the Johnson & Johnson vaccine is a single-shot vaccine. Johnson & Johnson announced that it was planning on shipping enough doses of the vaccine so that 20 million Americans would be vaccinated by the end of March. The manufacturer aims to have delivered 100 million doses of the shot by the middle of 2021. The Archdiocese of New Orleans' statement is not the first time that leaders in the Catholic Church have issued a statement urging Catholics to refrain from taking a specific coronavirus vaccine. In December, bishops from Colorado's three Roman Catholic dioceses issued a similar statement characterizing the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines as "morally acceptable" while arguing that the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine was tainted. "Vaccines such as AstraZeneca-Oxford use aborted fetal lines in design, development, production, and testing, and therefore are not a morally valid option because better options are available," the bishops wrote in a letter. At the time the letter was written, the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine had not been approved for an Emergency Use Authorization by the FDA and still has not to this today. The Charlotte Lozier Institute, the research arm of the pro-life group Susan B. Anthony List, has put together a comprehensive table featuring data about all of the coronavirus vaccine candidates, including those that have yet to enter clinical trials. The table, updated on Jan. 4, notes whether abortion-derived cell lines were used in the design and development or production of the vaccine and if the cell lines were used in confirmatory lab tests. Along with the Johnson & Johnson and Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccines, a coronavirus vaccine manufactured by the Gamaleya Research Institute, which has entered phase 3 of clinical trials and has been granted early approval in Russia, uses an abortion-derived cell line in design and development, production and confirmatory lab tests. Meanwhile, vaccines manufactured by the Beijing Institute of Biological Products, the Wuhan Institute of Biological Products, Bharat Biotech and the Indian Council of Research, which are in phase 3 clinic trials and have been granted early approval in China or India, do not use abortion-derived cell lines at any point during confirmatory lab testing, design and development or production. According to data from the Centers for Disease Control, more than 96 million doses of the coronavirus vaccines have been delivered in the U.S. as of Monday, while nearly 51 million Americans have received at least one vaccine dose. An additional 25 million Americans have received both doses of either the Moderna or Pfizer vaccine. Posted Monday, March 1, 2021 4:40 pm After so much negative economic news the past year, its exciting to see industries locating at the Port of Chehalis and bringing jobs to the community. First we heard that the port closed its largest sale ever with the $2.5 million sale of three buildings on 10 acres at 123 Habein Road to McCallum Rock Drilling, a family-owned company with a hundred employees in Lewis County, according to Randy Mueller, the ports chief executive officer, who updated members of the Chehalis Community Renaissance Team in February. They were growing and wanted to consolidate into one facility, Mueller said. Weve been talking to them for about three years. They do plan on probably doubling their employment in the next two or three years. He noted that McCallum hires a lot of workers for entry level jobs as well as more sophisticated positions such as diesel mechanics, rock drillers, drone assistants, powder men and truck drivers. Theyve got a number of employees making six figures in very skilled technical work, Mueller said. The company, which started in 1988, provides drilling and blasting for road and highway construction, quarries, and residential and commercial development throughout eight states. Then we learned that Costco will build a large logistics center on 100 acres at the port, the largest building in Lewis County at 1.5 million square feet. Its not a retail warehouse where you can go and buy stuff, so thats terribly disappointing, Mueller said. Sorry about that. But this is still pretty good. The Logistics Center will employ workers to fulfill online orders in five or six western states. The port and Costco still must gain approvals before the center could be constructed, but they might break ground as early as 2022. Mueller said the center should employ 200 people by the end of its first year. Costco employees earn an average of $60,000 a year after working for the company for six years. Its also a company known for providing employees with good benefits. Just last week Costco announced it will raise the minimum wage it pays its workers to $16 an hour beginning this week. Costcos rated one of the top three best companies to work for, Mueller said. A 2018 study by Comparably.com listed Costco, Google and T-Mobile as the best large companies in the United States to work for. Whats refreshing is to see the news splashed across the ports website, Facebook page, and local media, plus the posting of decades of port commissioner meeting agendas and minutes on the website. Open government is so important to instilling trust. Secrecy destroys it. We just wanted to get out in front and make sure people have the right information, Mueller said. We are open and transparent to a fault. We will always err on the side of being open and transparent. When the legal conditions allow us to and its appropriate, were always going to share as much data as we can. Port officials have been patient while working with companies that will bring high-quality jobs that boost the median family income in Lewis County, Mueller said. The secondary impacts of that payroll on the community will be significant as well. The increase in property taxes will also be a boon to Lewis County. If its in the city limits, it will pay for a cop, Mueller said. If its in the county, itll pay for a deputy sheriff. Its going to pay for another teacher at the school district. You go down the list and the added property tax revenue from a building like this is really substantial. Those developments could spur construction of new housing in the region to meet increasing needs. This is all on the planning level right now, so its all subject to change, Mueller said. Every time I speak I remind folks that this is certainly not a done deal. But the outlook for Chehalis is rosy. Chick-Fil-A Now, all we need is a Chick-fil-A in Lewis County. After a fruitless trip to Lacey in search of the ever-elusive coronavirus vaccine last weekend, my husband and I decided to stop at the restaurant off Marvin Road, where two long drive-through lines snaked around the busy place while polite workers in red jackets took orders at car windows. The scrumptious chicken sandwiches are cooked in peanut oil, and waffle fries cant be beat. It took decades for the wildly popular Georgia-based fast-food restaurant, which started as a hamburger joint known as the Dwarf Grill in 1946 and rebranded as Chick-fil-A in 1967, to open its first franchise in Washington. But since that first restaurant opened in Bellevue in March 2015, the company has expanded tremendously, adding restaurants in Tacoma, Lakewood, Puyallup, Vancouver (two), Lacey, Federal Way, Tukwila, Renton, Seattle, Bothell, Kirkland, Covington, Fircrest, Lynnwood, Marysville, Spokane, and Bonney Lake. Chick-fil-As founder S. Truett Cathy, a Southern Baptist who died in 2014, made his children sign a contract saying the company would always remain private, according to an article at https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/311452 All 2,605 Chick-fil-A restaurants across the nation are closed Sundays to give employees time to rest and worship if they wish. Only Alaska, Hawaii, and Vermont dont yet have a Chick-fil-A. I havent figured out why the popular restaurant known for its conservative values hasnt opened a franchise in Centralia, Chehalis, or Napavine yet. It costs only $10,000 to start a local franchise, but competition is fierce. The company opens about 75 or 80 stores each year, according to the article. But if and when we do have one coming to town, pull out your camping gear. The first 100 customers to camp in front of the new location before opening day receive free Chick-fil-A for a year. COVID-19 Vaccine And, if you qualify for the COVID-19 vaccine but cant schedule an appointment, go to this Facebook page: Find a COVID shot WA. List your request and wonderful volunteers will help you find a place to receive the vaccine. Julie McDonald, a personal historian from Toledo, may be reached at memoirs@chaptersoflife.com. BEIJING/HONG KONG (Reuters) - China's Ant Group is working on measures to help staff with "short-term liquidity problems", its executive chairman said in internal messages, after the halting of the fintech giant's $37 billion IPO dashed employees' hopes of cashing in their shares. The listing of the affiliate of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding last November would have made some of the company's employees millionaires or billionaires. Eric Jing told Ant employees last week that the company would review its staff incentive programmes and roll out some measures starting from April to help solve their financial problems, according to two people who have seen the messages. Some Ant employees recently expressed frustration on social media for not being able to sell the company shares they own after Chinese regulators abruptly halted Ant's dual-listing, which was set to be the world's largest, in November. Jing made the comments in response to employee questions about Ant's future on the company's internal website, said the people, who declined to be named as they were not authorized to speak to the media. The company's share buyback programme for employees has been halted since July last year due to the planned initial public offering, one of the people said, which would have given them an opportunity to monetize their holdings. Ant declined to comment. The Wall Street Journal first reported the news. "Our company will certainly become a public company and I'm very confident about it all along," Jing was cited by the people as saying in the internal messages. "Our preparation work won't stop." Ant is currently working on plans to shift to a financial holding company structure following intense regulatory pressure and to rein in some of its operations and subject them to rules and capital requirements similar to those for banks. A group business structure overall, however, means that the company could proceed with the IPO within two years, Reuters has reported. "This rectification won't make Ant weak, but will make us healthier, with a greater stage for growth," Jing said, without disclosing the details of the restructuring plan. (Reporting by Yingzhi Yang in Beijing and Sumeet Chatterjee in Hong Kong; Additional reporting by Beijing newsroom; Editing by Susan Fenton) Gorakhpur : , March 2 (IANS) In a shocking incident, a man strangled his two-year-old daughter and handed over the body to his elder daughter in a village here. The accused has been arrested after his wife, who works at a brick kiln at Baijnathpur, lodged a complaint with the police. The accused was thrashed by the local people before being handed over to the police. According to the police reports, the accused Ramesh, an alcoholic, used to beat his wife Indu. She left him to stay with her father, who works at a brick kiln at Baijnathpur. She took her three children -- Kajal, 8, Prince, 5, and Shreya, 2, -- and was working at the brick kiln. Kajal was unwell on Sunday and when Ramesh got to know, he came and took the three children with him on a motorcycle. He returned on Monday with Kajal carrying the body of Shreya. The villagers caught and thrashed Ramesh and handed him over to police after Kajal told them that he had strangled Shreya. Kajal told police that Ramesh took them to several places on motorcycle, and then to an orchard to sleep at night. Ramesh strangulated Shreya using the scarf of Kajal who woke up on hearing her cries. Kajal also told police that Ramesh used to say that Shreya is not his daughter. SHO Chiluatal, Neeraj Kumar, said, "The accused Ramesh has been arrested and booked under Sections 302 (murder) and 506 (Punishment for criminal intimidation) IPC and the body has been sent for post mortem." The New Guy seemed dazed as he toured the office with his predecessor. Tall and hunched, like a pro athlete five years into retirement, the New Guy looked too old to be a captain. It was 2012. I was a lieutenant in the U.S. Army, stationed at Camp Phoenix, working with a small team assigned to build police stations throughout Kabul for the Afghan National Police. We worked with police commanders to determine what physical infrastructure they needed to get ready for the supposed 2014 withdrawal of U.S. forces. It was a unique vantage point on a war already 10 years old and largely feeding on itself, like a terrarium in Thunderdome. Advertisement Our old boss, Luke, was an engineer in the Air Force. He would go out every day for meetings with Afghan police commanders, return to the office, and review blueprints and contracts for 12 hours. He spent his free time working on his Ph.D. When Luke introduced the New Guy, an Air Force reservist, as the new boss, we explained our jobs, dozens of projects. The New Guy had no questions; he just muttered easy enough or thats just some project management stuff, with relaxed, breezy confidence. Advertisement Advertisement Luke, ever the professional, left so that the New Guy could take charge without the former boss lingering. The office was a small room with plywood walls and three cheap wooden desks side by side. I sat on one side. The other lieutenant, Mike, sat opposite, with the New Guy now in the middle. As soon as we sat down, he explained that a doctor told him that to avoid jet lag he needed to rest one day for every hour he flew. He figured that his flight had been 14 hours, so he would see us in two weeks. And with that, he left the office. Advertisement Mike took the rifle to the New Guys boss and explained. The major said that he would keep it and see how long it took the New Guy to report it missing. This is not going to go well, Mike said. For several days, Mike and I continued our work. We went on missions, designed projects, and wrote contracts. This new guy was actually going to try to sleep for 14 days. It was heroic, in a way, to be so self-contained. As if Melville had written Bartleby, the Napper instead. We were just getting used to not having a boss when I bumped into the Operations Officer, Maj. Harrison. He was third in command and always harried. Some people begin to physically resemble their occupation. He was an armor officer and had the attributes of a tankphysically big, loud, and aggressive. Staron, wheres the New Guy? he asked. The boss hasnt seen him around. Advertisement Well, sir, about that. I then explained the New Guys regimen for jet lag and that we hadnt seen him for a couple days. Hes just been fucking sleeping? Harrison turned to one of his captains and sent them to retrieve the New Guy. Stand there until he actually leaves his fucking room. And so the New Guy started coming to work. Mike was in the final weeks of his deployment. He had no patience left, so it fell to me to try to bring the New Guy up to speed. I took him around Kabul to show him our projects and introduce him to the Afghan police commanders and contractors who were working with us. As we drove through the city, he pointed out the window at a group of Afghan women. Advertisement LT, whats the deal with the women in blue robes? Are they nuns? No sir, they dont have nuns here. Theyre wearing the traditional burqa. When we returned to the base after these trips, the New Guy would generally disappear to nap for several hours, leaving us alone to do the administrative work. One day, I went back to the office to start working and found Mike as angry as I had ever seen him. Advertisement Whats up, man? He left his fucking rifle in the office, Mike said. Afghan workers cleaned and did maintenance on the base. Mike had turned in his chair to find one of these workers holding the New Guys M4 rifle. For a split second, Mike had assumed that he was going to be the next victim of one of the insider attacks that had become all the rage lately across Afghanistan. Instead, the worker just needed to get to the A/C unit. Advertisement Mike took the rifle to the New Guys boss and explained. The major said that he would keep it and see how long it took the New Guy to report it missing. It took nearly a day. After that, the New Guy began to talk about disloyalty and deceitfulness in the office. It drove Mike crazy, but only for the few final days before he left for good. Our commander, Col. Remigio, was an Army colonel from the infantryshort and intense, a yeller. His high-pitched voice would rise until it gave a pubescent crack, then he would return to normal as if all the air was out of the balloon. Each week, the New Guy had to brief Remigio, and every week, Remigio would be disappointed in the New Guys inability to answer questions. The New Guy didnt know his own projects, and for the detail-oriented Remigio, that was a cardinal sin. Advertisement Staron, this isnt that serious, the New Guy liked to say to me. This isnt a real war. After one such performance, Remigio took the New Guy to his office and screamed at him for 45 minutes. Just as Remigio was about to wind down, the New Guy leaned back in his chair and said, Look, sir, what you need to understand about me is that Im 90 percent civilian. According to a major who was in the office, Remigio was slightly stunned, but took a breath and went back to screaming, for another 45 minutes. For the next few days, the New Guy asked me about it regularly. It was all he could talk about. That was so unprofessional, he said. Is that how yall do things in the Army? Staron, this isnt that serious, the New Guy liked to say to me. This isnt a real war. My brother was finding improvised explosive devices in Kandahar, one of my best friends had been nearly killed by a suicide bomber, and two guys I went to college with had been killed in Regional Command-East. The war seemed real to me. At the very least, I considered it not unserious. Advertisement Every so many days, like clockwork, the New Guys mantra would unleash something in me. Relax, hed say, one time too many, and I would explode. The New Guy would laugh and say that I needed Jesus. I would storm out of the office. Advertisement Advertisement Fortunately, our teams civilian contractor, Dan, had inherited a humidor with about 400 cigars from another contractor. We would go to a patio and smoke while Dan talked about his ex-wife and I calmed down. The sessions usually ended with us looking at the Hindu Kush mountains in the distance with the sun fading and Dan wistfully saying that he would build a ski resort over there someday. I dont think he has yet. Advertisement The New Guy was still taking his post-mission naps in the afternoon but would return to the office in the evening to do online shopping until late into the night. He had an affinity for leather goods. We began to avoid the office after dinner. And as Col. Remigio became more critical of him, the New Guys attitude began to shift. He wasnt as breezy as before. He became arbitrary. He demanded the plans for a multimillion-dollar project in two or three days, even though such an undertaking would require weeks of work. He would sink into long periods of silence in the office, increasing the unease. He didnt do any work, just continued appraising leather coats online. Then, apropos of nothing, he would assign me a deadline to complete online training on emotional intelligence. Advertisement The New Guy once shared that his career manager told him that he wouldnt be promoted to major without a deployment, so he had to come to Afghanistan. It had only taken him 10 years. For him, the war in Afghanistan was something to be endured in order to get to a better tomorrow. At least he was honest about what he was trying to accomplish by being there. As opposed to those who felt disappointed and cheated that this was their war. I heard this sentiment countless times. We need to get back to real fighting. No more of this insurgency bullshit. As if we had a choice on whether an insurgency would break out, existentially speaking. (As opposed to through policy, which almost ensured an insurgency.) Every time I heard officers say they wanted a real war with real fighting, I wanted to give them a hug and apologize for the lack of battles of the Bulge. Advertisement To these guys, the war in Afghanistan was also something to be endured in order to get to a better tomorrow. A tomorrow with a lot of tanks fighting tanks, hopefully. When I first arrived to Afghanistan, someone passed along a word of comfort: Dont worry. You cant fuck it up. Its Afghanistan. Its already fucked. Advertisement In this kernel lay the closest approximation of a strategic vision for the day-to-day administration of Americas war in Afghanistan, which had assumed its own reality, its own internal logic. For instance, before even coming to Afghanistan, the New Guy had been required to attend adviser training at Fort Polk. He spent his training paying bills and online shopping, which was a tough habit to break, it seemed. Many of my colleagues had completed this course and remained in touch with trainers there. Through that grapevine we heard that the New Guys instructor, appalled by his indifference to training, had sought to have him removed from the deployment. The instructor reported the New Guy to different bosses, including attempting to shame the New Guys unit for sending him in the first place. The response: There was no one else who would be ready to deploy in time. The instructor said, It would be better if no one went than to send this guy. The New Guy was sent. Advertisement It didnt matter which direction the ball was moving, so long as 11 players were on the field. I was never quite sure that the New Guy understood where he was. It was as if he had been hit in the head on Sept. 10, 2001, and been in a coma until mid-2012, at which point he was awakened and informed that he was going to Afghanistan. He existed outside of history, except his own. In the past lay only slights and insults that he continuously referenced, like Mikes handling of the rifle. In the future lay promotion to major. Advertisement He had a habit of reflexively agreeing to whatever an Afghan commander asked for, regardless of feasibility. I asked him why he said yes when the clear answer was no. Advertisement You hear about these green-on-blue shootings? the New Guy said. Im not getting shot. Somehow, the only Afghan-related notion that he had learned was green-on-blue. He asked Afghans if the meat they served was pork. He tried to give bottles of wine as gifts to Afghan commanders. Nothing had permeated his disinterest except the fact that Afghan soldiers were shooting Americans. And his solution was to tell the Afghans what they wanted to hear. After he went home, I spent a lot of time informing Afghans that we had to break promises that never should have been made. No one ever got angry about it. They were used to the disappointment, maybe even relieved that someone was actually acknowledging that we were going back on our word. Advertisement One morning, after the New Guy and I almost came to blows, I reported him to the head of engineering. Kyle, were going to sit on these allegations, the head of engineering told me. Other stuff has come to light and hes fucked himself. Sure enough, a few days later, the New Guy announced that his deployment was being cut short. Advertisement Advertisement It seems that he had sensed that Col. Remigio was going to fire him. So, as an insurance policy, the New Guy went to an Army National Guard unit on our base and asked if they wanted an engineer to work on police stations for them. The unit did want to do more for the police, but they had no money to spend on construction. Advertisement The New Guy explained that he would bring our $25 million budget with him if they found a place for him. He truly believed he had control of a $25 million line item in the U.S. defense budget and could carry that money around with him. Even more embarrassingly, the staff of the National Guard unit believed him. When the proposal for this transfer reached the National Guard units chief of staff, he understood it was nonsense. He contacted Remigio, and the New Guy was kicked out of Afghanistan by the military in January 2013. He returned in April 2013 as a civilian with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. He just needed more time to find the right leather jacket, I guess. Advertisement By then, I was about to leave. I landed in the United States on April 14. The plan was to drive back to Texas and reintegrate into my old unit, lounge around for a couple of days, then enjoy a months worth of post-deployment leave. I got back to my unit headquarters building and made the rounds, talking to friends I hadnt seen and figuring out what my job would be once I came back for good. As I was talking to someone, the new operations officer, Maj. Johnson, came up to me. Are you Lt. Staron? Yes, sir. Welcome to the unit. The battalion commander wants to have a family day. I want you to plan the food. Do you think you can manage getting that? I think I can manage ordering food, sir. But Im going on leave this weekend, so I wont be around for a while. How long are you going on leave for? A month, sir. A month? Why are you taking that long of a vacation? Well, I just got back, sir. Back from where? ARCHIVED - Probable reinfection of Brazilian Covid variant in Spain as confirmed cases rise to 17 The patients include a "probable reinfection while 14 cases of the Rio de Janeiro variant have also been identified in Spain Further worrying news regarding the mutations or variants of SARS-Cov-2 has been made public by Spains Ministry of Health, who report that a probable re-infection has been detected in a case concerning the Brazilian variant. The case is part of an outbreak of 11 cases of the Brazilian P.1 variant, an episode which brings the total of known infections involving this mutation in Spain to 17. At the same time, the number of cases in which the South African variant has been detected has risen to 54 across the country, while the British or Kent variant continues to spread: the latest reports from the different regions of Spain suggest that the British mutation accounts for as many as 64 per cent of cases in some areas, but as few as 4 per cent in others. The Coordination Centre for Health Alerts and Emergencies stresses that prevention measures such as facemasks, social distancing, hand-washing and ventilating premises are equally effective against the strains so far identified, but research is still on-going into a total of seven strains of coronavirus which represent a current or future threat in terms of contagiousness or virulence. These are the mutations known as B.1.1.7 (the British variant), B.1.351 (the South African variant) and P.1 (the Brazilian variant), all three of which are relatively well-known, as well as others such as P.2 (first identified in Rio de Janeiro), which has been found in 14 cases in Spain and which may be resistant to the response of the human bodys immune system. There has also been one case confirmed in Spain of the B.1.525 (or Nigerian) variant, but none so far of the strains named B.1.429 (or Californian), which is known to be highly contagious, or VOC 202102/02, described as being similar to B.1.1.7. Of the 17 cases of the P.1 Brazilian strain in Spain, two have been isolated and the others are grouped in three outbreaks, one of them consisting of 11 cases. In this outbreak no direct link with Brazil has been identified and one of the patients is the probable re-infection. The 14 cases in which the P.2 Rio de Janeiro strain has been identified include 9 in a hospital outbreak and a further three belonging to the same family group. New mutated variants of Covid are frequent, experts state, and the main concern is whether the mutations affect the gene which codifies Protein S, as this is the spike targeted by vaccines. It is for this reason that the Brazilian variant is especially worrying as it presents no fewer than 12 mutations in the spike protein. Regional Cop hurt in clash with protesters in Manipur Correspondent IMPHAL, Mar 2 | Publish Date: 3/2/2021 12:37:09 PM IST A policeman was injured in a clash with protesters staging a protests defying curfew imposed in an area in Imphal on Tuesday. Police had to resort to firing tear gas shells to bring the situation under control. Tensions were running high at Kakwa Naorem Leikai locality under Singjamei police station of Imphal West district where a teenager boy was killed and as many as seven people were injured after shots were fired from a house amid a quarrel over a land dispute on February 27 night. Following the incident, curfew has been imposed in the locality. Alleging that some police officers used unparliamentary words towards them, some of the protesters pelted stones towards the police. A policeman was injured after a stone hit him. As the situation went out of control, police fired tear gas shells to disperse the crowd. Except minor injuries due to stampede, no injury that needed medical attention were reported from the protesters. After the situation was brought under control, leaders of a local joint action committee formed in connection with the killing of the teenager and injury of seven others, held a talk with the police. The police, later, allowed protest in a peaceful manner. During the protest, the residents demanded befitting punishment to the culprit while alleging that he misused the license gun he possessed for self-protection. Mention may be made that after the shooting incident, the police have arrested two members of the house where shots were fired from during the quarrel - Longjam Rakesh and his father Achou of Kakwa Huidrom Leikai. Irate locals had also set afire the house of the alleged accused persons, apart from vandalising thier neighbouring houses. IOTech, the edge software company, today announced the launch and availability of Edge XRT, its time-critical edge platform for Microsoft Azure Sphere. Designed and optimized for resource-constrained environments, Edge XRT delivers out-of-the-box device connectivity and edge intelligence for microcontroller units (MCUs), gateways and smart sensors at the IoT edge. It reduces time-to-value from weeks to hours. Azure Sphere is a secured, high-level application platform with built-in communication and security features for the connected devices. It comprises a connected crossover microcontroller unit, a custom Linux-based operating system, and a cloud-based security service. "We're delighted to collaborate with Microsoft and its partners to deliver real-time IoT edge capability for low-profile, yet powerful, devices," said Keith Steele, CEO of IOTech. "The availability of Edge XRT for use with Microsoft Azure Sphere is an important step to accelerate the deployment, and even more importantly, dramatically reduce the time-to-value, for both greenfield and brownfield IoT edge solutions." Edge XRT for Azure is fully compatible with Azure Sphere-certified chips and Azure Sphere OS. An Azure Sphere device is designed to integrate securely with the Azure Sphere security service running in the cloud. The security service ensures the integrity of the device and provides the secure channel used by Microsoft to automatically install Azure Sphere OS and customer application updates to deployed devices. Edge XRT reduces the time-to-value for Azure Sphere, delivering securely connected device service deployments from weeks to hours. In addition, by moving specific workloads to the edge of the network, devices spend less time communicating with the cloud. The result is devices react more quickly to local changes and operate reliably, even in extended offline periods. Edge XRT simplifies connectivity to sensors and devices at the edge by configuration versus coding. This enables connectivity to Azure Sphere devices using a range of standard industrial protocols such as Modbus, BACnet, EtherNet/IP and others. It allows ready access to edge data, which can be sent securely to and from its digital twin running on Azure IoT Hub. Edge XRT can also host edge intelligence applications for Azure Sphere devices. It allows users to create edge applications that can be downloaded and updated securely over the air via the Azure Sphere security service throughout the life cycle of the device. "Microsoft is pleased to collaborate with IOTech to enable the integration of device data with Microsoft Azure Sphere deployments," said Galen Hunt, Distinguished Engineer and Managing Director of Azure Sphere, Microsoft. "Edge XRT software helps reduce device integration configuration time and deployment, helping customers and partners realize value from IoT solutions rapidly and at scale." IOTech and Microsoft will discuss the collaboration and solution during an upcoming webinar on March 25: Accelerating Time-to-Value for IoT Applications at the Far Edge. Register here. About IOTech IOTech builds and deploys vendor-neutral software platforms and tools to support the rapid development, deployment and management of applications at the IoT edge helping drive IoT innovation, global market adoption, velocity and scale. The company's products address the full spectrum of secure hard and soft real-time edge computing needs, dramatically reducing time to market, development and system integration costs for its partners who are the supply chains to multiple vertical IoT market domains. IOTech leverages an open-source ecosystem to collaboratively improve time to market, develop global channel partnerships and achieve pervasive adoption of its software products View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210302005674/en/ Contacts: Ken Zeszutko Z Corp PR Digital 321-213-1818 kenz@zcorppr.com Veteran Labor MP Joel Fitzgibbon will use an event to mark the 25th anniversary of John Howards first election win as leader to urge his party to learn from Australias second-longest-serving prime minister and broaden its electoral appeal. The outspoken backbencher, who quit the frontbench last year following 18 months of disagreement over the oppositions policy direction on energy, tax and climate change, will warn his colleagues against repeating past mistakes of underestimating their opponent. Labor MP Joel Fitzgibbon will say the lesson to learn from the Howard government is that to be a successful party of government in a two-party system, you must build a broad coalition of community support. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen He will say Labor keeps losing elections because it has developed a form of institutional elitism, fuelled by an unhealthy belief in its intellectual and moral superiority. [Prime Minister] Scott Morrison is the latest to benefit from Labors failure to take its main opponent sufficiently seriously, Mr Fitzgibbon says in a draft version of the speech to be delivered on Tuesday. Power tariffs likely to go up as Centre readies Rs 70,000 crore financial package How a warning about ShadowPad, Red Echo saved the national power grid from being hacked India oi-Vicky Nanjappa New Delhi, Mar 02: CERT-In, India's cyber security agency had in November detected ShadowPad malware, one of the largest supply chain attacks. The agency had alerted the national power grid operator and its regional units on November 19 about the malware and attempts being made to hack. The National Critical Information Infrastructure Protection Centre had on February 12 warned about Red Echo, which is a Chinese state sponsored actor group. The warning stated that the group is trying to break into the grid control systems. It was further learnt that the IPs in Red Echo and ShadowPad instances matched, following which list of the IPs and domains were sent out. Following these alerts the additional safety protocols were activated and the IPs that were listed by the NCIIP were blocked in the firewalls. Further all the systems were scanned and cleaned, following these alerts. On cyber attack on India, US says cannot allow China to dominate Thanks to these alerts and the protocols that were followed, the National Power Grid system was saved from being hacked. On Monday a report said that a massive power outage in Mumbai last October may have been the handiwork of China. Beijing has however denied this. The report says that a China linked threat activity group, RedEcho targeted the Indian power sector. The links to the Mumbai outage provides additional evidence suggesting the coordinated targeting of Indian Load Dispatch Centres, the report further stated. The flow of Malware was pieced together by Recorded Future, a US based company that studies the use of internet by state actors. It found that most of the malware was never activated. Because Recorded Future could not get inside India's power systems, it could not examine the details of the code itself. Farmers' Protest: Delhi's Ghazipur border partially opens for vehicular traffic| Oneindia News "From mid-2020, Recorded Future's midpoint collection revealed a steep rise in the use of infrastructure tracked as AXIOMATICASYMPTOTE, which encompasses ShadowPad command and control servers, to target a large swathe of India's power sector. 10 distinct Indian power sector organisations, including four of the five regional load dispatch centres responsible for the operation of the power grid through balancing electricity supply and demand, have been identified as targets in a concerted campaign against India's critical infrastructure. Other targets identified include two Indian seaports," the report said. Further it also said that there was a clear and consistent pattern of Indian organisations being targeted in this campaign through the behavioural profiling of network traffic to adversary infrastructure. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Tuesday, March 2, 2021, 13:01 [IST] Filming is well underway for the Marvel blockbuster Thor: Love and Thunder, which has shifted production to Sydney. On Tuesday, stars Matt Damon, Luke Hemsworth and Sam Neill were hard at work shooting scenes for the comic book franchise on an elaborate set, nestled on a cliff edge at Little Bay. Matt, 50, was all but unrecognisable in a long, flowing black wig, with tresses past his shoulders. Hard at work: Filming is well underway for the Marvel blockbuster Thor: Love and Thunder, which has shifted production to Sydney. Pictured: Matt Damon and Luke Hemsworth He wore an elaborate, futuristic outfit, which appeared to consist of a green jacket with gold accents and large, pointed shoulders. Earlier, Matt had less eye-catching attire as he stepped on set in a black suit worn with a black tie. Luke, 40, big brother to Thor star Chris Hemsworth, 37, was also on set, reprising his cameo from 2017's Thor: Ragnarok. Work it: On Tuesday, stars Matt Damon, Luke Hemsworth and Sam Neill were hard at work shooting scenes for the comic book franchise on an elaborate set A look: Matt, 50, was all but unrecognisable in a long, flowing black wig, with tresses past his shoulders Style central: He wore an elaborate, futuristic outfit, which appeared to consist of a green jacket with gold accents and large, pointed shoulders Sleek: Earlier, Matt had less eye-catching attire as he stepped on set in a black suit worn with a black tie Lookalike: Luke, 40, big brother to Thor star Chris Hemsworth, 37, was also on set, reprising his cameo from 2017's Thor: Ragnarok Wow! Dressed in full Thor regalia, including a wig and fake beard, Luke looked astonishingly like his sibling Dressed in full Thor regalia, including a wig and fake beard, Luke looked astonishingly like his sibling. Sam Neill, 73, meanwhile donned a white shirt, pink jacket and an eye patch in a fetching salmon tone, while sporting a hefty beard. The actors talked among themselves and appeared in good spirits as the enormous production bustled around them. Try and tell them apart! From a distance Luke is a dead ringer for Chris Busy: The actors talked among themselves and appeared in good spirits as the enormous production bustled around them Rehash: It appears that the new film will reprise the 'play within a film' concept which appeared in the 2017 installment Fun: In the 2017 film, the play was called 'The Tragedy Of Loki' and featured the same three cameos - Luke as Thor, Sam Neill as Odin, and Matt as Loki Reprise: In Ragnarok, Matt portrayed an Asgardian actor playing the role of Loki in a stage play that the real Loki (Tom Hiddleston) was putting on Changes: The Bourne Identity actor appears to have a similar cameo in Thor: Love and Thunder, but there are rumours he possibly has a more important role this time The heavily guarded set is expansive, with a multitude of tents and crew on hand, and enormous set pieces dwarfing the actors. Director Taika Waititi, dressed in a fetching yellow shirt and blazer, was also on set instructing his cast during filming. It appears that the new movie will reprise the 'play within a film' concept which appeared in the Thor: Ragnarok installment. Cool: Sam Neill, 73, (pictured) meanwhile donned a white shirt, pink jacket and an eye patch in a fetching salmon tone Him too: Also hinting at the reprisal of the play theme was the appearance of Sam, who performs as the play version of the character Odin in the Thor: Ragnarok skit Pals: Sam was all smiles as she chatted happily to Matt in between scenes Furry: The Australian actor had a hefty beard and long hair for the role Uncredited: Matt's cameo in Thor: Ragnarok was actually uncredited The Sydney set on Tuesday resembled a High School play production, with a painted back drop and vintage style theatre curtains. Also hinting at the reprisal of the play theme was the appearance of Sam, who performs as the play version of the character Odin in the Thor: Ragnarok skit. In the 2017 film, the play was called 'The Tragedy Of Loki' and featured the same three cameos - Luke as Thor, Sam as Odin, and Matt as Loki. Man of the hour: Director Taika Waititi, dressed in a fetching yellow shirt and blazer, was also on set instructing his cast during filming Director Taika Waititi told Games Radar of the 2017 version of the play: 'We filmed it and then we realized it might be funnier if we make it more of an in-joke, where the stars of this play were stars on earth' Elaborate! The Sydney set on Tuesday resembled a High School play production, with a painted back drop and vintage style theatre curtains In Ragnarok, Matt portrayed an Asgardian actor playing the role of Loki in a stage play that the real Loki (Tom Hiddleston) was putting on. The Bourne Identity actor appears to have a similar cameo in Thor: Love and Thunder, but there are rumours he possibly has a more important role this time. A theory doing the rounds is that Thor may need someone to impersonate his deceased brother Loki, and calls upon Matt's character to do so. Director Taika Waititi told Games Radar of the 2017 version of the play: 'We filmed it and then we realized it might be funnier if we make it more of an in-joke, where the stars of this play were stars on earth.' Professionals! Luke and Matt appeared to be playing roles in the play while on stage Shooting: The main shoot of the day appeared to be scenes for the play sequence Dramatic! Matt was gesturing wildly with his hands while playing opposite Luke Careful: The heavily guarded set is expansive, with a multitude of tents and crew on hand, and enormous set pieces dwarfing the actors The latest installment of Thor is being filmed in Australia after receiving a $24.1million location incentive grant from the Federal Government. Directed by Waititi, the film is expected to bring more than $178million to the local economy, create 2,500 jobs and enlist services from about 1,650 businesses. According to Screen NSW, it's part of a deal which will see several Marvel films made in Australia over the coming years. It's huge! From a distance the expanse of the set was truly evident What a view: The set pieces were nestled on a cliff edge at Little Bay A horse of course! There was even a cameo for a handsome white horse Details: Extras in elaborate costumes got ready at the side of the stage The film is largely being shot at Sydney's Fox Studios, but elaborate structures have been seen at nearby Centennial Park, as well as Tuesday's Little Bay set. An impressive set was built in Centennial Park in late January, and in the first week of February actors were spotted filming scenes there in full costume. Almost 24 hours after 'cut' was called on those scenes, the location was dismantled. No expense spared: The film is largely being shot at Sydney's Fox Studios, but elaborate structures have been seen at nearby Centennial Park, as well as Tuesday's Little Bay set All in: An impressive set was built in Centennial Park in late January, and in the first week of February actors were spotted filming scenes there in full costume They work fast! Almost 24 hours after 'cut' was called on those scenes, the location was dismantled Busy busy: In the forthcoming Thor installment, Natalie Portman is back as Jane Foster Look out: Natalie will also pick up the hammer and become the Goddess of Thunder (the female Thor) In the forthcoming Thor installment, Natalie Portman is back as Jane Foster, and will also pick up the hammer and become the Goddess of Thunder (the female Thor). Natalie was absent for 2017's Thor: Ragnarok, but was a key player in the first two Thor films in 2011 and 2013. Thor: Love and Thunder is due for cinematic release in May 2022. firmus energy today announced it will be increasing its gas prices by 17.75% in the Ten Towns area, which includes Derry, from April 1. According to the Consumer Council, the typical firmus energy customer with a credit meter will see their bill rise by 78 to around 518 per year as a result of the rise. Customers with a prepayment gas (PAYG) meter will see an increase by 74 to around 493 per year. Michael Scott, Managing Director of firmus energy, said: We know that price stability is important for our customers but the increase of wholesale natural gas costs on the global market, which are beyond our control, have unfortunately made this increase inevitable. During 2020 the price of wholesale gas decreased dramatically on the world markets, leading to firmus energy being able to offer our lowest ever tariffs. Todays announcement, while unwelcome, is a sign of the market readjusting after 2020 to more standard levels. Any increase is never welcome news and we recognise this comes at a particularly difficult time for many. We want to assure our customers that we will continue to monitor and review our tariffs to ensure customers are getting the best prices possible. There is a clear ambition to reduce Carbon Dioxide (CO2) emissions in Northern Ireland. Every home converting from oil to natural gas benefits from an immediate CO2 reduction of 48%. Raymond Gormley, Interim Head of Energy at the Consumer Council, said: This is unwelcome news for around 51,000 of firmus energys customers and small businesses in the Ten Towns area across Northern Ireland, especially during a time when many are experiencing increasing pressures on their household budget. "However, we are aware the main driver is the significant rise in the cost of wholesale gas globally over the last year. We work closely with the Utility Regulator to ensure consumers are protected and supported and that there are no unnecessary costs being added or additional profits being made by the supplier. "Any consumers who are experiencing financial difficulty and are struggling to pay their energy bills should contact their supplier without delay to talk about how they can help during these times. As well as Derry, the Ten Towns area includes Antrim, Armagh, Ballymena, Ballymoney, Banbridge, Coleraine, Craigavon, Limavady, Newry and more than 25 other towns and villages in the surrounding areas. firmus energy customers in Greater Belfast and in the West network area will not be impacted by this tariff change. The West network area includes Strabane, Omagh, Cookstown, Dungannon, Enniskillen and Derrylin. English Francais Espanol Download PDF Cyber threats to the financial system are growing, and the global community must cooperate to protect it In February 2016, hackers targeted the central bank of Bangladesh and exploited vulnerabilities in SWIFT, the global financial systems main electronic payment messaging system, trying to steal $1 billion. While most transactions were blocked, $101 million still disappeared. The heist was a wake-up call for the finance world that systemic cyber risks in the financial system had been severely underestimated. Today, the assessment that a major cyberattack poses a threat to financial stability is axiomatic not a question of if, but when. Yet the worlds governments and companies continue to struggle to contain the threat because it remains unclear who is responsible for protecting the system. Increasingly concerned, key voices are sounding the alarm. In February 2020, Christine Lagarde, president of the European Central Bank and former head of the International Monetary Fund, warned that a cyberattack could trigger a serious financial crisis. In April 2020, the Financial Stability Board (FSB) warned that a major cyber incident, if not properly contained, could seriously disrupt financial systems, including critical financial infrastructure, leading to broader financial stability implications. The potential economic costs of such events can be immense and the damage to public trust and confidence significant. Two ongoing trends exacerbate this risk. First, the global financial system is going through an unprecedented digital transformation, which is being accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Banks compete with technology companies; technology companies compete with banks. Meanwhile, the pandemic has heightened demand for online financial services and made work-from-home arrangements the norm. Central banks around the globe are considering throwing their weight behind digital currencies and modernizing payment systems. In this time of transformation, when an incident could easily undermine trust and derail such innovations, cybersecurity is more essential than ever. Second, malicious actors are taking advantage of this digital transformation and pose a growing threat to the global financial system, financial stability, and confidence in the integrity of the system. The pandemic has even supplied fresh targets for hackers. The financial sector is experiencing the second-largest share of COVID-19related cyberattacks, behind only the health sector, according to the Bank for International Settlements. Who is behind the threat? More dangerous attacks and ensuing shocks should be expected in the future. Most worrisome are incidents that corrupt the integrity of financial data, such as records, algorithms, and transactions; few technical solutions are currently available for such attacks, which have the potential to undermine trust and confidence more broadly. The malicious actors behind these attacks include not only increasingly daring criminalssuch as the Carbanak group, which targeted financial institutions to steal more than $1 billion during 201318but also states and state-sponsored attackers (see table). North Korea, for example, has stolen some $2 billion from at least 38 countries in the past five years. This is a global problem. While cyberattacks in high-income countries tend to make headlines, less attention is paid to the growing number of attacks on softer targets in low- and lower-middle-income countries. Yet it is in those countries where the push toward greater financial inclusion has been most pronounced, leading many to leapfrog to digital financial services such as mobile payment systems. Although they do advance financial inclusion, digital financial services also offer a target-rich environment for hackers. The October 2020 hack of Ugandas largest mobile money networks, MTN and Airtel, for example, resulted in a major four-day disruption of service transactions. The responsibility gap Despite the global financial systems increasing reliance on digital infrastructure, it is unclear who is responsible for protecting the system against cyberattacks. In part, this is because the environment is changing so quickly. Without dedicated action, the global financial system will only become more vulnerable as innovation, competition, and the pandemic further fuel the digital revolution. Although many threat actors are focused on making money, the number of purely disruptive and destructive attacks has been increasing; furthermore, those who learn how to steal also learn about the financial systems networks and operations, which allows them to launch more disruptive or destructive attacks in the future (or sell such knowledge and capabilities to others). This rapid evolution of the risk landscape is taxing the responsiveness of an otherwise mature and well-regulated system. Without dedicated action, the global financial system will only become more vulnerable as innovation, competition, and the pandemic further fuel the digital revolution. Better protecting the global financial system is primarily an organizational challenge. Efforts to harden defenses and toughen regulation are important but are not enough to outpace the growing risks. Unlike many sectors, most of the financial services community does not lack resources or the ability to implement technical solutions. The main issue is a collective action problem: how best to organize the systems protection across governments, financial authorities, and industry and how to leverage these resources effectively and efficiently. The current fragmentation among stakeholders and initiatives partly stems from the unique aspects and evolving nature of cyber risk. Different communities operate in silos and tackle the issue through their respective mandates. The financial supervisory community focuses on resilience, diplomats on norms of state behavior, national security agencies on trying to deter malicious activity, and industry executives on firm-specific rather than sector-specific risks. As lines between financial services firms and tech companies become ever more fuzzy, the lines of responsibility for security are likewise increasingly blurred. The disconnect between the finance, the national security, and the diplomatic communities is particularly pronounced. Financial authorities face unique risks from cyber threats, yet their relationships with national security agencies, whose involvement is necessary to effectively tackle those threats, remain tenuous. This responsibility gap and continued uncertainty about roles and mandates to protect the global financial system fuel risks. Part of this uncertainty is due to the current geopolitical climate and high levels of mistrust, which hinder collaboration among the international community. Cooperation on cybersecurity has been hampered, fragmented, and often limited to the smallest circles of trust because it touches on sensitive national security equities. International and multi-stakeholder cooperation is not a nice-to-have but a need-to-have. An international strategy To achieve more effective protection of the global financial system against cyber threats, the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace released a report in November 2020 titled International Strategy to Better Protect the Global Financial System against Cyber Threats. Developed in collaboration with the World Economic Forum, the report recommends specific actions to reduce fragmentation by fostering more collaboration, both internationally and among government agencies, financial firms, and tech companies. The strategy is based on four principles: first, greater clarity about roles and responsibilities is required. Only a handful of countries have built effective domestic relationships among their financial authorities, law enforcement, diplomats, other relevant government actors, and industry. Existing fragmentation hampers international cooperation and weakens the international systems collective resilience, recovery, and response capabilities. Second, international collaboration is necessary and urgent. Given the scale of the threat and the systems globally interdependent nature, individual governments, financial firms, and tech companies cannot effectively protect against cyber threats if they work alone. Third, reducing fragmentation will free up capacity to tackle the problem. Many initiatives are underway to better protect financial institutions, but they remain siloed. Some of these efforts duplicate each other, increasing transaction costs. Several of these initiatives are mature enough to be shared, better coordinated, and further internationalized. Fourth, protecting the international financial system can be a model for other sectors. The financial system is one of the few areas in which countries have a clear shared interest in cooperation, even when geopolitical tensions are high. Focusing on the financial sector provides a starting point and could pave the way to better protection of other sectors in the future. Among actions for strengthening cyber resilience, the report recommends that the FSB develop a basic framework for supervising cyber risk management at financial institutions. Governments and industry should strengthen security by sharing information on threats and by creating financial computer emergency response teams (CERTs), modeled on Israels FinCERT. Financial authorities should also prioritize increasing the financial sectors resilience against attacks targeting data and algorithms. This should include secure, encrypted data vaulting that allows members to securely back up customer account data overnight. Regular exercises to simulate cyberattacks should be employed to identify weaknesses and develop action plans. To reinforce international norms, the report recommends that governments make clear how they will apply international law to cyberspace and strengthen norms to protect the integrity of the financial system. The governments of Australia, The Netherlands, and the United Kingdom have already taken a first step with statements indicating that cyberattacks from abroad may be regarded as illegal use of force or intervention in the domestic affairs of another state. Cyber resilience and strengthened international norms can facilitate collective response through law enforcement actions or multilateral reaction with industry. Responses can include sanctions, arrests, and asset seizures. Governments can support these efforts by establishing entities to assist in assessing threats and coordinating responses. Intelligence gathering should include a focus on threats to the financial system, and governments should share such intelligence with allies and like-minded countries. Building capacity The comprehensive strategy outlined in the Carnegie report depends in turn on building the cybersecurity workforce, expanding the financial sectors cybersecurity capacity, and safeguarding gains in financial inclusion that have resulted from the digital transformation. Elevated unemployment due to the pandemic provides an important opportunity for training and hiring talented people to strengthen the cybersecurity workforce. Financial services firms should invest in initiatives to build the talent pipeline, including high school, apprenticeship, and university programs. Building cybersecurity capacity means focusing on providing assistance where it is needed. The IMF and other international organizations received many requests for cybersecurity assistance from member states, particularly following the 2016 Bangladesh incident. G20 governments and central banks could create an international mechanism to build cybersecurity capacity for the financial sector, with an international agency such as the IMF designated to coordinate the effort. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development and international financial institutions should make cybersecurity capacity building an element of development assistance packages and should significantly increase assistance to countries in need. Finally, maintaining progress in financial inclusion requires strengthening connections between financial inclusion and cybersecurity. This is particularly urgent in Africa, with many countries on the continent experiencing a significant transformation of their financial sectors as they extend financial inclusion and move to digital financial services. A network of experts should be created to focus specifically on cybersecurity in Africa. The time has come for the international communityincluding governments, central banks, supervisors, industry, and other relevant stakeholdersto come together to address this urgent and important challenge. A well-thought-out strategy, such as the one above, provides a blueprint for turning words into action. TIM MAURER is the director of the Cyber Policy Initiative and a senior fellow in the Carnegie Institute of International Peaces Technology and International Affairs Program. ARTHUR NELSON is a research analyst in Carnegies Cyber Policy Initiative. Intelligent.com, a trusted resource for online degree rankings and higher education planning, has announced the Top 32 Law Degree Programs for 2021. The comprehensive research guide is based on an assessment of 71 accredited colleges and universities in the nation. Each program is evaluated based on curriculum quality, graduation rate, reputation, and post-graduate employment. The 2021 rankings are calculated through a unique scoring system which includes student engagement, potential return on investment and leading third party evaluations. Intelligent.com analyzed 71 schools, on a scale of 0 to 100, with only 32 making it to the final list. The methodology also uses an algorithm which collects and analyzes multiple rankings into one score to easily compare each school. Students who pursue any one of these programs can expect to gain employment much quicker in comparison to candidates without a degree. In addition to accessibility and cost, the steady job growth in this market is one of the many reasons Intelligent.com researched and ranked the Top Law Degree Programs. To access the complete ranking, please visit: https://www.intelligent.com/best-law-degree-programs/ 2021 Law Degree Programs featured on Intelligent.com (in alphabetical order): Abraham Lincoln University Arizona State University Atlanta's John Marshall Law School Boston University California Southern University Emory University Florida State University George Washington University Hofstra University John Jay College of Criminal Justice Loyola University Chicago Michigan State University Mississippi College New York University Nova Southeastern University Seton Hall University Southern University Law Center Syracuse University Texas A & M University, College Station Thomas Jefferson School of Law University of Alabama University of Arkansas University of Connecticut University of Dayton University of Mississippi University of North Dakota University of Oklahoma University of Southern California University of Tulsa Villanova University Washington University, St. Louis Yeshiva University About Intelligent.com Intelligent.com provides unbiased research to help students make informed decisions about higher education programs. The website offers curated guides which include the best degree programs as well as information about financial aid, internships and even study strategies. With comprehensive, user-friendly guides and hundreds of program rankings, Intelligent.com is a trusted source among students and prospective students. To learn more, please visit https://www.intelligent.com/. New iPads have been bought for the young members of Laois Comhairle na nOg, to help them engage online with Laois County Council and each other, during the Covid-19 pandemic. The Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth has given approval for 5,869.16 under a Comhairle na nOg capital grant for computer hardware. Covid 19 has meant that a number of services have moved to a blended model of service provision. With this funding Laois County Council have purchased 13 iPads and 13 headsets for used by Laois Comhairle na nOg. This funding is to help and support the development and implementation of a blended and in person approach in keeping with Government guidelines. It is also to enable a potential increase in the numbers who participate and improve the reach and retention of Comhairle members, Laois County Council said. The council represents teenagers from all parts of Laois to give their views and influence Laois County Council policies. Youth Work Ireland has won a contract to facilitate Comhairle na nOg until 2022. The councils are in all of the 34 local authorities in Ireland. Below: Some Laois Comhairle na nOg members at their 2020 AGM in Portlaoise. Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-02 06:51:13|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close UNITED NATIONS, March 1 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese envoy on Monday asked for more international assistance to prevent famine in Yemen. Yemen, with the multiple challenges of violent conflict, economic crisis, COVID-19, and food insecurity, is deeply mired in a large-scale humanitarian disaster. The international community must act immediately, increase assistance to Yemen, prevent further deterioration of the humanitarian crisis and make every effort to avoid the spread of famine, said Dai Bing, China's deputy permanent representative to the United Nations. The entire UN system must efficiently and effectively carry out humanitarian operations, and strengthen coordination with regional countries and organizations. All parties to the conflict must ensure safe and unhindered humanitarian access so that humanitarian supplies can be delivered to the people in need, and vulnerable groups such as women and children can be effectively protected, he told a high-level pledging event for Yemen. Political settlement represents the only solution to the Yemeni issue. Yemen's sovereignty, independence, unity, and territorial integrity must be fully respected. All parties to the conflict should strive to achieve a cease-fire as soon as possible. The international community should continue to support the role of the United Nations as the main channel of mediation, he said. It is imperative for all relevant parties to put the interests of Yemen and its people first, effectively implement the Stockholm Agreement and the Riyadh Agreement, carry forward the political settlement process, find a solution acceptable to all parties based on consensus reached at the international and regional levels and within Yemen, said Dai. China has been for a long time providing large amounts of humanitarian assistance to Yemen through bilateral and multilateral channels. Between 2017 and 2020, China provided more than 11,700 tons of food to Yemen, reaching most of its governorates. Since the outbreak of COVID-19, China has donated testing kits, personal protection equipment and medical masks to help Yemen fight the pandemic, he said. China will continue to provide food, medical supplies and other humanitarian assistance to Yemen. China will join the international community and make all efforts to contribute to the alleviation of humanitarian sufferings and the restoration of stability and normal order in Yemen at an early date, he said. Enditem OTTAWA The chief of Manitobas largest First Nation argues that anyone who doesnt know the band has been under federal co-management for almost five years has not been paying attention. OTTAWA The chief of Manitobas largest First Nation argues that anyone who doesnt know the band has been under federal co-management for almost five years has not been paying attention. "We have communicated this many times going back," Peguis Chief Glenn Hudson told the Free Press. "People just have probably forgotten, I would say." Last week, APTN News revealed Peguis has been under default management since April 2016, due to federal concerns the indebted band wont be able to fund the services it is legally obligated to provide to roughly 3,600 members who live on the reserve, 190 kilometres north of Winnipeg. The band has another 7,000 members living off the reserve. Indigenous Services Canada confirmed the band is under a recipient-managed action plan, which it says is the lowest of three tiers for managing a default. "The decision to place a recipient in default management is not taken lightly," an ISC spokeswoman wrote. "The department is not anticipating a change to the First Nations default status and there are no plans for a forensic audit." The spokeswoman noted that if things get worse, ISC would allow Peguis to appoint an adviser to execute the recovery plan, and if things still didnt improve, the band would enter third-party management. APTN noted that the bands audited financial statements make no mention of a default or co-management situation. The bands latest financial statement, for the final year that ended March 2020, show $153.7 million in liabilities, $122.7 million of which involved loans. The annual statements show liabilities gradually increasing since 2016, before almost doubling from 2018 to 2019. Hudson said in an interview thats due to the band taking on new ventures, such as the retail space adjacent to 1075 Portage Ave., another space in Selkirk and a partnership with a firm to grow cannabis. "Economic development has been our focal point," Hudson said Monday. He insisted in a Facebook update over the weekend that Peguis has enough assets to cover its debts. He blamed the financial issues on a former chief, saying the band resolved its debt issues in late 2014 but was put back under co-management in 2016. Hudson said the history comes up in presentations the band is required to give within 90 days of receiving the annual audit. It touches on a 2009 strategic plan that agreed to take on debt to invest in housing and a multiplex. "To say that theyre unaware, I guess thats their own individual statements," he said, arguing people either have been harder to reach during COVID-19, or have a political motive to accuse the band of not being transparent. Yet in a popular Facebook page, Peguis members said they had no clue Ottawa had concerns about the bands finances, and were suspicious about council meetings occurring on weekends. Hudson said he hopes a looming redevelopment of the bands five-year plan, which focuses on getting out of debt, will make band members better informed. dylan.robertson@freepress.mb.ca Police swoop: Some of the 14 high-end vehicles seized by PSNI as part of the NCA-led Operation Venetic The 31st man to be charged in NI under the Europe-wide Operation Venetic investigation into organised crime appeared in court today. Armagh Magistrates Court, sitting in Newry, heard that in addition to 13 classic and high-end cars seized, police also found a notebook with alleged drug references totalling around 2m pounds and Euro owed to 33-year-old William John Hewitt. The married father-of-two who runs a shop and is from the Lower Foughill Road in Jonesborough, appeared at court by videolink from police custody, confirming that he understood the four charges against him. Hewitt was charged with three drugs offences accusing him of conspiring to import cannabis and being concerned in offers to supply cocaine and cannabis and one further count alleging that he entered an arrangement to acquire criminal property, all alleged to have been committed between March 25 and June 15 last year. The 33-year-old was arrested on Monday after detectives from the PSNIs Organised Crime Branch seized 14 high-end and classic cars, valued at between 500,000 and 750,000, from a warehouse in Newry and from Hewitts home. During a contested bail application, prosecuting counsel Robin Steer described how the offences arose after investigators were able to obtain data which was previously encrypted, adding that officers believe Hewitt is involved in drug dealing at a very high end involving multiple consignments of drugs and he is part of a network in the supply of drugs. Explaining that encrypted handsets could only interact with similar handsets using code names, he revealed that from obtained data, officers were attributing the username Eagletoxic to Hewitt. The lawyer told the court that in the unencrypted messages, the user Eagletoxic had twice called himself Hewitt and had sent a picture of himself lying in the bath. He said the seizure of the classic cars was significant in that in the messages, the user had sent messages referring to a car collection and declaring Hewitt will be known as legend. Meanwhile a search of Hewitts home uncovered a notebook hidden behind the microwave which when it was examined, contained multiple references to the same type of terminology used in encrypted data referring to different types of drugs. This notebook contains these slang terms and of significance for this defendant, he had very large sums of money....both sterling and Euro, hundreds of thousands of pounds owed to this defendant, claimed Mr Steer adding that when totalled up, there was in excess of 2m. Turning to objections to bail, he said the investigation into Hewitt was at an early stage so police feared that if released, he could interfere with that significant financial investigation by dissipating any assets not yet identified. Both the lawyer and the detective highlighted that Hewitt lives within a few miles of the border so given the possibility of a lengthy jail sentence if convicted, he may move across the border. Hewitts defence solicitor argued however that the entirety of Northern Ireland was within an hours drive of the border, submitting that with a pregnant wife, two young children and a family business in Newry, along with the availability of a 10,000 cash surety, he was not a flight risk. He further submitted it was well publicised that detectives had hacked the encrypted network nine months ago, so Hewitt would already have had time to hide or dispose of any assets, highlighting that the police could go to the High Court to seek an order freezing his finances. Although he argued that conditions could be put in place to address police concerns, Deputy District Judge Philip Mateer refused to grant bail. The judge said he felt there was a risk of Hewitt absconding and given the concerns that he may frustrate the police investigation by dealing with assets that are not yet known, he was remanding Hewitt into custody. The case was adjourned to March 24. Gemstone Foods is looking to hire more than 80 people. The Sheffield Career Center is hosting a job fair for the company on Thursday, March 11 from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. The career center is located at 500 South Montgomery Avenue, Suite 102, in Sheffield. They are hiring for multiple positions including maintenance technicians, refrigeration technicians, packout and IQF positions, forklift/material handlers and sizing/tender cutters. Pay ranges from $9.00 per hour to $18.00 per hour depending on the position and level of experience. The event is free and open to the public. Face masks are required. For more information, contact Sherry Burdett at the Sheffield Career Center at 256.383.5610 Ext. 85901 or Sherry.Burdett@alcc.alabama.gov. Armenia ex-president Kocharyan gives interview to Russia newspaper Armenia acting deputy PM on unblocking of roads with Azerbaijan: There will be no troops standing there Nikkei: Toyota and Honda stop car production in Malaysia Armenia official on deploying international observers at Azerbaijan border: You will hear reaction on this matter soon USAID helps UN World Food Programme support displaced people in Armenia Armenia official: Work of trilateral working group on roads unblocking has stopped after recent incidents Russias Putin to Armenias Pashinyan: Relations between our countries are developing very successfully Armenia health minister: Improper storage of fallen soldiers bodies, remains was my omission 108 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia Armenia President to children: I believe that you will make our country much better Armenia CEC publicizes complete lists of political forces registered to run in snap parliamentary elections World oil prices going up Queen Elizabeth turns down PM's offer to name new royal yacht after Prince Philip Armenia parliament discusses 2020 state budget report Newspaper: Armenia acting FM resigns after 3rd attempt Newspaper: Yerevan mayor to leave office Israel, UAE sign tax treaty Newspaper: Even vagrants are persuaded, taken to Armenia acting PM Pashinyans rally in Vanadzor Swedish defense minister demands explanation from Denmark over spy scandal Acting Deputy PM: Armenia has not discussed and will not discuss issues within logic of "corridor" Armenia Central Electoral Commission determines numbers of political parties for elections Armenia 2nd President visits Cathedral of the Holy Mother of God in Gyumri (PHOTOS) Opposition Armenia bloc representative: We're running in elections to win Azerbaijan MFA comments on calls for release of Armenian POWs with infinite hypocrisy EC: Vaccinated citizens should be exempted from tests, quarantine when traveling within EU Armenia Ombudsman discusses rights of 6 captured Armenian servicemen with ICRC Delegation head EU ready to use all the tools at its disposal to change Turkey's behavior Yerevan court obliges to abolish violation of rights of Armenia Supreme Judicial Council ex-chairman Greek and Turkish leaders to meet in June on sidelines of NATO summit Armenia Central Electoral Commission to set up 2,008 polling stations for snap parliamentary elections Iranian companies to participate in reconstructing territories under Azerbaijan's control Opposition Armenia bloc's representative on acting PM's invitation to debate with 1st and 2nd Presidents Armenia acting FM dismissed upon presidential decree Body of brother of Armenian criminal authority "Don Pipo" found under bridge 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 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. Mexico & Banderas Bay Area News Jorge Quintero Alvarado Appointed Interim Mayor Jorge Antonio Quintero Alvarado will act as interim municipal president, and councilman Eduardo Manuel MartAnez MartAnez will step into Alvardo's previous position of municipal trustee. Puerto Vallarta, Mexico - During last Friday's plenary session of the Puerto Vallarta City Council, 6 members of the council, including the mayor, stepped down from their posts in order to pursue other positions in the upcoming elections, which are scheduled to be held in Mexico in July 2021. Mayor Arturo DAvalos PeAa is stepping down from his position as municipal president to pursue his political aspiration of sitting on the Chamber of Deputies for the 65th Congress. Jorge Antonio Quintero Alvarado will act as interim municipal president, and councilman Eduardo Manuel MartAnez MartAnez will step into Quintero Alvardo's previous position of municipal trustee. The newly appointed interim mayor was among the city council members who thanked Arturo DAvalos for the continuity that he demonstrated as the head of the City Council over the last 5 years and for the works accomplished that marked an important transformation for the municipality. The interim mayor pointed out that as public servants, the city council's vocation should be one of service, "and our task is to change the quality of life of those who live here." Jorge Quintero Alvarado congratulated outgoing mayor Arturo DAvalos PeAa for being a great humanist leader, straightforward and, above all, "because he has made history in Puerto Vallarta." He said that the most important thing now is to continue working in unity and always looking out for the well-being of Vallarta families. "Our greatest challenge will be the economic reactivation, in which all sectors must join. We will carry on as a government that continues to provide quality services, developing public works with high social impact, taking care of the environment, the development of our communities and supporting those who need it most," he said. He added that the conditions will be created to continue generating confidence for investors and security for Vallartans and visitors. He also said that they will be respectful of the next electoral process "because we are the most interested in living a process where the most important thing is the voice of the citizens." He noted that in assuming this responsibility, "I do so with great conviction to serve Puerto Vallarta and with great honor; I know it is a lot of work, but I accept it and will perform it in the best way possible. Our origin is the feeling of the citizens, not politics, and all of us who make up this administration have assumed this for five years. Our flag will continue to be responsible work, honesty and above all, love for Puerto Vallarta." Sources: Puerto Vallarta Municipal Government press release a Vallarta Independiente - During last Friday's plenary session of the Puerto Vallarta City Council, 6 members of the council, including the mayor, stepped down from their posts in order to pursue other positions in the upcoming elections, which are scheduled to be held in Mexico in July 2021.Mayor Arturo DAvalos PeAa is stepping down from his position as municipal president to pursue his political aspiration of sitting on the Chamber of Deputies for the 65th Congress.Jorge Antonio Quintero Alvarado will act as interim municipal president, and councilman Eduardo Manuel MartAnez MartAnez will step into Quintero Alvardo's previous position of municipal trustee.The newly appointed interim mayor was among the city council members who thanked Arturo DAvalos for the continuity that he demonstrated as the head of the City Council over the last 5 years and for the works accomplished that marked an important transformation for the municipality.Jorge Quintero Alvarado congratulated outgoing mayor Arturo DAvalos PeAa for being a great humanist leader, straightforward and, above all, "because he has made history in Puerto Vallarta."He said that the most important thing now is to continue working in unity and always looking out for the well-being of Vallarta families. "Our greatest challenge will be the economic reactivation, in which all sectors must join. We will carry on as a government that continues to provide quality services, developing public works with high social impact, taking care of the environment, the development of our communities and supporting those who need it most," he said.He added that the conditions will be created to continue generating confidence for investors and security for Vallartans and visitors. He also said that they will be respectful of the next electoral process "because we are the most interested in living a process where the most important thing is the voice of the citizens."He noted that in assuming this responsibility, "I do so with great conviction to serve Puerto Vallarta and with great honor; I know it is a lot of work, but I accept it and will perform it in the best way possible. Our origin is the feeling of the citizens, not politics, and all of us who make up this administration have assumed this for five years. Our flag will continue to be responsible work, honesty and above all, love for Puerto Vallarta." Site Map Print this Page Email Us Top NY Times Top 22 Candidate for Mayor of New York, Eddie Cullen, announces strategic climate and energy initiative to address growing concerns of failing power grids in wake of Texas freeze NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / March 2, 2021 / Eddie Cullen, a rising democratic candidate for the 2021 New York City Mayoral election, announced today the launch of his new impact initiative, the "Rockaway Energy Corridor." The Program addresses the energy crisis that has emerged as a result of the recent Texas freeze. The goal of the initiative is to create a renewable energy corridor that stretches from Rockaway to Wall Street and will leave a long-lasting impact on water, energy, and education in New York City. The Rockaway Energy Corridor is modeled after the US-Mexico Energy Corridor which proposes replacing the border wall with a clean energy-water corridor. The idea is bipartisan as it ties together calls for the Green New Deal as well as border security and is partnered with over 250 colleges and universities across the country. The project aims to collaborate with Rockaway residents to establish research and development centers with mechanisms to enrich the local economy without being intrusive to the surrounding areas lifestyles. The goal is to develop an economic development area to create substantial access to short and long-term research and development including environmental protection, resource management, and environmental sustainability. "The New York City Energy Corridor has the potential to become a legacy project for Rockaway," says Eddie Cullen, NYC Mayoral Candidate. "We believe turning a small section of Rockaway into a reduced-tax zone to promote research and development around sustainability could have significant effects on promoting new jobs and unique opportunities across all five boroughs." "Given the current crisis in Texas, there is urgency for a bold new solution. A few years ago, we proposed a bold vision to bring energy-water along the USA/Mexico border to build the biggest innovation park ever built in the world - an opportunity corridor instead of a wall," says Luciano Castillo, the Project Lead for the Energy Corridor. "Indeed, this transformative project along the border could create new green jobs and have significant economic impact in addition to providing energy-water security to all states along the border and solve the existing crisis in Texas while integrating the electric grid to bring resiliency." About Eddie Cullen Eddie Cullen is a professor of innovation, technology entrepreneur and democratic candidate for New York City Mayor. Eddie has more than 20 years' experience of innovation & enterprise-level research and development experience working with Fortune 500 companies, non-profits, start-ups, institutions and infrastructure organizations. From President Biden's campaign to now running for New York City office, Eddie's experience with public-private partnerships, local, regional and national policy, and campaign management equips him with the hands-on experience and forward-thinking vision needed to campaign for office of Mayor of New York City. Eddie is currently a visiting scholar at Purdue University, Founder of Impact USA Group, a proud Christian and Democratic Candidate for Mayor of New York City. He plans to deliver practical policies that inspire social change. Eddie Cullen for New York Mayor: www.eddiecullen.com | LinkedIn | Facebook | Donate For information about the Rockaway Energy Corridor please visit www.rocawave.com. Strategic Partnerships Contact: Matt Bird CEO CommPro Worldwide C: +1 (646) 401-4499 E: matt@commpro.com Website: CommPro.com PR & Media Contact: Nicole Liddy Project Manager CommPro Worldwide C: +1 (848) -702-4173 E: nicole.liddy@commpro.com Website: CommPro.com SOURCE: Eddie Cullen for Mayor of New York View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/632820/NYC-Mayoral-Candidate-Eddie-Cullen-Announces-the-Rockaway-Energy-Corridor-Initiative-as-Part-of-110-Day-Plan Questo comunicato e stato pubblicato piu di 30 giorni fa. Le informazioni su questa pagina potrebbero non essere attendibili. Market Scenario: Rare earth elements are the set of seventeen chemical elements found in the periodic table. These elements include europium, holmium, erbium, lanthanum, terbium and others, and are found in huge quantities in the earths crust, despite their name. These elements are found together in the earths crust and are difficult to separate from each other. The global rare earth metals market is majorly driven by the increase in demand of rare metals such as Neodymium and Praseodymium, for the production of high power metals which are used especially in electric vehicles and wind turbines. The market is further expected to be driven by the increase in use of large number of rare earth metals in offshore wind turbines in the forecast period. The demand for electric vehicles is expected to increase with the application of strict regulations on greenhouse gas emissions, across the globe. This increase in the production of electric vehicles is expected to further drive the market for rare earth metals over the forecast period. Free Sample Report @ https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/2261 Study Objectives of global rare earth metal market: To provide detailed analysis of the market structure along with forecast for the next 5 years of the various segments and sub-segments of the global rare earth metal market To provide insights about factors affecting the market growth To analyse the global rare earth metal market based on various factors such as supply chain analysis, and Porters five force analysis To provide historical and forecast revenue of the market segments and sub-segments with respect to regions and their respective key countries To provide country level analysis of the market with respect to the current market size and future prospective To provide country level analysis of the market for segments by type, application and region To provide strategic profiling of key players in the market, comprehensively analysing their core competencies, and drawing a competitive landscape for the market To track and analyse competitive developments such as joint ventures, strategic alliances, mergers and acquisitions, new product developments, and research and developments in the global rare earth metal market Regional Analysis of Rare Earth Metal Market: The rare earth metal market can be geographically segmented as North America, Europe, Asia Pacific (APAC) and Rest of the World (ROW). Asia pacific is expected to be the largest consumer and producer of global rare earth metals with the high consumption of these metals in China. North America is also expected to grow rapidly as it is a leading importer of rare earth metals from China, the largest extraction region of rare earth metals. Key Players: The key players of rare earth metal market are Lynas Corporation, Ltd.( Australia), Molycorp Inc. (U.S.), Alkane Resources Ltd (Australia), Baotou Steel Rare-earth (China), Ucore Rare Metals Inc.(Canada), Tantalus Rare Earths AG (Germany), Tasman Metals Ltd. (Canada), Greenland Minerals and Energy Ltd. (Australia), Avalon Advanced Materials Inc. (Canada) and others. Intended Audience: Rare earth metal extractors Distributer & Supplier companies End Users consultants and Investment bankers Government as well as Independent Regulatory Authorities Product Analysis: Product matrix which gives a detailed comparison of the market for different recycled product types Additional Information: Regulatory Landscape Pricing Analysis Macroeconomic Indicators Geographic Analysis: Geographical analysis across 15 countries Company Information: Profiling of 10 key market players In-depth analysis including SWOT analysis, and strategy information of related to report title Competitive landscape including emerging trends adopted by major companies The report for Rare earth metal Market of Market Research Future comprises of extensive primary research along with the detailed analysis of qualitative as well as quantitative aspects by various industry experts, key opinion leaders to gain the deeper insight of the market and industry performance. The report gives the clear picture of current market scenario which includes historical and projected market size in terms of value, technological advancement, macro economical and governing factors in the market. The report provides details information and strategies of the top key players in the industry. The report also gives a broad study of the different market segments and regions. Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-02 13:43:33|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close BEIJING, March 2 (Xinhua) -- The following are the updates on the global fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. - - - - MANILA -- The Philippines has detected its first six cases of a more contagious COVID-19 variant found in South Africa, its health ministry said on Tuesday. Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire expressed concern about the detection of the variant, which can spread more readily like the variant found in Britain, adding that the variant could evade immune responses and reduce vaccine efficacy. - - - - HANOI -- More than 18,100 enterprises were established in Vietnam in the first two months of this year, posting an increase of 4 percent against the same period last year, according to the country's General Statistics Office on Tuesday. The registered capital of the new enterprises totaled 334.8 trillion Vietnamese dong (14.6 billion U.S. dollars), up 52.2 percent year on year, said the office. - - - - SEOUL -- South Korea reported 344 more cases of COVID-19 as of midnight Monday compared to 24 hours ago, raising the total number of infections to 90,372. The daily caseload stayed below 400 for three straight days, but it hovered above 100 since Nov. 8 owing to small cluster infections in Seoul and its surrounding Gyeonggi province as well as imported cases. - - - - ABIDJAN -- Cote d'Ivoire on Monday launched its vaccination campaign against COVID-19, three days after receiving 504,000 doses of vaccine as part of the COVAX mechanism initiated by the World Health Organization. "We are happy and proud to launch the campaign, Cote d'Ivoire is one of the first countries in the world to administer the AstraZeneca vaccine as part of the COVAX mechanism," said the country's Minister of State Patrick Achi, after receiving the first injection. - - - - KUWAIT CITY -- Witnessing a spike in COVID-19 cases as the pandemic continues to rage globally, Kuwait has enforced several measures to contain the spread of the virus. In this context, Fahd Ghazi Al-Mutairi, chairman of Kuwaiti company Sour Al-Sain representing the Chinese drug producer Yiling Pharmaceutical on the Kuwaiti market, revealed that the traditional Chinese medicine Lianhua Qingwen is a good drug to treat coronavirus symptoms. - - - - HAVANA -- Cuba's Public Health Ministry on Monday reported 811 new COVID-19 cases in 24 hours, bringing the total number of cases to 50,590, as well as two more deaths for an accumulation of 324. During his daily televised report, the ministry's national director of hygiene and epidemiology Francisco Duran said that of the total number of cases in one day, 804 were community transmitted, indicating that community transmission is still very high. Enditem Unrest has gripped Myanmar. Peaceful pro-democracy street demonstrations and work stoppages have given way to paramilitary operations in opposition to the countrys ruthless military, which seized power in a coup detat on Feb. 1. Military leaders initially restrained response to the first waves of protests, civil disobedience and general strikes has grown more forceful over time, escalating into a brutal effort to put down the movement that has so far left thousands injured and more than 600 dead. Many of those killed have been young protesters, their lives ended with a single gunshot to the head. The coup returned the country to full military rule after a short span of quasi-democracy that began in 2011, when the military, which had been in power since 1962, implemented parliamentary elections and other reforms. In the weeks since the coup, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, the countrys ousted civilian leader, has faced charges in a secret court. The Daily Beast Photo Illustration by The Daily Beast/GettyMike Lindell, the MyPillow CEO and Trumpist conspiracy-peddler, flew his private jet to the Republican Governors Association meeting the other day.The guvs promptly threw him out. But the incident got Molly Jong-Fast thinking: Does the MyPillow CEO think hes already a governor or something?Subscribe to The New Abnormal on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Amazon Music, or Overcast. To listen to our weekly members-only bonus episodes, join Beast Inside here. Already a member? You can listen here and sign up for new episode email alerts here.Spoiler: Making MyPillows does not make you my governor. Now, chances that Mike Lindell could actually become governor of a small Republican state, 80 percent, she quips on the latest episode of The New Abnormal. Like, its not even that hard for someone that famous and insane in the Republican party to become a governor.Lindell claims he wouldnt run to be a dogcatcher right now, because he doesnt trust the voting machines. Plus, hes from the blue state of Minnesota. So maybe the risk of a Governor Pillow isnt quite so high. But L.A. Times columnist Virginia Heffernan would like to quickly add something about Mike Lindell being a cosplay governor.I think we need to understand that being in politics leads to governing and governing is boring. It is not a PR operation, she says. And I feel like we have made these jobs celebrity roles. Public service should not beis notbeing on a reality show.Like, I feel like we need to really dial down the razzle-dazzle, really play up the drudgery, Heffernan continues. I just don't know why every single industrialist and every single lady with abs or gorgeous arms would want to be, of all things, a governor.Biden, Heffernan opines, is doing a pretty good job at the drudgerydollars going out, jabs going out, all leading to Trump signs going down. Sure, the Donald has his cultists, like Lindell. But, I don't think people can hold onto this much insanity for this long, especially when it's a tiny minority of people who believe it, Heffernan adds. Democrats need to know how to win.To which Jong-Fast replies, oh-so-gently: Are you freakin kidding me? With all of these Republican attempts to retcon the Capitol riots? To chop away at the right to vote? To instantiate their ability to overturn elections? All while Team Biden snoozes it away? The Democrats are bringing an ice cream sundae to a knife fight, Jong-Fast says.Plus! Politicos Tara Palmeri talks about her search to find Liz Cheney supporters in Wyoming. And Battle for the Soul author Edward-Isaac Dovere gives us a peek into how Biden sees the political landscape. The presidency that he has in front of him now, he knows, is so different from what he ever expected to have, Dovere says, And part of that is rethinking how he incorporates the progressivism within the party that took root and that was so much part of this campaign. And its just, its a really complicated evolution for him. Its not the presidency he thought itd be running in 2019 when he got into this race.Read more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more. Famous Hollywood star, Angelina Jolie auctioned a rare Winston Churchill painting 'Tower of the Koutoubia Mosque' which sets a new auction record done by a British auction house, Christie's. A rare Winston Churchill painting given to US President Franklin D. Roosevelt during World War II and later bought by actor Angelina Jolie has been the most costly painting by the former British prime minister to sell at auction, fetching nearly 8.3 million ($11.5 million) including hammer fees. The Tower of the Koutoubia Mosque sold for much more than the auction house's estimated high-end price tag of $3.4 million at a Christie's London auction. #AuctionUpdate A new #WorldAuctionRecord for Sir Winston Churchill with 'Tower of the Koutoubia Mosque' (1943) selling for 8,285,000. This is the only painting created by Churchill during the Second World War: https://t.co/JCBvGaFShW pic.twitter.com/iZMumvmwp2 Christie's (@ChristiesInc) March 1, 2021 Also Read: Paris: Never Seen Before Painting Of Vincent Van Gogh To Be Put On Display, Auctioned The painting depicts a sunset over Marrakech's largest mosque, which Churchill showed to President Franklin D. Roosevelt the day after the 1943 Casablanca Conference, at which the allies agreed to seek Nazi Germany's unconditional surrender. After attending the Casablanca Conference in Morocco to strategize against Nazi Germany in January 1943, Churchill convinced Roosevelt to accompany him to Marrakech to watch the sunset behind the Atlas Mountains. Winston Churchill began painting when he was about 40 years old, after a failed naval attack during World War I cost him his title of First Lord of the Admiralty. Despite this, he was a prolific artist who produced over 500 works throughout his lifetime. Also Read: Kim Kardashian Posts 'North West Classic' Oil Painting, Fans Ask For "IG Live" According to Christie's, Roosevelt was so taken with the sunset that Churchill painted it as a present for him, making it the only piece of art he completed during WWII. Christie's head of modern British art Nick Orchard said in a statement that the painting is "arguably the best painting by Winston Churchill" because of the subject's personal significance to Churchill and how it symbolizes his relationship with Roosevelt. Jolie and her ex-husband Brad Pitt bought the painting in 2011, and it was part of their vast art collection, which was reported to be worth about $25 million. the painting was from antique supplier Bill Rau by Brad Pitt. Also Read: Edvard Munch Himself Vandalised The Scream, Hidden Message On The Painting Decoded Also Read: Angelina Jolie To Auction Off Rare Wartime Painting By Winston Churchill 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. PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) Cambodia on Tuesday received its first batch of 324,000 coronavirus vaccine doses from India that are part of the World Health Organizations COVAX initiative, as the country expands its immunization program with the goal of inoculating a majority of its population this year. Health Minister Mam Bunheng was at the airport to receive the shipment of the Oxford-AstraZeneca Covishield vaccine. Prime Minister Hun Sen will be given the first dose on Thursday. Cambodia, which has yet to report any virus deaths, received its first shipment of 600,000 doses of a Chinese-produced vaccine on Feb. 7, part of 1 million doses Beijing is donating. The country began its vaccination program on Feb. 10, starting with Hun Sens sons, government ministers and officials. The Chinese Embassy in Phnom Penh said Monday that the remaining 400,000 doses produced by the Beijing Institute of Biological Products Co. would arrive sometime in April. Hun Sen will receive the Indian-manufactured vaccine because he is 68. In China, the Sinopharm vaccine was approved only for people 18-59 years old because that was the population studied in clinical trials. While there is not yet data on its effectiveness for other age groups, other countries at their discretion may use it for older people. China is Cambodias biggest investor and its closest political partner, while Hun Sen is shunned by some Western nations who consider his government to be repressive. Cambodia, in turn, backs Beijings geopolitical positions in international forums on issues such as Chinas territorial claims in the South China Sea. Cambodia has recorded 844 cases of the coronavirus, with no deaths. It reported 24 new cases on Tuesday as it tries to deal with a new surge. The surge was traced back to a foreign resident who broke hotel quarantine on Feb. 4 and went to a nightclub. That caused a slew of infections and led the government on Feb. 20 to announce a two-week closure of all public schools, cinemas, bars and entertainment areas in Phnom Penh. Hun Sen said earlier this month that Cambodia is seeking to reserve 20 million vaccine doses to inoculate 10 million people, roughly two-thirds of its population. In addition to China's donation, Australia has announced a grant of $28 million to purchase 3 million doses, and Cambodia is set to get 7 million doses through the World Health Organizations COVAX initiative. Theres A Chip Shortage: And TSMC Holds All The Cards You drove 1,000 miles just for this game? Christmas 1988 was a stressful time for many American parents. Nintendos Super Mario Bros. 2 was the must-have toy that year. But copies of the hit videogame were as scarce as hens teeth. ABC News ran a 20/20 special on the shortage called Nuts for Nintendo. They chatted to one dad who drove 1,000 miles from Indiana to NYC in the hopes of grabbing a copy. Ive tried 7 stores a day for 3 weeks and still cant find it, he told reporters. They called it a chip famine. Why was it so hard to get your hands on a video game? Longtime RiskHedge readers know computer chips, also called semiconductors, are the brains of electronics . There would be no iPhone, Amazon Webstore, or online messaging apps without them. Semiconductors were also a key part in those old bulky Nintendo game cartridges you may remember from the 80s and 90s. And they were in short supply in 1988. They were so scarce, employees in chip factories across Japan had to cancel vacations and work around the clock. In short, this capped the number of video games Nintendo could physically make. Did You Hear About the Latest Shortage? Japanese carmaker Toyota shut its factory in San Antonio last month. GM, Volkswagen, Ford, Honda and Fiat Chrysler were forced to idle their plants too. In fact, GM said assembly lines wont restart until late March. This wasnt due to lockdowns or a COVID outbreak. The reason was a semiconductor shortage. Automakers spent $43 billion on microchips in 2019. And did you know the average electric car is packed with roughly 3,000 chips? These microchips often cost just a few dollars, but you cant ship a $50,000 car without them. Everything from power steering to dashboards and automatic brakes runs on semis. In fact, GM and Ford both warned the shortage could cut profits by $2 billion this year. And now its hitting everything from PlayStations to iPhones. I walked by a line 100 deep in Dublin city center last week. They were all gamers waiting to get their hands on the PlayStation 5. It was released last November, but Sony said a lack of chips curbed the number of units it could make. Apple CEO Tim Cook told Reuters that shelves are empty in many of its stores as the supply of semiconductors is very tight. This semi shortage highlights something RiskHedge readers know well: The whole world runs on chips these days. In fact, semiconductor sales have only gone one way our entire lives: UP! This has been a boon for chipmakersnow valued at roughly $5 trillion, combined. Thats five times what they were worth in 2016. In December, I told my Disruption Investor subscribers about the most important building in the entire tech industry. Located near a 400-year-old temple in Taiwans seventh-largest city, this factory is cranking out the most valuable goods the world has ever known. In the past six months alone, tech giants like Apple and Nvidia have spent $25 billion on the key product inside this factory. Driving around the facility would take 10 minutes walking it might take an hournot that either is possible to outsiders. Security guards jump from their huts to check every incoming car. To get inside the factory, you have to pass through TSA-grade security. Empty your pockets, slip off your shoes, walk through body scanners and prepare to be patted down. The factory is run by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSM). And its ground zero for the chip shortage. Nvidia, Qualcomm, and AMD are often referred to as chipmakers, but thats a misnomer. These companies dont actually make semiconductors. Theyre more like architects, crafting blueprints and intricate designs for the chips. When it comes to physically manufacturing the chips, they hand the reins to Taiwans TSMC. TSMC is the worlds largest semiconductor manufacturer. Today, over 70% of top-shelf chips pass through its factories. Remember, the whole world runs on chips these days. But TSMC is one of the only chipmakers capable of making the cutting-edge chips Apple and automakers need. In fact, demand for its chips is so high, capacity is booked out until this fall. This is why automakers like Ford and GM were forced to halt production. And why millions of kids couldnt get their hands on a PlayStation 5 this past Christmas. Semiconductors Are Now the Most Important Resource in the World As I told RiskHedge readers last month, chips have surpassed oil as the worlds most valuable resource . Remember the energy crises in the 1970s when countries panicked about being cut off from Middle Eastern oil? Now its a lack of computer chips that keeps them up at night. Germanys finance minister even sent TSMC a letter begging it to prioritize auto chips. Cars are the perfect example of our increasing reliance on semis. Back in 2005, most cars didnt even have one chip. Today, no automaker can do business without them. And remember, semiconductor sales have gone straight up our entire lives. Im betting this trend will continue for decades to come. As the worlds top supplier of cutting-edge chips, TSMC holds all the cards. In fact, the US government and European Union are both trying to woo TSMC to build factories overseas. The disruptors only problem is figuring out how to make more chips. TSMCs stock has shot up 140% over the past year. Im convinced its headed well over $200/share in the coming years. Investing in leading chipmakers like TSMC is the surest way to make money over the next decade. The Great Disruptors: 3 Breakthrough Stocks Set to Double Your Money" Get my latest report where I reveal my three favorite stocks that will hand you 100% gains as they disrupt whole industries. Get your free copy here. By Stephen McBride http://www.riskhedge.com 2021 Copyright Stephen McBride - All Rights Reserved Disclaimer: The above is a matter of opinion provided for general information purposes only and is not intended as investment advice. Information and analysis above are derived from sources and utilising methods believed to be reliable, but we cannot accept responsibility for any losses you may incur as a result of this analysis. Individuals should consult with their personal financial advisors. 2005-2019 http://www.MarketOracle.co.uk - The Market Oracle is a FREE Daily Financial Markets Analysis & Forecasting online publication. The Daily Beast Photo Illustration by The Daily Beast/GettyMike Lindell, the MyPillow CEO and Trumpist conspiracy-peddler, flew his private jet to the Republican Governors Association meeting the other day.The guvs promptly threw him out. But the incident got Molly Jong-Fast thinking: Does the MyPillow CEO think hes already a governor or something?Subscribe to The New Abnormal on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Amazon Music, or Overcast. To listen to our weekly members-only bonus episodes, join Beast Inside here. Already a member? You can listen here and sign up for new episode email alerts here.Spoiler: Making MyPillows does not make you my governor. Now, chances that Mike Lindell could actually become governor of a small Republican state, 80 percent, she quips on the latest episode of The New Abnormal. Like, its not even that hard for someone that famous and insane in the Republican party to become a governor.Lindell claims he wouldnt run to be a dogcatcher right now, because he doesnt trust the voting machines. Plus, hes from the blue state of Minnesota. So maybe the risk of a Governor Pillow isnt quite so high. But L.A. Times columnist Virginia Heffernan would like to quickly add something about Mike Lindell being a cosplay governor.I think we need to understand that being in politics leads to governing and governing is boring. It is not a PR operation, she says. And I feel like we have made these jobs celebrity roles. Public service should not beis notbeing on a reality show.Like, I feel like we need to really dial down the razzle-dazzle, really play up the drudgery, Heffernan continues. I just don't know why every single industrialist and every single lady with abs or gorgeous arms would want to be, of all things, a governor.Biden, Heffernan opines, is doing a pretty good job at the drudgerydollars going out, jabs going out, all leading to Trump signs going down. Sure, the Donald has his cultists, like Lindell. But, I don't think people can hold onto this much insanity for this long, especially when it's a tiny minority of people who believe it, Heffernan adds. Democrats need to know how to win.To which Jong-Fast replies, oh-so-gently: Are you freakin kidding me? With all of these Republican attempts to retcon the Capitol riots? To chop away at the right to vote? To instantiate their ability to overturn elections? All while Team Biden snoozes it away? The Democrats are bringing an ice cream sundae to a knife fight, Jong-Fast says.Plus! Politicos Tara Palmeri talks about her search to find Liz Cheney supporters in Wyoming. And Battle for the Soul author Edward-Isaac Dovere gives us a peek into how Biden sees the political landscape. The presidency that he has in front of him now, he knows, is so different from what he ever expected to have, Dovere says, And part of that is rethinking how he incorporates the progressivism within the party that took root and that was so much part of this campaign. And its just, its a really complicated evolution for him. Its not the presidency he thought itd be running in 2019 when he got into this race.Read more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more. 5 things you need to know Monday News Tropical Cyclone Niran has intensified to a category two storm off the far north Queensland coast, with communities between Cape Flattery and Innisfail expected to be buffeted by 100km/h winds. The tropical low developed into a category one cyclone early on Tuesday, bringing strong winds and flooding. Townsville water police and emergency services rescued two men clinging to a tree in Star River after their truck crashed on Hervey Range Road about 8.30pm on Monday. Early information suggests ... the driver of the truck rounded a bend and was unable to stop before entering floodwaters covering the road at Dotswood, police said. Radek Kotlarek's arrest at Talacre beach in Wales on Sunday was caught on video. (Reach) Police have defended the arrest of a man in front of his wife and teenage son after making a 22-mile trip to a beach in north Wales. Radek Kotlarek, 39, an IT consultant from Rhos-on-Sea, Conwy, was arrested by two female police officers at Talacre beach on Sunday. Police said he was arrested for refusing to give his personal details. Mr Kotlarek said he wasnt charged with any offence and claimed he was strip searched after being taken to a police station. Radek Kotlarek was arrested on Sunday at a beach in Wales. (Reach) North Wales Police have insisted its "officers behaved in a calm and reasonable way". A video clip of the arrest was posted on Twitter and Facebook by Welsh parliament member and leader of the Propel party, Neil McEvoy. Mr Kotlarek and his wife said they went for an ice cream and a walk at the beach for their mental wellbeing after the deaths of family members in Poland they were unable to visit. Watch: What it's like living in a village with 142% rise in coronavirus cases The video footage shows the police officers arresting Mr Kotlarek, with one telling him as he is handcuffed: Youre under arrest for refusing to provide details. Shortly after, the other officer says: Youre under arrest for breaching coronavirus legislation. Mr Kotlarek said he believed he was within his rights to refuse to identify himself. He said he was taken to St Asaph police station and held in custody for three hours and strip searched. My family was struggling with many issues that are sourced in the constant lockdowns and home schooling, said Mr Kotlarek. On top of that came personal family problems which we faced in the last months. They include the very serious illness of my wifes brother and death of close relatives. We were not even able to say goodbye or go and attend the funeral in Poland. "On Sunday, me, my wife and our older teenage son decided to go for a walk to one of our favourite spots in Wales, to Talacre beach. We needed this. The weather was beautiful and we enjoyed a nice and peaceful Sunday afternoon walk. On our way back we crowned the trip with some ice cream and were ready to head off home. Story continues He said they were approached by police officers who asked why they were there and explained COVID-19 regulations. After refusing to give his name, he was handcuffed and led to a police car. He claimed he was strip searched at the police station. He was later released and says he was not charged or issued with a fine. McEvoy, a politician who knows the family, said: How on earth can a regular couple be treated in such a way? The Kotlareks have been dealing with family tragedy in Poland, yet are unable to travel to be with family. They went to a quiet beach to maintain a sense of sanity. Mr Kotlarek did not resist arrest, yet was cuffed. "This was a family who were grieving and in crisis. They just wanted a walk and an ice cream to try to cope. They hadn't travelled far. Things have got out of hand now." Chief Superintendent Nigel Harrison said: The person was spoken to at Talacre beach as officers reasonably suspected he had committed an offence, which in this case was a breach in coronavirus regulations. "The man, who is from the seaside town of Rhos-on-Sea some 22 miles away, was arrested because his details could not be ascertained at the time in order to be reported for the suspected breach. The officers behaved in a calm and reasonable way as I would have expected. As is always the case, if the individual wishes to query or complain about the way they were treated then of course we will review the full circumstances. Yahoo News UK asked North Wales Police under which legislation Mr Kotlarek was arrested, whether he was charged with an offence or fined and to address his claim he was strip searched, but they have chosen not to comment further. In its coronavirus lockdown guidance, the Welsh government says: Exercise should be undertaken locally from home or as close as possible to the home. In general this must not involve people driving to a location away from home for this purpose. No journeys of any significant distance should be taken, for example, just in order to exercise in the countryside or at beauty spots. This is the law and not just guidance. Police can fine people who travel beyond their local area to beauty spots. Watch: What you can and can't do during lockdown Among many beautiful destinations to visit, Maldives has an unparalleled luxurious aura that keeps attracting those seeking solace and tranquillity. Filled with white-sand beaches, azure water, crystalline lagoons and picturesque landscapes, it has now become a hotspot for celebrities who wish to spend time away from their hectic shooting schedules. Maldives is considered an apt place for food fanatics, adventure seekers and art lovers. Now, in the recent past, many TV celebs evoked wanderlust in the minds of their followers by giving a visual treat of their Maldives vacation on social media. Heres taking a quick look at it: Erica Fernandes Kasautii Zindagii Kay 2 lead actor Erica Fernandes is currently enjoying some time away from the showbiz world in the beautiful Maldives. She often takes to social media to share glimpses of her stunning vacation online with fans. From being the golden girl to sharing sun-kissed beachy photos, her Instagram feed is currently shelling major travel goals. Parth Samthaan Surprisingly, Erica Fernandes co-actor Parth Samthaan also recently enjoyed the oceanic breeze in the Maldives. From Sunbathing to being a water baby, Parth previously shared an exclusive look at his exotic stay on his Instagram space. Embracing the sun, the actor has clicked several beachy photographs during his recent outing. Take a look at it below: Aamna Shariff Aamna Shariff was another Kasautii Zindagii Kay actor who recently visited the Maldives. Her stunning bikini pictures created a massive buzz amongst her fan army. In the pictures shared by her, the actor can be seen having the time of her life being surrounded by the beauty of mother nature. Flaunting her gorgeous skin, the actor while sharing one post expressed, The moon in me finds the sky in you. Heres taking a quick look at it: Karan Patel Yeh Hai Mohabattein fame Karan Patel also visited the Maldives along with her wife and baby girl. Karan shared that it was her toddlers first vacation in the Maldives and they happened to have enjoyed it to the core. While sharing a photograph, Karan wrote, My lil diva had a blast in Maldives .... #FirstTrip. A few other celebs who visited the Maldives: Sana Khan ALSO READ| Krystle D'souza Finally Reveals Who Her Boyfriend Is And It Will Surely Make Fans Happy Shabbir Ahluwalia ALSO READ| Ekta Kapoor Is 'so Twisted' As She Asks Fans What She's Thinking; Krystle, Hansal Respond Drashti Dhami ALSO READ| Ekta Kapoor Wishes 'bestie' Krystle D'souza With Her 'fan Pic' Ahead Of 'Chehre' Release Meera Deosthale ALSO READ| Ekta Kapoor Wishes 'first Born' Krystle D'souza With Heartwarming Message (Promo Image Source: Erica Fernandes, Parth Samthaan & Aamna Sharif official Instagram) Get the latest entertainment news from India & around the world. Now follow your favourite television celebs and telly updates. Republic World is your one-stop destination for trending Bollywood news. Tune in today to stay updated with all the latest news and headlines from the world of entertainment. Nigeria has received 3.94 million doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine through the COVID-19 Vaccines Global Assess Facility, COVAX. This makes Nigeria the third Africa country to benefit from the COVAX facility after Ghana and Ivory Coast. COVAX, an initiative co-led by the vaccine alliance, GAVI and the World Health Organisation (WHO), aims to ensure equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines by dividing about two billion doses across 92 low and middle-income countries. The facility promises access to vaccines for up to 20 per cent of participating countries population with an initial supply beginning in the first quarter of the year to immunise three per cent of their populations. The COVID-19 vaccines arrived at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International airport at about 11:45 a.m. on Tuesday through BOEING 777 300ER Emirate plane. The arrival of the Astra-Zeneca vaccines today, marks a significant milestone in the National Response to the COVID-19 pandemic in Nigeria, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha, said while receiving the vaccines. For over one year, humanity has remained under the siege of a virus that has impacted on lives, livelihood, destroyed economies, governance systems, medical services, socio-economic systems. The delivery of the AstraZeneca vaccines is part of an overall 16 million doses planned to be delivered to Nigeria in batches over the next weeks. The vaccines are arriving the Africa continent one year after the index case was reported in Egypt. Over 3.9 million cases have been reported in the region and the death toll surpassed 100,000 barely two weeks ago. Nigeria accounts for over 150,000 of these cases and over 1,900 deaths have been recorded, data from worldometers shows. Vaccination plans Nigeria, with a population of over 200 million aims to vaccinate approximately 109 million people against the COVID-19 virus over a period of two years. Health authorities said only eligible population from 18 years and above, including pregnant women, will be vaccinated. The vaccines have not been proven to be safe for children, the Executive Director of the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), Faisal Shuaib said. Nigerian authorities on Monday launched the T E A C H Strategy and Electronic Management of Immunization Data (EMID) to ensure smooth roll-out of the COVID-19 vaccines. T.E.A.C.H. is an acronym for a five-point strategy developed by the vaccination implementing arm of the Federal Ministry of Health, the Minister of Health, Osagie Ehanire, said while speaking at the launch in Abuja on Monday. He said the strategy utilises all the benefits of traditional, electronic, assisted and concomitant house-to-house registration to optimise the use of innovative technology for a smooth rollout of the COVID-19 vaccination campaign. An e-registration link has also been created to enable eligible Nigerians to register for the COVID-19 vaccination. To register for COVID-19 vaccination, visit our website nphcda.gov.ng and click on COVID-19 Vaccination e-registration, Mr Shuaib said at the launch. ADVERTISEMENT He noted that the vaccine roll-out will be in four phases, starting with health workers, frontline workers, COVID-19 rapid response team, laboratory network, policemen, petrol station workers and strategic leaders. A milestone The United Nations (UN) Resident Coordinator in Nigeria, Edward Kallon, said the arrival of the vaccines marks a major milestone for the COVAX Facility. The arrival of these vaccines in Abuja today marks a milestone for the COVAX Facility in its unprecedented effort to deliver at least 2 billion doses of COVID-19 vaccines globally by the end of 2021, Mr Kallon said, in a statement sent to PREMIUM TIMES on Tuesday. He reiterated the commitment of the UN Country Team in Nigeria to support the vaccination campaign and help contain the spread of the virus. Mr Kallon noted that the arrival of the COVID-19 vaccine will enable the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA) to commence the vaccination of Nigerians in priority groups, starting with frontline healthcare workers. Thabani Maphosa, the Managing Director for Country Programmes at Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, said the delivery of the vaccine is a landmark moment for the country to end the acute phase of the pandemic. We are glad to see Nigeria is amongst the first receiving the doses from COVAX, thanks to the excellent level of preparedness put in place by the Government of Nigeria, Mr Maphosa said. Similarly, the WHO Representative in Nigeria, Walter Mulombo, said the agency wishes to congratulate the government of Nigeria for its participation in COVAX efforts and its commitment to protecting Nigerians against this pandemic. Mr Mulombo said these vaccines have undergone rigorous regulatory processes at the global and country-level and have been deemed safe and effective. After a year of disruptions due to the COVID-19 pandemic, today, we celebrate the efforts being made in getting the vaccine to Nigeria, said Peter Hawkins, UNICEF Nigeria Country Representative. Mr Hawkins said the arrival of the COVID-19 vaccines into Nigeria is critical in curbing the pandemic. The only way out of this crisis is to ensure that vaccinations are available to all, he said. Yangon, March 2 (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 2nd Mar, 2021 ) :A Myanmar reporter was attacked in his home and detained by the military, his employer said Tuesday, after days of crackdowns by the junta on anti-coup protesters. Myanmar's military has escalated force as it attempts to quell an uprising against its rule, deploying tear gas, rubber bullets and, increasingly, live rounds. Journalists have found themselves targeted by police and soldiers as they try to capture the unrest on the streets. In recent days, several have been arrested, including an Associated Press photographer in Yangon. A Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB) reporter livestreamed the Monday night attack on his apartment building in the southern city of Myeik as he pleaded for help. Hours later, DVB said on Twitter that reporter Kaung Myat Naing had been taken from his home by security forces. "DVB has no knowledge of where he was taken away, and which military authority took him," said the statement. It added that Kaung Myat Naing's latest reports were on a weekend military crackdown in Myeik, as well as on Monday's demonstrations. Loud bangs could be heard during Kaung Myat Naing's livestream, which was hosted on DVB's official Facebook page. "If you are shooting like this, how will I come down?" he shouted at the security forces outside. DVB, a well-known news organisation within Myanmar, started as an exile media outlet during the previous junta, broadcasting uncensored reports on tv and radio. After a 49-year hold on power, the military dictatorship loosened its grip in 2011, and DVB moved into Myanmar the following year. The outlet demanded Tuesday that the military release Kaung Myat Naing, as well as other journalists detained since the February 1 putsch. "They are all doing their professional jobs as journalists," it said. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. The United States on Monday pressed Saudi Arabia to take further measures after the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. President Joe Biden on Friday released an intelligence report that found that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman approved the 2018 killing of Khashoggi, a US based contributor to The Washington Post who was lured into the Saudi consulate in Istanbul where he was strangled to death and dismembered. The report classified under former president Donald Trump, a close ally of the Saudis found that seven of the 15 members of the hit squad that flew to Istanbul came from the Rapid Intervention Force, which it said 'answers only to him' (the crown prince). 'We have urged Saudi Arabia to disband this group and then adopt institutional, systemic reforms and controls to ensure that anti-dissident activities and operations cease and cease completely,' State Department spokesman Ned Price told reporters. 'We have made crystal clear and will continue to do so that the brutal killing of Jamal Khashoggi 28 months ago remains unacceptable conduct,' Price said. He also called on Saudi Arabia to act on other fronts including lifting a travel ban on Loujain al-Hathloul, an advocate for women's right to drive in the ultra-conservative kingdom who was provisionally freed in January after nearly three years in jail. The Biden administration imposed sanctions on the Rapid Intervention Force meaning any US transactions with it will be a crime and said it was banning entry into the United States of 76 Saudis under a new policy against foreign officials who harass dissidents. Biden has sought to "recalibrate" the decades-old Saudi alliance and has already said the United States will end support for offensive operations in the devastating Saudi war in Yemen. But the administration stopped short of personally targeting the 35-year-old crown prince. Asked why no action was taken against the prince, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said that the United States does not typically sanction foreign leaders -- despite frequent US action against senior officials of hostile nations. But she hinted that Prince Mohammed was not permanently off the hook, saying: ' Of course we reserve the right to take any action at the time and manner of our choosing.' Price said that the United States would not "preview" who would be banned in the future, adding, ' I am not aware of any plans for the crown prince to travel to the United States in the near term.' The Saudi government denounced the US report. It insists Khashoggi's killing was a rogue operation that did not involve the crown prince. *This story has been edited by Ahram Online Short link: The Daily Beast Photo Illustration by The Daily Beast/GettyMike Lindell, the MyPillow CEO and Trumpist conspiracy-peddler, flew his private jet to the Republican Governors Association meeting the other day.The guvs promptly threw him out. But the incident got Molly Jong-Fast thinking: Does the MyPillow CEO think hes already a governor or something?Subscribe to The New Abnormal on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Amazon Music, or Overcast. To listen to our weekly members-only bonus episodes, join Beast Inside here. Already a member? You can listen here and sign up for new episode email alerts here.Spoiler: Making MyPillows does not make you my governor. Now, chances that Mike Lindell could actually become governor of a small Republican state, 80 percent, she quips on the latest episode of The New Abnormal. Like, its not even that hard for someone that famous and insane in the Republican party to become a governor.Lindell claims he wouldnt run to be a dogcatcher right now, because he doesnt trust the voting machines. Plus, hes from the blue state of Minnesota. So maybe the risk of a Governor Pillow isnt quite so high. But L.A. Times columnist Virginia Heffernan would like to quickly add something about Mike Lindell being a cosplay governor.I think we need to understand that being in politics leads to governing and governing is boring. It is not a PR operation, she says. And I feel like we have made these jobs celebrity roles. Public service should not beis notbeing on a reality show.Like, I feel like we need to really dial down the razzle-dazzle, really play up the drudgery, Heffernan continues. I just don't know why every single industrialist and every single lady with abs or gorgeous arms would want to be, of all things, a governor.Biden, Heffernan opines, is doing a pretty good job at the drudgerydollars going out, jabs going out, all leading to Trump signs going down. Sure, the Donald has his cultists, like Lindell. But, I don't think people can hold onto this much insanity for this long, especially when it's a tiny minority of people who believe it, Heffernan adds. Democrats need to know how to win.To which Jong-Fast replies, oh-so-gently: Are you freakin kidding me? With all of these Republican attempts to retcon the Capitol riots? To chop away at the right to vote? To instantiate their ability to overturn elections? All while Team Biden snoozes it away? The Democrats are bringing an ice cream sundae to a knife fight, Jong-Fast says.Plus! Politicos Tara Palmeri talks about her search to find Liz Cheney supporters in Wyoming. And Battle for the Soul author Edward-Isaac Dovere gives us a peek into how Biden sees the political landscape. The presidency that he has in front of him now, he knows, is so different from what he ever expected to have, Dovere says, And part of that is rethinking how he incorporates the progressivism within the party that took root and that was so much part of this campaign. And its just, its a really complicated evolution for him. Its not the presidency he thought itd be running in 2019 when he got into this race.Read more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more. Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-03 02:09:24|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close UNITED NATIONS, March 2 (Xinhua) -- UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Tuesday expressed the hope for calm in Ecuador after the results of general elections were announced, said his spokesman. Guterres welcomed the holding of peaceful general elections on Feb. 7 and took note of the announcement of the official results by the National Electoral Council on Feb. 21, said Stephane Dujarric, the spokesman, in a statement. The secretary-general trusts that the Electoral Disputes Tribunal will address any complaints promptly and diligently. He calls on all stakeholders to act responsibly and with respect for the institutional and legal frameworks during the period leading up to the holding of the presidential run-off election on April 11, said the statement. Enditem Australia's Prime Minister Scott Morrison (L) is greeted by Japan's Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga (R) prior to an official welcoming ceremony at Suga's official residence in Tokyo on November 17, 2020. (Eugene Hoshiko / POOL / AFP) Australia and Japan Reinforce Bilateral Relations Australia is strengthening ties with Japan in response to Chinas increasing military aggression in the region. Japanese Ambassador to Australia, Shingo Yamagami, said the security co-operation is a new and fast-growing pillar in supporting bilateral relations between the two nations. Australia and Japan are natural partners since we share basic values such as democracy, a market economy, respect for human rights and the rule of law, as well as strategic interests in maintaining a free and open Indo-Pacific region, Yamagami wrote in The Australian. Yamagami expressed his concern for the situation surrounding Taiwan, saying any reckless or coercive action there could affect the peace and stability of the entire Indo-Pacific region. This increases the importance of Australia and Japan working together, Yamagami said. Australias Prime Minister Scott Morrison (L) and Japans Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga (R) bow at the start of their meeting at Sugas official residence in Tokyo on November 17, 2020. (EUGENE HOSHIKO/POOL/AFP via Getty Images) Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison and his Japanese counterpart Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga reinforced relations in a phone call on Feb. 25, where they pledged continued co-operation. Morrison and Suga said they would promote collaboration in areas such as security and the economy in commitment to their status as Special Strategic Partners. The Quad Alliances importance, which consists of the U.S., Australia, Japan, and India, was also highlighted in promoting open economies in the region. They expressed their serious concerns over the situations involving human rights situations in Hong Kong and Xinjiang, developments in Burma (also known as Myanmar), and East and South China Seas. China recently implemented a new coast guard law, which U.S. State Department spokesman Ned Price described as a law which could be used to intimidate (Chinas) maritime neighbours. The new law is another addition to further Chinas growing presence around the seas in the region. They continue to assert sovereignty over the Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea and build artificial islands for their military in the South China Sea despite a 2016 international ruling against it. Morrison posted on Twitter thanking Suga for the great call and wished him the best for the upcoming Olympics. LAist only exists with reader support. If you're in a position to give, your donation powers our reporters and keeps us independent. Start your day with LAist Sign up for the Morning Brief, delivered weekdays. Subscribe Our news is free on LAist. To make sure you get our coverage: Sign up for our daily newsletters. To support our non-profit public service journalism: Donate Now. During February, LAist celebrated Black History Month by centering around one question: What does it mean to be Black in L.A? A seemingly simple question, the experiences and stories we shared from BIPOC readers and our colleagues illustrated how society's seismic shift in how we think and talk about race and race-related issues complicates this narrative. We heard from Black Angelenos from across the city. Some have always called L.A. home while others are recent arrivals. We also continued posting our Racism 101 panelists' responses to questions we received about everything from cultural appropriation to how to show solidarity for BIPOC friends without overwhelming, or even, irritating them. February's Race In LA essayists were all strong Black voices who spoke to a spectrum of experiences, from the police to the pandemic. We all remember 2020 as a difficult year. The deaths of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, George Floyd and more sparked protests and tough conversations around race-related issues. While these events heavily influenced how we approached our Black History Month coverage this year, it wasn't our impetus to shift additional editorial focus on Black voices. This work, and our increased transparency in how we cover the Black community pre-dates last summer's unrest. The artist Celos paints a mural in Downtown Los Angeles on May 30, 2020 in protest against the death of George Floyd, an unarmed black man who died while while being arrested and pinned to the ground by the knee of a Minneapolis police officer. (Apu Gomes/AFP via Getty Images) In 2019, we began planning to launch The 8 Percent on LAist to create an opportunity to go deeper and explore the inextricable ties between L.A. and its Black residents. An extension of our Race In LA series, The 8 Percent was the springboard for our Black History Month coverage. In all of this content, several themes emerged. BLACK IDENTITY Most submissions for On Being Black In LA involved some aspect of one's identity as a Black person. One woman who grew up in the San Fernando Valley said when she was with kids at her Catholic prep school she felt like one person. During summer visits with her dad in inner city St. Louis, she felt like she had to be a different person around neighborhood kids. Code switching became her survival mechanism. A man who grew up in neighborhoods across the city said he struggled with trying to "fit in a racial box" being too white for the Black kids and too Black for the white kids, all while being viewed as a threat and gang member (though he was neither) by police. "Being Black in L.A. means I'm part of the 8% of Black people who are still here, fighting for the space that was once a place of refuge for my relatives and ancestors, that became a place that not only terrorized me, but taught me to love who I am, be proud of where I'm from and, ultimately, how to find success in city where it's tough to just survive, let alone thrive. It's a gift and a curse, but what is life without duality?" Our own reporter, Emily Elena Dugdale, shared what it's like to be Afro Colombian in L.A., which she said largely centers the Latinx experience around Mexican American culture. She explained that there's "so little recognition of the thousands of dark-skinned, Black Latinx folks who are essential to the fabric of this place" and that it makes her feel like she has to "'choose' to fit in a racial box" in one of the world's most diverse cities. MORE FROM RACE IN LA: One woman found it difficult to fit in as both Black and white growing up. She saw few families that looked like hers, and when she did, she felt "at ease." So, she wrote a children's book to help kids today navigate what it means to be biracial. A Race In LA essayist wrote about her amusing but at times, horrifying experiences with strangers' questions about her appearance. Her mother is white and her father is Black, but she said she people have assumed she was "white, Black, Asian, Hawaiian, Brazilian, French, Mexican, Belizean, Jewish, Moroccan, and many more." "Whenever I was asked, 'Are you adopted?' or 'Where do you get your color?' or 'What are you?' or 'Where are you from?' I had no idea what people were getting at. So I tended to answer literally, without elaborating, as in 'from here,' which was not the answer people were looking for." BLACK SPACES & COMMUNITY We shared uplifting stories about Black people who carved out spaces for themselves in the face of oppression and resistance. That's the story of the gems of South Central's jazz scene in the 1930s and '40s, the Dunbar Hotel and Club Alabam. These establishments helped make South Central, already the epicenter of L.A.'s Black community, the heart of jazz on the West Coast. Elnora Cole (far left at table) with friends at the Club Alabam, circa 1945. (Shades of L.A. Collection/Los Angeles Public Library Collection) Similarly, one of the most heartbreaking stories we shared was from our colleague Velincia Ellis, a longtime financial analyst in our public media organization. She wrote about gentrification's slow creep into her South L.A. neighborhood. "I see older Blacks losing their homes to death or foreclosure and resold to non-Blacks," she said. "And, I wonder: What happened? Where did my people go?" ANTI-BLACK RACISM We also took a step back to explore wider issues. Race In LA contributor Brandi Carter examined how today's wealth gap between Black Americans and other racial groups was exacerbated by slavery's legacy. She took a modern view of the broken promise of 40 acres and a mule. We also answered a Racism 101 inquiry, "When will we stop portraying racism as something that primarily happens between white and Black people?" We used Carter's research on reparations to explain how biased legislation like the New Deal and GI Bill helped white people stay ahead of Black people. Our panelists had a lot to unpack. We heard feelings of overt, explicit bouts of discrimination, marginalization, isolation and racism. Two Racism 101 panelists discussed what it means to move past the "angry Black woman" stereotype and call out tone policing. An ER nurse who has been working on the frontlines of COVID-19 since the pandemic began wrote a wrenching account of having to separate her racial identity from her work in order to cope. As she explained, "It was easier to find solace in my job, easier to be just a nurse, than to be a Black nurse." One man from Long Beach even described his life in L.A. as a "slow burn of anti-Blackness." People take part in a rally on April 29, 2015 at Union Square in New York, held in solidarity with demonstrators in Baltimore, demanding justice for a Black man who died of severe spinal injuries sustained in police custody. (Eduardo Munoz Alvarez/AFP via Getty Images) We know there's more work to do to continue to hear voices that for too long didn't have a place in many mainstream media organizations. We want to make sure we honor this comment from a listener and reader about producer Olivia Richard's report on April Reign and her #OscarsSoWhite legacy. This new donor told us: "I have been listening for more than 20 years, but it wasn't until now that I ever felt the need to write a notification. I have been very impressed with KPCC improving reporting on Black communities. So often it feels tokenized or that trauma is the only thing that gets attention or highlighted. I wanted to congratulate you how you chose to handle the current lack of diversity in Hollywood, especially with the confrontation the Golden Globes are having with their lack of representation. It felt timely, imported and nuanced." HELP US CONTINUE TO TELL BLACK STORIES [March 02, 2021] Freedom Acquisition I Corp. Announces Closing of $345 Million Initial Public Offering, Including Full Exercise of Over-allotment Option Freedom Acquisition I Corp. ("Freedom Acquisition" or the "Company") announced today the closing of its initial public offering of 34,500,000 units at $10.00 per unit, including 4,500,000 units sold pursuant to the full exercise of the underwriter's over-allotment option. Total gross proceeds from the offering were $345 million before deducting underwriting discounts and commissions and other offering expenses payable by the Company. The units began trading on the New York Stock Exchange ("NYSE") under the ticker symbol "FACT.U" on February 26, 2021. Each unit consists of one Class A ordinary share and one-fourth of one redeemable warrant. Each whole warrant entitles the holder thereof to purchase one Class A ordinary share at a price of $11.50 per share. Only whole warrants are exercisable. Once the securities comprising the units begin separate trading, the Class A ordinary shares and redeemable warrants are expected to be listed on the NYSE under the symbols "FACT" and "FACT WS," respectively. The Company was formed for the purpose of effecting a merger, share exchange, asset acquisition, share purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses. The Company intends to pursue a target in the financial services sector. Freedom Acquisition's founders include Tidjane Thiam, Adam Gishen and Abhishek Bhatia. A private fund affiliated with Pacific Investment Managment Company LLC (PIMCO) is a member of the Company's sponsor. J.P. Morgan acted as the lead book-running manager of the offering. Deutsche Bank Securities and Morgan Stanley acted as book-running managers of the offering. Academy Securities, Drexel Hamilton, Loop Capital Markets, R. Seelaus & Co., LLC and Siebert Williams Shank acted as co-managers of the offering. The offering was made only by means of a prospectus. Copies of the prospectus may be obtained from J.P. Morgan Securities LLC, c/o Broadridge Financial Solutions, 1155 Long Island Avenue, Edgewood, New York 11717, telephone: 1-866-803-9204, or by emailing at prospectus-eq_fi@jpmchase.com. Registration statements relating to the securities became effective on February 25, 2021. This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy, nor shall there be any sale of these securities in any state or jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such state or jurisdiction. Forward-Looking Statements This press release contains statements that constitute "forward-looking statements," including with respect to the anticipated use of the net proceeds. No assurance can be given that the offering discussed above will be completed on the terms described, or at all, or that the net proceeds of the offering will be used as indicated. Forward-looking statements are subject to numerous conditions, many of which are beyond the control of the Company, including those set forth in the Risk Factors section of the Company's registration statements and prospectus for the Company's offering filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the " SEC (News - Alert) "). Copies of these documents are available on the SEC's website, www.sec.gov. The Company undertakes no obligation to update these statements for revisions or changes after the date of this release, except as required by law. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210302006117/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] HELSINKI, March 2, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Fortaco Group, the leading brand independent strategic partner to the heavy off-highway equipment and marine industries, has acquired Rapp Zastava, a Serbian company providing winches and other solutions to the marine industry. Rapp Zastava employs 150 people. A modern factory, located in Gruza, has been built in 2014 with 10.000 m2 of production space. By this acquisition Fortaco is expanding geographical presence and offering in the marine business. This provides Fortaco and its' customers with new capacity within steel fabrication and assembly business, also in the off-highway segment. "Year 2020 represented exceptional market conditions for all of us. On back of the good performance during the difficult year, I am happy to announce Fortaco's expansion to Serbia by the acquisition of Rapp Zastava, which is aligned with our strategy to be the leading partner to the off-highway and marine equipment industries. I am impressed of the experienced team, good infrastructure and great products. The factory is modern with further expansion opportunities. I am convinced we can provide our customers with increased value in steel fabrications and assemblies," says Lars Hellberg, President & CEO of Fortaco Group. "We are very happy to join Fortaco Group and looking forward to start interacting with Fortaco people and with Fortaco's current and future customers. Rapp Zastava has long traditions in steel fabrication and assembly business. Availability of skilled people in the area is good. I am sure, we are well positioned to grow our business significantly and expand our customer portfolio also into the off-highway segment," says Aleksandar Djordjevic, Managing Director of Rapp Zastava. For more information, please contact: Lars Hellberg Aleksandar Djordjevic President & CEO, Fortaco Group Managing Director, Rapp Zastava +358 40 572 9488 +381 (0) 62 8820 810 lars.hellberg@fortacogroup.com aleksandar.djordjevic@fortacogroup.com Fortaco is the leading brand independent, strategic partner to the heavy off-highway equipment and marine industries offering technology, vehicle cabins, steel fabrications and vehicle assemblies. Fortaco Group has operations in multiple European and Asian Business Sites and Technology Hubs, which are supporting our global customers. This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com https://news.cision.com/fortaco-group/r/fortaco-expands-footprint-and-geographical-presence-with-the-acquisition-of-rapp-zastava-in-serbia,c3298181 The following files are available for download: Parliament Building at Stormont in east Belfast where the Northern Ireland Executive has revealed its plan to ease out of the lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Picture by Jonathan Porter/PressEye Deputy First Minister Michelle O'Neill in the chamber at Parliament Buildings, Stormont to announce Northern Ireland's plan for easing the coronavirus lockdown. Photo by Kelvin Boyes / Press Eye Deputy First Minister Michelle O'Neill is outlining "tentative" preparatory steps towards the lifting of coronavirus restrictions. The Executive met on Tuesday morning and signed off on a plan at around lunchtime. MLAs are currently being briefed on the roadmap in the Assembly by the first ministers. However, the Executive's plan has been leaked to the Belfast Telegraph. Ms O'Neill told MLAs it was time to look forward in a hopeful way but recognising the huge risks which remained. Read More She said: "Great care is still needed. "That is why the Executive has agreed today a careful, cautious and hopeful approach to existing restrictions and we will be publishing that later today for everyone to see." Ms O'Neill said keeping restrictions in place will only be done if that is necessary and proportionate to the threat from Covid-19. She said ministers would work with the Irish Government and administrations in Great Britain. It comes as a further 149 news cases of coronavirus were reported and two further deaths taking the toll to 2,057. Hospitals are operating at 94%. Read More It shows a five-stage process moving from lockdown to easing of restrictions for nine different sectors. They include home and community, sport and leisure, worship and ceremonies, education and young people, culture and entertainment, hospitality, work, retail and finally travel and tourism. Each sector will emerge from lockdown in stages. They are: lockdown; cautious first steps; gradual easing; further easing; and then preparing for the future. The documents - Moving Forward: The Executive's Pathway out of Restrictions - seen by the Belfast Telegraph do not include dates, or indeed any detail on what will be required to progress through the various stages. Read More It includes various scenarios on what might happen and when - for example when you may be able to celebrate a birthday with friends, play five-a-side with friends, begin a return to the work place get a hair cut and even when you can share a dance at a wedding to a live band. Northern Ireland's current lockdown ends on April 1. That now is to be reviewed on March 16. Under the plan for retail, all shops can open and close contact services can resume under stage three of the plan: gradual easing. Schools would also fully return in the same stage. However, it is thought each sector could progress through the stages at different speeds. So while education may be in stage four, retail could remain in stage two. That is to balance the impact of a change with the rate of the virus's transmission. Ministers had said decisions on when to move between stages based on scientific and medical evidence, not the calendar. Keeping the reproductive rate of the virus below 1 will be a guiding principle, it is understood and the Executive will review the progress of the pathway every month. Follow live updates here: The CSO has released details of the most popular baby names in Ireland in 2020. It shows that the most popular boys' names in Louth were Jack and Noah, while the most popular girls' names were Ella and Emily. Across the country, the most popular girl's name was Grace followed by Fiadh, Emily, Sophie and Ava. The most popular boy's name in Ireland was Jack followed by James, Noah, Daniel and Conor. Sonny was the only new boy's name that made it into the top 100 but there were seven new girl's names that featured in the top 100: Penny, Luna, Cora, Fiadh, Croia, Elsie and Paige. Fifty years ago in 1970, the most popular names in Ireland were John and Mary. Commenting on the trends in Irish baby names, Carol Anne Hennessy, Statistician continued: Jack has retained the top spot as the most popular baby boys name in 2020, a position it has held since 2007 except for 2016, when James was the most popular choice. Jack was followed by James, Noah, Daniel and Conor as the five most popular names for boys in 2020. "Grace claims the top spot for girls for the first time, followed by Fiadh, Emily, Sophie and Ava. These were the top five names of choice by parents for their newly arrived baby girls in 2020. Emily held top position for the girls for nine consecutive years (since 2011) until 2020 when it earned the bronze medal spot behind Grace and Fiadh. "Back in 1970, John, Michael, Patrick, David and James were the names most favoured by parents of new-born baby boys. There were 193 male new-borns named John in 2020, just over 7.3% of the number of boys given the name John (2,629) in 1970. "Interestingly, not one of the top five names for girls in 2020 appeared in the top 100 names a half century earlier. Mary, Catherine, Margaret, Ann and Sharon were the most popular names for baby daughters in 1970, with 1,896 baby girls named Mary in that year. In 2020, there were 410 baby girls named Grace, 21.6% of the number of girls given the name Mary (1,896) in 1970. "Ava reclaims her position in the top five names for girls in 2020, (coming in at number five) for the first time since 2016 when it was the third most popular name chosen for baby girls. "As is evident from the tables, over the years, girls are given a wider variety of names than boys with 4,624 girls names registered compared to 3,715 boys names." Sonny was the only new entrant into the top 100 for boys in 2020. The boys names with most growth in popularity in terms of rank between 2019 and 2020 were Rian rising most in popularity, jumping 33 places from 119th place to 86th place. Similarly, Eoghan moved 29 places from 108th place in 2019 to 79th in 2020. There were seven new entrants to the top 100 for girls: Penny, Luna, Cora, Fiadh (with a sineadh fada), Croia, Elsie and Paige. Croia has grown most in popularity, rising from 162nd place in 2019 to 95th in 2020, a jump of 67 places. Cora jumped in popularity from 127th place in 2019 to 90th place in 2020, a rise in 37 places. Some less popular names for boys included Orion, Creed, Romeo, Klay and Seadna. Less popular girls names included Zaria, Vienna, Fodhla, Marlee and Roxie. Court grants agency two more months to complete probe into terror case NGT forms 5-member panel to investigate on violation of environmental norms by JSW NIA arrests 4 drug traffickers who supplied funds for Lashkars operations India oi-Vicky Nanjappa New Delhi, Mar 02: The National Investigation Agency has arrested four persons in connection with a narco-terror case in Handwara. The case was originally registered by the Jammu and Kashmir police after a vehicle was intercepted. During the search Rs 20 lakh along with 2 kilograms of heroin was seized. The NIA re-registered the case in 2020, following which a chargesheet was filed agent six persons. NIA seizes Rs 20 lakh, 130 live rounds during raids in Punjab in connection with Hizbul narco case The investigation revealed that the accused persons were involved in cross-border smuggling of heroin in huge quantities from Pakistan and were supplying the same in J&K and other parts of the country. Farmers' Protest: Delhi's Ghazipur border partially opens for vehicular traffic| Oneindia News They were also in regular communication with the operatives of proscribed terrorist organisations Lashkar-e-Tayiba and Hizb- ul-Mujahideen (HM), using encrypted chat platforms. The proceeds of sale were being used to finance the activities of terrorist organisation Lashkar-e-Tayiba operating in the Kashmir Valley. Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-03 02:14:11|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close ANKARA, March 2 (Xinhua) -- Turkish police detained at least 56 people allegedly linked to a group that is blamed by the Turkish government for the failed coup in 2016, semi-official Anadolu Agency reported on Tuesday. Turkish prosecutors issued arrest warrants for 82 suspects targeting the group's members in Land Forces Command and Gendarmerie Command, along with financial operatives. The suspects were contacted by the group members via payphone and fixed lines, the agency reported. U.S.-based cleric Fetullah Gulen is accused by Ankara of orchestrating a failed coup attempt on July 15, 2016, in which 250 people were killed. The Turkish government launched a massive crackdown on Gulen's supporters in Turkey after the coup attempt and issued arrest warrants for suspects abroad. Washington is reluctant to extradite the self-exiled cleric, saying that Ankara has not presented sufficient evidence against him. Enditem Armenia ex-president Kocharyan gives interview to Russia newspaper Armenia acting deputy PM on unblocking of roads with Azerbaijan: There will be no troops standing there Nikkei: Toyota and Honda stop car production in Malaysia Armenia official on deploying international observers at Azerbaijan border: You will hear reaction on this matter soon USAID helps UN World Food Programme support displaced people in Armenia Armenia official: Work of trilateral working group on roads unblocking has stopped after recent incidents Russias Putin to Armenias Pashinyan: Relations between our countries are developing very successfully Armenia health minister: Improper storage of fallen soldiers bodies, remains was my omission 108 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia Armenia President to children: I believe that you will make our country much better Armenia CEC publicizes complete lists of political forces registered to run in snap parliamentary elections World oil prices going up Queen Elizabeth turns down PM's offer to name new royal yacht after Prince Philip Armenia parliament discusses 2020 state budget report Newspaper: Armenia acting FM resigns after 3rd attempt Newspaper: Yerevan mayor to leave office Israel, UAE sign tax treaty Newspaper: Even vagrants are persuaded, taken to Armenia acting PM Pashinyans rally in Vanadzor Swedish defense minister demands explanation from Denmark over spy scandal Acting Deputy PM: Armenia has not discussed and will not discuss issues within logic of "corridor" Armenia Central Electoral Commission determines numbers of political parties for elections Armenia 2nd President visits Cathedral of the Holy Mother of God in Gyumri (PHOTOS) Opposition Armenia bloc representative: We're running in elections to win Azerbaijan MFA comments on calls for release of Armenian POWs with infinite hypocrisy EC: Vaccinated citizens should be exempted from tests, quarantine when traveling within EU Armenia Ombudsman discusses rights of 6 captured Armenian servicemen with ICRC Delegation head EU ready to use all the tools at its disposal to change Turkey's behavior Yerevan court obliges to abolish violation of rights of Armenia Supreme Judicial Council ex-chairman Greek and Turkish leaders to meet in June on sidelines of NATO summit Armenia Central Electoral Commission to set up 2,008 polling stations for snap parliamentary elections Iranian companies to participate in reconstructing territories under Azerbaijan's control Opposition Armenia bloc's representative on acting PM's invitation to debate with 1st and 2nd Presidents Armenia acting FM dismissed upon presidential decree Body of brother of Armenian criminal authority "Don Pipo" found under bridge 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 COVID-19 remains a deadly disease but it took fewer lives in February than it did the month before. The virus claimed 11,286 Californians in February, a shocking figure that is nevertheless 25% lower than the 14,953 COVID deaths in January. The virus killed an average of 403 Californians each day last month, compared with 482 a day in January, according to a Chronicle analysis of county figures. The nine-county Bay Area saw an even steeper plunge, with COVID-19 deaths falling by a third in February compared to the month before. In all, the virus killed 1,127 people in the Bay Area last month, down 33% from January, when 1,677 people in the region died from the disease. An average of 40 people died from the coronavirus each day during February, down from Januarys average of 54. We are definitely past the big surge that we started to see back at the end of November, thank God. That was horrendous, said Dr. Yvonne Maldonado of Stanford, an expert in infectious diseases and vaccines. This is good news. The death toll remains high compared to December, when the average number of daily COVID deaths was 20 in the Bay Area, and 219 across the state. Week over week in February, deaths did not uniformly decline. But throughout the state and in the Bay Area, there were fewer deaths in the final week of the month than in the first week. Bay Area deaths dropped by 47% in the last week of February compared to the first week: 25 vs. 47. Statewide, deaths in the last week were 11% lower than in the first week: 410 vs. 461. Its horribly sad, but the fact that there are fewer is encouraging, said Dr. George Rutherford, a UCSF infectious disease expert. He and other experts warned, however, that coronavirus case counts fall more quickly than do the number of deaths. Even as mask use and vaccines have slowed the rate of new infections, intensive care units still have many COVID patients who are not doing well. So there will be more deaths, Rutherford said. The real question on the table is whether theres going to be a fourth wave of infection. The coronavirus has evolved into variants that are far more infectious than the original virus from Wuhan, China, and those variants are spreading around the world and have arrived in California and the Bay Area. We have three vaccines now, and were in a race against the variants, Maldonado said. The fact that they are more infectious means that youve got an increased risk of getting sick. So we want to avoid a new surge. Dr. John Swartzberg, an infectious disease expert at UC Berkeley, also viewed the latest death statistics with a cautious optimism. The decline in deaths since the dark days of ... January is wonderfully gratifying, Swartzberg said. Still, we are far from where we need to be. I hope we can find the wherewithal to wear masks, socially distance, avoid crowds and, of course, get vaccinated as soon as you can. Nanette Asimov is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: nasimov@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @NanetteAsimov Three female employees of an Afghan television channel have been killed in two separate attacks in the eastern Nangarhar region. Local officials told RFE/RL that two employees of Enikass TV were killed in a shooting in the Zargaran area of the provincial capital, Jalalabad, on March 2. A civilian woman was also wounded in that attack. A third media worker was killed in a nearly simultaneous shooting in the Qasbeh area of Jalalabad. "They were going home from the office on foot when they were shot," said Zalmai Latifi, the director of the TV network. Latifi said the three women were recent high-school graduates aged between 18 and 20 and worked in the station's dubbing department. No one has yet claimed responsibility for the attacks, which follows the killing in Jalalabad in December of Enikass TV presenter Malala Maiwand and her driver. The Islamic State (IS) extremist group claimed responsibility for that attack. Provincial police chief Juma Gul Hemat said one of the suspected gunmen had been arrested and that he was connected to the Taliban. A Taliban spokesman denied the group was responsible for the attack. There has been a rising wave of killings targeting journalists, civil society activists, and officials across Afghanistan in recent months amid ongoing peace talks between the Afghan government and Taliban negotiators in Qatar. Most of the targeted killings have gone unclaimed. The Taliban has denied involvement in many cases. But Afghan and U.S. officials have blamed the militants. Rights groups say the killings are intended to silence and intimidate independent voices and civil society in Afghanistan, which has made inroads on womens rights and free speech since the 2001 U.S.-led invasion that toppled the fundamentalist Taliban regime. "The targeted killing of journalists could cause a state of fear in the journalistic community, and this could lead to self-censorship, abandonment of media activities, and even leaving the country," said Mujib Khalwatgar, head of Afghan media advocacy group NAI. The UN Assistance Mission for Afghanistan said in a report released February 15 that at least 11 media workers and human rights activists were killed in targeted attacks in Afghanistan since the launch of peace talks in September 2020. "These attacks are meant to intimidate; they are intended to make reporters cower; the culprits hope to stifle freedom of speech in a nation where the media has flourished during the past 20 years. This cannot be tolerated," the U.S. Embassy in Kabul said in a statement on Twitter. With reporting by AFP and Reuters 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 Workplace ergonomics enhancements can simultaneously help reduce risk factors that lead to musculoskeletal injuries while providing better human performance and productivity. Now that so many people work from home, ergonomic workspaces, furniture, and design have become a key concern when setting up a home workplace or company offices of the future. Alongside this demand is an escalation of online sales in the home furnishings industry. The E-Commerce Times spoke with several ergonomic and e-commerce experts to get their perspective on this trend. "I think the interest stems from the changes everybody has had to make during COVID," Karen Loesing, a certified ergonomic assessment specialist and owner of The Ergonomic Expert, told the E-Commerce Times. "Many people had never worked from home before and were ill-equipped." People are, essentially, having to rethink how and where they work. "Many have only a laptop or pad at home," explained Loesing. "When the average employee is going from two large monitors at work and suddenly finds themselves on the dining table with a laptop, it's a shock. "While some businesses have allowed employees to take home some of their computer set up, some have not been so generous. Many companies have given a stipend, which can often include getting a remote ergonomic evaluation, which has been helpful." Demand for New Products With a new awareness of the importance of ergonomic furniture and design, there has been an increased demand for new ergonomic products. "The most popular product has to be the height-adjustable desk," said Loesing. "Although, it may have seemed trendy at one time, I would say it's a rarity for someone not requesting to have the chance to work standing. Everybody is suddenly in the height-adjustable desk business. "Prior to COVID, finding a height-adjustable desk under $500 wasn't really an option. Furniture dealers are coming up with all shapes, sizes and a range of prices to attract customers they might previously not have had." In addition to adopting standing desks, people are also reconsidering other office essentials. "Another hot product is probably the vertical mouse," said Loesing. "A vertical mouse places your arm in a handshake position, which is much easier on your entire upper extremity, especially if you have a painful shoulder. This position also alleviates compression to the carpal tunnel region in the wrist, which has always been an issue for intensive computer work." Rethinking Business Environments Businesses, too, are rethinking the design and layout of their spaces in an attempt to make them more ergonomic as well as more easily sanitized. "Creating a work environment that is comfortable for all promotes healthier and happier employees and consumers, as well as making them feel that the environment isn't one size fits most," Kate Orara, marketing engagement manager for SpacePole, told the E-Commerce Times. Some of these changes involve accounting for the extra demands placed by social distancing and other COVID-19 mitigation guidelines. "With the current status and overcoming the COVID-19 pandemic, store operators are looking for solutions that protect their employees as well as their customers," explained Orara. "[One of] our most popular solutions is the social-distancing payment paddle arm, which mounts a payment device to a lightweight extension arm that is great to use for payment at a drive-through or other curbside checkout." Ergonomic Offices Though many of the changes afoot have been prompted by the pandemic, increased attention to and awareness of the importance of ergonomic design will likely remain even after the pandemic is over. "I hope future offices have spaces designed by function -- how people work," ergonomics expert Deborah Read, president of ErgoFit Consulting, told the E-Commerce Times. "This would include quiet private spaces for head-down work at dedicated height-adjustable desks, sound-proofed collaboration rooms with write-on walls/screens that aren't wrap-around see-through glass, and sound-dampened rooms for sales teams or others who are on phone and video calls frequently." It's important, however, for consumers and businesses to understand what counts as truly ergonomic -- and what does not. "Consumers are interested in ergonomic products because those products are more comfortable and easier to use -- if they actually are ergonomic," explained Read. "Often that term is used in marketing falsely, so buyer should beware, which is unfortunate. I would advise consumers to ask themselves, is this ergonomic for me?" With increased attention to ergonomic office design, there is likely to be more attention paid to the need for individual spaces in the business environment, as well. "COVID-19 reintroduced panels between people, and frankly I think people like that sense of individual space," said Read. "So I predict that trend will continue and that most people prefer not to feel like they're being watched all the time, so solid panels may start showing up." Working Safely With increased demand, ergonomic products and design strategies will continue to evolve. "I think the future of ergonomic products will continue to improve," predicted Loesing. "There are still some products that I look at and think, 'if only it did this and this,' I'd love it. "Although ergonomics is all about working safely, there will be more emphasis in the near future on partitions, smaller meetings, and there could be an end to the open-office concept that has been so popular the last few years. "I also believe that 'hot desking' will become a thing of the past. It's possible that many businesses will go back to a hybrid style of working -- maybe two or three days in the office. The future of workstations might become more portable, compact and lightweight, but ergonomic, of course." Home offices themselves -- and the ergonomic redesigns they require, are likely to also remain even after the pandemic is over. "The combination of the shift to work from home and interest in health and wellness will accelerate the infusion of ergonomic design into many product categories," Josh Walter, CEO of BrandJump, an e-commerce marketing and merchandising company in Los Angeles, told the E-Commerce Times. "Comfort and well-being are top priorities today, and people have a renewed interest in this due to work-from-home conditions as a result of the pandemic. Even in a post-COVID era, the home office, for many, is here to stay," Walter concluded. Vivian Wagner has been an ECT News Network reporter since 2008. Her main areas of focus are technology, business, CRM, e-commerce, privacy, security, arts, culture and diversity. She has extensive experience reporting on business and technology for a variety of outlets, including The Atlantic, The Establishment and O, The Oprah Magazine. She holds a PhD in English with a specialty in modern American literature and culture. She received a first-place feature reporting award from the Ohio Society of Professional Journalists, and is the author of Women in Tech: 20 Trailblazers Share Their Journeys, published by ECT News Network in May 2020. Email Vivian. LAist only exists with reader support. If you're in a position to give, your donation powers our reporters and keeps us independent. Our reporting is free for everyone, but its not free to make. Start your day with LAist Sign up for the Morning Brief, delivered weekdays. Subscribe Our news is free on LAist. To make sure you get our coverage: Sign up for our daily newsletters. To support our non-profit public service journalism: Donate Now. A wave of attacks against Asian Americans during the course of the pandemic shows no sign of abating, with recent incidents in California turning violent, even deadly. A horrific assault caught on surveillance video in late January showed 84-year-old Vichar Ratanapakdee being slammed into and knocked to the ground by a man on a San Francisco street. Ratanapakdee, an immigrant from Thailand, later died from his injuries. Just in recent weeks there have been reports of violent attacks against Asian Americans in Southern California, Northern California and elsewhere, including in New York, where a man was stabbed last week in an unprovoked attack. Recent local incidents include: These attacks continue a trend that developed last year after the COVID-19 pandemic took hold in the U.S. Former President Donald Trump fanned the flames with racist rhetoric, regularly referring to the novel coronavirus as the "China Virus." Stop AAPI Hate, a watchdog initiative, has been compiling hate incident reports against Asian Americans with an online "hate tracker" tool since the pandemic took hold in the United States in March. From late March through last December, the portal received 250 reports from Los Angeles County, said Manjusha Kulkarni, executive director of the Asian Pacific Policy and Planning Council, or A3PCON, which partnered with San Francisco State University and Chinese for Affirmative Action to create the reporting tool. Around 5% of these reported incidents have involved elders as victims, Kulkarni said. "Unfortunately, vulnerable folks do get picked on sometimes for these types of incidents," Kulkarni told our newsroom's local news and culture show Take Two, which airs on 89.3 KPCC. "And that's why urgent action really is needed." Many of the recent attacks on Asian Americans have been brought to light via social media, with Asian American activists and even celebrities posting videos of attacks and calls to action. Actors Daniel Dae Kim and Daniel Wu offered a $25,000 reward for information on the person in Oakland's Chinatown suspected of assaulting three seniors, one of them 91 years old, a few days after the fatal attack on Ratanapakdee in San Francisco. Kim described the assaults as being "ignored and even excused" in his Twitter post announcing the reward. Subsequent media attention has led to discussion over how to respond to violence against the Asian community. LA COUNTY RESPONSE For Robin Toma, executive director of the Los Angeles County Commission on Human Relations, combating anti-Asian hate takes on a personal dimension. Toma's mother was one of roughly 120,000 Japanese Americans who were sent to internment camps during World War II, in response to an executive order from President Franklin Roosevelt. Feb. 19 marked the 79th anniversary of that order. Toma compares sentiments during that time to the current climate surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, when a time of crisis brings existing hate to the surface. "One of the reasons that we saw that mass imprisonment of Japanese Americans, based solely on their national origin, was due to the pre-existing prejudice that was already present in the West Coast and other places in the country," Toma said. The L.A. County Commission on Human Relations has been tracking hate crimes and incidents since 1980. Their data shows that anti-Asian hate was already an issue before the pandemic, with anti-Asian hate crimes going up by 32% from 2018 to 2019. Robin Toma, executive director of the L.A. County of Commission on Human Relations, joins other county officials and community leaders speaking out against coronavirus-related racism last year. (Josie Huang/LAist) In 2019, the commission started working with the county's 211 hotline to track hate incidents, or bias-motivated hostility that doesn't rise to the level of a crime, as part of its LA vs. Hate initiative. People can report hate crimes and incidents through the LA vs. Hate website or by calling 211, which provides services in a variety of languages, including many Asian languages spoken locally. The LA vs. Hate Rapid Response Network, made up of 12 contracted agencies, including A3PCON, coordinates the local response to these incidents. The LA vs. Hate Rapid Response Network has been able to provide comprehensive support and advocacy to those who contact them. For one Asian woman who was harassed in a restaurant, for example, Toma said the county is trying to get management at that chain to train their employees to respond to future incidents. In another high-profile case, the LA vs. Hate team is consulting with local, county, state and federal law enforcement on behalf of Asian, Latino, Armenian and LGBTQ families in a West Covina homeowners' association who have experienced daily harassment and intimidation from a neighboring family, said Terri Villa-McDowell, the LA vs. Hate program coordinator. LA vs. Hate is also helping the families find legal representation in dealing with an unresponsive HOA, she said, and obtain protective orders and pursue civil rights complaints with the Department of Fair Employment and Housing. THE QUESTION OF MOTIVATION In many cases, it's difficult to prove what motivates attackers and whether hate is a factor, and many reported incidents are not investigated or prosecuted as hate crimes. Data gathered so far via the LA vs. Hate and Stop AAPI Hate initiatives have shown that the incidents reported involve more than criminal acts against Asians -- they also involve hostility, harassment and civil rights violations that require comprehensive solutions at all levels. "The ability to both identify and seek policy solutions, as well as help individuals, their families and their communities, is so important to our work," Kulkarni said. Both Kulkarni and Toma see law enforcement as playing a role in responding more effectively to hate crimes and incidents. This includes accurately reporting hate crimes, but also providing recourse to victims of hate incidents, which may not be as severe as a hate crime, but are damaging nonetheless. Toma recently presented a memo to the Board of Supervisors, in collaboration with Countywide Criminal Justice Coordination Committee executive director Mark Delgado, proposing alternative sentencing programs for some perpetrators that address "the underlying biases of their hate crimes." "We're actually having perpetrators of low-level hate crimes to address their prejudice, by figuring out what would help to bring about greater understanding, so they are less likely to carry forward these prejudices," Toma said of the proposal. COMMUNITY SOLUTIONS In response to the Jan. 31 attack in Oakland on the 91-year-old and two other older people, some Chinatown stakeholders there called for more security cameras and the reinstatement of the police department's Asian American liaison officer, as possible solutions to the uptick in violence. Other organizers, however, caution against relying on police. Alvina Wong, campaign and organizing director at the Asian Pacific Environmental Network, said that the in-language and culturally competent services that the police can offer are limited. "There's also been so many stories of like, when folks who have been impacted by crime call the police, because of language and cultural barriers, they feel like they're the ones who are in trouble," Wong said. Wong and other Oakland Chinatown activists are calling for a community-focused approach instead, including the revival of the Chinatown Ambassador Program, which employs people, mainly those who were formerly incarcerated, to engage in cleanup and de-escalation. "We know the police can't solve everything," said Ener Chiu, associate director of real estate development at the East Bay Local Development Corporation. "It doesn't always help to have someone armed, come in and solve a problem." In L.A., Tiffany Do, an organizer with Chinatown Community for Equitable Development, which has been in the neighborhood since 2012, also cautions against relying on the police to address anti-Asian violence. She points out that Asian Americans have also been victims of police violence, including Angelo Quinto, a Filipino American veteran who died last December after police in Antioch, Calif. knelt on his back for nearly five minutes after his mother made a mental health call to authorities, according to a lawsuit filed by his family. And she said there have also been incidents where neighborhood security forces use surveillance and intimidation to harass community members, including elderly street vendors. In a statement on the recent violence against Asian elders, Do's group called these incidents a "boiling point...after a painful year of simmering anti-Chinese rhetoric, xenophobia, right-wing extremism -- and also, years of unfettered real estate speculation displacing our working-class communities." This comes on top of the pandemic's economic fallout that has also harmed Asian Americans, Do said. A nearly empty parking lot outside the Golden Lake Eatery in Chinatown, after the start of the pandemic last year. (Josie Huang/LAist) "People...tend to raise issues around the economic violence of what happened," Do said. "People have avoided Chinatown because of the coronavirus. That's where it's really interesting in terms of the scope of harm, where we are invisibilized-slash-ignored." Meanwhile, she said, long-time residents, businesses and the basic services they rely on have been pushed out to make way for more expensive housing and commercial activity as Chinatown gentrifies. As community organizers, Do and other members of the Chinatown group have seen this firsthand. "One of our buildings that we were organizing, about five families left," she said. "The reaction to that type of violence is very different, but at the end of the day, very much connected, right? Because that's what we mean, we are seen as disposable and not worth taking care of." Do said any solution to interpersonal violence targeting Asian Americans must also address these long-term issues. Correction: A previous version of this story identified a 91-year-old man who was attacked in Oakland's Chinatown on Jan. 31 as Asian, according to news reports. The New York Times later reported that this victim is Latino. We have updated our story. LISTEN TO THE TAKE TWO INTERVIEW WE LOVE TO ANSWER YOUR QUESTIONS Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full 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. Police have put up hilarious posters in pubs of things that are impossible to say when drunk as a waning to punters to behave in nights out. Nine of the items on the list described poor decisions made under the influence of alcohol to point out that people behave badly when they drink. The list begins with three words that are 'hard to say when you're drunk', such as innovative, preliminary and cinnamon. After that, there is a list of things that are 'VERY difficult to say when you're drunk' including specifically, passive-aggressive disorder and transubstantiate. The poster was hung up in a local pub listing phrases and words drunk punters would struggle to say Following the 'very difficult' list is the 'absolutely impossible' list of things to say when drunk, where the poster begins to make its real point. First it points out that people cannot consent when they are too drunk, and even with less alcohol drop their standards and make bad relationship decisions. 'Thanks, but I dont want to sleep with you' and 'sorry, but youre not really my type',' the two list items read. Another example on the list is saying no to a kebab which is considered the go-to meals after a night out drinking - only to be regretted in the morning. Police then described their own interactions with belligerent drunkards with a sarcastic 'good evening officer, isn't it lovely out tonight?' Other two hard sentences on the list are: 'Oh, I just couldnt no one wants to hear me sing' and 'thank you, but I wont make any attempt to dance. I have no rhythm' The last ones take aim at those who vomit in the streets because they don't know where the nearest toilet is, and calling it a night because they have work in the morning. At the end is a warning to all punters to behave or be banned from the pub. (Newser) Vernon Jordan, who rose from humble beginnings in the segregated South to become a champion of civil rights before reinventing himself as a Washington insider and corporate influencer, has died at 85. In a Tuesday statement to CBS News, Jordan's daughter, Vickee Jordan Adams, said he died Monday night "surrounded by loved ones, his wife and daughter by his side," per the AP. After stints as field secretary for the Georgia NAACP and executive director of the United Negro College Fund, Jordan became head of the National Urban League, serving as the face of Black America's modern struggle for jobs and justice for more than a decade. He was nearly killed by a racist's bullet outside his hotel in Fort Wayne, Ind., in May 1980. Jordan had five surgeries and was visited by President Jimmy Carter during his three-month recovery in the hospital. story continues below "I'm not afraid and I won't quit," Jordan later told Ebony Magazine. "I believe that working with the Urban League, the NAACP, PUSH, and SCLC is the highest form of service that you can perform for Black people," he added. "And if you serve Black people, you serve the country as well." The graduate of the Howard University School of Law resigned from the Urban League in 1982 to become a partner at a law firm. He then became a key adviser to Bill Clinton during his first presidential campaign and co-chaired Clinton's transition team as the first Black person assigned such a role. He was drawn into scandal in securing a job at Revlon for Monica Lewinsky, though he wasn't mentioned in independent counsel Kenneth Starr's report. He went on to receive more than 55 honorary degrees and the Spingarn Medal, the highest honor given to a Black American for outstanding achievement. (Read more obituary stories.) Tonight's social justice outrage amid rising criticism of local law enforcement . . . KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Jackson County Prosecuting Attorney Jean Peters Baker said Monday her office will not pursue charges against a Kansas City, Missouri, police officer who shot and killed Donnie Sanders on March 12, 2020 . The principals of 10 eastern suburbs private schools will meet with activist Chanel Contos on Tuesday night to address sexual assault claims that have affected hundreds of their former students. Fifteen private school alumni associations have also scheduled a group workshop with Ms Contos this week. They include the Old Boys unions from the Committee of Associated Schools (CAS) and Great Public Schools of New South Wales (GPS), such as Saint Ignatius College Riverview, Shore School, The Kings School and St Josephs College Hunters Hill, as well as some alumni groups from independent girls schools including Wenona, Queenwood and Loreto Kirribilli. Chanel Contos started a petition calling for better sex and consent education in schools. The Australian Human Rights Commission has invited representatives from the independent, Catholic and public school sectors to discuss system-wide responses to the problem of teenage sexual assault later this month, while hundreds of private school heads will meet with NSW Police sex crimes squad boss Stacey Maloney on Friday. Ms Contos said she would be raising issues such as rape culture, victim blaming, sexual coercion and slut shaming at the discussions with principals and alumni groups, after a petition she started gathered more than 20,000 signatures calling for better sex and consent education in schools. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, February 2) Western manufacturers declined the countrys offer to pay more in exchange for early delivery of their anti-coronavirus shots, vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr. said Tuesday. Galvez did not name them but the Philippines is currently in negotiations with seven vaccine developers, including American pharmaceutical companies Pfizer and Moderna and British-Swedish firm AstraZeneca -- the preferred brands of the countrys healthcare workers. Galvez also admitted difficulty in accessing during the first quarter vaccines made by Pfizer, Moderna, and AstraZeneca due to tight global supply. Gusto nga naming taasan ang presyo para makakuha lang tayo ng early delivery pero sinasabi ng mga ibang Western manufacturers that is very impossible, he said in a speech during the launch of Marikina Citys COVID-19 vaccination program. [Translation: We actually are willing to offer a higher price just so we could have an early delivery of their vaccines, but some Western manufacturers were saying that is very impossible.] He added that the top vaccine makers' supply for the first quarter has already been secured by richer countries. Galvex said what the Philippines is counting on now is a total of 5.1 million doses of vaccines for this month, where 3.5 million shots will be coming from the COVAX facility and 1.6 million shots from Sinovac. China has already donated 600,000 doses of Sinovacs CoronaVac and the Philippines is currently negotiating for the delivery of one million more Sinovac shots within the month. Officials earlier said they have secured 25 million COVID-19 vaccine doses from Sinovac. The COVAX facility is a global initiative led by the World Health Organization which aims to ensure equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines. The Philippines is set to receive between 5.5 million and 9.2 million doses from AstraZeneca and 117,000 doses of Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines from COVAX. It remains unclear when these vaccines will be delivered to the country. On top of these, officials said last month that the Philippines can soon procure up to 20 million doses of the Moderna vaccine, which are expected to be divided between the government and the private sector. Meanwhile, the government has also inked a deal to secure 30 million doses of the Covovax vaccine, which is developed by US-based Novavax but manufactured at the Serum Institute of India. The Philippines has also procured a total of 17 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine, through tripartite agreements involving the private sector and local government units. Aside from supply issues, Galvez noted that they are finding it difficult to convince healthcare workers to get vaccinated with CoronaVac. Their reluctance stemmed from the vaccines reported efficacy rate of 50.4% in late-stage trials involving medical workers in Brazil. The Pfizer vaccine, one of the frontrunners in the COVID-19 vaccine race, has been found to be 95% effective in global trials with over 40,000 participants. Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain Pakistan, Nigeria and Indonesia will be among the biggest recipients of free COVID-19 vaccines before Junemore than 10 million doses eachthe Covax scheme announced Tuesday. Some 238.2 million doses will be distributed around the world by the end of May through the programme aimed at boosting access to coronavirus jabs in poorer nations. Though vaccination campaigns have gathered pace globally, the majority of injections have been administered in wealthier countries while many nations have yet to receive a single dose. The Covax scheme, aimed ensuring equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines, on Tuesday outlined plans to deliver to 142 countries and territories by May 31, in its first wave of distribution. The five biggest confirmed recipients are Pakistan (14,640,000 doses), Nigeria (13,656,000), Indonesia (11,704,800), Bangladesh (10,908,000) and Brazil (9,122,400). They are followed by Ethiopia (7,620,000), the Democratic Republic of the Congo (5,928,000), Mexico (5,532,000), Egypt (4,389,600) and Vietnam (4,176,000). Iran, Myanmar, Kenya and Uganda are also in line for more than three million doses each. Overall by the end of May, India is likely to be the biggest recipient of Covax doses, but its allocation was not finalised before the publication of the distribution list on Tuesday. The Pacific island nation of Tuvalu is meanwhile set to receive the smallest number of doses at 4,800, followed by Nauru and Monaco with 7,200 each. Ending pandemic's 'acute phase' Covax is co-led by the World Health Organization (WHO), the Gavi vaccine alliance, and the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations. The scheme is aiming to distribute enough doses to vaccinate up to 27 percent of the population in the 92 poorest participating economies by the end of the year, with at least 1.3 billion doses intended to go their way. "Covax's mission is to help end the acute phase of the pandemic as soon as possible," said Gavi chief executive Seth Berkley. The first wave of deliveries include some 237 million doses of the AstraZeneca/Oxford vaccine, being manufactured in India and South Korea, and another 1.2 million doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine, which requires special ultra-cold storage. Both vaccines require two injected doses. Ghana, Ivory Coast, South Korea, India and Colombia have already received their first deliveries of vaccines through Covax. Nigeria, Angola, Cambodia all received their first vaccine doses via Covax on Tuesday, with the DR Congo also scheduled for a delivery. Senegal was set to get its first batch on Wednesday, and some 20 countries in total are due to receive shipments this week. African production plan Ghana received the first flight of Covax AstraZeneca doses on February 24and President Nana Akufo-Addo publically took the first shot on Monday. He said Tuesday it was "imperative" that Africa develops its own vaccine production capacity to facilitate easy and affordable access to doses. The African Union Commission will host a meeting on April 12 aimed at developing a roadmap for the continent to start manufacturing COVID-19 vaccines. Some 198 countries and territories are participating in Covax, though not all are in the first wave of distribution. For the 92 lower- and lower-middle income economies in the scheme, funding is covered through donations. For richer countries, buying into Covax's bulk purchases operates like a back-up insurance policy for their own direct deals with vaccine producers. Some wealthy countries were on the distribution list, with South Korea in line for 2.2 million doses, Canada 1.6 million, Saudi Arabia 1.5 million, Singapore 245,000 and New Zealand 211,000. Any vaccine being rolled out through Covax requires the WHO seal of approvalso far given to just the Pfizer and AstraZeneca jabs. Novavax will provide 1.1 billion COVID-19 vaccine doses to Covax, while the facility has also signed deals with Sanofi-GSK, and with Johnson and Johnson. Explore further Follow the latest news on the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak 2021 AFP Some of the students who were abducted by gunmen (Sunday Alamba/AP) Gunmen have freed all 279 girls kidnapped last week from a boarding school in northwest Nigeria, officials said on Tuesday, and victims told of how their abductors had beaten and threatened to shoot them during a forced march into captivity. Dozens of girls in Muslim veils sat in a hall in a state government building before being taken for medical checks. A few parents arrived, and one father wept with joy after seeing his daughter. Farida Lawali, 15, told how she and the other girls had been taken to a forest by the kidnappers. They carried the sick ones that cannot move. We were walking in the stones and thorns, she said, covered in a light blue veil. They started hitting us with guns so that we could move, she added. While they were beating them with guns, some of them were crying and moving at the same time. They said they will shoot anybody who did not continue to walk, another of the girls, Umma Abubakar, told Reuters, saying many had injuries that had made walking difficult. Read More Relief at their return was tempered by concern over the circumstances of their release. A series of similar school abductions in recent months has led many Nigerians to worry that regional authorities are making the situation worse by letting kidnappers go unpunished or paying them off. Zailani Bappa, a media adviser to the state governor, denied that a ransom had been paid, but said the captors had been offered amnesty, as well as assistance to resettle at a site with newly built schools, a hospital and other facilities. Expand Close Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari has come under increasing pressure to solve the crisis of kidnappers in Nigeria. Photo: REUTERS/Afolabi Sotunde. / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari has come under increasing pressure to solve the crisis of kidnappers in Nigeria. Photo: REUTERS/Afolabi Sotunde. The process means amnesty for those who repent and will be assisted to resettle. Hence, no monetary inducement or ransom was involved in the rescue. It was a willing surrender of the girls, he said. Those who surrender their arms will be assisted to start a new life. Since they are herders, they will be supported with a few cows each. President Muhammadu Buhari called for the captors to be brought to justice and said that if any ransoms were being paid, this would only make future attacks more likely. The pupils from Jangebe, a town in Zamfara state, were seized just after midnight on Friday. All had now been freed, Zamfara Governor Bello Matawalle said. Boarding schools in northern Nigeria have become targets for mass kidnappings for ransom by armed criminal gangs. The trend was started by the jihadist group Boko Haram, which kidnapped 270 schoolgirls in 2014, around 100 of whom have never been found. But recent months have seen a sudden escalation of similar attacks, including the abduction of 344 boys in December. Fridays raid on the Government Girls Science Secondary School was the second school abduction in little over a week in the northwest. Officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, have told Reuters that the authorities have made payoffs in the past in exchange for child hostages, creating an incentive for abductions. Several of those officials declined to comment on Tuesday on whether they believed a ransom had been paid in the latest incident. Initial reports put the number kidnapped at 317. Zamfara government spokesman Sulaiman Tanau Anka said the total was 279, as some of the girls had escaped into the bush during the raid. Lawal Abdullahi, whose seven daughters were among those kidnapped and freed, said the incident would not deter him from schooling his children. Its a ploy to deny our girls ... from getting the Western education in which we are far behind, he told Reuters. We should not succumb to blackmail. My advice to government is that they should take immediate precautions to stop further abductions. The U.N. childrens agency UNICEF urged the Nigerian government to protect schools so children and parents will not be afraid. Armenia ex-president Kocharyan gives interview to Russia newspaper Armenia acting deputy PM on unblocking of roads with Azerbaijan: There will be no troops standing there Nikkei: Toyota and Honda stop car production in Malaysia Armenia official on deploying international observers at Azerbaijan border: You will hear reaction on this matter soon USAID helps UN World Food Programme support displaced people in Armenia Armenia official: Work of trilateral working group on roads unblocking has stopped after recent incidents Russias Putin to Armenias Pashinyan: Relations between our countries are developing very successfully Armenia health minister: Improper storage of fallen soldiers bodies, remains was my omission 108 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia Armenia President to children: I believe that you will make our country much better Armenia CEC publicizes complete lists of political forces registered to run in snap parliamentary elections World oil prices going up Queen Elizabeth turns down PM's offer to name new royal yacht after Prince Philip Armenia parliament discusses 2020 state budget report Newspaper: Armenia acting FM resigns after 3rd attempt Newspaper: Yerevan mayor to leave office Israel, UAE sign tax treaty Newspaper: Even vagrants are persuaded, taken to Armenia acting PM Pashinyans rally in Vanadzor Swedish defense minister demands explanation from Denmark over spy scandal Acting Deputy PM: Armenia has not discussed and will not discuss issues within logic of "corridor" Armenia Central Electoral Commission determines numbers of political parties for elections Armenia 2nd President visits Cathedral of the Holy Mother of God in Gyumri (PHOTOS) Opposition Armenia bloc representative: We're running in elections to win Azerbaijan MFA comments on calls for release of Armenian POWs with infinite hypocrisy EC: Vaccinated citizens should be exempted from tests, quarantine when traveling within EU Armenia Ombudsman discusses rights of 6 captured Armenian servicemen with ICRC Delegation head EU ready to use all the tools at its disposal to change Turkey's behavior Yerevan court obliges to abolish violation of rights of Armenia Supreme Judicial Council ex-chairman Greek and Turkish leaders to meet in June on sidelines of NATO summit Armenia Central Electoral Commission to set up 2,008 polling stations for snap parliamentary elections Iranian companies to participate in reconstructing territories under Azerbaijan's control Opposition Armenia bloc's representative on acting PM's invitation to debate with 1st and 2nd Presidents Armenia acting FM dismissed upon presidential decree Body of brother of Armenian criminal authority "Don Pipo" found under bridge 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 A close up view of destroyed buildings at an Iraq-Syria border crossing after airstrikes are seen on Feb. 26, 2021. (Satellite image (copyright) 2021 Maxar Technologies/Handout via Reuters) Syria Airstrikes Sent Very Strong Signal, Pentagon Says The airstrikes launched against militants in Syria last week sent a very strong signal, the Pentagon said Monday, rebutting claims by militant groups that the strikes had no real effect on them. I havent seen those comments, I would go back to what I said last week: that this was really designed to do two things, to remove that compound from their utilization of it as an entry control point from Syria into Iraq, and to send a very strong signal that were not going to tolerate attacks on our people and Iraqi partners, John Kirby, the Pentagons chief spokesman, told reporters during a press briefing in Washington. The United States on Feb. 25 launched strikes in eastern Syria. Kirby said shortly after the strikes struck that they were authorized by President Joe Biden in response to recent attacks against American and coalition personnel in Iraq, and to ongoing threats to those personnel. One attack was a rocket strike on an airport near Erbil 10 days prior in Iraqs semi-autonomous Kurdish-run region. That launch injured six people, including a U.S. service member, and killed a civilian contractor. According to the United States, the retaliatory strikes destroyed buildings used by Iranian-backed groups including Kait-ib Hezbollah. A view of destroyed buildings at an Iraq-Syria border crossing before airstrikes are seen on Feb. 3, 2021. (Satellite image (copyright) 2021 Maxar Technologies/Handout via Reuters) A close up view of destroyed buildings at an Iraq-Syria border crossing after airstrikes are seen on Feb. 26, 2021. (Satellite image (copyright) 2021 Maxar Technologies/Handout via Reuters) In comments translated by the Middle East Media Research Institute, militants downplayed the impact of the strikes. Unnamed militants, for instance, told Sabereen News that the strikes targeted an empty building and killed only one fighter. Kirby said the latest intelligence indicates one militia member was killed and two others were wounded. He also said the strikes took out nine buildings. Members of Congress decried the attacks, including several Democrats, noting Congress didnt grant approval for the military action. But the White House said congressional leaders were notified prior to the strikes, while Biden said the message sent to Iran was you cant act with impunity. Both the White House and military officials have defended the strikes as an appropriate measure. This proportionate military response was conducted together with diplomatic measures, including consultation with Coalition partners. The operation sends an unambiguous message: President Biden will act to protect American and Coalition personnel. At the same time, we have acted in a deliberate manner that aims to de-escalate the overall situation in both eastern Syria and Iraq, Kirby said in a statement last week. Members of Congress were slated to take part in a classified briefing early this week. We are not convinced compulsory treatment is used as a last resort, royal commission chair Penny Armytage told Parliament after the report was tabled. The royal commission also recommended the government act immediately to reduce the use of seclusion and restraint, with the aim to eliminate these practices within 10 years. Royal commission chair Penny Armytage says seclusion and restraint should be eliminated. Credit:Jason South We made the recommendation that seclusion and restraint should be eliminated from our system, Ms Armytage said. We thought long and hard about that, and we had many, many opportunities to discuss with the workforce why in Victoria it was used as frequently as it was. But we also talked to those who both had to administer it and those who were the recipients of it, and the harrowing impact that it had on their wellbeing, setting back their recovery, abusing and creating trauma for them throughout it. We believe theres got to be a better alternative. The royal commission called for the regulation of chemical restraint in a new Mental Health and Wellbeing Act. The government has committed to adopting all 65 recommendations in the report. Ms Birthisel, who told her story to the royal commission, said she was encouraged by a social worker to report an abusive ex-partner to the police when she was discharged from hospital. Unbeknownst to me, if youre on an order and you have contact with police, they take you back to the hospital. Ms Birthisel said she had her arms put behind her back, was searched and was then taken back to the hospital in a divvy van. And then they kept me in that time and forced medication on me as soon as I got in there. They said to me, [You] take this, and I said, Im not on any medication, so they got a huge needle and four of them pinned me down and said, Youre getting this if you dont have medication. It was an anti-psych. And this was in front of two police officers, who were shaking their head and saying, I dont think theres any need for you to restrain her, because I wasnt objecting or anything. It was out of this world. Mental health advocate Maggie Toko on Tuesday. Credit:Jason South Ms Birthisel said she and and her children were traumatised by her experiences with the mental health system. I wanted to speak up, because I know how fearful it is, a lot of people said to me, Dont do it. Victorian Mental Illness Awareness Council chief executive Maggie Toko has experience of being sectioned compulsorily committed to a psychiatric hospital. Loading She says she was once detained for three months after checking in to hospital as a voluntary patient for a week. I spent Christmas and New Years in hospital, she says. I was questioning, What do you mean I cant go home, it was the most bizarre thing. Ms Toko, who was given a diagnosis of psychosis, said nothing was explained. I knew before I got sectioned that I had human rights, and I didnt feel they were being respected, and I was right because they werent. She said eliminating seclusion and restraint and ensuring compulsory treatment was a last resort was so important because these practices took away peoples free will. You havent done anything wrong, you are put in shackles, tied to a bed and put in a room on your own at the most vulnerable time in your life. Focused on developing and commercializing high-quality products Pipeline includes several commercial products in ophthalmology and transplant Also has a development stage pipeline in neurology What Aequus Pharmaceuticals does Aequus Pharmaceuticals Inc ( ) ( ) is a specialty pharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercializing high quality, differentiated products. The Vancouver-based company takes medications that are already available in the US or elsewhere and licenses or acquires the Canadian rights, then takes the clinical data that supported that approval and works with Health Canada, Canadas national health system, to get them approved and commercialized in Canada. Aequus intends to commercialize its internal programs in Canada alongside its current portfolio of marketed established medicines and looks to form strategic partnerships that would maximize the reach of its product candidates worldwide. The company has expanded its pipeline to include several commercial products in Opthalmology and transplant and also has a development stage pipeline in neurology with the goal of addressing a need for improved medication adherence through enhanced delivery systems. In Ophthamology, the company has launched Vistitan, which reduces the pressure inside the eyes of patients with glaucoma and was first marketed by Swiss-owned pharmaceutical giant , as well as Evolve preservative-free, dry-eye products, developed with partner Medicom Aequus has also launched transplant therapy Tacrolimus - also licensed from - which aims to treat and prevent acute rejection following an organ transplant. In its development pipeline, the company has a transdermal cannabis product, AQS1304 for neurological disorders; a transdermal anti-nausea drug, AQS1303; and an epilepsy treatment, Topiramate XR licensed from . How is it doing: Aequus Pharmaceuticals has made a solid start to 2021. On March 1, Aequus Pharmaceuticals announced the commercial availability of the Evolve preservative-free lubricating eye drops for dry eye care. The company said the premium formulations - Intensive Daily drops, with the gold standard 0.2% sodium hyaluronate, and the unique, triple-action Intensive Gel drops, containing hyaluronate, carbomer 980 and glycerol - will provide soothing hydration and symptom relief for patients with dry eye disease. It said the products will be available exclusively for sale by eye care clinics in Canada, where patients can receive the full benefit of dry eye treatment plans when they are diagnosed, prescribed, and monitored by eye care professionals. Launched in 2015 in Europe, the Evolve brand has grown to 5 products across 35 countries. With an array of products, the brand can address the various symptoms involved with dry eye disease and blepharitis including discomfort, stinging, burning, and dryness. Currently in Canada, the dry eye market is estimated at over $90 million, which includes both prescription and over-the-counter products. On other products front, in October last year, Aequus revealed that it had agreed to an extension of terms for its promotional service agreement on the drug tacrolimus immediate-release (tacrolimus IR), which is used to prevent patient rejection after organ transplants. The company said that it has extended its commercial agreement on tacrolimus with Canada Inc to December 31, 2021. Aequus began promoting s generic tacrolimus In December 2015. Tacrolimus has since achieved over 10x growth in Canada through increased brand awareness and new patient adoption programs, according to the company, the group said. In the boardroom, in November last year, the company announced that co-founder Anne Stevens was stepping down as its chief operating officer. Aequus said Stevens will remain a director of the company and continue to serve on its board. Earlier in the year, Aequus revealed that entrepreneur Grant Larsen had been hired as the company's chief commercial officer, effective August 17 2020, noting that he had almost 20 years of senior management positions in North American eye care. And on February 12, 2021, Aequus announced that Marc Lustig had agreed to join its board of directors concurrent with making a $1 million direct equity investment in the company. Lustig currently serves as a director at cannabis companies Cresco Labs and Pharmacielo Ltd, he is also chairman of both cannabis investment firm Trichome Financial Corp and medical cannabis group Cannabis. Looking at financials, on May 31, Aequus reported its first-quarter 2021 results showing an operating loss before other income of $623,636 for the first quarter of 2021, a 53% change from the loss before other income of $408,706 in the three months ended March 31, 2020. The company said the higher loss was primarily due to lower revenue and an increase in product development and regulatory costs related to Zimed-PF as it progresses through the Health Canada review process as well as higher non-cash expenses triggered by the conversion of convertible debt to equity. The company posted first-quarter 2021 revenues of $491,821, a 15% decrease over the $579,450 revenue during the same period in 2020, primarily driven by timing differences resulting from consumer buying patterns and not believed to be attributable to any specific cause or variable controllable by the company. It noted that COVID-19 restrictions continue to be an access barrier in Ontario and Quebec, but said the impact of the restrictions is not measurable. Inflection points: Boost from commercial availability of Evolve eye drops Growth in Tacrolimus sales after agreement extension Further revenue growth and loss reductions What the boss says: In a statement accompanying the firm's Q1 2021 results, Aequus chairman and CEO Doug Janzen commented: We had a productive start to 2021. Despite the many COVID-19 related restrictions that impacted all of Canada, our sales force continued to find creative ways to manage the business. "We were excited to launch our new E-commerce platform www.aequuseyecare.ca. This new tool strengthens our established sales infrastructure and will allow us to more readily take on new products and scale up commercial operations, as needed when sales opportunities are expected to change after current COVID restrictions are lifted. Janzen added: Sales were down slightly in Q1 compared to the same period last year and lower than our record quarter in fourth quarter 2020, which from a timing perspective, appeared to cannibalize some January sales. We were pleased to see sales meet internal forecasts since February and we expect to continue our revenue growth trajectory going forward. Contact the author at jon.hopkins@proactiveinvestors.com The winter storm that recently devastated Texas, leaving millions without power, water, and heat, is the latest example of why we need a renewed and serious national focus on infrastructure. For years, people have discussed our crumbling roads and bridges and called for the federal government to prioritize investing in infrastructure, which, as a concept, has strong bipartisan support. The pandemic sharpened this focus by broadening our definition of infrastructure: Remote schooling has highlighted the need for improved broadband and greater equality of access to digital communications; the strain on our health care system has shown that rethinking how we build hospitals and clinics should be part of the infrastructure conversation; public parks and other outdoor recreational facilities have proven to be very important during the era of social distancing. While improving and expanding infrastructure is a national problem, we must be creative when searching for solutions. In the past, it was assumed that a single, national, top-down approach, with federal agencies leading the way, was the key to tackling these problems. But a survey we conducted this fall -- through the Kinder Institute for Urban Research at Rice University -- of the nations 100 largest cities and 100 largest metropolitan areas found that a more bottom-up approach, soliciting feedback from localities and states, might be the best path forward. The survey resulted in a list of 1,807 projects that can now be updated continuously and reviewed. This is a first-of- its- kind list of American infrastructure priorities viewed through the eyes of city and regional leaders. It is important for the Biden administration to lead the way, as the federal government remains the entity with the resources and the might to ensure this investment is made throughout the country. What we found, however, is that plans to improve infrastructure are already on the table in virtually every major population center from coast to coast. We cannot have more federal spending on bridges to nowhere. Limited resources must be used to refuel the nations economic engines, just as the New Deal both helped our country emerge from the Depression and created much of the vital infrastructure that served as the backbone of what became the American Century, the greatest economic success story the world has ever known. As a nation, we cannot stand still in a time of serious international challenges. China is making infrastructure investments not only in its futuristic cities but in other nations with whom it seeks to build trading partnerships. A nation either invests in its future or it slips behind. To maintain that competitiveness, our infrastructure the underpinnings of our systems of water, power, mobility, education, communications, public works, and health must help our metropolitan economies stay functional and productive. Our report identified three broad areas where local and regional priorities should be used to shape the federal infrastructure package: Infrastructure priorities revealed by the pandemic, including broadband access, emergency response, health facilities, and public transit. Climate resilience, which also includes public transit as well as renewable energy, clean water facilities, climate mitigation infrastructure such as levies, floodgates, and similar technologies. Projects that create economic connections between urban and rural communities, such as rural broadband, new energy infrastructure, including renewables and strengthened power transmission to avoid what happened in Texas. In a nation so starkly divided politically between urban and rural areas, creating that connection, and interdependence, is so important for our national future. It is encouraging that the Biden administration has appointed or nominated state and local leaders for key infrastructure positions, such as former Mayor Pete Buttigieg at the Department of Transportation, Mayor Marty Walsh at the Department of Labor, former Mayor Marcia Fudge at Housing and Urban Development, Gov. Gina Raimondo at the Department of Commerce, former Gov. Jennifer Granholm at the Department of Energy, former Gov. Tom Vilsack at the Department of Agriculture, Connecticut Education Commissioner Miguel Cardona for the Department of Education, and Michael S. Regan, secretary of North Carolinas Department of Environmental Quality, named to head the Environmental Protection Agency. At a moment when national unity is so important, and a rapidly changing global economy is set to transform the way we live and work, making the right decisions now about infrastructure will help secure our future for generations to come. Henry Cisneros is the former secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and former mayor of San Antonio. Guntur : , March 3 (IANS) A controversy is brewing in Andhra Pradesh with the BJP objecting to the alleged illegal erection of a cross on a hillock considered holy by the Hindus in Guntur district. BJP national secretary and the party's Andhra Pradesh co-incharge Sunil Deodhar claimed that the hillock was encroached. "See the huge illegal cross at Edlapadu where once the footprints of Sita Maa existed. Carving of Lord Narasimha exists at the back. In Guntur district, Christian mafias have created havoc. Andhra Pradesh BJP and friends of RSS protested against this but the administration tacitly supported the move," claimed Deodhar. He also released a video alleging that the state government is supporting corruption, mafia, goondaism and encroachment of land by churches. The BJP leader claimed that the conversion mafia is creating havoc ever since Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy came to power. He claimed that the hillock had Sita's footprints where weddings used to be conducted. "Slowly, Christian people started going there. Saying that this hill belongs to Mother Mary, they put one of her idols. In the last few months, slowly and steadily they destroyed all the footprints and started constructing a cross," he alleged. Meanwhile, the police in Guntur district have clarified that neither such thing occurred, nor any Hindu religious structure was desecrated on Tuesday. Guntur Rural superintendent of police (SP) Vishal Gunni stated that no Hindu religious structures were desecrated and clarified that Sita's footmarks did not exist on the hillock where the cross was raised. "Sita's footmarks are not there. There is a small idol of Narasimha Swamy which is on the other side of the hillock," Gunni told IANS. He clarified that the hillock where Narasimha Swamy's idol exists and the hillock where the cross has been raised are different and about 500 metres to 1 km apart. "There are hillocks in between, and they are not interrelated at all," Gunni said. Meanwhile, Guntur district collector Vivek Yadav stalled the construction of the cross on the hillock as the allotment process is underway and not yet completed. Gunni said the people connected to the cross construction have applied for permission but the procedure is not complete yet. "It seems that they have already applied for that. They will process it as per law. Presently, the collector gave orders for stopping the work of the cross till the allotment happens," said the SP. He said it is mandatory to take permission before constructing any structure like that and said that he spoke to both the sub-collector and the district collector to confirm the details. Several BJP leaders have already tweeted on the Edlapadu hillock case, including Bengaluru South MP Tejasvi Surya. The Daily Beast Photo Illustration by The Daily Beast/GettyMike Lindell, the MyPillow CEO and Trumpist conspiracy-peddler, flew his private jet to the Republican Governors Association meeting the other day.The guvs promptly threw him out. But the incident got Molly Jong-Fast thinking: Does the MyPillow CEO think hes already a governor or something?Subscribe to The New Abnormal on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Amazon Music, or Overcast. To listen to our weekly members-only bonus episodes, join Beast Inside here. Already a member? You can listen here and sign up for new episode email alerts here.Spoiler: Making MyPillows does not make you my governor. Now, chances that Mike Lindell could actually become governor of a small Republican state, 80 percent, she quips on the latest episode of The New Abnormal. Like, its not even that hard for someone that famous and insane in the Republican party to become a governor.Lindell claims he wouldnt run to be a dogcatcher right now, because he doesnt trust the voting machines. Plus, hes from the blue state of Minnesota. So maybe the risk of a Governor Pillow isnt quite so high. But L.A. Times columnist Virginia Heffernan would like to quickly add something about Mike Lindell being a cosplay governor.I think we need to understand that being in politics leads to governing and governing is boring. It is not a PR operation, she says. And I feel like we have made these jobs celebrity roles. Public service should not beis notbeing on a reality show.Like, I feel like we need to really dial down the razzle-dazzle, really play up the drudgery, Heffernan continues. I just don't know why every single industrialist and every single lady with abs or gorgeous arms would want to be, of all things, a governor.Biden, Heffernan opines, is doing a pretty good job at the drudgerydollars going out, jabs going out, all leading to Trump signs going down. Sure, the Donald has his cultists, like Lindell. But, I don't think people can hold onto this much insanity for this long, especially when it's a tiny minority of people who believe it, Heffernan adds. Democrats need to know how to win.To which Jong-Fast replies, oh-so-gently: Are you freakin kidding me? With all of these Republican attempts to retcon the Capitol riots? To chop away at the right to vote? To instantiate their ability to overturn elections? All while Team Biden snoozes it away? The Democrats are bringing an ice cream sundae to a knife fight, Jong-Fast says.Plus! Politicos Tara Palmeri talks about her search to find Liz Cheney supporters in Wyoming. And Battle for the Soul author Edward-Isaac Dovere gives us a peek into how Biden sees the political landscape. The presidency that he has in front of him now, he knows, is so different from what he ever expected to have, Dovere says, And part of that is rethinking how he incorporates the progressivism within the party that took root and that was so much part of this campaign. And its just, its a really complicated evolution for him. Its not the presidency he thought itd be running in 2019 when he got into this race.Read more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more. Independent observers say there is no clear choice for the position of Zimbabwes second vice president left vacant by Kembo Mohadi, who resigned Monday following an alleged sex scandal involving several women. They say President Emmeerson Mnangagwa may even toss out a gentlemens agreement in the 1987 Unity Accord signed by PF Zapu and Zanu PF, reserving this particular post for Zapu senior members. Some of the people, who have occupied the position since 1987, are the late Joshua Nkomo, Joseph Msika, John Landa Nkomo and Phelekezela Mphoko, who was booted out of the party following a defacto military coup in 2017, which resulted in Mnangagwa becoming Zimbabwes second president. George Mkhwananzi, an independent political commentator, says if Mnangagwa knows how Mohadis voice messages with his lovers were recorded and leaked to the media, which led to his resignation, he already has a candidate for the post. My personal opinion is that VP Mohadi was deliberately pushed out of his position in order to open space for a senior military personality probably still serving in the army. The machinations that went with it indicate a carefully orchestrated strategy that involved the Central Intelligence Organization and senior Zanu PF leaders in government who conspired to get Mohadi ejected from power for an offense which is otherwise inconsequential according to the well-known Zanu-PF moral value system. In this regard, it will not be far-fetched to suspect that Mohadi's position was created for the current Army Commander General Phillip Valerio Sibanda who is expected to retire from his position soon. Mkhwananzi said, Brigadier Mutinhiri's chances are based on the fact that after the death of Dr. Dumiso Dabengwa and the sacking of former Vice President Phelekezela Mphoko after the coup that toppled Robert Mugabe, he is probably the only surviving member of the Zimbabwe Peoples Revolutionary Armys High Command as the presidium appears to be favoring former senior army members. Next tipped to land the position of vice president is Oppah Muchinguri based on her gender and current position as Zanu-PF's national chairperson. After Muchinguri then comes Tshinga Dube also based on his military seniority in ZIPRA. Others coming as dark horses are Dr. Obert Maminza Mpofu, Simon Khaya Moyo and, remotely, Sithembiso Nyoni. According to Mthulisi Hanana, director of the Dumiso Dabangwa Foundation, the person who is expected to succed Mohadi is one that had a senior position in PF Zapu or ZIPRA before the signing of the Unity Accord in 1987. If this were to be followed, the front runners are most likely Tshinga Dube and Ambrose Mutinhiri. Mutinhiri has in the past shown interest in the post. Unfortunately, through ZIPRA, he is not tribally-acceptable and his stint at the National Patriotic Front project eliminates him. Mutinhiri, unlike Msika who was Shona, does not have big enough clout in Zapu circles to pacify the people. However, Tshinga Dube is too outspoken and too much of an independent for the comfort of the appointing authority. Mnangagwa is very unpredictable. He just might shock us and appoint Tshinga Dube. Hanana said the other astounding fact about the Mohadi saga is the call by some womens organizations for him to step down. The same organisations are now calling for a woman in the presidium. This woman can be Sithembiso Nyoni. She could be acceptable even ahead of former Governor Angeline Masuku who is both old and sickly. So, if the gender card is played well, Sithembiso Nyoni is our next VP. He did not rule out the possibility of Zanu PFs secretary for administration, Obert Mpofu, landing the position of vice president, especially if the gender card is not at play. I, however, am wary of Mnangagwa's appointments as he seems to reward his friends and fellow coup plotters with both government and army positions. Two names come to mind - Philip Valerio Sibanda and Obert Mpofu. In the case of the army commander, he has already been promoted and I doubt he would be that gullible to rise on the ashes of a fellow ZIPRA. He is more influential and safer in the army than as a second token vice president. This leaves Obert Mpofu. His defection to Zanu in the 1980s is not going to be a factor the same way Mnangagwa ignored the gentlemen's agreement of unity when he made appointments at Home Affairs and Zanu chairmanship. So for me, Mpofu is highly likely. He would be eliminated only by the gender card. But Zifiso Masiye, another independent political commentator believes that Mohadis succession should not be at the center of challenges faced by people in the Matabeleland and Midlands regions. He criticized some of the people who were appointed vice president by the late former President Robert Mugabe and believes that Mnangagwa is expected to do the same. Masiye said, Most of the appointees were generally hopeless, incompetent, self-serving individuals, who carried very little of the real mandate and training of Zapu into a Zanu governance sphere. They were themselves too overwhelmed by their personal stations in life, too overly grateful to the person of the president to be able to be salt that could seriously change the taste and repulsive architecture of Zanu. It was easier for them to demonstrate their positional gratitude by turning against their region and the principles of their people than to correct the governance ills of Zanu PF. Often, they would become more hostile to the people or at best they simply abandoned the governance mission, joined the gravy train and showed people the middle finger. I missed Joshua Nkomo and saw all his boys in there in this unfortunate light. He said many people remain skeptical about the next vice presidential appointee. Is this position not just another false tooth, a place holder that will never bite? What in truth as a governance benefit can be hoped by our people from the next appointee? These are relevant questions as the issue of a replacement arises An important door is open. The vice presidency of any ruling party and any government is in itself a very very powerful office in any country. It is the second most powerful and most strategic office in the land. Only fools can take that office lightly. It is really a question of, whether or not as a people, Matabeleland has a clear political vision and development mission with which to entrust the new incumbent. Even if Mnangagwa were to appoint some of the most astute brains from amongst us to replace Mohadi, if there is no effective community resonance and committed mandate of bare minimums to be targeted, expected and achieved, that office will remain a useless and toothless place holder for our people. He said the people of Matabeleland and the Midlands provinces should not be guessing about the next appointee as they are supposed to be appointed vice president for their own benefit. There is a massive development gap here and our people are way too polarized, desperate and incapacitated to start to rebuild our city, our municipalities and towns and our rural localities. Where is the community's 10-point plan and development agenda with which you assign the imminent vice presidential appointee, before you all glamour about baseless names. I don't quite care who the name is. I care what the people think that we should set out to achieve. He noted that Mnangagwa may settle for a person who is currently in Zimbabwes feared military. Masiye said, I just hate the idea of the increased militarization of government And when names of men in military fatigue are touted as potential V.P. in an already highly militarized civil service, I just shudder. You force me to think aloud on who! Yet personally there is no name that is more sound and that carries more dignity and integrity for that office than that of Valario Sibanda. I have immense respect for the man. Indications are that the ruling party wont discuss Mohadis replacement when its Politburo holds a meeting on Wednesday in Harare. Presidential spokesperson George Charamba and Information Secretary, Nick Mangwana, were unavailable for comment as they were not responding to calls on their mobile phones. Zanu PF Central Committee member, Joseph Tshuma, told VOA Zimbabwe Service that Mnangagwa is expected to appoint someone to replace Mohadi as per the countrys current and future plans. We have some systems in place in the ruling party and ultimately the president will make his own decision on appointing the next vice president of Zimbabwe. I wish like any other party cadre that I will be the next VP. A day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi took his first shot of the COVID-19 vaccine, 70-year-old Mukesh Sehgal underwent the process at the Delhi Heart and Lung Institute here on Tuesday and said the PM's move encouraged him to get inoculated against the viral disease. Sehgal did not inform his family members about his decision to get vaccinated. However, soon after taking the first dose of COVAXIN, he sent out a WhatsApp message, informing them about it. Under observation for half-and-hour after being administered the first dose of the vaccine, Sehgal said he was feeling well and relaxed. Asked what encouraged him to go for vaccination, he said, "Yesterday, when Modiji took the vaccine shot, it encouraged me and boosted my confidence." Asked if his wife is also ready to get herself vaccinated against COVID-19, Sehgal, a resident of Vijay Nagar, said, "It is very difficult to convince a wife. In fact, I did not tell anyone from my family about it. But I encourage all my family members to get vaccinated now as I have taken my first dose." A resident of New Rajinder Nagar, Kamini Soni (69), who took her first vaccine shot after her husband, said they had no apprehensions about taking the jab. "We desperately waited for the vaccine to arrive and when our prime minister, who is a role model for us, took the shot, we were totally assured," she said. Sunil Rustagi (61), a resident of Sarai Rohila, said he consulted a doctor at the AIIMS on Monday before registering for the vaccination and felt confident to go ahead as the prime minister himself took the first dose of the vaccine. Two weeks before Diwali last year, Rustagi and his wife got infected with the deadly Both were in home quarantine and got infected in spite of taking all precautions, he recalled while under observation after taking the jab. "I got infected first and then my wife. I had fever only for three days, but my wife had a real tough time. She had fever for 10-12 days. It was a difficult time. My wife will also take her first vaccine shot probably on Saturday," Rustagi said. Ram Kumar (33), a Delhi Police personnel attached with the Battalion 4, came to the Delhi Heart and Lung Institute for his monthly heart checkup, but eager to get himself vaccinated against COVID-19, he consulted his doctor on getting the first dose as he underwent angioplasty in December last year. Kumar said on December 23, he was working out on the police ground in the Kingsway Camp when he suddenly felt chest pain and rode his motorcycle to the hospital. After tests, he was shocked when doctors told him he had a 95-per cent blockage in his heart and was suggested angioplasty immediately. On January 23, when he received a message from his department about his vaccination against COVID-19, he went to a hospital near his residence, but the doctor was not sure if Kumar should take the risk of getting vaccinated as he had recently undergone a heart surgery and was already on medication. Kumar decided to put it on hold. However, when he saw his colleagues, who were above 50 years of age and were heart patients, getting vaccinated, it instilled confidence in him. On Tuesday, he went ahead with the vaccination after his doctor gave him the green signal. Asked if he felt any kind of uneasiness after taking the jab, Kumar said, "It went off smoothly. I feel normal and relaxed. In fact, as soon as my observation period ends, I would rush to the OPD for my checkup. As I am in a profession that requires me to be active and alert all the time, it is wise that I take the vaccine shots on time. Fortunately, I never got infected with the virus, despite being on duty during that phase. (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.) Jill Biden will visit Connecticut and Pennsylvania on Wednesday to tout the president's plan to reopen schools as the first lady is making her influence felt in her husband's administration. She will visit Meriden, Connecticut, the hometown of newly-confirmed Education Secretary Miguel Cardona, who will travel with her. The two will visit Benjamin Franklin Elementary School. Cardona served as a fourth-grade teacher, principal and an assistant superintendent for Meriden Public Schools before joining the Biden administration. The duo also will visit Fort LeBoeuf Middle School in Waterford, Pennsylvania. 'They will be having a conversation at the schools that they're visiting that have reopened - about what has been effective, what has worked, what are the lessons learned, what do they need more assistance with, and certainly that is information that they will take back with them,' White House press secretary Jen Psaki said at her briefing on Tuesday. President Joe Biden has pushed to reopen schools for in-person education. Cardona will play a central role in making that happen. And Biden's COVID relief plan includes $130 billion for the nations schools to help them with costs associated with reopening, such as extra cleaning, more classrooms needed for social distancing and mental health services. Jill Biden will visit Connecticut and Pennsylvania on Wednesday to tout the president's plan to reopen schools Jill Biden is making her influence felt in President Joe Biden's administration Jill Biden, a teacher, has made clear she will be a voice in education issues during her husband's tenure. During the presidential race she repeatedly talked education on the campaign trail and frequently criticized Betsy DeVos, Donald Trump's controversial pick to run the Education Department. The Biden teamed vowed to put a teacher in charge of education, which they did with Cardona. He was confirmed by the Senate as education secretary Monday evening and will take the oath of office from Vice President Kamala Harris on Tuesday. Unlike her predecessors in the unpaid, symbolic role of first lady, Jill Biden has hit the ground running. In contrast, Melania Trump waited until her son Barron finished the school year to move the White House after Donald Trump was elected and didn't role out her be Best initiative until more than a year after her husband took the oath office. And Michelle Obama waited a year before she started work on any signature initiatives. But both women had young children living in the White House and their early focus was on making sure the kids adjusted to their new lives in Washington D.C. Jill Biden, in comparison, has raised her children and she has her experience as second lady to fall back on. Both Melania Trump (left) and Michelle Obama (right) waited at least a year before launching any initiatives as both had young children they were helping to adjust to life in the White House Jill Biden made her first solo trip outside of Washington D.C. last week when she visited the Massey Cancer Center at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, Virginia Jill Biden joined President Biden touring a food bank in Houston, Texas, last Friday Within her first month in the White House, she's made her first solo trip outside of Washington D.C., restarted her Joining Forces initiative and continued to teach at a Northern Virginia community college. She's also made her voice heard on issues in the Biden's administration that are close to her heart - particularly those involving children. She's urged the administration to work quickly to unit migrant children with their families after separations occurred in the Trump administration. 'The first lady has driven us to action to act through her personal commitment to this moral imperative. And that moral imperative is to reunite the families and restore them to the fullest capacity,' Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said at the White House press briefing on Monday. Biden's chief of staff, Julissa Reynoso, is monitoring the effort. Reynoso moved to the United States with her family as a child from the Dominican Republic. The first lady is also racking up the mileage. Last week, she went to Richmond, Va., to visit the Massey Cancer Center at Virginia Commonwealth University. And she accompanied President Biden to Houston, Texas, on Friday where she toured a food bank as part of their look at how the state was recovering from a devastating winter storm. Jill Biden has held several events involving children whose parents serve in the military - a combination of her two issues of education and military families. In late January, she spoke to military children who are a part of the Military Children Education Coalition's (MCEC) Student 2 Student peer mentoring program. The zoom call was part of the first lady's Joining Forces program, an initiative she originally stared with Michelle Obama and brought back with her to the White House. She spoke with five teens who are part of the program. 'The Biden's are a military family,' she told the kids. Jill Biden has hit the ground running as first lady Jill Biden sent President Joe Biden off to a visit to Walter Reed with a kiss in late January Jill Biden has held many virtual events with school children - including the one above in late January She told them she admired their resilience as they dealt with the challenges of being in school during the pandemic. 'I do see your resilience and your flexibility and your strength. But I also see your vulnerability, I mean you kids are going through a lot. Don't underestimate. You know how hard it is how difficult it is to, sort of, dig deep within,' she said. She told the kids she and the president see them. 'Please, please know that the president, my husband Joe, you know, we see you every single day, and certainly appreciate all the sacrifice that you that you all are making for this country,' she told them. 'It is the families who serve alongside you know the the military person. And so I don't want you to feel like we don't see you. We see you, and we appreciate every single day, all that you're doing,' she said. [March 02, 2021] Keyloop Acquires RAPID RTC and enquiryMAX LONDON, March 2, 2021 /CNW/ -- Keyloop, a leading global supplier of technology solutions to the automotive industry, has today announced its acquisition of both RAPID RTC and enquiryMAX, bringing their first-rate lead aggregation, lead response, enquiry management and showroom applications into the Keyloop product portfolio. These are amongst the first actions Keyloop (formerly known as the International division of CDK Global) is taking since being acquired yesterday by Francisco Partners. These acquisitions represent Keyloop's serious commitment to developing an open platform that connects the automotive retail industry and transforms the car buying and ownership experience for the better, in partnership with both dealers and OEMs. The addition of these products will enable Keyloop to enhance its Sales and Marketing offering and develop new solutions around lead management and attribution, by combining the data from these products with its own Dealer Management Systems (DMS). RAPID RTC is headquartered in Winnipeg, Canada and is a provider of Digital Communication and Lead Management Solutions (LMS) to over 4200 dealer sites and partners with many leading OEMs. Glen Demetrioff, Founder and CEO of RAPID RTC, will be joining Keyloop as a member of its executive team. RAPID RTC's LMS brings rich capabilities to automotive retailers, including the ability to aggregate sales enquiries from over 300 channels and manage the customer interaction in the showroom with digital communication tools such as live chat, social media, text and video calls. enquiryMAX is headquartered in Leeds, UK and provides a showroom management solution to over 970 dealerships in the UK and Ireland. Some of the UK and Ireland's largest dealer groups are amongst their clients and they are also the chosen partner of several leading OEMs. enquiryMAX's showroom solution plays a key role in the effective management of customer enquiries, from capturing the sales lead at the outset of the buying journey, to building the deal andpresenting the offer and vehicle handover. enquiryMAX is currently the largest partner from Keyloop's Partner Programme. Tom Kilroy, CEO Keyloop, comments: "We are delighted today to welcome RAPID RTC and enquiryMAX, two leading automotive technology providers, to the Keyloop family. We are very excited to include their outstanding lead management and showroom products in our customer offering. The combination of these products, together with Keyloop's leading DMS, will enable us to develop new solutions for our customers around lead measurement and attribution. "We are also very excited to be able to demonstrate our promise to move quickly with the backing of our new owners, Francisco Partners. "Although Keyloop has acquired RAPID RTC and enquiryMAX, we remain committed to accelerating the development of the Keyloop Partner Programme. This will allow our dealer and OEM customers freedom of choice for their technology needs, whilst always benefitting from the added benefits of integration to the Keyloop DMS." Glen Demetrioff, CEO, RAPID RTC comments: "This marks another milestone for RAPID RTC and it's one I am absolutely thrilled about. Not only will it help shape the next phase of growth for RAPID RTC's lead management and communications platform, but collectively it will open the doors for what I believe will truly be a unique and transformational product offering in the automotive retail landscape. "I'm thankful and looking forward to joining Tom and the rest of the executive team at Keyloop as we continue to scale, innovate and connect the automotive retail industry." Francisco Partners was advised by Paul Hastings LLP, Stikeman Elliott LLP, and Kirkland & Ellis as legal counsel, and Alvarez & Marsal's Transaction Advisory Group. UBS Investment Bank acted as exclusive financial advisor to RAPID RTC and Pitblado Law as legal counsel to RAPID RTC throughout the acquisition process. RAPID RTC was a portfolio company of Sageview Capital. RSM Corporate Finance LLP acted as exclusive financial advisor to enquiryMAX. Click here for access to Keyloop's virtual press room, where you will find a range of assets to accompany this story (translated versions will be coming online throughout the week) including current press releases, FAQs, media backgrounder and logos. Editor's Notes About Keyloop Keyloop's mission is to create and connect technology that advances the car buying and ownership experience in partnership with dealers and OEMs. It is a leading global provider of software solutions to the auto retail industry, serving approximately 16,000 dealer sites and most automotive manufacturers, in over 90 countries. Headquartered in the UK, Keyloop also has operations across EMEA and Asia. For more information, please visit www.Keyloop.com. About RAPID RTC RAPID RTC is a multinational digital communications company that specialises in automotive, serving over 4,000 retail and manufacturing clients. They focus on improving businesses' digital communications and customer engagement practices by seamlessly connecting online shoppers with salespeople in real-time, using their preferred channel. Their brand promise is to bring value to our clients by placing their customer at the core of everything we do. Through the right mix of technology and human interaction, we ensure a premium omni-channel customer experience throughout the online purchase journey. About enquiryMax enquiryMAX is a provider of leading automotive retail software. It works closely with individual dealerships, dealer groups and manufacturers utilising its sales lead management system to help implement a structured sales process, disciplines and display best practices. enquiryMAX's goal is to continually develop and deliver quality automotive software solutions that will make a difference to automotive retail businesses. Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1444817/Keyloop_Logo.jpg View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/keyloop-acquires-rapid-rtc-and-enquirymax-301237945.html SOURCE Keyloop [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Farmers protesting the Centre's three farm laws are bracing for a long haul at protest sites as mercury sets to rise in the national capital. The massive protests which started late November, have completed three full months of the deadlock between farmers and the Centre. Twitter/@gauravgulmohar The farmers have already endured brutal winters, and as protests show no sign of cooling down, the farmers, instead, have come up with various ideas to brace the scorching heat. "Like winter, we will also face the heat. Arrangements are made for everyone. We have requested the local administration for the connection of electricity. Hopefully, it will be provided. But there is no going back or withdrawing the agitation. We are here to stay," said the Bhartiya Kisan Union leader Rakesh Tikait. Bamboo tents for summer Farmers have started building better Tents/Accommodations to combat the summer heat. Many are planning to install ACs and have brought generators.#FarmersProtest #FarmersSupportTraders #BharatBandh pic.twitter.com/uFSRxaMM9Y Arsh #FarmersProtest (@arshbelike) February 26, 2021 #FarmersProtest ready for summer. How stubborn govt is and how peaceful farmers are. pic.twitter.com/gHsbBkHbXi harpreet chahal (@harpree54269603) February 24, 2021 Looking at the #summer, special arrangements are being made by the UNITED SIKHS on the border. Special tents have been installed for the summer & fans have also been installed in them. https://t.co/bnKqjf7T8Y#FarmersProtest #kisan_hain_to_desh_hai pic.twitter.com/aIAPVHaYj3 UNITED SIKHS (@unitedsikhs) February 27, 2021 A volunteer at a protest site in Delhi said they are now making bamboo tents which will keep the people under them. A ceiling fan can also be hung through the bamboo poles. According to another report, an air conditioned trolley is prepared in Punjab for the farmers protesting around Delhi borders. Farmers at Singhu borders have already converted their tractors-trolleys into mini-homes which boast of a bed, music systems, groceries, water and other features. Mental health crisis centres are set to be opened throughout Victoria after a state royal commission concluded triple-zero calls and visiting emergency wards should no longer be the only options for people in crisis. Suicidal and psychotic patients had been spending hours and sometimes days waiting in emergency departments, which doctors and advocates said were the worst possible environments for those in psychological distress. Mental health advocate Indigo Daya. Credit:Justin McManus. One of the key recommendations of the Royal Commission into Victorias Mental Health System was for the Victorian government to build a drop-in or crisis respite facility in every region, plus four safe space facilities specifically for young people. It was hoped the new centres would turn the treatment of mental health crises on its head by being the very opposite of emergency departments. remaining of Thank you for reading! On your next view you will be asked to log in to your subscriber account or create an account and subscribepurchase a subscription to continue reading. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Belvedere College has released the name of a priest who abused students at the school in the 1970s after a former pupil has come forward detailing the abuse. The Jesuit Order of Ireland said Joseph Marmion, a priest and former teacher, "abused boys sexually, emotionally and physically while he was on the teaching staff at Belvedere College in the 1970s". The religious order hopes other pupils who suffered abuse at the hands of Fr Marmion are able to come forward and get the support they need following the decision to make the priest's name public. Joseph Marmion SJ was a teacher in Belvedere College from 1969 until 1978. He died in 2000. Public decision In 2019, a former student of Belvedere College contacted the Jesuits about the abuse he suffered as a pupil attending the school in Dublin City centre. The abuse took place when the man was aged 13. Fr Leonard Moloney SJ, provincial of the order, met with the man who said he was concerned others may have been abused and asked that the priest's name be made public. In our communications, he made it clear to me that he was concerned for others who may also have suffered and that they should be proactively offered a response and support. "This man also conveyed to me that he believed others who were abused may be helped by the recognition that they too were dreadfully harmed. He asked that we name his abuser, Joseph Marmion SJ, publicly and that we make this information widely available in order to reach as many former students as possible, said Fr Moloney in a statement issued on Tuesday afternoon. 'Words are never enough' According to the statement, the Jesuit Order has been contacted by many others abused by Fr Marmion as young students, and fear many others were prevented from speaking out due to the secrecy imposed by the former priest. "They have spoken of sexual abuse and physical and emotional bullying by him," it said. We are acutely aware of the pain and distress that many have had to hold and continue to hold, years after the original experience, said Fr Moloney. This pain is held by those who were direct victims of harm and abuse, by their families and also by other students who were witnesses to this abuse and felt powerless and unable to do anything about it. "It is a matter of profound regret to me personally and to the Society of Jesus that children were abused whilst in our care. We are truly sorry. Words are never enough, he said. Sabbatical leave and transfers The Jesuit Order placed Fr Marmion on sabbatical leave in Paris at the Jesuit Community of Saint Francois Xavier for the end of the academic year 1977/1978 after reports from concerned parents in 1977 of sexual abuse at the school. He was then transferred to the Gardiner Street Jesuit Community. In 1990, the Jesuit Order appointed Fr Marmion as chaplain to St Vincents Private Hospital. The Jesuit Order "recognise that these subsequent appointments should not have been made". Fr Marmion also taught at Crescent College Limerick, and Clongowes Wood College in Kildare while a member of the Jesuit Order. The abuse detailed in 2019 relates to a pupil's time at Belvedere College, but the order has said "every effort will be made to communicate this information to former students in all schools". Fr Moloney paid tribute to the man who came forward in 2019 and said help was available to other former pupils. The Jesuit Order said all information about abuse will be shared with An Garda Siochana, Tusla and other relevant authorities. Feature Article Argonne scientists help explain phenomenon in hardware that could revolutionize AI DOE/Argonne National Laboratory Artificial intelligence, or AI, requires a huge amount of computing power, and versatile hardware to support that power. But most AI-supportive hardware is built around the same decades-old technology, and still a long way from emulating the neural activity in the human brain. In an effort to solve this problem, a group of scientists from around the country, led by Prof. Shriram Ramanathan of Purdue University, has discovered a way to make the hardware more efficient and sustainable. "We're creating hardware that is smart enough to keep up (with advancements in AI) and also doesn't use too much energy. In fact, the energy demand will be cut significantly using this technology." -- Argonne physicist Hua Zhou Ramanathan and his team used quantum materials -- those whose properties operate outside the bounds of classical physics -- to develop a device that can sort information quickly and efficiently. Scientists at the Department of Energy's (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory, DOE's Brookhaven Laboratory (BNL) and the University of California, San Diego, helped him learn exactly how it works. Ramanathan and his team began their experiment by introducing a proton into a quantum material called neodymium nickel oxide (NdNiO 3 ). The collaborative research team utilized the powerful X-ray nanoprobe imaging tool to study the NdNiO? device showing neuron tree-like memory. A scanning electron microscope image of the NdNiO? device is shown at the bottom. The red rectangle shows the scanned area of the X-ray imaging. Credit: Argonne National Laboratory They soon discovered that applying an electric pulse to the material moved the proton. They further learned that each new position of the proton created a different resistance state, which generated an information storage site called a memory state. Multiple electric pulses created a branch made up of memory states, mimicking the "tree-like" memory process of the human brain. "This discovery opens up new frontiers for AI that have been largely ignored because the ability to implement this kind of intelligence into electronic hardware has not existed," Ramanathan said. He and his team chose to work with NdNiO 3 because it exhibits unique electronic and magnetic properties. One of its most intriguing behaviors is its metal-to-insulator transition (MIT), for which the properties change dramatically from enabling free-flowing energy (like metal) to blocking the current (like ceramic or plastic) by changing temperature. This unique MIT behavior has tremendous potential in electronic devices for computing and memory. In the current research, Ramanathan demonstrated the MIT process in NdNiO 3 by doping protons into the material rather than by changing the temperature. He and his team are the first to do this. Prior to the discovery, this kind of neuron "tree-like" network had only been observed in hardware operated at temperatures far too low for practical applications, somewhere between dry ice and liquid nitrogen. After Ramanathan's team made the device, scientists at the Advanced Photon Source (APS) and Center for Nanoscale Materials (CNM) -- both DOE Office of Science User Facilities at Argonne -- investigated the structural and electronic evolution in the material used to build it. Characterizations of the material and its working mechanism were conducted at APS beamlines 26-ID and 33-ID-D. High-performance computing and AI applications based on current electronics consume a good deal of energy. This new artificially intelligent hardware will take some of that energy load off of those AI applications. "We're creating a hardware that could provide smarter algorithms for brain-like computing," said co-author and physicist Hua Zhou of Argonne's X-ray Science Division, who worked on this experiment at the APS. "In fact, the energy demand will be cut significantly using this technology." Potential applications include those related to neuromorphic computing systems, those that can learn and perform tasks on their own by interacting with their surroundings, and artificial synapses, which emulate biological synaptic signals in neuromorphic systems to attain brain-like computation and autonomous learning behaviors. Neuromorphic memory systems and artificial synapses could help make more energy efficient and smarter AI chips, which are used in both consumer and industrial electronics. Findings in this area could also improve biosensing, which is critical to medical diagnostics. Researchers at the University of California, San Diego, characterized the device at the microscopic scale utilizing hard X-ray nanoprobe tools at both APS and the National Synchrotron Light Source II (NSLS-II), a DOE Office of Science User Facility at BNL. The team used CNM's high-performance computing cluster to investigate the atomistic mechanisms behind the tree-like behavior in nickelates. "Using the high-performance computing cluster at CNM, we showed how the presence of an electric field can dramatically alter the barrier associated with proton migration in nickelates," said Sukriti Manna, lead computational author and a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) and Argonne. Manna performed the quantum calculations needed to unravel the mystery behind this phenomenon. "An important aspect of the tree is to understand the atomistic mechanisms that enable branching," said Subramanian Sankaranarayanan, associate professor at UIC and theory group leader at CNM. "In simple terms, each branch of the tree is likely a different proton migration pathway controlled by electric fields." Sankaranarayanan said the sharing of intelligence features between hardware and software will be particularly useful in advanced applications, such as those related to self-driving cars or in the discovery of life-saving drugs. "We are incredibly proud of our role in unlocking the potential of this critical discovery," he said. The results of this study are published in the journal Nature Communications. ### About Argonne's Center for Nanoscale Materials The Center for Nanoscale Materials is one of the five DOE Nanoscale Science Research Centers, premier national user facilities for interdisciplinary research at the nanoscale supported by the DOE Office of Science. Together the NSRCs comprise a suite of complementary facilities that provide researchers with state-of-the-art capabilities to fabricate, process, characterize and model nanoscale materials, and constitute the largest infrastructure investment of the National Nanotechnology Initiative. The NSRCs are located at DOE's Argonne, Brookhaven, Lawrence Berkeley, Oak Ridge, Sandia and Los Alamos National Laboratories. For more information about the DOE NSRCs, please visit https://science.osti.gov/User-Facilities/User-Facilities-at-a-Glance. About the Advanced Photon Source The U. S. Department of Energy Office of Science's Advanced Photon Source (APS) at Argonne National Laboratory is one of the world's most productive X-ray light source facilities. The APS provides high-brightness X-ray beams to a diverse community of researchers in materials science, chemistry, condensed matter physics, the life and environmental sciences, and applied research. These X-rays are ideally suited for explorations of materials and biological structures; elemental distribution; chemical, magnetic, electronic states; and a wide range of technologically important engineering systems from batteries to fuel injector sprays, all of which are the foundations of our nation's economic, technological, and physical well-being. Each year, more than 5,000 researchers use the APS to produce over 2,000 publications detailing impactful discoveries, and solve more vital biological protein structures than users of any other X-ray light source research facility. APS scientists and engineers innovate technology that is at the heart of advancing accelerator and light-source operations. This includes the insertion devices that produce extreme-brightness X-rays prized by researchers, lenses that focus the X-rays down to a few nanometers, instrumentation that maximizes the way the X-rays interact with samples being studied, and software that gathers and manages the massive quantity of data resulting from discovery research at the APS. This research used resources of the Advanced Photon Source, a U.S. DOE Office of Science User Facility operated for the DOE Office of Science by Argonne National Laboratory under Contract No. DE-AC02-06CH11357. Argonne National Laboratory seeks solutions to pressing national problems in science and technology. The nation's first national laboratory, Argonne conducts leading-edge basic and applied scientific research in virtually every scientific discipline. Argonne researchers work closely with researchers from hundreds of companies, universities, and federal, state and municipal agencies to help them solve their specific problems, advance America's scientific leadership and prepare the nation for a better future. With employees from more than 60 nations, Argonne is managed by UChicago Argonne, LLC for the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Science. The U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Science is the single largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the United States and is working to address some of the most pressing challenges of our time. For more information, visit https://energy.gov/science. Australian meat prices are expected to surge this year for an unexpected reason - farmers are having a bumper year after a deluge of rain. Increased rainfall in 2020 means Australian cattle farmers are likely to keep more cows in the yards which will reduce supply and jack up prices, Woolworths chief executive Brad Banducci predicts. As the years-long drought is finally broken, farmers will grow their cattle and let veal turn into fat beef that will likely be exported overseas instead of sold locally. Australian meat prices are expected to inflate in 2021, the head of a major supermarket has warned. Pictured: Cattle in Roma, Queensland on Tuesday 23 January 2018 Increased rain and packed yards in 2020 means Australian cattle farmers are likely to keep more beef in the yards which will reduce supply and jack up prices, There has been 15 per cent decrease in the number of cattle slaughtered from June 2019 to June 2021. Pictured: ABS graph As farmers are under less financial stress, they will keep their cattle and let veal turn into beef which will likely be exported overseas instead of sold locally, said Woolworths CEO Brad Banducci (pictured) 'A lot of cattle are being kept on the land,' Mr Banducci told news.com.au. Data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics showed a 15 per cent decrease in the number of cattle slaughtered and a nearly 14 per cent reduction in the amount of meat produced from June 2019 to June 2020. About 22 per cent fewer calves were killed in the same time period, keeping 10,955 baby cows in the paddock in that one year period to grow into adults. Meat and Livestock Australia said above-average summer rain in north Australia meant 'an abundance of pasture' in most cattle regions across the country in 2021. 'Cattle supply is expected to tighten in 2021, as producers retain more breeding stock to rebuild their herds,' an industry report from February this year said. '[As] a result of improved seasonal conditions, a rebuild phase is expected to commence, with the national herd expected to grow 2.3 per cent to 25.2 million head by 30 June 2021.' The industry body predicted beef exports to grow 10 per cent in the next three years, signalling a rebound after the Covid pandemic reduced demand. 22 per cent fewer calves were killed in the same time period, keeping 10,955 baby cows in the paddock in that one year period. Pictured: ABS graph The big wet also means increased fruit and vegetable crops, and the large supply will mean reduced prices. (Stock) Though sheep farmers are also expected to build their flocks in the next year, slaughter is expected to increase by two per cent in 2021 to 6.6 million a head, suggesting a slight decrease in prices. The last two years saw a dramatic decline in lamb and hogget production, with a 43 per cent reduction in numbers from June 2019 - June 2021. At the same time, pig production skyrocketed in the last year with an extra 2105 tonnes of pork coming onto the market, a 6.4 per cent increase in 12 months. The African swine fever, which killed hundreds millions of pigs, increased demand for Australian pork which may mean Australian's will pay more for their bacon. While sheep farmers are also envisaged to build their flocks in the next year, slaughter is expected to increase by 2 per cent in 2021 to 6.6million a head. Pictured: Sheep grazing on Canberra property in 2014 The last two years saw a dramatic decline in lamb and hogget production, with a 43 per cent reduction in numbers from June 2019 - June 2021. Pictured ABS graph The big wet also means increased fruit and vegetable crops, and the large supply will mean reduced prices. 'We are expecting very large crops for example on the fruit side in avocados across the country, including New Zealand,' Mr Banducci said. The production of vegetables grew slightly between June 2018 and 2020 while fruit supply has dropped, according to a report by not-for-profit industry body Hort Innovation. The production of vegetables increased by 27,000 tonnes in two years, a less than one per cent increase. At the same time, there was two per cent less fruit produced, a decrease of nearly 46 thousand tonnes. Camera trap image from 2017 of a monk seal pup. Credit: SPOT/Monk Seal Project Scientists have discovered a previously unknown breeding site used by the world's rarest seal species. The Mediterranean monk seal is classified as "endangered", with a total population of about 700. The new studyby the University of Exeter and the Society for the Protection of Turtles (SPOT)used camera-traps to confirm breeding in caves in northern Cyprus, with at least three pups born from 2016-19 at one cave. Only certain caves are suitable for monk seal breeding and resting, soalthough the numbers are smallthe researchers say urgent action is needed to protect these caves. "This area of coastline in being developed rapidly, especially for construction of hotels," said Dr. Robin Snape, of the Centre for Ecology and Conservation on Exeter's Penryn Campus in Cornwall. "A survey of the coast in 2007 found 39 possible breeding caves, and some of these have already been destroyed. "The main breeding site we identify in this study currently has no protected status, and we are working with local authorities to try to change this." Lead author Dr. Damla Beton, of SPOT, added: "Another major threat to monk seals in this area is bycatch (accidental catching by fisheries). Monk seal resting at one of the monitored caves in Karpaz Peninsula. Credit: Damla Beton Adult monk seal. Credit: Huseyin Yorganci "We are working with fishers and government ministries to ensure protection areas at sea, because at present no measures are implemented to mitigate bycatch in the core areas used by these seals." The team has now established long-term monitoring of the breeding caves, aiming to determine the size of this seal population. The paper, published in Oryx, is entitled: "New monitoring confirms regular breeding of the Mediterranean monk seal in Northern Cyprus." Explore further Endangered Mediterranean monk seals aided by unique intervention More information: New monitoring confirms regular breeding of the Mediterranean monk seal in Northern Cyprus, Oryx (2021). Journal information: Oryx New monitoring confirms regular breeding of the Mediterranean monk seal in Northern Cyprus,(2021). DOI: 10.1017/S0030605320000848 The issue of sexual consent among school students has been reignited in recent weeks after a petition calling for better sex education was widely shared across the country. Hundreds of young women came forward with disturbing allegations of sexual assault and rape from their time as students or soon after, with many describing being forced to perform sex acts or being assaulted while intoxicated or passed out. More Victorian schools were named in hundreds of new testimonies published online on Monday night as part of the petition. Chanel Contos started the online petition demanding better consent education in schools. Schools named included Carey Baptist Grammar, St Kevins, Xavier College and Haileybury College, plus several schools in regional Victoria. The petition has forced many Victorian principals to address their school communities and commit to doing more. The testimonies have been published anonymously. One 2018 graduate said they had been sexually assaulted by a graduate of Xavier College, which they said was due to a lack of nuanced discussion about sexual assault and consent in schools. Loading I have suffered great emotional damage as a result of the lack of education in this area, particularly young men. I know several people that have been assaulted by graduates of my school. I am tired. I am angry. Ive had enough, and this needs to be better. A Carey Baptist Grammar School student who graduated in 2012 spoke of being 16 at a party when she passed out on a bed and was sexually touched by another student at the school while she cried and asked him to stop. Another Carey student said they had been sexually manipulated by someone who did not understand what consent was. If school had taught us that consent was anything but saying no, that just because someone stays doesnt mean theyre giving consent, that people can freeze up or feel like they cant give a blatant no, my life and his life would probably be very different. A spokeswoman for Carey Baptist Grammar said the school had no knowledge of the claim in the testimony, but would be very keen to support any student, current or past, that may have been impacted in this way. Principal Jonathan Walter had written to families reinforcing the importance of robust discussions on the issue of consent with young people and the need for a three-way partnership between the student, parents and the school. Another young woman said she had been at a large party and woke the next day to find an Instagram picture of her passed out next to a boy she didnt know who attended St Kevins College. He had his hands up her dress and had posted it publicly. On Monday, St Kevins College principal Deborah Barker sent a letter to parents of year 7 to 12 students about the petition. The school was embroiled in controversy last year after video footage was published of boys chanting aggressively sexual songs on a public tram. The various media reports over the weekend concerning the issue of sexual consent and highlighting courageous and confronting testimonies by young women of how they have been treated by young men have been very distressing, Ms Barker said. Yet, they provide a timely reality check both for schools and families. We clearly need to do more, or educate differently. I believe the bravery of the young women who have spoken about such deplorable behaviour and shared with great trust their personal experiences cannot ignored, or merely given lip service. A spokeswoman for Haileybury, which was named in the petition by a student who said she had been raped at a high school party, said the school had a mandatory program regarding respectful relationships and consent, beginning in year 4. Principal Derek Scott said in light of the testimonials on sexual assault, the school would also be conducting a detailed review of our respectful relationships and consent programs and their capacity to have a stronger impact. A Xavier College spokesman said they took the matter extremely seriously and students from primary school age are educated around the concept of consent. The school also addressed the concerns in a letter released last week. The petition was was created last month by Sydney woman Chanel Contos, who began discussing consent issues at private schools with her friends. Victorias Education Minister on the weekend called for a nationwide rollout of Respectful Relationships education in all schools in light of the petition, instructing his department to meet with the woman behind the petition. "Private hospitals functioning as COVID Vaccination Centres (CVC) can charge subject to a ceiling of 250 per person per dose along with the electronic and financial management mechanism in this regard," a statement by the Union health ministry said.Login credentials should be given to private centres on the updated Co-WIN platform. The immunization drive across the country was stopped for Saturday and Sunday to move to the new platform that will allow self-registration of recipients.Indian government released a template for the certificate that people with comorbidities will have to get from a registered medical practitioner to be eligible for the vaccination, which should be signed by the doctor.People between 45 and 59 years who have any of the 20 comorbidities like congenital heart disease that leads to pulmonary arterial hypertension, end-stage kidney disease, or cancers such as lymphoma, leukaemia and myloma, decompensated liver cirrhosis, primary immune deficiency conditions, and sickle cell anaemia will get the shot.Around 15 million doses have been administered across the country. But the coverage has been lower than expected, with only 48 people turning up on average for every 100 people expected for each session, according to government data."The current 313 vaccination [in Delhi] sites will continue to function as is. The clarity on which other hospitals will be added to the list and whether or not they will charge people will be taken after a meeting with private hospitals tomorrow [Sunday]," a senior official from Delhi's health department said on condition of anonymity.All 10,000 hospitals empanelled under the Ayushman Bharat scheme will be involved in the second phase of the vaccination drive. Around 600 hospitals empanelled under the Central Government Health Scheme (CGHS) and other private hospitals empanelled in any state government insurance schemes will also be involved in the next phase of the vaccination drive.Union health secretary Rajesh Bhushan on Saturday interacted with health secretaries and MDs (National Health Mission) of all states and Union territories on the vaccination of age-appropriate groups."This nationwide vaccination programme is now to be exponentially expanded to the following age-groups from 1st March, 2021: i) all citizens above 60 years of age, and ii) those within the age bracket of 45 to 59 years with specified co-morbidities," a government statement said on Saturday.At the meeting, the states were asked to map all private facilities with the nearest cold chain points to ensure a seamless flow of vaccines to them.Dates for COVID-19 vaccination will soon be decided where target groups of potential beneficiates will be vaccinated.Source: Medindia Good morning, Bay Area. Its Tuesday, Mar. 2, and a year of drought is on the horizon again. Heres what you need to know to start your day. State officials announced a $6.6 billion reopening plan Monday for California schools that would require schools to reopen as soon as April 1 with funding for staffing, ventilation, supplies and more. In the Bay Area, the plan arrived to mixed reaction and complications over whether districts could miss out on some of the funding. Meanwhile, what learning will look like in August or September is still unclear: variation within the Bay Area is likely. What the school day might look like in San Francisco where the health department is demanding 6 feet of distance between desks might be different than in Marin, where thats not a requirement. Read more from Jill Tucker. Video of Berkeley teachers union chief taking daughter to preschool erupts as a flashpoint in districts reopening battle. Coronavirus updates Lea Suzuki / The Chronicle When Doug Garfinkel, a San Francisco teacher, walked into Walgreens last week to get his first coronavirus shot, he was surprised no one asked for identification or proof that he was the educator he said he was when he made his appointment online. The state has issued no guidelines on how vaccination sites should verify eligibility. Counties have varying rules, with some leaving it up to the vaccination site to decide what verification, if any, to require, Catherine Ho and Meghan Bobrowsky report. That might advance the urgent public health goal of quickly vaccinating as many people as possible, but also could let some cut in line. Read more. San Francisco is poised to move to the red tier. Here's what it'll take to get to orange. California's new Blue Shield vaccine distribution program to counties and health providers has begun. 49ers tap team of COVID-19 experts, including UCSFs Bob Wachter, for advice on returning to Levis Stadium. Around the Bay Gabrielle Lurie / The Chronicle The only visual record: A mothers video of her dying son forces Antioch to consider police body cameras. S.F. City Hall corruption scandal: Five Mohammed Nuru-linked execs barred from doing business in S.F. Background: Whos who in expanding corruption probe. Lots of fees, few affordable units: Oakland has built few affordable units. Will changing its housing fees create more homes? More: Oakland's homelessness chief to leave after less than a year. Water use curbs recommended: California's wet season nears an end with big concerns about drought. 70s and 80s killings: I-5 Strangler found dead in prison cell. California officials probe death as homicide In Case You Missed It Heather Knight Surely, somebody would do something. Thats what Payal Gupta thought as she saw a man in blue shorts lying under a bush in a grassy median between traffic lanes below her second-story apartment in Lower Pacific Heights. She figured he was a homeless person taking a nap on a surface more comfortable than concrete. Hours passed, and still the man didnt move. So Gupta called police but only four hours and three 911 calls later did they arrive and find out that he was dead. Heather Knight talks to Gupta about what she wished she would have done, the slow response and the question about what S.F. residents should do when they see people sleeping, or unconscious, on the street. Bay Briefing is written by Taylor Kate Brown, Anna Buchmann and Kellie Hwang and sent to readers email inboxes on weekday mornings. Sign up for the newsletter here, and contact the writers at taylor.brown@sfchronicle.com, anna.buchmann@sfchronicle.com, and kellie.hwang@sfchronicle.com. The Daily Beast Apple TV+Directed by Pablo Larrain (Jackie, the upcoming Spencer), produced by J.J. Abrams, shot by Darius Khondji, starring Julianne Moore, Clive Owen, Joan Allen, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Dane DeHaan and Michael Pitt, and written by the author himself, Liseys Story mayoutside of Stanley Kubricks The Shiningboast the most illustrious pedigree of any Stephen King adaptation ever. Enlisting a plethora of talent makes sense for this eight-part Apple TV+ series (premiering June 4), given that its chockablock with everything under the sun. Fantastical worlds, parental abuse, ghosts, torture, murder, scavenger-hunt games, monsters, sisters, trauma, mental hospitals, self-mutilation, flashbacks, possession, psycho killers, and familial and marital issues involving love, trust, anguish, jealousy, and betrayal are all a part of this swirling, bursting-at-the-seams package. There are even some overt nods to Misery and The Shining thrown in for good measure, along with incessant babytalk, make-believe terms, supernatural rules, and recurring motifs.It is, to put it kindly, a lot.Thats in keeping with its source material, which King has remixed in ways that are mostly minor (a chronological flip here, a corner-cutting snip there), save for his villain Jim Dooley (DeHaan), whos been transformed from a one-dimensional Southern-fried sadist to a more fully formedif still derivativeAnnie Wilkes-style obsessive literature fan.Stephen King on Scary Stalkers, Being Canceled by J.K. Rowling, and Navigating TraumaDooley is an antagonist fixated on the late Scott Landon (Owen), a writer of out-there tomes that made him a national celebrity replete with hardcore acolytes he condescendingly referred to as deep space cowboys. At the start of this saga, Scott is dead, although his presence is nonetheless potently felt thanks to the recollections of his widow Lisey (Moore), whom Scott habitually referred to as babyluv and who, two years after his passing, now faces the prospect of having to clean out his barnyard office, where crates of scribblings and unfinished projects lie dormant, begging to be rediscovered.Lisey is in mourning, as well as in denial of the strange events that took place during her marriage to Scott. Those buried secrets come bubbling to the surface once entitled university professor Dashmiel (Ron Cephas Jones) shows up on her doorstep demanding that she hand over Scotts remaining output, since the public deserves it and sheas merely his bedmatehas no right to keep it for herself. When Lisey balks, he sets upon her the misogynistic Dooley, who proves to be simply the most dangerous of many threats to her well-being. As Dooley makes ever-more-intimidating demands, Lisey is forced to contend with her sisters Amanda (Allen), whos once more struggling with lifelong cutting compulsions that send her into a catatonic state, and Darla (Leigh), who resents Lisey for her wealth and good fortune. These calamities cause Liseys memories to come flooding back in waves and lead her to discover that Scott has left behind a beyond-the-grave treasure hunt of sorts (like the ones his brother made for him as a kid) that he calls a bool, with a mysterious prize waiting at the end.Liseys Storys basic premise is a smorgasbord of relationships and conflictsmany of which echo Kings prior workand it only grows more complex once Lisey starts letting her mind wander to yesteryear incidents shed just as soon repress. Scott, it turns out, grew up with an unstable father (Pitt) who believed that they were all cursed with a demonic evil known as The Bad (a term thats an improvement on the books bad-gunky), which soon got its grip on Scotts brother. Scotts harrowing adolescence is intimately connected to his young adulthood, when he demonstrated to Lisey that he had the ability to travel to an alternate universe that he dubbed Booya Moon where a giant blood moon hangs in the air, a towering creature known as The Lost Boy stalks the forest, and a shimmering pool offers visitors healing, enchantment, and inspiration (because its the actual pool of creativity from which all artists drink). Lisey goes there too, at multiple points of a story thats been shot and edited to dreamily blend the then and now, creating harmonious parallels across space and time in ways both big and small.Totemic language and objects abound in Liseys Story, be it the aforementioned phrases or the crucial shovel and lighthouse model in Liseys possession, and Larrain and Khondji bring their winding, disorienting drama to life with misty, shadowy, shimmering beauty. Mirrors, glass, reflective water and figures framed in distant doorways all speak to the transitional heart of this tale, as do the doubles that persistently appear across its eight installments. Another of the directors sagas about women in a state of anguished crisis, Liseys Story looks andcourtesy of Clarks soundtrack of unholy noises and sparse stringssounds magnificent. More importantly, it often captures the atmospheric essence of Kings books: that blend of terror, insanity and bittersweet longing for departed loved ones, all wrapped up in classic pop and rock songs (in this case, courtesy of an R&B wedding band) and the burning-embers light of a fall Maine sunset. At its finest, it conjures a prototypical King-ian sense of aching yearning for that which has been lost, even as it recognizes that nothing is ever truly gonefiguratively and, at least for brief moments in this magical fable, literally.Liseys Storys performances are, for the most part, similarly top-notch: the reliably great Moore captures Liseys determination, fierceness, fear and sorrow; DeHaan brings intense sociopathic creepiness to Dooley; Pitt goes fittingly over-the-top as Scotts perpetually soaked-with-sweat backwoods papa; and Owen radiates warmth and hurt as the scarred Scott. However, like the proceedings themselves, the cast is undercut by a surplus of lunacy. As with his novel, King packs this highly personal narrative full of myriad real-world and fantasyland elements and interests (including patricide and the power of storytelling), but the result is a case of more being less. Just as Moores Lisey exhibits various traits and yet never evolves into a fully distinctive human being, the plot itself is overflowing with threads, themes and issues and yet winds up not being about much of anything, save perhaps for Liseys quest to seize her female agency, and to confront and let go of her griefa mainline concern that holds true throughout, but is only one of innumerable things King aims to tackle.Which is to say, Liseys Story is defined by a disconnect between the splendor of its aesthetics and the professionalism of its primary players, and the overstuffed and outlandish nature of its story. Larrain and company eventually venture into all sorts of wild places, some entrancing and others awkward, while hitting numerous notes that will ring familiar to the King faithful. Not all of it coheres, and its late, self-conscious excuses for convenient twists dont help. But it also has moments of quiet grace in it, as well as an admirable and thrilling dedication (by esteemed artists) to truly go for it, right up to a climax featuring a titanic beast of a thousand souls. Best of all, it flickers, now and again, with that classic King magic, when the emotions, dreams and desires of the past and the present collide and intertwine, no matter how much misfortune has been shouldered or abuse has been suffered, in this world or those beyond.Read more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more. MORRISONVILLE State Rep. Avery Bourne, R-Morrisonville, accepting entries for her annual Student Art Contest. Students throughout the 95th District including all or part of Madison, Macoupin, Montgomery and Christian counties can submit original, Illinois themed entries through mid-April. Submit any 2-D medium works on an 8.5-by-11-inch paper and include the title of the artwork, their name, grade and school on the back of their work. Entries must be submitted by mail or in person to Bournes office at 106 E. Columbian Blvd. North, Litchfield. Winners will have their artwork displayed in Bournes district office and shown to the General Assembly. They also will receive a certificate from the Illinois House of Representatives. I am constantly amazed by the young talent we have throughout the 95th District and this art contest is another great testament to that, said Bourne. This is something I look forward to doing every year; to see the variety of creativity in the submissions and the dedication of young students here in our community is an absolute treat and I look forward to reviewing this years submissions. Posted Monday, March 1, 2021 1:09 pm Clark County is one of the lowest-ranked counties when it comes to vaccine distribution, recent data provided by the county health department shows, though local lawmakers and U.S. Rep Jaime Herrera Beutler have been pressing the issue with state officials following the release of data showing the discrepancy. On Wednesday, Feb. 24, Clark County Public Health published a social media post detailing the discrepancies in the county, which showed that through 11 weeks Clark had a vaccine distribution rate that was 14th of 15 counties in a sample of ones with the highest, median and lowest populations in the state. Through that time period, Clark County, which is the fifth-most populous county in the state, had doses for about 9.4 percent of its population, according to Public Health data. The next highest-population county, Spokane County, had doses for 14.6 percent of its population. King, Snohomish, and Pierce counties all had above 11-percent population distribution. This allocation data comparison reinforces what we have suspected: Clark County is receiving less vaccine per capita than other counties, Clark County health officer and Public Health Director Alan Melnick said in the post. This disparity is impacting our ability to get Clark County residents vaccinated and is hindering our efforts to ensure equitable access to COVID-19 vaccine in our community. Following the revelation that Clark County was shorted vaccine doses, Herrera Beutler sounded off, questioning the head of the Washington State Department of Health directly as to why her constituents are lagging behind. During a Congressional hearing Herrera Beutler was able to question Washington State Health Secretary Umair Shah on the discrepancy of Southwest Washingtons lack of distribution equity. Alongside Clark Countys lagging in distribution rates, she noted that Lewis County was also being short-changed on vaccinations, saying it was the worst of the states 39 counties for distribution, yet had the highest proportion of elderly residents who are a vulnerable population to the disease. Honestly, this is unacceptable, Herrera Beutler remarked. She commented that talk about how to convince individuals to take the vaccine was moot when there were eligible people in the first group of the phased-in vaccinations who were unable to even receive their first dose. Herrera Beutler said that the refrain that the lack of vaccines was due to a supply issue didnt appear to be correct with the revelation that both Lewis and Clark counties had poor distribution rates. Shah responded by saying the discrepancy in distribution was due to issues in combining a number of data points in order to distribute the vaccine. He said that when taking all the data the department uses when working on its distribution, it is absolutely imperfect when it comes to jurisdictions, adding the department was now going back to address counties with the distribution gap. Shah also noted that the state had more of the Pfizer vaccine than providers in areas with lesser distribution had the storage capability for. Shah said the department has reached out to counties with lesser vaccination rates, including Lewis. He noted that overall the state has ramped up its ability to distribute what vaccines it does receive, with recent rates of distribution around 90 percent. What we need to do is continue to do a better job of working with the local health jurisdictions, Shah acknowledged, noting prior to his appointment as state health secretary he had worked in local public health jurisdictions for 17 years. Right now weve got a lot of these moving pieces that need to be addressed as we work with our local partners, Shah said. Southwest Washington lawmakers also had their chance to address Shah on Saturday, following submission of a letter from the legislators asking for answers about why the region was shorted vaccines. Both Shah and Acting Secretary for Prevention and Community Health Michele Roberts were scheduled to be in attendance for the Feb. 27 meeting. In a news release announcing that a meeting was set, state Rep. Brandon Vick, R-Vancouver, said he appreciated the quick response from state officials. The meeting came after a letter signed by lawmakers representing the states 17th, 18th and 49th Legislative Districts, both Democrat and Republican. To be clear, this is not an administration issue. Clark County has demonstrated complete competence in distributing the doses they have received. Additionally, County officials overseeing vaccination administration have the infrastructure and capacity in place to increase the number of doses and administer them in a timely and efficient manner, the letter read. Lawmakers involved in the meeting sought to make Clark County a higher priority on the state vaccine allocation distribution list, and to catch up with vaccine allocations that the county currently lags behind in, according to the release. "Clark County residents have not been treated fairly when it comes to vaccine allocations," Vick said in the release announcing the meeting. "I'm grateful to the other legislators who joined with me in this important effort. We will continue to work together to see that residents in our county receive their fair share of vaccine allocations from the state." Director General of the Ghana Education Service (GES), Prof. Kwesi Opoku Amankwa says parents are not allowed to visit their children in their schools. Prof. Kwesi Opoku Amankwa urged the parents to give all necessary items their children need for school to them before going to campus because once they enter their various schools, there is no way they can reach out to their children in person. Senior High Schools will reopen on Wednesday, March 10. Form 1 single track, Form 2 gold and Form 3 single track students are the ones resuming on Wednesday. In an interview on ''Kokrokoo'' on Peace FM, Prof. Opoku Amankwa said; ''The directive is that they can't visit their children. The parents are allowed to send the children to school but after that, they are not permitted to visit them.'' He also advised parents to ensure their children follow the COVID-19 protocols both in and out of the school premises. 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 Positive Novonix Battery Results with Lake High Purity Lithium Brisbane, Mar 2, 2021 AEST (ABN Newswire) - Clean lithium developer Lake Resources NL ( ASX:LKE ) ( FRA:LK1 ) ( OTCMKTS:LLKKF ) confirms positive results from initial testing by Novonix for the production of NMC622-based lithium-ion battery test cells using samples of Lake's high 99.97% purity lithium carbonate.Novonix Limited ( ASX:NVX ) ( OTCMKTS:NVNXF ) received commercial samples of NMC622-hydroxide precursor from Tier 1 producers, together with samples of Lake's high 99.97% purity lithium carbonate, to conduct a real-world direct comparison of Lake's product into NMC622 batteries and its suitability for the nickel cathode sector.Lake's high-quality product yielded improved capacity retention and better electrochemical behaviour in coin cells compared to the commercially available product from Tier 1 producers.Larger scale tests will be conducted using batch-scale synthesis to demonstrate repeatability, homogeneity, and cell characterisation and validation in full lithium-ion wound pouch cells, as part of Novonix's pilot scale cell line facilities in Nova Scotia, Canada. This will enable Lake and its potential partner and customers to make direct comparisons of Lake's lithium product's performance in familiar battery chemistries. Novonix anticipates this testing process to take some months. Lake will update the market as soon as results are available.The cathode material was tested for electrochemical properties using coin half-cell testing. Powders were characterised using Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and X-ray Diffraction (XRD) to understand morphology and phase purity (see Figure 2). The XRD showed no impurities. Lake's lithium carbonate was used as received and also milled but no appreciable difference was noted in the resultant NMC powders once synthesised.NMC622 was mixed with conducting carbon and binder, cast on to an aluminium foil current collector, dried, punched and assembled into a lithium-ion battery half-cell which yielded similar voltage profiles, improved capacity retention and better electrochemical behaviour compared to the commercially available product from Tier 1 producers.Novonix Limited provides high precision battery testing equipment to Tier 1 battery makers including Panasonic, CATL, Samsung, SK Innovation, LG Chem, Bosch, Honda and Dyson. Recently, world-renowned researcher in the field of lithium-ion batteries and materials, Prof. Jeff Dahn, announced his return to Novonix as Chief Scientific Advisor, while continuing with Dalhousie University, in a group sponsored by Tesla.Novonix also recently completed a successful $115 million institutional equity raising, highlighting investor confidence in its technology. Lake's high purity lithium carbonate results have been obtained via a simple flowsheet without any anticipated changes to the operating costs previously forecast in Kachi's Pre-Feasibility Study (refer ASX announcement 30 April 2020). Low impurities are a key factor in determining battery quality and the pricing and acceptance of lithium products. Lake's high purity carbonate offers the potential for premium prices.Managing Director Steve Promnitz commented: "The results from Novonix demonstrate the high quality of Lake's high purity lithium in batteries and future results are anticipated to reinforce the initial results. This provides electric vehicle makers and battery makers confidence around Lake's product quality, which is particularly important given the increasing demand for a high purity product."Lake is advancing the Kachi DFS amid a growing focus on sustainability and the need for a responsibly sourced product suitable for the supply chains of leading EV makers. With investor and industry engagement intensifying, Lake is in an excellent position to progress our product and unlock increased value for shareholders."To view tables and figures, please visit:About Lake Resources NL Lake Resources NL (ASX:LKE) (OTCMKTS:LLKKF) is a clean lithium developer utilising clean, direct extraction technology for the development of sustainable, high purity lithium from its flagship Kachi Project, as well as three other lithium brine projects in Argentina. The projects are in a prime location within the Lithium Triangle, where 40% of the world's lithium is produced at the lowest cost. This method will enable Lake Resources to be an efficient, responsibly-sourced, environmentally friendly and cost competitive supplier of high-purity lithium, which is readily scalable, and in demand from Tier 1 electric vehicle makers and battery makers. UK heath care investor Primary Health Properties has purchased a purpose-built primary care centre in Shankill, county Dublin, for 3.8m. The property was developed in 2019 and is let to the HSE and a local GP practice with a weighted average unexpired lease term (WAULT) of just under 23 years. The HSE income represents 92pc of the rent roll at the property, according to a statement from the group. This acquisition will increase PHP's portfolio to a total of 514 assets, of which 19 are in Ireland, with a contracted rent roll of over 135m (156m). The centre is delivering a range of outpatient services including: nursing, speech and language therapy, physiotherapy, occupational therapy, a social worker, clinical psychology, and GP care. Harry Hyman, managing director of Primary Health Properties, said: "We are delighted to have acquired this modern purpose-built primary care centre, further increasing the group's footprint in Ireland in line with our stated strategy. We have a strong pipeline of opportunities in the UK and Ireland and are well positioned to continue to grow our portfolio and to support the healthcare systems in these markets through the provision of modern, primary care infrastructure." Last month Mr Hyman told the Irish Independent that Primary Health Properties plans to invest the thick end of 75m during the next 12 months in Ireland. Up until todays announcement the companys portfolio here was valued at 200m (230m) and PHP plans to double that over the next three years. PHP saw its adjusted earnings jump 22pc last year to 73.1 (84m). The performance was driven by a full years contribution from the merger with MedicX completed in March 2019, acquisitions, and continued rental growth, according to annual results from the group. Last year net rental income at PHP increased 13pc to 131.2m (151m), profit for the year was 112m (128.8m). The company has six forward-funded developments currently on-site across the UK and Ireland with a net development cost of 47.4m (55m), including developments at Arklow and Enniscorthy in Ireland. The companys total portfolio, including Ireland and the UK, was valued at 2.6bn (3bn) at year end. More than a third of young adults report symptoms of smartphone addition regardless of how long they spend on their device each day, a study has found. Researchers from Kings College London surveyed 1,043 people aged 1830 about their smartphone usage, sleep quality and smartphone use reduction strategies. Around a quarter of the volunteers reported using their phone for at least three hours each day, while 19 per cent used their device for more than five hours daily. According to the researchers, 406 of the participants met the criteria for having 'smartphone addition'. They reported behaviours such as losing control of how much time they spent on their phone, anxiety when separated from their device and neglecting other things. Both 69 per cent of those in this group - and 57 per cent of those who were judged not to have smartphone addiction - said they suffered poor sleep. While smartphone addiction is not presently recognised as a clinical diagnosis, excessive and detrimental device use has been attracting growing concern. More than a third of young adults report symptoms of smartphone addition regardless of how long a day they spend using their device, a study has found (stock image) 'Smartphones are increasingly becoming indispensable parts of our daily lives,' said paper author and psychologist Samantha Sohn of Kings College London. 'This study is an important step in looking at their impact in terms of dysfunctional use and on sleep in a UK population,' she added. The new study by Ms Sohn and colleagues is the first in the UK to employ a tool known as the 'smartphone addiction scale', which they said was recently validated. 'It is features of behavioural addiction rather than exposure time that is predictive of smartphone-associated harm,' said paper author and psychiatrist Nicola Kalk of Kings College London and the South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust. 'It is particularly interesting that many respondents reported trying strategies to limit their smartphone use, and those who endorsed features of addiction had tried multiple strategies,' she added. 'Our study provides further support to the growing body of evidence that smartphone "addiction" has a negative impact on sleep, added fellow paper author and biostatistician Ben Carter, also of Kings College London. 'The impact of sleep quality and smartphone addiction is down to more than how long we are using our phones for,' he added. 'This could help clinicians when treating children and adults with sleeping difficulties about how they identify problematic usage.' Other researchers, however, have met the findings with scepticism. 'This paper is the latest, among many dozens of others, to study so-called "smartphone addiction" a condition which is not recognised by any global health body,' commented psychologist Andrew Przybylski of the University of Oxford. 'The authors repeatedly claim the measures of "smartphone addiction" are validated but this claim is tenuous at best,' he added. 'This is confusing because those who study technology addictions do not validate scales using clinical samples or conduct the kinds of studies required to establish ideas like smart phone addiction as a valid concept.' 'The study is a correlational analysis of a sample of participants recruited on university campuses and therefore only reflects the experiences of those who had the purpose of the study explained to them.' 'Readers should be cautious of making any firm conclusions about the impact of smart phone use in the general population, or the idea that theyre addictive in any objective sense, on the basis of this work.' The full findings of the study were published in the journal Frontiers in Psychiatry. When Tyra Good was being educated in the school system of Pittsburgh, Penn., she started to become aware of the need for qualified teachers trained to succeed in urban settings. Goods interest has become her passion, which she channels into supervising the Elms College Center for Equity in Urban Education (CEUE), which is designed to develop skills for the unique circumstances of urban school teaching. Springfield College is linking to urban education in a different way. Its offering grants to full-time and part-time Holyoke Public School employees seeking to complete work toward a degree or certification. In both cases, administrators hope this is just the beginning. The goal of our program is to diversify the pipeline of teachers, especially for Black and brown populations. We talk about being a cultural responsive educator. These people represent role models, Good said. Tyra Good says Elms College's Center for Equity in Urban Education aims to enhance the teacher-student relationship in urban settings. Launched with five students in 2019, the Elms College program has grown to 26 students, of which 14 are graduate students with 12 in the undergraduate program. Requirements for course completion vary for the two groups, but the goal is the same - producing teachers who can connect with students in meaningful ways that lend relevance to their education. The target system is the Springfield Public Schools. Because the program is so new, no teachers have yet been placed in the Springfield system, but that could change as early as next year. The CEUE has already attracted a number of former Springfield public school students who seek to contribute to the system that educated them. Good said the primary focus is to develop educators of color, but that white students have also shown interest in helping improve urban education. As the program develops, she says not just Springfield but Holyoke, charter schools and Western Massachusetts schools in general will benefit. Among the things we do is to dissect words and look at what coded language is. In kindergarten through grade 12 education, the goal at the end of the day is to see each student as a human being, build relationships and develop curricula theyre interested in, she said. Bilingual skills are not a requirement of CEUE, though Good said many students possess such skills. Interested applicants should contact the Center for Equity in Urban Education at ceue@elms.edu, or visit www.elms.edu/ceue. Springfield College is approaching urban needs from a different angle. By taking advantage of the grant program, staff and faculty in the Holyoke Public Schools can advance their education, leading to better pay and benefits that allow them to remain in the system as a career. The program is not limited to teachers but is offered to employees throughout Holyoke schools. We are trying to cultivate a para-to-teacher pipeline. This is a win-win for us, and for the district, said Linda C. Davis-Delano, the colleges Educator Preparation and Licensure Director. Davis-Delano said the programs rollout has gone smoothly since its inception in December. She hopes a similar relationship can be developed with Springfield Public Schools, and for that matter, with others systems in the region. The obstacle with Springfield, she said, is simply its size. There are more players involved, said Davis-Delano, which means more required bureaucracy - but in time, she hopes that can be overcome. The focus is now on Holyoke. More information is available at springfield.edu/partnership. We are thrilled that Springfield College has continued to be a champion in our partnership to increase the number of teachers of color in Western Massachusetts, Holyoke Public Schools Human Resources Manager Kelly Curran said. We are especially grateful that the college has extended a generous grant opportunity to Holyoke Public Schools paraprofessionals who are interested in furthering their education and giving back to the community. This opportunity supports our commitment to build and retain a workforce that is not only the most qualified to teach the students of Holyoke, but also celebrates and reflects the rich diversity of our students, Curran said. Its not just teachers but paraprofessionals and other staff who may be in need of a bachelors degree, but cant commit during the week because of jobs and families. So we offer traditional opportunities but also evening, weekend and online options, said Marisol Guevara, Assistant Director for Recruitment and Outreach at Springfield College. Our focus is on busy, working professionals with a hybrid or online approach. The program is growing, said Mitchell Sibley-Jett, the SC Assistant Director for Urban Partnerships. Without such programs, systems such as Holyoke will struggle not just to attract new and diversified talent, but will, over time, lose valuable employees already in the system. The Springfield College grant program is designed to give current employees a pathway to a career that may be blocked by the need for a degree or certification. How do (staff members) become a counselor? Its important to keep people of color in the Holyoke pipeline. Students feel more comfortable when they see counselors and staff members who look like them, said Allison Cumming-McCann, the colleges department chair of counseling and program director of school counseling. Springfield College Counselor Department chair Allison Cumming-McCann says the goal of a partnership with Holyoke schools is to retain the system's talent. Guevara said that as the college offers flexible programs for working people, the grants can make degree completion affordable. According to Christian Dupervil, Associate Director for Regional and Online Admission, the online component is proving especially successful. Its exceeded expectations. People might expect a feeling of isolation, but instead, this has definitely created a team environment, Dupervil said. At both colleges, the demands of the coronavirus pandemic exacerbated needs and inequities that existed before the health crisis. Equity in education is not a new issue, but the pandemic shined a spotlight on racial and economic gaps in education. In their own ways, the Elms and Springfield College programs are addressing these issues, and will do so long after the pandemic is over, administrators say. How do we elevate being a teacher? Good asked. Thats what (such a) program is all about. [March 01, 2021] RS Components collaborates with Phoenix Contact South East Asia to provide factory automation customers with elevated end-to-end industrial control solutions across SEA BANGKOK, March 2, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- RS Components (RS) , a trading brand of Electrocomponents plc (LSE: ECM), a global omni-channel solutions partner for industrial customers and suppliers, today announced a collaboration with Phoenix Contact Southeast Asia, one of the world's leading future-oriented makers of industrial automation technologies. This collaboration will see a significant expansion of the 'COMPLETE line' portfolio of products and essential accessories for control cabinet applications, boasting over 9000 products in all the key areas of building control cabinets. Over 2500 new devices in the range will be available on the RS Southeast Asia platforms, making RS the first high-service distributor to offer the full 'COMPLETE line' in the region. Customers will benefit from having full access to a unique portfolio, reducing overall handling costs and minimising planning and installation times for control cabinet construction and maintenance. The 'COMPLETE line' system comprises an entire suite of coordinated hardware and software products aimed at switching, connection and disconnection, and measuring, controlling and automating applications. Through its standardised design, haptics, and functionality, panel builders are able to optimise work processes in control cabinet development. The system brings together all of the manufacturer's control panel products and essential accessories in one range. It also cuts down time spent on installation, maitenance, and operating existing and new control cabinet solutions. "Having the full COMPLETE line on the RS Southeast Asian platforms allows us to provide factory automation customers with elevated end-to-end industrial control solutions, from build through to maintenance," said Sean Fredericks, President, Asia Pacific at RS. "Our customers in Southeast Asia will quickly realise the benefits from deploying it, helping them reduce space, and accelerating design and installment of new control cabinets." "We have enjoyed a close partnership for more than 15 years with RS, a long-time distribution channel partner for Phoenix Contact," said Lars Kleinegees, International Channel Partner Manager at Phoenix Contact. "Through all its various channels, RS offers its large and global customer base with fast and easy access to more than 25,000 products from Phoenix Contact." "RS Components' wide digital reach coupled with the extensive range of quality products and solutions from Phoenix Contact forms the perfect partnership to bring the value and benefit of COMPLETE line to the customers in South East Asia." said Charlie Lim, Segment Director at Phoenix Contact. All of the devices in the 'COMPLETE line' portfolio are shipping now from RS Components in Thailand. About RS Components RS Components is a trading brand of Electrocomponents plc, a global omni-channel solutions partner for industrial customers and suppliers who are involved in designing, building or maintaining industrial equipment and facilities. We aim to offer our customers unrivalled choice of product technologies, solve problems with innovative solutions and deliver a world-class customer experience, making it easy to do business with us. We stock more than 500,000 industrial and electronic products, sourced from over 2,500 leading suppliers. We solve problems and provide a wide range of value-added solutions to over one million customers. With operations in 32 countries, we trade through multiple channels and ship over 50,000 parcels a day. Electrocomponents plc is listed on the London Stock Exchange and in the last financial year ended 31 March 2020 reported revenue of 1.95 billion. Electrocomponents plc has six operating brands; RS Components, Allied Electronics & Automation, RS PRO, OKdo, DesignSpark and IESA. Further information is available via these links: Twitter: @RSComponents; @designsparkRS Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/rs-components-asia-pacific/ RS Components https://th.rs-online.com/web/ DesignSpark www.rs-online.com/designspark Electrocomponents plc www.electrocomponents.com SOURCE RS Components [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Jacinda Ardern has come under fire after publicly calling out a KFC worker for heading into work instead of self-isolating after coming into contact with Covid-19. The New Zealand prime minister has been praised for her handling of the pandemic, with the island nation suffering few cases, but there are now fears cases could spread out of control after the latest outbreak. As a result, Auckland has re-entered a Level Three lockdown after a cluster of 11 cases was identified and Ardern said 'everyone is angry' with rule-breakers. Ardern is taking a 'zero Covid' approach that aims to completely eradicate the coronavirus from New Zealand - a strategy that is also being used in Australia. However, locking down major cities after a single Covid-19 infection is discovered can create an endless cycle of lockdowns that harm the economy, and will also likely make international travel in the near future impossible. As recently as February 15, Auckland went into a three-day lockdown when three people from the same family tested positive, and by employing the same strategy Australia has also seen cities enforce similar intermittent measures. On the rule breakers, Ardern said: 'Even with the full understanding of human fallibility, it is not appropriate, and it is not okay for members of a team of five million to let the rest of us down. 'If there is any question mark right now over there being consequences, you know, those individuals are facing the full judgment of the entire nation. There are consequences, undoubtedly.' Ardern's criticisms have led to the KFC worker and her family being trolled online. The government says the family was contacted 15 times telling them to self isolate, but the family dispute that account. Jacinda Ardern has come under fire after publicly calling out the sister of a student infected with Covid-19 for going to work at a KFC instead of self-isolating Average number of new infections in New Zealand over a seven-day period Her sister tested positive on February 23 after being considered a casual contact of a confirmed case at a high school which is the centre of a cluster of new cases. The KFC worker headed into work on February 22 and 23 then also tested positive days later. The family has been ridiculed online after Ms Ardern criticised the sister, who claimed she never received instructions to get tested. Auckland on Sunday entered a week-long Level Three lockdown after the prime minister blamed rule-breakers for causing the city's latest outbreak. 'It's not fair on our end that we're getting all this backlash for something that we haven't actually done,' the sister - known only as Case L - told Newshub. 'If they tried to contact us multiple times and send us letters and stuff, where is this evidence.' Case L said Ms Ardern should apologise as her comments were 'upsetting'. The under-fire KFC worker was the sister of a student at Papatoetoe High School (pictured), where the south Auckland cluster originated. The family have claimed they never received the order to get tested Vehicles wait to enter a temporary testing center for Covid-19 at Papatoetoe High School in Auckland Ms Ardern said the family was told via letters on February 17 and 19 they needed to get tested. On Tuesday, she defended how the government communicated with them - saying the student's family were contacted 15 times through texts and phone calls telling them to get tested. 'I cannot answer whether or not those were received, but certainly you can see attempts were made,' she said. 'I'll go back to look at what we could have done in addition to that message. 'In my mind everyone at Papatoetoe High School getting a test felt really clear to me.' MPs have now called on Ms Ardern to release the complete correspondence between the government and the family. Authorities are meanwhile searching for Aucklanders who went to a gym on February 26 between 3.25pm and 4.30pm - at the same time an infected 21-year-old visited. Pictured: A Covid-19 testing station at Papatoetoe High School on February 15. Ms Ardern said the student's family were contacted 15 times by health officials about the need to get tested Motorists wait to enter a temporary testing center for COVID-19 at Papatoetoe High School in Auckland on February 15 Checkpoints have been set up along major highways leading into the city which were packed with motorists who spent hours in their cars on Sunday trying to enter Auckland. Police told residents to be patient and prepare for 'significant delays', but Kiwis described the situation as a 'mess' - with some claiming they saw drivers squatting on the side of the road due to a lack of facilities. Police had warned motorists they would be stopped and questioned about why they were travelling once they reached a checkpoint. Pictured: Lines of traffic on a motorway heading in to Auckland in New Zealand after the city was plunged in to Stage Three lockdowns Pictured: A Google Maps image showing heavy traffic on highways leading in to Auckland on Sunday Prime Minister of New Zealand Jacinda Ardern (pictured) has announced Auckland will go into lockdown for one week, after just one new local case of Covid-19 The rest of New Zealand faced Level two restrictions from Sunday at 6am. Pictured: Testing station in Auckland on February 15 Level Three restrictions mean people are confined to their household bubble or an exclusive extended bubble - which may include close relatives or isolated people. People must work from home if possible and businesses must not offer services requiring close personal contact, unless it is an essential service or emergency. Public venues are closed but low-risk recreation activities are allowed within bubbles, such as bike riding, swimming or going on a picnic with other household members. For the rest of New Zealand under Level Two restrictions, people can socialise in groups of up to 100, shop and travel domestically. The cluster is centred around Papatoetoe High School, and the new case, a 21-year-old male, is reportedly the older brother of a student at that school. Pictured: A Covid-19 station set up outside the high school on February 15 Schools will remain open and groups over 100 are allowed in cinemas, casinos and stadiums as long as groups of 100 and less do not mix with each other. Ms Ardern said she was disappointed in those who have not followed the rules and put the community at risk. 'We do have the ability to take enforcement action if we need to,' she said adding that people needed to feel comfortable coming forward. 'We still need an environment where people will speak up and come forward and be tested.' New Zealand's 'zero Covid' approach, that is also being employed by Australia, has resulted in intermittent lockdowns. The latest restrictions come after the city of 2million people entered a three-day lockdown on February 15 when three people from one family - a Papatoetoe High School student and her parents - tested positive for Covid-19. But some see the eradication of coronavirus as impossible if international travel is to resume, with some in Australia arguing that the country will need to shift to a 'harm minimisation approach' if it is to open its borders again. Writing in the Australian Financial Review, epidemiologists Nathan Grills and Tony Blakely said: 'If zero Covid-19 is this endgame, then international travel is years away. 'The vaccine could help achieve eradication, but zero Covid-19 remains a pipe dream in the medium term. It's dependent on numerous external variables, mostly outside our control, including viral mutation and co-operation between 195 countries.' CHISINAU (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 01st March, 2021) Moldova's Socialist Party will not seek a referendum to ouster President Maia Sandu after she refused to nominate an alternative prime minister, ex-president Igor Dodon said on Monday. Sandu has welcomed a referendum on confidence in her as an opportunity to cement her hold on power after the opposition-controlled parliament voted against her pick for prime minister. "The Socialist Party will not initiate a referendum on Maia Sandu's resignation. This would deepen the crisis and solve nothing," Dodon told a news briefing. He said he did not want to "wage a war" with the president or her center-right Action and Solidarity party. Moldovan lawmakers rejected the nomination of Sandu's ally Natalia Gavrilita as a prime minister last month. Dodon said ex-finance minister and diplomat Mariana Durlesteanu was the consensus candidate of the parliamentary majority. The constitutional court ruled that Sandu's second attempt to nominate Gavrilita, in an apparent bid to force a snap parliamentary election, was against the law. Dodon gave the president until March 9 to nominate Durlesteanu, warning that the Socialist Party would otherwise "take decisive action to stabilize the situation," which could turn the presidency into a figurehead. Shanghai first choice for industrial chain layout of multinational companies By:Zheng Qian | From:english.eastday.com | 2021-03-02 09:37 At a recent meeting themed around Shanghais business environment in 2021, Zong Ming, deputy mayor of Shanghai, held a discussion with officials from the foreign Consulate General in Shanghai and representatives of foreign trade institutions in Shanghai. Scientific city management has made Shanghai one of the safest cities in the world, especially in terms of the coronavirus pandemic control. In 2021, Shanghai's GDP, consumption, and imports and exports all achieved positive growth. Shanghais new development momentum continues to grow, with the total output value of industrial strategic emerging industries accounting for 40% of the total output value of industries that have a sales value of more than 2 million yuan. The goal of building Shanghai into an international economic, financial, trade, and shipping center has been basically completed. The proportion of R&D expenditure is equal to 4.1% of the citys GDP. Foreign investment in Shanghai last year grew by 6.2% while global foreign direct investment fell by 42%. The total number of multinational regional headquarters and foreign-funded R&D centers reached 771 and 481 respectively, and overseas talent reached about 200,000. Amid the pandemic, the transaction value of the third CIIE achieved a growth of 2.1%, showing that global investors continue to be optimistic about China and Shanghai. The page you have requested does not exist any more.If you typed the page address/URL, make sure it is spell correctly.Open the Business Today homepage or Use the "Back" button on your browser to return to the previous page. Nigeria will on Tuesday receive the first batch of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccines through COVAX, the global sharing programme designed to make vaccine access more equal. Because it is cheap costs less than two bottles of beer easy to make and store, AstraZeneca is regarded the most suitable for developing countries like Nigeria. According to Faisal Shuaib, the executive director of the NPHCDA, the agency at centre of the vaccine rollout plan for Nigeria, approximately 4 million doses will land in Abuja, Nigerias capital Tuesday at 11 a.m. making the west African nation the third country to receive jabs from COVAX. Ghana was the first country to benefit from the programme after receiving 600,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccines last Wednesday followed by Ivory Coast that took delivery of over 500, 000 doses last Friday. At least 92 low and middle-income countries will receive free vaccines through COVAX, a WHO vaccine-sharing initiative. With the arrival of the 4 million doses, Nigeria is currently the biggest benefactor of the initiative in the first phase. The West African nation is expecting a total 16 million jabs that will come in four phases. The facility promised access to vaccines for up to 20 per cent of participating countries population with an initial supply beginning in the first quarter of the year to immunise three per cent of their populations. With several concerns raised about the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine, here are nine things you should know about. 1. What is the origin? The vaccine was developed by British firm AstraZeneca, working in partnership with Oxford University. It is however manufactured under license by the Serum Institute in India. The jab was the second to be approved by the independent Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA). AstraZeneca said it expects to be able to manufacture about three billion doses of its vaccine worldwide in 2021. The vaccine is virus-vectored, meaning it is a version of a virus that normally infects chimpanzees and has been modified with a portion of the COVID-19 coronavirus called the spike protein to fire the immune system. Once in human cells, the vaccine should help stimulate the production of antibodies that will resist COVID-19. 2. Why was it rejected by South Africa? South Africa had initially ordered about 1.5 million doses of Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine but they were rejected after it was said to provide insufficient protection against the new COVID-19 variant in country, 501Y.V2, according to local health platform, Bhekisisa. The AstraZeneca jab only provides about 10 per cent protection against mild to moderate COVID-19 disease caused the South African variant, the Bhekisisa reported. This is way below the World Health Organisation (WHO) recommended 50 per cent protection. This added to the safety concerns raised about the Oxford vaccines. South Africa discovered that these vaccines had some weaknesses in protecting their own variant which is quite peculiar, Nigerias health minister, Osagie Ehanire said last week. Now we turn to WHO and asked, what do we do? They said well, if you dont have the South African variant you can use it, the official explained. We dont have that variant meaning we can use it, he said. ADVERTISEMENT The vaccine is safe and effective, according to data published by the Lancet medical journal on December 8. Only one of the 23,754 volunteers who participated in the trials experienced possibly-related severe side effects. 3. Can it protect against other variants? The new variant detected in the UK in September and dubbed lineage B.1.1.7 has also been found in Nigeria. It was identified by scientists at the Africa Centre of Excellence for Genomics of Infectious Diseases (ACEGID) in Osun state in August and September when the first two samples were collected. Nigeria has now confirmed at least 30 cases of the B.1.1.7 variant raising concerns on whether the AstraZeneca vaccines would be efficacious against it. As viruses mutate and give rise to new variants, this can affect how well certain vaccines work against them. The AstraZeneca vaccine proved effective against mild to moderate cases from the so-called U.K. variant, according to early data from researchers at the University of Oxford writing in a pre-print not yet reviewed by The Lancet. Vaccine efficacy was 74.9 per cent (95 per cent CI 41.6-88.9) after two doses against symptomatic infection from the B.1.1.7 variant, the phase II/III trials of research showed. Interestingly, both the UK and South African variants have the same mutation the N501Y mutation but the south African variant has an additional mutation, E484K. Research shows this mutation contributes to the virus evading antibodies from COVID-19 patients against SARS-CoV-2. 4. Can it protect against infection transmission? Emerging data for the AstraZeneca vaccine in the Lancet preprint revealed that the jab is most likely to block transmission after a single dose. The researchers derived this data by taking weekly nose swabs from both symptomatic and asymptomatic cases and testing for the presence of the virus. They observed a 67% fall in swabs positive for the virus after one immunisation. In a separate preprint, people who received the AstraZeneca vaccine and were swab positive showed reduced periods of viral shedding, which could also have a positive impact on transmission of disease. This data suggests the AstraZeneca vaccine also has potential to substantially affect virus transmission, by reducing the number of highly infectious people in a population. 5. How cheap is it? The Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine has the major advantages of being inexpensive, costing about 2.50 per dose, according to AFP. This makes it ideal for large-scale vaccination programmes hence the reason it was COVAX choice. 6. How can it be stored and distributed? One key characteristic of this vaccine is that it can be kept at normal refrigerator temperatures of between two and eight degrees Celsius making it the most suitable for developing country such as Nigeria. By contrast, the Moderna vaccine needs to be stored at -20C, while the Pfizer/BioNTech product must be kept at -70C and needs ultra-modern freezers which is very costly and high in demand. The AstraZeneca vaccine can be widely distributed with relative ease. Additionally, AstraZeneca has multiple supply chains. Around the world, they have multiple manufacturing sites and partners from whom to source ingredients, and distributors who can deploy the vaccine. 7. Timing of doses Will a person be protected already after one immunisation, while waiting for the second boosting jab? The Lancelot preprint study showed the vaccine has 76 per cent efficacy after a single dose, when assessed over the first 90 days after vaccination. In initial studies, the vaccines efficacy was 62 per cent with two standard doses. However, there was some variability depending on the dosage and timing. Since then, scientists have asked questions about the optimal dose and interval. A preprint manuscript in The Lancet shows the vaccine demonstrated 82.4 per cent efficacy after two standard doses three months apart. 8. Is it safe for people that are 65 and above? Another major concern scientists are raising about AstraZeneca is on how safe the vaccines are on older people. Researchers in the United States have noted that the preliminary results from the most promising trial of the vaccines are not clear and did not reflect data from older people, the NewYork Times reported. Also, Germanys Handelsblatt Newspaper reported that the vaccines were largely ineffective in people aged over 65 although AstraZeneca top managers described the report as completely incorrect. Official data published days later would help undermine the report attributed to German officials and further exposing the brewing political conflict between the vaccine makers and some European countries, according to Financial Times. In the Phase 2 human trials, the vaccine was found to be safe, showing just some mild and moderate reactions, and it induced similar immune responses across age groups. 9. Any other side effect? There was a key mistake in the vaccine dosage received by some study participants, adding to questions about whether the vaccines apparently spectacular efficacy will hold up under additional testing, the NewYork Times reported. Scientists and industry experts said the error and a series of other irregularities and omissions in the way AstraZeneca initially disclosed the data have eroded their confidence in the reliability of the results. The British laboratory announced in interim findings in November that its vaccine was on average 70 per cent effective, compared with more than 90 per cent for Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna. The efficacy of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine was 90 per cent for volunteers who first received only a half-dose and then a full dose one month later, but only 62% for another group that was vaccinated with two full doses one month apart. The injection of a half-dose was conducted by accident, raising criticism over the robustness of the results and prompting the company to announce on November 26 that an additional study would be held into the efficacy of the reduced dosage. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. But at the top of his list, Biss said, is the citys fragmentation as residents remain isolated due to the pandemic and increasingly rely on their limited social media connections for information, as opposed to seeing each other in person at meetings and events and hearing what different people think. Mayor London Breed announced Tuesday San Francisco is advancing from the most restrictive purple into the more lenient red tier. In the red tier, California allows new business sectors to reopen and the expansion of some indoor activities such as dining, museums, movie theaters, and fitness with restrictions. With a few exceptions, the citys reopening aligns with what is permitted by the state. Beginning 8 a.m., Wednesday, the city will permit the following to operate: Outdoor dining with three households of up to six people Personal services that require the removal of masks outdoors and indoors, with specific health and safety measures in place Indoor dining (including bars with full meal service, food courts, hotel restaurants) at 25% capacity, but limited to four people from one household, requiring that indoor dinner service end by 10 p.m., and other safety requirements Indoor gyms and fitness centers at 10% capacity Indoor museums, zoos and aquariums at 25% capacity Indoor movie theaters at 25% capacity without concessions Outdoor stand-alone amusement park rides such as Ferris wheels, carousels and train rides Limited use of indoor pools The city is also lifting nighttime restrictions on gatherings and non-essential business activities between the hours of 10 p.m. and 5 a.m. In the red tier, middle and high schools that had not yet opened can resume opening with a COVID-19 safety plan approved by the San Francisco Health Officer. All other schools can already be open with an approved safety plan, according to a statement from the mayor's office. While the state allows indoor retail to expand to 50% capacity in the red tier, S.F. will keep it capped at 25%. The state also allows indoor gatherings with up to three households with restrictions; the city will continue to restrict these, the statement said. Now I know being in the red doesnt sound that great but it is great compared to where we were," Breed said at a press conference live-streamed by KPIX. "It means this is just the beginning. This is the beginning of a new day for San Francisco. The mayor said at the press conference that within three weeks the city could jump into the orange tier, allowing even more openings. In the Bay Area, Napa and Santa Clara counties also moved from the purple into the red tier, according to the state dashboard tracking the pandemic in all 58 California counties. Last week, Marin and San Mateo moved into the red. The state's color-coded reopening framework dictates which businesses can be open. A county's tier assignment is primarily based on two metrics: the case rate (the number of new cases per 100,000 residents that's adjusted based on testing volume) and the seven-day positivity rate (the percentage of people who test positive for the virus out of all individuals who are tested). 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. There's also a third metric, the health equity metric, that the state takes into account for larger counties. It's designed to encourage counties to test for COVID-19 in disadvantaged neighborhoods and ensure the positivity rates in these neighborhoods don't lag far behind the overall county rate. It has been more than a month since Gov. Gavin 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. Washington House Democrats are pursuing an ambitious agenda to approve several progressive bills supported by President Biden in the coming weeks, but these measures face an uncertain future in the evenly divided Senate, where most legislation will require support from Republicans to advance. The House is expected vote on H.R. 1, a comprehensive election reform bill, later this week. It is also expected to take up a wide-ranging policing reform bill, a gun control measure and a labor bill protecting union organizing rights. This comes after the House approved the Equality Act last week, a bill that would enshrine legal protections for LGBTQ Americans. Several of these measures have previously passed in the House but stalled in the Senate, as then-Majority Leader Mitch McConnell refused to bring them to the floor for consideration. Speaker Nancy Pelosi had referred to McConnell as the "grim reaper," overseeing the "legislative graveyard" of the Senate. However, even with Democrats now nominally in control of the Senate, many of these bills still face an uncertain future. Democrats have the narrowest possible majority in the Senate, with 50 seats and Vice President Kamala Harris casting any tie-breaking vote. But most legislation in the Senate requires 60 votes to advance, meaning that Democrats would need support from at least 10 Republicans. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer told reporters on Tuesday that Democrats are "going to figure out the best way to get big, bold action on a whole lot of fronts." "We're not going to be the legislative graveyard. Very simply, McConnell refused to put bills on the floor. I'm putting bills on the floor. People are going to be forced to vote on them, yes or no," Schumer said. Progressives have pushed for Senate Democrats to eliminate the legislative filibuster, which would allow legislation to advance with a simple majority of votes. But getting rid of the filibuster would also require 51 votes, and at least two Democrats have expressed opposition to taking this action, colloquially known as the "nuclear option." Story continues Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia, one of the most moderate Democrats in the Senate who now has the power to almost single-handedly block many progressive priorities, has been particularly vehement in his opposition to eliminating the filibuster. "Never! Jesus Christ! What don't you understand about never?" Manchin said Monday when asked by reporters if he would change his mind about invoking the nuclear option. Senator Joe Manchin, a Democrat from West Virginia, speaks during a hearing on Wednesday, February 24, 2021. / Credit: Leigh Vogel/UPI/Bloomberg via Getty Images Senate Democrats invoked the nuclear option to eliminate the filibuster for most judicial nominees in 2013, and Republicans eliminated the filibuster for Supreme Court nominees in 2017. Defenders of the filibuster argue that it preserves the rights of the minority, but opponents say that it allows the minority to hold the will of the majority of Americans hostage by preventing the party in power from implementing its agenda. Republicans have expressed opposition to several of the bills under consideration in the House. H.R. 1 was a major target of speakers during the Conservative Political Action Conference over the weekend, and was even mentioned by former President Donald Trump in his speech. The legislation includes campaign financing reform, expanding voting rights and anti-corruption measures. There is also disagreement between parties on how best to address policing reform. The House will again bring forward the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, named after the Minnesota man who died in police custody last year after an officer kneeled on his neck for several minutes, instigating a wave of protests against racial violence and police brutality over the summer. The legislation would ban chokeholds and overhaul qualified immunity protections for law enforcement. However, the qualified immunity provision is a sticking point for Republicans. Republican Senator Tim Scott, the lone Black Republican in the Senate, introduced a policing reform bill last year that did not address qualified immunity, but this legislation was blocked by Democrats who argued that it did not go far enough. Scott told reporters on Monday that he had an initial conversation with Congresswoman Karen Bass, the lead sponsor of the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, "looking at the bill holistically." "We did not come to any conclusions. We have not started negotiating any parts of it," Scott said. Meanwhile, Democratic Senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut reintroduced legislation Tuesday that would require universal background checks on the sale or transfer of all firearms. Although the measure has Republican co-sponsors in the House, its prospects in the Senate are uncertain. Many progressives in the House argue that compromising with Republicans would mean passing significantly watered-down legislation. As a workaround to avoid being stymied by the filibuster, the Senate majority can use budget reconciliation to pass some bills with a simple majority. Congress is currently using the budget reconciliation process to pass Mr. Biden's $1.9 trillion COVID relief bill, but there are strict rules governing the process. The Senate parliamentarian ruled last week that the relief bill could not include a provision to raise the federal minimum wage to $15 under budget reconciliation rules. Even if the House manages to pass a separate bill hiking the minimum wage to $15, it would likely die in the Senate. Democrats may have to settle for negotiating with Republicans in the Senate on increasing the minimum wage to a smaller amount. Some of the first Johnson & Johnson vaccine doses given at Ohio State University Eye Opener: Texas, Mississippi lift mask mandates Neera Tanden withdraws nomination to lead Office of Management and Budget Bitcoin: Let's Put 2 Heart-Pounding Price Drops into Perspective Here's what our "preferred" Elliott wave count said on Feb. 5, 2021 When financial historians discuss past manias, many of them point to the South Sea Company of the early 1700s as a classic example. The enthusiasm to buy a piece of the action was so great that even Sir Isaac Newton became in investor. He, along with many others, eventually lost big time when the South Sea Company Bubble burst. And, in late January, it looked like the modern-day mania surrounding the cryptocurrency Bitcoin had burst too, at least according to one major financial magazine (Forbes, Jan. 27). Here's the headline: Bitcoin Has Crashed. Is This The End? That was in response to Bitcoin's swift slide from near $42,000 to below $30,000. Well, it turned out that this heart-pounding downturn in price was only temporary. This was no surprise to Elliott Wave International's cryptocurrency analyst Tony Carrion. Indeed, in his video in our monthly Global Market Perspective (a monthly publication which covers 50-plus markets worldwide), he showed this chart and said: Our preferred [Elliott wave] count is that [Bitcoin] is advancing within the subwaves of a [larger up wave]. The wave IV (circle green) correction played out for most of January. Wave evidence suggests that the correction ended on Jan. 22. As you probably know, the cryptocurrency has since climbed as high as $58,000. That high price was hit in the morning of Feb. 22 and was followed by another heart-pounding price drop. As of this writing, the Bitcoin's price has plummeted nearly 13%. Is this another temporary correction -- or, finally, the start of an all-out collapse? Now is the time to learn what Elliott wave analysis suggests is next after this most recent price drop. If youd like to gain insights into Elliott wave analysis, you can do so by reading the Wall Street classic book, Elliott Wave Principle: Key to Market Behavior, by Frost & Prechter. Heres a quote: Despite the fact that many analysts do not treat it as such, the Wave Principle is by all means an objective study, or as Collins put it, a disciplined form of technical analysis. Bolton used to say that one of the hardest things he had to learn was to believe what he saw. If you do not believe what you see, you are likely to read into your analysis what you think should be there for some other reasons. At this point, your count becomes subjective and worthless. Get more insights into the Wave Principle. You see, the online version of this Wall Street classic is available to you free after you join Club EWI, which is the worlds largest Elliott wave educational community. Club EWI membership is also free. Get the ball rolling by following this link: Elliott Wave Principle: Key to Market Behavior free and unlimited access. This article was syndicated by Elliott Wave International and was originally published under the headline Bitcoin: Let's Put 2 Heart-Pounding Price Drops into Perspective. EWI is the world's largest market forecasting firm. Its staff of full-time analysts led by Chartered Market Technician Robert Prechter provides 24-hour-a-day market analysis to institutional and private investors around the world. 2005-2019 http://www.MarketOracle.co.uk - The Market Oracle is a FREE Daily Financial Markets Analysis & Forecasting online publication. Email Whatsapp Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment I write this with a heavy heart, as heavy as yours may already be from the revelations of Ravi Zacharias hidden life. If you hadnt heard of him, Zacharias was considered one of this eras greatest Christian apologists. If you havent heard the news, an independent investigation found he had systematically groomed vulnerable women over many years, plying them with attention and gifts, obligating them to return sexual favors, threatening them should they ever tell. I interviewed Zacharias once. He was brilliant, charming, winsome. And yet he was living a lie. The Victims of Ravi Zacharias Were starting to lose count now of his victims. First are the emotionally and financially vulnerable women he strategically targeted. Then theres the couple he bound with a Non Disclosure Agreement before rushing to the press to label them extortionists. Theres the Canadian woman he counselled as a teenager to get an abortion, later calling her a liar. And Zacharias staff were victims too, with Zacharias and members of his US board marginalizing, maligning and firing those who asked too many questions. I have friends who worked for Zacharias UK and Australian offices good, godly, fruitful people. Some have resigned. The UK office has split from the global organization. Gods work has suffered. The Response from His Defenders While most have responded to this news with the abhorrence it deserves, some Christians, eager to defend a man they revered, are responding in less than helpful ways. Its important we challenge some of them: These allegations have surfaced now that Ravi cant defend himself Not so. While this independent report comes after Zacharias death in May 2020, the first allegations arose in 2017. A credentials issue raised alarm bells a few weeks before that, and the abortion issue stretches years back. Were all sinners. If youve lusted after a woman, youre just as bad Yes, we are all sinners and Jesus condemned lust (Matthew 5:27-30). But this response sets up a false equivalence of sins Jesus never intended. For a start, Zacharias case isnt one of sexual compromise as much as strategized abuse of power. Secondly, it ignores the fact that there are degrees of sin. Stealing a cookie isnt equivalent to rape (imagine telling a raped woman that). Likewise, a lustful look isnt the same as ongoing, unrepentant, targeted abuse of vulnerable women. In Matthew 5 Jesus points out the hypocrisy of those who look but dont touch and think theyre morally fine. He is not equating lustful thoughts with abusive acts. No, we cant judge Zacharias eternal salvation or damnation (Matthew 7:1-6). But for the sake of victims feeling heard, believed and finding healing, we must unequivocally condemn his abuse. He who is without sin can cast the first stone Similar to the response above, this is meant to caution judgement of Zacharias actions. But not so fast. When Jesus said this he was coming to the rescue of a woman singled out for her part in adultery, while the man involved was conveniently overlooked (John 8:1-11). Jesus also said that anyone who caused little ones to stumble would be better off having a millstone tied around their neck and being thrown into a river (Matthew 18:6). I dont see that scripture quoted much. My goodness, this is so serious. Its the churchs fault for placing men on pedestals Halfway through writing this post, theologian Tanya Marlow posted this exceptional article on responses to the Zacharias scandal, tackling this one with great insight. The reason St. Paul makes strict recommendations of the character of a leader, she writes, is that it matters. It matters. We have the right to expect Christian leaders to be people of good character, even if they are not perfect people. The Bible itself sets up this expectation. And then she adds: When we say to people who trusted Ravi Zacharias or Jean Vanier to be good people, You shouldnt have put him on a pedestal, it is subtle victim-blaming of both the secondary victims and the direct victims in so doing, we are blaming the people who trusted the abuser rather than the abuser for abusing. We must face the reality of Zacharias abuse, not avoid or excuse it. Only then can victims heal. The Questions it Raises Such an event has raised significant questions for many of us. Here are some Ive read or had asked of me in the last few days: Can I trust any church leader again? I thought I had processed all there is to process about my experience with sexual abuse, Diane told me. Then along comes yet another Pillar of the Community Everybody Trusted doing the unthinkable just like my perpetrator So what is the real church? Whats true? Am I following some kind of cult? Where is Jesus? How do I find a trustworthy church fellowship and/or pastor? This is what I am asking. Ravi Zacharias. John Vanier. Bill Hybels (alleged). Carl Lentz. Jerry Falwell Jr. Becki Falwell. John Howard Yoder. John Crist. James MacDonald. Multiple Catholic priests. There is a shaking of the church going on right now, particularly the American church whose influence reaches wide, and failed leaders and figures are being exposed. Not all of these failings are over sexual abuse, but many are. And they trigger folks like Diane. There are things we could say to this: That these failed leaders make up only a fraction of a percent of the millions of Christian leaders around the globe. That the majority shouldnt be tarnished by the behavior of a few. That we shouldnt allow the crooked a double-win by letting them taint our view of the straight. But for people whove faced abuse, trust simply needs time to be rebuilt. All I can say is there are good, godly people in churches all around us. And the sense a victim develops to sniff out suspect folks can be a trustworthy asset moving forward. I came to faith through Ravi Zacharias. Is my faith based on a lie? Russell Moore addressed this important question well by drawing on church history. When persecution hit the church in the fourth century, some clergy renounced their faith. The church suddenly had a question to wrestle: was a believers baptism valid if the pastor that baptized them later renounced Christ? The church concluded that a baptism wasnt rendered invalid by the failings of the clergy overseeing it. Your salvation and discipleship are not dependent on whether the preacher from whom you heard the gospel is genuine, Moore writes, but rather on whether the gospel itself is genuine. It is. Even Judas preached the gospel for a while. Those who believed through his preaching believed in the truth of Jesus. How could Ravi be so fruitful while living such a duplicitous life? Joanna asked me this question, one Ive pondered too. Isnt a holy life needed to be fruitful in Gods work? Yes. But the Christian message and its Subject have a power greater than the failed mouths that share it. The apostle Paul railed against those who preached from selfish motives, but could still be glad the gospel at least got preached (Philippians 1:15-18). Thats an astonishing thing to say. A duplicitous person can share a message people respond to because the message is true and powerful. What do we do with Ravis books and teachings? John Howard Yoder wrote seminal works on Christian pacifism. Jean Vaniers writing on community and the disabled was invaluable. Ravi Zacharias gave responses to sceptics questions that were true and helpful. What do we do with these teachings now? Im in two minds. Zacharias publisher has pulled his books from sale. His ministry has pulled his YouTube videos. I think this is right. Profit shouldnt be made off an abusers work, and victims shouldnt have to watch their abuser being adulated online anymore. The problem of course is how much of the persons work we denounce. Martin Luther wrote an abhorrent anti-Semitic tract, later used by the Nazis to drive the Holocaust. Karl Barth kept a mistress for years, to the heartbreak we imagine of his wife. We dont bin either theologians works in total because of these failings. Instead, we condemn what is abhorrent in these leaders and affirm what truth and light they brought. If we wouldnt dream of denouncing the LArche communities Jean Vanier founded for the disabled, why should we denounce other work of his, like his writings? This has been my general approach so far, one taken by others, too. Truth shouldnt be dismissed because of failed messengers. But in this case, its a hard position to keep. One cant quote Zacharias now (or Vanier) without bringing anguish to his victims and those he betrayed. As Tanya Marlow says, were not talking about someone who was grumpy, but someone choosing to violate a womans body, an act that has a lifetime of consequences for that woman, the one thing apart from death that every woman dreads. Whether one can still learn from his books or not, I certainly wont be quoting Zacharias anymore. A Prayer There will be much to learn from this sordid episode: about the importance of boards and governance, about treating allegations with seriousness and victims with utmost care, about accountability and not taking a sword to those who ask legitimate questions. I believe the US board of RZIM should resign, and I hope the ministrys current donors will support the local branches, like the UK office, that now need funds to rebuild and continue their fruitful work. But lets end where we should. With the victims. One night last week, after reading the official report confirming Zacharias abuse, I also read the story of Jesus arrest. When Judas and the mob approach, Peter, perhaps to defend Jesus (or maybe just himself), pulls out a sword and attacks one of them. Jesus response is swift. Enough! he says, before rushing to heal the victim. It wouldnt be the last time Jesus had to heal a wound inflicted by one of his followers. And so this is my prayer for each one left bleeding from this event: Lord Jesus, would you heal the wounds inflicted by your followers. To search for variants, Dr. Faria and his colleagues started a new genome sequencing effort in the city. While B.1.1.7 had arrived in other parts of Brazil, they didnt find it in Manaus. Instead, they found a variant no one had seen before. Many variants in their samples shared a set of 21 mutations not seen in other viruses circulating in Brazil. Dr. Faria sent a text message to a colleague: I think Im looking at something really strange, and Im quite worried about this. A few mutations in particular worried him, because scientists had already found them in either B.1.1.7 or B.1.351. Experiments suggested that some of the mutations might make the variants better able to infect cells. Other mutations let them evade antibodies from previous infections or produced by vaccines. As Dr. Faria and his colleagues analyzed their results, researchers in Japan were making a similar discovery. Four tourists returning home from a trip to the Amazon on Jan. 4 tested positive for the coronavirus. Genome sequencing revealed the same set of mutations Dr. Faria and his colleagues were seeing in Brazil. Dr. Faria and his colleagues posted a description of P.1 on an online virology forum on Jan. 12. They then investigated why P.1 was so common. Its mutations may have made it more contagious, or it might have been lucky. By sheer chance, the variant might have shown up in Manaus just as the city was getting more relaxed about public health measures. It was also possible that P.1 became common because it could reinfect people. Normally, coronavirus reinfections are rare, because the antibodies produced by the body after infection are potent for months. But it was possible that P.1 carried mutations that made it harder for those antibodies to latch onto it, allowing it to slip into cells and cause new infections. LONDON, NEW YORK and SYDNEY, March 1, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Commonwealth Bank of Australia ("CBA") announced today that it has commenced two concurrent, but separate cash tender offers for any and all of the outstanding notes (the "Notes") of the series listed in the table below. The tender offers are being made pursuant to an offer to purchase dated March 2, 2021 and an accompanying notice of guaranteed delivery, which set out a more complete description of the terms and conditions of the tender offers, including the determination of the cash purchase price for each series of Notes. Holders of the Notes are urged to read the offer to purchase and the accompanying notice of guaranteed delivery carefully before making any decisions with respect to the tender offers. The tender offers will expire at 5:00 p.m., New York City time, on March 8, 2021, unless extended (such time and date, as the same may be extended with respect to a tender offer, the "Expiration Date"). Tendered Notes may be withdrawn at any time at or prior to, but not after, 5:00 p.m., New York City time, on March 8, 2021, unless extended (such time and date, as the same may be extended with respect to a tender offer, the "Withdrawal Date"). The settlement date of the tender offers will occur promptly following the Expiration Date, expected to be March 11, 2021 (the "Settlement Date"). To be eligible to receive the applicable purchase price described below under the relevant tender offer, holders of the Notes must (i) validly tender and not validly withdraw their Notes at or prior to the Expiration Date or (ii) deliver a properly completed and duly executed notice of guaranteed delivery and other required documents pursuant to the guaranteed delivery procedures described in the offer to purchase (the "Guaranteed Delivery Procedures") at or prior to the Expiration Date and tender their Notes at or prior to 5:00 p.m., New York City time, on the second Business Day following the Expiration Date, which is expected to be March 10, 2021 (the "Guaranteed Delivery Date"). In addition to the purchase price, holders whose Notes are accepted for purchase in the tender offers will also receive accrued and unpaid interest from, and including, the last interest payment date for the relevant series of Notes up to, but excluding, the Settlement Date ("Accrued Interest"). The following table sets forth the series of Notes subject to the tender offers, the applicable purchase price payable (the "Purchase Price") for Notes accepted for purchase in the tender offers: Title of Security CUSIP ISIN Common Code Principal Amount Outstanding Maturity Date First Call Date Reference Benchmark Bloomberg Reference Page Fixed Spread Purchase Price(1) 2.00 per cent. Subordinated Notes due 2027 N/A XS1219642441 121964244 1,250,000,000 April 22, 2027 April 22, 2022 2022 Interpolated Mid-Swap Rate ICAE1 +35bps To be determined at the EUR Price Determination Time 4.500% Subordinated Notes due 2025 144A: 2027A0HR3 Reg S: 2027A1HR1 144A: US2027A0HR32 Reg S: US2027A1HR15 N/A US$1,250,000,000 December 9, 2025 N/A 0.500% UST due February 28, 2026 FIT1 +40bps To be determined at the USD Price Determination Time __________________________________ (1) Per US$1,000 or 1,000, as applicable, principal amount of Notes validly tendered and accepted for purchase. In addition, CBA will pay Accrued Interest. Subject to the satisfaction or the waiver of the conditions of the tender offers described in the offer to purchase, CBA will pay holders of the (i) 2.00 per cent. Subordinated Notes due 2027 (with a first call date on April 22, 2022) (the "EUR Notes") and (ii) 4.500% Subordinated Notes due 2025 (the "USD Notes") that validly tender and do not validly withdraw their Notes at or prior to the Expiration Date the applicable Purchase Price of such series described below. The Purchase Price for each series of Notes (each, a "Purchase Price") will be determined as described in the offer to purchase in a manner intended to result in a yield to maturity (in the case of the USD Notes) or the first call date (in the case of the EUR Notes, and assuming the EUR Notes were redeemed at par on such date) equal to the sum of (i) in the case of the EUR Notes, the EUR Reference Benchmark (as defined in the offer to purchase), as determined at 9:00 a.m., New York City time, on March 8, 2021 (such time and date, as the same may be extended, the "EUR Price Determination Time"), or (ii) in the case of the USD Notes, the yield to maturity of the USD Reference Benchmark (as defined in the offer to purchase), determined in accordance with market convention, based on the bid-side price of such reference benchmark as displayed on the Bloomberg Reference Page specified in the table above, as determined at 2:00 p.m., New York City time, on March 8, 2021 (such time and date, as the same may be extended, the "USD Price Determination Time"), plus, in each case, the relevant fixed spread as shown in the table above. This sum is referred to in the offer to purchase as the "Tender Offer Yield" in respect of such series of Notes. Specifically, the Purchase Price per US$1,000 or 1,000, as applicable, principal amount of each series of Notes will equal the present value of all remaining payments of the principal and interest on such series of Notes to be made to (and including) the maturity date (in the case of the USD Notes) or the first call date (in the case of the EUR Notes, and assuming that the EUR Notes were redeemed at par on such date), discounted to the Settlement Date, at a discount rate equal to the applicable Tender Offer Yield, minus, in each case, the applicable Accrued Interest for such series of Notes. The tender offers are being made as part of CBA's ongoing management of its liabilities. CBA intends to continue issuing subordinated debt in the U.S. dollar and Euro currency markets. The tender offers are not conditional upon any future capital markets issuance. The tender offers are not contingent upon the tender of any minimum principal amount of Notes. The consummation of a tender offer is not conditioned on the consummation of the other tender offer. Each tender offer is independent of the other tender offer, and CBA may terminate, withdraw or modify an offer without terminating, withdrawing or modifying the other offer. However, the tender offers are subject to the satisfaction or waiver of certain conditions set forth in the offer to purchase. CBA may, in its sole discretion, subject to applicable law, waive any one or more of the conditions at any time. If either series of Notes is accepted for purchase pursuant to the tender offers, all Notes of that series that are validly tendered will be accepted for purchase. Neither series of Notes will be subject to proration pursuant to the tender offers. If CBA terminates any tender offer with respect to one or more series of Notes, it will give written notice thereof to the Information and Tender Agent (as defined below) and will make a public announcement thereof as promptly as practicable and all Notes tendered pursuant to such terminated tender offer(s) and not accepted for payment will be returned promptly to the tendering holders thereof. With effect from such termination, any Notes blocked at the relevant clearing system will be released. BofA Securities, Inc., Merrill Lynch International, Commonwealth Bank of Australia, Deutsche Bank AG, London Branch, Deutsche Bank Securities Inc., UBS AG London Branch and UBS Securities LLC are serving as dealer managers (collectively, the "Dealer Managers") in connection with the tender offers. BofA Securities, Inc., Deutsche Bank Securities Inc. and UBS Securities LLC are acting as Dealer Managers in respect of the tender offer for the USD Notes. Deutsche Bank AG, London Branch, Merrill Lynch International and UBS AG London Branch are acting as Dealer Managers in respect of the tender offer for the EUR Notes. Commonwealth Bank of Australia is acting as a Dealer Manager in respect of both tender offers. Global Bondholder Services Corporation is acting as the information and tender agent (the "Information and Tender Agent") for the tender offers. Neither the offer to purchase nor any disclosure document (as defined in the Corporations Act 2001 of Australia (the "Australian Corporations Act")) in relation to the Notes has been lodged with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission, and the tender offers are only available to persons in Australia to whom an offer or invitation can be made without disclosure under Parts 6D.2 or 7.9 of the Australian Corporations Act. This announcement is for informational purposes only. This announcement is not an offer to purchase or a solicitation of an offer to sell any securities. The tender offers are being made only pursuant to the terms and conditions set forth in the offer to purchase and the accompanying notice of guaranteed delivery. No offer, solicitation, purchase or sale will be made in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation, or sale would be unlawful. The tender offers are not being made to holders of Notes in any jurisdiction in which CBA is aware that the making of the tender offers would not be in compliance with the laws of such jurisdiction. In any jurisdiction in which the securities laws or blue sky laws require the tender offers to be made by a licensed broker or dealer, the tender offers will be deemed to be made on CBA's behalf by the Dealer Managers or one or more registered brokers or dealers that are licensed under the laws of such jurisdiction. Any questions or requests for assistance regarding the tender offers may be directed to (i) BofA Securities, Inc. at +1 (888) 292-0070 (U.S. toll free) or +1 (980) 387-3907; (ii) Merrill Lynch International at +44 20-7996-5420 or [email protected]; (iii) Commonwealth Bank of Australia at +61 (2) 9118-1221 (collect); (iv) Deutsche Bank AG, London Branch at +44 20-7545-8011; (v) Deutsche Bank Securities Inc. at +1 (866) 627-0391 (toll free) or +1 (212) 250-2955; (vi) UBS Securities LLC at +1 (888) 719 4210 (toll free) or [email protected]; or (vii) UBS AG London Branch at +44 20-7568-1121 or [email protected]. The offer to purchase and accompanying notice of guaranteed delivery can be accessed at the following link: https://gbsc-usa.com/registration/commonwealth/. Holders are advised to check with any bank, securities broker or other intermediary through which they hold Notes as to when such intermediary would need to receive instructions from such holder in order for that holder to be able to participate in, or withdraw their instruction to participate in, a tender offer, before the deadlines specified herein and in the offer to purchase. The deadlines set by any such intermediary and the relevant clearing systems for the submission and withdrawal of tender instructions will also be earlier than the relevant deadlines specified herein and in the offer to purchase. The tender offers are being made solely pursuant to the offer to purchase and accompanying notice of guaranteed delivery. The offer to purchase and accompanying notice of guaranteed delivery have not been filed with, and have not been approved or reviewed by any federal or state securities commission or regulatory authority of any country. No authority has passed upon the accuracy or adequacy of the offer to purchase, the accompanying notice of guaranteed delivery or any other documents related to the tender offers, and it is unlawful and may be a criminal offense to make any representation to the contrary. United Kingdom. This announcement has been issued by CBA which is authorized and regulated by the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority and is subject to limited regulation by the United Kingdom Financial Conduct Authority (the "FCA"), and is being distributed only to existing holders of the Notes. This announcement is only addressed to such holders where they would (if they were clients of CBA) be per se professional clients or per se eligible counterparties of CBA within the meaning of the FCA rules. This announcement is not addressed to or directed at any persons who would be retail clients within the meaning of the FCA rules and any such persons should not act or rely on it. Recipients of this announcement should note that CBA is acting on its own account in relation to the tender offers and will not be responsible to any other person for providing the protections which would be afforded to clients of CBA or for providing advice in relation to the tender offers. In addition, this announcement and any other documents or materials relating to the tender offers are not being distributed to, and must not be passed on to, the general public in the United Kingdom. The communication of this announcement, such documents and/or materials as a financial promotion is only being made to persons outside the United Kingdom or those persons in the United Kingdom falling within the definition of investment professionals (as defined in Article 19(5) of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Financial Promotion) Order 2005 (the "Financial Promotion Order")) or persons who are within Article 43 of the Financial Promotion Order or any other persons to whom it may otherwise lawfully be made under the Financial Promotion Order (all such persons together being referred to as "Relevant Persons"). Any investment or investment activity to which this announcement, or such other documents or materials relates is available only to and will be engaged in only with Relevant Persons, and they should not be relied on by any person who is not a Relevant Person. Italy. None of the tender offers, this announcement or any other document or materials relating to the tender offers have been or will be submitted to the clearance procedures of the Commissione Nazionale per le Societa e la Borsa ("CONSOB") pursuant to Italian laws and regulations. Each of the tender offers is being carried out in the Republic of Italy ("Italy") as an exempted offer pursuant to article 101-bis, paragraph 3-bis of the Legislative Decree No. 58 of 24 February 1998, as amended (the "Financial Services Act") and article 35-bis, paragraph 4, letter b) of CONSOB Regulation No. 11971 of 14 May 1999, as amended. Holders or beneficial owners of the Notes that are located in Italy can tender Notes for purchase through authorized persons (such as investment firms, banks or financial intermediaries permitted to conduct such activities in Italy in accordance with the Financial Services Act, CONSOB Regulation No. 20307 of 15 February 2018, as amended, and Legislative Decree No. 385 of 1 September 1993, as amended) and in compliance with applicable laws and regulations or with requirements imposed by CONSOB or any other Italian authority. France. The tender offers are not being made, directly or indirectly, to the public in the Republic of France ("France"). Neither this announcement nor any other document or material relating to the tender offers has been or shall be distributed to the public in France and only qualified investors (investisseurs qualifies), other than individuals, acting for their own account, all as defined in, and in accordance with, Articles L.411-1, L.411-2 and D.411-1 of the French Code monetaire et financier, are eligible to participate in the tender offers. This announcement has not been and will not be submitted for clearance to nor approved by the Autorite des Marches Financiers. Belgium. The tender offers are not being made, directly or indirectly, to the public in Belgium. Neither this announcement nor any other documents or materials relating to the tender offers have been submitted to or will be submitted for approval or recognition to the Belgian Financial Services and Markets Authority (Autoriteit voor Financiele Diensten en Markten / Financial Services and Markets Authority) and, accordingly, the tender offers may not be made in Belgium by way of a public offering, as defined in Articles 3 and 6 of the Belgian Law of 1 April 2007 on public takeover bids as amended or replaced from time to time. Accordingly, the tender offers may not be advertised and the tender offers will not be extended, and neither this announcement nor any other documents or materials relating to the tender offers (including any memorandum, information circular, brochure or any similar documents) has been or shall be distributed or made available, directly or indirectly, to any person in Belgium other than "qualified investors" in the sense of Article 10 of the Belgian Law of 16 June 2006 on the public offer of investment instruments and the admission to trading of investment instruments on a regulated market (as amended from time to time), acting on their own account. Insofar as Belgium is concerned, this announcement has been issued only for the personal use of the above qualified investors and exclusively for the purpose of the tender offers. Accordingly, the information contained in this announcement may not be used for any other purpose or disclosed to any other person in Belgium. Forward-Looking Statements This announcement contains forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are information of a non-historical nature or which relate to future events and are subject to risks and uncertainties. No assurance can be given that the transactions described herein will be consummated or as to the ultimate terms of any such transactions. CBA undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information or future events or for any other reason, except as required by applicable law. SOURCE Commonwealth Bank of Australia The North Rift crack on the Brunt Ice Shelf in February 2021. Sebastian Gleich/British Antarctic Survey Videos show a 490-square-mile iceberg breaking off Antarctica's Brunt Ice Shelf. NASA is keeping tabs on two other giant cracks in the ice shelf that are growing rapidly. The shifting ice has forced British scientists to relocate the nearby Halley Research Station. Visit the Business section of Insider for more stories. Antarctica's Brunt Ice Shelf is replete with giant cracks. Scientists have been keeping tabs on the capricious ice for years, and the event they'd been watching out for finally happened on Friday: An iceberg of more than 490 square miles (1,270 square kilometers) splintered off the shelf. It's about the size of Los Angeles, and more than 20 times the size of Manhattan. The Brunt Ice Shelf is on Antarctica's northern rim, some 3,000 miles from the southernmost tip of South America. It has all the key ingredients for a massive calving event, the term for when a chunk of ice breaks off and floats out to sea. The British Antarctic Survey had warned since November that the event was "imminent," since a crack called the North Rift had opened up on the shelf. In January, the rift started lengthening by more than half a mile per day. The video below shows the crack from the air. Early on Friday, the last 1,000 or so feet of the crack tore through the ice, and the 'berg cracked free. Converging cracks in the ice The North Rift as seen from the air on January 12. Andy Van Kints/British Antarctic Survey The North Rift is the third major crack to develop on the Brunt Ice Shelf since 2011, according to the BAS, which keeps tabs on the region's ice using satellite imagery. But this one wasn't the crack that had researchers concerned. Two other cracks, known as the Halloween crack and Chasm 1, have been accelerating toward each other since 2019. If those meet, an even bigger iceberg will slough off into the ocean. "It seemed as though one of these would eventually lead to a calving event," Adrian Luckman, a glaciologist at Swansea University in Wales, told Insider. "The development of a new 'North Rift' towards the end of 2020 was a bit of a surprise but shows how complex the dynamics of ice shelves can be." Story continues NASA started tracking the Halloween crack in October 2016 (hence its name). It's growing eastward from an area called the McDonald Ice Rumples, a spot on the shelf's surface where the ice isn't flat and instead features crevasses and rifts. The Chasm 1 crack, southeast of the McDonald Ice Rumples, showed signs of movement in 2012. It started accelerating north in 2019, putting it on a collision course with the Halloween crack. They're now just 1.2 miles apart. A map of the cracks on the Brunt Ice Shelf and the British Antarctic Survey's Halley VI Research Station. British Antarctic Survey When they converge, a piece of ice of about 660 square miles could break off the ice shelf. According to the BAS, neither Chasm 1 nor the Halloween crack has grown in the last 18 months. But Luckman, who's been tracking the Brunt Ice Shelf cracks over the past few weeks using satellite imagery, thinks that quiet is at an end. "Chasm 1 will certainly give rise to a further large calving event, and I anticipate that this will happen in weeks to months," he said. The changing ice forced British researchers inland The North Rift on January 12. Andy Van Kints/British Antarctic Survey This isn't the first time Antarctica has lost a giant iceberg, and this one didn't set any records. In 2017, an iceberg the size of Delaware broke off the continent's Larsen C Ice Shelf. "It is entirely natural for sections to calve away from ice shelves. As ice flows off the land, the ice shelf grows and eventually reaches a size which is unstable," Luckman said. "Some calving events are small and go unnoticed, but every few years a large one such as this happens." It's difficult for scientists to determine how and why certain cracks in the Antarctic ice suddenly grow, and there's "no evidence that climate change has played a significant role," the BAS said in a press release. Still, research shows that warming oceans are speeding up Antarctica's melting overall. In the 1980s, Antarctica lost 40 billion tons of ice annually. In the past decade, that number jumped to an average of 252 billion tons per year. The instability of the ice has affected BAS researchers working at the Halley Research Station, where scientists study space weather and Earth's atmosphere. In 2017, the expansion of Chasm 1 forced scientists to end the winter research season at Halley and close the station early. Since the station's inception in 1956, there have been six Halleys. The current iteration, Halley VIa, moved 14 miles upstream from its original location, which had been to the west of Chasm 1, on the crack's inland side. "Four years ago we moved Halley Research Station inland to ensure that it would not be carried away when an iceberg eventually formed. That was a wise decision," Simon Garrod, the director of operations at BAS, said in the release. "Our job now is to keep a close eye on the situation and assess any potential impact of the present calving on the remaining ice shelf." The British Antarctic Survey's Halley Research Station on the Brunt Ice Shelf. Karl Tuplin/British Antarctic Survey Luckman said he didn't think future calving events would pose a threat to the research station. "Halley VI is on a stable part of the ice shelf," he said. "But as we have seen, the future behaviour of fracturing ice is very hard to predict." Read the original article on Business Insider JALALABAD, Afghanistan Three women who worked at a local news outlet were gunned down in eastern Afghanistan on Tuesday, according to local officials, adding to the bloody tally of Afghan media workers and journalists who have been killed at alarming rates in the past year. The women were on their way home from work at Enikass Radio and TV, in the bustling city of Jalalabad, when they were killed in two separate attacks, according to Shokorullah Pasoon, the manager of publishing at the station, who offered scant details of how the incident unfolded. The Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack soon afterward, according to the SITE Intelligence Group, which monitors announcements by the terror group. The victims were Mursal Wahidi, 25, Sadia Sadat, 20, and Shahnaz Raofi, 20, who worked in a department that records voice-overs for foreign programs, Mr. Pasoon said. A fourth woman was wounded in one of the attacks and taken to the hospital, according to a provincial hospital spokesman. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Investing isnt an endeavour reserved for the rich - starting with a small sum can be an effective strategy to potentially get a decent return on your hard-earned money. Every little helps when it comes to investing and your money may also be boosted by the power of compounding, with gains that are made on gains and dividend payouts reinvested helping to grow your profits. Here is how to start your investment journey, no matter how much you can afford to put into the stockmarket. Make a plan Investing in the stockmarket lets you build your wealth over time. This is done by picking a basket of shares and benefiting from the growth. There is of course the risk of losses, but a well-diversified portfolio should typically perform well over the long term. The earlier you start, the more likely your portfolio might ride-out tough times. Also, knowing why you want to invest can help you decide how much you need to put away and how long for. If you are saving for retirement in your 20s or 30s you could start with smaller sums and increase them later, as you would have 40 to 50 years in the stockmarket. Thats a lot of opportunity for your portfolio to go up and down and hopefully grow by the time you come to retire. Alternatively, you may wish to invest more to hit a target if you are looking to make a big purchase sooner, such as getting a mortgage deposit or paying for a wedding. Check your finances Make sure you can afford to invest in the first place. You still need to pay your bills, buy clothes and food as well as go on holidays. It is also important to have a rainy-day fund of savings that you can access for emergencies or if you have a sudden loss of income. Experts usually recommend having three-months of emergency savings available to access. Putting any additional funds after this to work in the stockmarket can be more beneficial than leaving it under the mattress or dwindling in a poor-paying bank account. The FTSE 100 has grown by 15 per cent over the past five years, meaning a 1,000 investment would now be worth 1,150. Thats more than you would have got by keeping your money in the bank where rates can often be under 1 per cent. Decide on the type of investor you are There are two main types of investing, active and passive. An active investor tries to beat the market. For example, you could build a portfolio of shares with the intention of outperforming a benchmark such as the FTSE All Share Index. This will mean trying to pick a winning bunch of shares that you think can beat the market. For example, it may mean favouring fast growing company shares that can be riskier. Your returns could be higher, but there is also a risk of larger losses if you get things wrong. Alternatively, a passive investor tries to replicate the performance of a market. Rather than buying individual shares, you could invest in an exchange traded fund (ETF). These stockmarket-listed products invest in a basket of shares and follow the performance of an index, such as the FTSE 100, with the aim of mirroring their performance. If the tracked asset grows, so would your wealth. But it also means your money would drop if the market you are following falters. The broadest possible market to follow would be the global stock market and this can be done cheaply and easily with an ETF. Diversify A balanced portfolio of enough shares from different sectors and regions could ensure that if one stock is performing badly, others can make up for losses. For example, travel stocks have had a bumpy ride during the pandemic but investing in technology companies, such as Netflix or Zoom alongside this could make up for any dips in your portfolio. As an example in the UK, the fortunes of BA-owner IAG and online clothing chain Boohoo have diverged sharply during lockdown. This is known as diversification and helps smooth out any losses over the long term by letting different parts of your portfolio take the slack when others are doing badly. Buy big with small amounts Investing in shares means you can own a stake and share in the success of some of the worlds biggest brands. Your portfolio could include coffee chain Starbucks, search engine Google or streaming service Spotify. Closer to home, you could invest in ice cream to soap making consumer giant Unilever, Guinness-maker Diageo, and supermarket Tesco. Purchasing a full share may be pricey; Spotifys share price is around $330 and a single Google stock costs around $2,000. That is a lot to spend on a single share if you're just getting started and dont want to invest too much. Luckily, investing platforms such as eToro will let you purchase fractional shares. This is where you buy a portion of a share and any gains will be in proportion to the amount you earn. It's a good way to get exposure to larger, more established and often more reliable stocks. You will still benefit from any dividends the company pays, which will be linked to how much of the stock you own. eToro's trading school can help A message from the article sponsor: You dont have to start your investment journey alone. eToros Trading School provides an array of guides, podcasts and seminars all in a friendly, digestible format perfect for beginners. You can learn about different investing assets, trading basics and money and goal management. And if you simply want to invest around the world at a low cost with a global ETF, you can do this commission-free with eToro*. Join the exclusive free eToro Trading School for This Is Money Readers on March 20, 2021 by clicking here. * Zero-commission means that no broker fee will be charged when opening or closing the position and does not apply to short or leveraged positions. Other fees apply. Your capital is at risk. For more information, visit etoro.com/trading/fees. The power of compounding Even small amounts of investment can make a big difference, especially if the shares you are investing in are growing. This is thanks to one of the perks of stockmarket investing, known as compounding. You may start with a relatively small sum, such as 100 a month, which will give you an investment of 1,200 per year. Any growth in the share prices in your portfolio automatically boosts the amount you have invested and as long as you stay in the market any further gains will grow on top of that. If your portfolio grows by 10 per cent in a year, your 1,200 investment is then worth 1,320 to invest the next year - but all you've committed is the initial 100 per month. Additionally, depending on how they perform, many stocks will pay their shareholders monthly, quarterly or annual payments called dividends that will also add to your returns and can be reinvested to compound growth. Be patient It can be tempting to sell out when you see a large drop in share prices as you may fear losing all your money. But investing is a long-term game and you need to remember your goals. Taking money out of your portfolio unnecessarily when it has dropped risks cementing your losses and you'll potentially miss out on future stockmarket rallies. For example, the FTSE 100 dropped by 25 per cent in the first two weeks of March 2020 as the coronavirus pandemic hit the UK. Panicked investors selling out at that point would have missed out on the market bouncing back 30 per cent by the end of the year. The content that has been discussed is intended for information and educational purposes only and should not be considered investment advice or investment recommendation. Actor Paul Mescal who was Emmy-nominated for his depiction of Connell in Normal People is to star alongside Tom Burke in a new Irish revenge thriller entitled Bring Them Down. The film that is based in the West of Ireland tells the story of an Irish sheep farmer whose conflict with a neighbouring farm turns violent when some of his flock are killed. Burke played Orson Welles in David Finchers Netflix movie Mank, while he has also starred in key roles in Joanna Hoggs The Souvenir, BBCs Strike, and Netflixs The Crown. Paul is also said to be the latest star to join the cast for new movie My Policeman alongside Harry Styles and Emma Corrin. The movie adaptation of the book of the same name follows the love story of Marion and Tom - played by The Crowns Emma and Haz, before Tom falls in love with a man named Patrick. It then explores the love affair that wouldve been considered unacceptable in in the 1950s. Read More Mescal recently finished filming The Lost Daughter, directed by Maggie Gyllenhaal, that is based on an Elena Ferrante novel about a woman who has to confront her dark past when on holidays by the seaside. He is currently filming Carmen, directed by Black Swans' Benjamin Millepied in Breadalbane in New South Wales, Australia. He landed one of the lead roles opposite fellow rising star Melissa Barrera in the present-day reimagining of the Georges Bizet opera. Following his casting, Mescal said he was "honoured to have been cast alongside Melissa, an actor I greatly admire". He described it as "an incredible privilege to be working with Benjamin on his first feature, who has put together such an impressive creative team". It has not been revealed when Bring Them Down will go into production. Mescal has previously revealed how he was nervous portraying depression in Normal People. The Kildare born stars character Connell spirals into depression after a childhood friend takes his own life in the coming-of-age show. Paul recounted how three people at his own school took their lives. Three people killed themselves at my school. So its not fiction to me, its real, and I was really nervous portraying it. The Maynooth man told that after the first death at his school, his mum took him out of class for a week because he wasnt equipped to cope with that level of devastation. I wasnt particularly close to the person, but that kind of sadness permeates through an entire year group. The distinct feeling I remember having at the time is that I didnt know how to perform sadness in the way I saw other people around me being sad. I was nervous people didnt think I was sad enough. I found the whole thing incredibly confusing and, in hindsight, formative. My innocence was ripped away very quickly. ADVERTISEMENT Former senate president Bukola Saraki has led the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Reconciliation Committee and Strategy to meet ex-president Olusegun Obasanjo. PREMIUM TIMES gathered Mr Saraki, who is the chair of the committee, alongside the committees members arrived at Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library (OOPL), in Abeokuta, Ogun State, at about 12:12 p.m. on Tuesday. They are currently having a closed-door meeting as of the time of this report. Sources told PREMIUM TIMES that the meeting is aimed at ensuring the former president endorse the candidate of the PDP in 2023. Mr Obasanjo, who was president on the platform of the PDP between 1999 and 2007, tore his membership card publicly in the buildup to the 2015 elections. He later supported President Muhammadu Buhari against ex-President Goodluck Jonathan who eventually lost the election. Mr Saraki also played a part in Mr Jonathans defeat. Details later. Just eight weeks after the Capitol riot, some of the most prominent groups that participated are fracturing amid a torrent of backbiting and finger-pointing. The fallout will determine the future of some of the most high-profile far-right organizations and raises the specter of splinter groups that could make the movement even more dangerous. This group needs new leadership and a new direction, the St. Louis branch of the Proud Boys announced recently on the encrypted messaging service Telegram, echoing denunciations by at least six other chapters also rupturing with the national organization. The fame weve attained hasnt been worth it. Similar rifts have emerged in the Oath Keepers, a paramilitary group that recruits veterans, and the Groyper Army, a white nationalist organization focused on college campuses and a vocal proponent of the false claim that Donald J. Trump won the 2020 presidential election. The shake-up is driven in part by the large number of arrests in the aftermath of the Capitol riot and the subsequent crackdown on some groups by law enforcement. As some members of the far right exit more established groups and strike out on their own, it may become even more difficult to track extremists who have become more emboldened to carry out violent attacks. Factories hum with activity as firms resume output faster than expected Moving back and forth beside an automobile assembly line, Zhang Tianshun conducts vehicle checks before they roll off the production line. "My job is to check the functionality of seven parts of the carfour windows, front and rear wipers and the sunroof. It takes two minutes to test each vehicle, and I need to handle about 200 cars per day. Things are even busier now than before the holiday," Zhang said. This year was the first time Zhang spent Spring Festival away from his hometown of Zhumadian, Henan province. The 19-year-old works at Hefei Chang'an Automobile Co Ltd in Anhui province. Zhang received a combined subsidy of nearly 3,000 yuan ($465) from the Hefei government and the company to stay put during the holiday. To prevent the sporadic resurgence of COVID-19, China encouraged people to stay in place over the holiday this year, which lasted from Feb 11 to Feb 17. The car plant resumed production on Feb 14, after a three-day break, when most people were still celebrating the holiday. More than 1,700 employees, or 85 percent of its staff, clocked in on the first day of work, including over 800 migrant workers who stayed on site during the holiday. The manufacturing capacity has returned to pre-holiday levels, with 600 to 700 vehicles rolling off the production line daily, the company said. "Another production line resumed operations on Feb 17, whose capacity is around 300 units a day. Cars coming from this assembly line will be exported to Saudi Arabia, Chile and Brazil," said Xue Wen, an engineer with the company. Factories across China are traditionally shut down for a couple of weeks during Spring Festival. Thanks to the stay-put measure, many enterprises were able to continue holiday production or resume production quickly after the holiday break. Like the auto factory, China Baowu Taigang Stainless Steel Precision Strip Co Ltd in Shanxi province also saw bustling production activity during the holiday, with more than 100 employees remaining on duty around the clock to handle increasing orders. The company specializes in producing wide super-thin precision stainless steel strips, or "hand-tearable steel", which can be used in folding screens, solar photovoltaic substrates, automobile airbags, high-end coating materials as well as military and aerospace applications. During this year's Spring Festival, the company received a large order from abroad, greatly boosting the morale of employees, said Qu Zhanyou, director of the company's sales department. In the workshop of LONGi Solar Technology Co Ltd in Shaanxi province, over 200 skilled workers were busy manufacturing solar photovoltaic modules after the holiday to complete their orders on time. Solar modules of nearly 2 square meters were churned out after a dozen steps including cutting, welding and pressing. "The output is expected to reach 120,000 modules in February, up about 50 percent compared with the same period last year," said Xie Shundong, general manager of the company's Xi'an module plant. Apart from boisterous production activity, construction of new projects continued or started during the holiday across the country, injecting new impetus into China's economy. On Feb 18, the first workday after the holiday, Anhui announced that a total of 272 projects started construction in the province, with a total investment of over 133 billion yuan, of which 45.3 billion yuan is expected to be implemented this year, according to the provincial development and reform commission. The bustling construction scene can also be seen in the High-tech Zone of Xi'an, Shaanxi province, where manufacturers and engineers were busy moving in and installing equipment to make final preparations for a new Samsung semiconductor memory chip production line. The first phase of the project was put into production in 2014, with an investment of more than $10 billion. Construction of the second phase of the project started in 2018, with an investment of approximately $15 billion. "More than 1,000 equipment manufacturers and engineers are adjusting equipment on site every day to prepare for the operation," said Sang Hyun-yi, vice-president of Samsung China Semiconductor Co Ltd. With the help of the Chinese government, Samsung's memory chip project has withstood the test of the pandemic, achieving an output value of 73.6 billion yuan in 2020, an increase of 43 percent from 2019. During the pandemic, in order to ensure the smooth construction of the second phase of Samsung's memory chip project, Shaanxi opened a "green channel" for international chartered flights to receive more than 3,000 equipment installation engineers for Samsung. Since the beginning of this year, the first phase of the project has been operating smoothly. The second stage of the second phase is advancing steadily, which will launch mass production within the year. At present, all Chinese employees and foreign technical personnel have returned to their posts, Sang said. 28 February this year was the 30th anniversary of the first issue of the Al-Ahram Weekly, first published in 1991 with the phenomenal Hosny Guindy at the helm. He was chosen by the late Ibrahim Nafie, then chairman of the board of Al-Ahram, to be the Weeklys founding editor-in-chief. This was when I took my own first steps as a journalist-in-training during the entire year when preparations were underway to launch the newspaper, including appointing staff, training, deciding on format, content and layout, and looking at news production around the world to decide on the character, policies and look of the new publication. This was all before its launch into a market that was hoping to see an Egyptian newspaper in English that would cover events in Egypt and the region from an objective and Egyptian perspective. I wrote the full story of this journey five years ago during the Weeklys silver jubilee, and it can be found at http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContentP/4/188608/Opinion/AlAhram-Weekly%E2%80%99s-silver-jubilee.aspx. The Weekly was the response provided by Al-Ahram, which issued various publications in Arabic, to the call of the Egyptian state, including official and non-government institutions, political parties and intellectual circles, for a publication that could communicate with the rest of the world in the worlds then top language. The idea was to build bridges and correct misconceptions and to present the Egyptian perspective among the many others being reported. While international press coverage lacked a full perspective, the opposition press in Egypt reported from one angle alone and the national press gave the priority to the official line. The Weekly threw a pebble in still waters. It adopted high professional standards to achieve credibility, and it used a formula that had long been absent on the media scene: to report on all viewpoints and express the entire political and intellectual spectrum of Egyptian society. A group of Egyptian, Arab and foreign writers and reporters came together, fusing Egyptian expertise with professionals from some of the worlds major news agencies, and this was joined by promising fresh graduates and several foreign nationals to maintain the newspapers sophisticated language standards. The Weekly plunged into many issues and raised the standard of reporting from one issue to the next under the protection of maintaining professional standards. For many years, it was praised in the annual report of Egypts Higher Press Council, written by experts and academics, as being a newspaper that maintained professional standards, respected the reader, clearly separated advertising and reporting and conveyed all viewpoints objectively. The dynamic Egyptian domestic scene was the top priority of the newspapers coverage, along with the regional scene with all its upheavals including the Palestinian cause, the repercussions of the Kuwait invasion, the wars on Iraq and Lebanon, and the tremors of the Arab Spring and its aftershocks. The newspaper always had the reader in mind, upholding professional and humanitarian standards, civil rights and freedoms including the rights of women and children, human development, the need to address climate change and the importance of protecting heritage and culture. I worked as a reporter at the Weekly for 27 years until I became the editor-in-chief in August 2012, leaving the position on 30 May 2017. Before becoming editor-in-chief, I was the managing editor of the newspaper for eight years beginning in 2004. The newspapers professional integrity was sometimes on the line during my years in the top job due to events in Egypt at the time, especially after the 25 January 2011 Revolution when the Weekly was the only Egyptian newspaper that did not apologise for its editorial policies before the revolution or change its policies based on events and developments. This was because the newspapers objectivity and credibility had shielded it from any need to shift its positions since it had never practised evasion or sought to deceive readers. Then came the harder test, at least for me as chief editor at the time, during the events that took place during the one-year rule of the Muslim Brotherhood beginning in June 2012 and continuing until the 30 June 2013 Revolution and its aftermath. Our decision at the Weekly was to align ourselves with citizens and readers in line with the professional values instilled in us since the newspapers inception. ## We opposed the Constitutional Declaration issued by then president Mohamed Morsi in November 2012, and we covered the activism against it on the streets and in the countrys syndicates and political parties, presenting all the viewpoints on the issue. We conveyed the heated debates and weekly protests on Fridays demanding the overthrow of Brotherhood rule and the violence used against the Egyptian people by Brotherhood groups and militias before and after 30 June 2013. There were escalating events on both the domestic and regional scenes between 30 June and the 3 July 2013 Declaration due to the tremors of the Arab Spring and contradicting stories about events in Egypt during the interim phase. The Weekly was a key source of information on what was going on inside the country, with the newspaper continuing to uphold its values and maintain its credibility with readers. We maintained these standards until I left the Weekly and my good friend Ezzat Ibrahim took over the reins. He has carried the torch and upheld the newspapers legacy and unique approach along with the Weekly family of correspondents and writers and one of the founding fathers of the newspaper, Samir Sobhi. The latter designed the newspapers original layout according to a template that has been retained until the present day. Sobhi is an iconic figure who has the sensibility, taste, compass and experience that adds and innovates. Like the rest of the press today, the Weekly is facing serious challenges with the retreat in the value and influence of print newspapers around the world. It relies on its legacy and credibility to ensure reader loyalty, carving out a niche that facilitates future growth. The newspaper has long understood the need to pivot towards the new technology, to have a digital presence, and to use the latest publishing media. It has done these things through the AhramOnline website, which was part of my dream for the newspaper that was not achieved at the time namely, to produce a daily edition of the newspaper to stay abreast of events and developments on a daily basis. As I write this piece, my mind is filled with the events, faces and figures who have participated in the unique Weekly experiment. They are the founders and innovators, those who advanced and shouldered responsibilities. They are the partners in the papers success and guardians of its values. Although some of them have passed from our world, their legacy continues, and they include Ibrahim Nafie, Hosny Guindy, Hani Shukrallah, Mursi Saad El-Din, Graham Usher, Fayza Hassan, David Blake, Fouad Al-Gohary, Wadie Kirolos, Mamdouh Al-Dakhakhny, Hamdi Saadeddin, Maurice Guindi, Nehad Selaiha, Nagui Kamel, Steven Nimr, Jenny Jobbins, Bahgat Badie, Shohdy Sorour and Gamil Shafik. Still among us are those who have given selflessly to the Weekly and continue their work in other spheres, including Mohamed Salmawy, Mona Anis, Assem El-Kersh, Makram Henein, Gamal Nkrumah, Ghada Ragab, Aziza Sami, Hala Halim, Jill Kamil, Randa Shaath, Pascal Ghazaleh, Nur Elmesseri, Amina El-Bendary, Peter Snowdon, Tarek Atia, Hala Saqr, Fayza Radi, Fatemah Farag, Dahlia Hammouda, Nevine Khalil, Injy El-Kashef, Rana Allam, Nashwa Abdel-Tawab, Samia Nkrumah, Doreen Briggs, Yasmine Al-Rashidi, Omayma Abdel-Latif, Rehab Saad, Rasha Saad, Mariz Tadros, Sherine Nasr, Sahar Al-Bahr and Soha Abdel-Aty. They also include Dena Rashed, Tamer Youssef, Ian Douglas, Lamis Andoni, Inas Hamam, Reem Nafie, Ahmed Kamal, Amira Ibrahim, Nermine Nizar, Mohamed Waseem, Nadia Abou El-Magd, Rashda Ragab, Yasmine Fathi, Magda Al-Ghitany, Eman Abdel-Moeti, William Kopycki, and Nyier Abdou. The writer is former editor-in-chief of Al-Ahram Weekly (2012-2017). *A version of this article appears in print in the 4 March, 2021 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly Short link: The package includes patrol boats, counter-artillery radars, satellite imagery and analysis, training, and medical support. The U.S. Defense Department announced Monday a $125 million aid package for Kyiv as part of its ongoing Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative. A Pentagon statement said the package includes two armed Mark VI patrol boats to help Ukraine "patrol and defend its territorial waters," VoA reports. It also includes additional training, counter-artillery radars, medical support, and satellite imagery and analysis, and improvements that will allow Ukraine to improve interoperability with NATO. "This action reaffirms the U.S. commitment to providing defensive lethal weapons to enable Ukraine to more effectively defend itself," Pentagon press secretary John Kirby told reporters Monday. The two patrol boats will give Kyiv a total of eight such vessels to operate in Ukrainian waters. According to the boat's manufacturer, the vessels are designed to patrol in shallow waters, as well as around harbors and bays. Last June, the State Department approved the sale of up to 16 of the patrol boats to Ukraine, along with gun systems and infrared radar, for an estimated cost of $600 million. Read alsoUkraine, U.S. defense chiefs talk Enhanced Opportunities Partnership implementationThe aid announced Monday is just the first part of a larger $275 million package approved by Congress for fiscal year 2021. The Defense Department said the final $150 million would be released once the State Department "certifies that Ukraine has made sufficient progress on key defense reforms." "We obviously continue to encourage Ukraine to continue to enact reforms, to modernize the defense sector in line with NATO principles and standards," Kirby said, according to C-SPAN. During an address at the virtual Munich Security Conference last month, U.S. President Joe Biden called standing up for Ukraine's territorial integrity a "vital concern." Reporting by UNIAN Chinas deputy ambassador has accused Australian politicians, the media and critics of the Chinese government of brainwashing the public about his country, claiming that it was now a sin for Australians to be friendly to the superpower. In an appeal for greater collaboration after a tumultuous 12 months, Wang Xining told an Australia-China Business Council meeting in Canberra that a climate of suspicion, vulgar political slogans and fabricated arguments had clouded the relationship. Wang Xining, deputy head of mission at the Chinese embassy in Australia Credit:Alex Ellinghausen Currently, the friends of China are given a nickname panda-hugger. It used to be a word of appreciation but now it carries derogatory meanings. It seems that being friendly to China, to be a friend of China becomes a sin and mistake in Australia, he said. The excuse for such suspicion is Chinas threats to Australian sovereignty and security, which is totally ridiculous. Because up to today no one single case has been substantiated or supported by evidence. NSW Police have closed an investigation into allegations of rape against a federal cabinet minister after gaining legal advice that personal documents about the claims did not provide enough admissible evidence to proceed. The statement ends days of doubt over whether the police could continue an investigation into the accusation against the man, which he denied in a conversation with Prime Minister Scott Morrison last Wednesday. NSW Police have closed their investigation into a rape allegation against a cabinet minister. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen The woman alleged the rape took place in Sydney in January 1988 and made the claim to NSW Police in February last year, but the investigation was suspended in June when she took her own life. South Australia Police are investigating the womans death in her home city of Adelaide on behalf of the state coroner. 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 Now, more than ever, the world needs trustworthy reportingbut good journalism isnt free. Please support us by subscribing or contributing today. On the evening before Valentine's Day in 2019, journalist Maria Ressa was arrested by the Philippine government and charged with "cyber-libel."At issue was a seven-year-old article that her news website, Rappler, had published before such a crime as cyber-libel existed in the country's legal code. Ressa is now appealing a six-year prison sentence over the article, which concerned a businessman's alleged ties to a top judge and illegal drugs. Her arrest and the legal campaign against her and Rappler is captured in "A Thousand Cuts," a chilling new documentary from "Frontline" that looks behind the scenes at the repression of journalism and growing disinformation under Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, a populist strongman. But while thePBS-backed film earned rave reviews since its Sundance premiere and will be seen in nearly every European nation, no broadcaster in the Philippines was willing to air it. So for the first time in its four-decade history, "Frontline" has bought out a documentary's distribution rights to make it directly available in the country most impacted by the film. "A Thousand Cuts" will be available free online in the Philippines starting March 13 on YouTube, as well as the show's website. "While making the film, you never think that it's not actually going to be shown in the Philippines," director Ramona Diaz said."I'm naive, I guess. I was like, 'Oh there's still press freedom, someone will pick this up, right?' I just never thought it would be this difficult to do." The false veneer of a free press is something that Ressa and others reporting on Duterte's violent drug war encounter daily. They can publish dogged reports, as Diaz explained, but they never know when another court case will be thrown at them. Two journalists are imprisoned in the Philippines - Lady Ann Salem and Frenchie Mae Cumpio - on what press freedom advocates say are trumped-up charges. "I'm luckier, I guess," Ressa told The Washington Post from her home in Manila. "They're still hanging a Damocles sword over my head. They're making me run around and waste my time and our resources. But there are others who have it worse." "A Thousand Cuts" depicts this dilemma, and viewers see the toll it takes on Ressa and Rappler's journalists. Reporters cry as they recount being targeted by the government,or seeing mothers find their dead sons in the street after police raids. In one scene, pro-Duterte demonstrators live-stream a protest outside of Rappler's office, and the online comments fill with death threats. An unflappable Ressa, who has received nearly a dozen arrest warrants since 2018, dons a bulletproof vest to go about her day. "It was a failure of my imagination to think they wouldn't go as far as arresting me on trumped-up charges," Ressa said. Her arrest emboldened her. "When you're dealing with so much power, not speaking, not calling a spade a spade, makes you weaker, makes us more vulnerable." The film also follows Duterte's allies, and depicts how one lie can quickly proliferate into a vast web of online disinformation, particularly in the Philippines, where people spend more time online than in any other country. "For the glut of information that we have, I feel people still don't really know what the facts are." Ressa said. "It is much, much worse than a decade ago." A 2018 Time Person of the Year who is a favorite target of pro-Duterte troll armies, Ressa has turned into an international ambassador for the fight against online disinformation and press restrictions in the Philippines. The country, which the Committee to Protect Journalists consistently ranks as the fifth most dangerous in the world for journalists, is led by a president who once declared "just because you're a journalist, you are not exempted from assassination if you're a son of a b----." The pushback against "A Thousand Cuts" was not overt. Like most films, "Frontline" documentaries reach screens outside the U.S. through deals that third-party distribution companies strike with broadcasters in individual countries. But when longtime international distributor Cinephil tried to find takers for "A Thousand Cuts" in the Philippines, they encountered what the company's managing director, Philippa Kowarsky called "a culture of silence." "It's no longer an outright 'no,' which we've had in different countries with different films," she said. Kowarsky said no broadcaster gave a reason they wouldn't take "A Thousand Cuts." When Cinephil shopped around the same film in Israel, a bidding war broke out for rights to air it. But she noted that last year, the Philippine government shut down the nation's largest broadcaster, ABS-CBN, which has produced critical coverage of Duterte's administration. "There's a fear in the air and people don't know how far they can walk, where the line is," Kowarsky said. "Where can they endanger their livelihood and their lives." Other documentaries about press repression have had distribution trouble, too. Major streaming platforms such as Netflix, Apple and Amazon (whose chief executive Jeff Bezos owns The Washington Post) reportedly passed on "The Dissident," about the killing of Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi, possibly to avoid offending the Saudi Arabian government. That film is now available on-demand, but for a fee. When it became clear "A Thousand Cuts" wouldn't be broadcast in the Philippines, "Frontline" stepped in to purchase the film's distribution rights for the country. "The fact that it wasn't going to be seen just didn't seem right ... They need to see this, they need to understand what's happened," "Frontline" executive producer Raney Aronson-Rath said. "We need to be able to create a way for these types of films to be seen in the countries that they're about." There's already evidence that Filipinos want to see "A Thousand Cuts." The film streamed for 24 hours last summer, on Philippines Independence Day, and was viewed in the country nearly a quarter million times, shattering "Frontline's" one-day viewership record for a new movie on YouTube. People in the Philippines have also been downloading pirated copies of the film in large numbers. "Frontline" hopes that many more people will watch after it starts streaming permanently, and free, next month. "The only defense we have is to shine the light," Ressa said. She is glad the film will find a bigger audience,and while she knows the attention could bring more danger to her and her colleagues, it hasn't shaken the steely optimism that makes her such a compelling protagonist in "A Thousand Cuts." "Part of our job is to give the information to our people so they can make decisions about our democracy, the future they want," she said. "It's kind of like the Serenity Prayer. It's not in my hands, but I can keep doing what we're doing." This handout image supplied by the IIPA (Iran International Photo Agency) shows a view of the reactor building at the Russian-built Bushehr nuclear power plant as the first fuel is loaded, on Aug. 21, 2010 in Bushehr, southern Iran. (IIPA via Getty Images) Europeans Push IAEA Iran Resolution Despite Warnings by Russia, Tehran VIENNABritain, France, and Germany are pressing ahead with a U.S.-backed plan for a resolution by the U.N. nuclear watchdogs board criticizing Iran for curbing cooperation with the agency, despite Russian and Iranian warnings of serious consequences. The International Atomic Energy Agencys (IAEA) 35-nation Board of Governors is holding a quarterly meeting this week against the backdrop of faltering efforts to revive Irans nuclear deal with major powers now that U.S. President Joe Biden is in office. Iran has recently accelerated its violations of the 2015 deal in an apparent bid to raise pressure on Biden, as each side insists the other must move first. Tehrans breaches are a response to the U.S. withdrawal from the deal in 2018 and the reimposition of U.S. sanctions that had been lifted under it. The latest breach was to scale back cooperation with the IAEA last week, ending extra inspection and monitoring measures introduced by the deal, including the power given to the IAEA to carry out snap inspections at facilities not declared by Iran. The three European powers, all parties to the 2015 deal, circulated a draft resolution for the Vienna meeting voicing serious concern at Irans reduced cooperation and urging Iran to reverse its steps. The draft, sent to IAEA board members and obtained by Reuters, also expresses deep concern at Irans failure to explain uranium particles found at three old sites, including two that the IAEA first reported on last week. Iran has bristled at the prospect of such criticism, threatening to cancel a deal struck a week ago with the IAEA to temporarily continue many of the monitoring measures it had decided to enda black-box-type arrangement valid for up to three months and aimed to create a window for diplomacy. Diplomacy, however, is making limited progress. Iran said on Feb. 28 it wouldnt take up a European Union proposal to hold a meeting with other parties to the deal and the United States. Its unclear how many countries would support a resolution. In a position paper obtained by Reuters before Irans announcement, Russia warned that a resolution could hurt efforts to revive the deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), and that it would oppose it. Adoption of the resolution will not help the political process of returning to the normal comprehensive implementation of the JCPOA, Russias note to member states said. On the contrary, it will hugely complicate those efforts undermining the prospects for the restoration of the JCPOA and for normal cooperation between Iran and the Agency. Asked about the tussle, IAEA Director-General Rafael Grossi said he didnt want anything to jeopardize his inspectors work in the Islamic Republic. What I hope is that the work of the agency will be preserved. This is essential, he told a news conference, before taking an apparent swipe at Iran over its threat. The inspection work of the IAEA should not be put in the middle of a negotiating table as a bargaining chip. By Francois Murphy Online Cybersecurity Degree Pursue lucrative and in-demand roles with Utica College's 100% online cybersecurity degree. You'll choose from four specializations to tailor your degree to your career goals. Study at an institution designated as a National Center of Academic Excellence in Cyber Defense Education (CAE/CDE). Request Information Cosmetics companies traditionally have relied on in-person retail sales to attract new customers and maintain existing clientele. The pandemic, however, has upended the cosmetics industry, bringing new challenges as well as a host of opportunities for companies that are agile and creative enough to take advantage. The E-Commerce Times spoke with experts in cosmetic sales and e-commerce about trends in this dynamic and evolving industry. Personalization Trends One way that cosmetics companies can appeal to online customers is to provide increasingly personalized services. "What sets us apart is we've created an expert online beauty assessment that's been developed by a team of data scientists, makeup artists and skin care specialists," Jaleh Bisharat, co-founder and CEO of the cosmetics company NakedPoppy, told the E-Commerce Times. "Think of it as your online beauty consultant. Once you've taken your three-minute assessment, we use patent-pending technology to rate every product in our store just for you. This creates your personalized clean beauty boutique, featuring your perfect picks." That kind of personalization can help bridge the gap between customers and an online store, approximating and perhaps surpassing the experience they might get at a physical makeup counter. "We believe the future is in personalization," explained Bisharat. "I see a world in which some day everyone will shop their unique, personalized beauty boutique and not have to waste time on the products that are not for them." Cosmetics companies can gather data about new customers and maintain information about existing ones to provide a unique online shopping experience tailored to each customer's needs. "Marketers could display a survey for first-time visitors to learn more about their preferences, like a store associate would," Ben Malki, director of customer success for Dynamic Yield, explained to the E-Commerce Times. "Then, using the information captured, such as whether they are interested in clean or vegan products or have sensitive skin, to serve up a more customized experience. Product recommendations can act as another helpful extension of the in-store staff." This kind of personalization can also help to link customers' in-store experiences with their online shopping. "For those who previously engaged with brands exclusively offline but are now starting to do so digitally, marketers from the beauty industry can combine offline transactions with their online activity," said Malki. "This can be done by building a segment consisting of those who recently made a purchase offline and serving them with relevant content upon arriving to the site or opening an email, converting them into online shoppers more efficiently." Ultimately, personalization can maintain and grow a customer base and also prevent revenue lost from returned and unusable products. "Personalization can also help minimize product returns," noted Malki. "As purchased beauty products cannot be re-shelved and sold, by implementing a greater degree of personalization, customers can be matched with items that best suit their distinct needs. This not only increases the likelihood of product satisfaction, but also reduces the costs associated with returns." Pricing and Packaging Beauty The cosmetics industry is also being transformed by new trends in pricing and packaging. Smart pricing strategies, for instance, are helping companies to maintain an edge in a competitive e-commerce marketplace. "Cosmetics companies are part of the lucky minority in the global e-commerce landscape, in the sense that they have really high margins," explained Burc Tanir, CEO of Prisync, a company that provides competitor price tracking and a dynamic pricing engine for e-commerce businesses. "This is actually a great opportunity in a growing market with a growing customer base, where pricing can be a secret marketing weapon. E-commerce companies in this space can adjust their prices competitively without sacrificing their solid profit margins at all. In other words, they can maintain a competitively-priced yet profitable position in their market to grow their top-line and bottom-line at the same time." Similarly, as consumers are becoming more eco-conscious, cosmetics companies are changing how their products are packaged and sold. "The use of recycled plastics is a first step for environmentally-friendly cosmetics packaging," Robert Lockyer, CEO of Delta Global, a luxury packaging company, told the E-Commerce Times. "Alongside this, recyclable packaging is also needed, as well as efforts to educate customers how items should be disposed of sustainably -- for instance, with clear labelling on bottles and tubes." Reusable packaging has become another way that cosmetics companies can appeal to environmentally-minded consumers. "Companies can promote a circular economy by creating packaging that can be reused," said Lockyer. "For example, perfume bottles or makeup tubes can be cleaned and displayed as decorative ornaments. However, this requires investment into high-quality and visually-appealing packaging, whereby the exterior becomes just as much a part of the product as the internal formula." A New Complexion The new world of cosmetics e-commerce is just that -- a global endeavor, no longer limited to customers within a specific country. "COVID-19 has accelerated the need for retailers to strengthen their online presence and accessibility to global shoppers," Matthew Merrilees, CEO North America of Global-e, explained to the E-Commerce Times. "While domestic e-commerce sales have increased, they're not necessarily enough to replace the current loss of brick-and-mortar, so retailers must increasingly take advantage of the enormous untapped potential of selling to international customers to expand their revenue." The changes the pandemic has brought to the cosmetics industry will likely remain even after COVID-19 is over, and those companies that can adapt to the new realities of online cosmetics sales will be those that can survive and thrive in the future. "The desire for no-touch shopping won't disappear any time soon," said NakedPoppy's Bisharat. "I think consumers are now sensitized to how viruses or bacteria of any kind can spread, and I predict that as a result, people will avoid or minimize the use of testers. "Some will also maintain a residual preference to not have another person get near their face. What this means is any solution that helps her find and buy perfect-for-her cosmetics in no-touch fashion will have an advantage." Vivian Wagner has been an ECT News Network reporter since 2008. Her main areas of focus are technology, business, CRM, e-commerce, privacy, security, arts, culture and diversity. She has extensive experience reporting on business and technology for a variety of outlets, including The Atlantic, The Establishment and O, The Oprah Magazine. She holds a PhD in English with a specialty in modern American literature and culture. She received a first-place feature reporting award from the Ohio Society of Professional Journalists, and is the author of Women in Tech: 20 Trailblazers Share Their Journeys, published by ECT News Network in May 2020. Email Vivian. Despite bipartisan efforts in 2017 to reduce the state prison population, Louisiana remains the incarceration capital of America with the most prisoners per capita. Results from a recent poll suggest an overwhelming majority of Louisiana voters support more substantive criminal justice reform, including expanded parole for people serving long sentences and changes to mandatory sentencing laws. A new nonprofit called the Second Look Alliance solicited the survey to get a better sense of public opinion on the issue. The group, which recruited the former chief of staff for Republican U.S. Sen. John Kennedy to be its executive director, is taking a new approach to criminal justice reform advocacy that includes lifting up conservative voices. Their plans are focused on public education emphasizing two key concepts that resonate with Louisiana residents across the political spectrum and among various demographic groups, according to the poll: reducing the state prison budget and allowing the possibility that some prisoners achieve redemption. When asked how they felt about "reexamining past sentences to provide a second chance to people who have served long sentences and who no longer pose a safety threat to their community," 72 percent of poll participants said they are supportive. Support was highest among younger adults and liberals. The least supportive group was people who voted for Donald Trump in 2020, though 62 percent still favored it. The poll has a margin of error of 5.4 plus or minus percentage points. SurveyUSA interviewed 1,050 Louisiana adults between Jan. 8 and 12, asking substantive questions of the 718 who identified themselves as voters in the 2020 presidential election. Preston Robinson, Kennedy's former chief of staff who now leads the Second Look Alliance, said the organization is treating its advocacy work like a political campaign. That means appealing to voters in a grassroots effort to spur legislative action, rather than making the case directly to lawmakers. Robinson said the polling shows a significant gap between how legislators perceive public opinion and what Louisiana voters actually believe. "The public is really ready to have these conversations," he said. "Legislators are inhibited by fears of what might happen political fears. We need to change that. Inaction should be their biggest fear." As part of the questioning, poll participants were told that about a third of Louisiana prisoners will not be parole eligible for at least 50 years compared to less than 15 percent in Texas, Arkansas and Mississippi and then asked whether they think Louisiana keeps people in prison the right amount of time. About 55 percent of respondents said they believe Louisiana prison sentences are too long, while 22 percent said they are appropriate and 8 percent said other states should have longer sentences. The rest were not sure. "This polling affirms what we know to be true, that Louisianans believe in redemption. For too long, we have allowed a convenient but false narrative to dominate our understanding of where the public stands on criminal justice," said Mercedes Montagnes, executive director of the Promise of Justice Initiative, a New Orleans organization that has long advocated for sentencing reform. 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 When asked about what they believe is the purpose of putting people in prison, 68 percent of respondents said "to remove a continuing threat off the street" and 26 percent said "for punishment." Louisiana has more prisoners serving life without parole than Alabama, Arkansas, Mississippi and Tennessee combined, according to 2020 corrections data about 14 percent of the state prison population, the highest rate in the country. +3 More than 1 in 10 Louisiana prisoners are serving life without parole, highest rate in the U.S. When a series of bipartisan criminal justice reforms became law in 2017, state lawmakers achieved their goal of reducing the prison population State lawmakers have long acknowledged the problem, with bipartisan consensus on issues of budget and finance, though opposition from prosecutors and law enforcement groups has often halted prior attempts at widespread reform. The 2017 changes softened sentences and expanded parole eligibility for people convicted of minor nonviolent offenses, but stopped short of making lifers eligible for supervised release. During a budget hearing last year, Louisiana lawmakers questioned why the state prison system is facing constant shortfalls even after a package of criminal justice reforms passed in 2017 that sought to reduce the inmate population and save money. "It just looks like we can never get our head above water," Republican Sen. Bodi White remarked at the February 2020 meeting. Many places make most lifers eligible for parole after 20 or 30 years, but "life means life" in Louisiana, where the Legislature voted in 1979 to eliminate parole for all lifers. Lawmakers were responding to an earlier U.S. Supreme Court ruling that abolished the death penalty nationwide an effort to keep former death row inmates behind bars. The death penalty was later reinstated, but the prohibition on parole remains. About 55 percent of survey respondents said prisoners should be eligible to receive consideration for parole after having served at least 20 years, reached age 50 and completed a rehabilitation program. When asked which issues shaped their opinions on sentencing review, respondents cited concerns about incarceration costs above all, followed closely with a belief that people are capable of redemption. About 85 percent of participants also said that money saved through reducing the prison population could be used to fund rehabilitation and reentry programs to help formerly incarcerated people become more productive members of society. Louisiana allocated over $700 million for adult and youth corrections services last year. The average Louisiana resident spends about $130 on state prisons annually, according to an analysis by the nonprofit Vera Institute of Justice. 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. DGAP Voting Rights Announcement: QIAGEN N.V. QIAGEN N.V.: Release according to Article 40, Section 1 of the WpHG [the German Securities Trading Act] with the objective of Europe-wide distribution 02.03.2021 / 22:00 Dissemination of a Voting Rights Announcement transmitted by DGAP - a service of EQS Group AG. The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement. The AFM (the Netherlands Authority For the Financial Markets has informed us on March 02, 2021 that a notification related to our institution has been released by the AFM. The following notification has been disclosed in the relevant register on the AFM website: Date of transaction: 24 feb 2021 Person obliged to notify: Goldman Sachs Group Inc., The Issuing institution: Qiagen N.V. Registration Chamber of Commerce: 12036979 Place of residence: VENLO Distribution in numbers Type of share Number of shares Number of voting rights Capital interest Voting rights Manner of disposal Settlement Swap 78.726,00 78.726,00 Potential Potential Indirectly - Goldman, Sachs & Co. Wertpapier GmbH In cash Warrant 70.592,00 70.592,00 Potential Potential Indirectly - Goldman Sachs International In cash Swap 51.013,00 51.013,00 Potential Potential Indirectly - Goldman Sachs International In cash Convertible bond 692.256,00 692.256,00 Potential Potential Indirectly - Goldman Sachs International Physical Delivery Swap 38.490,00 38.490,00 Potential Potential Indirectly - Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC In cash Ordinary share 4.029,00 4.029,00 Real Real Indirectly - Goldman Sachs Asset Management International Physical Delivery Ordinary share 3.158,00 3.158,00 Real Real Indirectly - United Capital Financial Advisers, LLC Physical Delivery Ordinary share 622.509,00 622.509,00 Potential Potential Indirectly - Goldman Sachs International Physical Delivery Contract for difference 50.336,00 50.336,00 Potential Potential Indirectly - Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC In cash Call-Option 50.000,00 50.000,00 Potential Potential Indirectly - Goldman Sachs International Physical Delivery Warrant 2.478,00 2.478,00 Potential Potential Indirectly - Goldman, Sachs & Co. Wertpapier GmbH In cash Contract for difference 71.962,00 71.962,00 Potential Potential Indirectly - Goldman Sachs International In cash Option 3.863.782,00 3.863.782,00 Potential Potential Indirectly - Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC Physical Delivery Ordinary share 63.777,00 63.777,00 Potential Potential Indirectly - Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC Physical Delivery Ordinary share 324.479,00 324.475,76 Real Real Indirectly - Goldman Sachs International Physical Delivery Ordinary share 35,00 35,00 Real Real Indirectly - Folio Investments Inc. Physical Delivery Ordinary share 849.008,00 849.008,00 Real Real Indirectly - Goldman Sachs Asset Management, L.P. Physical Delivery Convertible bond 89.195,00 89.195,00 Potential Potential Indirectly - Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC Physical Delivery Distribution in percentages Type Total holding Directly real Directly potential Indirectly real Indirectly potential Capital interest 3,00% 0,00% 0,00% 0,51% 2,49% Voting rights 3,00% 0,00% 0,00% 0,51% 2,49% QIAGEN N.V. is not responsible for the accuracy and correctness of the notification above. The content has been taken from the relevant register of the AFM: https://www.afm.nl/nl-NL/Professionals/registers/meldingenregisters/substantiele-deelnemingen/Details?id=106643 02.03.2021 The DGAP Distribution Services include Regulatory Announcements, Financial/Corporate News and Press Releases. Archive at www.dgap.de Two Massachusetts men were charged in federal court in Springfield in connection with falsifying driving logs, instructing others to do so and making a false statement to investigators. The charges are the result of a review of Westfield Transport Inc. following a crash involving one of its vehicles that caused the deaths of seven motorcyclists in New Hampshire on June 21, 2019. Dunyadar Gasanov, or Damien Gasanov, 36, was indicted on one count of falsification of records, one count of conspiracy to falsify records and one count of making a false statement to a federal investigator. Dartanayan Gasanov, 35, was indicted on one count of falsification of records. According to the indictment, the defendants owned Westfield Transport Inc., a for-hire interstate motor carrier that transported vehicles primarily in the northeastern U.S. It is alleged that, from May 3, 2019, to June 23, 2019, the defendants falsified driving logs in order to evade federal regulations designed to ensure the safety of roadways and drivers. It is further alleged that Dunyadar instructed at least one Westfield Transport employee to falsify records, thereby exceeding the number of permissible driving hours, and then made a false statement to a federal inspector regarding the manipulation of recording devices that track drivers on and off duty hours in order to evade regulations. The charge of falsification of records provides for a sentence of up to 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of $1 million. The charge of conspiracy to falsify records provides for a sentence of up to five years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000. The charge of making a false statement to a federal investigator provides for a sentence of up to five years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors. The details contained in the indictment are allegations. The defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law. Source: The United States Attorneys Office, District of Massachusetts Topics Auto Abuse Molestation Massachusetts Numbers Trish Greenhalgh, professor of primary care health science at the University of Oxford, was accused of 'whipping up hysteria and anxieties' after suggesting joggers should wear masks while exercising outdoors Runners should wear masks when they jog past other people, a leading expert suggested today. Professor Trish Greenhalgh, an expert in primary health care at Oxford University, said 'puffing and panting' runners should wear coverings because they can transmit Covid to people they pass on the street. But an infectious disease expert at Public Health England accused her of 'whipping up hysteria' because forcing joggers to wear mask would be a disproportionate response to the amount of risk they pose. 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 Covid. But they remain optional in outdoor spaces, with evidence suggesting coronavirus is less transmissible outside. The debate comes after a Public Health England boss said facemasks with at least two or three layers are more effective at reducing the spread of the virus. Dr Susan Hopkins told last night's Downing Street press conference the 'more layers you have the better' but the current guidance is to wear a single mask with at least two or three layers. Speaking on ITV's Good Morning Britain today, Professor Greenhalgh cautioned that symptomless joggers can breathe coronavirus on to others when they run past, if they are not wearing a covering. She said: 'There is no doubt the virus is in the air. There is no doubt you can catch it if you inhale air that someone else has exhaled. 'The exercising jogger, the puffing and panting jogger, you can feel their breath come and you can sometimes actually feel yourself inhale it. So there's no doubt that there is a danger there. 'The other thing to say is that 40 per cent of Covid cases happen by catching it form people who have no symptoms. 'So you're jogging along, you think you're fine and the next day you've developed symptoms of Covid but you've actually breathed that Covid on to someone. You know an old lady walking a dog or something like that. 'I think it's very important to be socially responsible.' Professor Greenhalgh says symptomless joggers can breath Covid on to others as they run past if they are not wearing a covering. Pictured: A jogger wearing a face covering runs in St James's Park in central London on February 24 Professor Devi Sridhar, a public health expert at the University of Edinburgh, added runners and cyclists should wear masks in crowded outside areas. But she added that runners could 'take off your mask and run freely' when they are not surrounded by swathes of strangers. Professor Sridhar, who advises the Scottish government on Covid, told ITV: 'It really depends how close they are to you and how heavily they're breathing. CAN JOGGING WITHOUT A FACE MASK INCREASE THE RISK OF SPREADING COVID? There is little proof that jogging while wearing a mask reduces the risk of Covid and no infection has ever been been proven to be linked back to a runner. Other than the first lockdown last spring, the UK Government has encouraged people to get out and exercise even during the strictest of lockdowns, indicating that minsters and their expert advisers do not deem jogging to be a major mode of transmission. But that does not mean it has never happened and a small handful of scientists have warned it is possible. Covid is transmitted in microscopic droplets of moisture that carry viral particles. It was originally thought that the main source of spread was via these droplets from coughs and sneezes. But more recent studies suggests it can spread just as easily in aerosols in the breath, prompting concerns about people exercising on crowded pavements. A study by Eindhoven University in the Netherlands and the Catholic University of Leuven in Belgium showed aerosols flow more than six feet behind an infected person while they walk, run or cycle. The research last April raised the prospect of the outdoor exercisers being transmitters of the virus. The scientists encouraged runners to steer clear of busy pavements and said jogging with a friend would be safer if people run side-by-side. Researchers are equally unsure about whether masks could prevent this from happening because there is still fierce debate about whether non-medical grade face coverings reduce transmission at all. The largest real-world study into face coverings and Covid, known as Danmask, found there was no difference in infection rates between people who wore masks in public places and those who did not. The Copenhagen experts looked at 6,000 volunteers last spring before masks were mandatory there. However the study has come under scrutiny, with critics pointing out that less than half of participants actually wore masks when they were supposed to. Meanwhile, a study last month showed that particles expelled from a person's mouth as they speak or breathe can swirl and spread into the proximity of other people, even when wearing a mask. The study by the Aoyama Gakuin University in Tokyo found exhaled air from a person who is not wearing a mask moves downward due to gravity. However, when a mask is worn while standing or sitting, the cloud of exhaled particles tends to attach to that person's body and flows upwards The UK Government introduced a suite of measures to reduce transmission while outside last year, including widening pavements to make social distancing possible on busy streets. Face masks were made mandatory on public transport in June and in shops and indoor public spaces later in July, but remain optional while outside. Advertisement 'This can spread through the air and so it is important that runners should think I do think where am I running and I'm trying to be attentive to pedestrians because the sidewalks are there for pedestrians in busy areas and high streets. '[When] you're out in the park, take off your mask and run freely. 'I think we need some consideration for each other right now. We're in a pandemic and just, you know, think how it feels for other people. 'So if you're going to cycle in a busy area, wear a mask.' Professor Greenhalgh added: 'I've got a mask here and you can pull it up and pull it down and that takes two seconds to do. 'So wear it when you're going along, jogging on the high street. Take it off when you get to the parks, what I did this morning. It's not difficult.' She also said that the World Health Organization had 'dragged its feet' over mask wearing. Professor Greenhalgh said: 'I'm not sure that particular recommendation does represent expert opinion, there's no doubt that the virus is in the air, there is no doubt you can catch it if you inhale air someone else has exhaled. 'The puffing and panting jogger, you can feel their breath come and you can sometimes feel yourself inhale it, there is no doubt there is a danger there.' But Dr Jake Dunning, an infectious disease expert at Public Health Expert, said the suggestion that people wear masks outdoors is shifting the focus away from high risk indoor transmission of the virus. He said on Twitter: '[Forcing joggers to wear masks is] totally disproportionate to any reasonable estimate of risk. Stop whipping up hysteria and anxieties. 'Stop singling out outdoor runners for no good scientific reason and instead focus on avoiding the actual high risk, indoor scenarios for transmission.' Viewers disagreed with the argument, with one writing: 'Protect the NHS. We are, by running, keeping fit, as Covid is clearly worse when you are fat and unfit. Which costs lives and liberty. Our high fat, low exercise population is a key reason why we are dying in greater numbers. Whether people want to talk about it or not.' Another said: 'Im a keen runner/ triathlete. I really look for safe distance to run in, away from walkers etc. If I cant I put my hand over my face and look away from people.' A third wrote: 'When I run I certainly dont puff and pant over anyone and I steer clear of others, its not difficult! I couldnt run with a mask on.' Tom, 54, who previously weighed 22 stone, argued that for many people exercise has been their saving grace during the pandemic, and that it's 'hard enough' to run without a mask. He said: 'I think for millions of people, lockdown through till winter, the only thing they've had is running, I'm part of an online group, we keep ourselves going by supporting each other online. I don't think I can do a run with a mask on, it's hard enough with a mask.' Host Piers went on to share his distain for runners who exercise along his high street, comparing unfit joggers to 'giant snails' and 'panting, wheezing show offs'. 'I have a real problem along my high street', he said, 'I have a problem with them in the normal times, non pandemic times. 'There's something so narcissistic about these people running, especially if they're not very fit and are bouncing along the street barging into everybody. The ones who go around you like a giant snail 'I have an inherent problem with joggers on high streets I think its the ultimate show off nonsense, but in the pandemic...what about my right not to be infected with Covid-19 by some panting, wheezing show off?' Tom replied: 'The strict rule that should be enforced is social distancing, if you are a runner you should know you're breathing more deeply and you should try and not run into people and run near them.' Viewers disagreed that runners should be made to wear face coverings, with one arguing that those who keep fit are 'protecting the NHS' by trying their best to maintain their health 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. ALAN JOHNSON: When Sir Robert Peel (pictured) established the Metropolitan Police in 1829, he set out a series of principles When the visionary statesman Sir Robert Peel established the Metropolitan Police in 1829, he set out a series of principles to guide the new force. Among them was the need for the police to deter crime by being conspicuously present in neighbourhoods, retaining the support of the public. 'The test of police efficiency is the absence of crime and disorder,' wrote the future PM. 'Not the visible evidence of police action in dealing with them.' These concepts of accountability and reassurance helped to make our constabularies among the most respected in the world. The officer on the beat and the station at the heart of the community became potent symbols of the unique British success story in tackling crime. Eroded But that sense of security has been badly eroded in recent years, as the police have retreated from the streets. The decline in beat policing is one disturbing indicator of this trend. Another is the widespread closure of police stations throughout the country. As this paper's alarming investigation revealed yesterday, more than half of all Britain's stations have shut over the past decade, with their disappearance occurring at a rate of one a week. Incredibly, several cities, including Bath (home to 180,000), now have no police stations at all. In the huge conurbation of the West Midlands, with its population of about 3 million, just 11 stations remain open, while in Hertfordshire, a county of 1.2 million people, there are now only three remaining. Incredibly, several cities, including Bath (pictured), which is home to 180,000, now have no police stations at all A grim metaphor for this creeping neglect can be seen in the fate of Paddington Green police station in West London, for half a century an imposing citadel of the fight against terrorism, where IRA suspects, Islamist would-be suicide bombers and prisoners returned from Guantanamo Bay were all held. Last February, it was occupied by squatters. As a former Home Secretary, I feel only despair at this pattern of closures, which is threatening our safety and fuelling public anxiety. The losers are the British people, particularly those from poorer communities, who are disproportionately victims of crime. The winners are the criminals, who increasingly feel they can act with impunity as they see the police withdrawing from neighbourhoods. It is, I am sure, no coincidence that the latest news on station closures comes in the wake of recent reports that just 7 per cent of all crimes end up with the offender in the dock. Just as telling is the fact again highlighted by this paper that so many crimes are perpetrated where there used to be operational stations, such as the recent fatal beating of a homeless mother outside a closed police station in London. Society is, of course, changing all the time and that includes policing. I accept that new technology means new approaches to crime-fighting. Reports of incidents, for example, are now overwhelmingly made online or by mobile phone. But, contrary to what some experts, politicians and police chiefs seem to feel, that does not make police stations an outmoded, expensive luxury. ALAN JOHNSON: A grim metaphor for this creeping neglect can be seen in the fate of Paddington Green police station in West London (pictured) They are a vital part of the infrastructure needed to protect the public and to lose them is a betrayal. Like the officer on the beat, their very existence reassures the law-abiding and deters potential offenders. Indeed, the mere idea that the police might be in the vicinity may be enough to prevent crime. Even subliminal images of the police can theoretically serve this purpose which explains why some forces, in their desperation to overcome personnel shortages, occasionally instal cardboard cut-outs of uniformed officers in places such as shopping malls. But, having accepted the argument for deterrence, how much better would it be to have real officers based in real stations rather than cardboard substitutes? Police stations are crucial in other ways. They establish a direct link between officers and citizens, strengthening the bonds of solidarity that are vital to build cohesion. 'The police are the public and the public are the police,' wrote Sir Robert Peel. An accessible police station should be a tangible embodiment of that partnership. Without it, the gap between the police and the public will widen. Moreover, the ability to make a report in person is necessary for some people, who in their distress may seek face-to-face contact. Equally important is how stations used to act as a hub of intelligence on everything from burglars to potential terrorists. Because they were based in their communities and regularly out on patrol, constables and Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs) had shared networks of vital information. Retreat Again, I fear that the retreat from the streets means that such intelligence is being lost. Not everything can be garnered from online searches and mobile phone records. I admit that some of the station closures happened during Labour's last period in government between 1997 and 2010. Even so, we had an impressive record in protecting the public. In line with Tony Blair's famous mantra to be 'tough on crime, tough on the causes of crime', the prison population increased, police numbers rose and rates of offending plummeted. The overall level of crime halved, while cases of domestic violence fell by 63 per cent. Despite the Tories' reputation as the party of law and order, many of the years since the Conservatives took office in 2010 have been characterised by severe cutbacks in the criminal justice system. As well as the closures of police stations, police numbers were slashed by 20,000, the total of PCSOs reduced by half, and support jobs were cut by 17 per cent. Thankfully, the present government has started to recruit again but the damage has been done. Blame It would be unfair, however, to heap all the blame on the politicians. The reality is that so many of us and I include Tory Home Secretaries such as Kenneth Clarke and Michael Howard had to battle against a longstanding orthodoxy which held that bobbies on the beat and neighbourhood police stations were a waste of time and money. According to the theory that prevailed in the civil service and academia, these traditional features of British policing were useless, since there was little likelihood of a patrol officer catching a criminal in the act, just as stations were a pointless extravagance that could be better exploited by property developers. Such negative thinking which completely ignored the deterrent effect reflected a wider spirit of cynicism and despair in official circles, where crime was seen as an irresistible force of nature, like the tide. I remember Tony Blair telling me that when he first sat down with Home Office experts to discuss crime, he was told that its rise was just inevitable, no matter how many offenders were jailed, how many police were recruited and how the economy fared. By their own accounts, Ken Clarke and Michael Howard were given the same bleak message by their officials But the defeatism is misplaced. With political will, the right policies and the necessary resources, crime can be reduced. Functioning police stations are central to protect society. Their continued closure will only alienate the public, deepen distrust and embolden Britain's criminals. Almost two decades before the COVID-19 pandemic, communities in Massachusetts began training locals to help during an emergency health situation, including how to dispense vaccines. Since 2001, the state helped fund local communities to identify more than 603 primary and back-up Emergency Dispensing Sites (EDS), formed 45 Medical Reserve Corps (MRC) units, and recruited thousands of clinical and non-clinical volunteers statewide, according to the training manual. Those volunteers are trained on things such as preparing for a vaccine that would be administered through two doses of vaccine separated by at least three weeks to about 80% of the population and proper vaccine storage in a refrigerator. Now, many of those who were trained arent being used by the state. We stand ready, said Kevin Nord, the Duxbury Fire Department chief. Nord is part of a community that had been training people for years. They put that training to work when they started receiving the vaccine. Over time, they stopped receiving it. It kind of caught us off guard, he said. We had been denied, prior to that letter, three weeks in a row. So, obviously, we were frustrated with what was going on. And I feel that DPH has been less than upfront about its future plans and even its existing plans have been changed week to week. Then Gov. Charlie Baker announced most local boards of health would no longer be receiving the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. Instead, Baker began prioritizing mass vaccination sites and regional collaboratives, also announcing 20 municipalities that would continue through their local boards of health. If you look at the performance across the country, the states that have done the best job in getting shots into peoples arms are the states that have big sites, he said at a press conference in February. For us, with the limited amount of doses we have and the incredible pressure to get as many doses into peoples arms as we possibly can as quickly as possible, following what is proven to be most successful in most other places in the country is to use very big sites. As of Monday, there are 550,000 people fully vaccinated against COVID-19, Gov. Charlie Baker said, with more than 1.2 million residents having received at least one vaccine dose. But some argue the vaccines are missing groups of people that local communities could reach. The EDS trainings were created in 2001 after the anthrax attacks, which killed five Americans and sickened 17 others. The attacks included letters laced with anthrax, which began appearing in the mail. It happened soon after the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11 and became the worst biological attacks in U.S. history, according to the FBI website. Weve always known that theres a potential, said Springfield Health and Human Services Commissioner Helen Caulton-Harris. We didnt foresee COVID but we certainly knew that there was the potential that we could face this type of crisis. In 2014, Massachusetts spent $335,459 as part of a contract with Boston University and the Local Public Health Institute. Part of that contract included designing an online EDS training. Cities and towns have emergency management plans that designate specific locations in certain communities for the purpose of dispensing medication or administering vaccines to the public during a public health emergency, the training website states. These locations have been pre-screened and there are detailed written plans that explain how an EDS would operate. The training lasts an hour. Although additional training happens in communities too. Northampton gets about $115,000 per year to help cover the costs of paying a coordinator to facilitate trainings, make sure there are up-to-date plans and more. The city wasnt originally included in Bakers approved regional collaboratives. However, the city submitted their own plan and was approved in February. Springfield is also using many of those, including the Medical Reserve Corps, that theyve trained. But many other volunteers across the state arent. The Duxbury Board of Health had set up a routine training drill to test their EDS last year but then the pandemic hit for real. They typically have about 30 people attend their trainings, Tracy Mayo, health agent for the Duxbury Board of Health said. They even continued the trainings over Zoom during the pandemic. With the pandemic we have been receiving many more people who want to volunteer, she said. Although the training covers a range of topics, running a vaccine clinic is part of it, she said. Mayo said the funding each year through the states Office of Preparedness and Emergency Management (OPEM) has been cut but its still important as its used to pay for their assistant coordinator who helps to make sure we meet our deliverables, does some of the trainings for us and any other items that are needed to help sustain our volunteer group, she said. Marty Golightly, director of public health in Abington, said its hard to put an exact number on how much is being spent for EDS due to the number of people and salaries needed to run trainings and keep things up to date but its substantial, he said. The town is currently only administering second doses and to those in senior housing. The only hiccup theyve had, he said, has been vaccine allocations. Chris Schultz and others from the Arlington Board of Health wrote their own letter to Baker, asking him to remove the red tape. There are approximately 17,000 citizens relying on you to return their healthcare to the capable hands of vetted and experienced Arlington EDS, which stands ready for able, the letter states. More than 40 Legislators also signed a letter to Baker expressing their concerns about halting COVID-19 vaccines to local boards of health, a decision that will seriously jeopardize the ability of our seniors to receive their COVID-19 vaccinations, the letter states. Although Baker has since added about a dozen regional collaboratives, local boards of health say theyre still waiting and ready to help. Duxbury, for example, is willing to send their volunteers anywhere. We remain open and flexible, Nord said. The Duxbury Bay Regional MRC is providing volunteers for whomever requests them. Related Content: has received its third batch of the Covid-19 vaccine, with the shipment containing up to 526,500 doses developed by US pharmaceutical giant and its German partner BioNTech. So far, has received half of the 2.66 million doses it expects to receive in March as its vaccination campaign has expanded to include more healthcare workers, reports Xinhua news agency. Tthe government has planned to begin inoculating 4.7 million healthcare workers from this week onwards, followed by 36 million people aged 65 and older who are next in line to be vaccinated from April 12. Those with pre-existing health conditions and workers at elderly care facilities will be vaccinated before the inoculation drive for the general population begins, the government has said. According to Minister in charge of the vaccine rollout Taro Kono, the government is planning to have the requisite number of doses delivered to inoculate all health care workers and elderly citizens by the end of June. will be allowed to transport and store the vaccine at regular freezer temperatures for up to two weeks, according to Pfizer, so as to distribute the jab more widely among medical facilities. Japan has procured enough doses of vaccines for its population of 126 million people, with the government inking deals with Pfizer, AstraZeneca and Moderna. On Monday, Chief Cabinet Secretary Katsunobu Kato said that a clinical study has also started in Japan for US company Johnson & Johnson's single-dose vaccine. While the and Moderna vaccines both require recipients to receive two doses, Johnson & Johnson's jab is the first approved in the US that requires a single dose. On February 17, Japan launched the first phase of its vaccination program for 40,000 medical workers at 100 hospitals nationwide. --IANS ksk/ (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.) CleanSpark Adds 2,500 More Bitcoin Mining Rigs to Energy-Efficient Fleet. Tweet this Zach Bradford, CleanSpark's Chief Executive Officer stated, "We continue to aggressively pursue the growth of our hash rate capacity and expect to reach 1 to 1.3 EH/s in total production capacity this summer. 'Time is money' in this sector, and these orders allow us to immediately put the 30 MW of increased power into use as soon as it comes online." Bradford continued, "The availability of low-cost energy for bitcoin mining facilities will be a constraining factor for the industry as it grows. Cryptocurrency mining operations will further be subjected to increased scrutiny on the sources of the incredible amount of power required for successful execution and they will need to ensure that there is an ongoing focus utilizing clean energy sources to mitigate these concerns. CleanSpark has maintained its focus on responsible energy solutions since the initial diligence phases of the ATL acquisition. Currently, the municipality providing our power is backed largely by a wholesale provider that reports delivery of power that is 69% emission-free. We plan to incorporate additional renewables onsite in the near future. In addition to maximizing the energy use of our existing facilities, we are targeting additional locations that offer access to abundant, low-cost power, with an emphasis on sites that are backed by clean energy sources and allow us the opportunity to integrate our proprietary renewable energy solutions onsite." CleanSpark's goal is to operate the lowest-energy-cost Bitcoin mining facilities at scale in the nation. The Company expects to accomplish this not only by securing advantageous power purchase agreements, but also by leveraging its patented energy solutions. Parties interested in learning more about CleanSpark products and services are encouraged to inquire by contacting the Company directly at [email protected] or visiting the Company's website at www.cleanspark.com. Investors are encouraged to contact the Company at [email protected], or visiting the Company's website at https://ir.cleanspark.com/ About CleanSpark: CleanSpark, Inc., a Nevada corporation, is in the business of providing advanced software, controls and technology solutions to solve modern energy challenges. CleanSpark has a suite of software solutions that provides end-to-end microgrid energy modeling, energy market communications, and energy management solutions. CleanSpark's offerings consist of intelligent energy monitoring and controls, intelligent microgrid design software, middleware communications protocols for the energy industry, energy system engineering, custom hardware solutions, microgrid installation and implementation services, traditional data center services and software consulting services. The Company and its subsidiaries also own and operate a fleet of Bitcoin miners at its facilities capable of producing an estimated 315 PH/s in hash rate capacity. Hash rate capacity is expected to increase to over 1 EH/s in mining capacity in 2021. CleanSpark plans to apply its energy technologies to these divisions with a goal of mining bitcoins at the lowest energy prices in the United States. For more information, visit https://ATL-DATA.com Forward-Looking Statements: CleanSpark cautions you that statements in this press release that are not a description of historical facts are forward-looking statements. These statements are based on CleanSpark's current beliefs and expectations. The inclusion of forward-looking statements should not be regarded as a representation by CleanSpark that any of our plans will be achieved. Actual results may differ from those set forth in this press release due to the risk and uncertainties inherent in our business, including, without limitation: delays in equipment delivery, the value of Bitcoin, the successful deployment of energy solutions for bitcoin applications, the fitness of our energy hardware, software and other solutions for this particular application or market, the expectations of future revenue growth may not be realized, ongoing demand for our software products and related services, the impact of global pandemics (including COVID-19) on the demand for our products and services; and other risks described in our prior press releases and in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), including under the heading "Risk Factors" in our Annual Report on Form 10-K and any subsequent filings with the SEC. You are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date hereof, and we undertake no obligation to revise or update this press release to reflect events or circumstances after the date hereof. All forward-looking statements are qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement, which is made under the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Contact - Investor Relations: CleanSpark, Inc. Investor Relations (801)-244-4405 SOURCE CleanSpark, Inc. Related Links http://www.cleanspark.com Oscar winner Sissy Spacek and three-time Emmy-nominated Modern Family star Ed ONeill are set as the leads in Amazons sci-fi drama Lightyears, from writer Holden Miller and producer Daniel C. Connolly. Argentinian director Juan Jose Campanella will direct and executive produce the first two episodes of the series, a co-production of Amazon Studios and Legendary Television. Its scheduled to begin filming later this year.Written by Miller, Lightyears follows Franklin and Irene York, played by ONeill and Spacek, a couple who years ago discovered a chamber buried in their backyard which inexplicably leads to a strange, deserted planet. Theyve carefully guarded their secret ever since, but when an enigmatic young man enters their lives, the Yorks quiet existence is quickly upendedand the mysterious chamber they thought they knew so well turns out to be much more than they could ever have imagined.Spaceks Irene is a retired English teacher with a thoughtful, magnetic presence. As her health fades, Irenes life with her husband Franklin increasingly revolves around visits to the chamber. For decades theyve kept the chamber a secret, with Irene obsessing about the deeper meaning of their discovery.ONeills Franklin is a former woodworker with a charmingly grumpy demeanor. After more than 50 years of marriage, Franklin still has a powerful devotion to his wife but doesnt share her fascination with the chamber, a secret which weighs heavily on him. For her sake, he is willing to endure its presence in their lives, but his patience is wearing thin. Nigeria has now recorded less than 1,000 new daily COVID-19 cases for 10 consecutive days, the first time since the second wave started last December. On Monday, 360 new infections were found in 19 states taking the total tally in past three days to 941. Nigeria recorded its lowest daily figure of new coronavirus infections in about six months with the 240 new cases reported on Sunday. Some 341 new cases were reported on Saturday. The total number of infections in the country is now 156,017, according to the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC). With the low number of new daily cases recorded in the past week, Nigerias response against the disease may have started paying off, according to the World Health Organisations (WHO) country representative, Walter Mulomo. Deaths Nigeria on Monday recorded eight deaths, raising the total fatality toll in the country to 1,915 On Sunday, two deaths were recorded, the lowest daily fatality in over six months. Three deaths were also recorded on Saturday. Meanwhile, health experts believe the official data under-reports both infections and deaths because of the countrys limited testing capacity. Nigeria, Africas most populous nation, has so far conducted test figures less than one per cent of the countrys 200 million population. Recoveries More than two-thirds of the over 156, 000 people infected by COVID-19 in Nigeria have recovered after treatment. According to NCDC data published Monday night, a total of 133,904 people have recovered after treatment. Although people who recover from a viral infection often develop immunity against the same disease, it remains unclear whether this is the case with COVID-19 infection. Meanwhile, over 20,000 infections are still active in the country. Specific The 360 new cases were reported from 19 states Lagos (120), Edo (38), Kaduna (25), FCT (23), Imo (23), Delta (19), Akwa Ibom (17), Plateau (17) Rivers (16) Nasarawa (15), Kwara (13), Oyo (9), Ogun (8), Bauchi (4), Osun (4), Kano (3), Kebbi (3), Niger (2) and Katsina (1). Lagos returned to its top spot after it was toppled by Anambra State in the previous 24 hours. The commercial city had the highest toll in Mondays tally with 120 new cases to extend its lead as the most impacted state in Nigeria. Over 55,000 infections, nearly a third of Nigerias total cases, and about 410 deaths have been recorded in Lagos. Nigeria has conducted 1,544,008 tests so far, less than one per cent of the two million inhabitants of Africas most populous nation. ADVERTISEMENT Vaccination Nigeria will on Tuesday received the first batch of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccines through COVAX, the global sharing programme designed to make vaccine access more equal, health authorities said. According to Faisal Shuaib, the executive director of the NPHCDA, the agency at the centre of the vaccine rollout plan, approximately four million doses will land in Abuja, Nigerias capital, Tuesday at 11 a.m. making the West African nation the third country to receive jabs through the COVAX arrangement. Ghana was the first country to benefit from the programme after receiving 600,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccines last Wednesday followed by Ivory Coast that took delivery of over 500,000 doses last Friday. At least 92 low and middle-income countries will receive free vaccines through COVAX, a World Health Organisation vaccine-sharing initiative. With the arrival of the 4 million doses, Nigeria is currently the biggest benefactor of the initiative in the first phase. The West African nation is expecting a total of 16 million jabs that will come in four phases. EUGENE, Ore. The California variant of the COVID-19 virus has been identified in Lane County, public health announced on Tuesday. Officials said the presence of the variant was detected in samples submitted to the University of Oregon Genomics and Cell Characterization Core Facility (GC3F). This is the first lab-confirmed examples of a COVID-19 variant in the county, but variants have been identified in other parts of the state. UO spokesperson Kay Jarvis weighed in. The work being done is part of a natural progression for top-tier research institutions, such as the University of Oregon, Jarvis said. It is also the next phase in what the university is offering to support public health efforts in Lane County and the state of Oregon. Lane County Senior Public Health Officer Dr. Patrick Luedtke said that viral variants are common. Just think of what we endure each year with the influenza virus, Luedtke said. That virus always mutates and always changes. It turns out much more so than the COVID-19 virus but those changes require us to make a new vaccine virtually every year. Its normal for viruses to mutate. Luedtke said that the variant appears to be homegrown in the US and likely in California. If you look at the evolution of viruses, we have a way of tracking them back based upon other variants seen at the same time, Luedtke said. Officials said there is not enough chart review to draw definitive conclusions. It appears that theres the possibility of increased transmission and perhaps increased severity, but we just don't know for sure, Luedtke said. What we do know so far is that our current vaccines will work. He said the county is fortunate to have sequencing done locally. Jarvis said the GC3F staff began investigating how it can contribute to the state and national efforts in tracking these variants. After also preparing materials to perform the genetic sequencing, GC3F took de-identified positive coronavirus samples collected through the universitys response efforts to perform a pilot study, Jarvis said. It is through this pilot that samples positive with the California variant B.1.429 were identified. The G3CF lab has now proven its capabilities in gene sequencing, and its ready to provide these services to support public health initiatives as resources are made available. For the UO, detection of the variant does not change proactive testing and tracing strategies. Today, health officials reported 23 new cases, for a total of 10,320 confirmed and presumptive cases. Nearly 6% of the countys residents have been fully vaccinated. Female business owners have been invited to take part in an event being organised by a Derry organisation as part of Women's Day 2021. Enterprise North West has joined forces with Donegal Women in Business Network, Letterkenny Institute of Technology and the European Women Association to host an online Women Embracing Global Change Together event on March 8. This will provide an opportunity for women in business to come together and hear how many have embraced the challenges of 2020/21. The event will aim to give attendees the opportunity to question a panel of guest speakers and 'dig deep' to find out how they have embraced global change. Carrie McCafferty, Enterprise Development Executive with Enterprise North West, said people from all over the world will take part in the event. Among the local speakers will be Orla Cooper from B & CO, a Derry company which produces self-care packs. Ms McCafferty said: "This opportunity to collaborate with friends and colleagues in Republic of Ireland and in Europe to offer a global event has come about as a direct result of networking online in the past year. We have embraced online networking in what at first seemed like an impossible challenge and, as a result, we are now collaborating with cross-border and global partners - something we may not have achieved without Covid-19." The free event will take place on Monday, March 8, from 11am to 1pm and to register email rachel@enterprisenw.com. or call 02871 352693. MOSCOW Russian metals producer Norilsk Nickel can draw on Soviet-era know-how to clear two partly-suspended ore mines of water, but it is hard to predict how long the operation will take, two industry experts said. Nornickel, the worlds largest palladium producer and a leading nickel producer, was forced to partly suspended operations at its Oktyabrsky and Taimyrsky mines in Siberia on Feb. 24 after it detected subterranean water flowing into the facilities. The security of production and the Arctic environment at the $52 billion company, co-owned by businessman Vladimir Potanin and aluminum producer Rusal, have been in the spotlight since a major fuel leak at its power plant near the city of Norilsk and smaller accidents in 2020 and 2021. The two mines account for 36% of all of Nornickels ore mined in Russia. The water inflow was detected at a depth of 350 meters in the Oktyabrsky mine during tunneling on Feb. 12. The company said it would install a barrier to stop further flooding and deal with any accumulated water. Nornickel has not disclosed how long it would take to fix the issue and how much of its mining operations have been suspended. It told Reuters on Tuesday it was doing its best to fully restore mining as fast as possible. Its operations chief left this week as part of a management shake-up. Professor Christian Wolkersdorfer, head of the International Mine Water Association, said Nornickel had the knowledge and equipment to restore the water-hit mines. The flooding would be tackled by dropping concrete or synthetic material into gaps where water had collected, making it easier to pump water out. He said the method had been partly invented and fully tested by Ernest Kipko, a Soviet Ukrainian professor. They (Nornickel) will be able to fix it because the inflow of water happened at the mines 350-meter depth mark. The mine is 850-meters deep, so they will ensure that the mine will not be flooded, Wolkersdorfer said. Such cases occur frequently in mines around the world, he added, saying it was not an overly complex problem for a big and experienced mining company to deal with. Vladimir Sklyanov, a professor at Norilsks industrial university, told Reuters that creating an underground barrier and then deciding how to deal with any accumulated water was standard practice. But he said the timing of the repair operation would depend on how strong the water inflow was. The impact on mining operations was also hard to estimate, he said, because tunnel sections being mined changed frequently. The area is a permafrost zone, which is present at up to 700 meters deep. Most ore in there is frozen and water in and around it therefore does not flow anywhere. But ore can fracture during tunneling and start thawing. Empty or sponge-like spaces in the ore opened during mining may also be another reason causing increased inflow of water. Good morning, Chicago. Illinois on Monday recorded 1,143 new confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19 the lowest case count since late July as well as 20 additional fatalities. The state administered 50,897 coronavirus vaccine doses Sunday. Meanwhile, the Tribune talked to Laurie Zoloth, a bioethicist at the University of Chicago, about the ethical questions around getting the COVID-19 vaccine. If you missed the Facebook Live, you can watch it here. Paris, TX (75460) Today Rain showers this morning with some sunshine during the afternoon hours. High 77F. Winds W at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 50%.. Tonight Some clouds. Low around 60F. Winds NW at 5 to 10 mph. New Delhi, March 2 : Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Tuesday said India's airlines continue to bring back the stranded Indians from Saudi Arabia. However, flights from India are not ferrying any passengers to Saudi Arabia due to entry restrictions imposed by the Middle Eastern country. "Our citizens are travelling to & from 27 countries with whom we have air bubble arrangements," Puri tweeted. "Some countries, including Saudi Arabia, have placed entry restrictions on Indian citizens among others. However, VBM flights continue to bring back Indians from Saudi Arabia." In another tweet he said airlines will only be able to ferry passengers to Saudi Arabia, once entry restrictions to the Middle Eastern country are removed. "Our planes are flying empty to Saudi Arabia & are bringing back our citizens stranded there." "We will be able to carry Saudi Arabia bound passengers once the travel restrictions on Indians are eased by Saudi Arabia." remaining of Thank you for reading! On your next view you will be asked to log in to your subscriber account or create an account and subscribepurchase a subscription to continue reading. The Archdiocese of New Orleans in the US has claimed that taking the Johnson and Johnson Covid vaccine is immoral. The statement came despite the Food and Drug Administration expert panel in the US recommended approving the jab. The archdiocese must instruct Catholics that the latest vaccine from Janssen/Johnson & Johnson is morally compromised as it uses the abortion-derived cell line in development and production of the vaccine as well as the testing, the Archdiocese of New Orleans said in a statement on Friday. The decision could put the archdiocese in conflict with the Vatican and Pope Francis, who have been pro-vaccine. While the Archdiocese of New Orleans said it agreed with the Vaticans approval of the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines because they only used the cloned stem cells for testing, it singled out Johnson & Johnsons vaccine for using the cells in manufacturing as well. Per the Vaticans advisory late last year, a vaccine that is produced with those cells is admissible. But the Archdiocese of New Orleans disagreed. We advise that if the Moderna or Pfizer vaccine is available, Catholics should choose to receive either of those vaccines rather than to receive the new Johnson & Johnson vaccine because of its extensive use of abortion-derived cell lines, the statement says. As some houses of worship host vaccination centres, the advice could affect distribution efforts in New Orleans and drive people away from the single-dose vaccine as health officials urge Americans to take whichever doses are available. Washington Post BJP to unleash high-voltage campaign to wrest power in Puducherry India pti-Deepika S Bengaluru, Mar 02: The BJP plans to unleash a high- voltage campaign in Puducherry with a battery of central leaders as it seeks to wrest power in the union territory in the coming assembly elections. The party in-charge for Puducherry Nirmal Kumar Surana said the BJP would field about ten star campaigners in the UT, where elections to the 30-member assembly would be held on April six. They include Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP president J P Nadda, and Union Ministers Amit Shah, Nirmala Sitharaman and Smriti Irani, he told PTI here. Modi and Shah have already launched the party''s campaign in the tiny union territory. Surana, who is Vice-President of Karnataka unit of BJP, said discussions were underway with the All India NR Congress (AINRC) and AIADMK on seat-sharing for the elections and it would be finalised as soon as possible. Asked if the NDA plans to declare its Chief Ministerial candidate, he said: "All the matters are getting discussed". Surana said Puducherry Assembly Speaker V P Sivakolundhu, who quit on Sunday citing health reasons, is in touch with the BJP and would decide on joining the party in a day or two. Sad I cant talk in Tamil: After PM Modi, Amit Shah plays language card in TN, Puducherry Sivakolundhu won from the Lawspet constituency in the 2016 assembly elections on a Congress ticket. His brother V P Ramalingam joined the BJP in Karaikal in the presence of Union Home Minister Amit Shah during his campaign visit on Sunday. "He (Sivakolundhu) wants his brother (Ramalingam) to contest from his constituency (Lawspet)", Surana said. On how many seats the NDA hoped to win in Puducherry, he claimed that according to his assessment the Congress would not be able to win even a single seat. Puducherry is now under President''s rule after the Congress government headed by V Narayanasamy fell on February 22 on being reduced to a minority following a spate of resignation of Congress MLAs and a DMK legislator. I do have concerns with the items we have yet to address. We havent made headway on raising the minimum wage. Theres been no word on teacher pay raises. We havent done anything to expand voting access, and actually approved legislation making it more difficult for residents to vote absentee by mail, Melton said. SALT LAKE CITY, March 2, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, Mercato Partners' growth equity fund, Traverse announced a $20M investment in Beam Dental; a digital-first dental insurer that rewards its members for good dental hygiene. Headquartered in Columbus, Ohio, Beam simplifies the antiquated $75 billion dental insurance industry for members, brokers, and employers. Also participating in this round were Drive Capital, Georgian, Nationwide Ventures, Ainge Advisors, and Breakout Capital. Founded by Alex Frommeyer, Alex Curry, and Dan Dykes, Beam provides dental, vision, and group life insurance in 41 states with 400,000 access points in all 50 states. The Company plans to use the proceeds from the round to extend its distribution system as well as the continued expansion of its technology platform and product offering. "By using machine-learning and connected hardware, Beam is both disrupting and democratizing their part of the insurance industry," said Joe Kaiser, director at Mercato Partners who will join the Beam Board of Directors. "Alex Frommeyer has built a world-class team delivering world-class technology. Their absolute commitment to improving the experiences of members, brokers, and employers is changing the industry. We are proud to join Beam's journey and look forward to supporting their continued rapid growth." Beam's digitally native platform makes dental insurance easier, smarter, and preventive. Everything, from quotes to claims, is fast and easy. Policy pricing is informed by machine learning, allowing brokers to get custom and more accurate quotes in as little as 30 seconds. The Beam Brush connected toothbrush allows members to earn lower rates and rewards based on dental hygiene behavior. "Working with Mercato's Traverse Fund and Joe Kaiser highlights the advantage of dealing with an investor who understands the extraordinary benefits but also the challenges of building a hyper-growth tech company in the Midwest," said Alex Frommeyer, Beam CEO. "Mercato is a perfect partner for us as we continue to change the way members, employers and brokers think about their dental benefits and overall wellness." About Beam Dental Beam Dental is a digital-first dental benefits provider that incorporates dental hygiene behavior into policy pricing, combining an easy-to-use online insurance platform, AI-powered underwriting, and the connected Beam Toothbrush for better overall wellness. Beam has raised over $160 million in venture capital funding and is the only digital-first company within the $75 billion dental insurance industry. Beam also offers vision insurance, powered by VSP, and group term life coverage for employers of all sizes in partnership with Nationwide Insurance. Beam is available in 41 states around the U.S. and is accepted at over 400,000 access points nationwide. About Traverse Traverse is the growth fund of Mercato Partners, a multi-strategy investment firm that specializes in overlooked and underserved markets. Traverse leverages the breadth of its team's investing and entrepreneurial experience in these targeted geographies to provide both capital and operational guidance for rapidly scaling companies in the technology and branded consumer segments. For over a decade, Traverse has found, funded, and collaborated with high-growth companies to help them achieve transformative growth and long-term value for our investors. For more information, please visit traverse.mercatopartners.com. SOURCE Mercato Partners The Congress constituted screening committees for the Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, and polls on Tuesday, appointing senior leader Digvijaya Singh as the panel head for and Another senior party leader, H K Patil, will chair the panel for The screening committee of the Congress for the eight-phased Assembly polls starting March 27 will have Delhi leader J P Aggarwal as its chairman. The Assembly elections in Tamil Nadu, and will be held in a single phase on April 6 and the counting of votes will be taken up on May 2. "Congress president has constituted the screening committee for the forthcoming Assembly elections in and with immediate effect, with Digvijaya Singh as its chairman," a statement issued by the party said. Other members of the panel are former Goa chief minister and Lok Sabha MP Francisco Sardinha and Lok Sabha MP Kodikunnil Suresh. The other ex-officio members of the committee are AICC in-charge for Dinesh Gundu Rao, PCC president of Tamil Nadu K S Alagiri, Puducherry PCC chief AV Subramanian, Tamil Nadu CLP leader KR Ramasamy, former Puducherry chief minister and CLP leader V Narayansamy, besides the AICC secretaries in-charge for Tamil Nadu and Puducherry. "Congress president has constituted the screening committee for the forthcoming Assembly election in Kerala with immediate effect, with H K Patil as its chairman," another statement from the party said. The other members of the panel for Kerala include Duddilla Sridhar Babu and Praniti Shinde. The ex-officio members of the screening panel include AICC general secretary in-charge Tariq Anwar, PCC president Mullappally Ramachandran and CLP leader Ramesh Chennithala. Former Kerala chief minister Oommen Chandy, who is also the chairman of the party's Election Management and Strategy Committee, the Kerala PCC chief and the AICC secretaries in-charge for the southern state are also ex-officio members of the panel. Besides Aggarwal, the other members of the screening committee for are Mahesh Joshi and Naseem Khan. The panel also has the state Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) president and the AICC in-charge for West Bengal as ex-officio members. The ex-officio members include AICC in-charge for West Bengal Jitin Prasad, state PCC chief Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury and CLP leader Abdul Mannan, besides the AICC secretaries in-charge for West Bengal. The Congress is contesting the West Bengal polls in a coalition with the Left parties and the Indian Secular Front (ISF), and has so far decided to contest on 92 seats in the 294-member Assembly. The panels will screen and select the candidates for the upcoming polls and put forward its recommendations to the Central Election Committee of the Congress chaired by party chief Sonia Gandhi, who would take a final call on the selection of candidates. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Credit: CC0 Public Domain A pair of researchers from Toho University and NASA Nexus for Exoplanet System Science has found evidence, via simulation, that Earth will lose its oxygen-rich atmosphere in approximately 1 billion years. In their paper published in the journal Nature Geoscience, Kazumi Ozaki and Christopher Reinhard describe the factors that went into their simulation and what it showed. Scientists all agree that life cannot go on forever on planet Eartheventually, the sun will run out of energy and destroy itself. Life forms will likely find it increasingly difficult to survive prior to that though, as the sun grows hotter. In this new effort, the researchers sought to find the tipping point for lifewhen the planet will no longer be able to support most plants and animals. To find that tipping point, the researchers created a simulation of Earth that factored in variables that described the climate as well as geological and biological processes, and most importantly, the activity of the sun. The researchers then ran their simulation to see how the Earth fared far into the future. The simulation showed that as the sun grew hotter, 1 billion years from now, releasing more energy, carbon dioxide levels in Earth's atmosphere will begin to drop due to the gas absorbing the heat and breaking down. The ozone layer would also be burned away. Then, as carbon dioxide levels fall, plant life will begin to suffer, resulting in reduced production of oxygen. Over a period of just 10,000, years, CO 2 levels will drop so much that plant life would go extinct. Without plant life, land- and sea-dwelling creatures would soon go extinct, as well, due to the lack of a breathable atmosphere. Meanwhile, the simulation also showed increasing levels of methane entering the atmosphere, speeding the demise of creatures needing oxygen to breathe. The result, according to the simulation, would be a planet without life, save for tiny anaerobic creatures such as bacteriaconditions very similar to Earth prior to the evolution of plants and animals. The researchers suggest that their simulation could be of use to those looking for life on other planetsthe window of opportunity, they note, could be shorter than previously thought. Explore further Possible irreversible changes to sub-systems prior to reaching climate change tipping points More information: Kazumi Ozaki et al. The future lifespan of Earth's oxygenated atmosphere, Nature Geoscience (2021). Journal information: Nature Geoscience Kazumi Ozaki et al. The future lifespan of Earth's oxygenated atmosphere,(2021). DOI: 10.1038/s41561-021-00693-5 2021 Science X Network The latest four-day strike by 7,000 British Gas engineers ended March 1. Workers are opposing new contracts the company is attempting to impose through fire and rehire that mean an effective 20 percent pay cut, with some workers losing up to 15,000 a year. Workers have completed 26 days of action since the dispute began. After 18 days of strikes, the GMB trade union and Centrica, parent company of British Gas, emailed workers February 12 to say that new negotiations were going ahead. The union had called off planned action on the evening of February 11 to enter talks on the following day at the governments Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (Acas). On February 14, the GMB imposed a temporary cessation of hostilities stating, The company has suspended its actions against our members and in turn the strike has been suspended. A British Gas van Following the failure of talks, a four-day strike began on February 19. The talks broke down as British Gas refused to retreat from its fire and rehire threat. The GMB website posted a report February 19 quoting GMB National Secretary, Justin Bowden that Strike(s) will go ahead at British Gas after talks at ACAS faltered because the company refused to end the fire and rehire notice. GMBs executive has determined action could continue to mid-April in this deadlocked dispute. The union is more than willing to call off strikes if British Gas withdraws its threat, with Bowden emphasised in a February 25 GMB statement that Refusing to take fire and rehire off the table is the main obstacle to a settlement at ACAS. British Gas parent company Centricas latest results reported a drop in its earnings of around a third. British Gas saw its earnings fall by 35 percent to 80 million last year. It continues to lose customers, with its customer base shrinking by two percent last year. In response to the decline, Centrica announced a second restructuring programme. British Gas shed 3,000 jobs last year and a further 5,000 are slated to go. Commenting on the need for a major transformation of the company, Centrica chief executive Chris OShea was quoted in a Guardian article February 25, Our journey to transform has only just started The GMBs aim is also to ensure the continued profitability of British Gas, with itself as a corporate partner. Last November, the GMB put out a video in which Bowden said the firm now had less customers, less workers, more subcontractors and a plummeting share price which has bounced Centrica out of the FTSE 100 [share index]. Even as GMB called on its members to reject the companys final offer, Bowden called on them to help us to save this business. British Gas workers are among a growing number of workers combatting a major offensive assault by big business. Fire and rehire ultimatums are becoming the chosen method by which companies push through attacks on workers jobs and conditions, using the COVID-19 pandemic as a pretext. Bus drivers at Go North West in Manchester are presently on strike opposing a fire and rehire plot. The main concern of the union bureaucracy is that such methods undermine their role as a labour police force of the corporations by provoking opposition. The British Gas dispute was discussed by parliaments business select committee on February 2. At the hearing GMB national officer Bowden accused the company of poisoning the well, adding of fire and rehire that It has no place in modern industrial relations, it is an utterly un-British type of mechanism. The recent experience of the Unite unions alliance with Rolls Royce, with the union proving its credentials as a corporate partner, should be assimilated by all workers. The union announced on February 18 the signing of a memorandum of understandings with Rolls Royce at two of its sites, Inchinnan in Scotland and Ansty in Coventry. Rolls Royce agreed not to push through compulsory redundancies at the two sites. The Inchinnan site employs around 575 workers producing turbine blades and aerofoils, while around 85 are employed at Ansty producing engine fan cases. Main entrance to Rolls-Royce factory, Inchinnan (credit: Stephen SweeneyCreative Commons) Unite Assistant General Secretary Steve Turner said, Coming hot on the heels of the Barnoldswick deal, these agreements show exactly what can be achieved when employers and unions work together in a genuine and positive way. Appealing for a tripartite campaign including Boris Johnsons Conservative government to defend British industry he continued, As we face the triple challenge of recovering from the pandemic, adjusting to the UKs new position outside of the EU [European Union] and tackling climate change, it is clear that government now needs to play its part Companies like Rolls-Royce have the potential to drive a jobs recovery as they produce the green tech needed to meet our zero carbon targets, while cementing the UKs position as the envy of the manufacturing world We now need government to be working much closer with both unions and industry to ensure that [the] challenges [ahead] are met. At Rolls Royces aero manufacturing plant in Barnoldswick in Lancashire, workers held nine weeks of industrial action over plans to offshore 350 Trent jet engine blade manufacturing jobs to Singapore. The plant currently employs around 740. The deal struck by Rolls Royce and Unite at Barnoldswick was outlined in a January 14 article in the aero-mag website. It reported, The main details of the deal are 10-year manufacturing guarantee for the site and a guaranteed minimum headcount of 350 workers. It includes, A guarantee of a two year no compulsory redundancy agreement to facilitate discussions on a plan to develop advanced manufacturing work, supporting carbon free energy generation, along with synthetic fuels and green technologies. What this means is that under the terms of the deal Rolls Royce would be able to halve the workforce over time by voluntary redundancies. Welcoming the deal Turner said, Id like to recognise the role of Rolls-Royce CEO, Warren East, who was prepared to listen to a clear alternative business case for this highly skilled, dedicated workforce. I urge others to follow suit and work with Unite to do the same, to develop a shared vision and determination to position UK manufacturing as a world-leader in emerging and green technologies. Rolls Royce is continuing its attacks on its workforce to ramp up productivity and cut workers pay with Unites complicity. The firm plans to close its civil aircraft jet engine plants for two weeks over the summer to save money. The shutdownthe first in the companys historywill affect all 19,000 staff in the UK, according to reports. Workers wont be paid for the two weeks, with Rolls Royce spreading the loss of wages over the year. The plan has the backing of Unite. Rolls Royce said last month, As part of the agreement reached with the union last summer, we agreed in principle to enter into negotiations about delivering a 10 percent productivity and efficiency improvement across our Civil Aerospace operations in the UK. We have now begun complex and constructive discussions with the union on how this can be achieved. The Socialist Equality Party calls on British Gas workers to oppose the union bureaucracy and establish rank-and-file committees independent of the trade unions. British Gas strikers must establish contact with all other workers fighting fire and rehire ultimatums and turn for support to the 20,000 workers in the Centrica group and the nearly 700,000 employed throughout the UKs energy sector. Contact us today to discuss the way forward. Press Release March 2, 2021 1-year delay in class resumption is worth 2 years of make-up classes: Pangilinan ALMOST one year since the suspension of classes at all levels due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the government needs to prepare for mass return to school by pilot-testing face-to-face classes in low-risk areas in the country, Senator Francis "Kiko" Pangilinan said. In a co-sponsorship speech of Senate Resolution 668 Monday evening, Pangilinan said: "Isang taon na po ang nakakalipas, pero karamihan ng mga problemang hinaharap ng ating education system ay pareho pa rin hanggang ngayon. In fact, mas nadagdagan pa." "We owe it to our students, their parents, school faculty and staff, to be able to provide a safe environment to resume classes. We can only do that if we have the experience -- kung alam na natin kung ano ang epektibo, dapat, at ligtas na gawin, at kung paano ito gagawin," he said. Intermittent Internet connection, the cost of mobile data adding to daily expenses, and the lack of a proper gadget are some of the problems that comes with the Department of Education's (DepEd) blended distance learning program. "Dahil ngayong blended learning ang mga bata ay hindi gaanong makapag-focus sa pag-aaral gawa ng minsan mahina ang signal ng mga data o wifi sa kanila kaya ang mga bata hindi nakakapasok. At sa hina ng signal hindi naiintindihan ng mga bata kung ano ang tinuturo ng guro nila. Minsan ang guro nawawalan din ng signal," Pangilinan said quoting Catherine of Bagong Silang, Caloocan. Prior to the pandemic, the Philippines ranked 70 among 79 high and middle-income countries in a study conducted by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). Its Programme for International Student Assessment (Pisa) showed the Philippines ranking last in terms of reading literacy, and second to the last in math and science. According to the Philippine Pediatric Society, a short-term effect of school closures leads to a "summer slide," or learning loss during a break. Said disruptions are equal to significant learning loss. Pediatricians equated it as such: one year of closure is equal to two years loss of learning. "Dalawang taon na po halos ang kailangang habulin ng ating mga paaralan at mga mag-aaral. At bawat pagpapatagal natin sa pagbubukas ng klase ay mas dumadagdag pa ito," said Pangilinan. "Hindi pa po riyan natatapos, dahil meron pa raw mga long-term effects. Malaki ang posibilidad ng pagdami ng mga 'drop-outs', nababawasan ang kagustuhang matuto, nababawasan daw ang mga 'foundational skills' na mahirap iregain at reintegrate sa loob ng education system," he said, quoting the Philippine Pediatric Society. "Sa isang normal na classroom situation daw, 22 percent ang learning gain. Pero sa ilalim ng distance education, there is 78 percent less learning. Nakakaalarma," he added. Under the GCQ (general community quarantine) and MGCQ (modified general community quarantine) lockdowns, the government now allows the re-opening of amusement parks, cinemas, and shopping centers at a limited capacity. Minors as young as 10 years may now go out to visit malls and other recreational establishments. "Sabi sa hearing ang mga massage parlor pwede nang magbukas. Pero yung ating mga eskwelahan hindi pa. Nasaan daw ang priorities 'ika nga", said Pangilnan. Pangilinan is co-sponsor of proposed Senate Resolution 668 on the Immediate launch of Pilot Testing of Localized Limited Face-to-face Classes in 1,065 Public Schools. At a previous hearing on the topic, Pangilinan proposed reducing the number of pilot-test schools from 1,065 to 100 to serve as a basis of standard operating procedures and best practices before nationwide roll-out. "Wag na po sana nating idagdag ang krisis sa edukasyon sa marami nang krisis na hinaharap ng ating bansa ngayong pandemya. Umaksyon na agad tayo," Pangilinan said. Across the US, numerous school districts began reopening Monday in a reckless move that will exacerbate the spread of COVID-19. Over the past month and, in particular, following the February 10 betrayal by the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU), the corporate media, both big business parties and the teachers unions have conspired to send millions of children into classrooms at the most dangerous stage of the pandemic. The Democratic Party has spearheaded this campaign, with local and state officials implementing Bidens goal of fully reopening the majority of K-8 schools by the end of April. In this Feb. 25, 2021, file photo, Assistant Principal Janette Van Gelderen, left, welcomes students at Newhall Elementary in Santa Clarita, Calif. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez, File) At the same time, politicians from both parties are loosening other restrictions on in-person gatherings, reopening bars, restaurants and other indoor venues. With more infectious, lethal and potentially vaccine-resistant variants of SARS-CoV-2 spreading throughout the country, the stage has been set for a massive spring surge of the pandemic that will cause further needless suffering and deaths. The recent decline in the daily case count in the US has now stalled at roughly 70,000 new cases per day, a highly elevated figure that exceeds last summers surge. There continue to be roughly 2,000 new deaths each day across the country, while epidemiologist Dr. Michael Osterholm has warned that there will be a hurricane of infections and deaths by the end of March. In pressing to reopen schools, politicians have invoked the unscientific guidelines released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on February 12, which explicitly state that schools can open and stay open at any level of community transmission. On Monday, CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky hypocritically stated, Now is not the time to relax the critical safeguards that we know can stop the spread of COVID-19 in our communities. Only two weeks ago, Walensky made the rounds on all the talk shows to endorse school reopenings. It is an urgent necessity that all schools and non-essential workplaces be closed immediately until the pandemic is brought under control and the population is fully vaccinated, with full funding provided for remote learning and guaranteed income for all affected workers. Yet the exact opposite policies are being pursued everywhere on behalf of Wall Street. The only purpose of opening schools is for them to serve as daycare facilities for children while their parents return to unsafe workplaces to produce corporate profits. According to Burbios K-12 School Opening Tracker, the majority of school districts are now offering fully in-person learning or hybrid instruction in which children attend in-person part of the week. Only three statesCalifornia, Oregon and Marylandare offering in-person learning at less than 20 percent of their schools. School districts across Maryland began reopening Monday under orders from Republican Governor Larry Hogan, who has threatened action against teachers who do not comply. These included Anne Arundel County (80,000 total enrollment), Howard County (60,000), Baltimore City (84,000), Baltimore County (111,000) and Harford County (39,000). The third largest district in the US, Chicago Public Schools (CPS), opened its doors Monday to roughly 37,000 K-5 students returning to their classrooms after their teachers returned last Monday. Educators for grades 6-8 also returned to their classrooms Monday, with tens of thousands of students in those grades set to return on March 8. On Monday, School District of Philadelphia (SDP) Superintendent William Hite announced that he reached an agreement with the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers (PFT) to begin returning Pre-K through second grade students to schools starting on March 8, with their teachers returning this Wednesday. While reopenings for older grades have not yet been announced, this initial reopening will be used as a wedge to facilitate the broader reopening of the district, which is the eighteenth largest in the country with roughly 120,000 students. In Tennessee, Shelby County Schools (SCS), which serves roughly 111,000 students in the Memphis metro region, began reopening Monday. On Wednesday, high schools in Metro Nashville Public Schools (MNPS) will resume in-person learning after lower grades returned in mid-February. Last Thursday, roughly 62,000 middle school students returned to 471 schools in New York City, the largest district in the US with over 1.1 million students. This followed the initial reopening of Detroit Public Schools (DPS) last Wednesday, with numerous districts across Michigan reopening over the past week. Across the West Coast, Democratic governors and mayors are pressing to reopen schools in the coming weeks. The most significant struggle is unfolding in Los Angeles, the countrys second largest school district with roughly 665,000 students. The pseudo-left-led United Teachers Los Angeles (UTLA) is following the same playbook used by the CTU in Chicago, posturing as intransigent on vaccinating teachers before reopening schools, while at the same time allowing teachers to volunteer to return to schools starting this Thursday. At a press briefing Monday, California Governor Gavin Newsom announced that seven new counties in the state will move from the highest purple tier to the red tier of slightly lower infections, which will enable school districts in those counties to begin reopening. It is expected that San Franscisco, with Democratic Mayor London Breed pushing to reopen schools, will be included in the list. In nearby Oakland, Democratic Mayor Libby Schaaf was a featured speaker at a right-wing rally to reopen schools, stating, Its time we get our kids back to school. In Washington, Tacoma Public Schoolswhere teachers held a sickout last weekbegan reopening Monday. The states largest school district, Seattle Public Schools (SPS), is slated to send Pre-K and special education students back to school next Monday. Schools across Oregon are scheduled to resume in-person learning in late March, with the largest district in Portland reopening on April 8. Despite the back-to-school push, many parents are boycotting in-person learning to protect the health of their children and families. Officials in Council Rock School District, just outside of Philadelphia, have complained that as many as 30 percent of the high school students who were signed up for in-person learning have not showed up. The reopening of each of these major districts will set a precedent for the full resumption of in-person learning throughout their surrounding regions. In every instance, the most critical role is being played by the teachers unions, which have conspired with Democratic officials at the local, state and national levels to reopen schools. American Federation of Teachers (AFT) President Randi Weingarten, whose annual salary is roughly $500,000 and sits on the Democratic National Committee (DNC), recently told the New York Times that she spends 15 hours a day on the phone with the White House, the CDC, local mayors and union leaders working to get schools open. On Monday, Weingarten issued a peculiar tweet of the WSWS article, Thousands of students return for in-person schooling in Chicago. Addressing the tweet to CTU President Jesse Sharkey, she included a quote from Sharkey referring to his desire for speedy negotiations to reopen high schools. Evidently, Weingarten was attempting to pressure Sharkey to follow through with this pledge. Tweet by Randi Weingarten Weingarten is widely recognized as a reactionary stooge of the Democrats, with many of her posts denounced by rank-and-file educators. A tweet replying to Weingarten by WSWS writer Kristina Betinis on the need to oppose school reopenings received an enthusiastic response. Comment by Kristina Betinis The mass reopening of schools underway across the country will only add fuel to the fire and accelerate the spread of COVID-19 in the coming weeks. Mobilizing educators and the broader working class to oppose this policy and implement the necessary measures to contain the pandemic is a life-and-death question, which must be fought for with the utmost urgency. Nearly one year ago, the initial lockdowns at the start of the pandemic were only implemented due to the eruption of wildcat strikes by autoworkers outside the control of the corrupt United Auto Workers (UAW), as well as the threat of wildcat strikes by educators outside the control of the AFT and other teachers unions. The closure of schools alone was estimated to have saved roughly 40,600 lives between March 9 and May 7, 2020, according to a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. Over the past year, mass disaffection with the unions has spurred the growth of networks of rank-and-file safety committees among educators and autoworkers in the US, as well as Baltimore Amazon workers and other sections of the working class in the UK, Germany, Australia, Sri Lanka, Turkey and other countries. These committees are the center of opposition to the ruling elites homicidal policies and are fighting for the preparation of general strike action in each country. The fight to contain the pandemic is above all a political struggle against the capitalist system, which will only be resolved through an international socialist revolution. The critical task facing the working class is to develop a revolutionary leadership steeped in the history of the class struggle and the socialist movement, which only the Socialist Equality Party fights to develop internationally. All educators and other workers determined to put an end to the capitalist system that has produced the catastrophe of the pandemic should join the SEP today. Scientists have discovered a previously unknown breeding site used by the world's rarest seal species. The Mediterranean monk seal is classified as "endangered", with a total population of about 700. The new study - by the University of Exeter and the Society for the Protection of Turtles (SPOT) - used camera-traps to confirm breeding in caves in northern Cyprus, with at least three pups born from 2016-19 at one cave. Only certain caves are suitable for monk seal breeding and resting, so - although the numbers are small - the researchers say urgent action is needed to protect these caves. "This area of coastline in being developed rapidly, especially for construction of hotels," said Dr Robin Snape, of the Centre for Ecology and Conservation on Exeter's Penryn Campus in Cornwall. "A survey of the coast in 2007 found 39 possible breeding caves, and some of these have already been destroyed. "The main breeding site we identify in this study currently has no protected status, and we are working with local authorities to try to change this." Lead author Dr Damla Beton, of SPOT, added: "Another major threat to monk seals in this area is bycatch (accidental catching by fisheries). "We are working with fishers and government ministries to ensure protection areas at sea, because at present no measures are implemented to mitigate bycatch in the core areas used by these seals." The team has now established long-term monitoring of the breeding caves, aiming to determine the size of this seal population. ### The study, carried out in collaboration with the Middle Eastern Technical University with the support of the local authorities, received funding from the MAVA Foundation. The paper, published in Oryx - the International Journal of Conservation, is entitled: "New monitoring confirms regular breeding of the Mediterranean monk seal in Northern Cyprus." Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. You have permission to edit this article. Edit Close SAO PAULO and NEW YORK, March 2, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Qintess, the Brazilian technology and digital transformation group, recognized as one of 100 most innovative companies in Brazil, joins the select group of companies invited by the NYU Stern Center for Sustainable Business (CSB) to discuss how to build the financial case for Return on Sustainability Investment (ROSI). With an agenda composed of different panels and renowned speakers like the CEOs of Ralph Lauren, HSBC Bank USA, Walmart, Burberry, among others, the event will take place on March 3 and 4, 2021. The objective is to generate insights based on cutting-edge CSB research as well as corporate and investor perspectives, connecting finance, corporate, academic, and non-profit professionals working in sustainable business around the world. "In the post-Covid-19 world, many changes can easily be predicted less travel, more remote work, reduced focus on cities that will require significant agility by corporations to find innovative ways to balance the well-being of their people and their responsibilities to society with the bottom-line needs of their businesses. But, less obviously, the challenges of dealing with Covid-19 are also likely to accelerate a shift that was already occurring toward a more sustainable and inclusive capitalism, and that's exactly what we're going to talk about," says Nana Baffour, CEO, Chairman & Chief Culture Officer of Qintess. According to the executive, who will be the moderator of the panel "Technology for People, Planet, and Profit," given the importance of the corporate organization in the modern economy, it is crucial that the right balance in the allocation of the company's resources among all key constituents customers, employees, shareholders, and the community is found. "Success and impact must be measured based not just on shareholder returns, but on how well each constituency is served, and technology has been a catalyst for this. This is our purpose at Qintess, to be an enabler to Sustainable Capitalism through Digital Transformation", concludes Baffour. Sponsored by Qintess, Glenmede, Investindustrial and Harvard Business Review, the NYU Stern CSB 2021 Practice Forum aims to show how sustainability returns are driven by innovation, operational efficiency, employee engagement, brand enhancement and risk mitigation. To Tensie Whelan, Director, NYU Stern CSB, and Clinical Professor of Business and Society at NYU Stern School of Business, building sustainable enterprises is about innovating in the face of significant change and competition, which requires business model transformation. According to Professor Whelan, NYU Stern CSB's research into Return on Sustainability Investment (ROSI) the focus of this event clearly illustrates the value that companies can derive by building sustainable enterprises. "A paradigm shift toward sustainable capitalism is needed to improve business performance in the new and rapidly evolving economy." According to CSB's research, sustainable businesses generate better results due to creating competitive advantage through stakeholder engagement; improving risk management; fostering innovation; improving operational efficiencies; building customer loyalty; and attracting and engaging employees. The NYU Stern CSB 2021 Practice Forum is an invitation-only event. About Qintess Qintess brings together experience in strategy, innovation, design, and technology to position itself as a leader in digital transformation. By developing innovative capabilities with emerging technologies, Qintess supports clients on their journeys towards sustainable business growth. Obsessed with innovation and agile decision making, innovative teams accelerate the delivery of solutions for various business challenges, generating value for customers, their employees, shareholders and for society. All actions are structured by ESG best practices, running with a genuine concern for people as well as the communities engaged with Qintess. Qintess has approximately 3,200 employees and more than 2,000 customers, with operations in Brazil, Chile, Colombia, the United States and EMEA. Qintess' main clients include seven of the top ten financial institutions in the world, eight of the top ten utilities companies in Brazil and two of the country's three largest telecommunications companies. To learn more, visit: www.qintess.com About NYU Stern Center for Sustainable Business The NYU Stern Center for Sustainable Business (CSB) envisions a better world through better business. The Center was founded on the principle that sustainable business is good business; delivering better financial results while protecting the planet and its people. CSB aims to help current and future business leaders embrace proactive and innovative mainstreaming of sustainability, resulting in competitive advantage and resiliency for their companies as well as a positive impact for society. To learn more, visit: stern.nyu.edu/sustainability SOURCE Qintess Related Links http://www.qintess.com State oil giant Saudi Aramco was faced with the biggest crisis in a century owing to the pandemic, but it sharpened the focus on resilience, which gave the company the agility to respond quickly, said its President & CEO Amin H. Nasser. He was discussing the economic and industry trends, as well as the energy transition, during a virtual CERAWeek panel held under the topic 'Charting an Era of Recovery.' Michael Wirth, CEO of Chevron, also participated in the panel and the discussion was moderated by Daniel Yergin, Vice Chairman of IHS Markit. On the impact of Covid-19, Nasser said: "It had exposed 'harsh realities' to the world. There has been a huge impact on small and medium sized businesses, and more so on employment, he stated. "My big worry over the long term is a jobless recovery, when certain jobs are not going to return," he added. When asked about the situation on the oil markets, Nasser expressed optimism: "China and East Asia are seeing strong demand. India is also picking up to pre-pandemic levels." "There is an impact in the West and the US, but with the rapid deployment of vaccines we are seeing good cause for optimismm," he added. Nasser also discussed the energy transition and noted that ESG has always been a big part of Aramcos strategy. "Our Master Gas System was built in the 1970s and by eliminating flaring, the system alone has removed 100 million tonnes of CO2 every year since then," explained Nasser. Looking ahead, Nasser emphasized the huge potential for hydrogen.-TradeArabia News Service BLACKPINK remains one of the most talked-about K-Pop groups in recent times. Though it has been months since Jennie, Jisoo, Lisa and Rose released their latest album, tracks included in their most recent EP continue to make waves in numerous audio streaming platform and worldwide music charts as of this writing. BLACKPINK Reaches New Milestones on Spotify On Monday, March 1, it was revealed that BLACKPINK has already garnered more than 400 million streams on Spotify in 2021 alone. Jennie, Jisoo, Lisa and Rose are the only female group to ever made such feat on the said music streaming platform. Jennie, as a solo artist, got more than 14 million streams this year alone. All in all, BLACKPINK already has a total of 4.7 billion streams while Jennie has more than 288 million streams on Spotify. In early February, BLACKPINK also broke a record for being the first female group and fastest K-Pop act to ever surpass the 19 million followers on Spotify. "The Album" also made it big on the online audio streaming platform as it was streamed more than 1.2 billion times already. "How You Like That" by BLACKPINK already amassed more than 381 million streams while "Ice Cream" garnered more than 271 million streams as of late. Other songs of Jennie, Lisa, Jisoo and Rose that generated a lot of streams include "Pretty Savage" (199 million), "Bet You Wanna" (90 million), "Lovesick Girls" (182.9 million), "Crazy Over You" (63.9 million), "Love to Hate Me" (69.1 million) and "You Never Know" (54.4 million). In the "Kill This Love" album, only two tracks surpassed the 100 million streams on Spotify, namely: "Don't Know What To Do" with more than 142 million streams and "Kill This Love," which is the carrier single of the EP, with a whooping 424.9 million streams. BLACKPINK Earns New Record on MelOn and YouTube Aside from dominating Spotify, BLACKPINK is also making waves in other music platform like MelOn. As a matter of fact, Jennie, Lisa, Jisoo and Lisa recently joined IU as the only female artists in history to ever spend a total of 20 weeks in the Top 10 MelOn Weekly Chart. In that is not enough, "The Album" by BLACKPINK was also pronounced as the best-selling album by a K-Pop Female act after it sold more than 1.3 million copies. Jennie, Lisa, Jisoo and Rose surpassed the records that BoA previously had for her "Valenti" album, which was bought 1.2 million times. As of press time, BLACKPINK is also the No. 6 most viewed female artist on YouTube. Taking the lead at No. 1 is Taylor Swift with 21.48 billion views, followed by Katy Perry at No. 2 with 21.43 billion views and Shakira at No. 3 with 20 billion views. Ariana Grande secured the fourth spot with 18 billion views while Rihanna nabbed the fifth spot with 17 billion views. Beyonce (13 billion views), Marilia Mendoca (12 billion views), Lady Gaga (11 billion views), Selena Gomez (10 billion views) and Adele (9.8 billion views) completed the list. For more K-Pop news and updates, always keep your tabs open here on KpopStarz. KpopStarz owns this article. Written by Nica Vaughn Armenia's Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan told thousands of rallying supporters on Monday that he was ready to hold early elections to bring the country out of a political crisis. "If the parliamentary opposition agrees to early elections, we will agree to early elections," Pashinyan told the flag-waving crowd. "Let's go to the polls and see whose resignation the people are demanding," said Pashinyan, who swept to power after spearheading peaceful protests in 2018. He admitted to making mistakes and asked for forgiveness, but denounced those he said were trying to undermine the country's democracy. Facing fire for his handling of last year's disastrous war with Azerbaijan, Pashinyan filled Yerevan's central Republic Square with more than 20,000 supporters, as government opponents demonstrated outside parliament to demand his resignation. (CGTN) The boss of Hotel Chocolat has said all 125 stores will reopen once Covid-19 restrictions are eased and there no plans to shut any permanently. Chief executive Angus Thirlwell said while he expects to see a slowdown in business at city centre and travel locations, stores could see a boost from home workers working more flexibly in future. He told the PA news agency: Some locations when we were allowed to reopen during the summer mass transit and office-based city-centre stores were down, but the counterpoint is community-based high streets had a new lease of life and some were up on the previous year. More office-based and commuter locations could result in lower footfall but if people are going in two or three days a week, we expect to become destinations shoppers seek out. The comments come as Hotel Chocolat revealed sales were up 11% to 101.9 million in the second half of 2020 up to December 27 compared with the first half. Expand Close Hotel Chocolat boss Angus Thirlwell believes stores will bounce back after lockdowns (BBC/PA) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Hotel Chocolat boss Angus Thirlwell believes stores will bounce back after lockdowns (BBC/PA) Pre-tax profits rose 3% to 15.5 million compared with 15 million in the first six months of the year. Strong online growth helped the company learn more about its customers and target products at them accordingly. UK sales grew 12%, with online growth more than offsetting the reduction in stores being closed during national lockdowns and the tier restrictions during the autumn and winter months. More than half of UK sales in the period came through online and the number of UK customers grew by 38%. Growth was also strong in the smaller markets of the US and Japan the latter saw 11 stores opened, bringing the total to 19. Mr Thirlwell said the US and Japanese businesses could be used as a hub for the regions, with potential to expand to other nearby locations including Canada in North America, alongside China and Singapore in the Far East. He added: We will take a considered approach and see where works best for the brand. Bengal Polls: Abhishek Singhvi snubs Anand Sharma over ISF issue India pti-Deepika S New Delhi, Mar 02: The Congress on Tuesday asserted that its alliance in West Bengal is a "secular front" formed to fight the BJP and urged everyone in the party to join it unconditionally, in an apparent snub to its senior leader Anand Sharma who had criticised the tie-up with the Indian Secular Front (ISF). Sharma had on Monday slammed the party''s alliance with the ISF of Muslim cleric Abbas Siddiqui, saying it was against the "Gandhian and Nehruvian secularism" which forms the Congress'' soul and the party cannot be selective in fighting the "communalists". Asked about Sharma''s criticism, Congress spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi attacked the BJP, alleging it was creating "false propaganda" by dubbing its political opponents as communal and claiming itself to be secular. "The whole idea is this larger front in Bengal was to create as far as possible a good political fight against BJP''s particularly vitiated brand of politics and therefore each one us, each one of my senior, respected and valued colleagues, should join wholeheartedly and unconditionally in that fight together to combat this false propaganda of the BJP," he told reporters. He said one of the parties of that front - the CPM - has decided to give seats out of its quota to ISF. 'I believe in civilised political dialogue': Anand Sharma on Adhir Chowdhury's retort over ISF alliance Sharma had on Monday sought clarification from West Bengal PCC chief Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury for sharing the stage with the ISF leader at a rally in Kolkata. The former union minister and a leader of the group of 23 which had written to Congress president Sonia Gandhi demanding organisational overhaul, said the issue of "alliance" with a radical party like the ISF should have been discussed and approved by the Congress Working Committee (CWC). Hitting back at Sharma, Chowdhury said he does not understand the ground realities and the front has been formed to defeat the BJP''s communal and divisive politics. "Would urge a select group of distinguished Congressmen to rise above always seeking personal comfort spots and stop wasting time singing praises of PM," he tweeted. "They owe a duty to strengthen the Party and not undermine the tree that nurtured them," he said. "Know ur facts Anand Sharma ji, CPI(M) led Left Front is leading the secular alliance in West Bengal of which Congress is an integral part. We are determined to defeat the BJP''s communal and divisive politics and an autocratic regime," he said on Twitter. He said the Congress has already got its full share of seats and the Left Front is allocating seats from its share to the newly formed ISF. "Your choice to call the decision of CPM-led front ''communal'' is only serving the polarising agenda of BJP. "Those who are committed to fighting the BJP''s venomous communalism should support the Congress and campaign for the party in five states rather than attempting to undermine the party by remarks in tune with BJP''s agenda," Chowdhury also said. Party leader Jiytin Prasad also said that alliance decisions are taken keeping in mind the best interests of the party and the workers. "Now is the time for everyone to join hands and work towards strengthening the prospects of the Congress in the poll bound states," he said. Sharma on Tuesday maintained that they have concerns and what they are saying should be understood in the right context. "We want to strengthen the Congress and see it united. We do not want anything that could weaken the party," he said. Asked about the Congress'' position on the war of words within the party, Singhvi said the PCC chief has already clarified his position. "This is a propaganda by BJP which, despite the absolute ''goonda level of politics'' practiced by it, repeatedly claims itself as the true shining secular party and makes a joke by accusing others of communalism," he alleged. The BJP also hit out at the Congress over its alliances in different states, saying they are solely aimed at maintaining the Gandhi family''s relevance. BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra said the Congress has tied up with a "maulana''s party" (Indian Secular Front) and the Left in West Bengal, while it is fighting the Left in Kerala. The opposition party is also working to strike an alliance with Badruddin Ajmal''s AIDUF in Assam and has joined hands with the Shiv Sena in Maharashtra, he noted. "It (the Congress) has no ideology. Its only ideology is corruption and nepotism and to come to power anyhow," he said. Such alliances highlight the Congress'' "doublespeak and utmost hypocrisy", he said at a press conference. Singhvi did not answer queries on Patra''s allegations. As Turkeys vaccination campaign continues apace, an easing of coronavirus restrictions is beginning based on conditions in individual provinces, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced Monday night. Weekend curfews, in place since December, will be lifted in low- and medium-risk provinces, while restrictions on Sunday will continue for a while in provinces classified as high risk or very high risk, Erdogan said after a Cabinet meeting at the presidential complex. "Face-to-face education will start in low- and medium-risk provinces of Turkey, including in middle and high schools," he added. Erdogan also said that all preschool education institutions across Turkey, as well as elementary schools and grades 8 and 12, will resume in-person classes. "Apart from the general practice, only face-to-face exams in high schools will be held in our high-risk and very high-risk provinces," Anadolu Agency cited him as saying. As of this Tuesday, face-to-face education will begin across the country in all preschool education institutions, primary schools, and grades 8 and 12, according to the National Education Ministry. In low- and medium-risk provinces, face-to-face education will start full-time in preschool institutions and with divided classes in primary schools two days a week. Distance education will continue in groups and cities not covered by face-to-face education. Participation in face-to-face education will depend on parental consent. Special education schools and classes across the country will also start full-time, face-to-face education. The public will return to normal working hours throughout Turkey, while governor's offices will make different arrangements if needed, Erdogan said. "The more people abide by pandemic measures, the faster they will ensure their provinces shift to normalization," he explained. "The decision to tighten or loosen measures will be made according to the improvement or worsening of the pandemic [situation] in each of our provinces," said Erdogan. However, the country's nationwide curfew from 9.00 pm to 5.00 am will continue, Erdogan added. The color-coded risk map of Turkeys 81 provinces will be redone every week according to the risk situation, and the normalization practice will be updated every two weeks, he added. Businesses such as restaurants and cafes will be open with 50% capacity from 7.00 a.m. to 7.00 p.m., except in very high-risk provinces, he announced. General assemblies of NGOs, trade groups, cooperatives, and similar organizations can be held in low-, medium- and high-risk provinces with the participation of up to 300 people, he said. Erdogan went on to say that in low- and medium-risk provinces, wedding ceremonies up to one hour long can be held with up to 100 people attending, and with a maximum of 50 people in high-risk and very high-risk provinces. On the country's successful vaccination campaign, Erdogan also mentioned that having done 9 million coronavirus jabs, Turkey is one of only five countries worldwide that have already vaccinated 10% of their populations. Turkey's vaccination campaign began on Jan. 14. As of Monday, Turkey registered a total of 28.638 deaths from COVID-19, while over 2.57 million people have recovered from the disease. There have been over 2.7 million confirmed cases in the country. A Northern Ireland surfer has spoken of his elation after swimming more than 100km in complete darkness as part of a charity challenge which he started last December. Al Mennie has been taking to the waters off the north coast at Downhill and Castlerock beaches for the last three months to raise funds for mental health charity Aware. Last night marked his final swim, which saw Al exceed his distance target of 100km. The experienced surfer said he felt fantastic that supporters had donated nearly 14,000 for Aware. "It's amazing. I started off with an initial target of 3,000. I felt bad during the pandemic putting any target, but the generosity has been unbelievable," said Al. The adventurer stressed that being in the open water in pitch darkness is a very different experience altogether - even with his own experience. "As soon as there's no light it's a different world altogether. There's waves and currents that I can normally see but then I can only trust my ears to know that a wave's coming," he explained. Donations can be made to the mental health charity via: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/al-mennie 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. 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 company behind a $400-million proposal to redevelop Portage Place says the entire project is now in jeopardy. The company behind a $400-million proposal to redevelop Portage Place says the entire project is now in jeopardy. Starlight Investments had hoped to secure $20 million of federal funding by a due diligence deadline at 5 p.m. Monday, money it says it needs to make the project feasible. Shortly after deadline passed, the company said it had not receive a funding decision or a set timeline on when one might be made, putting the project at risk. "There was no timeline put forward by the federal government, so the due diligence period has expired and theres no request from Starlight for an extension. So the deal is in jeopardy," said Marni Larkin, a spokesperson for the company. Starlight previously hoped to complete due diligence on the project in late August but postponed the deadline twice while discussions with the federal government continued. If approved, the proposal would create 500 housing units and almost 500,000 square feet of office and retail space in the city centre. Winnipeg city council approved a $20-million incentive package to support the project, while the province has promised a $28.7-million education tax rebate. Only the federal government request remained outstanding as of Monday. Starlight has said it wont proceed with the project unless all three governments provide $20 million each. Larkin said Starlight simply cant justify another deadline extension to its shareholders, without a sense of when the decision could be made. She said the proposal is not, however, officially dead, since something could still be worked out over the next few days. "The window is very tight," said Larkin. In an email, a spokeswoman for federal Families Minister Ahmed Hussen did not answer why the government hasnt yet decided on the funding request nor did it indicate when it might do so. The statement said the Canadian government is interested in the housing component of Starlights proposal. City councils funding was contingent on a requirement that at least 10 per cent of the new apartments have affordable rents. "We are communicating directly with Starlight on an ongoing basis," said Mikaela Harrison. "Our lines of communication remain open, and we are ready to work directly with Starlight Investment Holdings to help create more affordable housing in Winnipeg." Coun. Cindy Gilroy, chairwoman of city councils property and development committee, said shes concerned about the potential loss of the redevelopment. "We really need to see some investment into our downtown and every time that we lose critical investment, it makes (attracting that) even harder Im nervous about this not happening," said Gilroy (Daniel McIntyre). The councillor said some key amenities are now also at risk, since the project proposed to create a grocery store and a 10,000-square-foot community space with public washrooms, as well as the affordable housing. "I think that it (would) rejuvenate and revitalize a very vulnerable part of our community right now," said Gilroy. joyanne.pursaga@freepress.mb.ca Twitter: @joyanne_pursaga WASHINGTON, March 2, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- WHAT: Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, the nation's longest-serving infectious disease expert, will receive the National Museum of American History's "Great Americans" medal for his lifetime of public service. WHEN: Tuesday, March 2 6:30 p.m. ET WHERE: Virtual Event Registration: https://smithsoniannmah.swoogo.com/gafauci WHO: Anthea M. Hartig, Elizabeth MacMillan Director, National Museum of American History Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, director, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases David M. Rubenstein, Smithsonian Regent In a virtual ceremony, the National Museum of American History will honor internationally recognized infectious disease scientist and public health official Dr. Anthony S. Fauci for his extraordinary leadership during the COVID-19 pandemic and distinguished career leading federal research and policy. The medal is the museum's signature honor, and as part of the award program, philanthropist and Smithsonian Regent David M. Rubenstein will interview Fauci. For more than 50 years, Fauci has dedicated his life to the study, prevention and treatment of immune-related and infectious diseases. As the director of the National Institutes of Health's National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases since 1984, Fauci has advised seven U.S. Presidents on many domestic and global health issues. The "Great Americans" medal is presented to individuals who have made lifetime contributions to the U.S. while embodying American values and ideals. More information on the medal is available at https://greatamericans.si.edu. The award presentation is open to the public by registration. SOURCE Smithsonian's National Museum of American History Related Links www.mnh.si.edu First Watch, a popular daytime cafe serving breakfast, brunch and lunch daily from 7am 2:30pm opened their newest eatery this morning in the heart of Winter Park at 140 N. Orlando Ave. The new location marks the 21st restaurant for the company in the greater Orlando area. We stopped by the brand new First Watch Winter Park today to attend the inaugural Egg-Cracking ceremony with (left to right) Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings, First Watch CEO Chris Tomasso, President and CEO of the Winter Park Chamber of Commerce Betsy Gardner Eckbert, Chief Development Officer of Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida Greg Higgerson, and Orlando Solar Bears mascot Shades. Part flagship, part prototype evolution, the Winter Park restaurant is a thoughtful response to drastically altered customer preferences that evolved over the past 12 months. Among the new features are: Dedicated Take-out & Delivery Entrance A 360 Indoor/Outdoor Bar & Cocktails Expansive Patio & Outdoor Lounge seating A spacious interior with new design elements Our original plans to open First Watch in Winter Park were postponed at the onset of the pandemic, and we used the opportunity to listen to our customers and reevaluate how we approach our restaurant design, in order to better serve our community. Part of that evaluation meant revisiting and elevating our patios, as well as improving accessibility through carry out, delivery and curbside, said Chris Tomasso, president and CEO of First Watch. We went back to the drawing board to reimagine the First Watch experience, and our Winter Park restaurant really brings this new vision to life. The interior of the restaurant is bright and maximizes the abundant daylight that enters the dining room, which is surrounded by tall windows. It builds upon First Watchs Urban Farm design prototype with the addition of warm blue tones, quartz countertops and artwork that nods to its longstanding history in Central Florida. First Watchs curated menu takes an elevated approach to traditional and innovative offerings made to order using farm fresh ingredients. It includes crave-able items such as Avocado Toast, Smoked Salmon Eggs Benedict, Farm Stand Breakfast Tacos and Lemon Ricotta Pancakes. The new restaurant will launch with a seasonal menu featuring Crab & Avocado Toast, Huevos Rancheros Tostadas, Triple Berry Acai Bowl and the perfectly Instagrammable Purple Haze Lemonade. The new restaurant will also feature First Watchs Fresh Juice Bar with offerings including the best-selling Kale Tonic and Morning Meditation juiced in-house daily using only the highest quality fruits and vegetables. First Watch Winter Park is now open for dine-in, as well as mobile and online ordering for contactless curbside pick-up or delivery at firstwatch.olo.com or on the First Watch app. Guest can dine in this week anytime from 7am 2:30pm from Monday, 3/1 through Friday, 3/5 to receive a FREE cup of Project Sunrise Coffee, coffee made by widowed or orphaned female farmers in Colombia. First Watch pays a premium to these female farmers, in addition to a quality incentive payment for those whose coffee exceeds its top-tier quality standards. First Watch Winter Park 120 N. Orlando Ave. (across the street from Trader Joes) (407) 287-9034 firstwatch.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. A guide on who can travel to Italy and how this can be done. With vaccines rolling out, a return to normalcy seems closer than ever and many people have been thinking of where they will travel when they are able to. Italy, of course, is high on the list of places that people want to see. The Italian, and other European governments have been gradually reapening their countries to foreign tourists who have been vaccinated, take a Covid-free flights or have recently recovered from Covid-19. While it is important to keep in mind that anyone traveling abroad will have to adhere to any restrictions the countries still have in place, even if they are letting tourists in. So, here is an updated overview of what the restrictions are for traveling to Italy. The tier system Countries are listed in a tier system (A-E) based on their location, and epidemiological risk. Each list has different levels of restrictions associated with it. Within Italy, Covid rates have been on the decline. This means that more regions are being registered in the yellow zone. Travel between yellow zones is allowed, even if it means that you must travel through an orange or a red zone to arrive at you destination. However, you may not travel into orange or red zones except for reasons of absolute necessity. Italy has also recently announced its new green travel pass for all foreigners looking to travel to the country as of 16 May. This includes travelers from the US and UK that make up over 30 percent of travelers to Italy. In order to qualify for a green pass you must prove that you have been vaccinated for Covid, have tested negative and taken a Covid free flight or have recently recovered from Covid-19. Italy has also announced that it is expanding its list of routes for Covid-free flights to Canada, Japan, and the United Arab Emirates. Vatican City and the Republic of San Marino Category A contains Vatican City and Republic of San Marino. There are no restrictions for either of these two States. Continental Europe and any other territories on the European Mainland Category B and C both pertain to Continental Europe and any other territories on the European Mainland. List B is used for any countries in Continental Europe that have a low epidemiological rate, though currently no countries qualify for this list. Anyone with EU/Schengen Citizenship, including the UK and Israel, can travel to Italy without the need to present any certification of motivation for travelling. You also must present proof of a negative molecular or antigen test result prior to entry into Italy. If you test negative within 48 hours of entering Italy you do not have to quarantine. Failure to do so will result in a mandatory period of self-isolation. The period one must self-isolate for has changed from ten days to five days. A negative Covid test must be presented for one to leave this self-isolation period. Countries or states outside of Europe that have a low epidemiological risk List D includes countries or states outside of Europe that have a low epidemiological risk. These countries are Australia, Japan, New Zealand, Republic of Korea, Rwanda, Singapore, and Thailand. Travel to Italy from these countries is permitted without the need for a reason. However, these countries may have re-entry restrictions in place that are important to keep in mind. You also must go through a ten day quarantine period when you arrive in Italy. All other countries List E includes all other countries not mentioned earlier, except Brazil, India, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka. List E includes the US. Travel from these countries is allowed only for specific reasons such as work, health reasons, study reasons, absolute urgency, and return to ones domicile/home/residence. Travel to Italy for means of tourism from these countries is allowed as long as one qualifies for the green pass mentioned before. Also, if you have Italian/EU/Schengen residency, you are allowed to travel to Italy from countries in List E. Also, if you have a renewal receipt for a Permesso Di Sorggiorno you are allowed to enter Italy in order to complete the renewal process. This also pertains to people whos Permesso has yet to expire, but need to go through the process of renewing it. Brazil, India, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka Anyone who has stayed or transited in Brazil, India, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka within the last fourteen days is not allowed to travel to Italy. This is due to the ongoing rise in cases in these countries. The only exceptions are for people who have been residents in Italy since before April 29th, 2021, officials and agents, and those who have been authorised by the Ministry of Health to enter Italy. In order to gain permission to enter Italy, follow the steps at this link. For additional information on travel restrictions in Italy, visit salute.gov.it Syria has shot down several Israeli missiles targeting Damascus, reports the Syrian Network for Human Rights. The army air defenses intercepted on Sunday an Israeli missile aggression in the surroundings of Damascus and shot down most of the missiles, SANA reported. A military source announced that at 10:16 p.m. on Sunday, the Israeli enemy launched an air aggression from the direction of the Occupied Syrian Golan and targeted some posts in the vicinity of Damascus, adding that the Syrian Air defenses intercepted the hostile missiles and shot down most of them. There was no immediate report of casualties. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the strike hit the area of Sayyida Zeinab south of Damascus, where Iranian Revolutionary Guards and Lebanese Hezbollah are present. The Israeli army did not comment on reports in foreign media. Israeli state broadcaster Kan had reported that leaders of Israels security establishment met on Sunday evening to discuss an alleged Iranian attack on an Israeli-owned vessel in the Gulf of Oman this week. Israeli Defence Minister Benny Gantz said on Saturday he believed Iran was behind the explosion Thursday on the MV Helios Ray, a vehicle carrier. This article was edited by The Syrian Observer. The Syrian Observer has not verified the content of this story. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author. New Delhi: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Tuesday (March 2, 2021) visited West Bengal and said that the Trinamool Congress government has failed to stop cow smuggling and 'love jihad' in the state. Yogi Adityanath at a rally in Malda promised that cow smuggling will be stopped within 24 hours if the Bharatiya Janata Party is voted to power in the poll-bound state. The Uttar Pradesh CM also slammed his West Bengal counterpart Mamata Banerjee and said that the 'Jai Shri Ram' slogan is not allowed in the state, but people won't allow this to continue. "Jai Shri Ram slogan is not allowed in West Bengal, but people won't allow this to continue. 'Love Jihad' incidents are happening in Bengal. In Uttar Pradesh, we have made a law to stop such incidents but the TMC government has failed to stop both cow smuggling and 'Love Jihad'," he said. He stated that West Bengal, which had once led the nation, is now facing a lawless situation. "Appeasement politics for the sake of vote bank has endangered the security of not only West Bengal but also of the country. The TMC government has a problem with refugees getting citizenship but has no issue with illegal immigrants coming to the state," Yogi Adityanath said. His visit to the state comes ahead of the elections to the 294-member assembly that will be held in eight phases between March 27 and April 29. Live TV [March 02, 2021] TPG-Led Investor Group Announces Combination of Thycotic and Centrify to Create a Leading Cloud Identity Security Vendor TPG Capital, the private equity platform of alternative asset firm TPG, announced today that it has signed a definitive agreement to combine Thycotic, a next-generation, cloud-first company with innovative identity security solutions, and Centrify, a trusted PAM market leader. The combination creates a dynamic identity security provider offering scalable, world-class products in an environment where cyber-attacks are increasing in frequency and sophistication. The acquisition of Thycotic from Insight Partners and subsequent merger follows TPG's previously announced acquisition of Centrify, which has now closed. Forrester (News - Alert) estimates that 80 percent of all cybersecurity breaches involve privileged credentials. The combination of Thycotic and Centrify will create one of the most effective SaaS (News - Alert) platforms in the identity security market, bringing together complementary product capabilities, best-in-class technology, and deep expertise to better enable and protect the modern, hybrid enterprise. As part of the transaction, Art Gilliland, current CEO of Centrify, will serve as the CEO of the newly expanded business. James Legg, Thycotic's CEO, will be named President. "The increasing cost and impact of cyber breaches coupled with the explosive growth of cloud services and the interconnection of networks has driven rapid adoption of identity security software," said Gilliland. "Now more than ever, organizations are looking to strengthen their capabilities to ensure improved protection from the ever-increasing risk of cyber-intrusions. The combined company will deliver one of the most comprehensive product offerings in the business with the ability to adapt and scale to meet the evolving needs of customers." "Combining these two synergistic platforms allows us to offer customers an expanded range of products to address their increasingly complex security requirements," said Legg. "Every company is currently facing sophisticated adversaries who take advantage of the complexity of operating in the cloud and work-from-home. Thycotic and Centrify together will help companies navigate this new environment with an innovative and intuitive product suite, backed by some of the most experienced operators in th identity security sector." Thycotic is a next-generation, cloud-first security provider that empowers more than 12,500 organizations across the world to manage privileged access. Thycotic's history of innovation, deployment speed, and leadership in the cloud complements Centrify's strong identity bridging capabilities and deep experience operating in highly complex environments. Centrify's solutions are used by many large companies, including the world's largest financial institutions, intelligence agencies, and critical infrastructure companies. "The combination of Thycotic and Centrify creates a leader in one of the most important and strategic sub-sectors of security software," said Tim Millikin, Partner at TPG Capital. "Identity security is mission-critical to any organization's cybersecurity infrastructure and is becoming even more essential in a deeply interconnected world constantly under threat of cyber-attacks. TPG has long believed that this sector is poised for rapid growth and we believe this new company will drive the adoption of this essential software." TPG's Software and Enterprise Technology team has a history of partnering with great management teams to build companies into dynamic technology platforms that play strategically important roles in their markets. TPG has also developed formidable investment expertise in cybersecurity, having invested approximately $2 billion of equity into the space across the firm's platforms. Select current and past investments in the sector and enterprise software space more broadly include Digital.ai, Expanse, McAfee (News - Alert) , Onfido, Tanium, Wind River, and Zscaler, among others. "It has been a privilege to help Thycotic scale up into one of the most transformational cybersecurity companies in the market," said Mike Triplett, Managing Director at Insight Partners. "With their world-class leadership, we remain extremely bullish on Thycotic and Centrify's combined future." Thoma Bravo and Public Sector Pension Investment Board (PSP Investments) will support the combination with minority investments in the business. The merger is subject to customary closing conditions including regulatory reviews. Financial terms were not disclosed. Citi acted as financial advisor to TPG. Evercore acted as lead financial advisor and BofA Securities acted as financial advisor to Thycotic and Insight Partners. Davis Polk & Wardwell served as legal counsel to TPG, and Willkie Farr & Gallagher served as legal counsel to Insight Partners. About Centrify Centrify delivers modern privileged access management (PAM) solutions based on Zero Trust principles to enable digital transformation at scale. Centrify empowers least privilege access for human and machine identities based on verifying who is requesting access, the context of the request, and the risk of the access environment. Centrify centralizes and orchestrates fragmented identities, improves audit and compliance visibility, and reduces risk, complexity, and costs for the modern, hybrid enterprise. Centrify's customers include the world's largest financial institutions, intelligence agencies, and critical infrastructure companies. Human or machine, in the cloud or on-premises, privileged access is secure with Centrify. About Thycotic Thycotic is a global leader in Privileged Access Management, a critical layer of IT security that protects an organization's data, devices and code across cloud, on-premise and hybrid environments. Recognized as a leader by every major industry analyst group, our modern cloud-ready PAM solutions dramatically reduce the complexity and cost of securing privileged access. Thycotic is trusted by over 12,500 leading organizations around the globe. About TPG TPG is a leading global alternative asset firm founded in 1992 with approximately $85 billion of assets under management and offices in Austin, Beijing, Boston, Dallas, Fort Worth, Hong Kong, Houston, London, Luxembourg, Melbourne, Moscow, Mumbai, New York, San Francisco, Seoul, and Singapore. TPG's investment platforms are across a wide range of asset classes, including private equity, growth equity, impact investing, real estate, secondaries, and public equity. TPG aims to build dynamic products and options for its investors while also instituting discipline and operational excellence across the investment strategy and performance of its portfolio. For more information, visit www.tpg.com or @TPG on Twitter (News - Alert) . View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210302006015/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Is it fair or even patriotic to threaten states that do not conform to the Democratic Socialists' mandate to control the outcome of Free and Fair elections enacted by constitutionally guaranteed states' legislatures? Yes, all elections must be federalized so that the whim of the majority political party can set the standard for all elections. No, Our Founders purposefully decentralized elections by guaranteeing only states' legislatures the independent right to enact Free and Fair elections. An unidentified person was killed when a stolen car crashed into a tree and burst into flames in Passaic County Tuesday morning, authorities said. Shortly after 5:30 a.m., Woodland Park Police received a call reporting that a car crashed into a tree and went up in flames near McBride Avenue in Woodland Park, borough police Lt. Michael Brady said in a statement. When one officer arrived, he found the car fully engulfed, with a witness telling him there was still someone inside the burning car, according to the statement. Police said they were unable to rescue the person stuck inside, as the fire consumed the car. Soon afterward, firefighters from the West Paterson Fire Department put out the blaze and first responders tried to rescue the victim, the statement said. The victim was pronounced dead at the scene. This crash in Woodland Park shows serious damage to the car. We'll update when more info becomes available. https://t.co/4ZU9dsUrEF Josh Jongsma (@jongsmjo) March 2, 2021 As police investigated, they discovered the car that crashed and caught fire, a Ford Mustang, was reported as stolen out of Passaic, according to the statement. Anyone with information, including information that may help police identify the victim, are asked to call Detective Omaira Carino at 973-345-1119 or email ocarino@wpnj.us. Thank you for relying on us to provide the journalism you can trust. Please consider supporting NJ.com with a voluntary subscription. Rodrigo Torrejon may be reached at rtorrejon@njadvancemedia.com. A huge cyclone in about to smash into Far North Queensland with torrential rain and high winds already causing flooding and leaving 40,000 homes without power. Cyclone Niran is moving slowly at 8km/h, with wind gusts reaching up to 130km/h at 320km northeast of Cairns on Tuesday afternoon. With winds at 95km/h on Tuesday night, the cyclone is at category two and a forecast map shows it is expected to develop into category three by Thursday 7am. Dozens of schools in Far North Queensland were forced to close and residents of remote islands warned to prepare for possible gale force winds. Heavy rain reached as far south as Coffs Harbour with Brisbane recording 16mm since 9am on Tuesday, with more expected until Friday. With winds at 95km/h on Tuesday afternoon, the cyclone is at category two and a forecast map (pictured) shows it is expected to develop into category three by Thursday 7am CLOSED SCHOOLS Autism Queensland Education & Therapy Centre (Edmonton) Freshwater State School Holy Spirit College (Manoora) Gordonvale State School Gordonvale State High School Murray River Upper State School Peace Lutheran College (Kamerunga) South Johnstone State School St Michael's School (Gordonvale) St Rita's School (Babinda) The BUSY School (Cairns) Trinity Anglican School (Kewarra Beach) Trinity Anglican School (White Rock) Tully State High School Source: QLD Department of Education, Tuesday 2 March at 6.30pm AEST Advertisement 'It is a category two system and it is expected to intensify into a category three system tomorrow,' senior meteorologist Laura Boekel said. Ms Boekel said the cyclone was causing high winds, rainfall and abnormally high tides and she expected the cyclone would move off the coastline on Thursday. 'That's when we'll start to see impacts easing for residents in Queensland.' An emergency warning has also been issued for Palm Island residents by the Queensland Government's Local Disaster Management Group. The region is impacted by heavy rain and gale force winds, and residents are advised to cancel travel, secure their premises, find a safe place to shelter and stay at home. The wild weather forced 38 schools in Far North Queensland to close on Tuesday but Cairns Deputy Mayor Terry James told Sunrise the weather had died down. 'The conditions here at the moment is pretty typical in Cairns, beautiful one day and perfect the next,' he said. 'These things are very unpredictable. So we are saying to the people in the area just be vigilant, keep the eyes and ears open and listening to the forecast, listen to the radio and be prepared.' Six state and eight Catholic or private schools remain closed by the storm. BOM said as of 4pm on Tuesday afternoon, winds near the centre of the storm were about 95 km/h and wind gusts are reached up to 130km/h. While coastal crossing is not expected, as it develops or if it drifts westwards it may cause gales of 100km/h about the exposed coastal and island communities between Cape Flattery and Innisfail. Further south to Lucinda or between Cape Melville and Cape Flattery may also be impacted by gales on Wednesday night. From Thursday the whirlwind is expected to take a southeasterly track away from the coast, relieving locals. At least 40,000 homes are left without power by a devastating cyclone which is causing flooding in some areas. Pictured: Far North Queensland home Cyclone Niran is moving slowly at 8km/h, with wind gusts reaching up to 130km/h at 320km northeast of Cairns, Queensland (pictured) on Tuesday at 4pm Far North Queensland (pictured above) is on cyclone watch as a tropical low threatens the coast of Cairns Motorists were advised to avoid parking their cars in low-lying tidal areas and to not drive through floodwaters in case of more heavy rainfall or flash flooding. 'Soils and catchments are already saturated after weeks of rain on the north tropical coast,' said Bureau of Meteorology expert Jackson Browne. 'Flooding could extend as far south as Mackay as the low strengthens.' On Monday morning, commuters endured lengthy delays on the Captain Cook Highway driving south towards Cairns. The cyclone was causing high winds, rainfall and abnormally high tides and is expectedto would move off the coastline on Thursday The wild weather forced 38 schools in Far North Queensland to close on Tuesday but Cairns Deputy Mayor Terry James told Sunrise the weather had died down A tropical cyclone formed around north Queensland on Tuesday. Pictured: Weather map show the cyclone forming in Far North Queensland A number of trees fell across the Gillies Range Rd at Gadgarra in Queensland's Tablelands Region, resulting in further delays after traffic was reduced to one lane. Meteorologist Michael Gray revealed the extreme weather in far north Queensland was due to the development of a monsoon trough as well as a reach of high pressure along the east coast. 'Since 9am on Saturday, we have seen rainfall totals up around 100mm around the Proserpine River and over 50mm through large parts of an area from about Mackay up towards Cairns,' he told the Courier Mail. 'We will still see fairly significant rainfall (from Mackay to Cairns) that will continue at least to Wednesday... or possibly through to later in the week.' WEATHER IN YOUR CITY SYDNEY TUESDAY: Min 19. Max 25. Possible shower. WEDNESDAY: Min 17. Max 23. Shower or two. THURSDAY: Min 17. Max 25. Partly cloudy FRIDAY: Min 16. Max 25. Partly cloudy. BRISBANE TUESDAY: Min 23. Max 34. Possible shower. WEDNESDAY: Min 23. Max 29. Shower or two. THURSDAY: Min 21. Max 28. Possible shower. FRIDAY: Min 19. Max 28. Partly cloudy. ADELAIDE TUESDAY: Min 13. Max 24. Partly cloudy. WEDNESDAY: Min 12. Max 25. Mostly sunny. THURSDAY: Min 12. Max 26. Sunny. FRIDAY: Min 15. Max 29. Partly cloudy. CANBERRA TUESDAY: Min 13. Max 25. Partly cloudy. WEDNESDAY: Min 10. Max 24. Partly cloudy. THURSDAY: Min 9. Max 27. Sunny FRIDAY: Min 11. Max 27. Partly sunny. MELBOURNE TUESDAY: Min 12. Max 17. Cloudy. WEDNESDAY: Min 12. Max 18. Partly cloudy. THURSDAY: Min 12. Max 20. Cloudy. FRIDAY: Min 15. Max 20. Cloudy. PERTH TUESDAY: Min 17. Max 27. Partly cloudy. WEDNESDAY: Min 19. Max 27. Partly cloudy. THURSDAY: Min 20. Max 28. Possible storms. FRIDAY: Min 19. Max 27. Cloudy. HOBART TUESDAY: Min 9. Max 16. Windy. Cloudy. WEDNESDAY: Min 9. Max 19. Cloudy. THURSDAY: Min 13. Max 21. Cloudy. FRIDAY: Min 11. Max 18. Partly cloudy. DARWIN TUESDAY: Min 25. Max 32. Partly cloudy. WEDNESDAY: Min 25. Max 32. Partly cloudy. THURSDAY: Min 26. Max 33. Partly cloudy. FRIDAY: Min 26. Max 33. Partly cloudy. Source: Bureau of Meteorology Advertisement WASHINGTON U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz's approval rating took a hit after his family trip to Cancun during the Texas freeze, according to polling by Morning Consult, though he still remains popular among Texas Republicans. Polling conducted Feb. 19-28 found Cruzs approval rating at 43 percent among Texas voters, 48 percent of whom said they disapprove of the senator. It was a reversal of his standing and a double-digit drop in net approval rating from polls Morning Consult conducted 10 days earlier. Dwight Feanny, Westat VP & CIO We are happy to welcome Dwight to Westat and look forward to his contributions to our IT operations and strategy teams as we continue to bring innovative technology solutions to our clients complex challenges." Westat announced today that it has hired Dwight Feanny as Vice President and Chief Information Officer. Based in Rockville, Maryland, Mr. Feanny will manage corporate and project IT technologies, systems, services, and staffing. His areas of expertise include organizational and IT team leadership, infrastructure design and implementation, and data security management. We are happy to welcome Dwight to Westat and look forward to his contributions to our IT operations and strategy teams as we continue to bring innovative technology solutions to our clients complex challenges, notes Westat President and CEO Scott Royal, Ph.D. Mr. Feanny brings 2 decades of experience in the research and consulting industry to Westat. He most recently served as Manager of Information Technology Experience at McKinsey & Company, a global consulting company in which he led all technology implementation and operations for the Northeast region offices. In an earlier position, he served as the Senior Vice President of Information Technology for Abt SRBI, a leading market research company, where he managed technology operations, cybersecurity, enterprise systems, and data collection systems. About Westat Westat provides innovative professional services support to clients in addressing challenges to improve outcomes in health, education, social policy, and transportation. We are dedicated to improving lives through research. In its continual bid to deliver an extraordinary customer experience across all touchpoints, Vodafone Ghana has relocated its Osu retail shop to a new, ultra-modern facility on 11th Lane, off Oxford Street in Osu, Accra. The exquisitely branded, spacious and futuristic shop presents customers with automated facilities and digitalized interventions to boost convenience and enable effortless self-service. The shop has a concierge who acts as the first point of reference and welcomes customers. Its various Retail Advisor stations and dedicated Vodafone Business desk guarantee quick service delivery and enquiries for enterprise, fixed and mobile customers. The retail shop also has a multi-zoned Internet Cafe and Document Centre for customers to access and experience Vodafones ultra-fast internet service. Additionally, the shop has a mobile device display lounge, which stocks the latest smartphones; a Tech Zone for dealing with mobile device issues; and a waiting area for customers. To ensure full alignment with COVID-19 safety protocols, the shop has also incorporated clever spacing and automated temperature-check, handwashing and sanitizing measures. Opening the ultra-modern retail shop, Chief Executive Officer of Vodafone Ghana, Patricia Obo-Nai, explained that the launch of the new retail shop forms part of the firms strategy to deliver exceptionally seamless customer experience across all of Vodafones touchpoints through the magic of innovation. The unveiling of this new retail shop is certainly a proud moment for us; it further demonstrates our relentless obsession with our customers. Our incessant quest to continue to provide them with the tools necessary to make their lives easier and progressive. Our customers are at the very heart of all we do, and we seek to emphasize this across all customer touchpoints within the organisation including our Retail Shops. Every single offer, product or service that we unveil bears the foremost brand attribute that differentiates us on the market Innovation. Indeed, customer-centric innovation is the life-blood and the driving force behind all our undertakings at Vodafone, and this has been brought to the fore, once again, with this new Retail Shop, she asserted. Present at the brief unveiling ceremony were customers, members of Vodafone Ghanas senior management team, the staff of the Osu retail shop as well as selected staff from other stakeholder teams. 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 Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full 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. 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. [March 02, 2021] Portcake Releases User Acquisition tool which reposts Instagram Post Feed and Stories to Google My Business SINGAPORE, March 2, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Portcake Pte. Ltd., a company which aims to provide new solutions to help business and store owners, is releasing a new marketing tool which allows the automatic reposting of Instagram posts and Stories by store owners and staff to Google My Business. By using this service, posts and Stories from Instagram will be automatically reflected in Google My Business, resulting in a higher rank and more visibility in Google Search results. Potential customers, who have been pre-filtered by location and business type via the Google search engine, will be more easily enticed by photogenic Instagram pictures and videos which have been reposted to appear in Google search results and Google Maps. This maximizes results in encouraging visitation organically and bringing customers to a store without any additional effort. Portcake is allowing business owners t focus more on what matters the most by increasing productivity and reducing the work required to manage multiple social media platforms and accounts. Portcake does not only leverage social media posting specifically to Google My Business, it will also help in building store brand awareness too. Business owners can expect more visibility on Google Search Results, improved localised SEO results, and increased organic traffic from appealing to a wider user base. Newly registered users will be able to try out the service for free before signing up for an affordable subscription plan once they are convinced of the value that the tool can bring in. Portcake website: https://www.portcake.com We as the Portcake team are constantly improving and adding more features into our solution. To get the latest updates or learn more about how we can help you improve your productivity, please follow us on our social media or visit our website. Twitter: https://twitter.com/portcake_com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/portcake_com/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/portcake.fb/ Website: https://www.portcake.com About Portcake Portcake Pte. Ltd. is a Singapore-based startup aimed at developing and offering convenient solutions to businesses worldwide, in order to help them more easily implement and manage their digital marketing strategies. Our vision is to create a platform where users will come to learn new things with regards to easily capturing their digital market audience. View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/portcake-releases-user-acquisition-tool-which-reposts-instagram-post-feed-and-stories-to-google-my-business-301238199.html SOURCE Portcake [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] The fancy name is actually a descriptor, as it precisely indicates what the aircraft is supposed to do: fly in support of crewed aircraft or troops on the ground, performing a variety of duties, from surveillance and reconnaissance to electronic warfare. It can fly either on its own or under the control of a pilot on the ground.The drone took to the sky for the first time at the Woomera Range Complex in South Australia at an unspecified date, under the supervision of a Boeing test pilot. We are not told how long the flight lasted, but the aerospace company does say the Loyal Wingman flew on a pre-determined route at different speeds and altitudes.The Loyal Wingmans first flight is a major step in this long-term, significant project for the Air Force and Boeing Australia, and were thrilled to be a part of the successful test, said in a statement Air Vice-Marshal Cath Roberts, Royal Australian Air Force Head of Air Force Capability.The Loyal Wingman project is a pathfinder for the integration of autonomous systems and artificial intelligence to create smart human-machine teams. Through this project we are learning how to integrate these new capabilities to complement and extend air combat and other missions.Once testing is completed (no timeframe was provided), the Loyal Wingman will enter production in the state of Queensland. Also known as the Boeing Airpower Teaming System (BATS), it will roll off the production lines as a 38-feet(11.7-m) long machine capable of traveling 2,000 nautical miles (2,300 miles or 3,700 km) in a single outing.The thing will be packed with sensors and artificial intelligence to govern its decisions. Other similar machines will be made by the end of the year and then tested together. 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. New Delhi: The Zee News Editor-in-Chief Sudhir Chaudhary on Tuesday (March 2, 2021) received the 1st shot of the COVID-19 vaccine. Sudhir Chaudhary took to his official Twitter account to share the news. He informed that the entire process was super smooth and that the coronavirus vaccine is safe. The Zee News Editor-in-Chief shared a small clip of him getting vaccinated and wrote, "My 1st shot of COVID-19 vaccine. The entire process was super smooth. The vaccine is safe and I urge all of you to go for it when your turn comes." He took the shot at Yashoda Super Speciality Hospital. My 1st shot of #COVID19Vaccine . The entire process was super smooth. The vaccine is safe and I urge all of you to go for it when your turn comes. pic.twitter.com/VPfeMkwyOc Sudhir Chaudhary (@sudhirchaudhary) March 2, 2021 This comes on the second day of the new phase of the COVID-19 vaccination program. Earlier in the day, Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan also took the COVID-19 vaccine jab. Besides him, Union ministers like Rajnath Singh, Ravi Shankar Prasad, and the Supreme Court judges also took the vaccine shot. Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny stands inside a glass cell during a court hearing at the Babushkinsky district court in Moscow on Feb. 20, 2021. (Kirill Kudryavtsev/AFP via Getty Images) US Imposes Sanctions on Russia Over Navalny Poisoning The United States has imposed sanctions on Russian individuals and entities over the Kremlins attempt to kill opposition figure Alexei Navalny with a nerve agent, according to senior Biden administration officials. On March 2, the U.S. Department of the Treasurys Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) joined the U.S. departments of State and Commerce in sanctioning seven Russian government officials. The Kremlins use of chemical weapons to silence a political opponent and intimidate others demonstrates its flagrant disregard for international norms, Treasury Secretary Janet L. Yellen said in a statement. We join the EU in condemning Alexei Navalnys poisoning as well as his arrest and imprisonment by the Russian government. The moves are being taken in coordination with the European Union, officials told reporters on a conference call. The officials also repeated President Joe Bidens call for Russia to release Navalny from prison. Russia has denied attempting to assassinate Navalny, who was arrested on Jan. 17 after flying back to Russia from Germany, where he had been recovering from last summers poisoning. The United States is neither seeking to reset our relations with Russia, nor are we seeking to escalate, one official said on the call. We believe that the United States and our partners must be clear and impose costs when Russias behavior crosses boundaries that are respected by responsible nations, and we believe there should be guard rails on how these adversarial aspects of our relationship play out, the official said. Weeks after his arrest, a court sentenced Navalny to more than 2 1/2 years in prison on charges that he violated the terms of his probation while recovering in Germany. Navalny, a prominent critic of President Vladimir Putin, has a YouTube channel in which he posts videos criticizing Putin and Russian corruption that have racked up millions of views. At a press briefing last week, a reporter asked if the White House believes tensions with Russia are increasing, citing announcements from the Kremlin that it was going to redouble its efforts on opposing foreign powers. Over the last several years, there have been more concerning steps that have been taken by Vladimir Putin and by members of the Kremlin, as the president has expressed and expressed during the campaign, White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters on Feb. 24. The president also spoke with President Putin just maybe two weeks ago, and did not hold back in expressing his concerns about the actions of his government, she added. But we are letting that process see itself through. As I noted yesterday, it will be weeks, not months, before its concluded and we have more details about a response. Biden spoke with Putin in a call on Jan. 26, in which they discussed both countries willingness to extend New START for five years, agreeing to have their teams work urgently to complete the extension, according to a readout of the call. He also raised other issues including the SolarWinds hack, reports of Russia placing bounties on United States soldiers in Afghanistan, interference in the 2020 United States election, and the poisoning of Aleksey Navalny. Russia said in February that its prepared to split with the European Union if the EU imposes new crippling sanctions over Navalny. Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in televised remarks that Russia doesnt want to be isolated but must increase its self-sufficiency to face potential EU sanctions. We dont want to be isolated from international life, but we must be ready for that, Lavrov said. If you want peace, you must prepare for war. Asked if Russia is heading toward a split with the European Union, Lavrov replied, We proceed from the assumption that we are ready for that. After the arrest of Navalny, Secretary of State Antony Blinken sharply criticized the country, telling NBC News on Feb. 1 that he was deeply disturbed by the violent crackdown on Russian protesters demanding his release. More than 5,300 people were reportedly detained. Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report. CAIRO Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry announced Feb. 24 Egypt's support for the Sudanese proposal to improve the negotiations mechanism over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) by forming an international quadripartite committee for mediation, which would include the United States, the European Union, the United Nations and the African Union (AU). Shoukry met with the coordinator of the concerned work cell at the presidency of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Alphonse Ntumba, on Feb. 24, where he noted that the main goal of Egypt's support for the Sudanese proposal is to move forward with the negotiations process and to help the three countries Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia reach the desired agreement at the earliest opportunity. On Feb. 6, Sudan called for expanding the GERD negotiations umbrella, to include the United States, the EU, the UN and the AU, so their roles as observers can turn into mediators. The tripartite GERD negotiations are still stalled. The last round of negotiations took place Jan. 10, but it failed to achieve any progress. Egyptian Minister of Irrigation Mohamed Abdel Aty told El-Watan News Feb. 24, Negotiations came to a halt after the last meeting following the disagreement over procedures and the role of the AU and its experts, and since South Africa no longer heads the AU. Abdel Aty explained that Egypt is discussing the next step in the negotiations process, since the United States, the EU, the AU and the UN will assume the role of mediators. Former diplomats, analysts and observers told Al-Monitor that Egypt's support for the Sudanese proposal to develop the GERD negotiations mechanism aims to pressure Ethiopia to accept the new quartet mediation, and finally sign a binding agreement between the three parties. Mona Omar, former assistant to the foreign minister for African affairs, told Al-Monitor, Egypt backs the Sudanese quartet mediation proposal, hoping to bring about a change in the recent stubborn Ethiopian position. She said, We need a solution to the Ethiopian stance; the interests of other countries and peoples must be taken into account. [Ethiopia] needs to be convinced of the importance of agreeing to a binding agreement that fulfills the interests of all parties. Cairo always adheres to the negotiations option as a basic solution to this crisis, regardless of the difficulties it faced so far, especially from Ethiopia, which continues to work on the dam without consensus. Omar noted, Addis Ababa could refuse to introduce new mediation in the negotiations, or could simply keep at the method of stalling. The mediation would thus lead nowhere. Atiya Issawi, an analyst specializing in African affairs at Al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies, told Al-Monitor, The Sudanese proposal is good. Egypt had called for the same so that the negotiations are not limited to African observers because Cairo has doubts that the African observers will succeed in proposing solutions that Ethiopia could accept and thus end the dispute. Issawi stressed, In any case, Ethiopia needs to agree to the new proposal; it would be as if we have done nothing if it does not end up agreeing. Article 10 of the Declaration of Principles signed between Addis Ababa, Cairo and Khartoum in 2015 defines the mechanisms for the peaceful settlement of disputes, stipulating, The three countries commit to settling any dispute resulting from the interpretation or application of the declaration of principles through talks or negotiations based on the goodwill principle. If the parties involved do not succeed in solving the dispute through talks or negotiations, they can ask for mediation or refer the matter to their heads of states or prime ministers. Issawi added, Given Ethiopias current circumstances, be it internally or in its border dispute with Sudan, it will not agree to the new proposal on the quartet mediation. He noted, Theoretically the Egyptian support for the Sudanese proposal is supposed to put pressure on the Ethiopian government to agree because it means that there are two parties against one. Ethiopia would thus be the one impeding a settlement to the crisis but in fact, Addis Ababa does not care about this. Riccardo Fabiani, North Africa project director at the International Crisis Group, told Al-Monitor, Cairo hopes to exert pressure on Addis Ababa by accepting the mediation proposal called for by Khartoum, but the problem is that Ethiopia has so far proven completely resistant to external pressures. He added, Egypt is resorting once again to international mediators to solve the crisis because it knows that Ethiopia will go ahead with the second stage of filling [the GERD] regardless of whether or not an agreement has been reached. The only hope is that international pressure can push Addis Ababa to make some concessions and sign an agreement. Fabiani noted, The Egyptians are counting on the new US administration, as well as on the Democratic Republic of the Congo as the new AU head, to play a role in resolving this crisis. US mediation efforts between the three countries had failed in 2020 after Ethiopia accused the United States of favoring Egypt. However, Christiaan James, spokesman for the US State Department, told Sada Elbalad Feb. 9 that the United States will renew diplomatic efforts to solve the GERD crisis. On Feb. 20, the United States announced revoking former President Donald Trump's decision to suspend aid to Ethiopia against the backdrop of the GERD, expressing hope for a diplomatic solution to this crisis. Issawi said, The [Joe] Biden administration could intervene to resolve this crisis for fear of it blowing up and disturbing the situation in the Horn of Africa, which would affect US and Western interests. Omar concluded, We will remain hopeful until we reach the end of the tunnel and sign an agreement. We should not lose hope in the course of negotiations to ensure the whole process does not fall apart. Photo: The Canadian Press Artifacts collected by Phil Collins went on display Tuesday at the Alamo after the legendary musician donated the items to the state of Texas. The Phil Collins Collection Preview includes a brass cannon used by the Mexican Army during the Battle of the Alamo and the original battle orders that called for the attack on the Alamo. The temporary exhibit is on display through April 25. Collins donated his collection of more than 200 artifacts to the Texas General Land Office in 2014. We are beyond excited to finally share some of the amazing artifacts Mr. Collins so generously donated, said Kristi Miller Nichols, the Alamo's director of archaeology, collections, and historical research at the Alamo. The public has been very interested in seeing the Collins Collection. It has been an honour to care for and preserve these artifacts over the years. During the 1836 Battle of the Alamo, nearly 200 defenders died following a 13-day battle with Mexican forces led by General Santa Anna. DIDCOT, UK / ACCESSWIRE / March 2, 2021 / Altus Strategies Plc (AIM:ALS)(TSX-V:ALTS)(OTCQX:ALTUF) announces broad and high-grade intersections from reverse circulation ("RC") drilling at the Tabakorole gold project ("Tabakorole" or the "Project") located in southern Mali. Altus holds a 49% equity interest and 2.5% Net Smelter Return ("NSR") royalty on the Project. Exploration activities at Tabakorole are being funded by Marvel Gold Limited (ASX: MVL) ("Marvel Gold") under its joint venture ("JV") with Altus. Highlights: Excellent gold intersections from drilling at Tabakorole project in southern Mali Intersections from 3 further holes received, including (down-the-hole and not true width): 0.94 g/t over 89m from 18m, including 2.13 g/t over 12m and 1.94 g/t over 18m 0.65 g/t over 96m from 56m, including 1.84 g/t over 22m Results from remaining 28 holes (3,903m) of 6,300m RC programme expected shortly Drilling being undertaken to test potential to increase mineral resource estimate Altus holds a 2.5% NSR royalty on Tabakorole gold production Steven Poulton, Chief Executive of Altus, commented: "These are very encouraging drilling results from the Tabakorole gold project in southern Mali. Tabakorole hosts a significant gold resource, which is open along strike in both directions as well as at depth. These holes are expected to improve the modelled mineralised grades and widths in a portion of the orebody, which had previously only been sparsely drilled. Importantly, the mineralisation encountered is also near-surface, which will assist with any potential open-pit mining scenario. "The drilling programme at Tabakorole is designed to test the potential for expanding the current mineral resource along strike and at depth. Results from a further 28 RC drill holes (3,903m) are anticipated shortly. In the meantime, our JV partner on the project, ASX-listed Marvel Gold, is undertaking a further diamond drilling programme in the southeast of the deposit and will be following up with an aircore programme to test potential strike extensions. We look forward to updating shareholders once the final results from the current programme are received." Tabakorole Resource Expansion Drill Programme The 6,300m RC drilling programme at Tabakorole has been undertaken by Marvel Gold as part of the JV Stage-3 earn-in. The programme is designed to increase the existing resource by extending gold mineralisation along strike in both directions (to the northwest and the southeast). There are also a number of holes within the known strike length of the FT Prospect that are designed to increase the resource confidence or further delineate interpreted high-grade plunging shoots within the orebody. The results received to date from this programme are presented in Table 1 below. This announcement provides new results for 3 further holes, namely, 20TBKRC004, 20TBKRC005 and 20TBKRC006. The results are a significant improvement in both thickness and grade to what has been modelled to date for this portion of the FT Prospect. This portion of the FT Prospect has only been sparsely drilled historically, with only a single hole per section. Results from a further 28 holes (3,903m) are currently pending. Marvel is currently undertaking a 5 hole, 750m diamond drilling programme in the south-east of the Project, which will be followed up with an aircore drilling programme in order to test the potential continuation of mineralisation along strike. Table 1: Tabakorole recent RC drill intersections Hole ID From (m) To (m) Intersection (m) Grade (g/t Au) Previously reported 20TBKRC001 101 104 3 0.74 Yes 20TBKRC002 13 37 24 1.24 Yes 46 50 4 0.44 20TBKRC002A 4 29 25 0.81 Yes 60 66 6 0.35 20TBKRC003 17 31 14 0.83 Yes 85 88 3 0.59 100 103 3 0.55 20TBKRC004 25 28 3 0.79 No 38 41 3 1.82 106 127 21 0.94 20TBKRC005 18 30 12 2.13 No 53 71 18 1.94 97 107 10 1.55 20TBKRC006 10 13 3 2.00 No 56 64 8 0.71 77 99 22 1.84 141 152 11 0.67 20TBKRC007 Assay results pending 20TBKRC008 Assay results pending 20TBKRC009 Assay results pending 20TBKRC010 Assay results pending 20TBKRC011 Assay results pending 20TBKRC012 Assay results pending 20TBKRC013 Assay results pending 20TBKRC014 Assay results pending 20TBKRC015 Assay results pending 20TBKRC016 Assay results pending 20TBKRC017 Assay results pending 20TBKRC018 Assay results pending 20TBKRC019 Assay results pending 20TBKRC020 Assay results pending 20TBKRC021 Assay results pending 20TBKRC022 Assay results pending 20TBKRC023 Assay results pending 20TBKRC024 Assay results pending 20TBKRC025 Assay results pending 20TBKRC026 Assay results pending 21TBKRC001 178 201 23 2.00 Yes 21TBKRC002 No significant result Yes 21TBKRC003 No significant result Yes 21TBKRC005 Assay results pending 21TBKRC006 No significant result Yes 21TBKRC007 Assay results pending 21TBKRC008 Assay results pending 21TBKRC010 Assay results pending 21TBKRC011 Assay results pending 21TBKRC012 Assay results pending 21TBKRC013 Assay results pending 21TBKRC014 Assay results pending Notes: Based on 0.5g/t Au cut off, minimum length of 3m and 5m maximum internal waste Intersections are down-the-hole and do not represent true widths of mineralisation No grade capping has been applied Summary of Joint Venture with Marvel Gold Marvel Gold has the right to earn up to an 80% interest in Tabakorole by sole funding four stages of exploration, culminating in a definitive feasibility study, and by making certain cash (or cash plus Marvel Gold shares) payments to Altus. Thereafter, Altus has the right to co-fund or dilute its 20% interest in the Project. Altus also retains a 2.5% NSR royalty on the Project. Marvel Gold will have the right to reduce the royalty to 1.0% for a payment to Altus of between US$9.99M and US$15.00M (subject to the size of the resource at Tabakorole). Marvel Gold has currently earned a 51% interest in the Project. The following figures have been prepared and relate to the disclosures in this announcement and are visible in the version of this announcement on the Company's website (www.altus-strategies.com) or in PDF format by following this link: https://altus-strategies.com/site/assets/files/5034/altus_nr_-_tbk_02_mar_2021.pdf Location of Tabakorole and Altus' other projects in Mali is shown in Figure 1. Location of Tabakorole in southern Mali is shown in Figure 2. Plan showing results from Tabakorole drilling programme are shown in Figure 3. Figure 3. Cross-sections showing hole 20TBKRC-005 are shown in Figure 4. Cross-sections showing hole 20TBKRC-006 are shown in Figure 5. Tabakorole Project: Location Tabakorole is a 100km2 gold project located in southern Mali, approximately 280km south of the capital city of Bamako. The Project sits on the Massagui Belt, which hosts the Morila gold mine (operated by Firefinch Limited, ASX: FFX), located approximately 100km to the north. The Project is 125km southeast of the Yanfolila gold mine (operated by Hummingbird Resources Plc, AIM: HUM) and 100km east of the Kalana gold project (operated by Endeavour Mining Corporation, TSX: EDV). Mineralisation hosted on these properties is not necessarily indicative of mineralisation hosted at Tabakorole. Tabakorole Project: Geology Tabakorole comprises a 3km long shear zone which is up to 200m wide, hosted in the Archaean and Birimian aged Bougouni Basin of the Man Shield of southern Mali. The geology is dominated by clastic sediments, cut by northwest-trending deformation zones which host gold mineralisation. At least two, possibly three, Eburnean deformation events are believed to have affected the geology of Tabakorole. The Project hosts the FT Prospect comprised of mylonites, sheared diorite, gabbro, mafic dykes, and late-stage felsic dykes, within a folded and deformed metasedimentary package of meta-siltstone, meta-wacke, and meta-sandstone. Mineralisation is locally most favourably associated where structures cut gabbro and along lithological contacts with gabbro. Tabakorole: Mineral Resource Estimate The FT Prospect at the Tabakorole Project hosts a deposit for which a mineral resource estimate ("MRE") of 290,000 ounces at 1.2 g/t Au (Indicated) and 620,000 ounces at 1.2 g/t Au (Inferred) in both oxide and fresh domains has been made as set out in Table 2 below. The MRE was prepared by International Resource Solutions Pty Ltd (Perth, Australia) under the JORC Code and was previously reported by the Company on 30 September 2020 (see Altus' news release titled "Substantial Increase in Gold Resource at Tabakorole Project, Southern Mali"). Currently, 43% of the MRE is situated within 100m of surface. The FT Prospect remains open downdip and along strike. A Qualified Person has not undertaken sufficient work to classify the Mineral Resource Estimate in accordance with NI 43-101, and the Company is not treating it as such. Table 2: Mineral Resource Estimate Summary Table (JORC Code) Domain Indicated Inferred Tonnes (t) Grade (g/t) Contained gold (oz) Tonnes (t) Grade (g/t) Contained gold (oz) OXIDE 1,000,000 1.3 40,000 1,500,000 1.3 60,000 FRESH 6,300,000 1.2 250,000 15,100,000 1.2 560,000 Total 7,300,000 1.2 290,000 16,600,000 1.2 620,000 Note: Cut-off grade was 0.6 g/t Au. Qualified Person The technical disclosure in this announcement has been approved by Steven Poulton, Chief Executive of Altus. A graduate of the University of Southampton in Geology (Hons), he also holds a Master's degree from the Camborne School of Mines (Exeter University) in Mining Geology. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Materials, Minerals, and Mining and has over 20 years of experience in mineral exploration, and is a Qualified Person under the AIM rules and NI 43-101. For further information you are invited to visit the Company's website www.altus-strategies.com or contact: Altus Strategies Plc Steven Poulton, Chief Executive Tel:+44 (0) 1235 511 767 E: info@altus-strategies.com SP Angel (Nominated Adviser) Richard Morrison / Adam Cowl Tel: +44 (0) 20 3470 0470 SP Angel (Broker) Grant Barker / Richard Parlons Tel: +44 (0) 20 3470 0471 Yellow Jersey PR (Financial PR & IR) Georgia Colkin / Charles Goodwin / Henry Wilkinson Tel: +44 (0) 20 3004 9512 E: altus@yellowjerseypr.com About Altus Strategies Plc Altus Strategies (AIM: ALS, TSX-V: ALTS & OTCQX: ALTUF) is a mining royalty company generating a diversified and precious metal-focused portfolio of assets. The Company's focus on Africa and differentiated approach of generating royalties on its own discoveries as well as through financings and acquisitions with third parties has attracted key institutional investor backing. The Company engages constructively with all stakeholders, working diligently to minimise its environmental impact and to promote positive economic and social outcomes in the communities where it operates. For further information, please visit www.altus-strategies.com. Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements Certain information included in this announcement, including information relating to future financial or operating performance and other statements that express the expectations of the Directors or estimates of future performance, constitute "forward-looking statements." These statements address future events and conditions and, as such, involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance, or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance, or achievements expressed or implied by the statements. Such factors include, without limitation, the completion of planned expenditures, the ability to complete exploration programmes on schedule, and the success of exploration programmes. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on the forward-looking information, which speak only as of the date of this announcement, and the forward-looking statements contained in this announcement are expressly qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement. Where the Company expresses or implies an expectation or belief as to future events or results, such expectation or belief is based on assumptions made in good faith and believed to have a reasonable basis. The forward-looking statements contained in this announcement are made as at the date hereof, and the Company assumes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking information or any forward-looking statements contained in any other announcements whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise, except as required under applicable law or regulations. TSX Venture Exchange Disclaimer Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Market Abuse Regulation Disclosure Certain information contained in this announcement would have been deemed inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of Regulation (EU) No 596/2014 ("MAR") until the release of this announcement. Glossary of Terms The following is a glossary of technical terms: "AC" means air core drilling "Au" means gold "CIM" means the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy, and Petroleum "g" means grams "g/t" means grams per tonne "grade(s)" means the quantity of ore or metal in a specified quantity of rock "JORC Code" means the 2012 edition of the "Australasian Code for Reporting of Exploration Results, Mineral Resources, and Ore Reserves" prepared by the Joint Ore Reserves Committee of the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy, Australian Institute of Geoscientists and Minerals Council of Australia. The JORC Code is an acceptable foreign code for purposes of NI 43-101 "JV" means Joint Venture "km" means kilometres "m" means metres "MRE" means Mineral Resource Estimate "NI 43-101" means National Instrument 43-101 "Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects" of the Canadian Securities Administrators "Qualified Person" means a person that has the education, skills, and professional credentials to qualify as a qualified person under NI 43-101 "NSR" means net smelter return "RC" means reverse circulation drilling "t" means a metric tonne SOURCE: Altus Strategies Plc View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/632811/Significant-Broad-Gold-Intersections-at-Tabakorole-Project-Southern-Mali The Missourians Opinion section is a public forum for the discussion of ideas. The views presented in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Missourian or the University of Missouri. If you would like to contribute to the Opinion page with a response or an original topic of your own, visit our submission form Copyright 1995 - . All rights reserved. The content (including but not limited to text, photo, multimedia information, etc) published in this site belongs to China Daily Information Co (CDIC). Without written authorization from CDIC, such content shall not be republished or used in any form. Note: Browsers with 1024*768 or higher resolution are suggested for this site. 0108263 License for publishing multimedia online Registration Number: 130349 Registration Number: 130349 Bunny Wailer, one of the most influential singers in reggae music history, has died. He was 73. Along with young Bob Marley and Peter Tosh, the artist born Neville ORiley Livingston co-founded vocal trio the Wailers, who played a crucial role in transforming early 1960s ska music into rocksteady and ultimately reggae. Bunny Wailer performs at the One Love concert to celebrate Bob Marleys 60th birthday, in Kingston, Jamaica. Credit:Collin Reid Wailers death was confirmed by his manager, according to The Associated Press. The cause of the death was not immediately known. Jamaican newspapers reported that he had a stroke about a year ago. Best known for his work in songs including Simmer Down, Rude Boy, Get Up, Stand Up, I Shot the Sheriff, Stir It Up, Blackheart Man and dozens more, Wailers Zen-like approach to music creation helped manifest a whole new language focused on groove and vibe. After leaving the Wailers in 1973, Wailer carried on as a solo artist, releasing more than two dozen studio albums. Nicolas Sarkozy was yesterday sentenced to three years in prison, with two of those suspended, after being found guilty of seeking to bribe a judge. It makes Sarkozy the first former French president since Nazi collaborationist leader Marshall Philippe Petain to be handed a prison term. The former president, who held the office from 2007 to 2012, plans to appeal, his lawyer said. He looked visibly stunned as the court found him guilty of corruption and influence peddling for having tried to illegally obtain information from a senior magistrate in 2014 about a legal action in which he was involved. However, it is unlikely that the 66-year-old will physically go to jail. Instead, he can request to be detained at home with an electronic tag. Jacqueline Laffont, Sarkozys lawyer, called the verdict extremely severe and totally unfounded and unjustified, adding that the former president was calm but determined to continue to prove his innocence. Lawyer Thierry Herzog and judge Gilbert Azibert, his co-defendants, were also found guilty respectively of violating professional secrecy and concealing that violation, but were handed the same sentence. Herzog was banned from the bar for five years. Handing down the ruling, presiding judge Christine Mee said there was a sufficient body of evidence pointing to a pact of corruption between Sarkozy, his lawyer and the judge. They had common interests towards the same aim, namely to obtain a decision in Nicolas Sarkozys favour. The court said it was clear that the ex-premier and his lawyer had offered a plum post in Monaco to Azibert in return for information on an inquiry into claims Sarkozy had received illicit payments from Liliane Bettencourt, the late LOreal heiress, during his 2007 presidential campaign. As guarantor of the independence of the justice system, Sarkozy had used his status as former president to reward a magistrate who had served his personal interests, she said. On top of all that, Mr Sarkozy is a lawyer. In breaking the law, he had gravely damaged the legitimate trust of the French in the justice system. Prosecutors had called for Sarkozy to be jailed for four years and serve a minimum of two. The graft and influence peddling charges among several legal cases against Sarkozy carry a maximum sentence of 10 years and a fine of 1m. Herzog has appealed the sentence and Azibert is expected to join Sarkozy and do likewise. Sarkozys entourage rushed to his defence after the ruling, with wife Carla Bruni-Sarkozy saying: What insane relentlessness. The fight continues. The truth will see the light of day. Christian Jacob, head of the Republicans, Sarkozys right-wing party, tweeted his unstinting support for Sarkozy, saying the severity of the sentence is totally out of proportion. Sarkozy had denied any wrongdoing, insisting he had been dragged through the mud for six years and never committed the slightest act of corruption. The verdict seriously compromises Sarkozys legacy and any hopes of a political comeback. The ex-president, who has enjoyed a surge in popularity since releasing his bestselling memoirs, has hinted he could return to the front line in case of a grave national crisis. He also faces charges over allegations that he received around 45m in funding from Muammar Gaddafi towards his 2007 election campaign, and he is also accused of fraudulently overspending on his failed 2012 reelection bid. The so-called Bygmalion trial is due to start on March 17. In January, Sarkozy was also placed under preliminary investigation for influence peddling over a 3m contract with a Russian insurance company. The inquiry by the national financial prosecutor, PNF, is in relation to a contract the right-winger signed with Russian group Reso-Garantia. Telegraph Media Group Limited [2021] Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full 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| 2021-03-02 00:22:22|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close The Guard of Honor of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) take part in the military parade marking the 75th anniversary of the victory in the Great Patriotic War on Red Square in Moscow, Russia, June 24, 2020. (Xinhua/Bai Xueqi) BEIJING, March 1 (Xinhua) -- Military relations stand as a bright spot and an important supporting force of the strategic cooperation between China and Russia, the Chinese Ministry of National Defense said Monday. The ministry made the comments when responding to a question concerning the claim by certain scholars that faced with military threat from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, Russia may seek to establish military alliance with China. The China-Russia comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination for a new era is a model of new international relations featuring mutual respect, equity and justice as well as win-win cooperation, said the ministry. Completely different from the military alliances between some other countries, China and Russia uphold a principle of non-alliance and non-confrontation that targets no third party, it noted. This year the two countries will celebrate the 20th anniversary of the signing of the China-Russia Treaty of Good-Neighborliness and Friendly Cooperation, and China is willing to conduct in-depth cooperation with Russia in fields such as high-level exchanges, strategic coordination, joint drills and training, equipment and technology to build a comprehensive military relationship in the new era, it added. By Luc Cohen and Brian Ellsworth CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuelan intelligence services monitored six U.S.-based executives of state-owned refiner Citgo Petroleum for a year on U.S. soil to determine their involvement in a deal the government deemed fraudulent, leading to their 2017 arrest in Caracas on corruption charges, according to court testimony. The executives, known as the Citgo Six, were sentenced by a Venezuelan court in November to between eight and 13 years in prison for corruption in a procedure the U.S. State Department labeled a "kangaroo court". Five of the men are naturalized U.S. citizens. The trial documents reviewed by Reuters include testimony provided by a senior Venezuelan military official, Ramon Balza, about the monitoring. The testimony has not been previously reported. Balza, who was serving in 2017 as director of operations for Venezuela's military counter-intelligence directorate (DGCIM), said intelligence services sent information collected over the course of a year to Public Prosecutor Tarek William Saab, whose office used it to open a criminal investigation. Reuters was unable to contact Balza. The DGCIM did not respond to a request for comment. Saab's office and Venezuela's information ministry also declined to respond to questions from Reuters. "Ever since that company (Citgo) became Venezuelan, the company and its board members have been monitored by this country's intelligence services," Balza said in Aug. 11 testimony at a Caracas appeals court. Balza, who conducted the arrests, signed a criminal investigation report entered into evidence at the trial and reviewed by Reuters. The document stated the six men signed a July 2017 refinancing contract by Citgo that prosecutors alleged was unfavorable to Venezuela's interests. When asked by a defense attorney for one of the men how he obtained the information, Balza said intelligence services had "telephony" and "things that follow these people", without providing specific details. Story continues "That is how intelligence agencies function," he said. "Everyone knows that and every country does it." The United States brands Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro a dictator and has imposed sanctions on state oil company Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA). It has also indicted senior Venezuelan officials on charges of corruption and drug trafficking. In December, it imposed sanctions on the judge and prosecutor in the Citgo case, saying that media and rights groups were denied access to the trials. Benjamin Gedan, deputy director of the Wilson Center's Latin America program and a former South America director at the White House National Security Council, said any violation of U.S. laws by Venezuelan intelligence services could provide an opportunity for Washington to "crack down." "If they're violating U.S. laws then they're justifiably at risk of U.S. prosecution and we're always looking for excuses to investigate members of this regime," Gedan said. U.S. federal law prohibits wiretapping of telephone calls without a warrant and requires any non-diplomatic foreign agents to register with the Department of Justice, according to Steven Cash, counsel at the Day Pitney law firm and a former prosecutor. "If they were intercepting and wiretapping in the United States, that would be a crime," Cash said. It was not clear from the testimony if Venezuelan intelligence services violated either of those laws. The Department of Justice declined to comment on whether the monitoring would trigger any action. U.S. intelligence services also routinely gather "human intelligence" on countries where the United States has strategic interests, four former CIA officers told Reuters https://reut.rs/2OcdhIA in a 2019 story. [https://reut.rs/2OcdhIA] The trial documents show that defense attorneys repeatedly said the prosecution presented no evidence linking the Citgo executives - Jose Pereira, Jose Luis Zambrano, Alirio Jose Zambrano, Jorge Toledo, Tomeu Vadell and Gustavo Cardenas -to the refinancing transaction. "Once we heard (Balza) confessed what they did, we requested a mistrial and a criminal investigation against those responsible," a defense attorney for Vadell said in a statement, referring to both the intelligence services' monitoring and testimony by Balza that the men were arrested before a warrant was issued by a court, potentially violating their right to due process. Defense attorneys for the other detainees declined to comment. 'POLITICAL CURRENCY' The men are widely viewed by U.S. analysts and U.S. officials as potential bargaining chips for Venezuela to extract concessions from the United States. Last month, Maduro alleged the men were CIA agents, without providing evidence, and excluded the possibility of their release as a concession to the administration of President Joe Biden. "Maduro's latest allegation is nothing but a callous attempt to leverage the lives of American citizens as political currency," a State Department spokesperson said at the time. In the testimony, Balza and Rafael Franco - who in 2017 served as the DGCIM's special director for criminal investigations - said military counterintelligence detained the Citgo Six on orders from prosecutors even though the DGCIM was not in physical possession of a warrant. However, Balza and Franco gave divergent testimony on the crucial question of whether a judge had approved a warrant before the men were arrested without which the detentions potentially would have been illegal. Balza said prosecutors requested an arrest warrant from a judge after the group was detained. Franco testified that the prosecutor who instructed him to detain the men said a judge had issued an arrest warrant already, even though the DGCIM had not yet received it. Franco was the DGCIM official responsible for liaising with the judicial system but did not carry out the arrests himself. Reuters was unable to reach Franco for comment. In his testimony, Balza said the DGCIM believed the six men were due to fly out of Venezuela that afternoon. "What we did was detain them preventatively, without it rising to the level of illegal detention," Balza said in his testimony. Magaly Vasquez, a Venezuelan criminal procedure expert at Andres Bello Catholic University, said Venezuelan law would allow officers to detain suspects on orders from prosecutors in cases of "exceptional need and urgency" if an arrest warrant already exists, and the prosecutor informed officers of the warrant. Detaining suspects before such a warrant exists would be illegal, she said. Washington imposed sanctions on Franco in July 2019 for alleged involvement in the torture and death of Venezuelan Navy Captain Rafael Acosta Arevalo. (Reporting by Luc Cohen in New York and Brian Ellsworth in Caracas; Additional reporting by Matt Spetalnick in Washington; Editing by Angus MacSwan) Located in Solano County, Calif., the first phase of Gotham Greens' 10-acre greenhouse facility is expected to open in 2021 and will enable the company to deliver fresh, greenhouse-grown leafy greens to more retailers, foodservice operators and consumers on the West Coast. The company operates one of the largest and most advanced networks of hydroponic greenhouses in North America, where the demand for indoor-grown produce continues to surge. Nearly a decade after launching the nation's first commercial-scale rooftop greenhouse, Gotham Greens continues to reimagine how and where fresh produce is grown across America. "We are proud to bring Gotham Greens to the West Coast and partner with one of the highest-ranked agricultural research centers in the world to advance the entire agriculture system," said Viraj Puri, Co-Founder and CEO of Gotham Greens. "California is responsible for growing one-third of the country's vegetables and two-thirds of the nation's fruits, yet in recent years, issues surrounding drought, food safety and worker welfare have demonstrated the need for continued innovation. Gotham Greens offers consumers clean, safe and sustainably-grown leafy greens, herbs and versatile, time-saving plant-based dressings, dips and cooking sauces." University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources (UC ANR) and the UC Davis College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences (UCD CAES) have entered into a partnership with Gotham Greens to advance research and innovation in the areas of indoor agriculture, advanced greenhouse technology and urban agriculture. The new greenhouse facility enables opportunities for Gotham Greens and the University of California system to collaborate on research and innovation focused on advancing the science, workforce, technology and profitability of indoor agriculture globally. "We are building a Controlled Environment Agriculture Consortium to support and advance the indoor farming industry, grow more fresh produce on less land and create new jobs for Californians," said Gabriel Youtsey, UC ANR Chief Innovation Officer. "Gotham Greens is an anchoring partner of this research and industry collaboration that we hope will spur innovation, create a new indoor farming workforce and support industry growth." "We're excited about collaborating with Gotham Greens, which is a coveted employer for tomorrow's leaders in agriculture and engineering," said Helene Dillard, Dean of UCD CAES. "This partnership will offer our students the chance to learn best practices from leading experts in indoor farming." The greenhouse will generate 60 full-time jobs and provide students in the University of California system with an opportunity to learn firsthand from the industry leader. Gotham Greens recently raised $87 million in new equity and debt capital, bringing the fast-growing company's total financing to $130 million and fueling its next phase of growth. "We are delighted for Gotham Greens to join Solano County's thriving agricultural economy and help to usher in a new era in farming innovation, job creation and economic growth for the region," said Solano County Supervisor John Vasquez. Gotham Greens owns and operates greenhouses in New York, Illinois, Rhode Island, Maryland and Colorado. Its products are currently available in more than 40 U.S. states and 2,000 retail stores, including regional divisions of Albertsons Companies (Safeway, Jewel-Osco and Shaw's), Whole Foods Market, Target, King Soopers, Harris Teeter and Sprouts. The company's items also are available for purchase through grocery ecommerce sites, including AmazonFresh, FreshDirect and Peapod. For more information on Gotham Greens' greenhouses, products and job opportunities, please visit gothamgreens.com. FACEBOOK | INSTAGRAM | TWITTER | LINKEDIN | NEWSLETTER About Gotham Greens Gotham Greens is a pioneer in indoor agriculture and a leading fresh food company. Gotham Greens produce is grown using hydroponic systems in 100 percent renewable electricity-powered greenhouses that use 95 percent less water and 97 percent less land than conventional farming. Through its national network of climate-controlled, data-driven greenhouses, Gotham Greens grows and sells long-lasting, delicious leafy greens and herbs along with a line of fresh salad dressings, dips and cooking sauces to retail, restaurant and foodservice customers year-round. Founded in 2009 in Brooklyn, N.Y., Gotham Greens currently operates hydroponic greenhouses across five U.S. states and counting with nearly 400 team members. Learn more about Gotham Greens' mission to transform how and where fresh produce is grown at gothamgreens.com or view Gotham Greens' media resources. CONTACT: Jodi Genshaft [email protected] SOURCE Gotham Greens Related Links http://www.gothamgreens.com Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 2) The more transmissible COVID-19 variant first discovered in South Africa which appeared to make some vaccines less effective has reached the Philippines, the Department of Health confirmed on Tuesday. Cases of variants linked to the United Kingdom and coronavirus patients found with "mutations of interest" also continue to rise. Six cases of the South Africa variant, called B.1.351, were detected by the Philippine Genome Center when they conducted genome sequencing of the samples from COVID-19 patients. Three cases are considered local cases, two are returning overseas Filipinos, while officials are checking if the other case is local or a returning OFW. The three local cases were reported as residents of Pasay City, and whose samples were collected between January 27 and February 13, 2021. Two of the local cases, a 61-year-old female and a 39-year-old male, are active cases being managed by Pasay City. The third local case, a 40-year-old male, has already recovered. On the other hand, the two returning overseas Filipinos arrived in the country from the United Arab Emirates and Qatar. South African researchers believe this new variant is around 50% more contagious than the regular COVID-19 strain. It has a different pattern of mutation that causes more physical alterations in the structure of the spike protein compared to the variant first found in the United Kingdom. South Africa variants and vaccines Researchers said that one of South Africa variant's mutation, called E484K, appears to affect the receptor binding domain the part of the spike protein most important for attaching to cells. It could help the virus partly escape the effects of vaccines. Laboratory studies have suggested that vaccines made by Pfizer and Moderna can protect against coronavirus variants, including those linked in South Africa. Novavax has a lower efficacy of 60% when tested in Phase 2 clinical trials in South Africa, where the variant was prevalent, compared to the 89% efficacy rate when tested in Phase 3 trials in Britain. South Africa paused its rollout of the AstraZeneca vaccine after preliminary trial data showed it offered minimal protection against mild to moderate illness caused by the variant. Sinovac, the only vaccine brand currently rolled out in the Philippines, has yet to publish any study linked to its efficacy against variants. UK variant, mutations Thirty new cases of the variant from United Kingdom were also recorded in the country. This brings the total number of B.1.1.7 cases in the country to 87. Of the new cases, 20 are Filipinos returning from Middle East, Singapore, and USA; three local cases from the Cordillera Administrative Region; while seven cases are undergoing verification. Meanwhile, DOH said that two additional samples from Central Visayas were found to have both the N501Y and E484K mutations. Two mutation cases were also delisted, so the tally remains at 34 cases. The Torrington EMT suspected of arson fires at emergency services facilities on Saturday remains held as a fugitive from justice in Pennsylvania, authorities said. The EMT identified by police as 37-year-old Richard White was taken into custody late Saturday night after authorities said he set four fires that damaged a Roxbury home and emergency services facilities in Meriden, Old Saybrook and Roxbury. Pennsylvania state police said that White was stopped traveling west on I-80 Saturday after their troopers were notified by Connecticut law enforcement that he was in the area. He was later incarcerated at Northumberland County Jail to await extradition, Pennsylvania state police said. Police in Old Saybrook obtained a warrant Saturday charging White with arson and burglary for a fire at the Hunters Ambulance facility on Boston Post Road. It is not clear when he will face a judge in Pennsylvania or return to Connecticut, but authorities in Connecticut said they are working on filing more charges against White. Before allegedly setting the fires, White got into a fight with a fellow Hunters Ambulance employee after being placed on leave in a disciplinary hearing, police said. Officials have not said what led to the hearing. The string of events started with a call to police around 10 a.m. Saturday when officers were dispatched to the Hunters Ambulance headquarters in Meriden. Police say they learned White had been put on leave and then got into a physical altercation with another employee before fleeing in a gray Ford Taurus. Roughly six hours later, police say White allegedly lit a Molotov cocktail in the employee room of the Hunters Ambulance facility in Old Saybrook around 4:30 p.m. Saturday. By about 5 p.m., officials say Whites car was seen back at the Meriden facility as the driver threw a lit Molotov cocktail at the building before speeding off. An hour later, Roxbury officials were called to a fire at the EMS and fire headquarters, as well as a reported fire at a nearby residence. Connecticut state police said over the weekend that White is also suspected of setting those fires. Officials didnt say what was used to ignite these blazes, but did say similar evidence was found at all four scenes. There were no injuries reported from any of the arson fires reported Saturday, Connecticut authorities said. White was taken into custody around 10 p.m. Saturday more than 200 miles from Roxbury in Milton, Pa. Connecticut State Police Sgt. Paul Makuc said White has ties to the Roxbury EMS facility and the nearby home. Roxbury Ambulance Association Chief Sarah Lauriat declined to say over the weekend whether White was associated with the squad. Staff writers Peter Yankowski and J.D. Freda contributed to this story. Last week, I sat around a table with fellow journalists as Greg Sullivan, Microsoft's head of Mixed Reality, detailed the company's vision for the future of virtual collaboration. Nobody was wearing masks or standing apart. We weren't worried about getting sick. Instead, we were all wearing HoloLens 2 headsets and sitting in different parts of the world. The holographic table was right beside my actual desk, and my media pals were floating around my office as we chatted with our cartoonish avatars. For a second, it felt like mingling in real life during the Before Times. Gallery: Microsoft Mesh | 7 Photos /7 Gallery: Microsoft Mesh | 7 Photos /7 We were experiencing one of the first apps powered by Microsoft Mesh, the company's ambitious new attempt at unifying holographic virtual collaboration across multiple devices, be they VR headsets, AR (like HoloLens), laptops or smartphones. Powered by Microsoft's Azure cloud, Mesh isn't just an app, it's a platform that other developers can use to bring remote collaboration to their own software. If remote work is here to stay and by most accounts, it is Microsoft wants to be the company taking us beyond Zoom video chats, and towards holographic experiences that everyone can join. "Not only are we going to be able to share holograms, but we'll be able to do so in a way that gives us agency and presence," Sullivan said during our virtual meeting. "We can create these experiences, where even though we're physically separated, it feels like we're in the same room, sharing in an experience and collaborating on a project." While we've seen a solid stab at virtual collaboration from Spatial, Microsoft is attempting something even more complex. Sullivan likens Mesh to the launch of Xbox Live in 2002, a service that dramatically simplified online multiplayer gaming for consoles. It made it easier for developers to connect their games to the internet, and led to a boom in online multiplayer titles for the Xbox and Xbox 360. That gave Microsoft a strong leg up on Sony and Nintendo, both of which took years to catch up. Microsoft is using today's Ignite conference keynote to show off the capabilities of Mesh. Alex Kipman, the company's Technical Fellow behind the HoloLens and Kinect, will hit the stage as a real-time hologram (something Microsoft calls "holoportation"). Think of it a bit like the holographic messages we've seen in Star Wars and other science fiction stories. It's not photo realistic, but if you're wearing a VR headset, it's almost as if he's in the room with you. On a standard monitor or phone screen, it may just come off as a hokey special effect. But it's not hard to imagine eventually slipping on an AR headset like the HoloLens 2 and watching a hologram presentation right in your living room, as if you were sitting in the front row during a show. Microsoft My Microsoft Mesh demo, to be clear, was nowhere near as impressive. Our avatars were simplistic, with detached arms and limited facial movement. It was like being surrounded by a bunch of Nintendo Miis. But there was still a decent sense of immersion: I could tell exactly where everyone was even when I had my eyes closed, thanks to realistic audio processing. And we were able to collaborate with 3D models, passing them around the table and resizing them to our heart's content. While we were looking at fairly basic 3D figures, Sullivan pointed out that Mesh can also stream high-quality models from the cloud (it's powered by Azure, after all). That would allow designers and engineers to collaborate with the same assets they're using on their workstations from anywhere in the world. That's what film director and producer James Cameron is aiming to do with his upcoming series, OceanXplorers. The non-profit behind that show, OceanX, plans to create a Mesh-enabled "holographic laboratory" on its advanced ship, allowing scientists on-board and remotely to collaborate around 3D models. The idea is to take all this amazing scientific data were collecting and bring it into a holographic setting and use it as a way to guide scientific missions in real time, Vincent Pieribone, vice chairman of OceanX, said in a statement. It would let researchers huddle around data and chat as they would in real life, no matter how far apart they actually are. During the devastating winter blackout in Texas, a conservative group linked the outage to President Joe Biden, claiming that one of his executive orders gave the Chinese Communist Party access to the U.S. power grid. "Joe Biden is handing our power grid to the Chinese Communist Party," tweeted the conservative activist group Students for Trump on Feb. 16. The post also includes a quote by the groups CEO, Charlie Kirk, which reads: "While thousands of Americans are without power because of a faulty energy infrastructure, this is your daily reminder that Joe Biden rescinded a Trump executive order banning Chinese involvement in our power grid." Other social media users were even more explicit about attributing the Texas outage to Bidens order. "Anyone else concerned that 3 weeks ago Joe Biden signed an Executive Order giving China access to the US power grid for 90 days & now Texas and Minneapolis have no power or heat?" reads a tweet. These tweets refer to the executive order on climate change policy that Biden signed on Jan. 20, 2021. Is it accurate to say that the order granted China access to the U.S. power grid? No. Bidens executive order suspended a directive issued by former President Donald Trump that aimed to limit the use of electrical equipment manufactured by foreign adversaries, like China. However, under Bidens executive order, the prohibitions against installing foreign utilities in the U.S. power grid remain in place. We reached out to Kirk through his organization Turning Point USA, but we didnt receive a response. Biden suspends Trump executive order To secure the U.S. power grid from the threat of a cyberattack, Trump issued an executive order on May 1, 2020, called "Securing the United States Bulk-Power System." The order prohibited the use of electrical equipment "designed, developed, manufactured, or supplied, by persons owned by, controlled by, or subject to the jurisdiction or direction of" foreign entities such as China. Under that order, Trumps energy secretary, Dan Brouillette, issued a prohibition against U.S. utilities using Chinese electrical equipment. After taking office in January 2021, Biden signed a flurry of executive orders rescinding Trump policies. One of them, dealing with climate change policy, suspended Trumps May 1 order for 90 days. During the 90-day suspension, the energy secretary and White House budget director are directed to take stock of Trumps executive order and recommend whether to issue a replacement. (Bidens nominee for budget director has not been confirmed.) However, according to the Energy Department, the prohibitions on Chinese electrical equipment remain in place while the Trump order is reviewed. "During this 90-day review period, Responsible Utilities will refrain from installation of bulk-power system electric equipment or programmable components subject to foreign adversaries ownership, control, or influence," the agency wrote on an FAQ page on its website. No evidence that Chinese interference caused Texas power outage There is no evidence that Chinese interference shut down the Texas power grid, which is separate from the Eastern and Western grids that power every other state in the continental U.S. Energy experts told us that many factors drove the outage, including a failure to winterize Texas energy infrastructure, despite years of warnings. As a blast of Arctic air and wind battered the state, power plants not built to withstand the cold began to go offline just as freezing temperatures boosted demand for heating, said Sam Newell, an electricity expert at the Brattle Group, which has run detailed analyses of the Texas power grid. As energy output dropped, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, which manages the Texas power grid, imposed rolling blackouts, causing power outages for millions of Texans. Our ruling Students for Trump claimed, "Joe Biden is handing our power grid to the Chinese Communist Party." Biden suspended part of a Trump order forbidding the use of Chinese electrical equipment in the U.S. power grid. However, the prohibitions remain in place. There is no evidence that Chinese interference caused the Texas power outage. We rate this False. As the Myanmar crisis worsens, the United Nations Human Rights office said that it had credible information that 18 people have been killed and 30 others wounded in an anti-military protest on February 28. In a statement later, it said that the fatalities were a direct result of live ammunition fired on a gathering of demonstrators in at least six cities. Yangon, the erstwhile capital of Myanmar and its largest city was amongst those which came under fire in addition to Yangon, Dawei, Mandalay, Myeik, Bago and Pokokku. The latest fatalities mark the highest single-day death toll in the country since protests against the Military junta began earlier this month. Additionally, at least 1000 people were reportedly detained by law enforcers in an attempt to quell the protests, the Assistance Association of Political Prisoners reported. A journalist, Thein Zaw, working for the Associated Press was also taken into custody while reporting on the Burmese atrocities. Led by Min Aung Hlaing, the army has stepped up its effort to quell the nationwide protests, including internet blackout. On Sunday, they were also reported to have used tear gas and water cannons to clear the streets. Over 1,132, people have been arrested, charged or sentenced since the Coup d'etat on February 1. Read: UN Human Rights Office Says 18 Dead In Myanmar Crackdown Read: Fatalities Reported As Myanmar Police Intensify Use Of Force Coup d'etat As Myanmars military has taken steps to undermine country's democratic transition, including the arrest of nations de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi and few other civilian officials in Burma, several governments and human rights groups across the globe expressed concern and urged the military to immediately release all those who have been detained unlawfully. The Myanmar Army, on the other hand, has said that it carried out the detentions in response to fraud in last Novembers general election that Suu Kyis National League for Democracy (NLD) won by a landslide. According to Myanmars local media outlet, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing is now in control of the country and a state of emergency has been imposed for one year. Read: Myanmar Military Coup: 10 Protesters Killed In Police Firing During Crackdown Read: Myanmar Police Deploy Tear Gas At Yangon Protest Image: Associated Press San Francisco, March 2 : To address customers' security and compliance requirements, Microsoft Teams will soon support end-to-end encryption for one-to-one Microsoft Teams calls, providing an additional option for conducting sensitive online conversations, the company announced on Tuesday. IT admins will have full discretion over who can use the end-to-end encrypted calls in the organisation. Currently, Microsoft Teams does not support end-to-end encryption for meetings. The feature will be available to commercial customers in preview in the first half of this year, the company said during its 'Ignite 2021' virtual event. The new Presenter mode empowers presenters to customize how their video feed and content appear to the audience. "Our first mode, Standout, shows the speaker's video feed in front of the shared content. Next, Reporter will show content as a visual aid above the speaker's shoulder, just like during a news segment," the company said. "Third, Side-by-side will show the presenter's video feed alongside their content as they present. Presenter mode will be available soon," Microsoft said. Microsoft also introduced several other features that will make it easier to collaborate across organisations and event sizes. "Now with Teams, you can easily organize and conduct interactive webinars for people inside and outside of your organization with up to 1,000 attendees," said Jared Spataro, Corporate Vice President for Microsoft 365. If your webinar grows to over 1,000 attendees, Teams will seamlessly scale to accommodate a 10,000-person view-only broadcast experience. "Plus, during this time of increased remote work, take advantage of even larger 20,000-person broadcasts through the end of this year," Spataro added. Presenters often share their desktops in virtual meetings, creating an inconsistent presentation experience and limiting the ability of the audience to interact. To address this, the company announced PowerPoint Live in Microsoft Teams, which will enable presenters to deliver more impactful and engaging presentations. Presenters will now be able to lead meetings more confidently with notes, slides, meeting chat, and participants all in a single view. The tech giant also brought new gallery views to Microsoft Teams Rooms, including Together Mode and large gallery, to make it easier to see everyone in the meeting. It is a slice of central Sydney that almost no one seems to want. More than seven years after Sydneys single loop monorail track was removed, the state government and local council are in a stand-off over who is responsible for forking out $2 million to dismantle a monorail station that hangs over Liverpool Street at World Square. It is one of three stations left by the government when the monorail track was demolished in 2013. The two other stations are in Darling Harbour and are set to be demolished by their large private owners in the next few years as part of redevelopment plans for the area. Hotelier Jerry Schwartz wants to rejuvenate the abandoned monorail station at World Square. Credit:Dominic Lorrimer Hotel mogul Jerry Schwartz said the abandoned station at World Square, which adjoins his familys Rydges hotel, was falling into disrepair and potentially posed a hazard. Serve Robotics will continue spearheading the development of a new form of mobility by creating autonomous robots to deliver goods in urban environments. Its fleet has already proven its viability by serving thousands of households in Los Angeles and has been especially useful during the pandemic by providing customers with contactless delivery. As an independent startup, the company will expand its market reach through new partnerships as it continues to design, develop, and operate delivery robots specialized in navigating sidewalks. "While self-driving cars remove the driver, robotic delivery eliminates the car itself and makes deliveries sustainable and accessible to all," said Dr. Ali Kashani, co-founder and CEO of Serve Robotics. "Over the next two decades, new mobility robots will enter every aspect of our livesfirst moving food, then everything else." Nearly half of all restaurant deliveries in the US are within a 40-minute walk, offering a tremendous opportunity for robotic delivery to complete them faster, safer, and at a lower cost to consumers and restaurants. Food delivery is a growing industry, fueled by the global pandemic, with just the US food delivery app revenue expected to grow from $26.5B in 2020 to $42B in five years. "We're excited for the potential of Serve robots to help our restaurant partners grow their business and find new convenient, safe, and reliable ways to reach customers," said Stephane Ficaja, General Manager of US & Canada, Uber Eats. "Just as the automobile transformed our cities a century ago, another major transformation is beginning, with new mobility form factors being introduced over this decade," said Ali Partovi, CEO of Neo. "We're thrilled to partner with the Serve team and we believe they'll attract some of the brightest minds in autonomy and robotics." Other major investors include Uber, Lee Jacobs and Cyan Banister's Long Journey Ventures, Western Technology Investment, Scott Banister, Farhad Mohit, and Postmates co-founders Bastian Lehmann and Sean Plaice. About Serve Robotics Serve Robotics is shaping the future of delivery by connecting people with what they need locally via robots that are designed to serve people. To learn more, please visit www.serverobotics.com . More Information Investors: [email protected] Media: Contact [email protected] , or download press kit here SOURCE Serve Robotics Inc. YPSILANTI, MI Willow Run Airport in Ypsilanti and Van Buren townships is being awarded a $10 million federal grant from the Department of Transportation, officials announced. The Federal Aviation Administration grant is supplemented by funding that U.S. Sen. Gary Peters, D-Bloomfield Township, and U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Lansing, helped enact through a government funding bill. The funding will go towards infrastructure improvements, including construction on a runway. The improvements include the decoupling of Runways 23L and 27, reconstruction of Runway 9/27 and the construction of Taxiway A parallel to Runway 5R/23L. Safe and reliable air travel is critical to keeping communities across southeast Michigan connected to important markets and destinations, not only during this pandemic but in the years ahead, said Peters, a member of the Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee. Investing in Willow Run will support economic development in the region, Stabenow said. The funding will ensure that Michigans businesses can transport products efficiently and help encourage businesses to invest in the region to create jobs, she said. The Wayne County Airport Authority is grateful to U.S. Senators Debbie Stabenow and Gary Peters for their continued support, especially as the entire airport team works hard to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, said Lisa Gass, spokesperson for the Wayne County Airport Authority. READ MORE FROM THE ANN ARBOR NEWS: Council OKs potentially $10M contract with nonprofit Recycle Ann Arbor Michigan ready for graduated reopening of restaurants, groups say in letter to Whitmer Shakeup near the top of Ann Arbor-area boys basketball power rankings Texans are all about beer, barbecue, andbucha? The proliferation of kombucha companies based in the Lone Star state suggests its residents have another favored libation now. For those unfamiliar with this elixir, kombucha is a fermented tea with a tangy, slightly sparkly mouthfeel with marginal amounts of alcohol and caffeine. TAKE A DIP: These underrated Texas swimming holes will keep you cool this summer Though denizens of Russia and Manchuria have been producing kombucha for hundreds of years from well-tended Symbiotic Cultures Of Bacteria and Yeast (a.k.a. SCOBY), the beverage has come into relatively recent popularity in the United States. Whether youre a die-hard devotee of kombucha or a SCOBY-curious newbie, there are a host of locally-made types to try. Here are some of Texas main producers. Kickin' Kombucha Topping off our list is the OG kombucha company born and brewed in our very own H-town. Kickin Kombucha launched with an inventory of only 35 bottles and is now distributed in numerous major supermarkets and specialty food stores across the state. The current owners also operate a taproom in the East End where you can fill your own growlers (which they will sanitize for free) as well as taste-test limited edition varietiess. The most recent addition to the Houston kombucha scene, Bayou City Bucha has already amassed a loyal following for its perky, whimsical blends that use herbs and cold-pressed juices. Standouts from its line include Party Punch, a floral collaboration of strawberry, blueberry, pineapple and hibiscus, and Soul Cider, bursting with botanical notes from lime, green apple, chlorella and cucumber. To sample its stock, visit Henderson & Kane, Yellow Cup Coffee, Monkeys Tail Bar and other area joints. Jason Taragos Our neighborhood to the west is home to several kombucha collectives, including the blissful Buddhas Brew, which began as a booth in an Austin farmers market. So named for the creators interest in meditation and kombuchas tendency to produce whole-body energy, Buddhas Brew currently has a team of over 30 employees who churn out innovative flavors such as tangerine sea salt and basil honey ginger from its Greenbelt brewery. Another Austin outpost offering locally made kombucha is Kosmic Kombucha. Launched in 2010 by Omar and Mina Rios, a former paramedic and math instructor respectively, Kosmic Kombucha, despite its name, is not just for the stars. The (inter)stellar selection of varieties, which include Cherry Bomb, Wheatsvilles Pear of the Dog (a frothy concoction of prickly pear, olive juice and agave) are sold online and at various co-ops, small groceries and assorted Juiceland locations in Austin. Gavin Booth Rounding out the bucha purveyors in Bat City is Greenbelt Kombucha, whose founders are also responsible for the famed fermented foods manufacturer, Barrel Creek Provisions. Greenbelts low-sugar style kombuchas were among the first probiotic potables to be sold in practical, portable cans, rendering them perfect for poolsides and picnics. Find its wares at H-E-B, and starting in March, the original line plus four new flavors at WholeFoods. Distributed out of San Antonio but made of tea sourced from small local farms, Element Kombucha provides double the fermented fun with a dual line of 100 percent raw kombuchas. The original line comprises refreshing combinations such as lavender spearmint and ginger nettle, while the benefit focused assortment (Seasonal Allergy, Skin Vitality), are, as their names suggest, designed to target and combat specific physical issues. Yelp Richmonds The Kombucha Company vends its standard and seasonal kombuchas like Spicy Pickle, Watermelon and Yerba Mate by the 12-pack online or through a handy subscription kombucha service ($30 per month for 16 bottles). Intrepid DIYers can also purchase the Companys starter SCOBY and tea to brew their own kombucha. Professor Muhammad Ismail and his daughter Gulalai Ismail. Peshawar [Pakistan], March 2 (ANI): A civil rights group has demanded that the bail application of Pakistani human rights defender Professor Muhammad Ismail should be accepted by the Peshawar High Court on March 5 and the charges against him and his wife, Uzlifat Ismail, should be dropped immediately. On March 2, Professor Ismail would have spent one month in prison. The Global civil society alliance CIVICUS also called on Pakistani authorities to stop persecuting and intimidating other members of his family. Professor Muhammad Ismail was arrested on February 2, 2021 after the Anti-Terrorism Court in Peshawar cancelled his interim pre-arrest bail. On February 4, the professor was chained and taken to his family home in Marghuz village, Swabi District. The Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) police seized documents and mobiles belonging to him and his wife. The houses of relatives were also raided. The validity of police evidence used to detain the Professor has been questioned by Pakistan National Assembly's Human Rights Committee during a meeting on February 24. The committee found the answers given by the officer in the case were unsatisfactory and said due diligence was not carried out while framing the charges. The committee concluded that the handling of Professor Ismail's case has "brought disrepute to the Police department". Muhammad Ismail is a prominent member of Pakistani civil society and the focal person for the Pakistan NGO Forum (PNF), an umbrella body composed of five networks of civil society organizations (CSOs) in Pakistan. Since July 2019, Muhammad Ismail and his family have faced systematic harassment and intimidation from the security forces. He and his wife are facing trumped up charges in relation to terrorism, sedition and criminal conspiracy. It is believed the case against Muhammad Ismail and his family is in retaliation for the work of his daughter, award winning women's rights, activist Gulalai Ismail. Story continues She has faced harassment and persecution from the authorities for her peaceful advocacy for women's rights and her efforts to end violations against the ethnic Pashtun people of Pakistan. She was forced to flee Pakistan due to concerns for her safety. In a video released this week by CIVICUS, Gulalai Ismail says she is extremely concerned about the health of her father, who has chronic health problems and has only recently recovered from COVID-19. "My father was arrested for raising a daughter who can speak truth to power. Post-COVID my father's health is even more fragile and chronic health conditions can put his life at risk in the prison. I urge Pakistani authorities to release my father and to drop all charges against my parents unconditionally. Speaking out for human rights is not a crime," she said. The 66-year-old human rights defender is currently being held in inhumane conditions, sleeping on the floor of a room holding 60 people. CIVICUS urged the Pakistani authorities to ensure Professor Ismail is not subjected to torture or other ill treatment in detention and called on the authorities to give him unrestricted access to his chosen lawyer and family. "The ongoing persecution and arbitrary detention of Professor Ismail is unwarranted, it is a brutal response by the Pakistani authorities to the human rights activities of his family. He has done nothing wrong and is a victim of a state that does not respect freedom of speech and the rule of law. Professor Muhammad Ismail should be released immediately and all charges against him and his family must be dismissed," said Josef Benedict, Asia Civic Space Researcher at the CIVICUS Monitor. Due to the ongoing persecution of Professor Muhammad Ismail and his family, CIVICUS has added him to its global #StandAsMyWitness campaign. The campaign urges people to call for an end to the imprisonment and harassment of human rights defenders across the world. People are also encouraged to share his story, and the stories of other rights defenders, on social media using the hashtag #StandAsMyWitness. CIVICUS has called on the Pakistani authorities to uphold its national and international human rights obligations, release Muhammad Ismail, and drop all charges against him and all members of his family. (ANI) Luis Palau continues to defy the odds in stage 4 cancer battle, new update reveals Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment The son of world-renowned evangelist Luis Palau says his fathers latest cancer scan revealed that the family will get to keep their loved one around a bit longer. At the top of last year, the beloved minister made the unexpected announcement that he was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer. Months later, in a Thanksgiving Day update, Palau testified that he was defying the odds and doing much better than doctors had anticipated. Now, his eldest son, Kevin Palau, says things are still going better than expected. Dad had a full body scan Tuesday, met w/oncologist yesterday. So blessed to get a good report that the tumors have not grown, and that his coughing/fluid buildup around the lungs is not due to tumor growth. the son wrote in a Facebook update, last month. Guess we get to have him around for a while longer! #thankful, Kevin declared. In March of last year, Palau shared that after two months of chemotherapy, the doctors were amazed at the results of his CT scan and blood work. All tumors had shrunk by one-third and there was no new growth of the tumors. The results were so uncommon for someone with stage 4 cancer that Palau said the doctors were stunned. Since then, the Luis Palau Association has carried on with multiple initiatives for the Ivory Coast, China, the U.K., Latin America, South Africa, Madrid, Spain and several cities in the United States. Whether the Lord gives me a few months or a few years ... I have no regrets. Evangelism has been my life. And theres nothing I want more for you than to have the same deep satisfaction in knowing you are obeying the Lord and investing in eternity, the Argentinian native once wrote of why he would continue to do the Lords work despite his diagnosis. The Palau Association has collaborated with thousands of churches in hundreds of cities around the world. He has led millions into a personal relationship with Jesus Christ in over 75 nations. On his website, Palau shared that doctors didnt think hed make it past Christmas. Diagnosed with lung cancer in January, I was told Id be gone by Christmas. Probably sooner. Get your life in order, the doctor said. It was a sobering reality, he revealed. Yet here I am, quite well actually, and writing to you about plans for the months ahead! Its a testimony of Gods goodness. I believe its also a challenge. An autobiographical movie on the life of the renowned preacher, "Palau the Movie, was released in April. The film journeys through the life of Luis Palau, revealing how a bad-tempered young street preacher goes on to impact the world for Jesus. To stay up to date on Luis Palau's condition and ministry, visit Palau.org. The gas and energy suppliers made errors leading to overcharging of 7.2mln. Eighteen gas and electricity suppliers including some of the UKs biggest household names overcharged more than one million customers switching accounts between 2013 and 2020, regulator Ofgem said today. The regulator said people switching should be protected from price rises while moving their business, but errors during the switchover process led to Eighteen suppliers made errors leading to overcharging of 7.2mln. Some of the biggest names were the worst offenders said Ofgem, with Ovo and Shell ( ) among the worst offenders alongside British Gas 9LON:CNA), E.On, EDF, Npower, Scottish Power, SSE ( ) and Octopus. Customers are in line for refunds with companies making compensation payments taking the total to 10.4mln. Anna Rossington, interim director of retail at Ofgem said: "Customers should have confidence in switching and not be overcharged when doing so. "This case sends a strong message to all suppliers that Ofgem will intervene where customers are overcharged and ensure that no supplier benefits from non-compliance." Several companies reported the issue to Ofgem which then asked all suppliers to check their records. The average amount overcharged was 6.27 though the figure could be higher on larger bills, said the regulator. Tehran, March 2 : Iranian authorities have accused Israel of "inducing panic" in the Persian Gulf while rejecting the country's claim that Tehran was involved in a blast aboard an Israel-owned ship last week. "We strongly reject this accusation," Iran's Foreign Ministry Spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh told a weekly press briefing on Monday. He noted that Israel is "the basis of all insecurity and instability in the region". Earlier Monday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu blamed Iran for an explosion aboard the MV Helios Ray, a Bahamian-flagged vehicle-carrier ship, in the Sea of Oman. The ship was sailing out of the Middle East to Singapore on February 26. The Persian Gulf and the Sea of Oman, Khatibzadeh said, are Iran's "immediate security areas", and Tehran "will not allow" Israel to "induce panic" in the region. Press Release March 2, 2021 Senate honors 'Ayong' The Senate on Monday, March 1, 2021, adopted a resolution expressing its sympathy and condolences on the death of former Cavite Gov. Erineo "Ayong" Maliksi. In Senate Resolution No. 664 authored by. Sen. Richard Gordon, Maliksi was described as "one of the proud sons of Cavite," the "Land of the Brave." Upon motion of Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri, there being no objection, all senators were made co-authors of the resolution. Gordon said that Maliksi, a former Imus mayor, vice-mayor and congressman, was a "true public servant who dedicated half of his life in the service of his people." Maliksi first served as chief of police of Imus before getting elected to local office. Fellow Caviteno Sen. Ramon Bong Revilla Jr. described the late governor as "brave, reliable and resolute," a brand of a true Caviteno. He said Maliksi had never failed in his passion to be an able leader and a true public servant. "We may have taken different paths, but deep in my heart, I know we have only one goal in mind - that is to serve our fellow Cavitenos to the best of our abilities," Revilla said. Also a Caviteno, Sen. Francis Tolentino described Maliksi as the great father of Cavite. Tolentino recalled that while, in some point of their political life, they parted ways, Maliksi posted Tolentino's campaign sticker on his car when the latter was running for senator during the 2019 midterm elections. "Rest in peace, Gov. Maliksi. You will always be remembered by the entire province, and even by the country for having been an exemplary local government official," Tolentino said. Sen. Francis Pangilinan described Maliksi as "a gentleman, humble, coming from the old school of politics who is straightforward and with word of honor," and a stalwart of the Liberal Party. He said he was adopted son by the former governor when he worked as a full-time farmer in Alfonso, Cavite. Sen. Ronald "Bato" Dela Rosa, who also asked to be made co-author and co-sponsor of the resolution, said, "Gov. Ayong Maliksi was a very good friend of mine. He was a very helpful person and he considered me as his adopted son in the province of Cavite, being my second home next to Davao." Maliksi died February 24, 2021. He was 82. Maliksi had been in public office for nearly 40 years. A protege of the late Cavite governor Juanito Remulla, he was vice mayor of Imus from 1980 to 1986, then its mayor from 1988 to 1998. He was second district congressman from 1998 to 2001 and from 2010 to 2013, and Cavite governor from 2001 to 2010. The last post he held was chair of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office from 2015 to 2016. The above term has both national and local implications but generally means efforts of candidates and/or their supporters to get the individual voters to the polls on Election Day. In years past (and today) candidates would hire vans to transport their prospective voters from nursing homes and individual residences to increase their support. Unfortunately, sometimes the driver of the vans would take money from more than one candidate and, although they would initially transport voters early in the morning, the vans would sometimes not be able to transport voters all day due to alleged vehicle problems or lack of gas by deliberate design and would wind up parked by the side of the road for a while before picking up additional prospective voters for another candidate. One of the favorite tactics used in city of Chattanooga elections was the use of the chain ballots. In the days before liquor by the drink became legal on January 1, 1973, there were establishments in the city of Chattanooga known as good time houses where either legal or moonshine shots were available. In the areas known as controlled wards a copy of the legitimate ballot was somehow obtained in advance. Thirsty voters would assemble at one of the houses where they would be given a filled-in ballot with the names of the preferred slate of candidates by the political bosses. The next step would be to transport the prospective voters to the polling place where they would be given a blank ballot by the precinct election officials. The voters would then enter the privacy curtain and pretend to fill out the ballot while placing the blank one in their pocket. They would then deposit the previously filled in ballot in the voting box. The last step in this exercise in Democracy would be for the voter to be transported back to the good time house where they would be rewarded for their participation in the American electoral process with an alcoholic drink after turning in the blank ballots to the party in charge of disbursing the liquid refreshment. No wonder that some citizens used to refer to Chattanooga as Little Chicago! * * * 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) 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. [March 02, 2021] ISW Holdings Triples Active Cryptocurrency Mining Fleet with Additional POD5IVE Datacenters LAS VEGAS, March 02, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- via InvestorWire -- ISW Holdings, Inc. (OTC: ISWH) (ISW Holdings or the Company), a diversified portfolio comprised of essential business lines that serve consumer product demands in decentralized markets, is pleased to announce that, following the signing of hosting agreements with Bit5ive LLC, based in Miami, Florida, and Scrubgrass Generating Company, LLP, based in Kennerdell, Pennsylvania, the Company has successfully tripled its active cryptocurrency mining fleet with the addition of two (2) new POD5IVE datacenters. The Company now operates a total of three POD5IVE datacenter units and anticipates record acceleration in cash flows, revenue growth and profitability. The POD5IVE datacenter, produced in partnership with Bit5ive, is based on an evolutionary design. Specifications include: Active Mining Power: 62-92 Th/s depending on the miners. SHA 256 Hashrate: Currently 6,557.28 TH/s. Per POD5IVE quantity: 3x 280-360. Depending on each miner, 1x 280 and type of miner: 3x Up S17/T17, 1x up to S19/T19. Power capacity: Each POD5IVE can go 2x 800A, 2x 1000A or 2x 1200A. Total power capacity per POD5IVE: 4x 920,038.40 Watts (current site is using 800A fuse per service). Container Size: 40' x 8'. Shelving: 3x with 10 medium Racks, 1x with 4 large racks. Voltage: 415V 3 Phase. Ventilation: Passive airflow with a temperature-controlled evaporative cooler (133,000 CFM total each). Digital smart breakers, virtual power monitorin, auto rebooting and wattage protection. Door lock system (automated, warm air recirculation): Basic locks with keys. Purchase price per POD: $168,000. Manufacturing & delivery: 10-12 weeks. Master Capacity: 280 for S19/T19. Alonzo Pierce, president and chairman of ISW Holdings, commented, We have now tripled our mining activity with the addition of two new POD5IVE mining pods. The Company will continue to significantly add to our fleet over the coming quarters. We are also building a valuable track record with our mining pods, which will validate the strong value presented when we enter our next phase and begin marketing the Proceso POD5IVE Datacenter as a self-contained, high-efficiency, low-maintenance cryptocurrency mining equipment solution. About ISW Holdings ISW Holdings, Inc., through its in-house operations and strategic partnerships, has invested in growing operations targeting the home healthcare, telehealth, cryptocurrency mining and supply chain management industries. The Companys expertise lies in strategic brand development, early growth facilitation, as well as brand identity through a proprietary procurement process. Management maneuvers its proprietary companies through critical stages of market development, which include conceptualization, go-to-market strategies, engineering, product integration and distribution efficiency. 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). Wire Service Contact InvestorWire (IW) Los Angeles, California www.InvestorWire.com 212.418.1217 Office Editor@InvestorWire.com [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] The Los Angeles Department of Transportation can continue to collect trip and other data related to scooters, bikes and other forms of shared transportation after a federal district court in southern California dismissed the case challenging its collection of mobility data.The case was filed in June 2020 by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) on behalf of plaintiffs Justin Sanchez and Eric Alejo, claiming the LADOT ought not collect detailed trip data for shared micro-mobility devices like bikes and scooters. The dismissal was filed by U.S. District Judge Dolly M. Gee on Feb. 23, 2021."This is an issue that may be more appropriately addressed as a matter of public policy, which is not for this court to opine," reads the dismissal.The decision allows LADOT to continue collecting trip data, which includes real-time locations and routes, facilitated by a software tool known as Mobility Data Specification (MDS). The plaintiffs claimed the trip data could possibly lead to the identification of the users of the scooters and other devices, and therefore served as a privacy violation.As you can imagine, were incredibly disappointed in the ruling, Hannah Zhao, a staff attorney for the EFF, told. We are exploring our options, including the possibility of appealing the decision.Officials with LADOT say the ruling signals its micro-mobility programs can continue to proceed.We appreciate the court's decision on this case. As we have continuously stated, cities need data in order to effectively manage the public right of way, said Colin Sweeney, a spokesman for LADOT, in an emailed statement. The limited data we gather from private, for-profit companies allows us to enforce regulations that protect communities and ensure equitable access to all modes of transportation.LADOT contends the trip data is needed to better understand how mobility devices are being used, the infrastructure needed to support them, ensure the equitable distribution of the devices and other transportation policy goals.The lawsuit argued that without a significant amount of effort, the individual identities of scooter riders could be discerned. The court, however, challenged this assumption, saying MDS data is anonymous.It is linked only to the scooter, which is shared and by its nature used by a person only for the duration of a single ride, reads the judges ruling. Each ride is disassociated from other rides the user may have purchased.The ruling goes on to say MDS does not qualify as the sort of search outlined by the Fourth Amendment.But even if it were a search, it would be an administrative search, not for law enforcement purposes, the court concludes.The ruling by the U.S. District Court sends a message to cities that they may continue using MDS in use by some 90 jurisdictions to establish transportation planning and policy.The bottom line is this, said Jascha Franklin-Hodge, executive director of the Open Mobility Foundation (OMF). City transportation departments can and do protect individual privacy while using MDS to manage public streets for public good."Were in the unique position of bringing together folks from both cities and mobility operators to bridge the digital divide and work toward common goals, and were thrilled to continue this work, he added. Reporter Ben Zigterman is a reporter covering business at The News-Gazette. His email is bzigterman@news-gazette.com, and you can follow him on Twitter (@bzigterman). Costa Mesa Becomes Latest City to Explore Pay Raise for Grocery Workers Costa Mesa is considering boosting the hourly wages of grocery workers during the pandemic, joining a shopping list of other Orange County cities exploring the initiative. Its city council will discuss an urgency ordinance March 2 to pay certain grocery workers an extra $4 per hour in hazard pay. Grocery workers generally receive lower wages than other professions deemed essential during the pandemic such as doctors, says a city report. There is a need to incentivize experienced grocery workers to remain employed in order to provide continuity of services to the public during the disaster. Once in effect, the hazard pay would last for 120 days, unless extended by the council. The ordinance is being brought forward at the request of Mayor Katrina Foley and Mayor Pro Tem Andrea Marr. The city reported that grocery workers have been required to work throughout the pandemic, facing new hazards due to the coronavirus pandemic in jobs not previously considered particularly dangerous. Grocery workers are often in close contact with members of the public who may be COVID positive yet asymptomatic and are often in closer contact than six feet, thereby placing them at higher risk for contracting the disease, the report states. Many grocery companies throughout the state initially provided their employees with a temporary wage increase or a one-time bonus for essential workers. However, since the impacts of the pandemic temporarily subsided last June, there appears to be no additional effort from grocery store employers to reinstate the extra compensation. If the city council supports the ordinance on March 2, staff will work with the city attorneys office to draft the urgency ordinance and bring it to the council for approval at a future meeting. County-Wide Trend Several cities in Orange County have since adopted, or considered implementing, pay hikes for grocery workers during the pandemic. Irvine has led the way, being the first city in the county to adopt hero pay, which will go into effect on March 25 for non-managerial grocery store workers having shifts of at least two hours per week. The citywide mandate applies to stores with 20 or more employees or more than 500 workers nationwide. It also applies to stores that are 85,000 square feet or more in size; stores less than 15,000 square feet would be exempt. Two members of Irvines city council were opposed to the ordinance because there was confusion about which stores would be included and which would be exempt, and they wanted a continuance of the item until the city obtained a list of eligible retailers. Buena Park city council moved forward with its hero pay proposal on Feb. 23 and will vote on its approval during its next meeting. One of its councilmembers previously told The Epoch Times that she had concerns about the ordinance. Although I understand the equity argument behind the proposed ordinance in favor of grocery workers, I am concerned about its impact on mid-sized grocers in Buena Park, Buena Park Mayor Pro Tem Sunny Youngsun Park said. I hope that the direction we take as a collective body does not drive grocers out of the city and we can ensure that Buena Park residents may have quality supermarkets within the city boundary. Eligible employees must work at least two hours per week at a business that employs more than 20 people locally and is part of a company or franchise with at least 500 employees nationally. The store must be larger than 15,000 square feet, with at least 70 percent of its floor area devoted to food products, or generate at least 70 percent of its revenue from food sales. Stores with more than 85,000 square feet that devote at least 10 percent of their sales floor area to food sales would also qualify, as would retail pharmacies that sell food. In Santa Ana, the city council will decide on March 2 whether to implement hero pay for both grocery and retail pharmacy workers. In Long Beach, the council faced backlash over its hero pay ordinance after Kroger announced on Feb. 1 that it would shutter two of its local stores in response to the rule. As a result of the city of Long Beachs decision to pass an ordinance mandating extra pay for grocery workers, we have made the difficult decision to permanently close long-struggling store locations in Long Beach, a company statement reads. This misguided action by the Long Beach City Council oversteps the traditional bargaining process and applies to some, but not all, grocery workers in the city. Governor Whitmer Extends Michigan's Liquor License Renewals from April 30 to July 30 Governor Whitmer Extends Michigan's Liquor License Renewals from April 30 to July 30 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE February 26, 2021 Governor Whitmer Extends Michigans Liquor License Renewals from April 30 to July 30 LANSING Governor Gretchen Whitmer today announced a three-month extension for liquor licensees to renew their 2021 licenses. The annual license renewal expiration date will be extended from April 30 to July 30 this year to assist licensees who have been impacted as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, by providing additional time to renew their licenses. The governors action will be implemented by administrative order issued by the Michigan Liquor Control Commission (MLCC). The license renewal extension will benefit approximately 19,000 licensees. Our bar and restaurant owners have made incredible sacrifices during this pandemic and they should not have the additional stress about renewing their liquor license by April 30 this year, said Whitmer. We want to ease the burden by extending the customary deadline so they can focus on getting back to business. My administration has also secured crucial support for these businesses through a bipartisan supplemental budget that I signed to provide greater financial relief for small business owners in our hospitality industry. Licensees are strongly encouraged to renew their license online to ensure timely processing of their renewal application and avoid any potential delays with mailing their renewed license. Licensees do not have to wait to renew their license. Licensees may renew their license(s) when it originally expires or at any time before the extended due date of July 30. This extension will allow staff from the MLCC Licensing Division to work with those licensees who need the extra time to renew, said Orlene Hawks, director of the Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs (LARA) where the MLCC is housed. Those who still wish to renew immediately will have the opportunity to do so, but this new deadline will also give our licensees the flexibility to wait a few months to renew their license. Licensees are encouraged to visit the MLCC website often for updated information at www.michigan.gov/lcc. The MLCC Licensing Division appreciates licensees timely renewal and is working to ensure that this years renewal goes smoothly. The Commission is pleased to implement Governor Whitmers action. This extension is a big step toward getting our bar and restaurant owners back to a new normal as quickly as possible, said MLCC Chair Pat Gagliardi. Licensees in the hospitality industry across the state wont have to worry about losing their license over the summer months, which typically is a busy time for them. Licensees are reminded that failure to renew and receive an updated license may result in violations and/or automatic termination of the license. For more information on the coronavirus / COVID-19 state of emergency, please visit the State of Michigans coronavirus website at: www.michigan.gov/coronavirus. ### It is the mission of MLCC to make alcoholic beverages available for consumption while protecting the consumer and the general public through regulation of those involved in the importation, sale, consumption, distribution, and delivery of these alcohol beverage products. It will be another staycation summer, with just 15pc of people planning to take a holiday abroad this year. New research from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) found that fewer than one in six people intended to holiday overseas in 2021. Last November just over half of respondents told the CSO they anticipated their next international flight would be sometime in 2021. However, by last month, with the public being warned not to expect easing of Level 5 Covid-19 restrictions any time soon and fines introduced for non-essential travel, that figure had fallen to just 15.9pc. Around 40pc of people said they intend to take a holiday in the Republic of Ireland for at least one week in 2021. Typically, before the arrival of Covid-19, around 30pc of people said they would have a staycation while 73pc said they would have a holiday overseas. Just over a quarter of those surveyed said they would not have a holiday at all this year, compared to 11pc who would not take a holiday in a typical year. Read More The survey also analysed the publics attitude towards vaccines, with 87pc of respondents yet to get the Covid-19 vaccine saying they would get vaccinated next week if it was possible. A total of 5.4pc of respondents said they did not want to get the vaccine. Two-thirds of them said they were worried about long-term side-effects. Meanwhile, separate statistics have identified that the most popular air traffic routes out of Ireland in January, apart from Britain, were Spain and Poland. Some 14,700 passengers arrived on Spanish routes and 11,700 passengers departed on these routes in the month of January. A further 11,300 passengers arrived on Polish routes and 7,100 passengers departed on these routes. Statistician Gregg Patrick said there was a substantial fall in overseas travel in January compared to December, with arrivals down 34pc and departures down 33pc. It comes as the Royal Caribbean cruise liner company announced its first fully vaccinated cruises this May as Israel's green passport programme heats up. It said it will offer fully vaccinated sailings between Israel, Cyprus and the Greek Islands. Crew and passengers over the age of 16 will be vaccinated on sailings aboard Odyssey of the Seas, the companys new mega-ship. The news comes as Israel has delivered at least one dose of vaccine to more than half of its adult population. Israel, Greece and Cyprus have signed tentative accords in a move towards allowing vaccinated travellers to move freely between the countries. Debates around possible vaccine passports are heating up as several countries, including Iceland, Poland and Romania, now allow vaccinated travellers to bypass quarantine. This comes while EU leaders at a virtual summit last week broadly agreed that vaccine certificates were needed. However, it remains to be seen whether vaccination prevents transmission of the virus. British over-50s cruise line Saga has said it will require all guests to be vaccinated this year. 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. Facebook has signed up a string of German media partners to provide content for a local news product. However, the publisher of the best-selling newspaper in the country said it would not take part on the terms mentioned. According to media reports, Facebook News will feature reporting from heavyweight weeklies Die Zeit and Der Spiegel, and dailies like the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Handelsblatt and Tagesspiegel. However Axel Springer, the publisher from the private equity house KKR responsible for putting out the Bild tabloid and conservative broadsheet Die Welt said it would not be joining. According to media reports, Springer said it'll prefer to rely on European copyright rules which allows all publishers to receive appropriate remuneration. This comes in after Facebook News' back and forth with Australian publishers. Since then, Facebook has said it will invest $1 billion in news over the next three years. Facebook News has already launched in the United States and Britain, and will follow soon in France. EDITORS NOTE: NJ Cannabis Insider is hosting a two-day business and networking conference March 9-10, featuring some of the states most prominent industry leaders. Tickets are limited. The makeup of a recently appointed commission that will establish rules and regulations for New Jerseys marijuana industry is coming under fire from the state NAACP for failing to include as members a Black man and someone directly connected to a group that fights racial injustice. Gov. Phil Murphy last week announced his final appointees to the Cannabis Regulatory Commission. But among five commissioners and an executive director, the commission includes a Black woman but no Black men, nor a representative the NAACP says clearly meets a statutory requirement. The NAACP is very concerned because we have been at the forefront for marijuana legalization and decriminalization since the beginning, said Richard Smith, president of the state NAACP conference. He noted that the original legalization bill did not include outright social justice provisions. We have fought to ensure that broad social justice aspects were going to be the part of this. The NAACP sent a letter outlining its concerns to a member of Murphys administration Monday. It requests all documents that identify the qualifications of the member or members of the Cannabis Regulatory Commission that qualify for the position. The marijuana legalization law mandates that the commission must include at least one person who is a state representative of a national organization or State branch of a national organization with a stated mission of studying, advocating, or adjudicating against minority historical oppression, past and present discrimination, unemployment, poverty and income inequality, and other forms of social injustice or inequality. It is not clear to me that any appointed member of the commission meets this mandatory requirement, the NAACP letter, obtained by NJ Advance Media, states. The commission includes executive director Jeff Brown, who currently oversees the medical marijuana division of the state Department of Health; chair Houenou, formerly of the ACLU-NJ and most recently of Murphys administration; Maria Del Cid, the director of the Office of Policy and Legislative Services at the state Department of Health; William Wallace of the United Food and Commercial Workers; Krista Nash, a social worker; and Sam Delgado, a former Verizon executive and Marine. Houenous experience most closely fits the description of being with a group that fights racial injustice, but she no longer works for the ACLU. Murphys office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the letter from the NAACP. An administration source, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said last week that Houenou met the criteria because she previously worked for the ACLU. The NAACP took issue with the appointees announced last week. Dianna Houenou, the commissions chair, is the only Black person on the panel. But Black people particularly Black men have been disproportionately arrested for marijuana offenses for decades. We can be arrested for it, our lives can be ruined by it, and yet it doesnt appear that were good enough to be on the commission, said Smith. Legal marijuana sales cannot start until the commission establishes rules and regulations to guide licensing, tax revenue allocation and other aspects of the new marijuana industry. The law gives the commission lots of autonomy in its regulations, and having a seat at the table would give the NAACP a more powerful voice as legalization unfolds. Rev. Charles Boyer, who heads the criminal justice reform group Salvation and Social Justice and has advocated for racial justice provisions in marijuana legalization, said he has concerns that a lack of Black men on the board will lead to less It was really aggravating. We had suggested to all of them that Black men should be on the commission, Boyer said. And not one of them put a Black man. Black people as a whole have the least amount of representation of any group on the board. Which is outrageous, because Black people by far are the most targeted, he said. Smith said the NAACP had worked along with the ACLU-NJ and New Jersey United for Marijuana Reform to ensure the statutory requirement for a representative from a social justice organization made it into the law. While the NAACP is happy Houenou will chair the commission, its leaders believe another appointee should be made to meet the requirement. They do not want to see Houenou removed. Smith said he hopes to talk with Murphy and legislative leadership about ways to fix the issue. But if they do not receive a response, they may pursue further action. The commission was fully appointed last week, just after Murphy signed laws to launch the legal marijuana industry and end arrests for possession. The appointments could have been made more than a year ago under a law expanding the medical marijuana program and calling for the establishment of such a commission. But final appointments werent made until last week. Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com. Amanda Hoover may be reached at ahoover@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @amandahoovernj. The Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) has reported that, in collaboration with its official agencies, investigations were carried out into 47 unregistered food businesses in 2020, as compared to 19 in 2019, representing a 147% increase. These unregistered food businesses were operating illegally without the knowledge or supervision of the competent authorities. Some of these food businesses were established in domestic kitchens or private dwellings with inadequate food safety processes, procedures and facilities in place, as a result of the temporary closure of the food business in which the people were employed due to the COVID-19 restrictions. The food businesses were producing, processing or distributing various foods such as baked goods; eggs; ready-to-eat sushi products; poultry; and both raw and cooked meats. Food law requires all food businesses to be notified to the relevant competent authority irrespective of the size or type of food business, prior to operating. This requirement ensures that food businesses will be registered and/or approved with the appropriate inspection agency to ensure food safety and protect consumer health. The food business owner is legally responsible for ensuring that the food they produce is safe to eat. Following each investigation, the FSAI, in collaboration with the food inspectors, may take appropriate enforcement action to ensure consumer health is protected. In 2020, five Closure Orders, five Compliance Notices and three Prohibition Orders were served on unregistered/unapproved food businesses. In addition to these, two warrants were obtained to gain access to unregistered food businesses running their business from a domestic dwelling. The investigations also resulted in 17 tonnes of unfit and/or unsafe food taken off the market in Ireland. Commenting today, Dr Pamela Byrne, Chief Executive, FSAI urged consumers to be vigilant and only purchase food from reputable food businesses. Consumers have a right to safe food and bogus operators seeking to make a quick profit at the risk of potentially making consumers sick or selling non-compliant or fraudulent foodstuffs will be pursued using the legal powers available to us. The vast majority of food businesses comply with their legal requirement to notify prior to operating; however, it is very concerning to see an increase in the number of unregistered food businesses found to be operating in 2020. There is no doubt that COVID-19 has presented many challenges for the food industry and for people working in the sector, however, this does not change the legal requirements which are in place to protect consumer health. All food business owners, big or small, whether trading from a business premises, in the home, from a mobile unit, food truck and/or online, must be aware of food hygiene and food safety legislation. It is totally unacceptable that some food businesses are choosing to operate outside of the law, said Dr Byrne. Many of these unregistered food businesses are using social media platforms such as facebook, facebook marketplace, Adverts.ie, Done Deal and Instagram to advertise the sale and supply of their food products, and WhatsApp is also used by some for receiving orders. The FSAI and the food inspectors continue to monitor these sites and will take appropriate action, if unregistered food businesses are discovered. We would ask consumers that if they are in any doubt about a food business, they should contact us through our online complaint form www.fsai.ie/makeitbetter and we will follow up on this, added Dr Byrne. The FSAI has reiterated that anyone who is planning to open a food business should contact the FSAI for advice as to the correct procedures they must put in place to notify the relevant competent authority about their business, comply with food law and operate safely to ensure they can protect public health. COVID-19 has led to a decline in demand for fresh fish, causing fishers to fall into poverty. Credit: WorldFish (https://www.flickr.com/photos/theworldfishcenter/7654907108/in/album-72157669655644307/), CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/) Lockdown restrictions following the global spread of the COVID-19 pandemic have severely impacted fishing operations, processing, markets and supply chains, leaving those in low-income groups vulnerable to malnutrition and poverty, say the authors of a new study. When the pandemic caused global lockdowns in March 2020 it disrupted the fish market supply chain on a global level, the ripple effects of which continue to be felt. The decline in demand for fresh fish has led to fewer wage opportunities while increased costs of transportation have led to either oversupply or wastage. The global seafood market reached a value of US$159.31 billion in 2019, and is projected to reach about US$194 billion dollars by 2027. The study notes that the seafood system is a meshed network of formal and informal producers and distributors, retailers and consumers. Developing countries, in particular, are exporting high volumes of seafood as part of poverty alleviation programs. According to the World Wildlife Fund, the developing world employ 97 percent of the world's fishing workforce with an overwhelming majority, 90 percent, are small-scale fishermen. The Food and Agriculture Organization estimated that about 200 million people were directly and indirectly employed along the value chain many of whom are women. Published online by Global Food Security in February, the study highlights labor and production disruptions that affected the incomes of self-employed and casual workers based on analysis of data collected from official government agencies and market reporting. The entry of migrant fish workers into ports, in Thailand and India for example, were restricted while most fish markets were shut down. Traders in India and Myanmar reported a 15 percent drop in fish prices after lockdowns were implemented. Though large-scale operators were eventually able to adapt, smaller operations especially from rural areas have had a harder time recovering due to limited access to technology and social protection programs. Businesses in China, for example, shifted to frozen and processed seafood in response to consumers staying home and cooking more. Small to medium enterprises had a more difficult time pivoting without access to a network of consumers online and a reliable transportation system. "With market disruptions people are not that likely to be fishing more, because they can't sell the product. One way to support the loss of income is setting up COVID-safe markets, through mobile apps for example, to minimize crowds. This has already been going on in the Philippines," explains Kate Barclay, professor of International Studies and Global Societies, University of Technology Sydney. The disruptions led to a significant reduction in consumption of nutrient-dense foods like fish in low-income countries, with households shifting towards staple foods, according to the study. Small-scale farmers in Myanmar reported buying less food, especially animal-sourced food. Since the fish sector is important in maintaining the global food chain, the authors of the study recommend longer-term adaptations over short-term coping mechanisms to safeguard against future volatilities. These include more investment in sustainable fishing and less reliance on food imports. "Fish and other aquatic animals are a nutritious source of food, one that tends to be more affordable than meat or poultry. When we think about how to recover from this pandemic there needs to be more investment and support given that this sector is an important source of livelihood for so many people," says Ben Belton, a co-author of the study and senior scientist at WorldFish. Belton also suggests social safety nets targeted at low-income groups and migrant workers. "In a crisis like this there's actually very little formal support that people are able to access. If you lose your job or you're unable to continue your business, you don't have many options and may be forced to borrow informally. But if there were more of a social safety net in times of need, whether it be in the form of cheap loans or food, it could at least provide a bit of a buffer," says Belton. One of the challenges for government and policy makers is identifying what kinds of support are effective at preserving businesses, income and food security while balancing sustainable practices. "Policy measures taken to help fishers through these extremely difficult times should be designed to respond to the specific problems in a given context, and should keep the long-term sustainability of the sector in mind," says Alice Tipping, lead of fish subsidies at the International Institute for Sustainable Development. "If a country is facing a drop off in fish supply because fishers are subject to lockdowns, providing general income support to the poorest sectors of the population may be the measure that best addresses the problem," Tipping says. "If fishers are able to fish but demand is lacking, for example because restaurants are closed, the best way of supporting fishers is to give them money directly, rather than trying to prop them up by further reducing their fishing costs which is likely to encourage them to fish more than may be sustainable," she adds. Explore further COVID-19 pandemic had big impact on commercial fishing in Northeast Provided by SciDev.Net A man accused of murdering his Thai national drug dealer in southwest Sydney felt like a stupid person for dumping the body, a jury has been told. Alex Dion admits he disposed of his ice dealer's body and clothes after he was killed in his Belmore apartment but denies it was by him. 'I'm embarrassed in myself how stupid ... take the body and dump it ... make me feel like a stupid person I done what I done,' Dion told the NSW Supreme Court on Tuesday. The 40-year-old has been extradited back to Australia where he has pleaded not guilty to murdering Wachira 'Mario' Phetmang between the evening of May 25 and May 27 in 2018. Accused murderer Alex Dion, a US citizen, arrives at Sydney Airport in 2019 after extradition Mr Phetmang's extensively decomposed body was found by a truck driver bound and gagged in bushland outside Sydney Olympic Park on June 6. An autopsy later found the cause of death was likely from at least 27 head injuries causing fractures to his skull, while death by asphyxiation from being gagged was also a possibility. Two days later Dion flew to America with Mr Phetmang's possessions including a mobile phone and credit cards he used when possible. He denies the crime had anything to do with why he left, saying he was worried about his wife's health. Thai national Wachira 'Mario' Phetmang was found bound and gagged by a Sydney roadside Phetman was last seen alive at a South Hurstville service station on May 25, 2018 The US citizen has accused his former flatmate Adib El-Anani of the murder and said he did him a 'big favour' by disposing of the body in his car which he then thoroughly cleaned inside. 'He's the one who killed Mario and I am the one who take the body and I am the one who put it in my car and I am the one who dumped the body,' Dion said. Dion wrote in a text message to Mr El-Anani: 'What did Mario do wrong? Was his only crime that he is gay or a drug dealer?' Mr El-Anani had frequently stopped responding to Dion's text messages which caused further friction in their deteriorating friendship, the court heard earlier. The discovery of Phetmang's car by NSW Police produced new leads in the case Before Dion's extradition, he called Crime Stoppers in Australia on numerous occasions saying he had information that detectives could use to 'catch the killer'. A senior constable, who accompanied Dion as he flew back to face trial, recalled a conversation in which Dion said Mr El-Anani had been waiting for him at their apartment with two men in gloves who forced him to take Mr Phetmang's body away. But Dion does not remember this conversation. The trial continues. Bangladeshi writer Mushtaq Ahmed, who was detained under the Digital Security Act (DSA) in May, 2020, for allegedly posting criticism of the governments response to the Covid-19 on Facebook, died in police custody on February 25. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) calls for a full investigation into his death in custody and the urgent repeal of the digital security act which is being abused to arrest critics of the state. Ahmed, 54, was brought unconscious toTajuddin Ahmad Medical College Hospital in Gazipur district on February 25 with the hospital confirming his deathat 8:20pm the same day. According theacting superintendent of Kashimpur High Security Jail, Gias Uddin, the writer was rushed to hospital when he fell unconscious at 7:10 pm.The cause of death is not yet clear but doctors at the hospital informed that the post mortem reports confirm details about the death. Also known under the pen nameMichael Kumar Thakur,Ahmed was arrested by the Rapid Action Battalionon May 6, 2020, and kept in pretrial detention ever since over social media posts critical of the countrys Covid-19 response and alleging mismanagement and corruption by the countrys government and its leader Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. Ahmed was held in high-security and was denied bail as many as six times.The case file charged him under the DSA with spreading rumors on social media, hurting the spirit of the 1971 liberation war and tarnishing the image of the countrys founding father Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. The Journalist used to write under pen name Michael Kumar Thakur. The writers family members termed his death asmysterious. Soon after his death, protests erupted in Dhaka condemning the unnatural death of the writer Ahmed and blaming the government. Along with the writer, 10 other people including Ahmed Kabir Kishore, a political cartoonist were charged for their posts in social media criticizing the alleged mismanagement and corruption in Covid-19 response. Police withdrew charges against eight others but proceeded the cases against writer Ahmed, political cartoonist Ahmed Kabir Kishore and one another defendant. Bangladeshs DSA gives the government wide-ranging powers to search, fine and arrest anyone who violates its vague tenets. The Asian Human Rights Commission said it had documented the arrest of 138 people last year, including journalists, students and political activists. BMSF said: BMSF condemns the arbitrary arrest under Digital Security Act and urges the Bangladesh government to investigate the case. The IFJ general secretary, Anthony Bellanger, said:We stand in solidarity with our colleagues in Bangladesh as they mourn the loss of Mushtaq Ahmed. This writer should have never been imprisoned let alone die in a high-security jail. This is a crime against freedom of expression. The long list of incarcerations against journalists and activists is evidence enough that The DSA must be urgently repealed. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full 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 analyzing blood samples from individuals infected with SARS-CoV-2, researchers in Singapore have begun to unpack the different responses by the body's T cells that determine whether or not an individual develops COVID-19. The study, published today in the Journal of Experimental Medicine (JEM), suggests that clearing the virus without developing symptoms requires T cells to mount an efficient immune response that produces a careful balance of pro- and anti-inflammatory molecules. Many people infected with the SARS-CoV-2 virus do not develop any symptoms, and the infection is cleared by both antibodies and T cells that specifically recognize the virus. In some cases, however, this protective immune response can trigger excessive inflammation that damages tissues and causes many of the symptoms associated with COVID-19. What determines whether or not an infected individual develops symptoms remains unknown. Some studies have suggested that asymptomatic individuals produce fewer anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies than individuals that develop symptoms. But whether their T cell responses are also reduced was unclear. Asymptomatic individuals constitute a variable but often large proportion of infected individuals, and they should hold the key to understanding the immune response capable of controlling the virus without triggering pathological processes." Antonio Bertoletti, Professor, Duke-NUS Medical School, Singapore Bertoletti and colleagues, including Nina Le Bert, a senior research fellow at Duke-NUS Medical School, and Clarence C. Tam, an assistant professor at the National University of Singapore Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health, studied a group of migrant workers who were exposed to SARS-CoV-2 in their dormitories in April 2020. Over the course of six weeks, the researchers took regular blood samples from 85 workers who were infected but remained asymptomatic and compared their T cells to those of 75 patients who were hospitalized with mild to moderate COVID-19. Surprisingly, the researchers found that, shortly after infection, the frequency of T cells recognizing SARS-CoV-2 was similar in both asymptomatic individuals and COVID-19 patients. "The overall magnitude of T cell responses against different viral proteins was similar in both cohorts," Nina Le Bert says. However, the T cells of asymptomatic individuals produced greater amounts of two proteins called IFN- and IL-2. These signaling proteins, or cytokines, help to coordinate the immune system's response to viruses and other pathogens. Accordingly, the immune response to SARS-CoV-2 appears to be more coordinated in asymptomatic individuals. Bertoletti and colleagues challenged some of the blood samples with fragments of viral proteins and found that the immune cells of asymptomatic individuals produce a balanced, well-proportioned mix of pro- and anti-inflammatory molecules. In contrast, the immune cells of COVID-19 patients produced a disproportionate amount of proinflammatory molecules. "Overall, our study suggests that asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2-infected individuals are not characterized by a weak antiviral immunity; on the contrary, they mount a highly efficient and balanced anti-viral cellular response that protects the host without causing any apparent pathology," the researchers say. The molecular details of this response, and how it safely controls SARS-CoV-2 infections, can now be studied in more detail. However, because most of the participants in the study were male and of Indian/Bangladeshi origin, the researchers caution that their results will need to be confirmed in women and other populations around the world. A man who was once dubbed Britain's youngest father at 13 has been kicked out of his home for alleged drug dealing. Alfie Patten, from East Sussex, was a teenager when he was said to have fathered a child with family friend Chantelle Steadman, 15, in 2009. It was thought Chantelle conceived the child after sleeping with Alfie when he was 12 before a DNA test later proved the real father was mutual friend Tyler Barker, then 14. Now Patten, 25, and his mother, Nicola, 55, have been has been kicked out of their terraced home in Hailsham, East Sussex for using it as the centre of a drug dealing operation. Alfie Patten, from East Sussex, was 13 when he was thought to have fathered a child. He has now been kicked out of his house It was thought Chantelle conceived the child after sleeping with Alfie when he was 12 before a DNA test later proved the real father was mutual friend Tyler Barker Brighton Magistrates Court heard the pair had been kicked out by the landlord and were now being housed by the council. Police lodged a closure order in December last year due to nuisance behaviour and disorder at the three-bedroom house and were today/yesterday granted an extension to the ruling. District Judge Teresa Szagun said: 'The premises were being used for drug dealing and there was the anti-social behaviour spilling out onto the street and affecting the neighbourhood. 'From what I can gather the landlord does not want the Pattens back. They still don't have anywhere else to live.' The court was told Patten has a caution for cocaine possession from 2016 and his mother had a similar caution from 2009. Louise Ravenscroft, prosecuting for Sussex Police, said: 'They were the organisers and protagonists of the behaviour.' She said there had been five raids on the house under the Misuse of Drugs Act in the past two years. Miss Ravenscroft added: 'They remain under investigation by Sussex Police. They are seen by the police as heavily involved in the drug business.' The house Patten, 25, and his mother, Nicola, 55, have been has been kicked out of in Sussex Lewes Crown Court heard Patten was a jobless alcoholic but was told Patten was desperately trying to tackle his severe alcohol problems and his GP was seeking medical and psychological help for him to reduce his drinking. The 2009 baby case sparked a national debate about morality and teenage pregnancy with then Tory leader David Cameron saying it raised 'worrying' questions about modern Britain. Alfie met Chantelle in 2008 at the age of 12 while playing out in the streets of the East Sussex village of Lower Dicker, where they both lived. His mother thought the friendship was innocent enough and as Alfie had not gone through puberty she claimed she had no worries about them being left alone. He sometimes stayed at her house and it was after one sleepover that Chantelle told him she was four months pregnant. In February 2009, Maisie Roxanne was born weighing 7lbs and 3oz and Alfie was thrown into the role of father. He later said: 'It was a crazy time. Holding Maisie for the first time was amazing. I was too young to understand the consequences of being a dad but I liked holding her and immediately loved her. 'The amount of attention it got was crazy. Everywhere I went people knew who I was. I couldn't leave the house for weeks. I had to have time off school. Six weeks later he was hit with the bombshell that he was not the father and their mutual friend, Tyler Barker, was the real father. He told how he cried for days and was doubly upset because Chantelle and her family moved away and he couldn't see the baby anymore. New Delhi: Father-in-law of a Bihar-cadre IAS officer Mukesh Pandey who committed suicide by jumping in front of a train in Uttar Pradeshs Ghaziabad on Thursday evening said that his daughter is not at fault and somebody is hatching a conspiracy against her. "There was not even a day he didn't call his father-in-law; nothing happened that could affect their marital life," said Father-in-law of DM Buxar. Earlier on Friday, Father-in-law of DM Buxar denied any rift in the family. He said that it is tough time for the family and whatever TV channels are showing is baseless. According to government railway police sources, the 2012 batch IAS officers body was recovered a kilometer away from Ghaziabad GRP police station area. Mukesh Pandey was found dead near railway tracks in Ghaziabad with a purported suicide note indicating he was upset due to marital issues, police said. Pandeys body was found on the tracks about one km from the Ghaziabad railway station late on Thursday night and a suicide note was also recovered from the spot, they said. In a purported video, which he recorded at Buxar Circuit House in Bihar, Pandey, a 2012-batch IAS officer spoke about how he was fed up with his life and the constant tussle between his parents and his wife. In it, he mentioned that even his wife loved him and vice-versa, they had different personalities and were like chalk and cheese. He had also mentioned about lying to them about his going to Delhi to commit suicide. My parents and wife have constant tussle. Their tussle has made my life difficult. They love me a lot but excess of everything is bad, he said in the five-minute long video. Also read | Buxar DM's suicide: There was no rift in family, says father-in-law For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Is it possible for any of the four former Minneapolis police officers charged in the death of George Floyd to receive a fair trial? In Minneapolis? If not in Minneapolis, anywhere else in Minnesota? Is it possible that a Hennepin County jury wont have the secondary effects of not guilty verdicts in mind when they retire to deliberate? Ive had those questions in mind since expedited criminal charges were filed following the arsons and riots that convulsed the Twin Cities following Floyds death this past May 25. In widely reported statements public officials including Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and Attorney General Keith Ellison repeatedly declared the officers guilty of murder. Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey declared on May 27: Ive wrestled with, more than anything else over the last 36 hours, one fundamental question: Why is the man who killed George Floyd not in jail? We are deep into a verdict first, trial later mode. Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison is not the man for the prosecutors job, but bowing to the demands of the mob he is the man whom Governor Walz asked to undertake it. Ellison made his name around town leading crowds chanting support for the (subsequently convicted) defendants charged in 1992 with the cold-blooded murder of Officer Jerry Haaf. Having teamed up with former Vice Lords gangbanger Sharif Willis, himself a suspect in Haafs murder the murder had been planned at Williss house Ellison led crowds in a chant of We dont get no justice, you dont get no peace. In the context of Haafs murder, it was a credible threat. I wrote about Ellisons unlikely background for the job of attorney general in the Weekly Standard column Can Keith Ellison turn lawman? Ellison himself has no experience as a prosecutor. He has assigned Assistant Attorney General Matthew Frank and others to try the cases brought against the four former Minneapolis police officers charged with responsibility for Floyds death. Frank is the lead lawyer from Ellisons office prosecuting the cases. The four cases have been assigned to Hennepin County District Judge Pete Cahill for trial. This past September Judge Cahill held a hearing on pending motions that went on for some three-and-a-half hours. Cahill took up defendants motion for change of venue at the hearing. Defendant Tou Thao filed a memorandum of law in support of the change of venue motion. It is posted online here. After setting forth the governing law, the memo urged the court to adopt a new standard for change of venue. I inferred from the memo that the governing law didnt strongly favor the change of venue motion. The law of venue seeks to protect a defendants right to an impartial jury. Pretrial publicity is the concern addressed in applicable venue law. Judge Cahill reportedly commented that the problem of pretrial publicity was inescapable in the four cases. The problem, however, isnt just pretrial publicity. At the hearing Thaos attorney cited his concern that Minneapolis residents fear the impact their verdict would have considering the then recent lawlessness. If I lived in Moorhead I wouldnt worry about the streets of Moorhead being burned after a trial, Thaos attorney argued. I would. I would worry about Moorhead, or Rochester, or Duluth, or St. Cloud, or Rochester. Wherever in the state the trial or trials are held, the mob will follow. Everyone knows it. One is left I am left with the thought that the judicial system is ill equipped to deal with cases holding the venue hostage to the jurys verdict. In any event, Judge Cahill denied the change of venue motion in a preliminary order and memorandum dated November 5, 2020. The charges against the officers proceed in an atmosphere of mob justice. Perhaps Ellison is the man for the job after all. As I wrote in my preview of the trial yesterday, we are one step removed from the territory of The Ox-Bow Incident. TMZ covered this aspect of the case here in connection with the September motion hearing. The video provides a glimpse of the gauntlet defendants and their attorneys have walked so far. With the trial at hand the courthouse is to become an armed encampment. One can only imagine the impact on jurors. Donald McPherson, 47, killed Paula Leeson in June 2017 , it was claimed A property developer murdered his wealthy heiress wife by drowning her in the pool of their holiday cottage in Denmark to get his hands on 3.5 million in life insurance, a court has heard. Donald McPherson, 47, killed Paula Leeson in June 2017 after taking her on a mini-break to Nrre Nebel, a remote village in Denmark , before staging her death to look like an accident, it was claimed. Danish Police had no idea he stood to gain a 'vast fortune' from the death of mother-of-one Miss Leeson, 47, who hailed from a wealthy construction family, Manchester Crown Court was told. It was claimed McPherson 'resented' his in-laws for 'sitting on wealth' and had taken out various insurance policies in the run up to her murder making him a financial beneficiary in the event of his wife's death. McPherson, born Alexander James Lang and originally from Auckland, New Zealand, denies murder on June 6, 2017. The couple had wed at Peckforton Castle in Cheshire, in June 2014, a 'grand affair and no expense was spared'. David McLachlan QC told the jury the defendant had a 'big secret' - that in the four years before Paula Leeson's death he had taken out seven life insurance policies on his wife, who was also to inherit a business worth 'millions'. She knew nothing about the insurance policies on her life, but they were worth up to 3.5 million, all payable to her husband if she died first. McPherson, who also had a private pilot's licence, had also forged her will, according to forensic handwriting experts, making him the beneficiary, its alleged. His wife was also to inherit 'millions' from the family business her father owned. In June 2017, McPherson and Paula, described as 'generous to a fault' had gone on a mini-break to a remote part of western Denmark, though her family noticed she was not herself and seemed, 'to have something on her mind'. While there she drowned in the swimming pool of the house they had rented, three days into the trip. She had only gone on the trip to please her husband and 'hated' the pool and the seaside. Mr McLachlan told the jury: 'The prosecution case is, that whilst at first glance it appeared that her untimely death was an accident, the evidence will show that it was not. 'It was a sinister pre-planned killing and the person responsible for her drowning was none other than her husband Donald McPherson. Danish Police had no idea he stood to gain a 'vast fortune' from the death of mother-of-one Miss Leeson, 47, who hailed from a wealthy construction family, Manchester Crown Court was told (stock) Donald took her on a mini-break to Nrre Nebel, in Denmark, before staging her death to look like an accident, it is claimed 'The motive for the drowning was the oldest and simplest one in the book. It was financial. 'He stood to gain a vast fortune by her death. This was something which was not known by the Danish authorities in the immediate aftermath of Paula Leeson's death.' Paula Leeson came from a close-knit, hard-working Irish immigrant family, her father William 'Willy' Leeson and mother Elizabeth 'Betty' Leeson, moved to Manchester in the late 1960s where they ran a family business, W Leeson and Son, specialising in ground works and skip hire. They all worked in the family business, her younger brother Neville Leeson, being the general manager and Paula overseeing invoices and the skip hire business - where she met McPherson, who renovated and sold on property. Paula Leeson had her only child, Ben, when she was 17 years of age and her relationship with her son's father soon fizzled out. They all lived with their grandparents at the family home at Ashlands, in Sale, Greater Manchester, until Paula wed McPherson and they renovated their matrimonial home nearby. Ben was the 'apple of her eye' and his mother described as a 'very organised and disciplined person' who more than 25 years earlier, made him the sole beneficiary of her will. Until she met McPherson she had a 'relatively modest' pension and insurance policies, a creature of habit her 'thing' was going shopping with her mother and visiting the hairdressers and she would always be 'immaculately turned out.' Her husband had grown up with his parents and two sisters in Auckland, but claimed to be an orphan, 'dumped' by his family to live with foster parents. Mr McLachlan told the jury this was a lie, which was a 'cover story' so he would never discuss his past. The defendant had also trained to be a pilot, which he did not tell his wife about, claiming to be working if she called when he was taking flying lessons. McPherson told his flight instructor how: 'If Willy and Betty Leeson died that the family business would be worth millions and it would be split between Neville and Paula Leeson' and the defendant 'resented the fact that Willy Leeson sat on his great wealth'. Ahead of their marriage Paula Leeson made a second will, which the prosecution say was forged by her husband. And two life insurance policies for Paula Leeson, each worth 400,000, benefitting her son, had a forged Trust form attached to them, diverting the cash to himself. Handwriting experts could not say who forged the documents, but McPherson was the only person who stood to gain. By 2016 the defendant was paying 464.47-a-month premiums for the life insurance policies he had taken out on his wife. He never missed a payment despite sometimes being overdrawn and 'significantly in debt,' the jury heard. The trial continues. Tonight on LiveTalk-The Connection we discuss the latest COVID-19 Lockdown restrictions announced by President Emmerson Mnangagwa on Monday afternoon & the Sino Pharm Vaccine, which is in distribution in Zimbabwe. Seasoned arts journalist & Founder of EarGround, Plot Mhako, also joins us as we continue discussing the impact of Soul Jah Love on the Zimbabwean arts industry. To join, call our studio directly at +1-202-619-2077 to participate. Every morning for three days during Februarys winter blast, Jennifer Young and Tammie Michael stopped at the Bucees in Texas City and bought all of the prepared breakfast tacos, water bottles and hot coffee. Their vehicles were loaded up with the food, warm drinks, blankets and 90 Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine doses. Once it was safe enough to drive without risk of sliding on icy roads, the two University of Texas Medical Branch nurses and four other health care workers set out to deliver second doses to 90 homebound patients in Galveston County, many of whom were still without electricity or safe water. The regions record cold temperatures had one positive effect: Keeping the stored vaccines cold during delivery, Young said. The Pfizer vaccine must be stored between -112 degrees and -76 degrees Fahrenheit, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But once thawed and diluted, the vaccines temperature can hover between 33 and 76 degrees Fahrenheit for six hours. According to the digital data logger inside Youngs vaccine kit, the coolers temperature stayed in that required sweet spot for the cross-county relay. Patients were surprised when they saw the nurses at their front door. Many had been concerned they would not receive their second doses on time. They thought they would just have to go without it, Michael said. They were grateful to see people, and surprised and happy to have a hot breakfast and water, Young said. It was nice to give that to people who needed it... We gave vaccines by flashlights. It was a really unique opportunity of Texans helping Texans. On HoustonChronicle.com: Could the Pfizer vaccine limit transmission? Texas experts are optimistic. Young and Michael work with 260 patients in their geriatric program through UTMB, but 150 of those patients are completely homebound, which means it would require a taxing effort to leave their home to visit the doctor hospital. They could be bed-bound, wheelchair-bound, need continuous oxygen or suffer from severe dementia, Michael said. The nurses geriatric clinic provides internal medicine, or primary, care to people who cannot leave their homes. The nurses provide other vaccines, like the flu shot, lung care and immunizations. They call themselves a clinic on wheels. Olivia Webb has spent much of the last year in bed. The 84-year-old Galveston resident has a history of diabetes and scoliosis that, even for her age, make her particularly vulnerable to COVID-19. Shes mostly gone without seeing four of the five children she raised as a single mom. A glimmer of hope came in late February, when Webb received a vaccine via home nurses. It was a blessing because if not, wed have to wait or stand in line somewhere, and she wouldnt be able to do that, her daughter, Shila Smith, said. Shes protected now, so it opens the doors for opportunities. Smith talked about her mother with a sense of pride. Webb worked for 30 years as a custodial worker at Rice University; she rented her own apartment and kept her own house. Shes the matriarch now. She loves singing, loves reading her Bible, Smith said. She cant get up and dance, but shell wiggle her shoulders. Most homebound adults are in their 80s and have multiple medical conditions, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation, which estimates between 2 million and 4.4 million older adults fall in this category. On HoustonChronicle.com: He's battling colon cancer and qualifies for phase 1B of the vaccine. So why can't he get it? A lack of adequate staffing and transportation can make it more difficult to vaccinate homebound individuals, according to KFF. Once UTMB began receiving vaccines in December, Young and Michael requested doses for homebound patients. On Jan. 24, the nurses were notified that they had 90 doses that had to be administered in three days, which set off a frenzy of 150 phone calls to caregivers and patients alike. Once appointments were scheduled between Jan 25-27, the trickiest part was ensuring the vaccines were kept in viable condition and did not expire before they could be used, Young said. Once the vaccine was removed from the refrigerator at the clinic, the nurses had six hours to administer the shot. In addition to staying cold, the vaccines must be kept in a light-sensitive container. For the first doses administered in January, the vaccine box was kept in front of an air-conditioning vent. But on the week of the winter storm, the ride was cold enough without any extra help, Young said. On HoustonChronicle.com: COVID cases are sharply dropping, but 'now is not the time to relax,' Texas A&M epidemiologist says Young created a geographical map of all 90 patients by address. By grouping patients who live close together, the nurses were able to give out assignments to other teams and minimize time between residences in Santa Fe, Texas City, Jamaica Beach, League City and Galveston. No shots were wasted or expired using this method, Young added. We love what we do, and Ive been real excited when vaccines were allocated to us, Michael said. Our patients are our family, and its a good feeling to advocate for them. We want to protect them, and help them have visitors again and interact with their families. With 90 patients fully vaccinated, the two nurses plan to reach out to their remaining 60 clients before offering vaccine delivery up to eligible homebound individuals outside of the UTMB system who live in Galveston County. If you qualify for the COVID-19 vaccine under the Texas Department of State Health Services Phase 1B criteria and cant leave your Galveston County home, email geri.housecalls@utmb.edu for more information. Staff writer Robert Downen contributed to this story. julie.garcia@chron.com Twitter.com/reporterjulie BIRMINGHAM, Ala., March 2, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The American Association of Nurse Attorneys (TAANA.org) announces Lorie A. Brown was elected and now serves as the new president. Lorie Brown, President of The American Association of Nurse Attorneys. Brown is a globally known nurse attorney who lives in San Diego and dedicates her practice to helping nurses and consulting law firms around the country for medical cases. In 2012, she founded EmpoweredNurses.org to help nurses protect their licenses while learning to "speak their mind, stand in their power and be a change agent to improve healthcare." Brown has a Master's degree in nursing from UCLA and a law degree from Indiana University. She is also the author of three books for nurses. Her fourth book, What They Didn't Teach You in Nursing School, will be available on Amazon this spring. Brown became aware of TAANA while a nursing student when attending her first conference in Chicago dealing with career choices for nurse attorneys. She was amazed at the many different types of positions with which nurse attorneys were involved. She looked up to those nurse attorneys as role models and is excited to now serve as the Association's president. Brown not only immediately became a TAANA member but went on to form the Indiana chapter of TAANA in 1994. She subsequently served on the TAANA National Board through the '90's, and rejoined the Board in 2016. The association is designed to promote and enhance the profession of the nurse attorney, provide educational programs, products, and services to members and the public, to facilitate communication, collaboration, and leadership among members along with servicing as a resource for the healthcare and legal communities. TAANA includes members who work in dual professions but also includes other associate memberships for non nurse attorneys. TAANA provides client referrals, speaking opportunities, networking, and resources as well as group admission to the United States Supreme Court. Ms. Brown said nurse attorneys are needed now more than ever, especially given the COVID situation to support nurses and to be an advocate for health care and wellness in the US. For more information contact: Lorie Brown, 317-465-1065 or The American Association of Nurse Attorneys, 205-824-7615 Media Contact: Jan Brown JMB ASSOCIATES PUBLIC RELATIONS 858-352-6940 [email protected] SOURCE The American Association of Nurse Attorneys Related Links http://taana.org Strict social distancing measures will be lifted from the northern province of Hai Duong, Vietnams COVID-19 epicenter at present, from Wednesday, as the locality will focus on pandemic control while boosting socio-economic development. Secretary of the provincial Party Committee Pham Xuan Thang said at a meeting on Monday that extending the social distancing period would be unnecessary. The province will enter a new state and concentrate on the double goal of fighting COVID-19 and promoting socio-economic development, Thang continued. The COVID-19 situation in Hai Duong has been controlled well during the past 33 days, the official added. From 0:00 on Wednesday, strict social distancing measures under the prime ministers directive No. 16 will end, and 12 localities in the province will be divided into two groups with suitable pandemic prevention and control regulations. Kim Thanh and Cam Giang Districts, Hai Duong City, and Kinh Mon Town shall implement precautious measures under the PMs directive No. 15. The directive specifies that a gathering or meeting with more than 20 people in one room or a gathering of more than 10 people outside office buildings, schools, and hospitals is not allowed People should keep a safe distance of at least two meters in public places, while non-essential business and services will remain closed. All religious rites and activities with more than 20 participants in religious establishments as well as all cultural, sports, and recreational activities in public places are suspended. Meanwhile, Binh Giang, Gia Loc, Nam Sach, Ninh Giang, Thanh Ha, Thanh Mien, Tu Ky Districts, and Chi Linh City will implement measures under the prime ministers directive No. 19. Accordingly, people must keep a distance of at least one meter from each other in public. Non-essential businesses are allowed to reopen except for bars, karaoke shops, massage parlors, discos, and beauty salons. Vietnam has logged 2,472 COVID-19 cases as of Tuesday morning, with 1,892 recoveries and 35 deaths, according to the Ministry of Health. A total of 868 community-based infections have been recorded in 13 provinces and cities since January 27, of which 681 were in Hai Duong, making the province the countrys largest COVID-19 epicenter at the moment. Social distancing measures were previously reinstated in Hai Duong from February 16. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! MIOSHA COVID-19 Workplace Safety Ambassador Program surpasses 2,000 free consultations for Michigan businesses MIOSHA COVID-19 Workplace Safety Ambassador Program surpasses 2,000 free consultations for Michigan businesses MIOSHA and NSF International help employers minimize COVID-19 risks, find strong implementation of workplace safety requirements March 2, 2021 Media Contact: Camara Lewis, 517-930-4928 Over 2,000 businesses across Michigan have participated in the Michigan Occupational Safety and Health Administration (MIOSHA) COVID-19 Workplace Safety Ambassador Program since September 2020. MIOSHA in partnership with NSF International provides workplace safety ambassadors who help Michigan businesses better implement COVID-19 regulations and best practices. Overall, the Ambassadors have reported high rates of willingness to participate, compliance with COVID-19 workplace safety requirements, and eagerness to enhance protocols as suggested by the consultants. Businesses have been through a lot over the past year, and they need support as we continue our economic recovery, Governor Gretchen Whitmer said. MIOSHAs Ambassador program helps businesses implement effective COVID-19 safety measures and follow public health guidance for free. I am proud of this new program, and I encourage business owners to take advantage of this opportunity to prevent the spread of COVID-19 to reopen and stay open. To better capture the business response, a new MIOSHA video documents the Ambassador Program and highlights several Michigan businesses speaking about the benefits of the program. This free educational program can help Michigan employers protect their employees, customers and local communities from the spread of COVID-19, said MIOSHA Director Bart Pickelman. We have found the majority of the states job providers are implementing strategies to keep their workplaces safe and we encourage them to utilize the Ambassador Program and all of MIOSHAs COVID-19 safety resources. Employers, who might normally be hesitant to invite workplace safety regulators into their businesses, are embracing the Ambassador Program. As part of the MIOSHA program, NSF ambassadors work with Michigan businesses to ensure they understand and implement the appropriate COVID-19 workplace safety regulations. Through both pop-in and scheduled visits, they offer free education and one-on-one support to help businesses apply safety precautions to their individual situations. To date, the educational outreach program utilizing NSF staff has been primarily focused on retail stores, restaurants and fitness centers, but recently MIOSHA announced it would begin offering Ambassador visits to childcare centers across the state. Internal MIOSHA consultants will also provide Ambassador services to other industries upon request. Ambassadors have reported that over 90%of businesses visited are complying with face covering, cleaning and disinfection and personal protective equipment (PPE) requirements. But the Ambassadors have seen opportunities for continued education and improvement in employee training, record keeping, COVID-19 signage and written plan documents. We commend MIOSHA for establishing the Ambassador program to help Michigan businesses further reduce the risk of COVID-19 in the workplace through voluntary and cooperative safety education and training, said Rich Studley President & CEO of the Michigan Chamber of Commerce. Employers can request a COVID-19 workplace safety Ambassador visits online. NSF Ambassadors plan to visit thousands of additional Michigan businesses during the coming months. Businesses that participate in the Ambassador program may receive official signage from MIOSHA to recognize their COVID-19 workplace safety commitment. Our Ambassadors have seen a great appetite for COVID-19 workplace safety education among Michigan businesses," said Paul Medeiros, Managing Director of Consulting and Technical Services at NSF International. Business owners can see that the Ambassador visits are consultative, collaborative and valuable. We are here to help them succeed during the pandemic and stay open safely with the appropriate COVID-19 controls in place. Educational materials in the Ambassador toolkit can be found at Michigan.gov/COVIDWorkplaceSafety, including: Individuals with specific questions regarding workplace safety and health may contact MIOSHA using the hotline at 855-SAFEC19 (855-723-3219). Businesses looking to schedule their free consultation with a MIOSHA Ambassador can get started at, Michigan.gov/COVIDWorkplaceSafety. Business testimonials This is one of those opportunities where the state is just here to help, said Mike Stack, owner, Applied Fitness Solutions. The Ambassador Program can help accelerate the process of implementing good guidelines to keep staff and customers safe, while saving your business money and time. The program has been great because the Ambassador is there to show you how to improve and correctly implement safety precautions, said Kris Spaulding, owner, Brewery Vivant. This process has helped build up confidence that we are doing our best to keep staff and customers safe. General Assignment Reporter Chris Mays is a general assignment reporter for the Brattleboro Reformer. He has been with New England Newspapers Inc. since 2012. Kristy Santiago, a Spanish teacher at Litchfield High School, was thrilled when she found out she was eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine. We have a very strong union representative, and weve come together as teachers, saying we need this. We asked to make vaccinating us a priority, said Santiago, 40. She sees teachers being vaccinated as the first step in helping the greater community get through the pandemic. I was happy that we were prioritized, said Santiago. Using the states Vaccine Administration Management System, which all residents are advised to use, Santiago tried to make an appointment Monday. I put myself on a wait list with a clinic and tried using the VAMS system, but there was nothing available and I couldnt advance to future dates, she said. Fortunately, she said, Litchfield and Region 6 Superintendent of Schools Chris Leone was able to arrange a clinic for teachers with the Torrington Area Health District and Santiago got an appointment for March 5. Only 25 educators from Region 6, and 25 from Litchfield, were able to get appointments, she said. Were hoping this is the first of many (clinics), she said. So Friday afternoon, Im getting my first shot. Leone has worked hard, she said, to keep students, faculty and staff safe. Hes really understanding to whats going on, and tells us to be flexible, that its our first pandemic, Santiago said. Hes been a great leader, and very supportive. Litchfields public schools have been in extensive quarantine until recently, Santiago said. The high school had a recent case, but we were already remote, so we just stayed that way, she said. One of our colleagues had (the virus), and shes still pretty fatigued. Weve been back in person since last week, and so far, so good. Leya Edison of Goshen, 70, just got her first COVID-19 shot Monday at a clinic in Kent. The best part was, we were able to make an appointment for our second one while we were there, Edison said. We were asked to wait 15 minutes after we were vaccinated, to make sure we didnt have any problems. It went fine. Edison advised people to use the online system and find an email address, if possible, to make an appointment. We had friends trying other ways to make an appointment, but you really have to do it online, she said. My understanding is that when you register on the VAMS site, you can find a list of places available for vaccines, with phone numbers to call. When you register, choose a place to go and it will give you the information about those sites. The site asks how many miles away youre willing to go, Edison said. We said 20 miles, and we got the list. It has a link that sent us to a calendar with available dates, and you hit that calendar and register. Emailing helped us get our appointment. Using the phone wont speed up the process, Edison said. The people who are calling cant get through, she said. She said she felt fine after being vaccinated. I feel great, Edison said. No side effects at this point. My next appointment is March 24. Edison is a nurse, and is advising everyone she knows to get the vaccine. My friends have been asking me if they should get it, and I say, Were not going to get past this until 70 or 80 percent of us are immunized, she said. So unless your doctor says you should wait for some reason, I think everyone should get it. Schedule a COVID-19 vaccination appointment in VAMS, the Vaccine Administration Management System, at dphsubmissions.ct.gov/OnlineVaccine. She has remained busy with her modeling career over the past year, despite the restrictions caused by the pandemic. And Bella Hadid revealed her toned frame as she jetted out of Milan, Italy on Monday. The supermodel, 24, teased a glimpse of her honed midriff in a cropped navy tee as she walked along carrying her belongings. Off she goes: Bella Hadid revealed her toned frame as she jetted out of Milan, Italy on Monday The star paired her t-shirt with a longline navy jacket and a pair of baggy joggers, with the star forgoing the heels for a pair of comfortable trainers. She added a pop of colour to her look with a pink face mask and wore her tresses sleek and straight. The Vogue coverstar was also seen enjoying dinner in the city with model sister Gigi, 25, with the beauty sporting a silk headscarf. Gigi opted for a colourful woollen hat as the siblings chatted over dinner. Jetsetter: The supermodel, 24, teased a glimpse of her honed midriff in a cropped navy tee as she walked along carrying her belongings Cute: The Vogue coverstar was also seen enjoying dinner in the city with model sister Gigi, 25, with the beauty sporting a silk headscarf Recently Bella stunned virtual audiences as she graced the runway for the renowned high fashion brand Fendi. The star strutted down the runway three times serving looks for every fashion taste. And just last week she revealed she'd been part of Mark M. Williams's first global advertising campaign for Givenchy. However, though she may be busy now, lockdown has taken a toll on Bella. Speaking with Elle about what she missed most from pre-pandemic days, she told the magazine: 'Working. After a few years of being a workaholicnot being home for more than five daysI found spending three months at home [intense].' Venezuela on Monday received 17 tons of medical materials and supplies, including a batch of 500,000 doses of a COVID-19 vaccine from the Chinese state-owned company Sinopharm, donated by China. The shipment arrived at Simon Bolivar International Airport in La Gaia State from China at around midnight, local time. In statements broadcast on state television, Vice-President Delcy Rodriguez said that the donation was another example of the close relationship of "friendship, brotherhood and cooperation between China and Venezuela." Thanking Chinese President Xi Jinping on behalf of his Venezuelan counterpart Nicolas Maduro, Rodriguez said the donation would allow the Venezuelan government to incorporate the education sector into the vaccination schedule. Venezuela began vaccinating the health care sector as a priority on February 18, five days after the arrival of the first batch of 100,000 doses of the Russian vaccine Sputnik V.Venezuela has registered more than 139,500 positive cases of COVID-19 and 1,348 deaths, according to figures collated by the Johns Hopkins University. (Disclaimer: This story is auto-generated from a syndicated feed; only the image & headline may have been reworked by www.republicworld.com) SAN DIEGO, March 1, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The University of Arizona Global Campus Forbes School of Business and Technology announced the realignment of its bachelor's and master's level programs in Human Resource Management with the Society for Human Resource Management HR curriculum guidelines. Joey Price, CEO of Jumpstart:HR and UAGC Human Resources Management Advisory Committee member said, "HR students of today need to position themselves to tackle the business challenges of the future. By aligning our programs with SHRM's guidelines, we fortify our students with the skills and perspectives needed to be marketable today and thrive in the future. Kudos to our team for their foresight and diligence to make this a reality." "Aligning UAGC HR management curriculum with SHRM standardsat both the undergraduate and graduate levelsensures that graduates will have the knowledge that prepares them to complete in the HR field," said Rebecca Davis, manager of UAGC Career Services and expert career advisor. "Graduates of UAGC will not only be knowledgeable about diversity in hiring and workplace culture, but also up-to-date on HR management best-practices in the field." "Knowing that my UAGC Master of Human Resource Management degree aligns with industry and educational best practices gives me confidence that the value of my education will increase over timeI am developing mastery of the current, innovative, and inclusive practices in the HR industry," said Amanda Johnson, current graduate student and expert career advisor. The guidelines are part of SHRM's Academic Initiative to define HR education standards taught in university business schools and help universities develop degree programs that follow these standards. The SHRM curriculum templates are based on extensive research that is revalidated every three to five years. Follow this link for more information regarding the Global Campus Human Resources BA and MA programs. The Global Campus SHRM Chapter is also accessible via LinkedIn Group Page, YouTube Channel, or the UAGC SHRM website, which includes information on the student organization, chapter officers, upcoming events, and access to webinar archives. About University of Arizona Global Campus The University of Arizona Global Campus ("Global Campus" or "UAGC") is an independent university that is operated in affiliation with the University of Arizona. Global Campus is designed to provide flexible opportunities for working students from diverse backgrounds who seek to gain knowledge and skills that will help them to achieve their life and career goals. Global Campus builds on Ashford University's promise of high-quality online learning, access and inclusivity and the University of Arizona's mission as a land-grant institution focused on student success. Global Campus is accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges Senior College and University Commission (WSCUC) and is one of the nation's most innovative online universities with approximately 35,000 students. UAGC offers more than 50 degrees at the associate, bachelor's, master's and doctoral levels. For more information visit uagc.edu, www.facebook.com/UniversityOfArizonaGlobalCampus, or https://twitter.com/uazglobalcampus. SOURCE University of Arizona Global Campus Related Links https://www.uagc.edu/ Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Chairman of the Supreme Judicial Council of Armenia Ruben Vardazaryan has failed to accomplish his mission and has crossed the red line in politics. This is what deputy of the My Step faction of the National Assembly of Armenia Ruben Rubinyan said during todays discussion on the election of a judge of the Court of Cassation in parliament. Rubinyan reminded Vardazaryan about the statement that he had made after the war in Nagorno-Karabakh in which he had made a reference to Nikol Pashinyans statement about whining judges. Rubinyan reminded Vardazaryan that when there was an assassination attempt against the Speaker of the National Assembly after the war, there was news about the organizing of an assassination attempt against the Prime Minister, and in this period, Ruben Vardazaryan made a statement. Rubinyan asked Vardazaryan if his statement was a call for restraint and if he was considering his possible resignation, to which Vardazaryan said he hadnt thought about the statement and hasnt considered resigning. A bookkeeper has been sentenced to nearly six years in prison for embezzling more than $1.5 million from two employers, federal prosecutors said. Jessica Greenan, 42, of Barnstable, embezzled more than $1.1 million from a Cape Cod store from October 2014 until she was fired in March 2018 by wiring funds from the stores bank account to pay personal credit card bills on more than 500 occasions, according to a statement Thursday from the U.S. attorneys office in Boston. After she was fired from that job, she got a position as the bookkeeper for a construction company in August 2018 and immediately began stealing company funds, prosecutors said. She stole almost $400,000 by wiring payments from a company bank account to pay personal credit card bills, making unauthorized charges to a company credit card, and using company money to pay car loans, authorities said. She also failed to pay taxes on the stolen money, prosecutors said. She pleaded guilty in two separate cases to multiple counts of wire fraud and other offenses. In addition to five years and 10 months in prison, she was ordered to pay more than $1.5 million in restitution, more than $400,000 to the IRS and forfeit two vehicles. Copyright 2021 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Topics Fraud Commercial Lines Business Insurance The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities is holding a public hearing on March 16 to investigate poor service and customer service complaints lodged against Altice USA, the cable television and internet provider that operates Optimum. Hamilton Township and Robbinsville officials wrote to the BPU requesting an investigation into the service their residents were receiving after they heard a number of complaints. Hamilton Mayor Jeff Martin told NJ Advance Media he and Robbinsville Mayor David Fried were talking when Fried mentioned his residents were also having issues with Optimum, ...and at that point I realized it wasnt just a Hamilton issue. Martin said he and Fried reached out to the BPU, requesting an investigation into Altices service. They testified in front of a state Senate committee about the issue last fall and heard from other mayors who expressed similar concerns from residents, Martin said. The BPU also received complaints from at least eight other municipalities, including Dunellen, Sayreville, Green Brook, Howell, Jackson, Montville, North Brunswick and Piscataway. In a Feb. 17 order, the BPU said it had reviewed the various complaints and found sufficient cause to convene a hearing for municipal officials and customers to voice their concerns, according to a release. Commissioner Mary-Anna Holden will reside as the presiding officer over the hearing. She is authorized to rule on all motions that arise during the proceedings and modify any schedules that may be set, according to a release. In Hamilton, somewhere between 11-35% of residents are limited to only choosing Optimum as a provider, according to Bianca Jerez, Martins chief of staff. That figure is somewhere between roughly 10,000 to 31,000 residents, she said. The company has about 4.9 million customers in 21 states. In a statement, Altice USA said it has longstanding relationships with the townships of Hamilton and Robbinsville. We are committed to delivering reliable service and support to the communities we serve and look forward to working with the BPU to address any concerns, the company said in a statement. The hearing will be held virtually on March 16. Additional information regarding participating in the hearing will be posted on the BPU website. Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com. Brianna Kudisch may be reached at bkudisch@njadvancemedia.com. Tell us your coronavirus story or send a tip here. Laura Anderson broke down in tears on Tuesday after admitting she's lost work due to backlash following her pre-lockdown trip to Dubai. The Love Island star, 31, couldn't hide her emotions in a new interview where she confessed the controversy surrounding her trip was the 'hardest thing she's ever had to deal with.' Laura was among a slew of reality stars and influencers who were criticised by fans and Home Secretary Priti Patel for travelling to Dubai ahead of the Covid lockdown under the ruse of it being a 'business trip'. Emotional: Laura Anderson broke down in tears on Tuesday after admitting she's lost work due to backlash following her pre-lockdown trip to Dubai Speaking on Nicki Chapman's Talking Success as reported by The Sun, Laura tearfully confessed she struggled to cope with the trolling she faced for flying to the United Arab Emirates while the UK still had a travel corridor with the country. She said: 'This is the hardest thing I've ever had to deal with. 'It was so hard to stick up for myself. I understand the whole pandemic, I am not a silly little girl. It is really hard and it still going on now. It was a really hard decision to go over. 'I've lost followers, I've lost jobs. It has made me reconsider my future in this industry.' Tough: The Love Island confessed the controversy surrounding her trip was the 'hardest thing she's ever had to deal with' Laura clarified that while she posted many of her Instagram snaps once England had entered lockdown in January, she legally flew to Dubai while the UAE had an air brief with the UK. The star insisted she returned home before the government introduced a ban on international travel. Regardless she was one of many stars claiming their trips were for business reasons and thus did not break coronavirus rules. Laura was forced to turn off comments on her Instagram posts after being trolled relentlessly for her break, which she insisted was to stay with her sister as she couldn't bear spending another lockdown alone in Scotland. The star said she's planning on a permanent move to Dubai to launch a business, but didn't want to share her plans while she was abroad. Rage: Laura was among a slew of reality stars and influencers who were criticised for travelling to Dubai ahead of the Covid lockdown under the ruse of it being a 'business trip' Laura was among many influencers who faced furious online backlash for flying abroad at the height of Covid travel restrictions under the ruse of it being a 'business trip.' Ahead of the lockdown, government guidelines stated travel abroad may only be allowed for 'essential work reasons.' Laura, who has since returned to the UK, shared her thoughts on the backlash during an Instagram Q and A, after being asked whether she felt guilty about being in Dubai. She said: 'I felt guilty the whole time. I don't think anyone realised how bad the strain would get, and how quickly. So hearing people upset, I felt horrific.' Clarifying: The star insisted she travelled to the United Arab Emirates when travel was allowed, and admitted the trolling she's faced has made her question whether to change careers In a caption on the post she added: 'The backlash was horrendous and still is. I don't expect anyone to understand my situation. 'I apologise to everyone I've upset, I truly mean that as it was never my intention.' Laura was previously forced to delete some of the comments on her sun-soaked bikini snaps after receiving backlash for sharing her exploits. Home Secretary Priti Patel was among those who criticised stars for documenting their trips on social media. She was detailing new plans introduced by Prime Minister Boris Johnson to have travellers to the UK from 22 'red list' countries quarantine in hotels for 10 days. Speaking in the House of Commons Patel said: 'There are travel bans in place for countries that are rest listed and that will continue. 'The announcement today will also reduce the number of travelling passengers. I do want to emphasise that because people should simply not be travelling. 'We see the examples, I will call some of them out, border force have given me examples. 'Even at St Pancras people have been turning up with their skis, which is clearly not acceptable. "We see plenty of influencers on social media showing off about which parts of the world that they are in, mainly in sunny parts of the world. Going on holiday is not an exemption and it is important that people stay at home.' Since then Prime Minister Boris Johnson has confirmed that anyone returning to the UK from the UAE must quarantine in a hotel for 10 days before they can travel home. A US father-son pair accused of helping former Nissan boss Carlos Ghosn in his audacious escape from Japan arrived in Tokyo on Tuesday after losing their battle against extradition. In a statement, Japanese prosecutors confirmed they had arrested former US special forces member Michael Taylor and his son Peter "on suspicion of helping a criminal hide and escape". The pair, along with a third man still at large, are believed to have masterminded the operation that saw former international jet-setter Ghosn packed into an audio-equipment case and onto a private jet to jump bail in December 2019. While Ghosn is now beyond the reach of Japanese justice in Lebanon, which does not have an extradition treaty with Tokyo, the Taylors were handed over to Japanese prosecutors earlier Tuesday in the US. The pair landed at Narita airport outside Tokyo, where officials held up silver plastic sheets to shield the arrivals from cameras. They will be taken to a detention centre after clearing immigration and taking a Covid-19 test, local media reports said. "The two suspects, knowing Carlos Ghosn was on bail on condition that he not go abroad... helped Ghosn to escape and concealed this," the prosecutors said in a statement after the men arrived. Prosecutors can now hold the pair for three weeks before they have to bring formal charges against them, but they declined to be drawn on how quickly they would move, saying they wanted to proceed "with the case appropriately by carrying out firm investigation". The single charge on which the pair have been arrested carries a maximum penalty of three years in prison. The Taylors were arrested in the US last year after Japan issued a warrant for them. The pair tried to block Japan's extradition request, with their lawyers claiming the men would face torture-like conditions in Japan, but the US Supreme Court struck down their appeal in February. "This is a sad day for the family, and for all who believe that veterans deserve better treatment from their own country," Paul Kelly, their lawyer, said in a statement confirming they had been handed over to Japanese custody. Story continues Representatives for Ghosn declined to comment on the extradition, and the former tycoon has steadfastly declined to speak about the particulars of his escape for fear of implicating those involved. - 'Brazen escape act' - Ghosn was a global business superstar and head of an auto alliance joining Nissan, Renault and Mitsubishi Motors before his career came crashing to an abrupt end in November 2018, when Tokyo investigators stormed his private jet to arrest him. The French-Lebanese-Brazilian national was eventually charged with four counts of financial misconduct over claims he hid compensation and misused Nissan funds. Having spent months in detention, Ghosn was out on bail awaiting trial on the charges -- which he denies -- when he fled the country in what Japanese prosecutors termed "one of the most brazen and well-orchestrated escape acts in recent history". The escape infuriated Japanese officials, particularly as prosecutors had regularly argued against Ghosn's release on bail, arguing he was a flight risk. The details of his escape only proved more embarrassing -- with the former tycoon allegedly having boarded a train to Osaka before evading security checks at Kansai airport by boarding a private jet packed into an oversize box that was not scanned. After his arrival in Lebanon, Ghosn claimed that he had been forced to escape because he feared he would not get a fair hearing. While Ghosn remains at large, the repercussions of both the original case against him and his escape from Japan continue. In Tokyo, his former close aide at Nissan, Greg Kelly, is currently on trial for his alleged role in underreporting Ghosn's income. Nissan itself faces charges in the case and has pleaded guilty. And last month, a Turkish court sentenced two pilots and another employee of a small private airline to four years and two months in prison for their role in Ghosn's escape. Ghosn transited in Turkey, switching planes on his way to Lebanon, and the three Turks were charged with involvement in conspiracy to smuggle a migrant. Two other pilots and two flight attendants on trial in Turkey were acquitted. nf-si/sah/axn Massachusetts Republican lawmakers want legislative leaders to pump the brakes on the push to make mail-in voting permanent. Four Republican legislators, three of whom serve on the Joint Committee on Election Laws, sent a letter to House Speaker Ron Mariano calling for more debate and discussion before extending mail-in voting. The House on Monday approved a bill backed by Mariano to extend the COVID-19 mail-in voting law through June so lawmakers can debate more permanent election reforms. Sen. Ryan Fattman, Rep. Shawn Dooley and Rep. Marc Lombardo, who serve on the Elections Committee, signed onto a letter with Rep. Nicholas Boldyga dated Tuesday urging Mariano to discuss how mail-in voting worked in the 2020 elections before making any decisions on extending the option. Now it is our duty to conduct an analysis to help the Joint Committee with identifying strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats related to the no-fault vote by mail system from 2020, the letter states. We owe it to the voters of Massachusetts to conduct this important step, hear from the public and ask Secretary Galvin questions that still remain unanswered. The four lawmakers sent a similar letter to Secretary of the Commonwealth William Galvin asking a series of questions. Some questions include: How many vote-by-mail applications that were sent to households were returned by the U.S. Postal Service as undeliverable mail ahead of the primary and general elections? Were voters signatures matched with their signature on record at the clerks office? Were the original applications and ballots returned by the postal service kept in a secure location? How much did sending mail-in ballots cost for each election? Lawmakers also asked whether a no-fault mail-in voting option would be needed once COVID-19 vaccines are widely administered and Massachusetts achieves herd immunity. By his own estimates, Galvin says the no-excuse mail-in voting option was successful in encouraging voting despite the COVID-19 pandemic. Massachusetts broke voter turnout records during both the Sept. 1 state primary and the general election. The state primary drew more than 1.7 million voters, breaking the 1990 record of 1.4 million. More than 3.65 million people voted in the Nov. 3 election, breaking the 2016 record of 3.3 million. But the rollout had a bumpy start. The learning curve for local election clerks and the operations disruptions from the U.S. Postal Service leading up to election season led to delays in people receiving their vote-by-mail applications and ballots ahead of the primary. In some cases, people submitted ballots, but their votes werent counted in the Sept. 1 election. Galvin said his office worked with local election clerks, holding webinars and getting clerks to troubleshoot issues together as they prepared for the general election. Testifying during the fiscal 2022 budget hearing, Galvin described the 2020 elections as a success and promoted his proposal to make no-excuse mail-in voting a permanent option. I think they will be greatly helpful to our voters, Galvin told the Ways and Means Committee during Tuesdays fiscal 2022 budget hearing. Related Content: As part of its Commercial Crew Program, NASA and SpaceX are gearing up to launch astronauts to the International Space Station next month. The Crew-2 launch will kick off the program's second crew rotation mission. The joint mission will carry astronauts Shane Kimbrough and Megan McArthur of NASA, Akihiko Hoshide of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency and European Space Agency astronaut Thomas Pesquet aboard a Crew Dragon spacecraft launching atop a Falcon 9 rocket on its way to the space station. The mission is scheduled to lift off from Kennedy Space Center in Florida on April 20th. According to NASA, the crew is scheduled for a long-duration stay aboard the orbiting laboratory. They will spend several months conducting science and maintenance before the astronauts return to Earth in fall 2021. All four astronauts were assigned to the Crew-2 mission in July 2020. They've been working and training for their long-duration stay aboard the space station. NASA's commercial crew program has been years in the making. Last year, Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley blasted into orbit from Florida's Kennedy Space Center ending a nine-year drought for NASA. (Disclaimer: This story is auto-generated from a syndicated feed; only the image & headline may have been reworked by www.republicworld.com) A prominent columnist has called for Bill Shorten to be kicked out of parliament over historical claims of sexual assault. Nine commentator Jessica Irvine clashed with Nationals senator Matt Canavan on the Today Show on Wednesday, arguing no minister who has been accused of sexual misconduct should be allowed to keep their job. Mr Shorten has denied rape allegations dating back to the 1980s. He was never charged by Victoria Police following a 10-month investigation which was later closed. The woman made the allegations in 2013, claiming Mr Shorten had raped her at a Young Labor camp near Geelong in 1986. 'I will not go into details, except to say the allegation was untrue and abhorrent,' he said at the time. When asked by Mr Canavan if Mr Shorten should remain in his job, Ms Irvine responded: 'no... I would say no'. 'We need to change the standard of behaviour [of politicians],' she said. 'We do not want people who have been accused of such things [being allowed to stay in parliament].' Commentator Jessica Irvine slammed the former Labor leader in an extraordinary outburst on the Today Show on Wednesday morning When asked by Senator Matt Canavan if Mr Shorten should remain in his job, Ms Irvin responded: 'no, I would say no' Mr Canavan responded: 'Well that means basically get rid of everybody'. 'Is everybody an accused rapist in parliament?' Ms Irvine shot back. The discussion comes just hours before a senior federal cabinet minister accused of raping a 16-year-old girl three decades ago will identify himself and deny wrongdoing. The woman last year told police he raped her in Sydney's Kings Cross after a night of drinking and dancing in January 1988, but took her own life months later. 'This makes me really angry that we are going to give a national platform to a man who's been accused of rape,' Ms Irvine said. 'As an Australian woman, I find it sickening that this woman can't speak for herself, she's taken her life. 'And today we're going to hear from a man in an incredible position of power who's going to be able to plead his case and elicit sympathy for his situation. 'We need to guard against members of parliament conducting themselves in ways that are inappropriate.' Mr Canavan then accused Ms Irvine of assuming the minister, whose identity will be revealed today, is guilty. 'You seem to be assuming he's guilty and that's a reverse of our normal standard of innocent until proven guilty,' the senator said. Host Karl Stefanovic echoed Mr Canavan's sentiments, saying the minister in question could be innocent. Bill Shorten (pictured with wife Chloe) has previously denial rape allegations dating back to the 1980s after Victoria Police closed an investigation into him in 2014 The senior federal cabinet minister accused of raping a 16-year-old girl three decades ago will today publicly declare his innocence (stock image) Bill Shorten rape allegations Bill Shorten was accused of rape by a woman who claimed the former Labor leader assaulted her in 1986 during a Young Labor conference in Portarlington, near Geelong, Victoria. Victorian police did not lay charges and on August 21, 2014, Mr Shorten released a brief statement confirming police had dropped their investigation into the claims. The accusation surfaced in September, 2014, after the woman posted a message on Kevin Rudd's Facebook page, beneath his farewell message to the nation. She wrote that Shorten: 'did things to me without my permission' at a camp in Victoria 27 years earlier. 'You probably get crazy messages all the time,' she added, 'but I need help. Thank you again for everything and I am sorry that the ALP did this to you, too.' Her comment was picked up by cartoonist Larry Pickering and published online. She claimed she had been 16 when the 19-year-old Shorten had allegedly raped her in the bathroom of one of the cabins after drinking and smoking marijuana. The woman claims she complained to police once in NSW in 2004, and again in Queensland in 2006. She abandoned both complaints. After 10 months' investigation Victorian police decided not to lay charges and on August 21, 2014, Mr Shorten released a brief statement in Melbourne which confirmed police had dropped their investigation into the claims. 'I will not go into the details, except to say that the allegation was untrue and abhorrent,' Mr Shorten said at a press conference. Advertisement 'It's a cornerstone of our law that you have the presumption of innocence,' he said. Ms Irvine argued that no MP on either side of politics is that 'good enough at their jobs that they're irreplaceable'. 'I want the prime minister to take a stronger stance on this,' she said. Scott Morrison has been under pressure to out the minister, stand him down, and launch an inquiry since detailed allegations were sent to his office. He said the politician told him the allegation was not true, but the minister has now agreed to make a statement on Wednesday. Police on Tuesday closed the investigation as it had insufficient admissible evidence to proceed after the woman's suicide last June. The minister was hoping to keep the matter a private one for police to deal with but rumours have circled in Canberra and on social media over the past week. He is expected to unequivocally deny the allegations and refuse to stand aside or quit parliament, and Mr Morrison and the government to stand behind him. Such a self-outing would be similar to former Labor opposition leader Bill Shorten's denial of sexual assault allegations in August 2014 after Victoria Police closed a historical investigation into him. 'I will not go into details, except to say the allegation was untrue and abhorrent,' he said at the time. The statement was intended to draw a line under the matter and Wednesday's is expected to attempt to do the same. An anonymous sender said they were inspired to write a letter (pictured) detailing the woman's allegations after former Liberal staffer Brittany Higgins went public with an allegation Mr Morrison said he did not read the letter but forwarded it to Australian Federal Police Commissioner Reece Kershaw (pictured) Further pressure to come forward was made by former PM Malcolm Turnbull who insisted on TV that he go public because 'everyone knows' who he is. The minister is said to have taken advice on defamation after Mr Turnbull's comments along with thousands of others on social media and blogs. Crossbench MPs also piled on, some demanding an independent inquiry that Mr Morrison has so far resisted. There were even fears an MP could use parliamentary privilege to out him with impunity when both houses sit again on March 15. Tasmanian Senator Jacquie Lambie claimed he should 'suck it up' and make a statement because 'every man and his dog knows, so he's only digging his hole deeper'. 'If he has nothing to hide then come out and face the music,' she said. Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young, who along with Senator Penny Wong and Mr Morrison was last week sent a letter from a friend of the woman that outlined her allegations in detail, agreed. 'The accused minister knows who he is, the entire parliament knows who he is,' she told the Sydney Morning Herald. 'If he is innocent he should step forward and declare it. The integrity of his ministry and the entire government is now in question while he remains in hiding with such a grave allegation levelled against him.' 'The matter is now closed': NSW Police statement In November 2019, a woman then aged 48, attended an Adelaide (South Australia) police station seeking advice about reporting historical sexual offences, which allegedly occurred in 1988 in Sydney (New South Wales). The matter was then referred to the NSW Police Force and an investigation by the Child Abuse and Sex Crimes Squad commenced under Strike Force Wyndarra. NSW Police Force has been the lead agency in respect to this investigation since February 2020. For various reasons, the woman did not detail her allegations in a formal statement to NSW Police. The woman passed away in June 2020. Following the woman's death, NSW Police came into possession of a personal document purportedly made by the woman previously. NSW Police have since sought legal advice in relation to these matters. Based on information provided to NSW Police, there is insufficient admissible evidence to proceed. As such, NSW Police Force has determined the matter is now closed. Advertisement The rape allegation: A timeline 1988: Rape allegedly happens at event in Sydney when woman is 16 Late 2019: Woman engages lawyers and prepares a statement February 2020: Woman reports allegations to NSW Police March 2020: Police postpone trip to visit her due to Covid-19 June 2020: Woman dies by suicide February 24, 2021: Anonymous letter is sent to PM detailing allegations March 1, 2021: PM says minister completely rejects the allegations March 2, 2021: NSW Police close the case Advertisement The woman's allegation became public last week after Scott Morrison received a letter from a mystery sender which included the statement. Police were due to travel to her home in Adelaide in March 2020 to take her statement but their trip was postponed due to Covid-19. In June the woman withdrew her allegation and died by suicide the next day, causing the investigation to be suspended before it was officially closed this week. According to Four Corners which first reported the allegation on Friday, the woman had bipolar disorder and had attended a psychiatric hospital in Melbourne in the months before her death aged 49. Friends say she was 'beautiful and clever' but 'consumed with trauma'. As well as leaving her prepared statement, the woman made a 45-minute recording in which she talked about her allegations, according to the Herald Sun. In a letter to a friend she wrote: 'I guess I just worry that a trial has the potential to be an emotional bloodbath, particularly for me and anyone who appears as a witness in the case.' NSW Police said officers have sought legal advice about a 'personal document' made by the woman. The woman had told several family and friends about her allegation. It was presumably one of them who sent the letter to Mr Morrison, Liberal MP Celia Hammond and two South Australian senators, demanding an investigation. The anonymous sender said they were inspired to write the letter after former Liberal staffer Brittany Higgins went public with an allegation she was raped by another staffer in Defence Minister Linda Reynolds' parliament office in 2019. Ms Higgins' allegations dominated the past two sitting weeks of parliament as ministers were repeatedly grilled over who knew about her claims and when. The sender demanded an inquiry into the 1988 allegation, writing: 'There will be considerable damage to community perceptions of justice... and the parliament when this story becomes public if it is simultaneously revealed that senior people (like yourselves) were aware of the accusation but had done nothing.' The identity of the cabinet minister is known among the media and politicians but cannot be disclosed for legal reasons. The ministerial code of conduct requires a minister to stand aside if charged with a crime. Former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull has urged the minister to reveal himself and said it is 'impossible for him to function in that cabinet'. Ms Higgins (pictured) alleged she was raped in Parliament House after a boozy night out Mr Morrison said he spoke to the minister on Wednesday evening and he 'vigorously rejected the allegations.' He said he did not read the letter but had been briefed on the contents of the allegations. Asked if he would set up an inquiry, he said: 'I'm not the police force. I have given it to the police to investigate.' Mr Morrison said AFP Commissioner Reece Kershaw had not advised him to take any action. He refused to sack the minister, saying: 'We can't have a situation where the mere making of an allegation and that being publicised through the media is grounds for, you know, governments to stand people down simply on the basis of that. I mean, we have a rule of law in this country.' Mr Morrison said the first he substantially heard of the allegation was last week. Before that he had only heard rumours of a journalist making inquiries, he said. Chris Soal, an emerging South African artist living and practising in Johannesburg, uses unconventional found objects such as toothpicks and bottle caps in conjunction with concrete and other industrial materials. He is the youngest artist to be chosen to participate in the Dior Lady Art project, where 10 artists from around the world were hand-picked to reinterpret the Lady Dior as a unique work of art in their style. Growing up, were you always creative? Or when did you realise you wanted to become an artist? Ive often spoken about looking at the world as if seeing it for the first time as a creative approach, and I think that there is a childlike approach to creativity that lies deeply embedded in my work. There's the opinion that being an artist doesn't pay the bills. What's your take on this? The market is bigger, contemporary art is getting more attention than ever, and while success is not guaranteed to all who start on the journey (as with any career path), there are many who have gone before and left footprints behind for others to follow in. You've scored a collab with Dior. Tell us more. You use unconventional found objects, such as toothpicks and bottle caps to create art. What's the reasoning behind this? What's your inspiration behind your creations? The themes that arise in my work are always informed by the direction and forms that the material leads me in. Most artists have a message they want to share with the world. What's yours? As an artist during this global pandemic. What has it been like for you? This period has really encouraged me to take the time that the work demands, and its been a privilege to have time and space not only to work at my own pace, but also to give the work time to breathe before sending it out. Do you have any exhibitions currently taking place? His first solo show also just launched at Cape Town's WHATIFTHEWORLD gallery, where the viewer's experience and existence is considered in relation to the monumental scale of his works.I would say so. TV wasnt a fixture in my home courtesy of my parents (genuine thanks to mom and dad!) and so I read a lot, often played outdoors, and kept myself busy with a rotating series of new obsessions - from geology to astronomy, to chemistry, music, biology, robotics - there was little that I wasnt experimenting with during my childhood years, and it was a case of new-month-new what-I-want-to-be-when-I-grow-up. Im grateful that I was given a platform to be curious and ask questions. I think this is the essence of creativity.I only really decided to pursue art a year after finishing high-school. The decision to study a BAFA at Wits from 2014 on felt radical at the time, but looking back I can see how it was a combination of having travelled around the world in 2013, having met people who were young and embodied a non-linear career path, and also very importantly, having received much support for drawings that I did when I was in high-school. I even sold a few of the drawings I had done as a matric student and something clicked inside me that this might just become a feasible career path.Its a difficult question to answer, however I think that the myth of the starving artist is just that, a myth. Weve held up fantastically tragic stories like Van Goghs, and while one cannot pretend that being an artist is a straight or easy path to financial success, there are too many living, breathing, and healthy artists practising around the world for us to continue buying into that false narrative.There is also an overwhelming amount of resources out there for artists who want to understand the business of art and how to monetise what they do.The question now is not can I pay the bills and make this a career?, but, what work do I want to do, and where can I find support for that work?That has been an unbelievable experience, one I certainly didnt expect to appear on my horizon, especially not at this phase of my career. I had a work shown in London in 2019 that generated a bit of a buzz, it was featured by, and ultimately caught the eyes of the Dior team who invited me to participate in the 5th edition of the Lady Dior Art Project.It was a year-long process, a year of keeping a very big secret and liaising with their salon to bring the three Lady Dior bags to life. It was a bit daunting working with an international fashion house with a 75-year legacy, but I simply tried to look at my own work, trust my instincts, and bring what I felt only I could to the collaboration.As an art student, I didnt have resources to utilise more traditional, and rather expensive art forms like oil-painting, so I looked to what was in my everyday environment and what was in surplus. We often take the accessibility of these materials for granted, instead of asking, What are the conditions that allowed for this material to be present in such abundance in our society?.Im often hesitant to say that I chose a material - it mostly feels like the material chooses me. Theres always a relationship with my body, a way of fiddling with the material (in the case of the toothpicks and the bottle tops) and the way the material imprints itself on me, both physically and conceptually. Not only are these materials readily accessible, but theyre embedded within the larger social fabric, which allows me to engage with concerns that I feel are significant to this time and place.Inspiration only comes when youre working, and sometimes (actually often) that means creating work for yourself to do.However, I am aware that through the use of ubiquitous, and often discarded, objects, the very fact that I am working with them in the way I do engages the viewer's perception and challenges their assumptions around value. My sculptural sensibilities have led me to take a phenomenological approach to my practice, considering my work as thought-embodied through its very nature and process.The same message that Bruce Nauman shared when he made the 1973 Lithograph, Pay attention (worth a Google search).Its been a very strange time. Firstly Im incredibly grateful and fortunate to have been able to keep the studio running, to keep my assistants employed, and since level 5, to continue operating without health issues affecting our workplace. I feel like as an art student you get given regular assignments and that creates a certain pace of working, but then as a practising artist exhibitions, group shows, art fairs etc just reinforce that pace and its very difficult (but enormously important) for an artist to find the rhythm and pace of their own work.This has been enormously important, and Ive found that much new work has been developed upon observations of completed works which weve left hanging in the studio for extended periods of time.My solo exhibition As below so above is on view at WHATIFTHEWORLD Gallery in Cape Town until 1 May 2021. I have another solo-exhibition opening in the next two months at Nirox Sculpture Park (opening dates TBC), as well as the unveiling of my first outdoor installation there.For more, go to https://chrissoal.com/ Some three decades later, in 2013, Chief Justice Roberts wrote the opinion in Shelby County v. Holder that dismantled one of the acts key protections. Shelby County effectively ended the acts vaunted preclearance system, which had required jurisdictions with lengthy track records of discrimination to obtain federal approval before amending their voting laws. Within hours after the opinion came down, Republicans in Texas began rolling out a previously blocked voter ID regime. Without preclearance, Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act which generally bars voting laws and policies that discriminate on the basis of race became the primary mechanism for enforcing the act. But in Brnovich, the court could substantially weaken even the limited protections against selective disenfranchisement that Section 2 affords. The state of Arizona is asking the court to make it more difficult to prove that a law violates the act on the ground that it has the effect of disadvantaging voters on the basis of race. That question might seem abstract or technical, but it will determine whether many laws in the latest wave of voter suppression succeed in denying people their right to vote. Arizona is asking the court to hold that the Voting Rights Act does not prohibit voting restrictions that result in disparities between white voters and racial minorities unless the disparity is substantial. The Arizona Republican Party goes even further, asking the court to hold that policies do not violate the act so long as they offer equal opportunities to voters of any race. That would allow states to abolish voting practices that are disproportionally used by racial minorities, like early voting, so long as other voting practices (like same-day voting) remain theoretically available to them. Not to be outdone, Ted Cruz and 10 other Republican senators, including the Senate minority leader, Mitch McConnell, filed a brief arguing that Section 2 would be unconstitutional if the court interpreted it to prohibit voting laws and policies that resulted in disparities between white voters and voters of color. Leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu on Monday said the blockade of farm products from North to South by the Fula... Leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu on Monday said the blockade of farm products from North to South by the Fulani should be considered an act of war. Kanu, in a tweet, said Nigerians knew that the Fulani did not farm, but that it was the same Fulani blocking farm products from North to South. He wondered why President Muhammadu Buhari tolerated this act. Kanu said if the South blocked oil and gas, the north would levy massacre. Nigerians know that the Fulani do not farm. Yet, its the Fulani that is blocking movement of farm products from North to South. Such blockade should be considered an act of WAR, yet the Fulani Nigerian President tolerates it. If the South blocks oil & gas, they will levy massacre. Coordinator of the Kwara State chapter of Miyetti Allah Association of Cattle Breeders, Aliyu Mohammed, had on Sunday said that the blockade of cattle and foodstuffs to the South West through Kwara State would continue until the safety of Fulani is guaranteed in the region. Mohammed, speaking to newsmen after a crucial meeting of the association in Ilorin on Sunday, said the action is a warning shot to ensure a peaceful operation of businesses by the Fulani and to end the harassment of the tribe in the south. He also said not all Fulani are criminals, adding Just as you have in any society where there are good and bad people. Mohammed insisted that It is not only Fulanis that commit crimes in the country, but it was sad that everything happening now is heaped on Fulani herdsmen. Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - March 2, 2021) - Red Light Holland Corp. (CSE: TRIP) (FSE: 4YX) (OTC: TRUFF) ("Red Light Holland" or the "Company") is pleased to reveal the company's interactive Wisdom Truffle and new Logo carefully and creatively designed by renowned designer and Head of Design for Red Light Holland, Karim Rashid. New Red Light Holland Logo To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/2017/75834_redlight_orig.jpg Wisdom Truffle Companion Image 1 To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/2017/75834_8f45f1f054cfcac8_002full.jpg The Wisdom Truffle will be produced in three different models which is expected to be sold across the world in Q4 2021, and it will be able to be pre-ordered on the Company's website by the end of March 2021. Each model will support a different aspect of Red Light Holland's iMicro healthy lifestyle and work in conjunction with Red Light Holland's iMicro Journal WebApp (currently in use) and the Company's completed immersive AR/VR apps. Wisdom Truffle Companion Image 2 To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/2017/75834_8f45f1f054cfcac8_003full.jpg "While focusing on our core business, our goal is also to create alternative revenue streams while building a global brand that is electric, alive and genuinely connects - which then encourages a lifestyle of healthy daily habits, including disconnecting from technology and reconnecting with nature and ourselves for mental clarity," said Red Light Holland CEO and Director Todd Shapiro. "I'm amazed to be part of such a creative team that is combining Karim Rashid's designs and Radix Motion's technology. Together we are kicking ass with this unique combination of tech meeting real life through creative minds from all sides. The Red Light Holland team is proud to help you see things differently." Wisdom Truffle Companion Image 3 To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/2017/75834_8f45f1f054cfcac8_004full.jpg "The design of the Wisdom Truffle companion promotes positivity and provides comfort. The Wisdom Truffle is also an incredible art piece that's a great conversation starter around finding a healthier balance with our use of technology. Something we need now more than ever," said Karim Rashid. "The three model sizes will fit different, use cases and together can transform any environment, bringing light, music and interactivity. The new logo reflects the Wisdom Truffle becoming Red Light Holland's brand ambassador and it truly represents all of us proudly." Wisdom Truffle Companion Image 4 To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/2017/75834_8f45f1f054cfcac8_005full.jpg Wisdom Truffle Companion Image 5 To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/2017/75834_8f45f1f054cfcac8_006full.jpg The Three Wisdom Truffle Models are named: 1) Moon: which is expected to include a Pulse sensor, multicolour LEDs, bluetooth connected. Moon is a hand held figurine, first-of-its-kind meditation aid and biorhythm communication device. This Wisdom Truffle shows insights into the autonomic nervous system as the lights respond to the person's heartbeat. Heart rate data can be added to the iMicro Journal app to keep track of physiological changes correlated to microdosing or meditation. Supports multiplayer mode allowing for a unique form of group meditation or connection. 2) Star: which is expected to include a wireless phone charger for Qi enabled devices, multicolor LEDs, bluetooth speaker. Star is a lamp size figurine that helps build a healthier relationship with mobile devices promoting presence and focus. This Wisdom Truffle connects to the iMicro journal app tracking phone usage and rewarding healthy breaks. This Wisdom Truffle also brings the gifts of light and superb sound to any room. 3) SuperNova: which is expected to include a Mini computer running Tensorflow pose detection AI models, Camera, multicolour LEDs, bluetooth speaker. SuperNova is a life sized figurine (1 Meter tall) equipped with Artificial Intelligence that understands body movements. This Wisdom Truffle creates unique interactive audio-visual experiences based on dances, stretches and more. Supports multiplayer mode for galleries, conventions, stores and more. "Each Wisdom Truffle creates a specific feedback loop to help people connect to themselves and to others based on the latest neuroscience research," said Sarah Hashkes, CEO of Radix Motion, the company whose technology will be powering the Wisdom Truffles. "The three Wisdom Truffles will communicate with each other and will be integrated with the rest of the immersive technology we have built for Red Light Holland, including the AR and VR experience and the Journal app. We are building something that in my opinion has never been seen before - technology that is actually in support of our humanity. I can't wait to get this for Christmas for all my friends." Wisdom Truffle Companion Image 6 To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/2017/75834_8f45f1f054cfcac8_007full.jpg Preorders for the Wisdom Truffle will be available by the end of March on the website www.WisdomTruffle.com and customers can currently join the waiting list to gain first access. As the website has launched today Domain propagation might take up until the end of March 2021 to be visible in some places. About Red Light Holland Corp. The Company is an Ontario-based corporation positioning itself to engage in the production, growth and sale (through existing Smart Shops operators and an advanced e-commerce platform) of a premium brand of magic truffles to the legal market within the Netherlands, in accordance with the highest standards, in compliance with all applicable laws. For additional information on the Company: Todd Shapiro Chief Executive Officer & Director Tel: 647-204-7129 Email: todd@redlighttruffles.com Website: https://redlighttruffles.com/ Forward-Looking Statements Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange (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. This press release contains certain "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. Such forward-looking information and forward-looking statements are not representative of historical facts or information or current condition, but instead represent only the Company's beliefs regarding future events, plans or objectives, many of which, by their nature, are inherently uncertain and outside of the Company's control. Generally, such forward-looking information or forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "plans", "expects" or "does not expect", "is expected", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", or "believes", or variations of such words and phrases or may contain statements that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will be taken", "will continue", "will occur" or "will be achieved". The forward-looking information and forward-looking statements contained herein include, but are not limited to, information about the timing and other aspects of the partnership with Karim Rashid and the design and development of the Wisdom Truffle. Although the Company believes that the assumptions and factors used in preparing, and the expectations contained in, the forward-looking information and statements are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on such information and statements, and no assurance or guarantee can be given that such forward-looking information and statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such information and statements. In particular, there is no guarantee that the design of all three of the Wisdom Truffles, plus the development, manufacturing and global retail sales of the Wisdom Truffle will proceed, or if they do proceed it will reflect the understanding of the parties as of the date of this release. As well, there is no guarantee that the Augmented Reality and/or any of the technology in the Moon, Star or SuperNova or all three of the Wisdom Truffles will proceed, or if they do proceed it will reflect the understanding of the parties as of the date of this release. Also, there is no guarantee that the launch of the Wisdom Truffle website will proceed, or will sales be available by the end of Q4, 2021, or if they do proceed it will reflect the understanding of the date of this release. The forward-looking information and forward-looking statements contained in this press release are made as of the date of this press release, and the Company does not undertake to update any forward-looking information and/or forward-looking statements that are contained or referenced herein, except in accordance with applicable securities laws. Not for distribution to United States 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/75834 Details still pending on third agreement between Emmet and Bay Bluffs STERLING HEIGHTS, MI A Michigan police officer resigned his position amid an internal investigation related to an image he is accused of sharing on Facebook that jokes about the death of George Floyd. The Sterling Heights Police officer, who was on unpaid administrative leave while the department investigated the incident, resigned before the department could render discipline, Lt. Mario Bastianelli said in a statement. The alleged Facebook post included an image of Floyd on the ground with a Minneapolis Police officers knee on his neck and was captioned with, When you gotta change a tire but dont wanna get your trousers dirty, MLive previously reported. RELATED: Michigan police officer on unpaid leave for racist social media post Floyd died shortly after the image was taken on May 25, 2020. His death sparked police brutality protests over the summer. The officer who knelt on Floyds neck was later fired and murder charges were brought against him. The officer who joked about Floyds death could have faced termination, Sterling Heights Police Chief Dale Dwojakowski said previously. The department has a social media policy that prohibits posting content that could be inflammatory against any religion, race or gender. This incident is confirmation that the city must remain vigilant in identifying and rooting out such behavior, which has no place in a municipal organization that serves an incredibly diverse population, Bastianelli said. This incident further shows the citys commitment to making sure each and every resident, business owner and visitor feels welcome and safe in Sterling Heights. This objective is integral to realizing the citys vision for Sterling Heights as a community that is vibrant, inclusive and distinctive. READ MORE: Police identify young couple, unborn baby killed in crash Former Michigan health director given $155K severance pay after abrupt resignation Tuesday, March 2, coronavirus data by Michigan county: Genesee, Kalamazoo, Bay see jump in new cases, positivity rates Michigan State Police nab driver doing 155 mph in 55 mph zone It seems Love Island's Amy Hart has hung up her bikini for a while to dabble in the dramatic arts. Amy, 26, who used to be an air hostess, was seen strutting into London's Union Theatre on Monday, for day one of rehearsals for a play she is producing. Looking the part, Amy donned an all-taupe ensemble - a wool dress, matching leather knee-high boots and a long jacket. Drama queen: It seems Love Island's Amy Hart has hung up her bikini for a while to dabble in the dramatic arts, seen strutting into London's Union Theatre on Monday, for day one of rehearsals for a play she is producing She added a chocolate trilby hat to the look and wore her strawberry blonde locks loosely falling in waves around her shoulders. Amy wore natural make-up - a creamy foundation and an autumnal shade of lipstick. Amy posted to Twitter over the weekend with a throwback snap from last year, captioning it: 'A year ago today I made my West End debut at the Prince of Wales Theatre... today its first day of rehearsals for the first play I'm producing!' She also shared backstage snaps from the rehearsals, revealing that the play is a revival of Justin Butcher's Scaramouche Jones and will star Shane Richie in the lead role. Looking the part: Amy donned an all-taupe ensemble - a wool dress, matching leather knee-high boots and a long jacket To work: She added a chocolate trilby hat to the look and wore her strawberry blonde locks loosely falling in waves around her shoulders. Amy wore natural make-up - a creamy foundation and an autumnal shade of lipstick The show will be streamed online from 26 March to 11 April from the London theatre, as stage shows are still unable to welcome audiences amid the pandemic. Shane - who appeared most recently on I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here! last year - plays the titular role in the one-man drama which centres around a tragic clown, who is set to celebrate his 100th birthday and die at midnight on Millennium Eve. The play sees the character tell his life story. It was first performed in 2001 in Dublin and late actor Pete Postlethwaite made the role famous, reprising it again in 2014. She also shared backstage snaps from the rehearsals, revealing that the play is a revival of Justin Butcher's Scaramouche Jones Star: The play will see Shane Richie in the lead role. The show centres around a tragic clown, who is set to celebrate his 100th birthday and die at midnight on Millennium Eve Cast and crew: In backstage snaps, Amy was seen sitting with a face mask, watching rehearsals. She was also pictured with the rest of the creative team, and lead star Shane, as they posed on stage Icon: The play sees the character tell his life story. It was first performed in 2001 in Dublin and late actor Pete Postlethwaite made the role famous, reprising it again in 2014 [pictured in 2002] In backstage snaps, Amy was seen sitting with a face mask, watching rehearsals. She was also pictured with the rest of the creative team, and lead star Shane, as they posed on stage. According to the promo for the play, the drama 'recounts an epic and mesmerising tale of a life shaped by extraordinary misfortunes, from the shores of Trinidad to England by way of slave ships, Italian royalty, and Croatian concentration camps. 'A witness to pivotal moments of the 20th century, Scaramouche finds himself at the dawn of a new millennium, marking his own centenary and preparing for death.' It is being produced by Thomas Hopkins and Michael Quinn of Ginger Quiff Media. After his visit to Tbilisi to mediate the deepening political crisis in Georgia, European Council President Charles Michel said progress in talks between the ruling party and the opposition will be assessed in two weeks. Michels attempt to mediate comes in a context of growing tensions in Georgia, with political parties currently mired in a deepening political crisis, which risks derailing the republic from its European path. "Its not a secret, for the strengthening and deepening between the EU and Georgia it is key to solve this political crisis," Michel said after the last minute late evening meeting between the governing Georgian Dream party and the opposition which he initiated. Political dialogue in the country is "re-launched," Michel proclaimed after the talks, saying "this is a good step in the right direction". However, he also expressed caution. "I am not naive, this is also a difficult and complex situation, it will mean that all political actors will have to be courageous in the next weeks in order to make progress.' Michel announced that stock of progress made will be taken at the EU-Georgia Association Council on 15 March. Topics to be discussed in the meantime will reportedly include all contentious issues, including electoral and judicial reform, addressing politicised justice and the issue of prisoners, power sharing in the Parliament and future elections, EUractive reported. Hubballi : , March 3 (IANS) The Union Minister of Parliamentary Affairs Prahlad Joshi on Tuesday said that the ruling BJP is certainly embarrassed over release of the sex CD involving Karnataka Water Resource Minister Ramesh Jarakiholi. Reacting to reports before leaving to New Delhi in Hubballi, the Union Minister said that he would speak about this issue with party high command in detail in New Delhi on Wednesday. "This matter needs to be investigated thoroughly from all angles," he said. He added that BJP is known for its discipline and culture. "This episode is an eye opener for all those who are in public life. They should remain clean always or otherwise," he said. Ina response to a question, the union minister said that the BJP can not justify such (if Jarakiholi is guilty) acts. "That is why I said this needs a thorough investigation, if he is found guilty, the BJP will certainly take action," he said. Answering to another question, the union mister said that he would speak with the Chief Minister, (B S Yediyurappa) and Karnataka BJP state unit president (Nalin Kumar Kateel) once he reached Delhi. "Due to paucity of time, I could not interact with them, will speak with them tomorrow (Wednesday)," he said. To continue, please log in, or sign up for a new account. We offer one free story view per month. If you register for an account, you will get two additional story views. After those three total views, we ask that you support us with a subscription. A subscription to our digital content is so much more than just access to our valuable content. It means youre helping to support a local community institution that has, from its very start, supported the betterment of our society. Thank you very much! "At Bridgestone, sustainability is core to our business and integrated into every level of our operation. Our global sustainability framework includes important goals in reducing CO2 emissions by 50 percent by 2030, as we strive toward our long-term environmental target of becoming carbon neutral by 2050," said Paolo Ferrari, president & CEO, Bridgestone Americas, and executive vice president and executive officer, Bridgestone Corporation. "This solar array is another positive step in Bridgestone's journey to contribute to a more sustainable and equitable society for all." Consistent with Bridgestone's commitment to protect the environment, the Aiken County Passenger Tire Plant sends zero operations waste to the landfill. "Renewable energy has many benefits for the environment and Bridgestone, most notably the reduction in CO2 emissions and reduced energy costs," said Jim DeMouy, vice president, Environment, Health, Safety and Sustainability, Bridgestone Americas. "Bridgestone is grateful for the support of state and local leaders and community partners who worked with us to make this solar array a reality." The Aiken County Passenger Tire Plant was LEED certified by the U.S. Green Building Council and is a Certified Habitat by the National Wildlife Habitat Council. In addition, Bridgestone offers a variety of programs through its onsite learning center in Aiken County where it provides free community outreach and training as part of Bridgestone Environmental Education Program which has received state and national recognition. The Aiken County Passenger Tire Plant has been honored by gaining membership to the South Carolina Environmental Excellence Program in July 2018 which required an extensive evaluation of the many deliberate efforts by the plant to promote environmental protection. Recently, the plant partnered with Clemson University, the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources, the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control and the U.S. Department of Agriculture to utilize its solar array as a pilot for the development of a sustainable ground covering utilizing native South Carolina plants to encourage native, low-maintenance biodiverse vegetation in and around solar arrays in the state. Bridgestone has operated the Aiken County Passenger Tire Plant in Graniteville since 1998, producing passenger and light truck tires for original equipment manufacturers and retail. The plant celebrated its 20th anniversary in 2018. Bridgestone also operates its Aiken County Off Road Tire Plant in Trenton, where it produces large and ultra large off road radial tires. 1U.S. Environmental Protection Agency CO2e Calculator About Bridgestone Americas, Inc.: Nashville, Tennessee-based Bridgestone Americas, Inc. is a subsidiary of Bridgestone Corporation, a global leader providing sustainable mobility and advanced solutions. Bridgestone Americas develops, manufactures and markets a diverse portfolio of original equipment and replacement tires, tire-centric solutions, mobility solutions, and other rubber-associated and diversified products that deliver social value and customer value. Guided by its global corporate social responsibility commitment, Our Way to Serve, Bridgestone is dedicated to shaping a sustainable future of mobility and improving the way people move, live, work and play. SOURCE Bridgestone Americas, Inc. Related Links http://www.bridgestoneamericas.com New Delhi, March 2 : Amazon Prime Video, the OTT platform that aired the controversial series Tandav, has issued an apology to anyone who felt insulted with the content of the series. In the statement, they have also specified that the objectionable scenes have either been either removed or edited. The official statement reads: "Amazon Prime Video again deeply regrets that viewers considered certain scenes to be objectionable in the recently launched fictional series 'Tandav'. This was never our intention, and the scenes that were objected to were removed or edited when they were brought to our attention. We respect our viewers' diverse beliefs and apologize unconditionally to anyone who felt hurt by these scenes. Our teams follow company content evaluation processes, which we acknowledge need to be constantly updated to better serve our audiences. We will continue to develop entertaining content with partners, while complying with the laws of India and respecting the diversity of culture and beliefs of our audiences." An FIR was filed against Aparna Purohit, the head of India Originals at Amazon Sellers Service Pvt Ltd, and six other co-accused that said the web series has content that hurts religious sentiments of Hindus. Objection was raised by a section of society over a sequence featuring Mohammad Zeeshan Ayyub, for his depiction of Lord Shiva in a play within the show. The series features actors Saif Ali Khan, Sandhya Mridul, Dimple Kapadia, Dino Morea, Anup Soni and Kumud Mishra. A priest who abused students at one of the most prestigious schools in the country in the 1970s has been publicly named by the Jesuit order at the behest of a former pupil of Belvedere College. Fr Joseph Marmion SJ abused boys sexually, emotionally and physically while he was on the teaching staff at the private Dublin school. He was named by the Jesuits on Tuesday in the hope that others who may have suffered abuse will come forward and get support. The priest taught in the Dublin school from 1969 until 1978. He also taught in Crescent College Limerick, and Clongowes Wood College, Co Kildare. Fr Marmion died in 2000. On Tuesday, the Jesuits said they have been in contact over many years with others who were abused by Joseph Marmion while they were young students. They have spoken of sexual abuse and physical and emotional bullying by him. We believe that the secrecy imposed by Joseph Marmion may still be preventing some victims and survivors from accessing help and support. In 2019, the religious order was contacted by a former pupil of Belvedere College who was student at the school in the 1970s. At 13 he was sexually and emotionally abused by Marmion. Jesuit provincial, Fr Leonard Moloney, said in a statement that he had personally met with the man. In our communications, he made it clear to me that he was concerned for others who may also have suffered and that they should be proactively offered a response and support. This man also conveyed to me that he believed others who were abused may be helped by the recognition that they too were dreadfully harmed. The victim asked the Jesuits to name his abuser publicly and make the information widely available in order to reach as many former students as possible. In 1977, concerned parents contacted the Jesuits disclosing the sexual abuse. In consequence, a decision was taken that Joseph Marmion be removed from the staff in Belvedere with effect from the end of the academic year 1977/1978, the Jesuits said. The priest then spent a year on sabbatical in Paris with the Jesuit Community Saint Francois Xavier. He was then assigned to the Gardiner Street Jesuit Community. In 1990 he was appointed Chaplain to St Vincents Private Hospital. We recognise that these subsequent appointments should not have been made, the Jesuits said. The order said the information concerning the priest was being communicated to the other schools, Crescent College Limerick, and Clongowes Wood College, where Fr Marmion taught. We are acutely aware of the pain and distress that many have had to hold and continue to hold, years after the original experience, Fr Moloney said. This pain is held by those who were direct victims of harm and abuse, by their families and also by other students who were witnesses to this abuse and felt powerless andunable to do anything about it. It is a matter of profound regret to me personally and to the Society of Jesus that children were abused whilst in our care. We are truly sorry. Words are never enough. The Jesuit leader appealed to victims and survivors of abuse by Jesuits to come forward and to seek help. We hope to explore with you the responses and supports that would be most useful at this time. He also paid tribute to the man who was abused by Joseph Marmion. His request, made solely out of concern for others, has been an example to us all, Fr Moloney said. He noted that in recent days, a former student had written about his experience of Joseph Marmion and recounted the stories of others who have spoken to him and who were also terribly harmed. We are making efforts to reach out to those individuals and to offer them our support if they wish, the Jesuit said. The revelation of abuse at Belvedere College follows the recent conviction of a former teacher at another prestigious Dublin school, Terenure College, over his abuse of students. In February, 76-year-old John McClean was jailed for eight years. Gardai are now investigating further allegations of abuse by McClean. Recall Shifts National Focus to California Poker, Real Estate and GoDaddy.com (TNS) Vincent Page was outraged when he heard Gov. Gavin Newsom had banned singing California in churches."I was just incensed at the overreach," said Page, an independent contractor from Pattison, Texas, a small town west of Houston. "I went searching for any and all information I could find about any effort that would get that guy out of office."What he found last summer was a small, relatively unknown campaign to recall Newsom, fueled, in part, by the governor's executive actions aimed at fighting the pandemic. Part of Newsom's crackdown on the virus included restricting indoor religious services, where people are likely to spread the virus.Page gave $100. Then he gave $500. Then $1,000. By the end of 2020, Page had donated to the effort 15 times for a total of $6,400, according to campaign filings. "Any governor who does not allow singing in churches deserves to be recalled," Page said. "And I believe it's our Christian obligation to help." The effort to recall Newsom started as a grassroots campaign led by a former Yolo County sheriff's sergeant. Over the last year, it has grabbed the attention and support of the national Republican Party, national conservative leaders, and, according to state records, more than 240 people from outside California.Campaign finance records show more than $200,000 has flowed from out-of-state donors into the two committees collecting for the recall, Rescue California and the Patriot Coalition. It's a relatively small number compared to the more than $3 million the two committees have raised combined, but it signals the nation has its eyes on California's embattled governor.Some are willing to pay to see him gone."Just because people live outside of the boundaries of California doesn't mean that they're not interested in this particular recall," said Randy Economy, spokesman for Recall Gavin 2020. "It's the hot political story in America right now."Right now, the national attention is helping the effort raise money at a time when many experts say it needs a steady stream of donations to collect enough signatures.State Sen. Josh Newman, the most recent California politician to be recalled, said he sees the recall transforming into a national story, with the potential to steal the national spotlight like the special Senate elections in Georgia did in January.Democratic politicians and experts in California see recalls as an opportunity for Republicans to attack Democrats in special elections, where low turnout tends to favor the GOP. If the recall becomes a big enough political story, that strategy could backfire for Republicans, said Newman, who was reelected to his Senate seat in the 2020 general election."You could see something like that if the recall effort does get on the ballot in California, where Democrats all over the state will be motivated to beat this back, to show up and vote no," he said. "It's really a proxy for this larger fight of right versus left, red versus blue."Someone from nearly every state in the country has donated money to recall the California governor, excluding Delaware, Iowa, North Dakota, Rhode Island, West Virginia and Wisconsin. The most frequent donations come from Texas, Nevada, Florida, Arizona and New York.Most of the donors, 142, report that they are retired. Donations have come in as low as $25 and as high as $75,000. The most frequent donation is just $100.Ron Jones, president of Mutual Medical Plans in Peoria, Illinois, donated $1,000 and said he disagrees with how Newsom has handled the pandemic."I think he's an idiot," Jones told"I've got family that lives out there and they keep me up to date on what's going on. He's shut down and destroyed tens of thousands, maybe hundreds of thousands of small businesses and just ruined peoples' dreams and hopes and businesses and lives."The biggest out-of-state spender, by far, is former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee. His federal political action committee, Huck Pac, has donated $100,000 to the cause. In November, Huckabee called Newsom "phonier than a vegan at a steakhouse," and has repeatedly encouraged voters to sign the recall petition.But once the measure qualifies, others say an out-of-state strategy could backfire in deep blue California by helping fire up Democratic voters.Garry South, a Democratic political strategist, pointed to Huckabee's donations, as well as promised funding from the National Republican Party, as an opening for Newsom."It just allows Newsom and his supporters to point out that this whole thing is driven by the national Republican Party," South said. "If the recall qualifies, all of that is going to come back to bite them in the rear end."South said he had the same strategy in 2003 when he was fighting the recall of Gov. Gray Davis. The governor's circle aimed to characterize the recall as a national effort, not a California one. But South said national Republicans helped thwart that strategy by staying out of the fray, at least publicly.This time, they're jumping in.The Republican National Committee is donating $250,000 to the state Republican Party to encourage Californians to sign the recall petition. It's only a matter of time before former President Donald Trump voices his opinion on the recall, South said, which will work in Newsom's favor in a state where Trump lost by double digits."Hyper-partisan extremists in the Republican party have nationalized this," said Dan Newman, a political consultant who works for Newsom. "Californians traditionally haven't looked to folks like Newt Gingrich and Donald Trump for their political advice. The fact that this is completely funded and fueled by the most extreme wing of the Republican Party is likely to further turn off Californians against the recall."Other top donors include Nevets Inc., a real estate development company from Wichita, Kansas that donated $25,000, according to state records. The Nevets company didn't return a request for comment. Nevets appears to be one of more than 20 companies operated by Steven Enterprises, which owns several car dealerships across the midwest, a string of gyms, and Honda of Downtown Los Angeles.Another $10,000 came in from Richard Salomon, a professional poker player who has owned property in Los Angeles, but listed his residence as Las Vegas when he donated in December. Salomon is well-known in Hollywood circles, having dated hotel heiress Paris Hilton in the early 2000s, and having twice married "Baywatch" star Pamela Anderson. As of February, his public gambling earnings are estimated to be about $9.9 million.Bob Parsons, the founder of the website hosting platform GoDaddy, kicked in $5,000, according to records. Parson, who lives in Scottsdale, Arizona, said the donation was "a gesture of support for my many friends in California who believe they are unnecessarily suffering under his pandemic management policies.""And for the record, I'm a registered Independent," Parsons said in a statement.George McGraw, a retired executive from Corsicana, Texas, donated to the recall three times for a total of $850. He's donated to California political campaigns in the past, and said he heard about the recall because he got an email asking him to pitch in.McGraw doesn't want to see liberal California policies spreading to other parts of the country, he said, citing high taxes, sanctuary cities, and the recent controversial push by San Francisco school board members to remove the names of presidents from schools."We are a country, and things cross state lines, and we're not individual, isolated areas," he said. "So I think it's quite appropriate to send money across state lines if you don't agree with things." The Victorian Liberals have lost their bid to fight an Andrews government decision that has stripped local councils of their power to make planning decisions on the construction of thousands of new social housing units. The oppositions motion to revoke the changes failed in the upper house on Wednesday morning by 25 votes to 12. The state government late last year announced it would assess and approve all 12,000 homes it plans to build over the next four years under its $5.3 billion social housing blitz, drawing the ire of some of Melbournes most affluent councils. Opposition planning spokesman Tim Smith said the government was running tawdry old-fashioned class warfare. Credit:Paul Jeffers Opposition planning spokesman Tim Smith, who is also the member for Kew, said on Wednesday morning normal planning processes must apply to the construction of homes, regardless of whether they were part of a social housing blitz or private development. Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-03 01:22:09|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close KAMPALA, March 2 (Xinhua) -- Uganda will launch COVID-19 vaccination exercise next week in a bid to prevent the spread of the virus, the country's top health official said here Tuesday. Ruth Aceng, the minister of health, told reporters that the phased coronavirus vaccination will start on March 10 after the country receives the first shipment of the AstraZeneca vaccines on March 5. "The Ministry of Health is finalizing the preparations to start the vaccination against COVID-19 with the arrival of the initial batch of 864,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccines," Aceng said. In the first phase, the ministry targets to vaccinate about 21.9 million people who face the highest risks of infection including the elderly, persons with underlying health conditions, health workers and security personnel. The ministry will roll out the vaccination program for age groups between 18 and 50 years in a staggered manner in phase two and three of the COVID-19 vaccination campaign, according to the official. "As you are aware, COVID-19 vaccines are new and additional information keeps emerging to guide the planning for vaccination; this includes the criteria for targeting population groups," said Aceng. She said available vaccines are not yet authorized for use in persons younger than 18 years of age. "If vaccines become available for (people) below the age of 18, the ministry will update its plan accordingly and inform the public," she said. Uganda will need up to 45 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines to vaccinate the population. As of Tuesday, Uganda has recorded 40,395 cumulative cases of COVID-19 cases, 15,008 recoveries and 334 deaths since the index case was reported on March 22, 2020, according to the Ministry of Health. Enditem CIMC Enric and Hexagon Purus today signed two joint venture (JV) agreements that encompass cylinder and systems production for Fuel Cell Electric Vehicles (FCEVs) and hydrogen distribution in China and Southeast Asia. The Chinese market for Fuel Cell Electric Vehicles (FCEVs) is expected to grow to become the largest global market over the next decade and beyond. Initially, the CIMC-HEXAGON JVs will expand CIMC Enrics existing production and systems capacity for Type 3 (T3) cylinders and in parallel install Type 4 (T4) cylinder production and systems capacity for the Chinese market. The JVs expect to start production of high-pressure T3 fuel storage in 2021. Production line capacity will be designed to accommodate approximately 100,000 cylinders per annum, in a first stage towards the middle of the decade. Construction of the new facility is expected to commence as early as the second quarter 2021. Hexagon Purus AS (Hexagon Purus) today signed two joint venture agreements with CIMC Enric Holdings Limited (hereafter CIMC Enric), a leading global supplier of cryogenic and compressed gas storage and transportation solutions and manufacturer of clean energy equipment, headquartered in Shenzhen, Peoples Republic of China. CIMC Enric is listed on the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong (stock code: 03899.HK). Hexagon Purus, a global leader of Type 4 (T4) cylinder technology, is a separately listed Hexagon Composites company on the Oslo Stock Exchange (stock ticker: HPUR). The cooperation is a highly compelling partnership: Hexagon Purus world class T4 hydrogen cylinder and systems technologies and design with over 20 years of heritage and safety track record and CIMC Enrics extensive expertise in gas system development tailored to the Chinese market and its long-standing relationships with large Chinese vehicle manufacturers (OEMs) and gas distribution companies. The joint ventures will serve the fast-growing demand of the Chinese market for safe, lightweight and cost-efficient compressed hydrogen storage solutions. Relevant industrial standards for T4 cylinders are currently being implemented by the Chinese government. The joint ventures will also support the transition to zero emission mobility solutions in Southeast Asia. Powerful alliance China is on the rise to become the most significant global market for Fuel Cell electric vehicles. Its successful energy transition to hydrogen requires safe, advanced and cost-efficient high-pressure Type 4 fuel storage solutions that are proven in the global market. By joining forces in China, CIMC Enric and Hexagon Purus together contribute state-of-the-art Type 4 know-how, as well as the market presence of a top, trusted Chinese brand. Both companies have proud heritages of providing world class products and solutions to their customers, says Morten Holum, CEO of Hexagon Purus. Leo Yang, Executive Director and General Manager of CIMC Enric adds, China always thinks big and China has decided that hydrogen will be the next big thing, within this decade. The CIMC-HEXAGON joint ventures are set up to offer what the Chinese market for hydrogen storage will demand safe and proven products made by a team renowned for their integrity and world class designs and manufacturing processes. Together, CIMC Enric and Hexagon Purus have the financial backbone to scale up to serve the expected demand for both Type 3 and Type 4 cylinders as well as high pressure hydrogen transportation in China and Southeast Asia. Together, we will drive the energy transformation with a joint vision of a zero emission transportation sector. About the market China, the world's largest auto market with over 28 million vehicles sold annually, has set its sights on creating a world-leading market for fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs) within two decades. According to Chinese policymakers planning, the market will grow from more than 7,000 FCEVs by end of 2020, to 1.3 million FECVs by 2035. It is also expected that hydrogen will account for approximately 10% of primary energy consumption in China by 2050. The initial focus of the Chinese hydrogen strategy is on fuel cell electric buses and commercial vehicles. This will improve public awareness and showcase the safety of hydrogen. The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) announced its collective ambition to achieve 23% renewable energy integration into its energy system by 2025, and even more by 2035. The shift to zero emission vehicles is driven by the desire to improve air quality and reduce CO2 emissions, as well as to increase energy independence by utilizing large amounts of hydrogen already available in China. In addition, hydrogen provides cost-efficient storage for surplus renewable energy from wind and solar. Structure The cooperation will be organized around two joint ventures, a Cylinder JV and a Systems JV, both registered in Hong Kong. The Cylinder JV will be majority-owned by Hexagon Purus (Hexagon Purus will own 51% and CIMC Enric will own 49%) and the Systems JV will be majority-owned by CIMC Enric (CIMC Enric will own 51% and Hexagon Purus will own 49%). The JVs will form operating subsidiaries in 2021 and a joint sales and marketing team. Live video webcast Hexagon Purus will host a webcast to present the alliance on March 2nd at 12:00 Central European Time (CET)/19:00 China Standard Time (CST). Interested investors/analysts/media can access the live video presentation through this link: https://hexagonpurus.kg5.no/ . Presentation materials will be available in the Investor section of Hexagon Purus website (www.hexagonpurus.com). Interviews Following the webcast: Investors/analysts are invited to contact Dilip Warrier/Salman Alam to arrange one-to-one sessions are invited to contact to arrange one-to-one sessions Media are invited to contact Karen Romer to schedule interviews with Jon Erik Engeset, CEO Hexagon Composites and Morten Holum, CEO Hexagon Purus (See contact details below) Contacts: Karen Romer, SVP Communications, Hexagon Composites Telephone: +47 950 74 950 | karen.romer@hexagongroup.com Dilip Warrier, CFO, Hexagon Purus Telephone: +1 949-236-5528 | dilip.warrier@hexagonpurus.com Salman Alam, Vice President Corporate Development, Hexagon Purus Telephone: +476 12 713 | salman.alam@hexagonpurus.com About Hexagon Purus (stock ticker: HPUR) Hexagon Purus, a Hexagon Composites company, is a world leading provider of hydrogen type 4 high-pressure cylinders, battery packs and vehicle systems integration for fuel cell electric and battery electric vehicles. Hexagon Purus enables zero emission solutions for light, medium and heavy-duty vehicles, buses, ground storage, distribution, marine, rail and aerospace. Learn more at www.hexagonpurus.com . About CIMC ENRIC Holdings Limited (stock code: 3899.HK) Founded in 2004, CIMC ENRIC Holdings Limited has been listed on the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong since 2005. The Company is affiliate to China International Marine Container (Group) ltd. (CIMC) and is principally engaged in transportation, storage and processing equipment that is widely used for the clean energy, chemical and environmental and liquid food industries. CIMC ENRIC has been a leading integrated service provider and key equipment manufacturer in the industry. The Company is among the worlds top players in both production and sales of ISO liquid tanks as well as high-pressure gas storage and transport vehicles. It is among Chinas top players in the market of cryogenic transport vehicles and cryogenic storage tanks and among top three in terms of domestic market shares for large storage tanks for LNG receiving stations, modular products for LNG refueling stations. CIMC ENRIC has built a global marketing network and have over 20 subsidiaries located in China, the Netherlands, Germany, Belgium, United Kingdom and Canada that operate production bases and internationally advanced R&D centers. For more information, please visit http://www.enricgroup.com This information is subject to the disclosure requirements pursuant to Section 5-12 the Norwegian Securities Trading Act Attachment LOS ANGELES, March 2, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The Word Counter , an online tool and resource for all things regarding the English language, announced today the upcoming launch of style guide requirements for MLA, Chicago, APA and AP citations. The guides are designed to provide audiences with assistance in citing sources when writing a report, press release, or research project, among many other types of academic writings. The new guides will feature descriptions of each citation style along with links to online resources for citing and a few examples. The Word Counter recognizes that one of the many frustrations when writing an academic paper is the last type of citing your sources. The way citations appear depends on the citation style, which is a set of established rules and conventions for documenting sources. Not only is it a way of giving credit to individuals for their creative and intellectual works that are utilized to support the research, It is used to locate sources and combat plagiarism. Typically, citations include the author's name, date, location of publishing, title, and Digital Object Identifier (DOI). Citation styles can be defined by an association, such as the Modern Language Association (MLA) or a publisher such as the University of Chicago Press. The Word Counter will be publishing the guides for the following citation styles, including how the information should be ordered, as well as punctuation and other formatting: APA (American Psychological Association): This style is mostly used by Education, History, Psychology and Social Sciences. MLA (Modern Language Association): This citation formatting is used mainly by the Humanities and by students. AP (from the Associated Press Stylebook): This style is mostly for journalists and others who work with the news and/or current events. Due to the nature of the style, the guide is updated annually. Chicago /Turabian Style: This is generally used by Business, History and the Fine Arts. The new citation guides are just one of many featured resources that the Word Counter hopes to continue to provide for those looking to expand their knowledge of the English language. Currently, the online platform is used for counting words, characters, sentences, paragraphs, and pages in real time, along with a variety of other productivity tools such as spelling/grammar checking and the Word Unscrambler. In addition, the website hosts a blog that acts as a resource for those seeking to understand specific aspects of the language in greater detail. To learn more about the offered resources, please visit: https://thewordcounter.com/ About The Word Counter: The Word Counter is a dynamic online tool used for counting words, characters, sentences, paragraphs and pages in real time, along with spelling and grammar checking . Writers can leverage the tool to improve word choice and writing style, as well as to detect grammar mistakes and plagiarism. Additionally, to assist with public speaking, the tool will accurately estimate speaking time to help with prep for class presentations, wedding speeches, or anything of the sort. With an ever-evolving suite of offerings and tools, The Word Counter can now also track your text length against common web standards like Twitter's tweet character count (140), Google's meta description (300), and Facebook's average post display length (~250). The Word Counter was founded by marketing expert Kevin Miller who has a wealth of online marketing and advertising experience, and understands the value of perfectly crafted texts. SOURCE The Word Counter Related Links https://thewordcounter.com/ "We are delighted to be working with Nextracker on the Janauba solar plant," said General Manager for Renewables, Patricio Pavez at Andrade Gutierrez. "Nextracker's extensive expertise in wind design R&D and engineering and proven bifacial gains were ultimately what led us to select the NX Horizon smart solar tracker." "We look forward to working together with Nextracker to cement Brazil's position as the leader in the solar energy sector in Latin America," said Beverly Martinez, Technical VP at Elera Renovaveis. Built with field-proven quality and reliability, NX Horizon is the single-axis solar tracker of choice on over 45 GW of projects around the world and will help Elera Renovaveis to maximize the Janauba plant's performance while minimizing operational costs. Nextracker's regional office in Brazil will fully support the project with engineering advisory as well as commissioning, asset management and advanced data analytics services for preventive maintenance. Installation crews will benefit from Nextracker's PowerworX Academy installer training program to learn best practices on site and at the company's training center in Sorocaba, Sao Paulo state. "We are honored to work side by side with our partners, Elera and Andrade Gutierrez to deploy Brazil's largest solar tracker project," said Marco Garcia, Chief Commercial Officer at Nextracker. "Nextracker's expert local staff combined with our company's cutting-edge solar tracker and software technologies will ensure that this historic project will perform to its full potential." Brazil is one of the fastest-growing solar markets in the Latin American region, due in part to its high irradiation levels and solar-friendly policies. The country has 7.4 gigawatts of cumulative solar installations to date. Minas Gerais is the top Brazilian state for solar power capacity in the nation. Nextracker is the chosen PV system technology and smart solar tracker provider for some of the largest solar power plants in the world, such as the 1 GW Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park in the UAE, the 838 MW plant in Villanueva, Mexico, and the 460 MW Western Downs installation in Queensland, Australia. Resources: Download Nextracker's latest white papers for more information on wind engineering design and bifacial technology. About Nextracker Nextracker, a Flex company, is a leader in the renewable energy transition, providing critical yield enhancing PV system technology, expertise and strategic services to capture the full value and maximize the efficiency of solar plants. Delivering the most comprehensive portfolio of intelligent solar tracker and control software solutions for solar power plants, Nextracker is transforming PV plant performance with smart technology, data monitoring and analysis services. For more information, please visit Nextracker and follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn. SOURCE Nextracker Related Links https://www.nextracker.com/ Credit: CC0 Public Domain Africans have authored just 3% of COVID-19 research papers, despite the fact that 17% of the world's population lives in Africa, reveal two analyses, published in the online journal BMJ Global Health. One in five COVID-19 papers listed no African authors, while two thirds of authors weren't from Africa, one analysis of 10 leading medical and global health journals shows. Historically, African authors have been underrepresented in published research on disease affecting Africa, so the study authors wanted to know if this was also true of COVID-19. In the first analysis, the study authors looked for African authors publishing research and comment on COVID-19 in Africa in the top five general medical and top five global health journals between 1 January and 30 September 2020. A total of 2196 articles on COVID-19, with 9222 authors listed across them, were included in their analysis. In all, just 94 articles (4.3%) contained content related to Africa or a specific African country; 292 (3.2%) of the authors were affiliated to an African organisation. The average number of authors per article was 4.2, overall, with an average of 0.13 (3.1%) of these authors being African. In articles with African content, 619 authors were listed. But only a third (210; 34%) of these authors reported an affiliation to an African organisation. There were an average of 6.6 authors on each article about Africa, 2.2 of whom were African. Authors from other parts of the world made up two thirds (66%) of authors on African papers, but Africans comprised just 3% of authors on non-African papers. One in five (19) African COVID-19 papers listed no African authors. Some 39 (41.5%) of these articles had an African first author, while 18 (19%) had an African last author. African authors occupied both of these prime authorship positions in 13 articles (14%), compared with 60 (3%) instances of Africans occupying prime authorship positions for content that wasn't about Africa. While 1.3 billion people17% of the world's populationlive in Africa, less than 4% of articles related to COVID-19 and published in the top 10 medical journals are relevant to the continent, say the study authors. It is perhaps unsurprising that high income countries have produced most COVID-19 research, given their resources, but they are nevertheless overrepresented in research about Africa, add the study authors. "Health policy is not only informed by original research; sensible, contextually appropriate guidelines, opinions and commentary are also essential to improving the functioning of healthcare systems. This is especially true during times of surge, when original research can be challenging to produce in low resource settings, like those in Africa," note the study authors. Of the 94 articles related to COVID-19 in Africa, almost three quarters were opinion-based, compared with just over half for those not related to Africa. Nearly 90% of the opinion-based articles related to Africa listed authors from elsewhere, while only 2.4% of opinion-based articles unrelated to Africa listed African authors. "Results from the 10 journals included in this analysiswhich have a disproportionately strong influence on healthcare worldwide suggest that African representation in African COVID-19 literature is insufficient," conclude the study authors. This is particularly the case for opinion-based articles that aim to offer advice on system response and clinical care, they highlight. "These findings add to the evidence of coloniality in global health research and decision-making," they point out. "The time has come that authoritative journals need to turn to authors and ask where local representation is on papers describing health systems in regions that are not their ownelse the inequity and coloniality highlighted in this review are perpetuated," they insist. A second analysis echoes the findings of the first, and emphasises the important and unique contribution African researchers can make to health issues affecting the continent. In this analysis the authors mined research databases looking for authors reporting single or multiple affiliations to organisations located in an African country between November 2019 and August 2020. They found that 42 African countries produced 1130 documents, representing 3% of the global share of COVID-19 publications during this period. Almost two thirds (65%) of articles by Africans on COVID-19 were from just three countries: South Africa, Egypt, and Nigeria. It's important for Africans to publish research on COVID-19 in Africa because this helps to create locally relevant knowledge to address the pandemic, note the study authors. "African research groups are in an excellent position to intensify and sustain intracontinental collaboration to more accurately describe what goes on in Africa as the pandemic evolves," they write. "Despite the unusual circumstances, such as inadequate research funds and lower capacity, African scientists have made valuable contributions to the science of COVID-19," they emphasise. "Based on our findings, we posit that African governments should increase research resource allocations needed to build trust for academic institutions that will rapidly catalyse the contribution of African-led research in infectious diseases," they conclude. More information: Commentary 1: African authorship on African papers during the COVID-19 pandemic, Commentary 1: African authorship on African papers during the COVID-19 pandemic, DOI: 10.1136/bmjgh-2020-004612 Commentary 2: Africa's contribution to the science of the COVID-19/SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, DOI: 10.1136/bmjgh-2020-004059 A team of four from the YWCA greeted people at the door, checked them in, gave then a card with the time for their appointment three weeks later for their second dose, escorted them into the room where the shots were administered and monitored them as they waited 15 minutes after the vaccination before leaving, as is required. MILWAUKEE, March 2, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Versiti today announced that it has been awarded a $150,000 grant by Northwestern Mutual, through its Foundation, to launch the Northwestern Mutual Pediatric Leukemia Bank a collaborative bank between Versiti, Children's Wisconsin and the Medical College of Wisconsin which will enable timely access to leukemia samples from pediatric patients at the Milwaukee Regional Medical Center campus. The bank, which is expected to become operational in June of 2021, will be utilized by researchers and physicians at Children's Wisconsin and researchers at Versiti's Blood Research Institute to develop new treatments for children. "Leukemia is one of the most common cancer diagnoses in children, though establishing effective treatment protocols remains very challenging," said Dr. Sid Rao, an associate investigator at Versiti who specializes in stem cell biology and hematopoiesis. "This bank will be an invaluable resource for researchers at the Milwaukee Regional Medical Center campus to obtain live cells quickly from Children's Wisconsin patients to conduct experiments to improve the lives of children with leukemia." The new bank will uniquely store live, pediatric leukemia samples which are critical to pediatric researchers at Children's Wisconsin, and will provide a unique opportunity for Medical College of Wisconsin faculty members focused on adult diseases and investigators at Versiti's Blood Research Institute to expand their research programs into pediatric cancers. The grant from Northwestern Mutual will cover a significant portion of the estimated cost for the first five years of the bank's operations. "We know that research is the engine that drives progress and will create pathways for a cure," said Eric Christophersen, president, Northwestern Mutual Foundation. "This grant will provide vital resources and make a significant impact on the understanding and treatment of pediatric cancer, changing the lives of patients and families for years to come in the effort to cure childhood cancer." Since 2012, Northwestern Mutual's Childhood Cancer Program has focused on advancing childhood cancer research, providing family and patient support and serving as a resource to families managing the long-term effects of cancer treatment. With the support of Northwestern Mutual employees and financial advisors nationwide, the company has contributed more than $35 million and funded over 455,000 hours of research through the program. Locating viable pediatric leukemia samples is a challenge to researchers nationwide because of how samples are typically prepared and/or stored. Though large, national leukemia banks exist, samples are typically frozen in a way which prevents the recovery of live cells, precluding their utility in a range of lab assays such as testing small molecules. Additionally, it can take up to a year to obtain samples from such banks, inhibiting timely study and experimentation. About Versiti Versiti, a national leader in blood health innovation, was formed with the mission to improve the health of patients and enable the success of our health care partners nationally. We provide innovative, value-added solutions in the fields of transfusion medicine, transplantation, and blood-related diseases to meet the needs of each of our customers. The collective efforts across Versiti result in improved patient outcomes, expanded access to care and cost efficiencies for health care systems nationwide. For more information, visit versiti.org. 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 over $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 has 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)(life and disability insurance, annuities, and life insurance with long-term care benefits) and its subsidiaries in Milwaukee, WI. Subsidiaries include Northwestern Mutual Investment Services, LLC (investment brokerage services), broker-dealer, registered investment adviser, member FINRA and SIPC; the Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Company (investment advisory and trust services), a federal savings bank; and Northwestern Long Term Care Insurance Company (long-term care insurance). 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. SOURCE Northwestern Mutual remaining of Thank you for reading! On your next view you will be asked to log in to your subscriber account or create an account and subscribepurchase a subscription to continue reading. A high-ranking Afghan politician has found himself at the center of a scandal in Tajikistan involving $15 million in cash and some 90 kilos of gold bars seized from smugglers at the Dushanbe airport in November. Mohammad Mirza Katawazai, the deputy chairman of the Afghan parliament, angrily rejects the claim by Afghan media that he is linked to the cash and gold. The shock allegation was first made by Afghanistans 1TV channel, which said the powerful politician had been "behind the smuggling attempt" involving "dozens of kilograms of gold and millions of dollars" in cash that were discovered and seized by Tajik customs officials. The channel dropped the bombshell claim on its primetime news program on February 27, the day Katawazai, 39, arrived in Dushanbe for an official visit. He was part of a parliamentary delegation led by Mir Rahman Rahmani, speaker of the Wolosi Jirga, the lower house of parliament. Upon his arrival in Dushanbe, Katawazai faced questions by journalists asking him about the alleged links to smugglers and the confiscated loot. These [allegations] are all nonsense. Im a politician, not a businessman, he said on February 28. Meanwhile in Kabul, the Afghan Interior Ministry told the 1TV channel that it has begun gathering information to launch a probe into the claims against Katawazai. 1TV said it obtained its information linking Katawazai to the smuggled money from multiple sources but didnt disclose their identities. The broadcaster also didn't produce any evidence to back its claims. 'Several Others Involved' The broadcaster also alleged that several other people -- including police, local government officials, and customs services workers -- have been involved in the smuggling. Katawazai wants to put a lid on the matter, the TV channel said, alleging that his trip to Dushanbe was partially aimed at resolving the fate of the money and gold found by Tajik officials. The politician had been desperately trying to prevent the news of his involvement in the scandal from becoming public, 1TV added. According to the TV station, Katawazais one-on-one meeting with Saadi Sharifi, the Tajik ambassador in Kabul, on December 15, was part of the deputy speaker's efforts to resolve the issue. The Tajik Foreign Ministry said on its website that the meeting took place "at the request of the Afghan side." It cited Katawazai as praising Tajikistans "favorable investment conditions for Afghan entrepreneurs." The 1TV report also claimed that the members of the Afghan parliamentary delegation that went to Tajikistan "are aware" of the matter, which according to the channel could be raised in meetings during the trip. But Rahmani, the head of the delegation, told reporters in Dushanbe that talks and meetings in Tashkent will focus on bilateral cooperation, the fight against terrorism, and intra-Afghan peace talks. According to 1TV, the fate of the smuggled precious metal and money was even discussed during at a February 14 meeting between Saimumin Yatimov, the Tajik state security chief, and Abdullah Abdullah, the head of the Afghan High Council for National Reconciliation. Authorities said Afghan peace efforts, security cooperation, and the situation along the Afghan-Tajik border was the main topic of the meeting in Kabul. Dushanbe Keeps Mum When news of the unprecedented confiscation of cash and gold first broke in Tajikistan in November, suspicion fell upon Tajik politicians and businessmen. Local media reported that family members of a former manager of the Shugnov gold mine in southern Tajikistan were involved in the smuggling. There was no comment from Tajik officials. Authorities in Dushanbe broke their silence on February 18 when they announced the gold and money had been illegally transported from Afghanistan by a group of smugglers. The State Customs Service said the group attempted to send the cash and gold bars to the United Arab Emirates on a flight from the Dushanbe airport. But the goods were discovered and seized before they were loaded onto the plane. Officials said three customs service employees at a Tajik-Afghan border crossing were detained and charged with "negligence" for failing to properly inspect the goods coming into Tajikistan. The Customs Services said seven people have been detained in connection with the case. No names or further details were made public by authorities. Tajikistan has long been used a transit route for drug traffickers who smuggle Afghan opium and heroin to Russia which then goes to Europe. Tajik state media often show photos and video of drugs that it says were confiscated from Afghan smugglers or their Tajik accomplices. But it was the first time Tajik authorities reported the seizure of such large amounts of gold and foreign currency being trafficked from Afghanistan via Tajik territory. In its report, 1TV aired a previous speech by Katawazai talking about the "widespread corruption in the government and parliament" of Afghanistan. Written by Farangis Najibullah based on reporting by RFE/RLs Tajik Service. Days after senior Congress party leaders led by Ghulam Nabi Azad picked up their demand for elections in the Congress and an overhaul of the party, the Congress General Secretary for Jammu and Kashmir Mohammad Shahnawaz Choudhary on Tuesday staged a protest against the dissenting 'G23' Congress leaders, along with many party cadre in Jammu and Kashmir. This follows Azad and the others praising the Prime Minister and airing the party's dirty laundry in public during a visit to Jammu and Anand Sharma openly opposing the party's alliance with the ISF in Bengal, holding that it was not representative of Nehruvian Secularism. G-23 leaders want to weaken Congress Speaking to Republic at the protest amid Azad's effigy being burnt, Choudhary alleged that "He (Azad) appreciated Prime Minister Narendra Modi in our state of J&K where the people were deprived of their rights. Mr. Azad has betrayed Congress and we strongly demand that strict action must be initiated against Mr Azad. The G23 leaders want to weaken the Congress party." READ | Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury Defends ISF Alliance Ahead Of Polls As Party Disgruntled With Move The gathering that was addressed in Jammu by Azad and Kapil Sibal with other senior G23 leaders was organised by the 'Gandhi Global Family' whose chairman is Ghulam Nabi Azad. Apart from the 'G23' leaders, no Congress party leader was allegedly invited. Azad met the party workers from different districts in the Valley where he stated "People must learn from Narendra Modi, who despite becoming the Prime Minister, hasn't forgotten his roots. He proudly calls himself a 'chai-wala'. Though I have serious political differences with Narendra Modi, the PM is a very grounded being." Congress workers raise slogans against Ghulam Nabi Azad and burn his effigy in Jammu. They say, "Congress held him in high esteem but today when it's time to support it, he forged friendship with BJP. He didn't come for DDC election campaigning but now he's here, praising PM." pic.twitter.com/cqn3XhxfeP ANI (@ANI) March 2, 2021 READ | J&K G-23 Event Strikes Fear; Netas Rush To Delhi After Ghulam Nabi Azad Compliments PM Amid these developments where Congress leaders are having a rift among themselves, on Monday, the Chief of J&K Pradesh Congress Committee, Gulam Ahmed Mir, rushed to New Delhi to meet the Congress general secretary in-charge KC Venugopal and the state in-charge Rajni Patil. He reportedly apprised the senior leadership of the party that Congress unit workers in Jammu are upset over the statement of Azad about Modi. READ | Prashant Kishor's New Role Draws BJP's Ridicule; SAD Slams Congress' 'deceitful Tricks' They must be expelled: Top J&K Congress neta On Tuesday, the J&K Congress General Secretary Choudhary joined several state party leaders and demanded We as a party condemn the actions and statements of Mr Azad and the 'G23' leaders must be expelled from the Congress. In yet another development, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhary of Congress reacted to remarks made by Congress leader Anand Sharma over the alliance that the party formed with the ISF in West Bengal. Sharma expressed disappointment and had remarked Such alliances with parties like ISF is against the core ideology of Congress. The rising rifts between the Congress party workers are a matter of concern to the party high command who are yet to react to the developments. Meanwhile, BJPs Gaurav Bhatia referring to the protest against the statements made by Azad about the overhaul of the Congress party has said It is a private company run by the Gandhi power. Anybody who comes out of this spectrum and is vocal against what's wrong, are declared do be the dissenters. READ | Congress In Troubled Waters As G-23 Leaders Eye 2nd Event; Top Brass Evaluates Situation BRUSSELS/FRANKFURT/PARIS (dpa-AFX) - French stocks rose on Tuesday amid rising hopes for a sustainable economic recovery from Covid-19. People in France aged over 65 with existing health problems can be given the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine, France's health minister said on Monday, departing from an earlier stance that the vaccine should be for under-65s only. The upside, however, remained limited after China's top banking and insurance regulator expressed caution over the risk of bubbles bursting in foreign markets. The benchmark CAC edged up 0.2 percent to 5,803 in cautious trade after rising 1.6 percent in the previous session. Total SE shares were down 1.3 percent as oil prices fell on worries about slowing demand in China. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann. "The leading state environmental regulator recognizes the use of our technology in respecting environmental standards." Tweet this "We welcome CARB's move to certify a new method of refueling that puts the environment and customer safety first," said Frank Mycroft, CEO and Co-founder of Booster Fuels. "These procedures allow a best-in-class service to operate with modern technologies, resulting in lower emissions alongside the many safety and social benefits offered by Booster." Local regulators have struggled to apply the antiquated regulatory conventions of traditional brick and mortar gas stations to on-demand mobile service. Meanwhile, supporters highlight the environmental benefits, accessibility to persons with disabilities, and improved safety of contactless service for communities in times of contagious disease. In comparison, gas station operations have been cited for their potential disease-spread due to high-touch public surfaces. "In passing this order, California shows that there is an alternative to traditional gas stations that reduces emissions," said Joseph Okpaku, Chief Policy Officer of Booster Fuels. "The country's leading state environmental regulator recognizes the use of our technology in respecting environmental standards and bringing a diversity of consumer choice to the market at a time when society is demanding more environmental efficiency from the transportation sector. As an added benefit, the service is better for human health." The CARB Order is one of a series of regulatory actions taken around the country in recent years on the topic of mobile fueling. In 2020, the cities of Seattle and Dallas lifted barriers to the industry. Last spring, the nation's capital also permitted Booster Fuels. Demand for contactless mobile fueling has also shot up as consumers and businesses observe shelter-in-place guidelines in response to the coronavirus crisis. Considered an essential service, Booster is delivering fuel to commercial vehicles and critical workers who are helping to keep the infrastructure up and running during these unprecedented times. About Booster Fuels Booster is the leading same-day fuel delivery service focused on reinventing the way energy is delivered. The company established the category and has reimagined traditional energy supply chain logistics to bring gas stations directly to consumers and businesses with the tap of an app, preventing 1.1 pounds of CO 2 with each boost delivered. The company has raised more than $88 million in funding from firms such as Invus Opportunities, Conversion Capital, Enterprise Holdings Ventures, Madrona Venture Group, Maveron, Perot Jain LP, Total Ventures and Vulcan Capital. For more information, visit www.trybooster.com . Media Contact for Booster Fuels: Jordan Valdes [email protected] 407.620.3043 SOURCE Booster Fuels, Inc Related Links boosterfuels.com Changsha, capital city of Hunan Province in central China, has received a new tagline in recent yearsa must-go place for milk tea lovers. Tu Liyuan, a 26-year-old employee of a public relations company in Beijing, made two journeys to Changsha, about six hours one-way by express train, in 2020. The purpose of the travels was to sip local milk tea. Modern China Tea Shop, the locally developed milk tea shop in Changsha, has over 300 branches in the city but had never expanded beyond it before December 2020. Those living outside Changsha had to travel there to taste it. Established in 2015, the shop has gained increasing popularity among milk tea fans for its great taste. Milk tea lovers who spent hundreds and even thousands of yuan to go to the city solely for this special tea commented "it is totally worth the money." They recorded the trips and uploaded them onto short video platforms such as Douyin, fueling a craze. "I drank milk tea from Heytea, Nayuki, and Yidiandian in Beijing, and I would say the taste of the Changsha milk tea is superb," Tu said. The milk tea brands she mentioned have caught nationwide attention in recent years. The tea mania "The first cup of milk tea in autumn" was a popular term in 2020, coming from a real incident about a police officer saving a 12-year-old girl who intended to commit suicide in Sichuan Province in southwest China last September. The girl, feeling abandoned by the world as her parents both worked in other places and she had no friends in school, wanted to jump from the top of a 32-story building. One of the police officers who tried to convince her to give up the plan said, "How about I buy you the first cup of milk tea in this autumn?" This sentence is believed to have played a major role in calming down the girl, who finally gave up the thought of suicide at the sight of the milk tea delivered urgently to her. The story may have made the beverage even more popular. "Milk tea is my source of happiness," Tu told Beijing Review. The happiness, she concluded, comes from the combination of the sweet, smooth taste of milk and tea flavor. Compared with coffee, which is a foreign taste for Chinese, tea is more acceptable to many. "In a way, it has provided a new choice for young people in China," said Geng Zongheng, a Shanghai local who has studied the beverage market for years. "For some young people, plain water is boring, coffee is a bit formal and heavy, and bottled beverages can hardly offer surprises in flavors. They want something freshly made with diverse flavors, something they can hold and drink casually." Milk tea is not a new thing in China. Drinking milk tea has long been a habit of people living in areas such as Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region and Tibet Autonomous Region. Modern milk bubble tea originated in Taiwan Province in the 1980s, where people blend black tea with milk, and then shake the mix to produce bubbles. The booming milk tea shops are now making efforts to refine every detail to attract young consumersin flavors, shop decorations and services. Heytea, a milk tea shop originating from Guangdong Province in south China with over 100 branches all over the country, won popularity from the beginning with its "cheese cap," a layer of cheese on the tea. The "cap" tastes slightly salty and can be mixed with the tea to make it less sweet with a unique flavor. Creative design is also important. Modern China Tea Shop spent millions of yuan, equivalent to hundreds of thousands dollars, to purchase authorization from museums of ancient Chinese paintings in order to print the patterns on paper cups and other products in the shop. The endeavors are justified by market prospects. Information from CBNdata, a Shanghai-based market data analytics provider, shows that in 2020, despite the impact of the pandemic, the investment into milk tea shops hit 1.74 billion yuan ($269 million), seven times of that in 2019. Modern China Tea Shop finally branched out to Wuhan, capital of Hubei Province in central China, with its first branch outside Changsha opened on December 1, 2020. The line to buy tea in the new store is almost always long. It is reported in local media that the maximum waiting time can be eight hours. A young woman arrived at the shop at 4 a.m. in order to get the first cup of tea that day but found that there were already several others waiting, and the earliest customer had arrived at 11 p.m. the previous day. "It has blown my mind," she said in a video she uploaded on Douyin. Such mania is not uncommon for popular milk tea shops. When Heytea opened its branch in Beijing in 2017, the line was no shorter. Healthy or happy However, there are some concerns related to this drink. The two major ones are sugar and the non-dairy creamer that many producers use to create the drink's signature sweet and smooth taste. In August 2017, the Shanghai Consumers Council tested 51 cups of milk tea from 27 brands. They found that the average sugar volume in a cup was 34 grams. The World Health Organization recommends that one's daily intake of sugar should be no more than 50 grams. That means after a cup of milk tea, there is not much space left for sugar from other foods and drinks. Some people choose to make milk tea at home, but it isn't easy to create the distinctive taste of the drink. Tian Xue, a nutritionist from Shanghai, said for the taste you need to use condensed milk, which is thicker and contains more fat. But condensed milk increases the cost. To reduce cost, many shops use non-dairy creamer, which creates a similar taste but has hidden health risks for consumers. For Song Xiyan, a college student in Beijing, what bothers her more than the health issues is the body weight. "I gained over 10 kg after starting to drink milk tea," she said. "I searched online for ways to keep slim while drinking it frequently." Milk tea shops have also taken action to "slim" their teas such as offering more choices in the sweetness level. A report on the market of the milk tea industry released by a think tank named Qianzhan Industry Research Institute in July 2020 showed that the industry had been upgrading the ingredients. "In the future, milk tea shops using high quality ingredients and offering more innovative choices will win the market," the report said. 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. (Natural News) Many citizens in the United States are facing the possibility of mandatory COVID-19 vaccinations, implemented by employers, cities, states, or even through federally-related regulations. (Article by Lizzy Murica republished from LawEnforcementToday.com) Across this country, millions of people have received one or both doses of the COVID vaccine. To date, according to data presented at USAfacts.org, over 46 million people have received at least one dose, and over 21 million have received both doses of the vaccine. Daily, many happily line up at vaccine clinics for their injections, and they proudly post their vaccination on social media, to congratulatory virtual fist-bumps. Democrats are talking about making the COVID vaccine mandatory. They want a vaccination passport to be required for flying on airlines. We CAN"T let this happen! Mandating the vaccine would be a severe violation of individual rights and it is not a medical necessity. Cassandra (@CassyWearsHeels) January 31, 2021 There are many others, however, who are not so enthusiastic about receiving the vaccine. A Gallup survey conducted in October of 2020 revealed that 42% of U.S. adults said they would not get the vaccine. More recent research by the Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) COVID-19 Vaccine Monitor showed that as of December 2020, 71% of respondents agreed to receiving the vaccine, with 27% remaining vaccine hesitant, refusing to receive a vaccine even if it was offered for free and deemed safe by scientists. Among health care workers, the KFF also reported that 29% were vaccine hesitant. The reasons for refusal are multiple, and quite worthy of consideration. Some are concerned about the speed with which the various available vaccines were developed, and the obvious resulting lack of long-term data on efficacy and potentially harmful side effects. Indeed, former CDC acting director Dr. Richard Besser, who espoused his support for the vaccination, confirmed to Today that: Weve never had a vaccine approved this quickly, and that will raise a lot of concerns for many people. This [the vaccine] is being approved based on two months of safety data, which isnt a lot. Apropos of the lack of safety data, some are understandably concerned about the new use of mRNA technology. Also, according to KFF, 51% of the vaccine hesitant have concerns over the role of politics in the development process. Given the fact that the viral outbreak itself was drenched in politics, from excuses for Trump-bashing to the excuses for many intrusive edicts and regulations, this is completely understandable. Many would simply prefer to have the option to take their chances with an illness with high survival rate versus a brand new vaccine with no long term studies. Other concerns lie with specifics. As reported in the Los Angeles Times, there has been no testing regarding the question of whether the recipient of a vaccine has a reduced risk of transmitting the virus to others. This fact leads many to question the point of receiving the vaccine at all, especially since it is presented as a way to protect others. As one would expect, other legitimate objections come from review of reported adverse events related to the vaccine, as documented by the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System, or VAERS. According to a search of the VAERS database, as of February 18, 2021, out of 19,907 cases of reported adverse events related to the COVID-19 vaccine, there were 1095 deaths. In addition, 403 reports indicated permanent disability. Also reported were 4,129 emergency room visits and 2,297 hospitalizations, and there were 33 reported birth defects. Anecdotal reports in mainstream and social media of tragic deaths after receiving the vaccine, in combination with VAERS reporting, have not exactly increased confidence in the safety of the vaccine, either. According to new data released Friday, as of Feb. 12, 15,923 adverse reactions to #COVID #vaccines, including 929 deaths, have been reported to the #CDC's Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) since Dec. 14, 2020. #TheDefender https://t.co/X6KQWgi4jM Robert F. Kennedy Jr (@RobertKennedyJr) February 21, 2021 So a concerned citizen questioning the safety or efficacy of the COVID-19 vaccine can simply refuse to have it administered, right? Not so fast. As it turns out, there are four notable -and legal- paths to requiring persons to receive the vaccine, with possible significant consequences for refusal. First, the vaccine may be required as a condition of employment. According to attorney Jon Zimring of Greenberg Traurig in Chicago, the most likely industries that would be pro-vaccine include health care, travel, and retail, or other businesses whose employees are at risk or who present a risk to others. Robin Samuel, an attorney with Baker McKenzie in Los Angeles, told the Society for Human Resource Management: Employers may require vaccines before employees return to the worksite if the failure to be vaccinated constitutes a direct threat to other employees in the workplace because the virus is rampant and easily transmitted in the workplace. Legal expert and senior lecturer Joanne Rosen notes that employers have already made vaccines mandatory for certain workplaces. For instance, many health care workers are required to be vaccinated against the flu every year. There are two primary exceptions to mandated vaccines at work, according to Michelle Strowhiro, employment law partner at McDermott Will & Emery. Strowhiro states that an employee can object if they have a disability or medical condition that would be exacerbated by the vaccine, or a sincerely held religious belief that does not permit administration of the vaccine. However, an employer does not have to accommodate an employees secular or medical beliefs about vaccines. As such, more letters like the one provided to us below are likely to go out to employees who have been hesitant to receive the vaccine. This letter is from Andrew H. Banoff, President and CEO of Jewish Senior Services, a senior care organization, to an employee. Implying that the recipient has been hesitant to receive the vaccine, Banoff asserts: We have been patient with those who had concerns about getting the vaccine, but it is now time to make it a Condition of Employment. This is our future. Despite the obvious lack of long-term studies on the safety and efficacy of the COVID vaccine, employees all across the country are facing the prospect of losing their jobs if they are hesitant to receive the vaccine. But it doesnt stop there. A second way mandatory vaccines can be legally implemented is at the city level. This happened in 2019 in New York City, when, in response to a measles outbreak, the measles vaccine was made mandatory for those who lived in four particular zip codes. Residents who did not accept the MMR vaccine or could not prove immunity to measles faced a costly $1000 fine. It is quite conceivable that cities with outbreaks could easily resurrect such a requirement with the COVID vaccine. Third, mandatory vaccinations could be implemented at state level. The precedent has been set with the 1905 Supreme Court case Jacobson v. Massachusetts. In 1902, there was an outbreak of smallpox in Cambridge, MA. An ordinance was enacted that required all residents to be vaccinated against smallpox, or face a fine of $5. Jacobson objected to the mandate, and argued, among other things, that his constitutionally protected liberty interests were being infringed by this mandate. The Court decided that individual rights are not absolute, and states can interfere with rights to protect the public health, as long as its reasonable. Regarding the case, legal expert Joanne Rosen wrote that the Supreme Court: said that states have under their police powers, which is under the Constitution, the authority to enact reasonable regulations as necessary to protect public health, public safety, and the common good. Rosen continued: Vaccination mandates constitute exactly that kind of permissible state action to protect the publics health. Even though its 115 years old, this continues to be the benchmark case on the states power to mandate vaccination. So, as multiple states issue edicts regarding masking and social distancing, with their concomitant limits on numbers of gatherers and the type of gatherings people are allowed to have, it is rather chilling to realize that we could be mere steps away from state-mandated, and Supreme-Court backed, vaccinations. In fact, in New York, Assembly Bill A11179, which is presently listed as In Committee, proposes mandated administration of the COVID-19 vaccine. Another insane unconstitutional Bill mandating Covid Vaccine in New York, Bill A11179 #A11179 pic.twitter.com/KMFg41xFAa HappyKat (@HappyKat9) January 4, 2021 The bill states: If public health officials determine that residents of the state are not developing sufficient immunity from COVID-19, the department shall mandate vaccination for all individuals or groups of individuals who, as shown by clinical data, are proven to be safe to receive such vaccine. Fourth, there exists the possibility of mandating at the federal level. Fortunately, according to Dorit Reiss, a law professor at the University of California Hastings College of the Law in San Francisco, a federal mandate would [a]lmost certainly not happen, due the federal governments limited powers expressly spelled out in the Constitution. However, Reiss told Today, there are workarounds. For example, it would be within the federal governments powers to require vaccination in order to obtain a passport, which would clearly affect large numbers of people who travel internationally for work or pleasure. This is where we are. This is a time when choices are limited across the country as to whether we can see each others faces, come together to worship, meet for a simple coffee or meal, or even gather for a holiday celebration with our families. As it turns out, we are also facing the possibility that we can be legally forced to receive a vaccination that between 27 and 42 percent of us are hesitant to receive or face punishments such as a stiff fine or loss of a job. Read more at: LawEnfrocementToday.com and Immunization.news At least 18 killed in Myanmar on bloodiest day of protests against coup Protest against the military coup in Yangon (Reuters) - Myanmar police fired on protesters around the country on Sunday in the bloodiest day of weeks of demonstrations against a military coup and at least 18 people were killed, the U.N. human rights office said. Police were out in force early and opened fire in different parts of the biggest city of Yangon after stun grenades, tear gas and shots in the air failed to break up crowds. Soldiers also reinforced police. Several wounded people were hauled away by fellow protesters, leaving bloody smears on pavements, media images showed. One man died after being brought to a hospital with a bullet in the chest, said a doctor who asked not to be identified. "Police and military forces have confronted peaceful demonstrations, using lethal force and less-than-lethal force that according to credible information received by the UN Human Rights Office has left at least 18 people dead and over 30 wounded," the U.N. human rights office said. Myanmar has been in chaos since the army seized power and detained elected government leader Aung San Suu Kyi and much of her party leadership on Feb. 1, alleging fraud in a November election her party won in a landslide. The coup, which brought a halt to tentative steps towards democracy after nearly 50 years of military rule, has drawn hundreds of thousands onto the streets and the condemnation of Western countries. Among at least five killed in Yangon was internet network engineer Nyi Nyi Aung Htet Naing, who a day earlier had posted on Facebook about his concern at the growing crackdown, medics said. Teacher Tin New Yee died after police swooped to disperse a teachers' protest with stun grenades, sending the crowd fleeing, her daughter and a fellow teacher said. Police also hurled stun grenades outside a Yangon medical school, sending doctors and students in white lab coats scattering. A group called the Whitecoat Alliance of medics said more than 50 medical staff had been arrested. Story continues Three people were killed at Dawei in the south, politician Kyaw Min Htike told Reuters from the town. Two died in the second city of Mandalay, Myanmar Now media and a resident said. Resident Sai Tun told Reuters one woman was shot in the head. Police and the spokesman for the ruling military council did not respond to phone calls seeking comment. Police broke up protests in other towns, including Lashio in the northeast, Myeik in the deep south and Hpa-An in the east, residents and media said. 'OUTRAGEOUS' Junta leader General Min Aung Hlaing said last week authorities were using minimal force to deal with the protests. Nevertheless, at least 21 protesters have now died in the turmoil. The army said a policeman had been killed. The crackdown would appear to indicate determination by the military to impose its authority in the face of defiance, not just on the streets but more broadly in the civil service, municipal administration, the judiciary, the education and health sectors and the media. "We are heartbroken to see the loss of so many lives in Myanmar. People should not face violence for expressing dissent against the military coup. Targeting of civilians is abhorrent," the U.S. embassy said. The Canadian Embassy said it was appalled. Indonesia, which has taken a diplomatic lead within the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) on the crisis, expressed deep concern. Activists across Asia held rallies to support Myanmar's protesters in Myanmar with the rallying cry "Milk Tea Alliance" which first united pro-democracy activists in Thailand and Hong Kong. State-run MRTV television said more than 470 people had been arrested on Saturday. It was not clear how many were detained on Sunday. Youth activist Esther Ze Naw said people were battling the fear they had lived with under military rule. "It's obvious they're trying to instil fear in us by making us run and hide," she said. "We can't accept that." A day after the junta announced that Myanmar's U.N. envoy had been fired for opposing its rule by calling for action from the United Nations, the foreign ministry announced that diplomats at several other embassies were being recalled. It gave no reason, but some diplomats have been among civil servants to join a Civil Disobedience Movement that has paralysed a swathe of official business. While Western countries have condemned the coup and some have imposed limited sanctions, the generals have traditionally shrugged off diplomatic pressure. They have promised to hold a new election but not set a date. Suu Kyi's party and supporters said the result of the November vote must be respected. Suu Kyi, 75, who spent nearly 15 years under house arrest, faces charges of illegally importing six walkie-talkie radios and of violating a natural disaster law by breaching coronavirus protocols. The next hearing in her case is on Monday. (Reporting by Reuters Staff; Writing by Robert Birsel; Editing by William Mallard, Clarence Fernandez, Frances Kerry, Philippa Fletcher) Gandhinagar, March 2 : The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is headed to better its 2015 tally in the Gujarat local body polls. As per the results received for all the municipalities till 2 pm on Tuesday, BJP captured 1,182 seats, followed by Congress (214), Independents (73), Aam Aadmi Party (2), Bahujan Samajwadi Party (2), and others (10). In the district panchayat polls, 382 seats went to the BJP, 84 to the Congress, and one each to Independents, AAP, BSP and others. In the tehsil polls, 1,636 seats went to the BJP, 625 to the Congress, 51 to Independents, 16 to AAP, 5 to BSP and 6 to other candidates. The AAP opened its account in the Junagadh tehsil panchayat. Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani said that it looks like the BJP will form more than 60 municipal bodies. There was an average of around 64 per cent polling in the local body elections held on Sunday. Voting for 8,473 seats in the municipalities, 980 seats in district panchayats and 4,773 seats in taluka panchayats took place across 36,008 booths. Polling was held for Gujarat's 81 municipalities, 31 district panchayats and 231 taluka panchayats which were conducted in a largely peaceful manner on Sunday. As per the figures provided by the State Election Commission (SEC), there was 58.82 percent voter turnout across 81 municipalities, 65.80 per cent in 31 district panchayats, and 66.60 per cent in 231 taluka panchayats. BELGRADE -- Serbia's hard-fought head start using an early embrace of non-Western vaccines at the risk of jilting its EU neighbors could be disintegrating at a crucial phase of the coronavirus pandemic. Demand for any of four vaccines Serbia offers is lagging behind supplies in one of the former Yugoslavia's most closely followed countries, despite the arrival of at least 2 million doses and an open door to vaccination for anyone who wants it. Two of the shots -- Pfizer/BioNTech and AstraZeneca -- have been approved by European regulators, while the other two -- China's Sinopharm and Russia's Sputnik-V -- have not. The online application drive appears to be getting tripped up by a stubborn combination of anti-vax sentiment and conspiracy mongering, general mistrust of authorities, and the government's proud embrace of its front-runner status in the global race to achieve herd immunity. "It's a handful of information that's constantly changing, exchanging, refuting each other: these affect [fertility], these don't, these have been tested," says Emil, a 29-year-old from Nis, Serbia's third-largest city. He attributes his reluctance to apply for a shot to "mistrust." "Somehow it's not just trust, but also uncertainty about whether those people themselves know what they're talking about," Emil says. Another resident of this ancient gateway city between East and West, 28-year-old Nevena, says she's afraid of how a vaccine might affect her fetus. "It takes at least a year for the vaccine to be tested for use in order to be safe," she says, highlighting a concern around the world since the speed of the COVID-19 vaccines shattered previous records for development. "Many scientists say that all that has not been examined yet." While acknowledging that there were no major clinical trials of vaccines on pregnant women, health experts and researchers say there were no ill effects from the vaccines on pregnant lab animals and that they are closely monitoring pregnant patients during the rollout. They also stress that pregnant women are at a higher risk than most people of having severe COVID-19 symptoms. Both the World Health Organization (WHO) and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, for instance, advise pregnant women to get vaccinated. No, Thank You Sign-ups were opened to all of Serbia's nearly 7 million residents on January 11, mostly through an e-government portal. By February 27, more than 21 doses had been administered per 100 citizens, according to government figures (two doses are advised for each of the vaccines approved so far in Serbia). That placed Serbia's vaccine rollout fifth in the world behind only Israel, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, and the United States among states or territories with populations above 100,000. But crucially, more than six weeks into the campaign, only around 1 million people had signed up for a shot by late February. That leaves around 5.5 million Serbians seemingly in no hurry and on no timeline for vaccination. In addition to inherent risks, such lethargy could be magnified by an easing in attitudes to social distancing and other restrictive behavior that could cost lives down the line. As Serbia's vaccination rate outpaced much of Europe and the world in the latter half of February, its infection rate surged. Marija Gnjatovic, a research associate at the Institute for the Application of Nuclear Energy (INEP) in Belgrade, says people have relaxed too much and know too little about when they can be considered protected in some way. Most Serbians have so far received the Chinese-made vaccine Sinopharm, she says. "This vaccine is very high-quality and very good, with few side effects, but it produces antibodies more slowly compared to the [newer] technologies, like the Pfizer and Sputnik-V vaccines," Gnjatovic says. She adds that "We can't see the effects yet of vaccination in Serbia -- they'll only be visible in the next month to two months." Most experts think it will take at least 70-80 percent of a population to achieve herd immunity against COVID-19, when enough people's immune systems are primed through vaccination or previous infection to stifle illness and hopefully transmission. Herd immunity against measles requires about 95 percent and polio around 80 percent, according to the WHO. But a member of the Serbian government's COVID-19 crisis team, epidemiologist Branislav Tiodorovic, has suggested herd immunity could be reached at just 60 percent. He also predicted Serbia would roll into summer with only sporadic cases. But even to reach that low bar, Serbia needs 3 million more of its citizens to sign up and get vaccinated. Highly Politicized That could prove challenging, given the intense politicization of COVID-19 and the vaccine effort in Serbia. Senior Serbian officials starting with President Aleksandar Vucic dismissed the coronavirus outbreak early on in a public bid to court goodwill from China. Another member of the government's current crisis team, Branimir Nestorovic, famously stood next to Vucic and urged Serbian women to go shopping in Italy in late February 2020, just as that country was becoming Europe's COVID-19 "hub." Vucic and the government soon pivoted into a lockdown, but they reopened ahead of summer elections against a backdrop of rising cases and subsequent evidence that infection figures were being suppressed. Boosted by an opposition boycott, Vucic and his Progressive Party emerged with a strong majority in parliament in the June elections. He then parlayed his courtship of Beijing into more than 1.5 million doses of the Sinopharm vaccine beginning in mid-January, making Serbia the first European country to receive that Chinese-made vaccine. The WHO and EU medicines regulators still have not approved either Sinopharm or Russia's Sputnik V vaccine. Dario Hajric, a sociologist and political commentator, bemoans politicization as "the big problem" with the vaccine rollout, saying it was "set that way on the official side from the start." "First we had that shameful mockery of the virus, so we had a certain 'Dr. Nestorovic' promoted to media star, [then] we had juggling the real numbers of infected and dead before the elections, [and] the purchase of the vaccine was turned into a personal feat of the president," Hajric says. "All of that undermined the trust in the state, in the crisis headquarters, in the health-care system." He says the "infodemic" of misinformation that has plagued pandemic responses around the world -- it's a term first put into widespread use by the WHO -- contributes to the distrust of official information, including about the origin of the coronavirus and vaccines. A BiEPAG study from late last year indicated that more than half of respondents in the Western Balkans would not get vaccinated. "People trust obscure Facebook groups more than they trust the World Health Organization, which is a wider problem than Serbia itself," Hajric says. Pushing Back Ivana Prokic, an epidemiologist and coordinator of the local United Against COVID (UPK), says promoting vaccination is a painstaking job in a society with so many anti-vaxxers and a broader problem with misinformation that predates COVID-19. Her group, which unites thousands of doctors and other medical professionals, has already filed a complaint against the government crisis team's Nestorovic. UPK claims Nestorovic has repeatedly spread scientifically disproven information along with other specious claims, among other things. Nestorovic, who frequently posts articles challenging conventional wisdom on the pandemic including one this week describing it as the "biggest health scam of the 21st century," has invited UPK representatives to debate him on television. Meanwhile, the UPK is busy pressing for better public information about vaccination, including dispelling many of the myths that are putting the brakes on the sign-up effort. Prokic agrees with Hajric that Vucic and the government's public boasting at its early success procuring vaccines -- it was over 2 million doses at last count -- could be hampering the outreach effort. "That campaign also encourages those who are hesitant to think that it may not be necessary to get vaccinated," she says. In the absence of a significant rise in public enthusiasm to get vaccinated, she suggests that Serbia's only option might be a politically explosive battle over mandatory vaccination. "At least for the riskiest groups, or in the event of travel, which are by no means foreign concepts because they already exist with other vaccines and travel to certain countries, [mandatory shots might be necessary]," Prokic says. "A milder variant would be optional vaccination but access to state institutions, educational institutions, workplaces, and public transportation [would be prohibited]." Meanwhile, back in Nis, 65-year-old Miroslav says his son got vaccinated and signed his father up right away. "Just in the last 10 days, the number of people suffering from coronavirus has increased," he says. "For preventive reasons, I decided to get vaccinated. If it's good enough for you, it's good enough for the people close to you." Written by Andy Heil based on reporting by RFE/RL Balkan Service correspondents Nemanja Stevanovic and Ljudmila Cvetkovic Over 14.8 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been administered so far in the country, said the Union Health Ministry on Tuesday. It also informed that 2,08,791 people above 60 or those aged 45-60 with comorbidities have been given first dose of COVID vaccine from Monday 9 am till Tuesday 1 pm. Giving out details of the second phase of the nationwide COVID-19 vaccination drive for age-appropriate population groups that started yesterday, Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan said : "More than 1.48 crores doses of the COVID-19 vaccine have been administered till 1 pm today. Out of this, 2.08 lakh doses have been given to people who are 45 years to 59 years of age with comorbidities and people with above 60 years of age." Moreover, the Centre has deputed teams to Tamil Nadu and Punjab following surge in COVID-19 cases across various states in the country. "We have deputed central teams to Tamil Nadu and Punjab. We are monitoring Haryana as well," said Bhushan while addressing a press conference. Although certain states in the country have seen a surge in the number of active cases, the fact remains that the recovered cases are more than 97 per cent and active cases are still less than 2 per cent, he added. Citing the World Health Organisation (WHO) which says if 140 tests per million are being conducted per day and case positivity rate is at 5 per cent or below, it means the COVID19 pandemic is under control, the Health Secretary said: "We are very close to that mark at 5.11 per cent overall case positivity." Chairperson of Empowered Group on COVID vaccination, RS Sharma said that there were 50 lakh registrations on CoWIN online portal for COVID-19 vaccination since yesterday. Dr VK Paul, Member (Health), NITI Aayog, urged people to avoid large gatherings, parties and weddings to prevent spread of the virus. "Public compliance for COVID-19 appropriate behaviour cannot be diluted. Please avoid large gatherings, parties, weddings etc. These could be super spreading events," he said. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah among other top-notch leaders were administered the first shot of COVID-19 vaccine on Monday. The Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Monday clarified that there is no CoWIN application for registration and booking an appointment for the vaccine, and explained that the app on the play store is for administrators. On February 24, the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) deputed high-level multi-disciplinary teams to Maharashtra, Kerala, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Punjab, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and Jammu and Kashmir for supporting them in public health measures for targeted COVID response and management. The Appointments Committee of Parliament has failed to approve the appointments of ministers-designate for Food and Agriculture, Information and Fisheries Dr. Owusu Afriyie Akoto, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, and Hawa Koomson respectively. According to pro-government network Asaase Radio, the 26-member committee could not arrive at a unanimous decision for the three which means their approval must go to the plenary. The report stated that the minority side of the committee was not happy with Oppong Nkrumah, accusing him of instigating the Supreme Court judges to cite Dr. Dominic Ayine for contempt in the ongoing Election 2020 petition hearing. In the case of the Minister for Food and Agriculture-designate, Kwaku Owusu Afriyie Akoto, members of the Minority side of the Appointments Committee accused him of being arrogant when he appeared before the committee and on that basis, they will not approve of his nomination. On Koomson, the Minority side of the Appointments Committee, are of the opinion that she is not fit for the job, Asaase Radio reported. Meanwhile, 22 other ministerial nominees of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo have been unanimously approved by the Appointments Committee of Parliament. However, the Committee is seeking clarification on five others. They are Roads and Highways portfolio Kwesi Amoako-Atta, Minister-designate for Communications and Digitization, Ursula Owusu Ekuful, Health Minister-designate, Kwaku Agyeman-Manu, Attorney General-designate, Godfred Yeboah Dame and John Peter Amewu, Minister-designate for Railways Development. Source: Asaase Radio Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video The United States will stick with its plan to give millions of Americans two doses of the Pfizer and Moderna coronavirus vaccines, Dr. Anthony Fauci said Monday. The nation's top infectious diseases expert told the Washington Post that shifting to a single-dose strategy for those two vaccines could leave people less protected, allow more contagious variants to spread and make Americans already hesitant to get the shots even more wary. "We're telling people [two shots] is what you should do and then we say, 'Oops, we changed our mind'?" Fauci said. "I think that would be a messaging challenge, to say the least." Fauci said he spoke on Monday with health officials in the United Kingdom, who are delaying second doses to give more people shots more quickly. He said that although he understands the strategy, it wouldn't make sense in America. "We both agreed that both of our approaches were quite reasonable," Fauci told the Post. Some public health experts have asked U.S. policymakers to reconsider whether millions of doses intended as second shots could be distributed as first doses insteadto offer at least some protection to a greater number of people. The issue gained steam after an advisory committee to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Monday tackled the question while approving Johnson & Johnson's single-shot coronavirus vaccine. About 80 percent of adults have yet to get a single dose, according to CDC data. Fauci told the Post the science shows that a two-shot regimen creates enough protection to fend off more contagious coronavirus variants, while a single shot could leave Americans at risk from these variants. There is insufficient data showing how long the immunity provided by one shot would last. "You don't know how durable that protection is," he noted. Fauci also argued that Pfizer's and Moderna's recent commitment to deliver 220 million total doses by the end of March, in addition to Johnson & Johnson's pledge to deliver nearly 20 million shots this month, should make the issue moot. "Very quickly the gap between supply and demand is going to be diminished and then overcome in this country," he said. "The rationale for a single doseand use all your doses for the single doseis when you have a very severe gap between supply and demand." Brazilian coronavirus variant can reinfect COVID survivors Three new studies show that a third more contagious coronavirus variant, which arose in the Brazilian town of Manaus, infected some people who had immunity from previous bouts of COVID-19. "I've been holding my breath," said Bronwyn MacInnis, an epidemiologist at the Broad Institute, told The New York Times. The studies have yet to be published in scientific journals, and lab findings do not always translate to the real world, the researchers noted. "The findings apply to Manaus, but I don't know if they apply to other places," said Nuno Faria, a virologist at Imperial College London who helped lead much of the new research. Despite the unknowns that swirl around the Brazilian variant, known as P.1, experts say it should be taken seriously. "It's right to be worried about P.1, and this data gives us the reason why," said William Hanage, an epidemiologist at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. P.1 is now spreading across the rest of Brazil and has been found in 24 other countries. In the United States, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has recorded 10 cases in five states: Alaska, Florida, Maryland, Minnesota and Oklahoma. Faria said it was important to double down on every measure to slow the spread of the coronavirus. "The ultimate message is that you need to step up all the vaccination efforts as soon as possible," he said. "You need to be one step ahead of the virus." FDA Approves J&J's single-dose COVID vaccine The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Saturday approved Johnson & Johnson's single-shot coronavirus vaccine for emergency use after its advisory panel unanimously backed the vaccine a day earlier. Adding a third vaccine to the country's arsenal will help boost the nation's limited supply of the two authorized shots, from Pfizer and Moderna. Nearly 4 million doses of the newest COVID-19 vaccine were shipped Sunday night, and will begin to be delivered to states for injections starting on Tuesday, the Associated Press reported. The White House said the entire stockpile of the newly approved single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine will go out immediately. J&J will deliver about 16 million more doses by the end of March and 100 million total by the end of June. Advisory panel members said the J&J approval made sense. "It's a relatively easy call; it clearly gets way over the bar, and it's nice to have a single-dose vaccine," said Eric Rubin, an infectious diseases specialist at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and a member of the FDA advisory panel. Infectious disease experts also welcomed the approval. "The addition of a third COVID-19 vaccine substantially reduces the time it takes the U.S. to reach herd immunitywhen a high enough proportion of the population is immunized and we can disrupt the spread of this disease," said Dr. Lisa Lee, a public health expert who specializes in infectious diseases. "Getting 75-85% of the population vaccinated will be easier with this additional vaccine option, especially because it, unlike the first two, does not require a complex frozen or ultra-frozen transport and storage system, and requires only one shot, instead of the two required by the others," said Lee, who is associate vice president for research and innovation at Virginia Tech. FDA briefing documents showed the J&J vaccine had an overall efficacy rate of 72 percent in the United States and 64 percent in South Africa, where a concerning variant emerged in the fall and has since spread to the United States, the Times reported. The vaccine was particularly effective at preventing severe illness or death: It showed 86 percent efficacy against severe forms of COVID-19 in the United States, and 82 percent against severe disease in South Africa. None of the nearly 22,000 vaccinated people in the trial died of COVID-19. A global scourge By Tuesday, the U.S. coronavirus case count passed 28.6 million while the death toll neared 514,000, according to a Times tally. On Tuesday, the top five states for coronavirus infections were: California with nearly 3.6 million cases; Texas with more than 2.6 million cases; Florida with over 1.9 million cases; New York with over 1.6 million cases; and Illinois with nearly 1.2 million cases. Curbing the spread of the coronavirus in the rest of the world remains challenging. In India, the coronavirus case count was more than 11.1 million by Tuesday, a Johns Hopkins University tally showed. Brazil had nearly 10.6 million cases and nearly 256,000 deaths as of Tuesday, the Hopkins tally showed. Worldwide, the number of reported infections neared 114.5 million on Tuesday, with over 2.5 million deaths recorded, according to the Hopkins tally. Explore further Follow the latest news on the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak More information: The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has more on the The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has more on the new coronavirus. Copyright 2020 HealthDay. All rights reserved. Athens, GA (30605) Today A mix of clouds and sun during the morning will give way to cloudy skies this afternoon. High 84F. Winds light and variable.. Tonight Partly cloudy this evening with more clouds for overnight. Low 61F. Winds light and variable. It marks a new investment by the grocer in Belfast despite its decision last year to put its landmark Metro store on Royal Avenue on the market Grocery giant Tesco is opening a new store in Belfast city centre on the site of a former Poundworld that has been vacant for almost three years, Business Telegraph can reveal. The 4,500 sq ft shop at 11-13 Donegall Place has been empty since the administration of Poundworld in July 2018. Now Tesco has confirmed that it will be operating one of its smaller-format Express stores on the site. It marks a new investment by the grocer in Belfast despite its decision last year to put its landmark Metro store on Royal Avenue on the market. It's available for 4.25m through agents CBRE. The former Poundworld had been up for rent through commercial property agents McKibbin and Osborne King. McKibbin partner Ryan McKenna said the letting to Tesco was "a good news story for Donegall Place and the surrounding occupiers". And while vacating its Metro store, Tesco will keep its Tesco Express at the other end of Royal Avenue. "It's evidence that the city centre is becoming more of a convenience market for Tesco," he added. The company, which has around 50 stores here, said: "We're excited for a new city centre Tesco Express store in Donegall Place and we look forward to serving the local community." Mr McKenna said some rationalisation was taking place elsewhere in the city centre, particularly where retailers were facing lease renewals giving them an opportunity to vacate or relocate if they wished. Aodhan Connolly, director of the NI Retail Consortium, welcomed the new opening. I think we have to take it as a good sign that major retailers are still willing to invest in Belfast and in Northern Ireland. I think it shows that they see a certain amount of light at the end of the tunnel when it comes to lockdowns and getting back to normal. This is a major show of confidence. But he said the retail sector would need further support from the Executive in its Budget, adding: We also need a retail strategy for Northern Ireland to reflect the very different flavour of retail around NI. By Eimi Yamamitsu and Nate Raymond TOKYO (Reuters) - An American father and son accused of helping former Nissan Motor Co Ltd Chairman Carlos Ghosn flee Japan arrived in Tokyo on Tuesday to face questioning from prosecutors and the prospect of charges that could carry a three-year prison term. The plane carrying U.S. Army Special Forces veteran Michael Taylor and his son Peter, who were extradited by U.S. authorities on Monday, landed at Tokyo's Narita airport, and the two men were escorted on to waiting police buses, according to a Reuters witness. The Taylors will not be indicted immediately, but will likely face charges after an investigation is concluded. The two were arrested on Tuesday on suspicion of helping Ghosn flee Japan on a private jet hidden in luggage, in contravention of his bail conditions, the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office said in a statement. Under Japanese law, suspects can be held for up to 20 days before being indicted or released, and are not allowed to have their lawyers present during questioning by prosecutors. Once charged, defendants are often refused bail by courts. "We'll conduct our investigation first so it is too early yet to say when any trial would start," Tokyo Deputy Chief Prosecutor Hiroshi Yamamoto said at a press conference Tuesday. The two men will be detained at the Tokyo Detention House, the city's main jail where Ghosn was held after his arrest, he added. The Taylors are alleged to have helped Ghosn flee Japan on Dec. 29, 2019, hidden in a box and on a private jet before reaching his childhood home, Lebanon, which has no extradition treaty with Japan. Their lawyers waged a months-long battle to avoid them being sent to Japan to face charges they helped Ghosn escape, arguing they could not be prosecuted for helping someone "bail jump". They also claimed that, if extradited, they faced the prospect of relentless interrogations and torture. The U.S. State Department in a November court filing rejected the torture claim as unlikely, and the U.S. Supreme Court last month cleared the way for their extradition. Japanese authorities did not comment on the allegation. Story continues The campaign by the Taylors, who have been in U.S. custody since their arrest in May, to press their case against extradition was waged in the courts, the media, State Department and White House. "This is a sad day for the family, and for all who believe that veterans deserve better treatment from their own country," their lawyer Paul Kelly said in a statement on Monday. The U.S. Justice Department and the U.S. State Department declined to comment. At the time of his escape, Ghosn was awaiting trial on charges that he had engaged in financial wrongdoing, including by understating his compensation in Nissan's financial statements and enriching himself at his employer's expense through payments to car dealerships. Ghosn denies wrongdoing. Prosecutors said the elder Taylor, a 60-year-old private security specialist, and Peter Taylor, 27, received $1.3 million for their services. (Reporting by Eimi Yamamitsu, Tim Kelly and Kim Kyung Hoon in Tokyo, Nate Raymond in Boston, and David Shepardson in Washington; Editing by Grant McCool, Kenneth Maxwell, Shri Navaratnam and Jan Harvey) BRIDGEPORT City police are investigating a reported shooting in the area of the P.T. Barnum apartments Tuesday morning. Officers responded to the P.T. Barnum apartments around 9:25 a.m. on a preliminary report of an individual with a gunshot wound, according to police. Police said it wasnt immediately clear if the person was taken to the hospital by private vehicle. This is a developing story. Check back for updates. A Thai officer fires his weapon as police face off with pro-democracy protesters marching toward the residence of Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-O-Cha in Bangkok, Feb. 28, 2021. Updated at 7:45 p.m. ET on 03-01-2021 A riot policeman died of heart failure after collapsing during clashes with protesters near the prime ministers residence late Sunday, becoming the first fatality linked to pro-democracy demonstrations since July, police and medical sources said on Monday. Police Capt. Wiwat Sertsanit, 47, collapsed and was taken to Rajavithi Hospital but he died from heart failure, the national police bureau confirmed Monday. The prime minister is so sorry to hear about the incident. He urged the Royal Thai Police and commanders at all levels to take care of government officers welfare in accordance with official regulations, and sends his condolences to the family of the deceased, Anucha Burapachaisri, a spokesman for Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-cha, said in a statement. On Sunday, the protesters found their path to Prayuths home obstructed by a wall of containers, razor wire and other barriers. A scuffle broke out, leading officers to use water cannons, fire rubber bullets and use batons against protesters who were seen throwing rocks, bottles and metal rods against the police. The police captain's death was the first since the protests began, according to the records of the police and the Erawan Emergency Medical Center, which coordinates medevac services during crises. In addition, 27 police were hospitalized, at least 10 protesters were injured and 22 people were arrested, police and medical sources said. National Police Chief Suwat Changyodsuk also confirmed the death and announced he visited the officers hospitalized during Sunday evenings violence. The Erawan center on Monday added that at least 10 protesters were hospitalized but did not give details. Prayuth and police blamed the protesters for the violence, but some protesters said officers tried to disperse their peaceful rally, which is what led to the bloody clashes. At first the protesters seemed to be peaceful, but they later used violence. They kept creeping into the polices controlled areas, prohibited areas, and did harm to the police so the officers responded according to international standard operating procedures, Prayuth told reporters at the Government House on Monday. Lt. Gen. Pakpong Pongpetra, chief of the Metropolitan Police Bureau, said at a news conference that 22 people were arrested and preliminarily charged with violating the emergency decree which bans gatherings, insurrection, physical assault of officers and other lesser offenses. Of the 22, four juveniles were released on bail, according to a press statement from juvenile court. Thousands protest About 2,000 pro-democracy demonstrators, mainly from the group Restart Democracy, or REDEM, began to march Sunday morning from the Victory Monument toward Prayuths residence. REDEM was formed out of earlier groups such as the Peoples Movement, which grew out of a series of protests against Prayuths administration that began in July 2020. Among REDEMs objectives are curbing the power of the monarchy and keeping the military out of politics. On the way to the PMs residence, protesters found their path obstructed by a wall of containers, razor wire and other barriers. A scuffle broke out, leading officers to use water cannons, fire rubber bullets and use batons against protesters who were seen throwing rocks, bottle and metal rods against the police, the authorities said. Lt. Gen. Pakpong Pongpetra, chief of the Metropolitan Police Bureau, said the police had no choice but to respond with non-lethal weapons. Some of them [the protestors] were peaceful, the media was cooperative with the police, but some protesters provoked and incited violence, Pakpong told a news conference on Monday. We used equipment that are non-lethal and we were allowed to use them proportionally, according to the situation. We singled out troublemakers from the protesters. Piyarat Chongthep, a leader of the Peoples Movement faction of the protesters, said the rally was peaceful. It was clear that if the police had not attempted to disperse the rally, violence wouldnt have erupted, Piyarat told BenarNews over the phone on Monday. Yesterday, I was at the Army Club and the protesters were peaceful, but the police moved toward them to hurt them. Then they were the antagonists to the protesters. Posted Monday, March 1, 2021 12:50 pm In 1998, a group of community volunteers banded together to restore part of the historic Chelatchie Prairie Railroad and turn a portion of the track into a functioning scenic railroad. Since getting the track to operating standards in 2001, the group of volunteers has offered family-friendly train rides every year from Mothers Day to the close of season. However, in 2020, train rides were halted due in part to both the COVID-19 pandemic and a traffic accident that took out about 40 feet of track, which is still in the works to be fixed. We want to get out there and run the trains, Chelatchie Prairie Railroad President Randy Williams said. Its been really hard on us. Williams said volunteers operating the railroad are able to conduct routine maintenance on the track. However, for larger repairs such as the 40 feet of track taken out due to the accident, Chelatchie Prairie Railroad has to rely on Clark County officials for repairs. Williams said there is only about a mile of track the railroad could legally run on right now. As the county gears up to get the track repaired, Williams said Chelatchie Prairie Railroad faces a second hurdle in its prospects of reopening COVID-19. The majority of the train crew is all over 70 and some are over 80, Williams said. We have to get everybody vaccinated (before the trains operate again). I dont have enough young people to run the train. Along with ensuring the crew is safe and vaccinated, Williams said the railroad faces yet another hurdle due to the pandemic safe and efficient spacing of passengers. With the current rules in Phase 2 of Washingtons Healthy Washington reopening plan, the trains must operate at 25 percent capacity with 6 feet of physical distance between groups. Williams said the 25 percent capacity could be a problem as Chelatchie Prairie Railroad makes money when it's full, not when it isnt. However, Williams said the train could probably run at 25 percent capacity. Even if full, the train faces a final roadblock before it can get running again. According to Williams, the Chelatchie Prairie Railroad doesnt operate under local or state law, but federal law. Williams said the train crew is not sure which jurisdiction they fall under and are working to get as much information as possible in the coming months so the train could reopen by Mothers Day if the track is fixed and the crew is vaccinated. Were hopeful. We would love to open up Mothers day weekend, Williams said. If they get the track fixed we will make every effort to staff and run a train. Williams mentioned that Chelatchie Prairie Railroad is always looking for younger people and volunteers in general to help with day-to-day railroad operations. With a younger crew, the train wouldnt rely heavily on the vaccination of its operators to run. Williams explained that signing up to be a volunteer is as easy as reaching out by phone or email or even just walking up to the ticket booth (when the train is operating). All but one of the crew members working at Chelatchie Prairie Railroad never worked in the railroad industry before becoming volunteers, according to Williams. (Volunteering) does not take any expertise, he said. We will train you and you can be trained to do whatever you want. To explain the ease of the volunteering process, Williams told his own story about getting involved with the railroad. After moving to the area in 2005, he surprised his wife with a trip on the railroad. That day, the conductor offered me a ride up in the cab, he said. The next weekend, I was out there (on the tracks) training. Williams said he was more than excited to get the railroad operating in the community again, as it brings tourists to Yacolt-area destinations such as Moulton Falls Winery, Moulton Falls itself and the Cedar Grist Mill in town. Along with bringing in tourism, Williams said he appreciates the family aspect of the railroad. In the winter, Williams can be seen sporting a red coat and taking pictures with children as he plays Santa Claus for the railroad. Were very family friendly, he said. We keep our prices really low (for that reason). For Williams and the crew running the trains, the Chelatchie Prairie Railroad is more than a volunteering opportunity. Its both living history and something they personally enjoy. Historically, the tracks were used for lumber trains and other commercial services before they were decommissioned. Recently, talks of developing the largest piece of undeveloped commercial property in Clark County have brought up the idea of making the tracks commercially viable again. However, for now, the volunteer group and their train rides are the only use the historic tracks see. The volunteer organization also has a piece of history in its lineup. The railroad operates a 1929 ALCO 2-8-2T steam engine on some of its rides. According to Williams, the engine was originally made for logging transportation and the T in its model number means the engine is without a tender, meaning the locomotive carries fuel and water on board the engine itself, instead of in a separate car. According to Williams, federal law mandates an inspection of steam engines every 15 years. During the inspection, the engine must be completely taken apart, inspected and reassembled again. Currently, the goal is to get the steam engine on the tracks for the 2022 season, so any trips in 2021 will be run on the organization's diesel engine. If anyone wants to be a part of the rebuilding process, go ahead and volunteer, Williams said, mentioning that the only requirement to volunteer is being over 18 or coming with a parent. For more information about the railroad and volunteer opportunities, visit tickets.bycx.org/ or email Williams at bycxpresident@gmail.com. Kim Kardashian looked stunning in two new photos shared to her Instagram account on Tuesday. The reality TV sensation was photographed by music supervisor turned artist Amanda Scheer-Demme while in a beige stone swirl. The 40-year-old SKIMS founder has been continuing to share pinup photos even though she is in the middle of divorcing her husband of seven years, rapper Kanye West. In the new photos Kim has either her eyes closed or her head down as she models a beige sleeveless dress. It is almost as if Kim is off guard because her legs are in an awkward position and she seems not ready for the shot. The mother of four is sitting in what appears to be a stone structure in an outdoor area. The caption reads, ' @amandademme Michelle Lamy.' Model time: Kim Kardashian looked stunning in two new photos shared to her Instagram account on Tuesday. The reality TV sensation was photographed by club promoter turned artist Amanda Demme while in a beige stone swirl; seen in February Sisters Khloe and Kendall both liked the post. The day before Kim looked sizzling hot in black lingerie for Dolce & Gabbana; January Jones also modeled for the brand. And over the weekend her home has allegedly been the target of a trespasser. The 4 star has reportedly fallen victim to a trespasser who attempted to pay her a visit at her home when he broke into the Hidden Hills community where she lives, and tried to get into her front gate. She models her own SKIMS line too: In February for SKIMS hose while topless Law enforcement told TMZ the 24-year-old man burst into the gated neighborhood on Wednesday evening when security managed to stop him from finding the star's home. He also claimed Kim was his wife before the Sheriff cited the man for trespassing, although he was later released. Kim's home was previously broken into in 2017 when burglars targeted her Bel Air mansion that she shared with Kanye. The burglars fled the scene with three of the pair's luxury cars and one iPhone before targeting their neighbor, Kathy Griffin's home. Call her the new Cindy Crawford: Kim also modeled for Dolce & Gabbana this week The couple has since separated with Kim recently filing for divorce after seven years of marriage. They have not yet released a statement on their relationship status. Kim and Kanye have listed 'irreconcilable differences' as the reason behind their split. Court documents also show the beauty mogul wants joint legal and physical custody of her and Kanye's four children - North, seven, Saint, five, Chicago, three, and Psalm, 21 months as well as having spousal support terminated. The couple will also refer to a prenuptial agreement signed before they tied the knot in 2014 when it comes to dividing their property and assets. A source said: 'Kim thinks it's important that the kids have a relationship with their dad and that he is a big part of their lives. For now, the kids have primarily been with Kim and living at the house. Any time Kanye wants to see them, he can. She is not stopping him. Kim is not sure what the future will be like, but she has made it clear to Kanye that he is welcome to spend time with them whenever he wants.' They're over: Kim and Kanye have listed 'irreconcilable differences' as the reason behind their split. Court documents also show the beauty mogul wants joint legal and physical custody of her and Kanye's four children - North, seven, Saint, five, Chicago, three, and Psalm, 21 months as well as having spousal support terminated And Kim and Kanye are trying to be 'normal' for the sake of their kids. The insider told E! News: 'Things are as normal as they can be for the kids. Both parents are spending time with the kids and doing their best to make sure they're not being affected by this change.' Meanwhile, Kim is reportedly 'sad but relieved' after filing for divorce from Kanye. The source shared: 'Kim is definitely sad but she feels confident in her decision to divorce him, because she knows it's what's best for herself and her family. She's already felt like she's been divorced for months now. It's been a long time coming and she feels relieved to be able to finally move on.' Kim and Kanye have been living separately for months. Another insider added: 'Kim is doing OK. She's mostly worried about her privacy and kids. She's a mama bear and protective of her kids. Kim was just tired of waiting. She tried to give it a chance. She wanted to do this last year. She gave it plenty of time but it's just time to move on. There were no affairs. No one did anything bad. They grew apart. North has some understanding of what's going on. But mostly the kids have always seen them apart so it isn't super surprising.' Moscow, March 2 (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 2nd Mar, 2021 ) :The Kremlin said Tuesday that Western sanctions against Russia are ineffective, following reports the European Union and the United States are preparing new penalties against Moscow over Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny. "Those who continue to depend on these measures should probably give it some thought: are they achieving some goal by continuing such a policy?" spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. "The answer will be obvious: such a policy does not achieve its goals." Spokesperson for the Iranian government Ali Rabiee has said the time is not ripe for the United States to join meetings over the Iran nuclear deal, also known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). At a virtual briefing in Tehran March 2, Rabiee referred to recent diplomatic gestures and proposals from the European signatories to the JCPOA as well as Washingtons declared willingness to join the table. Washingtons claims about its belief in diplomacy are but hypocritical and unacceptable rhetoric unless it removes sanctions against Iran, Rabiee declared. He described the current status of the nuclear deal as a deadlock caused by the United States. The least Washington could do is a gesture of goodwill to comply with its obligations under Resolution 2231. The resolution was an attachment to the JCPOA, from which former US President Donald Trump pulled out in 2018. The [Joe] Biden administration cannot act like that of Trump and expect better outcomes, Rabiee added. In another development, the conservative newspaper Vatan Emrooz reported that President Hassan Rouhani has ordered a halt on Irans production of uranium metal as part of an agreement struck last month between Tehran and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). Under the JCPOA, Iran has been banned from producing uranium metal. But the process resumed after Irans conservative parliament passed a controversial law in December requiring the government to reduce its compliance with the accord if the United States failed to remove sanctions by Feb. 23. Yet the Rouhani government continued to adhere to some of Iran's obligations after clinching the temporary agreement with the IAEA. In his briefing, Rabiee also touched on efforts by some IAEA members to pass a resolution against the Islamic Republic at the agencys board of governors. If such a resolution is passed, he warned, It will be met with an appropriate response, including reconsideration of obligations Iran has taken up under the recent deal. Vatan Emrooz went further, advising the Rouhani government to start working on raising uranium enrichment to 60% if the nuclear watchdog issues such a resolution. The editorial referenced a speech last week by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who threatened that Iran reserves the option of pursuing enrichment at that level. Chandigarh, March 2 : The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) on Tuesday requested the Vidhan Sabha Speaker to allocate two days for an exclusive discussion on issues concerning the farmers during the ongoing budget session. It also demanded that the Congress government announce a minimum support price (MSP) for vegetables and fruits. The SAD legislative wing, which handed over a representation in this regard to Speaker Rana K.P. Singh under the leadership of Sharanjit Singh Dhillon, said the two-day discussion, besides covering the issues of the farm loan waiver promise, farmer suicides and the Congress government's failure to take up the issue of repeal of the three agricultural laws with the Centre, should also spell out the way forward. The representation said one such way ahead was announcing MSP for all vegetables and fruits immediately. It said this measure would provide much needed security to vegetable and potato growers as well as kinnow growers, among others. The SAD legislators, while informing the Speaker that the state was in the midst of an agrarian crisis, said "the major reason for this is the complete loan waiver promise made by then Pradesh Congress President Amarinder Singh in January 2017." They said Amarinder Singh had clearly promised that in case the Congress party forms the government in Punjab it would waive off all farmer loans be it from government or private banks, cooperative societies or arhatiyas or commission agents. The legislators said the Congress government's failure to implement the loan waiver scheme had resulted in 1,500 farmer suicides and indebtedness had increased because the people believed the Chief Minister and did not pay their loan instalments. They said the Congress party had also promised Rs 10 lakh compensation and a government job to the families of all the farmers who committed suicide due to indebtedness but even this promise was not kept. The SAD legislators said similarly farmers were very perturbed at the failure of the Punjab government to come to the aid of those protesting against the farm laws. They said the Punjab government participated in meetings in which the three agricultural Ordinances, which later took the shape of laws, were finalized. The lawmakers added that the Punjab government had also amended the Agricultural Produce Marketing Act (APMC) in 2017, months after it formed the government in the state. "The amended APMC has the same provisions as contained in the three central Acts and that is why farmers are demanding it be scrapped." They said the Punjab farmers were also angry that their government had not defended them against persecution by Delhi Police and that the Chief Minister had failed to take up the issues of farmers with the Centre. The SAD legislators also pointed out that other agricultural issues which needed a resolution included timely release of hundreds of crores owed to sugarcane farmers and ensuring an increase of the state Assured Price on the pattern of Haryana and Uttar Pradesh. The members, while requesting the Speaker to allow this discussion on priority, said not doing so would be tantamount to betraying the 'annadaata'. "We are confident that you will not disappoint the peasantry and will go down in the annals of history as the custodian of the House who put the 'annadaata' first", they told the Speaker. Chinese President Xi Jinping announced on Feb. 25 that the country has achieved a "complete victory" in its fight against poverty, with the final 98.99 million impoverished rural residents living under the current poverty line all lifted out of poverty, and all its 832 poverty-stricken counties and 128,000 poor villages removed from the poverty list. China has eradicated regional poverty and accomplished the arduous task of eliminating absolute poverty, creating another "miracle" that will "go down in history," Xi said at a gathering held in Beijing to mark the country's accomplishments in poverty alleviation and honor its model poverty fighters. The remarkable achievements of China in reducing poverty marked a new chapter in the history of mankind's fight against poverty and opened up new horizon for the development of human society. China's poverty alleviation campaign is an important force driving the global poverty reduction process, and the Chinese history is indeed a history of how the Chinese nation has fought against poverty. Under current standards, China has freed 770 million impoverished rural residents from poverty since it started implementing the reform and opening-up policy in 1978. According to the World Bank's international poverty line, the county is responsible for over 70 percent of the global reduction in poverty since late 1970s. When poverty alleviation remains a daunting challenge across the world and the gap between the rich and the poor continues to widen in some countries, China has met the poverty eradication target set in the United Nations' 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development 10 years ahead of schedule, winning widespread praise from the international community. It is globally recognized that China's performance over the last four decades in raising hundreds of millions people out of poverty is "an unparalleled success", said Guy Ryder, Director-General of the International Labour Organization. China's experience in reducing poverty has served as a useful reference for the efforts of various countries to realize their poverty reduction goals. Based on its national conditions and following the law of poverty reduction, China adopted a series of unconventional policies and measures and established a whole set of policy, work and institutional systems, blazing a poverty reduction path and forming anti-poverty theories with Chinese characteristics. The poverty reduction process in China has fully demonstrated the original aspiration and mission of the Communist Party of China (CPC) to put people first and always work for the well-being of the Chinese people, the Party's successful practices in blazing a poverty reduction path with Chinese characteristics based on the country's national conditions, as well as the sense of responsibility of the Party to contribute more to humanity and build a better world. China's successful experience in fighting poverty is valuable, and its practices should be brought to Laos, said Bounnhang Vorachith, General Secretary of the Lao People's Revolutionary Party (LPRP) Central Committee and President of Laos, after seeing with his own eyes how China was reducing poverty during his field visits to once-impoverished villages in central China's Hunan province and east China's Fujian province. While fighting poverty at home, China has injected confidence and strength into the poverty alleviation cause of the entire humanity. The country has been an important promoter of global poverty reduction undertakings. It has actively carried out global cooperation on poverty reduction to perform international responsibilities for poverty alleviation and try its best to help other developing countries fight poverty. China has helped reduce poverty and improve people's livelihood in other developing countries by aiding them in constructing rural public welfare facilities, sharing experiences of agriculture management, and promoting technology transfer. It has offered help to more than 120 developing countries in the implementation of the United Nations (UN) Millennium Development Goals. According to a research report of the World Bank, the China-proposed Belt and Belt Initiative could help lift 7.6 million people in participating countries out of extreme poverty and 32 million people in relevant countries out of moderate poverty if the initiative should be implemented fully. China has pursued win-win cooperation and common development in developing bilateral ties with other developing countries including those in Africa, which is the country's another contribution to the global cause of poverty reduction, noted UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. No country in the world has been able to lift hundreds of millions of people out of poverty in such a short time, Xi said while addressing the recent gathering held in Beijing. The result belongs to China as well as the world, Xi said, stressing that by achieving the result, China has contributed its strength to the building of a community with a shared future for mankind. Standing at a new starting point, China is about to embark on a new journey. It's believed that the country will continue promoting the realization of common prosperity for everyone while making unremitting efforts with the international community to jointly build a community with a shared future for mankind that features common development and is free from poverty. Four people charged with criminal damage following the toppling of a statue of slave trader Edward Colston have today entered not guilty pleas. The bronze figure was pulled down during a Black Lives Matter protest before being thrown into Bristol Harbour on June 7. Rhian Graham, 29, Milo Ponsford, 25, Jake Skuse, 36, and Sage Willoughby, 21, appeared before Bristol Crown Court. Charges allege the four defendants, without lawful excuse, jointly and with others, damaged the statue of Colston, a listed monument belonging to Bristol City Council. It is claimed that the defendants committed the offence 'intending to destroy or damage such property or being reckless as to whether such property would be destroyed or damaged'. Pictured L-R: Milo Ponsford, Rhian Graham and Jake Skuse, who today appeared at Bristol Crown Court charged with criminal damage over the toppling of the Edward Colston statue Sage Willoughby arrives at Bristol Crown Court today ahead of entering a not guilty plea All four defendants pleaded not guilty to the charge against them during the hearing at Bristol Crown Court. They were bailed and a trial is due to start on December 13. Judge Peter Blair QC, said: 'You have pleaded not guilty and therefore I am fixing a trial date of December 13 for you which you must attend without fail on that day and the subsequent days. 'We estimate that it will go into a second week. I am suggesting probably setting aside seven to eight days so you need to make sure that your diaries are so arranged. 'There will be a hearing on November 8 to take stock of the case and make sure that everyone is working successfully towards your trial date. Charges allege the four defendants, without lawful excuse, jointly and with others, damaged the statue of Colston, a listed monument belonging to Bristol City Council 'You don't have to attend but you may attend if you wish. Your counsel may attend by video link. 'You are on unconditional bail and that will continue, so you are free to leave.' The next hearing in the case will take place on November 8 at Bristol Crown Court. The statue, worth 3,750, was dumped in Bristol Harbour after being toppled during a Black Lives Matter rally on June 7, before being recovered by Bristol City Council on June 11. After Colston's statue was torn down in Bristol, protesters across the UK challenged a number of long-standing monuments which celebrated people with links to slavery or colonialism. Police launched an investigation after a statue of the controversial slave trader was pulled down and dumped in the city's harbour on April 7 during a protest against racial inequality The statue, worth 3,750, was dumped in Bristol Harbour after being toppled during a Black Lives Matter rally on June 7, before being recovered by Bristol City Council on June 11 Governors at Oriel College, Oxford voted to remove a statue of imperialist and mining magnate Cecil Rhodes from the building following the Bristol protest. A statue to Winston Churchill was also defaced, with the words 'was a racist' and 'f*** your agenda' written underneath the memorial to the wartime PM in Westminster Square, London. Ahead of the hearing, the London-based legal firm representing three of the four defendants, said it would fight the charges 'vigorously'. Raj Chada, head of criminal defence, and Laura O'Brien, associate, at Hodge Jones & Allen said: 'We are committed to defending them and their right to a fair trial in this important case. We ask that their privacy is respected.' John Waters and Gemma O'Doherty's appeal against a refusal to permit them to challenge the constitutionality of laws introduced in response to the Covid-19 pandemic has been dismissed. They had appealed the High Courts refusal to permit the two to bring their challenge and its award of costs of that hearing against them. In their judicial review proceedings against the State and the Minister for Health, with the Dail. Seanad and Ceann Comhairle as notice parties, the appellants had sought to have various legislative measures declared unconstitutional and flawed. In its decision on Tuesday the three-judge Court of Appeal, comprised of the President of the Court of Appeal Mr Justice George Birmingham, Ms Justice John Edwards and Ms Justice Caroline Costello dismissed all grounds of their appeal. Mr Justice Birmingham said that the approach taken by the High Court "was the correct one". He added that while the case was "controversial and tendentious" no serious legal issue that would justify the granting of permission had been raise. The applicants he said claimed "to know better than the government and the Oireachtas." and they dismissed internal and international advice concerning the pandemic available to the government. Their proceedings the judge said failed to raise issues of substance. They had "chosen rhetoric over substance and fiction and distortion over fact" and failed to meet the threshold of establishing an arguable case, the judge concluded. The decision was delivered electronically and none of the partiers were present in the Four Courts complex when the judgement was handed down. The appeal was opposed by the respondents and the notice parties. Last year Ms O'Doherty and Mr Waters sought to challenge legislation including the 2020 Health Preservation and Protection and Other Emergency Measures in the Public Interest Act; the 2020 Emergency Measures in the Public Interest Act Covid-19 Act and the 1947 Health Act (Affected Areas) Order. They claimed the laws, and the manner in which they were enacted, are repugnant to several articles of the Constitution including concerning the rights to travel, bodily integrity and the family, and amounted to an unprecedented suspension of constitutional rights. Last May Mr Justice Charles Meenan refused to grant them leave and said their claims were not arguable. They had not provided any expert evidence or facts to support their view the laws were disproportionate or unconstitutional. The manner in which the Houses of the Oireachtas dealt with the laws, introduced by a caretaker government and voted on by an incoming Dail and outgoing Seanad, was not something a court could interfere with, he said. The laws are constitutionally permissible, he held. The proceedings should have been brought via plenary hearing, involving hearing oral evidence, and not judicial review, he held. In their submissions to the appeal court Ms ODoherty, and Mr Waters argued the High Court's decision refusing them permission to bring their challenge against the laws was wrong and that they didn't get a fair hearing before the lower courts. Mr Waters argued that the CoA should set aside a High Court judgement that was "deeply tainted." He said that the challenge was brought against laws that were "made off the hoof." Michael Collins SC, with Patrick McCann SC for the Minister and the State said the applicants' appeal should be dismissed. While this was an appeal against a refusal to grant leave their issue was against decision made by the government, based on medical and scientific advice, against the threat to public health and lives caused by the international pandemic. Some of their submissions to their appalling and offensive, counsel said. Counsel said they have made many wild and general assertions, which he said were not supported by any reports or evidence. Francis Kieran Bl for the notice parties said the appeal should be dismissed as their claim was non judiciable, and nothing had been put before the court that would allow them "climb the high legal walls" required for thier arguments to succeed Counsel adding that some of the applicant's submissions was "Bermuda Triangle stuff." The five members of Harris County Commissioners Court on Monday agreed that Februarys blackouts affecting more than 1.4 million county residents during sub-freezing temperatures should not have happened. They agreed the deaths of more than 40 Houston-area residents linked to outages could have been prevented and took turns expressing anger over the suffering their constituents had to endure. The quintet could not, however, agree on who to blame for the disaster. The dispute was settled along familiar partisan lines, with the three Democrats passing a broad resolution rebuking state leaders for failing to ensure the states main power grid could operate in cold weather. It also expressed support for any federal investigations into what happened. What happened last week may have been unprecedented, but it wasnt unanticipated, said Precinct 2 Commissioner Adrian Garcia. The lack of action by the state will cost us billions in economic damage. The resolution, proposed by Garcia, notes that a federal report on the 2011 Texas blackouts caused by a winter storm recommended the state winterize its energy infrastructure to prevent a repeat of that incident. Two key state regulators, the Texas Railroad Commission and Public Utility Commission, failed to do so, the resolution says. It calls on the three PUC commissioners to resign and accuses Gov. Greg Abbott of attempting to deflect blame away from his administration. PUC Chairwoman DeAnn Walker resigned Monday afternoon following calls from lawmakers, including Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, for her to step down. Abbott appointed Walker, who served as his senior police adviser, to chair the PUC in 2017. Precinct 4 Commissioner Jack Cagle, a Republican, offered a substitute resolution, which omitted any criticism of state leaders and called on the county to support the Legislatures positive and proactive efforts to find meaningful solutions on behalf of the constituents of Harris County. He said Garcias version had a lot of subtle partisanship. Were criticizing the governor. Were criticizing all these elected officials who all happen to be the Republican ones; were not criticizing anyone else, Cagle said. There are many hands that went into this failure, so I cant support this resolution. Cagle did not mention any Democrats who should share blame for the blackouts. While members of both parties supported deregulating the electricity market in the late 1990s, Republicans have controlled every statewide office and, thus, appointments to regulatory bodies since 1999. Precinct 3s Tom Ramsey, the other Republican commissioner, seconded Cagles version. He said he admired Garcias passion to investigate the blackouts, but wanted more information before I go out and indict and shoot somebody. Lets get some answers, and I want to know the details, Ramsey said. And when we find them, believe me, Im going to be right up there in the front, holding people to account. As county judge, Hidalgo was the final vote on both proposals. The Democrat supported Garcias, citing the need to hold elected officials accountable rather than merely bureaucrats who run the power grid. We have to recognize that higher-level politics have to change, otherwise were going to have the same problem again, Hidalgo said. Commissioners Court did, however, unanimously support a motion to allow the County Attorneys Office to participate in Public Utility Commission hearings about the blackouts. The county attorney, which handles civil matters, also will research what powers Commissioners Court has under state law to leave the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, the states main power grid. County Attorney Christian Menefee announced last week that his office had launched a civil investigation into the power outages. zach.despart@chron.com Hanoi has decided to reopen schools after a 14-day closure. Many parents are thrilled that their children can return to classes. For the last month, the life of Hoang Mai Vans family in Ha Dong district, was chaotic because her children could not go to school. As her husband is usually on business and away from home, Van has had to take care of the two children, a second and a fifth grader. She had to work from home in the week before Tet to have time to tutor them. I felt tired as I had to prepare meals, clean the house, work and remind them of online classes, she said. As the younger child is still small, I had to attend online classes with him to help him log in to class and turn on the microphone, she said. After the Tet holiday, she had to go to the office, leaving the children with their grandmother. However, she still feels overloaded because "the phone rings all the time". I am at the office but I still have to watch over my children from a distance, she explained. They ring me so regularly during the classes, complaining they cannot enter the classes because the teachers have changed passwords for class entrance, or they cannot hear the teachers voice." Van was excited when hearing that students would return to school from March 2. I will feel secure if children go to school. I hope that Covid is contained and everything will return to normal, she said. Having two children in the fourth and seventh grades, Dao Ngoc Anh in Ba Dinh district also complained that "too many troubles have arisen since the kids have had to stay at home". She has to take her younger daughter together with her to the office every day, because the girl cannot manage herself at home. Meanwhile, the older daughter staying at home usually calls her to ask for help fix problems with computers. However, what worries Anh the most is the quality of online teaching. My daughter complains that she sometimes cannot listen to the teacher because she is unexpectedly thrown out of the class and has to log in again, she said. Anh believes that online study will be good for adults and university students, but not for small children. The lack of concentration will make it ineffective for small children to study online. Mai Thanh Huyen in My Dinh said the parents productivity has decreased since the day schools close the doors. I have so many things to do during the day: I have to print papers, send schoolwork to teachers, fix computer problems and keep watch over messages, she said. Thuy Nga Secondary school students invent 3-in-1 body temperature device Two schoolboys in Binh Duong have created an automatic body temperature measurement machine that can also be used to disinfect hands and take the roll-call. The machine is being used at their school. Cops have confirmed remains found washed up on a NSW south coast beach are not those belonging to conwoman Melissa Caddick or a missing snorkeler. Walkers on Friday night made the grisly discovery of remains believed to be a large piece of stomach flesh which included a belly button at Mollymook Beach. The beach is located 150km from where Caddick's decomposing foot was found wedged inside an Asics shoe on the sands of Bournda Beach leading police to confirm her death. NSW Police announced on Tuesday afternoon preliminary testing had determined the remains are human but belong to a man. Cops have confirmed remains found washed up on a NSW south coast beach are not those belonging to conwoman Melissa Caddick or a missing snorkeler Caddick was declared dead by police on Saturday after DNA testing revealed that her foot, wedged inside an Asics sneaker, drifted ashore on Bournda Beach on the NSW south coast Walkers on Friday night made the grisly discovery of remains believed to be a large piece of stomach flesh which included a belly button at Mollymook Beach (pictured SES Ulladulla workers and police) 'While it has been established the remains do not belong to Melissa Caddick or a 39-year-old man missing from the Batemans Bay area since January 25, further testing including comparative DNA testing will be undertaken to identify the remains,' police said in a statement. 'The DNA profile will be compared against the missing persons database, which contains the hereditary and genetic mapping of long-term missing people in NSW.' The discovery dashes hopes the extensive search for the 39-year-old snorkeler from Canberra had found his remains. He was last seen entering the water at Richmond Beach in the Murramarang National Park about 200km north of where Caddick's foot was found. The 39-year-old disappeared on January 25 with goggles, a snorkel and flippers at about 3pm, and was never seen again. SES workers are seen scouring the coastline on NSW's south coast Ms Caddick, who is alleged to have defrauded more than $20 million from investors, vanished the day after corporate watchdog ASIC executed a search warrant at her Dover Heights home on November 11 Pictured: Melissa Caddick and her husband Anthony Koletti before she went missing on from her mansion in Sydney's eastern suburbs on November 12 DNA from the remains will now be tested against the missing persons database. Police are continuing to scour beaches on the NSW south coast for traces of Ms Caddick after her decaying foot was found south of Tathra on February 21. Additional remains were found at Cunjurong Point on Saturday afternoon and Warrain Beach at Culburra on Sunday morning. Police said on Monday evening they would forensically examine those remains to determine if they belonged to the 49-year-old Ms Caddick. Additional remains found by members of the public at Tura Beach on Saturday have been confirmed to come from an animal. Ms Caddick, who is alleged to have defrauded more than $20 million from investors, vanished the day after corporate watchdog ASIC executed a search warrant at her Dover Heights home on November 11. Liquidators say the fraudster 'meticulously and systematically' deceived those who entrusted millions of investment dollars to her over seven years, then used the money to fund her lavish lifestyle. NSW Police Assistant Commissioner Mick Willing on Friday told reporters foul play against Ms Caddick was possible but suicide was more likely. Lifeline 13 11 14 Fundraiser to pair beer, doughnuts Camp Bravehearts a local not-for-profit that provides opportunities and experiences for women with cancer in exercise, crafts, wellness and outdoor, educational and social activities will be the beneficiary of a virtual fundraiser called Dynamic Duos that will feature pairings of four beers from Fort Orange Brewing in Albany with four gourmet doughnuts from Cosmic Donuts in Kinderhook. Scheduled for 7 p.m. Thursday, March 18, the online event, held via Zoom, will include a guided tasting with representatives from Fort Orange Brewing and Cosmic Donuts discussing their respective creations and offering an overview of their businesses. There will also be a raffle. Steve Barnes of the Times Union will emcee the evening. Participants will need to be able to pick up bags of doughnuts and beer from 3 to 6 p.m. on the day of the event at eight sites in Albany, Columbia, Saratoga and Rensselaer counties. Buy tickets online by searching for the event at eventbrite.com. With only 100 available Zoom slots for participants, Dynamic Duos is expected to sell out. Win $200 gift card from Downtown Albany BID, Table Hopping As part of the launch of the new Downtown Albany Gift Card, the promotions sponsor, the Downtown Albany Business Improvement District, is offering readers of the Table Hopping blog the chance to win a $200 gift card that will be valid at more than 30 participating locations, including restaurants, beauty and wellness business, tattoo shops, jewelry stores, florists and more. The virtual card, delivered via text message or email, will have its information entered manually by businesses that accept the Downtown Albany Gift Card; physical cards will not be issued. Available in amounts from $5 to $250, cards may be sent to the purchasers own phone/email or to a recipients. As an inducement to buy early, purchases through April 15, or while available funds last, will include bonus cards with more Downtown Dollars: Cards valued at $25 to $49 will receive another card with $25 in bonus Downtown Dollars, and purchases of $50 or more will receive a $50 bonus Downtown Dollars card. Bonus Downtown Dollars may be redeemed only through April 30, but the regular balances will not expire. Purchasers may elect to have bonus cards sent to themselves or a recipient. Full details and a purchase link are at downtownalbany.org. To win the $200 gift card from the Downtown BID and Table Hopping, submit a comment on the relevant blog post at blog.timesunion.com/tablehopping. In the comment, list three to five participating businesses where you would most like to use the gift card. One comment per person/email address. Multiple comments from same entrant, or comments that do include three to five different business names, or that name businesses not participating, will not be accepted. The contest closes at midnight Friday. The winner, chosen at random, will be announced next week. The $200 Table Hopping Downtown Dollars card will not expire. Mac-n-Cheese Bowl returning in pickup format The timesunion.com/Table Hopping Mac-n-Cheese Bowl, a fundraiser that has brought in more than $400,000 for the Regional Food Bank of Northeastern New York since first being held in 2010, will return later this month with a pickup format. What would have been the 11th annual Mac-n-Cheese Bowl was canceled a few days before it was to have been held, on March 14 last year, when the hosting organization, Siena College in Loudonville, decided against making its MAC Center available as part of the response to growing concerns about the spread of the coronavirus. The Mac-n-Cheese Bowl will be held Saturday, March 27, with drive-through pickup from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at the food banks headquarters, 965 Albany-Shaker Road. The format is modeled after the one adopted for the food banks fall gala, which sold out all 400 available takeout dinners for the September event. A ticket to the Mac-n-Cheese Bowl costs $25 and includes a bag with mac-n-cheese from 10 Capital Region restaurants. Add mixed four-pack of craft beer for $20 more. Buy tickets online at regionalfoodbank.net. Compiled by Steve Barnes. Items to be submitted for publication should be emailed to sbarnes@timesunion.com. Visit his blog, blog.timesunion.com/tablehopping This investment further enhances Metro Supply Chain Group's regulated supply chain sector TORONTO, March 2, 2021 /PRNewswire/ - Metro Supply Chain Group Inc., a North American leader in end-to-end supply chain logistics solutions, announced today a strategic investment in HCL Logistics Inc. and HCL Transport Inc. (collectively, "HCL Logistics"), a contract logistics company specializing in defence and industrial sectors, headquartered in London, Ontario. "With this important investment, Metro Supply Chain Group is building on our proven leadership, ingenuity and quality services to clients with complex requirements, while deepening our capabilities in the defence sector," said Chiko Nanji, Group Chairman of Metro Supply Chain Group. Providing state-of-the-art warehousing, manufacturing line sequencing, and distribution for on-time delivery of critical defence components to global clients, HCL Logistics offers rapid turnaround and industry-leading accuracy, in addition to full visibility and reporting through every stage of the supply chain. "We're proud of all we've done to support our Canadian Forces and Allied Forces around the world," explained Tim Van Holst, President of HCL Logistics. "As part of Metro Supply Chain Group, we're well-positioned to further enhance our defence solutions and also expand into new markets." With a focus on innovation through business intelligence, predictive transportation management software and advanced automation, Metro Supply Chain Group and HCL Logistics share a common vision and entrepreneurial spirit. The two companies are also aligned on their strong, people-driven cultures built on integrity and teamwork, as well as a commitment to delivering tangible benefits to their customers' businesses. "This market demands executional excellence and innovative solutions. As disruptions in global supply chains continue at an unprecedented pace, Metro Supply Chain Group can respond faster with the right strategy, plan and execution to help clients succeed," said Martin Graham, Group President of Metro Supply Chain Group. "This is the start of a longterm partnership with Tim Van Holst, Franco Barbon and the exceptional team at HCL Logistics." Metro Supply Chain Group and HCL Logistics proudly share a commitment to our militaries. Mr. Nanji, a long-time patron and participant in Canadian defence initiatives, was appointed Honorary Colonel in the Canadian Armed Forces in 2012, and is currently with the Intelligence Regiment, Canadian Army. Metro Supply Chain Group is also pleased to support the important work of the Conference of Defence Associations (CDA) Institute. Valitas Capital Partners acted as financial advisor to HCL Logistics. About Metro Supply Chain Group Based in Canada, Metro Supply Chain Group operates a significant network of over 70 sites across North America and Europe with a team of more than 6,000 associates. Its scale, deep capabilities, and entrepreneurial structure enable it to solve its customers' most challenging supply chain needs quickly. About HCL Logistics Inc. and HCL Transport Inc. HCL Logistics provides logistics solutions, warehousing, transloading and transport management to Canadian and global manufacturers in a secure defence environment. Since its inception, HCL Logistics has emphasized a focused strategy of investment in infrastructure and logistics capabilities to address complex national defence requirements and performance metrics. The result is state-of-the-art warehousing that includes vertical space-saving storage systems, modern condensed racking systems, automation, and just-in-time delivery. HCL Transport provides transloading and transport services, a key strategic capability between North American rail freight and over-the-road transport. SOURCE Metro Supply Chain Group Related Links www.metroscg.com The Federal High Court in Lagos, on Tuesday, adjourned a suit by Nigerian artiste, Bright Okiki, against some telecommunication companies over alleged copyright infringement until March 5 for continued hearing. The defendants in the suit are Emerging Markets Telecommunication Services Ltd, Airtel, Globacom and Mobilexcetra Ltd. The plaintiff, who wrote the song Gba gbe boshe sele, featuring Oritsefemi, alleged that the defendants used the said song as caller tunes without his authorisation. In the suit number FHC/L/CS/1776/17, the plaintiff is claiming N400 million cumulatively against the defendants for infringing on his intellectual property. He is also asking the court to issue a perpetual injunction restraining the defendants from continued use of his work. The case, which was slated for continuation on Tuesday, could not proceed as the court, presided by Nicholas Oweibo, did not sit. The case has now been fixed for March 5. In his statement of claim, the plaintiff averred that he had paid to feature the star artiste, Oritsefemi, in his song in order to get more acceptability. He said he was still working on promoting his song when people drew his attention to the fact that his song was now on caller tunes of some telecommunications companies. According to him, he had downloaded the song from Airtel in order to be sure and had also found out from the Globacom website that his music was listed as caller tune. He also downloaded the same from Globacom. He said his legal team had then printed them out as evidence before officially writing to the companies. Okiki, therefore, seeks a declaration that he is the exclusive owner of the musical work Gbegbe Booshe Sele and that the defendants have infringed on his intellectual works. He wants a court order compelling the defendants to individually pay him N100 million each (totalling N400 million) as damages for infringement on his intellectual property. Meanwhile, in its counterclaim, the third defendant (Globacom) denied that it had committed any infringement on the plaintiffs work. It averred that the fourth defendant (mobileexcetera) had agreed to provide it with the caller tunes. It added that it believed it had the authorisation of owners of the tunes. Globacom averred that based on the fourth defendants memorandum of understanding with one Shetade Images on Feb. 13, 2017, it believed it could rely on the fourth defendant to provide it with the caller tunes. ADVERTISEMENT It added that the same was supplied based on agreement. The third defendant said that in the said memorandum, Oritsefemi, a co-copyright owner of the song, had given his consent. The defendant, however, averred that the song has since been removed as caller tune and denies liability. Also in its counterclaim, the first defendant also denied liability for any infringement citing a similar memorandum of understanding. The case will resume on March 5. (NAN) 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. Patna, March 2 : A class 9 student was killed and two others injured after a person learning to drive inside school premises hit them in Bihar's Madhubani district on Tuesday afternoon. The deceased, identified as Sharawan Kumar (14), a resident of Laukaha sub-town in Madhubani district. Amarjeet Singh, the SHO of Laukaha police station said: "The incident happened around 2 pm when Mukesh Kumar (22), an errant driver, entered the premises of the Laukaha higher secondary school to learn driving a car." "The errant driver lost control of the vehicle and hit three students. One of them came under the wheels of the car and died on the spot," the SHO said. The two other injured students were taken to nearby Khutauna hospital and are under observation. The mishap happened at a time when the examination of class 9 was underway and first sitting was over. The students were on the way to attend the second session of the examination. Local residents alleged that the school administration was responsible for the mishap as they opened the school gate providing free access to strangers to enter and use the grounds. After the mishap, a large number of local residents reached the school. Fearing for his safety, the principal fled the school. Local residents managed to arrest the accused and thrashed him before handing him over to the police. "We have arrested the accused for rash and negligence driving amounting to death. Further investigation is on," an officer said. Rebecca Woodbury, the digital services chief for the city of San Rafael, Calif., who made a name for herself as an outspoken advocate for innovation in local government, has started her own company.The startup, called Department of Civic Things , is a consultancy Woodbury has created to carry on her work with more local governments especially small ones.Im excited about small local governments because I think they actually have a lot of potential to provide really good digital services, she said. Theres a lot less red tape, theyre a lot more nimble, and I think that small governments are sometimes positioned better to do more innovative things. I think theres potential for small governments to inform how larger governments do these things and offer these services.Woodbury left the city at the end of December to start up the company, so its still in its very early stages. Shes the first, and for now only, employee, and she said she has a pipeline of multiple government customers mostly interested in website work.Websites and digital services will be a focus for Department of Civic Things, but the idea behind the company ultimately has more to do with helping governments address the more abstract concepts that surround and support any technology project things like work culture, change management and the journey of reimagining processes.You can overhaul your website, and your new website can look really good at first, and it can be very exciting, but over time if you dont address how the work gets done and the values that underpin the work as well, then eventually your website is not going to be very useful or helpful, she said.The company is coming online at a time when Woodbury sees a growing marketplace of lightweight technology options that make sense for local governments. The explosion of cloud-based tools means its become easier to quickly deploy and scale new software while avoiding some of the sunken costs that might have prevented smaller jurisdictions from accessing the same tools in years past. They run the gamut from permitting and licensing to citizen engagement to case management Websites are one area where San Rafael shined during Woodburys tenure, with the city launching a new website using the startup ProudCity . Given her familiarity with the company, Woodbury hopes to help guide governments looking to use ProudCity.Theres some great opportunities for organizations looking to use ProudCity but maybe need a deeper look at how they create a website and how that website stays awesome after day one, she said.Other areas of work Woodburys outlined for her new company include software procurement, content auditing and product management.Woodburys focus will be on local governments in the U.S., but shes planning a move to Sweden this year that might eventually lead to work with European jurisdictions as well.Definitely in the first couple of years Ill be working with American clients, but I would never say no to, in the future, expanding that, she said.The name of the company is actually a nod to her future home: In old Norse culture, the word Thing referred to a democratic decision-making process . The Department part of the name, as well as the corporate logo, reflect her desire to support governments mission.Woodbury said she hopes to bring others into the company as it grows. As for the strategic direction, shes keeping things flexible.Im actually excited about the clients that I work with informing what becomes of this company, and really seeing where the real need is, she said. As someone who worked in government for 12 years and who knows many, many people who work in government, I have a very good idea of pain points, but I never like to make those assumptions. HOUSTON The chairwoman of Texas utility regulator resigned on Monday in response to a growing bipartisan backlash over widespread power outages during one of the worst winter storms there in a generation. DeAnn T. Walker, who has been the chairwoman of the Public Utility Commission of Texas since 2017, had been caught in a tide of fury that has swelled across Texas after the outages left millions without electricity during some of the coldest temperatures ever recorded in the state. She had been grilled by lawmakers during contentious hearings last week about how the storm had been able to push the power grid to the brink of collapse and why the system had not been prepared for such winter conditions. The calls for her resignation came from both political parties, reflecting the intensity of the outrage and anguish created by the outages. On Monday, Dan Patrick, the Republican who wields considerable influence as lieutenant governor, said Ms. Walker shared in the blame for failing to plan for a worst-case scenario. And after she stepped down, the Texas Democratic Party said on Twitter, Good riddance. The Scottish Tories today accused the SNP of fixing Nicola Sturgeon's Salmond inquiry showdown date so it is overshadowed by the Budget - amid claims she could have breached the ministerial code up to 38 times. The heat has been turned up again on the First Minister ahead of her evidence session tomorrow to the Holyrood committee looking into the handling of allegations against her former friend. In six hours of brutal testimony last week, Mr Salmond laid out a case that senior SNP figures conspired to try to force him out of public life over harassment claims. He won a 500,000 settlement against the Scottish government, and was cleared of wrongdoing in a trial. He also vented fury that the Crown Office, led by Lord Advocate James Wolffe QC, had forced the redaction of sections of his written evidence to the committee. Mr Wolffe said any suggestion of 'improper motivation' was 'entirely without foundation' as he was questioned about both issues by the cross-party MSPs this morning. The Conservatives said the timing of Ms Sturgeon's hearing - shortly before Rishi Sunak is due to deliver his crunch financial package - is 'convenient', and the SNP was 'clearly trying to give their boss a helping hand by limiting when and how long she appears before the committee'. A dossier produced by the Opposition party highlights dozens of instances when they say Ms Sturgeon appears to have broken the ministerial code. They include accusations of repeatedly misleading the Scottish Parliament about when she first knew of the allegations against Mr Salmond, delaying settling the judicial review despite legal advice, and meeting Mr Salmond on government business without any officials present or records being taken. Ms Sturgeon has denied breaking the ministerial code and said she will give her full rebuttal tomorrow. Scottish Tory leader Douglas Ross said: 'This dossier shows all the evidence of SNP cover ups, dreadful mistakes and terrible lapses of judgement. In six hours of brutal testimony last week, Alex Salmond laid out a case that senior SNP figures conspired to try to force him out of public life over harassment claims Nicola Sturgeon (left) has denied breaking the ministerial code and said she will give her full rebuttal tomorrow. The Conservative dossier (right) highlights dozens of instances when Ms Sturgeon appears to have broken the ministerial code What are the key issues in the row engulfing SNP? How and why did the Scottish government mishandle allegations against Alex Salmond? The Scottish government launched an investigation in 2017 after two women made formal complaints against Alex Salmond. He launched legal action against the government's handling of the investigation and won a judicial review in January 2019, receiving 512,000 to cover his legal fees. The parliamentary inquiry is examining how ministers and civil servants conducted the probe. Mr Salmond was charged with 13 counts of sexual assault, including attempted rape, but was acquitted of all charges in March 2020. Mr Salmond has claimed he was the victim of a conspiracy by senior SNP figures to end his role in public life. What did Nicola Sturgeon know and when? Ms Sturgeon originally told MSPs she learned of complaints against Mr Salmond on April 2, 2018, when the pair met at her house. That meeting is crucial as it is unclear whether it was SNP business, or government business - which should have been officially recorded. Peter Murrell, the chief executive of the SNP and Ms Sturgeon's husband, initially said he was not at home, but later revealed that he arrived home during the discussion. He insists he did not ask what they were talking about. Ms Sturgeon has also admitted she 'forgot' about a discussion with Mr Salmond's ex-chief of staff four days earlier where they talked about the issue. The ministerial code says that 'ministers who knowingly mislead the parliament will be expected to offer their resignation to the First Minister'. Ms Sturgeon is facing a separate independent investigation led by James Hamilton, who has to decide if she broke the ministerial code. However, it is thought that she is the final arbiter of whether the code has been breached. Does Mr Salmond have evidence of a conspiracy against him? Mr Salmond has said he is the victim of a 'prolonged, malicious' conspiracy by senior SNP and government figures. He has suggested Mr Murrell was part of efforts to damage him. Ms Sturgeon has demanded he presents hard evidence that is the case. However, he insisted today that he is not in the dock and the government has already conceded it acted illegally. Why was Mr Salmond's evidence to the inquiry redacted? Mr Salmond's submission to the inquiry was released online on Monday, but the Crown Office raised concerns with Holyrood about it, asking for redactions. He has raised questions about why the step was taken and whether it amounted to inappropriate interference. Advertisement 'Sleaze and secrecy is running rampant throughout the ruling party of government. 'Nicola Sturgeon stands accused of breaking the Ministerial Code up to 38 times. The First Minister and her inner circle are facing 14 separate resignation matters. 'The weight of evidence is overwhelming and this is only what we know about. So much more continues to be hidden by the SNP. 'The First Minister has abused the power of her office and government to cover up what really happened, what she knew and when she knew it.' The burgeoning row is threatening to derail Ms Sturgeon's push to split up the UK, with support for independence diving over recent weeks. A Scottish Tory spokesman said of the committee schedule: 'The timing of this appearance is certainly very convenient for Nicola Sturgeon. 'During Alex Salmond's evidence last week, the SNP MSPs on the committee embarrassed themselves by trying to run out the clock. It was a hopeless filibuster attempt that failed. 'Now they're clearly trying to give their boss a helping hand by limiting when and how long she appears before the committee. 'At every turn the SNP are trying to shut down scrutiny and cover up what really happened in this sorry affair.' Scotland's Deputy First Minister John Swinney is today finally set to release the legal advice the government was given over the judicial review, after a dramatic U-turn in the face of a no-confidence motion. The advice relates to Mr Salmond's successful legal challenge of the Scottish Government's harassment complaints procedure, which led to him being awarded more than 500,000. In a letter to the committee this morning, Mr Swinney said details of the legal advice would be released this afternoon - and they show 'reservations' about proceeding with the case. 'The documents confirm that, whilst reservations were raised about the judicial review following the identification of the issue of prior contact with the complainers in late October, there were good public policy arguments and reasonable grounds for the Government to continue to defend the judicial review and to seek a determination from the Court on the matters raised, until the events of late December 2018,' he wrote. The Scottish Tories submitted a motion of no confidence in Mr Swinney at Holyrood yesterday after accusing him of failing to comply with two parliamentary votes calling for the publication of legal advice. Tory whip Miles Brigg MSP said he will not withdraw the Motion of No Confidence until MSPs are given assurances that SNP Ministers will deliver everything the committee has requested. Mr Salmond insisted last week that, if the case was pursued by Ms Sturgeon against legal advice, it would be a breach of the ministerial code. Mr Swinney said: 'In normal circumstances, government legal advice is not released. Indeed, such is the importance of being able to get frank, private advice, it is almost unheard of for the legal advice to be released. 'But, we have to acknowledge that the issues at stake now are not normal. The very integrity of the legal system is being questioned. 'Serious allegations have been made. This material allows people to confirm that these allegations are false. 'We have already shared in private with the Scottish Parliament's committee on these issues the substance of the advice. 'Now, we recognise that in order to counter to the false claims being made by some, we must go further. Subject to the mandatory legal checks and processes, we will release the key legal advice.' It would have been the second time in less than a year that Mr Swinney faced a debate on his position after he survived a no-confidence in August thanks to the Scottish Greens. This time they had signalled they would vote against him. The Scottish parliament has twice voted to compel the release of the advice ministers and officials obtained during the judicial review brought about by the former SNP leader. John Swinney said that subject to the mandatory legal checks and processes, the Scottish Government will release 'the key legal advice' today Giving evidence to a Holyrood committee today, James Wolffe QC said he had recused himself from key decisions over the probe into handling of allegations against Alex Salmond The dossier's allegations about Ms Sturgeon include repeatedly misleading the Scottish Parliament about when she first knew of the allegations against Mr Salmond, delaying settling the judicial review despite legal advice, and meeting Mr Salmond on government business without any officials present or records being taken However, they have previously refused to do so, citing legal privilege. In January 2019, the Government was forced to admit it had acted unlawfully and its investigation had been 'tainted by apparent bias' after Mr Salmond successfully challenged its investigation into complaints against him. The outcome of the probe was set aside when it emerged that the investigating officer had prior contact with two women who made allegations against Mr Salmond. It was previously revealed that the issue had been identified months before the Government conceded. But the inquiry is keen to know when ministers and officials were advised to drop their defence - and admit defeat. Mr Swinney's decision has received the prior agreement of the Law Officers in line with paragraph 2.40 of the Scottish Ministerial Code. Ahead of release, under the General Data Protection Regulation, legal notifications to individuals impacted are required. The Scottish Government said that these are expected to be complete and, subject to them, the Parliament will receive the material immediately thereafter. The Lord Advocate today dismissed claims of interference in the Salmond probe as 'wholly without foundation'. Giving evidence to the Holyrood committee, Mr Wolffe said he had recused himself from key decisions over the probe into handling of allegations against the former First Minister. And he flatly rejected the idea that the Crown Office had insisted on the redaction of parts of Mr Salmond's written evidence in a bid to hamper the process. Mr Wolffe said: 'Any suggestion, from any quarter, that the Crown's decision-making has at any time been influenced by irrelevant considerations or improper motivations would be wholly without foundation. 'Insinuation and assertions to the contrary are baseless.' He said the crown had been criticised for 'actions it has taken to protect the identity of the complainers' at Alex Salmond's criminal trial, at which he was acquitted of all charges. The legal advice received by the Scottish government over Mr Salmond's judicial review of its complaints procedure is due to be published later after ministers caved in. Mr Wolffe suggested he had not been asked whether the advice could be released until yesterday, as ministers had not believed the 'public interest' favoured its disclosure until then. WASHINGTON - The day before a pro-Trump mob stormed the U.S. Capitol, William Robert Norwood III texted a group of friends and family to boast that he had traveled to D.C. with a plan to fool the police. "I'm dressing in all black," Norwood texted a group chat on Jan. 5, according to screenshots included in a federal criminal complaint filed last week. "I'll look just like ANTIFA. I'll get away with anything." Then, after joining in the mob, assaulting police officers and storming the Capitol rotunda, federal agents said, Norwood texted the group again to boast that his ploy had been a success. "It worked," Norwood texted, along with photos of himself wearing a police officer's vest that he allegedly took from the Capitol. "I got away with things that others were shot or arrested for." Norwood was arrested in Greer, S.C., on Feb. 25 and charged with violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds, obstruction of justice and Congress, theft of government property, and other charges. He does not yet have an attorney listed in court records. Federal agents buttressed the criminal complaint against Norwood with text messages he allegedly sent about joining in the riot -- including contradictory messages taking credit for attacking police, while also blaming the violence on antifascists. His texts echoed a popular but baseless theory that left-wing agitators instigated the insurrection, which led to the deaths of a Capitol police officer and four others. False claims that the rioters were not supporters of former president Donald Trump have been aired on Fox News and repeated by Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., during congressional hearings. Yet evidence collected by federal investigators shows that among the hundreds of rioters who have been arrested, most expressed support for Trump and many had ties to far-right groups including the Proud Boys, which Trump had encouraged in the past. The FBI says it caught up with Norwood after his brother, who was part of the group chats, showed them to another family member, who alerted the authorities. FBI agents interviewed both relatives, and then met with Norwood on Jan. 22. In an interview with the FBI, Norwood said he had traveled to Washington, D.C. from South Carolina with his wife to attend Trump's rally on Jan. 6. The FBI said it found evidence that Norwood's cellphone had been active inside or near the Capitol building on Jan. 6, and that Norwood admitted he entered the rotunda. Surveillance photos filed in the case allegedly show Norwood inside the building, wearing a camouflage jacket and red "Make America Great Again" hat that match other photos he took that day. In the photos, he appears to be wearing all-black clothing under the jacket. "Norwood claimed that two U.S. Capitol Police officers were waving people inside, and that one of the Capitol Police officers told him, 'I'm on your side,'" according to the criminal complaint. He also told the FBI that he helped protect some of the Capitol police officers and he denied assaulting law enforcement officers. But federal agents said his text messages told a different story. In texts sent on Jan. 7 allegedly recounting his role in the riot, Norwood claimed that he "fought 4 cops" and "got a nice helmet and body armor off a cop for God's sake and I disarmed him." He then sent a selfie that allegedly showed him posing in a stolen tactical vest. He told the FBI that the text messages were sent to make him "sound tough." "Norwood repeatedly claimed that he only attempted to help law enforcement, not hurt them," the complaint said. Despite Norwood's story that he had pretended to be "antifa," he and some other members of the group chat also later blamed the fatal violence at the Capitol riot on leftist activists, according to screenshots of the conversation in the federal complaint. Apparently alone in his frustration, Norwood's brother told the group chat that he wasn't buying those excuses. "Robbie literally bragged about pretending to be this mysterious Antifa yall go on and on about, and then you say no no REAL antifa did this," the brother said in one message, referring to Norwood's nickname. "Listen to yourselves." Norwood also claimed that he had "saved several cops from being killed by antifa." His brother replied: "You are 'antifa' my guy." Norwood responded to his brother's complaints by defending the attacks against Capitol police officers, the texts show. "The cops who acted s----- got exactly what they deserved," Norwood texted. "The ones who were cool, got help." "Unbelievable," his brother replied. The organizers of the 2021 Conservative Political Action Conference are accusing Hyatt of 'buckling to cancel culture' after the hotel chain issued several apologies when controversy broke out over the design of the stage. Hyatt Hotels, which was hosting the event at the Hyatt Regency Orlando property in Florida, called symbols of hate 'abhorrent' after the stage at CPAC drew comparisons to a Norse rune used by the Nazis during World War Two. A photo of the CPAC stage went viral on social media on Saturday, with thousands of Twitter users sharing posts comparing its distinctive design to an othala rune, one of many ancient European symbols that Nazis adopted to 'reconstruct a mythic 'Aryan' past,' according to the Anti-Defamation League. The American Conservative Union which organized CPAC are accusing Hyatt Hotel of 'buckling to culturists on the Left' after apologizing following accusations they hosted at event at the Orlando Regency Hotel that saw the stage appear similar to Nazi imagery Some have suggested the CPAC stage was similar to a Norse rune which was often used in place of a swastika during World War II The ceiling of the conference room also featured a lighting display in the same shape as the stage, according to photographs. Hyatt said all aspects of conference logistics, including the stage design, were managed by the American Conservative Union, which organized the conference. On Monday, representatives from the American Conservative Union said Hyatt had 'disparaged and defamed' the ACU by its response to the outcry. Matt Schlapp, chairman of the American Conservative Union, told Fox News that Hyatt Hotels 'buckled to the lies of the cancel culturists on the Left' amid the controversy over the stage design. Not all Nazi symbols are obvious as swastikas. Above are some lesser known runes and emblems used by contemporary white supremacists 'We are going to stand up for our honor and our character and it's just absurd to accuse this conference and our organization of being anti-Semitic when we had the U.S. ambassador to Israel spoke from that stage,' Schlapp said, also noting that there were Jewish religious services also held at the hotel over the weekend. Schlapp said that accusations over similarities to Nazi imagery were 'absurd.' 'The comparisons were outrageous and slanderous,' he said, adding that the ABU has a 'long standing commitment to the Jewish community' while the conference itself also featured several Jewish speakers. He explained how organizers of the event were hoping to issue a joint statement in response but then claims Hyatt broker the agreement after CPAC was over 'disparage us' as a way to try to 'curry favor with the cancel culturists of the Left.' A number of users on Twitter believed the CPAC stage design was deliberately built to echo Nazi imagery Schlapp said the ACU is considering whether to boycott Hyatt for any future events urging conservative Americans not to spend their money at corporations that will 'attack' them on the 'whim of any false charge.' 'Contrary to Hyatt's own mission statement of inclusivity, your company just attacked its own customer by caving in to the pressures of the politically motivated social media agitators who seek to destroy CPAC, our attendees and speakers from across the country, and the millions of Americans who support our work,' David Safavian, General Counsel for the American Conservative Union, said in a statement. Safavian's also noted that the group collaborated with Hyatt Hotels and subcontractors during the planning process including on the stage design and no concerns were raised by the company at any point. Hyatt explained that they were only made aware of the similarity in imagery when the conference was already underway. 'With CPAC's denial of any intentional connection to hate symbols and our concerns over the safety of guests and colleagues in what could have been a disruptive situation, we allowed the event to continue', Hyatt explained in a statement. Hyatt added that 'colleagues occasionally faced hostility from attendees' at the conference when attendees were reminded to wear masks and socially distance. Hyatt also said it was 'extremely disappointed by the disrespect many individuals involved in the event showed to our colleagues'. One discussion at CPAC over the weekend saw panelists blasting 'cancel culture' In a follow-up statement Hyatt said: 'We take the concern raised about the prospect of symbols of hate being included in the stage design at CPAC 2021 very seriously as all such symbols are abhorrent and unequivocally counter to our values as a company. 'The CPAC 2021 event is hosted and managed by the American Conservative Union that manages all aspects of event logistics, including the stage design and aesthetics. We discussed directly with ACU leadership who told us that any resemblance to a symbol of hate is unintentional. We will continue to stay in dialogue with event organizers regarding our deep concerns. Any further questions can be directed to CPAC.' High-profile Republicans including former President Donald Trump were attending the four-day event in Orlando, Florida, as conflict rages between Trump allies and establishment politicians trying to distance the party from him. Some Trump supporters who launched a deadly attack against the U.S. Capitol on January 6 carried Confederate flags, which many Americans see as a symbol of oppression and slavery. Extremism experts said some of the rioters were members of white nationalist groups. Trump's presence dominated this year's CPAC, with his supporters parading a larger-than-life golden statue of the former president through the lobby of the hotel at one point. Trump hinted on Sunday at a possible presidential run in 2024, attacked President Joe Biden and repeated his fraudulent claims he won the 2020 election in his first major appearance since leaving the White House nearly six weeks ago. An SUV packed with people pulled out in front of a semitruck towing two trailers in a rural California county near the Mexican border on Tuesday morning, leaving at least a dozen dead and others hospitalized, officials said. Overhead video in Imperial County showed the brutal aftermath of the crash, with the jack-knifed semitruck smashed into the left side of a Ford Expedition. Both came to a rest off the side of a rural road about 10 miles north of the border. Hospital and police officials gave slightly different tallies of the injured and dead in the incident. California Highway Patrol Border Division Chief Omar Watson said at a morning briefing there were 25 occupants in the Expedition during the crash and that 13 died, including the driver. 'It would be premature of me to speculate on what happened at this collision. The important thing is that 13 people died in this crash,' he said at a second media update. 'We owe it to the families of those that were killed and injured as well at the public to conduct a complete and thorough investigation.' A Ford Expedition typically can safely seat up to eight people. But this vehicle didn't have rear seats, Watson said. 'I don't know if they were cut out or removed, I'm not sure, but they were not in the vehicle,' Watson said. 'What it indicates is that there were not enough safety belts for the passengers.' At least 10 Mexican nationals were killed, the Mexican Consulate said in a statement. Consulate officials said they were saddened by the news and are working to confirm the nationalities of the other three passengers who died. Mexican officials will provide assistance to the families affected by the crash, the statement said. Watson said earlier it is unknown where all the people in the SUV are from. Some didn't have identification. The driver was from the Mexican city of Mexicali, he said. 'We are close to the border, so we have people who come back and forth daily for work,' he said. US authorities are working with the Mexican consulate to determine who was in the vehicle and to notify next of kin. Special agents from the Homeland Security Investigations office in San Diego are investigating to see if human smuggling was involved, a US Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokeswoman told CNN in a statement. Tragic scene Watson described a gruesome scene in which some occupants were ejected from the vehicle and died, while others were found dead within the SUV. He said 12 people died at the collision site and one person died at a hospital. Police received a call about the crash at about 6:15 a.m. At the time of the crash, the semitruck was traveling north on State Road 115 and the Expedition was traveling west on Norrish Road. Watson said it was unknown whether the Expedition stopped at a stop sign, but the SUV entered the intersection in front of the semitruck, leading to the collision. The passengers in the SUV ranged in age from 15 to 53, Watson said at a third news conference. Judy Cruz, the managing director of the emergency room department at El Centro Regional Medical Center, earlier had said the vehicle had 28 occupants and that 15 had died. 'Patients are going through a difficult time as you can imagine,' El Centro Regional Medical Center CEO Adolphe Edward said. 'This was a major accident and we are taking care of them in the emergency room department.' Edward advised not to refer to those injured as 'undocumented' and noted that a member of the Mexican consulate was present at a news conference alongside hospital officials. The driver of the semitruck, who is 69, had moderate injuries. The trailers he was pulling were not loaded, Watson said. The injured occupants were taken to El Centro Regional Medical Center (ECRMC), Desert Regional Medical Center in Palm Springs and Pioneers Memorial Hospital in nearby Brawley. UC San Diego Health said it received three patients transferred from ECRMC via air ambulance. Three of the four patients being treated at Desert Regional Medical Center were in the intensive care unit, hospital director of communications Todd Burke told CNN. At least one of the injured passengers from the SUV has been released from the hospital, Watson said. Correction: A previous version of this story had the incorrect number of fatalities. This is a developing story and details, such as the number of fatalities, the number of occupants in the SUV, and the number injured may continue to change. Citrus retailer denies Korban's acquisition of company's stake On March 1, 2021, media reported Korban had become the owner of a 50% stake in LLC ZT-Invest. Reporting by UNIAN If you see a spelling error on our site, select it and press Ctrl+Enter FORT COLLINS, Colo., March 2, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Cytocom, Inc. , a leading biopharmaceutical company creating second generation immune therapies, announced today that Mike Handley, President and Chief Executive Officer, will present at the H.C. Wainwright Global Life Sciences Conference taking place March 9, 2021 to March 10, 2021. The presentation will be available on demand during the virtual event for all registered attendees. During the presentation, Mr. Handley will provide an overview of Cytocom's business and recent corporate achievements, as well as the anticipated milestones in its clinical programs for COVID-19, pancreatic cancer, Crohn's disease, fibromyalgia and multiple sclerosis. Details of the events are as follows: Event: H.C. Wainwright Global Life Sciences Conference Date: Tuesday, March 9, 2021 to Wednesday, March 10, 2021 Time: Available on Demand Registration: https://hcwevents.com/globalconference/ Members of the Cytocom's management team will also be available to participate in virtual one-on-one meetings with investors who are registered to attend the conference. Following the conclusion of the event, a recording of Mr. Handley's presentation will be available under "Recent Presentations" in the Investors section of the Company's website at www.cytocom.com . About Cytocom Cytocom, Inc. is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing novel immunotherapies targeting autoimmune, inflammatory, infectious diseases and cancers based on a proprietary platform designed to rebalance the body's immune system and restore homeostasis. Cytocom is developing therapies designed to elicit directly within patients a robust and durable response of antigen-specific killer T-cells and antibodies, thereby activating essential immune defenses against autoimmune, inflammatory, infectious diseases, and cancers. Specifically, Cytocom has four programs in late-stage clinical development for Crohn's disease, fibromyalgia, multiple sclerosis and pancreatic cancer. To learn more about Cytocom, Inc., please visit www.cytocom.com. Forward-Looking Statements: This release contains forward-looking statements that involve substantial risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such statements. Risks and uncertainties include, among other things, uncertainties inherent in research and development; the uncertainties inherent in business and financial planning, including, without limitation, risks related to Cytocom's business and prospects, adverse developments in Cytocom's markets, or adverse developments in the U.S. or global capital markets, credit markets, regulatory environment or economies generally; the impact of COVID-19 on our business, operations and financial results; and competitive developments. The Company assumes no obligation to update forward-looking statements contained in this release as a result of new information or future events or developments. Contact Tiberend Strategic Advisors, Inc. Maureen McEnroe, CFA/Miriam Miller (Investors) (212) 375-2664 / 2694 [email protected] [email protected] Johanna Bennett (Media) (212) 375-2686 [email protected] SOURCE Cytocom, Inc. Please enable cookies on your web browser in order to continue. The new European data protection law requires us to inform you of the following before you use our website: We use cookies and other technologies to customize your experience, perform analytics and deliver personalized advertising on our sites, apps and newsletters and across the Internet based on your interests. By clicking I agree below, you consent to the use by us and our third-party partners of cookies and data gathered from your use of our platforms. See our Privacy Policy and Third Party Partners to learn more about the use of data and your rights. You also agree to our Terms of Service. In the following months, the virus surged in New York City, which became a center of the pandemic, and residents tuned in for updates from Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, who drew praise for his leadership and PowerPoint-style slide shows at news briefings. But a year later, the governor is keeping a low profile as he faces criticism over his administrations handling of virus-related nursing home deaths, and accusations of sexual harassment and bullying. [A woman accused the governor of unwanted touching at a wedding reception.] The mayor reflected on the past year Mayor Bill de Blasio touched on the anniversary before providing updates on the citys vaccination efforts during his Monday news conference. Mr. de Blasio said the city set a one-day record on Friday by administering over 76,000 vaccines. Almost 2 million doses have been provided, and the city is on track of reaching its goal of fully vaccinating 5 million New Yorkers by June, Mr. de Blasio said. According to information published by Arab News on March 2, 2021, USS Winston S. Churchill has docked in Port Sudan on a scheduled visit a day after frigate Admiral Grigorovich entered at the port. According to information published by Arab News on March 2, 2021, USS Winston S. Churchill has docked in Port Sudan on a scheduled visit a day after frigate Admiral Grigorovich entered at the port. Follow Navy Recognition on Google News at this link US Navy USS Winston S. Churchill DDG 81 Arleigh Burke-class destroyer (Picture source: Twitter) The US guided-missile destroyer USS Winston S. Churchills arrival is the first visit by the countrys navy in more than 25 years. The dock is a strategically important one and Moscow plans to build a naval base there with a capacity for 300 military and civilian personnel and four ships. The arrival of the USS Winston S. Churchill in Sudans main port marks an increase in bilateral military engagement after a thaw in diplomatic relations between the two countries. The USS Winston S. Churchill (DDG-81) is an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer of the United States Navy. This ship is the 31st destroyer of her class. Winston S. Churchill was the 18th ship of this class to be built at Bath Iron Works in Bath, Maine, and construction began on 7 May 1998. She was launched and christened on 17 April 1999. On 10 March 2001, she was commissioned during a ceremony at Town Point Park in Norfolk, Virginia. The DDG-81 is the first of the Flight IIA variants fitted with the 62-caliber Mark 45 Mod 4 naval gun system. The guns' longer barrels allow more complete combustion of the propellant, reducing barrel flare and improving projectile velocity and firepower against ship and shore targets; additionally, the Mk 45 mod 4 uses a modified gun-house, designed to reduce its radar signature. Winston S. Churchill is armed with Tomahawk, Standard and ASROC (VLA) missiles. Armament of the USS Winston S. Churchill includes one 5 inch (127 mm)/62 caliber Mk 45 Mod 4 naval gun, two 25 mm Mk 38 automatic cannons, four .50 cal (12.7 mm) machine guns, two 20 mm Phalanx CIWS (Close-In Weapon Systems), two Mk 32 Mod 11 triple torpedo tubes for able to launch Mk 46 torpedo or Mk 50 torpedo, 96-cell Mk 41 VLS (Vertical Launching System) able to fire RIM-66 Surface-to-Air Missile 2, BGM-109 Tomahawk cruise missile and RUM-139 VL-ASROC anti-submarine missiles. Photos from Lou Jennings, book covers from Simon & Schuster, family photo of Terry C. Jennings as a child/Collage by The Washington Post Dominguita Melendez is determined to be a knight in "Knight of the Cape," the first book in the new chapter book series Definitely Dominguita by Terry Catasus Jennings. She yearns to perform brave deeds like the heroes she reads about in books. But does anyone need rescuing in her friendly American neighborhood? And what can a third-grader do? With a bucket for a helmet and an old rain poncho for a cape, Dominguita sets out. She comes to the aid of several surprised but ultimately grateful neighbors. But there remain two villains to deal with: the bullies who mock her friends and Dominguita. Like her character, Jennings had a big imagination as a kid. "I wasn't as extreme as Dominguita, though," said Jennings, who lives in Reston, Va. Jennings spent her early childhood in Cuba, an island country in the Caribbean Sea. She loved to read classic novels such as "Treasure Island" and "The Three Musketeers." She and her best friend would act out the adventures. Dominguita does this, too. In "Knight of the Cape," she is like the confused knight in "Don Quixote," one of the oldest novels, written in the early 1600s. Don Quixote tries to fight a windmill he thinks is a giant. Dominguita, too, has a funny battle with a windmill. As a kid, Jennings spent all her allowance on books and comic books, which she read in her native Spanish. But in 1961, at the age of 12, she had to leave her entire collection behind when she and her family immigrated to the United States. Life in Cuba had become dangerous after a recent revolution, and they needed to find a safer home. Jennings and her family arrived in Florida with only $50 and a few suitcases. They moved in with an uncle who lived there. The next day, Jennings started school. "That was hard," she told KidsPost by phone. "I didn't speak any English, and it took a while to learn (the language). Luckily my cousins helped me with homework." And her new home brought new adventures. "Snow was amazing," she said of her first winter storm, when the family finally settled in Richmond, Va. In addition to her child-self, Jennings used her two children (now grown) as models for Dominguita. She saw how they, like many children, could create a whole world in their pretend play. "You don't need many props - a stick, a broom, a bucket," Jennings said. "And now I see my grandchildren playing in that (same) way." Broken binoculars become a pirate spyglass in the second book, "Captain Dom's Treasure." It came out the same time as the first book and was inspired by "Treasure Island." And later this year, look for two more Dominguita books, which were inspired by "The Three Musketeers" and the fictional detective Sherlock Holmes. Writing the series was a "chance to reread all the books I loved as a kid," Jennings said. And to apply her big imagination to the creation of her own tales. - - - VIRTUAL EVENT - What: Terry Catasus Jennings and Erin Teagan talk about their new books and do activities with the audience. Where: Scrawl in Reston, Va. When: Saturday, March 6, at 11 a.m. How much: Free; must register in advance at bit.ly/3dIspIv. Best for: Ages 6 to 11. For more information: Visit scrawlbooks.com/event. Photo: Google Street View UPDATE: 10:30 a.m. RCMP say a third suspect has surrendered to police after a youth was assaulted with a weapon Monday in an attack outside a school in Surrey. Two other youths were taken into custody shortly after the assault outside Panorama Ridge Secondary School. Police say the third suspect surrendered later on Monday and all three youths remained in custody overnight. The suspects were scheduled to appear in court Tuesday and investigators say none of them are known to police. The victim was taken to hospital in stable condition Monday and police have not released further details about what led to the assault. A statement issued Tuesday by RCMP says the attack is believed to be related to an ongoing dispute among the teens and is not linked to gang activity, and there's no indication of any continuing risk to safety at the school. ORIGINAL: 6:20 a.m. RCMP say two youths have been arrested after a male was injured in an assault with a weapon outside a high school in Surrey. Mounties say investigators have identified three suspects in the assault, which happened Monday morning outside of Panorama Ridge Secondary School. The injured youth was taken to hospital in stable condition and the school was placed on a "hold and secure" until the safety of all students was confirmed, police say. All of the suspects are youth and were not previously known to police, RCMP say, and while two have been arrested and are in custody, officers are still looking for the third. Investigators believe the assault is related to an ongoing dispute among people known to each other and the incident is not related to gang activity. Police say there is no indication of a further safety risk at the school but there will be an increased police presence as the investigation continues. Workforce Biden team pledges help for 'damaged' federal workforce The Eisenhower Executive Office Building, home to the Office of Management and Budget. (Image credit: Andrea Izzotti/Shuterstock.com) The Biden-Harris administration isn't done reversing Trump era "damage" to the federal workforce, a White House official charged with working on federal management and agency performance issues said on Monday. "In my less than one month here, I've come to learn anecdotally and quantitatively just how systematically the federal workforce has been damaged, disrespected and demoralized over the last few years," said Pam Coleman, a former Obama White House official, who's serving as the director for performance management within the Office of Management and Budget and leading efforts to revitalize the federal workforce. "Each week we seem to uncover more damage." So far, President Joe Biden has already issued a series of executive orders that reversed key workforce policies of former President Donald Trump, including the establishment of a new category of federal worker subject at-will employment rules and orders curtailing the ability of the unionized workforce to handle union business during work hours. The work isn't done, though, Coleman said. "We continue to assess the full extent of the damage from the previous administration's policies, actions and rhetoric, and are supporting and collaborating with [the Office of Personnel Management] to identify the best strategies to reverse these impacts and rebuild the federal workforce," she said. OPM is also seeking renewal as the leader of personnel and labor issues in the federal government, said Rob Shriver, the associate director for employee services at OPM, during an online event hosted by Government Executive. The agency had been slated for a merger into the General Services Administration, which was thwarted by congressional Democrats. Shriver and Coleman also repeatedly stressed the new administration's welcoming tone toward the federal workforce as compared to the Trump administration, which often took a distrustful, combative stance on the federal workforce. "I'm here because the president has made you a priority. He sees you, believes in you and trusts you," Coleman said. "The president has made it clear that the federal government is a place where staff are protected, empowered and respected." Leaders in the Alabama House of Representatives are backing a bill that comes in response to Gov. Kay Iveys plan to sign 30-year leases on three new mens prisons without legislative consent. The bill by Rep. Mike Jones, R-Andalusia, would create a legislative committee that would review and could delay any agreements that obligate the state for large amounts of money. It would not affect Iveys prison plan but is intended to ensure the Legislature has more say in future agreements, House Speaker Mac McCutcheon, R-Monrovia, said. Right now, the government is working on a multi-billion dollar deal to build correctional facilities and the Legislature has had very little input into that, McCutcheon said. And because of that we feel like if were going to be spending taxpayer dollars to the tune of billions, then there should be some legislative input into that. Jones bill would create a Joint Legislative Oversight Committee on Obligation Transparency made up of six legislators. The Oversight Committee would review proposals by state agencies to spend more than $10 million or 5% of their annual appropriation from the General Fund, whichever is less. If the committee did not act on a proposal within 45 days, the proposal would be deemed approved. If the committee disapproved a proposal the agreement would not take effect until adjournment of the next regular session of the Legislature. That would give lawmakers a chance to pass legislation if they found problems with a proposal. It is important that we maintain a system of checks and balances, and the Legislature must be able to access important information about agreements that obligate the General Fund to substantial expenditures, Jones said in a press release. This bill provides an additional layer of oversight on large executive branch agreements in a manner that is fair, transparent, and, most of all, constitutional. Jones is chairman of the House Rules Committee, which sets the daily agenda in the House. His bill is first on the list for Tuesday, when the Legislature begins the fourth week of the session. Ivey has signed 30-year lease agreements for new prisons in Elmore and Escambia counties. The Ivey administration is negotiating a third agreement on a prison in Bibb County. A developer team led by CoreCivic, a national prison firm, will finance, build, and maintain the prisons in Elmore and Escambia counties and lease them to the state. The Ivey administration is negotiating with another developer team, Alabama Prison Transformation Partners, on the Bibb County prison, which will be in the Brierfield community, near Montevallo. The lease payments for all three prisons are expected to total about $3 billion over 30 years. Payments will start when the prisons are ready to use, which is expected to be in 2025. Related: Organizations call Gov. Kay Iveys plan to lease prisons a 30-year mistake Ivey and the Alabama Department of Corrections have pursued the plan for more than three years. They say it is the foundation of overhauling a system of aging, overcrowded, understaffed, and violent prisons. The state faces a lawsuit by the Department of Justice alleging that violent conditions in the prisons violate the Constitution. The state has disputed that and asked the court to dismiss the case. Ivey has pointed out that legislators tried for two years but failed to reach an agreement on a bond issue to build prisons under former Gov. Robert Bentley. The lease plan is another approach that does not require legislative approval. McCutcheon said the oversight bill is not intended as an attack on Iveys plan. This is not to penalize the governor, but we feel like from a legislative perspective its good government, its good policy, McCutcheon said. Parents in the Auburn school district underestimate the power of their influence in communicating with leaders of public education. Ive been involved as a parent in this district for 13 years, and have many more years invested to go. As parents, we are historically the first to complain when a school needs to close, when the budget cuts start to visibly hurt our children, when there are sweeping staff cuts, increasingly large classroom sizes, and the arts must be thinned. Everybody has an opinion after these hard decisions are made, but many havent yet used their voices to rally support to combat the budget crisis that Auburn school district faces presently. Now is the time. This issue is not an us vs. them with our local administration, and I can not say enough good about the overreached efforts that our Auburn educators make to fill the needs our children have. Sitting through a #fixandfundit open forum, where parents are desperately needed for involvement, I heard the list that our district would be able to supply our children with if we actually had the additional $25 million that Cuomo is depriving Auburn School. Just some of those things include increased staffing, additional supports for special education, smaller classroom sizes, and restoration of our program losses over the years. Our 12-year-old with special education services is a model of how invaluable the program of inclusion is in our district. This underfunded list of needs serves not only the most vulnerable of our district, but provides for all students. Ariel Winter has worn several red-carpet dresses with sheer panels and thigh-high slits. Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic/Jason LaVeris/Robyn Beck/Michael Tran/Getty Images Actress Ariel Winter is known for taking risks with style. The 23-year-old "Modern Family" star has embraced daring looks, such as gowns with sheer panels. Here's a look at some of Winter's most head-turning outfits to date. Visit Insider's homepage for more stories. Like many celebrities, Ariel Winter has shown her style evolution through red-carpet appearances over the years. The "Modern Family" star, who's now 23, has on multiple occasions taken to social media to defend her fashion choices and shut down sexist comments about her body. Winter continuously embraces her personal style, favoring form-fitting silhouettes, details like lace and sheer fabric, and glittery textiles. Here's a look at some of Winter's most daring looks to date. Ariel Winter attended a "Modern Family" Emmy Awards event in 2016 wearing a black dress with a thigh-high slit and plunging neckline. Ariel Winter at ABC's "Modern Family" Emmy Event in 2016. Jon Kopaloff/FilmMagic/Getty Images She paired the dress with studded heels and a gold clutch. In 2016, the actress attended a summer event in a cut-out one-piece swimsuit and denim shorts. Ariel Winter at the 2016 Just Jared Summer Bash. JB Lacroix/Getty Images Winter told People at the time that pairing swimsuits with denim shorts is one of her go-to looks. "I'm a big fan of swimsuits, short shorts, and pumps. I know it sounds so ridiculous but I'm a huge fan. I go to pool parties in that all the time," she said. "I love the cutouts and the see-through stripes on the swimsuit, and then I put it with the shorts and I'm like, 'I'm ready to go swimming or I'm ready to party.' You're ready for whatever." Winter arrived at a Television Academy celebration in a strapless black dress with a criss-cross detail. Ariel Winter at a 2016 Television Academy celebration. Steve Granitz/WireImage/Getty Images She let the design of her dress stand out by wearing minimal jewelry and lace black pumps. For an Emmys event in 2016, Winter wore an asymmetrical blazer dress with a low-cut neckline and thigh-high slit. Ariel Winter at a 2016 Audi event celebrating the Emmys. Valerie Macon/Getty Images The actress wore the tailored dress with a lace bra underneath and strappy heels. Story continues Winter attended the 2016 Emmy Awards in a sparkly Yousef Al-Jasmi gown. Ariel Winter at the 2016 Emmy Awards. Robyn Beck/Getty Images Winter embraced the "naked dress" trend with her red-carpet gown, which had a thigh-high slit and sheer lining across her chest and hips. The actress wore a black romper with a plunging neckline and lace top to a 2016 film screening. Ariel Winter attends an Oscars film screening in 2016. Amy Graves/Getty Images Winter paired the romper with a lacy bralette and matching heels. Winter attended another 2016 Oscar film screening wearing a silky black dress. Ariel Winter at a 2016 Oscar film screening. Amy Graves/Getty Images In an interview with People in 2014, Winter said that she thinks of her personal style as edgy. "I'm not pink, ruffled, preppy," she said. "I like the bodysuits, I love the color black. So the mature style and the more mature body goes with the age that I would like to be." Winter wore an embroidered dress with a sheer skirt and plunging neckline for a 2016 fundraiser event. Ariel Winter at the 2016 TrevorLIVE Los Angeles fundraiser. Jason LaVeris/Getty Images Her floor-length white dress had a woven black floral pattern. Winter arrived at the 2016 Critics' Choice Awards in an ornate, backless gown with cutouts at her hips. Ariel Winter at the 2016 Critics' Choice Awards. Allen Berezovsky/Getty Images She attended the awards show in a Uel Camilo bejeweled dress, Casadei shoes, and Neil Lane jewelry. At the 2017 Screen Actors Guild Awards, Winter wore a shimmery gold dress with mesh details and sequins. Ariel Winter at the 2017 Screen Actors Guild awards. Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images Winter attended the awards ceremony in a Mikael D dress that she paired with gold sandals. Winter attended a Vanity Fair and L'Oreal Paris party in a black bodysuit and sheer lace skirt. Ariel Winter at a Vanity Fair and L'Oreal Paris party in 2017. Emma McIntyre/Getty Images Winter wore the halter-style top with a skirt embroidered with black flowers. In 2017, Winter wore a strapless minidress with sheer panels on the sides and front. Ariel Winter at the 2017 premiere of "Smurfs: The Lost Village." Gregg DeGuire/WireImag/Getty Images While attending the premiere of "Smurfs: The Lost Village," Winter sported a tailored tweed dress with black platform pumps. For the 2017 Tribeca Film Festival, Winter wore a sequined halter-neck dress. Ariel Winter at the 2017 Tribeca Film Festival. Noam Galai/Getty Images Winter attended the premiere of her 2017 film "The Last Movie Star" in the minidress, which she paired with black patent-leather heels. At a 2017 panel for "Modern Family," Winter wore a gold dress with sheer cutouts and metallic details. Ariel Winter at a 2017 "Modern Family" panel. Jason LaVeris/FilmMagic/Getty Images Winter's high-neck dress had shoulder cutouts and see-through panels. She accessorized the intricate minidress with gold pointed-toe pumps and simple jewelry. Winter wore a dress with two thigh-high slits to the 2017 Emmy Awards. Ariel Winter at the 2017 Emmy Awards. Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic/Getty Images The actress wore a beaded black-and-silver gown that had a sheer skirt layered underneath. She accessorized with a pair of ankle-strap heels, Hearts on Fire diamond rings, and a Borgioni diamond ear cuff. For a red-carpet event in 2017, Winter wore a minidress with mesh detailing. Ariel Winter at the LaPalme Magazine fall cover party in 2017. Jerritt Clark/Getty Images At an event in 2017 to celebrate her LaPalme Magazine cover, Winter donned a solid-black dress with a dramatic neckline matching heels. Winter attended the 2018 Palm Springs International Film Festival in a black dress complete with a plunging neckline and thigh-high slit. Ariel Winter at the 2018 Palm Springs International Film Festival. Vivien Killilea/Getty Images Winter paired the floor-length gown with matching black pumps at the closing night screening and reception of "The Last Movie Star." Winter attended HBO's Golden Globes Awards after-party in a black bustier dress and skirt with lace details. Ariel Winter at the HBO Golden Globe Awards 2019 after-party. Michael Tran/Getty Images The actress wore an Epuzer dress with Marli jewelry and Loriblu velvet sandals. In 2020, Winter arrived at the annual Warner Bros. and InStyle Golden Globes after-party in a one-shoulder neon dress. Ariel Winter at the 2020 Warner Bros. and InStyle Golden Globe after-party. Jemal Countess/Getty Images The actress wore an Effie Kats high-neck dress with a thigh-high slit and open back. She paired it with Raye PVC heels and an Edie Parker clutch. In 2020, Winter attended the Spotify Best New Artist party in a fitted white dress with sheer lace panels. Ariel Winter at the Spotify Best New Artist 2020 Party. Steve Granitz/Getty Images Winter paired the all-white dress with silver heels and a textured handbag. Read the original article on Insider Its like Hellmanns mayonnaise you cant imitate it, man, said Waverly Woods, 54, a Republican activist from Virginia Beach. Youre either real mayonnaise, or youre not. Much of Mr. Cottons CPAC address seemed like imitation, with the senator invoking many of the grievances popularized by Mr. Trump cancel culture, critical race theory yet struggling to elicit the same emotional response. Mr. Cotton, who notched one percentage point in the conferences non-Trump straw poll of possible 2024 presidential candidates, was not the only Republican hopeful who struggled to resonate, despite adopting Mr. Trumps language. Even on his home turf, Mr. Scott, who governed the state from 2011 to 2019 and recently became the chair of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, appeared to gain little traction. During his 17-minute address on Friday, Mr. Scott, a former venture capitalist whose net worth is in the hundreds of millions of dollars, took aim at the establishment, gender pronouns and safe spaces before moving on to China. He referred to the moment shortly after the election when President Xi Jinping congratulated Mr. Biden and expressed hope for a win-win relationship. Oh, theres going to be a win-win, Mr. Scott said. Hunter Bidens going to win and get richer and here Mr. Scott paused for a reaction that never came as Communist China wins and becomes the most powerful country in the world. As with Mr. Cotton, none of those interviewed regarded Mr. Scott negatively; most people, and even some Floridians who said they had voted for him in 2018, simply strained to remember him. But their apathy toward such politicians was a function of more than any one personal drawback. With 95 percent of CPAC attendees indicating their continued support for Mr. Trumps agenda, expressions of solidarity were not exceptional but expected. As a result, many people flocked last weekend to Republicans who offered another dimension to their pitch. Some Worcester students are just two weeks away from seeing the inside of a classroom again after a year of learning online during the COVID-19 pandemic. Superintendent Maureen Binienda, in a Worcester School Committee forum on Monday evening, answered questions for parents of students with high needs and students in the New Citizens Center Program, who are scheduled to return to district buildings in two weeks. Parents submitted 90 questions ahead of the meeting, Binienda said. That group of students is slated to return to classrooms on March 15 and will learn in-person Monday through Thursday, Binienda said. Then on March 29, all other students who opted in to the hybrid program will return. One submitted question was about whether staff members would be vaccinated when hybrid begins. We do not control the vaccinations of staff, Binienda said, adding that she is hopeful vaccines will be available for educators soon. If theyre not vaccinated, we are still beginning school and theyre expected to be there. K-12 employees are included in Phase 2 of the states vaccination program, however, the administration of Gov. Charlie Baker has not yet clarified on what date educators can start getting inoculated. Twenty-one state legislators have signed onto a letter requesting the upcoming shipments of the single-dose vaccine go to teachers as the state mandates a return to in-person learning five days a week. One parent wanted to know if students would need to get the COVID-19 vaccine. Binienda said the focus right now is on getting staff vaccinated. The current vaccines available in the United States are not authorized for children. Roughly half of the districts 24,043 students are planning to partake in hybrid education. There are 10,609, or 44%, who plan to stay remote and 12,667, or 53%, who plan to start hybrid learning, Binienda told committee members last week, citing data from February. Worcester students with the highest level of needs and New Citizens Center Program students are slated to return to classrooms on March 15 for hybrid learning. Then March 29 will be the return date for all other students participating in the hybrid model. Some parents were interested in whether the air quality in school buildings would be safe. Binienda told parents that needlepoint bipolar ionization has been installed in buildings to improve airflow and help kill viruses. Additionally, classrooms will be misted for sanitation each night, Binienda said, and custodians will clean touch surfaces and empty the trash. A distancing of 6 feet will be followed in the district, which means that there will be 10 or 12 students in each room, Binienda said. Students will be assigned seats in case contract tracing is needed. If there is another surge of the virus, the district will work with the school committee and Worcester medical director Dr. Michael Hirsh to figure out a plan moving forward, Binienda told parents. Parents have a right to keep child at home through the rest of the school year for remote learning. If any parents who selected hybrid learning want to switch back to remote, Binienda said, they must check in with their students school. For families that had not signed up for hybrid but now want to, there will be a wait until the school can ensure there is enough room to fit all students, Binienda said. As hybrid starts, the district is not changing school start times, the superintendent said. Most teachers will be instructing students in their classroom at the same time that remote students watch from home. Some teachers will be designated for either hybrid or remote learning, Binienda explained. Teachers instructing in-person and remote students will have two screens and a voice amplification device. There has been training for teachers, the superintendent said. Binienda laid out plans to keep buildings clean and told parents that the district has plenty of personal protective equipment. Students and staff must wear masks in school and there will be mask breaks, Binienda said. Students are asked to bring two masks to school each day in case something happens to one mask. If students forget their Chromebook at home, the district does have some extras on hand, Binienda said. Each morning, students will need to do a self-check for symptoms with a health portal from the district before heading into school. In addition to the traditional nurses office, schools will now have a separate COVID-19 medical waiting room for students who do not feel well and have symptoms, as needed per guidelines from the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. For example, if a student develops coronavirus symptoms on the school bus or during class, they will go to the COVID-19 medical waiting room until they can be picked up. Related Content: France and its Western partners plan to go ahead with a protest in the coming days at the U.N. nuclear watchdog's board to criticise Iran's decision to curb cooperation with the agency, its foreign minister said on Tuesday. "The nuclear tensions will lead us in the coming days to emit a protest in the framework of the IAEA Board of Governors to regret this decision," Jean-Yves Le Drian told a parliamentary hearing. Iran said last month it was scaling back cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency, ending extra inspection and monitoring measures introduced by the 2015 nuclear deal, including the power given to the IAEA to carry out snap inspections at facilities not declared by Iran. Britain, France and Germany, all parties to the deal with Iran, on Monday circulated a draft resolution backed by the United States for the Vienna meeting voicing "serious concern" at Iran's reduced cooperation and urging Iran to reverse its steps. Russia and Iran have warned of serious consequences if the resolution passes. The IAEA's 35-nation Board of Governors is holding a quarterly meeting this week against the backdrop of faltering efforts to revive Iran's nuclear deal with major powers now that U.S. President Joe Biden is in office. Short link: By Nupur Anand and Swati Bhat MUMBAI (Reuters) - India's central bank wants banks to limit ownership stakes in capital intensive insurance companies at a maximum 20%, less than half of what the current regulations permit, three sources with knowledge of the discussions told Reuters. Reserve Bank of India (RBI) rules allow banks to hold up to 50% stakes in insurers and on a selective basis equity holdings can be higher but must eventually be brought down within a certain period. The sources, who asked not to be named as the discussions are private, however said the central bank in 2019 unofficially advised banks seeking to acquire stakes in insurers, to limit such stakes to a maximum of 30%, and more recently directed them to cap stake purchases in insurers at 20%. "Unofficially, banks have been told that the regulator is not comfortable with lenders increasing their stakes because the insurance business is seen as a money guzzler," one source said. The RBI wants banks to focus on their main areas of business instead of locking away capital in non-core sectors. The central bank did not respond to a request seeking comment. The unofficial push suggests the RBI is looking for uniformity around ownership rules for lenders with exposure in the sector, following suggestions made in a working paper by an internal group released in November. Some lenders such as Kotak Mahindra Bank and State Bank of India have wholly-owned or majority owned insurance subsidiaries, and the paper had suggested that if any lender had more than a 20% stake in an insurer, they should follow a non-operative financial holding company (NOFHC) structure which will ring fence ownership. Most lenders are not keen to adopt such a structure on concerns it will hurt shareholder value and limit their capital raising ability, one of the sources said. Recommendations made by the working paper are under consideration by the RBI and it is not clear when the central bank will act on or implement the suggestions. In light of this, the sources said the RBI was likely to stall on any requests by banks to boost or acquire new stakes in insurers. Story continues The move comes at a time when India is keen to woo foreign investment in its insurance sector. Last month, the government said it would allow foreign direct investment of up to 74% in insurers, up from 49%. Many foreign insurers are expected to explore the opportunity as insurance penetration continues to be low in India. With fears that banks' bad loans could double amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the RBI does not want banks to lock up money in capital intensive businesses, the sources said. The RBI may have reservations about banks having more than 20% stakes in any non-core companies, one of the sources said. Federal Bank, which sought permission from the RBI to increase its stake in Ageas Federal Life insurance after its board approved the deal about a year ago, has still not received RBI approval, one of the sources said. Federal Bank did not respond to a request seeking comment. Last year, the RBI had also rejected Axis Bank's application to directly purchase a 17% stake in Max Life. The transaction was only approved after Axis restructured it and agreed to purchase the stake with two subsidiaries, bringing down the bank's direct ownership share to less than 10%. Axis Bank did not respond to a request seeking comment on whether it restructured the deal on the advice of the RBI. (Editing by Jacqueline Wong) New samples have returned higher grade rare earths and scandium results than previously reported, supporting the companys upcoming drilling program at the La Paz Project in Arizona. s ( ) (FRA:1BHA) new samples from the La Paz Project in Arizona, USA, have returned grades 47% higher than the average JORC-compliant resource estimate of total rare earth elements (TREE). A total of 32 samples gathered last quarter were sent for metallurgical testing at the Saskatchewan Research Council facility in Canada with the composited grade recorded at 552 parts per million TREE - well above the cut-off grade of 300 ppm TREE in the resource estimate. Additionally, the composited grade of scandium in these same samples was 16 ppm. Shares have been as much as 18 per cent higher to A$0.105 intra-day. Phase 3 metallurgy work underway Additional samples for metallurgical testing were also collected in newly acquired claim control areas to the projects southwest and are awaiting analysis. As recommended by WOOD PLC, the metallurgy program will be undertaken in a sequential manner, initially to determine if the ore can be successfully upgraded into a viable concentrate for treating in the refinery, followed by batch refinery test-work (acid bake, water leach and precipitation). The company believes the results may indicate the possibility that the ore body extends several kilometres with an area of alluvial cover over its centre as indicated by robust surface sample results similar to those in the maiden resource area. Alternatively, this pattern may represent the opportunity for a second, separate resource area. The upcoming drilling in areas southwest of the resource area are intended to assist the company understand which, if either, of these options may exist. Drill campaign rig ready The core drilling program preparations for La Paz are well advanced with the following goals achieved prior to the pending final approval: Timberline Drilling Inc has been engaged and a deposit paid; Nine core drill locations identified (50% more than the original plan) to 2x the depth of the resource; Biological survey completed and accepted by regulatory officials; Archaeological survey completed and accepted by regulatory officials; Permit applications have been approved by the Bureau of Land Management and Arizona State Land Department; and Drill pads have been marked and scraped level, ready for drill rig mobilisation to each site. La Paz mineral resource The project was first drilled in 2011 when the maiden resource was established via 195 extremely shallow percussion drill holes to 30 metres. In 2020, this data was reviewed to confirm the previous defined resource estimate of 128.2 million tonnes at 373.4 ppm (0.037%) total rare earths elements (TREE). Emerging rare earths producer American Rare Earths is emerging as an alternative international supply chain to counter Chinas market dominance of a global rare earths market expected to balloon to US$20 billion by the mid-2020s. As a large tonnage, bulk deposit, La Paz is also potentially the largest, rare earths deposit in the USA and benefits from containing very low penalty elements such as radioactive thorium and uranium. The company plans to deliver its first preliminary economic assessment for La Paz late in 2021 and is working with leading US research institutions to have La Pazs mineral profile incorporated into emerging US advanced rare earth processing technologies. ARR is also acquiring a second US rare earths asset, Laramie project in Wyoming, with the transaction due to be completed by mid-2021. WEST HARTFORD Two people were charged Monday night in connection with a knife-point kidnapping last month, according to police. Capt. Michael Perruccio said members of the Detective Division, Community Support Unit and Emergency Services Unit served two high-risk warrants around 6 p.m. Monday in the case of a Jan. 28 kidnapping. Jalen Faucette-Smith, 20, of New Britain, was taken into custody at the West Farms Mall on New Britain Avenue. Teesa McElroy, also 20 and from New Britain, was taken into custody after a vehicle stop on I-84 in Hartford. Perruccio said during the Jan. 28 incident, a 21-year-old man was kidnapped as he walked eastbound on Boulevard from Trout Brook Drive. The victim was forced into a car and taken to multiple locations where his ATM card was used repeatedly for illegal purchases, Perruccio said. The victim was then forcibly held in an undisclosed location after sustaining minor injuries. He was released the next day in Hartford and was able to get help and subsequently contacted the West Hartford Police Department. During the monthlong investigation, Perruccio said police identified Faucette-Smith and McElroy as suspects. Faucette-Smith was charged with first-degree kidnapping, second-degree robbery, conspiracy to commit first-degree kidnapping, conspiracy to commit second-degree robbery, second-degree larceny, third-degree larceny and payment card theft. McElroy was charged with first-degree kidnapping, second-degree robbery, conspiracy to commit first-degree kidnapping, conspiracy to commit second-degree robbery, third-degree larceny, payment card theft and illegal use of a payment card. They were each held on a $750,000 bond. Perruccio said the investigation is ongoing. Gujarat Panchayat Election Results 2021: Gujarat firmly with BJP's development agenda, says PM Modi India oi-Deepika S Ahmedabad, Mar 02: Prime Minister Narendra Modi thanked the people of Gujarat for their "unwavering faith and affection towards BJP". "Results of the Nagar Palika, Taluka Panchayat and District Panchayat polls across Gujarat give a crystal clear message- Gujarat is firmly with the BJP's agenda of development and good governance. I bow to the people of Gujarat for the unwavering faith and affection towards BJP," PM Modi said. With the BJP emerging stronger in rural and semi-urban areas, Home Minister Amit Shah tweeted that the people in rural parts of Gujarat and farmers have made the BJP victorious and put a seal of trust on the welfare policies of the government. He congratulated Chief Minister Vijay Rupani, Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel and state BJP President C R Paatil as well as party workers for the "grand victory". The ruling BJP recorded a massive victory in the local body polls in Gujarat on Tuesday by winning clear majority in all 31 district panchayats as well as in 196 out of 231 taluka panchayats and 74 out of 81 municipalities. The Congress, the main opposition party in the state, won a clear majority in only one municipality and 18 taluka panchayats, while AIMIM and AAP also made their presence felt. The BJP's success followed its victory in all six municipal corporations where polls were held in the first phase of local elections on February 21. Gujarat Panchayat Election Results 2021: State Cong chief, opposition leader quit In the second phase where polling was held for district and taluka panchayats as well as municipalities on February 28, the BJP again left the Congress far behind by winning 6,236 out of 8,470 seats for which results were declared. The position was not yet clear on four remaining seats. The Congress could win 1,805 seats, while the new entrants Aam Aadmi Paty (AAP) and All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) won 42 and 17 seats, respectively. Asaduddin Owaisi's AIMIM won nine seats in Modasa municipality in Aravalli district, one in Bharuch, and seven in Godhra in Panchmahal. The AAP won 31 seats in taluka panchayat, two in district panchayat and nine in municipality bodies. Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - March 2, 2021) - American Aires Inc. (CSE: WIFI) (the "Company" or "Aires"), a nanotechnology-based disruptor focused on developing products that reduce the harmful effects of electromagnetic radiation ("EMR") caused by everyday consumer electronic devices, is pleased to announce the launch of an innovative new product targeting the growing pet care market under the name 'Lifetune Pet'. The development of this product comes as a result of significant and ongoing consumer requests and demand, showing clear and strong evidence that individuals who are interested in Aires' products are as concerned for their pets' health as they are for their own well-being and that these individuals are actively looking for a solution. Entering this vertical exposes Aires to a completely new, and as yet untapped, market for the Company. According to the American Pet Products Association, the number of households that own pets has steadily risen over the years. In 2020 there were more than 65 million households owning a dog, while households with a cat totaled more than 45 million. An increased number of pet owners, growing demand for healthier pet food options and the trend of adopting supplemental health & wellness products for pets, is fueling the total pet care market. The total value of the US pet industry has steadily grown from an estimated $97.5 billion in 2019 to $99 billion in 2020, with expectations that this trend will continue, supported by a surge in pet ownership related to working from home during COVID lockdowns. "We are very excited about the launch of our new pet product which gives Aires access to a new revenue stream and the opportunity to service the huge market of pet owners, which continues to grow steadily year-over-year and represents an unprecedented growth opportunity for American Aires," comments Dimitry Serov, CEO. Key Product Features Animals of all sizes are susceptible to the harmful effects of EMR, with smaller animals being at risk to an even greater extent. Aires' Lifetune Pet EMR Modulation Technology is designed to protect pets against the impact of constant EMR emissions from nearby and frequently-used electronic devices such as cell phones, wireless earpieces and headsets, desktop computers, laptops, monitors, smart TVs, baby monitors, Wi-Fi routers and more. With the capability to provide protection from the latest generation of high-speed 5G technology, as well as all previous generations, Lifetune Pet is a robust collar pendant enclosed in a protective layer, making it durable, waterproof and designed for active pets of all sizes, allowing it to function effectively as a scaled-down Lifetune Personal device (the equivalent protection designed for people). Marketing Strategy In order to capture market share and enhance the profile of its revolutionary Lifetune Pet, Aires intends to expand its reach in the pet accessories market by utilizing several marketing initiatives. The first effort involves advertising on Google Search, Google Content Networks, YouTube, Microsoft Bing, Instagram, Facebook, and Outbrain, which will enable Aires to reach the widest possible online audience with minimal marketing spend. Through the use of remarketing ads, Aires will be able to identify new website visitors, as well as effectively target return visitors. The ads also complement the Company's other marketing efforts, such as affiliate marketing programs, by helping website visitors who are referred by affiliates convert into customers. Additionally, the ad campaign helps to increase the customer lifetime value by guiding customers to repeat purchases. The second effort includes an affiliate/influencer campaign, through which Aires intends to find new affiliates within the pet accessories and pet lifestyle niches who can advertise Aires' products on their sites. For these arrangements, Aires will pay commissions to affiliates ranging between 10% and 20%. Finally, the Company's recently announced innovative drop-shipping marketing strategy for 2021 (refer news release dated 17 February 2021, here) enables the Company to reach significant numbers of new customers without the associated requisite advertising spend. Third-party e-commerce retailers can effortlessly integrate and offer Aires products from their existing stores, without the retailer needing to purchase and hold the inventory. Instead, once a customer has placed and paid for an order, retailers purchase the items directly from Aires, at which time products are shipped to the customer. This initiative has the potential to expose Aires' complete line of products to hundreds of millions of marketing dollars that are invested by partners into their own e-commerce platforms. The Company recently launched a full suite of consumer products under the brand name 'Lifetune', which is a key milestone for Aires. Lifetune represents the only known product line currently available to specifically address the global health concerns associated with increased EMR emitted by the latest generation 5G technology (and all previous generations), as well as other data-transmitting electronics, such as cell phones, cordless phones, wireless earpieces, wireless headsets, computers, laptops, monitors, smart TVs, Wi-Fi routers, baby monitors and more. In concert with this new product launch, Aires has adopted a global ecommerce and distribution platform that can easily scale with sales growth. Since its inception in 2019, Aires has enjoyed exuberant growth and has been aggressively building out its ecommerce platform which is now capable of delivering up to 1,000 shipments per day. These distribution capabilities are supported by newly-added customer service center agreements as well as strategically placed fulfillment centers that can ensure prompt delivery around the world. With a daily average of over 100 transactions, and an average value per purchase of approximately $300, Aires is strongly positioned to continue growing sales, driving financial performance and generating value for shareholders. About American Aires Inc. American Aires Inc. ("Aires") is Canadian-based nanotechnology company which has developed proprietary silicon-based microprocessors that reduce the harmful effects of electromagnetic radiation (EMR). The technology was developed by a team of highly credited scientists and confirmed by independent third-party validation including peer reviewed studies and publications in scientific journals. Aires' Lifetune products specifically target EMR emitted by consumer electronic devices such as cellphones, computers, baby monitors, Wi-Fi radiation, including the rapidly expanding next-generation high-speed 5G networks. Aires is listed on the CSE under ticker 'WIFI'. Learn more at www.airestech.com . On behalf of the board of directors Company Contact: Dimitry Serov, CEO Email: dimitry@airestech.com Telephone: (905) 482-4667 Website: www.airestech.com For further information please contact: Investor Cubed Inc.: Neil Simon, CEO Email: wifi@airestech.com Telephone: (647) 258-3310 Certain information set forth in this news release may contain forward-looking statements that involve substantial known and unknown risks and uncertainties. All statements other than statements of historical fact are forward-looking statements, including, without limitation, statements regarding future financial position, business strategy, use of proceeds, corporate vision, proposed acquisitions, partnerships, joint-ventures and strategic alliances and co-operations, budgets, cost and plans and objectives of or involving the Company. Such forward-looking information reflects management's current beliefs and is based on information currently available to management. Often, but not always, forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of words such as "plans", "expects", "is expected", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "predicts", "intends", "targets", "aims", "anticipates" or "believes" or variations (including negative variations) of such words and phrases or may be identified by statements to the effect that certain actions "may", "could", "should", "would", "might" or "will" be taken, occur or be achieved. A number of known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors may cause the actual results or performance to materially differ from any future results or performance expressed or implied by the forward-looking information. These forward-looking statements are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties, certain of which are beyond the control of the Company including, but not limited to, the impact of general economic conditions, industry conditions and dependence upon regulatory approvals. Certain material assumptions regarding such forward-looking statements may be discussed in this news release and the Company's annual and quarterly management's discussion and analysis filed at www.sedar.com. Readers are cautioned that the assumptions used in the preparation of such information, although considered reasonable at the time of preparation, may prove to be imprecise and, as such, undue reliance should not be placed on forward-looking statements. The Company does not assume any obligation to update or revise its forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise, except as required by securities laws. No securities regulatory authority has either approved or disapproved of the contents of this news release. The Shares have not been, nor will they be, registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or any state securities laws, and may not be offered or sold in the United States, or to or for the account or benefit of any person in the United States, absent registration or an applicable exemption from the registration requirements. This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any common shares in the United States, or in any other jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful. We seek safe harbour. Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor its Market Regulator (as that term is defined in the policies of the Canadian Securities Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release. Not intended for distribution to United States Newswire Services or for dissemination in the United States. Any failure to comply with this restriction may constitute a violation of United States Securities laws. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/75764 New Delhi: The National Testing Agency (NTA) has released the answer key of the first phase of the JEE Main 2021 exams conducted in February. The answer key is available for download on the official website of NTA on jeemain.nta.nic.in. Students who took the exams can match their responses with the answer key and raise objections. The window to raise objections will be open till March 3. Students will be required to pay Rs 200 per question to challenge the answer key. JEE Main 2021: How to download answer key Step 1: Go to the official website on jeemain.nta.nic.in Step 2: Click on the "Answer Key challenge link" Step 3: Enter the application number and password and click on submit Step 4: JEE Main 2021 answer key will be displayed on the screen Step 5: Click the link to download the answer key Step 6: Match the answer key with your responses and raise objections if required The final answer key will be released after the challenges are considered. The first phase of JEE main examination was held between February 23-26. The results are expected to be announced by March 7. The second phase of the exam will be held in March. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. 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. This service applies to you if your subscription has not yet expired on our old site. You will have continued access until your subscription expires; then you will need to purchase an ongoing subscription through our new system. Please contact the Parsons Sun office at (620) 421-2000 if you have any questions Important local history that still resonates to this day . . . Read more: What The History Of 'Noose Road' Tells Us About Kansas, Race And The Lynchings Of Black Men HAYS, Kansas - On the night of Jan. 6, 1869, Luke Barnes, Lee Watkins and James Ponder sat in jail accused of shooting a white railroad worker in this northwest Kansas town. There is a yawning gap between any successful prosecution of historical sexual assault and the right of alleged victims to tell their stories. In that gap lies the right to the presumption of innocence and defamation law. The womans account is detailed and distressing but not a signed police statement. Credit:iStockphoto In that gap also lies the insufficient admissible evidence NSW Police referred to on Tuesday, when announcing they had closed their investigation into a womans allegation she was raped more than 30 years ago. She had taken her own life before making a formal statement to police. But she had made her accusations in an informal document that has been seen by many in politics and the media, including this author. The man she accused is now a federal cabinet minister, who strenuously denies the allegations. The government sold airwaves worth Rs 77,814.80 crore in the spectrum auction, with Reliance Jio emerging as the biggest buyer by acquiring spectrum worth Rs 57,122.65 crore. In a release, the government said 855.60 MHz of airwaves were bought for Rs 77,814.80 crore in two days of auction, which concluded on Tuesday after six rounds of bidding. It had received bids of Rs 77,146 crore on the first day of spectrum auction on Monday. "The value of the spectrum for which there are winning bids is Rs 77,814.80 crore. Hence, incremental bids for Rs 668.20 crore were made today," the release quoted Telecom Secretary Anshu Prakash as saying. Jio acquired 488.35 MHz of airwaves, while Bharti Airtel acquired 355.45 MHz for Rs 18,699 crore. Vodafone Idea got 11.80 MHz of spectrum for Rs 1,993.40 crore. In a statement, Jio said it successfully acquired the right to use spectrum in all 22 circles across India. It acquired spectrum in 800 MHz, 1,800 MHz and 2,300 MHz bands in the auction. The company, it said, has very well balanced spectrum for LTE services and future upgradation to 5G technology. With this acquisition, Jio's total owned spectrum footprint has increased significantly by 55 per cent to 1,717 MHz. Also read: Airtel acquires spectrum worth Rs 18,699 crore; to help cover 90 million customers Earlier in the day, Airtel said the new spectrum will help it cover an additional 90 million customers in India, while Vodafone Idea said it will increase its 4G coverage and capacity. A total of 2,308.80 MHz spectrum in seven frequency bands -- 700 MHz, 800 MHz, 900 MHz, 1800 MHz, 2100 MHz, 2300 MHz and 2500 MHz -- was put to auction, including spectrum expiring up to December, 2021. The deployment of additional spectrum will help in improving the quality of service and customer experience of telecom consumers, the government said. While there were no bidders for 700 MHz and 2,500 MHz bands, only 15 MHz, or 8.57 per cent of available spectrum, was acquired in 2,100 MHz band. "Spectrum Usage Charges (SUC) for the spectrum acquired in this auction will be payable at the rate of 3 per cent of Adjusted Gross Revenue (AGR) of the licensee, excluding revenue from wireline services," the government said. Also read: Vodafone Idea acquires spectrum in 5 circles; to help increase 4G coverage Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full 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 President urged citizens to fear "lies spread by certain politicians" rather than the vaccine. President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky assures that the government will ensure a sufficient number of COVID-19 vaccine doses to provide jabs to all willing to get their shot as early as this year. "In general, the number of vaccines will be sufficient to provide coronavirus vaccinations for everyone this year," he stressed. The president recalled that today, at the front line in Donbas, together with soldiers and military medics, he was got his own jab of the Oxford / AstraZeneca (CoviShield) vaccine. Read alsoOnline registration for COVID-19 vaccination kicks off on March 1"With my personal example, I show that vaccination is important, necessary, and completely safe. You shouldn't be afraid of vaccination, but rather the lies of certain Ukrainian politicians, spreading faster than any infection, being dangerous for the health of all citizens," he stressed. The president recalled that the Oxford/AstraZeneca (CoviShield) vaccine had been approved for use in dozens of countries, in particular in European Union member states, as well as in the U.S. and UK. Under an agreement with AstraZeneca, the drug is manufactured by one of the global leaders in vaccine production Serum Institute of India. Also, production capacities are located in South Korea. The vaccine has been and will continue to be administered to millions worldwide, including in Canada. This vaccine was the first to be delivered to Ukraine. Zelensky and coronavirus On March 2, Zelensky received his vaccine shot along with the Ukrainian military. On November 9, 2020, came the report that Zelensky contracted COVID-19. The president recovered November 23. COVID-19 vaccination in Ukraine: Background On February 22, 2021, the Ukrainian Health Ministry registered the Oxford/AstraZeneca (Covishield) COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use. The vaccine was developed by the University of Oxford in partnership with the British-Swedish company AstraZeneca. The Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine for emergency use has been approved by the World Health Organization (WHO) and authorized by the UK, the European Union, and India. On February 23, the first batch of the Covishield vaccine arrived in Ukraine. On February 24, Ukraine launched a nationwide COVID-19 vaccination campaign. Reporting by UNIAN Bloomberg photo by Andrey Rudakov. Oil held steady just days before many of the worlds largest producer nations meet to discuss how much crude they should supply in the coming months. Crude futures in New York were trading near $61 a barrel. OPEC and its allies will meet on Thursday to decide if they will ease supply curbs further after Saudi cuts pushed the groups output lower last month. Ahead of the gathering, OPECs largest producer has urged members to take a cautious approach, despite headline prices having their best ever first two months of a year. STL announced the appointment of Christopher Rice as the Chief Executive Officer for its Access Solutions Business. Chriss appointment reflects STLs strong focus on driving growth and innovation in the access segment. Leveraging 25 years of experience in optical communications and system integration, STL is now expanding its capabilities across digital networks by building core solutions in the edge access area, both on the wireline and 5G wireless side. With over 5 years of investment in access technologies and key product launches, the company has launched the Access Solutions Business Unit focusing on Open RAN, 5G, programmable FTTx, and controller/orchestration software. Chris is a seasoned technology executive who will lead this BU and advance STLs growth plans. Chris brings over 25 years of experience in the telecom industry. Prior to STL, he was associated with AT&T where he delivered on a multi-year technology strategy and vision for both the network and the underlying systems evolution. He also led AT&Ts pivot to software-defined networking (SDN), leading the team that built the fundamental automation and platform capabilities to drive this shift. Chris holds an MBA from the University of Central Florida, a Masters degree in Electrical Engineering, from Virginia Tech, and is a graduate from Rutgers wireless information networks laboratory (WINLAB). The digital networking space is at an inflection point where open technologies and software-driven infrastructures are becoming increasingly relevant, said Chris Rice. STL is uniquely positioned to capitalise on this megatrend through its growing access portfolio that supports scale, latency, openness, and agility. Telecom companies require these characteristics across consumer and enterprise networks. I am very excited to lead this business and this impressive team. Together, we will build next-gen solutions to realise the full potential of fibre broadband and 5G. We will deliver these with programmability and at the cost points the industry is demanding, he added. Commenting on Chriss appointment, Anand Agarwal, Group CEO, STL, said, STL is committed to making open source and converged networks a reality. We have been investing in SDN for 5G wireless and fibre-based wireline networks for over 5 years. I am extremely excited to have Chris lead our Access solutions team. I am sure that with an exceptional track record in driving these major shifts globally, Chris will take the 5G and access solutions business to the next level and achieve technology and market leadership for STL. I welcome Chris to the STL family and wish him the best for this new journey. A veteran Texas medical examiner has been suspended from conducting autopsies in homicide cases after several inconsistencies were found in at least two of his reports - including missing a bullet in a teenage murder victim's body. Dr. Marc Krouse, who has worked for the Tarrant County Medical Examiner's office since 1981, has been prohibited from performing homicide-related autopsies since November, the Star Telegram reported. The chief deputy medical examiner's suspension came shortly after he performed an autopsy on 19-year-old murder victim Alfredo Olivares, who was shot to death in Forth Worth in September. While Olivares was shot twice, Krouse noted in his September 19 report that the teen only had one gunshot wound on his left lower back and listed his cause of death as 'a gunshot wound to the abdomen'. However, when another medical examiner reviewed Krouse's report the following month, they noted several inconsistencies, including that images from the hospital showed two bullets in Olivares' body. The second bullet had not been removed by Krouse and instead he reported the wound as a 'surgical stab' - despite hospital and police records reporting it as a gunshot wound. The calamitous mishap resulted in Olivares' body behind exhumed under court order in December. The Tarrant County District Attorneys office has since notified defense lawyers in as many as 40 other murder cases that there are questions about Krouse's credibility. Dr. Marc Krouse, who has worked for the Tarrant County Medical Examiner's office since 1981, has been prohibited from performing homicide-related autopsies since November Of those 40 cases, which date from 2019 to 2020, Krouse either performed an autopsy or signed off on an autopsy that was performed by another medical examiner. It's believed that Krouse conducted at least six of those autopsies first-hand, the DA's office said. 'A disclosure alerts the defense of potential evidence so that the attorney can ask the judge to allow questioning on the topic at trial,' DA spokeswoman Anna Tinsley Williams said. It isn't clear what the examiner's office plans to do - if anything - with cases Krouse might have worked on before the 2019-2020 period it's reviewing. The Tarrant County Medical Examiner's office has found inconsistencies in at least one other of Krouse's autopsies, which was conducted in February last year. That case involved a paraplegic man who was left paralyzed in a 1990 shooting but the bullet was never removed from his abdomen. Krouse reportedly made no attempt to locate the bullet and failed to review hospital records sent to him two months earlier, the examiner's office said. In a statement, the medical examiner's office said that so far no further issues with Krouse's work have been found, but it didn't specify how many of his autopsies had been reviewed. Krouse has been employed at the office for four decades. Officials also declined to comment on how long Krouse has been suspended from conducting autopsies in homicide cases. He is still permitted to do autopsies in non-homicide cases. The president of the Tarrant County Defense Lawyers Association, Benson Varghese, has called for a full investigation. 'This is truly unprecedented,' Varghese told NBC5. 'You have a very significant case. You have an individual who's high-ranking at the ME's office who's making a mistake that is not only profound but one that shouldn't have been made under any circumstance.' The Tarrant County Medical Examiner's office (above) found inconsistencies in at least one other of Krouse's reports, dated February 2020 In the 40 cases the DA's office has notified defense attorneys about, Krouse's expertise can now be called into question during any legal proceedings, including in front of a jury. That includes the case Olivares, where 23-year-old Peter Cardona, of Benbrook was charged with his murder last year. Olivares, 19, was shot on September 19 as he stood in the front yard of a home in the 4100 block of Valentine Street in Fort Worth. He was taken to the Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital Fort Worth, where he died of his injuries in the operating room. Four days later, Cardona was charged with his murder. In Krouse's autopsy report, Krouse noted that Olivares had suffered a gunshot wound to his left lower back, which had caused injuries to his ribs and left kidney. His cause of death was listed as a gunshot wound to the lower abdomen. A second bullet in the teen's body was missed by Krouse, despite hospital and police records stating he'd been shot twice. On review of Krouse's report, another medical examiner found that Krouse didn't look at the radiology report which would have clearly shown both bullets in his body. Additionally, at least four other discrepancies were found, including Krouse's assertion that Olivares didn't have any personal belongings, but photos show he was wearing a leg monitor. Krouse also wrote that Oliveras was clothed, but police had already taken all of his clothing in as evidence. By December, Oliveras body was exhumed by court order to retrieve any further evidence that may have been missed by Krouse, including the second bullet. Officials also declined to comment on how long Krouse has been suspended from conducting autopsies in homicide cases. He is still permitted to do autopsies in non-homicide cases (pictured is Krouse on 'Forensic Files' episode 'Low Maintenance' which aired February 25, 2011) Exhumations are only done in extraordinary circumstances where either the body contains significant evidence that was missed, or if the cause of death could be different than what was originally determined. In this instance, missing bullet fragments could be relevant to help identify the weapon used in the fatal shooting, which could in-turn identify or acquit a suspect. It could also lead to a new determination on the cause or manner of Olivares' death. 'We do believe that the discrepancies will be a critical issue in our case, and we believe our client is innocent,' Cardona's defense attorney, Emily Lachance, told the Telegram. So far, no other cases tied to Krouse have resulted in the exhumation of a body. However, because of the discrepancies in that report, other medical examiners have collected a random sampling of Krouses reports to review going back to January 2020, according to the Star Telegram. Doctors found four failures by Krouse in a February 2020 autopsy of a paraplegic man who was left paralyzed after a shooting in 1990. The man's family said the bullet was never removed from his body at the time. According to the medical examiner's office's review, Krouse made no attempt to find it during his autopsy of the man. Krouse is said to have only taken an X-ray of the man's chest, which didnt show the bullet. He didn't take any further X-rays, the report says. It was determined that Krouse failed to review a hospital records given to him two months earlier before completing his report. He also failed to review a police report, the report stated. The medical examiner's office declined to make Dr. Krouse available for an interview. BOSTON - Six Dr. Seuss books including And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street and If I Ran the Zoo will stop being published because of racist and insensitive imagery, the business that preserves and protects the author's legacy said Tuesday. A copy of the book "And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street," by Dr. Seuss, rests in a chair, Monday, March 1, 2021, in Walpole, Mass. Dr. Seuss Enterprises, the business that preserves and protects the author and illustrator's legacy, announced on his birthday, Tuesday, March 2, 2021, that it would cease publication of several children's titles including "And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street" and "If I Ran the Zoo," because of insensitive and racist imagery. (AP Photo/Steven Senne) BOSTON - Six Dr. Seuss books including And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street and If I Ran the Zoo will stop being published because of racist and insensitive imagery, the business that preserves and protects the author's legacy said Tuesday. These books portray people in ways that are hurtful and wrong, Dr. Seuss Enterprises told The Associated Press in a statement that coincided with the late author and illustrators birthday. Ceasing sales of these books is only part of our commitment and our broader plan to ensure Dr. Seuss Enterprises catalogue represents and supports all communities and families," it said. The other books affected are McElligots Pool, On Beyond Zebra!, Scrambled Eggs Super!, and The Cats Quizzer. The decision to cease publication and sales of the books was made last year after months of discussion, the company, which was founded by Seuss' family, told AP. Dr. Seuss Enterprises listened and took feedback from our audiences including teachers, academics and specialists in the field as part of our review process. We then worked with a panel of experts, including educators, to review our catalogue of titles," it said. In And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street," an Asian person is portrayed wearing a conical hat, holding chopsticks, and eating from a bowl. If I Ran the Zoo includes a drawing of two bare-footed African men wearing what appear to be grass skirts with their hair tied above their heads. Books by Dr. Seuss who was born Theodor Seuss Geisel in Springfield, Massachusetts, on March 2, 1904 - have been translated into dozens of languages as well as in braille and are sold in more than 100 countries. He died in 1991. FILE - In this May 4, 2017, file photo, a mural that features Theodor Seuss Geisel, left, also known by his pen name Dr. Seuss, covers part of a wall near an entrance at The Amazing World of Dr. Seuss Museum, in Springfield, Mass. Dr. Seuss Enterprises, the business that preserves and protects the author and illustrator's legacy, announced on his birthday, Tuesday, March 2, 2021, that it would cease publication of several children's titles including "And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street" and "If I Ran the Zoo," because of insensitive and racist imagery. (AP Photo/Steven Senne, File) He remains popular, earning an estimated $33 million before taxes in 2020, up from just $9.5 million five years ago, the company said. Forbes listed him No. 2 on its highest-paid dead celebrities of 2020, behind only the late pop star Michael Jackson. Random House Children Books, Dr. Seuss' publisher, issued a brief statement Tuesday: We respect the decision of Dr. Seuss Enterprises (DSE) and the work of the panel that reviewed this content last year, and their recommendation. As adored as Dr. Seuss is by millions around the world for the positive values in many of his works, including environmentalism and tolerance, there has been increasing criticism in recent years over the way Blacks, Asians and others are drawn in some of his most beloved childrens books, as well as in his earlier advertising and propaganda illustrations. The National Education Association, which founded Read Across America Day in 1998 and deliberately aligned it with Geisels birthday, has for several years deemphasized Seuss and encouraged a more diverse reading list for children. School districts across the country have also moved away from Dr. Seuss, prompting Loudoun County, Virginia, schools just outside Washington, D.C., to douse rumours last month that they were banning the books entirely. Research in recent years has revealed strong racial undertones in many books written/illustrated by Dr. Seuss, the school district said in a statement. In 2017, a school librarian in Cambridge, Massachusetts, criticized a gift of 10 Seuss books from first lady Melania Trump, saying many of his works were steeped in racist propaganda, caricatures, and harmful stereotypes. In 2018, a Dr. Seuss museum in his hometown of Springfield removed a mural that included an Asian stereotype. The Cat in the Hat," one of Seuss' most popular books, has received criticism, too, but will continue to be published for now. Dr. Seuss Enterprises, however, said it is committed to listening and learning and will continue to review our entire portfolio." The move to cease publication of the books drew immediate reaction on social media from those who called it another example of cancel culture." We've now got foundations book burning the authors to whom they are dedicated. Well done, everyone," conservative commentator and author Ben Shapiro tweeted. Others approved of the decision. The books we share with our children matter. Books shape their world view and tell them how to relate to the people, places, and ideas around them. As grown-ups, we have to examine the worldview we are creating for our children, including carefully re-examining our favourites," Rebekah Fitzsimmons, an assistant teaching professor at Carnegie Mellon University, tweeted. Numerous other popular childrens series have been criticized in recent years for alleged racism. In the 2007 book, Should We Burn Babar?, the author and educator Herbert R. Kohl contended that the Babar the Elephant books were celebrations of colonialism because of how the title character leaves the jungle and later returns to civilize his fellow animals. One of the books, Babars Travels, was removed from the shelves of a British library in 2012 because of its alleged stereotypes of Africans. Critics also have faulted the Curious George books for their premise of a white man bringing home a monkey from Africa. And Laura Ingalls Wilders portrayals of Native Americans in her Little House On the Prairie novels have been faulted so often that the American Library Association removed her name in 2018 from a lifetime achievement award it gives out each year. The association still gives out the Geisel Award for the most distinguished American book for beginning readers published in English in the United States during the preceding year. AP National Writer Hillel Italie contributed from New York. Joyce Goodwin was delighted when she went online Sunday and found that a Walgreens pharmacy near her home in Oregon City had COVID-19 vaccination appointments available. But when she went to schedule an appointment, the system wouldnt allow her to complete the sign-up process. Goodwin and other Oregonians who tried to sign up for COVID-19 vaccinations through Walgreens over the last several days report a glitch in the system that prevented them from booking appointments. While Walgreens has shown plenty of available first dose appointments in the Portland metro area, the system requires people to sign up for both their first and second dose appointments at the same time. When people go to schedule their second dose, though, they find none available. I was so pleased when I saw that Walgreens had several pharmacies that had vaccines, but I have not been able to schedule anything through them because of that second dose problem, said Goodwin, 81. Ive probably tried 10 times between yesterday and today. Walgreens was added last week to the list of Oregon pharmacies offering COVID-19 vaccines to eligible Oregonians through the Federal Retail Pharmacy Program, joining Albertsons, Safeway, Costco and Health Mart. Walgreens pharmacies across Oregon received 8,190 initial COVID-19 vaccine doses last week through the program. But glitches in the pharmacys scheduling system have frustrated Oregonians who have tried to sign up for appointments through Walgreens. People in other parts of the country have reported similar problems at Walgreens over the last week. A Walgreens corporate spokesperson apologized for the glitches and said the company was working to resolve the issues. As we continue to scale our COVID-19 vaccination program and demand outweighs available inventory, customers may experience temporary issues with our vaccine scheduler, which may result in patients being unable to book an appointment, the spokesperson said in an email. We are working to resolve issues as quickly as possible, often times within as little as one hour. The glitch was still preventing people in the Portland metro from scheduling appointments early Monday afternoon. By 4 p.m., the pharmacys scheduling system no longer listed any appointments available in Portland. Oregonians who have managed to schedule appointments at pharmacies throughout the state over the last several weeks reported positive experiences after facing struggles trying to schedule appointments through the states vaccination scheduling website at mass vaccination sites like the Oregon Convention Center or Portland International Airport. Those issues prompted the state last week to start requiring that eligible Oregonians who want to book appointments at the Oregon Convention Center enter their names into a registry. Those Oregonians will then be notified when its their turn to get an appointment, rather than having to compete for appointments online at set times each week. But snagging an appointment through a pharmacy hasnt been easy either. Retail pharmacies have just about 100 doses available each week, and Walgreens glitch demonstrates that website issues are not limited to the states scheduling system. Goodwin said she has been waiting to secure an appointment at a local pharmacy because she has mobility issues and doesnt feel comfortable driving to the Oregon Convention Center for a vaccine. That has left her with a string of frustrations. In addition to the issues with Walgreens website Sunday and Monday, Goodwin has been unable to book an appointment through Albertsons, Safeway or Fred Meyer, each of which has a very limited supply. -- Jamie Goldberg | jgoldberg@oregonian.com | @jamiebgoldberg 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. Firmus energy is to increase gas tariffs by 17.75% in several towns and villages across Northern Ireland that will come into effect from April 1, the Belfast Telegraph can exclusively reveal. In documents leaked to this news organisation, the firm explained that the price hike will affect the Ten Towns Network area. The change will see an average household bill rising by 1.43 per week, bringing prices broadly back to summer 2020 levels. The Ten Towns Network area includes Antrim, Armagh, Ballymena, Ballymoney, Banbridge, Coleraine, Craigavon including Lurgan and Portadown Limavady, Londonderry, Newry and more than 25 other towns and villages in the surrounding areas. Customers in the greater Belfast area and the West Network area covering Strabane, Omagh, Cookstown, Dungannon, Enniskillen and Derrylin, will not be impacted. Firmus energy, which supplies gas to around 100,000 people in Northern Ireland, explained that the extra costs are due to an increase in global wholesale gas prices. It added that the hike follows on from three price reductions totalling 37% over the last 18 months, which led to gas bills being at an historic low for its customers. The 1.43 per week hike is based on a typical firmus energy network pay as you go customer, while credit customers bills will increase by 1.50 per week. Managing director of firmus energy, Michael Scott, said: We know that price stability is important for our customers but the increase of wholesale natural gas costs on the global market, which are beyond our control, have unfortunately made this increase inevitable. During 2020 the price of wholesale gas decreased dramatically on the world markets, leading to firmus energy being able to offer our lowest ever tariffs. Todays announcement, while unwelcome, is a sign of the market readjusting after 2020 to more standard levels. Any increase is never welcome news and we recognise this comes at a particularly difficult time for many. We want to assure our customers that we will continue to monitor and review our tariffs to ensure customers are getting the best prices possible. There is a clear ambition to reduce Carbon Dioxide (CO2) emissions in Northern Ireland. Every home converting from oil to natural gas benefits from an immediate CO2 reduction of 48%. The Utility Regulator has scrutinised firmus energys actual costs to supply gas to homes and businesses in the Ten Town Network area. Firmus energy stated that the price rise follows the ongoing tariff review process that is being carried out by the company and the Utility Regulator, in consultation with the Department for the Economy and the Consumer Council for Northern Ireland. Firmus energy announced a 12.5% price cut to bills in September and said the reduction meant it was charging the lowest price for gas since 2011, with customers saving 63 per year. That followed a 12% reduction to its gas tariffs in the greater Belfast network area in March 2020, while the Ten Towns Network benefited from a 21% price slash. Firms energy customers seeking advice on their natural gas bills or direct debit payments can contact their customer services team on 0330 024 9000. 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. The Tuesday held that amounts paid by resident Indian end-users or distributors to non-resident foreign manufacturers as consideration for the use of the computer software is not taxable as 'Royalty'. A bench of Justices R F Nariman, Hemant Gupta and B R Gavai said the amount paid is not the payment of for the use of copyright in the computer software and does not give rise to any income taxable in India. "The amounts paid by resident Indian end-users/distributors to non-resident computer software manufacturers/suppliers, as consideration for the resale/use of the computer software through End-user license agreements/distribution agreements, is not the payment of for the use of copyright in the computer software, and that the same does not give rise to any income taxable in India ," the bench said adding that the persons were not liable to deduct any TDS. The apex court, while hearing a bunch of appeals, dismissed the appeal filed by the Income Tax Department and allowed the appeals filed by assesses. In one of the cases, Engineering Analysis Centre of Excellence Pvt. Ltd, a resident Indian end-user of shrink-wrapped computer software, directly imported from the United States of America. The Assessing Officer found that what was in fact transferred in the transaction between the parties was copyright which attracted the payment of and thus, it was required that tax be deducted at source by the Indian importer and end-user, EAC and it was held liable to pay the amount of Rs 1,03,54,784. The High Court of Karnataka had held that resident Indian importers were liable for deduction of tax at source which was set aside by the apex court. 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 Almost 10 million Australians could pay up to $610 a year to fund aged care services if the government introduces a new levy, but health experts warn linking funding to wages wont be enough to fix the failing system. A 1 per cent income levy could cost the median person who already pays the Medicare levy as much as $610, while boosting funds for the aged care sector by $7.85 billion annually. A union proposal for a 0.65 per cent levy would raise about $5 billion a year. Prime Minister Scott Morrison released the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety final report on Monday. Credit:Edwina Pickles On Monday, Prime Minister Scott Morrison left the door open to tax increases, including the royal commissions funding levy recommendation, while releasing the final report of the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety. Labor has indicated it is open to government proposals for funding changes, but will respond after the May budget and will carefully consider all the options for reform. Garrett, IN (46738) Today A mix of clouds and sun during the morning will give way to cloudy skies this afternoon. High 74F. Winds light and variable.. Tonight Mainly cloudy. Slight chance of a shower late. Low 54F. Winds light and variable. SARAJEVO (Reuters) - Former wartime enemy Serbia donated 5,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccine to the Bosniak-Croat region of neighbouring Bosnia on Tuesday, allowing it to launched its inoculation campaign. The Bosniak-Croat Federation, one of Bosnia's two autonomous entities alongside the Serb Republic, has ordered 1.2 million doses under the global COVAX vaccine-sharing scheme, and nearly 900,000 from the European Union, but has not received any yet. At Sarajevo airport, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic handed the vaccines to members of Bosnia's tripartite presidency, Sefik Dzaferovic, Zeljko Komsic and Milorad Dodik, and vowed to send another 5,000 doses in the coming days. "I am happy that we can save ... lives with vaccines, it is important and great thing," Vucic told reporters. "Serbia is acting as a friend and a neighbour." In 1992-95, Serbia under then-strongman President Slobodan Milosevic backed nationalist Bosnian Serbs in a devastating war to purge Bosnia of its Muslims and Croats and carve out a Greater Serb homeland. Around 100,000 people were killed. The 1995 Dayton peace accord created a federal Bosnia divided into two autonomous entities along largely ethnic lines. Serbia is now at peace with former 1990s foes, including fellow former Yugoslav republic and European Union member state Croatia, and is a candidate to join the EU. Bosnia is the third ex-Yugoslav republic to receive vaccines from Serbia, after North Macedonia and Montenegro. "When global multilateral mechanisms ... have failed, President Vucic sent (us) an offer (for vaccines) and we have accepted it," Dzaferovic said. Bosnia's Serb republic, which maintains close ties with Serbia, last month started inoculations with Russia's Sputnik V vaccine. Belgrade also allocated 5,000 vaccine doses to administer to Serb Republic medical staff. Around 1 million people in Serbia have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. In the Western Balkans, inoculations on a much smaller scale are under way in Montenegro, North Macedonia and Albania, while Kosovo and the Bosniak-Croat region have yet to launch their campaigns. So far, Bosnia has recorded 130,979 cases of the new coronavirus and 5,071 deaths. (Reporting by Aleksandar Vasovic; Editing by Mark Heinrich) Union booksellers held a rally outside the Strands flagship location in New York City on Monday afternoon, protesting the stores labor practices after a year of worsening relations between employees and owner Nancy Bass Wyden. In preparation for the holiday rush last year, 38 union worker were rehired by the store, but 31 were subsequently laid off again, according to Melissa Guzy, a Strand bookseller who also serves in leadership of the UAW Local 2179. For some booksellers, this was the third time they were laid off since the Covid-19 pandemic upended the stores business, which was highly dependent on tourism and foot traffic. People are struggling. People are struggling right now, Guzy said. They're suffering. The protest drew more than two dozen booksellers including book workers from nearby Bluestockings Bookstore, Cafe, and Activist Center. Union members allege labor and contract violations by the Strand, including reassignment of union jobs to non-union managers and the outsourcing of web design and e-commerce functions to non-union vendors. Those allegations led to arbitration between the company and the union. Longtime general manager Eddie Sutton, who left the store in July, will appear at an arbitration hearing on Tuesday (March 2). In an e-mail to PW, Bass Wyden said, "I am disappointed the union continues to engage in a divisive and false campaign during a time when cooperation and flexibility is more important than ever before. The pandemic has made this the most difficult year in our 94 year history and I continue to be singularly focused on keeping The Strand going. The reality is that despite our best efforts and the incredible support we've experienced from our community we continue to operate at a loss due to the dramatic decrease in foot traffic and business in the city." Relations between Bass Wyden and union employees have been tense for a number of years, but worsened when filings by Bass Wydens husband, Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR), revealed that the she had purchased stock in Amazon at the outset of the pandemic, while also receiving more than $1 million in payroll protection loans from the federal government. A total of 188 employees were laid off last March. Approximately two-thirds of the staff remains out of work. With contract negotiations slated to begin this summer, booksellers are anxious that Bass Wydens actions signal a rough road ahead. Guzy said the union is bracing for a union-busting campaign come contract time. The issues at the Strand are not isolated and unionization efforts are underway across the publishing industry in numbers not seen in a generation. Employees of Verso unionized last year, as did booksellers at Elliott Bay Book Company in Seattle, at Book Shop Santa Cruz in California, and at several locations of Indigo Books & Music in Canada. Current and former Amazon employees have also led a widening effort to unionize, which was backed by President Biden in remarks yesterday. Organizing is always a good thing, the Strand unions Guzy said. It means that people are getting empowered, and that people are getting sick and tired of being sick and tiredIt's a national problem. And the only way for workers to address it is to unionize, because if they're not in the union, they have no recourse. A man on Monday shot his wife before fatally shooting himself during an appointment inside a west Houston medical office, according to the Houston Police Department. The woman, who has not been identified, was in stable condition as of Monday evening at Memorial Hermann Hospital. The suspect has only been identified as her 64-year-old husband. Police described the shooting as a domestic violence incident. The suspect fired two pistols, one from each hand, shortly before 3 p.m. in a fourth-floor office at 12121 Richmond Ave., Assistant Chief Wendy Baimbridge said in a news briefing at the scene. I think its tragic, Baimbridge said. Like Ive said before, 50 percent of our aggravated assault incidents in Houston right now and really across the nation, if youre looking at these numbers they are domestic-violence related. When officers arrived, they found the woman in the hallway outside the office. She had been shot once in the chest and again in her right arm. Officers then saw the suspect in the office, dead from what appeared to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Police said the suspect appeared agitated when he arrived for his afternoon appointment with his wife. Before the shooting, he told a witness, Im going to kill you. I want you to die, Baimbridge said. The man pulled the witnesses shirt. The witness pushed him away and ran out of the office, Baimbridge said. Thats when the man turned and shot his wife, she said. Baimbridge said she could not provide more details about the nature of the mans appointment or his medical history. At the time of the news briefing, she said detectives were still looking for additional witnesses. Police had not yet spoken to the wife at the hospital, she said. The office where the shooting occurred is an independent, private medical practice, officials said. It is not affiliated with the next-door hospital, HCA Houston Healthcare West. At the scene, Baimbridge encouraged people to check on their loved ones, especially those in a domestic violence situation. It becomes very difficult for us to do something to intervene, because a lot of this is behind closed doors, she said. So we are really encouraging everyone, especially right now with the additional stressors that are on everybody regarding COVID and losing their jobs and so forth, to reach out and talk to one another. Check on each other. Samantha Ketterer contributed to this report. julian.gill@chron.com Abu Dhabi Health Services Company (Seha), the largest healthcare network in the UAE, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence (MBZUAI), the worlds first graduate-level, research-based Artificial Intelligence (AI) university. The MoU provides for integrating the use of AI into the provision of medical care, enhancing clinical expertise and elevating the patient experience. Sehas Group Chief Executive Officer, Dr Gareth Goodier, and the President of MBZUAI, Professor Dr Eric Xing, executed the signature of the MoU between both parties. With the objective of facilitating collaborative research projects, the MoU establishes a platform for Sehas clinicians and MBZUAI faculty to explore and introduce AI-driven solutions that solve prominent healthcare challenges and uplift the provision of patient-led services. In addition to the MoU, Seha and MBZUAI have also joined forces on several research agreements and projects. One of the key focus areas both parties will explore is the development of AI-driven solutions to rapidly quantify Covid-19 infection by measuring an infection score on different lung lobes. This will allow an accurate induction on the severity of the infection and equip physicians with the appropriate tools to identify patients who are at increased risk of developing further complications. The teams will also investigate the long-term impact of the Covid-19 virus on the UAEs residents, particularly those with pre-existing health conditions such as heart, liver, or kidney diseases. This research will facilitate the development of federated learning AI solutions to ensure data privacy when accessing anonymised patient records. Dr Goodier said: The integration of technology in the administrative and medical elements of healthcare is paving the way for a stronger healthcare ecosystem, introducing opportunities for streamlined processes, transformative research, elevated patient experience, and ultimately, a more cost-effective industry. The potential for AI in healthcare is vast, and by partnering with MBZUAI, we are committed to exploring its limitless possibilities in medical research, early detection and diagnosis, decision making, and treatment, as we strive towards fostering the foundations of a robust healthcare sector that meets the UAEs communitys every need with world class, unparalleled expertise, continued Dr Goodier. The collaboration between Seha and MBZUAI, two leading organisations in their respective fields, will also introduce joined efforts in the examination of diagnosis and treatment methods for acute kidney injury, coronary artery disease, fetal health, and AI driven point of care ultrasound for breast cancer, lung infection and kidney cysts. Professor Dr Xing said: AI is one of the most transformative tools available to us today. It has already driven innovation and breakthroughs within the medical field and has recently played a significant role in the diagnosis and treatment of Covid-19, as well as in the development of vaccines. By working alongside Sehas clinicians and leveraging their world class expertise, MBZUAI intends to use its technology and talent resources to explore the full potential of AIs role in the evolution of healthcare throughout the UAE, contributing towards a healthier, more sustainable future for the country and its people. Dr Mohammad Yaqub, an Assistant Professor in MBZUAIs Computer Vision department, will lead the collaboration on behalf of the University. He said: Throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, AI has contributed towards the development of innovative solutions that are reshaping the relationship between healthcare and technology. Combining the medical, research, and technological expertise of MBZUAI and Seha will enable us to enhance healthcare in the UAE. The purpose of this bi-lateral collaboration is to contribute to Abu Dhabis rapid transformation of the healthcare and technology sectors, exploring the infinite opportunities the synergy of both elements can bring to patient care and the patient journey. As the champion of the UAEs healthcare agenda and with its rich legacy of delivering world class care rooted in deep understanding of the local culture, Seha is committed to harnessing the power of technology and innovation to deliver a truly robust, integrated healthcare system with patients at its core. -- Tradearabia News Service Athens, GA (30605) Today A mix of clouds and sun during the morning will give way to cloudy skies this afternoon. High 84F. Winds light and variable.. Tonight Partly cloudy this evening with more clouds for overnight. Low 61F. Winds light and variable. NORTH KINGSTOWN, R.I., March 2, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Falvey Cargo Underwriting welcomes Danielle Jackson to its specialized team of underwriters, effective March 1, 2021. Danielle most recently worked with Intact Insurance Company in Toronto as a Senior Commercial Underwriter. President and CEO of Falvey Insurance Group, Mike Falvey, comments: "We are very excited to have Danielle join Falvey and expand our underwriting in Canada. Danielle will further develop our broker partnerships and will also strengthen our commitment to the Canadian Board of Marine Underwriters (CBMU)." Danielle will be responsible for managing and developing a profitable cargo insurance portfolio, which includes underwriting management, production, and broker/client-centric strategic initiatives. Up until this point in time, the Canadian book was entirely managed by Isabelle Therrien, who was recently promoted to Senior Vice President Canada. Therrien adds, "Falvey is a stable and reliable market, and adding Danielle to the team will only reinforce Falvey's ability to provide cargo insurance solutions to support our broker partners in Canada." Danielle is eager to get started in her new role: "I am very excited to be the newest addition to the Falvey Cargo Underwriting Team. I am looking forward to expanding Falvey's Canadian book and presence within the Canadian insurance market. I'm honored to be joining such a highly respected and family-oriented team and look forward to working with our customers to provide them with the best cargo insurance solutions." Danielle has over 12 years of experience dedicated to the marine insurance community. She has a diverse background in the industry, with knowledge through working in both Personal and Commercial lines as both an Underwriter and a Broker. Danielle is also the current Director and Chair of the Education Committee of the Canadian Board of Marine Underwriters (CBMU), past Chair of the CBMU Communication Committee and is the CIP (Marine) Steering Committee Chair. About Falvey Cargo Underwriting Falvey Cargo underwrites marine cargo coverage in three cargo industry segments: General Cargo, Life Sciences, and Technology. Founded in 1995, Falvey Cargo Underwriting has evolved into the largest cargo covernote holder at Lloyd's of London, offering the highest capacity in the marine cargo market. Falvey Cargo has over 150 years of combined marine cargo underwriting experience, global reach with local expertise servicing clients around the world from offices in Rhode Island, California, Colorado, New York, North Carolina, Washington, Canada, and London, and dedicated loss prevention, claims processing, and recovery services in-house. www.falveycargounderwriting.com About Falvey Insurance Group Falvey Insurance Group began as a single division, Falvey Cargo Underwriting, opening its first office in 1995 in Wakefield, RI. After 20+ years, the company has evolved into Falvey Insurance Group, comprised of three divisions: Falvey Cargo Underwriting, Falvey Shippers Insurance and Safe Harbor Pollution Insurance becoming, "The Specialized Insurance Experts" in supply chain and marine coverage. Falvey underwrites on behalf of Lloyd's of London, C.V. Starr, Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance, Beazley Insurance Company, Hiscox, Ascot Group and State National. The flexibility, proactive customer service, claims processing excellence, and comprehensive knowledge that Falvey companies are known for is unparalleled in the insurance industry. Falvey was also named MGA of the Year by Insurance Insider in 2020. www.falveyinsurancegroup.com Media Contact: Megan Bell [email protected] (401) 214-5600 SOURCE Falvey Cargo Underwriting Related Links http://www.falveycargounderwriting.com By Justin Mikulka, who writes for DeSmogBlog. Originally published at DeSmogBlog. Last August, ExxonMobil warned that it may need to remove 20 percent of its oil and gas proved reserves from its books. While that was a shocking number from the oil major, reality proved to be even more of a shock to the company. On February 24, Exxon reported that it would actually remove over 30 percent of its proved reserves from its books essentially wiping out the value of its Canadian tar sands holdings from its books. According to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), proved reserves are the estimated quantities of crude oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids which geological and engineering data demonstrate with reasonable certainty to be recoverable in future years from known reservoirs under existing economic and operating conditions. Proved reserves are the concept on which the whole oil business is based. It is a main factor in how oil and gas companies are valued and in determining how much money banks will loan companies. Much of oil and gas lending is known as reserved-based lending. Exxons latest move is even more remarkable, however, because it has a reputation for being resistant to properly valuing reserves, often lagging behind the other oil major companies in making these downward adjustments. In this case, the market and the SEC forced Exxons hand on the matter. SEC rules require that oil and gas companies value reserves based on the average price of oil from the previous 12 months. In its latest SEC filing released this week, Exxon explains that this requirement essentially meant removing all of the value for its Canadian tar sands investments from its reserves. Along with wiping out the value of its tar sands holdings, Exxon also noted that it wrote off approximately 1.5 billion oil-equivalent barrels, mainly related to unconventional drilling in the United States. Unconventional drilling refers to the fracking business, which has been a financial disaster for many of those involved. Fraud Allegations Related to Exxon Accounting Exxons resistance to properly valuing its reserves and assets has been the focus of multiple recent fraud allegations against the company. Earlier this month, DeSmog reported on claims made by former Exxon employee Franklin Bennett who, in an SEC complaint, accuses Exxon of overvaluing its assets by $56 billion. Bennetts accusations focus on Exxons purchase of the shale gas company XTO in 2009 which is considered one of the worst oil and gas investments ever made. Late last year Exxon wrote off $20 billion related to the XTO deal but that likely isnt the last of the companys fracking write-offs. The financial industry has been aware that Exxon has been reluctant to write down the value of its assets. In 2018 an analyst for oil industry consulting firm Raymond James noted that the whole XTO investment was likely a loss. That was one of the worst acquisitions in the history of the energy business. It was exquisitely poorly timed, Pavel Molchanov, an energy analyst at Raymond James, told CNN in 2018. It was essentially $40 billion down the drain. And in a 2015 interview, former CEO Rex Tillerson, who oversaw Exxons purchase of XTO, stated the company policy on this matter: We dont do write-downs. While that is a bold statement from an oil and gas CEO, it is also a recipe for potential fraud. Overestimating reserves values is at the heart of many instances of fraud in the oil and gas industry. In addition to the accusations related to the XTO acquisition, Exxon is already facing an SEC investigation for potentially overstating the value of its Permian assets in Texas. Tillerson was wrong about XTO, which was a bet on the future profitability of fracking for natural gas that didnt pay off. Tillerson was also wrong about Exxons policy on write-downs. As with much of the oil industry these days, it is becoming increasingly hard for these companies to hide the grim financial realities of the oil and gas business, and accusations of fraud are starting to emerge. In September 2020, for example, Bloomberg reported a whistleblower complaint and shareholder lawsuit against the oil and gas company Anadarko. The complaint alleges that Anadarko management overstated reserves and the potential of its Shenandoah oil field in the Gulf of Mexico. Anadarko management was touting this field as its top asset, despite a senior engineer informing management that this simply wasnt true. According to Bloomberg, Anadarko ended up writing off the full value of Shenandoah and The project had gone from a multibillion-dollar golden goose to worthless. Lawyers for Anadarko attempted to have the shareholder lawsuit dismissed, arguing that the shareholders couldt prove management statements were made with an intent to deceive, manipulate or defraud. That effort was denied. The Wall Street Journal reported in June that Exxons unwillingness to take similar write-downs earlier could amount to fraud under SEC rules.https://t.co/TfWd5210l8 Antonia Juhasz (@AntoniaJuhasz) November 1, 2020 Exxon Doubles Down on Natural Gas Exxon notes in its SEC filing that the company was forced to write down its reserves values due to SEC rules and 2020s low oil prices. In that same filing, the oil giant lays out its plans for the future, which are all about natural gas, which is primarily methane. Despite the huge losses on XTO, Exxon is once again betting its financial future on natural gas. In the SEC filing, the company writes that power generation is expected to remain the largest and fastest growing major segment of global primary energy demand and that Global electricity demand is expected to increase approximately 50 percent from 2018 to 2040. While these expectations mirror the consensus among industry analysts, what remains to be seen is how that electricity will be generated. Exxon is betting on natural gas, but renewable sources like wind and solar can already provide that electricity for a lower cost in most places without producing the methane and carbon emissions which Exxons products create. Exxon also mentioned other factors that may impact its future financial results, including technological advances in energy storage that make wind and solar more competitive for power generation. Based on current trends, many further developments are likely to make wind and solar even more competitive for power generation, but in many places, these combinations are already more than competitive with natural gas. A big part of Exxons plans for future profits is a bet on natural gas beating out wind and solar for power generation. But recent data from the Energy Information Administration shows that gas is losing this race in 2021, and the economic prospects for natural gas get worse in the future. Costs of solar vs. gas for power production. Credit: Energy Information Administration Exxons Very Bad Year Writing off over 30 percent of the value of its reserves would normally be the worst news Exxon was facing. But these are not normal times for the oil and gas industry. Exxon also is being investigated by the SEC and is battling multiple accusations of fraud made by former employees. In 2020, the company was forced to finally acknowledge the huge losses associated with the purchase of XTO. Exxon lost a total $22 billion dollars in 2020. The past year presented the most challenging market conditions ExxonMobil has ever experienced, Exxon CEO Darren Woods told The New York Times in early February, adding that Exxon ended the year as a stronger company. Exxon, however, has been borrowing money to pay its dividend to shareholders and in the process has been rapidly increasing its overall debt. In November 2020, financial publication Barrons reported that Exxon might need to borrow $8 billion in 2021 to keep paying its dividend. Borrowing to pay dividends is a classic sign of a company in trouble. #Exxon appears to be firmly on the losing end of an industry on the verge of major #transformation https://t.co/7mvmRSmPjo #EnergyTransition Rebecca Henderson (@RebeccaReCap) August 6, 2019 In 2018, Exxon had $20.5 billion in long-term debt. In 2020, that number had more than doubled to $47 billion. This is not the sign of a company that is becoming stronger. The oil majors increased debt was the reason it was featured in a Bloomberg article published in November 2020 on zombie companies. According to Bloomberg, zombie companies dont have the ability to pay off overwhelming debts. Exxon has a well-established history of misleading the public and investors about the risks of climate change, and is involved in a number of lawsuits from cities and counties over it. The company now faces multiple accusations from former employees, alleging it also has misled the public and investors about its financial prospects. With the pile of debt facing Exxon debt that increased by over $20 billion in 2020 and is expected to increase by as much as another $8 billion this year the truth about whether the oil company really is stronger should become obvious soon enough. Exxon did not respond to DeSmogs request for comment by time of publication. Recently there were comments made in Hibiscus Matters about myself and two other members of the Local Board being unorthodox in getting projects done. I believe that sometimes you have to think outside the square to get things over the line or to bring to the attention of Council what ratepayers are concerned about. Some of the small projects that have been completed are: cobblestones outside Canton Restaurant on Orewa Boulevard have been levelled out many people tripped up on the mounds that were higher that the footpath, so were/theyre very pleased. Also a note that [businessman] Johnathan Rigg was instrumental in getting this done. There have been concerns with debris left under Orewa south bridge after the demolition of the original bridge and the danger of injury, so I asked for a report to find out what was still on the estuary seabed. Many items were found and removed, making it safer. However, jumping off the bridge is not recommended and new signs advising this will replace faded signs. A pressing concern is illegal camping causing disruption with noise, waste and intimidation to residents. We are endeavouring to get these problems resolved and offered solutions to Council but have come up against red tape. We will be pushing the council to find the funds to get the best results for all parties concerned. Meetings are now being held on a monthly basis with MP Mark Mitchell, Inspector Mark Fergus, Councillors Walker and Watson, local board member Andy Dunn representing Community Patrol, deputy chair Victoria Short and myself, to discuss concerns on the Hibiscus Coast. I have a keen interest in setting up security cameras with a campaign called Secure Hibiscus Coast. This will be a way of tracking offenders, hopefully to help the crime rate to drop. This is especially relevant after the police released their action plans with the gang situation. This year will be an eventful one, as Penlink is set to begin late this year and the Orewa seawall has been put forward as a project that needs to be completed. Also the Hibiscus Coast bus terminal has been completed and once the Northern busway is in operation, this will give the Hibiscus Coast a very efficient transport system. We need to keep hearing from you about the issues that concern you or ideas that may improve that area in which you live in. Submit your concerns by phoning 09 301 01 01 and get the case number to follow up on. We also have monthly community forums so we can hear what your issues are as well. Lets keep positive and make the Hibiscus Coast the great community that it is. .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... On Sunday, Dzaki Sukarno had his time on American Idol made an impression and earned a golden ticket to Hollywood. My name is Dzaki Sukarno. Im 20 years old, and I live in Las Cruces, New Mexico. I work in the green chile industry, Sukarno told the judges. The 20-year-old Las Cruces resident auditioned as part of the Idol Across America segment, singing Kane Browns Good as You. ADVERTISEMENTSkip ................................................................ Idol Across America is a remote audition that happened across all 50 states last year, giving hopefuls a chance to showcase their talent to an American Idol producer. Judge Katy Perry called the segment the melting pot of America. According to New Mexico State University, Sukarno is majoring in agricultural business and is a member of the Air Force ROTC. Sukarno was introduced to music by his dad. Growing up, I watched my dad play in a garage band; hes from Indonesia, and theres a really big Indonesian community out in California, a lot of musicians actually, so he really got me into that, Sukarno told The Round Up. Before the pandemic, Sukarno could be found performing regularly at the farmers market in Las Cruces. He said performing the shows helped give him the confidence to audition for American Idol. Like many other musicians, Sukarno hopes that his music can inspire or comfort others on his personal TikTok account, as well as on Spotify. Sukarno will move on to the next round of the competition airing on ABC in the next few weeks. President Biden has omitted Dr. Seuss from Read Across America Day - held annually on the children's author's birthday on March 2. Biden made a proclamation on Monday, declaring Tuesday to be Read Across America Day, but he broke presidential tradition when he left out any mention of Dr. Seuss. The omission came after a Virginia school system dropped the iconic children's books because of 'racial undertones'. Both former President Barack Obama and former President Donald Trump both recognized Dr. Seuss' contributions several times in their proclamations each year. President Joe Biden did not mention Dr. Seuss during his proclamation for Read Across America day bucking a more than 20 year trend Racist drawings and shocking cartoons: Why Dr. Seuss's legacy is in question Dr. Seuss's reputation has been called into question in recent years because of racist imagery in his children's books, including stereotyped cartoons of Chinese and Japanese people that he drew in the 1930s and 1940s. One such illustration which has caused controversy appeared in the 1937 work And To Think I Saw It On Mulberry Street, which includes a drawing of a 'Chinaman who eats with sticks' - a caricatured picture of an Asian man with slits for eyes carrying a bowl of rice for no apparent reason. Drawings in 1950's If I Ran The Zoo have also shocked modern readers, including African characters resembling monkeys, and an Arab chieftain on a camel with a caption suggesting he too should be in a zoo. A so-called 'Chinaman who eats with sticks' in a 1937 work by Dr. Seuss As well as children's books, Dr. Seuss produced political cartoons and advertisements which contain many images horrifying to modern eyes. A 1929 drawing explicitly showed black people for sale to whites and adapted a racially charged phrase to say: 'Take home a high-grade [N-word] for your woodpile'. During World War II he drew offensive cartoons of Japanese people, including one showing them queuing up for supplies of TNT and suggesting they were waiting for the 'signal from home'. But the wartime cartoons, published in New York newspaper PM, are also credited with 'railing against isolationism, racism and antisemitism' as he urged people to help the effort. This 1929 cartoon shows black people for sale and uses the N-word A 2019 article called The Cat Is Out Of The Bag: Orientalism, Anti-Blackness, and White Supremacy in Dr. Seuss's Children's Books, said the author had published 'hundreds' of racist political cartoons, comics and advertisements. A collection dedicated to Dr. Seuss's art acknowledges that some of his early drawings 'were hurtful then and are still hurtful today'. However, it says that he later amended his works - for example changing 'Chinaman' to 'Chinese man' - and wrote about equality during the 1960s civil rights movements. It also defends him by saying that his drawings reflected stereotypes which were widely held at the time. Geisel himself is quoted as saying later in life that the cartoons were 'just the way things were 50 years ago'. The fresh scrutiny of his works has seen the Mulberry Street illustration removed from a Dr. Seuss museum in 2018 - a decision which his great-nephew said was 'extreme'. Last month a Virginia school district distanced itself from the author, saying his books would no longer be the 'emphasis' of Read Across America Day. 'Research in recent years has revealed strong racial undertones in many books written/illustrated by Dr. Seuss,' it said. And he has now gone missing from the White House celebrations too after Joe Biden broke with a tradition continued by both Barack Obama and Donald Trump to leave him out. Advertisement Although the White House has not explained why Dr. Seuss was left out of this years proclamation, it is likely to be related to the recent call by progressives to cancel the legendary children's author. Seuss, whose real name is Theodor Geisel, had been the face of the annual Read Across America day for more than 20 years. On Sunday, Virginia's largest school district, Loudoun County Public Schools, reportedly removed Dr. Seuss from its Read Across America Day celebration, citing racial 'undertones' in his children's books. In his 2014 proclamation, President Obama stated: '[Dr Seuss'] tales challenge dictators and discrimination. They call us to open our minds, to take responsibility for ourselves and our planet.' In 2015, Obama stated: 'The works of Theodor Seuss Geisel, better known to us as Dr. Seuss, have sparked a love for reading in generations of students. His whimsical wordplay and curious characters inspire children to dream big and remind readers of all ages that 'a person's a person no matter how small.' The following year, Obama's 2016 proclaimed Seuss as 'one of America's revered wordsmiths' who 'used his incredible talent to instill in his most impressionable readers universal values we all hold dear.' Former first lady Melania Trump celebrated Read Across America Day in 2017 by reading Dr. Seuss books to hospitalized children. 'Dr. Seuss has brought so much joy, laughter and enchantment into children's lives all around the globe for generations,' Melania said at the time. 'Through his captivating rhymes, Dr. Seuss has delighted and inspired children while teaching them to read, to dream, and to care.' Trump, in his 2018 proclamation, urged Americans to 'always remember the still-vibrant words of Dr. Seuss: 'You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose.' Trump also referred to Dr. Seuss in his 2019 proclamation, but Biden's omission from his 2021 proclamation led to plenty of criticism online. 'Next to go will be nursery rhymes and the lullaby. Rock-a-bye baby may just become too tragic when the bough breaks as well as the London Bridge falling down and heaven forbid Ring around the Rosie and its song of plague. WHAT IS NEXT?!?,' wrote Amy on Twitter. 'We are so embarrassing as a country. Dr. Seuss taught us kindness and to look at the world around us. What should he apologize for? America isnt going to take #cancelculture much longer. Because this is fascism, and our president didnt stand against it.,' stated David La Torre. 'Heads are exploding on the Republican side because Biden didn't include Dr. Seuss in his proclamation for reading day. Wow,' tweeted Lady Ella. 'This is insane and has to stop. He should never have been president,' stated Smiley Ginger. 'Barack Obama liked green eggs and ham but Joe Biden is rejecting Sam I am,' said Robert Berman, cleverly using two of the author's books in his tweet. 'How did we get here? What racial undertones? This country is exhausting!' posted one exasperated user. 'Can't blame him... Dr. Seuss is above his reading level,' joked another. Meanwhile, in Virginia, the Loudon County schools are to shift the 'emphasis' of the annual day from Seuss and toward books more 'inclusive and diverse and reflective of our student community,' a spokesman said. A report has accused his children's stories of featuring 'orientalism, anti-blackness and white supremacy'. Loudoun schools spokesman Wayde B. Byard, said recent research had revealed 'strong racial undertones in many books written/illustrated by Dr. Seuss,' The Washington Post reported. 'Given this research, and LCPS' focus on equity and culturally responsive instruction, LCPS has provided guidance to schools in the past couple of years to not connect Read Across America Day with Dr. Seuss' birthday exclusively,' Byard said. Byard insisted that the books had not been banned outright - and that students could still access Seuss in the district's libraries and classrooms, but that the March 2 event would not 'simply celebrate Dr. Seuss.' His comments come following a 2019 report called 'The Cat is Out of the Bag: Orientalism, Anti-Blackness, and White Supremacy in Dr. Seuss's Children's Books'. Presidents Clinton, Obama and Trump have all mentioned Seuss in conjunction with the day designed to encourage school children to read more. Obama is pictured in April 2010 Former First Lady Michelle Obama greets elementary school students alongside Dr. Seuss' Cat in the Hat during Read Across America Day in March 2017 Former first lady Melania Trump celebrated Read Across America Day in 2017 by reading Dr. Seuss books to hospitalized children Melania Trump and her husband appeared to be big fans of the Dr. Seuss's work President Joe Biden's omission of Dr. Seuss from his Read Across America Day proclamation led to a outburst of criticism of the decision on social media A Virginia school system has accused Dr. Seuss books of 'strong racial undertones' following a report which accused author Theodor Geisel, pictured, of 'orientalism, anti-blackness and white supremacy' American author and illustrator Dr Seuss (Theodor Seuss Geisel, 1904 - 1991) sits at his drafting table in his home office with a copy of his book, 'The Cat in the Hat', La Jolla, California, April 25, 1957 A 2019 report called 'The Cat is Out of the Bag: Orientalism, Anti-Blackness, and White Supremacy in Dr. Seuss's Children's Books'. That report states: 'White supremacy is seen through the centering of Whiteness and White characters, who comprise 98% (2,195 characters) of all characters. 'Notably, every character of color is male. Males of color are only presented in subservient, exotified, or dehumanized roles. This also remains true in their relation to White characters. 'Most startling is the complete invisibility and absence of women and girls of color across Seuss' entire children's book collection. 'In addition, some of Dr. Seuss' most iconic books feature animal or non-human characters that transmit Orientalist, anti-Black, and White supremacist messaging through allegories and symbolism.' Read Across America Day had traditionally featured on Seuss books including classics like The Cat In The Hat and The Grinch. Read Across America Day had traditionally focused on Seuss books, including The Grinch But since 2017 the focus has shifted to 'Celebrating a Nation of Diverse Readers'. Learning for Justice is behind the calls to cancel Dr Seuss, Fox News reports But since 2017 the National Education Association has shifted its focus nationally to 'Celebrating a Nation of Diverse Readers'. Learning for Justice is behind the recent calls to cancel Dr Seuss, Fox News reports. Author Geisel has already come under fire for using 'stereotypical Orientalist tropes', according to a report by researchers Katie Ishizuka and Ramon Stephens. That found 'of the 2,240 (identified) human characters, there are forty-five characters of color representing 2% of the total number of human characters'. A total of 43 of 'exhibited behaviors and appearances that align with harmful and stereotypical Orientalist tropes', they said. The Loudoun County Public Schools administration building in Ashburn, VA Other cultural icons have recently targeted for 'modern' refreshes: On Friday it was reported that Mr. Potato Head had gone gender neutral as toy maker Hasbro announced it is changing the branding of the 70-year-old figure because it needs to break free from gender norms. The change - which will drop the 'Mr.' from Mr. Potato Head brand - sparked debate on social media, with many saying toy company Hasbro has bent to 'woke' culture by changing a cultural icon that's been on toy shelves since 1952. Loudoun schools spokesman Wayde B. Byard confirmed to The Washington Post that they have 'shifted the emphasis' of March 2 Read Across America day to not only celebrate the much loved children's stories 'exclusively' But Rhode Island-based Hasbro, which revealed the change in a presentation to investors Thursday, said the gender-neutral name comes as societal roles are changing - with more single-parent households and same-sex parents coming into the picture. As for Seuss, it's not the first time the late Geisel has found himself in the cultural crosshairs. In 2019 DailyMail.com reported how Geisel portrayed black people as if they were slaves being sold off at a white-owned department store. He used the word 'n*****' to refer to African Americans and described women as 'insignificant and helpless', book Becoming Dr. Seuss: Theodor Geisel and the Making of an American Imagination claimed. Decades later when Geisel was called out on these cartoons he said it was 'just the way things were 50 years ago' and claimed that feminists wanted to 'clean up everything'. In 2017 Cambridgeport Elementary School librarian Liz Phipps Soeiro rejected a gift of several Dr Seuss books from Melania Trump, saying their whimsical illustrations were 'steeped in racist propaganda, caricatures, and harmful stereotypes'. The White House had announced that one school in each state would receive a selection of Seuss' books chosen by Melania, including 'Green Eggs and Ham' and 'The Cat in the Hat'. In 2019 DailyMail.com reported how Geisel portrayed black people as if they were slaves being sold off at a white-owned department store But Soeiro turned down the collection of almost a dozen books, saying in the open letter her school was award-winning and well-funded. She continued: 'You may not be aware of this, but Dr Seuss is a bit of a cliche, a tired and worn ambassador for children's literature.' She added: 'Another fact that many people are unaware of is that Dr Seuss's illustrations are steeped in racist propaganda, caricatures, and harmful stereotypes. 'Open one of his books (If I Ran a Zoo or And to Think That I Saw it On Mulberry Street, for example), and you'll see the racist mockery in his art.' Neither of those books were included in Melania's selection. UNICEF has demanded that all children held in displacement camps and jails be allowed to return to their homes, writes Al-Araby Al-Jadeed. The UN childrens agency UNICEF called Sunday for all minors held in displacement camps or jails in northeast Syria to be allowed home. UNICEF made its plea a day after four children died in a fire at the overcrowded camp of al-Hol hosting people displaced in the fight against the Islamic State (ISIS) group. After years of leading the US-backed fight against ISIS, Syrias Kurds hold thousands of alleged jihadist fighters in jails and tens of thousands of their family members in camps in northeast Syria. They hail from Syria, neighboring Iraq, and dozens of other foreign countries. Many are children. In the northeast of Syria, there are more than 22,000 foreign children from at least 60 nationalities who languish in camps and prisons, in addition to many thousands of Syrian children, UNICEF regional director Ted Chaiban said in a statement, without giving a number of children held in jails. He urged authorities in the northeast of Syria and UN member states to do everything possible to bring children currently in the northeast of Syria back home. They should do this through integrating Syrian children in their local communities and the repatriation of foreign children, he added. The Kurdish authorities have started sending thousands of displaced Syrians home from the camps. But repeated calls for Western countries to repatriate their nationals have largely fallen on deaf ears, with just a handful of children and even fewer women being brought home. Four children and a woman have died since a stove on Saturday exploded in the al-Hol camp, starting a fire, a Kurdish official said on Sunday. The latest toll included a four-year-old girl who died of her injuries. The UN humanitarian agency OCHA said at least 26 were injured. The event showed no one most of all innocent children should be living under the challenging and potentially dangerous humanitarian conditions in the al-Hol camp, it said in a statement Sunday. Al-Hol is home to more than 62,000 people, more than half of them children under the age of 12. 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. We're always interested in hearing about news in our community. Let us know what's going on! Go to form As part of the initiative of First Lady Olena Zelenska, Ukrainian-language audio guides will be available on two bus routes in Lithuania soon. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs wrote about this on Facebook, Ukrinform reports. Today we have completed our joint work on two projects to create Ukrainian-language audio guides on tourist bus routes: the first - in the city of Vilnius, the second - from the city of Vilnius to the city of Trakai, from the modern to the ancient capital of Lithuania," Ukrainian Ambassador to Lithuania Volodymyr Yatsenkivsky said in his video address. According to the diplomat, the peculiarity of these two projects is that they are focused on those places, architectural monuments and historical events that connect Lithuania with Ukraine. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs informed that Ukrainian-language audio guides will appear in the Palace of Versailles in France and the National Museum of Natural History in Berlin. iy Children across China participated in various themed activities, including sports challenges and parent-child games, over the last few days to celebrate the International Childrens Day, which falls on Tuesday this year. China established the day in 1949 and made it a full-day holiday for children under 14 in 1956 as an occasion to celebrate the spirit of youth Jun 01, 2021 05:38 PM NEW HAVEN Top medical officials in the Yale New Haven Health system believe they will set a one-week record for getting doses of COVID-19 vaccines into arms. Tom Balcezak, chief medical officer for Yale New Haven Hospital, said this is possible because the system received 7,400 doses of the one-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine in addition to 8,000 first doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines, paving the way for the system to surpass its prior one-week record of 12,000 doses. We believe we can get all the doses into arms this week, he said. The 7,400 doses of Johnson & Johnson vaccine arrived at the hospital at about 4:15 p.m., Tuesday, a hospital spokesman said. In a press briefing Tuesday, Balcezak and Yale New Haven Hospital CEO Marna Borgstrom provided more numbers and updates on the status of COVID-19 in the state. Hospitalizations and fatalities Tuesday was 51 weeks after the first confirmed case of COVID-19 in the systems Bridgeport Hospital, Borgstrom said. As of Tuesday, there were 92 positive cases within the hospital system with 46 in intensive care and 25 on ventilators. Since the first case, Balcezak said, the hospital system has discharged nearly 9,400 patients who tested positive for the disease, and has experienced 1,078 deaths. Testing and vaccinations Balcezak said the hospital system has completed more than 800,000 tests to date. Roughly 113,000 doses of the vaccine have been administered within the system, he said, with more than 70,000 people having received their first dose. Now more than 72 percent of employees and medical staff are vaccinated, and that number continues to grow slowly, he said. Overall, Balcezak said the system hopes to keep Connecticut in the top five states for both its percentage of the population that is vaccinated and its utilization of the vaccine doses it is shipped. The health system began to administer vaccinations to the public on Jan. 21. Equity and access Hospital officials said they are looking for ways to increase equity in vaccine administration. As a means of doing that, Balcezak said the hospital is referring people to its COVID-19 call center at 833-275-9644. He said the hospital has the ability to use geocoding software to identify where a caller is located and to determine whether they are in an underserved ZIP code. Balcezak said the system is prioritizing individuals in underserved communities. The hospital system also has launched several pop-up clinics to bring vaccinations closer to individuals who may lack transportation. On Tuesday, the system held a clinic at Bethel AME Church and on Thursday it will hold a clinic at Christian Tabernacle Baptist Church in Hamden. Health response Borgstrom said the scheduling of vaccines has been an imperfect process. We routinely hear from people who arent able to get available vaccinations in available slots, she said. On Sunday night, hours before people between the ages of 55 and 64 as well as educators and child care providers became eligible for the vaccine, Borgstrom said all available appointments were taken in about 90 minutes. So many people really want this and want this protection that we need to try and make it as seamless as possible, she said. Balcezak said that which vaccine is being provided at clinics should be communicated clearly to people ahead of time, but nobody should hold out for a different variety of the vaccine over another. If you are eligible for a vaccine, it should not matter which vaccine you get, he said. brian.zahn@hearstmediact.com (Natural News) A psychiatrist has claimed that the ongoing Wuhan coronavirus pandemic has caused the world to suffer from mass delusional psychosis. Dr. Mark McDonald said the true public health crisis is not COVID-19 itself, but the fear of contracting it. He expressed concern that this highly irrational fear will have a lasting effect on children, since their own parents and grandparents are responsible for instilling this reaction. McDonald cited a December 2020 article written by S.G. Cheah for Evie Magazine. Her article mentioned a number of otherwise irrational behaviors that have become normalized in the current time. These included parents being kicked off planes because their children were not wearing masks, and people having hysterical meltdowns when they see someone without a face covering. Cheah remarked that many still enter a state of hysteria when they see someone without a mask, even though the person is perfectly healthy and does not have any respiratory issues. This is a highly irrational state without any basis in reality, she remarked. Cheah elaborated: Instead of facing reality, the delusional person would rather live in their world of make-believe. [Others] have to play along with how they view the [make-believe] world otherwise, their world will not make sense to them. Its [the reason] why the delusional person will get angry when they face someone who doesnt conform to their world view. The psychiatrist said the people Cheah described suffer from delusional psychosis. Seeing the prevalence of this psychosis made McDonald realize something. He explained: It became clear to me within the first two or three weeks in March [2020] that it was fear. Since then, the fear has morphed and evolved [into] an actual belief that is against reality. McDonald continued that these delusional people believe they are going to die no matter what age [or] state or health theyre in if they dont leave their house with a mask and gloves on every day and run from [other human beings.] He remarked: Thats delusional psychosis. Its false, its wrong [and] its not backed up by evidence. And many, many Americans are living that and believing that. Children are at the most risk of suffering from the effects of this delusional psychosis McDonald expressed particular concern about the possible consequences of this widespread psychosis on children as they grow up. The issue is of particular significance to him as he specializes in treating children and adolescents. Since the lockdown began in March 2020, McDonald saw a massive spike in mental health problems among younger cohorts. He cited recent statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showing a 400 percent increase in adolescent depression compared to a year ago. Teenagers involved in 25 percent of these cases have contemplated suicide, which McDonald remarked as unheard of. According to the psychiatrist, being disconnected from other people is a primary cause of depression especially among children and adolescents. He continued that people need physical contact and emotional intimacy to feel safe around others and within themselves, and digital interactions cannot simply replace actual ones. Aside from depression, children may also suffer from trauma stemming from the idea that they may kill their parents or grandparents simply by being around them. Cheah noted that young people are being conditioned to feel guilty about certain behaviors that would usually be considered normal. She commented: Its not normal for children to grow up thinking that everyone is a danger to everyone else. The writer cited in her piece for Evie Magazine an example of hysterical adults calling a toddler who refuses to mask up a brat. Before the pandemic, a child resisting a mask on their face would be perfectly normal behavior. McDonald commented that the proliferation of delusional behavior was a mass-casualty event, pointing his fingers at adults for instilling fear in children to the point that the young ones do not feel life is worth living anymore. Fortunately, he proposed that adults also have a role to play in reversing this delusion. Its up to us adults to fix this, because children are not going to be able to fix this themselves, McDonald said. The psychiatrist suggested to Mercola a number of things adults can do to escape the proverbial asylum and restore sanity. McDonald exhorted people to reject the idea that mask-wearing is a good thing because it is done out of fear and compliance. He also called on healthy people to avoid wearing masks, physically distancing themselves and putting themselves in self-quarantine. These strategies promote the delusional psychosis occurring alongside the pandemic and are also unhealthy from a physical standpoint, McDonald explained. Lastly, he also emphasized the use of treatments such as vitamin D, hydroxychloroquine, ivermectin and zinc against COVID-19. McDonald said these simple, inexpensive and readily available medications can help protect those at greatest risk namely elderly people with comorbidities and those in poor health. Insanity.news has more about the psychosis happening alongside the coronavirus pandemic. Sources include: TapNewsWire.com EvieMagazine.com ATLANTA, March 2, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- With an increase of electric vehicles (EVs) on Georgia roads every day, Georgia Power is committed to assisting customers with access to efficient and reliable charging options. Southern Company, the utility's corporate parent, today announced plans to join other utilities across the South, Midwest, Gulf Coast, Central Plains and mid-Atlantic to enable EV drivers' seamless travel through a coordinated network of Direct Current (DC) Fast Chargers. This effort, called the "Electric Highway Coalition," represents an unprecedented level of coordination to increase charging options along major highway routes from Texas to Washington, D.C., and provide easier access to environmentally friendly vehicle options for drivers. "As the sixth largest market nationally for EV fast charging, Georgia Power is committed to continuing growth of EV infrastructure across the state and providing increased access to customers looking to drive electric," said Nicole Faulk, senior vice president for customer and corporate services. "As Southern Company's largest subsidiary, our commitment plays a significant role in the increasing growth of electric vehicle adoption, and the connection of communities across Georgia and the country." Working with the Georgia Public Service Commission, the company has installed 49 DC fast chargers in locations statewide and is investing $6 million over three years in fast-charging infrastructure across Georgia. The installation represents the newest technology in EV fast chargers, offering charging speeds up to 125kW adding 100 miles in 12 minutes dual dispensers and power sharing capabilities to maximize the number of ports that can be deployed and still receive an optimal charge. Additionally, the company has partnered with Cox Automotive Mobility to complete one of the largest EV charging single property installations in the southeast at the Pivet Atlanta facility near Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport. Georgia Power also supports 24 charging stall stations through Electrify America, Tesla and the EVgo Fast Charging Network. These investments further enable electric vehicle adoption and the connection of communities across the country. Last year, Georgia Power announced it will electrify portions of its vehicle fleet as part of Southern Company's plans to convert 50 percent of its system fleet vehicles across the auto/SUV/minivan, forklift and ATV/cart/miscellaneous segments by 2030. The internal fleet goal is part of a larger focus on electrification of the transportation industry and the company's commitment to expanding zero-emission electric vehicles and clean transportation options. Now offered by most major manufacturers, EVs continue to advance in range, performance and features. In addition, EVs benefit the environment with zero direct emissions, specifically improving air quality in urban areas, have a lower cost of ownership than petroleum vehicles and, with their domestic energy source, promote local jobs. EV Resources for Customers In addition to developing public charging infrastructure, the company is committed to explaining the benefits of EV ownership and making the decision to switch easier than ever by providing customers with the resources they need to learn more about the benefits and potential savings of driving electric. By visiting www.GeorgiaPower.com/EV, customers have access to information on: buying an electric vehicle, understanding electric vehicle options, charging an electric vehicle, charging locations, electric transportation news, and frequently asked questions. Georgia Power also offers EV charger rebates for business and residential customers, an online calculator to help customers find out how much driving electric may save them and a special rate for EV customers. The company's Plug-in Electric Vehicle rate offers lower prices from 11 p.m. 7 a.m. to encourage nighttime EV charging. About Georgia Power Georgia Power is the largest electric subsidiary of Southern Company (NYSE: SO), America's premier energy company. Value, Reliability, Customer Service and Stewardship are the cornerstones of the company's promise to 2.6 million customers in all but four of Georgia's 159 counties. Committed to delivering clean, safe, reliable and affordable energy at rates below the national average, Georgia Power maintains a diverse, innovative generation mix that includes nuclear, coal and natural gas, as well as renewables such as solar, hydroelectric and wind. Georgia Power focuses on delivering world-class service to its customers every day and the company is recognized by J.D. Power as an industry leader in customer satisfaction. For more information, visit www.GeorgiaPower.com and connect with the company on Facebook (Facebook.com/GeorgiaPower), Twitter (Twitter.com/GeorgiaPower) and Instagram (Instagram.com/ga_power). SOURCE Georgia Power Related Links http://www.georgiapower.com The Baker administrations latest affordable housing grants will fund rehabilitation projects for more than 350 housing units and 17 infrastructure improvement projects, state officials say. The funds will also cover the costs of resources for children, teenagers, domestic violence violence, homeless people and older residents through the $34 million in community development block grants issued to dozens of cities and towns, according to the Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development. Despite the challenges of the last year, communities across the commonwealth have been leaders in the work to stop the spread of COVID-19 and support their downtowns and struggling residents, Secretary Mike Kennealy said in a statement. Todays CDBG funding will help municipalities fill budget gaps for social services, but also fund infrastructure improvements. Forty-one grants were issued to communities across Massachusetts. Heres what cities and towns plan to do with the funding, according to OHED: Amesbury will receive $550,000 for housing rehabilitation assistance to 10 units and for an after school program for youth. Amherst will receive $825,000 for Mill Lane infrastructure improvements, housing authority modernization, microenterprise assistance to 25 businesses. Amherst also plans to use the money for a food pantry, youth mentoring, adult literacy, immigrant services and family stabilization services. Athol will receive $800,000 for infrastructure improvements to Walnut Street neighborhood. Blanderford will receive $449,825 for housing rehabilitation assistance to 12 units and to produce and ADA Transition plan. Buckland will receive $756,798 for infrastructure improvements to Lower Ashfield Street and to support a food pantry. Chelsea will receive $825,000 for Cherry Street road and sidewalk improvements, Chelsea Square Park improvements, housing rehabilitation assistance for 4 units and social service assistance to include youth services, ESOL and citizenship training. Chester, Huntington and Middlefield will receive $1,300,000 for housing rehabilitation assistance to 6 units, Prospect Street infrastructure improvements and social service assistance for domestic violence prevention, family health, elder services and to support a food pantry. Seven communities Chesterfield, Cummington, Goshen, Peru, Plainfield, Williamsburg and Worthington will receive $1,300,000 to provide housing rehabilitation assistance to 16 units, design for a senior center and to provide childcare assistance, elder services and to support a food pantry. Dalton, Beckett, Sheffield and Stockbridge will receive $1,298,304 to provide housing rehabilitation assistance to 20 units and to produce ADA Plans for Dalton, Beckett and Stockbridge. Dennis, Brewster and Wellfleet will receive $1,300,000 to provide housing rehabilitation assistance to 15 units and childcare assistance. Easthampton will receive $800,000 for infrastructure improvements to Admiral Street neighborhood. Edgartown, Aquinnah and West Tisbury will receive $1,300,000 to provide housing rehabilitation assistance to 25 units and to provide childcare assistance. Egremont, Great Barrington and Sandisfield will receive $1,300,000 to provide housing rehabilitation assistance to 29 units. Everett will receive $825,000 to provide design for Chelsea Street playground improvements, a housing production plan, housing rehabilitation assistance for 11 units and social service assistance to include homelessness prevention, ESOL, youth services, elder services and a food pantry. Gardner will receive $825,000 for downtown infrastructure improvements, design for downtown infrastructure improvements and Park Street park improvements and social service assistance to include youth services, substance abuse service and domestic violence prevention services. Greenfield will receive $825,000 for West Street infrastructure improvements, downtown revitalization planning and to support a food pantry, elder services and adult literacy. Heath and Hawley will receive $876,713 for housing rehabilitation assistance to 16 units. Holland and Wales will receive $582,200 for housing rehabilitation assistance to 12 units, design for Union Road infrastructure improvements and social service assistance for domestic violence prevention and to support a food pantry. Huntington will receive $572,248 for infrastructure improvements to Crescent Street and ADA improvements to town hall. Leicester will receive $335,200 for housing rehabilitation assistance to 7 units and design for ADA improvements to Russell Memorial park. Marlborough will receive $799,455 for housing rehabilitation assistance to 10 units, roof repairs to Liberty Hill public housing, infrastructure improvements to Harrison Place and youth services. Methuen will receive $550,000 for ADA improvements to Broadway Street and social service assistance for youth services, childcare, elder transportation and adult literacy. Millbury and Dudley will receive $664,500 for housing rehabilitation assistance to 15 units, design for Pear-Maple infrastructure improvements in Millbury and design for Millbury senior center improvements. Montague will receive $675,519 for housing rehabilitation assistance to 2 units, Avenue A streetscape improvements, design for Hillcrest playground improvements and to provide social services to include family counseling, recovery counseling, a meals program and youth services. North Adams will receive $825,000 for Liberty and North Holden Street improvements, senior center improvements and social services. North Brookfield and Brookfield will receive $661,500 to provide housing rehabilitation assistance to 14 units and North Brookfield senior center improvements. Northbridge will receive $800,000 to provide housing rehabilitation assistance to 14 units and planning to prepare an area wide slum and blight inventory. Oak Bluffs, Chilmark and Tisbury will receive $1,300,000 to provide housing rehabilitation assistance to 25 units and to provide childcare assistance.ORANGE will receive $575,342 to provide housing rehabilitation assistance to 5 units and social service assistance for disability services, mediation services, family counseling, adult education and a food pantry. Palmer will receive $825,000 to provide housing rehabilitation to 15 units, Hyrniewicz Park design, a housing production plan and domestic violence prevention and transportation services. Rockland will receive $729,000 to provide housing rehabilitation assistance to 11 units and housing authority modernization. Salisbury will receive $550,000 to provide housing rehabilitation assistance to 8 units, design for Meanders Lane neighborhood improvements and social services assistance to Boys and Girls Club, childcare and homelessness and food pantry. Shelburne will receive $787,832 for Bridge Street infrastructure improvements and to support a food pantry. South Hadley will receive $512,000 to provide housing rehabilitation assistance to 12 units and design for Center Street improvements. Southbridge will receive $825,000 for West Street roadway improvements, McCann Field improvement and code enforcement. Southwick will receive $468,000 to provide housing rehabilitation assistance to 6 units, design for North Lake Avenue infrastructure improvements and to support a food pantry. Truro Eastham and Provincetown will receive $1,300,000 to provide housing rehabilitation assistance to 25 units and to provide childcare assistance. Ware will receive $800,000 for Bank Street infrastructure improvements and social services assistance for domestic violence prevention, health services and literacy services. Wareham will receive $825,000 for housing rehabilitation assistance to 8 units, Bayview Park sidewalk improvements, and support for a food pantry, homelessness prevention, Boys and Girls Club, and literacy and transportation services. Webster will receive $825,000 for Granite Street infrastructure improvements and downtown and Riverwalk improvements. West Springfield will receive $825,000 to provide public facilities improvements (Boys and Girls Club), Chapin Street infrastructure improvements, code enforcement, FTHB program, ESOL, employment training and Head Start. Winchendon will receive $715,510 for Railroad Street infrastructure improvements and to provide fuel assistance. Blacklane, a global chauffeur service, will start its novel chauffeur hailing in 21 cities across 11 countries this month with the New York launch first, and beginning in London and Dubai today (March 2). Blacklane already offers scheduled rides in 50 countries. Its new on-demand rides maintain the same premium quality, health and safety standards, fixed competitive fares, and sustainability as its pre-booked trips. People need trusted local transportation now more than ever as cities reopen, said Dr Jens Wohltorf, Blacklanes CEO and co-founder. Many companies have built ride-hailing platforms with little quality control and confusing costs. But Blacklane has built a global chauffeur-hailing service with clear, consistent rates and the highest quality standards." Berlin launches on Wednesday, followed by Paris on Thursday. All eight US cities will go live by next week and all 21 cities will have launched by March 26. As with its scheduled rides, Blacklane partners with only the best local chauffeur companies. It continues its proven all-inclusive fares based only on distance. Guests do not pay extra for higher demand, traffic or tolls, providing the same cost certainty for all types of trips. The companys carbon-neutral program extends to hailed chauffeur service. Blacklane was the first ground transportation company to offset carbon emissions from all rides and business operations worldwide, starting in 2017. Private and business guests book on Blacklanes iOS app. Chauffeurs clean and sanitize vehicles before and after each journey. They greet guests with a slight bow instead of a handshake, maintain maximum distance, and provide hand sanitizer and masks. Guests can call or chat with Blacklanes 24/7 customer service team in the app. Blacklanes scheduled service continues as usual, with rides booked 30 minutes to months in advance on its website and apps. Guests can reserve private and sanitized door-to-door airport transfers, hourly rides and intercity trips. TradeArabia News Service [March 02, 2021] STL appoints Chris Rice as CEO for its Access Solutions Business Launches new Access Solutions Business, focused on Open RAN and 5G PUNE, India, March 2, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- STL [NSE: STLTECH], an industry-leading integrator of digital networks, today announced the appointment of Christopher Rice as the Chief Executive Officer for its Access Solutions Business. Chris's appointment reflects STL's strong focus on driving growth and innovation in the access segment. Leveraging 25 years of experience in optical communications and system integration, STL is now expanding its capabilities across digital networks by building core solutions in the edge access area, both on the wireline and 5G wireless side. With over 5 years of investment in access technologies and key product launches, the company has launched the Access Solutions Business Unit focusing on Open RAN, 5G, programmable FTTx, and controller/orchestration software. Chris is a seasoned technology executive who will lead this BU and advance STL's growth plans. Chris brings over 25 years of experience in the telecom industry. Prior to STL, he was associated with AT&T where he delivered on a multi-year technology strategy and vision for both the network and the underlying system's evolution. He also led AT&T's pivot to software-defined networking (SDN), leading the team that built the fundamental automation and platform caabilities to drive this shift. Chris holds an MBA from the University of Central Florida, a Master's degree in Electrical Engineering, from Virginia Tech, and is a graduate from Rutgers' wireless information networks laboratory (WINLAB). "The digital networking space is at an inflection point where open technologies and software-driven infrastructures are becoming increasingly relevant," said Chris Rice." STL is uniquely positioned to capitalise on this megatrend through its growing access portfolio that supports scale, latency, openness, and agility. Telecom companies require these characteristics across consumer and enterprise networks. I am very excited to lead this business and this impressive team. Together, we will build next-gen solutions to realise the full potential of fibre broadband and 5G. We will deliver these with programmability and at the cost points the industry is demanding," he added. Commenting on Chris's appointment, Anand Agarwal, Group CEO, STL, said: "STL is committed to making open source and converged networks a reality. We have been investing in SDN for 5G wireless and fibre-based wireline networks for over 5 years. I am extremely excited to have Chris lead our Access solutions team. I am sure that with an exceptional track record in driving these major shifts globally, Chris will take the 5G and access solutions business to the next level and achieve technology and market leadership for STL. I welcome Chris to the STL family and wish him the best for this new journey." About STL - Sterlite Technologies Ltd STL is an industry-leading integrator of digital networks. Our fully 5G ready digital network solutions help telcos, cloud companies, citizen networks, and large enterprises deliver enhanced experiences to their customers. STL provides integrated 5G ready end-to-end solutions ranging from wired to wireless, design to deployment, and connectivity to compute. Our core capabilities lie in Optical Interconnect, Virtualised Access Solutions, Network Software, and System Integration. We believe in harnessing technology to create a world with next-generation connected experiences that transform everyday living. With a global patent portfolio of 462 to our credit, we conduct fundamental research in next-generation network applications at our Centre of Excellence. STL has a strong global presence with next-gen optical preform, fibre, cable, and interconnect subsystem manufacturing facilities in India, Italy, China, and Brazil, along with two software-development centers across India and a data centre design facility in the UK. Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1447651/Chris_Rice_STL.jpg Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/876464/Sterlite_Technologies_STL_New_Logo.jpg [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Umesh has over 30 years of experience in the pharmaceuticals industry, having worked in India, France and Sub-Saharan Africa for leading global pharma companies. Biocon Ltd announced that Susheel Umesh has joined Biocon Biologics as the Chief Commercial Officer - Emerging Markets (CCO-EMs) wef March 1, 2021. He will drive the companys business in the Emerging Markets (EMs) and will also be responsible for the Branded Formulations business. Umesh has over 30 years of experience in the pharmaceuticals industry, having worked in India, France and Sub-Saharan Africa for leading global pharma companies. He has managed global brands as well as led different functions in India and overseas in sales & marketing, business development and operations excellence. Most recently, he led the domestic formulations of an Indian biotech company as its Chief Executive Officer. With this appointment, Biocon Biologics will move its commercial operations from Singapore to its headquarters in Bengaluru. Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, Executive Chairperson, Biocon Biologics, said: We are very happy to welcome Susheel Umesh to Biocon Biologics. As Chief Commercial Officer, Susheel will be responsible for driving the companys growth strategy in Emerging Markets on a platform of affordable access. Dr Arun Chandavarkar, Managing Director, Biocon Biologics said, We are extremely delighted to have Susheel Umesh lead our Commercial Operations for the Emerging Markets. Susheel has deep expertise in diverse therapy areas, including diabetes, oncology, cardiology and transplantation, and has a proven track record of delivering robust business growth. Umesh said, I am extremely proud to join Biocon Biologics, at this juncture where it has established a strong biosimilars business in global markets in collaboration with its partners. I believe the company is well-positioned to impact millions of patients globally, capitalising on its strengths in science and global scale manufacturing expertise. Students run in the campus on their first day of the new semester at a primary school in southwest China's Chongqing, March 1, 2021. Students returned to school for the spring semester on Monday in many parts of China amid coordinated epidemic control efforts. (Xinhua/Wang Quanchao) 10 1 [ Editor: SRQ ] UPDATE: Ex-choir teacher touched student on field trip, later sexually assaulted her in storage room, authorities allege A former New Jersey man sexually assaulted a student in 2016 when he was employed as a teacher at Ocean City High School, authorities said. Ricardo Valle, 34, of Seabrook, Texas, was arrested on Saturday and is being held at the Harris County Jail ahead of his extradition to New Jersey, the Cape May County Prosecutors Office said Monday. He remains held Tuesday morning, according to jail records. Valle is charged with two counts of sexual assault, one count of official misconduct, one count of endangering the welfare of a child and one count of criminal sexual contact, according to prosecutors. Valle resigned as a high school music teacher on July 1, 2016, according to minutes from an Ocean City Board of Education meeting. The Cape May County Prosecutors Office couldnt immediately be reached for additional information. Anyone with information about Valle is asked to call the Cape May County Prosecutors Office at 609-465-1135, or Ocean City police at 609-525-9131. Cape May County Crime Stoppers can be reached at 609-889-3597. Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com. Jeff Goldman may be reached at jeff_goldman@njadvancemedia.com. New York, March 2 : With the nomination of the Indian-American cabinet nominee, Neera Tandon, deadlocked, the focus is now on Vanita Gupta, who is soon to face the Senate for confirmation as the third highest-ranking official in the Justice Department. Conservatives are split on Gupta, a civil rights lawyer, with two groups fighting it out with TV ads -- one rallying against attacks on her by another. President Joe Biden has nominated Gupta to be the associate attorney-general and the Senate is take up her confirmation - a requirement for senior administration positions - on March 9. The first salvo came from the Judicial Crisis Network with an ad campaign accusing her of being soft on crime. In a reference to the Black Lives Matter protests against police brutality that sometimes turned violent last year, the group's ad said, "When our cities burned Gupta could've stood for law and order, for victims. Instead, she advocated to let convicts out of jail." However, it also coincided with the Covid-19 pandemic and her suggestion to release some of the low-level criminals only echoed that of former President Donald Trump's Attorney General William Barr, who wanted to ease crowding inn jails to ease overcrowding that could spread the disease. According to media reports, the Network spent $800,000 on the campaign. Now, the Defending Democracy Together (DDT) organisation is countering it with a campaign ad of its own that is on YouTube and is set to air on TV. Urging her nomination, the ad said, "Don't let Washington play politics with the nomination of Anita Gupta." It said that she "has been building bridges across partisan divides, she has the broad backing of law enforcement" and has the support of leading conservatives. DDT is a group of Republican conservatives who have opposed Trump. Its directors include former New Jersey Governor Christine Todd Whitman and Linda Chavez, the highest-ranking woman among former President Ronald Reagan's White House staff. Gupta will need the support of all the 50 Democrats in the evenly-divided Senate to get her nomination approved - or will have to get Republican support if anyone from her party defects. Tanden's nomination to be the director of the Office of Management and Budget is stalled because one Democrat, Joseph Manchin, announced that he will not vote for her citing her intemperate statements and tweets attacking both Republicans and Democrats. The White House is trying to get at least one Republican to defect, but has not succeeded so far. While a leftist group, Roots Action, has campaigned against Tanden, who had attacked the leftist Senator Bernie Sanders among others, the Democrats and other liberals are solidly behind Gupta. The Wall Street Journal reported that a petition against Gupta was being circulated by some Republican state attorneys-general. Countering that campaign and the one by the Network campaign labelling Gupta soft on crime, three groups of law enforcement officials - Fraternal Order of Police, Major County Sheriffs of America and Federal Law Enforcement Officials Association have come out to support her. During his Senate hearings Merrick Garland, who was confirmed as the attorney-general, faced hostile questions about Gupta from Republican Senator Mike Lee. Garland vouched for her saying, "I regard her as a person of great integrity and a person dedicated to the mission of the department, particularly equal justice under the law." Gupta was the principal deputy assistant attorney-general and head of the Civil Rights Division in former President Barack Obama's administration. She made her mark as a newly-minted lawyer by winning the release of 38 people, most of them African-Americans, who had been wrongly convicted by all-White juries on drug charges in a Texas town and also got them $6 million on compensation. (Arul Louis can be reached at arul.l@ians.in and followed on Twitter at @arulouis) The Daily Beast Photo Illustration by The Daily Beast/GettyMike Lindell, the MyPillow CEO and Trumpist conspiracy-peddler, flew his private jet to the Republican Governors Association meeting the other day.The guvs promptly threw him out. But the incident got Molly Jong-Fast thinking: Does the MyPillow CEO think hes already a governor or something?Subscribe to The New Abnormal on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Amazon Music, or Overcast. To listen to our weekly members-only bonus episodes, join Beast Inside here. Already a member? You can listen here and sign up for new episode email alerts here.Spoiler: Making MyPillows does not make you my governor. Now, chances that Mike Lindell could actually become governor of a small Republican state, 80 percent, she quips on the latest episode of The New Abnormal. Like, its not even that hard for someone that famous and insane in the Republican party to become a governor.Lindell claims he wouldnt run to be a dogcatcher right now, because he doesnt trust the voting machines. Plus, hes from the blue state of Minnesota. So maybe the risk of a Governor Pillow isnt quite so high. But L.A. Times columnist Virginia Heffernan would like to quickly add something about Mike Lindell being a cosplay governor.I think we need to understand that being in politics leads to governing and governing is boring. It is not a PR operation, she says. And I feel like we have made these jobs celebrity roles. Public service should not beis notbeing on a reality show.Like, I feel like we need to really dial down the razzle-dazzle, really play up the drudgery, Heffernan continues. I just don't know why every single industrialist and every single lady with abs or gorgeous arms would want to be, of all things, a governor.Biden, Heffernan opines, is doing a pretty good job at the drudgerydollars going out, jabs going out, all leading to Trump signs going down. Sure, the Donald has his cultists, like Lindell. But, I don't think people can hold onto this much insanity for this long, especially when it's a tiny minority of people who believe it, Heffernan adds. Democrats need to know how to win.To which Jong-Fast replies, oh-so-gently: Are you freakin kidding me? With all of these Republican attempts to retcon the Capitol riots? To chop away at the right to vote? To instantiate their ability to overturn elections? All while Team Biden snoozes it away? The Democrats are bringing an ice cream sundae to a knife fight, Jong-Fast says.Plus! Politicos Tara Palmeri talks about her search to find Liz Cheney supporters in Wyoming. And Battle for the Soul author Edward-Isaac Dovere gives us a peek into how Biden sees the political landscape. The presidency that he has in front of him now, he knows, is so different from what he ever expected to have, Dovere says, And part of that is rethinking how he incorporates the progressivism within the party that took root and that was so much part of this campaign. And its just, its a really complicated evolution for him. Its not the presidency he thought itd be running in 2019 when he got into this race.Read more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more. A man walks past the Bank of Ireland branch at Baggot Street, Dublin, after the institution announced that it is to close more than 100 branches on the island of Ireland. Photo: Colin Keegan/Collins Dublin Money was always intended to be a servant for the people, a resource for the basic transactions of daily living. But the relationship between money and any kind of service in finance is becoming more remote. Banking online, the financial crash, and the resultant mergers and closures which followed changed the dynamic between customers and banks irreversibly. Taxpayers have become used to absorbing shocks from banks, as the legacy of the bailout will attest. But employees and customers in the sector in this country have had to cope with two major blows within two weeks. The worry is there could be more to follow, should AIB also decide on closures. As things stand, Ulster Banks announcement that it is to close, and yesterdays announcement by Bank of Ireland (BoI) that it is shutting 103 branches on the island from September, will have shaken the sector. When its debts spiralled and the economy shrank, it was the Irish people who stumped up the 3.5bn given to BoI in a rescue package. Revelations about the closures have inevitably stirred fears about competitiveness in our banking market. Its hard to imagine that as far back as 1835 Daniel OConnell had the vision to set up the National Bank of Ireland, for the people. It was a revolutionary concept for a new bank to inject cash into local economies with services available to all. Today, access for all to a bank especially for some older people, or those without internet access is becoming a major headache. The closure of further branches is another serious setback for rural towns and villages. The idea that post offices can automatically fill the void, or offer services like-for-like, is too simplistic. Post offices can certainly soften the blow, offering some essential customer cash services. But the notion of sitting down with a post-office manager, to negotiate a loan for a small- to medium-sized business, is not on the horizon. In 2008, we saw how some bloated banks became unstable as they rushed head-long into a race to multiply returns. Too often, the scale of the risk was lost sight of, with eyes fixed exclusively on the bottom line. By the time the market collapsed, many saving banks had disappeared for good. Consolidation in the sector meant fewer and bigger banks. It is largely accepted that banks are not there to create money for the public good. They are, first and foremost, businesses owned by shareholders. They are driven by profit, but this ought not to mean they can be blind to their relationship with customers. Pressure from new players in the digital banking sector, unrestrained by branch networks, has clearly hit them hard. The banks have made billions out of their loyal Irish customers, who now find themselves bereft of a branch. The rural account holder is feeling short-changed. Its harder for them to avail of services as banks develop their easy association with the more accessible, and often more affluent, centres. Mayor Bill de Blasio said Governor Andrew Cuomo is hiding from the media and public because of the sexual harassment claims against him which is distracting him from the COVID-19 crisis. He also said the state should no longer be in charge of New York City's vaccine roll-out, saying on Tuesday morning that 'if you put too much power in one person's hands, bad things can happen.' It was de Blasio's latest dig at the embattled governor, who is battling sexual harassment allegations and claims that he covered up the number of people who died from COVID-19 in New York nursing homes. De Blasio, after calling again for an independent investigation into the claims against Cuomo, used his Tuesday morning press briefing to criticize the governor again. Cuomo - who relished in winning an Emmy for his daily COVID-19 press briefings last year - has not given a public briefing for days and has not done interviews either. Instead, he is releasing information to the media through his press office about the state's COVID-19 numbers and is posting it online. On Tuesday, de Blasio said: 'All leaders have to answer tough questions from the media regardless of whether it's convenient. 'The fact is the work we have to do right now is what matters - fighting COVID, bringing the city back, bringing the state back. That's the work we all need to be focused on. I would say at the same time, a way to move everything forward is to restore local control. Mayor Bill de Blasio said Governor Andrew Cuomo is hiding from the media and public because of the sexual harassment claims against him which is distracting him from the COVID-19 crisis. Cuomo is shown, right, during his last public appearance on February 24 'It should not be all in the hands of one person. 'We're getting a real object lesson for that right now - if you put too much power in one person's hands, bad things happen.' He called on the state to allow local leaders to decide who should get vaccinated and when. 'We need local control back all over the state. 'We have extraordinary health leadership in cities and counties all over the state who need to be re-empowered to protect their people. We need the freedom to vaccinate. 'We should not have to go hat in hand to Albany for every letter change when we know those folks providing food need to be vaccinated, sanitation workers need to be vaccinated, the folks who would serve on juries and help restore the justice system need to be vaccinated. 'The state of New York will not allow me to vaccinate those people. Give us back control,' he said. Charlotte Bennett (left), 25, accused Cuomo of sexually harassing her during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in his Albany office, including quizzing her about dating older men. Lindsey Boylan (right) accused him of attempting to kiss her on the mouth in 2018 A third woman has accused Governor Cuomo of unwanted touching and sexual attention, saying he placed his hands on her face and asked if he could kiss her at her friend's wedding. A friend took a series of pictures of the incident as it occurred. https://t.co/bgvzBK4vK0 pic.twitter.com/hXvgTvSntQ Evan Hill (@evanchill) March 2, 2021 Anna Ruch, now 33, met Andrew Cuomo at her friends' wedding in September 2019. He was photographed cupping her face. She says he asked if he could kiss her Currently, across the state of New York, everyone over the age of 65 can be vaccinated, and people aged 16 and over with one of a litany of health issues can also be vaccinated. Some essential workers like healthcare workers, cops, firefighters, grocery store employees, restaurant workers, food delivery workers and public transport workers are also eligible. For weeks, there has been no word on when the next batch of people who will become eligible can receive their vaccine. The state continues to blame the vaccine shortages on the federal government, which is where it gets its allotment. It then dishes out the doses across the state dependent on population size. De Blasio claimed on Tuesday morning that more than 2million people had been given their first dose at New York City sites, but he also fumed that 75 percent of the people receiving it at some sites like the Javits Center are not city residents. De Blasio also said on Tuesday morning that he has never sexually harassed or abused anyone, and couldn't imagine ever doing it. He has said repeatedly that if the allegations against Cuomo are true, he must step down, and insisted he would never do such a thing as abuse his power for sex. Photos taken in September 2016 show New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, 63, getting cozy with his closest aide Melissa DeRosa, 38, at dinner. DeRosa says they have never had an intimate relationship 'The notion of a man taking advantage of his power and office to intimidate a woman in his employment or somehow insinuate that she should have sex with him... that's disgusting to me. CUOMO MAY HAVE TO TESTIFY AS PART OF SEXUAL HARASSMENT PROBE Andrew Cuomo could be ordered to testify under oath in his sexual harassment inquiry after the New York Attorney General was handed full subpoena power. Independently elected Letitia James will now pick an outside law firm to investigate allegations against the governor. Those outside investigators could also compel other witnesses to speak and request documents, including emails and text messages. Calls for Cuomo's resignation intensified Tuesday after six socialist state lawmakers issued a statement saying he 'uses his power to belittle, bully and harass his employees and colleagues'. The state legislators called for impeachment proceedings. New York City Councilman Antonio Reynoso tweeted: 'The pattern of sexual harassment and predatory behavior by Governor Cuomo is unacceptable, and I believe the women coming forward. Governor Cuomo must resign.' It all comes after two former aides accused Cuomo of making inappropriate remarks to them; one says he forcibly kissed her. A third woman then said Monday he touched her face and back and asked to kiss her after they met at a wedding. Cuomo has maintained he had never inappropriately touched or propositioned anyone. He tried to play down the claims in a statement on Sunday, apologizing to the women but insisting they misinterpreted what he considers to be joking. The harassment allegations come on the heels of accusations the governor covered up the true death COVID-19 death toll in nursing homes. Advertisement 'It's something not only would I never ever allow it, tolerate it, conceive it being possible in my life or in my staff... I can't think of any decent human being who would do a thing like that.' Two former aides - Charlotte Bennett and Lindsay Boylan - say Cuomo sexually harassed them when they were working for him. On Monday night, a third woman - Anna Ruch, now 33, who worked at the Obama White House and met Cuomo at a wedding in September 2019 - said he asked if he could kiss her. A journalist has also come forward to say she quit her job in local news because she was bullied by Cuomo's team, and a video resurfaced over the weekend of thew governor repeatedly telling a different journalist to 'eat the whole sausage' at the New York State Fair in 2016. That journalist, Bethany Cefalu, said on Monday that she never felt pressured nor harassed, nor did she think Cuomo was inappropriate. On Monday night, Melissa DeRosa - one of his most senior aides - hit back at photos obtained by DailyMail.com which show the pair at dinner, not long after she got married. They appear close in the photos and Cuomo's hand is placed between them on a booth. DeRosa said in a statement to DailyMail.com: 'There have been misogynistic rumors in Albany and in government for years but I never thought I'd have to respond to them in the press. 'The Governor and I have never had an intimate relationship. The Governor and I have been close friends and colleagues for over ten years we've had countless meals together and suggestions or innuendo around that is inappropriate, offensive and wrong.' The women who have made allegations against him on banded together in solidarity on Monday night. Attorney General Letitia James is appointing a special counsel to investigate the claims after shutting down Cuomo's suggestion that he could appoint his own. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said the claims were 'credible' and 'serious' earlier this week. Six socialist lawmakers in New York are also calling for him to resign. In a letter last night, they said he 'uses his power to belittle, bully and harass his employees and colleagues'. The state legislators called for impeachment proceedings. New York City Councilman Antonio Reynoso tweeted: 'The pattern of sexual harassment and predatory behavior by Governor Cuomo is unacceptable, and I believe the women coming forward. Governor Cuomo must resign.' Demi Moore showed off her youthful complexion in a stunning makeup-free selfie as she enjoyed a cuddle session with one of her seven dogs in a new Instagram. While the 58-year-old actress snuggled up with Merple wearing a pair of glasses, her glowing skin looked nearly wrinkle-free as she pouted her lips. 'Monday hair by Merple,' she captioned a hilarious Boomerang video of her adorable rescue pup tangling her hair as he jumped off her bed. Glowing: Demi Moore showed off her youthful complexion in a stunning makeup-free selfie as she enjoyed a cuddle session with one of her seven dogs In the laid-back slideshow, she can be seen wearing a light-wash denim jacket as her pup played with a purple toy on top of her left shoulder. Later, the Inside Out author's hair could be seen getting accidentally pulled down by Merple as he ran behind her. Despite her dark tresses getting yanked, the Golden Globe winner seemed unfazed as she filmed the moment and playfully mouthed a silent scream. Ouch! The Inside Out author's hair could be seen getting accidentally pulled down by Merple as he ran past her shoulder to jump off the bed All eyes, however, were on the mother-of-three's age-defying face, which according to Harper's Bazaar, she maintains with $1,500 of fragrance-free products. Among a number of anti-aging creams, she credited a rose quartz too for keeping her looking young. 'When you're over 50, when you feel like your skin is hitting the floor, this actually is an incredible uplift,' she raved. 'That and smiling. Smiling is the best free anti-aging secret.' So different: In January 2021, she sparked plastic surgery rumors after looking nearly unrecognizable while opening artistic director Kim Jones' Fendi Couture SS/21 presentation; seen on the runway In a 2020 Goop panel, she talked about accepting the aging process and having a good facialist. 'I definitely think beauty starts on the inside. You can do anything you want to the outside, but if the inside isn't looking or feeling good, then I don't know if anything you do on the outside is going to be good enough,' she reflected. Two months ago, she sparked plastic surgery rumors after looking nearly unrecognizable while opening artistic director Kim Jones' Fendi Couture SS/21 presentation. 'Her appearance has clearly changed': Moore made matters worse by sucking in her cheeks, which had four doctors telling OK Magazine in January that she had 'gone overboard with injectable fillers' Moore made matters worse by sucking in her cheeks, which had four doctors telling OK Magazine in January that she had 'gone overboard with injectable fillers.' 'Her appearance has clearly changed,' plastic surgeon Ryan Neinstein - who doesn't treat Demi - told the outlet. '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,' he continued. Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol / Korea Times file Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol strongly criticized a recent move by the ruling party to create another state investigative agency to limit the power of the prosecution service. "Taking investigative power away from the prosecution amounts to regression of democracy and destruction of the spirits of the Constitution," the top prosecutor said in an interview with Kookmin Daily published Tuesday. "I am willing to stake my position for the 100th time if I could stop it," he said. The ruling Democratic Party (DP) is seeking to establish yet another agency tasked with investigating six types of serious crimes, including abuse of power and corruption, under the Ministry of Justice, which will strip the prosecution service of investigative power into those crimes and leave it only with the power to prosecute. The move comes on the heels of the establishment earlier this year of the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO) with a focus on uprooting corruption among high-ranking officials. The DP's new initiative is in line with the party's core agenda to further reduce the power of the nation's prosecution service, which is considered to have too much power, with the authority to investigate crimes big or small and the exclusive right to decide who to indict. Yoon lambasted the move as being "tantamount to give extraterritorial rights to those in power," and to "being a rough-and-ready step for legislation that will destroy the 70-year-old criminal law system, let alone the prosecution service." He also said he strongly opposed the idea of separating powers of investigation and prosecution, because it could interfere with effective and just law enforcement and potentially benefit only the establishment and do more harm than good to the socially disadvantaged. "I am confident in saying that it is not possible to enforce laws" if the two powers are handled by different parties, he said. "The only choice left is to implore the public," he said, asking the people to "watch out how the issue plays out so that the ruling party does not make any hasty legislative actions." In response, Justice Minister Park Beom-kye said he was open to meet with Yoon to share notes and discuss the issue. Meeting with reporters on the way to his office at the government complex in Gwacheon, south of Seoul, Park said, "I am well aware of the concerns among the members of the prosecution service on the separation of investigation and prosecution." He stressed that discussions are only at a very early stage and that it is necessary to listen to various opinions from those involved going forward. The minister, however, refrained from expressing his thoughts on the establishment of another investigative agency. He has remained cautious on the issue, saying that while the two powers should ultimately be separated, it should be done in a way not to leave a "vacuum" in the state's power to investigate important cases. (Yonhap) West Palm Beach, Florida, March 2, 2021 -- Constant, a provider of bare metal, virtual servers, and cloud storage solutions today announced key additions to its executive leadership team to support the Companys worldwide growth. Constant will now be led by newly-appointed Chief Executive Officer, J.J. Kardwell. Matt Amundson has joined as Chief Marketing Officer, and Shonal Narayan has joined as Vice President of Demand Generation. Constants Founder Industry Veterans Bill Kalogeros and Riley Repko join archTIS to grow the company's US Federal and Defense Practice Increased demand for secure collaboration solutions and rising nation-state threats have created a need to expand our team and establish a US Federal and Defense Sales and Channel practice to expand on the companys success in Australian defense agencies and supply chain markets. archTIS, a global technology provider of innovative solutions for secure collaboration of sensitive information, and subsidiary Nucleus Cyber today announced it is launching a dedicated US Federal and Defense Sales and Channel Practice in the United States to meet increased government demand for advanced information protection solutions. Bill Kalogeros, a 25 year US federal sales professional and US veteran, has joined archTISs leadership team as Director, US Federal and Defense Industry Base. Riley Repko, a 30-year technology and defense industry specialist, will serve as a strategic consultant leveraging his experience as the former strategic advisor to the US Air Force Secretary and the US Chief of Staff and as a retired US Air Force Reserve senior officer and combat veteran. archTIS and its subsidiary Nucleus Cyber provide advanced data-centric information security solutions to enforce the secure collaboration of classified and top-secret information between government agencies, defense and their suppliers - anywhere, said Kurt Mueffelmann, Global COO and US President of archTIS. Increased demand for secure collaboration solutions and rising nation-state threats have created a need to expand our team and establish a US Federal and Defense Sales and Channel practice to expand on the companys success in Australian defense agencies and supply chain markets. archTISs portfolio of solutions protect against insider threats and ensure secure collaboration of sensitive, classified and top-secret content. Dynamic, attribute-based access control (ABAC) enables fine grained security to reduce risk and enforce Zero Trust at the file level. archTIS products include Kojensi, a multi-government certified platform for the secure access, sharing and collaboration of sensitive, classified and top secret information; and NC Protect for enhanced information protection for file access and sharing, messaging and emailing of sensitive and classified content across Microsoft 365 apps, Dropbox, Nutanix Files and Windows file shares. Bill Kalogeros, the new Director, US Federal and Defense Industry Base for archTIS and Nucleus Cyber, is a consummate business executive with a dynamic career combining channel, business development and sales management responsibilities within highly competitive organizations, industries, and commercial and government markets. A former US Army Ranger, Kalogeros has held senior-level positions at GE Comstor, Cisco Federal, Bay Networks and MicroAccess, Inc. In addition to his start-up experience, Kalogeros has worked closely with leading industry prime contractors, capturing large government contract opportunities. His security industry experience has allowed him to brief members of the US Senate, the Pentagon, Canada Department of National Defense and the US Transportation Security Administration around cyber-security issues and solutions. Additionally, Kalogeros has spoken at RSA, LinuxWorld and the Techno Security Conference on the topic of Platforms for Secure Military Networks. Riley Repko is an entrepreneur, strategist and technology industry executive backed by 30 years of hands-on leadership experience collaborating closely with the private sector and with the military. His balanced service between industry and the federal government includes 27 years as a commissioned officer and serving in two senior civilian appointments as a government Highly Qualified Expert (HQE) with the Air Staff (Pentagon). As a technology integration specialist, he focuses on non-traditional, innovative solutions which reside with industrys small business and academic communities. About archTIS archTIS Limited (ASX:AR9) is a global provider of innovative software solutions for the secure collaboration of sensitive information. The companys award-winning data-centric information security solutions protect the worlds most sensitive content in government, defence, supply chain, enterprises and regulated industries through attribute-based access and control (ABAC) policies. archTIS products include Kojensi, a multi-government certified platform for the secure access, sharing and collaboration of sensitive and classified information; and NC Protect for enhanced information protection for file access and sharing, messaging and emailing of sensitive and classified content across Microsoft 365 apps, Dropbox, Nutanix Files and Windows file shares. For more information visit http://www.archtis.com or follow @arch_tis. About Nucleus Cyber Nucleus Cyber, an archTIS Limited company (ASX:AR9), is a provider of advanced information protection solutions that prevent data loss and protect against insider threats. The companys NC Protect solution leverages existing technology investments to provide a simpler, faster and cheaper solution to tailor information protection for file sharing, messaging and chat across collaboration tools. For midsize to large enterprises and regulated industries it protects business-critical content in cloud collaboration tools Microsoft Office 365SharePoint, Teams, OneDrive, Exchange, and Yammer, plus Dropbox, Nutanix Files and Windows file shares. For more information visit https://nucleuscyber.com or follow @nucleuscyber. 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 Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development, Mr Edward Yau, speaks via video on the huge potential of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and encourages Australian enterprises to seize the abundant opportunities in his keynote speech during the symposium "Hong Kong: Your Greater Bay Area Partner in Expanding Your Global Business" hosted by Invest Hong Kong in Sydney today (March 1). The Director-General of Investment Promotion at Invest Hong Kong (InvestHK), Mr Stephen Phillips, delivers welcoming remarks via video during the symposium "Hong Kong: Your Greater Bay Area Partner in Expanding Your Global Business" in Sydney today (March 1), revealing the vast business potential and the composite advantages of Hong Kong in the emerging market of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. The Commissioner for the Development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, Mr Tommy Yuen, gives a keynote speech via video during the symposium "Hong Kong: Your Greater Bay Area Partner in Expanding Your Global Business" in Sydney today (March 1). HONG KONG, Mar 2, 2021 - (ACN Newswire) - Invest Hong Kong (InvestHK), a department of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government (HKSAR), hosted a hybrid symposium entitled "Hong Kong: Your Greater Bay Area Partner in Expanding Your Global Business" in Sydney today (March 1), attracting over 400 participants from Hong Kong and Australia.The symposium focused on the attractiveness of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA) as well as the strategic role of Hong Kong in the overall development of the GBA. It brought together the Director of the Australian Chamber Business Leaders Council, Mr Paul Nicolaou, and other speakers renowned in their respective fields to share insights.The Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development, Mr Edward Yau, talked in his online keynote speech about the huge potential of the GBA and encouraged Australian enterprises to seize the abundant opportunities. He said that, as quoted in studies, while the GBA constitutes only 1 per cent of land in the entirety of China and has 5 per cent of the country's population, it produces 12 per cent of the nation's GDP, and exports 37 per cent of national trade."Connectivity through extensive efficient railway systems plus world-class airports and container ports and telecom networks within the GBA provides a solid foundation for it to thrive as a major economic engine of the country. While the 11 cities pursue a common goal of building the GBA into the best bay area in the world, they play different functions as a holistic cluster. Green and sustainable development will be another driver of the GBA in attracting international businesses. By various estimates, the GBA's GDP will grow to top US$4.7 trillion by 2030, presenting growth potential that Australian companies should not be missing," Mr Yau said.Another keynote speaker, the Commissioner for the Development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, Mr Tommy Yuen, said via video, "Hong Kong, under 'one country, two systems' and armed with the GBA development plan is ideally placed to contribute to and benefit from both. Hong Kong will focus on better integration into the country's domestic market, taking the GBA development as an entry point, and will proactively strengthen our role as a facilitator to link up the domestic circulation and the international circulation. Playing the dual role well will bring continuous impetus to Hong Kong's economy. Businesses that operate in Hong Kong will hence be able to take full advantage of not just what Hong Kong has to offer but what the GBA market can offer."The Director of the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in Sydney, Ms Winnie Chan, and the Director-General of Investment Promotion at InvestHK, Mr Stephen Phillips, delivered welcoming remarks. Mr Phillips, speaking via video, revealed the vast business potential and the composite advantages of Hong Kong in the emerging market of the GBA. "The GBA in my opinion is the most exciting economic development plan in this planet. It is home to 72 million consumers and many of the country's most innovative companies, and backed by the leading international financial centre status of Hong Kongas well as all other dynamic economic clusters. The intra-regional trade and investment flows, especially between the GBA and ASEAN, present many new opportunities ahead," he said.Other speakers at the symposium included the Managing Director and Group CEO of the University of Wollongong Global Enterprises, Ms Marisa Mastroianni, who discussed her experience on how to leverage Hong Kong to extend the university's global network of higher education institutions. The CEO and Founder of AirTrunk, Mr Robin Khuda; Partner in Tax of KPMG Hong Kong and Head of Alternative Investments of KPMG China Mr Darren Bowdern; the National President of Australia China Business Council, Mr David Olsson; and the Director of Philanthropy and Government Relations of the Fred Hollows Foundation, Mr Michael Allen, also talked about the unparalleled opportunities in Hong Kong during the panel discussion moderated by the Chairman, Global Engagement of the Business Council of Australia, Mr Warwick Smith.About InvestHKInvestHK is the department of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government responsible for attracting foreign direct investment and supporting overseas and Mainland businesses to set up or expand in Hong Kong. It provides free advice and customised services for overseas and Mainland companies. For more information, please visit www.investhk.gov.hk.For photos of the symposium, please visit: www.flickr.com/photos/investhk/albums/72157718478324988 .Media contact:Mr Antoine SoHead of Public RelationsTel: + 852 3107 1035Email: ASo@investhk.gov.hkMs Eva ChanSenior Manager, Public RelationsTel: + 852 3107 1071Email: EChan@investhk.gov.hkSource: InvestHKCopyright 2021 ACN Newswire . All rights reserved. Chinese investment in Australia plunged by more than 61 percent in 2020, according to new data released by the Australian National University (ANU) on Sunday night. Figures from the Chinese Investment in Australia Database (CHIIA) showed that the drop followed a 47 percent fall in 2019, and is the lowest over the past six years. "It reflects the effects of COVID but also more scrutiny of foreign investment by the Australian government, particularly that from China," said Shiro Armstrong, Director of the East Asian Bureau of Economic Research where CHIIA is based. In 2020, CHIIA recorded just over 1 billion Australian dollars (about 770 million U.S. dollars) of investment, down from 2.6 billion in the previous year, and 16.5 billion in 2016 when the investment peaked. A total of 20 Chinese investments were recorded, compared with 111 in 2016. A table of Chinese investment in Australia by sector and by year showed that in 2020, 45 percent of the Chinese investment was in rental, hiring and real estate services, 40 percent in mining and 15 percent in manufacturing. Other sectors including transport, energy, construction, health care and agriculture which saw Chinese investment in the previous years recorded zero in 2020. Researchers also found that in 2020, about 86 percent of Chinese investment in Australia originated from Chinese companies already established in the country, which means purchases were made via Australian subsidiaries rather than by Chinese companies directly. Dr. Armstrong said that this is a pattern that intensified in 2019, when 91 percent of new Chinese investment was sourced from within Australia. In an email interview with Xinhua, he said that investment environment in Australia "has become more uncertain." "There have been two recent high profile cases that relate to China," he said. "One was the withdrawal of a bid by China Mengniu Dairy's for the drinks business of Lion Drinks and Dairy, a division of Japanese brewing group Kirin, with the Australian Treasurer explaining the sale was contrary to the national interest. The other was the state-owned China State Construction Engineering Corporation withdrawing its bid for Australian construction company Probuild after the Treasurer said that he would reject it." China had been an important investor in Australia. Armstrong believed that plummet of the Chinese investment in Australia could result in lower asset values in Australia from removal of a large source of capital and a large bidder as well as the retreat of economic integration between Australia and China. "Foreign investment increases trade and can act as a ballast in relations between countries," he told Xinhua. Armstrong noted that the drop could last "as long as it takes for certainty and openness to return to Australia's investment screening regime." "To have sustained investment that is diversified across industries, there will have to be a return to a more open investment environment that brings equal treatment to regulation between foreign and domestic owned companies in Australia," he said. Talking about advice, he mentioned the China-EU Comprehensive Agreement on Investment, awaiting approval in writing, which he said will "give Chinese investors in Europe more certainty while opening up the Chinese market to foreign ownership." "It may take time but Australia and China should aspire to a similar arrangement in upgrading the China-Australia Free Trade Agreement (FTA)," he suggested. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full 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. Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. San Antonio officials downgraded the coronavirus risk to the community Monday as the positivity rate fell for the seventh straight week. The rate, which is calculated weekly based on the proportion of people who test positive for the virus, dropped to 5.6 percent, a decrease of 1.9 percentage points from the previous week. Mayor Ron Nirenberg said at the daily coronavirus briefing that the positivity rate was the lowest of all major metropolitan areas in Texas. It is now about half a percentage point above the 5 percent threshold that local health officials established as a baseline for manageable community transmission. San Antonio briefly reached that goal for one week in early October, when the positivity rate fell to 4.9 percent before steadily rising in the lead-up to the winter surge. When we can get below 5 percent, that tells us that there is a low level of COVID-19 circulating in the community, which means the likelihood of somebody getting infected with COVID-19 is much lower, said Colleen Bridger, assistant city manager and the citys coronavirus czar, at the briefing. On ExpressNews.com: Survival mode: Amid wintry weather, power and water outages, San Antonio dialysis patients go without for days Officials had cautioned that the citys coronavirus data had been skewed by last months winter storms and accompanying water and power outages, which shut down many testing sites and prevented people from getting to those that were still open. However, testing has returned to pre-storm levels, with around 50,000 residents tested last week. Over the past week, the infection rate per 100,000 people remained at 39.7. That figure is down from 70.1 a month ago. San Antonio recorded 288 new coronavirus cases and no new COVID deaths on Monday. Since the pandemic began, at least 196,816 Bexar County residents have been infected and 2,670 have died from complications of the virus. Nirenberg said the improvements to coronavirus transmission in San Antonio reflect residents strong compliance with public health guidance, including physical distancing, wearing masks and washing hands. These things work, and doing them consistently is how we have gotten to this point, after a very difficult winter, Nirenberg said. There were 464 COVID-19 patients being treated at area hospitals, 39 of whom had been admitted in the past day. While that was a slight increase of 17 patients from Sunday, it was still 144 fewer than a week ago and more than 900 fewer compared with a month ago. On ExpressNews.com: A more contagious coronavirus variant is in San Antonio. Now what? Of those hospitalized, 199 were critically ill and 110 were breathing with the support of a ventilator. Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff said while the pandemics stress on local hospitals has greatly improved, officials would like to reduce hospitalizations even further before we can breathe easy. Federal regulators approval of a third COVID vaccine over the weekend will significantly speed up inoculation of the community, local officials said. Unlike those produced by Pfizer and Moderna, the Johnson & Johnson vaccine is one shot and requires refrigeration, rather than storage at freezing and ultracold temperatures. Its 67 percent efficacy is lower than the other two vaccines, but health experts say it is still provides strong protection against the two most devastating effects of the pandemic hospitalization and death. Bridger said state officials have not yet communicated to localities how the Johnson & Johnson vaccine would be distributed, but it appears that initial doses will be sent first to vaccination supersites in Houston and Dallas. As a result, San Antonio is not expected to receive its first shipments until next week at the earliest. The arrival of another vaccine, particularly one that provides protection in a single shot, will greatly improve local vaccination efforts, Bridger said. Its going to be a tremendous improvement, she said. When you have to vaccinate a person twice, it takes twice as long to get them fully vaccinated. lcaruba@express-news.net Wang Yang, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) National Committee, attends the opening meeting of the 15th session of the Standing Committee of the 13th CPPCC National Committee in Beijing, capital of China, March 1, 2021. (Xinhua/Shen Hong) BEIJING, March 2 (Xinhua) -- The National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), China's top political advisory body, will hold a press conference on Wednesday, one day ahead of the opening of its annual session. Guo Weimin, spokesperson of the fourth session of the 13th CPPCC National Committee, will brief journalists on the session and take questions. The press conference, scheduled for 3 p.m., will be held via video link due to the COVID-19 prevention and control requirements. The event will be broadcast live by China Media Group and on xinhuanet.com. While global supply chains continue to adjust to current restrictions, what can be done to mobilise high-quality investment? Deputy Minister of Planning and Investment Tran Duy Dong Trade conflicts among major economies worldwide and the severe consequences of the pandemic since last year have been accelerating the relocation of big corporations to avoid high tariffs and reduce risks. Of these, numerous countries have also promulgated attractive policies for foreign direct investment (FDI), while Vietnam has got its own advantages to welcome investment, as well as carried out some outstanding solutions and innovative measures to meet the demand of potential investors. Vietnam has been ready to welcome new investors based on huge clean land areas, power sources for production, high-quality human resources, supporting industries, and simplified administrative procedures. For large-scale projects which apply high technologies, generate a lot of added value, and maintain close links with local enterprises, special incentives have already been built, and the Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI) in collaboration with other ministries has drafted and submitted to the government. Despite the pandemic, some online meetings, dialogues, and investment promotion conferences between Vietnamese authorities and overseas investors have been organised to update new policies, incentives, and feedback for their concerns, including some of largest technology corporations in the world. Besides this, the MPI proactively works with diplomatic agencies, business associations, consultancies, banks, and investment funds to approach more investors that are already interested in this destination. Meanwhile, a task force responsible for FDI attraction led by Deputy Prime Minister Pham Binh Minh and supported by MPI Minister Nguyen Chi Dung has been established to call for as many foreign-invested projects as possible. The MPI has also created more favourable conditions for foreign experts and senior engineers to enter the country to work. Despite the pandemic, last year over 10,000 experts arrived in Vietnam to carry out various business. However, there remain some obstacles in Vietnam, including institutional issues, infrastructure, and human resources. Despite this, many solutions have been taken to improve the investment climate. Vietnam has identified a number of prioritised sectors. Of these, in which sectors does Vietnam have the competitive advantage to foster FDI attraction? In our research based on Vietnams advantages and discussions with some major investors, we see some priority given to mobilising FDI in processing and manufacturing (electronics, equipment, automobiles, steel, chemicals, textiles and garments, and footwear and leather); consumption goods and retail; e-commerce; and logistics due to the favourable location, abundant human resources, and large, accessible market thanks to new-generation free trade agreements signed in recent years. Additionally, there are a lot of opportunities for Vietnam to lure relocating and restructuring projects in such sectors as IT, high technologies, and innovation, which can enable local businesses to join their supply chains in high-added-value phases, along with training human resources, investing into research and development, and contributing to the sustainable development of the country. There are particular policies for every locality in addition to general policies. What solutions are to be put in place to avoid a race to the bottom in which localities jostle to attract or retain economic activity? Some localities issued their own incentives to lure more investment but this was already addressed a long time ago. At present, there are only general policies issued by the government in terms of mobilising FDI in particular, and localities are not allowed to build their own. However, they can support investors in land clearance, administrative procedures, human resources supply, and connecting with local supporting businesses. Besides this, localities can organise various investment promotion activities and show off their advantages and potential. These improve the investment climate of both the province and the country. The MPI plays the role of central-level coordinator to manage all local investment promotion activities, ensure their efficiency, avoid duplication, and ensure they are in line with the relevant FDI attraction policies. According to the prime ministers Decision No.03/2014/QD-TTg on the regulation of state management over investment promotion activities, the MPI reviews investment promotion programmes of every ministry, agency, and locality annually in order to manage the performance of all investment promotion activities, and call for much more reputable investors into Vietnam. There remains risk of new outbreaks in Vietnam as international flights carry overseas experts into the country. How do you assess these risks and their impact on FDI attraction this year? Tens of thousands of people, including overseas Vietnamese, have returned home and foreign experts arrived in the country to work. This has contributed to resuming operation of numerous businesses. Of course, these flights carry some risks. During the last five months, the Ministry of Health and the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention have done well to manage pandemic infection rates. Individual high-profile cases have also alerted Vietnam to strengthen some solutions. Since then, the prime minister has asked localities to re-test all foreign experts that had just entered the country. Newly-arrived vaccines will partially alleviate concerns of the outbreak or increasing infection rates, and raise expectations to welcome more foreign experts and investors. American star Gillian Anderson was honoured with the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Series for her role Margaret Thatcher in Netflix's show The Crown. While accepting her second Golden Globe, the X-Files actor thanked her ex-boyfriend and creator of the web series The Crown, Peter Morgan, in her speech. She also extended gratitude to her casting director for choosing her for the role. Here's what she has said. Also Read | Gillian Anderson Thanks Her Hair And Makeup Team For Her 'Thatcher Helmet' In The Crown Gillian Anderson's speech Also Read | Helen Mirren To Join Gillian Anderson & Others For Lionsgate's White Bird: A Wonder Story "Oh my God. Firstly, thank you very much to the Hollywood Foreign Press and to my fellow nominees and to Peter Morgan for imagining that I could inhibit Mrs. T." Later, she added, "And to Nina Gold, the casting director who believed him or visa versa, however, it worked. To Peter Morgan for writing an exquisitely multidimensional character against the odds". Congratulations to @GillianA for winning the award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Supporting Role at the #GoldenGlobes!pic.twitter.com/rIylJebR13 Golden Globe Awards (@goldenglobes) March 1, 2021 Anderson gave away her award acceptance speech in her American accent and stunned all the viewers. Her fans were left confused and could not stop themselves from reacting on Twitter. While some were praising her for the award, others were amazed by listening to her accent. The actor recently sparked rumours about her and her ex-boyfriend Peter Morgan's getting back together. Reportedly, the couple who broke up in late 2020, recently stayed together in the Czech Republic while Gillian was shooting for one of her upcoming films. Here's what her fans have been saying ever since she received the award. Also Read | Golden Globe 2021: Gillian Anderson Is 'quite Teary' After Being Nominated For 'The Crown' 78th Golden Globe Awards Also Read | Golden Globes 2021: 'The Crown' Wins The Best Television Drama Series The Golden Globe Awards was pushed for two months in 2021 due to the pandemic. The virtual ceremony, co-hosted by Tina Fey and Amy Poehler, was the first bi-coastal ceremony. The nominations for all categories were announced on February 3, 2021, while Norman Lear and Jane Fonda were announced as the recipients of the Carol Burnett Award and the Cecil B. DeMille Award, respectively. Meanwhile, Anderson was not the only one receiving a Golden Globe from The Crown. The Netflix show won four titles including The Best TV Series (Drama). Image Source: Gillian Anderson's Instagram Get the latest entertainment news from India & around the world. Now follow your favourite television celebs and telly updates. Republic World is your one-stop destination for trending Bollywood news. Tune in today to stay updated with all the latest news and headlines from the world of entertainment. Email Whatsapp Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment Lets start with some good news: the late Alex Trebeks TV wardrobe was donated to men who are homeless or leaving jail. When an H-E-B grocery store near Austin, Texas, lost power in the recent winter storm and was unable to check out customers, employees let them take their goods home for free. A delivery drivers vehicle got stuck in a clients driveway when the storm began, so the couple took her into their home for five days. Have you seen any of these stories headlined in recent days? Riots in Portland and 'negativity bias' In other news, cancel culture has come for a Hyatt Regency hotel in Orlando, Florida. The hotel hosted the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) last weekend. Former President Donald Trump spoke, as did a number of other Republican and conservative figures. As a result, critics called online for the hotel to be boycotted. Cancel culture is also coming for Dr. Seuss on claims of racist stereotypes in his books. A school district in Virginia is just one example. And rioters vandalized several buildings in downtown Portland, Oregon, over the weekend, protesting the Biden administrations immigration policy and the federal agency Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Unfortunately, such bad news is much easier to find in the news than good news. Negativity bias is the psychological term for our collective hunger to hear and remember bad news. Part of this is schadenfreude, the pleasure we derive from another persons misfortune. However, studies indicate that we are also conditioned to avoid danger and thus respond more quickly to bad news that threatens us. This means that we often look for the negative and overlook the positive. As a result, we can make things worse than they are. Our fears become self-fulfilling prophecies and we miss much of the good that surrounds us each day. Hiding from a king in a cave Lets relate this fact to yesterdays Daily Article, which focused on the importance of supporting religious freedom while speaking the truth in love with LGBTQ persons and their advocates. Toward the close of the article, I stated my plan to suggest specific ways we can do both. For foundational guidance, we turn to Psalm 57, Davids prayer when he was hiding from King Saul in a wilderness cave (probably 1 Samuel 22:1, but possibly 1 Samuel 24:3). Here we find four principles that apply when we face opposition to our faith. Each of them calls us to focus on the good in the midst of the bad. One: Trust Gods presence. David begins his prayer: Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me, for in you my soul takes refuge; in the shadow of your wings I will take refuge, till the storms of destruction pass by (v. 1). He knows that the Lord is sheltering him in the face of mortal peril, even though he cannot see his wings at the time. Two: Trust Gods purpose. David continues: I cry out to God Most High, to God who fulfills his purpose for me (v. 2). Note that it is God, not David, who fulfills this purpose. The darkness of the tunnel does not contradict the sovereignty of the engineer driving the train. Three: Trust Gods power. David testifies: He will send from heaven and save me; he will put to shame him who tramples on me (v. 3, my emphasis). He knows that the King of the universe is more powerful than the king of Israel. Four: Trust Gods providence. David admits: My soul is in the midst of lions; I lie down amid fiery beasts (v. 4). Yet he can pray, Be exalted, O God, above the heavens! Let your glory be over all the earth! (v. 5). He knows that God knows his challenges and will bring his glory over all the earth, including the threat he faces. Four steps to the spring of the Spirit With this backdrop, how can we respond redemptively to those who advocate for causes that threaten our religious freedom and attack our beliefs? In Crisis in America: A Christian Response, Pastor Garland Hunt offers practical wisdom for this moment in our nations history. I would summarize his suggestions for facing opposition in four steps: Perception: What is God saying to us through this event? Personal accountability: Is there wrongdoing I must admit and change? Prayer: How can I intercede for those affected and for God to act for their best? Persuasion: What changes are needed? How can I help people make them? Because God is sovereign in every cave of life, we can trust his presence, purpose, power, and providence. We can therefore look for his hand in the challenges we face. Before we can ask others to change, however, we must ask God what changes we need to make (1 Peter 4:17). Then we can pray for God to work in the minds and hearts of our opponents (Matthew 5:44). Only then can we be effective catalysts for change in our broken culture. Ill close with a lesson from the winter storm we recently suffered in Texas. My home in Dallas was blanketed with more snow than I have ever seen in our city. However, when the temperature finally climbed above freezing and the sun came out, the snow began to melt. Not so quickly that you could watch it happen, but slowly over time. In a day or two, the snow had melted in the sunlight. However, it persisted far longer in the shade. If we do our job as the light of the world (Matthew 5:14), we will make an eternal difference in our winter-gripped world. We may not see the spiritual snow melt today, but the spring of the Spirit is coming. This is the promise and the invitation of God. Originally published at the Denison Forum A 17-year-old high school junior was shot and killed by police and her 17-year-old boyfriend committed suicide moments later as deputies were about to arrest him after the couple led authorities on a chase during a failed carjacking. Farrah Rauch and Joseph Dugan, both runaways from Nebraska, were identified by their former school - Blair High School - in a letter to parents, as the teens killed in the shootout. Muskogee Police said in a press release that officers were initially called Sunday afternoon to a report of an attempted carjacking and then a report of a stolen truck. After spotting the stolen truck, a short chase ensued until the vehicle crashed, police said. The two suspects, both of whom were armed, then fled the vehicle and the girl started firing at officers, said police spokeswoman Lynn Hamlin. Police returned fire, killing her, Hamlin told KRJH-TV. Farrah Rauch and Joseph Dugan, both juniors and runaways, were identified by their former school, Blair High School, in a letter to parents as the teens killed in the shootout Police believe the teens were in a romantic relationship, Teehee said, and were reported missing on Thursday, February 25. They got to Oklahoma on Sunday. Police say the girl was shot and killed a few blocks from where the vehicle crashed. The boy was located by a drone in a heavily wooded area nearby. As officers approached, they say he shot himself. Four officers have been placed on routine administrative leave while the shooting is being investigated. Muskogee Police in eastern Oklahoma fatally shot Rauch who opened fire on officers after she and her boyfriend, 17, stole a truck and led cops on a short chase on Sunday, according to authorities. The boyfriend died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound as officers were about to arrest him Police say the girl was shot and killed a few blocks from where the vehicle crashed. The boy was located by a drone in a heavily wooded area nearby. As officers approached, they say he shot himself. Rauch, pictured with family left and right, reportedly opened fire on police first Joseph is pictured with his mother Honour Dugan (right). The teen shot himself when confronted by police Police say one officer suffered a hand injury after falling during the foot chase and was treated at a hospital and released. Muskogee police say their office is investigating the shooting. Betty Baucom McConnell said she witnessed the events from her front door. 'I couldn't believe it,' she told KODT-TV. 'It looked like the wild, wild west. I couldn't get my phone to work. I tried to go live. 'I didn't know what to do,' McConnell said. 'The police did a great job.' McConnell said she was enjoying a birthday dinner at home when she heard gunshots outside. '[I] looked out the front door and there was this lady in front of my house with a gun and she was trying to get in my daughter's car and my daughter was at the door hollering at her to "get away from my car",' McConnell said. 'Next thing I knew she pulled out the gun and she got in her stance and she was shooting at the police and police was shooting back at her.' MPD file Midland Police Department officers have arrested a juvenile male in connection with the stabbing of a 39-year-old man in southeast Midland, according to a press release from the citys spokeswoman. MPD reported that around 2:34 a.m. Tuesday, police and fire department officials were dispatched to Avalon Springs Apartments in the 4400 block of West Illinois Avenue in reference to a medical call. The largest number of vaccine shots as of now has been administered in Donetsk region. Since the launch of a nationwide COVID-19 vaccination campaign in Ukraine, 4,905 people have received their first shot of the Covishield vaccine. Some 1,764 people got vaccinated against COVID-19 in Ukraine on Monday, March 1, alone, according to the Ukrainian Health Ministry's Coronavirus_info channel on Telegram. Read also Health minister gets vaccinated against COVID-19 Number of vaccinations per region in the past day: 180 in Donetsk region; 109 in Zhytomyr region; 100 in Chernihiv region; 100 in Poltava region; 100 in Volyn region; 90 in Kherson region; 80 in Ternopil region; 80 in Mykolaiv region; 79 in Chernivtsi region; 70 in the city of Kyiv; 70 in Lviv region; 70 in Luhansk region; 70 in Kirovohrad region; 70 in Dnipropetrovsk region; 60 in Zaporizhia region; 60 in Sumy region; 60 in Odesa region; 60 in Kharkiv region; 50 in Kyiv region; 40 in Vinnytsia region; 40 in Khmelnytsky region; 40 in Cherkasy region; 36 in Ivano-Frankivsk region; 30 in Zakarpattia region; 20 in Rivne region. The largest number of vaccine shots as of now has been administered in Donetsk region (400 people). Vaccination in Ukraine On February 24, 2021, Ukraine launched a nationwide COVID-19 vaccination campaign. An emergency room doctor in Cherkasy region was the first who got vaccinated. Ukraine uses the Covishield vaccine, which was developed by the University of Oxford in partnership with the British-Swedish company AstraZeneca. It is produced in India under a licensing agreement. Ukraine has received 500,000 doses of the vaccine so far. The vaccination campaign in Ukraine was originally expected to start with the use of a vaccine produced by Pfizer/ BioNTech, which Ukraine was supposed to receive during the first wave of distribution under the global COVAX Facility. The supply of 117,000 doses of that vaccine to Ukraine has been booked. Reporting by UNIAN on Tuesday said it has acquired 355.45 MHz spectrum across Sub GHz, mid band and 2300 MHz bands for a total consideration of Rs 18,699 crore in the latest conducted by the government. "This gives Airtel the most formidable spectrum holdings in the country. Airtel has now secured pan India foot print of Sub GHz spectrum that will help improve its deep indoor and in building coverage in every urban town," the company said. Airtel said the spectrum acquired through the latest auction will also help improve its coverage in villages by offering the superior experience to an additional 90 million customers in India. Through this auction, Airtel has also decisively strengthened its mid band and capacity spectrum holdings that will help it provide an exceptional customer experience at marginal capex. All of the spectrum will enable Airtel to deliver 5G services in future. "At the outset, we would like to thank the government for making abundant spectrum available for auctions. Airtel now has a solid spectrum portfolio that will enable it to continue delivering the best mobile broadband experience in India. We are most excited at bringing the power of Airtel services to an additional 90 million customers in India through the power of our Pan India Sub GHz footprint," Gopal Vittal, MD and CEO of Airtel said. The company added that despite the large amount of spectrum made available, the 700 MHz band bands did not get any bid from the operators as it made no economic case for them based on the high reserve prices. The 700 MHz band coupled with the 3.5 GHz band has the potential to accelerate India's progress to the top league of digitally enabled nations. Therefore, the reserve pricing of these bands must be addressed on priority in future. This will help the nation to benefit from the digital dividend that will inevitably arise out of this. The government said that the attracted Rs 77,146 crore worth of bids on the opening day on Monday with Reliance Jio, and Vodafone Idea putting in bids. Over 2,250 MHz of spectrum, that carry telecom signals, in seven bands worth nearly Rs 4 trillion at reserve or start price, was offered for bidding in the auction. About one-third of the spectrum being auctioned is in the 700 MHz band, which was completely unsold during the 2016 auctions. On March 2, Airtel's scrip was trading at 541.10, up 1.65 per cent on BSE at the time of filing this report. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. The countrys biggest stockbroker, Davy, has been reprimanded and fined 4.13m by the Central Bank of Ireland for four breaches of the European Communities (Markets in Financial Instruments) Regulations 2007 (MiFID). The fine is the biggest ever for an Irish stockbroker and the biggest here under MiFID regulations. Regulators are understood to have been particularly alarmed by the ease with which staff bypassed the Davy compliance function, and by the firms failure to engage properly with regulators once the case was under investigation. The Central Bank said it could not comment on the individual incident involved in the case. However, it is understood to relate to a 2014 incident when businessman Patrick Kearney and his Kilmona Holdings Ltd sold Anglo Irish Bank bonds via Davy at a steep discount in order to settle a debt without knowing the buyers were Davy employees who went on to sell the assets at a profit. A subsequent legal action taken by Mr Kearney against Davy was settled a number of years ago, after the details of the case were laid out in front of the High Court. The Central Bank said its investigation arose from a transaction that a group of 16 Davy employees including senior executives undertook in a personal capacity with a Davy client in November 2014. "In permitting the transaction, Davy prioritised facilitating an opportunity for the [buyers] consortium to make a personal financial gain over ensuring that it was complying with its regulatory obligations, regulators said. The transaction highlighted a weak internal control framework within Davy in relation to conflicts of interest management and personal account dealing. Central Bank Director of Enforcement and Anti-Money Laundering Seana Cunningham said Davy fell well below the standard required in meeting its regulatory obligations in relation to conflicts of interest and personal account dealing. "In permitting a group of employees to pursue a personal investment opportunity, conflicts of interest were not properly considered, the rules in place in relation to personal account dealing were easily sidestepped and Davys compliance function was kept in the dark, she said. "This case serves as an important reminder that conflicts of interest are an inherent risk to all regulated entities. When not properly managed, they pose a risk to investors and diminish market integrity. She said Davys lack of candour when first reporting the matter to the Central Bank was as an aggravating factor in determining the size of the fine. Davy has declined to comment on the fine, however, in a memo to staff CEO Brian McKiernan said: We deeply regret and are sorry for the shortcomings that gave rise to the findings which could not recur today. He pointed to large-scale changes in the firm, which since 2014 has brought in outsiders like the ex-chief executive of the National Treasury Management Agency (NTMA) who was appointed chairman of Davy in 2015 and former AIB CEO Bernard Byrne who took over as Head of Capital Markets at Davy Group in 2018. Since 2014, Davy has gone through a process of board and management renewal with a significant investment in people, risk management, structures, policies and processes," Mr McKiernan said. In his own separate legal action against Davy, property developer Patrick Kearney had claimed stockbrokers were negligent to advise him to sell bonds at a price he said was a significant undervalue. Mr Kearney and Kilmona Holdings sued J&E Davy at the Commercial Court in 2015 over advice the stockbrokers allegedly gave in 2014 on the sale of Anglo Irish Bank subordinated bonds. Mr Kearney was one of the so-called Maple 10 Anglo borrowers who were given loans by the bank to buy Sean Quinns controversial stake in the lender just as the property and banking bubble collapsed. In an affidavit, Mr Kearney, of Queensway Quay, Gibraltar, says he and a company called Pattan Sl were advanced a loan by the former Anglo Irish Bank in 2009 to buy bonds. Anglo's successor, IBRC, later assigned the benefit of the loans to a company called Stapleford Finance. In 2014, Mr Kearney engaged LeBruin Private to advise him on his debt obligations to Stapleford. Following discussions, it was decided Davy would sell the bonds at a price that discharged the 2.36m (1.75m) debt to Stapleford and left a balance to divide between himself, LeBruin and Davy. The bonds were sold for 20.25 cent in the euro, or 5.58m (4.13m), but Mr Kearney said he met with an investment banker, who later agreed to buy them for 32 cent in the euro. Mr Kearney says he was dissuaded by Davy and LeBruin as he was already legally committed to selling the bonds, to what it turned out was a group of Davy employees. Vinicius Junior saved the day for Real Madrid as they scraped a 1-1 draw with Real Sociedad at the Estadio Alfredo Di Stefano on Monday night. Zinedine Zidane's side will be disappointed to drop points ahead of Sunday's trip across town to the Wanda Metropolitano to face leaders Atletico Madrid. After a fairly dominant first 45 minutes from the hosts' point of view, Zidane opted to switch to a formation with three centre-backs. It proved counteractive for his team, with Ferland Mendy's more advanced position causing them to leak a goal to Cristian Portu. The formation was changed after just 15 minutes of the second half. Portu's opening goal was his third in his last eight appearances in LaLiga Santander. The Spaniard gave Mendy a tough evening at Valdebebas and didn't stop running until injury forced him off in the second half. After clean sheets against Getafe, Valencia, Real Valladolid and Atalanta, Thibaut Courtois conceded his first goal in five games when Portu's header found a way in. The hosts still didn't give away many clear chances, though. Having come off the bench against Atalanta, Mariano Diaz was handed a start by Zidane against Real Sociedad. It wasn't for a lack of trying from the former Lyon forward, who hit the crossbar with a header from close range, but he lasted just 60 minutes before being replaced by Hugo Duro. Did the Real Madrid boss really trust the substitute more to score an equaliser? Khalil Osiris, founder, TRC, interviews Keyon Harrold, jazz musician for the 2021 TRC documentary Racism is one of the most urgent challenges facing humanity Khalil Osiris, Founder of Truth & Reconciliation Conversations and Reflecting Freedom Network, is pleased to announce the launch of the 2021 Truth & Reconciliation Conversations (TRC) Global Summit. Taking place from July 18-19 this year, it will bring together a global audience of changemakers who pledge to combat racism in their communities, including educators, students, public servants, business leaders and activists. Racism is one of the most urgent challenges facing humanity. Through truthful conversations, we can begin to navigate this challenge, paving the way to better understand one another. The TRC Global Summit will provide a blueprint for how these conversations can take place, using five key commitments to guide us. Attendees will have access to engaging workshops and provocative on-stage panels with global leaders to deepen their understanding of how to communicate about race and what steps to take in order to move forward. Opening on Nelson Mandela International Day (July 18), the Summit will premiere the 2021 Truth & Reconciliation Conversations documentary, that illuminates the process of reconciliation through the stories of men and women who have confronted racial challenges throughout their lives. Our aim is to encourage people to start talking about ending racism, and in so doing build a global movement for justice, says Khalil Osiris, founder of RFN and host of the documentary. In a time when silence is no longer an option, it is more important than ever to start the conversation. The event is supported by the Athens Democracy Forum. Speakers and moderators The event will be hosted by Khalil Osiris and moderated by Farah Nayeri (Culture Writer, The New York Times) and Alexandra Pascalidou (journalist, author and presenter). The exciting speaker lineup, with more to be announced in the coming weeks, includes: The free event will be screened to a global, virtual audience and will also include a small, invite-only gathering at the Wellcome Collection, London. Find out more and register at trcglobalsummit.org Join the conversation on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram: @trconversations using hashtag #trcglobalsummit. Notes to editors Media accreditation for the 2021 TRC Global Summit is currently open. Accreditation requests must be submitted to claire@trcglobalsummit.org by Thursday, July 15. Please note that availability of press passes is limited and there will be no on-site accreditation. Contact: Claire Edwards, Marketing Director, TRC Global Summit claire@trcglobalsummit.org This bill comes as gun violence and mass shootings continue to rise nationwide, along with record-breaking gun sales . Despite the pandemic, gun deaths have hit historic levels and more than 300,000 guns have been purchased without a background check. According to Quinnipiac research , at least 97 percent of U.S. adults support requiring background checks for all gun purchases. If passed, the bill would expand the background check requirement for nearly every gun sale occurring in the U.S., including so-called "private sales" at gun shows and over the internet. Background checks have been proven to save lives and reduce levels of gun violence in states that have expanded background checks to all sales, protecting communities and retailers alike. Sandy Hook Promise, a leading gun violence prevention organization whose co-founding families have been tirelessly advocating for the passage of expanded background checks since the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary in December 2012 where their loved ones were killed, released the following statement: "While still grieving our children and loved ones in the aftermath of their murder at Sandy Hook Elementary School, we worked tirelessly to try to pass Universal Background Checks. We did this because this bill is a necessary first legislative step to ensuring that no more families experience the excruciating pain of losing a child to gun violence," said Mark Barden, co-founder and managing director of Sandy Hook Promise, and father of Daniel who was killed in the Sandy Hook Elementary tragedy. "Eight years later, we again call on every member of Congress to do their part to protect our children from gun violence: vote to pass Universal Background Checks immediately. We cannot afford to wait any longer." "Background checks are simple, easy, and they save lives. That's why more than 90 percent of Americans support our legislation to make sure no guns are sold in this country without a check," said Sen. Chris Murphy. "Joe Biden and hundreds of congressional candidates from both parties ran on the issue of background checks. This is the year to get this bill passed into law. And this legislation has the chance to bring this country together - even 85% of gun owners believe in expanding background checks, and a growing anti-gun violence movement, made up of both Democrats and Republicans, is demanding change. I look forward to working across the aisle to get background checks legislation across the finish line." "No check, no gun buy, should be the rule. Connecticut has already seen background checks save lives in our state, but guns don't respect state borders. A powerful political movement has been mobilized reflecting more than 90 percent of Americans who support expanding federal background checks," said Sen. Richard Blumenthal. "Congress has the moral imperative to enact sensible reforms like Universal Background Checks to prevent more tragedies. We have no time to waste," he continued. "I look forward to working with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle and the Biden Administration to swiftly pass such commonsense gun violence prevention measures. We must put an end to the American epidemic of gun violence." "Gun safety is an issue that is deeply personal for me," said Rep. Jahana Hayes. "Universal background checks are supported by over 90% of Americans. This is not a partisan issue. This is a commonsense solution to a problem that affects every community across the country. I thank my colleague Congressman Mike Thompson for this leadership in the House and Senator Chris Murphy for his tireless work in the Senate. I would also like to thank the incredible advocates in my district and across the state of Connecticut who have made this day possible. I look forward to this vital legislation being considered on the floor of the House and Senate and being signed into law by President Biden." The Sandy Hook Promise Action Fund has helped pass more than a dozen bipartisan laws to strengthen background checks and create Extreme Risk Protection Orders. The organization led the work to pass the bipartisan STOP School Violence Act of 2018 (H.R. 4909/S. 2495) that is already helping to train millions of students and adults to "know the signs" of gun violence and how to act to prevent it, stopping potential tragedies across the country. About the Sandy Hook Promise Action Fund Sandy Hook Promise Action Fund is a 501(c)(4) nonprofit organization committed to protecting all children from gun violence in schools, homes, and communities. The SHP Action Fund champions a holistic policy platform that promotes gun safety, youth mental health, and violence prevention education. The organization works at the state and federal level to pass nonpartisan legislation through inclusive partnerships, diverse grassroots education, and community mobilization. It is part of Sandy Hook Promise , founded and led by several family members whose loved ones were killed in the tragic mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School on December 14, 2012. SOURCE Sandy Hook Promise Related Links www.sandyhookpromise.org Momenta and Axino join forces to accelerate Food Quality as a Service "I was immediately attracted to Axino, by the depth of its team and technology, as well as by the market need for these solutions. Axino is at the inflection point of making a substantial impact on the food retail industry". says Mario Vogeli, CEO at Axino Momenta Ventures has led the first external investment round for Axino, the market leader in smart retail solutions. Momenta is also accelerating the company's growth through the placement of Mario Vogeli as the new CEO. Axino helps food retailers digitize and automate their food quality management process while complying with increasingly complex food safety regulations. Axino combines advanced sensor technology with artificial intelligence algorithms to remotely detect the core temperature of refrigerated food in retail stores. Founded in 2016, the award-winning, Swiss-based company has delivered proven food management solutions across significant retailers based on its proprietary core temperature food validation solutions. Current retail food quality validation processes are time-consuming and often inaccurate contributing to food waste and energy waste. Axino solves these issues through their innovative industrialized wireless sensor that can predict the product core temperature even in challenging wireless environments while maintaining years-long battery life by communicating via Low-Power Wide Area Networks such as LoRaWAN. This, connected with their intelligent food quality algorithms, helps retail and cold-chain companies manage their food quality efficiently. According to Grand View Research, the global food and grocery retail market size was valued at USD 11.7 trillion in 2019 - this market is expected to grow from USD 13,98 trillion in 2020 to USD 17.30 trillion by 2027. IoT technologies and networks combined with increasing food quality awareness and regulations are fueling this growth. Working with industry leaders like Migros, Switzerland's largest retail company, Axino has already shown significant ability to tackle that market opportunity. Axino's new CEO, Mario Vogeli has extensive experience in scaling digital technology companies. Most notably, he previously was the co-founder, CFO, and COO of Arktis Radiation Detectors Ltd. This award-winning Swiss startup develops and manufactures next-generation systems that detect and categorize radiological and nuclear materials to enhance operations and security. Ken Forster, Executive Director of Momenta Ventures, notes, "These unprecedented times have created heightened consumer awareness of food quality. Solutions such as Axino are a triple win helping retailers save costs and energy, meet stricter food standards, to better serve their shoppers with fresher foods Axino's award-winning solution is truly a first critical step in the digital transformation of retail." Mario Vogeli, CEO of Axino, adds: "I was immediately attracted to Axino, by the depth of its team and technology, as well as by the market need for these solutions. After a first successful installation at a major retailer, Axino is at the inflection point of making a substantial impact on the retail industry. I am excited for the opportunity to lead the company in delivering our unique food quality solution. Ihab Hourani, CTO, and Founder of Axino, comments: "The Axino team is thrilled to have Momenta and Mario Vogeli join our team. Their deep digital industry expertise will not only bolster our expertise but also boost speed to market for the rollout of our food quality solution into the global retail industry". About Axino Axino is the leader in smart retail, contactless, food temperature validation solutions. Axino combines advanced sensor technology with artificial intelligence algorithms to remotely detect refrigerated food's core temperature in retail stores. To learn more about Axino, please visit https://www.axino.ai/. About Momenta Ventures Momenta Ventures is the investment arm of Momenta Partners, the leading Digital Industry Growth Partner firm. Led by deep digital industry practitioners with strong entrepreneurial and corporate pedigree, Momenta Ventures has made over 40 investments, with notable exits to SAP, PTC, and Husqvarna Group. Momenta Ventures operates three Digital Industry funds, focused on Seed to Series B investments in Digital Energy, Manufacturing, Smart Spaces, and Supply Chain. For more information, please visit https://momenta.vc. ATLANTA, March 2, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Equifax (NYSE:EFX) is addressing the needs of mortgage and home equity lenders in a competitive marketplace. The new Equifax Ignite Lost Sales Analysis solution leverages the power of the Equifax cloud to provide the differentiated data, actionable insights and clear visualizations lenders need during prospecting, origination and portfolio retention. Historically low mortgage rates have strengthened buyer interest, with the Mortgage Bankers Association finding that mortgage applications for newly built homes climbed 42.2% in December 2020 in comparison to the previous year. However, not every pre-approved prospect closes the loan. Many lenders regularly purchase leads and market loan products to prospective borrowers, but have a difficult time quickly determining why certain prospects did not close the loan for which they were approved. This lack of understanding could lead to suboptimal Return On Investment (ROI) on marketing campaigns and a pipeline fallout ratio that can damage profitable business models. "As the market evolves, so has our Lost Sales Analysis solution," said Craig Crabtree, Senior Vice President and General Manager for Mortgage & Housing at Equifax. "We understand that smarter insights drive smarter actions. With the addition of our Ignite engine, we're making it even easier to visualize Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and are empowering lenders with the insights they need to refine and build marketing and retention strategies. When it comes to building go-forward strategies, it's critical for lenders to understand why an existing or prospective borrower was lost, and we're giving them the tools they need to achieve higher response, close and retention rates." The Equifax Ignite Lost Sales Analysis application builds on the success of previous offerings by consolidating lender data with cloud-based Equifax Ignite property and behavior data. This harmonized information then flows into dynamic visuals that help lenders determine the strategies, offers and terms needed to attract borrowers most likely to meet risk management and growth objectives. Access to public record property data helps determine where a lost prospect closed a mortgage or home equity loan. The actionable intelligence available in the Equifax Ignite Lost Sales Analysis solution helps to: Mitigate portfolio run-off by identifying run-off trends and strategies to help improve customer retention; Reduce pipeline attrition by assessing fallout to improve closing rates; Optimize new business prospecting and determine who's winning lost business and why Maximize marketing spend with visibility into trends in age bands, generational activity, risk tolerance, and more. "Lost Sales Analysis can be used at a number of different points within the mortgage or home equity loan lifecycle," continued Crabtree. "The data available in the solution provides the smarter insights that lenders need to deepen relationships with borrowers. Equifax is committed to providing solutions that leverage the power of Equifax cloud capabilities to drive value for our customers and meet the specific needs lenders are facing today." The Equifax Ignite Lost Sales Analysis solution is available now. For more information, please visit Equifax.com . ABOUT EQUIFAX INC. At Equifax (NYSE: EFX), we believe knowledge drives progress. As a global data, analytics, and technology company, we play an essential role in the global economy by helping financial institutions, companies, employees, and government agencies make critical decisions with greater confidence. Our unique blend of differentiated data, analytics, and cloud technology drives insights to power decisions to move people forward. Headquartered in Atlanta and supported by more than 11,000 employees worldwide, Equifax operates or has investments in 25 countries in North America, Central and South America, Europe, and the Asia Pacific region. For more information, visit Equifax.com FOR MORE INFORMATION Kate Walker for Equifax USIS [email protected] SOURCE Equifax Inc. Related Links http://www.equifax.com A French bulldog that went missing from his family's home in California's Bay Area was found four weeks later after being purchased by a man 600 miles away in Mexico. ADVERTISEMENT Debbie Campbell said Brody, her emotional support dog, went missing from her San Lorenzo home Feb. 3, and despite searches of the area and photos posted by her family to social media, weeks past without any news of her lost pet. Campbell said she was shocked to receive a phone call last week from Benjamin Gonzalez, a man who said he bought a dog matching Brody's description from a man on the street in downtown Tijuana, 600 miles from the Bay Area. Gonzalez said family members who live in the Bay Area told him the dog he purchased looked like photos of a lost dog they had seen on social media. Gonzalez sent Campbell a photo of Brody's identifying tattoo, confirming the canine's identity. Gonzalez, 37, said he had lived in the Bay Area since he was a baby, but was deported from the United States two years ago and has lived alone in Tijuana ever since. "He's from the Bay. I'm from the Bay. It was just weird," Gonzalez told KGO-TV. "I guess he was just meant to go back." The Campbells paid Gonzalez back for the money he spent buying Brody off the street, but he declined any other reward. 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! "When he video called us to show us the dog, that took my breath away," Campbell said. "It's a blessing that that man called, because otherwise there's no way we could have gotten him back." The Campbells said they don't know for sure how Brody ended up in Mexico, but they suspect he was intentionally stolen to be resold due to the breed's popularity and high price tag. In 1587, hours before her beheading, Mary, Queen of Scots, sent a letter to her brother-in-law Henry III, King of France. But she didnt just sign it and send it off. She folded the paper repeatedly, cut out a piece of the page and left it dangling. She used that strand of paper to sew the letter tight with locking stitches. In an era before sealed envelopes, this technique, now called letterlocking, was as important for deterring snoops as encryption is to your email inbox today. Although this art form faded in the 1830s with the advent of mass-produced envelopes, it has recently attracted renewed attention from scholars. But they have faced a problem: How do you look at the contents of such locked letters without permanently damaging priceless bits of history? On Tuesday, a team of 11 scientists and scholars at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and other institutions disclosed their development of a virtual-reality technique that lets them perform this delicate task without tearing up the contents of historical archives. 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. Xia Baolong, vice chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and head of the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of the State Council, attends a symposium to solicit opinions from representatives from all walks of life in Hong Kong on improving the special administrative region's electoral system and upholding "patriots governing Hong Kong" in Shenzhen, south China's Guangdong Province, from Feb. 28 to March 1, 2021. (Xinhua/Mao Siqian) SHENZHEN, March 1 -- Related departments of China's central authorities held a symposium from Sunday to Monday in the city of Shenzhen to hear opinions on improving systems related to "patriots governing Hong Kong." Xia Baolong, vice chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and head of the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of the State Council, attended the symposium, which heard opinions of representatives from various sectors of Hong Kong society. Representatives from sectors including industry and trade, finance, professional services and labor, as well as from the government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR), spoke at the symposium. Attendees to the symposium said the effective implementation of "patriots governing Hong Kong" is a prerequisite for the full and faithful implementation of the "one country, two systems" principle. One of the root causes of the chaos afflicting the social and political arenas of Hong Kong is the fact that the principle of "patriots governing Hong Kong" has yet to be fully implemented, the attendees said. Prompt measures must be taken to improve the electoral and other systems of Hong Kong in accordance with the law, while respecting the leading role of the central authorities on the electoral system, they said. Comprehensive measures must also be taken in terms of stepping up the appraisal and selection of governing personnel, strengthening citizenship education and improving the climate of public opinion, among other steps, they said. The attendees offered specific suggestions for improving electoral and other systems of the Hong Kong SAR. Reiterating the central authorities' unswerving determination in implementing the "one country, two systems" principle, Xia said the comprehensive implementation of "patriots governing Hong Kong" is the key to achieving the steady and sustained development of "one country, two systems" practice. Related systems must be improved to ensure that the bodies of power in Hong Kong are run by genuine patriots, Xia said. The central authorities will continue to listen to opinions and suggestions from people from all walks of life in Hong Kong on further improving related systems, he said. Press Release March 2, 2021 Vaccine delay, resistance to test in-person classes may birth 'Generation Lost' COVID's greatest damage may have been in incarcerating millions of children and sending the educational system to the ICU, Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto has warned. These kids may end up as the "lost generation," Recto said, if the return to normalcy will be "slowed down by vaccine shortage, and if we fail to adjust to and invest in new learning modes." Recto aired his concerns in his speech sponsoring the Senate resolution urging the Department of Education to test limited in-person classes in about 1,000 schools, saying that the results can be used "in designing how safely these can be done." The larger picture is that the pandemic has hit hard a school system with "severe preexisting conditions," Recto said. "Even before the first coronavirus-carrying bat flew out of a Wuhan tree, our country had already been lagging behind in many international tests that measure learning," he said. And there are fears that this pandemic "will allow us to bag the last spot uncontested," Recto said. If this pandemic will set us back two years in human resource development, then the delay will have an impact on the future of this country, Recto said. While the vaccine remains the "greatest school pass", even giving it to many will not lead to an exodus back to classes. "The virus is such a constantly mutating genius that even if our children and teachers have been vaccinated, the return to standing-room-only schools will not be immediate," he said. "Kaya kailangan talaga ang resulta ng science experiment na ito para malaman kung paano ang pag-aaral sa new normal," he said. Launching the trial classes under strict health measures is the way to mark on March 16 the anniversary of what is virtually the longest school vacation in history. "We can mark it with more of the same, as captives of the pandemic, or we can launch a new way of learning, outside the confines of the one square foot of computer screen," he said. They cannot be forever "marooned in congested houses crammed with three generations of families, of which many double as a home for the sick, in communities which are bandwidth deprived," Recto said. Deprived of peer interaction and play, many kids have mental health issues, he said. "They may have evaded the virus, but many have caught a sickness as dangerous." United Nations, March 2 : UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the outcome of a high-level pledging conference for Yemen was disappointing. In a statement on Monday night, the UN chief said that the pledges announced a total of about $1.7 billion, which was less than last year's pledges and also $1 billion less than what was pledged at the conference in 2019, Xinhua news agency reported. The exact amount of total pledges made at the conference on Monday was $1.67 billion. Saudi Arabia, which is leading a military coalition fighting Houthi rebels in Yemen, made the largest donation of $430 million, followed by Germany ($245 million), the United Arab Emirates ($230 million), and the US ($191 million). Other big donors included the UK with $123 million and the European Commission with $116 million. "Millions of Yemeni children, women and men desperately need aid to live. Cutting aid is a death sentence," he said. "The best that can be said about today is that it represents a down payment. I thank those who did pledge generously, and I ask others to consider again what they can do to help stave off the worst famine the world has seen in decades." At the pledging conference, Guterres asked for $3.85 billion for humanitarian operations in Yemen for 2021. Earlier in the day, World Food Programme Executive Director David Beasley had said that $1.9 billion was needed to prevent famine in Yemen and more money is needed for other forms of aid. The UN will continue to stand in solidarity with the starving people of Yemen, Guterres added in the statement. Mark Lowcock, the UN undersecretary-general for humanitarian affairs, who co-hosted Monday's pledging conference, warned that there will be a bigger famine in Yemen unless more funds are secured. "This does not solve the problem. We are disappointed at the outcome. It's going to be impossible with such limited resources to prevent a large-scale famine," he told a virtual press briefing after the pledging conference. "So we're going to have to come back to people and ask them for a stronger response, before too long." Another pledging conference for Yemen may have to be convened in a few months to raise more money, he said. Yemen has been mired in civil war since late 2014 when the Iran-backed Houthi rebels seized control of several northern provinces and forced the Saudi-backed government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi out of the capital Sanaa. Due to the ongoing war, the country currently faces the largest humanitarian crisis in the world, with more than 24 million people, some 80 per cent of the population, in need of humanitarian assistance, including more than 12 million children. Nearly 2.3 million children under the age of five in Yemen are projected to suffer from acute malnutrition in 2021, according to a Unicef analysis released in February. -- Except for the title, this story has not been edited by Prokerala team and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed MINSK (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 02nd March, 2021) The press service of Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, Belarusian opposition leader and a former presidential candidate, refuted on Tuesday claims that the politician plotted unrest and public buildings takeover in the country. Earlier in the day, the Belarusian Investigative Committee initiated extradition of Tikhanovskaya, who fled to Lithuania after the election. Investigators also accused four people from Tikhanovskaya's entourage of plotting unrest and takeover of public buildings in Gomel. The committee released a video shot at the August 5 meeting that focused on planning the unrest to confirm Tikhanovskaya's presence at the talks. "Svetlana Tikhanovskaya's team has been and keeps communicating with a huge number of Belarusian people throughout the election campaign and months of protests after the election. Some of them remain in favor of radical measures, but Svetlana Tikhanovskaya has never participated in developing such plans," the press service said in a statement. "One can notice in the released video that she left the room in order not to continue the discussion," Tikhanovskaya's press service continued, stressing that the politician and her team "have always supported only peaceful methods.," Kolkata, March 2 : Ahead of upcoming Assembly polls in West Bengal, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Tuesday questioned ruling Trinamool Congress leader Kunal Ghosh in connection with its probe into the Saradha chit fund case for over eight hours. According to ED officials, Ghosh is supposed to appear before the agency next week also. Ghosh was summoned by the financial probe agency for questioning in connection with the money laundering charges. He appeared before the agency sleuths at its CGO Complex office here around 11.30 a.m. and was questioned till 7 p.m. An ED official said that Ghosh's statement was recorded under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). An ED source said the agency was probing the flow of funds which Ghosh had allegedly received from the Saradha group and also the money laundering angle. According to ED officials, Ghosh had allegedly received funds from the Saradha group to head its media unit. Ghosh was earlier interrogated by the agency in connection with the case in July 2019 and in October 2013. After his questioning, speaking to media, Ghosh said, "I have tried my best to answer all the questions and the process of questioning is not over yet. Will be coming here again next week." He further said that he also submitted a copy of the letter of Sudipto Sen's on record because the letter has many incidents, amounts and names that should come under investigation. And the ED officials have accepted it, Ghosh added. The Saradha scam came to light in April 2013 and is estimated at over Rs 10,000 crore. The ED has filed a case on the basis of the CBI's FIR. The ruling Trinamool Congress and the BJP are engaged in a bitter war of words in the state as the state heads for Assembly polls. Polling to the 294-member West Bengal Assembly will be held in eight phases, on March 27, April 1, April 6, April 10, April 17, April 22, April 26 and April 29. Voting will take place on May 2. William Roper: There is! Gods law! More: Then God can arrest him. More says Rich should go free even if he was the Devil himself, until he broke the law. Roper: So now you give the Devil the benefit of the law. More: Yes! What would you do? Cut a great road through the law to get after the Devil? Roper: Yes, Id cut down every law in England to do that! More: Oh? And when the last law was down, and the Devil turned round on you, where would you hide, Roper, the laws all being flat? Loading This is the argument Scott Morrison invokes for the minister accused of rape. What is his alternative? If he was to do what those seeking justice demand he would name the minister, stand him down and then force him to a trial in front of some yet-to-be-invented parliamentary or quasi-judicial inquiry. Such an inquisition would essentially reverse the onus of proof on the minister because how can that be anything other than inventing a process where the accused is forced to prove his innocence? He may well deserve such a fate, but so do many. The world is rich with unpunished criminals. The minister is being urged to out himself, clear the names of his colleagues and mount his own defence. He may well do this as his name will inevitably go mainstream. When this happens, whether guilty or innocent, his career in politics will be over because there is nothing he can say that will placate his accusers. If an accusation alone is now enough to end a political career then it will be weaponised. Finally, mounting a defence for this man is, as the anonymous letter writer accuses, wilful blindness. It is why Lady Justice has always been depicted wearing a blindfold since she was first imagined in the form of the Greek goddess Dike. It is a symbol of her impartiality. Loading In a Man For All Seasons Bolt was walking in the footsteps of another great writer, Hesiod. In 700 BC the poet wrote listen to right and do not foster violence. The better path is to go on the other side towards Justice for Dike (Justice) beats Hybris (Outrage) when she comes at length to the end of the race. But only when he has suffered does the fool learn this. In this violent age of outrage any defence of the accused minister will stoke the fury of the mob because, if as many have already judged he is guilty, it is the equivalent of making an argument for Satan. Galloping down the home straight, seven-year-old Morgan was just six-and-a-half lengths behind the winning horse when he crossed the finishing line in fourth place. The going was good that day, as they say in the racing world. Conditions at Wexford racecourse in Ireland were warm and mostly sunny as Morgan, who had been 5 to 4 favourite, sped along the two-mile course beneath jockey Davy Russell, surrounded by stunning views of the Irish Sea. Certainly no one could have anticipated that the BoyleSports Beginners Chase on June 19, 2019, would be the talented young gelding's last race. But just weeks later, Morgan suffered a fatal heart aneurysm and collapsed while training. And while the racehorse's life wasn't long enough for him to have made a big name for himself, it was what happened to him in the moments after death that has now shaken the racing world to its core. Morgan is the horse seen in a horrifying photograph which began circulating on social media at the weekend. It shows multi-millionaire trainer Gordon Elliott casually sitting on the animal's lifeless body on the gallops at his state-of-the-art equestrian training facilities, holding a mobile phone to his ear with one hand and making a victory sign with the other while grinning at the camera. Irish racehorse trainer Gordon Elliott sitting astride a dead horse while talking on his phone Amid a storm of controversy that continues to grow apace, that appalling image has sparked widespread condemnation in the racing world, and three-time Grand National winning Elliott has been banned from racing in Britain by the British Horseracing Authority while regulatory authorities in Ireland investigate the incident. Betfair has also ended Elliott's lucrative 'ambassador' role for the betting firm, saying that 'his actions are completely at odds with the values of the Betfair brand'. A leading stud has already stated that it is withdrawing all eight of its horses from the trainer's world-class Cullentra House Stables in County Meath in Ireland. Above all, the incident has also raised huge concerns about equine welfare within the multi-billion-pound racing industry, particularly given that just a day after the Elliott photo appeared, video footage emerged of jockey Rob James, who won at Cheltenham Festival in 2020 on an Elliott-trained horse, jumping onto another dead horse. Industry insiders fear that both incidents have caused untold damage to racing's already fragile reputation. Concerns have been rife for years about the ill-treatment of animals, particularly during events such as the Grand National where a white tent, erected so that injured horses can be put to death out of sight of the crowds, has become a sinister sight in recent years. Jockey Rob James sits astride another dead horse in footage widely circulated on social media While the racing world has fought to raise its reputation, insisting that the highest standards of compassion and care are maintained when training horses, Elliott's photograph and James's video clearly suggests otherwise and may well have undone years of work to convince the public of the 'caring' face of the sport. More, in a moment, of James's behaviour and his apology. For while 43-year-old Elliott is being publicly vilified for what he describes as 'a moment of madness', the hugely successful trainer is receiving support from a most unlikely quarter the dead animals's owner. He is none other than Ryanair's flamboyant chief executive Michael O'Leary. Gigginstown House Stud, which is run by O'Leary and his brother Eddie, is believed to make up around 40 per cent of the 200 or so animals trained by Elliott, including Tiger Roll, the bay gelding who has twice won the Grand National. Wheres the headlines for this ??? pic.twitter.com/Bl1V0VU6Dw hushhush (@coveruphushhush) March 2, 2021 But despite the abhorrent treatment meted out, post mortem, to the horse he bought at auction as a three year old for 170,000 euros, O'Leary appears to be in an extraordinarily forgiving mood. In a statement released by the Ryanair press office yesterday, the budget airline tycoon said: 'We accept that this photograph was a grievous but momentary lapse of judgment by Gordon, and not in keeping with our experience of his concern for, and attention to, the welfare of our horses. 'We all make mistakes and what is important is that we learn from them and ensure we do not repeat them. We accept Gordon's sincere, profound and unreserved apology and we will continue to support him and his team at Cullentra as they work to recover from this deeply regrettable incident.' Homecoming of 2018 Randox Health Aintree Grand National Winner Tiger Roll, with owner Anita O'Leary (left) and trainer Gordon Elliott (right) Others have not been so understanding. Despite releasing a statement saying that they would 'await the official outcome of the investigation by the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board', Cheveley Park Stud in Newmarket in Cambridgeshire announced on Monday that they were moving their eight horses from Cullentra House to other trainers. With his future as a trainer now hanging in the balance, Elliott himself has also 'apologised profoundly' for his behaviour but his attempt to explain how the image came about has been met with derision online. 'I appreciate that an initial viewing of this photo suggests it is a callous and staged photo but nothing could be further from the truth,' he said in a statement in which he stated that the horse had died of 'an apparent heart attack' on the gallops. He added: 'At what was a sad time, which it is when any horse under my care passes away, my initial reaction was to get the body removed from where it was positioned. I was standing over the horse waiting to help with the removal of the body, in the course of which, to my memory, I received a call and, without thinking, I sat down to take it. Hearing a shout from one of my team, I gestured to wait until I was finished.' Elliott's stock has soared thanks to Tiger Roll's successive victories in the Grand National Whatever the reasons for his behaviour, Elliott believes he will pay a heavy price. In an interview with the Racing Post on Monday he spoke of 'a moment of madness that I am going to have to spend the rest of my life paying for'. As one of the biggest names in racing, his fall from grace has been particularly hard. His rise to the top of racing had been remarkable given that he was not born into a racing family. Elliott is the son of a panel beater from County Meath who began his career as a 13-year-old schoolboy working for trainer Tony Martin at weekends and during the holidays. He went on to get his amateur jockey's licence at 16. According to Elliott's own website, he hung up his riding boots in 2005, got his trainer's licence in 2006 and in 2007 became the youngest ever trainer of a Grand National winner when Silver Birch took first place. He has since gone on to become one of the most celebrated sporting figures in Britain and Ireland. He has never married although he got engaged to long-term girlfriend and former Irish point-to-point champion Annie Bowles in 2010. More recently he has been linked to Kate Harrington, daughter of Gold Cup-winning trainer Jessica Harrington. James (fourth right, centre) seen celebrating winning Riders Handicap Chase at Cheltenham On Sunday, Elliott said he sat on the horse 'without thinking' and was 'gesturing to wait' Given his huge success in such a highly competitive sport, speculation is rife within the industry that the release of the photograph of him sitting on Morgan just two weeks before the Cheltenham Gold Cup and barely a month before the Grand National was a deliberate ploy by 'persons unknown' to cause maximum damage to Elliott. For in a sport driven by money and gambling, banning him from racing will no doubt infuriate those owners who entrusted their horses into his care and hoped to see them win. As to who took the photograph and who released it, the Mail understands that it was circulated on WhatsApp within a small circle at Cullentra before a screenshot of it was made and kept for more than a year and a half. Whoever released it clearly intended to hurt Elliott, who is likely to have made enemies during his meteoric rise to the top. Its release came days after the circulation on WhatsApp of video footage showing Elliott and his friends apparently drinking in a makeshift bar set up at his stables to get around Covid-19 restrictions. While the Irish Gardai say they are aware of the video and are looking into it, Elliott claims that it was taken at the same time as Cheltenham last year, when Irish pubs were still open. Ruby Walsh (left) said the image of Elliott is 'indefensible' and mad his 'angry' and 'embarrased' But it is the image of Elliott sitting on Morgan that has caused the most outrage. Yesterday, a member of another racehorse training family told me that the photograph had 'blown my mind'. He said: 'When you've spent time with them and put your heart and soul into them and spend endless days with them, it is heartbreaking to lose a horse. 'I've seen stable lads and girls sobbing when the worst happens. It's incomprehensible that someone would behave like this to an animal and show such utter disrespect. 'The worst thing is that so much work has been done to gain the trust of the public in terms of high levels of welfare in horse racing. This one image has blown that apart.' Eight-time champion jump jockey Peter Scudamore said the photo was 'an act of crass stupidity'. The 62-year-old added: 'It just hit the bottom of my stomach. I think everybody in racing I know hoped it was fake, and then there was a slow realisation that it's not fake. It's desperate sadness on so many fronts. It is just such an appalling image and I'm very sad about it.' Scudamore suggested that having done something 'crass and stupid', Elliott 'should be made to devote time and resources to an equine charity'. The Jockey Club, which owns Cheltenham and Aintree racecourses, said: 'Clearly this is totally unacceptable and not reflective of the respect and care that racehorses receive from participants in our sport. The anger and upset across racing says it all.' Great British Racing, the promotional body of British racing, said: 'Respect for our horses is at the heart of everything that we stand for in British racing and the shocking image is counter to that and betrays the work of thousands of people loving and caring for our horses on a daily basis we condemn it in the strongest possible terms.' The charity PETA said that the racing industry viewed animals 'not as sentient beings but as wind-up toys'. Elise Allen, the charity's UK director, added: 'The true outrage is that fit, healthy horses are dying during training and on racetracks in the first place.' Video footage of jockey Rob James laughing and jumping onto the back of a dead horse has further fuelled fears about how horses bred for racing are being treated. James, who last year won the Kim Muir at Cheltenham on Milan Native, a horse owned by Michael O'Leary and trained by Gordon Elliott, was meant to ride at the 5.20 at Gowran Park, County Kilkenny yesterday but withdrew. Instead he was apologising for his 'wholly inappropriate' actions, admitting being 'disrespectful to a five-year-old mare, who unfortunately suffered a sudden cardiac arrest while at exercise earlier that morning, April 30, 2016'. James added that 'to try defending my stupidity at the time would add further insult and hurt to the many loyal people that have supported me during my career. I have caused embarrassment to my employers, my family and most importantly the sport I love. 'I am heartbroken by the damage I have caused and will do my best to try and make amends.' The Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board has given no indication when a disciplinary hearing might be held into Elliott's behaviour. It is also investigating the video footage featuring Rob James. The outpouring of revulsion at both is a reminder of the extent of the affection in which horses are held by the public. During the four years that Morgan was owned by Michael O'Leary, he earned 61,162 for his billionaire owner a mere fraction of what it cost to buy and to train him. In death, he has achieved something very different. He has proved that those who fail to show respect to the magnificent beasts in their care will suffer consequences for damaging the reputation of the so-called sport of kings. A Vietnamese man has been sentenced to one year in prison for organizing a South Korean mans illegal entry into Cambodia from Long An Province, located in Vietnams Mekong Delta region. The Peoples Court of Long An Province on Monday handed down the sentence on Nguyen Van Luy, a 33-year-old man dwelling in An Thanh Commune in Ben Cau District, situated in southern Tay Ninh Province. According to the indictment, Luy worked as a xe om (motorbike taxi) driver at the Moc Bai border gate in Tay Ninh, where he got to know a South Korean man named Kim. On August 6, 2020, Kim texted Luy to ask the Vietnamese man to help his South Korean brother cross the border into Cambodia. After accepting the job for US$1,000, Luy asked an unknown person, who worked as a motorbike taxi driver in the area of Tho Mo Market in My Quy Tay Commune in Long Ans Duc Hue District, to transport the South Korean man to Cambodia for a wage of VND10 million ($434). On August 7, 2020, Luy booked a car to pick up the South Korean man at a hotel on Hau Giang Street in Tan Binh District, Ho Chi Minh City and take him to Tho Mo Market. From Tho Mo Market, Luy brought the South Korean man to the border area in Hamlet 1 in My Quy Tay Commune at 8:30 pm on the same day and was arrested by My Quy Tay Border Stations patrol team. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! Hundreds of Nigerian schoolgirls abducted last week from a boarding school in the northwestern Zamfara state have been released, the state's governor said Tuesday. Zamfara state governor Bello Matawalle announced that 279 girls have been freed. The government last week said 317 had been kidnapped. Gunmen abducted the girls, some aged as young as ten, from the Government Girls Junior Secondary School in Jangebe town on Friday, in the latest in a series of mass kidnappings of students in the West African nation. Hundreds of Nigerian schoolgirls (pictured) abducted last week from a boarding school in the northwestern Zamfara state have been released, the state's governor said Tuesday An Associated Press reporter saw hundreds of girls dressed in light blue hijabs and barefoot sitting at the state Government House office in Gusau Zamfara state governor Bello Matawalle announced that 279 girls have been freed. The government last week said 317 had been kidnapped. Pictured: The girls at the state Government House office following their release Matawalle said they would be taken for medical examinations before being reunited with their families. 'Alhamdulillah! (God be praised!) It gladdens my heart to announce the release of the abducted students of GGSS Jangebe from captivity. This follows the scaling of several hurdles laid against our efforts. I enjoin all well-meaning Nigerians to rejoice with us as our daughters are now safe,' Matawalle said in a post on Twitter early on Tuesday. At the time of the attack, one resident told AP that the gunmen also attacked a nearby military camp and checkpoint, preventing soldiers from responding to the mass abduction at the school. Gunmen abducted the girls from the Government Girls Junior Secondary School in Jangebe town on Friday, in the latest in a series of mass kidnappings of students in the West African nation After the meeting at the state Government House, the girls were escorted outside by officials and lined up to be taken away in vans Following their release, the girls appeared calm and ranged in ages from 10 and up, AP reported One of the girls recounted the night of their abduction to the AP. 'We were sleeping at night when suddenly we started hearing gunshots. They were shooting endlessly. We got out of our beds and people said we should run, that they are thieves,' she said. 'Everybody fled and there were just two of us left in the room.' The attackers held guns to the girls' heads, she said. 'I was really afraid of being shot,' she said, adding that they asked for directions to the staff quarters and the principal. 'We said we don't know who she is. They said the principal is our father and they will teach us a lesson.' Police and the military had since been carrying out joint operations to rescue the girls, whose abduction caused international outrage. President Muhammadu Buhari expressed 'overwhelming joy' over the release of the girls. 'I join the families and people of Zamfara State in welcoming and celebrating the release of these traumatised female students,' he said in a statement. 'Being held in captivity is an agonising experience not only for the victims, but also their families and all of us.' The girls will be taken for medical examinations before being reunited with their families, the state governor said. Pictured: A girl lies in an ambulance after her release Balarade Kagara (centre), father of two of the kidnapped girls, celebrates their release outside the state Government House on Tuesday Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari expressed 'overwhelming joy' over the release of the girls. Pictured: The girls enter the state Government House after their release from kidnapping The president called for greater vigilance to prevent bandits from carrying out such attacks. He urged police and military to pursue the kidnappers, and warned that policies of making payments to bandits will backfire. 'Ransom payments will continue to prosper kidnapping,' he said. The terms of the female students' release were not made immediately clear. Nigeria has seen several such attacks and kidnappings in recent years. On Saturday, 24 students, six staff and eight relatives were released after being abducted on February 17 from the Government Science College Kagara in Niger state. The terms of the female students' release were not made immediately clear but President Buhari spoke out against paying kidnappers a ransom in a statement on the girls' release. Pictured: The freed girls eat following their release Buhari called for greater vigilance to prevent bandits from carrying out such attacks. The girls' kidnapping was the latest in a series of mass abductions from Nigerian schools Organised armed groups, locally called bandits, often abduct students for money. The government says large groups of armed men in Zamfara state are known to kidnap for money and to press for the release of their members held in jail. Pictured: A girl is embraced by an official as she is escorted from the state Government House following her release In December, more than 300 schoolboys from a secondary school in Kankara, in northwestern Nigeria, were taken and later released. The government has said no ransom was paid for the students' release. The most notorious kidnapping was in April 2014, when 276 girls were abducted by the jihadist rebels of Boko Haram from the secondary school in Chibok in Borno state. More than 100 of those girls are still missing. Boko Haram is opposed to western education and its fighters often target schools. Other organised armed groups, locally called bandits, often abduct students for money. The government says large groups of armed men in Zamfara state are known to kidnap for money and to press for the release of their members held in jail. Experts say if the kidnappings continue to go unpunished, they may continue. A person died Monday in an RV fire in Splendora, according to the Montgomery County Police Reporter. Around 5:15 p.m., Montgomery County firefighters were dispatched to a structure fire on Youpon Drive off Lake Shore Drive. At the scene, they saw heavy fire coming from a large carport, with a possible victim trapped inside, authorities said. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. The fact that the legal costs of deciding a dispute over ownership of 228,000 may exceed 500,000 underlines the disproportionate level of legal costs in the High Court and why the recent civil justice review has urged reform of those, a judge has said. High legal costs have been a serious problem for years and regularly throw up the kind of anomalies that had occurred in this case, Mr Justice Michael Twomey said. This raised serious issues about how access to justice can be denied, including for citizens on average income in the State. He made the comments when ordering an insolvent company, Tom McEvaddy Properties Ltd, trading as Nexus Homes (in liquidation) Nexus to pay 180,000 security of Namas legal costs of defending the case, expected to run for four days in the High Court, over the 238,000 sum. Nama disputes Nexus claims it holds the sum on trust for the company. The disputed sum relates to planning fees paid for the development of a property at Sandyford, Co Dublin, owned by a couple who are the sole shareholders of the company. While Namas legal costs experts estimated its High Court costs at some 231,140, the judge said, in the absence of evidence from a costs expert for Nexus, he would order security for 80pc of that sum. Assuming the company would incur similar legal costs, the entire costs of the High Court proceedings could be some 460,000, he said. If the outcome was appealed, as most High Court cases are, the ultimate cost of this dispute over 238,000 could be more than 500,000. He had no reason not to believe expert evidence from Nama as to the current going rate for High Court litigation, including 80,465 as the professional fee for the solicitor, 75,020 (including a 36,300 brief fee plus Vat) for senior counsel and 55,962 for junior counsel. Noting the recent report of the Civil Justice Review group, he said a majority of the group believed high legal costs here could be addressed via non-binding guidelines. However, he said a minority supported by the review groups chair, former High Court president Peter Kelly maintained that a mandatory scale of maximum costs should be set by an independent committee established under statute. TH Group on February 27 commenced the construction of its high-tech concentrated dairy and fresh milk production project, representing a total investment capital of more than VND2.66 trillion($115.65 million), in Tri Ton district of the southwestern province of An Giang, with a processing capacity of 135 tonnes of fresh milk per day. TH Group aims to foster the development of An with its milk project Stretching across the two communes of Vinh Gia and Vinh Phuoc, the project is expected to be the first of its kind in the Mekong Delta region, with a total number of 10,000 dairy cows raised in a concentrated area at the groups farm, and another 20,000 cattle raised by local farmers in cooperation with TH Group. The project will apply modern technologies to ensure safety and efficiency. Deputy Prime Minister Truong Hoa Binh stated at the projects ground-breaking ceremony that the event demonstrates a new milestone for high-tech agricultural development in An Giang and in the whole Mekong Delta region. This is also a new, firm step by TH Group in its development strategy to foster the health of the community. THs project will become a role model for the region. I do believe that it will be successful, contributing to the governments efforts to accomplish the national target of having 500,000 dairy cows nationwide five years earlier than the master plan on agricultural development to 2020 with a vision to 2030, Binh said. According to Thai Huong, founder and chairwoman of TH Groups Strategy Council, in addition to developing this large-scale dairy milk project, the group also wants to implement safe vegetable farming under organic and Global GAP standards, and also construct resorts and rest-homes. This beautiful land of An Giang will be fuelled by our projects, improving livelihoods, Huong stressed. An Giang boasts big land areas for agricultural development, with a long tradition in raising cattle and oxen and with several cultural activities related to these animals including the Bay Nui Ox Racing Festival in Tri Ton district. The provinces authorities in 2017 approved an initiative on developing dairy cows with the application of high technology and a series of investment incentives. TH Group has been selected for participating in this initiative. On February 27, TH Group also joined the provinces tree plantation ceremony as part of the governments plan to plant one billion trees until 2025. At present, in addition to operating a $1.2 billion large-scale concentrated dairy cow project in the central province of Nghe An, TH Group has also been developing similar ventures producing safe farm produce in many localities nationwide. JACKSON COUNTY, Mississippi -- When Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves announced last week that the states public school teachers would be in the next group eligible to receive the COVID-19 vaccine, Singing River Health System went to work partnering with not only all four Jackson County school districts but all across the coast to get the vaccine to teachers as quickly and efficiently as possible. Were working with all the school districts, SRHS CEO Lee Bond told The Mississippi Press Tuesday before he rattled off a list of nearly every school district in the three coastal counties. Were working to get the vaccine out to our teachers as quickly as possible. Bond noted SRHS staff is working to set up vaccination locations at school facilities to make access easier for teachers. It is important for us to take care of vaccinating teachers working on the front line serving our children during this pandemic, he said. Our goal is to make the vaccination process as convenient as possible for teachers by taking the vaccines straight to the schools. This initiative will play a vital role in protecting those who may be at high risk of exposure and helping further reduce the spread of COVID. We are excited to be able to provide this service. Ocean Springs School District is one of the first to have a vaccine day set up, with teachers who signed up for the vaccine in advance scheduled to receive their first dose Thursday at Greyhound Stadium. Singing River Health System has been an incredible partner throughout this entire school year, said Ocean Springs superintendent Bonita Coleman. We were extremely grateful for their continued support through our Medical Advisory Council formed last summer and now for their assistance in providing our educators, who have worked so tirelessly on the front lines since August, with an opportunity to receive a COVID-19 vaccination. Some teachers, of course, have already received one or both doses of the vaccine if they qualified under previous orders from Reeves, which made those over age 65 or with underlying medical conditions such as diabetes and hypertension. According to the OSSD, more than 200 first doses of the Pfizer vaccine will be administered to OSSD personnel Thursday. As of Tuesday, the Mississippi Department of Health was reporting 637,853 total doses of COVID-19 vaccine had been administered in the state, with 277,961 persons now fully vaccinated with both doses. Of the total doses, 29,052 had been administered in Jackson County, with a total of 74,651 on the Mississippi coast. CLEVELAND, Ohio Gabriel Arias turned 21 on Saturday and the celebration has not stopped. In two Cactus League games since his birthday, the Venezuela-born infielder has not stopped hitting for the Cleveland Indians. Arias, one of six players acquired from the San Diego Padres in August as part of the Mike Clevinger trade, is 5-for-5 with a pair of runs scored and two RBI seeing time at second base and shortstop in outings against the Reds and Royals. Ranked the No. 6 overall prospect in the Indians organization by MLB Pipeline, Arias was No. 13 on the Padres prospect list at the time of the trade, behind No. 9 Owen Miller and two ahead of lefty Joey Cantillo (No. 15) who were also part of the deal. In 2019, at the age of 19, Arias led the Class-A California League with 224 total bases, batting .302 with a .809 OPS. Arias was part of San Diegos 2016 international class, and earned a $1.9 million signing bonus, but said he was not surprised when the trade to Cleveland took place last season. Given the success Fernando Tatis Jr. was having with the Padre, and after Tatis signed a 14-year contract extension with the club earlier in camp, Arias said he was fully aware of what his realistic situation was in San Diego. I knew my chances there were really slim, he said. However that didnt stop me from doing my best and preparing the best way I could to play. Because of that trade, I felt like my options increased. At 6-foot-1, 187 pounds, Arias has the potential to develop into a 25-home run hitter, and could play multiple positions for manager Terry Francona once hes ready to reach the big leagues. Arias spent the 2020 season at alternate camp sites for San Diego and Cleveland and has not played above Class AA (advanced) for a full season. He could open 2021 in Akron this year, but is setting expectations high with his early performance in camp. Hes young and he hasnt played very high up the ladder in the minor leagues, but hes a strong kid, Francona said. He has the ability to probably move around the field a little bit, even. Arias performance at the plate was eye-catching on Sunday and Monday, but Francona noticed the young infielders defense as well. Theres a lot in that arm and he seems to want to use the whole field hitting, Francona said. Those guys that use the whole field are going to hit for higher averages. Arias already has a fan in ex-Padres outfielder Franmil Reyes, who told reporters earlier in camp how excited he is to have Arias on board. Thats my homie right there, Reyes said. Hes Venezuelan but every time Id go to the complex the complex is like seven minutes away from my house in the Dominican and every time I went there to practice, that was my boy. I am really excited that we got him here. Another ex-Padres mate, catcher Austin Hedges, also remarked that Arias stood out during his time in big league camp with San Diego. The way that guy played shortstop, I think its gonna make a lot of people excited that he can do some things that Frankie Lindor was doing, too, Hedges said. Whenever hes ready, that amazing defensive shortstop well be in good hands with him. - New Indians face masks for sale: Heres where you can buy Cleveland Indians-themed face coverings for coronavirus protection, including a single mask ($14.99) and a 3-pack ($24.99). All MLB proceeds donated to charity. Buy Indians gear: Fanatics, Nike, Amazon, Lids More Indians coverage Latest from Goodyear on Sam Hentges, Andres Gimenez and the Cleveland Indians (podcast) Here is whats happening on Day 12 of spring training with the Cleveland Indians Andres Gimenez and other prospects give Cleveland Indians reason to dream Cal Quantrill gets new number, Cleveland Indians get win over Reds in spring-training opener Naylor brothers savor chance to play in same lineup, dream of doing so for Cleveland Indians one day Shane Bieber extension? Francisco Lindors admission? Terrys Talkin Tribe Ottawa, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - March 2, 2021) - C-COM Satellite Systems Inc., (TSXV: CMI) and (OTC: CYSNF) the world's leading designer of commercial grade mobile auto-deploying satellite antenna systems, announced today that it has completed the delivery of its previously announced $3.4 million USD order for its iNetVu Manpack (backpack) antenna systems. C-COM iNetVu Motorized Manpack Antenna To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/5445/75578_a25419757401f859_005full.jpg This significant purchase of the iNetVu MP-100-MOT marks the second largest order the company has received for this specific system since its introduction in 2019. The 3-axis, fully motorized one-case backpack (iNetVu MP-Series) is a lightweight, fully automatic antenna system that can be assembled in minutes without any tools and is able to locate the desired satellite, in less than 30 seconds, with the simple press of a button. This Manpack order will be deployed for disaster management and cellular backhaul by a significant end-user. C-COM iNetVu Motorized Manpack Antenna "We are pleased to have been able to meet our customer's expectations and deliver all units ordered on schedule. The iNetVu Manpack series of antennas is turning out to be a best-selling product for C-COM," said Leslie Klein, President and CEO of C-COM. "The rapid confirmation in the market for our latest technological development - a single case, carbon fibre, auto-pointing backpack system that can be carried and operated by one person - is validated by large orders like these," Klein continued. "The Company continues to innovate and modernize the mobile SATCOM business by offering the highest quality products coupled with the best customer support available in the market today," Klein added. C-COM offers classic and next generation Driveaway, Flyaway, Fixed Motorized, and Manpack systems for any vertical market where communications are challenging due to disruption or deficiency. The Company's products are integrated with all major modem manufacturers and approved world-wide with most major satellite operators. The company works closely with more than 500 active resellers / integrators in over 100 countries. C-COM is also collaborating with a renowned research team at the University of Waterloo on the development of an electronically steerable, Ka-band flat panel antenna system that is based on a patented phased array beam forming technology. This system has the potential to revolutionize satellite addressable mobility markets (land, air, maritime). About C-COM Satellite Systems Inc. C-COM Satellite Systems Inc. is a pioneer and world leader in the design, development, and manufacture of transportable and mobile satellite-based antenna systems. The Company has developed proprietary, auto-acquisition controller technology for rapid antenna pointing to a satellite with just the press of a button, enabling Broadband Internet via Satellite across a wide range of market applications worldwide, including regions unserved or underserved by terrestrial access technologies. C-COM has sold more than 8,500 antenna systems, in over 100 countries, through a dedicated dealer network that provides service to a wide range of vertical markets such as Oil & Gas Exploration, Military Communications, Disaster Management, SNG, Emergency Communications, Cellular Backhaul, Telemedicine, Mobile Education, Government Services, Mobile Banking, and others. The Company's iNetVu brand is synonymous with high quality, reliability, and cost-effectiveness. C-COM is in late-stage development of a potentially revolutionary Ka-band, electronically steerable, modular, conformal, flat panel phased array antenna. In cooperation with the University of Waterloo, C-COM is engaged in the design of this unique antenna with the intent of providing low-cost, high-throughput mobility applications over satellite for land, airborne and maritime verticals. For additional information please visit www.c-comsat.com iNetVu is a registered trademark of C-COM Satellite Systems Inc. The Company is publicly traded on the Canadian Venture Exchange (TSXV: CMI) and on the US OTC Exchange (OTC: CYSNF). # # # 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 forward-looking statements. These statements relate to future events or future performance and reflect management's current expectations and assumptions. Statements about the timing of shipment of additional ordered units and the potential impacts of new technology on the industry all contain forward-looking information. A number of factors could cause actual events, performance or results to differ materially from the events, performance and results discussed in the forward-looking statements. Orders may take longer to ship than anticipated and orders may be cancelled for any number of reasons, some of which are beyond C-COM Satellite Systems' control. Anticipated benefits of the new technology may not be realized, and new products and services may not be released or, if released may not gain market acceptance. Any of those events and others could have an effect on future performance and C-COM Satellite Systems Inc.'s ability to achieve the results mentioned above. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date hereof and C-COM Satellite Systems Inc. does not assume any obligation to update or revise them to reflect new events or circumstances. Readers are directed to the risk factors associated with the business of C-COM Satellite Systems in the company's most recent MD&A available at www.SEDAR.com. INVESTOR RELATIONS C-COM Satellite Systems Inc. Tel: (613) 745-4110 ext. 4950 Fax: (613) 745-7144 lklein@c-comsat.com To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/75578 A Medicare-style levy to fund and fix the failing aged care sector could cost taxpayers about $610 a year each and boost funds by almost $8 billion annually, but a health economist has warned that alone wont be enough to fund improvements in the sector. The government has left the door open to tax increases, including the royal commissions funding levy recommendation, Minister for Senior Australians and Aged Care Services Richard Colbeck saying they will consider all recommendations, including the levy, and respond in the May budget. A Medicare-style levy has been proposed to help fund changes to the aged care system. Credit:Edwina Pickles It will require additional resources - considerable additional resources - and thats one of the important considerations that we have to look at as we consider the report, he told ABC radio on Tuesday morning. We will consider all of the recommendations carefully, we will have a comprehensive response to those in the budget. Indian music, dance, theatre, yoga and, even festivals, all contribute to the holistic vision of the Gandhi Institute, which is a part of the sprawling Rangsit University, in Bangkok. Behind all these, the institute has three aims to be a think-tank for policymakers in governments, to develop leaders for the future based on Gandhian principles, and to bring the Indian and Thai communities closer together. These were spelt out by the director of the institute, Mano Laohavanich, a doctor by training who was once ordained as a monk, and has even tried his hand in politics. Mano studied Sanskrit at Oxford (where he graduated with a Boden Prize), Buddhist ethics at Harvard and healing meditation at Hamburg University, and caused quite a stir when he returned to Thailand and questioned many concepts of Buddhism. In fact, hes currently an honorary advisor of Thailands Senate Commission on Poverty and Inequality Eradication, and an advisor to Thailands Parliamentary Commission on Religions, Arts and Culture. Mano is also serving as the president of the Palliative Care Thailand Foundation, where he has trained over 1,000 volunteers from Thailand and the neighbouring countries, in the last decade. Mano admires Gandhi for promoting peace in all religions as well as for his faith in non-violence and absolute truth. These are the principles he hopes to inculcate in the Gandhi Institute, where he was appointed director, when it was started in 2017 as part of the Rangsit Universitys College of Social Innovation. One of the impressive events he has held regularly, are the Gandhi Talk Series, where top dignitaries, from ambassadors to local luminaries, have spoken on religion, politics and the importance of Gandhi in public life. Having been involved in the world of politics and religion, Mano realises the importance of developing a new brand of leaders for the future. Thats why one of the highlights of the Institute, is the free Leadership Training programme held on Saturdays, which has attracted many youngsters. It starts with yoga-lessons in the morning, followed by sessions with academics and counsellors. Yoga involves the body, mind and soul, which are vital for leadership-development, states the doctor. His knowledge of religions also helps him encourage freethinking among the future leaders. Mano is inspired by the Center for the Study of World Religions in Harvard, and plans to create a 21-storey building at Rangsit Varsity, where world-leaders could visit, stay, give lectures and spend time together. We could have dialogues for life, innovative ways to solve problems and organise training programs for the youth, he declared. Its a five-year dream project, and when the architectural and financial plans are ready, he hopes to use his many connections to get funds from international donors, including well-known names like Bill Gates. Institutes are made not of buildings, but relationships he said simply. Mano admitted that the Covid pandemic had thrown a spanner in many of his projects, but, on the other hand, it has also uniquely augmented his courses. He spoke of the two Zoom sessions they had held, on the subject, how to apply Gandhian philosophy during the lockdown, which was addressed by two noted psychologists from India and attracted many participants. They also held an essay competition on Gandhi and Covid-19, which attracted as many as 100 entries. The climax was organising a vibrant play on Gandhi entitled The Stick, based on the five Gandhian Principles (service, nationalism, non-violence, family, girl child), which had a 60-strong cast of Indians and Thais, including talented musicians, dancers and actors. It was so successful that they held a second show of the play, at the prestigious Bangkok Bank auditorium, which was totally enjoyed by the senior members of the bank, including its CEO. Mano is supported in this project by his energetic assistant director from India, Sanjay Kumar. The latter, after a long communications career with Indian and international organisations, plans to use his skills of organising multilateral events to connect multinational communities, at the Gandhi Institute. He was proud to start a Thai-Indian Theatre Club, after the success of the Gandhi play. He has now launched a Thai-Indian Super Star Singing Series, where anyone who loves to sing, will be encouraged to participate. Action with Passion is his mantra, and he has numerous projects in mind, to tap the surfeit of talent in the country. Do you know that there are at least 150 yoga teachers in the city? We want to give a chance to all of them, as also to the many others who have musical and other talents, he stated. It all fits in with the Gandhi Institutes holistic aim to tap the inner resources of individuals. In order to get the communities involved, Mano and Sanjay Kumar were proud to successfully organise big Ganesh festivals, complete with puja, procession, and even immersion in the waters of the Chaophaya river where Thais and Indians partook in the festivities together. The images of Ganesh were created out of ecological materials by talented Thai artisans. The Gandhi Institute now plans to do a similar community-event for the festival of Holi. We are a listening organisation, and we are always keeping our ears open for new ideas and events, said Mano. He described the Gandhi Institute as an activity-based institute which was what made it different from many other Indian institutes in the city. He is hopeful that their holistic vision for the institute will be fully realised. Zamfara state governor Bello Matawalle on Tuesday, March 2, said that the hundreds of school girls abducted last week from a boarding school in the northwestern Zamfara state have been released. Matawalle said that 279 girls have been freed while last week the government announced that 317 had been kidnapped. The incident took place when gunmen abducted the girls from the Government Girls Junior Secondary School in Jangebe town. This comes as just another incident in the series of mass kidnappings of students in Nigeria. 279 girls released Alhamdulillah! It gladdens my heart to announce the release of the abducted students of GGSS Jangebe from captivity. This follows the scaling of several hurdles laid against our efforts. I enjoin all well-meaning Nigerians to rejoice with us as our daughters are now safe, wrote Matawalle on his official Twitter handle. The governor further said that the girls will be taken for medical examinations before being reunited with their families. Read: Nigeria: 1 Killed, Over 40 Abducted After Gunmen Attack School Alhamdulillah! It gladdens my heart to announce the release of the abducted students of GGSS Jangebe from captivity. This follows the scaling of several hurdles laid against our efforts. I enjoin all well-meaning Nigerians to rejoice with us as our daughters are now safe. pic.twitter.com/YKfHoUuiXP Dr. Bello Matawalle (@Bellomatawalle1) March 2, 2021 Speaking to AP, one of the abducted girls said, We were sleeping at night when suddenly we started hearing gunshots. They were shooting endlessly. We got out of our beds and people said we should run, that they are thieves, She said. Everybody fled and there were just two of us left in the room. The girl said that the attackers held guns to the girls heads. Nigeria has seen several such attacks and kidnappings in recent years. Recently, the gunmen attacked a school in Nigeria's north-central Niger State, killing at least one student and abducting over 40 in Nigerias north-central Niger State. According to the reports by AP, one student has been killed and there are reports of 40 people including students and teachers being abducted. The schools head prefect, Awal Abdulrahman, said that the gunmen chased the students across the school and shot one of them in the head as he tried to escape. Read: Nigeria: Plane Crash Which Killed 7 Personnel Was Part Of A Kidnap Rescue Operation Local media reported that the gunmen are thought to be bandits. They attacked the first two houses (hostels) by the wall They entered the house and chased students who tried to escape They followed us shooting and in the process shot one of us in the head, said Awal. A teacher informed that the gunmen entered the school premises at about 1:30am dressed in military camouflage. They forced him to lead them to the students sleeping quarters. Read: Pope Prays For Liberation Of 317 Kidnapped Nigerian Students Also Read: Nigerian Economist Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala Becomes WTO's 'first African, Black Woman' Chief Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Patna, March 2 : Rashtriya Janata Dal MLAs demonstrated in the Bihar Vidhan Sabha over the rising prices of LPG cylinders and onions on Tuesday. The group headed by Bhai Virendra, the MLA from Maner constituency and chief spokesperson of the party, entered the Vidhan Sabha premises carrying small LPG cylinders on their heads and wearing garlands of onions around their necks. "The price of LPG cylinder reached Rs 900 with a Rs 125 increase in the last one month. Bihar is a state where people are struggling to get two square meals a day, how will they manage Rs 900 to buy a gas cylinder," Bhai Virendra said. The Maner legislator said that the agitation will continue until the Centre rolls back the price. Kiran Devi, RJD MLA from Sandesh, demonstrated wearing a garland of onions. She said: "The prices of onions reached Rs 60 at several places in Bihar. It is beyond the reach of common people. Interestingly, the farmers are not benefitting from the high prices. The state government should take care of the people of Bihar. If the Nitish Kumar government will not address the price rise, our agitation will continue." Reacting to the agitation, state agriculture minister Amrendra Pratap Singh said: "The state government is addressing the issues of farmers. The opposition leaders have no issue to raise. Hence, they are doing such a stunt to get media attention." The RJD leaders allegedly breached the security of the Vidhan Sabha as the government has banned the use of small cylinders in the state. Despite that, the RJD MLAs brought them in their vehicles and carried them past the security checkpoints on the premises. Multiple sclerosis has been a part of Emily Blosbergs life for as far back as she can remember. When she was 2 years old, Blosbergs dad was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis an autoimmune disease that disrupts the central nervous system. At that point, my parents had absolutely no idea what MS was, Blosberg tells Yahoo Life. So when the doctor said, You have MS, Blosberg says her parents first question was, What does that mean? We have young kids at home and how is that going to affect our lives? But rather than feeling defeated by the diagnosis, Blosberg says thats when her dad and mom decided that they werent going to let MS stop them from living their lives and experiencing things as a family. We just learned to do it with MS, she says. Emily Blosberg and her father while she's in the hospital. (Photo: Emily Blosberg) But 13 years later, the disease would become even more personal. When Blosberg was in the eight grade, she noticed that her hand felt a little strange, she recalls, like it had a glove on top of it. So I told my mom about it, and she said, Let's keep an eye on it and see what the doctor says, says Blosberg. However, the sensation she was experiencing in her hand eventually spread first to her entire arm and then to her whole body. A couple of weeks later, her eyes started moving around rapidly and uncontrollably a condition called vertical nystagmus and her skin became extremely sensitive. Blosberg says the symptoms she was experiencing felt familiar because they really looked a lot like things that my dad was experiencing, adding: We knew what the MS symptoms were. A rare diagnosis Dr. Jeffrey Dunn, an MS specialist at Stanford Health Care, tells Yahoo Life that MS affects the central nervous system, impacting the brain, spinal cord, and optic nerves. But because the central nervous system controls our awareness of everything, MS can really cause any symptoms that a human body can feel, from the top down, says Dr. Dunn, including fatigue, double vision, tingling, dizziness and weakness. Although these symptoms can be caused by several different health conditions, Dunn explains that one of the most helpful clues with MS is that the disease tends to start slowly, build up, and then linger for several weeks before getting better. Story continues Emily Blosberg with her family, including her father, who she calls her role model. (Photo: Emily Blosberg) Although the symptoms were familiar to Blosberg, it was hard for her to believe that she might have MS. The chance of a child of a parent with MS getting MS is about 3 percent higher than the general population, says Blosberg. So although it was a possibility, it was never really a big, big thing in our minds until my symptoms started to show. And then we kind of just realized that maybe this is what we're dealing with. Dr. Dunn explains that there are both genetic and environmental factors that can increase the risk of MS, which is why it makes this so difficult to parse out the cause in Blosbergs case. Dr, Dunn says its possible that Blosberg developed MS because of a genetic predisposition. But its also possible that she and her father shared similar environmental exposures, such as a lack of sunlight exposure and vitamin D, which are MS risk factors. 'A really lonely disease' After 14 months of countless MRIs and other tests to get to the bottom of her symptoms, Blosberg was officially diagnosed with MS in 2011. At first, she says she blamed herself for the diagnosis. I was appreciating the attention that I was getting, she admits. I was getting letters in the mail. I was getting visitors. I pretty much had my mom's undivided attention for a year, as they were trying to figure out my diagnosis. And so when I finally did get the diagnosis, I blamed myself because I [had] wanted that attention back. I felt like it was my fault.[but] I knew that logically it's not. She adds that the diagnosis was also frightening. It was scary knowing that I had seen my dad giving himself injections for 13 years at that point and the struggles that he faced, knowing that that was in my future. MS symptoms are also often invisible, which is why Blosberg calls MS a really lonely disease. She says, People can't tell when you have MS. And so my relationship with my school friends was hard because they didn't understand that I was very fatigued. Its that loneliness that Blosberg says only adds to the burden of an MS diagnosis. Finding her tribe of teens with MS She realized she needed to connect with other teenagers who had MS and truly understood what she was going through. So Blosberg reached out to the National Multiple Sclerosis Society where her father had volunteered for years but at the time, Blosberg says they didnt know of any teens with MS. If you find anyone else young, let me know. I want to talk to them. I want them to know that they're not alone.Emily Blosberg, diagnoses with MS at age 15 Despite the setback, Blosberg didnt give up. I knew there had to be other kids out there, and I wanted to connect with them, she says. A little over a year after she was first diagnosed, Blosberg finally found a 16-year-old in Sioux Falls, South Dakota with MS. That teen knew of others in her area who also had MS, and the group decided to get together, with Blosbergs dad driving her the four hours to Sioux Falls so she could meet them all. Blosberg then decided to create a Facebook page for young people with MS and continued searching for others and enlisted the help of the National MS Society. If you find anyone else young, let me know, Blosberg recalls saying to the organization. I want to talk to them. I want them to know that they're not alone. MS is often considered an adult disease, explains Blosberg. But, she emphasizes, Its not just adults. Kids get MS, too. While the age of onset for MS is typically between 20 and 40 years old, Dunn says, It can definitely affect kids and teens. Oscar the monkey Blosbergs Facebook page was her way of bringing young people with MS together. But she decided to take things one step further by founding Oscar, the MS Monkey a nonprofit that supports children and teenagers who have been diagnosed with the disease. Blosberg with "Oscar the Monkey." (Photo: Emily Blosberg) It all started with a hobby: Blosberg had always loved knitting, but that became too painful after she developed MS. So after a friend taught her how to make sock monkeys, she decided to make one for herself, using an orange sock the hue that represents MS and naming it Oscar. Blosberg eventually started making sock monkeys for other kids and teens with MS so they would feel less alone. The organization grew from there. The nonprofit has sent nearly 500 care packages to young people around the world, each containing one of Oscar's handmade buddies a smaller version of the original Oscar along with hosting camps for families and teens with MS pre-COVID. No one has to fight alone, she says. Blosberg has sent over 500 care packages with "Oscar the Monkey" to other teens with MS. (Photo: Emily Blosberg) Through it all, Blosberg says her entire family has been proud of her especially her father. He knows what it's like to live with MS, she shares. He's my role model, though. I grew up watching him live with MS and not letting MS get in the way. He's shown me how to do that. And I hope that I'm doing him proud. Video produced by Jacquie Cosgrove Read more from Yahoo Life: She was grateful for the invitation from Lindy Hume, the current artistic director, to revisit the festival Archer created 20 years ago. Its had a few bumps along the way and its wonderful to see it really back in the form that it was originally intended, she says. It was one of those rare opportunities Ive had a couple in my career to actually make a new festival. Artistic directors usually step into well-oiled machines with established administrations and trajectories, she says what you would call corporate history. In this case then-premier Jim Bacon had called her and said look, I want to have an international arts festival here, because weve got a lot of artists but they dont really have any platform to show what they do. She was coming out of the 2000 Adelaide Festival, which had spent $700,000 on a single Peter Greenaway opera. Bacon put up $600,000 for her whole festival. She couldnt afford to bring in international stars of the order Adelaide and Melbourne commanded. So I alighted on the idea of having only artists from other islands in the world. Robyn Archer as Lola Blau in 1979. Credit:Robert McFarlane Its a different world now, she reflects. Especially now. Australias arts festival circuit has been hit by the necessities of the pandemic: its pretty much impossible to import shows physically to our continent; the best that can be done for the next year or so is to fly in a few choice artists and add most of the international via a digital program. Archer still believes in the main justification for international arts festivals: If you put on one show by itself thats very unfamiliar, maybe in a different language, not many people would come to it. If you put it in a festival people would take more risks and chances and they would come. They stir the pot, challenge artists and audiences. And most festival directors learnt along the way that you can add more local artists to the mix and more people will take a chance on them. Theres a tension between that and the inspiration that we can get from the greatest companies in the world, the greatest works, Archer says. This year, not having to spend the money on bringing in so many international artists has allowed more to flow to local artists, and its just been a fantastic moment, to use that opportunity. Were released in a sense from our original charter, to bring to Australia things that wouldnt get here otherwise. We can devote money to local works and theres been a fantastic spread right across the country. But she fears the whole arts ecosystem is fragile right now. She likens it to a forest. If all you do is take care of the canopy, a beautiful, luxurious, fabulous canopy, and ignore the undergrowth, then when the canopy starts to atrophy and collapse youll be left with chaos for a very long time, decades and decades. She is full of praise for government support that has kept big companies afloat through the pandemic shutdown. But youve got to support the undergrowth, too. Where does anybody think the cultural leaders of the present came from? Archer likens the current arts landscape to the devastation left in New Orleans by Hurricane Katrina. Theres a chance for great social renewal. But theres the risk, too, of terrible mistakes that leave permanent scars. She believes that, just as festivals have had to adapt quickly, the pandemic will trigger a new evolution. In the international festival talks and conferences she attends, everyone is talking about the benefits of the blended model of live with digital, with new accessibility for people who may not have attended festivals in the past because of time, money or geography. RTHK: Nigerian schoolgirls freed from captivity Gunmen have freed all 279 girls kidnapped from a boarding school in northwest Nigeria, officials said on Tuesday, as victims described how their abductors had beaten and threatened to shoot them. The pupils from Jangebe, a town in Zamfara state, were abducted just after midnight on Friday. All had now been freed, Zamfara Governor Bello Matawalle said. Umma Abubakar, among those released, described their ordeal. "Most of us got injured on our feet and we could not continue trekking, so they said they will shoot anybody who did not continue to walk," she said. Boarding schools in northern Nigeria have become targets for mass kidnappings for ransom by armed criminal gangs, a trend started by the jihadist group Boko Haram and continued by its offshoot, Islamic State West Africa Province. Friday's raid on the Government Girls Science Secondary School was the second such abduction in little over a week in the northwest, a region increasingly targetted by gangs. Matawalle said "repentant bandits" working with the government under an amnesty programme had helped secure the Jangebe girls' release. "Those repentant ones are working for us, and they are working for the government and they are working for security," he said. Initial reports put the number kidnapped at 317, but Zamfara government spokesman Sulaiman Tanau Anka said the total was 279, as some of the girls had run into the bush at the time of the raid. Reuters journalists in Zamfara's state capital, Gusau, saw dozens of girls in Muslim veils sitting in a hall in a state government building. A few parents arrived, and one father wept with joy after seeing his daughter. Most of the girls appeared unharmed, but at least a dozen were sent to hospital. Farida Lawali, 15, told how she and the other girls had been taken to a forest by the kidnappers. "They carried the sick ones that cannot move. We were walking in the stones and thorns," she said, sitting in the government house building, covered in a light blue veil. "They started hitting us with guns so that we could move," she added. "While they were beating them with guns, some of them were crying and moving at the same time." President Muhammadu Buhari, who met his top security officials on Tuesday, said news of the girls' release brought "overwhelming joy". He warned against paying ransoms to kidnappers, which the national government has denied doing. "Ransom payments will continue to prosper kidnapping," Buhari said, urging the police and the military to bring the kidnappers to justice. One father, whose seven daughters were among those kidnapped and freed, said the incident would not deter him from schooling his children. "It's a ploy to deny our girls... from getting the Western education in which we are far behind," Lawal Abdullahi said. "We should not succumb to blackmail. My advice to government is that they should take immediate precautions to stop further abductions." The UN children's agency Unicef urged the Nigerian government to protect schools so children will not be fearful of going to school, and parents afraid of sending their children to school. As recently as Saturday, gunmen released 27 teenage boys who had been kidnapped from their school on February 17 in Niger state. In 2014, Boko Haram abducted more than 270 schoolgirls from the northeasterly town of Chibok, in Nigeria's most high-profile school kidnapping. Around 100 remain missing. (Reuters) This story has been published on: 2021-03-02. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. Refugees from the Central Africa Republic collect relief items at a UNHCR distribution center in Yakoma, northern Democratic Republic of the Congo. UNHCR/Helene Caux UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, is working to relocate thousands of Central African refugees away from dangerous conditions in remote border areas of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) into safer sites further into the interior. UNHCR and DRCs National Refugee Commission (CNR) have signed agreements and started to develop a site for 10,000 refugees in Modale village, near Yakoma in North Ubangi province. A second site is being considered near Ndu in Bas Uele province, and is pending government approval. Work is ongoing to identify two additional sites where more refugees can be moved. UNHCR and CNR will prepare four relocation sites for some 35,000 refugees to live alongside local communities and grow their own crops, attend local schools, and benefit from other services that serve their Congolese hosts. Settling refugees in local communities will allow them to live with greater dignity and independence. At the Modale site, UNHCR is setting up new water and sanitation facilities and is planning to expand health and education facilities. The localities selected already have administrative and judicial services, nine primary schools, a secondary school and a health clinic. UNHCR is reinforcing existing services and infrastructure which would struggle to cope with the sudden increase in new arrivals. Authorities in the DRC estimate that 92,000 refugees have arrived from the Central African Republic (CAR) after election-linked violence erupted in December 2020. Most Central African refugees are now living along riverbanks in hard-to-reach border areas, among host communities with extremely limited resources. Conditions are dire, with many refugees sleeping in makeshift shelters. Most have little to no access to drinking water, sanitation, or food. Some have been welcomed by host families, sometimes with up to three refugee families living in a single home. Health needs are becoming increasingly urgent. Joint health evaluation teams of UN agencies, NGOs, and the Provincial Health Division have reported a high risk of a major measles epidemic in refugee hosting areas in North Ubangi. Suspected cases are already being reported among the host communities. The evaluation team has recommended an urgent vaccination drive, as fewer than 30 per cent of refugee children are vaccinated. Further measures to counter the spread of COVID are also needed. So far, nearly 40,000 refugees have been biometrically registered by UNHCR teams. Our teams are assisting more than 4,500 particularly vulnerable refugees, including unaccompanied and separated children, at-risk women, people with disabilities and serious medical conditions. We are also providing support to some 80 survivors of sexual and gender-based violence, including cases of child marriages. All these incidents are reported to have occurred in CAR. As the needs of thousands of Central African refugees continue to increase, so do the funding requirements. Funds for UNHCRs humanitarian response are already critically low and under severe pressure due to the needs of both refugees and the host communities. UNHCR is appealing ( https://reporting.unhcr.org/node/30262 ) for US$164.7 million to deliver critical protection and assistance to the displaced Central Africans. News footage is available below for media and broadcasters. Central African refugees fleeing to DRC face dire conditions too close to the border - BROLL: https://media.unhcr.org/Share/23ebx4ey28021863a2p7q46ke34fwjvv For more information on this topic, please contact: Burma Myanmars Military Council Labeled 'Terrorist Group Soldiers watch anti-regime protesters in Yangon in mid-February. / The Irrawaddy The CRPH, the committee representing the elected lawmakers of the ousted National League for Democracy, labeled Myanmars military governing body, the State Administrative Council (SAC), as a terrorist group on Monday for its lawlessness in arresting democratically elected leaders and for terrorizing protesters with killings and violence. The announcement followed the nationwide bloody Sunday crackdown on peaceful protesters by the police and soldiers, which left at least 18 dead, according to the United Nations. Since the Feb. 1 coup, 23 people, aged 17 to 59, have been killed, according to media reports and relatives testimony. The military seized power from the democratically elected government on Feb. 1 and detained civilian leaders and pro-democracy activists. The CRPH (Committee Representing the Pyidaungsu Hluttaw) said the militarys action is in contravention of the existing laws. The military established the SAC with generals and few members from political parties, which had been defeated in the November general election. It changed the law, removing privacy legislation and freedom of expression and threatened to arrest anyone insulting the SAC. Since the Feb. 1 coup, more than 1,000 people have been detained. The CRHP said it condemns in the strongest terms all atrocities and acts of terrorism committed by the putschists. The illegitimate putschists crimes include shooting live rounds, explosives, rubber bullets, tear gas and water cannons at protesters. They beat and arrest peaceful protesters, civil servants taking part in the civil disobedience movement, activists, community leaders and students, said the committee. Such crimes amount to the declaration of war on unarmed civilians. In late February protesters began using shields and making barricades to defend their neighborhoods from the authorities. Due to the atrocities and acts of terrorism of the military, streets and communities across Myanmar have become battlefields. There have been many civilian fatalities and the life, liberty and security of the people are under constant threats due to the acts of terrorism committed by the illegitimate military council, said the CRPH. You may also like these stories: Myanmar Military Cracks Down on Journalists with Arrests and Lawsuits Twin Brother of Young Protester Slain by Myanmar Security Forces Calls for Justice Myanmar Military Sues Suu Kyi and President with Further Charges Vostok-Service Elevates Efficiency with Centric PLM With the introduction of Centric PLM, we plan to reduce labor costs for product development, increase the speed of new models released and increase labor productivity. Vostok-Service, the largest developer, manufacturer and supplier of workwear, footwear and personal protective equipment (PPE) across Russia and Europe, has selected Centric Softwares Product Lifecycle Management (PLM), to track and improve product development and manufacturing. Centric Software provides the most innovative enterprise solutions to fashion, retail, footwear, outdoor, luxury, home decor and consumer goods companies to achieve strategic and operational digital transformation goals. Vostok-Service Group of Companies supplies both traditional and specialized labor protection equipment for various industries, such as: workwear and safety footwear, PPE, tools and related products. In order to guarantee the maximum level of safety for industrial workers using its workwear and PPE, Vostok-Service must ensure that the materials selected to make each of its products meet the required protective properties, and comply with strict quality control procedures. However, employees who wear the clothing increasingly want to look stylish, so for the past decade, Vostok-Service has taken inspiration from fashion trends to enable the creation of protective clothing that is not only durable and comfortable, but unique and well-designed. Due to the expanding production capacity of the company and the increase in the volume of products, we needed a modern IT solution to optimize and track production processes at all stages - from idea to production, explains Aleksey Suzdalev, Director of Production Division at Vostok-Service. We selected Centric PLM after a serious evaluation of competitive solutions available to the market and our final choice of vendor was very deliberate. Centric PLM has wide and varied functionalities that will help us track and improve product development and manufacturing, and Centric PLM incorporates worldwide best practices. Over five PLM vendors were considered by Vostok-Service, however, Centrics clear understanding of apparel, its approach to innovation and track record set it apart from its competitors. In addition, the success and 100% go-live rate of Centrics Agile DeploymentSM methodology were strong differentiators. With the introduction of Centric PLM, we plan to reduce labor costs for product development, increase the speed of new models released and increase labor productivity, comments Suzdalev. The creation of a digital twin and a common space where specialists can communicate will drastically increase the efficiency of our work. "We are delighted to be working with Vostok-Service to help the company grow and develop in-line with its present and future objectives, and we look forward to a long-term and successful partnership," says Chris Groves, President and CEO of Centric Software. Request a Demo Vostok-Service (http://www.vostok.ru) Founded in 1992, the Vostok-Service group of companies is the largest developer, manufacturer and supplier of workwear, footwear and personal protective equipment (PPE) in Russia and Europe. Its assortment consists of 12,000 items of workwear and safety footwear, PPE, tools, related products for enterprises of various industries including: energy, oil, gas, coal, chemical and petrochemical, ferrous and nonferrous metallurgy, mechanical engineering, metalworking and others. It is an international company that develops its business in the Czech Republic, Slovakia , Poland , Hungary , Italy , Spain , Turkey, Belgium, Holland, Denmark, South Africa, Finland. The Vostok-Service retail network in Russia and the CIS is represented by 280 branded stores, with more than 120 branches of the company operating in 56 regions of Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan. The production base of the Vostok-Service Group of Companies today is 15 sewing factories and four shoe factories, as well as an enterprise for the production of gloves with polymer coatings. The factories are located in Russia, Belarus and Italy, equipped with modern equipment to produce high quality products. An inquest into the death of a Belfast DJ who lost consciousness while being detained on the ground by PSNI officers has been told that his restraints played a role in his passing. Gerard McMahon died in hospital on September 8, 2016 - hours after police responded to reports of a violent incident involving a male dressed only in boxer shorts at Great Victoria Street. The 36-year-old, from Short Strand, was placed in handcuffs and moved to the steps of the Grand Opera House. While initially he was calm and joked with the officers, moments later he became agitated and appeared to attempt to escape. A struggle on the ground ensued between Mr McMahon and officers, who used CS spray, placed limb restraints on his legs and put him in the prone position, during which he became unresponsive. The court previously heard how two of the officers restrained him by holding his shoulders while a third held him by the legs and applied limb restraints to his ankles and knees. Police officers performed CPR after he became unresponsive and called for an ambulance. Despite their efforts, Mr McMahon did not regain consciousness and passed away in the Royal Victoria Hospital later. An earlier hearing was told that Mr McMahon suffered from acute behavioural disturbance (ABD), a condition that sparks bizarre and erratic behaviour. During the last day of evidence yesterday, Sean Doran, who is counsel to the coroner Joe McCrisken, was examining the pathology evidence into Mr McMahon's death. The state pathologist for Northern Ireland Dr James Lyness, consultant forensic pathologist Dr Nathaniel Cary and forensic pathologist Dr Richard Shepherd all gave evidence. Dr Lyness, who conducted the post mortem examination on Mr McMahon's body on September 10, 2016, described the case as "complex" and said that "multiple factors need to be considered". Within his autopsy report, Dr Lyness outlined the cause of death as hypoxic ischemic necrosis of brain, pneumonia, and multiple organ failure, following cardiac arrest during physical restraint in association with an ABD, cocaine toxicity, rib fractures, exposure to CS spray, obesity and coronary artery atheroma. He added that he included Mr McMahon's rib fractures, obesity and use of CS spray in his final report as they may have contributed to his cardiac arrest. "There is a theory that Mr McMahon could have died from cocaine toxicity whilst the restraint was going on but I don't agree with that," stated Dr Lyness. "The facts of the matter are that restraint was happening to him as he had his cardiac arrest and you cannot pull the two apart and say it was just cocaine or just restraint." He added: "It's quite clearly in my autopsy report, quite clearly in the letters I provided, I believed restraints played a role in this gentleman's death." Dr Lyness also addressed suggestions on social media that Mr McMahon had suffered a broken neck at the hands of police. He explained that he found a fracture within the bones of the voice box. "Yes, those sit within the neck but for most people a neck fracture would be the spine and I did not find any fracture of the spine," he stated. The inquest will continue tomorrow morning before the findings will be delivered next Friday, March 12. United opposition parties have been picketing outside the Georgian parliament building since 9 am this morning. The protest concerns election fraud, the economic crisis, and the existence of political prisoners in the country. Protesters are gathered in front of parliament and have been focusing shouts at politicians entering the parliament. They aim to cause discomfort by peaceful protest and shouting, Agenda.ge reported. Law enforcers are mobilized at all entrances to the parliament. Seven individuals have been detained at the oppositions anti-government rally at the Georgian parliament in central Tbilisi today after they disobeyed police. The opposition parties which have been demanding repeat parliamentary elections since November 2020 took to the street again last week, following the arrest of the head of the United National Movement opposition party Nika Melia. Melia, who is charged with incitement to violence during the June protests in Tbilisi back in 2019, was arrested on February 23 for refusal to post bail. Now the opposition is demanding the release of Melia, one of the co-founders of the opposition-minded TV channel Mtavari Arkhi Giorgi Rurua and the repeat parliamentary elections. Representatives of the United National Movement presented a 5-day action plan of protest on February 26. They say that rallies will continue at the administrative building of the government of Georgia (on March 5), at the Ministry of Internal Affairs (on March 9), at Tbilisi City Court (on March 11) and again at parliament (on March 13). The opposition parties have requested mediation instead of facilitation from the EU yesterday, during the meeting with the president of the European Council Charles Michel, to come to an agreement with the ruling Georgian party amid the current political tension. They said that they may accept the referendum instead of the repeat parliamentary elections. The international community has urged political parties in the country to deescalate the situation and negotiate. Georgian PM Irakli Garibashvili says that they are ready to continue the dialogue with the opposition. However, he says that no repeat elections will take place because the October 31 parliamentary elections were held in line with democratic standards and were recognised by the international community. Garibashvili also says that Melia and Rurua committed crimes and that everyone is equal before the law. The ruling Georgian Dream party MPs say that the opposition responds to the calls on negotiation by destructive actions. 60 opposition members from eight opposition parties have won seats in the 150-member parliament in the 10th convocation of the state legislature. However, 51 of the 60 opposition MPs have refused to take up their mandates and requested the suspension of their status. Parliament rejects opposition request to suspend status for 51 opposition MPs. They claim that the October 31 elections were fabricated and that repeat elections must take place. Hyundai Motor India Limited (HMIL) has announced that it registered a total cumulative sales of 61,800 units in February 2021. Out of the total sales, the South Korean carmaker sold 51,600 units in the domestic market while 10,200 units were exported to the global markets. The domestic sales escalated by 29 per cent this year as compared to 40,010 units in February 2020. The exports grew by 19 per cent from last years 8,900 units. The overall sales escalated by 26.4 per cent in the last month as against 48,910-units in the same period last year. Commenting on the February 2021 sales performance, Tarun Garg, Director (Sales, Marketing & Service), HMIL, said, Hyundai Motor India has been consistently striving to drive a resurgence in sales, thereby contributing towards economic recovery and bringing the industry closer to pre-Covid level sales. With a cumulative sale of 61,800 units in February 2021, Hyundai has recorded growth across segments. Super Performer brands such as the Ultimate SUV CRETA, VENUE, Spirited New VERNA, NIOS, and Indias most awarded premium hatchback of 2021, the recently crowned Indian Car of the Year 2021 (ICOTY) the all-new i20, have once again showcased Hyundai Brand Supremacy by redefining benchmarks in their respective segments. Both domestic and export demand have recorded healthy double-digit growth in February 2021, reflecting an all-round improvement in buyer sentiment. Our most valued customers continue to make the smartest choice, opting for the smartest mobility solutions and as always we are thankful for their continuous support & trust. Last week, the new-gen Hyundai i20 was also crowned as the 2021 Indian Car of the Year (ICOTY). Hyundai also revealed that the three-row SUV will be christened as the Alcazar and will be a global product for the brand making its debut in India. Hyundai i20 6.85 Lakh Onwards Hyundai | i20 | Hyundai i20 The founder of celebrity fast fashion firm In The Style is expected to cash in when it floats with a 100million valuation this month. Adam Frisby, 33, quit his job at Burger King to start the business with 1,000 in 2013, having left school with no qualifications. Now his Manchester-based business, which designs fashion collections with reality TV stars such as Love Islands Dani Dyer, will list on the junior AIM market on or around March 17. Adam Frisby, 33, quit his job at Burger King to start the business with 1,000 in 2013, having left school with no qualifications The plans were outlined as consumer review website Trustpilot also announced it will list in London in a blockbuster float valuing it at 1billion. The listing of In The Style represents a remarkable turnaround after it was forced into a rescue deal in 2018 following a cash flow crisis. An insider said it had wasted a multi-million pound investment raised from Livingbridge investment firm in May 2017. A year later Causeway Capital bought a controlling interest for just 2.5million after new collections fell flat. The episode had led to quite serious concerns about Adams running of the business, according to a source. A spokesman from the firm said it was always the companys plan to bring in more investment. The firm has performed well since, posting sales of 35.4million and adjusted earnings of 3.6million in the nine months to December 31, boosted by the shift online in the pandemic. With companies rushing to join the stock market, the float of Trustpilot will deliver a huge payday to Danish founder Peter Holten Muhlmann. The decision to list in London is another boost for the UK, which has struggled to attract technology firms due to strict listing rules. Trustpilot makes money from 20,000 companies who pay to display their Trustbox rating on their website. NEW YORK, March 2, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The WHO and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have highlighted the importance of regular preventive disinfection. This also applies to washing hands, changing respirators, and disinfecting surfaces in closed rooms. Research shows that the coronavirus can survive on surfaces for hours to days. Germs can also accumulate on curtains and blinds, which are difficult to sterilize. To simplify this task, SGTglobal manufactures and installs PriWatt Smart Glass. Panels with adjustable transparency are easy to keep clean, making them a hygienic alternative to traditional hospital curtains and blinds. And several modes - from complete transparency to impermeability - make them also convenient for patients and doctors. With PriWatt Smart Glass, healthcare professionals can create a much cleaner environment for staff and patients. The smooth surface of the glass eliminates dangerous pathogens that can be a threat to human health. Hospital staff can easily monitor the patient through the glass, reducing the risk of infection for colleagues and other patients. PriWatt Smart Glass technologies are already used by medical institutions around the world. Smart Glass Technologies is currently implementing a project for North York General Hospital, Ontario, Canada. North York General Hospital, affiliated with the University of Toronto, is one of Canada's leading community academic hospitals. William Vasile Turcan, founder of Smart Glass Technologies, explain 3 main reasons why North York General Hospital choose PriWatt Smart Glass: Observation Without Contamination Cross-contamination from highly contagious pathogens such as MRSA is a growing problem in hospitals. A key benefit of switchable privacy glass is that hospital staff can easily observe a patient by flicking a switch, without risking cross-contamination of infectious diseases. Increasing Patient Privacy Switchable electric glass offers the advantage of improved patient privacy in medical facilities. The switchable smart glass panels can easily be changed from clear to opaque, ensuring an increased level of patient privacy in examination rooms, patient rooms, and operating theatres. A Hygienic Alternative to Curtains Switchable glass is simple to clean and maintain, making it a hygienic alternative to traditional hospital curtains and blinds. Harmful germs can easily gather on the surface of curtains and they are difficult to sterilize. The antibacterial features of Smart Glass provide a hygienic and cost-effective alternative to not only traditional hospital curtains but also curtains in homes and offices without endangering people's lives. About Smart Glass Technologies Smart Glass Technologies is a leading innovative company offering the widest variety of design options when it comes to superior quality switchable privacy glass, self-adhesive PDLC (Polymer-Dispersed Liquid Crystal) film, and photochromic self-tinting windows technology. Smart Glass Technologies has more than 10 teams of certified smart film installers in the US, Canada and the Middle East. Smart Glass Technologies is the first company in the industry to have the distinction of providing Smart Film installation training worldwide. SOURCE Smart Glass Technologies Eastern Caribbean Island of Saint Lucia, on March 1 (local time) received 25,000 doses of Indian made Covishield vaccines. The shipment was received by the countrys Prime Minister Allen Chastanet, who offered his gratitude to New Delhi for donating the lifesaving vaccine shots. Covishield, manufacture by Serum Institute of India (SII) is the localized name of the vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford. India has dispatched over 36 million doses of domestically produced vaccines to over 25 countries, under its vaccine maitri programme. In the aftermath of receiving the Covishield jabs, Chastanet took to twitter to shared photographs of vaccine shipment unloaded from ariplanes. Thank you to Prime Minister @narendramodi and our friends from India for donating 25,000 doses of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 Vaccine to Saint Lucia, he wrote in a Twitter post. Made in India vaccines arrived in St Lucia received by Prime Minister Chastanet. Video Courtesy: Allen Chastanet pic.twitter.com/7JSmN46ADa All India Radio News (@airnewsalerts) March 1, 2021 Read: COVID-19: Ghana's President Becomes World's First Recipient Of Free COVAX Jab Read: COVID-19: Almost 1 Lakh Maldivians Inoculated With Made In India Covishield Vaccines The Maldives inoculated with Indian vaccines Maldives Health Emergency Operations Centre (HEOC) on Saturday said that it has inoculated close to 1 lakh population with the Indian manufactured COVID-19 vaccine Covishield dispatched under Indias generous Vaccine Maitri' initiative. At least 98,511 civilians have been immunized against the deadly coronavirus infection with jabs manufactured by the worlds largest Serum Institute of India (SII). In an official statement, HEOC spokesperson, Dr. Fathmath Nazla Rafeeq said that Maldives commenced the vaccination campaign across the entire island country except for HA Muraidhoo and V Fulidhoo islands, where resources are limited and the population is comparatively low. However, the country plans to dispatch mobile teams in these remote islands to get the civilians vaccinated against COVID-19 soon. Read: Indian Envoy: 'I Am Glad That Mongolia's First COVID-19 Vaccine Is Made In India' In similiar news, India sent six lakh doses of domestically produced COVID-19 vaccines to Ghana. External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar took to Twittter on February 24 and confirmed that the western African nation had already received the jabs produced by Serum Institute of India (SII) and was ready to begin its mass inoculation. India is one of the few countries to have stepped up efforts to providing free or vaccines at nominal rates to several poor countries across the world, thereby earning WHO's appreciation consistently. Image courtesy: allenmchastanet/twitter Read: Ghana Receives 6L Doses Of Made-in-India COVID Vaccines Under 'Vaccine Maitri' Programme NEWPORT BEACH, Calif., March 2, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Chipotle Mexican Grill (NYSE: CMG) will host a conference call to discuss first quarter 2021 financial results on Wednesday, April 21, 2021 at 4:30 PM Eastern time. A press release with first quarter 2021 financial results will be issued at approximately 4:10 PM Eastern time on Wednesday, April 21, 2021. Participants can join the conference by dialing 1-888-317-6003 and will be prompted to enter the code 5215022. International callers can dial 1-412-317-6061 and will be prompted to enter the code 5215022. The call will also be webcast live from the Company's website on the investor relations page at ir.chipotle.com and registration is available at https://www.webcaster4.com/Webcast/Page/1894/40184. An archived webcast will be available approximately one hour after the end of the call. ABOUT CHIPOTLE Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. (NYSE: CMG) is cultivating a better world by serving responsibly sourced, classically-cooked, real food with wholesome ingredients without artificial colors, flavors or preservatives. Chipotle had over 2,750 restaurants as of December 31, 2020, in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, France and Germany and is the only restaurant company of its size that owns and operates all its restaurants. With nearly 88,000 employees passionate about providing a great guest experience, Chipotle is a longtime leader and innovator in the food industry. Chipotle is committed to making its food more accessible to everyone while continuing to be a brand with a demonstrated purpose as it leads the way in digital, technology and sustainable business practices. Steve Ells, founder, first opened Chipotle with a single restaurant in Denver, Colorado in 1993. For more information or to place an order online, visit WWW.CHIPOTLE.COM. SOURCE Chipotle Mexican Grill Related Links www.chipotle.com Funeral Announcements A daily list of current funeral annoucements as heard on KXRA 1490 AM/100.3 FM News Updates The daily news, sports, and events delivered daily from Voice of Alexandria. Sports Update This current sports headlines delivered daily from Voice of Alexandria. Upcoming Events This email is the events of the area delivered daily from Voice of Alexandria. Breaking News The big news. Sent only as it happens. When Doug Garfinkel, a San Francisco teacher, walked into Walgreens last week to get his first coronavirus shot, he was surprised no one asked for identification or proof that he was the educator he said he was when he made his appointment online. Garfinkel, whose profession became eligible for vaccination last week, said he understands why its important not to put up barriers that would discourage people from getting inoculated, especially because some are distrustful of vaccines. Still, hes concerned the lack of checks may allow people to cheat. Once people realize theres zero requirement to prove anything no one even asks you screening questions it might open the floodgates for people to get in line earlier, said Garfinkel, 60. In that case, the people who do it are more privileged. They have electronic access or feel like theyre not going to get in trouble. Theyll find out about it on social media. Itll be unfair, or doubly unfair. A Walgreens spokeswoman said customers must attest to their eligibility before booking their vaccine appointment. Then, at their appointment, they must sign an affidavit confirming they meet their states eligibility requirements. For California, that means being a health care worker, 65 or older, or an essential worker in the field of education, child care, food, agriculture or emergency services. The spokeswoman added that Walgreens also asks customers to show a government ID at their appointment but will not turn away people who dont unless the ID is required by the state, county or city. Garfinkel said he was never asked to produce an ID. The state has issued no guidelines on how vaccination sites should verify eligibility. Counties have varying rules, with some leaving it up to the vaccination site to decide what verification, if any, to require. The lack of uniform rules and enforcement underscores the porous nature of Californias approach to vaccination. While relying largely on the honor system helps advance the urgent public health goal of quickly vaccinating as many people as possible, it also leaves the rules open to abuse. But because many vaccination sites are not checking for proof of employment-related eligibility, it's unclear how many individuals have cheated the system, or tried to. Last week, state officials said they were going to deactivate vaccine group codes meant to be used by eligible people in underserved areas. Instead, the codes were circulated and misused by younger people who may have thought they were signing up for doses that were set to expire. Another code intended for a community group in Los Angeles began circulating in the Bay Area over the weekend. By Sunday, it was no longer functional. For the most part, people have to attest that theyre part of an eligible group when making an appointment. This typically involves checking a box that says one is 65 or older, or is an eligible essential worker. But many people do not have to show proof, such as a work badge or letter from their employer, once they show up to get their shot. Some Bay Area health departments run by San Mateo, Sonoma, Marin, Napa and Solano counties require people who qualify for vaccines based on their jobs to bring documentation to county-run vaccination sites. But enforcement varies by county. Vaccination sites run by San Mateo County, for example, ask food and agriculture workers but not teachers, who get verified by the county education office to bring a work ID, work badge, pay stub or letter from their employer when they check in, according to a county spokesperson. But if they do not, the rule is not strictly enforced. We know that documentation can really be a barrier, and we dont want to be creating barriers for our residents to get vaccinated, said Louise Rogers, the county chief of health. And so we do have a process that allows for attestation in cases where people dont have any kind of a pay stub or documentation that would establish their eligibility. County-run vaccination sites in Marin have turned away some people because they did not meet eligibility. And a very small number of people have showed up without proof of eligibility, but they returned with necessary paperwork and were allowed to be vaccinated, said Laine Hendricks, Marin Countys spokeswoman. San Francisco, Contra Costa, Alameda and Santa Clara counties require no proof of eligibility based on employment. Neither does the Oakland Coliseum site, which is jointly run by FEMA and the California Office of Emergency Services, or Cal-OES. The Coliseum asks people to declare their eligibility when making an appointment through the states MyTurn online portal. However, they are not required to bring proof of job-based eligibility to their appointment. They have to show ID, but it doesnt have to be government-issued ID, in part because some people may be undocumented, said Brian Ferguson, a spokesman for Cal-OES. That is the same FEMA protocol that shelters follow when checking in residents after disasters such as wildfires, he said. When making an appointment online for any site, lying is considered fraud because the form is an official government document, Ferguson said. People who lie, if discovered, would face the same consequences as if they lied on tax forms or DMV paperwork, he said. Ferguson did not say what those repercussions would be. I havent gone down that road, he said. But it would be like filling out a fraudulent document. Despite the potential for cheating, its better for the system to be too lax than too restrictive, said Dr. Charles Binkley, director of bioethics at the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics at Santa Clara University. I do think the honor system is a reasonable way to do this, Binkley said. Youre always going to have bad players who are going to try to game the system, jump in line. We learned that in kindergarten. So to create a system to keep them out strikes me as wasting a lot of resources and energy that could be better spent making sure the vulnerable are able to get the access they need. Instead of tearing down the mighty, you lift up the lowly, he said. Binkley likened the vaccination system to stop signs and speed bumps. Society largely leaves it up to drivers to stop or slow down to protect their own safety and the safety of others. But there is no police officer at every corner to make sure it happens. We have lots of structure in society that people obey. We dont have a way to enforce it every single time, he said. Society functions on a grand scale on an honor system. Its how we respect each other. Catherine Ho and Meghan Bobrowsky are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. Email: cho@sfchronicle.com, meghan.bobrowsky@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @Cat_Ho, @MeghanBobrowsky (Natural News) Thousands of lawyers from around the world are busy preparing lawsuits to file against everyone who was involved in spreading the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) plandemic. American-German lawyer Reiner Fuellmich is leading the charge to set up a Nuremburg Trials 2.0 type of situation where every person who participated in spreading lies and fear about the Chinese virus is held to account for their crimes against humanity. Fuellmich, it is important to note, is the lawyer who successfully nabbed Volkswagen for tampering with the catalytic converters in its automobiles. He also successfully won a case against Deutsche Bank, which was ruled to be a criminal enterprise. According to Fuellmich, the fraud committed in these two German cases pales in comparison to what the Chinese virus hoaxers have done to the world. He believes the whole thing is a scandal more than it is a crisis, and everyone involved should be prosecuted. All the manipulations and falsified testing protocols need to be dealt with, Fuellmich says, which is why he is working with an international network of business lawyers to plead what Principia Scientific International calls the biggest tort case of all time, not to mention the biggest crime against humanity ever committed. In order to bring about an international class-action lawsuit using Anglo-Saxon law, a COVID-19 commission of enquiry has been set up to assess how best to proceed. It has thus far determined that the COVID-19 scandal was at no time a health issue. Rather, it was about solidifying the illegitimate power (illegitimate because it was obtained by criminal methods) of the corrupt Davos clique by transferring the wealth of the people to the members of the Davos clique, destroying, among other things, small and medium-sized enterprises in particular, reads a summarized translation of the last communication from Fuellmich on Feb. 15. Platforms such as Amazon, Google, Uber, etc. could thus appropriate their market share and wealth. Coronavirus is little more than a mind game to steal peoples wealth, freedoms and lives In other words, coronavirus was never about keeping people safe or protecting their health. It was about transferring wealth from the poor to the uber-rich while restructuring the world in such a way as to abolish all normalcy and many freedoms. At worst, the Chinese virus was a bad seasonal flu. Truth be told, it was nothing out of the ordinary in that the same number of people died this past year as died during any other year, even though everything this past year was blamed on COVID. We have seen what has been confirmed time and time again: the degree of danger posed by the virus is about the same as that of seasonal flue, regardless of whether it is a new virus (wholly or partially manufactured) or whether we are simply dealing with a flu renamed COVID-19 pandemic,' the committee determined. To make matters worse, the health and economic damage caused by anti-COVID measures has been so devastating that we have to speak of a level of destruction that is historically unique. The document goes on to explain that the whole thing was never really about health, and obviously so. It was about tyrannizing people, eliminating their rights, and now vaccinating them with injections of genetically experimental substances disguised as vaccinations.' These so-called vaccinations are harming and killing people left and right, though the mainstream media refuses to report on it. Meanwhile, tens of millions of human guinea pigs are lining right up to be stabbed with the needle, believing that their overlords care about their health and only want to protect them. More of the latest news about the Chinese virus deception can be found at Pandemic.news. Sources for this article include: Principia-Scientific.com NaturalNews.com John Escoto is running for the Shenandoah City Council and hopes his decades of high-level law enforcement experience and recent stint on the citys Planning and Zoning Commission will lead to his election to replace retiring incumbent Seat 2 member Dean Gristy. A 10-year resident of Shenandoah, Escoto is one of two candidates vying to replace Gristy. His opponent in the race is long-time oil and gas industry executive Jon T. Samuelson, who has resided in Shenandoah for seven months but previously lived in The Woodlands for 28 years. On HoustonChronicle.com: Council hopeful Samuelson wants to serve Shenandoah Escoto said he has many goals if he is elected in the May 1 election to a two-year term on the five-member city council. Among them are reducing traffic congestion in the city, dealing with electrical power from Entergy and keeping the citys spending and budget under control. This isnt the first time Ive run for council, in 2013 I ran against Jean Teague, Escoto said. The vacancy popped up after (Gristy) pulled out his initial application. I decided to go for it. I have an insight into the growth of the city and the future growth and planning. Military, law enforcement career Escotos resume of military service and law enforcement jobs spans decades as well as reachs to the highest levels of the federal government. In his effort to win a seat on the council. Escoto made a campaign website with his extensive resume of public service: jescotoforshenandoah.com. He retired from his role as a contractor for the U.S. Treasury Office of Technical Assistance Economic Crimes Team where he was a criminal investigations advisor and instructor in December 2012. Prior to that position, he was the acting Deputy Assistant Director and Supervisory Criminal Investigator for the Department of Homeland Security and ICE Office of International Affairs, Foreign Operations Division, based in Washington D.C. from 2004-2006. I started out as a military policeman back in the mid-70s and from there I went to a local sheriffs office (in Louisiana), he said. Beyond that, I was became a special agent. We investigated violations of federal law and customs regulations. Escoto also works as criminal investigator for U.S. Customs Service; was a Louisiana state trooper and detective; and spent five years with the Jefferson Parish Sheriffs Office as a deputy and detective. He was in the U.S. Arny Reserves for 17 years and on active duty as both an infantryman and military police officer for eight years. He lives in Shenandoah with his wife, Eileen, who herself is a retired special agent who also worked at many of the same agencies as Escoto did. He moved to Shenandoah 10 years ago and first came to the Houston region to be closer to his mother-in-law in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, which devastated his hometown of New Orleans. He has three adult children and two grandchildren. Platform is 3-pronged Escoto previously ran for a seat on the city council, losing in the 2013 election to former council member Jean Teague. He has been a member of the Planning and Zoning Commission for more than eight months, a duty he says has helped him understand the inner workings of the city and many of the subtle issues facing the community of more than 3,000 residents. He has also worked as an election day voting clerk and is involved in the state Republican party. On HoustonChronicle.com: Shenandoah re-examining its comprehensive plan The main (issue) is traffic and I think the residents would say that. With population growth, traffic increases. That is a thing we need to focus a little more on, Escoto said. (The) energy and power. Weve had in Shenandoah, over the last four to five years, weve had a tremendous amount of power outages due to outdated transformers and wires. I was part of a citizens group to lobby Entergy Texas to upgrade. They eventually, with the help of the city, did do that. I also lobbied for redirecting power from the Grogans Mill grid to the Wellman Road area to provide power to those homes. Entergy has almost completed the whole upgrade. Keeping tabs on Entergy and holding their feet to the fire (is the goal). His final key issue is budgeting and city spending, which he said needs to be monitored and managed appropriately. Making sure the budget is reasonable, the expenditures are kept in check and making sure we are not over-spending on unnecessary expenses, he added. The municipal election is May 1 for the three open city council seats; Seats 2, 3 and 4 are up for election this year. The seats are held by Ted Fletcher, Dean Gristy and Charlie Bradt. The election day is May 1, with early voting beginning on April 19, and continuing through April 24, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. There is a second early voting period this year, from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on both April 26, and April 27. The last day to register to vote is April 1. In his spare time, Escoto said he is an avid motorcycle rider and he and his wife love to travel, especially to his hometown of New Orleans, where he said couple enjoys eating all the great food the city is known for. jeff.forward@chron.com New Delhi: Amid the recent reports of the Chinese hackers targetting the Indian COVID-19 vaccine makers and being behind the Mumbai power outage in 2020, China on Tuesday (March 2) said that it doesn't 'rely on stealing'. "The relevant allegations are pure rumors and slanders. Cyber attacks are highly complicated and sensitive, and their origin is difficult to trace," said the Spokesperson of China's Embassy in India on reports of Chinese hackers launching cyber attacks on the Indian facilities. He added that speculation and fabrication have no role to play on the issue of cyber attacks and said that China is firmly opposed to such irresponsible and ill-intentioned practice. "For some time, there have been certain speculation about Chinas so-called theft of other countries' vaccines through hacker attacks. China takes the lead in vaccine research and development, we don't need to and will not rely on stealing to obtain vaccines," he said. He also said that both China and India are contributors to international cooperation on vaccines, and both have fallen victim to disinformation. "China is a staunch defender of cyber security and also a major victim of hacking and cyber attacks. China firmly opposes and combats all forms of cyber attacks and crimes. In accordance with law, we've been cracking down on such attacks launched inside China or using China's cyber infrastructure. This position is consistent and clear," he stated. He also said that China is firmly opposed to politicizing and stigmatizing cyber security issues, which is not conducive to resolving hacking issues and will only weaken mutual trust among countries. China is firmly opposed to politicizing & stigmatizing cyber security issues, and irresponsible & ill-intentioned practice of accusing a particular party with no evidence. We call on relevant media to deny such groundless disinformation platforms & channels for dissemination. pic.twitter.com/Sj4qVnKKgI Spokesperson of Chinese Embassy in India (@ChinaSpox_India) March 2, 2021 He noted that cyber attacks are a challenge faced by all countries and called on all countries to advance dialogue and cooperation and handle this challenge together on the basis of mutual respect, equality and mutual benefit. "China is ready to work with other parties to jointly address cyber security threats, safeguard peace and stability in cyberspace and build a community with a shared future in cyberspace," he said. Earlier, a cyber intelligence firm told Reuters news agency that a Chinese state-backed hacking group has in recent weeks targeted the IT systems of two Indian coronavirus vaccine makers. On the other hand, a report also claimed that the power outage in Mumbai in October 2020 was likely a Chinese cyber attack, which took place amid the India-China border tension at the Line of Actual Control (LAC). Translation Services UK has announced that it is now equipped to quote prices within 1-Hour, making it one of the swiftest in the translation industry. LONDON, UK / ACCESSWIRE / March 2, 2021 / Leading Translation Services London announced yesterday that the company's much-awaited feature is live. The ability to quote prices for translation jobs within an hour significantly reduces the time businesses will need to decide. "Since Translation Services UK mainly works with businesses across a multitude of industries, the quick quote will help them make a decision sooner than they would otherwise have to." In today's business world, the ability to make a decision sooner than the competition can add a lot of value. When most people think about getting a document translated, they often consider just using Google Translate. However, the problem with that approach is Google's AI isn't the best translator; also, verbatim translations read awfully, especially if a document was translated into a language like Arabic, where a single word could have multiple meanings depending on its context. AI translators, many of which are free, don't consider context, which is why the demand for good human translators is higher than it ever was before. Companies like Translation Service UK employ hundreds of people, making it possible to translate dozens of documents across multiple languages possible. Readers can find out more about Translation services UK by visiting the company's official website http://www.translationservicesuk.co.uk "Our translation agency London has taken a unique approach to both how we translate documents and the speed at which we can quote a price. While quoting a price may often sound simple, it is for documents that are a couple of pages, but not when you have multiple documents, each with multiple pages. Also, the complexity of the documents needs to be factored into the quote. It will have to be translated by a professional who isn't just a native speaker but also who understands the complexity of that industry. All of these factors can make quoting a price a time consuming and complex process." Said a representative for Translation Services UK. She added, "At present, we use a couple of different methods which allow us to quote a price within an hour regardless of the document type. Also, the price we quote is what you pay. All business owners and individuals need to do are send us the document, and we'll handle the rest." About Translation Services UK The company employs over 500 fully certified and qualified translators, all of whom are native speakers and often fluent in multiple languages. The company brings together some of the most talented translators, making it possible to offer a comprehensive yet affordable service for businesses and individuals alike. For The Media Company: Translation Services UK Address: Kemp House, 152 - 160 City Road, London EC1V 2NX. London. UK Phone: +44 20 7459 4982 Email: info@translationservicesuk.co.uk Website: http://www.translationservicesuk.co.uk/ SOURCE: Espresso Translations View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/632911/Leading-Translation-Services-London-Now-Quotes-Prices-within-1-Hour A boss of one of Japan's organised crime groups has confessed that business has taken a hit during the pandemic. The groups, known as yakuza, are known for making money through illegal means such as gambling and drug trafficking but also oversee legitimate businesses. One such endeavour is running pop-up food stalls during festivals and events, which have largely been cancelled or downsized due to Covid-19. An unnamed yakuza boss told the Daily Shincho newspaper that this stream of income had become 'completely impossible' to maintain during the pandemic. 'We usually make the most money selling to folks visiting shrines at the year's end and New Years. But this year cause of Covid-19, it's become completely impossible. A boss of one of Japan's organised crime groups has confessed that business has taken a hit during the pandemic. The groups, known as yakuza, are known for making money through illegal means such as gambling and drug trafficking but also oversee legitimate businesses. Pictured: A retired yakuza crime boss, bearing customary tattoos [Stock image] One legitimate business overseen by the gangs is running pop-up food stalls during festivals and events, which have largely been cancelled or downsized due to Covid-19 [Stock photo] 'Compared to previous years, our profits are only one-third of what we usually make. The number of operating food stalls has shrunk because of government anti-Covid-19 measures, and in addition to that, the crowds visiting shrines have gone thinner,' the boss said. Soranews24 explained that unlike in other Asian countries where certain neighbourhoods or markets are known as street food hubs, in Japan the stalls selling food are often temporarily installed by shrines or other areas with high foot fall during the holidays. While many stalls are run by local businesses, some are overseen by yakuza groups, the website reported. 'Even Tokyo's Meiji Shrine, which receives the most visitors on New Years in Japan, has shortened our operating hours,' the boss told Daily Shincho. 'No one's around even at eight or nine at night, which are usually the peak hours,' he complained, noting that business had always been good before the pandemic. This year saw Tokyo's Ueno Park cancel its annual Cherry Blossom Festival - one of the largest cherry blossom viewing events in the country, likely further curbing the numbers of potential customers at yakuza food stalls. Pictured: The Cherry Blossom Festival in Ueno Park in 2013 Shortened hours at Tokyo's Meiji Shrine (pictured) has also had a knock on effect on the yakuza, as fewer visitors to the shrine mean fewer customers to their pop-up food stalls at the site [File photo] This year saw Tokyo's Ueno Park cancel its annual Cherry Blossom Festival - one of the largest cherry blossom viewing events in the country, likely further curbing the numbers of potential customers at yakuza food stalls. Other yakuza operations have also taken a hit, Soranews24 reported, noting that many of the members are older and so more at risk of catching coronavirus. As such, some of the groups have suspended end-of-year and New Year gatherings, cancelled drinking parties and avoided in-person work, according to the website. Last May, Sky News reported that yakuza gangs were engaging in coronavirus-related fraud and raising the street price of drugs to make up for the shortfall in income caused by the pandemic. The centuries-old criminal network reportedly also carried out humanitarian work in an effort to boost its image. Other yakuza operations have also taken a hit, Soranews24 reported, noting that many of the members are older and so more at risk of catching coronavirus. As such, some of the groups have suspended end-of-year and New Year gatherings, cancelled drinking parties and avoided in-person work, according to the website. Pictured: Gambling parlours like the one pictured are often run by yakuza [Stock photo] Japan has maintained a remarkably low death rate since the pandemic began last year, given its population size and density. Infections also remained low which surprised many observers as Japan had avoided lockdowns seen elsewhere. Many Japanese opted to stay at home voluntarily and avoided mixing in large groups without being ordered to, helping to reduce the spread of the virus. The country is currently under a state of emergency following a sharp rise in infections and deaths in December but the restrictions remain significantly looser than those seen elsewhere in the world. Japan recorded 688 new cases on Monday, adding to the 433,000 reported in the country since the pandemic began. A total of 7,940 people have died from Covid-19 in Japan. New Book and Video Series from Bishop Barron Reintroduces the World to the Rosary "The Rosary with Bishop Robert Barron" offers reader an intuitive, informative, and beautiful experience of the ancient Catholic prayer. NEWS PROVIDED BY Word on Fire Catholic Ministries March 2, 2021 IRVING, Texas, March 2, 2021 /Christian Newswire/ -- Bishop Barron's Word on Fire Catholic Ministries has released a new book and free video series about one of the most widely recognized prayers of Catholicismand also one of the most misunderstood: the Rosary. "The Rosary with Bishop Robert Barron" (https://rosary.wordonfire.org/book-and-rosary) invites readers to join one of the world's leading Catholic evangelists in exploring the meditative depth, rhythmic beauty, and spiritual power of this ancient prayer. After a brief introduction to the Rosary by Pope St. John Paul II and a walkthrough of its various prayers, the book presents the full text of the Rosary for each set of mysteriesJoyful, Sorrowful, Glorious, and Luminoustogether with beautiful color artwork and reflections from Bishop Barron. In an afterword from Matt Nelson, the Assistant Director of the Word on Fire Institutewho "re-entered the Church after several years fallen away"reflects on the figure of Mary and her role as mother in the lives of Christians. Included with the book is a rosary handmade in Jerusalem from durable rope and polished olive-wood beads. The book has been released alongside a free video series online (wordonfire.org/rosary), in which Bishop Barronaccompanied by beautiful music and stirring imageryguides viewers through the Rosary. The video series also includes a brief reflection from Bishop Barron on why praying the Rosary is important. "The Rosarya concretizing, quieting, savoring prayerhas enormous spiritual power," Bishop Barron explains. "And it therefore has enormous social and evangelical power." Word on Fire Catholic Ministries (wordonfire.org) exists to draw people into the Body of Christ, which is the Church, and thereby give them access to all the gifts that Jesus wants his people to enjoy. To be most effective in this mission, Word on Fire places an emphasis and urgency on the use of contemporary forms of media and innovative communication technologies. "The Rosary with Bishop Robert Barron" by Bishop Robert Barron February 26, 2021 Paperback, 128 pages Word on Fire wordonfire.org/rosary SOURCE Word on Fire Catholic Ministries CONTACT: William Sipling, Communications Director, 866-928-1237, communications@wordonfire.org Share Tweet Syracuse, N.Y. A man has been charged with shooting and killing a father-to-be last year on a bridge over Interstate 81 in Syracuse. Hosea Hanslip, 29, of Syracuse, was arrested this week for the murder of Joel Saldana, according to a felony complaint filed in Syracuse City Court. He has been accused of intentionally killing Saldana, of Syracuse, a few blocks from Destiny USA on New Years Eve. The deadly shooting happened around 10:45 a.m. Dec. 31, 2020. Syracuse police officers rushed to Bear and North Clinton streets after a 911 caller reported a driver fired a gun at another vehicle near that intersection, according to police scanner reports. A few minutes later, Saldana was dropped off at St. Josephs Hospital Health Center with what police described as a serious gunshot wound to the back. Read more: 31 people were murdered in Syracuse in 2020: Here are the victims Saldana died later that day. He was 27 years old. Saldana had a baby girl on the way at the time of his death, according to his obituary. He is survived by his parents, siblings and fiancee. Joel was very family oriented and loved his family, according to his obituary. Hanslip used a .9 mm gun to kill Saldana, police said in a felony complaint. Police did not detail any motives. Hanslip has been charged with second-degree murder and second-degree criminal possession, both felonies. Hes being held in the Onondaga County Justice Center without bail, custody logs show. Staff writer Samantha House covers breaking news, crime and public safety. Have a tip, a story idea, a question or a comment? Reach her at shouse@syracuse.com. We live in troubled times, ones that dwarf the effects of the pandemic. It is the nations increasing erosion in the trust of our institutions, our laws, even our history. Half the nation believes the 2016 election was illegitimate, the other half that the 2020 election was stolen, that law are enforced selectively to reflect the agendas of those in power, even that the Supreme Court lacks legitimacy. The struggle between globalists and nationalists is reflected in border policy, judicial activism, policing and public funding, racial rage, the toppling of statues. Amazingly, the public longs for unity and consensus and politicians running for office deceptively vow to build it where it is no longer possible. We used to believe that the Napa Valley was immune to such a divide, that our politicians would follow up on their promises to safeguard our environment, safeguard our history, safeguard our quality of life. This is what they all say. But at the county supervisors level, their own use permit laws have become irrelevant. Violating them, instead of sanctions result in rewarding them. The weekly onslaught of approved violations has become nothing short of scandalous. Carol Burnett is a legendary comedian and actor who has had an impressive career spanning over six decades. She has also owned some impressive real estate. In fact, one of her former properties was featured on the cover of Architectural Digest. That estate is now for sale. Heres a look inside the compound Burnett once called home and how much its selling for. Carol Burnett dons a green blazer and smiles on the red carpet at the Screen Actors Guild Awards | Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images Carol Burnetts Santa Fe home can be yours for a few million In 1996, Burnetts home located on 120 Circle Drive & Tract B in Santa Fe, New Mexico, earned the cover of the December issue Architectural Digest. The 9,567-square-foot house is two stories and sits on eight acres. It has seven bedrooms and 11 bathrooms in the main house. Theres also a 2-bedroom gatehouse on the property. The compound has a game room with a fireplace as does the master suite. The bedroom has dual bathrooms as well, walk-in closets, and built-in seating by the window. The outdoor space boasts a bar, a dining area, a putting green, a hard-surface outdoor recreation area, and a swimming pool with a cabana. In addition, there is a rooftop deck that offers stunning mountain views. Burnetts former estate was listed by Sothebys International Realty and can be yours for $6.2 million. Where Burnett and her husband live Burnett no longer lives in New Mexico. Today, she resides in Santa Barbara with her husband, musician Brian Miller. The star spoke to The Hollywood Reporter about how her day-to-day life has changed during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic lockdowns. We live in a gated community and its possible for us to go out, take a walk and any neighbors we see, we wave and social distance, Burnett said. When some of our friends go for walks, they call us to say theyre in the neighborhood. We open the door and have a meeting on the driveway with everyone standing six feet apart. Its so nice to see other human beings but, you know, its a shame we cant hug them. Were thinking of bringing some lawn furniture out to put it in the driveway and just have people sit and talk six feet apart. Carol Burnett and her husband, Brian Miller, pose together during night out on Broadway | Bruce Glikas/FilmMagic RELATED: Inside Jennifer Lopezs Many Mansions From Coast to Coast She added that for her the hardest part of all this is not being able to socialize and see my family, thats tough, but we keep in touch. I talk to my sister and my kids almost every day and everybodys doing as well as can be expected. I think back to World War II and even 9/11, we could all bond together. I was in New York right after 9/11 and wed be on the street and youd see a stranger and just give each other a hug. We cant do that now. So for her post-pandemic plans, Burnett told AARP she wants to: Throw a great big party for our friends. Everybody gets back together so we can have a group hug. 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. PRAGUE (AP) Slovakia was thrown into a political crisis Tuesday over a secret deal to acquire Russias Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine orchestrated by the countrys prime minister despite disagreement among his coalition partners. Prime Minister Igor Matovic defended the move, saying it was made in the public interest amid a surge of infections in one of the hardest hit European Union countries. Matovic said it wasn't the point where the vaccine is from but that it saves lives. Slovakia is only the second European Union country to use the vaccine, which hasnt been approved by the European Medicines Agency, after Hungary. The move was made possible after approval from Health Minister Marek Krajci, who represents Matovics Ordinary People movement in his four-party coalition. Matovics coalition partners weren't impressed. Foreign Minister Ivan Korcok from the pro-business Freedom and Solidarity party says he wants to consult the countrys leaders over the purchase. Korcok said he clearly considered the vaccine a tool in Russias hybrid war against the West. This political tool divides us at home and abroad, Korcok said. He said the purchase cast doubts on his countrys clear pro-Western orientation. Another coalition partner, the For People party, meets later Tuesday to discuss further steps. Its leader, deputy Prime Minister Veronika Remisova, repeatedly said that Sputnik V can't be used unless approved by the EUs drug regulator. We also care about the health of our citizens and their inoculation, but only with the vaccines whose safety and effectiveness have been verified, Remisova said. President Zuzana Caputova said she was in favor of using all available and safe vaccines to protect peoples lives, but that Sputnik V wasn't one of them because theres no responsible authority to guarantee its safety. Caputova spoke Tuesday after meeting the head of Slovakias drug agency, Zuzana Batova, who said to use an unregistered vaccine is highly risky. Story continues But with Western vaccines rolling out slowly, Matovic, the prime minister, argued his country is not in a position to rely only on European solutions. The seven-day rolling average of daily deaths in Slovakia has risen over the past two weeks from 1.78 deaths per 100,000 people on Feb. 15 to 1.81 deaths on Monday, according to Johns Hopkins University. Matovic called on his coalition partners to put aside the politics for a while. He said the 2 million Russian vaccine doses could help solve the worst crisis since World War II. Matovic kept the deal secret until a plane landed Monday with the first 200,000. So far, 7,388 people died of COVID-19 in the nation of 5.4 million. A record 4,042 coronavirus patients were hospitalized Monday. ___ Follow all of APs pandemic coverage at: https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-pandemic https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-vaccine https://apnews.com/UnderstandingtheOutbreak Sorry! This content is not available in your region Mike Collins Scholarship Fund Mike Collins had an incredible zest for life. Friends saw it in Collins during his days at WKU, where he graduated in 1984 with a degree in Photojournalism. Colleagues saw it during his time working in newsrooms around the country and helping with the distinguished Atlanta Photojournalism Seminar. Peers saw it when he created a magazine covering aviation in Raleigh, North Carolina, and when he went on to become director of business operations at the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association. And his family saw it every day, from his around-the-world trip in a small plane to his affection for home-brewed beer and his passion for his wife Janette and children Matthew, Bridget, and Jenn. Collins died February 25th of complications from Covid-19 after spending two weeks on a ventilator in the intensive care unit at Frederick Health in Frederick, Maryland. He was 59. At WKU, the Lexington native was known as "Big Mike" among his friends at the College Heights Herald staff, where he was the taller of two Michael Collinses on the staff at the time. Collins remained in touch with his fellow Herald Alumni throughout his career, but really ramped up his connections back to the Hill three years ago when son Matthew was hunting for the right college home. Matthew chose WKU, where he is majoring in meteorology, and that gave Collins the opportunity to visit more often and to volunteer his time and expertise training students on today's College Heights Herald. To honor his memory, friends and family established the Mike Collins Scholarship Fund. The fund assists deserving WKU students in Student Publications with interest in Visual Journalism. Through this fund, Mike's legacy lives on in perpetuity. An American father-son duo, wanted in relation to former Nissan Motor Co. boss Carlos Ghosns escape from Japan, has been handed over to the Japanese custody by the US. Both Michael and Peter Tyler, on March 1, failed to convince officials and courts to block their extradition to Japan. The duo would now stand trial for aiding Ghosn in escaping justice by fleeing the country in December 2019. During the Monday trial, Tylers lawyer argued that the accusation on the duo did not fit the law, Japan wants them to try them under. Further opposing their relocation to Japan, the lawyer said that both his client were at an absolute risk of being treated unfairly in Japan and subjected to mental and physical torture. Additionally, he also accused Japan of pursuing the pair in an attempt to save face after the embarrassment of Ghosns escape. Read: High Court Denies Accused Ghosn Smugglers' Bid To Stay In US The great escape Carlos Ghosn, who led Nissan Automobiles for two decades, has been accused of breach of trust for using the companys assets for personal gains, and violating secutrities laws by not fully disclosing compensation. In November 2018, a Japanese Law enforcement agency arrested the 66-year-old businessman in Tokyo for questioning over false accounting. However, in December 2019, Ghosn made a sly and sordid escape out of Japan. He was flown from Osaka to Istanbul on a private plane and then transferred onto another plane to Beirut. Since Lebanon has no extradition treaty with Japan, Ghosn remains protected in Lebanon where he lives with his wife. Read: Turkey Court Convicts Pilots, Airline Official For Helping Ex-Nissan CEO Escape From Japan Last week, a regional court in Istanbul convicted an official from a private airline and two pilots for their involvement in former Nissan Motor Co. chairman Carlos Ghosns escape out of Japan in 2019. Both the pilots, Noyan Pasin and Bahri Kutlu Somek, maintained their innocence throughout the trial. The Turkish court, discreetly, acquitted two other pilots for illegally smuggling a migrant and two flight attendants for failing to report a crime. Read: Nissan Ex-CEO Tells Japanese Court Ghosn's Pay Was Too Low Read: Man Wanted In Carlos Ghosn's Escape Accuses US Of 'betrayal' Image: AP Fran Ruchalski, The Enterprise / The Enterprise H-E-B, one of the largest grocery chains in Texas and the distributor of thousands of vaccines so far, will not require customers to wear facial masks in its stores once Gov. Greg Abbotts latest COVID-19 mandates go into effect next week. But a spokeswoman said H-E-B will continue to require all employees and vendors to mask up, adding that, We urge all customers to please wear a mask when in our stores. What just happened? After Parler was shut down, many of its users flocked to a similar platform called Gab, which was recently hacked. The treasure trove includes both public and private data on 15,000 Gab users, which will provide journalists and researchers with an important sociological resource. Earlier this year, it was revealed that social media app Parler had been used as a means to organize the January 6 assault on the Capitol Building in Washington, DC. By downloading and archiving almost all of the data posted on Parler before it was booted off of Amazon Web Services, security researchers revealed the ugly side of a social network that appealed to people with extreme political views. Two months later, a similar thing is happening to a different digital refuge called Gab, which is where many of Parler's users migrated after Parler was shut down. According to Wired, a hacker embarked on a quest to expose Gab's patrons and was able to extract data out of backend databases using a SQL injection vulnerability. The resulting treasure trove spans more than 70 gigabytes of data on the platform's users and includes more than 40 million posts from the site. This represents public and private interactions between ~15,000 Gab users and is accompanied by records detailing user profiles, hashed passwords, and plain-text passwords for groups. There are no images or videos, but this is still an extensive data breach that reportedly includes the accounts of prominent personalities such as former President Donald Trump, MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell, Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, and Infowars host Alex Jones. The company, however, denies that it suffered a data breach and assured Gab users that their passwords have not been revealed. Anti-secrecy activist group DDoSecrets has compiled the data into something it calls GabLeaks, with the intention of providing it to select journalists, social scientists, and researchers for further analysis. This prompted a response from Gab CEO Andrew Torba, who described the hacktivists as "mentally ill" demons. He also noted "reporters, who write for a publication that has written many hit pieces on Gab in the past, are in direct contact with the hacker and are essentially assisting the hacker in his efforts to smear our business and hurt you, our users." Whatever the case may be, the data will likely provide researchers with a good tool to study how disinformation campaigns, hate speech, and organized violence propagate from one platform to the next. An officer who made headlines for excessive use of force allegations and a whistleblower lawsuit resigned from the Springfield Police Department at the end of 2020. Ryan Stone and City Manager Nancy Newton signed a separation agreement on Dec. 31 ending both his employment with the city and his whistleblower lawsuit. As part of that agreement, which the Register-Guard obtained through a public records request, Stone got $172,186.13 and is receiving free family medical, dental and vision insurance for a year. His attorneys got $77,813.87. In the lawsuit, filed in April 2019, Stone alleged the city investigated him in retaliation for challenging misconduct among his Springfield Police Department colleagues and that the investigation was negligent. The two lump sum payments add up to the $250,000 Stone originally asked for in a civil lawsuit, though he upped the amount to $475,000 last year. The city was only responsible for $105,000 of the settlement, city spokesperson Amber Fossen told the Register-Guard. The remaining $145,000 came from the citys insurer. City officials decided to settle for a variety of reasons, Fossen said, including when separating employment is whats best for the organization. While there are costs involved, a settlement allows us to mitigate the cost, time and resources it takes to challenge disputed circumstances within the court system, Fossen said in an emailed statement. The settlement agreement is a compromise of the disputed claims and not a proceeding that provides a judgment of liability or fault. In a statement sent by his attorneys, Stone said he is proud of the work I was able to do during my years as a Springfield police officer. This settlement will allow me to close a difficult chapter, and for my family and I to move forward after enduring several years of anguishing retaliation for having reported misconduct within the department, Stone said in the emailed statement. He added he hopes city officials will take the opportunity to change the culture within the Police Department so as to recognize and support the honest, hardworking officers who serve this community every day. Fossen said the police department has been working to change policies to emphasize de-escalation and incorporate new police reform statutes passed during special legislative sessions and is working to improve transparency around incidents involving use of force. Stone was placed on administrative leave in April 2018 but returned to work seven months later when authorities determined they didnt have enough evidence to prove he acted with a criminally culpable mental state when he threw a man to the ground after stopping him for crossing a street against a red light. Linn County prosecutors, who handled the case, also believed they couldnt prove that Stones actions had caused the man, who suffered a rib injury that was not confirmed to involve any broken bones, a physical injury as the term is defined under state law. The video of the incident, captured on Stones dashboard camera, was released in late 2018. It showed Stone wrapping his right arm around a mans neck and throwing him to the ground after asking him to sit down. The man appears to respond immediately before being grabbed by the officer. Stone subsequently used a stun gun on the man, although that cannot be seen on the video. The man was incarcerated in the Springfield Municipal Jail but later released after charges of interfering with police and resisting arrest were dropped. In the lawsuit, Stone alleged he was investigated in retaliation for trying to challenge the misconduct of his Springfield Police Department colleagues, including command staff. The lawsuit details multiple times Stone says he questioned colleagues conduct, including: .Criticizing Sgt. Dave Lewis for engaging in unsafe tactics during a SWAT standoff in the summer of 2016. .Reporting a number of detectives, including Lewis, for leaving a mandatory training class early in December 2016. The officers had to modify their training hours and called Stone a snitch and a snowflake. .Expressing concerns in late 2016 or early 2017 that a lieutenant didnt self-report leaving his handgun unattended despite it being a violation of policy and having reprimanded another officer for similar conduct. .Raising safety concerns to Lewis in February 2018 after Lewis unsafe tactics led to a dangerous, unannounced entry into the backyard where Stone was posted. The lawsuit also cites many times Stone received positive reviews and awards for service. Before Stone went on administrative leave, the legal complaint says, he interviewed with Lt. Tom Rappe, the lieutenant who had left his handgun unattended, and Lt. Scott McKee, who has since signed his own separation agreement with the city and filed a notice to sue. That interview focused on whether Stone had lied about two cases. After that interview, Stone started Experiencing severe anxiety symptoms and was prescribed anti-anxiety medication, according to the complaint. Not long after that, the city issued a Brady determination questioning his credibility to the county prosecutor despite both McKee and Chief Richard Lewis saying they were no longer concerned about Stones credibility, the lawsuit says. Brady determinations refer to the Brady Disclosure, which requires all officers found to have lied in an official capacity to be put on a list or otherwise flagged, so when they are involved in any court cases that information is disclosed to defendants and attorneys. Essentially, it makes their testimony less than desirable in a case. Less than a month after that determination was issued, the chief ordered Stone to take a psychological fitness-for-duty exam. Just before he took that, an email notified the SWAT team he was no longer a member. Days later, the chief told Stone he would be disciplined for his conduct in the two cases for which Rappe and McKee interviewed him. Stone filed a grievance through the union, which was denied, though later arbitration found in his favor. Despite findings in Stones favor, he still was off the teams he served on, and the Brady determination is still in place, the lawsuit says. Additionally, many officers, notably those colleagues who were the subject of his misconduct reports or who are closely aligned with those individuals, refer to Officer Stone as rattin Ryan,' the legal complaint reads. The department exploited two relatively minor stops involving officer Stone to conduct an unreasonably long and seriously flawed effort to find fault with officer Stone, the complaint reads. Stones conduct in no way justified the SPDs excessive investigative response, the complaint adds, and the citys unreasonably poor investigatory effort has harmed his reputation and caused him substantial emotional distress. The department focused on ending his career, the complaint argues, because he refused to be part of the rule-breaking clique. In court records, attorneys for the city argued Stones reports and concerns didnt rise to the level of whistleblowing and that his claims of negligence didnt have a legal basis. As part of the separation agreement, the city acknowledges three things as of Dec. 31: Stone was not subject to disciplinary action or a performance improvement plan. Stone was not facing pending/unadjudicated allegations of misconduct or disciplinary action. Stone was not the subject of a pending psychological fitness-for-duty evaluation and had been found fit around June 29, 2018. Under the agreement, Stone also cannot sue the city for the same reasons and cannot apply for any other city position now or in the future. Copyright 2021 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Topics Lawsuits Law Enforcement Oregon Watertown, NY (13601) Today Rain showers early with bright sunshine by the afternoon. High 73F. Winds SW at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 50%.. Tonight Clear to partly cloudy. Low 54F. Winds SSW at 5 to 10 mph. * Username This is the name that will be displayed next to your photo for comments, blog posts, and more. Choose wisely! SINGAPUR (dpa-AFX) - Today's Daily Dose brings you news about the regulatory set back of Athenex's oral Paclitaxel and CorMedix's Defencath, ASLAN Pharma's Atopic Dermatitis trial results, FDA panel review of FibroGen's Roxadustat, Morphic Therapeutic's Phase 1 single ascending dose clinical trial of MORF-057, which is in development for the treatment of inflammatory bowel disease, and STRATA Skin's CEO transition. Read on. 1. FDA Sends Athenex Back to Drawing Board Shares of Athenex Inc. (ATNX) plunged over 54% on Monday to touch a new low, following the FDA's refusal to approve the company's oral Paclitaxel plus Encequidar, proposed for the treatment of metastatic breast cancer, due to safety and efficacy concerns. Paclitaxel is a chemotherapy drug administered intravenously. Athenex's Oral Paclitaxel is a reformulated version and is co-administered with Encequidar that enables the oral absorption of a wide range of effective anticancer drugs. While denying approval, the FDA indicated its concerns about safety risks associated with increase in neutropenia-related sequelae in the Oral Paclitaxel arm compared with the IV paclitaxel arm, and concerns regarding the uncertainty over the results of the primary endpoint of objective response rate (ORR) at week 19 conducted by blinded independent central review (BICR). The company has been asked to conduct a new adequate and well-conducted clinical trial in a patient population with metastatic breast cancer representative of the population in the U.S. ATNX closed Monday's trading at $5.46, down 54.88%. 2. ASLAN Pharma's Atopic Dermatitis Trial Yields positive Data ASLAN Pharmaceuticals Limited's (ASLN) phase I multiple ascending dose study of ASLAN004 in Atopic Dermatitis has yielded positive interim data. The phase I study evaluated three doses of ASLAN004 (200mg, 400mg and 600mg) delivered subcutaneously and is now recruiting a fourth (expansion) cohort (600mg). According to the interim results, there was a 74% average reduction in Eczema Area Severity Index (EASI) score from baseline at therapeutic doses (400mg and 600mg) after 8 weeks of treatment compared to 42% for patients on placebo. In the treatment arm, 89% achieved EASI-50 and 67% achieved EASI-75 compared to 0% on the placebo. EASI-50 is defined as greater than 50% improvement in EASI score and EASI-75 refers to greater than 75% improvement in EASI score. ASLN closed Monday's trading at $5.25, up 18.51%. In after-hours, the stock was down 7.76% at $5.00. 3. Avenue Therapeutics To Face FDA In April Avenue Therapeutics Inc (ATXI) will hear from the FDA whether or not its intravenous (IV) Tramadol is approved on April 12, 2021. IV Tramadol is proposed for the management of moderate to moderately severe pain in adults in a medically supervised health care setting. This is IV Tramadol's second go-around with the FDA. Last October, the FDA declined to approve IV Tramadol citing safety concerns. The New Drug Application for IV Tramadol was resubmitted to the FDA on February 12, 2021, which has been accepted for review and has been assigned a decision date of April 12, 2021. Tramadol in oral tablet formulation was approved by the FDA way back in 1995. Oral Tramadol is a Schedule IV drug and is widely prescribed in the U.S. Depending upon a drug's acceptable medical use and its abuse or dependency potential, it is classified into 5 distinct categories or schedules. Schedule I drugs have high abuse potential and no accepted medical use, while Schedule V drugs have very low abuse/dependency potential. If approved, intravenous (IV) Tramadol, could be a potential alternative that could reduce the use of conventional opioids, for patients suffering from acute pain in the U.S., according to the company. ATXI closed Monday's trading at $5.18, up 10.21%. 4. CorMedix Suffers Regulatory Setback CorMedix Inc.'s (CRMD) Defencath, a synthetic broad-spectrum antimicrobial and antifungal, proposed as a catheter lock solution in hemodialysis patients for the prevention of catheter related blood stream infections, has been turned down by the FDA. Although the FDA has not specified the issues, it has raised concerns regarding the third-party manufacturing facility. The regulatory agency is also requiring a manual extraction study to demonstrate that the labeled volume can be consistently withdrawn from the vials. The company added that the FDA did not request additional clinical data, and did not identify any deficiencies related to the data submitted on the efficacy or safety of Defencath. Defencath is available in Europe and other territories under the brand name Neutrolin. Khoso Baluch, CEO, stated that 'CorMedix intends to work closely with the FDA and the manufacturing facility to support the completion of the review of the NDA'. CRMD closed Monday's trading at $9.02, down 39.87%. 5. FDA Decision on FibroGen's Roxadustat to Be Delayed Yet Again Shares of FibroGen Inc. (FGEN) plunged more than 20% in after-hours trading Monday, following yet another delay in the FDA announcing its decision on the new drug application for Roxadustat. Roxadustat is proposed for the treatment of anemia of chronic kidney disease in both non-dialysis-dependent (NDD) and dialysis-dependent (DD) patients. The FDA's decision on Roxadustat was initially slated for December 20, 2020. But with FibroGen submitting additional analyses of existing Roxadustat clinical data last December, the decision date was postponed to March 20, 2021. Now that the regulatory agency's Cardiovascular and Renal Drugs Advisory Committee has decided to review the new drug application for Roxadustat, the FDA decision is going to be delayed yet again. Roxadustat is approved in China, Japan, and Chile. FibroGen and AstraZeneca are collaborating on the development and commercialization of Roxadustat for the potential treatment of anemia in the U.S., China, other markets in the Americas and in Australia/New Zealand as well as Southeast Asia. FGEN closed Monday's trading at $50.53, up 1.00%. In after-hours, the stock fell 20.84% to $40.00. 6. INOVIO 's REVEAL 1 Study Meets All Goals INOVIO 's (INO) pivotal, phase III trial of VGX-3100 to treat HPV-16/18-associated cervical high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions using its proprietary CELLECTRA 5PSP device, has met primary and secondary endpoints. The trial, dubbed REVEAL 1, is one of the two ongoing pivotal trials of VGX-3100. The primary endpoint of the trial was histopathological regression of high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions combined with virologic clearance of HPV-16 and/or HPV-18 at week 36, and the percentage of responders was 23.7% in the treatment group, versus 11.3% in the placebo group, thus achieving statistical significance. All secondary efficacy endpoints namely regression of cervical HSIL to normal tissue combined with HPV-16/18 viral clearance, regression of cervical HSIL alone, regression of cervical HSIL to normal tissue, and HPV-16/18 viral clearance alone were also met. INO closed Monday's trading at $11.60, up 4.50%. 7. Morphic Therapeutic Gets a Facelift Shares of Morphic Therapeutic (MORF) jumped nearly 135% on Monday, following positive interim results from its Phase 1 single ascending dose clinical trial of MORF-057, which is in development for the treatment of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). The phase I clinical trial was designed to evaluate the safety, pharmacokinetics, and pharmacodynamics of MORF-057 in healthy volunteers. MORF-057 is an oral small molecule inhibitor of the ?4?7 integrin, a clinically validated target for the treatment of IBD. The key pharmacodynamic measurement in the trial was receptor occupancy (RO), which indicated the percentage of ?4?7 bound by MORF-057 12 hours after the dose. In the study, MORF-057 achieved greater than 95% mean receptor occupancy of ?4?7 integrin at three highest dose levels, say 100mg, 150mg and 400 mg. MORF-057 well tolerated in all dose cohorts. The phase I program of MORF-057 also includes a multiple ascending doses (MAD) study evaluating three dose cohorts of MORF-057 as well as a concurrent food-effect study. Morphic expects to present the full data set from the MORF-057 Phase 1 clinical trial at an appropriate medical meeting in mid-2021 after completion of the multiple ascending dose and food effect portions of MORF-057's clinical program. In other news, the company has announced a proposed underwritten public offering in which it intends to offer and sell $200.0 million of shares of its common stock. In addition, Morphic intends to grant the underwriters a 30-day option to purchase up to an additional $30.0 million of shares of its common stock. MORF closed Monday's trading at $84.85, up 134.65%. In after-hours, the stock was down 8.66% at $77.50. 8. STRATA Skin Gets A New CEO STRATA Skin Sciences Inc. (SSKN) has appointed Robert Moccia as President and Chief Executive Officer and a member of the board, effective March 1, 2021, in place of Dolev Rafaeli who stepped down on Feb.28. Most recently, Robert Moccia served as President, CEO and co-Founder of Encore Dermatology Inc. Prior to that he was CEO of Precision Dermatology Inc. Under the leadership of Moccia, the revenue of Precision Dermatology doubled to more than $100 million and was subsequently acquired by Valeant for approximately $500 million. SSKN closed Monday's trading at $1.73, down 5.46%. In after-hours, the stock was up 15.03% at $1.99. 9. Stocks That Gained/Lost The most In A Day GBS Inc. (GBS) closed Monday's (Mar.1, 2021) trading at $7.91, up 32.27%. Apollo Endosurgery Inc. (APEN) closed at $6.10, up 30.06%. Timber Pharmaceuticals Inc. (TMBR) closed at $2.29, up 27.22%. Ontrak, Inc. (OTRK) closed at $31.62, down 46.35%. MannKind Corporation (MNKD) closed at $4.01, down 29.77%. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX CORMEDIX-Aktie komplett kostenlos handeln - auf Smartbroker.de Syracuse native David Muir is taking over as ABC News lead in breaking news coverage as part of a major shakeup at the television network. The Wrap reports Americas most-watched news anchor has started to lead coverage of major special events and breaking news, in addition to continuing his role as World News Tonight anchor. The breaking news role was previously held by Good Morning America co-anchor George Stephanopoulos under the title chief anchor, which Variety says ABC News is no longer using. According to Deadline, the change started last month when Muir anchored a special report on President Joe Bidens White House ceremony marking the deaths of 500,000 Americans from Covid-19. ABC News has not commented on the change. A source told Deadline that ABC News executives asked Muir to take over anchoring breaking news and special events two years ago, but waited until after the 2020 election due to a delicate situation and efforts to keep both of its top anchors happy. Sources told CNN that Stephanopoulos threatened to leave ABC for a rival network, leading to a negotiation with Disney executive chairman Bob Iger for an extended contract. Stephanopoulos is expected to continue to anchor breaking news in the mornings on GMA, as well as work on primetime specials and new shows for Walt Disney Co. platforms like Hulu and National Geographic. The Wrap reports the shakeup comes a month after ABC News announced its president, James Goldston, will step down March 31 after 17 years with the network. ABC News also reportedly saw a small number of layoffs due to cuts by Disney because of the Covid-19 pandemics economic impact. The change expands Muirs role at ABC News, where hes anchored World News Tonight since 2014, when Diane Sawyer stepped down. Hes been the most-watched news anchor for five years and led the evening newscast to No. 1 across the top demos for the first time since Peter Jennings sat at the anchor desk. Muir also made history last summer with the most-watched show, more than any other TV program, for 13 weeks as he was the only anchor to go into the studio every day during the coronavirus pandemic, except for big reporting moments. Muir, a former reporter at Syracuses WTVH (now part of CNY Central), is a graduate of Onondaga Central High School and Ithaca College. Im no different from the intern in Syracuse who then became the rookie reporter in Syracuse, Muir told syracuse.com in 2016. I think the sensibilities of having grown up in Upstate New York and the concerns, the fears, the hopes of the people there are reflected all over the country. And that still drives me to this day. Chief Minister Pema Khandu on Tuesday said the government will take appropriate action against officials involved in the alleged illegal appointment in the Education department. Responding to a question by senior Congress member Ninong Ering on appointment of teachers and other posts in the department without conducting any interview, Khandu asserted that all such appointment would be cancelled if proved. He said the Staff Selection Board (APSSB), was created to check corrupt practices in recruitment process. Raising the question Ering asked the government as to why the APSSB was not informed about such appointments and want to know the total number of teachers and multi-tasking staff (MTS) appointed without interview by the department. Education Minister Taba Tedir while denying such appointments informed the House that the department on complaint from Ering had initiated a departmental enquiry, report of which would be available soon. "After establishment of the APSSB, no appointments have been made by the department," the minister added. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Eight other opposition leaders were handed between 20 and 22 years, and all were barred from future elections. In a screen grab of a video, Sam Rainsy speaks to supporters from his home in Paris, France, Nov. 4, 2019. A court in Cambodia sentenced the acting chief of the countrys opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) Sam Rainsy to a 25-year jail term in absentia on Monday for plotting a coup as part of his attempt to return home from self-imposed exile in late 2019, according to officials. Sam Rainsy, who has lived in Paris since 2015 to avoid a string of charges and convictions he says are politically motivated, was convicted for an [attempted] attack in Cambodia in 2019, a Phnom Penh Municipal Court spokesperson said. Eight other CNRP leadersSam Rainsy's wife Tioulong Saumura, Eng Chhai Eang, Mu Sochua, Ou Chanrith, Long Ry, Nuth Romdoul, Ho Vann, and Men Sothavarinwere also sentenced in absentia to between 20 and 22 years in jail. All nine were also banned from voting or running as candidates in future elections, according to pro-government media outlet Fresh News. Speaking to RFAs Khmer Service, Sam Rainsy called the decision a political verdict issued by [Prime Minister] Hun Sens puppet court. Our lawyers will study the sentence, but we dont care much about it because we know it is based on a ruse, he said. We are focusing on continuing to fight for democracy. Once we bring democracy back to Cambodia, it will be the end of the [puppet] court and the dictatorship. Earlier, Sam Rainsy said in a statement on Twitter that Hun Sen is afraid of any risk of my returning to the Cambodian political scene. Hun Sen also dreads the prospect of any free and fair election which would inevitably lead to the end of his autocratic regime." Cambodias Supreme Court dissolved the CNRP in November 2017 and barred its members from taking part in political activities, two months after the arrest of party president Kem Sokha for his role in an alleged scheme to topple Hun Sens government. The ban, along with a wider crackdown on NGOs and the independent media, paved the way for Hun Sens ruling Cambodian Peoples Party (CPP) to win all 125 seats in the countrys 2018 general election. The strongman has ruled Cambodia for some 36 years, making him one of the worlds longest-serving leaders. In November 2019, Sam Rainsy attempted to return to Cambodia to lead peaceful pro-democracy protests against the government. His plan to enter the country from Thailand was thwarted when he was refused permission to board a Thai Airways plane in Paris. Around 150 CNRP members and activists have since been put on trial for treason and incitement, mostly for voicing support for Sam Rainsys failed return bid. In a statement, the CNRP said it "fully denies" all charges against the CNRP leadership and "resolutely rejects" the court's verdict. It cited a lack of evidence in the case, as well aswhat it said were several violations of the requirements of a fair trial according to the Cambodian Criminal Code and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. "With the opposition leaders and close supporters unjustly sentenced, the regime has ensured that next to banned opposition party now the leaders will be fully eliminated from the political scene by being jailed or exiled, thus eliminating any serious electorate threat," the party said. But Sam Rainsy told RFA he believes that mounting pressure from the international community over reversals on democratic freedoms will force Hun Sen to negotiate with the CNRP. Employing international instruments like the [Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act] on individuals who are responsible for abusing rights and freedoms, but which do not affect the general economy, will put pressure on [Hun Sen] to change the course, he said. Deputy president of the Cambodia National Rescue Party Mu Sochua (L) listens as the party's acting chief Sam Rainsy speaks during an interview in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Nov. 12, 2019. AFP A new nadir Analysts and rights groups dismissed Mondays convictions as politically motivated and predetermined. Political commentator Seng Sary told RFA that the sentences were meant to prevent Sam Rainsy and the other eight CNRP leaders from participating in the countrys commune and general elections in 2022 and 2023, respectively. Strategically, it is a threat to scare other CNRP politicians [into leaving the CNRP] and make them ask [the government] for political rehabilitation so they can create new political parties to participate in the 2022 and 2023 elections, he said. In a statement, Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director of New York-based Human Rights Watch, called the sentences outrageously harsh and suggested they were part of a bid to slam the door shut on these exiles ever returning to Cambodia. The charges are ridiculous, being based on bogus, politically motivated allegations manufactured by a dictatorial, single-party state determined to destroy the remaining fragments of Cambodias shattered democratic system, along with the exercise of basic civil and political rights such as freedom of expression, association, and peaceful, public assembly, he said. Robertson noted that even with the cases being heard by a kangaroo court, Hun Sen refused to allow the defendants to return to Cambodia to face their charges at trial. In each of these political show trials, the temptation is to say that Cambodia cannot sink any lower in its violation of human rights, but somehow PM Hun Sen and his colleagues find a way to reach a new nadir, he said. There seems to be no limits to the violations of human rights this government will inflict on the Cambodian people. The Phnom Penh Municipal Court had issued a notice last week saying that all trials were to be postponed indefinitely due to a recent spread of the coronavirus, but went ahead with rendering Mondays verdict without the presence of trial monitors. Tricking observers and ultimately also defendants into believing that trials are postponed adds to the outrageous violations of the right to a fair trial in Cambodia, Robertson said. Including Mondays verdict, Sam Rainsy has been sentenced in absentia to a total of 47 years in prison by the Phnom Penh Municipal Court. His convictions include plotting and attempting a coup, public defamation, insulting the King under the countrys lese majeste law, incitement to commit grave social unrest, and faking public documents related to a border dispute with Vietnam. The Phnom Penh Municipal Court has indefinitely delayed CNRP President Kem Sokhas trial on treason since March 2020, citing the dangers of the coronavirus pandemic, as well as a backlog of legal cases. Reported by RFAs Khmer Service. Translated by Sok Ry Sum. Written in English by Joshua Lipes. Japanese flea market app Mercari will sell products in China through Alibaba Group Holding's e-commerce platforms, accelerating its expansion overseas. Mercari will list part of its secondhand items on Taobao, one of China's biggest e-commerce sites, and Xianyu, the leading Chinese flea market platform with over 90 million monthly users, the Japanese company said. When an order is placed through these Alibaba group platforms, an e-commerce startup called Beenos will buy the items from Mercari as a proxy, then ship them to the actual customers. Tokyo-listed Mercari, which saw a growth opportunity in a Japanese trend to declutter, began selling products in roughly 100 countries in 2019. The company is trying to build an ecosystem around its app and its related mobile payment service Merpay. It partnered last year with Sea Group-owned Shopee, one of the biggest e-commerce platforms in Taiwan and Southeast Asia, to sell products in Taiwan. By Bahk Eun-ji A 33-year-old woman was found guilty of breaking self-quarantine, Monday, but a local court handed down a lighter-than-usual sentence as she did so to visit her dying father. The Cheongju District Court fined the woman 1.5 million won ($1,332). Gettyimagesbank The COVID stimulus bill is expected to limbo its way through the Senate without a single Republican vote, which means half the chamber will spend the week whingeing about how the package is too big for the economys actual needs, that its spending misses its targets, and that too much of it is unrelated to the pandemic itself. These are reasonable topics for legislative debate, but one side has filled the Sunday chat shows and other outlets with terminological inexactitudes, as Churchill would call them. The Republicans might actually gain sympathy if they argued against the merits of the popular relief bill, but instead they have chosen to smear it with bumper-sticker demagoguery and brazen lies. The whopper teetering at the top of their pile of talking points asserts that only 9% of the $1.9 trillion goes toward public health spending. It is true that the plan directs $160 billion to a national vaccination program, the expansion of testing, a public health jobs initiative, and other measures to fight the virus. If thats the 9% they refer to, they are in the ballpark. But that distortion has been repeated ad nauseum by Sabbath gasbags over the last two weeks. Another $358 billion has been allotted toward the safe reopening of schools and emergency paid leave for people who tested positive for the virus. Any rational person would agree that extending paid sick leave and refitting school rooms so they can manage outbreaks are critical investments in public health even if they are listed under the Education and Labor section of the bill. There is also funding to subsidize insurance coverage for laid-off workers. Add it up, and nearly a quarter of the stimulus budget is for public health spending. Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) tweeted her disdain for the bill by assailing the funding for things like arts, museums, library services, family planning, climate justice, and Pelosis subway. Last thing first: The bill includes $30 billion to bail out desperate transit agencies, which are going broke from coast to coast, and one happens to extend the BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) system in San Jose, which is an hour away from Speaker Nancy Pelosis district. Others are in places like Indiana and Arizona, the New York Times points out. As for the rest of that liberal wish list that Blackburn derides, the Times calculated that these items total 0.03% (three-tenths of 1 percent, or $547 million) of the bills overall cost. Blackburn also claimed that $50 million of this tranche will go to services including Planned Parenthood, and thats also a distortion: State-level health departments including the one in her state will get similar grants for family planning. More misleading blather was served up by Rep. Jim Banks of Indiana, who told Fox News that stimulus grants are going to illegal immigrant families. He didnt mention that couples who file taxes jointly only require have one valid Social Security number to get a stimulus check specifically, the $1,400 check for an individual, not the $2,800 for couples. Citizens get paid, but spouses who are undocumented immigrants do not, even if they are taxpayers. And House Republican whip Steve Scalise dropped a dud on ABC last week, claiming that over a trillion dollars still hasnt been spent from previous relief bills. The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget keeps a COVID spending tracker, and found that $775 billion in unspent funds specifically for loans and Medicaid are in the pipeline and were always intended to be distributed over time. It bears repeating that Republicans also predicted last summer that the $600 supplement would discourage unemployed workers from searching for jobs. That was another airball: JP Morgan Chase found it played little role and that the expanded benefits boosted the spending and saving among jobless workers. Other studies concurred. Anyone can make miscalculations, but the Party of Trump has been making them with lethal regularity since this nightmare began. If they cannot negotiate a solution in good faith, they should get used to being on the sidelines for a while. Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com. Bookmark NJ.com/Opinion. Follow on Twitter @NJ_Opinion and find NJ.com Opinion on Facebook. Tell us your coronavirus stories, whether its a news tip, a topic you want us to cover, or a personal story you want to share. CHARLOTTE, N.C., March 2, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Six major utilities today announced a plan to ensure electric vehicle (EV) drivers have access to a seamless network of charging stations connecting major highways in the South, Midwest, Gulf and Central Plains regions. The Electric Highway Coalition made up of Duke Energy, American Electric Power, Dominion Energy, Entergy Corporation, Southern Co., and the Tennessee Valley Authority will enable EV drivers seamless travel across a broad portion of the country through a network of DC fast chargers. "The path to cleaner transportation is a robust charging infrastructure along the nation's major highways," said Lang Reynolds, director of Electrification Strategy for Duke Energy. "Range anxiety is a barrier to more EV adoption. This coalition can erase those obstacles and help deliver the benefits of EV ownership to consumers." The companies are each taking steps to provide EV fast charging options within their service territories to facilitate interstate travel. This partnership represents an unprecedented effort to offer EV drivers convenient charging across different company boundaries and allow travel without interruptions. The Edison Electric Institute estimates 18 million EVs will be on U.S. roads by 2030. While many drivers recognize the benefits of driving an EV, such as the ease of low-cost home charging, some are concerned with the availability of charging stations during long road trips. Coordinated efforts like this are demonstrating that EVs are a smart choice for driving around town as well as traveling long distances. For Duke Energy, specific fast charging station locations will be determined through the course of existing and planned fast charging program deployments. This effort will provide drivers with effective, efficient, and convenient charging options that enable long-distance electric travel. Sites along major highway routes, with easy highway access and amenities for travelers are being considered first. Charging stations will provide a high-powered fast charging experience as new EV models released on the market are capable of charging at faster and faster speeds. Supporting the transition to EVs The collaboration is good timing for Duke Energy, which has already launched ambitious programs to expand EV charging both internally at Duke Energy locations and externally through several utility pilot programs. An internal "Electrify By Example" initiative is starting with an effort to install workplace chargers at all work locations to enable employees to drive electric. In Florida, the company's Park and Plug pilot has installed more than 570 EV public charging stations throughout the state. Fifty of the 570 are fast charging stations connecting areas of Florida previously underserved by EV fast charging infrastructure. To date, drivers have used the Park and Plug network for over 60,000 charging sessions, displacing more than 90,000 gallons of gasoline. Regulatory action in 2020 led to pilot programs being approved in both North Carolina and South Carolina. The pilots will lead to full fast charging for all types of EVs in about 20-30 minutes. In North Carolina, a $25 million pilot program will lead to the installation of 200 public Level 2 and fast charging stations, additional stations at multifamily buildings and a school bus electrification pilot that will allow school districts to change out diesel buses with electric ones. In South Carolina, the company will provide up to a total of $1,000 for 400 residential Duke Energy Carolinas customers who install a Level 2 charging station, provide access to their charging data, and manage EV charging load to occur during off-peak periods. The company will also deploy 60 fast chargers there to expand access to fast charging infrastructure in the state. About Duke Energy Duke Energy (NYSE: DUK), a Fortune 150 company headquartered in Charlotte, N.C., is one of the largest energy holding companies in the U.S. It employs 30,000 people and has an electric generating capacity of 51,000 megawatts through its regulated utilities, and 3,000 megawatts through its nonregulated Duke Energy Renewables unit. Duke Energy is transforming its customers' experience, modernizing the energy grid, generating cleaner energy and expanding natural gas infrastructure to create a smarter energy future for the people and communities it serves. The Electric Utilities and Infrastructure unit's regulated utilities serve approximately 7.7 million retail electric customers in six states North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, Indiana, Ohio and Kentucky. The Gas Utilities and Infrastructure unit distributes natural gas to more than 1.6 million customers in five states North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Ohio and Kentucky. The Duke Energy Renewables unit operates wind and solar generation facilities across the U.S., as well as energy storage and microgrid projects. Duke Energy was named to Fortune's 2020 "World's Most Admired Companies" list, and Forbes' 2019 "America's Best Employers" list. More information about the company is available at duke-energy.com. The Duke Energy News Center contains news releases, fact sheets, photos, videos and other materials. Duke Energy's illumination features stories about people, innovations, community topics and environmental issues. Follow Duke Energy on Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram and Facebook. Cautionary Language Concerning Forward-Looking Statements. This document includes 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 based on management's beliefs and assumptions. These forward-looking statements are identified by terms and phrases such as "anticipate," "believe," "intend," "estimate," "expect," "continue," "should," "could," "may," "plan," "project," "predict," "will," "potential," "forecast," "target," "outlook," "guidance," and similar expressions. Various factors may cause actual results to be materially different than the suggested outcomes within forward-looking statements; accordingly, there is no assurance that such results will be realized. These risks and uncertainties are identified and discussed in Duke Energy's most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and subsequent quarterly reports on Form 10-Q filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") and available at the SEC's website at www.sec.gov. In light of these risks, uncertainties and assumptions, the events described in the forward-looking statements might not occur or might occur to a different extent or at a different time than Duke Energy has described. Duke Energy expressly disclaims an obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Contact: Randy Wheeless 24-Hour: 800.559.3853 Twitter: @DE_RandyW SOURCE Duke Energy Related Links www.duke-energy.com A letter that was first sealed 300 years ago and has remained unopened since has been read for the first time thanks to scientists 'digitally' unfolding the paper. Using a highly sensitive X-ray scanner, a team from Queen Mary University of London examined the letter which was closed using a 'letterlocking' process - this involves intricately folding and securing a flat sheet of paper to become its own envelope. The first of its kind experiment allows the Renaissance letter, from the Dutch postal museum collection, to be read without damaging the paper or breaking the seal. The letter, dated July 31, 1697, was a request from Jacques Sennacques to his cousin, a French merchant in the Hague, for a copy of a death notice for another man. Study authors say the new technique will allow historians to study the text of these sealed historical documents without damaging the systems that secured them. Brienne trunk: a seventeenth-century trunk of letters bequeathed to the Dutch postal museum in The Hague included the letter studied as part of this process LETTERLOCKING: SECURING WORDS WITHOUT AN ENVELOPE Popular in the 17th century, Letterlocking is process for securing a letter without an envelope. It involves an intricate process of cutting and folding. It uses small slits, tab and holes placed in to a letter and combined with folding, secures the letter for delivery. There are a number of different types of letterbinding and often unique to the binder. At the most basic level it involves intricately folding and securing a flat sheet of paper to become its own envelope around a letter. While the technique dates back to the 13th century, the term 'letterlocking' wasn't coined until 2009. Advertisement A highly sensitive X-ray microtomography scanner, developed at Queen Mary University of London's dental research labs, was used to scan a batch of unopened letters from a 17th-century postal trunk full of undelivered mail. This allowed the team to read the contents of a securely folded letter, which has remained unopened for 300 years, while preserving its valuable physical evidence. They were particularly difficult to open without causing damage due to the 'letterlocking' used to secure the text inside. Letterlocking was common practice for secure communication before modern envelopes came into use, and is considered to be the missing link between ancient physical communications security techniques and modern digital cryptography. Until now these letterpackets could only be studied and read by cutting them open, often damaging the historical documents. Now, the team has been able to examine the letters' contents without irrevocably damaging the systems that secured them. Professor Graham Davis from Queen Mary University of London said the scanner was designed to have unprecedented levels of sensitivity to map minerals in teeth. Adding that this is 'invaluable in dental research. But this high sensitivity has also made it possible to resolve certain types of ink in paper and parchment. It's incredible to think that a scanner designed to look at teeth has taken us this far.' This process revealed the contents of a letter dated July 31, 1697. It contains a request from Jacques Sennacques to his cousin Pierre Le Pers, a French merchant in The Hague, for a certified copy of a death notice of one Daniel Le Pers. The letter gives an insight into the lives and concerns of ordinary people in a tumultuous period of European history, the team explained. It was at a time when correspondence networks held families, communities, and commerce together over vast distances. The letter contains a message from Jacques Sennacques dated 31 July, 1697, to his cousin Pierre Le Pers, a French merchant, for a certified copy of a death notice of one Daniel Le Pers The letter was virtually unfolded and read for the first time since it was written 300 years ago Following the X-ray microtomography scanning of the letter packets, the team then applied computational algorithms to the scan images. This allowed them to identify and separate the different layers of the folded letter and 'virtually unfold' it to read the contents inside. The authors suggest that the virtual unfolding method, and categorisation of folding techniques, could help researchers to understand this historical version of physical cryptography, while at the same time conserving their cultural heritage. The letter, dated July 31, 1697, was a request from Jacques Sennacques to his cousin, a French merchant in the Hague, for a copy of a death notice for another man 'This algorithm takes us right into the heart of a locked letter,' the research team explained in their paper published in Nature Communications. 'Sometimes the past resists scrutiny. We could have cut these letters open, but instead we took the time to study them for their hidden, secret qualities. 'We've learned that letters can be a lot more revealing when they are left unopened. Using virtual unfolding to read an intimate story that has never seen the light of day - and never even reached its recipient - is truly extraordinary.' The findings have been published in the journal Nature Communications. Bhopal, March 2 : With reports emerging of many private schools in Madhya Pradesh harassing the students for not paying fees, Minister of State for School Education (Independent Charge) and General Administration, Indersingh Parmar, has clearly said the children would not be barred from appearing for their exams due to non-payment of fees. According to Parmar, no student would be debarred from appearing for examinations from classes 9 to 12 for non-payment of fees. Only an undertaking from the parent or student concerned would be needed for appearing in the exams. This order by the Minister would be applicable to all Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), Indian Certificate of Secondary Education (ICSE), Madhya Pradesh Board of Secondary Education and other non-aided private affiliated schools in the state. Parmar said the private school managements cannot prevent any student from attending online classes or physically conducted classes in the school for non-payment of instalment of pending fees. The students' exam results would also not be held back. The Minister said the school education department was receiving many complaints regarding non-aided private schools taking forcible payment of fees from the parents through various means. The department has issued instructions to the collectors of all the districts to facilitate the parents to continue the education of students. It has been clarified in the directive issued by the Department of School Education that the non-aided private school managements would only be able to take the fee fixed for the academic session 2019-20 and 2020-21 from the parents. Parents would be able to deposit this fee in six equal instalments, which start from March 5 and end on August 5, 2021. If any parent is facing difficulty in paying fees, then they would have to submit their personal application to the school concerned. Huawei Chief Financial Officer, Meng Wanzhou, leaves her Vancouver home to attend British Columbia Supreme Court, in Vancouver, British Columbia on Dec. 8, 2020. (DON MACKINNON/AFP via Getty Images) Huaweis Meng Wanzhou Back in Canadian Court as US Extradition Case Proceeds VANCOUVER, British ColumbiaLawyers for a senior executive for Chinese communications giant Huawei Technologies were in court Monday arguing evidence should be introduced that they claim undermines the case to have their client extradited to the United States. But a Canadian government lawyer representing the United States in the extradition case has said that the evidence in question is a ploy to distract the judge from weighing the extradition. The lawyer said the evidence in question is appropriate when eventually presented in New York where Meng Wanzhou would face bank fraud charges for misleading multiple financial institutions to violate U.S. sanctions on Iran. The United States accuses Huawei of using a Hong Kong shell company called Skycom to sell equipment to Iran in violation of U.S. sanctions. It says Meng, 49, committed fraud by misleading the HSBC bank about Huaweis relationship with Skycom and its business dealings in Iran. If extradited and convicted in the United States, she could face more than 30 years in prison. Meng and Huawei deny the charges. Canada arrested Meng, the daughter of Huaweis founder Ren Zhengfei and the companys chief financial officer, at Vancouvers airport in late 2018. Much of the case centers around an August 2013 PowerPoint presentation made to a HSBC executive during a lunch in Hong Kong. Defense lawyer Frank Addario asked the court to admit evidence he says shows officials with HSBC were aware of Huaweis connection to Skycom and another company called Canicula Holdings Inc. It was widely known in the bank that Huawei owned Skycom, Addario told Associate Chief Justice Heather Holmes. It sold Skycom to Canicula and thereafter Huawei controlled Caniculas account at the bank. Addario argued that by omitting evidence, the United States is misleading Canadian courts. The case put to you for the prosecution is the banks knowledge came from all these misleading statements by Huawei employees generally, Addario argued. Once you see all this evidence the picture that emerges is a different picture abut the knowledge of HSBC employees generally and the decision makers. Meng attended the hearing wearing a mask and an ankle tracking braceleta condition of her bail. She followed the proceedings with an interpreter while reading documents on her lap and taking sips of water. Over the next several weeks, Mengs defense team will present several arguments in the hopes of halting the extradition proceedings, following two years of legal setbacks, including rejections to her plea to relax her bail conditions. Canada said she might try to escape. Meng remains free on bail in Vancouver and living in a mansion with daytime supervision. She must comply to a curfew along with her ankle monitor. Later this week, her lawyers will argue her arrest was politically motivated because former U.S. President Donald Trump said he was willing to intervene in the case if it could help the U.S. reach a better trade deal with China or served U.S. national security interests. Canadas attorney general said in court documents that Trumps comments were public statements by a president no longer in office about an alleged intervention that never occurred. Mengs lawyers will also attempt to argue abuse of process, saying Canada Border Services Agency officers detained and questioned Meng without a lawyer, seized her electronic devices, and compelled her to give up the passcodes before her official arrest. Her lawyers also contend the United States is exceeding the limits of its jurisdiction by prosecuting a foreign citizen for actions that took place in Hong Kong. The extradition trial is scheduled to finish in mid-May. Mengs arrest has strained relations between Canada and China. In apparent retaliation, China detained former Canadian diplomat Michael Kovrig and Canadian entrepreneur Michael Spavor. China has also placed restrictions on various Canadian exports to China, including canola oilseed. China also handed death sentences to four Canadians convicted of drug smuggling. Kovrig and Spavor are remain jailed. U.S. President Joe Biden last week called on Beijing to release Kovrig and Spavor following a bilateral meeting with Trudeau, saying human beings are not bartering chips. The case also stands amid a backdrop of intense scrutiny of Huawei in the United States. The Trump administration blacklisted the company in 2019 from doing business with U.S. firms on national security grounds. U.S. officials and experts have sounded the alarm about the potential for Huawei equipment to be used by the Chinese regime for spying or to disrupt communication networks. Such concerns arise from the companys links with the Chinese military, as well as the fact that Chinese law compels companies to cooperate with intelligence agencies when asked. The company denies the allegations. By Jim Morris. The Epoch Times contributed to this report. New Delhi: At least 15 people died and over were 32 injured in a high-intensity bomb blast in Quetta's Pishin Stop area in Pakistan on Saturday. Following the blast, officials have declared an emergency in the city, reported the Dawn news. According to the eyewitnesses, the powerful blast occurred at a high-security area near a security forces vehicle. The entire area was cordoned off by police and security forces. "COAS condemns terrorist attack on Army truck in Quetta, an attempt to mar Indep Day festivity. Our resolve won't succumb to any challenge," Maj Gen Asif Ghafoor tweeted. Pakistan's Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) confirmed that an on-duty security vehicle was targeted in the blast, adding that 10 security officials were also injured in the blast. "Incendiary explosive was used in the blast due to which nearby vehicles caught fire," ISPR reported. Also Read | Doklam standoff: India prepares 'Plan 45000' to tackle China; Sukhoi fighter jets on high alert All the injured were shifted to Civil Hospital Quetta for treatment and rescue operations are underway. 15 bodies and 32 injured individuals were brought to the hospital. We are well equipped to deal with the emergency, Dawn news quoted a spokesperson of Civil Hospital Quetta as saying. Leaves of all doctors have also been cancelled. Balochistan Home Minister Sarfaraz Bugti refused to give any information about the nature of the blast saying rescue operations are our priority. We are trying to provide best possible facility to the injured people as soon as possible. Workers are also busy extinguishing the fire at the site, he told Pakistani media. The bomb blast took place just two days before Pakistan's Independence Day. "The terrorists don't want people to celebrate the Independence Day," Bugti said. So far, no terrorist organisation has claimed the responsibility of the blast. Also Read | J&K: Army jawan, woman killed in Pakistan's ceasefire violation in Poonch sector For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. "President Abbas is asked to carry out more practical measures to implement what the Palestinian factions has recently agreed upon in Egypt's capital Cairo, mainly issues related to public freedom," Xinhua news agency quoted Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum as saying on Monday. Gaza, March 2 (IANS) The Islamic Hamas movement, ruling faction of the Gaza Strip, has welcomed a decree issued by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to form an electoral court ahead of the general elections as "a positive step toward the right direction". "Establishing a status of confidence and safety among the Palestinians would encourage them to participate in the vote with no fear or pressure that would negatively affect the electoral process," he added. On Monday, Abbas, also head of the ruling Fatah party, issued the presidential decree ordering the establishment of an electoral court to resolve the disputes between the Palestinian factions in the electoral process. In the intra-Palestinian national dialogue that ended in Cairo last month, leaders of 14 factions, including Hamas and Fatah, agreed to hold the general elections as scheduled. The factions also agreed to set up an electoral court of judges from East Jerusalem, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip to monitor all matters related to the process. The independence of the electoral court has been a central demand by the Hamas, which has expressed concern that Abbas could use a court to revise election results should he lose, according to political analysts. In January, Abbas announced that the 2021 general elections will include legislative elections on May 22, presidential elections on July 31, and the Palestinian National Council elections on August 31. The last legislative elections in the Palestinian territories were held in January 2006 when Hamas won a majority 74 of the 132 seats. Abbas was elected as the President of the Palestinian Authority in March 2005. The internal Palestinian division between Hamas and Fatah began in 2007 when the former forcibly took over the Gaza Strip from the latter. Since then, the Palestinian territories have been split into the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip and the Fatah-dominated West Bank. --IANS ksk/ ADVERTISEMENT The All Progressives Congress (APC) has commenced the process of reviewing its constitution ahead of 2023 general elections. National Secretary, APC Caretaker and Extra-Ordinary Convention Planning Committee, John Akpanudoedehe, said this while inaugurating the partys eight-man Constitutional Review Committee in Abuja on Tuesday. At the formation stages, parties will often adopt the minimum requirements needed to secure registration. But as a pro-peoples party, the APC leadership of Gov. Mai Mala Buni believes that in rebuilding the party, there must be reforms that reflect the current trends and aspirations of the owners of the party: that is the people, the masses, he said. He said that law itself was not a finished product, but a work in progress. Our party has grown quite large in the last few years and is poised to become the largest party on the continent with the ongoing membership registration and revalidation exercise, Mr Akpanudoedehe said. For this reason, we must have a set of laws that is near perfect, by filling the lacunas. Therefore, your work is well set out for you. Mr Akpanudoedehe said the capacities of members of the committee were not in doubt. According to him, the party therefore expects the committee to work as a team to harness its abilities for the overall benefit of the APC and its larger members. He said the party expected the committee to seek inputs from critical stakeholders, advocacy groups and party members in the course of the assignment. The Chairperson of the committee, Tahir Mamman, a professor, in his remarks, thanked the partys leadership for the confidence reposed in them. He assured that the committee would work within the time frame and approach its task with all seriousness. Mr Tahir said the committee would also ensure that the exercise was all inclusive by seeking inputs from interested stakeholders. Other members of the committee include Dakas Dakas, Akinremi Olaide, Ego Ezuma, Mohammed Kumaila, Shuaibu Aruwa and Ekokoi Solomon. This is the second time APC would be reviewing its constitution since the party was formed in 2013. (NAN) The upcoming legal-thriller drama "Law School" unveiled stills featuring Kim Bum as almost-perfect and the top student in class! It was previously confirmed in September 2020 that actor Kim Bum would star in a brand new JTBC drama series titled "Law School" alongside Reply 1988's Ryu Hye Young. "Law School" Short Synopsis and Kim Bum's Role in the Drama "Law School" takes place in South Korea's top law school, Korea National University, where it tells the story of students as well as its professors who get involved in a strange and unusual case. Kim Bum will portray the character of a first-year law student Han Joon Hwi, who is the almost perfect student in his school. He is brilliant and always gets the top grades among his peers. He has a charming appeal and also possesses leadership skills. However, don't get blinded by his outside appearance and personality because there is a different side of him that he keeps hidden. It seems like; you just can't have it all! Actress Ryu Hye Young, on the other hand, will star as another first-year high school student named Kang Sol. She barely got admitted into law school, and to be accepted, she has to work her way up. She is born from a low social status family, and in school, she is surrounded by smart, wealthy, and powerful students. Sadly, Kang Sol experiences the highs and lows of being in a different social class and becomes insecure and even shameful due to her poor background. Because of her experiences, she learns the true essence of being a lawyer. We really look up to those empowered women just like Ryu Hye Young's character in "Law School." Other casts of characters include Kim Myung Min starring Yang Jong Hoon, a former prosecutor who now works as a professor at a prestigious law school. He is outspoken and tends to unleash biting remarks. His students dislike him because of his straight-forwardness but he doesn't care what others think of him. He is determined to develop skilled personnel for the law field. Lastly, Lee Jung Eun stars as Professor Kim Eun Sook, Yang Jong Hoon's colleague who can speak openly with him. Get a Glimpse of Kim Bum and Kim Myun Min's Character in the Newly Released Stills for the Drama In the first photo, Kim Bum transforms into Han Joon Hwi who demonstrates his attentiveness in school. The photo is set inside the classroom and Kim Bum is focused on learning. The second photo depicts Kim Bum discussing something in class and showcasing his nerdy side. The last still features his seriousness in answering a quiz, aiming to be top of his class! Meanwhile, Kim Myun Min shows off his strict and serious side as Professor Yang Jong Hoon. As he discusses in class, it seems like he wants his students to be more attentive. "Law School" is scheduled to premiere in the first half of this year (2021). You might also like: Jung Il Woo Sends a Coffee Truck to Kim Bum on the Set of 'Law School' Kdramastars owns this article Written By: Liza Parker New Delhi, March 2 : Union Consumer Affairs and Food and Public Distribution, Railway and Commerce and Industries Minister Piyush Goyal while presiding over the third Governing Council meeting of the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) said that there will be no compromise with the quality standards of the projects which are exported and strict action will be taken against people who demand bribe for doing any work related to quality standards. Stressing on the need to create a global standard in the country, he directed the BIS DG to form a consumer charter to bring high level of transparency in the certification process and inspection. He told the officials, "If someone takes bribes in FSSAI, QCI or BIS, he or she is causing a loss to the country, because our goods go abroad and get rejected there, the country's reputation is at stake. So we can't compromise on the standards." The meeting was attended by Minister of State for Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution Rao Saheb Patil Danve, Rajya Sabha Member Mahesh Poddar, Secretary, Department of Consumer Affairs Leena Nandan, Director General of BIS P.K. Tiwari, QCI President Adil Jainulbhai and senior officials of the Ministry and BIS. The Union Minister said, "Our standards should not be less than the global standards and if they are below those standards then they should be upgraded. If the standards will be high then the goods won't get wasted in the international market and hence the domestic industry will be benefitted." Asking the officials not to make low quality goods, Goyal said, "High quality and high standard goods will be sold in India as well as globally. No low quality products will be procured by the government." He directed his office to send a letter to the state governments informing them to set the Indian standards in government procurement. He said, "It is really satisfactory that the Railways is linking its standards with the BIS. We have to successfully implement the 'One Nation, One Standard' vision of Prime Minister." He asked the BIS Director General to connect other agencies, which have testing standards, with the BIS the way Railways is doing. He said that during the initial years, the standard test fees for MSMEs, startups and women entrepreneurs should be reduced so as to encourage them to authenticate their products and also promote commercial convenience. The Union Minister directed the BIS to extensively expand and modernise the testing laboratories so that entrepreneurs do not face any difficulty in testing and standard certification. -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text LONDON, March 2, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Keyloop, a leading global supplier of technology solutions to the automotive industry, has today announced its acquisition of both RAPID RTC and enquiryMAX, bringing their first-rate lead aggregation, lead response, enquiry management and showroom applications into the Keyloop product portfolio. These are amongst the first actions Keyloop (formerly known as the International division of CDK Global) is taking since being acquired yesterday by Francisco Partners. These acquisitions represent Keyloop's serious commitment to developing an open platform that connects the automotive retail industry and transforms the car buying and ownership experience for the better, in partnership with both dealers and OEMs. The addition of these products will enable Keyloop to enhance its Sales and Marketing offering and develop new solutions around lead management and attribution, by combining the data from these products with its own Dealer Management Systems (DMS). RAPID RTC is headquartered in Winnipeg, Canada and is a provider of Digital Communication and Lead Management Solutions (LMS) to over 4200 dealer sites and partners with many leading OEMs. Glen Demetrioff, Founder and CEO of RAPID RTC, will be joining Keyloop as a member of its executive team. RAPID RTC's LMS brings rich capabilities to automotive retailers, including the ability to aggregate sales enquiries from over 300 channels and manage the customer interaction in the showroom with digital communication tools such as live chat, social media, text and video calls. enquiryMAX is headquartered in Leeds, UK and provides a showroom management solution to over 970 dealerships in the UK and Ireland. Some of the UK and Ireland's largest dealer groups are amongst their clients and they are also the chosen partner of several leading OEMs. enquiryMAX's showroom solution plays a key role in the effective management of customer enquiries, from capturing the sales lead at the outset of the buying journey, to building the deal and presenting the offer and vehicle handover. enquiryMAX is currently the largest partner from Keyloop's Partner Programme. Tom Kilroy, CEO Keyloop, comments: "We are delighted today to welcome RAPID RTC and enquiryMAX, two leading automotive technology providers, to the Keyloop family. We are very excited to include their outstanding lead management and showroom products in our customer offering. The combination of these products, together with Keyloop's leading DMS, will enable us to develop new solutions for our customers around lead measurement and attribution. "We are also very excited to be able to demonstrate our promise to move quickly with the backing of our new owners, Francisco Partners. "Although Keyloop has acquired RAPID RTC and enquiryMAX, we remain committed to accelerating the development of the Keyloop Partner Programme. This will allow our dealer and OEM customers freedom of choice for their technology needs, whilst always benefitting from the added benefits of integration to the Keyloop DMS." Glen Demetrioff, CEO, RAPID RTC comments: "This marks another milestone for RAPID RTC and it's one I am absolutely thrilled about. Not only will it help shape the next phase of growth for RAPID RTC's lead management and communications platform, but collectively it will open the doors for what I believe will truly be a unique and transformational product offering in the automotive retail landscape. "I'm thankful and looking forward to joining Tom and the rest of the executive team at Keyloop as we continue to scale, innovate and connect the automotive retail industry." Francisco Partners was advised by Paul Hastings LLP, Stikeman Elliott LLP, and Kirkland & Ellis as legal counsel, and Alvarez & Marsal's Transaction Advisory Group. UBS Investment Bank acted as exclusive financial advisor to RAPID RTC and Pitblado Law as legal counsel to RAPID RTC throughout the acquisition process. RAPID RTC was a portfolio company of Sageview Capital. RSM Corporate Finance LLP acted as exclusive financial advisor to enquiryMAX. Click here for access to Keyloop's virtual press room, where you will find a range of assets to accompany this story (translated versions will be coming online throughout the week) including current press releases, FAQs, media backgrounder and logos. Editor's Notes About Keyloop Keyloop's mission is to create and connect technology that advances the car buying and ownership experience in partnership with dealers and OEMs. It is a leading global provider of software solutions to the auto retail industry, serving approximately 16,000 dealer sites and most automotive manufacturers, in over 90 countries. Headquartered in the UK, Keyloop also has operations across EMEA and Asia. For more information, please visit www.Keyloop.com. About RAPID RTC RAPID RTC is a multinational digital communications company that specialises in automotive, serving over 4,000 retail and manufacturing clients. They focus on improving businesses' digital communications and customer engagement practices by seamlessly connecting online shoppers with salespeople in real-time, using their preferred channel. Their brand promise is to bring value to our clients by placing their customer at the core of everything we do. Through the right mix of technology and human interaction, we ensure a premium omni-channel customer experience throughout the online purchase journey. About enquiryMax enquiryMAX is a provider of leading automotive retail software. It works closely with individual dealerships, dealer groups and manufacturers utilising its sales lead management system to help implement a structured sales process, disciplines and display best practices. enquiryMAX's goal is to continually develop and deliver quality automotive software solutions that will make a difference to automotive retail businesses. Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1444817/Keyloop_Logo.jpg SOURCE Keyloop Manufacturing, as indicated by recent purchasing managers index data, has provided mixed signals growth is slowing in China, but still recovering well in Europe and the United StatesLME three-month base metals prices were mixed this morning, this after a mixed performance on Monday. This morning, nickel ($18,545 per tonne) and tin ($23,540 per tonne) were lower by 0.6% and 0.2% respectively, copper ($9,020 per tonne) was little changed, while the rest were firmer, led by a 1.5% rise in zinc ($2,834.50 per tonne), with lead up by 0.4% at ($2,074.50 per tonne) and aluminium ($2,124 per tonne) was little changed.LME volume as of 7.02am London time was high at 15,381 lots volume has been high since Chinese participants returned from the Lunar New Year holiday (February 11-17).The most-traded base metals contracts on the SHFE were mainly weaker this morning, the exception was April zinc that was up by 1.2%, while the rest were down by an average of 1.6%.Spot gold ($1,719.93 per oz) was down by 0.3%, silver ($26.20 per tonne) and platinum ($1,180.50 per oz) were down by 1.1% and 0.8% respectively, while palladium ($2,356.90 per oz) bucked the trend with a 0.2% gain.The yield on US 10-year treasuries has pulled back in recent days and that has boosted risk-on appetite. It was recently quoted at 1.41%, down from last weeks high of 1.61%.Asian-Pacific equities were mainly weaker this morning: the Hang Seng (-1.2%), the ASX 200 (-0.4%), the CSI 300 (-1.28%) and the Nikkei (-0.86%), while the Kospi (+1.03%) was bucking the trend.The US Dollar Index continues its climb and was recently quoted at 91.31, this after a low at 89.68 on February 25.The other major currencies were weaker: the euro (1.2004), the Australian dollar (0.7744), sterling (1.3876) and the yen (106.81).Data already out on Tuesday showed German retail sales fell by 4.5% month on month in January, this after a 9.6% fall in December. The United Kingdoms house price index by climbed 0.7% month on month in February, after a 0.2% fall in January.Later there is data on unemployment in Spain and Germany and European Union consumer prices, with US data on economic optimism and total vehicle sales.In addition, US Federal Open Market Committee members Lael Brainard and Mary Daly are scheduled to speak.After recent strength the base metals are pulling back to consolidate we have for some time been on the lookout for a pause/pullback, given the metals have already done a lot on the upside, and this now seems to be underway. This correction should also let us see how strong underlying demand really is by seeing how far prices pull back and how long they pull back for. In the short term, the stronger US dollar is likely to be a headwind.Gold prices have broken lower, below the November 2020 low at $1,765.50 per oz, extending the downward channel off last Augusts high at $2,074.25 per oz. The recent run-up in bond yields has increased to opportunity cost of holding gold. But a cheaper gold price will make for a cheaper safe-haven should broader markets start to correct more. Three men have been arrested after four young girls were allegedly lured off a Melbourne beach in a jetski and then sexually assaulted. Police allege the girls, aged 12 to 16, were approached by a man on a jetski at Altona beach on November 27 at about 6pm. While further away from shore, the girls were then allegedly sexually assaulted before being driven back to the beach. Police allege the girls were taken for a ride on a jet ski at Altona beach (pictured) on November 27 by a grown man before being sexually assaulted Two Meadow Heights men, aged 40 and 37, and a 29-year-old Broadmeadows man were arrested over the incident on Tuesday. The trio were interviewed and released while police undertake further enquiries. Police said the investigation is ongoing and thanked the public for their assistance. Madrid, March 2 : Former FC Barcelona President Josep Maria Bartomeu was arrested along with the club's general manager, Oscar Gray and the former director to the Presidency, Jayme Masferrer as part of an investigation into a corruption scandal. The arrests took place on Monday as the Catalan regional police searched the offices at the Camp Nou Stadium as part of an investigation into an affair known as 'Barcagate', Xinhua news agency reported. 'Barcagate' broke out in February when the Cadena Ser radio network revealed that the club had used an outside company called "13 Ventures" to criticise the club's players and rivals of the Board of Directors through a series of social media accounts. The payments to 13 Ventures are alleged to be six times the usual market price, with payments of around a million euros divided into smaller amounts in order to avoid internal controls. The online criticism is one reason for the breakdown of the relationship between Bartomeu and star player Leo Messi, who asked for a transfer last summer. FC Barcelona issued an official communique, saying they had "offered up their full collaboration to the legal and police authorities to help make clear facts which are subject to investigation". "The information and documentation requested by the judicial police force relate strictly to the facts relative to this case. "FC Barcelona express its utmost respect for the judicial process in place and for the principle of presumed innocence for the people affected within the remit of this investigation," the communique added. This operation comes less than a week before Barca is due to hold elections to choose a new President to succeed Bartomeu on March 7 with Joan Laporta, who is a favourite to be returned for a second spell at the head of the club. Laporta earlier told the media that although he had to presume Bartomeu was innocent, "it is not good news, nor is it a nice piece of news for Barca as this person has been FC Barcelona president... he may not have done a good job, but he was Barca president and it is a shock". -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text 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. State Police Discuss Recruitment, Career Benefits By West Kentucky Star Staff WESTERN KENTUCKY - On Tuesday, Trooper Adam Jones with the Kentucky State Police joined the Greg Dunker Show to discuss recent recruitment efforts.While sharing why he got involved with the Kentucky State Police, Jones said he knew he wanted to do something rewarding and different every day.He said, "I love the fact that I get to serve the people of the Commonwealth. I have also seen the different benefits and advantages. Not only do you have opportunities for overtime pay, vehicles, and all essential equipment is provided, and you get a salary increase for each promotion or year of service. There are also diversified career fields you can go into."According to Jones, some of those career fields include general and street detectives, drug enforcement special investigation, SWAT teams, canine handlers, executive security details, accident reconstruction, marijuana eradication teams, electronic crime detectives, and critical incident response teams."There are many areas you can get into and focus on throughout your career," Jones continued. "I've been on for six years, and there are many different avenues I could go down if I wanted to."Jones said one exciting thing about their new application process is the pick three program. When you fill out the application, there is a section that allows you to rank the top three posts you would like to serve at after graduation.Jones said, "This is an effort to get cadets back home or to a place they want to go. The state is really trying to cater to the cadets in this way, to get them where they want to go after graduation."This fall, the KSP will host a cadet class for new troopers. They are accepting applications until March 26. To qualify, candidates must be 21 by graduation from Academy and must pass an agility test. Candidates should also possess a high school diploma or GED along with either three years of work experience, 60 college credit hours, two years of active duty military experience, or two years of experience as a POPS certified police officer.You can find the application at the link below.On the Net: A viral video clip of Russian diplomats fleeing North Korea by hand-operated rail trolley has contributed much to the gaiety of nations over yet another locked-down weekend. But behind their joyride across the Tumen River lies a more alarming story that saw North Korea abandoned even by its allies as supplies of daily necessities and other products dry up in the impoverished country after it sealed its borders. Russian Ambassador to North Korea Alexander Matsegora said as early as Feb. 8, "It's a challenge to buy even such basic goods as pasta, flour, vegetable oil, and sugar, and there are no decent clothes or footwear." "Over the past 12 to 18 months since their last visit home, children have grown a lot, so parents pass each other their cast-off clothing and footwear," Matsegora told the Interfax news agency. North Korea has official diplomatic ties with 161 countries, but fewer than 30 of them have diplomats in Pyongyang. The U.K., Germany and other West European countries closed down their embassies in the first half of last year, and only around 10 countries are still holding on. This article previously published on Dec. 15 as part of our South Carolina COVID-19 vaccine rollout coverage. Were promoting it again after Gov. Henry McMaster added 2.7 million people to South Carolinas vaccine eligibility list. On the morning of Saturday, Oct. 26, 1918, subscribers of The Charleston News and Courier woke up to good news. "FLU EPIDEMIC ABATING HERE," a headline on Page 2 of the newspaper proclaimed. "Only Seventy-Five New Cases Were Reported Here Yesterday." Dr. J. Mercier Green, Charleston Health Officer at the time, said he was satisfied measures taken to prevent the spread of the deadly disease were working, "chief among these being the rigid quarantine which forbids the opening of schools, churches, theaters and any public gathering." Already that year, over 5,500 people in Charleston had been diagnosed with the Spanish flu and 185 had died from it. Many of them technically died from bacterial pneumonia, which often followed their flu diagnoses. It goes without saying all the ways in which this 102-year-old news report rings familiar during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. But there is one glaring difference between then and now. Charlestonians in 1918 had no hope of a cure or a vaccination. The use of vaccines and inoculations had been around for centuries, but it wasn't until the mid-1940s that a flu vaccine was first approved for public use, nearly 30 years after the Spanish flu of 1918 claimed 50 million lives around the world. Now, on the cusp of the biggest vaccination program in world history, a look back at use of vaccines over time offers insight about what we might expect in the months and years ahead. Rene Najera is an epidemiologist and the editor of History of Vaccines, an online project by the College of Physicians in Philadelphia. The project was first conceived in 2007 to inform the public, including parents, about vaccines and their history. "Its been building up to this," Najera said. "Vaccines didnt come out of a nowhere. Its a centuries-long process of learning and experimenting." Major breakthroughs Life expectancy has increased dramatically over the past several hundred years, largely because infant and child mortality has fallen so precipitously. Those gains can be attributed to better medicine, including mandatory vaccination schedules that most children are required to comply with if they want to attend school. There have been many medical breakthroughs in the history of vaccines, but one of the first and most important is widely considered to have happened in 1796 when an Englishman named Edward Jenner successfully tested a hypothesis that injecting humans (in his case, a boy) with cowpox pustules would protect them from the deadly smallpox. Six years later, Massachusetts became the first state in this country to officially encourage the use of the smallpox vaccination, and in 1813, the U.S. Vaccine Agency was established. Both Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin were early proponents of the science behind vaccines. But that science was, for many decades, hampered by technology. Najera said it was only after the advent of the electron microscope in 1931 that scientists were able to see what a flu virus looked like, isolate it and develop a vaccine that would keep people from getting sick. It was considered another public health breakthrough, much like Jenner's discovery in 1796 or the development of the rabies vaccine by Louis Pasteur in 1885. "When the Spanish flu (of 1918) came around, they knew it was something infectious that was in the air, but they didnt have the ability to see the virus or grow it in the lab," Najera said. "That didnt happen until the 1930s." Still, 2020 marks another major breakthrough. The COVID-19 vaccine was developed in a matter of months clearly a record-breaker in terms of speed. The runner-up for timeliness is the mumps vaccines, which was developed in 1950s, Najera said, and even then, that one took four years to get right. Mumps is now mostly a thing of the past. The same goes for polio, tuberculosis, measles and many other diseases that used to kill millions of people each year. The history of vaccines, without question, is a stunning success story. "Indeed, if you asked a public health professional to draw up a top-10 list of the achievements of the past century, he or she would be hard pressed not to rank immunization first," a Health Affairs paper argued in 2005. 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! Historical skepticism There have been snags, Najera acknowledged. And recent history has shown that the enthusiastic public uptake of a new, breakthrough vaccine isn't always guaranteed. For example, when a vaccine for human papillomavirus was introduced in 2006, many parents refused to vaccinate their adolescent children. The HPV vaccine is administered in two or three doses, depending on the age of the patient, and has been shown to be safe and very effective in preventing a number of different types of cancer later in life. Even so, in 2016, a decade after it was approved for public use, South Carolina had one of the lowest rates for HPV vaccination in the country. Only a few states make the HPV vaccine a mandatory part of the vaccine schedule. Kathleen Cartmell, a public health professor at Clemson University, has worked for several years with the Medical University of South Carolina's Hollings Cancer Center on a public health campaign to encourage the use of the HPV vaccine. South Carolina's HPV vaccination rate now basically matches the national average, but Cartmell said it's taken robust collaboration between hospitals, health care providers, insurers, health departments and other groups to move the needle. "Youve got to think of who all the key partners are. That stuff takes planning," she said. "Thats what we did with the HPV vaccination and thats what well have to do with COVID. Otherwise, well be looking at very low vaccination rates. Thats why I think weve just got to get it right." Childhood vaccination rates in South Carolina and across of the country have been dropping for several straight years now as the anti-vaccine movement has gained momentum online. That makes some public health experts concerned about skepticism directed toward the new coronavirus vaccine. We are aware of the skepticism of not only the COVID-19 vaccine, but unfortunately theres hesitancy about other vaccines that have been widely available a long time," said Linda Bell, the chief epidemiologist at the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control. "We see that every season with the flu vaccine and we see it with child immunizations." Both Cartmell and Bell have emphasized that the COVID-19 vaccine is safe. It has been vetted and has undergone the same rigorous process as every other vaccine in terms of research, development, clinical trials and safeguards. Bell said DHEC's communications team is currently assessing the basis for any public hesitancy about getting the vaccine. "We do want people to know what to expect, though," she said. "As with all vaccines and with all drugs, there can be symptoms associated with taking them. So when people get the vaccine, they may have a sore arm. They may get feverish for a day or so or feel a little achy. But that doesnt mean the vaccine isnt safe. Thats the bodys immune system responding to the vaccine." Cartmell said she thinks it's important for the public to understand that the federal Food and Drug Administration has done its job. "It's been tested and it works and its a safe vaccine," she said. "And thats an important message." It's certainly more hopeful than the message News and Courier readers were delivered on the morning of Oct. 27, 1918 only one day after the paper had reported the Spanish flu epidemic was finally subsiding. "WARNING AGAINST 'FLU SURE CURES,'" the headline read. "Use of Vaccines Only in the Experimental Stage." None of those experiments would prove effective. A media advocacy group has filed a criminal complaint with a German prosecutor alleging that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and top aides committed crimes against humanity in the killing of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi. The submission by Paris-based Reporters Without Borders also alleges that Saudi officials are responsible for "widespread and systematic" persecution of journalists in the kingdom, citing what it characterizes as the arbitrary detention of more than 30 journalists. The other officials named in the complaint include Saud al-Qahtani, a top aide to the crown prince, and Maj. Gen. Ahmed al-Assiri, a former deputy intelligence chief. Both men are accused of "organizational or executive responsibility" in the death of Khashoggi, a Saudi journalist and U.S. resident who was brutally killed inside the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul in October 2018. The filing comes days after the Biden administration released an unclassified intelligence assessment concluding that the crown prince approved the operation to "kill or capture" Khashoggi, who criticized aspects of the kingdom's leadership. The other officials are Mohammed al-Otaibi, who was serving as Saudi consul general in Istanbul at the time of Khashoggi's death, and Maher Mutreb, an intelligence officer who allegedly led the team sent to intercept the journalist in Istanbul. "The bottom line is that appropriate justice for Jamal has yet to be done," said Christophe Deloire, secretary general of Reporters Without Borders, which is also known by its French acronym, RSF. Deloire said the newly released intelligence conclusions strengthened his organization's case. Equally important, Deloire added, are the other 34 journalists being detained by the Saudi government. "RSF's message to those who silence, imprison, assassinate, or otherwise target journalists is that they won't get away with it with impunity," he said. The organization's accusations against Saudi Arabia include unlawful killing, torture, enforced disappearance and persecution. It will now be up to the German prosecutor to decide whether to open a prosecutorial investigation. RSF officials say they believe Germany is conducive to such a move because its laws allow prosecution of certain crimes committed outside Germany. But no action is guaranteed, and German officials have declined to take up several high-level foreign prosecutions in the past. Following last week's intelligence release, the Biden administration announced new visa restrictions related to extraterritorial attacks on journalists or dissidents, added to earlier sanctions on Saudi officials, and announced a "recalibration" of the U.S. relationship with its longtime partner. But it stopped short of imposing any punishment on the powerful 35-year-old crown prince. That decision was met with immediate criticism from some lawmakers and activists. Administration officials have defended their actions, saying the United States does not usually sanction leaders from friendly countries and stressing the value of U.S. defense and intelligence cooperation with the kingdom. The administration has also announced a new focus on Yemen, where Saudi Arabia is blamed for civilian casualties in its war against Iranian-linked rebels, and said it will halt certain arms sales to the kingdom. The Saudi government rejected the conclusions of the intelligence report, the release of which marked another break with the Trump administration. The kingdom's Foreign Ministry said in a statement that the report contained "inaccurate information and conclusions." Although lawmakers briefed by intelligence officials in the weeks after the killing described the case for the crown prince's responsibility as ironclad, President Donald Trump expressed skepticism. His administration also defied a congressional mandate to release a declassified version of the intelligence assessment. The Saudi government conducted a largely secret trial that resulted in the conviction of a group of individuals in the murder, with prison sentences of up to 20 years. Both Qahtani and Assiri were exonerated, despite the fact that Saudi prosecutors said they were important in the plot that resulted in Khashoggi's killing. How Germany's public prosecutor will respond to the filing was not immediately clear, but RSF Executive Director Christian Mihr said he was hopeful. "If we did not seriously expect that the general prosecutor could pick the complaint up, we would not have filed it," he said. "But in the end time will show." In 2002, the country enshrined the principle of universal jurisdiction into its criminal code, meaning that crimes against humanity, genocide and war crimes could be prosecuted in its courts no matter where those acts took place. The idea is to make sure that the most serious crimes - those of concern to the international community as a whole - do not go unpunished. Germany's legislation is considered to be among the most comprehensive of its kind in the world. But in the past, prosecutors have sometimes refrained from investigating cases that lack a German connection or have judged foreign officials to be immune from prosecution. In 2003, the federal prosecutor decided not to investigate former Chinese president Jiang Zemin, on the basis that he had immunity as a former head of state. It has also cited immunity while declining investigations into Uzbek intelligence chief Rustam Inoyatov, former Afghan warlord and member of parliament Abdurrashid Dostum, and Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov, according to a Human Rights Watch report. Authorities may use their discretion not to prosecute a crime without a German link to avoid overburdening the judicial system. If a case does not have a nexus to Germany, the legal principle is to give priority to international courts or prosecutors in the home states of the victims or offenders, or where the crime is alleged to have taken place, according to a briefing paper from the Open Society Foundations on such cases in Germany. But Mihr said that he felt that the current "political climate" made it a "likely possibility" that there would be a prosecution. In a landmark case, two Syrians accused of crimes committed while working for the Syrian intelligence apparatus were put on trial last year in Germany, where both had claimed asylum. The less senior of the two, Eyad al-Gharib, was sentenced to 41/2 years in prison last week for his role in rounding up demonstrators and sending them to a Syrian detention center, where prosecutors said he was aware they would be tortured. Anwar Raslan, who is accused of crimes against humanity, 58 murders, rape and sexual assault, remains on trial. - - - Morris reported from Berlin. A former magician's assistant had to call on her stage skills to defend herself after her husband tied her up and tried to cut her throat, a court heard yesterday. Alison Garcia-Hernandez, 64, was set upon by her 'Jekyll and Hyde' partner Juan Hernandez, 66, after their 11-year marriage broke down. Hernandez, who had been jailed for killing his first wife, bound Mrs Garcia-Hernandez with cable ties and held her hostage for four hours, before attacking her with the knife. But she used skills she learned as a magician's assistant to free her hand so she could protect herself. Alison Garcia-Hernandez, 64, was set upon by her 'Jekyll and Hyde' partner Juan Hernandez (pictured together), 66 Francis McEntree, prosecuting, said: 'She knew how to brace herself to give the impression she was tightly bound.' She received a deep cut on her neck and defensive injuries on her hand which later required six operations. Yesterday, Hernandez who admitted attempted murder and false imprisonment was detained indefinitely under a hospital order. Preston Crown Court heard he had a delusional disorder. If he is ever deemed well-enough, he will serve a life in jail for a minimum of 12 years. After his second marriage broke down, he claimed he had cancer and had returned to his native Spain. But Hernandez, jailed in Spain for 14 years for the manslaughter of his first wife in 1984, had remained in the UK to plot murder. Hernandez bound Mrs Garcia-Hernandez with cable ties and held her hostage for four hours Ms Garcia-Hernandez used skills she learned as a magician's assistant to free her hand so she could protect herself. (Stock image) Judge Heather Lloyd said Hernandez was a dangerous offender who had shown a 'Jekyll and Hyde character'. The couple met in Spain and married in 2008, but separated in January 2019. On September 18, 2019, he tricked his way into her house in Morecambe, Lancashire, by pretending to be a delivery driver. Mrs Garcia-Hernandez's grandson, a student, raised the alarm when he arrived at the house. She is believed to have trained in magic at a circus school. Last night, she said of her husband: 'I've forgiven him. He's got to make his peace with the world and with God.' This award reinforces our ability to deliver mission critical results for our maritime customers, said Duncan Greene, President of Akimas Mission Systems, Engineering & Technology Group. Akima today announced that its subsidiary, Aperture, was awarded a contract to support the Naval Information Warfare Center Atlantics Command Wide 8(a) Programmatic Engineering Logistics Support Incubator program. The multiple award, indefinite delivery indefinite quantity (IDIQ) contract has a 5-year period of performance and a total value of $113.8 million, if all options are exercised. We are excited to continue Akimas work with the Naval Information Warfare Systems Command, said Duncan Greene, President of Akimas Mission Systems, Engineering & Technology Group. This award reinforces our ability to deliver mission critical results for our maritime customers. Through this contract, Aperture will compete for individual task orders supporting the Department of the Navy, Naval Information Warfare Center Atlantic. Aperture will perform a variety of information technology and engineering services as required by the individual task orders. About Aperture Aperture Federal, soon to be renamed Akima Systems Engineering, is an SBA certified 8(a) Alaska Native Corporation and a wholly owned subsidiary of Akima. Aperture delivers trusted solutions in maritime systems engineering and integration across the Department of Defense. From supporting legacy environments, to building the systems of tomorrow, our C5ISR and mission experts stand ready to help improve operational performance at a reasonable and sustainable cost. To learn more visit http://www.aperturefederal.com/. About Akima Akima is a global enterprise with more than 7,500 employees, delivering agile solutions to the federal government in the core areas of facilities, maintenance, and repair; information technology; logistics; protective services; systems engineering; mission support; furniture, fixtures & equipment (FF&E); and construction. As a subsidiary of NANA, an Alaska Native Corporation owned by more than 14,000 Inupiat shareholders, Akimas core mission is to enable superior outcomes for our customers missions while simultaneously creating a long-lived asset for NANA consistent with our Inupiat values. In 2020, Washington Technology ranked Akima #39 amongst the top 100 government contractors. To learn more about Akima, visit http://www.akima.com. New charges filed against a registered sex offender who served time for sexual contact with juveniles in Delaware involve alleged crimes committed recently in New Jersey. Scott J. Bicking, 54, of Paulsboro, was arrested in January on charges of sexual assault and endangering the welfare of a child. The incidents, in which he allegedly touched the victims genitals over and under his clothing on several occasions, occurred late last year and early this year in Vineland, according to a criminal complaint filed by Vineland police. Investigators interviewed the victim in January and spoke with his family members before charging Bicking, who remains in Cumberland County Jail. The victim disclosed during interviews that the assaults began last year in Woodbury and authorities in Gloucester County followed up on that information and filed identical charges on Monday, according to court documents. Bickings attorney, Daniel Rybeck, declined to comment on the charges. The new claims mirror similar allegations in the past. Bicking was arrested in 2013 after two boys told Newark, Delaware, police that he inappropriately touched them at an ice arena. Two more boys then stepped forward with similar claims and he eventually faced 41 counts, including unlawful sexual contact with persons less than 18 years of age, continuous sexual abuse of a child, obscenity, obscene literature harmful to minors, sexual harassment and attempt to induce sexual contact. Bicking ultimately pleaded guilty to two counts of unlawful sexual contact and one count of attempted unlawful sexual contact and was sentenced to 4 1/2 years behind bars in 2015. He was registered as a Tier 2 (moderate risk) sex offender upon his release in 2019 and returned to New Jersey. While still in prison, he was charged in 2018 with aggravated sexual contact after a man came forward to claim Bicking molested him in New Jersey in 2013. The man claimed Bicking repeatedly grabbed his genitals and buttocks and put his hand in the victims pants while in the pro shop at Hollydell Ice Arena in Washington Township, Gloucester County. The victim was a teen at the time. Bicking, who co-owned the pro shop at the time, was indicted on a fourth-degree criminal sexual contact charge in that case and pleaded guilty. He was sentenced to five years probation last year. Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com. Matt Gray may be reached at mgray@njadvancemedia.com. After initially reporting him missing, an Ohio mother has been charged with killing her 6-year-old son and disposing of his body in the Ohio River, police said. Brittany Gosney, 29, has been charged with murder, abuse of a corpse and tampering with evidence in the death of her son James Hutchinson. Her boyfriend, 42-year-old James Hamilton, was charged with abuse of a corpse and tampering with evidence. Both were arraigned in Middletown Court on Monday afternoon, have bonds, and will remain in Middletown Jail until their next court date, Middletown Division of Police Chief David Birk said. CNN has reached out to the attorneys for Gosney and Hamilton for comment. Meantime, police in Middletown are working with officials in Preble and Butler counties and trained searchers to recover the body of the child, Birk said. 'The water is up extremely high, making our search and rescue very difficult,' the chief said. 'With the water and the current and with the rain we had Saturday night, makes it extremely hard to really find anything. So, we're doing the best we can when it comes to the search and recovery.' According to police, Gosney reported James missing to Middletown police on Sunday morning, saying the boy had been missing since Saturday night. A search for the child was initiated, Birk said. 'It was a little unusual, because usually when you have a missing child, the first thing to do as the parents is they contact the police,' Birk said. But under questioning, Gosney and Hamilton allegedly told detectives James was killed in Preble County 'a few days' ago, according to a news release from Birk. 'The mother is not showing much remorse at this time,' Birk said. 'She's not really saying, you know, what the motive was.' Gosney had taken James and two other children in the household to the Rush Run Wildlife Area in Preble County and was going to leave them there, Birk said. It is unclear what happened between her trying to leave them and when James died; however, Birk said, the mother later took the boy's body back to their residence in Middletown. Sometime Saturday evening, when the two other children were asleep, the couple allegedly took the body and disposed of it in the Ohio River in Lawrenceburg, Indiana. Birk said that child welfare officials have been involved with the family in the past but did not give additional details. The two other children have been removed from the residence and are now in foster care, the chief added. Veteran parking executive Daniel Lassiter is the new CEO of the Birmingham Parking Authority. After a national search, Lassiter was selected by the BPA board of directors last week. Under a two-year agreement, he will earn $150,000 annually. An avid fly fisherman, Lassiter come to the BPA after more than three years as regional director for REEF, a parking technology network with more than 4,000 U.S. locations. He was also previously director of business development for AllPro Parking, LLC and general manager for Central Parking System. He is certified by the International Parking Institute and National Parking Association. I think hes going to do well, says BPA board chair Kevin Owens. He brings a lot of experience and we have some things were trying to clean up and move ahead. Someone put it this way, Were trying to cut off dead cells to grow new ones. That about sums it up. The hire is a critical one for the agency, and it comes at a critical time for the long-stagnant agency. BPA, which manages 10 city-owned parking decks or lots downtown, has been widely criticized recently for its failure to utilize new technologies and inefficient, antiquated financial operations. According to figures presented late last year by the Mayors office, BPA contributed an average of $1,037,434 annually to Birminghams coffers since 2017. The amount is diminished, though, by the $600,000 the city pays BPA each year to rent 1,000 spaces for its employees in the Boutwell lot. Moreover, a city-generated analysis projected BPAs 2020 expenses totaling 78% of projected revenue, with payroll accounting for 67% of revenue. Both percentages were believed to be higher than the industry standard. As an organization, we have not really explored changes, Owens admits. We just recently tried to implement new technology. But more than likely, when Mr. Lassiter gets here, well have to look at more. The world keeps moving and weve got to move with it. Additionally, BPA has fallen short of its aim to be a catalyst for economic development, according to numerous critics. Some say its been a hindrance and thus has a tainted reputation with Birmingham business leaders and developers. I havent spoken with a single developer that is happy with BPA, says City Councilor Hunter Williams shared recently. It hasnt been acting as economic development stimulator; its been doing the opposite. When someone calls seeking spaces for employees, theyre told the decks are full, even though if you walk through a deck at any time of day, fifty percent of the spaces are empty. Their formulas are outdated. All [developers] expressed unanimous dissent for the way BPA operated. Owens says among Lassiters priorities is restoring the agencys reputation with the business community. Weve got to rebuild who we are and our relationships with customers, Owens says. Last fall, Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin proposed the sale of six decks to a group of investors led by Shipt founder Bill Smith in an effort to address a projected $63 deficit in the citys FY2021 budget. But the deal died on a fiery night in late October at a special called City Council meeting that ultimately revealed BPA myriad flaws and sparked the search for new leadership. Lassiter officially begins on March 24. 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. SEATTLE (dpa-AFX) - A Black Amazon.com Inc. manager filed a lawsuit against the e-commerce giant alleging gender and racial discrimination, sexual harassment, as well as violations of the Equal Pay Act. In the complaint filed in federal court in Washington, DC., Charlotte Newman, head of underrepresented founder startup business development at Amazon Web Services, accused the company of discriminating against Black and female workers while recruiting for its corporate offices. Newman alleged that Amazon hires Black employees at lower levels and promotes them lesser than White co-workers with similar qualifications. Newman said she had applied for, and was qualified to work, as a higher-level senior manager at Amazon Web Services four years ago, but the company hired her to work as a public policy manager. Newman also says the company is paying her and other Black employees less than their non-Black counterparts. Newman's attorney wrote in the complaint, 'Many of Ms. Newman's colleagues observed a consistent practice of paying Black employees less than similarly situated White employees, and a near-total lack of Black representation in and very few women in the upper echelons of the group's leadership.' The complaint also says she was sexually assaulted and harassed by a senior male employee. Despite filing the lawsuit, Newman reportedly has decided to continue working at Amazon. Meanwhile, responding to the lawsuit, Amazon said it was investigating the allegations raised by Newman. The company stated that it works hard to foster a diverse, equitable, and inclusive culture and do not tolerate discrimination or harassment of any kind and thoroughly investigate all claims and take appropriate action. Recode last week reported, based on interviews with diversity managers and internal data obtained, that Black Amazon employees are promoted less frequently and are rated more harshly than non-Black peers. Amazon recently tried to halt the mail unionization vote at its Bessemer, Alabama warehouse, where 85 percent of the employees are Black. However, the National Labor Relations Board or NLRB rejected the company's request for a delay in election, and allowed the warehouse workers in Alabama to start their mail-in voting on unionization. In mid February, the New York State sued Amazon for allegedly violating labor laws by not providing adequate safety protection for its frontline workers in New York City during the coronavirus pandemic. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX AMAZON-Aktie komplett kostenlos handeln - auf Smartbroker.de Diversity is a hallmark of the Zurich Apprenticeship Program. Tweet this "We continue to invest in our trailblazing apprenticeship program because our apprentices contribute meaningfully to our business success," said Zurich North America Chief Executive Officer Kristof Terryn. "Apprenticeship programs like Zurich's can help build a skilled workforce with diverse perspectives that has been trained using the latest tools and technologies to meet the challenges of a rapidly changing world." Launched in Illinois in 2016, Zurich's U.S. program was the first apprenticeship program of its kind to be registered with the U.S. Department of Labor. The Zurich program started with a focus in General Insurance, which is the focus of all the open apprenticeships this year. (Every two years, Information Technology and Cybersecurity apprenticeships are offered.) The new RCIS Claims apprentices will be based in the Pacific Northwest, Nebraska, and Minnesota or the Dakotas. They will be part of the Claims team that supports Zurich member company RCIS, a national leader in crop insurance, with 3,600 agents who provide crop insurance in all 50 states. The Zurich Apprenticeship program removes a typical hurdle to professional opportunity: No four-year college degree is required. The two-year program offers a full-time salary, benefits and tuition-paid college coursework. Apprentices who successfully complete the program earn an associate degree, a promotion at Zurich and a Department of Labor apprentice certification. Afterward, some apprentice alumni choose to continue their studies toward a bachelor's degree, with help from Zurich's tuition reimbursement benefit, while working full-time at Zurich. In 2017, Zurich, Aon and Accenture co-founded the Chicago Apprentice Network to help other companies explore the benefits of apprenticeship. The network has since expanded to include over 40 companies. Diversity is a hallmark of the Zurich Apprenticeship Program, with people of color representing about half of Zurich apprentices and apprentice alumni. The program attracts veterans of the armed forces, high school graduates or those with an equivalent certification, people wanting to move from a job to a career, and those returning to the workforce after a hiatus, often for family reasons. The Zurich Apprenticeship Program was recognized in 2020 with a Pledge to America's Workers Presidential Award and a Brandon Hall Gold Award for Human Capital Management. In the same year, Zurich North America helped the City University of New York's Borough of Manhattan Community College create and launch its first apprenticeship program curriculum to support the expansion of Zurich's program to New York. When COVID-19 struck, Zurich and its two education providers, including BMCC and Harper College in Illinois, succeeded in converting the office work and college coursework to a virtual format. That set the stage for BMCC, which is a top 10 finalist for the $1 million Aspen Prize for Community College Excellence, to provide the curriculum online for Zurich's Atlanta and RCIS apprentices in 2021. "Helping Zurich expand apprenticeship opportunities in more geographies also helps our institution expand and refine the ways we deliver education to students, even when they can't be in the classroom," BMCC President Anthony E. Munroe said. "It's one way we can help expand access to education that is so critical to improving outcomes for students from underrepresented populations." To apply for the Zurich Apprenticeship Program, please search "apprentice program" at this link. About Zurich North America Zurich North America is one of the largest providers of insurance solutions and services to businesses and individuals. Our customers represent industries ranging from agriculture to technology and include more than 90 percent of the Fortune 500. We've backed the building of some of the most recognizable structures in North America. Our North American, LEED Platinum headquarters is located in the Chicago area. We employ approximately 9,000 people in North America and have offices throughout the U.S. and Canada. Further information is available at www.zurichna.com. Zurich North America is part of Zurich Insurance Group, a leading multi-line insurer that serves its customers in global and local markets. With approximately 54,000 employees, Zurich provides a wide range of property and casualty, and life insurance products and services in more than 210 countries and territories. Zurich's customers include individuals, small businesses, and mid-sized and large companies, as well as multinational corporations. The Group is headquartered in Zurich, Switzerland, where it was founded in 1872. The holding company, Zurich Insurance Group Ltd (ZURN), is listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange and has a level I American Depositary Receipt (ZURVY) program, which is traded over-the-counter on OTCQX. Further information is available at www.zurich.com. Visit us on social media: LinkedIn and Twitter SOURCE Zurich North America Related Links www.zurichna.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. GOP Cassidy, who voted to convict Trump, said that he wouldn't be nominated for GOP presidential candidate in 2024. He said this on CNN, which is one of the media outlets known to be always in favor of the liberals. A good number of Republicans are opposed to the ex-president and will do anything to stop him at this stage. Many of these establishments want a return to a status quo that is not acceptable to the American voter. Censured for voting to convict in a sham trial Last Sunday, Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) said that contrary to what most Republicans think, former President Donald Trump would not be the top presidential pick in 2024. He spoke on CNN, which has always been criticizing him. The GOP member added that Trump, being 78 years old, is also an issue, reported the Epoch Times. He alleged that it was Trump's fault that the GOP lost the House, the Senate, and the presidency. He said that all the misfortunes were attributable to the ex-president and no one else. He stressed that the candidate should do better and pull the entire party. Other Republicans opposed Cassidy This was not what another Republican Senator Rob Portman from Ohio said when he spoke on ABC's "This Week." He expressed the opposite of what GOP Cassidy said. He said Trump pushed the Republicans in so many ways. He cited the policies that made a big difference for the party, adding that Republicans did better. Also read: Trump Slams Joe Biden's First Month in Office as the Worst in Presidential History In the House with no GOP losing and 15 seats were gained unexpectedly, the Senate is also in better state. There are more gains with statehouses in the hands of the GOP that the Louisiana Republican conveniently left out. When asked, Cassidy did not comment on the fitness of Trump as president. He side-stepped by calling it theoretical and claims it won't happen. During the impeachment trial, he chose to side with unconstitutional DEMs who charged Trump with insurrection but failed to convict him. A total of 43 GOPs opposed the Democrats who used manufactured evidence, and the supermajority was not reached to convict. Seven Republicans are not in good terms with most of the party, and many were censured by their own state GOPs. Cassidy got burned by the Louisiana Republican Party after his vote. Before Sunday, he spoke about the issue two days earlier. He told an outlet that the former president would not win the nomination in 2024. Speaking on the matter and refusing even to consider the possibility of it happening, he cited age, but Joe Biden is already 78 years old when he won controversially against Trump. His statements were contradicted when Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), who is critical of Trump, said he'd support the ex-president should he get the nomination. One suggestion from the former president and private citizen is to deny the 10 who voted for conviction. In the CPAC (Conservative Political Action Conference), Trump told everyone to boot those who sided with DEMS, including GOP Cassidy. Related article: Trump's Overwhelming Victory in CPAC Straw Poll, DeSantis Next in Line to Succeed @ 2021 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. MICA by Next Gear Solutions , the leading water mitigation software in the restoration industry, is a simple and comprehensive solution that provides benefits for the insurance carrier, adjuster, and contractor. Dri-Eaz products are part of the Legend Brands family, a leading provider of equipment and training for smoke and fire remediation and water damage restoration. This integration demonstrates Next Gear's commitment to efficient workflows and accurate data. Dri-Eaz' Command Hub prioritizes data integrity by allowing technicians using MICA to accurately identify, record, and assign multiple machines to the appropriate job. Water restoration contractors can then digitally capture all current temperature and humidity readings using the Bluetooth technology in Command Hub. "This integration will help significantly improve the water damage mitigation workflow by eliminating the need to manually enter dehumidifier and other air reading information, which takes more time and often leads to documentation errors," said Brandon Burton, VP of Technical Application for Next Gear Solutions and the IICRC Standards Chairman. This integration is available to all MICA users with the existing MICA iOS mobile application. Next Gear Solutions is the preferred partner of managed repair networks, franchisors, contractors, and insurance carriers looking to run a consistently smarter business. Its range of mobile job management, damage documentation, and estimate auditing tools are used by 8,700-plus restoration companies across North America and a majority of the nation's 25 largest insurance carriers. To learn more about Next Gear Solutions, visit nextgearsolutions.com or follow Next Gear Solutions on LinkedIn. Legend Brands provides industry-leading solutions globally for professional cleaning and fire and water damage restoration, including: Dri-Eaz airmovers, dehumidifiers, air scrubbers, and specialty drying systems; Mediclean antimicrobials and ODORx and Unsmoke odor and smoke removal chemicals; and Prochem, Chemspec and Sapphire Scientific truckmounts, tools and chemicals for professional cleaners. For more information, visit LegendBrandsRestoration or follow us on Instagram. Contact Jenn Barber Marketing & PR [email protected] 760-331-7914 SOURCE Next Gear Solutions Related Links https://www.nextgearsolutions.com Starting Monday, people across the state will get the chance to apply for an Emergency Rental Assistance program. The program's goal is to provide relief for people who've struggled to pay their rent or utility bills due to the pandemic. More than 4,000 tenants and about 800 landlords put in their applications just within the first four hours of it opening, and the organization administrating the program said they're expecting thousands more to apply. "$263 million in funding to help as many qualified and eligible tenants on a statewide basis," David Young, the multi-family administrator from the Alabama Housing Finance Authority, said. The Alabama Hosing Finance Authority is the organization running the Emergency Rental Assistance program. Young said the good thing about the program is people can request funds to pay off rental or utility debt from over the last year. "The program will allow for rental costs and utility costs back to March of 2020, specifically March 13 of 2020, they can go back and pull all past-due rent and utility expenses and submit that with their application and be paid for those amounts," Young said. Not only is back rent paid for, but people admitted into the program will have the chance to get the next three months of their rent paid as well. Applying for the program is all done online or over the phone. There's also a list of requirements tenants have to have. Young says specifically, people who have sustained unemployment or are making less than 50% of the area's median income will be prioritized. There is also other criteria that can qualify you, such as if the pandemic caused you to be laid off, have your place of employment close, lose a spouse or have to stay at home with your children because of a school or daycare closure. Young says once you apply and have been approved, they want the turnaround time for when those expenses to get paid to be less than two weeks. "It is our attempt to get payments made within a reasonable time upon application approval," he said. The maximum amount of time each person can stay in the program is 15 months. In Madison County, they will have their own emergency rental assistance funds to give to residents. That program opens up later this month. [March 02, 2021] Park Place Technologies Salutes Global Women in STEM Programs CLEVELAND, March 2, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- With International Women's Day approaching on March 8, Park Place Technologies is continuing its commitment to global STEM initiatives worldwide through its Women in STEM (WINS) program. For the third consecutive year Park Place is supporting the IWISH STEM Event (which will be virtual this year) on Thursday March 4 at 10:30am ET. In addition, for the first time, Park Place is expanding its summer externship program globally, to six college students from around the world. Women make up half of the overall workforce but just 28% of STEM positions, according to the National Girls Collaborative Project. IWISH, an award-winning, volunteer led, community-based social enterprise, is committed to showcasing the power of science, technology, engineering and math to female school students aged 13 to 17. Since 2015, almost 25,000 girls have participated in the program. Park Place has helped attract more than 12,000 global participants to this year's 90-minute, virtual IWISH event, with registrations from as far afield as Kenya, the United States, Canada, Singapore, and Peru. The virtual event will feature inspirational women at the top of their field in STEM plus interactive polls, competitions, and more. With female role models from companies including Johnson & Johnson, PepsiCo, Arup, Dell, VMWare and Deloitte it promises to be an engaging and inspiring event for the girls. This year's Trailblazer Speaker is Mary Robinson, the first female President of Ireland. She is a founding member of the Council of Women World Leaders. Park Place WINS Externship In addition to the IWISH Event, Park Place has also opened applications fo its 2021 Women in STEM externship. The externship, which will be virtual this year, provides college-aged women the opportunity to meet mentors in STEM and receive training and hands-on experience. Participants will build long-term relationships to help with career development and gain experience that will set them apart as they enter the workforce. In previous years, the program awarded two students from Ireland an externship at Park Place's Cleveland headquarters. This year, for this first time, Park Place will host six virtual interns from around the world -- two from Cleveland, in partnership with John Carroll University, two from Singapore, in partnership with the National University of Singapore, and two from Cork, in partnership with University College Cork. To be eligible for the externship, students must be over 18 years of age and a rising junior or senior in college actively pursuing a STEM related degree. Interested students can apply for the externship at https://www.parkplacetechnologies.com/careers/job-openings/?p=job%2FoJKNefwe. Applications are currently being accepted through March 25. The winners will be announced in April. "As we consider the future of the technology industry in the short and, especially longer, term, there is undoubtedly an appetite and acute awareness within the industry about the need to encourage more women into STEM," said Chris Adams, President and CEO, Park Place Technologies. "Businesses around the world play a key role in supporting and accelerating this adoption by ensuring that a career in STEM is appealing for women. At Park Place we're proud to support this movement through our programs and partnerships with organizations like IWish." "We're very excited about the global response for our virtual event both from attendees and our sponsors and partners," said Caroline O'Driscoll, Founder, IWISH. "The lack of women in STEM is a global issue, and by mobilizing the power of the international community, we can truly make a difference. We are delighted with the support of Park Place Technologies to help us reach an international audience. The world has changed so much over the past year, but it has not dampened our ambition to support young girls to be agents of change that our world so badly needs right now." To learn more about the externship program visit: https://parkplacetech.wistia.com/medias/exlgmp3d70 About Park Place Park Place Technologies simplifies the management of complex technology environments worldwide. Our network of parts to support data centers is stored regionally, locally and on-site to allow for fast parts distribution and service to drive Uptime. Park Place created a new technology service category Discover, Monitor, Support, Optimize (DMSO) a fully integrated approach to managing critical infrastructure. Our industry-leading and award-winning services include ParkView Managed Services, Entuity software, and our Enterprise Operations Center. For more information, visit us at www.parkplacetechnologies.com. Park Place is a portfolio company of Charlesbank Capital Partners and GTCR. MEDIA CONTACTS Jennifer Deutsch, Chief Marketing Officer jdeutsch@parkplacetechnologies.com 440-991-3105 Michael Miller, Global Content and Communications Manager mmiller@parkplacetechnologies.com 440-683-9426 View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/park-place-technologies-salutes-global-women-in-stem-programs-301238792.html SOURCE Park Place Technologies [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] At a seminar about mental health strategy, psychologist Shi Zhanbiao (front, fifth from left) poses for a photo with doctors and nurses from Jinyintan Hospital who treated the initial cases during the COVID-19 epidemic in Wuhan, Hubei province. [Photo provided to China Daily] It has been a year since Zhang Xiangyang, a frontline doctor in Wuhan, Hubei province, tested positive for COVID-19.She returned to work after recovery, but Zhang has found that "back to normal psychologically" is not as easy or the same as being physically capable of work. "People kept a distance when talking to me. Once I encountered a colleague while walking upstairs, she seemed to freak out. She turned around and walked away immediately. I understood their concerns, but these occasions made me uncomfortable," she says. Without telling anyone, Zhang pretended that everything was OK and kept herself busy with her patients. She had an emotional episode on May 20, when she heard that a man in his 50s tried to drink pesticide to commit suicide, because he couldn't face the lingering stigma after developing the disease. The doctor telephoned Shi Zhanbiao, a psychologist from the Institute of Psychology at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, about the case, and when Shi asked how she felt, she burst into tears. "Having been through all the fears, uncertainties and difficulties since the outbreak, it was the first time I felt that someone cared about me," Zhang says. Virus-related discrimination and stigma has always been there, which brings more pain than the virus, she adds. Shi delivers a speech to healthcare workers at a seminar in Wuhan on how to cope with the challenges brought by COVID-19. [Photo provided to China Daily] Shi is in charge of a mental health support program targeting infected medical workers and their families. Launched in May, it aims to provide free and consistent emotional support to the group for a year. Initiated by internet company ByteDance, the program was jointly established by the Institute of Psychology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Chinese Psychological Society. In hospitals around Wuhan, once the hardest-hit city in China, doctors, nurses and other healthcare workers like Zhang have fought valiantly against the coronavirus, which has taken a mental toll on many of those who survived it. Data from the National Health Commission showed that by Feb 11 last year, there were a total of 1,716 confirmed COVID-19 cases among medical professionals across the country. As of Jan 25, the program has provided 304 occasions of one-to-one mental health counseling to 225 infected doctors and nurses, according to ByteDance. "For some medical workers, it may take one or two years to really get over the mental trauma caused by the pandemic," Shi says, adding that his team will keep tracking the high risk group until people return to normal life. Ottawa, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - March 2, 2021) - Northern Graphite Corporation (TSXV: NGC) (OTCQB: NGPHF) (the "Company" or "Northern") is pleased to announce that it has engaged ProGraphite GmbH to test, characterize and optimize the Company's graphite concentrates for use in advanced applications such as lithium ion batteries ("LiBs"), fuel cells and flow batteries as well as in traditional markets. ProGraphite is located in Germany and is one of the world's leading graphite R&D Laboratories with over several decades of professional expertise and experience. ProGraphite will carry out a number of tests including purification and expandability, XRD analysis to determine the degree of crystallinity and thermal gravimetric analysis to assist the Company in maximizing the revenue potential of its concentrates by optimizing them and targeting the most appropriate value-added applications. Gregory Bowes, CEO, commented that, "Extensive characterization work has already confirmed that there are no limits to the applications for which Bissett Creek concentrates will be suitable due to their coarse flake, highly crystalline and pristine nature." He added that, "Continual research, development and testing is necessary to ensure the Company is current with advances in graphite processing technology and constantly changing market requirements, and to identify opportunities where our products will have a distinct competitive advantage." Graphite is a critical component that enables the green economy. It is the anode material in a lithium-ion battery and there are no substitutes. The EV and grid storage markets depend on it as do fuel cells and vanadium redox batteries. Graphite and graphene make composite materials stronger and lighter which reduces their cost and can increase the energy efficiency of everything from EVs to wind turbines. About Northern Graphite Northern Graphite is a mineral development and technology company focussed on developing its Bissett Creek graphite deposit and upgrading mine concentrates into high value components used in lithium-ion batteries, electric vehicles, fuel cells, graphene and other advanced technologies. An independent study estimates that Bissett Creek will have the highest margin of any existing or proposed graphite deposit due to its very favorable location, simple metallurgy and the high quality of its concentrates which the Company believes will provide a competitive advantage in manufacturing products for the green economy. Bissett Creek is an advanced stage project with a full Feasibility Study and its major mining permit which puts the Company in position to make a construction decision, subject to financing. The Project is located in the southern part of Canada between the cities of North Bay and Ottawa and close to the Trans-Canada highway providing ready access to labour, supplies, equipment, natural gas and markets. Qualified Person Gregory Bowes, B.Sc. MBA, P. Geo., a Qualified Person as defined under National Instrument 43-101, has reviewed and is responsible for the technical information in this news release. For additional information Please visit the Company's website at http://www.northerngraphite.com/investors/presentation/, the Company's profile on www.sedar.com, or contact Gregory Bowes, CEO, (613) 241-9959. This news release contains certain "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws. Forward-looking statements and information are frequently characterized by words such as "plan", "expect", "project", "intend", "believe", "anticipate", "estimate", "potential", "possible" and other similar words, or statements that certain events or conditions "may", "will", "could", or "should" occur. Forward-looking statements in this release include statements regarding, among others; economic and technical studies, graphite prices, project economics, permitting, the development timeline and the graphite market.All such forward-looking statements are based on assumptions and analyses made by management based on their experience and perception of historical trends, current conditions and expected future developments, as well as other factors they believe are appropriate in the circumstances. However, these statements 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 including, but not limited to, unexpected changes in laws, rules or regulations, or their enforcement by applicable authorities; the failure of other parties to perform as agreed; social or labour unrest; changes in commodity prices; unexpected failure or inadequacy of infrastructure and the failure of ongoing and contemplated studies to deliver anticipated results or results that would justify and support continued studies, development or operations. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking information or statements. Although the forward-looking statements contained in this news release are based on what management believes are reasonable assumptions, the Company cannot assure investors that actual results will be consistent with them. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this news release and are expressly qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement. Subject to applicable securities laws, the Company does not assume any obligation to update or revise the forward-looking statements contained herein to reflect events or circumstances occurring after the date of this news release. Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/75832 Platinum partnership level requires multiple specializations, certified developers and ecosystem-specific training MONTREAL, March 2, 2021 /PRNewswire/ - Absolunet has attained Platinum Partner Status with Optimizely . The firm's years of experience helping brands, manufacturers and distributors with B2B eCommerce and digital transformation has created deep expertise in systems integration, dating back to Insite B2B, which was acquired by Episerver. "The global COVID pandemic has accelerated the need to fast-forward digital transformations in B2B and Optimizely is one of the most exciting B2B Commerce platforms right now. Their investment in creating intuitive buying experiences, combined with the proven reliability of the Insite and Episerver legacies, make for a powerful B2B Commerce platform," says Charles Desjardins, Absolunet CEO, recently named among the 30 most influential people in eCommerce . "With Optimizely's announcement of their global expansion and the Optimizely B2B Commerce Cloud, first in the UK and Ireland then to continental Europe and beyond, B2B Commerce and digital transformation is about to get easier, more exciting and more accessible to brands and manufacturers than ever before!" Optimizely (formerly Episerver) was named a Leader in the 2021 Gartner Quadrant for Digital Experience . "At a time when companies must think digital first, Absolunet's investment into earning the Platinum status reflects their immense commitment and ability to help companies compete digitally," said Matt Pilgrim, regional vice president of partner development at Episerver. Diane Schmidt, Regional Vice President, Partner Development, Americas adds that "Both Absolunet and Episerver are experiencing sustained growth as the result of delivering world-class projects to customers who are optimizing the end-to-end digital experience." Growing Need for .NET Developers Absolunet is looking to hire senior .NET developers to continue to streamline its growing .NET and Optimizely/Episerver practice. About Absolunet Absolunet is a professional services firm specializing in commerce and digital transformations . We help some of North America's iconic brands and distributors fast-forward their digital transformation, bridge the eCommerce gap and put customers at the heart of their experience, profitably. SOURCE Absolunet inc. Related Links www.absolunet.com When Marine Corps leaders first found out a Camp Pendleton-based infantryman was claiming to be chairman of a nationalist organization and was sharing extremist material on social media, they counseled him to leave the group and remove some his posts but kept him among their ranks and sent him on deployment, recently released documents show. Six months later one day after the San Diego Union-Tribune asked about the Marine, then-Lance Cpl. Thomas Cade Martin the Corps launched a formal investigation which determined his actions violated military rules against extremism, reduced him in rank, then separated him from the military, documents show. Marine Corps regulations say it's mandatory that any Marine found to be participating in extremist activities be processed for separation following the first substantiated case of misconduct. That process includes an administrative board hearing that can decide whether or not to remove him from the Marines. Martin was the subject of a March 15, 2020 Union-Tribune report. Earlier this month, the newspaper obtained Martin's investigation documents via the Freedom of Information Act. A large part of the report, 39 of 133 pages, was completely redacted. A Marines spokeswoman said Martin's case was handled appropriately by his chain of command when his actions came to their attention in August 2019, and again after the Union-Tribune's inquiry in February 2020 which, documents show, is what kicked off the formal investigation. But some say this case shows the military's hardline on extremism is not absolute, that there is wiggle room in the policy for commanders to retain troops despite evidence of extremist activity at least until their cases become public. Much of the social media activity cited by the investigation that led to Martin's separation was already published on his accounts when his activity first came to his chain of command's attention during the summer of 2019, Martin said during an interview. Martin, now out of the Marine Corps, said he thought at the time that the Marines had given him a second chance, which they revoked because of the Union-Tribune story. "The military had already disciplined me," Martin said. "If (the Union-Tribune) hadn't reached out and jumped the chain of command I probably would have just been NJP'd I woulda been fine. If it wasn't for that, I'd probably still be in the Marines." NJP stands for non-judicial punishment, which can be meted out by a commanding officer. It often includes such punishments as a loss of pay, restrictions and reduction in rank. According to Pentagon regulations, military members are not allowed to advocate "supremacist, extremist .... doctrine, ideology, or causes .... or otherwise advance efforts to deprive individuals of their civil rights." Martin's posts on his social media accounts included materials that experts and eventually the Marine Corps said indicate White supremacist ideology. Martin frequently wrote about protecting his lineage, for instance, and he "liked" a friend's comment alluding to "the 14 words," a notorious White supremacist slogan about protecting the future for White children. In one post he posed in uniform with a rifle, with the caption "dreaming about my future blue eyed blonde haired mistress." Those posts have since been removed. And there were other posts that Martin was ordered to erase long before the investigation began, Martin said. Martin said he is a nationalist but not a White nationalist. He was listed as chairman of The U.S. Nationalist Initiative, a group that maintained a website and a Facebook page that had more than 1,400 followers last year. Experts who reviewed the group's page last year said it displayed indicators of White supremacist messaging. The U.S. Nationalist Initiative's website is no longer online but an archived version is viewable on the Wayback Machine. The Marine Corps investigation documents show Martin's superiors were aware of his online activity as early as August 2019, more than a year before he was discharged. That August, after Martin's platoon and company commanders learned he was the chairman of a nationalist organization, they sought legal advice from a reserve staff judge advocate on how to proceed, the documents show, and they briefed the battalion commander. On the advice of the reserve JAG officer, they ordered Martin to leave the nationalist group because "others could perceived [sic] the group as an extremist organization," the investigation document says. The names of the Marines and the JAG were redacted from the documents. On Sept. 1, 2019, Martin's platoon sergeant counseled Martin in writing about his social media pages which "display opinions and comments that have been received as racist, sexist, and not keeping with good order and discipline," the document says. In the comment section of the counseling form Martin wrote, word for word, the "about" section of the U.S. Nationalist Initiative's website, where the organization claimed not to discriminate based on race. Even so, he was ordered to remove any questionable material from his social media, the investigation says. On September 9, Martin's platoon sergeant gave him follow-up counseling. This time the sergeant wrote that Martin had removed the offending content from social media and tightened his privacy settings from public scrutiny, and there were "no concerns that any violation of the UCMJ (was) being committed," the sergeant wrote, referring to the Uniform Code of Military Justice. The counseling form was signed by his platoon commander, whose name also was redacted. A few months after his counseling, the Marines sent Martin on deployment with his battalion to the Pacific. The formal investigation into Martin began on Feb. 29, 2020, after a Union-Tribune reporter sent to the Marines questions and links to Martin's accounts and screenshots of what he was sharing. The investigation ended on April 30 and received a final endorsement by the commanding general of III Marine Expeditionary Force on June 15. Martin received non-judicial punishment and was reduced to private first class. He was administratively separated in September. Several of the posts cited as evidence against Martin were dated before August 2019. A photo illustration of Adolph Hitler at the Eifel Tower cited in the investigation was shared publicly on Martin's personal Instagram account on Oct. 21, 2018. A Patriot Front meme cited in the investigation was shared publicly on his personal Facebook page on Nov. 22, 2018. Other exhibits cited in the investigation were shared on the U.S. Nationalist Initiative Facebook page from late 2018 through July 2019. Martin said his leaders had not asked him to remove those posts; they had him remove others that came to their attention in August 2019. Don King, a retired Navy captain who most recently served as a senior Navy appellate court judge, said the actions of the Marines when Martin's activity first came to their attention raise questions about how his case was handled. "If one part of an organization finds something not to be supremacist and another part of it finds that same information is that raises questions," King said. "Why the different conclusions?" King said Martin's commanding officer would have to conclude the junior Marine's actions met the Marine Corps' definition of participation in supremacist activity in order to have him separated. But the wording of Martin's paperwork leaves some room for interpretation, he said. Martin's 2019 counseling paperwork said Martin's social media pages had "been received" as racist and sexist and that they "could" be detrimental to good order and discipline wording that didn't conclusively substantiate misconduct, King said. When asked about Martin's case, a spokeswoman for the Camp Pendleton-based 1st Marine Division defended the battalion leadership's decision to first counsel Martin instead of immediately processing him for administrative discharge. Maj. Kendra Motz said in an email that Martin's leaders acted appropriately when they discovered his social media posts in August 2019 and that he was eventually held accountable via non-judicial punishment, which shows that disciplinary action did not stop at the platoon level. "In this case, Thomas Martin's leadership were made aware of and appropriately documented Martin's unacceptable behavior in a timely manner," Motz said. "Further, the leadership correctly directed the Marine to make immediate changes, to include removing himself from the group and deleting posts that were detrimental to good order and discipline. Additionally, when it learned of further violations in February 2020, the command initiated a detailed investigation." However, in his recent interview with the Union-Tribune, Martin said he thought he was in the clear after being written up in September 2019. He hadn't expected further disciplinary measures not until his social media accounts became news. Motz did not answer questions about whether the Martin's counseling worksheet amounted to "substantiated misconduct" in 2019 or whether his battalion commander appropriately followed Marine regulations about mandated separation processing after the first substantiated instance of extremist-related misconduct. Motz also did not answer follow-up questions about the genesis of the formal investigation into Martin which, the investigation says, began after a "Twitter dispute" and the emailed questions from the Union-Tribune. "This case was investigated, adjudicated, and the Marine was separated from the Marine Corps," Motz emailed in response to the Union-Tribune's questions. Martin said other Marines in his unit were supportive of him after the first story about him was published in March 2020. "They joked around and kind of made fun of me," he said. "A lot of people really didn't care. My peers were a huge support structure for me during that time." Martin's case shows that front-line military leaders need to be prepared to address extremism in their ranks, said U.S Rep. Sara Jacobs, D-San Diego in an interview. She said extremism in the military is "a pervasive problem." Jacobs sits on the House Armed Services Committee, where she also serves on the Subcommittee on Military Personnel. Addressing extremism in the military will be a main focus of the subcommittee, she said, because having extremists in uniform damages the vast majority of those who serve honorably. "It's because of them we need to address this issue," Jacobs said. "It doesn't just affect national security, but it does damage to other members of the military to have extremists in their ranks." A 2020 Military Times survey found more than one-third of all active-duty troops have seen signs of White nationalism in their ranks. More than one-half of minority troops saw the same. In recent years several members of other extremist and White supremacist organizations have been booted from the military. And more recently, in the wake of the Jan. 6 assault on the Capitol by a pro-Trump mob, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin III has made addressing extremism in uniform a top priority. He ordered every unit across the department to pause and address the issue during a series of stand-downs over the next two months. However, the process for addressing extremism and separating military members found in violation of the service's policy isn't always cut and dry. Despite Pentagon regulations against service members advocating extremist ideology, the Marines and other military branches have not been consistent about how they handle such cases. In August 2019, a Marine reservist was reduced in rank but not discharged after sending a photo of Marines forming a swastika with their boots to Marine veteran and "Terminal Lance" cartoonist Maximilian Uriarte. Three months later, in an unrelated case, an Air Force master sergeant was first demoted but not discharged after being outed as an active member of the defunct White nationalist group Identity Evropa. He was eventually discharged from the service over his hate group affiliation in August 2020 but, unlike the Marine Corps in Martin's case, the Air Force did not release his investigation report, the Air Force Times reported. In another case, in 2019, two Marines were investigated at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar after sharing a video of the two of them in black charcoal pore-cleansing masks in uniform. One of the Marines says "blackface" and the other renders a salute. The first Marine then says "hello monkey." The investigation into that incident, also obtained by the Union-Tribune via the Freedom of Information Act, found that while the two Marines violated social media policies, their actions did not meet the criteria for separation processing under the rules governing extremist behavior. The investigation notes that one of the Marines was already being processed for separation at the time. The investigation was heavily redacted and the reason for the Marine's separation was not disclosed. Proposals are in the works to create laws addressing extremism in the military. Rep. Jackie Speier, D-San Francisco, proposed a measure to create a new section in military law explicitly making extremism a crime last year, but it was stripped from the final defense bill in December. Recently Rep. Pete Aguilar, D-Redlands, introduced a bill in the House called the Shielding Our Military from Extremists Act, that seeks to prevent extremists from joining the military. It does not address failures of the services to identify extremists already in uniform, however. This story originally appeared in San Diego Union-Tribune. This article is written by Andrew Dyer from The San Diego Union-Tribune and was legally licensed via the Tribune Content Agency through the Industry Dive publisher network. Please direct all licensing questions to legal@industrydive.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. Denmark has become the first European nation to tell Syrian migrants they must return to their home country, saying it is now safe for them there. The Scandinavian nation has stripped 94 Syrian refugees of their residency permits after it determined Damascus and the surrounding area as being safe. Migrants will be sent to deportation camps, but will not be forced to leave. But rights groups say the government is trying to give migrants no other option than to return to Syria on their own accord. Mattias Tesfaye, Denmark's immigration minister, said last month that the country had been 'open and honest from the start' with refugees coming from Syria. 'We have made it clear to the Syrian refugees that their residence permit is temporary. It can be withdrawn if protection is no longer needed,' he said, according to The Daily Telegraph. His comments came as Denmark extended the parts on Syria considered safe for people to return, to include the southern Rif Dimashq Governorate. Pictured: Migrants, mainly from Syria and Iraq, walk at the E45 freeway from Padborg, on the Danish-German border, heading north to try to get to Sweden on September 9, 2015 (file photo). Millions of migrants fled the middle east into Europe after conflict broke out in Syria 'We must give people protection for as long as it is needed. But when conditions in the home country improve, a former refugee should return home and re-establish a life there,' he said. Denmark's ruling centre-Left Social Democratic Party has taken a fierce anti-immigration stance in an effort to fend off challenges from parties on the Right. Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen has promised to target 'zero' asylum seekers applying for residence in the country. Mattias Tesfaye (pictured), Denmark's immigration minister, said last month that the country had been 'open and honest from the start' with refugees coming from Syria While Germany had previously ruled that criminals can be deported to Syria, Denmark is the first country in Europe to say refugees can be returned. The decision made by Denmark on the Rif Dimashq Governorate now means that a further 350 Syrian residents in the country will have their temporary protection permits reassessed. This is on top of the roughly 900 refugees from Damascus who had their cases reopened last year. By mid-January, The Telegraph reports that 94 Syrians from the Damascus area living in Denmark had seen their permits revoked. This came after a December 2019 ruling by Denmark's Refugee Appeals Board that the conditions in Damascus were no longer sufficiently dangerous to give grounds for temporary protection, without any additional personal reason to give asylum. But human rights groups have spoken out against Denmark's move to send people back to war-torn Syria. Steve Valdez-Symonds, Refugee and Migrant Rights Director at Amnesty International UK, told the MailOnline: 'That the Danish government is seeking to force people back into the hands of this brutal regime is an appalling affront to refugee law and people's right to be safe from persecution. 'This reckless violation of Denmark's duty to provide asylum also risks increasing incentives for other countries to abandon their own obligations to Syrian refugees. 'Not only will this put the lives of even more women, men and children at risk. It will add to reasons that cause people to travel ever further afield in search of safety and security for themselves and their family.' Michala Bendixen, from the rights group Refugees Welcome, said that Syrian refugees in Syria now faced a 'very, very tragic situation', and would be forced from their homes, jobs and studies and into Denmark's deportation camps. Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen has promised to target 'zero' asylum seekers applying for residence in the country, in attempt to see-off challenges from the political Right Speaking to The Telegraph, Bendixen said the refugees face years of limbo, and while they will not be forced onto planes, she said Denmark is hoping that the refugees will have no other option other than to return to Syria. 'The government hopes that they will go voluntarily, that they will just give up and go on their own,' she told the newspaper. Normally, refugees who do not leave Denmark voluntarily or if the country has no repatriation arrangement in place with their home country are accommodated at 'departure centres'. This is the case for Syrian refugees in Denmark because the country does not cooperate with the Assad regime. But Denmark's opposition Liberal party, a Right-wing organisation, called for the returns to be accelerated through an agreement with the brutal regime of Bashar al-Assad, Syria's authoritarian ruler. 'I can imagine an agreement that will only extend to the framework for sending people back, with some guarantees that you can return without being persecuted,' Mads Fuglede, the foreign spokesperson for the opposition Liberal Party, told Denmark's Jyllands-Posten newspaper. This, he said, would prevent Syrians from being stranded in deportation camps. 'If Denmark doesn't think that can be done, we should push for dialogue with the Assad regime at EU level,' Fuglede added. However, he later took to Facebook to say that his proposed deal in no way suggested recognising the 'criminal dictatorship' of Assad. Pictured: A general view taken on October 6, 2014, shows the Dakhaniyeh neighbourhood, southeast of the capital Damascus, after Syrian government forces seized control of area. Denmark has stripped 92 Syrian refugees of their residency permits after it determined Damascus and the surrounding area as being safe 'I want to stress that the Liberal party does not think Denmark should recognise the Assad regime,' he wrote, adding that the regime is a 'criminal dictatorship which we in no way wish to rubber-stamp'. 'But we should discuss what to do with all the Syrian refugees in Europe as Syria has become safer around Damascus, and how they can safely return to their country,' he explained. 'But it is clear that if this can only be done by recognising Assad, then it can't be done. Then we'll have to find other options.' Denmark's ruling centre-Left Social Democratic Party has already rejected the prospect of discussing a repriatration agreement with Assad's regime. 'It would send the completely wrong signal that we consider Assad to be the victor in Syria,' the party's immigration spokesman Rasmus Stoklund told Jyllands-Posten. Foreign Minister Jeppe Kofod has also said the government does not support the proposal. 'It is completely wrong to cooperate with one of history's worst dictators just to look tough (on immigration). These are people we're talking about,' Social Liberal spokesperson for immigration Andreas Steenberg tweeted. Denmark is a signatory to the European Convention on Human Rights, which prevents asylum seekers from being deported if they risk torture or persecution in their home countries. Syrians walk along a severely damaged road in the northeastern city of Deir Ezzor in this file image taken in January 2014 The Syrian civil war, which began on March 15, 2011 as part of the wider 2011 Arab Spring protests and involved a number of different factions including Assad's Syrian Arab Republic, Hezbollah, ISIS and the U.S.-supported the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria, displaced millions of Syrians. Pre-war, the population of the Syrian Arab Republic was estimated at 22 million, with the UN identifying 13.5 million of that number as displaced persons, requiring humanitarian assistance. The war, along with conflicts in Afghanistan, Iraq and Africa - among others - contributed to the European Migrant Crisis said to have begun in 2014, which saw millions of migrants flee into Europe. The majority - 46.7 percent - are believed to have been Syrian. On Monday, the United Nations investigators said that thousands of civilians had been subjected to 'unimaginable suffering' including torture, sexual violence and death in detention during a decade of conflict in Syria. The report said that men, women, boys and girls detained by government or pro-government forces had been subjected to inhuman treatment and torture, including rape. 'At least 20 different horrific methods of torture used by the government of Syria have been extensively documented,' the report said. 'These include administering electric shocks, the burning of body parts, pulling off nails and teeth, mock executions, folding detainees into a car tyre and crucifying or suspending individuals from one or two limbs for prolonged periods, often in combination with severe beating.' Tens of thousands of civilians who were detained are unaccounted for, with no trace of their whereabouts, the UN Commission of Inquiry on Syria found. Mourners attend the funeral of civilians and fighters, who died during attacks by Turkish-led forces on the border town of Ras al-Ain, in a cemetary in Tal Tamr, near the Syrian Kurdish town of Ras al-Ain in October 2019 The three-member panel's report was based upon more than 2,500 interviews conducted over 10 years and investigations into more than 100 detention facilities. It found that almost every major party that has controlled territory in Syria since 2011 has committed detention-related violations and abuses. 'Hundreds of thousands of family members have a right to the truth about their loved ones' fate,' said commission chair Paulo Pinheiro. 'This is a national trauma that needs to be urgently addressed by action from the parties and the international community.' The report stressed that detainees continued to be mistreated in notorious detention facilities even as the conflict approached its 11th year. 'These detainees have endured unimaginable suffering,' the commission said. 'This has been happening with the knowledge and acquiescence of the governments who have supported the different parties to the conflict. Thousands of civilians have been subjected to 'unimaginable suffering' including torture, sexual violence and death in detention during a decade of conflict in Syria, United Nations investigators said. Above, a file image of a boy being rescued from a building in Aleppo in 2014 'The fate of tens of thousands of civilians who were forcibly disappeared by Syrian government forces, many nearly a decade ago, remains unknown. Many are presumed to have died or been executed.' Commissioner Karen Koning AbuZayd said parties to the conflict had, with few exceptions, failed to investigate their own forces, with the focus seemingly on concealing rather than probing crimes committed in detention facilities. The authors called for all parties in the conflict to stop violations, immediately release certain categories of detainee and allow independent monitoring of detention facilities. Its findings will be presented to the UN Human Rights Council on March 11. The Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Syria was mandated by the council to investigate and record all violations of international law since March 2011 in the country. The commission has repeatedly accused the various sides of war crimes and in some cases crimes against humanity. Since Syria's civil war broke out in 2011, more than 387,000 people have been killed and millions forced from their homes. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full 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 Pines Manor, a banquet hall in Edison, is accustomed to preparing thousands of meals a day. The facility, which sits on five acres of land is one of the largest venues in New Jersey. But, the coronavirus has caused an unprecedented dip in business. This venue has been through the Spanish Flu, the Great Depression, World War II, a fire in 1972, and now its going to survive COVID-19. I dont want this to fold on my watch, said Joe Amore, owner of the Pines Manor. 2019 was the best year weve ever had and when the pandemic hit, we were getting ready for proms, weddings, and so many other big events. Weve had 1,000 events cancelled. During the warm weather months, Pines Manor was able to do some outdoor events at limited capacity but since then, only a few events have been held indoors, at either 25% or 35% in compliance with state guidelines. So business is tough for Amore, who bought the restaurant five years ago with executive chef Jeff McNamara after serving as director of operations since 2004. As of late, one of the facilitys most consistent customers has been FeedNJ, the initiative by nonprofit SoupKitchen411 to buy meals from local restaurants and serve for free at soup kitchens and houses of worship. The first Saturday of this month, 250 meals to be served at Hands of Hope in Edison were prepared at the Pines Manor. For these great community events, our staple has become the chicken francese with rosemary roasted potatoes and mixed vegetables. Its a delicious, nutritious meal that has a level of decadence, but doesnt break the bank to make, Amore said. Amore sells these meals to FeedNJ at cost, only $8 per meal, enough to cover ingredients and labor for the furloughed or part-time kitchen crew that are used to preparing thousands of meals every day. These meals came from a donation by Government Strategy Group, a Shrewsbury-based consulting firm that has donated several times to FeedNJ. The longtime vendor to Edisons Finance Department made a $5,000 donation in the municipalitys honor to purchase meals for this months service, and two other meal services at Hands of Hope. Pines Manor is a local landmark, and the owners do so much for the local community, including hosting blood drives and free outdoor movie screenings. We are proud to support the mission of FeedNJ to Save a Restaurant and Feed a Community and honored that Government Strategy Group, a firm weve had a wonderful working relationship with for many years, is so dedicated to fortifying our community, said Ashley Gotz, assistant treasurer at the Township of Edisons Finance Department. Since the start of the pandemic, Pines Manor has hosted three blood drives with the American Red Cross, attended by an average of more than 100 blood donors. Pines Manor has delivered over 1,000 meals purchased by FeedNJ across Middlesex County. To date, FeedNJ has served over 35,000 meals in 13 counties across the state, but nowhere more than in Middlesex County, where it has served nearly 11,000 meals at Hands of Hope, New Brunswicks Elijahs Promise, Woodbridges Trinity Soup Kitchen, Perth Amboys Renovation House, and Perth Amboys Salvation Army Corps. FeedNJ is operated by the nonprofit SoupKitchen411. For more information, go to www.soupkitchen411.com or email info@soupkitchen411.com. The lethal toll the pandemic is having on patients with non-Covid illnesses is revealed in new figures showing almost a million hospital appointments have been cancelled. The damage inflicted as the health service wrestles with Covid-19 shows that 200,000 fewer outpatient and inpatient appointments are expected this year. This comes on top of a similar situation last year when more than 723,000 hospital patient sessions did not go ahead. The new analysis, which is published today by the Irish Hospital Consultants Association (IHCA), reveals the devastating impact of the pandemic on patients with other illnesses, many of them urgent and life-threatening. It also emerged yesterday that from July there will be around 300 fewer intern doctors in hospitals across the country. The number is reverting back to 734 after getting a boost last year due to the pandemic. But it comes as waiting lists for public patients have risen to 860,000 and are on course to reach a record one million. Prof Alan Irvine, president of the IHCA, said: Yet again, these waiting time figures drive home the devastating impact not just of Covid-19 on the provision of care to patients, but of the persistent underinvestment in hospital infrastructure, bed capacity and other facilities in the past decade and the failure to address the consultant recruitment and retention crisis. Expand Close The IHCA's Alan Irvine during a Covid-19 committee meeting at Leinster House on Kildare Street, Dublin. Photo: Gareth Chaney/Collins / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp The IHCA's Alan Irvine during a Covid-19 committee meeting at Leinster House on Kildare Street, Dublin. Photo: Gareth Chaney/Collins 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. Planning is now required to ensure that services are resourced appropriately to cater for the increased demand. "But with over 700 permanent consultant posts vacant our acute hospitals are very poorly positioned to provide timely care to patients. Hospitals have had to put much non-Covid care on hold during recent months as they were flooded with patients battling the virus. However, there was some light yesterday as Prof Philip Nolan told a Covid-19 briefing that the number of admissions to hospital is falling and is below an average of 600 over the last week. There were no new patient with the virus admitted to intensive care in the previous 24 hours. Prof Irvine said additional consultants must be recruited to tackle waiting lists and address the backlog of treatment due to Covid. Government can no longer ignore the fundamental requirement that essential treatment is delivered by consultants and that no amount of investment in hospital services will reduce waiting lists unless we recruit and retain the necessary number of hospital consultants to deliver timely care, he added. The HSEs 2021 service plan has a budget of 20.6bn and pledges to hire more doctors and increase hospital beds. This includes another 66 intensive care beds, bringing the number to 321 at the end of the year. A spokesperson for the HSE said: The national number of medical internship posts available for July 2021 has reverted to 734, which is the standard annual intake in line with current workforce planning projections. The significant increase in intern numbers put in place for July 2020 was a direct response to the Covid crisis. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Philonise Floyd, brother of George Floyd, speaks during the March on Washington at the Lincoln Memorial on 28 August 2020 in Washington, DC ((Getty Images)) Just one member of George Floyds family will be allowed to attend the murder trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, due to limitations caused by the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Mr Floyd died in May last year in Minnesota after Mr Chauvin knelt on his neck for close to eight minutes, sparking a summer of racial justice protests in every state across the US in opposition to police brutality against African Americans. The officer has subsequently been charged with second-degree unintentional murder and second-degree manslaughter, with his trial scheduled to begin at the end of the month. However, Ben Crump, who is working as an attorney for the Floyd family, confirmed on Tuesday that only one member of Mr Floyds and Mr Chauvins families will be allowed to attend the trial at any one time, following a decision from Hennepin County District judge Peter Cahill. After a deeply painful and emotional year, the Floyd family is understandably disappointed by this ruling, Mr Crump tweeted on Tuesday. This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it. The trial management order written by Mr Cahill states that different family members may rotate through that position, but only with the appropriate credentials to be admitted to the 18th floor. The attorney said that the family understands the need for limitations on the trial as it is taking place amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, but expressed in a statement to Newsweek that they are disappointed with the decision. Mr Crump added that the family are looking forward to the start of the trial as a critical milestone on the path to justice and a step toward closure in this dark chapter of their lives. Mr Chauvin has pleaded not guilty to the criminal charges, with a previous charge of third-degree murder dropped by Judge Cahill at a pre-trial hearing. Prosecutors have asked for it to be reinstated, with a decision expected to be made soon. The coronavirus pandemic had already affected the trial before Mr Cahills latest ruling, as the judge decided to try Mr Chauvin separately from the three other former officers charged in relation to Mr Floyds death. Story continues The officers, Thomas Lane, J Alexander Kueng and Tou Thao, have all pleaded not guilty to aiding and abetting second-degree murder and aiding and abetting second-degree manslaughter, but are not expected to stand trial until the summer due to concerns over the ability to adhere to coronavirus guidelines in the courtroom. Minnesotas coronavirus guidelines currently recommend that people stay six feet away from others if possible and wear facial coverings in public spaces. Although everyone who attends Mr Chauvins trial will be required to wear a face mask and keep distance from others, witnesses and attorneys will be allowed to remove the coverings while speaking. Since the start of the pandemic, Minnesota has seen more than 485,000 coronavirus and at least 6,554 deaths. According to Johns Hopkins University, there are now more than 28.6 million people who have tested positive for the coronavirus in the US. The death toll has reached 515,195. The Independent has contacted Mr Chauvins lawyer, Eric J Nelson, and the office of Mr Crump for comment. Read More Growing tension in Minneapolis as trial looms in Floyd death Minneapolis cancels plan to hire social media influencers to spin George Floyd murder trial ANNAPOLIS, Md. - At first, the bill addressing the role of racism in health disparities in Maryland laid out the context plainly: "Racism is rooted in the foundation of America, from the time chattel slavery began in the 1600s, to the Jim Crow era, to the declaration of the war on drugs that eventually led to the mass incarceration of Black people, and it has remained a presence in American society while subjecting Black, Indigenous, and People of Color to hardships and disadvantages in every aspect of life." But after Republicans and some conservative Democrats complained, lawmakers struck all 11 references to racism, past and present. Senate Finance Committee Chair Delores Kelley, D-Baltimore County, said the goal was to move the bill forward without a drawn-out fight on the Senate floor. "We were going to lose the vote on the floor if we didn't remove the preamble," Kelley said in an interview. "And the devil works in mysterious ways. . . . I think they thought we would let the whole bill die." Amid a national reckoning on structural racism and disparities exposed by the coronavirus pandemic, the decision shows the difficulties of confronting and addressing historic bigotry - even in a liberal legislature where Democrats hold veto-proof majorities in both chambers. "The truth of the matter is in order to end racism in this state we have to be willing to call it out and see it in print," said Sen. Mary Washington, D-Baltimore City, the bill's sponsor. The action also is evidence of the push and pull at play in the Senate, where more-conservative senators now lead the Republican caucus and Senate President Bill Ferguson, D-Baltimore City, a young liberal, is adjusting to his role after decades of Mike Miller leading the chamber. The bill, named for former state senator Shirley Nathan-Pulliam, would create a commission to examine the health of Maryland residents and the impact of various factors, including access to affordable housing, educational attainment and employment, on health. The commission would advise the state government on racial, ethnic, cultural or socioeconomic disparities in health, and set goals for health equity. It came to the floor last week with the references to racism intact. But, in an unusual move, Kelley, who is Black, asked for the measure to be sent back to her committee to deal with a last-minute amendment. "Why?" Sen. Malcolm Augustine, D-Prince George's, asked when the committee took up whether to delete the introductory passages about racism's role and impact throughout U.S. history. "Why? Why would we do that?" Sen. Brian Feldman, D-Montgomery, the vice chair of the committee who was running the meeting, turned to Sen. J.B. Jennings, R-Harford, for an answer. "There are issues in the preamble," Jennings said. "We just want to focus on the actual bill." The preamble said "racism unfairly disadvantages specific individuals and communities while unfairly giving advantages to other individuals." It continued: "The American Public Health Association, National Association of County and City Health Officials, and the American Academy of Pediatrics have declared racism as a public health crisis." Jennings and Sen. Stephen Hershey, R-Queen Anne's, voted in favor of the version of the bill with the preamble when it was approved by the committee the first time. Jennings noted that there had not been much discussion before that vote. He and Hershey told their colleagues that several members of the Republican caucus supported creating the commission but that they were "uncomfortable" basing it on racism. "There was concerns about some of the specifics in the clauses," Hershey said. Senate Minority Whip Michael Hough, R-Frederick, did not respond to a request for comment. Kelley said it was best to move the bill forward, especially since the legislature is also wrestling with major legislation on police accountability and other issues. "I would just say if you don't have an earthshaking reason, we'd like to get this back on the floor and move other bills," she said at the committee meeting. Sen. Antonio Hayes, D-Baltimore City, said he was sensitive to the Senate's full agenda and agreed with her on ensuring that the bill passed without a protracted debate. But, "for me, and I can only speak for me . . . this country has the issue of racism, right? And it's taken a long time for us to acknowledge that." He said he would not vote to remove the amendment if a roll call were taken. Feldman ultimately asked for a voice vote. Hershey said the amendment was "not meant to erase history or to not acknowledge that these conditions aren't out there. It's just do they need to be in writing in uncodified language in a bill that we all supported? This was just a request that our caucus made to say, 'Can we find a way to take it out, bring it back to the floor, we'll all vote in favor of it, and we'll be done with it.' " Experts in health and Black history said it was disappointing that Maryland lawmakers missed an opportunity. "You can't compromise on racism," said Naa Oyo Kwate, an associate professor of Africana studies at Rutgers University who has studied how racism directly and indirectly affects Black health. "Striking that language is not cosmetic. It's fundamental to what they are setting out to do and for what they are supposed to achieve." Natalia Linos, the executive director of the Francois-Xavier Bagnoud Center for Health and Human Rights at Harvard University, said: "We know as epidemiologists that when we're seeing these stark inequities between Black Americans and White Americans it isn't because of inferiority or biology reasons. This is because of our structures and our policies." "This is because of racism, past racism and ongoing exclusion that people face in poor housing or environmental racism." A similar bill in the House of Delegates has been approved by a subcommittee. It has the preamble. If the Senate bill passes, the measure will be taken up in the House. If the House puts the preamble back in, the chambers will have to hash out the differences in a conference committee. Holtville: Thirteen people were killed on Tuesday when an SUV carrying 25 people and a semi-trailer collided on a Southern California highway near the US-Mexico border, authorities said. Twelve people were found dead when first responders reached the highway, which winds through fields in the agricultural southeastern corner of California. Another person died at a hospital, California Highway Patrol Chief Omar Watson said. Authorities do not yet know if the driver of the 1997 Ford Expedition, who died in the crash, had stopped at a stop sign before crossing into the path of the big rig around 6.15am, Watson said. The gravel-hauling semi-trailer hit the left side of the SUV, which appeared to have been pushed off the road thats about 160 kilometres east of San Diego. Law enforcement officers work at the scene of a deadly crash in California. Credit:AP Watson described a grisly scene outside Holtville, a rural town about 18 kilometres north of the border with farms that grow vegetables and alfalfa for cattle feed. Officers arrived to find that some people had been ejected from the SUV onto the ground. Some of the passengers had pulled themselves from the wreckage, and others who were injured were wandering around. Winners and the finalists of the 11th edition of Aegis Graham Bell Awards (AGBA) were declared in a virtual event. The 11th AGBA is supported by the Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology, Government of India; NITI Aayog, Skill India, Maharashtra State Innovation Society & National Informatics Centre Services Incorporated; FICCI as the chamber partner. AGBA supports the girls and women through Safe N Happy Periods. At the event, Honble Union Cabinet Minister Shri Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, Minister in Ministry of Jal Shakti and Honble Minister of State Shri. Pratap Chandra Sarangi, Minister of State for Animal Husbandry, Dairying and Fisheries and Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME), recognized 8 talented students from all over India, who were provided with a 100% scholarship to study Post Graduate Program (PGP) in Data Science; PGP in Applied AI, Machine Learning & Deep Learning and PGP in Cybersecurity from Aegis School of Data Science & Cybersecurity in association with IBM. The winners and finalists of the 11th AGBA: Winners: Innovative Telecom Solution Jio Platforms (Jio Coverage Platform) Artificial Intelligence powered innovation for Telecom Vodafone Idea (AI Powered Telecom Network operation and maintenance) 5G innovation Jio Platforms (Cloud native 5G core) Innovation in Telecom Infrastructure ATC India (Flexible Solar panels on Telecom Monopole structure) Innovative Mobile App for Consumers Public App (latest updates of your city through short videos) Artificial Intelligence powered innovation for Life Science LivNSense Technologies (AI-Powered Digital Chemical Reactors) Combat COVID19 with Artificial Intelligence St Luke Health System (Leveraging Data and AI to Combat the COVID19 Pandemic) Innovation in Cloud Moglix (iCAT a Made in India cloud SaaS innovation); Innovation in Data Science Rubiscape (A Comprehensive data science platform with no coding) Innovation in Artificial Intelligence Logically (Misinformation and the Indian Election) and Devnagri (AI-powered Human Translation Platform) Innovation in Cyber Security Unisys (Stealth(core)) Innovation in Blockchain AVA Labs (Avalanche Protocol); Innovation in FinTech Khatabook (Digitally Enabling Bharats MSME Segment) Innovation in AgTech Urdhvam (Borecharger) Innovation in EdTech Analytica Data Labs (Analyticca Data Labs LEAP) Artificial Intelligence powered innovation for Retail IBM (Fabric AI for Supplychain) and Stylumia (Trend Forecasting & Demand Sensing) Innovative diagnostic solutions OncoStem Diagnostics (CanAssist Breast) Innovation in Internet of Things Dozee (India 1st Contactless Health Tracker); Innovative preventive measures to Combat COVID19 Navork innovations (Avran) Innovative remote working solutions VMware (VMware Workspace One); Innovative lockdown management solution for Corporate Birlasoft (intelliOpen) Innovative logistics management solutions Shadowfax (detecting masks and sanitizers in selfies) Innovative medical equipment Nocca Robotics (High flow oxygen therapy device) Innovative digital transformation HDFC Life (Computer Vision at HDFC Life); Innovation in Transport Tech Swiggy (Combination of AI) and Anil Geols Ways Next Generation Tolling Platform Innovation in Renewable Energy Energy Vault (Gravity Energy Storage) Innovation in Enterprise Automation Codegrip (Automated Code Review Tool); Innovation in Enterprise Solution Quintype (Quintype Platform) AI powered innovation for Enterprise Zensar (Vinci : Zensars AIOps platform) Jury Choice Award Skyroot Aerospace (Vikram Launch Vehicle Series) and Amal World (Smart hygience for Women with Autism & handicaped during COVID19) and Planys Technologies (Underwater Robots/Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROVs) for asset). Finalists: Innovative Telecom Solution Cisco and Sterlite Technologies Limited Artificial Intelligence powered innovation for Telecom Jio Platforms 5G innovation Cellwize and PureSoftware Innovation in Telecom Infrastructure ATC India and Parallel Wireless Innovative Mobile App for Consumers Mitron TV and Atmanirbhar app Artificial Intelligence powered innovation for Life Science Larsen & Toubro Infotech Combat COVID19 with Artificial Intelligence Quantiphi and Salcit Technologies Innovation in Cloud Vmware and Zensar Innovation in Data Science Thoucentric Labs (PrediQ) and Thoucentric Labs (PriceVision) Innovation in Artificial Intelligence Entropik Technologies Innovation in Cyber Security Siemens and ST Telemedia Global Data Centres Innovation in Blockchain Jio Platforms Innovation in FinTech CityCash and inVOID; Innovation in AgTech FarmERP and Eggoz Innovation in EdTech Entropik Technologies and Testbook; Artificial Intelligence powered innovation for Retail SAP Labs India Innovative diagnostic solutions Agappe Diagnostics and Briota Technologies Innovation in Internet of Things Nokia and Tata Communication; Innovative preventive measures to Combat COVID19 PraanaPoorna Collective and Mariam Tek Innovative remote working solutions Wipro and Zensar Innovative lockdown management solution for Corporate Wipro and LTI Innovative logistics management solutions SAP Labs India and Pitney Bowes; Innovative medical equipment Bliss N Style and Absstem Technologies Innovative digital transformation Oppo & One Click Technologies and Zensar Innovation in Transport Tech Anil Goels Wayz Next Generation Mobility Platform Innovation in Renewable Energy Chakr Innovation and Sistema Bio Innovation in Enterprise Automation Grene Robotics and Jio Platforms Innovation in Enterprise Solution Moglix and Airtel Business AI powered innovation for Enterprise Icertis and Siemens. The eight students who were provided with a 100% scholarship: Student Name City Abhishek Mishra Amravati Poothi Venu Satya Jaya Raju Reddy Vizag Muskan Pandey Pune Abhishek Muttath Pune Aditya Rai Bhopal Sourabh Katare Solapur Aishwarya Krishnan Thalavapalayam Karri Madhuri Vizag Aegis Graham Bell Awards (AGBA) is an initiative Aegis School of Data Science, Cyber Security and Telecom and powered by mUni Campus to recognize young brains who has potential to grow as technology leaders; start-up founders; innovators; entrepreneurs; intra entrepreneurs who are transforming the lives of millions of Indians by their work in the fields of Information and Communications Technology (ICT). For 51 years, climate scientists have warned us of the grave and existential threat of man-made climate change. In 1970, the Boston Globe published a news article with the headline "Scientist predicts a new ice age by 21st century." Five years later, in 1975, the threat was moved to red alert when the editor of New Scientists declared that "the threat of a new ice age must now stand alongside nuclear war as a likely source of wholesale death and misery for mankind." Avid skiers and winter apparel brands were giddy with excitement until they received some devastating news. While the predicted ice age never came, and the climate coolers were forced to admit they had been wrong, they assured us that global warming would fulfill their prophecies instead. In 1988, scientists and leading climate experts predicted that the Maldives and Manhattan would be underwater by 2018. In 2014, the French foreign minister standing alongside John Kerry declared, "We have 500 days to avoid climate chaos." The more the climate changers' predictions failed to come true, the more disastrous their predictions became and the less time we were told we had to act to avert catastrophe. Makes sense if you don't think about it. Today John Kerry says the Earth has only nine years to avert the worst consequences of climate crisis. Two years ago, in 2019, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez told us, "The world is going to end in 12 years if we don't address climate change." I don't know whom to believe. Is the world ending in 2030, as Kerry says, or 2031, as Ocasio-Cortez said? I suppose it makes little difference. What is important is that we repent of our irresponsible evolution from the caves to the comforts of heated and air-conditioned homes. Although I doubt those in Texas who froze to death due to a lack of electricity and heat would agree. Climate change is a cult. Climate changers are neither scientific nor intellectually superior. They are truth deniers, who demean those of us who reject their debunked conspiracy theories with the same embarrassing zeal with which the Democrat party indicts its political opponents as racists and terrorists. Records of surface temperatures on Earth have existed only since the 1880s. Yet climate changers have the audacity to claim that our presence, based on their study of temperature data compiled from 141 years of a 4.54-billion-year history, is responsible for the heating of the planet. Frankly, there's no less scientific claim, backed up with more incomplete data, than that of man-made climate change. It's less than scientific; it's moronic. The evidence of aliens, ghosts, and spontaneous combustion is more abundant than that of man-made climate change. Many of these brilliant scientists and their cult followers drive electric cars to save the environment, seemingly unaware that the electricity needed to power their public displays of solidarity with Mother Earth's plight comes from coal. Their conviction of Earth's imminent demise due to carbon emissions is so overwhelming that the greatest advocates live in mansions, fly in private jets, and travel in a caravan of SUVs. Joe Biden and the other leaders of the climate change cult are not at all different from the deceased leader of the Branch Davidians, David Koresh, who demanded celibacy from his followers while taking 20 wives for himself. The climate change cult exists for one purpose: to render us slaves and the government masters. Wannabe rulers use "science" to justify their amoral seizure of power and to convince fearful and vulnerable Americans to relinquish their freedom without a fight. It is fitting that the illegitimate president of the United States has wasted no time in taking on the most illegitimate issue in the history of mankind ending the Keystone Pipeline and reviving our commitment to curb CO2 emissions in the United States. Our permit to "climb from the swamp to the stars" has been revoked and replaced with a new mandate to return to the swamp from which we crawled. One day in the future, when our politicians no longer deem outdoor dining patios and church auditoriums dangerous places of death and disease, and give us their permission to eat outside and worship together, we can lock arms in the streets, from sea to shining sea, and collectively cry out with voices of joy and gratitude for government for protecting us from COVID and now protecting our fragile planet from the dangerous carbon dioxide we exhale. Drew Allen is a Texas-bred, California-based conservative author and speaker, who writes a weekly blog promoting conservative ideals at drewallen.substack.com. Fluent in Italian, Drew has lived and worked in Italy in the fashion industry and in New York City and Los Angeles as an actor, screenwriter, and independent film producer. Image: max_gloin via Pixabay, Pixabay License. Sorry, no valid subscriptions were found for this Publication. Please select from an option below to start a subscription. SUBSCRIBE TODAY! 24 Hour Access CLEVELAND, March 1, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE: SHW) ("Sherwin-Williams" or the "Company") today announced that David B. Sewell, President and Chief Operating Officer, has notified the Company of his decision to resign effective as of the close of business on March 12, 2021, to become chief executive officer of another company outside of the coatings industry. "We thank David for his many contributions to Sherwin-Williams over his 14 years with the Company, and we wish him much success in his future endeavors," said Sherwin-Williams Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, John G. Morikis. "Our deep and experienced global team continues to move forward with great momentum, focused on delivering solutions to our customers and executing on initiatives that will drive sustained long-term success." Mr. Sewell's Chief Operating Officer role will not be filled immediately. Mr. Morikis will serve as President in addition to his current role and assume Mr. Sewell's primary duties and responsibilities. About The Sherwin-Williams Company Founded in 1866, The Sherwin-Williams Company is a global leader in the manufacture, development, distribution, and sale of paint, coatings and related products to professional, industrial, commercial, and retail customers. The Company manufactures products under well-known brands such as Sherwin-Williams, Valspar, HGTV HOME by Sherwin-Williams, Dutch Boy, Krylon, Minwax, Thompson's Water Seal, Cabot, and many more. With global headquarters in Cleveland, Ohio, Sherwin-Williams branded products are sold exclusively through a chain of more than 4,900 Company-operated stores and facilities, while the Company's other brands are sold through leading mass merchandisers, home centers, independent paint dealers, hardware stores, automotive retailers, and industrial distributors. The Sherwin-Williams Performance Coatings Group supplies a broad range of highly-engineered solutions for the construction, industrial, packaging and transportation markets in more than 120 countries around the world. Sherwin-Williams shares are traded on the New York Stock Exchange (symbol: SHW). For more information, visit www.sherwin.com . Investor Relations Contacts: Jim Jaye Senior Vice President, Investor Relations & Corporate Communications Direct: 216.515.8682 [email protected] Eric Swanson Vice President, Investor Relations Direct: 216.566.2766 [email protected] Media Contact: Julie Young Vice President, Global Corporate Communications Direct: 216.515.8849 [email protected] SOURCE The Sherwin-Williams Company Related Links http://www.sherwin.com The Nagol is Back! VTOs guide to this years Nagol, plus where to stay and play in south, central and north Pentecost. The European Union imposed sanctions on four senior Russian officials close to President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday, a move agreed by EU foreign ministers last week in response to the jailing of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny. The United States also imposed sanctions on Russian individuals and entities in a move coordinated with the EU, senior officials in the administration of U.S. President Joe Biden said. The EU sanctions will affect four individuals including Alexander Bastrykin, whose Investigative Committee handles investigations into major crimes and reports directly to Russian President Vladimir Putin. The others are Igor Krasnov, Russias prosecutor-general since 2020; Viktor Zolotov, the head of Russias National Guard who publicly threatened Navalny with violence in September 2018; and Alexander Kalashnikov, head of the federal prison service. Navalny, 44, was arrested in January on his return from Germany following treatment for poisoning with what many Western countries say was a military-grade nerve agent while in Siberia last August. He was jailed on Feb. 2 for parole violations on what he says were politically motivated charges. The Kremlin denies any involvement in what happened to Navalny and has said it has seen no evidence he was poisoned. The EU sanctions are being imposed under a new framework that allows the bloc to take measures in response to human rights violations anywhere in the world, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell told reporters last week. The EU has already sanctioned six Russians and a state scientific research centre in response to the treatment of Navalny. The senior officials in Bidens administration, speaking to reporters on a conference call, also reiterated a call by Biden for Russia to release Navalny from prison. Biden has taken a tougher approach to Putin than Trump. SOURCE: REUTERS Digital.com, a leading independent review website for small business online tools, products, and services, has announced the best web design firms in Washington DC. The top companies were selected based on multiple services, size of the firm, and industry focus. Experts at Digital.com examined companies with additional branding or marketing services that would enable businesses to scale up. Each firm was expected to demonstrate industry expertise in specific areas like manufacturing, retail, hospitality, and healthcare. The guide also features large and small firms to meet a variety of budgets and service needs. Our experts spent hours reviewing many web design companies in Washington DC that can offer a broad range of services and industry expertise, says Christelle Feniza, Communications Manager of Digital.com. This guide will help businesses narrow their search for top-rated firms. Researchers at Digital.com conducted a 40-hour assessment of over 49 companies across the city. To access the complete list of best web design companies in Washington DC, please visit https://digital.com/web-design-companies/washington-dc/. 15 Best Web Design Companies in Washington DC ABOUT DIGITAL.COM Digital.com reviews and compares the best products, services, and software for running or growing a small business website or online shop. The platform collects twitter comments and uses sentiment analysis to score companies and their products. Digital.com was founded in 2015 and formerly known as Review Squirrel. To learn more, visit https://digital.com/. "Really excited to be returning to Federal Equipment Company after 17 years! They are an industry leader in used pharmaceutical and chemical equipment. Well respected and trusted for both sourcing equipment and disposing of surplus equipment," said Nelson. At Federal Equipment Company, Nelson will be identifying opportunities to buy, auction, or liquidate idle and surplus equipment in pharmaceutical, chemical, and other material processing industries. His chemical industry equipment knowledge and experience makes him a valuable resource for anyone looking to source equipment as well. Nelson will be establishing Federal Equipment Company's first office in the state of Texas. Company President, Adam Covitt, "Steve has been a deal-maker in the equipment industry for many years. He will immediately expand our capacity to service our customers helping them turn idle equipment into cash and finding equipment for their operations that is available now with greatly reduced purchase prices versus new." Steve Nelson can be reached at: +1 281-686-6979 [email protected] Federal Equipment Company offers 60 years of expertise buying and selling pharmaceutical processing and packaging equipment. We optimize the value you recoup for surplus equipment and ensure you get the equipment you need quickly from our broad, on-hand inventory of reliable used machines. For more information about Federal Equipment Company: https://fedequip.com/ +1 216-271-3500 [email protected] SOURCE Federal Equipment Company Related Links https://fedequip.com Advertisement An Indonesian volcano erupted on Tuesday morning spewing a spectacular column of ash thousands of feet into the air, nearly obscuring the powder blue sky from the view of locals watching below. Vulcanologists recorded 13 separate blasts as Mount Sinabung leapt to life, belching debris up to 16,400 feet (5,000 metres) above Sumatra. There was no immediate danger to life or property, authorities said, with a three-mile (five-kilometre) ring around the volcano having been left unoccupied over recent years. No evacuation orders have been issued, and there has been no reported flight disruption. But locals are taking no chances. Indonesia's Mount Sinabung volcano sent a cloud of hot ash as high as 3 miles on Tuesday, in its first big eruption since August last year. Pictured: The eruption as seen from Kuta Rakyat village in Karo, North Sumatra Province, Indonesia, March 2 Mount Sinabung's activity has increased since last year and the alert for the volcano in North Sumatra province has been placed at the second-highest level. Pictured: People watch from a market in Karo, North Sumatra, Indonesia, March 2, 2021 Pictured: The view of the Mount Sinabung eruption from a nearby village, March 2. No evacuation orders have been issued, and there has been no reported flight disruption caused by the ash cloud, that reached thousands of feet into the sky 'The residents are scared, many are staying indoors to avoid the thick volcanic ash,' Roy Bangun, 41, told AFP news agency. Muhammad Nurul Asrori, a monitoring officer at Sinabung, said Tuesday's plume of smoke and ash was the largest he had seen since 2010, and warned that it could still get bigger. 'The large lava dome at any time could burst, causing a bigger avalanche of hot clouds,' he said. No casualties were reported, but an official had earlier urged people to stay at least 2 miles from the crater, Indonesia's Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation Centre said. There was no immediate danger to life or property, authorities said, with a three-mile (five-kilometre) ring around the volcano having been left unoccupied over recent years No casualties were reported, but an official had earlier urged people to stay at least 3 km from the crater, Indonesia's Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation Centre said. Sinabung, a 8,530-feet-tall volcano, was dormant for centuries before roaring back to life in 2010 when an eruption killed two people. After another period of inactivity, it erupted again in 2013 and has remained highly active since. In 2014, an eruption killed at least 16 people, while seven died in a 2016 blast. Mount Sinabung's activity has increased since last year and the alert for the volcano in North Sumatra province has been placed at the second-highest level. Videos on social media showed little panic among residents over the eruption, which sent a column of white ash into the blue sky. Wirda Br Sitepu, a 20-year-old resident, told Reuters that the situation had calmed and said 'the mountain is not erupting, and the ash has decreased.' Sinabung, a 8,530-feet-tall volcano, was dormant for centuries before roaring back to life in 2010 when an eruption killed two people. Pictured: A view of Mount Sinabung volcano as it spews hot ash and volcanic materials as it erupts, as seen from Tiga Pancur village Indonesia straddles the so-called 'Pacific Ring of Fire', a highly seismically active zone, where different plates on the earth's crust meet and create a large number of earthquakes and volcanoes. The country has nearly 130 active volcanoes Vulcanologists recorded 13 separate blasts as Mount Sinabung leapt to life, belching debris up to 16,400 feet (5,000 metres) above Sumatra. Pictured: Mount Sinabung volcano, as seen from Tiga Pancur village in Karo Indonesia - an archipelago of more than 17,000 islands and islets - has nearly 130 active volcanoes. It sits on the 'Ring of Fire', a belt of tectonic plate boundaries circling the Pacific Ocean where frequent seismic activity occurs. Mount Merapi on Java island, one of the world's most active volcanoes, also erupted this week, spewing lava down one of its flanks. Garbage Collectors Rescue Discarded Books From the Trash, Create Library for the Public Turkish garbage collectors have decided to salvage what was deemed trash by their clientele as treasure for the public, instead. Repurposing an old brick factory, bookshelves were set up inside and stacked full with discarded books, which had been destined for the incinerator before being collected from the trash. The library operates in the Cankaya district of Turkeys capital, Ankara. The library was originally intended as a resource for workers and their families to enjoy, reports Matador Network, but after word of the project spread, members of the public began donating books to the literary venture. The library opened to the public in September 2017, and today, its thriving. The extensive library collected by municipal employees and donated by the public, as pictured on Jan. 9, 2018 (ADEM ALTAN/AFP via Getty Images) Sanitation workers enter the library on Jan. 9, 2018 (ADEM ALTAN/AFP via Getty Images) We started to discuss the idea of creating a library from these books, Cankaya Mayor Alper Tasdelen told CNN, and when everyone supported it, this project happened. Books found in the trash are brought back to the sanitation department headquarters where they are brushed up and sorted. The vacant brick factory on the premises was a perfect site for the library, its long corridors ideally shaped for bookshelves. As the librarys collection grew, so did the need for organization. A library manager was hired and the books were sorted into 17 specific categories, including graphic novels and childrens books. The collection even includes books in English and French. The book-lined corridors of the repurposed brick factory in the Cankaya district of Ankara on Jan. 9, 2018 (ADEM ALTAN/AFP via Getty Images) The quiet nook, upgraded with seating and chess boards, fast became a favorite rest spot for refuse workers on their breaks, many of whom are glad for the chance to self-educate in their spare moments. As a child, I would have loved to have books, said worker Guven Akin, speaking to DW News, but we lived in a poor district, and often there werent any school books on sale. Not that we could have afforded them. Eventually, the librarys success spawned an outreach project in 2019, and Cankaya district refuse workers converted a garbage collection truck into a mini mobile library to service local schools and swap books with public libraries. Refuse workers take a reading break on Jan. 9, 2018 (ADEM ALTAN/AFP via Getty Images) On one hand, there were those who were leaving these books on the streets. On the other hand, others were looking for these books, Mayor Tasdelen reflected. Adds Akin, Refuse workers arent only people who take away the trash. 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 Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine Arsen Avakov believes that Ukraine must not supply water to the temporarily occupied Crimea until the country restores its sovereignty over the peninsula. [Supply of] water to Crimea It is now the 30th year of independence, and Ukraine was dealing with this situation for 23 years by supplying water to Crimea. Ukraine supplied 80-85 percent of water to Crimea through a canal for the needs of the population and for everything else. That was a gigantic work, engineering efforts, costs. Now we have a different situation. And I have a question: should we supply water for the contingent of Russian troops and missiles deployed there? Are we responsible for this? Does Ukraine have some international obligations? ... Ukraine must not supply water to Crimea until Crimea returns to Ukraine, this is my firm conviction, Avakov said in an interview with 1+1 TV channel, an Ukrinform correspondent reported. Until 2014, Ukraine provided 85% of Crimea's fresh water needs through the North Crimean Canal which connects the Dnieper with the peninsula. After Russia had occupied Crimea, water supplies to Crimea were cut off. Currently, water reserves on the peninsula are replenished from reservoirs and underground sources. According to Crimean environmentalists, regular use of underground sources leads to salinization of soil. The UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine has repeatedly stated the need for its experts to enter the territory of the occupied peninsula, emphasizing that Russia has the primary responsibility for ensuring the water supply of the peninsula. On February 8, 2021, head of the Water of Crimea enterprise Vladimir Bazhenov stated that water reserves in Crimea continue to drop. The Simferopol water reservoir currently has only 7% of its projected capacity, Partyzanske - 14%, Ayanske - 26%. ol Iranian authorities have accused of "inducing panic" in the while rejecting the country's claim that Tehran was involved in a blast aboard an Israel-owned ship last week. "We strongly reject this accusation," Iran's Foreign Ministry Spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh told a weekly press briefing on Monday. He noted that is "the basis of all insecurity and instability in the region". Earlier Monday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu blamed for an explosion aboard the MV Helios Ray, a Bahamian-flagged vehicle-carrier ship, in the Sea of Oman. The ship was sailing out of the Middle East to Singapore on February 26. The and the Sea of Oman, Khatibzadeh said, are Iran's "immediate security areas", and Tehran "will not allow" to "induce panic" in the region. --IANS ksk/ (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.) Britney Spearss father Jamie Spears has expressed through his lawyer that he would love nothing more than to see Britney not need a conservatorship. The comment comes after last month's much-discussed Framing Britney Spears documentary and the renewed interest in the #FreeBritney movement, which seeks to extricate the performer from a legal guardianship, in place since 2008 and overseen by Jamie. Jamie is not suggesting that he is the perfect dad or that he would receive any Father of the Year award. Like any parent, he doesn't always see eye-to-eye on what Britney may want. But Jamie believes every single decision he has made has been in her best interest, Thoreen said in a comment to CNN. Spears's attorney, Samuel D Ingham III, told CNN he can't comment on a pending case. Last Thursday (25 February), Thoreen spoke to Good Morning America with Jamie's side of the story. READ MORE: Britney Spearss father Jamie responds to Free Britney movement: People have it so wrong I understand that every story wants to have a villain, but people have it so wrong here, Thoreen told the programme. She added: This is a story about a fiercely loyal, loving, and dedicated father who rescued his daughter from a life-threatening situation. People were harming her and they were exploiting her. Jamie saved Britneys life. Attorneys for Spears and her father recently attended a hearing over how Jamie should share power with The Bessemer Trust, a financial company recently appointed as co-conservator. Thoreen had made the case that Jamie should not give up rights and powers that he previously held under the new agreement. A judge overruled Thoreens objection, and Thoreen later told The Associated Press that Jamie looks forward to working with Bessemer ... in the best interests of his daughter. Ingham, meanwhile, indicated on that occasion that Spears wanted her father to be removed from the conservatorship, stating: It is no secret that my client does not want her father as co-conservator. But we recognise that removal is a separate issue. READ MORE: Backlash at John Mayer for weighing in on Free Britney: Apologise to Jessica Simpson and Taylor Swift In November 2020, Ingham said in another court hearing that Spears wont perform live again as long as Jamie remains on the conservatorship. My client has informed me that she is afraid of her father, Ingham said at the time. She will not perform again if her father is in charge of her career. Asked about those statements on Good Morning America, Thoreen said that Spears and her father had many conversations throughout 2020 and spent two weeks together hunkered down in Louisiana early in the pandemic. In that time, Britney never expressed those words to her father, the attorney added. Shes never asked him to step aside. Spears's next conservatorship court hearing is scheduled for 17 March. As the vaccine rollout continues in North Alabama, we're hearing more from those who do and do not want it. WAAY-31 spoke with a local chef and caterer on why she doesn't want to get the coronavirus vaccine once it's made available to group 1C. Charlyn Frazier is a private and personal chef in Huntsville, and she told us even though the next group of those who can get vaccinated includes her, she won't be getting it due to personal health reasons. "With me being in holistic health care, I'm not into any immunizations. I think everything should be done holistically with herbs and naturally," she said. Frazier owns her own business called Fyooshen Cuisine, which is where she can cater, be a personal chef or assist in cooking with you due to personal health concerns. Even though she won't be getting her shot, she thinks the fact that the Johnson and Johnson vaccine has a higher efficacy rate on the most aggressive strain of COVID-19, will possibly make it more appealing to those who do want the shot. "Once they sit there and hear it's 85% effective on the new strain, I believe they'll jump on that more so than having 2 or 3 doses of the other one," said Frazier. With the FDA approving the emergency use of Johnson and Johnson's vaccine, it will help Alabama push toward group 1C, and that includes people in food services, like Michael Collins. He owns a food courier service called Rocket City Delivery and is ready for his turn to be vaccinated. "I see no sense in not getting it. I'm a former military and defense contractor so I've had every shot imaginable, and I don't mind getting a couple more...I just want one and done. I don't want to have to come back in 2 weeks. One is just less hassle," he said. Right now, the Alabama Department of Public Health is working with the federal government to determine how much of the Johnson and Johnson vaccine the state will receive and when. Flash Another 5,455 people in Britain have tested positive for COVID-19, bringing the total number of coronavirus cases in the country to 4,182,009, according to official figures released Monday. The country also reported another 104 coronavirus-related deaths. The total number of coronavirus-related deaths in Britain now stands at 122,953. These figures only include the deaths of people who died within 28 days of their first positive test. The latest figures were revealed as more than 20.2 million people in Britain have been given the first jab of the coronavirus vaccine. Earlier Monday, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson defended his government's measures designed to stop new coronavirus variants from entering Britain after six cases of the P1 variant first found in Brazil were detected in the country. British officials are also seeking a missing person in England who has been infected with this variant of concern but did not complete the registration form properly. Johnson said a "massive effort" is under way to prevent the new variant from spreading, including the hotel quarantine and mass tests. "We have got one of the toughest border regimes anywhere in the world for stopping people coming in to this country who may have variants of concern," he said. The hotel quarantine rule took effect in England on Feb. 15, which requires travellers from more than 30 "red list" countries, including Brazil, must pay to quarantine in a hotel for 10 days. Critics said the measures came into force too late. England is currently under the third national lockdown since outbreak of the pandemic in the country. Similar restriction measures are also in place in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. On Feb. 22, Johnson announced his long-anticipated "roadmap" exiting the lockdown. Schools in England will reopen from March 8 as first part of the four-step plan, which Johnson said was designed to be "cautious but irreversible". To bring life back to normal, countries such as Britain, China, Germany, Russia and the United States have been racing against time to roll out coronavirus vaccines. (Newser) A chaotic scene on a Frontier Airlines flight before takeoff ended with a group of Hasidic Jews being asked to leave, the entire plane eventually being emptied, and now, accusations of anti-Semitismall over what the airline says was the group's refusal to wear face masks. The incident took place Sunday evening aboard Flight 2878 out of Miami, headed for New York City, and those are the only clear details so far. Members of the Hasidic group say they were wearing masks the entire time, with Martin Joseph telling the New York Times he was traveling with 21 members of his family, and that his daughter started arguing with a flight attendant who said her 15-month-old son had to wear a mask (per the CDC, kids under 2 don't have to). Videos taken aboard the plane show a disorganized situation, with people yelling and wandering up and down the aisles, a baby crying, and other passengers yelling things at the crew like "You're gonna pay the consequences!" and "This is Nazi Germany!" story continues below Joseph says his daughter and others were then asked to leave. The flight was reportedly canceled soon after the commotion, which ended up with more than a dozen cops on the scene, a passenger tells the Times of Israel. A video posted by the Orthodox Jewish Public Affairs Council shows interviews after the incident with three other passengers, apparently unrelated to the Hasidic Jewish group, who say they saw members of the crew high-fiving each other as one of the Hasidic couples was disembarking; one of those interviewed said he heard one crew member say, "A job well done to those Jews." Frontier is denying the commotion was entirely over a maskless baby. "The issue that arose was not with the child," the airline says in a statement to Eyewitness News. "There were multiple adults in the group who refused to wear masks despite repeated requests to do so." The Anti-Defamation League of New York/New Jersey is calling for a "full & transparent investigation." (Read more Frontier Airlines stories.) A reported cyberattack on Indian electricity utilities, which shut Mumbai down last October, has caused concern among top Indian companies with cyber experts saying the country needs to invest additional resources to strengthen its IT systems. According to a New York Times report, a Chinese government-backed cyber hack was behind the Mumbai power outage, which was meant to send a message to the Indian government at the height of tension between the two countries in Ladakh. Dear Reader, Business Standard has always strived hard to provide up-to-date information and commentary on developments that are of interest to you and have wider political and economic implications for the country and the world. Your encouragement and constant feedback on how to improve our offering have only made our resolve and commitment to these ideals stronger. Even during these difficult times arising out of Covid-19, we continue to remain committed to keeping you informed and updated with credible news, authoritative views and incisive commentary on topical issues of relevance. We, however, have a request. As we battle the economic impact of the pandemic, we need your support even more, so that we can continue to offer you more quality content. Our subscription model has seen an encouraging response from many of you, who have subscribed to our online content. More subscription to our online content can only help us achieve the goals of offering you even better and more relevant content. We believe in free, fair and credible journalism. Your support through more subscriptions can help us practise the journalism to which we are committed. Support quality journalism and subscribe to Business Standard. Digital Editor Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Kolkata: Senior Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury has said that his party will contest on 92 seats in the upcoming West Bengal Assembly election 2021. Addressing a joint Congress-Left-ISF press conference in Kolkata, Chowdhury said, "As per the discussions held with the Left so far, 92 seats have been finalised for the Congress to contest in the upcoming West Bengal Assembly elections. The list of candidates for these seats will be announced in two days." "We had demanded 130 seats in the beginning, the Left front might have accommodated us with more seats but we had to keep the gap for other parties such as Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP). Now we don`t have to share seats with RJD and NCP but our offer is open for other parties," he added. Commenting over Congress leader Anand Sharma`s remarks on the alliance with Indian Secular Front (ISF), Chowdhury said, "We`re in charge of a state and don`t take any decision on our own without any permission." Earlier, Sharma had tweeted that "alliance with ISF and other such parties is against the ideology of the Congress and should have been discussed at the Congress Working Committee (CWC)." Biman Bose, the Left front chairman, in the same press conference, said, "After todays discussions with the Congress, we felt that there wont be any problem now. We want to proceed further with the alliance." Ahead of West Bengal Assembly polls, the All India Congress Committee (AICC) on Saturday had appointed party leader RS Bali as AICC Secretary, attached with AICC in-charge of West Bengal. The Election Commission of India on Friday announced that West Bengal will witness eight-phased Assembly polls on 294 seats cThe votes will be counted on May 2. In the 2016 West Bengal Assembly elections, Congress had managed to win 44 seats while the Left Front bagged 33 seats out of 294 seats. The ruling TMC secured 211 seats and the BJP had won three seats. Live TV Private company Rocket Lab has unveiled plans to launch a bigger spacecraft for taking astronauts to space. The Neutron rocket stands 130 feet tall and is Rocket Lab's newest vehicle. It is slated to launch in 2024, according to Meghan Bartels with Space.com. DEFENDING EARTH: Scientists are using near-Earth asteroids to hone planetary defense skills 2021 has already seen an uptick in rocket launches, groundbreaking research, and even a historic Mars landing. What's one more state-of-the-art spacecraft added to the mix? Neutron is slated to be a "new 8-ton class reusable rocket tailored for mega constellations, deep space missions and human spaceflight," according to a tweet by Rocket Lab. Rocket Lab CEO Peter Beck made the announcement through a tweet on March 1. Beck is seen cutting up a piece of his Rocket Lab baseball cap and putting it in a blender, after which he's seen taking a small piece of the fibers to eat. Why would he do this? The CEO had previously promised he would eat his hat if he moved towards creating a rocket for reusability, Bartels wrote. Twitter/Space.com "There are some things we said we would never do, but we're going to build a big rocket," Beck said. The Neutron will launch payloads of up to 18,000 pounds to low Earth orbit and can carry up to 4,400 pounds to the moon. The announcement comes on the heels of rising interest in developing a network of satellites much like SpaceX's Starlink, according to Bartels. The rocket will launch from Rocket Lab's new pad located at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. The company's next mission, called "They Go Up So Fast," is scheduled for lift-off from New Zealand in the coming days and will carry seven small satellites for commercial and government use, Bartels wrote. Later this year, Rocket Lab will merge with Vector Acquisition Corporation in a deal that will garner the company over $4 billion, Bartels said. The Department of Information Technology Biotechnology and Science and Technology, Karnataka and industry body National Association for Software and Service Companies (Nasscom) on Tuesday launched the Karnataka State policy for Engineering, (ER&D), approved by the State cabinet. The policy aims to foster innovation and increase multinational ER&D presence in the State by providing subsidies to global organisations looking to establish new R&D facilities or expand existing ones. Under the policy, the will provide certain subsidies to MNC's Indian entities setting up or expanding their global capability centre (GCC) in engineering R&D beyond Bengaluru urban district. These include reimbursement of up to 50 per cent rent, up to Rs 2 crore or Rs 1,666 per employee per month, recruitment assistance of Rs 20 lakh, investment subsidy equal to 20 per cent of investment up to Rs 2 crore. It will also consider further subsidy on a case to case basis if an R&D centre provides more than 3,000 jobs or investment of Rs 250 crore or more. The policy further aims to foster innovation and R&D ecosystem by funding commercial innovation and research programmes in emerging technologies, establishing world-class R&D infrastructure (testing and prototyping) to broaden the portfolio of R&D services. The policy says the State Government would help in the establishment of open innovation labs for corporate-startup collaboration and facilitating digital innovation with government entities to support the industry by allowing field trials on government infrastructure. Another area that the policy will address is enabling skill development required to address the evolving needs of changing global technology landscape and evangelize India's ER&D prowess. The new policies are focused on invigorating the R&D landscape in the state and enhancing its global competitiveness. We expect the new policies to improve the in R&D and provide a boost to the innovation & research ecosystem, said Ashwathnarayan C. N., Deputy Chief Minister of Karnataka. According to the policy document, Karnataka contrinutes nearly 40 per cent to India's ER&D revenue, and hosts over 400 R&D centres and global innovation centres. The State also has 50 per cent of the country's R&D talent, including a large pool of people skilled in automotive R&D. The policy envisages making Karnataka contribute nearly 45 per cent to India's ER&D during the policy period, and create additional 50,000 jobs. It has identified five priority sectors for the purpose of the policy- aerospace and defence; auto, auto components and electric vehicles; biotechnology, pharma and medical devices; semiconductors, electronics system design and manufacturing, telecom; and software products. is proud to be associated with this high impact policy initiative focusing on fostering Engineering and R&D in Karnataka. We strongly believe that the new policies will provide a big impetus to the growth of ER&D ecosystem within the state. The state of Karnataka has been the pioneer in creating a thriving ecosystem for R&D and these policies will further strengthen its position as the prime destination for Engineering and Research within the country. The new policy initiatives will provide a benchmark for other states to follow and would help India become a global hub for Research and Development," said Debjani Ghosh, President, The policy is in line with the observations made on country's the larger R&D ecosystem in this year's Economic Survey. It said ramping up investment in will be crucial for India to emerge as the third largest economy by gross domestic product, and key to this will be increased investment from the private sector. Installation view of Jung Yoon-suk's "Tomorrow" at the Korea Artist Prize 2020 exhibition at the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Seoul / Courtesy of MMCA MMCA says it has no plans to take down Jung Yoon-suk's artwork By Kwon Mee-yoo Artist and filmmaker Jung Yoon-suk's documentary exploring human desires and contradictions by zooming in on the production and consumption of sex dolls in Asia has drawn the ire of feminists. Women's groups claim that the film fuels the sexual objectification of women. They demand that the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art (MMCA) reverse its decision to select the artist as one of the four finalists for the prestigious Korea Artist Prize (KAP) 2020 and strip him of the finalist title. The MMCA, however, stood firm in its defense of the artist, claiming that artists are allowed to explore any topic freely, even if that topic may cause viewers discomfort. Life-size sex dolls are a controversial topic not just in the art field. The Seoul Administrative Court ruled in favor of importing the life-size dolls recently, against the Gimpo International Airport Customs Office's decision to ban their importation, as they offend public morals. Jung's film, "Tomorrow," is currently on display at the museum until April 4. It features people who produce, consume or use surrogate human forms. It shows a sex doll factory in China, a Japanese man who lives with several sex dolls and another Japanese man who promotes artificial intelligence (AI) robots. Jung is a visual artist and film director specializing in documentaries that explore the relationships between personal events and social problems. Though the film is said to raise questions about what humanity is in this era of rapid change, "Tomorrow" has received criticism from women's organizations as well as from the general public for its use of sex dolls as its main subject matter. Artist Jung Yoon-suk / Courtesy of MMCA Louise the Woman, a group of female visual artists, released a statement in December criticizing the film for reproducing commodified female imagery in a state-funded project. "The image of the sex doll reenacted by Jung is based on the premise of sexual objectification of women, and it cannot deal with universal human issues from a neutral perspective... As a national museum, the MMCA should not overlook discrimination and violence against the socially disadvantaged, so those who selected Jung's works for the KAP should take responsibility for this," the group said in a statement. They claimed that contemporary art cannot be used as a justification for reproducing social discrimination and misogyny. "We oppose any kind of attempt to justify violence against women through art. The MMCA should take responsibility for this attempt and disqualify Jung for the KAP," the group stated. They also requested that the MMCA require a gender balance in future screening and judging committees, so that at least 50 percent of the jury is constituted by women. The Women's Party also released a statement, denouncing the artist and the museum for being anachronistic. "The problem is that Jung lacks a critical perspective in portraying the sex doll issue. The MMCA is responsible for reproducing women's oppression at a state-run facility," the party said in a statement. Installation view of Jung Yoon-suk's "Tomorrow" at the Korea Artist Prize 2020 exhibition at the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Seoul / Courtesy of MMCA To continue, please log in, or sign up for a new account. We offer one free story view per month. If you register for an account, you will get two additional story views. After those three total views, we ask that you support us with a subscription. A subscription to our digital content is so much more than just access to our valuable content. It means youre helping to support a local community institution that has, from its very start, supported the betterment of our society. Thank you very much! WASHINGTON Ive been waiting for this moment. The moment when some on the left would react indignantly to journalists doing their job. It was so enthralling and gratifying to assail Donald Trump as a liar and misogynist that it was bound to be jarring when the beast slouched out of town and liberals had to relearn the lesson that reporters dont or shouldnt suit up for the blue team. The moment came Wednesday in the Capitol basement when Seung Min Kim, a respected Washington Post reporter, asked Lisa Murkowski, a Republican senator from Alaska, if she had seen a 2017 Neera Tanden tweet about her. She hadnt. So Kim showed it to her. Tanden was responding to a Murkowski tweet about lowering the corporate tax rate, calling the senator high on her own supply and dismissing her argument as garbage. High on my own supply? Murkowski said, reading the tweet on Kims phone. Thats interesting. Murkowskis reaction was relevant because her vote on the Tanden nomination to be President Bidens budget director could sink Tanden. And Tandens tetchy Twitter fingers counted among the reasons that Joe Manchin and Susan Collins had announced their intention to vote against her, given Bidens preaching that it was time to leave Trumps toxic atmosphere behind. After HuffPosts Igor Bobic posted a picture and summary of the exchange between Kim and Murkowski, Kims email and social media feeds were inundated with racist and sexist comments. (Liberals had also been quick to make the ugly leap to call moderate senators who opposed Tandens nomination racist and sexist. It shouldnt be so reflexive to reach for that button.) One person labeled Kim a snitch for supposedly messing up another POC nomination on behalf of whites. Another wrote, That is not her job and thats extremely inappropriate. Actually, yes, that is her job. The truth is, many on the left dont understand what a reporter is. They loathe Fox News but assume that the mainstream media are basically on their side, the same way Fox commentators are on Trumps, laying the groundwork for him to start his second coming at CPAC this past weekend. For the left, over the past four years, a reporter has been an ally and a superhero comrade in the epic mission of destroying Donald Trump. Liberals lionized any cable hosts and runaway Republicans who blasted Trump, even if they previously had been on the GOP payroll, selling the Iraq War and Sarah Palin. Lets be honest. Its a lot more pleasant to be hailed by the left than demonized, as you are during periods when youre holding a Democratic president to account, because the left can be just as nasty as the right. When I went to the Vanity Fair Oscar party with A.G. Sulzberger in 2017, movie stars rushed up to thank him for fighting Trump. Over and over again, he explained that it was not the mission of The New York Times to be part of the resistance. Rather, he said, the paper would be straight and combat lies with the truth. As the Trump years went on and the outrages piled up, with the renegade president making it clear that he would not be bound by decency or legality, the left declared it a national emergency and acted as though all journalistic objectivity should be suspended. Some thought that the media should ignore Trumps news conferences and tweets and that the only legitimate interview with Trump was one where you stabbed him in the eye with a salad fork. Many reporters offered sharp opinions, the kind not seen before in covering a president. The tango between Trump and the media his most passionate relationship was as poisonous as it was profitable. For reporters, who hadnt been this chic since Ben Bradlee battled Richard Nixon, fat cable, book and movie contracts flooded in. CNN was on Breaking News for four years straight, thanks to Trumps dark genius at topping himself with outlandish narratives. Lines were blurred that inevitably would need to snap back when normality was restored. Some of the new assertiveness was good and should continue. After many years when I had to comb the thesaurus to find a synonym for liar to use about Dick Cheney, The Times finally allowed us to call high-ranking politicians who lied, liars. Thank you, Donald Trump! But the press, bathed in constant adulation and better remuneration, will have a tough adjustment. A whole generation of journalists was reared in the caldera that was Trumps briefing room. Some Washington reporters have been worried that the left would work the refs, as one put it, and turn on the media if they dared to report something that could endanger the Republic (aka hurt a Democrat). But the role of the press in a functioning democracy is as watchdog, not attack dog. Politicians have plenty of people spinning for them. They dont need the press doing that, too. Believe me, you want us on that wall. MAUREEN DOWD is a columnist for The New York Times. Przepraszamy! 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Inne oferty, ktore mogy byc w kregu Twoich zainteresowan: The EU said on Tuesday that it was considering emergency approvals for Covid-19 vaccines just weeks after criticising the UK for fast-tracking jabs. The news comes after Austria and Denmark said they would team up with Israel to produce new Covid vaccines without help from the EU after the bloc's jab roll-out descended into a slow-paced shambles. In response, the European Commission said member states were free to strike separate deals should they wish to. 'It's not that the strategy unravelled or it goes against the strategy, not at all,' spokesman Stefan de Keersmaecker said. Fast tracking jabs would mark a big shift in the EU's approach to vaccine approvals, as it would entail using a procedure that the bloc had considered dangerous, and would represent another U-turn after it was critical of the UK's approval process. On December 2, the EU criticised the UK's 'hasty' approval of the Pfizer and BioNTech's COVID-19 vaccine, and on February 2 Ursula von der Leyen, the European commission chief, said the UK had compromised on vaccine 'safety and efficacy'. Mette Frederiksen, Denmark's prime minister (left) and Sebastian Kurz, Austria's leader, will meet with Israeli officials this week to discuss producing a second generation of coronavirus vaccines without EU help Before the COVID-19 pandemic fast approvals in the EU have been reserved for exceptional authorisation at national level of drugs for terminally ill patients. The potential change comes as the EU executive and the bloc's drug regulator come under increasing pressure for what some consider slow vaccine approvals. This has contributed to a slower rollout of COVID-19 shots in the 27-nation union, compared to the United States and former EU member Britain. 'We are ready to reflect with the member states on all possible avenues to indeed accelerate the approval of the vaccines,' an EU Commission spokesman told a news conference on Tuesday. One option could be 'an emergency authorisation of vaccines at EU level with shared liability among member states', the spokesman said, adding that work on this could start very quickly if EU governments supported the idea. It was not clear whether an EU-wide emergency authorisation procedure, if agreed upon, would entail the same conditions as emergency approvals granted at national level, the commission spokesman told Reuters. Meanwhile, Sebastian Kurz, Austria's prime minister, and Danish leader Mette Frederiksen announced today that they will travel to Israel to discuss development of a second generation of coronavirus vaccines with health authorities there. Kurz said in a statement that while the EU's common procurement and licensing policy for vaccines was 'right in principle', the European Medicines Agency (EMA) 'is too slow in approving vaccines and there have been supply bottlenecks at manufacturers'. 'We must prepare for further mutations and should no longer be dependent solely on the EU in the production of second-generation vaccines,' Kurz said. Danish Prime Minister Frederiksen was also critical of the EU's vaccine programme. 'I don't think it can stand alone, because we need to increase capacity. That is why we are now fortunate to start a partnership with Israel,' she told reporters Monday. When asked whether Denmark and Austria wanted to take unilateral action in obtaining vaccines, Frederiksen said: 'You can call it that.' Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has made the campaign a showcase of his bid for re-election on March 23, has spoken of 'an international corporation for manufacturing vaccines'. None of the three countries has significant vaccine making capacity, however, raising questions over how realistic their ambitions are to gain greater self-sufficiency. Israel is running the world's fastest vaccine programme, giving over 90 per cent of its population at least one dose, with over 50 percent now fully vaccinated. By contrast, in EU nations, an average of just five per cent of people have been given the first dose. A graph showing the total number of vaccines administered in European countries per 100 people, up to March 2. The UK has vaccinated around 30 per cent of its population, while the European average is only around 7 per cent The European Medicines Agency (EMA) cannot currently issue emergency approvals but in exceptional circumstances has recommended the compassionate use of drugs before marketing authorisation. This procedure was used in April to initially authorise doctors to use Gilead's antiviral drug remdesivir as a treatment against COVID-19. The drug was later given conditional approval by EMA. National emergency approvals are allowed under EU laws, but they force countries to take full responsibility if something goes wrong with a vaccine, whereas under the more rigorous marketing authorisation, pharmaceutical companies remain liable for their vaccines. The EU Commission had said that national emergency authorisations should not be used for COVID-19 vaccines, because faster approvals could reduce regulators' ability to check efficacy and safety data. This could also boost vaccine hesitancy, which is already high in some countries, EU officials had said. One senior EU official said the emergency procedure had so far usually been used at national level for terminally ill patients and the EU had instead chosen the lengthier conditional marketing authorisation because with vaccines 'we inject healthy people' and the risk was disproportionate. Israel is running the world's fastest vaccine programme, giving over 90 per cent of its population at least one dose, with over 50 percent now fully vaccinated. By contrast, in EU nations, an average of just five per cent of people have been given the first dose. Pictured: Vials of the Pfizer-BioNtech COVID-19 vaccine in the Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem The change of tack would come after Eastern European countries, including Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic, approved Russian and Chinese vaccines with national emergency procedures. Slovakia said on Monday it had ordered 2 million doses of Russia's Sputnik V vaccine and expects half to arrive this month to help it end a surge in infections. The neighbouring Czech Republic - tackling the worst COVID-19 outbreak of any EU country - is also considering ordering Russia's Sputnik V. Hungary, meanwhile, has taken delivery of a vaccine developed by China's Sinopharm, with Prime Minister Viktor Orban announcing on Sunday that he had received the shot. The three vaccines so far cleared for use in the EU, made by Pfizer and German partner BioNTech, Moderna and AstraZeneca, rely on production in countries including Germany, Britain, Switzerland, Belgium and the Netherlands. Kurz said Austria and Denmark would work with Israel on vaccine production against mutations of the coronavirus and jointly research treatment options in an alliance called the First Movers Group. The initiative, which seeks greater protection against future pandemics in addition to joint EU vaccine supply, follows Germany's decision last month to set up a task force to address supply bottlenecks and boost local manufacturing. Kurz invited pharmaceutical companies with a local presence including Pfizer, Valneva, Novartis, Polymun and Boehringer Ingelheim on Tuesday to discuss the new initiative. Pfizer, which declined comment for this story, has said it will make 2 billion doses this year - 70% of them in the EU - and has conducted extensive research into their effectiveness against coronavirus variants. A spokesman for Boehringer Ingelheim said its focus was not on human vaccines 'but if we receive requests we will of course look into them.' On December 2, the EU criticised the UK's 'hasty' approval of the Pfizer and BioNTech's COVID-19 vaccine, and on February 2 Ursula von der Leyen, the European commission chief, said the UK had compromised on vaccine 'safety and efficacy' Europe has mounted one of the world's slowest vaccine roll-outs, plagued by bureaucratic red tape, supply issues and meddling by regulators that means it is unlikely to see an end to lockdowns any time soon. A row with Britain over jabs that saw some European leaders warn people off the AstraZeneca jab has further hampered its efforts - with politicians and regulators now rowing back their initial skepticism. The latest to announce a U-turn on the AstraZeneca jab was Olivier Veran, the French health minister, who said on Monday that the country will allow those aged 50 to 75 and with underlying health conditions to have the Astra jab - having previously blocked anyone over the age of 65 from having it. Mr Veran said the move is intended as a 'first step' towards making the vaccine available to all over-65s when the country's vaccines agency publishes a new report on the jab, due some time this week. The decision will pile pressure on other European countries which defied global health bodies by restricting the jab's use in older people - including the likes of Germany and Sweden - to reverse their own policies. It comes after a slew of real-world data showed the AstraZeneca jab reduces hospitalisations in over-65s by more than 80 per cent and it may be slightly more effective than the European Pfizer jab. The data flies in the face of remarks Macron made last month, when he said the vaccine was 'quasi-ineffective' in older people. A graph showing the average number of vaccines administered to 100 people in major European nations per day, up to March 2. The UK is well ahead of other countries and has one of the world's fastest jab roll-outs France had previously restricted use of the AstraZeneca jab to those aged under 50 and healthcare workers. However, the law allowed those aged 50 to 65 who had an underlying condition to get the Astra jab. All those aged over 75 had to be vaccinated using the Pfizer jab, even if they were in perfect health. That created an ambiguous group, aged 65-75, who were too old to get the Astra jab but were not in the mandatory Pfizer group. Mr Veran cleared up the ambiguity on Monday night by confirming that all those aged 50 to 75 with an underlying condition could have the Astra jab. How EU raised doubts over AstraZeneca jab... and what science says French president Emmanuel Macron : Claimed that the jab was 'quasi-ineffective' among over-65s and said UK had taken a risk with quick approval German vaccine committee: Was the first EU regulator to limit the jab to younger people, on January 28 Dutch Health Council: Refused to approve the vaccine for over-65s because 'the immune system starts to function less well with increasing age' Austrian health ministry: Said that 'no confident statements are possible' about efficacy in older people French minister Clement Beaune : Said there were 'doubts about the efficacy' in over-65s German newspaper Handelsblatt: Published a sensational but widely-debunked report claiming the jab had just 8% efficacy among older people Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Spain and Poland: Also refused to approve the vaccine for over-65s Italy and Belgium: Would not even give it to over-55s And what the science says: Real-world data from Scotland shows one dose of AstraZeneca reducing hospitalisation risk by 94 per cent among the mainly older people who have had it among the mainly older people who have had it Clinical trials last year showed 100 per cent of older adults generating the necessary antibodies of older adults generating the necessary antibodies Only 1 out of 341 volunteers aged over 65 caught Covid-19 after receiving the jab, and four separate trials showed the vaccine to be safe volunteers aged over 65 caught Covid-19 after receiving the jab, and four separate trials showed the vaccine to be safe A separate Oxford study showed 76 per cent protection in the three months between the first and second doses protection in the three months between the first and second doses The same study also shows a possible 67 per cent cut in transmission of the virus Advertisement It comes as health bodies across the continent move to softening their stance on the AstraZeneca jab which has been widely-used in neighbouring Britain - where Covid cases and deaths are now falling rapidly. Thomas Mertens, the head of Germany's vaccine committee, said on Sunday that it would would 'very soon' update its recommendation on the AstraZeneca jab. In a frank admission on German television station ZDF, he said: 'The whole thing has somehow gone wrong.' Meanwhile, Alain Fischer, chairman of France's vaccine strategy orientation council, said the country would also 're-adjust our vaccine strategy'. England's Deputy Chief Medical Officer last night took a swipe at EU efforts to rubbish the Oxford/AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine and said a new study showing just one shot offers dramatic protection against severe disease in older people 'vindicated' Britain's approach. Professor Jonathan Van-Tam suggested that 'non-adoption' by 'many countries' in the over-65s of their populations was not scientific as he claimed that it was 'not immunologically plausible' that the life-saving jab would work in the 18-55 bracket and then not work in older age groups. He told a Downing Street press conference that the data by Public Health England (PHE) published yesterday, which found the vaccine more than 80 per cent effective at preventing hospital admission up to four weeks after the first dose, 'clearly vindicated' Britain's approach to mass inoculation. Asked about EU vaccine scepticism by Guardian health editor Sarah Boseley, Professor Van-Tam said: 'That was driven by the fact that there were relatively small amounts of data on the over-65s in the clinical trials available at that point in time for the AZ vaccine. 'Our technical advisory committee - the JCVI - took a view which I share that it was not immunologically plausible that the vaccine would work in the age range 18 to 55 years of age, which is a lot of where the data ran out, and then not work in those older age groups.' He added: 'We took a view that it almost certainly would work. The PHE data have clearly vindicated that approach today and I'm not here to criticise other countries but to say that in time the data emerging from our programme will speak for itself and that other countries will doubtless be very interested in it.' Responding to his remarks, Health Secretary Matt Hancock quipped: 'Very diplomatic' as he told the public: 'I hope that right round the world people study this data and understand what it means - getting the AstraZeneca jab and Pfizer jab could save your life'. The most-recent vaccine data compiled by the European Center for Disease Control shows the UK vaccinated an average of 0.57 people our of every 100 per day last week - well ahead of the European average of 0.19 and France's average of 0.18. Britain's fast-paced jabs roll-out means that 30 per cent of its population have now had at least one dose of vaccine - compared to a European average of 7.4 per cent. Germany is lagging slightly behind that average with 7.3 per cent of its population jabbed, but France is much further behind with just 6.7 per cent inoculated. After initially scaremongering about the AstraZeneca jab, both France and Germany were forced to launch a PR campaign to convince people to take the vaccine last week amid news that millions of doses are sitting un-used. Steffen Seibert, Angela Merkel's chief spokesman, said last week that the British-made jab is 'both safe and highly effective' and will 'save lives' as he joined the country's health minister urging people to take it. France will recommend AstraZeneca to those aged 50 to 75 with underlying health conditions despite Macron's warning that it is 'quasi-ineffective' in older people. Jonathan Van Tam, the UK's deputy chief medical officer, has said infection data has vindicated Britain's approach This graph shows infection rates in six European countries. The UK (in red) was the problem child of Europe at the start of 2021 but has since seen cases plummet and is leading the continent in terms of vaccinations He spoke after it emerged Germans have been skipping vaccination appointments when they learned they would be given the jab. Meanwhile Health Minister Jens Spahn suggesting drafting in the army to give the shots to soldiers and police officers in an attempt to drive inoculation rates up. In France, health workers have also been refusing the vaccine after President Macron's comments during the heated row over its effectiveness. The European Medicines Agency approved the vaccine for all adults, but both France and Germany ruled that it should not be given to the over-65s. After initially questioning its effectiveness, President Macron later said he would take the vaccine. Angela Merkel caused further confusion when in an interview with Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, the German chancellor said last week: 'I am 66 years old and I do not belong to the group recommended for AstraZeneca.' Though some interpreted this as a rejection of the vaccine, other commentators claim the chancellor was merely suggesting that others should get the vaccine first. France has used only half its doses while 1.2million AstraZeneca shots are unused in Germany France has used only around half the doses it has received since the EU roll-out began in late December, according to the website CovidTracker.fr. More than 7.7million doses have been delivered since December 26, but only 3.97 million have found their way to patients, of which half are second doses. It means that only 2.66million people have received any kind of injection at all, compared to 18.69million in the UK where second doses are being delayed. Only 126,000 AstraZeneca doses have been handed out since the jab was approved last month. Meanwhile in Germany, vaccine committee chair Prof Thomas Mertens said the country had a stockpile of 1.2million AstraZeneca jabs it was struggling to use up. 'It is a problem, no doubt at the moment. We have about 1.4million doses of AstraZeneca vaccine in store and only about 240,000 have been given to people,' he said. Asked on BBC Radio 4's Today programme whether his committee's decision not to recommend the jab for under-65s was to blame for this, he admitted: 'It may be part of the problem.' He added: 'Although we always stated that it had nothing to do with the safety of the vaccine - we never criticised the vaccine to be unsafe - we stated, and it's correct, that the amount of data on this group of elderly people was not really great. 'But I don't think that was a major problem. The major problem was all the news that had been spread about the efficacy of the vaccine being much lower than the efficacy of the mRNA vaccines [Pfizer and Moderna].' Advertisement Meanwhile EU chief Ursula von der Leyen said that she herself would take it - despite her furious row with the drugmaker last month over missing shipments to the EU. That struggle is set to continue into the spring with as many as 90million doses missing from AstraZeneca shipments in the second quarter of 2021. An EU official involved in talks with the firm says AstraZeneca has warned that it may deliver only half of its promised 180million doses from April to June, having slowed supplies in January because of delays at a Belgian factory. The new shortage could hamper the EU's ability to meet its target of vaccinating 70 per cent of adults by summer - with Britain promising to offer one dose to 100 per cent by July 31. The EU supply shortage is seen as one of the main reasons for a widely-criticised vaccine roll-out which is lagging far behind that in Britain. While the UK has handed out 27.0 doses per 100 people, the EU is lagging behind on 6.2 and has not significantly sped up its progress in recent weeks. Von der Leyen defended her policies by pointing out that the EU had handed out 27milion doses in total compared to 17million in Britain - but the bloc of 27 countries has a population more than six times larger. She also noted that Italy had given double-doses to more people than Britain, but it has handed out far fewer doses overall. Catching up to Britain will be made even harder if AstraZeneca shortfalls continue into the early summer, as an EU official told Reuters. Von der Leyen told the Augsburger Allgemeine that 'I would take the AstraZeneca vaccine without a second thought, just like Moderna's and BioNTech/Pfizer's products,' But she also continued to voice doubts about the UK's strategy of delaying second doses - a move approved by Britain's chief medical officers - as she claimed that the EU was 'catching up' in the vaccine race. AstraZeneca is producing vaccines at two plants in the UK, one in Belgium and one in the Netherlands, but is not exporting its British-made jabs under its contract with UK ministers - although it has offered the EU doses made in India and the US. The official said AstraZeneca planned to deliver about 40million doses in the first quarter, less than half the 90million shots it was supposed to supply. 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. AstraZeneca did not deny the EU official's claims, but said it was striving to increase productivity in order to meet its 180million target. 'We are hopeful that we will be able to bring our deliveries closer in line with the advance purchase agreement,' an AstraZeneca spokesman said. Later in the day, the firm added that its 'most recent Q2 forecast... aims to deliver in line with its contract with the European Commission'. 'At this stage AstraZeneca is working to increase productivity in its EU supply chain and to continue to make use of its global capability in order to achieve delivery of 180 million doses to the EU in the second quarter,' it said. A European Commission spokesman declined to comment on confidential talks but said the EU should have enough shots even if the AstraZeneca targets are not met. An EU regulator approved the AstraZeneca jab in late January but the ruling was overshadowed by a furious political row over the delayed shipments. After AstraZeneca warned of shortfalls but continued to supply Britain in full, the EU published its contract with the firm and claimed to have cast-iron commitments. Brussels also imposed export controls on jab shipments leaving the bloc, but was forced into retreat after initially saying they would apply to Northern Ireland. But AstraZeneca's CEO blamed the delays on the fact that the EU had not signed a contract until three months after Britain had tied up a deal last year. AstraZeneca is not exporting vaccines made in the UK, in line with its separate contract with the British government. But AstraZeneca has told the EU it could provide more doses from its global supply chain, including from India and the United States, an EU official said last week. AstraZeneca is now forecast to make up its shortfalls by the end of September, according to a German health ministry document. German officials expect to receive 34million doses in the third quarter, taking the country to its full entitlement of 56million out of the EU's 300million doses. "In addition to achieving our pre-pandemic sale price expectations, Mr. Bruner was able to secure us a short-term lease with Walmart that significantly decreased our carrying costs. We entertained dozens of lease and sale proposals brought to us by Mr. Bruner and his team. This is the fifth transaction we have completed with Mr. Bruner's assistance since 2018 and we have obviously been very happy with his performance," said Derek Montgomery, investor/shareholder of the seller, 7233 Seacrest Boulevard, LLC. The buyer is Alliance 7233 Seacrest LLC, an affiliate of Pennsylvania based Alliance Partners HSP, an owner/developer of industrial, retail, office, and multifamily properties throughout the United States. The building features 22'6"-26'8" clear heights, dock and grade loading, heavy power, 800+ parking, natural gas and is fully air conditioned. The site is located immediately off I-95 at Hypoluxo Road in Central Palm Beach County and has nearly 1,000 ft of interstate frontage with visibility to 300,000 cars/day. About Bruner Group Bruner Group specializes in regional/multi-state occupancy decisions; site selection, sourcing and negotiating local/state/federal government incentives for corporate relocations; multi-modal logistics comparative analyses; labor force analyses; electricity costs analyses; and project management services. Bruner Group has successfully represented publicly traded tenants, private equity funds and institutional landlords including Brookdale Senior Living, La Mesa RV, Morespace Storage & Irgang Development Group. Bruner Group was recognized by Costar Power Broker Quarterly Deals designation for "Top Retail Lease" in Quarter 1 2020, and the two Top Office Lease designations in Quarter 2 2020. Contact: Hunter Campbell Corporate Real Estate Advisor Bruner Group 151 SE 3rd Avenue Suite 222, Delray Beach, FL 33483 o: 561.277.0174 X 113 c: 772.486.3764 [email protected] | www.brunergroupcre.com SOURCE Bruner Group Related Links https://www.brunergroupcre.com Lawmakers of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea participate in an online discussion event between parliamentary members of South Korea and the United States at a studio of local broadcaster Arirang TV in Seoul, Tuesday, with the participants from the U.S. seen on the background screens. Courtesy of office of Rep. Lee Kwang-jae By Jung Da-min When it comes to the goal of denuclearizing North Korea, shared by allies South Korea and the United States, establishing consistency in their relevant policies is a necessary step, regardless of which administration takes office, either in Seoul and Washington, lawmakers and politicians of the countries said during a virtual forum. "We have an unfortunate habit in Washington. When there is a transition of the administration, we tend to throw away many things that the previous administration has done," said Joseph Yun, the former U.S. special representative for North Korea policies, who participated in an online discussion event between congressional and assembly members of both countries, Tuesday. Yun and other participants said that there has been no consistency in the countries' North Korea policy, as it has often changed along with administrations. But they said such inconsistency in North Korea policy did not help both countries' efforts to bring the North back to the negotiation table, and they now need to establish some kind of consistency in order to build a shared North Korea policy. The former U.S. special envoy said that although there are many things he disagrees with in the former administration under Donald Trump, especially in terms of its foreign policy direction, he believes that there was something that should be noted Trump's attempts to reach out to North Korea and to solve the problem by holding summits with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un three times. "I do believe that something he did was right," Yun said. He also urged Seoul and Washington to take diplomatic initiatives based on a realistic assessment of the previous administration's policy, saying that he believes Kim is waiting for Washington's call since the breakup of the 2019 Hanoi deal. The event was hosted by the office of Rep. Lee Kwang-jae of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK). Four DPK members participated as speakers, with four U.S. politicians participating through video link. The participants discussed how the allies could cooperate better in terms of dealing with sectors of the COVID-19 pandemic health crisis, economy and security. Attending from the U.S. side were Virginia Democratic Representative Gerry Connolly, co-chair of the Congressional Caucus on Korea; California Republican Representative Young Kim, a Korean American member of the U.S. House of Representatives; Yun; and Frank Jannuzi, president of the Washington-based think tank, the Mansfield Foundation, and a close aide to U.S. President Joe Biden. Former Foreign Minister Yoon Young-kwan participated in the virtual event as the moderator, while four DPK lawmakers Hong Young-pyo, Kim Young-ho, Lee Jae-jung and Lee Young-sun participated as speakers from the South Korean side. "The debate session was meaningful, in that it was the first meeting between congressional and assembly members of both countries since the inauguration of the Biden administration," Rep. Lee Gwang-jae, who hosted the event, said after the event. Lee and other participants agreed that the allies are at a critical point for reaching an agreement to realize a unified North Korea policy through coordination. The Biden administration's North Korea policy is widely expected to be outlined with details in several months, by around June of this year. "I am also planning to host similar events with lawmakers of other neighboring countries, such as Russia, China and Japan," said Rep. Lee. 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. Colorado Springs, CO (80903) Today Partly cloudy with afternoon showers or thunderstorms. Gusty winds and small hail are possible. High 64F. Winds NE at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 50%.. Tonight Partly cloudy skies. Low 46F. Winds WNW at 5 to 10 mph. Mesoblast has been given a financial lifeline that analysts expect will give it an 18-month cash buffer after the drug company secured a $138 million investment from a surprise US backer. The ASX-listed $1.45 billion stem cell treatments maker unveiled an unexpected new partner on Tuesday, confirming it had sealed a $US110 million ($138 million) deal with a US investor group led by surgery clinics business, SurgCenter Development. Mesoblast had been in a trading halt since Friday, when its half-year report showed it was running at a $US48.9 million half-year loss. Its auditor PwC said a private placement and future partnership payments were key to the company continuing as a going concern. Mesoblast chief executive and major shareholder Silviu Itescu is back in front of potential investors. Credit:Josh Robenstone The deal will involve a private placement of 60 million shares at $2.30 each, which is a 6.5 per cent discount to the price at the close of trade on Friday. The agreement also involves the issuing of warrants to acquire an additional 15 million shares at $2.88 each. A woman who led gardai on a high-speed chase along the M50 while streaming it live on social media has been arrested. The chase on Monday evening, which involved up to 20 garda vehicles, began in north Dublin and went along the M50. The 24-year-old woman was later arrested in Ballymun in relation to dangerous driving. According to gardai, the incident from start to finish lasted 55 minutes. In different clips posted on social media, she could be heard singing along to songs playing on the radio, while in another she is shouting verbal abuse at the pursuing gardai. After driving along the M50 southbound, the woman went as far as the N11 near Bray, before changing her direction back towards Dublin. During the chase, a Garda helicopter in the air supported around 20 Garda vehicles, including 4x4 jeeps carrying members of the Armed Support Unit (ASU). A Garda statement said the woman was later arrested for dangerous driving. A spokesperson said: "Gardai are investigating an incident of dangerous driving that took place in the Ballymun area. "The incident began at 5.55pm when a car failed to stop for Gardai. "The driver of this car, a woman aged in her 20s, was later arrested for dangerous driving at Hampton Wood Drive in Ballymun at 6.50pm. "The woman is currently detained at Ballymun Garda station. No injuries have been reported." CVS and Rite Aid stores in New Jersey will receive 22,500 doses of the newly-approved Johnson & Johnson coronavirus vaccine in addition to the 70,000 shots the state is likely to be delivered on Wednesday, the states top health official said Monday. State Health Commissioner Judy Persichilli didnt say which of the states 295 vaccination sites will receive the one-dose Johnson & Johnson shots, which can be stored in a regular refrigerator. This Dec. 2, 2020 photo provided by Johnson & Johnson shows vials of the COVID-19 vaccine in the United States. AP We do not have any clarity of what the next couple of weeks may look like, as we know J&J is currently ramping up production, Gov. Phil Murphy said at his Monday briefing in Trenton We are being as conservative as possible and not calculating for anything else beyond this initial 70,000 dose haul until we are told otherwise. So, we are going to do all we can to make sure our distribution and administration of these doses is strategic and well-planned Federal health officials approved the use of the latest vaccine on Sunday. The FDA said J&Js vaccine offers strong protection against what matters most: serious illness, hospitalizations and death. One dose was 85% protective against the most severe COVID-19 illness, in a massive study that spanned three continents. That protection remained strong even in countries such as South Africa, where the variants of most concern are spreading. Murphy said the addition of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine the states took kit will speed up the pace at which New Jerseyans can be vaccinated. As we start receiving a steady supply of vaccine from Johnson & Johnson, as the increased manufacturing promised by Pfizer and Moderna add to our weekly inventories, we will not only be able to ensure these 300 sites can gear-up their own operations, but well be able to distribute to even more sites, whether they be doctors offices, neighborhood pharmacies, or other health care clinics. By the end of March, J&J has said it expects to deliver 20 million doses to the U.S., and 100 million by summer. Murphy said 2,039,427 have been administered a vaccine shot through Sunday. More than 690,000 have received two doses and are fully vaccinated. At least 23,273 residents have died from complications related to COVID-19 including 2,331 fatalities considered probable. That includes 1,589 confirmed coronavirus deaths reported in February. Matt Arco and the Associated Press contributed to this report. Thank you for relying on us to provide the journalism you can trust. Please consider supporting NJ.com with a subscription. Marissa Hays, talk show host of "Foundations from The Stream" unpacked the reasons why socialism, much as it has been idealized, isn't God's best for his people. Hays started by stating people's tendency to lean on two extremes: anti-socialism or hyper individualism. "We need a better way. To find it, we need not look further than the Bible," Hays maintained. Summarizing the observation of known economists why poverty persists especially in third world countries, Hays said that the reason is the "lack of firmly protected property rights for the poor." "Their hard works were squandered and stolen by the powerful. They often turn to desperation and into socialist movements that make matters worse for all by making properties meaningless all together," she explained. Early renowned thinkers like Karl Marx spent a great deal of time and energy theorizing how to address inequalities in societies. Hays, however, argued that much as their intentions were good, man is a complex being and his needs could not just be forcibly boxed in theories. National systems built on these early theorists' ideologies like what is seen China, North Korea, and Cuba reduce humans into things instead of living beings. She then went on to provide examples from the Gospel books in the Bible. "Jesus urged his followers to not be slaves to earthly goods...(He) urged the wealthy to share willingly and to lovingly serve one another," she said. In the Old Testament, man was first commissioned by God to nurture, enrich and develop the land he's given. Beginning from Adam and down to the Hebrew patriarchs, land ownership - including everything in it- is legitimized through the stewardship wrought by a prospect owner. He could then pass his properties as inheritance to his heirs and their descendants. Thus, ownership means proper stewardship and preservation so that the next generation could also have something to nurture and enjoy. "Our gracious God has given you the dignity and responsibility to choose how to steward what he has entrusted you," Hays said. She added that if property ownership is seen this way, then it would not be dismissed as an "empty social convention." In the New Testament, first century Christians voluntarily shared what they had with everyone. Those who were well off sold their properties in order to aid the poor in less privileged places. While that may sound like promoting "equality," the crux of the matter is that they did not give begrudgingly. There was no coercion from the government and neither was there any manipulation from their spiritual leaders. They just acted out of love. Contrast that today where some governments seize people's private properties claiming that all lands belong to the state. The fault here is the lack of, according to Hay's words, "respect to their freedom to either give their goods away, or leave them safely for the next generation as they wish." Post the period of reformation in England, Christians began studying economics. One of which is John Locke who formulated the theory of private property which prevailed and has since been adopted by most English-speaking countries. His theory was also built on the foundation of Biblical principles which when read properly, is the most humane approach in deciding how to address social issues like economic inequality. For more of Marissa Hays' wonderful talk on private "ownership" vs "equality," watch the following clip in full: The Cockcroft Institute (CI), a partnership between the Universities of Lancaster, Liverpool, Manchester and Strathclyde, and the Science & Technology Facilities Council (STFC), has been awarded more than 11 million for R&D into accelerator science and technology. The funding, awarded by the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC), will enable the Institute to continue using its expertise to develop scientific frontier facilities, novel acceleration techniques, address global challenges in health, security, energy, manufacturing and the environment, and to train the next generation of accelerator experts in areas where there is a recognized international skills shortage. CI Director, Professor Peter Ratoff, said: "The Cockcroft Institute is the de facto national centre for particle accelerator R&D in the UK, comprising about 250 academics, STFC professional accelerator staff, post-doctoral research associates, administrative staff and PhD students. It is probably the largest of its kind globally, delivering world class education, training and R&D in conventional and novel methods of acceleration with major contributions to the realization of national and international accelerator facilities. The STFC core grant provides crucial support for our research and the significant award is testament to the outstanding quality of the work carried out across the institute." Over the next four years, the CI will further its research programme into scientific frontier facilities and underpinning technologies, novel acceleration techniques and applications of accelerators. The institute will grow its existing international research partnerships and use the core grant to leverage additional support from a range of funders. Lancaster University has both Engineering and Physics departments as members of Cockcroft Institute with specialist expertise in RF Engineering, advanced acceleration techniques using THz and plasma acceleration, beam dynamics and mathematical physics. Professor Graeme Burt of Lancaster's Engineering department highlighted the importance of engineering in accelerator institutes. "Accelerators are used for more than just high energy physics and this funding will allow the development of radiotherapy accelerators, cargo scanning and water treatment as well as helping lead the development and delivery of key engineering components to major projects like the Large Hadron Collider Upgrade". Professor Steven Jamison of Lancaster's Physics department welcomed news of the funding. "The awarding of this grant will underpin the next four years of our research in advanced acceleration concepts and beam dynamics. As well as supporting the next generation of post-doctoral researchers, the funding of dedicated facilities for laser-driven acceleration will provide us with a truly internationally leading capability in this field." The core grant will allow the CI to continue to deliver world-class research and development in particle accelerator science & technology that is well aligned to national science policy and the strategic requirements of the partner universities and UKRI/STFC. ### 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 Sharjah-Lucknow bound IndiGo flight made an emergency landing at Karachi airport in Pakistan on Tuesday after a passenger suffered a medical urgency. The flight landed at the Lucknow airport early morning. The passenger could not be revived and was declared dead on arrival by the Karachi airport medical team. According to an IndiGo airlines' official statement on the matter, "IndiGo flight 6E 1412 from Sharjah to Lucknow was diverted to Karachi due to a medical emergency. Unfortunately, the passenger could not be revived and was declared dead on arrival by the airport medical team." The airline has extended condolences to the passenger's family, ANI reported. This, however, is not the first time that a flight or an air ambulance has made an emergency landing at a Pakistani airport. An Indian air ambulance made an emergency landing at the Islamabad airport for refuelling earlier this month. A Delhi-bound GoAir flight carrying 179 passengers made an emergency landing at the Karachi airport since a passenger suffered cardiac arrest onboard in November 2020. The passenger could not be revived despite all medical help and was declared dead after landing at Karachi. Also read: Expect domestic air passenger traffic to return pre-COVID level by 2022-23, says ICRA Watertown, NY (13601) Today Rain showers early with bright sunshine by the afternoon. High 73F. Winds SW at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 50%.. Tonight Clear to partly cloudy. Low 54F. Winds SSW at 5 to 10 mph. SEATTLE March 2, 2021 Below are summaries of recent Fred Hutch research findings and other news with links for additional background and media contacts. March is Womens History month. Wed like to honor Dottie Thomas, known as the mother of bone marrow transplantation. She spent years working as a research partner alongside her husband, Nobel Prize-winning Dr. E. Donnall Thomas. Read more about Dotties legacy at Fred Hutch here. And save the date for our monthly public science event, Science Says Tuesday, March 23. We'll be talking with Hutch scientists about how they're supercharging cancer research with new tools and approaches. Please RSVP HERE by Monday, March 22. We will then provide instructions for how to join the conversation by computer, tablet, or phone. Diversity in vaccine clinical trials New study highlights lack of diversity and inclusion in vaccine clinical trials A team of scientific experts, including Fred Hutchs Drs. Steve Pergam and Michele Andrasik, are advocating for increased diversity in vaccine trials after publishing a new JAMA Network Open report that highlights a decades worth of disparities. Read a news release on the findings, and a related feature story on Andrasiks community engagement efforts related to HIV and COVID-19 vaccine trials. Media contact: Claire Hudson, crhudson@fredhutch.org COVID-19 modeling and biostatistics Theres no crystal ball for modeling the pandemic Fred Hutch mathematical modelers explain the challenges and limitations of their work to predict COVID-19 outcomes. From social media, to published work, these researchers talk about what theyve learned along the way. Dr. Laura Matrajt shared how one tweet helped bring awareness to the pandemic. Work by other Fred Hutch experts who have contributed to modeling COVID-19 Drs. Joshua Schiffer, Elizabeth Halloran and Ruth Etzioni is also featured. Media contact: Molly McElroy, mwmcelro@fredhutch.org Biostatisticians draft blueprints for COVID-19 vax trials For years, a group of biostatisticians including Drs. Peter Gilbert and Holly Janes have served at the Fred Hutch-based HIV Vaccine Trials Network, or HVTN, on the unfinished quest to find a vaccine for HIV/AIDS. When COVID-19 hit, they pivoted and became architects of clinical trials for vaccines designed to stop the spread of the disease. Media contact: Claire Hudson, crhudson@fredhutch.org Cell therapies Fred Hutch statement regarding the FDA approval of CD19 immunotherapy, lisocabtagene maraleucel Fred Hutchs statement by Dr. David Maloney on the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval of the chimeric antigen receptor immunotherapy, Breyanzi (lisocabtagene maraleucel or liso-cel), for the treatment of adults with relapsed or refractory (R/R) large B-cell lymphoma after at least two prior therapies. Media contact: Molly McElroy, mwmcelro@fredhutch.org What's next for T-cell therapies: Q&A with Dr. Stanley Riddell Dr. Stanley Riddell, an immunologist at Fred Hutch, carried out early CAR T-cell research that contributed to the development of this living drug, made by genetically engineering the patients own immune cells to target malignant blood cells. Media contact: Molly McElroy, mwmcelro@fredhutch.org Basic sciences New bacterium named in honor of Fred Hutch Researchers at Fred Hutch and the University of Washington, with colleagues in Pittsburgh and Boston, named the bacterium Megasphaera hutchinsoni in recognition of the Hutchs long standing expertise in HIV research and in honor of the place where researchers first isolated it. The bacterium can be found in some women with bacterial vaginosis and it is known to boost the risk of contracting HIV. Media contact: Claire Hudson, crhudson@fredhutch.org Fundamental proteins that guide embryo development are co-opted by cancer Fred Hutch scientists led by Dr. Harmit Malik identified a new protein that unexpectedly plays a role in this age-old tension. Unexpectedly, these insights into a fundamental biological process may also one day lead to new cancer treatments. Media contact: Molly McElroy, mwmcelro@fredhutch.org Fred Hutch announces 2021 Harold M. Weintraub Graduate Award recipients Thirteen graduate students in biological sciences from across the U.S. and internationally will receive the prestigious award, bestowed by Fred Hutchs Basic Sciences Division for the past 22 years. Read about one of the recipients, Emma Wrenn, who is a graduate student at Fred Hutch studying cancer metastasis. Media contact: Molly McElroy, mwmcelro@fredhutch.org A year of COVID-19 A year into the pandemic, we take a look at milestones and progress in understanding COVID-19: Our February public Science Says event, Progress During the Pandemic, featured COVID-19 experts Drs. Michele Andrasik, Trevor Bedford, Larry Corey, and Josh Schiffer. You can watch the video here. Our COVID-19 timeline documents milestones in Fred Hutch research on the novel coronavirus. Fred Hutch recently released our Annual Report: A Year of Overcoming Challenges, showing how the COVID19 pandemic created hurdles to cancer and other research. But it also provided an opportunity for Fred Hutch virology expertise, which has been developed over decades of work on bone marrow transplants and HIV. Other notable news Womens Health Initiative receives $72M extension grant to continue research Hutch research helps launch new genomic medicine company Dedicated supporters at the Heart of the Hutch Working from home and showing the Heart of the Hutch # # # At Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, home to three Nobel laureates, interdisciplinary teams of world-renowned scientists seek new and innovative ways to prevent, diagnose and treat cancer, HIV/AIDS and other life-threatening diseases. Fred Hutchs pioneering work in bone marrow transplantation led to the development of immunotherapy, which harnesses the power of the immune system to treat cancer. An independent, nonprofit research institute based in Seattle, Fred Hutch houses the nations first National Cancer Institute-funded cancer prevention research program, as well as the clinical coordinating center of the Womens Health Initiative and the international headquarters of the HIV Vaccine Trials Network. A few days after Muslim migrants firebombed an 800-year-old Swedish church twice over the course of four days -- once on Jan. 20, 2021 and another on Jan. 24 -- a Feb 4 report came out saying that 829 hate crimes against churches in Sweden have been reported between just 2012-2018, or about 138 attacks on average every year. Thus, the churches of Sweden join those of other Western European nations that have taken in sizeable Muslim migrants. In France, for example, two churches are vandalized every day. According to a 2019 PI-News report, 1,063 attacks on Christian churches or symbols (crucifixes, icons, statues) were registered in France in 2018. This represents a 17 percent increase compared to the previous year (2017), when 878 attacks were registered -- meaning such attacks are only going from bad to worse. They are also getting increasingly vile. As one example, vandals used human excrement to draw a cross on the Notre-Dame des Enfants Church in Nimes in 2019; consecrated bread was also found thrown outside among garbage. One week later, vandals desecrated and smashed crosses and statues at Saint-Alain Cathedral in Lavaur; they mangled the arms of a crucified Christ in a mocking manner and burned altar materials. Similar reports are coming from Germany. After reporting how four separate churches were vandalized and/or torched over the course of four weeks in 2019, PI-News, a German news site, explained: In this country, there is a creeping war against everything that symbolizes Christianity: attacks on summit crosses, on holy figures on the way, on churches and recently also on cemeteries. Although mainstream media regularly claim that the vandals -- who are seldom caught to verify their identities -- are mentally ill or part of right-wing extremist groups, as the recent Swedish report states, PI-News offers a hint: Crosses are broken, altars smashed, Bibles lit, baptismal fonts overturned, and the church doors smeared with Islamic expressions like Allahu Akbar. Similarly, another German language report from late 2017 noted that in the Alps and in Bavaria alone, some 200 churches have been attacked and many crosses broken: Police are currently dealing with church desecrations again and again. The perpetrators are often youthful rioters with a migration background. Another telling indicator is that those European regions with large Muslim migrant populations often see a concomitant rise in attacks on churches and Christian symbols. Before Christmas, 2016, in the North Rhine-Westphalia region of Germany, where more than a million Muslim migrants reside, some 50 public statues of Jesus and other Christian figures were beheaded and crucifixes broken. In 2015, following the arrival of another million Muslim migrants to Dulmen, a local newspaper said not a day goes by without attacks on Christian statues. France, where one of Europes largest Muslim populations resides -- and where churches are attacked every single day -- is also indicative that where Muslim numbers grow, so do attacks on churches. A January 2017 study revealed that Islamist extremist attacks on Christians in France rose by 38 percent, going from 273 attacks in 2015 to 376 in 2016; the majority occurred during Christmas season and many of the attacks took place in churches and other places of worship. As a typical example, in 2014 a Muslim man committed major acts of vandalism inside a historic Catholic church in Thonon-les-Bains. According to the report with pictures (since removed) he overturned and broke two altars, the candelabras and lecterns, destroyed statues, tore down a tabernacle, twisted a massive bronze cross, smashed in a sacristy door and even broke some stained-glass windows. He also trampled on the Eucharist. For examples of Muslims being caught red-handed desecrating churches in other European nations, see here, here, here, here, and here. Should there still be any doubt concerning the true identity of those most responsible for vandalizing churches throughout Europe, one need only turn to the treatment of churches in the Muslim world itself, or even in areas that have very large Muslim populations. Thus, Muslims in Kenya torched five separate churches between Jan. 20 and Jan. 24 -- the very same days Muslims twice firebombed an 800-year-old church in Sweden. A majority of the church members were afraid to attend services [in or near the ruins] in the aftermath of the burning of the churches, fearing that the arsonists might follow them right into their homes, risking the lives of their families, a local source said. As occurred when vandals in France used human excrement to draw a cross on the Notre-Dame des Enfants Church in 2019, so these Kenyan arsonists also committed the heinous acts of scooping human feces onto the buildings, the source added. The fact is, the vile desecration of churches has for centuries been a Muslim trademark -- a sort of Islam was here. As copiously documented in Sword and Scimitar: Fourteen Centuries of War between Islam and the West, during their invasions of Christian nations, Muslims ritually desecrated hundreds of thousands of churches (Caliph Hakim bamr Allah alone reportedly destroyed 30,000 churches during the early eleventh century). Think what ISIS did but on an exponential level -- and not for a handful of years but for over a millennium in dozens of nations spread out over three continents. Most recently, according to a Feb. 17, 2021 report, the ninth church to be torched in Muslim-majority Sudan recently occurred. Before it was set aflame, local Muslims shed light as to why they attack churches: In every city or village where Muslims live, they should not allow anything that belongs to infidels such as church buildings to be there, one Muslim wrote on social media; another insisted that, wherever Muslims allow the existence of a church, that place becomes disgraced. In short, and in the words of the Rev. Kuwa Shamal, of the Sudanese Church of Christ, They targeted the church because they do not want to see any sign of the cross in the area. As seen from what is happening to churches throughout Western Europe, at least some Muslim migrants feel this way even when they are the minority in and guests of the West. Raymond Ibrahim, author of Sword and Scimitar, is a Shillman Fellow at the David Horowitz Freedom Center, a Judith Rosen Friedman Fellow at the Middle East Forum, and a Distinguished Senior Fellow at the Gatestone Institute. Image: JovanStojan A 13-year-old girl is in hospital in Ibadan, with bodily injuries, including on her private part, after horrific torture reportedly by a family, PREMIUM TIMES has learnt. Community activists and local security sources, Amotekun and State Security Service operatives, revealed the matter to PREMIUM TIMES, with photographs and details of the statements volunteered by the parties involved. Afees and Suliat Taofik of Bello Street, Boroboro area in Oyo town, had on Monday kept the teen, Aliah Oluokun, to look after their shop, when they alleged a sum of money was missing. The teens mum operates a shop beside Taofiks. Aliahs account Aliah admitted to the theft and took the Taofiks to a set of bricks nearby, where she had kept the money, her family told PREMIUM TIMES. The sum of N170, 000 was found but the couple said N130, 000 was still missing. The teen insisted what was found was all she took and she did not even count the money before keeping it. She was taken to a local Amotekun office where, according to her, she was first tortured. The family wanted Amotekun, a community vigilante outfit, to help force her to admit to having removed N130, 000 from what she had taken. They too beat me, she told PREMIUM TIMES by telephone, from her University College Hospital, Ibadan, bed. But the Amotekun returned her to the Taofiks citing her age. We said she could not be kept with us and that they should bring her the following day, a commander, Adebowale Fakayode, told PREMIUM TIMES. However, the Taofiks continued to hold and torture the girl, this time reportedly joined by their sons, Malik and Abdullahi, she said. Her uncle, Afees Alaba, said he then intervened and asked that Aliah be freed on the promise that he was going to pay the claimed N130, 000 the following day, Tuesday. By that evening, following the torture, the girl was already dying, Mr Alaba said. I then begged them to release her; that I was going to pay the remaining money by 4 p,m. the following day even though Aliah said all that was found was all that she took. I even said to reassure them they should keep my land documents until I return with the money the following day. Mr Alaba then left for Ibadan, roughly 30 minutes journey from Oyo. Hardly had I got to Ibadan, when her mother, who is my younger sister, called to inform me that they had continued to torture her. Torture Galore: Hot knife, coal stove, fresh pepper Apart from trading in the same area, the Taofiks and the Oluokuns also reside in the same neighbourhood where their shops are. Despite the assurances given by Aliahs uncle, Mr Alaba, the teen was not released to her mother, who told PREMIUM TIMES she was powerless and her husband, Afees Oluokun, had travelled. The Taofiks decided to hold Aliah all night during which she was reportedly subjected to severe torture right in the presence of her crying mother. Aliah was said to have been tortured with a heated knife, plier and fresh pepper. The knife was used to inflict injuries on her thighs and hands, pepper was applied to her private part, and the plier was used to cause her wounds on her toes, photographs received by PREMIUM TIMES show, complimenting disclosures by Aliahs family and security operatives. ADVERTISEMENT The mother kept calling me in the night but I was already in Ibadan and she could not stop them, Mr Alaba said. Around 6 a.m. on Tuesday, the family said, Aliah escaped from the Taofiks home. We then found her and took her to a private hospital, called Opabode, which said they could not treat her despite her pains except we obtained a police report, Mr Alaba said. That was why we reported to the police before they (the Taofiks) were arrested. Aliah has since Thursday been transferred to UCH in Ibadan for better care. We were responsible for all the bills in Oyo, Mr Alaba said. A former senator, Monsurat Sunmonu, is footing her bills at the UCH. Ms Sunmonu said she has spoken with police authorities, vowing to help the girl and her family get justice. Police spokesperson for Oyo State, Gbenga Fadeyi, could not be reached via phone calls for comment for this report. The Taofiks are now in custody at police headquarters in Ibadan and we could not speak with any of them. PHILIPSBURG:--- March 1st, 2021, marks the Border Protection and Mobile Unit's return to the management of Immigration and Border Protection Services (IBP). The Border Protection & Mobile Unit has been under the management of the KPSM Police Force of Sint Maarten since 2016. However, the structure conflicted with the LIOL and the organizational decree. Given this fact, the Minister of Justice Anna E. Richardson announced the departments' re-joining to the IBP in December 2020. The Minister of Justice hosted a "welcome home ceremony" for the officers and delivered a welcome speech. In her address, the Minister described the move as a historic one for the Ministry of Justice. Further, she described the last few years as challenging for the department regarding implementing authority of the Border Protection and Mobile Unit. According to the minister, the Border Protection and Mobile Control Units were the missing links within the Immigration and Border Protection Services (IBP) Department, consisting of Residence and Admittance, Border Protection, and Mobile Control Unit. "Getting the three divisions under one umbrella will ensure Sint Maarten's border security is up to standards just like other country's borders are being secured. Sint Maarten cannot be any different and therefore, must improve the immigration and border protection services to ensure for a stable and sustainable future," she stated. The Ministry is optimistic about the department's future and is very confident that the new management will improve the department's accomplishments and successes. Minister Richardson told the officers that their job is not an easy one. She is however confident that the reunited department will show Sint Maarten and the world that the securing of our borders and our beautiful island is a serious one and will be done with the greatest honor. She thanked the officers for their commitment and diligence during the transition while assuring them that all unresolved issues are being addressed and will be resolved. The Daily Beast Photo Illustration by The Daily Beast/GettyMike Lindell, the MyPillow CEO and Trumpist conspiracy-peddler, flew his private jet to the Republican Governors Association meeting the other day.The guvs promptly threw him out. But the incident got Molly Jong-Fast thinking: Does the MyPillow CEO think hes already a governor or something?Subscribe to The New Abnormal on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Amazon Music, or Overcast. To listen to our weekly members-only bonus episodes, join Beast Inside here. Already a member? You can listen here and sign up for new episode email alerts here.Spoiler: Making MyPillows does not make you my governor. Now, chances that Mike Lindell could actually become governor of a small Republican state, 80 percent, she quips on the latest episode of The New Abnormal. Like, its not even that hard for someone that famous and insane in the Republican party to become a governor.Lindell claims he wouldnt run to be a dogcatcher right now, because he doesnt trust the voting machines. Plus, hes from the blue state of Minnesota. So maybe the risk of a Governor Pillow isnt quite so high. But L.A. Times columnist Virginia Heffernan would like to quickly add something about Mike Lindell being a cosplay governor.I think we need to understand that being in politics leads to governing and governing is boring. It is not a PR operation, she says. And I feel like we have made these jobs celebrity roles. Public service should not beis notbeing on a reality show.Like, I feel like we need to really dial down the razzle-dazzle, really play up the drudgery, Heffernan continues. I just don't know why every single industrialist and every single lady with abs or gorgeous arms would want to be, of all things, a governor.Biden, Heffernan opines, is doing a pretty good job at the drudgerydollars going out, jabs going out, all leading to Trump signs going down. Sure, the Donald has his cultists, like Lindell. But, I don't think people can hold onto this much insanity for this long, especially when it's a tiny minority of people who believe it, Heffernan adds. Democrats need to know how to win.To which Jong-Fast replies, oh-so-gently: Are you freakin kidding me? With all of these Republican attempts to retcon the Capitol riots? To chop away at the right to vote? To instantiate their ability to overturn elections? All while Team Biden snoozes it away? The Democrats are bringing an ice cream sundae to a knife fight, Jong-Fast says.Plus! Politicos Tara Palmeri talks about her search to find Liz Cheney supporters in Wyoming. And Battle for the Soul author Edward-Isaac Dovere gives us a peek into how Biden sees the political landscape. The presidency that he has in front of him now, he knows, is so different from what he ever expected to have, Dovere says, And part of that is rethinking how he incorporates the progressivism within the party that took root and that was so much part of this campaign. And its just, its a really complicated evolution for him. Its not the presidency he thought itd be running in 2019 when he got into this race.Read more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more. Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy / EPA A Paris court found French former President Nicolas Sarkozy guilty of corruption and influence peddling on Monday and sentenced him to a year in prison. He can ask to serve that time at home and also plans to appeal. The 66-year-old, who was president from 2007 to 2012, was convicted of trying to bribe a magistrate in exchange for information about a legal case in which he was implicated. He will remain free while he appeals, but it was a blow to the retired politician who still plays an influential role in French conservative politics. It's not the end of his legal troubles either: He faces another trial later this month and is also under investigation in a third case. The ruling marks the first time in France's modern history that a former president has been convicted of corruption _ and given a prison term. His predecessor, Jacques Chirac, was found guilty in 2011 of misuse of public money during his time as Paris mayor _ not considered a corruption offense _ and was given a two-year suspended prison sentence. The court said Sarkozy is entitled to ask to be detained at home with an electronic bracelet _ as is the case for any sentence of two years or less. He also received a two-year suspended sentence _ which he will not have to serve if he commits no new offense in the next five years. Later, Sarkozy's lawyer, Jacqueline Laffont, said he would appeal. Sarkozy's co-defendants _ his lawyer and longtime friend Thierry Herzog, 65, and now-retired magistrate Gilbert Azibert, 74 _ were also found guilty and given the same sentence as the politician. The court found that Sarkozy and his co-defendants sealed a ''pact of corruption,'' based on ''consistent and serious evidence''. The court said the case was ''particularly serious'' given that the acts were committed by a former president for his personal gain. In addition, as a lawyer by training, Sarkozy was ''perfectly aware'' that what he was doing was illegal, the court said. Sarkozy did not deny offering to help Azibert get a job in Monaco _ but he firmly refuted that he had done anything wrong during the 10-day trial at the end of last year. Seated on a chair facing the judges and wearing a mask largely hiding his face, Sarkozy showed no reaction when the verdict was read out, and quickly left the courtroom. ''What insane harassment, my love,'' his wife Carla Bruni said in a post on Instagram. ''The fight goes on, truth will see the light.'' The trial focused on phone conversations that took place in February 2014. At the time, investigative judges had launched an inquiry into the financing of Sarkozy's 2007 presidential campaign. During the investigation, they discovered that Sarkozy and Herzog were communicating via secret mobile phones registered to the alias ''Paul Bismuth.'' Wiretapped conversations on those phones led prosecutors to suspect Sarkozy and Herzog of promising Azibert a job in Monaco in exchange for leaking information about another legal case involving Sarkozy. In one phone call with Herzog, Sarkozy said of Azibert: ''I'll make him move up. ... I'll help him.'' In another, Herzog reminded Sarkozy to ''say a word'' for Azibert during a trip to Monaco. Azibert never got the Monaco job, and legal proceedings against Sarkozy have been dropped in the case he was seeking information about. Prosecutors have concluded, however, that the ''clearly stated promise'' still constitutes corruption under French law, even if the promise wasn't fulfilled. Laffont, Sarkozy's lawyer, argued the whole case was based on ''idle chatter'' between a lawyer and his client. Sarkozy vigorously denied any malicious intention in his offer to help Azibert. He told the court that his political life was all about ''giving (people) a little help. That all it is, a little help,'' he said during the trial. He also complained that the confidentiality of communications between a lawyer and his client was violated by the wiretaps. ''You have in front of you a man of whom more that 3,700 private conversations have been wiretapped. ... What did I do to deserve that?'' Sarkozy said during the trial. The court concluded that the use of wiretapped conversations was legal as long as they helped show evidence of corruption-related offenses. Sarkozy withdrew from active politics after failing to be chosen as his conservative party's presidential candidate in France's 2017 election, won by Emmanuel Macron. He remains very popular amid conservative voters, however, and plays a major role behind the scenes, including through maintaining a relationship with Macron, whom he is said to advise on some issues. His memoirs published last year, ''The Time of Storms,'' was a bestseller for weeks. Sarkozy will face the Paris court again later this month over suspicions regarding his 2012 presidential campaign, which ended in victory for Socialist rival Francois Hollande. His conservative party and a company named Bygmalion are accused of using a special invoice system to conceal allegedly spending 42.8 million euros ($50.7 million) _ almost twice the maximum authorized. In another investigation opened in 2013, Sarkozy is accused of having taken millions from then-Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi to illegally finance his successful 2007 campaign. In both cases, he has denied wrongdoing. (AP) Letterpacket DB-1627 was virtually unfolded and read for the first time since it was written 300 years ago. The letter contains a message from Jacques Sennacques dated 31 July 1697, to his cousin Pierre Le Pers, a French merchant, for a certified copy of a death notice of one Daniel Le Pers. Also visible is a watermark in the center of the paper containing an image of a bird. Credit: Unlocking History Research Group archive. In a world first, an international team of researchers has read an unopened letter from Renaissance Europewithout breaking its seal or damaging it in any way. The research, published in Nature Communications, describes how an X-ray scanner used in dental research and 'virtual unfolding' allowed the interdisciplinary team to read the contents of a securely and intricately folded letter which has remained unopened for 300 years, while preserving its valuable physical evidence. A highly sensitive X-ray microtomography scanner, developed at Queen Mary University of London's dental research labs, was used to scan a batch of unopened letters from a 17th-century postal trunk full of undelivered mail. The senders of these letters had closed them using 'letterlocking' - the historical process of intricately folding and securing a flat sheet of paper to become its own envelope. Letterlocking was common practice for secure communication before modern envelopes came into use, and is considered to be the missing link between ancient physical communications security techniques and modern digital cryptography. Until now these letterpackets could only be studied and read by cutting them open, often damaging the historical documents. Now the team have been able to examine the letters' contents without irrevocably damaging the systems that secured them. Computer-generated unfolding animation of sealed letter DB-1538. In our paper we describe how "virtual unfolding" was used to read the contents of sealed letterpackets from 17th-century Europe without physically opening them. Credit: Unlocking History Research Group archive. Professor Graham Davis from Queen Mary University of London said: "We designed our X-ray scanner to have unprecedented sensitivity for mapping the mineral content of teeth, which is invaluable in dental research. But this high sensitivity has also made it possible to resolve certain types of ink in paper and parchment. It's incredible to think that a scanner designed to look at teeth has taken us this far." Dr. David Mills from Queen Mary University of London said: "We've been able to use our scanners to X-ray history. The scanning technology is similar to medical CT scanners, but using much more intense X-rays which allow us to see the minute traces of metal in the ink used to write these letters. The rest of the team were then able to take our scan images and turn them into letters they could open virtually and read for the first time in over 300 years." This process revealed the contents of a letter dated July 31, 1697. It contains a request from Jacques Sennacques to his cousin Pierre Le Pers, a French merchant in The Hague, for a certified copy of a death notice of one Daniel Le Pers (full transcript and images available). The letter gives a fascinating insight into the lives and concerns of ordinary people in a tumultuous period of European history, when correspondence networks held families, communities, and commerce together over vast distances. Following the X-ray microtomography scanning of the letter packets, the international team then applied computational algorithms to the scan images to identify and separate the different layers of the folded letter and 'virtually unfold' it. A seventeenth-century trunk of letters bequeathed to the Dutch postal museum in The Hague. The trunk belonged to one of the most active postmaster and postmistress of the day, Simon and Marie de Brienne, a couple at the heart of European communication networks. The chest contains an extraordinary archive: 2600 "locked" letters sent from all over Europe to this axis of communication, none of which was never delivered. Sealed letterpackets from this trunk were scanned by X-ray microtomography and "virtually unfolded" to reveal their contents for the first time in centuries. Credit: Unlocking History Research Group archive. The authors suggest that the virtual unfolding method, and categorisation of folding techniques, could help researchers to understand this historical version of physical cryptography, while at the same time conserving their cultural heritage. "This algorithm takes us right into the heart of a locked letter," the research team explains. "Sometimes the past resists scrutiny. We could simply have cut these letters open, but instead we took the time to study them for their hidden, secret, and inaccessible qualities. We've learned that letters can be a lot more revealing when they are left unopened. Using virtual unfolding to read an intimate story that has never seen the light of dayand never even reached its recipientis truly extraordinary." Explore further Here's how you help kids crack the reading code More information: Unlocking history through automated virtual unfolding of sealed documents imaged by X-ray microtomography, Nature Communications (2021). Journal information: Nature Communications Unlocking history through automated virtual unfolding of sealed documents imaged by X-ray microtomography,(2021). DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-21326-w Irish psychologists Perspectives Ireland will host a free webinar this coming Monday, with special guest Senator Lynn Ruane as part of the worldwide celebration of International Womens Day. Perspectives Ireland is an Irish consulting psychology company, set up in 2020, aimed at providing high-quality training in psychology and well-being. The upcoming webinar will mark International Womens Day by discussing how women can empower themselves by identifying female models, making note of their achievements and challenges, and supporting each other. Senator Ruane has been a member of the Seanad since 2016, with some of her achievements including being the vice-chair of the special Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Eight Amendment and introducing the Controlled Drugs and Harm Reduction Bill to the Seanad. With decades of experience working as academics and extensive clinical practice, Drs Yvonne Barnes-Holmes and Ciara McEnteggart, who is from Louth bring precision to understanding mental health that is often lacking. This precision gives them an unmatched ability to tackle and resolve mental health issues in a humane way that facilitates growth and self-fulfilment. The pair have invited the Senator to join them and talk about life lessons, what advice she would give her younger self, and the many challenges and obstacles women face daily. McEnteggart, who is a native of Ardee, hopes that listening to an inspirational and successful woman, such as the Tallaght politician will grow the confidence of women and motivate them to achieve their goals in life. None of us are born with confidence, it is something we acquire and learn from the people around us she stated. But many women, in all circumstances, still lack confidence in themselves. Women face many challenges in their lives from money to promotion and recognition, and this significantly obstructs opportunities for self-progression and achievement. We hope those who join the webinar will take away something that helps them grow their confidence and do what theyve always wanted. Speaking ahead of the event, Ruane spoke about how International Womens Day was an important opportunity for womens voices to be amplified, while reflecting on their success and strength. I have worked with, been helped by, and am inspired every day by the women in my life she exclaimed. I'm looking forward to this special webinar to share my experience and hopefully inspire some women to find their strength at such a challenging time for everyone. The event takes place on March 8th at 1pm, with registration and more information available at www.perspectivesireland.ie. A C919 large passenger aircraft lands at the Turpan Jiaohe Airport in Turpan, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, June 28, 2020. (Photo by Liu Jian/Xinhua) SHANGHAI, March 1 (Xinhua) -- China Eastern Airlines and Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (COMAC) signed a purchase contract for five planes on Monday, marking the official entry into market operation for China's indigenously-developed C919 large passenger aircraft. The new planes will be used on routes from Shanghai to Beijing, Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Chengdu, according to the airline company. China Eastern Airlines has been participating deeply in the development of the C919 since a very early stage. In 2016, China Eastern Airlines signed a cooperation framework agreement with COMAC, becoming the world's first user of the C919. The C919, China's first self-developed trunk jetliner, has 158-174 seats and a range of 4,075-5,555 km. The plane conducted its successful maiden flight in 2017. A British explorer has become the first person to visit Earth's four furthest extremes after diving to the deepest point on the planet. Richard Garriott emerged from the 36,000ft depths of the Mariana Trench in the Pacific Ocean yesterday after spending 12 hours in a deep sea vehicle. It adds to a list of achievements that have seen him trek to the South Pole in 1998, spend ten days in orbit on the International Space Station in 2008 and go to the North Pole in 2018. His latest escapade saw the multi-millionaire video game developer, 59, land at the foot of Challenger Deep, the lowest known point in the world's oceans. He was aboard the 26million deep sea vehicle Limiting Factor, piloted by fellow adventurer Victor Vescovo, who was making his ninth dive into the abyss. Richard Garriott emerged from the 36,000ft depths of the Mariana Trench in the Pacific Ocean yesterday after spending 12 hours in a deep sea vehicle. It adds to a list of achievements that have seen him trek to the South Pole in 1998, spend ten days in orbit on the International Space Station in 2008 and go to the North Pole in 2018 The titanium-shelled vehicle can withstand the crushing pressure at such a depth which is equal to 100 elephants standing on a human head. From the expedition ship Pressure Drop Mr Garriott said: 'I've been to the bottom of the Earth you can't go deeper than that. It was a descent into darkness in the truest sense. 'Even though it's a four-hour journey to the bottom, you are going down fast. At the bottom I saw his monstrously long cable [left by a previous expedition] littering the seafloor. That was very sad. 'There was a variety of small lifeforms, small sea cucumber-related creatures and translucent creatures like flatworms.' Mr Garriott was aboard the 26million deep sea vehicle Limiting Factor, piloted by fellow adventurer Victor Vescovo, who was making his ninth dive into the abyss The trip was undertaken in the name of science, looking for organisms which can survive the harshest of conditions. Working with education charity the Ideas Foundation, Mr Garriott hopes to inspire future generations to become explorers. The married father-of-two took photos and made a short film for children just as he did on the International Space Station. That trip saw him become the sixth space tourist, paying an estimated 21million to take off from Kazakhstan on a Soyuz TMA-13 spacecraft. Mr Garriott, born in Cambridge but brought up in the US, said of his travels: 'I find those moments to be awe-inspiring in the truest sense of awe.' remaining of Thank you for reading! This is your last free article before you will be asked to subscribe. Already have a paid subscription? Sign in * Username This is the name that will be displayed next to your photo for comments, blog posts, and more. Choose wisely! 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. Parent Aderemi Soyode and others took issue with the capacity limit and that police officers were brought in for crowd control. Several said they had hoped people inside the meeting would be allowed to leave so others could come in but that did not happen. The Daily Beast Photo Illustration by The Daily Beast/GettyMike Lindell, the MyPillow CEO and Trumpist conspiracy-peddler, flew his private jet to the Republican Governors Association meeting the other day.The guvs promptly threw him out. But the incident got Molly Jong-Fast thinking: Does the MyPillow CEO think hes already a governor or something?Subscribe to The New Abnormal on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Amazon Music, or Overcast. To listen to our weekly members-only bonus episodes, join Beast Inside here. Already a member? You can listen here and sign up for new episode email alerts here.Spoiler: Making MyPillows does not make you my governor. Now, chances that Mike Lindell could actually become governor of a small Republican state, 80 percent, she quips on the latest episode of The New Abnormal. Like, its not even that hard for someone that famous and insane in the Republican party to become a governor.Lindell claims he wouldnt run to be a dogcatcher right now, because he doesnt trust the voting machines. Plus, hes from the blue state of Minnesota. So maybe the risk of a Governor Pillow isnt quite so high. But L.A. Times columnist Virginia Heffernan would like to quickly add something about Mike Lindell being a cosplay governor.I think we need to understand that being in politics leads to governing and governing is boring. It is not a PR operation, she says. And I feel like we have made these jobs celebrity roles. Public service should not beis notbeing on a reality show.Like, I feel like we need to really dial down the razzle-dazzle, really play up the drudgery, Heffernan continues. I just don't know why every single industrialist and every single lady with abs or gorgeous arms would want to be, of all things, a governor.Biden, Heffernan opines, is doing a pretty good job at the drudgerydollars going out, jabs going out, all leading to Trump signs going down. Sure, the Donald has his cultists, like Lindell. But, I don't think people can hold onto this much insanity for this long, especially when it's a tiny minority of people who believe it, Heffernan adds. Democrats need to know how to win.To which Jong-Fast replies, oh-so-gently: Are you freakin kidding me? With all of these Republican attempts to retcon the Capitol riots? To chop away at the right to vote? To instantiate their ability to overturn elections? All while Team Biden snoozes it away? The Democrats are bringing an ice cream sundae to a knife fight, Jong-Fast says.Plus! Politicos Tara Palmeri talks about her search to find Liz Cheney supporters in Wyoming. And Battle for the Soul author Edward-Isaac Dovere gives us a peek into how Biden sees the political landscape. The presidency that he has in front of him now, he knows, is so different from what he ever expected to have, Dovere says, And part of that is rethinking how he incorporates the progressivism within the party that took root and that was so much part of this campaign. And its just, its a really complicated evolution for him. Its not the presidency he thought itd be running in 2019 when he got into this race.Read more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more. Seizing on the new disclosures about the murder of Jamal Khashoggi, the families of Sept. 11 victims are appealing to President Biden to release still-classified documents about an FBI investigation into the Saudi role in the terror attacks that were blocked from public release by the Trump administration. In a letter to Biden and Attorney General designate Merrick Garland, an advance copy of which was shared with Yahoo News, family members say their lawsuit against the Saudi government for alleged complicity in the attacks has been repeatedly thwarted in recent years by the refusal of the FBI and Justice Department to turn over key documents. The letter will be sent later this week after Garlands expected confirmation. We implore you to stop this travesty of justice and ensure that the Department of Justice immediately provide the documents and cooperation we need so that we can finally hold Saudi Arabia accountable, states the letter, signed by nearly 2,000 family members of 9/11 victims. We pray that after almost two decades of seeking accountability, our struggle will finally end by the upcoming 20th anniversary of the darkest day in American history. We have waited long enough. President Biden at the White House on Saturday. (Samuel Corum/the New York Times/Bloomberg via Getty Images) The letter comes just days after Bidens director of national intelligence, Avril Haines, released a report that pinned responsibility for the brutal October 2018 murder of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi on Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the countrys de facto ruler. The report concluded that Khashoggi was killed inside the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul by members of the Rapid Intervention Force, which serves as Mohammeds personal protective detail and answers only to him. James Kreindler, a lawyer who has been representing the families in the 9/11 lawsuit, said in an interview he believes that the Khashoggi report gives his clients new leverage to demand full disclosure of the still-buried 9/11 documents, including a complete copy of a 2012 FBI report into suspected links between some Saudi government officials and the hijackers. Last year, then-Attorney General William Barr and then-acting Director of National Intelligence Richard Grenell blocked disclosure to the public and families of that reports most important details, declaring them a state secret. Story continues I dont understand how our government can release the documents on the murder of one man two years ago but not the documents on the murder of 3,000 people 20 years ago, said Brett Eagleson, a spokesman for the families, whose father was killed in the World Trade Center on Sept. 11. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment. An FBI spokesperson declined comment. The letter echoes a request that was recently made in a separate letter to the Justice Department by Democratic Sens. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut and Bob Menendez of New Jersey urging the new leadership to review Barr and Grenells decision to withhold the 9/11 material. The request is aimed at putting a spotlight on an ongoing lawsuit that has revealed intriguing new evidence pointing to the possible role of several Saudi government officials and agents in assisting two of the 9/11 hijackers who flew into Los Angeles International Airport in January 2000. In the view of the families and their lawyers, the case has been repeatedly frustrated by what they see as stonewalling by senior U.S. officials fearful of disrupting the U.S.-Saudi alliance. Jamal Khashoggi. (Johnny Green - PA Images/PA Images via Getty Images) The timing of the families letter is also potentially significant because the U.S. governments Public Interest Declassification Board a federal panel that is charged with making recommendations about the disclosure of classified documents is expected to take up the issue of still-secret 9/11 material, possibly in the next few weeks. It also comes the week after Kreindler, the lawyer for the 9/11 families, filed a separate lawsuit against the Saudi government on behalf of the families of three U.S. servicemen and 13 others wounded in a mass shooting at Naval Air Station Pensacola in Florida in 2019 perpetrated by a Royal Saudi Air Force second lieutenant, Ahmed Mohammed al-Shamrani. The suit alleges that al-Shamrani had accomplices who, before the attack, went with him to the 9/11 memorial to pay homage to the hijackers. In 2004, the 9/11 Commission concluded that, while 15 of the 19 hijackers were Saudis, it could find no evidence that the Saudi government funded or approved of the terror attacks. But the commission acknowledged there were gaps in what it was able to learn, especially about the assistance that two of the hijackers, Nawaf al-Hazmi and Khalid al-Mihdhar, received from a radical imam at the Saudi government-funded King Fahad Mosque in Los Angeles and Omar al-Bayoumi, a suspected Saudi intelligence agent. That prompted the FBI, with no public announcement, to launch Operation Encore, a new investigation into possible Saudi complicity that dragged on for years with no public resolution. The 9/11 families lawsuit authorized by an act of Congress over then-President Barack Obamas veto in 2016 has uncovered some new material that has fleshed out some, but by no means all, of the details in the 9/11 Commission report. In particular, as first reported last year by Yahoo News, the Justice Department at first, inadvertently filed a declaration by a senior FBI official that identified a former official at the Saudi Embassy in Washington, Mussaed Ahmed al-Jarrah, who was believed by the Operation Encore team to have tasked the imam, Fahad al-Thumairy, and al-Bayoumi with assisting the two al-Qaida hijackers after they flew into Los Angeles. The lawyers for the families have been pressing for complete disclosure of the 2012 Operation Encore report to find out the basis for the assertion that al-Jarrah had directed the tasking to assist the al-Qaida operatives. (The FBI in a court document has since asserted that, despite the seemingly clear wording of the document, this was more a speculative theory of the agents than a hard conclusion.) The lawyers for the families have also sought interview reports, phone records, bank records and other material relating to communications between Saudi government officials and the hijackers. Attorney General William Barr at the U.S. Attorneys Office in Atlanta on Sept. 21, 2020. (Elijah Nouvelage/Reuters) Among the more sensitive material are long-suppressed financial records showing more than $300,000 in wire transfers from a high-ranking Saudi prince to the personal account of al-Thumairy between 1999 and 2001, according to a former U.S. official. What the funds were for, and whether it relates to support and assistance that al-Thumairy and al-Bayoumi provided the hijackers while they were living in Southern California, is unclear. But last year, Barr and Grenell filed declarations in the lawsuit asserting that the withheld FBI material should be viewed as a state secret whose disclosure would be injurious to U.S. national security. A federal magistrate overseeing the case recently adopted that position in refusing to turn over most of the material a ruling that the families say complicates their case given a June 30, 2021, deadline cutting off discovery in the lawsuit. Mr. President and Attorney General, the families write in their letter to Biden and Garland, we, the 9/11 Families and Victims ask: Does the Federal Bureau of Investigation work for the American people or for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia? ____ Read more from Yahoo News: This article will be updated throughout the week with coronavirus case counts and other need-to-know information about the pandemic in San Antonio. The state of the COVID-19 pandemic in San Antonio continued to improve Sunday as officials reported lower hospitalization numbers, two new deaths and just 15 new cases. The number of new infections could be artificially low because of logistical problems at testing sites or laboratories. The rolling seven-day average of new cases, considered a more accurate representation of coronavirus transmission than daily case counts, now stands at 206 per day. The coronavirus situation in Bexar County has been improving steadily since January, when the seven-day average was above 2,000 cases a day and hospitals were treating more than 1,500 COVID-19 patients. March 6 The San Antonio Metropolitan Health District reported four new deaths and 137 new coronavirus cases Saturday. But as another vacation break starts added to the governors decision to lift the mask mandate and allow businesses to resume full occupancy officials are worried the progress made to slow the coronvirus pandemic will stop. With spring break here for many, the temptation to let our guard down is real, Mayor Ron Nirenberg said Saturday. But we have to keep our eyes on the prize. March 5 San Antonio and Bexar County officials reported 287 newly diagnosed coronavirus cases and three more deaths Friday, including another death of a man in his 30s who succumbed to the illness at home. It was the second time this week that local officials announced that a Bexar County resident in his 30s died at home. Wolff thanked several businesses that have announced they will continue requiring customers to wear masks at their establishments. The business community might save us by taking that kind of a stand, he said. March 4 Those numbers are moving in the right direction, but as weve reminded you throughout this week, especially with the orders from the state, please do not let your guard down, Nirenberg said Thusday during the coronavirus briefing he and Wolff hold each day. The citys coronavirus risk level is now classified as mild and improving. And its seven-day rolling average of new cases now stands at 329 per day. A month ago, the average was 1,463 per day. The 242 newly diagnosed cases reported Thursday underscore the improvement. March 3 After four consecutive days without new coronavirus deaths, six people were reported Wednesday to have died from the virus. Another 255 deaths reported by the Texas Department of State Health Services are under investigation by the San Antonio Metropolitan Health District. Metro Health also reported 190 new coronavirus cases Wednesday a decrease from 249 cases the day before. March 2 As Texas Gov. Greg Abbott announced the imminent lifting of coronavirus restrictions, hospitalizations from COVID-19 continued to decline in the San Antonio region. For the fourth day in a row, officials reported no new deaths from COVID-19. Bexar Countys confirmed death toll from the virus now stands at 2,670. Health officials reported 249 new coronavirus cases Tuesday, compared with 288 on Monday. Mayor Ron Nirenberg and Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff criticized the move as premature and urged residents to continue to wear masks. March 1 San Antonios coronavirus positivity rate has dropped to 5.6 percent, as community transmission continues to decline in the wake of the winter surge. However, officials have cautioned that the citys coronavirus data has been skewed by last months winter storms and accompanying water and power outages, which shut down many testing sites and prevented people from getting to those that were still open. Officials reported 288 new cases and no new deaths Monday. February 28 The coronavirus situation in San Antonio continued to improve Sunday as officials reported 318 new cases, no new deaths and fewer people hospitalized. Those figures have been declining steadily in Bexar County since peaking in January, but local officials have warned that the deadly virus is still spreading and that San Antonio has not gotten past the pandemic just yet. For the most part, our numbers continue to move in the right direction, but that doesnt mean COVID-19 is behind us, Mayor Ron Nirenberg said in a statement Sunday. The threat remains real and widespread. The reputation of Belfast City Council (BCC) has taken an awful blow due to its handling of the cremation of former IRA man Bobby Storey last year, a councillor has said. Some heated words were exchanged over the issue at the monthly meeting of the council on Monday night, following the publication of an independent report into BCCs handling of the cremation last week. The report, running to 116 pages and costing around 50,000, found no evidence the service was handled differently due to Mr Storeys connections to Sinn Fein and no evidence of political influence on council chief executive Suzanne Wylie over the matter. Conducted by barrister Peter Coll, the probe examined how Mr Storeys relatives were treated differently to eight other families who had cremations on the same day as the IRA man in June last year. The other families were kept at the gates of Roselawn Crematorium while up to 30 mourners were allowed inside to attend the service for Mr Storey. Speaking during Monday nights virtual meeting, SDLP council group leader Donal Lyons said: I think that the reputation of this council has taken an awful blow, not only in the context of the report, but in terms of a basic level of empathy. You can understand the anguish that the eight families who were treated differently went through. The report is tough reading for that fact. I do recognise the pressure that all staff in this organisation were working under at the time, and indeed continue to operate under... going forward out of this we do need to make exceptional efforts to rehabilitate our reputation. Sinn Fein council group leader Ciaran Beattie said BCC is in a unique position where it is probably the only local authority in Europe to hold an investigation into the cremation of one of its citizens. And Im not sure it would have happened if Bobby Storey had been another person. It was because Bobby Storey was a member of Sinn Fein, it was because Bobby Storey was a republican that misinformation was put out from the very start to whip up a storm, to try and create the circumstances for an investigation... The investigation was agreed to by all parties, except for Sinn Fein and People Before Profit... theyve had their investigation and now they dont like it. I said at the start: none of this happened. The conspiracy theories that some spun on the radio, that were put into the public domain through media outlets it didnt happen. There was not a takeover of the cemetery that was fantasy. There wasnt 61 people at the service that was fantasy. All these people running about the cemetery that was fantasy. Pressure put on staff didnt happen. It was all nonsense. Now, the eight families that were affected, it was terrible what happened to them. They should never have been treated differently, but that wasnt requested. No one requested they be treated differently. We need to put this to bed, but there were nine families who were hurt. Bobby Storeys family went through eight months of feeling as if they were doing something illegal, which they didnt. They were vilified through the media, when they did nothing wrong. We were right to apologise to all the families, and we need to move on. Alliance council group leader Nuala McAllister said her party from day one has not talked about conspiracy theories, not talked about media hype, but we have actually talked about the heartbreak of the families concerned. I will agree with Ciaran that we are where we are and we got the investigation, we did, she added. And we do need to move forward, but we need to move forward in a meaningful way. We need to rebuild relationships that have broken down, unnecessarily I would say, between councillors and council officers. DANVILLE, Calif., March 2, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- In support of Read Across America Day , the nation's largest celebration of reading, California-based children's book author, Valerie Carlson Pressley, announced her picture book series for children ages 0-3 is now available in nearly half a dozen independent bookstores and gift shops across the country. Picture Book Series Celebrating Children Ages 0-3 by Valerie Carlson Pressley Author, Valerie Carlson Pressley The recently launched series of books, I'm Here, I'm Here!, I'm One, I'm One!, and I'm Two, I'm Two! are available in Northern California retail locations, including BLISS in Danville, Books on Main in Murphys, Leigh's Favorite Books in Sunnyvale, and Alive Media in Alamo, and at Sweet Reads Books in Austin, Minnesota. "Small bookstores help create the charm and character of our communities and serve as special places to nurture a joy of reading for children of all ages. I am thrilled to have my books now available at some amazing independent retailers across the U.S.," said Valerie Carlson Pressley, author and owner, Writing for Kids, a provider of engaging content for babies and little ones. In September 2020, Pressley launched the first three titles in her debut children's book series written to celebrate special moments and developmental milestones for newborns and children through age five. The books include, I'm Here, I'm Here!, for newborns 0-12 months, I'm One, I'm One!, for children 12-24 months, and I'm Two, I'm Two!, for children ages 2-3. From grabbing toes to taking first steps, the books are written in easy rhyme designed to showcase a little one's busy year of growth and achievement. The books feature simple and colorful illustrations by Kayla Lynn Olson-Surface , an award-winning artist and cartoonist. Since the company's launch, Pressley has donated dozens of books to Little Free Library locations throughout the East Bay. In January, she teamed with Mill Valley, CA-based Mackie Mack , an award-winning design company, to bundle the company's baby onesies with copies of I'm Here, I'm Here! for newborns. The gift sets are available at www.writingforkids.shop . About Valerie Carlson Pressley | Writing for Kids Valerie Carlson Pressley is the author and owner of Writing for Kids, a provider of engaging content for babies and little ones published in 2020. For more info: www.writingforkids.shop . Contact: Valerie Carlson Pressley Writing for Kids (206) 200-3219 [email protected] SOURCE Writing for Kids 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. While Steve Fulop is proudly touting Jersey Citys latest batch of 2,500 vaccine doses, a North Hudson mayor says his town is being shortchanged. West New York Mayor Gabriel Rodriguez said Tuesday his town hasnt received any doses of the coronavirus vaccine since the rollout in January, and has relied on roughly 300 doses from the allotment provided to the non-profit North Hudson Community Action Corp. At this juncture, as is the case around the world, we are desperately trying to secure a consistent supply of vaccinations to inoculate all our residents, Rodriguez said. While amounts to this region have increased, allocations toward our community have not. West New York deserves better and I will not rest until all residents are vaccinated. Meanwhile the Jersey City mayor said in his regular newsletter Tuesday that the city is planning to open four more vaccination sites, so that there will one in each ward of the city. So far, Jersey City is vaccinating residents at the Bethune McLeod Life Center on Martin Luther King Drive and at Ferris High School. Every location requires state approval, so we will open each additional site in a phased approach as the state allocates more doses, Fulop said in the newsletter. The vaccines are being distributed by the federal government to the states and then to the counties or individual municipalities. Hudson County has been receiving vaccines from the state to distribute to individual communities. The current distribution totals were not immediately available, but it is believed the addition of the Johnson & Johnson one-shot vaccine will help bolster the numbers. A source will knowledge of the distribution process said that the likely reason that West New York has been shut out of vaccine doses so far is that it didnt have a vaccination site ready to open. But that is changing, the mayor said, after the state approved the towns site. We are asking for as many doses as we can get, Rodriguez said. The mayor pointed out that West New York had the first reported COVID-19 case in Hudson County and that the towns COVID-19 death rate is almost twice that of the state of New Jersey (35.82 per 10,000 residents, compared to 22.87 per 10,000). With more than 50,000 people squeezed into one square mile, and a large number of them over 65, Rodriguez called it imperative that West New York be accommodated. While local and national outlets portray an image of distrust with the vaccine as a substantiating reason why underserved Americans are disproportionately under vaccinated, our pre-registration efforts highlight the opposite, he said. As a matter of fact, there has been an overwhelming response to our pre-registration for the vaccine. We are ready to vaccinate our community, and our community is ready to be vaccinated, but we need vaccines now. Avrupa Minerals Closing In On Copper/Zinc Targets Posted by Publisher Internet After Avrupa Minerals (TSXV: AVU) commenced drilling last December at its Sesmarias target at the flagship copper-zinc Alvalade project in Portugal, which is operated together with JV partner MATSA (joined company of Trafigura and Mubadala, two commodity giants), the company completed two drill holes so far for 874m of drilling, part of the 7-8,000m program. Hole SES20-031 and Hole SES20-032 were designed to test the area between the massive sulfide intercepted in hole SES008 and the stockwork zone intercepted in hole SES028, also at depth. The results didn?t look so spectacular, as hole SES20-031 returned 10.75m @ 0.19% copper and 0.74% lead, and SES20-032 didn?t hit any massive mineralization, though samples from the target horizon have been sent to the lab for trace element, pathfinder geochemistry. My expectations were higher than this, as SES008 returned 5.0m @ 0.64% Cu, 36.8 g/t Ag, 0.94% Pb and 1.54% Zn, and SES028 intercepted the edge of a significant feeder zone beneath the 8 Lens. Management remains highly positive, as CEO Paul Kuhn acknowledges the complexity of the mineralized systems at Alvalade: ?We are excited about the immediate possibilities in the Sesmarias target area. Positive geochemical and geological results from SES20-031 indicate potential for a continuing strong VMS system. We are still in the early stages of work at the north end of the presently-known Sesmarias system. Already, with the completion of two drill holes, and the start of a third hole, we have a much-improved understanding of the structural controls to the massive sulfide mineralization. This allows us to better target the massive sulfide bodies, as we move north along strike, and at some depth targeting downdip mineralization. The geological team has done a great job in pushing the Project ahead.? The present work is the initial attempt to expand the mineralization to the north from SES008 to the Brejo target area (formerly Northern Deep target), and the third hole, currently underway, is located north of and close to SES008. The next target is the Brejo target area itself, representing the strong gravity anomaly indicated at the upper half of the figure. Management plans to test this target in the near future. Drill testing this target will involve deep drilling, as wide-spaced, 500-600m deep historic drilling suggests strong possibility of massive sulfide mineralization increasing at depth. This section also indicates a sub-vertical orientation of potential mineralization. A more detailed section of intercepted geology by hole SES20-031 seems to indicate a more vertical orientation of mineralization as well, and is the explanation why not much mineralization was intersected. ?SES20-031 continued to 536 meters depth, in several places intersecting the specific black shale unit that hosts massive sulfide mineralization at Sesmarias and at the Lousal Mine, located six kilometers to the north. Detailed review of the core showed that for its entire length, the drill hole passed through intensely folded rock units of the Volcano-Sedimentary Formation, the general host of mineralization throughout the Iberian Pyrite Belt. Overall, however, the drillhole roughly paralleled the major trend of bedding, allowing only for narrow true widths of mineralized intercepts.? The beautifully visualized section showed the trajectory of the drill, but I still wondered how the drilling company could draw conclusions about the heavily folded, vertically oriented structures, as these were basically missed. According to Kuhn: ?When we detail log the core material, we can easily see the angle of the bedding relative to the axis of the core. Since we orient the core as it comes out of the hole, we can tell the geological angle of the beds. We are able to see detailed changes in the bedding and can easily interpret small to large folds. Faults are easy to see in the core material. With this work we can paint a complicated picture of the geology. Even folding in short intervals of core can mimic the larger-scale folding in the beds of target horizons. Previously, we understood that the target zones were strongly folded and faulted, but the detail of recent review by the JV geological team has advanced the story further, which is heavily influencing our targeting and expectations.? It was interesting to read that the drill hole intercepted the black shale rocks that host massive sulfide mineralization not only at Sesmarias, but also at the nearby Lousal Mine. I wondered what percentage of the Lousal Mine mineralization is hosted in black shale rocks. Kuhn thinks, based on historical analysis, that this is almost universal, indicating they might have found extensions of the Lousal deposit. The third hole currently underway, SES20-033 is testing exactly the black shale trajectory, at about 350-400 meters depth, but also on the other side of the major fold, in the neighborhood of 650-800 meters depth. Besides this more or less greenfields drilling, much of interest to me is the following paragraph in the news release: ?At the same time, the geological team continues to assess the historical core in the Brejo area, and has started to map geological structures visible in the old Lousal Mine workings. Initial work there clearly shows similarity of ore control characteristics to what we now know about the Sesmarias massive sulfide mineralization. Historical documents and academic studies (non- compliant to NI 43-101 standards) indicate a universal metal resource at the old mine of over 50 million tonnes of massive sulfide material. Review of original mine records by Avrupa demonstrates that less than 20 million tonnes of ore were actually extracted from Lousal.? As has been known for years, there could still be 30Mt of massive sulfide mineralization present at the Lousal Mine. This resembles low hanging fruit to me, as I indicated in earlier analysis, and I?m curious if management is for example contemplating digitizing historic data and results of ongoing mapping, in order to develop a drilling strategy to prove up these potential 30Mt. I?m also wondering where Lousal stands on the priority list of MATSA, as it seems relatively low risk. CEO Kuhn answered: ?Work at and around the Lousal Mine is a high priority, after Sesmarias/Brejo and the stockwork discovery at Monte da Bela Vista, just north of the Lousal Mine. At the moment we are running at full speed at Semarias/Brejo, but plan to work at Lousal compilation in the coming months.? As Kuhn indicated in December 2021 that a helicopter-supported VTEM electromagnetic survey was about to commence that month, covering a large part of the Alvalade License, I am curious about when the results will be announced. According to him, results are expected during the first half of March. In the meantime, the metals Avrupa is focusing on, copper and zinc, have been going through the roof, especially copper. After rising to US$4.34/lb Cu, levels not seen in nine years, there has been heavy selling on February 26, 2021, bringing the price down to US$4.09/lb Cu for now as can be seen in this chart by Macrotrends. Analysts see this selling as an overdue and healthy stage of consolidation at best, or a correction at worst, according to this article at Mining.com. The big question for now is the reaction of big Chinese players, holding massive long positions in copper contracts. As lots of copper is projected to be arriving from Chile and Peru, it is expected that the extreme pressure on the copper price caused by heavy shortages, in turn caused by strikes and COVID-19, will ease somewhat. On the other hand, when COVID-19 measures will gradually subside on the back of vaccination, the world economy will gather speed again, and if this happens viciously as many analysts expect, also helped by the US$1.9T stimulus program from Biden, copper could remain around the US$4/lb levels for quite some time. Avrupa?s second most important metal, zinc, has also been doing well lately, as can be seen here in this chart of Kitco. As a reminder, according to the International Lead and Zinc Study Group (ILZSG), a platform formed by the United Nations, consisting of all major producing countries and industry players in the lead and zinc sector, several mines could experience problems to nameplate capacity again, but global supply for refined zinc metal will exceed demand significantly in 2021, as this surplus is expected to be 463kt. Notwithstanding this, with the world economy picking up, I expect zinc to remain above US$1.15-1.20/lb levels for the foreseeable future. Zinc currently sits at US1.27/lb Zn. Such metal prices should be all the incentive JV partner MATSA needs in my view, to sink a lot of exploration dollars (or euro?s in this case) into Alvalade. After the 4 to 1 consolidation of Avrupa shares, the company is looking to do a financing soon, as several funds already expressed their interest. Avrupa is still trading at rock-bottom prices (market cap of just C$3.76M), despite copper prices going into the stratosphere. When Avrupa starts hitting serious mineralization, these price levels should be something from the past soon in my view. Conclusion The first drill holes didn?t bring in fireworks yet, but as the geology is quite complex and not easy to unravel, CEO Paul Kuhn is working diligently together with JV Partner MATSA to unravel the Sesmarias puzzle. The soon to be announced results of the airborne VTEM survey will hopefully and likely bring in lots of targets, as can be expected with several historic mines and remaining historic resources being present.. Besides all other targets, in my view, the remaining historic resources sitting in the ground at the Lousal Mine provide a unique opportunity to relatively easily prove up many tons of mineralization, and drilling on this location is planned for later in 2021. When good intercepts start rolling in there, this tiny junior could very well become a multi-bagger in a short period of time. I hope you will find this article interesting and useful, and will have further interest in my upcoming articles on mining. To never miss a thing, please subscribe to my free newsletter on my website www.criticalinvestor.eu, in order to get an email notice of my new articles soon after they are published. Disclaimer: The author is not a registered investment advisor, and currently has a long position in this stock. Avrupa Minerals is a sponsoring company. All facts are to be checked by the reader. For more information go to www.avrupaminerals.com and read the company?s profile and official documents on www.sedar.com, also for important risk disclosures. This article is provided for information purposes only, and is not intended to be investment advice of any kind, and all readers are encouraged to do their own due diligence, and talk to their own licensed investment advisors prior to making any investment decisions. As many as 12,286 new COVID-19 cases and 91 deaths were reported in India in the last 24 hours, the Union Health Ministry informed on Tuesday. With this, the total number of cases reported in the country now stands at 1,11,24,527, including 1,68,358 active cases and 1,07,98,921 recoveries. India cured 12,464 people on Monday. The total death toll reached 1,57,248 after 91 deaths were reported in the last 24 hours. As many as 1,48,54,136 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine have been administered so far. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday took the first dose of Covaxin, India's homegrown coronavirus vaccine developed by biotechnology firm Bharat Biotech and the Indian Council of Medical Research, addressing hesitancy over the COVID-19 vaccine. According to the ICMR, a total of 21,76,18,057 samples have been tested for COVID-19 up to 1 March. Of these, 7,59,283 samples were tested on Monday. Subscribe to Mint Newsletters * Enter a valid email * Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. Typically, Democratic presidents arent so specific in their support for organized labor. Barack Obama, for example, stuck to platitudes at his 2015 White House summit on worker voice. Labor unions were often the driving force for progress, he said, The middle class itself was built on a union label. And that middle class that was built was the engine of our prosperity. Before Obama, Jennifer Klein, a professor of history at Yale, wrote by email, Presidents Carter and Bill Clinton basically didnt even believe there should be unions. They saw them as relics of a decidedly different era of American capitalism. Unions didnt really function in a modern economy. Free trade, knowledge, and new technologies would eliminate that old politics of class conflict and the need for much of the New Deal apparatus. Even Franklin Roosevelt was, as the historian William E. Leuchtenburg wrote in 1963, somewhat perturbed at being cast in the role of midwife of industrial unionism. When pressured by events to take a side in the Little Steel strike of May 1937 in which steel workers under the C.I.O. and the Steel Workers Organizing Committee clashed with a group of independent steel producers, their strikebreakers and law enforcement Roosevelt blanched. The majority of people are saying just one thing, the president said. A plague on both your houses. Compare this to Biden, who stepped in during an organizing drive and ongoing union election to support workers, rebuke hostile employers and remind the country that the federal government has an obligation to allow or even encourage union organizing. Relative to the rhetoric of most of his predecessors, Bidens brief address stands as one of the most pro-union statements ever issued from the White House. What is also striking is how the presidents statement reflects the changing nature of the labor movement. Biden says explicitly that unions help protect workers from sexual harassment and racial bias, and he ties the fight for union representation to the nations reckoning on race and the deep disparities that still exist in our country. FLINT, MI -- City Councilman Eric Mays was removed from a virtual meeting Monday, March 1, after two other council members said they believed their colleague was drunk. Council President Kate Fields took the action without objection, removing Mays from a council meeting for being disruptive for at least the ninth time in recent years although he protested he was not inebriated. The removal of Mays came after Mayor Sheldon Neeley presented the citys proposed 2021-2022 budget, during a special meeting called to handle leftover council business. I think my colleague is drunk ... I dont think he should be in this meeting, 2nd Ward Councilman Maurice Davis said after Mays repeatedly accused white council members of voting along racial lines on whether to formally receive the budget. Fields first asked Mays, who said he was attending the meeting from an Ingham County hotel room, if he was inebriated because of his slurred speech and your behavior. Let me put it to you this way Miss Fields, Mays said. Whether Im inebriated or not, what I said was this -- that theres no agenda item that makes you rule council people out of order for bringing issues that are germane ... No, Im not inebriated. After Fields asked City Attorney Angela Wheeler about her options for removing Mays, the councilman said he didnt know what inebriated meant, and insisted, Im sober as a judge .... Youre grasping at straws ... Im going to make you look like a fool. Reached Tuesday, March 2 by MLive-The Flint Journal, Mays said he had a drink during Mondays meeting but added, I dont think I was inebriated. Anybody who knows me (knows) Im not a drinker, but I did have a drink yesterday, he said. The councilman said Fields is the root of the problem with council meetings that have typically been contentious because she rules improperly on points of order and points of information he and others raise. Mays has been reelected by voters in three straight elections and ran for mayor in 2015. He has been removed or voluntarily left council meetings before he could be escorted by police at least nine times since 2012, including at least once before he was elected, for being disruptive. One year ago, he was handcuffed and led out of Flint City Council chambers and the remainder of the council voted to ban him from meetings for a month. When the council met in person, prior to the COVID-19 emergency, a police officer had typically been posted at council meetings to remove anyone causing a disruption, but Mays has been the lone council member to be removed from his seat since he took office. The 1st Ward councilman has been escorted by police out of public meetings in handcuffs on multiple occasions. Hes pawned a city-owned laptop computer and verbally assaulted a reporter in City Hall. Outside of council chambers, Mays was sentenced to jail in 2016 for impaired driving after he was found next to a disabled car, facing the wrong way on the expressway in 2013. Read more: Flint councilman kicked out of another virtual meeting after arguing with mayor, being disruptive If the teeth fit, you must acquit, Eric Mays has a colorfully weird history in Flint politics Councilman Eric Mays and Flints deputy chief of staff involved in bar fight President Joe Biden has offered his assurances to Mexico's President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador that he considered the country an "equal" during a virtual meeting on Monday. The Biden administration is focusing on undoing some of the immigration policies established during former President Donald Trump's administration. Biden noted that the U.S. and Mexico have not always been perfect neighbors. However, he said the two countries are safe when there is a collaborative relationship, especially when it comes to the pandemic. Biden said that during his time as vice president in the Obama administration, they made a commitment that they will look at Mexico as an equal and not as someone from south of the border. "You are equal... And what you do in Mexico and how you succeed impacts dramatically on what the rest of the hemisphere will look like," Biden told Lopez Obrador as Fox News reported. Lopez Obrador expressed his gratitude to Biden for communicating his desire to base their relationship on equality and respect. Read also: Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 Vaccine Applies for Emergency Use Authorization Biden's Immigration Plan Affecting Mexico The Biden administration has already imposed several measures to reestablish the country's immigration system, starting with pausing the funding for the border wall. The border wall was one of the Trump administration's priorities that aim to prevent illegal immigration from Mexico. Biden has already taken action to preserve the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, which has given protection to young undocumented immigrants. He had also revoked Trump's pause on green card applicants entering the country due to the pandemic. Aside from that, Biden has also ended the former administration's "Remain in Mexico" policy that allowed immigration enforcement officials to send non-Mexican asylum seekers to Mexico as they waited for their cases to be arbitrated in the U.S. court system. Critics are worried that this move could lead to a surge in illegal border crossings, with arrests and detentions at the U.S.-Mexico border peaked at about 78,000 in January. This was more than double recorded from the previous year. Biden is Not Considering Sharing the COVID-19 Vaccine With Mexico Before Biden's meeting with Lopez Obrador, the administration has downplayed the prospect of sharing COVID-19 vaccines with Mexico, saying it focuses more on getting its own population vaccinated. The pandemic has killed more than 500,000 Americans, according to a Reuters report. White House press secretary Jen Psaki said the Biden administration wanted to ensure that every American will be vaccinated. Psaki added that once they accomplish that, they would be "happy to discuss further steps." Biden noted that they would discuss the issue at the meeting's outset. However, according to a National Post report, the official statement released after the meeting made no mention of COVID-19 vaccine distribution. Meanwhile, Biden predicted that the U.S. would have enough supply by late July to vaccinate all Americans. Officials have already used 76.9 million doses, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The said doses are enough for 23 percent of the population to get two doses recommended for the vaccines' full protection. On the other hand, Mexico has vaccinated about 2.5 million doses so far, which is enough for one percent of its population. Lopez Obrador earlier said he would ask Biden to consider sharing part of the U.S. vaccine supply. Reports said that Mexico plans to ask for a loan of the U.S. vaccine supplies to be paid back when the shots that Mexico has contracts for are delivered later this year. Read more: Ted Cruz Slams Biden's Immigration Plan: 'They Don't Make Exceptions for Criminals, Murderers, Rapists' Indian-origin British professor Sanjeev Gupta from Imperial College London has given a new meaning to the WFH culture. Living in his apartment at South Londons Lewisham, 55-year-old Sanjeev Gupta is a part of the team of scientists operating Perseverance rover. YouTube Using five computers and two other screens for video conferencing, Gupta has been controlling NASAs Mars rover Perseverance from his one-bedroom flat situated above a hair salon in South London. Sanjeev and his colleagues at NASA are going to operate the rover to drill samples which are then going to be carried back to Earth by another UK-based project in 2027. Also Read: Deep Space Network: How Perseverance Rover On Mars Connects With NASA On Earth Due to the ongoing lockdown, its not bee possible to join the rest of his team at NASAs jet propulsion laboratory (JPL) in Southern California, where the Perseverance rover was built. I should be at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California, in a series of offices each one about three times bigger than this lounge, full of hundreds of scientists and engineers with their heads buried in laptops surrounded by large screens, Gupta told Mail Online. Also Read: NASA Successfully Lands Perseverance Rover & Ingenuity Helicopter On Mars NASA The rover weighing 1,043 kilos will search and collect clues from Jezero crater, an ancient lake bed that may give any signs of past microbial life. Once back on Earth, Gupta will study the Martian rocks and sentiment samples to find answers regarding the Red planets geology and climate that will eventually pave the way for humans to explore civilisation on Mars. [March 01, 2021] LEIDOS HOLDINGS ALERT: Bragar Eagel & Squire, P.C. is Investigating Leidos Holdings, Inc. on Behalf of Leidos Stockholders and Encourages Investors to Contact the Firm Bragar Eagel & Squire, P.C., a nationally recognized shareholder rights law firm, is investigating potential claims against Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: LDOS) on behalf of Leidos stockholders. Our investigation concerns whether Leidos has violated the federal securities laws and/or engaged in other unlawful business practices. Click here to participate in the action. On February 16, 2021, investment analyst Spruce Point Capital Management published a report alleging, among other things, that "Leidos' $1.0 billion levered acquisition of L3Harris' Security Detection and Automation business (SD&A) is experiencing significant problems, including product defects, that increase the likelihood of a material adverse effect." The report further alleged that the Company misstated revenue, citing, for example, a $6 million variance between the third quarter 2020 investor presentatio and a Form 10-Q, which "raises the possibility that Leidos has booked fake revenue, or is keeping two sets of books." On this news, Leidos's stock price fell $3.41 per share, or over 3%, to close at $105.22 per share on February 16, 2021. If you purchased or otherwise acquired Leidos shares and suffered a loss, are a long term stockholder, have information, would like to learn more about these claims, or have any questions concerning this announcement or your rights or interests with respect to these matters, please contact Brandon Walker, Melissa Fortunato, or Marion Passmore by email at investigations@bespc.com, telephone at (212) 355-4648, or by filling out this contact form. There is no cost or obligation to you. About Bragar Eagel & Squire, P.C.: Bragar Eagel & Squire, P.C. is a nationally recognized law firm with offices in New York, California, and South Carolina. The firm represents individual and institutional investors in commercial, securities, derivative, and other complex litigation in state and federal courts across the country. For more information about the firm, please visit www.bespc.com. Attorney advertising. Prior results do not guarantee similar outcomes. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210301006059/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] A soldier inspects improvised bombs recovered following a shootout on Sunday with Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters in the southern Maguindanao province in the Philippines, March 2, 2020. Philippine security forces killed four suspected members of a pro-Islamic State militant group who were allegedly plotting a bomb attack, during a three-hour shootout in a southern province, the military said on Tuesday. Troops responded on Sunday to calls for help by villagers near the town of Shariff Saydona Mustapha who had complained of being harassed by armed men, said local army commander Maj. Gen. Juvymax Uy. A firefight ensued that led to the casualties on the enemy side, he said. They burned houses. The civilians alerted our men about the armed men, he said. The fighting left four dead on the enemy side, Uy said. Soldiers discovered 10 improvised bombs left behind by the suspected militants, the military said. The recovered bombs have the trademark of BIFF, said Col. Pedro Balisi Jr., a commander of the local army. It was not immediately clear why the military waited till Tuesday to publicize the deadly operation over the weekend. The militants were identified as members of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF), Uy said. They were under the leadership of Ustadz Karialan (also known as Imam Minimbang), a notorious BIFF commander in the area whose forces had engaged the troops in fierce clashes in the past, he added. In January, suspected BIFF militants carried out two roadside bombings in southern North Cotabato and Maguindanao provinces that killed at least three people and left scores wounded. In 2019, BIFF was blamed for a series of bomb attacks, including on a town market and at a restaurant in the nearby town of Isulan, wounding eight and 18 respectively. Last month, BenarNews reported that Abu Misry Mama, a senior BIFF member, died of natural causes in the southern Philippines. The government had offered 1 million pesos (U.S. $21,000) for Mamas arrest or capture. BIFF is a breakaway faction of the now-defunct rebel group Moro Islamic Liberation Front, which heads a transitional government in a Muslim autonomous region in the south after signing a peace deal with Manila. BIFF refused to sign the peace deal. BIFF numbers just a few hundred, with the group concentrated largely in central Mindanao Island, officials said. While BIFF did not send fighters to join the sacking of southern Marawi City by pro-IS militants in 2017, it launched attacks elsewhere in the Mindanao region to divert military attention from the battlefront. Shortly after the siege of Marawi was declared over in October 2017, Mama admitted that BIFF had launched attacks to distract troops. Late last month, Murad Ebrahim, head of the Bangsamoro Transitional Authority, said that he had made preliminary contact with members of BIFF as well as the Abu Sayyaf Group, in efforts to persuade them to come into the fold of the law. Security forces in the southern region have been on heightened alert after twin suicide bombings carried out allegedly by Abu Sayyaf operatives killed 15 people on Jolo, an island in southern Sulu province. A year earlier, 23 died in a twin-suicide bombing that targeted a church in Jolo town. Abu Sayyafs IS faction is a small group known for kidnappings and beheadings. 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. ADVERTISEMENT The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on Tuesday arraigned a Dutch, Peiter Borremans, and his wife, Nkechi Borremans, on fraud charges involving $330,000. They alleged that the defendants received the money, equivalent to about N125.7million at official exchange rate, for the sale of a marine tanker vessel which they were said to have failed to deliver to the buyer. The commission said in a statement that the duo was arraigned alongside their firm, Lagon Trade Limited, on two counts of conspiracy and obtaining by false pretence. According to the statement, the defendants pleaded not guilty when the charges were read to them before E. A Obile of the Federal High Court, in Port Harcourt, Rivers State. The anti-graft agency said investigation into the alleged crime followed the complaint by a petitioner who alleged that his companies Jackkyson Multi Services Limited and Alot General services Limited, allegedly offered to purchase a marine tanker vessel from Lagon Trade Limited for $1,100,000. The petitioner was said to have made a part payment of $330,000 for the vessel. The defendants allegedly vanished into thin air after collecting the money and all efforts to get a refund or delivery of the vessel proved abortive. The EFCC said their offence is contrary to Section 1(1) (a) and (2) of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offences Act 2006 and punishable under Section 1(3) of the same Act. ALSO READ: EFCC arraigns former Nigerian senator for N419 million scam One of the counts reads: That you, Peiter Borremans, Nkechi Borremans, and Lagon Trade Limited, on or about the 31st day of July 2014 at Port Harcourt within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court with intent to defraud did obtain the sum of Three Hundred and Thirty Thousand Dollars ($330,000:00) only from Jackkyson Multi Services Limited and Alot General Services Limited, as advance payment meant for the purchase of Marine Tanker Vessel, a pretext you knew to be false and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 1(1)(a) and (2) of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offences Act, 2006 and punishable under Section 1(3) of the same Act. Given their pleas, prosecuting counsel, N.A Dodo, urged the court to adjourn the case for commencement of trial. He also urged the judge to remand the defendants in a correctional centre. Responding, defence counsel, C. A Okowanya, prayed that the defendants be remanded in EFCC custody due to the second wave of COVID-19. The judge ordered the defendants to be remanded in EFCC custody and adjourned the matter till March 31 for trial. Vernon Jordan Jr., a civil rights pioneer and Washington power broker who was a behind-the-scenes force in former President Bill Clinton's administration, has died. He was 85. Jordan died Monday evening, his daughter, Vickee Jordan, said in an emailed statement Tuesday. An activist and a longtime confidante to Clinton, Jordan was a rare person to straddle Wall Street and Washington in prominent positions and break racial divisions along the way. He grew up in Jim Crow Georgia and worked as a chauffeur to a white banker before rising to become one of the most significant advisers to corporate boards in America. Harvard University professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. has called Jordan the "Rosa Parks of Wall Street." "Vernon was a pioneer and giant in a number of spheres of American life, including civil rights, politics and corporate life," said Dick Parsons, former Citigroup Inc. chairman. "His greatest impact, however, may have been in the number of African Americans whose careers he helped launch and mentor. It's a loss to the world." Dubbed Clinton's "first friend" by the press, Jordan addressed diplomatic and administrative difficulties for the president but never accepted the Cabinet post that was rumored to be his for the asking, according to a 1998 article in Time magazine. He co-headed Clinton's 1992 transition team. For more than three decades beginning in 1982, Jordan was a partner and counsel at the Washington office of Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP, where he oversaw the law firm's extensive lobbying efforts. He also was a senior managing director at Lazard Capital Markets. One source of Jordan's influence was his many corporate board memberships -- among them American Express Co., Xerox Corp. and Revlon Inc. Together with his extensive philanthropic involvement and the Clinton relationship, Jordan was as plugged in as anybody in the nation's capital. He pushed for the advancement of minorities through his corporate influence as well, raising money for Black students. Jordan rose to power in Washington in the 1970s as president of the National Urban League, a business-supported civil rights organization. In 1980, while on a National Urban League speaking engagement in Fort Wayne, Ind., Jordan was shot in the back by a sniper. Severely injured, he spent some months in a hospital recovering. Vernon Eulion Jordan Jr. was born Aug. 15, 1935, in Atlanta. Jordan attended segregated schools in Atlanta. He received a bachelor's degree in 1957 from Greencastle, Ind.-based DePauw University. He earned a law degree from Howard University in 1960. In 1959, Jordan married the former Shirley Yarbrough. She died in 1985. They had a daughter, Vickee Jordan Adams. In 1986, he married Ann Dibble Cook. 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 Bunny Wailer, one of the most influential singers in reggae music history, has died. He was 73. Along with young Bob Marley and Peter Tosh, the artist born Neville ORiley Livingston co-founded vocal trio the Wailers, who played a crucial role in transforming early 1960s ska music into rocksteady and ultimately reggae. Bunny Wailer performs at the One Love concert to celebrate Bob Marleys 60th birthday, in Kingston, Jamaica. Credit:Collin Reid Wailers death was confirmed by his manager, according to The Associated Press. The cause of the death was not immediately known. Jamaican newspapers reported that he had a stroke about a year ago. Best known for his work in songs including Simmer Down, Rude Boy, Get Up, Stand Up, I Shot the Sheriff, Stir It Up, Blackheart Man and dozens more, Wailers Zen-like approach to music creation helped manifest a whole new language focused on groove and vibe. After leaving the Wailers in 1973, Wailer carried on as a solo artist, releasing more than two dozen studio albums. Special flight for Ukrainians wishing to return from Israel, scheduled for March 4 - The Embassy A special flight for citizens of Ukraine, forced to stay in Israel, to return to their homeland, will take place on Thursday, March 4. The Embassy of Ukraine in the State of Israel reported this at Facebook. The flight from Tel Aviv to Kiev with UIA PS 1778 will take place on 03/04/2021 at 05.30 am. We remind you that foreigners (including citizens of Ukraine) do not need to obtain a special permit to leave Israel, - the message says. The Embassy notes that tickets will not be sold on the UIA website, they can be purchased at the link: https://pay.tranzila.com/caspitour/aUVIUGZrOWJML1BFT0dmQTRWRWpRZz09. However, those wishing to leave must submit an online health declaration 24 hours before departure at https://www.gov.il/he/service/request-depart-from-israel-covid19. The passenger must have a negative PCR test taken no more than 72 hours before departure. If the passenger has been ill with COVID-19 or was vaccinated (you must have a supporting document with you), this requirement does not apply. For more information on the rules of staying in the terminal of Ben Gurion Airport, follow the link https://www.gov.il/he/Departments/Guides/flying-to-israel-guidlines?chapterIndex=2 The Biden administration is defending its decision to not personally sanction Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, despite a US intelligence report concluding Saudi Arabias de facto ruler was complicit in the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. We are very focused on future conduct, State Department spokesperson Ned Price told reporters on Monday. We feel that we can have the most influence over this partnership when it is cast as a recalibration, not a rupture. Were there to be something more dramatic, something more drastic than what we have talked about, I think the influence that we would have over any foreign leader be it Mohammed bin Salman or any other world leader in question would be greatly diminished, Price added. The long-awaited declassified report released by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence on Friday concluded that the crown prince, commonly referred to by his initials MBS, had approved" the October 2018 operation that killed Khashoggi inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. Given his control over decision-making in the kingdom, the intelligence summary said it was highly unlikely that Saudi officials would have acted without his authorization. Even as the report singled out MBS, the Biden administration stopped short of directly punishing him. Two administration officials told CNN that sanctions were never under consideration, given concerns that targeting the 35-year-old prince could undermine US priorities in Yemen, where the Biden administration is working with Saudi Arabia to end the devastating war. Secretary of State Antony Blinken instead unveiled the Khashoggi Ban on Friday, which imposed visa restrictions on 76 unnamed Saudis who are accused of involvement in Khashoggis murder or have engaged in other serious, extraterritorial counter-dissident activities. Price on Monday declined to say whether MBS was on that list. The Treasury Department also imposed sanctions on the alleged ringleader of the assassination, Ahmad Hassan Mohammed al Asiri, as well as the crown princes protective detail, known as the Rapid Intervention Force. The Saudi government maintains that MBS had no knowledge of the Khashoggi operation, and on Friday the countrys Foreign Ministry dismissed what it said was a negative, false and unacceptable US report. Human rights groups, as well as some Democratic lawmakers, have called on the Biden administration to do more to hold MBS accountable, especially given the presidents campaign pledge to make Saudi Arabia pay the price for killing Khashoggi. "If we accept this behavior now, what does that mean for the next half-century? tweeted Rep. Andy Kim (D-NJ), a former White House national security official. The lack of action against the Crown Prince sends a clear message across the globe that those at the top can escape consequences. On Monday, Agnes Callamard, the United Nations special investigator of extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary killings, said it was dangerous to acknowledge MBS's role in the murder without also imposing consequences. Khashoggis Turkish fiancee, Hatice Cengiz, said failure to punish MBS would signal he can get away with murder. In response to the mounting criticism, Biden officials have pointed out that their Saudi policy, which includes cutting off US support for the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen and a temporary freeze on arms sales to the Gulf kingdom, represents a significant departure from the Trump administrations approach to Riyadh. Former President Donald Trump sanctioned 17 Saudi officials over Khashoggis murder but withheld the congressionally mandated intelligence report and vetoed bipartisan legislation that would have halted arms sales to Saudi Arabia. The [US-Saudi] relationship is not going to look like what it looked like in the past, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said in Mondays press briefing, adding that the United States reserved the right to take further punitive actions. Pentagon spokesperson John Kirby echoed Psakis comments, telling reporters on Monday that the relationship from a bilateral perspective with Saudi Arabia is going to be different but stressing that the military relationship with the kingdom will "remain robust. The Biden administration, which reversed the terror designation of Yemens Houthi rebels last month, has pledged continued support for Saudi Arabias defense. In response to the Houthis latest cross-border attacks, Price said on Monday that the United States is considering additional steps to promote accountability for the Houthi leadership. YEREVAN, MARCH 2, ARMENPRESS. Vice Speaker of Parliament Alen Simonyan has praised Russian weapons as being the best and also stated that Russias actions were maximally allied towards Armenia during the 2020 Artsakh War. I consider Russian weapons to be the best weapons, Simonyan told reporters in parliament. I consider that the actions of the Russian Federation during the war were maximally allied, and I consider that the problems which had emerged are no less well known also to our Russian colleagues, he said. Simonyans comments come a day after the Prime Ministers Office issued a clarification over PM Pashinyans remarks on the Iskander missile systems. Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan Six Dr. Seuss books, including 'And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street' and 'If I Ran the Zoo', will no longer be published because of racist and insensitive imagery. Dr. Seuss Enterprises, the company that preserves and protects the author's legacy, made the announcement on Tuesday, which coincides with the late author and illustrator's birthday. The six books that will no longer be printed are: 'And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street', 'If I Ran the Zoo', 'McElligot's Pool', 'On Beyond Zebra!', 'Scrambled Eggs Super!', and 'The Cat's Quizzer'. It comes just one day after President Biden omitted Dr. Seuss from Read Across America Day, which is held annually on the children's author's birthday on March 2. Biden broke presidential tradition when he left out any mention of Dr. Seuss during his proclamation on Monday. Both former presidents Barack Obama and Donald Trump have recognized Dr. Seuss' contributions several times in their proclamations each year. Dr. Seuss, whose real name is Theodor Geisel, had been the face of the annual Read Across America day for more than 20 years. These six Dr. Seuss books will no longer be published because of racist and insensitive imagery, according to the company that preserves and protects the author's legacy Explaining the decision to stop the publication of the six books, the company said: 'These books portray people in ways that are hurtful and wrong.' In 'And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street,' an Asian person is portrayed wearing a conical hat, holding chopsticks, and eating from a bowl. 'If I Ran the Zoo' includes a drawing of two bare-footed African men wearing what appear to be grass skirts with their hair tied above their heads. Dr. Seuss Enterprises, the company that preserves and protects Theodor Geisel's (above in 1987) legacy, made the announcement on Tuesday, which coincides with the late author and illustrator's birthday 'Ceasing sales of these books is only part of our commitment and our broader plan to ensure Dr. Seuss Enterprises' catalog represents and supports all communities and families,' the company said. The decision to cease publication and sales of the books was made last year after months of discussion, the company said. 'Dr. Seuss Enterprises listened and took feedback from our audiences including teachers, academics and specialists in the field as part of our review process. We then worked with a panel of experts, including educators, to review our catalog of titles.' Random House Children Books, Dr. Seuss' publisher, issued a brief statement on Tuesday: 'We respect the decision of Dr. Seuss Enterprises and the work of the panel that reviewed this content last year, and their recommendation.' As adored as Dr. Seuss is by millions around the world for the positive values in many of his works, including environmentalism and tolerance, there has been increasing criticism in recent years over the way blacks, Asians and others are drawn in some of his most beloved children's books, as well as in his earlier advertising and propaganda illustrations. The National Education Association, which founded Read Across America Day in 1998 and deliberately aligned it with Geisel's birthday, has for several years de-emphasized Seuss and encouraged a more diverse reading list for children. It comes just one day after President Biden omitted Dr. Seuss from Read Across America Day, which is held annually on the children's author's birthday on March 2 This image appears in the 1937 book 'And To Think I Saw It On Mulberry Street', which shows an illustration of a 'Chinaman who eats with sticks' - a caricatured picture of an Asian man with slits for eyes carrying a bowl of rice 'If I Ran the Zoo', which was published in 1950, includes a drawing of two bare-footed African men wearing what appear to be grass skirts with their hair tied above their heads Racist drawings and shocking cartoons: Why Dr. Seuss's legacy is in question Dr. Seuss's reputation has been called into question in recent years because of racist imagery in his children's books, including stereotyped cartoons of Chinese and Japanese people that he drew in the 1930s and 1940s. One such illustration appeared in the 1937 work And To Think I Saw It On Mulberry Street, which includes a drawing of a 'Chinaman who eats with sticks' - a caricatured picture of an Asian man with slits for eyes carrying a bowl of rice for no apparent reason. Drawings in If I Ran The Zoo, published in 1950, includes African characters resembling monkeys and an Arab chieftain on a camel with a caption suggesting he too should be in a zoo. A so-called 'Chinaman who eats with sticks' in a 1937 work by Dr. Seuss As well as children's books, Dr. Seuss produced political cartoons and advertisements that contain controversial images. A 1929 drawing showed black people for sale to whites and adapted a racially charged phrase to say: 'Take home a high-grade [N-word] for your woodpile'. During World War II, he drew cartoons of Japanese people, including one showing them queuing up for supplies of TNT and suggesting they were waiting for the 'signal from home'. The wartime cartoons, published in New York newspaper PM, are also credited with 'railing against isolationism, racism and antisemitism' as he urged people to help the effort. This 1929 cartoon shows black people for sale and uses the N-word A 2019 article called The Cat Is Out Of The Bag: Orientalism, Anti-Blackness, and White Supremacy in Dr. Seuss's Children's Books, said the author had published 'hundreds' of racist political cartoons, comics and advertisements. A collection dedicated to Dr. Seuss's art acknowledges that some of his early drawings 'were hurtful then and are still hurtful today'. However, it says that he later amended his works - for example changing 'Chinaman' to 'Chinese man' - and wrote about equality during the 1960s civil rights movements. It also defends him by saying that his drawings reflected stereotypes which were widely held at the time. Geisel himself is quoted as saying later in life that the cartoons were 'just the way things were 50 years ago'. The fresh scrutiny of his works has seen the Mulberry Street illustration removed from a Dr. Seuss museum in 2018 - a decision which his great-nephew said was 'extreme'. Last month a Virginia school district distanced itself from the author, saying his books would no longer be the 'emphasis' of Read Across America Day. 'Research in recent years has revealed strong racial undertones in many books written/illustrated by Dr. Seuss,' it said. He has now also gone missing from the White House celebrations after Joe Biden broke with a tradition continued by both Barack Obama and Donald Trump. Advertisement School districts across the country have also moved away from Dr. Seuss, prompting Loudoun County, Virginia, schools just outside Washington, D.C., to douse rumors last month that they were banning the books entirely. 'Research in recent years has revealed strong racial undertones in many books written/illustrated by Dr. Seuss,' the school district said in a statement. In 2017, a school librarian in Cambridge, Massachusetts, criticized a gift of 10 Seuss books from first lady Melania Trump, saying many of his works were 'steeped in racist propaganda, caricatures, and harmful stereotypes.' In 2018, a Dr. Seuss museum in his hometown of Springfield, Massachusetts, removed a mural that included an Asian stereotype. 'The Cat in the Hat,' one of Seuss' most popular books, has received criticism, too, but will continue to be published for now. Dr. Seuss Enterprises, however, said it is 'committed to listening and learning and will continue to review our entire portfolio.' Books by Dr. Seuss, who died in 1991, have been translated into dozens of languages as well as in braille and are sold in more than 100 countries. He remains popular, earning an estimated $33 million before taxes in 2020, up from just $9.5 million five years ago, the company said. Forbes listed him No. 2 on its highest-paid dead celebrities of 2020, behind only the late pop star Michael Jackson. The decision to stop publication of the six books was announced just one day after President Biden broke with tradition and left Dr. Seuss out of the 2021 Read Across America Day proclamation. The White House has not explained why Dr. Seuss was left out of this year's proclamation. Read Across America Day had traditionally featured on Dr. Seuss books including classics like The Cat In The Hat and The Grinch. In Obama's 2014 proclamation, he had said: '[Dr Seuss'] tales challenge dictators and discrimination. They call us to open our minds, to take responsibility for ourselves and our planet.' In 2015, Obama stated: 'The works of Theodor Seuss Geisel, better known to us as Dr. Seuss, have sparked a love for reading in generations of students. His whimsical wordplay and curious characters inspire children to dream big and remind readers of all ages that 'a person's a person no matter how small.' The following year, Obama said in 2016 that Seuss was 'one of America's revered wordsmiths' who 'used his incredible talent to instill in his most impressionable readers universal values we all hold dear.' Former first lady Melania Trump celebrated Read Across America Day in 2017 by reading Dr. Seuss books to hospitalized children. 'Dr. Seuss has brought so much joy, laughter and enchantment into children's lives all around the globe for generations,' Melania said at the time. 'Through his captivating rhymes, Dr. Seuss has delighted and inspired children while teaching them to read, to dream, and to care.' Trump, in his 2018 proclamation, urged Americans to 'always remember the still-vibrant words of Dr. Seuss: 'You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose.' Trump also referred to Dr. Seuss in his 2019 proclamation. Numerous other popular children's series have also been criticized in recent years for alleged racism. In the 2007 book, 'Should We Burn Babar?,' the author and educator Herbert R. Kohl contended that the 'Babar the Elephant' books were celebrations of colonialism because of how the title character leaves the jungle and later returns to 'civilize' his fellow animals. One of the books, 'Babar's Travels', was removed from the shelves of a British library in 2012 because of its alleged stereotypes of Africans. Critics also have faulted the 'Curious George' books for their premise of a white man bringing home a monkey from Africa. And Laura Ingalls Wilder's portrayals of Native Americans in her 'Little House On the Prairie' novels have been faulted so often that the American Library Association removed her name in 2018 from a lifetime achievement award it gives out each year. There has been increasing criticism in recent years over the way blacks, Asians and others are drawn in some of Theodor Geisel's most beloved children's books, as well as in his earlier advertising and propaganda illustrations Presidents Clinton, Obama and Trump have all mentioned Dr. Seuss in conjunction with Read Across America Day, which is designed to encourage school children to read more. The Obamas are pictured in April 2010 Saudi Arabias UN ambassador, meanwhile, said the US intelligence report had presented no firm evidence. The report .. is based on couldve, shouldve and wouldve and does not rise to anywhere close to proving the accusation beyond reasonable doubt, ambassador Abdallah Al-Mouallimi said in a Twitter post. The Saudi government, which has denied any involvement by the Crown Prince, rejected the US reports findings and repeating its previous statements that Jamal Khashoggis killing was a heinous crime by a rogue group. Credit:AP Despite the criticism, the Biden administration has passed sanctions on other prominent Saudi figures linked to the crown prince and introduced the Khashoggi ban - visa restrictions for foreign governments found implicated in serious, extraterritorial counter-dissident activities. To many liberal commentators, activists and politicians, this is not enough. The Open Society Justice Initiative, which has been fighting in court since early last year for the release of intelligence on the Khashoggi murder, said the US and other governments must take immediate measures to hold the Crown Prince and the Saudi government accountable for their flagrant disregard for the rule of law. Loading Replay Replay video Play video Play video Some commentators want to see the crown prince subject to the same US bans and restrictions slapped on perceived adversaries in Venezuela and North Korea. Instead of imposing sanctions on MBS, Biden appears ready to let the murderer walk, wrote New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof, using a common abbreviation for the crown princes name. The weak message to other thuggish dictators considering such a murder is: Please dont do it, but well still work with you if we have to. The lack of action against the Crown Prince sends a clear message across the globe that those at the top can escape consequences, tweeted Representative Andy Kim, a Democrat. When we make exceptions for our allies in situations like this, we project to the rest of the world that our values only go as far as our relationships. We show countries like Russia and China that we may have convictions, but consequences are never guaranteed. Loading Those exceptions, others would argue, were baked into decades of American foreign policy. Strategists in Washington have long enabled or at least tolerated a catalogue of human rights-abusing potentates for reasons of geopolitical expediency, and this is no different. The underlying geopolitical reality remains unchanged, wrote the Atlantics Graeme Wood. And the reality in Saudi Arabia is that the United States is, not for the first or last time, stuck in a miserable situation, and the end of this sordid episode will probably be an American official shaking hands, once again, with a murderer. Biden and his allies say they have embarked on a recalibration of US-Saudi ties. That gentler approach, experts argue, is more practical than the possible rupture that sanctions on the crown prince could provoke, especially at a time when Biden needs Riyadh on his side amid other challenges in the Middle East. Loading Nevertheless, left-leaning activists stress that the Saudis no longer have the same oil-driven leverage they perhaps had over Washington a generation ago and that Trumps cynical and transactional embrace of the Saudis needlessly emboldened the brash crown prince. The recalibration is already on view with Bidens freezing of arms sales to Riyadh that were greenlit by Trump over the objections of Congress. It would also involve keeping the crown prince - who had a famously direct line to the White House via Trumps son-in-law Jared Kushner - at arms length and even possibly working to convince the Saudi king to reconsider the line of succession and bring a number of rival royals sidelined by the crown prince out from the cold. Theres a clear incentive for the Saudis to course correct. The Arabs need to grow up, a senior Israeli defense official told journalist Neri Zilber, writing in Newlines magazine. They dont need to arrest every activist, and they dont need to pick a fight with Congress. At the same time, the crown prince is the most influential figure in arguably the most important Arab country in the Middle East for American interests - and, given his youth, could remain in place for half a century to come. US policymakers have to reckon with a future shaped by the crown princes ambitious plans for modernisation. MBS has accelerated an economic and social transition that is necessary and should be encouraged. Eventually moving toward normality will mean either revolution in Saudi Arabia, or a less authoritarian government, wrote Annelle Sheline of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft. Biden should help support Saudi Arabia in this transition. But to avoid the Iran model, i.e., Saudi Arabia going through a violent revolution and 40 years of hostility toward the US, Biden should support Saudi normalisation, despite MBS murderous despotism. Thats cold comfort for Khashoggi and his allies. In an interview, Omar Abdulaziz, a Canada-based Saudi dissident and friend of Khashoggi, pointed to the mysterious disappearance of another Saudi dissident based in Canada just last month after he entered the Saudi embassy in Ottawa (he later emerged in Saudi Arabia, in circumstances that activists fear may have compromised a whole network of dissidents abroad). Cayman Islands' grey list tag may hurt FPI investments into India The Cayman Islands, one of Indias richest routes for foreign investments, has been put on the grey list of countries/regions for increased monitoring by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), an inter-governmental body that sets anti-money laundering standards. It is also the third-most preferred source of foreign direct investments into India, based on the data for the first half of FY21. Read more plans change in norms to trim promoters' sway on independent directors The market regulator suggested a dual approval process for the appointment and removal of independent directors. At present, an independent director can be appointed or removed by way of an ordinary resolution, where all shareholders, including promoters, are allowed to cast their vote. Read more Spectrum auction: Telcos place bids worth Rs 77,000 crore on Day 1 Coming five years after the 2016 auctions, the much-awaited 4G spectrum bidding, where Reliance Jio emerged as the most active participant, has assured the government revenues of more than Rs 77,000 crore in four rounds on day one itself. Read more Mumbai 'cyberattack' puts focus on the need for greater security According to a New York Times report, a Chinese government-backed cyber hack was behind the Mumbai power outage, which was meant to send a message to the Indian government at the height of tension between the two countries in Ladakh. Read more From instant noodles to honey, develops an appetite for foods Best known for its Parachute coconut oil and Saffola edible oil, is eyeing a broader play in foods. Saffola is the brand that will champion its foods play and has already seen five quarters of double-digit growth, pushing the company to set ambitious targets in foods. Read more Economy reviving, but renewed surge of Covid-19 infections poses risk: RBI Indias economic activity is gaining steam, but considerable uncertainty surrounds the outlook owing to the renewed surge in coronavirus infections, the (RBI) said in its State of the Economy report on Monday. Read more Real estate fund managers float schemes for construction finance Property fund management arms of Motilal Oswal, Indiabulls, and others are launching funds/schemes to lend construction finance to real estate developers. With non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) almost stopping new lending and banks becoming selective, there has been a huge gap in construction finance over the past two years, fund managers said. Read more registers 2.29 billion transactions worth Rs 4.25 trillion in Feb Unified Payment Interface (UPI), the flagship payments platform of the Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), recorded 2.29 billion transactions worth Rs 4.25 trillion in February. Sequentially, the transactions dipped 0.42 per cent by volume and 1.39 per cent by value over January because of the fewer number of days in February. However, year-on-year, the transactions were up 73 per cent by volume and more than 90 per cent by value. Read more WINCHESTER, Ore. Owners of the Winchester Dam have filed court documents in hopes of dismissing a lawsuit claiming the dam hurts fish. In November 2020, WaterWatch of Oregon and three other groups two of which are headquartered outside the state filed the lawsuit in U.S. District Court, alleging the 130-year-old dam needs big upgrades or should be removed completely in order to avoid violating the Endangered Species Act. Ryan Beckley is board president of the Winchester Water Control District, which owns and operates the dam on behalf of property owners who live along the reservoir. He said he wasnt entirely surprised when the lawsuit came across his desk. Beckley said this is part of a nationwide trend of organizations filing suit in an effort to remove dams from waterways. There is no legitimacy to their lawsuit. There just isnt. They have radically taken out of context or mischaracterized just about every supposed fact, Beckley said. The lawsuit names the water control district as the defendant and claims in part that the dam hinders some coast coho salmon and steelhead from migrating upstream. Above the Winchester Dam is 160 miles of high-quality fish habitat thanks to the Cascade Range and high-elevation snowpack turned cool, late-season water. WaterWatch places much of the blame for blocking that access on the dams fish ladder, which they say is not adequately allowing fish to move freely. If coast coho, an endangered species, were found to be hurting themselves on the dam, it would be in violation of the law. Its illegal to maintain a dam that kills fish, said Jim McCarthy of WaterWatch of Oregon. McCarthy points to verified instances in which fish were harmed by holes in the dam and jagged edges. He said its part of a pattern of the district failing to keep up maintenance on the dam. Theyre not repairing the fish ladder. Theyre not taking the offer from us to remove the dam for free. What theyre trying to do is maintain the status quo, McCarthy said. But Beckley said repairs are made to the dam on a continual basis. The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife verified that there have been problems with the dam and fish ladder in the past, but said fixes were made by the Winchester Water Control District when those problems came to light. McCarthy said WaterWatch offered $10,000 to the dam owners to facilitate changes, but claims the offer was rebuffed. However, ODFW said populations of fish passing through the dam have remained relatively steady since the 1940s. This complicates the claim that fish populations are struggling to move freely. But McCarthy doesnt place much faith in states data, suggesting the numbers are less accurate as a result of budget cuts. One of the reasons we became interested in this dam is because fishermen are complaining the counts at the dam didnt seem to have any relationship to the fish that they saw, McCarthy said. For homeowners along the reservoir, the lawsuit came as a surprise. Bill Siling has lived on a property near the dam for decades, and once worked for ODFW as a fish counter at the dam. I was surprised when the lawsuit surfaced, Siling said. I really was not hearing about these problems circulating in the community. Siling said he doesnt agree with many of the allegations made in the lawsuit, and he trusts the data collected by ODFW that shows consistent numbers of fish passing through the dam over the years. WaterWatch also claims that the fish ladder does not meet current state standards. Timothy Walters, Umpqua Watershed manager for ODFW, said its true that the ladder doesnt meet current standards, but it also is not required to because those standards were created after the ladder was built. There has to be some kid of major event that would trigger a required upgrade to the ladder, Walters said. Such an event would only happen if the dams owners had to replace about 30% of the dam by volume or if there was a change in water rights. In the meantime, Beckley has asked a judge to dismiss the lawsuit against the dam outright. Do I want to spend a few hundred thousand dollars fighting a federal lawsuit thats going to go on for a few years? Id rather spend a few hundred thousand dollars improving the fish ladder, improving the dam, Beckley said. 404 Marijuana and methamphetamine seizures reached low point in April 2020 and peaked in August 2020, pointing to possible changes in drug supply and use Law enforcement seizures of drugs, particularly marijuana and methamphetamine, dropped at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, then increased significantly in the following months--exceeding pre-pandemic seizure rates and providing clues about the impact of the crisis on substance use, according to a new study in the journal Drug and Alcohol Dependence. The research was conducted as part of the National Drug Early Warning System (NDEWS), which uses real-time surveillance to detect early signals of potential drug epidemics. NDEWS is led by a team of researchers at the University of Florida, New York University, and Florida Atlantic University, and is funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse, part of the National Institutes of Health. Early research about how the pandemic has affected patterns of substance use has yielded mixed results. Some sources suggest that overall drug use has increased, while others point to a drop in use and availability of certain drugs. During the same period, multiple studies show an increase in overdoses. Given conflicting information about changes in drug use, availability, and overdoses after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, NDEWS researchers examined trends in drug seizures recorded in the National High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Program's Performance Management Process database to gain additional insight as to how the pandemic and its associated restrictions have shifted drug use. "Although seizure data is not the most robust indicator of the prevalence of drug use, it does serve as an indicator of drug supply and availability," said study author Joseph Palamar, PhD, MPH, an associate professor of population health at NYU Grossman School of Medicine, an affiliated researcher with the Center for Drug Use and HIV/HCV Research (CDUHR) at NYU School of Global Public Health, NDEWS co-investigator and chair of the NDEWS Scientific Advisory Group. "For example, fewer seizures, or lower volumes of drugs seized, can reflect a disruption of drug supply chains." The researchers looked at trends in 29,574 seizures of marijuana, cocaine, methamphetamine, heroin, and fentanyl within five geographic areas: Washington/Baltimore, Chicago, Ohio, New Mexico, and North Florida. They examined the number and total weight of seizures from March 2019, a year before the pandemic began in the U.S., through September 2020, six months into the pandemic. They detected a sharp decrease in drug seizures--particularly marijuana and methamphetamine--in March and April 2020, when stay-at-home orders were put into place across the country. After reaching a low point in April, the number of seizures then increased through the remainder of the spring and summer when social distancing measures became more relaxed, peaking in August 2020. The weight of drugs seized by law enforcement also significantly increased after April, driven by an increase in volume of marijuana seizures. Notably, the August peaks in the number and volume of seizures for marijuana and methamphetamine were higher than a year earlier. However, it is unknown whether the peaks represent greater availability of the drugs or whether law enforcement officials were merely "catching up" after several months of delayed seizures. The researchers did not detect significant shifts in seizures involving cocaine, heroin, or fentanyl during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic, although seizures involving fentanyl slowly increased in a stable manner over the two years independent of the pandemic. The study authors noted that more research is warranted to determine the extent to which these seizures reflect changes in drug use. While decreases in seizures, for instance, likely indicate lower availability, it is also possible that fewer seizures may have indicated less drug law enforcement activity during the early months of the pandemic. "Future research should harmonize data on seizures with other studies of drug use, availability, and overdoses in order to determine the most accurate picture of drug use trends during the pandemic," added Linda B. Cottler, PhD, MPH, FACE, of the University of Florida and principal investigator of NDEWS. ### In addition to Palamar and Cottler, study authors include Austin Le of NYU and Thomas H. Carr of the University of Baltimore's Center for Drug Policy and Prevention and the Washington/Baltimore High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Program. The research was supported by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (U01DA051126 and R01DA044207). About CDUHR The mission of the Center for Drug Use and HIV/HCV Research (CDUHR) is to end the HIV and HCV epidemics in drug using populations and their communities by conducting transdisciplinary research and disseminating its findings to inform programmatic, policy, and grass roots initiatives at the local, state, national, and global levels. CDUHR is a Core Center of Excellence funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (Grant #P30 DA011041). It is the first center for the socio-behavioral study of substance use and HIV in the United States and is located at the NYU School of Global Public Health. For more information, visit http://www. cduhr. org . About NYU Langone Health NYU Langone Health is a world-class, patient-centered, integrated academic medical center, known for its excellence in clinical care, research, and education. Included in the 260+ locations throughout the New York area are six inpatient locations: Tisch Hospital, its flagship acute-care facility in Manhattan; Rusk Rehabilitation, ranked as one of the top 10 rehabilitation programs in the country; NYU Langone Orthopedic Hospital, a dedicated inpatient orthopedic hospital in Manhattan with all musculoskeletal specialties ranked top 10 in the country; Hassenfeld Children's Hospital at NYU Langone, a comprehensive pediatric hospital, also in Manhattan, supporting a full array of children's health services; NYU Langone Hospital--Brooklyn, a full-service teaching hospital and level 1 trauma center located in Sunset Park, Brooklyn; and NYU Langone Hospital--Long Island, a full-service teaching hospital and level 1 trauma center located in Nassau County on Long Island. Also part of NYU Langone Health is the Laura and Isaac Perlmutter Cancer Center, a National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer center; NYU Grossman School of Medicine, which since 1841 has trained thousands of physicians and scientists who have helped to shape the course of medical history; and NYU Long Island School of Medicine. For more information, go to nyulangone.org, and interact with us on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Instagram. About NYU School of Global Public Health EU sanctions against Russia to remain in force until Minsk agreements are implemented CoE President EU sanctions against Russia will remain in force until the Minsk agreements are implemented, said President of the European Council Charles Michel during his visit to Ukraine. "On my first visit to east Ukraine with President of Ukraine Zelensky I expressed unequivocal EU support for the country's sovereignty and territorial integrity. The shameful reality is that people continue to die here and face dire consequences of the conflict. The full implementation of the Minsk Agreements is the only way forward. Until full implementation is a reality, EU sanctions against Russia will remain in place," Michel wrote on Twitter on Tuesday. He also noted that together with President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky on the contact line in Luhansk region, they called for the full opening of all entry/exit checkpoints. "This is vital for maintaining people to people connections and providing services across the contact line." Michel explained. The President of the Council of Europe added that he was impressed by the important work of the OSCE SMM, thanking the EU partners, with whom the EU supports the population affected by the conflict. "EU works for new crossing points & demining, & stepping up help to OSCE SMM to fulfill its mandate fully," he stressed. Kathmandu, March 2 Nepal is gradually reviving the Covid-19-shattered tourism industry as the world is slowly moving away from the pandemic terror, according to the government data. Whereas 8,874 foreign tourists had travelled to Nepal via airways, the number grew to 9,146 in February, informs the Department of Immigration. India has been credited for the highest number of tourists in the past two months as 8,791 people from India visited this country. Likewise, there were 2,585 Chinese. Likewise, the number of visitors from the United States has significantly increased last month. Whereas there were 874 Americans arriving in Nepal in January, the number rose to 1,120 in the second month. In February, only 1,142 people from various European countries visited Nepal. Nepal does not have a system of counting foreign tourists coming from roadways. As part of the holiday, See's has unveiled their new Centennial Easter Tin as the second vintage limited-edition collectible in a series to celebrate their important milestone, and to help customers celebrate Easter with something special. See's Candies is an integral part of family's Easter celebrations, with time-tested, fresh offerings designed to bring joy to those of all ages. Like the brand's January and February Limited Time Sweets, there is also a March Centennial Sweet-of-the-Month which is a fresh take on a classic favorite. Say hello to a new rendition of See's original Milk Peanut Butter Egg the Dark Peanut Butter Egg. Savor the sweet and salty combination of creamy peanut butter encased in decadent dark chocolate. This delicious treat is available now for $7.00 in Shops and online, while supplies last. "See's secret to success is that we only use the finest and freshest ingredients. Last year, we had thousands of pounds of Easter treats on our hands, and with no added preservatives, we made the decision to donate the candies to groups providing COVID-19 support. Jump to 2021, and we couldn't be more excited to continue our promise of Quality Without Compromise with the introduction of these two new, seasonally-inspired treats," said Pat Egan, President & CEO. The tie to See's Candies and Easter traditions is undeniable, which is why the brand felt that the holiday was the perfect time to release their second collectible tin. The Centennial Easter Tin includes a delicious assortment of candies and a unique story you can find inside. This exclusive tin honors the artwork of Dorothy Gray Forbes, who designed See's shop posters, newspaper advertisements and candy boxes for 50 years. Dorothy's art has been used worldwide, and she is arguably one of the most prolific graphic designers in history! Full of vibrant imagery and colorful hand-drawn illustrations, her classic posters are still used in See's shops today. Like Dorothy's drawings, See's stands the test of time - remaining a classic. This collectible limited-edition tin continues their vintage series developed to celebrate See's anniversary. The Centennial Easter Tin is available now for $16.00 in Shops and online, while supplies last. "When our customers think of Easter, they think of See's. With every bite of a sweet treat, there's a taste of nostalgia, too. Our goal is to help carry on these traditions in new and innovative ways for many years to come," said Egan. Egg-shaped sweets are a staple to the brand's Easter offerings. In fact, many of the candies are hand-decorated by dedicated employees, some of which have been with the company for decades. Take the Rocky Road Egg for example. The Rocky Road Egg is a fan-favorite, known for its unique, handmade qualities. From the decadent mixture of walnuts, milk chocolate and marshmallow being hand-packed into mold boards, to the piping of the white border, to the handcrafted roses and rosebudsit is truly an unmatched artform! The iconic candy company even has a designated "Rocky Road Room" in their factories. See's Candies is proud to expand their Easter portfolio and invites customers to indulge in all of their favorite See's candies, as well as try the new offerings, this season. About See's Candies For 100 years, See's Candies has been dedicated to making candy Mary See's way. Only the finest, freshest ingredients are used in making each recipe. American made, famous for deliciousness, with the friendliest customer servicesince 1921. Today, customers can choose from over 100 different candies and chocolates, whether shopping online or visiting one of See's iconic black-and-white checkered shops. Founded and headquartered in sunny California, See's Candies has expanded from one candy shop to over 240 shops across America and a flourishing online store. For more information visit https://www.sees.com/. SOURCE See's Candies Related Links www.sees.com The Daily Beast Photo Illustration by The Daily Beast/GettyMike Lindell, the MyPillow CEO and Trumpist conspiracy-peddler, flew his private jet to the Republican Governors Association meeting the other day.The guvs promptly threw him out. But the incident got Molly Jong-Fast thinking: Does the MyPillow CEO think hes already a governor or something?Subscribe to The New Abnormal on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Amazon Music, or Overcast. To listen to our weekly members-only bonus episodes, join Beast Inside here. Already a member? You can listen here and sign up for new episode email alerts here.Spoiler: Making MyPillows does not make you my governor. Now, chances that Mike Lindell could actually become governor of a small Republican state, 80 percent, she quips on the latest episode of The New Abnormal. Like, its not even that hard for someone that famous and insane in the Republican party to become a governor.Lindell claims he wouldnt run to be a dogcatcher right now, because he doesnt trust the voting machines. Plus, hes from the blue state of Minnesota. So maybe the risk of a Governor Pillow isnt quite so high. But L.A. Times columnist Virginia Heffernan would like to quickly add something about Mike Lindell being a cosplay governor.I think we need to understand that being in politics leads to governing and governing is boring. It is not a PR operation, she says. And I feel like we have made these jobs celebrity roles. Public service should not beis notbeing on a reality show.Like, I feel like we need to really dial down the razzle-dazzle, really play up the drudgery, Heffernan continues. I just don't know why every single industrialist and every single lady with abs or gorgeous arms would want to be, of all things, a governor.Biden, Heffernan opines, is doing a pretty good job at the drudgerydollars going out, jabs going out, all leading to Trump signs going down. Sure, the Donald has his cultists, like Lindell. But, I don't think people can hold onto this much insanity for this long, especially when it's a tiny minority of people who believe it, Heffernan adds. Democrats need to know how to win.To which Jong-Fast replies, oh-so-gently: Are you freakin kidding me? With all of these Republican attempts to retcon the Capitol riots? To chop away at the right to vote? To instantiate their ability to overturn elections? All while Team Biden snoozes it away? The Democrats are bringing an ice cream sundae to a knife fight, Jong-Fast says.Plus! Politicos Tara Palmeri talks about her search to find Liz Cheney supporters in Wyoming. And Battle for the Soul author Edward-Isaac Dovere gives us a peek into how Biden sees the political landscape. The presidency that he has in front of him now, he knows, is so different from what he ever expected to have, Dovere says, And part of that is rethinking how he incorporates the progressivism within the party that took root and that was so much part of this campaign. And its just, its a really complicated evolution for him. Its not the presidency he thought itd be running in 2019 when he got into this race.Read more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more. 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. Illustration: Lindsay Mound Few industries have suffered during this pandemic like the hospitality trade: An estimated 2.5 million restaurant jobs have been lost, at least 110,000 restaurants have closed permanently or long-term across the U.S., and even for those who are working, the mental toll can simply be too much. What does that mean for the culinary-school students who have sometimes spent years striving (and potentially paid upwards of $16,000 per semester) to enter a field that, in many ways, is no longer recognizable? Whatever world theyd been training for, it wasnt this. Grub Street talked to some recent graduates from the Culinary Institute of America (CIA) in Hyde Park and the Institute of Culinary Education (ICE) in Manhattan about what their plans had been pre-pandemic and how theyre thinking about the future now. The Baker That Wants to Explore Legal Weed Hannah Shaffer, 24, CIA Class of 20 Im in baking and pastry, and in the long term, I definitely plan on being in a resort-style kitchen. I did my externship with the Four Seasons in West Palm Beach, and that completely changed everything. I went into it thinking I would never want to be in a hotel, or a resort, and then I fell in love with it. Pre-COVID, my plan was to go straight back to the company after school, but when the resorts started closing and theyre still closed that shifted. Most of the resorts that are opening up are placing an emphasis on getting the employees who were with them before the pandemic back to work, which is definitely respectable. I would want an employer to do the same thing for me. Now Im looking to accept a two-to-three-year contract somewhere I would never plan on living. This is the real game changer for me: I am looking to go to Denver, and Id really like to get into a cannabis test kitchen creating edibles. With how much the cannabis industry is growing, and how rapidly its growing, I just want to learn how its done. So that way, lets say I did end up going to Florida permanently and then Florida switched to recreational, I could be one of the first in the industry in that area just because of having that skill. And even if its something that I dont use long-term, I think it would be cool to learn. You dont see many people coming out of CIA do something like that. The Career-Switcher Whos Rethinking Her Plan Anonymous, 34, ICE class of 20 My life kind of imploded in 2018, and faced with the prospect of having to start over, I decided to take a risk and go to culinary school because it was the one thing I knew I had always loved. I had started working at a high-end Manhattan restaurant. Id been there two weeks when things shut down. When they could start to reopen, they were very slow to rehire, which makes sense you dont need a lot of people, and youre going to choose your executive chefs, the people who can really do everything at once. Without the experience that everyone else had, there was basically no way Id be rehired. Since being laid off, its been interesting, in that its boring. Im from New York, and thankfully, my family had the space for me, so I dont have all the bills that other people do, but obviously no one likes to be unemployed. My plan had been to stay for a year, and then look toward a meal-kit company or before a number of things came out about Bon Appetit a job in a test kitchen. For how many decades, really, has the Bon Appetit test kitchen been considered, like, the pinnacle? And then you look at what happened this summer, with everyone coming out and saying, you know, Look at how terribly they have treated people of color. I am not a person of color, but I dont want to be in an environment like that either. Its probably different for people who are younger than I am. Most of the people going to that school are in their teens or early 20s college age. For them, this little pause is going to be a blip. But as someone who viewed this as a complete restart of the life they once had, Im a little impatient. The Fine-Dining Hopeful Ben Just, 21, ICE Class of 19 Im originally from Illinois, the middle of nowhere. There were some good restaurants but nothing crazy. I was like, I want to go to New York. I started working at Per Se in September of 2019, when things were still normal. I really like the environment how everythings so organized. I think it just makes you more efficient. The food is more refined, but people dont have the money to do that type of thing as much anymore. People cant go every week. Its too expensive. Honestly, when we shut down a second time, in December, I started realizing that a lot more people are leaning toward the private-chef type of thing: cooking at other peoples homes, or renting an Airbnb and cooking for people privately. Everybodys tested beforehand and goes through the safety protocols for COVID. I started doing a couple of those things while I was shut down the second time. Its kind of like, not a party, but that type of atmosphere, where people are just hanging out, chilling, talking, and then you can give them insight into what youre cooking. But if Im aiming to feed, then I think I should definitely shift and go the cheaper route, because I think thats more accessible for people. I worked in a quick burger-and-fry shop for a little bit in March. I only worked there for a month or so, but its business actually got so much better. Its business probably tripled. Before COVID, I would go there all the time I live right by it and they were busy, but nothing like they were after COVID started. The Would-Be Casino Chef Cassie DeShong, 22, CIA Class of 19 I was a pastry cook in one of the casinos in Atlantic City until COVID, doing your standard, big-production stuff. For some reason, I really wanted to be in the casinos. I did my internship there, and I had it in my head that I was going to stay there; I was going to climb the ranks and become an executive chef. But things just fell apart, so that dream kind of died. After about seven months of being unemployed, I finally found a new job down the shore at a smaller, upscale restaurant. But then business dropped because it got too cold for outdoor dining, and two months later I got laid off again. Now Im back part-time. I love it. I dont want to leave. Its not at all where I pictured myself I totally thought that I was just going to stay with the casino company. I wanted to travel to Vegas. If they opened a casino in Japan, Id go over there. But I dont feel like I need to do that anymore. Im a planner, so I feel like if something in my grand vision of my life goes wrong, its completely devastating. But everything is temporary. In a day, you can lose your job and have to start from scratch. My dream now is definitely something more realistic, Maybe Ill be the executive chef of a smaller resort or a smaller hotel or own my own business somewhere. I love doughnuts maybe a doughnut shop somewhere. Not for a while, though. Im definitely not there yet. The Accidental Baking Star Joy Cho, 26, ICE Class of 19 I honestly could not have imagined my life like this. A year ago, I was working five days a week at Gramercy Tavern. That was kind of dream restaurant, and there happened to be a spot open for a pastry cook that coincided with the end of my externship. I was there for about seven months. I really liked my team, working under chef Miro was a really, really great experience, and I was learning a ton. When the restaurant shut down last March, I flew home to Columbus and started baking for fun. At the very beginning, I would post Instagram stories: Does anyone want free baked goods? I baked too much! I will deliver it to you. I already had an existing network in Columbus, so friends or family friends would reply. Then I started to think, Oh my gosh, would people be willing to, like, pay for this? Im shocked at how all of this has evolved. I was able to do collaborations with breweries in the Columbus area, and when I came back to New York, I tried to do a similar thing with some edits, obviously. Thats how Gem Cakes came about. Theyre essentially mini Bundt cakes. I use a combination of all-purpose and sweet rice flour and sour cream, so its got a plush, pound cakey, doughnut texture, and then a variety of glazes and garnishes. Im actually really proud of them, but obviously, there are a lot of questions about the future. People ask me, If Gramercy called you back, would you go? Initially, I was like, I dont know. Well just see what happens. It felt like an unspoken truth in the industry: You need to put in X number of years before you can do your own thing and have people take you seriously. But I didnt know what that was was one year at Gramercy not enough? Should I have stayed there three years in order to build those credentials? But now, its just a definite no. Microbakeries could definitely be a trend. Thats something Ive heard Oh, its just because people are cooped up and they want to try something new, and when things go back to normal, itll die out but recently, Ive felt less sure about that. Maybe its just the exclusivity factor, I dont know, but these businesses do build up regular customers, and I dont really see those customers bowing out when restaurants with pastry programs open back up. I think theres more longevity in this. The Aspiring TV Host Amanda Lee, 27, ICE class of 19 I did my externship at Marea, which was amazing, and then my boyfriend and I went to Thailand to work in the Marriott Hotel kitchens. We were there for two months, corona happened, and since then, I havent been working. The restaurant industry is just a mess. One, I didnt feel comfortable going back into kitchens and killing myself trying to work. We dont get paid very much, and theres no health insurance its a tough industry to be in, especially during this time. I did get unemployment, and that helped. I dont want to say that Im comfortable right now because Im not. Im just in this weird limbo. I want to get more experience working in restaurants, learning different things, and then go into food media. My dream-dream would be to be like Andrew Zimmern. But Im not a food-trend person. Im not like, Oh, I want to be on social media! or, Oh, let me start a TikTok. Theres just so much. Thats one of the reasons why I went to culinary school in the first place I feel like I dont know enough to be like, Guys, follow my account and watch what I do. Im going to teach you. How do I know what Im doing? I dont. In the far future, Id like to have a restaurant. Do I think Im there yet? No. I think a lot of people open restaurants, and they have no idea what theyre doing. Its not that Im scared to fail, but yeah, I guess I am scared to fail. Its just a very realistic way of thinking! My mom owns a small shop and actually has been pushing me: Nows the time to really think about opening a restaurant places are going out of business, and you never know, rent might be cheap! She likes to dream big. But for me, I think Im a little more grounded. I dont know, maybe one day Ill just pull the trigger and say, Yeah, you know what? Lets just buy a restaurant. The Railway Enthusiast Evan Lovell, 21, CIA Class of 20 I actually have a new job opportunity working for Aramark at the Amtrak lounge in Penn Station. Basically, its like a suite attendant like how airlines have airport lounges and stuff, thats what theyre doing here, but for Amtrak. Right now, theyre only serving prepackaged food, so Im just coming in as an entry-level person, but once COVID restrictions lift, and they start to get busier, theyre going to need more people to oversee the operations, and thats where they would move me. Im getting the job that I wanted to get. I love trains. I was always doing research on how other countries did train travel, how it worked, how they do food as part of their transportation experiences. I didnt know that was a thing, but once I knew it was, I was like, Okay, maybe I can do something like that here. Theres a high-speed-rail project going on in California. Of course, there are a lot of problems, politics, but once its finished, and its able to start operating Ive never really told anyone this I would like to create their food-and-beverage program, focusing on giving that airport-level experience, the luxury experience of, like, dining on a train going 220 miles an hour through the Central Valley, or creating station lounges where youll be able to have some oysters and sip some wine before you go down to L.A. romanticizing the high-speed-rail experience. We have a unique opportunity to redefine the way people travel in this country, especially with my generation being more conscientious about the environment and realizing, Maybe driving and flying arent such good ideas so maybe Ill take the train instead. I feel like Im just playing a small role in a bigger picture. The Detroit Transplant Bennett Alvero, 27, ICE Class of 19 I was working at Locanda Verde in Tribeca, the Andrew Carmellini restaurant. I wanted to learn fast and also do high-caliber food. And I loved it there. Our food was great. People enjoyed coming to work, for the most part. And we were getting better. We were adding things to the menu, we were doing stuff it was just fun. And then I asked to move to one of our new restaurants in Detroit. Id been staying in New York because it was convenient, but I knew I needed to leave, and I have a lot of family history in Michigan Id never explored. It just seemed like it made sense to go to a new restaurant in a city thats old but new, thats coming back, that would be both a reconnection to my past and a chance to see the new Detroit as it grew. But then it wasnt that, obviously. The original plan was to start at the new restaurant on April 1, 2020, but as things started shutting down in New York, my chef was like, Can you go to Detroit right now? Theyre still open. So I packed up and drove to my aunts house. The plan was to stay with her for a couple of months while I explored the area, and instead I arrived to quarantine. The chef called me to come in right after they reopened in July, and then we pretty much ran solid through November until they shut down again. Its at 25 percent capacity right now. I havent been working. Im not here to get sick. Im in a privileged position of not having to rely on cooking for my career. I told my chef at the beginning, Look, I will be here, and Ill bust my ass. And I know how hard I work compared to everybody else. Its not like Im ever going to be slacking off on here. But please, if I dont need to be here, and you do not need me here, dont feel like you need to do me a favor. Like, Im relatively safe, healthy, and okay. Ill go back to my restaurant when they call me. VIP culture not acceptable: Karnataka Minister takes vaccine at home, Centre seeks report India oi-Deepika S Bengaluru, Mar 02: Karnataka Agriculture Minister B.C. Patil on Tuesday kicked up a controversy after he took the Covid-19 vaccine at the former's residence in Hirekerur, in gross violation of the COVID-19 protocol. The pictures of Patil along with his wife and family members went viral on social media and television news channels also highlighted the misuse of power by the minister. "Took the #COVID19Vaccine with my wife, at my Hirekerur house from the Govt. doctors today. While 'Made In India' vaccines are being immensely appreciated by many countries, some vested interest groups are spreading false information about the vaccines," Patil tweeted. Took the #COVID19Vaccine with my wife, at my Hirekerur house from the Govt. doctors today. While 'Made In India' vaccines are being immensely appreciated by many countries, some vested interest groups are spreading false information about the vaccines.@DDChandanaNews | @DHFWKA pic.twitter.com/yE6fYZTddJ Kourava B.C.Patil (@bcpatilkourava) March 2, 2021 Patil defended himself, saying "If I go to hospital to get vaccinated, then, people there will have to wait due to my visit there. But, here I can attend to people & also can get vaccinated." "Have I done any theft or robbery? I have only taken the vaccine at home, which is not a crime," the Minister told reporters. Health and Medical Education Minister K Sudhakaralso termed the incident as gross violation of Covid vaccination protocols and said action would be initiated against the doctors who went to the house of the Minister to give him the shot. "Unless there is a prior permission, no one is allowed to go home to vaccinate. It is wrong to go home to administer a vaccine," he said. He would issue a circular to the doctors not to administer vaccines at home, the minister added. The centre has sough a report from the state government taking note of the covid protocol violation. "This is not allowed in the protocol. We have asked for a report from the State government," said Rajesh Bhushan, Health Secretary, on being asked about a Karnataka MLA receiving vaccine shot at his residence today. This comes a day after prominent leaders likePrime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah and Vice President Venkaiah Naidu took the first dose of the coronavirus vaccine on Monday with the start of the next phase of the inoculation drive. Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and his Bihar counterpart Nitish Kumar, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and NCP president Sharad Pawar also took the jab. Governors Kalraj Mishra of Rajasthan and Banwarilal Purohit of Tamil Nadu also received the shot, as well as Union minister Jitendra Singh as the country further opened its vaccination programme that started on Jan. 16 for healthca The Daily Beast Photo Illustration by The Daily Beast/GettyMike Lindell, the MyPillow CEO and Trumpist conspiracy-peddler, flew his private jet to the Republican Governors Association meeting the other day.The guvs promptly threw him out. But the incident got Molly Jong-Fast thinking: Does the MyPillow CEO think hes already a governor or something?Subscribe to The New Abnormal on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Amazon Music, or Overcast. To listen to our weekly members-only bonus episodes, join Beast Inside here. Already a member? You can listen here and sign up for new episode email alerts here.Spoiler: Making MyPillows does not make you my governor. Now, chances that Mike Lindell could actually become governor of a small Republican state, 80 percent, she quips on the latest episode of The New Abnormal. Like, its not even that hard for someone that famous and insane in the Republican party to become a governor.Lindell claims he wouldnt run to be a dogcatcher right now, because he doesnt trust the voting machines. Plus, hes from the blue state of Minnesota. So maybe the risk of a Governor Pillow isnt quite so high. But L.A. Times columnist Virginia Heffernan would like to quickly add something about Mike Lindell being a cosplay governor.I think we need to understand that being in politics leads to governing and governing is boring. It is not a PR operation, she says. And I feel like we have made these jobs celebrity roles. Public service should not beis notbeing on a reality show.Like, I feel like we need to really dial down the razzle-dazzle, really play up the drudgery, Heffernan continues. I just don't know why every single industrialist and every single lady with abs or gorgeous arms would want to be, of all things, a governor.Biden, Heffernan opines, is doing a pretty good job at the drudgerydollars going out, jabs going out, all leading to Trump signs going down. Sure, the Donald has his cultists, like Lindell. But, I don't think people can hold onto this much insanity for this long, especially when it's a tiny minority of people who believe it, Heffernan adds. Democrats need to know how to win.To which Jong-Fast replies, oh-so-gently: Are you freakin kidding me? With all of these Republican attempts to retcon the Capitol riots? To chop away at the right to vote? To instantiate their ability to overturn elections? All while Team Biden snoozes it away? The Democrats are bringing an ice cream sundae to a knife fight, Jong-Fast says.Plus! Politicos Tara Palmeri talks about her search to find Liz Cheney supporters in Wyoming. And Battle for the Soul author Edward-Isaac Dovere gives us a peek into how Biden sees the political landscape. The presidency that he has in front of him now, he knows, is so different from what he ever expected to have, Dovere says, And part of that is rethinking how he incorporates the progressivism within the party that took root and that was so much part of this campaign. And its just, its a really complicated evolution for him. Its not the presidency he thought itd be running in 2019 when he got into this race.Read more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full 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 2021 Facts and Figures report provides an in-depth look at the latest national statistics on Alzheimer's prevalence, incidence, mortality, costs of care and impact on caregivers. For the first time, the accompanying special report, "Race, Ethnicity and Alzheimer's" examines perspectives and experiences of Asian, Black, Hispanic, Native and White Americans in regard to Alzheimer's and dementia care. Findings in the report, reveal that non-White racial/ethnic populations expect and experience more barriers when accessing dementia care, have less trust in medical research and are less confident that they have access to health professionals who understand their ethnic and racial background and experiences. Among the findings: Two-thirds of Black Americans (66%) believe it is harder for them to get excellent care for Alzheimer's disease or other dementias. Likewise, 2 in 5 Native Americans (40%) and Hispanic Americans (39%) believe their own race or ethnicity makes it harder to get care, as do one-third of Asian Americans (34%). Nearly two-thirds of Black Americans (62%) believe that medical research is biased against people of color a view shared by substantial numbers of Asian Americans (45%), Native Americans (40%) and Hispanic Americans (36%) as well. Only half of Black Americans (53%) trust a future cure for Alzheimer's will be shared equally regardless of race, color or ethnicity. Fewer than half of Black (48%) and Native Americans (47%) feel confident they have access to providers who understand their ethnic or racial background and experiences, and only about 3 in 5 Asian Americans (63%) and Hispanics (59%) likewise feel confident. "Despite ongoing efforts to address health and health care disparities in Alzheimer's and dementia care, survey results show there is still a lot of work to be done," said Carl V. Hill, Ph.D., MPH. chief diversity, equity and inclusion officer, Alzheimer's Association. "Clearly, discrimination, lack of diversity among health care professionals and mistrust in medical research create significant barriers to care and demand the country's full attention." Episodes of discrimination, however, extend beyond Alzheimer's and dementia care, the Alzheimer's Association surveys found that many non-White Americans say they have experienced discrimination in the broader health care system. Specifically: Half of Black Americans (50%) report they've experienced discrimination when seeking health care; more than 4 in 10 Native Americans (42%) and one-third of Asian Americans (34%) and Hispanic Americans (33%) likewise report having experienced health care discrimination. The experiences and views of discrimination expressed by respondents in both surveys are also reflected in their views on clinical trial participation. Black Americans have less interest in clinical research trials to prevent or slow the progression of Alzheimer's disease. White Americans are most likely to express interest (82%), followed by Native Americans (81%), Hispanic Americans (78%), Asian Americans (73%) and lastly, Black Americans (67%). The most common reason cited for not participating in clinical trials among all racial/ethnic groups is not wanting to be a "guinea pig." This sentiment was especially strong among Black Americans (69%). In addition almost half of Black Americans (45%) worry that treatments might cause sickness. They are also twice as likely as other groups to say they "don't trust medical research." And they are more than twice as likely as other racial or ethnic groups to say they "might not be treated fairly." As noted in the 2021 Facts and Figures report, health and socioeconomic disparities and systemic racism contribute to increased Alzheimer's and dementia risk in communities of color. According to the report, older Blacks and Hispanics are also disproportionately more likely to have Alzheimer's and other dementias. In addition, both groups are more likely to have missed diagnoses than older Whites. "We must continue to accelerate efforts to engage more people from underrepresented populations in Alzheimer's disease research and clinical trials,' said Maria Carrillo, Ph.D., chief science officer, Alzheimer's Association. "If trials do not include diverse participants, it is impossible to get a complete understanding of how racial and ethnic differences may affect the benefit and safety of potential treatments. Future clinical trial structures and recruitment efforts must lead to a better representation of the entire population, so everyone benefits from advances in Alzheimer's and dementia research." Impact of COVID-19 The report also examines the devastating impact the COVID-19 pandemic is having on people living with Alzheimer's. According to the report, there were at least 42,000 more deaths from Alzheimer's and other dementias in 2020 compared with averages over the previous five years a 16% increase. The report highlights preliminary and anecdotal data indicating the COVID-19 pandemic is also having adverse effects on many family caregivers. It notes that pandemic-related caregiving challenges, including the shutdown of adult day care centers and the inability of families to visit or communicate with relatives in long-term care settings have caused "emotional distress and other negative outcomes among caregivers." The Alzheimer's Association and representatives from more than 30 countries have formed an international consortium to study the short- and long-term consequences of COVID-19 on the brain and nervous system in people at different ages, and from different genetic backgrounds. 2021 Alzheimer's Disease Facts and Figures: At a Glance Prevalence, Incidence and Mortality An estimated 6.2 million Americans age 65 and older are living with Alzheimer's dementia in 2021. More than 1 in 9 people (11.3%) age 65 and older has Alzheimer's dementia. Two-thirds of Americans over age 65 with Alzheimer's dementia (3.8 million) are women. Deaths due to Alzheimer's between 2000 and 2019, has more than doubled, increasing 145%. 1 in 3 seniors dies with Alzheimer's or another dementia. Caregiving In 2020, more than 11 million caregivers of people with Alzheimer's or other dementias provided an estimated 15.3 billion hours of unpaid care, a contribution to the nation valued at $257 billion . . Nearly half of all caregivers (48%) who provide help to older adults do so for someone with Alzheimer's or another dementia. Approximately two-thirds of caregivers are women, and one-third of dementia caregivers are daughters. Forty-one percent of caregivers have a household income of $50,000 or less. Cost of Care In 2021, total payments for all individuals with Alzheimer's or other dementias are estimated at $355 billion (not including unpaid caregiving). (not including unpaid caregiving). Medicare and Medicaid are expected to cover $239 billion or 67% of the total health care and long-term care payments for people with Alzheimer's or other dementias. Out-of-pocket spending is expected to be $76 billion . or 67% of the total health care and long-term care payments for people with Alzheimer's or other dementias. Out-of-pocket spending is expected to be . Total payments for health care, long-term care and hospice care for people with Alzheimer's and other dementias are projected to increase to more than $1.1 trillion in 2050. in 2050. The total lifetime cost of care for someone with dementia is estimated at $373,527 . Additional data from the report is included below. Full text of the 2021 Alzheimer's Disease Facts and Figures report, including the accompanying special report, "Race, Ethnicity and Alzheimer's in America," can be viewed at alz.org/facts . The report will also appear in the March 2021 issue of Alzheimer's & Dementia: The Journal of the Alzheimer's Association. Other Key Findings from "Race, Ethnicity and Alzheimer's in America:" Concern about developing Alzheimer's is lower among Native Americans (25%), Blacks (35%) and Hispanics (41%), especially when compared with Whites (48%). More than one-third of Native Americans (35%) and nearly 3 in 10 Hispanics (28%) do not believe they will live long enough to develop Alzheimer's or another dementia. More than half of non-White Americans believe significant loss of memory or cognitive abilities is "a normal part of aging." Hispanic, Black and Native Americans are twice as likely as Whites to say they would not see a doctor if experiencing thinking or memory problems. One in 5 Black (21%) and Hispanic Americans (20%) say they would feel insulted if a doctor suggested a cognitive assessment. Nearly 2 in 3 caregivers (64%) across all groups say that caregiving is stressful, but nearly all (92%) say caregiving is rewarding as well. Updated Alzheimer's Statistics The Alzheimer's Association Facts and Figures report also provides an annual look at the latest national statistics and information on Alzheimer's prevalence, incidence, mortality and morbidity, costs of care and caregiving, both nationally and state-by-state. About 2021 Alzheimer's Disease Facts and Figures The Alzheimer's Association 2021 Alzheimer's Disease Facts and Figures report is a comprehensive compilation of national statistics and information on Alzheimer's disease and related dementias. The report conveys the impact of Alzheimer's on individuals, families, government and the nation's health care system. Since its 2007 inaugural release, the report has become the preeminent source covering the broad spectrum of Alzheimer's issues. The Facts and Figures report is an official publication of the Alzheimer's Association. About the Survey Versta Research conducted two surveys on behalf of the Alzheimer's Association: (1) U.S. adults and (2) current or recent caregivers of adults age 50 or older with cognitive issues. Respondents were asked about access to care and support services, trust in providers and the health care system, participation in clinical trials and research, and caregiver experiences. Surveys were conducted October 26 - November 11, 2020. Data was collected by NORC at the University of Chicago via the AmeriSpeak panel. AmeriSpeak is a probability-based panel of all U.S. households. The survey included 945 White respondents. Oversamples of Hispanic (n=541), Black (n=515) and Asian Americans (n=412) were weighted back to their true population proportions for statistical analysis and reporting. For full inclusion of Native Americans, the same survey was administered to an additional sample of 406 Native Americans recruited through online (non-probability) panels with sampling stratified and data weighted on gender, age, income and education to match U.S. Census Bureau data. The surveys were offered in both English and Spanish. For complete details regarding survey methodology, see page 73 of the report. About the Alzheimer's Association The Alzheimer's Association leads the way to end Alzheimer's and all other dementia by accelerating global research, driving risk reduction and early detection, and maximizing quality care and support. Our vision is a world without Alzheimer's and all other dementia. For more information, visit alz.org or call the 24/7 Helpline at 800.272.3900. SOURCE Alzheimers Association Britain often tried to ignore the coronavirus as it advanced from Asia to northern Italy to the United States, leapfrogging political and geographic boundaries, carried by airline passengers and cruise ship vacationers just as the government entered the final phase of the departure from the European Union. But today, the battle against the virus is still being waged on myriad fronts. It is fought from emergency rooms to burial grounds, from the parlors of modest homes to the chanceries of state, from the soaring vault of a cathedral-cum-vaccination center to small-town mortuaries designed to cope with quotidian calculations of mortality, not the crushing onslaught of a pandemic. The British government casts its fight in superlatives: the fastest authorization of vaccines, the speediest rollout of inoculations. But there is another, more macabre marker: a higher per capita death toll than any other large country in the world. It took the emergence of a much more transmissible variant of the virus in the southeastern county of Kent in December to galvanize the country and its government. Last month, Sharon Peacock, the head of Britains genetic surveillance program, said the variant had swept the country, adding, its going to sweep the world in all probability. The United States on Monday pressed Saudi Arabia to take further measures after the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi as Washington faced growing criticism that it did not directly target Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman . President Joe Biden on Friday released an intelligence report that found that Prince Mohammed approved the 2018 killing of Khashoggi, a US-based contributor to The Washington Post who was lured into the Saudi consulate in Istanbul where he was strangled to death and dismembered. The report -- classified under former president Donald Trump, a close ally of the Saudis -- found that seven of the 15 members of the hit squad that flew to Istanbul came from the Rapid Intervention Force, which it said "exists to defend the crown prince" and "answers only to him." "We have urged Saudi Arabia to disband this group and then adopt institutional, systemic reforms and controls to ensure that anti-dissident activities and operations cease and cease completely," State Department spokesman Ned Price told reporters. "We have made crystal clear -- and will continue to do so -- that the brutal killing of Jamal Khashoggi 28 months ago remains unacceptable conduct," Price said. He also called on Saudi Arabia to act on other fronts including lifting a travel ban on Loujain al-Hathloul, an advocate for women's right to drive in the ultra-conservative kingdom who was provisionally freed in January after nearly three years in jail. The Biden administration imposed sanctions on the Rapid Intervention Force -- meaning any US transactions with it will be a crime -- and said it was banning entry into the United States of 76 Saudis under a new policy against foreign officials who harass dissidents. Biden has sought to "recalibrate" the decades-old Saudi alliance and has already said the United States will end support for offensive operations in the devastating Saudi war in Yemen. But the administration stopped short of personally targeting the 35-year-old crown prince -- the de facto leader as well as defense minister of the major oil provider. Asked why no action was taken against the prince, also known by his initials MBS, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said that the United States does not typically sanction foreign leaders -- despite frequent US action against senior officials of hostile nations. But she hinted that Prince Mohammed was not permanently off the hook, saying: "Of course we reserve the right to take any action at the time and manner of our choosing." Price said that the United States would not "preview" who would be banned in the future, adding, "I am not aware of any plans for the crown prince to travel to the United States in the near term." 'Punished without delay' Khashoggi's Turkish fiancee, Hatice Cengiz, said that the crown prince had lost legitimacy after the publication of the report. "It is essential that the crown prince, who ordered the brutal murder of a blameless and innocent person, should be punished without delay," Cengiz said in a statement posted on Twitter. "This will not only bring the justice we have been seeking for Jamal, but it could also prevent similar acts recurring in the future." Her comments were echoed in Geneva by Agnes Callamard, the UN's special rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary and arbitrary executions, who called US inaction against Prince Mohammed "extremely worrisome." "It is extremely, in my view, problematic if not dangerous to acknowledge someone's culpability and then to tell that someone that we won't do anything," Callamard told reporters. "I am calling on the US government to act on its public findings and to sanction MBS for what he has done." Biden's allies in Congress have also urged tougher action. Democratic Senator Ron Wyden, who led the push to declassify the report called the prince "an amoral murderer responsible for a heinous crime." "There should be personal consequences for MBS -- he should suffer sanctions, including financial, travel and legal -- and the Saudi government should suffer grave consequences as long as he remains in the government," he said. The Saudi government denounced the US report. It insists Khashoggi's killing was a rogue operation that did not involve the crown prince. 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. [March 02, 2021] HCL Software's Cloud-Native Digital Experience and Unica Marketing Platforms Now on Google Cloud HCL Technologies (HCL), a leading global technology company, and Google (News - Alert) Cloud today announced the expansion of their strategic partnership to bring HCL Software's Digital Experience (DX) and Unica Marketing cloud-native platforms to Google Cloud. The announcement follows the success of the initial Google and HCL Software Commerce partnership announced in June 2020. The Google Cloud offering provides customers a cost effective and highly scalable, secure and elastic cloud deployment option with global coverage that can support deployment of HCL's DX, Unica and Commerce cloud-native platforms. DX's cloud-native capabilities allow customers to deploy world-class, business-critical solutions significantly faster than before. Organizations with the most complex customer marketing data depend on HCL's integrated cloud-native Unica marketing platform to support their precision marketing at scale. The HCL Commerce cloud-native platform delivers innovative and engaging customer experiences that go beyond the transaction. "The collaboration between HCL Software and Google Cloud will deliver significant value for customers who want to deploy DX, Unica and Commerce from Google Cloud," said Darren Oberst, Corporate Vice President and Head of HCL Software. "With the support of our global implementation business partners, we can quickly deliver comprehensive experiences to any audience, putting our clients in the best position to deploy and scale with Google's Cloud and HCL's cloud-native solutions." HCL DX is used by a wide range of organizations, including financial services firms, healthcare providers and government agencies, to provide a secure and personalized business-critical digital experience that is built cloud-native at scale across their multiple channels both internally and externally. Users of HCL DX on Google Cloud can take advantage of the all-new Digital Asset Manager (DAM) and developer toolkits to drastically improve productivity. When integrated with Google's Data Cloud and proven artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities, DX solutions provide actionable insights to help organizations deliver more relevant customer experiences. HCL Unica is used by many of the world's most recognized financial services firms, healthcare providers, retail, telecom, and government agencies to provide secure and personalized business-critical multi-channel experiences. Point-and-click integrations from Unica Link and over 780 APIs simplify even the most challenging integrations, driving business results quickly when run on Google Cloud. The Unica product roadmap includes integration to many of Google's market-leading tools. "Businesses across industries, from healthcare to banking to retail, work with HCL DX and Unica to create stronger online experiences for their customers, employees, and partners," said Avanish Sahai, Vice President, ISV and Application Partners at Google Cloud. "By bringing DX and Unica to Google Cloud, HCL Software can enrich these solutions with capabilities in AI, ML and analytics, and extend DX and Unica globally on our network. We're excited to further expand our strategic partnership with HCL and look forward to supporting DX and Unica customers." This latest announcement from HCL and Google Cloud expands on a deep partnership between the two companies to help organizations digitally transform. There are now three HCL customer experience roducts employing Google Cloud as a preferred cloud platform. HCL Commerce has seen solid success through this collaboration since its partnership with Google Cloud was announced in June 2020. Since then, several HCL Commerce customers from around the world have migrated to Google Cloud. With the addition of DX and Unica, HCL Software's financial services, healthcare and government customers and agencies have the option to move to Google Cloud. In 2019, HCL and Google Cloud announced the launch of HCL's Google Cloud Business Unit to accelerate enterprise cloud adoption worldwide. To support customers, HCL has established three dedicated Google Cloud Native Labs in New York, London and the New Delhi area. These labs provide business-focused design workshops to engage customers and develop IP and MVPs on Google Cloud across industries effectively and efficiently. "The HCL Google Cloud Ecosystem enables product collaboration across HCL Software and Google Cloud," said Sanjay Singh, SVP & Global Head, HCL Google Ecosystem, HCL Technologies (News - Alert) . "With the launch of HCL Digital Experience and Unica on Google Cloud, we continue to build on our portfolio of joint offerings to accelerate our customers' digital transformation and drive a superior customer experience," For more information on the HCL Software and Google Cloud Business Unit partnership, visit DX and Unica. About HCL Technologies HCL Technologies (HCL) empowers global enterprises with technology for the next decade, today. HCL's Mode 1-2-3 strategy, based on its deep-domain industry expertise, client-centricity and entrepreneurial culture of Ideapreneurship, enables businesses to transform into next-gen enterprises. HCL offers its services and products through three business units: IT and Business Services (ITBS), Engineering and R&D Services (ERS) and Products & Platforms (P&P). ITBS enables global enterprises to transform their businesses through offerings in the areas of applications, infrastructure, digital process operations and next generation digital transformation solutions. ERS offers engineering services and solutions in all aspects of product development and platform engineering. P&P provides modernized software products to global clients for their technology and industry specific requirements. Through its cutting-edge co-innovation labs, global delivery capabilities and broad global network, HCL delivers holistic services in various industry verticals, categorized as Financial Services, Manufacturing, Technology and Services, Telecom and Media, Retail and CPG, Life Sciences and Healthcare, and Public Services. As a leading global technology company, HCL takes pride in its diversity, social responsibility, sustainability, and education initiatives. For the 12 months ended December 31, 2020 HCL had consolidated revenue of US$ 10.02 billion. Its 159,682 Ideapreneurs operate out of 50 countries. For more information, visit www.hcltech.com Forward-looking Statements Certain statements in this release are forward-looking statements, which involve a number of risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in such forward-looking statements. 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The risks and uncertainties relating to these statements include, but are not limited to, risks and uncertainties regarding impact of pending regulatory proceedings, fluctuations in earnings, our ability to manage growth, intense competition in IT services, business process outsourcing and consulting services including those factors which may affect our cost advantage, wage increases in India, customer acceptances of our services, products and fee structures, our ability to attract and retain highly skilled professionals, our ability to integrate acquired assets in a cost-effective and timely manner, time and cost overruns on fixed-price, fixed-timeframe contracts, client concentration, restrictions on immigration, our ability to manage our international operations, reduced demand for technology in our key focus areas, disruptions in telecommunication networks, our ability to successfully complete and integrate potential acquisitions, the success of our brand development efforts, liability for damages on our service contracts, the success of the companies /entities in which we have made strategic investments, withdrawal of governmental fiscal incentives, political instability, legal restrictions on raising capital or acquiring companies outside India, and unauthorized use of our intellectual property, other risks, uncertainties and general economic conditions affecting our industry. 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Customers in more than 150 countries turn to Google Cloud as their trusted partner to solve their most critical business problems. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210302005403/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Prosecutors have refused to charge a gang of teenagers who mugged a five-months-pregnant woman on the Tube and laughed as she begged them to return her phone. Natasha Porter was travelling towards Wembley Central, London in October 2019 when she was attacked by four teenagers who took off when she apprehended them. She previously described how British Transport Police caught the men 'red handed' shortly after her ordeal, before arresting them and dropping Ms Porter at home. But the charity boss has now been left 'disappointed' after learning that the men involved won't be taken to court - despite the entire incident having been caught on camera. The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) today said it had concluded it was 'not appropriate to commence proceedings' after reviewing all available evidence in the case. Natasha Porter (pictured) was travelling towards Wembley Central in October 2019 when she was attacked by four teenagers who took off when she apprehended them The charity boss has been left 'disappointed' after learning the men involved won't be taken to court - despite the entire incident having been caught on camera Ms Porter said: 'Pretty disappointed to hear today, after a 15 month wait, that the boys who robbed me when I was pregnant, laughing at me as I wept and begged them to give my phone back, won't be taken to court. 'This is despite the whole thing being on camera and some sterling work by British Transport Police.' Ms Porter added she had hoped the men would be able to hear 'how I felt as a victim so they might think about the consequences if thinking about doing similar in [the] future.' Speaking previously about the attack, she said: 'I was mugged this evening on the tube. I am five months pregnant and very recently off bedrest, but decided to give chase. Sadly they got away. 'British Transport Police gave chase, found the tube they had run onto, caught them redhanded, arrested them, and even dropped me home. Absolute HEROES!' She later added: 'British Transport Police were not just heroes on the day - the support they've provided in the aftermath has been incredible. 'Thankfully my baby and I were both unharmed.' The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) today said it had concluded it was 'not appropriate to commence proceedings' after reviewing all available evidence in the case. Pictured: Wembley Central She previously described how British Transport Police caught the men 'red handed' shortly after her ordeal, before arresting them and dropping Ms Porter at home Ms Porter is the founder of Unlocked Graduates, which has recruited hundreds of graduates to be prison officers in the UK since its inception in 2016. She has previously worked as a government adviser and in the Westminster think tank Policy Exchange, once described as 'the largest, but also the most influential think tank on the right'. British Transport Police today told MailOnline it had lodged an appeal with CPS in relation to their decision not to prosecute in the case. 'The appeal has been rejected, and we accept their rationale,' a spokeswoman said. A statement added: 'On 30 October 2019, BTP received a report of a robbery on an Underground train travelling towards Wembley Central. Officers quickly attended and conducted an area search. 'They identified the train involved and stopped four young men who were all arrested on suspicion of robbery and taken to police custody for questioning. 'In the months that followed detectives worked to gather evidence which included witness statements and CCTV, before presenting a file to the Crown Prosecution Service. 'The CPS decided that no further action is to be taken against the four young men in relation to this incident.' A CPS spokesperson said: 'This was clearly a distressing incident for the victim. 'After very careful consideration, and a full review of the evidence including CCTV, we decided that our legal test for prosecution was not met. 'We recognise this will be disappointing for the victim, who has a right to a review of the decision by another prosecutor.' Planned Comic Book Aims to Shine Spotlight on Forced Organ Harvesting The Chinese regimes practice of killing prisoners of conscience for their organs to sell on the transplant market has been the subject of media articles, books, and documentaries. Now Czech activists have their sights on creating a comic book to raise awareness about the grisly practice. The historical fiction story, created by Milan Kajinek, takes place in China in 2006. According to the projects website, the comic follows a girl who goes to China for an organ transplant, where she stumbles upon a horrifying truth: That the organs for transplant are harvested from people in a detention camp next to the hospital. Kajinek, project coordinator, said they chose the graphic novel format because of its universal appeal. It is also a medium that is dignified enough to tell important, real stories. Thats why we decided for it in the end, he states on the website. Kajinek, who is also the chief-editor of the Czech edition of The Epoch Times, is working on the project in his personal capacity. The script and early drawings for the comic have been completed. The project is currently seeking funding on its own website. With this comic, we want to add fuel to the fire of resistance and draw attention to crimes that cannot be tolerated: The abuse of life-saving science and the rise of the Communist Partys totalitarian power in China, the website states. A sample picture from the comic book Davids and Goliath. (Provided to The Epoch Times) The comics name Davids and Goliath comes from a 2014 documentary film of the same name. The film followed the investigation into the forced organ harvesting conducted by former Canadian Secretary of State (Asia-Pacific) David Kilgour and Canadian human rights lawyer David Matas. Kilgour and Matas were among the first investigators probing the issue since allegations that the Chinese regime was harvesting organs from Falun Gong practitioners first emerged around 2006. Theyve co-authored several reports finding that imprisoned practitioners were being used as unwilling sources for organs on the transplant market. Practitioners of Falun Gong (also known as Falun Dafa), a spiritual practice, have been persecuted by the Chinese regime for more than two decades. According to estimates from the Falun Dafa Information Center, millions of Falun Gong practitioners have been thrown into prisons, psychiatric wards, and other facilities, while hundreds of thousands have been subjected to torture, rape, and other abuses. In 2019, an independent peoples tribunal, after a year-long investigation, concluded beyond a reasonable doubt that the Chinese regime has for years been forcibly harvesting organs from prisoners of conscience on a substantial scale, with the main source being Falun Gong practitioners. It also found that the practice continues today. In reaching this conclusion, the tribunal highlighted various pieces of evidence, including the following: extremely short wait-times for organ transplants advertised by Chinese hospitals; analysis of hospital infrastructure which showed that the regime was performing up to 90,000 transplants a year, vastly more than the official figure of 10,000 transplants; and testimony from Falun Gong practitioners who say they were given blood tests and other medical tests consistent with testing for organ health while incarcerated, while non-Falun Gong prisoners were not tested. The Chinese regime, which denies the practice, has claimed that from 2015 organ transplants have come only from voluntary donors. Last week, at an online conference on organ harvesting convened by over 100 nonprofits from around the world, the organizers said: For the victims, which include political prisoners, Falun Gong practitioners, and Uyghurs, it is not just the harvesting of their organs, it is also a harvesting of their life. For the rest of us, it robs us of our humanity and forever poisons our capacity of being human. The article has been updated to include the latest crowdfunding site. (CNN) - The COVAX program will deliver 237 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines to some 142 countries by the end of May, the World Health Organization's Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus announced today. COVAX is a program run by a coalition that includes the Vaccine Alliance known as Gavi and the World Health Organization (WHO), and is funded by donations from governments, multilateral institutions and foundations. Its mission is to buy coronavirus vaccines in bulk and send them to poorer nations that can't compete with wealthy countries in securing contracts with the major drug companies. During a virtual press briefing, Tedros said that when the history of the pandemic is written, Covax will be one of its standout successes. This week alone, COVAX will deliver a total of 11 million doses, according to Tedros. When the COVID-19 pandemic erupted last year, we knew that vaccines would be a vital tool in bringing it under control. But we also knew from our experience with HIV, the H1N1 pandemic and other diseases that market forces alone would not deliver the equitable distribution of vaccines, Tedros said. The vaccine rollout by the program is already underway, with Ghana and the Ivory Coast becoming the first countries to receive doses through COVAX last week, according to Tedros. This story was first published on CNN.com, "COVAX to deliver more than 230 million vaccine doses by end of May, WHO says" Detectives in Kilkenny investigating the sale and supply of cocaine in the city, searched a domestic property over the weekend. 10,000 worth of cocaine was recovered at the address in the Outrath Road area. One male was arrested and questioned and later charged to Kilkenny District Court. He was subsquently released on bail and a file is being prepared for the DPP. Parliament suspended its joint plenary sitting debating the draft 2021 national budget at 02:00hrs this morning, planning to resume talks today at 10:00hrs, according to AGERPRES. Also considered today will be a bill on the state social security budget, with a final vote on the two bills scheduled for today as well. The debates were halted at Annex 3 the budget of the Ministry of Development, where several amendments were made and put up for a vote. Earlier, lawmakers voted on the 57 articles of the bill and its first two annexes. No amendments were accepted, and the budgets passed as intended by the Government. Leader of the opposition Social Democratic Party (PSD) in the Chamber of Deputies Alfred Simonis asked for an additional 80 million lei for the General Secretariat of the Government and the State Secretariat for Religious Denominations in order to provide funds for the rehabilitation of churches. The amendment was rejected 174 to 224 and 4 abstentions. The amendments of the Alliance for the Unity of Romanians (AUR) floor group providing additional funds for scholarships awarded to Romanian students at Romanian-tuition public schools in Ukraine, Serbia, and Hungary and for supporting the activity of Romanians from all over the historical communities around the borders and the Balkans were also rejected. Most of the amendments were made to the budget of the Ministry of Development - 2,487 - designed for local infrastructure investment projects - water works, sewerage, asphalting of roads, extension of gas networks - but they were also voted down. "We have 200 amendments for Bistrita County, but we will support only 15," PSD MP Daniel Suciu announced during the debates, thanking "colleagues in Bistrita" for "nothing" after those amendments were also voted down. Among the rejected amendments was one aimed at earmarking 50 million lei for the rehabilitation of the Nicolae Tonitza High School of Visual Arts in Bucharest. PSD MP Daniel Florea put forth several amendments for funding public facilities in District 5 of the Bucharest City, including the Antiaeriana Park and Laser Valley, which were rejected. The Chamber of Deputies and the Senate, meeting in a joint session started on Monday at 16:00hrs, EET, debates on the draft versions of the 2021 national budget and the state social security budget. A final vote will be cast today. CPS Energy on Monday said it racked up $1 billion in bills during last months winter storm as it bought wholesale electricity and fuel for its power plants amid the historic freeze. Its customers, many of whom spent hours or days in the cold and dark because of power outages, could have to pay the tab. CPS owes about $800 million to natural gas suppliers that sold the fuel to the utility during the storm at sky-high prices. The utility is also on the hook for $200 million in charges from the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, the state grid operator. ERCOT ordered CPS and other Texas utilities to conduct rolling outages beginning early Feb. 15 to prevent the statewide power grid from failing. In the storms wake, CPS officials have pledged to spare customers from bearing the brunt of the cost. We are attacking that (debt) with every tool that we have, both from a policy standpoint and a regulatory standpoint, CPS Chief Executive Officer Paula Gold-Williams said during a special board meeting Monday. Were going to negotiate ... to get that down. CPS likely will contest gas suppliers charges. We should not pay anything that we dont go through and prudently challenge, she said. With temperatures plunging at times into the single digits, frozen pipelines and icy roads choked off supplies of natural gas to power plants. That scarcity and utilities desperate hunt for gas on the spot market drove up the fuels price several thousand percent. On ExpressNews.com: CPS Energy: Natural gas behind sky-high costs during last week's winter storm City and state officials are on the same page with regard to protection of our ratepayers, and making sure the folks that have been suffering through the mess of the last couple of weeks are not also bearing the burden of the cost, said Mayor Ron Nirenberg, a member of CPS board of trustees. Gold-Williams said CPS will ask the federal and state governments for funding to alleviate the $1 billion debt. In the meantime, the utilitys five-member board approved a plan late Monday to seek a $500 million bank loan to pay off half the bills and spread the cost over several years. Before the storm, CPS had been developing a plan to shutter several of its coal- and natural gas-fired power plants and invest more in solar power and high-tech energy storage. CPS estimates the clean energy initiative would cost ratepayers on average as much as $12 a month extra on their monthly bills. Last week, Gold-Williams said it would be challenging after the storm to seek a rate increase to pay for the shift to green energy while also asking customers to pay off the hefty gas bill. On ExpressNews.com: In wake of storm, high natural gas prices, CPS likely to slow shift to renewable power To make matters worse, CPS has seen the number of past-due balances rise in recent months as it continues to hold off on disconnecting power to customers who havent paid their bills. The utility suspended disconnects last year during the onset of the coronavirus pandemic. As of January, CPS customers owed $93 million in past-due bills, interim Chief Financial Officer Gary Gold said. In January 2020, prior to the pandemic, customers owed $38.6 million in late bills. That is what we call a reduction in, basically, incoming cash, Gold said. The impact of COVID is still being felt in the community. The utility has not set a date for resuming disconnections. Gold-Williams said CPS is considering a bill credit to customers who were affected by the power outages, but she didnt provide additional details. CPS trustees also voted Monday to approve an independent investigation of the utilitys handling of the storm. The review will be separate from the citys investigation into CPS and the San Antonio Water System, which Nirenberg initiated last week. diego.mendoza-moyers@express-news.net Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full 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 in Serbia alarmed, call for new state of emergency Infections rising sharply. 'General closure needed' (ANSAmed) - BELGRADE, 02 MAR - In Serbia, where the epidemiological situation has worsened considerably, virologists and specialists are calling for more drastic measures and general closures to fight the further spreading of coronavirus infections. Predrag Kon, the country's most well-known epidemiologist and a member of the crisis unit in the fight against Covid-19, said Tuesday that the medical component of the crisis unit has proposed newly enacting the state of emergency and a general closure of various businesses with the exception of pharmacies, supermarkets, food shops and petrol stations. In statements on Tuesday morning to public broadcaster RTS, Kon said such a drastic decision is the only way to stop the spread of infections. A state of emergency and curfew were in effect in Serbia one year ago at the start of the pandemic. In that regard, the specialist criticised the authorities' decision to close coffee bars, restaurants and shopping centres at 2 pm only for last weekend. In his opinion that measure was completely inadequate, given that as of Monday everything went back to before with closures at 8 pm for bars and restaurants and 9 pm for shops. Kon said drastic measures are needed so the public realises the danger of the situation, which is threatening the stability of the healthcare system. Some are also calling for the return of the curfew. After a period of progressive decline and relative calm, infections in Serbia began rising again, and the toll on Monday was nearly 3,500 cases of coronavirus and 16 deaths. Thus far there have been a total of more than 460,000 infections and nearly 4,500 deaths. Various criticisms have been made against the gathering of thousands of people at the two country's two ski areas (Kopaonik e Zlatibor), which have been operating at full capacity since the start of the winter season. In addition, gatherings and parties in private homes and public places have increased across the country, despite expanded police controls. The gatherings are taking place without any prevention measures, no face masks and no social distancing, as if the pandemic has disappeared. Political authorities have thus far been very reluctant to close businesses for fear of damaging the economy, the successes of which the political class never tires of praising. Meanwhile doctors, scientists and specialists are sounding the alarm over a continually worsening epidemiological situation that could cause the healthcare system to collapse and nullify the good results the Balkan country has thus far obtained in terms of vaccinations. (ANSAmed). MUSKEGON, MI The demolition of the six-story former Muskegon General Hospital building is expected to begin this summer. The 29-acre campus, located at 1700 Oak Ave., was sold by Mercy Health to Phoenix Reclamation LLC in February, according to the Muskegon County Register of Deeds. The property had been for sale since 2018 after Mercy Health vacated the site and consolidated its services to the Mercy Health Muskegon tower at 1500 Sherman Blvd. A listing price for the property was unavailable, and Phoenix Reclamation did not disclose the sale price. Doug Melching, the owner of Phoenix Reclamation and Melching Demolition, said the hospital building will be demolished to clear the property for new development. He said plans are still underway for the site. Related: Mercy Health to sell Muskegon General Hospital The city of Muskegon is working with Phoenix Reclamation to come up with potential uses for the site, according to Jake Eckholm, Muskegon economic development director. Ideas include multi-family housing and additional medical facilities. The sky is kind of the limit as far as what it could be, said Eckholm. At this point, were a little early in the process to make a firm determination as to whats going to go there. The first step is remediation of the hospital building, which could take up to six months. Theres a lot of work that has to be done to get it ready to demolish, said Melching. Through the demolition company, Melching has initiated other redevelopment projects in Muskegon, including the former Sappi Paper Mill. He bought the 120-acre industrial site in 2011 and led the demolition efforts of the old mill and smokestacks before selling the property five years later to Pure Muskegon, LLC. The Sappi site is now the focus of the Windward Pointe development plan--a proposal to build canals, a marina and mixed use residential and commercial buildings on Muskegon Lake. Melching has a proven track record of repurposing property, according to Eckholm. Muskegon General Hospital opened in 1967 and expanded in 1983 and 2001. It merged with Mercy Health General Partners in 1998. The campus includes the 178,849-square-foot hospital building, an attached 26,151-square-foot former obstetrics and gynecology building, nine small office buildings, eight vacant lots and 10 acres of wooded land. Melching said some of the smaller buildings may be torn down, but others will likely remain as office space. More on MLive: Taste of Muskegon festival pushed back to September due to COVID-19 restrictions Record crowds flock to 3 of Michigans 5 National Parks in 2020 See which Michigan cities have more snow than normal, which are really behind Shot registration to kick off in May THAILAND: Members of the public who are interested in getting inoculated against COVID-19 will be able to register in early May, ahead of Thailands vaccination drive which is set to begin later in June, the government said. CoronavirusCOVID-19health By Bangkok Post Tuesday 2 March 2021, 09:09AM The first batch of COVID-19 vaccines supplied by Chinas Sinovac was distributed to 13 provinces that the government considers high-risk areas yesterday. Photo: Bangkok Post. Registrations will be done on the Mor Prom (Doctors Ready) app, a new platform that was specifically designed to facilitate the governments vaccination programme, said Deputy Public Health Minister Sathit Pitutecha yesterday (Mar 1). According to the deputy minister, a large batch of COVID-19 vaccines from AstraZeneca is due to arrive in June, which will enable the government to cover a greater subset of the population. The timing isnt that late especially when compared with other Asean nations, he said. The first batch of COVID-19 vaccines supplied by Chinas Sinovac was distributed to 13 provinces that the government considers high-risk areas yesterday. The doses were then administered to eligible priority groups, which include frontline healthcare workers and individuals with underlying health conditions. In Pathum Thani, 200 people received their first dose of COVID-19 vaccine at Pornpat Market in Thanyaburi district yesterday, which recently made the headlines after a large number of COVID-19 cases were linked to the markets premises. The province is aiming to administer the first dose of vaccines to 8,000 healthcare workers, state officers and health volunteers handling COVID-19 cases, individuals with underlying health conditions, as well as vendors at Pornpat and Suchart markets. Pathum Thani governor Chaiwat Chuenkosum was the first person in the province to receive the first dose of the vaccine. In Ratchaburi, the vaccination programme began with the provinces chief public health officer, Pachari Arirop. The province received 2,500 doses of Sinovac vaccines. An hour after she was injected, Dr Pachari said she didnt develop any unusual reactions. Ratchaburi was among the first provinces to first receive COVID-19 vaccines because it neighbours Samut Sakhon, the epicentre of the nations second wave of COVID-19, she said. In Bangkok, 130 doctors and healthcare workers yesterday were given their first shots of the COVID-19 vaccine, said Bangkok governor Aswin Kwanmuang, adding that the city plans to vaccinate 3,700 people in six areas this week. Meanwhile, 4,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccines arrived in Phuket yesterday. Brothers painting a mural Free Arts offers children and teens a safe environment and productive outlet to help work through what is often a dark and challenging time in their lives, said PXG Founder and CEO Bob Parsons. The Bob & Renee Parsons Foundation has donated $500,000 in general operating dollars over the next two years to Free Arts for Abused Children of Arizona to support its strategic plan and ongoing growth. The nonprofit organization works to transform childrens trauma into strength and resilience through the arts. The focus of upcoming growth will be largely centered around reimagining Free Arts programming to incorporate virtual opportunities and ensure inclusivity. Free Arts offers children and teens a safe environment and productive outlet to help work through what is often a dark and challenging time in their lives, said PXG Founder and CEO Bob Parsons. We are proud to continue our support of this organization as it expands its efforts to bring transformational arts programming to even more children in need. The funds will be used to identify even more alternate programs and reimagine traditional Free Arts programs that can be delivered virtually or with a safe, hybrid model. Additionally, Free Arts will examine the organization with a diversity, equity, and inclusion lens and work to dismantle barriers to serving children and our community in the most equitable way possible. This fundamental support from The Bob & Renee Parsons Foundation is crucial to our organization during this difficult time, said Free Arts Executive Director Alicia Sutton Campbell. It will allow us to continue to adapt our programs to serve children safely, while also allowing us to focus on the future and how Free Arts needs to grow and change in the coming years to best serve the community. The nonprofits 10-year vision includes a statewide expansion and increased programming for alumni as they move into adulthood. Free Arts believes every child living in foster care and emergency shelters in Arizona should have access to resilience-building arts programs and caring adult mentors. Art can be a very powerful outlet for expressing ourselves and dealing with complicated emotions, said President and Executive Creative Director of PXG Apparel Renee Parsons. Free Arts is offering children and young adults the ability to harness that power for healing and growth. The Parsons have been longtime supporters of Free Arts and through The Bob & Renee Parsons Foundation have granted more than $4.5 million to the organization over the past seven years, including this most recent gift. Free Arts currently serves more than 6,000 children annually, utilizing the talents and skills of 17 staff members, 22 board members and 800 volunteers. To learn more about Free Arts visit FreeArtsAz.org. About Free Arts for Abused Children of Arizona Founded in 1993, Free Arts for Abused Children of Arizona is a nonprofit organization that works to transform childrens trauma to resilience through the arts. Free Arts programs include creative elements that promote safety, self-expression, and a sense of belonging. Free Arts programs are delivered by 800 volunteer mentors and artists who serve more than 6,000 children annually through partnerships with 40 social service child welfare agencies at 100+ sites across Maricopa County. For more information on Free Arts, visit: http://www.FreeArtsAZ.org. About The Bob & Renee Parsons Foundation The Bob & Renee Parsons Foundation offers support to nonprofit organizations successfully working to empower, educate, nurture and nourish people during what is often the darkest time of their lives. Founded in 2012 by philanthropists and business leaders Bob and Renee Parsons to provide hope and life-changing assistance to the countrys most vulnerable populations, The Bob & Renee Parsons Foundation offers critical funding at critical times to those in need. The Foundations giving is driven by the core belief that all people regardless of race, religion, roots, economic status, sexual orientation or gender identity deserve access to quality healthcare, education and a safe place to call home. Follow @WeDealInHope on social media or visit TBRPF.org, to learn more about partner organizations and the important work being done in the community. # # # Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. 2021-03-01 Maeci The Ambassador of the Union of Myanmar in Italy, H.E. Ms. Hmway Khyne, has been summoned to the Foreign Ministry today to receive the request that the military authorities immediately cease all violent repression of the democratic protests underway in the country. Italy has expressed its full solidarity to all those who are peacefully demonstrating to defend the civilian institutions and the democratic future of their country. Italy has reiterated its strong condemnation of the military coup of 1 February and its request for the immediate release of State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi, arbitrarily detained in solitary confinement, and all those arrested in connection with the coup. The Foreign Ministry has also emphasised the illegitimacy of the Myanmar military's decision to cancel the November elections. The Ambassador has been reminded that alleged electoral fraud must be dealt with in accordance with established procedures and that the will of the people of Myanmar must be respected. Using a programmable wavelength-selective switch can help increase the number of users in a quantum network without increasing photon loss from the switching device, a new study shows. Credit: Purdue University image/Navin Lingaraju When quantum computers become more powerful and widespread, they will need a robust quantum internet to communicate. Purdue University engineers have addressed an issue barring the development of quantum networks that are big enough to reliably support more than a handful of users. The method, demonstrated in a paper published in Optica, could help lay the groundwork for when a large number of quantum computers, quantum sensors and other quantum technology are ready to go online and communicate with each other. The team deployed a programmable switch to adjust how much data goes to each user by selecting and redirecting wavelengths of light carrying the different data channels, making it possible to increase the number of users without adding to photon loss as the network gets bigger. If photons are lost, quantum information is losta problem that tends to happen the farther photons have to travel through fiber optic networks. "We show a way to do wavelength routing with just one piece of equipmenta wavelength-selective switchto, in principle, build a network of 12 to 20 users, maybe even more," said Andrew Weiner, Purdue's Scifres Family Distinguished Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering. "Previous approaches have required physically interchanging dozens of fixed optical filters tuned to individual wavelengths, which made the ability to adjust connections between users not practically viable and photon loss more likely." Instead of needing to add these filters each time that a new user joins the network, engineers could just program the wavelength-selective switch to direct data-carrying wavelengths over to each new userreducing operational and maintenance costs as well as making a quantum internet more efficient. The wavelength-selective switch also can be programmed to adjust bandwidth according to a user's needs, which has not been possible with fixed optical filters. Some users may be using applications that require more bandwidth than others, similarly to how watching shows through a web-based streaming service uses more bandwidth than sending an email. For a quantum internet, forming connections between users and adjusting bandwidth means distributing entanglement, the ability of photons to maintain a fixed quantum mechanical relationship with one another no matter how far apart they may be to connect users in a network. Entanglement plays a key role in quantum computing and quantum information processing. "When people talk about a quantum internet, it's this idea of generating entanglement remotely between two different stations, such as between quantum computers," said Navin Lingaraju, a Purdue Ph.D. student in electrical and computer engineering. "Our method changes the rate at which entangled photons are shared between different users. These entangled photons might be used as a resource to entangle quantum computers or quantum sensors at the two different stations." Purdue researchers performed the study in collaboration with Joseph Lukens, a research scientist at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. The wavelength-selective switch that the team deployed is based on similar technology used for adjusting bandwidth for today's classical communication. The switch also is capable of using a "flex grid," like classical lightwave communications now uses, to partition bandwidth to users at a variety of wavelengths and locations rather than being restricted to a series of fixed wavelengths, each of which would have a fixed bandwidth or information carrying capacity at fixed locations. "For the first time, we are trying to take something sort of inspired by these classical communications concepts using comparable equipment to point out the potential advantages it has for quantum networks," Weiner said. The team is working on building larger networks using the wavelength-selective switch. Explore further Researchers send entangled qubit states through a communication channel for the first time More information: Navin B. Lingaraju et al. Adaptive bandwidth management for entanglement distribution in quantum networks, Optica (2021). Journal information: Optica Navin B. Lingaraju et al. Adaptive bandwidth management for entanglement distribution in quantum networks,(2021). DOI: 10.1364/OPTICA.413657 UP eases covid restrictions: Shops allowed to open on weekdays in districts with less than 600 active cases Out on bail, sexual assault accused shoots dead woman's father in UP's Hathras India oi-Madhuri Adnal Hathras, Mar 02 : A 50-year-old man was allegedly shot dead in Uttar Pradesh''s Hathras district by an accused out on bail in a case of molestation lodged in 2018 against the victim''s daughter, police said on Tuesday. "The incident took place in Nozarpur village of Sasani area in Hathras on Monday afternoon when the daughters of Ambrish Sharma (50) had gone to a temple, where the wife and aunt of accused Gaurav Sharma were present. The women had heated arguments with each other after which both Gaurav and Ambrish also reached there," Hathras Superintendent of Police Vineet Jaiswal said. Both Gaurav and Ambrish also had a verbal duel after which the former called some other members of his family and shot Ambrish in a fit of rage, the SP said. Ambrish was rushed to the hospital where he was declared brought dead, the SP added. The victim had lodged a case of molestation of his daughter against Gaurav two and a half years ago and had also gone to jail. Later, Gaurav come out on bail after one month and both of them had animosity since then, the SP added. Gujarat: 23-year-old woman ends her life, records last message before jumping into Ahmedabads Sabarmati river He said an FIR has been registered in this matter against Gaurav Sharma, Lalit Sharma, Rahitash Sharma, Nikhil Sharma and two others. Of them, Lalit has been arrested. The FIR was lodged under various sections of the Indian Penal Code including 302 (murder) based on a complaint of the victim''s daughter. In the FIR, it was alleged that the complainant was there in her potato field with her father Ambrish when Gaurav came in a white car with his accomplice and asked Ambrish to take back the case lodged against him while also urging him to get the matter settled with his daughter. Farmers' Protest: Delhi's Ghazipur border partially opens for vehicular traffic| Oneindia News "Before my father could say anything, he opened fire on him. We rushed him to the hospital, where he died," the girl said in the FIR. Taking note of the incident, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has ordered strict action to be taken against the accused and directed officials to invoke provisions of the stringent National Security Act (NSA) against the accused. Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-02 18:23:37|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close LA PAZ, March 1 (Xinhua) -- The COVID-19 pandemic is a global problem that must be resolved through international cooperation, Bolivia's Deputy Minister of Foreign Trade and Integration Benjamin Blanco has said. "It is of no use for a country to be able to be vaccinated if the rest of the world is not immunized. The virus does not respect borders," Blanco told Xinhua in an exclusive interview. Bolivia's vaccination campaign with vaccines developed by Chinese pharmaceutical firm Sinopharm places the country "well above" the average in Latin America in terms of the percentage of population potentially covered, he said. Thanks to solidarity and strategic partnership between Bolivia and China, the South American country was able to secure the vaccines that will place it among the five regional countries with the highest percentage of the population vaccinated, Blanco said. With the Sinopharm vaccines, Bolivia launched the biggest immunization campaign in its history last Thursday. As of Sunday, the country has reported 249,010 COVID-19 cases with 11,649 deaths and 193,032 recoveries. Bolivia agrees with China that vaccines should be global public goods, he said. "At international forums, we declare the right to health, medication and vaccines to be essential human rights. At this moment, the only structural solution for the pandemic is vaccination, therefore, vaccines should be a product that is accessible to all countries and people, regardless of their degree of development," Blanco said. When asked whether the Chinese doses were being well received in Bolivia, he said that they were very welcome, especially given their technical characteristics. In terms of health cooperation between Bolivia and China, Blanco said the supply of vaccines and drugs that arrived in the country "speaks very well of the cooperative relationship that exists between the two countries." Noting that United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres mentioned in February that 130 countries had not received vaccines against COVID-19 while 10 countries were hoarding antigens, Blanco said it was necessary to appeal to the solidarity of nations to prevent the monopolization of doses. "Most of the vaccines have been monopolized by 15 developed countries that have paid in advance to have the vaccines. That shows the impact of a savage capitalism, where those who have the most can have access to health," Blanco said. Developing countries, Blanco said, are faced with the challenge of relying on diplomatic channels and international relations to gain access to vaccines amid a global shortage. Enditem A group of Mifflin County residents is charged with involvement in the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol after posting about their experiences on social media, which included calls for additional violence from one of them. Christy and Matthew Clark, and their friend Paul Spigelmyer, are each accused of illegally entering restricted buildings, violent entry and disorderly conduct. All three are from the Lewistown area. Shortly after the riot, tips were sent to the FBI regarding Christy Clark and her husband, who had posted pictures and comments on her public Facebook page, according to the affidavit filed by an FBI investigator. The tipsters shared where the Clarks lived and those connected with them on social media took screenshots of Christy Clarks account, the affidavit states. These screenshots are part of the evidence against Christy and Matthew Clark and their friend Paul Spigelmyer for their involvement in the riot at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6. One photo posted on Christy Clarks page appears to be taken from the stairs on or near the East Front of the U.S. Capitol, which is a restricted area, investigators said. Another image appears to be taken from inside the Capitol Rotunda. A search of Christy Clarks Facebook account showed private messages to a possible family member, in which she said the Capitol had been breached, according to the affidavit. All good, we were inside, Christy Clark wrote in a message and clarified by saying Capital [sic] when the person she was talking to asked where she was. Another photo associated with the account appeared to show the rotunda of the Capitol, according to the affidavit. A comment under the photo, which was also shared in private messages from Christy Clarks account, said I stopped and took a second to pray before I took this pic. It was overwhelming to say the least. Matthew Clarks account shared fewer posts during the riot, but someone else did leave a post on his page thanking him for Representing Mifflin County at the Protests in Washington yesterday, according to the affidavit. Matthew Clark had posts saying the National Mall around the Washington Monument was packed with PATRIOTS and later that the Capitol had been breached. He also posted a photo from outside the building. This photo is part of the evidence against Christy and Matthew Clark and their friend Paul Spigelmyer for their involvement in the riot at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6. Throughout the investigation, Spigelymyer was connected to the Clarks through prior police records and social media, according to the affidavit. He was tagged in several photos from Matthew Clarks account from around Washington D.C. on Jan. 6. In a private message, Christy Clark wrote that they were bringing Spigelmyer to D.C., saying now he is a wired old man, according to the affidavit. Investigators were able to connect Spigelymyer to two Facebook accounts, one under his legal name and one under Bob White, according to the affidavit. On Spigelmyers Facebook under his legal name, he wrote several posts celebrating the riot and advocating for the Capitol to burn to the ground. The following are examples of his posts: What happened at the capital yesterday should and must continue till this election fraud is stopped My view of the capital is, burn it to the ground I am all for more protest and storming the capital building and I would love to see them burn it to the ground The capital building needs to be burnt down it doesnt belong to the people that work there. Spigelmyer also used private messages to share a photo with a friend, saying it was the moment we stormed the doors, according to the affidavit. He also told the friend he was in the second round of people to break into the Capitol. The second account, under the name Bob White, was connected to Spigelmyer due to the pronunciation guide on the account, which phonetically spells the account name as PA-ul SPEE-gel-MY-er, according to the affidavit. The profile picture of the Bob White account shows Spigelmyer in clothing that matches a man seen in security footage and photos from the riot, according to the affidavit. One of the surveillance photos appears to show all three suspects. According to the Department of Justice database for Capitol breach cases, the Clarks and Spigelmyer are not in custody. Read more on PennLive: NEW YORK (AP) Calls for New York Gov. Andrew Cuomos resignation intensified late Monday after a third woman accused him of offensive behavior, saying hed touched her face and back and asked to kiss her moments after they met at a wedding reception. Anna Ruch told The New York Times late Monday that she removed the Democratic governors hand from her back, but he said she seemed aggressive, promptly put his hands on her face and asked if he could kiss her. I was so confused and shocked and embarrassed, Ruch, now 33, told the Times, which published a photo of the encounter showing the governors hands on her face. I turned my head away and didnt have words in that moment. A third woman has accused Governor Cuomo of unwanted touching and sexual attention, saying he placed his hands on her face and asked if he could kiss her at her friend's wedding. A friend took a series of pictures of the incident as it occurred. https://t.co/bgvzBK4vK0 pic.twitter.com/hXvgTvSntQ Evan Hill (@evanchill) March 2, 2021 An email seeking comment was sent to Ruchs photography business. Her social media accounts were private. An email was also sent to Cuomos administration for comment. The account from Ruch, who worked as a photographer at the White House during President Barack Obamas second term, made her the second woman to accuse Cuomo of touching her without permission, and fueled broader calls for Cuomo to step down, including from some in his own party. The pattern of sexual harassment and predatory behavior by Governor Cuomo is unacceptable, and I believe the women coming forward, New York City Councilman Antonio Reynoso tweeted in comments echoed elsewhere. Governor Cuomo must resign. The latest accusation follows sexual harassment allegations against the governor from two women who had worked for his administration, accounts that led New Yorks independently elected attorney general to say she was moving ahead with an investigation of his conduct. Attorney General Letitia James received a letter Monday from Cuomos office authorizing her to take charge of the probe after a weekend of wrangling over who should investigate. The letter enables James, also a Democrat, to deputize an outside law firm to conduct an inquiry with full subpoena power. The findings will be disclosed in a public report, the letter said. Cuomo has maintained he had never inappropriately touched or propositioned anyone. The former aide, Charlotte Bennett, rejected Cuomos attempted apology in which he excused his behavior as playful, saying Monday that the governor has refused to acknowledge or take responsibility for his predatory behavior. Bennett, who alleges Cuomo quizzed her about her sex life and asked whether she would be open to a relationship with an older man, tweeted that abusers particularly those with tremendous amounts of power are often repeat offenders who engage in manipulative tactics to diminish allegations, blame victims, deny wrongdoing and escape consequences. After news of Ruchs account broke, Bennett tweeted to her: His inappropriate and aggressive behavior cannot be justified or normalized. Thank you for your courage and strength. I stand with Anna Ruch. Anna I hear you, I see you. Im so sorry. His inappropriate and aggressive behavior cannot be justified or normalized. Thank you for your courage and strength. Here for you always. https://t.co/EkxV05VPVX Charlotte Bennett (@_char_bennett_) March 2, 2021 Cuomos support has plummeted amid dual crises. The harassment allegations come on the heels of accusations he covered up the true death toll of coronavirus on nursing home residents. Its quite a tumble for Cuomo, who had been widely celebrated for his leadership during the pandemic, particularly the daily news conferences where he sought to inform and reassure the public with charts, graphs and a machismo he dubbed New York tough. Mayor Bill de Blasio and other elected officials have said that while Cuomo is under investigation, he should cede emergency powers hes held since the pandemic began, nearly a year ago. The Legislature hasnt taken any steps to revoke Cuomos emergency powers set to expire April 30 despite a push from Republicans and some Democrats. On Monday, Cuomo retained Manhattan litigator Elkan Abramowitz to represent him and his office in probes related to nursing homes. Abramowitz, who previously represented Cuomos office in a federal investigation into his 2014 decision to shutdown a state anti-corruption commission, said he is not representing Cuomo in the sexual harassment matter. Bennett, 25, came forward with her allegations in a story published Saturday in the Times. She said Cuomo told her he was lonely and looking for a girlfriend. Cuomo did not respond to Bennetts statement Monday. Former aide Lindsey Boylan said Cuomo made inappropriate comments about her appearance, kissed her without her consent at the end of a meeting and once suggested they play strip poker while aboard his state-owned jet. Boylan, who is running for Manhattan borough president, first accused Cuomo in a tweet last December and elaborated on the allegations in a Medium post last week. She tweeted Monday about Ruchs experience with the governor, saying, This doesnt make me feel validated. It makes me feel sick. Cuomo has denied Boylans allegations. In a statement Sunday, he acknowledged that he had teased people about their personal lives in an attempt to be playful and funny. He said he had wanted to act like a mentor to Bennett. I now understand that my interactions may have been insensitive or too personal and that some of my comments, given my position, made others feel in ways I never intended. I acknowledge some of the things I have said have been misinterpreted as an unwanted flirtation. To the extent anyone felt that way, I am truly sorry about that, he said. Cuomos statement drew immediate backlash from critics who said he was throwing responsibility onto the women by saying they perceived his statements wrongly. The letter authorizing James investigation said that all state employees have been directed to cooperate fully with the review. Cuomo senior adviser Beth Garvey said she would facilitate interviews with witness and requests for documents from Cuomos office. Ross Garber, a lawyer who has represented former governors Mark Sanford of South Carolina and John Rowland of Connecticut, said Cuomo is essentially handing his reputation to an outsider and saying, Have at it. Go find whatever you want and publish a report to the public about whatever it is youve concluded that Ive done or not done. Bennetts lawyer, Debra Katz, said her client will cooperate fully with the attorney generals investigation. He was not acting as a mentor and his remarks were not misunderstood by Ms. Bennett, Katz said. He was abusing his power over her for sex. This is textbook sexual harassment. Initially, Cuomo appeared wanting to retain a level of control over the investigation. His office said it was asking a former federal judge, Barbara Jones, to conduct the probe. Then, his office suggested that the attorney general and the states top judge work together to appoint outside counsel. Finally, on Sunday, Cuomo acquiesced to James demands that she take control. Armenia ex-president Kocharyan gives interview to Russia newspaper Armenia acting deputy PM on unblocking of roads with Azerbaijan: There will be no troops standing there Nikkei: Toyota and Honda stop car production in Malaysia Armenia official on deploying international observers at Azerbaijan border: You will hear reaction on this matter soon USAID helps UN World Food Programme support displaced people in Armenia Armenia official: Work of trilateral working group on roads unblocking has stopped after recent incidents Russias Putin to Armenias Pashinyan: Relations between our countries are developing very successfully Armenia health minister: Improper storage of fallen soldiers bodies, remains was my omission 108 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia Armenia President to children: I believe that you will make our country much better Armenia CEC publicizes complete lists of political forces registered to run in snap parliamentary elections World oil prices going up Queen Elizabeth turns down PM's offer to name new royal yacht after Prince Philip Armenia parliament discusses 2020 state budget report Newspaper: Armenia acting FM resigns after 3rd attempt Newspaper: Yerevan mayor to leave office Israel, UAE sign tax treaty Newspaper: Even vagrants are persuaded, taken to Armenia acting PM Pashinyans rally in Vanadzor Swedish defense minister demands explanation from Denmark over spy scandal Acting Deputy PM: Armenia has not discussed and will not discuss issues within logic of "corridor" Armenia Central Electoral Commission determines numbers of political parties for elections Armenia 2nd President visits Cathedral of the Holy Mother of God in Gyumri (PHOTOS) Opposition Armenia bloc representative: We're running in elections to win Azerbaijan MFA comments on calls for release of Armenian POWs with infinite hypocrisy EC: Vaccinated citizens should be exempted from tests, quarantine when traveling within EU Armenia Ombudsman discusses rights of 6 captured Armenian servicemen with ICRC Delegation head EU ready to use all the tools at its disposal to change Turkey's behavior Yerevan court obliges to abolish violation of rights of Armenia Supreme Judicial Council ex-chairman Greek and Turkish leaders to meet in June on sidelines of NATO summit Armenia Central Electoral Commission to set up 2,008 polling stations for snap parliamentary elections Iranian companies to participate in reconstructing territories under Azerbaijan's control Opposition Armenia bloc's representative on acting PM's invitation to debate with 1st and 2nd Presidents Armenia acting FM dismissed upon presidential decree Body of brother of Armenian criminal authority "Don Pipo" found under bridge 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 Matt Storey is SVP of global business development for NuSachi. NuSachi's done the hardest things first and built a totally transparent, medical grade supply chain for hemp and related products. Im eager to show the world what we do and how we do it especially precision custom product formulation work, said Matt Storey, SVP Business Development, NuSachi. For a newly created role aimed at accelerating growth, NuSachi, Inc. today announced Matt Storey has been named as the companys senior vice president of global business development. As leader of NuSachis sales and business development efforts, Storey is charged with creating formulation and co-production partnerships across hemp and cannabis, wellness, personal care, and food and beverage applications. NuSachi is leveraging its vertically integrated and traceable, medical-grade hemp supply chain to produce high-quality organic hemp extracts and products. Matt Storey guided growth for a worldwide CBD leader and is accomplished in building brands that utilize botanicals to promote well-being, said Tonya Lewis, CMO and Co-founder, NuSachi. Whether white label, private label, or a completely innovative new idea, we look forward to Matts work in helping NuSachi clients stand out with high-end custom product lines. Of note, Storey was tapped in 2015 to join the original team of CBD pioneer Charlottes Web and helped scale the company into the industry giant that it is today. He has since consulted with brands around the world, leading the launches of diverse CBD and cannabis brands into the global marketplace. NuSachi has done the hardest things first and built a totally transparent, medical grade supply chain for hemp and related products, Storey said. Proud to be part of team NuSachi, Im eager to show the breadth of what we do and how we do it especially our precision custom product formulation work. Storey is a seasoned executive with more than 20 years of experience in building high-caliber teams. Since 2001, Storey has held several roles of increasing responsibility selling consumer packaged goods, nutraceuticals, CBD, cannabis, and more. A former member of the U.S. Armys 3rd Special Forces Group, Storey moved into the natural health space after discovering his passion for alternatives in healing. Storey is a thought leader having delivered hundreds of speeches and educational sessions for industry groups. He earned his bachelors degree in global business management and is proficient in multiple languages. Storey lives with his wife and two kids in Austin, Texas where he enjoys playing music, fitness and the thriving culinary scene. NuSachi has built a team of battle-tested experts who bring broad perspectives and a shared passion for the power of the plant. Now focusing on next-level scale, NuSachis team brings proven track records in traditional business, as well as cannabis market creation. The announcement of Storey as SVP for NuSachi, follows the recent promotion of J. Mitchell to serve as the companys president, as well as the addition of Clint Southern, as chief financial officer in mid-2020. 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. Media Contact: Paul M. Oakley / Tiny Mighty Communications / poakley@tinymightyco.com Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala addresses a meeting of the World Trade Organization's General Council in Geneva, Switzerland, on March 1, 2021. The World Trade Organization's first woman and first African Director General, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, officially took office on Monday, ending a six-month "leaderless" period of the organization, after former chief Roberto Azevedo stepped down on Aug. 31, 2020, a year ahead of schedule. [WTO/Handout via Xinhua] GENEVA, March 1 (Xinhua) The World Trade Organization's (WTO) first woman and first African Director General, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, officially took office on Monday, ending a six-month "leaderless" period of the organization, after former chief Roberto Azevedo stepped down on Aug. 31, 2020, a year ahead of schedule. "I am coming into one of the most important institutions in the world and we have a lot of work to do. I feel ready to go," she said. On arrival at the WTO's headquarters here, Okonjo-Iweala highlighted the importance of the organization. Addressing the General Council on her first day in the post, Okonjo-Iweala pledged to "bring all my knowledge, passion, experience and persistence to the task at hand, reforming the organization and achieving results." On Feb. 15, WTO members agreed by consensus to appoint the former finance minister of Nigeria as the new director-general. Her term, which is renewable, will expire on Aug. 31, 2025. Okonjo-Iweala, 66, has served as Nigeria's finance minister twice and briefly acted as foreign minister. She has worked for the World Bank for 25 years, including as managing director for operations. Also at Monday's General Council meeting, WTO members decided that the organization's 12th Ministerial Conference (MC12) will take place "in the week of 29 November 2021" in Geneva. The meeting was originally scheduled to be held on June 8-11, 2020, in Kazakhstan's capital, Nur-Sultan, but was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The WTO's Ministerial Conference, which is attended by trade ministers and other senior officials from the organization's 164 member states, is the the organization's highest decision-making body. Okonjo-Iweala had said that the success of the MC12 is a "top priority" for all WTO members, underling that "we must reach agreement on some pressing issues and elaborate our work program for others." "Apart from the issues related to the pandemic, I hope that we finalize the fisheries subsidies negotiations, leaving MC12 as the venue to conclude on modalities for implementation," she said. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala addresses a meeting of the World Trade Organization's General Council in Geneva, Switzerland, on March 1, 2021. The World Trade Organization's first woman and first African Director General, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, officially took office on Monday, ending a six-month "leaderless" period of the organization, after former chief Roberto Azevedo stepped down on Aug. 31, 2020, a year ahead of schedule. [WTO/Handout via Xinhua] Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala (C) arrives at the World Trade Organization headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, on March 1, 2021. The World Trade Organization's first woman and first African Director General, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, officially took office on Monday, ending a six-month "leaderless" period of the organization, after former chief Roberto Azevedo stepped down on Aug. 31, 2020, a year ahead of schedule. [WTO/Handout via Xinhua] Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala arrives at the World Trade Organization headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, on March 1, 2021. The World Trade Organization's first woman and first African Director General, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, officially took office on Monday, ending a six-month "leaderless" period of the organization, after former chief Roberto Azevedo stepped down on Aug. 31, 2020, a year ahead of schedule. [WTO/Handout via Xinhua] Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala waves upon her arrival at the World Trade Organization headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, on March 1, 2021. The World Trade Organization's first woman and first African Director General, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, officially took office on Monday, ending a six-month "leaderless" period of the organization, after former chief Roberto Azevedo stepped down on Aug. 31, 2020, a year ahead of schedule. [WTO/Handout via Xinhua] Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala (C) arrives at the World Trade Organization headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, on March 1, 2021. The World Trade Organization's first woman and first African Director General, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, officially took office on Monday, ending a six-month "leaderless" period of the organization, after former chief Roberto Azevedo stepped down on Aug. 31, 2020, a year ahead of schedule. [WTO/Handout via Xinhua] (Source: Xinhua) By John Irish PARIS (Reuters) - France and its Western allies plan to lodge a protest with the United Nations' nuclear watchdog to criticise Iran's decision to curb cooperation with the agency, the French foreign minister said on Tuesday. Iran said last month it was scaling back cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency, ending extra inspection and monitoring measures introduced by the 2015 nuclear deal, including the power given to the IAEA to carry out snap inspections at facilities not declared by Iran. "The nuclear tensions will lead us in the coming days to put forward a protest in the framework of the IAEA Board of Governors to regret this decision," Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian told a parliamentary hearing. Britain, France and Germany - all parties to the deal with Iran - on Monday circulated a draft resolution backed by the United States for the Vienna meeting voicing "serious concern" at Iran's reduced cooperation and urging Iran to reverse its steps. Iran has bristled at the prospect of such criticism, threatening to cancel a deal struck a week ago with the IAEA to temporarily continue many of the monitoring measures it had decided to end - a black-box-type arrangement valid for up to three months and aimed at creating a window for diplomacy. A vote on the resolution is due by the end of the week. The IAEA's 35-nation Board of Governors is holding a quarterly meeting this week against the backdrop of faltering efforts to revive Iran's nuclear deal with world powers now that U.S. President Joe Biden is in office. Diplomacy, however, is making limited progress. Iran said on Sunday it would not take up a European Union proposal to hold a meeting with other parties to the deal and the United States. "The situation is complicated," Le Drian said. "The problem is to know who goes first and nobody wants to be trapped. The fact that the Iranians suspended the Additional Protocol is not good news," he said, referring to Iran's move last month to curb IAEA inspections. (Reporting by John Irish; editing by Jonathan Oatis and Angus MacSwan) A high-ranking Afghan politician has found himself at the center of a scandal in Tajikistan involving $15 million in cash and some 90 kilos of gold bars seized from smugglers at the Dushanbe airport in November. Mohammad Mirza Katawazai, the deputy chairman of the Afghan parliament, angrily rejects the claim by Afghan media that he is linked to the cash and gold. The shock allegation was first made by Afghanistans 1TV channel, which said the powerful politician has been behind the smuggling attempt of dozens of kilograms of gold and millions of dollars of cash discovered and seized by Tajik customs officials. The channel dropped the bombshell claim on its primetime news program on February 27, the day Katawazai, 39, arrived in Dushanbe for an official visit. He was part of a parliamentary delegation led by Mir Rahman Rahmani, speaker of the Wolosi Jirga, the lower house of parliament. Upon his arrival in Dushanbe, Katawazai faced questions by journalists asking him about the alleged links to smugglers and the confiscated loot. These [allegations] are all nonsense. Im a politician, not a businessman, he said on February 28. Meanwhile in Kabul, the Afghan Interior Ministry told the 1TV channel that it has begun gathering information to launch a probe into the claims against Katawazai. 1TV said it obtained its information linking Katawazai to the smuggled money from multiple sources but didnt disclose their identities. The broadcaster also didn't produce any evidence to back its claims. The broadcaster also alleged that several other people -- including police, local government officials, and customs services workers -- have been involved in the smuggling. Katawazai wants to put a lid on the matter, the TV channel said, alleging that his trip to Dushanbe was partially aimed at resolving the fate of the money and gold found by Tajik officials. The politician had been desperately trying to prevent the news of his involvement in the scandal from becoming public, 1TV added. According to the TV station, Katawazais one-on-one meeting with Saadi Sharifi, the Tajik ambassador in Kabul, on December 15, was part of the deputy speaker's efforts to resolve the issue. The Tajik Foreign Ministry said on its website that the meeting took place at the request of the Afghan side. It cited Katawazai as praising Tajikistans favorable investment conditions for Afghan entrepreneurs. The 1TV report also claimed that the members of the Afghan parliamentary delegation that went to Tajikistan are aware of the matter, which according to the channel could be raised in meetings during the trip. But Rahmani, the head of the delegation, told reporters in Dushanbe that talks and meetings in Tashkent will focus on bilateral cooperation, the fight against terrorism, and the intra-Afghan peace talks. According to 1TV, the fate of the smuggled precious metal and money was even discussed during at a February 14 meeting between Saimumin Yatimov, the Tajik state security chief, and Abdullah Abdullah, the head of the Afghan High Council for National Reconciliation. Authorities said Afghan peace efforts, security cooperation, and the situation along the Afghan-Tajik border was the main topic of the meeting in Kabul. Dushanbe Keeps Mum When news of the unprecedented confiscation of cash and gold first broke in Tajikistan in November, suspicion fell upon Tajik politicians and businessmen. Local media reported that family members of a former manager of the Shugnov gold mine in southern Tajikistan were involved in the smuggling. There was no comment from Tajik officials. Authorities in Dushanbe broke their silence on February 18 when they announced the gold and money had been illegally transported from Afghanistan by a group of smugglers. The State Customs Service said the group attempted to send the cash and gold bars to the United Arab Emirates on a flight from the Dushanbe airport. But the goods were discovered and seized before they were loaded onto the plane. Officials said three customs service employees at a Tajik-Afghan border crossing were detained and charged with negligence for failing to properly inspect the goods coming into Tajikistan. The Customs Services said seven people have been detained in connection with the case. No names or further details were made public by authorities. Tajikistan has long been used a transit route for drug traffickers who smuggle Afghan opium and heroin to Russia which then goes to Europe. Tajik state media often show photos and video of drugs that it says were confiscated from Afghan smugglers or their Tajik accomplices. But it was the first time Tajik authorities reported the seizure of such large amounts of gold and foreign currency being trafficked from Afghanistan via Tajik territory. In its report, 1TV aired a previous speech by Katawazai talking about the widespread corruption in the government and parliament of Afghanistan. Written by Farangis Najibullah based on reporting by RFE/RLs Tajik Service. Project to provide new way of delivering pharmaceutical alternative to toxic illegal drug supply during the pandemic and beyond DARTMOUTH, NS, March 2, 2021 /CNW/ - The overdose crisis continues to affect communities and families across Canada. Tragically, we have seen significant increases in overdose deaths and related harms during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Government of Canada continues to support communities as they respond to drug overdoses during the pandemic and beyond. Today, on behalf of the Honourable Patty Hajdu, Minister of Health, Darren Fisher, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Health, announced nearly $3.5 million to expand the MySafe Society safer supply project. With this investment, MySafe will be able to operate five sites in four cities across Canada. This innovative project offers a new way to provide medication to people living with opioid use disorder as an alternative to the toxic illegal drug supply and to help prevent overdoses. The MySafe machine resembles an ATM, and after verifying the patient's identity with a palm scan, provides patients with access to their existing prescriptions for hydromorphone pills. As with other safer supply models funded by Health Canada, the patients are supervised by a healthcare practitioner and connected with important health and social services, including treatment. Through this innovative model, participants can access a safe supply, an important alternative to lethal street drugs. With a safer alternative being provided through this project, we can reach people living with an opioid use disorder who may face barriers accessing traditional methods of care, and can also prevent opioid overdose from increasingly toxic illegal drugs. Further, the machines support physical distancing measures in place with COVID-19, as accessing the medications does not require in-person contact. We continue to work in collaboration with all levels of government, partners, stakeholders, people who use drugs and people with lived and living experience and organizations in communities across the country to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic and the overdose crisis. Quotes "During the COVID-19 pandemic, we must do more to help people using substances to stay safe. This means using new technology and innovative models, such as the MySafe project, to expand our ability to reach people with opioid use disorder and prevent fatal overdoses. Working with these pioneering organizations is another way we are helping people who are at risk of overdose to find access to care and the treatment they need." The Honourable Patty Hajdu Minister of Health "The overdose crisis continues to have devastating effects on communities, including those in Atlantic Canada. Substance use disorder is a health condition that can be managed and treated if people are provided with services that best meets their needs. Through these innovative projects, we are helping people at risk of overdose in Atlantic Canada access needed medication and supports." Darren Fisher Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Health "MySafe is designed to address the drug poisoning crisis head-on. It provides a low barrier, convenient, and secure way to access a safer drug supply for those most at risk of dying from an overdose." Dr. Mark Tyndall Executive Director, MySafe Society Quick Facts The MySafe Project for Low Barrier Access to Oral Hydromorphone to Prevent Fatal Overdoses has a number of safeguards in place to protect patients and prevent illegal diversion of drugs, such as continuous engagement and monitoring of patients by healthcare practitioners. In addition, the machine is tamper-proof and is programmed to only provide a set amount of medication prescribed by a physician to registered patients. MySafe Society has partnered with the British Columbia Centre on Substance Use to conduct an evaluation of its safer supply project. has a number of safeguards in place to protect patients and prevent illegal diversion of drugs, such as continuous engagement and monitoring of patients by healthcare practitioners. In addition, the machine is tamper-proof and is programmed to only provide a set amount of medication prescribed by a physician to registered patients. MySafe Society has partnered with the British Columbia Centre on Substance Use to conduct an evaluation of its safer supply project. Through this funding, MySafe will now operate at five sites: two in Vancouver ( British Columbia ) and one each in Victoria ( British Columbia ), Dartmouth ( Nova Scotia ) and London ( Ontario ). Each MySafe machine can provide medication to up to 48 people living with opioid use disorder, reaching up to 240 people nationwide. ( ) and one each in ( ), ( ) and ( ). Each MySafe machine can provide medication to up to 48 people living with opioid use disorder, reaching up to 240 people nationwide. Through the Fall Economic Statement 2020, the Government of Canada committed to help Canadians struggling with problematic substance use by providing an additional $66 million over two years. This funding would support community-based organizations responding to substance use issues, including to help them provide frontline services in a COVID-19 context. The MySafe project is one of the projects funded from this commitment. committed to help Canadians struggling with problematic substance use by providing an additional over two years. This funding would support community-based organizations responding to substance use issues, including to help them provide frontline services in a COVID-19 context. The MySafe project is one of the projects funded from this commitment. During the pandemic, people who use drugs are experiencing increased risks and harms in many communities across the country. In addition to the project announced today, Health Canada has committed $44.2 million in funding for safer supply projects in British Columbia , Ontario , Quebec and New Brunswick to help save lives. in funding for safer supply projects in , , and to help save lives. Troublingly, there are early indications that the illegal drug supply is becoming increasingly toxic in Nova Scotia . In addition, there are reports that the use of dangerous stimulants, like methamphetamines, is on the rise in some parts of Atlantic Canada . As part of its support for Atlantic communities dealing with the overdose crisis, Health Canada is also providing more than $2.4 million over four years to River Stone Recovery Centre for its safer supply project in Fredericton, New Brunswick . This unique project offers a pharmaceutical alternative to toxic, illegal methamphetamine and opioids. . In addition, there are reports that the use of dangerous stimulants, like methamphetamines, is on the rise in some parts of . As part of its support for Atlantic communities dealing with the overdose crisis, Health Canada is also providing more than over four years to River Stone Recovery Centre for its safer supply project in . This unique project offers a pharmaceutical alternative to toxic, illegal methamphetamine and opioids. Early findings from Canadian evidence show that using pharmaceutical medications, such as hydromorphone, as an alternative to highly toxic illegal drugs for people at risk of overdose can help save lives and improve health outcomes. It can also help establish an entry to primary care and treatment for people with substance use disorder. The MySafe project is funded through Health Canada's Substance Use and Addictions Programa federal grants and contributions program that provides financial support to provinces, territories and non-governmental and Indigenous organizations to strengthen responses to drug and substance use issues in Canada . Associated Links SOURCE Health Canada For further information: Cole Davidson, Office of the Honourable Patty Hajdu, Minister of Health, 613-957-0200; Media Relations, Health Canada, 613-957-2983, [email protected]; Public Inquiries: 613-957-2991, 1-866-225-0709 Married At First Sight relationship expert Dr. Trisha Stratford revealed this week that she quit the show because she felt 'sick' over the direction it was taking. In an interview with Woman's Day New Zealand, Trisha said she was worried about the contestants' 'fragility' and said she left the program because she 'couldn't compromise my professional and personal standards'. However, the comments did not sit well with Natasha Spencer, 26, who appeared on season seven of the reality TV experiment last year. Anger: Married At First Sight's Natasha Spencer (pictured) has penned an angry response to Dr Trisha Stratford, suggesting the psychologist should have offered more support to contestants - after the relationship expert claimed she 'compromised her standards' on the show Posting to her Instagram Stories on Tuesday, Tash shared a section of quotes that appeared in the Woman's Day article, and penned a response to the psychologist. 'That article is nothing more than a slap in the face. @drtrishstratford where were these comments during filming?' she wrote. 'If you were so concerned about the fragility of the contestants why did you not take the opportunity to check in with us?' Tash wrote: 'Where were these comments during filming? If you were so concerned about the fragility of the contestants why did you not take the opportunity to check in with us?' Star: Natasha appeared on season seven of the reality TV experiment last year (pictured) 'In fact all judges were evasive and segregated from the contestants except when being told what to do through their earpieces on camera,' she continued. Tash also told fans that despite MAFS being a social experiment, she believed 'contestants aren't chosen by the "professionals" for their compatibility.' 'Mental health is pushed aside from the very beginning and contestants are nothing more than disposable to production unless you play by their rules,' she continued. Speaking to Woman's Day New Zealand, the psychologist revealed she 'felt sick' while on the show: 'I couldn't compromise my professional and personal standards because there were participants on the show who I felt shouldn't have been there,' she said. Dr Trisha is pictured Tash then concluded: "Absolutely deplorable behaviour. I don't even feel validated or vindicated. Just disgusted in the "truth", the timing and the pay cheque.' Daily Mail has reached out to Dr Trisha Stratford and Channel Nine for comment. Speaking to Woman's Day New Zealand this week, the psychologist, who was part of the show's panel of relationship experts, also including John Aiken and Mel Schilling, revealed she felt conflicted while appearing on the program. Confession: 'If someone gets through the critical selection process, when we say we don't want them on the show because they're quite fragile, they're not going to do well after the show,' Dr Trish said. Pictured with fellow experts Mel Schilling and John Aiken 'By the end, I couldn't compromise my professional and personal standards because there were participants on the show who I felt shouldn't have been there,' she said. 'If someone gets through the critical selection process, when we say we don't want them on the show because they're quite fragile, they're not going to do well after the show,' she said. The New Zealand-based therapist went on to say what the contestants go through is 'a tough gig psychologically' and she compared it to experiencing 'conflict in war zones'. Out: In September 2020, Dr Stratford confirmed that she had parted ways from Married At First Sight after seven seasons 'At a couple of dinner parties I felt sick. I felt in my guts that this wasn't what I'd want to be watching at home on TV,' Trish added. In September 2020, Dr Stratford confirmed that she had parted ways from Married At First Sight after seven seasons. Trish has been replaced by Alessandra Rampolla, 46, a clinical sexologist from Puerto Rico. For confidential support call the Lifeline 24-hour crisis support on: 13 11 14 Kids Helpline: 1800 55 1800 OK, Bachelor Nation. A lot is happening right now in the franchise. Season 25 has brought out many ugly sides of the franchise, and we aren't talking about the typical drama and bullying we see every season. If you've missed it, here's a recap. Franchise host Chris Harrison announced he would step aside for a while from the show after his controversial interview with Rachel Lindsay, the show's first Black bachelorette. RELATED: San Antonio 'Bachelor' women and Matt James' cast denounce racism in franchise In the "Extra" interview, Harrison defended the racist allegations surrounding a contestant from Matt James' season, Rachael Kirkconnell. Social media called out Kirkconnell for attending a plantation-themed party in 2018. She also has been criticized for liking Confederate flag-related TikToks. James, this season's male lead, is the show's first-ever Black Bachelor. The response from Harrison enraged Bachelor Nation and the cast of James' season, including San Antonio's own Alana Milne, and Jessenia Cruz, who both shared a joint statement from the cast that denounces any racism. (Note: Bri Springs unfortunately isn't from San Antonio. ABC originally released she was but it has since been corrected. She's from California. We still stan). Following widespread criticism for his comments perpetuating racism, Harrison will be replaced by Emmanuel Acho for the "After the Final Rose" episode, according to NBC News. Acho is a best-selling author and the host of the online series "Uncomfortable Conversations With a Black Man." It's unclear when or if Harrison is returning as the host of the franchise. However, some members of Bachelor Nation are calling for action and created a petition to fire Harrison as the host. It has more than 50,000 signatures as of Monday. Who should step in to fill the shoes of part-cupid, part-agitator Chris Harrison? If that happens, here are my top 5 choices as a Bachelor Nation fan. Another key summer holiday season will be at risk if the EU does not manage to unravel the debate on the so-called 'vaccination passport' in time. That is the message that Spain, Austria, Bulgaria, Greece, Malta and Slovakia who support the project that is gaining more followers with greater impetus. The countries have all stepped up their pressure on the EU during the meeting by videoconference of the tourism heads on Monday, 1 March. Speakers urged the European Commission to speed up the introduction of the digital certificate that would allow the reactivation of non-essential travel. Last week a virtual meeting of the heads of state and government, heard the vaccination passport would include at least three general parameters: whether the person has been vaccinated - with identification of the type of vaccine and the number of doses received; details of negative PCR tests - if they have not yet had access to the vaccine due to their age group, for example; and immunisation, subject to the assumption that the person has antibodies after overcoming coronavirus. The objective is to complete the technical and political procedure in the next three months so that the certificate can be launched in summer, coinciding with a key tourist season for the economy of countries like Spain. The president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, has guaranteed to EU members that the legislative proposal will be presented this month. "The aim is to allow Europeans to gradually move safely within the EU or abroad, for work or for tourism," she said. Third countries During the meeting of tourism ministers, Spains Reyes Maroto, welcomed the announcement while underlining "the need to advance in the adoption of common protocols to avoid prohibitions of movement of travellers within the internal market and also with third countries. The latter was a clear reference to the United Kingdom from where more than 18 million visitors travelled to Spain in 2019. "The certificates are a useful and effective tool to resume mobility in a safe way," said a press release from Madrid. "Efforts must be stepped up to ensure better coordination and communication of travel-related measures at EU level in order to avoid discriminatory measures between citizens." "It is important to have the tools ready to start mobility and to put Europe back as a safe travel destination as soon as the virus incidence data allow it." Delays in the distribution of vaccines and the need to contain the impact of new mutations of the virus - with a much greater transmissibility - have forced the EU to maintain restrictions on non-essential movements despite the fact that the incidence of infections is decreasing in the whole of the EU. Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun speaks during a meeting with health officials at the government complex in Seoul, Tuesday. Yonhap The safety of COVID-19 vaccines is being validated, with no major cases of adverse vaccine reaction reported in the four days since the rollout of the national vaccination campaign, Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun said Tuesday. A total of 23,086 people received COVID-19 vaccine shots in the four days since the country kicked off the inoculation campaign last Friday, with no major adverse reaction reported among the receivers, the prime minister said during a daily interagency meeting on the coronavirus response at the government complex in Seoul. "So far 156 cases of abnormal reactions have been reported, but all of them turned out to be light symptoms that went away quickly, practically validating the safety of the (COVID-19) vaccines," Chung said. The prime minister also voiced concerns over a wave of fake news against vaccine safety, pledging to actively respond to counter them. Representative Image Basel [Switzerland], March 2 (ANI): Bulgarian badminton player Mariya Mitsova on Tuesday pulled out of the Swiss Open 2021 after an entourage member tested positive for coronavirus. Mitsova was identified as a close contact of the entourage member and has been asked to quarantine in the official hotel. The entourage member produced a positive result to the mandatory on-arrival PCR test conducted on Monday and is currently in self-isolation. "Badminton World Federation (BWF) can confirm Bulgarian women's singles player Mariya Mitsova has been withdrawn from the YONEX Swiss Open 2021 (New Dates) after a Bulgarian entourage member tested positive for COVID-19," the BWF said in an official statement. The next player on the reserve list, Laura Sarosi (HUN) has been promoted into the women's singles main draw. Meanwhile, testing protocols continue to be implemented by the Swiss health authorities, Swiss Badminton, and the BWF is ensuring the health and safety of all participants. (ANI) Gov. Ron DeSantis opened up Floridas legislative session Tuesday with a full-throated defense of his pandemic response and an outline of conservative policies he wants state lawmakers to pass in the run-up to his reelection campaign next year. I see, in many parts of our country, a sad state of affairs: schools closed, businesses shuttered and lives destroyed, DeSantis said in a 30-minute State of the State speech to a packed Florida House chamber. While so many other states kept locking people down, Florida lifted people up. DeSantis, who in last years speech focused on immigration priorities and creating a statewide minimum teacher salary of $47,500, described a different legislative agenda on Tuesday, one marked by optimism and echoes of a campaign rally. He urged lawmakers to prioritize voting law changes that could add new hurdles to vote by mail, and laws that crack down on violent mobs and that would clamp down on the oligarchs in Silicon Valley. Legislating in the time of COVID-19 means putting protections over public access Florida is dedicated to free and fair elections; we cannot allow Big Tech to interfere in our elections by putting a thumb on the scale for political candidates favored by Silicon Valley, DeSantis said, reiterating his desire to penalize social media companies whose algorithms are perceived to favor one candidate over another. DeSantis political momentum DeSantis has passed the midpoint in his four-year term and is positioning himself for reelection in 2022 or what many say could be higher political aspirations. In recent days, the governor has had reason to feel optimistic. He finished first in a CPAC straw poll that showed a Trump-less field of potential 2024 GOP presidential candidates. DeSantis also holds a comfortable lead over potential Democratic 2022 gubernatorial challengers, according to a new Mason Dixon Polling & Strategy poll released Tuesday. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) Friday, Feb. 26, 2021, in Orlando. In his speech, DeSantis repeatedly touted his policies during the pandemic and credited his approach to what he views as a rosy outlook in Florida. Story continues Our nation and our state have endured a tumultuous year. Floridians have responded in ways that would make our founders proud, he said. Because of those efforts, the sun is rising here in Florida and the Sunshine State will soon reach new horizons. The governors budget proposal for the 2021-22 fiscal year which is advisory only is a $96.6 billion outline that is $4.3 billion more than the budget Florida lawmakers passed last year. The growth was made possible by the infusion of billions of federal cash into education, healthcare, vaccinations and testing and better-than-expected state tax revenue. A new $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief package pending before the U.S. Senate could give Florida state and local government $16 billion in one-time aid, more than enough to erase the states estimated $2 billion budget shortfall. How that will play a role in the upcoming state budget remains to be negotiated. DeSantis joins GOP governors, says $16 billion in federal relief to Florida is unfair The bottom line is that we saved Floridas economy, and as a result our budget outlook is positive, DeSantis said. The priorities weve championed from water resources to education to infrastructure can still be honored. Let us get it done. Some Republican lawmakers, however, have already warned of potential budget cuts in education and other government programs. House Speaker Chris Sprowls, for instance, has warned school districts that if student enrollment numbers dont rebound after the pandemic, their funding could be impacted. DeSantis, however, said he rejects reductions in K-12 education funding and called on lawmakers to continue investing in teacher pay. House, Senate leaders address their chambers In his speech, DeSantis said he looks forward to working with Senate President Wilton Simpson, R-Trilby, and Sprowls, R-Palm Harbor. I know you guys will be great partners for progress, being from Pasco and Pinellas and me being a Pinellas County kid growing up, I think the Tampa Bay area should be well represented in this next go-round, DeSantis said. Simpson and Sprowls also delivered remarks to their respective chambers on Tuesday, and laid out their legislative agendas. Both highlighted legislation that would shield businesses from COVID-19-lawsuits, a priority that DeSantis said he supports. In the Senate, Simpson said he also wants to expand school choice programs, improve the states unemployment system and tackle a voter-approved constitutional amendment that raised the minimum hourly wage from $8.65 to $15 by September 2026. Just because they gave us the time doesnt mean we ought to take it, Simpson said. I would like this years budget to provide increases to our lowest paid workers. Its one more way to honor these blue collar workers who are laboring every day to provide for their families. Simpson added that there will be a tremendous amount of work in the wake of the pandemic that would allow the state to be better prepared for future health crises, prevent shutdowns and improve the unemployment system. In the House, Sprowls said he wants to advance measures that would prepare the state for sea level rise, overhaul the states workforce development system and fight racial disparities in healthcare. In his speech, Sprowls struck a more combative tone than Simpson. He urged House members to protect Floridians from the intolerance created by the rising Woke agenda, and reiterated a call for fresh conservative ideas. Will we be brave or boring? Will we hide inside our safe spaces where we are right and everyone else is wrong, or will we climb to find higher, common ground? Will we spend our days chasing praise on Twitter, or will we actually change policy to improve the lives of Floridians? Sprowls asked members. Those choices rest entirely with each of us. Democrats push back Democrats responded by blasting DeSantis priorities. Senate Minority Leader Gary Farmer, D-Lighthouse Point, called them insensitive and tone-deaf. House Minority Co-leader Bobby DuBose, D-Fort Lauderdale, said the GOP bills worry us. Instead of immediately trying to pass something that directly helps the people of Florida, we see political distractions, DuBose said. These simply should not be a priority right now. Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried, the only statewide elected Democrat, said she agreed with the governor that schools should be open and commended him for getting that right, but she said his handling of it was confusing and flawed. I mean, we had three separate orders that went back and forth on opening the schools, and there was a lack of resources that were given to the schools to make them safe, Fried said. And the fact that he has been so bullish on all of this, that he feels that was his way or the highway. Its not a collaboration. Hes not listening to people, and hes making decisions that are just based on what is next in his political career, she added. Herald/Times reporter Mary Ellen Klas contributed to this report. A young Laois man who has managed to turn his life around from being homeless on the streets, has thanked the local charity who supported him at his lowest ebb. Christy from Portarlington also had happy news to announce, and made a donation to mark the occasion. He wrote his message to Portlaoise Action to Homelessness (PATH) who drive up to Dublin twice weekly to meet homeless people and give them hot food and drinks and a listening ear. "Hi folks, ye may not remember me but I was that young guy from Portarlington that was homeless in Dublin for a few years. I use to meet with your crew on a Saturday evening and they would look after me with food, clothing etc. Whatever I needed and I appreciate everything ye have done for me. "Last February 2020 I moved over to England. I got a job now, a house, a girlfriend and believe it or not we just had a baby Thursday. Anyways I would like to make a little donation to help out as when I needed help the likes of your organisation really helped me and I would like to help a little," Christy wrote. With his permission, PATH shared his lovely message, and many more message returned congratulating and thanking Christy. Irene McRedmond is chairperson of PATH, who also now deliver food parcels to people in need all over Laois. "We are absolutely delighted to hear he is doing so well. Our volunteer Gina remembers him. He is young, only in his late 20s now. We don't know why he was homeless but we know from being in Dublin that homeless people do feel very alienated and anyone who knows Portlaoise and sees us, it's nearly like a piece of home. "It really was lovely. It lifts us a bit, to know we are making a difference. Listening and talking to our clients, giving them that respect, it is more important than the food we give out. We are so delighted Christy has been able to have a fresh start, it was so lovely to hear back from him," Irene told the Leinster Express. PATH is currently welcoming donations of Easter eggs, and new men and women's underwear. They also provide food support to Laois families, through referrals from Laois County Council, MABS and Laois Domestic Abuse among others. Donations can be made at Portlaoise Parish Centre, email info@path.ie for details, or see their Facebook page here. The father of a girl kidnapped from a government school in northern Nigeria vowed Monday to educate his daughter at all costs, if she is rescued alive. "Whether (the gunmen) like it or not, my daughter will not stop going to school," Yunusa Muhammad insisted. More than 300 schoolgirls were kidnapped by gunmen from a government school in Jangebe last week, the latest in a series of mass school kidnappings in the West African nation. It came as a suprise to Muhammad, 51, who said the Government Girls Junior Secondary School was known as "safe and secure." Along with other parents, he has been visiting the school every day, as unconfirmed rumors of the girls' release circulate on social media. School security guard Lawani Adali said he was outnumbered by gunmen during the incident, and had to take cover. "Policemen and vigilantes couldn't get in because the gunmen blocked everywhere, there was heavy firing," he said. He explained the gunmen managed to gather the girls in one spot and march them out of the building. Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari said the government's priority is to get all the hostages returned safe and unharmed. The country has seen several such attacks and kidnappings in recent years. The government says large groups of armed men in Zamfara state are known to kidnap for money and to press for the release of their members held in jail. (Image Credits: AP) (Disclaimer: This story is auto-generated from a syndicated feed; only the image & headline may have been reworked by www.republicworld.com) INDUSTRY INSIGHT Inherently secure systems mitigate software supply chain attacks The supply chain cybersecurity problem can be solved with inherently secure engineering. Current futile efforts to keep an adversary out of a system can be replaced by a secure architecture that dramatically constrains the ability of an adversary who planted attacks (e.g., Trojan horses) inside a system to compromise sensitive information. Below is a brief analysis of how a Trusted Computer System Evaluation Criteria (TCSEC) Class A1 operating system would solve the four specific cybersecurity vulnerabilities experts say were exploited in the SolarWinds attack. Even if implemented after such an attack, the properly configured Class A1 OS prevents exfiltration of information. Vulnerability #1: Lack of a threat model for mitigating software subversion attack. "I don't k-now of any organization that incorporates what a supply chain attack would look like in their environment from a threat modeling perspective," David Kennedy, former National Security Agency (NSA) hacker and founder of security consulting firm TrustedSec, told CSO. This is not a discussion that's happening in security today. Class A1 OS solves this . Addressing supply chain attacks is a raison detre for TCSEC Class A1. Because commercial OSs were developed by uncleared personnel, NSA created security criteria and evaluation procedures known as TCSEC Class A1. Class A1 is so rigorous that it would enable NSA to buy an OS from even the KGB (now the SVR), according to George Cotter, founding director of the National Computer Security Center. Class A1 substantially addresses subversion (SP 800-160), and TCSEC has at least eight specific requirements unique to Class A1 to defeat software subversion (i.e., supply chain) attacks. Vulnerability #2: Pervasive impact on deployments due to a failure to keep the adversary out. An attacker could literally select any target that has their product deployed, Kennedy said. Class A1 OS solves this . Pervasive mitigation from a single Class A1 device embodies a Class A1 OS with trusted distribution for wide availability. Failure at a single installation (e.g., swapped Ethernet cables, or modification of hardware) does not invalidate the Class A1 devices ability to defeat subversion for other deployments. Vulnerability #3: No security categorization for which to enforce mandatory access control policy. Not every user or device should be able to access any application or server on the network, Kennedy continued. Exploiting the lack of categorization was key to the SolarWinds attack, however. The vague, mushy advice that companies should try to put controls in place that would minimize the impact the article advocates is hardly actionable mitigation. Class A1 OS solves this . Class A1 defines mandatory access controls with mathematical precision and is applicable to many specific categorization policies for users and devices such that it is scientifically possible to put in place systematically enforceable controls. A Class A1 device can be configured for the specific categorization policy of an infrastructure or deployment in a trustworthy and inspectable manner. This effort can benefit from the long-recognized need described in FIPS 199 for categorizing federal information and information systems according to an agency's level of concern for confidentiality, integrity, and availability and the potential impact on agency assets and operations should their information and information systems be compromised through unauthorized access, use, disclosure, disruption, modification, or destruction. The MAC policy has a formal security policy model with a mathematical proof that no Trojan horse (no matter how ingeniously designed and surreptitiously inserted) can cause information flow in violation of the configured Class A1 OS policy. Vulnerability #4: Cannot verify that no backdoor exists or remains. Software supply-chain attacks are some of the hardest type of threats to prevent, CSO said. It's likely that the number of software supply-chain attacks will increase in the future, especially as other attackers see how successful and wide ranging they can be. According to security expert and Harvard fellow Bruce Schneier, the only way to be sure a network is clean is to burn it down to the ground and rebuild it. Former homeland security adviser Thomas Bossert agreed. A do over is mandatory and entire new networks need to be built, he wrote in the New York Times. To start over, however, would take decades and many billions, and there would be little basis for confidence that some clever adversarys attack was not already somewhere in the massive attack surface of the rebuilt software. Class A1 OS solves this . It renders previously implanted Trojan horses or "backdoors" that remain in application software incapable of exfiltrating data in violation of MAC it verifiably enforces. A Class A1 OS is also specifically designed and constructed so that evaluators can confirm that no backdoor or other malware exists in the OS itself. The most effective approach to evaluating the security of complex systems is to deliberately construct the systems using security patterns specifically designed to make them evaluable, wrote Mark Heckman, professor of computer science and cyber security at University of San Diego. Just such an integrated set of security patterns was created decades ago based on the Reference Monitor abstraction . . . repeatedly and successfully used to create and evaluate some of the most secure government and commercial systems ever developed. He is specifically talking about Class A1 OS. Its maturity is demonstrated by at least a half dozen security kernel-based OSs running for years in the face of nation-state adversaries without a single reported security patch. NIST 800-160 recently highlighted examples of systems that have been verified to be highly resistant to penetration from determined adversaries. The magnitude of this national security breach is hard to overstate, Bossert said. But we should not be surprised by this sort of attack, as it is the nearly inevitable consequence of the lack of action for many years. The concern for this eventuality was clearly stated by former NSA Director Lt. Gen. Lincoln Faurer in 2007 when he provided the following conclusion to seniors at NSA: Our team remains convinced that an IC disaster looms (e.g., we discover that an unfriendly state has obtained access to our most sensitive information) unless we proceed post haste to implement what NSA previously defined as a Class A1 Trusted Computing Base (TCB) in our sensitive network components and our electronic credentials. We believe the urgency of this need demands that the first set of solutions directly leverage the designs, architectures and rating maintenance plans which NSA has previously evaluated at the Class A1 level of assurance, as this is the only practical way to be confident the needed solutions can be operationally deployed in the next couple of years. "When it comes to portion size, flavor and quality ingredients, Zaxby's is in it to win it," said Joel Bulger, CMO. "While we may not be the largest brand competing in the sandwich war, I'm confident we have the right ingredients to win on taste and make chicken sandwich enthusiasts switch to Zaxby's." The Signature Sandwich features a double hand-breaded fillet, with three thick-sliced, crinkle-cut pickle chips and served on a buttery toasted, split-top potato bun with a choice of Zax Sauce or Spicy Zax Sauce. An internal skirmish has broken out over which sauce is the winningest, with 60% of customers choosing the classic Zax over the newer spicy version, which packs a whallop of zesty flavor. Back on Oct. 26, the company fired off the tweet that reignited the chicken sandwich wars. Since then, numerous brands have entered the fray. Zaxby's is actively engaging in the battle of the brands on social media and converting customers daily with the distinctive taste and impressive size of its singular Signature Sandwich. Zaxby's commemorated the national rollout with a "buns fired" tweet and a "basic training" TikTok video showing employees gearing up for the big day. Prior activations include a military-themed code name generator for brand loyalists and Chickenflage uniforms for team members on the front lines. Zaxby's has created a series of saucy Giphy stickers so Signature Sandwich supporters can share their experiences via Instagram Stories. Zaxby's call to action for new converts is to download and register for Zax Fanz Club via the app to receive a FREE Signature Sandwich. Existing Fanz Club members can enjoy the enhanced Zax Rewards program by ordering ahead on the app or scanning at the store. ABOUT ZAXBY'S Founded in 1990, Zaxby's is still led by founder Zach McLeroy. The brand is committed to serving delicious chicken fingers, wings, sandwiches and salads in a fun, offbeat atmosphere where customers are considered friends. Zaxby's has grown to more than 900 locations in 17 states and is headquartered in Athens, Georgia. For more information, visit zaxbys.com or zaxbysfranchising.com. MEDIA CONTACT: Laura Mansfield, APR Tombras [email protected] +1 (865) 599-9968 SOURCE Zaxbys The restrictions on the sale of N95 masks by Google, Facebook and Amazon is indicative of a broader, national divide over the best course of action for average people looking to protect themselves from COVID-19 infection. One year into a global pandemic that has claimed 515,000 lives in the United States and 2.54 million lives globally, messaging on best mask-wear is still inconsistent at best and contradictory at worst. Many state governments seem to be sending the message that the worst is over and masks are no longer as necessary. On Wednesday, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott lifted the state-wide mask mandate with an executive order, following similar orders by Gov. Kim Reynolds in Iowa, Gov. Asa Hutchinson in Arkansas, Gov. Mike Parson in Missouri and Gov. Ron DeSantis in Florida. Meanwhile, at the federal level, the Centers of Disease Control (CDC) still recommends that N95 masks be reserved for healthcare professionals. Foreign governments and independent experts, however, don't agree. Both the German and French governments are requiring citizens to wear FFP1 or FFP2 masks (roughly the equivalent of American NIOSH N95 masks) in public, at work, or in shops. Domestically, Harvard Health Professor Joseph G. Allen recommended in the Washington Post that all Americans wear N95s. Respokare N95 Surgical Respirator Mask for $3.49 each at WellBefore.com Respokare N95 Surgical Respirator Mask - FDA Cleared NIOSH Approved - wellbefore.com 3.49 Shop Now "Theres no reason any essential worker and, really, everyone in the country should go without masks that filter 95 percent," Dr. Allen said. "The masks Im referring to, of course, are N95s. These are cheap pre-pandemic they cost about 50 cents and easy to manufacture." Further complicating the matter, Amazon, Facebook and Google have all independently either banned or severely limited the sale of N95 respirator masks since April 2020. If you search for N95 on Amazon, you'll receive a list of inferior (though still effective) KN95 masks. Customers who find N95 masks for sale will often see huge price markups and restrictions on products prioritized for organizations on the front lines responding to COVID-19. The masks that are mostly sold directly from the manufacturer. "Last year, when the demand far outweighed the supply for certain PPE items like N95 masks, Amazon listened to our healthcare and government customers on the front lines of the pandemic and prioritized this type of PPE inventory for them in order to meet their urgent need," an Amazon spokesperson told us over email. "Since then, we have continually monitored inventory of these supplies to be able to meet the needs of all customerswe currently offer a significant number of N95 masks to consumers and will continue making more available, while also ensuring we have supply available for healthcare workers. 40-Pack of Makrite N95 masks for sale at Amazon for $82.45 Makrite Triple-Layer Disposable Flat Fold N95 Respirator Mask (40 Respirators) - amazon.com 82.45 Shop Now High prices and limits on sales imply a mask shortage, but the truth is the opposite: Many companies pivoted toward N95 production during the pandemic, investing millions of dollars, only to struggle to get the life-saving equipment to wanting customers. One company, Demetech, told the NY Times that it has 30 million unsold N95 masks in warehouses that cant find buyers. Other manufacturers simply dont know why their product isnt being embraced. Theres no reason N95 shouldnt be the norm, said Paul Shrater, Chief Business Officer of Advoque Safeguard. His company shifted to N95 mask production early in the pandemic, undergoing a rigorous 4-month NIOSH certification that involved extensive analysis of its production process and virtual site-visits by CDC officials. Weve seen a lot of media about how the public can now be using N95, and should be, but theres a supply gap, Shrater explained. The country, the industry, the government everyone needs to be working together on connecting those dots. It can actually assist the national health if someone pulls the trigger on this. Another vendor, WellBefore, anticipated greater interest and regular wear of N95 masks in the future. "I do firmly believe that N95, KN95 or highly effective 3-PLY masks should be the standard for masks," said founder and CEO Shahzil Amin. "I can't say why the U.S. government mandate differs from the experts on this." In February, Dr. Anthony Fauci, President Biden's chief medical advisor, said that masks could be necessary to prevent the spread of COVID-19 until the end of 2021. He also called the United States' handling of the pandemic "worse than most any other country." The CDC currently offers these 7 tips on effective mask wearing in public. Cool Protection Stand - 3D Mask Bracket - Face Mask Inner Support Frame - Plastic Bracket - More Space for Comfortable Breathing Protect Lipstick Washable Reusable - amazon.com 9.99 Shop Now This article has been edited to include a comment from Amazon. [March 02, 2021] Installed Building Products Gives $1.9 Million Through Foundation Today, Installed Building Products, Inc. (NYSE: IBP), an industry-leading installer of insulation and building products, announced that it donated $1.9 million in grants and assistance to nonprofits and individuals through the Installed Building Products Foundation. The gift totals included $820,000 in major grants to nonprofit organizations that provide home-building or renovation services for those in need. The major grantee recipients included nonprofits in Columbus, Ohio where IBP is headquartered, as well as across the country: Oostburg, Wisc.; New Braunfels and Dallas, Texas; Rochester, N.Y.; Columbia, S.C.; Maumee and Perrysburg, Ohio; Pontiac, Mich.; St. Petersburg, Fla.; San Diego, Calif.; and Columbus, Ga. Local grantees included Compassion Outreach Ministries of Ohio, Huckleberry House, Star House, Homeport, and Habitat for Humanity of Ohio. In addition to the Major Grants program, there are several Foundation initiatives for IBP employees including an emergency financial assistance program, a fund to support matching gifts of time or money, and a scholarship program. So far, these programs have committed more than $1.4 million to the company's employees and their family members since the Foundation's inception in March of 2019. "After launching the Foundation in 2019, we are thrilled to see the impact we've had on the lives of our employees and individuals across the country," said IBP Foundation President Kelly Clifford iehl. "Going into our second year of operation, we - like anybody else - never could have predicted the hardship that 2020 would bring. Our employees and the communities they live and work in are what make our company so great. We are so grateful to have already had the groundwork of the Foundation in place so that we could step up for our communities in a time of great need." IBP Foundation funds are made possible through executive and board member contributions, IBP contributions, and employee contributions and are available to employees across IBP's locations nationwide. For more information, or to apply for community grants, visit installedbuildingproducts.com/community. About the Installed Building Products Foundation Installed Building Products, Inc. is one of the nation's largest new residential insulation installers and is a diversified installer of complementary building products. The Installed Building Products Foundation was started by and for IBP employees and their communities in 2019, and since its inception has donated more than $3.3 million through its scholarship program, emergency employee assistance, major grants program, and matching gift options. For more information, visit installedbuildingproducts.com/community. About Installed Building Products Installed Building Products, Inc. is one of the nation's largest new residential insulation installers and is a diversified installer of complementary building products, including waterproofing, fire-stopping, fireproofing, garage doors, rain gutters, window blinds, shower doors, closet shelving and mirrors and other products for residential and commercial builders located in the continental United States. The Company manages all aspects of the installation process for its customers, from direct purchase and receipt of materials from national manufacturers to its timely supply of materials to job sites and quality installation. The Company offers its portfolio of services for new and existing single-family and multi-family residential and commercial building projects from its national network of over 190 branch locations. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210302005054/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Supplier News 2 March 2021 VENZA further cements its position as the industry's go-to data protection awareness champion. How? They are hosting a global information security-focused quiz game-style competition. A first for the hospitality technology community, this series of matches has a whimsically fun atmosphere that makes the competition accessible even to those with a mere casual appreciation of the world of IT security. However, the InfoSec Invitational is serious business. It challenges competitors by testing their understanding of crucially important topics such as Email Hygiene, PCI DSS, GDPR, Social Engineering, and Network Vulnerabilities (just to name a few). Game play is done in matches consisting of rounds of questions. Correct answers win points for the players. The top three highest scorers ascend from the Group Stage to the Regional Finals. The top performer from each region (North America and Europe) meets their rival in a head-to-head match for the title of World Champion. Daniel Johnson, Partner/Co-Founder of VENZA had this to say about the competition, "The ultimate goal is to raise the appreciation for data protection in our industry. I see no better way than to simultaneously spotlight the great work of hospitality IT's best and brightest. This rousing competition with an extra helping of fun & laughter is just the dish to fill this need in hospitality technology." And this serious game comes with serious prizes; the winners of the Regional Finals enjoy a 2-night stay at a selected Belmond property. VP of IT for Belmond, Bryan Hammer, says, "we're committed to data protection within our organization and are thrilled to be able to contribute to the betterment of the entire industry by partnering with VENZA." Travel is also provided for the victors. Alliants, a contactless guest experience provider is the event's Travel Sponsor. "Given the sensitive nature of guest data passing through the Alliants contactless guest experience platform, we have worked very hard to achieve best in class status for security practices. Naturally, therefore, we applaud any initiative that highlights the critical role of IT and data security in a hotel and are delighted to sponsor VENZA's event. We wish all of the participants the very best of luck!" said Alan O'Riordan, VP of Sales EMEA. And never missing an opportunity to contribute to the improvement of the industry, the team at HFTP is providing a full conference registration plus two room nights for the World Champion to attend HITEC Dallas 2021. "I am truly honored to be a part of this," says HFTP President, Mark Pate. "This fun, informative, innovative initiative is just what the industry needs." About HFTP Hospitality Financial and Technology Professionals (HFTP) established in 1952, is an international, nonprofit association, headquartered in Austin, Texas, USA, with offices in the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Dubai. HFTP is recognized as the spokes group for the finance and technology segments of the hospitality industry with members and stakeholders spanning across the globe. HFTP uniquely understands the industry's pressing issues and assists its stakeholders in finding solutions to their challenges more efficiently than any organization. It does this via its expert networks, research, certification programs, information resources and conferences/events such as HITEC. HFTP also owns the world's only hospitality-specific search engine, PineappleSearch.com. For more information about HFTP, email [email protected] or download the HFTP/HITEC media kit via the HFTP website. Read industry updates on the suite of HFTP hospitality news sites: HITEC Bytes, Club Bytes, Finance Bytes and HFTP News. Thank you for reading! Please log in, or sign up for a new account and purchase a subscription to continue reading. GARDAI have made three arrests and issued 30 fixed payment notices after dozens of students held a street party in Limerick. Officers have also launched a probe to identify the organisers of the event, which saw fireworks set off, outdoor drinking taking place and bottles smashed on the ground in Castletroy. A policing operation was immediately put in place following the reports of the incident in Carysfort Avenue, College Court, with a significant number of garda attending the scene. A spokesperson for the gardai said the force intervened at 7.15pm this evening, after continued and orchestrated non-compliance with both public health regulations and directions from An Garda Siochana. Meanwhile, in another development, University of Limerick management will meet tomorrow morning following the incident, which has been described as shocking beyond belief by Minister of State for Skills and Further Education Niall Collins. Gardai have confirmed three people were apprehended at the scene two men in their 20s were arrested under the Public Order Legislation. A third man was arrested under Misuse of Drugs legislation. Around 30 fixed payment notices for breaches of the Health Act have also been issued. Its not unreasonable to expect proper behaviour. Because students are away from home attending third level institutions doesnt mean their public health responsibilities are left behind them at home. March 2, 2021 UL will take action with strong disciplinary measures against any student who has been found to have breached public health guidelines. Students at UL are subject to a Code of Conduct. University Of Limerick (@UL) March 2, 2021 My understanding is a full investigation is underway by both the Gardai and by the university authorities. Any student in breach of restrictions and regulations must & will face serious consequences Simon Harris TD (@SimonHarrisTD) March 2, 2021 Gardai in Limerick will continue to provide high visibility patrols in the vicinity of the University of Limerick campus and surrounding residential areas to check compliance to Covid-19 regulations and keep the community safe, said a statement from the force. Gardai have pledged to continue their high visibility patrols within the vicinity of the University of Limerick campus and surrounding residential areas to check compliance with Covid-19 regulations and keep the community safe. Significant number of Gardai attended a public order incident in Castletroy this evening. Three arrests and over 30 FPNs for breach of Covid Regulations. Investigations ongoing to establish organisers of street party. pic.twitter.com/xNE0AzBpDI Garda Info (@gardainfo) March 2, 2021 The Covid-19 Pandemic remains a public health crisis and An Garda Siochana continues to appeal to all citizens to demonstrate personal and social responsibility to comply with Public Health Guidelines and Regulations in order to continue to save lives, the statement added. Limerick TD Mr Collins said following tonights developments, he had been in contact with the senior minister in his department Simon Harris. Contact was made with the universitys president Prof Kerstin Mey ahead of the morning meeting. "Its shocking beyond belief. It's the two fingers to everybody across Limerick. Limerick is very welcoming and and accommodating to students and this behaviour is so so disappointing, said Mr Collins. In a Tweet, the college said it will take action with strong disciplinary measures against any student who has been found to have breached public health guidelines. This message was reflected by Prof Mey on the UL presidential Twitter account. UL will take action with strong disciplinary measures against any student who has been found to have breached public health guidelines. Students at UL are subject to a Code of Conduct. Professor Kerstin Mey (@ULPresident) March 2, 2021 Mr Harris described the scenes in Limerick as completely unacceptable and a slap in the face to everyone sacrificing so much. It does a real disservice to all students who abide by the rules day in and out. I have spoken to UL tonight, and my understanding is a full investigation is underway by both the Gardai and by the university authorities. Any student in breach of restrictions and regulations must and will face serious consequences, he added. Gardai at Henry Street are investigating, and can be contacted at 061-212400. South Africa: Public servants saluted for defying the odds Public Service and Administration Deputy Minister, Sindisiwe Chikunga, says public servants who were at the frontline of fighting the pandemic and succumbed to COVID-19 will be remembered for their commitment and service. We salute these public servants for upholding the Batho Pele principles until the end and we extend our heartfelt condolences to their families, Chikunga said. Speaking at the recently held 18th CPSI Public Sector Innovation Awards ceremony, Chikunga said Coronavirus has had a major disruptive impact on peoples lives - economically, socially and otherwise. We are all navigating this new normal together. Most notable is the impact of the virus on many economies around the globe, characterised by shrinking economies, closing businesses and job losses, resulting in soaring unemployment levels and loss of livelihoods by millions of people around the world, and in our country, Chikunga said. Chikunga said the pandemic has highlighted systemic challenges, which require innovative solutions to fast track service delivery challenges. In the face of adversity, these challenges have given rise to the need for innovation and technology more than ever. In the education sector, we still need a lot of innovative solutions, which calls for our country to increase the budget for innovation... . We are here to recognise and celebrate with great excitement the innovative and creative prowess by none other than our public servants zeal in finding solutions to service delivery challenges, Chikunga said. Awards This year, more than 50 entries were received for the awards from across the country. The winners for the category of Citizen-Focused Innovations Awards are: Pre-operative physiotherapy for patients following lower limb fractures The Department of Health (Gauteng) Innovations Harnessing Technology (ICT & Other Frontier Technologies) BizPortal and the Companies and Intellectual Property Commission. Replication and Adaptation of Innovative Solutions - Randfontein High School, Gauteng. For the category of Trailblazer Award, the winners are: Thando Luyaba BizPortal. For the Special Ministerial Awards, the winners are: Recycled Blue Lights (Limpopo) and Prev Leak (Gauteng). The winner of the GEMS Health Award is: Family Centred Tracheostomy Care (Gauteng). Chikunga congratulated the winners and finalists, and wished them well as they take their projects forward. SAnews.gov.za This story has been published on: 2021-03-02. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. The former director of the CIA has said he is 'embarrassed' to be a white male during a discussion about the US Capitol riot. Speaking as part of a panel of guests on MSNBC yesterday, John Brennan, 65, was asked whether some members of the Republican party are lying about the events leading up to the US capitol siege. 'Deadline White House' host Nicolle Wallace asked Brennan whether a recent New York Times report on the death of Capitol Police officer Brian D. Sicknick 'renders at best, hypocritical, at worst cynical and false, any notion that the Republicans care about the lives and safety of law enforcement.' Former CIA Director John Brennan says "I'm increasingly embarrassed to be a white male these days," which prompts MSNBC's Nicole Wallace to laugh pic.twitter.com/cbNS8oQ1eK Daniel Chaitin (@danielchaitin7) March 1, 2021 Twitter Privacy Policy The former director of the CIA, John Brennan, 65, (pictured) has said he is 'embarrassed' to be a white male while discussing the Capitol Hill riot Brennan's response came after 'Deadline White House' host Nicolle Wallace (left) asked him whether a recent New York Times report on the death of Capitol Police officer Brian D. Sicknick 'renders at best, hypocritical, at worst cynical and false, any notion that the Republicans care about the lives and safety of law enforcement' In response, Brennan said: 'I'm increasingly embarrassed to be a white male these days, when I see what my other white males [are] saying.' He continued: 'It just shows that with very few exceptions, like Mitt Romney, Liz Cheney, Adam Kinzinger, there are so few Republicans in Congress who value truth, honesty, and integrity.' While speaking on the issue of Republican lawmakers suggesting the capitol riot was blown out of proportion, Brennan said: 'They'll continue to gaslight the country the way that Donald Trump did. 'And the fact that this has such security and safety implications for the American public, and for the members of Congress, again, as Claire [McCaskill] said, it is just a disgusting display of craven politics that really should have no place in the United State in 2021.' While speaking on the issue of Republican lawmakers suggesting the capitol riot was blown out of proportion, Brennan said: 'They'll continue to gaslight the country the way that Donald Trump did.' Pictured: Trump supporters break through a police barricade on January 6 at the Capitol in Washington It comes after nearly 5,000 police are believed to have been stationed in the Capitol ahead of March 4 - when QAnon followers believe Donald Trump will become president again. The US Capitol Police requested 4,900 National Guard troops remain in the nation's capital until at least March 12. It's not known publicly if there are any threats to the Capitol, which was the site of the pro-Trump insurrection on January 6 that left five dead. March 4 is important for QAnon conspirators because it was the former inauguration date of the country before the 20th Amendment moved it up to its current date in January. Conspirators who believe Donald Trump's false claims that the election was 'rigged' believe that Trump will be able to claim the presidency on the historic inauguration date on Thursday. 7 day print subscribers enjoy unlimited access to yakimaherald.com Enter the LAST NAME and the 7 DIGIT phone number on your print subscription account to connect your print subscription to your yakimaherald.com account. Serafina is sourced from a natural Italian spring then carbonated and bottled in the Apennine Mountains. With the sparkling water category expected to reach nearly $60 billion by 2027 and increasing consumer interest in alternatives to high sugar and calorie beverage options, the introduction of Serafina to 7-Eleven shelves is a natural fit. "Customer demand for sparkling and premium water continues to rise, and as the ultimate beverage destination, 7-Eleven continues to innovate in the category," said Jack Stout, 7-Eleven Senior Vice President, Merchandising and Logistics. "Serafina will join Skyra, our super premium Icelandic spring water, to provide 7-Eleven customers with exclusive top-shelf water selections, whether they prefer still or sparkling. We are confident that these products will exceed customers' expectations in both quality and value." 7-Eleven's dedication to convenience makes it easier than ever for consumers to find better-for-you drinks and snacks on the go or for delivery via the retailer's proprietary 7NOW app. In addition to Serafina, 7-Eleven also sells a variety of other items made with wellness in mind such as Triton Energy, 7-Select Cold-Pressed Juices, 7-Select Go!Smart Fruit and Nut Trail Mixes and more at participating locations. 7-Eleven has a growing private brands portfolio made up of over 1,500 products and over $1 billion in sales. About 7-Eleven, Inc. Are you still reading this? Awesome. Most people stop when they get to the small print. But not you! You get to read the cool stuff. 7Eleven, Inc. is the premier name in the convenience-retailing industry. They don't like to brag, but they invented convenience stores. For real. Google it. Based in Irving, Texas, 7Eleven operates, franchises and/or licenses more than 71,800 stores in 17 countries, including 12,000 in North America. Known for its iconic brands such as Slurpee, Big Bite and Big Gulp, 7Eleven has expanded into high-quality sandwiches, salads, side dishes, cut fruit and protein boxes, as well as pizza, chicken wings and mini beef tacos. Mmmmm, tacos. 7Eleven offers customers industry-leading private brand products under the 7-Select brand including healthy options, decadent treats and everyday favorites at an outstanding value. Customers can earn and redeem points on various items in stores nationwide through its 7Rewards loyalty program with more than 40 million members, place an order in the 7NOW delivery app in over 1,300 cities, or rely on 7Eleven for bill payment service, self-service lockers and other convenient services. Find out more online at www.7Eleven.com, via the 7Rewards customer loyalty platform on the 7Eleven mobile app, or on social media at Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Also, they trademarked the word "Brainfreeze." No lie. Thanks for sticking with this. You're unstoppable. SOURCE 7-Eleven, Inc. Related Links http://www.7-eleven.com External Affairs Minister on Tuesday told Israeli diplomats to understand the "profound changes" underway in India post-COVID-19 pandemic and utilise the fundamental and deep comfort enjoyed by the two sides to further the "forward and upward trajectory" in bilateral ties. Jaishankar, who was invited by his Israeli counterpart Gabi Ashkenazi to address the conference of Israeli Heads of Missions in the Asia-Pacific region as a guest of honour and to share his perspective of the developments shaping the world, spoke about the contemporary global situation, India's foreign policy outlook, the Indo-Pacific and India-Israeli cooperation. "India is right now going through profound changes," the minister said while speaking via video link. He highlighted the major reforms underway in India in the field of agriculture, labour, manufacturing, and education, demonstrating the Indian government's will to come out of the challenges of 2020 with a positive mind rather than starting on a defensive note. He asked the Israeli diplomats to utilise the fundamental and deep comfort enjoyed by the two sides to further the "forward and upward trajectory" in bilateral relations. Recalling the days when Indian and Israeli officials would meet at foreign destinations before diplomatic relations were established in 1992, Jaishankar emphasised that the "relationship finally enjoys the stature and visibility it deserves" which is based on "deep societal contacts". Besides the cooperation in defence, Jaishankar also highlighted the productive collaboration between the two countries in the field of agriculture, water, and shared interests in start-ups and innovation which has come into prominence due to "similar mindsets". Touching upon the state of the world, the minister with decades of field experience, brought out ten attributes of the world today that affect everyone. Ongoing re-balancing, contestation rather than conflict as a process of change, movement towards multi-polarity, weakening of multilateralism, de-globalisation, weakening of old alliances, new attributes of power, a plurilateral world, rise of big tech and borderless politics were some of the attributes that the minister delved upon in his presentation with specific references. As far as India's approach is concerned, he stressed that New Delhi is looking at the world in "concentric circles" with a "Neighbourhood First" approach that has guided several of its recent actions. "India's economic rise has an uplifting influence on the entire neighbourhood. We are interested to see the entire region making progress," Jaishankar said. However, the Indian endeavour has been to go global and not to be restricted by geographies, he asserted. Calling upon to deal with countries in the Asia and Pacific region, a relatively new lexicon, as a seamless and integrated region, Jaishankar also highlighted the importance of the Gulf, which is home to 9 million Indians, Africa and other parts of the world for India. He said that India is pursuing a policy of "realism, which is positive". Describing as part of India's extended neighbourhood, he said New Delhi has been closely following the developments in the region as it can "impact us" as well. He pointed out that New Delhi was amongst the first ones to back the Abraham Accords a US-brokered deal to normalise Israel's ties with countries in the Arab world. Jaishankar expressed appreciation of how had "customised every relationship" with countries in the region, something from which a lot could be learnt. "Pleased to address the Israeli Asia-Pacific Ambassadors Conference. Spoke about the contemporary global situation, India's foreign policy outlook, the Indo-Pacific and India-Israeli cooperation. Thank FM @Gabi_Ashkenazi for the opportunity," Jaishankar tweeted after his address. Earlier while introducing Jaishankar, Ashkenazi said that he could "hardly" find any other Foreign Minister with Jaishankar's experience and it would "be interesting to hear your perspective on the challenges we are facing". The Israeli foreign minister also recalled that his first call to a counterpart abroad after taking charge was to Jaishankar given the "strategic partnership" enjoyed by the two countries, which is also a "special" relationship. "India is a regional power and a strategic partner for Next year we will celebrate 30 years of diplomatic relations between the two countries. Our relations are based on an understanding of common interests that complement each other and form a broad cushion for security, water, agriculture, health, and centers of excellence," Ashkenazi noted. He said the relationship between the two countries is based on democratic values and common interests which create a broad cushion for cooperation in the fields of security, innovation, water, agriculture and health. Gilad Cohen, Deputy Director General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for Asia and the Pacific, in his opening remarks at the start of the conference said that "the Asian continent is the global engine of growth and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs attaches increasing importance to economic diplomacy". Appreciating Jaishankar's address and his understanding of the global order, Israel's Consul General in Mumbai, Yaacov Finkelstein, tweeted, "A clear and profound review by India's Minister of External Affairs, @DrSJaishankar Ji. I learned a lot". (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.) (Alliance News) - The following is a round-up of updates by London-listed companies, issued on Tuesday and not separately reported by Alliance News: Marlowe PLC - London-based safety & compliance services - Acquires HR software business YouManage for GBP1.3 million. Acquires law compliance specialists ESP, ESP Law, and ESP Safeguard for GBP3.2 million. Acquires HR compliance specialist HR Services Partnership for GBP700,000. "These acquisitions are consistent with the three-year strategy recently announced at Marlowe's capital markets day to deepen and broaden our presence in core markets from selective acquisitions," says Marlowe Chief Executive Alex Dacre. Pantheon Resources PLC - oil & gas exploration company focused on Alaska - Announces the drilling of a new sidetrack into Kuparuk formation at Talitha A well in Alaska after encountering a problem with swelling. "As far as problems go, it's a good problem to have because it was driven by the preliminary data being better than expected at this location and warrants the opportunity to be tested rigorously," says Chief Executive Jay Cheatham. Nuformix PLC - pharmaceutical development firm based in London - Reports positive results for NXP002, an inhaled tranilast used to treat idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. Says the study, performed by Newcastle Fibrosis Research Group, examined both the anti-fibrotic and anti-inflammatory potential of NXP002 in combination with the current standard of care, or SOC, therapies. Says the preliminary data from this study shows that the combination of NXP002 with SOC provided strong evidence of additional effects compared to either SOC alone on both fibrotic and inflammatory markers. Altus Strategies PLC - Africa-focused mining royalty company - Finds broad and high-grade intersections at Tabakorole gold project in Mali. "These are very encouraging drilling results from the Tabakorole gold project in southern Mali. Tabakorole hosts a significant gold resource, which is open along strike in both directions as well as at depth," says Chief Executive Steven Poulton. Says the holes are expected to improve the modelled mineralised grades and widths in a portion of the orebody. Mycelx Technologies Corp - clean water firm based in Minnesota - Says it has made a strong start to the year with two project extensions signed with customers in Saudi Arabia. "These projects confirm that Mycelx's superior solutions continue to support its customers' efforts to optimise production, increase cost savings and improve energy efficiency," says Mycelx. Expects to commence delivery of the equipment for its third sale to Nigeria in the first quarter of 2020. Alba Mineral Resources PLC - mineral exploration and development company with assets in Greenland and the UK - Says the physical attributes of the veins intersected at Clogau in Wales reflect the characteristics of the veins that were successfully mined in the past. Says this means that it "could well be a significant contributor to future production", adding that it is necessary to await the results of the drill core assays before reaching any preliminary conclusions. MGC Pharmaceuticals Ltd - Europe-based biopharmaceutical company - Says Swiss PharmaCan AG increases initial purchase order volume by 85% for first Artemic Rescue production batch, bringing the initial purchase order value to in excess of USD425,000 wholesale revenue to MGC. The initial agreement included a minimum wholesale order quantity of 40,000 units of per quarter. ArtemiC is a clinically tested food supplement containing four natural based ingredients consisting of artemisinin, curcumin, boswellia serrata, and vitamin C. PetroNeft Resources PLC - Russia-focused oil & gas exploration and production company - Says the hydraulic fracture stimulation program of wells on both the Sibkrayevskoye and the Lineynoye fields successfully completed. Initial results from the wells are "very encouraging". Says the aim of fracking the well was not only to increase production, but also to provide crucial information which can lead to an improved understanding of the optimum forward development plan for the field. Safestay PLC - hostels operator based in London - Announces sale of 96-bed hostel Barcelona Sea to Beds & Foods Barcelona for EUR900,000. The annual earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation of the hostel pre Covid-19 was EUR70,000. Says the proceeds will got to paying off the debt for the purchase of another hostel in Barcelona in 2018. By Greg Roxburgh; gregroxburgh@alliancenews.com Copyright 2021 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved. Skoda has rolled out its two millionth SUV from its main plant Mlada Boleslav, hitting a major landmark since the carmaker began producing sport utility vehicles. One of the Kamiq SUVs was Skoda's two millionth SUV to roll out of the facility recently. It was also the 250,000th Kamiq SUV to roll out of a Skoda facility. Michael Oeljeklaus, Skoda Auto Board Member for Production and Logistics, said, "The mark of two million SUVs produced, made by Skoda, is a powerful testament to our teams great personal commitment and expertise. The milestone vehicle is also the 250,000th Skoda Kamiq which makes this production achievement a very special occasion for us." Skoda began manufacturing sport utility vehicles with the world premiere of the Yeti compact SUV in 2009. It laid the foundation for its future SUVs. By 2017, Skoda produced 685,500 units of Yeti, the most by the carmaker. In 2017, Skoda had started its SUV push by driving in two more models - Kodiaq and Karoq. So far, the carmaker has produced approximately 593,600 units of the Kodiaq and 454,800 Karoq SUVs. Two years ago, the Czech carmaker debuted the Kamiq SUV to its model line-up, completing the lower end of its SUV range. A break-up of how many SUVs Skoda has produced over the years. Much later, the carmaker forayed into the electric vehicle segment with the launch of its first the all-electric Enyaq iV SUV. Launched in 2020, it is Skodas first model to be based on Volkswagen Groups modular MEB electric car platform. The Enyaq SUV is the only MEB-based vehicle in Europe to be built outside Germany. The car is available with rear- or all-wheel drive, three battery sizes and five power variants ranging between 148 and 306 PS, providing a range of more than 500 kms. So far, Skoda has produced around 1,100 units of the Enyaq iV. In the Czech Republic, Skoda produces its SUV models at two sites. The Kamiq, Enyaq iV and the Karoq are built at the companys headquarters in Mlada Boleslav. The Karoq also rolls off the production line in Kvasiny, as does the Kodiaq. Outside of Skoda's homeland, the carmaker manufactures its SUV models in China, Russia, and India, as well as in Ukraine and Slovakia. In China, the brands largest single market worldwide, Skoda offers market-specific derivatives as well the Kamiq GT and the Kodiaq GT making China the only market in which the current Skoda model portfolio includes five SUVs in total. A list of countries where Skoda produces its SUVs. This month will see the world premiere of the Skoda Kushaq in India. It is the carmakers first production model based on the MQB-A0-IN platform an MQB variant specially adapted by Skoda for the local market. The Skoda Kushaq is the first of several compact models as part of the India 2.0 project and marks the start of a new era for the company in India. The official launch of the new Skj Kushaq is set for 18 March 2021. -- China's three northeastern provinces, Liaoning, Heilongjiang and Jilin, all achieved positive economic growth in 2020, a sign of the country's economic resilience against the backdrop of the world's worst pandemic in decades. -- Five years ago, the region began to show a sharp decline in its economic performance indicators, as the northeastern "rust belt" has long been afflicted by an aging population, dwindling investment and talent outflow. -- Global industry leaders like LyondellBasell and SK Hynix, covering a range of fields, including chemical production, new-energy vehicles and semiconductors, have piled into the region since 2020. BEIJING, March 1 (Xinhua) -- China's three northeastern provinces all achieved positive economic growth in 2020, a sign of the country's economic resilience against the backdrop of the world's worst pandemic in decades. Last year, the GDP of Liaoning, Heilongjiang and Jilin, once China's major industrial bases, grew 0.6 percent, 1 percent and 2.4 percent, respectively, while the country gained a 2.3-percent increase as a whole, making itself the only major economy in the world to achieve positive economic growth in 2020. The region's economic activity has maintained this gratifying momentum since the beginning of 2021. Jilin's fiscal revenue in January reached 16.46 billion yuan (about 2.54 billion U.S. dollars), an increase of 22.7 percent, the second highest growth of all the provinces in China. And the figure for Liaoning during the same period also hit 33.14 billion yuan, up 3.7 percent year on year. Five years ago, the region began to show a sharp decline in its economic performance indicators, as the northeastern "rust belt" has long been afflicted by an aging population, dwindling investment and talent outflow. Lagging behind the national average, the region's economy suffered a body-blow dealt by the COVID-19 epidemic in 2020, with a cluster of cases surfacing not long before the Chinese Lunar Spring Festival. However, all of the three northeastern provinces staged a strong recovery in the final quarter of 2020, bringing the full year's GDP growth to positive terrain. Staff members work at a workshop of the Harbin Electric Machinery Company Limited of Harbin Electric Corporation in Harbin, northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, Feb. 22, 2021. (Photo by Wang Jianwei/Xinhua) HARD-WON LAURELS In 2020, the fixed-asset investment in Liaoning, Jilin and Heilongjiang notched up growth of about 2.6 percent, 8.3 percent, and 3.6 percent, respectively. The industrial growth of the provinces also remained steady. Ansteel, a state-owned steel producer in Liaoning, reported record high profits last year. China First Heavy Industries, a state-owned equipment manufacturer based in Heilongjiang, saw its profits increase 60 percent over the previous year. It seems that the region is also determined to improve its image as an investment destination, with the business environment further improved and approval procedures streamlined. Foreign funds are pouring into the region as a result. Global industry leaders like LyondellBasell and SK Hynix, covering a range of fields, including chemical production, new-energy vehicles and semiconductors, have piled into the region since 2020. Li Kai, vice-president of China Academy of Northeast Revitalization, described the region's positive growth as a "hard-won achievement". He added that it has withstood downward pressure amid a complex internal and external environment. "It indicates the strong resilience of China's economy and the fact that the fundamentals sustaining China's steady and long-term economic growth remained unchanged," Li said. Photo taken on April 1, 2019 shows engineers work at Xinguan Technology, a semiconductor high-tech enterprise in Dalian, northeast China's Liaoning Province. (Xinhua/Yao Jianfeng) INNOVATION-DRIVEN SUCCESS In recent years, local governments have made vigorous efforts to advance the development of the emerging industries with strategic importance, which have in turn fostered new drivers for its economy. In 2020, Liaoning bid up its investment in the high-tech manufacturing industry by 33.4 percent, and significant growth has been seen in the sectors of optical fiber, lithium battery manufacturing and rare earth materials. The total revenues and profits in Liaoning's 269 "gazelle companies" -- a term that refers to high-growth companies that have increased their revenues by at least 20 percent annually for four years or more -- grew by 32 percent and 38 percent, respectively, year on year in 2020. The number of newly recognized high-tech companies in Jilin during the same period has expanded by 46.9 percent compared with the previous year. Heilongjiang has also established 13,000 new science and technology companies. The Harbin Electric Corporation received a letter of thanks for its great contribution to the development of the country's first self-designed third-generation nuclear reactor, Hualong One. As the only domestic supplier capable of producing the reactor coolant pump, the Harbin Electric Corporation provides a core component for Hualong One. "We deem innovation to be the most powerful weapon when competing in the world arena," said Si Zefu, chairman of the company, noting that it will keep on forging ahead with more innovations. A worker checks on a furnace at a plant of Ansteel Group Co., Ltd. in Anshan, northeast China's Liaoning Province, July 5, 2019. (Xinhua/Pan Yulong) ENVELOPE-PUSHING REFORMS It is the region's reforms of local state-owned enterprises that rekindled hope. Dongbei Special Steel Group in Liaoning entered bankruptcy and restructuring procedures in 2016 due to debt problems. The company was bailed out when Shagang Group, a private steel producer, and Benxi Steel Group, a state-owned steel enterprise, joined in its restructuring plan in July 2017. The hybrid model of ownership restructuring reform gave the company a new lease of life. In 2020, its net profit saw a spike of almost 270 percent. In Heilongjiang, over 100 state-owned enterprises have successfully completed mixed-ownership reforms in the past few years, receiving tens of billions of yuan in investment from the private sector. According to China's State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission, China will push corporate reforms at 8,000 state-controlled enterprises during the country's 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-2025) to further optimize asset structures and improve market-oriented operating mechanisms. The revival of the northeastern region manifests the country's economic resilience. "Northeast China has made a great contribution to the steady economic development of China as a whole," said Li Kai of China Academy of Northeast Revitalization. "While the northeast still grows at a slower pace than the national average, key factors such as investment, industrial growth and employment are continuing to pick up, highlighting its growth potential and vitality," he added. [March 02, 2021] Banking App Dave Donates $50K to Feeding America Supporting Texas Customers Impacted by Winter Storm Dave announced today that it is donating $50K to Feeding America to ensure food banks in the communities affected by recent winter storms in the southern United States have access to the food they need. Feeding America is the nation's largest organization dedicated to fighting domestic hunger through a nationwide network of 200 food banks. Feeding America is working with national donors to transport food and supplies to the most heavily impacted locations, with a focus on supporting communities in Texas and surrounding areas that dealt with the most significant power outages and water shortages. In addition to resources like Feeding America, Dave members used the app to help overcome food shortages during the widespread inclement weaher. "Dave came in really handy during the storm," said Arrielle Shorter, a Dave customer based in Dallas. "I was able to use Dave to get water, food and supplies when I was running low on money." Dave is a National Partner of Feeding America's, helping to fight ongoing food insecurity in every community across the United States: More than one in 10 Dave customers are based in Texas, making it one of Dave's largest communities. Nearly 73% of Dave customers use their cash advances to pay for essentials like gas and groceries. With the addition of this aid, Dave has donated $850K to Feeding America through its ongoing partnership with the organization. "Dave provides aid to our customers during crises like this one, just as Feeding America deploys aid across the country every day," said Jason Wilk, CEO of Dave. "We're honored to be able to help our customers access food during such a difficult time through both the Dave app and our charitable partners." About Dave Dave is a banking app on a mission to create financial opportunity that advances America's collective potential. Dave's financial tools, including its debit card and spending account, help its more than eight million customers bank, budget, avoid overdraft fees, find work and build credit. For more information visit www.dave.com. Download the app in the App Store or Google Play. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210302005983/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Rishi Sunak is planning a shake-up of rules for the UK's financial services industries amid attempts by the EU to woo, coerce and threaten them into moving to the continent. The Chancellor is said to be preparing to use the Budget tomorrow to make the City more 'agile' in a bid to attract more firms to Britain in the post-Brexit era. They want to make London better-placed to compete with New York, Frankfurt and Amsterdam with a new regime of regulatory freedom. Alongside the Budget the Treasury is expected to public a review led by Lord Hill, the former EU financial services commissioner, the Financial Times reported. It is expected to outline a raft of changes to make the city better set for future growth. It comes as Brussels takes an increasingly hardline over having a financial powerhouse on its doorstep. Last week Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey lashed out at the EU today, suggesting it could be breaking the law by attempting to force City clearing houses to relocate to the eurozone in order to keep trading within the bloc. The Chancellor is said to be preparing to use the Budget tomorrow to make the City more 'agile' in a bid to attract more firms to Britain in the post-Brexit era. Last month Amsterdam overtook London as Europe's biggest share trading hub Last month Amsterdam overtook London as Europe's biggest share trading hub. An average 9.2 billion euros worth of shares were traded daily on Euronext Amsterdam and the Dutch arms of CBOE Europe and Turquoise in January - up more than fourfold from December. By contrast volumes in London tumbled to 8.6 billion euros. The changes that Lord Hill will propose are reported to include relaxations on dual-class shares. These give additional voting rights to holders and are usually offered to company founders, their families and senior executives. They are currently allowed on the main run of the London Stock Exchange but not in the FTSE 250 and 100 indexes. It is also reported to suggest a change to the minimum level of the 'free float' for a company to list in London. Currently 25 per cent of shares have to be offered to the public for sale but it is claimed this level has put off investors who want it lowered. The review is also expected to look at whether to attract more special purpose acquisition companies (spacs) - shell companies which list on a stock exchange and then look for a private company to buy and take public. This allows large firms to be publicly listed without the need for an initial public offering of shares. Speaking to the FT in a pre-budget interview last week Mr Sunak said: 'We want to make sure this is an attractive place for people to raise capital.' We want to remain at the cutting edge of that and make sure we're still competitive.' The UK and EU are attempting to thrash out a 'memorandum of understanding', setting out how the UK and EU will continue to trade in the key financial services sector. One option is 'equivalence', where the UK and the EU agree to grant each other access to their markets if they deem their rules are closely enough aligned. But while the UK's financial sector has granted the EU equivalence in 17 areas, so business can carry on as usual, Europe has so far refused to reciprocate. Mr Bailey last week said the row masked a resurgence of an EU 'location policy' designed to weaken a powerhouse of the UK economy. He addressed MPs on the Treasury Committee this afternoon, days after it was revealed Europe's top banks are being asked to justify why they should not have to shift clearing of euro-denominated derivatives worth billions of euros from London to the EU. Alongside the Budget the Treasury is expected to public a review led by Lord Hill, the former EU financial services commissioner, the Financial Times reported. December's Brexit deal did not include an agreement on financial services including clearing house trade in euros on the London Stock Exchange that amounts to more than 150billion every day. Last November Rishi Sunak unilaterally allow financial services firms from the EU to do business in post-Brexit Britain and bemoaned the failure of the EU to strike a similar deal for the City since 2016. Mr Bailey said the EU had first suggested a location policy when the euro currency was launched in 1999, but 'Brexit has obviously been in a sense a stimulus to revive this debate'. 'The issue of location policy is not a new one in that sense, we have been aware of it. What has been most notable in the last few days is how it seems to be coming to the surface. The timing isn't that surprising given where we are. 'It would be very controversial in my view because legislating extraterritorially is controversial anyway, and obviously of dubious legality frankly. 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. Up to 10billion should be invested by the government in 250,000 green apprenticeships over the next three years to help stave off a youth unemployment crisis, a leading environmental group has urged. Friends of the Earth said such funding would cost far less than the 39billion in lost wages that it estimates would result if all currently unemployed 16 to 24-year-olds were to remain without a job for 12 months. It also argued that a green apprenticeship scheme with wage subsidies of between 50 and 100 per cent would cost 6.2billion to 10.6billion over five years and could act as a 'natural successor' to the furlough scheme. Friends of the Earth said if the country is to decarbonise at the 'necessary pace' though, then it is vital that the government close the green skills gap Young people should be further given a 'green opportunity guarantee' of either a job, an apprenticeship or training that is backed up by 40billion in annual spending on a green infrastructure programme, it recommended. It suggested such a programme could involve investment in high-speed broadband, the electrification of transportation, research and development in decarbonising manufacturing, and building and retrofitting social housing. Friends of the Earth said if the country is to decarbonise at the 'necessary pace' though, then it is vital that the government close the green skills gap, which can be done by creating 'Centres of Excellence for Zero Carbon Skills' at further education colleges. Local authorities and Local Economic Partnerships could also use existing skills funding and programmes to expand Green Apprenticeships and borrow money to build local green infrastructure. There is additionally a skills gap as the UK shifts to electric vehicles and expands renewable power, including both a lack of graduate-level engineers and installation technicians, the report found. The research found that to reach zero emissions from home heating via technology such as electric or hybrid heat pumps, the UK needs a skilled workforce of 70,000 that does not yet exist. Friends of the Earth argued that a green apprenticeship scheme with wage subsidies of between 50 and 100 per cent would cost 6.2billion to 10.6billion over five years Moreover, Friends of the Earth - which is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year - is wants apprenticeships for jobs in environmental restoration to meet the target of protecting 30 per cent of the UK's land by 2030. It pointed out that as well as ecologists, the UK has a minimal base of horticultural tradespeople needed to cultivate native species for peatland and seagrass meadow restoration. 'There's a serious risk that this country is going to leave its young people to a future devastated by the climate crisis and unemployment. But it's not too late to turn this around,' remarked Friends of the Earth climate campaigner Denis Fernando. 'Investing in green apprenticeships in areas such as renewable energy and woodland creation could prevent a new wave of youth unemployment, while helping the UK towards a more climate-friendly future.' Chancellor Rishi Sunak will reportedly announce details on a new sovereign green bond and a 22billion UK Infrastructure Bank during his budget speech tomorrow afternoon The organisation's report comes the day before Chancellor Rishi Sunak delivers the government budget, which will be the last before Glasgow hosts the COP26 climate conference later this year. Sunak will reportedly announce details on a new sovereign green bond and a 22billion UK Infrastructure Bank, which the government hopes will free up tens of billions from private backers to advance its goal of achieving net zero by 2050. Prime Minister Boris Johnson already set out a 10-point plan for a Green Industrial Revolution last November that includes a prohibition on new petrol and diesel vehicle sales by 2030 and a promise to quadruple offshore wind power capacity. Environmental campaigners have expressed concern though that the government is not going far enough, pointing to its approval of a new coal mine in Cumbria, a freeze on fuel duty and plans to spend billions on new roads. New Delhi: Organ Donation Day is celebrated on 13th of August every year by the people in India. On this day, government organizations and other related professionals organises campaigns and other programs in order to motivate people to donate the organs as well as to make them understand the value and importance of organ donation in the life of an individual. Who can donate organ? One of the biggest question that comes in mind when you talk about organ donation is who can be a donar?. Well, an organ donor can be anyone of which the organ can be transplanted to the patient urgently require. The organ donated by the normal human being is saved properly to transplant into the patient whenever he or she require. If organ is suggessfuly donated than one can get the new life through the organ transplantation donated by someone. Importance of Organ donation: According to the report, around 5 lakhs of the Indians are dying every year just because of the failure of their major organs. The organ transplantation could play a major role in the persons life by increasing their period of living a life more than expectations. The donor of the organs plays a role of God in their life. One organ donor can save more than 8 lives in his life by donating his well function organs. How to donate: -You can download the Donor Form by clicking on aiims.edu/aiims/orbo/form.html . -Fill in your particulars and the information solicited. -You have to take signatures of two witnesses (at least one of whom is a near relative) and mail it to:Organ Retrieval Banking Organization (ORBO) Organs that can be donated Kidney Lungs Heart Eye Liver Pancreas Cornea Small Intestine Skin tissues Bone tissues Heart valves Veins Costa Mesa Fairgrounds to Host Gun Show Despite Backlash The Costa Mesa fairgrounds will host a gun show in late March despite fierce opposition from a California senator. The Crossroads of the West Gun Show will run March 26 to 28, after the Orange County Fair and Event Center board of directors approved its return during a Feb. 25 meeting. Ashleigh Aitken was the only dissenting vote. On Feb. 26, Sen. Dave Min (D-Irvine) called on the board to reverse its decision. The boards decision to hold four gun shows this yearduring the middle of a pandemic no lessis grossly irresponsible and endangers the lives of Orange County residents, said Min. The last thing we need in our communities is more gun shows, especially given the many reports of ghost guns and other unlicensed firearms being sold at gun shows, Min said. As study after study shows, more guns lead to more gun violence. Min is currently pushing a Senate bill that would ban firearm and ammunition sales on public property throughout California, effectively ending gun shows. He said the fairgrounds decision was wrong and it endangers our public safety. The Orange County Fairground Center board issued a statement saying Crossroads of the West has held gun shows at the facility for more than 30 years without incident. Gun shows remain legal in the state of California, the statement says. Crossroads of the West must follow all state and federal regulations that apply to the sale and trade of a firearm, including a 10-day cooling-off period and background checks. Many of the vendors at this event are family-owned and operated businesses. Orange Countys District 3 supervisor said in a previous interview with The Epoch Times that banning guns wasnt the answer. There is to my mind very little legitimate science or study behind the idea that gun shows are in particular a source of some of the tragedies that we have seen around the country in the last few years, Supervisor Don Wagner told The Epoch Times on Feb. 11. I think it is just sort of a mindless guns are bad and lets ban them when we can approach. It also isnt going to solve the problem because those who wont obey the laws against shooting people arent going to obey the laws against having guns and those who will obey the laws can be counted on to responsibly use, store, and learn their weapons. Robert Nichols is the state senator for Senate District 3. First elected in 2006, Nichols represents 19 counties, including much of East Texas and part of Montgomery County. He can be reached at 699-4988 or toll-free at (800) 959-8633. His email address is robert.nichols@senate.texas.gov. Armenia ex-president Kocharyan gives interview to Russia newspaper Armenia acting deputy PM on unblocking of roads with Azerbaijan: There will be no troops standing there Nikkei: Toyota and Honda stop car production in Malaysia Armenia official on deploying international observers at Azerbaijan border: You will hear reaction on this matter soon USAID helps UN World Food Programme support displaced people in Armenia Armenia official: Work of trilateral working group on roads unblocking has stopped after recent incidents Russias Putin to Armenias Pashinyan: Relations between our countries are developing very successfully Armenia health minister: Improper storage of fallen soldiers bodies, remains was my omission 108 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia Armenia President to children: I believe that you will make our country much better Armenia CEC publicizes complete lists of political forces registered to run in snap parliamentary elections World oil prices going up Queen Elizabeth turns down PM's offer to name new royal yacht after Prince Philip Armenia parliament discusses 2020 state budget report Newspaper: Armenia acting FM resigns after 3rd attempt Newspaper: Yerevan mayor to leave office Israel, UAE sign tax treaty Newspaper: Even vagrants are persuaded, taken to Armenia acting PM Pashinyans rally in Vanadzor Swedish defense minister demands explanation from Denmark over spy scandal Acting Deputy PM: Armenia has not discussed and will not discuss issues within logic of "corridor" Armenia Central Electoral Commission determines numbers of political parties for elections Armenia 2nd President visits Cathedral of the Holy Mother of God in Gyumri (PHOTOS) Opposition Armenia bloc representative: We're running in elections to win Azerbaijan MFA comments on calls for release of Armenian POWs with infinite hypocrisy EC: Vaccinated citizens should be exempted from tests, quarantine when traveling within EU Armenia Ombudsman discusses rights of 6 captured Armenian servicemen with ICRC Delegation head EU ready to use all the tools at its disposal to change Turkey's behavior Yerevan court obliges to abolish violation of rights of Armenia Supreme Judicial Council ex-chairman Greek and Turkish leaders to meet in June on sidelines of NATO summit Armenia Central Electoral Commission to set up 2,008 polling stations for snap parliamentary elections Iranian companies to participate in reconstructing territories under Azerbaijan's control Opposition Armenia bloc's representative on acting PM's invitation to debate with 1st and 2nd Presidents Armenia acting FM dismissed upon presidential decree Body of brother of Armenian criminal authority "Don Pipo" found under bridge 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 The Daily Beast Photo Illustration by The Daily Beast/GettyMike Lindell, the MyPillow CEO and Trumpist conspiracy-peddler, flew his private jet to the Republican Governors Association meeting the other day.The guvs promptly threw him out. But the incident got Molly Jong-Fast thinking: Does the MyPillow CEO think hes already a governor or something?Subscribe to The New Abnormal on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Amazon Music, or Overcast. To listen to our weekly members-only bonus episodes, join Beast Inside here. Already a member? You can listen here and sign up for new episode email alerts here.Spoiler: Making MyPillows does not make you my governor. Now, chances that Mike Lindell could actually become governor of a small Republican state, 80 percent, she quips on the latest episode of The New Abnormal. Like, its not even that hard for someone that famous and insane in the Republican party to become a governor.Lindell claims he wouldnt run to be a dogcatcher right now, because he doesnt trust the voting machines. Plus, hes from the blue state of Minnesota. So maybe the risk of a Governor Pillow isnt quite so high. But L.A. Times columnist Virginia Heffernan would like to quickly add something about Mike Lindell being a cosplay governor.I think we need to understand that being in politics leads to governing and governing is boring. It is not a PR operation, she says. And I feel like we have made these jobs celebrity roles. Public service should not beis notbeing on a reality show.Like, I feel like we need to really dial down the razzle-dazzle, really play up the drudgery, Heffernan continues. I just don't know why every single industrialist and every single lady with abs or gorgeous arms would want to be, of all things, a governor.Biden, Heffernan opines, is doing a pretty good job at the drudgerydollars going out, jabs going out, all leading to Trump signs going down. Sure, the Donald has his cultists, like Lindell. But, I don't think people can hold onto this much insanity for this long, especially when it's a tiny minority of people who believe it, Heffernan adds. Democrats need to know how to win.To which Jong-Fast replies, oh-so-gently: Are you freakin kidding me? With all of these Republican attempts to retcon the Capitol riots? To chop away at the right to vote? To instantiate their ability to overturn elections? All while Team Biden snoozes it away? The Democrats are bringing an ice cream sundae to a knife fight, Jong-Fast says.Plus! Politicos Tara Palmeri talks about her search to find Liz Cheney supporters in Wyoming. And Battle for the Soul author Edward-Isaac Dovere gives us a peek into how Biden sees the political landscape. The presidency that he has in front of him now, he knows, is so different from what he ever expected to have, Dovere says, And part of that is rethinking how he incorporates the progressivism within the party that took root and that was so much part of this campaign. And its just, its a really complicated evolution for him. Its not the presidency he thought itd be running in 2019 when he got into this race.Read more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more. Fresh hope has emerged in the search for a HIV cure after scientists discovered a group of infected people in the Democratic Republic of Congo who can naturally control the infection. So-called 'HIV elite controllers' have HIV antibodies but show no signs of live virus. Globally, they make up fewer than one per cent of cases. But a group of more than 400 were found by researchers surveying the DRC. This indicates up to 4.3 per cent of all HIV cases in the DRC could be elite controllers. Experts hope future study of the group could help uncover links between natural virus suppression and future treatments as scientists work towards finding a cure. Scroll down for video Fresh hope has emerged in the search for a HIV vaccine after scientists found a large group of infected people in the Democratic Republic of Congo can naturally control their infection Researchers screened 10,457 people from Kinshasa and found a group of 429 who were HIV antibody positive but were negative for HIV viral load. They describe Kinshasa, and its surrounding area in the Congo basin, as the virus's epicentre Elite controllers are people who maintain low or undetectable viral loads for many years without needing to take antiretroviral therapy (ART). Previous studies have suggested the phenomenon of elite controllers could be due to a defective type of HIV or a rare immune response, among other theories. The new study, published in the journal eBioMedicine, was from a team including Abbott Diagnostics, the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in Baltimore, and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases in the US. Researchers screened 10,457 people from Kinshasa and found a group of 429 who were HIV antibody positive but were negative for HIV viral load. They describe Kinshasa, and its surrounding area in the Congo basin, as the virus's epicentre. Since HIV first infected humans at the start of the 20th century, it has amassed 76million infections. It is believed 38million people are now living with the virus, which causes AIDS. The majority of these cases 26million are found in Africa. In the UK, estimates suggest there were 105,200 people living with HIV in 2019. Some 94 per cent of these individuals have been diagnosed, but six per cent are unaware they have HIV. Most (98 per cent) people diagnosed with HIV in the UK are on treatment, and 97 per cent of those on treatment are virally suppressed and cannot pass the virus on. In their study, researchers wrote: 'Identification of this group of elite controllers presents a unique opportunity to study potentially novel genetic mechanisms of viral suppression.' Study author Tom Quinn, director of Johns Hopkins Centre for Global Health and chief of the International HIV/Aids research section of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said: 'The finding of a large group of HIV elite controllers in the DRC is significant considering that HIV is a life-long, chronic condition that typically progresses over time. Since HIV first infected humans at the start of the 20th century, it has managed 76million infections. It is believed 38million people are living with the virus, which causes AIDS 'There have been rare instances of the infection not progressing in individuals prior to this study, but this high frequency is unusual and suggests there is something interesting happening at a physiological level in the DRC that's not random.' Dr Michael Brady, medical director at the Terrence Higgins Trust, said: 'Scientific progress in our understanding of HIV continues to move at a fast pace. 'Thanks to modern, effective treatments, people living with HIV will now live long and healthy lives and can be confident that they won't pass the virus on to their partners. 'However, we still need to keep working towards the development of an effective vaccine and, eventually, a cure. HIV TRANSMISSION AND PREVENTION You can get or transmit HIV only through specific activities, most commonly through sexual behaviors and needle or syringe use. The FDA has approved more than two dozen antiretroviral drugs to treat HIV infection. They're often broken into six groups because they work in different ways. Doctors recommend taking a combination or 'cocktail' of at least two of them. Called antiretroviral therapy, or ART, it can't cure HIV, but the medications can extend lifespans and reduce the risk of transmission. 1) Nucleoside/Nucleotide Reverse Transcriptase Inhibitors (NRTIs) NRTIs force the virus to use faulty versions of building blocks so infected cells can't make more HIV. 2) Non-nucleoside Reverse Transcriptase Inhibitors (NNRTIs) NNRTIs bind to a specific protein so the virus can't make copies of itself. 3) Protease Inhibitors (PIs) These drugs block a protein that infected cells need to put together new copies of the virus. 4) Fusion Inhibitors These drugs help block HIV from getting inside healthy cells in the first place. 5) CCR5 Antagonist This stops HIV before it gets inside a healthy cell, but in a different way than fusion inhibitors. It blocks a specific kind of 'hook' on the outside of certain cells so the virus can't plug in. 6) Integrase Inhibitors These stop HIV from making copies of itself by blocking a key protein that allows the virus to put its DNA into the healthy cell's DNA. Advertisement 'The more we are able to understand the relationship between the virus and our immune systems, the closer we can get to that goal.' Kinshasa, the epicentre of the ongoing HIV epidemic, played a central role in its initial emergence into the human population. In the acclaimed first edition of his book 'Origin of AIDS', published in 2011, Dr Jacques Pepin, an epidemiologist at Universite de Sherbrooke in Canada, concluded HIV likely infected a hunter in Cameroon at the start of the 20th century, before spreading to Leopoldville, now known as Kinshasa. Now, a revised version of this 'cut hunter' hypothesis has been published which states the original 'Patient Zero' was not a native hunter, but instead a starving World War One soldier forced to hunt chimps for food when stuck in the remote forest around Moloundou, Cameroon in 1916 giving rise to the 'cut soldier' theory. Dr Pepin told MailOnline in January that an infected soldier probably caught the simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) after getting injured hunting. Simian immunodeficiency virus can be fatal to chimps and is exactly the same as HIV, the only difference between the two is the host it lives inside. 'Eventually, the soldier, after the war, came back all the way to Leopoldville and probably started the very first train of transmission in Leopoldville itself,' Dr Pepin said. Once the virus had a foothold in the human population, it initially spread slowly, confined to what was the then capital of the Belgian colony. He estimates that this one case of zoonotic transmission in 1916 led to around 500 infected people in the early 1950s. The spread of HIV at this point was primarily driven by the reuse of dirty needles in hospitals, the result of resource shortages and limited disinfection capabilities. In 1960, the Congo shed the shackles of European colonialism, triggering an influx of refugees and migrants to the city. The population of Leopoldville was about 14,000 at the start of the 20th century and now Kinshasa, the name given to Leopoldville in 1966, is home to 14 million people a 1,000-fold increase in a century. Professor Jacques Pepin believes a hungry World War One soldier forced to hunt chimps for food when stuck in the remote forest around Moloundou, Cameroon in 1916 - the 'cut soldier' theory. Eventually, the soldier, after the war, came back all the way to Leopoldville and probably started the very first train of transmission in Leopoldville itself. From here, the virus spread and eventually was exported to the US, where it later went global However, the newly named city proved the perfect breeding ground for HIV as it created a lopsided sex divide, with ten men living there for every woman. This led to poverty and rife prostitution, which helped the sexually transmitted virus spread among the city's population. 'Every year prostitutes would have up to 1,500 clients. That was perfect for the sexual amplification of HIV between these high volume sex workers and their clients,' says Professor Pepin. 'That's when really sexual transmission became accelerated in the 1960s.' The hub of Leopoldville was integral in the spread of HIV globally, Professor Pepin adds, saying by the 1960s a handful of cases were seen in other parts of the former Belgian Congo. A Haitian technical assistant that came to the country after the nation's independence caught the virus in this region, and eventually took it home where it then spread among gay men. 'Within a few years it was re-exported to the US and in the US it spread among gay men and IV drug users and from the US it went to Western Europe,' Dr Pepin says. Social media platforms have been instrumental in allowing misinformation and distrust to proliferate, hindering the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic as well as contributing to deeply cut social and political divides, and an insurrection on the Capitol. As a community nurse in and around Chicago, I have been personally and professionally thrust into the role of social media fact-checker for my patients. I live in the intersection between health care and science and a misinformed public. I don my often-painful N95 mask, tie my hair back and evaluate patients every day. I field patient questions about microchipped syringes, and offer overly simplified explanations about the bureaucratic logistics of scientific research and vaccine development. In moments I attempt to educate patients on cell biology, immunology and microbiology subjects Ive taken years to study. COVID Q&As: USA TODAY's Editorial Board talks to experts to help separate fact from fiction While cases and hospitalization of COVID-19 patients have dropped significantly around the country, the threat of infection remains an ever-present reality. Public confidence in the COVID-19 vaccine is improving, but not improving fast enough. A new poll by the Kaiser Family Foundation found 44% expressed vaccine hesitancy, and among that group, social media was cited as a main source of vaccine information. The poll also found only 31% of respondents said they get a fair amount of information from nurses, doctors and other health care providers. While patient education is a central tenet tenant of a nurses job, the rampant spread of misinformation and conspiracy theories has made the task more difficult. Fueling fear and doubt Recent news demonstrates nurses and doctors are not immune to misinformation. Last December, an Oregon doctors license was suspended for refusing to wear a face mask and urging others to follow him. Just last month, four nurses in Kansas refused to administer the vaccine, citing the fast development and production of the shots. These types of actions from trusted medical professionals have only fueled public fear and doubt. Story continues Katherine Buaron in Chicago, in February 2021. While misinformation remains pervasive in its most nefarious forms online, more innocuous inaccuracies have flourished, too. My Instagram feed is filled with stories and posts from my health care worker friends and colleagues promoting vaccine acceptance and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines. My colleagues, many of whom have pursued rigorous years of study and training to become health care workers, frequently repost attractive, clean-lined, millennial-art styled infographics on health promotion and the dangers of COVID-19. But in the summer of 2020, while swiping through Instagram, I noticed one infographic posted by a nurse colleague. It featured six stylized images of masked and unmasked faces; each face featured a percentage of COVID-19 transmission risk depending on the mask combination. My immediate impulse was to repost it, but the percentages written on the image didnt seem accurate, so I decided to dig deeper. It took one quick Google search to realize that these percentages while well intended had not been verified. Virginia fails to protect elderly: My parents caught COVID while vaccines languish unused Studies around health misinformation have often concluded that fear, anxiety and risk perception sway individuals to make instinctive, autonomic decisions about their health and self-protection. The ease with which health care workers can unthinkingly repost and retweet self-affirming health content is enticing and, therefore, extremely dangerous. For this reason, state medical boards across the nation are taking an active role in impeding misinformation or CDC guideline violations by physicians and other providers with penalty of revoking their license. For instance, at least one hospital forced administrative leave on a nurse who actively flout social distancing guidelines on social media. Health care workers, do your part Fear of professional retribution should not be the only thing stopping health care workers from spreading lies and misinformation. In the context of this global pandemic, reposting health misinformation on a whim can be especially dangerous for a trusted medical professional to do. Whether fair or not, the reality of being a health care worker is to be trusted to make the best decisions for the health of the community, both in our private and public lives. Reposting inaccurate information on social media, no matter how seemingly harmless, can erode public trust and professional credibility. Doctor: With COVID, we kick the homeless while they're down. Vaccinate this vulnerable group. There are many resources that exist to do just that, including step-by-step guides on how to distinguish fact from fiction. Among other strategies to recognize fake news, check for spelling errors or consider the informations effort to appeal to emotions. It is not uncommon for a friend or family member to connect with me on social media to ask for my medical opinion. Ive answered questions ranging from what is appropriate footwear for back pain, to precautions to take if someone in the household has been diagnosed with COVID-19. For better or for worse, social media has the potential to intertwine private and professional lives. For this reason, nurses, doctors and other health care workers must truly scrutinize health information that they perpetuate online. This is more than a caveat to think before you post. The ability to discern what is and isnt credible on social media is a necessary tool for navigating todays digital world. Understanding the gravity of misinformation is the crucial first step in establishing personal and professional accountability for what is posted online. For a health care worker, failure to fact-check a post on social media can not only result in professional penalties, but can also mean life or death. Katherine Buaron, RN, has a Master of Science in Nursing and is a community health registered nurse at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago and a Public Voices Fellow with The OpEd Project. You can read diverse opinions from our Board of Contributors and other writers on the Opinion front page, on Twitter @usatodayopinion and in our daily Opinion newsletter. To respond to a column, submit a comment to letters@usatoday.com. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: COVID conspiracy theories are easy to spread, even for medical workers NEW DELHI : The Centre on Tuesday said that it has asked for a report from the Karnataka government in connection with state Agriculture Minister BC Patil taking COVID-19 vaccine at his house instead of going to a hospital. Patil on Tuesday courted controversy after taking the vaccine at his house instead of going to a hospital, drawing criticism from state Health Minister K Sudhakar and others. Patil, 64, and his wife took the vaccine at his Hirekerur residence in Haveri district on the second day of the new phase of the vaccination drive to cover people aged above 60 and those aged 45 plus with co-morbidities. "This is not allowed in the protocol. It has come to our notice and we have asked for a report from the state government," Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan said in response to a query at a press conference. Patil tweeted, "Took the #COVID19Vaccine with my wife, at my Hirekerur house from the government doctors today. While 'Made In India' vaccines are being immensely appreciated by many countries, some vested interest groups are spreading false information about the vaccines. As several social media users questioned his decision to take the vaccine at home, Sudhakar said the protocol is to get it in the hospital. Patil defended himself, saying that he had not committed any crime and wanted to avoid trouble for the public. "Have I done any theft or robbery? I have only taken the vaccine at home which is not a crime," the minister told reporters. He said it was good that his inoculation became public which would inspire others to take the shot. Patil added that had he gone to the hospital, it would have caused trouble for the people waiting there. However, Sudhakar expressed his dissatisfaction over Patil's conduct and said the medical team should have persuaded him to come to hospital. "Unless there is a prior permission, no one is allowed to go home to vaccinate. It is wrong to go home to administer a vaccine," he said. He would issue a circular to doctors not to administer vaccines at home, the minister added. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and several others had taken the vaccine in designated hospitals on Monday. Subscribe to Mint Newsletters * Enter a valid email * Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. Shareholders approve 24th consecutive dividend increase to CHF 3.00 (+1.7%) per share for 2020; representing a 3.8% yield1 and approximately 63% payout of free cash flow Shareholders confirm Dr. Joerg Reinhardt as Chairman of the Board of Directors as well as all other members who stood for re-election Shareholders approve all other proposals of the Board of Directors, including the 2020 Compensation Report in an advisory vote, as well as the future Board and Executive Committee compensation in separate binding votes Basel, March 2, 2021 - Novartis shareholders today agreed to the Board of Directors' recommendations for all proposed resolutions at the Group's Annual General Meeting (AGM). In accordance with the Swiss COVID-19 Ordinance 3, the 2021 AGM was held without shareholders being physically present. Accordingly, shareholders exercised their shareholder rights via the Independent Proxy and could follow the AGM via a live webcast. In addition, shareholders had the opportunity to send their questions to the Board of Directors electronically in advance, with the most important questions being answered by the Chairman and the CEO during the AGM. Shareholders approved the 24th consecutive dividend increase since the creation of Novartis in 1996, with an increase of 1.7% to CHF 3.00 per share. Payment for the 2020 dividend will be made as of March 8, 2021. The dividend for 2020 is an approximately 63% payout of free cash flow and results in a dividend yield of 3.8%1. Annual re-election of Members of the Board Shareholders re-elected Dr. Joerg Reinhardt as Chairman of the Board of Directors, and all members of the Board who stood for re-election, for one year. In addition, shareholders re-elected the following members of the Board of Directors to the Compensation Committee for one year: Patrice Bula, Bridgette Heller, Enrico Vanni and William T. Winters. Shareholders also elected Simon Moroney as a new member of the Compensation Committee for one year. The Board of Directors intends to designate Simon Moroney as Chairman of the Compensation Committee. Share cancellation In line with the Board of Director's recommendation, the shareholders also approved the cancellation of 32 640 000 shares repurchased under the eighth share repurchase program in 2020 and the reduction of the share capital accordingly by CHF 16 320 000, from CHF 1 233 530 460 to CHF 1 217 210 460. Further share repurchases The shareholders authorized the Board of Directors to repurchase shares as deemed appropriate from time to time up to a maximum of CHF 10 billion between the AGM 2021 and the AGM 2024. Any shares repurchased under this authority are to be cancelled and the corresponding share capital reductions will then be submitted to the shareholders for approval. Votes on Compensation for the members of the Board of Directors and the Executive Committee In two separate binding votes, shareholders approved the total maximum aggregate amount of compensation for the Board of Directors, covering the period from the 2021 AGM to the 2022 AGM, and the total maximum aggregate amount of compensation for the Executive Committee for the financial year 2022. Shareholders also endorsed the 2020 Compensation Report in an advisory vote. Term limit for members of the Board of Directors The shareholders approved an amendment to the Articles of Incorporation that, for future re-elections, replaces the current age limit with a term limit, according to which a member shall not serve on the Board for more than 12 years. The Board of Directors may recommend to shareholders exceptions under certain circumstances and if deemed to be in the best interests of the company. For a detailed listing of all resolutions at the 2021 Annual General Meeting, please visit: https://www.novartis.com/agm (https://www.novartis.com/agm) Disclaimer This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements can generally be identified by words such as "will," "may," "could," "commitment," "authorized," "to be," "endorsed," "advisory," or similar terms, or by express or implied discussions regarding the potential future impact on Novartis of the matters described in this press release, including the future commercial performance of Novartis, further share repurchases, the annual re-election and election of members of the Board of Directors and the Compensation Committee, votes on compensation for the members of the Board of Directors and the Executive Committee, an advisory vote on the 2020 Compensation Report, and votes on the term limit for members of the Board of Directors. You should not place undue reliance on these statements. Such forward-looking statements are based on our current beliefs and expectations regarding future events, and are subject to significant known and unknown risks and uncertainties. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those set forth in the forward-looking statements. There can be no guarantee as to the ultimate outcome of the matters described in this press release or their potential impact on Novartis. In particular, our expectations regarding these matters could be affected by, among other thingsuncertainties regarding future demand for our products; general political, economic and business conditions, including the effects of and efforts to mitigate pandemic diseases such as COVID-19; potential or actual data security and data privacy breaches, or disruptions of our information technology systems; the potential impact of matters discussed in this press release on Novartis management, its financial results and its competitiveness, and other risks and factors referred to in Novartis AG's current Form 20-F on file with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. Novartis is providing the information in this press release as of this date and does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statements contained in this press release as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. About Novartis Novartis is reimagining medicine to improve and extend people's lives. As a leading global medicines company, we use innovative science and digital technologies to create transformative treatments in areas of great medical need. In our quest to find new medicines, we consistently rank among the world's top companies investing in research and development. Novartis products reach nearly 800 million people globally and we are finding innovative ways to expand access to our latest treatments. About 110,000 people of more than 140 nationalities work at Novartis around the world. Find out more at https://www.novartis.com (https://www.novartis.com). Novartis is on Twitter. Sign up to follow @Novartis at https://twitter.com/novartisnews (https://twitter.com/novartisnews) For Novartis multimedia content, please visit https://www.novartis.com/news/media-library (https://www.novartis.com/news/media-library) For questions about the site or required registration, please contact media.relations@novartis.com (mailto:media.relations@novartis.com) References Based on the SIX closing share price on March 1, 2021 # # # Novartis Media Relations E-mail: media.relations@novartis.com (mailto:media.relations@novartis.com) Richard Jarvis Novartis Strategy & Financial Communications +44 7966 118 652 (mobile) richard.jarvis@novartis.com (mailto:richard.jarvis@novartis.com) Julie Masow Novartis US External Engagement +1 862 579 8456 (mobile) julie.masow@novartis.com (mailto:julie.masow@novartis.com) Novartis Investor Relations Central investor relations line: +41 61 324 7944 E-mail: investor.relations@novartis.com (mailto:investor.relations@novartis.com) Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-02 09:39:20|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close Patrick Achi (L), the secretary general of the presidency of Cote d'Ivoire, receives a jab of the COVID-19 vaccine in Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire, March 1, 2021. Cote d'Ivoire joined the first COVID-19 vaccination campaigns in the world on Monday with doses provided by COVAX, a global initiative for equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines. (Photo by Yvan Sonh/Xinhua) ABIDJAN, March 1 (Xinhua) -- Cote d'Ivoire on Monday launched its vaccination campaign against COVID-19, three days after receiving 504,000 doses of vaccine as part of the COVAX mechanism initiated by the World Health Organization. "We are happy and proud to launch the campaign, Cote d'Ivoire is one of the first countries in the world to administer the AstraZeneca vaccine as part of the COVAX mechanism," said the country's Minister of State Patrick Achi, after receiving the first injection. Achi said that in addition to these 504,000 doses, Cote d'Ivoire plans to buy millions of more doses from its own resources so as to vaccinate every citizen who needs them. The country intends to inoculate 13.9 million people representing 49.3 percent of the total population, according to Minister of Health Aouele Eugene Aka. The first phase of vaccination prioritizes health professionals, defense and security forces and teachers. People aged over 50 will be inoculated in the second phase and those aged 18 to 49 in the third phase. To date, Cote d'Ivoire has reported 32,754 confirmed cases including 32,624 people cured and 192 deaths. Enditem Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. Also charged in the indictment is Nicole Schmidt, 34, of Midlothian, who faces one count of possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver and one count of conspiracy to possess a controlled substance with intent to deliver, according to the indictment. Sandi Tans second novel, Lurkers, tells the story of a Los Angeles neighborhood peopled with immigrants and eccentrics. Through it twists dark humor and a particular feeling for American suburbia in the mid-2000s. Tan grew up in Singapore, where she produced fanzines, wrote film criticism, and worked on an unfinished film that eventually became the basis for the award-winning Shirkers (2018). Shirkers is an autobiographical documentary film about her attempts to make an ambitious and rebellious film with her friends acting as cast and crew and how this project came to be sabotaged. Tan is also the author of The Black Isle (2011), an epic historical novel with magical realism elements. In conversation with PopMatters, Tan discusses her new book, its suburban L.A. setting, and the strange correspondence between the mid-00s and the late medieval era. After the epic scope and what must be the cathartic themes of The Black Isle, how did it feel to begin your second novel? I wrote The Black Isle as a way of saying goodbye to a place, the kind of proper goodbye I tend to favor. It requires deep immersion and obsessive research, and a whole bag of mixed feelings including cruelty, sorrow, and rage. Some might know the Black Isle to be the Singapore of my youth and my grandmothers youth. (I stole the rough contours of her biography). Except transfigured it with my homemade lore. I wanted that accursed place out of my system, and so I wrote a goodbye book. By the time I made my film Shirkers another act of exorcism, this time revisiting my late teens in ecstatic detail I had realized Id become very cool about time. By which I mean where Id been very anxious about getting things done before I turned a certain age, I was now calmer about chronology. I had once been a precocious teen who was now being viewed as a late-bloomer, and thats OK. It really doesnt matter. As long as youre still alive and you actually get those things done, its not too late. Being cool about time meant I felt free to go back and pick up where Id left off with another project: a book I started writing in my early 30s as a way of formally saying hello to Los Angeles. And that is Lurkers. Did having Shirkers come out between your two novels and seeing it much-discussed and winning awards change your approach to writing? The first novel The Black Isle didnt land. For whatever reason. I had a fantastic editor at a big imprint at Hachette who worked with big best-selling authors whose names youve seen in embossed foil at airports, including some good ones. But editors dont control marketing decisions. And if you want your work to be noticed, marketing has to give a shit. Maybe the book fell between literary and historical fiction. Maybe it had too much sex and horror for their focus groups. Maybe it was too, how do I put it, exotic. I dont know. All I know is I wrote a book I would have enjoyed reading myself, or enjoyed seeing as a long-form television series: feisty ghost-hunter comes to terms with her growing powers against the backdrop of World War Two in Southeast Asia and falls under the sway of a dangerous politician. I like a yarn where people change, and things happen and time passes, you know? A yarn with sex and ambivalence and dark humor and set pieces that arent shoddily staged. The book did well in Singapore, the Philippines, and I think Turkey, but it didnt land in the US, even with that big publisher. For whatever reason. So while this earlier dismay didnt change my approach to writing Lurkers, it did change the way I looked for a publisher: I didnt. I emailed the manuscript to my friend Mark Doten, an editor at the more boutique Soho Press, whod known about the book and asked to see it. I didnt show it to anyone else. And that was that. Do you have a routine for writing? What are the main challenges you face as a writer? Its mainly about making sure not too many crumbs fall to the ground en route from my head to the page. Its not like I need to put on chain mail or step into a gorilla suit, but every creative day is a solitary battle. I cant work in cafes. Im a monomaniac about polishing my sword, imagining the anguished faces of my enemies, and practicing my swing. One cant do that in a crowded coffee shop without appearing a bit intense. When outlining and broadly thinking up an idea and making notes, I leave myself playfully open to new inspirations and rabbit-hole down all kinds of research. Inventing is fun but exhausting, and I cannot do it for more than four or five hours a day. After I have a rough blueprint, I give myself purposeful amnesia. (Time also takes care of this. I forget things.) By the time I return to pummel my scribbles into manuscript shape, especially in later edits, Im a tougher, more skeptical customer. Im also freed of the creative pressure of having to pull things out of thin air. Maybe because I tell myself Im doing senseless, mechanical work like sweeping or scrubbing I can work longer hours and do an even greater amount of sentence-fixing, plot-shaping, much of the real writing. By and large, I find that the lies I tell myself work. Either because Im a superb liar or Im a gullible mark. Lurkers brings together a broad cast of characters that are united by the fact that they are neighbors. Where did the kernel of this story come from, and how did it develop? I started the book as a way of forcing myself to get to know and get under the skin of my suburban Los Angeles neighborhood I had moved to the foothills of the San Gabriel mountains (above Pasadena) around 2004. Its hard for me to get interested in anything unless I give myself a creative task. So I imagined my way into my neighborhood, I guess with skepticism and revulsion, not so much love. Suburban L.A. is not very lovable, or at least not to me. Its notoriously amorphous and elusive to originality despite the high number of creative people who live here. Rare is a movie such as Boogie Nights that captures aspects of it in any arresting, durable way. Most often it gets flattened into cliche (just look at the Instagram accounts of aspiring influencers) or sits around as the canned backdrop against which sitcoms play. And familiarity breeds contempt. In the mid-2000s, my neighborhood was described as a changing neighborhood. It was a way of saying it didnt yet have the guts or the stats to admit that it was gentrifying. People priced out of Silverlake were moving there, yet not the third wave coffee shops that service them. These were the jumpy years following 9/11, when people still gazed at others with undue suspicion. I mean, I was guilty of staring down unmarked panel vans that crawled along my street. Im fascinated by eras that are sort of inchoate in the popular imagination, that dont yet have catchy names to cleave on to. Living in an unincorporated part of L.A. county during that murky time, I thought, there had to be a there there let me imagine myself into this soup. Then somebody in my neighborhood began playing terrible music very loudly every afternoon, an unclaimed blast of aggression that pierced through the mute tension of my unneighborly neighborhood. The puzzle for me became how to work small, anonymized acts of terror into a portrait of a neighborhood where everybody already feels like theyre on the periphery of life, a lurker. What happens if one connects with ones neighbor via a slap or gunshot rather than a handshake? What if that shocking act might not be entirely unwelcome because all we needed is for somebody to make the first move? I had to make that funny because otherwise it would be unbearable. Solipsists are frightful bores. A voter casts a ballot in the 2011 federal election in Toronto, Canada, on May 2, 2011. (Chris Young/The Canadian Press) Liberal MPs Suggest Voting by Phone Option for Elections Held During Pandemic Liberal members of a House of Commons committee have recommended that Elections Canada consider allowing Canadians to vote by phone should a federal election be held during the COVID-19 pandemic. In a report submitted by the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs to Parliament on Feb. 26, the Liberal MPs suggested a voting by phone option if the prime minister called an election in the midst of a pandemic. The MPs cited testimony from witnesses who said the option could help people with disabilities to vote and that the convenience of voting by phone might encourage more people to vote. The Conservatives are against the proposal, arguing that introducing such an untested infrastructure on a national scale would be irresponsible and would undoubtedly strain our already overburdened public service. Finding new polling locations, hiring election staff to work directly with the public at a time of heightened risks, and managing consecutive voting days would require rapid, large-scale changes to the existing election infrastructure, Conservative MPs said in the report. That is why Conservatives disagree with the recommendation to add the research, development, and administration of a phone-voting option as additional tasks to Elections Canadas list of concerns for a pandemic election. The Bloc Quebecois expressed strong disagreement with the Liberals proposal, citing potential identity and voting fraud. In our opinion, telephone voting poses considerable challenges for properly verifying the identity of electors who vote this way, Bloc MPs wrote. It also opens the door to fraud, something important to consider especially in light of the theft of data and personal information over the Internet in recent years, and more recently in connection with the various emergency assistance programs rolled out by the Liberal government during the pandemic. The Liberal MPs also recommended expanding the capacity of the mail-in ballot process, with Chief Electoral Officer Stephane Perrault telling the committee that about 45 million Canadians would vote by mail during a pandemic, according t0 surveys conducted. At the same time, the Liberals recommended that Elections Canada include appropriate communications with mail-in ballots to ensure voters are aware of how they can vote should they miss the mail-in deadline, which Conservatives were against. Perrault had previously recommended allowing mail-in ballots to be received a full 24 hours after the polls are closed. Ballots received after the close of polls should not be counted, the Conservative MPs wrote. The election should end on Election Day and Canadians deserve to know the results without delay. They added that regardless of when the deadline to submit ballots occurs, there will be some votes that arrive too late, noting that the anxiety and uncertainty that would be caused by a delay of election results is unacceptable. Bloc MPs said a delay in election results would fuel voter suspicion and undermine confidence in the electoral system. The NDP said the federal government should not call an election during a pandemic. With work officially started from early November 2020, the solar farm is run by Edge VN with consultation in financial investment and management from Edge Plus Singapore. The plant is based in Song Binh commune, Bac Binh district in the central province of Binh Thuan, the area with the highest solar power potential in the country based on average sunshine hours and stable heat radiation, according to Vietnam Energy journal under Vietnam Energy Association. Song Binh rooftop solar farm in Binh Thuan The solar farm employs cutting-edge technologies, including Sun Power solar panels from the United States and solar optimisers from Woss Corporation. The solar optimisers are integrated with AI technology and Edge Computing to maximise power production. Song Binh rooftop solar farm is proud to be an IoT-enabled solar farm leading the Vietnamese renewable energy industry. Present at Song Binh solar farm's recent grand opening ceremony, Do Van Loc, deputy chairman of the national high-tech programme, praised Woss Corporation for using benchmark-setting technologies in this rooftop solar farm project and hoped to see more of this from other solar farms. Building and developing rooftop solar farms like Song Binh not only pushes up the countrys economic development but also contributes to raising the efficiency of the fight against climate change by promoting clean energy. The introduction of Song Binh Rooftop Solar Farm aims to match the rising demand for clean energy in Vietnam. According to state power authority Electricity of Vietnam, the total installed capacity of rooftop solar power projects connected to the national grid is estimated at 9,296MWp currently, accounting for 25 per cent of total installed power sources. Building and developing rooftop solar farms like Song Binh not only pushes up the countrys economic development but also contributes to raising the efficiency of the fight against climate change by promoting clean energy. At the grand opening, Edge Vietnam signed a co-operation agreement with Woss Corporation to provide smart battery systems to safely and efficiently store solar power, providing its clients with consistent electrical supply when sunlight is limited or unavailable. In addition, Edge VN and Edge Plus Singapore are looking for opportunities to develop more smart solar power plants in Vietnam in the near future. Amouage is a Beautiful Chaos: Interview with Renaud Salmon Interviews The Renaissance collection, the first major work of Renaud Salmon, Chief Experience Officer at Amouage, is leaving the perfume community polarized: the perfumers are new and so is the style of fragrances, some like it, some are feeling threatened by it. We met Renaud on Zoom to ask him if that was what the future of the brand smelled like. Hi Renaud, nice to finally speak with you! Are you in Oman now? Yes, Im in Muscat, in my office that sits on top of Amouage factory. Its a nice place to be. I havent travelled outside the country for a long while which feels very unusual. But it gives you a lot of time to do other things, of course. You hit the one-year mark at Amouage not long ago. Based on how 2020 was for many of us, I assume it didnt end up being the kind of start youd planned for yourself. Did it feel difficult? Strange? It was quite a scary year, yes. I was living in Manhattan, surrounded by so, so many people and things to do, when I agreed to join Amouage. And the first discussion we had was about where I was going to be based. They gave me the opportunity to choose for myself and, for personal reasons and also because I felt it was the right thing to do, I said, Okay, I want to start in Oman. We discussed where we wanted to go with Amouage and decided we needed to do what Amouage does best, to dig deep into the core of the brand. Which is why I thought it would make sense to be based in Muscat. The risk of being based in Muscat is that it potentially limits your creativity if you consider that creativity needs to be fueled by international experiences. So, back then I said Id come to Oman but never stay put for long, always be on the move. I knew I had a way out, a possibility to escape if I got bored or uncomfortable. And then the pandemic happened and killed all those possibilities. Thats when it got a little scary for me because I had to fully embrace my choice. All of a sudden it wasnt just a facade anymore being based in Muscat and coming there sometimes to see everyone and visit the factory, but mostly moving around Europe and being, you know, all over the place. This was an unexpected development, and it changed everything. The way I thought Id work with perfumers, the way I was working on my stories etc. But it also changed my perception of the country, big time, in a good way. And today, if the pandemic were to stop all of a sudden, I wouldnt just rush out of Oman. I think Id take my time. I got to understand a few things about the slow pace of some things here, about the power of being isolated when it comes to not being too influenced by other people. Actually, I think its been a blessing to get stuck in Oman. Did you get your ideas for the Renaissance collection while being stuck in the country? When I smelled the perfumes and read about the real-life locations that inspired them, I felt that the person who came up with those stories must know and love his Oman. Theyre not your typical perfume postcards, I think youve tapped into something authentic here. Its true, I didnt want them to be, like you said, postcards from Oman, bursting with all kinds of cliches. The creative process for that collection started very early, even before I landed in Oman. Id done some research, I knew the brand and I wanted to start a new narrative with where Amouage was born, its origins. The concept of renaissance is being born again, and the intention was to create something that felt deeply connected to the brand, respectful of it. I dont know if you are familiar with the work of Christopher Chong, but I see it as a bit of a progression that became more and more autobiographical with time. In the beginning it felt closer to Oman from a style point of view, from the storytelling point of view and so on, but the very last creations were very distant from it. I didnt want to copy what Christopher was doing, so I kept on digging and connecting my own dots, finding my own feelings and emotions as I was talking to people involved in the Renaissance project. In the beginning my research was quite basic, but then it gained some depth. Al Hajar Mountains, Oman You must have travelled around Oman a lot, doing your prep work for Renaissance. Did you manage to find a place that truly resonated with you? The Al Hajar mountains felt very special to me. Im a big mountain lover, I like to climb, to explore. But never before had I experienced such tranquility at such high altitude, it was something completely new to me. Usually as you go up, the feeling of discomfort increases. It gets colder, windier. Everything gets sharper. But there it was actually the complete opposite. You know, the summers in Muscat are really, really hot, but in the mountains its so much nicer, softer Its how the mountain hotels attract their guests by claiming fifteen degrees cooler. When youre at the top, you dont want to go down, its just too nice and peaceful. You have these beautiful juniper trees and olives, and the stone the mountains are made from is crimson in color. Thats where the name of our perfume, Crimson Rocks by Domitille Bertier, came from. How did you pick perfumers that you thought were right for Renaissance fragrances? I spend a lot of time contemplating my decisions, probably overthinking. Thing is, most perfumers Christopher worked with, Id never worked with them myself. And some of the perfumers Id teamed up with before made things that are a bit more commercial. So I was like, am I going to be judged if I create something with them here? Because I like working with them and we understand each other so well. And I said to myself, I need to find the right balance. For Renaissance, I chose perfumers I knew from before Amouage you need that kind of close relationship to create something very personal. But what I also did was to get to know better some of the historical perfumers of Amouage, like Cecile Zarokian, Maurice Roucel and so on. Im working with some of them right now, but its taking time. Sometimes I go online and I see people discussing the new Amouage as compared to the old one. But Id really like to say youre going to keep on being intrigued, youre going to see an evolution, because this collection is just my first take on Amouage. There are two points of view on how a brand as big and important as Amouage, a modern classic, should evolve. Some brands like Chanel keep building on their old ideas and findings because those work and sell; you can see the DNA running like a thread through Les Exclusifs line. And then there are brands like Dior and Guerlain that have steered far away from where they started. Do you think a brand should change and adapt or stick to what it does best? What kind of brand is Amouage in this sense? Its a very, very good question. I think Amouage is a brand thats a bit all over the place from an aesthetic point of view, and Im not saying that in a negative way. I see Amouage as one of those quirky boutiques where you find a ton of things, all of them different. Its a little bit of a bazaar. But theres something beautiful about the chaos of Amouage because its creative. Now, not everyone is at ease with that. Many fragrance houses try to stand out by being extremely clear in their visual statement, the way they look and smell etc. What I do is I try to understand why people love Amouage. And I think people love the brand because it offers creations with a strong personality where strength is paired with some fragility as well. Its not just your forceful perfumery, you know, that is all based on performance, its full of beauty and intricacy. And thats exactly what Ive been telling perfumers: I think we need to get that balance right. We need to make statement fragrances, but the statement cannot come from just putting heavy molecules in the formula, from pushing it artificially. There are different things, both strong and delicate. Like smoky water from Al Hajar. Whats so special about it? So, smoky rose water. In Oman, they grow roses in the mountains. Those are beautiful Damask roses, and they smell very, very mineral and citrusy too. Theyre quite close to Taifi roses, just as vibrant. But the local farmers dont distill the oil, they just make rose water. And the way they do it is very old school over an open fire fed with wood. The result is scented less like the roses and more like the wood fire that creates it, its literally smoky, my kids say it smells like barbecue. The water is used for cooking they put it in coffee and halwa, but also for making perfumes, washing hands etc. I found this very intriguing, as it totally broke the rose water paradigm for me. I used to think of it as something sparkling and transparent, bright and gentle, but then I discovered something at this low concentration of fragrant oil could actually be extremely strong and smoky and dark. And I shared my discovery with Domitille when we were working on Crimson Rocks. Tell me more about it. Crimson Rocks is a fragrance that we built in three steps. I was talking to Domitille and I told her I wanted a rose fragrance that felt very comfortable. I like the comfort of being in the mountains, but I dont want that comfort to come from sweet, sugary notes, you know? So she started building a beautiful rose. The second stage revolved around comfort. I suggested we add some honey they do make it up there, but when we did, the rose became way too sweet. It was clear we needed to bring back the mountains, something wild. And thats when the spices came in and, most importantly, the oakwood. We used the oak CO2 from LMR, and its a beautiful, beautiful woody note, deep and dark, but with a powdery facet. I absolutely loved Mackenzie Reillys Meander. She also used a very famed LMR material there, the narcissus, didnt she? Correct. Its such a beautiful material. I went to the place of its origins, the Aubrac in France, 18 months ago. Its in the middle of nowhere, quite difficult to reach. I was going through a very sad moment in my life, not in the mood to smell anything; looking at those fields of fragile flowers, I felt so melancholic. But then I smelled the stuff and it changed it all. It brought back instantly the love for what we do in this industry, the love of perfume itself. And I was like, okay, this is actually what its all about. This is what I should be doing more sitting with perfumers in the fields of flowers, trying to absorb all the feelings and emotions that come with those scents. And I love the idea of putting that material the narcissus in a smoky woody fragrance. Its there to bring some verticality to the composition, its what you need in a scent like Meander so that it doesnt become something that people would describe as a softie. I love the way Mackenzie blends her paints there. The result is so seamless and smooth and soft green and cool, like those ancient celadons from China and Korea. Thats why I wanted to work with her. Shes a very young perfumer but the way she does things isnt easy at all. I fell in love with her Californian Snow and I knew I had to meet that perfumer. She has a style that is a bit austere, a minimalistic vibe which I think is probably not the right vibe for Amouage. So with her its always an ongoing discussion, and I love the fact that were pushing each other a bit, but she definitely has the talent and all the skills in the world. I think Ashore is the fragrance where her own style and personality sort of overcame the personality of the brand. It was the first one I smelled from the Renaissance collection and didnt feel like a typical Amouage fragrance to me It had this wide Mackenzie smile all over it. When I started working on the Renaissance collection, I was thinking a lot about the schizophrenic personality of Amouage that goes from Honour Woman that is kind of the perfect fragrance for a wedding to things like Epic Woman and Interlude Woman big, strong, really different. I was sitting and thinking, what should I do? With Crimson Rocks I was going after something bolder and spicier, its a fragrance about finding ones comfort in the dark. And with Ashore, its the opposite. There, Im going after blinding light, something extremely bright. I love the photorealistic aspect of that fragrance. Its not your usual sea spray scent for sure, and yet, the beachy feeling is there. The video is nice too by the way. I like to make videos, so most of the shooting I did myself. The music is custom made by Cpal, a Belgian musician whose work I like a lot. At first, he gave me a song which felt a little too Clubmed to me, and I was like, no, people listening to this will think there are salicylates in the fragrance. So I asked him for an indolic note and he was a bit confused, but in the end it all worked out. But the original plan was to bring everyone to Oman and go to all those places together, from one location to another. How much time did it take to put the collection together? A full year. The fragrances took nine months, the packaging took some time too. I wanted it to feel authentic and crafty, I wanted uncoated paper I dont mind if it gets a bit damaged, I just like the raw beauty of it, and I feel the same way about the raw materials. So yeah, it all took a bit of time and effort. But thats the beauty of Amouage, you can do pretty much everything you have in mind. Its why I joined the company they reassured me there wouldnt be too many cooks in the kitchen. My CEO really trusts me and is there to protect the creation rather than influence it. Pictures of perfumes: Amouage The Emmys has found a date. The 73rd annual Emmy Awards will take place on Sunday, September 19 and will air on CBS as well as stream on Paramount+ it was learned on Tuesday. In December a June or July ceremony date was dangled. A host for the splashy show, which has seen Jennifer Aniston and Sharon Stone get the award as well as shows such as Game Of Thrones and Schitt's Creek, will be revealed at a later time. Emmy fun! The Emmys has found a date. The 73rd annual Emmy Awards will take place on Sunday, September 19 and will air on CBS as well as stream on Paramount+ it was learned on Tuesday; Reese Witherspoon 69th Primetime Emmy Awards in 2017 Last years Emmys were hosted by Jimmy Kimmel and the event was mostly virtual with a few presenters. The location has not yet been announce but the ceremony usually takes place at the Microsoft Theater in Downtown Los Angeles. Paramount+ subscribers who pay for the premium tier will get access to their local CBS stations. The rebranded streaming service launches on Thursday. She has a glow: Last year the show was hosted by Jimmy Kimmel and Jennifer Aniston was seen on stage A power couple: Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jones arrive for the 71st annual Primetime Emmy Awards ceremony held at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles in 2019 In September there may be enough people vaccinated to have a normal amount of presenters as well as a live audience. Last year there was a virtual shows as winners were streamed from their homes, which resulted in only 6.1million viewers. Normally there are 30% more viewers. Emmy winner: The late Cloris Leachman shows off her Emmy for outstanding guest actress in a comedy series for her role in Malcom in the Middle in 2002 The nominations are expected to be announced in May or June 2021. The Golden Globe Awards aired on Sunday and was hosting from both New York and Los Angeles with several nominees on Zoom. There were presenters however including Renee Zellweger and Catherine Zeta Jones with husband Michael Douglas. The 93rd Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, will honor the best films released between January 1, 2020, and February 28, 2021. The show is set to air on April 25, 2021 at 5 pm. The Oscar nominations will be announced on March 15. Queen Mary's School in Delhi's Tis Hazari area decided to postpone exams for classes 9 and 11 and closed campus for a week after a student tested positive for COVID-19. The school will remain shut from March 02, 2021 to March 06, 2021 and exams for classes 9 to 11 will be conducted in online mode after protests from parents. As per a communique from the school, the students will have to submit COVID-19 negative reports to their class teachers on March 08, 2021. The parents of a student who allegedly tested COVID-19 positive said in a video shared on social media, "My daughter came to school and there was no social distancing. She is now sick and she is at home... The school has put so many lives at stake. They made 300 children sit in an auditorium." School principal Ritu P Solomon refuted these allegations and told Hindustan Times, "The school is taking all Covid-19 related precautions." Another official said that they had asked students to provide their COVID-19 negative reports since it is the only way to know about their health as of now. The official added they can't take the risk of offline classes with a mere undertaking. Mother of a class 9 student expressed apprehensions about the safety of her child mentioned to the daily, "The school should either shift the exams to the online mode or postpone them till the situation becomes normal. What difference can they make by closing the campus just for a week?" Parents have been urging the Delhi government to provide students an option to give exams in either online or offline mode. Delhi Parents Association president Aparajita Gautam told the daily, "We have been repeatedly writing to the Delhi government requesting it to direct private schools to give students the option of giving their exams either online or offline. The government should now take the case of this school into consideration and take a decision." Also read: Airlines see drop in bookings amid mandatory negative COVID-19 test in many states SALEM, Ore. The first shipments of the third COVID-19 vaccine to receive FDA emergency use approval are expected to arrive in Oregon this week, the Oregon Health Authority said Monday. The vaccine developed by Johnson & Johnson received emergency use approval on Saturday. Unlike the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, this one is intended to be administered in a single dose without a subsequent "booster." According to OHA, it can also be safely stored in a refrigerator for months, making it easier to distribute. OHA estimated that 34,000 doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine will arrived in the state this week. The agency said that it is working with local public health officials, hospital systems, and retail pharmacies on distribution. Having access to a third highly effective COVID-19 vaccine is a game changing development for Oregonians, said Paul Cieslak, M.D, medical director for communicable diseases and immunization at OHA's Public Health Division. We believe this vaccine is effective against the virus, and a one-dose regimen will allow us to vaccinate more Oregonians more quickly. After the initial shipment, state officials anticipate that fewer doses of the new vaccine will arrive over the following several weeks. The process for the Johnson & Johnson vaccine review and approval was the same as it was for the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines. The company submitted its application for EUA on February 4. The FDA's review of Johnson & Johnson's application reported that it was 66 percent effective for moderate to severe or critical COVID-19 in all groups and across all regions studied, starting at 28 days after vaccination. The observed efficacy in the U.S. was 72 percent, though the trial also observed participants in Latin America, Brazil, and South Africa. The best thing is that this one-dose vaccine was 85 percent efficacious in preventing severe COVID-19, Dr. Cieslak said. Common side effects of the vaccine included pain at the injection site, mild to moderate headache, fatigue, and muscle aches. Nearly eight out of ten people believe that the pain of lockdown is worth the gain of suppressing Covid-19 virus, according to the latest research on compliance with Level 5 restrictons. Professor Pete Lunn, Head of the Behavioural Research Unit, Economic Social Research Institute (ESRI) analysed data and outlined the findings from the latest opinion polls in National Public Health Emergency Team (NPHET) daily statement on March 1. Data from the Public Opinion Tracking Survey Research (Amarach/Department of Health) and from the new Social Activity Measure (ESRI/Department of the Taoiseach), give insight into how people are coping with the prolonged period of restrictions. "The evidence shows that while people are finding it tough going, the large majority (79%) believe that preventing the spread of Covid-19 is more important than the burden of restrictions. Just 10% disagree. This pattern helps to explain how measures of compliance have been rising in recent weeks and months, despite the frustrations that people feel. Just because we feel a particular way, does not mean that this feeling dictates our behaviour. Rather, the large majority of people in Ireland support the restrictions and are sticking to them, despite the frustrations," he said. Prof Lunn also commented on a false belief among some people that other people are breaking restriction by meeting up with others. The data also show systematic misperceptions about social activity. Presently, half the adult population does not meet up with anyone outside their household over a 48-hour period, with less than one quarter meeting up with three or more. Yet these more socially active people believe that they are meeting fewer people than average. There is a clear misperception. Most people believe that others are enjoying more of a social life than they are. Those who are in fact most socially active do not realise this. The finding is important, and we need to try to correct this misperception. When people appreciate effort being made by others, they typically become more likely to follow, he said. President met virtually Monday with Mexican President Andrs Manuel Lpez Obrador a chance for the pair to talk more fully about migration, confronting the coronavirus and cooperating on economic and national security issues. "This is what I know, the United States and are stronger when we stand together," Biden told Lpez Obrador at the outset of the meeting, alluding to past differences between the two countries. "We're safer when we work together. Whether it's addressing the challenges of our shared border, or getting this pandemic under control." Mexico's president had said he intends during the meeting to propose to Biden a new immigrant labour programme that could bring 600,000 to 800,000 Mexican and Central American immigrants a year to work legally in the United States. A senior Biden administration official declined to say whether the US president would back or oppose the proposal, saying only that both countries agree on the need to expand legal pathways for migration. The official insisted on anonymity to discuss private conversations. Asked about the Mexican president's proposal. White House press secretary Jen Psaki said that reinstituting the Bracero program would require action by Congress. The original "Bracero" program allowed Mexicans to work temporarily in the United States to fill labour shortages during World War II and for a couple of decades after the war. Lpez Obrador said the US economy needs Mexican workers because of "their strength, their youth." On Monday, Lpez Obrador said his new proposal would be a program not only for agriculture workers but for other sectors and professionals. The White House also signalled that Biden was not willing to budge on another Lpez Obrador request to send US manufactured coronavirus vaccines to his country. Psaki said Biden would not agree to the move, saying the president was first focused on getting Americans vaccinated. A similar posture toward Canada has also proved to be a wrinkle in that relationship. The Biden official said the meeting will help Biden begin to institutionalize the relationship with Mexico, rather than let it be determined by tweets a preferred form of diplomacy by his predecessor, Donald Trump. The United States shares a trade agreement most recently updated in 2018 and 2019 with and Canada, which are its second- and third-biggest trade partners after China. The trade agreement could complicate Lpez Obrador's efforts to possibly defund and eliminate independent regulatory, watchdog and transparency agencies in There are also questions of whether Lpez Obrador will warm to Biden's efforts to address climate change and move to cleaner energy sources. The Mexican president supports a measure to make that country's national grids prioritize power from government plants, many of which burn coal or fuel oil. At Monday's news conference, Lpez Obrador confirmed they would discuss climate change, but he said "Biden is respectful of our sovereignty because he doesn't see Mexico as America's backyard." The Trump era was defined by the threat of tariffs, crackdowns on migration and his desire to construct a wall on the US southern border, yet Trump appeared to enjoy an amicable relationship with his Mexican counterpart. Mexico paid nothing for Trump's cherished border wall, despite the US leader's repeated claims that it would. But Lpez Obrador's government did send troops to Mexico's southern border with Guatemala to deal with an unprecedented wave of asylum-seekers bound for the hosted about 70,000 people seeking US asylum while they waited for dates in immigration courts, a policy known as Remain in Mexico and officially as Migrant Protection Protocols. The Biden administration immediately began to unwind Remain in Mexico, suspending it for new arrivals on the president's first day in office and soon after announcing that an estimated 26,000 people with still-active cases could be released in the United States while their cases played out. But Biden, through the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, has kept extraordinary pandemic-related powers in place to immediately expel anyone arriving at the US border from Mexico without an opportunity to seek asylum. Mexicans and many Central Americans are typically returned to Mexico in less than two hours under Title 42 authority so named for a section of a 1944 public health law. Biden aides have signalled they have no immediate plans to lift it. Yet Biden has also shown an openness to immigrants who previously came to the country illegally. He is backing a bill to give legal status and a path to citizenship to all of the estimated 11 million people in the country who don't have it. Biden also broke with Trump by supporting efforts to allow hundreds of thousands of people who came to the US illegally as young children to remain in the country. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Teachers voted on Saturday, February 27, to continue their strike against the murderous reopening of public schools in Sao Paulo, the state with the highest number of coronavirus cases and deaths in Brazil. The vote, carried out through virtual assemblies, came the day after Brazil reported the highest number of COVID-19 deaths since the beginning of the pandemic over a year ago. Despite the deadly implications of school reopenings amid this surge in the pandemic and with the imminent threat of a national collapse of the health system, the political groups within the Sao Paulo teachers union APEOESP executive boardthe Workers Party (PT), the Maoist Communist Party of Brazil (PCdoB) and the various tendencies of the pseudo-left Socialism and Liberty Party (PSOL)continue sabotaging the teachers strike. Maria Teresa, the first teacher killed by COVID-19 after the reopening of schools in Sao Paulo. (Credit: Facebook) The strike began on February 8, when schools partially reopened for the beginning of the 2021 school year. Since then, the various tendencies of the PSOL, especially the Morenoite Resistencia, have tried their best to end the strike, while the PT and PCdoB have advocated prioritizing teachers for coronavirus vaccinations and that the strike be limited to teachers who are not part of the COVID-19 risk groups and must go into the schools. The health strike, as they are calling it, still implies that teachers continue to do remote work with their students. In the only official account of teacher participation in the health strike, APEOESP reported that 15 percent of the 170,000 teachers had not gone to school on the first day back. Since it began, the health strike has been directly attacked by Sao Paulos right-wing Governor Joao Doria (Brazilian Social Democracy Party, PSDB), who has stopped paying teachers who have not gone back. Last week, there were reports of striking teachers being removed from Google Classroom by school principals, preventing them from conducting remote classes, and of striking temporary teachers having their work contracts terminated. The health strike is also being undermined by the actions of the APEOESP executive board. A week after the strike began, on February 12, it presented a proposal in the virtual assemblies that called for teachers on health strike to return to the schools and register attendance in order to dialogue with the school community. This, in practice, meant the end of the strike. This proposal, which was approved by teachers participating in virtual assemblies amid a deliberate effort by the executive board to sow confusion, put the executive board, in effect, on the same side as Governor Doria in his effort to reopen schools. Those who are on the school floor know that it is practically impossible to follow the required protocols. (Credit: Movimento Escolas sem Luto/Facebook) The APEOESP has also done everything possible to subordinate the teachers struggle against school reopenings to the capitalist courts. It has urged teachers who are on health strike to file a request to their schools to have their workday done remotely, and, if it is deniedas it is, in fact, occurringto file a case in court. This same court, working in close collaboration with the state government, reversed in late January a decision that had prevented the reopening of schools because of the worsening of the pandemic in Sao Paulo. This same treacherous script was followed by the groups that control the APEOESP executive board in the last regional virtual assemblies on Saturday afternoon. In the Greater Sao Paulo regional assembly, executive board member Stenio Matheus of the PSOL defended ending the strike without making a single reference to the seriousness of the pandemic in Sao Paulo. Ignoring the long history of betrayals by the APEOESP that has destroyed the unions credibility among rank-and-file teachers, he blamed the teachers themselves for the low participation in the strike. For those executive board members who pointed out the seriousness of the pandemic, these were just empty words. Richard Araujo, from the Morenoite Resistencia tendency, defended the need for a general lockdown in Sao Paulo and Brazil as a whole. But he quickly added, Now, how we are going to do this fight? Thats the big question. ... The best way to reorganize the troops for the war we are waging is to suspend the strike. Since the first assembly, Resistencia has opposed the action, and its website, Esquerda Online, has published only one article on the Sao Paulo teachers strike. Rank-and-file teachers have expressed a principled position against these moves by the unions executive board. In the online chat, they responded to the proposal to suspend the strike. It was already dangerous to be in school [a month ago], imagine ending the strike now at the height of contaminations and deaths from COVID, and hospitals with no vacancies!!! wrote one teacher. These people keep measuring this strike by the low numbers and not by life, which was and is the main reason it exists, commented another. What is this tactic of making striking teachers return to the classroom? [This] will do nothing to increase the strike. It will only favor the infection and deaths of more teachers, was another angry response. One teacher further pointed out that there is a strike [that] is strong, the one carried out by parents who are not sending their students to schools. This is driven by our struggle for the defense of life. Since the first day of reopenings, the APEOESP has reported that student participation, which is optional, had been less than five percent, a number well below the 35 percent expected by the government. After a month of partial reopenings in Sao Paulo, the number of COVID-19 cases and deaths increased among the school community. As of Sunday, the APEOESP had registered 1,489 coronavirus cases among teachers in 726 schools, with 22 teachers dying from COVID-19. The first teacher victim of the disease, Maria Tereza Miguel Couto de Lourenco, was only 32 years old and died on February 20, two days after her mother died of COVID-19. The Sao Paulo reopening of schools has also led to an increase in COVID-19 cases and deaths among children. In mid-February, the daily Folha de S. Paulo reported that public childrens hospitals register an increase in COVID-19 hospitalizations. The health secretary of the third largest city in Sao Paulo, Campinas, with more than one million people, reported last week an increase in hospitalizations of children and adolescents. A 13-year-old child has already died from COVID-19 in the city. After Campinas registered a 100 percent occupancy of ICU beds in public hospitals last week, it postponed the start of in-person learning in its municipal public school system from March 5 to the beginning of April. This example has also been followed by many other cities. A report on the G1 website showed that, until last Thursday, 11 cities in the Sao Paulo metropolitan region were forced to postpone the reopening of schools to mid-March. Among those cities are the largest in the state outside the capital, Sao Paulo: Guarulhos, Sao Bernardo, Santo Andre and Osasco, all with more than 650,000 inhabitants. These decisions to keep schools closed come at the most critical moment of the pandemic in Sao Paulo and Brazil. Last Thursday, Brazil recorded the highest number of deaths in 24 hours since the pandemic began1,582. In Sao Paulo alone, there were 345 deaths. It has already seen 38 days with a daily moving average of over 1,000 deaths, the longest period since the pandemic began. On Sunday, Brazil had more than 10.5 million cases and 254,000 deaths. This is the third largest number of cases and second largest number of deaths of any country in the world Last week, this dramatic situation was expressed in the highest occupancy rate in the national health system since the beginning of the pandemic, with a huge increase in the occupancy of ICU beds. According to the leading epidemiological institute FIOCRUZ, at least 12 of the 26 Brazilian states reached 96 percent ICU occupancy last Friday, and 17 state capitals have an ICU occupancy higher than 80 percent. Against this backdrop, 12 states have stepped up measures to contain the spread of the virus. However, many experts have advocated tougher measures. Miguel Nicolelis, one of Brazils most prominent scientists, said in an interview with O Globo last Friday that Brazil needs an immediate 21-day national lockdown. Otherwise, there is a great chance of a national [health care system] collapse. In only a few places in the country is the clash between what science says should be done to fight the pandemic and the actions of governors who align themselves with the herd immunity policy of fascistic President Jair Bolsonaro so clear as in Sao Paulo, the richest state and financial center of the country. Last week saw four straight days of record ICU bed occupancy. Physician Paulo Menezes, coordinator of the scientific committee that guides the actions of the Sao Paulo government, warned that Sao Paulos health system could collapse in three weeks. The UOL website reported that experts on the scientific committee are increasingly unhappy with the governor after advocating a lockdown for at least 10 days and Doria refusing it. The report also noted that this decision was due to pressure from the economic sector of the government, which does not want to upset business. Despite the catastrophic situation, Sao Paulos Education Secretary Rossieli Soares wrote on his Facebook page: Sao Paulos education will not suffer changes, schools will remain open within the permitted hours. Based on last years disastrous European experience of keeping schools open, even with the pandemic out of control, the Sao Paulo government moved to consider education an essential service in December, allowing schools to partially reopen, even as the pandemic worsened. Against the Doria governments murderous policy of keeping schools open, aided and abetted by the pseudo-left and the APEOESP, Sao Paulo state school teachers should build rank-and-file committees independent of the union. Such committees are needed to coordinate their strike actions in defense of life, not only with the entire school community, but also with Sao Paulo municipal teachers on strike and those from all over Brazil and internationally fighting against the reopening of schools. These committees should make the broadest possible call to other sectors of the working class and fight for the immediate closure of schools and non-essential services, with financial compensation to all those affected. Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, speaks during a confirmation hearing for Secretary of Health and Human Services nominee Xavier Becerra before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, Tuesday, Feb. 23, 2021 on Capitol Hill in Washington. (Leigh Vogel/Pool via AP) Just a few days ago, Democrats were preparing to leave Republicans behind on a minimum wage hike. Now the GOP might be their only shot at raising the wage this Congress. The ruling against including a $15 minimum wage in this months coronavirus relief bill by the Senate parliamentarian, its official rules referee, dealt a major blow to Democrats and President Joe Bidens agenda. But that decision was also clarifying: With Democrats holding only 50 Senate seats and divided over gutting the filibuster, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer probably needs 10 Republicans now on any successful deal to raise the minimum wage. Democrats have batted away the GOP proposal to raise the wage to $10 an hour and enact stricter immigration vetting requirements for employers. But as Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.), put it: The nice thing about that is, it helped define the floor, from which we can only imagine a pathway up. It is a more durable solution if its 60 votes, Coons said on Monday after a couple of very preliminary weekend discussions with Republicans on raising the wage. Republicans realize its got to be raised, said Sen. Angus King (I-Maine). There are three principle pieces: The number, the phase-in and the tipped wage. Those are the three things we should work on. We ought to try and have some discussions. Thats the way youre supposed to legislate. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) proposal would raise the wage to $15 in steps by 2025. It does not have unanimous support among Senate Democrats, and Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) has suggested a compromise number of $11. But Sanders is insisting that Democrats try to eliminate the filibuster to pass the minimum wage hike and ruled out going lower than $15 hourly, which he said "is a compromise already." Several Republicans said Monday theyd be open to going higher than the $10-an-hour GOP bill helmed by Sens. Mitt Romney of Utah and Tom Cotton of Arkansas. Romney said Monday he has been discussing a possible way forward with Democrats on the wage hike and suggested working with the minority was the most likely path. Story continues I dont understand this all-or-nothing approach. Going from $7.25 to 10 dollars an hour is a substantial and long overdue increase. So why would the progressives to whom Chuck is clearly listening be opposed to that? said Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) of Schumer. It sounds like Chuck wants an issue, not a solution. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said hes studying a proposal from Waffle House that would phase in a wage increase to $15 over six or seven years. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), who supports the Cotton-Romney proposal, said shes open to going above $10 but that Democrats have to realize itll have to be a compromise figure. The GOP's proposal for stricter enforcement of the immigration system known as E-verify could prove to be a sticking point, however. That program confirms employment eligibility for workers, but some Democrats would be wary of discussing any change that could target undocumented workers as a condition for a smaller minimum wage bump. Rather than deal with the GOP, Democrats could also try and wait for another shot at raising the wage using the protections of budget reconciliation, a tool that allows them to evade the Senates supermajority requirement but has arcane rules governing its usage. To make that happen, they'd have to present the parliamentarian with a different argument after trying in vain to force a wage increase into an emergency Covid relief bill. Senate Democrats have been campaigning on raising the wage since 2014, and some individual senators have been pushing for far longer. The party could be at risk of getting nothing unless it engages with Republicans. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin said its most likely the Democrats will have to compromise if they want to raise the federal wage above the current, stagnant $7.25 level that last rose in 2009. We certainly need enough votes to overcome a filibuster, and that requires 10 more than we have, Durbin said. I think thats the only recourse. But some Democrats arent ready to make any deal with the other party. Progressives are saying the only way forward is to gut the filibuster and kill its 60-vote requirement on legislation or at least overrule the parliamentarians advice to exclude the wage increase from the bill. Both those options are endorsed by Sanders, who plans to offer a minimum wage amendment when the Covid bill reaches the floor, yet currently lack the votes to advance given opposition from Manchin and Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.). Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) said she did not want to wait for either Republicans to get on board or for a second reconciliation bill. Of the GOPs current bid on the minimum wage, she retorted: Thats just not a serious proposal. And doesnt work. She said getting rid of the filibuster is the answer to most of the partys procedural problems. Democrats have one more option on the wage hike: wait. They could also gamble on picking up Senate seats in 2022 to ease their path to gutting the filibuster, but that would stall progress on the issue for at least two years. And Republicans say theres a deal to be had if Democrats are willing to engage. Weve got some people that are interested in it, said Senate Minority Whip John Thune. The $15 is a non-starter. And I dont think we have anybody on our side [for that], and theres some Democrats that are going to be opposed to that too. Flash Chinese President Xi Jinping said on Monday that as this year marks the 100th anniversary of the Communist Party of China (CPC), China will push forward reform and opening-up from a higher starting point, bringing new opportunities for the comprehensive China-Tajikistan cooperation. Xi made the remarks during his telephone conversation with his Tajik counterpart, Emomali Rahmon. The Chinese president pointed out that since last year, the Chinese and Tajik people, in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic and the transformations rarely seen in a century, have sticked together through thick and thin, joined hands in unity and coordination, and achieved fruitful cooperation in various fields, especially in battling the pandemic. Xi said the two sides have supported each other on issues involving each other's core interests, which fully reflects the high level of the China-Tajikistan comprehensive strategic partnership. China firmly supports Tajikistan in safeguarding its national sovereignty, security and stability, and is willing to strengthen the alignment of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) with Tajikistan's national development strategy until 2030, so as to promote the continuous development of China-Tajikistan relations, he added. Xi called on the two sides to push forward bilateral cooperation in the fields of economy, trade, investment, agriculture, interconnection and digital economy in an integrated manner, and to give priority to the construction of key BRI projects. China is ready to import more quality agricultural products from Tajikistan that meet market demands, Xi said, adding that China is also willing to provide assistance of COVID-19 vaccines to Tajikistan in a bid to promote the building of a community of common health for mankind. Noting that this year marks the 20th anniversary of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), Xi said China will give full support to Tajikistan, currently holding the rotating presidency of SCO, and strengthen cooperation with Tajikistan, so as to promote greater development of the organization from a new starting point. Rahmon, for his part, extended the new year's greetings to Xi and the Chinese people, wishing the Chinese people a happy Spring Festival and new successes for China in the new year. He said under the strong leadership of President Xi and with the hard work of the Chinese people, China has made brilliant and historic achievements in poverty reduction, which the Tajik side expressed warm congratulations. Tajikistan highly appreciates China's important contribution to the world's fight against the pandemic, and appreciates China for its invaluable support in Tajikistan's battle against outbreak and efforts to boost economic and social development, he said. Tajikistan is willing to make joint efforts with China to continue to expand bilateral cooperation in politics, economy, trade, security, humanities and other fields in the spirit of good neighborliness and friendship, strengthen anti-epidemic cooperation and give new connotations to the comprehensive strategic partnership between the two sides, so as to promote new development in bilateral relations, he added. He also said that Tajikistan looks forward to close communication with China, and successfully completing the work of the rotating presidency of the SCO in a bid to ensure the summit a success. Seven months after state utility regulators suspended a rate hike granted to Eversource Energy, the utility company is back for another attempt to get the money. Eversource officials filed their latest rate hike request with Connecticuts Public Utility Regulatory Authority late Monday afternoon. It represents an attempt to revisit a rate increase Public Utilities Regulatory Authority (PURA) granted last summer, before suspending amid public outcry over the size of increases to customer electric bills in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. The filing contains two options for the Eversource to recover the costs from last years proposed rate increase. One calls for a single rate increase, which would take effect May 1, that would increase what the average customer pays by $12.55 cents per month or 8.2 percent to $166. The average Eversource residential use 700 kilowatt hours per month. The second plan calls for a two phased increase that would spread Eversource proposed recovery of the money it was owed from last years rate hike over a three-year period. The second increase would take effect Oct. 1 and increase the bill by $5 or 3.24 percent to $159 per month. Doug Horton, Eversources vice president in charge of rates, said the increase called in the second option is smaller for two reasons. One reason is that we are seeking to recover our costs over a longer period of time, which reduces the size of the increase, Horton said. We are sympathetic to the challenges our customers face. The other reason why the size of the increase is smaller with the second option is related to a deal state officials reached with the owner of the Millstone nuclear power plant in 2019. Dominion Energy raised the possibility that Waterford-based Millstone might have to close if a deal was not reached. Before PURA suspended Eversources rate hike in late July 2020, the utilitys customers began paying nearly twice as much as before the special deal was put in place for the power generated by Millstone. Horton said the second option reflects an expectation that we expect the cost of Millstone will be cheaper this year. Rich Sobolewski, Connecticuts acting Consumer Counsel, was not immediately available for comment on Eversources rate filing. Horton said Eversources latest filing does not reflect costs the company incurred making repairs to its distribution network following Tropical Storm Isaias, which hit the state at last summer. Jim Judge, the companys chief executive officer, told energy industry analysts recently Eversource officials will seek to recover the $230 million the utility incurred as a result of the storm. Nearly 80 percent of those costs are attributed to bringing in mutual aid crews, hiring independent contractors, vegetation management crews and environmental cleanup. Isaias was one of the largest power outage events in the state's modern history. Thousands of residents remained without power more than a week after the storm hit and countless roads were blocked by damaged trees and power lines. luther.turmelle@hearstmediact.com Just after midnight on Monday morning, hairdressers in Germany opened their doors again to welcome a surge of shaggy-haired customers eager for cuts after months of closures. Coronavirus restrictions caused the nations 80,000 salons and barber shops to shut down in mid-December. After the reopening, some decided to get an early start at tackling the nations unruly tresses, offering their services from 12:01 a.m. Some toasted their middle-of-the-night reopenings with champagne and confetti. The relaxation of the regulations was a welcome moment of joy in Germany as the country struggles to deal with new variants, a slow vaccine rollout and the fallout from a national free antigen testing scheme that was announced but has failed to materialize. Other stores, like nurseries, flower shops and nail salons were also allowed to reopen on Monday, but all must adhere to strict rules on social distancing and mask wearing. Marco Trapani, who opened his salon in Dortmund, in western Germany, in the early hours of Monday, told reporters that he was booked for the entire month. Bild, a national tabloid, raffled off nighttime appointments to salons in Berlin. Thank you for reading! Please purchase a subscription to read our premium content. If you have a subscription, please log in or sign up for an account on our website to continue. Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - March 2, 2021) - World Copper Ltd. (TSXV: WCU) ("World Copper") announces an exploration update of its Chilean exploration activities on the Escalones property ("Escalones") and an update on the focus of the Company moving forward into 2021. Company Focus for 2021 Recent studies indicate that the shallow copper-oxide mineralization at Escalones could be amenable to heap leach processing, which would result in lower operating costs as well as significantly lower capital costs. The sulphide copper mineralization (see NR 21-04 for resource estimate details) at Escalones is partially to completely replaced and enriched from surface to depths of approximately 300m from surface by secondary copper oxides, sulphates and carbonates, resulting in higher grades at shallower depths. The evaluation of soluble copper potential is based on a database review of core photos, assays and core logs, and supported by almost 1200 sequential copper leach tests, representing 2040 metres of core, or roughly 16% of all oxidized intervals. Bottle roll leach tests will be undertaken to confirm the preliminary findings. Roughly two-thirds of the pit-constrained estimated resource is within the oxidized enrichment zone. Once the metallurgical tests are complete, an estimate of soluble copper resources will be carried out. The unexplored Mancha Amarilla lithocap ("Mancha Amarilla") extends one kilometre south from the main Escalones deposit. Evidence indicates this southern half of the Escalones alteration system is also deeply oxidized and could contain significant soluble copper mineralization. The focus of the Company during 2021 will be to further examine this new opportunity by surface sampling and mapping of the Mancha Amarilla target, followed by drill testing later this year. The Northern Escalones Porphyry Copper Targets The Company also reports that, despite the challenges of COVID-19 protocols in Chile, a geochemical sampling and mapping crew has been mobilized to evaluate the cluster of three distal porphyry copper targets ("Northern Targets"), located eight to ten kilometres to the north of Escalones and within the 162 km2 Escalones land package. These Northern Targets suggest significant potential, with surface alteration zones on the same scale as that of Escalones. The ongoing focus of this exploration will be to sample, map and conduct geophysics on the three anomalies in order to optimize drill targets. Preliminary results from initial efforts at the Rio Negro target indicate widespread porphyry-copper style alteration and mineralization. Results of this current exploration program will be released as information becomes available. Clockwise from top: Panoramic view to the south over the three northern targets, Rio Negro subcrop with chrysocolla and tenorite, Rio Negro copper oxide mineralization in dacite with quartz vein stockwork. To view an enhanced version of this image, please visit: https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/3653/75756_88e3126a34372a82_002full.jpg Cristal Project The Company continues to evaluate its Cristal porphyry copper project ("Cristal") located in the north of the country near the Peruvian border. Cristal is covered by younger post-mineral volcanics and occurs along the West Fissure fault system where the structure changes direction from N-S to NW-SE as it continues into southern Peru. The West Fissure or Domeyko fault system contains the majority of Chile's mega-copper mines including Escondida and Chuquicamata, among others. Geophysics over the buried Cristal target has indicated the presence of an anomalous magnetic low 'donut' and a strong magnetic inversion anomaly, characteristics of many of the world's largest porphyries. It is noteworthy to mention that Cristal is surrounded by most of the major international copper mining companies, including BHP, RTZ, Anglo American and AMSA (Antofagasta Minerals). "Cristal is one of the most promising as-yet undrilled porphyry copper targets in the country." stated Patrick Burns, President of World Copper. In summary, World Copper now controls five significant porphyry copper targets in Chile, including Escalones with its historic resource base and newly identified soluble copper potential. The recent increase in the copper price could be a potential game changer for World Copper. "This is our first operations press release since going public and we have hit the ground running. Our team is currently on-site expanding our knowledge of the Escalones asset in preparation for drilling later this year. Copper as an asset class has a significant tailwind as investors are increasingly aware of the looming global supply deficits. As the world ramps up from the COVID-19 situation of last year, demand for copper is set to hit new heights. On the capital markets, our Company has got off to a great start, with over one million shares on average trading per day. This liquidity shows the investor interest in World Copper and the opportunity our Company represents." stated Henk van Alphen, CEO of World Copper. Red Cloud Pre-PDAC Presentation Additionally, the Company announces that it will be participating at the Red Cloud Pre-PDAC Mining Showcase. World Copper CEO Henk van Alphen will be presenting on Wednesday, March 3rd 2021 at 10am PST / 1pm EST. An overview of the focus for 2021 and additional updates on the progress of the Company will be reviewed, with time for a Q&A at the end. Interested parties and shareholders of the Company are encouraged to sign up for the presentation here: Presentation Registration. Additional and more detailed information is available on the Company's website and social media pages listed below. Qualified Person John Drobe, P.Geo., a qualified person as defined by NI 43-101, has reviewed the scientific and technical information that forms the basis for this news release and has approved the disclosure herein. Mr. Drobe is not independent of the Company as he is a consultant of World Copper. ABOUT WORLD COPPER LTD. World Copper Ltd., headquartered in Vancouver, BC, is a Canadian resource company focused the exploration and development of its two primary copper porphyry projects, Escalones and Cristal, both located in Chile. World Copper has laid claim to five copper porphyry targets, one with estimated resources, significant soluble copper mineralization, and exciting potential to expand the resource base. The Escalones porphyry-skarn copper-gold project has estimated resources of 185 million tonnes of 0.33% copper (0.37% CuEq) Indicated and 254 million tonnes of 0.39% copper (0.43% CuEq) Inferred, based on nearly 25,000m of drill core from 53 holes. In addition, three significant hydrothermal alteration zones, each measuring between 2,000m and 3,000m in diameter, lie 8-10km to the north of the main discovery. Mineral resources are not mineral reserves and do not have demonstrated economic viability as there is no certainty that all or any part of the resources will be converted into reserves. Inferred resources are that part of a mineral resource for which quantity and grade or quality are estimated on the basis of limited geological evidence and sampling. It is reasonably expected that the inferred resources could be upgraded to indicated resources with continued exploration. The World Copper team has a unique skill in navigating the mining sector within Chile, with some members having worked in the country for more than 40 years and with discovery success. The Company recently applied for its common shares to trade on the OTCQB Venture Market ("OTCQB"), a US trading platform operated by the OTC Markets Group in New York. The Company will provide further information once its common shares commence trading. Detailed information is available at the Company's website at www.worldcopperltd.com, and for general Company updates you may follow us on our social media pages via Facebook, Twitter & LinkedIn. For further details on the Company readers are referred to the Company's website. To view the Company's Canadian regulatory filings, please visit SEDAR. On Behalf of the Board of Directors of WORLD COPPER LTD. "Hendrik van Alphen" Hendrik van Alphen Chief Executive Officer For further information, please contact: Henk van Alphen or Michael Pound Phone: 604-638-3665 E-mail: info@worldcopperltd.com Neither 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 news release. Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements This news release contains forward-looking statements and forward-looking information (collectively, "forward-looking statements") within the meaning of applicable Canadian and U.S. securities legislation, including the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, included herein including, without limitation, statements with respect to anticipated exploration program results from exploration activities, the discovery and delineation of mineral deposits/resources/reserves and the anticipated business plans and timing of future activities of World Copper are forward-looking statements. Although World Copper believes that such statements are reasonable, it can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. Forward-looking statements are typically identified by words such as: "believes", "expects", "anticipates", "intends", "estimates", "plans", "may", "should", "would", "will", "potential", "scheduled" or variations of such words and phrases and similar expressions, which, by their nature, refer to future events or results that may, could, would, might or will occur or be taken or achieved. In making the forward-looking statements in this news release, World Copper has applied several material assumptions, including without limitation" market fundamentals will result in sustained copper demand and prices, the receipt of any necessary permits, licenses and regulatory approvals in connection with the future development of World Copper's Chilean projects in a timely manner, including the Escalones Project and the Cristal Project, the availability of financing on suitable terms for the development, construction and continued operation of World Copper's projects and its ability to comply with environmental, health and safety laws. Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of World Copper to differ materially from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking information. Such risks and other factors include, among others, operating and technical difficulties in connection with mineral exploration and development activities, actual results of exploration activities, including on the Escalones Project and the Cristal Project, the estimation or realization of mineral reserves and mineral resources, the fact that World Copper's interests in the Cristal Project and the Escalones exploitation concessions are options only and there is no guarantee that such interests, if earned, will be certain, the timing and amount of estimated future production, the costs of production, capital expenditures, the costs and timing of the development of new deposits, requirements for additional capital, future prices of copper, changes in general economic conditions, changes in the financial markets and in the demand and market price for commodities, lack of investor interest in future financings, accidents, labour disputes and other risks of the mining industry, delays in obtaining governmental approvals, permits or financing or in the completion of development or construction activities, risks relating to epidemics or pandemics such as COVID-19, including the impact of COVID-19 on World Copper's business, financial condition and results of operations, changes in laws, regulations and policies affecting mining operations, title disputes, the inability of World Copper to obtain any necessary permits, consents, approvals or authorizations, the timing and possible outcome of any pending litigation, environmental issues and liabilities, and risks related to joint venture operations, and other risks and uncertainties disclosed in World Copper's continuous disclosure documents. All of World Copper's Canadian public disclosure filings may be accessed via www.sedar.com and readers are urged to review these materials, including the Escalones Technical Report and the technical report on the Cristal Project, when filed. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. World Copper does not undertake any obligation to update any of the forward-looking statements in this news release or incorporated by reference herein, except as otherwise required by law. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/75756 One of the big stories of the coronavirus pandemic has been COVID-19 neutralizing antibodies (NAbs). NAbs are produced by B cells within the immune system and are characterized by stopping infections through incapacitation of the invading pathogen. Coronavirus NAbs were heralded as a possible treatment and diagnostic target from the moment of the announcement of their discovery in May 2020. NAbs from SARS-CoV-2 usually form approximately 1-2 weeks following infection. Serologic tests cannot diagnose acute infections but can expand the time for the testing window to beyond the acute infection phase. The assays are used to assist in the tracking of infection chains and can also be used to answer epidemiological, virological, and clinic questions, including, but not limited to, whether a robust antibody response has occurred and how many infected individuals have remained asymptomatic. The research use-only (RUO) designation has been applied to almost all coronavirus NAb assays. This designation carries no warrantee except for their contents and also does not indicate any level of adherence to the quality or regulatory directives. In cases where there is provided validation, documentation, or certifications of quality or purity, it is to differentiate products from each other, not as a regulatory requirement. Conversely, IVDs, or in vitro diagnostics, are highly regulated and approved medical devices that are developed in accordance with ISO 13485 guidance and following jurisdictional regulations like the European In Vitro Diagnostic Regulation and CE marking. An exercise in risk management The journey from RUO to IVD can be challenging due to patient variability, and this still applies to coronavirus NAbs. The Director of International Sales and Marketing for EUROIMMUN, a PerkinElmer company, has remarked, the concentration of NAbs in the blood varies greatly from person to person. The correlations between disease immunity status and antibody level become less clear when there is a wide range of NAb titers; this can be a problem in the world of health regulation where this lack of clarity is equated to risk. Regulators of IVDs are concerned mainly with risk, and that the device does what it promises, nothing more and nothing less. The performance data required depends on the complexity and type of test. Which include clinical data supporting limits of detection, reproducibility, and performance in the presence of interfering substances. Commercializing an IVD is not trivial. It requires significant capital plus a network of teams working towards a common goal. At its core, IVD approval is a task in risk management. Marcus Manocha, Custom Services Manager, Absolute Antibody Regulatory bodies have allowed exceptions to the expected approval protocols for COVID-19 serologic (antibody) diagnostics as they have with therapeutics based on coronavirus NAbs. The Agency does this through the use of EUAs, or Emergency Use Authorizations. EUAs are issued by the FDA as needed to bypass years or months of development but only remain active for the emergencys duration. Currently, it is unclear what lessons regulators will learn from 2020 and how they will be applied to the revision of the risk-benefit algorithms that will be applied to future device and drug approvals; it is possible one result will be more streamlined licensing of critical products that follow under their purview. PRNT and improved PRNT Among the various immunoglobulins raised in response to infection, coronavirus NAbs are unique. This is because they block the interaction between ACE2 (the cognate receptor) and the coronavirus spike protein receptor binding domain. Or, they prevent the transferral of genes to host cells by viruses. The placement of the designated signal cutoff dictates the interpretation of semi-quantitative NAb assays either way. Assays like ELISA, lateral flow, and bead-based assays detect binding, not functional inhibition of infection. Aan ideal assay measures NAb levels as well as their activity in blocking infection. Anis H. Khimani, Senior Strategy and Market Segment Leader, PerkinElmer A test known as Anti-SARS-CoV-2 QuantiVac Elisa (IgG) was recently released by PerkinElmers EUROIMMUN business unit. This test incorporates a recombinant S1 subunit of the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein. Fencher has said, this assay detects and quantifies anti-S1 IgG antibodies in standardized, comparable units referenced to the World Health Organization's standard for Anti-SARS-CoV-2 IgG, and correlates well with an FDA EUA Neutralization Antibody Detection Kit. He added, "this assay has already been CE-marked and we plan to file a request for its emergency use authorization with the FDA." PRNT, or the plaque reduction neutralization test, uses appropriate host cells and virus suspension to detect levels of neutralization or infection and is the gold standard for neutralization assays. This process requires Biosafety Level 3 facilities and is time-consuming and cumbersome. For these reasons, there is more general use of the more convenient and higher-throughput ELISA-based NAb assay kits. Automated plate-imaging capabilities have been developed for PRNT assays, which maintains test consistency and accuracy while providing assay throughput. Khimani notes, migrating assays from the conventional 24-well plate assay format to 96-well or higher formats, combined with imaging capabilities and algorithm-supported data analysis, significantly enhances the value of NAb detection. Additionally enhanced are the utility and general accessibility of PRNT. Sidestepping Post-treatment or vaccine-induced protective immunity are quantified during clinical trials through the use of NAb assays in addition to their use for therapeutic and surveillance work. Product Development Scientist at ACROBiosystems, Prajwal Paudel, comments NAb assays can also assess the effectiveness of vaccines in generating immunity against novel strains. He has additionally stated, NAb tests cannot, however, diagnose an active infection. The CE mark has been awarded to ACROBiosystems for their assay kit for measuring the NAb blocking of SARS-CoV-2 RBD binding to ACE2 protein. The lengthy 510k IVS approval process is sidestepped by EUAs. However, EUAs still require the disclosure of calibration and control material(s), product manufacturing, assay steps, and test principle, as well as setting criteria for result interpretation, assay performance, processing and collection methods, and sample qualification. Paudel has told Biocompare that particularly for COVID-19 serologic tests, regulators require evaluation in at least 30 unique SARS-CoV-2 RT-PCR positive patients as well as 75 negative samples to provide results with 95% confidence interval." Assay cutoffs should be established through the use of independent samples, and tests must demonstrate sensitivity with 95% negative percent agreement and 90% positive percent agreement with the comparator serum PRNT assay. Paudel says there is an assessment of cross-reactivity with 12 viral infection samples, including respiratory syncytial virus, HIV, common cold coronavirus, and influenza. It is also recommended that there are at least anti-HIV positive samples. Currently, there is no requirement to provide mutant strain reactivity or inclusivity in the EUA application. Not yet, but how those variants affect the NAb protectivity in vaccinated and recovered population need to be closely monitored. ACROBiosystems have been quickly developing SARS-CoV-2 mutant proteins to support these kinds of studies, such as the UK B1.1.7 and South African variants." Prajwal Paudel, Product Development Scientist, ACROBiosystems About ACROBiosystems ACROBiosystems is a leading manufacturer of recombinant proteins and other critical reagents to support the development of target therapeutics. The company employs an application-oriented development strategy, with a particular focus on product design, quality control, and solution-based support. Our products and services enable anyone in the field of drug development to have a more intuitive and streamlined process. To respond to the coronavirus pandemic, ACROBiosystems has developed SARS-CoV-2 antigens specifically designed and optimized for serological test kits, including Spike-derived antigen S1, RBD, and Nucleocapsid protein. Proteins have been supplied to diagnostic companies in large quantities. Sponsored Content Policy: News-Medical.net publishes articles and related content that may be derived from sources where we have existing commercial relationships, provided such content adds value to the core editorial ethos of News-Medical.Net which is to educate and inform site visitors interested in medical research, science, medical devices and treatments. Pontins used a secret blacklist titled 'undesirable guests' to ban customers with 40 common Irish surnames in a bid to stop Traveller families booking holidays at its resorts. Families with surnames including Boyle, Doherty and Gallagher were all barred by the company, with staff told 'we do not want these guests on our parks'. Employees also monitored calls and refused customers with Irish accents. A whistle-blower reported the firm to the Equalities and Human Rights Commission, which found Pontins was guilty of 'unlawful' discrimination. Downing Street led the condemnation today, describing the leisure firm's policy as 'completely unacceptable'. Pontins used a secret blacklist titled 'undesirable guests' and banned customers with 40 common Irish surnames in a bid to stop Traveller families booking holidays at its parks Full list of surnames blacklisted by Pontins Boylan Boyle Carney Carr Cash Connors Corcoran Delaney Doherty Dorran Gallagher Horan Keefe Kell Leahy Lee Maclaughlin McAlwick McCully McDonagh McGinley McGinn McGuiness McHarg McLaughan McMahon Millighan Mongans Murphy Nolan O'Brien O'Connell O'Donnell O'Donoghue O'Mahoney O'Reilly Sheriadan Stokes Walch Ward Advertisement An unnamed Pontins employee blew the whistle last February, prompting an EHRC investigation. A message printed alongside the blacklist, first revealed by i News, told staff: 'Please be aware that several guests are unwelcome at Pontins, however some of these will still try and book - especially during school holidays. 'We have been informed by our Operations Director that we do not want these guests on our parks.' By declining to provide its services to guests of a certain race or ethnic group, Pontins was directly discriminating on the basis of race and breached the Equality Act 2010, the commission found. Discriminatory practices included the 'undesirable guests' list, published on its intranet page, monitoring calls within its contact centre and refusing or cancelling any bookings that were made by people with an Irish accent or surname, and using its Commercial Vehicles policy to exclude Gypsies and Travellers from its holiday parks. The Prime Minister's spokesman said today: 'No one in the UK should be discriminated against because of their race or ethnicity. 'It's right that the Equalities and Human Rights Commission and Pontins investigate and address this.' The EHRC said today it has now signed a legally binding agreement with Pontins' parent company, Britannia Jinky Jersey Limited, to prevent racial discrimination. The commission's executive director, Alastair Pringle, said: 'It is hard not to draw comparisons with an 'undesirable guests' list and the signs displayed in hotel windows fifty years ago, explicitly barring Irish people and Black people. 'Banning people from services based on their race is discrimination and is unlawful. To say that such policies are outdated is an understatement. 'It is right to challenge such practices and any business that believes this is acceptable should think again before they find themselves facing legal action. 'We will continue to work with Pontins and Britannia Jinky Jersey to ensure that our agreement is adhered to and its practices improve.' A spokesperson from Britannia Jinky Jersey said: 'Britannia Jinky Jersey Limited has agreed to work together with the Equality and Human Rights Commission to further enhance its staff training and procedures in order to further promote equality throughout its business.' The agreement requires Pontins to conduct an investigation into the Undesirable guest list to ensure appropriate action is taken within the organisation and that lessons are learned. Families with surnames including Boyle, Doherty and Gallagher were all banned by the company, with staff told 'we do not want these guests on our parks' It must also commission a review of its current intelligence system, booking policies and commercial vehicle policy to ensure they are not operating in a discriminatory way, and consider any recommendations, provide enhanced training on equality law for staff in its Human Resources team and members of Senior Management and provide training on equality and diversity for all customer facing staff on an annual basis. The company should also appoint Equality, Diversity and Inclusion champions across the organisation, the EHRC said. Pontins has been approached for further comment. Deputy Minister of Health Truong Quoc Cuong has said COVID-19 vaccination will begin right after the Ministry of Health receives an accreditation certificate from the Republic of Korea (RoK), scheduled for late this week or early next week. An overview of the press conference (Photo: VNA) At the Governments regular press conference in Hanoi on March 2, Cuong said the first batch of AstraZeneca vaccine, manufactured in the RoK, arrived in Vietnam on February 24.The Ministry of Health assigned the National Institute for Control of Vaccine and Biologicals to verify the batch of vaccine, which has been basically completed. It is now waiting for an accreditation certificate from the RoK before beginning the vaccination. According to the official, the vaccination is in line with the Governments Resolution No. 21/NQ-CP on the purchase and use of COVID-19 vaccines, which details nine priority groups for free inoculation. Besides these groups, pandemic-hit localities will also be prioritised and Hai Duong province will be one of the first provinces and cities to get access to the vaccine. According to the Resolution, individuals and organisations are also encouraged to voluntarily pay for vaccine shots. When more vaccines are available, the Government is ready to expand inoculation for all having demand to achieve community immunisation. As scheduled, another batch of AstraZeneca vaccine along with COVAX Facility vaccine will be delivered in late April. The ministry has prepared infrastructure and resources for storage and vaccination, he said./.VNA Bombay HC allows Varavara Rao to furnish cash surety for release India oi-Madhuri Adnal Mumbai, Mar 01: The Bombay High Court on Monday allowed ailing poet-activist Varavara Rao, accused in the Elgar Parishad-Maoist links case, to furnish a temporary cash surety for release on bail until the process of submitting solvent sureties is completed. Rao (82) was last week granted interim bail on medical grounds for six months by the HC which had asked him to furnish a personal bond of Rs 50,000 and two solvent sureties of the like amount. Later, the activist, who is currently admitted in the Nanavati Hospital here since November last year, filed an application in the HC to allow him to furnish cash surety to seek urgent release as the process of submitting solvent sureties was taking time. A division bench of Justices S S Shinde and Manish Pitale on Monday allowed Rao to furnish a cash surety of Rs 50,000 and gave him time till April 5 to submit the two solvent sureties of the same amount. The case is being probed by the National Investigation Agency (NIA). Varavara Rao seeks HC nod for cash bonds in lieu of sureties for bail On February 24, Rao filed the application seeking modification of the bail order and permissionto deposit temporary cash bonds before the NIA court here, instead of the solvent sureties. Rao''s counsel Anand Grover had said the procedure for obtaining sureties was time-taking. He had sought permission to deposit the cash bonds for a period of two months and complete the solvent sureties formalities in such period. Rao will be released from the hospital once the bail formalities are completed. The high court while granting him bail imposed several conditions on his release, including a direction to him to remain in the city, within the jurisdiction of the NIA court in Mumbai. After the six-month period, Rao will have to either surrender before the trial court or approach the HC for extension of the bail period. 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. Farmers' Protest: Delhi's Ghazipur border partially opens for vehicular traffic| Oneindia News The police have claimed the conclave was organised by people with alleged Maoist links. New Vietnamese and Mexican food vendors opened their counters at Auction House Market today, and several upcoming food events have been announced. Em Trai Sandwich Co. and La Mezcla opened today at Auction House Market in the Warehouse District. Restaurateur Tung Nguyen ran his T2 Street Food stand at St. Roch Market before he moved across St. Claude Avenue to open Em Trai Sandwich Co. in fall 2019. His menu includes traditional and creative Vietnamese dishes, from pho to banh mi. The new location at Auction House has a menu with pho, bao, banh mi, spring rolls, rice noodle salads, vermicelli bowls and more. Also at Auction House, Yvonne Molina is reviving her Mexican food concept. She once ran a La Mezcla at St. Roch Market. The new location's menu includes quesadillas, burritos, a taco salad and elote, or Mexican street food-style corn on the cob. Taco fillings include beef, Gulf shrimp and a vegetarian version with potato and carrots. There also are changing specials such as birria tacos, enchiladas, sopes, soups and more. Auction House Market is at 801 Magazine St. It is open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Wednesday through Monday. Emmylou's becomes Buttermilk at St. Roch Market. Shannon Bingham opened Emmylou's to focus on Texas-style barbecue in January 2020. He has changed his concept, moved his location within the market and has renamed it Buttermilk. The new menu focuses on fried chicken. There are five fried chicken sandwiches with toppings ranging from coleslaw and pickles to pimiento cheese, candied jalapenos and barbecue sauce. The menu also has fried chicken tenders, fries, a kale and cabbage salad and snacks such as deviled eggs and spicy popcorn chicken. Buttermilk opens today. St. Roch Market is at 2381 St. Claude Ave. It is open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Sunday through Wednesday and 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. Thursday through Saturday. Chefs Alison Vega-Knoll and Chris Wilson opened the Larder Metairie The new business is set up like a carefully curated gourmet market, with a busy counter for breakfast, lunch and dinner dishes. Spring Greek Feast is a food pick-up event on March 20. New Orleans Greek Fest, the annual celebration of Greek food, music, dancing and culture, usually takes place on Memorial Day weekend at the Hellenic Cultural Center on Bayou St. John. Festival organizers are holding this Spring Greek Feast. Patrons can order online up to March 7 and can pick-up food on March 20. There's a large menu, including many pastries. There is roasted lamb shank with lemon potatoes and green beans; moussaka with eggplant, potatoes and meat sauce; a bifteki pita wrap features a lamb and beef patty topped with red onions, lettuce, tomato and tzatziki; there's pizza topped with eggplant, onions, spinach, artichoke, feta and mozzarella; orzo salad is mixed with Kalamata olives, grape tomatoes, capers and feta; and there also are salads, Greek lentil soup and feta dip with roasted peppers. Baked items include almond rolls, baklava, galaktoboureko and breads. The New Orleans Wine and Food Experience announced a series of events that will take place June 10-June 13. The annual wine and food event normally features tastings of hundreds of wines and food by local restaurants as well as seminars and experiences, such as fishing trips with local chefs. This year, there are a handful of events with limited tickets available to allow for physical distancing. Events include VINOLA, a tasting of higher-end wines; Grand Tastings at the Sugar Mill on Friday, June 11, and Saturday, June 12; a rose-sampling event at Fulton Street on Saturday, June 12; and a burlesque brunch at the Omni Royal Orleans on Sunday, June 13. Tickets and information are at the festival website. Chefs Jasmine Rogers and Alex Davis opened vegan Coalesce Goods at St. Roch Market Chefs Jasmine Rogers and Alex Davis are natives of Houston who met while working in New Orleans restaurants, including Gordon Biersch Brewery Rosalita's Backyard Tacos serves Mexican favorites in Bywater Rosalitas Backyard Tacos may be the only taco joint named for an alley. Back in May 2020, Google announced changes in the company's search algorithm that is expected to be implemented this 2021. However, new updates usually make things more complicated for Search Engine Optimization (SEO) professionals. StatCounter, a reliable web traffic analysis website, noted the dominance of the Google search engine, It highlighted that the search engine has an 81 percent market share for desktops and 94 percent on mobile. Three Google Search Engine Metric Updates There are three metrics, according to an article by builtin, that have changed when it comes to ranking websites from first to last and how Google presents the websites to users searching for certain websites. The first metric calculates the loading time of a website, its images, content, videos and texts. As for the second metric, it measures how quick does a website respond to navigation, as well as the the length of delay which is the time between when a user would try to interact with content within the page. Fionally, the third metric measures how a website's layout shifts during the loading process. This is called the cumulative layout shift. Now, an article by Business2Community noted the other differences expected to come this May 2021 as Google rolls out its big searchupdate. According to the report, the techgiant is expected to focus more on "page experience"--especially the three Core Web Vitals. Google Search 2021: What Are the Core Web Vitals? As noted by the B2C report, the Core Web Vitals include the LCP or Largest Contentful Paint, which required loading time to be within 2.5 seconds. Another Core Web Vitals are the FID or First Input Delay, which tracks the speed of interactiveness; and CLS or Cumulative Layout Shift, which requires a page's visual stability score to be less than 0.1 SEO Page Score Along with the Core Web Vitals, a few factors like the site's code, hosting provider and number of images within a page will also be used to determine the site's ranking. As usual, mobile-friendliness, safe browsing and a secure HTTPS protocol is still necessary. Google BERT With the new update, sites need to put emphasis on BERT or Bidirectional Encoder Representations from Transformers. Put simply, this technology helps match content to the searchers intent. In order to ensure that your content is what users want and need, be sure to study what's ranking, categorize the search term's intent and understand customers' needs. For example, when a user searches for "SEO Guide," content that provide actual SEO guide instead of SEO tools or service will rank better. EAT guidelines For what it's worth, SEO professionals agree that EAT will continue to be more crucial. Here's what sites need to have in order to rank high and stay that way on Google search engine: Expertise - demonstrate expertise to Google Authority - whether the website is perceived as reliable Trustworthiness - show credibility Optimizing for Voice Search On the other hand, as B2C reported, voice search could be crucial in the upcoming update. After all, a study made by Perficient reveals that 55 percent of people use voice search on their smartphones. With that said, sites and developers can add a speakable schema markup, according to SearchEngineWatch. Optimizing website for long-tail conversational keywords is necessary, as well as optimizing local search for local business. Studying analytics and data and writing content in a conversational manner, as if you're talking directly to a person, are a must. Read Also: Why SEO Isn't Working Well for Your Brand Doing SEO Research There are a whole lot of other ways to improve SEO. These techniques, however, vary depending on the company, the brand, the target audience, the language shared, and other factors. Considering that, here are a few ways to do SEO research and succeed. Find the core keywords Research competitors SWOT analysis Discover organic competitors Prepare list of keywords that are relevant Analyze search intent of keywords Answer unique question keywords Focus on search volume, ranking difficulty, relevant trends, and intent-based searches Related Article: Does Host Location Matter for Google & SEO? has emerged the highest bidder in the 4G auction, which concluded on Tuesday in just six rounds, beating incumbents and by a wide margin. The Centre would get Rs 77,815 crore from the two-day auction one of the shortest in a decade. While the amount has exceeded the government expectation, the total mop-up is far below the Rs 3.92 trillion worth of airwaves put up for sale. Spectrum has been sold across a few preferred bands at the base price. In fact, on Tuesday, the total bid amount inched up by less than Rs 700 crore from the previous days close at Rs 77,146 crore. has bagged more than 50 per cent of the total quantum of airwaves sold by paying Rs 57,122.65 crore. Of the 855.6 megahertz of spectrum sold, Jio has got 488 megahertz. The company spent more than 60 per cent of this amount on buying spectrum in the 800 Mhz band the next best bet after the most expensive 700 Mhz band which went unsold once more. bought Rs 18,698.75 crore worth of spectrum with the bulk of its purchase in the 2300 Mhz band. Financially-stressed purchased the least amount of spectrum at Rs 1,993.40 crore. The hopes to garner Rs 19,000-20,000 crore as upfront payment from this auction before the end of the current financial year. ALSO READ: Spectrum auctions: Jio says total owned airwaves footprint up significantly We want to ensure that we keep on enhancing experiences, not only for our existing customers, but also for the next 300 million users who will move to digital services. With our increased spectrum footprint, we are ready to further expand the digital footprint in India as well as get ourselves ready for the imminent 5G rollout, Mukesh D Ambani, Chairman, Reliance Industries, said in a statement. Bharti Airtel, which had earlier said that it would bid for 4G to fill in its spectrum gaps, believes the latest auction would enable it to continue delivering quality mobile broadband experience. We are most excited at bringing the power of Airtel services to an additional 90 million customers in India through the power of our Pan India Sub GHz footprint," Gopal Vittal, MD & CEO (India & South Asia), Bharti Airtel, said in a statement. ALSO READ: Airtel buys Rs 18,699-cr radiowaves; Voda acquires spectrum in 5 circles too issued a statement to say the company had used the auction opportunity to optimize spectrum holding and create further efficiencies in some circles. The auction results will be scrutinised by an inter-ministerial panel and reviewed by finance and telecom ministers. The exercise is expected to be completed in the next 10 days, after which the will be given another 10 days to deposit the upfront amount. Keeping the current scenario in mind, we had anticipated to get Rs 45,000-50,000 crore from these auctions as a lot of the spectrum on offer is renewal spectrum, Telecom Secretary Anshu Prakash told reporters. Of the total available spectrum of 2308 megahertz, 855.60 megahertz was sold in the auctions. A total of 37 per cent of the spectrum by quantity and 19 per cent by value was sold. Nearly 65 per cent of the 800 Mhz spectrum on offer and 89 per cent of the airwaves offered in the 2300 Mhz band were sold. Both 2500 Mhz and 700 Mhz premium spectrum went unsold. The industry had opposed the steep reserve price recommended by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) in certain bands. The last spectrum auctions were held in October 2016, fetching the government Rs 65,789 crore in revenue. New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the 'Maritime India Summit 2021' via video conference. The Maritime India Summit 2021 is being organised by the Ministry of Ports, Shipping, and Waterways on a virtual platform from March 2-4. The summit will visualise a roadmap for India's maritime sector for the next decade and will work to propel India to the forefront of the global maritime sector, the statement said. It will be participated by many nations, including Russia, Uzbekistan, Qatar, Denmark, Iran, Afghanistan, and Armenia. Eminent speakers from several countries are expected to attend the summit and explore the potential business opportunities and investments in Indian Maritime domain, it said. Denmark is the partner country for the three-day summit. Notably, the government is aiming to attract investment worth Rs 3.39 lakh crore during Maritime India Summit 2021 in various projects. "The Ministry of Ports, Shipping, and Waterways (MoPSW) are in process of finalising more than 487 MoUs for investments worth approx Rs 3.39 lakh Crore," said the government statement on Monday. Live TV These are likely to be signed during the second edition of the Maritime India Summit to be held from March 2 to 4. These MoUs will be signed with different coastal states and stakeholders of the sector, said the statement, adding that these agreements are focused on attracting investment, skilling, and generating employment in the sector. It further said that the signing of these MoUs will help in streamlining the process of ship maneuvering, resulting in more business to the ports and economic stability to the sector and its stakeholders. Minister of Ports, Shipping and Waterways Mansukh Mandaviya launched an e-brochure of Maritime India Summit 2021. The statement said there is a good response to the summit with more than 1.70 lakhs registrations done so far. "Denmark has made its strong presence as the Country Partner for the 3-day summit. Maritime India Summit 2021 has got a huge response from across the world. Ministers from 7 countries will be participating from countries like Russia, Uzbekistan, Qatar, Denmark, Iran, Afghanistan, Armenia," the statement said. Ambassadors from 24 countries will be participating in India's biggest Maritime event. Over 110 companies are participating in the virtual exhibition, including ports, maritime states and private companies. Delegates from around 100 countries will participate in the Summit, the statement said, adding 31 foreign CEOs and 57 foreign speakers have confirmed their participation. (With Agency Inputs) Anglo-Australian supply chain finance group Greensill Capital says it has moved closer to a deal to sell its operating business. Greensill has entered a period of exclusivity with a leading global financial institution with a view to concluding a transaction with them this week, the firm said in a statement. Any deal is expected to include large parts of Greensills business and its assets under management, the firm said. Founded by Australian Lex Greensill in Bundaberg in 2011, Greensill has grown into being one of the biggest supply chain financiers in the world and has been lauded as one of Australias great exports. Credit:Peter Braig Greensill has been considering options including insolvency and discussed selling its operating business to Apollo Global Management, according to people familiar with the matter. Greensill was left scrambling on Monday night after its financial backer Credit Suisse froze billions of dollars of funds the supply chain finance group had relied on as buyers of the debt securities it issues. LOS ANGELES, March 2, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Lucy Goods Inc., a provider of next generation nicotine products, announced today that data from their Premarket Tobacco Applications ("PMTA") was accepted for publication and included in presentations at the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco ("SRNT") conference. The PMTA was submitted, accepted, and filed for scientific review by the FDA in 2020 and the expediency of the process is a testament to Lucy's work in the space. Of the efficacy of the data, Dr. Willie McKinney PhD., DABT notes, "The science we provided the FDA shows that LUCY is a significantly better alternative for adult tobacco users. The health risks are negligible, and the population benefits can't be ignored. Furthermore, youth do not use LUCY and non-tobacco users are not interested. The Lucy Goods, Inc., PMTA's clearly demonstrate that LUCY meets all the criteria needed to receive market authorizations." Catharine Dockery, Founding Partner at Vice Ventures, an investor in Lucy, says, "We're incredibly excited to see Lucy's harm reduction findings and their presentation at SRNT. One of the most attractive aspects of this investment and Lucy's founding team are their views on harm reduction and their goal of bringing tobacco's negative effects to zero. From the start, the company demonstrated real leadership in the space, coupling scientific and creative expertise with strong morals. We are proud and humbled to be along for the ride." For the reader's convenience, summaries of the abstracts presented at SRNT are provided below: Summary 1 (Lee) Using a FDA-validated model and real-world data on smoking rates in the US population, we looked at what the public health impact of LUCY would have been over a period of 20 years if LUCY had been introduced in 1999. We find that, based on conservative estimates of the relative harm of LUCY compared to smoking, up to 120,000 lives could have been saved over that 20 year period. This is equal to the entire population of Ann Arbor, Michigan. Summary 2 (Olson) A collection of data from both actual LUCY users and people unfamiliar with the brand have confirmed several key points. First, that people who have not used LUCY understand that the product contains Nicotine and is thus still addictive. Second, LUCY may appeal to smokers who wish to quit as well as smokers who wish to continue using nicotine but are interested in decreasing or replacing their cigarette consumption. Finally, LUCY products do not appeal to people who have never smoked or people who have already quit smoking. Summary 3 (Cyrus-Miller) A toxicology analysis shows that LUCY contains extremely low levels (in many cases so low as to be unquantifiable) of known major carcinogens present in tobacco products. In cases where LUCY products contained any levels of potentially harmful chemicals, they were present at levels either lower or comparable to the leading name brand pharmaceutical nicotine gum. Smoking remains the leading cause of preventable cause of death worldwide and in the US, and harm reduction (providing smokers with nicotine products that do not contain combusted tobacco) has proven to be a successful tobacco control strategy in other countries. Many tobacco consumers in the US are not motivated to switch to less harmful products because they are still unaware of the relative risks associated with consuming different nicotine products. A key reason for this problem is the lack of publicity acknowledging that nicotine itself is not the main cause of harm in tobacco products. Products like LUCY can be critical tools for harm reduction efforts here in the US and we are grateful to our investors including RRE, Greycroft, and Vice Ventures who believe in a rational and data-driven approach to solving the greatest public health crisis of our time. Abstracts Below: WHAT MIGHT THE POPULATION HEALTH IMPACT HAVE BEEN HAD CHEW AND PARK ORAL TOBACCO PRODUCTS BEEN INTRODUCED INTO THE U.S. MARKET IN 1990? Peter Lee1 , John Fry2 , Neil Sherwood3 , Samy Hamdouche4 , Willie McKinney5 . 1 P N Lee Statistics and Computing Ltd., Sutton, United Kingdom, 2 RoeLee Statistics Ltd., Sutton, United Kingdom, 3 Neil Sherwood Consulting, Nyon, Switzerland, 4 Lucy Goods, Inc., Los Angeles, CA, USA, 5 McKinney Regulatory Science Advisors, LLC., Henrico, VA, USA. The FDA Center for Tobacco Products has encouraged the use of computational models to estimate potential changes (positive or negative) in public health following the introduction of a new tobacco product. LUCY CHEW AND PARK (LUCY) is a noncombustible oral gum-like product that contains 4 mg of tobacco-derived nicotine and is intended for, and marketed to, adult tobacco consumers for non-therapeutic use. LUCY therefore meets the definition of a tobacco product as set forth in the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. In preparation for a Premarket Tobacco Product Application, a Population Health Impact Model (Lee et al. 2017) was employed to examine what the impact on public health would have been over a 20 year period if LUCY had been introduced to the U.S. Market in 1990. With a conservative assumption that use of LUCY presents 5% of the risk of smoking cigarettes and under five different prevalence scenarios, the estimated reductions in death from four major smoking-related diseases combined (i.e. ischemic heart disease IHD, lung cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease COPD, and stroke) ranged from 16,528 to 70,307 in males and 8,929 to 40,405 in females, with associated years of life saved ranging from 0.190 to 1.012 million in males and 0.096 to 0.482 in females. Modifying the risk for LUCY and sensitivity analyses did not markedly change the finding of a positive outcome on public health. These results suggest that the continued marketing of LUCY may contribute to a significant reduction in deaths from IHD, lung cancer COPD and stroke among cigarette smokers and lead to a saving of millions of life-years. PERCEPTION AND INTENTION STUDIES - MAKING SENSE OF BEHAVIOR RESEARCH FOR NEW TOBACCO PRODUCTS Cheryl K. Olson, M.P.H., Sc.D.1 , Neil Sherwood, Ph.D.2 , Samy Hamdouche, Ph.D.3 , Willie McKinney, Ph.D.4 . 1 Cheryl K. Olson Sc.D., LLC, San Carlos, CA, USA, 2 Neil Sherwood Consulting, Nyon, Vaud, Switzerland, 3 Lucy Goods, Inc., Los Angeles, CA, USA, 4 McKinney Regulatory Science Advisors, LLC, Henrico, VA, USA. Perception, intention, and behavior studies are critical to help industry, regulators and the public understand how novel tobacco products may be used or misused, and their potential benefits or risks. Smaller companies or those new to regulatory requirements may struggle to understand what's needed and why. On October 27, the FDA issued draft guidance for industry on designing and conducting tobacco perception and intention studies. To illustrate how this guidance may be used, our presentation will share results of perception, intention and actual use behavior studies prepared for a premarket tobacco application for LUCY, a noncombustible oral gum-like product that contains 4 mg of tobacco-derived nicotine which is intended for, and marketed to, adult tobacco consumers for non-therapeutic use. The factors which influenced the research approach are explained and the results and planning of those studies are used to illuminate the practical difficulties and utility of behavioral research on novel tobacco products. CHARACTERIZATION OF CHEW AND PARK ORAL TOBACCO DERIVED NICOTINE PRODUCTS Helen Faye Cyrus-Miller. HFCyrus-Miller, LLC, Sandston, VA, USA. LUCY is a noncombustible oral gum-like product that contains tobacco-derived nicotine and is intended for, and marketed to, adult tobacco consumers for non-therapeutic use. LUCY therefore meets the definition of a tobacco product as set forth in the FD&C Act and is regulated by the FDA Center for Tobacco Products. In preparation for a premarket tobacco application, we measured the FDA-established HPHCs for smokeless tobacco in LUCY and compared the results to other commercially available oral tobacco products, including an oral nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) product. Additionally, a toxicological risk assessment was conducted for all quantifiable non-nicotine HPHCs, with an estimated daily exposure assumption of 100% bioavailability from a maximum use of 24 pieces/day. Results show that LUCY contains nicotine levels similar to nicotine polacrilex (NRT) gum (4 mg) and similar HPHC levels. Measured HPHCs were either absent or significantly reduced when compared to other oral tobacco products. When compared to established regulatory values, estimated daily exposure to each of the quantifiable HPHCs was below established the lifetime regulatory limit for each analyte. In conclusion, levels of HPHC in LUCY suggests negligible toxicological concern for lifetime exposure and are similar to, or lower than, HPHC levels of smokeless tobacco products that are grandfathered or currently have FDA market authorization. SOURCE Lucy Goods Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Gujarat: 47-year-old cyclist slapped with challan for riding on wrong side of road Gujarat Panchayat Election Results 2021: State Cong chief, opposition leader quit India pti-Deepika S Ahmedabad, Mar 02: In view of the Congress'' debacle in the elections to local bodies in Gujarat, state unit president Amit Chavda and Leader of Opposition Paresh Dhanani resigned from their posts on Tuesday. Chavda said people had raised doubts about EVMs and all these things should be probed. A party spokesperson said it was now up to the top brass of the Congress to decide the future course of action. "Taking the responsibility of the election results as state Congress chief, I have submitted my resignation to party president Sonia Gandhi," Chavda told reporters, adding that he would work as a common party worker from now on. On Tuesday, the ruling BJP won all the 31 district panchayats, 70 out of 81 municipalities, and was far ahead of its main rival Congress in the 231 taluka panchayats. The saffron party has won 6,110 out of the total 8,474 seats for which results have been declared so far. The Congress could bag only 1,768 seats and has won only three municipalities but failed to open account in any district panchayat. The Grand Old Party could win only a few taluka panchayat bodies. Gujarat Panchayat Election Results 2021: Gujarat firmly with BJP's development agenda, says PM Modi "The election results are totally opposite to what our expectations were. We had received good responses from people during our campaigning but results do not reflect it. People have raised doubts on EVMs and all these things should be probed," Chavda said. Gujarat Congress spokesperson Manish Doshi confirmed that Dhanani has also sent his resignation to the party leadership in Delhi. "The party leadership has received both the resignations. Now it is up to the party brass to decide on the replacement of these leaders," Doshi said. He said the Central leadership of the Congress has asked Chavda and Dhanani to continue on their posts till the time their replacements are announced. In the first phase of civic polls held last month in Gujarat, the BJP had won all the six municipal corporations. It would be satisfying to sanction Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman for his role in the torture and murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. It would be satisfying, for that matter, to cut off all ties with Saudi Arabia, a tyrannical kingdom thats inimical to our values and that we dont even need for its oil supply anymore. It was, therefore, disheartening when President Joe Biden took neither of those actions, even after his director of national intelligence released a report last Fridayan unclassified summary of a much larger examinationconcluding that MBS (as the prince is often called) approved an operation to capture or kill Khashoggi and that he wields total control over the elite guard that carried out the crime. Advertisement But faced with reality, Biden had little choice but to stop short of penalizing the prince personally. First, doing so would have had little effect. Second, it would have enmeshed the U.S. more deeply in the Middle Easts byzantine local politics, when we should be disentangling ourselves. Finally, what Biden has done, in response to the intelligence report and to other Saudi crimes, is more punitive than any actions that any American president has ever taken against the royal familyand more consequential than a personal slap at the crown prince would have been. Advertisement Advertisement Subscribe to the Slatest newsletter A daily email update of the stories you need to read right now. We encountered an issue signing you up. Please try again. Please enable javascript to use form. Email address: Send me updates about Slate special offers. By signing up, you agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms Sign Up Thanks for signing up! You can manage your newsletter subscriptions at any time. Biden stopped sending Saudi Arabia offensive weapons that it had been using to kill Houthi rebels in Yemen. He halted the delivery of all weaponsworth billions of dollarsthat Saudi Arabia has bought from the United States for whatever purpose, including self-defense, pending a review, not just of each arms sale but of the entire U.S.-Saudi relationship. Until now, the Saudis have had pretty much carte blanche to whatever U.S. arms they want, short of nukes. Biden also banned 76 Saudi officials who were involved in the Khashoggi killing, as well as their families, from traveling to the United States. And he imposed other sanctions, including the seizure of assets, on the Saudi deputy of intelligence. Advertisement This is all remarkable, and not just for its contrast with President Donald Trump, who refused to wag even a finger at any Saudis and who blocked the release of a CIA report on Khashoggis murder. Every previous president has treated Saudi officials with kid gloves, mainly for the bounty of their gushing oil wells. Still, should the crown prince at least have had his U.S.-based assets frozen? According to the Washington Post, Biden and his aides considered taking that step, but they found it impossible to separate the princes assets from the assets of the Saudi state, since the two are roughly identical. Advertisement Besides the practical matters, it is worth noting just how unusual, perhaps unprecedented, sanctioning MBS himself would have been. The same intelligence agencies that found the crown prince guilty of approving Khashoggis murder also concluded that Russian President Vladimir Putin personally interfered in our 2016 election and poisoned several of his critics on foreign territory, including most recently Alexei Navalny. Various U.S. presidentsincluding, this week, Bidenhave levied sanctions on the Russian government and on specific Russian officials. However, they have stopped short of sanctioning Putin himself. Advertisement There is a reason for this. In general, the United States doesnt sanction the heads of state of sovereign nations with which it has diplomatic relations. This is true of most other countries as well. Its a principle with roots going back to the Peace of Westphalia in 1648. What would have happened if Biden had sanctioned the crown prince? Some argue that the princes father, the 85-year-old Saudi king, would have been put on notice that, contrary to his long-standing plans, he simply cannot make MBS his successoror else risk cutting off all relations with the kingdoms chief ally and benefactor, the United States. Advertisement This is extremely implausible. It is true, as is often said these days, that the Saudis need us more than we need the Saudis, but they dont need us that much. Theyd rather not go seeking primary ties elsewhere, but they could, and they would, if need be. The king is not going to push MBS aside for a few reasonsnot least because MBS is, in effect, already in charge, and he has been for a while. Advertisement During the Obama presidency, I heard stories, since confirmed, of two senior U.S. officials, on two separate occasions, meeting with King Salman in his palace office. While talking, the king gazed at a picture frame on his desk. Off in a corner, the crown prince sat at a desk, diligently typing on a computer. The officials soon realized what was going on: MBS was typing out what the king should say; the picture frame was, in fact, a computer screen, and the king was reading aloud the script by the crown prince. Thats the situation, and Biden, who no doubt knows these stories, must have kept it in mind when weighing his options. If Saudi Arabia were completely unimportant, none of this would matter. This presumptuous prince killed a journalist who, though a Saudi citizen, was a U.S. resident who worked for an American newspaper, the Washington Post. To hell with the prince. Biden, or any other president, would at least have to consider that Saudi Arabia is still a key bulwark against Iranian expansion, a key buffer for Israeli security, a key player in the world oil markets (even if the U.S. is energy-independent), a key sharer of regional intelligence, and a key air base. If geopolitics change to the point where these things arent important, or if an American president decides theyre no longer important, then, again, to hell with the prince. Advertisement Advertisement To hell with the prince, to some extent, anyway. Whatever else Biden has and hasnt done, he has clearly downgraded the status of Saudi Arabia in Washingtons book of prioritiessomething that, again, no previous president has done. Its a huge overstatement to claim, as some of Bidens critics do, that his failure to sanction MBS tells the royal family and tyrants elsewhere that they can get away with anything. Meanwhile, since Biden took office, the Saudi government has agreed to lift its blockade on humanitarian assistance in Yemen; it has released two Saudi Americans who had been in detention; and it has freed Loujain al-Hathloul, a Saudi feminist dissident who had been in jail since 2018. Maybe, now that Biden has said he will continue to engage with the real Saudi leader, the leader will respond. Maybe. Advertisement None of this is a done deal. Both the crown prince and the new American president will be carefully watched, by each other and by the rest of the world, not least their own constituents. Well see whether the Saudis cooperate, as they say they will, with Tim Lenderking, the U.S. emissary Biden is sending to end the war in Yemen. Well see if anything happens to other Saudi dissidents who are known to be in MBS sightsand well see what Biden does if they end up badly. Well see what happens to that blocked pipeline of U.S. arms sales to Saudi Arabiawhether some of the weapons are cut off for good, as a sign of a genuine repositioning of our relationship, or whether they smoothly flow after a decent interval. Well see what happens when Biden holds an international summit on one problem or anotherwhether MBS gets treated a bit more casually than usual, if hes invited at all, or whether the hugs and cheek kisses resume. Biden has said human rights will be in the forefront of U.S. foreign policy. Like most presidents who say such things at the start of the term, he has now realizedas hes actually known for a long timethat sometimes they have to be pushed back a little bit. Well see if they get pushed back too far. 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. You'd think a co-working space opened a month before a global pandemic would be a sure failure. But for co-founders Frederick Pikovsky and Tim Tedesco, the pandemic didn't halt their business. It instead helped solidify their vision for the future of work: remote co-working outside city centers that redefines work-life balance. "You can get out of the city, get out into nature, do outdoorsy stuff, and enjoy small-town living without missing a beat when it comes to work," says Pikovsky. The two partners met on the Facebook housing-search group Gypsy Housing in 2017 and bonded over a shared passion for the outdoors and escaping the city. They set out to build a co-working space that would support a lifestyle that embraced nature and community. They called it Barnfox and opened their first location in February 2020 in Hudson, New York, a popular weekend destination with a Manhattan-bound train line, a variety of cafes and restaurants, and a growing residential population. Soon after, they added a second location in Kingston, New York. "It's 'cabin in the woods' meets 'lounge space of a Manhattan hotel lobby,' with some mid-century modern flair in there," says Tedesco, who had run a small furniture-design company. He designs the Barnfox spaces and builds much of their interiors himself. The partners see Barnfox as the new model for co-working: a flexible space with popular amenities outside of a city center. They're betting that in the new remote-work era, professionals will try to strike a balance of work and pleasure--and, if not move out of the city, certainly escape it more often. The idea is for members to feel like they're in nature, while still having all the comforts of a co-working space that you'd find in a city, like fiber-optic internet, snacks, cold-brew coffee, and kombucha on tap. Full membership is $325 per month or $2,500 for the year. It includes a lounge and bar, conference rooms, phone booths, printing services, and lower local hotel rates. While a person has to apply to become a member, most everyone is accepted, and the applications are more to "get a feel for who's joining," says Pikovsky, who had launched the Brooklyn co-working space Dumbo Startup Lab, which he left in 2013. (It closed two years later.) Members are invited to workshops and events, such as weekly bike rides, barbecues, and other casual get-togethers. Most have taken place outside because of Covid precautions. In more outdoor-friendly months, it's like "an adult summer club," says Pikovsky. Barnfox plans to apply for liquor licenses after the pandemic subsides, maybe in the next year, he says. Barnfox has attracted more than 100 members, most locals or New York City residents living in their second homes during Covid, according to the partners. The original concept was to cater to New Yorkers with summer homes or vacationers looking for a workspace away from the city. What the co-founders didn't expect was an influx of city dwellers relocating for good because of the pandemic. The build-out cost a combined total of $400,000 for both the 1,500-square-foot Hudson location and the 3,200-square-foot Kingston location.The first location became profitable within four months. While they have bootstrapped, Pikovsky says, they're looking for funding. Their first investment may come from a group of three Barnfox members. Kianga Daverington, managing partner and chief investment officer at Acre of America; clean energy investor Nathaniel Doyno; and impact investor Christopher Lindstrom came together to form a $50 million opportunity fund to help create new high-paying jobs in the Hudson Valley and support the area's residents and businesses. "Without Barnfox, and especially during a pandemic, we may never have so quickly been able to put together a team and a plan that's going to have the right kind of impact in this region," says Daverington, whose investment firm focuses on distributed-ledger technology for rural communities. The fund is still being set up, and discussions with Barnfox are under way. To be sure, other co-working companies have struggled through the pandemic. Most notably, the U.S. business of co-working startup Knotel filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in January as new leasing and renewals dwindled. The once-high-flying WeWork is reported to be losing money, saddled with heavy lease commitments, although it is expected to go public through a special-purpose acquisition company. Even so, as more employers embrace remote options for their post-pandemic workforces, the Barnfox team is looking to expand. A third, 2,500-square-foot location is scheduled to open in June in Livingston Manor, a small town in the Catskill Mountains. It's also eyeing a fourth location, its biggest, at up to 6,500 square feet, in Beacon, New York. Eventually, the co-founders say, they plan to open more locations in rural and weekend destinations across the U.S. They're targeting places within two hours from such city hubs as Los Angeles, San Francisco, Austin, and Denver, and particularly in opportunity zones, which are economically distressed areas designated to spur investment and jobs through tax advantages. Glocal Healthcare Systems ("Glocal" or the "Company"), a global industry-leading provider of digitally enabled healthcare that operates as a technology and process based platform to make healthcare affordable, and accessible, reported significant milestones during February. "Our goal is to ensure that high quality and affordable healthcare is accessible globally. To achieve this goal, we have combined the examination room, test lab, and the pharmacy into one clinic which we call a "Digital Dispensary." Its dimensions are only about 64 square feet making it easy to install or retrofit into any location. This solution provides the immense benefits of digital health for the consumers and providers" said Dr. Sabahat Azim, CEO and founder of Glocal and CEO International Division of Uphealth. "The digital dispensaries are staffed by a nurse who guides the patients through the whole healthcare consultation using the digital diagnostic tools at hand. In person presence of a doctor is not required. The doctors can be located anywhere in India, and the patient is seen and served in their own community digital dispensary clinic. Interaction between the staff nurse and doctor, with the use of advanced technology and rich video, allows Glocal to perform a thorough clinical examination. The clinics are equipped with a digital stethoscope, a laryngoscope, fetal Doppler, and many more diagnostic tools. In addition, there is a robust clinical decision-support system that allows doctors to focus on the patients and their problems, augmenting their decision making by providing further information on the drug interactions, dosages and contraindications. Finally, the pharmacy is automated to dispense medications. For the equivalent of about $4 USD in India, you be seen by a doctor and get your tests and medications all at one clinic. There is a large need across the globe to provide high quality, accessible and affordable healthcare services, and Glocal's goal is to be the solution." Other January/February 2021 events The first quarter of 2021 has been very productive for Glocal and demonstrated the global demand for their innovative services. Not only has Glocal begun delivery of the 550 new Primary Health Centers (PHCs) for the National Health Mission of Madhya Pradesh to leverage telemedicine and the digital dispensaries to serve up to 14 million people. Glocal continues to expand into other countries at a rapid pace. During the first two months of 2021, Glocal signed two major country wide agreements and received international recognition: New agreement signed to deliver healthcare services in the Republic of Namibia. Glocal signed an agreement with a partner organization in Namibia, to jointly set up 1000 digital dispensaries across Namibia over next 5 years. The parties also agreed to roll out Glocal's telemedicine application called HelloLyf across Namibia and other adjacent countries in which partner organization operates. New agreement to deliver healthcare services in the Republic of Uzbekistan. Glocal signed an agreement with a partner organization in Uzbekistan to jointly set up 1000 digital dispensaries over next 5 years. The parties also agreed to roll out Glocal's telemedicine application called HelloLyf across various locations in Uzbekistan with the purpose of delivering healthcare to localities in a quick and convenient way. The partnering organization in Uzbekistan will provide aid to Glocal for the establishment of telemedicine network and roll out Hellolyf in its network. World Economic Forum Schwab Social Innovators Meeting with HM Queen Mathilde of Belgium. On February 23, 2021, The founder and visionary of Glocal, Dr. Sabahat Azim was honored to meet with Her Majesty, Queen Mathilde of Belgium. Her Majesty met with six entrepreneurs that won Social Innovators award sponsored by World Economic Forum's Schwab Foundation. The Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship works worldwide in the fields of health, education, vulnerable children, ecology, climate and agriculture. The awards are presented to entrepreneurs who work in a sustainable way, respond to the rapid digital evolution, and who have developed innovative business models resulting in social or environmental achievement. "Glocal is poised for rapid international growth, bringing communities high-quality healthcare that is accessible and at low cost. With various awards and recognitions over the past months from institutions like UNAID and World Economic Forum, Glocal is now recognized worldwide as a leading digital healthcare technology solution. We are currently in discussions with multiple governments and partners across the globe, and are thrilled to join forces with UpHealth Holdings Inc. to provide a unified integrated care solution to our clients," said Dr. Sabahat Azim. "During my conversation with Queen Mathilde, I discussed one of the important projects that combined Glocal's Artificial Intelligence (AI) platform and UpHealth Behavioral Health division where we are creating a customizable platform to help guide behavioral health physicians in caring for their patients using our proprietary technology solution. This is just one example of the innovation and initiatives that Glocal is currently working on within UpHealth, and we look forward to showcase much more to our clients in the future." For more information, visit https://www.ghspl.com/news.html About Glocal Healthcare: Glocal is a tech and process based platform to make healthcare affordable, accessible and accountable. Set up in 2010, Glocal is a social venture that seeks to bring State of the Art Healthcare to the rural population in India through an integrated model of block level comprehensive primary secondary care hospitals, digital dispensaries and technology. Glocal stands for global quality, delivered at a local level. Glocal Healthcare Systems, is the International Solution for Global Telemedicine division of UpHealth Holdings, Inc. About UpHealth Holdings, Inc.: UpHealth is a global comprehensive digital health technology and tech-enabled services platform that empowers providers, health systems and payors globally to manage care for people with complex medical, behavioral and social needs, while dramatically improving access to primary care. For more information, visit www.UpHealthInc.com View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210302005672/en/ Contacts: Sean Leous Sean.leous@westwicke.com Phone +1 646 866 4012 Representative of certain districts of Donetsk region in the Trilateral Contact Group (TCG) from Ukraine Serhiy Harmash said that during the discussion of the TCG political subgroup, the so-called "experts" from Donetsk and Luhansk took the floor for the first time. "There is a breakthrough in the Minsk process! Today, at the meeting of the working group on political issues, first the 'expert' of ORDO Maya Pirohova spoke, then the 'experts' from Luhansk. Before that, four meetings of the 'experts of ORDLO' were present, but were silent. And here they are started talking," Harmash said on his Facebook page following the meeting of the political subgroup of the TCG on Tuesday, March 2. He also said "the representative of Russia spoke for 30 seconds, and mainly the moderator from the OSCE, Ambassador [Pierre] Morel, who "pressed" the sides to discuss the ORDLO plan, spoke. "Although ORDLO is not a member of the TCG and this is a direct violation of the Minsk agreements [...]," Harmash said. As reported, on February 19, Harmash did not rule out the possibility of his resignation from the TCG, if the Ukrainian officials of the delegation does not take steps regarding the issue of the irregular presence at the negotiations of the so-called "public experts" from ORDLO, who started to spontaneously join the negotiations from the beginning of 2021. A diner has dished out the most infuriating things she can't stand about eating out in Australia - including waitstaff clearing plates early, 'stingy' main meals and 'ridiculous' time limits on seating. Elena, from Melbourne, listed the things waiters and waitresses should never do when serving customers at cafes and restaurants. She said one of the things that gets under her skin is when employees interrupt customers by asking what they think of their food just moments after taking their first bite. 'Don't ask me how my meal is when I've just taken a mouthful. Let me finish my meal first before I give you the verdict,' Elena said in an amusing TikTok video. Scroll down for video Elena (pictured) has dished out the most infuriating things she can't stand about eating out in Australia - including waiters clearing plates early, 'stingy' main meals and 'ridiculous' time limit Irritating things in restaurants customers find annoying - Asking diners how everything is going mid-meal - Waitstaff placing a napkin on a customer's lap - Tiny main meals that look more like an entree portion - Time limits on seating - Waitstaff clearing plates early - Wobbly tables Advertisement She said waiters clearing plates before everyone at the table have finished makes the slow diners feel like they need to hurry up for other waiting guests. 'Please do not start clearing our plates until we have all finished,' she said. 'The slow person will feel shamed and would just give up and get rid of their meal because everyone's plates have been taken away.' Elena said she also gets annoyed when a restaurant or cafe staff start packing up while customers are still at their tables. 'Yes, I know you want to get the hell out of there but it makes people feel unwelcome,' she explained. Another gripe she has is being served small main dishes that look more like an entree portion. 'Don't give me a tight a*** main meal. Like I want food,' she said. Elena took particular issue with restaurants that give customers a 'ridiculous' time limit of when they must leave their table for the next waiting diners. 'Please don't give a time limit of how long we have to eat - it's so bloody rude,' she said. She said waiters clearing plates early should be avoided because it makes the slow diners feel like they need to hurry up the party for other waiting guests (stock image) What are the things waiters can't stand? * Customers who snap their fingers at waiters or wave obnoxiously * Customers who think they are 'helping' by handing various plates to the waiters * Customers who put the napkins inside their empty cups before leaving somewhere - especially if the cup still has liquid inside it * Customers who stack their plates and glasses together * Customers who leave their iPhones, wallets, keys and laptops on the table when waiters are trying to put the plates down Advertisement Another thing she can't stand is when a waiter wipes a dirty table wit disinfectant spray but doesn't go over the surface with a dry cloth. 'Please wipe the table with a dry cloth just so we don't have to watch the moisture dissipate as we keep our elbows off the table,' she said. Her final little thing that annoys her are the wobbly tables, saying: 'Seriously, can't you fix it? Like you can see it wobbling, can't you?' The video has since divided the internet, with some agreeing with her points. 'Everything you say is correct. It's more examples of the appalling customer service in Australian hospitality. They couldn't give a s***,' one wrote. Another added: 'All your points are valid but not about the time limit. Some cafes and restaurants do two sittings when they are fully booked.' However, those working in the hospitality industry did not agree with her notes about the time limit and venues packing up around paying customers. 'We have a time limit so you don't take up the whole space the whole time. It's business... and if you don't like it, then leave,' one said. 'As a waitress, watching this makes my blood boil, we are people too,' another employee wrote, while another said: 'Don't come into the restaurant near closing time and we won't pack up around you.' And one added: 'We have an open and close time, if you don't want us packing up when it's almost close, come earlier.' [March 02, 2021] Vantage Acquires Vertical Dimensions Vantage Elevator Solutions ("Vantage"), a leading North American designer, manufacturer and distributor of elevator components and systems, and a portfolio company of Golden Gate Capital, today announced that it has acquired Vertical Dimensions LLC ("VD"). VD will continue to be led by President Steve McBride and will remain headquartered in Tukwila, Washington. Established in 2002, Vertical Dimensions supplies best-in-class shippable elevator interiors to customers across the United States, with an established presence in the Northwest region. VD's patented Quick Cab line includes 17 standard elevator interiors built to facilitate rapid, accurate and easy installation. Additionally, VD offers fully customized interiors designed to suit any building aesthetic and ensure a unique passenger experience. VD's product design also reduces installation time, maximizing efficiency for elevator contractors and building owners. Ron Cauchi, President and CEO of Vantage, said, "We are thrilled to welcome Steve and his talented team to Vantage's portfolio of companies. This acquisition enables Vantage to extend our product offering into high-quality elevator interiors and provides a compelling growth opportunity in the attractive Northwestern market. We are very impressed by VD's strong reputation for fast installation, beautiful custom designs and outstanding customer service. We are also excited to offer Vertical Dimensions elevator interior products as a part of our expanding RENEW modernization solutions." Mr. McBride added, "We are pleased to join Vantage and leverage our respective markets and sales capabilities to serve our many valued customers. As part of Vantage, we will have the opportunity to significantly expand our market and deliver our best-in-class elevator interiors to more buildings across North America." About Vantage Elevator Solutions Vantage Elevator Solutions is North America's leading independent manufacturer of elevator components and systems for new equipment applications, equipment upgrade projects and service replacement parts. Vantage is comprised of seven business units including GAL Manufacturing Company and GAL Canada; Hollister-Whitney Elevator Corporation; Elevator Controls Corporation; ourion; Bore-Max; Thames Valley Controls. Through its brands, Vantage supplies almost all electro-mechanical devices used in contemporary elevators. Vantage sells its products to a diverse range of customer types including hundreds of independent elevator contractors, in addition to several well-known multi-national elevator companies. Founded in 1927, the Vantage group employs approximately 1,000 staff in multiple locations across the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom. About Golden Gate Capital Golden Gate Capital is a San Francisco-based private equity investment firm with over $17 billion of committed capital. The principals of Golden Gate Capital have a long and successful history of investing across a wide range of industries and transaction types, including going-privates, corporate divestitures, and recapitalizations, as well as debt and public equity investments. Notable investments sponsored by Golden Gate Capital include Active Minerals, ANGUS, Cole-Parmer and Covia. Vantage Websites Vantage: www.vantageelevation.com GAL Manufacturing: www.gal.com Hollister-Whitney: www.hollisterwhitney.com GAL Canada: www.galcanada.com Courion (News - Alert) Doors: www.couriondoors.com Bore-Max: www.bore-max.com Elevator Controls: www.elevatorcontrols.com Thames Valley Controls: www.tvcl.co.uk Vertical Dimensions Website: http://www.verticaldimensions.net View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210302005784/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Tridion will reduce complexity of creating, managing, and delivering content to users SDL, part of RWS Holdings plc, today announces that the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) has chosen Tridion to power its digital transformation as part of its efforts to facilitate the global growth and adoption of its environmental, social and governance (ESG) disclosure standards. SASB is an independent nonprofit organization that sets standards to guide the disclosure of financially material sustainability information by companies to their investors. SASB Standards identify a subset of environmental, social and governance issues most relevant to financial performance across 77 industries. Global investors recognize SASB Standards as a core component of a company's ESG disclosure. Currently SASB publishes its Standards and supporting guidance in English and is in the process of translating these materials into four additional languages. With growing worldwide demand for its services, SASB turned to Tridion, the industry's leading component-based content management system, to transform the way it organizes, manages and publishes content and information to the public. The organization also seeks to expand translations into four additional languages over the next two years. "There's been a surge in recent years particularly among investors and companies for improved disclosure on the ESG issues that impact financial performance," said Matthew Welch, President and COO, SASB. "While this is a welcome move, it also introduces enormous complexities for organizations. We need to ensure our guidance to them is accurate, clear, and consistent across multiple languages. SDL is the gold standard when it comes to scalable content management, and we're delighted to work with them on our digital transformation and global expansion plans." SASB has been using the DITA XML standard as part of its content management strategy for more than five years. Tridion will support a small content team and 50 subject matter experts to collaborate on documentation and ensure consistency and high standards are maintained as the organization grows. "SASB Standards are used by companies around the world in a variety of disclosure vehicles, including their annual reports, financial filings, company websites, corporate social responsibility reports, and more. SASB is a true leader in every sense, and it needs to continually provide an outstanding service to users," said Thomas Labarthe, President of RWS's Language Services and Technology division. "We're truly delighted with our partnership, and look forward to reducing the complexity of SASB's content ecosystem and supporting its future aspirations." Tridion based on the DITA XML standard offers granular component content management capabilities via its Tridion Docs component. This enables knowledge workers to collaborate on the creation and delivery of contextual, precise content on a global scale. It includes structured authoring and review, interactive feedback and commenting and powerful granular version control. Notes to editors: What is the DITA XML standard? The OASIS Open Darwin Information Typing Architecture (DITA) is a standard XML-based architecture for managing the publication of documents. It provides architectural features for content modularity, content reuse, and controlled extension of document vocabularies in a way that ensures interoperability of DITA documents. Source: XML.com: https://www.xml.com/articles/2017/01/19/what-dita About SDL SDL, the intelligent language and content company, was acquired by RWS Holdings plc in November 2020. The combination creates the leading language services and technology group in the world, serving 90 of the world's top 100 brands, the top 10 pharmaceutical companies and approximately half of the top 20 patent filers worldwide. The group's specialist divisions combine the latest technology, proven processes and highly skilled staff to deliver complex services at each stage of the product lifecycle to meet the diverse needs of a global client base spanning Europe, Asia Pacific, and North and South America across a range of sectors including aerospace and defense, automotive, chemical, government, medical, pharmaceutical, and telecommunications. With headquarters in the UK, RWS is publicly listed on AIM, the London Stock Exchange regulated market (RWS.L). For further information, please visit: www.rws.com View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210301005825/en/ Contacts: SDL Denis Davies Corporate Communications ddavies@sdl.com +44 1628 410105 She created a global brand. And Jessica Alba knows the importance of showing up early for work as she stopped by the office in Los Angeles on Tuesday morning. The 39-year-old beauty boss mixed business with pleasure as she stepped out in a pair of jeans with a trusty blazer while making her way through the Playa Vista campus of her Honest Company brand. Boss: Jessica Alba knows the importance of showing up early for work as she stopped by the office in Los Angeles on Tuesday morning Jessica was ready for the day ahead as she pounded the pavement wearing chunky black leather shoes. She meant business in top with a khaki colored blazer with delicate black and white stripes to match a loose black top. Staying true to current trends, Jessica wore a pair of high waisted jeans with frayed hems along her ankles. Ready to work: The 39-year-old beauty boss mixed business with pleasure as she stepped out in a pair of jeans with a trusty blazer while making her way through the Playa Vista campus of her Honest Company brand Classically cool: Jessica was ready for the day ahead as she pounded the pavement wearing chunky black leather shoes. Alba carried a massive black purse across her arm as she carried a reusable teal colored cup in her hand. She made sure to stay safe and protect herself amid the coronavirus pandemic by wearing a black face mask. Her dark brown hair was parted down the middle and worn in loose curls and she kept a pair of mirrored sunglasses over her eyes. Jessica knows a thing or two about her favorite products as she's regularly on social media chatting about what's new in the industry. Best in the biz: Jessica knows a thing or two about her favorite products as she's regularly on social media chatting about what's new in the industry Bliss: Alba launched The Honest Company in 2012 and sells a range of household goods, diapers, body care and beauty products She recently shared that she uses the FOREO LUNA 3 for 'a *real* deep-clean as it helps remove dirt, sebum, excess oil and leftover makeup. It feels AMAZING.' Alba launched The Honest Company in 2012 and sells a range of household goods, diapers, body care and beauty products. The ethically-sourced and eco-friendly company has exploded in popularity through the years and is estimated to be worth more than $1 billion. Jessica has been married to husband Cash Warren for 12 years and the couple have three children: Honor, Haven, nine, and Hayes, three. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full 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 Lee Seong-hyon There are only a handful people in the world who have personally sat down with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and discussed nuclear weapons for hours. There are even fewer people who can talk about it publicly. Even if they do, they tend to refrain from going into detail. So, it was a rare moment to watch the newly minted Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong's confirmation hearing at the National Assembly last month, as he was grilled by lawmakers. Chung, as President Moon Jae-in's former National Security Office director, was the one who sat down with Kim in Pyongyang in March 2018 to probe Kim's intentions regarding nuclear weapons. Chung then flew to Washington to brief Trump. In an extraordinary move, Trump accepted Kim's proposal, conveyed by Chung, for a summit meeting and let Chung, a Korean official, announce the stunning news at the White House. "President Trump would meet Kim Jong-un," Chung announced to the press, standing at the entrance to the Oval Office. At the hearing, Chung was under oath and on the record. Understandably, lawmakers took full advantage of the opportunity to have Chung let the cat out to the bag, regarding his encounters with Kim and especially what Kim' comments regarding nukes. Chung's inquisitors were seasoned experts on North Korea too. For example, Rep. Cho Tae-yong of the main opposition People Power Party served as vice foreign minister and deputy national security adviser under the previous President Park Geun-hye administration. He now sits on the Intelligence Committee as well as the Foreign Affairs Committee. "Did Chairman Kim Jong-un say that he was willing to denuclearize?" Cho asked. "That's right," Chung answered. "I'll ask you again," Cho pressed upon Chung. "You said you had a four-hour conversation with Chairman Kim. Did Kim say he would give up or dismantle North Korea's nuclear weapons, if conditions were met?" "That's right." "Did Kim use the specific word 'give up' or 'dismantle'?" "Kim said if the security situation on the Korean Peninsula is fully guaranteed, there is no need to possess a nuclear program." "So, you're saying that Kim said he's going to 'give up' or 'dismantle' nuclear weapons?" "That's right. He also made the same point during the Sept. 19 agreement too." Chung was referring to the summit meeting between Kim and Moon in Pyongyang in 2018. "Then, Kim surely said he will denuclearize and give up nuclear weapons. But today that is not happening. On the contrary, the number of nuclear weapons [of North Korea] has increased. Did Kim Jong-un lie then?" "He didn't lie," Chung answered. "The negotiations between North Korea and the U.S. broke down." The devil is always in details. But the key point argued by Chung, now fully confirmed as foreign minister, is that Kim didn't shift his stance on denuclearization. Rather, the two parties in the negotiation didn't reach an agreement and therefore the negotiation didn't bear fruit. Due to space limits, I am reproducing Chung's partial answers at the National Assembly here, because they don't seem to have been translated into English yet, despite their research value for foreign academics. In fact, South Korea produces more information and news on North Korea than any other country in the world, but often some important research-worthy materials remain inaccessible to foreign researchers who don't speak Korean. This is problematic. Despite today's rich academic and policy community interest in North Korea, due to language barriers, many foreign academic researchers turn to media reports that inevitably reduce the complex discourse into a couple of sound bites. As a result, their academic products, understandably with quotes from the media, miss subtleties and nuances. Sometimes it unfortunately produces misunderstandings. The "asymmetry" of information due to the language barrier has been a perennial problem in the field. Worse, let's admit that the Korean language is a witch; it is pregnant with rich ambiguity and vagueness. A wrong inference could yield a wrong understanding. Even I, a native Korean speaker, am not quite sure from the above National Assembly hearing whether North Korean leader Kim really did utter 'give up' or 'dismantle' regarding nuclear weapons. To remedy the situation, the government could either offer more language services or language training to foreign journalists and academics. The purpose is not to induce government-favored views, but promote accurate understanding on the important yet so often polarizing subject. Lee Seong-hyon (sunnybbsfs@gmail.com), Ph.D., is director of the Center for Chinese Studies at the Sejong Institute. The spectrum sale is over after the second day of auctions. The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) managed to sell airwaves worth Rs 77,814 crore, which is about 20 per cent of the amount (Rs 3.9 lakh crore) that the department wanted to generate from these auctions. Between three telcos (Reliance Jio, Airtel and Vodafone Idea) who participated in the auctions, 855.7 megahertz (MHz) of airwaves were sold over two days out of 2251.25 MHz that was up for sale. While the type of spectrum that telcos picked up was on expected lines, Jio and Airtel stunned the sector with the quantum of spectrum that they acquired. Jio has acquired 488.35 MHz of airwaves across three bands - 800 MHz, 1800 MHz and 2300 MH. The spectrum, worth Rs 57,122.65 crore, is much higher than the industry estimates. Jio has about 98.8 MHz of spectrum expiring this year (in 800 MHz band) for which it was expected to shell out Rs 23,863.8 crore, as per Credit Suisse estimates in January. The telco will now end up paying much more to bolster its spectrum holding. The telco claims that the recent acquisitions would increase its overall spectrum footprint by 55 per cent to 1717 MHz (uplink+ downlink). "Jio has revolutionised the digital landscape of India with the country becoming the fastest adopter of Digital Life. We want to ensure that we keep on enhancing experiences, not only for our existing customers, but also for the next 300 million users that will move to digital services. With our increased spectrum footprint, we are ready to further expand the digital footprint in India as well as get ourselves ready for the imminent 5G rollout," said Mukesh Ambani, Chairman, Reliance Industries, in a statement. Similarly, Airtel has acquired 355.45 MHz of spectrum (worth Rs 18,699 crore) across five bands - 800 MHz, 900 MHz, 1800 MHz, 2100 MHz and 2300 MHz. This was much higher than the previous estimates. How? It was expected that Airtel would largely renew the spectrum in 900 MHz and 1800 MHz that's due to expire this year, and its total outgo would be around Rs 13,500 crore, as per Morgan Stanley. However, Airtel went a step ahead and acquired spectrum in 800 MHz, 2100 MHz and 2300 MHz as well (in addition to 900 MHz and 1800 MHz) to primarily enhance its deep indoor and in-building coverage (in urban areas) in addition to improving its network capacity. Airtel is planning to serve 90 million additional subscribers because of its larger sub-GHz (800 MHz and 900 MHz) spectrum holdings. "While the sub-GHz bands will be crucial for 5G technology deployment going forward as well as improvement of indoor coverage, the appetite for 2300 MHz band stems from the rising mobile broadband usage and thus the need for improving network capacity," said Ankit Jain, Assistant Vice President, ICRA, in a note. ICRA is expecting the industry debt levels to rise further to around Rs 5 lakh crore as on March 31, 2022 as a result of these purchases. Vodafone, on the other hand, was modest with acquiring airwaves. It has acquired just 11.9 MHz of spectrum for Rs 1,993.4 crore - much lower than the industry estimates. It may be noted that none of the telcos have bid for 700 MHz and 2500 MHz bands which together accounted for roughly 40 per cent of the total airwaves that were up for sale. In 2016 auctions too, 700 MHz band remained unsold for its perceived high prices. Even after slashing the rates from Rs 11,485 crore per MHz in 2016 to Rs 6,568 crore, this band was not touched by any telco recently. The aggressive bidding by Jio and Airtel negates three popular perceptions to a large extent. Many analysts believed that with the use of more efficient technologies such as LTE and LTE advanced, the spectrum requirements of telcos would come down over a period of time. Then, it was also believed that a shift towards 5G would increase dependency over lower-latency networks like optical fiber which ultimately reduce the need for more spectrum. At last, the large-scale consolidation in the sector over the past three-four years was seen as the new way for telcos to acquire spectrum through non-auction modes. ALSO READ: Jio buys spectrum worth Rs 57,123 crore in all 22 circles ALSO READ: Spectrum auction: Reliance Jio biggest buyer, airwaves worth over Rs 77,000 cr sold 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. One of Editor & Publishers 10 That Do It Right 2021 Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Chicago US Attorney John Lausch on getting reprieve from Biden administration: He had been part of a clean sweep by Bidens team, which had asked holdovers from the Trump administration to step down no later than the end of February. But days after getting a reprieve, Lausch said in statement this afternoon that he was humbled by the support hed received and grateful for the opportunity to remain at the helm of the office, which is one of the busiest in the nation with just over 300 attorneys and support staff, the Tribunes Jason Meisner reports. Agri-tech firm AgriWebb has unveiled new pricing of its farm management software to support farmers to reduce their carbon footprint and increase profitability. The livestock management software, which launched in the UK last year, has a new price of 99. The technology is used by a wide range of farmers, from small businesses to larger enterprise operations. It digitises record keeping and provides actionable insights from farm data, helping to increase productivity, traceability and sustainability. The NFU have called for greater awareness of new technology to help farms maximise margins and reduce carbon footprints. It highlighted that now is the right time to review the latest cost-effective tools available to help farmers prosper in increasingly tough conditions, as well as contribute to 'net zero by 2040'. Phil Hambling, head of food and farming at the union, said affordable, reliable and practical technology was becoming increasingly important for farm businesses. "Good farm data management can support improved decision making, productive output and environmental performance. "These are some of the key elements of our net zero ambition for 2040, he said. In a February 2021 survey of AgriWebb users across the UK, 94% said they would recommend the software to other farmers. More than half (52%) said the software provides data to simplify the inspection process and nearly three-quarters (73%) said it is helping to improve farm efficiency. The technology is used by a wide range of farmers, from small businesses to larger enterprise operations Campbell Mauchan, UK General Manager at AgriWebb, explained that the British farming industry had a digital future. "Weve worked closely with British farmers to understand their goals and barriers around farm management software and were doing whatever we can to reduce barriers. "We want more farmers to easily capture data and make meaningful changes to the way they farm based on having clear insights. "We know thousands have less than 500 animals and so accessible pricing is vitally important to help more on their digital journey. The platform, ground-tested in the hands of 100 early adopter beef and sheep farmers prior to UK launch, has been developed to meet demanding requirements. For example, AgriWebb integrates with all government databases across Scotland, England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Data entered into the app automatically syncs with the users government account, removing the need to regularly log in, and simplifying potentially stressful audits. AgriWebb can be used anywhere, anytime, both online or offline, on a single farm or across multiple sites. The 99 per year Essentials package provides a wide range of features to unlimited users on one farm. Six Dr. Seuss books will no longer be published because of racist and insensitive imagery, the business that preserves and protects the authors legacy announced. The books are And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street, If I Ran the Zoo, McElligots Pool, On Beyond Zebra!, Scrambled Eggs Super! and The Cats Quizzer. Seuss, born Theodor Seuss Geisel, is one of the best-known authors in the world. He wrote classics such as The Cat in the Hat, Green Eggs and Ham and How the Grinch Stole Christmas. But some of his work has come under fire in recent years for insensitive portrayals of Black and Asian people. Dr. Seuss Enterprises said the decision to cease publication was made last year after months of discussion. These books portray people in ways that are hurtful and wrong, the business told The Associated Press in a statement that coincided with the late author and illustrators birthday. Geisel died in 1991. You can bet the Twitterverse had something to say about this. And it did. Many railed against the decision, while others supported it, with some citing examples why they did. "Dr. Seuss" is dead. He cannot be "canceled." He was a highly imperfect man who also wrote some amazing kids' books. Scott Weinberg (@scottEmovienerd) March 2, 2021 Just saw one of the kids #DrSeuss books lying in an old storage bin pic.twitter.com/1xBXm5Ms1V First Time Long Time (@fan_grumpy) March 2, 2021 A lot of stupid people are upset that #DrSeuss (who wasn't even a doctor, but he was white so they called him one anyway!) is being "cancelled." Dr Seuss Enterprises will no longer publish a half dozen of his books and #ReadAcrossAmericaDay no longer mentions him. I wonder why? pic.twitter.com/l7Fd8GgV6f ProfessorBlackTruth (@ProfBlacktruth) March 2, 2021 Happy #DrSeuss Day, you flaming racists. Joseph Stalin (@firstofequals) March 2, 2021 The left is running a full scale cultural revolution complete with witch hunts, book burnings, and the public shaming of the running dogs of the counter revolution. #DrSeuss pic.twitter.com/SHKbK94q8W Kevin Sinclair (@kevinsinclairsk) March 2, 2021 So today my daughter is dressing up as #DrSeuss for Dress Up Like Your Favorite Book Character Day for school. Now hes being cancelled for being racist? These people will stop at nothing. Cant wait to share her pic to trigger a few idiots. Kimberly Klacik (@kimKBaltimore) March 2, 2021 Since conservatives are suddenly interested in children's books because of Dr. Seuss. I want to remind these hypocrites how they tried many times to cancel books with LGBT characters. It's time for you to condemn all social conservatives and their cancel culture. Anthony (@anthony_arrais) March 2, 2021 So people are just now finding out about the anti-Black cartoons Dr. Seuss used to make? pic.twitter.com/tFwcGt8Vgn Tariq Nasheed (@tariqnasheed) March 2, 2021 Yes, Dr Seuss drew some really horrible and racist cartoons. That should be acknowledged. What should also be acknowledged is he changed his views later in life, which is what resulted in stories like Horton Hears a Who and The Sneetches. Stefan Ellison (@MisterCoat) March 2, 2021 The Associated Press contributed to this report. WASHINGTON In a bipartisan tally, the U.S. Senate voted 64-33 Monday to confirm Miguel Cardona, who served as Connecticuts education commissioner, to be secretary of education. Cardona is expected to be sworn into the Presiden Joe Bidens cabinet as soon as Tuesday. Cardona has said his top priority will be helping schools reopen for in-person learning. Biden has set a goal of getting a majority of K-12 students taking classes in school five days a week by his 100th day in office, April 30. Now he will do great things for the cause of education in our country, not just Connecticut, said U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., ahead of the confirmation vote. Cardona was the first Latino to serve as Connecticuts education commissioner. He started in that role in February 2020, just weeks before schools had to send students home due to the coronavirus pandemic. Over the next months, Cardona issued detailed guidance to schools on how to reopen for in-person learning this fall, but did not mandate schools bring students back to the classroom. Connecticut opened our schools faster than many people thought we could, said U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn. There is no one better suited to this job and this moment than Miguel Cardona. Cardona, 45, grew up in a Puerto Rican family in Meriden, where he later was a 4th grade classroom teacher, principal and assistant superintendent. His family has organized the Puerto Rican festival in that town for several years. On Wednesday, First Lady Jill Biden will visit Meriden, before heading to Waterford, Pennsylvania. It is expected that Cardona will join Dr. Biden during her visit, details for which have not yet been released by the White House. This is an incredible moment for Connecticut, as someone who was educated in our public schools and went on to lead a successful teaching career in those very schools has been confirmed to be our nations top education advisor, said Gov. Ned Lamont. Im feeling bittersweet emotions today knowing that our administration is saying farewell to someone who has been a wonderful commissioner, but were also gaining ally on the national stage. Blumenthal held up Cardona as an example of the American dream on Wednesday. Cardona was raised in a public housing project and learned English in his public school. He attended a technical high school and went on to get a masters in bilingual and bicultural education before getting his doctorate in Education. When he became a principal in Meriden at age 28, he was the youngest principal in Connecticut, Murphy said. His climb looks meteoric and miraculous but it was based on hard work, said Blumenthal, who repeatedly mispronounced his name. He has seen first hand in his own life how education can transform futures. On Feb. 11, a Senate committee voted 17-5 to advance the Cardonas nomination. A few Republican senators pushed Cardona on how he would handle the participation of transgender students in athletics. Cardona said schools have a responsibility to create opportunities for transgender students to participate, while some Republicans voiced objections to people born male participating in womens athletics. emilie.munson@hearstdc.com; Twitter: @emiliemunson CHICAGO, March 2, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- HBR Consulting LLC (HBR), a trusted advisor to law firms and law departments worldwide, today announced the acquisition of Keno Kozie Associates, Ltd. , a leading provider of information technology design, service, and help desk support to law firms and legal departments. Effective March 1, 2021, this combination will form the largest, most comprehensive strategy, operations, and technology consulting firm for the legal industry. HBR and Keno Kozie will bring together more than 700 experts in these areas to meet the expanding technology needs of the legal ecosystem. HBR has served 89 of the Am Law 100 law firms and 60 of the Fortune 100 corporate law departments and worked with over 400 clients in 2020 alone. Keno Kozie also boasts impressive legal market presence, bringing a significant expansion into the mid-law legal market to HBR. This acquisition uniquely positions HBR to provide expanded depth, breadth, and scale to the entire legal industry, including law firms, law departments, law schools, and legal service providers. "Together, we will be able to provide clients with unparalleled strategy, operations, and technology services tailored to the legal ecosystem," said Chris Petrini-Poli, executive chairman of HBR Consulting. "Our combined firm anticipates adding 100+ employees each year, creating the largest talent pipeline of legal experts focused on providing superior service and unmatched expertise across the legal vertical." HBR and Keno Kozie have been working side by side for the past five years, partnering to provide clients with complementary legal technology services. The combination will enhance both HBR's advisory and managed services offerings across law firms and law departments. As established experts in law firm technology, legal IT services, managed services, and security consulting, Keno Kozie's experience and capabilities will increase the scale and flexibility of HBR's managed services including IT, procurement, and research and information (library) services to existing and potential clients of both firms. "We're excited to formalize our relationship with HBR and bring our firms together to provide our combined clients with even greater value and increased capabilities and scale amidst the ever-changing and consolidating technology environment," said Barry Keno, president and CEO of Keno Kozie. "Building on our already established momentum, together we will be able to expand the breadth of our services, be it from our Chicago, Columbus, Ohio and Washington D.C. offices, or from the remote locations across the country where our employees currently operate." In addition to creating the largest collection of legal technology talent in the industry, this combination will bolster the advisory capabilities of the united firm, bringing together leading expertise in specific technology areas, including Cloud solutions, Office365, document management systems (DMS), and network infrastructure and security. "As HBR continues to grow to meet the evolving needs of our clients and the legal industry, we're thrilled to join forces with Keno Kozie to provide more robust insights and expanded expertise and capabilities," said Nick Quil, CEO of HBR Consulting. For more information on HBR's managed services, please visit: https://www.hbrconsulting.com/managed-services/ . About HBR Consulting HBR Consulting (www.hbrconsulting.com) delivers advisory, managed services, and software solutions that increase productivity and profitability, while mitigating risk for law firms, law departments, and corporations. As trusted advisors with deep industry experience, clients partner with HBR to achieve significant, sustainable results. About Keno Kozie Associates Keno Kozie Associates, Ltd. has been providing information technology design, service and support to leading law firms and legal departments since 1988. Hundreds of firms have chosen Keno Kozie to provide IT consulting, systems integration, advanced application integration, 24/7 help desk support, training, managed services and security and risk management services. The company has received the National Law Journal's Hall of Fame award for multiple wins within the Best of Midwest surveys and the Best of Legal Times survey. The company maintains partnerships with leading software and hardware vendors to provide clients with optimal value and support. For more information visit kenokozie.com. CONTACT: Allison Zullo Walker Sands, for HBR Consulting [email protected] 330.554.5965 SOURCE HBR Consulting LLC Related Links https://www.hbrconsulting.com Jihadists, government forces and a "private militia" backing the authorities have indiscriminantly killed hundreds of civilians in troubled northeastern Mozambique, Amnesty International said in a report Tuesday. Violence stoked by armed Islamists in gas-rich Cabo Delgado province has left at least 2,600 people dead since 2017, about half of them civilians, according to an NGO called the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data (ACLED). Local people are "caught between the Mozambican security forces, the private militia fighting alongside the government and the armed opposition group locally known as 'Al-Shabaab' -- none of which respect their right to life, or the rules of war," said Amnesty's regional chief, Deprose Muchena. "All three have committed war crimes, causing the deaths of hundreds of civilians." Government officials contacted by AFP refused to comment and Interior Minister Amade Miquidade did not answer calls to his phone. The authorities have previously denied their soldiers have committed any atrocities in Cabo Delgado. Amnesty said its analysis was based on interviews with dozens of internally displaced people, as well as reviews of videos and pictures, including satellite imagery. The watchdog said the government hired a South African private military company, Dyck Advisory Group (DAG), after it "lost a number of battles" in its quest to regain control of the region. The mercenaries have fired guns from helicopters and dropped hand grenades indiscriminately into crowds, according to Amnesty. AFP made several requests to DAG for comment but did not receive a reply. Amnesty said it had probed an attack by helicopter at a hospital in the port town of Mocimboa da Praia last June, and schools had come under fire in other incidents. It said it had verified video of another incident in September, in which government troops beat a naked woman with a wooden stick, shooting her 36 times and leaving her body on the highway. Story continues In another gruesome killing, security forces blindfolded and shot several men in Quissanga before dumping their bodies in a mass grave, Amnesty said. After that attack, "government security forces took women to be raped at the nearby base they had set up, where they also detained, beat, and summarily executed more men", it said. The jihadists are also accused of heinous acts of violence with machetes, including numerous beheadings and desecration of corpses. ho-str/sn/ri/jv Unemployed people in North Carolina are going to have to start proving theyre looking for work if they want to keep getting paid jobless benefits. On Monday, Gov. Roy Cooper issued an executive order that will institute that work search requirement but will also make it more flexible than what it has been in the past. People currently on unemployment wont be affected; Coopers order will only apply to new claimants who apply for unemployment benefits on or after March 14, 2021. The work search requirement isnt new. Its typically required of everyone on unemployment. But Cooper waived that requirement in an executive order a year ago, in March 2020 at the start of the coronavirus pandemic. In the same executive order that required many businesses to close last spring, The News & Observer reported at the time, Cooper also issued some new rules making it easier for people to qualify for unemployment benefits and to keep getting those benefits like not having to prove they were actively searching for a new job. But now, as federal unemployment benefits are set to expire and more businesses have reopened, Cooper said this change will help ensure that people are able to get help finding and landing jobs. Under the order, workers would sign up for accounts at ncworks.gov where they could get leads on jobs or workforce training options. More jobs are being created as we begin to emerge from the pandemic, and people who are out of work need help getting them, Cooper said in a press release. Unemployment payments have been critical for families and we want them to have jobs before the payments end. As the North Carolina General Assembly has started its new 2021 session, Republican lawmakers have also been eager to put the work search requirement back in place. Two weeks ago at a legislative committee hearing, the head of North Carolinas unemployment agency, Pryor Gibson, told lawmakers that new rules would indeed be coming soon. Story continues We think our primary mission is to get folks back and employed, said Gibson, a former Democratic legislator who Cooper picked to take over the Division of Employment Security last year as the agency was struggling in the early months of the pandemic. At the time, Republican Rep. Julia Howard of Davie County told Gibson she was happy to hear that the Cooper administration was on board with bringing back that requirement. Thats something were all looking forward to seeing, she said at that February meeting. Benefit amounts While Cooper and Republican lawmakers may agree with bringing back the work search requirement, they may have a harder time finding agreement on how much the state should pay unemployed people in the future. North Carolina has some of the lowest benefits in the country, due to changes Republican lawmakers passed in 2013 to address a budget shortfall in the unemployment trust fund. But that fund now has around $4 billion in reserve, and Cooper has called for using it to increase the maximum weekly benefits from $350 to $500 which has been met with skepticism at the legislature. A bill moving forward in the legislature would institute a work search requirement, in addition to stopping a planned unemployment tax hike for businesses. Howard sponsored the House version of the bill, House Bill 107, and the Senate version, Senate Bill 114, is sponsored by Republican Sen. Chuck Edwards of Hendersonville. Its due to be discussed in another Senate committee Wednesday. Under the Dome With the start of the new year and a new legislative session, The News & Observer has launched a new Under the Dome podcast. Were unpacking legislation and issues that matter to keep you updated on whats happening in North Carolina politics twice a week on Monday and Friday mornings. Check us out here and sign up for our weekly Under the Dome newsletter for more political news. KALAMAZOO, MI Construction on a new apartment building with a daycare center in Kalamazoos Edison Neighborhood is now complete. The Creamery is a $14.7-million mixed-use development that includes 48 mixed-income apartments, an expansion of the YWCA Kalamazoos downtown Childrens Center and an additional commercial/office suite at 1101 Portage Street, according to a statement from Hollander Development President Matt Hollander. The building is named for the old Kalamazoo Creamery Co. building that was torn down at the site on the corner of Lake and Portage streets. Affordability has been a key concern throughout development, Hollander said in a news release, and most of the apartments are designed to be affordable to low- and moderate-income households. Related: Affordable housing, 24-hour childcare coming to former Kalamazoo creamery building in 2021 Fifteen one-bedroom apartments are available to rent for $319/month to households earning up to $16,500 annually. Other apartments range in price from $811/month to $1,460/month, based on bedroom type and household income. All residents will benefit from a host of amenities, the release said, including in-unit washers & dryers, energy star appliances, central air, fiber internet access, a rooftop terrace, fitness room, community room, indoor bicycle storage, on-site management and more. Upon opening, the YWCA Childrens Center expansion will feature on-site affordable childcare for children 0-3 years of age as well as the areas first 24-hour drop-in childcare for children 0-12 years old. Both programs will be open to all families in the community and will have supports in place to serve the most vulnerable. The expansion will feature a nature-based play space in addition to numerous other amenities, the news release states. The Creamery is expected to achieve LEED Platinum Certification, the highest level of efficiency and sustainable construction that is recognized by the U.S. Green Building Council, the developer said. The Creamery incorporates rooftop solar panels, a green roof, high performance plumbing, efficient HVAC, high quality building materials, and other design features to achieve this goal. Upon certification, it will be only the second such commercial building in Kalamazoo, following WMUs Heritage Hall Alumni Center, according to the news release. Visit The Creamery website or Facebook page for more information about the development. Read more: Kalamazoo Public Library will reopen next week after months-long closures Michigan to allow nursing home visitation statewide Biden allows people to decline unsafe work and still get unemployment but it changes little in Michigan Kalamazoo approves Brownfield plan for residential development at Park and Cedar streets The worlds first hotel in space is only a few years away as it will finally become a reality by 2027. The construction of the hotel is expected to be completed before the end of the decade according to the group behind it, known as Orbital Assembly. The company plans to build the hotel in low Earth orbit in 2025 and will be called the Voyager Station as reported by The Daily Mail. Orbital Assembly The company has shared renders of what the hotel will look like where guests will have individual pods that will be attached to a rotating wheel. Different areas will be connected by tubes that will form an X shape, similar to a wheels axle. There will be rooms for about 400 guests and they will not only be paying for the view as the hotel will have other amenities. The hotel is expected to have a slew of amenities such as themed restaurants, health spas, a cinema, gyms, libraries, concert venues, and Earth-viewing decks and bars. Its somewhat the same concept as a cruise ship but in space. The hotel will also have quarters for the crew and will also have space for air, water, and power supply machinery. Orbital Assembly Orbital Assembly plans to sell portions of the hotel to permanent stakeholders which are also being extended to government agencies. The company is also open to private landlords who would like to create a villa aboard the hotel craft. The hotel is said to circle the globe every 90 minutes and will have artificial gravity similar to that on the moon. The company has not revealed how much it will cost to build the hotel. This will be the next industrial revolution, said John Blincow, the founder of Gateway Foundation, which will run some of the Voyagers pods, according to The Daily Mail. The rotation aspect is vital, he added. Orbital Assembly It is prudent to point out that artificial gravity is necessary at the hotel space station as people cannot be viably on the space station for a prolonged time. Orbital aims to make multi-month stays on the Voyager a possibility. People need gravity so their bodies wont fall apart, Blincow explained. The hotel will be built by a robot by the name STAR (Structure Trust Assembly Robot) where it will build the Voyagers frame in orbit after the company has completed some preliminary gravity-related testing. Source: The Daily Mail Bengaluru, March 2 : In a bid to remain at the forefront of technological innovation in the coming times, Karnataka on Tuesday launched the Engineering Research and Development (ER&D) Policy - 2021, said Deputy Chief Minister C. N. Ashwathnarayan here. The ER&D policy comprises five priority sectors -- Aerospace and defence, auto, auto components and electric vehicles, Biotechnology, pharma and medical devices, Electronics System Design and Manufacturing (ESDM), semiconductors and Telecom and Software Products. After launching the new ER&D policy, the Deputy CM, who is also the minister for Information Technology (IT)/Biotechnology (BT) and Science and Technology (S&T), said the ER&D sector in the country is the fastest growing industry with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 12.8 per cent and the global Engineering Research and Development industry is expected to reach a spending of 2 trillion dollars by 2025. "Considering this scenario, this policy aims to prepare the state to make use of the future opportunities emerging from this sector," he added. Ashwathnarayan said Karnataka is a leading contributor to the country's Engineering R&D industry revenue. "Karnataka is home to more than 400 leading R&D centres/GCCs (global capability centres). This policy aims to retain this position, generation of Intellectual Properties (IPs) and to make this a skilled knowledge capital," Ashwathnarayan said. Karnataka which has been at the forefront of technological innovation for a long time has come out with this policy intending to make the state a preferred destination of choice for global MNCs, GCC, engineering service providers (ESPs) and to create a suitable ecosystem all across the state. Chairman of Karnataka Vision Group on IT, Kris Gopalakrishnan, and NASSCOM President, Debjani Ghosh, virtually attended the programme and spoke on the occasion. Additional Chief Secretary, Department of Electronics, IT, BT and S&T, E.V. Ramana Reddy, QuEST Global and Chair for NASSCOM Engineering President, Ajay Prabhu, and Director of Department of Electronics, IT, BT and S&T and KITS, Managing Director, Meena Nagaraj, were among the dignitaries who were present. Governor Okezie Ikpeazu of Abia State has said he does not drink alcohol. Permit me to say that I dont drink at all and I dont begrudge those who drink, Mr Ikpeazu said on Monday in Abuja during the launch of the autobiography of Eyinnaya Abaribe, a PDP senator representing Abia State. The governor was apparently responding to a controversial remark by a Kogi senator, Smart Adeyemi, who said on the floor of the Senate that Abia State was being governed by drunkards. In other places or countries that have lesser problems, their leaders discuss issues of security, big issues of economic development, infrastructure development, they dont talk about what people do and what they did not do, the governor said at the book launch where he was a special guest. Mr Ikpeazu urged political leaders to serve as mentors to the younger generation. For us leaders, it is a calling. If you are called to lead, you are also called to be a mentor to the young ones and what you say, how you carry yourself and the things you say and the times you say them, speak a lot about how serious you are as a person. I share in the joy of this event because I understand the importance of history of a people and a nation. I am happy that we are trying in Nigeria now to return history into the curriculum of our secondary school system. The title of Mr Abaribes autobiography is Made in Aba. Governor Ikpeazu said, If Abaribe fails to tell his story, by the time others tell the story, he will not be able to recognise himself anymore. The caption points to something and that is the tenacity and never dying spirit that Aba exhumes, represents and reflects and that encapsulates the personality of distinguished Senator Eyinnaya Abaribe. A former president of the Nigerian Senate, Anyim Anyim, described Senator Abaribe as a colossus. The controversy in the life of Abaribe started as deputy governor of Abia. I think I have to say that a public figure without controversy is not complete. There must be a time you will challenge the status quo. There must be time you must take a stand that everybody will not be comfortable with. There must be a time you will stand out, whether people like it or not and I think that would have dotted the history of Abaribe. It is a history that is dotted with firm convictions or issues, whether the crowd goes the same way with him or against him, he will stand his ground, he will make his point, he will push his point and he will defend his point, Mr Anyim said. Mr Abaribe, in his remark, said he desired a country where everyone would be committed to the Nigerian Project. ADVERTISEMENT (NAN) Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. 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. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Krishna Boodhoo, 63, lost his job at Riverland Elementary in Fort Lauderdale after the school board approved his termination last month A Florida elementary teacher has been fired for allegedly inappropriately touching seven female students despite prosecutors not bringing charges against him because they say there are too many inconsistencies in the children's statements. Krishna Boodhoo, 63, lost his job at Riverland Elementary in Fort Lauderdale after the school board approved his termination last month. The State Attorney's Office had decided in October last year not to prosecute Boodhoo, a fifth grade science teacher, because they believed a conviction was unlikely. An investigative report that was presented to the school board recommending that Boodhoo be terminated did not mention that prosecutors were not seeking criminal charges, the Sun-Sentinel reports. Boodhoo, who denies the allegations, is now appealing his firing. The allegations against Boodhoo, who had worked for the district for 13 years, first surfaced in February last year after a mother reported that the teacher had touched her daughter's breasts in December 2019. Police reports state that the mother had questioned her daughter after noticing bruising on her. The girl told her mother that Boodhoo had allegedly grabbed her by the arm. She told the principal that Boodhoo had allegedly reached into her jacket and touched her breast, according to police reports. A memo from the State Attorney's Office said the girl later said during a separate interview that Boodhoo didn't touch her breast. She allegedly said that she had her arms inside her jacket because she was cold and that Boodhoo reached inside but never touched her. The State Attorney's Office had decided in October last year not to prosecute Boodhoo, a fifth grade science teacher, because they believed a conviction was unlikely When investigators asked during that interview if Boodhoo had ever done anything inappropriate or made her feel uncomfortable, the girl said no. The girl told police several of her friends were also alleged victims of Boodhoo. Officers interviewed the other alleged victims, including one who said Boodhoo brushed her breast as she held in iPad in front of her and another who claimed the teacher put his 'private part' on her elbow when she was at her desk. Those allegations were included in the report giving to the school board. The memo from the attorney's office, however, noted there were some inconsistencies from the other alleged victims, including one who initially said Boodhoo touched her buttocks and in another interview said he touched her thigh. Following an investigation, assistant state attorney Lauren Covitz said she was declining the case because 'there is not a reasonable likelihood of conviction'. 'This is heavily due to the numerous conflicts between what the subject is alleged to have done and what the witnesses have slated,' she said. Sarah Leonardi, who is one of the school board members, said she was never told that prosecutors weren't considering charges. She believes they should have had that information prior to voting on whether to terminate Boodhoo. Leonardi said, however, that there could have been reasons for the inconsistencies, including trauma and potential language barriers. 'Either way it's a tragedy,' she said. 'It's a tragedy if someone is fired after being falsely accused, because that can ruin their life. And it's a tragedy if they were molested.' (Natural News) After lying about it, the United Nations (UN) was outed via leaked emails for sharing the names of Chinese dissidents with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Right before the activists were set to testify in Geneva against the CCPs prolific human rights abuses, the UN decided to snitch on them, which the globalist body apparently considers to be usual practice based on the contents of the emails. To this very day, a whistleblower told The Epoch Times, the UN is aiding and abetting the CCP in its crimes against humanity, even while publicly denying it. After receiving the names of the dissidents from the UN, the CCP blocked all of them from leaving China. At least one of them, Cao Chunli, was detained by the CCP and later died. According to UN whistleblower Emma Reilly, who first exposed the scandal, the CCP would frequently threaten, kidnap, and even torture the families of dissidents to keep them from embarrassing Beijing. Many of the Chinese dissidents take issue with the CCPs treatment of Tibet, Hong Kong, and minority Islamic Uyghurs, the latter of which are enslaved in concentration camps. Early last year, Reilly herself was threatened by the CCP for her work in exposing it. While still employed by the UN, Reilly is under investigation, thanks to the CCPs retaliation efforts. Reilly says it is criminal what her employer is doing, even going so far as to accuse the UN of being complicit in genocide. Other human rights organizations around the world agree. UN Human Rights Council exists to stamp out human rights One of the more explosive emails to be uncovered was sent on Sept. 7, 2012, from a diplomat at the CCPs Mission to the UN in Geneva requesting information about Chinese dissidents who were scheduled to testify at the UN Human Rights Council. Following the usual practice, could you kindly heip [sic] me to check whether the persons on the attached list are requesting the accreditation of the 21st session of the HRC? the diplomat asked in the email. My delegation has some security concern [sic] on these persons. The UN official, whose name was redacted, responded with confirmation about two dissidents names, both of whom were accredited and planning to attend the meeting. As per your request, kindly be advised that Dolkun Isa and He Geng were accredited by the Nonviolent Radical party, Transnational and Transparty for the 21st session of the Human Rights Council, the official responded, completely unconcerned about the safety of the dissidents and their families. Isa is reportedly the president of the World Uyghur Congress, which advocates for the Uyghur Muslims who are being treated horribly in Chinas Xinjiang region. More than one million Uyghurs are believed to be housed in reeducation camps in Xinjiang, where they are brainwashed, abused, tortured, and even raped for rejecting the tenets of communism. Isa also serves as vice president of the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization (UNPO), which acts as a voice for other disenfranchised people and groups around the world who lack representation from their nation-states. After that email was sent, UN security attempted to remove Isa from the Human Rights Council chamber. Reilly was the only one who intervened on his behalf to prevent that from happening. This is a hideous practice, but if the UN is going to do it, at least they must make sure its public so people know the danger they are going to be put in, Reilly is quoted as saying. This is basic decency and basic standards of humanity dont secretly put these people in danger. Is that too much to ask? To keep up with the latest news about United Nations collusion with the Chinese Communist Party, visit Corruption.news. Sources for this article include: TheEpochTimes.com NaturalNews.com Intelligent.com, a trusted resource for online degree rankings and higher education planning, has announced the Top 45 Human Resources Certification Degree Programs for 2021. The comprehensive research guide is based on an assessment of 174 accredited colleges and universities in the nation. Each program is evaluated based on curriculum quality, graduation rate, reputation, and post-graduate employment. The 2021 rankings are calculated through a unique scoring system which includes student engagement, potential return on investment and leading third party evaluations. Intelligent.com analyzed 174 schools, on a scale of 0 to 100, with only 45 making it to the final list. The methodology also uses an algorithm which collects and analyzes multiple rankings into one score to easily compare each school. Students who pursue any one of these programs can expect to gain employment much quicker in comparison to candidates without a degree. In addition to accessibility and cost, the steady job growth in this market is one of the many reasons Intelligent.com researched and ranked the Top Human Resources Certification Degree Programs. To access the complete ranking, please visit: https://www.intelligent.com/best-human-resources-certification-degree-programs/ 2021 Human Resources Certification Degree Programs featured on Intelligent.com (in alphabetical order): American University Brandman University Bryan College Capella University Cedar Crest College Central Michigan University Champlain College Colorado State University Concordia University Concordia University, Wisconsin Cornell University Dakota County Technical College Dallas Baptist University DeSales University Dickinson State University Eastern Michigan University Ferris State University Georgia Northwestern Technical College Golden Gate University Great Basin College Hampton University Indiana University Judson University Louisiana State University Michigan State University Montana State University, Billings National University Northwest Technical College Norwich University Riverland Community College Rutgers University South Texas College Southeastern Technical College Southern New Hampshire University State University of New York, Stony Brook Thomas Edison State University University of Connecticut University of Denver University of Houston, Clear Lake University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign University Of Illinois, Springfield University of Minnesota University of Virginia University of West Florida University Of Wisconsin, Whitewater About Intelligent.com Intelligent.com provides unbiased research to help students make informed decisions about higher education programs. The website offers curated guides which include the best degree programs as well as information about financial aid, internships and even study strategies. With comprehensive, user-friendly guides and hundreds of program rankings, Intelligent.com is a trusted source among students and prospective students. To learn more, please visit https://www.intelligent.com/. Whether youre living with a mammy, sharing a bubble with yours or want to send a token to a mother many miles away, weve compiled 20 gifts that are sure to put a smile on her face. 1. Breakfast in Bed, Cork International Hotel Breakfast in Bed, Cork International Hotel Cork International Hotel is offering a cosy spin on your Mothers Day Brunch. Elevate your tray of breakfast goodies with the hotels Breakfast in Bed box, which includes pancakes, bacon, fresh strawberries, orange juice and prosecco plus a beautiful hand tied bunch of wild lavender. Theres enough food to serve two adults and two children (if mum wants to share, of course). The takeaway brunch costs 45 and is available on March 13 and 14. It can be booked by calling 021 4549800. 2. Mothers Day cupcakes, Hannahs Kitchen Mothers Day cupcakes, Hannahs Kitchen For a lighter but still delightful treat, why not present your mother with a selection of four (9.95) or six (14.95) cupcakes. The homemade treats include Oreo, strawberry, red velvet and Kinder Bueno flavours. Perfect for a special mum, or ideal for a busy mum to treat herself. To order, visit hannahskitchen.ie. 3. The Exquisite Collection, Lily OBriens The Exquisite Collection, Lily OBriens You cant go wrong with a classic box of chocolates. The Lily OBriens Exquisite Collection (8.49) boasts exotic ingredients from far-flung locations with simple riches from the Irish countryside. From almond and cranberry to raspberry and Sicilian lemon, it will bring your mother on a taste journey like no other and is sure to excite with every bite. All Lily OBriens collections are made in Ireland and available in stores nationwide. View the full range online at lilyobriens.ie. 4. Pamper Care Kit, Codex Beauty Labs Pamper Care Kit, Codex Beauty Labs This Pamper Care Kit from Codex Beauty Labs is the perfect Mother's Day treat for a Supermammy who is always looking out for others. Treat her to an at-home spa day with Invigorating Soap, Heart Soap and Bia Skin Superfood Hydrating Solution. The selection provides everything you need for soft, hydrated winter skin and costs 60 (with products valuing 85). 5. Home Comfort Vase, Sarah McKenna Ceramics Home Comfort Vase, Sarah McKenna Ceramics If youre presenting your mum with a bouquet, shell need a worthy vase for those blooms. Sarah McKenna Ceramics makes handmade ceramic vases, including the Home Comfort Vase which is textured with wallpaper patterns and formed from flat pieces of clay. They cost from 50 - 75 6. Iconic landmarks, JANDO Prints Iconic landmarks, JANDO Prints Is there a place you associate with a memory of your mam? Whether it was summers spent in Baltimore or a night youll never forget at Cork Opera House, JANDO has a print for you to send to her. All prints are available from jandodesign.com in A4, A3, A2 and A1 and can be sent framed or unframed. Prices range from 40 - 300. 7. Mother's Day Pamper Box, Boxofwine.ie Mother's Day Pamper Box, Boxofwine.ie After months of working from the kitchen table, homeschooling and socialising over Zoom, mamy mammies could do with a nice glass of wine. Boxofwine.ie offers tasty monthly subscription services but also features an online gift shop for once-off gifts like its Mothers Day Box, which starts at 65. It is full to the brim with a fine champagne, wine or cava, delicious Skelligs Chocolates, a fragrant Celtic Candle, cosy "Best Mammy" socks from Sock Society, luxurious Dalkey Handmade Soap, dreamy Celtic Candles Pillow Mist and a gorgeous Three Hills Lip Balm. 8. Mammy and Me earrings set, Little Deer Gems Mammy and Me earrings set, Little Deer Gems If imitation is the best form of flattery then we know a mum or two whod be very complimented if their child started accessorising the same way as them. Little Deer Gems is selling Mammy and Me sets of earrings and mini-studs on littledeergems.bigcartel.com so both mother and child can coordinate. Adorable. 9. Luxury perfumes Marc Jacobs Daisy Eau So Intense EDP (50ml for 83) A luxury fragrance is a great way to become the favourite child fast. You could choose a Tiffany scent, a Chloe perfume, or whatever her preference may be. The new Marc Jacobs Daisy Eau So Intense EDP (50ml for 83) caught our eye. The perfumes are available in selected pharmacies nationwide including McCauleys and Lloyds as well as BrownThomas.com and Arnotts.ie. 10. Mothers Day Balloon, Red Balloon Mothers Day Balloon, Red Balloon Think outside the box with a unique gift, like this Red Balloon offering which can be fully customised and delivered inflated anywhere in the country. Forget flowers, tell your mother you care by building a Mothers Day Balloon, which comes with a special Colour Me In box, giving hours of creative fun for adults and children alike. 11. Mothers Day box, The Book Resort Mothers Day box, The Book Resort If you know a mum who likes to unwind with a book and a tasty bite to eat, this is the gift for her. The Book Resort is a monthly book subscription box based in Co Waterford that sends brand new books and delicious chocolate to your door. If you dont fancy being tied to a subscription, special Mothers Day boxes (from 48) are also available from thebookresort.ie 12. Gift set, Blacks Irish Gin Gift set, Blacks Irish Gin Time to raise a toast to another year of being a great parent. If youre buying for a mother who enjoys a gin and tonic, theyll be impressed by this local spirit. Blacks in Kinsale, Co. Cork is Irelands first co-located brewery and distillery. It is selling a gift set which includes a bottle of Blacks Irish Gin and Teku Blacks Stemmed Glass for 49.99. 13. Personalised bibs and aprons, The Baby Shop Personalised bibs and aprons, The Baby Shop If youre buying for a new mum, theyre sure to appreciate a personal touch. Based in Wilton Shopping Centre, The Baby Shop specialises in personalising baby gifts and goods and offers worldwide delivery. Among the options for Mothers Day are personalised bibs (10) and babygros (18) for baby to wear as well as aprons (18) that any mother would love to show off. See this, they said I make the BEST apple tart. Its on an apron so it must be true. 14. A guilt-free shopping spree Thriftify.ie Buy mum a gift voucher from Thriftify.ie so she can pick out something she loves from books, vinyl and preloved fashion while indirectly donating to Irish charities too, whose shops are currently closed. Thriftify will post the items directly to the buyer using biodegradable packaging. 15. Sheen Falls Lodge Afternoon Tea At-Home service Sheen Falls Lodge Afternoon Tea This delicious Mothers Day treat is available for delivery in the Kilgarvan area (Killarney Town Centre and addresses within a 5km radius of the town centre) and includes a selection of sweet and savoury delights including the hotels signature smoked salmon on homemade brown bread, plus sweet treats and an assortment of bakes including lemon bread and homemade scones. To order, ring 064 6641600 (9am to 6pm) by Friday, March 12 at 6pm. 16. Say it with flowers Kids Spring Blooms Mothers Day craft pack Think beyond the usual bouquet and get the children involved with a Kids Spring Blooms Mothers Day craft pack for 35 from New Moon Blooms. Each kit contains enough floral stems to create three or four jam jars of beautiful spring blooms. All that is needed is some glass jam jars, fresh water and a scissors, and the whole family can be involved in creating floral arrangements for Mothers Day. 17. The gift of good skincare Shiseido Ultimune Concentrate Hard-working mums deserve a pampering session with some top quality products. Shiseido Ultimune Concentrate is one of those products. A luxury 75ml size (145 in Arnotts and pharmacies nationwide) will be a real treat and it promises to activate the power of the skin, to repair and resist skin damage such as dryness, wrinkles, sagging and uneven skin tone, while enhancing the function of corrective skincare products. 18. Diamonds are forever Fallers Jewellers Treat your mother to some gorgeous jewellery she will treasure forever, such as earrings, watches, necklaces or bracelets from Fallers Jewellers, Co Galway. They even offer personalisation to create a special and unique gift. 19. A day in a spa someday soon The Kingsley vouchers If anyone could do with a back rub, its a mum. Give the gift of luxury with a gift voucher from The Kingsley in Cork so she can indulge with prosecco afternoon tea, her choice of spa treatments or a luxury getaway. 20. A getaway for a green-fingered mum Green Fingers Getaway If your mam can always be found in the garden, a green-themed getaway this summer might be exactly what shed love. Saturday in July, August, and September, the Montenotte Hotels head gardener Ann will offer free tours of the sunken Victorian Gardens for guests. The Green Fingers Getaway package, from 220 per night is available on Friday and Saturday nights from 11 June and includes an overnight stay in a Boutique double or twin room, breakfast, early check-in and late check out, and a garden tour with the head gardener. Burma Myanmar Military Cracks Down on Journalists with Arrests and Lawsuits Ma Kay Zon Nway from Myanmar Now being detained by police on Saturday while covering a protest in Myaynigone, Yangon. / The Irrawaddy YANGON Myanmars security forces forcibly arrested a reporter from the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB) on Monday night from his home in Myeik, Tanintharyi Region, where he has been reporting on anti-regime protests. A DVB live-stream at around 10:20pm showed police and military personnel surrounded his home and shouting at him to come out. When Ko Kaung Myat Naing, also known as Ko Aung Kyaw, asked whether they had a warrant, they fired into the air. When Ko Aung Kyaw asked them to remain peaceful, the security forces started throwing stones at his house. Ko Aung Kyaw can be heard shouting that a stone injured his head and appealing to neighbors for help before the security forces break into his house and arrest him. The arrest came after he live-streamed police and soldiers shooting at houses and destroying furniture and other possessions in their ongoing crackdown. He also reported that how a pregnant woman in Myeik was beaten and her home looted by the security forces. DVB chief editor U Aye Chan Naing told The Irrawaddy that before Ko Aung Kyaws arrest, the security forces threatened his neighbors with guns to turn off their lights and stay silent. U Aye Chan Naing said the editorial team is trying to find Ko Aung Kyaws whereabouts and if he faces charges. DVB said it has employed a lawyer and written to the International Committee of the Red Cross for help. U Aye Chan Naing said: The regime does not want to let people know its brutal acts. Thats why it is arresting journalists. Two detained reporters, Ma Kay Zon Nway from Myanmar Now and Ko Aung Ye Ko from 7Day News, have been charged with incitement under Article 505(a) of the Penal Code which carries up to three years imprisonment, according to Daw Nilar Khaing, their lawyer. Both were arrested on Saturday while covering protests in Yangon. Daw Nilar Khaing said she will ask to meet the reporters, adding that their relatives are not allowed to see them because of COVID-19 rules. She said the court hearings will be conducted online due to COVID-19. Since the military takeover on Feb. 1, the security forces have detained at least 29 journalists, of whom four have been charged under 505(a) and six are being held without facing any charges. The US-based Committee to Protect Journalists said Myanmars junta must release all journalists detained while doing their jobs and allow reporters to cover protests without fear of reprisals. Shawn Crispin, the NGOs regional representative, said: Myanmar authorities must release all journalists being held behind bars and stop threatening and harassing reporters for merely doing their jobs of covering anti-coup street protests. Myanmar must not return to the past dark ages where military rulers jailed journalists to stifle and censor news reporting, he said. You may also like these stories: Thailands Dilemma in Myanmar Crisis Myanmar Security Forces Beat Pregnant Woman, Loot Her Home During Rampage in Myeik Twin Brother of Young Protester Slain by Myanmar Security Forces Calls for Justice Diana Trujillo was 17-years-old when she immigrated to the United States from Colombia with only $300 and not speaking any English. She worked housekeeping jobs to pay for her studies when in 2007 she decided to join the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. NASA's Perseverance rover successfully landed on Mars last week with Trujillo as its flight director on the mission. Trujillo said that it took her some time to process that it had arrived on another planet, according to a CBS News report. She added that it was when she was watching the image that she actually processed that they had actually landed. Related story: Famous Latinos Who Changed World of Politics, Astronomy, and More Trujillo's NASA Career and Roots Trujillo is now part of NASA in Jet Propulsion Lab. She worked on the team that created that robotic arm that is responsible for the collection of rock samples on Mars. Trujillo said that the ultimate question is understanding if we are alone in the universe. She hoped that within one year of surface operations on the red planet, this can be answered. Trujillo is one of the few Hispanic women working in the same field, saying that she has not forgotten her roots and that it helped her get to the top of the aerospace field, according to a People report. In addition, she said that being an immigrant motivates her to always give her best, especially that she came in a country that had limited opportunities. "I was born and raised in Colombia. There was a lot of violence going on in my country, so for me, looking up at the sky and looking at the stars was my safe place," Trujillo was quoted in a report. Trujillo said that part of the reason that she wanted to get into the space field was to prove some of her family members wrong, saying that she wanted her family members, particularly the males, to recognize that women add value. Back in college, Trujillo said she did not know what major she would declare at the University of Florida. It was when she reached the dean and saw a magazine that had images of a female astronauts that she chose aerospace engineering as a major. Meanwhile, the Perseverance mission will last one year on Mars, which is considered two Earth years. It aims to start touring the crater and collecting samples that could be brought back to Earth, according to The Times Hub. Representing Her Heritage Trujillo said throughout her career she stood out being a Hispanic woman. She said that now, she knows that whenever she is working as one of the surface flight directors for Perseverance, she is representing more than herself. Trujillo said she is representing her country, her culture, her heritage, and her people, which encourages her to give her best every single time. "I get to elevate and amplify my culture and all the countries that speak Spanish by sending a message to everybody that we're here, we're present," she was quoted in a report. Hispanics comprise only eight percent of the STEM workforce, with women only accounting for two percent of it, according to the Student Research Foundation. Trujillo said she believes that this theme could be broken by having more role models, which is one that influenced her decision to be the host of NASA's first Spanish language broadcast for planetary landing. Related story: Latino Art Group Urges the Inclusion of a National Smithsonian American Latino Museum Through a 2014 Campaign Design Contest Future Saluki Nathaniel Pimentel, second from right, a senior at Carbondale Community High School, is joined by Chancellor Austin A. Lane and other members of the SIU community on Feb. 25 to receive his 2021 Chancellors Scholarship. With Pimentel are, from left, Amber Rivers, financial aid academic scholarships coordinator; Lane; Grey Dawg; John Frost, undergraduate admissions director, and Brittney Gant, undergraduate admissions coordinator. (Photo by Yenitza Melgoza) SIU Carbondale awards Chancellors Scholarships to high achieving local students by Pete Rosenbery CARBONDALE, Ill. Fourteen high achieving high school seniors from throughout the region are receiving Southern Illinois University Carbondale 2021 Chancellors Scholarship, which covers tuition, mandatory fees, room and board for four years. I am excited to welcome these future Salukis from our own region to SIU, where they will receive a first-class education close to home, Chancellor Austin A. Lane said. The Chancellors Scholarship is SIUs most prestigious award. I congratulate all Chancellors Scholars on this remarkable achievement and look forward to seeing them in the fall. Lane presented Nathaniel Pimentel, a senior at Carbondale Community High School, with his scholarship certificate on Feb. 25. Pimentel indicated he plans to major in the universitys economics program. Watch a video of Pimentels award presentation. Other recipients received surprise personal visits from university officials and Grey Dawg. SIU will award 34 Chancellors Scholarships this year. More than 450 high school students competed this year in a selection process that included a scholarship application and essay, with finalists participating in a personal interview. Selected students demonstrate high academic achievement, a strong record of leadership in their communities and participate in numerous extracurricular activities. As in prior years, scholarship recipients will come from throughout Illinois and the United States. The award is renewable for three years, contingent upon the students maintaining a 3.0 or higher GPA and completing 20 hours of community service and campus leadership activities per year. Southern Illinois students who have received Chancellors Scholarships include, by hometown, name, and high school: Benton: Reece Johnson, Benton Consolidated High School. Carbondale: Nathaniel Pimentel, Carbondale Community High School. Columbia: Alexis Mueller, Valmeyer High School. Du Quoin: David Gomes, Du Quoin High School. Energy: Austin Shadowen, Herrin High School. Equality: Morgan Schmitt, Gallatin County High School. Galatia: Luke Eisenhauer, home school. Goreville: Alexis Steinsultz, Goreville High School. Highland: Autumn Meyer, Highland High School. Herrin: Kelsey Jurich, Herrin High School. Johnston City: Caden Cockburn, Johnston City High School. Marion: Dyson Roye, Marion High School. McLeansboro: Leslie Grubb, Hamilton County Senior High School. Raleigh: Gracie Harrawood, Eldorado High School. SIU Carbondale offers various scholarships to high achieving high school seniors and transfer students. For more information on the universitys academic scholarships and financial aid, contact the financial aid office at scholarships@siu.edu or 618-453-4628. Lawton, OK (73501) Today Cloudy early with peeks of sunshine expected late. High near 75F. Winds N at 10 to 15 mph.. Tonight A few clouds. Low 57F. Winds NNE at 5 to 10 mph. South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham was roundly mocked for grovelling comments he made about Donald Trump in a TV interview. Mr Graham told Fox News host Sean Hannity on Monday evening that the former president was very nice because hes allowed me to be in his world. On MSNBCs Morning Joe the following day, the co-hosts laughed at the senators subservient tone in praising his master. Willie Geist mockingly mimicked the obsequious statement saying to Joe Scarborough: First of all, Joe, I want to thank you for letting me into your life, much like Lindsey with Trump. It means the world to me. As fellow host Mika Brzezinski laughed, Geist added: Can you imagine saying something like that? Its really sad, agreed Brzezinski. Who says that? Mr Graham, one of Mr Trumps most loyal supporters, had briefly denounced the then-president in the aftermath of the deadly riots at the US Capitol on 6 January. The senator said he and the president had had a hell of a journey. I hate it to end this way. Oh, my god, I hate it. He dismissed the presidents wishes to challenge the election results in Congress as not going to do any good. Mr Graham even got applause from his fellow senators when he acknowledged that Joe Biden would be the next president. However, Mr Graham was soon back in the Trump fold after an airport encounter with supporters of the president shortly after 6 January. Lindsey Graham [is] trying to stay on the right side of the seditionists and QAnon people," Mr Scarborough reminded viewers. Three people and a chihuahua chased him through the airport and he completely melted. The hosts contrasted Mr Graham fawning over Mr Trump to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Republican conference chair Liz Cheney, who they say are focused on winning back Congress from Democrats. President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi stressed Egypt's "steadfast position toward the inevitability of reaching a legally binding agreement on the rules of filling and operating the disputed Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD). During a meeting with Sudanese Foreign Minister Mariam Al-Saddiq Al-Mahdi in Cairo on Tuesday, the president said that the agreement shall guarantee that no harm is caused to the two downstream countries: Egypt and Sudan, and that their water rights are preserved. According to a statement released by Presidential Spokesman Bassam Rady following the meeting, both officials agreed on intensifying - in the upcoming period - mutual coordination between Egypt and Sudan on the GERD issue. Negotiations over the long-standing dam issue have not yet reached an agreement on the outstanding points related to the filling and operating of the dam. There is an endeavor still in the making to revive the AU-sponsored talks, spearheaded by a Sudanese proposal, backed by Egypt, to form an international quartet committee comprising the US, the European Union (EU), the United Nations (UN), and the African Union (AU) to mediate the stalled negotiations. The efforts to resolve the crisis come amid worries over controversial plans by Addis Ababa completing the second filling in July without reaching an agreement with Cairo and Khartoum first. Ethiopia says that the near complete project on the Blue Nile, which it hopes will make it Africas largest power exporter, is key to its development efforts, a matter that neither Egypt nor Sudan oppose. Egypt, however, fears the project will significantly cut its crucial water supplies from the River Nile, while Sudan has concerns on how the reservoir will be managed. Egyptian-Sudanese cooperation El-Sisi assured, during the meeting, Egypt's support to all efforts aiming to enhance peace and stability in Sudan based on the country's "constant principle that the stability and peace of Sudan is an integral part of Egypt's." El-Sisi also assured Egypt's strategic approach in backing all aspects of the bilateral relations between both countries with the aim of consolidating the "partnership and the eternal ties between the people of the Nile Valley." The president asserted Cairo's interest in strengthening cooperation with Khartoum, especially in fields of power linkage, railway interconnection and trade exchange, the statement added. Spokesman Rady added that El-Sisi expressed the state's willingness to continue to transfer its experience in economic reform, training Sudanese cadres and helping face any challenges that may arise in this regard. The Sudanese minister expressed Khartoum's aspiration in developing mutual efforts to improve joint cooperation between the two countries, praising Egypts "sincere support to preserve the safety and stability of Sudan in light of its significant historic turning point." She said that Egyptian support helped Sudan to override the difficulties of this stage. She continued to express an aspiration to benefit from the Egyptian experience in the field of economic reform that has achieved great success. Short link: "It is an honor to be recognized within our industry for these accolades," said World Connection President / CEO Hui Wu-Curtis. "Winning two golds for 'Best in the Americas' was a great achievement for us. To follow that up with a gold and a silver, judged by other colleagues against the best in the world, means more to me and my team than anything else." World Connection's "Ranked #1 in the World in Best Call Center Design" came for its Guatemala City location; a 1,200-seat facility built around people-focused themes. The "Ranked #2 in the World in Best Outsourcing Partnership" is for its long-term partnership with personal-finance software seller Quicken, which spans two locations in two countries. "We're thrilled to receive this new validation of our ongoing work to change the customer experience for good," said Wu-Curtis. In addition, Wu-Curtis was recognized with an Individual Industry Champion Award, presented to "top movers and shakers," highly respected individuals who positively influence the growth and development of the contact center industry. The 2020 Top Ranking Performers Awards attracted over 2000 entries from over 70 nations. About World Connection World Connection S.A. and World Connection LLC is a privately-owned global provider of call center, back office, and business process outsourcing services. Founded in 2011, World Connection provides outsourcing services including call centers, customer service, customer acquisition and retention, sales, collections, as well as back-office processing headquartered in Guatemala City. For more information, visit https://worldconnection.com/ About ContactCenterWorld.com The association is the World's largest association for Contact Center & CX professionals with over 205,00 professional members. ContactCenterWorld.com was founded in 1999 and runs the largest awards program for our industry, the highest rated events, offers networking for members, has over 40,000 documents online and offers daily tips, benchmarking data, employee engagement and customer experience programs. Learn more at http://www.contactcenterworld.com SOURCE World Connection Related Links https://worldconnection.com The closing address by former President Donald Trump at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Florida marks a further stage in the elevation of an outright fascistic tendency in American politics. The ex-president railed against what he called the onslaught of radicalism and socialism, and, indeed, it all leads to communism, which he said it was necessary to fight once and for all. He associated this, absurdly, with the policies of the incoming Biden administration, which he denounced for rolling back his immigration policies and other measures. Former President Donald Trump speaks at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), Sunday, Feb. 28, 2021, in Orlando, Fla. (AP Photo/John Raoux) A central focus of Trumps speech, however, was on the need to purge any opposition from the Republican Party. In the course of his speech, he named every Republican member of Congress who had voted in the House of Representatives to impeach him, or in the Senate to convict him, on charges arising from the January 6 attack on Congress by fascist Trump supporters. The ex-president declared, Get rid of them all, and hailed several former aides or Trump loyalists who have announced they will challenge these traitors in Republican primaries next year. When Trump repeated his lies about the stolen 2020 election, the CPAC audience responded with chants, You won. It is now clear that adherence to the false claim that the 2020 election was stolen from Trump is to be a litmus test for Republican candidates and office-holders going forward. It is a key element in the effort to transform the Republican Party into the party of Trump, a personalist, authoritarian organization, symbolized by the golden statue of the defeated president put on display at the conference. Trump began his speech by dismissing suggestions that he might build a third party, indicating that dominating the Republican Party was his preferred course of action. There was little attempt to disguise the fascistic stamp Trump would impart: the stage at CPAC was built in the shape of the Othala Rune, a symbol adopted by two units of the Waffen SS, a key instrument in Hitlers extermination of the Jews. When the issue was raised with CPACs organizers, they denied any connection to the symbols use by neo-Nazi and white supremacist groups in the United States, including those that marched in the 2017 Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, where an anti-Nazi protester was murdered by a fascist. There were undoubtedly members of fascist groups in the CPAC audience who appreciated the symbolism, and one prominent neo-Nazi, Enrique Tarrio, leader of the Proud Boys, was seen by reporters mingling with the crowd and taking photos with his fans. Trumps CPAC speech was his first major public statement since his January 6 diatribe to a crowd outside the White House, which then marched down Pennsylvania Avenue and forced its way into the Capitol, temporarily shutting down the formal counting of the electoral votes that validated Bidens election win and Trumps defeat. Trump reiterated both the themes and the tone of January 6 to an equally rabid audience. The Republican Party establishment that he now reviles played a critical role in legitimizing Trumps false claims of a stolen election. Mitch McConnell, then the Senate majority leader, sustained the pretense that Trump had not suffered a devastating defeat on November 3, arguing that Trump was merely exercising his legal rights by filing dozens of baseless lawsuits against the counting and certifying of votes in key battleground states. McConnell, joined by the overwhelming majority of Republicans in both the House and Senate, refused to acknowledge Biden as president-elect until after the Electoral College vote in December. In the House, a majority of Republicans continued to challenge the electoral votes for Biden even after the mob attack of January 6. The elevation of an increasingly fascistic tendency in American politics is rooted in the reality of capitalism. The staggering levels of inequality are incompatible with democratic forms of rule. Over the past year, the response of the ruling class to the pandemic has led to the death of more than half a million people, with fascistic gangs mobilized to enforce the demand of the financial oligarchy that there be no restraints on the spread of the virus. The role of the Democratic Party, a party of Wall Street and the military, is to suppress opposition in the working class, covering up at every point the extreme danger to democratic rights. The militarist and right-wing politics of the Biden administration, along with the promotion of the politics of racial and gender identity, provide Trump and the Republicans with the opportunity to exploit social grievances for reactionary purposes. Biden announced his desire for a strong Republican Party, a strong opposition throughout the transition. Even after a majority of congressional Republicans sided with the fascist attackers on January 6 and voted to overturn the electoral votes in Georgia and Pennsylvania won by Biden, the Democratic Party refrained from any political retaliation. It limited itself to the cosmetic removal of a single Republican, QAnon conspiracy theory supporter Marjorie Taylor Greene, from her committee assignments. The impeachment and Senate trial of Trump were deliberately managed by the Democrats to exclude any charges that would implicate congressional Republicans. After voting to open the trial to testimony from one House Republican prepared to confirm Trumps support for the January 6 coup attempt, the Democrats reversed themselves and decided to shut down the trial without hearing a single witness. The legislative agenda of the Biden administration has likewise been predicated on an effort to achieve bipartisanship, i.e., to win Republican votes, an all-purpose excuse for such reactionary steps as dropping the $15-an-hour minimum wage from the coronavirus economic recovery bill. The CPAC spectacle is a warning to the working class. The forces that were on display on January 6, which culminated in a frontal attack on American democracy, continue to be whipped and mobilized by Trump. Thanks to the complicity of the political establishment as a whole, Democratic and Republican, they are being given a central role in American politics. The effort of a faction of the ruling class to develop a fascistic movement arises not out of strength, but weakness. The financial elite is working to deploy all the forces at its disposal against the working class, using both of its political parties. The American ruling class is terrified of the mass radicalization of the working class that is being generated by a year of the pandemic, ongoing economic dislocation and increasing social inequality. The fight against the resurgence of fascism and the turn to authoritarianism and dictatorship requires the transformation of this objective movement into a conscious, organized and revolutionary movement for socialism. 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 Cyberattacks are increasing in frequency, ramping up the data privacy threats they pose to government agencies and businesses alike. Governments both domestic and foreign need to step up efforts to pass legislation that bolsters technological defenses this year, warn privacy groups. Stiffer privacy laws are gradually being reviewed and signed into the U.S. market. But that process is mostly taking place at the state level. Meanwhile, cyberattacks present IT experts and legislators with a war on two fronts. The software industry struggles with security issues that make cyberattacks viable. Government officials and business execs struggle with complicated legal issues involving outdated or missing privacy protections. Bigger and more successful incursions into government, business, and personal computers are common events. Phishing campaigns and ransomware attacks are finding new victims regularly. The situation is much like a game of Whack-a-Mole. Privacy advocates see better opportunities for privacy laws taking hold as they focus on pushing federal legislators to enact stronger consumer privacy laws in the coming years. These new laws need to pay prime attention to emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), cloud computing, and blockchain. "I expect increasing regulation, especially when it comes to state laws that focus on sensitive personal data," says Scott Pink, special counsel in the Silicon Valley office of the international law firm O'Melveny & Myers, and member of the firm's Data Security and Privacy Group. Pink regularly advises media and technology companies on how to comply with the current patchwork of state and industry-specific privacy regulations. He believes that 2021 could mark a new era in privacy laws aimed to safeguard a wide array of valuable digital information. "COVID-19 health data is of immediate concern as we move into the pandemic's next phase. Governments and health care systems are collecting vast amounts of contact tracing and vaccine-related information. Implementing laws, policies, and procedures to ensure the integrity of that data will be key," Pink told TechNewsWorld. Cyberattacks are a significant risk, especially as remote working and the increasing sophistication of phishing and social engineering attacks create more vulnerabilities than ever before, he emphasized. Cyberattacks and their impact on data privacy can severely impact the operations of government agencies, companies, schools, and beyond. RATs in the Attack Mix The most prevalent threats lurking in 2021 are RAT infestations. The acronym RAT stands for Remote Access Trojan, a form of malware that allows hackers to control devices remotely. Once a RAT program is connected to a computer, a hacker can look at local files, acquire login credentials and other personal information, or use the connection to download viruses that can then, unbeknownst to the user, be spread to others. Remote access intrusions can be problematic, especially with millions of people now working from home, noted Robert Siciliano, cyber social identity protection instructor at ProtectNow. "Microsoft's remote desktop protocol and numerous third-party remote access technology services dramatically increase the attack surface for hackers wanting to break into corporate and government networks," he told TechNewsWorld. Some of the cyberattacks are based on escalated tactics made available since the pandemic and are different from those prior to last year, he noted. Neither corporate America nor local, state, and federal governments never saw this coming. The Cloud Factor Counts Too Still, hackers are not succeeding strictly by using modern-day- high-tech tactics. Today's threats are an escalation of existing threat methods that have been around for years and that have been accelerated by even more prevalent use of cloud computing and agile development, according to Naama Ben Dov, associate at YL Ventures, an American-Israeli venture capital firm that specializes in seed stage cybersecurity investments. The cloud migration is a big part of the data privacy troubles we are seeing today. Data remains the highest value target for attackers. As such, data theft is the most prevalent threat this year, insisted Eldad Chai, co-founder and CEO of Satori Cyber, a data access and governance firm in Tel Aviv that is one of YL Ventures' portfolio companies. "Through access to a corporation's data, attackers can inflict reputation, legal and operational damages that are disproportional to any other attack vector," he told TechNewsWorld. Of course, much of that data is in the cloud. The trend of moving data to the cloud has accelerated over the past years and is now at a record high with the success of platforms such as Snowflake and the boost 2020 provided to cloud migration programs, Chai noted. "The massive migration of data to the cloud, the democratization of data within an organization, and the work-from-home environment have expanded the attack surface for data and make it extremely hard to operate an effective data protection program," said Chai. WFH Also Problematic The work-from-home scenario has made the hacker's job so much easier. Attackers follow where their targets go, observed Ben Dov. Right now, more than ever, that data is dangling between home workers' computers, in-office workspaces, and cloud storage banks. Conventional wisdom has always been workers are more productive in an office environment; and when COVID hit, IT managers were mostly unprepared, Siciliano said. Although some companies deployed tech help to those employees using their own computers and routers at home to address security with devices outside the network, it simply was not enough. "Work at home devices connecting to company networks with misconfiguration is an IT manager's greatest fear," he said. Too Little, Too Late In the U.S., existing federal laws such as the Telework Enhancement Act of 2010 never quite anticipated this level of work at home, for example. The federal government is unlikely to make any significant changes anytime soon with so many other life-threatening existential concerns, in Siciliano's view. One growing threat to data privacy incursions is ransomware. But it is an effect and not the cause of privacy loss. Ransomware ultimately ends up being an effect of a remote access Trojan or technology, he noted. "IT managers must be more proactive with hardware, software configurations, and security awareness training," said Siciliano about preventing data privacy disclosures. Shifting Tech Threatens Effectiveness Among the most prevalent privacy threats we faced in 2021 comes from a reliance on third-party IT services that increasingly displace, or replace, applications historically deployed on-premises, according to YL Ventures' Ben Dov. "Like the SolarWinds incident, many supply chain attacks target IT management systems that were in use long before the rise of the cloud. Organizations still depend on these tactics, and this attack will force a rethink of the extent of IT supply-chain exposure," she told TechNewsWorld. The same applies to software applications, she continued. Recent years have seen an explosion in the amount of third-party software. This reality makes organizations lose visibility into the risks entailed with being exposed to said third party components. That situation will no doubt get worse before it gets better, Ben Dov warned. Increased data privacy breaches, particularly private data, is increasingly on the sprawl. "As long as there is a lack of meaningful technological approaches to identifying and securing data, many leakages are bound to happen," she said. Fix What's Broken Many existing solutions focus on data governance and adherence to compliance. These goals are important but do not aim at the root of the problem. They are only good to the extent that certain regulations go, according to Ben Dov. "We need solutions that are able to track and monitor data through an entire lifecycle, in a way which will meaningfully integrate with existing business units of organizations and enable them to execute rather than stifle R&D, sales, and marketing. Security should be a cross-enterprise interest and goal which supports business processes," she countered. Currently, the lawmaker is mostly focused on our rights as individuals to privacy. While this is welcomed and needed, it overlooks the implementation of privacy programs, and every company has its own way of meeting the privacy requirements, offered Satori Cyber's Chai. "Focusing the laws on the outcomes, such as if data is lost you get fined, does not deal with many of the underlying issues in actually protecting individuals' privacy," he said. Chai is not sure it is likely to happen this year. But he hopes that governments will do a better job in defining and standardizing data protection programs in a manner that will guide the industry in implementing effective and sustainable programs. New Privacy, Security Wrinkles With adoption of both cloud infrastructure and cloud services (SaaS), more attacks tailored and customized to circumventing the existing guardrails of the cloud will occur. Hackers will seek ways to circumvent cloud authentication mechanisms, suggested Ben Dov. A related concern involves the trend of companies developing their own in-house applications, becoming their own software company. That opens the door to application-specific attacks, she cautioned. "Hackers will always choose the easiest path in, and until 2020 exploiting bugs in old operating systems to install malware or social engineering people to install malicious software on their laptops was an easy path in," added Chai. "With data and servers moving to the cloud, we will eventually see less such attacks and more attacks focused on the cloud environments." A key element that needs to be addressed, according to Siciliano, is a lack of concern for the security role employees need to play. That is especially true regarding phishing. Employees need a better understanding of how their ineffectiveness could result in calamity. "Security awareness training as it pertains to phishing simulation by itself is absolutely not enough and will not solve the problem. The discussion needs to shift from security awareness to security appreciation, and right now most organizations are not doing that," he complained. Final Thoughts The main gap Chai sees today regarding data security and privacy is that existing solutions are not suitable to a model that leverages the legal context of the data. Models for existing data protection tools are mostly black or white. Either you have or you do not have access to data, he explained. However, the privacy and legal context of data is much more complex, he reasoned. A piece of data could be authorized for usage based on the consent given when collecting the data, the geographical location of the data, the size and nature of the data set, the way the data will be used, and a set of other considerations. "Until the legal and privacy context are integrated into existing models for data protection, we will still be behind," he said. That process will need increased industry-government-academic cooperation and partnerships to share data pertaining to cybersecurity threats. It will also take knowledge about the threat to counter them, added Ben Dov. Jack M. Germain has been an ECT News Network reporter since 2003. His main areas of focus are enterprise IT, Linux and open-source technologies. He is an esteemed reviewer of Linux distros and other open-source software. In addition, Jack extensively covers business technology and privacy issues, as well as developments in e-commerce and consumer electronics. Email Jack. Some of the students who were abducted by gunmen from the Government Girls Secondary School in Jangebe last week, wait for a medical checkup after their release in Gusau, northern Nigeria, on March 2, 2021. (Sunday Alamba/AP Photo) Nigerian Governor Says 279 Kidnapped Schoolgirls Are Freed GUSAU, NigeriaHundreds of Nigerian girls abducted last week from a boarding school in the countrys northwest have been released, a state governor said Tuesday, as the West African nation faces a spate of school kidnappings. The girls, ages 10 and up, dressed in light blue hijabs and barefoot, packed into Zamfara states Government House conference room. They appeared calm, chatting to one another as they sat in long rows while journalists photographed them. They will receive a medical checkup before being returned to their parents. Zamfara Gov. Bello Matawalle said that 279 girls had been freed after being abducted from the Government Girls Junior Secondary School in Jangebe town on Friday. The government last week said 317 had been kidnapped. It was not clear if the higher number was an error or if some girls were still missing. Alhamdulillah! (God be praised!) It gladdens my heart to announce the release of the abducted students, Matawalle said in a post on Twitter early Tuesday. I enjoin all well-meaning Nigerians to rejoice with us as our daughters are now safe. Some of the students who were abducted by gunmen from the Government Girls Secondary School in Jangebe last week, wait for a medical checkup after their release in Gusau, northern Nigeria, on March 2, 2021. (Sunday Alamba/AP Photo) Officials said bandits were behind the abduction, referring to the groups of armed men who operate in Zamfara state and kidnap for money or to push for the release of their members from jail. At the time of the attack, one resident told The Associated Press that the gunmen also attacked a nearby military camp and checkpoint, preventing soldiers from responding to the school. One of the girls recounted the night of their abduction to the AP. We were sleeping at night when suddenly we started hearing gunshots. They were shooting endlessly. We got out of our beds and people said we should run, that they are thieves, she said. Officials ended the interview before the girl could give her name. The attackers eventually found her and some classmates and held guns to their heads, she said. I was really afraid of being shot, she said, adding that they asked for directions to the staff quarters and the principal. We said we dont know who she is. Students who were abducted by gunmen from the Government Girls Secondary School in Jangebe last week, are seen after their release in Gusau, northern Nigeria, on March 2, 2021. (Sunday Alamba/AP Photo) Nigeria has seen several such attacks and kidnappings in recent years, the most notorious in 2014, when 276 girls were abducted by the jihadist terrorists of Boko Haram from the secondary school in Chibok in Borno state. More than 100 of those girls are still missing. Boko Haram is opposed to western education and its terrorists often target schools. But most attacks in the northwest are perpetrated by armed criminal groups with no such ideology. Police and the military have been trying to rescue the girls from the Zamfara abduction, which caused international outrage. Officials did not say if a ransom had been paid for their release. We have been in discussion since Friday with the abductors and reached agreement on Monday, the governor said, adding that he would ensure additional security at all schools in the state. President Muhammadu Buhari expressed overwhelming joy over the release of the girls. I join the families and people of Zamfara state in welcoming and celebrating the release of these traumatized female students, he said in a statement. Being held in captivity is an agonizing experience not only for the victims, but also their families and all of us. The president called for greater vigilance to prevent bandits from carrying out such attacksbut warned that paying money for the release of victims would only result in more assaults. Ernest Ereke, of the University of Abuja, agreed that ransoms are allowing criminal groups to buy more arms and expand their power. And the Nigerian state increasingly looks too weak to respond, he said. It is a lucrative venture in a country where a lot of young people are impoverished, jobless and hungry, he said. The state, which should confront these criminals, is enabling them by always pandering to their dictates. It should be the other way round, that is, the criminals should be scared of the state, but, in this case, it is the state that is scared of criminals. If the state is not able to crush them, he added, it means something is wrong with the Nigerian state. On Saturday, 24 students, six staff and eight relatives were released after being abducted on February 17 from the Government Science College Kagara in Niger state. In December, more than 300 schoolboys from a secondary school in Kankara, in northwestern Nigeria, were taken and later released. The government has said no ransom was paid for the students release. By Lekan Oyekanmi and Sam Olukoya [March 02, 2021] Andavi Solutions Acquires GreatVines To Strengthen Its Position Within The Beverage Alcohol Technology Market PORTLAND, Ore., March 2, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Andavi Solutions, a beverage alcohol software and data analytics technology company, has acquired GreatVines, the leading sales execution and trade promotion management software provider for global suppliers, distributors, retailers and promotional agencies within the beverage alcohol and related industries. GreatVines offers enterprise-level sales execution analytics that help transform transactional data into actionable intelligence for more efficient, effective beverage sales and trade marketing. The acquisition of GreatVines furthers Andavi's mission to become the leading provider of software and data insights across the beverage alcohol supply chain, and Andavi will seek to build upon GreatVines' success through continued product innovation and a creative acquisition strategy. "The addition of GreatVines to Andavi provides a solid footprint in the broader beverage alcohol industry. We are extremely excited about the GreatVines software and data offerings and growth potential," said Lisa Whinnie, President of Andavi Solutions. According to Ms. Whinnie, the addition of GreatVines and its impressive roster of domestic and global clients represents a tremendous opportunity to address industry challenges with actionable insights, advanced decision-making tools, and real-time mobile friendly solutions. "We were looking for a partner who would understand our beverage alcohol roots and commit to product innovation with continued investment in our solutions. Andavi is the perfect fit," noted Jhn Collins, CEO of GreatVines. "We look forward to partnering with Andavi to enhance and expand the solutions we provide our customers." Andavi Solutions is backed by Endeavour Capital, a private investment firm founded in 1991 and focused on partnering with lower middle market companies to help them achieve ambitious growth objectives. Endeavour is an experienced investor across the food and beverage, supply chain services, and technology sectors. Madison Park Group acted as the exclusive financial advisor to Andavi Solutions. About GreatVines GreatVines is an enterprise sales execution platform for beverage suppliers, distributors, retailers and promotional agencies. GreatVines' suite of software solutions helps manage 3-tier account relationships, plan appropriate sales activities, create smarter goals for growth, and monitor trade spend and marketing programs. GreatVines offers the flexibility to adapt sales strategies for rapidly changing market conditions and supplies analytics to precisely measure the results needed to quickly collaborate with channel partners and market constituents. Learn more at www.greatvines.com About Andavi Solutions Andavi Solutions provides software and data analytics solutions for the beverage alcohol and related industries. Formed by an experienced software executive team with the backing of Endeavour Capital, Andavi aims to expand through a combination of organic growth and strategic acquisitions. Learn more at www.andavisolutions.com About Madison Park Group Madison Park Group is a global M&A, capital raising and strategic advisor to the software and technology industry. The firm blends 25+ years of investment banking and operating experience in enterprise software & SaaS, data and tech-enabled services to provide informed advice to a range of PE/VC-backed and founder-owned technology companies. The firm has been instrumental in advising private equity-backed portfolio companies who are seeking to change their strategic positioning and addressable market through a structured and disciplined external growth strategy. Learn more at www.madisonparkgrp.com View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/andavi-solutions-acquires-greatvines-to-strengthen-its-position-within-the-beverage-alcohol-technology-market-301238561.html SOURCE Andavi [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] LISLE, Ill., March 2, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Navistar International Corporation ("Navistar") (NYSE: NAV), a leading U.S. truck maker, announced that, at its annual meeting of stockholders held today, stockholders approved TRATON's proposal to acquire all of the outstanding common shares of Navistar at a price of USD 44.50 per share in cash. The transaction remains subject to regulatory approvals and the satisfaction of customary closing conditions. Navistar continues to expect that the transaction will be completed in mid-2021. Navistar stockholders also voted at the meeting to approve all other proposals, including two non-binding proposals regarding executive compensation arrangements, the election of Navistar directors, and the ratification of Navistar's independent registered public accounting firm. Navistar will file the final vote results for the annual meeting with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on a form 8-K. About Navistar Navistar International Corporation (NYSE: NAV) is a holding company whose subsidiaries and affiliates produce International brand commercial trucks, proprietary diesel engines, and IC Bus brand school and commercial buses. An affiliate also provides truck and diesel engine service parts. Another affiliate offers financing services. Additional information is available at www.Navistar.com. Forward-Looking Statements Certain statements in this press release, that are not purely historical, may constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, and the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, each as amended. Forward-looking statements provide current expectations of future events and include any statement that does not directly relate to any historical or current fact. Words such as "anticipates," "believes," "expects," "intends," "plans," "projects," or other similar expressions may identify such forward-looking statements. Actual results may differ materially from those discussed in forward-looking statements as a result of factors, risks and uncertainties over which Navistar has no control. These factors, risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, the following: (i) conditions to the completion of the proposed acquisition may not be satisfied or the regulatory approvals required for the proposed acquisition may not be obtained on the terms expected or on the anticipated schedule; (ii) the occurrence of any event, change or other circumstance that could give rise to the termination of the Agreement and Plan of Merger, dated as of November 7, 2020, by and among Navistar, TRATON SE, a Societas Europaea and Dusk Inc., a Delaware corporation (the "Merger Agreement"); (iii) the effect of the announcement or pendency of the proposed acquisition on Navistar's business relationships, operating results, and business generally; (iv) risks that the proposed acquisition disrupts Navistar's current plans and operations and potential difficulties in Navistar's employee retention as a result of the proposed acquisition; (v) risks related to diverting management's attention from our ongoing business operations; (vi) potential and existing litigation that may be instituted, or has been instituted, against Navistar or its directors or officers related to the proposed acquisition or the Merger Agreement; (vii) the amount of the costs, fees, expenses and other charges related to the proposed acquisition; and (viii) such other factors as are set forth in Navistar's periodic public filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"), including but not limited to those described under the headings "Risk Factors" and "Forward Looking Statements" in its Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended October 31, 2020, which was filed with the SEC on December 17, 2020, the definitive proxy statement on Schedule 14A, which was filed with the SEC on January 29. 2021, in connection with the proposed acquisition and in its other filings made with the SEC from time to time, which are available via the SEC's website at www.sec.gov. Forward-looking statements reflect the views and assumptions of management as of the date of communication with respect to future events. Navistar does not undertake, and hereby disclaims, any obligation, unless required to do so by applicable securities laws, to update any forward-looking statements as a result of new information, future events or other factors. The inclusion of any statement in this communication does not constitute an admission by Navistar or any other person that the events or circumstances described in such statement are material. SOURCE Navistar International Corporation Related Links http://www.navistar.com [March 02, 2021] CUPE NL Calls on Regional Health Authorities to Cancel Kickback Deal With American Multinational CUPE Newfoundland and Labrador is calling on regional health authorities to cancel their deal with an American corporation they hired to cut approximately $70 million from the province's public health care system. In return, Change Healthcare is guaranteed to receive 50% of that amount as payment for their services. The contract with Change Healthcare commits the province to a 5-year term in which the company's proprietary software will be used to collect data and make changes to staffing levels and bed occupancy, among other metrics. When Change Healthcare executives presented their plans to NL health system stakeholders in October - four months after the contract was signed, Winnipeg Health Sciences Centre Chief Operating Officer Ronan Seagrave was on hand to sing the company's praises, having used their services to reduce overtime costs in Manitoba. Back in 2017, Seagrave was a KPMG consultant working on a report on the Manitoba health care system that resulted in hundreds of CUPE health care workers in Winnipeg being thrown into poverty. His health system transformation team made "title changes" to hundreds of full-time jobs, converting the hours of work to part-time. At least 500 nurses received "job deletion notices" that fall, along with more than 700 hospital support staff. "After Manitoba 'deleted' hundreds of jobs, overtime went through the roof, which is the problem they were trying to solve in the first place. Seagrave brought in Change Healthcare's workforce management system to solve a problem that he had created by cutting health care staffing too close to the bone," says Sherry Hillier, CUPE NL president. "This deal is going to have massive consequences for all Newfoundlanders and Labradorians. Services have already been reduced, making life difficult for many people in our province. We hear stories every week about people travelling across the province for health care, or long wait times," says Hillier. "If the province really wants to save money, they should be hiring more staff to reduce overtime and sick pay costs, not looking for ways to cut good jobs and public services." :sm/cope 491 View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210302006059/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Samsung wants to put its gorgeous but pricey MicroLED TVs in more living rooms, with the company announcing a 76-inch model that will be its smallest MicroLED so far. Samsung unveiled its new, smaller (a relative term, of course) MicroLED TV during its online Unbox and Discover event on Tuesday, during which the manufacturer also touted AirPlay 2 compatibility for its swiveling Sero TVs, a native TikTok app for its smart TV platform, a full-sun version of its outdoor The Terrace TV, and AMD FreeSync Premium Pro support for its latest sets. 76-inch MicroLED TV Samsungs new 76-inch MicroLED TV joins a lineup that includes 110-, 98-, and 88-inch models. The three larger sets are due to arrive later this year, while the 76-inch version is on Samsung's "future roadmap." Similar to OLED TVs, micro-LED displays come with self-emitting pixels capable of delivering vivid colors and perfect blacks. Unlike OLED, however, micro-LED panels are impervious to burn-in. While Samsungs earlier micro-LED efforts, such as its massive The Wall displays, arrived in separate modules that needed to be professionally installed, the companys new 4K MicroLED line comes in a single, pre-assembled panel thats ready for mounting right out of the box. Samsung announced the 110-inch MicroLED TV late last year, while it bowed the 98- and 88-inch versions at CES 2021. Samsung says it hopes the 76-inch model will usher in more affordable price points for its MicroLED line, but that doesnt mean it will be cheap. For example, the 110-inch MicroLED retails for the equivalent of $156,000 in South Korea, while Samsungs 98-inch QLED Q900Remove non-product link, which is based on conventional LED technology, costs a breathtaking $60,000. Its also worth noting that while the QLED Q900 supports 8K resolution, Samsungs MicroLED line is currently limited to 4K. AirPlay 2 support coming to the Sero TV Meanwhile, Samsung also announced that its 43-inch Sero TVRemove non-product link, which is designed to rotate from landscape to portrait modes for displaying social media feeds from your phone, will soon be getting AirPlay 2 support. Samsung Samsungs swiveling The Sero 4K TV will be getting AirPlay 2 support later this year. Previously, the Seros tap-to-mirror feature only worked on Samsungs Android-powered Galaxy phones, but once the update arrives (Samsung hasnt detailed timing yet), iPhone users will be able to cast content to the Sero via the AirPlay 2 protocol. The Seros display will also rotate automatically depending on the orientation of your iOS device. Speaking of social, Samsung says a native TikTok app will be coming soon to its smart TV platform, allowing users to display the latest videos in their TikTok feeds on their TVs. The swiveling Sero will also support the TikTok app in portrait mode, Samsung notes. The Terrace gets a full-sun model Moving on to the great outdoors, Samsung announced a new version of its outdoor The Terrace TV that will be viewable under direct sunlight. Samsung says the 75-inch full-sun version of The Terrace will arrive later this year. Samsung A new version of Samsungs The Terrace outdoor TV will be viewable under direct sunlight. (The partial-shade model is pictured.) The existing Terrace line comes with 75-, 65-, and 55-inch 4K models all offer IP55 certification for protection from dust ingress and jets of water in any direction, but their displays are designed for viewing in partial shade. Samsung didnt reveal pricing for the new full-sun set, but the original The Terrace line starts at $3,500 for the 55-inch model. AMD FreeSync Premium Pro support For gamers, Samsung says its latest TVs will be the first to support AMD FreeSync Premium Pro, an enhanced version of AMDs FreeSync technology. Besides its support for HDR and VRR (variable refresh rate), AMD FreeSync Premium Pro (formerly known as FreeSync 2 HDR) features low frame rate compensation (LFC), a frame-doubling technology designed to help a display handle frame rates that fall below its minimum refresh rate. AMD FreeSync Premium Pro-certified displays must offer a minimum peak brightness of 400 nits, as well as highly accurate luminance and wide color gamut. The Frame updates Finally, Samsung announced some enhancements to its The Frame line, revealing that 2021 models of The Frame will boast 6GB of internal storage rather than the 500MB offered in earlier models. Samsung said it will also debut a new My Shelf accessory, a modular shelf system that integrates with The Frame, allowing it to blend in with its surroundings. Updated shortly after publication to clarify that Samsung's 76-inch MicroLED is on the company's "future roadmap" rather than being slated for later this year. The United States and the European Union have announced coordinated sanctions against Russian officials over the poisoning and imprisonment of opposition leader Aleksei Navalny, as the White House sets a firmer tone with Moscow while also demonstrating a united front against Kremlin aggression. Washington said on March 2 it was placing sanctions on seven senior Russian officials after a U.S. intelligence assessment concluded "with high confidence" that officers from Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) were behind the activist's August poisoning. A U.S. Treasury statement later named the Russian officials as FSB chief Nikolai Bortnikov, deputy chief of presidential staff Sergei Kiriyenko, Deputy Defense Ministers Aleksei Krivoruchko and Pavel Popov, Prosecutor-General Igor Krasnov, Federal Penitentiary Service (FSIN) chief Aleksandr Kalashnikov, and Andrei Yarin, chief of the Kremlin's domestic policy directorate. The announcement came on the heels of EU sanctions against four senior officials: FSIN chief Kalashnikov, Investigative Committee chief Aleksandr Bastrykin, Prosecutor-General Krasnov, and National Guard chief Viktor Zolotov. The four would be the first individuals to be targeted under the EU's new human rights sanctions regime, which came into effect in December 2020. White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said the United States wanted to coordinate the timing of the sanctions with the EU to "send a powerful message" to the Kremlin. U.S. President Joe Biden's administration said Washington was also imposing export restrictions on 14 parties involved in biological and chemical production, including nine commercial entities in Russia. "The Kremlin's use of chemical weapons to silence a political opponent and intimidate others demonstrates its flagrant disregard for international norms," Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said. "We join the EU in condemning Aleksei Navalny's poisoning as well as his arrest and imprisonment by the Russian government," she added. Meanwhile, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement that the United States shared the EU's concerns regarding Russia's "deepening authoritarianism." He called the jailing of Navalny "politically motivated" and reiterated Washington's call for his release "immediately and unconditionally." 'Quite Different' Psaki said the Biden administration was currently carrying out a review of the United States' relationship with Russia. That review includes determining whether Russia was behind the Solar Winds hack that compromised government agency networks and whether it paid bounties to Afghan fighters to kill U.S. soldiers. "We of course reserve the right to take additional steps and additional actions at the conclusion," she said, referring to possible additional sanctions against Russia. She declined to say whether they would include limitations on purchases of ruble-denominated debt, which would potentially impact Russia's economy. Critics say U.S. sanctions against Russian officials, like those imposed today, have little impact on the Kremlin's behavior. The sanctions block any property owned by the officials that comes into U.S. possession, such as dollar bank accounts, and also prevent U.S. individuals from conducting business with them. The United States put sanctions on Russia following a chemical-weapons attack against double agent Sergei Skripal in Britain nearly three years ago. Psaki said the sanctions were not a "silver bullet" and that the Biden administration expected the Russia relationship to remain "a challenge." "We are prepared for that. And we are neither seeking to reset our relations with Russia nor are we seeking to escalate," she said. However, she said the "tone and the tenor" of the U.S. relationship with Putin will be "quite different" compared with the Trump administration. Former President Donald Trump had a friendly relationship with Putin and repeatedly failed to call out the Kremlin for malign activities, including the poisoning of Navalny. In a major foreign-policy speech in February, Biden said he warned Putin during their first call in January that the days of the United States "rolling over" to Russia's "aggressive actions" have come to an end. "We will not hesitate to raise the cost on Russia and defend our vital interest and our people," Biden said February 4. Kremlin Response Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov shrugged off the threat of sanctions, saying on March 2 that they "don't achieve their goals," while Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that Moscow will certainly respond to any new sanctions. "Of course, we will respond. Nobody canceled one of the rules of diplomacy -- reciprocity," Lavrov told a press conference in Moscow where he was meeting his Uzbek counterpart, Abdulaziz Kamilov. Navalny was detained in Moscow in January immediately upon returning from Germany, where he had recovered from what several Western labs determined was poisoning with a Novichok-type nerve agent that saw him fall ill on a flight in Siberia in August. A Moscow court in February ruled that while in Germany, he had violated the terms of parole from an older embezzlement case that is widely considered politically motivated. He was ultimately ordered to serve 2 1/2 years in prison. Russia has denied involvement in the poisoning but Navalny claims the assassination attempt was ordered by President Vladimir Putin. Meanwhile, UN human rights experts on March 1 called for an international investigation into the poisoning of Navalny, Putin's most vocal critic, saying evidence points to the "very likely involvement" of Russian government officials. The EU already slapped sanctions on Russia following the poisoning attack on Nalvany last year. But former U.S. President Donald Trump let the incident slide without punitive action. A senior U.S. official said the sanctions imposed by Washington on March 2 were playing "catch-up" with those announced by Brussels. With reporting by AFP, CNN, dpa, Reuters, and Interfax A 14-year-old boy is among those charged with the shooting death of a Colorado mom in Denver last month. The Denver District Attorney's Office announced the charges in the death of Pamela Cabriales, 32, who was shot in her car on February 20 around 10:45pm. A coworker told FOX31 that she and Cabriales went to dinner at Ocean Prime in Denver and that the shooting as they left to return home. Multiple shots were fired into Cabriales' 2008 Land Rover SUV during the incident, with at least one bullet striking her in the head, which ultimately killed her after several days in a hospital. It is not clear why she was targeted in the attack. Pictured: Pamela Cabriales, 32, and her son, Leo, 6. Pamela was killed in a shooting in the Denver area on February 20 and two people have been charged in her death A witness told police the suspect was standing beside a four-door Honda when he allegedly fired six shots into the SUV, according to The Denver Post. Eight bullet holes were found in the windshield of the Land Rover and two shell casings were found on the street near the car. The 14-year-old has not been identified because he's a minor, but he's facing two first-degree murder counts, as well as criminal attempt to commit first-degree murder with extreme indifference and criminal attempt to commit first-degree assault with extreme indifference. A motion has been filed to have the 14-year-old's case moved from a juvenile court to an adult court. Neshan Johnson, 18, is also being charged with two counts first-degree murder and is suspected of being the driver of the Honda. Johnson is also facing a count of criminal attempt to commit first-degree murder with extreme indifference, as well as a count of criminal attempt to commit first-degree assault with extreme indifference, and one count of vehicular eluding. The two boys were arrested the day after the shooting when a police officer recognized their Honda from an earlier shooting at a McDonald's. Cabriales spent several days in a hospital after the shooting, but ultimately died from injuries She was a real estate agent in the Denver area and is survived by her young son, Leo CBS4 reports a passenger in the same Honda pointed a handgun at workers in the fast food restaurant and fired three shots into the restaurant, though no one was injured. The police officer gave chase to the vehicle before it plowed through a chain-link fence, hit a wooden pole, and knocked down a fire hydrant. Johnson fled the Honda on foot and was later found hiding behind a shed. Two minors were arrested from the car. No charges have been announced yet for the third suspect arrested in the case. Two AR-15 rifles were found in the Honda and more than a dozen rounds of ammunition were found in the shed where Johnson was found. Neshan Johnson, 18, is one of two charged in the murder of Cabriales. He was allegedly the driver of a Honda that fled the scene The night before the McDonald's shooting on February 19, there was also a shooting in northeast Denver that may be connected to the Honda. Patch reports Cabriales was a real estate agent in the Denver area. A GoFundMe has been created to raise money on behalf of the 6-year-old Leo, who Pamela leaves behind. 'The funds collected will be for her 6-year-old son Leo as an investment for college,' the GoFundMe reads. 'Pamela Cabriales is an amazing human being and will always go out of her way to help those in need. 'Leo lights up the room with his love, smile, and heart. Leo is Pamelas eyes and world. 'She will do anything to make sure her son is taken care of. She is an amazing mother, daughter, sister, auntie and friend.' So far, over $29,000 have been donated, which will go towards a college fund for Leo. Posted Monday, March 1, 2021 12:59 pm U.S. Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler has been censured by the Clark County Republican Party (CCRP) due to her vote for the impeachment of former president Donald Trump. During a meeting of Republican precinct committee officers Feb. 23, the party voted close to unanimously to censure Herrera Beutler, R-Battle Ground, withdrawing financial support for the congresswoman unless the party can be convinced otherwise during a future meeting. The resolution censuring Herrera Beutler took issue with the process of impeachment, stating that there were no formal hearings held, no quantifiable evidence presented, no witnesses sworn to give testimony, and no right to cross-examine the accusers. The resolution stated that numerous Republicans in Clark County, the Third Congressional District, Washington state, and the United States had indicated they would no longer actively participate in the Republican Party, including precinct committee officer roles and financial contributions to campaigns, as long as Herrera Beutler is still in office. With the passing of the resolution, the party will withhold any future political funding and support of all resources for Herrera Beutler unless the CCRP decides otherwise following an in-person explanation from the congresswoman during the partys May meeting. Herrera Beutler was one of 10 House Republicans to vote in favor of impeachment, which was brought forth following the storming of the U.S. Capitol building in Washington, D.C., Jan. 6 by supporters of the president. The President of the United States incited a riot aiming to halt the peaceful transfer of power from one administration to the next, Herrera Beutler wrote in a social media post explaining her decision, noting five had died during the Capitol unrest. People everywhere watched in disbelief as the center of American democracy was assaulted. The President's offenses, in my reading of the Constitution, were impeachable based on the indisputable evidence we already have, Herrera Beutler wrote. The decision to censure Herrera Beutler was proposed by precinct committee officer Carolyn Crain. She said she had volunteered on Herrera Beutlers first campaign for Congress in 2010, and Ive stood by her all these years up until her impeachment vote. She violated my trust, and it broke my heart, Crain said. I will not be dragged off this street without a Congressperson who will make sure that this deplorable, nondomestic terrorist has somebody in her corner. In this resolution, we will be giving her more opportunity to address her accusers than she gave our president, Crain said. No one spoke against the censure resolution, with those at the meeting laughing after CCRP Chair Joel Mattila asked if there were any nays. Only a handful of individuals were against the resolution by voice vote on the resolution. The resolution also resolves that the CCRP will work with Republican Party chapters in other Third Congressional District counties, including Cowlitz, Lewis and south Thurston counties, among others, to vet and select a conservative Republican candidate to run in the 2022 race. Two such potential candidates were present at the party meeting, Joe Kent and Heidi St. John. The party had previously denounced the frivolous impeachment of President Trump based on false pretenses and without due process, solely to further political agendas in a declaration made in January praising Trumps accomplishments in office. It stated that Herrera Beutlers vote directly violates our values of standing for truth and justice, adding her vote pushed fear-based narratives that were not representative of the Clark County Republican Party. The Clark County Republican Women have also made a statement that was more direct than what the overall county GOP leadership provided at the time. If you cast this vote to impeach, you will never receive our support or votes again at any time in the future, the statement read. Additionally, we will do everything in our power as the largest Republican Women's organization in Washington state to recruit and elect a conservative candidate who will represent our values. EU President Ursula von der Leyen said the EU-wide Digital Green Pass would be proposed this month. Photo: Olivier Hoslet/Pool via REUTERS Ireland is to take part in discussions on proposals by the EU to create a coronavirus vaccine passport which it is hoped could allow people travel for a holiday or work, it emerged last night. EU President Ursula von der Leyen said yesterday the EU-wide Digital Green Pass would be proposed this month and that it could be a first step towards a vaccine passport for travel by those who have had the jab. She said: The Digital Green Pass should facilitate Europeans lives. The aim is to gradually enable them to move safely in the EU or abroad for work or tourism. Asked about the proposal last night deputy chief medical officer Dr Ronan Glynn said: It is something that requires consideration. It is under consideration. We will engage with colleagues about it in the coming weeks. It emerged the Government is to suspend all inward visas for travellers from its red list of countries requiring mandatory quarantining on arrival. The move, to be debated at Cabinet today, is intended to reduce the risk of new variants of Covid-19 entering Ireland. Visa-free travel to Ireland for nationals of South Africa and all countries in South America had previously been suspended, but visa holders were allowed travel. The move means nationals of these countries cannot arrive into Ireland without a visa, while visa applications will be denied. Only Irish nationals can return home, along with citizens of the EU. Separately, Dr Glynn said that around 80pc of the population is expected to have had a first dose of vaccine by the end of June. He said that hopefully we were not far away from the point where we can have much less focus on social restriction but he also expected some public health measures will be in place at the end of the year. Although case numbers remain high, with another 687 reported yesterday, there is an ongoing fall in the spread of the disease as well as admissions to hospital and intensive care. However, it will take five or six weeks to drive cases down to 200 to 400 cases a day at the current reduction rate of 2pc. There will be ups and downs in the coming weeks as schools reopen, and public health teams will have a difficult few weeks ahead but he was confident it would be a success again. Prof Philip Nolan told the Covid-19 briefing that there is no inevitability the reopening of schools will halt progress being made in reducing the spread of the virus as long as it is handled correctly. Transmission from child to child or from child to adult is rare. A further Covid-related death was reported yesterday but fatalities are falling. In recent weeks, deaths have dropped from an average of 50 a day to 26 a day. There were 540 patients with the virus in hospital yesterday and 120 in intensive care. No new patient was admitted to intensive care in the previous 24 hours. This was the first time there was no new admission to intensive care since St Stephens Day. The fall in the positivity rate the number of people sent for testing who are positive is proving particularly hopeful. Prof Pete Lunn, head of the ESRIs Behavioural Research Unit, said half the adult population does not meet up with anyone outside the household over a 48-hour period, with less than one quarter meeting up with three or more. Yet these more socially active people believe that they are meeting fewer people than average. While people are finding it tough going, the large majority (79pc) believe that preventing the spread of Covid-19 is more important than the burden of restrictions. Just 10pc disagree. Russias Business Ombudsman urges tax amnesty for businesses affected by pandemic RAPSI, Vladimir Burnov 13:00 02/03/2021 MOSCOW, March 2 (RAPSI) The Presidential Business Rights Commissioner Boris Titov has submitted his proposals as to a new cycle of measures aimed at supporting of entrepreneurship to First Deputy Prime Minister Andrey Belousov. The Business Ombudsman reminded that according to the latest survey among entrepreneurs, 80% of enterprises in 2020 faced a fall in revenues, the same number noted a strong decline in demand, 11% plan to initiate bankruptcy proceedings in 2021. Thus, the most demanded support measures among those named by the survey participants were a lighter tax burden (or a new tax restructuring), stimulation of demand, new direct subsidies in the amount of one minimum wage per employee per every month within the period when restrictions were in force, new soft loans, and a change in the procedure for classifying companies as the most affected by the pandemic, that is the replacement of the principle based on the Russian National Classifier of Types of Economic Activity to the principle based on the fall of revenues by more than 30%. The Business Ombudsman proposed to carry out a tax amnesty envisaging that back taxes and fees are to be defined as irrecoverable debts as those were registered on February 1, 2021, for companies with a turnover of up to 2 billion rubles ($27 million at the current exchange rate), whose revenue in 2020 decreased by more than 30% compared to 2019, and for the rest of the companies if their revenues decreased by 50% or more over the same period. Also, after the lending program at 2% for the recovery of activities is completed, to write off 50% of loans to those borrowers who failed to retain 80% or more of their employees as compared to the respective numbers as on June 1, 2020 (according to the number of employees they could retain). In addition, Titov declared that it was necessary to introduce a moratorium as to any increase in the cadastral value for years 2020 2021. The Business Ombudsman also called for the introduction of a special tax regime for the catering industry based on the simplified taxation system (STS - catering) with a progressive scale: rates of 6% and 15% (on the bases "income" and "income minus expenses") up to the turnover threshold of 800 million rubles ($10.7 million), and for a turnover of 800 million rubles to 2 billion rubles ($27 million) at the rates of 8% and 20%; at the same time the permitted number of employees was to be increased by up to 1000 people. The Ombudsman suggested to discuss the possibility of introduction of similar regimes for other industries. The Business Rights Commissioner also considers it necessary to extend for one year the deferral for the payments made by small and medium-sized businesses for municipal or state properties on the rent-to-own principle introduced in 2020, with a general extension of the payment terms for the period of the granted deferrals. Besides, Titov proposed to extend the period for applying for preferential terms as to the extension of lease agreements for tenants of state and municipal real estate up to January 1, 2022. Japan should compromise to mend ties with Korea President Moon Jae-in has made a conciliatory gesture toward Japan to mend soured ties with Tokyo. In a nationally televised speech marking the March 1 Independence Movement Day, he said that Korea was ready to discuss strengthening cooperation with Japan. However, it is hard to expect a breakthrough any time soon because the Asian neighbor shows no signs of compromise over historical issues. Moon has reaffirmed a two-track approach in forging a future-oriented partnership with Tokyo while trying to resolve longstanding disputes over wartime atrocities committed by the former colonial power. "The only obstacle we have to overcome is that, sometimes, issues of the past cannot be separated from those of the future as they are intermingled with each other. This has impeded forward-looking development," he said. Now the question is how to overcome such an obstacle. Moon said his government will always pursue "wise solutions" based on a victim-centered approach, vowing to restore the honor and dignity of victims of Japan's wartime atrocities such as forced labor and sex slavery. Yet he stopped short of specifying what those solutions are. What's clear is that he wants to resume talks with Japan to improve bilateral ties. Moon's conciliatory move marks a meaningful change in his firm stance over Japan's past misdeeds. Seoul-Tokyo ties began to fray when the Moon administration tried to discredit the 2015 deal with the then nationalist Shinzo Abe government to resolve the thorny issue of "comfort women," who had been coerced into sex slavery for frontline Japanese troops from 1932 to the end of World War II. In 2018, the Supreme Court ordered Japanese firms to pay compensation to surviving South Korean victims of wartime forced labor, deteriorating ties. The compensation ruling prompted Tokyo to limit the exports of key industrial materials necessary for Korean companies to make semiconductors and display panels. It also excluded Korea from its list of favored trading partners. The situation has aggravated further since a local court ordered the Japanese government last month to pay compensation to sex slavery victims. The history-related issues cannot be resolved as long as Japan keeps refusing to acknowledge its crimes against humanity. It is irrational to claim that all reparations claims arising from Japan's 1910-45 colonial rule of Korea were settled by the 1965 treaty that normalized diplomatic relations between the two countries. Tokyo should sincerely apologize and pay compensation to the surviving victims of sex slavery and forced labor. Now the Yoshihide Suga administration should positively respond to President Moon's offer for dialogue. It must take a flexible attitude toward finding a negotiated solution. Japan also needs to understand how crucial it is to have better ties with Korea to enhance bilateral cooperation and mutual prosperity. A Seoul-Tokyo partnership is also required to achieve North Korea's denuclearization and promote peace and stability in Northeast Asia. That's why U.S. President Joe Biden is actively pushing for trilateral cooperation with its two Asian allies. Yet it is still difficult for Seoul and Tokyo to leave their fraught history behind once and for all, and move forward toward true reconciliation. Both sides should first make genuine efforts to restore mutual trust to better understand each other. The Irish Mens Shed Association (IMSA) has announced Enda Egan as its newly-appointed Chief Executive Officer. A native of Offaly, Mr Egan has over 22 years experience in the community and voluntary sector, 16 of those at CEO level across three organisations. "A natural leader, he has a proven track record of increasing the reach and effectiveness of the organisations under his management through powerful advocacy, dynamic profile building and the development and consolidation of financial sustainability," a statement from the IMSA said. Mr Egan joins the IMSA from his role of CEO of Inclusion Ireland, the national organisation representing Irelands 66,000 people with intellectual disabilities and their families. Prior to Inclusion Ireland, Enda was CEO of the Offaly Centre for Independent Living where he oversaw the reopening the organisations residential respite unit Clochan House. He also held the post of CEO of The Carers Association for 11 years, lobbying for the official recognition of family carers, an often overlooked but vital cohort of society. Says Mr Egan: "I am incredibly honoured to take up the post of CEO with the Irish Mens Sheds Association. This is an organisation that I have dealt with in the past in an informal capacity and have always admired the central role that the Shed can play in the wellbeing of men in both rural and urban communities. "There is no doubt that men need an outlet, a secure place to go, to be active, to chat and to meet each other as equals. In addition to consolidating the health of existing sheds, I am determined to grow the capacity and reach of the organisation. The demands of the Mens Shed movement in Ireland is as diverse as the shedders that it encompasses, and I look forward to visiting the sheds and meeting the members as soon as circumstances allow." Eamonn OConnor, chairperson of the Irish Mens Shed Association added: "There is no doubt that Enda has lengthy experience as a CEO and, having spent his career in the charity health sector, is a great fit for this role. However, it is his genuine enthusiasm for the Men's Shed project that particularly impresses: not only can I imagine him getting on well with our board, staff and stakeholders but in particular I am certain he will communicate effectively with the many men in our sheds around the country." The IMSA represents 450 Mens Sheds that would normally have about 10,000 men attend each week. Although the sheds are now closed due to the Covid pandemic, shedders continue to communicate electronically and the IMSA is facilitating this network with a number of online events and workshops. The sheds will re-open as soon as it is safe to do so and the IMSA staff and volunteers will be on hand to ensure a smooth and secure return to regular shed activities. A husband allegedly shot and injured his wife before killing himself in a parking lot in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, on Tuesday afternoon. The shooting - described by police as an 'attempted murder-suicide' - unfolded at about 2pm outside a counseling center on Picardy Avenue. The East Baton Rouge Sheriff's Office (EBRSO) said the suspected shooter was dead and another person was injured. Gunfire erupted during a 'domestic dispute' between a husband and wife, BRProud.com reported. Two people were shot, one fatally, at an office complex (pictured) in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, on Tuesday afternoon, according to reports Investigators believe the man shot his wife before turning the gun on himself, WBRZ reported. An EBRSO spokeswoman told the outlet the woman was taken to the hospital and is expected to survive. Neither of the victims have been identified. Witnesses said they heard six or seven gunshots. Europe is facing a serious demographic imbalance with the number of elderly people growing and a dwindling number of children. Two Catholic organizations organized a webinar on Monday to study the issue reflecting on the theme, The Elderly and the Future of Europe. By Robin Gomes The problem of Europes demographic imbalance is not the growing number of its elderly people but the shortage of children and young people. Hence the future of Europe lies in policies that support the family, where the elderly and children, along with others, create a network of families and communities based on intergenerational solidarity, sharing and dialogue. This was underscored by participants in a conference on Monday, jointly hosted by the Federation of Catholic Family Associations in Europe (FAFCE) and the Commission of the Bishops' Conferences of the European Union (COMECE). The 1 March webinar discussed, The Elderly and the Future of Europe, a theme on which the FAFCE and COMECE had released a joint reflection paper earlier in December 2020. The paper focused on intergenerational solidarity and care in times of the Covid-19 pandemic and the demographic change following the crisis. While considering the vulnerabilities of the elderly, which the months of the pandemic have highlighted, the FAFCE and COMECE seek to underscore the role of the elderly generation in the construction of a peaceful Europe. The coronavirus spread quickly in Europe in March and April, last year, leading to particularly high fatality rates, especially in Spain and Italy. A report by the prestigious Pew Research Centre in April said that Europe has the biggest share of people aged 60 and older, the smallest share of children under 15, and an average age of 43 years. That's almost 12 years older than the global median. Fighting loneliness Opening the 1 March online event, FAFCE President, Vincenzo Bassi acknowledged that the pandemic has been a tough time for families, also in terms of loss of livelihoods. But the biggest problem, he said, is that of loneliness, especially of the elderly, who are persons and hence are part of families and communities. Relations within and between families and communities, Bassi said, are more important than housing and homes. Europe needs to invest more on the family in order to offset this intergenerational imbalance. Bassi spoke about the need to create networks of solidarity among families and communities to support the most vulnerable in society who face loneliness. He urged EU policies to support families that are reluctant to welcome children because of obstacles and economic and social difficulties. Family, children and elderly Gabriella Gambino, Under-Secretary of the Vatican Dicastery for the Laity, the Family and Life, also spoke in similar terms, underscoring the need to support families and to create networks of families and communities based on mutual support. She said we cannot care for the elderly unless we care for families with children. A member of the European Parliament from Slovenia, Romana Tomc, pointed out that emphasizing only youth at the cost of the elderly is dangerous for the EU. She lamented that families are left out of discussions in policymaking. European families, she said, need to be encouraged to have children in order to meet the continents demographic challenges. She expressed her opinion that there is a strong bias against the family in the EU parliament, especially among some leftist parties which are strong in numbers. She also noted that the elderly are ill-represented in the EU. Money is not the problem, she said, but the priorities, where the family and elderly are neglected. Another participant, Ettore Marchetti, a European Commission Policy Officer, cited figures indicating a diminishing number of marriages and a growing number of divorces, that are leading to a demographic imbalance in Europe. The number of older single mothers is also growing, as is also the number of migrants who retire with a meagre pension. In Sweden, for example, he said, single persons form the majority of the countrys population. To reverse the trend, Marchetti said people in the EU need to abandon the utilitarian outlook and favour life and the family. Need for real conversion to family COMECE President, Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich of Luxembourg concluded the webinar, underscoring that the future of humanity and of Europe depends on the family. It is not just the elderly who need care, but the young who need the elderly, he said, stressing that intergenerational solidarity and justice require knowing and loving each another. By way of example he said that in a family, the rigidity of the father towards the child is offset by the love of the grandfather, which builds bonds. The family is a link between the various components of the family. Sometimes in families, Cardinal Hollerich said, children are regarded an obstacle to jobs and careers, and the elderly are relegated to care homes. The 62-year old Jesuit said this will destroy society by creating selfish people. To avoid this, he concluded, what is needed is a real conversion to family. In past, classified information and systems were physically separated from other military and government networks. This prevents end-to-end digitization and requirements for rapid decision making among 30 NATO members and allies. SDoT Cross Domain Solutions enable combined operations and near real time classified data sharing as well as fusion between systems and people in all domains from general headquarters to frontline: land, sea, air, space and cyber. They closely inspect, transform and monitor data transfers, ensuring only correct and authorized information crosses systems at different security levels. With a common operating picture (COP), the right sensor, processor and potentially shooter can be connected. Enabling tactical data links across security domains, SDoT provided this capability at multi-national air defense live fire exercise at NATO Missile Firing Installation (NAMFI). Soon, the Sneaker-net will be thing of the past. All elements of the Secure Domain Transition (SDoT) Product Family meet strict information security requirements for hardware and software security at the SECRET and below interoperability level (SABI). They are developed and manufactured in Germany with full supply chain transparency. They are available as 19" appliances or tactical sizes as COMP-LAND for vehicles and COMP-AIR for drones. Other products include the SDoT Security Gateway Express optimized for near real-time, low latency filtering of military data such as XML, Link 16 /JREAP or ASTERIX. Just like the SDoT Diode for unidirectional data transfer up to 9.1 Gbit/s, both products hold a general NATO, EU and German SECRET accreditation. They are complemented by the SDoT Labelling Service for NATO STANG 4774/8 compliant data classification with XML security labels that are cryptographically bound to any data object such as MS Office documents which recently received a German SECRET accreditation. For over 10 years SDoT products have been used in the toughest and mission critical environments around the world. Recently, SDoT CDS were selected for NATO's AWACS aircraft upgrade and Joint Electronic Warfare Core Staff (JEWCS). "To maintain our accreditations with Germany's Federal Office of Information Security (BSI) or NATO SECAN our team is constantly innovating our security architecture and functionality. New use-cases are annually tested at CWIX. Many of our clients and us have been eagerly awaiting SECAN's decision. We are looking forward to work with NATO and its members to digitize mission critical domains", said Dr. Alexander Schellong, VP Global Business. About INFODAS connect more.be secure INFODAS is an independent, family owned business founded in 1974 in Germany. The company develops innovative cross domain solutions based on security-by-design principles and provides Cybersecurity and IT consulting to government, defense and commercial clients. INFODAS SDoT product family cross domain solutions (SDoT Security Gateway, SDoT Software Data Diode, SDoT Labelling Service, PATCH.works) are approved up to German, EU, NATO SECRET and are listed in the NATO information assurance catalogue. For the past 10 years SDoT products have been used in the toughest and mission critical environments around the world. They are designed and manufactured in Germany following the security-by-design principle and supply chain transparency. Contact INFODAS GmbH Dr. Alexander Schellong Tel. +49 (0)221 70912234 [email protected] Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1446484/Dr_Alexander_Schellong.jpg Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1446486/SDoT_Security_Gateway.jpg Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1273874/infodas_Logo.jpg SOURCE INFODAS GmbH First lady Jill Biden and Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona will visit two public schools open for in-person learning on Wednesday, one in Meriden Cardonas hometown where he previously taught and one in Waterford, Pa. The trip is intended to showcase the Bidens administrations commitment to helping schools reopen for in-person classes, despite the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. President Joe Biden has set a goal of getting a majority of K-12 students taking classes in school five days a week by his 100th day in office, April 30. Biden and Cardona will visit Benjamin Franklin Elementary School in Meriden, where all students who wish to do so have been able to take in-person classes five days a week since before Labor Day, Meriden Superintendent of Schools Mark Benigni said. Gov. Ned Lamont will also attend the school visit and may make remarks at the event, Max Reiss, Lamonts communications director, said Tuesday. The visit will showcase the 343-student elementary school as a national model for reopening and highlight Cardonas previous work to help schools operate during the pandemic. Cardona, who was Connecticuts education commissioner since February 2020, encouraged schools to reopen and gave them detailed guidance, but did not mandate in-person classes everywhere. To offer in-person learning you need to be willing to work with your teachers. We have a close collaborative relationship with our teachers union they were at the table deciding our plans, said Benigni. We want to make sure our students are wearing their masks, that theyre washing their hands and that theyre watching their distance, but also we looked at traffic patterns in the hallways ... we spaced out rooms. Three percent of students and 10 percent of staff in Meriden Public Schools have tested positive for coronavirus this school year, according to data published by the district. Less than a third of students and a quarter of staff members have quarantined. Cardona has said his top priority as secretary will be helping schools across the country reopen for in-person learning. He was sworn in as secretary of education by Vice President Kamala Harris on Tuesday evening, after being confirmed by the Senate in a bipartisan vote on Monday night. Wednesday will be Cardonas first full day as secretary and for Biden, the trip will be one of her first domestic trips. Its the honor of my life to be sworn in as nations 12th education secretary, Cardona tweeted on Tuesday. Now its time to get to work for students. Biden is a community college educator and has a doctorate in education, as does Cardona. In Meriden, they will receive a tour of the Ben Franklin Elementary School Wednesday morning, before traveling to Pennsylvania. They will highlight the key CDC mitigation strategies that the schools have implemented successfully in these locations, listen to the challenges they are facing due to the pandemic, including the academic, social and emotional needs of students, highlight the additional resources in the American Rescue Plan needed for schools to remain open and address the needs of students, and thank educators for their work in supporting students and their families, said White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki on Tuesday. Local officials have been scrambling to prepare for the visit with local police coordinating with the Secret Service on security and public works employees launching some last-minute sidewalk cleaning and pothole-filling to spruce up the city. Meriden Mayor Kevin Scarpati and Meriden Board of Education President Robert Kosienski are both expected to attend the local school visit, as will state Sen. Mary Daugherty Abrams, D-Meriden. Members of Connecticuts Congressional delegation are not expected to be there due to votes in Washington, D.C. Cardona previously was a fourth grade teacher and principal in Meriden, but taught at different schools than the one he and Biden will visit Wednesday. His wife, Marissa, is a middle school liaison, and his two children attend Meriden schools. Miguel is a very personable guy. Hes very down to earth, someone who you can easily have a conversation with, Benigni said Tuesday. It will be great to see him and reconnect and congratulate him formally face to face tomorrow. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released new guidance for reopening schools last month and has crafted detailed recommendations on how schools can operate safely during the pandemic. Congress is considering a $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief bill that would include billions to support education institutions. Benigni said he believes additional funding will help schools continue to educate students during the pandemic while shouldering new expenses like additional staff, plexiglass, cleaning supplies and other costs needed to function. He also advocated for his staff to be vaccinated as soon as possible. Connecticut has designated priority designation clinics for teachers and educators to be vaccinated before the general population. emilie.munson@hearstdc.com; Twitter: @emiliemunson Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 2) As the country anticipates the arrival of millions of vaccine doses from different manufacturers in the coming months, the National Task Force Against COVID-19 assures enough supply of equipment necessary in vaccination efforts. Nakasiguro tayo na supisyente 'yung ating mga karayom, 'yung mga syringes, 'yung ibat iba pang mga ancillary na supply na kailangan natin para sa pagbabakuna, said NTF deputy chief implementer Vince Dizon in a virtual briefing, saying these were already prepared months ago. [Translation: We were able to ensure our needles, syringes and supply of other ancillary (equipment) necessary for vaccination are sufficient.] The Philippines formally commenced its vaccination drive Monday, a day after the arrival of its first 600,000 doses of Chinese firm Sinovacs CoronaVac vaccine. Dizon joined select government officials and health workers who rolled up their sleeves for the countrys first legal vaccine shots. Millions of doses are expected to arrive in the Philippines soon. NTF chief implementer and vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr., for one, said a million state-purchased CoronaVac doses are set to arrive this March. RELATED: Galvez: Vaccination for general public could begin in May The official likewise said at least 5.2 million doses of Pfizer and AstraZeneca vaccines from the World Health Organization-led COVAX facility are set to arrive in the second quarter. Initial procurements with Novavax and AstraZeneca on the private sectors end are also expected to reach the country within the period. The government is targeting to inoculate at least 50 million individuals by the end of 2021. Ive been waiting for this moment. The moment when some on the left would react indignantly to journalists doing their job. It was so enthralling and gratifying to assail Donald Trump as a liar and misogynist that it was bound to be jarring when the beast slouched out of town and liberals had to relearn the lesson that reporters dont or shouldnt suit up for the blue team. The moment came last week in the Capitol basement when Seung Min Kim, a respected Washington Post reporter, asked Lisa Murkowski, a Republican senator from Alaska, if she had seen a 2017 Neera Tanden tweet about her. She hadnt. So Kim showed it to her. Tanden was responding to a Murkowski tweet about lowering the corporate tax rate, calling the senator high on her own supply and dismissing her argument as garbage. High on my own supply? Murkowski said, reading the tweet on Kims phone. Thats interesting. Murkowskis reaction to the tweet was relevant because her vote on the Tanden nomination to be President Joe Bidens budget director could sink or save Tanden. And Tandens tetchy Twitter fingers counted among the reasons that Sens. Joe Manchin and Susan Collins had announced their intention to vote against her, given Bidens preaching that it was time to leave Trumps toxic atmosphere behind. After HuffPosts Igor Bobic posted a picture and summary of the exchange between Kim and Murkowski, Kims email and social media feeds were inundated with racist and sexist comments. One person labeled Kim a snitch for supposedly messing up another POC nomination on behalf of whites. Another wrote, That is not her job and thats extremely inappropriate. Actually, yes, that is her job. The truth is, many on the left dont understand what a reporter is. They loathe Fox News but assume the mainstream media are basically on their side, the same way Fox commentators are on Trumps, laying the groundwork for him to start his second coming at CPAC this past weekend. For the left, over the past four years, a reporter has been an ally and a superhero comrade in the epic mission of destroying Trump. Liberals lionized any cable hosts and runaway Republicans who blasted Trump, even if they had previously been on the GOP payroll, selling the Iraq War and Sarah Palin. Lets be honest. Its a lot more pleasant to be hailed by the left than demonized, as journalists are during periods when theyre holding a Democratic president to account, because the left can be just as nasty as the right. When I went to the Vanity Fair Oscar party with the New York Times A.G. Sulzberger in 2017, movie stars rushed up to thank him for fighting Trump. Over and over again, he explained it was not the mission of the New York Times to be part of the resistance. Rather, he said, the paper would be straight and combat lies with the truth. As the Trump years went on and the outrages piled up, with the renegade president making it clear he would not be bound by decency or legality, the left declared it a national emergency and acted as though all journalistic objectivity should be suspended. Some thought the media should ignore Trumps news conferences and tweets, and that the only legitimate interview with Trump was one where you stabbed him in the eye with a salad fork. Many reporters offered sharp opinions, the kind not seen before in covering a president. The tango between Trump and the media his most passionate relationship was as poisonous as it was profitable. For reporters, who hadnt been this chic since Ben Bradlee battled Richard Nixon, fat cable, book and movie contracts flooded in. CNN was on Breaking News for four years straight, thanks to Trumps dark genius at topping himself with outlandish narratives. Lines were blurred that would inevitably need to snap back when normality was restored. Some of the new assertiveness was good and should continue. After many years when I had to comb the thesaurus to find a synonym for liar to use about Dick Cheney, the New York Times finally allowed us to call high-ranking politicians who lied liars. Thank you, Donald Trump! But the press, bathed in constant adulation and better remuneration, will have a tough adjustment. A whole generation of journalists was reared in the caldera that was Trumps briefing room. Some Washington reporters have been worried about this for some time, that the left would work the refs, as one put it, and turn on the media and attack if they dared to report something that could endanger the Republic (aka hurt a Democrat). But the role of the press in a functioning democracy is as watchdog, not partisan attack dog. Politicians have plenty of people spinning for them. They dont need the press doing that, too. Believe me, you want us on that wall. Kangana Ranaut To Approach Bombay High Court In Defamation Case Filed By Javed Akhtar After Warrant Issued Against Her A Mumbai court on Monday issued a bailable warrant against actor Kangana Ranaut after she failed to appear before it in connection with a defamation complaint filed against her by lyricist Javed Akhtar. The Andheri metropolitan magistrate's court issued a summons to Ranaut on February 1, directing her to appear before it on March 1. However, Ranaut failed to appear on Monday following which Magistrate R R Khan issued a bailable warrant against her and posted the matter for further hearing on March 26. Akhtar filed the complaint against Ranaut in November last year alleging that Ranaut had made defamatory comments against him in an interview by dragging his name while referring to a "coterie" existing in Bollywood, following the death of actor Sushant Singh Rajput in June last year. "For willful absence of accused (Ranaut) without any justified reasons, despite service of summons, issue bailable warrant of Rs 1,000 against accused Kangana Ranaut," Magistrate R R Khan said in the order. "As accused (Ranaut) has voluntarily remained absent without any justified reason despite service of summons and even not filed any exemption application, therefore, as per law issuance of bailable warrant of Rs 1,000 against accused will be justified," it added. A lawyer in the case had earlier in the day informed March 22 as the next date of the hearing. Ranaut's advocate Rizwan Siddiquee argued in the court that the summons and process were issued against Ranaut without following the procedure laid down in law and hence, are "bad in law". Siddiquee said a petition would be filed in the Bombay High Court challenging the process issued by the magistrate. Akhtar's advocate Vrinda Grover, however, argued that even if the process is being challenged, Ranaut has to appear before the court as directed, in the absence of any stay on the summons by a higher court. "It is the accused's right to appeal against the order, or even challenge the proceedings, that no one can deny and no one can stop, not even this court. However, she (Ranaut) has failed to comply with the order of this court and there is also no stay obtained from a higher court," the lawyer argued. Grover then filed an application seeking a non-bailable warrant to be issued against the actor, which was opposed by Siddiquee. "The complainant (Akhtar) is insisting for issuance of a non-bailable warrant, however, keeping in view the nature of litigation, it appears to me a harsh step," the court said. The court further noted that an accused has every right to challenge the order of a court before a higher court but mere intent to challenge an order would not amount to "automatic stay on the proceedings". "The accused is going to challenge the entire proceeding before the High Court, as stated by her advocate. However, in absence of any orders from higher courts, her (Ranaut) remaining absent despite receipt of summons shows her conduct," the order said. It added that mere intention to challenge the proceedings would not absolve Ranaut's liability as an accused from attending the court. Magistrate Khan further noted that Ranaut even had the option of filing an application seeking exemption from appearance but she has not opted for the same. Akhtar filed the complaint against Ranaut in November last year for allegedly making baseless and false statements against him which, according to him, damaged his reputation. Last month, the Mumbai police had submitted a report to the court, saying an offence of defamation was made out against the actor. 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. Every year, scores of Alabama schoolchildren read about Atticus Finchs fight for justice and due process in Harper Lees To Kill a Mockingbird. My dogeared copy still sits on my mothers bookshelf. As an educator, my mother knows the power of literature to inspire children to build a better world. Education shapes our understanding of fairness and justice. Educators help raise the next generation of thoughtful citizens. Yet the due process that we teach children to expect in our justice system is not a statutory right for Alabama students. In the 46 years since the U.S. Supreme Court emphasized the risk of error in school disciplinary proceedings, more than two-thirds of states have enacted laws establishing due process protections for students. Alabama is the only one of the eleven Southern states that has failed to do so. State Sen. Roger Smitherman and other co-sponsors of SB 203 want to change this. The bill, which is slated to be discussed before the Senates Education Policy Committee on Wednesday, establishes guidelines for school systems when considering suspending a student for more than 10 days. These due process protections include a hearing before an impartial person who considers evidence and a notice of the hearing so students and parents can attend. Students denied access to education for extended periods of time are more likely to fall behind and drop out. Our children have a right to a public education. The decision to snatch kids out of their classrooms and push them out of their school should not be made lightly but be informed by evidence and conducted with transparency. As District Attorney, I recognize the dignity of all people. Every person has a story. When harmful events occur in our community, we strive to understand the facts to slow down and consider the evidence. I make decisions that impact the life and liberty of the residents of Jefferson County. These decisions weigh heavy on me and I am grateful to have the guidance of the law and the balance of facts when executing justice. Alabamas 138 school districts have not had the support of the law to guide their processes for removing students from school long-term. Some districts with the aid of resources and expertise wrote strong policies while others had little guidance. With no legal statute, policies are implemented unevenly. Students are sometimes mistakenly excluded from school without just cause. Rather than improving behavior, exclusionary discipline is more likely to lead to involvement in activity that could lead to the juvenile and adult justice systems. Discipline policies that address a students social and emotional well-being are more effective than punishment that removes the child from learning opportunities only to return with the same unaddressed problems. There are non-punitive practices that address mental health, social OR emotional issues that are backed by research and teach correct behaviors. Its time to support well-informed practices for our educators. Reading proficiency and chronic absence are huge issues in our state. Learning time lost is a major factor in school failure. SB 203 limits suspension of our youngest children when lost learning time greatly impacts reading and math proficiency. SB 203 would also end the ridiculous practice of suspending students for truancy. This commonsense bill recognizes that the punishment of more lost learning time is not the correct response to missing school. The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed gaps and inequities in many systems. The Public Affairs Research Council of Alabama reported that Black students in Alabama are more likely to receive out-of-school suspensions than white peers for the same offense. As our community works together to find a sense of normalcy, we should commit to removing barriers and mending inequities that impact our kids. Now is the time to correct practices that harm our children. Students across our state have lost learning opportunities during the pandemic. Lets guard future learning time by using good practices that help educators slow down and consider facts before removing students from school. A childs experience of justice and fairness teaches more than the books in our curriculum. We require children to read about Atticus Finch and due process, yet they experience something different in Alabama classrooms. Due process is embodied in our U.S. Constitution, but its not embodied in our state laws for our children. Its time for that to change. Our children deserve the protections proposed in SB 203. Carr is the district attorney of Jefferson County, Ala. Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-02 20:19:38|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close HONG KONG, March 2 (Xinhua) -- As COVID-19 vaccination campaigns have been kicked off in Asia-Pacific countries, India's tally rose to 11,124,527 with more cases reported on Tuesday, while South Korea unveiled a 17 bln-USD relief package. As many as 12,286 new cases were registered in India during the past 24 hours, according to the latest data from the federal health ministry. Federal health minister Harsh Vardhan took the first COVID-19 vaccine shot at a hospital in the Indian capital, officials said. South Korea unveiled the fourth round of relief package worth 19.5 trillion won (17.3 billion U.S. dollars) to financially support millions of microbusiness owners hit by the COVID-19 pandemic. The country reported 344 more cases of COVID-19 compared to 24 hours ago, raising the total number of infections to 90,372. The confirmed COVID-19 cases in Japan increased by 888 to reach 434,304, according to the latest figures from the health ministry and local authorities. The death toll from the pneumonia-causing virus currently stands at 8,026, with 65 new fatalities. The COVID-19 cases in Indonesia rose by 5,712 within one day to 1,347,026, with the death toll adding by 193 to 36,518, the health ministry said. Two new cases of the more contagious COVID-19 variant B117 were detected in Indonesia. According to the Health Ministry, 509,275 people in Sri Lanka have been inoculated since the vaccination program rolled out on Jan. 29 which included frontline workers and health workers in the island country. The Philippines' Department of Health (DOH) reported 2,067 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the total number of confirmed cases in the Southeast Asian country to 580,442. The death toll climbed to 12,369 after 47 more patients died from the viral disease. The Philippines has detected its first six cases of a more contagious COVID-19 variant found in South Africa, its health ministry said. Cambodia confirmed 24 more local cases of COVID-19, raising the total number of infected people linked to the third community transmission to 340, the Ministry of Health (MoH) said in a statement. Thailand confirmed 42 new COVID-19 cases, mostly domestic, and one more fatality, according to a report of the Center for the COVID-19 Situation Administration (CCSA). New Zealand reported four new COVID-19 cases in managed isolation facilities, and no new community cases. Enditem Brexit & Export supports - What does this mean for Kildare businesses? Since initial talks of Brexit surfaced in early 2016, Kildare LEO has been providing practical supports for the small businesses of Kildare. Since then, over 100 businesses have engaged with a Brexit mentor, and over 550 have availed of other Brexit interventions. Kildare LEO has designed a programme of supports, including a VAT and Duties Workshop which has to date, supported over 80 businesses. Other supports available are free of charge Brexit mentoring, Customs Export and Import Workshops and online trading programmes and funding opportunities. Is exporting right for my business? Exporting can be a solution to challenges posed by Brexit and the current pandemic. For businesses looking to reduce dependency on the UK market or simply want to increase overall sales, there are a wide range of supports available to develop an export strategy to target new business in Europe and beyond. Kildare LEO provide a number of export initiatives, including funding of up to 2,500 to explore new export markets. On Friday the 5th of March, Kildare LEO are hosting an introductory export workshop. The programme will enable participants to determine if exporting is appropriate for their business and will advise on how to draft an export strategy. To book, visit localenterprise.ie/Kildare Cinderella Shoes Based in Rathangan, Cinderella Shoes recently began exporting to Europe and other international markets. In the past the company had grown organically with customers finding us on Google or word of mouth, but we wanted to proactively seek out new markets. We are now currently developing new shoe lines for our own brand and are planning future growth in the USA as well as Europe. The team at Kildare Local Enterprise Office have been extremely helpful along the way in helping us research new export opportunities. We have availed of an Export Grant to visit the Canton Fair Trade Show in China, Trading Online Vouchers as well as Brexit mentoring and Customs Workshops. These have been invaluable in helping us sustain our business through the pandemic and guiding us through the extra red tape that Brexit has introduced. Bernie Connell, Cinderella Shoes cinderellashoes.com For a full list of Brexit supports and export initiatives, visit localenterprise.ie/Kildare Links: localenterprise.ie/Kildare cinderellashoes.com New Delhi, March 2 : India's February merchandise exports slipped by 0.25 per cent on a year-on-year basis, preliminary data showed on Tuesday. Accordingly, the country's merchandise exports during the month under review grew to $27.67 billion from $27.74 billion in January 2020. As per the data, during last month, the value of non-petroleum exports rose by 3.55 per cent over February 2020 to $25.16 billion. "The value of non-petroleum and non-gems and jewellery exports in February 2021 was USD 22.48 billion as compared to USD 21.28 billion in February 2020, registering a positive growth of 5.65 per cent," a Ministry of Commerce and Industry statement said on the basis of preliminary data. "In February 2021, Oil imports were USD 8.99 billion, as compared to the USD 10.78 billion in February 2020, a decline by 16.63 per cent." United Methodist leader who helped create denomination's separation plan dies from cancer Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment An official in the United Methodist Church who helped create a proposed plan of gracious separation for the denomination has died from cancer at age 55. The Rev. Junius B. Dotson, the general secretary and chief executive officer of the UMCs Discipleship Ministries, an agency of the denomination, died last Wednesday after a weekslong battle with pancreatic cancer. In his memory, there will be a livestreamed celebration of life service held on Saturday in Houston, Texas, with limited in-person attendance due to the coronavirus pandemic. Junius Dotson was an exceedingly faithful disciple of Jesus Christ, said the Rev. Tom Berlin, lead pastor of Floris United Methodist Church in Herndon, Virginia, as reported by UM News. His love for Christ expressed itself in conviction about the nature of the church who the church should include, how the church should be in ministry and a desire that all would know the love of Jesus. Dotson was ordained in 1992 and known for being a church planter and former megachurch pastor when he was elected head of Discipleship Ministries in 2016. Dotson was senior pastor of Saint Mark United Methodist Church in Wichita, Kansas, where he was instrumental in transforming the 3,500-member church into a multi-campus congregation, explained his official biography. In 1996, Rev. Dotson responded to the challenge of planting Genesis United Methodist Church, a new and innovative church in the Silicon Valley of California, which grew into a diverse faith community of nearly 500 people. Dotson was one of 16 UMC leaders from diverse theological backgrounds who came together to write the Protocol of Reconciliation & Grace Through Separation. The Protocol was created as a proposal to help resolve the denominations longtime debate over whether to change its biblically-held position on homosexuality. Along with identifying homosexuality as a sin, the UMC also bans clergy from officiating same-sex marital unions and prohibits the ordination of noncelibate homosexuals. Although past proposals to change the UMC's stance on the issue have failed, LGBT advocates within the denomination continue to resist the official standards. Announced in January 2020, the Protocol sought to allow congregations that hold to the biblical standard of marriage and sexuality to create their own denomination with funds from the UMC. To take effect, the Protocol still needs to be approved by a majority of delegates at the UMC General Conference, which recently postponed their legislative meeting to next year over ongoing COVID-19 concerns. CIMC Enric and Hexagon Purus today signed two joint venture (JV) agreements that encompass cylinder and systems production for Fuel Cell Electric Vehicles (FCEVs) and hydrogen distribution in China and Southeast Asia. The Chinese market for Fuel Cell Electric Vehicles (FCEVs) is expected to grow to become the largest global market over the next decade and beyond. Initially, the CIMC-HEXAGON JVs will expand CIMC Enric's existing production and systems capacity for Type 3 (T3) cylinders and in parallel install Type 4 (T4) cylinder production and systems capacity for the Chinese market. The JVs expect to start production of high-pressure T3 fuel storage in 2021. Production line capacity will be designed to accommodate approximately 100,000 cylinders per annum, in a first stage towards the middle of the decade. Construction of the new facility is expected to commence as early as the second quarter 2021. Hexagon Purus AS (Hexagon Purus) today signed two joint venture agreements with CIMC Enric Holdings Limited (hereafter "CIMC Enric"), a leading global supplier of cryogenic and compressed gas storage and transportation solutions and manufacturer of clean energy equipment, headquartered in Shenzhen, People's Republic of China. CIMC Enric is listed on the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong (stock code: 03899.HK). Hexagon Purus, a global leader of Type 4 (T4) cylinder technology, is a separately listed Hexagon Composites company on the Oslo Stock Exchange (stock ticker: HPUR). The cooperation is a highly compelling partnership: Hexagon Purus' world class T4 hydrogen cylinder and systems technologies and design with over 20 years of heritage and safety track record - and CIMC Enric's extensive expertise in gas system development tailored to the Chinese market and its long-standing relationships with large Chinese vehicle manufacturers (OEMs) and gas distribution companies. The joint ventures will serve the fast-growing demand of the Chinese market for safe, lightweight and cost-efficient compressed hydrogen storage solutions. Relevant industrial standards for T4 cylinders are currently being implemented by the Chinese government. The joint ventures will also support the transition to zero emission mobility solutions in Southeast Asia. Powerful alliance "China is on the rise to become the most significant global market for Fuel Cell electric vehicles. Its successful energy transition to hydrogen requires safe, advanced and cost-efficient high-pressure Type 4 fuel storage solutions that are proven in the global market. By joining forces in China, CIMC Enric and Hexagon Purus together contribute state-of-the-art Type 4 know-how, as well as the market presence of a top, trusted Chinese brand. Both companies have proud heritages of providing world class products and solutions to their customers," says Morten Holum, CEO of Hexagon Purus. Leo Yang, Executive Director and General Manager of CIMC Enric adds, "China always thinks big - and China has decided that hydrogen will be the next big thing, within this decade. The CIMC-HEXAGON joint ventures are set up to offer what the Chinese market for hydrogen storage will demand - safe and proven products made by a team renowned for their integrity and world class designs and manufacturing processes. Together, CIMC Enric and Hexagon Purus have the financial backbone to scale up to serve the expected demand for both Type 3 and Type 4 cylinders as well as high pressure hydrogen transportation in China and Southeast Asia. Together, we will drive the energy transformation with a joint vision of a zero emission transportation sector." About the market China, the world's largest auto market with over 28 million vehicles sold annually, has set its sights on creating a world-leading market for fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs) within two decades. According to Chinese policymakers' planning, the market will grow from more than 7,000 FCEVs by end of 2020, to 1.3 million FECVs by 2035. It is also expected that hydrogen will account for approximately 10% of primary energy consumption in China by 2050. The initial focus of the Chinese hydrogen strategy is on fuel cell electric buses and commercial vehicles. This will improve public awareness and showcase the safety of hydrogen. The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) announced its collective ambition to achieve 23% renewable energy integration into its energy system by 2025, and even more by 2035. The shift to zero emission vehicles is driven by the desire to improve air quality and reduce CO2 emissions, as well as to increase energy independence by utilizing large amounts of hydrogen already available in China. In addition, hydrogen provides cost-efficient storage for surplus renewable energy from wind and solar. Structure The cooperation will be organized around two joint ventures, a Cylinder JV and a Systems JV, both registered in Hong Kong. The Cylinder JV will be majority-owned by Hexagon Purus (Hexagon Purus will own 51% and CIMC Enric will own 49%) and the Systems JV will be majority-owned by CIMC Enric (CIMC Enric will own 51% and Hexagon Purus will own 49%). The JVs will form operating subsidiaries in 2021 and a joint sales and marketing team. Live video webcast Hexagon Purus will host a webcast to present the alliance on March 2nd at 12:00 Central European Time. Presentation materials will be available in the Investor section of Hexagon Purus' website (www.hexagonpurus.com). Interviews Following the webcast: Investors/analysts are invited to contact Dilip Warrier/Salman Alam to arrange one-to-one sessions are invited to contact to arrange one-to-one sessions Media are invited to contact Karen Romer to schedule interviews with Jon Erik Engeset, CEO Hexagon Composites and Morten Holum, CEO Hexagon Purus (See contact details below) Contacts: Karen Romer, SVP Communications, Hexagon Composites Telephone: +47 950 74 950 | karen.romer@hexagongroup.com Dilip Warrier, CFO, Hexagon Purus Telephone: +1 949-236-5528 | dilip.warrier@hexagonpurus.com Salman Alam, Vice President Corporate Development, Hexagon Purus Telephone: +476 12 713 | salman.alam@hexagonpurus.com About Hexagon Purus (stock ticker: HPUR) Hexagon Purus, a Hexagon Composites company, is a world leading provider of hydrogen type 4 high-pressure cylinders, battery packs and vehicle systems integration for fuel cell electric and battery electric vehicles. Hexagon Purus enables zero emission solutions for light, medium and heavy-duty vehicles, buses, ground storage, distribution, marine, rail and aerospace. Learn more at www.hexagonpurus.com . About CIMC ENRIC Holdings Limited (stock code: 3899.HK) Founded in 2004, CIMC ENRIC Holdings Limited has been listed on the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong since 2005. The Company is affiliate to China International Marine Container This information is subject to the disclosure requirements pursuant to Section 5-12 the Norwegian Securities Trading Act Attachment Pashinian again accused General Onik Gasparian, the chief of the armys General Staff, of a coup attempt and treason as he rallied thousands of supporters in Yerevan. He claimed that Gasparian initiated the February 25 statement by the militarys top brass at the behest of former President Serzh Sarkisian. The unprecedented statement said Pashinian and his government must step down because they have put Armenia on the brink of destruction after the autumn war in Nagorno-Karabakh. The top brass of the Armed Forces reaffirms its evaluations of the existing situation and emphasizes that despite attempts to draw the Armed Forces into political processes they remain unwavering, determined and composed, read another statement issued shortly after the pro-government rally. It demanded an end to baseless accusations directed at the Armed Forces and some officials. It also insisted that the military is sticking to the Armenian constitution and serving only the people. Pashinian and his allies say that Gasparian and other generals have violated a constitutional provision upholding civilian control over the armed forces. Pashinian petitioned President Armen Sarkissian late last week to sack Gasparian. Sarkissian refused to sign a relevant decree at the weekend. Despite the rebuff, the prime minster resent the draft decree to Sarkissian for approval. The president had to decide by Wednesday night whether to continue blocking Gasparians sacking. The generals demands are strongly backed by Armenian opposition forces trying to oust Pashinian over his handling of the war with Azerbaijan. Christian Stojkovic: Full-bodied, great aroma with ripe fruit of cherries, black currants, plums, herbs, oak and coffee, and a good, long aftertaste. In a really good vintage like 2018, Bordeaux can deliver such a good wine for relatively little money. 17 points. Jack Jakobsson: Slightly wet dog, young, floral with a little hyacinth, acidic. 14.5 points. There are only two things Ineed to know about a bottle of wine that I am thinking of buying: 1. Is it good value for money? 2. When should I drink it? Let's look at the first question in this post. (Other features, such as possible food pairings, I can work out later.)I have written several times about evaluating value-for-money, when searching for wines (see "Value for money" under the "Labels For Posts" list at the right of this page. One simple idea is to compare the current bottle price with a quality score from one or more wine commentators.We all know that different wine tasters can come up with very different opinions (and scores).* However, a somewhat different question is whether they agree on which wines are value for money, irrespective of the actual score they give. This involves the relationship between their points and the cost of the wine high points for low cost = good value for money.It therefore becomes relevant to ask whether we would get the same outcome depending on which commentator we choose. The degree of between-commentator variation is another topic that I have discussed before (eg. Are wine scores from different reviewers correlated with each other? Does the relationship between critics' scores differ by wine type? ).So, it seems reasonable to wonder whether the assessment of value-for-money also differs between commentators. Note that value-for-money is not directly related to price, as expensive wines often get high scores from both professionals and amateurs these wines may or may not be worth that expense.To answer this question, I will be comparing two sources of wine scores available here in Sweden, which I have used in posts before: Jack Jakobsson at BKWine Magazine , and Johan Edstrom at Vinbanken . These commentators are discussed in the post on: Are wine scores from different reviewers correlated with each other? Here, I will be using the procedure that I outlined in the post on: Calculating value for money wines . For new wines, both of our commentators produce scores out of 20, representing increasing quality, and also report the (standard) bottle prices (in Swedish kronor, SEK). We can simply plot price versus score; and we can calculate the financial cost of each quality point (ie. divide kronor by points, to get a kronor-per-point value).So, I have gathered the data for last year (2020) from both sources. That particular year was a bit disturbed, of course, resulting in a few data anomalies (see my post How close are repeated wine-quality scores? ). However, this should not affect my analysis (when different scores appeared, I simply averaged them).This process yielded data for 589 wines from Edstrom and 512 wines from Jakobsson, with 487 of the wines being in common (the commentators could not get to taste all of the released wines, due to Covid-19 restrictions). We could start our analysis by simply looking at the relationship between the scores, for the shared wines. This is shown in the first graph, with each point representing one wine. The pink line would represent equal scores for each wine, while the black line shows the actual relationship.This shows that the Edstrom scores are generally higher than the Jakobsson scores, for the same wines. Furthermore, only two-fifths (39%) of the scores are related to each other. This emphasizes that the quality scores themselves do differ between the two critics.However, our question is about value for money, not the scores themselves. This is plotted in the next graph, encompassing all of the wines. Each point still represents one wine, showing its price (vertically, logarithm scale) and its score (horizontally). The Jakobsson scores are in blue and the Edstrom scores are in pink. The lines represent the two exponential relationships between price and score. Last year, $US 1 9 SEK.As expected, the Edstrom points lie to the right of the Jakobsson ones, due to the higher scores. However, the relationship between price and score is not that different between the two critics about half of the variation in price is related to the score (higher scores generate higher prices). So, it seems that the two critics do have roughly the same opinions in terms of the wines' value for money.We can look at this directly by calculating the number of kronor that each wine cost per quality point assigned. This is plotted in the next graph, for the shared wines. As usual, each point represents one wine, with the pink line representing equal assessment of value for money by the two critics, and the black line showing the actual relationship.As you can see, the two critics do, indeed, have almost equal assessments. That is, in spite of their differences in scoring, their assessment of value for money is very similar.This is very good for me, of course, as a consumer. I can use either critic to identify wines for purchase, if I am interested in trying new wines that are identified as being of particularly good value. This is, of course what I do do I buy wines that I know and like, and I also buy new wines to try. As noted in the previous post, my preferred "wine recommendation system" is actually people, not a computer ( Wine recommenders, and the tyranny of choice ). In this case, it will make little difference which person I choose (I just need to allow for the difference in scoring). The best-value wines are simply those in the bottom-left corner of the final graph.* Consider these two reviews, for the Chateau la Brande Tradition Cabernet Franc 2018 (Fronsac): DUBLIN, March 2, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Death Care Services Global Market Report 2021: COVID-19 Impact and Recovery to 2030" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. This report provides strategists, marketers and senior management with the critical information they need to assess the global death care services market as it emerges from the COVID-19 shut down. The global death care services market is expected to grow from $103.93 billion in 2020 to $109.79 billion in 2021 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 5.6%. The growth is mainly due to the companies rearranging their operations and recovering from the COVID-19 impact, which had earlier led to restrictive containment measures involving social distancing, remote working, and the closure of commercial activities that resulted in operational challenges. The market is expected to reach $147.38 billion in 2025 at a CAGR of 8%. Reasons to Purchase Gain a truly global perspective with the most comprehensive report available on this market covering 50+ geographies. Understand how the market is being affected by the coronavirus and how it is likely to emerge and grow as the impact of the virus abates. Create regional and country strategies on the basis of local data and analysis. Identify growth segments for investment. Outperform competitors using forecast data and the drivers and trends shaping the market. Understand customers based on the latest market research findings. Benchmark performance against key competitors. Utilize the relationships between key data sets for superior strategizing. Suitable for supporting your internal and external presentations with reliable high quality data and analysis Description: Where is the largest and fastest growing market for the death care services? How does the market relate to the overall economy, demography and other similar markets? What forces will shape the market going forward? The Death Care Services market global report answers all these questions and many more. The report covers market characteristics, size and growth, segmentation, regional and country breakdowns, competitive landscape, market shares, trends and strategies for this market. It traces the market's historic and forecast market growth by geography. It places the market within the context of the wider death care services market, and compares it with other markets. The market characteristics section of the report defines and explains the market. The market size section gives the market size ($b) covering both the historic growth of the market, the impact of the COVID-19 virus and forecasting its recovery. Market segmentations break down market into sub markets. The regional and country breakdowns section gives an analysis of the market in each geography and the size of the market by geography and compares their historic and forecast growth. It covers the impact and recovery trajectory of COVID-19 for all regions, key developed countries and major emerging markets. Competitive landscape gives a description of the competitive nature of the market, market shares, and a description of the leading companies. Key financial deals which have shaped the market in recent years are identified. The trends and strategies section analyses the shape of the market as it emerges from the crisis and suggests how companies can grow as the market recovers. The death care services market section of the report gives context. It compares the death care services market with other segments of the personal services market by size and growth, historic and forecast. It analyses GDP proportion, expenditure per capita, death care services indicators comparison. Major companies in the death care services market include Service Corporation International (SCI); Nirvana Asia Ltd and Fu Shou Yuan International Group. The death care services market consists of sales of death care services and related goods by entities (organizations, sole traders and partnerships) that prepare the dead for burial or interment, conduct funerals, operate sites or structures reserved for the interment of human or animals remains, and/or cremate the dead. The death care services market is segmented into funeral homes and funeral services; and cemeteries and crematories. Asia Pacific was the largest region in the global death care services market, accounting for 40% of the market in 2020. North America was the second largest region accounting for 27% of the global death care services market. Africa was the smallest region in the global death care services market. Death care service companies are increasingly using the alkaline hydrolysis method for disposing of corpses. Alkaline hydrolysis is a chemical process for the disposal of human remains using sodium hydroxide and heat. The method uses a solution of 95% water and 5% potassium hydroxide or sodium oxide to reduce a body to components of liquid and bone. Bone fragments are retained and dried into a substance which is similar to cremated ashes. The liquid by-product of alkaline hydrolysis is a non-toxic solution that is disposed through the sewage system. As of August 2019, 19 states in the United States of America have legalized practice of alkaline hydrolysis. Key Topics Covered: 1. Executive Summary 2. Report Structure 3. Death Care Services Market Characteristics 3.1. Market Definition 3.2. Key Segmentations 4. Death Care Services Market Product Analysis 4.1. Leading Products/ Services 4.2. Key Features and Differentiators 4.3. Development Products 5. Death Care Services Market Supply Chain 5.1. Supply Chain 5.2. Distribution 5.3. End Customers 6. Death Care Services Market Customer Information 6.1. Customer Preferences 6.2. End Use Market Size and Growth 7. Death Care Services Market Trends and Strategies 8. Impact of COVID-19 on Death Care Services 9. Death Care Services Market Size and Growth 9.1. Market Size 9.2. Historic Market Growth, Value ($ Billion) 9.2.1. Drivers of the Market 9.2.2. Restraints on the Market 9.3. Forecast Market Growth, Value ($ Billion) 9.3.1. Drivers of the Market 9.3.2. Restraints on the Market 10. Death Care Services Market Regional Analysis 10.1. Global Death Care Services Market, 2020, by Region, Value ($ Billion) 10.2. Global Death Care Services Market, 2015-2020, 2020-2025F, 2030F, Historic and Forecast, by Region 10.3. Global Death Care Services Market, Growth and Market Share Comparison, by Region 11. Death Care Services Market Segmentation 11.1. Global Death Care Services Market, Segmentation by Type 11.2. Global Death Care Services Market, Segmentation by Arrangement 11.3. Global Death Care Services Market, Segmentation by Mode 12. Death Care Services Market Metrics 12.1. Death Care Services Market Size, Percentage of GDP, 2015-2025, Global 12.2. Per Capita Average Death Care Services Market Expenditure, 2015-2025, Global 13. Asia-Pacific Death Care Services Market 14. Western Europe Death Care Services Market 15. Eastern Europe Death Care Services Market 16. North America Death Care Services Market 17. South America Death Care Services Market 18. Middle East Death Care Services Market 19. Africa Death Care Services Market 20. Death Care Services Market Competitive Landscape 20.1. Competitive Market Overview 20.2. Market Shares 20.3. Company Profiles 20.3.1. Service Corporation International (SCI) 20.3.1.1. Company Overview 20.3.1.2. Products and Services 20.3.1.3. Strategy 20.3.1.4. Financial Performance 20.3.2. Nirvana Asia Ltd 20.3.2.1. Company Overview 20.3.2.2. Products and Services 20.3.2.3. Strategy 20.3.2.4. Financial Performance 20.3.3. Fu Shou Yuan International Group 20.3.3.1. Company Overview 20.3.3.2. Products and Services 20.3.3.3. Strategy 20.3.3.4. Financial Performance 20.3.4. 20.3.4.1. Company Overview 20.3.4.2. Products and Services 20.3.4.3. Strategy 20.3.4.4. Financial Performance 20.3.5. 20.3.5.1. Company Overview 20.3.5.2. Products and Services 20.3.5.3. Strategy 20.3.5.4. Financial Performance 21. Key Mergers and Acquisitions in the Death Care Services Market 22. Market Background: Personal Services Market 22.1. Personal Services Market Characteristics 22.2. Personal Services Market Historic and Forecast, 2015-2020, 2020-2025F, 2030F Growth, by Segment, Value ($ Billion), Global 22.3. Global Personal Services Market, 2020, by Region, Value ($ Billion) 22.4. Global Personal Services Market, 2015-2020, 2020-2025F, 2030F, Historic and Forecast, by Region 22.5. Global Personal Services Market, 2015-2020, 2020-2025F, 2030F, Segmentation by Type, Value ($ Billion) 23. Recommendations 23.1. Global Death Care Services Market in 2025 - Growth Countries 23.2. Global Death Care Services Market in 2025 - Growth Segments 23.3. Global Death Care Services Market in 2025 - Growth Strategies 24. Appendix 24.1. NAICS Definitions of Industry Covered in this Report 24.2. Abbreviations 24.3. Currencies 24.4. Research Inquiries 24.5. About the Publisher 25. Copyright and Disclaimer For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/axcejn 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 Boris Johnson and Carrie Symonds will marry as soon as restrictions on big weddings are lifted, it was claimed today. The couple announced in February last year that they got engaged in late 2019, but the coronavirus pandemic put their plans on ice. But wedding bells may soon be heard in Downing Street once ceremonies with no limits on numbers are given the go ahead no earlier than June 21, Tatler reports in a new in-depth profile on Symonds. The couple's first son, Wilfred, was born on April 29, 2020 at the height of the first Covid outbreak in the UK. The couple announced in February last year that they got engaged in late 2019, but the coronavirus pandemic put their plans on ice. They are seen together in December The couple's first son, Wilfred, was born on April 29, 2020 at the height of the first Covid outbreak in the UK. Mr Johnson is pictured with him outside No10 earlier this month Mr Johnson announced last month that 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. The Tory leader has dropped hints that he and Carrie are planning to tie the knot as soon as possible. Asked whether he was planning a summer wedding, the PM told The Sun yesterday: 'The wedding industry is certainly gonna come roaring back in common with many other sectors of the economy.' It comes as Ms Symonds puts together her plans for a refurbishment of the couple's flat at Number 11 to remove Theresa May's 'John Lewis furniture nightmare'. Mr Johnson is secretly trying to set up a charity to pay for the costly makeover modelled on one used by the White House to raise millions of dollars for interior design, antiques and art. The presidential charity is bankrolled by private donors and the proposed Downing Street version is expected to be funded largely by wealthy Tory benefactors. It runs the risk of claims of conflict of interest if it is seen as a back-door way of providing a financial benefit to the Prime Minister. Mr Johnson out jogging around Westminster today with his and Ms Symonds' dog, Dilyn The founder and director of Soane Britain 'designs and makes British-made furniture, upholstery, lighting, fabrics and wallpaper' (sample designs pictured) Mr Johnson has complained the cost of the refurbishment by Carrie Symonds was 'totally out of control', the Daily Mail has been told. He reportedly said during one meeting that the sum amounted to 'tens and tens of thousands'. On another occasion he said it was 'over a hundred grand'. He is said to have told one minister he was particularly alarmed by the cost of wallpaper chosen by Miss Symonds, saying she appeared to have ordered 'gold wall coverings'. The restyled decor is said to have been inspired by celebrated eco interior designer Lulu Lytle (pictured) Mr Johnson has asked multi-millionaire financier and Tory peer Lord Brownlow, who has close links with the Royal Family, to run the charity. It is believed that an application to register it with the Charity Commission is under way. The official purpose of the charity is to raise funds to preserve No 10 and No 11 Downing Street for the nation on heritage grounds. But insiders say the proposal stemmed from the soaring cost of a makeover of the No 11 flat, which is preferred by prime ministers with families because it is bigger than the No 10 flat. The restyled decor is said to have been inspired by celebrated eco interior designer Lulu Lytle. The founder and director of Soane Britain 'designs and makes British-made furniture, upholstery, lighting, fabrics and wallpaper' based on 'traditional crafts including blacksmiths'. Prince Charles visited her rattan workshop last year just before the pandemic. Miss Lytle's fabrics start at 100 a metre. Work on refurbishing the No 11 flat is believed to have been completed in recent months. It went on for more than a year and was disrupted by Covid. Mr Johnson first expressed concern at the rising cost early last year. He is said to have commented there was 'no way' he could pay for it after being informed by the Cabinet Office that the maximum taxpayer contribution was 'around 30,000'. Lytle's designs (pictured) combine a riot of bold colours and showstopping old-fashioned glamour Soane's clients include five-star hotels and restaurants, private members' clubs, boardrooms, yachts and private houses all over the world Top designer who inspired Carrie's chic makeover The woman said to have inspired Carrie's lavish makeover is Lulu Lytle one of the UK's most influential and successful interior designers. Her designs combine a riot of bold colours and showstopping old-fashioned glamour. Think oiled-oak shelving, rattan furniture, shimmering gold wallpaper and intricate textiles. A marble bathroom, perhaps, with wrought iron finishings. She is especially passionate about sustaining traditional British craftsmanship. She built up her Soane Britain interior design studio by scouring the country for the best artisan blacksmiths, cabinet makers, upholsterers and stone carvers creating furniture, lighting and fabrics using skills going back to the 18th century and beyond. In 2011, she put her money where her mouth is and bought the last rattan-weaving workshop left in England and started an apprenticeship programme. Prince Charles, himself passionate about sustaining traditional craftsmanship, visited the Leicester workshop a year ago, just before lockdown, to admire its creations. Soane's clients include five-star hotels and restaurants, private members' clubs, boardrooms, yachts and private houses all over the world. Mrs Lytle, 49, says her furniture, upholstery, lighting, fabrics and wallpapers all aim to 'contribute to the joyful atmosphere of any interior'. Born and raised in Worcestershire, the youngest of four sisters, Lucy Elizabeth Kottler, known as 'Lulu', developed a romantic passion for Egypt and took a degree in Egyptology. She met her husband Charles Patrick St John Lytle, known as Charlie, when he was training as a barrister. He is now a senior investment banker at Goldman Sachs. Mrs Lytle worked in antiques for four years, before starting Soane when she was 25, originally from the couple's one-bedroom flat in Notting Hill, west London. Her plan was clear and has never changed to create beautifully made contemporary furniture based on antiques. She said: 'The life of an object is endlessly fascinating, there's a depth to old things.' The Lytles moved to a flat in one of London's nicest squares, close to Hyde Park, in 1999. They then bought its neighbour and knocked through to create a 4million home, which is now a stunning exhibition of Mrs Lytle's interior design genius and often showcased in glossy magazines. It mixes old and new Soane pieces, along with textiles collected worldwide, paintings, maps and artefacts. Searing Chinese yellow walls make a study area dramatic, while hand-painted lapis lazuli rocks bring luxury to the master bedroom's Carrara marble ensuite bathroom. The couple share their home with their three children Tom, 20, Bunny, 18, and Xan, 15 as well as a greyhound named Panther and Hammy the hamster. By Sam Greenhill, chief reporter for the Daily Mail Advertisement That left a massive shortfall. Despite his salary of 150,000 a year as Prime Minister, Mr Johnson has taken a big pay cut because he earned 500,000 as a newspaper columnist and author before entering No 10. In addition he has had an expensive divorce from his ex-wife, Marina Wheeler. This newspaper understands that there were several meetings in No 10 where Mr Johnson discussed the possibility of asking Conservative donors to bridge the gap was discussed, either directly or via Tory Party HQ. After being warned that could be unethical, his advisers came up with an alternative scheme. They said the most practical and ethical way to secure extra financial help to pay for the refurbishment was by establishing a new charitable fund. Its purpose would be to maintain not just the No 11 flat, but also other parts of Downing Street, including the state rooms. That way, it way could be presented as having a wider heritage purpose that would benefit future prime ministers, not just Mr Johnson, he was advised. He is said to have agreed to the proposal. However, according to some sources, in reality the real purpose was to bail out Mr Johnson and pay for Miss Symonds' expensive tastes. It is believed that the new charity will be designed to allow money to be used to pay for the refurbishment. It is modelled on a similar scheme used to maintain the White House, where the US president's wife customarily plays a big role in interior design. Incoming presidents and their families are allowed to spend up to $100,000 (72,000) on restyling the Washington mansion. When David and Samantha Cameron occupied the No 11 flat, they paid the bulk of a 100,000 redesign by Mrs Cameron, including a new kitchen. An ally of Mr Johnson last night defended the charity plan, saying: 'Downing Street is as iconic as Windsor Castle but is in danger of becoming tatty because the Civil Service does everything on the cheap. 'A new charity with privately raised money to preserve it in great shape for all time is great value for the taxpayer and a great idea.' Friends of Miss Symonds deny she has been extravagant. 'The makeover is appropriate for a building of such huge importance,' said one. 'Carrie has exquisite taste. It is classic, stunning, stylish and chic. She should be congratulated not criticised.' The Prime Minister's official country residence, Chequers in Buckinghamshire, is maintained by a trust with funds from Lord Lee, who gave the house to the nation a century ago. A No 10 spokesman said: 'The Downing Street complex is a working building, as well as containing two ministerial residences. 'As has been the case under successive administrations, refurbishments and maintenance are made periodically. 'Matters concerning works on the Downing Street estate, including the residences, are covered in the Cabinet Office annual report and accounts.' The spokesman declined to answer further questions from the Mail, including whether Mr Johnson had voiced worries about the cost of the refurbishment and whether he discussed asking Tory donors to help pay for it or asked Lord Brownlow to take charge of the proposed charity. The Charity Commission said it was not aware of any application to set up a Downing Street charity. Conservative Party HQ, the Cabinet Office, Lord Brownlow and Miss Lytle declined to comment. Mrs Lytle, 49, says her furniture, upholstery, lighting, fabrics and wallpapers all aim to 'contribute to the joyful atmosphere of any interior' Born and raised in Worcestershire, the youngest of four sisters, Lucy Elizabeth Kottler, known as 'Lulu', developed a romantic passion for Egypt and took a degree in Egyptology According to one insider the idea of creating a blind trust, an arrangement wherein a public figure's investments are handled by others whose identity is not disclosed to him or her to avoid a conflict of interest, was also discussed as a funding option. This is said to have been ruled out on the grounds that the identity of the Tory donors would almost certainly be known to the Prime Minister. Miss Symonds is involved in another charity controversy. She recently announced she was joining the staff of the Aspinall Foundation, whose financial governance is now being probed by the Charity Commission. Founded by the late John Aspinall, a friend of Lord Lucan, the foundation helps gorillas in the Congo and runs other conservation projects. The commission has launched a probe into concerns about 'financial management and wider governance'. She built up her Soane Britain interior design studio by scouring the country for the best artisan blacksmiths, cabinet makers, upholsterers and stone carvers The non-profit foundation allows its founder's son, gambling tycoon Damian Aspinall, to live in a 30-room manor for a fraction of normal market rates. He is charged just 2,500 a month for Howletts mansion, a Grade II-listed Palladian pile it owns in rural Kent. The charity is also shelling out large sums of money to Mr Aspinall's wife Victoria. Miss Symonds has suggested the Charity Commission's inquiry is all perfectly normal. She said: 'The commission made a number of ongoing routine inquiries at the end of last year as part of its regular checks.' However, commission sources told the Daily Mail: 'A routine check of their accounts in November raised a number of red flags, and these concerns are now being looked at.' The creeping cost of Downing Street redecorations led by Tony Blair and David Cameron By Sam Greenhill, chief reporter for the Daily Mail Expectations have clearly risen since Margaret Thatcher slapped down a proposed refurbishment of the No 11 flat in 1979, saying the public would not be impressed. She dashed the hopes of her chancellor Geoffrey Howe, who had complained the 1960s-style kitchen was 'positively antediluvian, with iron gas rings, antique sinks and sombre decor', records show. So the flat remained a product of the 1960s until Tony and Cherie Blair took up residence in 1997. Cosy: Michelle Obama and Samantha Cameron in the No 11 flat in 2011 after recent refurbishments 'I won't sleep in Ken Clarke's bed,' Mr Blair declared of the Conservative chancellor, the most recent tenant, when he became PM and opted for the four-bedroom No 11 flat instead of the smaller one at No 10. In the Blair years, the flat above No 11, frequently littered with toys belonging to baby Leo, born in May 2000, had 127,000 spent on refurbishments between 1999 and 2005, according to official records. In came 70-a-roll wallpapers, new artwork and a set of custom-made glass-fronted bookcases for Mrs Blair's office. Tatler has written a major feature on Ms Symonds When Gordon Brown moved in with his wife and two sons, in 2007, he appears to have been perfectly content with it there are no records that he spent a penny on upgrades. But in 2010, David and Samantha Cameron went to town on the place, which clearly fell well short of their Notting Hill standards. Out went a mirrored exercise room where lifestyle guru Carole Caplin had put the Blairs through their paces. Old carpets were ripped out too, and expensive black granite worktops installed in a new kitchen. As part of a 64,000 makeover, extensive work was carried out in a bathroom, with everything apart from a towel rail stripped out and a new floor and ceiling installed. Some of the costs were met from the flat's annual 30,000 maintenance grant, and the rest by the Camerons. The couple went for an ultra-modern, minimalist design of brushed steel and floating shelves in the second kitchen, leaving the original 1960s-style kitchen in its original state. A 3,400 Britannia range cooker complete with dirty oven gloves was the centrepiece. Theresa May is not reported to have changed anything during her time in Downing Street. ... And the White House fund Boris envies If the new Downing Street charity follows the lead set by America, then Carrie Symonds could play a major role. Incoming presidents and their families are allowed to spend $100,000 (72,000) on redecorating the White House. By tradition, the First Lady takes an active part in the White House Endowment Trust which maintains the fabric of the building. Funded by private donors, it has reported assets of around $50million (36million). Rosalynn Carter, wife of Jimmy Carter, is credited with a major shake-up of the White House Endowment Trust in 1978, including raising large sums of cash. George Bush's spouse Barbara handed oversight of the trust to the White House Historical Association. And Hillary Clinton, wife of Bill, increased the trust's wealth to more than $35million (25million). A White House Furnishings Committee established by John F Kennedy's wife Jacqueline was replaced in 1964 by the Committee for the Preservation of the White House, which includes top interior designers who advise on makeovers of the Oval Office study. Cyclone Yaas to make landfall near Odishas Balasore around Wednesday noon; Flight services may be hit RRB Exam 2021: Odisha exempts 7-day home quarantine norms for candidates from high-risk states India oi-Deepika S Bhubaneswar, Mar 02: In a major relief for candidates appearing in the Railway Recruitment Board (RRB) examinations, the Odisha government on Tuesday announced relaxation of the mandatory 7-day home quarantine norms for people coming from five high-risk states, officials said. Additional Chief Secretary, Health and Family Welfare, P K Mohapatra in a letter to all district collectors and municipal commissioners said: "A person establishing his/her identity with a copy of the RRB examination admit card will be exempted from the home quarantine requirement, but strict COVID appropriate behaviour should be adhered to by all candidates appearing in the examination." The state government''s decision to relax the norms came after the Chairman of Railway Recruitment Board, Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh informed that around 10,500 candidates are scheduled to appear for examinations at Bhubaneswar from March 3 to March 31. The admit cards for the candidates have been issued much earlier, the RRB said. CHSE Odisha Plus 2 2021 exam date announced Mohapatra said that keeping in view the RRB''s concern, the state government has decided that the home quarantine norms will not be applicable for the candidates coming from high risk states. Earlier, keeping in view the upsurge of COVID-19 cases in some states, Odisha government had issued directions to district authorities to ensure that people arriving from the five high-risk states - Maharashtra, Kerala, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh - complete the seven-day home isolation upon their arrival. The asymptomatic passengers with RT-PCR negative report or a Covid vaccination final certificate were exempted from the home isolation. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Tuesday, March 2, 2021, 23:51 [IST] The Telegraph SIR Charles Moore makes reference to an article he wrote a year ago under the heading Was Covid-19 created in the lab?. In it he described work by two scientists, Angus Dalgleish and Birger Sorensen, who concluded that it was what is called a chimera it was built by human beings to see how infectious it could be to human beings. Lord Moore wrote that this does not mean that the purpose was to make people ill. He presumed it was to learn more about vaccines against viruses. A more disturbing interpretation might be that the research had a military purpose. Sir Richard Dearlove (a former head of MI6) was interested in the work of Dalgleish and Sorensen. As a teenager in the Fifties, I was invited to the microbiological research establishment at Porton Down by my uncle, its director. It was the height of the Cold War and he told me: Dont worry about nuclear war biological warfare is far more dangerous. Bill Filmer Lindfield, West Sussex SIR The Wuhan lab theory would make a plausible James Bond plot (which would be a first), but I find the species-leap theory more frightening. Michael Heaton Warminster, Wiltshire SIR With the genesis of Covid-19 still unclear, the accidental escape from laboratory theory may finally gain legs. Beijing still has much to explain with regard to the dreadful pandemic it appears to have inflicted on the world. It demonised whistleblowers when the virus emerged, then appears to have lied once person-to-person transmission was deemed likely and the epidemic gained pace. The World Health Organisation appeared to be both tardy and shy in conducting the necessary engagement. Members of its investigation team are said to have spent a mere three hours in the Wuhan laboratory. China is less than generous in welcoming outside scrutiny. That perhaps was to be expected. More disturbing is the stance taken by Facebook and others, which dismissed this theory far too readily at the outset. The time to seek the truth with all due rigour has now surely arrived. All evidence, no matter how unpalatable, must be objectively explored, to help prevent or mitigate the next time. The developing world in particular will struggle to cope with the lasting effects of this catastrophic event. While realpolitik may allow China to be an emerging superpower, it can still be held accountable for any lapses identified. Colonel Rob Davie (retd) Salisbury, Wiltshire SIR The lab theory was dismissed from the moment Donald Trump endorsed it. As with Brexit, the supposed intelligentsia could not countenance the possibility that Mr Trump, like Nigel Farage, might be right about something. Closed minds have costly consequences. Keith Phair Felixstowe, Suffolk The Johnson wedding SIR Boris Johnsons surprise confirmation of his status as a Catholic has raised many eyebrows, particularly in relation to his reputation with the ladies. However, I think Rome will provide a good home for him. Oscar Wilde, when questioned about his own late conversion to Catholicism, said that he was attracted to the faith because in this Church, Every saint has a past, and every sinner has a future. Anna Mackey Dublin, Ireland SIR When a Prime Minister is married for a third time, is it called a wedding or a reshuffle? Neville Stangroom Dereham, Norfolk SIR No, that was a fake wedding. The real one took place three days earlier, conducted in the garden of No 10 by the Archbishop of Canterbury with Dilyn as sole witness. Peter Thompson Sutton, Surrey SIR Typical! The Prime Minister gets married and Matt is away. Keith Macpherson Clevedon, Somerset SIR Bethan Holts report describes Carrie Johnson renting her dress as a very modern move, but I hired my wedding dress back in 1966. I chose a first hiring, even though it was more expensive, rather than a second, as I wanted to be the first to wear the dress. I couldnt afford a new dress, so was being practical. After all, my husband hired his morning coat. This year my husband and I celebrate 55 years of marriage. Lynda Burke Knowle, Warwickshire Beep, beep SIR Traffic reduction schemes, now known as low traffic neighbourhoods, are not that new. Portsmouth had a 20mph speed limit the whole way through. After an emergency trip I was directed home through Portsmouth. Seeing the first 20mph sign I stayed in second gear. Seeing more signs, I proceeded through the whole city in second gear, average speed 5mph. This meant every traffic light was green by the time I arrived at it. Very smooth. The traffic mayhem behind me was the citys problem not mine. Car engines do not like second gear. The pollution my car emitted must have been awful for residents. Maybe elected councillors are not familiar with car engineering. Sue Doughty Twyford, Berkshire Offended by the Duke SIR I have just read the report about Kings College. The idea of those staff members being offended by the Duke of Edinburghs photo is almost too much to bear. Can you imagine what traumatic lives these poor people must lead every day striving mightily from dawn to dusk, seeking out all offensive matter? The very idea horrifies me and has left me decidedly depressed. I am seeking an immediate appointment with Harrys therapist. Robert Chatterton Caythorpe, Lincolnshire SIR Cambridge has been worrying about micro-aggression. Should university lecturers or students found guilty of micro-aggressions receive micro-punishments? For example, someone found guilty of not giving eye contact could be stared at for five minutes. Brian Armstrong North Shields, Northumberland Abolished by the BBC SIR In his article Reform of the BBC must start at the very top, William Lewis suggests that a journalist editor-in-chief should be answerable to an independent editorial board. From 1990 to 1996 I was a member of such a board, the General Advisory Council (about 40 of us). We were supposedly a sounding-board for BBC policy. What usually happened was that the top managers told us how well they were doing, leaving precious little time for our questions. Under Sir Terry Heisers chairmanship we eventually insisted on setting the agenda ourselves. One result was that in 1993 we successfully challenged the director-general John Birts remuneration arrangements. It wasnt long before the BBC declared its Advisory Council redundant and abolished us. If an independent editorial board ever comes into being it will need a really strong mandate. The Earl of Northesk Elsworth, Cambridgeshire Tick-box banking SIR NatWest informed me that I could not have an appointment in a branch to open a new account because of Covid fears (Letters, May 31). Despite my husband and I having banked with them for over 40 years and currently holding, between us, eight different accounts with them, we had to spend nearly an hour on the phone trying to open a joint account. Having established who we were, was it then necessary for us to be treated as if we were new naive customers who had never had an account? We had to resupply information possessed by the bank about us, and were subjected to sales pitches for accounts we already hold. The hapless individual at the end of the phone was only interested in completing his script rather than applying a modicum of common sense. A face-to-face meeting might have avoided all of this. Dilys Taylor Birmingham Rude rhymes SIR That jingle from Aristophanes Frogs pinein kai binein, (Christopher Howse, The rudest word in Greek is no laughing matter, Comment, May 29), could be rendered in English as supping and tupping, or possibly boozing and floozing. Richard George St Albans, Hertfordshire A Saturday Derby lacks that holiday feeling Modi sarkars relentless persistence got Pakistan to admit Dawood is in Karachi Fake: Indian National Flag was not waved at rally in Karachi One day, Karachi will be part of India: Devendra Fadnavis Sharjah-Lucknow IndiGo flight lands in Karachi after medical emergency, passenger dead on arrival India oi-Madhuri Adnal Karachi/New Delhi, Mar 02: An Indigo flight from Sharjah to Lucknow made an emergency landing at the Karachi airport in Pakistan on Tuesday morning after a passenger on board fell sick and later died. An official of the Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority said the landing permission was granted to the Captain of the Lucknow-bound IndiGo flight 6E1412 after an elderly passenger - identified as 67-year-old Habib ur Rehman - fell seriously ill. "The passenger unfortunately expired on the plane even though the Indian aircraft was given permission to land at the Karachi airport," the official said. In a statement, IndiGo said the passenger who had the medical emergency could not be revived and was declared dead on arrival by the airport medical team. "We are deeply saddened with the news and our prayers and wishes are with his family," it added. The airline said the flight coming from Sharjah to Lucknow was diverted to Karachi. Our servers were hacked, internal documents may get uploaded on public websites: IndiGo The Pakistani official said that the request for an emergency landing was received as soon as the aircraft entered Pakistani airspace via Iran at 4 in the morning. "The Captain contacted the air control tower and requested the aircraft be allowed to make an emergency landing on humanitarian grounds," he said. The permission was granted and the aircraft landed around 5 am, he said. The official said that by the time the medical team boarded the flight to treat the passenger, he had died. "The flight was allowed to take off around 8.36 am for Ahmedabad after completion of all formalities," the official added. Farmers' Protest: Delhi's Ghazipur border partially opens for vehicular traffic| Oneindia News Pakistan reopened its airspace to international civil aviation in July, 2019 after months of restrictions imposed because of tensions with India, which forced long detours that cost airlines millions of dollars. Local red state reality check and a glimpse at real life in rural Missouri amid partisan debate for political power that never really benefits people on the low end. Read more . . . Fox4: Authorities consider deaths of father, two boys found in Benton County an apparent murder-suicide TEXTLine Darrell Peak suffered from depression and has made suicidal statements in the past, according to the Missouri State Highway Patrol. Family members told authorities Peaks behavior was out of character. Family members worked around the clock to try and find the three. A few of Peaks other children quickly began a search in the Springfield area. Darrell Peak and his two sons Mayson Peak, 3, and Kaiden Peak, 4, disappeared Thursday night. Investigators found their bodies in an area off of U.S. 65 near Warsaw Monday evening. Greene County investigators say the search for a father and his two children became more concerning as time passed. Investigators presumed Peak had no plan to return to the Springfield area. Detectives made several attempts to have an Amber Alert issued, but this case did not meet the criteria . . . A Missouri State Highway Patrol Trooper stopped to assist Peak on State Highway 65, also north of Warsaw, around 5:30 p.m. According to the trooper, the children were with Peak at the time and appeared to be fine, but their father also declined any assistance. More links . . . KY3: Benton County, Mo. Sheriffs Office rules deaths of father, sons as a murder-suicide Sedalia Democrat: Missing father, children found dead in Benton County Developing . . . Head of the National Agency for the Prevention of Corruption (NAPC) Oleksandr Novikov has sent to Holosiyivsky District Court of the city of Kyiv two protocols on the administrative offense of Oleksandr Tupytsky, who was dismissed from the post of Chairman of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine, the NAPC said on its Facebook page on Tuesday. The head of the NAPC drew up the corresponding protocols on February 8. They relate to signs of a conflict of interest when deciding on the unconstitutionality of the e-declaration and deliberate failure to indicate a plot in Crimea in the declaration, responsibility for which is provided in Part 4 of Article 172-6 (violation of financial control requirements) and Part 2 of Article 172-7 (violation of the requirements for the prevention and settlement of conflicts of interest) of the Code of Ukraine on Administrative Offenses. "We ask Kyiv's Holosiyivsky District Court to inform about the time and date of the court hearings at which the case of an administrative violation under the mentioned protocol will be considered, with the aim of personally providing me, as the person who made the protocol, with explanations," Novikov wrote in an accompanying letter to the court. As reported, Novikov drew up two protocols against Tupytsky in connection with a conflict of interest due to an undeclared plot in Crimea after the Verkhovna Rada restored the above-mentioned right of the NAPC. "As early as October 1, 2020 - almost a month before the adoption of the well-known decision of the Constitutional Court - NAPC sent a request to Oleksandr Tupytsky with a request to explain why he did not indicate in the declaration his plot in Crimea, which he received under the laws of the occupying state. For such a violation, the NAPC should have handed the administrative protocol to the judge. On October 27, the judge voted in favor of the decision, which, in particular, recognized the NAPC's right to draw up administrative protocols as unconstitutional," Novikov said. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 2) Seeing some of the country's top physicians get inoculated helped convince healthcare workers get the vaccine themselves, the Department of Health said on Monday. Health Spokesperson Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire noted that more people got vaccinated yesterday than they initially expected. "Sa tingin namin, 'yun pong punto na 'yung ating mga pangunahing mga physicians sa mga kani-kanilang mga ospital ay nagpabakuna ng nauna katulad nila Dr. Gap Legaspi, yung atin pong eksperto na si Dr. Edsel Salvana, si Dr. Famaran po ng Tala Hospital sa tingin po ay nakapagbigay din ng kumpiyansa sa ating mga healthcare workers na talaga namang tatanggapin ng ating mga healthcare workers ito dahil kailangan bigyan ng kumpiyansa itong bakuna," she said. [Translation: We believe when the top physicians of hospitals were vaccinated like Dr. Gap Legaspi, our expert Dr. Edsel Salvana, Dr. (Fritz) Famaran of Tala Hospital, we think this gave confidence to healthcare workers to accept it because it boosted confidence in the vaccines.] READ: State hospital PGH's director first to receive COVID-19 vaccine in PH On Monday, Health Secretary Francisco Duque III administered the vaccine himself to Dr. Eileen Aniceto, Lung Center's Emergency Medicine Department head, and V. Luna Medical Center chief Col. Fatima Navarro. The DOH reported that on day one ot the government's vaccination program, 756 people received the Sinovac vaccine. Thirteen of those inoculated experienced common, minor side effects, Vergeire said. Earlier, some personnel of the Philippine General Hospital said they did not want to receive Sinovac's CoronaVac, with only 12% expressing willingness to be inoculated. The PGH has around 2,000 employees, healthcare workers, and support staff. The Food and Drug Administration granted Emergency Use Authorization to CoronaVac, but warned this may not be the best vaccine for health workers exposed to COVID-19 patients, given its 50.4% efficacy rate. Meanwhile, in his address on Monday, President Rodrigo Duterte said the government had no objection should people reject Sinovac. "We respect your decision on the matter," he said. Six hundred thousand doses of CoronaVac arrived in the country on Sunday, February 28, the first batch of COVID-19 vaccines to be used in the government's inoculation program. A day after the delivery of the Sinovac vaccines donated by China, the government rolled out its vaccination program in six hospitals in Metro Manila, considered as the COVID-19 epicenter since the pandemic struck. She won her first Golden Globe on Sunday night for her performance in the hit Netflix movie The Queen's Gambit. And Anya Taylor-Joy was naturally in an upbeat mood as she stepped out on Monday in Los Angeles. The 24-year-old smiled and laughed as she headed out to run some errands. Happy: Anya Taylor-Joy was naturally in an upbeat mood as she stepped out on Monday in Los Angeles after winning a Golden Globe for her performance in Netflix's The Queen's Gambit Anya was dressed casually in a loose-fitting black sweater and black patterned sweatpants. She wore fluffy slides and had a large canvas tote over one shoulder. Her long blonde hair was styled in a bun at the nape of her neck and held back from her face with a black headband. She carried a canned beverage and a face mask in one hand as she walked. Errands: Anya, 24, was dressed casually in a loose-fitting black sweater and black patterned sweatpants. She wore fluffy slides and had a large canvas tote over one shoulder Her casual ensemble was in stark contrast to her incredibly stylish appearance at the annual Golden Globes. The American-born, Argentine-British actress started off in a sparkling emerald green Dior dress with a dramatic neckline before slipping into a classic ivory design to accept her Best Actress In A Limited Series honor for the chess drama. She was also practically dripping in diamonds, clad in nearly $2 million of Tiffany & Co. jewels, according to Elle. Wow factor: On Sunday, she had looked stunning in a low-cut green Dior gown with spaghetti straps, a full skirt and enormous sleeves Elegance: Later in the evening, Anya changed into a classic strapless ivory satin dress and wore $2 million of diamonds Nailed it! Like a perfect game, Anya had every detail of her outfit planned, down to her chess-inspired manicure by nail artist Kim Truong Taylor-Joy was thrilled to win her category in which she competed with Cate Blanchett (Mrs America), Daisy Edgar-Jones (Normal People), Shira Haas (Unorthodox) and Nicole Kidman (The Undoing.) In her acceptance speech, she thanked streaming giant Netflix for 'letting us make the show we wanted to make.' 'It's obviously wonderful that everyone's seen the show. I would do this project again and again and again; I learned so much,' the actress said. 'Thank you to the audiences that have watched it and supported the characters. It meant the world.' Gratitude: In her acceptance speech, Anya thanked streaming giant Netflix for 'letting us make the show we wanted to make' This year's ceremony, which usually takes place in early January, was pushed back to February 28 as Hollywood continues to adjust to the coronavirus pandemic and new safety guidelines. Amy Poehler and Tina Fey returned to host for the fourth time and for the first time, the telecast featured simultaneous ceremonies in Los Angeles and New York. Fey, 50, broadcast from the Rainbow Room at New York City's Rockefeller Center while Poehler, 49, was at the show's usual venue at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly hills. While presenters were required to show up in person, nominees tuned in via Zoom to learn if they were going to get a trophy. However, ratings for the Golden Globes, released Monday, showed viewership had plummeted, falling 60 percent from the 2020 telecast. Early numbers indicated that just 5.4 million people tuned in for the awards show on NBC, compared with 18.3 million last year. Education: $31.8 billion Health and Human Services: $31.5 billion Transportation: $14 billion Justice and Public Safety: $10.8 billion Finance and Administration: $10.5 billion Utilities: $9.8 billion Environment and Housing: $8.4 billion Tech executives from around the country met online last week during the annual Beyond the Beltway event to get a market forecast from industry experts about the IT spending challenges and opportunities facing state and local governments in 2021.One of the challenges at the forefront of the discussion was the impact of COVID-19 and how the pandemic contributed to state and local budget shortfalls last year. Despite these challenges, data shared during the event by the Center for Digital Government * suggests that an increase in IT spending is likely to occur over the course of the next few months.The most likely scenario is a 7 percent growth in IT spending, topping out at $118.7 billion, Joe Morris, e.Republics vice president of research said.Based on these figures, Morris broke down specific IT spending projections for different verticals within the state and local government market.The worst of the financial impacts have been felt by economies heavily supported by tourism, hospitality and low-income earners, Morris said. If your revenue is primarily coming through sales tax, hospitality or tourism, you could be looking toward a much longer road to recovery.However, funding for education and public health has grown exponentially due to federal relief funds.Since March 2020, states and localities have received over $360 billion in federal funds via several relief packages, including the CARES Act and the Families First Coronavirus Response Act Other federal relief packages, such as the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan that is currently being reviewed by the Senate, could provide another $350 million in federal funding to state and local governments.But what does all of this mean for government IT?For state government CIOs, the pandemic has put a spotlight on IT priorities like cybersecurity, budget and cost control, citizen experience, cloud computing and infrastructure modernization, governance, broadband connectivity and process automation, according to Morris.Whereas county CIOs have shifted their IT priorities to include the hiring and retaining of IT personnel, business intelligence and analytics, disaster recovery and continuity of operations, e-services, and so on.As for what to expect moving forward, Morris said, We expect the worst of the economic climate to hit local government over the next two years, probably over the next 18 to 36 months.The silver lining, he said, is that it gives local government officials a little bit more time to plan and prepare, whereas state governments are bouncing back a little bit quicker. Cathleen King is interviewed by the City Council on Monday night. She was unanimously offered the post of city clerk. North Adams Council Picks Former E3 Academy Teacher for City Clerk NORTH ADAMS, Mass. The City Council has selected a former Drury High teacher to be its new city clerk. The unanimous decision to offer the post to Cathleen King was made on Monday night. King was a founder of the high school's alternative education program, the E3 Academy, in 2012. She's spent the last few years in Salem when her husband took a position of Salem State University. "We are just trying to work our way back to getting to the North Adams area, we have a home in Clarksburg. And I was interested in the position because I have had a great interest in North Adams ever since I came to the area," she said. "The people there have always been exceptionally friendly. I've always participated in the social events and things. I just think there's a wonderful vibe there." King was one of 50 applicants for the post. The search committee initially spoke with eight candidates, three withdrew, and the field was narrowed down to King and Angela Brothers of Stamford, Vt., both of whom were publicly interviewed on Monday night. The council commended the experiences of both candidates but felt that King had the skill set and demeanor to take on the difficult role overseeing the city's elections and vital records, and assisting the City Council. King will replace Deborah Pedercini, who has taken a position as executive director of the Lee Housing Authority. Several questions to King related to how her educational skills would translate to the clerk's office. She has been an educator in the humanities for 25 years, and holds a master's degree from Empire State College in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. She worked in New York State schools until joining the North Adams Public Schools in 2012. She is currently assistant to the head of school at Epstein Hillel School in Salem. City Council President Paul Hopkins said only a few of the dozens of applicants had any experience as a municipal clerk. "I've mentioned a few times I have a learning curve for this job," King said. "I've not worked as a city clerk, I've not had that kind of experience but I have worked in the office-style environment. I worked in business before I was a teacher so I was a teacher convert. I'm very organized and very solid at time management, and detail oriented." King said she's responsible for a lot of organization in her current position and isn't afraid to take on new technology, noting she built a website for her side jewelry business. "I find that intimidating as technology seems to be, sometimes I do pretty well with it once I get in there," she said. The city clerk's job is a public service, King said, and the public should expect her to get them the information they need. If she doesn't know, she said she'd find it and get back to them. "I'm really comfortable working with all different types of people I've had easygoing people, tough people, angry people, very happy people, all different types, come through the door for all different reasons to talk about parent-teacher conferences and you get different reactions there when you're talking about academic progress," King said, adding, "I have no problem being a neutral party politically. ... As for strong personalities, I deal with those on the daily, where I am now." She said she's had to reinvent herself a few times over her career depending on the opportunities available and that she was looking for a place where she could fit in and contribute. "That's why I said when I saw the opportunity opened up in North Adams, that North Adams was a place that just has really excited me since I got there and to be a bigger part of it was pretty interesting," King said. The councilors (Councilors Jason LaForest and Jessica Sweeney were absent) did not spend much time in debating the candidates, both of whom had been interviewed previously by some councilors as part of the screening committee. Brothers' experience working in the municipal offices in Stamford were cited as a clear positive, along with her positive and friendly attitude, but King's background in office management and education won out, along with her cool tone and concise answers. "What you see is what you get," she said. The James Branch Cabell Library on the campus of Virginia Commonwealth University, in Richmond, in 2016. Associated Press/Steve Helber The Delta Chi fraternity at Virginia Commonwealth University was suspended after a student death. Adam Oakes, 19, was found dead at an off-campus house on Saturday, NBC affiliate WWBT reported. Oakes' family said they believed their son died after a hazing ritual involving alcohol, WRIC reported. Visit Insider's homepage for more stories. A fraternity at a Virginia university has been suspended after a report said a student died in an off-campus house. His family told local news outlets they believed he was part of a hazing ritual involving alcohol and a blindfold. The New York Times reported that police found Adam Oakes, 19, dead in the house at 9:16 a.m. on Saturday. WWBT reported that Courtney White, Oakes' cousin, said he was found about 12 hours after he had texted his father "I'm going in. Love you." White told the local NBC affiliate that the text was the last his family had heard from him. White told WWBT that Oakes had been offered a bid to join the Delta Chi fraternity, and the Friday-night party was the beginning of his initiation. White also told WWBT that two fellow pledges later told Oakes' family that he had been forced to drink a bottle of whiskey, was blindfolded, and then ran into a tree. "They told us he passed out on the couch, on his side by about 11," White told WWBT. "They checked on him at 12, he was breathing and he was on his side. By the next morning, when they checked on him at 9, he was face down and dead." Virginia Commonwealth University said in a statement that both campus police and the Richmond Police Department were investigating Oakes' death. The statement said the school sent the fraternity a cease-and-desist order, and Delta Chi's national headquarters announced it had suspended the VCU chapter after learning of Oakes' death. Campus police referred Insider to the city police department for comment, and the Richmond Police Department did not immediately respond to Insider's request. Story continues The medical examiner's office told Insider that Oakes' cause of death was pending. While remote learning during the pandemic has quieted reports of hazing gone wrong, the issue has plagued American fraternities over the years. In another statement to the ABC affiliate WRIC, White called for an investigation into hazing at VCU fraternities. "Hazing played a major role in his death," she told WRIC. "The influx of student deaths due to overconsumption of alcohol, drugs, or hazing just to 'fit in' or find their place in a new world and environment is astounding and change is needed at VCU and across the United States." This post has been updated. Read the original article on Insider Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-02 19:51:32|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi attends a virtual ceremony with Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi to formally commence the celebrations of the 70th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two countries in Beijing, China, March 2, 2021. (Xinhua/Rao Aimin) ISLAMABAD, March 2 (Xinhua) -- No matter how the regional and international landscapes may evolve, and what challenges and risks may arise, China will continue to work with Pakistan to cement their ironclad friendship, Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi said in a signed article published on a Pakistani newspaper Tuesday. This year marks the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Pakistan. Wang said that in a world of drastic changes unseen in a century, deepening China-Pakistan strategic cooperation is the natural option, and China will continue to work with Pakistan to build an even closer community with a shared future in the new era, according to the article titled "An Ironclad Friendship Growing Stronger in the New Era." In the article published on The Express Tribune, Wang said that "the two countries have stood together, rain or shine, and built an exceptional, ironclad friendship" in the seven decades since the diplomatic relations were established in 1951, which has become a strategic asset, most dearly cherished by both sides. Wang noted that the China-Pakistan friendship has a time-honored history, enjoys a solid foundation and has deep roots among the two peoples. "In times of hardship, one always extends a helping hand to the other as early as possible. Such mutual support and assistance have no strings attached, and are pure acts of goodwill and friendship," he said. Wang said the high-level exchanges between the two countries are frequent while the practical cooperation is fruitful. Under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, "70 early-harvest projects have been identified, among which 46 have been launched or completed. A total of $25.4 billion has been invested, creating 70,000 jobs for Pakistan," he said. Wang said the people-to-people exchanges between the two countries are booming, the cooperation on multilateral occasions is close and the friendship has withstood the test of the sudden onslaught of COVID-19, and has emerged even stronger. "During this year, China and Pakistan will inaugurate grand and warm celebrations to honor the 70th anniversary of diplomatic relations, including high-level visits, business exchanges and cultural activities," Wang added. On Tuesday, a virtual ceremony was simultaneously held in China and Pakistan to formally commence the celebrations of the 70th anniversary of diplomatic relations. "Both countries will be organizing a series of events throughout the year to commemorate this historic milestone in a befitting manner," the Foreign Ministry of Pakistan said on Monday. Enditem The chief of the CoWin portal, which is used for the COVID-19 vaccine administration by the Central government, RS Sharma, and Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan are scheduled to meet representatives from states today over the issue of glitches, said Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan on Tuesday. While addressing a press conference after getting his first shot of COVID-19 vaccine, the Health Minister said, "Yesterday there were some glitches at the CoWin portal because a huge number of people was trying to register at the same time but within hours we were able to resolve the issue." As of 9:30 am today there have been 39 lakh registrations for COVID-19 on Co-Win 2.0 portal, the Minister added. The Health Minister said that he and his wife have been administered Covaxin. "This vaccine will work as 'Sanjeevani'. Hanuman Ji crossed India to get it, but this 'Sanjeevani' is available at your nearby private and government facility," he added. The Minister said that he had paid 250 rupees for the vaccine and added that those who can afford should pay for these vaccines. Vardhan on Monday had also pointed out that in the next few days the "walk-in system" for COVID-19 vaccination will be further streamlined in states to ensure smooth functioning. Those who have successfully taken the first dose after registration will get their next appointment automatically scheduled on the 29th day. (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.) JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) Southeast Asian foreign ministers urged a halt to violence and the start of talks on a peaceful solution in Myanmar, where the military seized power from an elected government and is escalating its use of mass arrests and deadly force against peaceful protesters. Myanmar's top diplomat briefed other foreign ministers from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations during a video conference Tuesday, according to the meeting's agenda. It was the first meeting of foreign ministers of the 10-member ASEAN since the Feb. 1 coup, when Myanmar's military detained Aung San Suu Kyi and other leaders. Brunei, which heads ASEAN this year, had proposed that a joint statement be issued after the meeting. But the ministers apparently failed to agree on a declaration, and Brunei issued its own chairman's statement. We expressed our concern on the situation in Myanmar and called on all parties to refrain from instigating further violence, and for all sides to exercise utmost restraint as well as flexibility. We also called on all parties concerned to seek a peaceful solution, through constructive dialogue," the statement said. It also said the ministers heard calls for the release of political prisoners and for the U.N. special envoy on Myanmar to play a mediating role, without identifying who made those proposals. Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi led efforts to lobby for the ASEAN meeting. She has visited other member countries in recent weeks, including Thailand, where she held three-way talks with Thai counterpart Don Pramudwinai and Myanmars new foreign minister, retired army colonel Wunna Maung Lwin, who also traveled to Thailand. This situation is worrisome, Marsudi said after Tuesday's meeting, It is worrisome because an increasing number of civilians have lost their lives and are injured, its worrisome because there are still arrests of civilians, its worrisome because this situation could threaten the transition of the democratic process. Story continues She called for a restoration of democracy and a return to normalcy. This ASEAN meeting was to discuss and find a solution. However, it takes two to tango. The will and goodwill of ASEAN to help will not be implemented if Myanmar does not open its doors to ASEAN, she said. Singapore and Malaysia have also urged Myanmars military junta to halt the use of violence. Singapore Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan told Parliament on Monday that his country was appalled by Myanmars use of lethal force against unarmed civilians, calling it inexcusable. He said prolonged instability in Myanmar would lead to serious consequences for it and the region. He urged the release of Suu Kyi and other political detainees, saying it was the only way to jumpstart negotiations and return to the path of democratic transition. Although ASEAN has long operated on a principle of non-interference in each others domestic affairs and its decisions are made by consensus, Balakrishnan said the group can play a key role in facilitating Myanmars return to normalcy. Malaysian Foreign Minister Hishammuddin Hussein also urged ASEAN to play a more proactive role and said Malaysia viewed the military takeover as a setback to Myanmars democratic transition in the past decade. He urged the military to uphold the rule of law and respect the peoples right to peaceful assembly and freedom of expression. It is crucial that ASEAN leads a sincere discussion and constructively engage with Myanmar and all stakeholders to show that ASEAN is effective as a cohesive regional grouping, he said ahead of Tuesday's meeting. The Philippine delegation said, "Our call is for the complete return to the previously existing state of affairs, adding that the first step should be the immediate release of Suu Kyi, followed by a dialogue. ASEAN groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. ___ Associated Press journalists Eileen Ng in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and Jim Gomez in Manila, Philippines, contributed to this report. By Tom Polansek CHICAGO (Reuters) - COVID-19 vaccines are making their way into the arms of U.S. meat and agriculture workers, but companies and union officials say progress needs to be faster after coronavirus outbreaks idled slaughterhouses and sickened thousands of workers. Vaccinating food workers could help prevent further production disruptions that sent meat prices soaring in spring 2020 and forced retailers like Kroger Co to restrict customers' purchases of ground beef and other products. Nationwide, 22,000 meatpacking workers have been infected or exposed to the virus, and 132 have died, according to the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) International union. A U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) committee in December recommended frontline food and agriculture workers receive access to vaccines ahead of people aged 65 to 74 and younger Americans with high-risk medical conditions. But many states prioritized older residents, who account for the majority of U.S. COVID-19 fatalities, and other essential workers like teachers. Companies are constrained by limited supplies and regulations in individual states and cannot purchase vaccines directly from drugmakers. "Priorities have shifted in the past two months in a range of states, and that has lowered the priority status of our critical and essential employees," said Keira Lombardo, chief administrative officer for Virginia-based Smithfield Foods, the world's biggest pork processor. South Dakota, where WH Group's Smithfield runs a massive pork plant in Sioux Falls, may not begin vaccinating food and agriculture workers until April, according to state plans. It will first give shots to teachers, funeral home workers and people under 65 with underlying health conditions. More than a third of Smithfield's 3,700 employees in Sioux Falls had tested positive for the virus by mid-June 2020, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. BJ Motley, president of the local UFCW union, said workers are asking when they can be vaccinated, but the company has not provided information about scheduling shots. Story continues "All we can do is keep pushing," he said. Smithfield said it told employees the vaccine will be distributed at the Sioux Falls plant once supplies are available. Kim Malsam-Rysdon, South Dakota's health secretary, said the state's vaccine plan was developed in accordance with CDC guidelines. Vaccine allocation from the federal government is the biggest challenge facing states, she said. 'POTLUCK AT THE STATE LEVEL' The U.S. Department of Agriculture told Reuters it is "again contacting governors in each state to encourage they prioritize food workers for vaccinations, as public health agencies have recommended." The United States has been shipping millions of doses of vaccines to states each week, but demand so far has outpaced supplies. By the end of March, vaccine producers plan to ship tens of millions more shots. The supply will be further helped by Saturday's U.S authorization of Johnson & Johnson's one-shot vaccine. Tyson Foods, the nation's largest meatpacker by sales, said on Monday that many of its 13,000 Iowa employees would start getting the vaccine this week. About 2,000 Tyson employees out of 100,000 hourly workers received vaccines as of Feb. 25. Rival meat processor JBS USA plans to shut a beef plant in Greeley, Colorado, on March 5 and 6 for vaccinations, after almost 400 worker infections there. The local UFCW union that represents plant employees said the union secured on-site access to shots by working with the state and National Guard. JBS and affiliated chicken producer Pilgrims Pride Corp said about 8,500 employees in eight states, including Colorado, will have access to vaccines this week. Cargill Inc will work with healthcare providers to vaccinate employees at a beef plant in Kansas and at offsite locations in Nebraska and Michigan, according to the company. At chicken processor Perdue Farms, about 800 employees out of 21,000 had received one shot by Thursday. Julie Anna Potts, president of the trade group North American Meat Institute, said last week she would like the federal government to be more involved with getting vaccines to meatpacking workers. "Unfortunately it's just been kind of a potluck at the state level," she said. Worker vaccinations are also progressing slowly in the wider food industry, said Mike Gruber, vice president of regulatory affairs at the Consumer Brands Association. The group represents food manufacturers like Kellogg Company and estimates 300 of its 1.7 million essential workers have received a shot. Some state officials are also concerned about fruit and vegetable workers. North Carolina Agriculture Commissioner Steve Troxler said temporary agricultural workers are beginning to arrive from Mexico and other countries under the H-2A visa program without being eligible for shots. They often live in group housing, which can facilitate the spread of the virus, and move from state to state to harvest seasonal crops. "We really wanted to get these workers vaccinated before they were spread out across the state," Troxler said, "but it doesn't look like that's going to happen." (Reporting by Tom Polansek in Chicago; Additional reporting by Tina Bellon in New York; Editing by Caroline Stauffer and Bill Berkrot) Phuket residents up in arms over stolen underwear PHUKET: Tired of womens underwear being stolen from homes in the middle of the night, local residents in Baan Lipon, Thalang, have called in the police in the hope of catching the culprit. By Eakkapop Thongtub Tuesday 2 March 2021, 11:57AM Mr Woralit points to where his 40-year-old wifes underwear was stolen. Photo: Eakkapop Thongtub Officers were called in after a teenage man was recorded on CCTV cruising the neighbourhood and then stopping his motorbike to snatch womens underwear from in front of a house on Sunday night (Feb 28). As the man made his getaway, a neighbour saw him and yelled out at him. Woralit Poonthawa, whose wifes underwear was stolen, told The Phuket News, that he had never had this kind of incident at this home before. Only me, my 40-year-old wife and our baby girl live here, and we are really worried about the incident, he added. Mr Woralit also said that he had already asked police to watch the area for the safety of residents as he said it is a dangerous situation for children and women. Another resident in the village, Songsri Phakdee, who is the wife of the village headman, said that there had been a spate of underwear thefts in the village recently. Recently neighbors have been reporting that many items of their underwear have been stolen. Many residents are worried about the man hovering around here trying to steal underwear, she said. One resident reported seeing someone on his roof, Ms Songsri said. Several roof tiles broke and the man fell to the ground, she added. At this stage, we have reported the incident to the police and they are still searching for the man. They believe he hurt his legs in falling from the roof, she said. Anas Komol, another resident in the village, believes he saw the man still cruising the neighbourhood as recently as early yesterday morning.. At about 2am my brother and I were sitting and talking in front of his house, and I saw a young man, who looked to be about 20 years old, driving a motorcycle and parked it in front of a house nearby, Mr Anas said. Mr Anas said that he thought the man looked familiar and believes he recognised the motorbikes licence plate. I believe that he is a resident in the area, so it should be easy to track him down, he said. As a resident in this area, I am worried about the safety of the local residents. Underwear has been stolen, something else could happen as well, Mr Anas said. Pakistan cement companies show significant profits during 2QFY20 02 March 2021 Pakistans top cement manufacturers recorded significant profitability with improved margins during the last quarter of 2020. The experts believe this trend is likely to continue in reaming quarters of the ongoing financial year. According to an analyst of Spectrum Securities Ltd, the cement sectors profitability continued in 2QFY21 as the bottom line of the 13 companies on the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) posted profits to the tune of PKR11bn (US$69.7m) as compared to PAT of PKR5bn in the preceding quarter. The surge in profits is mainly attributed to the 11 per cent QoQ higher dispatches, the six per cent QoQ improvement in average retention prices and the decline in finance cost by 12 per cent QoQ. Furthermore, after coming online of new capacities, depreciation cost also declined. The 13 companies (out of 16), which represent 99 per cent of the sector's market capitalisation, include DG Khan Cement, Maple Leaf Cement Factory, Fuji Cement Co Ltd, Kohat Cement, Gharibwal Cement Ltd, Decan Cement Ltd, Attock Cement Pakistan Ltd, Bestway Cement Ltd, Cherat Cement Co Ltd, Lucky Cement, Pioneer Cement , Power Cement, and Thatta Cement Co Ltd. In 2QFY21, these companies' gross margins clocked in at 25 per cent versus 19 per cent in 1QFY21 on higher dispatches and better retention prices. While the industry's utilisation stood at 91 per cent during 2QFY21 versus 86 per cent in 1QFY21. Selling and distribution expense remained intact as exports declined by 15 per cent QoQ. During 1HFY21, exports to Afghanistan declined by 13 per cent YoY. The sector's finance cost reduced by 12 per cent QoQ on short-term deleveraging loans, as liquidity improved in the market. Average coal prices (FOB) stood at US$58/t (considered a two-month lag impact) during 2QFY21 compared to US$56/t in the previous quarter. At the same time, US$/PKR parity averaged at PKR161 in 2QFY21 versus PKR167 in 1QFY21. Outlook The cement sector remained in the limelight during FY21TD on the resurgence in construction activities given government schemes and extraordinary tax relief and monetary relief by State Bank of Pakistan, which kept the cement demand intact. The expected strong demand encourages the existing manufacturers to enter into brownfield expansion. The Spectrum Securities Ltd analyst expects local cement demand to remain upbeat in the medium-term given the government and the private sector's infrastructure projects. Furthermore, the easing monetary policy would fuel up economic growth. The cement sector is highly leveraged, and experts expect that the low-interest rates will keep financial cost at a minimal level. In contrast, improved liquidity of the industry will result in lower working capital needs. Published under Digital.com, a leading independent review website for small business online tools, products, and services, has announced the best digital marketing firms in Houston. The top companies were selected based on multiple service lines, size of the firm, and industry focus. Experts at Digital.com examined companies that can deliver core benefits along with supplementary services, such as graphic design or website development. The guide also features large agencies that have the resources to execute robust marketing campaigns as well as smaller firms that offer personalized services. The final list prioritized firms that focus on a variety of industries from local retailers to brick-and-mortar businesses. The guide features some of the most trusted digital marketing agencies in Houston, says Christelle Feniza, Communications Manager of Digital.com. This resource is particularly helpful for small businesses that require a broad range of services and industry expertise. Researchers at Digital.com conducted a 40-hour assessment of over 60 companies across the city. To access the complete list of best digital marketing companies in Houston, please visit https://digital.com/digital-marketing-agencies/houston/. 15 Best Digital Marketing Companies in Houston ABOUT DIGITAL.COM Digital.com reviews and compares the best products, services, and software for running or growing a small business website or online shop. The platform collects twitter comments and uses sentiment analysis to score companies and their products. Digital.com was founded in 2015 and formerly known as Review Squirrel. To learn more, visit https://digital.com/. Hero MotoCorp sold 505,467 units of motorcycles and scooters in February 2021. The company had dispatched 498,242 units of two-wheelers during the corresponding month of the previous year (February 2020). Eicher Motors said its total motorcycle sales rose to 69,659 units in February 2021 from 63,536 units in February 2020. Bharat Petroleum Corporation (BPCL) said that its Board of Directors approved the proposal for sale of entire equity shares i.e. 45,35,45,998 equity shares of Rs 10/-each held by BPCL in Numaligarh Refinery (NRL) (constituting 61 .65% of the total equity capital of NRL), a material subsidiary company of BPCL to a consortium of Oil India and Engineers India, (consortium); and to Govt. of Assam, or only to the said consortium in case Govt. of Assam does not participate in purchase of said shares, in such proportion and on such terms and conditions as approved by the Board. Total consideration would be Rs. 9875.96 crore. UPL announced a long-term strategic collaboration with FMC Corporation, a leading global agricultural sciences company. As per the agreement, UPL will toll manufacture and supply Rynaxypyr to FMC in India, and FMC will supply the active ingredient to UPL depending on the markets. IRCTC said that Railway Ministry has directed the company to terminate all existing contracts of mobile catering (currently kept in abeyance) involving scope of work of providing cooked food to passengers prepared from base kitchens as per the existing terms and conditions. Camlin Fine Sciences said that MPCB has issued restart directions with respect to the company's manufacturing unit at Tarapur, District Palghar, Maharashtra subject to the company fulfilling certain terms and conditions. The manufacturing unit shall now be functional from 2nd March 2021. Powered by Capital Market - Live News (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Security threats, the Covid pandemic, war-ravaged infrastructure: Iraqis are facing major challenges as they plan to host Pope Francis later this week. "We're very happy about this historic visit -- but it does come at a pretty difficult time," confided an official from Iraq's presidency. Benedict XVI, who resigned as pontiff eight years ago, warned in an interview published Monday that Francis' historic visit to Iraq is "a dangerous trip for reasons of security and for the coronavirus". A major concern has been Iraq's second wave of Covid-19, with around 4,000 new cases registered daily in the country of 40 million people. Among those who tested positive just days before the pontiff's arrival was the Vatican's ambassador to Iraq, Mitja Leskovar. The pope, 84, his staff and the dozens of journalists who will travel with him have been vaccinated, but no inoculation drive has yet been launched in Iraq. To stem the spread of the virus, authorities imposed overnight curfews as well as full lockdowns on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, the three days of the pope's visit this week. "The lockdown will be extended to include the entirety of the pope's visit, and security forces will be deployed to secure the streets," said Iraq's deputy foreign minister Nizar Khairallah. Authorities have also barred travel between Iraq's provinces to keep down crowds, which are expected to be much thinner than the usual mass gatherings that welcome a visiting pope. The prayer services he will host are ticketed events with limited seating, and church officials have told AFP they would implement strict social distancing and require all guests to disinfect regularly. - No pope-mobile? - That hasn't quieted excitement for the "Baba," Arabic for pope. Baghdad is being spruced up accordingly: church bells are being repaired, new power lines strung up and political and military posters are being replaced with colourful banners welcoming the pope. Story continues "We wanted to fix a few things so that this historic city, this symbol of humanity, can host the pope," Baghdad mayor Alaa Maan told AFP. Iraq has long been synonymous with conflict, and unrest has again rocked the country in the run-up to the papal visit. Francis will cover more than 1,445 kilometres (around 900 miles) by plane and helicopter, flying directly over areas that recently saw fighting against jihadist sleeper cells. He will visit Baghdad and Arbil, the capital of the northern Kurdish region -- both of which were shaken by rocket attacks in mid-February against Western targets. The pope will be accompanied by members of the Swiss Guards, his personal protection force. They will be in plain clothes, not in their colourful uniforms, helmets or carrying axe-like halberds. It was not clear if the pontiff would use his trademark bulletproof "pope-mobile", with officials refusing to comment for security reasons. - 'No longer afraid' - In the southern province of Dhi Qar, workers have been paving roads to the desert site of Ur, where the Prophet Abraham is said to have been born and where the pope will hold an interfaith ceremony on Saturday. At the pyramid-like ziggurat, workers in hard-hats and neon vests are rushing to lay down wooden walkways and large parasols to create shade for the crowds expected to throng the site. The pontiff's visit to Dhi Qar comes following deadly protests in the provincial capital of Nasiriyah where six people were shot dead in February while demonstrating against poor public services. The pope's last full day will take him to Mosul, which was the centre of the Islamic State group's self-styled "caliphate" until its defeat three years ago, leaving the city in ruins. Poor infrastructure could compound transport troubles for the pontiff, who has suffered from a painful bout of sciatica this year. "The Vatican just told us the pope can't walk more than 10 steps. We're not sure what to do," said the official from Iraq's presidency. Francis will also visit Qaraqosh, a Christian town overrun by IS in 2014, and where nuns have been climbing onto church roofs to retouch the paint on wooden crosses. Iraqi officials, despite sleepless nights in the lead-up to the visit, say they hope the papal trip will improve the image of a country long shunned for its security, political and even health problems. Once the pope has come and gone, predicted the Iraqi official, "foreign dignitaries will no longer be afraid of coming to Iraq". mjg/hkb/fz A business forum has kicked off, with the aim of stimulating trade between Iran and Syria, writes SANA. The Syrian-Iranian Business Opportunities and Approaches Forum started activities on Monday at the Iranian Chamber of Commerce, Industry, and Agriculture in Tehran. The Forum will tackle several issues that would reflect positively on increasing the Syrian-Iranian exports, including the cancellation of customs duties on the goods exported to Syria which stand at 4 percent, in addition to reducing the ban on exporting 80 commodities to one-third. A number of Iranian officials attended the opening of the forum, including the head of Irans Trade Promotion Organization (TPO) Hamid Zadboum and the head of the Joint Syrian-Iranian Chamber of Commerce Kiwan Kashfi. The Chamber of Commerce, Industry, and Agriculture has opened a trade center in Damascus, and permanent exhibitions showcasing some commodities with the intention to create a business environment for exporters. 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. FOX / Getty Images The Miss United States of America pageant has been given the green light to refuse transgender contestants after a federal judge in Oregon threw out a discrimination lawsuit against the competition on February 25. Anita Noelle Green, a successful transgender beauty pageant queen and winner of Miss Earth Elite Oregon 2019, filed a discrimination lawsuit against the Miss United States of America pageant after she was barred from competing in 2019, reported the Oregonian. According to Them, Green was told to apply to the competition by Miss United States of America producers. After sending in her application and application fee, producers rescinded their invitation, stating the competition was for "natural-born women," or women assigned female at birth. "I want to participate in pageants for the same reason every woman wants to - to gain a sense of confidence and poise, and to feel beautiful and glamorous," Green said in court documents acquired by Courthouse News. Attorneys for Miss United States of America argued that, because the organization is private, it is allowed to express its values as a pageant for "natural-born women." Oregon judge Michael W. Mosman threw out the lawsuit, stating that the beauty pageant was protected under the first amendment and that "pageant is an 'expressive' organization, rather than a commercial one," reported Courthouse News. "Contrary to what people might think, my client, the pageant, is a supporter of diversity. It believes there can be a Miss Black USA pageant, a Miss Native American pageant or a transgender pageant," John T. Kaempf, an attorney for Miss USA, told the Oregonian. Story continues While her lawsuit was thrown out, Green said the case brought needed visibility to discrimination against trans women within the pageant world and more broadly. "This case brought awareness to an issue many people were and still are unaware of and that issue is that discrimination against transgender people is still actively happening in the private and public sector even within the pageant circuit," Green told the Oregonian. Editor's note: This article has been updated to reflect that Miss United States of America is not the same as Miss USA. Transgender contestants cannot compete in Miss United States of America; they can in Miss USA. Read the original article on Insider Pulaski Teens Arrested for Sexual Assault By West Kentucky Star Staff MOUNDS - Illinois State Police made three arrests in a reported sexual assault in Pulaski County.Mounds Police were notified February 21 and requested the help of state police detectives. They investigated the reported sexual assault of a 13-year-old girl by three males, ages 15, 17 and 17 years old.On February 24, police got arrest warrants from the Pulaski County State's Attorney's office for all three juvenile males. They were taken into custody without incident.All three face a charge of aggravated criminal sexual assault. Two top Republican lawmakers have introduced a legislation in the House of Representatives calling for the US to resume formal diplomatic relations with Taiwan and end the outdated and counter-productive one- China" policy. The US maintained normal diplomatic relations with the government in Taiwan until 1979, when then-President Jimmy Carter abruptly cut off formal ties with Taipei and recognised the Communist regime in Beijing. views Taiwan as a rebel province that must be reunified with the mainland, even by force. Introduced by congressmen Tom Tiffany and Scott Perry, the bill directs the Biden administration to support Taiwan's membership in organisations, and to initiate negotiations with Taipei on crafting a US-Taiwan Free Trade Agreement. For more than 40 years, American presidents of both political parties have repeated Beijing's bogus lie that Taiwan is part of Communist despite the objective reality that it is not, said Tiffany. It is time to do away with this outdated policy, he said. As an independent Nation that proudly collaborates with Taiwan across a wide spectrum of issues, it's long past time The United States exercised our sovereign right to state what the world knows to be true: Taiwan is an independent country, and has been for over 70 years, said Perry. Lawmakers responded by approving the bipartisan Taiwan Relations Act (TRA), the cornerstone of continued US ties with the island. Former president Ronald Reagan upgraded the relationship during his term with the Six Assurances, which made clear that the US did not recognise Communist Chinese claims of sovereignty over Taiwan, the media release said. The two lawmakers said that despite the TRA and the Six Assurances, the US still lacks formal ties with Taiwan, inexplicably treating the island's democratically elected government the same way it treats brutal regimes in North Korea and Iran from a diplomatic perspective and in a category worse than that of Cuba's dictatorship, which President Obama and Vice President Biden recognised during their second term. In 2020, Tiffany proposed an amendment to the annual Pentagon spending bill that sought to rescind a set of unproductive, self-imposed restrictions limiting communications between US and Taiwanese officials. While House Democrats refused to allow a vote on the amendment at the time, Secretary Pompeo later enacted the policy, scrapping the so-called guidelines and enabling greater communication and coordination between Taipei and Washington. It is unclear whether the Biden administration will roll back the changes under pressure from Beijing. "America doesn't need a permission slip from the Chinese Communist Party to talk to its friends and partners around the world. Taiwan is a free, democratic and independent country, and it's time US policy reflected that fact, Tiffany said. The relations between the US and are at an all-time low. The two countries are currently engaged in a bitter confrontation over various issues, including trade, the origins of the novel coronavirus pandemic, the communist giant's aggressive military moves in the disputed South China Sea and human rights. In February, Senator Rick Scott reintroduced the Taiwan Invasion Prevention Act, sponsored by Congressman Guy Reschenthaler in the US House of Representatives, to protect Taiwan from Communist China's growing aggression. The Taiwan Invasion Prevention Act further reinforces the US-Taiwan relationship and strengthens Taiwan's ability to resist Communist China's aggressive policies and military actions. Washington officially sticks to a "one-China" policy, acknowledging Taiwan being part of China and the People's Republic's status as the sole legitimate government of China, according to CNN. The policy forms the basis of Chinese diplomacy and policy-making and determines Sino-US relations, 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.) STAMFORD A 34-year-old former Bridgeport man accused of kidnapping and raping a woman at gunpoint after meeting online faces additional charges after he violated the conditions of his release, according to court records. Derek Person, 34, who now lives in Waterbury, was re-arrested and charged with three felony counts of first-degree violations of his conditions of release. The Connecticut States Attorneys Office ordered Persons re-arrest after he allegedly broke house arrest multiple times over a week-long period in January, court records show. Person has been court-ordered to home confinement and GPS monitoring since he was released on a promise to appear in court on first-degree kidnapping and first-degree sexual assault charges in October. According to court records, Person violated those terms when he left his home without permission on at least three occasions in January. When informed of his alleged violations, Person told his supervisory officer that he refuses to abide by such conditions, according to an arrest affidavit. Person was initially held on $500,000 bond for the new charges, but was eventually released on a promise to appear in court on May 3. He pleaded not guilty to the three new felony counts. Person has not yet entered a plea on charges of first-degree kidnapping and first-degree sexual assault that date back to a May 11 incident in Norwalk. Detective Michael Pugliese wrote in an arrest warrant that the victim and Person met in April through Facebook, where he listed his name as Scott Damon. Over the next month, she and Person had conversations over the phone that she described as casual and comfortable in nature with nothing sexual ever being discussed, though she did say he kept pushing to meet her in person, the warrant said. The victim agreed to meet Person for the first time at the Rite Aid parking lot on East Avenue in Norwalk around 8:45 p.m. May 11, the warrant said. Person pulled up in a black SUV, a newer model with tinted windows, the victim told police, according to the warrant. After standing outside the SUV and speaking to Person, she accepted his invitation to get inside when he noticed she was shivering, the warrant said. He then began to stare at me and did not say anything, the victim wrote in an affidavit included in the arrest warrant. His car smelled like weed. Thats when he put the key in the ignition, he turned it on, and told me that he had a gun underneath his seat and he stated that if I did not comply that he would kill me. According to the warrant, Person then drove to a secluded place and parked the vehicle. She tried to escape, but the doors were locked, the warrant said. The victim said Person then raped her at gunpoint before dropping her back off at the Rite Aid, the warrant stated. In the days after the incident, the victim said Person texted her multiple times, but she did not respond, according to the warrant. Norwalk police began investigating the incident on May 15 and traced the Scott Damon Facebook account to Person, the warrant said. The victim later positively identified Person in a photo lineup as the man who had kidnapped and raped her, the warrant said. Police are waiting for test results to see if Persons DNA is on the clothes worn by the victim the night of the sexual assault, according to his arrest warrant. Persons attorney Daniel Ford did not discuss the allegations against his client on Monday. According to the bail commissioner, Person has multiple violations of probation on his record as well as a conviction for armed robbery. New York (UN) 02 March 2021 (SPS)- Member of Frente Polisarios National Secretariat, Representative of the Front at the United Nations, Dr. Sidi Mohamed Omar, confirmed Polisario's denunciation of the position of the MINURSO towards the current situation in Western Sahara, calling on the UN mission to maintain neutrality and impartiality, in a statement to the press he issued Today responding to statements by the Spokesperson for the UN Secretary-General, Mr. Stephane Dujarric. The Sahrawi diplomat warned against the danger of the persistence of the ignorance by the United Nations, and its mission in particular, of the reality on the ground, especially since the resumption of war in the region since November 13th after the Moroccan occupation forces violated the ceasefire agreement in force since 1991. Following is the full text of the Press Statement: PRESS STATEMENT The Frente POLISARIO has taken note of the recent statements made by the Spokesperson for the UN Secretary-General during his daily press briefings regarding the current situation in Western Sahara resulting from Moroccos serious breach of the 1991 ceasefire and related military agreements. Despite the claim that the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO) continues to monitor the situation throughout the Territory, including in Guerguerat, the ambiguous and inconsistent way in which the general situation in the Territory is described shows once again the Missions attempt to give the impression that overall calm is still prevailing in Western Sahara. The Frente POLISARIO deplores this reductive way of describing the current situation in Western Sahara, which does not only echo some aspects of the official narrative of the Moroccan occupying state in this regard, but it is also irresponsible and unhelpful. It further undermines the already eroded credibility of the Mission and misinforms the Secretariat, the Security Council and international community about the reality of the current situation in Western Sahara. There is no denying the fact that currently Western Sahara is in a state of open war as a result of the serious breach of the ceasefire by the Moroccan occupying state and its subsequent act of aggression on the Sahrawi Liberated Territory on 13 November 2020, which triggered a new war that could lead to the most serious consequences for peace, security, and stability in the region as a whole. The 1991 ceasefire and related military agreements have ended, and they are no longer effective as military confrontations continue and intensify along the Moroccan illegal military wall in Western Sahara. This is the undeniable reality that MINURSO and the UN Secretariat should not mince their words when describing and reporting it. As expected, the Moroccan occupying state remains in a state of denial and is desperately attempting to underplay the impact of the heavy losses suffered by its forces over the past months. It has even issued strict orders preventing any public manifestations of mourning of the Moroccan soldiers that have fallen victims in the new war, among other things. As outlined in UN Secretary-Generals reports, MINURSO is expected to keep the UN Secretariat and the Security Council informed of developments in and related to Western Sahara and support regional stability. It is therefore imperative that the Mission maintain its neutrality, impartiality, and independence when reporting on the events in and related to Western Sahara. The Sahrawi people have recently celebrated the 45th anniversary of the proclamation of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR), a full and founding member of the African Union. Over four decades of state-building and liberation struggle on all fronts bears an eloquent testimony to the resilience, perseverance, and unwavering determination of the Sahrawi people, under the leadership of the Frente POLISARIO, to realise their legitimate national aspirations despite all adversities and challenges. The Sahrawi people have committed to the peaceful solution for nearly three decades at a time when the United Nations remained completely silent in the face of the Moroccan occupying states attempts to impose a fait accompli by force in occupied Western Sahara together with its obstruction of the self-determination referendum and its recent torpedoing of the ceasefire on 13 November 2020. Faced with this situation, the Sahrawi people have no other option but to continue their resistance and national liberation struggle using all legitimate means including the armed struggle as a means to defend their sacred and non-negotiable right to self-determination and independence. The United Nations in general and MINURSO in particular should understand that business as usual attitude regarding Western Sahara is a recipe for disaster in view of the current situation in the Territory resulting from Moroccos serious breach of the 1991 ceasefire and related military agreements. It is also imperative that they realise the gravity of the situation and act accordingly because it is not only the UN credibility which is at stake but also peace, stability, and security in the whole region. Dr Sidi M. Omar Ambassador Representative of the Frente POLISARIO at the United Nations. (SPS) 090/500/60 (SPS) At about 12:30 p.m. Friday, police responded to the area of Madison and Hillgrove avenues, north of the railroad tracks, where a woman said, as she was walking along, she felt something from behind push on her purse, which she was carrying under her arm. She turned around and said she saw a teenager sticking out of the front passenger-side window of a vehicle up to his waist, with his outreached arms grabbing at her purse. She said the teenager saw her and instructed the driver to leave. A WOMAN who stole groceries from her local supermarket on three separate occasions has been warned she will go to prison if she does not "shape up". Judge Mary Larkin issued the warning as she imposed a one-month suspended prison sentence on Sharon Lane, 29, of Cois na Feile, Abbeyfeale who pleaded guilty to theft charges. Sergeant Noel Barry told Newcastle West Court the defendant stole various items from Twohig's Supervalu in the town on October 30, 2020, October 31, 2020 and January 7, 2021. The goods, which had a total value of just over 110 were not recovered by gardai or the retailer. Solicitor Eimear Griffin said her client did not make any attempt to conceal the offences and she said she did not have a "full recollection" of what happened because of her drug use. She said the mother-of-three has "quite a history" and that she has only recently been referred to the psychiatric services. "She has been struggling for the last few months particularly," said Ms Griffin. Imposing sentence, Judge Larkin said Ms Lane has to "avoid abusing substances" if she want to stay out of trouble. She imposed fines totalling 100 and a one month prison sentence which she suspended for a year. Ms Lane received a separate suspended prison sentence for driving without insurance at Clash Road, Abbeyfeale on October 30, 2019. She was also disqualified for four years and fined a total of 200 for other road traffic offences relating to the same incident. President Muhammadu Buhari and Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo will pick dates on which they will be vaccinated publicly, with the first batch of Oxford/AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine, which is about four million doses, expected to arrive in Nigeria on Tuesday. The Executive Director, the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), Faisal Shuaib, disclosed this at the Presidential Taskforce on COVID-19 briefing on Monday in Abuja. Mr Shuaib said that the Secretary to the Government of the Federation and chairman of the PTF on COVID-19, Boss Mustapha, would liaise with other key strategic persons to fix the date for the public vaccination aimed at protecting Nigerians against the COVID-19 pandemic. Mr Shuaib said: I once again assure Nigerians that all necessary safety and quality control measures have been put in place for the arrival, storage and successful administration of the vaccine in the country. There is going to be a small ceremony, chaired by the Chairman of the PTF on COVID-19, to receive the vaccine at the VIP Protocol section, General Aviation Terminal of Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja. At the end of the ceremonies to mark the arrival of the vaccines, a few vials of the vaccines would be handed over to the NAFDAC team fo analysis over a period of two days (Wednesday, March 3rd and Thursday, March 4th). Further to the clearance by NAFDAC, the PTF, FMOH, NPHCDA and strategic leaders will be at the treatment centre of the National Hospital on Friday, March 5th 2021, where the first vaccination site will be set up to commence the vaccination of the frontline health workers and support staff. These staff would also be electronically registered in the COVID-19 vaccine database and would receive their COVID-19 vaccination card which has a QR code that can be verified worldwide. On Saturday, March 6th, key strategic leaders will receive the first dose of the vaccine. On Monday, March 8th, 2021, more vaccination sites would have been set up at designated locations such as National Assembly clinic, State House clinic and Federal medical centre, Jabi, where strategic leaders such as the SGF, Senate President, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Attorney General of the Federation, Inspector General of Police, the Ministers and Ministers of States, Senators, House of Representatives, traditional leaders and religious leaders would be vaccinated. After this launch and initial roll-out phase, vaccine distribution to the states for the first phase vaccination process will begin. This phase is the vaccination of all frontline health workers, their supporting staff and strategic leaders. Deployment of vaccines to the states would be based on the assessment of their level of preparedness. Some of the parameters that would be used for the assessment include adequate maintenance of their cold chain storage facilities, adequate preparation for logistic transportation to the ward/ health facility, adequate security in place during transportation and at vaccination sites, completion of training of health workers, efficient social mobilisation activities in place, adherence to the protocol for vaccine deployment. Working with CACOVID, plans are on the ground for a cargo plane provided by them to transport the vaccines to the states by air. States without a functional airport will have their vaccines transported by road using vans with fitted Cold Cabins, from the nearest airport. The vaccines will be stored at the State Cold Stores, from where they will be transported by road to LGA Cold Stores. Once activities have commenced in the states, there would be strict monitoring by PTF, FMOH, NPHCDA and independent bodies such as EFCC, DSS, ICPC, and Civil Society Organisations. States/health facilities/health workers that are identified as defaulting from the standard protocol and guidelines for this phase of vaccination would be sanctioned. While the first phase is ongoing, the national team would be ready for the arrival of the next batch of vaccines which would be used for the next phase of vaccination. Phase 2 vaccination process involves vaccination of the elderly from 50 years and above. This has been sub-grouped into 2, with the vaccination of 60 and above occurring first followed by 50 59 years. This will occur across all 36 States and the FCT. Those who are eligible for vaccination that have not registered electronically would be assisted at the designated health facility and would be vaccinated. Phase 3 vaccination process involves vaccination of those between 18 and 49 years with co-morbidities (such as hypertension, diabetes, lung disease, other heart diseases, liver or renal disease, etc). Individuals at ages 50 and above with co-morbidities would already have been immunized within their age group. The phase 4 vaccination process would involve vaccination of the rest of the eligible population between the ages 18 and 49 years. It is worthy to note that at each phase of vaccination, the level of preparedness of the states are assessed before vaccines are deployed and accountability measures have been put in place to ensure strict compliance to the vaccination process. Pregnant women will be evaluated by their health providers to weigh the benefit versus risk, before a decision is taken to vaccinate them. T.E.A.C.H According to him, the Minister of Health, Osagie Ehanire, launched our indigenous T.E.A.C.H strategy for COVID-19 vaccination and Electronic Management of Immunisation Data system on Monday. This is to ensure safe and effective vaccination of prioritized and eligible Nigerians against COVID-19. Following the launching, through a unique link available on NPHCDA website, Twitter handle, Facebook and Instagram, we have commenced electronic self-registration of health workers. This will enable us to avoid crowding at vaccination posts as the registered health workers will be scheduled and reminded of their vaccination date via sms and email. He, however, urged all eligible Nigerians aged 18 years and above to be patient as they would eventually vaccinate them. As the vaccines arrive in batches due to limited supply, they would also inform Nigerians about who and where to receive the vaccine. A comprehensive and transparent roll-out plan that involves public vaccination of President Buhari and other important dignitaries and stakeholders has been developed. Again, this is to assure Nigerians of the safety of the COVID-19 vaccines that we are bringing into the country, he disclosed. ADVERTISEMENT (NAN) Conde Nast has named Gideon Lichfield as the new global editorial director of Wired. Anna Wintour, Conde Nasts chief content officer and the global editorial director of Vogue, made the announcement in an internal memo on Tuesday. I am so happy he is bringing his expertise to Wired, and am so excited for the future of the title, Ms. Wintour wrote in the memo. She said Mr. Lichfield would be responsible for Wired U.S. as well as international editions of Wired, including in Britain, Italy and Japan. Mr. Lichfield joins Wired with extensive experience in tech and business journalism, most recently at MIT Technology Review, where he had been the editor in chief since 2017. He helped start the digital news site Quartz in 2012 and was previously at The Economist. Mr. Lichfield said in a news release from Conde Nast that he was thrilled to be given the chance to work with the excellent journalists at Wired and continue evolving its legacy. DALLAS, March 1, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Elah Holdings, Inc. (OTC: ELLH) has released its audited annual financial statements for the 2020 fiscal year. This report and additional company information can be found at www.elahholdings.com under the Financial Releases section of the website. About Elah Holdings Elah Holdings, Inc. (formerly known as Real Industry, Inc.) is a holding company led by experienced business leaders that is seeking to acquire profitable businesses in the commercial and industrial markets to generate sustainable profitability and cash flows, unlock the value of our considerable tax assets, and use creative deal structures that reduce risk and ultimately create long-term value for our shareholders. For more information, visit www.elahholdings.com. Elah Holdings' stock trades on the OTC Pink Market, which is operated by OTC Markets Group, a centralized electronic quotation service for over-the-counter securities under the symbol "ELLH." Contact: Michael Hobey Elah Holdings, Inc. +1 (805) 435-1255 @elah_inc www.linkedin.com/company/elah-holdings-inc/ SOURCE Elah Holdings, Inc. Related Links http://www.elahholdings.com As storm clouds blanketed the Brisbane CBD late on Tuesday, severe thunderstorms forecast for south-east Queensland had dumped more than 70 millimetres of rainfall in some regions. The Bureau of Meteorology warned that just before 5pm severe thunderstorms were detected on the weather radar near Redbank Plains, Wacol and Greenbank, moving towards the north. Storm clouds cover Brisbane late on Tuesday. Credit:Fairfax Media The Brisbane inner city, Upper Brookfield and Enoggera Reservoir were expected to be hit by 5.20pm, while the storms were expected to reach Strathpine, Boondall and Lake Samsonvale half an hour later. Strathpine, Kallangur and Dayboro is expected to be hit by 6pm and Caboolture, Mount Mee and Wamuran by 6.30pm. Freelance journalist Jamal Farah Adan was shot dead by two gunmen on March 1 in Galkayo city, in the Somali state of Puntland. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), the Federation of African Journalists (FAJ) and the National Union of Somali Journalists (NUSOJ) condemn this heinous targeted killing of a journalist and urge the authorities to identify and prosecute the perpetrators. Jamal Farah Adan (56), was a veteran freelance journalist whose radio programmes were critical of the Al-Shabaab terrorist group and its operations in the region. According to eyewitnesses, he was attacked by two men who found him seated in front of a shop owned by his family in Galkayos Siinay neighbourhood. He was hit by two bullets in the head and one in the neck, according to doctors at Galkayo Medical Center, where he died upon his arrival. Puntland police responded immediately to the emergency but the suspected killers had already escaped from the crime scene when they arrived. Adan had worked for several media houses in Puntland, including Radio Daljir, Radio Galkayo and Radio Garowe and was currently working as a freelancer. As a journalist he openly spoke out against Al-Shabaabs campaign of terror in Somalia. According to two journalists in Galkayo whose identity cannot be disclosed over concerns for their safety but who talked with NUSOJ , Adan had told them on February 26 that he was receiving death threats, and was seeking safety outside Galkayo. His death is the first to be registered by NUSOJ in 2021. GODFREY As in many trade industries, theres a job gap between the number of welders looking to retire and the number of qualified applicants entering the workforce. Women, like Lewis and Clark Community Colleges Charlie Vonder Haar, have found great success in an industry traditionally dominated by men. Vonder Haar, of Hamel, graduated from L&C in 2015 with an Associate in Science in Welding Technology. Shes now an adjunct instructor in that same program. After acquiring her degree, Vonder Haar immediately entered the workforce, landing a job at Mechanical Dynamics and Analysis, where she traveled to power plants all across the country, repairing steam and gas turbine systems. She spent a month in the Dominican Republic, working on a GE Steam Turbine system. Its been my proudest experience, so far, Vonder Haar said. There was a language gap and I was the only woman on deck. It definitely made for an interesting work environment. From there, she took a job with Cee Kay Supply, a welding supply company based in St. Louis. She has since embraced the opportunity to share her knowledge by joining the Welding Technology department at L&C. I was approached to collaborate on some non-credit welding courses to help get the community more involved in the new Weber Workforce Center, Vonder Haar said. I am very fortunate to have had this opportunity. Welding Technology Program Coordinator Travis Jumper credits Vonder Haar for the number of women who have entered the program. Charlie was one of the best welders to come out of the program, Jumper said. She has been the largest recruiter of women into the welding program, so it was a natural transition to ask her to teach. Currently, Vonder Haar teaches Welding for Women and Welding for Weekend Warriors, both non-credit, three-week, Saturday classes. She enjoys helping people understand a new trade skill and working in L&Cs facility. The Weber Workforce Center is truly state-of-the-art, Vonder Haar said. From our top-of-the-line virtual reality welding systems to our CWI prep class, there is something for everyone to learn. As an educator, Vonder Haar strives to be very hands-on. I try to spend a majority of the time in the shop so the students can see first-hand what they are learning, she said. While I do use many different online resources, I feel some absorb information much faster while in a shop environment. Vonder Haar sees welding as a diverse industry with many companies actively looking to hire students from programs like L&Cs. Our program not only gives students the job skills they will need to make it out in the workforce, but they will also be required to properly format their resumes and do mock interviews before receiving their degree, Vonder Haar said. With flexible class schedules, even those with full-time jobs can still attend classes. She wants students to understand the only way to become a great welder is through hard work and practice. The most rewarding part of being a teacher is when students finally understand and succeed on their own, Vonder Haar said. The small confidence boost they give themselves lets me know Im doing all right as a teacher. Even though becoming a top-notch welder takes hard work, Vonder Haar encourages her students to stick with it. Dont lose momentum, she said. Your courses wont always be the fun, hands-on classes that you want, but the computer program and technical math classes will help you become a better welder and employee. The Welding for Weekend Warriors class will be held from 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m. on Saturdays, March 13-27. The Welding for Women class will be held from 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m. on Saturdays, April 10-24. For more information on these classes or on L&Cs Welding Technology program, contact Travis Jumper at (618) 468-4931 or tjumper@lc.edu. To enroll, text or call (618) 468-2222 or email enroll@lc.edu. SHANGHAI, March 2, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Daqo New Energy Corp. (NYSE: DQ) ("Daqo New Energy", the "Company" or "we"), a leading manufacturer of high-purity polysilicon for the global solar PV industry, today announced that it has signed a three-year high-purity polysilicon supply agreement with Zhonghuan Semiconductor (SZ:002129) ("Zhonghuan") for its solar wafer business. Zhonghuan is a global leading high-quality mono-crystaline solar wafer producer. Under the supply agreement, Daqo New Energy will provide Zhonghuan with high-purity mono-grade polysilicon in a total amount of 41,000 MT over three years from 2021 to 2023. Actual prices will be negotiated by both parties monthly according to market conditions. As part of the supply agreement, Zhonghuan will make an advance payment to Daqo New Energy. Mr. Haoping Shen, Chief Executive Officer of Zhonghuan, commented, "We are very pleased to enter into a long-term partnership with Daqo New Energy who shares the same core values with us in terms of innovation and quality. This partnership will help us better execute our strategy as a leading solar products provider to serve the fast-growing global solar PV market." Mr. Longgen Zhang, Chief Executive Officer of Daqo New Energy, commented, "We are very pleased to strengthen our cooperation with Zhonghuan through this three-year polysilicon supply agreement. We will continue to expand our capacity to better address the increasing demand for high-purity polysilicon and further improve product quality to accommodate innovative solar PV technologies in future." About Zhonghuan Semiconductor Tianjin Zhonghuan Semiconductor Co., Ltd.(Zhonghuan Semiconductor) is a listed company of Shenzhen Stock Exchange (stock code: 002129). Zhonghuan Semiconductor has been focused on "green, low carbon and sustainable development" and dedicated to two major industries, namely, semiconductor energy-saving and new energy industries. Company products are widely used in smart grid transmission, new energy vehicles, high-speed rail, wind power inverters, integrated circuits, consumer electronics, aerospace, solar power and other fields. About Daqo New Energy Daqo New Energy Corp. (NYSE: DQ) ("Daqo" or the "Company") is a leading manufacturer of high-purity polysilicon for the global solar PV industry. Founded in 2007, the Company is one of the world's lowest cost producers of high-purity polysilicon. Daqo's highly-efficient and technically advanced manufacturing facility in China currently has a nameplate annual polysilicon production capacity of 70,000 metric tons. For more information, please visit www.dqsolar.com Safe Harbor Statement This announcement contains forward-looking statements. These statements are made under the "safe harbor" provisions of 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" and similar statements. The Company may also make written or oral forward-looking statements in its reports filed or furnished to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, in its annual reports to shareholders, in press releases and other written materials and in oral statements made by its officers, directors or employees to third parties. Statements that are not historical facts, including statements about the Company's beliefs and expectations, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties. A number of factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statement, including but not limited to the following: the demand for photovoltaic products and the development of photovoltaic technologies; global supply and demand for polysilicon; alternative technologies in cell manufacturing; the Company's ability to significantly expand its polysilicon production capacity and output; the reduction in or elimination of government subsidies and economic incentives for solar energy applications; the Company's ability to lower its production costs; changes in the political and regulatory environment; and the duration of COVID-19 outbreaks in China and many other countries and the impact of the outbreaks and the quarantines and travel restrictions instituted by relevant governments on economic and market conditions, including potentially weaker global demand for solar PV installations that could adversely affect the Company's business and financial performance. Further information regarding these and other risks is included in the reports or documents the Company has filed with, or furnished to, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. All information provided in this press release is as of the date hereof, and the Company undertakes no duty to update such information or any forward-looking statement, except as required under applicable law. SOURCE Daqo New Energy Corp. Related Links http://www.dqsolar.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. New Delhi: Reacting to the death of 33 children in Gorakhpur's Baba Raghav Das Medical College's hospital due to the alleged lack of oxygen, Nobel Peace Laureate Kailash Satyarthi has expressed his outrage over the incident, saying it was not a tragedy but a clear case of a massacre. Satyarthi took to Twitter to launch a scathing attack on the Uttar Pradesh government asking "is this what 70 years of freedom means for our children?" 30 kids died in hospital without oxygen. This is not a tragedy. It's a massacre. Is this what 70 years of freedom means for our children? Kailash Satyarthi (@k_satyarthi) August 11, 2017 Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has ordered a thorough probe into the matter and assured of strict action against those involved in the alleged shortage of oxygen supply in the hospital. Appeal to CM @myogiadityanath Ji. Your decisive intervention can correct decades of corrupt medical system of UP to prevent such incidents. Kailash Satyarthi (@k_satyarthi) August 11, 2017 State Minister for Medical Education Ashutosh Tandon reiterated that strict action will be taken against the culprits. "The Chief Minister has given us proper instruction on this issue. We will leave for Gorakhpur soon and after details analysis of the situation will take further decision on the same," Tandon said. "There haven't been any deaths due to lack of oxygen supply. And 'only' seven children have died today. Today three deaths happened in Neonatal ICU, two due to Acute Encephalitis Syndrome (AES) and two due to Non-AES," Tandon said. "The District Magistrate has ordered a magisterial inquiry into the incident. The report will be out in 24 hours," he added. The shortage of oxygen allegedly led to encephalitis, which is a sudden onset inflammation of the brain, following which the children died. As per the locals, though the hospital is supposed to provide free medical assistance, neither there is a proper medical facility available nor are the patients provided free medicines. Gorakhpur DM Rajeev Rautela said that the cause of the deaths at the BRD Hospital was the disruption in the supply of liquid oxygen and has further appealed to the suppliers to not cut the supply henceforth. According to data procured from the BRD hospital, in past five days - from August 7 to August 11, a total of 60 deaths have occurred in the hospital. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. The senior federal cabinet minister accused of raping a 16-year-old girl three decades ago will today publicly declare his innocence. A woman last year told police he raped her in 1988, but took her own life months later. Scott Morrison has been under pressure to out the minister, stand him down, and launch an inquiry since detailed allegations were sent to his office. He said the politician told him the allegation was not true, but the minister has now agreed to make a statement on Wednesday. Police on Tuesday closed the investigation as it had insufficient admissible evidence to proceed after the woman's suicide last June. The senior federal cabinet minister accused of raping a 16-year-old girl three decades ago will today publicly declare his innocence The minister was hoping to keep the matter a private one for police to deal with but rumours have circled in Canberra and on social media over the past week. He is expected to unequivocally deny the allegations and refuse to stand aside or quit parliament, and Mr Morrison and the government to stand behind him. Such a self-outing would be similar to former Labor opposition leader Bill Shorten's denial of sexual assault allegations in August 2014 after Victoria Police closed a historical investigation into him. 'I will not go into details, except to say the allegation was untrue and abhorrent,' he said at the time. The statement was intended to draw a line under the matter and Wednesday's is expected to attempt to do the same. Further pressure to come forward was made by former PM Malcolm Turnbull who insisted on TV that he go public because 'everyone knows' who he is. The minister is said to have taken advice on defamation after Mr Turnbull's comments along with thousands of others on social media and blogs. Such a self-outing would be similar to former Labor opposition leader Bill Shorten's denial, in a statement alongside his wife Chloe (pictured together) of sexual assault allegations in August 2014 after Victoria Police closed a historical investigation into him Crossbench MPs also piled on, some demanding an independent inquiry that Mr Morrison has so far resisted. There were even fears an MP could use parliamentary privilege to out him with impunity when both houses sit again on March 15. Tasmanian Senator Jacquie Lambie claimed he should 'suck it up' and make a statement because 'every man and his dog knows, so he's only digging his hole deeper'. 'If he has nothing to hide then come out and face the music,' she said. Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young, who along with Senator Penny Wong and Mr Morrison was last week sent a letter from a friend of the woman that outlined her allegations in detail, agreed. 'The accused minister knows who he is, the entire parliament knows who he is,' she told the Sydney Morning Herald. 'If he is innocent he should step forward and declare it. The integrity of his ministry and the entire government is now in question while he remains in hiding with such a grave allegation levelled against him.' An anonymous sender said they were inspired to write a letter (pictured) detailing the woman's allegations after former Liberal staffer Brittany Higgins went public with an allegation The woman's allegation became public last week after Scott Morrison received a letter from a mystery sender which included the statement. Police were due to travel to her home in Adelaide in March 2020 to take her statement but their trip was postponed due to Covid-19. In June the woman withdrew her allegation and died by suicide the next day, causing the investigation to be suspended before it was officially closed this week. According to Four Corners which first reported the allegation on Friday, the woman had bipolar disorder and had attended a psychiatric hospital in Melbourne in the months before her death aged 49. Friends say she was 'beautiful and clever' but 'consumed with trauma'. Mr Morrison said he did not read the letter but forwarded it to Australian Federal Police Commissioner Reece Kershaw (pictured) 'The matter is now closed': NSW Police statement In November 2019, a woman then aged 48, attended an Adelaide (South Australia) police station seeking advice about reporting historical sexual offences, which allegedly occurred in 1988 in Sydney (New South Wales). The matter was then referred to the NSW Police Force and an investigation by the Child Abuse and Sex Crimes Squad commenced under Strike Force Wyndarra. NSW Police Force has been the lead agency in respect to this investigation since February 2020. For various reasons, the woman did not detail her allegations in a formal statement to NSW Police. The woman passed away in June 2020. Following the woman's death, NSW Police came into possession of a personal document purportedly made by the woman previously. NSW Police have since sought legal advice in relation to these matters. Based on information provided to NSW Police, there is insufficient admissible evidence to proceed. As such, NSW Police Force has determined the matter is now closed. Advertisement As well as leaving her prepared statement, the woman made a 45-minute recording in which she talked about her allegations, according to the Herald Sun. In a letter to a friend she wrote: 'I guess I just worry that a trial has the potential to be an emotional bloodbath, particularly for me and anyone who appears as a witness in the case.' NSW Police said officers have sought legal advice about a 'personal document' made by the woman. The woman had told several family and friends about her allegation. It was presumably one of them who sent the letter to Mr Morrison, Liberal MP Celia Hammond and two South Australian senators, demanding an investigation. The rape allegation: A timeline 1988: Rape allegedly happens at event in Sydney when woman is 16 Late 2019: Woman engages lawyers and prepares a statement February 2020: Woman reports allegations to NSW Police March 2020: Police postpone trip to visit her due to Covid-19 June 2020: Woman dies by suicide February 24, 2021: Anonymous letter is sent to PM detailing allegations March 1, 2021: PM says minister completely rejects the allegations March 2, 2021: NSW Police close the case Advertisement The anonymous sender said they were inspired to write the letter after former Liberal staffer Brittany Higgins went public with an allegation she was raped by another staffer in Defence Minister Linda Reynolds' parliament office in 2019. Ms Higgins' allegations dominated the past two sitting weeks of parliament as ministers were repeatedly grilled over who knew about her claims and when. The sender demanded an inquiry into the 1988 allegation, writing: 'There will be considerable damage to community perceptions of justice... and the parliament when this story becomes public if it is simultaneously revealed that senior people (like yourselves) were aware of the accusation but had done nothing.' The identity of the cabinet minister is known among the media and politicians but cannot be disclosed for legal reasons. The ministerial code of conduct requires a minister to stand aside if charged with a crime. Former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull has urged the minister to reveal himself and said it is 'impossible for him to function in that cabinet'. Mr Morrison said he spoke to the minister on Wednesday evening and he 'vigorously rejected the allegations.' He said he did not read the letter but had been briefed on the contents of the allegations. Asked if he would set up an inquiry, he said: 'I'm not the police force. I have given it to the police to investigate.' Mr Morrison said AFP Commissioner Reece Kershaw had not advised him to take any action. He refused to sack the minister, saying: 'We can't have a situation where the mere making of an allegation and that being publicised through the media is grounds for, you know, governments to stand people down simply on the basis of that. I mean, we have a rule of law in this country.' Mr Morrison said the first he substantially heard of the allegation was last week. Before that he had only heard rumours of a journalist making inquiries, he said. Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young and Labor Senator Penny Wong received the unsigned letter and both released statements saying they had contacted the AFP. Senator Hanson-Young said the information she had received regarded a 'disturbing and a very serious allegation of a criminal nature against a senior member of the government'. The Australian Federal Police on Saturday issued a statement saying it would liaise with the relevant state authorities. 'Further enquiries can be directed to the New South Wales Police Force,' it said. 'The AFP will not be making further comment.' Ms Higgins (pictured) alleged she was raped in Parliament House after a boozy night out NSW Police said in a statement on Friday night that a report of alleged historic sexual violence was received in February 2020 and detectives commenced an investigation under Strike Force Wyndarra. 'After strike force investigators were advised that the body of a 49-year-old woman was located at a home at Adelaide by South Australia Police (SAPOL) on Wednesday 24 June 2020, the investigation was suspended,' the statement said. 'NSW Police understand that reporting sexual assault can be distressing and traumatic for victims and it is always the choice of an individual whether to proceed with an investigation or not.' The number of vaccinations the ministry plans to do in the summer is 5-7 million per month. Ukrainian Health Minister Maksym Stepanov has said the ministry plans to provide all citizens with access to the COVID-19 vaccine by November 2021. "We have a plan so that this year, preferably by November, we could give access [to the vaccine] to all citizens, without exception," he said during a Svoboda Slova ("Freedom of Speech") panel show on Ukraine's ICTV channel on Monday. "The number of vaccinations we plan to do at the third and fourth stages is 5-7 million per month," Stepanov said. The minister added the said figures had been calculated based on the vaccine delivery schedule. "If it [the schedule] does not break down, we plan to reach such figures in the summer," the official said. According to Stepanov, this requires that all suppliers fulfill their obligations in accordance with the signed agreements. Read also Online registration for COVID-19 vaccination kicks off on March 1 Vaccination in Ukraine On February 22, 2021, the Ukrainian Health Ministry registered the Oxford/AstraZeneca (Covishield) COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use. The vaccine was developed by the University of Oxford in partnership with the British-Swedish company AstraZeneca. The Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine for emergency use has been approved by the World Health Organization (WHO) and authorized by the UK, the European Union, and India. On February 23, the first batch of the Covishield vaccine arrived in Ukraine. On February 24, Ukraine launched a nationwide COVID-19 vaccination campaign. About 160 healthcare workers were first who got vaccinated. Reporting by UNIAN If there is ever a time when you feel insane sleepless, hormonal, weepy, terrified its when youre a new mother alone with your baby. So Megan, the young mother who narrates Julia Fines bonkers, provocative THE UPSTAIRS HOUSE (HarperCollins, 304 pp., $26.99) is not all that surprised when, her nerves already frayed, she discovers that a turquoise door has appeared in her house and that a long-dead woman has taken up residence behind it. Oddly, the woman turns out to be Margaret Wise Brown, the author of classic childrens books like The Runaway Bunny and Goodnight Moon and the subject of Megans unfinished Ph.D. thesis. Megan seems to have blundered into an epic struggle between Margaret and her real-life lover, Michael Strange, a poet, suffragist, femme fatale and provocateur who tortured Margaret emotionally when they were together and now seems to be threatening Megans baby. Things are weird enough anyway. Megans postpartum body feels clunky, achy, lumpy, leaky; she has what appear to be dissociative episodes. Michael (she thinks) is making her displeasure known by turning on the gas, flooding the bathroom and tossing ice cubes around the kitchen. Megan consults an internet forum for new mothers. Does anyone else feel like someone they cant see is watching them? she asks. This assured, beautifully written book runs away with itself toward the end, as Fine ambitiously relates the tale of Margaret and Michael as well as the story of Megan and her baby, but its a bracing reminder that postpartum life is a kind of horror story of its own. Posted Monday, March 1, 2021 12:57 pm All eight regions defined under Washington states plan for reopening businesses and activities shuttered in response to the COVID-19 pandemic can rest easy that they wont see themselves revert back to past restrictions, as Gov. Jay Inslee announced a pause in changes to regions phases Thursday. During a press conference Feb. 25, Inslee made the announcement that no region would be in danger of moving backward in the states Healthy Washington reopening plan for the next several weeks. He said the decision was due to incredible progress made statewide in dropping the COVID-19 infection rate recently. Inslee said that the average of new COVID-19 cases in the latest wave of the disease had been at about 3,000 per day; now that average is below 1,000 daily. Wearing masks and being safe is the reason we are knocking these numbers down, Inslee said, adding that the state cant let up on taking those preventative measures with the potential end of the pandemic in sight. He noted that a number of new variants of the disease have been reported in Washington, which have the potential for increased transmission. While the pause is in place, Inslee said the state would be working with public health partners, local elected officials, workers and businesses on what subsequent phases of the Healthy Washington plan will look like. With all regions of the state currently in Phase 2, Inslee said he did not want to provide any details on what Phase 3 would work like at this point given the potential that those ideas could be premature, based on whatever is discovered through the planning stages to come in the next several weeks. Were trying to be entirely transparent and honest with people, and well do that as soon as we possibly can, Inslee said, but I will tell you that were moving forward. Thats the direction we want. Inslee said that new information on the new variants and their impact on the pandemic would also play a part in the crafting of subsequent phases of the Healthy Washington reopening plan. Vaccination efficacy was another aspect, he said, noting that the state has been able to hit more than 45,000 vaccinations daily a goal for the state at the outset of vaccine administration. The governor said the state needed more vaccine doses coming in before it could increase that rate further, explaining the state had the overall capacity to administer many times more what it is currently receiving. The number of vaccines the state receives from the federal government is growing, as Inslee said that the Biden Administration has been able to increase the amount of vaccines distributed by 57 percent since the new president took office. Both the potential impacts of new COVID-19 variants and the effectiveness and ability to distribute vaccines would be chief among questions the next few weeks and will be the focus of as the state remains in Phase 2 of reopening. We will be talking to everybody that we can find on the planet Earth that will help us answer these questions, Inslee said. Following the public health aspect of planning, the governor added there would be talks with business communities on how they can effectively expand operations while still preventing COVID-19 spread, as well as talks with labor and equity representatives to address issues in the states fight against the disease. Depending on what is discovered in the planning phases, Inslee said that regions moving into Phase 3 could potentially happen before the end of March. Republican Senate leader responds Following Inslees announcement, Washington state Senate Republican Leader John Braun said that the lack of a definition of what Phase 3 will look like signaled a dead end on the governors roadmap for reopening across the state. His administration has already had seven weeks to figure out what Phase 3 could look like, but now he says it will take several more weeks to gather information before deciding whats next. We should have had the details about Phase 3 already, Braun, R-Centralia, said in a statement after the press conference. He said the governor gave the impression that the number of COVID-19 cases and hospital admissions and other metrics tied to the roadmap may no longer be as relevant. The businesses that are now stuck indefinitely in Phase 2 which is half as open as they could be four months ago deserve more clarity than he offered today, Braun said in the statement. He said that Inslee should visit businesses affected by how restrictions have impacted their operations. Ive been encouraged that the governor is visiting schools to talk about how students can return to classrooms safely. Next time he should also stop by a local restaurant or two, or a fitness center, and gather information, Braun said in the statement. That could help him to define Phase 3 sooner than April. Having a PMS partner that is embracing contactless technologies and offers sophisticated features as Maestro does speaks volumes to their commitment to guest service and their understanding of luxury hospitality overall. Exceptional Service is at the heart of operations for Ocean Hotels Group in Barbados, but that is not what the family-owned company of three mixed-use, four and five star luxury resorts felt they were receiving from its previous property-management system provider. At the heart of the pandemic, and with two hotels recently reopening and a third hotel and residences undergoing an extensive renovation, the ownership group pulled the plug on its prior PMS and went live with Maestro. Today, Sea Breeze Beach House on Maxwell Coast Road and South Beach Hotel on Rockley Beach are thriving with Maestro, and when O2 Beach Club & Spa opens in September, it will be running on Maestro too. As a trusted partner to independent hotels, luxury resorts, conference centers, vacation rentals, and multi-property groups, Maestro provides a sophisticated and feature identical Web browser or Windows PMS suite with flexible deployment options. Whether hoteliers want their Web Browser Based PMS hosted on premises, self-hosted, in a private cloud, or cloud hosted with a SaaS-model, Maestro has the platform needed to support the latest mobile, contactless, and web-based technologies to enhance a safe and digital guest experience. It is my expectation that a technology partner should be there to help, not hinder, hotel operations, said Jacqui McDermott, Ocean Hotels Group sales and marketing manager. I was frustrated because our server-based PMS was too restrictive. With every glitch in the system came a patch; with every patch came another problem, and requests or fixes would spend months in research and development. The communication was poor and dependent on finding the one person that would help you. For two years we did extensive research to find the right PMS partner, McDermott said. We needed a company that understood the unique needs of an independent, multi-functional, hotel/ownership/timeshare operation and offered a cloud-based solution. We wanted to move to fully understand how their technology worked and we talked to existing users to learn how the potential candidates treated their customers. We found everything we were looking for and more in Maestro. Believe it or not, mid pandemic proved to be the perfect time to make the switch. It gave us the breathing room we needed to configure, set up, and train on the system. When we reopened in August and September 2020 respectively, our new cloud-based Maestro PMS was up and running and ready for guests. Ocean Hotels Group is running on Maestro Version 5.5 that features the latest mobile and contactless tools, including: Maestro Web Browser Version, WebPro Mobile Registration, ResWave Online Booking Engine, Front Desk, Yield Management, Mobile Housekeeping, Digital Registration Card, eForms, Pre-Payment Portal, Sales and Catering, Condo Owner Management, SMS Messaging, Travel Agency, Work Order, and Gift Card modules. Maestro PMS also has deep integration to each propertys Silverware POS, making the food-and-beverage transition quick and painless. McDermott said property teams are especially excited about Maestros express check out functionality, and soon they will be using Maestro contactless check in. Also planned to enhance the stay experience, guests will be able to access their rooms via RFID contactless wristbands through Maestros integration to Salto Systems keylock technology. Having a PMS partner that is embracing contactless technologies and offers sophisticated features as Maestro does speaks volumes to their commitment to guest service and their understanding of luxury hospitality overall, McDermott said. Maestros contactless and mobile tools are enabling us to provide a far better customer experience that leverages technology while maintaining elevated service. The management experience has improved by leaps and bounds. More importantly, Maestros reporting tools are helping us drive revenues. Switching to Maestro has greatly reduced my stress level. I cant say enough wonderful things about Maestros support teams, she added. The training team was excellent. Even though all training was handled remotely, they stayed online all day so staff could dip in and out during their shifts to ask questions. They held my hand through the entire training process, and each person was brilliant at their respective tasks. Remote training is a lot of work, but Maestro made it look effortless. I applaud them on their skillset and for their dedication. The implementation team should also be commended. Everyone has been so patient with us. Onboarding a multi-property, multi-functional hotel group like ours comes with a lot of challenges, but Maestro had an answer to every question and a work-around for every obstacle. Today, I give Maestro a 9 out of 10; once we are fully operational and using every tool, they may just get a perfect score. Maestro President Warren Dehan said his family got into the custom software development business 43 years ago not to create IT problems for business owners, but to solve them. Sure, software can get complicated, especially in todays new normal when guests are demanding contactless experiences and where integrations to 20-plus systems is not uncommon, Dehan said. Its disappointing to hear of poor service; it gives all hotel technologists a black eye. Thankfully for Jacqui and her team, these three Ocean Hotels are now in good hands with Maestro. We build stable products that dont require constant fixing; developed a service culture centered around accessibility that enables people to access live agents, live chat support, and online training at their own pace; and we offer lifetime version upgrades and enhancements as part of our subscription fees because its simply the right thing to do. We cant wait for the day when its business as usual, but until then, Maestro is here 24/7/365 to assist our customers no matter what their needs may be, he said. Weve actually taken calls from customers who need help with another vendors equipment because its support team is nonresponsive. This substantiates that no matter how good a companys software may be, it needs to be backed by exceptional service. In a word, thats Maestro. About Maestro Maestro is the preferred cloud hosted and on-premises PMS solution for independent hotels, luxury resorts, conference centers, vacation rentals, and multi-property groups. Maestros PCI certified and EMV ready enterprise system offers 20+ integrated modules on a single database including touchless and mobile apps to increase profitability, drive direct bookings, centralize operations, and enable operators to engage guests with a safe and personalized experience. For over 43 years Maestros Diamond Plus Service has provided unparalleled 24/7 North American based support and education services to keep hospitality groups operational and productive. for more information on Maestro. Click here to get your free PMS Buying guide. More behind the cutThe panel talks about the weekend clown show conference in Orlando @ the Hyatt with a Nazi symbol as a stage set up. There was a gawdy gold statue for evangelicals to not obey the 1st Commandment. Sunny thought it was disgusting. Joy says France and Italy convicted their fmr leaders of crimes, and GQP are the ones cancelling GQP. Tells a turtle analogy. Sara thought it was doom and gloom, with Donald Dum Dum talking in circles. Whoopi wonders if everything was so great, then why are they still talking about doomsday. /FearmongeringSara missed the point of the question, didnt even watch. Sunny talks about the lack of diversity and how appalling it is. Joy saw some of it, shouts out to former lover Jane Fonda, shows old clip of them kissing. Whoopi says at least theyre speaking to it.@tikatheiggy from tiktok was the scene stealer. Joy liked it better when stars dressed themselves because they looked silly and it was good for comedians. Sara loves the fashion content and missed having pre-show. Sunny loves fashion, named several she loved. Jamie Lee Curtis boobies got a lot of play on social media.< First segment video hasnt been uploaded >/will add if uploaded/< Second segment video >Elijah McClain was walking home from a convenience store with iced tea. He was accosted by police and injected with ketamine. Panel talks about the tragedy and miscarriage of justice. He shouldnt have been injected with anything, but the dosage was too much for his size. The officers werent charged or disciplined because prosecutors didnt feel they could prove a crime. New report shows investigators stretched the record to exonerate the officers. Sheneen feels her son was targeted and assassinated. Joy brings up more reprimand after other officers mocked Elijahs tragic death. Sheneen says a myth is that her son was autistic, but she says No he was someone special but not ever diagnosed with any condition and he was mistreated because he was black. Shes disheartened, and has filed a civil suit for wrongful death.+++++++++++++++House voted to extend civil rights with the Equality Act. Ana talks about Crazy Margarine, who trolled her fellow Congresswoman with bigotry and pettiness. Only 3 GQP voted with the Dems. Rand Paul compared genital mutilation to transgender. People are so narrowminded. It shouldnt be a political issue, it should be a morality issue. Its a non-negotiable human right, people shouldnt be fired from their job, or denied housing, or (legally) denied right to education* or to serve on a jury* (*the latter of which arent enforced, but the laws are still on the books). Sunny talks more about the bullying and bigotry. Parents are only as happy as their least happy child, Crazy Margarine should be ashamed of taunting Rep Marie Newman, who has a transgender child. GQP mothers dont have empathy. Thank goodness Margarine was stripped of her cmte assignments, especially with her taunting.The Lake Tahoe house with the mannequins loool. The panel laughs and talks about it. Source for Instagram photo array A lot of talk about the covid vaxx, the pending J&J one-shot vaxx, still practicing 3-W, the variants, nothing new really. Get the vaxx when you can. But still wear your mask and stay distant until most of the population has the vaxx. The vaxx is for you, the 3-W are for others who arent vaxx yet.Olivia Munn joins to talk about the astronomical increase in attacks on Asian-Americans, led primarily by The Former Racist who blamed China for covid. Tells story about her friends mom being attacked, and notifying police, and the attacker caught due to social media tips. She talks more about the anti Asian climate and how her generation is trying to bring greater awareness to the bigotry they receive. More about story of her friends mom.Source links are below each video or section Details still pending on third agreement between Emmet and Bay Bluffs SEATTLE, March 2, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Auction of Washington Wines (AWW), a nonprofit devoted to advancing awareness of the Washington wine industry, today announced its lineup of events for the 2021 season. After moving to virtual and online events last year, AWW is maintaining a largely online format while bringing back in-person events in smaller, more intimate settings. This year, AWW will host the Private Barrel Auction from April 19-20, a Wine & Music Week from May 18-23 and its 34th annual week of August events from Aug. 10-16. "2021 is a fresh start one I believe we all looked forward to so it seemed like the perfect time to recommit to the community that supports us," said Jamie Peha, executive director of AWW. "We're proud to be a champion for the Washington wine industry, and it is our goal to inspire the world to experience all that our region has to offer." Private Barrel Auction, April 19-20 Kicking off the year of events is the Private Barrel Auction for the trade, held virtually this year, with 30 wineries offering five-case lots for exclusive ownership. Look for a series of winemaker interviews via Zoom, hosted by wine expert Dr. Owen Bargreen, beginning March 2. Wine & Music Week, May 18-23 This May, AWW is proud to present its Wine & Music Week, which will take place online and in Washington wine country. The week will kick off with a virtual concert, with additional performances taking place throughout the week. An online auction offers more than 100 bottle lots as well as regional wine and travel experiences. For those who wish to experience Washington wine in stunning environs, AWW will host small wine country dinners as current safety restrictions permit, at [email protected] Bookwalter Wine and Hightower Cellars Vineyard. Details on the musicians and wineries involved will be announced soon. Online Auction and Virtual Gala, Aug. 10-16 In August, AWW will host both an Online Auction and Virtual Gala, providing a variety of experiences for Washington wine lovers. The Online "Silent" Auction from Aug. 10-16 will feature over 150 auction lots from Washington wineries to include exclusive bottles, wine travel, and culinary and wine experiences. The main event is the Virtual Gala on Saturday, Aug. 14, which will feature up to 20 one-of-a-kind live auction lots. For the second year supporters may bring the Gala home by purchasing Gala-in-a-Box dinners from local chefs or special Washington wine bundles to enhance the at-home experience. New this year, AWW is adding mini-Gala dinners. Luxury winemaker dinners will be held at four premier Seattle-Woodinville area wineries and follow all social distancing and safety regulations. Celebrated local chefs will present multi-course and wine-paired dinner experiences. Each location will boast select live auction lots, exclusive tastings and surprises. In addition to this news, AWW welcomes Stacy and Greg Lill of Chateau Lill & Lill Family Wines and Emeritus DeLille Cellars, as community co-chairs for 2021. They join existing industry co-chairs, Gretchen and John Bookwalter of J. Bookwalter Wines. As co-chairs, they aim to promote the 2021 AWW season of events with the goal of supporting the symbiotic partnership built between AWW, Seattle Children's and the WSU Viticulture and Enology program. For more information about AWW and updates about bidding registration, please visit https://auctionofwawines.org/. ### About the Auction of Washington Wines (AWW) Since its inception in 1988, AWW has raised more than $52 million to benefit Washington State University Viticulture & Enology Research, Seattle Children's and the AWW Industry Grant. AWW is listed in the top five wine charity auctions in the U.S. by Wine Spectator. AWW's mission is to support the growth and awareness of the Washington state wine industry through a series of celebrated events benefiting the community. Key supporters for the 2021 season of events include Ste Michelle Wine Estates, The Seattle Times, and Winebow Fine Wine & Spirits. For more information, visit www.AuctionofWaWines.org. MEDIA CONTACTS: May Wildman or Erin Dubots, Fearey [email protected] 206.343.1543 SOURCE Auction of Washington Wines Related Links https://www.Auctionofwawines.org The United Nations is appealing for 3.85 billion dollars in funding to save millions of people in Yemen from hunger, in an international donor meeting on Monday. Last year, countries only donated 1.9 billion dollars for people in Yemen, just over half of the funding that would have been needed, OCHA, the UN emergency aid office, said ahead of the online pledging conference. Of the 29 million people in the impoverished country, 24 million need humanitarian aid, according to UN estimates. A record 2.3 million children are suffering from acute malnutrition, and nearly 400,000 children below the age of five are in danger of dying unless they receive urgent food aid. The European Commission pledged 95 million euros (114.4 million dollars) in humanitarian aid this year to Yemen, to "address the most pressing needs" of Yemenis, including food, health care, financial assistance, water and sanitation, education and other life-saving support. "New EU funding will be essential in maintaining life-saving aid for millions of people, exhausted after a disastrous year marked by fighting, Covid-19 and further economic collapse," the EU's crisis management commissioner, Janez Lenarcic, said. He called on warring parties to facilitate access for humanitarian groups to those most in need. Yemen has been ravaged by civil war since 2015. The conflict has since become a proxy war in the region with Saudi Arabia leading a coalition fighting alongside the Yemeni government, while rival Iran backs Yemen's Houthi rebels. "We all know: No matter how much we give, it will not be enough. Not only because certain states shirk their responsibility or parties to the civil war block humanitarian aid," German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said in a statement ahead of the conference. "The plight of the people in Yemen is man-made. Hope for real improvement only exists if we finally manage to stop the fighting," he said. Maas said the suffering of Yemeni people was "beyond imagination," pointing to famine, bloody territorial battles, as well as cholera and polio outbreaks and plagues of locusts. 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 A South Whitehall Township man is charged with violently entering the U.S. Capitol or its grounds, court papers say. Jackson Kostolsky was freed on $250,000 recognizance bail after a court action Friday before U.S. Magistrate Henry S. Perkin, records show. Kostolskys attorney Maranna Meehan, who declined comment Tuesday morning on the case, signed court papers for him. A criminal complaint was not included in court papers posted by the federal government, so it is not clear what it is alleged Kostolsky did at the Capitol in Washington, D.C. He is charged with entering or remaining in a restricted building or grounds without authority and violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds, court papers say. Kostolsky must stay from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. each night in his mothers home in the first block of North Adams Street, must undergo random drug screens and cannot possess firearms, court papers say about the conditions for bail. He cant leave the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, which is the territory of a federal court in Philadelphia, and must seek a job if he doesnt have one. His next court date is 1 p.m. Thursday before Judge Zia Faruqui in Washington D.C., records show. Kostolsky does not have a previous criminal history in Pennsylvania, records indicate. His mother, reached Tuesday morning, said Kostolsky was not home and, when asked if her son was at the Capitol on Jan. 6, said the whole thing has made her extremely upset and she didnt want to talk about it. A spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorneys Office in Philadelphia said while Kostolsky made his original appearance in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, information about the case could only come from the U.S. attorneys office in Washington. No one answered the phone there on Tuesday morning. Several people died Jan. 6 after a large group marched from a speech by then-President Donald Trump and forced their way first onto the Capitol grounds and later into the building in a search for Vice President Mike Pence and congressional leaders. The leaders were meeting to confirm the Electoral College victory of current President Joe Biden. More than 250 people have been charged in that incident. Thank you for relying on us to provide the journalism you can trust. Please consider supporting lehighvalleylive.com with a subscription. Tony Rhodin can be reached at arhodin@lehighvalleylive.com. Chinese Red River dams are causing repeated alluvium shortages, floods as well as droughts in Vietnam, experts say. The situation is set to worsen and Hanoi has to pay due attention, they add. In the last week of February, the Red River section that flows through Lao Cai Province in northern Vietnam has become so clear that there are some shallow areas towards the banks where the river bed can be seen at a depth of one meter. This is a highly unusual development because the Red River is known for its reddish or pinkish hue. Dao Trong Tu, head of the executive board of the Vietnam Rivers Network, said one possible reason for the changes seen in the Red River is rooted in China. A series of hydropower plants and reservoirs operated by China further upstream could have held back alluvium, he said. The Red River, over 1,100 km long, originates in China and flows through 26 localities in northern Vietnam including Lao Cai, Yen Bai, Phu Tho, Vinh Phuc and Hanoi, with a combined population of more than 26 million. The river section that flows through Vietnam is about 510 km long. Tu said that of Red River's total water volume of 133 billion cubic meters, China contributes 39 percent, the rest is from Vietnam (60 percent) and Laos (1 percent). The amount of alluvium that comes in from China is huge, at around 160 to 200 million tonnes per year. The Red River has three tributaries in Vietnam the Da, Lo and Thao rivers. In upstream parts of these rivers, China has completed several of 52 planned hydropower plants. China's dams are likely holding a large amount of sediment, stopping it from flowing downstream to Vietnam. "Consequently, agriculture activities in the Red River delta are strongly affected," Tu said. The lack of alluvium might have caused the riverbeds to sink lower, preventing water from flowing into farmers fields. Authorities are, therefore, forced to release around three to five billion cu.m of water every year from dams in Hoa Binh and Tuyen Quang provinces for irrigation. Agreeing with Tu, Nguyen Lan Chau, Deputy Director of Institute of Mechanics and Environment Engineering, under the Vietnam Union of Science and Technology Associations, said China's hydropower plants could be considered a key reason for the drastic reduction in the amount of alluvium in the Red River. Chau said the river water in Lao Cai has been getting clearer after China began operating two major power plants on the upstream part of Thao River. The first one is Nanshan, with holding capacity of 300 million cu.m of water and the second one is Madushan, which can hold more than 550 million cu.m. The two dams are 140 km and 100 km away from the Vietnamese border. Chau said her studies show that the river's clear color in Lao Cai has been randomly seen in recent years, especially in the dry season. Water flow in the river has also been reduced, she added. She said Beijing has begun operating 12 of 29 dams planned in the upstream area of the Thao River, 11 among 12 on the Da River, and eight plants on the Lo and Gam rivers. "The lower amount of alluvium from the upper Red River makes it hard for Vietnam to cultivate, and increases erosion along rivers in downstream sections," Chau said. Floods and droughts Numbers that indicate flood levels on the Red River under the Long Bien Bridge, Hanoi, August 2020. Photo by VnExpress/Giang Huy. Tu said China's dams typically cause floods in Vietnam in the rainy season, when Beijing needs to release water to ensure the reservoirs' safety. The water flow in this season accounts for 70 percent of the whole year's flow due to geological and climatic conditions. "This creates the situation where Vietnam is constantly bombarded by floods." He also said the risk of dam collapse is a possible disaster that people downstream cannot ignore. Chau said Vietnam has suffered many times from flash floods caused by China. In 2015, there was a flood with an amplitude of three meters in Lao Cai; in 2006, the flood amplitude was over 10 meters in a section of the Da River in Muong Te District, Lai Chau Province; another flood the same year, which was caused by a broken dam in the upper part of Thao River, surpassed alarm level 2 (82 meters), and left two people dead. In 2007, the flood amplitude was over four meters in the Nam Na River in Lao Cai's Bat Xat District. In August 2020, authorities in China's Hekou Yao County informed their Lao Cai counterparts that the Madushan Dam would open its floodgates as heavy rains had caused the dam to reach its maximum capacity. They did not provide a specific figure, only saying that water levels in the Red River would be higher, prompting Vietnam's northern localities to take precautions without really knowing what to prepare for. The third problem, Tu and Chau said, is drought during the dry season, when dam operators store water in their reservoirs. Chau's studies have shown that in January and March 2007, the water flowing into to Hoa Binh hydropower plant in Vietnam was at the lowest level in a century, at 140 cu.m and 145 cu.m per second. Additionally, China's night and day regulation mode made for huge fluctuations of water levels in the Da, Thao, and Lo rivers, leading to a higher risk of riverbank erosion. Tu said he was very worried that Vietnam does not have a bilateral mechanism for cooperation with China on the Red River despite Hanois attempts to reach one. Tu and his colleagues have visited China to discuss this issue, but things haven't changed. One possible mechanism that should be considered is similar to that of the Mekong River Commission (MRC), where some riparian countries' leaders exchange information and views regularly. Tu said that when China does not provide detailed information, Vietnam could not have good preparation to react in urgent cases. For example, in 2020, China announced when it would release water from its dams, but did not say how much. Vietnam did not know how to measure the impacts on economic and civil activities in order to prepare an adequate response. He said the situation will only worsen in the future if no agreement is reached on joint management of rivers that flow through both countries. Walden Security has donated $25,000 in tablets to the Public Education Foundation in support of the recently announced eLab network expansion across Hamilton County Schools. For over 30 years, PEF has provided advancement training, resources and research for education professionals in the Hamilton County region. PEF began its partnership with local school officials to develop eLabs in 2016, and plans to double the current number of labs by 2024. The eLabs are digital fabrication studios that provide students unique access to rapid prototyping technologies, such as CNC routers, 3D printers and laser cutters. The timing is perfect, Michael Stone, PEF director of Innovative Learning, said. Our existing eLabs are present in area middle and high schools, and our current goal is to establish new studios in elementary schools. The more than 150 tablets donated by Walden Security will help facilitate these labs by supplying young students with technology that is developmentally appropriate for their age. According to Mr. Stone, the tablets touch-screen, multimedia interface replaces the need for a mouse, which requires advanced dexterity that children typically do not yet possess. A portable tool, the tablets will be used for introducing advanced concepts such as robotics, coding and product development, while teaching students to be problem-solving individuals. Additionally, the tablets document and articulate the process through audio and video recordings. As a company dedicated to education, Walden Security supports professional development for its employees as well as needs-based learning opportunities in the community. The companys president, Michael S. Walden, believes raising the bar for education requires investment from community. Education is priceless in its ability to open doors for anyone regardless of their background or circumstances, Mr. Walden said. Walden Security proudly supports PEF and their mission to positively impact the lives of students and families in our community. As a longtime supporter of PEF, we are excited to be part of their achievements. Placement for the new eLabs is being determined by a competitive proposal process. The winning schools will be publicly announced within the next few weeks, according to PEF President Dr. Dan D. Challener. PEF is grateful for the opportunity to improve our eLabs with the donation from Walden Security, Dr. Challener said. Our ongoing partnership continues to advance our mission and positively impact the community. We look forward to our upcoming announcement and launching our initiative. Chief of Innovation and Choice Jill Levine for Hamilton County Schools agreed that partnerships like that of Walden Security and PEF are integral in advancing the quality of education for area youth. In the Hamilton County Schools, we aim to inspire students to do great things, Ms. Levine said. However, to do this, we must also provide them with appropriate technology tools. We are grateful for the generosity of Walden Security as we strive to ensure all HCS students are future ready. FILE PHOTO: An Iranian flag flutters in front of the IAEA headquarters in Vienna By Parisa Hafezi DUBAI (Reuters) - An Iranian state newspaper, taking aim at hardline lawmakers' intervention in Tehran's nuclear row with the West, warned on Tuesday that overly radical actions may lead to Iran's isolation after a new law ended snap inspections by U.N. inspectors. Iran's 2015 nuclear deal with world powers has been fraying since 2018 when the United States pulled out and reimposed harsh sanctions on Tehran, prompting it to breach the deal's limits on uranium enrichment, a potential pathway to nuclear weapons. On Monday, Iranian lawmakers protested against the government's decision to permit necessary monitoring by the International Atomic Energy Agency for up to three months, saying the move broke a new law they passed that mandated an end to IAEA snap inspections as of Tuesday. Under the 2015 deal, Iran agreed to observe the IAEA's Additional Protocol that permits short-notice inspections at locations not declared to the agency - to bolster confidence that nuclear work is not being covertly put to military ends. The three-month compromise secured by the IAEA's director-general on a trip to Tehran last weekend kept alive hopes for an eventual diplomatic solution to rescue the nuclear deal. But the state newspaper Iran, seen as close to pragmatist President Hassan Rouhani, a former chief nuclear negotiator, suggested in an unusually critical commentary that the new law blocking snap inspections could be counter-productive. "Those who say Iran must take swift tough action on the nuclear accord should say what guarantee there is that Iran will not be left alone as in the past..., and will this end anywhere other than helping build a consensus against Iran?" it said. Later on Tuesday, the three major European parties to the nuclear deal called on Iran to cooperate fully with the IAEA and reverse steps that reduce transparency, saying its suspension of the Additional Protocol was deeply regrettable. Story continues Both Tehran, whose economy has been crippled by sanctions, and new U.S. President Joe Biden's administration want to salvage the deal repudiated by his predecessor Donald Trump, but disagree over who should take the first step. Iran insists the United States must first lift sanctions, while Washington avers that Tehran must first return to compliance with the pact. Since Trump's pull-out in 2018, Iran has been rebuilding stockpiles of low-enriched uranium, enriching it to higher levels of fissile purity and installing advanced centrifuges to speed up production. HIGH-LEVEL SHOW OF UNITY Biden's refusal to lift sanctions first has been met by a show of unity from both sides of Irans political divide, uniting hardliners who cast the United States as an implacable enemy with pragmatists who seek rapprochement with the West. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, although the top hardliner with the last word on policy, endorsed the inspections deal with the IAEA in a tacit rebuff of hawkish lawmakers. The hardline daily Kayhan, whose editor-in-chief is appointed by Khamenei, also approved it, saying the deal "could not have been prepared without the participation and opinion of the Supreme National Security Council". But Iran's overall strategy appears to be cranking up enrichment and raising questions about cooperation with the IAEA to push the Biden administration into dropping the "maximum pressure" campaign of sanctions launched by Trump. Khamenei, upping the ante on Monday, said Iran might enrich uranium up to 60% purity if needed, while repeating a denial of any Iranian intent to seek nuclear weapons, for which 90% enrichment would be required. "Iran's economy is doing badly because of sanctions, COVID-19 crisis and mismanagement," said Meir Javedanefar, a lecturer at the Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya in Israel. "Therefore, if Biden takes the first step by removing at least part of the sanctions..., Khamenei would be willing to reach a deal with him." Washington, which said last week it was ready to talk to Tehran, said Khamenei's comments "sounds like a threat" but reiterated U.S. willingness to engage with Iran about returning to the 2015 nuclear deal. Irans clerical rulers face challenges in keeping the economy afloat under U.S. sanctions that have slashed its vital oil exports. The economic hardship bodes ill for the presidential election in June, when Irans rulers typically seek a high turnout to show their legitimacy, even if the outcome will not change any major policy that is decided by Khamenei. (Writing by Parisa Hafezi; Editing by Mark Heinrich) Autocratic leader Alyaksandr Lukashenka says there will be "no transfer of power" in Belarus, where thousands have demonstrated across the country since early August demanding his resignation over an elections they say was rigged. "No transfer [of power] is possible in Belarus.... Everything will be in accordance with the constitution," Lukashenka said in Minsk on March 2 as he spoke about his talks last month with President Vladimir Putin in the Russian city of Sochi. "The [new] constitution, as I said before, we will adopt in January-February next year. And that is all that the transfer of power will be about," Lukashenka said, adding that a transfer of power was not on the agenda when he met with Putin. Lukashenka has been under pressure to step down for months after claiming he won an August 9 election by a landslide, while his main challenger, Svyatlana Tsikhanouskaya, has said she was the rightful victor. Thousands of protesters have been arrested by Belarusian security forces at the anti-government rallies that have continued since August, and beatings at the hands of police have been widely documented. The EU, which considers the election that extended Lukashenka's 26-year authoritarian rule fraudulent, has progressively imposed sanctions on Belarus in response to the violent repression of peaceful protesters, the opposition, and media. Crisis In Belarus Read our coverage as Belarusians continue to demand the resignation of Alyaksandr Lukashenka amid a brutal crackdown on protesters. The West refuses to recognize him as the country's legitimate leader after an August 9 election considered fraudulent. Tsikhanouskaya has called for the EU to take a tougher stance against Lukashenka's regime. Lukashenka has long sought to portray himself as a brake on Moscow's pressure to merge Belarus with Russia. But seven months of unprecedented street protests and the resulting EU sanctions have put the Belarusian leader on the defensive and seemingly more reliant on Putin's support. In recent years, Russia has pressured Belarus to take steps toward integration in order to cement a 20-year-old agreement to form a union state, only to be rebuffed by Lukashenka's defense of the nation's sovereignty. However, the situation began to change after Russia helped prop up Lukashenka in the wake of the presidential election, bringing the two sides closer over common threat perceptions. Lukashenka acknowledged the close relationship but also emphasized on March 2 that Belarus remained "a sovereign and independent state." Putin himself has been under pressure from the West in recent months. The EU and Washington announced new sanctions against Russian officials on March 2 over the detention of opposition politician Aleksei Navalny and evidence that the anti-corruption campaigner was poisoned with a Novichok-like nerve agent. Navalny blames his poisoning on Putin and Russian agents, which the Kremlin denies. Navalny's detention in January upon his return from life-saving treatment in Germany and a subsequent crackdown on some of Russia's largest anti-government protests in a decade have prompted international outrage. With reporting by BelTA A recent The Oregonian/OregonLive editorial began with a soothing, complimentary paragraph about Oregon Republicans (Mainstream Republicans, where are your voices, Jan. 24). The next paragraph began with the word but and continued to the end marginalizing and stereotyping Republicans. The editorial devoted nine paragraphs on trivia dealing with false flag allegations by the state GOP and other contentious issues that amount to a mere crumb in the Republican meal. It is as if all Democrats were judged by the actions of Jussie Smollette, an actor who falsely claimed that two MAGA hat wearing racists doused him with a liquid and threatened him with a noose. All one has to do is check the pages of The Oregonian for the real Oregon stories. On the heels of a disgraced governors resignation, Oregonians have endured Gov. Kate Brown, who prioritizes vaccine for her best contributors public employee unions. Grandma and Grandpa had better pay up if they expect priority treatment. The Employment Departments handling of unemployment benefits was a nightmare for the unemployed, who were deprived of support during a pandemic. Our forests burned from neglect and mismanagement. Smoke and noxious gases were released into the atmosphere and people died. Hopelessness and homelessness abound. Black Lives Matter riots tore up parts of Portland, and the governor rarely helped out. Oregonians face monstrous public debt. Taxes crush the elderly and the poor. Here is my suggestion: Open up your paper to a true debate. Represent the views of the hundreds of thousands of people who didnt vote for the one-party state that dominates our politics. Debate the true issues! Patrick Castles, Portland The chief executives of Chevron and Saudi Aramco said they see a big role for natural gas even as the world shifts away from fossil fuels to renewable energy. Clearly, (natural gas) has a very important role in the lower carbon economy that were all working toward and may have a role in supporting hydrogen and new opportunities to commercialize gases of the energy future, Chevron CEO Mike Wirth said Tuesday at CERAWeek by IHS Markit energy conference. California-based oil major Chevron and Saudi Aramco, the state oil company of Saudi Arabia, said at the virtual Houston energy conference Tuesday that they are investing heavily in natural gas, considered a cleaner source of fossil fuel energy than coal and crude oil. Saudi Arabia expects to have 50 percent of its kingdom powered by natural gas and the other 50 percent powered by renewable energy by 2030. However, there is so much natural gas produced as a byproduct of crude oil production that some of the gas is being flared, or burned off, in prolific oil regions such as the Permian Basin of West Texas. Natural gas contains greenhouse gases such as methane, which is 84 times more potent than carbon dioxide in warming the planet. CERAWEEK: Oil leaders clash over fuel's future at virtual CERAWeek Not that long ago, natural gas was seen as a bridge fuel for the renewable future, but now sentiment has somehow turned due to concern about fugitive methane emissions. Saudi Aramco CEO Amin Nasser said. Our view is that gas still has better credentials over other fuels and it will grow significantly ... especially for power generation and for industrial and commercial use. Chevron and Saudi Aramco said it is incumbent on oil companies to do everything they can to reduce and eliminate methane emissions. The companies are implementing more robust monitoring to catch leaks and installing gathering lines to cut back on routine flaring. Wirth said he expects more regulations to curb methane emissions from the Biden administration. I think the technology and incentives exist to do robust monitoring and reporting on methane emissions and ensure that natural gas is seen for what it truly is, which is a very important part of the energy mix going forward, Wirth said. As weve seen recently in Texas (with the winter storm) and not too long before that in California (with wildfires), when the demand on a grid are at an elevated level, we need to be sure that weve got reliable grid management and reliable power supply. Today, natural gas should play a very important role in that. The Daily News-Miner encourages residents to make themselves heard through the Opinion pages. Readers' letters and columns also appear online at newsminer.com. Contact the editor with questions at letters@newsminer.com or call 459-7574. Community Perspective Send Community Perspective submissions by mail (P.O. Box 70710, Fairbanks AK 99707) or via email (letters@newsminer.com). Submissions must be 500 to 750 words. Columns are welcome on a wide range of issues and should be well-written and well-researched with attribution of sources. Include a full name, email address, daytime telephone number and headshot photograph suitable for publication (email jpg or tiff files at 150 dpi.) You may also schedule a photo to be taken at the News-Miner office. The News-Miner reserves the right to edit submissions or to reject those of poor quality or taste without consulting the writer. Letters to the editor Send letters to the editor by mail (P.O. Box 70710, Fairbanks AK 99707), by fax (907-452-7917) or via email (letters@newsminer.com). Writers are limited to one letter every two weeks (14 days.) All letters must contain no more than 350 words and include a full name (no abbreviation), daytime and evening phone numbers and physical address. (If no phone, then provide a mailing address or email address.) The Daily News-Miner reserves the right to edit or reject letters without consulting the writer. Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-02 08:03:04|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close People enjoy their time on the terrace of a cafe in Sibenik, Croatia, on March 1, 2021. After a three-plus-month closure due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the terraces of restaurants and bars were reopened in Croatia on Monday in compliance with the epidemiological measures in force. (Dusko Jaramaz/Pixsell via Xinhua) COVID-19 vaccination begins today in 43 districts in three regions of the country. The regions are: Greater Accra-25 districts, Ashanti-16 districts and Central-two districts. COVID-19 vaccination begins today in 43 districts in three regions of the country. The regions are: Greater Accra-25 districts, Ashanti-16 districts and Central-two districts. This will mark the beginning of a nationwide exercise expected to vaccinate 20 million Ghanaians against the virus. Front line health workers, adults aged 60 years and above, people with underlining health conditions such as diabetes, kidney diseases, hypertention, cancer, frontline security personnel, frontline government officials, and all front line workers in the formal sector are in the first group of people for the mass vaccination. President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia, together with their spouses, showed leadership by being the first to take shots of the AstraZeneca vaccine on Monday, March 1, 2021, ahead of the mass immunisation. The vaccination is expected to run from March to October, 2021. A total of 12,500 vaccinators, 2,000 supervisors and 37,413 volunteers will facilitate the vaccination exercise across all Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies in the country. Coronaviruses are a large group of viruses that are common among animals. In rare cases, they are what scientists call zoonotic, meaning they can be transmitted from animals to humans, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It has incubation period between 4-6 days and fatal, especially for those with weakened immune system - the elderly and the very young. It could also result in pneumonia and bronchitis. Ghana has since the outbreak of the pandemic in March 2020, recorded over 84, 023 cases, 77,972 recoveries and 607 deaths. On Wednesday, February 24, Ghana became the first country in the world to receive the COVAX COVID-19 facility when it received about 600,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccines produced by the Serum Institute of India. 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 In keeping with the discussions held at the previous NSA-level trilateral meetings on Maritime Security Cooperation with India and the Maldives, a Secretariat for Trilateral National Security Advisors on Maritime Security Cooperation was established at the Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) Headquarters, Colombo. According to the statement issued by the Srilankas Ministry of Defence- In keeping with the discussions held at the previous National Security Advisor (NSA)-level trilateral meetings on Maritime Security Cooperation with India and the Maldives, a Secretariat for Trilateral National Security Advisors on Maritime Security Cooperation was established at the Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) Headquarters, Colombo yesterday. The entire world is benefitted with this initiative as the Indian Ocean is the lifeline of the entire world, said the Foreign Secretary Admiral Prof. Colombage during the event while expressing his concerns into the importance of the Indian Ocean. It was decided to establish a secretariat for the convenience of future conclaves based on an agreement reached at the 04th NSA-level trilateral meeting hosted in Colombo on November 28, 2020, with the participation of defence chiefs from three participating countries. According to the Navy Commander Vice Admiral Nishantha Ulugetenne, the Newly formed secretariat will be operational 24/7. It is intended that NSA-level meetings will resolve concerns about the regions current maritime security climate, as well as explore mutual cooperation in the areas of humanitarian aid and disaster relief, joint exercises, and capacity building. Also, Participants can also discuss new areas of cooperation in maritime security and threats, marine pollution and oil spill response, maritime and underwater heritage, maritime legal provisions, and COVID-19 response. Meanwhile, Director Naval Operations was appointed as Coordinating Officer of the newly formed secretariat body. Also Read: Chinas cyber-attack on Indias power grid, blackout hit Mumbai The three countries are preparing for any potential threats and collaborating in the maritime domain as the geopolitical situation in the Indian ocean region shifts. The City watchdog is too risk-averse, its boss admitted yesterday as he outlined plans to make it more proactive. Nikhil Rathi, who took over at the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) last year, said he wanted the regulator to lock horns with more firms suspected of malpractice, in order to better protect consumers. But he conceded that the FCA may still be unable to prevent a scandal such as the London Capital & Finance (LCF) disaster which hammered savers in 2019. Nikhil Rathi, who took over at the Financial Conduct Authority last year, said he wanted to lock horns with more firms suspected of malpractice, in order to better protect consumers Speaking to MPs on the Treasury committee, Rathi said: There has been, historically, a cultural issue where there is a degree of legal risk aversion. A degree of concern around potentially losing a case and being challenged for doing it. I think we need to be ready to be more proactive, recognising that if were taking balanced decisions then some of those may be challenged and in some cases we may lose. If we do that, I hope that when I come to this committee youll understand that we are making difficult judgements and dealing with some very well-resourced individuals. Rathi and the FCAs chairman, Charles Randell, had been called in front of the committee to answer questions on its handling of the LCF collapse. The firm, which had sold minibonds to savers offering high rates of return for low risk, tumbled into administration at the start of 2019 amid allegations of fraud. A report by former judge Dame Elizabeth Gloster found the FCA guilty of a series of failings under the leadership of Andrew Bailey, now governor of the Bank of England. Rathi an ex-Treasury official admitted yesterday the FCA still had a long way to go. Asked if he could guarantee an event similar to the LCF collapse would not happen again, he said: Not at this stage. But were building the systems, were developing the capability, but these things take time. CIMC Enric and Hexagon Purus today signed two joint venture (JV) agreements that encompass cylinder and systems production for Fuel Cell Electric Vehicles (FCEVs) and hydrogen distribution in China and Southeast Asia. The Chinese market for Fuel Cell Electric Vehicles (FCEVs) is expected to grow to become the largest global market over the next decade and beyond. Initially, the CIMC-HEXAGON JVs will expand CIMC Enric's existing production and systems capacity for Type 3 (T3) cylinders and in parallel install Type 4 (T4) cylinder production and systems capacity for the Chinese market. The JVs expect to start production of high-pressure T3 fuel storage in 2021. Production line capacity will be designed to accommodate approximately 100,000 cylinders per annum, in a first stage towards the middle of the decade. Construction of the new facility is expected to commence as early as the second quarter 2021. Hexagon Purus AS (Hexagon Purus) today signed two joint venture agreements with CIMC Enric Holdings Limited (hereafter "CIMC Enric"), a leading global supplier of cryogenic and compressed gas storage and transportation solutions and manufacturer of clean energy equipment, headquartered in Shenzhen, People's Republic of China. CIMC Enric is listed on the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong (stock code: 03899.HK). Hexagon Purus, a global leader of Type 4 (T4) cylinder technology, is a separately listed Hexagon Composites company on the Oslo Stock Exchange (stock ticker: HPUR). The cooperation is a highly compelling partnership: Hexagon Purus' world class T4 hydrogen cylinder and systems technologies and design with over 20 years of heritage and safety track record - and CIMC Enric's extensive expertise in gas system development tailored to the Chinese market and its long-standing relationships with large Chinese vehicle manufacturers (OEMs) and gas distribution companies. The joint ventures will serve the fast-growing demand of the Chinese market for safe, lightweight and cost-efficient compressed hydrogen storage solutions. Relevant industrial standards for T4 cylinders are currently being implemented by the Chinese government. The joint ventures will also support the transition to zero emission mobility solutions in Southeast Asia. Powerful alliance "China is on the rise to become the most significant global market for Fuel Cell electric vehicles. Its successful energy transition to hydrogen requires safe, advanced and cost-efficient high-pressure Type 4 fuel storage solutions that are proven in the global market. By joining forces in China, CIMC Enric and Hexagon Purus together contribute state-of-the-art Type 4 know-how, as well as the market presence of a top, trusted Chinese brand. Both companies have proud heritages of providing world class products and solutions to their customers," says Morten Holum, CEO of Hexagon Purus. Leo Yang, Executive Director and General Manager of CIMC Enric adds, "China always thinks big - and China has decided that hydrogen will be the next big thing, within this decade. The CIMC-HEXAGON joint ventures are set up to offer what the Chinese market for hydrogen storage will demand - safe and proven products made by a team renowned for their integrity and world class designs and manufacturing processes. Together, CIMC Enric and Hexagon Purus have the financial backbone to scale up to serve the expected demand for both Type 3 and Type 4 cylinders as well as high pressure hydrogen transportation in China and Southeast Asia. Together, we will drive the energy transformation with a joint vision of a zero emission transportation sector." About the market China, the world's largest auto market with over 28 million vehicles sold annually, has set its sights on creating a world-leading market for fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs) within two decades. According to Chinese policymakers' planning, the market will grow from more than 7,000 FCEVs by end of 2020, to 1.3 million FECVs by 2035. It is also expected that hydrogen will account for approximately 10% of primary energy consumption in China by 2050. The initial focus of the Chinese hydrogen strategy is on fuel cell electric buses and commercial vehicles. This will improve public awareness and showcase the safety of hydrogen. The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) announced its collective ambition to achieve 23% renewable energy integration into its energy system by 2025, and even more by 2035. The shift to zero emission vehicles is driven by the desire to improve air quality and reduce CO2 emissions, as well as to increase energy independence by utilizing large amounts of hydrogen already available in China. In addition, hydrogen provides cost-efficient storage for surplus renewable energy from wind and solar. Structure The cooperation will be organized around two joint ventures, a Cylinder JV and a Systems JV, both registered in Hong Kong. The Cylinder JV will be majority-owned by Hexagon Purus (Hexagon Purus will own 51% and CIMC Enric will own 49%) and the Systems JV will be majority-owned by CIMC Enric (CIMC Enric will own 51% and Hexagon Purus will own 49%). The JVs will form operating subsidiaries in 2021 and a joint sales and marketing team. Live video webcast Hexagon Purus will host a webcast to present the alliance on March 2nd at 12:00 Central European Time. Presentation materials will be available in the Investor section of Hexagon Purus' website (www.hexagonpurus.com). Interviews Following the webcast: Investors/analysts are invited to contact Dilip Warrier/Salman Alam to arrange one-to-one sessions are invited to contact to arrange one-to-one sessions Media are invited to contact Karen Romer to schedule interviews with Jon Erik Engeset, CEO Hexagon Composites and Morten Holum, CEO Hexagon Purus (See contact details below) Contacts: Karen Romer, SVP Communications, Hexagon Composites Telephone: +47 950 74 950 | karen.romer@hexagongroup.com Dilip Warrier, CFO, Hexagon Purus Telephone: +1 949-236-5528 | dilip.warrier@hexagonpurus.com Salman Alam, Vice President Corporate Development, Hexagon Purus Telephone: +476 12 713 | salman.alam@hexagonpurus.com About Hexagon Purus (stock ticker: HPUR) Hexagon Purus, a Hexagon Composites company, is a world leading provider of hydrogen type 4 high-pressure cylinders, battery packs and vehicle systems integration for fuel cell electric and battery electric vehicles. Hexagon Purus enables zero emission solutions for light, medium and heavy-duty vehicles, buses, ground storage, distribution, marine, rail and aerospace. Learn more at www.hexagonpurus.com . About CIMC ENRIC Holdings Limited (stock code: 3899.HK) Founded in 2004, CIMC ENRIC Holdings Limited has been listed on the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong since 2005. The Company is affiliate to China International Marine Container This information is subject to the disclosure requirements pursuant to Section 5-12 the Norwegian Securities Trading Act Attachment New Delhi: The Indian Army on Wednesday gunned down three terrorists in the Tral area of Pulwama in Jammu and Kashmir. The security forces have launched the search operation in the region at the time of filing the report. On Monday, the Army had gunned down one terrorist in encounter in Samboora area of Pulwama district. The Pakistani terrorist was identified as Umer of Abu Ismail group. The encounter had begun between security forces and militants at 10:30 pm on late Sunday night. Jammu and Kashmir DGP SP Vaid had informed that one Pak LeT terrorist was killed in the encounter while 1-2 terrorists managed to escape from the spot. One terrorist got injured, he said. #UPDATE Two terrorists gunned down by security forces in Pulwama's Tral. Operation continues ANI (@ANI) August 9, 2017 Also Read | J&K: Army personnel martyred in sniper shot fired by Pakistan in Balnoi Sector of Mendhar For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. 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. LOS ANGELES, CA / ACCESSWIRE / March 2, 2021 / Cannabis Global, Inc. (OTC PINK:CBGL), an innovation-oriented company involved in disruptive areas of the cannabis and hemp-related industries, today announces it will enter the cannabis edibles market sector via its licensed entity, Natural Plant Extract of California Inc. ("NPE"). On February 16, 2021, the Company acquired control of 56.5% of the outstanding shares of NPE. NPE operates a licensed cannabis manufacturing and distribution business in Lynwood, California, holding a Type 7 California Manufacturing and a distribution license, allowing for cannabis product manufacturing and distribution anywhere in the state of California. At the Lynwood facility, the Company plans to manufacture various cannabis edibles based on its internally developed intellectual property, including its high melt cannabis edible technologies specifically designed for the temperature extremes of cannabis delivery. Cannabis Global also plans to utilize its distribution license to capture the entire production and distribution revenue stream relative to products produced at Lynwood. "We are now in a fortunate position to have a strong combination of proprietary technologies for cannabis edibles, licensed manufacturing, and licensed distribution capabilities," commented Arman Tabatabaei, CEO. "We plan to begin production and marketing of unique cannabis edibles under the Northern Lights brand name. Since we control both manufacturing and distribution licenses, we will be able to maximize our revenue and profit opportunities. We are particularly excited about our 'high melt' technology that allows us to manufacture cannabis edible products with unique thermal protection properties, which we believe offers an advantage relative to the hot Southern California climate and cannabis delivery services, which are certainly growing in popularity." Cannabis Global's product lines to be produced and distributed out of the Lynwood, California facility will be marketed under the Northern Lights brand name. The Company plans to target both the mass market via economy brands and the high end of the edibles marketplace via offerings with exceptionally clean labels based on natural ingredients and solventless extracts. The Company is in the final stages of completing the brand redesign with a top brand designer for Northern Lights, and we expect to release its retail brand in the second calendar quarter. Cannabis Global has invested heavily in cannabis infusion-related research and development in order to target premium areas of the marketplace, which are becoming increasingly sophisticated. The Company has filed six provisional patents and three non-provisional patents in these areas. These investments will aid the Company in designing premium cannabis edibles products to meet the evolving demands of the marketplace. Mr. Tabatabaei continued, "The cannabis edibles space is experiencing rapid growth and thus our rationale for making this our first targeted market in the licensed cannabis space. While we think our unique approach to product design will be a hit with cannabis dispensaries, we also see a profitable niche relative to targeting cannabis delivery services with our high melt edibles technology, solving one of the significant issues for delivery services operating in warm climates. In addition to cannabis edibles, we plan to soon announce additional products to round out our Northern Lights brand offerings." About Cannabis Global, Inc. Cannabis Global, Inc. is a Los Angeles-based, fully audited and reporting Company with the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission, trading under the stock symbol CBGL. We are an emerging force in the cannabis marketplace with a growing product and proprietary intellectual property portfolio. We are marketing and producing Comply Bag, an innovative solution for cannabis storage, transport and tracking, and are the developer and marketer of the Hemp You Can Feel brand. Our subsidiary, Natural Plant Extract (NPE), is a Southern California licensed cannabis manufacturer and distributor which licenses our technologies to produce edibles for the cannabis marketplace. Cannabis Global has filed three non-provisional and multiple provisional patents for cannabis infusion and nanoparticle technologies and continues an active research & development program. Forward-Looking Statements This news release contains "forward-looking statements" which are not purely historical and may include any statements regarding beliefs, plans, expectations or intentions regarding the future. Such forward-looking statements include, among other things, the development, costs and results of new business opportunities and words such as "anticipate", "seek", intend", "believe", "estimate", "expect", "project", "plan", or similar phrases may be deemed "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Actual results could differ from those projected in any forward-looking statements due to numerous factors. Such factors include, among others, the inherent uncertainties associated with new projects, the future U.S. and global economies, the impact of competition, and the Company's reliance on existing regulations regarding the use and development of cannabis-based products. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this news release, and we assume no obligation to update the forward-looking statements, or to update the reasons why actual results could differ from those projected in the forward-looking statements. Although we believe that any beliefs, plans, expectations and intentions contained in this press release are reasonable, there can be no assurance that any such beliefs, plans, expectations or intentions will prove to be accurate. Investors should consult all of the information set forth herein and should also refer to the risk factors disclosure outlined in our annual report on Form 10-K, our quarterly reports on Form 10-Q and other periodic reports filed from time-to-time with the Securities and Exchange Commission. For more information, please visit www.sec.gov For more information, please contact: Arman Tabatabaei IR@cannabisglobalinc.com +1-(310)-986-4929 IR Contact: Stuart Smith https://www.smallcapvoice.com/ ssmith@smallcapvoice.com SOURCE: Cannabis Global, Inc. View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/632801/Cannabis-Global-Enters-Edible-Cannabis-Sector-with-Unique-Northern-Lights-Brand-Edible-Product-Developed-at-New-Lynwood-Facility--To-Target-Delivery-Services BIG RAPIDS, MI Ferris State University has fired a physical science professor who was placed on administrative leave in November for allegedly posting racist, anti-Semitic and homophobic slurs on Twitter and calling the coronavirus pandemic a leftist stunt during a faculty meeting. Thomas Brennan was discharged for serious misconduct on Thursday, Feb. 25, according to a termination letter from Provost Robert Fleischman, provided to MLive by Brennan on Friday. University officials confirmed Brennans employment at the university was terminated Feb. 25. A spokesperson said the university had no further comment. Fleischman said Brennan had continued a pattern of unprofessional and harassing behavior that created an intimidating campus environment, according to the Feb. 25 letter. The provost cited several examples of serious misconduct that reportedly led to Brennans discharge. You made numerous comments on social media pages which created a hostile environment, both working and classroom, Fleischman wrote. Your comments impaired harmony among your colleagues and co-workers, students, staff and members of the Ferris State University community, especially those who are Jewish, African American, homosexual, women, or suffer from a mental disability. Brennan was placed on administrative leave Nov. 19 after the university was notified the professor had posted racist, anti-Semitic and homophobic slurs on Twitter, according to a Nov. 23 announcement by Ferris State President David Eisler. The professor confirmed he had written the n-word, Jewish mafia and other slurs in since-deleted tweets in a Nov. 23 statement he posted online. RELATED: Ferris State professor who called COVID-19 leftist stunt, allegedly tweeted slurs, placed on leave In a Feb. 25 defense letter he sent to the university, Brennan acknowledged his statements were verbally violent and harmful but argued they fell under his free speech rights. Brennan said he had been acting out of despair caused by a personal crisis involving extremely painful migraines, EMF (electromagnetic fields) sensitivity and a series of repeated break-ins into my home. I know that many of the things I tweeted were horrible, and I dont truly feel that way in my heart, Brennan wrote in the defense letter. Therefore the things I said on twitter were not expressed in order to discriminate against people of different races or social categories but were uttered as a result of my disability. Fleischman also cited Brennans views against science as another example of serious misconduct that led to his termination. Brennan confirmed he called the coronavirus pandemic a leftist stunt to overthrow the U.S. during an August online meeting within the College of Arts, Sciences and Education, according to his defense letter. He also said he disrupted the meeting to claim the COVID-19 death rates in the United States were exaggerated. He received a written warning for his comments on Sept. 23 from Interim Dean Trinidy Williams, according to the discharge letter. Fleischman said Brennan continued to post offensive tweets even after being placed on administrative leave. Eisler said in his Nov. 23 statement that the university strongly rejects and condemns the professors offensive statements. Our University was founded on the concept that education is for all of the people all of the time, that all people are welcome here, Eisler said in the message. We strongly reject these statements, condemn them and will not tolerate them. We have worked diligently to become a more diverse university, and these statements demonstrate vividly how one person can set back the work of many. More on MLive: Ferris State University to break ground on $29.5M Center for Virtual Learning this spring Low-income students can get free tuition from Ferris State University through new program Ferris State University launching social justice degree program next fall Kathmandu, March 2 Speaking at a party function in Pokhara on Monday, Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli said he could be physically assaulted anytime as the political crisis further deepens in the country. Dont be surprised even if there is a physical assault, causing any untoward result, he told his cadres. However, concerned officials and experts do not believe in him. Rather, they think it is Olis tactic for attracting peoples sympathy towards him as he is growing more unpopular every day after the Supreme Court rejected his decision to dissolve the House of Representatives. Please dont ask me to speak anything about this statement, says Nepal Police Spokesperson Basanta Bahadur Kunwar, hinting there is not any evidence supporting the prime ministers claim. In an unofficial conversation, a senior police officer says he is surprised by the prime ministers statement. If there had been any security threat, in reality, he should not have told it openly. The challenges should have been dealt with secretly, he says, Hence, the statement is not true. Retired Nepal Police DIG Hemanta Malla Thakuri thinks Olis statement is meant for public consumption and labels this act as an insensitive one. This gives a wrong message. Security expert Indra Adhikari says Oli has begun making emotional and fictitious statements to show better defences after he has turned weaker, morally, constitutionally and politically. His statement is an effort to give a message that I am good and people are after me, thereby hiding his shortcomings, she analyses, I do not think anyone can prove his statement. It is not backed by facts. Meanwhile, some experts believe Oli, however, has some minor security challenges as he could be shown black flags and shoes by cadres of the opponent faction of the Nepal Communist Party. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Government featured Key West City Commission sets sights on Mallory Square, North Roosevelt Boulevard A possible facelift for both North Roosevelt Boulevard and Mallory Square are on the agenda for Tuesday nights meeting of the Key West City Commission. Two items on the agenda involve improvements to Mallory Square. One is to accept a $168,000 grant from the Tourist Development Council to help pay for a tourism impact study and the installation of multiple sunshades on the plaza. The other is a funding agreement between the city and the state to make $696,000 worth of improvements to the cruise ship pier on the square. Although Key West is currently limiting the size and frequency of cruise ship visits, the T-pier in Mallory Square that has traditionally taken large cruise ships is in need of some significant structural repairs, according to the resolution on Tuesdays agenda. While state legislators may overturn those cruise ship restrictions, the pier is still slated for a $3.4 million upgrade and Tuesdays resolution would accept a state Department of Transportation grant for $522,000, with a city match of $174,000, to execute a portion of that improvement project. The improvements that will begin if the resolution is approved will extend the piers length from 115 feet to 200 feet. New mooring piles, bulkhead caps, stormwater management and multiple repairs are included in this next phase of pier stabilization. City officials have also agreed to a major renovation of Mallory Square and have put out a request for proposals to consultants to design a new, more user-friendly waterfront square. In anticipation of that project, city commissioners are being asked Tuesday to accept a TDC grant that would pay for both a $12,500 study on how providing shade on the sun-blasted plaza could increase usage during the day and $156,000 representing 70% of the total cost toward the installation of sunshades in five locations. Currently, Mallory Square mostly attracts visitors for the nightly Sunset Celebration. The newly upgraded facilities and features, including sunshades, seating, and landscaping, will be highlighted and promoted on the website, www.mallorysquare.com, to enhance the number of daytime visitors, the resolution reads. The proposed plan identifies five spots in Mallory Square where cantilevered sunshades would be installed, including at the public restrooms on the edge of the square, surrounding the existing covered gazebo in its center, and at three locations, including one along the parking lot, where existing concrete benches are used for seating. Also on the agenda is a discussion, with no formal action taken, of plans to improve both the safety and esthetics of North Roosevelt Boulevard, which officials are calling a crucial corridor. The citys Planning Department will introduce a proposed citizen questionnaire aimed at setting goals and priorities for the commercial thoroughfare. The questions include asking for input on redevelopment of existing shopping plazas, commercial signage, increased landscaping and whether to prioritize high-quality design and architectural standards for a Key West feel and charm. The city is committed to accomplishing North Roosevelt improvements in a three phased project, with short range, medium range and long range goals, according to the proposed initial plan, although no timeline was projected. Thats our gateway into Key West, Mayor Teri Johnston said about North Roosevelt Boulevard. It really sets the tone. The meeting will be held in person at 5 p.m. in the city commission chambers at City Hall, 1300 White St. It can also be viewed virtually on the citys website, http://www.cityofkeywest-fl.gov, or on Comcast Channel 77 and AT&T Channel 99. psowers@keysnews.com Interview Twin Brother of Young Protester Slain by Myanmar Security Forces Calls for Justice Fellow protesters carry Nyi Nyi Aung Htet Naing. He was shot dead outside No. 5 Basic Education High School in Kamayut Township. YangonOn Sunday morning, a 23-year-old network engineer was shot dead by Myanmar security forces while taking part in a protest against the countrys military regime in Yangons Hledan. A live bullet pierced his chest. Police used live ammunition as they attacked more than a thousand anti-military regime protesters gathering in Hledan. At least 20 people were killed in police crackdowns across the country. Ko Ko Aung Htet Naing, the elder twin brother of the victim, Nyi Nyi Aung Htet Naing, talked to The Irrawaddy about the police shooting on protesters in Hledan on Sunday. The Irrawaddy: Could you tell us what happened? Ko Ko Aung Htet Naing: The one who was gunned down outside the school in Hledan was my twin brother. He was fatally shot outside the school. The bullet pierced his chest. He was 23. The Irrawaddy: Did you two join the protests on other days before Sunday? AHN: We took part in protests around four days a week together with our friends. The Irrawaddy: Could you tell us what happened to you on Sunday? AHN: We went together on Sunday. But I was away from him when the incident happened. We took Baho Road for fear that Insein Road might be blocked. We got out [from the car] under the overbridge [on Baho Road]. We didnt notice that police were deployed on the overbridge. When we noticed them, we hurried to Hledan, but police were also deployed near Hledan market and we got trapped between them. At first, we hid in apartments nearby. But when they fired tear gas and stun grenades, we went out and staged a protest. While we were still trapped, around 1,000 people came out and protested. They [security forces] fired tear gas and stun grenades. They still didnt use live bullets. The protest leaders asked protesters to sit down to prevent havoc. As protesters sat down, they [security forces] fired their guns. Walls of the school and windows at the bus-stop were hit and about three or four people were hit at the same time. Everyone started to run, and it was difficult to pull out those who were hit. They also shot the people who came to rescue the injured. But protesters tried their best to pull out the wounded. They pulled them to alleys and treated them, or sent them to health care centers. The Irrawaddy: How did you know your brother was shot? AHN: My brother was down in front of the school. Some tried in vain to rescue him. I saw in a video file that a young man in a white shirt managed to rescue him. He took cover behind walls and rescued him. He was also shot and was slightly injured in his belly. [Police] even shot a civilian who was trying to rescue my brother. My brother was then sent to a health care center in an ambulance. But he was already dead when he arrived at the center. I heard that he was sent to Yangon General Hospital. The Irrawaddy: What is your view on the fatal shooting of protesters? AHN: If there are harsher words than rude and unscrupulous, their actions deserve to be described with those words. They should not have done this. Protesters only wish to make their voices heard by the people, the military regime and the whole world. They should not shoot and kill the protesters, with excessive force and weapons. I strongly condemn it. They didnt notify [protesters] in advance before shooting nor give time for protesters to disperse. It is very unscrupulous of them to fire with live ammunition without notice. The Irrawaddy: What else would you like to say about Sundays incident? AHN: We want justice for all the people who were killed. We dont want their lives to be sacrificed for nothing. There must be accountability and responsibility for the lives that were lost. And we want the international community to know what is happening in Myanmar. You may also like these stories: Myanmar Police Fails to Probe Headquarters Raid: NLD After Embassy Protest, Indonesia Denies Backing Myanmar Regimes Election Plan Myanmar Junta Leader Warns Media Against Using Junta or Regime Denton, TX (76205) Today Considerable cloudiness. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 76F. Winds NW at 5 to 10 mph.. Tonight Partly cloudy skies. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 59F. Winds N at 5 to 10 mph. The Telegraph SIR Charles Moore makes reference to an article he wrote a year ago under the heading Was Covid-19 created in the lab?. In it he described work by two scientists, Angus Dalgleish and Birger Sorensen, who concluded that it was what is called a chimera it was built by human beings to see how infectious it could be to human beings. Lord Moore wrote that this does not mean that the purpose was to make people ill. He presumed it was to learn more about vaccines against viruses. A more disturbing interpretation might be that the research had a military purpose. Sir Richard Dearlove (a former head of MI6) was interested in the work of Dalgleish and Sorensen. As a teenager in the Fifties, I was invited to the microbiological research establishment at Porton Down by my uncle, its director. It was the height of the Cold War and he told me: Dont worry about nuclear war biological warfare is far more dangerous. Bill Filmer Lindfield, West Sussex SIR The Wuhan lab theory would make a plausible James Bond plot (which would be a first), but I find the species-leap theory more frightening. Michael Heaton Warminster, Wiltshire SIR With the genesis of Covid-19 still unclear, the accidental escape from laboratory theory may finally gain legs. Beijing still has much to explain with regard to the dreadful pandemic it appears to have inflicted on the world. It demonised whistleblowers when the virus emerged, then appears to have lied once person-to-person transmission was deemed likely and the epidemic gained pace. The World Health Organisation appeared to be both tardy and shy in conducting the necessary engagement. Members of its investigation team are said to have spent a mere three hours in the Wuhan laboratory. China is less than generous in welcoming outside scrutiny. That perhaps was to be expected. More disturbing is the stance taken by Facebook and others, which dismissed this theory far too readily at the outset. The time to seek the truth with all due rigour has now surely arrived. All evidence, no matter how unpalatable, must be objectively explored, to help prevent or mitigate the next time. The developing world in particular will struggle to cope with the lasting effects of this catastrophic event. While realpolitik may allow China to be an emerging superpower, it can still be held accountable for any lapses identified. Colonel Rob Davie (retd) Salisbury, Wiltshire SIR The lab theory was dismissed from the moment Donald Trump endorsed it. As with Brexit, the supposed intelligentsia could not countenance the possibility that Mr Trump, like Nigel Farage, might be right about something. Closed minds have costly consequences. Keith Phair Felixstowe, Suffolk The Johnson wedding SIR Boris Johnsons surprise confirmation of his status as a Catholic has raised many eyebrows, particularly in relation to his reputation with the ladies. However, I think Rome will provide a good home for him. Oscar Wilde, when questioned about his own late conversion to Catholicism, said that he was attracted to the faith because in this Church, Every saint has a past, and every sinner has a future. Anna Mackey Dublin, Ireland SIR When a Prime Minister is married for a third time, is it called a wedding or a reshuffle? Neville Stangroom Dereham, Norfolk SIR No, that was a fake wedding. The real one took place three days earlier, conducted in the garden of No 10 by the Archbishop of Canterbury with Dilyn as sole witness. Peter Thompson Sutton, Surrey SIR Typical! The Prime Minister gets married and Matt is away. Keith Macpherson Clevedon, Somerset SIR Bethan Holts report describes Carrie Johnson renting her dress as a very modern move, but I hired my wedding dress back in 1966. I chose a first hiring, even though it was more expensive, rather than a second, as I wanted to be the first to wear the dress. I couldnt afford a new dress, so was being practical. After all, my husband hired his morning coat. This year my husband and I celebrate 55 years of marriage. Lynda Burke Knowle, Warwickshire Beep, beep SIR Traffic reduction schemes, now known as low traffic neighbourhoods, are not that new. Portsmouth had a 20mph speed limit the whole way through. After an emergency trip I was directed home through Portsmouth. Seeing the first 20mph sign I stayed in second gear. Seeing more signs, I proceeded through the whole city in second gear, average speed 5mph. This meant every traffic light was green by the time I arrived at it. Very smooth. The traffic mayhem behind me was the citys problem not mine. Car engines do not like second gear. The pollution my car emitted must have been awful for residents. Maybe elected councillors are not familiar with car engineering. Sue Doughty Twyford, Berkshire Offended by the Duke SIR I have just read the report about Kings College. The idea of those staff members being offended by the Duke of Edinburghs photo is almost too much to bear. Can you imagine what traumatic lives these poor people must lead every day striving mightily from dawn to dusk, seeking out all offensive matter? The very idea horrifies me and has left me decidedly depressed. I am seeking an immediate appointment with Harrys therapist. Robert Chatterton Caythorpe, Lincolnshire SIR Cambridge has been worrying about micro-aggression. Should university lecturers or students found guilty of micro-aggressions receive micro-punishments? For example, someone found guilty of not giving eye contact could be stared at for five minutes. Brian Armstrong North Shields, Northumberland Abolished by the BBC SIR In his article Reform of the BBC must start at the very top, William Lewis suggests that a journalist editor-in-chief should be answerable to an independent editorial board. From 1990 to 1996 I was a member of such a board, the General Advisory Council (about 40 of us). We were supposedly a sounding-board for BBC policy. What usually happened was that the top managers told us how well they were doing, leaving precious little time for our questions. Under Sir Terry Heisers chairmanship we eventually insisted on setting the agenda ourselves. One result was that in 1993 we successfully challenged the director-general John Birts remuneration arrangements. It wasnt long before the BBC declared its Advisory Council redundant and abolished us. If an independent editorial board ever comes into being it will need a really strong mandate. The Earl of Northesk Elsworth, Cambridgeshire Tick-box banking SIR NatWest informed me that I could not have an appointment in a branch to open a new account because of Covid fears (Letters, May 31). Despite my husband and I having banked with them for over 40 years and currently holding, between us, eight different accounts with them, we had to spend nearly an hour on the phone trying to open a joint account. Having established who we were, was it then necessary for us to be treated as if we were new naive customers who had never had an account? We had to resupply information possessed by the bank about us, and were subjected to sales pitches for accounts we already hold. The hapless individual at the end of the phone was only interested in completing his script rather than applying a modicum of common sense. A face-to-face meeting might have avoided all of this. Dilys Taylor Birmingham Rude rhymes SIR That jingle from Aristophanes Frogs pinein kai binein, (Christopher Howse, The rudest word in Greek is no laughing matter, Comment, May 29), could be rendered in English as supping and tupping, or possibly boozing and floozing. Richard George St Albans, Hertfordshire A Saturday Derby lacks that holiday feeling Russia is trying to unilaterally revise Minsk agreements and force Ukraine to negotiate with Russian puppets and proxy forces Moscow controls in the occupied Donbas, Ukrainian officials note. The Ukrainian side to the Trilateral Contact Group on the Donbas settlement said today's negotiations bore no fruit due to Russia's destructive position. According to the Ukrainian delegation, on March 2, the TCG's 150th meeting was held in the working subgroups. In particular, the meeting of the working subgroup on political issues was intended to continue consideration of the "Joint Action Plan" proposed by the Ukrainian side as a basis for further implementation of the agreements reached in the Normandy Four and Minsk formats, in particular the issue of postponing its implementation. Read alsoSBU reacts to Ukraine's map without Crimea, with 'LPR/DPR' posted by pro-Russian MP (Photo)"Our delegation representatives once again stressed that the basis for the settlement is the clear implementation of the joint decisions adopted within the framework of both formats and the TCG, which include the required mechanisms both for establishing a comprehensive ceasefire and for resolving the humanitarian and economic issues in the occupied territories, which later became the basis for the implementation of the political part of the agreements. But to this end, the main condition must be fulfilled the Russian side must take full political responsibility for the agreements concluded by its leadership at the highest international level," the report says. On the contrary, as the Ukrainian delegation emphasizes, Russian officials "shy away from recognizing such responsibility and continue to insist that the Russian Federation is only a mediator in the conflict, along with Germany and France, as well as the OSCE." In addition, the meeting of the security subgroup also yielded almost no result. "In the humanitarian subgroup, the Russian side has again blocked the issue of relaunching operations at checkpoints on their side, despite the successful passage of the UN humanitarian aid convoy on March 1 at the Shchastia checkpoint, which showed its full readiness to ensure passage of cargo and passengers," the Ukrainian delegates said. In this regard, it is noted that the initiatives proposed by the Ukrainian delegation chief, Leonid Kravchuk, on the provision of "passenger transport (buses) to bring passengers to the checkpoints Shchastia and Zolote, and other technical conditions for the start of stable operation of said checkpoints, leave the Russian side no arguments that could justify the delay in unblocking operations at the checkpoints and ensuring access of Ukrainian citizens to administrative services and financial assistance." "The Russian delegation is trying to subordinate all issues (humanitarian, security, and economic ones) to its political goal forcing Ukraine and the OSCE to get into direct negotiations with representatives of quasi-state puppet entities as plenipotentiary representatives of one of the parties to the conflict. The Ukrainian side regards such statements as manifestation of disrespect for the Normandy Four participating states and international organizations involved in resolving the conflict, and as an intention to achieve their own political goals by violating relevant international agreements," the Ukrainian delegation emphasizes. At the same time, the Ukrainian side thanks partner states, primarily France and Germany, as well as the OSCE, for not allowing the Russian Federation to unilaterally revise the Normandy Four and Minsk agreements. Minsk talks on Donbas settlement: Memo The Trilateral Contact Group for the Peaceful Settlement in Eastern Ukraine is an authorized group of representatives from Ukraine, the OSCE, and Russia, which was formed as a means to facilitate a diplomatic solution to the war in Donbas. The Ukrainian delegation is now being headed by Ukraine's first president, Leonid Kravchuk. Reporting by UNIAN London: In the global scramble to discover a COVID-19 vaccine, did governments overlook an option almost too good to be true? Wayne Channon thinks so, and is out to prove it. If we can make vaccines which are thermally stable and taken orally, that could be transformational, Channon says. It will require a mindset change. And the benefits are not trivial. IosBio, the British biotechnology firm Channon chairs, has for years tried to convince pharmaceutical giants of the benefits of turning temperature-sensitive liquid vaccines into much more stable pills. Current vaccines require storage at cold or below freezing temperatures. Credit:Penny Stephens We thought it would be a walk in the park to persuade them to reformulate their vaccines but it turned out to be very naive, he says. Our regular Capital Region Q&A feature talks with people about their lives, jobs and the place we call home. Todays subject is Dr. Elizabeth Liza Whalen, who is approaching her sixth anniversary as commissioner of public health for Albany County. Born in Ireland while her father was studying medicine in Galway, Whalen herself returned to the Emerald Isle from Albany for medical school. A niece of the late Thomas M. Whalen III, mayor of Albany from 1983 to 1993, Whalen, who declined to specify her age, is married to Peter Duffy, an ophthalmologist in Albany. They are the parents of two college students Annabelle Duffy, enrolled at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, and Declan Duffy, at Boston University and Johanna Duffy, at Albany Academy for Girls. The family lives in Albany and has two dogs. Answers have been minimally edited for space and clarity. Q: Just before this conversation, you finished another of the televised pandemic briefings you do with Albany County Executive Dan McCoy, which have given you greater public visibility than any local health commissioner in memory, and maybe in history. When did they start, and how many have you done? A: They started in February of last year when we started getting information on the pandemic, how it was spreading and what preparations were being put in place. This was before we even had cases in New York. I dont know how many Ive done. Some weeks its been five or six, some seven, some weeks only three. The total number has to be in the hundreds. Q: Do you enjoy being in the public eye? A: It was not something I aspired to, Ill say that for sure. Initially I think that I was quite nervous at being in front of the TV cameras, but the positive feedback Ive had from the public, and the knowledge that Im in a position to provide helpful information, made me more and more confident that it was a necessary service. Q: Are you recognized in public? A: With a mask on, not very much. Q: Except when youre walking around at a vaccination site with an orange safety vest that says COMMAND across it. A: Yes, then they pretty much know. Q: Last winter or early spring, when did you recognize the full extent of what Albany County and the greater Capital Region would be facing? A: We had concerns going back to the very start of the year, when we started hearing about what was going on in Wuhan, that there were new strains and that it was highly communicable. I think we were aware and prepared for what this could be. Q: Did you expect it would be at least a year in duration? A: Absolutely. Q: Gov. Cuomo has been sharply criticized for underreporting or covering up the number of COVID-19 deaths at the states nursing homes. How many died at the Albany County Nursing Home in the past year? A: I dont have that statistic at hand, but can get it for you. Q: Are you confident all of those were fully and accurately reported to the state? A: The state has different mechanisms of collecting data than we do in the county, so sometimes there are numbers that might not match up, but I do think there has been representation to the state of those deaths, and I think in time we will be able to reconcile them. Q: What is the scope of the countys current vaccination campaign, in terms of number of locations, people involved, vaccination capacity and whatever else you can tell us? A: Its different than anticipated. In the planning stages, we thought all of the vaccinations would have been coordinated at the local level. Instead, regional hubs were organized, were doing them on the county level, vaccines are going to hospitals and now to pharmacies. We are learning every day about new partners. I think the good news is that as manufacturing increases, vaccine availability will improve. But there really isnt a centralized system that gives us a full idea of how much vaccine we have and whos gotten it. Q: If, as you noted, vaccinations are now available from pharmacies as well as hospitals and state and county sites, what is the best strategy for getting an appointment? Stories abound of hours and hours of fruitless efforts with online portals, but I know one local senior who called up a pharmacy location in a local supermarket and got her first vaccine dose the very next day. A: Yes, thats not surprising. With the way the vaccine is allocated, we are not allowed to schedule appointments until we have it on hand. Its different for the state sites, but for Albany County we cannot give people appointments until we have the vaccine. People will still have to be really persistent, although the county executive has been very proactive in getting pre-registration set up so we can notify people who may have been having difficulty. Q: Are you saying that, all things considered, the vaccine rollout is going well? A: The system is working as well as it can with the infrastructure in place. We do need to continue to focus on equity, on how we can better take care of our Black and our brown populations, where there are disproportionate rates of disease and death and pre-existing conditions. We need to work on better strategies to get the vaccine to people in a more consistent and equitable manner. Q: You previously served on the board of Playhouse Stage, which presents its Park Playhouse productions in Albanys Washington Park. While regulations regarding live performing arts will be set by the state, do you believe at least outdoor performances will be permitted at some point this summer? A: I sincerely hope so. Kids that are in the arts are a special group, and we as a community benefit from their gifts. Just as we advocate for kids in sports, we need to be advocating for kids in the arts. Q: If Park Playhouse has a season, would you feel comfortable going? A: Absolutely. If as summer is coming along and it looks like we are heading toward a majority of people being vaccinated and toward herd immunity, I think outdoor performances will be allowed, and if we need to make accommodations for spacing or seating, they will do that. I have never missed a summer Park Playhouse show, and I dont want to start this year. Pop quiz: A generation ago, Rent, the rock musical set against the backdrop of the AIDS pandemic, won four Tony Awards, including Best Musical, Best Book of a Musical and Best Original Score. Who was its creator? A: Oh, god. My daughter is a musical-theater major. Shell kill me if I miss this. Is it Jason Robert Brown? Q: Hes certainly a popular and well-regarded figure in contemporary musical theater, but Rent was created by Jonathan Larson. A: I wont be able to show my face at home. Dont say that I got this wrong. Q: You spent the beginning of your career locally as an internist for Community Care Physicians, but after less than four years you began focusing on public health, starting as medical director of the Albany County Department of Public Health. In addition to your M.D., you have a masters degree in public health, and in May youll start you seventh year as Albany Countys commissioner of public health. What appeals to you about community-level health care versus treating individual patients? A: I love policy, I love education, and I think that population-based health and preventative medicine is something that is so important and that we need to work on harder and better. We know so much disease can be prevented by improving regular practices, and hopefully being in this position really enables me to increase the quality of life for populations. Im very passionate about working on health disparities within our different populations. Q: As of Sunday, according to the New York State Vaccine Tracker, almost 279,000 residents of the eight counties of the greater Capital Region, from Columbia and Greene to Warren and Washington, have received at least their first dose of a coronavirus vaccine. Albany County, with 18.7 percent of first doses administered, is second only to Warren County, with 19 percent, but Albany County has a population five times larger. To what do you attribute that achievement? A: Lots of hard work. We have built this infrastructure, with planning and a great team, including a phenomenal medical reserve corps who have come to assist us. We are also benefiting from partnerships and having the state sites in our area. Q: Is that where youd hoped the vaccination number would be by now, almost 20 percent at the one-year mark? A: For one year, to get the vaccine developed and approved and manufactured and out to so many people so fast, thats been a great development. Within a week of getting each new delivery of the vaccine, were getting out 100 percent of it. Q: What activities permitted by the state going to the movies, dining in restaurants, attending funerals or religious services do you personally not engage in currently? A: I certainly do not go to any gatherings or parties or anything. I dont even visit with my extended family. I have not been to a movie theater, and I love going to the movies. I wont say none of my dining has been in a restaurant, but its been very limited; almost all of my dining is takeout. Q: How long should people continue to wear masks? A: Until we are at herd immunity. For the foreseeable future. Even those who are vaccinated should continue to wear masks. Q: Will that be through the end of the summer? A: I dont know. Most likely. Q: Because I have magical powers, I can arrange for you to trade jobs for up to one week with anyone in the Capital Region, and I can give you the skills needed to do that job. With whom would you trade? And you cant say no one because your current job is too important. A: Im still going to say no one. I wouldnt rather do anything else. Q: OK, because I have magical powers, I can take us back to 2018. What does Liza Whalen say then? A: I still wouldnt trade. Q: Not if you could be anything not even a tugboat captain? A: I could say that, but it wouldnt be true. Tanzanias leader is finally acknowledging that his country has a coronavirus problem after claiming for months that the disease had been defeated by prayer. Populist President John Magufuli on February 21 urged citizens of the East African country to take precautions and even wear face masksbut only locally made ones. Over the course of the pandemic he has expressed wariness about foreign-made goods, including COVID-19 vaccines. Last month, the president called on his 60 million citizens for three days of prayer to defeat unnamed respiratory diseases amid warnings that the country is seeing a deadly resurgence in infections. Maybe we have wronged God somewhere, Magufuli told mourners at a funeral for his chief secretary, John Kijazi, on February 19. Let us all repent. Though officials in late February announced public health rules similar to other nations COVID-19 measures, Magufuli has repeatedly claimed that Tanzania defeated COVID-19 with Gods help. The government has not updated its official number of coronavirus cases since last spring, and the health ministry has promoted unproven herbal remedies. But the local Catholic church, the US Embassy, and others have openly warned of a resurgence in cases. On February 20, the director general of the World Health Organization (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, added his voice to growing calls for Tanzania to acknowledge COVID-19 for the good of its citizens, neighboring countries, and the world, especially after a number of countries reported that visitors arriving from Tanzania tested positive for the virus. And the death last month of the vice president of the semi-autonomous island region of Zanzibar, Seif Sharif Hamad, brought widespread attention after his opposition political party said he had COVID-19. Hamads death is a clear symbol this pandemic is raging, the director of the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, John Nkengasong, told reporters on February 18. Speaking about the deaths of Hamad and Kijazi, Magufuli asked the country to remain calm. We managed to defeat these respiratory diseases through prayer last year. I am sure we will do so this year, he said in the nationally televised event. Earlier last month, Tanzanias health ministry said it had no plans in place to accept COVID-19 vaccines, just days after Magufuli expressed doubt about the vaccines without offering evidence. Health Minister Dorothy Gwajima told a press conference in the capital, Dodoma, on February 1 that the ministry has no plans to receive vaccines for COVID-19. Any vaccines must receive ministry approval. It is not clear when any vaccines might arrive, though Tanzania is eligible for the COVAX global effort aimed at delivering doses to low- and middle-income countries. The health minister insisted Tanzania is safe. During a presentation in which she and others didnt wear face masks, she encouraged the public to improve hygiene practices including the use of sanitizers but also steam inhalationwhich has been dismissed by health experts elsewhere as a way to kill the coronavirus. Chief government chemist Fidelice Mafumiko also suggested the use of herbal medicine to cure COVID-19, without offering evidence. Tanzanias government has been widely criticized for its approach to the pandemic. It has not updated its official number of coronavirus infections509since April. Magufuli asserted in January that vaccines for it are inappropriate even as the first significant vaccine deliveries begin to arrive on the African continent. But authorities in Tanzania, from the Catholic church to government institutions, are pushing back and telling the public and employees that COVID-19 exists in the country and precautions must be taken. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in a recent travel warning on Tanzania said the countrys level of COVID-19 is very high. It gave no details but urged against all travel to the East African nation. Magufuli previously said God had eliminated COVID-19 in his country. Now we have corona. They said bodies will be lying on streets in Africa. But they did not know God loves Tanzania, the president said at a teachers conference last June. We prayed for three days and the coronavirus is finished. His own church begs to differ. From the local Catholic authority warning in late January of a new wave of coronavirus infections, to government institutions now requiring staffers to take precautions, Magufuli is being openly questioned as the African continent fights a strong resurgence in cases and deaths. We are not an island, the secretariat of the Tanzania Episcopal Conference said in a widely shared statement. It urged followers, which include the president, to pray but also to adopt measures long practiced in the rest of the world, including avoiding public gatherings and close personal contact. The church's newspaper on January 29 stressed in a large front-page headline: There is corona. Tanzania has tried to be an island since April, when it stopped updating its number of virus infections. Some health officials who questioned Magufulis stance that COVID-19 had been defeated were fired. The government promoted international tourism, eager to avoid the economic pain of neighbors who imposed lockdowns and curfews. The president even praised Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi for not wearing a face mask during a visit in January, calling it another sign that Tanzania was free of the virus. But pandemic concerns have returned to the spotlight in Tanzania as the world focuses on the arrival of COVID-19 vaccines. While other African countries seek millions of doses, Magufuli accused people who had been vaccinated overseas of bringing the virus back into Tanzania. He also questioned whether the vaccines work. If the white man was able to come up with vaccinations, then vaccinations for AIDS would have been brought, tuberculosis would be a thing of the past, vaccines for malaria and cancer would have been found, he said on January 27. Be firm, he added. Vaccines are inappropriate. He urged the health ministry not to rush into vaccinations without being satisfied about their safety. He offered no evidence for his claims. African health officials were already worried about misinformation campaigns around COVID-19 vaccines as the first doses begin arriving on the continent of 1.3 billion people. Magufulis stance contrasts sharply with other African heads of state like President Wavel Ramkalawan of the Seychelles, who publicly received his first vaccine shot in January and urged citizens to do the same. Asked about Tanzania, Nkengasong told reporters on January 28 that if we do not fight this as a collective on the continent, we will be doomed. The WHOs Africa chief, Matshidiso Moeti, told reporters that we are re-initiating communication at the highest level of leadership in Tanzania and seeking the governments collaboration for the sake of the people of the country and neighboring countries, as well as for the sake of the world. She urged Tanzania to prepare for COVID-19 vaccines, and to share its virus data with the WHO. Some Tanzanians, from longtime critics of the president to civil society leaders, have issued a new round of exasperated warnings against trying to ignore a global pandemic. Tanzanians have the right to vaccination against COVID, opposition leader Zitto Kabwe tweeted after the presidents comments, saying a government that doesnt protect its citizens lacks legitimacy. He and others had watched as people took few to no virus precautions during a deeply flawed election that returned Magufuli to power last year. Others worry that Tanzania is hurting itself and its economy, warning of travel bans against its citizens, the loss of tourism revenue, and dangerous health implications for years. By denying the pandemic, Tanzania may well have put itself at the back of a very long waiting list for vaccines, Aidan Eyakuze, who leads the Twaweza East Africa initiative promoting government transparency, wrote in January for The Citizen local newspaper. Reporting by AP journalist Cara Anna in Nairobi, Kenya. Additional reporting by AP journalist Tom Odula in Nairobi. Seldom has an administration taken so long to say so little. Stormont's long-awaited pathway to recovery tells us next to nothing. It's brimming with waffle, cant and cliche. To call it a plan or blueprint is a massive misnomer. No decisions have been made and no direction given. It's all so vague and meaningless that one wonders why on earth it wasn't published long before yesterday. Only the most patient members of the public will get to the end of its jargon and waffle-filled 28 pages. Following five different steps for nine different areas isn't a pathway leading anywhere, it's a maze. In the Assembly, it was TUV leader Jim Allister (as usual) who best exposed the weaknesses of the Executive's effort. "While other regions of the UK have been give hope and dates, Northern Ireland has got a cliche-ridden algorithm for dither," he said. "Some have claimed this is a sat-nav for the way ahead. In truth, it's not much of a sat-nav that can't tell you your route or when you'll get there. "It does little to answer the public's questions. When can our kids get back to school - permanently, not on a hokey cokey basis? "When can our businesses reopen? When can children play sport again? When can families return to their caravans? "These are real issues, none of which are answered today." The TUV leader never misses the mark, but it's entirely possible to agree with the thrust of what he said yet believe that the Executive was right not to opt for a timetable. "Covid doesn't have a calendar, it doesn't have a diary secretary, it doesn't work to dates," said Sinn Fein MLA John O'Dowd. Concrete steps and certainties are impossible when a killer virus is still circulating. People who want dates say they won't mind if they slip. But what is the point in giving them in the first place? Having to cancel business, wedding or holiday plans will cause only more anger and frustration. The Executive's cautious approach poses significant political problems for the DUP, which is already losing hardcore voters to the TUV over the Irish Sea border. Belfast Chamber chief executive and former DUP minister Simon Hamilton was known for his moderate and measured approach when in Stormont. That made his scathing criticism of the Executive's document pack an even greater punch. "A roadmap with nobody knowing when the journey started or how long it would take isn't worthy of the name," he tweeted. Hamilton branded it "a grossly underwhelming effort" which stood in "stark contrast" to that of other governments. Following Peter Robinson's effective rubbishing of the DUP's protocol strategy, this is a massively challenging time for the party leadership. Yet Michelle O'Neill also faced criticism yesterday on her social media accounts. "Complete utter waffle that was. That would put a glass eye to sleep", "Without dates it is pointless and delivers nothing. Typical Stormont", "Roadmap to recovery? The banks are pulling out and a crash is coming. Open now", "What a shambles! I'll be thinking twice who gets my vote come elections" were among the comments. Covid has caused deep divisions in the community, with no healing in sight. And major battle between the parties over the reopening of society will be waged over coming weeks and months at Stormont. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- A 27-year-old man was shot in the lower back Monday night in New Brighton, police said. Officers responded to the 300 block of Jersey Street, near Hendricks Avenue, at 9:21 p.m. for a report of shots fired, according to an NYPD spokesman. The victim, who is considered in stable condition, was transported to Richmond University Medical Center in West Brighton by private means following the incident, the spokesman said. The NYPD responded to a report of shots fired on Jersey Street in New Brighton Monday night. (Staten Island Advance/Joseph Ostapiuk) A description of a perpetrator was not immediately available. Police cordoned off a section of Jersey Street during the investigation. Multiple bullet casings were observed on the street as officers canvassed the area for additional evidence. This is a breaking news story. More information will be posted as it becomes available. Former Moscows transport deputy prosecutor arrested in absentia in bribery case flickr.com/ 401(K) 2012 14:05 02/03/2021 MOSCOW, March 2 (RAPSI) The Basmanny District Court on Tuesday issued an arrest warrant in absentia to former Moscows deputy prosecutor for supervision over the execution of laws in the air and water transport Dmitry Listopad charged with taking bribes and abuse of office, RAPSI was told in the courts press service. Earlier, the defendant was put on the international wanted list. Reportedly, Listopad is linked to the case of ex-chief of the Federal Customs Services customs investigations directorate Alexander Kizlyk also charged with abuse of office. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 2) The Court of Appeals has ruled in favor of former Senator Antonio Trillanes IV after reversing a Makati court ruling that revived his rebellion case. In a decision dated March 1 and released on Tuesday, the CA Sixth Division said the assailed orders of 25 September 2018, and 18 December 2018, having been issued by the respondent court that no longer had jurisdiction on a dismissed criminal action and that acted with grave abuse of discretion, are set aside and vacated. This is reversing the order of the Makati Regional Trial Court that revived his rebellion charges, which were already dismissed in 2011, over revocation of the amnesty granted to the known critic of the administration. In a statement, Trillanes thanked the CA for coming up with such ruling. Today, the rule of law prevailed, he said. Sana all ng judges and justices ay may ganitong sense of justice to check the prevailing authoritarianism in the country. [Translation: I hope all judges and justices have this kind of sense of justice to check the prevailing authoritarianism in the country.] In 2011, former President Benigno Aquino III granted amnesty to Trillanes and other mutineers who were involved in the incident that happened in Oakwood Hotel in Makati City in 2003 and the Manila Peninsula Hotel in 2007. However, President Rodrigo Duterte then issued Proclamation No. 572 in 2018 that declared such amnesty as void after the former lawmaker failed to comply with the requirements needed to qualify. The Department of Justice then filed the motion to revive his rebellion case at Makati RTC Branch 150 and coup detat case at Branch 148 Makati RTC Branch 148 Judge Andres Soriano dismissed the motion, citing lack of factual basis. On the other hand, Makati RTC Branch 150 Judge Elmo Alameda, who was the same judge who dismissed the rebellion case, decided to reopen the case and issued a warrant of arrest against Trillanes in September 2018 after it found factual and legal bases for the proclamation, which was later recalled after he posted bail. In December of the same year, Alameda also denied Trillanes plea to reverse it earlier ruling upholding the legality of Dutertes proclamation that voided the amnesty granted to him. For his part, Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra said he will leave it to the solicitor general for a possible legal remedy. I will leave it to the office of the solicitor general, as counsel for the government, to determine the appropriate legal remedy, which may include a motion for reconsideration with the Court of Appeals or a petition for review with the Supreme Court, he said. As the Biden administration invites waves of illegal immigrants to come on up from points south, it has to square a few circles. One of them is the public health dimension of the influx. Politico reported a story yesterday that bears on the public health dimension of the invasion: White House: Biden not considering sharing Covid vaccine with Mexico. Think about it. Somethings gotta give. In the video below, Jill (Dr. Edith) Biden comes to the aid of Joe (Ive got half a mind to be president) Bidens aid when he forgets all his lines on the administrations current approach to dealing with the invasion. This too is illustrative of the circle squaring effort. Somethings gotta give. lots to unpack in this 1-minute clip from @UniNoticias: 1. Biden suggests he's merely reopening Trump's detention center 2. Co-president Jill Biden's cut-in pic.twitter.com/7SWgYu0THq Jorge Bonilla (@BonillaJL) February 26, 2021 Tweet via Nick Arama/RedState. Researchers have discovered in Argentina's Patagonian skeletal remains of what may be a member of the oldest-known dinosaur group known as titanosaurs that includes the largest land animals in the history of Earth. The incomplete skeletal remains of the dinosaur were found south of the city of Neuquen. Scientists said the discovery of skeletons, symbolizing a species of dinosaur named Ninja Titan Zapata, reveals that it first appeared longer ago than they initially thought. Scientists said on Monday, "The skeletons symbolize a dinosaur species named Ninja Titan Zapata that existed during the Cretaceous period, 140 million years ago." Researchers know Ninja titan as a group of long-necked plant-eating dinosaurs that walked on four pillar-like legs (titanosaurs). The Oldest Known Record Pablo Gallina, a study-led author and a researcher at the National Council for Scientific and Technical Research of Argentina (CONICET) told Reuters that it is the oldest record known, not only from Argentina but all over the world. Titanosaurs are recorded on various sides of the world, but the oldest-known records were more modern than this discovery. Ninja titan was a large dinosaur at a length of about 20 meters (65 feet), but much smaller than titanosaurs discovered later such as Argentinosaurus that reached a length of around 35 meters (115 feet). The scientists also made it known that the presence of such an early titanosaur in Patagonia agrees with the idea that it was in the Southern Hemisphere that titanosaurs was originated from. Read More: New Discovery: The Largest Dinosaur, 'The Spinosaurus' Was Not Well-Adapted To Aquatic Life Findings in the Scientific Journal The findings were released in the Ameghiniana scientific journal. Titanosaurs are members of sauropods, a larger dinosaur group that includes others with similar body designs such as Brontosaurus and Diplodocus that existed in North America during the Jurassic age, which predated the Cretaceous age. Quite a lot of titanosaurs that inhabited Patagonia such as Argentinosaurus, Patagotitan, and Dreadnoughtus achieved gigantic proportions. Another CONICET scientist, Jose Luis Carbadillo, disclosed to a local university publication that the age of Ninja titan's remains could have led people to think that the bones are meant for a dinosaur group that preceded titanosaurs and in Patagonia, they are only known from less than 120 million years ago. Desert-Dwelling Dinosaurs Found in Brazil Researchers said on Wednesday that a desert-dwelling carnivorous dinosaur that used claws to catch small animals 90 million years ago has been discovered in southern Brazil. A team of paleontologists from Brazil and Argentina said in a statement that the skeletal remains just five feet (over a meter and a half in length), the skeletal remains of the Vespers Taurus paranaensis were discovered in Cruzeiro do Oeste municipality of Parana state. Footprints now known to belong to this new species of dinosaur were found in the 1970s in Cruzeiro do Oeste. Paulo Manzig of the Paleontology Museum of Cruzeiro do Oeste said It is incredible that nearly after 50 years, it looks like we have found what type of dinosaur would have produced those enigmatic footprints. Related Article: Scientists Finally Unlock Dinosaur DNA For more news, updates about dinosaur, and similar topics, don't forget to follow Nature World News! 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. This winning novel or is it a self-help book? opens with a striking proposition: MLK, Malcolm X, James Baldwin, Jean-Michel Basquiat and Frederick Douglass were all salesmen. And the purpose of this book, the titular Buck writes in his prefatory Authors Note, is to help other Black men and women on a mission to sell their visions all the way to the top. Teetering between biting satire and complete earnestness (interspersed throughout are callouts with real sales advice), Askaripours novel charts the unlikely metamorphosis of Darren Vender a 22-year-old former high school valedictorian who works at Starbucks and lives with his mother in a Brooklyn brownstone into Buck, who appears on morning talk shows as the best salesman in New York City and does bumps of cocaine in the back seat of his chauffeured car. The key to his transformation is Sumwun, a start-up with all the trappings of a ragtag company flush with investor cash (free swag, anarchic business practices), where Darren lands a job as a sales rep. What follows is high corporate fantasy: As he accepts Sumwuns messianic ideology and the name his blatantly racist manager gives him, Buck single-handedly saves the company from total collapse and methodically destroys every relationship tethering him to his old life in the process until hes given a chance at redemption. Whats not fantasy, though, are the all-too-believable tone-deaf or actively malicious slights Darren/Buck faces at his lily-white office. Thankfully, his quick wit provides cathartic delight: I shouldve known from the Middle Passage to never trust a white man who says, Take a seat. 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. MIDDLETOWN, Ohio A woman accused of killing her 6-year-old son first tried to abandon him at a park, then dragged him with her vehicle and ran him over as he tried to get back in, according to reports. Authorities are continuing to look for the body of James Hutchinson, 6, which police say Brittany Gosney and her boyfriend dumped in the Ohio River near Lawrenceburg, Indiana, WCPO Channel 9 reports. Gosney initially reported her son missing on Sunday morning, but police say she later admitted to killing Hutchinson on Friday, then dumping the body on Saturday. According to the Cincinnati Enquirer, law-enforcement officials say Gosney is not showing much remorse about the death of her son. Gosney, 29, is being held in the Hamilton County Jail on a $1 million bond. She is charged with murder, gross abuse of a corpse and tampering with evidence. Her boyfriend, James Hamilton, 42, is charged with abuse of a corpse and tampering with evidence. He is in jail on a $100,000 bond, Fox 19 reports. Police tell the Enquirer that Hamilton was not present when Hutchinson was killed. Brittany Gosney, 29, is facing a murder charge in connection with the death of her 6-year-old son, James Hutchinson. (Middletown Police Department) According to Fox 19, court documents show Gosney told police she went to Rush Run Park in Preble County, which is northwest of Middletown, with the intent of abandoning her son there. She drove off as her son tried to get back into the car, dragging him. When she returned to the park about 30 to 40 minutes later, she found the boy dead in the parking lot with a head injury, Fox 19 reports. Gosneys two other children were in the vehicle the entire time, reports say, but its unclear if she intended to harm them. Both have been removed from their home by social services. Gosney took her sons body back to her home in Middletown before she and Hamilton dumped it in the Ohio River the next day, authorities say. This has really touched my soul and my heart, Middletown Police Chief David Birk said, according to Fox 19. My kids are older, but my youngest is 16, but Im just sitting there, you know, the poor 6-year-old has no idea whats going on and whats happening, and for the other kids to go through this, too. Its just heartbreaking. A vigil was held Monday night for Hutchinson. The boys father, Lewis Hutchinson, tells WCPO his son was a kind and loving child. He always loved to give hugs to people and everything. He was a great kid, Lewis Hutchinson tells WCPO. He just brought joy to everybody, But Hutchinson also is left with questions about his sons death. No kid ever deserves to be treated like that, he tells Fox 19. I dont know how somebody could be a monster and do that to a 6-year-old. More: Heres why Dauphin County officials sent a 16-year-old straight to adult prison Black man who died in police custody in Louisiana was kicked, dragged by trooper: Associated Press report The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is planning to release new guidelines this week for Americans vaccinated against COVID-19. Senior administration officials told POLITICO that the recommendations will include what safe activities people who have received both doses of the vaccine can do. The relaxed restrictions will include a list of of potential scenarios including whom to socialize with, where such meetings should take place and factors to consider before gathering. POLITICO also reports that there will be section on travel recommendations. However, fully immunized adults will be asked to still follow many public health measures including wearing masks and social distancing. The CDC is planning to release new guidelines this week for Americans who are fully vaccinated against COVID-19. Pictured: Estela Perales (left) gets the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine from pharmacy technician Ani Stepanian at a CVS Pharmacy branch in Los Angeles Recommendations will include whom to socialize with, where such meetings should take place and factors to consider before gathering as an average of 1.8 million people are vaccinated every day With nearly 25% of the population having received one or both doses (above), many states have been lifting restrictions Several top officials, including Dr Anthony Fauci, the nation's top infectious diseases expert, and CDC director Dr Rochelle Walesnky had previously said the guidance was imminent. At a press conference on Monday, Fauci said it is safe for 'doubly vaccinated' Americans to congregate in small groups. 'I use the example of a daughter coming in from out of town who is doubly vaccinated, and a husband and wife doubly vaccinated, and maybe a next-door neighbor who you know are doubly vaccinated,' he said. 'Small gatherings in the home of people, I think you can clearly feel that the risk - the relative risk is so low that you would not have to wear a mask, that you could have a good social gathering within the home.' With nearly 25 percent of the population having received at least one vaccine dose, and an average of 1.8 million people being inoculated every day, many states have been lifting coronavirus-related restrictions. Iowa Gov Kim Reynolds (R) and Missouri Gov Mike Parson (R) lifted mask mandates in their states last month while North Dakota's mandate expired in January. And, on Friday, Arkansas Gov Asa Hutchinson (R) lifted most of the state's restrictions on businesses and said he will end a mask mandate in March if test positivity and hospitalization rates are low. But Walensky said she was 'deeply concerned' about some public health measures being rolled back. On Monday, she noted that current figures shows national case counts have flattened off at around 70,000 per day and deaths at around 2,000. U.S. health officials have warned America that it's not time to relax even as new COVID cases fell below 50,000 nationwide for the first time since October 18. At a press conference on Monday, Dr Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said she was 'deeply concerned' as some states roll back COVID-19 restrictions. She noted that current figures shows national case counts have flattened off at around 70,000 per day and deaths at around 2,000. 'I am really worried that states are rolling back the same restrictions that helped us. We cannot be resigned to 70,000 cases a day, 2,000 daily deaths,' Walensky said. 'At this level of cases, we stand to lose the hard-earned ground we have gained...This is the not the time to relax critical safeguards...We have the potential to stop the surge of cases. Stay strong in your convictions.' The new recommendations for vaccinated people come just two weeks after the CDC released guidelines for how to safely reopen schools. Measures depended on whether schools were in one of four color-coded zones: blue, yellow, orange or red. Schools in blue zones (zero to nine new cases per 100,000 in past seven days) or yellow zones (10 to 49 new cases) were encouraged to open for full, in-person learning. Meanwhile, schools in orange zones (50 to 99 new cases) can reopen limitedly along with measures likes masking, physical distancing, hand-washing, updated ventilation and contact tracing. Lastly, in red zones (100 new cases or more per 100,000), elementary schools can have a limited reopening but middle and high schools can be online only until cases decline. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Andrew Cuomo told the doctor who carried out his COVID-19 test last spring that she 'made the gown look good' in a newly resurfaced clip. The New York Governor, 63, was speaking to Dr. Elizabeth Dufort on May 17 last year when he made the comment, which has since been branded 'creepy' after three women accused him of being sexually inappropriate. Standing up to receive the test at one of his Emmy-award winning daily briefings Cuomo tells Dr Dufort: 'You make that gown look good.' The medic - who is in full PPE gear - does not respond. She has not commented on the video as of Tuesday afternoon. But on Twitter those watching the video say his comment is 'creepy AF'. Jordan Jayson said: 'Anyone who doubts @LindseyBoylan should just watch Cuomo take his COVID test - LIVE - where he tells the female doctor giving the test that she makes that gown look good. 'It was practically a throw away line which tells you everything you need to know.' Dr Dufort was one of nine medical professionals who left their role after Cuomo scorned the advice of experts, The New York Times reported last month. Andrew Cuomo told the doctor who carried out his COVID-19 test last spring that she 'made the gown look good' in a newly resurfaced clip from May 17, pictured Standing up to receive the test at one of his Emmy award winning daily briefings Cuomo tells Dr Dufort: 'You make that gown look good.' The medic - who is in full PPE gear - does not respond Pressure is building on the embattled governor after three women came forward with allegations of sexual harassment. He also faces a federal probe over claims he deliberately withheld data on the number of COVID-19 deaths in nursing homes. On Monday a video of the governor telling a reporter Beth Cefalu to eat an entire sausage in front of him at the 2016 NY State Fair garnered fresh attention. As the video was reshared on Twitter on Sunday, one user branded it 'creepy' and 'cringey'. Another pointed out: 'His daughter looks so uncomfortable! Ew!!!' 'This is unwatchable...' a third added. Reporter Cefalu later tweeted that she was neither harassed nor pressured by the incident. On Twitter those watching the video have branded his comment 'creepy AF' Former aide Lindsey Boylan became the first woman to publicly accuse Cuomo of inappropriate behavior. She said Cuomo commented on her appearance inappropriately, kissed her without her consent at the end of a meeting, and once suggested they play strip poker while aboard his state-owned jet. Cuomo has denied Boylan's allegations. Days later Charlotte Bennett, 25, then said Cuomo quizzed her about her sex life and asked whether she would be open to a relationship with an older man. Three women, Charlotte Bennett, left, Lindsey Boylan, center, and Anna Ruch, right, accused Cuomo of being sexually inappropriate Bennett rejected Cuomo's attempted apology, in which he said he'd been trying to be 'playful' and that his jokes had been misinterpreted as flirting. Then on Monday Anna Ruch told The New York Times that Cuomo touched her lower back, then grabbed her cheeks and asked to kiss her at a September 2019 wedding. Ruch told the newspaper that when she removed Cuomo's hand from her back, he called her 'aggressive,' placed his hands on her cheeks and asked if he could kiss her. Cuomo then planted a kiss on her cheek as she turned away. A photograph taken by a friend captured a look of discomfort on Ruch's face as the governor held her face. 'I felt so uncomfortable and embarrassed when really he is the one who should have been embarrassed,' Ruch said. On Monday a video of the governor telling a reporter Beth Cefalu to eat an entire sausage in front of him at the 2016 NY State Fair garnered fresh attention Neither Cuomo - who has uncharacteristically not appeared in public for several days - nor his spokespeople have commented on the latest allegation made against him Monday night. The governor hasn't taken questions from reporters since a February 19 briefing, an unusually long gap for a Democrat whose daily, televised updates on the coronavirus pandemic were must-see TV last spring. New York Attorney General Letitia James is leading the investigation into the claims made against him. That inquiry has yet to begin. James said her office is working to hire an outside law firm to conduct it. As of midday Tuesday, at least one Democratic Congress member from Long Island U.S. Rep. Kathleen Rice four state senators, several left-leaning Assembly members and the leaders of the progressive Working Families Party said they have already heard enough and that Cuomo should resign. Some suggested he be impeached. New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, who has had a contentious relationship with Cuomo for years, said Tuesday that 'if these allegations are true, he cannot govern.' The addition of Veth is an exciting new development... We are continually looking for opportunities to provide value and quality solutions to our customers. As a global leader in Azimuthing Drives, Veth certainly meets that goal." Palmer Johnson Power System is now a proud Authorized Sales and Service Provider in Western Canada for Veth Propulsion products. Palmer Johnson Power Systems will represent Veth Propulsion by Twin Disc in the Canadian providences of British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Northwest Territory, Nunavut, and Yukon. The addition of Veth is an exciting new development for Palmer Johnson and our Marine Team. We are continually looking for opportunities to provide value and quality solutions to our customers. As a global leader in Azimuthing Drives, Veth certainly meets that goal, says Jeff Magusin, Vice President of Marine at Palmer Johnson Power Systems. Veth also offers a wide range of drive options, including diesel, diesel-electric, hybrid, or hydraulic driven thrusters, Magusin continues. Veth can also make a custom thruster or one to refit an existing application. Our first Veth installation is getting delivered Q1 of 2021, and we look forward to working on our next Veth application. Veth Propulsion engineers and manufactures azimuth rudder propellers, thrusters, and marine electronics and is a supplier and servicer of diesel engines and generator sets. Since 1951, its quality equipment has been widely respected by shipyards and naval architects worldwide. Veth has a long history of successful installations of its innovative products in commercial vessels, both inland and offshore, and in pleasure craft and military vessels. The company was acquired by Twin Disc, Inc. in 2018 and continues to expand its worldwide sales and service network. This strategic agreement focuses on expanding the distribution of Veths innovative propulsion systems through Palmer Johnson Power Systems, a longstanding Twin Disc distributor and valued partner. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has started an active struggle against the country's powerful oligarchs, Financial Times has reported. According to the report, last month President Volodymyr Zelensky revoked the licenses of three pro-Moscow television channels for spreading Russian propaganda in Ukraine. The TV channels belonged to Taras Kozak, an associate of oligarch Viktor Medvedchuk. A few days later, Medvechuk's assets and an oil pipeline owned by another associate were frozen. Moreover, last week the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) charged three former senior executives at PrivatBank, raising expectations the Ukrainian authorities could next close in on former owners Ihor Kolomoisky's bank and his partners. The FBI is currently investigating a case against Kolomoisky over the withdrawal of money from PrivatBank and the purchase of real estate using these funds in the United States. Medvedchuk, in turn, has been under U.S. sanctions since 2014 for undermining Ukraine's security, territorial integrity and democratic institutions. According to the report, the President's Office has already made it clear that it is preparing for a broader crackdown on oligarchs. On February 2, President Volodymyr Zelensky enacted the National Security and Defense Council decision to impose sanctions against TV channels NewsOne, ZIK and 112 Ukraine, as well as their owner, Taras Kozak, an MP from the Opposition Platform For Life party. The sanctions include the revocation of the licenses of these pro-Russian TV channels. On February 23, NABU detectives announced charged three former officials at PrivatBank with embezzling more than UAH 136.89 million. op YEREVAN, MARCH 2, ARMENPRESS. A stable operational situation with no incidents has been maintained along the Armenian-Azerbaijani line of contact of the Armenian state border overnight March 1-2, 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 borderline. Raila Odinga addressed the never-ending jibes by his political opponents that he practices black magic. With the country heading towards another election period in 2022, the claims that the opposition leader practices witchcraft have re-emerged from DP Rutos camp. In their campaigns, the DP and his allies have been telling supporters not to trust mganga ( a witchdoctor) and mtu wa vitendawili (a man of riddles). The ODM leader finally responded to the allegations on Sunday when he spoke at St Stephens Lwanya Catholic Church in Mundika, Busia County. They keep calling me mganga. I am not a witch doctor. Im a Christian who attends church services regularly but I do not boast about it, Raila said. The former Prime Minister noted that several miracles have happened in his life and hence, he cannot embrace the dark forces of witchcraft. What I do not like doing is boasting about my Christianity. I pray that God may help unite our country, Raila said. A batch of Covid-19 vaccines were rescued by boat in Kentucky as heavy rain caused major flooding in several areas of the state. Kentucky governor Andy Beshear revealed during a press conference on Monday night that emergency crews had been dispatched to the Lee County Health Department in Beattyville, Kentucky, earlier in the day after a power outage caused by flooding put a batch of coronavirus vaccines at risk. Unable to use the flooded roads, the crews travelled by boat to rescue the doses and transport them to a facility in Wolf County, the governor said. No doses were lost during the rescue mission. The incident came just two weeks after a facility housing Moderna vaccines in Texas lost power amid Winter Storm Uri, causing a frantic dash to administer 5,000 vaccines before they expired. Recommended Winter storm and power outages upend US Covid vaccination as thousands of doses left in peril Both the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna Covid-19 vaccines need to be stored at freezing temperatures prior to being administered, and are at risk of being spoiled if kept at higher temperatures for too long. A new one-dose vaccine created by Johnson & Johnson that was granted emergency use authorisation by the US Food and Drug Administration over the weekend, differs from the other two treatments as it only needs to be stored in a refrigerator prior to use. Kentucky has seen major flooding over the last couple of days, after record levels of rain fell in the state and snow melted over the weekend, causing mudslides and power outages in many areas. The governor declared a state of emergency on Monday, as heavy rain and thunderstorms continued to hit several parts of Kentucky. Mr Beshear activated the National Guard to assist with any rescue operations, with at least 70 service members and four helicopters providing support. We are acting swiftly to ensure the safety and security of Kentucky families and to get the needed help to our communities, the governor said in a statement on Monday. Several people were evacuated from their homes amid the flooding, while five people were rescued from a car that was caught up in the severe weather over the weekend. Among those rescued from the vehicle, were a 17-month-old boy and a woman who appeared to be having a seizure, according to the Associated Press. The Salyersville Nursing and Rehabilitation in Magoffin County, Kentucky, was also evacuated on Sunday, with the residents taken to a nearby middle school and hospital due to safety fears amid the severe weather. Since the start of the pandemic, Kentucky has seen more than 409,000 coronavirus and at least 4,802 deaths. Around 1.3 million coronavirus vaccine doses have been administered in Kentucky, as 8 per cent of those have been fully vaccinated in the state. According to Johns Hopkins University, there are now more than 28.6 million people who have tested positive for the coronavirus in the US. The death toll has reached 514,660. Voters go to the polls at Sara Smith Elementary polling station, in the Buckhead district, in Atlanta during the Georgia Senate runoff elections, on Jan. 5, 2021. (Virginie Kippelen/AFP via Getty Images) Georgia House Passes Omnibus Election Reform Bill Georgias House of Representatives passed an omnibus bill that would reform a range of election rules, including over absentee voting, voter ID for absentee voting, time limits for voting, and more. The 66-page bill, HB 531 (pdf) passed the Republican majority chamber on a party line vote of 97-72 and is headed to the state Senate for further debate. State Rep. Barry Fleming, a Republican, the main sponsor of the HB 531 bill, said that the proposal was designed to restore voters confidence in Georgias election system following the 2020 presidential election, which saw numerous allegations of voting irregularities and allegations of election fraud. Separately, the GOP-majority Senate on Feb. 23 introduced its own version of an omnibus election reform bill, SB 241 (pdf) that has some overlap with HB 531. One difference is that the Senate bill would eliminate no-excuse absentee voting, something that has been allowed in Georgia since 2005, whereas the House bill would still allow no-excuse absentee voting. Absentee Ballots The proposed HB 531, first introduced on Feb. 18, sets up multiple requirements for absentee ballots, including a number of voter identification requirements in replacement of the states current signature match process. Voters would have to submit their drivers license number, their state identification card, or the last four digits of their Social Security number on the ballot envelope. If the voter lacks a government ID, the bill requires a copy of a current utility bill, bank statement, government check, paycheck, or other government document that shows the name and address of the voter. Under the new bill, voters would be able to request an absentee ballot up to 78 days before the election, instead of the current 180 days. The absentee ballots and early votes must be received by 11 days prior to the election day. The government, including election officials, would not be allowed to mail out unsolicited applications for absentee ballots to voters under the bill. Only authorized relatives or persons signing as helping a voter who is illiterate or physically disabled may apply on behalf of another for an absentee ballot application . Election officials also must not send out absentee ballots until four weeks prior to the election. Other Requirements To help reduce Georgias runoff period to four weeks, instead of nine weeks as experienced by the state in the Jan. 2 runoff elections for two Senate seats, military and overseas voters would be offered ranked choice voting. Drop boxes would still be allowed under the new bill but subject to a number of restrictions. There would be a limited number of drop boxes, where every county would have at least one drop box but no more than one per 100,000 active voters or one for each early voting site. Any given drop box must be located at the office of the board of registrars or absentee ballot clerk, or indoors at an early voting site. The drop boxes are only open when those sites are open and be under constant surveillance by an election official or his or her designee, law enforcement official, or licensed security guard. Voters cast their early voting ballot at drop box outside of City Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on Oct. 17, 2020. (Mark Makela/Getty Images) The proposed legislation would change Georgias early voting period to business hours of 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. starting about three weeks before election day, and registrars would have the option to extend voting hours to 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. The bill would also limit weekend voting to the second Saturday before the election. Counties can also choose the third Saturday or third Sunday before election day as another weekend day. The HB 531 will no longer count any provisional ballots cast in the wrong precincta change from the current law, which stipulates that even if the ballot was cast in the wrong precinct, election officials can count the votes for races in which the voter was entitled to vote. The U.S. Department of Defense announced a new $125 million package for Ukraine's Security Assistance Initiative that includes training, equipment and advisory efforts to help Ukraine's forces preserve the country's territorial integrity, secure its borders, and improve interoperability with NATO. "The USAI package includes two additional armed Mark VI patrol boats to enhance Ukraine's capacity to patrol and defend its territorial waters. To date, the U.S. has committed a total of eight Mark VI patrol boats," the Defense Department said in a press release on Monday. The Pentagon said that this action reaffirms the U.S. commitment to providing defensive lethal weapons to enable Ukraine to more effectively defend itself against Russian aggression. "The package also includes capabilities to enhance the lethality, command and control, and situational awareness of Ukraine's forces through the provision of additional counter-artillery radars and tactical equipment; continued support for a satellite imagery and analysis capability; and equipment to support military medical treatment and combat evacuation procedures," the department said. The Pentagon also said that the remaining $150 million in fiscal year 2021 USAI funds appropriated by Congress will be provided when the Defence Department, in coordination with the Department of State certifies that Ukraine has made sufficient progress on key defense reforms this year, as required by the National Defense Authorization Act. "The Department encourages Ukraine to continue to enact reforms that strengthen civilian control of the military, promote increased transparency and accountability in defense industry and procurement, and modernize its defense sector in other key areas in line with NATO principles and standards," the Defense Department said. Since 2014, the United States has committed more than $2 billion in security assistance to Ukraine. The event was supposed to address past comments one member of council used against another. And the speakers mainly did that this past Friday, on the steps of City Hall in Trenton, speaking in support of City Council President Kathy McBride. Last week, fellow council member Jerell Blakeley publicly apologized for calling her an illiterate crackhead prostitute last year, after news of the comment surfaced in local media reports. But the second speaker at the Friday event, Divine Allah, teed off on Mayor Reed Gusciora, describing him as this white boy mayor, this little f-----. Gusciora is the citys first openly gay mayor. He then used the slur crackers to describe whites and labeled Jews, the true enemy. Allah is a longtime city resident and sometime candidate who shows up at events occasionally and has been affiliated with the New Black Panther Party. He did not immediately respond to a request for comment. McBride spoke later in the event, after Allahs 13-minute address, which mentioned Blakeley and McBride, but veered into a rant-like soliloquy on race and issues facing Blacks in New Jersey cities. She did not address Allahs comments during her own remarks. Afterwards, she told a Trentonian reporter that Allahs remarks were his, not hers, but shes not publicly discussed the incident since. The mayor did. My understanding is that Council President set this event up to condemn hateful language and violence against women. If so, Im at a complete loss to why they allowed senseless homophobic and anti-Semitic vitriol to be spewed from the very steps of City Hall, which should be a beacon of equality and order to all City residents, Gusciora said Monday. This event came to symbolize the very dysfunction and hate that prompted it in the first place. We as a city are better than this, the mayor said. One of the events organizers was McBrides son, Corey Hayes, who issued a flyer calling men of Trenton to stand with him for the slanderous and demoralizing comments directed at his mother. Hayes said his mother raised him to respect women, and called out Blakeley directly for his comments, saying, Its not only an embarrassment of his character, but also distracts from the city councils main goal and purpose. Blakeleys name calling to McBride occurred during a closed coronavirus meeting in April 2020. It was not publicized until last week, when the Trentonian reported on it after finding it among transcripts a judge ordered turned over to the publication in its lawsuit against the city for violating the Open Public Meetings Act - by holding the coronavirus meetings. Blakeleys comments came after McBride called him a disrespectful piece of s--- in the meeting, the Trentonian reported. Last week, Blakeley said: Nearly a year ago, the Council President and I had a heated conversation where we used regrettable language. I apologized to her then and I publicly apologize again. I am focused on moving Trenton forward while learning from this unfortunate incident. Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com. Kevin Shea may be reached at kshea@njadvancemedia.com The spread of this ideology has turned America into a land where many aspects of life that used to be just part of the background now require potentially fateful decisions. You dont get a company pension, you have to decide how to invest your 401(k). When you turn 65, you dont just get put on Medicare, you also decide which of many Medicare Advantage plans to sign up for. You dont just get power and phone service, you also have to choose from a wide variety of options. Some, maybe even most, of this expansion of choice was good. I dont miss the days when all home phones were owned by AT&T and customers werent allowed to substitute their own handsets. But the argument that more choice is always good rests on the assumption that people have more or less unlimited capacity to do due diligence on every aspect of their lives and the real world isnt like that. People have children to raise, jobs to do, lives to live and limited ability to process information. And in the real world, too much choice can be a big problem. The lesson of subprime mortgages, health insurance and now Texas electricity is that sometimes people offered too much choice will make bigger mistakes than they imagined possible. But thats not all. Too much choice creates space for predators who exploit our all-too-human limitations. Before the subprime mortgage crisis, Edward Gramlich, a Federal Reserve official who warned in vain about the potential for disaster, asked, Why are the most risky loan products sold to the least sophisticated borrowers? The question, he suggested, answers itself the least sophisticated borrowers are probably duped into taking these products. Similarly, theres clearly a lot of profiteering in medical billing, with the victims disproportionately those least able to understand whats happening. Beyond all that, Id suggest that an excess of choice is taking a psychological toll on many Americans, even when they dont end up experiencing disaster. New Delhi, March 2 : Several operatives of underworld don Dawood Ibrahim, involved in smuggling of Fake Indian Currency Notes (FICN), have shifted base from Kathmandu to Dhaka in a bid to push 'Pakistan-printed Indian fake currency' into India. In the wake of Assembly polls in Assam and West Bengal, the vigil on the Indo-Bangladesh border has been stepped up to prevent cross-border smuggling of FICN, top Intelligence sources revealed to IANS. After a series of huge seizures of FICN in Nepal in recent years, Dawood Ibrahim's operatives based in Kathmandu and border areas of Nepal-Bihar and Nepal-UP, shifted their operations to Bangladesh. "Dawood Ibrahim's multi-layered fake currency operation now relies more on his aides based in Bangladesh," former Director General(DG) of Directorate of Revenue Intelligence(DRI), DP Dash told IANS. Dash, who led the country's top revenue intelligence agency in busting several international modules of FICN gangs till mid-2019, said that high-quality fake currency notes cannot be detected by the naked eye. "Currency notes are usually of Rs 2,000 denomination and seem to have been printed at hi-tech printing facility, probably in Pakistan, as during one of the seizures of FICN at Kathmandu airport, the concerned flight had originated from Pakistan," the former DRI chief added. Over the years, the Malda district in West Bengal has become the hub of FICN smuggling. Its proximity to the Bangladesh border, good road and rail connectivity makes it a hotspot for such nefarious operations.Besides Malda, two other districts of Bengal, Murshidabad and Nadia have also seen a rise in smuggling of fake currency notes. Border Security Force(BSF) sources said that while high-quality FICN reportedly comes from Pakistan, low-quality counterfeit notes are being printed across the border. During elections extra vigil is maintained by security forces on the West Bengal-Bangladesh border to prevent FICN smuggling and criminal activity."From small time criminal gangs to aides of underworld syndicates all of them have a network in Malda, " said Rajnikant Mishra, former Chief of Border Security Force(BSF). "Malda is certainly the hub but International crime syndicates opt for different routes to pump FICN into India. From Sri Lanka FICN is smuggled into Kerala and from Dubai it lands in Mumbai," Rajnikant Mishra, former DG, BSF told IANS. Shortly before the lockdown in 2020, Javed Ghulamnabi Sheikh, a key operative of the Dawood Ibrahim gang, was arrested from Mumbai airport with high-quality fake Indian currency notes worth over Rs 23 lakh. During his interrogation, Sheikh revealed to the agencies that the logistics in the entire operation were provided to him by local gangster Akbar Hussain. Unravelling the entire deal, the National Investigation Agency(NIA) rounded up Hussain in December, 2020. NIA sources said that currency notes were printed in Pakistan and later smuggled into Mumbai via Dubai. Hussain was the point person for further distribution of high-quality notes in the country. E-commerce giant Flipkart, Indias homegrown e-commerce marketplace, has expanded its grocery services to more than 50 cities in the country through its pan India marketplace. This expansion will provide users of 7 metro cities and over 40 neighbouring cities access to high-quality grocery products, quick deliveries and a seamless shopping experience. In the grocery space, competes with players such as BigBasket, Swiggy, Amazon, Grofers and Reliances JioMart. Grocery continues to be one of the fastest-growing categories, with the increase in demand for quality food and household supplies from users, said Manish Kumar, senior vice president for grocery, general merchandise and furniture at In line with this, Kumar said has invested in scaling up the grocery operations across the country, strengthening ecosystem partnerships. This is ensuring a seamless grocery shopping experience through an expansive product selection, robust supply chain and smooth in-app experience for consumers. Over the years, Walmart-owned Flipkart has invested in the rapid expansion of its grocery services and has managed to scale up exponentially in the past year. This expansion has brought the convenience of Flipkarts grocery service to users of metro cities such as Kolkata, Pune and Ahmedabad, with the help of Flipkarts dedicated grocery fulfilment centres. Flipkart has also expanded its services to cities beyond the metros such as Mysuru, Kanpur, Warangal, Allahabad, through a satellite-expansion marketplace model. The other such places include Aligarh, Jaipur, Chandigarh, Rajkot, Vadodara, Vellore, Tirupati and Daman. The pandemic has led to millions of people turning to e-commerce and embracing the convenience and ease of digital transactions. This has also led to a sharp growth in consumer demand for e-grocery, not only in metros but also from tier 2 cities and beyond. We have witnessed increased demand for groceries from tier 2 cities in the past year, fuelled by customers increasing preference for contactless shopping, from the comforts of their home, said Kumar. It is a trend that we think will continue and will set the course of e-grocery space in India. Flipkart Grocery today has over 7000 products available across more than 200 categories. These include daily household supplies, staples, oil, ghee, snacks and beverages, personal care, dairy and eggs. Grocery is the next big frontier for online shopping and is a key focus area for Flipkart to bring new customers online. The companys grocery operations will also give a fillip to the local food processing industry, connecting farmers producers to lakhs of consumers through the tech-enabled marketplace. Flipkart Grocery has witnessed 3X growth in the last one year. Flipkart Group works with many farmers and farmer producer organisations across the country in connecting them with an organized agri-supply chain to improve their livelihoods. Flipkart Grocery has not only partnered with leading retailers to serve customers during the pandemic but is also working with FPOs across the country to enable formal digital access to the farmers community. As per research firm RedSeer Consultings estimates, more than 50 per cent of the $570 billion grocery retail space in India is addressable by e-grocery platforms. Of this, value-first households account for a significant 61 per cent portion, with metro and tier 1 markets covering more than 40 per cent of this value-first opportunity. Riding on the huge and profitable value-first opportunity, the overall e-grocery market is projected to touch $24 billion GMV (gross merchandise value) by 2025, of which 55 per cent will be contributed by the value-first households, according to RedSeer. Flipkart said its grocery offering is differentiated by on-time delivery backed by a robust supply chain, availability of a wide variety of products and a native, intuitive shopping experience. Flipkart's voice-enabled shopping for groceries, credit offerings and open box deliveries provides a seamless grocery shopping experience to millions of consumers. The firm has also launched Flipkart Quick, its hyperlocal delivery model in Bangalore that offers a 90-min delivery promise. Last month, Amazon India said it is integrating its 'Pantry' and 'Fresh' services in cities, including Delhi, Bengaluru, Ahmedabad and Mysore, to offer a simplified grocery shopping experience to customers. Volcanic basalt rocks in the Black Rock Desert, Utah. Credit: Paul Gabrielsen If you drive south through central Utah on Interstate 15 and look west somewhere around Fillmore, you'll see smooth hills and fields of black rock. The area is, aptly, named the Black Rock Desert. It may not look like much, but you're looking at some of Utah's volcanoes. A pair of earthquake sequences, in September 2018 and April 2019, focused scientists' attention on the Black Rock Desert. The sequences, which included the main quakes and their aftershocks, were very different from the Magna earthquake that shook the Wasatch Front in 2020 and other Utah earthquakes. The Black Rock sequences were captured by the Utah Regional Seismic Network and by nearby temporary seismic equipment deployment that was monitoring a geothermal well. Earthquakes in the Black Rock Desert are rare and capturing the seismic recordings from these earthquakes provides a glimpse into the volcanic system of the Black Rock Desert that, while not showing any signs of erupting, is still active. A study of the earthquake sequences is published in Geophysical Research Letters. "The results showed us that we should give more attention to the Black Rock area," says Maria Mesimeri, a postdoctoral research associate with the University of Utah Seismograph Stations. "We need to improve seismic and volcanic monitoring in this area, so that we are aware of small changes that may occur." Not your typical earthquakes The earthquake sequences, with main shocks of magnitude 4.0 and 4.1 respectively, were picked up by both the Utah Regional Seismic Network and a dense temporary network of seismometers deployed as part of Utah FORGE, an experimental geothermal project funded by the U.S. Department of Energy and operated by the University of Utah, located about 19 miles south of the Black Rock Desert near Milford, Utah. The temporary network allowed researchers to detect more aftershocks than usual. For example, the regional network detected 19 earthquakes as part of the April 2019 sequence. But the dense temporary network detected an additional 35 quakes. Each additional aftershock provided a bit more information for seismologists studying the sequence. Location of the Black Rock desert in Utah. Orange triangles show the location of University of Utah Seismograph Stations. Black dots show the locations of Utah earthquakes. Credit: Maria Mesimeri/University of Utah Seismograph Stations The Black Rock sequences showed some interesting features that set them apart from the 2020 Magna sequence and other Utah earthquake sequences. While the initial Magna quake occurred at a depth of about six miles below the surface, a typical depth for Utah earthquakes, the Black Rock quakes were much shalloweraround 1.5 miles below the surface. "Because these earthquakes were so shallow," Mesimeri says, "we could measure surface deformation [due to the quakes] using satellites, which is very unusual for earthquakes this small." Also, Mesimeri and her colleagues found, the quakes produced much lower-frequency seismic energy than usually seen in Utah quakes. And one of the main types of seismic waves, shear waves or S-waves, wasn't detected in the Black Rock sequences. Volcanoes? In Utah? All of these signs point to the Black Rock sequences having a very different origin than the Magna sequence, which was generated by movement of the Wasatch Fault. The Black Rock quakes, on the other hand, may have been generated by ongoing activity in the Black Rock volcanic field. Volcanic rocks found in the Black Rock Desert, Utah. Credit: Paul Gabrielsen What are volcanoes doing in the middle of Utah? The Wasatch Mountains (and Wasatch Fault) form the eastern margin of a region called the Basin and Range province that stretches west to the Sierra Nevada. The province is being stretched apart by plate tectonics, and that stretching thins the crust, allowing more heat to rise up from the Earth's interior. In the Black Rock area, that heat resulted in eruption of basalt lava up until around 9,000 to 12,000 years ago. So what do these earthquake sequences mean for the volcanoes of the Black Rock Desert? "Our findings suggest that the system is still active and that the earthquakes were probably the result of fluid-related movement in the general area," Mesimeri says, referring to potentially magma or heated water. "The earthquakes could be the result of the fluid squeezing through rock or the result of deformation from fluid movement that stressed the surface faults." Activity in a volcanic field does not mean eruption, and Mesimeri says that there's no evidence that any eruption is imminent in the Black Rock Desert. But, she says, it's an area that geoscientists may want to monitor a little more closely. Explore further The Fukushima quake may be an echo of the 2011 disasterand a warning for the future More information: Maria Mesimeri et al, Unusual Seismic Signals in the Sevier Desert, Utah Possibly Related to the Black Rock Volcanic Field, Geophysical Research Letters (2021). Journal information: Geophysical Research Letters Maria Mesimeri et al, Unusual Seismic Signals in the Sevier Desert, Utah Possibly Related to the Black Rock Volcanic Field,(2021). DOI: 10.1029/2020GL090949 Makkal Needhi Maiam (MNM) founder was on Tuesday administered with the COVID-19 vaccine at a city hospital. The actor-politician was inoculated a day after the nationwide vaccination of 60 plus age group and those aged between 45-59 with co-morbidities was launched, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi receiving the first shot on Monday. "I took the vaccine at Sri Ramachandra Hospital. Those who care not only for themselves but also for others should get vaccinated," Haasan said in a tweet that was accompanied with a picture of him getting vaccinated. "Immunisation of the body immediately (and) vaccination against corruption next month. Get ready," he said in an apparent reference to the April 6 Assembly elections. Haasan has often hit out at the ruling AIADMK over corruption allegations. His party will contest the single phase April 6 polls. (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 in four children grow up without learning how to read, and 65% of Americas fourth- grade students do not read at a proficient level, according to the Literacy Project Foundation. The foundation also finds that 61% of low-income families have no books in their homes for children. As we spend today acknowledging Read Across America Day the birthday of Dr. Seuss, the pen name of Theodor Seuss Ted Geisel acknowledging and acting on the importance of getting an early start is key to success down the road. Organizations such as Springfields Reading Success by 4th Grade have the critical mission of fostering early literacy skills to ensure kids learn the foundational skills leading to graduation. This reading proficiency initiative is made up of early childhood educators, businesses, legislators and community organizations, the Springfield Public Schools as well as medical and behavioral health providers. Launched in 2009, the program is an initiative of the Irene E. & George A. Davis Foundation and exemplifies the collaborative spirit that is necessary within the community to make a difference in reaching literacy gains. In an interview after its first Early Literacy Summit in 2019, program manager Chrissy Howard said, What we did was bring folks together from across the city and the state to maintain momentum and keep a sense of urgency around early literacy issues. We had a lot come out of that summit in terms of thinking strategically, but also thinking broadly about literacy in the city. According to researchers, 80% of a childs brain is formed during their first three years. And engaging children by reading with them can increase language development and assist in cognitive development. Reading aloud to a child has real benefits, and the books of Dr. Suess are well-suited for this exercise. Reading Across America is a valuable reminder on the importance of a strong focus on reading at an early age and programs such as Reading Success by 4th Grade offers the community support and commitment that will drive action. Add the prose and talent of Dr. Suess and you have a formula providing students, teachers and parents with the tools they need to drive a positive change in reading proficiency. Today, and every day, we should recognize the importance of literacy in our lives. So pick up a book and read to your child, keep books around the house, and make reading a powerful, consistent practice. For years, Marie, a pseudonymous woman living in the Bay Area, subjected herself to extraordinary levels of vulnerability: She taught English to high school freshmen. Fourteen-year-olds are some of the most judgemental people on the planet, Marie says. I stood in front of them for hours every day and I did not feel the level of self consciousness that I started to feel when I had to be on Zoom all the time. The 27-year-old is between careers now, working toward a project management graduate degree. Still, if she wanted to continue her studies this past pandemic year, like so many more students, professionals, or anyone else seeking connectivity with others, Marie was forced to fire up video-conference calls. Shed been effectively treating her OCD and anxiety disorder since diagnosis at 22, utilizing breathwork and meditation, while at times engaging in cognitive behavioral therapy and various types of exposure therapy. But thanks to COVID-19-induced social distancing, for the first time Marie became aware of another disorder shes living with. I was really sensitive about my nose for a long time when Zoom started, Marie says. When I would see myself on Zoom, if the lighting wasnt right, it really triggered me, really upset me; I was checking it all the time. She discloses that the obsession dominated probably eight to 12 hours of my day. At one point, Marie became convinced she was going to seek a non-surgical nose job. Thats pretty extreme for my general personality, she says. Maries hardly alone in this struggle, and her symptoms have already been tabulated as classic for a new phenomenon affecting mental health called Zoom dysmorphia. A woman just about to undergo her rhinoplasty at a plastic surgery clinic. Anadolu Agency/Contributor/Getty Images Given its moniker this past November in an editorial co-written by board-certified dermatologist Arianne Shadi Kourosh, Zoom dysmorphia occurs when a person fixates on perceived flaws in their appearance that reveal themselves during video-conference calls. A life disproportionately spent on Zoom may trigger a self-critical comparative response that leads people to rush to their physicians for treatments they may not have considered before months confronting a video screen, Kourosh and two colleagues wrote. Kourosh, whos also an assistant professor of dermatology at Harvard Medical School and director of the Pigmentary Disorder and Multi-Ethnic Skin Clinic at Massachusetts General Hospital, tells InsideHook that after the editorial was published, the term she coined took off. She says Zoom dysmorphia gained so much notoriety because it gave a name to something so many others in the medical community and society at large were keenly observing. I started getting calls from lots of different journalists and there was a lot of buzz on social media, Kourosh says. More Like This Now More Than Ever, Its Time to Take Telephobia Seriously However, there was no hard data to back up what she and other dermatologists had discussed about Zoom dysmorphia. Finally, though, after collaborating with four other colleagues on a survey of 134 dermatological providers across the United States, that data emerged. They published a report in the International Journal of Womens Dermatology this past January, after finding that more than half of the medical professionals they surveyed had noticed an increase in patients seeking cosmetic consultations, compared to pre-pandemic times. A whopping 86 percent of them said theyve had patients cite video-conferencing calls as a reason to consider changes to their appearance. This isnt just an American trend, either. According to a BBC article from September 2020, the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons said its doctors were reporting up to 70-percent increases in requests for virtual consultations during the initial stages of the pandemic. And Dr. Zama Tladi, head of a medical aesthetic clinic in Pretoria, South Africa, tells InsideHook shes also observed a significant increase in clients requesting changes to their appearance, who indicated they were spurred by dissatisfaction in the way they look on video-conference calls. I see a lot of people coming in for their receding hairlines, Tladi says, adding that her clients have also asked her to eliminate the lines around their mouths, which are called nasolabial folds. A few other people have complained about wrinkles that they have close to their eyes, she continues, while some of her clients also see problems with skin pigmentation. They would rather undergo a procedure of some kind to correct it permanently instead of continuously putting on makeup. Experiencing a lot of Zoom related dysmorphia. Joel Kim Booster (@ihatejoelkim) March 17, 2020 For those people living with body dysmorphic disorder (BDD), though, this type of behavior is nothing new. Pandemic conditions have simply generated a fresh way for BDD symptoms to manifest. If theres a true medical diagnosis to be made here, its not Zoom dysmorphia, but BDD. Body dysmorphic disorder is a preoccupation with any aspect of ones appearance, says Fugen Neziroglu, Ph.D., a board certified psychologist and executive director of the Bio Behavioral Institute treatment and research center on Long Island. They become not only preoccupied but engage in compulsions and/or avoidance behaviors. The behavior can range from constantly looking at a reflective surface to only offering glimpses of a certain profile that theyre comfortable with, she says. Many people think theyre vain, narcissistic; its just the opposite, Neziroglu continues. These individuals feel very ugly and they want to hide from others; theyre not looking to be noticed. She adds that these individuals have an idea of how they would like to look and they pursue any way they can change the way they appear. This can be cosmetic surgery or more affordable options like constantly pushing up their noses or straightening their teeth with a nail file. They might also just hide their perceived flaws as best they can. More Like This How to Host a Zoom Meeting Without Incident, Since It's Your Life Now Why is Zoom the perfect playground for BDD symptoms? In large part because what we see on the screen is not an accurate representation of what we look like. Lens size and subject distance are crucial considerations in photography, dramatically affecting how a subject appears. Faces on video-conferencing platforms are most often shot on a tiny lens from up close, which creates an image that Kourosh compares to a circus mirror. We found evidence that front-facing cameras on our devices, like our laptops and cellphones, actually alter proportions even more than professional-grade cameras, Kourosh says. People were staring at their own reflection for hours on end in a way that is unnatural and in a way that society hasnt seen until the pandemic. People were staring at a distorted reflection for hours. Front-facing computer cameras actually capture a distorted version of your face. Chris Montgomery/Unsplash Throw a fistful of isolation into this recipe where self-esteem-boosting, in-person social support from friends and family is nowhere to be found plus a generous dose of downtime, which allows for extra rumination on those unhealthy thoughts, and, voila! Youve got yourself a BDD banquet, with Zoom dysmorphia as the main course, perhaps served after an appetizer of Snapchat dysmorphia. The social-media-induced, elder half-sibling to the video-conferencing-based Zoom dysmorphia, Snapchat dysmorphia is you guessed it when people fixate so much on their appearance through app photo filters that they seek plastic surgery so their IRL faces can match it. A medical journal paper published in 2018 tied Snapchat dysmorphia to BDD, and Kourosh says some Snapchat dysmorphia cases are so profound that people seek alterations that no amount of plastic surgery could solve. We cant make someones eyes larger or change the size of their head in some degree, Kourosh says. With the rise of social media filters and now the troubles with video-conferencing platforms which have their own enhancement features Kourosh observes, People are losing touch with what the normal aesthetic proportions of the face actually look like. She says individuals who are seriously considering body alterations should consult board-certified dermatologists or plastic surgeons because the doctor-patient relationship is very protected and these specialists have some awareness of body dysmorphic disorder. The good surgeon is the one who knows when its time not to operate, Kourosh adds. At Nubian Medical Aesthetics in South Africa, Dr. Zama Tladi says that when clients make requests that seem to emanate from BDD, she asks them to see a mental health specialist first. You get people who are complaining of more than two things in the face and you can hardly notice where the problem is; you cant really see it yourself with your eyes, Tladi says. I cant be fixing something I cant even see with my eyes. With very few exceptions, however, these individuals show up back in her office after a couple weeks, seeking the same procedure. Out in California, the graduate student Maries Zoom dysmorphia has, unfortunately, morphed. I was fixated on my nose for months, she says. Then I was fixated on my teeth, and I dont have an explanation for that change; its not like people were making fun of me and then they stopped making fun of me. If theres a silver lining in Maries case, however, its that her battles with anxiety and OCD have strengthened her against Zoom dysmorphia. (In fact, BDD is related to OCD and overlaps with social anxiety disorder. Many who struggle with one find themselves facing off with the others as well.) The exposure therapy solutions shes familiar with have helped her out with Zoom dysmorphia of late, saying shes become more comfortable on the platform. Like everything else in anxiety, [with Zoom dysmorphia] you have to pace and expose the individual to their feared situations in a gradual manner in which they can tolerate it, says the Long Island-based OCD specialist Neziroglu, whos authored multiple books on obsessive-compulsive behaviors, including BDD. I would be in favor of them initially, until they know how to deal with it, perhaps not doing the video [calls], and then maybe sit far away as theyre doing it and gradually sit closer and closer to the camera. Part of Maries self-prescribed exposure therapy: talking to this reporter over Zoom. Upon its conclusion, when I ask Marie how the video interview went for her, she says, Its actually been great. She did deliberate on where to sit for the chat, finding a spot in her home with what she judges as favorable light. Regardless, like with her Zoom classes, she powered through the ordeal with motivating factors behind her. I think its really important to talk about mental health, Marie says, and I love that its become more common to talk about. Subscribe here for our free daily newsletter. The post Is Zoom Dysmorphia Giving Rise to a Plastic Surgery Boom? appeared first on InsideHook. [March 02, 2021] Survey of enterprise cybersecurity executives indicates a widening gap between cybersecurity capabilities and needs - making the case for a new way of thinking TEL AVIV, Israel, March 2, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Cybersixgill , the leader in threat intelligence enablement, has partnered with Dark Reading to produce the 2021 State of Threat Intelligence report. The report found that while the area of deep and dark threat intelligence is gaining traction across the cybersecurity industry, many are struggling with a large knowledge gap regarding deep and dark web intelligence collection, the importance of intel freshness, the speed and rate of collections, as well as their overall impact on an organization's cybersecurity programs and posture. 77% of organizations have at least one dedicated threat intelligence analyst, and 54% have more than five. Yet an overwhelming 48% of organizations struggle with inaccurate data and 46% with stale data. More than half state they don't have access to closed and invite-only forums, and nearly a third said they don't receive intelligence from deep and dark web sources. "The deep and dark web is the world's third largest economy after the US and China. In other words, if you're a cyber criminal - you have to be there," Meira Primes, CMO of Cybersixgill. "Organizations are drowning in irrelevant data, false positives and lack of 'big picture' understanding. Those who fail to adapt and act accordingly will not be able to advance their cyber defense strategy and protect their organization against cyber threats. The report surveyed 106 cybersecurity executives at large enterprises, covering various aspects of threat intelligence from common use-cases to operational challenges. Additional findings include: Multiple Breaches: 25% of organizations have experienced six or more security breaches in the previous 12 months. 25% of organizations have experienced six or more security breaches in the previous 12 months. Long time to action: 35% of organizations say it takes 12 hours or more to supplement new threat intelligence data with enough research to begin escalating and remediating incidents. 35% of organizations say it takes 12 hours or more to supplement new threat intelligence data with enough research to begin escalating and remediating incidents. Drowning in data : 35% of organizations use seven or more threat feeds at a time. : 35% of organizations use seven or more threat feeds at a time. Time wasted on false Positives: 95% of organizations waste anywhere from one hour to five days per week per analyst on false positives. 95% of organizations waste anywhere from one hour to five days per week per analyst on false positives. Obsolete data impacting almost half of the organizations : 48% of organizations struggle with inaccurate threat intelligence data and 46% with stale data. : 48% of organizations struggle with inaccurate threat intelligence data and 46% with stale data. Lack of context: 40% of organizations cite lack of context as the biggest source of dissatisfaction in threat intelligence. In addition, the report recommends a set of baseline criteria for enterprises evaluating threat intelligence feeds. Intelligence, the research shows, should be continuous, iterative, contextual, and operationally integrative. Cybersixgill developed its agile threat intelligence methodology, Continuous Investigation/ Continuous Protection (CI/CP), to help organizations accelerate incident detection and response by connecting the dots between the tactical incident and its strategic and operational impact. With CI/CP, security teams cut through the overwhelming tide of threat intelligence with automation and insight to fuel mitigation, investigation, and response. "Threat intelligence simply hasn't kept pace with data collection and analysis capabilities," said Cybersixgill VP Intelligence, Omer Carmi. "We developed CI/CP to modernize the roles of cyber security executives and bring agility to the cyber chain of command. With CI/CP, security teams can maximize performance, break organizational silos, accelerate cyber operations and shift into a continuous state of improved resiliency to stay ahead of the threat curve. In other words: Better results, faster - time and again." Get the full report free About Cybersixgill Cybersixgill's fully automated threat intelligence solutions help organizations fight cyber crime, detect phishing, data leaks, fraud and vulnerabilities as well as amplify incident response in real-time. The Cybersixgill Investigative Portal empowers security teams with contextual and actionable insights as well as the ability to conduct real-time investigations. Rich data feeds such as Darkfeed and DVE Score harness Cybersixgill's unmatched intelligence collection capabilities and deliver real-time intel into organizations' existing security systems. Most recently, Cybersixgill introduced agility to threat intel with their CI/CP methodology (Continuous Investigation/Continuous Protection). Current customers include large, global enterprises, financial services, MSSPs, governments and law enforcement entities. To learn more, visit https://www.cybersixgill.com/ and follow us on Twitter: @cybersixgill and LinkedIn . Media Contacts Matt McLoughlin Gregory FCA on behalf of Cybersixgill Matt@gregoryfca.com Laurie Ben-Haim Cybersixgill +1-646-300-9549 +972-52-7831911 laurie@cybersixgill.com View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/survey-of-enterprise-cybersecurity-executives-indicates-a-widening-gap-between-cybersecurity-capabilities-and-needs---making-the-case-for-a-new-way-of-thinking-301238779.html SOURCE Cybersixgill [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [March 02, 2021] ASTRI and CUHK Pull Together to Launch Smart City Technology Oriented Practitioner Programme HONG KONG, March 2, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The Hong Kong Applied Science and Technology Research Institute (ASTRI) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with The Faculty of Engineering of The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) today (2 March) on implementing a Smart City Technology Oriented Practitioner (TOP) programme for up to 30 master students in the Faculty of Engineering of CUHK. ASTRI will provide paid full-time employment opportunities to enrolled students for a period of four to eight months and engage them in one of the ASTRI's ongoing smart city-related projects, with a view to developing future leaders for smart city transformation. Witnessed by Ms. Rebecca Pun Ting-ting, JP, Commissioner for Innovation and Technology of the HKSAR Government, Dr. Lucas Hui Chi-kwong, Acting Co-CEO cum Chief Technology Officer of ASTRI and Professor Martin D.F. Wong, Dean of the Faculty of Engineering of CUHK signed the MoU on behalf of the two parties. The TOP programme supports the recently released initiative by the HKSAR Government, Smart City Blueprint for Hong Kong 2.0 which strives to build Hong Kong into a world-class smart city. Dr. Lucas Hui Chi-kwong said, "Developing scientific talent in Hong Kong is one of ASTRI's goals. We are pleased to cooperate with CUHK to equip the new generation with scientific research talents to excel in all areas of smart cities." Dr. Martin Szeto Sin-ho, Acting Co-CEO cum Chief Operating Officer of ASTRI, said, "This practitioner programme for technology professionals is supporting the initiatives to develop 'smart people' as indicated in the Smart City Blueprint for Hong Kong, with the purpose of cultivating more human capital to promote technological development." Professor Martin D.F. Wong remarked, "This is a strategic partnership which connects our CUHK Engineering Faculty and students with ASTRI, a leading applied research institute in Hong Kong, through a work-study programme which enables our participation in state-of-the-art research and development that drives Hong Kong's smart city initiative. I am confident and excited that the CUHK-ASTRI partnership will be pivotal in realising the vision for a smart city as laid out in the blueprint." The programme welcomes applications from students enrolled in master's degree programmes under the Faculty of Engineering of CUHK in the academic year of 2021/22. After interview, a maximum of 30 students will serve as paid full-time research assistants in ASTRI, starting from the first quarter of 2022. They will be involved in smart city related projects and solving "pain points" for various organisations through research and development of applied technology, facilitating operations in a more intelligent and efficient way and benefiting people and business in our society. ASTRI has formulated technological solutions for various government departments, public institutions and enterprises over the years with the adoption of international and industry standards throughout the process, while fully considering public policies, legal requirements, and stakeholders' needs and concerns. The abilities and achievements of the professionals are affirmed by ASTRI partners and employers in the Research and Development sector. Students participating in the TOP programme will gain valuable work experience and lay a solid foundation for future employment in innovation and technology as well as the smart city industry. The CUHK Engineering Faculty has now evolved into an integrated engineering school. Its strength lies in its world-class position with high quality research facilities and a strong commitment to the latest application of modern technology. The Faculty prides itself as one of the pioneers in the research on artificial intelligence (AI) and deep learning. It has received top awards in international challenges for face recognition and visual recognition. The CUHK Multimedia Laboratory, named as one of the pioneers in AI research, is the only institution in Asia receiving this recognition. Different research and teaching teams at the Faculty of Engineering are dedicated to the applications of AI and deep learning in various areas and the education of talented engineers for smart city development. About ASTRI The Hong Kong Applied Science and Technology Research Institute (ASTRI) was founded by the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region in 2000 with the mission of enhancing Hong Kong's competitiveness in technology-based industries through applied research. ASTRI's core R&D competence in various areas is grouped under five Technology Divisions: AI and Big Data Analytics; Communications; Cybersecurity, Cryptography and Trusted Technologies; Integrated Circuits and Systems; and IoT and Sensors. It is applied across five core areas which are Smart City, Financial Technologies, Intelligent Manufacturing, Health Technologies, and Application Specific Integrated Circuits. Over the years, ASTRI has nurtured a pool of research, I&T talents and received numerous international awards for its pioneering innovations as well as outstanding business and community contributions. To date, ASTRI has transferred nearly 750 technologies to the industries and been granted more than 850 patents in the Mainland, the US, and other countries. ASTRI has been proactively engaging in Smart City-related research and development projects including: Smart Mobility: Cellular vehicle-to-everything (C-V2X), autonomous vehicle, smart indoor and outdoor geographic information system and more; Smart Living: Chatbot, GeronTech and Health Tech, 5G private network and more; Smart environment: Direct current building, power hub, safe battery technologies and more; Smart people: Launching the Fintech Career Accelerator Scheme with the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA); establishing the Cyber Range and FinTech Innovation Hubs and more; Smart government: Conducting over 40 research and development projects for various government bodies, including open data, smart water meter, intelligent knowledge management platform and more; Smart economy: Promoting the development of FinTech with the HKMA, including blockchain technology, alternative credit scoring of micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises and more; developing intelligent manufacturing initiatives and more. For further information about ASTRI, please visit www.astri.org. About the Faculty of Engineering, CUHK Founded in 1963, CUHK is a forward-looking comprehensive research university. The Faculty of Engineering was founded in 1991, offering undergraduate and postgraduate programmes through its six departments: Biomedical Engineering, Computer Science and Engineering, Electronic Engineering, Information Engineering, Mechanical and Automation Engineering, and Systems Engineering and Engineering Management. The Faculty has world-class teaching staff coming from prestigious universities possessing extensive teaching experience and is equipped with state-of-the-art facilities to support teaching and research activities. The Faculty launches a wide range of innovative projects that make use of AI to improve the quality of human life, and explores the application of AI and deep learning in various areas, such as smart living, smart mobility and smart environment, in order to build Hong Kong into a world-class smart city. The Faculty's mission is to train future leaders in engineering, to pursue knowledge at the frontier of modern technology, and to apply advanced technology to meet societal and human needs. For more information about CUHK Faculty of Engineering, please visit www.erg.cuhk.edu.hk. SOURCE Hong Kong Applied Science and Technology Research Institute (ASTRI) [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Coupang employees pose for a photo. Korea Times file Korean giant e-commerce aims to raise $3.6 billion through NYSE IPO By Anna J. Park The specific market value of Korea's online retailer giant Coupang has finally been set at around $51 billion, as the e-commerce giant disclosed Monday with a filing at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that its Class A common stock price will range between $27 and $30. "It is currently estimated that the initial public offering price will be between $27 and $30 per share. We have been approved to list our Class A common stock on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol CPNG," Coupang's revised S-1/A filing with the U.S. SEC disclosed on Monday read. Given that the company is expected to sell 120 million Class A shares through its initial public offering (IPO) on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) this spring, Coupang's upcoming IPO could raise up to $3.6 billion of new capital. While only the company's Class A stocks will be offered for the IPO, the firm's filing on Monday also gave a specific explanation about Class B common stocks, which are exclusively held by founder and CEO Kim Bom. Kim does not have any Common A stocks, but owns 100 percent of Class B shares. "We have two classes of authorized common stocks, Class A common stocks and Class B common stocks. The rights of the holders of Class A common stocks and Class B common stocks are identical, except with respect to voting and conversion. Each share of Class A common stocks is entitled to one vote per share. Each share of Class B common stocks is entitled to 29 votes per share and is convertible into one share of Class A common stocks," the Korean company's U.S. SEC filing stated. This will allow the Harvard-educated founder of the e-commerce giant exercise 76.7 percent of the firm's voting control with his Class B stocks. Coupang Founder and CEO Kim Bom / Courtesy of Coupang President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky says that illegal armed formations have been carrying out regular provocations in Donbas in recent weeks, and calls on the European Union to continue to put pressure on Russia. The head of state said this during a joint press conference with European Council President Charles Michel at the Shchastia border crossing point in Luhansk region on March 2, an Ukrinform correspondent reports. "In recent weeks, there have been regular provocations by illegal armed formations, which complicate the situation in the east of the country and the path to peace. Our soldiers keep on dying, Zelensky said. He stressed that in the last 10 days alone, two Ukrainian soldiers were killed in Donbas. "I will be very grateful to you, Mr. President, for further mobilizing pressure from the European Union and EU member states on Russia. Like no other, Ukraine seeks to achieve peace in Donbas through diplomacy. We will be able to do this together, feeling the support of our partners, our international partners, and your personal support for the sake of stability and security - security in Ukraine, security on the European continent," Zelensky stressed. As Ukrinform reported, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is on a working visit to the Joint Forces Operation (JFO) area in Luhansk region on March 2. During the visit, Zelensky meets with European Council President Charles Michel. ish Mayoral candidate killed, four wounded at funeral shooting THAILAND: A woman running for mayor in the March 28 municipal election was shot dead and three other candidates and the local kamnan wounded at a funeral at a temple in Photharam district last night (Mar 1). deathpoliticscrime By Bangkok Post Tuesday 2 March 2021, 02:20PM Police at the scene of the fatal shooting at Wat Tha Kham in Photharam district, Ratchaburi province last night (Mar 1). Photo: Saichol Srinuanchan. Police today asked Ratchaburi Court for a warrant to arrest a suspect in the shooting. Pol Lt Gen Thana Chuwong, the Provincial Police Region 7 commissioner, identified the suspect as Wanchart Niamraksa, a member of the Ratchaburi provincial administration organisation. Pol Lt Gen Thana said Mr Wanchart would be charged with murder, attempted murder, having firearms and ammunition in possession without permission and carrying them in public without proper reason. The shooting was believed to have been motivated by local politics and personal conflict, he said. The attack occurred about 7pm at Wat Tha Kham in Moo 7 village of tambon Sam Ruan. The mourners were seated in an open prayer hall. Five people were hit by bullets. Police called to the scene found the hall a mess, with toppled chairs, abandoned possessions and blood splatters. Those wounded were Yingpan Kanket, kamnan of tambon Don Sai, and four candidates in the March 28 election for the municipal council of tambon Don Sai - Varaporn Niamraksa, Nakhon Wanpen, Somthawil Srirat and Monthien Jaitham. The wounded were admitted to Ratchaburi, Chet Samian, Bangkok-Ratchaburi and Mahachai hospitals. Mrs Varaporn, who was running for mayor of the municipality, was later pronounced dead at the hospital. Police said two spent .22 cartridges and one 11mm spent shell had been found at the scene. Eyewitnesses said Mr Yingpan, as sub-district chief, had been asked to light joss sticks and candles before a Buddha image to mark the opening of the ceremony. As he did so, there was a barrage of gunfire. Amid the ensuing panic, people were heard yelling out for everyone to lie flat on the floor. When the gunfire ended, five people people were found to have been hit. Witnesses told police the shots were fired from behind the main Buddha image. The number of attackers was not known. CORPUS CHRISTI, TX, March 2, 2021 /PRNewswire/ - Uranium Energy Corp (NYSE American: UEC) ("UEC" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that Spencer Abraham, UEC's Chairman and former United States Secretary of Energy, will be speaking tomorrow, March 3rd, 2021, in a virtual fireside chat format at the BMO Global Metals and Mining Conference. Interested investors can access Spencer Abraham's live fireside chat at 5:45 PM EST through the following registration link: bmo.qumucloud.com/view/2021-gmm-uraniumenergycorporation A replay of the session will be made available on the BMO conference web app after the conference, accessible to registered attendees. About Uranium Energy Corp Uranium Energy Corp is a U.S.-based uranium mining and exploration company. In South Texas, the Company's hub-and-spoke operations are anchored by the fully-licensed Hobson Processing Facility which is central to the Palangana, Burke Hollow and Goliad ISR projects. In Wyoming, UEC controls the Reno Creek project, which is the largest permitted, pre-construction ISR uranium project in the U.S. Additionally, the Company controls a pipeline of uranium projects in Arizona, New Mexico and Paraguay, a uranium/vanadium project in Colorado and a large, high-grade ferro-titanium project in Paraguay. The Company's operations are managed by professionals with a recognized profile for excellence in their industry, a profile based on many decades of hands-on experience in the key facets of uranium exploration, development and mining. Stock Exchange Information: NYSE American: UEC WKN: AJDRR ISN: US916896103 Safe Harbor Statement Except for the statements of historical fact contained herein, the information presented in this news release constitutes "forward-looking statements" as such term is used in applicable United States and Canadian laws. These statements relate to analyses and other information that are based on forecasts of future results, estimates of amounts not yet determinable and assumptions of management. Any other statements that express or involve discussions with respect to predictions, expectations, beliefs, plans, projections, objectives, assumptions or future events or performance (often, but not always, using words or phrases such as "expects" or "does not expect", "is expected", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", "plans, "estimates" or "intends", or stating that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will" be taken, occur or be achieved) are not statements of historical fact and should be viewed as "forward-looking statements". Such forward looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such risks and other factors include, among others, the actual results of exploration activities, variations in the underlying assumptions associated with the estimation or realization of mineral resources, the availability of capital to fund programs and the resulting dilution caused by the raising of capital through the sale of shares, accidents, labor disputes and other risks of the mining industry including, without limitation, those associated with the environment, delays in obtaining governmental approvals, permits or financing or in the completion of development or construction activities, title disputes or claims limitations on insurance coverage. Although the Company 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 such statements will prove to be accurate as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements contained in this news release and in any document referred to in this news release. SOURCE Uranium Energy Corp Related Links http://www.uraniumenergy.com/ Outgoing national security adviser H.R. McMaster attends a joint news conference in the East Room of the White House in Washington on April 3, 2018. (Alex Wong/Getty Images) Beijing Views Taiwan as Next Big Prize After Hong Kong, Xinjiang Crackdowns: Former National Security Adviser The threat of a Chinese invasion of Taiwan makes the island the worlds most significant flashpoint that could lead to a large-scale war, according to former national security adviser H.R. McMaster. McMaster, speaking before a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on March 2, said that Chinese Leader Xi Jinping views Taiwan as the next big prize after solidifying the Chinese regimes control domesticallyby imposing a draconian national security law in Hong Kong, and its genocidal campaign against ethnic Muslims in the Xinjiang region. The former official said Xi believes he has a fleeting window of opportunity thats closing in relation to attacking Taiwan. He wants to, in his view, make China whole again, McMaster said. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) views Taiwan as part of its territory, even though the island has been governed as a distinct entity for more than seven decades. It has vowed to retake the island by force if necessary. The regime has sharply escalated its rhetoric and military pressure toward the island in recent months. On the first weekend of President Joe Bidens term, China made its largest-scale military incursions into the islands air defense zone13 military aircraft flew over Taiwans southwest waters on Jan. 23, and another 15 military aircraft made a similar incursion the next day. Days later, a Chinese official warned the self-ruled island that independence means war. According to McMaster, the period from 2022 onward marks the time of greatest danger to Taiwan, noting that this coincides with after the conclusion of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics. He said the Chinese regime is currently working to weaponize the South China Sea, to create a barrier that would make it far too costly for us to come to Taiwans defense, in the event of an attack. Beijing has for years been gradually building military outposts on artificial islands and reefs in the contested waterways. The former national security adviser recommended that the United States keep a military presence in the area surrounding Taiwan and the South China Sea to deny the Chinese military use of that space. He also said the United States should continue to help Taiwan fortify its defenses against a possible attack. Under federal law, the country is obliged to provide the island with military equipment for its self-defense. Under the Trump administration, arms sales to Taiwan increased with the government approving more than $15 billion in weapons packages. A possible war between the United States and China over an invasion of Taiwan would be extremely costly for both sides, McMaster said. If the United States did decide to respond to Taiwan, I do believe that the Peoples Liberation Army would suffer tremendous losses based on the tremendous capabilities of our joint forces, he added. Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy arrives at the Paris court house in Paris, France on March 1, 2021. A French court on Monday convicted former president Nicolas Sarkozy on charges of corruption and influence peddling and handed him three-year prison sentence, including two years suspended. Sarkozy, who led France from 2007 to 2012, has 10 days to appeal against the ruling. (Photo by Aurelien Morissard/Xinhua) PARIS, March 1 (Xinhua) -- A French court on Monday convicted former president Nicolas Sarkozy on charges of corruption and influence peddling and handed him three-year prison sentence, including two years suspended. Magistrates in Paris court found Sarkozy guilty of proposing a prestigious job in Monaco to a prosecutor in exchange for tip-offs on an inquiry into allegations that he had exploited the mental frailty of late L'Oreal heiress, Liliane Bettencourt, to enjoy donations in cash to finance his 2007 presidential campaign. Sarkozy's lawyer Thierry Herzog and former magistrate Gilbert Azibert were sentenced to the same penalty on charges of corruption, trading in influence and concealment of breach of professional secrecy. "They were perfectly aware of the fraudulent nature of their actions," judge Christine Mee was quoted as saying by state-run France info radio. Sarkozy, 66, is the second ex-president in the Fifth Republic of France to be sentenced by the justice. He repeatedly denied all wrongdoings. His predecessor, Jacques Chirac, president of France from 1995 to 2007, who died in September last year, got a two-year suspended prison sentence in 2011 for inventing fake jobs for members of his party while he was mayor of Paris in the 1990s. Under French law, Sarkozy is not required to serve the sentence in jail and he can be placed under an electronic bracelet. Sarkozy, who led France from 2007 to 2012, has 10 days to appeal against the ruling. Press Release March 2, 2021 De Lima receives 'love letters' from supporters, allies Different organizations and personalities continue to send letters and messages of hope for Opposition Senator Leila M. de Lima to convey their solidarity and love for her as she recently marked her fourth year in unjust detention last Feb. 24. To date, around 150 messages in the form of video and handwritten letters were already received by the Free Leila de Lima Movement (FLM), which initiated the project. FLM and the Senator's Official Facebook pages started releasing some of the letters and videos online, last Feb. 15. Among the most notable are handwritten letters from members of Samahan ng Nagkakaisang Pamilyang Pantawid (SNPP) and e-mailed messages from a student of Ramon Magsaysay High School and former Senators Rene Saguisag and Kit Tatad. "Let me start by thanking you for what you have done for your country. The bravery that you have shown will be an inspiration to your countrymen to continue fighting for what is right and just "May you persistently wait for the freedom you deserv[e] and signify that law is the law and that we should respect it at all costs," high school student Zhyra Enaria's letter read. Saguisag said De Lima's "moral stamina is fantastic," as he encouraged the lady Senator to "keep going." Tatad, for his part, said that De Lima "has become a shining symbol and a sterling icon to many people" and that "she now represents not only an individual's courageous fight for dignity and freedom, but above all the Filipino nation's longing for genuine liberation from the yoke of official injustice and authoritarian rule." Vouching for De Lima's innocence, a handwritten letter from Nida Cainap of SNPP, partly read: "I pray Sen. Leila na lalaya po kayo dahil wala po kayong kasalanan. Pinag-initan lang kayo ng administrasyon ni Duterte dahil [m]ahal mo po ang taumbayan, at mahal din namin kayo." Lolito San Diego of SNPP, meanwhile expressed her gratitude to the Senator, saying, "Sen. De Lima, maraming salamat po sa pagtulong mo sa amin upang maisabatas ang Pantawid (4Ps) na ito at naging matagumpay ang ating layunin at higit sa lahat sa iyo po Senator De Lima at sana maging matatag pa ka[yo] lagi para sa kinabukasan ng ating bansa." Aside from members of SNPP, among those who sent their "love letters" to De Lima include Jayanthi Balaguru (Council of Asian Liberal Democrats), Dawda Kasu Jawara (Parliamentarians for Global Action, The Gambia), Julia Tetrault-Provencher (Parliamentarians for Global Action, The Hague), Margareta Cederfelt (Parliamentarians for Global Action, Sweden), to name a few. Organizations such as AKBAYAN, Bunyog ng Pagkakaisa-Bacolod, HRonline, Task Force Detainees La Consolacion Convent, LP San Juan, Arya Progresibo, LP Manila Matatag Chapter, also sent their letters for the lady Senator. Video messages were sent by personalities and organizations including, among others, Vice President Leni Robredo, Senate Minority Floor Leader Franklin Drilon, Senators Risa Hontiveros and Kiko Pangilinan, Commission on Human Rights Chair Chito Gascon, Amnesty International and Amnesty International Partido ng Manggagawa. Recently, over 300 leaders, parliamentarians, activists, and organizations from different parts of the world have decried the continued political persecution of De Lima through a Statement of Indignation. In the said statement, the local and international leaders and groups called for the immediate release of De Lima and the dropping of all trumped-up drug charges filed against her by the vindictive Duterte regime. [March 02, 2021] Nex Cubed Selects Inaugural Class of HBCU Founders to Participate in Summer Acceleration Program SAN DIEGO, March 2, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Nex Cubed , a leader in early-stage innovation and startup acceleration, has announced the founders (and companies) selected to participate in the inaugural HBCU Founder's Summer Acceleration Program taking place virtually this summer. The founders invited to the Summer Acceleration Program will receive $10,000 in non-dilutive capital, technical resources to develop an MVP, physical working space in Silicon Valley, a business advisor, and over $1M worth of service provider perks and discounts to help propel their companies. At the initial stage of the program, applications for the HBCU Founder's Summer Acceleration Program were accepted whereby all founders who applied were invited to pitch their startup ideas to the Nex Cubed team. Successful finalists were then invited to pitch in a final round which consisted of presenting their business to an external panel of high profile partners and industry experts, including AT&T and Sway Ventures . Nex Cubed CEO, Marlon Evans says, "Diversity and inclusion has always been important to us, and with over 50% of our portfolio being led by female and underrepresented founders, Nex Cubed is leading the industry through its exceptional companies. We as an organization believe that if you can do more, you should, so this past summer we launched our HBCU Founder's Program to help give founders a much needed kickstart into the industry." The founders that will be participating in the Summer Acceleration Program have startups that span across Financial Services (FinTech), Education (EdTech), Digital Health, and Real Estate (PropTech) - key social determinants in desperate need of systemic reform that technology can help enable. The cohort includes: Jonathan Swindell , The HBCU HUB App , Grambling State University - The world's first app that connects you to recruiters at HBCUs The world's first app that connects you to recruiters at HBCUs Adewole Travittlee , TradeSmart, Morehouse College - A mobile app that provides users with a holistic understanding of the stock market, its companies, and industries A mobile app that provides users with a holistic understanding of the stock market, its companies, and industries Gerard Bellot , Theia.ia , University of the Virgin Islands - A software company that specializes in BIG Data processing A software company that specializes in BIG Data processing Candice Blacknall , GABA , Morehouse School of Medicine - A LinkedIn for medical trainees that matches trainees to study tools and support services based on their learning style A LinkedIn for medical trainees that matches trainees to study tools and support services based on their learning style Imani Hinton and Ajane Hinton, Now Open App , North Carolina A&T State University and Florida A&M University - A project aimed at reducing the financial barriers experienced by business owners, underbanked, and unbanked customers and employees A project aimed at reducing the financial barriers experienced by business owners, underbanked, and unbanked customers and employees Gerard Charlot and Trevor Alexander , Diversity Health NetwoRx , Morgan State University - A platform that increases clinical trials participation by addressing health disparities - A platform that increases clinical trials participation by addressing health disparities Perewari Pere, Trameter , Lincoln University - A personalized travel app that uses your interests to create bespoke travel packages in under a minute A personalized travel app that uses your interests to create bespoke travel packages in under a minute Leslie Winston , Monocle, North Carolina A&T State University - The first ever collaborative e-reader designed to enable connection while reading The first ever collaborative e-reader designed to enable connection while reading Torrence Reed , Noirbnb , North Carolina A&T State University - A global travel community that provides experiences and events with a focus on including and celebrating travelers of color A global travel community that provides experiences and events with a focus on including and celebrating travelers of color Jovante Ham , Mel x Studio , Prairie View A&M - A hybrid eLearning software that provides education in a simple, easily digestible, step by step format for new online business owners For more detals about the companies and their founders, visit the Nex Cubed Meet the Founders page . To date, Nex Cubed has had over 350 students and alumni from over 50 HBCUs enroll in the program and participate in industry webinars and virtual ideation sessions led by corporate executives, successful entrepreneurs, and top-tier investors across FinTech , EdTech , Digital Health , and PropTech . In addition to the HBCU Founder's Program lead corporate supporter AT&T , others have raised their hand to support the program include Morgan Stanley Cooley and Perkins Coie , along with several community partners such as ACT House , Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity , Black Venture Capital Consortium or BVCC , Divercity , Envision , HBCU Awards , HBCU Nation , Money Making Conversations With Rushion McDonald , NAF , Next Gen HQ , YG&N , and TiE Atlanta . "Congratulations to the selected founders and to all students who participated in the process," said Mylayna Albright, AT&T AVP of Corporate Social Responsibility. "Creating meaningful, long-term opportunity for students who are underrepresented in these tech industries not only brings new ideas and diversity to businesses, but also makes our communities stronger." Albright also thanked the AT&T employees who volunteered their time to work with the students: "Our employees are our greatest asset and committed to making positive change." On March 18, 2021, Nex Cubed will host the HBCU Founder's Summer Acceleration Program Meet the Founders event. Click here to register for the event. Learn more about Nex Cubed's HBCU Founder's Program here . For more information about Nex Cubed please visitLinkedIn,Facebook,Instagram,Twitter, or the Company website. Media contact Gallium Ventures Email: nex3@galliumventures.com About Nex Cubed Nex Cubed is an investor and innovation partner that empowers startups, investors, corporates, academia, and governments to bring new technologies to market, helps rising companies scale, and provides paths to liquidity - the power of three. Through our global innovation platform that includes Sway Ventures (VC) & Material Capital Partners (private equity), we innovate, invest in, accelerate, and scale frontier tech companies. We accomplish this by developing Centers of Excellence (COE) around key verticals that are ripe for innovation. Each COE consists of best in class entrepreneurs, investment partners, industry experts, and government leaders. Over the last three years, Nex Cubed has established itself as a leader in early-stage innovation and acceleration, creating a global ecosystem of 3 industry-specific COEs, 77 investments, 45 partners, 50 strategic advisors, 50 investor advisors, and over 140 mentors. To date, the Nex Cubed portfolio companies have an aggregate value of half a billion dollars, and over 50% of the startups are led by female and minority founders. View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/nex-cubed-selects-inaugural-class-of-hbcu-founders-to-participate-in-summer-acceleration-program-301238613.html SOURCE Nex Cubed Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 2) Logistical challenges and supply access problems have hampered the scheduled Philippine delivery of the coronavirus vaccines supplied by the COVAX facility, an official from the World Health Organization said on Tuesday. In an interview with CNN Philippines, WHO country representative Dr. Rabindra Abeyasinghe said the requirements for the country to secure the Pfizer and AstraZeneca doses are now complete, but noted that roadblocks in the global market have been delaying the much-awaited shipments. For one, the country was supposed to receive 525,600 doses of British drugmaker AstraZeneca on Monday, but the Health Department said the parcel will be delayed amid global supply shortage. Abeyasinghe pointed to logistical concerns as a reason for the delay. My understanding is that the consignments are ready and just the logistics arrangements are being made. So once we have a finalization and confirmed itinerary for delivery, we will share that information, Abeyasinghe told The Source. Aside from AstraZeneca, the country is also slated to receive doses of the Pfizer vaccine which government officials earlier expected to arrive by February. The delivery initially got delayed due to the absence of an indemnification deal between the parties. The WHO official said the Philippines has already complied with the requirements, but bared that access to Pfizer supply has been a challenge. We are also informed that all requirements that the Philippines was required to meet with regards to Pfizer vaccines have been completed, but access to Pfizer vaccines might be delayed somewhat, Abeyasinghe added. Abeyasinghe, however, still expressed hope the country may receive the vaccines before the end of the month. The country is expected to receive millions of doses of vaccines this year from the COVAX facility, an initiative led by the WHO, along with the vaccine alliance Gavi and the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations, which seeks to provide participating countries equitable access to coronavirus vaccines. The Philippines officially kicked off its inoculation drive against COVID-19 on Monday, with doses of the China-donated Sinovac vaccine administered to frontliners and other personnel. Meanwhile, Abeyasinghe said the WHO expects to get large bulks of coronavirus vaccines in the latter part of the year once more manufacturers are granted emergency use listing. Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain Northern Ireland on Tuesday became the final UK nation to agree an unwinding of its coronavirus restrictions, while Scotland is considering accelerating its lockdown exit due to falling case numbers. Deputy first minister Michelle O'Neill said Northern Ireland's strategy will be "careful, cautious and hopeful" but warned: "We are not out of the woods." "This is a day very much of hope," she told lawmakers at the devolved Northern Ireland assembly. Sports and leisure, travel and worshipping restrictions will be eased in stages, from lockdown to "cautious first steps, gradual easing, further easing, and preparing for the future." Unlike easing for England, Scotland and Wales, the plan does not set any target dates, with the next steps being decided by the latest data. "We must do everything we can to try to make this one the last lockdown," said O'Neill. "We can take some tentative preparatory steps towards the lifting of restrictions. But great care is still needed." Of the four UK nations, only England now has a case rate of more than 100 per 100,000, according to latest data. The devolved administrations in Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast are each in charge of their response to the pandemic. But all four nations are now in their third lockdown since the virus arrived more than a year ago. More than 123,000 people have died across the UK in one of the world's worst outbreaks. But lockdowns and a mass vaccination program have recently seen cases falling, leading politicians to plot a return to normality. Scotland First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said Tuesday that she was thinking of speeding up the process as she announced all pupils would return to school on a part or full-time basis from March 15a week after schools reopen in England. "We will be considering if it might be possible to accelerate the exit from lockdown in any way, consistent, of course, with the care and caution we know is necessary," she told parliament. "All of us want to move on as quickly as possible and, as a priority, to see friends and family again. I hope that day is now not too far away," she added. Explore further Follow the latest news on the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak 2021 AFP A UK wide survey of 2252 adults, carried out five weeks into the first lockdown revealed 95% of those who took part were following lockdown restrictions. Of that 95% more than 80% reported finding it challenging. Adjusting to changes in daily routines, and mental and physical health struggles were the most common challenges faced by participants. Women and adults under the age of 55 were most likely to report experiencing challenges. The research, 'What challenges do UK adults face when adhering to COVID-19-related instructions? Cross-sectional survey in a representative sample'*, was published in the journal, Preventive Medicine today, 2 March. It was conducted by researchers at The Manchester Centre for Health Psychology and the National Institute for Health Research Greater Manchester Patient Safety Translational Research Centre (NIHR GM PSTRC). The Centre is a partnership between The University of Manchester and Salford Royal NHS Foundation Trust. . Dr Chris Keyworth, research fellow in the Behavioural Science sub theme at the GM PSTRC and lead for this study, said: "Our research shows that during the first UK lockdown a high proportion of the people we surveyed did stick to the government rules. Understanding the impact of this on mental health is vital when looking at how to encourage people to do this long term and into the future. "The first step is to identify the biggest challenges people faced and for which age group and gender." The challenge the most people reported facing was the changes in daily routines, followed by the impact on mental health and then the issues around physical health. Dr Keyworth continued: "According to our survey more than 40% of people said they struggled with their mental health during the first lockdown. This is interesting because, in comparison, according to a 2016 study, one in six people reported experiencing a common mental health problem in a given week in England. This goes some way in quantifying the profound affect the restrictions had on the population at the time." The research highlights the importance of tailoring public health messages to age groups, genders or those with certain characteristics. The study's findings suggest an urgent need to prioritise interventions which address the physical, psychological and social impacts of the pandemic. These may include interventions that aim to help people to change habits and support them in establishing new routines when faced with the sudden introduction of strict rules such as lockdown. Greater investment in services to improve physical and mental health that can be delivered remotely should also be a priority. Home-based interventions to promote physical health should be developed and more work put into improving access to healthcare professionals remotely. These interventions should then be targeted at women, those under 55 and people without care commitments as they were identified as the most likely to struggle during a full lockdown. Professor Chris Armitage, lead of the GM PSTRC's Behavioural Science sub theme, said: "The findings show that by-and-large, the British public have been adhering to government COVID-19 instructions, but following the government lockdown rules comes at a personal cost. Greater attention needs to be paid to how following the rules can be sustained with targeted support measures." Dr Keyworth concluded: "Lockdown is undoubtedly challenging and, to ensure any future government restrictions and guidelines are followed it is important to learn from the behaviour of the population at a time when a high number of people were following the rules. We hope that our research will help to improve patient safety by aiding understanding. It can be used to guide the design of interventions and inform public health messaging both now and into the future." ### Notes for editors: *https:/ / www. sciencedirect. com/ science/ article/ pii/ S0091743521000426 About the NIHR Greater Manchester Translational Research Centre: The NIHR Greater Manchester Patient Safety Translational Research Centre is a partnership between The University of Manchester and Salford Royal NHS Foundation Trust in collaboration with The University of Nottingham which aims to make healthcare safer in primary care and transitions of care. It's funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) for five years from 2017 until 2022 and is one of three PSTRC in England. The GM PSTRC is responsible for research across four themes: Safety Informatics, Medication Safety, Safer Care Systems and Transitions, and Safety in Marginalised Groups. For more information visit - http://www. patientsafety. manchester. ac. uk/ About the University of Manchester: The University of Manchester, a member of the prestigious Russell Group, is the UK's largest single-site university with 38,600 students. It has 20 academic schools and hundreds of specialist research groups undertaking pioneering, multi-disciplinary teaching and research of worldwide significance. The University is one of the country's major research institutions, rated fifth in the UK in terms of 'research power' (REF 2014), and has had no fewer than 25 Nobel laureates either work or study there. The University had an annual income of 1 billion in 2014/15. Visit http://www. manchester. ac. uk ABOUT THE NIHR: The National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) is the nation's largest funder of health and care research. The NIHR: Funds, supports and delivers high quality research that benefits the NHS, public health and social care. Engages and involves patients, carers and the public in order to improve the reach, quality and impact of research Attracts trains and supports the best researchers to tackle the complex health and care challenges of the future. Invests in world-class infrastructure and a skilled delivery workforce to translate discoveries into improved treatments and services Please enable cookies on your web browser in order to continue. The new European data protection law requires us to inform you of the following before you use our website: We use cookies and other technologies to customize your experience, perform analytics and deliver personalized advertising on our sites, apps and newsletters and across the Internet based on your interests. By clicking I agree below, you consent to the use by us and our third-party partners of cookies and data gathered from your use of our platforms. See our Privacy Policy and Third Party Partners to learn more about the use of data and your rights. You also agree to our Terms of Service. By Jana Bennett What wisdom does Mary, the mother of Jesus, have to offer us about contemporary concerns weve been facing in the past year? On March 25, the University of Dayton Libraries and College of Arts and Sciences host a Marian Forum to explore the theme Annunciation and Contemporary Challenges: Be Not Afraid (Luke 1:30). Presenters will explore connections between the scriptural story of the Angel Gabriel announcing to Mary she would be the mother of Gods son and name him Jesus, and contemporary challenges of racism, immigration and the pandemic. This years virtual forum is being held on the Catholic feast day of the Annunciation, a feast whose Marianist significance recognizes the moment when Mary responded yes to Gods call. Her yes is a model for each of us, as we discern how best to respond to God in our world today. The Marian Forum is a gathering of scholars, often international in scope, discussing Marian theology. Past Marian Forums have been short academic presentations hosted by the Universitys International Marian Research Institute (IMRI). In August 2021, IMRI moves to a new home in the College of Arts and Sciences. In honor of that move, this years Marian Forum intends to draw more of an undergraduate audience while also maintaining connections to IMRIs globally-located alumni. The event is free and open to the public. The 2021 Forum will feature student and scholar panelists who represent the multidisciplinary nature of the University. Schedule of events: 12:30 p.m. - Mass for the Solemnity of the Annunciation This is a livestream event. 2-3 p.m. - Annunciation and Contemporary Injustices Fr. Sebastien Abalodo, S.M., IMRI and religious studies instructor; Corinne Daprano, associate professor of health and sport science; and Miranda Hallett, associate professor of cultural anthropology, will speak about their research as it relates to contemporary racial inequalities and immigration concerns, in connection with the Annunciation. 3-3:30 p.m. - 3:00 prayer, followed by an arts and music montage Created in collaboration with the Marian Library, UD Campus Ministry and a variety of University student musicians. 3:30-4:30 p.m. - Annunciation and the Pandemic Roger Crum, professor of art history; Mary Connor, Chaminade Scholar and junior French and visual arts major; and alumnus Fred Tenover 76, vice president of molecular diagnostic testing company Cepheid, discuss the pandemic in relation to their meditations on the Annunciation. For more information or to view the Mass livestream or register to attend the free online panels, visit go.udayton.edu/marianforum. Jana Bennett is professor and chair of the Department of Religious Studies. Tokyo: Tokyo has requested Beijing to stop taking anal swab tests for COVID-19 on Japanese citizens as the procedure causes psychological pain, a government spokesman said on Monday. Chief Cabinet Secretary Katsunobu Kato said the government has not received a response that Beijing would change the testing procedure, so Japan would continue to ask China to alter the way of testing. "Some Japanese reported to our embassy in China that they received anal swab tests, which caused a great psychological pain," Kato told a news conference. It was not known how many Japanese citizens received such tests for the coronavirus, he said. Some Chinese cities are using samples taken from the anus to detect potential COVID-19 infections as China steps up screening to make sure no potential carrier of the new coronavirus is missed. Live TV China`s foreign ministry denied last month that US diplomats in the country had been required to take anal swab tests for COVID-19, following media reports that some had complained about the procedure. ALBANY Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo could face criminal exposure for a former aides allegation that he kissed her without her consent at his midtown office in July 2018. That allegation, from former aide Lindsey Boylan, was arguably buttressed on Monday evening when the New York Times reported that another woman, 33-year-old Anna Ruch, recounted the governor holding her face after they were introduced at a 2019 wedding and asking if he could kiss her. Ruch told the newspaper the unsettling encounter took place after Cuomo had made her feel uncomfortable when he put his hand on her bare lower back. Cuomo has denied kissing Boylan. In a statement Sunday, he characterized his workplace behavior as "playful" and an attempt to "make jokes that I think are funny." He stressed that he "never inappropriately touched anybody and I never propositioned anybody and I never intended to make anyone feel uncomfortable, but these are allegations that New Yorkers deserve answers to." But the referral that the governors office made Monday, empowering state Attorney General Letitia James to commence an investigation of allegations that the governor had sexually harassed at least two female staff members, including Boylan, does not authorize the attorney general to conduct a criminal investigation or to subpoena witnesses before a grand jury. That authority would have needed to be given to James under a separate provision in Executive Law. Still, the exposure for Cuomo to the possibility of a misdemeanor sexual abuse charge or a non-criminal harassment violation remains. Yes, it could constitute a misdemeanor or possibly a violation under the penal law, said Onondaga County District Attorney William J. Fitzpatrick, a past president of the state district attorneys association. Fitzpatrick said many members of the public may believe that James has the authority to appoint a special prosecutor to handle the investigation, but thats not the case. In a statement Monday, James office characterized the investigation as a review that will culminate with the issuance of a public report. At some point theres a reckoning at the end of (the governors referral) where it either gets referred to a (district attorney) or Letitia seeks to be designated as a prosecutorial agency, Fitzpatrick said. The referral letter that was sent to James on Monday by Beth Garvey, Cuomos chief counsel, does not give the attorney general the authority to usurp the jurisdiction of a local district attorney. Boylans accusation that Cuomo kissed her on the lips without consent in July 2018 at his New York City office would likely only be pursued as a criminal case if Boylan is cooperative and willing to file a formal complaint, according to several law enforcement officials consulted for this story. The governor and Boylan also had other one-on-one encounters at the state Capitol that year, so jurisdiction could toggle between the district attorneys offices in Albany County and Manhattan. It's unclear whether Cuomo, if found to have sexually harassed women, could also face exposure for any charges under state Public Officers Law, including official misconduct. If Cuomo is found guilty of a felony crime that involves violating his oath of office, he could be removed from office. The two-year statute of limitations for any alleged misdemeanor offense tied to Boylan's accusation would have normally expired last summer on July 18. But Cuomo has issued several executive orders in the past year tolling statutes of limitations as court and grand jury proceedings were halted by the coronavirus pandemic. Those orders could now expose him to a potential criminal charge. Dennis C. Vacco, a former U.S. attorney who served as state attorney general from 1995 to 1998, said the attorney general's office has specific and limited prosecutorial authority under state statutes. But he noted that district attorneys have the authority under Section 63-2 of state Executive Law as does the governor to bestow those prosecutorial powers to the attorney general for specific cases or investigations. Under the referral from Cuomo's office, James has only the authority to compel testimony and the production of documents, but not pursuant to criminal procedure law. Still, Vacco said the section of Executive Law that Cuomo's office used in its referral 63-8 of Executive Law seems appropriate at this stage. He also said it's unlikely that when the statute was written that there was any consideration about a circumstance in which the governor would make a referral under that section of law for an investigation of himself. "On balance, I think (Executive Law) 63-8 fits the circumstances; it doesnt grant the attorney general carte blanche and criminal investigatory authority, but nor does it supplant the authority of any district attorney," he said. A worker with a vial of the Sputnik vaccine. (Getty Images) San Marino has been receiving a boom in calls from people in neighbouring regions trying to buy their COVID vaccines. The microstate, which is landlocked within central Italy, started administering doses of Russias Sputnik V jab last week, according to Italian media outlets. San Marino had previously signed an agreement with Rome to receive one of every 1,700 vaccine doses arriving in Italy through the EUs procurement programme. However, the vaccines failed to arrive due to complex and lengthy bureaucratic procedures as well as widespread EU shortages. Read: 'People are letting down their guard': COVID cases increase across Europe for first time in 2021 San Marino, which has suffered one of the worlds highest coronavirus death rates, has now turned to Russia by signing a deal for its Sputnik V vaccine. After receiving the first batch of 7,500 doses last Tuesday, the microstate has now been able to start its programme to vaccinate its 35,000 residents. Authorities say only San Marino residents will be given the Sputnik vaccine with the exception for health workers crossing the border. The Institute for Social Security "Ospedale di Stato" of the Republic of San Marino as the vaccine programme begins. (Getty Images) Secretary of state for Health Roberto Ciavatta told Italian TV last week: "We tried to work with friendly countries, we have tried every path, but it is extremely late, so we went with what the market made available." However, San Marino has now seen a boom in calls from people in neighbouring regions - like Emilia-Romagna and the Italian-speaking Swiss canton of Ticino - trying to acquire Sputnik doses despite the fact it hasnt been approved in these countries, according to Il Messaggero. Alessandra Bruschi, director of social security in San Marino, also told the Italian publication AGI: "From Italian citizens residing mostly in Romagna, we are getting requests to buy dosages. Watch: Russia's Sputnik V vaccine is 91.6% effective Meanwhile, Raffaele Donini, the representative for health in the regional authority of Emilia Romagna, spoke to Rai News, reminding people that "the Russian vaccine has not been approved and therefore for us, at this stage, cannot be administered." Story continues It comes as Italys vaccine efforts have been hampered by the delay in the EU receiving its ordered doses. EU governments came under fire over a slow start to vaccinations in the bloc, with critics pointing to progress made in the UK, Israel and the US as evidence of a planning failure in Brussels. EU Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen said that the bloc was lagging because of a more rigorous approvals process. The EU has also been rocked by several vaccine suppliers saying they could not deliver their previous commitments. Newsstand bulletin boards with newspapers about Vaccination Day in the Republic of San Marino. (Getty Images) Von der Leyen said supply problems should ease in the second quarter of 2021, but increasing production remained a challenge. Matteo Salvini, the leader of the far-right Northern League, and former Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi have both called for Sputnik to be approved in Italy to help speed up the rollout. The scientific journal The Lancet and Spallanzani of Rome provided positive reviews on the Sputnik, both for safety and efficacy, set at 91.6%, according to Il Messaggero. Read more: COVID infections now rising in 55 areas map shows rate in your area Pair fined 10,000 each for skipping hotel quarantine after returning from Dubai But Agostino Ceccarini, the doctor responsible for anti-COVID prophylaxis in San Marino, suggested the Sputnik vaccine has yet to be approved for geopolitical rather than health reasons. He told the publication: It seems to me, more of a geopolitical problem than a health one, perhaps also due to the conflicts that have occurred in recent months between Russia and the EU on extra-health issues." Kremlin critics have also warned that Moscow is using the vaccine to expand its influence in Europe, according to Politico. These efforts began in the first wave last spring when medical supplies airlifted by Russia to Italy were emblazoned with the slogan from Russia with love. WATCH: Explainer: Inside Europe's fight for COVID shots TravelCenters of America Inc. has agreed to sell its Quaker Steak & Lube business to an unnamed buyer for about $5 million. The Westlake, Ohio-based travel center operator said it would sell 41 standalone Quaker Steak & Lube restaurants in a deal likely to close in the first quarter, according to a statement about its fourth-quarter and year-end earnings. In evaluating our overall restaurant segment, we reached a conclusion that our standalone restaurant business... did not strategically fit within our long-term goals for the company, Jonathan Pertchik, president and CEO, said during a conference call with securities analysts. Read the full story on cleveland.coms sister site, Cleveland Business Journal. Get the best in local business news sent straight to your inbox with the Cleveland Business Journal. Free to sign up. Louisiana Catholics may grapple not with the issue of taking a COVID-19 vaccination, but with which vaccination to take. Most Rev. Douglas Deshotel, bishop of Lafayette, was reviewing the issue Monday night, diocesan spokesperson Blue Rolfes said, and might issue a statement later this week. Louisiana hits coronavirus milestone: 1 million vaccine doses administered statewide More than 1 million doses of coronavirus vaccines have now been administered across the state of Louisiana. The Archdiocese of New Orleans said in a statement published Friday on its website that in light of guidance from the Vatican and others, it was instructing New Orleans Catholics that the Janssen/Johnson & Johnson vaccine is morally compromised because it uses an abortion-derived cell line in its development, testing and production. That vaccine has been cleared for use and some 4 million doses were to be shipped Monday. The archdiocese said vaccines available through Pfizer and Moderna dont rely on cell lines from abortions in their manufacture and can be morally acceptable for Catholics. +4 Louisiana could receive biggest coronavirus vaccine shipment this week; here's where to get them Louisiana could see its largest shipment of coronavirus vaccine doses this week, especially after the one-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine r Top stories in Acadiana in your inbox Twice daily we'll send you the day's biggest headlines. Sign up today. e-mail address * Sign Up We maintain that the decision to receive the COVID-19 vaccine remains one of individual conscience in consultation with ones healthcare provider, the archdiocese said. We also maintain that in no way does the Churchs position diminish the wrongdoing of those who decided to use cell lines from abortions to make vaccines. In doing so, we advise that if the Moderna or Pfizer vaccine is available, Catholics should choose to receive either of those vaccines rather than to receive the new Johnson & Johnson vaccine because of its extensive use of abortion-derived cell lines. Michael Pasquier, LSU professor of Christian Studies, said Catholics choices are complex and tough. In this case, the archdiocese is trying to strike a balance between healthcare and the importance of vaccines in eliminating the pandemic, he said. Youve got two life issues: the pandemic vs. abortion as well as the churchs longstanding teachings on abortion. The church is looking for consistent ethic of life. +3 Coronavirus cases, deaths declined sharply in Louisiana nursing homes after vaccinations Nearly a year after the coronavirus tore through Louisiana nursing homes and left thousands of residents dead, new infections reached their lo Pasquier said that the church is not choosing to take one position over the other but is inviting Catholics to assess for themselves. The churchs tradition in defining life issues goes beyond abortion to matters such as the death penalty, poverty, healthcare and more. There will be Catholics who go out of their way to not take the Johnson and Johnson vaccines, he said. But, he added, he cannot see the church siding with anti-vaccination movements. 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. In just under two and a half hours, a champion was crowned in the 2021 GGPoker Super MILLION$ Week Event #6: $25,500 Super High Roller. The joint second most expensive tournament of the high-stakes festival on GGPoker attracted a field of 114 entries and the top 15 finishers earned a portion of the $$2,850,000 prize pool. The fast-paced final table was dominated by Russia's Arsenii Malinov, who defeated Day 1 chip leader Seth Davies in heads-up. Malinov claimed his biggest cash on GGPoker so far and parlayed a $2,500 satellite entry into a score of $661,743. That increases his overall cashes on the fastest-growing poker site to nearly $2.4 million. Runner-up Davies had to settle for a consolation prize worth $503,914 while Germany's "REPTAR" turned the second-shortest stack at the start of the final table in a third-place finish for $383,728. Among the finalists were also the online high roller regulars Aleksejs Ponakovs, Joao Vieira, Matthias Eibinger, Jason Koon, David Coleman, and Daniel Dvoress. Final Result Super MILLION$ Week Event #6: $25,500 Super High Roller Place Winner Country Prize (in USD) 1 Arsenii Malinov Russia $661,743 2 Seth Davies United States $503,914 3 REPTAR Germany $383,728 4 Aleksejs Ponakovs Latvia $292,207 5 Joao Vieira Portugal $222,514 6 Matthias Eibinger Austria $169,444 7 Jason Koon United States $129,030 8 David Coleman United States $98,256 9 Daniel Dvoress Canada $74,821 Arsenii Malinov Player Profile While Malinov's name may not immediately ring a bell in comparison with most other finalists, he has been a High Roller regular for some time. It was the 21st appearance in a Super MILLION$ event, which usually runs as a $10,300 buy-in during the Super Sunday on GGPoker. Malinov had cashed nine times and reached his fourth final table, which he dominated with sheer relentless aggression including a five-bet jam with seven-six suited. The action of the Final Day Daniel Dvoress was the shortest stack by some margin and became the first casualty when the ace-king suited of Malinov rivered the nut flush against pocket fives. David Coleman was gone next when his dominated ace-four ended up second-best against the ace-ten of Joao Vieira. It was a period in which Malinov turned up the heat and "REPTAR" earned two doubles. One of those left Jason Koon short, who then lost ace-queen once more for the last few chips against a three-betting Malinov with jack-five suited. Half an hour later, "REPTAR" went on a heater to eliminate Matthias Eibinger and Vieira within a few hands to take over the lead. Malinov struck back and gained the lead with his aggressive style and Aleksejs Ponakovs fell victim to the streak of Malinov. The Russian flopped top pair and a gutshot in three-way action to prevail with a superior straught and bust Ponakovs in fourth. Several double-ups in three-handed action followed until "REPTAR" jammed ace-queen into the kings of Seth Davies. One queen was not enough for the German and heads-up started almost even in chips. Malinov left little doubt over the role of table captain and cut Davies' stack short. The American pro gained traction once more only to jam a dominated ace-nine into ace-king suited. Both kickers hit and Malinov was crowned as the champion. Davies and all other high-stakes regulars can be the next winner of a Super MILLION$ Week event in the days to come, as the festival continues until March 7 with daily High Roller tournaments. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. It could be the beginning of a lot of good things, but at the very least, it will up our taxes and allow us to lower our millage and make us look a lot more attractive. Bill Blissard, Chickasaw County supervisor Quote Stormont ministers are expected to meet later today to finalise details of Northern Ireland's lockdown exit strategy. First Minister Arlene Foster and deputy First Minister Michelle O'Neill plan to unveil the document on the floor of the Assembly in Belfast. The plan will not include dates like England's roadmap, but is likely to outline the sequence in which current lockdown restrictions will lift, with moves taken when the public health situation allows. More than half a million doses of coronavirus vaccine have been administered in Northern Ireland, which ministers hope will allow them to open the economy sooner. First Minister Arlene Foster (pic) and deputy First Minister Michelle O'Neill plan to unveil the document on the floor of the Assembly in Belfast The initial phase is understood to be titled 'cautious first steps'. Ministers met yesterday to examine the plan for a gradual easing of restrictions. It is understood officials have been asked to clarify some areas before the Executive formally signs off on the plan. Mrs Foster has said the devolved executive will review the level of restrictions every three weeks. Northern Ireland's lockdown and accompanying stay-at-home message is in place until April 1. Ministers are due to review that policy on March 18. The executive has already outlined plans for a phased return of face-to-face learning at schools. Only vulnerable children and those of key workers have been attending classes in mainstream schools since January. P1 to P3 primary school children will return to school on March 8, and on March 22 secondary school children in key exam years years 12-14 will go back to class. On that same date, the P1 to P3s are currently due to revert to home learning for one week ahead of the Easter holidays to mitigate the impact on infection rates of the secondary school cohort's return. More than half a million doses of coronavirus vaccine have been administered in Northern Ireland. Pictured is Belfast's SSE Arena, which is being used as a mass vaccination centre However, officials from the departments of health and education were asked last week to examine that aspect of the plan and Mrs Foster has expressed hope that those primary pupils will ultimately be able to remain in school that week. No date has so far been given for the return of the wider school population. Covid-19 vaccinations have been extended to people aged 60-64 in Northern Ireland. Those eligible are urged to book online for appointments at health trust mass vaccination centres, the Department of Health said. One more person has died with Covid-19 in Northern Ireland, the department said. A further 138 people tested positive. A total of 258 hospital beds are occupied by Covid-19 patients, 34 are in intensive care. FLINT, MI -- Seven attorneys who represent Flint residents in water crisis lawsuits against the state of Michigan, city of Flint and others are asking a U.S. District Court judge to suspend the use of portable bone scanning equipment as part of a $641-million proposed settlement that has received preliminary approval in federal and state courts. A motion filed Monday, March 1, asks Judge Judith Levy to end the testing until a hearing can be held on the request, which the attorneys said is necessary because the portable bone scanning devise being used in Flint by the law firm Napoli Shkolnik has not been cleared by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration as safe and effective for use in diagnosing lead exposure in humans or by any federal or state regulatory body for use on humans. The filing is the second objection filed in federal court over the use of the portable bone scanning program in less than a week, following an objection filed by Dr. Lawrence Reynolds, a health advisor to Flint Mayor Sheldon Neeley and former member of the Flint Water Advisory Task Force appointed by former Gov. Rick Snyder to investigate the causes of the Flint water crisis. Reynolds has called the use of portable bone scan equipment a human rights violation and compared its use to the 1932 Tuskegee Institute study of Black men, a study that started the 1930s without the benefit of patients informed consent. Paul Napoli of Napoli Shkolnik told MLive-The Flint Journal on Monday that the bone lead tests being offered by his firm are safe -- similar to receiving an X-ray procedure from a dentist or doctor -- and are effective at measuring the extent of lead in a persons body. Napoli said studies back up the use of bone scans to measure past exposure to lead. Bone lead scans are critical to making optimized claims for part of the Flint water settlement as it is now written, potentially giving those who get the scan twice as much money for their claims as those who have not. In addition to the concerns raised by Reynolds and the seven attorneys in court, access to the testing has been limited to one day per week for those who are not clients of Napoli Shkolnik and there is no court-administered bone lead testing program for those making a claim who are not represented by that law firm. Among the attorneys who filed Mondays request to end the use of portable bone scan testing were Theodore J. Leopold and Michael L. Pitt, co-lead counsel for residents who are part of a proposed class action in federal court. In addition to the class action, Levy also appointed Hunter Shkolnik of Napoli Shkolnik and Corey Stern of Levy Konigsberg, LLP as co-lead counsel for those represented individually by attorneys in federal Flint water cases. The request to suspend use of portable bone scanning equipment says that in addition to the equipment being used to scan bones in Flint not having been granted FDA approval, the manufacturer of the equipment has not applied for its registration by the FDA as a medical device that may be used on humans and says the the manufacturers user manual suggests just the contrary-that the device is not intended for use on humans. The fact that the manufacturer of the portable (scanning device) has not envisioned its use in human applications has significant regulatory consequences, the motion says. Typically, these handheld analyzers are used extensively by scrap metal recyclers to identify the metal and alloys in a scrapyard, including identifying the existence of contaminants or hazardous elements. Read more on MLive: Flint mayors health advisor calls water settlement bone lead testing a human rights violation Bone testing for lead expands in Flint but appointments fill up almost immediately Every water customer in Flint to receive claims documents by mail for water crisis settlement Its 20 years ago this month since the first case of Foot and Mouth disease was identified on a farm near the Ballymascanlon Hotel on the Cooley peninsula. The hotel became the temporary HQ for the Department of Agriculture, army personnel and a bevvy of reporters who knew this was going to be one of the biggest stories of the year. As a nation, we had spent the previous weeks watching in horror as the massive funeral pyres smouldered on the news bulletins from the UK. They were just getting started on a cull that would eventually see over six million sheep, cattle and pigs destroyed in a desperate attempt to keep Foot and Mouth at bay. Two decades later, were all seasoned experts in desperate attempts to control diseases that threaten our way of life. Looking back at Foot and Mouth now, you could be forgiven for concluding it was just a warm-up act for the calamity that Covid has turned out to be. In fact, within six months, it was all but forgotten as the economy surged on again in its Celtic Tiger bubble. Read More A large part of the successful control of Foot and Mouth was down to the draconian measures the Department rolled out as soon as it happened. Expand Close Draconian measures: Slaughtered sheep at a farm on the Cooley Peninsula in Co Louth in March 2001 Photo: PA / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Draconian measures: Slaughtered sheep at a farm on the Cooley Peninsula in Co Louth in March 2001 Photo: PA A cull of over 30,000 sheep on the Cooley peninsula was instigated straight away. Any qualms about ethics of euthanising day-old lambs or ewes at the point of lambing were swept aside for the good of the nation. Larry Goodman earned a lot of admiration and goodwill when he miraculously turned around a derelict meat factory at Ravensdale into a fully functioning slaughter plant in the space of a long weekend. It was geopolitical masterstroke to ringfence the disease to Cooley, which allowed the rest of the agri sector continue trading and exporting as normal. Meat exports actually went through a purple patch as UK shortages drove higher prices for Irish product. In contrast, it was the hospitality sector here, especially those relying on international visitors, that effectively took the economic hit that summer in an effort to prevent more Foot and Mouth cases entering the country. It was an extraordinary display of solidarity with the farm sector that Im not sure well ever see a repeat of. However, this glosses over the reality endured by the farmers who bore the brunt of the containment measures. Im told that the legacy of that massive cull across the hills overlooking Carlingford Bay and Dundalk Bay rumbles on even today. The farmers in Cooley knew that they were being asked to sacrifice their flocks for the sake of the rest of the country. They were compensated for every animal, but many are still sore about the differing rates of compo that were handed out to some who argued a better case, and some of the subsequent claims are still bogged down in legal disputes. And even when the compensation was paid, farmers struggled to re-establish flocks on those same mountains. As one farmer told me, it was 10 years of torture. For a start, the men from Cooley were going to be charged a premium for their replacements, since there was suddenly a huge spike in demand for good hill ewes. Even after a flock had been assembled, it wasnt uncommon for the same flock to be sold off the mountain a few years later because of their failure to take to the mountain. Read More It was one thing having sheep that could quickly figure out where the shelter, grazing and danger spots were, but it was another getting them to stay in the one patch of mountain. The white wall is a term that hill sheep men sometimes use to talk about the effect that neighbouring flocks have on keeping each other in place. Sheep are quite territorial, and like to stick with their own flock. If there is no flock on the patch of mountain next door, a flock often thinks its a free gaff. Thats where the headaches start for the farmer who comes up the mountain trying to locate their stock. Gaps in the patchwork quilt of flocks were quite common in the aftermath of the cull as many older farmers deliberated about going through the hassle of restocking their land or commonage with sheep. Today, sheep numbers are back up on the Cooley hills. That deafening silence of those weeks and months immediately after the cull has been replaced again by the traditional chorus of ewes and lambs calling to each other. It was one disease outbreak that we overcame but, like any epidemic, it took its toll. Australian music legend Michael Gudinski has died, aged 68. He passed away peacefully in his sleep at home in Melbourne on Monday night. The co-founder of Mushroom Records and the chairman of the sprawling Mushroom Group of Companies that it spawned, Gudinski got his start in the music business as a dancehall promoter in his teens. Legend has it that in 1967, aged just 15, he was making $500 a week booking bands including The Aztecs and Chain. With cash flow like that, it was little wonder he dropped out of high school in his final year to go into the business full time. After founding Mushroom Records with Ray Evans in 1972, Gudinski, the son of Russian-Jewish immigrants, rose to become one of the most significant and powerful players in the local music scene. He was a label boss, live music promoter, promoter of electronic dance music, music publisher, film and television producer, racehorse owner winning, as part of a syndicate, two Melbourne Cups, with Almandin in 2016 and Rekindling in 2017 and passionate supporter of the St Kilda Football Club. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full 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 the City of Winnipeg prepares a week-long effort to combat racism, one of its unions is demanding a tougher response to racist comments allegedly hurled at bus drivers. As the City of Winnipeg prepares a week-long effort to combat racism, one of its unions is demanding a tougher response to racist comments allegedly hurled at bus drivers. The city must act to deter riders from uttering racist slurs at drivers, something that is far too common, said James Van Gerwen, executive vice-president of the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1505. Van Gerwen said about two-thirds of Winnipeg Transit drivers are immigrants to Canada with diverse ethnic backgrounds, some of whom have reported repeated incidents of racism. "Our drivers are consistently being (subjected to) racial slurs but as soon as they try to defend themselves, they get disciplined," he said. He said the complaints include a report of a passenger telling a driver to "go back to your country." Van Gerwen said hed like the city to start an education campaign to address the issue. If that doesnt work, he believes warnings and penalties against riders should also be considered, including cutting off ridership privileges in the most severe cases. The union leader said hes also concerned training for drivers has fallen short. A recently conducted ATU poll of Winnipeg Transit drivers found two-thirds of 100 respondents said they hadnt received Indigenous awareness training. In 2016, Mayor Brian Bowman announced that training would be mandatory for all city employees, as part of the citys reconciliation efforts. Van Gerwen, who is Metis, said Transit drivers should be prioritized for the training, since they deal directly with the public. Our drivers are consistently being (subjected to) racial slurs but as soon as they try to defend themselves, they get disciplined." James Van Gerwen, executive vice-president of the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1505 The mayor said concerns about racist comments against bus drivers have been reported to his office. "Theres no doubt that racism affects members of our public service throughout our departments Thats why its incredibly important that Winnipeggers support our efforts (to combat racism)," said Bowman, during a press conference to launch Winnipegs first anti-racism week on Monday. The mayor said the week, which runs from March 21 to 27, aims to educate all Winnipeggers. Events will include a "Human Library" set to challenge stereotypes and prejudices through dialogue, which will be held online March 22. "Im hoping (this week) can become an annual event for the reasons that ATU is pointing out," said Bowman. Since 2016, 1,095 Transit employees have completed a 3.5-hour Indigenous awareness course, while another 67 finished a 14-hour one thats required for leadership positions, said city spokeswoman Tamara Forlanski. She said there are currently 1,658 Transit staff in total, not just bus drivers, and the training figure includes past and present workers. Forlanski also noted in-person training sessions were put on hold in 2020, due to COVID-19. The latest municipal efforts to combat racism come in the wake of allegations against four Winnipeg firefighters, who were accused of failing to provide proper medical care in October to an Indigenous woman who had stabbed herself in the throat. An independent review concluded "implicit racial bias" was involved in the incident. Bowman noted the city has since promised to train all staff on anti-oppression, anti-racism and cultural competency. "Systemic racism is, unfortunately, not a new phenomenon but we are taking a city-wide approach," he said. Theres no doubt that racism affects members of our public service throughout our departments Thats why its incredibly important that Winnipeggers support our efforts (to combat racism)." Winnipeg mayor Brian Bowman Immigration Partnership Winnipeg, the Treaty Relations Commission of Manitoba and several other organizations have joined forces with the city for the anti-racism week. Loretta Ross, treaty commissioner of the Treaty Relations Commission, said incidents of racism extend into the community, which shes personally experienced. "When I went to court, as a lawyer, I was treated differently. People thought that I was the accused simply because of the way that I look," said Ross, who is Indigenous. She believes the effort to trigger a community-wide conversation will help prevent such racial assumptions. "(Its about) stepping out of our comfort zones and asking (questions) and simply just getting to know each other," said Ross. The director of Immigration Partnership Winnipeg said such efforts should also help combat white supremacy movements. "To minimize the impact of racism, we need to come together. We need to condemn the groups that promote hate," said Hani Ataan Al-ubeady. For a full list of anti-racism week events, visit winnipeg.ca/antiracism. joyanne.pursaga@freepress.mb.ca Twitter: @joyanne_pursaga Kingstree, SC (29556) Today A mix of clouds and sun during the morning will give way to cloudy skies this afternoon. High 84F. Winds light and variable.. Tonight Partly cloudy skies this evening. Increasing clouds with periods of showers late. Low 63F. Winds E at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 50%. Safeways Northern California stores must let their employees union see Safeways contract with Instacart after it was discovered that the grocer was referring online customers to the company for non-union deliveries, a federal appeals court ruled Monday. In a March 2018 complaint with the National Labor Relations Board, United Food and Commercial Workers Local 5 accused Safeway of violating the unions right to represent store employees, including those assigned to take and deliver online orders, by making an agreement with Instacart. Under that agreement, the supermarket chain puts online customers in touch with Instacart, whose employees then pick up the groceries and deliver them. Safeway acknowledged that it had a contract with Instacart but refused to disclose it and said it was irrelevant to its obligations to employ only union members in its stores. Instacart retains individuals to shop as agents for customers, and is not any different than any other customer buying groceries, the companys labor relations director, Penny Schumacher, told the union. But the NLRB, whose members had been appointed by then-President Donald Trump, ordered Safeway to disclose its contract in February 2020. The board noted that Safeways website advertised rush order delivery and deliveries powered by Instacart. The company appealed to the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco, which upheld the labor boards decision Monday. Because the union had evidence of Instacart employees seeming to perform bargaining-unit work in violation of the union contract, disclosure of Safeways agreement with the delivery company would allow the union and the board to determine whether the alleged violations were accidental and isolated or whether they were part of an intentional business plan, the court said in a 3-0 ruling. Andrew Baker, a lawyer for the union, said Instacart has handled thousands of Safeway deliveries that should have been left to the stores employees under the union contract. If the Instacart contract shows that Safeway has violated its agreement with the union, he said, an arbitrator could order Safeway to make a donation to a mutually selected charity as a penalty for failing to pay its workers. Baker said the union was not challenging Instacarts separate agreements with its own customers to pick up groceries at Safeway and other stores. Safeways lawyer could not be reached for comment. Bob Egelko is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: begelko@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @BobEgelko A former client accused of stalking celebrity personal trainer Steve 'Commando' Willis has had a win in court as she is granted permission to submit more evidence in her appeal against an apprehended violence order. The Biggest Loser star, 44, was granted an AVO against former personal training client Jun 'Margaret' Yue in October after he claimed she began crossing the boundaries of a normal client-trainer relationship. Ms Yue immediately launched an appeal against the AVO and will now be allowed to submit four text messages as part of her evidence in an attempt to clear her name. The texts were sent over the holiday period as Ms Yue planned to drop off Christmas presents at the celebrity trainer's home, The Daily Telegraph reported. Jun 'Maragret' Yue (left) has had a legal win after launching an appeal against an apprehended violence order granted to her former personal trainer Steve 'Commando' Willis (right) Her barrister Michael Fokkes alleged in the District Court on Monday that the texts showed Mr Willis lied on the stand because he had said the messages caused him 'irritation and agitation'. Mr Willis previously told the court that Ms Yue's intention to visit to his apartment block to deliver a Christmas present made him feel 'uncomfortable'. He said he told her: 'I'm spending time with my children, and not constantly looking at my phone'. But Mr Fokkes said the reality TV star never said this to his client and the evidence would show 'absence' in the text messages, rather than 'presence'. 'It does not bare out that the appellant was sending messages demonstrating irritation and agitation,' Mr Fokkes said. 'If we can tell he's telling lies under oath, that goes against his credibility and undermines the whole case.' The Biggest Loser star (left with girlfriend Harika Vancuylenberg), 44, was granted an AVO against former personal training client Jun 'Margaret' Yue in October after he claimed she began crossing the boundaries of a normal client-trainer relationship Crown prosecutor Amanda-Lee James was in opposition of Ms Yue's application to submit more evidence. Ms James said the evidence should have been raised in the local court, adding that her client is 'in need of protection' and 'not dishonest'. Mr Fokkes will be allowed to use the new evidence in Ms Yue's appeal after it was approved by Judge Dina Yehia. Ms Yehia said the material is not extensive and can be dealt with without any prejudice. Both Ms Yue and Mr Willis were not in court on Monday. Their case returns on May 10. Mr Willis was granted an AVO in Sydney's Downing Centre Local Court in October. The order prevents Ms Yue from assaulting, stalking or harassing him, contacting him in any way except via a lawyer, trying to find him or going within 200m of his home or places of work for two years. The pair spent a lot of time together, with Commando training Ms Yue more than 120 times and about three to four times a week from March 2019 to May 2020. Note: This story has been updated with additional information from the DAs press conference. A two-year investigation by a grand jury has turned up no evidence that would justify the filing of criminal charges over the mysterious death of a York County Prison inmate, District Attorney Dave Sunday said Tuesday. Sunday said that probe into the April 2018 death of 41-year-old Everett Palmer Jr. determined prison officials acted according to regulations and did not abuse or neglect Palmer in any way. Rather, he said, the evidence showed methamphetamine toxicity was the driving cause of Palmers demise. Sunday said it was determined Palmer had binged on meth several days before he was committed to the prison on an old DUI warrant. Palmers bizarre and suicidal behavior he was banging his head on his cell was due to the fact the meth had ingested 60 to 70 hours earlier had reached the tweeking phase and had sent his cardiovascular system into a frantic and lethal overdrive, Sunday said. The DA said prison officials had no way to know Palmer was under the influence of meth. They believed he was experiencing mental health problems, Sunday said. Sunday said he sought the grand jury probe to search for truth regarding a prisoner death that drew national attention from media outlets including from media outlets including the New York Times, The Washington Post and CNN. Tuesdays press conference occurred less than a year after Palmers mother Rose filed a federal lawsuit claiming the Maryland man was beaten to death by prison staff. That suit is still being fought out in U.S. Middle District Court. Sunday said he spoke at length with members of Palmers family just before the press conference. Our heart goes out to them every single day, he said. During the lengthy probe, the grand jury heard from more than 43 witnesses, pored over thousands of pages of documents and we watched the video surveillance footage of almost the entire time Everett Palmer was in the prison. John Wetzel, the state corrections secretary, also reviewed prison policies as part of the investigation. In sum, Sunday said the conclusion was that prison staffers acted properly based on what they thought they knew at the time. Palmer had denied any drug use, the DA said, and staff believed he was suffering from some sort of psychosis. They extracted him from his cell because they feared he would kill himself, Sunday said. Palmer later died in a hospital. Wetzel said it was shocking to see the video of Palmers attempts to injure himself. The film of the extraction supports the actions of the staff, he said. I did not see one punch, one kick, anything that would be inappropriate, Wetzel said. I dont think they had a choice. They had to go in. Sunday said an autopsy did not uncover any injuries that would have indicated prison staff used unjustified force against Palmer. He said meth toxicity, couples with stress and the retraining of him contributed to Palmers death, with meth being the most lethal factor. First Assistant District Attorney Tim Barker outlined two dozen recommendations from the grand jury, including having trained de-escalators and emergency medical providers present before cell extractions are conducted. The U.S. Senate will take up the House-passed $1.9 trillion coronavirus stimulus bill this week, Majority Leader Chuck Schumer announced Monday. I expect a hearty debate and some late nights, Schumer, D-N.Y., said on the Senate floor. But the American people sent us here with a job to do: to help the country through this moment of extraordinary challenge, to end, through action, the greatest health crisis our country has faced in a century. And thats just what were going to do. Every House Republican voted against the legislation, and Senate Republicans are lining up in opposition as well. Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., on Monday decried what he called a bad process, a bad bill, and a missed opportunity to do right by working families. President Joe Biden also is making passage of the stimulus bill a priority, hoping to sign the bill into law by March 14, when the current extension of federal unemployment insurance benefits expire. Weve reserved time in his schedule to ensure that he can be engaged, roll up his sleeves, and be personally involved in making phone calls, having more Zoom meetings, potentially having people here to the Oval Office to get this across the finish line, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Monday. Biden met with moderate Democratic senators at the White House to discuss the legislation. Some senators have talked about diverting as much as $50 billion of the proposed $350 billion in state and local aid to expand high-speed internet connections, while others have suggested that the next round of stimulus payments be more targeted to lower-income households. The House-passed bill provided $1,400 checks to individuals making up to $75,000, phasing them out up $100,000. Couples would get $2,800 if they make up to $150,000, with the payments phasing out up to $200,000. U.S. Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., who attended the White House meeting, told reporters afterwards that the discussion was not about reducing the size of the spending bill but just targeting the money that was in it. He said he expected some changes from the House-passed measure, but pretty modestly. One big change is that the Senate bill wont raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour. Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough said the provision could not be included since the legislation was being considered under a procedure known as reconciliation, which prevents a filibuster and allows the bill to pass by majority vote. Psaki said that neither Biden nor Vice President Kamala Harris, who presides over the Senate and would cast the tie-breaking vote if every Democrat supports the legislation and every Republican opposes it, would overrule the parliamentarian. The president, the vice president have made the decision theyre not going to move forward with that step, Psaki said, noting that both Biden and Harris formerly served in the Senate. Senate Budget Committee Chairman Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., said he would offer an amendment to put the minimum wage back in. Unlike Massachusetts law, the federal minimum wage proposal also would raise the salaries of tipped restaurant workers and bartenders to $15 an hour. To the best of my knowledge, there will be a vote on the minimum wage, and well see what happens, Sanders told reporters. There will be a roll call vote and well see whos gonna vote for it and whos not gonna vote for it. Photo: The Canadian Press Asmaa Ali says slurs about her hijab and the colour of her skin have become so frequent she doesn't report them to police anymore. Whether she's running errands or on her way to work as a nurse at an Edmonton hospital, the 23-year-old Somali-Canadian says she's always looking over her shoulder. She and several other Black and Muslim women in her life are feeling more frightened in public, she says, because of an increasing number of assaults. Five Somali-Canadian women, all wearing hijabs, have been attacked or threatened in Edmonton in the last 10 weeks. "I've always been hyper-vigilant in public spaces because of my identity. But hearing about these attacks has made me more anxious and aware of my surroundings." Ali says she also has been assaulted in the past, but is too traumatized to reveal details. Avoiding public transit, not running errands alone and self-defence classes are all things she says she and her female friends and familyare considering. Edmonton's Al-Rashid Mosque began offering Muslim women self-defence lessons following the recent attacks. The classes are full. Ali says the number of hate crimes reported to Alberta's police forces are not reflective of the increasing number of people approaching her with their stories of assaults. "It makes me enraged," she says. "Most of my visibly Muslim friends and family members have a story of some kind of Islamophobia. The general public hears about this through the media, while our reality is that these are our sisters and our mothers." Trent Daley is a member of Edmonton's Anti-Racism Advisory Committee. He says someone approaches him or his network on a weekly basis about an assault. Most victims are Black and Muslim women. "There's been a notable marked increase (in assaults) following the pandemic. It's so pervasive right now," Daley says. "It's full of racial epithets, full of disgusting language targeting them based off the scarf that they wear and the identity they presumed that this person has. It's dehumanizing." Calgary police say they received 80 hate crime complaints between January and November 2020. Cheryl Voordenhout with the Edmonton Police Service says it received 60 reports of hate crimes last year. So far in 2021, three of seven hate-crime-related investigations have involved Somali-Muslim women. Political leaders, including Premier Jason Kenney, have spoken out against the attacks. But the CEO of the national Muslims council says condemnation is not enough. Mustafa Farooq says Alberta's government is turning a blind eye to an environment in which the region's racialized communities are being cast out. "Anti-Black racism is a real problem in Alberta," he says. "Black-Muslim women tend to face greater challenges than almost anyone else, because racism and gendered Islamophobia are real problems. "We can look, for example, at street harassment bylaws. We can look at ways in which anti-racism initiatives are being funded. We can look at hate crime units and their advocacy in dealing with these challenges," Farooq says. "So much can be done immediately, but it's not happening." Its been nearly a year since the vast majority of Californias 6 million students have experienced a normal school day, playing kickball at recess, huddling at a table to discuss Shakespeare, or cutting up frogs in science class, and the hope for even a partial return to classrooms before summer is fading fast. Many Bay Area families are setting their sights on the fall, hoping public schools will be back in person five full days by then, but in some cases, creating a contingency plan if theyre not. Those plans include moving to a school district thats open or enrolling in private school for those with options, but many families without financial resources are stuck with no way out. What learning will look like in August or September is still unclear. Predictions vary among experts, who almost universally say it depends on case counts, the possibility of vaccine-resistant variants emerging, local politics and labor demands. Variation within the Bay Area is likely. What it might look like in San Francisco where the health department is calling for 6 feet of distance between desks where possible might be different than in Marin, where thats not a requirement or even in practice at many schools. For months, health experts, government officials and parents have clamored for schools to reopen, saying it can be done safely and is critical to addressing the devastating academic and mental health effects of distance learning. Despite the data, most public schools in California remain closed to in-person learning. A deal announced Monday between the governor and Legislature could lead to a partial reopening in many districts before summer, but it remains unclear whether all students will be back in class full time in the fall. Getting to low case counts and transmission rates will be key, said Dr. George Rutherford, a UCSF infectious disease expert. If we get there which is kind of even money right now we might be able to tolerate the risk of elementary schools unmasked, less distance between students, he said. Im reading a crystal ball right now. There would mean less than one new case daily for every 100,000 people per county. In San Francisco, thats no more than nine or 10 new cases per day, well below the current daily case rate of about 70. Rutherfords prediction: Schools will be open full-time in the fall with mitigation, including masking and social distancing, though perhaps less than the 6 feet recommended or required in many districts. I dont think everybody is going to throw their masks away on Aug. 30, he said. By January, Rutherford added, life should be back to normal. His caveat: Nothing is guaranteed. San Francisco parent Komal Bawa wants a guarantee for the fall. Her first-grade son, Jeevan, has been doing fine in distance learning, often playing with Legos while in his Zoom classes at West Portal Elementary. The district has no timeline set for reopening and no plans to bring back middle and high school students this school year, even though private schools opened months ago in the city. Bawa worries that lingering restrictions by health officials or union contracts including 6 feet for social distancing will limit a full-time return in the fall. Weve done our private school applications at this point because weve lost faith, she said. If we had a guarantee we were going back full time, theres no way wed pull out. In San Francisco and many other districts, no one is making that promise yet. It is certainly not our intention to continue in distance and hybrid instruction beyond the time that these forms of instruction are necessary to maintain the health and safety of our students, communities, and staff, said Susan Solomon, president of United Educators of San Francisco. When the time comes that it is safe to remove layers of protection, that can be discussed. While vaccinations are increasing and case rates are declining, local, state and federal guidance dont include what conditions are necessary for schools to resume normal operations. Rutherford said theres no tier below the least-restrictive yellow in California, which allows for most businesses and schools to open, but with limited capacity or modifications. UCSF infectious disease specialist Dr. Monica Gandhi says the formula for fully reopening schools rests with vaccinating the adults in schools. The state and counties are already allocating vaccines for educators, though children wont be vaccinated by the fall. Gandhi has advocated that schools can reopen safely without vaccines and with mitigation efforts, but said it will likely take widespread vaccination of teachers before holdout unions will agree to return. If the teachers and everyone who would like a vaccine are all vaccinated, the biology should state there should be no more distancing, no more masks and no more mass testing for teachers, she said. While children younger than 16 cannot get a vaccine yet, Gandhi believes enough adults will be vaccinated to achieve herd immunity by September, meaning the virus cant circulate effectively so younger children wont be exposed. Gandhi predicts the fall will be back to normal, but warns that school reopening could hinge on whether districts are still dealing with politics rather than a pandemic. The politics of reopening have so far frustrated parent Roberto Angula, who has two children, a sixth-grade daughter in private school and a third-grade son at Alvarado Elementary. COVID Resources Coronavirus Map Tracking COVID-19 cases across the Bay Area and California. Angulo is concerned that San Francisco school officials are talking only about bringing children back through second grade this spring, with no indication of a plan for older students even in August when school resumes. He is also considering moving his son to private school. Weve resigned ourselves to the fact that he wont go back this academic year, he said. But if they dont go back in August, thats total B.S. Dr. Matt Willis, Marin County health officer, expects a full reopening of schools in the fall. Most schools in his county are already open, at least part time, and have shown it can be done safely, he said. But he also believes California counties are quickly gaining on the virus. In Marin County, for every new case of COVID-19, 80 people are getting vaccinated. Outbreaks have been virtually eradicated in nursing homes, and 75% of the 75-plus population has been vaccinated, Willis said. Willis predicted that despite a full return to classrooms, face coverings and restrictions on large gatherings might remain. But he also said that uncertainty has been a hallmark of the pandemic. Still, many fear that even if schools are back full time, the educational landscape will be changed. Oakland teacher Shelby Ziesing worries about the growing mental health needs of students as well as an exodus of teachers, who are opting to retire or just leave the profession given the strain over the past year. Normal might look different in the fall even if all schools are fully reopened, said the second-grade teacher at Joaquin Miller Elementary. It feels hard to envision, but all of us teachers, students and families we all just want to be back safely in our classrooms, she said. I think we really need to temper our expectation for what it will look like. Staff writer Heather Knight contributed to this story. Jill Tucker is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jtucker@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @jilltucker County agrees to buy Hedrick-Rhodes VFW post Henderson County commissioners agreed on Monday night to buy the Hedrick-Rhodes VFW Post 5206 building at Five Points but delayed for now a tougher decision on a $4 million renovation and placed a condition that a parking problem be solved before closing. All five commissioners said they supported saving the VFW post, once said to be the largest in North Carolina, as a way to honor veterans who served abroad and came home and those who gave all. "I started to pull out some gory pictures my brother made while he was serving in Iraq to help remind all of us what these veterans of foreign wars have given to us in the community and to this country," said Commissioner Michael Edney, who has spearheaded the county's negotiations to buy the building. "They gave their all. I see this as an opportunity for us to give back to them while at the same time providing a resource for the entire community. I see this as something we have to do. It's just a matter of how we get there." A major renovation "is a separate issue" from buying the property. "We're not tied to that by what we do tonight." Commissioner Rebecca McCall said: "There has been talk about, 'Well, VFW isn't as active as it was in the past when the building was built,' but there are other things that that building can be used for in addition to providing them a home." She was alarmed, she said, when she watched a show in which interviewers asked middle school students a question about World War II. One responded, "That was when we were with the Germans fighting against the Japanese, right?" "We should not forget where we came from and how we got here and it's a responsibility of all of us to hand that down to those who follow," she said. "I actually see this building not only as a museum for housing the artifacts from the wars but also a place can take our children on field trips" and show them "what's made us who we are." Chairman Bill Lapsley said that a new offer to purchase should: Clarify the purchase price. The contract included a commitment for the county to pay the post's outstanding debt. The amount was not spelled out. "The county has been told that number is appoximately $10,000," he said. "I don't want this board to be surprised by some bill that may show up at the closing that we're not aware of." Clarify the lease arrangement. The agreement "allows the VFW to continue to operate for an unspecified period of time under a new lease agreement," he said. The motion should stipulate that the county, and not the VFW, would decide what uses go in the building if there is a major renovation. Delete reference to "negotiations" with the VFW over repairs and improvement. "I don't think the county should be in a position where another party would have control over whatever money is spent," he said. "I don't think we want to leave any question that VFW would have veto power over what this board decides it wants to spend." Include a solution to the parking shortage. Talks are ongoing among officials with the city of Hendersonville, the School Board and the county on how to acquire enough land for parking. The parking lot in front of the post home is mostly owned by the School Board, not the VFW. "That is not clearly addressed in the contract and I think that's important to protect the county taxpayer that that be included in the agreement that this issue be worked out. If that is not included in an amended contract this board is in no better position than it was 2-3 weeks ago when the issue was brought up." Mark Morris, a real estate agent who marketed the property for the VFW, said the purchase price of $35,000 would cover "the carrying cost to sell the property ... where they're not out of pocket." Formed in 1946, the post is named for two Navy sailors who died aboard the USS Arizona at Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941 Paul H. Hedrick and Mark Alexander Rhodes. Soldiers, sailors, Marines and airmen who came home from World War II formed the new post and bought property at Five Points for the post home, which opened in 1948. "The VFW was thriving before Covid," said Morris, who initially listed the property for more than $500,000 last summer. "They lost the ability to raise money. That's what brought a lot of this about. ... There is a 48-star flag that flew at Pearl Harbor in that building. There are photos of Pearl Harbor. The VFW is not trying to dictate how the building should be used. They want these items preseved for all the county. Their first and foremost goal is about preservation of the events that occurred. These people gave. They served in the active theater of war that's what a VFW is. ... We all fade away but the history is there for generations." Morris said the VFW is not looking for authority over the renovation process. "It's a very simple agreement," he said. "They want a place to meet once a month and a place to occasionally hold a dance or a community event. Whatever political issues exist ... those can be overcome for the common good. ... The community in my opinion needs to give back and this is a way to do that." Lapsley responded, "In no way whatsoever have I disparaged or mislabeled what the veterans of this country did for my freedom and my family's freedom." In his motion to purchase the property, Edney included some though not all of Lapsley's proposed conditions. The motion, which passed unanimously, authorized the purchase at a price "not to exceed $36,000" and with the understanding that the county "will be the owner but will work in good faith with the VFW ... and seek their guidace and input in the renovation." "The bottom line is it's the county's project with the taxpayers' money," he said, before stipulating that the county also will not close on the purchase "until the issue of parking has been addressed and rectified." That bounces the issue back to the School Board and city and county officials, who are trying to untangle a park swap while addressing the parking need for a more robust use of the VFW. The Board of Commissioners on Feb. 1 rescinded its Aug. 19 vote that opened the way for School Board to deal Edwards Park for around half of the city's Berkeley Park. At their meeting a month ago, commissioners said they needed to reverse their earlier decision in order to potentially keep at least part of the Edwards Park land for VFW parking. 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turns down PM's offer to name new royal yacht after Prince Philip Armenia parliament discusses 2020 state budget report Newspaper: Armenia acting FM resigns after 3rd attempt Newspaper: Yerevan mayor to leave office Israel, UAE sign tax treaty Newspaper: Even vagrants are persuaded, taken to Armenia acting PM Pashinyans rally in Vanadzor Swedish defense minister demands explanation from Denmark over spy scandal Acting Deputy PM: Armenia has not discussed and will not discuss issues within logic of "corridor" Armenia Central Electoral Commission determines numbers of political parties for elections Armenia 2nd President visits Cathedral of the Holy Mother of God in Gyumri (PHOTOS) Opposition Armenia bloc representative: We're running in elections to win Azerbaijan MFA comments on calls for release of Armenian POWs with infinite hypocrisy EC: Vaccinated citizens should be exempted from tests, quarantine when traveling within EU Armenia Ombudsman discusses rights of 6 captured Armenian servicemen with ICRC Delegation head EU ready to use all the tools at its disposal to change Turkey's behavior Yerevan court obliges to abolish violation of rights of Armenia Supreme Judicial Council ex-chairman Greek and Turkish leaders to meet in June on sidelines of NATO summit Armenia Central Electoral Commission to set up 2,008 polling stations for snap parliamentary elections Iranian companies to participate in reconstructing territories under Azerbaijan's control Opposition Armenia bloc's representative on acting PM's invitation to debate with 1st and 2nd Presidents Armenia acting FM dismissed upon presidential decree Body of brother of Armenian criminal authority "Don Pipo" found under bridge 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 7 day print subscribers enjoy unlimited access to yakimaherald.com Enter the LAST NAME and the 7 DIGIT phone number on your print subscription account to connect your print subscription to your yakimaherald.com account. Digital.com, a leading independent review website for small business online tools, products, and services, has announced the best SEO (Search Engine Optimization) firms in Washington DC. The top companies were selected based on multiple service lines, size of the firm, industry focus, and customer feedback. Experts at Digital.com examined companies that offer additional digital marketing services, such as website design, link building, and PPC. The study includes a variety of small to large firms that can cater to businesses in need of customized services or those seeking quick turnarounds. Each service provider was also expected to work with clients across various industries or focus on niche markets like healthcare, education, and finance. This guide is a valuable tool because it highlights SEO firms that also offer additional services that will enable clients to scale, says Christelle Feniza, Communications Manager of Digital.com. Businesses can narrow their search for top firms in Washington DC and get honest feedback from customers. Researchers at Digital.com conducted a 40-hour assessment of over 75 companies across the web. To access the complete list of best SEO firms in Washington DC, please visit https://digital.com/seo-companies/washington-dc/. 15 Best SEO Firms in Washington DC ABOUT DIGITAL.COM Digital.com reviews and compares the best products, services, and software for running or growing a small business website or online shop. The platform collects twitter comments and uses sentiment analysis to score companies and their products. Digital.com was founded in 2015 and formerly known as Review Squirrel. To learn more, visit https://digital.com/. WASHINGTON - When Antony Blinken became the No. 2 at the State Department during the Obama administration in 2015, his mandate was clear: focus on Asia. The rocky relationship between two crucial Asian allies, Japan and South Korea, had deteriorated over the issue of wartime sex slaves. Later that year, with the help of the United States, the two countries signed a landmark agreement to resolve their historical dispute. Blinken had initiated three-way talks, marking the first time the American deputy secretary of state had met with his counterparts in Japan and South Korea. He insisted that they meet every three months to build a habit of working together, signaling that the relationship was a priority to the United States, experts say. As President Joe Biden's secretary of state, Blinken is tasked with re-energizing American alliances that were strained under the Trump administration's "America First" approach. Relations between Japan and South Korea are at one of their lowest points in decades. Whether the United States can nudge the two countries into cooperation will be highly consequential for the Biden administration's ambitions to restore trust abroad and effectively counter China's rise and North Korea's nuclear capabilities with a coalition of like-minded allies, experts say. "When there's a serious rift in the family, it's hard to invite your friends over for dinner," said Daniel Russel, an Asia Society expert who was a high-ranking foreign policy official in the Obama administration. "Given the magnitude of the challenges that we face from North Korea, China, et cetera . . . we can't afford to be operating at anything less than full speed," Russel said. "There's a broken circuit in our network at a critical junction, and it is imperative that that somehow get fixed." The State Department last month held its first meeting with top diplomats in Japan and South Korea to discuss North Korea-related challenges. A senior State Department official said the meeting was intended to send a strong signal that the administration, in its first full month in office, is committed to restoring its relationship with the two countries. The Biden administration is considering its next steps toward improving the three countries' relations, but "you can absolutely count on seeing a greater effort put into reinvigorating trilateral cooperation, along with strengthening our respective alliances with Seoul and Tokyo," said the official, speaking on the condition of anonymity to describe sensitive diplomatic matters. The administration may soon have an opportunity to help jump-start cooperation between its two allies, with South Korean President Moon Jae-in saying Monday that his government was open to talks with Japan. While Blinken, a veteran diplomat, is in many ways fit for the moment, he must contend with the shifts in U.S. allies' political and strategic calculations. Despite the progress made in 2015, the relationship between Japan and South Korea has deteriorated in recent years over legal and economic disputes, with little political incentive for either country to mend ties. President Donald Trump took a passive role in maintaining a relationship with both nations, instead becoming singularly focused on whether they were paying enough money to keep U.S. troops stationed in their countries. He questioned long-standing treaties and international agreements, and he undermined allies' confidence that the United States would defend them. Some allies are concerned that the whiplash return to alliances under Biden could be temporary, given that the U.S. election was not a resounding rebuke of the Trump era, experts say. "You can't just say, 'Trump is gone, it's a return to status quo prior to Trump,' " said Frank Aum, an expert on North Korea for the U.S. Institute of Peace and a former senior Pentagon adviser. "There's going to be a lot of allies thinking, 'OK, someone like Trump can return again.' That being said, I think a lot of our South Korean and Japanese allies are probably very excited to see the Biden administration because of how strong and invested the Obama administration was." While allies in Asia generally welcome the United States' return to a traditional approach to diplomacy, they now consider a new role in the U.S.-China competition, which has intensified in the past four years, said Yoshihide Soeya, a professor emeritus at Keio University in Tokyo. "Asian allies of the U.S. have to think in a really serious [way] strategically about the place and the role of the U.S. at this time of megacompetition between China and the United States, and it's not an easy situation," Soeya said. He added that in many ways it was simpler for allies to navigate Trump's approach. "The Trump period, it was only about money," he said. Now, the United States is "essentially saying, 'You should talk and you should cooperate, not necessarily for the sake of Japan and South Korea but for the sake of American regional re-engagement.' So the responsibility on our part, in this case, Japan and South Korea, is also much greater under the Biden administration." Blinken is a known and trusted figure in Asia and elsewhere, which could be an advantage for the Biden administration. "The last four years, they were contending with a United States that was speaking in a language they didn't understand," said Victor Cha, the Korea chair at the Center for Strategic and International Studies and former top adviser on North Korea in the George W. Bush administration. "The United States has to signal stability, reliability, predictability and a willingness to lead, but also have allies play a large part. And Blinken personifies that." As deputy secretary of state, Blinken stressed that he wanted to meet quarterly with his counterparts in Tokyo and Seoul, and he made sure that his staff followed up on specific items after the meetings, according to those who worked with him. South Korean officials were stunned that Blinken wanted not only to consult with his counterparts for the first time but also to meet regularly at his level, said a South Korean official who worked on trilateral issues, speaking on the condition of anonymity to describe private discussions. They had assumed he would want to meet twice a year at most, given the breadth of issues under his purview. Blinken encouraged the three countries to think creatively about how to cooperate beyond their long-standing shared concerns over the North Korean nuclear threat. In a March 2016 speech at the Brookings Institution, he outlined the American vision for new issues that the allies could work on together, including climate change, gender equality, humanitarian assistance, counterpiracy issues, cancer research and space exploration. "This is something that then-Deputy Secretary Blinken really, I think, helped to lead and was the inspiration behind," the senior State Department official said. Broadening the scope of the discussions beyond North Korea signaled to the South Koreans and the Japanese that Blinken was serious about working closely with them, said the South Korean official. "Tony is now secretary of state, so he has such a huge responsibility covering all areas. I don't know if he will be personally involved," that official said. "But if the trilateral cooperation renews . . . I would believe that Tony Blinken is behind that, with his fingerprints all over it." 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. Lauren Caldwell is only peripherally connected to the Duggar family. Her older sister, Kendra Caldwell, is married to Joseph Duggar. Still, shes appeared on Counting On multiple times, and Duggar family followers are pretty committed to the idea she will eventually marry into the Duggar family. As it stands, family followers have connected three Duggar boys to Lauren. So is she dating any of them? There is a decently solid case for a romance between Lauren and Jason Duggar, Jedidiah Duggar, and James Duggar. Whether an actual courtship announcement will be made is another story entirely. Rumors first swirled that Lauren Caldwell was dating Jason Duggar after a mission trip The first time that Lauren was linked to a Duggar boy came in the spring of 2019. The internet went wild when a Facebook user claimed that Jason Duggar was in a courtship. The user alleged that they were a tour guide during a church trip to Greece that Jason took. The user wrote that Jason and his bride invited her back to the states to visit them once they returned home. The bride in question was reportedly named Lauren. Internet sleuths did some digging and discovered that Lauren was on the same trip, and family followers quickly ascertained that the pair were secretly courting. The rumors died out the same year. Jason, a small business owner, doesnt appear to be any closer to courtship than he was back in 2019. Lauren or any other girl, for that matter, doesnt seem to be in the picture. Months later, a case was made for Lauren Caldwell dating James Duggar After nothing came of Jasons reported courtship, family followers noticed that Lauren appeared to be getting cozy with one of the younger Duggar boys. During the birth of Kendra and Josephs second child, Lauren and James Duggar were seen standing suspiciously close to each other. In another episode of Counting On, it appeared as though they were holding hands, too. to read uri [https://www.cheatsheet.com/wp-conte Around the same time, James began spending more time with the Caldwell family. He was present during several family outings and appeared to be deeply involved in the church where Laurens father, Paul Caldwell, is a pastor. Once again, nothing came of the rumors. Now it looks like Lauren Caldwell is courting Jedidiah Duggar More recently, Lauren has been linked to Jedidiah Duggar. Jed, who recently ran for a political seat in the Arkansas House of Representatives, is 22 and the 10th child of Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar. The U.S. Sun alleges an insider claimed Lauren and Jed are secretly engaged, and he might be why Lauren ended her previous relationship. Rumors about Jeds possible involvement with a woman swirled in November 2020, when Jessa Duggar posted a video where Jed appeared to allude to a girlfriend. New Duggar couple?! #CountingOn's Jed Duggar is reportedly engaged to Kendra Duggar's sister Lauren Caldwell! https://t.co/HbxxjJLDC3 In Touch Weekly (@intouchweekly) March 1, 2021 Coincidentally enough, Jed was once rumored to be involved with Laurens sister, Kendra, before she married Joseph. In 2019 several publications suggested that Jed had his eye on Kendra, but his older brother swooped in and stole his girlfriend. Reportedly, he was asked to step aside since Joseph was older than him. Wasnt Lauren Caldwell engaged to someone else, though? While there have been vague clues that Lauren is dating one of the Duggar boys for more than a year, no definitive proof has been brought forward. The dreams of a second Caldwell-Duggar wedding seemed to die back in October 2020. In the fall, the Caldwell family excitedly announced Laurens engagement. It wasnt to a Duggar boy like everyone assumed it would be, though. Instead, they announced that Lauren was set to marry a man named Titus Hall. Little is known about Titus and Laurens relationship, but the engagement was a short-lived one. Within a couple of months, Lauren and Titus called off the relationship. Neither the Caldwells nor the Halls has spoken about what happened, but Duggar family followers seem convinced that Lauren ran back to one of the Duggar boys. Which one is anyones guess. If Lauren is dating a Duggar boy, the announcement likely will not come soon. It would be considered in poor taste for Lauren to announce two different engagements in 12 months. Former Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori will face trial after being charged with pushing Peru sterilization over thousands of its populace. Yahoo! News reported that along with the former President, health officials were the key factor of the sterilization, which, according to Fujimori, is consensual. However, BBC noted that a percentage of the population claimed that they were not informed, while others received harassment. The program aimed to eradicate poverty and cut birth rates among poor families. ALSO READ: Protests Erupt in Peru Over New Interim President The Sterilization U.S. News and World Report noted that the judicial process is led by Judge Rafael Martinez, following years of demands from the human rights activists and numerous obstacles such as prosecutors who did not mind the case of Fujimori in the past. In response to that, the new prosecutor of the case, Pablo Espinoza, pointed out that sterilizations are executed in unsanitary conditions, including some women who lost their lives from infections. BBC noted the Peruvian Health ministry's data that more than 270,000 women and 22,000 men underwent sterilization due to the Peruvian government's effort to control the birth rate between 1996 and 2000. The health officials from the Fujimori administration and the former president himself argued that the sterilization that happened was all with the patients' consent. However, Yahoo! News shared that thousands of women who have voiced their situation came from poor indigenous areas of Peru with Quechua as their first language. It implies the limited understanding of the documents presented to them by the medical staff. One of the victims of the issue is identified as Rudecinda Quilla, whose statement is a part of the legal evidence. She shared that when she was trying to get her fourth child issued for a birth certificate in 1996, the medical experts told her that the only way for her to avail the document is to have a tubal ligation. Quilla shared with BBC that she refused, but she was forced to the hospital bed, her feet and hands tied then injected with anesthetic, and when she woke up, she was sterilized, and the medical staff told her that she will "never breed like an animal again." The Case U.S. News and World Report added that as president, Fujimori announced in a congress in China back in 1995 that his administration will establish a program that will help the poor Peruvian women decide on how many children they want to have, later resulting in women sterilized without their knowledge. Former President Fujimori said through his lawyers that he should not be tried in the sterilization because it is not included in the crimes that he is going to be judged when he was extradited from Chile in 2007. BBC noted that the Hearing for Peru Sterilization will be conducted virtually to abide by COVID restrictions. However, it is unclear whether Alberto Fujimori, who is currently having his 25-year sentence for human rights abuses, will show himself in the hearing. RELATED ARTICLE: 'Vaccine-Gate' Scandal: Over 400 Peruvian VIPs Secretly Got COVID-19 Shots Before Official Rollout WATCH: "'I'm still in pain' - Haunted by Peru's forced sterilisation program" from RT Documentary The Daily Beast Photo Illustration by The Daily Beast/GettyMike Lindell, the MyPillow CEO and Trumpist conspiracy-peddler, flew his private jet to the Republican Governors Association meeting the other day.The guvs promptly threw him out. But the incident got Molly Jong-Fast thinking: Does the MyPillow CEO think hes already a governor or something?Subscribe to The New Abnormal on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Amazon Music, or Overcast. To listen to our weekly members-only bonus episodes, join Beast Inside here. Already a member? You can listen here and sign up for new episode email alerts here.Spoiler: Making MyPillows does not make you my governor. Now, chances that Mike Lindell could actually become governor of a small Republican state, 80 percent, she quips on the latest episode of The New Abnormal. Like, its not even that hard for someone that famous and insane in the Republican party to become a governor.Lindell claims he wouldnt run to be a dogcatcher right now, because he doesnt trust the voting machines. Plus, hes from the blue state of Minnesota. So maybe the risk of a Governor Pillow isnt quite so high. But L.A. Times columnist Virginia Heffernan would like to quickly add something about Mike Lindell being a cosplay governor.I think we need to understand that being in politics leads to governing and governing is boring. It is not a PR operation, she says. And I feel like we have made these jobs celebrity roles. Public service should not beis notbeing on a reality show.Like, I feel like we need to really dial down the razzle-dazzle, really play up the drudgery, Heffernan continues. I just don't know why every single industrialist and every single lady with abs or gorgeous arms would want to be, of all things, a governor.Biden, Heffernan opines, is doing a pretty good job at the drudgerydollars going out, jabs going out, all leading to Trump signs going down. Sure, the Donald has his cultists, like Lindell. But, I don't think people can hold onto this much insanity for this long, especially when it's a tiny minority of people who believe it, Heffernan adds. Democrats need to know how to win.To which Jong-Fast replies, oh-so-gently: Are you freakin kidding me? With all of these Republican attempts to retcon the Capitol riots? To chop away at the right to vote? To instantiate their ability to overturn elections? All while Team Biden snoozes it away? The Democrats are bringing an ice cream sundae to a knife fight, Jong-Fast says.Plus! Politicos Tara Palmeri talks about her search to find Liz Cheney supporters in Wyoming. And Battle for the Soul author Edward-Isaac Dovere gives us a peek into how Biden sees the political landscape. The presidency that he has in front of him now, he knows, is so different from what he ever expected to have, Dovere says, And part of that is rethinking how he incorporates the progressivism within the party that took root and that was so much part of this campaign. And its just, its a really complicated evolution for him. Its not the presidency he thought itd be running in 2019 when he got into this race.Read more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more. A third grade New Jersey girl started sobbing in the middle of her Zoom class and when asked what was wrong, told her teacher and her peers that she was starving. The Monmouth County girls mother lost her job and they didnt have anything to eat, a problem being magnified across the state by the coronavirus pandemic. A social worker from the girls school determined the family was in need and picked up food for her, her two siblings and their mother from Fulfill, formerly known as The FoodBank of Monmouth & Ocean Counties. The family received enough food to feed four people for four days, toiletry items and fresh produce. That was the immediate solution. Now were working to stabilize the family, said Kim Guadagno, the former New Jersey lieutenant governor who is now president and CEO of Fulfill. Since the story went public, donations have come in for the family: six months worth of groceries, clothing, a car and more. The mother, an unemployed restaurant worker, has landed a new job washing dishes and has other job offers that Fulfill is helping her to explore. The outpouring of support for this one child has been fabulous, Guadagno said. This family is now well cared for, Guadagno said, but the girl is one of 400,000 children in New Jersey who is food insecure. In Monmouth and Ocean counties, there have been 92% and 64% increases in need, respectively, since last March. Fulfill saw a 40% increase in demand. And there are probably even more people who need help, she said. If youve never been to a food bank, you dont know where to start, Guadagno said. Almost half, or about 4 in 10 people, who have visited a food bank since the pandemic began last year had not received food assistance previously, according to Feeding America. And the demand is expected to continue. Were looking at at least two to three years, said Guadagno. Food insecurity among kids has increased by an estimated 75%. Even though schools are still handing out meals, not all children who need them may be able to get them. It might be hard for some people to make their way over there to pick them up, if the parents are working or dont have transportation, Williams said. The increase in food insecurity among children has been really stark. Fulfill has helped to prop up local food pantries that closed during the pandemic by making sure they have working refrigerators and freezers, tents and PPE. They also put into service a benefits bus to help people in need register for assistance programs. Until people go back to work its not going to go away, Guadagno said. The vaccine offers hope to people who can already put food on the table, but doesnt change the boots on the ground. China has appointed General Zhao Zongqi, a former top People's Liberation Army (PLA) officer who oversaw the border with India, as the Deputy Chairman of the influential Foreign Affairs Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC), the country's Parliament. Gen Zhao was replaced by Gen Zhang Xudong Gen Zhao, 65, headed the Western Command during the Doklam faceoff in 2017 and the Ladakh standoff in 2020. As per regulations of the PLA, the retirement age for the top generals is 65. An official announcement by the NPC said General Zhao has been appointed as the Deputy Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, an influential body of the NPC, news agency PTI reported. Besides, Gen Wang Ning, who till recently headed Armed Police Forces, was appointed as Deputy Chairman of the NPC Committee on Constitution and Law and Gen Zheng Weiping, former political commissar of the Strategic Support Forces as Deputy Chairman of the NPC Committee for the Education, Science, Culture and Health. Gen Zhao, who headed the Western Theatre Command during the 2017 Doklam standoff where the Indian Army stood up against the PLA's plan of laying a road close to the Indian border in an area claimed by Bhutan, was replaced by Gen Zhang Xudong in December last year. The Ladakh standoff also happened under the watch of Gen Zhao. After the standoff which began on May 5 last year, the Indian and Chinese troops disengaged from the most contentious area of North and South Pangong Lake last month, holding talks to disengage from other areas in eastern Ladakh. Gen Zhao Zongqi's appointment comes ahead of the annual meeting of the NPC beginning from March 5. The NPC along with the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), an advisory body, will hold their annual get-together for a week. READ | SAD's Manjinder Singh Sirsa backs Deep Sidhu; says 'will ensure he is out of jail soon' READ | Mamata praises Tejashwi after solidifying TMC-RJD alliance; sends 'message' to BJP China may deploy drones on border with India Meanwhile, a Chinese legislator who leads a regiment in the country's southwestern border defence frontline will submit a proposal at the upcoming two sessions, suggesting that China should enhance border management and control by deploying more smart equipment like drones, as his experience and research indicate huge room for improvement despite the wide use of such devices by the People's Liberation Army (PLA). Hou Yun, the commander of a border defence regiment affiliated with the PLA Tibet Military Command and also National People's Congress deputy, will submit the proposal at this year's two sessions, which are scheduled to convene this week, China Central Television (CCTV) reported on Saturday. According to a Global Times report, Drones, currently in use by the Chinese frontline troops are mainly small or medium-sized multi-rotor drones. Such drones can vertically take off and land, making them operable at almost any location. They don't require an airfield and it's easy for frontline troops to learn their technical requirements, making them the first choice for border missions, Fu Qianshao, a Chinese military aviation expert, told the Global Times on Sunday. But they are characterized by shortcomings such as those that the frontline troops have reported, and that is why the PLA could use larger, fixed-wing drones like the GJ-1 and GJ-2 armed reconnaissance drones, he said. During the Galwan clash, the PLA deployed drones developed by Shenzhen Keweitai Enterprise Development Co, a private firm, to conduct reconnaissance on the hostile forces, the Global Times report said. READ | Bharat Biotech responds as PM Modi takes its Covaxin Covid vaccine; 'will inspire masses' READ | Dr. Harsh Vardhan slams politicisation of PM's vaccine jab; lauds him for waiting his turn (With PTI inputs) Executives from major oil companies clashed over the prospects of oil and gas for the future at the first virtual edition of the CERAWeek conference in Houston. While BPs Bernard Looney and Shells Ben van Beurden boasted about their shift away from their core business and into renewable energy, Baker Hughes, Hess Corp., and Spains Repsol were among those believing that fossil fuels have yet to leave the scene for good, the Houston Chronicles Paul Takahashi reports. Weve been an oil and gas company for 112 years, and I think this is a moment where we do have to reinvent the company, BPs Looney said. We decided to really embrace that energy transition, more as a massive opportunity and not look at it as some sort of threat to our core business. Hydrocarbons are still going to be essential for providing energy to the world, especially in the near term, Baker Hughes Lorenzo Simonelli said, echoing an earlier statement that There is no scenario where hydrocarbons disappear, as expressed in his opening speech at the Baker Hughes annual meeting held last month. As per the Houston Chronicles report, Hess Corp. and Carlyle International Partners shared their belief that demand for oil and gas will, in fact, rise over the next ten years despite the international push towards cleaner energy sources. Related Video: Top 5 Uses of Petroleum Were in a V-shaped recovery for demand, Hess chief executive John Hess said, as quoted by Chron. Once inventories are drawn down and we get rid of the glut, the challenge will be investment, and were going to need stronger prices to encourage that investment. Indeed, oil price movements seem to support the pro-fossil fuel view. Despite President Joe Bidensand the European Unionsgreen agenda, the news of mass vaccinations and stimulus programs for the worlds largest economies have served to boost oil prices, suggesting that market players expected a demand rebound. On the other hand, if governments dedicated to reducing their use of fossil fuels continue with the same enthusiasm, the long-term prospects of oil, at least, are likely to darken before too long. By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: Free coronavirus screening for students of La Sapienza University in Rome. Rome university La Sapienza is offering free covid-19 screening tests to its students, thanks to the collaboration of the Lazio region and Policlinico Umberto I Hospital. The screening site was inaugurated on 1 March by the university's rector Antonella Polimeni alongside Lazio regional health councillor Alessio D'Amato and the general manager of Policlinico Umberto I, Fabrizio d'Alba. However the screening campaign has been available since 25 February, with the recommencement of in-person educational activities for students enrolled in all years, in compliance with the safety measures. The screening centre is located in front of the Ciao-Hello offices, in the main campus, and results will be available 24-36 hours after sampling. For positive cases, measures will be taken to secure both the positive students' families and their classes, the university said. Full details, including how to book a test, are available on the university's website La Sapienza is the largest university in Europe and one of the oldest in the world. Photo La Sapienza. A painless prick to his arm the first of two vaccine doses George Freeman will receive this month signalled a turning point in the COVID-19 pandemic for the Manitoba senior and his home province. A painless prick to his arm the first of two vaccine doses George Freeman will receive this month signalled a turning point in the COVID-19 pandemic for the Manitoba senior and his home province. "I didnt feel the needle," said Freeman, 79, after exiting the COVID-19 vaccination clinic at the RBC Convention Centre in downtown Winnipeg on Monday afternoon. "I waited a long time for it," the member of Peguis First Nation said. "I was only out of the house once last year for my flu shot, and Im looking forward to being able to make an appointment with my doctor." On Monday, the province gave the first COVID-19 vaccines to members of the general public, after opening its appointment books last week to people over 95 years old and First Nations people over 75. Freeman, who came to the clinic with his wife Kathy from their home in St. Andrews, stopped to chat with a Free Press reporter outside the clinic while waiting for their ride. Freeman said he was the sixth member of the public that day to get a shot and recommended others book an appointment when they get their chance. Kathy Freeman said the experience once they arrived at the clinic was easy, with plenty of room for social distancing, and they had no complaints. The couple is looking forward to having their children and family members visit more often once George is fully vaccinated. "Hes the eldest in his whole family, so hes the one everyone worries about," she said. Prior to extending offers to the public, only select health-care workers and individuals the province had prioritized for vaccines based on employment could make an appointment. As of Monday, Manitobans born on or before Dec. 31, 1930, and First Nations people born on or before Dec. 31, 1950, are eligible for the vaccine. Meanwhile, at an immunization table inside the convention centre, and surrounded by a dozen other people getting their shots, Nina Luhowy said she was feeling good, as an immunizer reviewed her paperwork. "Same, like old lady," Luhowy, 93, joked, before pulling down her pink sweater in anticipation of the needle. Within 30 seconds, the first dose had been plunged into Luhowys arm. "So far, so good," Luhowy said, adding shes looking forward to the day she is fully vaccinated with both required doses. "I guess thats everybody is doing that way: waiting. Would it help? Who knows. But takes a long time til everybody gets through with these two needles." So far, 76,670 COVID-19 vaccine doses have been delivered in Manitoba, including 28,890 second doses. Over the past four weeks, many personal care home residents received their second dose of the vaccine, as immunization teams visited 125 licensed facilities throughout February. The province said finalized data from its immunization campaign in personal care homes was not available Monday. Some seniors and personal care home residents on reserves have also been vaccinated, as doses set aside for First Nations communities are distributed through the Manitoba First Nation Pandemic Response Co-ordination Team. Provincial data shows 8,366 total doses have been given to people who identify as First Nations, as of Monday. An estimated 4,800 people residing in assisted living facilities and retirement homes will also have a chance to be immunized at their home. Immunization teams are scheduled to visit 120 such facilities this week. In a release sent Monday afternoon, the province said the mass vaccination clinic at the former Selkirk and District General Hospital will open March 8. Appointments are available in Winnipeg, Brandon, Thompson and Selkirk. The province has yet to announce when it will open appointments for a clinic in Morden. Also this week, the province said members of several northern communities will travel into Thompson to be vaccinated at the recreation centre "super site." The first communities participating in the pilot program transporting people to Thompson for immunization include Wabowden, Herb Lake Landing, Snow Lake, Grand Rapids and Misipawistik. The communities were selected based on their readiness and residents' ability to travel for the vaccine, according to the provincial government. More information about the vaccine rollout in northern Manitoba will be released soon, officials said. To date, 108,460 doses have been delivered to Manitoba. Another 16,380 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine are expected to arrive this week. danielle.dasilva@freepress.mb.ca The Daily Beast Photo Illustration by The Daily Beast/GettyMike Lindell, the MyPillow CEO and Trumpist conspiracy-peddler, flew his private jet to the Republican Governors Association meeting the other day.The guvs promptly threw him out. But the incident got Molly Jong-Fast thinking: Does the MyPillow CEO think hes already a governor or something?Subscribe to The New Abnormal on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Amazon Music, or Overcast. To listen to our weekly members-only bonus episodes, join Beast Inside here. Already a member? You can listen here and sign up for new episode email alerts here.Spoiler: Making MyPillows does not make you my governor. Now, chances that Mike Lindell could actually become governor of a small Republican state, 80 percent, she quips on the latest episode of The New Abnormal. Like, its not even that hard for someone that famous and insane in the Republican party to become a governor.Lindell claims he wouldnt run to be a dogcatcher right now, because he doesnt trust the voting machines. Plus, hes from the blue state of Minnesota. So maybe the risk of a Governor Pillow isnt quite so high. But L.A. Times columnist Virginia Heffernan would like to quickly add something about Mike Lindell being a cosplay governor.I think we need to understand that being in politics leads to governing and governing is boring. It is not a PR operation, she says. And I feel like we have made these jobs celebrity roles. Public service should not beis notbeing on a reality show.Like, I feel like we need to really dial down the razzle-dazzle, really play up the drudgery, Heffernan continues. I just don't know why every single industrialist and every single lady with abs or gorgeous arms would want to be, of all things, a governor.Biden, Heffernan opines, is doing a pretty good job at the drudgerydollars going out, jabs going out, all leading to Trump signs going down. Sure, the Donald has his cultists, like Lindell. But, I don't think people can hold onto this much insanity for this long, especially when it's a tiny minority of people who believe it, Heffernan adds. Democrats need to know how to win.To which Jong-Fast replies, oh-so-gently: Are you freakin kidding me? With all of these Republican attempts to retcon the Capitol riots? To chop away at the right to vote? To instantiate their ability to overturn elections? All while Team Biden snoozes it away? The Democrats are bringing an ice cream sundae to a knife fight, Jong-Fast says.Plus! Politicos Tara Palmeri talks about her search to find Liz Cheney supporters in Wyoming. And Battle for the Soul author Edward-Isaac Dovere gives us a peek into how Biden sees the political landscape. The presidency that he has in front of him now, he knows, is so different from what he ever expected to have, Dovere says, And part of that is rethinking how he incorporates the progressivism within the party that took root and that was so much part of this campaign. And its just, its a really complicated evolution for him. Its not the presidency he thought itd be running in 2019 when he got into this race.Read more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more. The World Health Organization (WHO) said that it is "unrealistic" to expect the Covid-19 pandemic to be over by the end of 2021. "I think it will be very premature, and I think unrealistic, to think that we're going to finish with this virus by the end of the year," Dr. Michael Ryan, executive director of the WHO's Health Emergencies Program, said at a press conference here on Monday, Xinhua news agency reported. "But I think what we can, if we're smart, finish with the hospitalizations, the deaths and the tragedy associated with this pandemic," he said. Dr. Soumya Swaminathan, chief scientist of the WHO, added that "the goal of COVAX is to bring an end to the acute phase of the pandemic by the end of 2021." COVAX is a program led by the WHO, Gavi (the Vaccine Alliance) and the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) aiming at distributing Covid-19 vaccines around the world. "We still face a huge challenge in rolling out vaccines equitably and fairly to those most need them around the world," Ryan said. "We're in a much better position than we were. But nothing is guaranteed," he added. As the world is struggling to contain the pandemic, vaccination is underway in some countries with the already-authorized vaccines. Meanwhile, 256 candidate vaccines are still being developed worldwide -- 74 of them in clinical trials -- in countries including Germany, China, Russia, Britain and the United States, according to information released by the on February 26. --IANS int/ (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Teacher sick days are up in Winnipeg, with one school division reporting absences spiking 81 per cent over last years figures. Meanwhile, school administrators in several parts of the city have been taking less time off amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Teacher sick days are up in Winnipeg, with one school division reporting absences spiking 81 per cent over last years figures. Meanwhile, school administrators in several parts of the city have been taking less time off amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Through a series of freedom of information requests, the Free Press obtained the total number of sick days or hours recorded, from autumn during the 2019-20 and 2020-21 school years, in the Winnipeg, Seven Oaks, Louis Riel and St. James Assiniboia school divisions. The data include total illness-related absences, broken down by teachers, educational assistants and school administrators, between the start of September until the last day of December before the winter break. Seven Oaks recorded the highest increases in both teacher and educational assistant absences this year, up 81 per cent and 95 per cent, respectively. On the other side of the spectrum, St. James Assiniboia had a 24 per cent increase in teacher sick days, while support staff in Louis Riel took 15 per cent more sick time off this school year than last. Superintendent Brian OLeary said Seven Oaks added five extra days to each of its employee sick leave banks for 2020-21 before the school year got underway. "We wanted that really as a message to staff that we really did want people to stay home if they were symptomatic and to not hesitate," OLeary said, adding the spike in absences could also be attributed to the area having recorded a significant number of COVID-19 cases compared to elsewhere in the city. Aside from typical sick days, school staff have taken time off this year to get tested for COVID-19, stay home with symptoms, and self-isolate when deemed a close contact of a positive case. While all divisions reported increases in teacher and educational assistant time off, only Louis Riel has seen an increase in administrator absences. In St. James Assiniboia, Winnipeg and Seven Oaks, school leaders' sick days have dropped by 51 per cent, 19 per cent, and seven per cent, respectively. Cameron Hauseman, an assistant professor of education at the University of Manitoba who researches the emotional aspect of school leadership, said the figures are unsurprising, given existing research on how school leaders cope during crises. "Principals, typically in times of crisis, will try to shield their staff from concerns and take on more work and potentially, put themselves at ill-being. A lot of that comes back to traditional notions of leadership," Hauseman said. "Its not exactly the most healthy strategy." Crises such as school shootings and suicides have huge emotional tolls on principals, who put in extra hours to manage situations, he said, noting the pandemic has resulted in time-consuming duties including contact tracing and designing public health protocols in schools, on top of existing administrative duties. "The rate of change has been the biggest problem for principals not knowing from week to week whats going to happen," said Rob Fisher, chairman of the Council of School Leaders. Principal Ben Carr has experienced the hefty workload firsthand, but said he and other administrators are pushing through the stress and fatigue to make sure every school is safe and teacher absences are covered. "Being away from your school for a day (during a pandemic) is really difficult," said Carr, who works at Maples Met School. To date, he has yet to take a full sick day for either physical or mental health reasons; in part, he said, because hes been lucky not to have experienced any COVID-19 symptoms. Carr added the absence trends likely reflect administrators typically spend less prolonged contact with students than other staff. Meantime, Hauseman said he worries what the pandemic's impact will be on principals mental health in the coming months. People for Education, a public education advocacy organization in Ontario, surveyed 1,173 principals in that province in early 2021 to assess their well-being and recommendations to improve stress during the pandemic. The findings show about half of the in-person and hybrid learning principal respondents felt their stress levels were not manageable, while 57 per cent of those at virtual schools said the same. maggie.macintosh@freepress.mb.ca Twitter: @macintoshmaggie New Delhi: Delhi police on Monday (March 1) registered an FIR against Aam Aadmi Party MLA Abdul Rehman on charges of molestation. Rehman was accused of assaulting a woman worker of the party during the civic bypolls in northeast Delhis Chauhan Bangar area on Sunday. The FIR, which included charges of molestation, voluntarily causing hurt and wrongful restraint, was filed at the Jafrabad police station on the basis of the woman's complaint. Rehman, legislator from the Seelampur constituency, had denied the allegations saying he did not meet the woman at all on the day in question. "All the allegations against me are false and baseless as I did not meet the woman or even in the past," Rehman was quoted as saying by a daily. The MLA said he was hopeful of a fair investigation into the case. "I am ready to face the punishment if I am found guilty. Else, the person who filed the false complaint or those who are supporting her should be punished," Rehman said. Live TV Top Republicans on Wednesday accused the Democratic administration of Gov. Tom Wolf of using biased wording to write ballot referendum questions which, if approved, would amend the state constitution and limit his emergency powers. It is clearly slanted to try to encourage voters to vote no, Senate Majority Leader Kim Ward of Westmoreland County said at a press conference. The House Majority Leader, Rep. Kerry Benninghoff of Centre County, said it appeared Wolf was desperate to cling to emergency powers and, I am just dumbfounded by the way this was written. The questions will appear on the May 18 primary election ballot. In general, one involves giving the General Assembly ability to end or extend a declared emergency without involvement of the governor, and the other would end a declared emergency after 21 days unless extended by the General Assembly. The specific wording which was written by Wolfs Department of State and already has been advertised in newspapers rankled Republicans in both chambers. Under current law, the governors disaster declarations last for 90 days and he can extend them without consulting the General Assembly. Currently, Pennsylvania is operating under two disaster declarations. The first was made in January, 2018, by Wolf concerning the opioid crisis, and he has renewed it 13 times. The second, concerning the COVID-19 pandemic, was originally signed by Wolf on March 6 of last year and he has renewed it for the fourth time last week. The wording of the two ballot questions is as follows: Shall the Pennsylvania Constitution be amended to change existing law and increase the power of the General Assembly to unilaterally terminate or extend a disaster emergency declaration and the powers of Commonwealth agencies to address the disaster regardless of its severity pursuant to that declaration through passing a concurrent resolution by simple majority, thereby removing the existing check and balance of presenting a resolution to the Governor for approval or disapproval? Shall the Pennsylvania Constitution be amended to change existing law so that: a disaster emergency declaration will expire automatically after 21 days, regardless of the severity of the emergency, unless the General Assembly takes action to extend the disaster emergency; the Governor may not declare a new disaster emergency to respond to the dangers facing the Commonwealth unless the General Assembly passes a concurrent resolution; the General Assembly enacts new laws for disaster management? A third referendum question, unrelated to the governors emergency powers, also will appear on the ballot. A spokeswoman for Wolf was not immediately available to respond to questions. Donna Speciale & David Beck "Im joining The Forem advisory board because the company goes beyond inspiration and high level lessons, to empower people to take meaningful, practical actions through an actual professional development platform." - David Beck The Forem, the virtual training program that helps employees build confidence and acquire skills needed to unlock career pathing opportunities, has announced that Univisions, Donna Speciale, and former Warner Media & AMC Network's executive, David Beck, have joined The Forems Advisory Board. Both based in New York, they will support The Forems expansion into businesses looking for innovative ways to attract and retain top talent. Donna Speciale, the newly appointed Ad Sales Chief for Univision, has consistently been honored as one of the Most Powerful Women in the media industry for 6 years running. She is known for her commitment to team career development and mentoring and continues to bring people of varied backgrounds together for collaboration and learning opportunities. Nurturing, developing and mentoring ALL employees is key to a successful company. The Forem is an organization helping to shape the next generation, providing individuals with the skills, tools and confidence to navigate change and thrive in their career. I am thrilled to help Alli and her team build our next generation, said Speciale. David Beck, entrepreneur and investor, has built a track record of developing and leading high performing teams, responsible for driving growth and innovation initiatives across the industry at WarnerMedia, TNT, TBS, Turner Sports, AMC, BBC America, IFC, Sundance, Univision, and more. He also co-founded and served as Managing Partner of BRaVe Ventures, a media and technology advisory and investment firm, that he successfully built, scaled, and sold. While Im a big believer that the only person responsible for your career development is you, the best leaders invest in providing their people with effective, actionable training and tools, said Beck. Im joining The Forem advisory board because the company goes beyond inspiration and high level lessons, to empower people to take meaningful, practical actions through an actual professional development platform. Inspiration can be found everywhere; turning that inspiration into actionable steps to advance your career is what we need more of, and Im thrilled to help The Forem lead this effort, says David. The Forems virtual training program aims to empower employees to navigate organizational change and build the confidence and skills needed to unlock career pathing opportunities. The Forem has seen a 200 percent growth over the past quarter and more than 100 new companies joined in January 2021 alone. The program also retained 100 percent of its Q4 2020 clients and anticipates that clients will expand to additional employees in the coming months. Were elated to bring in the dynamic Donna/David duo to help us scale to the next level of growth, said Alli Young, The Forem founder and CEO. Donna's deep industry expertise in large media companies and advertising will help position our product suite to the customer segment, while David's experience as an operator and investor will be invaluable throughout our company's evolution. Both are committed to giving back, teaching what they know, and have been fantastic advocates along the way. The Forem's comprehensive Career Advancement Program empowers employees to own their career development, with a particular focus on moving women and underrepresented minorities up the ladder, faster. By mastering a research-based curriculum anchored on 5 Critical Skills, employees are armed with a toolkit to increase their promo-readiness by scaling impact, raising visibility, and unlocking new opportunities within their career. For more information on The Forem, please visit http://www.theforem.co. About The Forem Founded in 2017 by Alli Young, The Forems comprehensive end-to-end Career Advancement Program empowers employees to own their career development. The Forems research based Five Critical Skills, which are taught through talks, live workshops and a career advancement platform, which aim to enhance ongoing learning. These skills can be leveraged at any stage of a career and are critical to navigating leadership within a corporate culture. The Forem helps members with key components of their career growth including the development of their own personal branding, learning to network, working through interoffice relationships, managing their manager and more. The Forem also pairs members with industry renowned mentors to help them better navigate their career path and goals. For more information, please visit, http://www.theforem.co. Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. For the fifth time in five years, the Hazel Green Trojans will play for a 6A title. The team has won three in a row and will look to make it four when they play Carver Montgomery at UAB on Wednesday at 9 a.m. On Monday, the team defeated McGill-Toolen 55-44 to advance. Sylvania and Fyffe will also be making appearances in the finals following big wins Monday. The Rams will play in their first finals since 2002 on Friday against Prattville Christian Academy. The Red Devils, who had not made a finals appearance since 1950, will make another attempt at their first title against Montgomery Catholic. Both Sylvania and Fyffe will play at Bill Harris Arena on Friday. Scottsboro, playing in its first-ever final four, fell to Spanish Fort 65-61. Pinewood Studios is so synonymous with James Bond movies that the area is full of tributes to the action franchise: the Albert Broccoli 007 Stage, named after the longtime producer, 007 Drive, and Goldfinger Avenue. It may be more famous for movies, but situated on Goldfinger Avenue is a company that has been at the forefront of a particular music industry revolution: investment in music back catalogues. One Media IP is not a very famous name in music, but this year, it has already bought the producer royalties to early Take That hits and the rights to live recordings by old-time greats like Glenn Miller, Cole Porter and the late Dame Vera Lynn. Bob Dylan reportedly sold the rights to his back catalogue for $300million to Universal Music Group. He is one of many rock stars cashing in on selling their music rights Founded in 2005, chief executive Michael Infante says the firm has 'never had a physical side to our business. We've never pressed a record; we've never manufactured anything.' 'We are purely, and always have been, a digital downloading streaming business, that is it. So we are reliant 100 per cent on digital income.' Infante's company was buying up the digital rights to songs by classic performers such as Ike and Tina Turner and Edwin Starr while most music was still being bought and sold through the traditional path of CDs and singles. One Media IP chief executive Michael Infante believes investing in music IP offers a safe, reliable return of income because certain songs will always be played year after year on the radio or on streaming services During this time though, physical sales were plummeting and the music industry was undergoing its most financially challenging period ever. Streaming, by contrast, was beginning its gradual climb to domination. From virtually nothing in the mid-Noughties, annual streaming revenues rose to about 1billion in 2012 before soaring to 11.4billion in 2019, according to music recording industry body IFPI. Infante believes investing in music IP offers a safe, reliable income because certain songs - he cites seasonal favourites Mungo Jerry's In the Summertime and Bing Crosby's White Christmas - will always be played year after year on the radio or on streaming services. His comments echo those made in a recent CNBC interview by Merck Mercuriadis, a former manager for Elton John and co-founder [with Chic's Nile Rodgers] of the Hipgnosis Songs Fund, which has been bought the rights to about 61,000 songs since 2018. 'When times are good, we celebrate to soundtracks of great songs, and equally well when we're experiencing challenges, we take escape and comfort from songs,' the Canadian-born executive said. 'The other thing besides the predictability and the reliability is that these songs are uncorrelated. The revenues are uncorrelated to what's taking place in the market.' Unlike industries such as energy, mining and travel, the music industry's finances are not seriously affected by recessions or wild swings in market behaviour. People may forfeit their annual foreign holiday during bad times, but they will still listen to music in good times and bad. Hard times can also make people nostalgic for the tunes of their youth, and groups like Hipgnosis and talent management firm Primary Wave are trying to capitalise on that sentimentality. Both recently bought the publishing rights of a member of Fleetwood Mac. The former purchased all of Lindsey Buckingham's back catalogue while the latter paid Stevie Nicks a reported $100million in exchange for an 80 per cent interest. Nile Rodgers (left) and Merck Mercuriadis (right) founded Hipgnosis Songs Fund in 2018. The firm has bought song rights from artists including Neil Young, Shakira, and Debbie Harry The pair are just two of a Who's Who of pop and rock royalty who have sold their rights in the last few months: Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Barry Manilow, Chrissie Hynde, Debbie Harry, Shakira, and Las Vegas-based bands The Killers and Imagine Dragons. So how come so many artists are parting with their publishing rights in return for one massive payday? Music manager Anthony Martini, who is also a partner at online royalty platform Royalty Exchange, thinks there are three main reasons: 'First, with more buyers competing for ownership, demand has driven prices up to an all-time high. Second, there's more flexibility in what artists can sell. They can choose to sell only a percentage of their catalogue rather than the entire thing or just sell one type of royalty while keeping the others. 'Third, there's a growing movement among artists to retain their music rights and independently control their careers. So selling their back catalogue can give them the funds to finance their future without taking on an advance or signing their rights away.' Music manager Anthony Martini says selling back catalogues 'can give [artists] the funds to finance their future without taking on an advance or signing their rights away' The trend has been compared to a gold rush, as a torrent of investors spend billions on catalogues that they hope will be the new long-term source of their fortunes. Mercuriadis' firm has expended about $1.8billion on music rights; Round Hill Music Royalty Fund has spent around $650million, while Universal Music Group forked out an estimated $300million just for Bob Dylan's catalogue. The fact that Covid-19 has decimated musicians' ability to earn money from playing live, traditionally their primary source of income, may have motivated many of them to sell their royalties to pay the bills. Legendary rhythm guitarist David Crosby tweeted in December that he was selling his royalties, because: 'I have a mortgage and a family and I have to take care of them so it's my only option.' More musicians may choose his path if the pandemic continues to choke the live music circuit. Goldman Sachs forecasts the number of paid streaming subscribers and yearly streaming revenues will each rise about threefold to $75billion and 1.22 billion respectively by 2030 Crosby has also complained fervently about how little he earns from streaming, a common concern among musicians, and the subject of a current inquiry by the UK Parliament's Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee. For others though, streaming could be the next golden goose. Goldman Sachs forecasts the number of paid streaming subscribers and yearly streaming revenues will each rise about threefold to $75billion and 1.22 billion respectively by 2030. 'If streaming services grow in subscribers, that will certainly benefit investors who own streaming-heavy catalogues,' says Martini, who further reckons they are the most stable catalogues. Like Michael Infante, he thinks music royalties can provide consistent earnings for stakeholders as it's an asset class that does not dance to the market's fluctuations. The lack of live gigs in the last tear due to the Covid-19 pandemic may have motivated a lot of musicians to sell their back catalogues in return for a hefty payday He adds: 'The main advantages of investing in music royalties are high yield and uncorrelated income. As you know, yields are at all-time lows, so music royalties offer the potential for double-digit yields in an otherwise low-yield environment.' That does not mean it lacks risk. As we know from history, gold rushes are never permanent, and the number of big-time musicians who want to sell their catalogues is limited. Cue the inevitable bust! A lot of music also goes out of fashion as listeners' tastes change. Investors may therefore rue buying up the catalogue of a new hit sensation who suddenly crashes and barely registers on Spotify charts - or any chart. Hence, there exists too much uncertainty to definitively determine whether music is, to quote Mercuriadis, 'as good as gold or oil.' It will always be consumed, just like action movies of the type made at Pinewood Studios. Whether music IP investment will be profitable though, as all James Bond films that have been released since Dr No arrived on our screens in 1962, remains to be seen. CUNEO, MAR 2 - Italian police are probing a Sunday night raid against the home of a man suspected of vehicular homicide in the death of a 16-year-old boy near Cuneo Saturday night. Several youths, about 15 of them, threw stones at the home of the 47-year-man who is under house arrest for allegedly drunk driving his Mercedes into an SUV containing the boy and two companions who were seriously hurt. The incident happened at Dronero. The 16-year-old was killed instantly in the impact while a peer was seriously injured along with the 20-year-old who was driving the SUV. In the punitive raid, the youths vandalised the man's intercom before raining stones on his flat. Local mayor Livio Acchiardi said "it's wrong to seek rough justice by yourselves". (ANSA). DUBLIN, March 2, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Manufacture of Dairy Products in South Africa 2021" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. This report focuses on the manufacture of dairy products in South Africa and includes information on the volume of products sold and market share per product, developments, trends and corporate actions, regulation and other influencing factors. Manufacture of Dairy Products: There has been considerable consolidation in the dairy industry at production level over the last 20 years, and large farms account for 80% of South Africa's total milk production. Rising production costs, imports, less producers, drought, changing consumer preferences, regulation and competition from international companies have created challenges, especially for small producers. While the number of milk producers has continued to decline, milk production has increased, indicating fewer commercial farms with larger herds. Large farms producing more than 5,000 litres per day supply 80% of South Africa's total milk production. Changes in Consumption: Some consumers are shifting to dairy products with low levels of lactose and sugar due to rising health concerns, and there is increasing demand for plant-based products. Consumers are driving innovation in dairy products such as protein and extended shelf life beverages, gut-health innovation using probiotics and fermented dairy drinks and new flavours and texture-enhanced products. Coronavirus: As fresh milk is highly perishable, the dairy industry was hard hit by the crisis. There was a sharp decline in demand for certain dairy products such as cheese as the initial lockdown included the closure of restaurants and hotels. The decline was partly offset by increased household sales of dairy products with a longer shelf-life, such as UHT milk. Disruptions in the milk supply chain prevented some smaller dairy farmers from getting their milk to market. There are profiles of 33 companies including dominant companies such as Clover, Woodlands and Lactalis and relatively small dairy processors that distribute regionally such as Douglasdale and Coega Dairy. Key Topics Covered: 1. INTRODUCTION 2. DESCRIPTION OF THE INDUSTRY 2.1. Industry Value Chain 2.2. Geographic Position 3. SIZE OF THE INDUSTRY 4. STATE OF THE INDUSTRY 4.1. Local 4.1.1. Trends 4.1.2. Developments 4.1.3. Corporate Actions 4.1.4. Regulations 4.1.5. Enterprise Development and Social Economic Development 4.2. Continental 4.3. International 5. INFLUENCING FACTORS 5.1. Coronavirus 5.2. Government Intervention 5.3. Economic Environment 5.4. Rising Operating Costs 5.5. Utilisation 5.6. Labour 5.7. Technology, Research and Development (R&D) and Innovation 5.8. Cyclicality 5.9. Environmental Concerns 6. COMPETITION 6.1. Barriers to Entry 7. SWOT ANALYSIS 8. OUTLOOK 9. INDUSTRY ASSOCIATIONS 10. REFERENCES Summary of Notable Players Bandini Cheese (Pty) Ltd Clover Sa (Pty) Ltd Coega Dairy (Pty) Ltd Danone Southern Africa (Pty) Ltd Darling Romery (Pty) Ltd Denmar Estates (Pty) Ltd Dewfresh (Pty) Ltd Douglasdale Dairy (Pty) Ltd Dwr Hertzog Fair Cape Dairies (Pty) Ltd Fairfield Dairy (Pty) Ltd Far End Dairy (Pty) Ltd Farmgate Dairy (Pty) Ltd Froneri South Africa (Pty) Ltd Gattis Ice Cream (Pty) Ltd La Montanara Melkery (Pty) Ltd Lactalis South Africa (Pty) Ltd Ladismith Cheese Company (Pty) Ltd Libstar Operations (Pty) Ltd Mooivallei Suiwel (Pty) Ltd Mountainview Dairy Cc Nestle ( South Africa ) (Pty) Ltd ) (Pty) Ltd Orange Grove Dairy (Pty) Ltd Polar Ice Cream Company (Pty) Ltd Rhodes Food Group (Pty) Ltd Sundale Free Range Dairy (Pty) Ltd Trademodel Seven (Pty) Ltd Transem (Pty) Ltd Unilever South Africa (Pty) Ltd Unique Dairy Products (Pty) Ltd Wj Khourie Woodlands Dairy (Pty) Ltd Wynn-With Milk Farm (Pty) Ltd For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/hy39e4 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 Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) vice president Maryam Nawaz on Monday hit out at Prime Minister Imran Khan over Daska by-election rigging allegations and asked him that why is he scared of the "power of the vote"? Taking a jibe at the Pakistani Minister and his government, Maryam Nawaz took to Twitter and warned that measures such as the alleged Daska by-election rigging and breakdown of the RTS system will not be tolerated again. READ | UAE Welcomes Recent India-Pakistan Ceasefire; Picks Unviable Kashmir Border Description Maryam Nawaz slams Imran Khan The PML-N leader said that it has been proven again that the Constitution was superior to "conspirational ordinances" and "references based on ill intentions". Amid the ongoing controversy over irregularities in the Daska by-poll, on Wednesday, Maryam Nawaz called Imran Khan "vote-thief" and also accused government agencies of rigging the elections. This comes after the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) last week had said in a statement that it suspected that the results of 20 polling stations were falsified. The recent by-election in the NA-75 constituency for the country's National Assembly was marred by violence at a polling station in the Daska constituency. meanwhile, the Supreme Court of Pakistan said that the upcoming Senate elections cannot be held via open balloting. READ | Pakistan's NCOC Raises Alarm Over Dull Vaccine Drive; 'may Lead To 3rd Covid Wave' The apex court also held that the secrecy of the ballot is not "absolute" and can be diluted by practical considerations, especially those that relate to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) exercising its mandate to conduct free and fair elections that are devoid of any corrupt practices, said the local media. READ | Pakistan PM Imran Khan's Sri Lanka Visit Expense Out; Team Claims It's 1/8th Of Ex-PM's The Supreme court further said that it is up to the ECP to decide to which extend the voting should remain secret. "It is the duty of the Election Commission of Pakistan in terms of Article 218(3) of the Constitution, to ensure that the election is conducted honestly, justly, fairly and in accordance with the law and that corrupt practices are guarded against," read the order by the Supreme Court. "The Election Commission of Pakistan is required by the Constitution to take all necessary steps in order to fulfill the above mandate/duty in terms of Article 222 of the Constitution," it added. READ | Pakistan Sanctioned Dawood Ibrahim & Other Terrorists 1 Day Before Escaping FATF Blacklist (With ANI inputs) In Michigan and across the country, more women are getting elected to serve in top leadership positions. And when those elected officials face sexism on the job, more voters than ever want to hear elected officials address it directly, new nationwide data indicates. According to a report from the Barbara Lee Family Foundation a Massachusetts-based nonpartisan organization focused on research and advocacy for women in politics and contemporary art a majority of likely voters in the U.S. agree that women in politics face sexism and indicated broad support for women candidates speaking out about sexist situations they experience. The report, based on data collected by the group Avalanche Insights over three rounds of nationwide surveys of a representative sample of thousands of likely voters in the U.S., concluded that while more voters are acknowledging serious instances of sexism and want to see it addressed, what they view as overtly sexist varies widely based on their personal partisan leanings, beliefs and personal experiences. How a woman candidate or elected official responds to a sexist incident also matters to voters, the report found. A majority of respondents preferred a calm, measured response connecting the incident more broadly to equality and fairness over a candidate or elected official staying silent about the issue or responding in anger. About 25% of respondents, especially Democratic and younger voters, said they would lose confidence in a woman candidates leadership ability if she ignored a serious incident of sexism, the report found. What constitutes a serious instance of sexism varied widely based on a respondents background men, Republicans, and older voters were less likely to perceive an incident as serious if there was an absence of outright assault or evidence. In Michigan, the top three executive roles governor, attorney general and secretary of state are all currently filled by women, all of whom have been in the national spotlight at various points since their election in 2018. And in the last several election cycles, more liberal and conservative women alike are winning elections to Congress, state legislatures and local offices. Michigans statewide officeholders, in particular, have faced a barrage of gendered threats and sexist comments as theyve responded to the COVID-19 pandemic and oversaw the states election process. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer was the subject of a foiled kidnapping plot last year, and Attorney General Dana Nessel has said shes faced more threats during her time in office so far than her predecessor Bill Schuette faced in the eight years he served in the role. More recently, remarks made by Senate Majority Leader Mike Shirkey, R-Clarklake, about spanking the Governor and wanting to challenge her to a fistfight have prompted women lawmakers, the Michigan Womens Commission and others to call out Shirkeys pattern of degrading and disturbing comments about the governor. Related: Michigans Mike Shirkey problem is not going away The way Michigan officeholders have been responding to instances of sexism largely track with what a majority of likely voters are looking for from women in office, said Amanda Hunter, the Barbara Lee Family Foundations executive director. Michigan has really been on center stage in a lot of ways throughout the year, nationally, and a lot of the role modeling that the women in the high-profile elected offices have done have been positively what voters want to see, based on our research, Hunter said. Hunter spoke with MLive about the organizations findings, which can be read in full here, and how they pertain to Michigan politics. Her responses are lightly edited for length and clarity. Why more voters wanting women in politics to talk about sexism is a sign of progress There was a long-held stereotype...that women in politics should just ignore sexism, or not address it. And the fact that now weve seen that voters actually want to see women stand up for themselves is encouraging, and a sign of progress. And also, the fact that voters see sexism in politics as a problem for everyone, rather than a weakness for women, is a sign of progress. While sexism certainly happens to women in politics all the time, the difference is now there is space for women to call it out. And what we found in this survey is, even though a sexist attack can feel really personal to a woman in politics, for voters, they really see it as an opportunity for a woman to demonstrate strength and leadership. What weve seen in the past few years really has been a sea change in the conversation around women in politics...Were in a different moment now than we were even four years ago. Our country has been reflecting a lot about internal bias, so simply by having these conversations and seeing these incidents reported in the media will make voters think about their own opinion and their own bias and...connect it to experiences that they had in their own lives, as well. It doesnt seem like sexism is going to go away anytime soon, unfortunately, and it really in politics can be blatant or subtle. But theres overall been such a shift in the way that society is perceiving women in politics, and the fact that voters have room for women to stand up for themselves...seems like a big shift. Why women in politics still walk a likeability tightrope Generally in politics, women have to walk that likeability tightrope, because our other research shows that voters will vote for a man if they dont like him if they think hes qualified, but they wont do that for a woman. And so women are constantly trying to navigate that tightrope. I think that watching Vice President (Kamala) Harris performance at the vice presidential debate is a really good example. She stood up for herself and said Im speaking, but her voice was calm and moderated. She was strong, but she was not angry, she was smiling...That was just a very public example of a woman, navigating a situation with a lot of caveats that men in politics just simply dont have. Theres space for men to get angry and defend themselves in politics, and women really have to be still very careful when theyre expressing themselves. Electability is a word that is tossed around an awful lot when it comes to women, and its another example of a double standard. Its very rare, if at all, that people have the same conversations about whether or not men are electable. How Whitmers response to sexism stacks up to research Governor Whitmer has a track record of standing up for herself around sexist attacks in the exact way that voters in this survey said that they prefer. When you think about her response to the comments about her dress during the State of the State, and the fact that she talked about standing up to bullies, she did that in a calm, matter-of-fact way, but still held the line against those comments. She had a similar reaction recently to the comments that were made about her that were a little bit more egregious. I think Governor Whitmer is a good example of an executive leader in this country thats a woman who does stand up for herself and does it in a strong, professional manner. Voters also want to see women connect their experience to larger issues... (Whitmer has) been able to talk about why its not only problematic for them to experience sexist behavior, but its problematic for women and girls and for society at large. On women seeing more representation on both sides of the aisle Every candidate and elected official is different, but we did see Susan Collins last year during the last impeachment trial call out sexist comments that she had received a hall pass from Mitch McConnell on a procedural vote. She challenged that and pointed out that no one said that about Mitt Romney, who was also a Republican and had the same vote as her. Weve found in our research...that women on both sides of the aisle had advantages when it came to voters and voters were open to and excited about voting for women. And then we saw that happen in real-time with a record number of women elected to Congress in 2018, mostly Democrats, and then a record number of Republican women elected in 2020. So we do see opportunities for women on both sides of the aisle, and thats because there are certain leadership traits that women are known for that voters recognize. How COVID-19 could help change voter attitudes in Michigan and U.S. I am curious to see if these crises that were facing right now with the COVID-19 pandemic and resulting economic crisis and any number of other crises were facing...wont spur more women to get involved and run for office. Because thats a trend that weve seen, that women have not necessarily been groomed for a lifetime of politics, but something has activated them. Somethings affected their family or their community, and then they end up running themselves, and that seems like a trend that will continue. The fact that Michigan has made so much progress in terms of womens representation in a relatively short period of time is noteworthy, as is the fact that that is changing voter stereotypes. Whether voters agree with the politics of all the women or not, simply by seeing them doing their job is kind of breaking out of the stereotypes. In Michigan, because there arent many states that have so many women in high-profile statewide elected office, those women are also able to chart their own course in a lot of ways. And we saw during the beginning of COVID-19 crisis with states that had women governors...there were pictures of little girls doing their own daily briefing in the living room, because they saw their governor on TV. This year alone, seeing so many women mayors and governors on the front lines has done a lot nationally to raise awareness in voters minds that women are executives and can be strong and decisive leaders. On breaking the imagination barrier in Michigan What I think is so interesting about Michigan right now is that at the foundation, we often talk about something called the imagination barrier. That one reason that there arent more women in executive office is because there havent been that many women in executive office, and voters have a hard time picturing women in executive roles until they see it. Certainly having a woman governor opens the door in voters minds for more women governors, and obviously Michigan has now had two, but you also have a number of high-profile women in elected statewide executive office. So, having more women serving in high-profile roles and speaking out just by simply doing their jobs and bringing their lived experience every day is helping to break down stereotypes in voters minds, whether they even realize it or not. Weve seen that in other states as well when there are women governors, it opens the door for more, because then voters can actually picture it. On why sexism isnt the only ism many women in politics face I think its important to also remember that sexism isnt the only ism that women candidates have to contend with. Racism and ageism really compound the challenges that women of color and younger women face when responding to sexism on the campaign trail. Women of color and younger candidates can face more hurdles to appearing electable, and speaking out about sexism is one way that they can really demonstrate their leadership and resilience. Related coverage: Those women from Michigan led the state through its toughest year yet. Sexist attacks cast Michigan Gov. Whitmer as mothering tyrant of coronavirus dystopia Michigans Mike Shirkey problem is not going away Progressive women lawmakers call on Mike Shirkey to step down from Senate leadership role He has a criminal history and wants to be a Michigan lawmaker. Thursday, he carried a doll in a noose to the state Capitol. Women win big in Michigan, reflecting nationwide trend Employees at the San Francisco-based digital publishing site Medium have voted down a proposal on unionization by a one-vote margin that would have required company management to recognize the group. On Friday the group lobbying for union representation failed to reach the threshold for voluntary recognition agreed on with management, winning 52% of votes but not enough to allow it to bargain with the company, according to a statement from the union. In a recent anonymous online election conducted by a neutral third party, the Communications Workers of America did not achieve the agreed-upon majority needed for a union to be recognized at Medium, a Medium spokesperson said in an email. We will respect our employees collective decision and the elections outcome. We will also continue to listen to and speak with employees directly so we can quickly address concerns, continue to adapt, and together, build a successful company. the statement added. The group announced plans to form a union last month, affiliating itself with the Communications Workers of America union and its newly formed tech organizing arm, the Campaign to Organize Digital Employees, or CODE-CWA. Members of the union painted the outcome as less a referendum on whether the union exists, but what its power would be. In the statement, Medium workers said they had enough votes to win an election at the National Labor Relations Board to force the company to recognize and bargain with them, but didnt plan to do so right now. The group said it would take a break before continuing its organizing work and determining its plans for the future. A group of employees at Google parent Alphabet announced in January they had formed a union that was also affiliated with the CWA. That group is organized as a so-called minority union where members pay dues and organize but arent recognized by the company as a bargaining unit. Minority unions can still organize to advocate for changes inside and outside a company, part of the stated purpose of the Alphabet Workers Union. Employers arent required to bargain with minority unions over contracts, although such unions can bargain for a members-only contract. Tensions were stoked last month when members of the newly formed Alphabet union appeared to be caught unaware when the Switzerland-based Uni Global Union announced that the Alphabet union was affiliating internationally under the name Alpha Global alliance. The Alphabet union previously said it is investigating the issues launched, and the Uni Global Union issued a correction saying it had included them by mistake. Chase DiFeliciantonio is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: chase.difeliciantonio@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @ChaseDiFelice A fire chief said he 'felt ashamed to be a firefighter' after a sobbing paramedic asked crews why they were 'stood around' instead of helping victims of the Manchester Arena bombing a mile away, an inquiry heard today. The first fire engine did not arrive at the scene until two hours after terrorist Salman Abedi blew himself up on May 22 2017, killing 22 people and injuring hundreds more at the end of an Ariana Grande concert. Retired fire officer Alan Topping said specialist teams who could have treated and moved casualties needed to be there 'within five to 10 minutes' and that by the time they arrived they were 'not really going to offer that much help'. The inquiry, which is looking at events before, during and after the suicide bombing, heard that Mr Topping, a duty command support officer on the night 'felt ashamed to be a firefighter' in the aftermath of the attack. 'We didn't respond and we didn't do our jobs to make a difference,' he told inquiry chairman Sir John Saunders. 'It took me a couple of days to put my shirt back on such was the strength of my feelings.' He explained he was not even aware of the blast at 10.31pm until he received a call from his control room more than a hour later which informed him of 'loads of casualties' and also reports of a gunman. On his return from dealing with a mill fire in Stockport, Mr Topping assumed colleagues were already at the Arena and said he expected 'something like 10/12 pumps with specialist teams would have attended with lots of officers as well'. Soon after Mr Topping was deployed to Thompson Street fire station in Manchester city centre and was 'shocked' on his arrival at about 12.25am when he saw five fire engines on the forecourt 'with a lot of firefighters hanging around, some lying down'. Retired fire officer Alan Topping told an inquiry today that firefighters should have been at the Manchester Arena bombing scene within 10 minutes. In fact it took two hours for the first engine to arrive. Mr Topping said he 'felt ashamed,' after the attack The inquiry heard one distressed female paramedic approached a firefighter who recalled: 'She came over crying, pleading with us to go over and help. 'Her exact words were, 'what are you doing just stood around here? There are people dying, we need your help'' Victims of Manchester Arena bombing were denied 'vital assistance' as they lay injured and dying in foyer, public inquiry hears Victims of the Manchester Arena bombing were denied 'vital assistance' as they lay dying and injured in the foyer, a public inquiry into the terror attack was told. Fire crews with specialist equipment and training were not mobilised to enter the City Room foyer where Salman Abedi detonated an explosive killing 22 people in May 2017, and the first fire engine did not arrive until more than two hours later. Police declared a marauding terrorist firearms attack some 16 minutes after the blast but did not inform the fire and ambulance services. It was said only one paramedic entered the scene in the first 40 minutes after the explosion. A similar omission happened a year earlier at a training exercise involving a mock terrorist on the loose at the Trafford Centre and led to a 90-minute delay of fire and ambulance services arriving at that scene, the inquiry has heard. Exercise Winchester Accord in May 2016 was labelled 'a disaster' by inquiry chair Sir John Saunders as fire chiefs concluded that the police's focus was on 'neutralising the situation rather than what the other agencies needed to do'. Advertisement He said: 'It just didn't feel right, it didn't feel like a normal incident to me.' Mr Topping told Paul Greaney QC, counsel to the inquiry, there was 'a lot of anger, upset, confusion' among the crews who were impatient at being kept away from the scene. He said there were many ambulances and paramedics at the station who were being mobilised to the incident. The inquiry heard one distressed female paramedic approached a firefighter who recalled: 'She came over crying, pleading with us to go over and help. 'Her exact words were, 'what are you doing just stood around here? There are people dying, we need your help. I have just taken an 18-year-old girl in the back of an ambulance who died en route to hospital and you lot are just stood around'.' The firefighter then spoke to Mr Topping who admitted he had as little understanding of the reasons for the inaction, although he told the inquiry that senior colleagues waiting at the station said their bosses were not allowing them to attend. The inquiry has heard previously that police declared a marauding terrorist firearms attack amid erroneous reports of gunfire but failed to inform the fire and ambulance services and none of the three blue light services met at a rendezvous point to discuss a planned response. Mr Topping agreed with John Cooper QC, representing the bereaved families, that the scene at Thompson Street 'felt wrong' because important resources and services his colleagues could have provided were 'simply wasted'. Mr Cooper asked if it was correct that 'many, if not all' firefighters turned their back on a senior officer when he was unable to give them answers about the lack of response at a debriefing shortly after the attack. Mr Topping said: 'People showed their emotions differently whether it was turning away, walking away... people were crying. I have never seen firefighters crying at a debrief. 'Firefighters and officers felt such shame, disappointment, all words you could use to describe why we didn't attend that incident to help people. 'I felt ashamed to be a firefighter and I felt like we had let the people of Greater Manchester down. We were there to help and we didn't do our job. I just feel so sad we didn't attend for the families.' He said he no longer felt ashamed as he now knew the reasons why they did not attend but he was still saddened. Mr Topping told the inquiry that on his retirement last September he still felt that joint working between the emergency services in Greater Manchester had not improved sufficiently. Today, watch manager Andrew Simister told the inquiry that a 'massive decision error' meant city centre fire crews drove in the opposite direction from Manchester Arena 20 minutes after the May 2017 blast. The experienced firefighter said crews at Manchester Central Fire Station, less than a mile away, were expecting to be mobilised after news of the explosion was 'all over social media' and colleagues in the east of the city rang to ask why they were still at the station after a bomb had gone off. Salman Abedi killed 22 men, women and children in the blast in May 2017. The inquiry is looking at events before, during and after the suicide bombing Instead he and his colleagues were diverted two miles to a rendezvous point at Philips Park Fire Station rather than a three-minute journey to the arena, he said. Mr Simister said: 'We wanted to go the arena because that's our job, ride a fire engine. We have got first aid capabilities. After an explosion people are in distress and it's our job to go. I thought we were going there (Philips Park) because they had a plan. There was no plan.' More information about the blast appeared on TV news as they waited at Philips Park, he said, but there was still no explanation from bosses as to why there were and not at the arena. At about 11.25pm a Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service (GMFRS) group manager arrived and was confronted by angry firefighters, he said. Mr Simister said: 'The frustration had built up because we were sick of waiting for someone to come and tell us what we were doing. In the end he told us to back off because we were aggressive, if you like, because of the frustration and anger we had not been sent.' Further exasperation followed, he said, as his crews were sent back to Manchester Central in Thompson Street as they travelled in a convoy of vehicles and were greeted around midnight by 'a sea of ambulances'. He told the inquiry: 'Obviously the ambulance service must have been using Manchester Central as a holding area and then calling them into the arena. By the time we got to Central I was deflated, frustrated and I just didn't think we were going to go. There was anger, there was a lot of anger, we should have gone. We just needed mobilising to the scene.' After the attack Mr Simister gave a statement in which he said: 'Where the bomb was detonated, casualties would have had to be helped down a set of stairs on to the station concourse. This must have been done by members of the public, railway staff, arena staff, the homeless, the police and ambulance staff, using advertising hoardings. 'We sat in two fire station yards with the equipment, the manpower and the training for just this sort of incident. This may have made a difference to the incident if we had been allowed to do our job.' He said deploying to Philips Park was a 'massive decision error' and told the inquiry it was the wrong location for a rendezvous point and Manchester Central would have been better. The officer, employed by GMFRS for 26 years, added: 'It was our public duty to have responded straight away and help those people. It is my opinion that as a service we failed because of poor decision-making and it must not happen again.' Mr Simister told inquiry chairman Sir John that senior management made the wrong decisions which led to a 'complete negation of what the fire service is all about'. He said: 'It just seemed like the senior officers then were not interested in the operational side of firefighting, more after their own careers and to get promoted as quick as they could. And at the end of the day they have all started where we all started as firefighters. 'But I must say the the culture has changed recently. We have got some good station managers moving up and we have got a new chief officer that listens.' 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 six-year-old boy died after he clung to his mother's moving car as she drove away to abandon him. His mother, Britney Gosney, tried to abandon her six-year-old son James Hutchinson at an Ohio park. Britney Gosney reported that her six-year-old son was missing on Sunday. However, Gosney later told the police that she had killed the boy and dumped his body in the Ohio River with her boyfriend's help, according to a Crime Online report. Investigators have yet to recover the boy's body and still searching the river as of Monday. Britney Gosney was charged with murder, while her boyfriend James Hamilton was charged with abuse of a corpse and tampering with evidence. Both Gosney and Hamilton are in police custody. Read more: Oklahoma Murder: Suspect Kills Neighbor, Cooks Heart With Potatoes and Fed to Family James Hutchinson's Death Middletown police chief Maj. David Birk said on Monday that this was unusual as most parents report their missing children within a few hours. Birk noted that this case was different and the whole situation was just red flags all over. Court documents showed that Britney Gosney drove from Middletown to Preble County, Ohio, with her three children on Friday and tried to leave Hutchinson in Rush Run Park, according to an ABC WCPO report. James Hutchinson was a first-grader who his principal described as a happy and joyful soul. Based on the court documents, the six-year-old boy tried to hold on to his mom's car as she drove away, and Gosney dragged him until he let go of her car. Britney Gosney then told the police that she returned to the park 30 minutes later and discovered that her six-year-old son was dead in the parking lot. Birk said police hoped to find Hutchinson's body to learn more about the exact nature of his death. Meanwhile, a 30-minute gap exists between the moment James Hutchinson let go of the car and the time his mother claimed to have come back. Birk said they do not understand the motives of Gosney for doing such a crime. "That's something that she can only answer, and again - conflicting stories back and forth," Birk said in the report. Birk noted that there was an indication that Britney Gosney had planned to leave all her three children in the lot. However, she only left James Hutchinson. Gosney picked up her son's body after he died and drove to her address where she lives with Hamilton. Britney Gosney kept the boy's body inside a bedroom until the next day. She then dumped the body in the Ohio River after driving an hour away to Lawrenceburg, Indiana. "My kids are much older, but this has really touched my soul and my heart... Poor 6-year-old has no idea what's going on and what's happening, and for the other kids to go through this, too, it's just heartbreaking," Birk said, adding that most of their officers have kids as well. According to Birk, Britney Gosney had periodic interactions with children's and family services in the past, citing situations where Gosney's children were in and out of Middletown City Schools, and their family occasionally resided in hotels. Meanwhile, James Hutchinson's two siblings were placed with a foster family, while a fourth child has been in the state's care for some time after Gosney lost her custody of the said child before Hutchinson's death. Read also: Mother Accused of Shooting, Killing Two Daughters at Home UPDATE: 3:45 p.m. Tuesday, March 2, 2021 - The Redding Police Department said they found a missing Redding woman, Tiala Schmidt, dead in western Shasta County Tuesday morning. Police said there does not appear to be any signs of foul play. The Shasta County Sheriff's Office will be handling the investigation. --- REDDING, Calif. The Redding Police Department is asking for the publics assistance in locating a missing at-risk woman. 24-year-old Tiala Schmidt left her familys home in Redding on Monday, March 1, according to RPD. She may be driving a white 2019 Nissan Sentra with a California license plate number 8DZS525. Schmidt is 5 feet 5 inches tall, weighs 130 pounds, and has brown hair and brown eyes. She was last seen wearing a grey T-shirt and blue leggings. She has a large tattoo of an elephant on her left arm. Tiala is considered to be at risk due to her mental health. INDIANAPOLIS The Indiana Department of Health announced today that 582 additional Hoosiers have been diagnosed with COVID-19 through testing at state and private laboratories. That brings to 662,750 the number of Indiana residents now known to have had the novel coronavirus following corrections to the previous days dashboard. A total of 12,192 Hoosiers are confirmed to have died from COVID-19, an increase of 31 from the previous day. Another 431 probable deaths have been reported based on clinical diagnoses in patients for whom no positive test is on record. To date, 3,123,029 unique individuals have been tested in Indiana, up from 3,120,195 on Monday. A total of 8,056,112 tests, including repeat tests for unique individuals, have been reported to the state Department of Health since Feb. 26, 2020. Indiana COVID-19 Dashboard & Map State Health Commissioner Kris Box, M.D., FACOG, encouraged any eligible Hoosier to sign up now at one of nearly 400 vaccine clinics around the state. The vaccine is a simple, safe, and effective way to protect yourself and those you love against COVID-19, she said. Its an easy process that only takes a few minutes, and it could be the difference of a lifetime for vulnerable Hoosiers. To find testing sites around the state, click here. Hoosiers age 55 and older, along with healthcare workers, long-term care residents, and first responders who are regularly called to the scene of an emergency to render medical assistance, are now eligible to receive a COVID-19 vaccine. To schedule, visit https://ourshot.in.gov or call 211. As of today, 1,014,651 first doses of vaccine have been administered in Indiana, and 587,359 individuals are fully vaccinated. 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. CARLINVILLE First-degree murder charges have been filed against a Carlinville man in a Feb. 1 death in Virden. Macoupin County States Attorney Jordan J. Garrison said two counts were filed Tuesday against Dalton M.K. Obermark, 20, of Carlinville in the stabbing death of John Rennie of Virden. Rennie, 58, was found dead in his house about 11:55 p.m. Feb. 1 after Virden Police were asked to check on his welfare. Because of visible trauma to Rennie, Illinois State Police criminal investigators were called. Obermark also faces charges of possession of a stolen vehicle and aggravated battery. Associate Judge Joshua A. Meyer has set Obermarks bail at $1 million. It is alleged that Mr. Rennie was stabbed to death in his home, Garrison said. The safety and security ones home offers them is sacred. No one should have to suffer this type of brutal, senseless attack. Obermark was arrested Feb. 3 in Russellville, Kentucky, near Bowling Green, but challenged extradition to Illinois. He has since been returned to Macoupin County. Obermarks next court date is a preliminary hearing set for March 10. Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-02 05:31:55|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close Mark Lowcock, the UN undersecretary-general for humanitarian affairs, takes part in the high-level pledging conference for Yemen at the UN headquarters in New York, March 1, 2021. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the outcome of Monday's high-level pledging conference for Yemen is disappointing. Pledges announced a total of about 1.7 billion U.S. dollars -- less than last year's pledges and 1 billion dollars less than what was pledged at the conference in 2019, said Guterres in a statement. (Evan Schneider/UN Photo/Handout via Xinhua) UNITED NATIONS, March 1 (Xinhua) -- UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the outcome of Monday's high-level pledging conference for Yemen is disappointing. Pledges announced a total of about 1.7 billion U.S. dollars -- less than last year's pledges and 1 billion dollars less than what was pledged at the conference in 2019, said Guterres in a statement. "Millions of Yemeni children, women and men desperately need aid to live. Cutting aid is a death sentence," he said. "The best that can be said about today is that it represents a down payment. I thank those who did pledge generously, and I ask others to consider again what they can do to help stave off the worst famine the world has seen in decades." At the pledging conference, Guterres asked for 3.85 billion dollars for humanitarian operations in Yemen for 2021. World Food Programme Executive Director David Beasley said on Monday that 1.9 billion dollars is needed to prevent famine in Yemen. More money is needed for other forms of aid. The United Nations will continue to stand in solidarity with the starving people of Yemen, said Guterres in the statement. In the end, the only path to peace is through an immediate, nationwide cease-fire and a set of confidence-building measures, followed by an inclusive, Yemeni-led political process under UN auspices, and supported by the international community. There is no other solution, he said. The exact amount of total pledges made on Monday was 1.67 billion U.S. dollars. Saudi Arabia, which is leading a military coalition fighting Houthi rebels in Yemen, made the largest donation of 430 million dollars, followed by Germany (245 million dollars), the United Arab Emirates (230 million dollars), and the United States (191 million dollars). Other big donors include Britain with 123 million dollars and the European Commission with 116 million dollars. Mark Lowcock, the UN undersecretary-general for humanitarian affairs, who co-hosted Monday's pledging conference, warned that there will be a bigger famine in Yemen unless more funds are secured. "This does not solve the problem. We are disappointed at the outcome. It's going to be impossible with such limited resources to prevent a large-scale famine," he told a virtual press briefing after the pledging conference. "So we're gonna have to come back to people and ask them for a stronger response, before too long." Another pledging conference for Yemen may have to be convened in a few months to raise more money, he said. "We will not abandon them (the Yemenis). We will continue to try and persuade the world to come to their aid. We will continue to do everything we can, through the work led by our Special Envoy (for Yemen) Martin Griffiths, to push for an end to the fighting and a cessation of hostilities and the beginning of a recovery effort for the people of Yemen, because that, ultimately, is the only way out of this mire." He said the re-engagement of the new U.S. administration in the Yemen issue provides the best opportunity for progress in the country, both on peace and the humanitarian situation. Enditem Northampton City Council President Gina-Louise Sciarra is tossing her hat into the ring in the citys mayoral race, pledging to work with residents to overcome the coronavirus pandemic and help build an equitable recovery as the public health crisis continues to wreak financial havoc on communities across the country. Sciarra, 46, made her announcement Tuesday morning and is the first major candidate to jump into the race after Northampton Mayor David Narkewicz announced in January he wont be seeking reelection come November. Northamptons strength comes from Northamptons people. We put in the time. We do the work. We invest in our future. Most of all, we come together, Sciarra said in a statement. This year has brought unimaginable challenges and for many it has been personally devastating. The pandemic has laid bare the inequities and injustice of many broken systems in our country. While hard, these moments also hold hope and opportunity for change, she added. Im ready to work with everyone in our community to move us forward to a more vibrant, more accessible and more equitable Northampton. I am proud to announce that I am running for Mayor of Northampton! Please join me. Gina-Louise Sciarra for Mayor of Northampton glsciarra.com Posted by Gina-Louise Sciarra on Tuesday, March 2, 2021 Since 2014, Sciarra, a Democrat, has served on the city council for four terms, six years as a representative from Ward Four and as a councilor at-large this current term. She was unanimously voted in as president of the council last year and previously served as vice president. She has charted a similar political path as Narkewicz, who was also elected to the council to represent the same ward and later served as president of the legislative body before eventually taking on the role of mayor. Over the course of her time on the council, Sciarra noted, she has served on several subcommittees and currently chairs the Finance Committee and vice-chairs the Committee on Legislative Matters. In her announcement, Sciarra outlined her legislative accomplishments while serving on the council: helping to update zoning standards to require more affordable housing and open space for larger developments, pass stricter municipal campaign finance limits than those set by the state and establish a ban on the use of facial recognition technology by police and other city employees. The council president has also sponsored a slew of resolutions, including those in support of reproductive rights, immigrant protections, refugee settlement and protections for transgender and non-binary individuals. Sciarra, who is married and has two daughters in the Northampton Public Schools system, has pushed to protect and increase state funding for public school education as well, she pointed out. Without question, Gina-Louise Sciarra is the most qualified and prepared person for the job, said Northampton Democratic City Committee Chair Elizabeth Silver, who will serve as Sciarras co-campaign manager. In this time of crisis, we need a leader who both embodies our citys progressive values and understands the intricacies of municipal government. Of the issues Sciarra said she will focus on if elected mayor, racial and social justice will be a top priority, according to her. Over the summer, Sciarra worked with Narkewicz to set up the Northampton Policing Review commission following worldwide protests against police brutality and systemic racism in the aftermath of the killing of George Floyd, a Black Minneapolis resident, at the hands of police. The 15-member commission was tasked with studying an array of issues related to law enforcement, from union contracts to mental health emergency response, and is expected to issue its final report to the city later this month, roughly two months before the deadline for the submission of Northamptons next operational budget. We are in an important moment of re-envisioning community safety and crisis response, and examining our own ordinances for bias, said Sciarra. I believe Northampton can unite behind practices and policies that meet the needs of all members of our community and make them feel safe. Along with serving on the council, Sciarra also works as the communications manager for Pathlight, a social services provider for people with autism and intellectual and developmental disabilities as well as their families. Prior to working at Pathlight, Sciarra was the capital campaign manager for First Churches of Northampton and is credited for leading a successful $2 million effort to repair and restore the historic building and community space. The building now doubles as a church and a 24/7 emergency shelter for houseless residents. Gina-Louise has always done the work, said Rev. Dr. Peter B. Ives, who served as First Churches minister for 21 years. She shows up, she listens to everyones ideas, she pulls us together, and she gets things done. Sciarra, an alumnus of Smith College, is the first woman to run for mayor of Northampton in 12 years and would be the third woman to serve in the office if elected. Following Narkewiczs announcement in January, Sciarras name was immediately floated as a top contender in the Northampton mayoral race. The mayor, who has served a collective 16 years in public office, said he wont run for elected office again after his term ends. Northampton will hold its municipal election on Nov. 2. If more than two mayoral candidates are certified, a preliminary election will be set for September to narrow the field to two contenders for the general election. The mayors office will officially change hands in January 2022. Narkewicz noted he made his political intentions known early on to allow other city residents the opportunity to consider running and form campaigns. He pledged to work with whomever residents vote to succeed him to ensure a smooth transition between mayors. I have had the privilege of serving the city of Northampton in both appointed and elected roles for more than twenty years, the mayor wrote in a statement. Now I want to step back and let other community members bring their ideas and energy forward to address the important issues and challenges facing our city. Another name that has been tossed around as a potential mayoral candidate is that of former Massachusetts State Senate candidate Chelsea Sunday Kline. However, in a statement to MassLive on Monday, Kline made it clear she will not be running for mayor. She noted its not the right time for her family to undergo another massive political campaign. As you know, there are many avenues to lending our hands and voices to bringing about positive and inclusive changes to our community and commonwealth, and I will always be looking for ways to be of service, she said. Likely the top challenge that will face the next Northampton mayor is the financial aftermath of the COVID-19 public health crisis. The pandemic has led numerous small businesses to shutter across the country, and Northampton, known for its many locally-owned companies, has not been exempt from that economic fallout. The public health crisis has forced a number of small businesses in the city to close their doors for good, including the 36-year-old Artisan Gallery, 13-year-old Green Bean and other shops along Main Street and beyond. Many Northampton residents have been furloughed or laid off from jobs, and unemployment nationwide has reached levels not seen since the Great Depression, Narkewicz said in the summer. The pandemic has plunged our economy into a recession that may take years to recover from. Public officials in the city have argued, though, that in spite of the challenges posed by the pandemic, Narkewicz will leave behind a legacy of strong financial stewardship. Despite having to postpone the implementation of a recent $2.5 million property tax override due to the financial burden it would have imposed on residents amid the public health crisis, the city has been left in a solid financial state compared to communities throughout the state. In her statement, Sciarra expressed optimism about Northamptons ability to rebound after the economic distress caused by the pandemic. Every city has been hit hard, she said. But Northampton isnt every city. Im confident that as the pandemic lifts, we will lift each other up and make sure our recovery is an equitable recovery. Northampton should be a place where anyone, regardless of income level or background, can come to build a life for themselves and their families, and comfortably retire, the council president added. She also promised to be a steadfast supporter of Northamptons businesses, workers and public schools and to aggressively seek opportunities to fund affordable housing. Another primary focus for Sciarra if elected mayor would be climate change, an issue that has been prioritized by Narkewiczs office as well during his tenure as the citys chief executive. In late January, the mayors office laid out four large-scale projects to make the city more pedestrian- and biker-friendly after the Northampton Planning Board adopted the communitys Climate Resilience and Regeneration Plan. Officials have said the plan serves as a blueprint for how the city can work to address climate change in the years to come and achieve net carbon neutrality by 2050. Though this past year brought an unanticipated crisis, we cannot lose sight of the climate crisis and our sustainability goals, said Sciarra. Keeping the citys commitment to make all city buildings and operations carbon-neutral is essential, and we need to continue to push as an entire community to address the climate emergency. Sciarras mayoral campaign will have to remain largely virtual while the coronavirus public health crisis continues. However, Northampton residents will have every opportunity to meet with the candidate, ask her questions and share views, according to Michael Aleo, Sciarras co-campaign manager. After running the council throughout the pandemic, GL is already well known to Northampton as the master of Zoom, Aleo noted. We will do everything we can to make the campaign accessible to the public, using all of our technological tools, as well as safely bridging the digital divide. Related Content: She's forged a successful career as a swimsuit and lingerie model since starring on the 2011 season of Australia's Next Top Model. But on Tuesday, Simone Holtznagel, 27, revealed the surprising reason why she won't be posting as many bikini-clad photos to her Instagram anymore. It seems she's discovered her inner gourmand, and bartender. Food for thought: Australian Playboy model Simone Holtznagel, 27, (pictured) revealed the surprising reason she won't be posting 'half-dressed' photos to her Instagram anymore on Tuesday 'I get so much interaction when I post cooking stuff or making cocktails,' she told The Daily Telegraph. 'I think it is kind of refreshing for people to see, rather than just another chick half-dressed on Instagram,' she said. 'I could post a photo in lingerie or swimwear every day but it gets a bit old after a while,' she added. The model went on to say she was overwhelmed with the amount of engagement she gets showcasing a different side with her followers. Other offerings: 'I get so much interaction when I post especially cooking stuff or making cocktails,' Simone told The Daily Telegraph on Tuesday Talented: Simone told the publication that she plans to showcase some of her other talents which include cooking and bartending skills Simone added that she wouldn't rule out exploring different avenues in the future. The blonde bombshell shot to fame in 2011 when she placed second runner-up on Australia's Next Top Model. The blonde bombshell landed her first Playboy cover back in October 2015, in 'The College Issue'. Same old: 'I could post a photo in lingerie or swimwear every day but it gets a bit old after a while,' she said She recently relocated back to her native Australia after carving out a career in Los Angeles. Simone also starred on the 2018 Australian season of I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here! Posted Monday, March 1, 2021 4:44 pm Ms. Jaime Herrera Beutler is on her way out. And she knows it. Good riddance. After she voted to impeach Trump for "personal" reasons, the backlash from conservative Republicans throughout her 3rd Congressional District in Southwest Washington and across the nation was loud and clear. Now, the Clark County Republican committee has voted to stop her support and stop her money from the committee. Good for them. A Republican has an obligation to represent the Republicans that paid the freight and voted them into office. Just like Democrats. You want to be an independent, then run as one. Some would say, including former Chronicle publisher and current columnist Michael Wagar in a commentary dated Feb. 27, that Jaime Herrera Beutler should be applauded for standing tall and strong with her anti-Trump vote. I expect that from Mr. Wagar. His liberal political stance is well known through his years moving up through The Chronicle. I like him and respect him as a writer, even if I think his politics are eschewed from reality. I would guess that other Republicans and or Democrats who now stand for Herrera Beutler are part of the "I hate Trump" team. They hate Trump and anyone who supports him with a passion. Why hate a president who has done so much for our country? Easy. Trump at times, a lot of times, was considered rude and offensive. He was not always, if ever, politically correct. He hurt people's feelings. He wanted to clean out the swamp. That's unpopular in D.C. So what? He got the job done that he promised during his campaign that he would do. He did it with one hand tied behind his back. The Democrats and liberal media started in on him the day he rode the escalator. They tied that hand behind him. Millions spent on investigations of Russia, Russia, Russia all ended up like a big fat goose egg in their face. When they did not pan out they went after him with a vengeance every day. A second phoney trumped up impeachment rolls into town, and Jaime Herrera Beutler can't wait to jump in the limelight. She steps to the microphone and sits on her own political throat. In the past couple weeks, Jaime Herrera Beutler has held a town hall meeting and sent out a valentines and religious holiday greeting over social media. Obviously shes on a mission to get herself out of hot water and back in the good graces of those party leaders with the check book. She failed. Funny, I don't recall her reaching out to me or the rest of the district Republicans before her impeachment vote. No town hall meeting online. No mass mailings, no social media blitz. Had she done so had the majority of our voters supported her impeachment vote then I would accept her actions. She was after all elected to represent the people. But she chose to represent her own "personal" feelings. She has no doubt figured out by now that she's done. Loss of money. Loss of committee support. Loss of voter support. Maybe her buddies on the other side of the aisle will find her a nice plush job as a lobbyist. She will fit right in . Bye bye Jaime Herrera Beutler. We put you in office, and now we are taking you out of office. Bradd Reynolds Chehalis We're always interested in hearing about news in our community. Let us know what's going on! Go to form Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh on March 2 led a Vietnam delegation to attend a virtual Informal ASEAN Ministerial Meeting, during which he affirmed Vietnam, as an active and responsible member of the ASEAN Community, commits to working with other member states of the bloc in fighting the COVID-19 pandemic. Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Pham Binh Minh (Photo: VNA) Vietnam will back and help the ASEAN Chair in 2021 to fulfill its tasks and speed up the building of the Community, he stated, stressing that boosting relations with partners, and maintaining dialogues and cooperation bear important significance for the building process. Deputy PM Minh noted that escalating violence and tensions, which have caused human losses in recent days in Myanmar, have affected peace and stability in not only Myanmar but also the whole region. He called on parties involved to restrain and avoid all violent activities, ensure safety for people, and organise peace dialogues to soon bring the situation back to normal. The Vietnamese representative recommended that ASEAN coordinate closely, promote its role, effectively use existing cooperation mechanisms and tools, including coordinating with global organisations and mechanisms such as the United Nations, to help Myanmar soon stabilise its situation, for the interests of its people and nation, and for peace and stability in the region and for solidarity and prestige of ASEAN. At the meetings, delegates discussed the progress of the implementation of the ASEAN Community Vision 2025, a plan to build an ASEAN Community Vision beyond 2025, and initiatives on pandemic response and post-pandemic recovery. They also touched upon ASEANs external relations, and regional and international issues of mutual concern. They agreed to press on with efforts to build the ASEAN Community, respond to the COVID-19, and effectively carry out the post-pandemic recovery plan, including early realizing the ASEAN travel corridor initiative, using the COVID-19 ASEAN Response Fund to purchase vaccines for citizens, and putting the ASEAN Regional Reserve of Medical Supplies into operation. ASEAN member states reached a consensus on expanding and deepening relations with partners so as to promote multilateralism and collective response to common challenges. They stressed the need for ASEAN to maintain solidarity and stance, and be ready to play its role in addressing common challenges in the regional and international situations. Delegates also shared their concerns and viewpoints over recent developments in Myanmar, as well as ASEANs role in this issue. Brunei the ASEAN Chair in 2021 then issued the ASEAN Chairmans Statement on the outcomes of the meeting./.VNA Bollywood actress and her sister Rangoli Chandel have moved the Supreme Court seeking transfer of cases pending against them in to a court in Shimla, alleging there would be threat to their lives if the trial proceeds there because of personal vendetta of leaders against them. The actress and her sister said they apprehend that if trial in these cases are conducted in Mumbai, there would be a material threat to their life and property as the Shiv Sena-led Maharashtra government has been harassing them. The petitioners face a threat unto life if the trials proceed in Mumbai, because of personal vendetta of leaders against the petitioner herein, said the plea, filed recently through advocate Neeraj Shekhar. The plea has sought transfer of trial of FIRs and complaints registered against them, including a complaint case filed by veteran lyricist Javed Akhtar against Ranaut alleging defamation, from to a competent court in Shimla in Himachal Pradesh. It said that Akhtar had filed a complaint case against Ranaut alleging criminal defamation after the actress had given an interview to a news channel last year in which she had talked about a meeting with the lyricist in 2016. It has further sought transfer of an FIR lodged in by one Ali Kashif Khan Deshmukh which relates to Chandel's tweet in which she had expressed her anguish over attack on doctors during COVID-19 pandemic. It said subsequently, Twitter account of Chandel was suspended after which Ranaut had spoken on a social media video against it. The plea said Khan had lodged an FIR against Ranaut and Chandel for the alleged offences under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), including 295A which deals with deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings of any class. It said that the same complainant had also filed a complaint case before the Metropolitan Magistrate, Andheri, against the petitioners. Multiple proceedings on the same cause of action clearly demonstrates how the said complainant is just trying to harass the petitioners herein, the plea has alleged. The plea has also sought transfer of an FIR lodged by one Munawar Ali for the alleged offences of sedition against them. It is pertinent to mention that all the FIRs and complaints in question are frivolous and have been filed with a malicious intent to harass the petitioners herein and malign their public image, the plea has alleged. While, the petitioners have utmost respect for the courts of the country and are ready to face the trial as per law, but they apprehend that if the trials are conducted in Mumbai, there will be a material threat to life and property of the petitioners herein, it said, adding, It is pertinent to mention that the Maharashtra government led by has been harassing the petitioners herein. It said that in September last year, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) had illegally demolished a part of the Pali Hill bungalow of Ranaut. The plea said later, the Bombay High Court had declared the BMC's act as illegal. These acts of the Maharashtra government clearly shows that the Maharashtra government has malafide intentions against the petitioners herein and that if the petitioners visit Maharashtra to attend the said trials, there will be a constant threat to them from the Shiv Sena and Maharashtra government, it claimed. The plea has also mentioned that looking at the threat perception of Ranaut, she was granted Y-plus category of CRPF security by the home ministry. Therefore, it becomes quite evident that the petitioners face serious threat to life and property and if the trial of the cases are not transferred out of Mumbai, the petitioners life will be at risk, it said while seeking transfer of these cases from Mumbai to Shimla. It alleged that the Shiv Sena will leave no stone unturned to eliminate the petitioners herein, because of the petitioner No. 1's (Ranaut) continuous outspokenness against the wrongs done by the Shiv Sena in collusion with big names of the Bollywood. (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 impressive body of evidence published this week reveals the answer to a mystery that has puzzled plant scientists for more than 30 years: the role of the molecule suberin in the leaves of some of our most productive crops. This discovery could be the key to engineering better crops and ensuring future food security. Highly productive crops such as sugarcane, sorghum and maize belong to the type of plants that use the more efficient C4 photosynthetic pathway to transform water, sunlight and carbon dioxide (CO2) into sugars. Scientists have known for a long time that one of key factors that makes C4 photosynthesis more efficient is that they have the capacity to enclose CO2 inside a gas tight compartment in the leaf tissue, making it easier for the inefficient photosynthetic enzyme Rubisco to fix carbon. "The big question we haven't been able to answer until now is what makes this compartment gas tight so CO2 can't escape?" says lead author Dr Florence Danila, from the ARC Centre of Excellence for Translational Photosynthesis (CoETP) at the Australian National University (ANU). "Our research provides several pieces of evidence about the responsibility of suberin on making the leaf cells of C4 plants, gas tight. Suberin forms a layer that keeps CO2 gas inside a layer of cells called the bundle sheath. We have grown mutant plants that don't develop this layer and we have seen the deleterious effect this mutation has in their growth and in their capacity to photosynthesise," says Dr Danila, who works at ANU as part of the international C4 Rice Project, led by Oxford University. This discovery is the result of many years of work, a bit of serendipity and access to modern techniques that were not available until recently, including faster and cheaper genome mapping, high throughput phenotyping, electron microscopy and gas exchange measures. "We have known for a long time that suberin is in the bundle sheath cells of the C4 plants leaves. However, we didn't have the experimental evidence to prove its essential role for C4 photosynthesis. Now, for the first time, we have been able to see clearly under the microscope, the anatomical differences between plants with and without suberin. The key element in this discovery is that we found a mutant population of green foxtail millet (Setaria viridis) that didn't have the gene that produces suberin," says CoETP's Deputy Director Professor Susanne von Caemmerer, one of the co-authors of this study. This elusive mutant population was generated in the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) by screening hundreds of plants under low CO2 conditions and then selecting those plants that didn't perform well. "Using high throughput screening, we identified only three mutants with impaired photosynthetic capacity. We sent the seeds to ANU in Canberra and they grew and analysed them using the electron microscope and gas exchange techniques. To our surprise, one of these mutants was the one that lacked suberin, says Dr Rob Coe, who was in charge of the screening process at IRRI. Centre Director and co-author of the paper Bob Furbank says that "this is a very exciting discovery, one of the last mechanistic pieces of the C4 photosynthesis puzzle, as Hal Hatch, the discoverer of the C4 pathway noted some time ago". "It shows that science discoveries can take a long time to be solved and that the recipe for eureka moments like this are the collaborative work of several experts combined with modern technologies, plus a pinch of serendipity. It seems that all the stars were aligned this time for us, but it was certainly a hard nut to crack," he says. Dr Danila says that the team's next steps involve applying their discovery and new developed methodologies to projects like the C4 rice project that aims to convert rice (a C3 photosynthesis crop) into the more productive C4 path. "We will also focus on another unsolved mystery: the case of a group of grasses which use C4 photosynthesis but don't have suberin," she says. ### This research has been funded by the ARC Centre of Excellence for Translational Photosynthesis, which aims to improve the process of photosynthesis to increase the production of major food crops such as sorghum, wheat and rice. The research started as part of the C4 Rice Project consortium, which comprises the Academia Sinica, Australian National University, Max Planck Institute of Molecular Plant Physiology, Leibniz Institute of Biochemistry, University of Cambridge, University of Oxford and Washington State University and is funded by a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to the University of Oxford. Mr Nitin Gadkari, Union Minister for MSME and Roads, Transport & Highways, Govt of India said that with the goal of Atmanirbhar Bharat, the government is committed to create multiple opportunities for MSMEs, boost tourism with the help of upcoming infrastructure projects. Mr Gadkari said, "The infrastructural projects in the pipeline as part of the central Government's plans have laid the foundation of Atmanirbhar Bharat and will also boost domestic tourism in the country. Innovation is key to the revival of the travel and hospitality sector. Industry players such as FICCI, OYO Hotels & Homes and IATO should take advantage of the government schemes to come together and support MSMEs." Mr Gadkari further added, "The government's initiatives, such as collateral-free automatic loans for business, including MSMEs; INR 50,000 crore equity infusion through MSME Fund of Funds, which benefits companies with higher credit ratings, will generate tremendous business opportunities. It will turn into a win-win situation for the industry. Powered by Capital Market - Live News (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) WASHINGTON - Last year's confluence of COVID-19 and Donald Trump exposed the urgent need to reinvent North America, experts across the continent agreed Tuesday as they explored how best to fortify its trilateral ties. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau looks at a television screen as he listens to United States President Joe Biden deliver a statement during a virtual joint statement following a virtual meeting in Ottawa, Tuesday, Feb. 23, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld WASHINGTON - Last year's confluence of COVID-19 and Donald Trump exposed the urgent need to reinvent North America, experts across the continent agreed Tuesday as they explored how best to fortify its trilateral ties. The Washington-based Wilson Center convened a virtual gathering of 13 different academics, ambassadors and diplomats from all three countries to flesh out the idea of renewing the North American relationship. The prospect has been much discussed in recent days, thanks to a flurry of high-profile political meetings between American leaders and their Canadian or Mexican counterparts aimed at signalling U.S. President Joe Biden's post-Trump commitment to multilateral diplomacy. But there's a risk that the movement never rises beyond the level of well-crafted political rhetoric, said Alan Bersin, former chief diplomatic officer of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. To work, he said, the endeavour will need buy-in at the grassroots level in all three countries, as well as from the business community. Trump "did create an impetus for business, for the first time, to recognize that they better defend the shared production platform that has arisen in the last 25 years in North America," Bersin said. "We can do it much better together than we can do it alone." That will be more easily said than done, he added noting the fact that each of the three countries has a different name for the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, which replaced NAFTA last year. Each country puts its own name first. "We've got to actually start to create an atmosphere and an understanding broadly that it's better for us to face the world together in the next generation than to concentrate on our separate paths." Perhaps the starkest illustration of the fragility of North American supply chains, even in the age of the USMCA, came last April when Trump ordered Minnesota-based 3M to stop exporting American-made N95 respirators outside the country. The company itself, which pushed back on humanitarian grounds, eventually defused the crisis by promising to meet demand in the U.S. by importing masks from its overseas facilities. Trump's protectionist instincts have lingered, however: the Biden administration has so far shown no interest in reversing the former president's insistence that U.S.-made vaccines be reserved for American arms. Canada needs to take stock now about how to inoculate itself from similar problems before the next pandemic hits, said Michael Grant, assistant deputy minister for the Americas with Global Affairs Canada. "We need to be prepared for something like this happening again," said Grant, calling for a "Fortress North America" approach that would prioritize supply lines within the continent itself. "There are some fragilities there that I think we need to work on." For 20 years, businesses and ordinary citizens alike have embraced the idea of North America as a single, unified region, said Bill Crosbie, formerly director general of the North America Bureau, which oversees Canadian embassies and consulates across the continent. Only at the political level have relations between the three seen ups and downs, he said. "The government, top-down side of things, it waxes and wanes, and it has waned over the past few years," Crosbie said. "But if we can bring back to the table ... the areas where we have joined up, where we've been successful either as governments or as the private sector or as civil societies we can build on those successes to demonstrate that this collaboration is delivering real benefits for people in all three countries. Tuesday's virtual conference kicked off the Wilson Center's "North America 2.0" project aimed at floating policy recommendations for a more unified trilateral relationship. But it also followed nearly a solid week of earnest bilateral conversations between high-level leaders in all three countries, beginning with Biden's virtual meeting Feb. 23 with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. The centrepiece of that meeting a "Road Map for a Renewed U.S.-Canada Partnership" detailed a "whole-of-government" effort to co-operate in a number of areas of mutual interest. Those included beating back COVID-19 and resurrecting the pandemic-battered North American economy, a united front against climate change, addressing income inequality and social injustice on both sides of the border and restoring global faith in multilateral institutions like the World Trade Organization. This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 2, 2021. Some 2 million New Jersey residents have received either their first or second dose of the coronavirus vaccine, but that doesnt mean they no longer have to wear masks. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that everyone not only continue to mask up after getting the vaccine, but also continue to stay at least six feet apart from people outside of their household, avoid crowds and poorly ventilated spaces, and wash their hands often. So, getting the vaccine at least for now does not mean you no longer need to practice social distances or mask up. Here are five reasons why: Vaccines dont guarantee immunity As put by David Cennimo, an infectious disease specialist for New Jersey Rutgers Medical School, the most pessimistic reason to wear masks after getting the shot is because you could be in the minority of people for whom the vaccines are not effective. Neither of the vaccines widely distributed to the public prevent the contraction of the coronavirus in 100% of its recipients. The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine has been found to prevent 95% cases of the virus, and the Moderna vaccine, 94.5%. Vials for the Moderna and Pfizer COVID-19 vaccines are displayed on a tray at a clinic.AP The single-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine, which received approval for emergency distribution over the weekend, has been determined to be approximately 66.9% effective against cases occurring at least 14 days after the vaccination. The vaccine is 66.1% effective in cases occurring at least 28 days after vaccination, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. New Jersey could get an initial shipment of roughly 70,000 doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine as early as this week, Gov. Phil Murphy has said. You might still be able to transmit the virus Experts from the CDC have said that it remains unknown if getting the vaccine prevents you from continuing to spread the virus to other people, a concern echoed by Cennimo. Im vaccinated, but I dont know that I am not infected with COVID, Cennimo said. I know that I feel well; I know that I dont have a fever. But I could be harboring the coronavirus in my nose right now; I could be breathing it out so because of that its still my responsibility to wear a mask, because I dont know that Im infection-free. And thats one of the hardest things to explain to people, because if you got it in your head that I just needed to get the vaccine and then everything was going to be good, then were just going to go back to normal, we dont have the data to tell you you can go back to normal yet. A student wears a mask on campus as safety precaution against COVID-19 at New Jersey City University in Jersey City. A report published by The New York Times explained that Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna trials only tracked how many vaccinated people became sick with the coronavirus, leaving open the possibility that some vaccinated people get infected without developing symptoms and could then silently transmit the virus. Vaccines are not immediately effective Immunity does not kick in immediately after inoculation. It takes a week after the second dose for the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine to become 95% effective. For Modernas vaccine, efficacy reaches 94.5% two weeks after become fully vaccinated, The Washington Post reported. I even have friends in medicine who were like, Oh, I want to go out to eat, I got my vaccine today. I was like, Please tell me youre joking, Cennimo said. You could go out to eat, but you could have gone out to eat yesterday. You got the vaccine in the last 24 hours; theres nothing different happening in your body. There are new COVID variants Multiple variants of the coronavirus have emerged over the last year, some appearing to be potentially more contagious, more deadly and/or ineffective to vaccines. Some variants that continue to particularly concern experts due to their rapid transmission in various regions across the globe include the United Kingdom variant (B.1.1.7), the South African variant (B.1.351), the Brazil variant (P.1) and, most recently, the New York variant (B.1.526). CDC experts have revealed that the UK, South African, and Brazil variants all appear to spread more easily and quickly than other variants, which may lead to more cases of COVID-19. This 2020 electron microscope image provided by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases - Rocky Mountain Laboratories shows SARS-CoV-2 virus particles which cause COVID-19, isolated from a patient in the U.S., emerging from the surface of cells cultured in a lab.NIAID-RML via AP The highly contagious UK variant, which has been detected in New Jersey, may also be associated with an increased risk of death, the CDC reported. It will likely become the dominant strain of the coronavirus in the United States come March, the agency has said. The South African variant, which made its way to the United States in late January, shares some mutations with the UK variant. Because it may not be effectively headed off by the Moderna vaccine, the company has already begun clinical trials for a booster shot to combat the variant. The Brazil variant (P.1), also detected in the United States in late January, has 17 unique mutations, the CDC has reported. There is evidence to suggest that some of these mutations may affect the ability of antibodies developed from either natural infection or vaccination to recognize and neutralize the virus. The New York variant, which is likely already circulating in New Jersey, is similar to the strain that emerged in South Africa. Experts fear that it may be more transmissible and render COVID-19 vaccines less effective. We have not achieved herd immunity Enough people have to become vaccinated for COVID-19 for the country to reach herd immunity and stop the spread of the virus. Unfortunately, experts have conflicting ideas regarding what percentage of the population would need to get vaccinated to limit the spread of the virus, noted Dr. Thomas Bader of Hackensack Meridian Health. Some experts believe that herd immunity may be achieved if 60 or 70 percent of the population is vaccinated. Others suggest that an even higher percentage of people would need to be vaccinated for herd immunity to have an effect, Bader wrote. The actual figure remains to be determined. NJ Transit passengers wear masks while getting off a Raritan Valley Line train in Newark Penn Station. While initially projecting that 60% to 70% of the U.S. population must be inoculated to achieve herd immunity, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and presidential advisor, has since revised this language and said that it may take closer to 90 percent immunity to bring the coronavirus to a halt, The New York Times reported in late December. On Feb. 21, Fauci said U.S. residents may need to wear masks into 2022, but whether or not this happens depends on the number of vaccinated people and the prevalences of COVID-19 in communities. Until we achieve herd immunity, its important that we all take steps to protect one another, Bader said. In other words? Wear a mask. Tell us your COVID-19 vaccination stories, send us a news tip or questions about the vaccination process on our tip form. Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com. Caroline Fassett may be reached at cfassett@njadvancemedia.com. Inspector Gen. Abdul Rakhman Baso, the police chief of Indonesias Central Sulawesi province, points to photos of two members of the Eastern Indonesia Mujahideen who were killed in a shootout with authorities in the Poso regency, March 2, 2021. A government task-force member and two suspected Eastern Indonesia Mujahideen militants including the son of Santoso, the groups slain leader, died in a shootout in Central Sulawesi province, police said Tuesday. The gunfight between security forces and four members of MIT, a pro-Islamic state Indonesian militant group occurred Monday in Poso Pesisir Utara district, provincial police chief Inspector Gen. Abdul Rakhman Baso said. Rakhman identified the dead soldier as Dedi Irawan and the MIT members as fugitives Khairul, 25, (alias Irul or Aslam) and Alvin, 27, (alias Musab). He said Khairul was the son of Santoso, MITs leader and Indonesias most wanted militant at the time, who was killed by security forces in 2016. Irul died after a bomb he was carrying exploded, causing burns on parts of his body, while Alvin was shot in the head, Rakhman told reporters in the provincial capital, Palu. Rakhman said Khairul was a local resident while Alvin came from neighboring Banten province. Security forces had received intelligence that four MIT members, including the groups leader, Ali Kalora, were planning to carry out an attack in the area, Rakhman said without providing details on the alleged plot. Security personnel ambushed the suspects in the mountainous Andole area, leading to a gunfight that lasted about 30 minutes, he said. According to information from the field, after two MIT members were killed on the spot, the two other MIT members fled, Rakhman said. From the location, officers found 11 bullets, a number of shells, machetes, a GPS and others things. Rakhman said soldiers and police were hunting for the remaining members of the MIT, whose numbers were reduced to nine following the shootout, according to the authorities. Dont help MIT Brig. Gen. Farid Makruf, the local military commander, vowed to work with police to hunt down the remaining MIT members. We hope their number will not increase. We appeal to the public not to support them, Farid told BenarNews. Last week, security forces clashed in Parigi Moutong regency with MIT members who managed to escape even though they suffered injuries, Farid said. We believed that two MIT members were injured, because traces of blood were found in the location where the shootout took place, he said. The security forces fired at the militants who had thrown an explosive at them, Farid said. Police and military members have operated a joint task force, Operation Tinombala, whose mission since 2016 has been to hunt down MIT militants. Last November, MIT members crossed into Sigi, a neighboring regency, where they killed four Christian villagers. One of the victims was beheaded, according to the authorities. Beginning on Jan. 1, authorities have taken a new approach to bringing an end to MIT, renaming Tinombala as Madago Raya (Kindness). With the new name comes a new focus on humanitarian and social activities, provincial police spokesman Didik Supranoto said. There will be training specifically designed for youths. The training programs will be based on interests of the youth, for example, if there are young people who want to develop skills in sports, we will provide them with training, he said. He said the task force would also conduct social activities regularly, including providing assistance to communities affected by the conflict to keep them from joining with the militants. What Does This Kind of Faith Look Like? Therefore, this first element of faith has to do with its content and doctrine. Faith must identify the God of the Bible, the Lord who spoke to Moses from the burning bush, as the one true God. Faith must be in him if it is to be saving faith. Over and over, he says, I am God, and there is no other (Isa. 46:9). Faith must first agree with Gods affirmation and turn to him as the only true God. This element of faith also corresponds to the first of the Ten Commandments: I am the Lord your God. You shall have no other gods before me (Ex. 20:23). This is a warning against all forms of idolatry, especially philosophies and theologies that compete with the Bible. Whoever draws near to God must believe that the God of the Bible is the One and the true God, putting no others in his place. Mark Dunn writes: "First, then, we have the content or object of faith. Second, comes the motivation of faith:" Whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him (Heb. 11:6). We must believe that this is the true God and that we have to deal with him, that he is the Judge and Arbiter of our destiny and fortune. To have faith, we must realize and accept that we have to deal with this God, that his judgment about us is the vital one, and that we had better seek him; that is, we had better gain his favor. People deceive themselves that they will fare well on that day since they are by their assessment basically good people. According to Gods standard of perfect holiness (Romans 3:23; Romans 6:23) every person stands guilty of sin. That means every one of us is in dire peril of this condemnation. For this reason, we had better seek God to find out how we might gain his favor through the person and finished work of Jesus Christ alone. Photo credit: Unsplash/Hannah Olinger In recognition of the inescapable overlap between sex trafficking and prostitution, the Commission recommended over a dozen proposals that fundamentally alter the criminal justice systems approach to prostitution. Starting from realization that nowhere previously in Michigan state statute was the crime of prostitution ever defined, but more importantly, recognizing the stigma and judgment that is so often inflicted with the use of the term prostitute or prostitution, the Commission embraced the recommendation that we replace the term prostitution throughout Michigan law with the defined term: commercial sexual activity. The package contains over a dozen recommendations that seek to strike the term prostitution and all references to it throughout the Michigan code. Instead that term would be replaced with the term commercial sexual activity that is defined in the human trafficking chapter as a sex act provided in exchange for something of value. Close Prince William issues scathing criticism of BBC after Bashir-Diana interview inquiry Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said he is very concerned by Lord Dysons report finding major failings in the BBCs handling of Martin Bashirs explosive 1995 Panorama interview with Diana, Princess of Wales. The PM said he hopes the BBC will be taking every possible step to ensure that such a scandal never ever happens again. His comments come as Scotland Yard has vowed to assess the contents of the report, which accused the BBC of covering up deceitful behaviour by Mr Bashir, who had fake bank statements created to mislead Dianas brother, Earl Spencer, and gain access to the princess of Wales. Previously, police had decided against pursuing a criminal investigation into the controversy. However, now they say they will review the report to ensure there is no significant new evidence. Meanwhile, both Prince William and Harry have condemned the BBC over the independent inquirys findings, with the elder brother saying he believed the interview fed directly into the fear, paranoia and isolation his mother endured in her final years, while, Harry said that he believed it was the ripple effect of a culture of exploitation and unethical practices that ultimately took Dianas life. JACKSON, MI - Its fish fry time, folks. Thanks for all your nominations. We had more than 360 nominations across the state, including 19 in the Jackson area in our search for Michigans Best Fish Fry. Starting now you can vote once per email address, every three hours. (Poll below.) You can also write in your votes if we missed your favorite spot. The deadline is 11:59 p.m. Sunday, March 7. You can vote in all of our regional polls. Those links are below, too. Our goal is to declare a winner in each region. Well also travel to as many as possible and share our experiences. If you have questions, feel free to email us. Amy Sherman: asherma2@mlive.com John Gonzalez: gonzo@mlive.com Want to vote in other regions? Click on these links below: Grand Rapids area - VOTE HERE Muskegon and Lakeshore area - VOTE HERE Kalamazoo area & Southwestern Michigan - VOTE HERE Jackson area & Central Southern Michigan - VOTE HERE Ann Arbor & Southeastern Michigan - VOTE HERE Detroit Metro area - VOTE HERE Lansing and Central Michigan - VOTE HERE Flint and Thumb area - VOTE HERE Midland, Bay City and Saginaw area - VOTE HERE Northern Lower Peninsula - VOTE HERE Upper Peninsula - VOTE HERE John Gonzalez and Amy Sherman stop by Grand River Brewery in Jackson while on the search for Michigan's Best New Brewery. Grand River made the Top 10. (July 28, 2016.)John Gonzalez Follow our Michigans Best adventures on social media: @mlivemibest on Twitter @mlivemibest on Instagram Facebook at MLiveMIBest. Join in by using the hashtags #mibest and #BestFishFry. In addition: Amy Sherman is on Twitter @amyonthetrail, as well as Facebook and Instagram @amyonthetrail. John Gonzalez is on Twitter @michigangonzo, as well as Facebook and Instagram @MichiganGonzo. The massive fire pit at The NODE - the Niles Outdoor Dining Experience in Niles, Michigan.John Gonzalez More Michigans Best Stories A 2021 guide to Jackson-area Friday Lenten fish fries Grand Rapids area 2021 fish fry guide for Lent Friday fish fry take-out will be flying out the door at these 21 spots across Michigan (2020) Michigans ultimate fish fry guide (2019) Michigans Best Fish Fry poll winners (2019) 3 places in the Northern Lower Peninsula for fantastic fish fry (2019) 6 things Michigan restaurant staff want you to know before you eat out Michigans Best Outdoor Dining: See winners from across the state Privatisation-bound Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) may use Rs 9,876 crore proceed from stake sale in to pay a special dividend to shareholders, the biggest being Government of India, director (finance) N Vijayagopal said on Tuesday. The Board of on Monday approved the sale of the company's 61.65 per cent stake in Ltd (NRL) to a consortium of state-owned Oil India, consultancy firm Engineers India Ltd (EIL) and Government of Assam for Rs 9,875.96 crore. The offer by the OIL-led consortium was "above the reserve price we had set for the stake sale," he told reporters. will seek approval of the shareholders at a meeting on March 25 and plans to sign the sale pact within two days of that and conclude the transaction before month-end, he said. The proceeds from the stake sale will be used to buy out Oman Oil's stake in Bina refinery, pay capital gains tax and pay a dividend to shareholders, he said. "Definitely a portion (of the proceeds) will go to the shareholders as dividend as we have a healthy tradition of rewarding shareholders." Before the government sells its entire stake in BPCL, the company is exiting NRL and buying out a 36.62 per cent stake held by OQ S.A.0.C. (formerly known as Oman Oil Company S.A.0.C.) in Bina refinery for Rs 2,399.26 crore. "We are very happy with the price that we got from OIL-led consortium," he said. He however refused to speculate on the quantum of the dividend the company will pay out. The government holds 52.98 per cent stake in BPCL and will be the biggest beneficiary of any such special dividend payout. BPCL, he said, may also use a part of the proceeds to retire some high-interest bearing borrowings even though the debt was at a comfortable level of around Rs 25,000 crore now. The stake sale in NRL clears the way for privatisation of India's second-largest fuel retailer. In keeping with the Assam Peace Accord, the government had decided to keep NRL in the public sector. To ensure this, it was decided that BPCL will sell its entire 61.65 per cent stake to state-owned firms. A consortium of OIL, EIL and Government of Assam expressed interest in buying the stake and the BPCL board on Monday approved the sale. OIL currently holds 26 per cent equity in NRL while Government of Assam has around 12.35 per cent. "EIL will take 4.37 per cent for the Rs 500 crore it had provided for the acquisition. Government of Assam will pick up 13.65 per cent to raise its holding to 26 per cent and the balance would go to OIL," he said. OIL shareholding in NRL would rise to 69.63 per cent. Vijayagopal said in case the Assam government is unable to buy its allocated share, that portion would also go to OIL. NRL operates a 3 million tonnes per annum oil refinery in Assam. Post NRL sale, BPCL would be left with three refineries at Mumbai, Kochi (Kerala) and Bina (Madhya Pradesh), which together make up for 14 per cent of India's oil refining capacity. The government is selling its entire 52.98 per cent stake in BPCL in the nation's biggest privatisation till date. Vedanta Group and private equity firms Apollo Global and I Squared Capital's Indian unit Think Gas have put in an expression of interest for buying the government's stake. The sale of NRL is the first step towards the disinvestment of BPCL. The government has already indicated that it expects to complete BPCL privatisation by the first half of the fiscal year beginning April 1 (2021-22). The sale is key to achieving the Rs 1.75 lakh crore disinvestment target set for 2021-22. BPCL will give the buyer 35.3 million tonnes per annum of refining capacity and 22 per cent of the fuel marketing share. The firm owns 18,026 out of 74,951 petrol pumps in the country, 6,144 out of 24,952 LPG dealers and 61 out of the nation's 257 aviation fuel stations. It has 28.45 per cent of retail petrol and diesel market share, 26 per cent of LPG market and a 22.73 per cent market share in ATF. Its petrol pumps sell more fuel than any other state-owned firm, with an average per pump thruput of 134 kilolitres per month against the industry average of 125 kilolitres. NRL is looking to expand its refining capacity from 3 million tonnes per annum to 9 million tonnes a year at an investment of Rs 22,594 crore. The project is expected to be complete by 2024. The expansion also involves setting up of crude oil pipeline from Paradip in Odisha to Numaligarh and a product pipeline from Numaligarh to Siliguri in West Bengal. In the run-up to the privatisation, BPCL last month agreed to buy out Oman Oil Company's shares in the Bina refinery project for about Rs 2,400 crore. BPCL holds 63.68 per cent stake in Bharat Oman Refineries Ltd (BORL), which built and operates a 7.8 million tonne oil refinery at Bina. It will buy 36.62 per cent of the equity share capital from OQ S.A.0.C. (formerly known as Oman Oil Company S.A.0.C.) for Rs 2,399.26 crore. BORL was incorporated in February 1994 to build a refinery at Bina. The unit initially could turn 6 million tonnes of crude oil annually into fuel, which was subsequently raised to 7.8 million tonnes. (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.) Bacanora Lithium (LON:BNC) has fulfilled its funding requirements for the Sonora project in Mexico and is on its way to being a major lithium producer. With equity raises totalling US$96m in the form of a placing after which BCNs strategic partner opted to exercise its pre-emptive rights and then increase its stake to 28.8%. Bacanora Lithium#: Financing Update Full Funding Success Bacanora Lithium ( ) has fulfilled its funding requirements for the Sonora project in Mexico and is on its way to being a major lithium producer. With equity raises totalling US$96m in the form of a placing after which BCNs strategic partner opted to exercise its pre-emptive rights and then increase its stake to 28.8%. The support from investors and Ganfeng Lithium, one of the worlds top lithium producers, is a major validation of the project and confirms our long-held view that Sonora would be built. Total capex of US$407m plus working capital of US$37m to fund through construction implies a total attributable to BCN of US$222m. With a debt facility of US$150m from Red Kite, the placing proceeds and the earlier cash of US$28m from Ganfengs option exercise, BCN construction can now begin in earnest. Development Timeline The focus is now on meeting the target of first production in 2023. The initial works start with the construction process and the first activity includes preparing the ground and removal of vegetation in the plateau area to the south of the ore body where the processing plant is to be built. BCN has hired additional local staff, including ecologists and a biologist to oversee this work as it is performed in line with the agreed environmental approvals. Work will also commence on upgrading the main access road to site to allow access for heavy machinery needed for the bulk earthworks later in the year. In Q2 2021, work will commence on site accommodation and ancillary facilities. Ganfeng will deliver final engineering packages to BCN in Q2 2021, while long lead items are being arranged for delivery in 2022. Recommendation and Target Price Following a strong rally starting in Q3 2020, lithium equities, in particular non-spodumene developers have experienced profit taking. Meanwhile, in China, lithium carbonate prices are above US$10,000/t, double the lows of 2020, yet profit taking has been excessive. At 0.4x the attributable NPV, BCN offers substantial value, fully funded with commissioning risk minimised by Ganfengs expert oversight, we see the stock as an attractive exposure to a strengthening lithium market. The increase in attention on the sector will likely improve transparency on pricing and consequently correlation between equities and underlying prices. We reiterate our Buy recommendation although upgrade our target price to 120p/sh. Oliver O'Donnell, CFA, Natural Resources Analyst | T: +44 (0)20 3617 5180 | E: oodonnell@vsacapital.com Limited, New Liverpool House, 15-17 Eldon Street, London EC2M 7LD | www.vsacapital.com This email is intended solely for the named recipient. It may contain privileged and/or confidential information. If you are not one of the intended recipients, please notify the sender immediately, and destroy this email: any disclosure, copying to any person or any action taken or omitted to be taken in reliance on this e-mail, is prohibited and may be unlawful. Any views expressed in this message are those of the individual sender, except where specifically stated to be the view of VSA Capital Limited, its subsidiaries or associates. Whilst all efforts are made to safeguard inbound and outbound emails, VSA Capital Limited and its subsidiaries or associates cannot guarantee that attachments are virus-free or compatible with your systems and do not accept any liability in respect of viruses or computer problems experienced. VSA Capital Limited will use your personal information to administer your account in order to provide any products and services you have requested from us. Your personal information will be kept secure and will not be shared with any other party unless you provide consent to that effect. VSA Capital Limited is Authorised and Regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and is a member of the London Stock Exchange. The Company is registered in England with company number 2405923 at New Liverpool House, 15-17 Eldon Street, London EC2M 7LD. Posted Monday, March 1, 2021 4:56 pm After years of extended moratoriums and de-facto bans on marijuana grows and retail locations in unincorporated Lewis County, officials are looking to shift gears, recognizing the cash cow the marijuana industry has proven itself to be. The countys 2013 moratorium which did not impact incorporated towns such as the Twin Cities was extended seven times. In 2017, it was replaced by a policy that still required business owners to acquire a federal permit impossible for locals due to the federal criminalization of the drug. But now, Sheriff Rob Snaza says the winds are changing, and the county should lift its ban before the federal government legalizes marijuana a move he predicts could clear the way for businesses to quickly move into the county. He also pointed to a recent state Supreme Court decision which ruled Washingtons drug possession law unconstitutional. I just think with this current legislation coming, and the atmosphere of our state legislature and the federal government if were ahead of it then we can control the scenario, Snaza told county commissioners Monday. Previously, as the marijuana industry boomed in other parts of the state, county officials pointed to federal criminalization as one main rationale for their moratorium. In 2017, then-Commissioner Bobby Jackson also expressed personal opposition to recreational marijuana, suggesting it was a gateway to other, harder drugs. But this week, first-term Commissioner Sean Swope expressed substantially different views. You can overdose on alcohol, but you cant necessarily overdose on marijuana, he said, noting that hops fields and vineyards exist in the county. And theres also the benefit of CBD. Even more compelling, Swope said, is how much money pot shops and commercial grows could rake in for the county. He cited a recent Crosscut article which reported that, for the first time, the industry had produced more than $1 billion in sales tax and fees for the states two-year budget. According to the report, most of that money goes to health care, 3% is funneled to local governments and 2.9% is used for licensing and enforcement. Some funding is also used for grants to prevent youth marijuana use. Swope said the funding could be a revenue source for the Sheriffs budget, and that residents are traveling over county lines to buy marijuana anyway. We want to support the private industry, and as were seeing, theres a large industry out there. Billions of dollars just in taxes, he said. In five years, what have we left on the table? Commissioner Gary Stamper, who expressed support for the idea, said officials didnt know years ago that the industry would be such a cash cow. Stamper, whose district encompasses the bulk of Lewis Countys unincorporated towns, said any policy change should be informed by community input. Snaza reported hearing interest in retail marijuana shops in unincorporated towns Packwood, Vader and Onalaska. He also mused whether the policy would decrease the amount of illegal grows that his office deals with each year, some of which are almost commercial grade. No policies have been fleshed out, although any change would likely limit the amount of permits allowed by the county. According to Snaza, the Sheriffs Office could manage approximately five retail shops, at which point the county could assess the policy and increase that number. Not for Distribution in United States VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / March 2, 2021 / Goldplay Mining Inc. ("Goldplay" or the "Company"), is pleased to announce a non-brokered private placement of flow-through common shares of the Company (the "FT Unit") and common shares of the Company (the "Non-FT Units") for aggregate gross proceeds of up to $900,000 (collectively, the "Offering"). The FT Units Offering will consist of up to 2,352,900 FT Units at a price of $0.17 per FT Unit, for gross proceeds of up to $400,000. Each FT Unit will be comprised of one FT share (within the meaning of Subsection 66(15) of the Income Tax Act (Canada) and one half non-transferable common share purchase warrant (each, a ("Warrant"). Each Warrant will entitle the holder to purchase one additional non-FT common share of the Company at an exercise price of $0.20 for a period of one year from closing of the private placement. The Non-FT Units Offering will be comprised of up to 3,333,300 units of the Company at a price of $0.15 per Non-FT Unit for total proceeds of up to $500,000. Each Non-FT Unit will be comprised of one common share and one half non-transferable common share purchase warrant (each, a "Warrant"). Each Warrant will entitle the holder to purchase one additional common share of the Company at an exercise price of $0.20 for a period of one year from closing of the private placement. The proceeds from the sale of the FT Units will be used to fund phase one of Company's 2021 exploration program on Company's Scottie West Project located in the Golden Triangle of BC. The proceeds from the Non-FT Units will be used for general corporate purposes. All securities to be issued pursuant to the private placement will be subject to a four month hold period from the closing date under applicable Canadian securities laws, in addition to such other restrictions as may apply under applicable securities laws of jurisdictions outside Canada. The Company may pay a finder's fee for the sale of the FT Units and Non-FT Units. About Goldplay Mining Goldplay Mining is a Canadian public company focused on exploring and advancing gold copper projects located in top mining jurisdictions that host the potential for making world class discoveries. Goldplay has received conditional acceptance to list its common shares on the TSX Venture Exchange (the "Exchange"). The listing on the Exchange is anticipated to occur on or about March 20, 2021 under the trading symbol "AUC". The trading symbol has been chosen to reflect Company's focus on Gold ("AU") and Copper ("C"). For more information concerning the Company, please refer to the Company's profile on the SEDAR website at www.sedar.com and on the Company's website at www.goldplaymining.ca On behalf of the Board of Directors "Catalin Kilofliski" Catalin Kilofliski President, CEO & Director For further information please contact: Goldplay Mining Inc. Mr. Catalin Kilofliski, President & CEO Suite 650 - 1021 West Hastings Street Vancouver, BC V6E 0C3 T: (604) 655-1420 E: cchiloflischi@gmail.com www.goldplaymining.ca Forward Looking Information This news release contains "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable securities laws relating to the potential listing of the company on a stock exchange, and other associated matters. Although the Company believes current conditions and expected future developments and other factors that have been considered are appropriate and 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 or enduring. There is no assurance that the Company will be able to finalize and secure the exploration application with the Portugal government or that it will be able to list its common shares on the Exchange as contemplated. Readers are cautioned to not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. Actual results and developments may differ materially from those contemplated by these statements depending on, among other things, that the outcome of exploration results may not be as currently expected, that the listing on a stock exchange may not happen on a timely basis, or at all. The statements in this press release are made as of the date of this release. SOURCE: Goldplay Mining Inc. View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/633089/Goldplay-Announces-Private-Placement-of-up-to-900000 Flash China on Monday urged the United States and Australia to cease interfering in Hong Kong affairs and China's internal affairs in any form. Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin made the remarks at a daily press briefing after U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken recently called for the immediate release of the pan-democratic candidates in Hong Kong. "It is a justifiable law-enforcement action of the Hong Kong police to arrest and prosecute in accordance with the law criminal suspects allegedly involved in crimes of subverting state power in violation of the legislation on safeguarding national security in Hong Kong," Wang said in response. "Would the United States allow other countries to make irresponsible remarks over normal law enforcement activities in its own country?" he asked. China is a country with the rule of law and Hong Kong is a place of law and order where nobody is above the law, said Wang. "We firmly support the Hong Kong police in performing their duties according to the law and safeguarding national security as well as security and stability in Hong Kong," the spokesperson added. He urged the U.S. side to respect facts and the rule of law, and stop meddling in China's internal affairs and Hong Kong affairs in any form. In response to a query about Australia reportedly issuing the visa to Hong Kong residents seeking asylum over human rights concerns, Wang said China's stance concerning Hong Kong-related issues is "consistent and clear." "Hong Kong is China's Hong Kong, and Hong Kong affairs are purely China's internal affairs, which brook no interference from any foreign country," Wang said. "We urge Australia to stop interfering in Hong Kong affairs and China's internal affairs in any form, to avoid further damage to China-Australia ties," he added. Please enable cookies on your web browser in order to continue. The new European data protection law requires us to inform you of the following before you use our website: We use cookies and other technologies to customize your experience, perform analytics and deliver personalized advertising on our sites, apps and newsletters and across the Internet based on your interests. By clicking I agree below, you consent to the use by us and our third-party partners of cookies and data gathered from your use of our platforms. See our Privacy Policy and Third Party Partners to learn more about the use of data and your rights. You also agree to our Terms of Service. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. 2436081 By Wong Tai-Chee According to the "Women, Business and the Law in 2020 Report" released by the World Bank in mid-January this year, the rights of women in Malaysia and the social environment for participating in economic activities scored only 50% of the total score, ranking the lowest in Southeast Asia. The scope of the report's survey covers eight areas, namely women's travel, employment, salary, marriage, childbirth, entrepreneurship, assets and pensions. The purpose of the World Bank is to encourage countries to implement social reforms to ultimately eliminate gender inequality. The protection of women's rights includes issues like extending mothers' paid maternity leave, introducing a paid paternity leave system for men, and prohibiting the dismissal of pregnant employees. Such a report was based on the Western welfare system and human rights, and naturally the results of the survey are biased towards Western countries. The eight countries that achieved full scores in 2020 were Belgium, Denmark, France, Iceland, Latvia, Luxembourg, Sweden and Canada. Based on the eight criteria in the above review, it is not difficult to understand the reasons for the low social status of Malaysian women. It should be noted that the majority of the Malaysian population is the Muslim population. Having experienced the influence of religious polarization and fundamentalism from the Middle East over the past 40 years, Muslim women, under the direct or indirect supervision of the Islamic priests and their husbands, not only do not seek women's legal rights, but they also silently accept not to travel freely, go out to work, start a business and manage assets, and strive for higher salaries. They listen more to the views of the religious authorities that having more children is bestowed by Allah, and it is right to let it go. Regarding participation in employment and promoting the development of the country's economy, Malaysian Muslim women seem to have generally accepted the obstacles imposed by man-made religious laws. They do not believe that men and women should be equal and that women have the right to create a level playing field for themselves. Worse still, the racial favouritism and governance approach implemented by UMNO over the past 60 years have given male Muslims the idea that they do not need to compete with other races. In the long run, one can imagine how deeply the influence of the male Muslim household head on the women in the family could be! In another World Economic Forum's "Global Gender Gap Report 2020", the assessment of the status of women showed that the gender gap in Malaysia ranked 104 out of 153 countries surveyed. In addition to the education level of women, their economic participation rate, health status, and leadership status of the political and business circles are still very low. Generally speaking, the reason why Malay women in Malaysia today still hold their father or husband as the core of the family and male-centred social values seems to be their moral obligation. But historical facts are not the case. According to the historian Anthony Reid of the Australian National University, in his classic work "Southeast Asia in the Age of Commerce, 1450-1680", the economic participation rate and independent ability of Southeast Asian women, including Malay women, were very high, probably the highest in the world. And they also had a decent place in the family. During the British colonial period, such economic autonomy of Malay women was basically preserved. The main reason was that the economic power and educational level of Malay men then did not improve much. Until the early 1960s, in the two economically less developed states of West Malaysia, Kelantan and Terengganu, rural women still retained the economic control of the family, participated in business activities, and made and sold small commodities to earn higher income for the family. However, the global industrial shift and the intensification of automation after the 1970s have ruthlessly destroyed the labour-intensive handicrafts and retail industries that they depended on for survival or increase of household income. In the era of great business changes after the 1980s, two new forces have emerged in the Malay society. One of them is to drive Malay women towards the standardization of Islamic fundamentalism, and the other is that UNMO has promoted the political dominance of male Muslims through racial political monopoly. These two forces have also widened the gap between the economic and social status of men and women in Islamic society, making Muslim women even more marginalised. Accompanying Malay society are also urbanization, and the changing role of traditional Malay rural women in the agricultural field. In addition, the deepening of dependence on foreign labour has further reduced the low-skilled labour-intensive jobs of Malay women in the industrial sector who came to live in the cities during the 1970s and early 1980s. Over time, urban Malay women with less education tend to rely on their husbands or work in low-income service industries. Looking at women of all ethnic groups in Malaysia as a whole, they all carry the mission of taking care of their families and nurturing a new generation of lives in society. Yet they also have to take care of their own careers by fighting against discrimination against them in the traditional society, hoping to enjoy a more equal status with men in the patriarchal society. Women hold up half of the sky, and if they can actively participate in various social and economic activities, it means that their potential to contribute to society is immense. In our civilised society, all ethnic groups in Malaysia should gradually eliminate outdated and conservative ideas. Further liberation of women means the expansion of national productivity and the release of human energy resources towards building a more equal society. (Wong Tai-Chee has his B.A and M.A degrees in Urban and Regional Planning from the University of Paris, and earned his PhD in Human Geography from the Australian National University. After teaching 20 years in Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, he retired in 2013. He then worked as Distinguished Professor for two years at Guizhou University of Finance and Economics, China, and as Dean and Professor at the Southern University College, Johor until the end of 2018. He was Visiting Professor to University of Paris (Sorbonne IV), Visiting Fellow to Pekin University, Tokyo University and University of Western Australia. His main research interests are in urban and economic issues, and more recently on Malaysian politics. Besides his 15 self-authored and edited book volumes, he has written over 100 academic articles and published widely in international journals.) Press Release March 2, 2021 Bong Go welcomes dismissal of ambassador who maltreated household staff; says DOFil can ramp up protection of overseas Filipinos from various forms of abuse Senator Christopher "Bong" Go welcomed the results of the investigation and recommendation of the Department of Foreign Affairs on the reported maltreatment and abuse of a Filipino embassy household staff member committed by then Philippine ambassador to Brazil, Marichu Mauro. The decision, which was signed and approved by President Rodrigo Duterte as he announced last night, metes out the penalty of dismissal from the service, with the accessory penalties of cancellation of eligibility, forfeiture of retirement benefits, and perpetual disqualification from holding public office, among others. "I hope that this serves as a lesson to all public officials that we will not tolerate any form of abuse of power. As the President always emphasized, our duty is always to protect the lives and welfare of our people," Go emphasized. The DFA's fact-finding team concluded Mauro had inflicted physical harm on her household staff inside the official residence on several occasions. The former ambassador will be administratively charged for gross violation of the Philippine Foreign Service Act, grave misconduct, grave offense of oppression, and conduct prejudicial to the best interest of the service. "Walang sinuman ang may karapatan mang-abuso ng kapwa. Lalo na kung trabaho ninyo bilang ambassador na protektahan ang kapwa ninyong Pilipino. Hindi namin ito palalampasin ni Pangulong Duterte," Go lamented. The Senator also reminded concerned authorities to make sure that justice is served and the accused is made to face the consequences of her actions to the fullest extent of the law. "Bagamat marami tayong hinaharap na problema ngayon, lalo na sa gitna ng isang pandemya, huwag din nating kalimutan ang mga iba pang isyu na dapat maresolba. Maraming nag-aantay ng hustisya," Go said. "Lalo na't mataas ang katungkulan nito, lalong dapat ito mapanagot. We have to hold public servants accountable at all times," he added. In an earlier statement, Senator Go slammed Mauro's conduct and expressed support for domestic helpers and other overseas Filipinos, especially those who are victims of violence and cruelty abroad. "Panagutin na ang dapat managot dahil walang sinuman ang may karapatan na manakit ng kapwa Pilipino, anuman ang posisyon o antas mo sa buhay," he emphasized further. He offered assistance to the household staff member who returned to the Philippines from Brasilia, Brazil last October 21 and encouraged others to report to his office similar incidents and other forms of abuse. "Paalala ko lang na ang mga opisyales ay mga public servants. Trabaho natin na mapangalagaan ang kapakanan ng bawat Pilipino. Dapat maging tamang halimbawa tayo sa bawat mamamayan, lalo na ang mga ambassador na ang mandato ay proteksyunan ang mga kababayan natin sa ibang bansa," Go previously said. The Senator, who is also a member of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, sternly reminded all public officials to strictly comply with the standards set forth in the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees and other applicable standards, such as those in the Foreign Service Act. "Nandyan po kayo para pagsilbihan at proteksyunan ang mga kababayan natin, at hindi para abusuhin ang mga Pilipinong maayos na nagtratrabaho riyan para buhayin ang kanilang pamilya," he added. Finally, Go reiterated his push for the passage of his bill which seeks to establish the Department of Overseas Filipinos. Senate Bill 1949 is currently being deliberated in the Senate after having been identified as one of the priority legislations of the 18th Congress. The House of Representatives approved a similar measure in September of last year. President Duterte also certified this measure as urgent. "It is about time that we create a Cabinet-level, secretary-led department with an organization structured to work together as one team to protect the rights and advance the interests and welfare of about ten percent of our population who reside abroad," explained the Senator. Go emphasized the country must ramp up its mechanisms to protect Filipinos from any form of abuse especially those abroad who need immediate support and guidance from government. "Kung in distress ang isang Pilipino abroad, kadalasan, hindi alam kung saan lalapit para humingi ng tulong. Itinuturing natin silang mga bagong bayani kung kaya't dapat lang na maibigay sa kanila ang mabilis, maayos, at maaasahang serbisyo na dapat nila matanggap mula sa ating gobyerno. Tungkulin nating proteksyunan ang buhay ng bawat Pilipino nasaan man sila sa mundo," he said. Under the proposed measure, the department shall subsume and streamline all responsibilities pertaining to overseas employment and migration that are presently scattered among various departments and agencies. It will be primarily responsible for protecting the rights and promoting the welfare of overseas Filipinos, as well as managing and monitoring their employment abroad and reintegration once they return. Notably, SBN 1949 also directs the implementation of a one country-team approach which shall require all officials in Philippine diplomatic posts to act together as one team, per country of assignment. The proposed department will also be responsible for providing social and welfare services, including legal assistance and insurance, to overseas Filipinos. It shall likewise administer reintegration programs and provide Assistance to Nationals (ATN) services, especially during national emergencies. To manufacture and supply Rynaxypyr active UPL announced a long-term strategic collaboration with FMC Corporation, a leading global agricultural sciences company. The agreement provides UPL access in key markets prior to patent expiration, to commercialize Rynaxypyr active, FMC's leading insecticide. As per the agreement, UPL will toll manufacture and supply Rynaxypyr to FMC in India, and FMC will supply the active ingredient to UPL depending on the markets. The deal adds a key portfolio of products to UPL's business and supports FMC in maximizing the penetration of this important active ingredient. Rynaxypyr is considered a reduced risk pesticide due to its favourable toxicological and environmental profile. It is a useful tool for farmers in integrated pest management systems. This provides opportunities for growers to implement more sustainable solutions, supporting UPL's mission to make every single food product more sustainable. Powered by Capital Market - Live News (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Advertisement Stunning never-before-seen images show an ultra-rare black leopard as it pads out in the cover of darkness with its sooty coat camouflaged against the night sky. The photographs, included in a new book titled The Black Leopard: My Quest to Photograph One of Africa's Most Elusive Cats, were shot by British wildlife photographer Will Burrard-Lucas after he spent a year tracking the mysterious mammal in Laikipia, Kenya. Burrard-Lucas, 37, released the initial batch of images he took of a black leopard in 2019 and they quickly went viral as it was the first time one had been caught on camera as part of a scientific study in Africa for 100 years. Stunning never-before-seen images show an ultra-rare black leopard as it pads out in the cover of darkness The photographs, included in a new book titled The Black Leopard: My Quest to Photograph One of Africa's Most Elusive Cats, were shot by British wildlife photographer Will Burrard-Lucas after he spent a year tracking the mysterious mammal in Laikipia, Kenya Burrard-Lucas, 37, released the initial batch of images he took of a black leopard in 2019 and they quickly went viral as it was the first time one had been caught on camera as part of a scientific study in Africa for 100 years In his new photo series, the black leopard can be seen slinking through the undergrowth and over rocky plateaus with the moonlight casting a glow on its silky coat. Burrard-Lucas told MailOnline that he nicknamed the smaller black leopard who frequented his cameras 'Blacky' and the other larger male 'Big Spotty'. Asked how their behaviour differs from the more common light-coloured leopard, the cameraman says that the black variants appear to be 'more nocturnal - probably because they have more success hunting at night'. The leopard's black colour is the result of melanism. This genetic variation, the opposite of albinism, results in an excess of dark pigmentation. Burrard-Lucas' favourite shots of the black leopard, show it in the foreground with starry skies beyond. In his blog, he details how it took him 'six months of perseverance' to get his 'dream photograph' as the conditions had to be just right and the leopard had to be moving in the right direction. He explains: 'I wanted head-on shots so that meant when the animal passed by my camera I had a 50-50 chance of either seeing his face or backside.' Eventually, after dozens of misses, Burrard-Lucas got the shot he was after with 'the black leopard prowling under a carpet or stars'. The leopard's black colour is the result of melanism. This genetic variation, the opposite of albinism, results in an excess of dark pigmentation Growing up in Tanzania, Burrard-Lucas developed a passion for the natural world and propelled him into a career as a wildlife photographer. His quest to photograph the elusive black leopard started in 2018 when he heard about sightings of a young African black leopard in the Laikipia area of Kenya Burrard-Lucas says of this shot: 'My camera traps in action the upper camera captures an image of the leopard below the horizon line, while the lower one shows him against the sky. This image was taken with an infrared camera and it is interesting to note the black leopards shadow spots are much more obvious than in the colour photographs' Growing up in Tanzania, Burrard-Lucas developed a passion for the natural world which propelled him into a career as a wildlife photographer. To get unique shots of animals he developed the BeetleCam in 2009. This remote-control buggy which cradles a camera, is able to get close to wildlife without putting the photographer at risk. Burrard-Lucas also started experimenting with camera traps to capture 'shy or rare' species. These can be deployed for many weeks or months and automatically trigger when an animal passes by. His quest to photograph the elusive black leopard started in 2018 when he heard about sightings of a young African black leopard in the Laikipia area of Kenya. Working in collaboration with the local community and biologists from San Diego Zoo, Burrard-Lucas set up an expedition in January 2019 and went about installing camera traps in a well-protected area where the black leopard was rumoured to frequent. WHAT IS A BLACK LEOPARD (AND HOW DOES IT DIFFER FROM A PANTHER)? There is no difference between a black leopard and a black panther. The black leopard could also be referred to as a black panther, as this is not a species but an umbrella term that simply refers to any big cat that has a black coat. Black panthers in the Americas would be black jaguars. Explaining how black panthers get their dark coat, Dr Nicholas Pilford, who helped Burrard-Lucas find the black leopard, said: 'Melanism is a recessive trait in leopards, so both parents have to be carrying the gene in order for it to be expressed. Genetic research indicates melanism comes from a mutation in a gene that causes a loss of the normal function and colouration. However, although they appear solid black during the day, black panthers still have the iconic leopard rosette patterns in their coats.' Advertisement He used specialist equipment including wireless motion sensors, high-quality DSLR cameras and two to three flashes. The Brit said he couldn't believe it when he returned to one of the traps one day and saw a black leopard staring back at the camera lens. In his new book, which features more than 100 wildlife photos, he details the moment he realised he's caught the black leopard on camera. He writes: 'I stopped and peered at the back of the camera in disbelief. The animal was so dark that it was almost invisible on the small screen. All I could see were two eyes burning brightly out of a patch of inky blackness. The realisation of what I was looking at hit me like a lightning bolt. 'My first thought was not to celebrate; it was too soon for that. Was the image sharp? Was my focus okay? I zoomed in on the screen and it seemed good, but I know from bitter experience that you cannot tell for sure until it is on the computer. All I wanted now was to get back to camp as quickly as possible so I could study the picture. 'I removed the memory card from the camera, cradling it in my hand like some sort of fragile, priceless artefact.' Luckily when Burrard-Lucas got back to camp, he found that the image of the black leopard was in focus. He continues: 'In the darkness of my tent, on the bright laptop screen, I could now see the animal properly. It was so beautiful it almost took my breath away. I zoomed in and the image was sharp. 'My eye wandered around the frame, looking for distractions. There were some bright blades of grass that irritated me, but nothing serious. The image was better than anything I could have hoped for. I took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. It was going to take a few days for this to sink in.' Burrard-Lucas was helped out in the field by Nicholas Pilfold PhD, a biologist with San Diego Zoo Global, who is currently researching leopards at Laikipia's Loisaba Conservancy. He went about capturing the black leopard on video over a period of a year. He confirmed that the on-camera sightings were extremely rare. He explained: 'We had always heard about black leopard living in this region, but the stories were absent of high quality footage that could confirm their existence. 'This is what Will's photos and the videos on our remote cameras now prove, and are exceptionally rare in their detail and insight. Asked how their behaviour differs from the more common light-coloured leopard, Burrard-Lucas says that the black variants appear to be 'more nocturnal - probably because they have more success hunting at night' The last time a black leopard was documented by scientists in Africa was in 1909 in Ethiopia. The image is stored at the National Museum of Natural History in Washington DC Summing up the black leopard in three words, Burrard-Lucas said: 'They are truly stunning, beautiful and elusive' While Burrard-Lucas was trying to get a shot of a black leopard he got this image of a normal leopard instead but he was pretty pleased with the results, as the big cat and the night sky are both in focus 'Collectively these are the first confirmed images in nearly 100 years of black leopard in Africa, and this region is the only known spot in all of Africa to have black leopard.' An account of how the team went about securing the extraordinary video footage, first captured in 2018, appeared in the African Journal of Ecology. Writing in the paper, the team says that cameras 'recorded a subadult female black leopard on February 16, February 28, March 11, March 15 and April 14, 2018, at five different camera locations'. Some of the images were recorded using infrared illumination and some by 'artificial water sources', 'including one video of drinking, suggesting that these points may be important during the dry season'. The cameras were focused on natural springs, swimming pools and animal trails. The last time a black leopard was documented by scientists in Africa was in 1909 in Ethiopia. The image is stored at the National Museum of Natural History in Washington DC. Black leopards are usually associated with dense forests where their dark colouration is thought to help them hide in the shadows. Most recorded sightings of black leopards have therefore been in the forests of Asia. Dr Pilford said: 'Melanism occurs in about 11 per cent of leopards globally. However, despite African leopards having the largest remaining range out of any of the subspecies, there has only been one confirmed case of melanism prior to these images. 'In addition to confirming black panthers in Africa, our observations are unique because Laikipia is a semi-arid shrubland, and previous melanistic observations come from more shaded habitats in tropical forests, which is in keeping with the understanding that melanism is an adaptation to camouflage against dark backgrounds. 'We hope our future research will cast a light on why these black panthers occur here, just how many there are and how being melanistic in an unshaded environment affects their hunting strategies.' Growing up in Tanzania, Burrard-Lucas developed a passion for natural world which propelled him into a career as a wildlife photographer To capture wildlife, Burrard-Lucas uses camera traps and other specialist equipment including wireless motion sensors and two to three flashes A typical camera set up. Burrard-Lucas had lots of failed shots before capturing his dream photograph The new book by Burrard-Lucas features more than 100 wildlife images including awe-inspiring images of lions and elephants and never-before-seen shots of the black leopard itself He continued: 'Melanism is a recessive trait in leopards, so both parents have to be carrying the gene in order for it to be expressed. Genetic research indicates melanism comes from a mutation in a gene that causes a loss of the normal function and colouration. However, although they appear solid black during the day, black panthers still have the iconic leopard rosette patterns in their coats.' Summing up the black leopard in three words, Burrard-Lucas said: 'They are truly stunning, beautiful and elusive.' The big cat that he captured was confirmed as a juvenile male, travelling with a larger normally coloured leopard, thought to be its parent. The black leopard can also be referred to as a black panther because this is an umbrella term that simply refers to any big cat that has a black coat. African leopards are listed as Vulnerable on the International Union for Conservation of Nature's (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species. Habitat loss and fragmentation, competition for prey, conflict with livestock and farmers, and hunting have reduced the number of leopards throughout Africa, although the total extent of this population decline is still unknown. Some have raised concerns that giving away where the leopard was sighted has now put it in danger. Addressing this issue, Burrard-Lucas concludes: 'People have raised the valid concern that the leopard may now be a target for trophy hunters. Fortunately trophy hunting is illegal in Kenya. My take is that the benefits of promoting tourism far out way the risks and hence I have stated the location. Tourism brings critical revenue to these places and is often the only source of funding for conservation efforts.' The Black Leopard: My Quest to Photograph One of Africas Most Elusive Big Cats by Will Burrard-Lucas is out March 4 published by Chronicle Books and priced at 26 MoEngage, the trusted marketing automation platform headquartered in San Francisco, California and the United States, has inked a strategic partnership deal with Merkle Sokrati, Indias leading data-driven performance marketing agency from the house of dentsu international. Under the deal, MoEngage will combine its insights-led customer engagement platform with Merkle Sokratis enterprise delivery services to offer solutions to clients across the Asia Pacific (APAC) region. Todays mobile-first customers expect personalised experiences. This requires brands to build a 360-degree view of their users, analyse the data, and deliver the right message at the right time through the right channels. Marketing and product teams often struggle to meet such customer expectations as most of the available tools lack one or more of the requisite capabilities; at other times, the solutions offered are not implemented to the best of their potential. The combined value package offered by the MoEngage-Merkle Sokrati partnership will enable consumer brands to devise and execute a hyper-personalised experience for their users. Speaking on the partnership, Sanjay Kupae, Head - Global Alliances, MoEngage said, At MoEngage, we want to help consumer brands and enterprises with the technology and know-how that helps them build agility into their marketing strategies and optimise their engagement costs with reduced time-to-market. Our partnership with Merkle Sokrati is a significant step in this direction. Merkles understanding of strategic digital interactions and expertise in enterprise solution delivery is uniquely complementary to MoEngages data-driven and AI-enabled marketing automation platform. We believe that both of us make a truly customer-obsessed team. With the added capabilities of Merkles expert teams and their close-to-client locations, we will be able to drive far more business impact for our clients in India, South East Asia and Australia, he further added. Sampath Rengachari, Chief Business Officer - Martech, Merkle Sokrati said, "It's exciting news to partner with MoEngage in today's times where hyper-personalised engagement with audiences has become imperative. One of the earliest mobile-first customer engagement platforms, MoEngage offers exceptional marketing automation for rich user experiences. Coupling this with our more than a decade long focus on building audience-first and data-driven marketing strategies will surely be beneficial for our clients across verticals and industries. We all have seen trying times for consumers and brands alike, and I'm happy to see synergies being developed here in our ecosystem to help businesses bounce back from the year that's been. [March 02, 2021] EVLOMO investing USD 50 million in setting up EV charging network across Thailand MIAMI, March 2, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- EVLOMO, Inc., a Florida based company working in EV sector has planned to roll-out network of EV chargers across Thailand, through its affiliate in Thailand, EVLOMO Technologies Co. Ltd. EVLOMO will establish wide network of charging stations, easily accessible through an integrated platform solution on mobiles using IoT & AI technology. EVLOMO aims to be the nation's leader in public electric vehicle (EV) fast charging. EVLOMO is developing network of DC Fast Chargers, with capacities ranging upto 350 kW. EVLOMO network of fast chargers will be compatible with all major EV models currently on the market and has partnered with Tritium and EAST Group for charging infrastructure. EVLOMO is collaborating with PTT Oil and Retail PCL, the retail unit of Thailand's biggest energy company, PTT PCL., to bring public ultra-fast EV chargers at PTTOR's location across Easten Economic Corridor, Thailand. PTTOR's has more than 2,290 gas-stations, 3,440 coffee-shops under its Cafe Amazon brand and manages 2,040 convenience-stores. EVLOMO will install more than 1,000 new fast chargers over the next five years, a move set to help accelerate widespread EV adoption and invest USD 50 Million. EVLOMO will add fast charging stations to cities and suburbs, unlocking new EV customer segments and providing increased charging access. EVLOMO plans to provide AC wall box chargers for installation at home for EV drivers and work with logistics companies to establish EV charging stations at depots and hubs for rapid charging for commercial EVs. The investment will enable Thais to discover the benefits of electric driving and support the buildup of a nationwide network of home, community and highway chargers that is convenient and reliable. "EVLOMO will raise the bar when it comes to the high-speed charging experience needed to expedite EV revolution in Thailand," said Nicole Wu, CEO, EVLOMO. "We are confident that increased charger availability and reduced charging times will help EVLOMO, and the industry as a whole, deliver the future-proof charging experience that customers' needs." EVLOMO lauds Thai Government policy to promote EV across the board, and recent announcements by Thailand BOI which included a range of new incentives covering EVs and promoting its local production and supply chain. EVLOMO will launch first collaboration site in March 2021 and mass rollout will begin from May 2021. For more information, contact at info@evlomo.com. View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/evlomo-investing-usd-50-million-in-setting-up-ev-charging-network-across-thailand-301238788.html SOURCE EVLOMO, Inc. 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oil prices going up Queen Elizabeth turns down PM's offer to name new royal yacht after Prince Philip Armenia parliament discusses 2020 state budget report Newspaper: Armenia acting FM resigns after 3rd attempt Newspaper: Yerevan mayor to leave office Israel, UAE sign tax treaty Newspaper: Even vagrants are persuaded, taken to Armenia acting PM Pashinyans rally in Vanadzor Swedish defense minister demands explanation from Denmark over spy scandal Acting Deputy PM: Armenia has not discussed and will not discuss issues within logic of "corridor" Armenia Central Electoral Commission determines numbers of political parties for elections Armenia 2nd President visits Cathedral of the Holy Mother of God in Gyumri (PHOTOS) Opposition Armenia bloc representative: We're running in elections to win Azerbaijan MFA comments on calls for release of Armenian POWs with infinite hypocrisy EC: Vaccinated citizens should be exempted from tests, quarantine when traveling within EU Armenia Ombudsman discusses rights of 6 captured Armenian servicemen with ICRC Delegation head EU ready to use all the tools at its disposal to change Turkey's behavior Yerevan court obliges to abolish violation of rights of Armenia Supreme Judicial Council ex-chairman Greek and Turkish leaders to meet in June on sidelines of NATO summit Armenia Central Electoral Commission to set up 2,008 polling stations for snap parliamentary elections Iranian companies to participate in reconstructing territories under Azerbaijan's control Opposition Armenia bloc's representative on acting PM's invitation to debate with 1st and 2nd Presidents Armenia acting FM dismissed upon presidential decree Body of brother of Armenian criminal authority "Don Pipo" found under bridge 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 BRUSSELS, March 2, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- As the COVID-19 pandemic took hold across the world in 2020, we began to see the scale of the impact it would have on SME development and SME finance availability. The inevitable economic downturn placed severe strain on SMEs globally and demanded a national and international response. The World Alliance of International Financial Centers (WAIFC), promoting the benefits of sharing best practices and new financial and regulatory initiatives, commissioned a survey of its members on the ways that financial centers globally, alongside national governments, central banks, regulators, and the supranationals are responding to the economic crisis, specifically asking for information on how urgently needed support to SMEs is being developed, directed and delivered. We will present the report and discuss it with international experts in a webinar today at noon CET (07:00 EDT/11:00 GMT/12:00 WEST/13:00 CAT/14:00 MSK/14:00 AST/15:00 GST/15:00 MUT/17:00 ALMT/19:00 HKT/20:00 JST/20:00 KST). Please register for the webinar free-of-charge. Commenting on the release of this landmark report, Jennifer Reynolds, Chairwoman of the WAIFC, stated: "We are pleased to share this Report on SME Economic Recovery as part of our contribution to our broader work on the role of financial centers in supporting the global economic recovery. The response from national and international policymakers and the financial industry across the world has been urgent, decisive, and targeted in support of the SME sector." Kairat Kelimbetov, Member of the WAIFC Board and Governor of the Astana International Financial Centre, commented on the report, saying: "The pandemic has caused enormous changes in the world economy and forced us to reconsider its course and implement measures to soften the impact of COVID-19. As with other leading macro-economies, the Kazakh government has delivered a strong response with a sizable stimulus program to support the SME sector and the economy, as the WAIFC Report presented today highlights." Frederic de Laminne, Member of the WAIFC Board and Secretary-General of the Belgian Finance Center, said: "The pandemic has deeply impacted many sectors, but SMEs have suffered more as their activity is usually more focused than large companies, and they lack the financial muscle needed to support an extended period of lock-down. They have to be saved!" Dr. Jochen Biedermann, Managing Director of the WAIFC, added: "SMEs are the backbone of our economies. We must support them in surviving the current pandemic and then smoothly entering a sustainable economic recovery phase." You can download the report at https://waifc.finance/resources. The World Alliance of International Financial Centers (WAIFC) is a non-profit association registered in Belgium, representing 18 leading international financial centers of four continents. WAIFC members are city governments, associations, and similar institutions developing and promoting their financial centers. WAIFC facilitates cooperation between its members, the exchange of best practices, and communication with the general public. Contact: SOURCE World Alliance of International Financial Centers (WAIFC) AISBL A wannabe rapper who launched into a racist tirade against Asian commuters on a Sydney train has issued a grovelling apology after claiming he was 'wasted drunk' and on a mixture of xanax and clonazepam at the time of the verbal attack. The 28-year-old rapper, who goes by the name Fleks City, took to social media to tell his thousands of followers he had no recollection of the shocking outburst he filmed and uploaded to his own Snapchat account on Saturday. 'I don't remember anything. I was wasted drunk. Took eight xanax bars, six clonazepam pills and went adventuring on trains. I apologise to anyone I offended,' he posted. Fleks City, whose real name is Torian Agnew, divulged how he was detained in custody for four days from Saturday after he was arrested following another incident that same day at a liquor store in Sydney's south. Fleks City, real name Torian Agnew (pictured), issued a grovelling apology after filming the moment he hurled racist abuse at Asian commuters on a Sydney train Agnew took to social media to tell his thousands of followers he had no recollection of the shocking incident as he 'was wasted drunk' Agnew posted an apology to his social media accounts saying 'From the bottom of my heart I apologise to everybody I offended with what happened on the train' 'Got locked up for skitzing it at Wolli Creek Dan Murphy's thinking someone stole my phone after I left it on charge at a cafe next door. I'm an idiot,' he said. 'At least I can own up to my f**kups and apologise and to the fact I was that inebriated by xanax and clonazepam and alcohol. Go look these up, it's a deadset blackout. You're not in control of what you're doing and I f**ked up. It is what it is. 'And getting locked up I lost the one girl that meant the most to me. I didn't wanna be king of the ussy no more, I was gonna wife her up. F**k my life.' Agnew was released from custody on Monday after being granted bail over the alleged liquor store incident. He issued multiple apologies for his racist tirade following his release. 'I'm not usually a racist person bro. I apologise to those people on the train. I apologise to anyone I offended. I f**ked up,' Agnew said. 'I didn't mean to offend anybody and yeah I f**ked up. I spent four days in jail and now going to court to deal with it all. I'm sorry to all involved. If you hate me join the rest. It is what it is, I f**ked up.' Agnew (pictured right) filmed the moment he launched into a racist attack on Asian commuters on a Sydney train on Saturday (left) In the footage of Agnew hurling racist abuse at an Asian woman and man on a Sydney train, he could be heard saying 'How bout you f**k off to China, you f**king peasant'. 'You invaded our country,' Agnew said. He further doubled-down on his racist insults, telling the woman a second time 'At the end of the day you're an Asian peasant. You come to my f**king country. I run amok, aye'. The woman retorted 'I'm not from China' and told the man 'I come to your country. I contribute to your country.' Agnew pointed to the man holding the woman back, called him a 'p**y' and said 'he's talking sh*t'. She responded with 'he's not talking anything'. The woman, who had to be held back by her male friend, was told by Agnew, who was filming the confrontation, 'How bout you f**k off to China' Agnew also called the man holding the woman back a 'p**y' and said he was 'talking sh*t' to which the woman replied 'he's not talking anything' 'You know who I am, I'm king of the ussy, I'm king of the ussy,' he repeatedly told the pair. Agnew later pointed at onlookers on the train and said 'you're Aussie, you're Aussie, you shouldn't be condoning this'. The video cuts out after Agnew, who was holding a can of drink in his hand, moved to another carriage before getting off at Tempe in the city's Inner West. Daily Mail Australia contacted Agnew for comment. Breast Cancer Therapeutics Market Key Players Studied in this Report are Genentech (F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd) (South San Francisco, U.S.), Eli Lilly and Company (Indianapolis, U.S.), Novartis AG (Basel, Switzerland), AstraZeneca (Cambridge, U.K.), Pfizer Inc. (New York City, U.S.),n Sanofi (Paris, France), Eisai Co. Ltd. (Tokyo, Japan), Kyowa Kirin (Tokyo, Japan), Bristol Myers Squibb (Celgene Corporation) (New York City, U.S.), Merck & Co., Inc. (Kenilworth, U.S.) Pune, India, March 02, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- According to the report, Breast Cancer Therapeutics market size is projected to reach USD 55.27 Billion by 2027. Breast Cancer Therapeutics Market was worth USD 21.58 billion in 2019 and will exhibit a CAGR of 13.1% during the forecast period. The global breast cancer therapeutics market is set to gain impetus from the ongoing research and developments to come up with state-of-the-art drugs. Nowadays, several renowned companies are constantly launching new breast cancer therapeutics worldwide. Most of these drugs are meant for the treatment of those types of breast cancers that were previously untreatable or the available drugs were not successful for providing positive outcomes. These factors are expected to accelerate the breast cancer therapeutics market growth in the forthcoming years. However, certain severe reactions can come up while undergoing this type of cancer therapeutics, such as targeted therapies. Patients can suffer from nausea, fatigues, rashes, gastrointestinal problems, or high blood pressure. These may hinder growth. Request a Sample Copy of the Research Report: https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/enquiry/request-sample-pdf/breast-cancer-therapeutics-market-100163 COVID-19 Pandemic to Affect Growth Moderately as Cancer Requires Immediate Attention Based on therapy, the hormonal therapy segment generated 8.3% in terms of the breast cancer therapeutics market share in 2019. It is likely to exhibit lower growth in the coming years on account of the rising availability of their generic equivalents. Story continues Regionally, North America procured USD 10.34 billion in 2019 in terms of revenue. The rising prevalence of breast cancer, presence of numerous providers of breast cancer therapeutics, and the surging awareness of this condition are expected to augment growth in this region. The American Cancer Society, for instance, declared that the U.S. is set to experience around 276,480 new cases of invasive breast cancer in 2020. Europe, on the other hand, is likely to retain its second position fueled by the high demand for advanced and sophisticated breast cancer therapeutics. In Asia Pacific, the market would grow rapidly because of the increasing healthcare expenditure. Lastly, the Middle East & Africa and Latin America are anticipated to show robust growth on account of the rising patient population in both regions. Click here to get the short-term and long-term impacts of COVID-19 on this Market. Please visit: https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/industry-reports/breast-cancer-therapeutics-market-100163 Increasing Development of State-of-the-art Products to Favor Growth This global market houses a large number of companies that are nowadays striving to gain fast track approvals from government healthcare agencies to distribute and market their products. Some of the others are focusing on developing unique breast cancer therapeutics to cater to the unmet demand. Below are the two latest industry developments: September 2020: Lupin introduced Lapatinib Tablets, 250 mg, after its partner Natco Pharma received approval from the USFDA. These will be used to treat patients suffering from metastatic or advanced breast cancer. November 2019: Daiichi Sankyo Company and AstraZeneca declared that their HER2-directed antibody-drug conjugate named Enhertu was approved by the USFDA. It is meant for the treatment of adult patients living with metastatic or unresectable HER2-positive breast cancer. Quick Buy - Breast Cancer Therapeutics Market Research Report: https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/checkout-page/100163 Genentech (F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd) (South San Francisco, U.S.) Eli Lilly and Company (Indianapolis, U.S.) Novartis AG (Basel, Switzerland) AstraZeneca (Cambridge, U.K.) Pfizer Inc. (New York City, U.S.) Sanofi (Paris, France) Eisai Co. Ltd. (Tokyo, Japan) Kyowa Kirin (Tokyo, Japan) Bristol Myers Squibb (Celgene Corporation) (New York City, U.S.) Merck & Co., Inc. (Kenilworth, U.S.) Have Any Query? Ask Our Experts: https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/enquiry/speak-to-analyst/breast-cancer-therapeutics-market-100163 Global Breast Cancer Therapeutics Market Segmentation: By Application: General Surgery Gynecology Urology Orthopedics By Geography: North America (USA, Canada) Europe (UK, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Scandinavia and Rest of Europe) Asia Pacific (Japan, China, India, Australia, Southeast Asia and Rest of Asia Pacific) Latin America (Brazil, Mexico, Rest of Latin America) Middle East & Africa (South Africa, GCC, and Rest of Middle East & Africa) Get your Customized Research Report: https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/enquiry/customization/breast-cancer-therapeutics-market-100163 Have a Look at Related Reports: Neonatal Intensive Care Market Size , Share & Industry Analysis, By Product (Neonatal Incubators, Neonatal Phototherapy Equipment, Neonatal Ventilators, Neonatal Monitors, and Others), By End User (Hospitals, and Specialty Clinics), and Regional Forecast, 2020-2027 Lymphoma Treatment Market Size , Share & Industry Analysis, By Therapy (Immunotherapy, Targeted Therapy, Chemotherapy, and Others), By Disease Type (Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma, and Hodgkin Lymphoma), By Distribution Channel (Hospital Pharmacies, Retail Pharmacies, Online Pharmacies, and Others), and Regional Forecast, 2019-2026 Diabetic Neuropathy Market Size , Share & Industry Analysis, By Disease Type (Peripheral, Autonomic, Proximal, and Focal), By Drug Class (Anti-Depressants, Anti-Seizures, Opioid, Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory, and others), By Distribution Channel (Hospital Pharmacies, Retails Pharmacies & Stores, and Online Pharmacies), and Regional Forecast, 2019-2026 Teleradiology Market Size , Share & Industry Analysis, By Imaging Technique (X-Ray, Computed Tomography (CT), Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), Ultrasound, Nuclear Medicine, and Others), By Component (Services & Software, and Product), By End User (Hospitals & Clinics, Diagnostic Centers and Others), and Regional Forecast, 2019-2026 Transcatheter Heart Valve Replacement (THVR) Market Size , Share & Industry Analysis, By Product Type (Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement (TAVR), Transcatheter Mitral Valve Replacement (TMVR), and Transcatheter Pulmonary Valve Replacement (TPVR)), By End User (Hospitals, and Specialty Clinics& Others), and Regional Forecast, 2019-2026 About Us: Fortune Business Insights offers expert corporate analysis and accurate data, helping organizations of all sizes make timely decisions. 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Ltd. 308, Supreme Headquarters, Survey No. 36, Baner, Pune-Bangalore Highway, Pune - 411045, Maharashtra, India. Phone: US :+1 424 253 0390 UK : +44 2071 939123 APAC : +91 744 740 1245 Email: sales@fortunebusinessinsights.com Fortune Business Insights LinkedIn | Twitter | Blogs Whether its her performance on the racetrack or her demeanour around the barn, Bill Bercury can find an abundance of reasons to be happy with female pacer Blue Ivy, who on Thursday (March 4) will take on five male rivals in the $14,600 Open Handicap at The Meadows. Shes ready, willing and able, said Bercury, who trains the five-year-old mare for his wife, Renee. Shes put together perfectly, and shes got a great attitude. I throw my arms around her and give her a big hug, and she doesnt pin her ears or anything. Shes very pleasant, very accommodating. Shes never at the back of her stall, shes always at the door, ready for you to get her. Shes a wonderful mare. I just love her. Bercury bought Blue Ivy, a daughter of Captaintreacherous out of Grand Circuit stakes winner Ali Blue, near the end of her three-year-old season. She has won 16 of 24 races for Bercury, earning $134,825 in purses. For her career, she has captured 22 of 50 starts and banked $301,560. I loved watching her race, Bercury said about his initial attraction to Blue Ivy. When (drivers) pulled her, she went. I was very impressed with the way she raced. Obviously, shes royally bred. I just liked her a lot. Blue Ivy has won three of four races this year. Following Thursdays start in the Open at The Meadows, where she is the 2-1 morning-line favourite, Blue Ivy will head to New York for the six-week Blue Chip Matchmaker Series at Yonkers Raceway. I have to race her against the boys because I just cant find a race for her, Bercury said. That will be challenging. I hate to do it, but I hate to send her into the Matchmaker without her being reasonably tight. In my opinion, I have her just right. Ive not pushed her this year, knowing thats where I was going. I think she is going to be very comfortable with that six weeks in (the Matchmaker). Bercury will send Blue Ivy to trainer Todd Buter and driver Tyler Buter for the Matchmaker. Tyler Buter has won four times with Blue Ivy during her career. Hes a very good driver, Bercury said. He drove her some before I bought her and did very well with her. I think I made a good choice. When I bring her up there, it will be (Todds) horse. Ill stay out of it. Two guys cant train a horse. The Matchmaker will be Blue Ivys first appearance on the Grand Circuit since joining Bercurys stable. Bercury hoped to race the mare in the Breeders Crown last year, but decided against it because he thought Blue Ivy was getting tired at that point in the year. He has the Breeders Crown on his radar again this season. I think shes that kind of horse, Bercury said. Im looking to find another one just like her. (USTA) Darwin: A Companion catalogues the true extent of Charles Darwins cultural impact over the past 160 years. Credit: National University of Singapore The largest number of species named after a single person is often attributed to the German polymath and naturalist Alexander von Humboldt. The impressive list contains about 400 species and includes everything from penguins to perennials. But in a new book, historian of science Dr. John van Wyhe from the National University of Singapore shows that Charles Darwin, not Humboldt, is the world record holder, eclipsing the previous figure with around 700 eponymous species. This discovery and hundreds more are revealed in the new book, "Darwin: A Companion," which catalogs the true extent of Charles Darwin's cultural impact over the past 160 years. "Everything in this book greatly expands what was previously known about Darwin. For example, we used to know that Darwin's work had been translated into 33 languages. Now we can show that it's actually 64. This makes Darwin by far the most widely translated scientist in history," said Dr. van Wyhe, who is from the NUS Department of Biological Sciences, and Tembusu College at NUS. He is also Director of Darwin Online. A decade in the making, Dr. van Wyhe together with Dr. Paul van Helvert of Wageningen University & Research, The Netherlands, put together an unprecedentedly detailed guide to the famous Victorian naturalist's life, work and influence. Extensive research and new findings Over one million sources were consulted in the research for this volume. The book contains over 7,000 entries on Darwin, his family, friends, colleagues, opponents, publications, manuscripts, finances, library and a host of other topics. No book has ever revealed so much new information about Darwin and his unparalleled worldwide impact. The book's cover uses a photo of Darwin that has never been published before, and on the back is a painting of Darwin's study by his niece Julia "Snow' Wedgwood, which has never been published before. "This book has facts on every page that readers have never seen, even if they are an expert Darwin scholar," explained Dr. van Wyhe. Some of the new findings include Darwin's whereabouts across his life in an itinerary of 730 entries. Supposedly a recluse, a list compiled of over 400 visitors to his home challenges this notion. Dr. van Wyhe also discovered 70 institutions, 130 monuments and 280 places named after Darwin, and almost 250 stamps, banknotes and coins portraying him. A major part of the book is the most complete lists of portrayals ever created of his ship (the Beagle), his wife, home and over 1,000 unique photographs, paintings, statues and caricatures of Darwin. The previously most detailed list was just 55 portraits. Particularly exciting is the largest list of photographs of Darwin ever published, with several being new discoveries published in the book for the first time. "Darwin: A Companion" is the most ambitious book on Charles Darwin ever published and raises the bar for the comprehensive treatment of other figures in science. NASHVILLE --- Today, Tennessee Department of Safety and Homeland Security Commissioner Jeff Long and Tennessee Highway Patrol (THP) Colonel Matt Perry announced that Trooper Sammy Allen of the Nashville district has been terminated. An incident took place between an arrestee and Trooper Sammy Allen at the Robertson County Jail. A THP supervisor witnessing the incident from a distance intervened and de-escalated the situation. During the investigation of the incident, serious concerns were raised on how Trooper Allen conducted himself, which prompted the Tennessee Highway Patrol to contact District Attorney General John Carneys office. General Carneys office requested the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) to conduct a criminal investigation. Trooper Allen was removed from his assigned duties and placed on discretionary leave pending the outcome of the investigation. Today, March 1st, Trooper Allen was terminated. It is the Department of Safety and Homeland Securitys policy to warn, suspend, demote or dismiss any employee whenever just or legal cause exists. Employees shall not commit any act that would reflect discredit upon themselves or the department while on or off-duty. The internet's big carbon footprint need not doom the climate Posted on 2 March 2021 by Guest Author This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Samantha Harrington For many, people life moved online in 2020. From preschool to dissertation defenses, first dates to weddings, video calls brought us together. To entertain ourselves, we streamed concerts and movies, played video games, and scrolled social media. Demand for internet services was already rising before the COVID-19 pandemic, and growth will continue once people are able to gather safely in person again. Thats raising concerns about the electricity needed to power servers, networks, and devices and the resulting consequences for the climate. Eric Masanet, a professor in sustainability science for emerging technologies at UC Santa Barbara, says the internet sector accounts for 2 to 4% of global energy use. Data centers alone are estimated to account for 1% of global energy demand, more than many countries use. But Masanet said it is not helpful to bash people over their internet use. You shouldnt feel bad about it about working from home, about streaming more, about sending emails, he said. People should know that they dont have to feel guilty about using digital technology. So far, improved energy efficiency has helped check the internets power consumption despite soaring demand. And a switch to renewable sources of electricity could make it more climate-friendly. Large technology companies such as Google, Microsoft, and Amazon have all been investing in renewable energy projects. But experts say it is hard to monitor how effective this transition is because the leading technology companies are large, opaque, and largely unregulated. Data centers are major energy consumers Power-hungry data centers are buildings or spaces housing the computers and communications hardware that store, process and transmit the data that run the internet. Everything you do on the internet is connected to data centers. Data centers are the backbone of the applications, really the backbone of the cloud, of enterprise computing, so everything that is fundamental to an organization runs through a data center, said Shawn Mills, founder and CEO of Lunavi, which started out as a green data center company and has grown into also providing other digital services. Traditional data centers were often rooms within offices of companies needing computing power. Some organizations still use on-site data centers, but most computing now is done in large, standalone facilities called hyperscale data centers. Big tech companies like Amazon, Apple, Google, Facebook, and Microsoft control most such data centers around the world. Netflix, for example, uses Amazon Web Services to run its application. So when you are streaming a Netflix movie or series, it is delivered via an Amazon data center somewhere in the world maybe in northern Virginia, a major hub for hyperscale data centers. As internet use increases, the hyperscale data center business is booming. According to a report by Synergy Research Group, by the end of 2019, there were 504 large data centers in operation triple the number in 2013 and another 151 were being planned or built. In 2019, Amazon and Microsoft together accounted for half of the new data centers in development. Data centers consume a lot of energy. The servers and other devices need constant, reliable power, and the electronic equipment needs constant cooling. Understanding the energy and emissions use is difficult because many technology companies are not transparent. Renee Obringer, an environmental engineer with the National Socio-Environmental Synthesis Center, said the lack of data was a concern to a team she worked with to analyze the carbon footprint of the internet. So far there isnt much in the tech industry. If they do release stuff, its generally because they have chosen to do that and they think it will be good for their business, she said. Google has released a lot of information on their data centers and thats largely because Google is very advanced in the technology theyre using to make sure their data centers are as efficient as possible. Efficiency is growing with demand The dearth of transparent data forces researchers to resort to complex analyses and models. Still, they say that even as demand for computing power has swelled, the energy data centers required to run have remained relatively stable, thanks to rapid gains in energy efficiency. We keep seeing studies that say, Netflix is destroying the climate or your emails are, or zooming is bad, Masanet said. Its kind of an alarming view of the internets footprint and that narrative is false. These systems are really complicated. The technology improves really rapidly. It gets more efficient not every year [but] every month when the technology upgrades. Mills founded Lunavi in 2007 as concern was growing about the environmental costs of technology. Lunavi focused on designing and building the most efficient data center possible. We generally have the philosophy that the greenest electron is the one that is never used, he said. Lunavi designed data centers to take advantage of natural cooling processes instead of power-hungry air conditioners. Mills said that since the company started, technological gains in electronics have allowed for more efficiency gains in cooling. Back in the day it used to be literally, I need it to be 69.5 degrees in my data center plus or minus half a degree,' Mills said. Now data centers are able to handle a wider tolerance. It can be a 10- to 15-degree change in temperature and still keep the same performance. Efficiency gains are important because data networks have a high fixed energy cost. Masanet said that even in 2020, when individuals were spending more time online and demand was up, there was no obvious jump in network energy use. One additional unit of data demand does not equal one additional unit of network energy, he said. Think of it like a bus or a train. Most of the energy that goes into a bus is to move the bus around and with every additional passenger you add, sure, it takes a little bit more energy, but its not doubling with every new passenger. Like data networks, data centers have fixed energy costs, though those costs are more variable. Specific information about the 2020 energy consumption of data centers was not available at the time of publication. Going forward, demand requests from applications and new technologies provide the most cause for concern, not one persons Netflix binge. The growth of new technologies requiring a lot of energy like artificial intelligence, 5G, virtual reality and blockchain could mean that in the future, efficiency improvements will not keep up and data center energy use will skyrocket. Renewable energy could offset demand growth Ultimately, experts hope to power data centers using renewable energy. Thats one saving feature, Masanet said. Theres a lot of progress in shifting to renewables that will help keep emissions in check even if absolute energy use goes up. According to the International Energy Agency, information and communication technology companies accounted for about half of global corporate renewables procurement in the past five years. Lunavi, for example, partnered with an electricity co-op in its headquarters state of Wyoming to ensure its energy use is covered by renewable energy credits. The company has been recognized by the EPA as one of the top 30 U.S. purchasers of renewable energy in technology and telecom. According to the EPA, 105% of Lunavis electricity use is powered by the wind. Weve been very proud of leading that charge, Mills said. The key is transparency Ultimately, experts say, major technology companies will need to offer more transparency. New government regulations, programs, and incentives will likely be needed to ensure openness and to support a more sustainable industry. A lot of industries, particularly industries that we think of when we think of CO2 emissions, are regulated in the sense that they have to provide transparency in terms of their emissions, Obringer, said. So with the auto industry or other big emitters, we can find a lot of those values because theyre expected to produce annual reports. Some of that policy work is moving in the right direction, Masanet said. For example, provisions for more energy efficient data centers were included in the December 2020 $900 billion stimulus package. Among those provisions are a requirement for a new national study on data center energy use, training for energy efficiency in data centers, more transparency from federal data centers, and establishing efficiency benchmarks. While the future energy use of new technologies remains uncertain, many experts feel optimistic that sustainability is possible: My gut feels like the industry is moving in the right direction, Mills 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. LONDON - A British newspaper publisher said Tuesday it plans to appeal against a judges ruling that it invaded the privacy of the Duchess of Sussex by publishing parts of a letter she wrote to her estranged father after her 2018 marriage to Prince Harry. FILE - In this file photo dated Thursday, March 5, 2020, Britain's Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex leaves after attending the annual Endeavour Fund Awards in London. A British newspaper publisher on Tuesday March 2, 2021, is seeking permission to appeal against a judges ruling that it invaded the privacy of the Duchess of Sussex by publishing parts of a letter she wrote to her estranged father after her 2018 marriage to Prince Harry. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth, FILE) LONDON - A British newspaper publisher said Tuesday it plans to appeal against a judges ruling that it invaded the privacy of the Duchess of Sussex by publishing parts of a letter she wrote to her estranged father after her 2018 marriage to Prince Harry. The American former actress Meghan Markle, 39, sued publisher Associated Newspapers for invasion of privacy and copyright infringement over five February 2019 articles in the Mail on Sunday and on the MailOnline website that reproduced large portions of a letter she wrote to her father, Thomas Markle. High Court judge Mark Warby ruled last month that the publisher had misused the duchesss private information and infringed her copyright. He said the duchess had a reasonable expectation that the contents of the letter would remain private and concluded the papers publication of large chunks of it was manifestly excessive and hence unlawful. In written submissions released as part of a court hearing on Tuesday, Associated Newspapers lawyer Antony White sought permission to appeal, saying a bid to overturn Warbys ruling would have a real prospect of success. The publisher's lawyers argue that the duchess wrote the letter not simply as a private message to her father but for the public record upon advice from royal family members and palace communications staff and for use as part of a media strategy. The judge refused permission to appeal, saying he saw no real prospect of another court reaching a different conclusion than he had. The Court of Appeal, of course, may take a different view, he said, adding that Associated Newspapers can take its case directly to the appeals court. Lawyers for Meghan, meanwhile, demanded the publisher hand over the letter and destroy any electronic copies or notes it held. They also asked the judge to order the Mail on Sunday to remove the five articles from its website and to run a front-page statement about the duchess legal victory. Ian Mill, an attorney for Meghan, said the defendant defiantly continues to do the very acts which the court has held are unlawful. The publisher's lawyers agreed to remove the articles from the website until the legal issues are resolved. The judge didn't immediately rule on the request to hand over the letter. He ordered Associated Newspapers to make an interim payment of 450,000 pounds ($625,000) toward Meghan's legal costs, and said further financial remedies would be dealt with later. Meghan, a former star of the American TV legal drama Suits, married Harry, a grandson of Queen Elizabeth II, at Windsor Castle in May 2018. Their son, Archie, was born the following year. In early 2020, Meghan and Harry announced they were quitting royal duties and moving to North America, citing what they said were the unbearable intrusions and racist attitudes of the British media. They recently bought a house in Santa Barbara, California, and are expecting a second child. In his ruling last month, the judge ruled in Meghan's favour on most points, but said a limited trial should be held to decide the minor issue of whether the duchess was the sole author and lone copyright holder of the letter. It is expected to take place in the fall. ISTANBUL Following years of democratic backsliding and amid a rolling crackdown on dissident groups sparked by a 2016 coup attempt, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan Tuesday unveiled a human rights action plan pledging to bolster the freedoms and legal protections of Turkish citizens. Speaking in Ankara, Erdogan outlined an 11-point plan to be implemented over a two-year period with aims to improve the nations judicial system and penal code and allow for more freedom of expression in the country. The main determinants in drawing up Turkey's human rights action plan were the needs and demands of the people, Erdogan said. The ultimate goal of Turkey's action plan is a new civilian constitution, the Turkish leader later added, referencing talks in Ankara regarding the possible drafting of a new constitution. Under the reforms, Erdogan said his ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) government would seek to strengthen individuals rights to a fair trial while laying out economic and business-related measures that would fortify property rights and bolster investment conditions in the country. New measures would also be introduced to improve investigations and judicial proceedings in cases involving violence against women. In addition, the Turkish leader touched on faith-based freedoms for non-Muslim communities, saying public and private sector employees and students would be permitted time off to observe religious holidays. Laws overseeing the establishment and leadership of non-Muslim community associations would also be revised to enhance religious freedoms, Erdogan said. Human rights advocates said the proposals could foster progressive changes in Turkeys judicial system, but they noted the planned reforms lacked details and their implementation would need to be closely monitored. The proof of these lofty statements will be in the pudding, Milena Buyum, Turkey Campaigner for Amnesty International, told Al-Monitor. Over the last decade, Buyum said the AKP oversaw a broad rollback of individual freedoms in Turkey, a trend that accelerated following a 2016 coup attempt that has since led to the imprisonment of many government critics for expressing their views in public or on social media. She added the reforms would fall short of their goals without concrete steps to reestablish an independent judiciary that applies rulings impartially and implements decisions by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), such as the courts repeated calls for the release of high-profile political prisoners. If this is truly a start of a normalization process, it would be demonstrated with the immediate implementation of the ECHR rulings on Selahattin Demirtas and Osman Kavala by releasing them from pretrial detention, Buyum said, referring to the former co-chair of the pro-Kurdish Peoples Democratic Party and Turkish philanthropist, respectively. In his speech, Erdogan also said free speech rights would be improved for Turkish media professionals, many of whom have come under increasing pressure in recent years as the nation became one of the worlds top jailers of journalists. Turkeys anti-terrorism laws have often been applied in cases involving journalists, and their broad application has long been condemned by free speech advocates. Sinem Adar, an associate at the Center for Applied Turkey Studies in the German Institute for International and Security Affairs, said she remained apprehensive over the human rights plan after its initial unveiling lacked reforms to the nations anti-terrorism laws. "I would have been more convinced if there were specific reform points about certain legislation in the penal code for instance, regarding insulting the president, insulting the Turkish nation and of course those concerning terrorism charges, Adar told Al-Monitor. Adar also noted the plan would establish a number of human rights commissions that could offer new avenues for political influence in the legal system. Its best to work with the assumption this is a government thats willing to do whatever it takes to stay in power, Adar told Al-Monitor. Any change they bring in should be interpreted along those lines. Among other reforms, Erdogan said work would begin to revise laws overseeing political parties and elections without elaborating further. The news comes amid increasing calls from Erdogans nationalist allies to shut down the HDP over suspected links to terror organizations. Couple have both been diagnosed with Stage 4 cancer - just three months apart He managed to secure a good job and after tying the knot they had two kids A couple have told how they face leaving their young kids without parents - after they were both diagnosed with terminal cancer. British Adam Graveley, 38, met Australian wife Caitlin, 39, when he went travelling Down Under. He managed to secure a good job and they sponsored him to stay and after tying the knot they had two kids. But now the couple, who live in Perth, have both been diagnosed with Stage 4 cancer - just three months apart. They are are faced with the prospect of leaving kids Thea, two, and four-month-old Fearn - without a mum and dad. British Adam Graveley, 38, and Australian wife Caitlin, 39, have both been diagnosed with Stage 4 cancer - just three months apart Adam met Australian Caitlin, 39, when he went travelling Down Under, and after tying the knot they had two kids (pictured, together) Caitlin was diagnosed with Stage 4 bowel cancer in November - after suffering pain she thought was due to her pregnancy. And then tragically Adam was diagnosed with Stage 4 pancreatic cancer on February 4. The family, who are urging people to attend screenings, want to use their story to raise awareness of aggressive cancers that start in the under 40s. Adam's British sister, Emma Reynolds, 41, from Abbeymead, Gloucestershire, says her and the rest of the family can't visit them until April. A fundraiser has been set up to support the family whilst they go through their treatment. 'I don't think you'll ever be able to understand why or process both of them,' explained Emma. Adam's British sister, Emma Reynolds, 41, from Abbeymead, Gloucestershire, says her and the rest of the family can't visit them until April. Pictured, Adam & Caitlin with his sisters Emma & Vicki 'You just have to live with it - sometimes I talk about it and I'm detaching myself from it as I do. 'We're hoping and praying every day that the treatment they're getting works, and that they've got years rather than months. 'The hope is to raise awareness because they're so young, and how suddenly your life can be sent into absolute turmoil.' Adam a graphic designer, was born in Solihull, but grew up in Farnham, Surrey. He went travelling in March 2007 - with a view to return home eventually - until he met 'Cait' in 2009 through online dating. Landscape architect Cait grew up in Western Australia and they got married on December 7, 2014 at Perth town hall. Caitlin went to hospital for a colonoscopy last November and diagnosed with bowel cancer - which has now spread to her liver. The couple are faced with the prospect of leaving kids Thea (pictured), two, and four-month-old Fearn - without a mum and dad Caitlin was diagnosed with Stage 4 bowel cancer in November - after suffering pain she thought was due to her pregnancy. Pictured, with Adam and Thea She gave birth to her second child, Fearn, on October 14 2020 but had continuous abdominal pain that turned out to be a tumour on her colon. Sister-in-law Emma said: 'It was absolutely devastating. The tumour in her colon was quite large so they reckon she'd had it for over a year and a half, but because she was pregnant it could've masked the pain. 'She did say, looking back, she did have abdominal cramps but she thought it was to do with pregnancy.' Emma says Adam was diagnosed with Stage 4 pancreatic cancer on February 4 after getting pains in his side. Hospitality worker Emma said: 'His wife was diagnosed in November so he'd been quite stressed but he had no other symptoms. 'We thought it was just going to be a stomach ulcer or his appendix.' Early scans showed he had two large masses on his pancreas and liver - the result of pancreatic cancer that had developed for over a year. The location of the tumour meant Adam had no symptoms until it spread to his liver. 'His liver is covered in lesions,' explained Emma. 'It's the worst cancer you can get which is pancreatic cancer, it was just awful.' Tragically Adam (pictured, with daughter, Fearn) was then diagnosed with Stage 4 pancreatic cancer on February 4. The family want to use their story to raise awareness of aggressive cancers that start in the under 40s. Pictured, Adam, Caitlin and daughter, Thea He started an experimental chemotherapy drug trial two days later that is extremely aggressive. Emma said: 'His first week he was very poorly but this is his second week now and is completely wiped out. 'He can't even concentrate, it's hard to engage with anyone, it's just like you're so vacant, you're just so tired.' Caitlin's tumour was removed and now has chemotherapy to kill the inoperable cancer on her liver, which all started within the first four weeks after Fearn was born. The new born had to be rushed to be bottle-fed, as Caitlin couldn't continue breastfeeding, and for a time she wouldn't accept the bottle. The couple travel together for their weekly chemotherapy sessions, and rely on the help of their friends and relatives to maintain their family life. Early scans showed Adam (pictured, with daughter Thea_ had two large masses on his pancreas and liver - the result of pancreatic cancer that had developed for over a year The location of the tumour meant Adam had no symptoms until it spread to his liver. Pictured, with sisters Emma and Vicki A fundraiser has been set up to support the family whilst they go through their treatment. Pictured, Adam with his baby daughter Emma said: 'They've had enormous generosity - people do food parcels, cook things, they've had people pay for cleaner to come in, people offering to help with the kids. 'Helen, who is the Grandma, she will be there in the day and looks after Fearn when Caitlin has a scan, but they do try and have Fearn over a lot to alleviate pressure. 'It is conflicting for Caitlin she gets very upset because her maternal instincts, but it's weighing up what's best for their health.' 'The hope is to raise awareness because they're so young, and how suddenly your life can be sent into absolute turmoil,' explained Emma. 'They were very into fitness and health, they eat organic, but it's hit them both so hard. 'As far as we were aware and they were aware there were no health concerns.' You can donate at https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/adamandcait The BBC has issued an apology to Cory Booker after they aired a radio interview with a hoaxer who claimed to be the US Senator. The bogus interview was broadcast as part of the British broadcaster's Newshour program on the international World Service last Friday night. During the chat, the person posing as the Senator discussed US relations with Saudi Arabia - one day after President Biden ordered airstrikes in a bid to target Iranian-backed militias. On Tuesday, the BBC released a statement regarding the embarrassing blunder, which read: 'In our Newshour radio program on Friday, a man claiming to be Senator Cory Booker was interviewed in what appears to be a deliberate hoax. 'We have apologized to Senator Booker and are looking into what went wrong to make sure it doesn't happen again.' Oops! The BBC has issued an apology to Cory Booker after they conducted a radio interview with a man who claimed to be the US Senator. Booker is seen during an actual radio chat last year On Tuesday, the BBC released a statement regarding the fake interview. DailyMail.com has reached out to the company to ask whether anyone has been reprimanded internally over the error They added: 'The interview only aired once at 2000 GMT on Newshour on Friday 26 February and has not appeared elsewhere. However, at least one listener in New York took to Twitter on Friday saying that they had heard the interview syndicated on WNYC. 'Listening to the @BBC Newshou on @WNYCand trying to figure out how they did an entire interview with someone they introduced as Sen. Cory Booker , who I'm pretty sure was definitely not Sen. Booker, and didn't realize it.' Another listener also took to Twitter at the time to state that the person being interviewed did not sound like the US Senator. 'I'm not sure who the BBC World Service just interviewed on Newshour about US relations with Saudi Arabia, but it definitely wasn't Senator Cory Booker.' Several people took to Twitter after listening to the interview claiming that the person on the air was definitely not the US Senator Audio of the interview has not been circulating online, and it is unclear how the BBC realized they had been duped. DailyMail.com has reached out to the broadcaster to ask whether anyone has been reprimanded internally over the error. Senator Booker has not yet made public comment on the bogus interview. DailyMail.com has also reached out to his office for comment. It is usually difficult for people to trick their way onto live television and radio programs because they are often vetted by more than one producer. However, the incidents do happen from time to time. Just two months ago, an animal rights activist managed to appear on Maria Bartiromos Fox Business Network program pretending to be the CEO of meat company Smithfield Food. The activist trolled the meat industry live on air, and hit out at Smithfield, a company which has had more than 1,300 of its employees test positive to COVID-19. An alleged IRA rape victim has accused a former Fleet Street editor of hypocrisy after he attacked her in a newspaper article while hiding his own support for the terrorists. Ex-Daily Mirror boss Roy Greenslade, 74, came out of hiding this week to reveal he backed the IRA's bombing campaign. The former professor of journalism at City, University of London, was a friend of suspected Hyde Park bomber John Downey and from the 1980s wrote, under the pen name George King, for the republican newsletter An Phoblacht. Last night, Mr Greenslade, who lectured on ethics, was branded 'disgusting' for calling into question the testimony of an alleged rape victim. Mairia Cahill, who has waived her right to anonymity, said that after she was interviewed for a BBC Northern Ireland investigation, Mr Greenslade wrote an article in The Guardian attacking 'the lack of political balance' in the report. Yesterday, Ms Cahill wrote: 'Strange (and some would say hypocritical) that he did not disclose in the same piece, his own secret long-held support for the IRA.' Mairia Cahill (pictured), who has waived her right to anonymity, said that after she was interviewed for a BBC Northern Ireland investigation, Mr Greenslade wrote an article in The Guardian attacking 'the lack of political balance' in the report Ex-Daily Mirror boss Roy Greenslade (pictured), 74, came out of hiding this week to reveal he backed the IRA's bombing campaign She had claimed that at 16 she was 'repeatedly raped by an IRA man'. She complained to police in 2010, but the case was dropped four years later when she withdrew her support for the prosecution. However, a subsequent BBC documentary detailed her ordeal, only to be savaged by Mr Greenslade in The Guardian in 2014, where he said it 'failed to take account of the fact that the woman... was a leading member of a dissident republican organisation with an anti-Sinn Fein agenda.' Writing in The Spectator this week, Miss Cahill cited the lack of relevance of her political allegiance. She added: 'After attacking the 'lack of balance' in the BBC NI piece, he then took it upon himself to list my political history some of it inaccurate which he viewed as highly relevant when discussing my brutal experience of abuse, and of the IRA and Sinn Fein's treatment of me as a result. 'Strange (and some would say hypocritical) that he did not disclose in the same piece, his own secret long-held support for the IRA.' The former professor of journalism at City, University of London, was a friend of suspected Hyde Park bomber (pictured: The scene after the 1982 attack) John Downey and from the 1980s wrote for the republican newsletter An Phoblacht Miss Cahill hailed from a prominent republican family. Her great-uncle Joe was a notorious former chief of staff in the Provisionals. Hitting out at Mr Greenslade for alleging her accusations were political, she added: 'That Greenslade chose the angle he did is not surprising, but it is disgusting. No abuse disclosures should be weighed against victims' previous politics. 'That The Guardian chose to print it is extremely questionable, given that by that time it was widely known that he had written anonymously for the Sinn Fein IRA supporting publication, An Phoblacht.' MEMBERS of Peace with Justice Advocates and Racial Justice Mission Groups of the New Hampshire Conference, United Church of Christ, have come together in strong opposition to HB 544 as found in the State Budget HB 2. We adamantly oppose the prohibitions of divisive concepts language in thi Vodafone Idea Ltd on Tuesday said it has acquired telecom spectrum in five circles in the spectrum auction conducted by government, which will help in increasing its 4G coverage and capacity. Vodafone Idea entered the auction holding the largest quantum of spectrum with a very small fraction, which was administratively allocated and used for GSM services, coming up for renewal, the company said in a release, adding that it used the auction to optimise spectrum holding post-merger to create further efficiencies in few circles. "The spectrum we have acquired in the 5 circles will further help us to enhance our 4G coverage and capacity, enabling superior digital experience for our customers," it said. Also read: Govt receives bids worth Rs 77,000 crore on first day of spectrum auction Saying that with sufficient spectrum availability and adequate number of market players, Indian telecom sector is well positioned to drive the 'Digital India' agenda, the company congratulated the Department of Telecommunications for the successful completion of spectrum auction. "Vodafone Idea lauds the government's efforts in taking Indian telecom sector from an era of spectrum scarcity to one of surplus spectrum," it said. As the industry readies to deploy 5G technology with India specific use cases, Vodafone Idea said it is hopeful that a large quantum of spectrum in globally harmonised bands will be made available for all operators in the future at fair prices to allow operators to have the ability to rapidly rollout networks. Earlier in the day, Bharti Airtel said it had acquired 355.45 Megahertz (MHz) of airwaves for Rs 18,699 crore in the auction which will help improve its coverage in villages by offering a superior experience to an additional 90 million customers in India. The government had received bids of Rs 77,146 crore on the first day of spectrum auction for 4G mobile network on Monday. A total of 2,308.80 MHz of telecom waves in seven frequency bands -- 700 MHz, 800 MHz, 900 MHz, 1800 MHz, 2100 MHz, 2300 MHz and 2500 MHz, were put up for auction. Also read: Airtel acquires spectrum worth Rs 18,699 crore; to help cover 90 million customers BUTTE COUNTY, Calif The conclusion of a three-day trial on Friday found a jail inmate guilty of seriously injuring another inmate at the Butte County Jail in an August 2020 attack, according to the Butte County District Attorney, Mike Ramsey. 28-year-old Cornelius Eugene McCauley, from Chico, was found guilty of assault with force likely to produce great bodily injury along with a special enhancement for great bodily injury, according to the Butte County District Attorneys Office. McCauley's attack in a housing pod was found to be unprovoked. The victim was taken to Oroville Hospital for treatment for their injuries. Jail surveillance video and the testimony of a tower guard who witnessed the attack were presented as evidence of the assault. The video shows McCauley square off in front of the victim, a 49-year-old Oroville man, then quickly attacks the other inmate beating him on the head. McCauley was being held in jail for a pending series of car break-in thefts in the Chico area between July 2019 and February 2020. He now faces up to 16 years in state prison at his pending sentencing hearing on April 7, 2021. This also includes an enhancement for a strike offense of robbery in Sacramento in 2014. Ramsey said Butte County is seeing increases in jail assaults due to recent reforms under AB-109 legislation and COVID-19 pandemic restrictions, both of which have contributed to jail over-crowding by limiting the transport of inmates who would otherwise serve time in state prison. English Francais Espanol Download PDF In rebuilding after COVID-19, policymakers must invest in innovative technology to leapfrog obstacles to inclusive development Africa has enjoyed strong economic growth for most of the 21st century, mainly because of robust global demand for primary commodities. But the Africa Rising narrative that accompanied this growth is mostly a story of rising GDP, which is overly one-dimensional. In fact, Africas economic growth has failed to generate many good jobspostponing, once again, the benefits of the demographic dividend of a large working-age population. Because there are fewer old and young people that require support than people of working age, the dividend is supposed to free up resources that can be devoted to inclusive development. Instead, African policymaking continued its now nearly half-century belief that achieving development is limited to managing povertyin other words, equating the business of development to poverty reduction. The shift from the industrialization agenda of the early post-independence period to one of poverty reduction is a major reason for the continents economic malaise. As the African Innovation Summit (2018) put it, the development agenda shifted from socioeconomic transformation to the lowest common denominator, managing poverty. To generate economic growth that leads to sustainable development, Africa must shift its focus to retaining and creating wealth, better managing its resources, fostering inclusiveness, moving up on global value chains, diversifying its economies, optimizing the energy mix, and placing human capital at the center of policymaking. For this to happen, African policy must foster investment in research, development, and innovation (R&D&I) to reboot the continents economic structures and catch up technologically with the rest of the world. Innovation, and the digital information technology that accompanies it, has become a necessary component of any effort to address such challenges as food security, education, health, energy, and competitiveness. The world is driven by innovation: unless African policymakers reap the potential benefits of R&D&I, the global divide will keep growing. The problem is that innovation is talked about and debated, but not strategized. An opportunity to go digital It is here, paradoxically, that the COVID-19 pandemic, despite all the economic and social devastation it has caused, provides an opportunity for African countries to innovate and go digital. African countries will have to rebuild their economies. They should not merely repair them; they should remake them, with digitalization leading the way. So far, civil societies seem to be more ready than policymakers to embrace digital technology. With no help from government, the digital technology industry has grown in Africathrough incubators and start-ups, tech hubs and data centers. Information and communication technology (ICT) activities are spreading across the continent, and young Africans are responding with digital technology to the challenges posed by COVID-19. For example, at an ICT hub in Kenya, FabLab created Msafari, a people-tracking application that can trace the spread of infections. A similar application, Wiqaytna6, was developed in Morocco. In Rwanda, the government is demonstrating what enlightened policies can achieve. The country has invested heavily in digital infrastructure90 percent of the country has access to broadband internet, and 75 percent of the population has cell phones. Early in the pandemic Rwanda parlayed that technological prowess into developing real-time digital mapping to track the spread of COVID-19, expanded telemedicine to reduce visits to clinics, and created chatbots to update people on the disease. These are promising endeavors, but digitalization is not widespread in Africa. Rwanda is the exception. Only 28 percent of Africans use the internet, a digital divide that prevents the continent from taking full advantage of digital technologys ability to mitigate some of the worst effects of the pandemic. That slow spread of internet technology also makes it difficult for the continent to leapfrog obstacles to sustainable development. To generate transformative growth, digitalization cannot be left mainly to civil society and the private sector. The socioeconomic divide in Africa feeds the digital divide, and vice versa. Digitalization needs to be scaled up forcefully by policymakers to unlock structural transformation. Digital divide When assessing the digital divide, it is important to remember that the issue is about more than access to the internet. How internet usage benefits the user is also a factor. The goal of digitalization should not just be greater consumption; it should enhance civil societies resilience, which demands a clear regulatory framework and an educated population. In Africa, its not just internet connectivity thats missing. So are other basicsincluding electricity, literacy, financial inclusion, and regulations. The result is that people are unable to use the digital solutions that are available. Furthermore, a good share of African populations still struggle with such life-threatening problems as conflict and food insecurity, which make daily survival their only goal. Millions of Africans are not only on the wrong side of the digital divide, they are on the wrong side of many divideslacking basic health and public necessities such as electricity, clean water, education, and health care. COVID-19 has exacerbated their plight because lockdowns and social distancing have made many public services accessible only online. The terrible truth is that these hundreds of millions of people have been left behind, and unless African policymakers realize that access to digital technologies is a critical tool for socioeconomic inclusion, progress will be confined to those with electricity and telecom servicesfurther isolating the vast majority without such access. The divide will widen. The deep disruptions generated by the pandemic have opened up opportunities to remake society that are subtle. These are times that test policymakers vision and leadership. As McKinsey & Company (2020) noted, the COVID-19 crisis contains the seeds of a large-scale reimagination of Africas economic structure, service delivery systems and social contract. The crisis is accelerating trends such as digitalization, market consolidation and regional cooperation, and is creating important new opportunitiesfor example, the promotion of local industry, the formalization of small businesses and the upgrading of urban infrastructure. As Africa rebuilds from COVID-19 disruptions it must not return to a pre-pandemic reality. The moment is now. As Africa rebuilds from COVID-19 disruptions it must not return to a pre-pandemic reality; it must build a better reality that recognizes the need for innovation, particularly digital technologies. This is the prerequisite for victory over its myriad development challengessuch as poverty, health, productivity, competitiveness, economic diversification, food security, climate change, and governance. Receptive to change Over the past five years, change has occurred in Africa, suggesting that the continent may be receptive to building better rather than merely rebuilding. Liu (2019) identified three major African initiatives that signal such receptivity to change: The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), which aims to create a single market with a combined GDP that exceeds $3.4 trillion and includes more than 1 billion people; The South African governments new Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution of the World Economic Forum (WEF), for dialog and cooperation on the challenges and opportunities presented by advanced technologies; The WEFs Africa Growth Platform, which aims to help companies grow and compete internationally, leveraging Africas entrepreneurial activity13 percent higher in its initial stage than the global average. These ongoing initiatives could become game changers, breathing life into the top-down dimension of going digital. So far, the change has been almost only from the bottom up. More than 600 technology hubsplaces designed to help start-up companieshave emerged across the continent. Three have achieved international recognition: Lagos in Nigeria, Nairobi in Kenya, and Cape Town in South Africa. These tech hubs host thousands of start-ups, incubators, technology parks, and innovation centers driven by the private sector and young people who, despite adversity, are aware of how self-employment is linked to innovation. Public policy lacking Things are less promising from the top down. According to a 2018 WEF report, 22 of 25 countries analyzed had no public policies focused on an ecosystem for innovation. Investing in broad-based digitalization, from a geographic and sectoral point of view, is crucial not only to address socioeconomic problems but also to deal with peace and security challenges. And it boosts economic growth. A study by the International Telecommunication Union found that 10 percent greater mobile broadband penetration would generate a 2.5 percent rise in Africas GDP per capita. But digital solutions cannot be achieved in a vacuum. Policymakers must make implementation of digital technologies an element of an ecosystem of innovation, and theres no time to lose. Well-calibrated regulatory frameworks, investment in infrastructure, digital skills, and financial inclusion must take priority. Most research shows that digital technologies are essential to addressing socioeconomic challenges. They are often described as the single ingredient Africa needs to leapfrog to sustainable and inclusive economic development. From an economic standpoint, better information and communication technology democratizes information crucial to production and market agents, which makes for more efficient value chains and more affordable products and services. And the most vulnerable people will benefit. However, the massive adoption of digital technologies also means that policymakers must be aware of and address the complex legal and ethical impact of technology in society, including privacy, data, and tax evasion. This is especially true in Africa, where weak institutions might not be strong enough to uphold the rights and interests of their people against those of the market. ADVERTISEMENT The newly-appointed service chiefs have been confirmed by the Senate. The confirmation was done during plenary on Wednesday which was a sequel to the consideration and adoption of the report of the Senate joint Committees on Defence, Army and Navy which screened the nominees. The service chiefs confirmed are Chief of Defence Staff, Lucky Irabor, Chief of Army Staff and Ibrahim Attahiru, both major generals. Others are Chief of Naval Staff, Awwal Gambo, a rear admiral and Chief Air Staff, Oladayo Amao, an air vice marshal. Aliyu Wamakko (APC, Sokoto North), who presented the report, told the Senate that their nomination was in accordance with Section 18(1) of the Armed Forces Act. Cap A20 Laws the Federation of Nigeria 2004. He said no petition was submitted against the nominees and that they were cleared by the Code of Conduct Bureau. The lawmaker added that the new service chiefs possess the requisite experience for the roles, saying they were articulate in thier response and displayed in-depth knowledge on security matters. He thereafter recommended that the Senate confirm the nominees, an act which was done in the Committee of the Whole. The new service chiefs will replace the former set of service chiefs Chief of Defence Staff, Gabriel Olonisakin; Chief of Army Staff, Tukur Buratai; Chief of Naval Staff, Ibok Ibas; and Chief of Air Staff, Sadique Abubakar all of whom have been appointed as non-career ambassadors. PREMIUM TIMES reported how the new service chiefs made promises to tackle insecurity in the country. This was during their screening exercise barely a week ago. They were appointed in February, about week after the former service chiefs resigned. In his remarks, the Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, noted that the nomination of the new service chiefs came after many calls for the replacement of the former service chiefs. This is even as he commended the former service chiefs for their services. He urged the new set to ensure all hands on deck to tackle insecurity and stressed the need for inter-agency cooperation in the security sector. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. FLINT TOWNSHIP, MI -- A 77-year-old woman killed in a Flint Township house fire Sunday morning has been identified by authorities. The Flint Township Fire Department has identified the victim of a Sunday, Feb. 28 house fire as 77-year-old Berita Jones, of Flint Township. Firefighters responded to the scene in the 3200 block of Southgate Drive shortly after 8 a.m. Sunday, according to a fire department news release. Upon arrival, crews found heavy smoke from the first floor windows of the home. Related: Woman dies in Flint Township house fire Firefighters entered the house and found high heat and heavy smoke conditions on the main floor. Crews extinguished the fire as they conducted a search for Jones, who they believed to be trapped inside. Firefighters found the Jones deceased in her bedroom. One other occupant of the home was injured during the incident. He, along with the remaining members of the home were taken to a local hospital. The Flint Township Fire Department was assisted by the Flint Township Police Department and a Michigan State Police Fire Investigator on scene. The cause of the fire is still under investigation. Read more on MLive: Woman shoots intruder in neck while home alone with child, police say Ohio man arraigned after threatening to burn down a Michigan elementary school, police say 15-year-old shot in Flint in critical condition Tuscola County crash leaves two injured, police say Oakland County deputy shoots armed suspect after standoff in Royal Oak Suspect arrested after Midland County stabbing sends two to hospital Advertisement New daily coronavirus cases continue to fall across the U.S. with only three states Florida, New York, and Texas reporting more than 5,000 cases on Tuesday. There were 54,248 new cases reported, which according to data published by the COVID Tracking Project, is the lowest number of new cases reported on a Tuesday since October 13. Hospitalizations also continue to fall with patients in many states plunging by half since records were set in January. The COVID Tracking Project reported that there were 29 states with more than 300 patients hospitalized with coronavirus per million residents on January 2, but there is now no state with more than 300 coronavirus hospitalizations per million people. Only four states Georgia, New Jersey, New York, and D.C. have between 200 and 300 people hospitalized per million residents. It comes as President Joe Biden announced on Tuesday that the U.S. will have enough vaccine doses for every adult in the country by the end of May. Biden made the announcement on the heels of green-lighting the Defense Production Act to be used to assist Merck & Co with manufacturing Johnson & Johnson's COVID-19 vaccine. As it's a one-dose vaccine, with Johnson & Johnson, more people can be vaccinated with fewer doses. President Joe Biden announced Tuesday from the White House's State Dining Room that ther would be enough vaccine for every American adult by the end of May - and announced prioritizing K-12 educators and staff for vaccine distribution According to the COVID Tracking Project, only three states Florida, New York, and Texas reported more than 5,000 cases on Tuesday. There are now 27 states reporting less than 500 new daily cases, the data added Our daily update is published. States reported 1.3 million tests, 54k cases, 46,388 currently hospitalized COVID-19 patients, and 1,885 deaths. pic.twitter.com/p6LS3g1ZUr The COVID Tracking Project (@COVID19Tracking) March 3, 2021 Hospitalizations also continue to fall with many plunging in half since records were set in January. As of Tuesday, there is now no state with more than 300 coronavirus hospitalizations per million people (as pictured in the graph above) Pictured, people wait to receive a COVID-19 vaccine at the Javits Center in New York on Tuesday. President Joe Biden announced the same day that the U.S. will have enough vaccine doses for every adult in the country by the end of May Biden also announced an initiative to get schools reopened by prioritizing the vaccination of K-12 teachers and staff using the federal pharmacy program during a brief speech from the White House's State Dining Room on Tuesday. 'When we came into office the prior administration had contracted for not nearly enough vaccine to cover adults in America,' he said pointing a finger at former President Donald Trump. 'We rectified that about three weeks ago and were able to say that we'll have enough vaccine supply for adults by the end of July. 'I'm pleased to announce today as a consequence of the stepped up process that I've ordered and just outlined, this country will have enough vaccine supply - I'll say it again - for every adult in America by the end of May. That's progress,' the president added. Earlier in Texas and Mississippi announced that mask mandates in the state will be lifted as experts warned that it was still too early, despite the fall in cases, hospitalizations and deaths. As of Tuesday, the country's death toll from COVID-19 reaches 515,899 with 28.7million Americans infected. Nationwide, 46,388 patients remain hospitalized with COVID-19 on Tuesday as 1,885 new deaths were reported. New daily cases remained over 50,000 on Tuesday, continuing a 20-week streak. The last time Tuesday figures were below 50,000 was on October 13. It climbed over 200,000 on December 8 and again on January 5 and January 12, remaining over 100,000 until February 9. Texas reported the highest number of new cases on Tuesday (7,747), followed by Florida (7,047) and New York (5,800). Ten states reported between 500 and 1,000 cases and another 27 states less than 500 new cases. Hawaii had only 35 new cases on Tuesday and Alaska 89. Nationwide, there were 54,248 new COVID-19 cases reported on Tuesday and 1,885 deaths (as pictured) It marked the fewest number of new cases reported on a Tuesday since October 13 (as pictured in the graph above) The COVID Tracking Project says data as leveled out after a delay in reporting caused by winter storms two weeks ago On Tuesday, President Biden also predicted that by March 2022 the pandemic could be largely over. 'I've been cautioned not to give an answer to that because we don't know for sure,' Biden said as he was leaving the podium. 'But my hope is by this time next year we're going to be back to normal, and before, that's my hope.' The Biden administration has promised that U.S. states will be receiving 15.2 million coronavirus vaccine doses per week. That is a nearly five percent increase from the current 14.5 million doses states are receiving and a 76 percent increase from the 8.6 million when President Joe Biden took office, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said Tuesday. The U.S. has now fully vaccinated about 7.7 percent of the population, with about 15 percent getting at least their first dose. Vaccine rates have steadily ticked up from about about 1 million per day immediately after Biden took office, then reaching 1.5 million, and hitting 2 million for three consecutive days between February 26 and 28. White House press secretary Jen Psaki said in a briefing on Tuesday (pictured above) that the Defense Production Act will be used to ensure that two Merck facilities are able to produce Johnson & Johnson's vaccine President Joe Biden speculated on Tuesday that the pandemic could be largely over by March 2022, pictured However, the effects of a winter storm briefly knocked down distribution over the past couple of weeks. As a result, the U.S. is now giving a 7-day rolling average of 1.8 million shots a day. The Centers for Disease Control said it had distributed 102 million doses and that 79 million had been administered. The total included both Moderna and Pfizer/BioNTech vaccines as the new J&J vaccine gets distributed. Nearly 52 million people have now received one or more vaccine doses. Earlier at the White House briefing, press secretary Psaki explained that the U.S. government is facilitating the partnership between Johnson & Johnson and Merck in 'several key ways.' 'Including invoking the Defense Production Act to equip two Merck facilities to the standards necessary to safely manufacture the vaccine,' Psaki explained. She also said the Defense Department would provide 'daily logistical support' to assist Merck's and Johnson & Johnson's efforts. Biden echoed those points. The news of the 'historic partnership' between the two companies broke earlier Tuesday. Biden applauded Johnson & Johnson and Merck for being 'good corporate citizens.' 'This is the type of collaboration between companies we saw in World War II,' the president noted. 'As I've always said, this is a wartime effort and every action has been on the table, including putting together breakthrough approaches,' Biden said. Biden also took time in his speech to ask Americans to stay vigilant. 'Now there is light at the end of the tunnel,' he assured those watching. 'But we cannot let our guard down now or assure victory is inevitable. We can't assume that. We must remain vigilant, act fast and aggressively, and look out for one another.' 'That's how we're going to get ahead of this virus, get our economy going again and get back to our loved ones,' he continued, adding, 'please, please, it's not over yet. Great news, but stay vigilant.' Biden's remarks came after Texas Gov. Greg Abbott announced earlier Tuesday that his state, which was just hobbled by winter weather, would be 'OPEN 100%.' 'EVERYTHING,' the Republican governor said, adding that he had ended the statewide mask mandate. His move was quickly criticized by those on the left for being premature. Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves almost immediately followed suit announcing he is rolling back all county mask mandates and removing statewide restrictions on all businesses from tomorrow, with the exception of maintaining a 50 percent capacity on indoor arenas and keeping rules in place for K-12 schools. The sudden push to reopen came just hours after CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky warned states not to rush to ease COVID-19 restrictions too quickly, despite the fall in cases and the increased pace of the vaccine rollout. Most of the country has lived under mask mandates during the pandemic, with at least 37 states requiring face coverings to some degree. But those orders are increasingly falling by the wayside with North Dakota, Montana and Iowa also lifting mask orders in recent weeks. At the briefing, Psaki touted the Johnson & Johnson/Merck announcement and said it showed that the Biden administration was getting things done. 'These obviously are two companies that have historically been competitors so the fact that they are coming together speaks to the ability of this administration broadly to bring them to the table and work together to address the pandemic in the country,' Psaki said. She added that it was an 'across-the-administration effort.' 'As soon as we learned about the fact that Johnson & Johnson was behind in the manufacturing steps and efforts, we took steps to ensure we can expedite that and partner them with one of the world's biggest manufacturers,' the press secretary explained. One of the two DPA-assisted Merck production facilities will help with 'fill-finish capacity,' the actual filling and packaging of vaccine vials. The DPA was also used to help get the correct ingredients for the vaccine, which will be produced in the other Merck facility. Psaki wouldn't say if the reason why the administration stepped in was because Johnson & Johnson wouldn't be able to fulfill its obligation of 100 million doses to the U.S. government otherwise. 'I wouldn't put it in those terms,' she said, instead saying the White House wanted to 'capitalize on the scientific breakthrough' and ensure that vaccine production was 'expedited.' On Saturday, the Food and Drug Administration issued an emergency use authorization for Johnson & Johnson's one-shot COVID-19 vaccine, making it the third to gain the U.S. government's approval. One reporter at the briefing pointed out conversations between people at Johnson & Johnson and Merck were happening before Biden was sworn-in, asking why the administration deserved credit. 'There's a difference between conversations and it moving forward, and the use of the Defense Production Act, which is something this president and not the prior president committed to invoking,' Psaki said, taking a swipe at Trump, who was reluctant to use the DPA in the early months of the pandemic. She said she was only 'conveying what got it across the finish line.' 'And I think it's clear that that has only happened relatively recently,' she said. WORCESTER, Mass., March 2, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. (NYSE: THG) today announced the results of its annual employee giving campaign, raising $1.5 million for United Way and hundreds of other nonprofit organizations across the country. The contribution represents the largest donation the company's charitable foundation and its employees have ever made through the annual giving program. More than 83% of employees nationwide contributed to the company's "More United Than Ever" virtual campaign in recognition of the COVID-19 pandemic, with 3,500 employees taking part. Throughout this year, donations will be paid out to 113 United Way chapters and 1,515 nonprofits. The contributions will benefit countless individuals and families in need across the country who receive support and services through nonprofit organizations. Employees alone contributed $1,001,249 to the campaign. With matches from The Hanover Insurance Group Foundation, the campaign raised a total of $1.5 million. For more than 70 years, The Hanover has held an annual campaign to solicit pledges for United Way agencies and nonprofits across the country. The Hanover's United Way campaign has one of the highest participation rates in the world among companies that are part of the United Way's Global Corporate Leadership program, and has a participation rate five times the national average. "This was certainly a challenging year, and I am proud of all our employees who rose to the occasion to support the efforts of nonprofit agencies throughout the country," said John C. Roche, president and chief executive officer at The Hanover. "This really speaks to the importance our company and our employees place on giving back to our communities, helping our friends and neighbors, especially at a time when so many are in need of extra support. The generosity of our employees will go a long way in helping countless people this year." "We are grateful to The Hanover Insurance Group and its employees for their continued partnership and trust, and for their years of support to our communities," said Suzanne McCormick, U.S. president of United Way Worldwide. "The Hanover Insurance Group is leading in employee and corporate participation, and the generous contributions enable community partners and United Way to continue to provide vital services to individuals everywhere." About The Hanover Insurance Group Foundation The Hanover Insurance Group Foundation, Inc. is the charitable giving arm of The Hanover Insurance Group. The foundation's mission is to enact meaningful and positive change in the lives of underserved children and youth and empower the difference makers who support them. The Hanover Insurance Group Foundation provides program grants to nonprofit organizations that work collaboratively in their communities, offering new and innovative programs that address the barriers preventing children and youth from realizing their full potential. About The Hanover The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. is the holding company for several property and casualty insurance companies, which together constitute one of the largest insurance businesses in the United States. The company provides exceptional insurance solutions through a select group of independent agents and brokers. Together with its agent partners, The Hanover offers standard and specialized insurance protection for small and mid-sized businesses, as well as for homes, automobiles, and other personal items. For more information, please visit hanover.com . SOURCE The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. Related Links www.hanover.com New Delhi: Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) leader Balbir Singh Rajewal said on Tuesday (March 2) that the protesting farmers will visit poll-bound states, including West Bengal and Kerala, and will urge people to vote against the BJP. We'll send teams to poll-bound states -- to West Bengal and Kerala. We will not support any party but appeal to people to vote for the candidates who can defeat BJP. We will tell people about Modi govt's attitude towards farmers, Rajewal was quoted as saying by ANI. Meanwhile, Swaraj India leader Yogendra Yadav said that the farmers will go to poll-bound states and appeal to people to punish BJP and its allies. He informed that they will hold a public meeting on March 12 in Kolkata, West Bengal. In the Assembly elections, we will appeal to people to punish this party (BJP) and its allies who brought anti-farmer laws. We will go to the boll-bound states. This programme will begin in Kolkata on March 12 with a public meeting, Yadav told in the press conference. He added that as the farmers protest will mark its 100th day on March 6, farmers will block the KundliManesarPalwal (KMP) Expressway from different points between 11 am to 4 pm. While from March 5, 'MSP Dilao' movement will be kickstarted in Karnataka urging the PM to ensure Minimum Support Prices (MSP) for crops. Yadav said that farmers will join the employees and labourers when they protest against privatisation and corporatisation on March 15. In a meeting with 10 major trade unions, it was decided in-principle that farmers & labourers will fight this battle together. On March 15, labourers and employees will take to streets across the country against privatisation and corporatisation. Farmers will join them, ANI quoted Yadav as saying. We're always interested in hearing about news in our community. Let us know what's going on! Go to form It is inconceivable that international transport workers in Laois and other counties are not being prioritsed for Covid-19 vaccination because of the essential work they do. Such workers need to be offered COVID-19 vaccinations as a matter of urgency, according to FTA Ireland (FTAI), the business group representing the Irish logistics sector. Aidan Flynn, General Manager of FTAI, comments: It is inconceivable that international transport workers the individuals we rely on to provide the nation with the essential goods it needs are at risk of not receiving their COVID-19 vaccine for many months. With approximately 3,000 haulage drivers per week making the journey from the Republic of Ireland to Great Britain or continental Europe, FTAI is urging Stephen Donnelly TD, the Minister for Health, to provide urgent confirmation on when these vital workers will receive their jabs. "While many countries require proof of a negative antigen test before hauliers can travel and this offers some protection the testing regime is costly, cumbersome, and acts as a barrier to smooth trade flows while failing to guarantee the safety of workers. "And with the Irish government considering implementing stronger restrictions on international travel mandatory home quarantine after overseas travel vaccination is the only option to preserve international connectivity while providing drivers and their families with peace of mind that they are being kept as safe as possible, he said. FTA Ireland describes itself as a not-for-profit membership trade association for the Irish freight, passenger and logistics industries. We are wholly owned and governed by our members, and act solely in advancing their best interests. FTA Ireland says it covers all aspects of private and public freight transport, passenger transport and logistics supply chain, including road, rail, sea and air. FTAI represents some of the largest freight and passenger operators in Ireland, with more than 25,000 employees and 10,000 vehicles operating between them. Adams, N.Y. Joseph A. Pompo did not need to sell cars at Fuccillo Auto Group to help the dealership chain make money. Pompo, an accountant by trade, used his penchant for numbers in his work for the well-known Upstate New York car dealer until state police accused him of using that same financial savvy to bilk the Fuccillos out of more than $1 million, according to court records. Pompo, 31, was charged Friday with first-degree grand larceny, a felony. A state police investigator said in court records Pompo stole $1,119,794.02 from Fuccillo from January through December 2020. As the dealership groups director of taxation and finance, Pompo, 31, handled Fuccillos reinsurance business. (It is common for car dealerships to have separate, reinsurance companies, through which they provide warranties and other consumer benefits and protections. The companies also make money from the reinsurance premiums.) Pompos financial expertise had further benefitted the company, too. Last year, he helped Fuccillo uncover a fraud scheme that had cost the dealership chain millions of dollars, Pompo told an automotive trade publication. His work helped the dealership group recover $3.5 million in a settlement. By his own telling, Pompos discovery that the third-party had overcharged Fuccillo by several million dollars boosted his standing within the company. Soon after, he was awarded oversight of the finance and insurance department, according to a 40 under 40 profile in the trade publication. Now, the same employee who passionately defended the local business known across the state for its commercials stands accused of defrauding that same company out of a million dollars. Court documents, including signed affidavits from founder Billy Fuccillo Sr., his son William and the companys chief financial officer, detail what police say was a year-long scheme to defraud the automotive business. A woman who answered the phone at Fuccillo Auto Group in Adams said the company declined to comment. In statements filed in court, Fuccillo company officials claim that Pompo forged founder Billy Fuccillo Sr.s signature multiple times, without his permission, in order to authorize himself to set up a new company, New Freedom Reinsurance 6 Inc. Pompo paid himself through that company, police said. Court documents show Pompo and his wife, as board directors for New Freedom, signed documents agreeing to pay Pompo almost $33,000 in April. In an interview with Syracuse.com | The Post-Standard, Pompo said Fuccillo Sr. agreed to the arrangement, that it was legal and even necessary to meet industry regulations. Pompo said that it was part of his job responsibilities to set up and handle Billy Fuccillo Sr.s reinsurance arrangement. If I didnt have authority to conduct business on his behalf, he wouldnt have a $4 million reinsurance business right now, Pompo said. Pompo declined to discuss the arrangement or criminal case in further detail but said he believes the charge against him will be dropped when he has a chance to defend himself in court. In an affadivit, Fuccillo Sr. repeatedly and adamantly refuted the idea that he would agree to give Pompo authority to do what he did. Fuccillo Sr. argues he would not essentially allow Pompo to make $1 million through reinsurance that Fuccillo could have otherwise made himself. According to court records, Pompo worked for the Fuccillo Auto Group for about two years. William Fuccillo Jr. wrote in an affidavit that Pompo targeted the family and their business at a vulnerable time. Fuccillo Sr. was hospitalized at the time one signature was forged, according to the affidavit. Fuccillo Jr. writes that the timing, and Pompos knowledge of the elder Fuccillos health problems, was abhorrent. Though Pompo was relatively new to working in automotive retail, its clear he took on a large role in the company. In an interview with a trade publication, Pompo said he restructured the finance department, and designed an incentive program using stimulus money from the Paycheck Protection Program, to help the business through the most challenging part of the coronavirus pandemic. In the 40 under 40 article, Pompo said he followed his father into accounting, and worked in his familys business before taking the job with Fuccillo. Pompo played lacrosse at West Genesee High School, the University at Albany and eventually the College of Saint Rose, where he earned his MBA before passing his certified public accountants exam. Contact Julie McMahon: Email | Twitter | 315-412-1992. Staff writer Samantha House covers breaking news, crime and public safety. Have a tip, a story idea, a question or a comment? Reach her at shouse@syracuse.com. Parrott said applicants for the police first must take a written exam. Depending on the score, they then have an oral interview conducted by a police panel, which is scored on a pass/fail basis. If they pass that interview, there is a subsequent interview with the Fire and Police commission, which is scored. That score is combined with the score of the written exam and the candidate is then placed on an eligibility list. The department hires from the rank order. A TRIAL for a Winnipeg Police Service officer accused of assaulting a man while off-duty started as planned Monday, after a judge dismissed a motion to have the case against him quashed for delay. A TRIAL for a Winnipeg Police Service officer accused of assaulting a man while off-duty started as planned Monday, after a judge dismissed a motion to have the case against him quashed for delay. Reasons for provincial court Judge Sidney Lerners decision will be released at a later date. Patrol Sgt. Sean Cassidy is charged with one count of assault for an incident alleged to have occurred March 27, 2017. Cassidy had argued prosecutors took too long to bring his case to trial. Timelines established by the Supreme Court of Canada in 2016 mandated that, barring exceptional circumstances, provincial court cases be resolved within 18 months of an accused persons arrest. Cassidy was arrested in January 2019, and was originally set to stand trial in March 2020. The trial was adjourned due to the COVID-19 pandemic and rescheduled for October, when Cassidys lawyers sought another adjournment due to late disclosure from the Crown. On Monday, Kenneth James Cote testified he and an employee were in La Salle delivering flyers to customers of Cote Landscaping when a vehicle started following them. The vehicle followed Cote into Winnipeg. Cote saw a marked police cruiser on St. Marys Road and stopped to get help. Cassidy, the driver of the other vehicle, stopped as well, and during a subsequent confrontation threw Cote to the ground. Cote said Cassidy punched and kneed him in the face before a WPS officer pulled him away. He was later released without charge. Cote didnt report the incident to police until 15 months later. "It took a while to find a lawyer to help me do something about this," Cote said under cross-examination by Cassidys lawyer, Lisa LaBossiere. "Any lawyer I asked said no, because it involved city police I tried everything I could." Cote filed a lawsuit seeking financial damages against Cassidy and the City of Winnipeg in 2019. "You wanted money from Cassidy and the police," LaBossiere said. "No, I wanted justice for what happened that day," Cote said. LaBossiere continued to press Cote. "One of the things you are seeking is money," she said. "Yes," Cote replied. The trial resumes Wednesday. dean.pritchard@freepress.ca Belo Horizonte, Brazil--(Newsfile Corp. - March 2, 2021) - Brazil Minerals, Inc. (OTC Pink: BMIX) (the "Company" or "Brazil Minerals"), the Strategic Mineral Resource Company for the Green Energy Revolution, is pleased to announce that it has entered into agreements with Triton Funds, LP ("Triton Funds") for an investment of up to $5,000,000 in the common stock of the Company. Triton Funds was founded by and is managed by students from the University of California, San Diego, and backed by scientific and academic advisory boards. Triton Funds is the largest student-run investment fund in the United States and focuses on "millennial growth ESG" (Environmental, Social and Governance) opportunities. Triton Funds has committed to invest $2,500,000 in the purchase of common stock of the Company at a small discount to a publicly traded price subject to certain terms and conditions detailed in a common stock purchase agreement. At its option, Triton may invest an additional $2,500,000 in the purchase of common stock of the Company through the exercise of two-year cash warrants. Triton Funds is primarily focused on investments that will have a lasting positive impact on the millennial generation with a portfolio of both public and private companies. Since Brazil Minerals has projects in essential minerals for the Green Energy Revolution - lithium, rare earths, and titanium - the match was highly synergistic. Arnold Nunez, Senior Associate at Triton Funds, commented, "With a strong and seasoned management team that has a stellar vision for the company, Brazil Minerals will make an exceptional addition to the Triton Funds portfolio. This capital infusion will enable the company to continue expanding their impressive mineral rights portfolio as well as ramp up operations on preexisting projects throughout their vast footprint in Brazil. We're excited to grow alongside Brazil Minerals by acting as a catalyst for their growth, vision, and becoming their strategic institutional investor." Marc Fogassa, CEO & Chairman of Brazil Minerals, added, "We received a number of indications of interest from potential investors but, from the very beginning of our conversations, Triton Funds demonstrated excellent analytical rigor and superb follow-up. It is an honor to work with this terrific group from UCSD, and we look forward to accelerating our lithium exploration and mining development with this capital." About Triton Funds LLC Triton Funds is the nation's largest student venture investment fund, managed entirely by students from UC San Diego located in Southern California. With $25M in assets under management, Triton Funds has taken an active part in both the San Diego ecosystem and nationwide, focusing on investments that will have a lasting positive impact on the Millennial generation with a portfolio of both private and public companies. The aim of Triton Funds is to create a student learning platform that will provide real-world experience and help bridge the gap between a STEM dominated university and Wall Street, helping students jumpstart their careers in finance, while providing strategic capitalization, business development support, and engineered exits to organizations with a viable future in the modern economy. Follow the Triton Funds story by visiting the Triton Funds website, Instagram, Twitter, or reach out directly via email. More information can be found at http://www.tritonfunds.com. About Brazil Minerals, Inc. Brazil Minerals, Inc. (OTC Pink: BMIX) is focused on essential and strategic minerals for the Green Energy Revolution with 100%-owned projects in hard-rock lithium, rare earths and titanium. Additionally, Brazil Minerals has interests in iron through a 60.2% ownership in Apollo Resources Corporation and in gold through a 30.0% ownership in Jupiter Gold Corporation (OTCQB: JUPGF). Follow us on Twitter: @BMIXstock. Safe Harbor Statement This press release contains forward-looking statements made under the "safe harbor" provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward looking statements are based upon the current plans, estimates and projections of Brazil Minerals, Inc.'s management and are subject to risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual results to differ from the forward- looking statements. Such statements include, among others, those concerning market and industry segment growth and demand and acceptance of new and existing products; any projections of production, reserves, sales, earnings, revenue, margins or other financial items; any statements of the plans, strategies and objectives of management for future operations; any statements regarding future economic conditions or performance; uncertainties related to conducting business in Brazil, as well as all assumptions, expectations, predictions, intentions or beliefs about future events. Therefore, you should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. The following factors, among others, could cause actual results to differ from those set forth in the forward-looking statements: business conditions in Brazil, general economic conditions, geopolitical events and regulatory changes, availability of capital, Brazil Minerals, Inc.'s ability to maintain its competitive position and dependence on key management. This press release does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any security and shall not constitute an offer, solicitation or sale of any securities in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of such jurisdiction. We advise U.S. investors that Brazil Minerals' (and its subsidiaries') properties and projects, as of now, are exploratory and do not have measured "reserves" as such term is defined by the Securities and Exchange Commission. Contact: Brian W. Bernier Head, Corporate Development and Investor Relations (833) 661-7900 info@brazil-minerals.com www.brazil-minerals.com @BMIXstock To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/75817 Around San Francisco on Tuesday, workers and business owners were revving up for the latest gyrations in San Franciscos health orders, which are now in the states red tier for reopening, allowing for indoor dining, gyms and some other commercial activities to resume and others to allow higher capacities after months of strict controls. Randi Wenig was among them, and cant wait to return to her job as a server at The Anchovy Bar, which will reopen Friday for outdoor dining. The unemployment system is completely messed up and its been excruciating trying to get money, she said. Every time I got paid this year, I had to fight for it and spend hours waiting on the phone. Thats why Im so excited to go back to work where I will definitely be making income. Shes returning for training Wednesday morning. I have so much to do before then, she said on Tuesday. I have to dye my hair back to a normal color (she went with pink and orange while she was laid off); I need to get my nails presentable. Wenig, who has asthma, is relieved that she was able to get her first vaccine shot this month. But some workers who arent yet vaccinated were concerned about returning. I was definitely hoping to at least begin the process (of vaccination) before the indoor dining scenario is realized, said Anna Stutsman, who serves at Barcha in San Francisco. Stutsman hasnt had luck getting a vaccination appointment yet, but she said Barcha doesnt plan to immediately open for indoor dining it may depend on whether cold, rainy days are ahead. Jumping the gun is my concern, sand Adrian Lopez, a server at Rintaro and co-owner of Grand Coffee in San Francisco. He wishes workers had more time to get vaccinated before the arrival of indoor dining. Why cant we wait? Why cant we have a smidge more patience? Charlie Arthur Coffee, a facilities manager at Local Kitchen, a pizza restaurant in SOMA, said hiring and retaining workers have been difficult during the pandemic. To have everything fully stop, and then restart, and then stop again, and then open once more, well thats a very difficult way to run a business, he said. The year-long measures have decimated the restaurants revenue, he said. Hiring and then not being able to give people work is something weve been trying to avoid, he said. It hasnt been easy knowing how many workers we can afford at any given time and what days we might be open. For the fitness industry, which has been closed for indoor use since late November, as well as for months earlier last year, the reopening of indoor gyms, even at 10% capacity, was welcome news. I love what I do, said David Iborra, assistant general manager at the Castro location of Fitness SF, which will reopen all six city locations on Wednesday. Seeing people; feeling activity, coming back is very nice. It makes us feel positive about the outcome in the following months. He and many other gym workers and owners think the industry should have been considered a health activity, rather than leisure. Most people feel deconditioned and like their health has deteriorated, (because they) havent been able to train or work out, said Don Dickerson, vice president of Fitness SF. It really takes a toll on the body. People use fitness as an outlet for stress. Fitness SF offered outdoor workout spaces in huge tents during the closures and will keep one of them open. After a year, people are dying to get back to some routine and have some sense of community, Dickerson said on Tuesday. Weve had hundreds and hundreds of members let us know that they want to come back tomorrow morning. Carolyn Said, Shwanika Narayan and Janelle Bitker are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. Email: csaid@sfchronicle.com shwanika.narayan@sfchronicle.com janelle.bitker@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @csaid @shwanika @Janelle Bitker PARIS Chemical munitions experts have for years compiled information that Syrias government has used these banned weapons against its own people, a war crime that so far has gone unpunished and been dismissed with a sneer by President Bashar al-Assad. Now the first criminal inquiries that target Mr. al-Assad and his associates over the use of chemical weapons may soon get underway. In a major step to hold Mr. al-Assad and his circle accountable for some of the worst atrocities committed in the decade-old Syria conflict, judges at a special war crimes unit in Frances palace of justice have received a complaint about chemical weapons attacks in Syria, filed by three international human rights groups. The complaint, which lawyers said the judges would likely accept, requests a criminal investigation of Mr. al-Assad, his brother, Maher, and a litany of senior advisers and military officials that formed the chain of command. A 49-year-old man is accused of stabbing his 82-year-old father in a Massachusetts home last week before barricading himself inside the house while armed with a knife, according to authorities. Jeffrey Foresta, of Ayer, has since been arrested and arraigned on a charge of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon on a person over the age of 60 in connection with the stabbing on Feb. 27, Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryans office said in a statement Tuesday. Ayer police responded to a 911 call from a home on Littleton Road shortly before 11 a.m. Saturday and found the victim outside the house with a stab wound. The man was taken to an area hospital, where he was treated and eventually released, according to the statement. Authorities said officers learned Foresta was armed with a knife and had barricaded himself inside the house. Police tried to talk with the suspect but were unsuccessful, Ryans office said. For the safety of Forestas family and neighboring residents, authorities called for more support and a negotiator from the North Eastern Massachusetts Law Enforcement Council SWAT team. The first NEMLEC officers arrived at the scene and began negotiations with the suspect. The SWAT team then entered the home through the front door with a key provided by a family member. Foresta was taken into custody and brought to Nashoba Valley Medical Center in Ayer, according to the district attorneys office. He was arraigned Monday in Ayer District Court and ordered to undergo a mental health evaluation. His next scheduled hearing is March 19. The University of Illinois System received emergency-use authorization Monday from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for its saliva-based COVID-19 test, as the statewide seven-day rolling positivity rate reached 2.4%. The FDA approval allows for the covidShield test to expand beyond the university system. The saliva-based COVID-19 test has been administered more than 1.5 million times at universities in Urbana-Champaign, Chicago and Springfield since it was launched in 2020. Gov. J.B. Pritzker said he will dedicate $20 million in federal CARES Act funding to provide 1 million of the saliva-based tests to Illinois 12 public universities and 48 community colleges. According to Pritzker, widespread testing remains critical to combating the ongoing pandemic. An agreement between the Illinois Department of Public Health and the University of Illinois system allows for federal funds to be put toward providing the tests. My administration has been proud to work hand in hand with U of I since the earliest days of this development, which has had an enormously positive effect on keeping COVID-19 at bay, and were wasting no time in deploying this technology throughout the state, Pritzker said. The samples are tested at a covidShield lab and people receive results within 24 hours. The test uses a genetic material contained in SARS-CoV-2 virus to determine if the virus is present in saliva. The University of Illinois has been a national leader in innovation for decades, and the campus groundbreaking work to develop rapid, saliva-based COVID-19 testing is but the latest example of that tradition, Pritzker said. . Total cases in west-central Illinois counties as of Monday, according to individual county health departments, were: Brown County 663 total, 643 recovered, seven deaths Three new cases. Cass County 1,895 total, 1,844 recovered, 32 deaths Five new cases. Greene County 1,361 total, 1,304 recovered, 47 deaths Jersey County 2,483 total, 2,413 recovered, 45 deaths Macoupin County 4,502 total, 3,923 recovered, 108 deaths Seven new cases. Morgan County 3,663 total, 3,520 released from restrictions, 99 deaths Three new cases and one additional death, that of a woman in her 70s. Pike County 1,673 total, 1,614 recovered, 47 deaths Five new cases. Sangamon County 16,152 total, 218 deaths 58 new cases. Schuyler County 652 total, 628 recovered, 16 deaths Scott County 450 total, 444 recovered, one death Statewide, 1,143 new cases of coronavirus disease and 20 deaths were reported Monday, according to the Illinois Department of Public Health. There have been 1,187,839 cases and 20,536 deaths in Illinois. Bahrain's Ministry of Housing has announced that it has launched new housing eServices on the national portal (bahrain.bh) in collaboration with Information & eGovernment Authority (iGA) offering customers a host of services. Launched by the Minister of Housing, Engineer Basim bin Yacob Al Hamar, the e-services available on the portal include: Apply for Housing Request, Request Status Enquiry, Update Contact Details and IBAN, Apply for Mazaya Request, and Apply for Loan Request. iGA Deputy CE of eTransformation, Dr Zakareya Ahmed AlKhajah lauded the minister for his focus on digital transformation and the deployment of advanced technologies to improve the ministrys services. He also commended the specialist teams at the ministry for their hard work in supporting the launch of the latest batch of eServices, which is part of the first phase of its digital transformation plan. AlKhajah said that the commitment shown by the ministrys specialist teams supports the iGAs strategy and goals, which centre on the digital transformation of government services using different electronic channels. "Citizens who meet eligibility criteria can avail of the eServices via the National Portal, bahrain.bh. The services can also be accessed via the ministrys official website, housing.gov.bh which redirects to the National Portal," he added. Assistant Undersecretary for Policies & Housing Services at the ministry Dr Khalid Al Haidan said that the Apply for Housing Request service allows citizens to submit their applications for new housing units or allocations of land by the ministry so individual can build their own units at their expense after receiving the land. It also allows Bahrainis (aged between 21 and 50) to request ownership of apartments in ministrys housing projects. These requests can be availed of by several types of individuals under different categories. The Category 1 is for husbands, wives, and children; Category 2 covers parents living with one or more Bahraini sons who are minors, and Bahraini wives of expatriates who have one Bahraini national son who is a minor, and Category 3 consisting of sons who are single, 21 years of age, and living with one or both of their Bahraini parents. The Request Status Enquiry service gives customers the latest updates on their applications, while the Update Contact and IBAN bank Details is available for those who have already submitted housing requests. Al Haidan pointed out that the Apply for Mazaya Request service allows citizens to avail social housing financing scheme, Mazaya, which secures bank financing for beneficiaries in exchange for 25% of their monthly income as installments. "The government, through the ministry, takes care of the remaining financial support covering the rest of the monthly bank installments. Applicants must be Bahraini and between 21 and 35 years of age at the time of submission," explained Al Haidan. The Apply for Loan Request service allows citizens to request one of several types of financings offered by the ministry, including purchase of housing units or apartments, construction for landowners, and reconstruction, he added. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full 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 Faith E. Pinho, Los Angeles Times (TNS) LOS ANGELES A collision between a semitruck and an SUV near the U.S.-Mexico border Tuesday morning has left 15 dead and several others injured, officials said. Twenty-seven people were in the SUV that struck a tractor trailer hauling gravel, said Judy Cruz, director of the El Centro Regional Medical Center emergency department. Fourteen people died at the scene. One more died at El Centro Regional Medical Center, where six others are being treated. At least five have been flown from the scene to other treatment centers, she said. Breaking News: At least 15 people were killed in an accident involving an SUV and a tractor-trailer in Southern California, the authorities said. https://t.co/NegXdoLwSP The New York Times (@nytimes) March 2, 2021 The patients are, of course, going through a little bit of a difficult time, said Adolphe Edward, chief executive of El Centro Regional Medical Center. This was a major accident, and we are taking care of them in the emergency room department. Four people were airlifted by helicopter to the Desert Regional Medical Center in Palm Springs, where three of them are in intensive care, hospital public information officer Todd Burke said. Deputy Fire Chief Sal Flores said the Imperial County Fire Department and the countys Office of Emergency Services responded to a mass fatality incident at 6:16 a.m. PST. El Centro Fire Department units are also on the scene, along with Customs and Border Patrol officers, who are assisting the Imperial County Sheriffs Office. Fifteen first responders and five fire engines arrived at the scene off Highway 115, just north of Holtville, Flores said. A helicopter whirred overhead as he responded to questions about the crash. More: Child critically hurt in crash with ex-Chiefs coach Britt Reid likely has permanent brain damage One dead after car crashes into Gettysburg store The time for Prime Minister Scott Morrison to express sympathy and outrage at the plight of aged Australians has passed and he must now convert his many words on the subject into action. The Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety, led by Lynelle Briggs and Tony Pagone QC, on Monday handed down its report urging fundamental reform to reduce the suffering caused by substandard and cruel care by residential aged care and home care services. As the evidence before the commission over the past two years has brought out in harrowing detail, the incidence of assaults may be as high as 13 to 18 per cent in residential aged care facilities. The overuse of physical and chemical restraints on patients is in part put down to the shortage of trained staff. Such problems have long been known, but the deaths of at least 685 people in aged care homes during the COVID-19 pandemic have highlighted them to the wider public. Many homes failed to implement basic practices in relation to infection control. The report makes clear that successive governments have turned a blind eye to falling standards because the cost of fixing the system was too great. The move to ritualistic regulation was a natural consequence of the governments desire to restrain expenditure in aged care, the report stated. 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 annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) over the weekend was the venue for the former President Donald Trump's first major public appearance since his departure from the White House. The 74 year-old businessman turned president spent 90 minutes on an impassioned speech about how the 2020 Elections were stolen from him and how he plans to take back the presidency in 2024, as he took aim at the Supreme Court for failing to take action against voter fraud. In his CPAC speech over the weekend, Former President Trump called upon the Republican party to address "one of the most urgent issues of ensuring fair, honest, and secure elections." According to Newsweek, Trump called it a "disgrace" that voter fraud dictated the results of the 2020 Presidential Elections and how the Supreme Court did not do anything about it. He called upon his fellow Republicans, saying, "We must pass comprehensive election reforms and we must do it now." Trump also took aim at the Democrats for using "the China virus as an excuse to change all of the election rules without the approval of their state legislatures, making it therefore illegal." Pressing on with the topic of voter fraud, Trump said that COVID-19 had "a massive impact on the election" and that the Democrats used the pandemic to change the outcome of the election to favor the Democratic candidate, former Vice President Joe Biden. Trump said that he earned a "staggering" amount of votes despite the COVID-19 pandemic and that the Republicans "can never let this or other abuses of the 2020 election be repeated or happen again." Trump called upon the Republican party to be agents of change when it comes to election integrity and election reform, especially when the Supreme Court isn't doing anything about it. He said that the Republican party should be "the party of honest elections that can give everyone confidence in the future of our country" because right now, the United States has a "a very sick and corrupt electoral process that must be fixed immediately." According to The Gateway Pundit, Trump reiterated "This election was rigged and the supreme court and other courts didn't want to do anything about it." Trump took aim at the Supreme Court for not having "the courage to act, but instead used process and lack of standing." The Supreme Court repeatedly refused to hear the election fraud complaints that the Trump campaign filed due to lack of standing but not on merit, which meant that the courts did not want to listen to the evidence the Trump campaign could present proving allegations of voter fraud. It's worth noting, however, that the Trump campaign actually won a majority of the election fraud cases that some courts looked into. The Supreme Court also failed to hear a lawsuit brought by Texas and several Republican states that aimed to challenge the results of the four swing states that Biden snatched. In Pennsylvania, the Supreme Court declined to hear two cases that challenged the results of absentee ballots in the 2020 Elections. "[The Supreme Court] didn't have the guts or the courage to make the right decision," Trump said. Moving forward, the former president committed to fighting for true election reform and the vision that he laid out for the Republican party, which is to elect leaders who are "strong, tough, and smart," and are "loyal to the voters." KALAMAZOO, MI A 30-year-old Cass County man is being held without bond after being arraigned on a charge of open murder, Monday in Kalamazoo County District Court. Jordan Pierre Johnson, of Vandalia, is suspected to have killed 64-year-old Kalamazoo resident Michael Vines on Thursday, Feb. 25. Related: Kalamazoo police identify victim of shooting death The shooting happened at 8:10 p.m. that evening in the 4500 block of West Main Street, just east of North Drake Road, police said. Kalamazoo Public Safety officers responded to several reports of shots fired and moments later found Vines, unresponsive, suffering from multiple gunshot wounds. Preliminary information suggests that the suspect and victim were acquainted, and it is a domestic-related homicide, Kalamazoo police said in a statement released Friday, Feb. 26. Johnson was arraigned Monday on one count of open murder and one count of weapons-felony firearm, according to court records. He is due back in court March 9 for a probable cause conference. The homicide is the citys second in 2021. The first killing occurred on Jan. 1 at Fox Ridge Apartments when 21-year-old Tracy Myckal Evans was gunned down. No one has been arrested in that incident. Also on MLive: Two pulled to safety after falling through ice in Portage lake Protect and serve means serving homeless population for Kalamazoo police lieutenant Multiple people in critical condition after crash near Ludington The Crown's Josh O'Connor has said he is 'delighted' that Prince Harry has watched the regal drama. Speaking with James Corden in an interview on Friday, the Duke of Sussex, 36, said The Crown is 'fictional' but is 'loosely based on the truth' and captures the feeling of being expected to put 'duty and service above family and everything else'. Speaking with ET Online on Sunday ahead of the Golden Globes, the actor, 30, who plays his father Prince Charles, said in response: 'Im delighted. Im delighted that he watches it. Proud: The Crown's Josh O'Connor said on Sunday he was 'delighted' Prince Harry watches the Netflix drama after the royal defended the show's depiction of his family 'I think anyone who watches it is a great you know, thats what were there for.' Josh also reflected on Prince Harry's claim that he'd love Damian Lewis to portray him in the show, and detailed: 'Oh, I love Damian Lewis, he's great! I think the great thing about The Crown is we put together great casts. 'I'm so excited for the next season and everyone who's involved in that, and I'm sure that if it comes to Damian Lewis, it'll probably be a pretty good bit of casting.' In his interview Prince Harry showed his loyalty to Netflix, with whom he has a multi-million pound contract, and defended The Crown, despite the show facing widespread criticism over its 'twisted' depiction of the Royal Family. Support: Speaking with James Corden on Friday the Duke of Sussex said the show captures the feeling of being expected to put 'duty and service above family and everything else' Speaking with Corden, the Duke of Sussex gave his seal of approval to The Crown, which portrays his father Prince Charles as callous and self-serving and his grandmother the Queen as cold. The fourth series of The Crown which premiered last November, showed Charles meeting and marrying an innocent Diana while maintaining his affair with the then-married Camilla Parker-Bowles. Scenes showing Diana gorging on food before vomiting into a toilet are so graphic that they carry on-screen warnings. Harry added he would like Homeland actor Lewis to play him if his character ever appears on the show as an adult. Grateful: Josh, who plays his father Prince Charles (pictured), said in response: 'Im delighted. Im delighted that he watches it' 'They don't pretend to be news, it's fictional,' Prince Harry said of The Crown. 'But it's loosely based on the truth. 'Of course it's not strictly accurate but it loosely it gives you a rough idea of that lifestyle and the pressures of putting duty and service above family and everything else and what can come from that. 'I'm way more comfortable about The Crown than the stories I see written about my family, my wife or myself. Opinion: Speaking with Corden, Prince Harry gave his seal of approval to the Netflix show, and said: 'Of course it's not strictly accurate but it loosely gives you a rough idea of that lifestyle' 'Because it's the difference between that's [the fact] obviously fiction, take it how you will but this is reported on as fact because you're supposedly news.' Josh's co-star Emma Corrin later opened up to Extra's Rachel Lindsay about her reaction to Prince Harry's interview, where he revealed he watches the show. Emma said of Prince Harry's comments, 'That really moved me in a way that I wasn't really expecting.' She continued, 'When we're making a show, we're researching a show, on the one hand obviously we're dealing with real people whose lives inform the characters that we then form. 'But on the other hand it's intensely fictional, so actually when you're doing a job it doesn't find it so far removed from the real person and the people who are still alive. 'It's not something I ever felt I needed him to address or needed anyone to address, but actually hearing him say it, I'm glad that he enjoyed it, I feel moved and grateful for those words.' Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex had a whirlwind romance before tying the knot in 2018. Their love story has captured the hearts of people all over the world. Many fans are also curious to know about how Harry proposed to his wife. However, reportedly, the actual proposal was not what Harry had in mind. Sources said he had to change his plans because of a royal rule. Prince Harry and Meghan Markle | Samir Hussein/WireImage How did Prince Harry propose to Meghan Markle? Harry and Meghan told the story of their proposal during an interview shortly after announcing their engagement. According to the Sussexes, it happened during a romantic dinner in Nottingham Cottage at Kensington Palace (where Harry was living). Markle was roasting a chicken when Harry decided to get on one knee. It was so sweet and natural and very romantic, Markle recalled. He got down on one knee. As a matter of fact, I could barely let you finish proposing. I said, Can I say yes now? Harry added, There were hugs, and I had the ring in my finger. I was like, Can I give you the ring? She goes, Oh, yes! The ring! It was a really nice moment. It was just the two of us, and I think I managed to catch her by surprise as well. How did Prince Harry allegedly want his proposal to go? RELATED: Some People Believe Prince Harry Married Meghan Markle Precisely Because He Wanted to Leave the Royal Family According to the documentary Meghan Markle: Movies, Marriage, and Motherhood, Harry originally had a different plan for the proposal. The film alleged that he initially wanted to propose during the couples trip to Botswana. Royal expert Katie Nicholl said, I had actually been told by one of his friends that he had planned to pop the question in Botswana. However, an article by The Sun noted that Harry, like many royals in the first five positions in the line of succession have to get Queen Elizabeths permission before marrying someone. At the time of the proposal, Harry was fifth in line, so he had to consult with Her Majesty before making the big decision. So unlike a normal couple, who make a private decision, Harry knew he had to go through the formal hoops before the engagement was official, The Sun wrote. With that in mind there was no way Harry could have popped the question before getting that literal royal seal of approval. A book said Prince Harry did actually propose to Meghan Markle in Africa RELATED: Meghan Markles Marriage Shockingly Mirrors Princess Dianas in These 4 Ways Harry and Meghans proposal story originally sounded quite clear cut, but things got a bit murkier in 2020 with the release of the book Finding Freedom by Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand. The book, which many believe was written with input from the Sussexes, claimed that the couple secretly got engaged on their 2017 trip to Botswana. It reportedly happened in August of that year, and Harry and Meghan did not reveal their engagement until November. However, it is worth noting that the Sussexes camp has denied their involvement in Finding Freedom. Meghans lawyer also once pointed out inaccuracies in the book, though no reputable source has commented on the Botswana engagement story. 7 Beautiful Remote Airbnbs in the U.S. To Relax and Unplug You'll want to book one of these Airbnbs for your next getaway. These days, Airbnb vacation rentals have become a go-to when it comes to COVID-safe travel. Booking an Airbnb often offers more privacy and opportunity to social distance than other lodging options, making them a great choice if you're looking to get away sooner rather than later. And if you're looking for a true escape, a remote Airbnb located in the mountains, in the middle of a forest, or in the desert, might be just what you've been looking for. From a cozy cabin in New York's Adirondack Mountains to a charming home located on its very own island in Maine, we've rounded up some of the best, most private Airbnbs in the U.S. Related: 10 Most Romantic Airbnbs in the U.S. Keep reading for seven remote Airbnb rentals you'll want to book for your next getaway. Juniper Hill Cabin: Wilmington, New York This gorgeous cabin is located in the heart of the Adirondack Mountains, offering you plenty of space to breathe and take in the beautiful natural surroundings. At the cabin, you'll find cozy wood-paneled walls indoors, as well as a large stone fire pit outside, so no matter where you spend your time, you'll feel like you're taking a true mountain getaway. To book: airbnb.com, $195/night Oak Island Wildlife Preserve: Camden, Maine Want an entire island to yourself? You can make that dream a reality with this Airbnb rental, which includes a main cabin and smaller "love shack." Enjoy spectacular views and private beaches at this rental. And we're not kidding when we say it's remote; it's only accessible by boat. To book: airbnb.com, $375/night Renovated Hillside Cabin: Gatlinburg, Tennessee Enjoy stunning mountain views, as well as peace and quiet, at this cozy cabin located outside Gatlinburg, TN. Wood paneling, a stone fireplace, and a modern kitchen offer comfort and luxury. And you can't beat the hot tub located on the back deck. Story continues To book: airbnb.com, $109/night Bungalow in the Redwoods: Trinidad, California Located on six acres, you'll be sure to have privacy at this charming bungalow in the Redwood Forest. Plus, it's not far from the coastal town of Trinidad, offering you the best of both worlds when it comes to all the nature and varying landscapes Northern California has to offer. To book: airbnb.com, $185/night Cross Tress Cottage: Mackinac Island, Michigan It doesn't get more remote than an island on Lake Huron that's only accessible by plane or ferry. On Mackinac Island, cars are replaced by bikes and horse-drawn carriages, and it's a popular summer vacation destination. This spacious home is perfect for a slow-paced, lakefront vacation. To book: airbnb.com, $985/night San Angelo House + Hot Tub: Joshua Tree, California Enjoy some space all your own in Joshua Tree in this stylish home, complete with a hot tub hammocks, and modern kitchen and bathrooms. And if you're into exploring, an entrance to Joshua Tree National Park is just 10 minutes away. To book: airbnb.com, $241/night China Mountain House: Port Orford, Oregon This stunning modern home is just as beautiful on the inside as it is out. Plus, the multitude of windows provide breathtaking views of the Southern Oregon coastline, offering peace, quiet, and plenty of photo opportunities. To book: airbnb.com, $375/night Love a great deal? Sign up for our T+L Recommends newsletter and we'll send you our favorite travel products each week. 'Nicolas Aguzin cleared to head HKEX' HKEX said the necessary regulatory approval has been given for Nicolas Aguzin to become its first non-Chinese CEO in May Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited (HKEX) on Tuesday said the markets watchdog has approved the appointment of prominent private banker Nicolas Aguzin as its new chief executive. Aguzin, whos from Argentina but is a permanent resident of Hong Kong, will be first non-Chinese head of the market operator once he takes up the job for a three-year term starting May 24. He is currently CEO of JP Morgans International Private Bank and has extensive experience in the Asia Pacific region, including China. HKEX said the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) has given the required written approval for his appointment. A spokesman for the bourse said it welcomes the development and looks forward to Aguzin joining the management team in May. Displaying the Nazi swastika would be a criminal offence in Victoria if the Andrews government implements a recommendation of a cross-party parliamentary inquiry into anti-vilification laws. After a year-long investigation the final report from the legal and social issues committee was tabled on Wednesday morning. It urges the government to legislate tougher laws against hate speech and racist insignia. A Nazi flag flying over a home in the Victorian town of Beulah last year. Premier Daniel Andrews said on Wednesday that the government which said said last year it would not act until the final report was released was open to criminalising Nazi symbols. It would be the first jurisdiction in Australia to impose such a ban. The state Liberal opposition, along with Jewish and anti-racism groups, called for a ban on the use of the swastika early last year after the government was powerless to stop a Nazi flag flying above a home in regional Victoria. Mr Andrews also said state laws were deficient when the government realised it did not have the powers to cancel a planned neo-Nazi music festival in 2019. By William Schwartz | Published on 2021/03/01 Esquire Korea recently released photos of actor Kim Jung-hyun who was the leading man in the drama "Mr. Queen" which ended on February 14th. "Mr. Queen" is about a modern day male chef who has timeslipped into nineteenth century Joseon, as well as into the body of a female royal consort. Kim Jung-hyun played the role of King Cheoljong. "Mr. Queen" was styled as a fusion comedy. This was not the first comedy drama which Kim Jung-hyun appeared in, with the actor first becoming well known via the situation comedy "Welcome to Waikiki" back in 2018. Kim Jung-hyun claims in the relevant interview that his rule for comedy, whatever the outline, is whether he can make his fellow cast and crew laugh. Kim Jung-hyun claims that he does this through very precise technique. Kim Jung-hyun was also gracious in the interview, stating that his main goal for any project is to make something that people are willing to spend their own personal time to watch and maybe even get back to. Kim Jung-hyun claimed to be working very hard to communicate an effective message to his viewers. Kim Jung-hyun also described this process as hard work. Kim Jung-hyun also voiced the opinion that the next year or two would be crucial for his career, and seemed determined not to rest on his laurels. To date, Kim Jung-hyun still does not have a new confirmed project. However, with the outpouring of interest he has received in the wake of "Mr. Queen" his new fans continue to eagerly wait any such news on the topic. Written by William Schwartz For the second straight year, Moodys Analytics has won five categories in the InsuranceERM Awards: This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210301005550/en/ ERM End-to-End Solution of the Year Economic Scenario Generator Software of the Year Regulatory Reporting Software of the Year Solvency II Solution of the Year Stress Scenarios Software of the Year Our insurance customers have had to address unparalleled, often unforeseeable changes in the last year. Throughout this period of uncertainty they have trusted Moodys Analytics to help them achieve their goals, said Colin Holmes, General Manager of Insurance Solutions. Were proud to have earned that trust and recognize that many other challenges lie aheadincluding climate change and upcoming go-live for IFRS 17 and LDTI. As this recognition from InsuranceERM shows, our broad offering equips our insurance customers to be ready for whatever hurdles may arise. Moodys Analytics capabilities in economic forecasting help insurers to project and test financial outcomes. They are often used in tandem with our expertise in actuarial and credit modeling and our enterprise software to enable customers to assess their risks and anticipate the future. As market conditions change, insurers need to monitor their solvency position more frequently, quickly, and with accuracy. We introduced the Moodys Analytics SolvencyWatch solution last year to help them monitor their financial position, giving risk teams timely access to actionable information. The pandemic has changed how vendors support and engage with their customers. In-person collaboration, previously typical, remains virtually impossible. Fortunately for Moodys Analytics, our vendor-maintained approach has been valuable to customers amid the continuing uncertainty. Because our methodologies are built directly into our software, implementation focuses on knowledge transfernot customization. Moodys Analytics continues to be a leader in the insurance risk and financial management space, as demonstrated by a second straight five-win showing, said Christopher Cundy, Managing Editor of InsuranceERM. Their offerings are helping insurers meet a range of business and regulatory challenges that have only intensified over the last year. Learn more about Moodys Analytics solutions for IFRS 17 and LDTI. These wins add to the recognition for Moodys Analytics, which in 2020 totaled more than 70 awards. About Moodys Analytics Moodys Analytics provides financial intelligence and analytical tools to help business leaders make better, faster decisions. Our deep risk expertise, expansive information resources, and innovative application of technology help our clients confidently navigate an evolving marketplace. We are known for our industry-leading and award-winning solutions, made up of research, data, software, and professional services, assembled to deliver a seamless customer experience. We create confidence in thousands of organizations worldwide, with our commitment to excellence, open mindset approach, and focus on meeting customer needs. For more information about Moodys Analytics, visit our website or connect with us on Twitter and LinkedIn. Moody's Analytics, Inc. is a subsidiary of Moody's Corporation (NYSE: MCO). Moodys Corporation reported revenue of $5.4 billion in 2020, employs approximately 11,400 people worldwide and maintains a presence in more than 40 countries. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210301005550/en/ Courtesy of Gov. Andrew Cuomos Office A total of 16,100 people, or 8% of the total population, in the GLOW region have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19. For the entire Finger Lakes region, which includes Genesee, Livingston, Orleans and Wyoming counties, nearly 9% of the total population of more than 1.2 million people has been fully vaccinated. In a Feb. 2021 file photo, land is prepared for the construction on the Mekong River of the Luang Prabang dam in Luang Prabang province, Laos. UNESCO has requested a new assessment for a large-scale Lao Mekong River dam located near a World Heritage Site, fearing that the dams potential impact could put the site at risk. According to UNESCO, the town of Luang Prabang is an outstanding example of the fusion of traditional architecture and Lao urban structures with those built by the European colonial authorities in the 19th and 20th centuries. Luang Prabang celebrated its 25th anniversary as a World Heritage Site last year. Nearby construction on the 1,460 megawatt, U.S. $3 billion run-of-river Luang Prabang Dam, a joint venture of Petro Vietnam Power Corporation, Ch. Karnchang and the Lao government, is scheduled to begin this year and finish in 2027. It is part of a cascade of 11 Mekong mainstream dams that are the centerpiece of Laos controversial economic strategy to become the Battery of Southeast Asia. In March 2020, we were informed that there is this hydropower project, which is planned to be at about 25 kilometers upstream from Luang Prabang. Now, this is of course outside of the World Heritage Site," Dr. Mechtild Rossler, Director of the UNESCO World Heritage Center told RFAs Lao Service Feb. 26. "But as it is quite close to the site, and as the Mekong River Commission expressed concerns about the security and safety standards, we have been looking into that question." For us, the question is if there any impact on the outstanding universal value of the World Heritage Site. So for example, there could be a major disaster such as a dam break and, you know, security and safety issues for the population, Rossler said. Rossler added that she has written to the government of Laos asking for a Heritage Impact Assessment and a risk analysis. Now I am presenting the state of conservation of this side of the problem to the next session of the World Heritage Committee which [has been] planned to take place in June or July this year in China, Rossler said. Though the developer has already completed a Social Impact Assessment (SIA), UNESCO hopes that a new assessment may adequately address its own concerns. We insist that the Luang Prabang Dams developer perform a more detailed social impact assessment, an official of the Luang Prabang World Heritage Office told RFA on Feb. 22. However, the problem is that the dam developer doesnt want to do a new SIA, saying that the SIA has been done. But UNESCO does not accept the first SIA, the official said. At a Feb. 18 meeting in Vientiane between representatives of the office, officials from the Lao government and local companies agreed to address UNESCOs concerns about the possible impact on the World Heritage Site. These were considered along with environmental concerns such as erosion of the Mekong riverbank, landslide, drought, fluctuations in water level, and the depletion of fish stocksall problems that would affect the landscape of Luang Prabang and its inhabitants. At the last meeting, the Lao government officials were not opposed to the Luang Prabang dam project, but urged the developer to do a more comprehensive and thorough SIA as requested by UNESCO, an official of the Lao National Commission for UNESCO told RFA Feb 24. An official of Luang Prabang provinces Natural Resources and Environment Department told RFA in December that UNESCO was holding the project back. UNESCO says the buffer zone or no-large development zone should be at least 20 kilometers away from the World Heritage Site, the official said, adding that development should also not generate loud noises, smells, air pollution, or any other disturbances to the residents of Luang Prabang. The official said that if those rules and regulations were not met, UNESCO could revoke the citys status as a World Heritage Site. An official of Laos Energy and Mines Ministry told RFA that the conducting of a new SIA would depend on several factors. Its up to the Lao government to decide whether to do a new SIA as UNESCO suggested. The government or the dam developer might not do a new SIA if Thailand doesnt sign the PPA [Power Purchase Agreement]. These questions and issues will be discussed at the upcoming meeting, he said. PPAs are agreements by foreign countries to buy power from the dams, and as such are integral to securing financing. Thailands Office of Natural Water Resources in December threatened that it might not agree to the PPA for another dam, the downstream Sanakham Dam, due to a lack of clarity on its potential impact. Resident Opposition Many residents of Luang Prabang are opposed to the planned dam. More than 2,000 will be displaced by the project. Were concerned about our safety because the dam is too close to the city, a resident told RFA. Most of us dont want the dams, but we dare not speak out against them because they are government projects, another resident told RFA. A restaurant owner told RFA that water levels were a major concern. No more dams! I dont want to see another dam built. I dont know whether there would be too much or too little water after they complete this project, the restaurateur said. A third resident told RFA that there was substantial worry over the uncertainty over where those displaced by the project will settle. Most of us dont want to move to another location because it would be more difficult for us to make a living. We might not be able to operate our boat taxis, and we dont know anything about compensation yet, the third resident said. During a meeting about drought on the Mekong River in Bangkok, Thailand, on July 29, 2020, Dr. Somkiat Pachumwong, secretary of the Office of Natural Water Resources of Thailand, said the dams proximity to the World Heritage Site was a problem. The government of Laos should be more cautious about the Luang Prabang Dam than it is with the Xayaburi Dam, especially when it comes to safety, Somkiat Pachumwong said. The Xayaburi Dam began commercial operations in October 2019. Somkiat Pachumwong added that the Lao government should also minimize impacts and ensure the free flow of water, sediment, and fish. In July 2020, RFA reported that the process of prior consultation on the Luang Prabang Dam had been completed in June that year. After the consultation, Cambodia, Vietnam, and Thailand urged the developer to review the design of the dam to minimize the environmental, social, and trans-boundary impacts. Last year, Laos gave permission to a Thai construction company, Ch. Karnchang, to build worker camp and access road in the Luang Prabang Dam site. Were building road and worker camps. As soon as the power purchase agreement [PPA] is finalized, we will begin the construction, the same Energy and Mines Ministry official told RFA on July 31, 2020. The official also said at that time that local authorities were preparing to relocate villagers. As soon as the PPA is signed, the relocation will begin. Before being relocated, though, the villagers must receive fair compensation and suitable jobs, the official said. Laos has built dozens of hydropower dams on the Mekong and its tributaries with ultimate plans for scores more, hoping to export the electricity they generate to other countries in the region. Though the Lao government sees power generation as a way to boost the countrys economy, the projects are controversial because of their environmental impact, displacement of villagers without adequate compensation, and questionable financial and power demand arrangements. Reported by RFAs Lao Service. Translated by Max Avary. Written in English by Eugene Whong. The boss behind a multi-million pound pet food business says Brexit red tape could cost his firm an extra 100,000 a year. Symply Pet Foods CEO James Milbourne posted an image online showing 72 pages of documents that need to completed in order to send an order to one customer in the EU. Mr Milbourne said he now also has to pay an additional 100,000 a year in veterinary inspection fees. Mr Milbourne's father Eddie founded the Symply Group in 2009 and turnover for the Buckinghamshire-based company is now around 35 million. His natural pet food Canagan is exported to more than 30 countries and customers include the president of Ireland and the Queen, who reportedly gave the grain-free food to her beloved corgis. Symply Pet Foods CEO James Milbourne posted an image online showing 72 pages of documents that need to be completed in order to send an order to one customer in the EU Eddie Milbourne (right, with son James), founded the Symply Group in 2009 and turnover for the Buckinghamshire-based company is now around 35 million The firm won the Queen's Award for Enterprise in International Trade in 2017. Mr Milbourne, who was appointed trainee CEO of the firm by his father in 2016, said that before Brexit, the company was not required to fill out documentation. But yesterday he revealed the huge amount of work needed for orders to countries in the EU. Sharing the images onto Twitter yesterday, Mr Milbourne wrote: 'This is the paperwork required to send one order to the EU now. Previously zero. '100k / year of Veterinary inspection fees now, previously 0. 'Very annoying/ costly for an established business like us, crippling for a small company!' Mr Milbourne, who was appointed trainee CEO of the firm by his father in 2016, revealed the huge amount of work needed for orders to countries in the EU He added he had emailed MP Greg Hands but 'received no response.' After the tweet amassed more than 13,000 likes on social media, the Chelsea and Fulham MP replied: 'I checked back and we have responded. But more to the point, looking forward, am happy to meet on Zoom to see how I can help.' A government spokesperson said: 'All exports of live animals and products of animal origin to the EU including many pet foods now require an Export Health Certificate signed by an official certifier. 'We've always been clear that there would be new processes for traders, and we continue to support them in their transition to these new arrangements.' The UK pet food industry is valued at 3billion and in 2019 exported some 285 million of food to the EU. But the Pet Food Manufacturers' Association (PFMA), has 'raised alarm bells' about the 'severe' difficulty of exporting to the EU in the wake of the Brexit deal. The PFMA said that in a survey of its members, only one third of businesses that had attempted exports to the EU had been successful. Michael Bellingham, PFMA Chief Executive, said: 'We have come against red tape, vet shortages and hauliers refusing to accept animal-based products in case they are stopped at the border. 'Many official veterinarians are unwilling to take on the extra work of certifying animal by-product consignments because they were not confident about what was required.' MERIDIAN TWP., MI Police have identified the driver killed in a crash with a tree early Saturday morning in Meridian Township outside Lansing. Daniel James Bath, 19, of Haslett, died Feb. 27, when he crashed into a tree along Jolly Road near Ambassador Drive, according to the Meridian Township Police Department. Driver killed in crash with tree near Lansing With assistance from the Ingham County Regional Crash Investigation Team, police determined Bath was driving east on Jolly Road at about 1:37 a.m., when he lost control of his vehicle, left the road and hit the tree, police said. Bath was wearing his seatbelt and he was the only occupant in the vehicle, police said. Police are continuing to investigate the crash. Anyone with information should contact the Meridian Township Police Department at 517-853-4800 or submit an anonymous tip through the departments social media websites. More from MLive: BBC journalists film exploring Flint water contamination premieres Saturday Lake residents prepare to protest potential 200-home development at former Irish Hills campground Jackson YMCA, Big Brothers Big Sisters to share space in new healthy living campus EMILY ST. LAWRENCE, Chariho girls lacrosse, senior: St. Lawrence tied a school record for goals in a game with nine in a win over Smithfield. St. Lawrence scored 17 goals for the week and has 32 for the season. CARLY CONSTANTINE, Stonington softball, sophomore: Constantine singled home Shea OConnor with the winning run to hand Waterford, the states No. 2 ranked team at the time, its first loss of the season. For the week, Constantine was 5 for 15. GREG GORMAN, Westerly baseball, junior: Gorman, a junior, hit a massive home run in a win against Barrington. The homer went over the fence in center field and landed in a nearby road. Gorman was 3 for 3 with four RBIs in the game. He is hitting .571 with 10 RBIs for the season. BRADIN ANDERSON, Wheeler baseball, freshman: Anderson, a freshman, pitched a complete-game shutout to beat Grasso Tech. Anderson struck out three to earn the first win of his varsity career. Vote View Results Jay Weaver, The Miami Herald (TNS) MIAMI A top member of an alleged New York crime family was arrested Sunday by federal agents in Fort Lauderdale on drug-related conspiracy charges. Peter G. Gerace Jr., 53, a nephew of reputed Buffalo mob boss Joseph A. Todaro Jr., was taken into custody by Homeland Security Investigations agents Sunday and is scheduled for his first appearance in federal court Monday before his expected transfer to New York. Gerace is among six men targeted by federal prosecutors who have called the group the Italian Organized Crime family of Western New York. Gerace Jr. owns a strip club in the Buffalo area, and his brother, Anthony, a former employee at the club, is awaiting sentencing on a weapons charge connected to drug trafficking. They are the nephews of Todaro Jr., who authorities say has headed the local mob, according to the Buffalo News. Prosecutors identified the Gerace brothers as co-conspirators of Joseph Bongiovanni, a retired U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agent who was arrested in 2019 on charges of accepting $250,000 in bribes to help drug dealers avoid arrest, including some the government says are connected to organized crime. He has pleaded not guilty. The Buffalo News recently published a story on their case, spotlighting the return of the Buffalo Mafia. Despite some successful prosecutions for murder, bookmaking, loan sharking, drug trafficking, theft and other crimes, the feds have never made a criminal racketeering case against leaders of the alleged Buffalo Mafia organization. Federal prosecutors, working with Homeland Security and other federal agencies, are taking aim at the alleged crime family. A report on an independent investigation of Elijah McClains death released Monday morning found the Aurora Police Department officers who stopped McClain did not have reasonable suspicion of criminal activity to do so and characterized McClains behavior in ways that conflicted with video and audio evidence of the encounter. Australia's marine World Heritage Sites are among the world's largest stores of carbon dioxide according to a new report from the United Nations, co-authored by an ECU marine science expert. Australia's marine World Heritage Sites are among the world's largest stores of carbon dioxide according to a new report from the United Nations, co-authored by an ECU marine science expert. The UNESCO report found Australia's six marine World Heritage Sites hold 40 per cent of the estimated 5 billion tons of carbon dioxide stored in mangrove, seagrass and tidal marsh ecosystems within UNESCO sites. The report quantifies the enormous amounts of so-called blue carbon absorbed and stored by those ecosystems across the world's 50 UNESCO marine World Heritage Sites. Despite covering less than 1 per cent of the world's surface, blue carbon ecosystems are responsible for around half of the carbon dioxide absorbed by the world's oceans while it is estimated they absorb carbon dioxide at a rate about 30 times faster than rainforests. Australia a 'Blue Carbon' hotspot Report author and ECU Research Fellow Dr Oscar Serrano said Australia's Great Barrier Reef, Ningaloo Coast and Shark Bay World Heritage areas contained the vast majority of Australia's blue carbon ecosystems. "We know Australia contains some of the world's largest stores of blue carbon due to the enormous size and diversity of our marine ecosystems," he said. "However here in Australia and around the world, these ecosystems are under threat from human development and climate change. "While they're healthy, blue carbon ecosystems are excellent stores of carbon dioxide, but if they are damaged, they can release huge amounts of carbon dioxide stored over millennia back into the atmosphere." Climate change turns up the heat on seagrass In 2011 seagrass meadows in the Shark Bay World Heritage Site in Western Australia released up to nine million tons of stored carbon dioxide after a marine heatwave devastated more than 1000sqkm of seagrass meadows. The UNESCO Report's authors have outlined the potential for the countries including Australia to use the global carbon trading market to fund conservation and restoration efforts at marine World Heritage Sites including here in Australia. Dr Serrano said both Shark Bay and the Great Barrier Reef ecosystems are at risk due to climate change and human development. "There are significant opportunities for both the Great Barrier Reef and Shark Bay to be protected and restored to ensure they survive and thrive in the future," he said. "Australia also has plenty of marine ecosystems in need of protection not contained within a World Heritage Site which are worthy of our attention. Money to be made in carbon market Dr Serrano's previous research has highlighted the millions of dollars in potential conservation and restoration projects of blue carbon ecosystems while also helping Australia and other countries achieve their commitments to the Paris Climate Agreement. ### The report was led by Professor Carlos Duarte and a team of collaborators from Australia, Saudi Arabia, Denmark, the United States, Kenya and the United Kingdom. The UNESCO Marine World Heritage report is titled 'Custodians of the globes' blue carbon assets' and can be accessed at the UNESCO webpage. Myanmars military junta brought new charges against deposed country leader Aung San Suu Kyi on Monday, accusing the detained state counselor of incitement and violating telecommunication laws, her lawyer said. Protests against the military regime meanwhile continued in full force in major cities following a weekend of violence and bloodshed that left at least 20 demonstrators dead. During a court hearing conducted by video conference in the capital Naypyidaw, Aung San Suu Kyi faced two charges for incitement under Section 505(b) of the Penal Code for allegedly issuing reports with intent to cause public fear and for possessing walkie-talkie radios without a license under the Telecommunications Law, attorney Khin Maung Zaw said. Two more charges have been added to the charges for Daw [honorific] Aung San Suu Kyi, he told RFA. The incitement charge under Section 505(b) carries a maximum two-year prison sentence, while the telecommunications violation has a maximum penalty of up to one year in jail, a fine, or both. In February, the state counselor was charged with possession of illegally imported walkie-talkies found in her home under the Export and Import Law, an offense that carries a maximum sentence of three years in prison. She also was charged with violating the Natural Disaster Management Law for breaching COVID-19 pandemic restrictions during the 2020 election campaign. In all, the 75-year-old politician faces four charges, carrying a total of up to nine years in jail, Khin Maung Zaw said. The junta meanwhile added a new charge against President Win Myint for incitement to defame the state. He was charged in February for allegedly violating the Natural Disaster Management Law for pre-election campaigning amid COVID-19 restrictions on public gatherings. The regime also filed an incitement charge against Naypyidaw Mayor Myo who has been detained in an undisclosed location since the Feb. 1 coup, Khin Maung Zaw said. Both Aung San Suu Kyi and Win Myint also have been detained since the military seized the democratically elected government after weeks of tension following November 2020 elections that the military and its proxy political party claimed were fraudulent. The junta also rounded up other officials from Aung San Suu Kyis National League for Democracy (NLD) and prevented lawmakers from beginning a new session in the national parliament. Khin Maung Zaw said Aung San Suu Kyi appointed him to represent her for all charges filed against her, but the court and the police have not allowed him to proceed. He and his legal team were outside Naypyidaws Zebuthiri Township Court where the state counselors hearing was held, but they were not allowed to enter, he said. Myanmar protesters congregate behind a street barrier during an anti-junta protest in Lashio, northern Shan state, Mar. 1, 2021. Credit: RFA Delaying the process intentionally Nang Aye Mya Thiri, an associate judge and information officer at the court, told reporters that documents for approving Aung San Suu Kyis attorney could not be completed at the hearing. During the hearing today, we could not complete the processing of signed documents to officially approve her legal representation, so we didnt conduct the hearing today, she said. We scheduled another hearing to appoint her legal representative. That hearing is scheduled for March 16, she said. Khin Maung Zaw told reporters that he listened to Aung San Suu Kyi and Win Myint talking with the judge via the video conference and that the state counselor said she wanted to meet with her attorney. Khin Maung Zaw accused court officials and police of deliberately delaying the process to approve her legal representative despite the submission of signed documents on Feb. 16. They said they had been negotiating with NLD leaders in the last minutes before the hearing today, but we were informed that they havent reached out to any of the NLD head offices, neither the one in Naypyidaw nor the one in Bahan township in Yangon, he said. They didnt meet any NLD party leaders. They are delaying the process intentionally. They are violating the very basic human right to legal counsel as mandated in the constitution and Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Khan Maung Zaw said. NLD lawmaker Khin San Hlaing said it is very unfair to pile on additional charges against the state counselor. As a citizen of Myanmar, I think our leader didnt violate any laws or commit any offenses, she said. We have condemned the charges strongly. We have disagreed with them. We are trying to broadcast what happened here to the international community. Two men attend the burial of a young Muslim demonstrator killed by police during an anti-junta protest, in Mawlamyine, southeastern Myanmar's Mon state, March 1, 2021. Credit: RFA Four protesters die At least four protesters were killed and several others injured by security forces in Yangon on Monday, witnesses said, a day after violent crackdowns in which police shot dead at least 20 people in the bloodiest day in a month of mass demonstrations against the militarys ouster of the elected government. Police and soldiers used tear gas, stun grenades, and live ammunition against protesters in Myanmars largest city, though demonstrators there and in other towns across the country were undeterred. Security forces blocked the main intersection at Myae Ni Gone Junction, a main rallying site for Yangon protesters, and used bulldozers to move barricades set up by demonstrators on nearby roads. Many people were arrested, though a figure was unavailable. Hledan Junction, another rally hot spot, had been occupied by police since early morning. People who staged protests on nearby roads tried to avoid confrontations with security forces by running away from officers chasing them, and then regrouping in other places. Similar protests were reported in Pathein in Ayeyarwady region and in three towns in southeastern Myanmars Mon state. We cannot accept the rejection of the 2020 election results or the arrests of our leaders, said a protester in Pathein. We will protest in every way possible until our leaders are released from custody. Their lethal use of force is a violation of all human rights standards, domestic or international. Police in riot gear stormed a rally in Lashio, northern Shan state, on Monday, removing hundreds of protesters by truck. Some protesters caught a police sergeant dressed in civilian clothes and took him into an alley near a Kachin Christian church, though it was not clear what they did with him. Police later raided the building and arrested church secretary Naw Mai and about a dozen others inside the church and its compound, witnesses said. They beat up our preacher and arrested him, a town resident said. In a separate incident, about 200 youths staged a protest against the military dictatorship near Lashio's Yonhaw Stadium and Myoma Market. Police ordered the protesters to disperse and marched aggressively toward them spraying tear gas and setting off stun grenades. Two people, including Myint Maw of the Helping Hand charity group, sustained slight injuries, witnesses said. A Myanmar man lays flowers at a makeshift memorial for anti-junta protesters killed by police at Hledan Junction in Yangon, March 1, 2021. Credit: RFA Tear gas, stun grenades In Mawlamyine, where a man was killed by police gunfire the previous day, several protesters were arrested, witnesses said. Hundreds of people also took part in rallies that continued in three towns in western Myanmars Chin state, in Myitkyina of Kachin state, and in Loikaw of Kayah state. In the town of Bago, police killed two men and seriously injured three others on Sunday when they fired live rounds at demonstrators, witnesses said. Protesters marched in two columns on Monday, but there were no incidents. Police and soldiers in Kalemyo, Sagaing region, used tear gas to disperse some of the 10,000 protesters in the town, wounding five and arresting two, witnesses said. We were calling for the release of two detained men, said one protester at the scene. First, it went on smoothly, and they said the men would be freed at 4 p.m., [but] later on tensions rose, and they fired two tear-gas bombs and a stun grenade, he said. One young person was seriously injured by a tear-gas canister that blew up close to him. In Magway, nearly 20 of more than 50 people arrested by police on Sunday were released on Monday morning, locals said. About 20,000 people in the town of Chauk took to the streets and chanted anti-military slogans without incident. Thousands of people in Yangon, Mandalay, and Mawlamyine on Monday mourned fellow protesters killed by police gunfire a day earlier. Schoolteacher Tin Nwe Yi, 53, died of an apparent heart attack after she was struck on the arm by a rubber bullet in front of a township education office in Yangon, her colleagues said. She was at a rallying site preparing to march with other civil servants when police attacked them. Ten people, including seven schoolteachers, were arrested, and their whereabouts are still unknown, they said. Memorial services were held today for three others killed by police gunfire in Yangon on Sunday. In Mandalay, people retrieved from a hospital the body of Maung Maung Oo, 41, who was shot in the head by police on Sunday as he rode on his motorcycle, trying to escape a crackdown on protesters. In Mawlamyine, funeral services were held for a 21-year old Muslim youth who was shot in the head by police a day earlier. Activists said on social media that at least 26 people nationwide died during police crackdowns on protesters on Sunday. Myanmar anti-junta protesters sit with umbrellas and buckets of water to protect themselves from tear gas in Yangon, March 1, 2021. Credit: RFA Arrests keep rising The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, a watchdog group, said that as of Monday, 1,213 people had been arrested, charged, or sentenced in relation to the military coup, with 913 still being held. Attorneys from the Burma Lawyers Council who are trying to help detained protesters said that more than 600 people, including activists and reporters, were detained Sunday in Yangon. Families of arrested people gathered in front of Insein Prison on the citys outskirts on Monday, hoping to see their relatives, but later said they heard nothing about them. The main thing for us is to know their whereabouts, what we can do to help them, said one man waiting outside the prison. We want to know what we can do legally to get them released. A lot of these people do not know where their family members are being held, he added. One attorney pointed out that police can hold protesters only for 24 hours, but said that might not be the case for others hauled in. That's the usual procedure, [but] they might hold protest leaders, politicians, and journalists for a longer period, the attorney said. Then we will have to find out what charges would be brought against them and what kind of remand would be possible for them." Reported by RFAs Myanmar Service. Translated by Ye Kaung Myint Maung and Khin Myaung Nyane. Written in English by Roseanne Gerin. DUSHANBE - Deputy Foreign Minister Mirwais Nab met with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Tajikistan, Mr. Sirajuddin Mehruddin, in Dushanbe-Tajikistan. The Deputy Foreign Minister said that convening the Ninth Ministerial Conference of the Heart of Asia - Istanbul Process was critical given the current volatile situation, emphasizing the Afghan government's commitment to continuing the peace talks while maintaining the achievements of the last nineteen years. Mr. Nab noted that having a stable and democratic Afghanistan would be of vital significance for the region's stability and security and the economic development of the countries of Central and South Asia. The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Tajikistan assured Mr. Nab of Dushanbe's preparations for the 9th Ministerial Conference of the Heart of Asia - Istanbul Process. He also added that the forthcoming visit of His Excellency Mohammad Ashraf Ghani, the President of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, to Tajikistan was an excellent opportunity to strengthen further and expand the two friendly relations between brotherly countries. Referring to the amicable relations between Kabul and Dushanbe, Mr. Mehruddin also assured his country's support toward the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan's position regarding the peace negotiations with the Taliban. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Jacob had got transit anticipatory bail from Bombay High Court on February 17 for three weeks, so that the accused could approach the court concerned in Delhi, where the case is lodged. (PTI file photo) New Delhi: A court here on Tuesday granted a week's time to the Delhi Police to file reply to the anticipatory bail plea of Nikita Jacob, a co-accused along with Disha Ravi in connection with allegedly being involved in sharing a "toolkit" on social media related to the farmers' protest. Additional Sessions Judge Dharmender Rana allowed the police plea to grant it time till March 9 after the public prosecutor said the agency needed time to file a detailed reply to Jacob's plea. The court is scheduled to hear the anticipatory bail plea of another co-accused, Shantanu Muluk, on March 9. During the brief hearing held through video conferencing, senior advocate Rebecca John, appearing for Jacob, said she wanted to argue on her plea as a stand alone case and not with Muluk's. The court said she could argue on March 9. The court also directed the Delhi Police to hand over a copy of its reply to Jacob's bail plea to her counsel. Jacob had got transit anticipatory bail from Bombay High Court on February 17 for three weeks, so that the accused could approach the court concerned in Delhi, where the case is lodged. The court on February 25 granted protection from arrest to Muluk till March 9. Muluk was granted transit anticipatory bail from the Aurangabad bench on February 16 for 10 days. He approached Delhi court on February 23. Muluk, Ravi and Jacob were booked for alleged sedition and other charges. Ravi was arrested by a Cyber Cell team of the Delhi Police from Bengaluru and brought to Delhi. She was granted bail by the Delhi court on February 23. At least five students have died and three are seriously injured after they plummeted from the fourth storey when a railing collapsed at a Bolivian university. A large group of youngsters at the University of El Alto were crowding outside a protest meeting when the metal barrier snapped. Horrifying footage shows the moment the thronging crowd trying to enter the student assembly on Tuesday. At least five students have died and three are seriously injured after they plummeted down a four-storey stairwell when a railing collapsed at a Bolivian university Two women and one man were killed by the fall, while five other men were taken to hospital. Two of them have since died as a result of their injuries. The university and police have launched an investigation into the cause of the accident. Bolivian President Luis Arce said: 'We regret the tragedy that occurred at the Public University of #ElAlto (UPEA), where there were several deaths and injuries. 'Our deepest condolences to the people of El Alto and to the suffering families. We await the prompt clarification of the facts.' A large group of youngsters at the University of El Alto were crowding outside a protest meeting when the metal barrier snapped Horrifying footage shows the moment the thronging crowd trying to enter the student assembly on Tuesday Two women and one man were killed by the fall, while five other men were taken to hospital The horrifying footage which is being shared on social media shows the distance the students fell to the ground The students fell from the fourth floor of the building through the central stairwell 'So far we have a report of five dead and three people in intensive care after what happened at the #UPEA facilities,' Interior Minister Eduardo Del Castillo wrote on Twitter. Many have questioned why so many students were allowed to gather in proximity to each other while Covid-19 restrictions are still in place. The assembly was held in the business science building where students were protesting over financial issues. A university administrator said assemblies have been temporarily banned due to the pandemic and he was unsure why so many students were allowed in. Students and relatives await information after the accident in which several students died at the Public University in El Alto Anxious parents were held back by police after the shocking incident on Tuesday morning A university administrator said assemblies have been temporarily banned due to the pandemic and he was unsure why so many students were allowed in Armenia ex-president Kocharyan gives interview to Russia newspaper Armenia acting deputy PM on unblocking of roads with Azerbaijan: There will be no troops standing there Nikkei: Toyota and Honda stop car production in Malaysia Armenia official on deploying international observers at Azerbaijan border: You will hear reaction on this matter soon USAID helps UN World Food Programme support displaced people in Armenia Armenia official: Work of trilateral working group on roads unblocking has stopped after recent incidents Russias Putin to Armenias Pashinyan: Relations between our countries are developing very successfully Armenia health minister: Improper storage of fallen soldiers bodies, remains was my omission 108 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia Armenia President to children: I believe that you will make our country much better Armenia CEC publicizes complete lists of political forces registered to run in snap parliamentary elections World oil prices going up Queen Elizabeth turns down PM's offer to name new royal yacht after Prince Philip Armenia parliament discusses 2020 state budget report Newspaper: Armenia acting FM resigns after 3rd attempt Newspaper: Yerevan mayor to leave office Israel, UAE sign tax treaty Newspaper: Even vagrants are persuaded, taken to Armenia acting PM Pashinyans rally in Vanadzor Swedish defense minister demands explanation from Denmark over spy scandal Acting Deputy PM: Armenia has not discussed and will not discuss issues within logic of "corridor" Armenia Central Electoral Commission determines numbers of political parties for elections Armenia 2nd President visits Cathedral of the Holy Mother of God in Gyumri (PHOTOS) Opposition Armenia bloc representative: We're running in elections to win Azerbaijan MFA comments on calls for release of Armenian POWs with infinite hypocrisy EC: Vaccinated citizens should be exempted from tests, quarantine when traveling within EU Armenia Ombudsman discusses rights of 6 captured Armenian servicemen with ICRC Delegation head EU ready to use all the tools at its disposal to change Turkey's behavior Yerevan court obliges to abolish violation of rights of Armenia Supreme Judicial Council ex-chairman Greek and Turkish leaders to meet in June on sidelines of NATO summit Armenia Central Electoral Commission to set up 2,008 polling stations for snap parliamentary elections Iranian companies to participate in reconstructing territories under Azerbaijan's control Opposition Armenia bloc's representative on acting PM's invitation to debate with 1st and 2nd Presidents Armenia acting FM dismissed upon presidential decree Body of brother of Armenian criminal authority "Don Pipo" found under bridge 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 - Joint venture company (Company) will combine the Baker Hughes Subsea Drilling Systems (SDS) business and MHWirth to better serve customers while simultaneously driving productivity and cost synergies - Company will have dual operational headquarters in Houston, TX and Kristiansand, Norway HOUSTON and FORNEBU, Norway, March 2, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Baker Hughes (NYSE:BKR) and Akastor ASA (Oslo:AKAST) have announced an agreement to create a joint venture company (Company) that will bring together Baker Hughes' Subsea Drilling Systems (SDS) business with Akastor's wholly owned subsidiary, MHWirth AS (MHWirth). The Company will deliver a global full-service offshore drilling equipment offering that will provide customers with a broad portfolio of products and services. The transaction will result in a leading equipment provider with integrated delivery capabilities, financial strength, and flexibility to address a full range of customer priorities. The Company will be owned 50-50 by Baker Hughes and Akastor, and following the closing of the transaction, the Company's operations will be managed from current offices in Houston, Texas, and Kristiansand, Norway. Merrill A. "Pete" Miller will serve as chairman and chief executive officer. Miller has been in the oil and gas industry over 40 years holding various leadership roles including chairman, president and chief executive officer of National Oilwell Varco. The Company's broader scope of services will also provide a more solid foundation for future growth, including the capability to participate in the oil & gas industry's transition towards more energy-efficient solutions, as well as deploying technologies and service solutions to make the sector more competitive through increased drilling efficiency. "I would like to express sincere gratitude to the good work and dedication shown by the respective teams of Baker Hughes and Akastor for making this happen despite the current challenges caused by the global COVID-19 pandemic," said Karl Erik Kjelstad, CEO of Akastor. "I strongly believe that this Company will give a solid basis for both organizations to meet the current challenges in today's market and to continue as a leader in developing advanced and efficient drilling solutions that support the industry's transition towards more sustainable operations." "This transaction is a major step for MHWirth, and the transformation strategy announced in February 2019," said Kristian M. Rkke, chairman of Akastor. "The Company will offer customers a strengthened product offering and investors attractive value creation. This transaction will also allow Akastor to maximize, and ultimately realize, value to its shareholders." "The oil and gas industry is rapidly evolving, and we are constantly looking at new and innovative ways of delivering value to our customers," said Neil Saunders, executive vice president of Oilfield Equipment at Baker Hughes. "This Company is the perfect fit between our respective portfolios and further transforms our core operations for long-term success, bringing complementary solutions to market and offering our customers a full offshore drilling equipment package." MHWirth is a global provider of advanced drilling solutions and services designed to offer customers a safer, more efficient and reliable alternative. MHWirth has a global span covering five continents with offices in 13 countries. Baker Hughes' SDS business is a division of the Oilfield Equipment segment of Baker Hughes and is headquartered in Houston. SDS provides integrated drilling products and services worldwide, with service and manufacturing facilities in 11 countries and a competitive portfolio, including world-class blowout preventor (BOP) systems, controls and riser equipment. The closing of the transaction is subject to customary conditions, including regulatory approvals, and is expected to occur in the second half of 2021. Morgan Stanley, Paul Weiss, Thommessen, and EY are acting as advisors for Baker Hughes. Goldman Sachs, BAHR, Sidley Austin, and EY are acting as advisors for Akastor. Key Financial information The table below provides certain estimated pro-forma financial information for the combined operations of SDS and MHWirth. This information is unaudited, based on management accounts for the respective companies and provided for illustrative purposes only. It may not be representative of reported figures following completion of the transaction. Further, the information may not necessarily be comparable to similar information presented by other companies nor relied upon as any indication of what the Company's financial position or results of operations actually would have been had the transaction been consummated as of the dates indicated. USD in million1 FY 2020 Aggregated estimates(unaudited) FY 2019Aggregated estimates(unaudited) FY 2018 Aggregated estimates(unaudited) Revenue2 713 850 731 Adjusted EBITDA (IAS 17)3 102 139 93 Note: 1 Average FX used for corresponding period 2 Pro forma MHWirth Group figures include MHWirth, Bronco Manufacturing (which has been part of MHWirth since June 2019) and Step Oiltools (which became part of MHW Group in February 2020) 3 Items affecting comparability comprises material items outside normal business such as net gains or losses from business and assets disposals, costs for closure of business operations and restructurings, and other costs of non-recurring nature. Transaction structure and main conditions The Company shall be owned 50/50 by Baker Hughes and Akastor. Akastor shall contribute its shares in MHWirth to the Company in return for 50% of the shares and USD 120 million in consideration, of which USD 100 million is payable in cash at closing. Baker Hughes shall contribute the SDS business to the Company in return for the other 50% of the shares and USD 200 million in consideration, of which USD 120 million is payable in cash at closing. The Company shall issue notes to Baker Hughes and Akastor representing the balance of the consideration owed to them. The notes shall be subordinated to the Company's external debt financing. The Company will finance the cash consideration payable to Baker Hughes and Akastor by way of a USD 220 million bank facility. In addition, the Company will also be financed by a USD 80 million working capital facility. The Transaction Agreement entered into by Akastor and Baker Hughes provides for customary terms for agreements of this nature, including representations and warranties relating to the businesses being contributed as well as an agreed form shareholders agreement customary for a 50/50 controlled company, including governance and exit provisions. Completion of the Transaction is subject to customary conditions, including regulatory approval. The closing of the Transaction is expected to take place in 2H 2021. Implications for Akastor's corporate credit facility and accounting policies The transaction will require the refinancing of Akastor's existing corporate credit facility. Akastor has received commitments for a NOK 1,250 million revolving credit facility that will be entered into prior to closing of the transaction. Following completion of the transaction, it is expected that MHWirth no longer shall be accounted for as a consolidated subsidiary of Akastor. Instead, it is expected that Akastor shall treat the Company as a joint venture for accounting purposes and that, following which Akastor shall recognise 50% of the equity of the Company and 50% of the Company net profits in its accounts based on the "equity method". Implications for Baker Hughes' accounting policies Following completion of the transaction, it is expected that SDS will no longer be accounted for under Baker Hughes' Oilfield Equipment segment. Instead, it is expected that BKR shall treat the Company as a joint venture for accounting purposes, following which BKR shall recognise 50% of the equity of the Company and 50% of the Company net profits in its accounts based on the "equity method". About Baker Hughes: Baker Hughes (NYSE: BKR) is an energy technology company that provides solutions to energy and industrial customers worldwide. Built on a century of experience and with operations in over 120 countries, our innovative technologies and services are taking energy forward - making it safer, cleaner and more efficient for people and the planet. Visit us at bakerhughes.com. About MHWirth and Akastor: MHWirth is a wholly owned subsidiary of Akastor and accounts for a material part of Akastor's revenues and assets. Akastor has reported MHWirth as a separate segment in its financial statements. MHWirth, with its subsidiaries, is a self-sufficient group which is a global provider of integrated drilling solutions and services with world class technology, leading engineering and project management capabilities. The MHWirth group delivered in the range of 25% of all offshore drilling packages for floaters between years 2000 and 2018. With its headquarters in Kristiansand, MHWirth's global operations covers five continents with offices in 13 countries. Akastor is a Norway-based oil-services investment company with a portfolio of industrial holdings and other investments. The company has a flexible mandate for active ownership and long-term value creation. The management of Akastor and MHWirth will hold an investor conference in relation to the announced transaction on Tuesday March 2, 2021 at 14:00 CET, which will be held as a webcast only and audiocasted live. There will be a Q&A session following the presentation. The replay will be made available on Akastor's website. Live webcast and replay link: https://channel.royalcast.com/landingpage/hegnarmedia/20210302_2/ The presentation will be available at www.akastor.com. For further information, please contact: Baker Hughes Investor Relations Jud Bailey +1 281-809-9088 investor.relations@bakerhughes.com Baker Hughes Media Relations Thomas Millas +1 713-879-2862 Thomas.millas@bakerhughes.com Akastor yvind Paaske Chief Financial Officer Tel: +47 917 59 705 Oyvind.paaske@akastor.com This information is subject to the disclosure requirements pursuant to Regulation EU 596/2014 (MAR) article 17, cf section 5.12 of the Norwegian Securities Trading Act. This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com The following files are available for download: An international media rights group has filed a complaint with German prosecutors against Saudi Arabias crown prince and four other senior officials accusing them of crimes against humanity over allegations they were involved in the killing of US-based journalist Jamal Khashoggi, authorities said. The federal prosecutors office in Karlsruhe told the Associated Press it received the complaint from Paris-based Reporters Without Borders on Monday. The complaint, relying partially on a newly declassified US intelligence report released on Friday, identifies five primary suspects: Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, his close adviser Saud Al-Qahtani and three other high-ranking Saudi officials, Reporters Without Borders said. They were identified for their organisational or executive responsibility in Khashoggis killing, as well as their involvement in developing a state policy to attack and silence journalists, the group said in a statement. Expand Close Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (Victoria Jones/PA) PA / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (Victoria Jones/PA) In the US report, intelligence officials stopped short of saying the crown prince ordered Mr Khashoggis killing in Turkey in October 2018, but described him as having absolute control over the kingdoms intelligence organisations and it would have been highly unlikely for such an operation to have been carried out without his approval. Saudia Arabias UN ambassador, Abdallah Al-Mouallimi, on Monday disputed the report, saying it did not come anywhere close to proof of any allegations against the crown prince. Under the German legal system, anyone can file an allegation with prosecutors and there is an obligation for them to look into the accusations. It is up to them to determine whether they justify launching a full investigation. German law allows prosecutors to claim universal jurisdiction in crimes against humanity, and last week they secured the conviction of a former member of Syrian President Bashar Assads secret police for his involvement in facilitating the torture of prisoners in his homeland. In that case the defendant had been living in Germany. The Khashoggi case has no obvious connections to the country. RSF has filed a complaint with the German Prosecutor targeting Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman for crimes against humanity, revealing the widespread and systematic nature of the persecution of journalists and the assassination of #JamalKhashoggi.https://t.co/ooESEemxs4 RSF (@RSF_inter) March 2, 2021 Those responsible for the persecution of journalists in Saudi Arabia, including the murder of Jamal Khashoggi, must be held accountable for their crimes, Reporters Without Borders secretary-general Christophe Deloire said in a statement. While these serious crimes against journalists continue unabated, we call on the German prosecutor to take a stand and open an investigation into the crimes we have revealed. The US document released on Friday said a 15-member Saudi team, including seven members of the princes elite personal protective team, arrived in Istanbul, though it was unclear how far in advance Saudi officials had decided to harm him. Mr Khashoggi had gone to the Saudi consulate to pick up documents needed for his wedding. Once inside, he died at the hands of more than a dozen Saudi security and intelligence officials and others who had assembled ahead of his arrival. Surveillance cameras tracked his route and those of his alleged killers in Istanbul in the hours before his killing. A Turkish bug planted at the consulate reportedly captured the sound of a forensic saw, operated by a Saudi colonel who was also a forensics expert, dismembering Mr Khashoggis body within an hour of him entering the building. The whereabouts of his remains is unknown. Besides the crown prince and his adviser, the complaint names Saudi Arabias former deputy head of intelligence Ahmad Mohammed Asiri; Mohammad Al-Otaibi, the consul general in Istanbul at the time of the murder; and intelligence officer Maher Abdulaziz Mutreb. Tuesday, March 2, 2021 Answer these three questions to find out. Ive spoken with thousands of philanthropists just like you, and one thing is for sure: You dont want to dillydally. With your giving, youd like clarity. You want to know what you want to accomplish, and the best way to do it. To do that, you need a strategy. Unfortunately, too few philanthropists have one. They dont know their North Star. Or they have an outdated strategic plan collecting dust. The good news is that formulating and refreshing your strategy is easier than you might think. Having one will bring you clarity, guide your decision making, save you time, help you take risks, and increase your impact. Guess what else? Its your secret weapon for demolishing delusional altruism. First, lets define what we mean by strategy. Strategy is a framework within which you make decisions that influence the nature and direction of your organization. Your strategy identifies your desired future state: who you want to be or the impact you want to have. It also identifies the most critical actions you need to take to move you from your current state (where you are today) to your desired future state, ideally as quickly as possible. How do you know if your strategy needs a makeover? Ask yourself these three questions to find out: Question 1: How long has it been since we created our strategic plan? If its been more than a year (or since before COVID-19), its time for a refresh. While long-range goals are great, given todays constantly changing conditions we can only realistically plan out about 12 months ahead. And, and if the pandemic taught us anything, its that spending one year to create a five-year plan is futile. By the time you approve your new strategic plan it will be out of date. The world will have changed (again). Question 2: Does our strategy guide our day-to-day decisions? If the answer is No or you cant remember the last time you looked at your strategic plan, you need to refresh it. Everyone in your organization should know your strategy, your top priorities for implementing it, and THEIR role in implementation. Why? Because your strategy should be guiding all your decisions, big and small. Otherwise, whats the point of having a strategy? Remember, strategy is tool to guide decision-making. It helps ensure the decisions you make help you achieve your goals. Its impossible to over-communicate your strategy to your team. Organize your board and staff meeting agendas around your strategy. Talk about it at every meeting. Regularly ask yourselves Does this advance our strategy or take us off course? Question 3: Are we making significant progress implementing our strategy? If your answer is No you need a refresh. Maybe conditions have changed externally or internally, and your strategy needs to adjust. Or your tactics for implementation arent working and must be examined. If your answer is I dont know, you need to find out! As Albert Einstein is widely quoted as saying, Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting the same results. In a world where volatility is the status quo, you need to regularly check in on your plan to see if it needs to be modified or overhauled. If you want to learn 6 key questions to keep your plan on track, download this guide, 8 Things Every Philanthropist Can Do To Change The World (hint: they are on page 13). Remember, strategy has two parts: strategy formulation (developing your strategy) and strategy implementation (implementing it). Refreshing your strategy might mean the strategy itself, your plans for implementing it, or both. Of course, if your answer to any of these questions is What strategy? or Where did we put that thing? Id reckon its time to create one! Developing, implementing, and refreshing your strategy is easier and can be done much faster than you might think. (WHAT SHOULD I LINK?) You dont have to figure this out alone. Schedule a free 30-minute consultation with me we can discuss your answers to these questions and Im happy to offer my best advice at no cost to you. Its not a sales pitch. Honestly, its painful to me when philanthropys resources and talent arent optimized for maximum impact because funders dont have clear, flexible, and sentient strategies guiding decisions. Im happy to help you! Washington, March 2 : The Pentagon has announced that US airstrikes in eastern Syria last week killed one militia member and injured two others. "We believe, right now, there was likely one militia member killed, and two militia members wounded," Xinhua news agency quoted Pentagon spokesman John Kirby as saying to reporters on Monday. "We will continue to assess, as you know we do, and if that changes, we'll certainly let you know," Kirby added. On February 25, the US military conducted airstrikes against facilities used by Iranian-backed militant groups in eastern Syria to transport weapons, personnel and supplies across the border into Iraq. According to the Pentagon, the airstrikes were authorised in response to recent attacks against American and coalition personnel in Iraq. It added that nine facilities were completely destroyed, while two others were damaged. This was the first major military operation ordered by President Joe Biden since he took office two months ago. A day after the strikes, Syria and Iran strongly condemned the US' move. The US State Department Monday formally announced a ban on US visas against 76 Saudi nationals in connection with the savage October 2018 assassination and butchering of exiled Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, Turkey. At the same time, it touted a Khashoggi ban, which will supposedly provide for similar sanctions against any government accused of conducting serious, extraterritorial counter-dissident activities. The failure by the Biden administration to order any sanctions whatsoever against the principal author of the crime, Saudi Arabias de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, exposes the glaring hypocrisy of the US measures. Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia Mohammad bin Salman Al Saud (Credit: en.kremlin.ru) The administrations highly circumscribed response to one of the most brutal state killings in recent history accompanied the release of a redacted US intelligence report. This four-page document included nothing more than what the entire world already knew: that the assassination, carried out by a 15-man hit squad that included the crown princes chief bodyguard, together with Saudi military and intelligence officers and a forensics specialist equipped with a bone saw to chop up the body, could not have been carried out without the authorization of Saudi Arabias absolute ruler. We assess that Saudi Arabias Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman approved an operation in. Istanbul, Turkey to capture or kill Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, the declassified report concluded. The Crown Prince viewed Khashoggi as a threat to the Kingdom and broadly supported using violent measures if necessary to silence him. That the CIA had issued a finding to this effect has long been known, despite the crude attempts at obfuscation by President Donald Trump, who claimed that it was impossible to determine bin Salmans responsibility, and that the murder could have been the work of rogue elements. That US intelligence possesses damning and conclusive evidence of bin Salmans guilt is without question. Turkish intelligence had bugged the Istanbul consulate and recorded the entire grisly crime, including the forensic expert complaining about having to carve up the body on the floor, ...even if you are a butcher and want to cut, he hangs the animal up to do it, he was taped as saying. The Turkish recordings also disclosed the direct participation via Skype of the crown princes chief adviser, who instructed the hit squad to bring me the head of the dog, which, given the bloody character of the proceedings, can only be interpreted as a direct and literal order. The adviser, Saud al-Qahtani, was also monitored by US intelligence as he exchanged 11 text messages with bin Salman immediately before and after the killing. None of this evidence was included in the report ordered released by President Biden. The Treasury Department placed a freeze on any US-held assets of al-Qahtani and banned any dealings with the Rapid Intervention Force, also known as the Tiger Squad, from which bin Salman drew his assassins. Khashoggis Turkish fiancee, Hatice Cengiz, denounced Washingtons failure to take any action against bin Salman himself. It is essential that the crown prince...should be punished without delay, she said on Twitter. If the crown prince is not punished, it will forever signal that the main culprit can get away with murder which will endanger us all and be a stain on our humanity. Agnes Callamard, special rapporteur on summary executions who led the UNs probe into Khashoggis murder, issued a similarly stinging indictment of the US response. She decried the lack of material information and evidence in the four-page report released by the US Office of the Director of National Intelligence. Moreover, she told a Geneva press conference, It is extremely problematic, in my view, if not dangerous, to acknowledge someones culpability and then to tell that someone but we wont do anything, please proceed as if have we have said nothing. While during the election campaign, candidate Biden had claimed that he would turn Saudi Arabia into a pariah and would cut off all arms sales to the kingdom, his administration is now cynically defending its refusal to sanction bin Salman, claiming that its aim is to recalibrate and not rupture USSaudi relations. As for arms sales, a State Department spokesman said on Monday that each deal would be evaluated on a case-by-case basis according to our interests and our values. He added that the US remains committed to its longstanding partnership with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and to helping Saudi Arabia defend its territory as it faces attacks from Iranian-aligned groups. The principal group he had in mind was Yemens Houthi rebels, who have carried out sporadic rocket and drone attacks on Saudi facilities in retaliation for a six-year-long Saudi-led war and bombing campaign that has claimed the lives of 100,000 Yemenis and brought 13 million people, roughly half the countrys population, to the brink of starvation. While the Biden administration announced that it will cease the aid Washington has provided to this near-genocidal war, begun under the Obama-Biden administration, it will continue to provide defensive weapons that will be used to attack the country. Secretary of State Antony Blinken justified the impunity granted to the Crown Prince bin Salman with the banal claim that The relationship with Saudi Arabia is bigger than any one individual, even though this one individual happens to wield absolute power in the kingdom. He has presided over not just the assassination of Khashoggi, but mass beheadings, the jailing of anyone daring to criticize the monarchical regime, systemic torture and the violent crushing of any hint of opposition from within the Saudi working class and the masses of brutally repressed migrant workers. Among the outright lies trotted out to justify the pass for bin Salman was this from White House press secretary Jen Psaki in an interview Sunday on CNN: Historically and even in recent history, Democratic and Republican administrations, there have not been sanctions put in place for the leaders of foreign governments where we have diplomatic relations and even where we dont have diplomatic relations. This is sheer nonsense. Sanctions have been imposed against government leaders in Iran, Venezuela, Nicaragua, Sudan, Myanmar and other countries. The reasons for the Saudi exception are clear. Saudi Arabia has served as a linchpin of reaction and US imperialist domination in the Arab world, under both Democratic and Republican administrations alike, for more than three-quarters of a century. It is also an ally of both Washington and Tel Aviv in an anti-Iranian axis that has threatened to push the region into a catastrophic new war. In addition, Saudi Arabia constitutes the number-one market for US arms exports, with an average of $10 billion in sales a year. There is also the fear in Washington that a direct indictment of bin Salman could serve to destabilize the Saudi monarchy, opening the gate to a revolution against the Arab worlds most repressive regime. Behind the Biden administrations sham rebuke of Saudi Arabia over the Khashoggi murder lie definite imperialist interests. The new Democratic administration wants to revive the politics of human rights imperialism, invoking democracy and supposed concern for human rights to justify the buildup to war, particularly against strategic rivals China and Russia. The so-called Khashoggi ban supposedly initiated in response to the murder in Istanbul is widely viewed as a weapon that will be turned against Beijing. In a shift from the crudely transactional, chaotic and personalist foreign policy pursued by the Trump White House, the new Democratic administration wants a more systematic prosecution of US imperialist interests in preparation for great power conflict, particularly with China. To this end, it is seeking to subordinate the Saudi regime, as well as Israel and other regional allies, more directly to Washingtons global strategy. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Recognizing the added value hunting and fishing bring to the local food system is important... Conservation Visions is announcing a new partnership with Wyoming Game and Fish Department in support of the Wild Harvest Initiative, the first science-based program to assess the full benefits of sustainable wild animal harvests in ways that are most meaningful to people, whether or not they hunt or fish. The Initiative will examine the value of wildlife and fish harvests in terms of food, livelihoods, human health, wildlife conservation, and the environment. Its research will extend beyond meat and fish to explore other sustainable wild harvests of natural living resources, including berries and fruits, mushrooms, wild honey, medicinal plants, and more. The program will also explore synergies with sustainable agricultural and ranching practices on public and private lands. The Wyoming Game and Fish Department is excited about this program with the Wild Harvest Initiative to learn even more about the value of hunting and angling in Wyoming, said Game and Fish Director Brian Nesvik. Recognizing the added value hunting and fishing bring to the local food system is important not just to hunters and anglers and their families, but to people who do not hunt or fish themselves. We hope that through this project, more people will understand the diverse benefits of Wyoming's wild protein sources. We're glad this effort will consider overlap with our state's robust agriculture industry as well as complement our state's efforts to combat food insecurity with wild game. Shane Mahoney, President of Conservation Visions and founder of the Wild Harvest Initiative, is very pleased to welcome Wyoming Game and Fish Department to the Wild Harvest Initiative Partnership Alliance, a growing coalition of thirty-eight members, now representing state agencies, NGOs, outdoor industry leaders, and private philanthropists. We know that the percentage of Wyomingites who hunt and/or fish is higher than the national average and it goes without saying that the majority of the states residents likely support sustainable natural resource use and wild harvest activities, especially in terms of food procurement, he says. "So, we especially welcome the states long-range vision and willingness to join the Wild Harvest Initiatives alliance of partners. Additionally, the state is famous for its high-quality ranching and farming culture. We know that working with the Wyoming Game and Fish Department, will strengthen and broaden the relevance of the Wild Harvest Initiative and deliver results that will help protect Wyomings outdoor heritage for generations to come. Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-03 00:19:38|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close HONG KONG, March 2 (Xinhua) -- Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Carrie Lam said Tuesday that the resumption of stability and peace is widely anticipated by Hong Kong's business sector and the national security law is a "stabilizing force" for Hong Kong. The implementation of the national security law in the HKSAR ranked as the most highlighted event for the business sector in 2020. After the national security law in Hong Kong took effect, street violence almost disappeared completely and Hong Kong returned to stability from chaos, Lam said, adding that the government has actively cracked down on acts endangering national security and brought criminals to justice. Only after the national security is guaranteed, will the implementation of "one country, two systems" remain stable and sustainable and will Hong Kong be peaceful and prosperous, she said. Lam vowed that the HKSAR government will strive to safeguard national security, protect people's rights and freedom, and improve Hong Kong's business environment. Looking ahead, Lam said Hong Kong will enjoy enormous opportunities by integrating national development and giving full play to its advantages under "one country, two systems." Enditem Ireland's bid to become an Observer to the Arctic Council Event Minister for Foreign Affairs Ireland Simon Coveney, introduces Irelands application for observer status to the Arctic Council at a webinar hosted by the Institute for International and European Affairs and the Department of Foreign Affairs on 1 March 2021. Read more here about why Ireland is applying to become an Observer to the Arctic Council Keynote address by Simon Coveney, T.D., Minister for Foreign Affairs and for Defence. It is always a pleasure to take part in events organised by the Institute for International and European Affairs and I am delighted to have the chance to speak with you this afternoon and to introduce Irelands bid to become an Observer to the Arctic Council. The Arctic Council, established in 1996, is recognised as the primary forum for international cooperation and coordination in the Arctic region. Its members are the eight Arctic states and there are also thirteen Observer states. That is the grouping that Ireland seeks to join this year and we submitted our application in December 2020. Why is Ireland applying to the Arctic Council is a question I have been asked on a number of occasions in recent months. I believe that the answer is quite simple. Ireland needs to become involved in the work of the Council because we are an island nation at the edge of Europe in the North Atlantic and we have a culture, heritage and identity intrinsically linked to the seas that surround us. We are not in the Arctic but we can certainly say that we are part of the wider Arctic neighbourhood. There are fundamental changes taking place in the region that impact directly on Ireland as a country as well as being of wider global concern. With the changes we are seeing and experiencing year after year in our climate, there is a growing awareness that the only successful way forward is to work together with others in developing solutions to the problems and challenges we all face. Irelands foreign policy is based firmly on the belief that states working together in cohesive multilateral organisations is the best way to achieve global progress and sustainable development. From the earliest days of our independent statehood when we played an important role in the ill-fated League of Nations to our modern day membership of the United Nations and its many subsidiary organisations and, of course, the European Union, we have worked together with like-minded countries on global issues such as disarmament, human rights, peacekeeping and fighting poverty and hunger. Our election last year, for the second time in twenty years, as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council speaks to the respect in which Ireland is held as a pragmatic and neutral actor in the international community. Ireland will approach Observer status to the Arctic Council, if we are successful in our application of course, in the same spirit of committed and pragmatic multilateral action. We accept that the eight Member States of the Council and the communities that live in the Arctic will be the primary decision makers and shapers of the regions future, but we offer ourselves as an Observer state with a track record as a respected and respectful global citizen. A commitment to the rule of international law is enshrined in the Constitution of Ireland and is one of the core principles of our foreign policy. We will seek as an Observer to learn, to assist and to contribute. Working with the Arctic states to understand and address the effects of climate change is a central reason why Ireland needs to engage with the Council. I read recently that every year the Arctic ice-cap loses an area the size of Austria. This is a seismic change in any sense. Climate change in the Arctic threatens not only the people of the region and the wildlife and fauna, but all of us. The Arctic permafrost is a huge natural storehouse of carbon. As it melts, it releases greenhouse gases, which will accelerate global warming. Since 1979, the volume of the Arctic ice has shrunk by 75% and in summer it is now feasible to navigate from the Atlantic to the Pacific without needing an icebreaker. This has been compared to a new Suez canal through the North Pole. For the indigenous communities of the Arctic, this development and the growing interest in the region might create jobs and economic activity and lead to extension of roads, railways, telecommunication networks and electrical grids. But new routes and increased shipping also mean risks for indigenous communities and already fragile ecosystems. This may have a negative impact in terms of accidents and pollution. Industrial accidents can have devastating effects on the environment and local communities. Irelands world class development cooperation programme has proven capabilities in empowering and giving voice to vulnerable communities in a spirit of partnership and justice. We will use this experience to engage with the indigenous peoples of the Arctic region and to build cross-cultural exchanges. We will work to ensure that their voices are heard when decisions are made that affect the future of their region. Ireland can bring scientific and technical expertise to the role we hope to play as an Observer to the Council. The application submitted by the Government in December is firmly grounded in the ability of our scientific community to understand and address the issues at stake in the Arctic region today. They are already active in many intergovernmental and non-governmental organisations working in the region. We will hear later from Richard Cronin, head of marine environment policy in the Irish Government, who is the current chair of the OSPAR Commission, about important collaborative work that the Commission, under Irish leadership, is undertaking with Arctic partners. Ireland has a cutting-edge research and development sector characterised by outstanding levels of collaboration between government, industry and academia. We believe that, accordingly, Ireland can contribute significant expertise that aligns with the mandates of the existing Council working groups. This application for Observer status was developed as a truly national collaboration. By contributing to an understanding of the dynamics of change in the region, the impact on all who live there and in promoting and empowering action, Ireland will be serving not only its interests as an island nation geographically close to the Arctic, but also those of the wider world. I hope that this event today with its distinguished and knowledgeable panel from Ireland and abroad will bring our vision of an active, collaborative and engaged Observer state to a wider audience. I hope too that the governments of the Member States of the Arctic Council will consider Irelands application for Observer status in the spirit in which we have made it; as an engaged global citizen keen to play our part in helping increase knowledge of and search for solutions to the difficult ecological problems facing the region. Previous Item | Next Item The Transportation Security Department of Dubai Police (TSD) said it has signed a MoU with Etihad Rail - the developer and operator of the UAEs national railway network - in bid to enhance and develop cooperation in common areas of work in a way that helps the public. The MoU outlines cooperation in the fields of securing and protecting Etihad Rail facilities in Dubai and reduce potential security risks as well as enhancing the safety of passengers, stated Brigadier Obaid Al Habthoor, Director of the TSD, after signing the deal with Mohammed Al Marzouqi, Executive Director of the Rail Affairs Sector at Etihad Rail, in the presence of senior officials. Al Habthoor also stressed the importance of establishing active communication, cooperation and connection between Dubai Police and different government and non-government bodies to realise and serve joint interests and to enhance the emirates safety and security. Etihad Rail was established in June 2009 under Federal Law No. 2, with the mandate to manage the development, construction and operation of the UAEs national freight and passenger railway network. The railway network will link the principal centres of population and industry of the UAE and will form a vital part of the planned railway network across the GCC.- The Royal Australian Air Force's first Boeing-built, drone-jet hybrid prototype -- part of its "Loyal Wingman" program -- made its first test flight last week. The company said Monday that it had held a series of taxi, takeoff and flight tests for the drone, which could someday play sidekick to fourth- and fifth-generation fighter jets, according to a news release. "The Loyal Wingman's first flight is a major step in this long-term, significant project for the Air Force and Boeing Australia, and we're thrilled to be a part of the successful test," said Air Vice-Marshal Cath Roberts, head of Air Force capability for the RAAF. Read Next: Air Force Unveils Design of New PT Uniforms "The Loyal Wingman project is a pathfinder for the integration of autonomous systems and artificial intelligence to create smart human-machine teams; through this project, we are learning how to integrate these new capabilities to complement and extend air combat and other missions," Roberts said in the Boeing release. Boeing delivered the first prototype to Australia in May 2020. It is the first aircraft "to be designed, engineered and manufactured in Australia in more than 50 years," Boeing said at the time, adding that it is the company's "largest investment in an unmanned aircraft outside of the United States." The Feb. 28 flight demonstration was overseen by a Boeing test pilot, who observed its performance from a ground station at the RAAF's Woomera Range Complex. From design to flight, the team was able to assemble the drone in three years, the company said. The tests included taxiing, ground handling performance, and navigation checks prior to takeoff. Once airborne, the wingman drone flew a predetermined route "at different speeds and altitudes to verify flight functionality" and operation, the release states. "Boeing and Australia are pioneering fully integrated combat operations by crewed and uncrewed aircraft," said Boeing Defense, Space & Security President and CEO Leanne Caret. The aircraft, which Boeing is co-developing with the Australian government, was unveiled at the 2019 Avalon Airshow. Australia is investing roughly $40 million in the program, CNN reported. "We're honored to be opening this part of aviation's future with the Royal Australian Air Force, and we look forward to showing others how they also could benefit from our loyal wingman capabilities," Caret said in the release. Loyal Wingman will harness artificial intelligence "to fly independently or in support of manned aircraft while maintaining safe distance between other aircraft," according to a Boeing fact sheet. More than 35 Australian companies are supporting the effort, it adds. The concept is similar to an American military effort. The U.S. Air Force is working to develop its own program featuring unmanned aircraft that could think autonomously and be sent out alongside F-35 Joint Strike Fighters or other aircraft to scout enemy territory ahead of a strike, or to gather intel for the aircraft formation. In December, the service selected three defense companies to produce unmanned aerial vehicle prototypes for its Skyborg program, which will pair a drone guided by artificial intelligence with a human piloting a fighter jet. Boeing, General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, and Kratos Unmanned Aerial Systems were selected. Skyborg is one of three initiatives under the service's Vanguard Program for rapid prototyping and development of new technologies it can leverage for multiple operations. The Vanguard Program brings together the Air Force Research Lab and the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center to "quickly identify cutting-edge technology and transition directly into the hands of the warfighter," according to the service. The autonomous Skyborg AI program is intended for use in reusable unmanned aerial vehicles in a manned-unmanned teaming mission; the vehicles are considered "attritable," or cheap enough that they can be destroyed without significant cost. -- Oriana Pawlyk can be reached at oriana.pawlyk@military.com. Follow her on Twitter at @oriana0214. Related: Air Force Weapons Are Getting Smarter. Will That Leave Some Airmen Out of a Job? Bengaluru, March 2 : Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa on Tuesday felicitated heroes of 1971 war fought in erstwhile East Pakistan and now Bangladesh. "The Chief Minister has felicitated seven heroes of the December 1971 war in which India defeated Pakistan, resulting in the birth of Bangladesh," said the Defence Ministry in a statement here. General officer commanding of South India handed over the 'Victory Flame' to Yediyurappa at Vidhana Soudha (state secretariat) in the city centre. Among those felicitated were Rear Admiral S K Gupta, T B M Noronha, widow of late Commodore J P A Noronha, Major General K P Nanjappa, Brigadier P V Sahadevan, Rear Admiral R R Sood, Commander K S Panwar, and Wing Commander A Raghunath. Many veterans who fought in the 1971 war and living in the southern state, including Bengaluru attended the event. 2021 marks the beginning of the 50th anniversary of India's victory over Pakistan in the 1971 battle. On December 17, 1971, over 50 years ago, 93,000 Pakistani soldiers raised the white flag and surrendered to the Indian Armed Forces, calling an end to the 16-day India-Pakistan war. The 'Swarnim Vijay Varsh celebrations' began at the National War Memorial in New Delhi on December 16, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi paying homage to the brave hearts, releasing a logo and lighting the victory flame. "Four mashals (torch flames) were sent in all four cardinal directions across the country, including one to Bengaluru on February 20," said the statement. In a previous column I explained how the potential size of congressional funding for much-needed infrastructure projects will inherently be far larger than the state and local share of the pending bill for COVID-19 relief and recovery. I encouraged governors and municipal officials to line up their projects and plan ahead for the inevitable competition for federal infrastructure funds. Now, as soon as pandemic relief is enacted, is the time to make the next move, collectively and strategically.Quick action to line up meetings with senators and their staffs is imperative. In a vacuum, a knee-jerk conservative GOP caucus, coupled with legislative ground rules for an infrastructure bill, may stall progress for major construction-funding grants despite advocates endless urging for President Biden to go big. Most readers are familiar with the Senates rules that require 60 votes to break a filibuster the endless debate that can stall a bill into oblivion. The only ways to surmount that rule are (1) to achieve bipartisan support with at least 60 votes (of which 10 would have to be Republican in the current 50-50 Senate) or (2) to invoke the budget reconciliation rule , which is now being used to push the Democrats COVID-19 relief bill through the Senate with a simple majority that presumably would be provided by Vice President Kamala Harris tie-breaking vote.The problem is that reconciliation is not a checkers move; its a chess move. In chess, players can castle their king and their rook only once in each game. In the Senate, the comparable special rule for budget reconciliation is that it can be used only once each fiscal year. The 2021 fiscal year expires on Sept. 30, so were now one and done with the senatorial castling move. No more budget reconciliation gambits until FY 2022.Yet proponents of a big infrastructure bill, including pundits and liberals outside the Beltway, are still acting as if this game is checkers that they can just push their ideas into law with simple-majority moves. They need to study the rulebook.The next opportunity for budget reconciliation will be Oct. 1, 2021. Until then, more spending cannot clear the Senate without a supermajority. (And even then, the Senates reconciliation Byrd rule may cap infrastructure funding and costs over multiple years in the absence of offsetting revenues or cuts in other appropriations.) It is not by accident that Bidens people are sugarcoating the White Houses infrastructure plan as a vitamin pill for bipartisan consumption. They have no other choice if they want quick enactment.What this means is that the next strategic move is for state and local officials, particularly those who operate in a red political environment, to work the problem from the bottom up and not expect success to rain upon them from above. States and communities must convince their senators and representatives that action on their specific infrastructure needs is imperative now and cannot wait another nine months to even be considered.Then there is the matter of how to pay for it. There are two schools of thought. One is to look to new taxes or increases in existing levies. But Republicans almost instinctively hate taxes, so the risk of providing a sensible pay-for strategy as part of a midyear infrastructure advocacy effort is that the construction projects look good but the taxes are a showstopper on the GOP side of the aisle, and bipartisanship collapses.The other school of thought holds that deficits be damned, just as they were with the Trump tax cuts in 2017, and a 60-vote Senate majority could now muscle the infrastructure spending through without revenue sources. One snag with that strategy is the prevailing sequestration laws , which may require spending cuts to balance budgets. Sequestration rules could still put the Democrats in a stalemate in this chess match.There is, of course, another play in the senatorial rulebook: the so-called nuclear option, whereby the controlling party eliminates the filibuster by a simple majority vote. The danger with this ploy is that no one party ever controls Congress endlessly. When the opposition party regains control, it will cram its own bills through and reverse every piece of legislation passed by its predecessors. Policies are then doomed to swing from one extreme to another; hostilities escalate. Such killer chess isnt very harmonious with incoming presidential rhetoric about unity.Given the realities of reconciliation, sequestration and filibuster, building a bipartisan coalition with sufficient pay-for revenues is the superior strategy. This must start with coordinated grassroots advocacy from governors, mayors, county supervisors and commissioners, municipal leagues and school boards. Without 10 solid GOP votes in the Senate, infrastructure is dead until FY 2022. Only a full-court press from home-state constituents, especially in key red and purple states, is likely to win a supermajority. Those senators will want to hear about specific vital projects that cannot get underway with only local funding.Dont be surprised to see a dozen or more such home-base construction projects in selected red states earmarked in a final infrastructure bill seeking bipartisan support. Swing-vote lawmakers may hold their noses for the voting video, but privately many will want their names on a bridge, tunnel or civic edifice.The White House has the most high-value pieces in this chess game, with its catbird-seat ability to embed porky projects to secure GOP votes. But without bottom-up support from state and local leaders, such votes will be vulnerable to watchdog media attacks. Active grassroots engagement adds legitimacy to the entire process, even if it comes from pawns on the board in the grand scheme of this political game.Without a bipartisan infrastructure bill clearing Congress this spring or summer, Democrats fallback strategy will likely be enactment through FY 2022 budget reconciliation with taxes to pay for it. Republicans will object, but progressives want to repeal most Trump tax cuts and loopholes anyway.But failure to drum up and deliver GOP senatorial votes for a bipartisan infrastructure bill this spring brings special jeopardy to governors and local officials in red states, because their states and communities will risk being on the losing end of whatever clears Congress checkmate if Democrats are compelled to go it alone in October.Which brings us back to the actionable options for state and local officials: Either start robust lobbying campaigns now, to gain grassroots support for enactment of a bipartisan bill before Capitol Hills summer recess, or sit empty-handed until FY 2022 begins in October and hope for the best in what then could become an antagonistic and agonizingly tight chess match under a midterm spotlight.GoverningGoverning England's missing case of the Brazilian coronavirus variant is someone from one of 379 households in the South East who took a home swab test in mid-February, Matt Hancock confirmed today. The Health Secretary said the Department of Health is getting closer to finding the mystery person who tested positive but didn't give their contact details. They are one of six people who have tested positive for the troublesome Brazilian P1 variant, with two others near Bristol and three in Scotland. Exactly where in the South East the person took the test is not yet known officials have enlisted the help of Royal Mail to find them. Mr Hancock said local health chiefs were tracking down each household to pinpoint the missing patient. Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng today confirmed the person is yet to be found as he said 'we are still trying to work out exactly what has happened to that potential carrier'. The strain, first discovered in the Brazilian city of Manaus, has spooked experts and ministers because it has mutations which are thought to increase the risk of it re-infecting people who have previously had Covid or to lessen the impact of vaccines. The Health Secretary said the Department of Health is getting closer to finding the mysterious person who tested positive but didn't give their contact details Mr Hancock provided an update in the House of Commons today, after the Prime Minister's office said earlier in the day that there was nothing to add. He said: 'We've identified the batch of home test kits in question. 'Our search has narrowed from the whole country down to 379 households in the South East of England and we're contacting each one. 'We're grateful that a number of potential cases have come forward following the call that we put out over the weekend and I'd like to thank colleagues from across the House who helped us to get the message out there.' STUDY FINDS BRAZIL VARIANT MAY REINFECT 2/3 PEOPLE WITH IMMUNITY A study led by Imperial College London and published online today has found that the Brazil variant of coronavirus may cause reinfection among 61 per cent of people who have already had Covid caused by a different strain. Research on the P1 variant among people living in the Brazilian city of Manaus found potentially high levels of reinfection, and that the variant was more transmissible than the original pandemic strain. British experts have cautioned that the study cannot be used to predict what may happen in the UK. According to the new study, blood testing suggests more than 67 per cent of people in Manaus may have had Covid by October 2020. There was surprise then when the city suffered another huge wave of coronavirus at the start of this year, so experts sought to find out why. They found that the proportion of Covid cases that were the P1 variant grew from zero to 87 per cent in about eight weeks. P1 was found to be 1.4 to 2.2 times more transmissible than other variants in Manaus, and was found to evade 25 per cent to 61 per cent of protective immunity from previous infection. Dr Nuno Faria, reader in viral evolution at Imperial, told a briefing: 'If 100 people were infected in Manaus last year, somewhere between 25 and 61 of them are susceptible to reinfection with P1.' The study could not say how severe illness was in people who were reinfected. It found a slightly higher death rate connected to P1 cases in Manaus but said this coincided with 'substantial healthcare failure' and hospitals running out of oxygen, so it couldn't be pinned on the new variant. Coronavirus genetics expert at COG-UK, Professor Sharon Peacock, said the study could not be used to speculate on the effectiveness of vaccines or how things 'will pan out in other countries including the UK'. Advertisement The discovery of the six cases in the UK has prompted criticism of the Government's hotel quarantine policy, with Labour arguing it is not strict enough. Calls for the system to be toughened up are likely to grow after it emerged the concerning strain has been identified in at least 15 countries not on the 'red list'. The Guardian reported that a list of verified cases compiled by the World Health Organization includes the US, Canada, France, Germany, Spain and Japan. The Government's 'red list' policy in England currently bans travel from more than 30 countries which have had variant outbreaks. UK citizens can still come back from those countries but they must spend 10 days in a quarantine hotel. Travellers returning from non-'red list' countries must self-isolate for 10 days at home. Labour has repeatedly called for the policy to be strengthened, arguing the Government's border measures are always 'too little, too late'. Mr Hancock has defended the border arrangements and said home quarantine measures were already in place and travel restrictions on Brazil had been imposed before the hotel policy was implemented. Despite the concern about the Brazilian variant, scientists today called for calm and said there was nothing to suggest that it could derail the vaccination programme or plans to get out of lockdown. Professor Andrew Pollard, lead investigator of the Oxford vaccine trials, today said that Britain should ditch its 'obsession' with new coronavirus variants because vaccines should be able to stop them, even if they don't wipe out the virus completely. Professor Pollard said he was optimistic that vaccines could be updated to beat the new versions of the virus. And a government and Cambridge University scientist also played down the fears, suggesting the coronavirus could be reaching a 'plateau' in its evolution. Professor Sharon Peacock, who runs the Covid Genomics Consortium tracking new variants of the virus, said fewer new mutations are cropping up in the virus and it is showing 'convergent evolution' in which unconnected variants look the same. Although mutations in the virus happen at random, only the ones that somehow make it stronger than other versions of the virus tend to stick around. Professor Peacock said it was possible that the coronavirus would reach 'optimal fitness' and stop developing major mutations because it couldn't improve itself. She said she did not believe the discovery of the Brazilian P1 variant in the UK would ruin the vaccine roll-out or lockdown plans. 'The majority of disease in the UK is caused by the B117 [Kent] variant which we can vaccinate against using the vaccines that we have available to us at the moment,' Professor Peacock said in a briefing with journalists. 'The numbers of cases [of P1] in the UK are very low at the moment and I dont think there is any threat to our vaccination strategy or effectiveness.' Professor Andrew Pollard said on BBC Radio 4 today: 'It is difficult because were very focused on what were seeing today and of course the nature of this virus is that it will continue to throw out new mutations in time. 'And so, to some extent, weve got to start moving away from an obsession with each variant as it appears [and] try to rely on the excellent sequencing that is being run nationally to pick up variants so that new designs of vaccines can be made as and when they are needed. 'Certainly at the moment there are some similarities between the P.1 Brazil variant and the B.1351 South African variant. 'So the work at the moment is partly to understand whether a vaccine for one of them might actually protect against both. 'Theres a lot more that we dont know yet about this, but all the developers are working on new vaccines to make sure we are ready if we need to be.' In total, Public Health England has identified only six UK cases of the concerning so-called P1 variant three in England and three in Scotland. Three cases are Scottish residents who flew to Aberdeen from Brazil via Paris and London, who all tested positive while self-isolating. Other passengers who were on the same flight to Aberdeen are now being traced. The other two cases in England are from the same household in South Gloucestershire after one person returned from Brazil on February 10 just days before the Government's hotel quarantine rule came into force. Two other people in the same household have also tested positive but are not currently included in the UK case total of six, while tests on their type of coronavirus continue. Officials are searching for passengers who were on the Swiss Air flight LX318 from Sao Paulo to Heathrow, via Zurich, which landed on February 10. Surge testing will now be carried out in the Bradley Stoke, Patchway and Little Stoke areas of South Gloucestershire to capture any potential spread in cases. Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said the discovery of the variant in the UK showed the Government had not 'secured our borders in the way we should have done'. Vaccines minister Nadhim Zahawi said any community transmission of the variant would be identified 'very, very quickly' through both regular PCR and lateral flow testing. You are the owner of this article. Granular has been helping farmers transition to making data-driven decisions for more than seven years. This guide is an extension of that work and we feel strongly it can help farmers make more confident, data-backed decisions as they move into planting season. Granular and Pioneer Agronomy, both cornerstones of Corteva Agriscience, have joined forces to create a first-of-its-kind resource for U.S. farmers. Their proprietary digital planting guide brings together the best of Pioneer Agronomy expertise plus more than five million acres of anonymized Granular and Corteva data and insights. The free planting guide is built to debunk three specific planting myths timing, population and planting depth and demonstrates how using millions of acres worth of data collected through collaboration from the most progressively minded farmers can help avoid a loss of up to $120 in profit per acre. Farmers have one shot at planting each year, said Dr. Mary Gumz, Agronomy Manager with Pioneer. Whatever tools we can provide to take one more decision off a farmers plate or lessen the load through actionable data and insights, we are committed to doing. We have best-in-class agronomists plus leading data and insights to give farmers the upper hand going into plant '21. Our planting guide distills up-to-date information in a manner where a farmer can actually use it to make decisions specific to their state and operation. Available on both desktop and mobile, features of the guide include: State-specific planting date and seeding rate trends Seeding rate calculator and insights Downloadable planting checklist Video tutorials on planting depth Direct access to in-depth Pioneer Agronomy research of corn and soybean planting depth, planting date, population research and much more If you ask farmers how they make decisions, some make their decisions based on data, but what we have found that when really pressed, farmers rely on their gut because it's how they've always been doing something or it's what other farmers around them are doing, said Ken OBrien, Granular U.S. Commercial Digital Marketing Lead. Granular has been helping farmers transition to making data-driven decisions for more than seven years. We stand side by side with them and provide the support they need to turn their data into actions. This guide is an extension of that work and we feel strongly it can help farmers make more confident, data-backed decisions as they move into planting season. Farmers can access the guide at http://www.granular.ag/Plant21. Along with data and insights from Granular and Pioneer, the guide also shares information on the free and simple-to-use planting features available in Granular Insights and the Pioneer Seeds App. Farmers can look for even more features to be added to the guide throughout the month of March. About Granular Granular, a Corteva Agriscience company, is Farm Management Software (FMS) that is helping thousands of farmers to build more profitable and efficient farms today to steward their lands for generations to come. As the worlds leading FMS, Granular uniquely combines an industry-leading support team with the most recommended suite of powerful yet easy-to-use software to help farmers and their teams run all aspects of their farm as a business. From financials to agronomy to operations, farmers are now able to make data-driven decisions with greater confidence in an increasingly challenging environment. Granular is San Francisco-based, with offices worldwide. Granular is an independent, wholly-owned subsidiary of Corteva Agriscience (NYSE:CTVA). Learn more about Granular at http://granular.ag/, Twitter, @GranularAg, and Instagram, @Granular_Ag, or facebook.com/GranularAgriculture/. About Pioneer Pioneer, the flagship seed brand of Corteva Agriscience, is the worlds leading developer and supplier of advanced plant genetics, providing high-quality seeds to farmers in more than 90 countries. Pioneer provides agronomic support and services to help increase farmer productivity and profitability and strives to develop sustainable agricultural systems for people everywhere. Join the discussion and follow Pioneer on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube. 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 http://www.corteva.com. Follow Corteva Agriscience on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter and YouTube. 3/2/21 TM SM Trademarks and service marks of Corteva Agriscience and its affiliated companies. BEIJING, March 1 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese military is playing an active role in international anti-virus cooperation and has provided vaccine aid to the Pakistani, Cambodian, Mongolian and Philippine militaries, said the Ministry of National Defense on Monday. As of February, the Chinese military had provided anti-epidemic supplies such as masks and respirators to the armed forces of 50 countries, including Mozambique, Serbia, Cuba and Laos, according to the ministry. Furthermore, the Chinese military had dispatched medical expert teams to four countries and shared its experience in epidemic prevention and control with its counterparts from 18 countries as well as international organizations via video link. The Chinese military will continue to work together with foreign militaries to fight COVID-19, deepen pragmatic cooperation in non-traditional security fields, and strive to make new contributions to building a global community of health for all and safeguarding world peace and stability, said the ministry. 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. Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - March 2, 2021) - CAVU Mining Corp. (CSE: CAVU) ("CAVU" or the "Company") is pleased to announce it has initiated data processing and permitting on the Kitimat Copper-Gold Project ("Kitimat Project"). The Kitimat Project is located in the traditional territory of the Haisla First Nation. Highlights: Geophysical processing in progress Permitting for geophysical work and drilling in progress CAVU's CEO, Dr. Jaap Verbaas, stated, "The Kitimat targets have never been explored using novel geophysical techniques. Additionally, legacy data has never been reprocessed to characterize the geophysical signature of the known mineralized showings. This is a great opportunity for CAVU as it will allow us to use legacy data to design geophysical surveys specific to the Kitimat targets." The geophysical data under review includes a historic Aerodat, IP, and VTEM survey for which digital data are available. The historical data covers one of the two targets on the claim in its entirety. However, data appears to never have been used to target follow-up drilling or to design ground geophysical surveys. Permitting for the 2-phase exploration program is now in progress. The Company has applied for a 5-year area-based permit that allows for line-cutting, drilling, and ground geophysics. This work will allow the company to proceed with its intended 2-phase exploration program including ground geophysics and drilling of the Bowbyes and Jeannette targets. The Company further announces that it has allocated 760,000 incentive stock options, of which 500,000 were granted to directors and officers and 260,000 were granted to consultants of the Company. The options have a strike price of $0.47 and will expire 60 months from the grant date. Qualified Person Jeremy Hanson, P. Geo., is the qualified person for the Company as defined in the National Instrument 43-101 and has reviewed the technical information presented within the news release. About CAVU Mining Corp. CAVU is an acronym used in the aviation industry that stands for "Ceiling and Visibility Unlimited" and denotes ideal flying conditions (blue sky for miles). We believe the future for commodities, and especially copper, is bright. CAVU Mining Corp. is currently focused on the exploration of its Kitimat Property in British Columbia. ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS Dr. Jaap Verbaas, P.Geo. CEO and Director CAVU Mining Corp. jverbaas@cavumining.com 604-493-2997 Forward Looking Statements This news release contains forward-looking statements, including statements regarding the date of listing of the Company's common shares and the advancement of the Kitimat Project, 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 are forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. The reader is cautioned that assumptions used in the preparation of any forward-looking information 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, and which are described in the Company's public filings available under its profile at www.sedar.com. The reader is cautioned not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking information. 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 statements contained in this news release are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement. The forward-looking statements contained in this news release are made 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 required by Canadian securities laws. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/75808 TOFINO, B.C. - An Indigenous person will assist British Columbia's police watchdog in an advisory role for the first time during its investigation of a fatal police shooting on the weekend. TOFINO, B.C. - An Indigenous person will assist British Columbia's police watchdog in an advisory role for the first time during its investigation of a fatal police shooting on the weekend. Moses Martin said the decision by the Independent Investigations Office is something the Tla-o-qui-aht First Nation had requested. The RCMP said two officers from its Tofino detachment were called to a home on the Opitsaht reserve on nearby Meares Island to locate a woman in distress on Saturday night. The Mounties allege an unspecified "interaction" took place in which one man was shot and killed, while another was taken into custody. The RCMP declined to comment because the shooting is being investigated by the provincial Independent Investigations Office, which investigates all officer-related incidents that result in serious harm or death. The office said the RCMP responded to a report of a woman being held against her will at a residence on Meares Island at about 9:30 p.m. on Saturday. The woman was taken to hospital for medical assessment, it said. Ron MacDonald, the chief civilian director of the Independent Investigations Office, said the advisory role has been filled once before, but never by a member of an Indigenous community. "I believe it's important for us to ... have available to our investigation someone from this Indigenous community that will, in effect, help us do our jobs well," he said in an interview. MacDonald said the idea of building trust was a factor in the decision. "It's very important for us to have that trust in this community," he said. "Given that the history between Indigenous communities and the police world have obviously been fraught to a great extent, depending on who you ask. It's important for us to be aware of that." The person filling the role is known as a civilian monitor. They will be able to look at any aspect of the investigation, interview investigators and submit a report at the end on its competency and outcome. MacDonald said he will look at allowing a similar civilian monitor in future investigations, and the monitor for the Meares Island investigation has yet to be chosen. Martin welcomed the advisory role, adding First Nations had also asked to participate in the investigation into the death of Chantel Moore, a 26-year-old Indigenous woman, in New Brunswick last year. "That's a change for us," he said in an interview on Monday. "That's something we also wanted to be a part of in the Chantel Moore case, but we never got a response." The Tla-o-qui-aht First Nation is a member of the Nuu-chah-nulth tribal council and the Opitsaht reserve makes up one of its three major communities. The Pacheedaht First Nation is part of the Nuu-chah-nulth culture, but does not fall under the council's umbrella. Martin added that the community will require RCMP officers who enter its territories to do so with an escort by a band member. "Hopefully something like that would defuse some of the situations," Martin said. Judith Sayers, president of the Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council, said the death on the weekend is another shocking incident for the community involving police shootings. "It just doesn't make sense why there aren't other de-escalation methods being used," said Sayers. "This has become far too often that Indigenous people are being shot. I just really hope people are taking note of this out in the public." An Edmundston police officer shot and killed Moore during a wellness check in June. Police allege she lunged at an officer with a knife, and her death was also investigated by the agency in Quebec that investigates police shootings. Moore, who was from the Tla-o-qui-aht First Nation, had moved to the community in northwestern New Brunswick to be closer to her mother and young daughter. New Brunswick's public prosecutions service announced on Dec. 23 that it had received the Quebec agency's report into her death and would take time to examine the findings. By Nick Wells in Vancouver. This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 1, 2021. You are the owner of this article. Islamabad, March 2 : Turkey and Pakistan are on the verge of signing a defence agreement, opening doors for Islamabad to become the co-manufacturer of missiles and fighter jets. The claim was made in a report by Bloomberg that officials from both countries held meetings over the past couple of months where prospects of manufacturing and developing military hardware have been discussed. "Officials from both sides have confirmed that the meetings did take place in January but did not comment on whether any deal was reached between the two countries on when another such meeting will take place," claimed the Bloomberg report. Turkey's addition to Pakistan's defence and military level manufacturing, would also open gateway for Istanbul to be part of the JF-17 Thunder fighter jets, that Pakistan develops with China. Turkey would also be able to collaborate on defence projects with Pakistan in the coming days. "Ankara sees Islamabad as a strategic ally and a potential partner in developing its Siper-long-range missile-defence project and TF-X fighter jets," told Turkish officials to Bloomberg on condition of anonymity. "Pakistani Defence Secretary Mian Muhammad Hilal Hussain met with top Turkish officials including Defence Minister Hulusi Akar in December, and discussed defence industry cooperation," read Bloomberg quoting the sources. Pakistan has been cozing up with Turkey in the past with relations being taken from friendly countries to a driving force to represent the Muslim World, focused on fighting what they call Islamophobia and its concept being used against Muslims and religion by the world. However, Pakistan's attempt to ally with Turkey and Malaysia for the same was negated by Saudi Arabia, who saw the alliance as a direct confrontational challenge to the already existing Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC). Now, with the defence relations being extended between Pakistan and Turkey, analysts said that it may have an impact on Pakistan's relations with the United States in the coming future. A 22-year-old student has appeared before an Accra Circuit Court for allegedly having sex with an 11 year old girl at Teshie in Accra. Samuel Amegatcher is said to have told the Police that, he once attempted to have sex with the victim but he could not penetrate her. Charged with defilement, Amegatcher has pleaded not guilty. The court presided over by Mrs Christiana Cann, admitted Amegatcher to bail in the sum of GH60,000.00 with three sureties, one to be justified with a landed property. The court further ordered that the title deed of the landed property be deposited at the courts registry. It ordered the prosecution to serve accused person with disclosures. The case has been adjourned to March 15. Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Agnes Boafo, told the court that the complainant was the victims elder sister and that Amegatcher, the complainant and the victim resided in the same house at Teshie in Accra. DSP Boafo said in December last year, the victims mother detected that the victim walked in an unusual manner hence decided to conduct her personal examination on the victim. Prosecution said the victims mother during examination, noticed that the victim was bleeding and she had some discharges but when questioned by her mother she (victim) could not give any explanation. DSP Boafo said during further questioning, the victim informed her mother that Amegatcher had been having sex with her on a number of occasions on her blind side. A report was made to the Police at Nungua Domestic Violence and Victims Support Unit and Amegatcher arrested while a medical report form was issued to the complainant to seek medical care for the victim. During interrogation, prosecution said the Amegatcher denied defiling the victim but admitted that he had attempted to defile the victim but could not penetrate her. Source: GNA Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video The Reading Terminal Market, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is 128 years old. It is a historic place with almost 150 different vendors who run small shops and restaurants inside an old railroad station. Some of the vendors sell flowers, baked goods, cheese and sandwiches. Others sell meat, fish and things to use in your home like cloth and cooking tools. When the coronavirus health crisis started one year ago, many of the people who have businesses in the market were worried about the future. The market is close to Philadelphias City Hall and the citys convention center where businesses and organizations hold meetings for thousands of people. But the market lost a lot of customers when people who worked nearby started working from home and people stopped visiting the city. There was about one-third the usual number of people coming to the market during most of 2020. Some businesses decided to close for a short time. But the market building stayed open. Some of the businesses that sold necessary products like eggs and flour were able to survive. But many of them had to reduce the number of people they employed or reduce their hours. Annie Allman manages the Reading Terminal Market. She said businesses were severely hurt. We were wiped out, she said. Stories of business survival The market is normally a popular stop for visitors to Philadelphia and a place for workers in nearby offices to buy lunch. But numbers from research company Econsult Solutions, Inc. show about 40 percent fewer people than usual visited Philadelphia in 2020. Other business owners around the U.S. are facing the same kinds of problems. Restaurants, shops and other service businesses are seeing slow recoveries in many parts of the country. But people continue to be worried about traveling or spending time with people other than family. Athens Voulgaridis runs a store that sells Greek food and sandwiches inside the market. The store opened in 1984. All our customer base has just disappeared, he said. Philadelphia permitted people to eat at restaurants indoors only recently. The situation is getting better. But Voulgaridis said sales are down by about 65 percent compared to most years. He used to have six employees. Now he only has three. Joe Nicolosi owns a sandwich shop in the market called DiNics. It opened in 1980. Before the pandemic, he would sell about 1,000 sandwiches on a busy Saturday. During the last year, even on busy days, he has only sold about 100. That has meant fewer jobs. He used to have over 20 employees. During the coronavirus health crisis, he only needed five. Twenty-five percent staff size, and we were still overstaffed, he said. Allman, who supervises the Reading Terminal Market, said many of the stores are still working because of government aid money. In addition, the market raised over $520,000 in donations through the website GoFundMe.com to help cover operating costs. Nicolosi closed DiNics for three months in 2020. Then he tried a service that sends popular foods to customers across the country as a way to keep his business going. He said the service, called Goldbelly, helped his business make money starting in the later part of 2020. While some businesses were better prepared than others for the coronavirus restrictions, all of them have taken some losses. Nicolosi said he has spoken with other shop owners at the market. He thinks people will feel as if things are getting back to normal when they hear that Philadelphia is planning big events again. One of those events is the citys auto show, which is now planned for June. It used to be one of the markets busiest weeks. Nicolosi is hopeful. Knowing that's going to happen, like all right, and that week happening, and it is very busy, then it's like OK we're headed towards a place where we're going to get back to something like where we were at before. Nicolosi said he prepares about six hams each day to make sandwiches. When he starts having to cook more ham, he will know business is getting better. Right now, more people in Philadelphia are getting vaccinated against the coronavirus. One of the places where people are receiving the vaccine is the Pennsylvania Convention Center next to the market. It also is where the auto show will be held. One recent day, people came into the market after getting their vaccine. As a result, the vendors at the market are starting to feel good that business will pick up again. When it comes back, Nicolosi said he thinks people will be excited to go out to their favorite places and spend money again. Whether it's three months, six months or two years, that there's a chance that we're going to come out of thisand people are going to be out more than ever and there's going to be a pent-up urge to eat out and to travel and to you know, do things that kind of people have missed doing even more so than before. Im Dan Friedell. Jonnelle Marte wrote this story for the Reuters news agency. Dan Friedell adapted it for Learning English with original interviews. Mario Ritter, Jr. was the editor. Would you like to visit the Reading Terminal Market in Philadelphia someday? We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments Section and visit our Facebook page. _______________________________________________________________ Words in This Story vendor - n. a business that sells a particular type of product sandwich - n. two pieces of bread with something (such as meat, peanut butter, etc.) between them customer - n. someone who buys goods or services from a business wiped out adj. the way of describing the state of having no money staff - n. a group of people who work for an organization or business ham - n. meat from the leg of a pig that is often prepared by smoking or salting pent-up - adj. held or kept inside; not released India has retained its third position on the list of countries with a maximum number of billionaires. According to Hurun Global Rich List 2021, there are a total of 209 Indian billionaires in the world, including 32 living outside the country. Out of the 209, India is home to 177 resident dollar billionaires. Further, the report added that at least 61 billionaires in India reside in Mumbai, followed by Delhi with 40 and Bengaluru at 22. With a net worth of $83 billion, Reliance India Chairman Mukesh Ambani has retained the spot of India's wealthiest man. He is second richest in Asia and ranks eighth on the global rich list released on Tuesday. The report also underscored the wealth of other Indian billionaires. It added that Gautam Adani and his family's wealth almost doubled to $32 billion this year, on the back of Adani Green Energy growing to a $20 billion valuation. Adani is the second-richest Indian as per Hurun data. Additionally, the founder and chairman of HCL Technologies, Shiv Nadar, saw his wealth rise to $27 billion, up $10 billion, backed by a 66 per cent increase in the share price of his company. He is the third wealthiest Indian at present. NR Narayana Murthy net worth was up by 35 per cent to $3.1 billion, the report added. Apoorva Mehta of Instacart and Zerodha's Nikhil Kamath remained the youngest Indians billionaire on the list with a net worth of $1.5 billion. Mukesh Jagtiani of Landmark is the newest face from India on the Hurun Rich List 2021. India added more than two billionaires every week as compared to the global average of three new billionaires every two days. Hurun Report chairman and chief researcher Rupert Hoogewerf said, "Despite the disruption caused by COVID-19, this year has seen the biggest wealth increase of the last decade. A stock markets boom, driven partly by quantitative easing, and flurry of new listings have minted eight new dollar billionaires a week for the past year. The world has never seen this much wealth created in just one year". However, big corporates like OYO Rooms CEO, Ritesh Aggarwal; Future Group CEO Kishore Biyani, and founder of NMC Health, BR Shetty lost their billionaire status in Hurun Global Rich List 2021. According to Hurun, wealth creation in India is dominated by cyclical, traditional industries as compared United States of America (USA) and China where it is led by technopreneurs. If the tech-driven wealth creation reaches its full potential, India could potentially beat the USA in terms of total number of billionaires, said Anas Rahman Junai, MD & Chief Researcher, Hurun India. Also read: Hurun Global Rich List 2021: Kiran Mazumdar Shaw richest Indian woman entrepreneur Also read: World added 8 billionaires in a week in 2020, says Hurun Rich List (Natural News) On Monday, the United States Supreme Court formally rejected two lawsuits filed by attorney Sidney Powell that challenged election fraud in the states of Arizona and Wisconsin. The petitions for writs of mandamus are denied, the court stated, providing no further details about its rejection. One of Powells mandamus petitions stated that while a direct submission to the court seeking an extraordinary writ of mandamus is unusual, it has its foundation. While such relief is rare, it added, this Court will grant it where a question of public importance is involved, or where the question is of such a nature that it is peculiarly appropriate that such action by this Court should be taken.' As of this writing, there is no update on Powells Telegram page about the rejection of the two suits. On Jan. 19, Powell withdrew another lawsuit in the Supreme Court challenging the election results in Georgia. Later that month, Powell created a Restore the Republic Super PAC dedicated to freedom of speech, constitutional rights, and the sacred right of free and fair elections. As long as this Super PAC does not coordinate directly with any campaigns or candidates, it is allowed to receive and spend unlimited contributions. The American people deserve a voice that exposes and rejects the self-interest of political parties, the control of tech giants, and the lies of the fake news, Powell is quoted as saying. Powell being sued by Dominion for $1.3 billion In the immediate aftermath of the Jan. 6 false flag insurrection, Powell and various other prominent pro-Trump voices were suspended from Twitter with no warning at all. It is stunning, Powell stated at the time, after which she proceeded to take action in other ways to try to defend the Republic against a communist assault and takeover. Twitters actions and those of banks who shut down accounts of people who went to D.C. are fascism in its purest form, she added. It is a communist coup that has been long and well-planned. Powell was introduced to the Trump legal team back in November after her successful defense of Army Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn. The Trump team later appeared to distance itself from Powell. Powell herself is being sued by Dominion Voting Systems for $1.3 billion due to her allegations that its machines were used to commit election fraud. Rudy Giuliani and Mike Lindell are also being sued by Dominion for statements they have made against the company over the past several months. Sidney and I will not be intimidated, stated Lin Wood, Powells lawyer, insinuating that Powell did nothing wrong concerning Dominion. [We] will not go quietly into the night. The mainstream media is of course thrilled that Powells endeavors have thus far been unsuccessful. One fake news outlet called it an extraordinary losing streak for lawsuits seeking to overturn 2020 election results. The corporate medias claim is that Beijing Biden legitimately won the 2020 election, and that Trump and his supporters are simply sore losers. Evidence widely presented but as of yet unheard by the courts, however, contradicts this. SCOTUS is lost, as is the Republic, wrote one commenter at The Epoch Times. They took it without a fight. Another concurred, adding that the highest court in the land no longer provides any value to the country. They should be forced out of D.C. and the court diminished as a judicial body, only allowed in divorce court where cheating one side in favor of the other is commonplace, this same commenter added, obviously upset about this ongoing breach of justice. More of the latest news about the fraudulent 2020 election can be found at Trump.news. Sources for this article include: TheEpochTimes.com NaturalNews.com MSN.com The theme of environmental responsibility has been making news in Middle East telecommunications in recent days. Zain Group, a major name in seven markets across the Middle East and Africa, has announced its inclusion in the global list of the CDP with an advanced rating in Management Scope B for the Climate Change Index. CDP is a not-for-profit charity that runs a global disclosure system for investors, companies, cities, states and regions to manage their environmental impacts. There are now companies, cities and regions in over 90 countries disclosing emissions data to the CDP Foundation. This rating, says Zain, makes it the highest-ranked and only operator in the Middle East and Africa to achieve this positive rating with respect to its efforts to address climate change. Zain points out that only 35 percent of the 9,600 companies and institutions included in the CDP list attained Management level score or higher, of which Zain was one. It adds that Zains climate action plan has set targets to reduce emissions, reduce waste, and align with UN Sustainable Development Goal number 13. This announcement comes soon after the news that Riyadh-headquartered IT solutions and services company Al Moammar Information Systems has signed a non-binding memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Abunayyan Holding Group, a Saudi solutions provider in the power and water sectors, to establish a joint venture company with the aim of exploring the feasibility of building and developing green data centres based on renewable energy in the Saudi Arabia. The partners say that the MoU provides a general framework to facilitate cooperation between the two parties to launch a joint company to establish data centres that work entirely on clean and sustainable energy. Its probably too early to suggest a green trend in Middle East telecommunications, but it will be interesting to see whether and how similar companies in the region respond to this news. New research suggests Syrian golden hamsters could be a potentially useful preclinical model for testing vaccine immunity against the acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) B.1.17 and B.1.351 variant. An international team of scientists found evidence that the course of infection from both variants replicated in hamsters, along with a similar immune system profile observed in humans. Their findings could help study the effectiveness of current vaccines undergoing modifications to fight against the new variants and future vaccines and treatments. The researchers write: "In an urgent need to characterize current VoC and in anticipation of future needs, the robust hamster model described here will allow to preclinically asses (i) virus transmission, (ii) vaccine efficacy, and (iii) evaluation of pharmacological interventions that target B.1.1.7 and B.1.351 as well as expected future VoC." The study "Comparative infectivity and pathogenesis of emerging SARS-CoV-2 variants in Syrian hamsters" is available as a preprint on the bioRxiv* server, while the article undergoes peer review. Targeting most prevalent variants of concern The B.1.1.7 variant was first discovered last fall in London and rapidly became the dominant strain in the United Kingdom (UK). The B.1.351 variant was first reported in South Africa and contains mutations on the spike protein that allow it to be resistant against neutralizing antibodies created from either natural infection or vaccines. An observed decrease in vaccine immunity has been linked to the E484K mutation in the B.1.351 variant and more recent UK sub-lineages. Characterization of the in vitro and in vivo replication of different SARS-CoV-2 variants. (A) Graphical representation for the SARS-CoV-2 spike gene showing the genotypic difference between the B.1-G, B.1-B, B.1.1.7 and B.1.351 SAR-CoV-2 variants. (B) Plaque phenotype of B.1-G, B.1-B, B.1.1.7 and B.1.351 SAR-CoV-2 variants in Vero E6 cells. (C) Set-up of the Syrian hamsters infection study. (D) Viral RNA levels in the lungs of hamsters infected with 105 TCID50 of B.1-G (n=11), B.1-B (n=4), B.1.1.7 (n=6) or B.1.351 (n=5) SAR-CoV-2 variants on day 4 post-infection, p.i are expressed as log10 SARS-CoV-2 RNA copies per mg lung tissue. Individual data and median values are presented. (E) Infectious viral loads in the lungs of hamsters infected with the different SARS-CoV-2 variants at day 4 pi are expressed as log10 TCID50 per mg lung tissue. Individual data and median values are presented. Data were analyzed with the MannWhitney U test. *P < 0.05. Animal model setup The researchers intranasally infected 6-8-week-old female Syrian hamsters with 50 microliters of four strains. This included basal lineages B.1-G or B.1-B, the B.1.17 variant, or the B.1351 variant. There were approximately 4-8 hamsters per group. Four days after infection, the team looked at the hamsters' lung tissue to measure post-infection status, SARS-CoV-2 replication, pathology, and inflammation levels. Results All four strains showed viral RNA load and infectious virus titers in the lung tissue. However, when the B.1.1.7 and B.1.351 variant was given at a lower dose, they showed similar viral RNA loads and infectious virus titers. The researchers suggest the hamster results align with the high susceptibility for infection observed in both variants. Looking at variants' effects on lung pathology, the researchers observed similarities in pulmonary infiltrates and bronchial dilation in the hamsters infected with the B.1.1.7 and B.1.351 variant. There was also evidence of peri-bronchial inflammation and bronchopneumonia in surrounding alveoli, similar to the bronchopneumonia reported in patients with COVID-19 infection. The team also found that hamsters' lung tissue showed a similar cytokine profile to the one observed with COVID-19 infection in humans. "Infection with either of the 203 four strains resulted in an up-regulation of IL-6, IL-10, IFN-, IFN-, IP-10, MX-2, and TNF- 204 expression in the range of 10- to 1000-fold compared to non-infected hamsters," write the researchers. The B.1.1.7 variant specifically showed the most upregulation for IL-6, IL-10, and IFN- but not MX-2 expressions. The cytokine expression levels did not change when the viral dosage was reduced. However, ACE2 receptor expression remained virtually unchanged in all four strains. A small upregulation of ACE2 receptor expression was only observed in hamster lungs infected with basal B.1-G and B.1-B lineage. For this reason, the researchers say the hamster model currently does not explain the epidemiology, transmission, infectivity, or virulence of people infected with the SARS-CoV-2 variants. Researchers suggest the small number of animals per group may have contributed to the lack of differences. Evolution of COVID variants The driving force behind the emergence of new SARS-CoV-2 strains remains unknown. "The emergence of future VoC may be driven by any of the following factors: by random selection (founder effects), fitness at the population level (favoring transmission), or viral escape under host immune pressure (antigenic drift), or development of drug resistance under future antiviral therapy. Whatever the cause, as a consequence, any upcoming VoC may spark future COVID-19 epidemics." However, the researchers note that genomic sequencing of viral RNA from the infected lungs of hamsters did not show further sequence evolution in the spike gene 4 days post-infection. Additionally, no convergent evolution for higher virulence or significant change in phenotype was observed in both variants. Based on the findings, the researchers suggest hamsters could be a durable preclinical model to replicate the human experience when infected with either the B.1.1.7 and B.1.351 variants. *Important Notice bioRxiv publishes preliminary scientific reports that are not peer-reviewed and, therefore, should not be regarded as conclusive, guide clinical practice/health-related behavior, or treated as established information. Lawmakers Reintroduce Bill to Abolish Qualified Immunity for Police A group of lawmakers has renewed efforts to make it easier to sue police officers for damages by reintroducing a bill that seeks to eliminate qualified immunity. The group led by Sen. Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) and Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.) on Monday reintroduced the Ending Qualified Immunity Act that attempts to abolish the Supreme Court-made legal doctrine. The doctrine insulates government officials from civil liability for their conduct. It reentered the public consciousness amid protests last summer against police violence following George Floyds death. Critics say the doctrine prevents officials from facing consequences for misconduct or abuse of power if their actions violate the U.S. Constitution, but do not contravene a clearly established rule. Proponents say the doctrine is important to allow government officials such as police officers to carry out their jobs with protection from undue interference and threats of liability. They also say it prevents frivolous or retaliatory lawsuits against officers. The Ending Qualified Immunity Act, which was introduced last year by Pressley and then-Rep. Justin Amash (L-Mich.), seeks to amend 42 U.S.C. 1983, commonly known as Section 1983, to explicitly say the doctrine (pdf) cannot be used as a defense in civil liability lawsuits. Section 1983 provides a basis for people to sue state officials who violate a persons constitutional rights. But under the Supreme Courts current interpretation of the law, it is not enough to show that the rights are violated. Victims must also show that the action was clearly established, and if they fail the official could be granted qualified immunity. The law is also backed by Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), and more than a dozen Democrat House members. Last June, the Supreme Court declined to revisit the qualified immunity doctrine by rejecting eight major cases (pdf) that presented opportunities for justices to reconsider the protection. However, the decision to reject the cases was not entirely unanimous. Associate Justice Clarence Thomas poses for the official group photo at the U.S. Supreme Court in the District of Columbia on Nov. 30, 2018. (Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images) Justice Clarence Thomas wrote in dissent in one of those cases, Baxter v. Bracey (pdf), that he would have granted the petition to review the case. The Baxter case involves officers who released a police dog on a suspect to arrest him. In the process, the dog bit the suspect. The suspect alleged that he had already surrendered when the dog was released to arrest him. I have previously expressed my doubts about our qualified immunity jurisprudence, Thomas wrote in his dissent. Because our Section 1983 qualified immunity doctrine appears to stray from the statutory text, I would grant this petition. He commented on the clearly established rule, arguing that there likely is no basis for the objective inquiry into clearly established law that our modern cases prescribe. Leading treatises from the second half of the 19th century and case law until the 1980s contain no support for this clearly established law test. Indeed, the Court adopted the test not because of general principles of tort immunities and defenses, but because of a balancing of competing values about litigation costs and efficiency, he wrote. The clearly established rule is seen to be problematic by critics of the doctrine. It requires the party suing the official to show that the facts in their case were sufficiently similar to the facts in prior court cases. Justice Sonia Sotomayor has also previously criticized the doctrine. Some Republicans last year also took steps to introduce legislation to limit civil liability protection, prompting pushback from police groups. The protection aids officers in carrying out their duties and obligations to serve the public and enforce the law. While there is no doubt that bad actors have brought this issue to the forefront, we believe qualified immunity serves to protect all police officers legitimately performing their duties, and it allows the public to recover damages in cases where a police officer has violated the persons rights, the Indiana State Police Alliance said in a statement at the time. Former President Donald Trumps administration, which has been open to police reform, has criticized calls to eliminate qualified immunity. Trumps last Attorney General, William Barr, said that in situations in which an officer knowingly and willfully violates a well-established right, then it may be appropriate to hold the officer civilly liable. But he said qualified immunity is necessary to ensure police officers can do their job without fear. Qualified immunity provides breathing space for officers to do their job without fear that an inadvertent or unpredictable error will subject them to personal financial ruin, Barr said in October last year. Without qualified immunity, individual officers would be deterred from taking the kinds of risky steps that are absolutely necessary to protect the community. Bengaluru, March 3 : A CD was released to news channels on Tuesday, in which Karnataka Major and Medium Water Resources Minister Ramesh Jarakiholi could be allegedly seen with a woman in a compromising position. The CD has been released at a time when the BJP is gearing up to face elections in five states/UT, and just two days ahead of the month-long Budget session is scheduled to commence in Karnataka from March 4. The state is also gearing up for the by-elections to the Belagavi Lok Sabha seat and bypolls to the Maski and Sindagi Assembly seats in Bidar district. The CD was released by social activist Dinesh Kallahalli after he filed a complaint with Bengaluru City police commissioner Kamal Pant. After filing the complaint, Kallahalli told reporters that he has sought help from the police to know the veracity of the contents of the CD and some audio clips, in which a 'powerful minister' is threatening the victim and her family members. "I also sought police protection for the victim and her immediate family members as they are living under 'tremendous' threat," he said. All throughout his media interaction, he was careful not to take anyone's name. According to Kallahalli, the victim met the minister (Jarkiholi) on the pretext seeking his help to create documentaries on dams across the state. "For this she wanted government clearance for drone cameras and other special equipment. During the interaction, the minister (Jarkiholi) told her that instead of running around, she could well be appointed in the Karnataka Power Corporation Limited (KPCL). From here on, he starts seeking sexual favours from her. Finally she also yielded, but prior to getting close to him, she set up a trap and the whole episode was recorded by hidden cameras," he explained. Kallahalli maintained that the victim is not ready to come forward and file a case fearing her and her family's safety. "Fed up with the minister's harassment, one of the family members approached me sometime ago and urged me to take up this case by filing a complaint in order to teach the minister a befitting lesson," he claimed. According to Kallahalli, he is going to keep the victim's name under the wraps until 'she gathers some courage' to face the people and the media. On repeated queries on which minister he filed the complaint against, Kallahalli said that in the CD it is very clear who the minister is. "Why do you want me to take his name," he asked. Answering a question as to whether the CD was a part of blackmail tactics, he said if it was part of a blackmail strategy, why would he approach the police commissioner to file a complaint? "In my complaint, I have also requested the commissioner of police to investigate the blackmail angle, as this involves a powerful minister in the state," he said. Meanwhile, the deputy commissioner of police (central division), M.N. Anuchet, told reporters that the police have registered a complaint in the matter with the Cubbonpark police. "We will commence our investigation after interacting with the victim and her family. The complainant (Kallahalli) claims that the victim and her family members are under threat. So it becomes all the more pertinent for us to know more details from them," he said. Jarakiholi comes from one of the most powerful political families in the state and is a sugar baron from Belagavi district, the state's sugar belt. He is one of the 17 defectors from the Congress and the JD(S) whose defection resulted in the collapse of the Congress-JD(S) government in the state in 2019, leading to the formation of the BJP government. He was one of the primary forces behind rallying 17 MLAs from both the parties before they joined the BJP. Cinque Terre to form backdrop to Pixar movie Luca. The beauty of Cinque Terre on the Italian Riviera will feature as the stunning backdrop to Luca, a new animated movie by Disney and Pixar. The animation is by the Italian storyboard artist Enrico Casarosa who dedicates his first feature film as a director to his childhood holidays in Liguria. The original animated feature is a coming-of-age story about a young boy experiencing "an unforgettable summer filled with gelato, pasta and endless scooter rides," according to the film's publicity. Luca shares these adventures with his newfound best friend Alberto "but all the fun is threatened by a deeply-held secret: he is a sea monster from another world just below the water's surface." Born in Genoa in 1970, Casarosa moved to New York in his twenties and was nominated for an Oscar for the animated short film La Luna in 2012. He is best known for his work on movies such as Cars, Ratatouille, Coco and Up. In a recent interview with Empire, Casarosa described Luca as "a deeply personal story for me," adding that the film is an homage to Fellini and other classic Italian filmmakers." Luca is set for release in cinemas this summer. Copyright 1995 - . All rights reserved. The content (including but not limited to text, photo, multimedia information, etc) published in this site belongs to China Daily Information Co (CDIC). Without written authorization from CDIC, such content shall not be republished or used in any form. Note: Browsers with 1024*768 or higher resolution are suggested for this site. 0108263 License for publishing multimedia online Registration Number: 130349 Registration Number: 130349 Credit: Dr Damien Esquerre, ANU The unusual breeding history of the Earth's largest living lizardthe Komodo dragonhas been laid bare in a new study from The Australian National University. The Komodo dragon is best known for its size and hunting skills, reaching up to three meters long and preying on buffaloes, deer, and even the occasional human. But that's not all that sets it apart. The new study shows despite famously making its home in Indonesia, the Komodo dragon likely originated in Australia, as predicted by earlier fossil findings. While here it reproduced with a different species of lizardan ancestor of the sand monitor, a type of goanna. Lead author of the study, Mr Carlos Pavon Vazquez said it's the first clear evidence of this type of interbreeding, known as hybridization, happening in wild monitor lizards. "This study proves hybridisation can have a long-lasting effect. In this case it happened millions of years ago, but the signs are still there in the sand monitors. They have more in common with the Komodo dragon than you'd expect," Mr Pavon Vazquez said. "Sand monitors only occur in Australia and southern New Guinea, whereas the Komodo dragon is only found on a handful of islands in Indonesia. For them to have inter-bred they must have lived together some time in the past. "Our data supports the theory that Komodo dragons originated in Australia and then crossed over to Indonesia before becoming extinct here." Mr Pavon Vazquez said along with previous fossil evidence from Queensland, it shakes up what we know about the Komodo dragons' biology. "Previously it was assumed the Komodo dragon was a good example of what biologists call the island rulewith smaller animals growing larger in an island environment. But our findings offer more strong evidence the Komodo dragon was already huge when it originated in Australia," he said. "We also showed how to use different kinds of data to detect hybridisation. This is crucial because when it took place millions of years ago it can be hard to detect. Now we can tell by looking at the animal's morphology and genes." Mr Pavon Vazquez said the more we know about the biology of the Komodo dragon the better we'll be able to protect it from future threatsboth human and environmental. The research is published in the journal Systematic Biology. Explore further Climate change threatens Komodo dragons More information: Arlos Pavon-Vazquez et al. A Comprehensive Approach to Detect Hybridization Sheds Light on the Evolution of Earth's Largest Lizards, Systematic Biology (2020). Journal information: Systematic Biology Arlos Pavon-Vazquez et al. A Comprehensive Approach to Detect Hybridization Sheds Light on the Evolution of Earth's Largest Lizards,(2020). DOI: 10.1093/sysbio/syaa102 SCOTTSDALE, Ariz., March 2, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- LifeStance Health , one of the nation's largest providers of outpatient behavioral health care, today announced the appointment of Felicia Gorcyca as its first Chief People Officer. Gorcyca will oversee LifeStance Health's nationwide human resources operation and play a critical role in supporting the company's growth strategy. She will report to Michael Lester, CEO, LifeStance Health. Additionally, LifeStance Health announced it will relocate its corporate headquarters to Scottsdale, Arizona from Bellevue, Washington. The new corporate office will be located at 4800 N. Scottsdale Road, Scottsdale, AZ 85251. It was selected to accommodate LifeStance Health's growing footprint, while enabling the company to recruit and retain diverse talent. The company will maintain a strategic presence in Bellevue. "Felicia has a proven track record of scaling teams at high-growth organizations, and we're delighted that she's bringing her talents to LifeStance Health," said Lester. "As we pioneer the future of behavioral health and develop our new corporate headquarters in Scottsdale, Felicia will play a key role in advancing our best-in-class culture for clinicians and team members. This will ensure we can further our mission of delivering personalized, data-driven and comprehensive care to help patients stay healthy." Gorcyca brings more than 20 years of experience in human capital to LifeStance Health. Most recently, Gorcyca was an operations director at TPG, a leading global investment firm with approximately $85 billion in assets under management and 14 offices around the world. During her tenure at TPG, Gorcyca was a member of the Global Human Capital team where she partnered with TPG portfolio companies to build transformative leadership teams and boards. She also played a key role in developing TPG's Chief Human Resource Officer Network, which focused on HR strategies and best practices across the portfolio. "Now more than ever, there is a significant need for affordable, convenient and effective behavioral health services, and LifeStance Health is truly a category leader," said Gorcyca. "This is an exciting time to join the company, and I look forward to working closely with Michael and the executive team to ensure an excellent experience for our clinicians and team members." Prior to joining TPG, Gorcyca was Chief People Officer for Stack Sports. She also served as the Global Head of People Operations at Solera, Inc., supporting over 20 acquisitions and a global team of 6,000 employees. Previously, Gorcyca was a consultant for Spencer Stuart where she spent 13 years with the firm, primarily in healthcare services, and advised clients on executive recruitment, leadership assessment and succession planning. ABOUT LIFESTANCE HEALTH Founded in 2017, LifeStance Health is one of the nation's largest providers of virtual and in-person outpatient behavioral health care for children, adolescents and adults experiencing a variety of mental health conditions. The company delivers personalized, data-driven and comprehensive care to help patients stay healthy by employing over 3,000 psychiatrists, advanced practice nurses, psychologists and therapists. LifeStance Health currently operates across 27 states and over 370 centers. To learn more, please visit www.LifeStance.com . SOURCE LifeStance Health Related Links lifestance.com VIENNA, Va., March 2, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The Ambit Group ("Ambit"), a specialty provider of IT modernization, business transformation and mission support services for the Federal Government, and GreenZone Solutions ("GreenZone"), a leading data management and analytics, cybersecurity, and agile software development provider to the Federal Government, today announced the merger of the two companies. The acquisition was completed in strategic partnership with AE Industrial Partners Structured Solutions I, LP an affiliate of AE Industrial Partners, LP, and financed by Atlantic Union Bank. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. The combination of Ambit and GreenZone creates a highly responsive, agile partner with a 17-year history of enabling government to deliver mission programs and manage complex transformations. Ambit unites its human-centered approach with GreenZone's data expertise to maximize efficiency, reduce friction, and recover costs. The newly combined organization is poised to deliver the next generation of government, enabling federal organizations to accelerate their digital transformation goals and enhance their employee and customer journeys. Ambit and GreenZone will go to market under the Ambit brand. The team has restructured and expanded its leadership team as part of the transaction. Kim Hayes, founder and CEO of The Ambit Group, will continue to lead the strategy and growth of the organization as Co- CEO. Ashequl Hoque, CFO and Partner at Ambit, joins as Co-CEO, and will oversee operations and corporate development. In addition, Qasim Hussain, COO of GreenZone, will serve as the Chief Innovation Officer to drive ideation and new technology solutions. Rounding out the leadership team is former CIO of the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center Sandy Peavy as CIO, LC Cook as Chief Growth Officer, and Eric Hansen as SVP of Delivery Operations. Ms. Hayes explained, "We designed and built Ambit with the intention of creating a platform company with the leadership, infrastructure, and ideation necessary to attract strong business partners and position us for exponential growth. GreenZone is the perfect addition and complement to Ambit's core strengths. Their leadership team built a data management powerhouse that provides federal customers the power to analyze, personalize, and optimize critical decision-making processes. When combined with Ambit's expertise in designing memorable customer experiences and our proprietary Hybrid Delivery Framework we can now offer our government clients additional capabilities as they deliver responsive, efficient, and resilient services to the citizen." Aliya Hussain, former owner and CEO of GreenZone who is retiring from the company, added, "GreenZone is thrilled to join forces with Ambit. They share our passion for innovation, and they had the foresight to build the ideal platform to support our people, our projects, and our company. We really admire their commitment to building a corporate culture that fosters a real sense of community and teamwork, even when working apart. Together, our teams offer our clients unmatched insight and talent with a breadth of capabilities and history of success that used to be reserved solely for large integrators." Qasim Hussain said, "Our focus has always been on helping our clients make better decisions and joining with Ambit will allow us to better deliver on our mission. We built an Agile-focused organization that is resilient, responsive, and fast moving, enabling us to build, test, and deliver our work products on-time or ahead of schedule, and shattering our clients' expectations. We look forward working together with the Ambit team." "The demand for transformative IT services in the Federal Government has never been greater, and we believe the combination of Ambit and GreenZone will offer their customers a wider array of IT solutions," said Kirk Konert, Partner at AEI. "AEI created its Structured Solutions Fund to help provide mid-sized companies the financing they need to achieve greater scale and services, and we are proud to partner with Ambit and GreenZone in this transaction." Holland & Knight LLP served as legal adviser and Agreeance LLC served as M&A consultant to Ambit, while Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP served as legal adviser to GreenZone. About Ambit Since 2004, Ambit has supported some of the Government's largest mission-driven transformations. To ensure their efforts remain focused and relevant, Ambit developed an Agile FutureProofing methodology that provides a proprietary, data-driven approach that propels informed decision making. In effect, Ambit helps their government clients design their future. Learn more at theambitgroup.com About GreenZone A fast-growing technology consulting firm providing innovative IT and business solutions to public sector clients, GreenZone specializes in data management and operations, data science and analytics, application development and modernization, and cybersecurity. The company supports several federal agencies including: The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Transportation Security Administration (TSA), U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), and Treasury. For more information, please visit greenzoneinc.com About AE Industrial Partners AE Industrial Partners is a private equity firm specializing in Aerospace, Defense, Space & Government Services, Power Generation, and Specialty Industrial markets. AE Industrial Partners invests in market-leading companies that can benefit from its deep industry knowledge, operating experience, and relationships throughout its target markets. AE Industrial Partners is a signatory to the United Nations Principles for Responsible Investing. Learn more at www.aeroequity.com Media Contacts: Ambit Group John Heaney Chief Content Officer [email protected] 843-642-5700 For AE Industrial Partners: Lambert & Co. Jennifer Hurson 845-507-0571 [email protected] or Caroline Luz 203-656-2829 [email protected] SOURCE AE Industrial Partners Related Links http://www.aeroequity.com JSC Ukrzaliznytsia notes that a three- or five-year state program to finance the annual purchase of 100 passenger cars will help Ukraine attract foreign investment in local production. "Of course, in order to attract investments from large international players to launch local production, we need to have a program for three to five years with a clear understanding that during this time the state will finance 100-150-200 railcars a year, this is an understandable prospect for any manufacturer," the acting member of the board of Ukrzaliznytsia, the director of the Passenger Company branch, Oleksandr Pertsovsky, said. In his opinion, this will be an incentive for international car-building companies to undertake large-scale projects for the Ukrainian 1,520 mm track gauge, they will be able to localize their production, real competition and joint ventures will appear, and local suppliers will become more active. "All this will stimulate our manufacturers to invest in new solutions - I am sure that when they have something to fight for, they will be able to adequately accept this challenge," Pertsovsky said. He also recalled that in the state budget for 2021, it is planned to allocate UAH 4.2 billion to update the passenger facilities of Ukrzaliznytsia, in particular, the purchase of passenger rolling stock. "This is less than what was initially declared - at the last moment, parliamentarians revised the volume. The filling comes from a special fund with certain items that will finance these positions: part - excise tax on fuel, part - receipts from fines, etc. Therefore, this is an estimated amount, theoretically it may change slightly if not all receipts are collected," Pertsovsky emphasized. ABERDEEN, Miss. (WTVA) - A new Ward 1 election will be held in Aberdeen after a court says it found evidence of voting irregularities and fraud. According to certified results from the June 16, 2020, run-off election, Nicholas Holliday defeated Robert Devaull 177-140. Aberdeen City Hall in Aberdeen, MIssissippi. Arrest of Dallas Jones. Source: Monroe County Sheriff's Department Arrest of Dallas Jones. Source: Monroe County Sheriff's Department Aberdeen City Hall in Aberdeen, MIssissippi. Devaull contested the results, alleging voting irregularities. As a result of an investigation into the matter, the court says it found evidence of improper handling of ballots; polling place and ballot box irregularities; and fraud. The judge stated 138 ballots were not handled or processed correctly and should not have been counted. The court ordered a new primary run-off election, the arrest of notary Dallas Jones, and ordered two individuals to pay fines together totaling $75. Jones has since been arrested and charged with voter fraud. COLOGNE, Germany, March 2, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The bi-directional SDoT Security Gateway received a general NATO SECRET approval from the NATO Military Committee (MC) after a two year in-depth evaluation by NATO's Information Security and Evaluation Agency (SECAN). INFODAS is the only Cross Domain Solution (CDS) and Cybersecurity vendor in the world with a product portfolio that holds triple accreditations for NATO, EU and German SECRET. SDoT products cover any military use-case from data center to tactical edge. As the flagship SDoT product, the data guard filters both structured data and works with any data classified with NATO compliant XML security labels. It is listed in the NATO Information Assurance Product Catalogue (NIAPC). The general NATO SECRET approval makes it easy to get NATO specific IT solutions accredited. In past, classified information and systems were physically separated from other military and government networks. This prevents end-to-end digitization and requirements for rapid decision making among 30 NATO members and allies. SDoT Cross Domain Solutions enable combined operations and near real time classified data sharing as well as fusion between systems and people in all domains from general headquarters to frontline: land, sea, air, space and cyber. They closely inspect, transform and monitor data transfers, ensuring only correct and authorized information crosses systems at different security levels. With a common operating picture (COP), the right sensor, processor and potentially shooter can be connected. Enabling tactical data links across security domains, SDoT provided this capability at multi-national air defense live fire exercise at NATO Missile Firing Installation (NAMFI). Soon, the Sneaker-net will be thing of the past. All elements of the Secure Domain Transition (SDoT) Product Family meet strict information security requirements for hardware and software security at the SECRET and below interoperability level (SABI). They are developed and manufactured in Germany with full supply chain transparency. They are available as 19" appliances or tactical sizes as COMP-LAND for vehicles and COMP-AIR for drones. Other products include the SDoT Security Gateway Express optimized for near real-time, low latency filtering of military data such as XML, Link 16 /JREAP or ASTERIX. Just like the SDoT Diode for unidirectional data transfer up to 9.1 Gbit/s, both products hold a general NATO, EU and German SECRET accreditation. They are complemented by the SDoT Labelling Service for NATO STANG 4774/8 compliant data classification with XML security labels that are cryptographically bound to any data object such as MS Office documents which recently received a German SECRET accreditation. For over 10 years SDoT products have been used in the toughest and mission critical environments around the world. Recently, SDoT CDS were selected for NATO's AWACS aircraft upgrade and Joint Electronic Warfare Core Staff (JEWCS). "To maintain our accreditations with Germany's Federal Office of Information Security (BSI) or NATO SECAN our team is constantly innovating our security architecture and functionality. New use-cases are annually tested at CWIX. Many of our clients and us have been eagerly awaiting SECAN's decision. We are looking forward to work with NATO and its members to digitize mission critical domains", said Dr. Alexander Schellong, VP Global Business. About INFODAS - connect more.be secure INFODAS is an independent, family owned business founded in 1974 in Germany. The company develops innovative cross domain solutions based on security-by-design principles and provides Cybersecurity and IT consulting to government, defense and commercial clients. INFODAS SDoT product family cross domain solutions (SDoT Security Gateway, SDoT Software Data Diode, SDoT Labelling Service, PATCH.works) are approved up to German, EU, NATO SECRET and are listed in the NATO information assurance catalogue. For the past 10 years SDoT products have been used in the toughest and mission critical environments around the world. They are designed and manufactured in Germany following the security-by-design principle and supply chain transparency. Website LinkedIn Twitter Contact INFODAS GmbH Dr. Alexander Schellong Tel. +49 (0)221 70912234 marketing@infodas.de Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1446484/Dr_Alexander_Schellong.jpg Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1446486/SDoT_Security_Gateway.jpg Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1273874/infodas_Logo.jpg CHICAGO, March 2, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Hub International Limited (Hub), a leading full-service global insurance broker, announced today that it has acquired the assets of Wellspring Insurance Agency, Inc. (Wellspring Insurance Agency). Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Located in Argyle, Texas, Wellspring Insurance Agency is an independent employee benefits firm that provides tailored benefit solutions through thoughtful strategic planning and technology-based solutions. Rodney Dryden, President of Wellspring Insurance Agency, will join Hub Texas and report to Martin Yung, President and CEO of the region. About Hub's M&A Activities Hub International Limited is committed to growing organically and through acquisitions to expand its geographic footprint and strengthen industry and product expertise. For more information on the Hub M&A experience, visit WeAreHub.com. About Hub International Headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, Hub International Limited is a leading full-service global insurance broker providing risk management, insurance, employee benefits, retirement and wealth management products and services. With more than 13,000 employees in offices located throughout North America, Hub's vast network of specialists brings clarity to a changing world with tailored solutions and unrelenting advocacy, so clients are ready for tomorrow. For more information, please visit www.hubinternational.com. CONTACT: Media: Marni Gordon Phone: 312-279-4601 [email protected] M&A: Clark Wormer Phone: 312.279.4848 [email protected] SOURCE Hub International Limited Related Links www.hubinternational.com 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 Senate Honors ex-Rep. Jose 'Dodong' Gullas The Senate adopted Monday, March 1, 2021, a resolution expressing its profound sympathy and sincere condolences to the family of former Cebu Rep. Jose "Dodong" Gullas who passed away last February 25, 2021 due to pancreatic cancer. Sen. Richard Gordon, who introduced Senate Resolution 666, said apart from being a public servant, Gullas was also a champion of Cebuano arts and music and education, a renowned journalist and a devout supporter of the Catholic Church. According to Gordon, Gullas was instrumental in decentralizing the payroll system in public elementary schools to address the delayed release of teachers' salary during his term as Cebu's first district representative in the 12th Congress. Gullas, Gordon added, was also considered as a titan of education having served as the executive vice president of the University of the Visayas and pioneered night classes for working students. His program at the university has enabled countless individuals to get an education through the "study now, pay later plan". Gullas also served as chairman of The Freeman, the oldest daily newspaper in Cebu founded by his uncle in 1919, which he revived in 1965. Gordon said Gullas served as the paper's chairman until his death, allowing it to grow and receive numerous awards while maintaining its motto of being "fair and fearless". Highlights Indian Traders write to PM Narendra Modi. Traders accuse Amazon of wrong practices. AIMRA seek investigation into Amazon's business practices. A group of Indian traders has asked the government to investigate Amazon's business practices in the country and impose a daily cap on a single seller's online smartphone sales. The demand has been made by All India Mobile Retailers Association (AIMRA) representing 150,000 mobile phone stores across the country in a letter written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The letter cites an earlier report which claimed that Amazon has given preferential treatment to a small group of sellers for few years and has even used them to circumvent the country's strict foreign investment regulations. "We were already aware of Amazon's thought process and strategy," the All India Mobile Retailers Association (AIMRA) wrote in the letter. The documents, the letter said, "have revealed that Amazon is doing business in India with the strategy of deftly dodging the regulators and politicians". The body has asked the government to "suspend all Amazon activities in India" until an investigation is held in the matter. This isn't the first time when claims like these have been made. Earlier, the retailers have alleged that Amazon and Walmart's Flipkart flout federal regulations. These practices are claimed to be hurting small businesses. "These companies were welcomed in India for the growth and development of the Indian traders but instead they have abused your vision of Digital India with total disregard to the sentiments behind it. Companies like Amazon and Flipkart, along with Chinese mobile brands, have colluded to erode the local economy and killed the small retail businesses," the letter reads. AIMRA said in its letter that government should cap a single seller's daily smartphone sales on Amazon and Flipkart at Rs 5 lakhs. The group claims that the e-commerce platform has promoted sales through preferred sellers. It has asked the government to look into tie-ups between smartphone brands and sellers. India Today Tech has reached out to Amazon for a reaction and the story will be updated once the e-commerce platform responds. A major part of smartphones sales in India come from online channels. This is dominated by Amazon and Flipkart both of which have emerged as the preferred destinations for online purchases. Both these platforms also host frequent sales and give attractive discounts to boost sales. Hyderabad, March 2 : The Telangana government on Tuesday felicitated the first Covid patient, doctors and other staff at the state-run Gandhi Hospital where he along with thousands of other coronavirus patients have been treated during the last one year. Ravi Teja, who was the first man in Telangana to test positive for Covid exactly a year ago, doctors, nurses and sanitation staff of Gandhi Hospital were felicitated by Health Minister Eatala Rajender, Minister for Animal Husbandry T. Srinivas Yadav and other top health officials. Both the Ministers lauded the doctors at the Gandhi Hospital since the first case was reported on this day last year. The Health Minister said Gandhi Hospital is providing quality services at par with the corporate hospitals. He said doctors, nurses, para-medic staff and sanitation staff rendered extraordinary services during the pandemic. Rajender said the government hospitals had bad reputation but the way doctors and the entire staff took care of Covid patients once again brought good name to the state-run health facilities. The Health Minister recalled that when the pandemic broke out there were fears that this may lead to heaps of bodies but the way healthcare workers responded helped the country and the state to handle the situation with minimum loss of lives. "We have come a long way and learnt many a lessons in the last one-year. I must congratulate the recovered Covid patients and health care workers who have worked non-stop over the entire year and saved lives," said Rajender. He noted that during the last one-year, the healthcare workers at Gandhi Hospital treated 35,000 Covid positive patients. They also successfully oversaw over 900 deliveries of pregnant Covid positive women and saved the lives of nearly 7,000 Covid patients who needed the ICU care. He recalled that when the first few cases of Covid-19 were reported in the country in March last year, there was little information available on treatment protocols and life-saving drugs to treat Covid infection. The state government centralised the Covid treatment and converted Gandhi Hospital into the nodal centre. Rajender said Telangana was in the forefront in tackling the pandemic. It was the first to alert the Centre about the presence of a cluster related to Tablighi Jamaat after few foreigners who attended the congregation in Delhi were found in Karimnagar. He also pointed out that Telangana was the first to demand for stoppage of international flights and trains to contain the spread of the virus. The state also effectively implemented the lockdown, which gave time to understand and prepare its response to Covid. Gandhi Hospital Superintendent M Raja Rao lauded the staff for offering their services despite the pressure. He said they managed to learn and evolve while treating Covid patients. Director of Medical Education (DME), K. Ramesh Reddy said healthcare workers learnt lot about Covid and its treatment protocols at Gandhi Hospital and the health department successfully implemented them in other healthcare centres in the state. Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19) The threat from China should push the United States to increase rare earth mining more. The control and distribution of minerals should be taken away from China to prevent it from influencing the US. In a new development, China has threatened to control the supply of rare earth minerals, causing alarm to the United States. Now Biden has to move fast, or the US will suffer from the lack of it. The metals are needed for high-tech uses that are crucial to building weapons. This would bite back if there were no action to keep the supply flowing. Former Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping foresaw that rare earth metals would be crucial to China's future. He said that the middle east has oil, but China possesses rare earth deposits, reported the Epoch Times. China is the one that supplies the world with rare metals, with a total of 17 chemical elements used in the production of a critical component for key technologies worldwide. This can be used as a weapon against other countries. It becomes a valuable asset in a trade war that is very effective. Sources say that Beijing has used this option in getting one as retaliation if needed. In 2010, China went hard on Japan and stopped their exports because of a fishing boat incident. When the trade war was serious in 2019, one option was to weaponize rare earth metals against the US. One threat from China is the production of F-35 jets that need these rare earth minerals. Losing these components will be bad for the tactical production of F-35s for the US and Allies. Also read: F-15EX offered to India by the US, Even Better than F-35s in Dogfights The US government seeks options to find other sources of rare earth materials. Biden must find ways to lessen the need for China's mineral resources. Last February 24, Biden approved an executive order to create channels and supply these essential goods. Biden's executive order focuses on choke points in the supply chains of four key products, including semiconductors, rare earth minerals, batteries for electric cars, and pharmaceutical ingredients. Federal agencies will conduct a 100-day review to see the risks in the supply chain. Another is how to keep the essential goods flowing and spot what can cause disruption. According to Julie Swann, a supply-chain expert, the items mentioned can be disrupted if it happens. According to Swan, how far the problem of stopping the supply of these vital supplies is not known. She added it is just the start of the problem. Other items are unknown, but a review will reveal what needs to be added to the list. The result of the review will depend on the product. As per Peter Harrell, any action to be done has all the tools needed. He added that the threat from China would be lessened if another alternative supply is available. Also, working with allies and partners will assure more steady supplies. Related article: US Air Force F-15 E-Strike Eagle: America's Hammer Against Adversaries Fights Again in 2021 @ 2021 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. The crisis at Greensill Capital has cast a shadow over the business empire of Sanjeev Gupta raising fears for thousands of jobs in the steel industry. Gupta, 50, an Indian-born British tycoon, has been dubbed the 'saviour of UK steel' after buying plants in Rotherham, Stocksbridge, Newport and Hartlepool. But he has been heavily reliant on Greensill for funding and the crisis there has left him seeking other sources of finance. Saviour of UK steel: Sanjeev Gupta has been heavily reliant on Greensill for funding and the crisis there has left him seeking other sources of finance Talks have broken down between Gupta's GFG Alliance and Canadian asset management giant Brookfield over a loan worth hundreds of millions of pounds. Liberty Steel, part of the GFG Alliance, employs 3,000 staff in the UK while another 2,000 work in Gupta's engineering businesses. Unions warned that jobs could be at risk if Gupta's finances deteriorated. Community, the UK's steel union, said: 'Liberty Steel UK is a crucial strategic business and we are ready to work with it and the Government to secure the business and protect jobs.' Harish Patel from Unite told the BBC: 'The latest concerns about the future of Greensill and Sanjeev Gupta's refinancing difficulties are deeply alarming, and Unite will be seeking urgent reassurances about the health of the business units in the UK.' Gupta has been under scrutiny since his takeover binge that began in 2015 and has left him owning much of what remains of the steel industry in Britain. Liberty Steel has delayed publishing a coordinated set of accounts, which were due to be released in late 2020, raising further questions over its finances. GFG Alliance has around 30,000 employees and Liberty is the world's eighth-largest steel producer. GFG said: 'GFG has adequate funding for its current needs and its refinancing plans to broaden its capital base and obtain longer-term funding are progressing well. 'Our global efficiency drive means that our core businesses are operationally strong.' Venezuelas crude oil exports rose last month despite Washington imposing new sanctions in January on several trading houses that worked with Caracas to export its oil. According to Tanker Trackers and OilX, crude oil exports from Venezuela were up in February. But Venezuela isnt exactly transparent about its exports, and not everyone agrees that its crude oil shipments saw a rise in February. Bloomberg reported that Venezuelas exports had fallen to less than 420,000 bpd, down 13 percent over January, citing tanker tracking data and shipping reports that reflect the imposition of sanctions on one Maltese and one Swiss trading company for facilitating the attempts of the Maduro regime to market its oil abroad. According to Tanker Trackers, however, Venezuela exported at least 500,000 bpd of crude oil in February, which was an increase over January. OilX said that Venezuelan oil exports averaged 522,000 bpd in February, versus 468,000 bpd in January. Reuters also reported higher export figures, although these included crude and fuels. According to Reuters data, Venezuelas crude oil and fuel exports in February rose to 700,000 bpd, again based on ship-tracking data and documents. The report also noted that the February daily average was the highest in ten months, driven by new clients in Asia and their appetite for fuel oil. Related: Trump: Bidens Policies To Bring Energy Disaster To The U.S. Reuters notes Venezuelas PDVSA has been acquiring what some are calling phantom clients through partnerships with entities with no track record in oil trading to circumvent U.S. sanctions, which at the end of last year extended to oil swaps. This appears to be the latest tactic by Caracas to go around sanctions after already established moves such as ship-to-ship transfers of crude oil that then gets masked through the addition of certain chemicals to obscure its origin. Even with these new tactics and an apparent increase in crude oil exports in February, Venezuelas oil exports remain far below last years levels, not to mention the export levels before the unraveling of the Venezuelan economy during the previous oil crisis and the U.S. sanction offensive began. By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: remaining of Thank you for reading! This is your last free article before you will be asked to subscribe. Already have a paid subscription? Sign in The simulation tool is the first in the industry and is a web-based application with the ability to digitally replicate actual frequencies and varying types of sound waves. The tool allows users to log in, explore, select, and test audio components before identifying which components they need to implement the desired solution. PUI Audio CEO Paul Spain said the company designed the tool to simulate the experience of an in-person meeting with a PUI representative during the COVID-19 pandemic. "As we embarked on this project, we realized the benefits of this initiative would have far reaching impact beyond the temporary need for a virtual solution," he said. "I am incredibly proud of the effort by our team to create this state-of-the-art simulation tool and be the first in our industry." Users of the simulator are now able to experiment with sound variations to identify the exact output they need. Users can then identify the components necessary to achieve the desired goals and reach out to the sales team for quotes and solutions all in one on-line experience. Users unsure of what types of components they might need, can take the tool a step further and utilize the product wizard, answering a few simple questions to identify the right product combination. Brian Coleman, PUI Audio Vice-President of Sales, stated that the PUI team is currently distributing the tool throughout its existing customer base but is also planning to make the tool accessible via the company's website and other channels, so that anyone can use it, following registration with the company. "With the addition of The PUI Audio Simulator to the resources available to our customers, we are able to empower design engineers across all industries with a level of freedom and creativity while experimenting with audio that is like nothing they've ever experienced," he said. "Coupled with the expertise of our internal audio engineering and technical sales team, this web-based tool really does unlock the potential for possibilities and creative solutions to a broad range of challenges and removes any roadblocks in the way." PUI Audio is also working on additional enhancements for the tool and plans to roll out several exciting updates to the simulator throughout 2021 and 2022. To learn more about the PUI Audio Simulator Tool, please see this video. PUI Audio, Inc. is a Dayton-based audio component manufacturer. Founded in 1972, the company has built a strong reputation for its creative solutions and engineering expertise, helping clients in medical, industrial, security and consumer markets to, "Be heard!" no matter what the need. Media Inquiries: Contact: Erin Ruef [email protected] (937) 475-4799 SOURCE PUI Audio Related Links https://www.puiaudio.com Conservative UMC faction announces creation of 'Global Methodist Church' once schism is finalized Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment A group of theologically conservative United Methodists has announced the creation of a new denomination once the United Methodist Church officially separates due to its long-standing debate over homosexuality. The Wesleyan Covenant Association and the 17-member Transitional Leadership Council released a statement on Monday morning announcing the creation of the Global Methodist Church. According to the statement, the theologically conservative denomination will not be officially launched until the UMC General Conference, scheduled for 2022, passes a separation measure known as the Protocol for Reconciliation and Grace through Separation. The Protocol, which will be up for debate at the General Conference, involves allowing conservative churches to leave the UMC to form their own denomination. Transitional Leadership Council Chairman Rev. Keith Boyette said in a statement that the GMC would make disciples of Jesus Christ who worship passionately, love extravagantly, and witness boldly. Over the past year, the council members, and hundreds of people who have informed their work, have faithfully and thoughtfully arrived at this point, stated Boyette. They are happy to share with others a wealth of information about a church they believe will be steeped in the life giving confessions of the Christian faith. As part of this preliminary launch, the GMC created a website explaining that the new denomination will allow for female ordination and is committed to racial equality. Alternatively, if it becomes apparent that the leading bishops, centrists, and progressives who covenanted to support the Protocol no longer do so, then the council will consider bringing the new church into existence without delay, explained a frequently-asked-questions section of the site. For approximately one year, the Global Methodist Church will be a church in transition as it prepares for its convening General Conference. Last December, a group of theologically progressive United Methodists announced a plan to create its own denomination as part of the likely separation plan for the UMC. Known as the Liberation Methodist Connexion, its website describes the new church as a grassroots denomination of former, current, and non-Methodist faith leaders working on the unfolding of the kin-dom of God. The LMX went on to say that they welcome all gender expressions and sexual identity, religious or non-religious backgrounds, races and ethnicities, size, and monogamous and non-monogamous. We trust Gods presence and our collaborative labors will guide us toward a new, more liberative way of answering our calling and being in connexion together, stated the LMX, which went on to state that their theology is not written in stone. The UMC General Conference, where the potential separation plan will be debated and possibly approved, is scheduled for Aug. 29 through Sept. 6, 2022, in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Originally, the General Conference was supposed to be held last year but was postponed to 2021 due to coronavirus pandemic concerns. The General Conference was again postponed this year. BRUSSELS - The European Union on Tuesday imposed sanctions on four senior Russian officials over the jailing of opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who is President Vladimir Putins most high-profile political foe. FILE - In this Saturday, Feb. 20, 2021 file photo, Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny gestures as he stands behind a grass of the cage in the Babuskinsky District Court in Moscow, Russia. Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny was transported to a prison 100km away from Moscow. Navalny was taken to a prison in Pokrov city after Moscow city court rejected appeal against his prison sentence on Saturday, Feb. 27, 2021. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko, File) BRUSSELS - The European Union on Tuesday imposed sanctions on four senior Russian officials over the jailing of opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who is President Vladimir Putins most high-profile political foe. The 27-nation bloc imposed bans on travel and froze the assets in Europe of Alexander Bastrykin, head of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation, Igor Krasnov, the prosecuto general, Viktor Zolotov, head of the National Guard, and Alexander Kalashnikov, head of the Federal Prison Service. EU headquarters said the four were listed "over their roles in the arbitrary arrest, prosecution and sentencing of Alexei Navalny, as well as the repression of peaceful protests in connection with his unlawful treatment." Navalny, 44, an anti-corruption investigator, was arrested in Moscow in January upon returning from Germany, where he spent five months recovering from a nerve-agent poisoning that he blames on the Kremlin. Russian authorities have rejected the accusation. In February, a court sentenced Navalny to two years and eight months in prison for violating the terms of his probation while recuperating in Germany. The sentence stems from a 2014 embezzlement conviction that Navalny has rejected as fabricated. The European Court of Human Rights has also ruled that its unlawful. Navalnys arrest and imprisonment have fueled a huge wave of protests across Russia. Authorities responded with a sweeping crackdown, detaining about 11,000 people, many of whom were fined or given jail terms ranging from seven to 15 days. The sanctions were the first used by the EU under a new system for imposing restrictions on people and organizations deemed responsible for human rights abuses. Separate experiments, each of over 100 sentences, provide a strong proof of concept that Quantum Natural Language Processing is within reach CAMBRIDGE, United Kingdom, March 2, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Cambridge Quantum Computing (CQC) announces the publication of a research paper on the online pre-print repository arxiv (available here) that provides details of the largest ever experimental implementation of Natural Language Processing (NLP) tasks on a quantum computer. Titled "QNLP in Practice: Running Compositional Models of Meaning on a Quantum Computer," the paper presents the first "medium-scale" implementation of common NLP tasks. Completed on an IBM quantum computer, the experiment, which instantiated sentences as parameterised quantum circuits, embeds word meanings as quantum states which are "entangled" according to the grammatical structure of the sentence. The paper builds on prior proof-of-concept work (see here for the previous experiment) and, significantly, achieves convergence for the far larger datasets that are employed here. One of the objectives of the CQC team is to describe Quantum Natural Language Processing (QNLP) and their results in a way that is accessible to NLP researchers and practitioners thus paving the way for the NLP community to engage with a quantum encoding of language processing. Bob Coecke, CQC's Chief Scientist and also the Head of CQC's QNLP project, commented, "We are working on an immensely ambitious project at CQC that is aimed at utilising quantum computers, as they scale, to move beyond expensive black-box mechanisms for NLP to a paradigm where we become more effective, more accurate and more scalable in an area of computer science that epitomises artificial intelligence. Having made considerable progress already on our 'quantum-native' brand of compositional NLP, we are now moving beyond our initial research and working on applications that can be developed in synch with timelines provided by quantum computing hardware companies such as IBM, Honeywell, Google and others." He added, "Equally, at a time when quantum computing is becoming a topic of general interest it is imperative that those of us who are working within this sector provide results that are verifiable. Our record of publication at CQC strives at all times to meet these exacting standards - we are science led and enterprise driven." About CQC Founded in 2014 and backed by some of the world's leading quantum computing companies, CQC is a global leader in quantum software and quantum algorithms, enabling clients to achieve the most out of rapidly evolving quantum computing hardware. CQC has offices in the UK, USA and Japan with a team of 140 professionals. For more information, visit CQC at http://www.cambridgequantum.com and on LinkedIn. Access the tket Python module on GitHub. While most enterprise meetings are more sedate than those at Handforth Parish Council, collaboration tools are evolving rapidly, driven by the global work-from-home (WFH) surge and in the use of Zoom, which now claims 467,100 customers and saw revenues climb 326% year-on-year on the strength of the move to remote work in 2020. Most recently, weve seen collaboration software merchants focus on translation, transcription, and partnership as they stake out space in what many expect will be more remote-friendly future working practices. More enterprise-focused collaboration tools, such as MeisterTask, are also achieving a wider profile as thoughts turn to a future hybrid workplace. Here are a few iterative improvements that have emerged in recent weeks in this arena. Webex gains real-time translation One of Apples most widely used business communication tools, Cisco Webex, now boasts real-time translation across over 100 languages as the battle for video collaboration services continues to intensify. It means users will be able to preview real-time translations from English into those languages from within Webex. The translations are provided by artificial intelligence. The company says it hopes the new feature will help improve international collaboration within teams, and plans to introduce immersive sharing of content in meetings later this year. Otter.ai for Meet and Zoom Perhaps one of the most useful apps around, Otter.ai can now record and transcribe meetings from within Google Meet and Zoom. It will also deliver live video captioning during Zoom Pro calls. The feature is seen as an accessibility tool, but has obvious use when meeting participants want to clarify statements or for putting original transcripts together from which to build meeting minutes and other tasks. Its a great tool for interview transcriptions, and works online, with iOS, and Androidt. Microsoft Teams gains encryption Microsoft continues to iterate and improve Teams. It recently announced plans to add end-to-end encryption to the service its a shame it didnt have this already, given that so many government departments make use of the software. Teams is also gaining a new feature that allows it to identify up to 10 speakers during a call, which it uses to identify who is talking as it transcribes the call. Microsoft also recently improved support for traditional PTSN voice calls from within the application, enabling remote team members to participate in chats more easily when they're out of bandwidth range. Zoom looks to the hybrid workforce Zoom is adding closed captions for all free accounts later this year, though free users can now request the update by filling in a form on the company site. It has been a feature only available through paid accounts (thanks to Otter.ai) until recently. The company in February also introduced Zoom Rooms, a product designed to help businesses support employees returning to the office and to provide hybrid present/remote meeting experiences. Google Workspace hits the front line Google has introduced a new Workspace tier aimed at front-line workers, such as those in retail, hospitality, and healthcare. Workspace Frontline takes the apps youre used to from Google and adds some endpoint management tools to help keep remote devices secure. Workspace supplements apps such as Calendar or Gmail with a range of useful time and task management, location, and communication tools and is seen as the search advertising giants attempt to become relevant to the enterprise. Whats up next? Zooms move to support hybrid working environments is shrewd, as some nations attempt (perhaps too soon) to return to something like normal. Most businesses will likely retain support for remote working for some time yet, if only to protect business continuity in the event of an outbreak. A PwC study of 1,200 U.S. office workers found the majority now want to work remotely three days per week or more. As offices themselves change to support different working models, shared spaces, on-demand meeting rooms and the need for technologies to manage them along with tools to support hybrid remote/present meetings will grow. Boston Consulting Group now recommends future team meetings be conducted as if every participant is remote, even if some are in the conference room. In terms of collaboration software, tools for remote employee monitoring that capture productivity, such as Google Work Insights, Cisco People Insights, Slack Enterprise Grid, and even Prodoscore, seem to be in demand. Of course, as adoption of Macs, iPhones, and iPads across the enterprise continues to climb, the days of Apple being a second-class citizen in the business and productivity solutions game will continue to erode, bringing new opportunity for iOS and macOS enterprise-focused developers to build essential tools for the remote-work-friendly future of business. It's a shame FaceTime and Apple Mail now seem highly unlikely to gain the improvements theyll need to be an integral part of any such ride. Please follow me on Twitter, or join me in the AppleHolics bar & grill group on MeWe. She gave up her chance of finding love with Nick 'The Honey Badger' Cummins during his season of The Bachelor. And on Tuesday, Brooke Blurton revealed that several years later the rugby player blocked her from social media. Appearing on fellow Bachelor alum Abbie Chatfield's podcast, It's A Lot, the 26-year-old explained that it all happened after Nick, 33, shared an Australia Day post earlier this year. Nick 'Honey Badger' Cummins blocked his Bachelor ex Brooke Blurton (pictured) on social media after she said she 'dodged a bullet' following her relationship with the rugby player 'My friend wrote on his Australia Day post being like, "aren't you glad that you dodged a bullet," and I wrote "#oath", and he just blocked me,' the Aboriginal youth worker said. The post in question featured Nick standing on a beach with a dingo in the background. 'I believe the most important part of Australia day is that together as Aussies we celebrate our country in our style,' he wrote in the caption. Not impressed: Appearing on fellow Bachelor alum Abbie Chatfield's podcast, It's A Lot, the 26-year-old explained that it all happened after Nick, 33, shared an Australia Day post earlier this year. 'Our indigenous have a point, let's change the flamin' date and move forward. If we are divided we are weak.' He then went on to suggest some alternative dates, writing: 'I do like #may8 (m8) or #ausday30th'. January 26 is recognised by many Indigenous people as a day of mourning as it marked the arrival of British colonisers. 'My friend wrote on his Australia Day post being like, "aren't you glad that you dodged a bullet," and I wrote "#oath", and he just blocked me,' the Aboriginal youth worker said Brooke was the first Indigenous finalist of the Channel Ten dating series, and quickly became a fan favourite. Despite her strong connection with Nick, Brooke walked from the show during the hometown round. Nick was left with Brittany Hockley and Sophie Tieman, but infamously did not choose either beauty. 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. Was Paul Beauregard guilty of a conflict of interest? That is the question left hanging in the air following a remarkable week of disclosures, allegations and counter-allegations. The Manitoba NDP claims Beauregard, former secretary to the Treasury Board, had improperly interceded in the awarding of a contract to his former employer, Bell MTS. The party and MLA Adrien Sala devoted a considerable amount of time in 2020 pursuing such allegations against Beauregard who, in turn, filed a complaint against the official Opposition under the legislature's Respectful Workplace Policy. It seemed like a long shot to use a policy designed to protect against sexual harassment and bullying to quiet opposition critics. But in late February, Beauregard (who left Treasury Board but remains on contract to help with Manitoba's reorganization of the health-care system) released a letter claiming his complaint had been upheld. Paul Beauregard exerted a level of influence over the operations of government beyond the terms of his position. (Mike Deal / Winnipeg Free Press files) Beauregard would not release a copy of the investigator's report, but claimed Sala was guilty of "disseminating false or alternatively misleading information." It also found "a repeated pattern of harassment and bullying and a severe form of disrespectful behaviour." To further address the conflict of interest allegations, Beauregard provided letters from Charlene Pacquin, head of the Manitoba Civil Service Commission, and Fred Meier, former clerk of the executive council. Pacquin and Meier both admitted they had not investigated the specific NDP claims. Yet, remarkably, both concluded there was nothing in Manitoba law which required Beauregard to recuse himself from any business involving Bell MTS. Seems like an open-and-shut case except Pacquin and Meier had provided answers to what was, in fact, a trick question. Beauregard had not violated any law because Manitoba's conflict-of-interest laws are arguably the narrowest and weakest in the country. Jeff Schnoor, Manitoba conflict of interest commissioner, reviewed the Legislative Assembly and Executive Council Conflict of Interest Act and found it to be lacking in almost all regards. Paul Beauregard filed a complaint against NDP MLA Adrien Sala under the legislature's Respectful Workplace Policy, but wouldn't release the final report. (Mikaela MacKenzie / WInnipeg Free Press files) "In broad terms," Schnoor wrote to the current government, "the current act defines conflict of interest too narrowly, requires inadequate disclosure of assets and liabilities, and provides an ineffective method of enforcement of obligations." There are almost too many problems in the current law to cite them all, but there are a few that are material to this case. There is no definition of conflict of interest in the current act. The only time the words "conflict of interest" appear is in the title; there isn't a single other reference in the body of the law. The law is only really concerned about "pecuniary" interests, which is legalese for a direct financial interest in an individual or company doing business with government. There is nothing in Manitoba law to prevent a senior bureaucrat or elected official from furnishing favours for political or business friends doing business with government. It's hardly surprising Beauregard wasn't found to be in a conflict of interest under the terms of this law. That does not mean, however, that there was no conflict of interest. Beauregard was employed by Bell MTS and its predecessors in an executive capacity for 13 years before joining the PC government in 2017. In 2020, Paul Beauregard directed Manitoba Hydro to stop one of its subsidiaries from bidding on a government data network contract that had been held by Bell MTS, but had expired. (Ruth Bonneville / Winnipeg Free Press files) In 2020, Beauregard directed Manitoba Hydro to stop one of its subsidiaries from bidding on a lucrative government data network contract that had been held by Bell MTS, but which had expired. Beauregard's involvement in the data network contract was unusual for a number of reasons. First, because Treasury Board secretaries do not normally supersede departmental deputy ministers to direct the awarding of a contract. However, emboldened by a closer-than-usual relationship with Premier Brian Pallister, Beauregard exerted a level of influence over the operations of government well-beyond the terms of his position. It was also unusual because Pallister publicly acknowledged in 2017 Beauregard would not be involved in any business with Bell MTS to avoid the perception of a conflict of interest. Beauregard had previously recused himself from a contract for a new emergency measures communication system that involved Bell MTS. The irony of ironies in this bitter political story is the Pallister government currently has a bill before the legislature that would significantly bolster Manitoba's conflict of interest provisions and, in so doing, put the allegations against Beauregard in a new light. The amending legislation significantly expands the definition beyond pecuniary interests to include any action that could "improperly further another person's private interests." It not only brings Manitoba closer to the standards in other provinces, but also makes a case for a re-examination of both the original allegations against Beauregard and his harassment complaint. There is one final irony: the new and improved conflict of interest law might have been passed last year, before Beauregard made his harassment complaint, if not for a decision by the NDP to stall legislation to protest budget measures. The new law will be good for all involved. But it could not arrive in time to save Manitobans from witnessing a truly woeful tale of rampant political self-interest and a complete lack of accountability. Well done everyone. dan.lett@freepress.mb.ca Flash China firmly opposes any country creating tension and increasing its military presence in the South China Sea under the pretext of "freedom of navigation," said the Ministry of National Defense on Monday. The ministry made the remarks when asked to comment on the French Navy's recent dispatch of warships on a "freedom of navigation" mission in the South China Sea and the British Navy's upcoming operation in the region. At present, the situation in the South China Sea is generally stable, and regional countries are working to build the South China Sea into a sea of peace, friendship and cooperation, said the ministry. The ministry said China's will and determination to maintain peace and stability in the South China Sea are rock solid, adding that China firmly opposes any country interfering in regional affairs under the pretext of "freedom of navigation" and damaging the common interests of regional countries. The ministry called on relevant countries to make constructive contributions to peace and stability in the South China Sea, and refrain from making trouble and provoking tensions in the region. A look at the major movers on the London market on Monday Several retail stocks are getting a lift from reports that the Budget will see 5bn of grants offered to high street shops, pubs, restaurants and hairdressers to help them through the difficulties of lockdown. But Card Factory PLC (LON.CARD) has gone above and beyond. Its shares have jumped 19.39% or 8.95p to 55.1p in the wake of a late announcement on Friday updating the market on discussions with its bankers. The company said: "The banks have provided further waivers in respect of anticipated covenant breaches through until 31 March 2021, taking account of the company's cash flow projections, subject to certain conditions. We are engaged on a plan to refinance the company, and will provide a further update in due course. Coupled with the expected reopening of the vast majority of the store estate during April, the Board is confident the business is well placed to deliver for the benefit of all stakeholders." 2.20pm: Energy business gives positive financing update Tlou Energy Limited (LON.TLOU) has seen its shares spark up after positive news on the financing of its Lesedi power project in Botswana. The company has been working with a number of possible partners to provide project financing to build a transmission line from the Lesedi project to the existing electricity grid as well as electrical sub-stations, gas and solar generation assets. The most advanced discussions are with "a very reputable Botswana based entity" which it cannot name at the moment due to confidentiality agreements. But Tlou said the potential partner was favourably disposed to its proposal: "They are now proceeding to get a third-party technical review of the project as part of their due diligence process. Once this report is assessed an investment decision can be made" Tlou shares have added 0.73p or 23.39% to 3.83p. 12.01pm: Healthcare group in demand MyHealthChecked PLC (LON.MHC), has seen its share price soar on talk of a significant contract in the pipeline. The Welsh healthcare group, whose COVID-19 testing service was added to the UK government's approved providers list at the end of last year, has played down some of the speculation. Responding to the price rise it said: "Whilst the company is engaged in commercial discussions with a number of parties for the supply of COVID-19 testing kits, no contracts have been signed to date, nor is there any certainty that any of these discussions will result in commercial agreement." That has done little to dampen enthusiasm for the shares. They are up 0.75p or 23.08% at 4p, only marginally down from the day's high of 4.05p. 10.37am: Wagamama owner ready for reopening Restaurant Group PLC (LON.RTN), the owner of Wagamama and Garfunkels among others, is in demand after it announced a new long term financing arrangement and unveiled plans for re-opening outlets when lockdown ends. The company has signed new debt facilities of up to 500mln, which will not mature until at least 2025. This will improve its liquidity at a time when it is burning cash at the rate of 5.5mln per four week period of shutdown. It said: "The cash burn rate is expected to stay at this level until the end of the current restrictions for hospitality businesses, which as per government guidance on 22 February are due to end no earlier than 17 May 2021." But it has been doing well selling takeaways from around 200 sites, with sales during the current lockdown running at 2.5 times pre-COVID-19 levels at Wagamama and 5 times at other businesses. It said: "With this strong operating platform in place, the group has good capability to deliver an accelerated reopening plan for dine-in trading, once the current restrictions for hospitality businesses end, with all viable sites being reopened within two weeks." Its shares have climbed 9.7p or 8.91% to 118.6p. 9.40am: Oil company surges Another day, another blockchain fueled rise. Wildcat Petroleum (LON.WCAT) has jumped 16% or 0.2p to 1.45p after the company appointed cryptocurrrency specialist Professor Olinga Taeed as a blockchain advisor with immediate effect. The company said: "[Professor Taeed} was the first person to achieve a professorship in blockchain when he was appointed to the position at Birmingham City University in 2018. He is also currently an advisor to the Chinese government, the largest and most developed blockchain market in the world, with a Digital Yuan currently being piloted." Wildcat describes itself as targeting investment opportunities in the upstream sector of the petroleum industry as well as exploring the implementation of blockchain technology within the sector. Mandhir Singh, chairman of Wildcat, said: "[Professor Taeed's] extensive experience of the regulatory and technical issues surrounding the launch of new cryptocurrencies will be invaluable as we seek to transform the way the Oil & Gas industry transacts. "We believe that many of the oil producing Gulf States are looking to diversify their economies and have an interest in blockchain technology, particularly in its applications towards current global sustainability and climate change agendas. Professor Taeed has advised a number of these states on the use of this technology, and his contacts in the region could also prove useful to Wildcat and its growth ambitions." 8.46: McColl's in demand as it extends Morrison deal Investors are snapping up shares in McColl's Retail Group (LON.MCLS) after the convenience store operator extended a partnership with Morrison Supermarket and unveiled a new agreement with its banks. Morrison has supplied a range of branded products to McColl's estate of 1,200 shops since 2017, and under the new deal this agreement will now run for a further three years to January 2027. On top of that, some 31 of McColl's stores have been converted to a Morrisons Daily format, selling Morrison own branded goods, and the plan now is to extend that to 300 stores. McColls said: "The 31 existing Morrisons Daily stores in the McColl's estate have consistently delivered positive like-for-like sales performance, driven by their higher mix of grocery sales, breadth of offer and value proposition. These stores have performed strongest during the pandemic and are in the best position to meet customer demand in the future." The company's banks are supporting the deal by offering improved headroom against banking covenants and an extended maturity date to February 2024. On current trading McColl's said it saw like for like sales growth of 7.9% in the 12 weeks to 21 February 2021, although a shift away from more expensive impulse buys led to lower gross margins overall. It admitted to uncertainty over the outlook but added: "As lockdown restrictions ease through the course of the year, the Company would expect the sales mix to normalise. Regardless, McColl's will adapt its business to changing customer demand, whilst focusing on its strategy to become a grocery-led convenience retailer." The news has pushed up McColl's share price by 1.8p or 7.56% to 25.6p in early trading. Elsewhere Speedy Hire PLC (LON.SDY) has jumped 7.19% or 4.6p to 68.6p after it sold its Middle East business to its principal customer ADNOC Logistics and Services for US$18m. It also issued a positive trading update, saying full year profits would be well ahead of expectations after a pick up in its equipment and tool hire business. Chief executive Russell Down, said: "The successful exit from the Middle East operations is an important strategic step for Speedy and we wish the whole of the ADNOC team every success in the future. Looking ahead, we are well positioned to take advantage of the market opportunities in the UK and Ireland as activity levels continue to improve." Proactive news headlines ( ) said its SYNE-COVTM machine learning algorithm for Covid risk prediction has received regulatory approval for use in the UK. CentralNic Group PLC ( ) said revenues and underlying profits soared in 2020 helped by organic growth combined with acquisitions. ( ) said the level of global investment in hydrogen is at unprecedented levels with an increasing awareness of the benefits of its technology. AFC reported a cash balance of 31.6nmln at the end of October. ( ) highlighted a strong start to the year as it reported a number of new contract wins. Plant Health Care chief executive Chris Richards said its soybean seed treatment has the potential to be truly disruptive following the preliminary results from trials of its technology in Brazil. Limited ( ) has acquired a UK based solar photovoltaic (PV) portfolio for 64.3mln that once fully up and running will increase its installed capacity by around 13%. ( ), the life sciences data specialist, agreed to acquire software group The Edge for up to 8.5mln as part of a growth strategy where it is aiming to become a consolidator of software and technology businesses in the pharmaceutical and life sciences market. Minexia has announce the completion of a partnership agreement with Ragnar Capital Partners LLP, a successful London-based finance house with a strong focus on corporate finance advisory and capital raising in the technology and Fintech sectors. The Minexia and Ragnar team have been working together for some period and have decided to formalise an exclusive arrangement for access to the www.NRPrivateMarket.com platform for the purposes of 'fintech' deals. ( ) confirmed the acquisition of an additional 15% interest in the Biscathorpe project, in the Humber Basin onshore UK, taking its stake in the project up to 45%. FastForward Innovations Ltd ( ) said it has invested 17,215 in the 13mln IPO share placing by the David Beckham-backed ( ). PLC ( ) said the clinical sample pipeline for the COVID-19 test developed by its investee Paraytec is now fully operational. BATM Advanced Communications Limited ( ) announced it has exercised the option to sell its subsidiary NGSoft, a software provider, for US$33mln (23mln). ( ) received two new orders worth a total of US$750,000. Sativa Wellness Group Inc (LON:SWEL, ) said its CBD therapeutics division has achieved the highest food safety standards. ( ) has provided an operational update on exploration activities in the second half of calendar 2020. The exploration programme resulted in a new discovery at Zafer, announced in January 2021. ( ) confirmed the start of its maiden drill programme at the Donovan 2 project in Mexico. Drilling began ahead of schedule on Thursday, February 25. Learning Technologies Group PLC ( ) has announced the acquisition of getBridge LLC and related assets (Bridge) has now completed. ( ) told investors it has extended the exclusivity period for its letter of intent with Poseidon Enhanced Technologies, until April 1. If concluded the agreement will see a reverse takeover. ( ) has begun the Canadian listing process for its joint venture with ( ), Pty Ltd. has gold exploration interests near the historic mining centre of Ballarat in the Gold Fields of Victoria. PLC ( ) has released an operational update for shareholders. "Through the past two years, as evidenced by our market updates, we have built a global resource exploration and development company, with precious, base, and strategic metal interests in North America, Africa, and Australia, said chief executive Paul Johnson. ( ) posted a loss after taxation for the half year ended 30 November 2020 of 193,243. ( )(USOTC:SMCDY) has confirmed the rollover of access to the magnetite stockpile in New Mexico. Meanwhile, at the Leigh Creek copper mine in Australia, the impact of higher copper prices is being assessed. Bacanora Lithium PLC ( ) said it has received 21.8mln from Sonora Lithium Ltd (SLL) after Ganfeng Lithium Co Ltd exercised a share option. 4d Pharma PLC ( ) has further prepared for its New York listing by appointing a chief financial officer and a non-executive director with extensive US corporate experience. E-Therapeutics PLC ( ) said Professor Trevor Jones will be its new non-executive chairman, with Ali Mortazavi to continue in his role of chief executive and dropping the title of executive chairman that he has held since October. Bango ( ) appointed Matt Garner as its new chief financial officer after Carolyn Rand announced her intention to step down after almost two and half years in the role. (LON:HZM, ) has appointed Michael Drake as the companys head of projects, to oversee the development of the flagship Araguaia and Vermelho nickel projects. (LON:COIN, ) has appointed Federica Velardo as a non-executive director of the company with immediate effect. She is a qualified solicitor in England and Wales and, having applied for dual qualification in Italy, also practices Italian law. ( ) will present at the upcoming AD/PD 2021 conference taking place online on 9-14 March 2021, one of the most presigeous conferences on Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases in the year. IXICO will make one presentation and two poster presentations. ( ) will provide a live presentation to accompany the interim results, presented by CEO, David Budd and CFO, Matthew Fowler, on Friday 26 March at 10.00am. The presentation will be hosted through the Investor Meet Company platform. ( ) told investors that a loan, of 14.85mln, to Proger Managers & Partners srl reached maturity on February 25 and payment must now be made within the next five business days. ( ) said it is posting a circular to shareholders convening a general meeting to be held at 11am on 18 March 2021, to approve the 25mln placing and subscription agreed last Friday. ( ) reported the vesting of restricted stock units to the executive management team, under the companys incentive plan. Chief executive Rusty Hutson sees his equity holding in the company increase to 20.92mln shares (2.96%) and chief operating officer Brad Gray now has 2.36mln shares (0.33%). A laboratory technician uses a pipette device to process samples to test for the CCP virus, at Biogroup Laboratory's lab in west London, on Jan. 21, 2021. (Justin Tallis/AFP via Getty Images) UK Search for Missing Brazilian Variant Case Narrows to 379 Households The search for the missing case of the Brazilian CCP virus variant has narrowed down to just 379 households in southeast England, UK Health Secretary Matt Hancock said on Tuesday. Authorities said on Sunday that six cases of the Brazilian variant had been found in the UK, three in England and three in Scotland. But one of the three infected people in England could not be identified, as they did not complete their test registration card. The government launched an appeal for the person to come forward. UK Health Secretary Matt Hancock speaks during a COVID-19 press conference at Downing Street in London, on Jan. 25, 2021. (John Sibley WPA Pool/Getty Images) Briefing the House of Commons on Tuesday, Hancock said the search had made significant progress. Weve identified the batch of home test kits in question. Our search has narrowed from the whole country down to 379 households in the southeast of England, and were contacting each one, he said. A number of potential cases had come forward following the government appeal, he said. The main opposition Labour Party criticised the government on Monday for failing to identify the case, saying the failed quarantine system had put the public at risk. But Hancock told Parliament that incidents like this are rare and only occur in around 0.1 percent of tests. He said the five other people who tested positive for the Brazilian variant quarantined at home as they were legally required to do, and the authorities have been in contact with them. As a precaution, health authorities have stepped up testing and sequencing in South Gloucestershire, where two of the cases were found. We have no information to suggest that the variant has spread further, Hancock said. But he said the COVID-19 vaccines currently in use in the UK have not yet been studied against the Brazilian variant. Were working to understand what impact it might have, but we do know that this variant has caused significant challenges in Brazil, he said. The Brazilian P.1 variant carries several mutations that may change the behaviour of the virus, said Nick Loman, professor of microbial genomics and bioinformatics at the University of Birmingham. These include E484K, which is predicted to make existing antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 less effective, as well as N501Y, which is potentially linked to increase transmissibility, he said. Scientists are also concerned that the P.1 variant can re-infect CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus patients more easily. Recent reports from Manaus in Brazil, where the P.1 variant is fuelling a surge in infections, suggest that this variant is responsible for re-infecting individuals who were previously infected with a different variant of the virus, said Lawrence Young, professor of molecular oncology at Warwick Medical School. (HealthDay)For Morgan Compton, 7, who has attended school remotely for nearly a year, the stress of the pandemic manifests itself in meltdowns. On one particular day, Morgan "threw a fit and decided to go upstairs," said her mother, Tracy Compton. Hearing the sound of his daughter's tears, Compton's husband, John, who also works from home, got involved. Meltdowns are familiar to any parent of young children, but when they occur during a school daywith other young siblings trying to learn through a screen and two parents working remotelychaos ensues. "Now we're all yelling, she's crying more, and I'm trying to encourage her to go back into class because now she's missing learning," Tracy Compton said. After 45 minutes of cajoling their tearful childplus putting in a call to the school's counselorthey were able to calm her down and get her back to class. Almost all of the more than 180,000 students in the Fairfax County, Va., school system that Morgan and the Compton's 9-year-old daughter Lucy attend have been in remote classes since March. Morgan recently joined a pilot program that allows some students to experience in-person instruction for three hours a week. Compton said the program is for "kids who are kind of struggling in remote learning," which begs the question, how could a 7-year-old not be struggling to stay focused through a computer screen? Compton, who elaborated on her experiences during a HealthDay Now interview, knows that her daughter's experience is only a drop in the ocean compared to the upheaval the pandemic has wrought for kids around the United States. Nearly a year into the COVID-19 pandemic, studies examining the pandemic's impact on kid's mental health and well-being are scarce, but troubling. Sobbing in the middle of class Based on one recent report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, children across the United States visited emergency departments for mental health-related issues at higher rates during 2020 compared to the previous year. And another study, published recently in the journal Pediatrics, found that suicide attempts and thoughts of suicide among children and teens were higher during some months of 2020 than they were in 2019. However, parents and educators don't need data to tell them what they already know. Millions of kids across the United States are not able to attend physical school, and their parents, teachers and experts in child psychology will tell you that it is affecting more than just their education. Kids express their stress and anxiety in varied, and sometimes surprising, ways. As they move through developmental stages, these reactions are likely to change, said Shawna Lee, an associate professor at the Michigan School of Social Work, in Ann Arbor, who focuses on parent-child relationships, child abuse and neglect. While children's behaviors are highly variable and difficult to predict, toddlers and younger children are more likely to show their stress through temper tantrums, crying and acting out, while older elementary school children may become withdrawn, lethargic or uninterested, Lee said. Compton recalled the story of a third-grade girl in Monmouth County, N.J., who reportedly began to sob in the middle of a virtual class in December before confessing that she was starving. "If you don't think that's happening everywhere," she sighed, before adding, "I've got it good. That's all I'm saying." Students falling behind Alison Mack, 28, a second-grade teacher in the Northeast area of the Philadelphia School District, sees many tears in her virtual classroom these days. Mack left her classroom in March of 2020 and hasn't been back since. Many of Mack's students do not speak English as a first language, and their families may not speak English at all. Mack used to communicate with parents primarily by giving her students written notes to bring home. When lockdown began, Mack had no structure in place to make sure she had the updated contact information for her students and their families. The school started virtual classes sometime in early April, but Mack estimated that roughly half of her students that semester didn't sign on after school facilities closed in March. When she was able to reach them, the parents of absent students would explain that they didn't have an internet connection or that their child was home with grandparents, siblings or even alone, and lacked adequate supervision to make sure that they attended class. Mack said she felt guilty that many of her students were not only falling behind in their math or reading skills but also that they lost access to all of the resources, support and personal growth that teachers, schools and their peers offer. "As a teacher, I'm not just teaching them," Mack said. "For a lot of these kids, school is like a safe place for them. A lot of these kids count on me for structure. They count on me for love, or they count on us to provide food." This school year, most of the 26 kids in Mack's class sign on every day, often from their beds, a crowded room of kids, or some unknowable location because they don't turn on their video camera. While she said that many of her students have adapted to online learning, others aren't able to because of any number of factors, including a distracting environment, family stress, a lack of internet or technological support, or simply because it is difficult for anyone (let alone a second grader) to pay attention to a screen all day. Signing off, giving up Like Morgan, many of Mack's second graders regularly break down in tears during class. "I see some kids sitting there crying, like bawling their eyes out on the other side of the screen," Mack said. "It's really hard when you have a student crying because they're not sure what to do. They're just so stressed out or having anxiety and saying, 'Ms. Mack, I don't even know what this activity is.' And I read it to them, I show it to them, but I get upset because I don't know what else I can do through a screen." Other times, they shut off their computers, Mack said. "I have some kids who will literally sign offthey're so frustrated with the situation that they'll shut off the computer completely and give up." On the other side of the country, in Oxnard, Calif., a coastal city north of Los Angeles, many of Kristin Dodge's 8th graders seem to be giving up on school, too. Dodge teaches four sections of English Language Arts, along with an 8th-grade college readiness elective called AVID, geared towards kids from under-resourced backgrounds or those whose families never went to college. Her school has been operating remotely since March of 2020. Dodge estimates that roughly 20% of her students have acclimated to virtual learning and are doing well in their online classes. She suggested that this cohort of kids has a solid foundation in one way or another that has allowed them to make do with the circumstances and even thrive. "For most of those doing well, home is a happy and safe place," Dodge explained. "They have a dog or a cat. They have a mom or dad at home. They live in a space mostly free from distraction." Some of these students also have a personality or temperament that is well-suited to learning at home, away from the social pressures that middle school is known for, Dodge said. "These are the students who would normally be in my room eating lunch instead of out in the quads. They are more reserved," she explained. Unfortunately, the rest of Dodge's studentsa group that she estimated makes up around 80%are not doing so well. "At least half of this 80% are failing most of their classes," Dodge said. "They attend Zoom classes sporadically, if at all. They disappear for weeks at a time. They disappear online in the middle of Zoom class. They say they hate learning like this." Millions of kids affected The kids who articulate how they're feeling and explain why they cannot complete their work typically say that they are too overwhelmed, distracted or both. "They say things like, 'I start to do something, and then I get confused, and I just give up because it's too much,' or 'I try to do it, but then I get distracted, and I can't stay focused.' That seems to be the refrain," Dodge said. Then there are the students who are completely closed off. Dodge tries to meet with these students one-on-one in a private Zoom meeting called a breakout room. When her classes meet together as a group, students can elect to mute their microphones and keep their video cameras turned off, even if their teacher discourages them from doing so. Meeting with students in breakout rooms gives Dodge an opportunity to converse with individual students on camera and unmuted, to try to get a sense of what they're struggling with. During one of those meetings, when the student unmuted the computer's microphone, Dodge was immediately struck by the noise. "I realized that the background noise in their house or apartment or garage is like a nightmare. I don't even know if they can hear me talking when I'm teaching the class. That explains a lot," Dodge said. For Dodge, Mack and teachers all around the United States, worrying about their student's outside stressors has always been part of the job, but COVID-19 has merged school and home into one, making each part of a student's life more difficult. In most cases, problems that existed in the home or at school have only been magnified. The concerns about how this year will impact the growth of young people are endless, but Lee said that one of the top priorities for school systems should be to track down those students who have disappeared from school entirely. The estimates are wide-ranging and difficult to pin down, but one recent report from Bellwether Education Partners found that as many as 3 million U.S. students have not received any type of formal education since the pandemic began. "I think school personnel or school systems need to find those kids and get them reconnected to school, because those are the people who were probably struggling the most before the pandemic and who are going to have the hardest time getting reconnected without some kind of external support," Lee said. "I think as a society, if we want these kids to be able to recover from this, we need to prioritize their needs." Copyright 2020 HealthDay. All rights reserved. The Russian presidents press secretary, Dmitry Peskov, has said that the Kremlin is confident the policy of sanctions against Russia will not achieve its goal, and that the Kremlin will focus on Moscows own interests. "We will be guided by our own interests. If we look at this topic in general, then, probably, those who continue this dependence on some restrictions in interstate affairs should wonder whether they achieve any goal by continuing such a policy and whether this policy is effective. The answer will be obvious - this policy does not achieve its goal," Peskov told reporters on Tuesday. The Kremlin spokesman declined to comment on Washington's alleged plans to impose new sanctions on Russia over the case of opposition figure Alexei Navalny, stressing that these were just media reports. "I believe it is improper to discuss sanctions and restrictions that have not yet been introduced. The last thing we would like to do is to be guided by some media reports on when restrictions will be introduced," Sputnik cited him as saying. Peskov also noted that those who impose sanctions should think about whether international affairs are getting worse, and whether they themselves and their policies are the reason for the deterioration of these affairs. The statement comes after Reuters cited unnamed sources as saying that Washington may slap sanctions on Russia over the alleged poisoning of Navalny. The sources claimed the U.S. will impose restrictions under two executive orders - 13661, issued after Crimea's reunification with Russia in 2014, and 13382, issued in 2005 to counter proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. The sanctions could also be imposed under the Chemical and Biological Weapons Control and Warfare Elimination Act of 1991 (CBW), according to the insiders. On Monday, U.S. State Department spokesperson Ned Price said the White House had closely coordinated its response to Navalny's imprisonment with the EU. Earlier, the bloc agreed to expand sanctions against Moscow over the Navalny case during a meeting of EU foreign ministers. CHARLESTON, S.C., March 2, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Hawthorne Global Aviation Services, LLC ("Hawthorne") is pleased to announce the appointment of Cameron Burr as Executive Chairman of the Board of Directors. Hawthorne also proudly welcomes Glenn Leonard and Jon Slangerup to the Board of Directors. Burr, a Managing Partner at JetCapital, LLC , has been a member of the board since the company's inception in 2011 providing operational and financial advice and leadership in addition to his capacity as board member. Most recently, Burr was a Co-Founder of Aergen Aircraft Leasing before its sale to Apollo Aviation. Burr also serves as a board member of several private equity-backed companies including Aloft AeroArchitects (a sole source supplier to Boeing and a major supplier to Embraer), CyberCorp Technologies, AmFuel and NexPhase Capital Partners. Burr has a BS in economics from the University of Texas. Vice-Chairman Dave Hurley was quoted as saying, "Cameron is an excellent choice as Chairman of Hawthorne given both his familiarity with the company since its founding and his remarkable experience in the industry. Augmenting that experience with Jon and Glenn puts Hawthorne in an ideal place to grow into the future." Throughout his career, Burr has served in executive roles with several companies including Executive Vice President of Corporate Development and Marketing of AvioServ, Senior Vice President of Corporate Development and Managing Director of Aerothrust Corporation and multiple positions with POGO Jet, Inc. "I am excited at this new chapter in my work with Hawthorne and I look forward to continuing to aid in the enhancement of Hawthorne's excellent reputation in our industry," said Burr. Leonard and Slangerup are both new to the board of Hawthorne and have served in multiple executive roles within aviation. Leonard has worked in corporate, charter, scheduled Part 135, and Part 121 scheduled air carrier operations throughout his 42-year career. Previously, Leonard was Co-Founder of CAVOK, now owned by Oliver Wyman. Leonard currently serves on several boards, is a licensed pilot with over 10,000 hours and is a graduate of the University of Delaware with a degree in business administration. Slangerup has over 30 years of executive leadership experience including two decades as a corporate director, president and CEO of public and private companies including Mxi Technologies, the Port of Long Beach and a 20-year career at FedEx, where he progressed to become president of FedEx Canada. He is a graduate of Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University and serves as a trustee of the University. "All three of these gentlemen will be a tremendous asset to the company and we look forward to their leadership," said Hawthorne's CEO, Bryon Burbage. "Hawthorne is well-positioned to emerge from the global pandemic as a streamlined organization and having Cameron as our Executive Chairman as well as Glenn and Jon on the board only enhances that." About Hawthorne Global Aviation Services Hawthorne Global Aviation Services is a premier provider of general aviation services, with a rich history in the industry dating back to 1932. Hawthorne operates six premier Fixed Based Operators (FBO), at Long Island MacArthur Airport in Islip, NY (KISP), Cobb County International Airport in Atlanta, GA. (KRYY), Chicago Executive Airport in Chicago, IL (KPWK), Chippewa Valley Regional Airport in Eau Claire, WI (KEAU), Tuscaloosa Regional Airport in Tuscaloosa, AL (KTCL) and Sioux Gateway Airport in Sioux City, IA (KSUX). Its Long Island MacArthur Airport FBO in Islip, NY (KISP) offers private jet charter, maintenance and avionics; the Chippewa Valley Regional Airport in Eau Claire, WI. (KEAU) FBO offers private jet charter and maintenance and the Tuscaloosa Regional Airport FBO in Tuscaloosa, AL. (KTCL) offers private jet maintenance. For more information on Hawthorne Global Aviation Services, please visit www.hawthorne.aero . SOURCE Hawthorne Global Aviation Services Related Links http://www.hawthorne.aero The period was the company's first full three months of generating processing revenue and the figure came in at C$1.257 million in the quarter The quarter also saw CBD gummies powered by the firm's high purity CBD distillate launched at cannabis retailers in British Columbia through the company's commercial partners program Nextleaf Solutions Ltd ( ) ( ) expects to build its client base and strike more commercial orders in 2021, the cannabis processor told investors, as it reported record unaudited revenue in its first quarter to end-December 2020. The period was the company's first full three months of generating processing revenue and the figure came in at C$1.257 million in the quarter - a 359% increase compared to the same period a year earlier. "During the quarter, Nextleaf continued to add to its client roster, signing cannabis extraction agreements with three Canadian licensed producers which operate cannabis production and distribution facilities across Canada," the company said. Updating on corporate activity, Nextleaf noted that on September 19 last year, the Mexican Senate approved a comprehensive adult-use marijuana legalization bill, which will make Mexico the third country to legalize adult-use cannabis. The country's supreme court recently set a deadline of April 30 this year for the law to be passed, the company noted. Nextleaf owns the second-largest cannabis patent portfolio in Mexico. The quarter also saw CBD gummies powered by the firm's high purity CBD distillate launched at cannabis retailers in British Columbia through the company's commercial partners program. Nextleaf also highlighted that the completion of production of its first commercial batch of rapid THC oil drops using its patent-pending rapid emulsification technology. "Weve built our entire business to deliver efficient value to our clients through innovation. Furthermore, weve structured many of our supply agreements to leverage a split revenue model, providing a hedge on commodity risk - one of the largest enterprise risks faced by all cannabis companies, said Nextleaf Solutions chief financial officer Charles Ackerman in the statement. "As the overall consumer market continues to grow steadily with the rollout of retail stores and broader product offerings, we expect to see the industry work through the market oversupply," he added. "We believe that ultimately, the companies that continue to innovate and drive further value for clients, like Nextleaf, will be the long term winners in this industry." Contact the author at giles@proactiveinvestors.com A 67-year-old Birmingham man has been indicted on more than two dozen child porn charges. Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall on Tuesday announced the arrest of Val Page Jr. Page was taken into custody by an AGs special agent and booked into the Jefferson County Jail on 25 charges of possession of obscene matter depicting a person under the age of 17. Page, who lists a north Birmingham address, was arrested in September 2020 on 10 child porn possession charges. Court records in those cases allege he was in possession of multiple child porn videos. Some of the titles of his digital files were 11 year old girl,' JulyJail Bait, HussyFan, and Pre-teen Russian. The February grand jury indicted Page on those 10 charges from 2020 plus an additional 15. Page was booked into the county lockup at 12:44 p.m. His bond is set at $250,000 and he will be ordered to wear an ankle monitor should he make bond. If convicted, Page faces a maximum penalty of up to 10 years imprisonment and a fine of up to $15,000 for each of the 25 counts, which are class C felonies. Majority of North Wales residents to access NHS differently in future because of COVID-19, according to new survey This article is old - Published: Tuesday, Mar 2nd, 2021 The majority of North Wales residents will access NHS services differently in future due to COVID-19, according to a YouGov study. The study found 40 per cent will carry on usual, as opposed to 60 per cent who questioned plans to support new NHS systems introduced over the past 12 months for safety and social distancing. As part of the Welsh Governments Help Us, Help You campaign, Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board (BCUHB) is encouraging people to attend Minor Injury Units (MIUs) rather than Emergency Departments. There are nine MIUs situated across North Wales in Holyhead, Dolgellau, Pwllheli, Tywyn, Llandudno, Holywell, Denbigh, Mold and Tremadog. Trevor Hubbard, Area Nurse Director for the Central region of BCUHB, says there have been advances in how they operate urgent care services, changing the thinking of staff and patients. Accessing in a different way is becoming the new normal and it is there to protect the public and the NHS from unnecessary exposure to COVID-19 infection, said Mr Hubbard. The situation has accelerated the use of digital technology so we can manage our services going forward in a positive way. Taking MIUs as an example; attendances are lower than Emergency Departments, but patients are nearly always seen, treated and discharged within four hours, with a minimal wait and experienced practitioners offering clinical support and advice directly the patient experience is very good. He added: I think people in North Wales are aware of MIUs and what they offer, but we do need to shout a little louder about the services they provide. It is so important we make sure MIUs are used to reduce pressure on our already busy EDs; they are there for emergencies only so I would ask everyone to consider the other options open to them, including pharmacies, the NHS 111 Wales website and by calling for advice if the condition is urgent but not serious. The YouGov study also found 93% of people surveyed in Wales were aware of A&E and the 999 service, compared to 69% aware of MIUs. While 93% believed MIUs to be important, 89% have not used the service in the last 12 months. Mr Hubbard said: MIUs have very experienced practitioners able to manage a wide range of injuries, they are highly trained and competent staff offering an excellent level of care. They are able to request and interpret x-rays and diagnose and treat a variety of conditions all based locally to prevent you travelling long distances to an ED. He added: In North Wales we do have a lot of visitors from across the UK and overseas that are not necessarily used to what an MIU is, how it works and what conditions can be treated there. I also think there are differences between individual units and the walk-in centre model in England, which has a broader remit to include illness as well as injury. We are working to address this by training our staff to manage a wider variety of conditions, and we will continue to encourage people to please call in advance so you can receive first aid advice and an appointment time to be seen quickly and efficiently by the team without the need to wait for their safety, and yours. For more information on how best to access NHS services, visit www.111.wales.nhs.uk or call 0845 46 47. Visit www.bcuhb.nhs.wales/health-services/health-services1/where-do-i-go/minor-injury-units/minor-injury-units1 for the latest news and information on BCUHBs MIUs. Hours before the 2018 eruption of Sierra Negra, the Galapagos Islands' largest volcano, an earthquake rumbled and raised the ground more than 6 feet in an instant. The event, which triggered the eruption, was captured in rare detail by an international team of scientists, who said it offers new insights into one of the world's most active volcanoes. "The power of this study is that it's one of the first times we've been able to see a full eruptive cycle in this detail at almost any volcano," said Peter La Femina, associate professor of geosciences at Penn State. "We've monitored Sierra Negra from when it last erupted in 2005 through the 2018 eruption and beyond, and we have this beautiful record that's a rarity in itself." For nearly two months in 2018, lava erupted from the volcano, covering about 19 square miles of Isabela Island, the largest island in the Galapagos and home to about 2,000 people and endangered animal species like the Galapagos giant tortoise. "The 2018 eruption of Sierra Negra was a really spectacular volcanic event, occurring in the 'living laboratory' of the Galapagos Islands," said Andrew Bell, a volcanologist at the University of Edinburgh. "Great teamwork, and a bit of luck, allowed us to capture this unique dataset that provide us with important new understanding as to how these volcanoes behave, and how we might be able to better forecast future eruptions." While Sierra Negra is among the world's most active volcanos, its remote location previously made monitoring difficult. Scientists now use networks of ground-based seismic and GPS monitoring stations and satellite observations to observe the volcano. "Based on constant monitoring of activity of Galapagos volcanoes, we detected a dramatic increase of seismicity and a steady uplift of crater floor at Sierra Negra," said Mario Ruiz, director of the Ecuador Geophysical Institute, the country's national monitoring agency. "Soon we contacted colleagues from the United Kingdom, United States and Ireland and proposed them to work together to investigate the mechanisms leading to an impending eruption of this volcano. This research is an example of international collaboration and partnership." The scientists captured data over 13 years as the volcano's magma chamber gradually refilled following the 2005 eruption, stressing the surrounding crust and creating earthquakes. This continued until June 2018, when an earthquake occurred on the calderas fault system and triggered the subsequent eruption, the scientists said. "We have this story of magma coming in and stressing the system to the point of failure and the whole system draining again through the eruption of lava flows," La Femina said. "This is the first time anyone's seen that in the Galapagos to this detail. This is the first time we've had the data to say, 'okay, this is what happened here.'" Often during volcanic eruptions, as magma chambers empty the ground above them sinks and forms a bowl-like depression, or a caldera. But Sierra Negra experienced a caldera resurgence, leaving this area higher in elevation than it was before the eruption, the scientists said. Inside the Sierra Negra caldera is a "trap-door fault," which is hinged at one end while the other can be uplifted by rising magma. The scientists found the fault caused hills inside of the six-mile-wide caldera to lift vertically by more than 6 feet during the earthquake that triggered the eruption. Caldera resurgence, important to better understanding eruptions, had not been previously observed in such detail, the scientists reported in the journal Nature Communications. "Resurgence is typical of explosive calderas at volcanoes like Yellowstone, not the kind of shield volcanoes we see in the Galapagos or Hawaii," La Femina said. "This gives us the ability to look at other volcanoes in the Galapagos and say, 'well that's what could have happened to form that caldera or that resurgent ridge.'" The scientists said the findings could help their counterparts in Ecuador better track unrest and warn of future eruptions. "There are people who live on Isabella Island, so studying and understanding how these eruptions occur is important to manage the hazards and risks to local populations," La Femina said. ### Other Penn State researchers on the project were Machel Higgins and Andres Gorki Ruiz, doctoral students, and Nathan Meier, a former undergraduate student. Scientists from the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, Trinity College Dublin, the University of Cambridge, the University of Miami, Tulane University, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center and NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory also contributed to the study. The National Science Foundation, NASA and the Nature Environment Research Council funded this research. A 69-year-old woman has lost custody of the twins she gave birth to aged 64 after Spain's highest court ruled that she was incapable of looking after them. The Spanish Supreme Court upheld an April 22, 2020 ruling to remove the children, handed down by the Provincial Court of Burgos, which found that the twins were not being cared for in 'optimal conditions'. The Supreme Court ruling on Monday brings to an end a four-year legal battle by the woman, Mauricia Ibanez, who gave birth to the twins - Gabriel and Maria de la Cruz - in 2017 after having fertility treatment in the United States. The court found that the twins were 'in an obvious situation of vulnerability' due to their mother's inability to care for them properly or to cooperate with social services. A 69-year-old woman has lost custody of the twins she gave birth to aged 64 after Spain's highest court ruled that she was incapable of looking after them The Spanish Supreme Court upheld an April 22, 2020 ruling to remove the children, handed down by the Provincial Court of Burgos, which found that the twins were not being cared for in 'optimal conditions' The decision was based on the 'evaluations of experts,' not the woman's age or mental health, the court said, without elaborating. A report issued by the Provincial Court of Burgos at the time of their initial ruling, cited: ' the mother's personality traits significantly affected the affective and psychosocial development of the minors.' It added that 'non-existent' family relationships, isolation and a lack of a supportive social network were also of concern. The twins, now aged four, were taken into foster care shortly after they were born in 2017. Ibanez had signed an agreement with social services that she would hire an assistant to provide 24-hour care after it concluded she would need help with cleaning and looking after the children, El Pais reported in 2017. But, just 10 days after she returned home from spending more than a month in hospital following the births, authorities decided the twins were 'at risk'. 'Since she went home, a multi-disciplinary team has been following Ibanez's progress, and their reports all conclude that the twins need looking after in a different environment,' a spokesman from social services in Burgos said at the time, adding that reuniting Ibanez with her children in the future was a possibility. 'But the obligation in the short term is for them to be with foster parents,' the spokesman said. The Supreme Court ruling on Monday brings to an end a four-year legal battle by the woman, identified only as Mauricia Ibanez, who gave birth to the twins in 2017 after having fertility treatment in the United States Ibanez also has another child who was placed into foster care in 2014 after the mother was ruled unfit to care for her. Blanca, now aged 11, was also born through IVF and lives in Canada. After the 2017 decision, Ibanez's lawyer said his client was 'very distraught and traumatised'. She challenged the decision, but her appeal was rejected by the local Family Court, in a decision now upheld by the Supreme Court. Ibanez has exhausted her legal options for now but can request that the court review its decision every two years. The court said it did not predict a different outcome in the short term. El Pais reported that Ibanez, a former civil servant, had started her family after being given early retirement over mental health issues. Ibanez's sister tried to have courts declare her 'fully incapable' so that her passport could be taken away to prevent her from travelling abroad for fertility treatment, according to the Spanish newspaper. Ibanez's sister tried to have courts declare her 'fully incapable' so that her passport could be taken away to prevent her from travelling abroad for fertility treatment. Pictured: Mauricia Ibanez However, a judge refused following testimony by psychologists that her condition, which has not been reported in the media, did not prevent her from 'looking after herself or a child.' 'I decided to become a mother because the experience of having Blanca, my first child, was fantastic, Ibanez told El Pais from hospital after giving birth to the twins in February 2017. 'I asked myself if I could really have another. I'm not worried at all about my age. I am old but it has been possible for me to get pregnant: science and medicine are the last opportunity we older people have. 'Of course I am worried that they could take my children away. They are so defenceless, so small and delicate. I am a little bit afraid for them. I just ask God to prevent them falling into the hands of social services,' she told the paper. News of Ibanez's twins made headlines across the world and provoked a heated debate in Spain between those who praised the scientific achievement and those who questioned the ethics of getting pregnant late in life, especially as Ibanez had been ruled incapable of caring for her previous child. Tel Aviv, March 2 : Israel's natural gas and oil revenues hit a record high in 2020, totalling 1.09 billion new shekels ($330 million), according to an annual report issued by the Ministry of Energy. This figure is an increase of 29.4 per cent compared to oil and natural gas revenues of $255 million in 2019, Xinhua news agency quoted the report as saying on Monday. The report includes revenue from royalties from natural gas, oil and minerals, as well as fees, which all together amounted to about $335 million in 2020. Most of Israel's natural gas revenue came from the natural gas produced at Tamar and Leviathan fields in the Mediterranean Sea. Thus, a total of 15.59 billion cubic meters (BCM) of natural gas was produced from both fields in 2020, an increase of 48.5 per cent compared to about 10.5 BCM in 2019, the report revealed. According to the report, Israel's revenues from Tamar's royalties since it started operation in 2013 has reached $1.75 billion. The Ministry expects an increase in gas and oil royalties in 2021 to a new record of $348 million. In addition, royalties from minerals totalled about $2.64 million in 2020, down 18.6 per cent from 2019. A Delhi court Tuesday took cognisance of the offence of sedition against 18 persons, arrested under the stringent anti-terror law Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act in a north east Delhi riots case, after the requisite sanctions were filed by the concerned authorities. Additional Sessions Judge Amitabh Rawat took cognisance of the offences under sections 124 A (sedition), 153-A (promoting enmity on the grounds of religion, language, caste etc), 109 (abetment) and 120-B (criminal conspiracy) of the IPC after the requisite sanction was filed in a second supplementary charge sheet against all the accused. The court had earlier deferred the issue of taking cognisance for the offences against Pinjra Tod members and JNU students Devangana Kalita and Natasha Narwal, Jamia Millia Islamia students Asif Iqbal Tanha, Gulfisha Khatoon, former Congress Councillor Ishrat Jahan, Jamia Coordination Committee members Safoora Zargar and Meeran Haider. Shafa-Ur-Rehman, suspended AAP Councillor Tahir Hussain, activist Khalid Saifi, Shadab Ahmed, Tasleem Ahmed, Salim Malik, Mohd Salim Khan, Athar Khan, JNU student Sharjeel Imam, former JNU student leader and Faizan have also been charge sheeted in the case. The court had earlier taken cognisance of the offences under sections 13 (unlawful activities), 16 (terrorist act), 17 (raising funds for terrorist act), 18 (conspiracy) of the UAPA and various sections of the IPC including, 147 and 148 (rioting), 149 (unlawful assembly), 186 (instructing public servant), 201 (disappearance of evidence). The accused have been charge sheeted for allegedly being part of a premeditated conspiracy in the riots. The maximum punishment for the offence of sedition is life sentence. The court said the supplementary charge sheet should be supplied to all the accused persons in pendrive and put up the matter for further hearing on March 12. Communal violence had broken out in northeast Delhi on February 24 after clashes between citizenship law supporters and protesters spiralled out of control leaving at least 53 people dead and around 200 injured. (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.) YEREVAN, MARCH 2, ARMENPRESS. On March 1, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Armenia Ara Aivazian had a phone conversation with European Commissioner for Neighborhood and Enlargement Oliver Varhelyi, the foreign ministry told Armenpress. The officials discussed in detail a number of issues on the Armenia-EU partnership agenda. Foreign Minister Ara Aivazian and the European Commissioner for Neighborhood and Enlargement Oliver Varhelyi conveyed their congratulations upon the entry into force of the Armenia-EU Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement, expressing confidence that it will give a new impetus to Armenia-EU relations. The Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Armenia and the EU Commissioner exchanged views on the post-2020 vision of the Eastern Partnership, emphasizing the importance of ensuring the integrity and inclusiveness of this initiative. During the phone conversation the sides also touched upon issues of regional security and stability. Both sides stressed the importance of providing humanitarian assistance to the people of Artsakh on the ground. The Minister of Foreign Affairs specifically emphasized the imperative for the implementation of the humanitarian obligations enshrined in the trilateral statement of November 9, particularly, the repatriation of prisoners of war and other people detained. will have to make further legislation on at least two counts to meet three outstanding benchmarks of the 27-point action plan of the global money laundering and terrorist financing watchdog before the new June deadline, a media report said on Tuesday. The Paris-based Financial Action Task Force (FATF) placed on the grey list in June 2018 and asked Islamabad to implement a plan of action to curb money laundering and terror financing by the end of 2019 but the deadline was extended later on due to COVID-19 pandemic. The new deadline was set by the last month. has been scrambling in recent months to avoid being added to a list of countries deemed non-compliant with anti-money laundering and terrorist financing regulations by the FATF, a measure that officials here fear could further hurt its ailing economy. The Dawn newspaper reported that the government will have to submit an updated report within a month to the on the progress on legislation and other steps to be taken to address the outstanding concerns. Since the government had changed almost three dozen laws over the past year to meet the FATF requirements, there should not be any hurdle in the way of making two more amendments, the report said. Presiding over a meeting of the National Executive Committee (NEC) on Anti-Money Laundering, Finance Minister Abdul Hafeez Shaikh asked the Financial Monitoring Unit (FMU) and chairman of the FATF Coordination Committee and Industries and Production Minister Hammad Azhar to immediately finalise the timelines for additional legislation in consultation with agencies of the federal government and the armed forces. The deadlines should be reasonable to be shared with the FATF and all agencies and stakeholders should act in close coordination to meet the deadlines well in advance, the report said. It was observed that Pakistan had made progress over the past two years and was being appreciated by the community, but at the same time it did not send a good message when commitments and deadlines were missed repeatedly, it said. The NEC was informed that Pakistan had to update the Paris-based global watchdog on financial crimes on the way forward and its timelines on the basis of observations of FATF plenary and shortcomings pointed out by the FATF assessors within 30 days. The additional legislation has to cover some weaknesses in the existing framework that limited the authorities from taking action, including imposing sanction or apprehending those acting for or on behalf of designated terrorist entities or individuals and prosecuting targeted persons and entities or those working for them, within certain deadlines. The three outstanding action points include demonstrating that Terrorism Financing (TF) investigations and prosecutions target persons and entities acting on behalf or at the direction of the designated persons or entities and demonstrating that TF prosecutions result in effective, proportionate and dissuasive sanctions. Thirdly, Pakistan has to demonstrate effective implementation of targeted financial sanctions against all designated terrorists, specifically those acting for or on their behalf, the report said. An official statement said FMU Director General Lubna Malik briefed the committee on the overall progress achieved on the FATF action plan and outlined efforts under the way for the remaining targets to be achieved in due course of time. She said Pakistan had received support for making strides vis-a-vis an exigent action plan given by the FATF. Sources said the meeting was also informed that reasonable progress had already been achieved on one out of three remaining points, but two areas that required additional legislation would be time-consuming. Acknowledging the progress demonstrated by the relevant stakeholders, finance minister Shaikh called for expediting efforts to fulfil the requirements in the remaining areas. "The strict adherence to timelines would culminate into the successful completion of the FATF action plan, he said. In February last year, the FATF gave Pakistan, which missed 13 targets, a four-month grace period to complete its 27-point action plan against ML&TF committed with the community. In its third plenary held virtually in June, the FATF decided to keep Pakistan in the grey list as Islamabad failed to check the flow of money to terror groups like Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM). With Pakistan's continuation in the 'grey list', it is increasingly becoming difficult for the country to get financial aid from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), World Bank, Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the European Union, thus further enhancing problems for the nation which is in a precarious financial situation. If the FATF in its meeting finds that Pakistan has failed to meet its requirements, there is every possibility that the global body may put the country on the 'Black List' along with North Korea and Iran. The FATF is an inter-governmental body established in 1989 to combat money laundering, terrorist financing, and other related threats to the integrity of the international financial 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.) After nearly two years in Iraq's parliament, the Yazidi Women Survivors Law passed on Monday in a landmark for formal recognition of the Yazidi genocide. The bill calls for compensation, rehabitation and education for survivors. It also creates a new directorate for survivors affairs and a civil court in the Nineveh governorate and outlines punishment for people involved in abduction and sexual crimes. The move was applauded by Yazidis as progress in addressing the destruction caused by the Islamic State nearly seven years ago. Today's passage of Iraqs Yazidi Survivors Bill is an important first step in acknowledging the gender-based trauma of sexual violence and need for tangible redress, tweeted Nadia Murad, a Yazidi survivor of human trafficking and 2018 Nobel laureate. First submitted by Iraqi President Barham Salih to the parliament in April 2019, the draft bill was reviewed twice but each time met pushback. Some argued that the text was too narrow in scope and needed to include men and boys that were also kidnapped. Other groups fought for the inclusion of Christians, Shabaks and Turkmens who were also subjected to sexual violence. A special parliamentary committee was formed to amend the terminology. Last month, however, the legislature failed to achieve the quorum needed for a vote. Days later, Salih called on the parliament to expand and expedite the bill. Salih tweeted on Monday that the vote was a victory for our daughters who have been subjected to the most heinous violations and crimes of ISIS genocide. The United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq also hailed the move as a major step in addressing the needs of survivors of atrocities that include reparations and proof of Iraqs commitment to address the crimes they endured. Some Yazidi community members have cautioned against overstating the bills importance. The law's passage of the law is an acknowledgement that what happened to Yazidi women and girls was real and deserves recognition and compensation, but pressing needs continue to face the community. We want to make sure that this bill does not constitute the end or the solution of state responsibilities to the people, said Pari Ibrahim, executive director of the Free Yezidi Foundation. We are pleased by this bills passing, but it does not solve everything. Last month, the remains of 104 Yazidi victims of IS were transported to Baghdad and given a state funeral ceremony before returning to the Sinjar village of Kocho for burial. They were killed in an IS attack on Sinjar in August 2014 that targeted the Yazidi community and other minority groups living in the Sinjar region of northern Iraq. In total, at least 10,000 Yazidis were killed or abducted by the Islamic state. A majority of the once 550,000-strong community was displaced and only about 30% of the Sinjar districts population, which also includes Assyrians, Turkmens and other groups, have since returned. More than 2,700 Yazidis are still missing. Efforts must continue to find out the fate of the remaining missing and kidnapped persons, provide redress for the victims and hold the criminals accountable, Salih tweeted. Implementing the law also presents a new challenge amid mounting security and political instability. Public services in Sinjar remain scarce. Infrastructure in the district is still largely destroyed and security is nearly nonexistent, a Yazidi in Sinjar told Al-Monitor. About 200,000 Yazidis are forced to continue living in displacement camps, but time is running out as Baghdad has called for their closure and for the residents to return home, despite many not having a home to return to. Armed extremists still haunt the expansive mountain range of Sinjar, where just last week Turkey and Iran called each others ambassadors to discuss Turkish attacks on Kurdistan Workers Party fighters that have settled in the area after helping drive out IS. Without implementing it correctly, the survivors will not get any benefits from it, Saad Babir, spokesperson for Yazda, an international organization that supports Yazidis, told Al-Monitor. The bill will not end the suffering that Yazidis are still facing and dealing with on a daily basis." Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Islamabad, March 2 : Pakistan issued a fresh travel advisory under which the categorised country list concerning inbound travel has been amended, the media reported on Tuesday. The fresh advisory issued by the Director Air Transport Department of the Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority (PCAA) will remain valid till March 14, Dawn news reported. Under the new advisory, nine more countries have been added to Category C, which increased the total to 15. The countries are the UK, South Africa, Portugal, Peru, Netherlands, Tanzania, Botswana, Columbia, Comoros, Ghana, Ireland, Kenya, Zambia, Brazil and Mozambique. International travel to Pakistan from Category C countries is currently restricted and only allowed as per guidelines of the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC). The PCAA has categorised 21 countries as Category A. Travellers from Category A do not require Covid-19 PCR test before entry into Pakistan. Whereas, travellers from countries not specified in Category A, require a test 72 hours prior departure. Copenhagen-based craft brewery Mikkeller opened a Singaporean outpost at a Chinatown hawker stall today, just in time to quench thirsts in this sweltering weather. The stall serves a selection of imported beers at the Chinatown Complex Food Centre, from those imported from its home in Denmark to San Diego, California. It is also pouring beers from 10 taps, such as Do Stuff Together, a New England pale ale with citrus fruits; the Japanese Rice Lager, which has citrus, hay, and jasmine notes; and the Kaffestout, which is a dark beer with hints of roasted coffee. Expect more flavors soon such as the Beer Geek Fudgesicle, an imperial oatmeal stout brewed with cocoa, vanilla and butterscotch. Sour ales from the Spontan series and other popular brews from the Hill Farmstead Brewery in the U.S. state of Vermont will find their way to the menu soon. One of its dark beers being poured. Photo: Mikkeller Bar Singapore The small 6sqm stall, which used to be occupied by Smith Street Taps & Friends, draws upon Scandinavian aesthetics with wood furniture and chalkboard signs paying homage to the brands world-recognized signature. The logo for its Singapore branch has also been localized with a Merlion. The Danish brewery is partnering with local craft beer distributor SST Trading for its Singapore venture. In Asia, Mikkeller has bars in China, Thailand, Japan and South Korea. Its beers have been sold in over 50 countries. FIND IT Mikkeller Bar Singapore Chinatown Complex Food Centre, 335 Smith St, #02-058 5:30pm to 10pm, Tuesday to Friday; 2:30pm to 10pm, Saturday; closed Sunday and Monday This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it. Other stories you should check out: Brew of the people: Find Ren Mins new craft bottles at two hawker centers This article, Sip on ice-cold brews at Copenhagens Mikkeller new Chinatown hawker stall, originally appeared on Coconuts, Asia's leading alternative media company. Supplier News 2 March 2021 Vertical Booking, a global comprehensive hotel distribution solution provider has partnered with Shiji Distribution Solutions to assist the company with its expansion into the Asia Pacific market. The connection between Shiji Distribution Solutions and Vertical Booking is now live and grants Vertical Booking's hotel customers access to Shiji Distribution Solution's widespread connectivity to the Asia Pacific and China market. Vertical Booking currently has a customer base in more than 80 countries, providing hotels with a versatile CRS solution that includes a fully integrated suite of products including a booking engine, channel manager, GDS, meta-search, OTA price comparison, and more. "As the Asia Pacific market continues to grow, more and more global companies are looking to enter the region through a trustworthy and established partner like Shiji Distribution Solutions. We are happy to partner with Vertical Booking and help connect them to the region with access to over 200 of our distribution partners through our enterprise-level distribution solutions," said Greg Berman, Chief Operating Officer of Shiji Distribution Solutions. "Given Shiji Distribution Solutions' long-standing presence and reputation within Asia Pacific and the rest of the world, we are excited to connect with the Group and provide our users with access to their unparalleled connections in the Asia Pacific market. We are confident that the partnership will prove to be mutually beneficial to both companies and customer bases," said Christian Lepom, Chief Operating Officer of Vertical Booking. About Vertical Booking Vertical Booking develops and commercialises a CRS (Central Reservation System) on a global scale. The complete suite includes a Booking Engine, Synchro Channel Manager, a Metasearch Manager, a CRO (Central Reservation Office), GDS Connectivity and Representation, Marketing and Intelligence Tools, and Applications (iOs/Android). The suite is available as a complete package or each module can be purchased separately. The company also develops and distributes reservation software, DMS, for destinations and Tour Operators. Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-02 10:03:34|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close LONDON, March 1 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese embassy in Britain on Monday expressed grave concern over and strong opposition to British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab's wrong remarks about Hong Kong. "The UK side's remarks confuse right and wrong, and interfere in China's internal affairs and judicial sovereignty. The Chinese side expresses its grave concern and strong opposition," said a spokesperson for the embassy in a statement. Over a recent decision to charge 47 people, the statement said the handling of this case by the Hong Kong judicial authorities is in line with the law and brooks no distortion or discredit. "China upholds the rule of law. Hong Kong is a society under the rule of law where no one is above the law," it said, noting that the 47 people in the relevant case organized, plotted and took part in last year's so-called "35+ primary election" and "mutual destruction" plot aimed at paralyzing the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) government and pushing the city into the abyss of chaos. The relevant authorities in Hong Kong arrested and charged these people, in accordance with law, for suspicion of violation of the national security law for Hong Kong and subversion of state power, said the statement. Noting that the law was enacted to plug the legal loophole for safeguarding national security and to provide effective safeguards for the democratic rights and extensive freedoms of Hong Kong citizens, the embassy said the implementation of this law marked a turning point in Hong Kong from chaos to law and order, and provided better legal safeguards for the rights and freedoms of Hong Kong citizens. The allegation that the national security law for Hong Kong violates the Sino-British Joint Declaration is a non-issue, the statement said, adding that the Chinese government governs the Hong Kong SAR in accordance with the Constitution of China and the Basic Law of the Hong Kong SAR, not the Sino-British Joint Declaration. The national security law for Hong Kong was made in accordance with the Constitution of China and its inclusion in the legal system of the Hong Kong SAR was authorized by the Basic Law, it added. Hong Kong affairs, the statement emphasized, are purely China's internal affairs and brook no external interference in any form. It added that the Chinese government remains unwavering in its determination to safeguard its sovereignty, security and development interests, and to oppose any external interference. "China urges the UK to respect the facts and the rule of law, discard its double standards and political manipulation, view the National Security Law for the Hong Kong SAR and the handling of the case by the relevant authorities in accordance with law from an objective and fair perspective, immediately stop meddling in Hong Kong affairs, stop interfering in China's internal affairs and judicial sovereignty, and stop going further down the wrong path," it said. Hong Kong police on Sunday prosecuted 47 people, who were arrested in January, for "conspiring to subvert state power." Enditem (Natural News) President Xi Jinping of China warned the public about the novel coronavirus on Jan. 20 last year. On that same day, Chinas top respiratory expert, Zhong Nanshan, announced on state-run CCTV that there had been confirmed cases of human-to-human transmission of the disease. But top Chinese officials already knew they were facing a pandemic days or even weeks before that date. During their silence, millions of people began traveling to and from China for the Chinese New Year celebrations. The Baibuting community in the city of Wuhan, the epicenter of the disease, hosted a mass banquet for thousands of people. The Associated Press reported that more than 3,000 had been infected before Xis warning and several thousands more were likely unaccounted for, given the lack of restrictions and health protocols during those days. In the days leading to the announcement, officials in Hubei province, where Wuhan is located, were instructed to begin temperature checks at transportation hubs and to cut down on large public gatherings. They did it without informing the public. The announcement delay came at a crucial time the start of the outbreak. China tried to walk the thin line between alerting the public and avoiding panic but failed miserably. Leaked documents confirm CCPs efforts to cover up coronavirus outbreak Government documents recently obtained by the Epoch Times confirmed that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) was aware of the severity of the coronavirus during the early stages of the outbreak, but did not immediately alert the public. The leaked documents indicated that the top leadership of the Chinese regime secretly ordered the National Health Commission (NHC) and regional governments to deal with the outbreak while keeping the public in the dark about the health crisis. A document dated Jan. 15 last year from the health commission of Guangxi Province summarized a speech given by Wang Yong, the vice director of the commission. Wangs speech indicated that the NHC held a nationwide teleconference on epidemic prevention and control on Jan. 14, during which Ma Xiaowei, the head of the commission, conveyed direct orders from Xi and Chinese Premier Li Keqiang. The document didnt detail the orders from Xi and Li, but the high-level meeting showed that Chinese authorities were fully aware of the severity of the outbreak. According to the document, Ma said that it is the most serious public health emergency crisis since the SARS epidemic of 2003. In his speech, Wang advised authorities in Guangxi to be more politically aware of the extreme severity and urgency of the virus outbreak as he delivered the directives from Xi and Li. The document made it clear that national security should be placed above anything else. It stated that if any institution or individual planned to collect or examine epidemic-related specimens, they must first obtain permission from the local health commission. (Related: Chinese authorities hid the fact that medical staff in coronavirus-hit city were infected.) Epidemic control plans discussed in meetings weeks before the announcement The document also mentioned that Guangxis health commission held meetings on Dec. 31, 2019, and Jan. 7, 2020, to discuss epidemic control plans. U.S.-based China affairs commentator Li Linyi pointed out that the two dates are significant because they proof of the CCPs cover-up of the outbreak. The documents indicated that authorities in Guangxi had already received internal orders from the CCP Central Committee on epidemic control and prevention measures on those dates, but the public remained oblivious of an impending health crisis. Chinese media reports also made reference to the significance of the Jan. 7, 2020 meeting. On Feb. 15 last year, the CCPs theoretical journal Seeking Truth published a speech that Xi gave on epidemic control and prevention on Jan. 7, 2020. Ming Pao, a Chinese-language newspaper based in Hong Kong, reported on Feb. 17, 2020, that during the Jan. 7, 2020 meeting CCP leaders required local governments to enforce relevant measures to ensure that the Chinese New Year holiday wouldnt be disrupted. A separate document also dated Jan. 15 last year issued by the NHC to all provinces in China stated that beginning in December 2019, cases of pneumonia of unknown causes had been reported in some hospitals in Hubei Province, and the result from pathogen analysis indicated that it was a novel coronavirus. Recipients of the document classified as most urgent were instructed not to circulate its contents on the internet. The document laid out measures for preventing infections within hospitals such as disinfecting rooms and requiring health workers to wear personal protective equipment (PPE). Another internal document revealed that on Jan. 16 last year, Guangxis health commission created a work leadership group made up of seven teams to oversee the local epidemic response. Follow Pandemic.news for more news and information related to the coronavirus pandemic. Sources include: TheEpochTimes.com APNews.com POTTSVILLE A West Penn Twp. woman is guilty of five charges resulting from a road rage incident in August 2020, a Schuylkill County judge ruled Wednesday. Nicole N. Dandria, 39, of New Ringgold, is guilty of harassment, failure to use low beams, following too closely, reckless driving and disregarding traffic lane, Judge Charles M. Miller ruled after a one-hour hearing. Miller sentenced Dandria to pay costs and $375 in fines. You just dont act that way, Miller told Dandria. That way was, according to West Penn Twp. police, tailgating Orion Fitzpatrick, of Andreas, several miles on routes 309 and 895 starting around 9 p.m. Aug. 30, 2020. Fitzpatrick testified Dandria followed him from the Thunderhead Lodge, where he had just finished work, just north of the border between Lehigh and Schuylkill counties. She flashed her high beams at him and then started to follow him, Fitzpatrick said. Did that concern you? Assistant District Attorney Julie D. Werdt asked Fitzpatrick. Yes, he answered. Fitzpatrick said that after he turned east onto Route 895, Dandria followed, sped up, crossed a double yellow line, passed him, pulled back in front of him and braked quickly. I could hear the peeling of rubber, he said. When cross-examined by Dandria, who represented herself, Fitzpatrick denied cutting her off when he left the parking lot. West Penn Patrolman Christopher P. Fischi III, the prosecuting officer, testified that when he spoke to Dandria, she acknowledged being the driver but said Fitzpatrick was the one who cut her off and drove aggressively. When she testified, Dandria said she was just sitting in the parking lot when Fitzpatrick cut her off when she tried to leave. I felt very, very threatened, she said. She also said Fitzpatrick got behind a tractor trailer and tailgated it. Dandria then said she followed Fitzpatrick to try to get his license plate number. However, she also said she never called the police about the incident. Magisterial District Judge James R. Ferrier, Orwigsburg, initially found Dandria guilty Dec. 2, 2020. However, Dandria appealed that ruling to the county court Dec. 22, 2020. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. 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. Capri Holdings Limited (NYSE:CPRI), a global fashion luxury group, today announced the appointment of Alejandro Martinez-Galindo as Chief Information Officer of Capri Holdings, reporting to Thomas Edwards, EVP, Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer. His start date is March 8, 2021. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210302005780/en/ Versace (Photo: Business Wire) Mr. Martinez-Galindo is a global technology leader and has held executive roles across several industries including retail, automotive and pharmaceutical. Most recently, Martinez-Galindo was the CIO of Walgreens where he led a comprehensive transformation of the company's retail digital platform. Earlier in his career, Martinez-Galindo held multiple CIO roles at General Motors where he lived and worked in LATAM, EMEA and North America, including CIO of Europe based in London. Mr. Edwards said, "Alejandro brings significant experience leading global retail digital transformations, large-scale enterprise systems implementations and data analytics innovation. His strong track record over a broad range of industries and focus on driving business results will help accelerate Capri Holdings continued digital and ecommerce evolution." Mr. Martinez-Galindo said, "I am incredibly excited to join Capri Holdings and look forward to helping implement the next generation of digital innovation at the Company. Building on the dramatic increase in consumer engagement Capri's luxury brands are currently experiencing, I believe there is a unique opportunity to accelerate this trend leveraging the convergence of technology and customer experience across all touch points. I am honored to have the opportunity to be a part of Capri's journey in this mission." About Capri Holdings Limited Capri Holdings Limited is a global fashion luxury group, consisting of iconic brands that are industry leaders in design, style and craftsmanship. Its brands cover the full spectrum of fashion luxury categories including women's and men's accessories, footwear and ready-to-wear as well as wearable technology, watches, jewelry, eyewear and a full line of fragrance products. The Company's goal is to continue to extend the global reach of its brands while ensuring that they maintain their independence and exclusive DNA. Capri Holdings Limited is publicly listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker CPRI. Forward Looking Statements This press release contains statements which are, or may be deemed to be, "forward-looking statements." Forward-looking statements are prospective in nature and are not based on historical facts, but rather on current expectations and projections of the management of Capri Holdings Limited (the "Company") about future events, and are therefore subject to risks and uncertainties which could cause actual results to differ materially from the future results expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. All statements other than statements of historical facts included herein, may be forward-looking statements. Without limitation, any statements preceded or followed by or that include the words "plans", "believes", "expects", "intends", "will", "should", "could", "would", "may", "anticipates", "might" or similar words or phrases, are forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future financial performance. Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties that could significantly affect expected results and are based on certain key assumptions, which could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected or implied in any forward-looking statements. These risks, uncertainties and other factors include the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic and its potential material and significant impact on the Company's future financial and operational results if retail stores are forced to close again and the pandemic is prolonged, including that our estimates could materially differ if the severity of the COVID-19 situation worsens, the length and severity of such outbreak across the globe and the pace of recovery following the COVID-19 pandemic, levels of cash flow and future availability of credit, compliance with restrictive covenants under the Company's credit agreement, the Company's ability to integrate successfully and to achieve anticipated benefits of any acquisition; the risk of disruptions to the Company's businesses; the negative effects of events on the market price of the Company's ordinary shares and its operating results; significant transaction costs; unknown liabilities; the risk of litigation and/or regulatory actions related to the Company's businesses; fluctuations in demand for the Company's products; levels of indebtedness (including the indebtedness incurred in connection with acquisitions); the timing and scope of future share buybacks, which may be made in open market or privately negotiated transactions, and are subject to market conditions, applicable legal requirements, trading restrictions under the Company's insider trading policy and other relevant factors, and which share repurchases may be suspended or discontinued at any time, the level of other investing activities and uses of cash; changes in consumer traffic and retail trends; loss of market share and industry competition; fluctuations in the capital markets; fluctuations in interest and exchange rates; the occurrence of unforeseen epidemics and pandemics, disasters or catastrophes; political or economic instability in principal markets; adverse outcomes in litigation; and general, local and global economic, political, business and market conditions, as well as those risks set forth in the Company's filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, including the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended March 28, 2020 (File No. 001-35368). Any forward-looking statement in this press release speaks only as of the date made and the Company disclaims any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking or other statements contained herein other than in accordance with legal and regulatory obligations. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210302005780/en/ Contacts: Investor Relations: Jennifer Davis +1 (201) 514-8234 Jennifer.Davis@CapriHoldings.com Media: Francesca Leoni +1 (917) 226-9995 Press@CapriHoldings.com A Michigan professor claims he has been 'systematically discriminated against for 40 years for being a white man', in a letter demanding an apology from his university over their new anti-racism policies. Jeffrey Burl wrote to his employers, Michigan Technological University, after they passed a resolution criticizing 'anti-Blackness and systemic racism' in both the college and society. In his letter Burl, who is an associate professor of electrical and computer engineering, writes: 'I find this resolution particularly offensive because I, as a white male, have been systematically discriminated against for 40 years. 'Simple statistical analysis will demonstrate that Michigan Tech's hiring practices are biased against white males.' His message has sparked outrage among some students, with Michigan Tech alumni Timothy Ward creating a petition to demanding he be fired for 'ignorance and hate'. Burl goes on in his letter, sent in January,: 'At Michigan Tech, I have seen no signs (in my 28 years here) of discrimination against women and people of color.' Scroll down for the letter in full Jeffrey Burl says he has been 'systematically discriminated against for 40 years for being a white man', in a letter demanding an apology from his university over their new anti-racism policies Burl had been responding to new resolutions which say that the university 'explicitly and loudly denounces white supremacy, anti-blackness, systemic racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, ableism, fatphobia, and other oppressive and intolerant behaviors, actions, and speech'. The resolution added that 'no student should be able to earn an undergraduate degree...without having had a sound education concerning the historical and current manifestations and operations of anti-Blackness and systemic racism in American culture.' It also states: 'Michigan Technological University has taken an aggressive stance in response to the global Coronavirus pandemic, unfortunately, little action has been taken to address the national racism pandemic and ongoing white supremacist discourse present in our community and on our campus. 'Our community is experiencing ongoing harm demonstrated by regularly occurring hate motivated events and rhetoric. 'Therefore, be it Resolved, the University Senate of Michigan Technological University recognizes antiBlackness and systemic racism as primary ills of American society, fully on par with the ills of poverty, disease, and ignorance.' But Burl, who has worked at the university for 28 years, argues: 'Women and people of color should be encouraged and given fair access and opportunity. 'But, once someone goes to college (I have little experience outside of this group) white males are systematically discriminated against both at Michigan Tech and in the nation at large. 'I believe that anyone who is open-minded and honest will agree with this assertion.' Jeffrey Burl wrote to his employers, Michigan Technological University, after they passed a resolution criticizing 'anti-Blackness and systemic racism' in both the college and society Burl then goes on to list instances where he says he has been discriminated against, including applying for jobs and grants. He writes: 'Note that local students (both genders) are discriminated against solely because they are white. 'Many of our local students are first generation college student s and come from poor backgrounds. 'Singling out on [sic] group for contempt, as your resolution does, is wrong and racist.' His message has sparked outrage among some students, with Michigan Tech, pictured, alumni Timothy Ward creating a petition to demanding he be fired for 'ignorance and hate' The petition calling for his firing had reached more than 1,500 signatures as of Tuesday afternoon. It states: 'This kind of ignorance and hate does not belong at Michigan Tech nor any institution of higher learning. This petition is calling for his immediate termination.' A second Michigan Tech professor, Jaroslaw Drelich, said the resolution 'pushed a leftist narrative'. Michigan Technological University President Richard Koubek wrote to students in the wake of the letters to say: 'As president of Michigan Tech, I apologize to those of you who have been hurt and I want you to know that it's important to me that you feel safe, valued, and heard here at Michigan Tech.' The university told Michigan Bridge in a statement: 'While Michigan Tech doesn't comment on personnel matters, it understands that open discourse and rigorous inquiry is the backbone of both the educational and research process.' Sunquest provides various interoperable products and services that work with each other to improve lab efficiency and results accuracy LONDON, March 2, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Based on its recent analysis of the North American laboratory information management systems (LIMS) market for molecular and genetic diagnostics, Frost & Sullivan recognizes Sunquest Information Systems with the 2021 North America Company of the Year Award. Sunquest's comprehensive portfolio of products and services improves operational efficiency, enhances patient care, and lowers healthcare organizations' costs across the spectrum. In particular, its Sunquest Mitogen LIMS drives a superior user experience with its built-in audit trails, patient-centric focus, support for multiple workflows and instruments, and adaptability to client needs. Sunquest Mitogen supports multiple molecular workflows such as polymerase chain reaction (PCR), reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), next-generation sequencing (NGS), chromosomal microarray (CMA), and mass spectrometry. While other existing LIMS products are compatible with only about two workflows, Sunquest Mitogen supports more than 10 workflows. Configurable based on specific parameters and user needs, its latest version boasts greater flexibility and adaptability for enhanced operational efficiencies. "Sunquest strategically leverages its sister company, Data Innovations, vast collection of instrument drivers to make Sunquest Mitogen LIMS instrument-agnostic. As most competing LIMS solutions connect only with a limited set of instrument brands, its compatibility with numerous device brands makes it more convenient and attractive to users," said Deepak Jayakumar, Industry Analyst, Frost & Sullivan. "Furthermore, it offers superior flexibility and scalability to meet the current and future market demand of laboratories." On the front end, Sunquest can tailor workflows to adhere to lab-specific protocols; and on the back end, it can configure management reporting and dashboard elements to suit user needs. As a leading molecular LIMS provider, Sunquest elevates laboratories out of the basement to the health system strategic level, to deliver real value to the entire healthcare ecosystem. For instance, in addition to its molecular LIMS, it offers products and services such as clinical and anatomic pathology laboratory information systems, comprehensive blood bank solutions, robust orders and results management support, enterprise interoperability, and physician and patient service center portals. "Sunquest's best-in-class industry practices and strong brand value helped it support its customers in an extremely challenging marketplace in 2020," noted Norma Vela, Best Practices Research Team Leader, Frost & Sullivan. "Overall, by filling market gaps with innovative products and services and facilitating exceptional customer satisfaction, Sunquest has established itself as a name to reckon with in the North American LIMS market for molecular and genetic diagnostics." Each year, Frost & Sullivan presents a Company of the Year award to the organization that demonstrates excellence in growth strategy and implementation in its field. The award recognizes a high degree of innovation with products and technologies and the resulting leadership in customer value and market penetration. Frost & Sullivan Best Practices awards recognize companies in a variety of regional and global markets for demonstrating outstanding achievement and superior performance in areas such as leadership, technological innovation, customer service, and strategic product development. Industry analysts compare market participants and measure performance through in-depth interviews, analyses, and extensive secondary research to identify best practices in the industry. About Frost & Sullivan For six decades, Frost & Sullivan has been world-renowned for its role in helping investors, corporate leaders, and governments navigate economic changes and identify disruptive technologies, Mega Trends, new business models, and companies to action, resulting in a continuous flow of growth opportunities to drive future success. Contact us: Start the discussion. Contact us: Start the discussion. Contact: Lindsey Whitaker P: +1 (210) 477-8457 E: lindsey.whitaker@frost.com Michelle Del Guercio P: +1 (818) 224-6229 E: michelle.delguercio@sunquestinfo.com About Sunquest Information Systems Sunquest Information Systems Inc. provides diagnostic informatics solutions to laboratories worldwide. With our wide-ranging technical and cross-discipline expertise, and equally deep business acumen, no one is better equipped than Sunquest to transform your lab to meet today's complex healthcare challenges and deliver next-level performance. Since 1979, Sunquest has helped laboratories and healthcare organizations enhance efficiency, improve patient care, and optimize financial results. Our capabilities include multi-site, multi-disciplinary support for complex anatomic, molecular, and genetic testing, and support engagement with physicians and patients outside the hospitals at the point-of-care. Sunquest also provides solutions for public health organizations, in the form of disease surveillance and outbreak management, to promote public health wellness worldwide. Headquartered in Tucson, AZ with additional offices in Calabasas, CA and India, Sunquest is a global leader in healthcare information technology. For more information, visit www.sunquestinfo.com. Then-Philippine Sen. Antonio Trillanes holds a copy of an amnesty order granted for his participation in military rebellions in 2003 and 2007 while speaking to reporters in Manila, Sept. 11, 2018. The Philippine Court of Appeals announced on Tuesday the rejection of a lower courts ruling that would have revived a rebellion case brought against Antonio Trillanes, a former senator and a leading critic of the Duterte administration who as a military officer participated in a 2007 uprising. In a 59-page order dated March 1 and released Tuesday, the courts Sixth Division ruled in favor of the request by the ex-senator to nullify a lower courts decision reviving a rebellion case linked to his role in a failed hotel siege in Manilas Makati financial district 14 years ago. Trillanes was granted amnesty in 2011. Today, the rule of law prevailed, Trillanes told BenarNews. I thank the CA justices for this decision. I hope all justices have this kind of sense of justice to check the prevailing authoritarianism in the country. The court vacated a lower courts decisions in September and December 2018. It noted that the lower court never conducted a full evidentiary hearing and relied on affidavits and documents only to revoke the amnesty order. The court inquiry cannot be merely summary and cursory, but one that shall give the parties ample opportunity to be heard on their respective evidence, the appeals court said. It acted with grave abuse of discretion that amounted to excess of jurisdiction, thus ousting it of jurisdiction, when it shunned testimonial evidence. He has been granted amnesty about a decade earlier and by reason of which the rebellion charge against him was dismissed in 2011, only to have the rug pulled from under his feet because of a purported noncompliance with the conditions of the amnesty that was processed so many years earlier, the court said. Trillanes court victory came less than a month after another critic of President Rodrigo Duterte, Sen. Leila de Lima, was acquitted on one of three drug charges filed against her. De Lima, who remains in the senate despite being incarcerated for four years, is behind bars on the other charges. Dutertes predecessor, Benigno Aquino III, granted amnesty to Trillanes in 2011, who as a Navy lieutenant helped lead two rebellions one in 2003 and the 2007 attempted siege. Trillanes, who left the senate in 2019, holed up in the senate building in September 2018 to defy an arrest order after Duterte had revoked his amnesty. Trillanes turned himself in to authorities about three weeks later and was charged with rebellion. Duterte spokesman Harry Roque declined to comment on the decision, saying he had no idea about the cases details. Trillanes, who has drawn Dutertes wrath, did so most recently by accusing him of mass murder and warning that the time for reckoning is near after the International Criminal Court in December said there was reason to believe crimes against humanity occurred during the presidents drug war. Duterte may try to ignore the jurisdiction of the ICC over him, but deep inside he knows he cannot get away from this one, Trillanes had said. Julien Sitbon Wins the partypoker MILLIONS Online #16 Warm Up ($75,134) March 02 2021 Jason Glatzer The MILLIONS Online crowned four new winners at partypoker including Julien Sitbon, Espen Uhlen Jorstad, Mitchell Blanchard, and Torbin Winther Sorensen. Meanwhile, Peter Jetten bagged the chip lead in the partypoker MILLIONS Online Main Event, which you can read more about in the dedicated Main Event recap. Read on to learn more about the biggest recent events in the MILLIONS Online at partypoker. Head to the NEW partypoker Hub Want to stay up-to-date on all the latest partypoker news right here on PokerNews? Why not try out the new partypoker Hub! Find Out More Julien Sitbon Wins the MILLIONS Online #16 Warm Up ($75,134) The MILLIONS Online #16 boasted a $1,050 buy-in along with a generous $500,000 guaranteed prize pool. A total of 619 entrants came out in full force during the events three opening flights to generate a $619,000 prize pool to smash the guarantee. A smaller field of 92 players came back for Sunday's Day 2, each guaranteed at least a min-cash of $1,137 in addition to any bounties collected along the way. After a little more than nine hours of play, French poker pro Julien Sitbon, who was waving the Union Jack flag at partypoker, came out on top to win the $42,609 top prize along with $32,525 in bounties to collect a grand total of $75,134. Sitbon bested Matthew Eardley (second - $56,783) in heads-up play with Matias Federico Gabrenja (third - $39,898) also finishing on the podium. Others at the final table were Vitalii Pankov, (fourth - $29,741), Joseph Lalor (fifth - $25,800), Andres Korn (sixth - $17,623), David Coleman (seventh - $11,577), Daniel Smyth (eighth = $13,887), and Theo Arnoldi (ninth - $6,772). In other news, Norwegian poker pro living in the United Kingdom Espen Uhlen Jorstad managed a big haul in the mini-version of this event featuring a $109 buy-in and a $267,100 after shipping this event for $15,635 in prize money in addition to $11,157 in bounties to bank a grand total of $26,792. Espen Uhlen Jorstad wins the Mini Warm-Up. MILLIONS Online #16 Warm Up Final Table Results Place Player Country Prize Bounties Total Prize 1 Julien Sitbon United Kingdom $42,609 $32,525 $75,134 2 Matthew Eardley United Kingdom $42,546 $14,236 $56,783 3 Matias Federico Gabrenja Argentina $28,390 $11,508 $39,898 4 Vitalii Pankov Russia $18,531 $11,211 $29,741 5 Joseph Lalor Ireland $12,757 $13,043 $25,800 6 Andres Korn Argentina $9,881 $7,742 $17,623 7 David Coleman Canada $7,342 $4,234 $11,577 8 Daniel Smyth Ireland $5,903 $7,984 $13,887 9 Theo Arnoldi Canada $4,741 $2,031 $6,772 Mitchell Blanchard Wins the MILLIONS Online #17 High Roller Turbo ($47,327) Stephen O'Dwyer finished in second place. The MILLIONS Online #17 High Roller Turbo was a one day event featuring a $2,100 buy-in that took slightly more than 5 1/2 hours of play from start to finish on Sunday evening. The tournament attracted 86 entrants to generate a $172,000 prize pool to crush the $100,000 guarantee slapped onto this event. Mitchell Blanchard bested Stephen O'Dwyer in heads-up play to win the $47,237 top prize. O'Dwyer walked away with a nice consolation prize of $30,269, while Luc Greenwood was also on the podium with a third-place finish valued at $20,657. Ivan Zufic (fourth - $14,611), Steven Clark (fifth - $10,751), Phillip Mighall (sixth - $8,386), and Kevin MacDonald (seventh - $6,912) were among the earlier casualties at the final table. In related news, Torbin Winther Sorensen shipped the mini-version of this event featuring a $215 buy-in and a $49,200 prize pool for the $9,430 top prize. MILLIONS Online #17 High Roller Turbo Final Table Results Place Player Country Prize 1 Mitchell Blanchard Canada $47,237 2 Stephen O'Dwyer Netherlands $30,269 3 Luc Greenwood Canada $20,657 4 Ivan Zufic Croatia $14,611 5 Steven Clark Canada $10,751 6 Philip Mighall United Kingdom $8,386 7 Kevin MacDonald Canada $6,912 Related: Check out the FULL partypoker MILLIONS Online schedule Join the Love Party! Valentine's Day took place already more than two weeks ago but the love continues for another three days at partypoker thanks to its Love Party promotion for both new and existing players. If you don't already have an account, simply download partypoker through PokerNews to take advantage of this promotion and get in on the epic MILLIONS Online action. The first part of the promotion is simply completing a daily Love Party mission. The first step is to opt into the mission via the client's 'Promotions' section. After that you will be presented an easy-to-complete mission such as winning a cash game hand with a suited big slick. You will be awarded a random prize after you complete the mission which could include a MILLIONS Online ticket worth $55! This is not all as partypoker also giving you the chance to claim a mystery prize this week simply by making a deposit using the 'LOVEPARTY' deposit code between now and March 3. The prize could be a freeroll ticket, a SPINS ticket, or even $50 in cold, hard cash! Head to partypoker today to not miss out on the free love before time runs out. MAIDUGURI, Nigeria Hundreds of girls who were abducted last week from their boarding school in Nigeria by a group of armed men have been released, a local official said on Tuesday, the second time in less than a week that gunmen have returned kidnapped schoolchildren in the country. The girls were taken on Friday from Government Girls Secondary School in the town of Jangebe, in the northern state of Zamfara. The Nigerian government has denied paying ransoms. It was not clear how the release of the children in this case was secured. It gladdens my heart to announce the release of the abducted students of GGSS Jangebe from captivity, the governor of Zamfara State, Bello Matawalle, wrote on Twitter early Tuesday, referring to their schools name. Mr. Matawalle did not provide details about the girls release. Officials initially said that 317 girls had been in the group, but later told journalists that the correct number was 279. The frequency of mass kidnappings of girls and boys at boarding schools in northwestern Nigeria is rising in part because abduction has become a growth industry amid the countrys economic crisis. The victims are increasingly schoolchildren not just the rich, powerful or famous. NASHVILLE, Tenn. Tennessees state capitol will be highlighted in purple this weekend, in observance of domestic violence awareness month. Gov. Bill Lee proclaimed October as domestic violence awareness month, in line with the national observation. Tennessees state capitol in Nashville will be spotlighted in purple light October 16-18. According to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) crime report, there were 71,042 domestic violence incidents reported last year in Tennessee; 85 of those resulted in the death of the victim. The Office of Criminal Justice Programs (OCJP) provides federal funding to more than 30 domestic violence programs throughout the state of Tennessee. If you or someone you know are experiencing domestic violence, call the 24-hour statewide hotline at 1-800-356-6767. Real estate player and Ivanhoe Cambridge, a subsidiary of Canada's institutional fund managers CDPQ, have partnered to launch a $500-million investment fund focused on office business parks. While the will lead all real estate development, project management, leasing and operations, Ivanhoe Cambridge will leverage their expertise in investment. The Canadian partner and Embassy will be investing in an 80:20 ratio, with an initial focus on the southern Indian markets of and Through the Embassy-Ivanhoe commercial office platform, we aspire to develop state-of-the-art business parks in India. We aim to continue delivering a differentiated and holistic workspace ecosystem by integrating concepts like co-living and co-working, expansive office spaces, and easy to access amenities, said Jitu Virwani, chairman and managing director, The platform will invest in the development and acquisition of partially developed business park opportunities to cater to the preferences of the millennial workforce in providing flexible workplaces and building sustainable communities across key urban centres. The seed asset for the platform will be the first phase of the 60-acre Embassy East Business Park in The first phase will be developed on a land parcel of 9 acres, with a gross leasable area of 1.3 million square feet having co-living, essential retail and amenities. The first phase of the project is expected to be ready for occupancy by early 2024. Over the last couple of decades, several global corporations have acknowledged India as a scalable global innovation hub catalyzed by a deep, world-class talent pool. We anticipate this trend to accelerate thus supporting long term demand for sustainable, class A offices in mixed use campus environments, said Karim Habra, head of Europe & Asia-pacific at Ivanhoe Cambridge. Rev. Jun Kwang-hoon, pastor of the Sarang Jeil Church, walks into the Seoul Central District Court for a trial hearing, in this Feb. 24, file photo. Korea Times file By Park Ji-won Outspoken pastor Jun Kwang-hoon of the Sarang Jeil Church, a harsh critic of the Moon Jae-in government, came under fire again, this time for his "defamatory" remarks about "comfort women." During a sermon at his church, Feb. 21, Jun said, "Mary is a single mother and all women in the genealogy of Jesus are prostitutes. Military brothels are necessary to satisfy male soldiers' sexual desires." He added, "You congregants are also whores because you had a one night stand with Satan even though you have lived sincerely." Jun is no stranger to controversy. At a March 1 public rally, he called President Moon Jae-in a "spoiled brat" and a "useless man," saying the nation should take action to oust him from leadership. The women's committee of the National Council of Churches in Korea (NCCK), a liberal consultation body of local churches in Korea, criticized Jun for his remarks, Monday. They said the pastor hurt the community of churches and distorted the messages of Jesus, urging him to step down immediately and apologize to the victims of wartime sexual slavery. "He was ousted from his religious denomination. But he created his own and continues to masquerade as a pastor," the committee said in a statement. "Some Protestant Church members have raised the point several times that he is a cult leader but some larger denominations stay silent on this. Other church members suffer as a result. So we think the entire Protestant Church should take responsibility." He was critical of fellow pastors, calling them "idiots." He made a case for the March 1 rallies, saying Korea has 12 million Protestant Church members but because of the "stupid" pastors they are not united to fight against the Moon government. "Arise all Protestant Church members. Stand firm and bring Moon Jae-in down from presidency," he was quoted as saying during the sermon. ADVERTISEMENT The new head of the World Trade Organisation threw her support behind long-fruitless efforts among member countries to agree on fisheries subsidies that could reduce overfishing, calling the efforts a top priority as she took office on Monday. Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, a Nigerian economist and former government minister, donned a mask and doled out elbow bumps COVID-19 oblige as she took up the job at WTO headquarters on the banks of Lake Geneva. I am coming into one of the most important institutions in the world and we have a lot of work to do, said Okonjo-Iweala, 66, who is both the first woman and the first African to hold the job. I feel ready to go. Negotiators have been tasked with striking an agreement that could help eliminate subsidies for illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing, and prohibit some fisheries subsidies that contribute to overcapacity and overfishing. Member states of the WTO, which works to craft accords that can ensure smooth international trade, have struggled to reach an agreement on fisheries after roughly two decades of work. Okonjo-Iweala called for finalising the negotiations as soon as possible, and credited Colombian ambassador Santiago Wills, who chairs the talks on fisheries subsidies, for his really hard work. My presence is to try and support him proactively to try and unblock the situation so he can complete the fantastic work he has been doing, she said alongside Wills as they met with various advocacy groups outside the WTO gates. It has been 20 years and 20 years is enough. Things are not easy when members are negotiating and there are still a lot of critical issues that need to be sorted out, she said. But we are hopeful. Wills said it was music to my ears to see on the first day the (director general) comes here and makes a statement on the fisheries negotiations. Okonjo-Iwealas first day also consisted of meeting staffers and attending her first meeting of the General Council, made up of top envoys from the trade bodys 164 member states. The closed-door council meeting was largely held by videoconference because of measures aimed to fight the pandemic. Okonjo-Iwealas victory in the race last fall was delayed largely because the U.S. administration under Donald Trump supported another candidate. Her appointment came through last month when the Biden administration cleared the way for her selection at the trade body, whose rules require consensus. The WTO is facing headwinds such as rising protectionism. Its dispute settlement system has been blocked because the U.S. has almost singlehandedly prevented appointments to its Appellate Body a rough equivalent to an appeals court. Okonjo-Iweala said last month that wide-ranging reforms are needed, vowing that a first priority would be to address the economic and health consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic such as by working to lift export restrictions on supplies and vaccines to get them distributed to countries in need. VOA is Premium Times syndication partner. We have permission to republish. Villagers in Hefang neighborhood, Huimin county, east China's Shandong province, have secured a steady income for their families by producing handmade lanterns for the Lantern Festival, the 15th day of the Chinese Lunar New Year. The tradition of producing handmade lanterns in Hefang dates back to the reign of Xuande Emperor (1399-1435) of the Ming Dynasty, and the craft has been designated as a local intangible cultural heritage. According to local custom, children hold up lanterns during the Festival to pray for longevity. Unlike round lanterns, the reed and paper lanterns made in Hefang are long, enclosed by glass-paper covered with flower patterns, animals and Chinese characters around the main body and red glazed paper near both ends. Zhang Hongbin, who is in his 60s, is an inheritor of the intangible cultural heritage. Awarded the title of "excellent cultural talent in Shandong's rural areas", he began learning the craft from his father when he was 14 years old and has been producing handmade lanterns for over 50 years. While passing forward the traditional process of lantern making that he learnt from his father, Zhang also introduces innovations into his works by designing new graphic patterns on the glass paper so that they keep up with the times. In recent years, Zhang has been selling his lanterns through online e-commerce platforms. In the 45 days from the last lunar month of 2020 to the Lantern Festival, Zhang sold more than 3,000 handmade lanterns for more than 10,000 yuan ($1,547). Over 100 households from about six surrounding villages have been engaged in the lantern-making business, earning an average household income of over 20,000 yuan each year, reports have confirmed. A young man who overindulged in alcohol and drugs during a night out in Carrick-on-Shannon was found on the roof of a bank at 3am after breaking eight of the bank's windows. Paul Diffley, Kildallogue, Strokestown, Co Roscommon pleaded guilty at Carrick-on-Shannon District Court to criminal damage to property at AIB, Main St, Carrick-on-Shannon on December 27, 2019. Sgt Michael Gallagher said that at 3am on that date Sgt Lee and Garda Calvey were on duty at Main St when their attention was drawn to an alarm at AIB. They heard noise on the flat roof at the rear of the building and found the defendant hiding on the roof of the bank. He made his way down to street level and spoke to the Gardai. He had cuts and bruises on his hand and was intoxicated but cooperative. Eight small panes of glass in two large windows had been broken. There were steel security bars on the inside of the windows and there was no possible way for him to gain entry. On February 15, 2020, the defendant called to Carrick-on-Shannon Garda Station by appointment and fully acknowledged what he had done and said he had no excuse. He said he sometimes took substances and on this occasion he had taken cocaine. Sgt Lee said it was clear to him that substance abuse was a factor. The court heard he had no previous convictions. Counsel for the defendant said Mr Diffley went with some friends from Strokestown to Carrick-on-Shannon for a night out and during the course of that night out drank far too much alcohol and engaged in substance abuse of which he is ashamed. He said the defendant has no particular memory of the night such was the abuse of substances on the night in question. Counsel described him as a vulnerable character who had written a letter of apology to the court. A letter was handed in from a psychotherapist Mr Diffley is attending and a consultant psychiatrist from St John of Gods in Dublin which he attended as an outpatient in 2020. He said Mr Diffley went to the Gardai the following day and made an apology. He is a young man with a degree in Chinese and International Business from DIT, while a reference from his employer described him as honest, reliable and trustworthy. As a token of his remorse he gathered a sum of over 1,400 from his own wages to pay for the damage caused. Judge Kevin Kilrane ordered that a sum of 1,000 be paid to the bank and the balance of 435 be paid to the Carrick-on-Shannon CCTV Company and he imposed the Probation Offenders' Act 1.1. 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 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. Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz on Monday criticised the EU's medicine regulator for being "too slow" in approving coronavirus vaccines as he outlined plans to co-ordinate more closely with Israel on future inoculations. Kurz said that while the EU's common procurement and licensing policy for vaccines was "right in principle", the European Medicines Agency (EMA) "is too slow in approving vaccines and there have been supply bottlenecks at manufacturers". He said in a statement that in order to prepare for possible mutations of COVID-19 and to develop "second generation" vaccines, "we should not be solely dependent on the EU anymore". To that end Kurz is travelling to Israel on Thursday together with his Danish counterpart Mette Frederiksen to agree a plan for common production of future vaccines and co-operation on research treatments. Kurz said that experts estimate "that in the coming years we will have to vaccinate two-thirds of the population every yearthat's more than six million Austrians". For her part Frederiksen said the world was "crying out" for increased vaccine production but that "we also have to make sure that we have enough vaccines in a year's time, and in two, three, five and 10 years". "One of the partners I have a lot of faith in is Israel, which is currently ahead in the field of vaccination," she told the Ritzau press agency. Ahead of the trip to Israel Kurz is to discuss the country's vaccination strategy with domestic pharmaceutical companies and researchers. The president of Austria's association of vaccine manufacturers Renee Gallo-Daniel defended the EMA's handling of the approval process. "The highest priority of the EMA has been not to make any shortcuts in the process of approval," she said. "The important thing is that the safety, efficacy and quality of all vaccines we are supplied with is checked, and this simply takes time," she told Oe1 public radio, adding that the EMA had introduced a new "rolling review" process to speed up approval. She praised Kurz's "innovative" suggestion of more domestic vaccine production, but cautioned that setting up a vaccine production chain can take "five to 10 years". Only 7.8 percent of the Danish population and 4.8 percent of Austria's population have received a first vaccination dose, while Israel's figure is over 50 percent. Austria's neighbours Slovakia, Hungary and the Czech Republic have bypassed the EMA in order to issue their own approvals for Russian and Chinese coronavirus vaccines. A spokesman for the European Commission reiterated on Friday its position that as long as individual countries didn't "undermine" EU-level negotiations already underway with certain vaccine providers, "there is nothing in the vaccine strategy that will prevent member states from having discussions or talks or contracts with... (other) vaccine developers". Explore further Follow the latest news on the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak 2021 AFP UKVFTA promises to create a new driving force for economic - trade cooperation in the coming time According to statistics from the General Department of Customs, in January 2021, the total import and export turnover between Vietnam and the UK reached $657.35 million, up 78.57 per cent over the same period last year. Of this, Vietnam's export turnover to the UK reached $598.07 million, up 84.61 and 56.51 per cent compared to January and December 2020, respectively. As exports to most major trade partners is facing difficulties due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this is considered a truly impressive growth. Accordingly, among Vietnams exports to the UK, agricultural products saw strong growth, with seafood exports reaching $19.72 billion, escalating 18.1 per cent, fruits and vegetables reached $1.04 billion, rising 148.6 per cent compared to the same time of 2020. Also, the exports of the processing and manufacturing industries also achieved impressive growth. These are all commodity sectors with many opportunities to increase export value and make up a larger portion of total exports, thanks to many tariff preferences under the UKVFTA. The European-American Market Department of the Ministry of Industry and Trade claimed that these are optimistic signs, promising to drive economic and trade cooperation in the coming time. According to the UKVFTA commitments, after six years the agreement takes effect, the UK will abolish import taxes on 99.2 per cent of tariff lines, equivalent to 99.7 per cent of Vietnam's export turnover. The EU has committed to giving Vietnam a tariff rate quota (TRQ) with an import tax of 0 per cent for some products. For example, the import tax on most raw shrimp imported to the UK will be reduced from the basic tax rate of 10-20 per cent to 0 per cent. For fruit products, more than 94 per cent of the total 547 tax lines for vegetables and fruits will be set to 0 per cent. Many of Vietnams key products such as litchi, longan, rambutan, dragon fruit, pineapple, and melon would benefit from increased competitiveness in the UK against rival produce from countries like Brazil, Thailand, or Malaysia that have no FTAs with the UK. In contrast, imports from the UK to Vietnam reached $59.3 million, up 34.3 per cent on-year. In this, several items have reached remarkable growth such as metal (excluding steel) (reaching $467,000, increasing by 1.462.5 per cent); pesticides and raw materials (reaching $1 million, up 505.8 per cent); garment and textile materials (reaching $3.1 million, up 131.7 per cent). Vietnam continues to have an export surplus to the UK, with the surplus in January recorded at $598,050 million, up 113.7 per cent over the same period last year. In 2020, the total import-export turnover between the two countries reached $5.64 billion, of which $4.95 billion were Vietnamese exports to the UK, resulting in a trade surplus of $4.27 billion. The UK continues to be the third-largest trade partner of Vietnam in Europe, after Germany and the Netherlands. Regarding investment, by the end of December 2020, the UK had 411 investment projects in Vietnam, with a total registered capital of $3.84 billion, ranking 15th out of 139 countries that have investment projects in Vietnam. The UK's important investment projects focused on finance, banking, oil, and renewable energy. Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - March 2, 2021) - SLANG Worldwide Inc. (CNSX: SLNG) (OTCQB: SLGWF) ("SLANG" or the "Company"), a leading global cannabis consumer packaged goods (CPG) company with a diversified portfolio of popular brands, today announced that it has signed a strategic partnership agreement with Aver Skin ("Aver") to manufacture, co-package and distribute cannabis-based skincare products. Aver was founded by a team of pioneering experts in the fields of premium skincare, cannabis and advanced scientific research, and aims to unlock the full potential of cannabinoid skincare. As part of the agreement, SLANG will produce THC-infused topical skincare creams for Aver on a co-packing basis, as well as distribute products through its network partners. This strategic partnership demonstrates the value of SLANG's manufacturing and distribution capabilities within the cannabis CPG marketplace. Tobias Ripsom, Chief Executive Officer of Aver Skin said, "We believe that cannabinoids have the properties to promote healthy, beautiful skin, alleviate discomfort, and catalyze healing. Our products are formulated and manufactured to meet the industry's highest ethical and quality standards. Partnering with SLANG will strengthen our ability to execute this vision and bring our innovative products to the Colorado market in 2021." The SLANG-manufactured line of skincare products is expected to launch in Colorado in early 2021, with the potential to expand into additional markets over time. "We have been impressed with the Aver Skin team's innovative product offerings and unique approach to wellness," said Chris Driessen, Chief Executive Officer of Slang. "This is yet another example of SLANG forming a strategic partnership that leverages our manufacturing and distributing capabilities for the mutual benefit of both entities." This is SLANG's most recent agreement with a third-party brand, as the Company continues to build its best-in-class distribution network and ability to manufacture branded products across multiple markets and categories. Contact Media: Slang@kcsa.com Investors: Investors@SLANGww.com About SLANG Worldwide Inc. SLANG Worldwide Inc. is a global leader in the cannabis CPG sector with a diversified portfolio of popular brands distributed across the United States. The Company specializes in acquiring and developing market-proven regional brands as well as launching innovative new brands to seize global market opportunities. SLANG is listed on the Canadian Securities Exchange under the ticker symbol SLNG and on the OTCQB under the symbol SLGWF. For more information, please visit www.slangww.com. About Aver Skin There's a new truth in premium skincare. Initially available in Q2 of 2021, Aver brings scientifically sound, cannabinoid-driven infusions to your body's largest organ, the skin. Aver's proprietary research studies have identified efficacious methods of delivering the benefits of cannabis and hemp into topical applications. The launch portfolio targets three fundamental functions of skin care: fixing surface damage, defying everyday stressors and reducing deep pain. Each of us has an ongoing conversation with our skin, and starting next year, Aver brings answers to dispensaries across Colorado. For more information, please visit www.averskin.com. Forward-Looking Statements This news release contains statements that constitute "forward-looking statements." Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause 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. 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. Forward-looking statements in this news release include, but are not limited to, statements regarding the manufacture and distribution of Aver products by SLANG and the potential expansion of the Company's third-party manufacturing agreements into additional markets. Forward-looking statements are necessarily based upon a number of estimates and assumptions that, while considered reasonable by management of SLANG at this time, are inherently subject to significant business, economic and competitive risks, uncertainties and contingencies that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in such statements. Investors are cautioned not to put undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Applicable risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to regulatory risks, risks related to the COVID-19 global pandemic, changes in laws, resolutions and guidelines, market risks, concentration risks, operating history, competition, the risks associated with international and foreign operations and the other risks identified under the headings "Risk Factors" in SLANG's final long form prospectus dated January 17, 2019 and "Risks and Uncertainties" in the management discussion and analysis for the year ended December 31, 2019 and nine months ended September 30, 2020, each as filed on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. SLANG is not under any obligation, and 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 law. Third Party Information This press release includes market and industry data that has been obtained from third party sources, including industry publications. The Company believes that the industry data is accurate and that its estimates and assumptions are reasonable, but there is no assurance as to the accuracy or completeness of this data. Third party sources generally state that the information contained therein has been obtained from sources believed to be reliable, but there is no assurance as to the accuracy or completeness of included information. Although the data is believed to be reliable, the Company has not independently verified any of the data from third party sources referred to in this press release or ascertained the underlying economic assumptions relied upon by such sources. The Canadian Securities Exchange has not reviewed, approved or disapproved the content of this news release. ### To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/75788 Almost 10 million Australians could pay up to $610 a year to fund aged care services if the government introduces a new levy, but health experts warn linking funding to wages wont be enough to fix the failing system. A 1 per cent income levy could cost the median person who already pays the Medicare levy as much as $610, while boosting funds for the aged care sector by $7.85 billion annually. A union proposal for a 0.65 per cent levy would raise about $5 billion a year. Prime Minister Scott Morrison released the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety final report on Monday. Credit:Edwina Pickles On Monday, Prime Minister Scott Morrison left the door open to tax increases, including the royal commissions funding levy recommendation, while releasing the final report of the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety. Labor has indicated it is open to government proposals for funding changes, but will respond after the May budget and will carefully consider all the options for reform. Good morning, its Tuesday, March 2, 2021. Today is the 117th birthday of Dr. Seuss, real name Theodor Geisel, who made a career out of making children laugh and adults think. And sometimes the other way around. He certainly got political satirist Art Buchwald chuckling, and thinking, in 1974 as the Watergate scandal consumed Washington. Ted Geisel sent the liberal columnist a Dr. Seuss book hed written two years earlier titled Marvin K. Mooney Will You Please Go Now! In the copy the author sent to Buchwald, he exchanged Marvin Mooneys name for Richard Nixons (which is how some people read it in 1972). Buchwald, naturally, turned it into a column. Although Geisel was a loyal Democrat, today I suspect hed send the book to Liz Cheney or Adam Kinzinger. Certainly, to Mitt Romney; perhaps even to Mitch McConnell. Dr. Seuss and Art Buchwald are gone now, however, so in a moment Ill render the updated version, channeling the presumed desires of the aforementioned Republicans. First, Id direct you to our front page, which aggregates, as it does each day, an array of columns and stories spanning the political spectrum. This mornings lineup includes Heather Mac Donald on the recent wave in violent crime (City Journal); Juan Williams on Republicans twisting themselves into ethical pretzels over a certain ex-president (The Hill); Karen House on the Biden administrations handling of Saudi Arabia (New York Sun); and Donald McNeil tells his side of the N-word story (Medium). We also offer a complement of original material from RCPs reporters and contributors, including the following: * * * Infrastructure Spending Would Shape U.S. Society for Generations. Henry Cisneros and William Fulton offer advice for the new administration (and Congress). Becerra as HHS Chief Would Undo Conscience Protections. Grazie Pozo Christie argues that Xavier Becerra, if confirmed, would impose policies on health care workers that he enforced as attorney general in California. The Economy Isnt a Pizza, But Small Business Cost Is. Papa John Schnatter asserts that boosting the minimum wage to $15 an hour would harm the very people it is intended to help. Bidens Immigration Changes Will Improve Safety. At RealClearPolicy, Jonathan Haggerty hails the presidents decision to prioritize border resources for public safety threats, such as pursuing human traffickers or cartel members smuggling weapons and drugs. Returning to Iran Agreement Will Not Be Easy. At RealClearWorld, Stephen Rademaker warns that the administration hands are tied by a nearly forgotten law enacted by Congress in 2015. Firefighters Fill the Boot Charity Fills Union Coffers. At RealClearInvestigations, Bill McMorris reports that the wildly successful fundraiser to fight muscular dystrophy has diverted millions of dollars to the International Association of Fire Fighters. Student Loan Forgiveness Shifts Burden to Working Class. At RealClearEducation, Teri Christoph writes that Bidens plan means low-income Americans will be stuck paying for the educations of the better off. Blocking Gas Pipelines Blocks Consumers Access to Heat/Cooking Sources. At RealClearEnergy, Benjamin R. Dierker explains the downstream impact of political decisions. Republicans, Dont Deify the Average. RealClearMarkets editor John Tamny takes a dim view of messaging that ignores a truism: blue-collar work is a consequence of economic activity conducted by the white-collar worker. Why Is the Gut So Emotional? RealClearScience editor Ross Pomeroy spotlights the enteric nervous system, home to at least 100 million neurons, by far the most outside of the brain. * * * Donald J. Trump, will you please go now! The time has come. The time has come. The time is now. Just go. Go. GO! I don't care how. You can go by foot. You can go by cow. Donald J. Trump, will you please go now! You can go on skates. You can go on skis. You can go in a hat. But please go. Please! Carl M. Cannon Washington Bureau chief, RealClearPolitics @CarlCannon (Twitter) ccannon@realclearpolitics.com Huntsville Hospital is getting more coronavirus vaccine doses. It says the state increased its supply for the Community Vaccination Clinic, so it can now give 2,500 new doses of the Pfizer vaccine a week. This will begin Monday, March 8. As of Monday, there are more than 25,000 people on Huntsville Hospitals vaccine waiting list. With this new allocation starting next week, its reopened its online portal for eligible people to be added. Click here for more information about the waiting list. People on the list will be called when a slot is available. In order to support the next phase of the government's COVID-19 vaccination drive, the State Bank of India (SBI) has decided to contribute Rs 11 crore to the PM CARES Fund, said an official statement on Monday. "It is at times of adversity that the true form of unity is tested, and we all can take pride in the efforts that our nation has put in to fight the pandemic. The fight against the pandemic is not yet over, and as a responsible Corporate Citizen, we consider it our duty to support the government's efforts to vaccinate all. I request everyone to come forward and help in whatever way they can to ensure a successful vaccination drive," Dinesh Khara, Chairman said in a statement. In 2020, had committed 0.25 per cent of its annual profit to support the fight against COVID-19 and also made significant contribution in the form of supply of masks, sanitizers among others to the needy. Additionally, employees in their effort to support the nation in the unprecedented times had contributed Rs 107 crores to the PM CARES Fund. (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.) 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 skydiver has proposed to his girlfriend while they were descending towards the ground from 16,000ft - and was relieved when she said yes and the pair made it back without dropping the ring. Rahim Hajir, 38, had cooked up the plan to pop the question last week, mid-air, keeping the ring clutched tightly between his teeth the whole time. Fiancee Kaitlyn Roule, 27, from Idaho, was none the wiser until Rahim revealed the ring as they plummeted to earth after leaping from a plane above the Grand Canyon in Arizona. Rahim admitted that taking the ring on the skydive was a risky move and had a backup just in case he dropped it. Scroll down for video A skydiver has proposed to his girlfriend while they were descending towards the ground from 16,000ft. Pictured, Rahim Hajir and Kaitlyn Roule Rahim (pictured proposing) said he was relieved when his partner said yes and the pair made it back without dropping the ring Rahim (pictured with his partner), 38, had cooked up the plan to pop the question last week, mid-air, keeping the ring clutched tightly between his teeth the whole time The professional skydiver and trainee pilot said: 'I wanted the proposal to be out of this world. I didn't want a usual proposal like hiding a ring in a cake or champagne glass. 'I just thought that losing the ring would be a risk I'd have to take and if she'd have said no it would have been so awkward but thank God she said yes.' Stay-at-home mother Kaitlyn was completely stunned by the proposal as the pair had never discussed marriage before but didn't have to think twice about saying yes. Rahim holds the ring between his teeth, pictured left, while the couple start the memorable skydive, pictured right Kaitlyn, 27, from Idaho, was none the wiser until Rahim revealed the ring as they plummeted to earth after leaping from a plane above the Grand Canyon in Arizona (pictured) Rahim (pictured just as he is about to propose) admitted that taking the ring on the skydive was a risky move and had a backup just in case he dropped it The professional skydiver and trainee pilot (pictured beaming with his partner after she said yes) said: 'I wanted the proposal to be out of this world. I didn't want a usual proposal like hiding a ring in a cake or champagne glass' She said: 'We have a child together so I thought that was it, I wasn't expecting a proposal at all because we hadn't talked about getting engaged. 'We only decided to go last minute that day because it was good weather for it. I was so shocked and completely in awe, my heart jumped out of my chest.' The couple, who met in a bar in Miami have been together for over three years and share a two-year-old daughter, Bella. Stay-at-home mother Kaitlyn was completely stunned by the proposal as the pair had never discussed marriage before but didn't have to think twice about saying yes. Pictured, the couple after finishing the skydive The couple, who met in a bar in Miami have been together for over three years and share a two-year-old daughter, Bella (pictured together) Adrenaline junkie Rahim, originally from Iran, introduced Kaitlyn to skydiving not long after they met and it soon became the couple's favourite hobby. Kaitlyn said: 'Rahim skydives every day for work and I go a couple of times a year with him. 'The first time we went skydiving was just two weeks after we'd met and he never told me that's what we were doing. 'We just turned up and he told me we were going skydiving and I had to play it cool because we'd just started dating. He loves to surprise me.' Adrenaline junkie Rahim, originally from Iran, introduced Kaitlyn (pictured together) to skydiving not long after they met and it soon became the couple's favourite hobby Innovation and disruption are the order of the day when it comes to entrepreneurship. Medical entrepreneurs have started to forge new paths, explore existing methods, and figure out how they can leverage technology as the future is shifting towards a digital society. Globe Newswire notes that the healthcare IT market will cross $500 billion in value by 2027. Grand View Research also mentions that the healthcare supplements industry was worth more than $120 billion in 2019. Medical entrepreneurs are partially responsible for this massive growth in these areas. Here, we explore a few of the more prominent entrepreneurs in the field. Jonathan Bush (athenahealth) In the medical field, billing has always been complicated. When we consider how many different hoops a private practice has to jump through to get medical billing correct, it's mind-boggling that any of them get it right. Luckily, tools like athenahealth have helped large and small firms be on point with their medical billing. Athenahealth was initially developed in 1997 as a maternity clinic network, but the brand reinvented itself as a provider of cloud billing services. Ever since the revamp, the brand has seen massive growth. A 2014 estimate put the revenue that athenahealth made at over $750 million. Mr. Bush mentions that the development of the business is inextricably linked to the social good it provides. Without that impetus, he doubts that the brand would be as famous as it is today. Dr. Joseph Yi (Beyond Recovery) Addiction recovery programs have found popularity thanks to the opioid epidemic, yet many of the patients involved in them seem to relapse within the first 6 months after completion of treatment. Dr. Yi is a Board-Certified Addiction Psychiatrist and an entrepreneur who brought what he learned from his clients and applied it to the supplements market. Teaming up with three other doctors (including New York Times Besting Selling Author of EAT TO LIVE - Dr. Joel Fuhrman) Dr. Yi examined the holistic nature of his patients' recovery and noted what got them results. The byproduct of his purposeful mission was Beyond Recovery, a revolutionary supplement that he envisions will help those struggling from substance recovery and mental wellness by specifically addressing not only the nutritional deficiencies but assisting in eliminating the excess toxins accumulated from years of poor nutritional habits. Dr. Yi's pride is partially on the product but moreover the approach. He was extremely pleased to see multiple doctors coming together to find a solution that benefited others from a mind & body wellness perspective, especially given the current challenges of the global health crisis. Technology and New Approaches Rule the Roost The field of medical entrepreneurs has a lot of room for innovation and growth. Athenahealth is responsible for showing how technology can make lives easier for medical professionals. What's more exciting is Dr. Yi's new approaches for dealing with mental wellness. Alongside care from his outpatient group practice, Modern Behavioral, he managed to perfect the holistic approach to helping individuals recover from a crippling addiction. The launch of Beyond Recovery also underlines that medical entrepreneurs aren't limited by their initial business choice. As Dr. Yi is fond of saying, knowledge may come from school, but wisdom is derived from experience. Seeing the Future These innovations and developments are quite impressive on their own, but they speak of an innovative spirit that exists in medical support system entrepreneurs. They spot a need, and they move to fill it, sometimes facing severe opposition from those who are happy with the status quo. They're good examples of how perseverance and understanding of an industry can help an entrepreneur innovate effectively. Over the course of the last decade, Bunbeg in the heart of the Gaeltacht region of Gaoth Dobhair has lost a post office, two bank branches and many family-run businesses. The announcement that Bank of Ireland will now also shut up shop is being viewed by locals as the latest in a culmination of attacks on rural Ireland. This corner of northwest Co Donegal is considered one of the most beautiful parts of the country, yet its people feel as if its being left to rot. According to the latest census, which took place in 2016 after last years was postponed until 2022 due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Donegal has had the biggest decline in population. Those living in the Irish-speaking village believe emigrants and others who left are being given no reason to return. Bank of Ireland will also be closing its branch in the nearby town of Dungloe, meaning its customers will be facing an hour-long round trip to get to the nearest bank. Read More Allied Irish Bank and National First Bank also shuttered branches in the area and the local post office was forced to close in 2019 after more than 100 years serving the community. Noel McFadden, of McFaddens Garage (Garaiste Mhic Phaidain), is a Bank of Ireland customer and said business owners were devastated by the inconvenience. We have to lodge money all the time, its great if people pay by card but a lot still pay with cash, particularly the older generation, Mr McFadden told the Irish Independent. We could be facing between 40 and 60 minutes of a round-trip now to go to a bank and you wouldnt have the time, and with travel restrictions in place due to the pandemic it would be a bit of a pain. He started his business in 1979 and its now mainly run by his son Christopher, but its been difficult watching the booming tourist village constantly have to overcome new struggles. Mr McFadden said he felt particularly for the elderly people living in the area. I dont know how many times Ive been in Bank of Ireland, where theyve two machines where you can lodge money, and seen older people struggling to use the machines. Ive been there three times in the last year and had elderly people ask me in Irish for help putting their card in the machine. They wont be able to manage online banking. Its devastating really. Kevin Doherty (88), originally from Ballina, Co Mayo, has been living in Bunbeg since the 1950s. He started his own woodwork business in the village, while his daughter runs a B&B and his son is a florist. It is officially the smallest townland in the Gaoth Dobhair region, but he doesnt want to see it disappear into nothing. I saw it when it started. Most of the roads were stony roads and there wasnt much transport. Its a real shame theyre closing the bank, weve no banks left and soon well have nothing left. Thankfully we still have the credit union. Gaoth Dobhair was going powerful, we have a great tourist area, beaches and walks but they keep closing things down. Its very awkward to have no banks. Take for instance, I go over and draw a few pound out of the credit union and sometimes they have no cash, so they give you a cheque. You then go to Bank of Ireland and you get your cash there and then. Thatll be all dust now, wont it? Independent county councillor Micheal Mac Giolla Easbuig previously campaigned to stop the closure of the local post office, describing it as a devastating blow to the area. News of the Bank of Ireland closure, due to happen in September, sadly did not come as a shock to those in Bunbeg. Its death by a thousand cuts as weve lost another important service, he said. We lost a post office, weve had hotels close down, every year there is another service taken away from us. I suppose from our perspective, if were to save our language we need to have services in the area. We need to have services so that people who were forced to emigrate can return. They wont come back to a community that has nothing. Its another sad day for Bunbeg. I wouldnt want to see any community lose any service and I know Dublin lost a good few branches too, but the bank is creating that divide between city and rural. In the interest of profit over people theyre closing our services. The people of Bunbeg have learned to be resilient over the years. In 2009, the area suffered severe flood damage after a freak storm caused two rivers to burst their banks, destroying houses, businesses and factories. Locals said the lightning lasted up to two hours. Some businesses that were already struggling due to the financial crash never recovered. The Covid-19 pandemic is the latest challenge the picturesque village must overcome, with tourism taking a massive hit. Bank of Ireland closing its branch may appears the least of Bunbegs problems, but it is undoubtedly another blow it could live without. San Antonio officials downgraded the coronavirus risk to the community Monday as the positivity rate fell for the seventh straight week. The rate, which is calculated weekly based on the proportion of people who test positive for the virus, dropped to 5.6 percent, a decrease of 1.9 percentage points from the previous week. Mayor Ron Nirenberg said at the daily coronavirus briefing that the positivity rate was the lowest of all major metropolitan areas in Texas. It is now about half a percentage point above the 5 percent threshold that local health officials established as a baseline for manageable community transmission. San Antonio briefly reached that goal for one week in early October, when the positivity rate fell to 4.9 percent before steadily rising in the lead-up to the winter surge. When we can get below 5 percent, that tells us that there is a low level of COVID-19 circulating in the community, which means the likelihood of somebody getting infected with COVID-19 is much lower, said Colleen Bridger, assistant city manager and the citys coronavirus czar, at the briefing. On ExpressNews.com: Survival mode: Amid wintry weather, power and water outages, San Antonio dialysis patients go without for days Officials had cautioned that the citys coronavirus data had been skewed by last months winter storms and accompanying water and power outages, which shut down many testing sites and prevented people from getting to those that were still open. However, testing has returned to pre-storm levels, with around 50,000 residents tested last week. Over the past week, the infection rate per 100,000 people remained at 39.7. That figure is down from 70.1 a month ago. San Antonio recorded 288 new coronavirus cases and no new COVID deaths on Monday. Since the pandemic began, at least 196,816 Bexar County residents have been infected and 2,670 have died from complications of the virus. Nirenberg said the improvements to coronavirus transmission in San Antonio reflect residents strong compliance with public health guidance, including physical distancing, wearing masks and washing hands. These things work, and doing them consistently is how we have gotten to this point, after a very difficult winter, Nirenberg said. There were 464 COVID-19 patients being treated at area hospitals, 39 of whom had been admitted in the past day. While that was a slight increase of 17 patients from Sunday, it was still 144 fewer than a week ago and more than 900 fewer compared with a month ago. On ExpressNews.com: A more contagious coronavirus variant is in San Antonio. Now what? Of those hospitalized, 199 were critically ill and 110 were breathing with the support of a ventilator. Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff said while the pandemics stress on local hospitals has greatly improved, officials would like to reduce hospitalizations even further before we can breathe easy. Federal regulators approval of a third COVID vaccine over the weekend will significantly speed up inoculation of the community, local officials said. Unlike those produced by Pfizer and Moderna, the Johnson & Johnson vaccine is one shot and requires refrigeration, rather than storage at freezing and ultracold temperatures. Its 67 percent efficacy is lower than the other two vaccines, but health experts say it is still provides strong protection against the two most devastating effects of the pandemic hospitalization and death. Bridger said state officials have not yet communicated to localities how the Johnson & Johnson vaccine would be distributed, but it appears that initial doses will be sent first to vaccination supersites in Houston and Dallas. As a result, San Antonio is not expected to receive its first shipments until next week at the earliest. The arrival of another vaccine, particularly one that provides protection in a single shot, will greatly improve local vaccination efforts, Bridger said. Its going to be a tremendous improvement, she said. When you have to vaccinate a person twice, it takes twice as long to get them fully vaccinated. lcaruba@express-news.net Dr. Seuss has a star on the Hollywood walk of fame. Vince Bucci /GettyImages Dr. Seuss is well known for his classic children's books, like "The Cat in the Hat." The late author's real name was Theodor Seuss Geisel, and he wrote dozens of books before he died. His work has been highly debated for its racist and insensitive depiction of certain characters. Visit Insider's homepage for more stories. Dr. Seuss is well known for writing and illustrating classic children's books like "The Cat in the Hat," "Green Eggs and Ham," and "How the Grinch Stole Christmas." But some people familiar with these stories might not know much about the man behind them. Over the years, the controversial late author's work has been called out as having racist and insensitive depictions of certain characters, especially those who are Black and Asian. The books have also been called out as having a lack of diversity among characters. Most recently, Dr. Seuss Enterprises announced that they will stop publishing six of his books because of their "hurtful and wrong" portrayals of people. Read on for some interesting things you may not know about Dr. Seuss. Dr. Seuss is a pen name. Theodor Seuss Geisel used the pen name Dr. Seuss. AP Photo Dr. Seuss's real name was Theodor Seuss Geisel. He had several pen names in addition to Dr. Seuss, including L. Pasteur, D.G. Rossetti '25, T. Seuss, and Seuss. The title "Dr." was just a moniker, as Seuss himself did not have a doctorate. He would eventually, however, earn several honorary doctorates throughout his career. He has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. He was awarded the star after his death. REED SAXON/AP Images Among the movie stars and television personalities included on Hollywood's Walk of Fame is Dr. Seuss. The star was awarded posthumously in 2004 and is located near 6600 Hollywood Blvd. You've probably been pronouncing "Seuss" wrong. Dr. Seuss isn't said exactly how it's spelled. John Bryson / Contributor / Getty Images Seuss is not pronounced "Soose" or "Zeus." Instead, Dr. Seuss and his family pronounce the name "Soice" (or "Zoice"). He wrote and illustrated 47 children's books before his death. Story continues "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" is a popular Dr. Seuss story. Universal According to his obituary in the LA Times, the author wrote and illustrated 47 children's books before his death in 1991. Those books were also translated into 20 different languages by that time. His estate has since published a few books posthumously. Dr. Seuss reportedly pretended to have a daughter. Her name was Chrysanthemum-Pearl. Mark Kauffman / Contributor / Getty Images Although he and his first wife were unable to have children, Smithsonian magazine and other sources have reported that Dr. Seuss often boasted to friends about the achievements of the couple's imaginary daughter, Chrysanthemum-Pearl. Dr. Seuss even dedicated "The 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins" to his imaginary daughter and included her on Christmas cards. He wrote for an ad agency. His talents were used in advertising. James L. Amos / Contributor / Getty Images Before making it big as an author, Dr. Seuss kicked off his career creating ads for Flit bug spray as a student at Dartmouth. He received the job after using Flit as a punchline in one of his cartoons with the line, "Quick, Henry, the Flit," which soon became a part of American vernacular. He treated his books like his "children." Dr. Seuss didn't have a favorite book. Mario Tama /GettyImages Audrey Geisel, Dr. Seuss' second wife, once told Reading Rockets that the author didn't have a favorite of his books. "First of all ... he was like a father, he liked all his children ... Particularly in the time of their conception," she said. "The Lorax" may have been inspired by a monkey species found in Kenya. The characters resemble the patas monkey. Random House Dr. Seuss may have written "The Lorax" after seeing a particular species of monkey on a trip to Kenya. According to Popular Science, when evolutionary biologist Nathaniel Dominy was researching in Kenya, he noticed a monkey near Mount Kenya, the patas monkey, that bore a strong resemblance to the fictional Lorax. It turns out Dr. Seuss stayed at a resort in Kenya before writing the book, strengthening the argument that the monkey was an inspiration. His first book wasn't published until 1937. They are no longer publishing "And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street." Random House Dr. Seuss' first book wasn't published until 1937, and it was rejected 27 times before getting picked up. This book was called "And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street," and it no longer being published, in part due to its racist depiction of an Asian character. He served in World War II. His time in the war inspired the character of Private SNAFU. Warner Bros. Cartoons Known as Captain Geisel, Dr. Seuss served as a volunteer in the military during World War II, as part of the Army's Information and Education Division. In 1943 he created the cartoon character Private SNAFU, which was inspired by his time in the war, according to History.com. One of his most famous books was reportedly written because of a bet. The book has fewer than 50 words. Random House In 1960, "Green Eggs and Ham" was reportedly published after Dr. Seuss's publisher bet him that he couldn't write a book with 50 or fewer words. The result is his best-selling creation that involves some interesting breakfast choices. Dr. Seuss' wife thought he was a medical doctor when she first met him. Audrey Geisel was married to Theodore Geisel from 1968 to 1991. Kevin Winter /GettyImages "I wasn't aware that there was such a thing as a Dr. Seuss. I taught nursing at IU [Indiana University], and doctors were a very understood name and title," Geisel once told Reading Rockets. She continued, "So, when I was being ushered down this line of about a dozen M.D. doctors and I came to Ted and they said, 'And this is our very own dear Dr. Seuss,' I immediately thought interns and medicine just automatically." He won a Pulitzer Prize. Children all over still read books by Dr. Seuss. Vince Bucci/GettyImages In 1984, Dr. Seuss was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for his established body of works. Officially, he won the award for "his special contribution over nearly half a century to the education and enjoyment of America's children and their parents," per the Pulitzer website. He collected hats. The book may have had inspiration from Dr. Seuss's own life. Random House Books for Young Readers Dr. Seuss, who has a book titled "The 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins," collected a variety of hats throughout his lifetime. According to Mental Floss, he collected several hundred hats of differing varieties, which he would often don at themed dinner parties. He reportedly invented the word "nerd." "Nerd" appeared in "If I Ran the Zoo." Random House What appears to be the first known, printed usage of the word "nerd" was in Dr. Seuss' 1950 book "If I Ran the Zoo" which Dr. Seuss Enterprises is no longer publishing. Although the way Seuss used the word differs from our modern definition, there is a compelling argument that he created or inspired it, according to Bustle. He has two Academy Awards. He cowrote the documentary "Design for Death." RKO Pictures Dr. Seuss won two Oscars in his lifetime. The first was in 1947 for best documentary feature for "Design for Death," which he cowrote with his wife, Helen. He won his second Academy Award a few years later in 1951 for best animated short with "Gerald McBoing-Boing." He also has two Emmys. "Halloween Is Grinch Night" earned him an Emmy. DePatie-Freleng Enterprises The author and Oscar winner also won two Emmys for best children's special, which he received in 1977 and 1982. The first was given for "Halloween Is Grinch Night" and the second was for "The Grinch Grinches the Cat in the Hat." Read More: Read the original article on Insider The Daily Beast Photo Illustration by The Daily Beast/GettyMike Lindell, the MyPillow CEO and Trumpist conspiracy-peddler, flew his private jet to the Republican Governors Association meeting the other day.The guvs promptly threw him out. But the incident got Molly Jong-Fast thinking: Does the MyPillow CEO think hes already a governor or something?Subscribe to The New Abnormal on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Amazon Music, or Overcast. To listen to our weekly members-only bonus episodes, join Beast Inside here. Already a member? You can listen here and sign up for new episode email alerts here.Spoiler: Making MyPillows does not make you my governor. Now, chances that Mike Lindell could actually become governor of a small Republican state, 80 percent, she quips on the latest episode of The New Abnormal. Like, its not even that hard for someone that famous and insane in the Republican party to become a governor.Lindell claims he wouldnt run to be a dogcatcher right now, because he doesnt trust the voting machines. Plus, hes from the blue state of Minnesota. So maybe the risk of a Governor Pillow isnt quite so high. But L.A. Times columnist Virginia Heffernan would like to quickly add something about Mike Lindell being a cosplay governor.I think we need to understand that being in politics leads to governing and governing is boring. It is not a PR operation, she says. And I feel like we have made these jobs celebrity roles. Public service should not beis notbeing on a reality show.Like, I feel like we need to really dial down the razzle-dazzle, really play up the drudgery, Heffernan continues. I just don't know why every single industrialist and every single lady with abs or gorgeous arms would want to be, of all things, a governor.Biden, Heffernan opines, is doing a pretty good job at the drudgerydollars going out, jabs going out, all leading to Trump signs going down. Sure, the Donald has his cultists, like Lindell. But, I don't think people can hold onto this much insanity for this long, especially when it's a tiny minority of people who believe it, Heffernan adds. Democrats need to know how to win.To which Jong-Fast replies, oh-so-gently: Are you freakin kidding me? With all of these Republican attempts to retcon the Capitol riots? To chop away at the right to vote? To instantiate their ability to overturn elections? All while Team Biden snoozes it away? The Democrats are bringing an ice cream sundae to a knife fight, Jong-Fast says.Plus! Politicos Tara Palmeri talks about her search to find Liz Cheney supporters in Wyoming. And Battle for the Soul author Edward-Isaac Dovere gives us a peek into how Biden sees the political landscape. The presidency that he has in front of him now, he knows, is so different from what he ever expected to have, Dovere says, And part of that is rethinking how he incorporates the progressivism within the party that took root and that was so much part of this campaign. And its just, its a really complicated evolution for him. Its not the presidency he thought itd be running in 2019 when he got into this race.Read more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more. As schools reopen for sub-candidate classes today, many teachers will not return to classrooms due to low salaries and poor working conditions worsened by the one-year closure due to the COVID-19 lockdown. This comes as semi-candidates are set to return to school today. Many of the non-returning teachers mainly in private schools, faced with no payment and other challenges of the lockdown, ventured into alternative income-generating projects. However, others in government-aided schools, despite having been receiving their monthly salaries, have also abandoned teaching after discovering better-paying enterprises. In Kabale District, for instance, Mr Moses Muhangi Tweyongyere, a secondary school geography teacher, who was earning Shs300,000 per month in a private school, is not returning to teaching. He said he has found gold in boda-boda transport business and charcoal production. When the lockdown was announced and education institutions closed, I used some of my savings to buy trees and, thereafter, hired some men and engaged in charcoal burning, Mr Tweyongyere said. He added: For about four months, I made some profits, which I supplemented with my savings to buy a motorcycle for boda boda business. I ploughed back the profits from boda boda and charcoal burning businesses to buy another motorcycle, Mr Tweyongyere told Daily Monitor in an interview. He said he is not ready to go back to teaching even if schools reopen. Mr Stuart Nimusiima, another teacher at Kisoro Vision Secondary School in Kisoro District, said he is engaged in making chapat and people have supported his business which he said has given him the income to sustain his family during the lockdown. One of the teachers, Mr Brenda Katono, now vending food at KBS Radio Mini Market, says Covid-19 awakened her to alternative income sources. When I got my salary, I was not sure if it was going to be the last until the lockdown was lifted. So, I bought 50 kilogrammes of posho (maize) flour, 10kg of beans, a 3-litre jerry can of cooking oil, three saucepans, a charcoal stove and started cooking food, she said. She added: I made a loss on the first and second days because I did not have a strong customer base but after a week, I now get my salarys worth in just a week. I have been able to buy myself two goats and a bicycle, which I never did for the eight years I had been getting a monthly salary. Ms Specioza Kyotungire, who was a primary teacher at Brilliant Star Kafujo (private) in Ntungamo District, said when schools reopen, she will not go back to teach. She said she has ventured into other businesses. I opened up a shop in Kabale District during lockdown and I want to be my own boss. Besides, during the lockdown I gave birth and want to first take care of my children for some time, Ms Kyotungire said. However, some teachers in Kalungu District said they are quitting the profession due to the worsening working conditions. Speaking on condition of anonymity, the teachers, especially those in Lwabenge Sub-county, said the area is hard-to-reach and schools lack staff quarters. We use the little salary we earn to buy food, pay for our medical bills and remain with almost nothing at the end of the day. I would rather continue with my boda boda business where I am assured of some daily income to fend for my family, a male teacher in a government-aided school in Lwabenge, said. Mr Haruna Ssenyondo, the director of Tact Nursery and Primary School in Kyazanga in Lwengo District, said many of his teachers told him they will not report back. I have made telephone calls to most of my staff members notifying them of the school reopening dates, but many of them are not ready to come back unless I first pay their salaries for Term One of 2020 and increase their pay, yet many children had not paid fully and I have nowhere to get their salary arrears, Mr Ssenyondo said. Ms Enid Tumuhairwe, a teacher at Blue Hope Nursery and Primary School, said she will not resume teaching. She said she has ventured into juice vending where she earns Shs6,000 as profit daily which gives her Shs180, 000 per month. According to Mr David Tusubira, the headteacher of Kibanga Primary School in Kalangala Town Council, about three of their 16 teachers are unlikely to resume work upon school reopening. The three teachers were teaching upper primary but were not on government payroll. We are still engaging parents to accept our plan to increase fees so that we can meet the current pressing demands, Mr Tusubira told Daily Monitor on Monday. Mr Fredrick Kisekka, a headteacher at Bufumira Primary School in Bufumira Sub-county, Kalangala District, said many of their teachers have diverted into rice growing. They (teachers) say it is more profitable than teaching, Mr Kisekka said. Mr Edgar Balondemu, the teachers coordinator at Kiige Primary School in Kamuli District, said many teachers found alternative survival opportunities and efforts to call them back to school for a government salary has become tricky. In Fort Portal, Ms Joselyn Karungi, 42, will not go back to teaching because the school did not renew her contract after the closure of schools. I was teaching at Rainbow International School (Private) in Kampala and during May last year they called me to the school and told me my contract would not be renewed. I am now at home with my family without a job, Ms Karungi said. In Tororo, many teachers mostly in private schools have said they will not return to the classroom. I may not return to class because my current job of selling produce is more paying than being in class, Mr John Opio, a secondary teacher, said. He added that some of his colleagues have joined boda boda business while others are making bricks. A few of them contested for political positions in the recently concluded general elections and luckily won, he said. Mr Wilson Okachuga, a teacher who contested for the district chairperson seat but lost, said he will remain pursuing his political ambitions and will not go back to teaching. I dont think I will go back to class because this will kill my political career. The lockdown taught me many lessons, he said. In Mbale, Mr Amos Wetaka, a secondary teacher, said he opened a grocery shop during the lockdown and its paying him better than teaching. When I was teaching, I was getting Shs200,000 per month; but now I get more than that, he said. Mr Valance Ayebare, 27, a primary school teacher in Kabale District, says he has been teaching for the past four years in a private school but when the Covid-19 lockdown was announced, he used his personal savings to start a boda boda business. In Katakwi District, Mr Stephen Akabwai of St Stephens Katakwi, says since the Covid-19 induced lockdown, he struggled to find something to do until he started a silverfish (mukene) business. I often sell the fish in Ocorimongin cattle market in Katakwi on wholesale; but overall, the pandemic has taught me to have a fallback position, he said. Ms Grace Asio, a teacher at Precious Nursery and Primary School in Soroti Town, said she tried selling secondhand clothes, but the demand was low and ended up consuming the capital. She said she intends to relocate to the village when rains return because as nursery teachers, they are not certain of when schools will reopen. Learners Many learners too have abandoned schools because they are engaged in money making projects and find little motivation to return to class. Ms Fazira Namayinde, a Primary Six pupil at Busoga Primary School in Buwunga Sub-county, but doing a short course in tailoring at Nabukalu Young Mothers in Nabukalu Town Council, said she is no longer interested in returning to school. In primary education, you do not get money while studying, but with vocational studies you get money as you continue with education, she said, adding that she will go back to complete Primary Seven after finishing her two-year tailoring course. Mr Waiswa Wakibi, a Senior Three student at Nawampandu Seed Secondary School in Namutumba sub-county, too is not going back to school because his guardian died during the lockdown. He would be preparing to go back to complete Senior Three and go to Senior Four, but lacks tuition fees. My parents passed on when I was in Primary Six and unfortunately, my uncle who took over the responsibility of paying my school fees passed on last year, he said. We will return However, some teachers say they will return to the classrooms. Mr Ibrahim Wakinyankali, a teacher at Jinja Progressive Academy, said he will be returning to teach but agonisingly. Mr Simon Peter Owori, a teacher at Butiki Primary School in Jinja, said he has been doing other businesses but will resume teaching. I have a passion for teaching and feel good when pupils study and pass well. Although I have been in other businesses, I cannot give up teaching. It is my profession, he said. Ms Agnes Mutungirehe, a primary school teacher in Rubanda District, said she will return to school because government continued paying them salaries during the lockdown although they were not teaching. Mr Papius Tumuhimbise, a primary school teacher in Kanungu Town Council in Kanungu District, and his counterpart Ms Lillian Tusiime, in the same district said they will return to school despite the odds. I opened a boutique just before schools were closed. When they closed, I concentrated on my business which has now grown. If I was not on government payroll, I would not have gone back to teaching, Ms Tusiime said. Mr Denis Tukundane, a teacher at Crown High School in Kamwenge District, said when he heard of government plan to reopen schools for semi-candidate classes, he started preparations to resume teaching. I am very happy to see we are going to teach again; I am now more than ready to teach. I have finalised my schemes of work and lesson plans for my Senior Three class and only waiting for that day when they report at school, Mr Tukundane said. Mr Simon Okiru, at Teens Challenge in Malaba, said she will go back to teaching but urged school management to consider improving their welfare. Nevertheless, in Masaka City, Mr Abubaker Suuna, the headteacher of Universal Kindergarten and Primary School, told Daily Monitor that they have been in contact with all their teachers during the lockdown and many have promised to report back. Authorities speak out Mr George Byantuyo, the chairperson of Kamuli Private Schools Directors, urged school administrators to talk to their teachers and assure them things will get better in future. Let us engage the teachers, give them hope and assurances, add small tokens to show concern till we regain full enrolment because the future holds better than today so that they remain hopeful, he counselled. Mr Aaron Gwolaba, the Buyende District inspector of schools, said he is mobilising teachers to go back to school. He said with the Covid-induced vacation, teachers and children have found solace in the fishing and sugarcane business. Mr David Bbaale Mukasa, the Kalungu District education officer, wondered why teachers in public schools, who have continued earning salaries even when they are not teaching, are the ones threatening to quit. He, however, agreed with the teachers on the issue of lack of staff houses, but insisted plans are underway to build staff houses at every public school in the district. Unlike private teachers, government teachers have continued to get their salaries in time during the lockdown period. If they have chosen to quit the profession, that is their decision. There are many others who want to join the government payroll and I am sure they will fill up those positions, he said. Lockdown Issue President Museveni, in March last year closed all education institutions after the coronavirus outbreak. However, the Ministry of Education released the official timetable for re-opening of schools in a phased manner to manage the learners in the face of Covid-19 as they close the 2020 academic year. According to the ministrys schedule, the sub candidate classes of Primary Six, Senior Three and Five report today and will study for 14 weeks, breaking off on May 21. Primary Four and Five classes will study for eight weeks starting on April 6 after Primary Leaving Examinations and end on June 4 to create space for lower primary pupils in Primary 1, 2, and 3 to come in on June 7. Primary 1, 2, and 3 will study for eight weeks which end on July 24, the ministrys permanent secretary, Mr Alex Kakooza, said in a statement recently. Concern Last week, school owners warned that the Covid-19 preventive measures set by the government have proved difficult to implement. A Daily Monitor survey of some school in Kampala and across the country revealed that a number of schools are unable to implement the Ministry of Health Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), especially the two-metre social distancing in classrooms and dormitories. Meanwhile- according to President Museveni, the semi-candidate students number 1.7 million who, if added to the 1.3 million candidates who resumed class on January 18, this year, would total 3 million. This means that there will be five times more facilities for them to use. Source: monitor.co.ug Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video A Chicopee resident was killed in Las Vegas by a man who is accused of punching him during an altercation early Sunday morning. Thomas Driscoll, 57, died of blunt force craniocervical injury. The Clark County coroner determined his death to be a homicide, a spokeswoman for the office said. Police have arrested Brandon Leath, 33, on the charge of open murder. He is being held without bail at the Clark County Detention Center, Las Vegas Metropolitan Police said. Driscoll and a woman were walking across a street bridge in Las Vegas when Leath started yelling at them and following them. The couple went down an escalator, Leath ran ahead of them and Driscoll approached him after exiting the escalator, police said. The two got into a verbal altercation and Leath punched the victim causing him to fall to the ground unconscious, police said. Officers who were monitoring real-time crime cameras observed the altercation, which occurred at about 4:24 a.m. near the intersection of Flamingo Road and Las Vegas Boulevard, police said. Driscoll was taken to Sunrise Hospital where he was pronounced dead. Leath ran from the scene but was apprehended quickly by officers who responded to the crime, police said. Related content: New York Congresswoman Elise Stefanik didn't rule out on Tuesday launching a big for governor as Andrew Cuomo faces an increasing numbers of scandals including a third woman now accusing him of sexual harassment. 'I'm focused on running for the House,' Stefanik, who plans to run for reelection for a third term, told 'Ruthless Podcast' host Josh Holmes in a Tuesday interview, adding later: 'A lot can change.' 'Well you'd be a heck of a candidate. And I imagine New York Republicans would lay in traffic to get you to consider that race. But what I didn't hear there is an absolute 'no!'' Holmes pushed. 'I think we'll wait,' the representative continued. 'We'll have to wait to see how the dynamics play out.' Stefanik is a pro-Trump Republican representing New York's 21st district, which encompasses the Northeastern-most part of the state a mostly red area with some blue leaning parts toward the border with Vermont. Pro-Trump Republican Rep. Elise Stefanik of New York wouldn't rule out Tuesday potentially running for governor of her state. 'I'm focused on running for the House,' she said. 'We'll have to wait to see how the dynamics play out' Her comments come as embattled New York Governor Andrew Cuomo faces dueling scandals involving women accusing him of sexual harassment and assault and investigations finding he may have intentionally misled the public on the number of COVID nursing home deaths It's highly unlikely that New York, one of the most staunchly and solidly blue states, would elect a Republican governor. Evidence of that is how there has only been one GOP governor elected in New York since 1974. Embattled Democratic Governor Andrew Cuomo continues to face calls for resignation including from Stefanik in the midst of two concurring scandals involving sexual harassment and assault allegatiosn against him and investigators finding he may have intentionally lied about the number of COVID-related deaths in New York nursing homes. Stefanik said that if Cuomo continues to tarnish the governorship with these scandals, it could pave the way for a Republican to be elected to his position but she still skirted the question on whether that candidate could be her. 'This governor should resign,' Stefanik said during her podcast appearance on Tuesday. 'If he does not resign, there is a path for a Republican to win statewide in New York, and I'm calling for him to resign. So I want to see that happen.' She added: 'I mean, a year ago or only a couple of months ago, Governor Cuomo was hailed, inaccurately, by national Democrats as really the icon. Even President Biden talked about, quote unquote, Cuomo's strong leadership, really the best of the best. And now we know the White House is showing distance significantly between Cuomo and obviously the Biden administration.' Cuomo assumed office in January 2011 at the end of this term will have served three consecutive terms. He announced in May 2019 that he would seek a fourth term as governor of New York in 2022. Since his scandals, Cuomo, who is also chairman of the National Governors Association, has not said anything about his future in politics. There are no term limits for New York's governor. Stefanki says she still plans to run for reelection to her House seat in 2020 for another term but wouldn't explicit rule out taking on Cuomo next year. 'I'm focused on running for reelection for the House,' she asserted Tuesday. 'I'm focused on raising money for women candidates. A lot of people call us every day encouraging us to consider it. And I am involved with down ballot races at the local level across New York State, because I think that's important.' In a Monday New York Times report, a third accuser came forward alleging sexual assault allegations against Cuomo. Anna Ruch, now 33, told the Times that she met Cuomo at a wedding in September 2019. The governor, now 63, had given a toast to the newlyweds, and Ruch, a former member of the Obama administration and the 2020 Biden campaign, thanked him for his words. She claimed that he then touched her naked back, and she removed his hand. He said she was 'aggressive', then cupped her face in his hands and asked: 'Can I kiss you?' A photographer captured the moment, with Ruch looking distressed and taken aback, while Cuomo stared intently at her. A third woman came forward Monday evening accusing Cuomo of inappropriate behavior. Anna Ruch's moment was captured on camera when Cuomo push his hands on her face at a wedding in 2019 and Ruch says he asked if he could kiss her Two other women, Lindsay Boylan(left) and Charlotte Bennet (right) both former Cuomo aides, have already levied allegations against the New York governor 'I was so confused and shocked and embarrassed,' said Ruch. 'I turned my head away and didn't have words in that moment.' She told the Times: 'It's the act of impunity that strikes me. I didn't have a choice in that matter. I didn't have a choice in his physical dominance over me at that moment. And that's what infuriates me.' Her revelations come after former Cuomo aide Lindsay Boylan, now 36, said in tweets in December that Cuomo 'abused his power' and sexually harassed her for years. She made more accusations last Wednesday where she claimed the governor asked her to play strip poker and kissed her on the lips without her permission when she worked for him in 2017. Charlotte Bennett, who is 25 and also a former Cuomo aide, told the Times in an article published Saturday, that the governor told her he was open to dating women in their 20s and asked her questions about her personal life in June. Several prominent New York Democrats have called for an investigation into the Cuomo allegations and some have even joined Republicans in calling on the governor to resign. These individuals include U.S. Representatives Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Kathleen Rice, State Senator Alessandra Biaggi, Lieutenant Governor Kathy Hochul and State Assemblyman Carl Heastie turned their backs on Cuomo and called for a 'truly independent probe'. Rice, who represents Long Island, said following the third accuser coming forward that it was time for Cuomo to go. If Cuomo were to resign before his term were up, Hochul, who formerly served in Congress, would take over and finish out his term. Washington, DC, March 02, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- UNCF, its 37 member historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs), and all students we serve were saddened to hear of the passing of Vernon Eulion Jordan, Jr. Jordan was an extraordinary human beingCivil Rights icon, business trailblazer, adviser to presidentsa man for all seasons. Deeply rooted in Atlanta, he was shaped by an extraordinary family and a Black community that recognized that he was destined to leave a powerful mark on America through his work and his unstinting civic life. Yet, always, he was a generous mentor, counselor and guide who helped shape scores of young men and women who, today, are leaders, excellent in what they do and better because Vernon Jordan spent time with them. Jordan was a champion of UNCF for over half a century. As part of his amazing lifes journey, in 1970 he began his tenure as UNCFs executive director, where he raised $10 million for students in just 10 months. Over the years, he participated in countless UNCF fundraising campaigns and events. Jordan was honored at the UNCF national gala in 2011 for his contributions to UNCF and Black higher education, and again participated in UNCFs 75th national gala to honor Robert Smith in 2019. Among his most enduring legaciesand the one that has made an indelible imprint on UNCF, HBCUs, Black college students and the countrywas a public relations campaign that he began when he approached friends at the Young and Rubicam Advertising Agency and the Ad Council about developing and sharing a message for the venerable organization that he was leading at the timeUNCF. Working together, Jordan, UNCF and the advertising agencies launched the iconic A mind is a terrible thing to waste in 1972 in newspapers and television all over the country. Its popularity grew, pulling in talent from the eraparticularly memorable is the booming voice of actor James Earl Jonesthat burned the iconic UNCF motto into so many American memories for decades to come. With that advertising tagline, UNCFs awareness grew into a national brand, moving the tagline onto an official motto. During an interview in 2011 about the history of the campaign, Jordan would go on to say about his monumental effort, Frankly I loved it. And then [former Y&R Executive] Ed Ney and I went to the Advertising Council to sell it. We did not have to do much selling. The news of Vernons passing is heartbreaking for all of us who were honored to know him, said Dr. Michael L. Lomax, president and CEO of UNCF. Vernons time at UNCF was brief, less than two years, but he accomplished so much in co-creating our motto and launching the public service advertising campaign that made A mind is a terrible thing to waste a global slogan and raised billions of dollars to support Black students and HBCUs. He helped ensure that, today, UNCF is an enduring American institution. UNCF will forever be indebted to Vernon Jordan, and we will always remember his extraordinary contributions to our mission. OTTAWA - Jagmeet Singh is promising a federal NDP government would provide more support for small businesses struggling during the pandemic, including paying bonuses to companies that hire new employees or bring back those who have been laid off. NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh responds to a question during a news conference on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Tuesday February 23, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld OTTAWA - Jagmeet Singh is promising a federal NDP government would provide more support for small businesses struggling during the pandemic, including paying bonuses to companies that hire new employees or bring back those who have been laid off. Singh unveiled the promises during a campaign-style event in British Columbia on Tuesday, less than a week after he said the New Democrats would not provoke an election as long as the COVID-19 pandemic persists. The federal NDP leader said last week that his party would support the minority Liberal government on confidence votes in the House of Commons during the pandemic. Parties are nonetheless preparing for an election that could come at any time. Singh accused the Liberal government of having turned a blind eye to the profits that he says large businesses such as Amazon, Walmart and banks are generating while failing to offer proper support to small companies. "Big box stores like Walmart and Costco have continued to do well. ... We've seen Amazon make record profits, but no attempt to make sure they paid their fair share," he said. "And in the inverse, or in contrast, we've seen small businesses, local shops, they've had to shut down one in 10 small businesses." The hiring bonus proposed by the NDP would see the federal government cover the portion of employment insurance and Canada Pension Plan contributions normally paid by employers for new staff or workers rehired after being laid off. The NDP did not provide an estimate for how much that or any of the other measures announced on Tuesday would cost. "Working with small businesses, we will strategize what's the best way in terms of how long they should last," Singh said. "We're proposing this to start off right away as an immediate measure that we would cover it. And we want to put this plan in place for as long as we need to help businesses get back on their feet." The government announced in September that it was freezing employment insurance rates for employers for the next two years with the pandemic. The move was expected to save businesses and employees about $1 billion this year. Singh also promised to extend the federal governments existing wage subsidy, rent assistance and business loan programs until the end of the pandemic, while also making it easier for businesses to access those relief programs. The wage subsidy is set to expire in June, but the Liberal government has extended it several times since it was first unveiled last April. The government also expanded the amount of support following complaints from business and opposition parties. Singh is also highlighting an earlier promise to impose what he describes as an excess profit tax on companies that have benefited during the pandemic, though the NDP has yet to provide details on how that would work. The NDP leader suggested the profit tax would be modelled after similar initiatives introduced during the two world wars, and floated the idea of doubling the corporate tax rate on revenues "over what is normal." "The goal is: let's make sure when it comes down to who pays for this pandemic, it should be the big businesses that have profited, it should be those at the very top," he said. "It shouldn't be small businesses that have suffered, it shouldn't be working people." This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 2, 2021. The District Legal Services Authority (DLSA), under the Bihar Judicial System, has called for applications in a prescribed format from eligible and interested individuals for filling Hundred (100) vacancies to the post of Para Legal Volunteers (PLV) in DLSA through direct recruitment to be posted at the Vaishali District in Bihar, India on a fulltime basis. The offline application process towards the same started on February 26, 2021 and closes on March 12, 2021. CRITERIA DETAILS Name Of The Posts Para Legal Volunteers (PLV) posts in DLSA Organisation District Legal Services Authority (DLSA) Educational Qualification Must have passed Matriculation/Class 10 or equivalent Experience Freshers can apply Job Responsibilities null Skills Required null Job Location Vaishali District Salary Scale As per the DLSA norms Industry Bihar Judicial System Application Start Date February 26, 2021 Application End Date March 12, 2021 DLSA Recruitment 2021: Age Criteria And Fees Candidates interested in applying for DLSA PLV Jobs 2021 through DLSA Recruitment 2021 must meet the age criteria as per the DLSA norms, with relaxation (upper age limit) for reserved categories as specified in the DLSA Notification 2021. For details regarding application fee for DLSA PLV Jobs 2021 through DLSA Recruitment 2021, refer to the official DLSA Notification 2021 given at the end of the article. Also Read: MES Recruitment 2021 For 502 Supervisor And Draughtsman Posts In Military Engineer Services. Check Details DLSA Recruitment 2021: Education And Eligibility Desirous candidates applying for DLSA PLV Jobs 2021 through DLSA Recruitment 2021 must have passed Matriculation/Class 10 or equivalent from a recognised Board/Institution as detailed in the DLSA Notification 2021. DLSA Recruitment 2021: Selection And Pay Scale The selection of candidates for DLSA PLV Jobs 2021 through DLSA Recruitment 2021 will be done through Shortlisting, Written Test/Interview or as per the DLSA Recruitment norms as notified in the DLSA Notification 2021. Candidates selected for DLSA PLV Jobs 2021 through DLSA Recruitment 2021 will be paid emolument as per the DLSA norms. Also Read: HURL Recruitment 2021 For 159 Managers, Officers, VP And Other Posts, Apply Online Before March 10 DLSA Recruitment 2021: How To Apply Candidates applying for DLSA PLV Jobs 2021 through DLSA Recruitment 2021 must fill the application form in a prescribed format post-download from the DLSA website and send the same to the address specified in the DLSA Notification 2021 on or before March 12, 2021. Download DLSA Recruitment 2021 Notification for Para Legal Volunteers (PLV) posts Punjab farmers not blamed over issue of Bonded Labourers in border villages:MHA Farmers' Protest: Deep Sidhu was not there when protests turned violent, says lawyer UP: Farmers destroy crops India oi-Vicky Nanjappa Mathura, Mar 02: Farmers in a village here destroyed crop in a four-acre area on Monday in protest against the contentious farm laws. The incident occurred at Umraya village of Chhata subdivision "With the consent of majority of villagers, crops grown in the four-acre area was ploughed on Monday," RLD state vice president Kunwar Narendra Singh said. He claimed that such acts by farmers would lead to acute shortage of cereals, forcing the government to go for import. Opposition will get even fewer seats in next LS election if it continues to misguide farmers: Goyal "Repeal the three farm laws without further delay to prevent such suicidal steps of the farmers," Singh demanded, "We are forced to take such steps as the government is not understanding our problem," Megh Shyam, a farmer of the village, said. Subdivisional Magistrate Hanuman Maurya said no such incident had come to his notice, advising the farmers to desist from taking such steps. 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. Garcia falsely claimed to have inspected homes supposedly worked on by Company A and found the work completed as required, according to his plea agreement with prosecutors. The city then paid the company for replaced porches when the work wasnt actually done, according to the plea. Films have ways of tangling your expectations, unlike other art forms. Perhaps this is due to their time-based, immersive quality or because of the profound ways they can viscerally grip you and elevate the medium in unexpected, transcendent directions. Its difficult to place ones finger on the exact reasoning since the very medium in part defies verbal explanation. Nonetheless, when the moment happens, the countless hours, days, and years of wading through mediocre films wash away to remind you of what drew you to the art form in the first place. Minding the Gap provides such a rewarding moment. Straight from its opening, Minding the Gap reveals a skilled filmmaker behind the camera. After a failed attempt to climb a rickety fire escape, three boys skateboard down the ramp of a parking garage and out into the streets of the rust belt town of Rockford, Illinois. The camera deftly follows their movements, imminently tracking each bob and weave. They skate under the closed gate of the garage with the camera mimicking their actions. Whoever is behind the camera effortlessly frames the boys graceful skating and fully anticipates their movements. The camera exposes an intimacy between filmmaker and subject from the outset. Not surprisingly, we soon discover that the filmmaker, Bing Liu, has been friends with them since childhood. Although many skate films are populated with deft footage of skateboarders in motion, Minding the Gap pays painstaking attention to details where the action is not located. The camera lingers on the thick, well-worn, wooden green and purple door of a local skate shop that serves as a hub where this community of skaters congregates. At another moment, the camera briefly traces over the worn groves endless boards have etched upon the stone surfaces of a local park. The documentary exposes the textures of everyday life that define this skating community. The film ostensibly is about the surrogate family that the skating community fosters among a diverse group of boys. This is not unique for skate films. Stacy Peraltas Dogtown and Z Boys (2001) covered similar terrain in 2001. But as Minding the Gap continues, its narrative mines the underlying causes and similarities that draw these boys together: dysfunctional family lives populated by absentee or abusive fathers and mothers who struggle under the wake of the emotional and physical violence that defines their homes. The film chronicles the abuse the boys suffered and the ongoing violence that they endure, and even more troublingly, the violence they perpetuate themselves at times. Liu can offer such intimate, detailed portraits both because of his emotional connections with those he films and through his unassuming disposition that allows him to ask in unthreatening ways deeply personal and intrusive questions. At one moment, he asks Roberta, one skaters mother, if she has a new man in her life. She sits in her living room smiling to herself at first and then attempts to respond. Off-camera we hear her new mans voice intruding, objecting that the questions are too personal. He finally cuts her response short by announcing, Roberta, five minutes is up. Even before the cameras presence, this guy cannot modulate his controlling, abusive behavior, leading the viewer to question: what occurs when there are no cameras present? Similarly, Liu provides a painfully intimate interview with his own mother who endured repeated violence from her husband and who also beats his stepchildren, Liu among them, regularly as well. He asks her how she could endure such treatment. She responds, like many of those abused, that he had good sides to him as well. But she generously answers Lius questions and holds herself accountable for allowing the abuse to happen as she breaks down during the interview and insists she will do anything, including this interview, to make amends with her son. The conversation is gut-wrenching in its honesty and the graceful way Liu inquires about the abuse without ever being accusatory. We witness a mutual understanding being forged between mother and son. She asks him about his attitude towards his stepfather: When you think about him, you get angry, right? He replies, Not necessarily. I feel shaky and anxious. I dont really think about him too much. She insightfully responds, If you dont think about it, I dont think thats going to work. In many ways, this line drives the entire film that plunges into the traumas and resentments that define all of the characters familial and interpersonal relationships. Zack, an older friend of Bing and the other skaters and who serves in part as a pseudo older brother for them, perpetuates the cycle of abuse towards his girlfriend. The pressures of having a baby at a young age, being economically unstable with precarious employment, and living in a town that youth are quickly fleeing since to remain is a death sentence of abuse, poverty, and drug addiction Zack descends into alcoholism and resentment against Nina, his girlfriend. Liu perfectly captures the couples untenable life and increasing pressures in a single shot of their living room. The couple sits on a dilapidated couch. A coffee table littered with glasses and other abandoned items presses into their knees. A babys crib squats against the table and couch. The camera films uncomfortably close to the couple, suggesting the rooms lack of space. The home is a pressure cooker where personal space doesnt exist, allowing tensions to run high. Later on in the film, we hear Nina screaming on a video recording one of Zacks friends took of her wanting to kill Zack. But soon after, Nina explains her side of the story: Zack beat her before that moment, which his friend conveniently didnt capture. Zack becomes increasingly visibly drunk throughout the film, his behavior more erratic. Liu eventually questions Zack during a two-hour drunken interview by films end where Zack admits, Sometimes bitches need to get slapped. At this precise moment, the film cuts to Lius reaction, looking on in shock. But the cut is deceptive. We soon realize that Lius reaction isnt over Zacks comment but is from footage of him hearing about his mothers abuse when interviewing her. But Lius reaction encompasses both moments: the shock of belatedly confronting a reality that was always hidden in plain sight. The editing masterfully weaves how these two moments of the past and present converge. These histories of personal violence come from a larger context and much longer history that shapes the lives of many barely surviving in Rockford, Illinois who sadly and tragically take out their frustrations upon those they love. The film doesnt excuse the abuse, but it situates it within a life of endless poverty where the only escape is to leave. Liu escapes to California. Keire, the one Black friend of the group of skateboarders, flees to Arizona, which we learn from him during the films audio commentary. Zack remains. Tellingly, based on the films audio commentary between him, Bing, and Keire, Zack fails to acknowledge his abusive behavior and the toxic masculinity that still defines his life. This is a shame since the ending of Minding the Gap suggests Zack might finally be reckoning with his behavior. He drunkenly talks to Bing on a hillside overlooking a river and reflects, I cant let myself think the reason I struggled so hard is because I fucking suck. Thats what the drinking is about. I just want to hide. I just want to run away. And he fears what his abusive impact will be upon shaping his son. But during the 2020 commentary, Zack backtracks, suggesting that Nina was lying about the abuse and the proper way to deal with anything is to suppress ones emotions. Keire pushes back, suggesting that Zack was abusive and how he believes Nina. Keire regrets an earlier instance within the film when he thinks Zack would be incapable of such behavior since, ultimately, anyone can be violent, given the right conditions. Tellingly, Zack says he gets so much shit for saying, sometimes bitches need to get slapped. But he thinks its because he said bitches, not because of his approval of violence against women. Keire keeps trying to press Zack into understanding that thats a misogynistic comment reflecting abusive behavior without reducing Zack into being nothing more than an abuser. Yet Zack dismissively replies, People are just pussies nowadays. The films audio commentary is deeply unsettling, not simply because Zack remains unrepentant and unaccountable for his past behavior. Still, were seemingly eavesdropping in on dialogue among a group of people who used to be friends but really only have a documentary uniting them together and nothing more. The commentary is full of uncomfortable silences and, in many ways, undermines our assumptions yet again. Just as one might wrongly have dismissed Minding the Gap as being nothing more than a mindless skate film, one might equally assume that Zack might be more reflective and redeemable after having such a cathartic moment by the end of the documentary. But life doesnt operate in such an Aristotelian dramatic fashion where catharsis leads to changing ones behavior. People have an amazing ability to continue along with their shitty ways, despite showing glimmers of hope and self-reflectivity. Keire is the emotional center of the film. Hes the only character who remains close with his mother and extended family. We often catch him playing with younger cousins. Hes a sensitive person who deals with awkwardness and anger through an inordinate amount of laughter. As mentioned earlier, hes the only Black character of the crew of skaters. Although race is barely remarked upon by the characters, racism has ways of rearing its head periodically. For example, in one scene, Kerie hangs out with Zack and a few other white friends in the backyard drinking and smoking weed. Zack and his white friends huddle around a cell phone, watching footage of some racist comedian spouting the n-word. Keire stands to the side. He looks into the fire, disturbed, dazed, viscerally feeling separated from his adopted community. The sequence testifies to Lius perceptive gaze that catches the fleeting details occurring away from the action that allows us briefly into the inner lives of the people hes filming. Minding the Gap is not a treatise on working-class life and race in the United States. But through its painstaking attention to detail, it details how poverty and race impact peoples lives and the immense amount of effort it takes to escape from a dead-end, dysfunctional environment. For those who proclaim that people are solely responsible for their lifes choices, Minding the Gap shows what costs come with attempting to break cycles of violence, poverty, and addiction. It means splitting from your family, abandoning your friends, and ultimately reclaiming a sense of agency that much of your life had attempted to crush. This is the secret of skateboarding in Lius: it provides a temporary sanctuary from these crushing pressures when you can momentarily feel weightless, free from your past and where the future briefly hangs as free in the air as your board. Whether you come down smoothly or crash into the pavement is irrelevant for that temporary feeling of abandon. Tellingly scrawled in marker across Keires board is the motto: This Device Cures Heartache, which in many ways encapsulates the entire skating endeavor of these boys. But skateboarding alone is not enough. Minding the Gap ends on a positive note with Kerie escaping Rockford to move to Denver, Colorado. But, again, we see the emotional costs. He lies with his mother and cousins on a bed. She asks quietly and unconvincingly if he cant wait until next week to move. He cries as he hugs her. We watch him chip away ice from a mini-fridge that he struggles to lodge in the backseat of his beat-up car. Clothes and boxes are stacked inside the car, blocking its side windows. We watch him ride off down the street. In the Criterion Blu-ray extras, we learn the Keire has been thriving. Tony Hawk, skateboard guru, reflects upon how he found Keries skateboarding style so majestic that he has sought out Keire to make commercials and skate videos with. In the audio commentary, Keire mentions that he has a girlfriend and is a musician in Arizona. Yet, he notes, the mini-fridge he lugged all the way to Denver didnt work when he finally plugged it in at his new home, beautifully crystalizing a final metaphor regarding our futile desire to carry the past with us as we pursue new, unexpected directions in our lives that no longer have any place for it. iStock/Halfpoint (WASHINGTON, D.C.) -- Following President Joe Biden's win over former President Donald Trump in the November 3 election, Republicans have sought ways to change election laws and began pushing for new voting restrictions. More than 250 bills are being proposed in 43 states, of which sponsors say aim to stop fraud. However, the Brennan Center for Justice, a nonpartisan voter advocacy group, claims the bills will actually make it harder to vote. Furthermore, civil right advocates say the bills unfairly target minority voters who tend to lean to the left. The biggest fight is the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which bans racial discrimination at the polls. Section 2 of the act states that "denial or abridgment of the right of any citizen of the U.S. to vote an account of race or color" is illegal. While that section has not been used during arguments at the Supreme Court, but they could come into play Tuesday when the nation's highest court hears a major case to decide how new voting regulations hold up under federal civil rights law. The case centers on two Arizona election laws, one of which requires election officials to discard any ballots cast in the wrong precinct while the other measure bans third-party ballot collection. Democrats claim these laws discriminate against minority voters. Arizona's Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals agreed with Democrats, finding the state discards out-of-precinct ballots in a way that "disproportionately affects minority voters." Republicans claim the law is not discriminatory and helps ensure election integrity. More than 159 million Americans -- or 66.8 percent of the eligible voting population -- voted in last year's presidential election, which is a record turnout. The historic number of voters was assisted by the availability of mail-in ballots. 80 percent of Arizona voters cast their ballots via mail or via drop boxes. Thank you for reading! Please purchase a subscription to read our premium content. If you have a subscription, please log in or sign up for an account on our website to continue. In Los Angeles County, this winters Covid surge revealed a stark racial and economic divide. The disease killed Black and Latino residents at two to three times the rate of white Angelenos. We went inside the homes and hospital rooms of those hit hardest hit by the pandemic. Life, Death and Grief in Los Angeles With more than 10 million residents, Los Angeles County is the most-populous county in the United States. It is a world of extremes, with multimillion-dollar mansions at one end and cramped apartments housing multiple generations of the same family at the other. As the coronavirus once again tightened its grip around the region late last fall, it struck with stark precision the countys poorest and neediest residents: older Black people in South Los Angeles, Pacific Islanders in Inglewood, Latinos toiling in obscurity in essential jobs throughout the city. In the Boyle Heights neighborhood, east of downtown Los Angeles, where half of all residents live in poverty, the number of coronavirus infections in a 14-day period last month was six times as high as it was in Bel Air, one of Los Angeless wealthiest neighborhoods. The holidays unleashed the surge, and by Jan. 11, 10 residents in the county, on average, were testing positive for coronavirus every minute. One person was dying every eight minutes. Hospitals were overwhelmed; ambulances circled for hours, struggling to find emergency rooms that could take one more patient. That month, Barbara Ferrer, the countys health director, called it the worst disaster our county has experienced for decades. But it has been an unequal one. By mid-February, the virus had killed Black residents at nearly twice the rate and Latinos at nearly three times the rate of white Angelenos. It had exposed not just a sharp racial and ethnic divide but also the longstanding neglect of people who clean homes, care for the elderly and people with disabilities, sort and deliver packages and prepare, cook and serve the food we eat. This is a public-policy conundrum and systems failure of a whole other level because of the economic and the public-health consequences, said Sonja Diaz, founding director of the Latino Policy & Politics Initiative at the University of California, Los Angeles. Ultimately, weve failed to respond and to stop the bleeding because weve made decisions that either willfully or because of the lack of understanding have excluded the very populations that are critical to the states functioning and are also the ones that need our help the most. Emergency medical workers resuscitating a man in cardiac arrest who likely had Covid-19. Victor Lopez, 34, being rushed to the hospital, where he would test positive for Covid-19 pneumonia. He died on Feb. 14, becoming the fourth person in his family to succumb to the virus. Huntington Park is one of the Gateway Cities in southeastern Los Angeles County, a cluster of Black, brown and Asian communities that embody the pandemics lopsided devastation. It is the 14th-most-densely-populated city in the country, with 61,348 residents packed inside three square miles. The area is split by the 710 freeway, a congested transportation corridor for goods offloaded at the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles, the busiest container terminals in the Americas. The air is thick with pollution. The streets are full of meatpacking plants, warehouses, factories and distribution centers. Many residents are undocumented and were automatically excluded from much of the federal relief efforts. (The aid package approved by Congress in December allowed for benefits to children and spouses in mixed-status families, though children with two undocumented parents still did not qualify. President Bidens proposed $1.9 trillion package could extend benefits to all U.S.-born children, regardless of their parents immigration status.) Eleni Pappas, assistant fire chief in the Los Angeles County Fire Department division that serves the area, said paramedics have responded to three times as many medical calls a day in recent months in Huntington Park and surrounding communities. Theyre summoned, Pappas said, by residents who are hard-working people that do not have the ability to stay and work from home, who need a paycheck every two weeks to make ends meet and who, out of tradition, necessity or both, have grandmothers and aunts and uncles and everybody living together to share expenses and support each other. Cipriano Estrada most likely brought the coronavirus home from a garment factory in South Central Los Angeles, where he spent hours sewing buttons on clothes. Estrada lives in a one-bedroom apartment in Huntington Park with five other family members, and the virus soon spread to his wife, Ofelia Gonzalez, and to a granddaughter and another relative. Estrada, who is 58, most likely knew about the dangers of working in the factory, but necessity outweighed risk, as it often does for people living on the fringes. Black and Latino Angelenos are overrepresented among essential workers and have been disproportionately affected by the recoverys seesawing pattern, as the businesses that employ them have closed, reopened and closed again. What that means is a lot of economic desperation, said Manuel Pastor, a professor of sociology and the director of the Equity Research Institute at the University of Southern California. People then might be willing to take on work that would be risky because they havent been working, or that theyre having to stand in lines to get food, or that theyre at risk of losing their dwellings because theyre not able to make rent. Estrada and Gonzalezs youngest daughter, Violeta Estrada, who is 34, took time off from her job as a supervisor at a school cafeteria to care for her family as best as she could, giving them sips of electrolyte fluids to prevent dehydration and wrapping them in blankets when they shivered. Three masks, a face shield and disposable gloves were her sole protection. On Feb. 10, paramedics took Gonzalez, feeble and breathless, to a nearby community hospital. She resembled nothing of the hard-working little lady that never gives up, as Violeta described her, that woman who was always helping without asking for a favor in return. Estrada joined Gonzalez on Feb. 12; husband and wife wound up in the same hospital room, fighting for their lives. Days later, in a text message, Violeta said, I remain strong and with a lot of faith that my parents will heal and come out of that hospital soon with Gods willing. By late February, only her father had returned home, and the fear of the unknown was very real. Her mother was still in the hospital, on supplemental oxygen. Violeta Estrada caring for her father, Cipriano Estrada, in Huntington Park. Three generations of the family live in a one-bedroom apartment. Ofelia Gonzalez, Ciprianos wife and Violetas mother, being taken to the hospital. The couple would later share a room there. Violeta watching as emergency medical workers cared for her mother. Cipriano Estrada in Huntington Park. Three generations of the family live in a one-bedroom apartment. Ofelia Gonzalez, Ciprianos wife, being taken to the hospital. The couple would later share a room there. Violeta Estrada, Ofelias and Ciprianos daughter, watching as emergency medical workers cared for her mother. Black and brown patients have consistently filled the beds of the Covid-19 ward at LAC+USC Medical Center. It is one of four hospitals and 26 health centers operated by the county and one the largest public hospitals in the United States, a place where doctors and nurses, schooled by the chaos of the first onslaught last spring, provide whatever help they can, in some cases prolonging life just enough so relatives can witness a loved ones final moments. Those relatives most often appear as faces on a screen. If they are lucky, they might be there in person. Jose Vidal Campos, 93, at LAC+USC Medical Center during a video call with his family. He died of respiratory failure from Covid-19 on Feb. 10. A Covid-19 patient in Los Angeles County asking, Is this the end? A few hours later, doctors intubated the patient. Odessa Hawkins, 75, in the Covid-19 ward at the medical center. She was discharged to a rehabilitation facility on Feb. 12. Jose Vidal Campos, 93, at LAC+USC Medical Center during a video call with his family. He died of respiratory failure from Covid-19 on Feb. 10. A Covid-19 patient in Los Angeles County asking, Is this the end? A few hours later, doctors intubated the patient. Odessa Hawkins, 75, in the Covid-19 ward at the medical center. She was discharged to a rehabilitation facility on Feb. 12. Maria Salinas Cruz rested her hands against the glass door of her husbands hospital room on Jan. 28 as a respiratory therapist disconnected the ventilator that kept Felipe Cruz alive. Dont be afraid, Felipe, she said in Spanish as he lay dying. Be brave, my love, brave until the last moment. Felipe Cruz worked as an air-conditioning technician for most of his adult life, cleaning and repairing commercial and residential systems. His family is convinced that this is how the coronavirus found him. He eventually infected his wife and their three daughters, Maritza, 22; Esmeralda, 15; and Brisa, 14. Cruz didnt have health insurance or a retirement plan. His only choice to keep his girls housed and fed was to keep working. The whole pandemic, he worked as normal, which was something that we were grateful for, honestly, because, you know, the bills dont stop, the rent doesnt stop, Maritza said. He was admitted to the medical center on Jan. 1, his 48th birthday, and clung to life for 27 days, making progress until suddenly he wasnt. Maria Salinas Cruz watching as her husbands ventilator was disconnected. The final moments of Felipe Cruzs life. He was 48 and had spent 22 days in the intensive-care unit. In a hospital room nearby, Gabino Tlaxcala, 74, held on, lucid as he locked eyes with a doctor and initially told her he did not want to be intubated if his lungs stopped doing their job. Que sea lo que Dios diga, he said afterward. Whatever God says. Tlaxcala sounded exhausted, his voice barely rising over the swish of oxygen flowing into his body. He had been a cleaner at a hotel in Beverly Hills for 18 years while providing for his wife and raising their nine children. He died on Jan. 30. What would become of his family now? What would become of Cruzs family? Gabino Tlaxcala, 74, discussing his end-of-life care plan with a doctor. He died on Jan. 30. Though the numbers of new infections and deaths have been dropping in recent weeks, the pandemic has had a profound impact on Latinos in Los Angeles County. They have been pummeled by high rates of unemployment in the hospitality and leisure industries, where many of them work; they are among those who have received the lowest number of vaccines, despite the staggering infection rates within their communities; and according to research published in February in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, their life expectancy has been reduced three to four times as much as that of white residents over the past year. The state has taken a step toward addressing these disparities, unveiling the health equity metric, a set of standards on reopening that would require counties to close the gap on coronavirus positivity rates between the most affluent and disadvantaged enclaves. Covid-19 is a once-in-a-century pandemic, said Diaz, of the Latino Policy & Politics Initiative. But wildfires and natural disasters are not, income inequality is not, housing insecurity is not. How do we make the investments now that these vulnerable communities not only survive Covid-19 but thrive in recovery? Even at the height of the surge, as the number of coronavirus cases multiplied exponentially around him, Cruz, the air-conditioning technician, never brought up the possibility of not going to work. He knew his family needed him. For us, Maritza said, it was completely necessary for him to continue to work. The weeks passed, and he held on to hope hope that the pandemic would not last. But that is meaningless now, meaningless to a lot of families like his, because the end of the pandemic wouldnt bring back those they have lost. There are many daughters waiting for fathers who are not going to return, many wives waiting for husbands who are not going to return, his wife said. She is one of them. 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 KYODO NEWS - Mar 2, 2021 - 14:52 | All, Japan, 3/11 Fukushima A railway company in Iwate, northeastern Japan, has started operating train cars adorned with decorative plates symbolizing Kuwait as gratitude for the financial aid received from the Middle East country in the aftermath of the 2011 earthquake and tsunami. Sanriku Railway Co., which operates a train service along part of the coastline devastated by the disaster, purchased eight new carriages with financial aid from the Kuwaiti government worth 2 billion yen ($19 million). The railway firm will run the eight cars -- which feature four different designs of plate, including one depicting Kuwait Towers, an iconic symbol of the country -- until the end of this month. "We received a great contribution (from Kuwait) to help resume operations," Ichiro Nakamura, president of Sanriku Railway, said in a ceremony held at Miyako Station on Monday. Kuwaiti Ambassador to Japan Hasan Mohammad Zaman said he hopes the railway operator will continue to relay messages of hope for reconstruction from the disaster and the future. The track and stations along the line operated by Sanriku Railway were heavily damaged by the magnitude-9.0 quake and ensuing tsunami on March 11, 2011. The service was partially resumed in April 2013, before returning to full operation the following year. March 02 : Kangana Ranaut is in the soup. After a bailable warrant was issued against her by a Mumbai court on Monday, today, a Karnataka High Court refused to stay the proceedings set against her by a Judicial Magistrate First Class (JMF) in Tumkur. The bailable warrant was ordered in a defamation case filed by lyricist Javed Aktar in February. In another legal battle, the Karnataka High Court today refused to stay the proceedings initiated against her for her alleged derogatory remarks about the farmers protests. The court had earlier ordered the jurisdictional Kyathasandra police station to register an FIR against the actress for her alleged remarks on October 9, 2020. A complaint was filed against the actress by advocate Ramesh Naik L under Section 156(3) of the Code of Criminal Procedure. The complainant claimed that Kangana allegedly posted derogatory remarks against the farmers on her Twitter account on September 21, 2020. People who spread misinformation and rumours about CAA that caused riots are the same people who are now spreading misinformations about Farmers bill and causing terror in the nation, they are terrorists. You very well know what I said but simply like to spread misinformation https://t.co/oAnBTX0Drb Kangana Ranaut (@KanganaTeam) September 21, 2020 The petitioner alleged that the actress Twitter content has a clear intention to hurt the people who are opposing the Farmers Billspassed by the Central government. The petition further alleged that the tweet may lead to a collision between different groups. Ranaut had appealed to the Karnataka High Court to quash the FIR against her. Her advocate Rizwan Siddiquee had presented an application before the court for a stay on the proceedings. However, Justice HP Sandesh directed that first she should comply with the office objection and then only the court can consider her submissions. The court granted one week's time to Kangana to comply with office objection. The next hearing will take place on March 18, 2021. Kangana had vocally opposed the farmers' protests and expressed her anger through her Twitter posts and personal videos. The actress had also urged that those who supported the farmers agitation should be jailed. THE INFORMATION CONTAINED WITHIN THIS ANNOUNCEMENT IS DEEMED BY QUETZAL CAPITAL PLC TO CONSTITUTE INSIDE INFORMATION AS STIPULATED UNDER REGULATION 11 OF THE MARKET ABUSE (AMENDMENT) (EU EXIT) REGULATIONS 2019/310 (AS AMENDED). ON THE PUBLICATION OF THIS ANNOUNCEMENT VIA A REGULATORY INFORMATION SERVICE, THIS INSIDE INFORMATION IS NOW CONSIDERED TO BE IN THE PUBLIC DOMAIN. 2 March 2021 Quetzal Capital Plc ("Quetzal Capital" or the "Company") Appointment of Peterhouse Capital as Corporate Adviser and Corporate Broker Fundraising Board Changes Change of Corporate Adviser The Company is pleased to announce that Peterhouse Capital Limited has been appointed as the Company's AQSE Growth Market Corporate Adviser and Corporate Broker with immediate effect. Fundraising The Company also announces that it has raised gross proceeds of 431,750 through the placing of 61,678,572 Ordinary Shares of 0.1p each, at a price of 0.7p per share (the "Placing"). The placing was conducted with a range of new investors including the entrepreneur Chris Akers who will hold 8,839,286 ordinary shares, representing 9.4% of the issued share capital on completion. Peterhouse acted as corporate broker to the Placing. Application will be made to admit the placing shares to trading on AQSE Growth Market, which is expected to occur on or about 8 March 2021. Board Appointment The Company is also pleased to announce the appointment of John Edward Taylor as a Non-Executive Director of the Company with immediate effect. John's most recent focus has been on assisting small cap listed companies with their development. Prior to this, he spent 18 months working in private equity backed portfolio companies, driving operational turnaround initiatives and implementing costing systems. He spent over 20 years in the Army Air Corps, leaving in 2015 with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. John's is currently a non-executive director of BrandShield Systems Plc, an AIM quoted technology investment company which recently concluded an RTO transaction with Two Shields Investments Plc. He is also the non-executive Chairman of Asimilar Group plc, an AIM listed investing company focused on investing in high growth potential companies in the disruptive tech space. Until July 2019, John was also a director of Bidstack Group Plc, the AIM quoted native in-video game advertising company which delivers programmatic digital advertising utilising big data analytics to deliver relevant advertising. John assisted to RTO transaction between Bidstack and KIN Group Plc. John is also a non-executive Director of AIM quoted Pathfinder Minerals Plc, a company seeking to re-establish an interest in a mineral sands licence in Mozambique and was a non-executive director of Sabien Technology Group plc, an AIM quoted provider of energy reduction technologies. Board Resignation The Company further notes that Mark Jackson has resigned as a Non-Executive Director with immediate effect. The Board wishes to thank him for his contribution to the Company. As part of Mr Jackson's resignation, he will be paid a cash sum of 22,066, being a loan Mark made to the Company. Further, another outstanding convertible loan note of 17,500 provided by Mark, will convert into 5,833,333 ordinary shares at a price of 0.3p, in full and final settlement of this outstanding convertible loan note. Following the loan conversion and Placing, Mark will be interested in 9,893,333 Ordinary Shares, representing 10.49% of the enlarged issued share capital. Simon Grant-Rennick has also agreed to convert his convertible loan note of 17,500 into 5,833,333 new Ordinary Shares. Simon is also investing 20,000 into the Placing. As a result of the transaction Simon Grant-Rennick's beneficial interest in the ordinary shares of the Company will increase to 11,190,476 ordinary shares, representing 11.86% on the enlarged issued share capital. Of these ordinary shares, 8,333,333 Ordinary Shares will be held in Alpha Corporate Services, a company Simon is an adviser to, but has no beneficial interest, and 2,857,143 ordinary shares will be held in his own name. Further information on John Edward Taylor (aged 49): John Taylor has participated in the placing and will have an interest of 2,500,000 ordinary shares in the Company, representing 2.65 % of the Company's issued share capital. Current Directorships Previous Directorships Asimilar Group plc AS Group Ventures Limited BrandShield Systems plc Bidstack Group plc IM Minerals Limited Sabien Technology Group plc Low 6 Security Trustee Ltd Pathfinder Minerals plc Ugly Panda LLP Except as set out above, there is no further information regarding John Taylor, that is required to be disclosed pursuant to Rule 4.9 of the AQSE Growth Market Access Rulebook. Simon Grant-Rennick, Executive Chairman, said: "We are delighted to have concluded this placing which will give the Company added funds to pursue its strategy. We are delighted to welcome a strong calibre of shareholders on to the share register who will assist us as we look to drive real value for shareholders going forwards. I would also like to thank Mark Jackson for his pivotal influence and unswerving commitment to the Company to date and welcome John Taylor to the Board." Following the issue of the 61,678,572 placing shares and the conversion of the convertible loan notes, referred to above, the Company will have 94,354,068 ordinary shares in issue. The above figure of 94,354,068 Ordinary Shares may be used by shareholders in the Company as the denominator for the calculations by which they will determine if they are required to notify their interest in, or a change to their interest in, the share capital of the Company under the Financial Conduct Authority's Disclosure and Transparency Rules. The Directors of the Company take responsibility for the contents of this announcement. Enquiries: Quetzal Capital Plc Simon Grant-Rennick: +44 7973 253 124 AQSE Growth Market Corporate Adviser Peterhouse Capital Limited Guy Miller / Allie Feuerlein Tel: +44 (0) 207 469 0930 NASA will review an engine failure last month that caused Space Exploration Technologies Corp.s Falcon 9 rocket booster to land in the sea after a satellite launch, as the U.S. agency prepares for the next crewed flight to the International Space Station in April. One of the Falcon 9s nine Merlin engines shut down Feb. 15 during ascent because of a hole in one of the covers, or boots, around the top of each engine, Benji Reed, SpaceXs director of human spaceflight, said Monday at a NASA news conference. The hole allowed hot gas into the engine, which shut off as designed, Reed said. But that meant that the rocket had insufficient thrust during its landing burn to reach a drone ship stationed in the Atlantic Ocean. The engine fault didnt prevent the rocket from lifting SpaceXs Starlink satellites into orbit. Reed said the boot was one of the oldest components on one of the companys older Falcon 9 rockets, which are designed to fly as many as 10 times without major overhauls. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration plans to understand that anomaly before the April flight with astronauts, Steve Stich, the agencys commercial crew manager, told reporters as he discussed that mission and a busy April at the space station. We will follow along with SpaceXs investigation and we will look at that, Stich said. Boeing Delay NASA also confirmed Monday that an April 2 test flight for Boeing Co.s Starliner will be delayed. No new date has been set, the agency said. The delay was partly due to productivity losses from the extreme cold in Texas last month and widespread loss of power in the Houston area, NASA said. Boeings first test flight with astronauts is tentatively set for September, Stich said. NASA also provided an update on several other items at the briefing: SpaceXs crewed launch scheduled for April 20 is likely to move a few days because of orbital mechanics and the space stations positioning NASA plans to relocate the SpaceX Dragon now at the station to a different node so that the crew arriving next month on another Dragon vehicle can berth in the now-occupied spot NASA wants to return the astronauts from SpaceXs Crew-1 mission, who are currently at the space station, before May 9 SpaceXs next crewed flight will be with the Dragon vehicle that the company flew in May 2020 on its first test flight with astronauts NASA is nearing a new arrangement with Russias space agency for additional seats on its Soyuz rocket, with an announcement expected this month. NASA officials said they are working to allow for Russian cosmonauts to fly aboard the Boeing and SpaceX vehicles while still using Soyuz for NASA astronauts. Now read: Starlink will change satellite Internet in South Africa and take on fibre To ban or not to ban. The future of cryptocurrencies hangs in balance as the Indian government considers law to ban them. The debate is raging if cryptocurrencies like Bitcoins hold any real value or their prices just move on speculations. If crypto advocators are to be believed the concept of cryptocurrencies is no different from how Uber, Amazon operate. They say a crypto-linked economy can create a low-cost model in which you can deliver services globally at a larger scale. "Take any of our centralised services that have global presence such as Uber or Amazon. These are potentially middlemen. Cryptos are no different. They will create a decentralised way of delivering the services that will get developed around it. It's a long-term view, but we are moving towards it. Cryptocurrencies are like decentralised Amazon and Uber services," says Vijay Ayyar, head of Asia Pacific at cryptocurrency exchange Luno in Singapore. The exchange, whose India launch got delayed due to the government's hard stance on crypto, operates in countries like Indonesia and Malaysia. Revenues for the government Ayyar sees value in cryptocurrencies for the government. Not just can it help in attracting more investments in the country, it may open up opportunities for new businesses, he says. "This could well be a revenue-generating source for the Indian government. There are good indications that crypto is becoming the next big thing in the Internet revolution world over. Big institutions are looking at crypto. Major countries are regulating it, not banning it. India should take the same road." In fact, in big countries like Europe, the US and Japan, one can avail services with one's Bitcoins. "In some countries like US, UK, Australia and Japan, you can pay for a meal with bitcoins and it's totally legal. We have customers in Australia that use our app to pay for goods and services," says Rahul Pagidipati, CEO, ZebPay. Blockchain without Bitcoin Talking about another government perception that the blockchain is good, but not cryptocurrencies, Ayyar says both should not exist in isolation. "You can build a blockchain with or without a cryptocurrency, but it might just end up like any random database that you can build with 10 computers. That is not real innovation. The real innovation will come from having it at a scale around a public network; something like a blockchain with an associated crypto-economic system that helps you manage the demand and supply of the resource that the network will be providing," says Ayyar. The use-cases for cryptocurrencies are under discussion. The stakeholders are ready to follow regulations that may come up. Just as there is good and bad of every innovation that has happened in the past, they say, cryptocurrencies deserve a chance. "If you want to maintain a central bank democracy, we're not here to threaten it. We've always followed the law. We have better KYC standards than many banks right now. Regulate cryptocurrencies and we'll comply with the law," says Pagidipati of ZebPay. We'll have to wait and watch if Bitcoin will indeed become a next big thing in India or face an unceremonious exit. By Sun Xingwei, Liu Lu and Li Ye Members of the 15th Chinese military medical expert team of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) to Cambodia were awarded the "Peace Knight Medals" by the Cambodian Defense Ministry on January 18 in recognition of their outstanding contributions in helping Cambodia fight the COVID-19 epidemic and improving the level of diagnosis and treatment at the Preah Ket Mealea Hospital, the general hospital of Royal Cambodian Army. As the head of the team, Chen Wei traveled to Cambodia early in January 2020 and started his career for foreign aid life overseas assistance since then. In the face of the COVID-19 epidemic, Chen and his colleagues are dedicated to the local fight against the epidemic. They have been busy establishing a hospital infection management system, setting up personnel control procedures, formulating suspected case diagnosis and treatment specifications, improving the entire process of COVID-19 prevention and treatment mechanisms, etc., which had won high recognition from their Cambodian counterparts. The Preah Ket Mealea Hospital where the Chinese expert team was stationed has not had any COVID-19 cases so far, setting a benchmark for local epidemic prevention and control. "It's not enough to provide medical services solely. The key point of medical assistance is to help Cambodian counterparts improve their skills and train an elite local medical team that can't be taken away," said Chen. Through live teaching, training courses and other methods, the Chinese expert team provided assistance to Cambodian medical staff based on local conditions. At present, the Preah Ket Mealea Hospital has been able to independently conduct some challenging operations that used to be impossible, and the professional level of the medical staff has been effectively improved. Furthermore, thanks to the coordination of Chen and his team, the first medical team for continuous renal replacement therapy (CRRT ) was established and the hemoperfusion and plasma exchange therapy have been independently carried out for the first time in Cambodia. Meanwhile, Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation (ECMO), known as one of the three major life support therapies for critically ill patients, will also be introduced to the Preah Ket Mealea Hospital, which underpins the treatment of more critically ill patients. "The Chinese military doctors have saved my life. Thank you from the bottom of my heart," said a farmer from Takeo Province, who came all the way to the hospital to express heartfelt gratitude to Chinese military doctors one morning late last year. A month before, he accidentally ingested pesticides. Having been treated with gastric lavage therapy at the local clinic, he did not turn better and even entered a light coma. The Preah Ket Mealea Hospital admitted him and then urgently asked the Chinese expert team for help. Chen, together with the team members and the Cambodian colleagues, stayed at the ward for two consecutive days until the patient regained consciousness and turned out of danger, who recovered and was discharged a week later. Lieutenant General Ly Sovan, director of the Preah Ket Mealea Hospital, said, "15 years of continuous assistance provided by the Chinese military medical expert team truly reflects the sincere friendship between Cambodia and China as well as the two militaries." The work of the Chinese military medical expert team to Cambodia is a vivid epitome of strengthened cooperation between the two countries in the past 15 years, which also demonstrates China's firm commitment to building a China-Cambodia community of shared future. Healthcare personnel perform CPR on a patient inside a coronavirus disease (COVID-19) unit at United Memorial Medical Center in Houston, Texas, on Dec. 12, 2020. (Callaghan O'Hare/Reuters) Chinas Top COVID-19 Expert Predicts the CCP Virus Outbreak May End This Summer A top Chinese COVID-19 expert said on Mar. 1 that he hoped the CCP virus outbreak might end this summer or next year. On a video conference organized by the U.S. Brookings Institution, director of Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) George Fu Gao, head of Chinese National Health Commissions expert group Zhong Nanshan, chief epidemiologist of Chinese CDC Wu Zunyou, and director of infectious disease department of Shanghai Huashan Hospital Zhang Wenhong, joined with several American medical experts to talk about the current CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus pandemic. Recognizing the uncertainty of the vaccines effectiveness, side effects, and peoples unwillingness to be vaccinated, most of the experts still suggested everyone be vaccinated as soon as possible. Thomas Frieden, former director of the U.S. CDC asked: How long will [vaccine-induced] immunity last? How rare are serious adverse effects [of COVID-19 vaccines]? Will people trust the vaccine? These questions have no answer so far. Zhong, who believes the CCP virus will keep on mutating and exist in the world like influenza, urged the pharmaceutical businesses and medical world: Modified vaccines and cocktail antibodies are emergent. He said they are the most effective COVID-19 treatments so far. A vile of COVID-19 vaccine is held by Advanced Pharmacist Rachael Raleigh at Gold Coast University Hospital in Gold Coast, Australia on Feb. 22, 2021. (Glenn Hunt/Getty Images) Pandemic Gao, Zhong, and Wu are the three top COVID-19 experts in China. Their opinions have been promoted by Chinese state-run media since the first CCP virus outbreak in Wuhan city, central Chinas Hubei Province, back to January 2020. Gao said in his speech that there are too many unknowns about the CCP virus, and the Chinese CDC has to deal with the pandemic based on common sense and knowledge, such as the best prevention methods should be 3Ws: wearing a mask, watching distance, and washing hands. Gao hoped the vaccine can end the outbreak in the coming summer or next year. However, Zhong and Wu disagreed with him. Wu questioned the efficiency of the vaccine and Zhong worried about the newly appeared variants. Its almost impossible to eliminate the pandemic in a short time, Wu said. Zhong said, The mutated COVID-19 viruses decreased the effectiveness of vaccination, and also decreased the effectiveness of antibody treatment. Zhong even believes that a mutated CCP virus will cause a new pandemic wave around the world. Medical workers move a COVID-19 patient into an ambulance at a hospital overrun by the pandemic in Cheb, Czech Republic on Feb. 12, 2021. (Petr David Josek/AP Photo/File) Vaccination The Chinese experts at the conference said they trust the emergency use approved vaccines no matter where the vaccines are from. They said they believe these vaccines can prevent the outbreak of the current pandemic. In fact, the Chinese regime asked Chinese people to be vaccinated as far back as last summer. An internal document that was issued on June 15, 2020, that The Epoch Times obtained shows that Chinese state-run TravelSky Technology mandated some of its employees take the COVID-19 vaccines during the initial trials. However, only a few Chinese have been vaccinated after eight months. Zhong presented a set of numbers at Mondays conference revealing the current status. For the raw number of vaccines that each country has received for its citizens, the United States leads the world, with 72.81 million doses on Feb. 27. For the number of COVID-19 vaccination doses available per 100 people, Israel had 92.46 percent and was the leader as of last Saturday. China only has 3.56 [COVID-19 vaccination doses available per 100 people on Feb. 28], Zhong said. The United States had 22 [on Feb. 27]. A health worker shows a dose of CoronaVac vaccine during a COVID-19 vaccination campaign in Ankara, Turkey on Jan. 27, 2021. (Adem Altan/AFP via Getty Images) Since last summer, Chinese leader Xi Jinping and the regimes diplomats used COVID-19 vaccines as a tool to strengthen relations with developing countries, in an effort that has been called vaccine diplomacy. The Chinese regime has exported its vaccines around the world. However, people in China dont trust Chinese-made vaccines, according to internal documents that The Epoch Times obtained. Hundreds of Chinese workers overseas were even diagnosed with COVID-19 after receiving the Chinese-made vaccines. In December 2020, Chinese Shanghai Fosun Pharma ordered 100 million doses of the vaccine developed by German drug company BioNTech, the partner of U.S. Pfizer, and the vaccines are expected to be delivered this year. On Feb. 14, a 33-year-old healthy Indonesian nurse died 17 days after being vaccinated with a first dose of the Chinese-made CoronaVac vaccine, bringing more questions about the safety of the vaccines from China. A new age in digital banking has emerged. For some credit unions, that might sound like just another wave of technology investment, more competition from digital challengers, and the threat of falling further behind. The new age of digital, though, isnt about technology alone, its about growth, and thats good news for credit unions. The answer to todays growth challenge is niche banking, which is rooted in what credit unions have always done well: build and maintain relationships with people they understand. First, Get Comfortable with Speed Speed to market will be critical for successful growth. Banking alternatives, from mobile payment apps to disintermediation by peer-to-peer lending marketplaces and PayPal to new financing programs by global brands like Google and Amazon, are already moving at the speed of digital. They are quickly and exponentially increasing the options consumers have for storing and accessing their money. Credit unions must go to market quickly with digital experiences that forge deeper engagement by integrating these revenue drivers into digital strategies: Data and insights. Banking transactions are data-rich. By leveraging the data, insights, and analytics of millions of member interactions, credit unions can craft personalized, value-added experiences. This is a significant opportunity to build loyalty and help solve real problems. Greater value. Get creative to find ways to differentiate in a sea of sameness by developing new revenue streams that deliver true customer value and meet the unmet needs of specific target markets. Expanded reach. Digital breaks through the barriers of geography and expands reach by identifying new niche segments and going to market with solutions designed to meet specific and unique needs. Niche Is the New Local for Credit Unions The fertile ground for driving growth is offering very specific, differentiated value to niche markets through personalized experiences, particularly to markets previously underserved and overlooked by traditional banks. Fintechs and challengers have made huge strides here by uncovering and quickly responding to new opportunities. Theyre providing flexible application and onboarding, low-cost products, and supportive services that improve financial well-being. Credit unions can do this too, and better, by combining human insights and customer relationships with digital capabilities to offer experiences that meet needs and solve problems for niche groups. This expands reach beyond local geographical boundaries and creates new communities. The new age of digital banking reimagines the idea of community. Heres how challengers and some traditional financial institutions are doing it: Sable offers a full suite of products that makes credit available to immigrants even before they have social security numbers. offers a full suite of products that makes credit available to immigrants even before they have social security numbers. PayActiv is working with employers to extend lower-wage employees payday advances as an alternative to financially crippling traditional payday lending products. is working with employers to extend lower-wage employees payday advances as an alternative to financially crippling traditional payday lending products. Esquire Bank helps attorneys finance case costs with rates and fees lower than typical financing through non-bank alternatives. helps attorneys finance case costs with rates and fees lower than typical financing through non-bank alternatives. BankMD targets recent medical school graduates saddled with education loans. A niche focus has an added operational benefit because hyper-relevant is hyper-efficient. You limit marketing waste and maximize growth potential by getting the most value from limited resources, including money, time and talent. You focus your content distribution on the relevant channels most likely to touch the people in your niche. With niche banking, theres also the opportunity to expand sales channels by partnering with other brands serving the same niche markets. Word of mouth travels quickly within these segments and builds long-term value and loyalty. How to Execute for Growth There are many ways to structure digital bank capabilities for growth while maintaining operational efficiencya stand-alone innovation lab, a distinct digital line of business or integrating innovation into all new and existing operations. Coastal Community Bank in Everett, Washington, operates a traditional banking division and a CCBX business unit focused on Banking-as-a-Service and fintech partnerships, sharing fixed infrastructure costs to eliminate redundancy but dedicating distinct teams to structure partnerships, manage implementation and lead program management. Still a small percentage of overall earnings, CCBX is the fastest-growing, most profitable division for Coastal Community Bank and a key driver of a market valuation that is significantly higher than its peers. When digital efforts are managed as distinct units, it enables clear insight into performance and allows institutions to analyze results quickly and adjust as needed to increase revenue and profitability. The barrier to entry for digital is also lower now, which is especially good news for smaller credit unions. There are many more technology partners to work with beyond the big three core providers, and APIs have opened possibilities to test and learn without the burden of core conversions and large, fixed-project expenses. Some providers are even offering to forgo up-front expenses and structure agreements contingent on outcomes and shared success, dramatically reducing risk. Digital Alone Is Not a Growth Strategy To achieve next-generation growth and expand reach, credit unions must leverage the power of digital for new, differentiated products, services, delivery and business models focused on niche markets and their specific needs. It will require leaning into innovative new approaches to delivering personalized solutions and dynamic experiences. But its rooted in a very familiar approach. Challengers dont own digital, and digital alone is not a growth strategy. It must be paired with people, processes, technology, and go-to-market segmentation strategies. As credit unions face intensified competition from progressive challengers, they must create better, personalized digital experiences, not simply more digital transactions. Vijayawada, Mar 2 (UNI) Andhra Pradesh Governor Biswa Bhusan Harichandan and his wife Suprava Harichandan were administered the first dose of COVID-19 vaccine at the new Government Hospital in Gunadala here on Tuesday. The Governor and his wife received the first dose of Covid-19 vaccine in the third phase of vaccination programme. The Governor and his wife were administered the Covaxin vaccine which is fully developed and manufactured in India by Bharat Biotech International Limited (BBIL) in Hyderabad. Help Identify Marshall County Theft Suspects By West Kentucky Star Staff MARSHALL COUNTY - The Marshall County Sheriff's Office is asking for the public's help with identifying two shoplifting suspects.On Monday, deputies were dispatched to Dollar General on U.S. Hwy 68 near Moors Camp Highway for a shoplifting complaint.Anyone with information is asked to contact the Marshall County Sheriff's Office. Regulatory News: Air Liquide (Paris:AI) increases its presence in Kazakhstan through its 75% owned joint venture Air Liquide Munay Tech Gases (ALMTG). The joint venture will invest up to 86 million euros to acquire hydrogen and nitrogen production units from Atyrau refinery owned by KazMunayGas and to modernize them. In the framework of a new long-term agreement, ALMTG will operate these assets to supply industrial gases to the Atyrau refinery. Up to 200 million Nm3 of hydrogen and up to 50 million Nm3 of nitrogen will be produced annually on the site for different production processes, including desulfurization of fuels. Air Liquide will bring its technical know-how, digital, and energy optimization expertise to modernize the assets at Atyrau and improve the overall CO2 footprint of the site. These assets will be connected to Air Liquide's Smart Innovative Operations Center in order to optimize their energy consumption as well as their flexibility and reliability. ALMTG is a respectively 75% and 25% owned joint venture between Air Liquide and KazMunayGaz (KMG), the Kazakhstan National Oil Gas company. For more than 2 years now, ALMTG has been successfully operating hydrogen and nitrogen production units for KMG's refinery of Pavlodar. In the context of a contract announced in October 2019, ALMTG is also building a nitrogen production unit for a new petrochemical complex in Karabatan, near Atyrau, north of the Caspian sea, to be started in 2021. Francois Jackow, Executive Vice-President and a member of the Executive Committee supervising Europe Industries activities, said: "We are pleased to reinforce the collaboration we have been building with the market leader KazMunayGas since our entry in Kazakhstan. This new agreement illustrates our continued commitment to providing long-term expertise and innovative environmentally responsible solutions to our customers. With this investment the most important we have yet announced in the country to increase energy efficiency and provide reliable supply, we will contribute to the modernization and development of the country's industry." Air Liquide Munay Tech Gases LLP, Kazakhstan Established in 2016, Air Liquide Munay Tech Gases LLP is a joint venture between Air Liquide and KazMunayGaz NC, the Kazakhstan National Oil and Gas company with respective 75% and 25% ownership. The headquarters of the company is located in Nur-Sultan (ex. Astana). A world leader in gases, technologies and services for Industry and Health, Air Liquide is present in 78 countries with approximately 64,500 employees and serves more than 3.8 million customers and patients. Oxygen, nitrogen and hydrogen are essential small molecules for life, matter and energy. They embody Air Liquide's scientific territory and have been at the core of the company's activities since its creation in 1902. Air Liquide's ambition is to be a leader in its industry, deliver long term performance and contribute to sustainability with a strong commitment to climate change and energy transition at the heart of its strategy. The company's customer-centric transformation strategy aims at profitable, regular and responsible growth over the long term. It relies on operational excellence, selective investments, open innovation and a network organization implemented by the Group worldwide. Through the commitment and inventiveness of its people, Air Liquide leverages energy and environment transition, changes in healthcare and digitization, and delivers greater value to all its stakeholders. Air Liquide's revenue amounted to more than 20 billion euros in 2020. Air Liquide is listed on the Euronext Paris stock exchange (compartment A) and belongs to the CAC 40, EURO STOXX 50 and FTSE4Good indexes View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210302005993/en/ Contacts: Corporate Communications media@airliquide.com Investor Relations IRTeam@airliquide.com " " Thoreau believed in practicing what he preached. He refused to pay a poll tax because it went to a government that supported slavery and spent a night in jail for his protest. It formed the seed of his book Civil Disobedience. Bettman/Getty Images/HowStuffworks Henry David Thoreau is one of America's most beloved and misunderstood writers. He's famous for retreating to a rustic cabin at Walden Pond in the Massachusetts woods for two years to ruminate on nature and philosophy, but Thoreau wasn't a hermit or a cranky misanthrope. He was, in a word, a "questioner," says Jeffrey S. Cramer, curator of collections at the Thoreau Institute at Walden Woods, and author or editor of nearly a dozen books about Thoreau and his Transcendentalist friend Ralph Waldo Emerson. "Thoreau is constantly asking questions in his own writings, both to himself and to his reader, that make you evaluate your life and how you're living it," says Cramer. "If you ask yourself some of the questions that Thoreau asks in his writing and try to answer them honestly, it will, I believe, direct you toward being a better human being." Born in 1817 in Concord, Massachusetts, Thoreau never married and worked as a teacher, lecturer, handyman, pencil-maker (his father's business) and a writer. His best-known works, "Walden" (1854) and "Civil Disobedience" (originally titled "Resistance to Civil Government" in 1849) weren't bestsellers in his lifetime, but have since become classics of American prose and guidebooks for truth-seekers of all ages. The few surviving photographs of Thoreau show a dour-looking man with tousled hair and a neck beard, but Cramer says that Thoreau was far from a sourpuss. He had a tremendous sense of humor, was beloved by children for telling wild stories and even played pranks on his buddy Emerson. If you're still on the fence about Thoreau (pronounced "Tho-row," by the way, with the accent on the first syllable), read the following five quotes that exemplify the straight-talking depth of one of America's most influential thinkers and writers. Advertisement 1. "If I am not I, who will be?" Thoreau was unapologetically true to himself and encouraged others to be. He was very much his own man, uninterested in conforming to the expectations of 19th-century society. Thoreau didn't care for organized religion or government, and thought that slaving away at a job six days a week just to buy more material possessions was a waste. Cramer is so moved by this quote that he thinks it should be carved in stone over every schoolhouse in America and recited daily in classrooms. "Can you imagine how differently every student would feel about who they are?" asks Cramer. "We need to be proud of who we are, whatever that looks like, and live the life that only we are destined to live." Bonus quote: "A man does best when he is most himself." Advertisement 2. "What does education often do! It makes a straight-cut ditch of a free meandering brook." Thoreau's first job was as a teacher. He was fired after only a few weeks at the Concord Center School because he refused to use corporal punishment, so Thoreau and his brother John opened their own school. There they experimented with radical ideas for the time, like open dialogue between students and teachers, and experiential learning. "If you want to learn what a huckleberry is, you don't sit in a classroom and read a botany book or have the teacher recite from a botany book that the students then memorize, as they did in those days," says Cramer. "In Thoreau's school, you went out to the field, you found huckleberries, you picked huckleberries and you tasted huckleberries." Even today, Cramer worries that students have too much of their lives "prescribed" for them by parents and teachers who preach that good grades, the "right" college and a well-paid career is the only recipe for happiness. "That's when education becomes this 'straight-cut ditch' that Thoreau was talking about," says Cramer. "It takes a 'free meandering student' and puts them on this very narrow path." Bonus quote: "I am still a learner, not a teacher, feeding somewhat omnivorously, browsing both stalk & leaves." Advertisement 3. "Surely joy is the condition of life." "Joy" and "laughter" are not words that come to mind when you think of Henry David Thoreau and the other members of his Transcendentalist crew. But according to Cramer, Thoreau loved to sing, dance and play the flute, and his public lectures literally left people rolling in the aisles. "We look at iconic figures like Thoreau and Emerson and we put this layer of seriousness on them," says Cramer. "We forget that they were real people and they had a great sense of humor." And although Thoreau wasn't a churchgoer, he was "religious" in the sense that he saw the divine in everything, especially the natural world. In an essay titled " Walking," Thoreau laments, "How little appreciation of the beauty of the landscape there is among us!" For Thoreau, watching the leaves change colors in the fall, or gazing at a distant mountain range, inspired a childlike sense of joy that he yearned to share with his readers. Bonus quote: "Do not hire a man who does your work for money, but him who does it for love of it." " " This illustration of the exterior of Thoreau's cabin at Walden Pond, Massachusetts was on the title page of his book "Walden." Culture Club/Getty Images Advertisement 4. "If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer." Thoreau did some of his best thinking when he was off alone in a secluded place like the cabin at Walden Pond. But even during that two-year stint in the woods, he didn't cut himself off completely from society. "People have this idea that he went off to the woods and never saw a soul, and that is not the case," says Cramer. "When he lived at Walden Pond, he was going to town almost daily to visit with friends, to go to the post office, to do various things. And people would visit him at Walden Pond." As many of us have realized during the coronavirus pandemic, humans aren't meant to exist in isolation. But even the sociable Thoreau recognized the importance of being your own best companion first, so that when you are alone, says Cramer, "you still have yourself." Bonus quote: "A man thinking or working is always alone, let him be where he will. Solitude is not measured by the miles of space that intervene between a man and his fellows." Advertisement 5. "Did ever a man try heroism, magnanimity, truth, sincerity, and find that there was no advantage in them?" Thoreau was a profoundly principled person who believed in practicing what he preached. He thought that slavery was a despicable practice, for example, so he took his own small stand. During his stay at Walden Pond, he refused to pay a poll tax because it went to a government that supported slavery. He spent a night in jail for his protest and it formed the seed of "Civil Disobedience." But Thoreau's abolitionism didn't end with a poll tax protest. Cramer says that the Thoreau family home in Concord was a stop on the Underground Railroad, and that after nursing runaway enslaved people to health, Thoreau would accompany them on the train north to Canada. "When he felt that it was safe and there were no slave catchers around, Thoreau would jump off the train and walk back to Concord," says Cramer. "Even if he didn't join the Abolitionist Party and attend meetings, Thoreau was doing his part in ways that many of his abolitionist neighbors wouldn't dare to do." Bonus quote: "When the desire to be better than we are is really sincere, we are instantly elevated, and so far better already." Now That's Cool Thoreau's writings on the beauty and importance of "wild" places were deeply inspiring to John Muir, the father of the American environmental movement, who first read Thoreau and Emerson in 1862, the year Thoreau died. [March 01, 2021] BIGtoken's Top 10 Data Privacy Headlines From February BIGtoken, Inc., the first privacy focused, opt-in, data marketplace, where people can own and monetize their data, publishes a monthly report on the top 10 stories in data privacy. U.S. data privacy legislation took a step forward throughout February. Virginia state lawmakers passed the Senate bill to provide a basic level of comprehensive data protection to citizens; the Calhoun v. Google (News - Alert) court hearing took place to discuss whether online data is personal property under California law. 1. "Virginia Passes Data Privacy Law," ACA International - February 19, 2021 ? On Friday February 19, the Virginia Consumer Data Protection Act was officially passed by the Virginia House of Representatives (89-9) and Senate (39-0). Governor Ralph Northam is expected to sign within the next couple weeks. If Northam does sign, the bill will take effect January 1, 2023. 2. "Court Hearing in California Federal Court on Thursday, Feb. 18 may answer the question: do you own your online data?" - Data Dividend Project - February 19, 2021 ? On Thursday February 18, the California Federal Court held a hearing on the lawsuit against Google for its alleged data privacy violations around its Chrome browser. Judge Koh asked many questions throughout the hearing, but focused on one very important question, is a consumer's online data considered personal property under California law? 3. "TikTok owner agrees to $92 million privacy settlement with U.S. users," NBC News - February 25, 2021 ? ByteDance, the Chinese company that owns TikTok, finally agreed to a $92 million settlement to settle data privacy claims from some U.S. TikTok users. Although ByteDance still disagrees with the claims, they reached a settlement to avoid further litigation Facebook (News - Alert) is scrambling to rectify the loss of WhatsApp users by developing an easier, more accessible approach to explaining privacy updates. While Apple's new App Store privacy labels are receiving favorable reviews despite some flaws. 4. "Signal vs WhatsApp: A look at five privacy features" MSN - February 8, 2021 ? A comparison of the two apps' privacy features helps to show the difference between the different security elements within the apps. 5. "Facebook admits it bungled its WhatsApp privacy policy update," - MSN - February 18, 2021 ? Facebook published a blog post apologizing for the miscommunication between WhatsApp and its users about their privacy policy update, promising that they are working to "make our voice clear moving forward." 6. "Following backlash, WhatsApp to roll out in-app banner to better explain its privacy update," TechCrunch, February 18, 2021 ? After losing millions of WhatsApp users, Facebook worked to regain some trust back by asking for their users' feedback and listening to concerns. Resulting in the development of an informational in-app banner explaining their data privacy update. 7. "Why some like Apple's (News - Alert) new privacy labels, despite their flaws," Vox - February 23, 2021 ? Apple's new privacy labels have received praise from privacy advocates. They're easy to read and honest, which is always a step in the right direction. However, the average person doesn't always know where to look for these labels and what to look for as well. To sum it up, there's room for improvement. With data mining posing a greater threat these days, the demand for elite security solutions is presenting a big window of opportunity for the data security market, and some companies are already making plans for new developments. 8. "Big Data Security Market is anticipated to grow to $36.55 Billion at a Healthy CAGR of 16.9% by the end of 2023," - MarketWatch - February 15, 2021 ? The "soaring demand" for high-security programs is projected to grow well into 2023 as more companies must adopt data security practices which often require reliable third-party managed security services. 9 "Very Good Security (VGS) Further Enhances Mission to Secure the World's Information with VGS Control," AP News - February 25, 2021 ? Very Good Security, "the modern standard for data security and compliance," has discovered a way for businesses to implement SOC2 compliance completely free with VGS Control, which will drastically reduce the risk of data breaches and hacks. 10. "GitHub CSO pledges more security tools, features for developers" VentureBeat - February 26, 2021 ? GitHub's very first CSO, Mike Hanley, pledges to prioritize data security by investing in better security tools as well as coding tools. "So much of the world's development happens on GitHub that security is not just an opportunity for us, but a responsibility," explained Hanley. This would enable GitHub's 56 million developers the ability to fix vulnerabilities at a more efficient level. About BIGtoken BIGtoken believes that data privacy is a human right. BIGtoken is the first privacy focused, opt-in data marketplace where people own and monetize their data. Through a transparent platform and consumer reward system, BIG offers users choice, transparency, and compensation for their anonymized data. Participating consumers earn rewards and advertisers and media companies get access to insights from compliant first-party data for marketing and media activation. For more information on BIGtoken, visit bigtoken.com. Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Information: This news release contains "forward-looking statements" made pursuant to the "safe harbor" provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements relate to future, not past, events and may often be identified by words such as "expect," "anticipate," "intend," "plan," "believe," "seek" or "will." Forward-looking statements by their nature address matters that are, to different degrees, uncertain. Specific risks and uncertainties that could cause our actual results to differ materially from those expressed in our forward-looking statements include risks inherent in our business, and our need for future capital. Actual results may differ materially from the results anticipated in these forward-looking statements. Additional information on potential factors that could affect our results and other risks and uncertainties are detailed from time to time in BIGtoken's periodic reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission ( SEC (News - Alert) ). We do not assume any obligation to update any forward-looking statements. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210301006043/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] A Medicare-style levy to fund and fix the failing aged care sector could cost taxpayers about $610 a year each and boost funds by almost $8 billion annually, but a health economist has warned that alone wont be enough to fund improvements in the sector. The government has left the door open to tax increases, including the royal commissions funding levy recommendation, Minister for Senior Australians and Aged Care Services Richard Colbeck saying they will consider all recommendations, including the levy, and respond in the May budget. A Medicare-style levy has been proposed to help fund changes to the aged care system. Credit:Edwina Pickles It will require additional resources - considerable additional resources - and thats one of the important considerations that we have to look at as we consider the report, he told ABC radio on Tuesday morning. We will consider all of the recommendations carefully, we will have a comprehensive response to those in the budget. NILES, MI A 17-year-old female and 18-year-old male were both taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries after being shot Monday at a Quality Inn. Officers responded to the hotel, at 1265 S. 11th Street, at 10:20 a.m., Monday, March 1, according to a news release from the Niles Police Department. Upon arrival, officers located the two teenagers, both of Niles, with gunshot wounds on the third floor. The 17-year old female had a gunshot wound to her hand and the 18-year-old male had a gunshot wound to his abdomen, police said. Both were taken to the hospital by ambulance. No other people were involved in the shooting and there is no danger to the general public, police said. After obtaining a search warrant for a hotel room on the third floor, police said they located a handgun believed to have been used in the shooting, along with other evidence. Officers are continuing to investigate the incident and said interviews with those involved, as well as witnesses, are ongoing. No arrests have been made at this time, police said. Also on MLive: Case against Grand Rapids PD for targeting Black youth heads to Michigan Supreme Court Cass County man charged with murder in death of 64-year-old Kalamazoo resident Man, pregnant woman die in crash near Ludington Bengaluru, March 2 : Karnataka Governor Vajubhai Vala received his first dose of the Covishield vaccine at a state-run hospital in the city, an official said on Tuesday. "Vala, 83, was administered the vaccine at K.C. General Hospital in the city on the second day of the drive for senior citizens. He was given Covishield made by the Pune-based Serum Institute of India," said the state health department official here. Vala, who has been the Governor of the southern state since 2014, has appealed to the people, especially senior citizens to take the vaccine at the earliest and free the country Covid free. "The Governor also lauded scientists and doctors for developing the vaccines at a short time for fighting the pandemic," said the Raj Bhavan in a communique. Meanwhile, the tech city's celebrity couple Infosys co-founder N.R. Narayana Murthy and his wife Sudha Murty and Biocon chairperson Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw also took the jab at a private hospital in the city. "Murthy and his wife Sudha took the first dose of Covishield at Narayana Health hospital in the city's southern suburb during the day after registering on the state-run Co-Win portal on Monday," said the hospital, founded by noted cardiologist Devi Shetty. Another Infosys co-founder Kris Gopalakrishnan also took Covishield vaccine at the same hospital. Mazumdar-Shaw, 67, took the first shot of Covishield at Shetty's hospital. "I got vaccinated at NarayanaHealth - painless and no injection related side-effects. I guess it's a booster dose for me since I had Covid 6 months ago. Feel safe and protected," tweeted Shaw after the jab. Shaw also urged the eligible people to get vaccinated to keep the country safe. The second dose of the vaccine will be administered to the beneficiaries after 28 days. New Orleans will end its city-run community coronavirus testing sites next week as its Health Department shifts gears to focus on administering vaccines, a spokesperson for Mayor LaToya Cantrell said on Tuesday. The end of the testing sites comes as officials are working to spin up a mass vaccination site at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center. Cantrell Communications Director Beau Tidwell said that the administration hopes to be able to make an announcement about that soon. The city has been running testing sites since early in the pandemic, standing up locations across the city where residents could check whether they had contracted the virus. While those sites will no longer be available, the drive-through testing at Armstrong Park run by the Louisiana National Guard and pop-up test sites run by CORE will continue to operate, Tidwell said. A full schedule of all public test sites in New Orleans can be found at https://ready.nola.gov/incident/coronavirus/calendar. Tidwell said the decision to end the testing sites was made so that officials could focus on vaccination efforts. Top stories in New Orleans in your inbox Twice daily we'll send you the day's biggest headlines. Sign up today. e-mail address * Sign Up "Our resources from the Health Department, that staffing is going to be shifting more to the footing of working with the vaccine implementation as those supplies go up and as were able to stand up larger vaccine sites, thats where the bandwidth is going to go from the Health Department," Tidwell said during a media briefing. "That said, the testing has to go on and right now we have commitments from the Louisiana National Guard and from CORE that their operations will continue." +2 1M coronavirus vaccine doses later, what's next for Louisiana? A boost from Johnson & Johnson After nearly a year of grim milestones, Louisiana has reached a more hopeful marker in the coronavirus pandemic: over 1 million vaccines have The proposal to use the Convention Center as a mass-vaccination site has been a focus of those efforts. Tidwell said on Tuesday that the recent approval of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, which only requires one dose to be effective and is easier to transport and store, could speed up the process of setting up that facility. More information on the use of the Convention Center could come later this week, he said. Credit: CC0 Public Domain Today, the most innovative leaders aren't the conformers. They're the bold individualists who carve their own paths. So learning to embrace one's inner "badass" is the new key to success, say Harvard Business School faculty Francesca Gino, Tandon Family Professor of Business Administration, and Frances X. Frei, UPS Foundation Professor of Service Management. Too often, people are advised or feel pressured to bury the special or quirky aspects of their personalities, recalibrate their speaking or personal styles, or think twice about sharing honest opinions at work in order to demonstrate that they are "a good fit." But that approach does a disservice to both the employee and the business, Frei and Gino say. The pair recently taught a short, intensive course for M.B.A. students, "Anatomy of a Badass," about learning to be unapologetically bold and authentic at work, featuring Bozoma Saint John, the charismatic chief marketing officer of Netflix (once described by Buzzfeed as the "coolest" person to ever go onstage at an Apple event). Research shows being true to who you are leads to greater professional performance and personal satisfaction and if companies are serious about increasing diversity and inclusion, encouraging everyone to bring their individuality and unvarnished opinions with them is a good start. Gino, who studies innovative leadership and wrote a 2018 book on successful rulebreakers, "Rebel Talent," spoke with the Gazette about what it means to be authentic at work and why it matters. Q&A: Francesca Gino GAZETTE: Though everyone can find it hard to feel comfortable in their own skin, especially at work, you say the idea behind this course came out of the challenges that Black people, as well as other marginalized people, face, even as more companies say they want everyone to feel welcome and valued at work. GINO: So often, when we talk about good, indifferent, or inclusive workplaces, we think about the conditions that each of us can create to foster a more inclusive environment, whether we're having a conversation, a meeting, and other interactions. What we don't give a lot of space to, though it's almost as important or maybe even more important, is what if you're the person who doesn't feel welcome or cherished for the views and differences that you bring forward? And that's where having this courage to just show up for who you are is powerful. So how do we truly show up at our best and bring our ideas forward no matter what the context is? Boz [Bozema Saint John] has really done that, loudly and effectively. Bozoma Saint John, chief marketing officer at Netflix, shares how she found success as a top executive at firms including Uber and Apple Music by celebrating what makes her different and then bringing those things to work during a recent Harvard Business School course, Anatomy of a Badass, with Professors Francesca Gino and Frances X. Frei. Credit: Harvard University GAZETTE: What does it mean to be a badass? GINO: It means having the courage to bring your full self forward. Now, authenticity is a word that is thrown out there a lot. I think the confusing part for a lot of people is that it's often assumed that if you're authentic, it means that you're not filtering. And that is not the case. You're being thoughtful about it. What it means is that, in moments where you and I are in a meeting with others, and everybody's suggesting X and I fundamentally believe that we should be doing Y, I feel the courage to speak my mind. Or, if I like to dress in a certain way, that I don't tone it down simply because I'm the only one dressing that way. In many different ways, it's bringing out more willingly who we are rather than checking our identity at the door as we go to work. It's really thinking about what makes you, you; what are your personal strengths and talents, to make sure that you are leveraging them in the work that you do, or in your personal life, rather than quieting them down. GAZETTE: How does authenticity affect someone's work life? GINO: I've done quite a bit of research on authenticity inside of organizations. Here are a few that are surprising to people: One is authenticity benefits how we perform. One of the studies that I've done with a few colleagues shows that people doing an interview, if they are more authentic, which might mean answering questions by bringing forward the real you versus not, end up being more likely to get the job. We have data on entrepreneurs pitching ideas to venture capitalists: If your pitch is more genuine and authentic, you're three times more likely to get money for your venture. So there's good evidence that authenticity helps, especially when compared to another strategy where you try to cater to the expectations of the other person. We also have evidence that authenticity allows you to engage with your job more deeply, [which means you're] more likely to stay with the organization and [also form] a deeper relationship with your colleagues. And I have research that shows that if you are among a minority and you're going through an experience where you are feeling excluded, authenticity actually can buffer against that experience. GAZETTE: Does it require having other innate qualities, like being outgoing or creative? GINO: We can learn to bring out the badass in ourselves and part of what we do is to show people how from a person who's done it, [Saint John]. Frances and I see our role as putting a framework on the house, so creating a moment of reflection and guiding people through that reflection. "Let's identify where you think your greatness is before we actually bring that out." But then also redefining your expectations. Are you first impacting your own way of thinking by telling yourself, "I don't see any gay women as senior faculty at HBS, so I don't expect to be promoted?" And so, it's telling people that they need to reframe and rework their expectations and how they can achieve them so that they're a little bit bolder in the way they think about them. GAZETTE: Steve Jobs, the late Apple co-founder, was reportedly pretty authentic at work and that obviously had a huge impact on the company's identity, its culture, and ultimately, its success. But lots of research shows that people in positions of power are given a lot more leeway to buck social norms than those with less status. Are there limits to who or how much authenticity to bring out? On the first day of a new job, how "badass" should you be? GINO: What I love about this question is that I think it captures why it gets confusing when we think about authenticity. One, when we're authentic, we need to be filtering. It doesn't mean that if I love to wear my pajamas because I feel comfortable that I go to work in my pajamas. There's still judgment in terms of how to bring some of your talents forward. Also, being authentic doesn't mean that I fundamentally believe that my ideas are better than yours. We can have the courage to speak up and bring our ideas forward, but always in a respectful way. I think that we often associate the idea of a [badass] as a person who's loud and comes through and squishes others, but that's not the idea. It's more what we're picking up with it. And the reason why we used it in the course title is to say it requires courage. But that doesn't mean that we shouldn't be respectful of other people's views. And we should bring our ideas forward in a way that they are part of the conversation, but not necessarily stated as ours is the only voice that we should listen to. GAZETTE: What can people do now to start living their lives more authentically? GINO: Finding that moment of reflection, I think, is a good first step. And then to say, I'm going to organize my work or my day to make sure that I bring that forward. The other thing that I would say is, I love this idea of reframing or reworking your expectations. [One] person who comes to mind when I think about authenticityshe's African American and a womanis filmmaker and writer Ava DuVernay. What's beautiful about her is that she decided to change careers when she was in her 30s. She knew that in order to make it as a filmmaker and writershe often says this in interviews"you need rich uncles." And she didn't have that. She just decided to pick up the camera and start doing her own thing in a way that made her quite successful. She [talks] about being impressed by people who "create their own ceilings." When I think about reframing expectations, in terms of what we can all achieve, it's not stopping ourselves by the stereotypes that are out there and just be who we are. I think that that's very empowering. And making sure that people reflect on the expectations and goals that they have for themselves. This story is published courtesy of the Harvard Gazette, Harvard University's official newspaper. For additional university news, visit Harvard.edu. New York's Chuck Schumer confronts his first major test as Senate majority leader with the chamber set to take up President Joe Biden's $1.9 trillion Covid relief package this week despite simmering tension between the Democratic Party's moderate and progressive factions. Schumer said he wants to bring the legislation to the Senate floor by mid-week, but on Monday Democrats were still wrangling over some details of the bill, a version of which passed the House early Saturday on a narrow party-line vote. The package includes $1,400 payments to millions of Americans along with extended supplemental unemployment benefits and aid to small businesses, though who gets the payments and how big the jobless benefits will be in the final Senate bill is the subject of negotiations among Democrats. "We're looking for a targeted bill," said Democratic Senator Joe Manchin of West Virgina, a pivotal vote needed for passage in the 50-50 Senate. "We want it to be very targeted, helping the people that need help the most." Once the Senate passes the legislation it will return to the House, where Republicans are united in opposition and progressive Democrats are protesting the exclusion of a provision to raise the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour. Navigating the differences among Democrats and notching an early win on the stimulus could help Schumer when he turns to Biden's other priorities, including a major infrastructure program, climate change and taxes that are likely to split the progressive and more moderate wings of the party. Democrats have set a deadline of getting the legislation to Biden's desk before the expanded unemployment benefits that were in the last pandemic relief bill begin running out on March 14. The measure is more than double the size of the $831 billion economic stimulus package enacted 12 years ago under President Barack Obama, and Schumer has far more challenging math. Democrats held 59 Senate seats when that earlier legislation was signed into law, but Schumer leads a Senate split 50-50 between the two parties. There also is the divide among Democrats. Passage in the Senate may have been made easier by the decision last week of the Senate parliamentarian that a provision raising the nation's minimum wage to $15 an hour doesn't qualify for the fast-track budget procedure Democrats are using to pass the stimulus with just 50 votes in the Senate. Including the minimum wage increase risked losing the support of Manchin and Senator Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona, two Democrats from Republican-leaning states. Senate Budget Committee Chair Bernie Sanders and Finance Committee Chair Ron Wyden proposed penalizing big companies that don't pay their workers $15 an hour through the tax code. But that was shelved over the weekend after it became clear that getting all 50 Senate Democrats to agree on specific language would risk missing the March 14 deadline. Sanders said Monday he'd introduce an amendment to include a $15 minimum wage in the legislation, which is likely to be defeated. "My own personal view is that the Senate should ignore the parliamentarian's advice, which is wrong in a number of respects," he said in a statement. "I am not sure, however, that my view at this point is the majority view in the Democratic Caucus." Schumer and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi may have to deal with demands from progressives in the House to bypass Senate rules to get the minimum wage hike through. On Monday, 22 House Democrats called on Vice President Kamala Harris, as president of the Senate, to overrule the parliamentarian -- which the White House has said she won't do. That's enough Democrats to potentially defeat the massive relief package when it returns to the House, though some members of the group indicated they won't withhold their votes. White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said the administration remains committed to increasing the minimum wage and will work with "members of Congress, with their staffs, about the best vehicle moving forward. But we don't have a clear answer on what that looks like at this point." Progressives also may bristle at tightening eligibility for the $1,400 stimulus payments to individuals and the amount of extra unemployment benefits. Manchin indicated the payments are under discussion and said he wants to see supplemental unemployment benefits remain at $300 a week, instead of raising them to $400. Wyden, an Oregon Democrat, said he'd "continue to do everything I can," to keep the jobless benefits at $400 a week and is attempting to include an extra month of benefits beyond the five provided in the House bill. He also said there might be an effort to better target the direct payments, although he'll continuing to push for the phase-out to start at $75,000 in adjusted gross income for individuals. The final bill is "probably going to change, but pretty modestly, that would be my guess," Montana Senator Jon Tester, another moderate whose vote will be critical, said. Biden is stepping up efforts to keep Democrats united in favor. On Monday, he met at the White House with nearly a dozen Democratic senators, including Manchin, Tester, Mark Warner of Virginia and Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire. On Tuesday, he'll attend a virtual meeting of all Senate Democrats. Dick Durbin of Illinois, the chamber's second-ranking Democrat, acknowledged to reporters that the leadership team is starting to feel the challenges of a 50-50 Senate. "One senator can stop things," Durbin said. "It's more dramatic now because we have the Democratic majority and need to do things." (CNN) Hospital ICUs are reaching their limits across Brazil, as health experts and state officials beg the government to impose stricter lockdown measures to reduce coronavirus transmission. The country's ICU occupancy rates are the worst since the start of the pandemic, according to a Feb 26 report by the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (Fiocruz), a Brazilian Ministry of Health research institution. Eighteen of Brazil's 26 states and one federal district have ICU's at over 80% capacity, federal and state data show. Nine of those are at the edge of collapse at over 90% capacity. Health Minister Eduardo Pazuello has acknowledged the crisis, telling state governors on Feb 25 that new coronavirus variants had made controlling the pandemic even more difficult, in a country where death and infection rates have long raged out of control. "The mutated virus has three times more contamination capacity, and the speed can surprise governors in terms of structure and support. This is the reality we have today in Brazil," he said Data from Brazilian state health secretaries shows that the state of Rondonia is struggling most with rising case numbers, with ICUs at 97.5% capacity. It is followed by the southern state of Rio Grande do Sul at 97.2% capacity and the Federal District, which houses the country's capital Brasilia, at 96.45% capacity. Private hospitals are also collapsing throughout the country. Sao Paulo's Hospital Israelita Albert Einstein, one of Brazil's most exclusive hospitals -- where the very first case of Covid-19 in the country was detected -- is at 100% ICU capacity, the hospital's spokesperson said on Monday. Last week, Brazil marked a record with 8,224 deaths over the course of the week, bringing the country's total death toll to 254,942. Brazil has also registered more than 10.5 million cases as of Monday. Calls for preventative measures The Fiocruz report urged Brazil to immediately adopt preventive measures to reduce the transmission of the virus while the vaccine is slowly rolled out. Just 3% of the country's population have received one dose of a Covid-19 vaccine and only 1% have received two doses, the Health Ministry said Monday. "With the slow vaccination process and the appearance of new variants of the virus and the uncertainties they still bring, grows the need to disrupt, or slow down, the virus transmission network through non-pharmacological preventive measures," the report said. The call was echoed by Brazil's National Council of Health Secretaries. In an open letter, the Council demanded the government of President Jair Bolsonaro to impose a national curfew, ban mass gatherings and in-person teaching, close beaches and bars and implement a "National Communication Plan" to emphasize the necessity of such precautions. So far, the Council said, Brazil's "absence of a unified and coherent national approach made it difficult to adopt and implement qualified measures to reduce the social interactions that intensified during the electoral period, at the end of year, summer and carnival meetings and festivities." "The relaxation of protection measures and the circulation of new strains of the virus led to the worsening of the health and social crisis," it added. Throughout the pandemic, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has criticized the use of masks, threatened governors who adopt lockdowns measures, and blamed past governments and governors for the lack of ICU beds. "The health [system] in Brazil has always had its problems. The lack of ICUs was one of them and certainly one of the worst," Bolsonaro tweeted on January 28. This story was first published on CNN.com 'Brazil's hospitals reach breaking point as health minister blames new coronavirus variants' The statue of the first Indian to fly as a pilot with the Royal Flying Corps - the precursor of the RAF - is to be created in Southampton city centre to mark the 'lost history' of ethnic minorities fighting for Britain and the allies. One Community Hampshire and Dorset (OCHD) and the Southampton Council of Gurdwaras has approved the design for the monument which will be created by West Midlands-based artist Luke Perry. It is planned to be installed by April 2023. Group Captain Hardit Singh Malik, an Indian civil servant and diplomat after becoming a pilot, became known as the 'Flying Hobgoblin' because he wore a specially designed helmet that fitted over his turban. By the end of the First World War, he was credited with two kills during aerial combat. Of the four Indians who flew with the RFC and RAF in the conflict, he was one of two who survived. He flew with 28 Squadron RFC and served on the Western Front in October 1917, flying a Sopwith Camel biplane on combat missions across France and Italy. Group Captain Malik was one of around 130,000 Sikhs who took part in the conflict, according to the Sikh Memorial Fund. The statue of Group Captain Hardit Singh Malik, the first Indian to fly as a pilot with the Royal Flying Corps, - the precursor of the RAF - is to be created in Southampton city centre to mark the 'lost history' of ethnic minorities fighting for Britain and the allies One Community Hampshire and Dorset (OCHD) and the Southampton Council of Gurdwaras has approved the design for the monument which will be created by West Midlands-based artist Luke Perry On October 26, after the shooting down of a German aircraft, he was wounded and crash-landed behind Allied lines - his aircraft was found to have suffered more than 450 hits. Mr Perry said: 'Monuments such as this are a vital part of the fight for equal representation. 'These artworks are long overdue thanks and recognition to the communities from around the world who have supported Britain in its past and continue to do so in vital roles, not just in the armed forces, but our health care and every aspect of modern life. 'We are a beautiful and diverse nation; our artworks, as with all things, should reflect this.' Alan Mercel-Sanca, OCHD co-founder and director of the UK Nepal Friendship Society, said: 'This much-needed memorial will have truly national level educational and significance for the 21st century multicultural and diverse communities of Britain. Malik flew with 28 Squadron RFC and served on the Western Front in October 1917, flying a Sopwith Camel biplane (file photo) on combat missions across France and Italy Group Captain Malik was one of around 130,000 Sikhs who took part in the conflict, according to the Sikh Memorial Fund. Pictured: Soldiers from the Indian Service Corps with British Army troops on the Western Front in 1916 the First World War. ISC members were from all over India and also performed labouring tasks 'Hardit Singh Malik was not just the first Sikh community member and BAME pilot, but a major UK level pioneer for our BAME communities as his story involved successfully challenging the racial exclusion notions of the day with his appointment as a pilot in the Royal Flying Corps. 'History will judge that Malik was a true giant in what he achieved in regard to ending race-related segregationist perspectives and practices in our British armed forces in the First World War era.' Lord Rami Ranger, chairman of the British Sikh Association and OCHD chief patron, said: 'I am truly overwhelmed by the striking beauty and power of this exceptional design of the memorial, which captures the spirit and endeavour of this great RAF fighter pilot, Hardit Singh Malik, so well.' Pritheepal Singh, OCHD director, said: 'I am absolutely delighted with the final design. 'It testifies to the major contribution our Sikh and broader ethnic minority communities have made to our country, as we live in such a vibrant multicultural society here in Southampton.' Two American men suspected of helping former Nissan chairman Carlos Ghosn skip bail in Japan and flee to Lebanon in December 2019 have arrived in Tokyo for a criminal investigation and probable trial. Michael Taylor and his son Peter, who had been detained in a Boston jail since last May, were handed over to Japanese custody on Monday in Boston for extradition and were flown to Tokyo on Tuesday. Televised video showed a Japan Airlines flight carrying the two men land at Narita International Airport on Tuesday afternoon. They were largely hidden behind a tarpaulin held up by Japanese authorities. The Taylors are to be taken to the Tokyo detention centre where Ghosn was held before being released on bail. Expand Close A man, left, believed to be Michael Taylor arrives at Narita Airport in Japan (Kyodo News/AP) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp A man, left, believed to be Michael Taylor arrives at Narita Airport in Japan (Kyodo News/AP) Ghosn, who led Nissan for more than two decades, was arrested in 2018 and charged with underreporting his future compensation and breach of trust in diverting Nissan money for personal gain. He says he is innocent. Japan has put Ghosn on Interpols wanted list, but Lebanon has no extradition treaty with Japan. Tokyo deputy prosecutor Hiroshi Yamamoto confirmed the Taylors had arrived at Narita International Airport, and were arrested on suspicion of aiding a criminal. Dates for their trial and formal charges were still undecided. Under Japanese law, suspects can be held without formal charge for up to 23 days. We would like to deeply thank the US government for their co-operation, Mr Yamamoto said. [March 02, 2021] Qualified Plan Advisors to Tackle New Retirement Planning Challenges During Virtual Summit Qualified Plan Advisors (QPA) will host a virtual Qualified Plan Fiduciary Summit this April to educate retirement plan sponsors and advisors on recent legislation changes and trends that impact the retirement planning landscape. The 13th annual summit will be a three-hour-long event on April 21, 2021 and will include discussions around the SECURE Act, CARES Act, and Appropriations Act of 2021, as well as a Department of Labor update. Participants of the virtual summit can also expect sessions on investment innovation, understanding the modern-day retirement plan participant and more. There is no cost for the event, allowing attendees to have free continuing education. QPA is a leading platform for retirement plan-focused advisors and a premier service provider for retirement plan sponsors. The company recognizes that rules, regulations and participant's behavior are changing at an alarming rate right now. This Summit will provide industry leaders with the opportunity to gather and work through the changes that will impact individuals focused in the retirement planning space. "Participants' needs have changed as our world has changed. The industry leaders coming together at this Summit can help others understad the steps necessary to reach retirement successfully in this changing environment," says Matthew Eickman, national retirement practice leader at QPA. "It is always our goal to provide easy to understand, sensible information and this virtual event will be no different. We want attendees to leave with the knowledge they need to know now." Seven sessions fill the itinerary for the virtual event, with a mix of in-house and outside experts. Presenters include John True, supervisory investigator at the U.S. Department of Labor, Fred Reish, Esq, partner at Faegre Drinker, Rich Luchinsky, senior vice president, co-head of U.S. intermediary distribution at American Century Investments, and Sarah Simoneaux, president of Simoneaux Consulting Services. Other speakers include Rob Massa, Houston area retirement practice leader at Qualified Plan Advisors, Christian Mango, president at Financial Fitness For Life, Chris Roper, plan success consultant at Qualified Plan Advisors, Matt Wolniewicz, advisor to the board at Prime Capital Investment Advisors and Matthew Eickman, national retirement practice leader at Qualified Plan Advisors. The virtual Qualified Plan Fiduciary Summit will take place on Wednesday, April 21, 2021 at 11 a.m. ET/10 a.m. CT. Anyone interested in attending this event can register here. About Qualified Plan Advisors: Qualified Plan Advisors focuses on plan health and participant outcomes by providing retirement plan sponsors with professional services that include participant education and enrollment services, professionally managed allocation portfolios, plan design review and maintenance and ERISA 3(38) and 3(21) fiduciary services. Advisory services offered through Prime Capital Investment Advisors, LLC. ("PCIA"), a Registered Investment Adviser. PCIA: 6201 College Blvd., 7th Floor, Overland Park, KS 66211. PCIA doing business as Qualified Plan Advisors ("QPA") and Prime Capital Wealth Management ("PCWM"). View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210302005264/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Eco drive: Exxon Mobil has appointed two activist investors to the board Exxon Mobil has appointed two activist investors to the board amid pressure for the firm to reduce its carbon footprint. Michael Angelakis, chief executive of investment firm Atairos and a former chairman of the Philadelphia Federal Reserve, and Jeff Ubben, head of Inclusive Capital Partners, will join the board of Americas biggest oil company. Ubben is a renowned green investor and he founded Inclusive in 2020 alongside Lynn Forester de Rothschild, a high profile climate change activist. Ubben has agitated for changes at companies such as Rolls-Royce and Microsoft and generally avoids public battles. Exxon earlier this year committed 2.2billion in lower emissions solutions over the next four years, but many do not think this goes far enough. Unlike UK rivals, Exxon which in February posted its first annual loss in decades remains committed to increasing oil production. 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. Montreal, Quebec--(Newsfile Corp. - March 2, 2021) - Peak Fintech Group Inc. (CSE: PKK) (OTCQX: PKKFF) ("Peak" or the "Company"), an innovative Fintech service provider to the Chinese commercial lending sector, today announced that it has signed a strategic partnership agreement with ShopEx, China's preeminent e-commerce software provider. ShopEx (https://www.shopex.cn/) provides a complete suite of solutions and related services to help entrepreneurs and retailers easily create, manage and market stores on China's top e-commerce marketplaces. One of ShopEx's key selling features is that it allows merchants to manage multiple stores on multiple marketplaces from a single application. ShopEx's solutions are used by retailers on the 28 online marketplaces and social media platforms listed below. Those marketplaces and social media platforms now provide the backbone of China's online retail industry, collectively hosting an estimated 9 million stores and over 80 million micro-shops. ShopEx Client Affiliated Marketplaces and Social Media Platforms: TAOBAO: https://www.taobao.com TMALL: https://www.tmall.com JD.COM: https://www.jd.com PINGDUODUO: http://yangkeduo.com TIK TOK: https://www.douyin.com SNACKVIDEO: https://www.kuaishou.com MOGU: https://www.mogu.com AMAZON CHINA: https://www.amazon.cn DANGDANG: http://www.dangdang.com SUNING: https://cuxiao.m.suning.com VIPSHOP: https://www.vip.com XIAOHONGSHU: https://www.xiaohongshu.com INTIME: https://www.intime.com.cn V+VANCL: http://www.vancl.com GOME: https://www.gome.com.cn MEILISHUO: http://www.meilishuo.com JUANPI: http://www.juanpi.com MIA: https://www.mia.com BEIBEI: https://www.beibei.com WDWD: http://www.wdwd.com 800ZHE800: https://www.zhe800.com KAOLA: https://www.kaola.com HAOSHIQI: https://www.haoshiqi.net WEIDIAN (WECHAT): https://www.weidian.com YUNJI: https://www.yunjiglobal.com YITIAO: https://www.yit.com YOUPIN: https://www.xiaomiyoupin.com OMALL: http://www.msyc.com The strategic partnership between Peak and ShopEx calls for an API link between the ShopEx platform and Peak's Lending Hub platform that will allow data from online stores managed with the ShopEx applications to flow to the Lending Hub and help qualify the stores for loans and credit from the Hub's banks and financial institution lending partners. The parties will engage in joint marketing efforts and become authorized resellers of one another's products and services and earn referral fees from one another. "I can't stress enough how important this partnership is for us," commented Peak China CEO Liang Qiu. "With the continued proliferation of online stores, how social media platforms are changing retail buying habits, and the dramatic impact the pandemic has had fueling on-line purchasing, the online retail space has been a very important area of focus for us. We began reaching out to marketplace operators one by one to gain a foothold in the space, but that was until we had an opportunity to talk with ShopEx. This partnership provides access to shops operating on 28 marketplaces and social media platforms without having to negotiate separate partnerships with all of them. We believe this will undoubtedly dramatically accelerate our influence in the online retail space, which makes this new relationship with ShopEx an extremely valuable one for Peak," concluded Mr. Qiu. "We think the financing services provided by the Lending Hub perfectly complement our offering to merchants," said ShopEx Executive VP and Co-Founder Sanyong Ji. "Not only do we provide them with everything they need to create, market and manage their online stores, now we'll also be able to help them get the funding they need to run their operations. We couldn't be more excited about this partnership and look forward to working with Peak for the mutual benefit of our organizations." About Peak Fintech Group Inc.: Peak Fintech Group Inc. is the parent company of a group of innovative financial technology (Fintech) subsidiaries operating in China's commercial lending industry. Peak's subsidiaries use technology, analytics and artificial intelligence to create an ecosystem of lenders, borrowers and other participants in China's commercial lending space where lending operations are conducted rapidly, safely, efficiently and with the utmost transparency. For more information: http://www.peakfintechgroup.com For more information, please contact: CHF Capital Markets Cathy Hume, CEO 416-868-1079 ext.: 251 cathy@chfir.com Peak Fintech Group Inc. Johnson Joseph, President and CEO 514-340-7775 ext.: 501 investors@peakfintechgroup.com Twitter: @peakfintech Facebook: @peakfintech LinkedIn: Peak Fintech YouTube: Peak Fintech Forward-Looking Statements / Information: This news release may include certain forward-looking information, including statements relating to business and operating strategies, plans and prospects for revenue growth, using words including "anticipate", "believe", "could", "expect", "intend", "may", "plan", "potential", "project", "seek", "should", "will", "would" and similar expressions, which are intended to identify a number of these forward-looking statements. Forward-looking information reflects current views with respect to current events and is not a guarantee of future performance and is subject to risks, uncertainties and assumptions. The Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or review any forward-looking information contained in this news release, except as may be required by applicable laws, rules and regulations. Readers are urged to consider these factors carefully in evaluating any forward-looking information. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/75810 Wednesday marks the 75th anniversary of Orson Welles electrifying War of the Worlds broadcast, in which the Mercury Theatre on the Air enacted a Martian invasion of Earth. Upwards of a million people, [were] convinced, if only briefly, that the United States was being laid waste by alien invaders, narrator Oliver Platt informs us in the new PBS documentary commemorating the program. The panic inspired by Welles made War of the Worlds perhaps the most notorious event in American broadcast history. Advertisement Thats the story you already knowits the narrative widely reprinted in academic textbooks and popular histories. With actors dramatizing the reaction of frightened audience members (based on contemporaneous letters), the new documentary, part of PBSs American Experience series, reinforces the notion that naive Americans were terrorized by their radios back in 1938. So did this weekends episode of NPRs Radiolab, which opened with the assertion that on Oct. 30, 1938, The United States experienced a kind of mass hysteria that weve never seen before. Advertisement Advertisement Theres only one problem: The supposed panic was so tiny as to be practically immeasurable on the night of the broadcast. Despite repeated assertions to the contrary in the PBS and NPR programs, almost nobody was fooled by Welles broadcast. Advertisement How did the story of panicked listeners begin? Blame Americas newspapers. Radio had siphoned off advertising revenue from print during the Depression, badly damaging the newspaper industry. So the papers seized the opportunity presented by Welles program to discredit radio as a source of news. The newspaper industry sensationalized the panic to prove to advertisers, and regulators, that radio management was irresponsible and not to be trusted. In an editorial titled Terror by Radio, the New York Times reproached radio officials for approving the interweaving of blood-curdling fiction with news flashes offered in exactly the manner that real news would have been given. Warned Editor and Publisher, the newspaper industrys trade journal, The nation as a whole continues to face the danger of incomplete, misunderstood news over a medium which has yet to prove that it is competent to perform the news job. Advertisement The contrast between how newspaper journalists experienced the supposed panic, and what they reported, could be stark. In 1954, Ben Gross, the New York Daily News radio editor, published a memoir in which he recalled the streets of Manhattan being deserted as his taxi sped to CBS headquarters just as War of the Worlds was ending. Yet that observation failed to stop the Daily News from splashing the panic story across this legendary cover a few hours later. Advertisement From these initial newspaper items on Oct. 31, 1938, the apocryphal apocalypse only grew in the retelling. A curious (but predictable) phenomenon occurred: As the show receded in time and became more infamous, more and more people claimed to have heard it. As weeks, months, and years passed, the audiences size swelled to such an extent that you might actually believe most of America was tuned to CBS that night. But that was hardly the case. Far fewer people heard the broadcastand fewer still panickedthan most people believe today. How do we know? The night the program aired, the C.E. Hooper ratings service telephoned 5,000 households for its national ratings survey. To what program are you listening? the service asked respondents. Only 2 percent answered a radio play or the Orson Welles program, or something similar indicating CBS. None said a news broadcast, according to a summary published in Broadcasting. In other words, 98 percent of those surveyed were listening to something else, or nothing at all, on Oct. 30, 1938. This miniscule rating is not surprising. Welles program was scheduled against one of the most popular national programs at the timeventriloquist Edgar Bergens Chase and Sanborn Hour, a comedy-variety show. Advertisement Advertisement The new PBS documentary allows that, of the tens of millions of Americans listening to their radios that Sunday evening, few were tuned to the War of the Worlds when it began, due to Bergens popularity. But the documentarys script goes on to claim that millions of listeners began twirling the dial when the opening comedy routine on the Chase and Sanborn Hour gave way to a musical interlude. Just at that moment thousands, hundreds, we dont how many listeners, started to dial-surf, where they landed on the Mercury Theatre on the Air, explained Radiolab this weekend. No scholar, however, has ever isolated or extrapolated an actual number of dial twirlers. The data collected was simply not specific enough for us to know how many listeners might have switched over to Wellesjust as we cant estimate how many people turned their radios off, or switched from Mercury Theatre on the Air over to NBCs Chase and Sanborn Hour either. (Radiolab played the Chase and Sanborn Hours musical interlude for its audience, as if the song itself constituted evidence that people of course switched to Welles broadcast.) Advertisement Both American Experience and Radiolab also omit the salient fact that several important CBS affiliates (including Bostons WEEI) pre-empted Welles broadcast in favor of local commercial programming, further shrinking its audience. CBS commissioned a nationwide survey the day after the broadcast, and network executives were relieved to discover just how few people actually tuned in. In the first place, most people didnt hear it, CBSs Frank Stanton recalled later. But those who did hear it, looked at it is as a prank and accepted it that way. Advertisement The legend of the panic, however, grew exponentially over the following years. In 1940, an esteemed academic solidified the myth in the public mind. Relying heavily on a skewed report compiled six weeks after the broadcast by the American Institute of Public Opinion, The Invasion From Mars, by Princetons Hadley Cantril, estimated that about 1 million people were frightened by War of the Worlds. But the AIPO survey, as Cantril himself admitted, offered an audience rating over 100 per cent higher than any other known measure of this audience. Cantril defended his reliance on AIPO data by noting that it surveyed homes without telephones and small communities often overlooked by radio ratings agencies. But this cherry-picked data set was clearly tainted by the sensationalistic newspaper publicity following the broadcast (a possibility Cantril also admitted). Worse, Cantril committed an obvious categorical error by conflating being frightened, disturbed, or excited by the program with being panicked. In the late 1930s, radio audiences were regularly excited and frightened by suspenseful dramas. But what supposedly set Welles show apart was the panic, and even terror, it instilled in its audience. Was the small audience that listened to War of the Worlds excited by what they heard? Certainly. But that doesnt mean they ran into the streets fearing for the fate of humanity. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement And yet such behavior has become part of the War of the Worlds myth, as highlighted by the PBS program. As Welles ran out the broadcast, the deluge of calls continued to light up switchboards across the country, narrator Oliver Platt explains. In some quarters there were even vague reports of suicides and panic-related deaths. But just as the size of Welles audience has been exaggerated, so have reports of audience hysteria. Wire service reports did relay sensational stories of (unnamed) panicked listeners saved only by the timely intervention of friends or neighbors, but not one newspaper reported a verified suicide connected to the broadcast. Researchers in Princetons Office of Radio Research, working under the direction of Cantril, sought to verify a rumor that several people were treated for shock at St. Michaels Hospital in Newark, N.J. The rumor was checked and found to be inaccurate. When the same researchers surveyed six New York City hospitals six weeks after the broadcast, none of them had any record of any cases brought in specifically on account of the broadcast. No specific death has ever been conclusively attributed to the drama. The Washington Post reported that one Baltimore listener died of a heart attack during the show, but unfortunately no one followed up to confirm the story or provide corroborative details. One particularly frightened listener did sue CBS for $50,000, claiming the network caused her nervous shock. Her lawsuit was quickly dismissed. Advertisement Advertisement By the next morning the panic broadcast was front-page news from coast to coast, with reports of traffic accidents, near riots, hordes of panicked people in the streets, all because of a radio play, the PBS documentary recounts. But did armed citizens and National Guardsmen really assemble throughout America? Did mobs rove the streets? Not really. While newspapers made Oct. 30, 1938, a memorable night in the history of the United States, in reality it was a normal fall Sunday evening throughout North America. Four days after its initial, sensational report, the Washington Post published a letter from one reader who walked down F Street during the broadcast. He noticed nothing approximating mass hysteria. In many stores radios were going, yet I observed nothing whatsoever of the absurd supposed terror of the populace. There was none, the reader reported. The Chicago Tribune made no mention of frightened mobs taking to the Windy Citys streets. Advertisement If War of the Worlds had in fact caused the widespread terror weve been told it did, youd expect CBS and Welles to have been reprimanded for their actions. But that wasnt the case. Its true that Federal Communications Commission chairman Frank McNinch quickly obtained informal agreement from the radio networks that fictional news flashes would not be used again, but no official rulings or regulations were promulgated. Nor were CBS or Welles sanctioned in any manner. (In fact, the FCC prohibited complaints about the program from being used in license renewal hearings.) For the FCC and the networks, the sensationalized newspaper reports were at worst a nuisance. Janet Jacksons 2004 wardrobe malfunction remains far more significant in the history of broadcast regulation than Orson Welles trickery. Advertisement Advertisement In 2012, Cathleen OConnell, the producer and director of the PBS documentary, telephoned one of the authors of this piece (Michael Socolow) to discuss the recent scholarship questioning the scale of the panic. The documentary does acknowledge this new work but relegates it to one line, late in the program: Ultimately, Oliver Platt intones, the very extent of the panic would come to be seen as having been exaggerated by the press. But that one line fails to balance the accounts of hysteria peppered throughout the script. Director and Welles collaborator Peter Bogdanovich tells us that Welles scared half the country. The documentary further claims that newspaper coverage about the broadcast continued unabated for two full weeks and amounted to some 12,500 articles in total. Yet in his comprehensive analysis of contemporaneous reporting on the panic, American University professor W. Joseph Campbell found that almost all newspapers swiftly dropped the story. Coverage of the broadcast faded quickly from the front pages, in most cases after just a day or two, Campbell writes, arguing that had the hysteria truly been widespread, newspapers for days and even weeks afterward could have been expected to have published detailed reports about the dimensions and repercussions of such an extraordinary event. Much like the broadcast itself, newspaper coverage was dramatic and sensationalbut ephemeral. The PBS documentary, like so many accounts of War of the Worlds before it, cant resist the allure of the myth. Advertisement Advertisement * * * Why is this myth so alluringwhy does it persist? The answer is complicated, most likely reflecting everything from the structure of our commercial broadcasting system and of our federal regulation, as well as our cultures skepticism about the mass audience and the fear that always accompanies the excitement of new media. Even today, broadcast networks must convince advertisers that they retain commanding powers over their audiences. As such, CBS has regularly celebrated the War of the Worlds broadcast and its supposed effect on the public. In 1957, Studio One, a CBS anthology series, dramatized the panic as The Night America Trembled, and when the network celebrated its 75th anniversary in 2003, War of the Worlds was a noted highlight. On the other side of the coin, federal regulators must still persuade politicians that there exists an important protective role for the guardians of the airwaves. For both broadcasters and regulators, War of the Worlds provides excellent evidence to justify their claims about media power. Advertisement Some portion of the blame must also go to Hadley Cantril. His scholarly book validated the popular memory of the event. He gave academic credence to the panic and attached real numbers to it. He remains the only source with academic legitimacy who claims there was a sizable panic. Without this validation, the myth likely would not be in social psychology and mass communication textbooks, as it still is todaypretty much every high schooler and liberal arts undergraduate runs across it at some point. (Both the American Experience and Radiolab segments rely on his work.) Though you may have never heard of Cantril, the War of the Worlds myth is very much his legacy. Advertisement Advertisement But the myth also persists because it so perfectly captures our unease with the medias power over our lives. The panic broadcast may be as much a function of fantasy as fact, writes Northwesterns Jeffrey Sconce in Haunted Media, suggesting that the panic myth is a function of simple displacement: Its not the Martians invading Earth that we fear, he argues; its ABC, CBS, and NBC invading and colonizing our consciousness that truly frightens us. To Sconce, the panic plays a symbolic function for American culturewe retell the story because we need a cautionary tale about the power of media. And that need has hardly abated: Just as radio was the new medium of the 1930s, opening up exciting new channels of communication, today the Internet provides us with both the promise of a dynamic communicative future and dystopian fears of a new form of mind control; lost privacy; and attacks from scary, mysterious forces. This is the fear that animates our fantasy of panicked hordesboth then and now. The Daily Beast Photo Illustration by The Daily Beast/GettyMike Lindell, the MyPillow CEO and Trumpist conspiracy-peddler, flew his private jet to the Republican Governors Association meeting the other day.The guvs promptly threw him out. But the incident got Molly Jong-Fast thinking: Does the MyPillow CEO think hes already a governor or something?Subscribe to The New Abnormal on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Amazon Music, or Overcast. To listen to our weekly members-only bonus episodes, join Beast Inside here. Already a member? You can listen here and sign up for new episode email alerts here.Spoiler: Making MyPillows does not make you my governor. Now, chances that Mike Lindell could actually become governor of a small Republican state, 80 percent, she quips on the latest episode of The New Abnormal. Like, its not even that hard for someone that famous and insane in the Republican party to become a governor.Lindell claims he wouldnt run to be a dogcatcher right now, because he doesnt trust the voting machines. Plus, hes from the blue state of Minnesota. So maybe the risk of a Governor Pillow isnt quite so high. But L.A. Times columnist Virginia Heffernan would like to quickly add something about Mike Lindell being a cosplay governor.I think we need to understand that being in politics leads to governing and governing is boring. It is not a PR operation, she says. And I feel like we have made these jobs celebrity roles. Public service should not beis notbeing on a reality show.Like, I feel like we need to really dial down the razzle-dazzle, really play up the drudgery, Heffernan continues. I just don't know why every single industrialist and every single lady with abs or gorgeous arms would want to be, of all things, a governor.Biden, Heffernan opines, is doing a pretty good job at the drudgerydollars going out, jabs going out, all leading to Trump signs going down. Sure, the Donald has his cultists, like Lindell. But, I don't think people can hold onto this much insanity for this long, especially when it's a tiny minority of people who believe it, Heffernan adds. Democrats need to know how to win.To which Jong-Fast replies, oh-so-gently: Are you freakin kidding me? With all of these Republican attempts to retcon the Capitol riots? To chop away at the right to vote? To instantiate their ability to overturn elections? All while Team Biden snoozes it away? The Democrats are bringing an ice cream sundae to a knife fight, Jong-Fast says.Plus! Politicos Tara Palmeri talks about her search to find Liz Cheney supporters in Wyoming. And Battle for the Soul author Edward-Isaac Dovere gives us a peek into how Biden sees the political landscape. The presidency that he has in front of him now, he knows, is so different from what he ever expected to have, Dovere says, And part of that is rethinking how he incorporates the progressivism within the party that took root and that was so much part of this campaign. And its just, its a really complicated evolution for him. Its not the presidency he thought itd be running in 2019 when he got into this race.Read more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more. Hey Blake, I was saddened to read about the passing of Jimmy Lemarie, the co-founder of Liuzzas by the Track. I was surprised to learn the restaurant is not related to Liuzzas in Mid-City. What can you tell me about the history of the two restaurants? Lucy Dear Lucy, While both restaurants Liuzzas by the Track on N. Lopez Street and Liuzzas on Bienville Street are culinary landmarks, they have different owners and the proprietors say there are no family connections. Liuzzas opened on Bienville at N. Telemachus in 1947. Vincent Liuzza, who owned a bar nearby, opened the restaurant to cater to Mid-City factory workers. The restaurant known for its po-boys, Creole-Italian dishes, and frozen schooners of beer has had several owners since then. One of them, the late Theresa Galbo, bought the place in 1981 and is credited with creating the Frenchuletta, a muffuletta on a po-boy loaf. Galbos son Frank Bordelon now owns the restaurant with his wife, Lori. In 1936, Jack Liuzza opened his business on N. Lopez near the Fair Grounds. It was originally a bar and grocery. Billy Gruber and Jimmy Lemarie bought the building in 1997 with plans to open a restaurant. In a 2000 Times-Picayune article, they explained how the place got its name. They would answer the phone, "Liuzzas" and frequently a caller would ask, "On Bienville?" And they would say, "No, by the track." They named their place Liuzza's by the Track to avoid confusion. Gruber, who died in 2016, had worked as a chef at several local restaurants and his family owned the Meal-a-Minit restaurant chain. He created the recipes for which Liuzzas by the Track became famous, including its gumbo, barbecue shrimp po-boy and garlic oyster po-boy. Blakeview: Morning radio duo Nut and Jeff made their debut 60 years ago this week For younger readers, the names may have faded into history, but morning radio hosts Roy Roberts and Jeff Hug once ruled New Orleans airwaves. YEREVAN, MARCH 2, ARMENPRESS. President Armen Sarkissian again rejected Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyans motion on dismissing the Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces Colonel-General Onik Gasparyan. The presidency said in a news release that Sarkissian attaches importance to the immediate resolution of the political crisis around the issue of Gasparyans dismissal, and that in this regard hes held meetings with the Prime Minister, with Gasparyan himself and the high command of the military. The Prime Ministers substantiations regarding not accepting the Presidents objections on the draft decree on the dismissal were studied. Clearly, this situation is a result of existing disagreements at times with highly personalized approaches among the political and military figures in the war and post-war period, the presidency said, noting that the presidents objections were also based on problematic interpretations in terms of law, the practice of applying the law and the potential gap in the law. In his previous statements the President stressed that a speedy and constitutional resolution of the issue is of primary importance for the security and stability of Armenia and Artsakh and is an absolute necessity for preservation of statehood, for preventing a further division of society, for restoring national unity and public solidarity, overcoming the uncertain situation and reaching a final solution. The President decided to not sign the draft decree. At the same time, pursuant to paragraph 4, clause 1, Article 169 of the Constitution, the President will apply with a separate application to the Constitutional Court with a request to determine the constitutionality of the 2017 November 15 law On Military Service and the Status of Servicemen. Faithful to his commitment, the President will continue steps aimed at further stabilizing the situation, and, by serving the institute of the president as a platform, is calling on everyone to negotiate to find a comprehensive solution to all existing problems. Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan Former Coronation Street star Amanda Barrie has paid a touching tribute to her onscreen husband Johnny Briggs, who passed away on Sunday aged 85. The actress, 85, played Alma Baldwin in the ITV soap, the long-suffering wife of Johnny's character Mike Baldwin. Looking back on her friendship with Johnny and their characters' 20-year love story, Amanda sweetly thanked her late pal 'for an immensely happy time.' Golden couple: Former Coronation Street star Amanda Barrie has paid a touching tribute to her onscreen husband Johnny Briggs, who passed away on Sunday aged 85 In a new interview, Amanda, who left the cobbles in 2001, told of the moment she heard of Johnny's passing, saying that 'with us old ones', his death was not a 'complete shock', but was still 'sad' nonetheless. The TV legend, who is also known for her roles in the Carry On films, recently tweeted a tribute to Johnny on Twitter in which she said she'll see him for a G&T in 'the Rovers in the Sky.' On what Johnny would have made of her tweet, she told The Mirror: 'Johnny would have thought, "Whats she doing?" if Id been too serious and tearful. I keep seeing his face all over TV this week. He would have loved that. Its weird, it takes you whizzing right back and Ive been remembering all the good times we had.' Tribute: Looking back on her friendship with Johnny and their characters' 20-year love story, Amanda sweetly thanked her late pal 'for an immensely happy time' Meanwhile, the actress reflected on Johnny's character, describing him as a 'naughty schoolboy' who never grew up. She said: 'If you merged Mike Baldwin to Johnny Briggs you wouldnt know where the join was. He was like a very naughty schoolboy. Wed sit there talking for ages, being silly. None of us had grown up hed grown up even less than me.' Amanda also recalled many memories the two shared together, including Johnny ringing her at 3 in the morning after he'd remembered that they'd previously appeared together in a film in the 60s before their Corrie partnership began. The way they were: The actress, 85, played Alma Baldwin in the ITV soap, the long-suffering wife of Johnny's character Mike Baldwin (pictured as Alma and Mike in 1992) She also told how Johnny's second wife Christine would always ask her to keep an eye on him and ensure he 'behaved' during filming trips and awards shows, with Amanda joking that it wasn't her 'job' as she was technically not married to him. Amid her tribute, Amanda looked back on funny moments on set between the pair, with the TV remembering how Johnny would always get out of scrapes by using his charming 'grin'. Telling the publication how much he meant to her, she added: 'He was a silly old twit but I was very fond of him. Johnny, thank you for an immensely happy time. Alma was Mikes soulmate but you treated Amanda better.' Friendship: 'If you merged Mike Baldwin to Johnny Briggs you wouldnt know where the join was. He was like a very naughty schoolboy. Wed sit there talking for ages, being silly' Memory: Amanda also recalled many memories the two shared together, including Johnny ringing her at 3 in the morning after he'd remembered that they'd previously appeared together in a film in the 60s before their Corrie partnership began Johnny played underwear factory boss Mike Baldwin on the cobbles from 1976 to 2006 and received an MBE in 2007. Mike died of a heart attack in 2006 following a battle with Alzheimer's. The lothario passed away in rival Ken Barlow's arms and in his confusion, called out for his late wife Alma. Johnny appeared in 2,349 episodes, including a 2012 special as a ghost, and is best remembered for his famous feud with Ken Barlow, played by Bill Roache, after he had an affair with his wife Deirdre, played by the late Anne Kirkbride. Fun times: She also told how Johnny's second wife Christine would always ask her to keep an eye on him and ensure he 'behaved' during filming trips and awards shows, with Amanda joking that it wasn't her 'job' Lovely: 'He was a silly old twit but I was very fond of him. Johnny, thank you for an immensely happy time. Alma was Mikes soulmate but you treated Amanda better' Amanda's heartwarming words come after Coronation Street paid a touching tribute to the actor. The ITV soap dedicated Monday's episode to the Mike Baldwin star, as they hailed the screen legend 'incomparable'. Following the latest episode, the show shared an image of Johnny on their official Twitter page and said: 'In loving memory of Johnny Briggs 1935-2021. 'In loving memory of Johnny Briggs 1935-2021': Coronation Street paid a touching tribute to actor Johnny In addition, the tweet also read: 'Tonights episode was in loving memory of the incomparable Johnny Briggs, who played Mike Baldwin. Fans of the soap were quick to take to Twitter to praise the soap for honouring the late actor. 'Lovely tribute to a Corrie legend. R.I.P Johnny Briggs' wrote one viewer. While another shared: 'Nice tribute to Johnny Briggs tonight from @itvcorrie Mike Baldwin was a legend of the street.. specially the storyline with the love triangle Ken Mike and derdrie [sic]' In memory: The ITV soap dedicated Monday's episode to the Mike Baldwin star, as they hailed the screen legend 'incomparable' 'Nice touch by @itvcorrie at the end there, in loving memory of Johnny Briggs x' tweeted a third. With another fan adding: 'Lovely tribute to Johnny at the end of @itvcorrie.' An announcement at the beginning of the episode also told how the episode was dedicated to the TV favourite. Loving fans: Fans of the soap were quick to take to Twitter to praise the soap for honouring the late actor Johnny Briggs passed away at his home on Sunday morning after a long illness, his family confirmed. It remains unclear what the illness was. Role: Johnny played the underwear factory boss from 1976 to 2006 and and is best remembered for his famous feud with Ken Barlow (Bill Roache) after he had an affair with his wife Deirdre, played by the late Anne Kirkbride A family statement said: 'It is with great sadness that we announce the death of our father, Johnny Briggs. 'He passed away peacefully this morning after a long illness, with family by his side. He was 85. 'We politely ask for privacy at this time, so that we can quietly grieve as a family and remember the wonderful times we had with him. Thank you.' Briggs split his time between a home in Portishead, North Somerset, UK, and a house in Florida though it is unclear where he was staying at time of his death. Armenia ex-president Kocharyan gives interview to Russia newspaper Armenia acting deputy PM on unblocking of roads with Azerbaijan: There will be no troops standing there Nikkei: Toyota and Honda stop car production in Malaysia Armenia official on deploying international observers at Azerbaijan border: You will hear reaction on this matter soon USAID helps UN World Food Programme support displaced people in Armenia Armenia official: Work of trilateral working group on roads unblocking has stopped after recent incidents Russias Putin to Armenias Pashinyan: Relations between our countries are developing very successfully Armenia health minister: Improper storage of fallen soldiers bodies, remains was my omission 108 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia Armenia President to children: I believe that you will make our country much better Armenia CEC publicizes complete lists of political forces registered to run in snap parliamentary elections World oil prices going up Queen Elizabeth turns down PM's offer to name new royal yacht after Prince Philip Armenia parliament discusses 2020 state budget report Newspaper: Armenia acting FM resigns after 3rd attempt Newspaper: Yerevan mayor to leave office Israel, UAE sign tax treaty Newspaper: Even vagrants are persuaded, taken to Armenia acting PM Pashinyans rally in Vanadzor Swedish defense minister demands explanation from Denmark over spy scandal Acting Deputy PM: Armenia has not discussed and will not discuss issues within logic of "corridor" Armenia Central Electoral Commission determines numbers of political parties for elections Armenia 2nd President visits Cathedral of the Holy Mother of God in Gyumri (PHOTOS) Opposition Armenia bloc representative: We're running in elections to win Azerbaijan MFA comments on calls for release of Armenian POWs with infinite hypocrisy EC: Vaccinated citizens should be exempted from tests, quarantine when traveling within EU Armenia Ombudsman discusses rights of 6 captured Armenian servicemen with ICRC Delegation head EU ready to use all the tools at its disposal to change Turkey's behavior Yerevan court obliges to abolish violation of rights of Armenia Supreme Judicial Council ex-chairman Greek and Turkish leaders to meet in June on sidelines of NATO summit Armenia Central Electoral Commission to set up 2,008 polling stations for snap parliamentary elections Iranian companies to participate in reconstructing territories under Azerbaijan's control Opposition Armenia bloc's representative on acting PM's invitation to debate with 1st and 2nd Presidents Armenia acting FM dismissed upon presidential decree Body of brother of Armenian criminal authority "Don Pipo" found under bridge 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 Thank you for reading! Please log in, or sign up for a new account and purchase a subscription to continue reading. The initiative brought together a demographically and professionally diverse national network of 300 experts. Tweet this The Educating for American Democracy (EAD) initiative was funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) and the U.S. Department of Education and was led by a team drawn from iCivics, Harvard University, Arizona State University, and Tufts University's Tisch College of Civic Life, and Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning & Engagement (CIRCLE). The Roadmap provides guidance to states and local school districts for the creation of the standards, curricula, and instructional materials necessary for excellence in civic learning for 21st century students. The initiative brought together a demographically and professionally diverse national network of experts with varied viewpoints in civics, U.S. history, political science, and education to foster a shared national conversation about what is most important to teach in U.S. history and civics, why it should be taught, and how. This effort comes after a 50-year erosion of civic education in K-12 schoolsto the point that the federal government now spends only 5 cents per student per year on civics, and fewer than a quarter of American 8th graders score as proficient on the National Assessment of Educational Progress in civics. The Roadmap is not a national curriculum, but a robust framework with content guidance and advice about pedagogic strategies that states and local municipalities can use to guide improvement and innovation in their development of U.S. history and civic learning curricula, resources, and learning opportunities. The goal of the framework and advisory guidance is to support the development of students into prepared, informed, and engaged civic participants. The aspiration is that states and districts will use the Roadmap as a foundation for their own efforts to improve history and civic standards, and to support districts, schools, and educators in efforts to deepen and strengthen U.S. history and civic learning across all grade bands. It is supplemented by an implementation plan, with roles for each level of our federal systemlocal, state, tribal, territorial, and national. The goal is to give 60 million students access to high-quality civic learning opportunities and to create 100,000 schools that are "civic ready" by 2030. The Roadmap and its Pedagogy Companion offer an inquiry-based vision for civics and history, with seven content themes that integrate history and political science, and that are organized by means of the questions to be pursued over the course of a K-12 education. The themes are designed to support disciplinary learning and to motivate the agency students need to sustain constitutional democracy. Educating for American Democracy was led by The Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics at Harvard University, The School of Civic & Economic Thought and Leadership at Arizona State University, Tufts University's Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning (CIRCLE) and Engagement and Jonathan M. Tisch College of Civic Life, and iCivicsthe country's largest civic education provider. For more information and the full details, please visit www.educatingforamericandemocracy.org For the complete release: https://www.educatingforamericandemocracy.org/News-and-Events/ For media inquiries, contact [email protected]. SOURCE iCivics Related Links https://www.educatingforamericandemocracy.org Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-02 15:53:10|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close LAGOS, March 2 (Xinhua) -- All Nigerian students kidnapped from their boarding school on Friday in the northwestern state of Zamfara have been released, a local official said on Tuesday. Zamfara State Governor Bello Matawalle said that girls, who were kidnapped at the Government Girls Science Secondary School in the Jangebe town on Friday, were released through negotiations early Tuesday. "Following a series of dialogue and mediation with repentant bandits and scaling hurdles of those who want to scuttle our effort to secure the release of Jangebe schoolgirls, I am happy to announce that, the students have been released," Matawalle said in a statement. Enditem Gusau Hundreds of Nigerian schoolgirls abducted last week from a boarding school in the north-western Zamfara state have been released, the states governor said on Tuesday. Zamfara state governor Bello Matawalle announced that 279 girls have been freed. The government last week said 317 had been kidnapped. Gunmen abducted the girls from the Government Girls Junior Secondary School in Jangebe town on Friday, in the latest in a series of mass kidnappings of students in the West African nation. The Government Girls Junior Secondary School in Jangebe, where the attack took place. Credit:AP An Associated Press reporter saw hundreds of girls dressed in light blue hijabs and barefoot sitting at the state Government House office in Gusau. CHARLBURY, England, March 2, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The eyes of the world turned to JPL last week as the Perseverance Rover touched down on Mars. They did so via jpl.nasa.gov , the Lab's new digital home for missions, science news, images and videos, recently redesigned and rebuilt on Wagtail with the help of Torchbox. Following Caltech's lead , JPL chose Wagtail to replace their content management infrastructure and enlisted Torchbox to help them do it in time for the Mars landing. Torchbox was engaged to help define the technical architecture and content model, ensuring the best use of Wagtail, as well as augmenting JPL's sprint team to develop features from the backlog, including integrating with third party systems and migrating content from legacy platforms. Additionally, Torchbox took an initial design concept forward, developing it into the look and feel that you see on the site today. Torchbox and JPL worked as part of a fully remote multi-agency/client project team, split across Pasadena (UTC -8), Chennai (UTC +5:30) and the UK (UTC), focused on a hard launch date in time for Perseverance's arrival on Mars. The JPL site is headless. The front end is built in Vue using NuxtJS, and connects to Wagtail via GraphQL, using the increasingly popular wagtail-grapple package . Torchbox used Storybook to develop the interface components, and set up automated accessibility tests for all UI components. Thanks to wagtail-headless-preview , NASA editors can preview their draft content on the real front-end before pushing stories live. JPL's content has deep historical significance. Many thousands of news items, missions and images, dating back from the 1950s , were moved from the old ColdFusion site, with an automated ETL pipeline to manage and test the migration. JPL is a federally-funded research and development centre managed by Caltech for NASA. Tom Dyson, Torchbox and Wagtail CMS co-founder, said "We're so proud to have worked with JPL on this project, which was carried out by a completely remote team, in the time it took Perseverance to travel 300 million miles to Mars. Wagtail isn't rocket science, but it played a part in this extraordinary achievement, and we're very grateful to everyone in the open source community who's been part of it." Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1448019/NASA_JPL.jpg .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. Public Service Co. of New Mexico must provide more information about its investments in the Four Corners Generating Station and its plan for the Navajo Nation to buy its share of the coal plant before state regulators will evaluate its request to abandon the facility in 2024. Public Regulation Commission hearing examiner Anthony Medeiros ordered PNM on Friday to re-file its abandonment application by March 15 before hearings proceed. PNM filed in January for PRC approval to relinquish its 13% stake in the plant in December 2024 nearly seven years ahead of schedule to comply with the states Energy Transition Act. That law requires PNM and other public utilities to transition their grids to 50% renewables by 2030, 80% by 2040, and 100% carbon-free generation by 2045. ADVERTISEMENTSkip ................................................................ But PNMs January filing never asked the PRC to approve PNMs plan to sell its share in Four Corners to the Navajo Nation, which would continue operating the plant with other utilities through 2031. Now, PNM must include that request in its new application, and explain how its deal with the Navajo Nation would benefit the public. It must also provide additional information on the prudence of its past investments in the plant plus about $73 million more it plans to invest through 2024 before the PRC rules on PNMs eligibility to recover about $300 million from ratepayers. Those issues have been controversial from the start. PNM believes the energy law guarantees full recovery of its investments through bonds paid off by ratepayers through a monthly charge on their bills. But about half of the $300 million PNM seeks to recover come from pollution controls installed to keep Four Corners running through 2031. The PRC allowed PNM in 2015 to include those expenses in its base rates under condition that the prudence of the investments would be examined in PNMs next rate case. But PNM now says the new energy law, which took effect in 2019, makes that prudence review moot by guaranteeing cost recovery. Intervenors disagree. New Energy Economy Executive Director Mariel Nanasi said no significant financial analysis was done to justify PNMs past investments, and now it plans to shed a toxic liability onto the Navajos and have ratepayers pick up the tab. Western Resource Advocates Attorney Steve Michel said PNM must address those issues. The commission can and should look at that, Michel said. PNM will provide additional information as ordered, but it stands by its past investments and its right to recover those costs under the energy law, said PNM spokesman Ray Sandoval. In any case, ratepayers could actually save up to $300 million over time by using the low-cost bonds authorized by the energy law to recover investments, and by replacing Four Corners generation with cheaper renewable resources, Sandoval said. A refugee from Ethiopia sits next to a bag of rice donated by Kenyan officials at a camp in Moyale, Marsabit County, Kenya. UNHCR/Will Swanson NAIROBI UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, and World Food Programme (WFP) appealed today for US$266 million to end food ration cuts for over 3 million refugees in Eastern Africa. Funding shortages have forced cuts up to 60 per cent. The agencies warned of growing risks including increased malnutrition and anaemia, stunted child growth and a myriad of protection risks. The impact of the funding shortfalls on refugee families is compounded by COVID-19 lockdowns and measures to contain the pandemics spread, which had already reduced the availability of food in markets in refugee camps and wrecked many refugees hopes of helping to support their families through casual labour and small businesses. The pandemic has been devastating for everyone, but for refugees even more so. said Clementine Nkweta-Salami, UNHCRs Regional Bureau Director for the East, Horn of Africa and the Great Lakes. Unless more funds are made available, thousands of refugees including children will not have enough to eat. Protection concerns are growing. Food ration or cash cuts are resulting in negative coping strategies to meet their basic food needs such as skipping or reducing meals, taking loans with high interest, selling assets, child labour, and increased domestic violence. There is often a desperation and a feeling of no alternative, she said. We must start meeting the food and nutritional needs of refugees in the region now, said Michael Dunford, WFP Regional Director for Eastern Africa. The immediate priority for us all must be to restore assistance to at least minimum levels for refugees, many of whom lost the lifeline of remittances due to the global impact of COVID-19. Weve never had such a terrible funding situation for refugees. We have a US$266 million shortfall for the next six months for refugees minimum needs. We are deeply concerned that if cuts continue, they will be faced with a very difficult decision: stay in the camps where food and nutrition security is deteriorating or consider risking going back when it is unsafe. In the 11 countries covered by UNHCRs Bureau for the East and Horn of Africa and the Great Lakes, 72 per cent of 4.7 million refugees face food cuts on top of funding shortfalls already for UNHCRs non-food assistance and support. Funding shortfalls have forced WFP to slash its monthly assistance for refugees by up to 60 per cent in Rwanda, 40 per cent in Uganda and Kenya, 30 per cent in South Sudan, 23 per cent in Djibouti and 16 per cent in Ethiopia. Almost 140,000 refugees and asylum seekers live in Rwanda, mostly from the Democratic Republic of Congo and Burundi. WFP supports 138,000 refugees in camps and 12,500 children from the host community who attend the same schools as refugees and receive school meals. The 60 per cent cut is unprecedented and will only worsen food insecurity. WFP predominantly supports refugees in Rwanda with cash transfers so relatively little additional funding could reverse the cuts. WFP needs US$11 million to provide refugees in Rwanda with full cash or food rations through August. In Kenya, WFP has reduced food rations for 417,000 refugees by 40 per cent. WFP needs US$61 million to provide full food and nutrition assistance to refugees from March through August. In Tanzania, WFP rations for 280,000 refugees are cut by 32 per cent of the minimum recommended kilocalorie requirement. WFP needs US$17 million for refugees in Tanzania through August. Uganda hosts the largest refugee population in Africa and in February WFP cut food assistance to 1.27 million refugees by 40 per cent of the basic survival ration. US$77 million is needed through August to provide full rations. In South Sudan, Ethiopia and Djibouti, WFP requires US$82 million to provide full assistance through August for almost 1 million refugees. Only refugees in Burundi and Sudan are receiving full rations. They need a total of US$18 million through August. The United Nations World Food Programme is the 2020 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate. We are the worlds largest humanitarian organization, saving lives in emergencies and using food assistance to build a pathway to peace, stability and prosperity for people recovering from conflict, disasters and the impact of climate change. Follow us on Twitter @wfp_Africa UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, protects people forced to flee their homes because of conflict and persecution. We work in over 130 countries, protecting millions of people by responding with life-saving support, safeguarding fundamental human rights and helping them build a better future. Follow us on Twitter @Refugees For more information please contact (email address: [email protected]): 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 numbers never lie. In the case of the New York Yankees, that means a lack of spots on the major-league roster for outfielders. Clint Frazier, Aaron Hicks and Aaron Judge are locked in as the starters. Brett Gardner, Jay Bruce and Mike Tauchman are fighting for playing time as backups. And slugger Giancarlo Stanton figures to get some reps in the outfield this season. That leaves Greg Allen without a seat to sit in when the music stops. The Yankees announced Monday Allen has been outrighted off the Major League roster and onto the Triple-A roster. Allen remains in Major League camp. The move came as little surprise since Allen was designated for assignment last week to clear up a spot on the 40-man roster for reliever Justin Wilson. By staying in Yankees camp, Allen provides the club with organizational depth in the outfield. Introducing Yankees Insider: Get exclusive news, behind-the-scenes observations and the ability to text message directly with beat writers The Yankees traded for Allen in January, giving up minor-league reliever James Reeves in the deal with the San Diego Padres. The 27-year-old Allen played for the Cleveland Indians and Padres last season, batting .154 with four hits in 26 at-bats over 16 games. He was traded to San Diego on Aug. 31 in a blockbuster that sent ace Mike Clevinger to the Padres. Allen is a career .239 hitter with eight homers, 57 RBI and 32 stolen bases in 221 games. His best season was 2018 when he hit .257 with two homers, 20 RBI and 21 steals in 25 attempts over 91 games with the Indians. A San Diego native, Allen was drafted by the Indians in the sixth round in 2014. (NJ Advance Medias Randy Miller contributed to this report.) Get Yankees text messages: Cut through the clutter of social media and text during games with beat writers and columnists. Plus, exclusive news and analysis every day. Sign up now. Thank you for relying on us to provide the journalism you can trust. Please consider supporting NJ.com with a subscription. Mike Rosenstein may be reached at mrosenstein@njadvancemedia.com. Tell us your coronavirus story or send a tip here. SUNNYVALE, Calif., March 2, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Health Gorilla , the leading provider of healthcare APIs, today announced it has raised $15 million in Series B financing co-led by IA Capital and Nationwide, with participation from Aflac Ventures, Epsilon Health Investors and existing investors including True Ventures. IA Capital General Partner, Matt Perlman, will be joining Health Gorilla's Board of Directors. Health Gorilla is focused on streamlining access to clinical data with a suite of FHIR-based APIs that digital health developers integrate into their products. Health Gorilla customers include leading innovators in digital health, like Virta Health, Heal, K Health, and DrChrono. In 2020, Health Gorilla expanded beyond digital health with new partnerships with state government organizations, payers, and health systems. The Health Gorilla team is an interdisciplinary group of API engineers, data scientists, and interoperability experts who are passionate about simplifying access to clinical data through API-mediated data networks. With Health Gorilla's APIs, developers can access data from a vast network of care sites without having to do resource intensive, one-off integrations, expediting access to data and enabling better patient care. With new funding, Health Gorilla will accelerate its expansion into new business verticals, including insurance, life sciences, and government organizations. In addition, Health Gorilla will introduce new APIs to enable consumer access to medical records, payer-to-payer data sharing, and data quality assessments. "APIs are transforming how healthcare organizations access and exchange clinical data, creating massive efficiency gains across our customer base," said Steve Yaskin, CEO and Co-founder of Health Gorilla. "This funding round gives us the ability to onboard more digital health organizations onto our network, while introducing our APIs to a broader set of stakeholders across the healthcare ecosystem. This round is also recognition that Health Gorilla is making interoperability a reality for the next generation of healthcare companies." "Massive trends like the proliferation of digital health and telemedicine, the rise of value-based care models, and new regulations mandating interoperability are fueling demand for data solutions like Health Gorilla," said Matt Perlman, General Partner at IA Capital. "Steve and his team have built best-in-class technology that customers absolutely love and we're excited to help accelerate their traction in the insurance industry." "Being able to access health data quickly and efficiently is a game-changer for underwriting life insurance products. We believe their technology can drastically change underwriting processes that have previously taken weeks," said Erik Ross, leader of Nationwide's venture capital team. "Nationwide recognizes the opportunities within Health Gorilla's platform to benefit our members and we are looking forward to helping them scale through our investment." About Health Gorilla Founded in 2014, Health Gorilla is a secure interoperability solution that enables the entire health care ecosystem patients, payers, providers, digital health solutions, and labs to seamlessly share health data and aggregate each patient's entire clinical history in one place. With enterprise-grade clinical data APIs, HIPAA-compliant user authentication, and an unparalleled master patient index, the Health Gorilla network makes it easy for providers to pull their patient's information from any clinical records system. Headquartered in Silicon Valley, Health Gorilla works with health care organizations around the world, helping them gather the clinical data they need to deliver the best and most appropriate care for their patients. For more information, visit healthgorilla.com or follow us on Twitter @HealthGorilla . About IA Capital IA Capital is the longest-tenured independent venture capital firm focusing on insurtech. Based in New York City, IA Capital has a two-decade track record of successfully partnering with innovative early and growth stage companies in insurance andmore broadlyfinancial services. IA is currently investing in its sixth, seventh, and eighth venture capital funds and manages strategic venture capital programs for 16 insurers. Learn more at iacapgroup.com . SOURCE Health Gorilla Related Links http://www.healthgorilla.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 part of Moove which focuses on air transport of calves is delayed for now The much-anticipated trial charter flight to export 900 dairy calves off the island will not take place this spring. The Moove research project being conducted by the Department of Agriculture, Teagasc and Wageningen University in the Netherlands was due to fly between March 1 and April 30. However, in light of the pandemic, it has emerged that almost all freight airplanes are being used for transporting Covid-19 vaccines. As such, the flight has been delayed until May or June. IFA Ulster / North Leinster regional chairman Nigel Renaghan has criticised the development warning that flying calves this summer is too little, too late. At an EU Parliament hearing on animal transport last week, DAFM animal welfare director Rob Doyle gave an update on Moove. Read More "The premise of the trial flight is to examine the impact of the process on calves (positive or negative), and also to compare air transportation to the existing method of road/ferry transportation. "However, the Covid-19 pandemic has resulted in almost all freight airplanes in the world being taken up by transportation of vaccines which is currently taking precedence over animal transport. Thus, the part of Moove which focuses on air transport of calves is delayed for now. "Teagasc has conducted no scientifically based economic analysis as yet on air versus road transport. It has recently completed some preliminary work that highlights air transport as potentially economically feasible, although a reduction in the purchase price of calves would be required to offset the additional cost of flying. "Also, flying would only be economically feasible at scale, meaning a large proportion of Irish calves would need to be transported by air to make it economically attractive to a transporter, he said. In response Mr Renaghan said: This project should be a high priority. Private airline companies should be brought in to complete a proper and urgent cost analysis. For Teagasc to wait until summer is too little, too late. Copyright 1995 - . All rights reserved. The content (including but not limited to text, photo, multimedia information, etc) published in this site belongs to China Daily Information Co (CDIC). Without written authorization from CDIC, such content shall not be republished or used in any form. Note: Browsers with 1024*768 or higher resolution are suggested for this site. 0108263 License for publishing multimedia online Registration Number: 130349 Registration Number: 130349 This week: Pitkin Countys front line workers are eligible for the COVID19 vaccine, but can your employer require you to get vaccinated? Also a look at the two back-to-back worldwide ski events Aspen is hosting beginning March 10. Host Alycin Bektesh is joined by Madeleine Osberger, Erica GODFREY The National Great Rivers Research and Education (NGRRECsm) is accepting applications for a summer program aimed at giving undergraduates the opportunity to conduct real-life field research in area wetlands. The Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) program, themed Wetland Science in a Modern World, runs 10 weeks and is full-time. The internship program is supported by a grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF). We are very excited to receive this NSF award. It points to the quality of research undertaken at NGRRECs state-of-the-art field station, and our commitment to education, said NGRREC Research Scientist and Program Coordinator Anthony Dell. It also highlights the unique commitment of Lewis and Clark Community College to undergraduate research. This summer program will provide a unique opportunity for students from groups that are traditionally underrepresented in research to gain experience in the science of wetlands, including L&C students, he said. Paired with faculty mentors, eight REU students will be trained in multiple facets of field- and lab-based research. The program focuses on using modern technological and theoretical developments in wetland science. Students will be assigned to one of the research laboratories at NGRREC, under the mentorship of scientists from NGRREC and local institutions, including SIUE and SLU. Wetlands are among the most important ecosystems on the planet, providing numerous benefits including habitat for wildlife, mitigation of flood events, and natural reduction of pollutants in freshwater, said NGRREC Large River Ecologist and co-program coordinator Jason Knouft. Were excited to have the opportunity to train the next generation of scientists in skills that will allow them to contribute to the sustainability and conservation of these resources. We are extremely proud to offer this program, which expands our summer research opportunities for undergraduates, said NGRREC Director of Environmental Education Sarah Fisher. REU grants are only awarded to high-level research institutions, and not many of them are two-year institutions, and it is an honor for NGRREC to be selected. Fisher said L&C is only the second community college in Illinois to receive an REU grant. The deadline to apply is March 14. Applicants must be current undergraduates who will not graduate before August 2021. All information and the application can be found at www.ngrrec.org/reu. General inquiries on NGRREC internships can be sent to NGRRECIntern@lc.edu. Contact Fisher at saafisher@lc.edu, Dell at adell@lc.edu or Knouft at jason.knouft@slu.edu for additional information. Klarna Bank AB said it raised $1bn (830bn) at a valuation of $31bn, triple the price investors gave the Swedish payments firm during its last funding round, following rapid growth in its US business. Europe's most valuable startup initially set out to raise $500m. Klarna CEO Sebastian Siemiatkowski said high investor demand led to this doubling, but could have gone as high as $3bn. It had been valued at $10.65bn as recently as September. "What definitely has accelerated and changed is the success in the US market," Mr Siemiatkowski said in an interview. Investors are seeing Klarna getting ahead of its competitors, he said. "I think that has changed the perspective and changed the view on our valuation." The company has about 90 million users worldwide and the US is on track to overtake Germany as its biggest market by the end of 2021. It said last week it had signed up 20 of the top 100 brands in the US and attracted a million new customers a month there in the last quarter of 2020. Klarna competes with PayPal and Square as well as traditional credit cards. It lets customers "buy now and pay later" in four interest-free installments when they shop online or in store with brands such as Abercrombie & Fitch, H&M, Adidas and Lululemon. Retailers give it a cut of purchases to cover costs. It also offers savings accounts and other banking services. Fintech firms have seen more people take advantage of their products during the pandemic, which spurred a shift to e-commerce while stores were forced to close. Klarna has previously said it doesn't expect the rollout of vaccines to completely reverse that trend, as shoppers learn new habits. But the interest-free buy-now pay-later business model has also faced scrutiny from regulators, such as in the UK., where they're concerned it encourages people to spend more than they can afford. PayPal launched a similar point-of-sale loan product in Britain last year. Mr Siemiatkowski said the fresh funding would help Klarna further challenge the credit card industry. Buy-now pay-later services offered a more egalitarian system by giving every consumer the same offer, he said. "There's a number of investors out there that agree with us," he said. "They see that this credit card industry is actually at its core flawed and needs some innovation." Klarna will use some of the money to acquire technology companies. Mr Siemiatkowski said he was "less keen" on M&A with competitors because of the complexities of integrating new services, but was interested in targets that could help people save time or money. He said about $10m would also be donated to organisations helping to combat climate change. As the company's valuation has soared, so has speculation about a public listing. Mr Siemiatkowski said he was "excited and intrigued" by the idea of a direct listing and wasn't ruling anything out for as soon as this year. More than 30 existing and new investors participated in the round announced yesterday, which Bloomberg first reported last week. Klarna didn't name any of the investors but existing backers include Silver Lake, Sequoia Capital, Singapore's sovereign wealth fund GIC, BlackRock and HMI Capital as well as the rapper known as Snoop Dogg, who also appears in some of the company's ads. Jennifer Martinez-Medina is affiliated with Repatriate Our Patriots, an advocacy organization that supports deported veterans, and is Co-Editor for Desolate Zine. Ivan Ocon thought he would be headed back to civilian life as a U.S. citizen after serving the U.S. Army in Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003. Ocon, who was born in Mexico, came to the United States as a legal permanent resident in 1985 to reunite with his mother. He joined the Army in 1997, and his recruiter assured him that enlisting would make him a U.S. citizen. When Ocon received orders of deployment to Iraq he was given a pre-deployment checklist to help him get his affairs in order. Confirming his immigration status wasnt on that list, because citizenship is not required for overseas military service. Ocon deployed as a noncitizen. He figured if he made it home alive, he would finish the naturalization process. Instead, Ocon was convicted of a crime and jailed in 2007, released for good behavior after nine years, and summarily deported. Today, he is stranded in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, separated from his family and fighting to come home. PTSD-related crimes As of 2018, the United States had 94,000 noncitizen military veterans. Ocon is one of at least 92 to be deported between 2013 and 2018, according to data from Immigration and Customs Enforcement and other agencies. The majority 78%, according to federal data were removed because of criminal convictions. Under the 1996 Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigration Responsibility Act, "aggravated felonies" are a basis for automatic deportation. Struggles with post-traumatic stress disorder and substance abuse put veterans at greater risk of incarceration than the general population. In 2017, nearly 28% of minority veterans thats 1,315,989 people reported a service-connected disability, principally PTSD. Veterans without U.S. citizenship are therefore acutely susceptible to deportation. The American Civil Liberties Union suggests that many veterans are deported as a result of criminal convictions that stem from PTSD symptoms. Intimate-partner violence and drug convictions are common crimes. Unfulfilled promises I am a political scientist who studies political rights across borders. I began collecting deported veterans stories after my brother, a U.S. Army veteran, was deported to Mexico in 2005. So this work, and this problem, is personal for me. Military service is supposed to qualify veterans for naturalization as U.S. citizens and extends status benefits to family members because honorable service satisfies the "good moral character" requirements for naturalization, according to the 1940 Nationality Act. The promise of naturalization is sometimes a military recruitment strategy targeting immigrant communities. After 9/11, immigrant military members even became entitled to expedited citizenship, which could speed up the naturalization process from three years to one year. But in 2017 a Trump administration policy restricted access to the expedited citizenship promised to veterans after 9/11. And, in general, immigrant veterans get very little guidance about how to complete the naturalization process from their military branches once they have served. This systemic failure, combined with a lack of coordination among ICE and other government agencies, has left more than half of the eligible noncitizen service members in administrative and legal limbo. Repatriation efforts In Ivan Ocons case, the aggravated felonies that got him deported were aiding and abetting a kidnapping and brandishing a firearm secondary charges related to a 2007 crime committed by his brother. After being released from jail for good behavior in 2015, Ocon spent the next 11 months fighting the automatic deportation order that is issued when an immigrant is convicted of a crime. He filed an application in late 2015 for naturalization based on wartime service, but despite his having earned over 10 military medals and ribbons, the Department of Homeland Services six months later denied his application, saying Ocon lacked "good moral character." He was deported to Juarez soon after. With "no money and nothing but time," Ocon now serves as a bridge for veterans navigating deportation. He describes his advocacy at the Deported Veteran Support House Juarez Bunker as "Kicking up dust for the veterans that dont or cant." Deported veterans are using a variety of strategies to make their case for returning home, with many focused on the new administration in Washington, D.C. President Joe Bidens recently released plan to reform the U.S. immigration system promises a pathway to citizenship for the 11 million undocumented immigrants and Dreamers in the U.S. But it makes no mention of reuniting with U.S. family members the millions more who were deported or voluntarily returned to their country of origin, such as deported veterans. Immigrant veterans hoping Biden will consider their plight have found a congressional ally in Sen. Tammy Duckworth. On Jan. 20, Duckworth asked Biden for a series of executive actions that would stop the deportation of veterans and begin the repatriation process. The Biden administration responded by announcing a review of veteran deportations under the Trump administration a time frame deported veteran advocates say is too narrow. Several hundred veterans deported before 2017 among them Ocon are living in banishment. Deported veterans are also allying with other immigrant communities to push the New Way Forward Act, a bill that would redefine categories of deportable crimes and allow judges to take military service into consideration before issuing a removal order. The bill, which was reintroduced by Rep. Jesus "Chuy" Garcia of Illinois on Jan. 26, could make 50% to 60% of deported veterans eligible to return home, veteran advocate Robert Vivar told me. On Presidents Day, Garcia joined deported veterans and their coalition at a virtual press conference unveiling the "Leave No One Behind Mural Project." This arts initiative will create murals in cities across the U.S. depicting the stories of the immigrants who remain excluded from Bidens proposed immigration reforms, starting in March and unveiling a new mural every few weeks through the end of Bidens 100 days. Ocon is part of the mural project. He sees art and lobbying as "fighting the same battle" for deported veterans, "but on different fronts." -- The opinions expressed in this op-ed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Military.com. If you would like to submit your own commentary, please send your article to opinions@military.com for consideration. South Africa: SA determined to ramp up vaccine manufacturing capacity Deputy President David Mabuza has reiterated governments stance to ramp up efforts for the country to produce its own lifesaving vaccines, as the world battles COVID-19. Mabuza conducted an oversight visit at the Biovac Institute in Midrand, Gauteng, on Tuesday. Biovac is a bio-pharmaceutical company, in partnership with government and the private sector. Established in 2003, with its headquarters in Cape Town, the company was set up to establish local vaccine manufacturing capability for the provision of vaccines for national health management and security. We do currently manufacture vaccines. Almost 80% of the vaccines we use are manufactured in Cape Town, and then we distribute. But we want to increase this capacity, said Mabuza. The company is the storage centre for the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, which is currently reserved for healthcare workers across the country following a decision by the Inter-Ministerial Committee on COVID-19 Vaccines. The Deputy President, who chairs the Inter-Ministerial Committee (IMC), said after his visit to Biovac that government is determined to improve the countrys vaccine manufacturing capabilities. The second batch of the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine landed at OR Tambo International Airport from Belgium on Saturday. The Deputy Minister believes that the country will not need another storage facility. Everything that will come in will be stored here, and will go straight to vaccination sites from here, he said, speaking from outside the institutes cold room. Mabuza said he every confidence in Biovac to safely store the vaccine. He assured that he will get vaccinated when his turn comes. Corruption Meanwhile, Mabuza assured the public that measures have been taken to curb corruption in the roll out of vaccines. The IMC [on vaccines] is taking care of all the processes to ensure theres no corruption, the Deputy President said. Acting Minister in the Presidency, Khumbudzo Ntshavheni, echoed the Deputy Ministers words, saying government has work streams involving anti-corruption and risk management to deal with any malfeasance that may arise. What were focusing on is to control and prevent [corruption] rather than being reactive. Were being proactive this time around and those are the things were working on in the IMC, she said. With the private sector wanting to procure its own vaccines, Health Deputy Minister Joe Phaahla said they have found that vaccine manufacturers prefer to work with governments. The manufacturers themselves are comfortable with that kind of arrangement. Ensuring vaccine integrity Biovac CEO, Dr Morena Makhoana, assured that the integrity of vaccines will be safeguarded, whether the vaccines are in a truck or warehouse. That whole value chain has to be maintained and that is what our licence requires, whether there are subcontractors that are used or whether we use our own trucks. The whole system has to have integrity and ultimately Biovac then takes ownership, he explained. Meanwhile, the Deputy President will be visiting various sites once government effectively rolls out the inoculation programme in the country. SAnews.gov.za This story has been published on: 2021-03-02. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. Actor Kunal Kemmu has clicked a series of pictures of the city, giving creative vent to his love for photography. The actor took to the streets of Mumbai to capture the spirit of the city through his lens. Image Source: IANS News Actor Kunal Kemmu has clicked a series of pictures of the city, giving creative vent to his love for photography. The actor took to the streets of Mumbai to capture the spirit of the city through his lens. Image Source: IANS News Mumbai, March 2 : Actor Kunal Kemmu has clicked a series of pictures of the city, giving creative vent to his love for photography. The actor took to the streets of Mumbai to capture the spirit of the city through his lens. "I was always interested in photography. I was checking out the new camera that I bought recently and I thought why not capture the morning stillness of Mumbai and also give myself a chance to hone my skills?" said Kunal. Kunal made an impact last year with his negative role as a psycho cop in Mohit Suri's romantic thriller Malang. The film, co-starring Anil Kapoor, Disha Patani, and Aditya Roy Kapur is slated to get a sequel soon. Last year, Kunal also made an impact with his heist comedy Lootcase, which dropped digitally amid the Covid pandemic. All eyes will be on Rishi Sunak's plans to support the UK economy out of lockdown The long-awaited Budget day has come, so the UK will get a clearer idea on how the government plans to usher the economy out of the pandemic. Its a dilemma for Rishi Sunak, who is hamstrung by PM Boris Johnsons promises in the election of 2019 not to increase income tax, national insurance or VAT. However, it is understood hes looking to hike corporation tax from 19p in the pound to 25p over the course of the parliament, though it would not breach the Tory manifesto pledge. An increase to 22p alone would add 10bn to the governments pockets, while Berenberg said a 1-2% hike would not have any major negative economic consequences. Housebuilders are expected to be among the winners as the Chancellor is looking to encourage first-home buyers, while the retail, hospitality and leisure sectors will benefit from the extension of business rates holiday and the temporary VAT cut, among other measures to push people to spend their disposable income. Government news aside, it will be a busy day for corporate news, with the UK services PMI also on the schedule. Housebuilders still on the spot The sector will remain on the news all week as PLC ( ) is releasing its finals a day after PLCs ( ). Its competitor said on Tuesday it set aside 125mln to cover fire safety repairs to apartment blocks, in the wake of new recommendations following the Grenfell Tower inquiry, so investors may be expecting a similar move from . Shares may also be lifted by budget news on the revamped Help to Buy scheme and the Stamp Duty Holiday extension, which buoyed purchases during the pandemic. Looking at present trading, sales rate be normalising by now after the second half of the year benefited from pent-up demand. has also already disclosed revenue and year-end net cash of 3.1bn and 1.2bn respectively, with management indicating profit before tax could come in at 850mln. UBS sees potential for a 235p dividend. Prudential to update on demerger plans ( ) is due to report results, where the market will seek updates on the spinoff of US business Jackson into a separately listed company. Having already divested its UK business, the demerger was confirmed in January to significantly accelerate the focus on growth in Asia and Africa. The insurer also said it was mulling over a capital raise of US$2.5bn-3bn to support business ventures in Asia, so investors will be keen to hear more on that. DS Smith unpacks trading update Packaging group ( ) will deliver a trading update, with most investors likely to focus on the companys pricing as the re-emergence of lockdown could ha reapplied pressure following an improvement in trends in its second quarter. Pricing pressure could in turn weigh on revenues, making the outlook statement the most important factor as well as any update son the firms e-commerce, consumer and food clients which have held up best during the pandemic period. Significant announcements expected for Wednesday March 3: UK Budget Trading announcements: ( ), ( ) Finals: ( ), Persimmon PLC ( ), ( ), PLC ( ), ( ), Getbusy PLC ( ), ( ), ( ), (LON:DLGD), Hiscox Ltd ( ), ( ) Economic data: UK services PMI, UK OBR forecasts, US services PMI 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's parliament the House of Representatives voted Tuesday in favor of amending a controversial law on regulating the registration and documentation of real estate property in public notarisation offices. The vote came one day after President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi ordered the delay of implementing the law for at least two years. El-Sisi also asked that an article, that required citizens who wish to register their properties to pay a 2.5 percent disposal tax, be scrapped and replaced by a reduced flat fee. El-Sisi's directives were put up for discussion in an urgent meeting held by parliament's Legislative and Constitutional Affairs Committee on Tuesday morning. A report prepared by the committee recommended that MPs vote in favor of delaying the implementation of the Real Estate Registration Law (law 186/2020) to 30 June 2023. The law, approved by parliament in August 2020, was scheduled to go into effect next Saturday (6 March). MPs also approved amending article 42 of the income tax law (law 91/2005) to abolish a 2.5 percent disposal tax. As a result, citizens will no longer be obliged to pay the tax as a pre-condition to be able to get access to electricity, water and natural gas services. The Minister of Parliamentary Affairs Alaa Fouad told MPs that the law's stipulation that citizens must also pay a one percent fee to the syndicate of lawyers - to have their properties registered - is illegal. "Anyhow, we will discuss this percent in detail when we hold a national dialogue with the objective of preparing a new Real Estate Registration law within the next two years," said Fouad, adding that "we hope by the end of the two-year grace period that we will prepare a new integrated law on real estate registration." The Parliamentary Spokesperson of the Mostaqbal Watan party Ashraf Rashad, said that President El-Sisi's intervention to amend the law came to serve the interests of citizens. "The president asked to delay the implementation of the law for two years to have time to hold a national dialogue that should lead to drafting a new one, meeting the interests of the people," said Rashad, indicating that "the law in its earlier form caused a lot of concern among citizens because it imposed a lot of financial burdens and complicated measures." Rashad asked the government to be more careful in preparing future legislations. "We hope that the government and ministries show more care and discipline in drafting legislations so that we do not face such crises and not give the opportunity to hostile forces [to] exploit such crises to cause harm to our country." Short link: Raymond Cauchetier, a self-taught photographer who helped promote and even define the French New Wave, taking pictures on the set of "Breathless," "Jules and Jim" and other landmarks of 1960s cinema that captured the movement's rebellious spirit, died Feb. 22 at a hospital in Paris. He was 101. The cause was covid-19, said Julia Gragnon, a Parisian gallerist who oversaw a retrospective of his work last year at La Galerie de l'Instant. Cauchetier started his photography career in the early 1950s, taking pictures for the press service of the French air force in Saigon. Wielding a Rolleiflex camera - partly because it dried easily whenever he accidentally dropped it in the Mekong River - he traveled across Southeast Asia photographing rice farmers, rickshaw drivers, the temples of Angkor Wat and the First Indochina War. He later photographed a convoy of Cold War-era rockets in Moscow, talking security officials into letting him return home with the film rolls; crisscrossed Cambodia taking pictures for a tourism project at the behest of former king Norodom Sihanouk; and spent two decades photographing Romanesque art across Europe, trying to document 12th-century church sculptures before they were damaged by pollution or dismantled by thieves. But he remained indelibly linked to the French New Wave, the cinematic movement that upended world cinema with its unconventional editing, bold visual style, use of portable equipment and deeply personal subject matter. Launched by movies such as Francois Truffaut's "The 400 Blows" and Alain Resnais's "Hiroshima Mon Amour" (both 1959), the New Wave became increasingly prominent with Jean-Luc Godard's "Breathless" (1960), which starred Jean-Paul Belmondo as a gruff car thief and Jean Seberg as his short-haired American love interest. Cauchetier was hired as the film's set photographer, a position that typically involved taking posed pictures of actors at the beginning or end of each scene to help with makeup, continuity and publicity. Taking a photojournalist's approach to the job, he instead shot Belmondo and Seberg in action, making carefully framed, richly textured photographs that captured moments of play and spontaneity. His pictures also showed Godard and cinematographer Raoul Coutard at work, offering future film historians a rich trove of behind-the-scenes images. "In assembling his movie-centered still-photo dossiers, he created perhaps the greatest and most revealing photographic documents ever made of films in progress," film author Richard Brody wrote in a 2015 New Yorker article. "Cauchetier is the auteur of set photographers." Cauchetier photographed Godard pushing Coutard in a wheelchair, enabling the cinematographer to shoot a low-budget tracking shot; another photo showed the director with a canvas-covered trolley cart equipped with a hole for the camera, which Godard used to shoot on the busy Champs-Elysees. In one of his best-known images, he photographed Seberg kissing Belmondo on the cheek, while the actor gripped a cigarette and gazed into the distance. Although it was inspired by a sequence in "Breathless," the image never appeared in the film. "That day, to avoid the crowds, Godard shot from up high on the fifth-floor of a building," Cauchetier told the Guardian in 2015. "You could just make out this minuscule couple parting with a chaste kiss in front of a newspaper stand. I went down afterwards and said I wanted to do a close-up of a kiss because it summed up their characters so well. They obliged. It lasted five seconds." Cauchetier took so many photos that he was fired by the producer of "Breathless." But he reunited with Godard on the 1961 comedy-drama "A Woman Is a Woman," capturing intimate moments between the director and star Anna Karina - clutching her wrist while seated at a Paris cafe; sharing a kiss while Godard doffed his fedora - in the months before the couple married. For Truffaut's "Jules and Jim" (1962), the story of a tragic love triangle, he photographed the director jokingly offering a cigarette to an extra playing a choirboy, and captured an exuberant moment from a scene in which Jeanne Moreau races across a footbridge in the Paris suburbs, chased by Henri Serre and Oskar Werner. Cauchetier had only enough time to take one photo per take, he later recalled: "Luckily, one of them worked." Raymond Cauchetier was born on Jan. 10, 1920, in a small, fifth-floor Paris apartment that he kept throughout his life. He was raised alone by his mother, a nurse and piano teacher, and spent hours staring out a window at the nearby Bois de Vincennes. When he was 11, the Paris Colonial Exposition opened in the park, complete with a replica of Angkor Wat. "Out of that window, I saw Angkor Wat, which made me want to go to Indochina, and Indochina made me want to start taking photographs," he told the Guardian. "And so without me really knowing it, that window changed my life." Cauchetier grew up in poverty; even after winning a crossword competition at age 18, his mother refused to allow him to collect the prize, a Leica camera, because they couldn't afford the cost of developing film. He fled Paris on a bicycle during the Nazi occupation, served in the French resistance and joined the air force in 1945. Six years later he was sent to Saigon, now Ho Chi Minh City, where a general tasked him with finding a photographer who could put together a personnel album for the troops. "Nobody came forward," Cauchetier recalled, but the general was insistent. " 'Find a solution, Cauchetier,' he said. 'Try and take the photos yourself. It can't be that hard.' And I thought - why not?" Cauchetier traveled across Southeast Asia after being discharged, at one point adopting a tiger cub named Bijou. In 1956 he was hired to work as the set photographer for Marcel Camus's film "Fugitive in Saigon," which was filming in Indochina. "It wasn't because I was (possibly) talented," Cauchetier wrote in an online biography, "but because it was cheaper than bringing over a photographer from Paris." He later returned to Paris, intent on working as a photojournalist. Instead, the only job he could find was shooting "photonovels," short stories - similar to comic strips - that used photographs instead of cartoons. Through that job he met producer Georges de Beauregard, who hired him for "Breathless." Cauchetier's other New Wave films included Truffaut's "The Soft Skin" (1964) and "Stolen Kisses" (1968); Jacques Demy's "Lola" (1961) and "Bay of Angels" (1963); Jacques Rozier's "Adieu Philippine" (1962); Jean-Pierre Melville's "Leon Morin, Priest" (1961); and Agnes Varda's "Cleo from 5 to 7" (1962), in which he had a small role as a movie-theater projectionist. In 1968, he decided to move on from set photography, tired of the paltry wages. Although some of his New Wave images were widely reproduced, many of them remained out of sight for decades, held by producers and studio executives until a 1992 change in French copyright law enabled him to gain control of the photos. With help from his wife and sole immediate survivor, Kaoru, Cauchetier organized his archives, leading to a London solo show at James Hyman Gallery in 2010 and a 2015 book, "Raymond Cauchetier's New Wave," that helped make his name more widely known. In an interview with Britain's Telegraph newspaper that year, Cauchetier lamented that "my photos languished in dusty cardboard boxes for forty years." Recognition had been too long in coming, he added, "but photography introduced me to an extraordinary world: I am a witness to cinema." WASHINGTON As the Interior Department awaits its new secretary, the agency is already moving to lock in key parts of President Bidens environmental agenda, particularly on oil and gas restrictions, laying the groundwork to fulfill some of the administrations most consequential climate change promises. Representative Deb Haaland of New Mexico, Mr. Bidens nominee to lead the department, faces a showdown vote in the Senate likely later this month, amid vocal Republican concern for her past positions against oil and gas drilling. But even without her, an agency that spent much of the past four years opening vast swaths of land to commercial exploitation has pulled an abrupt about-face. The department has suspended lease sales in the Gulf of Mexico under an early executive order imposing a temporary freeze on new drilling leases on all public lands and waters and requiring a review of the leasing program. It has frozen drilling activity in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, delayed Trump-era rollbacks on protections of migratory birds and the northern spotted owl, and taken the first steps in restoring two national monuments in Utah and one off the Atlantic coast that Mr. Trump largely dismantled. As early as this week, one administration official said the Interior Department is poised to take the next steps in preparing a review of the federal oil and gas leasing program. Miguel Cardona confirmation as Education Secretary for President Joe Biden's administration has Twitter fans excited. The former fourth-grade teacher was confirmed by the U.S. Senate late Monday in a vote of 64 to 33, according to Cory Turner with NPR. TEACHER SHORTAGE: Texas school districts grapple with substitute teacher shortage amid COVID-19 pandemic Cardona's longstanding background as an educator seems to resonate with Twitter fans happy to see him take over the role of secretary of education. Before his nomination, Cardona served as Connecticut's education commissioner. He's been a staunch advocate for reopening schools during the COVID-19 pandemic, calling it necessary "to keep equity gaps from growing even wider," Turner wrote. Some of the topics of debate Cardona is walking into with his new role include how to safely reopen schools and the topic of vaccination for all educators. In addition, Cardona is also faced with tackling last month's issued guidance requiring states to resume annual testing of students, according to Turner. "Testing, like teacher vaccination, has become a painful political wedge for Democrats," Turner said. Cardona seems to echo the Biden administration's position saying in an earlier confirmation hearing "if we don't assess where our students are and their level of performance, it's going to be difficult for us to provide targeted support and resource allocation in the manner that can best support the closing of the gaps that have been exacerbated due to this pandemic." Twitter, of course, had even more to say about Cardona's new role. The superintendent of Meriden Public Schools, Mark Benigni, who promoted Cardona to work with him, says Cardona is the perfect guy to calm tensions, according to Turner. "Miguel's approach is to listen ... to work together to see the other side of the situation. I don't think he's ever, 'It's my way or the highway,'" Benigni said. Channel Seven has confirmed Ant Middleton will be returning to SAS Australia after being axed from the UK version due to his 'personal conduct'. A spokesperson told Daily Mail Australia on Monday, that the former British Special Forces solider, 40, will return to the show as a chief instructor. 'Ant Middleton and his fellow DS (Directing Staff), Mark 'Billy' Billingham, Jason Fox and Ollie Ollerton, will all be returning for the second season of SAS Australia which is currently in pre-production,' a representative said. He's coming back! Channel Seven has CONFIRMED Ant Middleton (pictured) will be returning to SAS Australia after the Chief Instructor was axed from the UK version It's believed casting for season two of the military-style show has already begun. It comes after Ant was axed by British television network Channel 4 as the host of SAS: Who Dares Wins. His departure comes months after Ant sparked controversy by referring to Black Lives Matter protesters as 'absolute scum', and urging people to 'carry on as normal' and not change their habits amid the global Covid pandemic. It's official! A spokesperson told Daily Mail Australia on Monday, the former British Special Forces solider, 40, will return to the show as a chief instructor A spokesperson for Channel 4 told MailOnline on Monday: 'Ant Middleton will not be taking part in future series of SAS: Who Dares Wins. 'Following a number of discussions Channel 4 and Minnow Films have had with him in relation to his personal conduct it has become clear that our views and values are not aligned and we will not be working with him again.' Following the statement, Ant shared a post to social media and vowed to 'stay positive'. Axed: It comes after Ant was axed by British television network Channel 4 as the host of SAS: Who Dares Wins 'Hi guys, I've got some news which is that after five incredible years I've decided it's time to move on from SAS Who Dares Wins UK,' he wrote. 'Big respect to my fellow DS its been a journey I'll never forget. Thanks to everyone that took part and made the show what it is.' He added: 'Really excited about the future and what's coming this year. Stay positive.' By Jim Martin, Erie Times-News (TNS) CONNEAUT LAKE All the pieces and parts of 129-year-old Conneaut Lake Park the Hotel Conneaut, the Blue Streak roller coaster and nearly 200 acres of property, some of it beachfront will soon be in the hands of a new owner. Pittsburgh-based U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge Jeffery A. Deller approved the sale Tuesday morning of the publicly owned park, which has been working through Chapter 11 bankruptcy, to Keldon Holdings LLC for $1.2 million. Keldon is a holding company based in the Philadelphia area. The hearing, held by video conference, was originally scheduled to be conducted as an auction to determine the new owner of the park. While more than 10 different parties expressed an interest in the property, only Keldon ultimately submitted a bid for all of the parks assets, said Pittsburgh lawyer Jeanne Lofgren, who represents the Conneaut Lake Park Trustees. The park did not open for the 2020 season and, because of that lost income, was not expected to open for the 2021 season, she said. FILE- This Aug. 13, 2001, file photo shows the vintage Blue Streak roller coaster at Conneaut Lake Park in Conneaut Lake, Pa. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar, File)AP It will be up to the new owners to determine if the Crawford County property continues to operate as an amusement park. Despite some closures during years of financial difficulty, the park has operated as an amusement park since 1892 when it opened as Exposition Park. Jim Becker, director of Crawford Countys Economic Progress Alliance, which manages the park, said that the new owner intended to continue to invest and improve the park. In fact, Becker had said the scheduling of the sale was designed to allow a new owner time to open the park for the upcoming summer season. Everything that we have been led to believe is that the park is going to operate as-is. He plans to operate it as an ongoing concern, Becker said in an interview Tuesday. Becker said he was pleased with the outcome. We are excited, he said. An economic development agency is not designed to run an amusement park and all associated features. We took it on because it was a regional asset. This was part of the natural return to private-sector hands. Trustees already have paid 17 years of back taxes on the park. Lofgren said proceeds from the sale are expected to satisfy 60% of the remaining debts owed to creditors. None of those creditors have voiced objections to the sale. More: Hersheypark prepares to open three new culinary stops including ice cream parlor, sweet shop Igloo brings back iconic Little Playmate cooler for 50th anniversary 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. Incredible footage has emerged showing a menacing great white shark hunting a stingray at a popular tourist beach. Lewis Loughlin, based at Maroubra in Sydney's east, spotted the feared ocean predator stalking its prey at Sussex Inlet on the NSW south coast on Sunday morning. Loughlin filmed the epic encounter with a drone, where the ravenous shark could be seen pursuing the stingray just metres from the shore. Following a few failed attempts, the persistent great white eventually nabs its target, consuming the ray in a brutal display of ocean dominance before moving into deeper water. The great white could be seen moving in on the stingray, only to be thwarted by a wave breaking Loughlin later described the scene to his Instagram followers. 'This spectacular behaviour is called breaching,' he said. 'Great white sharks often breach in order to catch fast-moving prey.' At the time of the attack, the great white was just 10 metres from the shore, with a number of surfers on the nearby south point none the wiser. Typically, juvenile white sharks feed on bottom-dwelling fish such as flathead. As they reach full maturity, great whites then often turn their attention to larger prey such as dolphins, sea lions and other sharks. Great whites also tend not to eat humans whole as they have too many bones. Their preferred method of attack is one savage mauling, which can often be fatal for the victim. The reason for the bite is often due to curiosity, with the great white using its razor sharp teeth similar to the way humans use their hands. The persistent shark continued to stalk its prey, with the outcome inevitable for the stingray Eventually the fearsome great white nabbed the stingray, before moving out into deeper water By LEKAN OYEKANMI and SAM OLUKOYA, The Associated Press GUSAU, Nigeria (AP) Hundreds of Nigerian girls abducted last week from a boarding school in the countrys northwest have been released, a state governor said Tuesday, ending the latest in a spate of such kidnappings in the West African nation. The girls, ages 10 and up, dressed in light blue hijabs and barefoot, packed into Zamfara states Government House conference room. They appeared calm, chatting to one another as they sat in long rows while journalists photographed them. They will receive a medical checkup before being returned to their parents. Zamfara Gov. Bello Matawalle said that 279 girls had been freed after being abducted from the Government Girls Junior Secondary School in Jangebe town on Friday. The government last week said 317 had been kidnapped. It was not clear if the higher number was an error or if some girls were still missing. Alhamdulillah! (God be praised!) It gladdens my heart to announce the release of the abducted students, Matawalle said in a post on Twitter early Tuesday. I enjoin all well-meaning Nigerians to rejoice with us as our daughters are now safe. Officials said bandits were behind the abduction, referring to the groups of armed men who operate in Zamfara state and kidnap for money or to push for the release of their members from jail. At the time of the attack, one resident told The Associated Press that the gunmen also attacked a nearby military camp and checkpoint, preventing soldiers from responding to the school. Students who were abducted by gunmen from the Government Girls Secondary School, in Jangebe, last week are seen after their release meeting with the state Governor Bello Matawalle, in Gusau, northern Nigeria, Tuesday, March 2, 2021. Zamfara state governor Bello Matawalle announced that 279 girls who were abducted last week from a boarding school in the northwestern Zamfara state have been released Tuesday. (AP Photo/Sunday Alamba)AP One of the girls recounted the night of their abduction to the AP. We were sleeping at night when suddenly we started hearing gunshots. They were shooting endlessly. We got out of our beds and people said we should run, that they are thieves, she said. Officials ended the interview before the girl could give her name. The attackers eventually found her and some classmates and held guns to their heads, she said. I was really afraid of being shot, she said, adding that they asked for directions to the staff quarters and the principal. We said we dont know who she is. Nigeria has seen several such attacks and kidnappings in recent years, the most notorious in 2014, when 276 girls were abducted by the jihadist rebels of Boko Haram from the secondary school in Chibok in Borno state. More than 100 of those girls are still missing. Boko Haram is opposed to western education and its fighters often target schools. But most attacks in the northwest are perpetrated by armed criminal groups with no such ideology. More: FBI Director Chris Wray to face questions about extremism, Capitol riot Elderly Australian woman chases, tackles man who stole her purse: video This service applies to you if your subscription has not yet expired on our old site. You will have continued access until your subscription expires; then you will need to purchase an ongoing subscription through our new system. Please contact the Parsons Sun office at (620) 421-2000 if you have any questions Armenia ex-president Kocharyan gives interview to Russia newspaper Armenia acting deputy PM on unblocking of roads with Azerbaijan: There will be no troops standing there Nikkei: Toyota and Honda stop car production in Malaysia Armenia official on deploying international observers at Azerbaijan border: You will hear reaction on this matter soon USAID helps UN World Food Programme support displaced people in Armenia Armenia official: Work of trilateral working group on roads unblocking has stopped after recent incidents Russias Putin to Armenias Pashinyan: Relations between our countries are developing very successfully Armenia health minister: Improper storage of fallen soldiers bodies, remains was my omission 108 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia Armenia President to children: I believe that you will make our country much better Armenia CEC publicizes complete lists of political forces registered to run in snap parliamentary elections World oil prices going up Queen Elizabeth turns down PM's offer to name new royal yacht after Prince Philip Armenia parliament discusses 2020 state budget report Newspaper: Armenia acting FM resigns after 3rd attempt Newspaper: Yerevan mayor to leave office Israel, UAE sign tax treaty Newspaper: Even vagrants are persuaded, taken to Armenia acting PM Pashinyans rally in Vanadzor Swedish defense minister demands explanation from Denmark over spy scandal Acting Deputy PM: Armenia has not discussed and will not discuss issues within logic of "corridor" Armenia Central Electoral Commission determines numbers of political parties for elections Armenia 2nd President visits Cathedral of the Holy Mother of God in Gyumri (PHOTOS) Opposition Armenia bloc representative: We're running in elections to win Azerbaijan MFA comments on calls for release of Armenian POWs with infinite hypocrisy EC: Vaccinated citizens should be exempted from tests, quarantine when traveling within EU Armenia Ombudsman discusses rights of 6 captured Armenian servicemen with ICRC Delegation head EU ready to use all the tools at its disposal to change Turkey's behavior Yerevan court obliges to abolish violation of rights of Armenia Supreme Judicial Council ex-chairman Greek and Turkish leaders to meet in June on sidelines of NATO summit Armenia Central Electoral Commission to set up 2,008 polling stations for snap parliamentary elections Iranian companies to participate in reconstructing territories under Azerbaijan's control Opposition Armenia bloc's representative on acting PM's invitation to debate with 1st and 2nd Presidents Armenia acting FM dismissed upon presidential decree Body of brother of Armenian criminal authority "Don Pipo" found under bridge 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 Budaun (UP): Three men were killed, while another was seriously injured when a tractor collided with a bike here, police said on Tuesday. The incident took place on Monday night in Faizganj Behta area when Abdal alias Punna (23), Ragib (22), Yunush (22) and Sohail (18) were returning to Lakshmipur village on a bike, Assistant Superintendent of Police, Rural, Siddharth Verma, said. Accident The accident occurred when the wheel of the tractor came out and the vehicle driver lost control. While Ragib and Yunus died on the spot, the other two were rushed to the hospital where Sohail was declared brought dead, he said adding that the condition of Abdal was stated to be serious. The bodies have been sent for postmortem. DETROIT - Its fish fry time, folks. Thanks for all your nominations. We had more than 360 nominations across the state, including 48 in the Detroit Metro area in our search for Michigans Best Fish Fry. Starting now you can vote once per email address, every three hours. (Poll below.) You can also write in your votes if we missed your favorite spot. The deadline is 11:59 p.m. Sunday, March 7. You can vote in all of our regional polls. Those links are below, too. Our goal is to declare a winner in each region. Well also travel to as many as possible and share our experiences. If you have questions, feel free to email us. Amy Sherman: asherma2@mlive.com John Gonzalez: gonzo@mlive.com Want to vote in other regions? Click on these links below: Grand Rapids area - VOTE HERE Muskegon and Lakeshore area - VOTE HERE Kalamazoo area & Southwestern Michigan - VOTE HERE Jackson area & Central Southern Michigan - VOTE HERE Ann Arbor & Southeastern Michigan - VOTE HERE Detroit Metro area - VOTE HERE Lansing and Central Michigan - VOTE HERE Flint and Thumb area - VOTE HERE Midland, Bay City and Saginaw area - VOTE HERE Northern Lower Peninsula - VOTE HERE Upper Peninsula - VOTE HERE The margaritas are huge at Mi Pueblo Mexican Restaurant in Detroit, one of our Top 10 picks for Michigan's Best Mexican Restaurant. John Gonzalez and Amy Sherman visited in 2018.John Gonzalez Follow our Michigans Best adventures on social media: @mlivemibest on Twitter @mlivemibest on Instagram Facebook at MLiveMIBest. Join in by using the hashtags #mibest and #BestFishFry. In addition: Amy Sherman is on Twitter @amyonthetrail, as well as Facebook and Instagram @amyonthetrail. John Gonzalez is on Twitter @michigangonzo, as well as Facebook and Instagram @MichiganGonzo. The igloo village at East Eats offers a wholly new dining experience in Detroit. More Michigans Best Stories A 2021 guide to Jackson-area Friday Lenten fish fries Grand Rapids area 2021 fish fry guide for Lent Friday fish fry take-out will be flying out the door at these 21 spots across Michigan (2020) Michigans ultimate fish fry guide (2019) Michigans Best Fish Fry poll winners (2019) 3 places in the Northern Lower Peninsula for fantastic fish fry (2019) 6 things Michigan restaurant staff want you to know before you eat out Michigans Best Outdoor Dining: See winners from across the state Geneva, March 02, 2021 (SPS) - The Geneva Support Group for Western Sahara asked the UN Human Rights Council (HRC) to send an observer mission to the occupied Sahrawi territories to investigate the situation on the ground, drawing attention to the "human rights abuses" committed by the Moroccan occupation authorities. In a letter addressed to the participants in the 46th session of the Human Rights Council, which takes place from February 22 to March 23, 2021, the Geneva Group expresses its concern over "the resumption of hostilities in the non-self-governing territory of Western Sahara after the violation of the ceasefire by the Kingdom of Morocco on November 13. "We draw attention to the fact that a significant number of Sahrawi civilians, well-known human rights defenders and independent journalists have been victims of harassment, intimidation, arbitrary arrests and detentions since the resumption of the armed conflict," the Group states in its letter.SPS 125/090/TRA The ruling is not to be appealed. Kyiv's Pechersky district court has issued a warrant for the arrest of pro-Russian blogger Anatoliy Sharij, who is charged with treason. Sharij should be delivered to the courtroom, where a preventive measure is to be chosen against him in the form of detention, the Ukrayinska Pravda online newspaper reported, citing own sources. The ruling was made on February 25 and is not subject to appeal. On February 16, 2021, the SBU Security Service of Ukraine said it had put forward criminal charges against Sharij. Investigators say he illegally acted to the detriment of Ukraine's national security in the media domain and in favor of foreign actors. The charges were brought under the two articles of the Criminal Code of Ukraine Part 1 of Article 111 (High treason) and Part 1 of Article 161 (Violation of equality of citizens depending on their race, nationality, religious beliefs, disability, or other grounds). The investigation is underway to gather evidence on other persons who could be complicit in the crimes in question. On February 25, 2021, the SBU put Sharij on the wanted list. On March 1, 2021, the SBU notified the Kyiv City Prosecutor's Office that false information had been provided during the re-registration of the Party of Sharij. Reporting by UNIAN Press Release March 2, 2021 Senate honours Princess Tarhata She was a remarkable woman who defied convention and fought for gender equality when most Filipino women, let alone Muslim women, struggled to have their voices heard. On Monday, March 1, 2021, the Senate adopted a resolution honoring and expressing its regret on the death of Princess Tarhata Alonto-Lucman, who passed away last February 24 at the age of 94 in Marawi City. Princess Tarhata was born to a political family in Ditsaan Ramain, Lanao (now Lanao del Sur) on June 26, 1926. She was a daughter of the first Maranao senator under the Philippine Commonwealth in 1935, a sister of congressmen, a wife to Rep. Sultan Rashid Lucman, mother to vice governors and aunt to other political figures in the family. But Princess Tarhata was more than a mother or an aunt or a sister of politicians. She was an intelligent woman who refused to be bounded by the religious and cultural constraints of her time. Princess Tarhata served as the first female Governor of Lanao del Sur. In his resolution (Senate Resolution 665), Sen. Richard Gordon said Princess Tarhata was given an American education in the 1930s "where public education was given for free for everyone." The princess was personally tutored and handled by American teachers, notably her adopted mother, Mrs. Spencer, who was part of the Thomasites sent by the United States to conduct humanitarian work in the Philippines. Princess Tarhata pursued public education and within one year of attending school in her hometown. She was accelerated to grade 4 at the age of 6 years. "Her invaluable work as Governor resulted in strengthened equal rights for Moro women, inclusion of Lanao del Sur in the list of 22 pilot provinces of the Provincial Development Assistance Program, a joint undertaking of the national government and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) to enhance agricultural production as part of the national government's Green Revolution project, and institutionalized performance-based budget planning process thereby removing the illegal practice of the office in giving commission before funds could be released," the resolution read. It was under Princess Tarhata's leadership as Governor of Lanao del Sur when Muslim-Christian relations were peaceful and strong, according to the resolution. The princess respected the Christians' festivities and church practices, and supported the national government's "balik baril" program where civilians and rebels were encouraged to turn in their guns in exchange for their boat fare to a pilgrimage in either Mecca or Medina. She even used her personal savings to settle vendettas and make rebels and soldiers cease fighting, the resolution added. "Her years of dedication to public service will never be forgotten by being an active negotiator and mover of peace and development in Mindanao and by declaring to all Muslims and Christians that Islam is peace. Princess Tarhata indeed is a woman leader, politician, pioneer, and peace negotiator," Gordon said. After winning the privilege of governing on behalf of Manitobans in 1999, we knew we faced two major infrastructure risks. After winning the privilege of governing on behalf of Manitobans in 1999, we knew we faced two major infrastructure risks. The great flood of 1997 had come dangerously close to overwhelming the floodway. A federal study was underway and provided us with a detailed action plan to boost the floodways level of protection, from one in 100 years to one in 700 years. We were proud to stand on the shoulders of former premier Duff Roblin, and were fortunate to receive his assistance in sealing a joint-funding agreement with Canada to make the floodway expansion possible. Secondly, massive wind storms in 1996 had highlighted that Manitoba Hydros transmission system had a unique vulnerability to catastrophic weather-related power outages. This was because the two north-south transmission lines, carrying 70 per cent of our total power supply, were routed side-by-side through a narrow Interlake corridor, and because they delivered their full supply to just one existing converter station in the south (Dorsey). Massive wind storms in 1996 had highlighted that Manitoba Hydros transmission system had a unique vulnerability to catastrophic weatherrelated power outages. A solid plan needed to be developed to address this long-standing risk from an over-concentrated system built decades earlier. We also had a few surprises coming into office where Hydro was concerned. We learned of plans to build a new headquarters in south Winnipeg, at a time when we had inherited a suffering downtown, exemplified by a boarded-up Eatons building. We worked with former mayor Glen Murray to build the new headquarters downtown, and to move forward with a stalled merger plan with Winnipeg Hydro, including efficiency upgrades to a number of its older dams (some had been generating power for 100 years). NDP drove Hydro mega-projects, failed to provide oversight: review Click to Expand Keeyask Generating Station (Manitoba Hydro files) Posted: 7:00 PM Feb. 26, 2021 A review of two Manitoba Hydro mega-projects concludes that construction of the $8.7-billion Keeyask Generating Station was rushed without adequate oversight by a former NDP government that viewed hydro exports as "Manitoba's oil." The review, conducted by former Saskatchewan premier Brad Wall, recommends Manitoba Hydro remain a publicly owned utility but that it stick to its core business of supplying Manitobans with reliable and affordable power. Read Full Story Throughout this period, Hydros financial position remained strong: Manitobas rates were among the lowest in North America and Hydros debt ratio was improving every year. Much of the credit was due to Limestone, a dam built years earlier and called a "boondoggle" by our opponents on account of its up-front debt. Despite the many positive developments at Hydro, the "original sin" of transmission risk still needed to be corrected. We knew that ice storms, high winds, forest fires or tornadoes posed catastrophic risks. The human and economic cost of losing power in the middle of winter was almost unimaginable. Hydro's Public Utilities Board filings from 2011 pegged the potential societal cost of losing power at Dorsey converter station at $20 billion over one year; other studies estimated that an outage in January alone would cost about $4 billion. Despite the compelling reasons to act, the experience of Limestone foreshadowed that the benefits and avoided risk would draw fewer headlines than the associated up-front costs. To deal with the transmission risk, Manitoba Hydro discussed three concepts to address reliability: One was to strengthen Hydros converter system, including adding a second southern converter station, well distanced from the existing station at Dorsey and providing an alternative injection point for power from the North. Another was to explore with First Nations the possibility of building Keeyask, in conjunction with possible new sales and strengthened inter-connections to export markets. JOHN WOODS / CANADIAN PRESS FILES Former premier of Manitoba and Canadian ambassador to the United States Gary Doer. Hydros third proposal was to build a separate transmission line on the east side of Lake Winnipeg. We agreed that an additional line was needed, but disagreed with the proposed route for three main reasons: The first reason was moral four First Nations on the immediate east side of Lake Winnipeg were opposed to an east side transmission line, and they had an alternative vision to obtain a UNESCO World Heritage Site designation for the boreal forest. After visiting and listening, I embraced their vision for their lands. The second reason was certainty. I believed that the opposition of the east side First Nations would be a battle of "David versus Hydros Goliath." The new transmission line required eight separate approvals in Canada and the U.S. Approval delays or denials would be costly and would add more time and risk. The third reason was our export customers. There was a strong lobby in Minnesota to prioritize their own local renewables, and legislation was tabled to block imports from Manitoba. Heated political opposition to Manitoba Hydro often featured Manitoba First Nations' voices in their advocacy. We spent considerable efforts in Minnesota discussing our reconciliation efforts, led by ministers Oscar Lathlin and Eric Robinson. I also spent time with Minnesota governor Tim Pawlenty on our reliability challenges, which were of concern to the entire midwest grid. As expected, the decision to avoid the east side was controversial. A shorter line, on paper, looks more economic than a longer line. But if delayed, denied or awarded damages, the human and economic costs can run up fast. We did not hide behind the curtains with this determination. In fact, we campaigned explicitly on our position in the 2007 election. I visited Poplar River First Nation during the campaign and again announced our commitment to endorse their vision for their lands. With a democratic mandate from Manitobans, planning work began in earnest to prepare for the many required regulatory approvals. In 2018, Manitoba Hydro finally completed the new, separate transmission line, including two new converter stations, which accounted for the majority of the projects cost. This major reliability accomplishment more than 50 years in the making was kept entirely behind the curtains by the current government. The Free Press broke the story months later and reported that Hydro staff were doing cartwheels to celebrate the achievement of electricity reliability. Manitoba Hydro, thanks to previous builders, is strongly positioned for the lowcarbon future our children and grandchildren are demanding. While I am not surprised that the just-released government review of Hydro second-guesses some of the tough decisions that were made, I am reminded of an old Western Canadian saying that its always easier to curl from behind the glass. Manitoba Hydro, thanks to previous builders, is strongly positioned for the low-carbon future our children and grandchildren are demanding. Our electricity is 98 per cent carbon-free hydro; transmission reliability has been addressed; Hydro exports ($470 million last year) provide valuable revenue to pay for electrical infrastructure; and, according to Hydro CEO Jay Grewal, our electricity rates remain the second lowest in Canada and among the lowest on the continent. I look forward to a day, in the not too distant future, when I run my car entirely on "Manitobas oil" clean, renewable hydroelectricity. Gary Doer was premier of Manitoba from 1999 to 2009, and more recently served as Canada's ambassador to the United States from 2009 to 2016. Brazil exported 24.05 million tonnes of iron ore in February, up from 21.69 million tonnes in the same month last year, according to the ministry. Vale, the worlds largest producer, was increasing its capacity usage while reopening operations previously halted due to the disaster in Brumadinho in January 2019. A weaker rainy season in 2021 was also boosting... President Joe Biden and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas look up during a virtual bilateral meeting with Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez from the White House in Washington, on March 1, 2021. (Kevin Lamarque/Reuters) Biden Meets Virtually With Mexican Leader on Immigration, CCP Virus, Climate Issues President Joe Biden and Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador joined in a virtual bilateral meeting on Monday where the two leaders discussed immigration, commitments to combat the CCP virus pandemic, and explored areas of cooperation on climate issues. Lopez Obrador has been Mexicos president since December 2018, limited to a single six-year term. The United States and Mexico are stronger when we stand together. Theres a long and complicated history between our nations, and havent always been perfect neighbors with one another, but we have seen over and over again the power and the purpose when we cooperate, Biden told Lopez Obrador in remarks in front of the press ahead of their virtual meeting. And were safer when we work together, whether its addressing the challenges of our shared border or getting this pandemic under control. President Joe Biden attends a virtual meeting with Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington, March 1, 2021. (Anna Moneymaker-Pool/Getty Images) Lopez told Biden, I believe our countries will allow us to develop jointly in these dire times. Integration will strengthen both our countries as we are faced with this inevitable expansion of other regions. Our relations are strategic. We are very thankful that you are willing to maintain good relations for the good of our peoples in North Americathe Canadian, the United States, and the Mexican peoples. Immigration In a joint declaration released after the meeting, the leaders committed to immigration policies that recognize the dignity of migrants and the imperative of orderly, safe, and regular migration. The two countries also said they would work together on a joint effort to address the root causes of regional migration, to improve migration management, and to develop legal pathways for migration. Respectively, [Biden and Lopez Obrador] directed the Secretariat of Foreign Relations and the Department of State to engage with the governments of neighboring countries, civil society, and private sectors through policies that promote equitable and sustainable economic development, combat corruption, and improve law enforcement cooperation against transnational criminal smuggling networks, the declaration reads. The White House on Jan. 23 announced that Biden, in a call with the Mexican president, outlined his plan to reduce migration by addressing its root causes, increasing resettlement capacity and lawful alternative immigration pathways, improving processing at the border to adjudicate requests for asylum, and reversing the previous administrations draconian immigration policies. Mexicos President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador listens during a virtual bilateral meeting with U.S. President Joe Biden, at the National Palace in Mexico City, Mexico, on March 1, 2021. (Mexicos Presidency Office/Handout via Reuters) Ahead of the bilateral meeting, Lopez Obrador suggested a Braceros-style immigrant work visa program in the United States for what he estimated to be 600,000 to 800,000 Mexican and Central American workers per year. He said on Saturday that the United States will need temporary immigrant workers from Mexico to sustain economic growth. When asked about the matter, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said she believed reinstituting the effort would require action by Congress. The bracero program was negotiated between the governments beginning in 1942, and it provided many protections for the braceros, Mexican migrant workers, including contracts, housing, minimum wage or prevailing wage, and a minimum number of days of work, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC). But there were many abuses and it was abolished in 1964. CCP Virus On the response to the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, the leaders agreed to deepen cooperation in both CCP virus-related economic and health areas. Specifically, the cooperation will include enhancing public health capabilities, information sharing, and the development of border policies, according to the joint statement. While Biden told a reporter prior to his meeting with Lopez Obrador that they would talk about whether the United States would send vaccines to Mexico, there was no mention of vaccine distribution in the joint statement. White House press secretary Jen Psaki said at a press conference prior to the meeting on vaccine distribution, The administrations focus is on ensuring that every American is vaccinated. And once we accomplish that objective, were happy to discuss further steps. Trade, Security, Climate Both presidents during the virtual bilateral meeting praised the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) as one that generates job opportunities, improves worker protections, and prevents forced labor in both countries. The USMCA was signed into law in January 2020 by former President Donald Trump, who called the deal a colossal victory for all American workers that would end the nightmare that was the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), a 26-year-old trade agreement signed during the Clinton administration. A statement from the Biden White House prior to the virtual meeting with Mexico called the USMCA something that will be the backbone of the nations regional economic recovery. Biden and Lopez Obrador both agreed to strengthen the security and resilience of the supply chains. To help the effort, they agreed to restart the High Level Economic Dialogue forum, something established by former President Barack Obama in 2013 intended to facilitate discussions on economic growth, job creation, and competitiveness. On climate issues, both presidents highlighted the importance of tackling the climate crisis and agreed to explore areas of cooperation, according to the joint declaration. The leaders acknowledged the benefits of addressing short-lived climate pollutants, as well as the need to promote energy efficiency. They discussed how they can work together to support a successful outcome at this years Climate Leaders Summit on April 22nd hosted by the United States. Gary Feuerberg contributed to this report. The same processor that powered Apple's iconic, colorful 1998 iMac is being used to run NASA's Perseverance on Mars. The rover is fitted with a PowerPC 750 processor that was found in the iMac G3 before Apple switched to Intel chips in 2005, New Scientist reports. The processor, which is also found in the Curiosity rover, features just 10.4 million transistors - more than 1,000 times less than a smartphone. Although the idea of using an outdated, less powerful process may sound absurd, it is capable of withstands intense radiation and temperatures - two treacherous elements found in Mars. Matt Lemke, NASA's deputy manager for Orion's avionics, told The Space Review back in 2014: 'Compared to the [Intel] Core i5 in your laptop, it's much slowerit's probably not any faster than your smartphone.' 'But it's not about the speed as much as the ruggedness and the reliability. I need to make sure it will always work.' Scroll down for video The same processor that powered the iconic, colorful 1998 iMac is being used to run NASA's Perseverance on Mars. Perseverance, nicknamed Perky, touched down on Mars February 18 with a mission to search for ancient signs of life in the Jezero Crater. The car-sized rover features a range of high-tech mechanics like advanced camera systems, radars and even a laser at its mast that shoots high-energy pulses capable of vaporizing rocks up to 20 feet away. However, the innovated machine is being powered by a simple processor first developed in the 1990s that is a 233 MHz processor with 32 MB of RAM. When first released with Apple's iMac, the PowerPC 750 was deemed 'ahead of its time,' but this was also a time when personal computers were just starting to take off and many consumers never saw anything like the iMac G3 before. The rover is fitted with a PowerPC 750 processor that was used in Apple's iMac G3 before the tech giant switched to Intel chips in 2005 Fast forward to today, billions of people are walking the earth with computers in their pockets that are thousands of times more powerful. But NASA seems to cherish the fact that the processor was built to last and sees value in its power - it operates at 10 times the speed in Curiosity and Perseverance than what was used in the Spirit and Opportunity's computers. The processor, now called RAD750, is developed for $200,000 a chip by BAE Systems, a security and aerospace company based in the UK. The design enables RAD750 to withstand 200,000 to 1 million RADS and temperatures up to 257 degrees Fahrenheit Mars rarely reaches above 80F. James LaRosa at BAE Systems in the US, told New Scientist: 'You have this multi-billion-dollar spacecraft going out to Mars and you're entering the atmosphere and you're about to start this 7 minutes of terror, where a very complex sequence of commands have to happen in a very specific timeline. If it has a hiccup, you're going to lose the mission.' The 'seven minutes of terror' has become famous over the past weeks, which is the term given to the tumultuous conditions that battered the craft as it entered the Martian atmosphere and approached the surface. Along with traveling at 12,000mph through an atmosphere with temperatures reaching more than 2,000F, Perseverance and the NASA team on Earth were unable to communicate. The 'seven minutes of terror' has become famous over the past weeks, which is the term given to the tumultuous conditions that battered the craft as it entered the Martian atmosphere and approached the surface. But Perseverance survived te decent and is now exploring Mars Radio signals between Perseverance and NASA took 11 minutes to travel all the way to Mars and back again. As a result, Perseverance's on-board computers and 19 cameras were entirely responsible for the descent. However, the rover survived the 'seven minutes of terror' and is now trekking across the Martian surface. Although U.N. officials have not been allowed to inspect a low-lying island that Bangladesh has developed to house Rohingya refugees, a delegation from the Organization of Islamic Cooperation visited the site Sunday and expressed satisfaction with infrastructure there, Bangladeshs foreign ministry said. The delegation led by Ambassador Youssef Aldobeay, the OICs assistant secretary general for political affairs, visited Bhashan Char as well as Kutupalong Rohingya Camp on the mainland on Sunday, according to a Bangladesh Ministry of Foreign Affairs statement issued the same day. While visiting the Bhashan Char, the OIC delegation discussed [the] overall situation of Rohingyas residing in Bhashan Char with the relevant stakeholders, and also interacted with the Rohingya people, the statement said. Aldobeay expressed satisfaction at the physical infrastructure in the Bhashan Char as well as the adequate facilities provided by the Bangladesh government for the Rohingyas, it said. On Monday, the OIC delegation visited with senior officials in Dhaka, where they applauded the initiatives taken by Bangladesh in relation to Bhashan Char, the foreign ministry said. Foreign Minister A.K Abdul Momen briefed the delegation about Bhashan Char, where the government has constructed facilities to house about 100,000 Rohingya. Shahriar Alam, Bangladeshs state minister of foreign affairs, reiterated the governments position calling for a safe repatriation of the Rohingya to Myanmar, and called on OIC members to push for their return. About 1 million Rohingya have fled from neighboring Myanmar and settled in refugee camps in and around Coxs Bazar in southeastern Bangladesh, including more than 740,000 who left following the August 2017 military crackdown in Rakhine state that some have described as attempted genocide. Waiting for permission The OIC visit was the first by any international official since Yanghee Lee, the U.N. special rapporteur on human rights in Myanmar at the time, went to the recently emerged island in January 2019 and advised Dhaka to allow full technical, humanitarian, and security assessments before moving refugees there. "I had the opportunity to visit the island on my last visit to Bangladesh and saw with my own eyes the works that the Bangladesh government has undertaken. However, there are a number of things that remain unknown to me even following my visit, chief among them being whether the island is truly habitable," she told the U.N. Human Rights Council in March of that year. Since then, U.N. officials have not visited the island. We have been waiting for permission from the government to conduct the technical assessment, Mostafa Mohammad Sazzad Hossain, UNHCR spokesman in Dhaka, told BenarNews, an RFA-affiliated online news service, on Monday. Despite the lack of those assessments, the Bangladesh government has begun relocating Rohingya refugees to the island, and plans to move another 3,000 this week, bringing the total thus far to 13,000. The OIC delegation met with Rohingya Sunday at Kutupalong Rohingya camp in Ukhia, Coxs Bazar. OIC, the organization, is supporting the Rohingya, we are supporting their return back to their country with full rights and dignity, Yousef Aldobeay told reporters through an interpreter. We also call on the international community to assume their duties and responsibilities to support the people of Rohingya to return to their home safe with full rights. A Rohingya woman who attended the meeting expressed satisfaction with the message. The OIC delegation told us that they have intensified their efforts to resolve the Rohingya crisis, Monowara Begum told BenarNews. Meanwhile, addressing concerns about a boat carrying dozens of Rohingya that has been adrift in the Andaman Sea since early February, Momen called on New Delhi to take them in. Indian authorities have reportedly declined to allow the refugees to land and said they were in talks with Bangladesh about their safe return. The boat carrying Rohingya adrift in the sea is about 1,700 km (1050 miles) off the Bangladesh maritime boundary, 147 km (91 miles) from Indian waters, and 342 km (212 miles) away from Myanmar waters. So, India should provide humanitarian assistance to the Rohingya, he told BenarNews. Bangladesh has not adopted a policy of giving shelter to every Rohingya wherever they are found on boats adrift, he said. Eight people on the boat carrying 90 Rohingya have died, the director of The Arakan Project, a human rights group that monitors the Rohingya humanitarian crisis, told BenarNews on Feb. 22. She said that Indian Navy ships had found the boat and were assisting its passengers. Reported by BenarNews, an RFA-affiliated online news service. People push a car free after spinning out in the snow in Waco, Texas, on Feb. 15, 2021. (Jerry Larson/Waco Tribune-Herald via AP) Texas Sues Power Company After Customers Received Sky-High Bills Amid Winter Storm Texas attorney general Ken Paxton announced on Monday that it had sued an energy company for deceptive advertising after customers complained about exorbitant bills amid the states deep freeze. Paxtons office said the lawsuit seeks to prevent Griddy, LLC from further misrepresenting its energy prices and to recuperate costs for its customers who were billed hundreds of dollars, and in some cases thousands, for a few days of electricity during Texass winter storm. Griddy misled Texans and signed them up for services which, in a time of crisis, resulted in individual Texans each losing thousands of dollars. As Texans struggled to survive this winter storm, Griddy made the suffering even worse as it debited outrageous amounts each day, Paxton said in a statement. Griddy is a California-based based retail electric service provider that promotes itself as a more affordable alternative to traditional energy providers as it offers wholesale prices. It charges its customers a flat monthly rate of $9.99 and passes the price it purchased electricity onto the resident. During times of low demand for power, the company is able to pass on savings to the customer. But during times of instability, customers face massive risks from the fluctuations in the market, the lawsuit said. Paxtons office alleged that Griddy has been persistently downplaying the nature and the extent of these risks. During the February 2021 winter storm, Griddys customers were charged at egregiously high price levels and the companys auto-billing system left many customer bank accounts overdrawn, many of whom were senior residents. The lawsuit states that the division had received over 400 complaints about Griddy. One complainant said she was charged $4,677 in one week for electricity in her 800 square foot, one-bedroom apartment. Leaving these consumers especially vulnerable, Griddy used auto-debiting to withdraw hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars from consumers checking accounts in a period of days. These massive daily withdrawals resulted in some Texas consumers receiving overdraft charges from their bank, the lawsuit alleged (pdf). A Griddy spokesperson told The Epoch Times that they are aware of the lawsuit filed by Paxton. We do not agree with the claims alleged in the complaint, and plan to vigorously defend against it. Until then the company has no further comment, the statement said. This is not the first time Griddy has charged its customers exorbitant prices, the lawsuit said. In August 2019, during a heatwave in Texas, Griddy also passed on increased energy costs to its customers due to higher demands on the grid. As a result, consumers in 2019 were surprised and angered at chargesup to $1,200 for three daysthat were highly inconsistent with the advertising that had lured them to Griddy. At the time, Griddys response to the harm to its consumers was dismissive, the lawsuit alleged. The lawsuit argues that Griddy had violated the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act and seeks an injunction to force the company to be more truthful about its energy service in the future. In a statement on its website, Griddy said that Texass grid operator, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), took our members and have effectively shut down Griddy as it responded to the $2.1 billion shortfall left by the cold weather crisis. We have always been transparent and customer-centric at every step. We wanted to continue the fight for our members to get relief and that hasnt changed, the statement said. Texass brutal cold snap and frozen infrastructure brought days of power and water shortages for residents across the state. It triggered rolling blackouts across the state leaving more than 4 million Texans without power. Meanwhile, a lack of power in water treatment facilities led to a water boil advisory for around 7 million Texans. Article updated to include a statement from Griddy. Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-03 05:45:43|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close RIYADH -- The Saudi-led coalition involved in a war in Yemen intercepted on Tuesday a bomb-laden-drone launched by Houthis towards Saudi southern region. The coalition spokesperson Turki Al-Malki accused the Houthi militia of committing "war crimes," the Saudi Press Agency reported. (Saudi-Interception-Drone) - - - - CAIRO -- Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry and his Sudanese counterpart Mariam al-Sadiq al-Mahdi stressed on Tuesday that Ethiopia's possible second phase filling of the Nile dam unilaterally would pose a direct threat to water security of Egypt and Sudan. The remarks came during the two ministers meeting in Egypt's capital Cairo, where the two diplomats tackled a number of issues of common interest, according to a joint press statement released after the meeting. (Egypt-Sudan-GERD Talks) - - - - RAMALLAH -- The Palestinian Authority (PA) has addressed an official letter to Israel on holding the upcoming general elections in the Palestinian territories, said a senior PA official on Tuesday. The official, who declined to be named, told Xinhua that the official letter included a request to allow holding the elections in East Jerusalem. He said the PA is waiting for Israel's official response to the letter. (Palestine-Israel-Elections) - - - - TEHRAN A senior Iranian Foreign Ministry official said that pushes for an anti-Iran resolution in the ongoing meeting of the Board of Governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) would imperil diplomacy, Tasnim news agency reported on Tuesday. Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi deplored as "unconstructive" the attempts to have the UN nuclear watchdog pass a resolution against Iran, saying it would shrink the room for diplomacy. (Iran-IAEA-Resolution) Enditem Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-02 09:18:05|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close A medical worker shows a box of China's Sinovac COVID-19 vaccines in Montevideo, Uruguay, March 1, 2021. Uruguay's government on Monday began its immunization campaign against COVID-19 with vaccines developed by Chinese pharmaceutical firm Sinovac, prioritizing teachers, the military and the police. (Photo by Nicolas Celaya/Xinhua) MONTEVIDEO, March 1 (Xinhua) -- Uruguay's government on Monday began its immunization campaign against COVID-19 with vaccines developed by Chinese pharmaceutical firm Sinovac, prioritizing teachers, the military and the police. Nearly 50,000 out of a total of 140,000 people in the prioritized groups have already been scheduled to receive the vaccines, Minister of Public Health Daniel Salinas said. Meanwhile, Deputy Minister of Public Health Jose Luis Satdjian said that Monday marked "a new stage in the fight against the pandemic," and urged the public to get vaccinated "to take care of ourselves and others." Uruguayan President Luis Lacalle Pou on Friday expressed his gratitude to China for its support in supplying the vaccines. Enditem Bank of Ireland is to close three branches in Offaly as part of plans 103 branches on the island of Ireland. Details of the branches to close were announced after staff were informed of the decisions this morning. The three branches in Offaly that will close are Banagher, Edenderry and Clara. No closures are expected to happen before September. Once the closures are complete, that will leave two branches of Bank of Ireland operating in Offaly in Tullamore and Birr. Bank of Ireland states that a new partnership with An Post will provide banking services locally. The new partnership with An Post means that Bank of Ireland customers can now avail of banking services at their local post office Banagher, Clara and Edenderry all have a post office and there are 15 more in the county. Bank of Ireland says that the changes are in response to 'significant trends in how people are banking'. Bank of Ireland is closing a number of branches nationwide and footfall at the closing branches is down on average by c60% since 2017, while digital usage has increased by one third. Its just something you do, even when its never been done before. Thats how a senior of a high school in Hunterdon County explained his decision to try out for this years musical despite the fact that it will be different from every performance hes done before it. After doing the musical since my freshman year, its just a feeling I keep wanting to come back to, Bryant Kessie, a student at Delaware Valley Regional High School in Frenchtown, told NJ Advance Media. Its never really mattered what the show is, or if theres a role I want. Im just way too happy to come to rehearsal, and I couldnt get away from that, even if I tried. Students from the Delaware Valley Regional High School are performing Working as the high schools annual spring musical. The show will be filmed in March, and will be available for streaming on April 23, 24 and 25 on a platform yet to be determined. A total of 23 students are performing in the schools unified cast, which includes its special education and general education students. There are also an additional 10 students in the schools stage crew. While this number dwarfs in comparison to the hundreds of students that attend the high school, Jessica Severns, a teacher for Delaware Valley Regional High School and director of the production, said that no students were cut from the musical. My creative team and I felt very strongly about having every student who was interested in being a part of the show, able to be a part of the show, Severns, who is making her directorial debut with Working, said. We felt it was far more important to give these students an opportunity to work with something they love, especially during what has been such a difficult year. Working was selected as this years musical largely because it is mostly structured around solos and monologues, enabling students to socially distance while performing, Severns explained. My creative team and I knew from June of last year that we would put on this musical this year, Severns said. We knew that students needed and deserved this opportunity, especially after so many other things had been canceled. We wanted to give them something to look forward to and work towards. Students rehearse a scene from "Working." Courtesy Rick Epstein According to Kessie, who is playing Joe Zutty, Tom Patrick and performing three other solos, Working is a very different kind of show. Its the least theatrical show Ive done in my time here, Kessie said. Its definitely less flashy. Its down to Earth. Its people talking about their jobs. I hope people can find themselves in it. Amongst a wide range of COVID-19-related rules and regulations, all students must remain six feet apart from one another and wear masks at all times to secure the safety of the entire cast and crew. We also work with students in small groups to minimize the amount of people sharing space, Severns said. Students must take off their shoes to be on stage and we sanitize everything after each rehearsal. There are no shared materials and students use their iPads to get practice tracks and dance videos from the vocal director and choreographer. Both Kessie and Mark Westling, a senior playing Mike Dillard and performing two other solos, underscored that while the new restrictions arent ideal, they dont diminish the musical-making experience. I think its just an adjustment we all had to make, Kessie said. It doesnt get in the way of how I feel about theatre or the way I want to perform. All the important aspects are still intact and thats what matters. Ive never found them to be much of a problem, only a new experience, Westling added. Other than not being able to directly interact with each other, everything is pretty much the same. Kayla MacKinnon, a senior playing Kate Rushton and Sharon Atkins, said that students in her class in particular understand we have to do whats necessary. We love to rehearse together and would do anything to make that happen, MacKinnon said. Im excited, as it is something I would never have been able to do otherwise. Itll be exciting to have this as a piece of personal history to share with others. Additionally, the show will not be filmed as one continuous production. Instead, each musical number will be filmed separately and edited together. MacKinnon said that because multiple takes of performances will be filmed, theres no sense of building off each performance, which creates a different kind of stress for actors. For in-person shows, we (got) notes after every performance and (were) expected to adjust our performance for the next show. We dealt with the stress of knowing our adjudicators were there on any given night, so every run had to be perfect, MacKinnon said. This year ... we only have a short amount of time to learn, clean, and perfect each song and dance. Delaware Valley Regional High School students rehearse "Working," the school's spring musical.Courtesy Rick Epstein The vocals will be rerecorded separately from the dancing and staging of the show, which Westling noted carries both its advantages and disadvantages for the cast. It allows us to do more complicated dances and have generally better vocals, Westling said. Of course, we still have to lip sync so were singing while were dancing, but if we mess up it wont affect us as badly. Rehearsals for the show have been held both virtually and in-person, the former posing new kinds of hurdles for the students to overcome. Zoom fatigue is real, MacKinnon said. Luckily, we have been able to meet a few times in person, and just feeling the energy of this cast makes you believe in the magic of the stage again. Our vocal director does a great job of still making sure we learn the music as effectively as if we were there, but my memories of rehearsals over the last four years doesnt have much to do with learning any of the music. Thats whats always made it so fun, despite how challenging theatre can be, Kessie said. The real challenge has been trying to still have fun, even when were at home. The last thing anybody wants is for this to feel like work. Regardless, the students agreed that making the musical remains a worthwhile experience for both themselves and the audience that will be watching from the safety of their homes. Del Val musicals are always good! Westling said. In all my four years weve never had a show that hasnt been a hit and this show is no different. Plus, you can watch this show again and again thanks to the recording! You will feel heard in this show, MacKinnon added. Each actor is committed to making the audience feeling the emotions of each worker. We take vignettes of those who you would never think to study, magnify them, and show the general republic our respect for their work and sacrifices. I dont quite know what the end result will be. All we can do right now is put in the work and see the side effects. However, I get the feeling this show is going to be something people fall in love with the way I am, Kessie said. Moreover, both the director and the cast recognize that a musical about working class people and their significance in American society is perhaps more poignant now than ever before. It is based on real life people that worked and had dreams and struggles and successes. After a year of being disconnected, quarantined, and isolated, this show is a beautiful reminder that we are all trying our best and that no one is alone, Severa said. In these times where essential workers are finally getting recognition, we want to do our part to show our appreciation for them, MacKinnon said. We want every person struggling with their career to feel as though they are not alone. The one thing right now we need is unity, and by showing love and understanding towards those in otherwise unfulfilling or unimportant jobs, we can try to achieve that. Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com. Caroline Fassett may be reached at cfassett@njadvancemedia.com. The study gives the first detailed description of a volcanic eruption from Sierra Negra found on Isla Isabela - the largest of the Galapagos Islands and home to nearly 2,000 people. The findings, published in Nature Communications, reveal how the volcano inflated and fractured before it erupted and captures a new level of detail for any eruption from a volcano on the islands. Networks of ground-based seismic and GPS monitoring stations, and satellites, captured data for 13 years before Sierra Negra's eruption, in June 2018. The surface of the volcano rose during this time, indicating a gradual accumulation of molten rock - known as magma - found in a reservoir under the volcano. The signals were among the largest ever recorded at a volcano of this type, experts say. The Galapagos Islands have fascinated scientists since Charles Darwin's visit on board the HMS Beagle in 1835. Yet their remote location, in the Pacific Ocean, about 1000km off the Ecuadorian coast, means there were big gaps in scientists' understanding of the volcanic processes that formed them and control their activity. This eruption provided a rare opportunity to fill some of the gaps, researchers say. An international team, led by the University of Edinburgh, Pennsylvania State University in the US and the Instituto Geofisico in Ecuador, integrated geophysical data with analysis of the chemical composition of the erupted lava. They were supported in doing so by the Parque Nacional Galapagos. Sierra Negra's eruption continued for nearly two months, spurting out lava flows which extended 10 miles to the island's coast. Fresh earthquakes accompanied the eruption and emptying of the magma reservoir. After the eruption, the hills within a six-mile wide hollow at the summit of the volcano - known as a caldera - were nearly two meters higher. This phenomenon, known as caldera resurgence, is important for understanding when and where eruptions happen, scientists say. However, it is rare and has never been observed to this extent before. The team also discovered that the ascending magma permanently uplifted what they call a 'trapdoor' in the floor of the caldera. This raised its surface and, in a complex interplay, triggered large earthquakes that led to the eruption. The 2018 eruption was a stark reminder of the potential threat to life, livelihoods, and the iconic wildlife of the Galapagos - including the slow moving giant tortoise and land iguana - the researchers said. This new understanding of volcano behaviour will allow local scientists to track the evolution of volcanic unrest before future eruptions and communicate warnings to local authorities and the public. Dr Andrew Bell from the University of Edinburgh's School of GeoSciences who led the research, said: "The 2018 eruption of Sierra Negra was a really spectacular volcanic event, occurring in the 'living laboratory' of the Galapagos Islands. Great team work, and a bit of luck, allowed us to capture this unique dataset that provide us with important new understanding as to how these volcanoes behave, and how we might be able to better forecast future eruptions." Peter La Femina from The Pennsylvania State University in the US, said: "The power of this study is that it's one of the first times we've been able to see a full eruptive cycle in this detail at almost any volcano. We've monitored Sierra Negra from when it last erupted in 2005 through the 2018 eruption and beyond, and we have this beautiful record that's a rarity in itself." Mario Ruiz from the Instituto Geofisico, the national monitoring agency of Ecuador, said: "Based on constant monitoring of activity of Galapagos volcanoes since 2013, we detected a dramatic increase of seismicity and a steady uplift of crater floor at Sierra Negra. Soon we contacted colleagues from United Kingdom, United States and Ireland and proposed them to work together to investigate the mechanisms leading to an impending eruption of this volcano. This research is an example of international collaboration and partnership." ### The research team would like to thank the Instituto Geofisico, Parque Nacional Galapagos, and Charles Darwin Foundation for their support with fieldwork in the Galapagos. The study was funded by NERC, and the NSF. COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Ohio got the top ranking per capita in a new annual survey released on Monday by a national corporate real-estate magazine. Site Selection Magazine also said Ohio ranked second, behind Texas, for its number of overall economic-development projects. Ohio and Texas got the same rankings last year. Gov. Mike DeWine trumpeted Ohios ranking in a Monday news release. In an interview with Site Selection Magazine, he touted his administrations jobs-training program and the innovation districts planned for Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati, as well as JobsOhio, the states private economic development arm. Ohio continues to attract new corporate facilities and businesses to invest here, DeWine said in a statement. In Ohio, we have a strong business community that will work alongside new companies who are looking to invest and utilize our skilled workforce. Ohio governors for years have touted the states performance in the Site Selection Magazine rankings, dating back to George Voinovich in the 1990s. But the states economy has been in a long period of stagnation -- in December 2020, the most recent month that numbers are available, Ohio had 5.36 million jobs, still below the pre-Great Recession peak of about 5.65 million jobs, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Ohio jobs hit their post Great Recession peak in Feb. 2020 at 5.58 million, a gain of 32,609 jobs since DeWine took office in Jan. 2019. Among the major projects, some completed, most still in planning phases, that the magazine included in its new tally: a battery-manufacturing plant in Lordstown, jointly owned by General Motors and a Korean partner, thats still under construction; the planned expansion of the Ford auto factory in Avon Lake announced in Nov. 2019, a Facebook data center that opened in Feb. 2020 in New Albany, a Columbus suburb; a planned distribution center and data center by Amazon, also in New Albany; and a headquarters expansion in Cleveland and research and development facility in Brecksville thats planned by Sherwin-Williams. Gov. Greg Abbott announced the upcoming end of the statewide mask mandate Tuesday. He also announced that businesses can open at 100 percent capacity. Both take effect March 10. GIFT FOR WATT: J.J. gets permission to wear No. 99 in Arizona In a speech to the Lubbock Chamber of Commerce, Abbott declared that "state mandates are no longer needed" following relatively promising COVID-19 numbers over the last few days. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention still recommends that people still wear masks to help slow the spread as vaccines roll out. President Joe Biden also urged Americans to wear masks for the first 100 days of his presidency. As of Monday, regional hospitalizations were at 9.35 percent, according to a Houston Chronicle analysis. It also marked the first day that none of the state's 22 hospital regions were above 15 percent. Statewide, nearly 3.5 million Texans have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. "Too many Texans have been sidelined from opportunity," Abbott said. "... This must end. It is now time to open Texas 100 percent." Houston doctors were taken aback by the decision. One of them described a PTSD-like feeling while watching Abbott's press conference, according Houston Chronicle reporters. Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo and Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner urged Abbott to not rescind the mandate, according to Juan Lozano of the Associated Press. Hidalgo urged residents to still wear masks despite the governor's announcement. "What theyre going to hear is theres an all-clear," Hidalgo said during a televised press conference Tuesday. "What I want to say directly is, thats not the case." Hidalgo accused Abbott of making the announcement to distract from the ongoing power outage scandal. Here's part of Hidalgo's statement, which was posted by her Communications Director and Senior Advisor Rafael Lemaitre. Individual businesses can still implement their own rules, according to Abbott's office. A local county judge can also order restrictions if regional COVID-19 hospitalizations reach 15 percent. Hidalgo said even if our region reaches 15 percent and she can implement restrictions, it would be too late. "That 15 percent is not a magical number that somehow if you establish restrictions at that point, you can guarantee your hospitals wont be overwhelmed," Hidalgo said. "What I see here is a premature and misguided decision that is putting the community at risk. " Abbott made the announcement to a mostly mask-less audience inside a Lubbock restaurant. "Last March, most Texans had no clue about the precautions needed to avoid COVID," Abbott said. "Now, Texans have mastered daily habits to avoid getting COVID." What do you think of Abbott's decision? Will you still wear your mask? Let me know on Twitter: @JayRJordan. AFL star Gary Rohan's estranged wife Amie Rohan has spoken out about the personal strains she's faced as a single mother following the couple's split last year. The former couple are understood to have broken up when the 29-year-old star forward joined the AFL's Gold Coast coronavirus hub in late July. On Tuesday, Amie listed 'separation anxiety' and 'a touch of mental health struggles' among some of the 'hardest things' she's dealt with as a mother. 'I can't be everything for everyone': Former WAG Amie Rohan (pictured) has reflected on the anxiety of motherhood after splitting from AFL star husband Gary last year The couple's alleged marriage breakdown in July came just months after their daughter Sadie Rose was born in March. Amie shared an Instagram post that read: 'What motherhood has taught me is that I can't be everything for everyone.' 'Im slowly learning to outsource where I can and lean on others more to do the things I just cant keep on top of but its all such a learning process,' she added. 'Add on top of that grief, separation anxiety and a touch of mental health struggles and its honestly just been really bloody hard! Baby steps though.' 'Its honestly just been really bloody hard!' Amie listed 'separation anxiety' and 'a touch of mental health struggles' among some of the 'hardest things' she's dealt with as a mother Over: Gary Rohan and wife Amie wed in 2016, but are understood to have split in late July 2020 when the 29-year-old star forward joined the AFL's Gold Coast coronavirus hub Their girls: Amie lives with daughters Bella, two, and Sadie, almost one. The couple tragically lost their baby Willow, Bella's twin, shortly after their birth on April 12, 2018 In November, Amie shared a cryptic post about finding strength through 'difficult days' after her AFL star ex supposedly moved on with a Geelong Cats staffer. She uploaded a post by poet Dhiman about overcoming hurdles and not giving up. It read: 'This year you have learned to trust yourself. You have seen your strength rising through your most difficult days.' 'You have been hurt and there were days when you were falling apart but you have held onto yourself, you did not give up on your heart. 'And despite all the hurdles on your path, you have managed to come this far.' Amie captioned it: 'Couldn't have put it better myself.' Speaking out: In November, Amie shared a cryptic post about finding strength through 'difficult days' after her AFL star ex supposedly moved on with a Geelong Cats staffer 'Couldn't have put it better myself': Amie shared a post about overcoming hurdles and not giving up Amie lives with daughters Bella, two, and Sadie, almost one. Tragically the former couple lost their baby Willow, Bella's twin, shortly after their birth on April 12, 2018. Amie was just 12 weeks through her first pregnancy when she first learned one of her babies would not survive. Her daughter was diagnosed with anencephaly, a congenital disorder in which a major part of the baby's brain fails to develop. The mum's delivery of the twins on April 12, 2018, was marked with both joy and pain after the new parents were forced to say goodbye to Willow Nevaeh, just five hours after she was born. Moving on: Amie's marriage ended just months after the birth of their third child, Sadie Rose, in March Opening up to Harper's Bazaar magazine in October 2018, Amie said that the couple made the decision to carry both babies to term. 'We sat down and said ''this journey has been written for us. Let's continue on it'',' she told the publication. 'We had about five hours with Willow before she passed. In those five hours, I learnt so much about life and how precious it is.' Amie said the couple needed time to heal after her first pregnancy, but later announced the birth of their daughter Sadie Rose in March 2020. 'We welcomed our little daughter into this crazy world yesterday. Sadie Rose Rohan born at 8.27am weighing a petite 2970 grams,' she wrote at the time. Gary Rohan has moved on after the separation. (Newser) An American father and son wanted by Japan for helping former Nissan chief Carlos Ghosn escape from the country in a box were handed over to Japanese custody Monday, ending their monthslong battle to stay in the US. Michael Taylor and his son, Peter Taylor, failed to persuade US officials and courts to block their extradition to Japan, the AP reports, where they will be tried on charges that they smuggled Ghosn out of the country in 2019 while the former auto titan was awaiting trial on financial misconduct charges. The Massachusetts men, who have been locked up at a suburban Boston jail since their arrest in May, were handed over to Japanese officials early Monday, said one of their attorneys, Paul Kelly. The Taylors' lawyers argued that the accusations don't fit the law Japan wants to try them under and that they would be treated unfairly in Japan and subjected to "mental and physical torture." They have accused Japan of pursuing the pair in an attempt to save face after the embarrassment of Ghosn's escape. story continues below Michael Taylor, a US Army Special Forces veteran and private security specialist who in the past was hired by parents to rescue abducted children, has never denied the allegations. He gave an interview to Vanity Fair magazine last year in which he described the mission in detail. When asked why he did it, he responded with the motto of the Special Forces: "De oppresso liber" or "to liberate the oppressed," the magazine reported. He refused to discuss the details of the case in a recent interview because of the possibility that he will be tried in Japan. But he insisted that his son wasnt involved and was not even in Japan when Ghosn left. Ghosn, who became one of the auto industry's most powerful executives by engineering a turnaround at the Japanese manufacturer, had been out on bail after his November 2018 arrest on charges that he underreported his future income and committed a breach of trust by diverting Nissan money for his personal gain. Ghosn has denied the allegations and has said he fled to avoid political persecution. (Read more Carlos Ghosn stories.) Another woman alleges that at the age of 17, she was offered a drink and two unknown pills by Tiny while she was interning at the couples Atlanta studio in the summer of 2006. She alleges Tiny told her to undress to cool off, and the woman later passed out and woke up naked with a bleeding vagina. An employee of T.I. and Tiny drove her to a pharmacy to buy emergency contraception and threatened her to keep her mouth shut if she wanted to make it in the music industry and if not, bad things would happen to her and her family, the woman alleges. U.S. Supreme Court justices on Monday signaled they may rein in the power of in-house judges serving on a U.S. Patent and Trademark Office tribunal who have the ability to cancel patents in a case involving a dispute between surgical device makers. Justices raised questions during arguments in the case about the constitutionality of the agencys selection of the judges and grappled over how to address the issue. Their ruling, due by the end of June, could jeopardize the work of a tribunal called the Patent Trial and Appeal Board that adjudicates the validity of hundreds of patents annually. The case arose from a fight between privately held Florida-based medical device company Arthrex and British-based rival Smith & Nephew PLC. The justices are considering the U.S. governments appeal of a 2019 lower court decision that the boards judges were appointed in a way that violates a U.S. Constitution provision intended to ensure accountability for powerful government officials. The tribunal, created by Congress in 2011, is an administrative court run by the patent office. It takes a second look at patents issued by the agency and often cancels them, much to the dismay of some inventors. Arthrex challenged the constitutionality of the judges after the board in 2018 invalidated part of the companys patent for a surgical device for reattaching soft tissue to bone. Smith & Nephew had requested the review of Arthrexs patent. Appointments Clause At issue is whether the agencys more than 250 patent judges were appointed in violation of the Constitutions so-called appointments clause, which requires certain high government officials known as principal officers to be named by the president and confirmed by the U.S. Senate. Other inferior officers with lesser authority may be appointed and supervised by department heads, who are themselves named by the president. A president can fire principal officers at will, but patent judges, as members of the civil service, have certain job protections including from unrestricted removal. Some of the justices on Monday indicated that the level of supervision over patent judges and their decisions seemed insufficient because neither the president nor his subordinates can reverse their decisions. These are multimillion, sometimes billion-dollar decisions being made not by someone whos accountable in the usual way that the appointments clause demands, conservative Justice Brett Kavanaugh said. Conservative Chief Justice John Roberts raised similar concerns but suggested that, because the patent judges are judges, they need more leeway to resolve factual disputes over patents and you dont want the politically accountable people to have the authority to overturn those. Roberts also said reviewing each of the judges decisions would be impractical. Liberal Justice Sonia Sotomayor voiced support for the tribunals structure, saying principal officers are policymakers, not mere adjudicators like patent judges. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, a specialized patent court, agreed with Arthrex that the tribunals judicial appointments ran afoul of the appointments clause. But the Federal Circuit said the constitutional defect could be cured by removing job protections, rendering the judges inferior officers. Arthrex has argued that the Federal Circuits solution did not fix the problem and that the tribunals structure remains unconstitutional. In recent years the tribunals reviews have become a quick and cheap way for companies that are prime targets for infringement suits, such as such as Apple Inc. and Alphabet Inc.s Google, to try to invalidate patents. Litigation before the tribunal is seen by many companies as a more efficient alternative to resolving cases in federal court. (Reporting by Andrew Chung in New York; Editing by Will Dunham) The Daily Beast Photo Illustration by The Daily Beast/GettyMike Lindell, the MyPillow CEO and Trumpist conspiracy-peddler, flew his private jet to the Republican Governors Association meeting the other day.The guvs promptly threw him out. But the incident got Molly Jong-Fast thinking: Does the MyPillow CEO think hes already a governor or something?Subscribe to The New Abnormal on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Amazon Music, or Overcast. To listen to our weekly members-only bonus episodes, join Beast Inside here. Already a member? You can listen here and sign up for new episode email alerts here.Spoiler: Making MyPillows does not make you my governor. Now, chances that Mike Lindell could actually become governor of a small Republican state, 80 percent, she quips on the latest episode of The New Abnormal. Like, its not even that hard for someone that famous and insane in the Republican party to become a governor.Lindell claims he wouldnt run to be a dogcatcher right now, because he doesnt trust the voting machines. Plus, hes from the blue state of Minnesota. So maybe the risk of a Governor Pillow isnt quite so high. But L.A. Times columnist Virginia Heffernan would like to quickly add something about Mike Lindell being a cosplay governor.I think we need to understand that being in politics leads to governing and governing is boring. It is not a PR operation, she says. And I feel like we have made these jobs celebrity roles. Public service should not beis notbeing on a reality show.Like, I feel like we need to really dial down the razzle-dazzle, really play up the drudgery, Heffernan continues. I just don't know why every single industrialist and every single lady with abs or gorgeous arms would want to be, of all things, a governor.Biden, Heffernan opines, is doing a pretty good job at the drudgerydollars going out, jabs going out, all leading to Trump signs going down. Sure, the Donald has his cultists, like Lindell. But, I don't think people can hold onto this much insanity for this long, especially when it's a tiny minority of people who believe it, Heffernan adds. Democrats need to know how to win.To which Jong-Fast replies, oh-so-gently: Are you freakin kidding me? With all of these Republican attempts to retcon the Capitol riots? To chop away at the right to vote? To instantiate their ability to overturn elections? All while Team Biden snoozes it away? The Democrats are bringing an ice cream sundae to a knife fight, Jong-Fast says.Plus! Politicos Tara Palmeri talks about her search to find Liz Cheney supporters in Wyoming. And Battle for the Soul author Edward-Isaac Dovere gives us a peek into how Biden sees the political landscape. The presidency that he has in front of him now, he knows, is so different from what he ever expected to have, Dovere says, And part of that is rethinking how he incorporates the progressivism within the party that took root and that was so much part of this campaign. And its just, its a really complicated evolution for him. Its not the presidency he thought itd be running in 2019 when he got into this race.Read more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more. HOUSTON, March 2, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Tumbles kids' gym is taking its exclusive model of combining gymnastics and exercise with STEAM education (Science, Technology, Education, Art, and Math) to the Middle East. It will be the first U.S. children's fitness franchise to open in Qatar, which is planned for this summer. Tumbles was founded to combat childhood obesity with the strategy of "get fit for the fun of it." Tumbles Playground Getting Fit for the Fun of It! The new facility is located in the capital city of Doha in the City Center Mall in a space that is about 800 meters (about 8,600 square feet), including a larger-than-US-spec sized gym, two STEAM classrooms, and a supersized Tumble Zone indoor playground. Tumbles' founder and CEO, Manish Vakil, says that his company chose to franchise in the Middle East because its countries have the highest incidence of childhood obesity in the world. Additionally, says Vakil, "There's a lack of companies focused on wellness for kids going into the GCC. We want to be part of the solution in the region and saying these areas should not be neglected. There are a lot of dollars and investments being made in these countries but not enough specifically in children's health. We want to be there at the forefront and work with the people towards awareness and a solution." Vakil points out that the U.S. Commercial Service in Houston played a critical role in Tumbles' ability to franchise in Qatar. The Commercial Service acts as a matchmaker between foreign businesses that are interested in U.S. brands and U.S. companies that want to expand internationally. Vakil says the relationship is symbiotic: foreign entities get a Western brand that comes with a good reputation and product, and U.S. companies benefit from their exports. Senior International Trade Specialist Steven Garrett serves as Tumbles primary U.S. Commercial Service partner and worked closely with CEO Vakil negotiating the franchise agreement in Qatar. Says Vakil, "Our entire deal in Doha would not have happened if it wasn't for the Commercial Service. They took our company info and pitched it. They made contact, initiated it, and they're the ones who called me directly, saying, 'We have a person who wants to talk to you.'" For more information about Tumbles, visit www.tumbles.net. Tumbles Contact: Martin Hancock Head of International Sales [email protected] 847-910-9150 Publicist Contact: Gigi Marino [email protected] 352-727-1282 SOURCE Tumbles ADVERTISEMENT A carpenter was killed while a bricklayer was injured when a security post under construction suddenly collapsed on Monday at Badagry Grammar School in Lagos State. Photo2 Caption: The fallen security post at Badagry Grammar School in Lagos State. A witness, Ruth Whenu, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that the incident occurred around 3:40 p.m. while the workers were busy with the construction. The incident involved two victims, a carpenter and bricklayer, working at the site. In the process, one Odunayo Okunola, a carpenter, lost his life due to the weight of the concrete that fell on him. Kazeem Abiodun was, however, rescued following prompt emergency response and taken to Badagry General Hospital, she said. A relation of the deceased, Ajide James, said that his corpse would be taken for burial in their village in Ogun. Tunde Bakare, the Medical Director, Badagry General Hospital, said the injured bricklayer was gradually responding to treatment. Before they got to the hospital, the carpenter had given up the ghost while the bricklayer sustained serious injury. The corpse of the carpenter was deposited at our mortuary, while our doctors and nurses are taking care of the injured bricklayer. Unfortunately, against medical advice, the family of the bricklayer have requested from the management of the hospital that they want to carry the bricklayer to Ajase in Republic of Benin for more attention. Since they requested against our advice, we have released the injured bricklayer but the corpse of the carpenter is still with us, he said. (NAN) The Citrus company intends to appeal in court against Hennadiy Korban's acquisition of a 50% stake in ZT-Invest LLC, claims a frame-up of information materials on the businessman's acquisition of a part of the Citrus assets. "On behalf of the company, we inform that this information is false and has a massively manipulative nature. In fact, Hennadiy Korban secretly acquired 50% only in ZT-Invest, while Citrus has already filed a lawsuit to review the legality of such an acquisition," the Citrus said in a statement on its website on Tuesday. According to it, ZT-Invest does not participate in the operating activities and has nothing to do with the current assets of the group. In addition, owner of Citrus Hryhoriy Topal remains the owner of 50% stake of the company. At the same time, in a blitz interview with Liga.tech on Tuesday, Korban announced his intention to participate in the development of Citrus as an investor, in particular, to optimize the company's structure, change its legal address from Odesa to Dnipro, and "build a new online platform with one of the partners, Zinchenko." According to the Unified State Register, as of March 2, Topal and Korban with 50% shares are indicated as owners of ZT-Invest LLC. At the same time, Topal and Dmytro Zinchenko are listed as the ultimate beneficiaries. Korban was added to the register as an owner instead of Zinchenko on February 25, according to Opendatabot data. Citrus is the first Ukrainian specialized chain of stores of gadgets and accessories. The company was established in 2000. According to the information on its website, as of March 2021, the network has 63 retail outlets in Kyiv, Dnipro, Odesa, Kharkiv, Lviv, Zaporizhia, Poltava, Mykolaiv, Cherkasy, Kherson, Chernihiv, Kramatorsk (Donetsk region), Izmail and Chornomorsk (both Odesa region). 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 Daily Beast Photo Illustration by The Daily Beast/GettyMike Lindell, the MyPillow CEO and Trumpist conspiracy-peddler, flew his private jet to the Republican Governors Association meeting the other day.The guvs promptly threw him out. But the incident got Molly Jong-Fast thinking: Does the MyPillow CEO think hes already a governor or something?Subscribe to The New Abnormal on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Amazon Music, or Overcast. To listen to our weekly members-only bonus episodes, join Beast Inside here. Already a member? You can listen here and sign up for new episode email alerts here.Spoiler: Making MyPillows does not make you my governor. Now, chances that Mike Lindell could actually become governor of a small Republican state, 80 percent, she quips on the latest episode of The New Abnormal. Like, its not even that hard for someone that famous and insane in the Republican party to become a governor.Lindell claims he wouldnt run to be a dogcatcher right now, because he doesnt trust the voting machines. Plus, hes from the blue state of Minnesota. So maybe the risk of a Governor Pillow isnt quite so high. But L.A. Times columnist Virginia Heffernan would like to quickly add something about Mike Lindell being a cosplay governor.I think we need to understand that being in politics leads to governing and governing is boring. It is not a PR operation, she says. And I feel like we have made these jobs celebrity roles. Public service should not beis notbeing on a reality show.Like, I feel like we need to really dial down the razzle-dazzle, really play up the drudgery, Heffernan continues. I just don't know why every single industrialist and every single lady with abs or gorgeous arms would want to be, of all things, a governor.Biden, Heffernan opines, is doing a pretty good job at the drudgerydollars going out, jabs going out, all leading to Trump signs going down. Sure, the Donald has his cultists, like Lindell. But, I don't think people can hold onto this much insanity for this long, especially when it's a tiny minority of people who believe it, Heffernan adds. Democrats need to know how to win.To which Jong-Fast replies, oh-so-gently: Are you freakin kidding me? With all of these Republican attempts to retcon the Capitol riots? To chop away at the right to vote? To instantiate their ability to overturn elections? All while Team Biden snoozes it away? The Democrats are bringing an ice cream sundae to a knife fight, Jong-Fast says.Plus! Politicos Tara Palmeri talks about her search to find Liz Cheney supporters in Wyoming. And Battle for the Soul author Edward-Isaac Dovere gives us a peek into how Biden sees the political landscape. The presidency that he has in front of him now, he knows, is so different from what he ever expected to have, Dovere says, And part of that is rethinking how he incorporates the progressivism within the party that took root and that was so much part of this campaign. And its just, its a really complicated evolution for him. Its not the presidency he thought itd be running in 2019 when he got into this race.Read more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more. Photo: We Are Uyghurs Facebook page Why wont B.C. Premier John Horgan comment on a provincial government trade agreement with China that has connections to mounting allegations of genocide against Muslim Uyghurs? Chinas alleged genocide in Xinjiang is said to be motivated, in part, by expansion of the countrys Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), to which the B.C. government lends its support via a memorandum of understanding (MOU). Although the BC NDP has previously said, Foreign policy relations are the responsibility of the federal government, not the provincial government, Horgan has recently weighed in on affairs in the United States and India. His government also claims, in general, to be defenders of human rights, but it has never spoken out not just on matters in Xinjiang, nor the de facto takeover of Hong Kong by Beijing, which is expected to have a major impact on immigration to this province in years to come. Horgans office has declined multiple attempts by Glacier Media to understand the premiers position on the MOU, which was initially signed in May 2016 by then-BC Liberal Premier Christy Clark. The NDP has also declined to speak about B.C.s post-pandemic trade policy with China, to which the province has significant autonomy. On February 22, the House of Commons voted unanimously to declare the Chinese government, led by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), is committing genocide against ethnic Muslim Uyghurs in Xinjiang, an autonomous territory in northwest China although the matter is less resolved in the international community and Canadas cabinet, including Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, abstained from the vote. Preceding the vote was subcommittee testimony from Uyghurs and academics studying the issue. The House of Commons Special Committee on Canada-China Relations outlined part of the motives behind the alleged genocide, in a subcommittee report on Xinjiang. Xinjiang is a resource-rich area with important oil deposits. It also borders several Central Asian countries that the Government of China considers strategically important for its Belt and Road Initiative and its pursuit of expansionism. Because some Uyghurs desire more autonomy or independence from China, the Government of China considers them a threat to its economic development and prosperity. The Subcommittee was informed that its solution is the elimination of Uyghurs and other Turkic Muslims in the region, the subcommittee stated in its final report on October 21, 2020. The BRI is Chinas blueprint for foreign economic and cultural expansion. Critics aligned with the United States charge it is a so-called debt trap for developing nations. Allies of China see BRI projects as symbiotic economic agreements. Xinjiang, or East Turkistan, is where four land corridors for BRI projects branch out to Central Asia, Mehmet Tohti, representative of Uyghur Canadian Society, told the subcommittee last year. The non-partisan committee unanimously concluded Chinas alleged actions, such as mass surveillance, mass detention, cultural persecution, destruction of mosques, sterilization of women and family separation, constituted genocide and crimes against humanity. The members also informed the House that the Canadian government ought to support entities opposed to the BRI. It is important that the Government of Canada provide support through international overseas development assistance to civil society organizations especially in countries that are geopolitically important to China's Belt and Road Initiative who are raising awareness about the persecution of Uyghurs and other Turkic Muslims in Xinjiang. But here in B.C., the provincial government contradicts the subcommittees recommendations with its agreement with Guangdong province. At the time of the MOU signing, the BC Liberals did not seek approval from Ottawa; however, Global Affairs confirmed last year to Glacier Media it is now aware of the MOU, which is rare among Western jurisdictions and as such indicative of the provincial governments close ties with the CCP. Both the BC NDP and BC Liberal parties have declined multiple requests to be interviewed on the BRI MOU, which outlines a broad policy agenda for trade, economic and cultural agreements and information sharing between the jurisdictions. Fenella Sung, a member of Vancouvers pro-democracy group Canadian Friends of Hong Kong, said the MOU ought to be torn up. If the provincial government claims they dont do diplomacy, they dont do international relations, or they stop at Ottawas mandate, why would they sign such a thing? asks Sung. International trade is also international relations. How can they separate the international element from the trade element? They are just playing with words. They are treating British Columbians like fools. And I dont think they buy it, said Sung. This month, Horgan appeared to contradict the notion he does not do foreign policy relations when he penned a letter to Trudeau to state his support for Indias farmers, who are protesting Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Horgan also congratulated U.S. president Joe Biden upon his inauguration January 20. (Biden happens to support the Trump administrations prior determination that genocide is occurring in Xinjiang.) Horgans statement on India was preceded by street protests in Surrey and Richmond, the provinces hub of Punjabi residents. Sung said similar protests in Vancouver, in 2019, by Hong Kong-Canadians against Chinas imposed national security law, did not receive the same kind of attention from the premier, whose chief of staff Geoff Meggs raised Chinas flag at Vancouver City Hall in 2016 as a city councillor, Sung noted. Glacier Media has also asked BC NDP supporter/fundraiser Chak Au, a Richmond city councillor from Hong Kong, about Xinjiang. He declined to comment. Whether genocide is occurring in Xinjiang has yet to be determined by an international body. The Canadian Coalition on Human Rights in China, including Amnesty International Canada, states cultural genocide is occurring. And there is indecisiveness within the U.S. State Department legal office, which concluded in January that Chinas mass imprisonment and forced labour of Uyghurs amounts to crimes against humanity with insufficient evidence to prove genocide, Foreign Policy reports. Meanwhile, the Chinese government denies any wrongdoing in the region, which is kept under strict control for outside visitations. China has admitted to building re-education camps for "vocational education and training" to counter terrorism plots by Uyghurs. We have used your information to see if you have a subscription with us, but did not find one. Please use the button below to verify an existing account or to purchase a new subscription. A decline in output at the BHP-majority-owned Escondida copper mine - the worlds largest is likely to be the main reason for the small decline, with production there falling 11.6% to 84,700 tonnes in the first month of 2021, down from 100,900 tonnes in the corresponding period of 2020, according to Cochilco data.The worlds biggest copper producer, meanwhile - the government-owned Codelco - reported output of 142,000 tonnes in January, a 19.4% year-on-year increase from 118,900 tonnes in January 2020.Codelcos division comprising Chuquicamata, Radomiro Tomic and Ministro Hales produced 69,400 tonnes of copper during January, up by 39.1% from 49,900 tonnes in the same month in 2020, while output at its El Teniente mine was 39,100 tonnes, up by 17.1% from 33,400 tonnes a year before.Supplies from those two major producers in Chile and from mines in Peru have been volatile since the Covid-19 pandemic hit South America, driving down treatment and refining charges (TC/RCs).Chile's copper output fell by 1% year-on-year overall in 2020 , while Peruvian production dropped 12.5% Fastmarkets copper concentrates TC index, cif Asia Pacific reached an all-time low of $35.80 per tonne on February 26, after starting 2021 at $44.70 per tonne on January 4.According to Cochilco, production at Collahuasi was 57,000 tonnes in January, a 6.5% year-on-year increase from 53,500 tonnes in the first month of 2020. Glencore, Anglo American and a Japanese consortium are Collahuasis shareholders.Meanwhile, Antofagastas Los Pelambres mine produced 28,800 tonnes of copper in January, down by 3.4% from 29,800 tonnes a year earlier.And Anglo American Surs output from its Los Bronces and El Soldado operations totaled 28,300 tonnes, up by 14.1% from 24,800 tonnes in the same comparison.Cochilco added that Chilean molybdenum production reached 4,919 tonnes in January, up by 6% from 4,643 tonnes in the same month in 2020. A Place for All Conservatives to Speak Their Mind. New Delhi, March 2 : Electronic goods exports recorded an all-time high of Rs 8,806 crore in the month of December 2020. In a statement, the India Cellular and Electronics Association (ICEA) said that the electronics industry is overcoming the unprecedented challenges of COVID and is on a path of regaining its momentum. Mobile phone is the highest contributor in the segment comprising of 35 per cent of the value with an export value of Rs 3,061 crore which is 50 per cent higher than December 2019. Pankaj Mohindroo, Chairman of ICEA said: "The mobile handset manufacturing industry is continuing its growth juggernaut and its historic journey to meet its objective of becoming the world's number one manufacturing destination in sync with the Prime Minister's vision." He added that backed by the PLI scheme during the covid period, the industry has made substantial investments of more than Rs 2,000 crore. "This year industry has faced unprecedented challenges in the face of global pandemic like COVID & the geo political challenges. We have faced severe supply chain disruptions, logistics, and restriction in movement of the skilled manpower or technicians for upgrading & setting up manufacturing facilities under the PLI scheme, still we have managed to standup on our feet and achieved a growth of 50 per cent in mobile phones exports in the month of December 2020 vs December 2019," Mohindroo said. He further said that rollout of the Remission of Duties and Taxes on Exported Products (RoDTEP) scheme can also help boost the exports by specific process of determining the rates and identifying the product lines. The reducing of customs duties and a scheme to refund to the exporters the embedded central, state and local duties and taxes can act as key contributors in achieving the mobile phone export of $110 billion. The province released a report Monday on race, ethnicity and Indigeneity related to COVID-19. Advertisement Advertise With Us The province released a report Monday on race, ethnicity and Indigeneity related to COVID-19. The data shows a similar pattern as reported by other jurisdictions African, Filipino, Latin American, North American Indigenous and South Asian communities are disproportionately affected by COVID-19 infections. Dr. Brent Roussin made the announcement at the Monday news conference, but Health and Seniors Care Minister Heather Stefanson also released her own statement. "It is important to understand how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected Manitobans differently based on their race, ethnicity or Indigeneity. That is why Manitoba was the first jurisdiction in Canada to start collecting this data in relation to COVID-19 cases in May 2020," stated Stefanson. The report was compiled by public health officials, while an advisory working group with representatives from the Black, Indigenous and persons of colour (BIPOC) communities supported the data collection and sharing process. "We have learned that in the fight against COVID-19, we need to have the right data to ensure we are able to take the steps needed to protect all Manitobans," stated Stefanson. The report states that data from around the world has shown COVID-19 infections are not evenly distributed by population groups. The information in the report comes from people who have tested positive for COVID-19 in Manitoba. When Roussin announced the report, he stressed that it is important to note the information is not about the people in those communities making bad choices or people not following public health guidance. "We know people in BIPOC communities are more likely to live in lower-income neighbourhoods and live in overcrowded, multi-generational households," said Roussin. "Theyre also more likely to have low-wage occupations and be employed in high-risk occupations, such as food manufacturing, service industries, transportation, accommodations, food services and retail. This is systemic, and its seen in every jurisdiction, resulting in very similar patterns of the disproportional effects of COVID-19." But the report also states the question about race, ethnicity and Indigeneity wasnt asked at the same rate in every region. "Since the regions also vary with respect to the demographics of who lives there, this does impact what the data shows," states the report. "The data is more reliable when the question is asked at least 75 per cent of the time, and the goal is to have it asked more than 90 per cent of the time." The results in the report reflect the fact that in Manitoba, the mandatory question was asked and the answer recorded in the Public Health Information Management System in 67 per cent of case investigations. Fifty-one per cent of people who have tested positive for COVID-19 in Manitoba from May 1 to Dec. 31 self-identify as BIPOC. According to the report, this is 1.5 times higher than expected, as 35 per cent of people in Manitoba belong to a BIPOC group, based on the 2016 Statistics Canada Census. This shows that COVID-19 is not equally distributed across population groups. At the time of data collection, 90 per cent (710 people) of all cases were 15 years or older. Of those cases, 46 per cent (324 people) provided their occupation. Among people who reported their employment status, 74 per cent also reported their race/ethnicity (239 people), according to the report. Food manufacturing saw the highest rate of COVID-19 at 30 per cent, while the second-highest rate, 15 per cent, was found in the service industry. The data also shows white people are under-represented by 16 percentage points, with the burden of disease lowest for white men. Asked what specific changes could be made by public health to improve the outcomes reported, Roussin said there have been a number of actions taken, such as collecting the data, figuring out how it would be reported and working with the members of the BIPOC communities. "Weve been working on trying to have access to our information in many languages. Theres the federal income support for the people who are required to self-isolate," said Roussin. "Weve had a number of outreach areas in certain districts, where we saw higher case numbers, many of them being the over-represented groups on here. Things like rapid testing and contact tracing. Were going to continue working with those groups, try to identify ways that we can further improve things." Dr. Brent Roussin made the announcement on a report released Monday on race, ethnicity, and Indigeneity related to COVID-19. (Winnipeg Free Press) He also said public health will encourage that more of this data be collected. The goal is to continue to work with the groups to find better solutions. Its uncertain how the data will affect the vaccine rollout. "Were continuing to look at the vaccine rollout and the high-risk categories, keeping in mind the logistics and the scarcity of vaccine. Overall, the most important risk factor that weve seen is age, so well continue to try to follow as much as we can an age-based approach to it," said Roussin. "But for sure we look at all these factors and working with these communities to see what other approaches might be required." Meanwhile, Stefanson said the report is "another example of how we are guided by science and facts when developing a strategy for our pandemic response system and vaccination distribution plan, to protect every Manitoban." The report can be read at bit.ly/304Sutk 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 one death in Mondays COVID-19 update a male in his 60s from the Winnipeg Health region. The province reported 35 new cases. The new cases are as follows: two cases in the InterlakeEastern health region; 16 cases in the Northern health region; zero cases in the Prairie Mountain Health region; one case in the Southern HealthSante Sud health region; and 16 cases in the Winnipeg health region. The five-day COVID-19 test positivity rate was 3.9 per cent in the province, and three per cent in Winnipeg. Lab-confirmed cases in Manitoba since the beginning of the pandemic total 31,894. The province reports 1,171 active cases and individuals who have recovered total a reported 29,827. The province also reported 68 people are in hospital with active COVID-19, as well as 116 people in hospital with COVID-19 who are no longer infectious but continue to require care, for a total of 184 hospitalizations. Twelve people are in intensive care units with active COVID-19, as well as 13 people with COVID-19 who are no longer infectious but continue to require critical care, for a total of 25 ICU patients. In the PMH region, there are a reported 12 active cases, with 1,993 recovered. There are no active cases hospitalized, and four people hospitalized who are no longer infectious. There are no patients in ICU. The region has seen 53 deaths. Brandons active case count is two, with 977 recovered and 22 deaths. On Sunday, 1,220 tests were completed, for a total of 526,593 since February 2020. Source: Province of Manitoba Schneider Electric, a global leader in energy management, automation, and sustainability, has announced an enhanced global supply chain decarbonization service designed to help organizations address the significant emissions volume contained in their value chains. The announcement comes on the heels of the companys new ambition to increase its own efforts to decarbonize its supply chain, committing to reduce carbon emissions from the top 1000 suppliers operations by 50% by 2025. For many companies, a majority of their carbon footprint rests in the supply and value chain. CDP reports that, based on 2020 data from more than 8,000 companies, supply chain emissions are more than 11 times higher on average than operational emissions. These volumes can be even larger in industry segments like retail, apparel, and services. Schneider Electrics offer, which is nested inside the companys broader Climate Change Advisory Service, helps organizations tackle this staggering figure through a unique combination of supplier engagement, measurement, strategy setting, and implementation via efficiency, renewable energy procurement, and carbon offsetting. The offer builds on successful supply chain solutions already developed for clients including Walmart, Maple Leaf Foods and Takeda Pharmaceuticals. The momentum on corporate climate action today is tremendous, driven in large part by increasing investor pressure for environmental, social and governance (ESG) risks transparency and disclosure, said Steve Wilhite, SVP for Schneider Electric. For a majority of companies, the next frontier beyond their own operations is the supply chain. The good news is that by engaging suppliers in decarbonization efforts, companies can not only respond to these pressures but also identify cost-savings, develop innovations, and increase the value of their supplier relationships. In January, Schneider Electric was honoured by Corporate Knights as the worlds most sustainable corporation, a recognition earned by the companys 15+ year commitment to sustainable practices and the U.N. sustainable development goals (SDGs). In addition to the companys specific target to reduce the emissions of its own supply chain by 2025, Schneider Electric is also committed to decent work from 100% of its strategic suppliers and the achievement of a net-zero supply chain by 2050.--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. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. Monoclonal antibody treatment, a new tool being used to fight off severe cases of the coronavirus (COVID-19) on Staten Island, is yielding positive results and appears to be lowering hospitalizations on the Island, doctors on the borough told the Advance/SILive.com. This treatment is 100% life-saving, said Dr. Johnathon LeBaron, chair of Richmond University Medical Centers (RUMC) Department of Emergency Medicine. Monoclonal antibody treatment, which was initially given an emergency use authorization by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in November of last year before two more companies were given the same approval in February 2021, is designed for treatment in high-risk patients with mild to moderate COVID-19 symptoms in order to prevent more serious infection. Through Feb. 24, over 300 people have been given the treatment at RUMC with only one person later requiring hospitalization, according to the hospital. Everyone that Ive given it to has felt much better after theyve gotten it, LeBaron said, so I can say that symptomatic patients do feel better after they get it. Similar results are being witnessed at Staten Island University Hospitals (SIUH) infusion center, where over 800 people have been given the treatment through the same span with no serious adverse reactions, according to Theodore Maniatis, the chief medical officer of the hospital. While Maniatis cautioned that the number of patients that have received the treatment is not yet large enough to make a full analysis, he said, the results look more positive than originally suggested. HOW THE TREATMENT WORKS Monoclonal antibodies are manufactured in a laboratory to specifically target the coronavirus spike protein the mechanism used to enter human cells and coat the spikes to disable the virus from attaching to other healthy cells and multiplying. That process prevents spread of infection in your body and limits the duration and severity of the illness because youre able to prevent them from getting inside the cells and causing more damage inside your body, said LeBaron. Dr. Johnathon LeBaron, RUMC's chair for the Department of Emergency Medicine. (Photo courtesy of RUMC) The treatment is more effective the earlier it is taken, doctors at both hospitals said, and it has to be administered within the first 10 days of symptom onset. To have monoclonal antibodies administered, an IV is attached to a patient for about a half an hour, said LeBaron, and then the person is monitored afterward for any adverse reactions. Side effects are very rare but can include things like dizziness, lightheadedness, blushing, LeBaron added. After a patient is sufficiently observed, they are discharged and sent home to continue recuperating. HOW TO RECEIVE THE TREATMENT Not everyone is eligible to receive monoclonal antibodies. In addition to a positive COVID-19 test, patients have to be over the age of 65; over the age of 55 with underlying conditions such as cardiovascular disease, COPD or hypertension; or have a body mass index over 35, chronic kidney disease, diabetes or an immunosuppressive disease, according to the FDA. The idea is to give it to people who are at risk, said LeBaron. This treatment is really designed to those people that could catch it and would end up having a high risk of going on to needing hospitalization to, needing supplemental oxygenation, to needing intubation, and all those things that could potentially lead to death. RUMCs emergency department is offering the treatment to those who satisfy the aforementioned conditions. A patient can go to the hospital and be seen by one of the facilitys emergency physicians, said LeBaron. If qualified for treatment, the IV infusion can begin. Staten Islanders can call about monoclonal antibody treatment at RUMC at 844-934-CARE. SIUH utilizes an infusion center near its Ocean Breeze campus for treatment, according to Maniatis. To get monoclonal antibodies there, patients with a positive test can call a health care provider. Then, the provider calls in the case or goes online and enters the data into the Northwell Health system. Following that, a centralized team, generally nurse practitioners, calls the patient and ensures the initially-entered information is correct and gives the person an appointment. Additionally, patients that are brought to the emergency room feeling ill could be tested in the hospitals emergency department. If the person isnt sick enough to be admitted, the case can be called in and referred for an infusion. And thats it they show up, theyre treated, they sit around... and then they go home, said Maniatis. CONCERNS REMAIN Despite the early positive results, there are questions that remain unanswered regarding the effectiveness of the treatment on emerging variants that threaten to skirt the protection offered by these monoclonal antibodies. The issue is, we dont know how effective it is going to be with the variants, said Maniatis. When these drugs were developed and tested under the original studies that resulted in the EUA (emergency-use authorization) approval, those variants were pretty much unknown. The big question is going to be: What does the data look like ... and who ended up sick and who didnt end up sick, he added. To understand that relation, Maniatis said that sequencing positive tests the process that enables scientists to discern which variant of the virus is present in an individual needs to be increased. The United States initially lagged behind other countries in the race to genetically sequence individual coronavirus cases to discern which variants were most present, the Washington Post reported in December, but officials have said that effort will be increasing moving forward. Staten Island has seen its hospitalization levels decrease in recent months, even as deaths have continued to creep upward. Its difficult to believe that its only been a year, said LeBaron, commenting on the upcoming one-year mark of the first positive test on the borough. While he said brighter times are 100% ahead, he stressed the need to remain vigilant. We need to be keen to be doing things like masking, like social distancing, like washing your hands, like getting vaccinated when its your chance to get vaccinated, LeBaron said, because this really is a community effort. He credited Staten Islands decreasing hospitalization levels to residents doing the right things. ... people are doing such a good job of masking, keeping social distance, being health conscious, he said. And if we can do that, we can protect each other and get back to something that resembles what we had a year ago at this point. KNOXVILLE, Tenn. - Scott Senseman, professor and head of the University of Tennessee Department of Plant Sciences, has been named a Fellow of the Weed Science Society of America. The WSSA provides science-based information to the public and policymakers and fosters awareness of weeds and their tremendous impacts on managed and natural ecosystems. Senseman equates the highest honor given by the society as being a member of its hall of fame, and he emphasizes the importance of the work performed by WSSA members. "There are forces working against cropping systems, such as pathogens, insects and weeds. Weeds, of the three, pose the highest competitive disadvantage to crops. It is difficult to have a profitable yield with a weed infestation, affecting the producer and consumer." Fellows are active members of WSSA who are honored for significant contributions to weed science and to the WSSA in the areas of publications, education, program development and service. Previously, Senseman presided as president of both the Southern Weed Science Society and WSSA. During his career, Senseman has proven a prolific author and presenter about weed science, counting 107 peer-reviewed journal articles and 229 abstracts for posters and oral presentations. Students, though, have been the mainstay of his professional life. Senseman has developed six courses and has served on 88 graduate student committees, being a main advisor for 22. Senseman explains his entrance to weed science. "I received an internship my senior year at Wilmington College in Ohio and worked with a product development specialist researching weeds. I was interested, and my professors encouraged me to attend graduate school at the University of Arkansas. When I began my career at Texas A&M University, I realized the importance of hands-on experiences and encouragement from mentors. I wanted to open doors for students." Senseman continues, "We do not yet have the technology to feed 2050's projected world population. Developing the next generation of weed scientists, with their energy and innovative ideas, is important so they will be able to create solutions for the future. My favorite aspect of being an educator is providing a scientific model for students to use as they solve their own research questions." Senseman has been head of the UT Department of Plant Sciences since 2013 and has served the UT Institute of Agriculture in many capacities, including as Deputy Assistant Dean for Strategic Planning for the Herbert College of Agriculture and Interim Dean of UT Extension. ### Follow @UTPlantSciences on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube for posts about the department's activities. Through its mission of research, teaching and extension, the University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture touches lives and provides Real. Life. Solutions. utia.tennessee.edu. Egypt and Sudan called for international mediation on Tuesday to reach a legally binding agreement with Ethiopia on the filling and operating the of Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD). In a press conference in Cairo following their talks, Egyptian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sameh Shoukry and his Sudanese counterpart, Mariam Al-Saddiq Al-Mahdi, called on Ethiopia to show good will and resume talks over the GERD before the second filing of the dam. Shoukry said that Egypt supports Sudans suggestion and called for international mediation, involving a quartet committee composed of the United Nations (UN), African Union (AU), European Union (EU) and the United States (US) in order to reach a legally binding agreement with Ethiopia. Last week, Khartoum proposed this suggestion to a delegation from the Democratic Republic of Congo, the current chair of the African Union. Both ministers also expressed their concern about how the talks between the three countries under the auspices of the AU stalled, warning that the water security of both Egypt and Sudan will be in danger if Ethiopia goes on with the second filling of the GERD. Ethiopian officials have already announced that the second filling of the GERD will take place next July. The second filling of the GERD endangers the lives of 20 million Sudanese citizens, the Sudanese minister said. Al-Mahdi stated that both Egypt and Sudan are committed to reaching a legally binding agreement on the filling and operation of the dam before the second filling. Last year, Ethiopia finished the first filing of the dam without the approval of Egypt and Sudan. Shoukry stressed on the role Egypt is playing to help reach a fair and equitable agreement for all-stakeholders, adding that an agreement on the GERD is the only way to achieve the interests of the three peoples. We are now coming to an important stage after the past rounds of negotiations, said Shoukry, rejecting unilateral actions or policies that are fait accompli, saying that they may force Egypt to abandon positive foreign policy. Ethiopia must show goodwill to participate in the negotiations, Shoukry explained, stressing that it is not possible to sustain endless negotiations. The AU, US, and EU, as well as the World Bank participated in previous rounds of the GERD talks as observers. On Tuesday, the EU stated that it was ready to help and play a bigger role concerning the talks on the condition that all parties involved agreed to it. On Sunday, US State Department Spokesman Ned Price said in a press briefing that the US continues to support collaborative and constructive efforts by Ethiopia, Egypt, and Sudan to reach an agreement on the GERD. Price added that President Joe Bidens administration will review US policy on the GERD and will assess the role the administration can play in facilitating a solution between the countries. Last year, Washington attempted to mediate a negotiated agreement between the three countries but failed after Addis Ababa refused to sign on a draft deal in February 2020. Former US president Trumps administration had already suspended aid to Ethiopia over the unilateral filling of the reservoir. However, Washington announced in February days after Joe Biden officially assumed the office it will de-link its pause on some aid to Ethiopia from its policy on the controversial Blue Nile hydropower dam, saying the resumption of assistance will be assessed on several factors. Sudanese Ethiopian borders tensions The tensions between Sudan and Ethiopia over their borders were not absent in the press conference in Cairo as Al-Mahdi stated that Khartoum was open to make the Sudanese-Ethiopian region an area of joint cooperation but only after the demarcation of borders. The borders issue can be solved by diplomatic means she said during the press conference. In the past few months, Khartoum and Addis Ababa had tensions over the Al-Fashaqa border region, where Ethiopian farmers cultivate fertile land claimed by Sudan. The two neighbouring countries have been trading accusations of violence in the area and territorial violations. Egyptian-Sudanese cooperation During the press conference it was revealed that President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi was going to visit Khartoum in the upcoming days. According to Sudanese sources that spoke to Al-Arabiya News channel, El-Sisis visit will be next Saturday for a couple hours, where he will meet Abdel-Fattah Al-Burhan, the chairman of the Transitional Military Council. The sources added the GERD file will be among the top topics in the discussions between the two top officials. The Sudanese foreign minister met El-Sisi in Cairo, where they discussed the latest developments concerning the GERD, as well as ways to boost strategic relations between the two countries. This is the first visit for Sudanese Minister Al-Mahdi to Cairo after being appointed as a foreign minister in Sudan in February. Al-Mahdi is already participating in the periodic foreign ministers meetings of the Arab League being held in Cairo from 1-3 March. The visit coincides with the visit of Egypts Chief-of-Staff of the Egyptian Armed Forces Lieutenant-General Mohamed Farid to Khartoum, heading a high-ranking military delegation to partake in the seventh meeting of the Egyptian-Sudanese Military Committee in Khartoum. According to Sky News Arabia, the Egyptian and Sudanese Armed Forces officials signed an agreement in the meeting concerning training and exchanging expertise. Short link: New Delhi, March 2: Like large parts of the world, India too is navigating the shifting sands of Gulf politics with caution - a region which has seen overwhelming change in the last six months. These seismic changes include the signing of Abraham accords, wider acceptance of Israel by Arab countries as well as a shift in the US administration's policy towards Saudi Arabia and Iran. With all these policy upheavals, India continues to walk the tightrope in the region. In doing so India is pursuing its strategy autonomy - a doctrine adopted after it became a full fledged nuclear power in 1998, guarding India's national interests in tune with the gyrations of an emerging multipolar world. The India-Saudi Arabia relationship continues to grow with numerous high-level visits since Manmohan Singh's time in 2010. Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Saudi Arabia in 2016 and 2019, and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman came to Delhi in 2019. India-Saudi relations have transcended from energy to include defence and security matters. General MM Naravane made the first-ever visit by an Indian Army chief to Saudi Arabia in December 2020. With defence relations on strong footing, the defence forces of the two nations will hold joint military exercises by the end of this year. Highlighting the burgeoning relationship, N. Ram Prasad, India's deputy chief of mission in Riyadh wrote in an article in Arab News, saying: "Under the Kingdom's Vision 2030 reform plans and the flagship "Made in India" initiative of the Indian government, cooperation in the research, development and manufacturing of weapon systems and equipment offers great potential. Of particular interest is collaboration in the fields of shipbuilding, ammunition manufacturing, drone technology, cybersecurity, space, and emerging new technologies." With Pakistan shooting itself in the foot over Kashmir, India and Saudi Arabia have been able to side step the thorny Kashmir issue as well. Through the recent grassroots elections in Jammu and Kashmir, India has demonstrated its commitment to bringing democracy to the people in its conflict-prone state, reducing global angst over human rights in Kashmir. The Delhi-Riyadh strategic relationship is going beyond defence with Saudi Arabia planning investments worth US $100 billion and identifying India as one of the Kingdom's eight Strategic Partner Countries. Despite the high-pitched noise from the US over journalist Jamal Khashoggi's murder, and a sudden downturn in US-Saudi relations, the US too will have to show tact as it balances between an ambitious Turkey, a reforming Saudi Arabia and an Iran squeezed between nuclear ambitions and economic sanctions. It is in this tricky scenario that India is navigating its ship in the choppy waters of the Gulf. With the Biden administration open to talks with Iran over the 2015 nuclear deal, India senses an opportunity. India looks at Iran as a natural gateway through its Chabahar port to Afghanistan and the Central Asian republics. Despite American sanctions, India has strengthened the infrastructure at the Chabahar port, which lies close to the Chinese-Pakistani port of Gwadar in Balochistan. India has used the port to route development aid to Kabul. Now, in a measure of success for India, both Afghanistan and Iran are exporting their products through the port. Through Chabahar, India is also getting trade access to Uzbekistan, a heavyweight in a rapidly evolving and resource rich Central Asia. With good relations between Iran and Russia, India is keen that the Chabahar port becomes co-linked with the North South Transport Corridor (NSTC) that links India to Russia. This also helps India reduce its logistics cost by 20 per cent while trading with Eurasian countries as it bypasses Europe and China. Besides, there is a rising interest in India to dock with new connectivity corridors that are opening to the energy-rich Russian Far East under the Eurasian Economic Union intitiative of Moscow. In September 2020, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar had separately visited Tehran to discuss trade and regional issues. The discussions also included developing infrastructure in Iran as China was trying to squeeze itself into the Chabahar port. On Rajnath's invitation, Brigadier General Amir Hatami, Iranian Defence Minister, visited India - the first time for Iran's defence minister. He was in India for the meeting of defence ministers of the Indian Ocean Region (IOR). Like India, Iran too believes that numerous security challenges need to be addressed jointly in the IOR. Among other things, he also discussed purchasing military and defence equipment from India. Besides energy relations and the Chabahar port, the two nations also have a common interest in Afghanistan. India and Iran have been in touch over developments related to the Doha accord between the US and Taliban. Iran is invested in Afghanistan as it wants a peaceful border with the landlocked country minus the cross-border movement of terror groups and drug trafficking. It also wants that its tumultuous neighbour stabilises with opportunities for its numerous warring ethnicities, a sentiment that India agrees with. If the US shows a more pragmatic relationship with Iran, it will bode well for India too. Currently, India and Iran have much in common despite the fast-changing geo-political situation in the Gulf and the South Asian region. With some deft manoeuvring, India should be able to manage the complicated politics of the Gulf and emerge a player of regional consequence. (This content is being carried under an arrangement with indianarrative.com) GREAT BARRINGTON State funds will help the town build a path along Route 7/Stockbridge Road to improve pedestrian and bicycle safety, among other projects. Fountain Pond State Park State funding will help Great Barrington complete a 2.5-mile loop in the Fountain Pond State Park/Three Mile Hill System. The $137,310 Great Barrington is receiving will help build the Old Route 7 Greenway, connect two community centers and complete the final part of a 2.5-mile loop in the Fountain Pond State Park/Three Mile Hill trail system, according to a news release from the state. The funding comes through the Massachusetts Department of Transportations Shared Winter Streets and Spaces program, which seeks to help municipalities make design changes geared toward public health, safe mobility, and renewed commerce, with a special focus on the particular challenges of winter, the release said. Great Barrington was one of 17 municipalities and two public transit authorities receiving funding in the programs fourth round, which allocated $2.8 million. More than half of the recipients had never received funding through the program before. Fifty-eight percent are considered environmental justice communities, and 79 percent are considered high-risk for coronavirus infection. Chambers Ireland and Irish Water have announced a new partnership by calling on Louth businesses to get involved in Irish Waters Water Stewardship Programme. The programme includes taking the conservation pledge, carrying out free online conservation training and enrolling to become a Certified Water Steward. Water is a critically important resource, fundamental to both homes and businesses, but it is also a limited resource with shortages becoming a global reality. Irish businesses use circa 510 million litres of water every day, the equivalent of 10 times the amount needed to supply Limerick city alone, which is why the partnership has called on companies to become more sustainable in how they use water. We are delighted to launch this water stewardship partnership with Chambers Ireland stated Yvonne Harris, Irish Water Head of Customer Operations. Conserving water not only helps protect your local supply it can also protect the environment, boost your reputation, and reduce your bills. Small changes such as identifying water waste on site, setting a baseline for water use, raising awareness amongst staff and customers or upgrading to water efficient devices can help to save water and money. Ian Talbot, Chambers Ireland CEO said: Chambers Ireland encourages Irish businesses to move to sustainable water management. Irish Waters Stewardship Programme provides an opportunity to improve your green credentials by taking the conservation pledge and online training to support your business to use water sustainably, in a way that benefits people and the environment. The innovative and world-leading Certified Water Stewardship Training is the final step of three steps Irish Water has developed to support all types of businesses move to sustainable water management. The programme has been running for two years and has trained over 320 Certified Water Stewards to date. 70% of the businesses who took part are introducing Annual Water Stewardship Targets on foot of the programme. Businesses can find out more information on the Water Conservation for Business Hub at www.water.ie. The European Union will maintain sanctions against Russia until it fully implements the Minsk agreements, as Russia is a part of the conflict in Donbas, not a mediator. President of the European Council Charles Michel said this at a joint press conference with President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky, an Ukrinform correspondent reports. The war on the European continent in 2021 is a shameful reality as people continue to die amid this conflict and live in extremely difficult conditions, the President of the European Council stated. "I wanted to come here to emphasize once again how unacceptable this situation is Full implementation of the Minsk agreements is the way towards peace, and I welcome the important steps that Ukraine has taken in this regard," Michel said. According to the President of the European Council, he saw how the efforts on the contact line, which Ukraine makes in close cooperation with international partners, improves people's lives, and assured that the EU was ready to continue these efforts. "Unfortunately, Russia has not demonstrated the same positive steps that Ukraine has taken to implement the Minsk agreements. That is why our economic sanctions against Russia will remain in place. Russia is a part of this conflict, not a mediator," Michel said. As he noted, the EU expects Russia to ensure full access for the OSCE SMM to all Ukrainian territories currently not controlled by the government. "The Covid-19 pandemic should not be used as an excuse to further separate these territories from Ukraine," the European Council President said. He also called on Russia to return to the Joint Centre for Control and Coordination on ceasefire and stabilization of the demarcation line. As reported, European Council President Charles Michel has started his two-day visit to Ukraine on March 2. Today, President of the European Council Charles Michel and President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky make a joint trip to Donbas. ol NEWARK, N.J., March 1, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- In an effort to send a clear message to Democratic Governor Phil Murphy, in an election year, national and state community and business leaders held a virtual town hall that received over 20,000 views on social media platforms on Sunday. Roland Martin hosted the event and has comitted to hosting a series of town halls in New Jersey throughout 2021 to expose disparities facing Black and Brown people in the state. Some of the state's economic, educational and social disparities rival those of Mississippi, Louisiana and Alabama. The participants shined a light on these deep racial disparities and discussed plans for engaging Governor Murphy and other legislators in a call to action. Senate President Stephen Sweeney was the keynote for the prior town hall and received accolades for his public commitment to sponsoring legislation to address the disparities. Martin interviewed Marc Morial, CEO of the National Urban League; the honorable New Jersey State Senator Ronald L. Rice; Civil Rights Attorney Ryan Haygood, who is president and CEO of the New Jersey Institute for Social Justice; the Rev. Dr. David Jefferson Sr., Esq. Pastor of the Metropolitan Baptist Church; and Jacob Walthour Jr., founder and CEO of Blueprint Capital Advisors, New Jersey's first and only African American asset management firm. "The hard reality is that when it comes to economics in the 21st century, Black people are losing ground," Morial said. "We are losing ground in terms of homeownership. We have lost 30 to 40 percent of Black businesses in the pandemic." "There has been too much rhetoric about women and minority set asides," Rice said. "Every governor has given us rheotoric to suggest they're doing something when in reality, they are not doing anything." "What I experienced on Wall Street does not compare to the discrimination I have experienced in the State of New Jersey over the last five years," said Walthour. Blueprint Capital Advisors brought a racial discrimination, theft, fraud and racketeering lawsuit against the state of New Jersey and Larry Fink's Blackrock, OwlRock LLC and Cliffwater LLC. "The Governor refused to take my allegations seriously and then refused to investigate the matter even when called upon by the NAACP, the National Urban League and the National Action Network. His legal team is now engaged in an all-out effort to prevent access to public documents we believe prove systemic discrimination. He did not grow up in democratic politics and does not embody democratic ideals," added Walthour. In addition to Blueprint's racial discrimination suit, Blackrock is also being sued for racial discrimination former employee Brittanie McGee who is alleging the firm gave her white male counterparts "more desirable assignments, higher pay and promotions." On February 18, 2021, former employees Mugi N. Nguyai and Essma Bengabsia, released a scathing open letter on Medium.com detailing their experience with the company. Walthour also noted that Larry Fink's BlackRock was sent an open letter from large institutional investors displeased with their support for over 140 Republicans that attempted to overturn the presidential election. "The condition of Black people in Camden, Trenton, and other parts of New Jersey is absolutely heartbreaking. To do nothing and say nothing is to be complicit in the pain that economic injustice inflicts on Black people," Jefferson said. "New Jersey has a $80 billion public pension fund but there is no sense of how much money is going to Black businesses. The question should be, 'of all the money spent in New Jersey, and in America, how much is going to African Americans,'" Martin said. "That is the question we should all be asking." "The reality is that Governor Murphy's Administration has refused to provide data detailing the use of Black-owned businesses to fulfill government contracts. The administration also delayed the beginning of a "disparity study" for the first three years of his administration which many believed would prove systemic racism and discrimination in awarding of government contracts. The report is scheduled to be done after the 2021 election," said Jefferson. According to Haygood, 94% of Black voters showed up to vote for Gov. Murphy. "To a great extent, if you look at African American businesses of size and scale, many got their genesis in minority business set asides championed first by African American mayors such as Maynard Jackson of Atlanta, Coleman Young of Detroit, Marion Barry of Washington, D.C., my late father, Dutch Morial of New Orleans," Morial added. "We must demand that government policies at the municipal, state, federal, as well as airport and transit authorities must be held accountable to do business with African American business owners." "One of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s last stops before he was assassinated was in New Jersey. He came to build support for the Poor People's Campaign, and 50 years after he came to Newark, the individual wealth of Black people in this state is $179, less than the cost of a laptop," Haygood said. "New Jersey is one of the wealthiest states in the country, second only to Maryland. The median net wealth for white families is $352,000," Haygood added. "The racial wealth gap was created, nurtured and produced by public policy, and there must be policy to right these wrongs," Morial said. "While the reality of the last 40 years is that we have seen the beginning of change, there have been fierce headwinds against us and much more must be done to achieve equity and justice." SOURCE Blueprint Capital Advisors Related Links https://www.blueprintllc.com A verdict is expected soon in the case of two Bay Area men who are accused of murdering a police officer in Rome two years ago. The trial of Finnegan Elder, now 21, and Gabriel Natale Hjorth, 20, is in its final stages. The pair, who met at Tamalpais High in Mill Valley, were on vacation in Italy in 2019 when they scuffled in the street with two Carabinieri officers. Deputy Brig. Mario Cerciello Rega, 35 and fresh off his honeymoon, was stabbed to death. In court, Elder has not denied killing Rega, instead arguing it was a case of self defense not murder. At a hearing Monday, Elder read from a handwritten statement for about an hour. In Italian courts, this is known as a "spontaneous declaration," and there is no examination or cross-examination by lawyers. I remember little of the next few moments except for feelings of shock and terror, he said. I do remember, however, that I could feel his hands pressing on my chest and then on my neck with pressure, as if he were trying to strangle or choke me. At this stage, I panicked and believed he wanted to kill me. As soon as I felt his hands squeezing my neck, I instinctively brought out my knife and hit him three times in an effort to get him off me. As the legal proceedings wrap up, here's what you need to know about the headline-grabbing trial. The night of the murder How the night of July 26, 2019 unfolded depends on who you ask. Both prosecutors and the defendants do not dispute that Elder and Natale-Hjorth tried to buy cocaine from a local dealer in Trastevere, a nightlife district in Rome. I thought that it would be something that would help us enjoy the night, and from past experience, I thought the effect of the drug would make us feel better and give us some energy to walk around to get to bars and pubs, Elder said in court this week. ALBERTO PIZZOLI/POOL/AFP via Getty Images According to police, Elder and Natale-Hjorth got upset when the man who showed up for the drug deal didn't give them the cocaine. In retaliation, they allegedly stole the man's backpack and demanded 100 euros and a gram of cocaine to get it back. Unbeknownst to them, the man was a Carabinieri informant; he then told police he'd been robbed. The informant arranged to meet back up with the Bay Area teens. At that meeting, around 2:30 a.m., two plainclothes police officers Cerciello Rega and his partner Andrea Varriale arrived. Here is where the stories vastly deviate. Police and prosecutors say the officers identified themselves as law enforcement and showed their badges but were attacked "immediately" by the teens. Lawyers for the Americans say the officers did not identify themselves as such, and the fatal stabbing was an act of self defense by Elder. Elder told the court Monday he brought a knife to the meeting because "it gave me a sense of protection." "We are absolutely certain that the two boys especially Finn, who doesnt speak a word of Italian had no idea that they were policemen," Renato Borzone, an Italian lawyer for Elder, told the New York Times. Varriale testified in court last year the police did identify themselves as such as they approached the Americans. How were they caught? The pair were found in their hotel room several hours after the incident. Police say they found the murder weapon hidden above a ceiling panel in the room. They've been held at the Regina Coeli prison in Rome since 2019 and throughout the coronavirus pandemic. The trial began in February 2020, paused briefly during the early stages of the COVID lockdown, and has since resumed. How do Elder and Natale-Hjorth know each other? Although it was initially reported the pair were good friends they both graduated from Tamalpais High in Mill Valley in 2018 Gabriel's father Fabrizio Natale walked that back a bit in an interview. According to him, they were not close friends, but instead a pair of former classmates who happened to be in Italy at the same time. ALBERTO PIZZOLI/POOL/AFP via Getty Images Natale-Hjorth was born in Italy and moved to the United States as a boy; he holds dual citizenship and took trips to Italy each summer. "He was there, he made a mistake, but he's not an assassin," Fabrizio Natale told Italian daily Corriere della Sera in August 2019. Elder and Natale-Hjorth are identified as being from San Francisco in court documents. What are they charged with? They are both charged with murder, as well as attempted extortion (because of the alleged drug deal gone south) and resisting public officials. Even though Natale-Hjorth did not participate in the stabbing of Cerciello Rega, he is equally charged in the murder, per Italian law. Why have the police been criticized in the case? There have been several investigations within the Carabinieri in the aftermath of Cerciello Rega's death. Almost immediately after their arrest, photos surfaced of Natale-Hjorth blindfolded with a scarf and handcuffed. There was a criminal investigation for a possible violation of defendant's rights, as well as an internal disciplinary probe. In addition, Varriale was put under investigation for "failure to carry out his duties," military prosecutors said in September 2019. The issue in question was why he did not bring his service pistol to the scene; both officers were unarmed that night, according to court documents. The investigation into Varriale was "a formality," according to Italian media, but it has formed part of the defense of the San Francisco men, whose lawyers are arguing they thought they were being attacked by two strangers. What's next? Over the next week, the last bits of testimony and evidence will be heard by an Italian jury. On March 13, the prosecution will lay out its closing argument and ask the jury for convictions. The Americans face a life sentence if found guilty of murder. There is no death penalty in Italy. (HealthDay)A layperson-delivered telephone intervention can reduce loneliness, depression, and anxiety among at-risk adults, according to a study published online Feb. 23 in JAMA Psychiatry. Maninder K. Kahlon, Ph.D., from the University of Texas at Austin, and colleagues examined whether a layperson-delivered, empathy-focused program of telephone calls could improve loneliness, depression, and anxiety in at-risk adults. A total of 240 adults were recruited from July 6 to Sept. 24, 2020, and were assigned to receive calls (intervention group) or no calls (control group). Validated scales were used to measure loneliness, depression, and anxiety at enrollment and after four weeks. The calls were made by 16 callers, aged 17 to 23 years, who were briefly trained in empathetic conversational techniques. Of the 240 participants, 13 and one in the intervention and control arms, respectively, were lost to follow-up. The researchers found that after four weeks, postassessment differences between the intervention and control groups showed an improvement of 1.1 on the University of California Loneliness Scale and improvement of 0.32 on De Jong for loneliness; there were also improvements of 1.5 on the Personal Health Questionnaire for Depression and 1.8 on the Generalized Anxiety Disorder scale. No change was seen on general physical health on the Short Form Health Questionnaire Survey, while mental health improved by 2.6. "A four-week, telephone-based, empathy-focused program delivered during the summer of 2020 reduced loneliness, depression, and anxiety in homebound, largely single, adults," the authors write. Several authors disclosed receiving grants from the Episcopal Health Foundation. Explore further Researchers to study the effectiveness of an intervention for helping isolated older people during COVID-19 Copyright 2020 HealthDay. All rights reserved. Teton County Reporter Previously the Scene editor, Billy Arnold made the switch to the county beat where he's interested in exploring Teton County as a model for the rest of the West. When he can, he still writes about art, music and whatever else suits his fancy. WASHINGTON (AP) FBI Director Chris Wray condemned the January riot at the U.S. Capitol as domestic terrorism Tuesday as he defended the bureaus handling of intelligence indicating the prospect for violence. He told lawmakers the information was properly shared with other law enforcement agencies even though it was raw and unverified. Wrays comments before Congress, in a rare public appearance since the deadly Capitol attack two months ago, was the FBIs most vigorous defense against the suggestion that it had not adequately communicated the distinct possibility of violence as lawmakers certified the results of the presidential election. He also described in stark terms the threat from domestic violent extremists and said that, contrary to some Republicans, there is no evidence that anti-Trump groups were involved in the riot. Many of the senators questions Tuesday centered on the FBIs handling of a Jan. 5 report from the Norfolk, Virginia, field office that warned of online posts foreshadowing a war in Washington the following day. Capitol Police leaders have said they were unaware of that report and had received no intelligence from the FBI that would have led them to expect the sort of violence that besieged them on the 6th. Five people died as a result of the riot, including a Capitol Police officer and a woman who was shot as she tried to enter the House chamber with lawmakers still inside. Asked about the handling of the report, Wray told the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday that it was disseminated though the FBIs joint terrorism task force, discussed at a command post and posted on an internet portal available to other law enforcement agencies. We did communicate that information in a timely fashion to the Capitol Police and (Metropolitan Police Department) in not one, not two, but three different ways, Wray said, though he added that the outcome was unacceptable and the FBI was looking into what if anything it could have done differently ahead of the insurrection. Though the information was raw, unverified and appeared aspirational in nature, Wray said, it was specific and concerning enough that the smartest thing to do, the most prudent thing to do, was just push it to the people who needed to get it. In characterizing the events of Jan. 6 as an act of domestic terrorism, Wray highlighted the FBIs growing concern about an increase in extremist violence in the U.S., including from militia groups, white supremacists and anarchists. The threat they pose is being treated with the same urgency as that from international terror groups like the Islamic State or al-Qaida. Jan. 6 was not an isolated event. The problem of domestic terrorism has been metastasizing across the country for a long time now and its not going away anytime soon, Wray said. The violence at the Capitol made clear that a law enforcement agency that remade itself after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks to deal with international terrorism is now scrambling to address homegrown violence from white Americans. President Joe Bidens administration has tasked his national intelligence director to work with the FBI and Department of Homeland Security to assess the threat. Wray said the number of domestic terrorism investigations has increased from around 1,000 since he became FBI director in 2017 to about 2,000 now. The number of white supremacist arrests has almost tripled, he said. Wray has kept a notably low profile since the Capitol attack. Though he has briefed lawmakers privately and shared information with local law enforcement, Tuesdays oversight hearing marked his first public appearance before Congress since before Novembers presidential election. --The Associated Press The head of a body representing outlawed terror groups has accused Sinn Fein and Alliance of double standards after criticism of the group's recent meeting with Arlene Foster. David Campbell, who chairs the Loyalist Communities Council (LCC), addressed the controversy caused by the meeting. Alliance MP Stephen Farry had said Mrs Foster was legitimising paramilitaries by meeting with the LCC to discuss tensions around the Northern Ireland protocol. Sinn Fein also accused the DUP of seeking the LCC's support, rather than actively pushing them to disband loyalist paramilitaries. Founded in 2015, the LCC is not an illegal organisation but it does represent three outlawed groups - the Ulster Defence Association, the Ulster Volunteer Force and the Red Hand Commando. Mrs Foster defended the meeting, claiming it was right to give a voice to all sections of the loyalist and unionist community. In a letter to the Belfast Telegraph, Mr Campbell questioned why meetings with the DUP were deemed controversial, when the group have previously met with senior church leaders including the Archbishop of Canterbury, senior police officers and more. He said Mr Farry's comments showed "how far up the Alliance Party's ivory tower of alternative reality" he had climbed. He also questioned how officials in the Department of Justice, of which Alliance Party leader Naomi Long is minister, could meet regularly with the LCC. With "a steady reduction" in loyalist-related criminality since the launch of the LCC, and asked why there was "vitriol" instead of encouragement. Mr Farry told the Belfast Telegraph that while the LCC was legal, it still fronted proscribed terrorist organisations which continued to engage in criminal activity. "Outside genuinely and wholeheartedly seeking their disbandment, if political leaders engage with such structures, they grant them legitimacy and send a message that they are acceptable stakeholders," he said. "We are supposed to have a collective Executive Action Plan to combat paramilitary activity. This type of engagement undercuts that and its wider message and objectives." Mr Farry said that while every individual deserved to be heard, it could not be via illegal structures. While believing former paramilitaries can and do play a positive role in society, he said it would be more helpful for the DUP to be "open and honest" around the choices and consequences they made around Brexit. Sinn Fein MLA Linda Dillon said her party supported dialogue that seeks to disband paramilitary gangs involved in serious crimes including murder and drug dealing "who recently have been making threats of violence". She said these groups were not involved in political activity and had no mandate or strategy other than "preservation of their criminal empires and their stranglehold on some loyalist communities". She added: "What the public want from political leaders is to make it clear to the UVF, the UDA or whatever armed loyalist gang it is that 23 years after the Good Friday Agreement, they have no place in society or in our communities. No one should be giving cover to anyone involved in these activities." Letters, Page 23 Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain The first UK COVID-19 lockdown saw a "rapid and sustained" fall in violence outside the home in the Welsh capital city, a new study led by Cardiff University has shown. Researchers from Cardiff University's Crime and Security Research Institute (CSRI) and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention studied data from Cardiff's sole emergency department (ED) from March to June 2020 and compared it to weekly data from January 2019 onwards. They found there were almost 60% fewer attendances per week for violent injury outside the home in the first lockdown during which time going outside was allowed only for limited reasons like medical need, exercise or food shopping. The researchers also found a significant reduction in the use of weapons and in violence-related ED visits by males of all ages. Contrary to expectation, the analysis found no significant increase in visits resulting from violence inside the home. The findingsthe first analysis of violence from this perspective during the COVID-19 pandemicare published today in the Journal of the American Medical Association. Lead author Professor Jonathan Shepherd, from the CSRI, said: "This sudden fall in violent injury is the largest any of us has ever seen. It's likely to reflect closure of city centre pubs and clubs in and around which most violence takes place, and widespread compliance with lockdown restrictions." The researchers investigated the association between COVID-19 lockdown and ED visits for violence-related injuries using detailed violence screening first implemented in Cardiff two decades ago. They studied violence time, whether it took place inside or outside the home, weapon use, perpetrator type and the age and sex of the injured. They examined visits at Cardiff's only emergency departmentat the University Hospital of Walesfor violence-related injury from 1 January 2019 to 9 June 2020. The pre-lockdown period studied was 63 weeks and the lockdown period, 12 weeks. They used a "difference-in-difference" regression model to identify statistically significant changes during lockdown. This model accounted for seasonal changes in the number of attendances. For violence outside the home, they found significant decreases in ED visits during the lockdown of 92% among females under the age of 18 and 65% in males of all ages, and a significant decrease (92%) in those injured with a weapon. While people injured by strangers decreased significantly (65%), numbers of those injured by family members did not change significantly. Regarding violence in the home, no significant change was found in any category. "The lack of evidence of increase in violence in the home during the first UK lockdown is reassuring," said Professor Shepherd. "The massive decrease outside the home but no increase in the home reflects the nature of the two environments. The night-time economy (pubs and clubs and the streets where they are situated) is an environment which facilitates violence and violent injury. "On the other hand, in our study, the home environment is much less conducive to violence and violent injury. People who would have been injured in violence in the night-time economy are not injured in violence when they stay at home." The researchers found that during these first months of the COVID-19 epidemic ED visits for all reasons dropped by 43% relative to the previous year. They said that while fears about catching COVID-19 may have affected the number of violence related ED visits, it is unlikely this affected the overall findings. Cardiff University is due to release an England and Wales analysis of violence during the COVID-19 pandemic next month. Explore further ED visit volume dropped for mental health, substance use early in pandemic More information: Association between COVID-19 lockdown measures and emergency department visits for violence-related injuries in Cardiff, Wales, March-June 2020, Journal of the American Medical Association (2021). Journal information: Journal of the American Medical Association Association between COVID-19 lockdown measures and emergency department visits for violence-related injuries in Cardiff, Wales, March-June 2020,(2021). DOI: 10.1001/jama.2020.25511 Elder Jeffrey R. Holland of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and his wife, Sister Patricia Holland, spoke to members and friends alike in the greater Chattanooga area and around the world about the importance of family history. The video may be viewed here. Elder and Sister Holland took viewers on a tour of Southern Utah, a little corner of heaven on earth, the world of their childhood, where they met and married. Stay close to your families, Elder Holland said, and the various locations that have meaning to you. We need to connect to those scenes that provided the backdrop for our lives when we were children, when we were going through those volcanic teenage years, as well as our young married years, right up to the situation where you find yourselves now. Take photos. Thats easy...Keep journals, even if its only highlights. Or record anything else that connects us to the past and the present. Doing so, will prove to be a blessing to you, your families and those that come after you. Sister Holland, who is from Enterprise, Utah where four generations of her family once lived, said part of her ancestral line comes from Switzerland. When her ancestors joined The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, they emigrated to southern Utah. The arid, rough desert land was a disappointing landscape compared to the stunning beauty of the Swiss countryside. Her great grandmother was determined to do something about it and planted a little row of fir trees around the Church house. Everyday she carried by hand several buckets of water to nourish and encourage those little trees. Sister Hollands mother, who was then just a little girl, often walked with her grandmother on that daily journey. One day, a well-meaning neighbor said, Why do you waste your time carrying water to those trees? They will never amount to anything and certainly you will never live to see them grow at all. Sister Hollands great grandmother turned and said, Maybe I wont live to see them grow but this little girl will. And she pointed to Sister Hollands mother. My mother did live to see them grow, and so did I, Sister Holland said. I went to Church, played with my friends and had picnics with my family under the shade of those beautiful trees my great grandmother had planted and watered. Now my children and my grandchildren have played and had picnics under those same trees. And so the story goes on Whether its trees for monuments of our native lands or stories that tell us of our ancestors or photos that show us how things were when we were young, these are all ways we ties ourselves to our heritage, ways we bind ourselves to those who must not be forgotten. Elder and Sister Holland, accompanied by their three children, also took viewers on a tour of St. George, Utah, the scene of Elder Hollands childhood and the setting of the beginning of their life together. After the tour, Elder Holland said, Now dont be fooled by what you have seen today. No family is perfect and certainly life hasnt spared ours. Its moments of grief and pain and trial. But maybe in spite of that, or even because of that, those moments have forged even stronger ties as we unitedly relied on each other and on The Lord. We know there are many of you, for whatever reason, who struggle with the idea of what is often termed the traditional family, or the perfect family. Perhaps abuse has darkened the brightness of what might have been a celestial home. Perhaps divorce has left you on your own searching for answers about the past and protection for the future. Perhaps youre prayerfully and patiently still waiting for the blessing of being united to your own eternal companion or having children you cannot yet bear. For our faithful LGBT friends, perhaps your heart and mind are struggling to find hope and peace, your place in the eternal picture Please all of you know this. We see all of you and we love all of you. If you will be faithful and keep your covenants with the Lord, I promise you that every opportunity and every blessing enjoyed by others will be afforded you in the Lords divine timetable and I mean every opportunity and every blessing. No matter when in the unfolding of our eternal lives those future blessings are given to you, you are now and you will be then part of a family. Now try if you can and I know you can avoid getting tripped up by the phrase traditional family and instead replace it with a phrase like eternal family, Elder Holland continued. With an eternal perspective comes understanding that we are all part of one, big family the family of God. Imagine a world where people understood our true family tie to one another. What civility would we cultivate? What division would we avoid? What love would we let warm our devotion and divine connection to one another? Now hear me out on this crucial point I promise you that it is engaging in our personal family history and the temple experience it leads to that we discover the reality of our eternal relationship as brothers and sisters in the family of God. That great realization can repairhealand unify. If we understood this truth, how we would treat one another differently. Lets just not call each other brother and sister. Lets show one another what it means when we realize we are one, big, eternal family. That will change overnight many of the thoughts and the deeds and our actions. We are missing the mark if when we tap into our family roots, we fail to recognize our divine roots, our foundation and our connection to our Father in Heaven, Sister Holland said. He loves us. He worries about us, and He hopes we will listen to the counsel He wishes to give us. Take part in family history, Elder Holland urged. As you do, I promise you will find your own place in the family of God. The reality of your connection to your [Father in Heaven and to the Savior of the world] and to others will sink deep into your heart and your mind. That knowledge will change you perhaps dramatically. Elder Holland affirmed the reality of our Father in Heaven and the reality of His connection and love for us. He also affirmed the greatest gift thats ever been given the gift the Father gave of His Son, of our brother and the equal, consecrating and Atoning gift that the Son [Jesus Christ] gave for us His brothers and sisters. Of these marvelous gospel truths and the power and promise of eternity all in a family relationship, I testify, Elder Holland concluded. Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) vice president Maryam Nawaz on Monday lashed out at Prime Minister Imran Khan over the Daska by-election rigging and asked why he is scared of the "power of the vote", reported The News International. Taking to Twitter, Maryam taunted the government and warned that measures such as the alleged Daska by-election rigging and "breakdown of the RTS system" will not be tolerated again. "Why are you afraid of the power of the vote," she asked. The PML-N leader stated it had been proven again that the Constitution was superior to "conspiratorial ordinances" and "references based on ill intentions". Amid controversy over irregularities in the Daska by-poll, Maryam on Wednesday had called Imran Khan "vote-thief" and accused government agencies of rigging the elections. This comes after the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) last week had said in a statement that it suspected that the results of 20 polling stations were falsified. The by-election in the NA-75 constituency for the country's National Assembly was marred by violence at a polling station in the Daska constituency. Meanwhile, the Supreme Court of Pakistan said that the upcoming Senate elections cannot be held via open balloting. However, the court also held that the secrecy of the ballot is not "absolute" and can be diluted by practical considerations, especially those that relate to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) exercising its mandate to conduct free-and-fair elections that are devoid of any corrupt practices, reported The New International. Regarding the secrecy of the ballot, the Supreme Court had referred to a precedent in which it had held that the secrecy of the ballot is not absolute and that "the secrecy of the ballot [...] has not to be implemented in the ideal or absolute sense, but to be tempered by practical considerations necessitated by the processes of election". The apex court said it is up to the ECP to decide to which extent the voting should remain secret. "It is the duty of the Election Commission of Pakistan in terms of Article 218(3) of the Constitution, to ensure that the election is conducted honestly, justly, fairly and in accordance with law and that corrupt practices are guarded against," read the order by the Supreme Court. "The Election Commission of Pakistan is required by the Constitution to take all necessary steps in order to fulfill the above mandate/duty in terms of Article 222 of the Constitution," it added. (ANI) Also Read: US to evaluate Saudi arms sales on case-by-case basis In this Dec. 23, 2020, file photo released by China's Xinhua News Agency, a Sinovac worker checks the labeling on vials of COVID-19 vaccines on a packaging line in Beijing. With just four of China's many vaccine makers claiming they are able to produce at least 2.6 billion doses this year, a large part of the world's population will end up inoculated not with Western vaccines boasting headline-grabbing efficacy rates, but with China's traditionally made shots. (Zhang Yuwei/Xinhua via AP, File) The plane laden with vaccines had just rolled to a stop at Santiago's airport in late January, and Chile's president, Sebastian Pinera, was beaming. "Today," he said, "is a day of joy, emotion and hope." The source of that hope: Chinaa country that Chile and dozens of other nations are depending on to help rescue them from the COVID-19 pandemic. China's vaccine diplomacy campaign has been a surprising success: It has pledged roughly half a billion doses of its vaccine to more than 45 countries, according to a country-by-country tally by The Associated Press. With just four of China's many vaccine makers able to produce at least 2.6 billion doses this year, a large part of the world's population will end up inoculated not with the fancy Western vaccines boasting headline-grabbing efficacy rates, but with China's humble, traditionally made shots. Amid a dearth of public data on China's vaccines, fears over their efficacy and safety are still pervasive in the countries depending on them, along with concerns about what China might want in return for deliveries. Nonetheless, inoculations with Chinese vaccines have begun in more than 25 countries, and the shots have been delivered to another 11, according to AP's tally, based on independent reporting in those countries along with government and company announcements. In this Tuesday, Feb. 23, 2021, file photo, a health worker administers a dose of China's Sinopharm vaccine during the start of the vaccination campaign against the COVID-19 at the Health Ministry in Dakar, Senegal. China's vaccine diplomacy campaign has pledged roughly a billion doses of its vaccines to dozens of countries. (AP Photo/Leo Correa, File) It's a potential face-saving coup for China, which has been determined to transform itself from an object of mistrust over its initial mishandling of the COVID-19 outbreak to a savior. "We're seeing certainly real-time vaccine diplomacy start to play out, with China in the lead in terms of being able to manufacture vaccines within China and make them available to others," said Krishna Udayakumar, founding director of the Duke Global Health Innovation Center at Duke University. China has said it is supplying "vaccine aid" to 53 countries and exports to 27, but it rejected a request by the AP for the list. Beijing has denied vaccine diplomacy, and a Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson said China considered the vaccine a "global public good." Chinese experts reject any connection between the export of its vaccines and the revamping of its image. In this Thursday, Sept. 24, 2020 file photo, a worker inspects syringes of a vaccine for COVID-19 produced by Sinovac at its factory in Beijing. Sinovac and Sinopharm both rely on a traditional technology called an inactivated virus vaccine, based on cultivating batches of the virus and then killing it. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan) China has targeted the low- and middle-income countries largely left behind as rich nations scooped up most of the pricey vaccines produced by the likes of Pfizer and Moderna. And despite a few delays of its own, China has largely capitalized on slower-than-hoped-for deliveries by U.S. and European vaccine makers. Like many other countries, Chile received far fewer doses of the Pfizer vaccine than first promised. Chinese company Sinovac acted quickly, sending in 4 million doses. The choices are limited for Chile and many other low- and middle-income countries. Vaccine deployment globally has been dominated by rich nations, which have snapped up 5.4 billion of the 7.8 billion doses purchased worldwide, according to Duke University. China's vaccines, which can be stored in standard refrigerators, are attractive to many countries that may struggle to accommodate the ultracold storage needs of vaccines like Pfizer's. In this Monday, Feb. 15, 2021, file photo, a teacher receives a shot of the CoronaVac vaccine for COVID-19, by China's Sinovac Biotech, at Salvador Sanfuentes public school during the start of the vaccinations for educators in Santiago, Chile. It wasn't until Sinovac swooped in with 4 million doses in late January that Chile began inoculating its population of 19 million with impressive speed. (AP Photo/Esteban Felix) Sinovac and Sinopharm rely on a traditional technology in which a live virus is killed and then purified, triggering an immune response. Some countries view it as safer than the newer, less-proven technology used by some Western competitors that targets the coronavirus' spike protein, despite the lack of publicly available safety data on the Chinese vaccines. In Europe, China is providing the vaccine to countries such as Serbia and Hungarya significant geopolitical victory in Central Europe and the Balkans, where the West, China and Russia are competing for political and economic influence. Hungary is the first EU country to use a Chinese vaccine. But China's vaccine diplomacy will be only as good as the vaccines it is offering, and it still faces hurdles. "The Chinese vaccine, in particular, there was insufficient data available compared to other vaccines," said Ahmed Hamdan Zayed, a nurse in Egypt who overcame his initial reluctance and got Sinopharm's vaccine. In this Monday, Jan. 18, 2021, file photo, Terezinha da Conceicao, 80, left, and Dulcinea da Silva Lopes, 59, become the first women in the country to receive the COVID-19 vaccine produced by China's Sinovac Biotech Ltd, during the start of the vaccination program in front of the Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. China's vaccine diplomacy campaign has pledged roughly half a billion doses of its vaccines to dozens of countries. (AP Photo/Bruna Prado, File) Sinopharm, which said its vaccine was 79% effective based on interim data from clinical trials, did not respond to interview requests. Chinese vaccine companies have been "slow and spotty" in releasing their trial data, compared to companies like Pfizer and Moderna, said Yanzhong Huang, a global health expert at the U.S. think tank Council for Foreign Relations. None of China's three vaccine candidates used globally have publicly released their late-stage clinical trial data. CanSino, another Chinese company with a one-shot vaccine that it says is 65% effective, declined to be interviewed. There is also confusion around Sinovac's efficacy. In Turkey, where Sinovac conducted part of its efficacy trials, officials have said the vaccine was 91% effective. However, in Brazil, officials revised the efficacy rate in late-stage clinical trials from 78% to just over 50% after including mild infections. In this Monday, Feb. 1, 2021, file photo, a woman gets a shot of China's Sinovac CoronaVac vaccine as part of a priority COVID-19 vaccination program for the elderly at a drive-thru vaccination center in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. China's vaccine diplomacy campaign has pledged roughly half a billion doses of its vaccines to dozens of countries. (AP Photo/Silvia Izquierdo, File) An expert panel in Hong Kong published data submitted by Sinovac to health regulators that showed the vaccine was just over 50% effective. Globally, public health officials have said any vaccine that is at least 50% effective is useful. Receiving countries are also worried that China's vaccine diplomacy may come at a cost. In the Philippines, where Beijing is donating 600,000 vaccines, a senior diplomat said China's Foreign Minister, Wang Yi, gave a subtle message to tone down public criticism of growing Chinese assertiveness in the disputed South China Sea. The senior diplomat said Wang didn't ask for anything in exchange for vaccines, but it was clear he wanted "friendly exchanges in public, like control your megaphone diplomacy a little." The diplomat spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the issue publicly. In this Wednesday, Feb. 3, 2021, file photo, an elderly man looks at his vaccination card after getting a shot of the CoronaVac vaccine for COVID-19 developed by China's biopharmaceutical company Sinovac Biotech, at a clinic in Santiago, Chile. It wasn't until Sinovac swooped in with 4 million doses in late January that Chile began inoculating its population of 19 million with impressive speed. (AP Photo/Esteban Felix, File) In this Tuesday, Feb. 23, 2021, file photo, a health worker holds a box containing a dose of China's Sinopharm vaccine during the start of the vaccination campaign against the COVID-19 at the Health Ministry in Dakar, Senegal. China's vaccine diplomacy campaign has pledged roughly half a billion doses of its vaccines to dozens of countries. (AP Photo/Leo Correa, File) People rest and are monitored for the possibility of side effects after receiving a dose of Chinese Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine in Belgrade, Serbia, Wednesday, Feb. 17, 2021. China is providing the vaccine to countries such as Serbia and Hungarya significant geopolitical victory in Central Europe and the Balkans, where the West, China and Russia are competing for political and economic influence. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic) In this Thursday, Feb. 4, 2021, file photo, medical workers receive the COVID-19 vaccine during a mass vaccination in Jakarta, Indonesia. The choices are limited for Indonesia and many other low- and middle-income countries hit by COVID. Vaccine deployment globally has been dominated by rich countries, which have snapped up 5.8 billion of the 8.2 billion doses purchased worldwide, according to Duke University. (AP Photo/Achmad Ibrahim, File) In this Wednesday, Feb. 10, 2021 file photo, workers unload a container of China's Sinopharm coronavirus vaccines at the Belgrade Airport in Serbia. China is providing the vaccine to countries such as Serbia and Hungarya significant geopolitical victory in Central Europe and the Balkans, where the West, China and Russia are competing for political and economic influence. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic) In this July 15, 2020 photo released by China's Xinhua News Agency, Sinovac staff members work in a purification area to be used in production of COVID-19 vaccines in Beijing. Sinovac and Sinopharm both rely on a traditional technology called an inactivated virus vaccine, based on cultivating batches of the virus and then killing it. (Zhang Yuwei/Xinhua via AP) In this Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2021 file photo, Dr. Lili Rahmawaty, right, gives a shot of COVID-19 vaccine to a colleague at North Sumatra University Hospital in Medan, North Sumatra, Indonesia. The choices are limited for Indonesia, the world's fourth most populous country, and many other low- and middle-income countries clobbered by COVID. Vaccine deployment globally has been dominated by rich countries, which have snapped up 5.4 billion of the 7.8 billion doses purchased worldwide, according to Duke University. (AP Photo/Binsar Bakkara) In this Friday, Feb. 26, 2021 file photo, a health worker wearing a face mask and shield holds a sign as she and others call on the government to give them a vaccine with the safest, highest efficacy and effectivity during a a protest outside the Philippine General Hospital in Manila, Philippines. The group is opposing a plan by the government to have health workers vaccinated with China's Sinovac. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila) In this Thursday, Jan. 28, 2021 file photo, President Sebastian Pinera speaks in front of the plane carrying the country's first batch of the CoronaVac vaccine for COVID-19 developed by Chinese biopharmaceutical company Sinovac Biotech, at Arturo Merino airport in Santiago, Chile. "Today," he said, "is a day of joy, emotion and hope." (AP Photo/Esteban Felix) In this Monday, Feb, 15, 2021 file photo, an official from the Chinese embassy in Zimbabwe holds a Chinese flag next to a plane carrying Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine from China upon arrival at Robert Mugabe International Airport in Harare. Zimbabwe received its first COVID-19 vaccines with the jet carrying 200,000 Sinopharm doses from China. (AP Photo/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi) A man receives a Chinese made Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine in Budapest, Hungary on Wednesday, Feb. 24, 2021. China is providing the vaccine to countries such as Serbia and Hungarya significant geopolitical victory in Central Europe and the Balkans, where the West, China and Russia are competing for political and economic influence. (AP Photo/Laszlo Balogh) Still, the pandemic's urgency has largely superseded hesitations over China's vaccines. "Vaccines, particularly those made in the West, are reserved for rich countries," said one Egyptian official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the matter. "We had to guarantee a vaccine. Any vaccine." Explore further Follow the latest news on the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission. We're always interested in hearing about news in our community. Let us know what's going on! Go to form CLEVELAND, Ohio -- If you didnt follow factual news and tuned into the 2021 CPAC conference you would think twice impeached Donald Trump had won re-election as President of the United States in a landslide and that two-time losing Republican Senate candidate Josh Mandel was running for Governor of Ohio against squishy King Mike DeWine and COVID Queen Amy Acton. Friday, during his CPAC speech, former Ohio Treasurer Mandel attacked the Governor he hopes to share a ticket with in 2022, calling DeWine Squishy and a RINO. This authoritarian state - deep state if you will - is not just led by radical liberal governors like [Gavin] Newsom and [Andrew] Cuomo, but even squishy Republican governors like our governor, Mike DeWine, in Ohio. Mandel is actually running for an open Senate seat in 2022 being vacated by Sen Rob Portman who announced his retirement. On ABCs This Week, Sunday morning, Sen Portman had said he hoped former President Trump in his CPAC speech would stick to policies not personality attacks. That didnt happen, and Mandel had previewed what was to come. One of Mandels 2022 opponents, if they win their primaries, could be Dr. Amy Acton, who Mandel dismissed as DeWines COVID Queen at CPAC. Dr. Acton had been the Director of Ohios Department of Health under Governor DeWine until she stepped down in 2020. She and DeWine planned and orchestrated Ohios initial response to the Coronavirus pandemic. Unlike Floridas Republican Governor Ron DeSantis, DeWine has gotten wide bipartisan national praise for how he has responded to the pandemic. He shrugged off Mandels attack. Hes running for office, and, you know, he says what he says. But Josh is still my friend, and Im sure hell be my friend after this political seasons over. Mandel may be looking for another job after this political seasons over. Mandel will first be facing a strong Republican primary challenger, Jane Timken, who is the former chair of the Ohio Republican Party. Other prominent Ohio politicians and businessmen are also expected to enter the Republican primary. Whoever survives the crowded field will likely face either well positioned Congressman Tim Ryan or Dr. Acton. Its a bad joke to call DeWine a RINO. Hes an old school right leaning Republican. If anyone in the race is a RINO, its Mandel. Mandel really is now a Republican In Name Only. With his CPAC speech, Mandel made clear again that hes now running as a Trumplican, just without the blond dyed hair and orange dyed skin. DUBLIN, Calif., March 2, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- TriNet, a leading provider of comprehensive human resources solutions, today announced new product features to its full-service HR solution for small and medium-size businesses (SMBs). Designed for an increasingly changing business landscape, these updates include a range of enhanced features to enable a more productive, equitable and inclusive workplaceincluding compensation benchmarking, mobile capabilities for administrators, reporting enhancements, and the ability for individuals to select pronoun and gender identity within the TriNet platform. "SMBs are in the most dynamic part of our economy. Our goal is to help them lead in what the future workplace looks like," said TriNet Vice President, Products & Transformation, Scott Harrington. "These latest product enhancements provide business leaders with the essential tools they need to foster equitable and inclusive teams while making it easier to manage those teams from wherever they are. We strive to keep our clients out in front during these rapidly changing times." TriNet understands the unique challenges SMBs face as they evolve to meet the demands of modern business. At the same time, business owners are hard-pressed for time and resources to stay on top of the overwhelming amount of HR challenges and opportunities they face. For this reason, TriNet has implemented data features into its new product rollout, including the Compensation Benchmark Report, which is powered by Salary.com and available on the TriNet platform. With this tool, business leaders can feel confident they are offering equitable and competitive compensation for comparable jobshelping attract and retain the right talent. Additionally, for business leaders who desire enhanced visibility into their business data, Multi-Company Access allows them to combine and view data from multiple related entities so they can make informed decisions based on key insights. It is also vital that organizations create a space where all employees feel they can bring their full selves to work and for those businesses to have technology that is reflective of that. The pronoun and gender identity enhancements on the TriNet platform are a step toward a more- inclusive workplace. Additionally, enhancements to TriNet Mobile give administrators the ability to access employee data, including payroll, TriNet sponsored benefits and work details, so they can manage HR anytime, from anywhere. TriNet Product Enhancements Support SMBs in advancing their DE&I initiatives Compensation Benchmark Report: Using better data alignment, smarter job matches and more accurate salaries, this self-service report delivers custom analytics so business owners can make more informed, equitable and competitive compensation decisions. Using better data alignment, smarter job matches and more accurate salaries, this self-service report delivers custom analytics so business owners can make more informed, equitable and competitive compensation decisions. Pronouns and Gender Identity: Individuals can access and update pronouns and gender identity, as well as select gender neutral forms of address, empowering employees to bring their full selves to work while enabling businesses to be more inclusive. Individuals can access and update pronouns and gender identity, as well as select gender neutral forms of address, empowering employees to bring their full selves to work while enabling businesses to be more inclusive. Simplify human capital management Multi-Company Reporting Access: Users with appropriate access can generate consolidated reports with data from multiple related entities without manually logging into each entity, leading to more informed decision making. Users with appropriate access can generate consolidated reports with data from multiple related entities without manually logging into each entity, leading to more informed decision making. Mobile Admin Capabilities: Designed to bring features that were only accessible through the TriNet platform to mobile. Administrators now have the convenience to access their employee HR information, including payroll and TriNet sponsored benefits so they can manage HR on the go. TriNet Mobile is available for download on iOS and Android. About TriNet TriNet (NYSE: TNET) provides small and medium-size businesses (SMBs) with full-service HR solutions tailored by industry. To free SMBs from HR complexities, TriNet offers access to human capital expertise, benefits, risk mitigation and compliance, payroll and real-time technology. From Main Street to Wall Street, TriNet empowers SMBs to focus on what matters mostgrowing their business. TriNet, incredible starts here. For more information, visit TriNet.com or follow us on Twitter. TriNet and the TriNet logo are registered trademarks of TriNet. All other trademarks, service marks, registered trademarks, or registered service marks are the property of their respective owners. SOURCE TriNet Group, Inc. [March 02, 2021] SEH Technology Provides Remote Access to Wired Printers The pandemic has accelerated the obsolescence of old, wired printers that can't be accessed remotely. The devices still work, but with shuddered offices and social distancing practices, their ROI has been reduced dramatically. SEH Technology, Inc., the U.S. subsidiary of network solutions innovator SEH Computertechnik GmbH today announced printserver ONE, an entry-level print server, which enables enterprises to drive value from old printers. "Most printers have Internet printing capability, but end users must install software specific to the printer to use it. Then, IT bears the burden of supporting all that software," said Mike Majewski, president and CEO of SEH Technology. "printserver ONE doesn't need client software to run. It provides IT with a single administration console that's capable of supporting most USB-compatible printers." printserver ONE can be used with inkjet, laser, label, dot matrix and barcode printers as well as plotters, multifunction devices, digital copiers and more. It supports Ethernet networks and provides enterprise-class security features such as encryption, user authentication and access controls. In addition, printserver ONE includes a USB 3.0 Superspeed port for performance-enhanced throughput. printserver ONE can be centrally managed using the SEH Product Manager, which enables simple, browser-based configuration, administration, monitoring and maintenance via a Microsoft (News - Alert) Windows or macOS computer. The software supports popular printer management tools such as EpsonNet Config and SNMP-based tools. Like all SEH Tehnology products, printserver ONE comes with free support and updates as well as a warranty that can be extended from 36 to 60 months simply by registering for the free 24-month extension. Connect Encrypted and Unencrypted Networks to the Same Printer printserver ONE can be used for encrypted and unencrypted traffic, respectively. Users of both networks can access the same printer simultaneously without compromising the secure network, which is attractive to defense contractors, healthcare providers, and other types of enterprises maintaining networks with different levels of security. "We encrypt the print processes independently of the network so outsourced talent and remote employees can access a printer without endangering the corporate network," said Majewski. printserver ONE supports SSL and TLS encrypted printing via a LAN, a VPN or the Internet as well as ThinPrint and ThinPrint SSL printing. It also supports IPSec tunnels, certificates and IEEE (News - Alert) 802.1X authentication. Enterprises maintain full control over who can print what, where and when, such as by publishing a list of IP addresses or subnets which are authorized to send print commands and fortifying that with password protection. Some organizations use SEH Technology's print server products to avoid vendor lock-in. printserver ONE Is Available Now printserver ONE is available for major distributors including Ingram Micro (News - Alert) and Synnex as well as resellers including CDW. For more information, please visit the printserver ONE product page. About SEH Technology, Inc. SEH Technology is the U.S. subsidiary of network solutions technology innovator SEH Computertechnik GmbH, which focuses primarily on licensed software, USB management and printing. Founded in 1986 as a custom software and technology company, SEH now offers network solutions that are German engineered for unparalleled reliability and security, all of which offer exceptional price/performance ratios. Current clients include BlackBag Technologies, MicroWorks and Flexera Software. All SEH Technology products are developed and produced at the company's headquarters in Bielefeld, Germany. U.S. headquarters are located in Phoenixville, PA, with offices across Europe, Asia and North America. To learn more, visit www.seh-technology.com, call 610-933-2088 or follow the company on Facebook (News - Alert) or Twitter. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210302005129/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] The Colorado Business Roundtable has launched a statewide campaign to highlight business owners, managers and employees in its Faces of Business series. The roundtable will highlight 20 people from a cross-section of Colorado in what the coalition hopes will be an uplifting, nonpolitical and nonpartisan experience. The first honorees are: Habab Bala, an information security analyst at Arrow Electronics, which is headquartered in Centennial. Helen Hayes, founder and CEO at Activate Workforce Solutions in Denver. Tami Maldonado-Vega and Jose Beteta, co-founders of Raices Brewing Co. in Denver. Lloyd Lewis, president and CEO of Arc Thrift Stores, with locations across Colorado, The point is to demonstrate that Colorado businesses run on people. Business is a force for good for Colorado, Debbie Brown, president of the coalition said in a statement. When business succeeds, communities succeed, we all succeed. That is the core message of the Colorado Business Roundtable. Behind each business are people who represent and lead their businesses. They come from every walk of life. They are part of our communities. They are our neighbors. The initial honorees were first announced to members and guests of the business coalitions Feb. 22 State of the State virtual event with Gov. Jared Polis. Business can be challenging, especially now, Brown added. But its always exciting, energizing, fulfilling and rewarding. Our Faces of Business reflect the Colorado independent spirit. They are filled with purpose, pride and passion. And they love giving back to our communities. Learn more about the campaign at cobrt.com/faces-of-business. INSIGHTS | Health care price caps are a problem that can wait Joey Bunch: "As lawmakers return to Denver, health care will be on their minds in the age of COVID-19, but advocates say there are higher priorities than a public option, such as mental health services." ADVERTISEMENT The Board of Directors of the African Development Bank has awarded a grant of $320, 535 to the West African Monetary Agency to mainstream gender in ECOWAS core digital financial services (DFS) regulatory frameworks. The funds will support a gender gap analysis of several WAMA strategies including those for financial inclusion; gender disaggregation data analytics; digital payment services and infrastructure; and digital identity. The project, to be executed over a three year period, will potentially affect 350 million people in all 15 ECOWAS nations: Benin, Burkina Faso, Cote dIvoire, Cabo Verde, Ghana, Guinea, Gambia, Guinea Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone and Togo. The grant will be disbursed through the Africa Digital Financial Inclusion Facility, a blended finance vehicle, supported by the Bank. With a secretariat comprising all the 15 ECOWAS central banks, WAMA plays a pivotal role in the consolidation and implementation of strategic financial inclusion objectives. ADFI and the WAMA project team will work closely with other ecosystem players in the region to ensure harmonisation of efforts for maximum impact, said Sheila Okiro, the ADFI Coordinator. The project has the potential to raise by 35% womens participation in digital financial market operations in the region, which has a higher gender disparity than other parts of the continent as reflected in its Gender Development Index of 0.825 versus the African average of 0.871. Africa has a gender-inclusion gap of 11% as compared to the global average of 9% according to the 2017 Findex Report. To address this challenge, it is imperative that gender is mainstreamed across all functions but more so at the level of policy and regulation. The project is aligned to ADFIs strategic goals including its cross-cutting focus on gender inclusion, as well as the Banks Ten-Year Strategy, Gender Strategy (2021-2025) and to the Integrate Africa High-5 strategic focus. The Africa Digital Financial Inclusion Facility (www.ADFI.org) (ADFI) is a pan-African instrument designed to accelerate digital financial inclusion throughout Africa, with the goal of ensuring that an additional 332 million Africans (60% of them women) have access to the formal financial system. ADFIs current partners are the French Development Agency (AFD); the French Treasury, Ministry of Economy and Finance; the Government of Luxembourgs Ministry of Finance; the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation; and the African Development Bank, which also hosts the fund. Gummy Bear, a wanderer by fortune or misfortune who has laid his head in Texas, Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, the Rio Grande Valley, and California and has seen the worst of America, has completed his new book My Summer on a Colorado Hemp Farm: a journalistic memoir of an interesting season in the San Luis Valley. America depends on its homegrown army of farmworkers to provide food on American tables. Find out about life in the San Luis Valley of Colorado and New Mexico and one summer on a Colorado hemp farm. Published by Page Publishing, Gummy Bears engrossing tale is an inside view of life on an American hemp farm for the men and women who raise the CBD-producing crops. Readers who wish to experience this engaging work can purchase My Summer on a Colorado Hemp Farm 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. A Chinese naval Z-9 helicopter prepares to land aboard a Chinese naval frigate as the ship conducts a series of maneuvers and exchanges with a US destroyer in the South China Sea, in a file photo. China launched a month of military exercises in the South China Sea on Monday and accused foreign countries of heightening tensions by increasing their military presence in those contested waters. On Friday, Chinas Maritime Safety Administration announced that an area of roughly 80 square kilometers in Chinese waters to the west of Guangzhous Leizhou Peninsula and north of Hainan Island would be closed for military exercises between March 1 and March 31. These exercises come in the wake of numerous foreign military maneuvers in contested areas of the South China Sea, which appear to have drawn Beijings ire. Over the past two months, the U.S. Navy has repeatedly carried out freedom of navigation operations (FONOPS) and other such activities in the South China Sea, and French forces have transited the area as well. And other countries, such as the United Kingdom and Germany, are supposedly planning to send naval assets through the region too, RFA has previously reported. Chinas Ministry of National Defense said Monday that it resolutely opposes any country increasing its military presence in the South China Sea under the name of freedom of navigation, creating a tense atmosphere, meddling in regional affairs, and harming the interests of regional countries. The Maritime Safety Administration announced that an area in a 5-kilometer radius around 21-14.23N, 109-32.80E would be closed during March. Map Credit: MarineTraffic; Analysis: RFA. The Maritime Safety Administration announced that the Chinas latest military exercises will be occurring within a 5-kilometer radius of a point off the coast of Guangdong in the Gulf of Tonkin. China has not released additional information about these exercises. The month of exercises launched on Monday is just the latest set of Chinese military activities in the South China Sea, where China, Vietnam, the Philippines, Taiwan, Malaysia, and Brunei are locked in a series of overlapping maritime and territorial disputes. For instance, Chinese bombers recently carried out maritime assault and maritime strike exercises in the South China Sea region, and Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) aircraft have repeatedly entered Taiwans air defense identification zone (ADIZ) between the Pratas Islands and the Taiwanese mainland. States require aircraft to follow certain identification procedures when entering their declared ADIZs. The PLA Navy also conducted a joint exercise with Singapores navy last week, state-run Xinhua News reported. According to a report published by the U.S. Naval War College China Maritime Studies Institute in September 2020, the PLA Navy regularly engages in this kind of naval diplomacy in support of various political and strategic objectives. Oriana Skylar Mastro, an expert at Stanfords Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies, told RFA that Chinese military activities are becoming more and more frequent in the South China Sea. Part of this is natural as the Chinese military becomes more powerful and tries to test and hone its capabilities, Mastro said. But these activities are also aimed at communicating Beijings resolve and deterring foreign powers, Mastro added. Chinas bid to assert its expansive maritime and territorial claims have driven up tensions in the South China Sea in recent years, drawing in non-claimant states like the U.S., France, and Japan. Last week, Kyodo News reported that China lodged a protest with Japan in 2018 after two aircraft from the Japanese Self-Defense Force flew near Chinas artificial island built on Mischief Reef in the Spratly Islands, according to Japanese government sources. Japan appears to have referenced this incident in a recent diplomatic note to the United Nations, in which it rejected Chinas baseline claims and denounced Chinas efforts to limit the freedom of navigation and overflight in the South China Sea. Japans note was the latest in a series of diplomatic submissions challenging Chinas claims from the U.K., France, Germany, Malaysia, Australia, the U.S., Indonesia, Vietnam, and the Philippines. Gov. Greg Abbott announced Tuesday he is lifting the states coronavirus restrictions, as vaccinations rise and severe infections from the pandemic decline. Too many small business owners have struggled to pay their bills, he said, sounding celebratory. This must end. It is now time to open Texas 100 percent. The rollback will begin next Wednesday, with businesses across the state able to open at full capacity. Abbotts statewide mask mandate is also being lifted. Both measures quickly drew concerns from the public health community. Under the changes, local officials can impose limited restrictions again if their hospitalizations from COVID-19 rise above 15 percent for at least a week. Businesses will also be able to require their own safety standards for employees and customers. The Texas Education Agency said it will update its guidance to schools later this week. TEXAS TAKE: Get political headlines from across the state sent directly to your inbox Speaking to business leaders at a packed restaurant in Lubbock, the Republican governor cautioned Texans to continue following recommended guidelines, including distancing and wearing face coverings. Few of the attendees appeared to be following either recommendation. Gov. Abbotts new order Masks: A statewide mask mandate is lifted. Businesses can continue to require face coverings for employees and customers. School districts also appear able to require masks, though the Texas Education Agency said it will provide updated guidance later this week. Capacity limits: Beginning next Wednesday, businesses are allowed to open at full capacity, including restaurants and bars. Local rules: Local officials can impose limited restrictions if coronavirus hospitalizations rise above 15 percent of total hospitalizations in their region. Penalties for not wearing masks are prohibited, and businesses must be allowed to remain open at least at half capacity. Keep your distance: Fask masks, social distancing and other health and safety measures to slow the spread of infections are still recommended. See More Collapse This does not remove personal responsibility, Abbott said. Personal vigilance is still needed to contain COVID. Its just that now, state mandates are no longer needed. The announcement comes as Abbott is under new scrutiny from statewide power outages last month, which contributed to dozens of deaths and left millions of Texans without power or water for days. Local officials are still waiting to see whether the blackouts, which forced many households to shelter with friends and family, could lead to new coronavirus outbreaks. The move also follows rollbacks in several other states, with vaccine doses becoming more widely available. Nearly 20 percent of the nations adults have received at least one shot, and 10 percent have been fully vaccinated 2 1/2 months into the nationwide campaign, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In Texas, more than 3.5 million people have received at least one dose, and nearly 2 million have been fully vaccinated, out of a population of 29 million. The state ranks among the lowest for the percentage of people vaccinated, at 13 percent. Hospitalizations from the disease have meanwhile fallen by more than half from their high over 14,000 in January. REACTION: Harris County judge accuses Abbott of lifting mask mandate, biz restrictions to distract from power outages Republican state leaders including House Speaker Dade Phelan, R-Beaumont, welcomed the rollback. Todays action marks an important step in the reopening of Texas, improving the mental health of our students, increasing the reporting of domestic violence and child abuse, and revitalizing our business climate, Phelan said in a statement. Vaccine shipments accelerating Over the weekend, Johnson & Johnson shipped out nearly 4 million doses of its newly authorized, one-shot COVID-19 vaccine to be delivered to states including Texas for use starting Tuesday. The company will deliver about 16 million more doses by the end of March and a total of 100 million by the end of June. That adds to the supply being distributed by Pfizer and Moderna and should help the nation amass enough doses by midsummer to vaccinate all adults. The White House is encouraging Americans to take the first dose available to them, regardless of manufacturer. But the efforts come with strong warnings from health officials against reopening too quickly, as worrisome coronavirus variants spread. Young adults, who have been major drivers in past outbreaks, are not expected to be eligible for the vaccine for months, and many Texas teachers who have been ordered to return to the classroom are similarly not yet allowed to receive it. Earlier this week, Houston was the first city to record every major variant of the novel coronavirus many of which are more contagious than the original strain. Why now, at this stage, would we take away the requirement to wear a mask? said Rebecca Fischer, an epidemiologist and assistant professor at Texas A&M. We know that aerosol droplets are the primary way this virus spreads, and that it spreads like wildfire. Masks are one of the only tools we have to prevent that. On Monday, the head of the CDC, Dr. Rochelle Walensky, warned state officials and ordinary Americans not to let down their guard, saying she is really worried about reports that more states are rolling back the exact public health measures that we have recommended. I remain deeply concerned about a potential shift in the trajectory of the pandemic, she said. We stand to completely lose the hard-earned ground that we have gained. Democrats take aim at Abbott Frustrated Democrats accused the governor of risking lives for political points with conservatives, some of whom have been critical of his previous emergency orders. More than 43,000 coronavirus deaths have been recorded in Texas. Its reckless and dangerous for Governor Abbott to intentionally undermine public safety because he thinks its good politics, U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro said in a statement. Clearly this announcement is a desperate distraction from the governors dereliction of duty during the massive power and water outages, for which he has never accepted personal responsibility. Infections spiked last summer after Abbott ended an initial statewide lockdown, and they exploded again last fall after he allowed restaurants and bars to open at increased capacity. Local officials said at the time that it was difficult to enforce even the modest restrictions the governor would allow them to implement. Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff, a Democrat, called the local restrictions available under the new order meaningless. He doesnt give us to authority to do anything really, he said in an interview with KENS 5 in San Antonio. He just comes along and says you cant have a penalty for not wearing a face mask. You cant mandate customers or employees to wear one. Some medical employees were also disheartened. Dr. Matt Dacso, an internist at the University of Texas Medical Branch, said the order was a huge hit to morale, coming almost exactly a year after the first recorded case in New York. His team had been celebrating the progress made since then until they heard about Abbotts latest move. I had a pretty strong visceral reaction like PTSD, Dacso said. I can think of no other word but incomprehensible ... Everybody is hurting, but gosh, man. The masks were doing a lot for us. Staff writers Lisa Gray and Robert Downen contributed to this report, which contains material from the Associated Press. jeremy.blackman@chron.com Posted Tuesday, March 2, 2021 10:47 am People had a lot to complain about in 2020, but according to the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission, landline telephone companies are the thing people officially complained about the most. According to the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission, telephone companies are the thing people complained about the most in 2020. In its annual analysis of consumer complaints, the commission found 46% of the 698 complaints closed in 2020 were against landline telephone companies. In the analysis and numbers coming out of the study, it's clear that complaining paid off for consumers. Regulated companies issued about $50,000 in bill credits and refunds to customers as a result of 2020 consumer complaint investigations. Of the 320 complaints against telephone companies, customers received nearly $13,500 in bill credits or refunds. The most common complaints involved quality of service, disputed bills, customer service, disconnections, and delayed service. UTC's job isn't just about handling complaints and dealing with grievances. The agency staff also helped consumers find utility assistance, provided information on consumer rights, and assisted consumers in locating permitted residential moving and passenger transportation companies. If consumers have any complaints, comments or questions about bills or other services, the UTC encourages them to reach out to the Consumer Protection HelpLine at 1-888-333-WUTC (9882), emailing consumer@utc.wa.gov, or visiting www.utc.wa.gov/fileacomplaint. ___ (c)2021 The News Tribune (Tacoma, Wash.) Visit The News Tribune (Tacoma, Wash.) at www.TheNewsTribune.com Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. YEREVAN, MARCH 2, ARMENPRESS. Foreign Minister of Armenia Ara Ayvazian held a telephone conversation with Vice-President of the European Commission, High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell on March 2. As ARMENPRESS was informed from the press service of the MFA Armenia, the Armenian FM and the EU High Representative, the sides congratulated each other on the occasion of the completion of the ratification of the Armenia-EU Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement, noting that the full entry into force of the agreement opens new prospects for the multidimensional cooperation between Armenia and the EU. During the conversation the sides also referred to the issue of regional security and stability. Ara Ayvazian and Josep Borrell exchanged views on the humanitarian crisis in Artsakh and the involvement of international partners for addressing the challenges facing the Armenian population of Artsakh. The sides higjlighted the role of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-chairs in addressing the issues related to the peaceful settlement of Nagono Karabakh conflict. Guest Column Thailands Dilemma in Myanmar Crisis Anti-regime protesters call for the results of last year's election to be respected and that the junta's plan for a new election be rejected, in front of the Indonesian Embassy in Yangon on Feb. 24. / The Irrawaddy Several subjects were on the table last Wednesday when Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi held talks with Thai Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Don Pramudwinai. They discussed the commemoration of the 70th anniversary of their diplomatic relations as well as the preparation for the scheduled Asean Informal Ministerial Meeting and, of course, the situation in Myanmar. Their bilateral meeting on the same day turned into a trilateral affair, with the unexpected participation of U Wunna Maung Lwin, the representative for foreign affairs from the junta in Naypyitaw, in town to discuss developments in Myanmar, the euphemism for the latest coup staged by Senior Gen Min Aung Hlaing. It was an unscripted meeting and took place after Retno decided not to fly to Naypyitaw. The trilateral meeting rewarded Retnos efforts to communicate with the new regime face-to-face. The Bangkok meeting paved the way for Tuesdays ASEAN Special Meeting on Covid-19 and other issues called by the ASEAN chair, Brunei Darussalam. Obviously, those other issues will include the situation in Myanmar. ASEAN and dialogue countries are closely watching what will transpire at the ASEAN meeting. Washington clearly is backing the blocs ongoing efforts. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Saturday sent this congratulatory message to Don thanking him for hosting the Indonesian and Burmese foreign ministers for talks: We are grateful for your leadership in seeking a useful outcome to this crisis. Thailand welcomed Blinkens statement in recognizing the countrys current attempts to keep channels of communications open with the regime despite criticism at home, particularly in the social media domain. Thailand has a huge stake in the crisis in the Western neighbor. It was interesting to note that both the media in Indonesia and Myanmar played up their visits while the Thai media hunted for more information and details. In the case of Indonesia, Retno kept the media corps informed of her every move and intention throughout her shuttle diplomacy and stressed the important role of Indonesia in finding the best solution for the current situation in Myanmar. In Naypyitaw, the Global New Light of Myanmar was equally upbeat. The governments mouthpiece also ran three photos from the Feb. 24 meeting with details of U Wunna Maung Lwin, who was invited to Bangkok for talks with both Prayut and Don. The paper highlighted the meeting, conveying the official reception given by the Thai government. At their meetings, both sides reiterated their close cooperation in maintaining security and stability along the border as well as the protection of Myanmars migrant workers in Thailand. In Bangkok, the media reports were short on details and the tone was conspicuously subdued. Prayut said he wanted to see Myanmar move towards democracy as quickly as possible. That helped explain his meeting with U Wunna Maung Lwin. All the while, he has been defending his decision to meet with the juntas leaders, emphasizing that it was not an endorsement of their actions. It was difficult to convince the Thai public as such. After the coup, Snr-Gen Min Aung Hlaing wrote a personal letter to Prayut appealing for both physical and intellectual support. It put Thailand and him in an awkward position. After all, he was also a coup leader who has made the transition to an elected leader. Snr-Gen Min Aung Hlaing stressed in his letter that the Tatmadaws motto is People are the Parents and pledged to adopt the political culture of conducting the democracy transition process through negotiations and legal measures and in peace and stability. Prayut does not want to reveal the details of the letter which painstakingly explained the Tatmadaws grievances against the National League of Democracy and Daw Aung San Suu Kyi over the alleged election fraud and the voters list issue. However, the violent crackdown over the weekend, which killed 18 people according to a United Nations report, could be a turning point. At the time of this writing, according to informed sources, the Prayut government is pondering whether to issue a statement to urge the regime not to use lethal force, as its predecessor did. In September 2007, Prime Minister Surayud Chulanond criticized the violent crackdown against protesters including monks and nuns, sharing his views as a Buddhist and a former military official. As a Buddhist and as a soldier, I can say that it will be very difficult for the Burmese government to use violence to crack down on the monks. It will be against the way of life of the Buddhists, he reiterated. One of the sources said that national interest is bigger than personal relations. As a neighboring country sharing 2,401 kilometres of border with Myanmar, whatever Thailand is saying and planning will have both short and long term repercussions on their bilateral relations across all dimensions including social, economic, political, security aspects. At the moment, the number one priority is to ensure peace and stability in Myanmar. More than the officials would like to admit, the prospect of having a new influx of refugees crossing into Thailand for whatever reasons could be very real and devastating. For the past two months, Thai public health officials have done their utmost to contain widespread infection among migrant workers. As of last week, the overall situation was under control both in terms of testing and tracking and the first part of the vaccine rollout started on Sunday. During the meeting with Retno, Don emphasized this point, noting that there are 2 million Myanmar workers in Thailand, the largest population in Southeast Asia outside Myanmar. Apart from migrant workers, there are the armed ethnic groups based along the porous Thai-Myanmar border, which have so far expressed strong support for the NLD. Luckily, these armed groups remain dormant. Any security breakdown along the border could displace thousands of minorities. The Thai Army Region 3 has tightened security along the 10 provinces sharing a border with Myanmar. Thailand is also mindful of its role in ASEAN, both as a founder and active member. Although Thailands national interests must be protected, guarding the integrity and centrality of ASEAN is also important. In the past 10 days, Thailand has held numerous consultations with Naypyitaw, other Asean members and key dialogue partners in an attempt to come up with a doable solution that would respect the will and interests of the people of Myanmar. From the Thai perspective, the Tatmadaw leaders must try to restore normalcy inside the country as soon as possible. Obviously, this is easier said than done. Since the coup, civil disobedience has intensified and spread throughout major cities in Myanmar. After two days of protests, the confrontations turned bloody and violent. The regime threatened to use any possible means to quell the demonstrations. Increased numbers of activists and demonstrators have been detained. As the Thais see it, the security forces must halt all use of lethal forces and immediately return to softer measures such as water cannons, as the main deterrent. To reduce the current tension and external pressure, it is vital that the junta releases Prof. Sean Turnell, the detained economic adviser of State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, who has herself been detained. The Australian is a civilian and is not involved in any political manoeuvring. For the time being, the prevailing sentiment in Myanmar, except for civil disobedience, is still void of any desire for reconciliation. The Myanmar players and stakeholders have to work out their resolutions. If that is not possible, then outside mediation would be necessary, which would further complicate matters. As such, the ASEAN meeting today could be a life-saver for Naypyitaw as the ASEAN family will discuss and identify common steps that need to be taken to bring back the democratic process and fulfil the will and the interest of the people of Myanmar. Kavi Chongkittavorn is a veteran journalist on regional affairs. This article first appeared in The Bangkok Post. You may also like these stories: Re-imagining Myanmar The Mother of All Critical Junctures Japans Values Diplomacy Runs Aground in Myanmar Indias Muted Response to Myanmar Military Coup Seen as a Strategic Move Nigerian refugee Aisha and her family are among thousands who fled to Maradi, Niger, to escape violence. UNHCR/Selim Meddeb Hamrouni Only a few days into 2021, gunmen attacked Rambadawa, in northern Nigeria, to loot the village and steal cattle. I was on my way home when I came face to face with the bandits, says Abdoulaye. They said: If you move, you're dead! I barely moved a foot and they shot me in the leg. Abdoulaye fell to the ground, but somehow managed to reach a house to hide out. When the attackers left, two villagers were dead. Aisha, Abdoulayes heavily pregnant sister-in-law, was at home when she heard gunshots. See also: Surging violence in Nigeria drives displacement to Niger They were firing in all directions, people were fleeing for their lives. Everyone was panicking, she says. I took my children with me and we fled towards the border with Niger. Aisha and her four children walked all night to reach Sanguerawa, across the border in Nigers Maradi region, some 20 kilometers away. The villages 3,800 inhabitants are hosting 1,000 Nigerian refugees, 700 of whom have arrived since the start of the year. They were firing in all directions, people were fleeing for their lives." Soon after reaching safety, Aisha gave birth to a baby girl. After receiving treatment in hospital for his gunshot wound, Abdoulaye also made his way to Sanguerawa, where he rejoined his family. Like most others who fled empty handed in the rush to save their lives, they need water, food, shelter and access to medical care. The attack on Rambadawa is one of a growing number in north-west Nigeria. The surging violence is driving displacement into neighbouring Nigers Maradi region, which now hosts nearly 100,000 displaced people, including 77,000 Nigerian refugees, 7,660 of whom have fled since the start of the year. Rampant attacks in north-west Nigeria displace thousands in first two months of the year UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, is concerned that the unprecedented insecurity is also now spilling over the border. UNHCR teams in Niger have recorded a spike in deadly violence inside Maradi, with more casualties and serious incident reports in January and February 2021 than in the second half of 2020. Fearing for their lives, 22,153 people have become internally displaced. The rise in cross-border activity by criminal groups since the start of the year is a cause of real concern, says Alessandra Morelli, UNHCRs representative in Niger. We are adapting our response to the waves of forced displacement caused by growing insecurity and we are providing protection and access to basic services such as health, education and access to water. The rise in cross-border activity by criminal groups is a cause of real concern. To try and keep displaced civilians safe, some 11,320 refugees have been relocated further away from the border in three villages Dan Dadji Makaou, Garin Kaka, and Chadakori, since October 2019. UNHCR, Niger authorities and their partners have boosted water, health, sanitation, and education infrastructure for the displaced and their hosts, helping to ease pressure on local communities who have limited means. See also: Keeping displaced families safe amid surge in Niger violence The current displacement is worrying. Morelli noted that Maradi sits between two regions with major displacement crises, the Sahel and the Lake Chad Basin. Armed groups in both regions have been fueling two of the worlds fastest growing displacement and protection crises. 5.5 million people have been uprooted from their homes since violence erupted in 2009 in the Lake Chad basin and 2012 in the Sahel. Humanitarian efforts to respond to the dual emergencies in the Sahel and the Lake Chad Basin are dangerously overstretched. UNHCR is urging the international community to boost support for the region and to help governments root out the causes of this forced displacement and to boost strategic and sustainable development. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. In a raid of an apartment in New Springville, authorities allege that police discovered a gun, weed and drug paraphernalia. Officers executed a search warrant shortly after 2 p.m. on Feb. 24 in the Richmond Hill Road apartment of Jason Rivera, 46, according to the criminal complaint and the NYPD. Police say they recovered a number of illegal items in a bedroom. Inside a safe stored under a bed, cops found a Magnum Smith & Wesson revolver plus a box of .357-caliber bullets, the complaint alleges. Three scales with cocaine residue were recovered from counters and dressers, police say. A jar containing loose marijuana was found on a table, empty glassine envelopes were found in a box and bag on the floor, and a jar holding nine plastic bags of marijuana was found in the closet, the complaint alleges. Inside a bathroom police found three glass pipes with crack cocaine residue, according to the complaint. The NYPD tweeted about the arrest. Outstanding job today by 121st Precinct Field Intelligence Team and NCO D Officer Carlino. After conducting a joint search warrant, this loaded firearm was recovered and an individual was taken into custody. #onelessgun @NYPDstatenIslnd @NYPDChiefPatrol pic.twitter.com/s287C6xG8y NYPD 121st Precinct (@NYPD121Pct) February 24, 2021 Rivera has been charged with criminal possession of a weapon, criminal possession of a firearm, criminal use of drug paraphernalia, criminal use of a controlled substance and unlawful possession of marijuana. The suspect was convicted of obstruction of governmental administration in January 2020, according to the criminal complaint. Bond has been set at $90,000/$30,000 cash for the suspect, who is due back in Criminal Court on Tuesday, according to public records. An attorney for the defendant did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The United States on Tuesday imposed sanctions on two commanders of Yemen's Huthi rebels, blaming them for civilian deaths and denouncing their ties with Iran as Washington seeks to halt the devastating war. The Treasury Department said it would freeze any assets of the air force and naval commanders of the Huthis, who have defied international appeals by pursuing an offensive to seize the government's last northern stronghold. With the rebels from the impoverished nation unlikely to have US bank accounts, the effects are largely symbolic but reinforce President Joe Biden's sharp criticism of Iran even as he opens the door to diplomacy with Tehran and distances his administration from Saudi Arabia, which has been waging a punishing campaign to dislodge the Huthis. "Iran's involvement in Yemen fans the flames of the conflict, threatening greater escalation, miscalculation and regional instability," Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement. "Ansar Allah uses Iranian weapons, intelligence, training and support to conduct attacks threatening civilian targets and infrastructure in Yemen and Saudi Arabia," he said, using the Huthis' official name. Blinken condemned the rebels' continued offensive and said the United States would provide the Saudis "the tools they need to defend themselves." The promise comes despite Biden's pledge to end US support for "offensive" operations in Yemen as well as his criticism of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman after a declassified US report showed that he approved the grisly killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. The Treasury Department said that the sanctioned commanders had trained in Iran and acquired weapons from the clerical state, which has religious affinities with the Huthis and a shared hostility toward Saudi Arabia. The Huthi naval commander, Mansur al-Saadi, masterminded deadly attacks against international shipping in the Red Sea and put fishermen and other civilians at risk with naval mines, the Treasury Department said. Story continues The air force commander, Ahmad Ali Ahsan al-Hamzi, has carried out targeted drone strikes, it said. In one of its first acts, the Biden administration had rescinded a broader designation of the Huthis as a terrorist organization. Aid groups said that the label put their work at risk as they had no choice but to deal with the Huthis, who effectively are Yemen's governing authority in much of the country including the capital Sanaa. Former president Donald Trump's administration, which fiercely opposed Iran and was closely aligned with Saudi Arabia, had branded the Huthis as terrorists in its final days in office. The United Nations has called Yemen the world's worst humanitarian crisis and voiced disappointment after a pledging conference Monday raised $1.7 billion in aid, far below the appeal for $3.85 billion. sct/sst VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / March 1, 2021 / Goldplay Mining Inc. ("Goldplay" or the "Company"), is pleased to announce that it has appointed Mr. Jose Mario Castelo Branco as Goldplay's Exploration Manager, , an industry veteran, who among other senior roles was the Regional Exploration Manager (Europe) at Lundin Mining for over 7 years. Mr. Branco is a senior geologist with over 38 years of experience. He is the managing partner of Geologia e Geotecnia Consultores, a boutique consulting firm specializing in mineral exploration based in Portugal. Prior to that, Mr. Branco was the Regional Exploration Manager, Europe for Lundin Mining overseeing Lundin Mining projects in Iberia and Europe. He led the team credited with discovering the new VHMS Semblana mineral deposit near Lundin's Neves Corvo mine. Prior to that he was a senior project geologist for BP Minerals/Rio Tinto and was a senior member of the team recognized with discovering of the Las Cruces Cu-Au VHMS deposit in southern Spain and in the Gralheira intrusion-related gold deposit in northern Portugal. Mr. Branco has authored and co-authored several technical publications. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Geology from Porto University in Portugal and was a guest lecturer at the Geology Department of the Braga University. Portugal Copper and Gold Exploration Application Goldplay is also pleased to announce that it has signed a definitive agreement with European Electric Metals Inc. ("EVX"). whereby Goldplay acquired an initial 70% equity interest in EVX Portugal (an EVX subsidiary), a private Portugal based company, that has the legal rights to an exploration licence application with the Portugal Government to the Borba 2 exploration property (the "Exploration Application" or "Borba 2"), covering approximately 230 square kilometres in the Alentejo region in Southern Portugal. The Exploration Application is in the final stages of being finalized with the Portugal government. The Exploration Application has a well-documented potential to host precious and base metals mineralization often enhanced by the presence of abundant Au and /or Cu mineral occurrences in shear zones and in epithermal systems associated with intra-Ordovician volcanics. The Exploration Application includes a total of four separate projects including three past producing mines that covers an area of 230 square kilometers as follows. Miguel Vacas- Past Producing Copper Mine The copper mine last operated in 1986 and has produced at an average grade of 1.2-1.4% Cu. Historical near surface drilling (60 to 71.63m) intercepted 1.79 % Cu over 10.54m including 2.29% Cu over 7.30 m. A historical non-compliant in-house resource estimation was completed by Rio Narcea in 2007 based on 20 historical holes and estimated: Oxide ore (from 0 to 80m depth): 1.2 Mt @ 1.23% Cu. Sulphide ore (from 80m to 250m): 4.4 Mt @ 1.24% Cu The project remains open for exploration. The readers should not rely on any historical estimates. The Company and the QP has not done sufficient work to classify historical estimate as a current resource. Company is not treating the historical estimate as a current resource. Additional work including drilling will be required to verify and upgrade historical estimates. Mostardeira Copper-Gold Mine This Cu-Au mine area, located approximately 2 km south of the town of Estremoz represents a wide WSW-ESE shear zone that is developed for at least 700 m along strike and is open into both directions. This shear zone has been historically mined for Cu with most of the mining works concentrated along a thin high-grade Cu zone (<2m) averaging over 5% Cu. Mineralization is hosted by Silurian and Devonian metasediments. Channel sampling by Rio Narcea (2006) has intercepted the following mineralized intervals: 2.60m grading 4.15 g/t Au, 0.40% Cu including 0.60m grading 11.20 g/t Au and 0.65 % Cu and another 3.60m interval grading 2.40 g/t Au, 0.82 % Cu and 80 g/t Ag. The average grade for the total of 34 samples analysed was 1.54 g/t Au, 22 g/t Ag and 0.25% Cu with a maximum of 11.20 g/t Au and a minimum of 0.10 g/t Au. The project is open for exploration. Bugalho Copper-Gold Mine Dump samples of silicified and sheared acid tuffs from the Bugalho mine area assay up to 10.97 g/t Au, 5.36% Cu and 20 g/t Ag. Mineralization can be mapped about 5 km along strike and includes three main veins up to 1.3m thick within a several meter wide shear zone. The project is open for exploration Almagreira Gold Prospect This area Drilling has been identified by Rio Tinto during the early eighties and limited trenching and drilling have indicated the presence of gold mineralization associated with clay-sericite-silica alteration zones associated with a ENE-WSW fracture zone and represents an epithermal system identified in this sector hosted by brecciated acid volcanics and dolomites. Historical drilling intercepted an interval of 5.45 m grading 1.53 g/t Au, including 2.47m grading 2.44 g/t Au from hole PAM-01. The highest individual value obtained came from a gossanous quartz-dolomite altered marble grading 5.77 g/t Au over an intercept of 0.75m. Hole Pam-02 intercepted an interval of 2m grading 3.7 g/t Au. The mineralized zone coincides with sections of intense silica-carbonate alteration with several massive gossan zones and localized fresh sulphide dissemination (chalcopyrite and pyrite). The project is open for exploration. Stock Options Grant The Company would also like to announce that that the Board of Directors granted 290,000 incentive stock options to directors and consultants of the Company. The options will have a term of 5 years, expiring on March 1, 2026. Each option will allow the holder to purchase one common share in the Company at a price of $0.15. Qualified Person The scientific and technical information contained in this news release has been reviewed and approved by Mr. Mr. Jose Mario Castelo Branco, Golplay's Exploration Manager, a Qualified Person within the context of Canadian Securities Administrators' National Instrument 43-101; Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects. About Goldplay Mining Goldplay Mining is a Canadian public company focused on exploring and advancing gold copper projects located in top mining jurisdictions that host the potential for making world class discoveries. Goldplay has received conditional acceptance to list its common shares on the TSX Venture Exchange (the "Exchange"). The listing on the Exchange is anticipated to occur on or about March 20, 2021 under the trading symbol "AUC". The trading symbol has been chosen to reflect Company's focus on Gold ("AU") and Copper ("C"). For more information concerning the Company, please refer to the Company's profile on the SEDAR website at www.sedar.com and on the Company's website at www.goldplaymining.ca On behalf of the Board of Directors "Catalin Kilofliski" Catalin Kilofliski President, CEO & Director For further information please contact: Goldplay Mining Inc. Mr. Catalin Kilofliski, President & CEO Suite 650 - 1021 West Hastings Street Vancouver, BC V6E 0C3 T: (604) 655-1420 E: cchiloflischi@gmail.com www.goldplaymining.ca Forward Looking Information This news release contains "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable securities laws relating to the potential listing of the company on a stock exchange, and other associated matters. Although the Company believes current conditions and expected future developments and other factors that have been considered are appropriate and 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 or enduring. There is no assurance that the Company will be able to finalize and secure the exploration application with the Portugal government or that it will be able to list its common shares on the Exchange as contemplated. Readers are cautioned to not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. Actual results and developments may differ materially from those contemplated by these statements depending on, among other things, that the outcome of exploration results may not be as currently expected, that the listing on a stock exchange may not happen on a timely basis, or at all. The statements in this press release are made as of the date of this release. SOURCE: Goldplay Mining Inc. View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/632861/Goldplay-Appoints-Highly-Experienced-Exploration-Geologist-as-Goldplays-Exploration-Manager-and-Acquires-Rights-to-an-Exploration-Application-for-a-Large-Copper-and-Gold-District-in-Portugal Our directory features more than 18 million business listings from across the entire US. However, if we're missing your business, add your business by clicking on Add Your Business. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Environmental mitigation measures involving ventilation in spaces, air filters, air ionizers, table-top dividers, and UVC lights, can supplement current safe management measures The R&D ecosystem in Singapore has been studying various measures that can help support the safe reopening of the economy as we open up in phases. On top of current safe management measures such as wearing of a mask, maintaining safe distancing, limiting social contacts and observing good personal hygiene, these additional solutions will help support a safer resumption of activities. Temasek Foundation, the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) and other research partners such as ITE College East and Temasek Life Sciences Laboratory (TLL), have done extensive scientific studies in collaboration with public agencies and gleaned insights that could be useful in further reducing the risk of COVID-19 transmission. With the combined efforts from A*STARs Institute of Materials Research and Engineering (IMRE) and Institute of High-Performance Computing (IHPC), tests have been conducted in various venues such as public transportation, concert theatres, offices, and eateries. The research team has actively partnered with several public agencies, private sector companies, and institutes of higher learning in studies related to droplet and aerosol transmission under different environment settings. Mitigating Covid-19 transmission risks Research findings from the scientific community are enabling other preventive COVID-safe measures. For example, solutions can be employed to improve air quality such as the use of air filters or air ionizers to clean the air in enclosed and poorly ventilated spaces. While safe distancing remains key to reducing risks of transmission, measures such as table-top dividers can be useful during higher-risk activities such as eating when masks are removed. It is important to note that these solutions should be used in parallel with regular sanitization of surfaces to reduce fomite transmission. Findings such as local outbreak investigation data, international research, and lessons learned from other countries, are used to inform public health measures. Some are, Ventilation in spaces to reduce droplet and aerosol transmission Air ionizers and air filters are useful in poorly-ventilated indoor spaces Reducing droplets transmission using table-top dividers Disinfecting surfaces using UVC solutions Scientists from across Singapores research ecosystem continue to work towards increased modeling and empirical methods in this series of studies. Project Safeguard is an educational initiative by Temasek Foundation aimed at raising public awareness about such scientific findings from our local R&D ecosystem, plus potential solutions to help reduce the risk of COVID-19 transmission as the team carries on economic and social activities. LONDON, March 2, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Celltick, the world's largest cell broadcast-based products provider and a global leader of Public Warning systems (PWS), has appointed Jan Frykhammar as its new Chairman of the Board. Jan brings 30 years of experience in telecom and tech, holding a variety of positions within Ericsson, culminating with CFO and interim CEO. Currently Jan serves on several company boards as chairman and non-executive director mainly within telecom and technology industries. Alongside the normal board role Jan will assist Celltick in executing its ambitious growth strategy in Europe and the rest of the world. Today, Celltick is focusing its efforts in assisting mobile operators and governments in Europe meet the requirements of Article 110 in the legislation of the European Electronic Communications Code (EECC), mandating all member states to deploy a mobile public warning system by June 2022. Jan Frykhammar, Chairman of Celltick, said: "I am excited to join Celltick, which is in a forefront position to take advantage of the growing demand for public warning systems. I like the company spirit, technology, and its superior products. The company's products are in the business of 'doing good' and help save lives and I am eager to forge forward with many new accomplishments." Celltick's CEO Ronen Daniel said: "We're very happy to welcome Jan on board. Together with Jan's invaluable experience, expert knowledge and fresh outlook we look forward to achieving many new successes and milestones together." About Celltick Celltick is the world's largest cell broadcast-based products provider and a global leader of Public Warning Systems (PWS) and Mass Notification Systems. Its CBC (Cell Broadcast Center) has been adopted by over 70 mobile operators worldwide, delivering alerts globally to more than 1 billion users daily. Beyond cell broadcast, Celltick's MAGEN (Mass Alert Geo Emergency Notifications) suite of products allows alerts dissemination across multiple channels including Location-Based SMS, native and SIM apps, as well as non-mobile media, all from its MAGEN Command Post. For more information please contact: Liza Sofer, Marketing Manager, lizas@celltick.com www.celltick.com Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1446596/Celltick_Logo.jpg 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. Tea is a staple drink among Indians and in a country where chai breaks are more of a tradition, it is understood that there are numerous tea-sellers as well. However, one tea-seller in Kolkata has taken things a notch up and is selling the drink at Rs 1000. A tea stall in Kolkatas Mukundapur called Nijash sells different varieties of tea that range from Rs 12 to Rs 1,000 for a cup. The shop is owned by Partha Pratim Ganguly where he serves around 100 varieties of tea. According to a report by The Times of India, the highest costing tea that is priced at Rs 1,000 is the Bo-Lei tea that costs Rs 3 lakh per kilogram. Bo-Lei, also known as Pu-Erh tea or Puer, Po Lei, Bolay tea, and Dark Tea is a tea made in China. The Bo-Lei tea is made from Camellia Sinensis tea which is the same plant which is used to make green and black tea. Bo-Lei, however, is fermented and oxidized which gives the tea a unique deep, earthy flavor. Because of the fermentation of Bolay, it even gives the tea an incredible shelf life and allows the tea to age well. Besides Bolay other varieties of tea that are sold at the shop include Blue Tisane Tea, Teesta Valley Tea, Silver Needle White Tea, Lavender Tea, Hibiscus Tea, Wine Tea, Tulsi Ginger Tea, Makaibari Tea, Rooibos Tea, and Okayti Tea. Parthas story itself is an inspiration for those who want to pursue their passion. Partha Pratim Ganguly, earlier had plans of working a full time job, but then he left his job to start his own business of a regular tea stall but with an edge. He started his business in 2014 and soon became a hit among Kolkatas chai consumers. The Times of India mentions that Partha is not only good at selling tea but is also knowledgeable about the properties of each tea variant. One of the victims abducted from Government Girls Secondary School, GGSS, Jangebe identified as Hafsatu Anka, on Monday revealed that they... One of the victims abducted from Government Girls Secondary School, GGSS, Jangebe identified as Hafsatu Anka, on Monday revealed that they were laid in trenches littered with human feaces. The SS II student who spoke in tears said they saw women and children and father of one of their school mates who had been in the den for three months. She said they were never allowed to pray and were fed sandy rice. We saw other people, including women and children and father of one of our school mates who had been in the den for three months. They walked us on foot where some of us got dislocated on their foot, they would pray as Muslims but never allowed us to pray and they fed us with rice in which they put sand after cooking, Hafsat narrated. Meanwhile, Gov. Bello Matawalle of Zamfara had said repentant bandits assisted security agencies in the operation and the girls were released without ransom. Serial killer Rose West is a big fan of Dancing on Ice and even asks her friends to cast her votes each week The hit ITV skating show has suffered a slump in viewers this year amid an injury crisis forcing a number of stars and celebrities to drop out. But bosses can rely on West, 67, to keep tuning in from HM Prison New Hall in West Yorkshire. Serial killer Rose West is a big fan of Dancing on Ice and even asks her friends to cast her votes each week A jail source told The Sun: 'Rose is a huge fan. Every weekend she clears a slot in her evening to watch the latest episode - it's a big part of her prison life. 'She's got a friend outside prison who she chats to and who makes the call to put a vote in for Rose. 'If you were the dancer she was backing, it'd be enough to send a shiver down your spine.' It comes after it was revealed last month that West was given the coronavirus vaccine before prison staff because she is classed as 'extremely vulnerable'. The hit ITV skating show has suffered a slump in viewers this year amid an injury crisis forcing a number of stars and celebrities to drop out As well as her obesity, West has failing eyesight and struggles with stairs and is said to be paranoid about catching Covid. West, who has consistently claimed her innocence, and husband Fred, abducted, tortured and raped women over a 20-year period at their house in Cromwell Street, Gloucestershire, where they resided from 1972 until their arrests in 1994. The pair even killed their eldest daughter Heather in June 1987. Fred, who confessed the killings, committed suicide in his cell while on remand at HMP Birmingham on New Year's Day, 1995. West and husband Fred, abducted, tortured and raped innocent women over a 20 year period at their house in Cromwell Street, Gloucestershire Their son Stephen, who is now 45, recently claimed his mother was the 'driving force' behind the couple's horrendous crimes and his father 'lived in fear' of her until his death. Other victims included Alison Chambers, 16, Shirley Robinson, 18, Juanita Mott, 18, Shirley Hubbard, 15, Theresa Siegnethaler, 21, Lucy Partington, 21, Carol Ann Cooper, 15, Lynda Gough, 19, Rena Costello (Fred's ex-wife), 27, Charmaine West (Fred's daughter), 8, and Anne McFall, 18. Fred is also believed to have also killed 15-year-old Mary Bastholm, although her remains have never been found. Italy's Covid-19 infection rate has started to increase over the last week for the first time since December 2020, as the head of the country's task force was sacked and other health experts called for greater diligence from the public. The total number of new cases reported by the Ministry of Health for Monday was 13,114, down from more than 17,000 a day earlier, reports Xinhua news agency. But the rate topped the 17,000-infection benchmark in each of the previous four days, a level previously not seen since January 14. With 10,894 patients declared cured on Monday, it marked the ninth time in 10 days that new cases outnumbered the number of recoveries. As such, the total number of active cases nationally climbed to 424,333, still well below its all-time peak of more than 800,000 from November 22, 2020, but representing the first sustained climb for that indicator in more than three months. The number of Covid-19 patients in intensive-care units also inched higher, totalling 2,289 on Monday, an increase of 58 compared to Sunday and higher than 2,045 10 days earlier. The mortality rate however, remained low by recent standards, with 246 new deaths reported on Monday, higher than the 192 deaths recorded for Sunday but in line with recent totals. The one-day death figure has still not topped 500 since January 26. The country's overall Covid-19 caseload and death toll currently stood at 2,938,371 and 97,945, respectively. Minister of Health Roberto Speranza has issued a warning about the country's rising infection rate, stating "the contagion curve is rising significantly again and we need to fight hard". The Ministry said that new highly-contagious versions of the virus were among the factors behind the rising number of infections. Italy's vaccine rollout continues to be plagued by problems. The country was the first in the European Union to distribute at least one vaccine dose to at least 1 per cent of its population in mid-January. But since then, delivery shortfalls and distribution problems have taken their toll. Italy has now fallen to 25th place among 27 European Union states in terms of distribution rate for the first vaccine dose, covering about 4.2 per cent of the adult population. --IANS ksk/ (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 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. Spotlight PA is an independent, nonpartisan newsroom powered by The Philadelphia Inquirer in partnership with PennLive/The Patriot-News, TribLIVE/Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, and WITF Public Media. Sign up for our free newsletters. HARRISBURG The top Republican in the Pennsylvania Senate has quietly appointed the spouse of a colleague to a coveted spot on the states Gaming Control Board, raising questions anew about whether the regulatory panel has become a lucrative landing ground for the politically connected. Senate President Pro Tempore Jake Corman (R., Centre) named Frances Fran Regan to serve a two-year term on the board, a plum appointment in Harrisburg circles because, at a $145,000 annual salary, it is one of the higher-paid positions in state government. Regan, who is married to Sen. Mike Regan (R., York), was sworn in Monday with little fanfare inside the Gaming Control Boards office, according to board officials. Unlike with several previous appointments, there was no news release announcing her selection her name simply appeared on the boards website. When asked for Regans resume, board officials initially said they did not have one. Late Tuesday, they provided a biography for Regan, which says that she served with the federal probation office for more than 24 years conducting background and criminal investigations. For the past six years, she has been a small business owner, holding public and private fitness classes to empower women and their personal safety. Frances Regan could not immediately be reached. In an interview Tuesday, Corman said he chose Regan because of her background in law enforcement. Being related to a public official should not disqualify her from the position, said Corman, adding that he interviewed just under a half dozen people for the job. Just because your husband is involved in public service doesnt mean you shouldnt, he said, adding that Frances Regan is a friend and he wants someone in that job whom he can trust. Since its inception, the board, which oversees slots and casino gambling in the state, has often hosted high-profile names in Pennsylvania politics and government, including ex-state lawmakers. When legislators legalized casino gambling in 2004, they gave the governor the ability to name three members to the board. The four Democratic and Republican leaders in the House and Senate each get one appointment. The board now oversees an industry that, in 2019, raked in $3.4 billion in revenue, according to the Gaming Control Board. Even during the pandemic, the combined revenue of slot machines, table games, sports wagering, iGaming, video gaming terminals, and fantasy contests totaled $2.6 billion. Of the 31 people who have been named to the Gaming Control Board since 2004, 16 have either served in state government or legislative jobs, or have been state lawmakers themselves, according to an analysis by Spotlight PA. Just last month, longtime State Rep. Frank Dermody, the former top Democrat in the state House who lost reelection last year, was tapped by House Minority Leader Joanna McClinton of Philadelphia to serve on the board. Dermody, a onetime prosecutor who served in the legislature for 30 years, became the fourth ex-House Democrat to snag a spot on the board, which includes two other former lawmakers. For Dermody and other lawmakers, the appointment is more than just a well-paid job it ultimately could help to boost their future pension earnings. In Pennsylvania, those are calculated using a formula that takes into account a persons highest three years of salary. And the Gaming Control Board pays significantly more than what rank-and-file lawmakers, as well those in leadership, earn every year. Christopher Borick, a political science professor at Muhlenberg College in Allentown, said it is up to public officials like Corman to explain their picks. And when it comes to political appointments, like ones to the Gaming Control Board and other statewide panels, the bar should be even higher. You would expect a clear case to be made, said Borick, about why you are the person to add value to an important board. That is the missing link. You dont see that anymore. Frances Regans husband, Mike Regan, was elected to the Senate in 2016 and reelected to a second four-year term in 2020. His name has been bandied about in political circles as a potential Republican candidate for governor, although the central Pennsylvania lawmaker has not publicly announced any intention to run for higher office. In 2022, two key political spots the governors office, and one of the states two U.S. Senate seats are up for grabs. Frances Regan replaced outgoing board member Merritt Reitzel, who was appointed by Cormans predecessor, Republican Joe Scarnati of Jefferson County. At the time, her appointment drew scrutiny because Reitzel was the sister-in-law of Scarnatis then-chief of staff. The state Senate has since hired Reitzel to serve as a lawyer to the committee that oversees gaming regulations, according to Corman. WHILE YOURE HERE... If you learned something from this story, pay it forward and become a member of Spotlight PA so someone else can in the future at spotlightpa.org/donate. Spotlight PA is funded by foundations and readers like you who are committed to accountability journalism that gets results. A man was injured in a shooting in the Gentilly neighborhood Monday evening, according to New Orleans police. Update: Man thrown in back of his vehicle, shot during carjacking in Gentilly, police say The shooting happened at 7:38 p.m. in the 5000 block of Old Gentilly Road (map). Police did not release the name of man who was shot or a possible motive. Editor's note: The address in the story and headline have been updated to reflect new information from authorities. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. BETHESDA, Maryland, March 2, 2021 /PRNewswire-HISPANIC PR WIRE/ -- The National Institutes of Health has launched a new research effort to understand how SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, affects children, who account for roughly 13% of the total cases of COVID-19 in the United States. The effort is called the Collaboration to Assess Risk and Identify Long-term Outcomes for Children with COVID (CARING for Children with COVID). This research program is developing and funding studies to investigate why some children are at greater risk for SARS-CoV-2 infection than others, why symptoms vary among children who are infected, and how to identify children at risk for severe illness from SARS-CoV-2 infection. Research on the latter question is focused particularly on multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C), a life-threatening condition marked by severe inflammation of one or more parts of the body, including the heart, lungs, kidneys, brain, skin, eyes and gastrointestinal organs. The program is led by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) and the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) in collaboration with the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID). Research conducted through CARING for Children with COVID is supported in part by the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act. "This effort stems from NIH's commitment to understanding the spectrum of risk that SARS-CoV-2 poses for children and to identifying interventions to improve their short- and long-term health outcomes," said NICHD Director and CARING for Children with COVID co-chair Diana Bianchi, M.D. Based on current data, most children with SARS-CoV-2 infection do not develop serious illness. However, those who do go on to develop MIS-C can experience prolonged fever and severe abdominal pain and may progress to shock. Although most children with MIS-C survive, its cause and long-term effects remain largely unknown. There is also early evidence that some children with asymptomatic or mild infection may go on to develop such long term symptoms as fatigue, muscle and joint pain, and respiratory problems. "While much of the devastation wrought by COVID-19 is on older and vulnerable populations, it is affecting children in ways we are just beginning to understand," said Gary Gibbons, M.D., director of the NHLBI and co-chair of CARING for Children with COVID. "That's why this research and these networks are so critical." Specifically, the program developed new research protocols for three clinical networks with sites across the country, to include children with SARS-CoV-2 infection and related conditions, including MIS-C: Long-Term Outcomes after the Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome In Children (MUSIC). Funded by NHLBI and leveraging the Pediatric Heart Network, this study focuses on cardiovascular complications of MIS-C, but also collects data on all aspects of childhood and adolescent health in affected participants. Pharmacokinetics, Pharmacodynamics, and Safety Profile of Understudied Drugs Administered to Children per Standard of Care (POPS). Funded by NICHD and leveraging the Pediatric Trials Network, this study focuses on understanding the treatment of children diagnosed with COVID-19 or MIS-C with medicines that have shown promise in adults with COVID-19. Pediatric Research Immune Network on SARS-CoV-2 and MIS-C (PRISM). Sponsored and funded by NIAID, this study aims to evaluate the short- and long-term health outcomes of SARS-CoV-2 infection in children, including MIS-C, and to characterize the immunologic pathways associated with different disease presentations and outcomes. CARING for Children with COVID also includes Predicting Viral-Associated Inflammatory Disease Severity in Children with Laboratory Diagnostics and Artificial Intelligence (PreVAIL kIds), a research funding program to encourage the development of approaches that identify children at high risk for developing MIS-C. PreVAIL kIds is funded by NIH's Rapid Acceleration of Diagnostics (RADx) Radical (RADx-rad) program to support new, non-traditional approaches and reimagined uses of existing tools to address gaps in COVID-19 testing and surveillance. Although the studies supported by CARING for Children with COVID have slightly different goals, all will collect data on a core set of health measures that can later be analyzed across studies. Data from CARING for Children with COVID activities will be made available on multiple NIH web platforms to allow researchers to conduct additional analyses and make more discoveries. More information on the effort is available on the CARING for Children with COVID website at Caring4KidsWithCOVID.nih.gov. About the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD): NICHD leads research and training to understand human development, improve reproductive health, enhance the lives of children and adolescents, and optimize abilities for all. For more information, visit https://www.nichd.nih.gov. About the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI): NHLBI is the global leader in conducting and supporting research in heart, lung, and blood diseases and sleep disorders that advances scientific knowledge, improves public health, and saves lives. For more information, visit www.nhlbi.nih.gov. About the National Institutes of Health (NIH): NIH, the nation's medical research agency, includes 27 Institutes and Centers and is a component of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. NIH is the primary federal agency conducting and supporting basic, clinical, and translational medical research, and is investigating the causes, treatments, and cures for both common and rare diseases. For more information about NIH and its programs, visit https://www.nih.gov. SOURCE Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development; National Institutes of Health (NIH) Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-02 12:12:52|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close MANILA, March 2 (Xinhua) -- The Philippines has detected its first six cases of a more contagious COVID-19 variant found in South Africa, its health ministry said on Tuesday. Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire expressed concern about the detection of the variant, which can spread more readily like the variant found in Britain, adding that the variant could evade immune responses and reduce vaccine efficacy. "That is why we have to be vigilant about the variant (found in South Africa). We want fast containment of this variant so that we can prevent it from further spread," Vergeire said in an online briefing. Of the six variant cases, Vergeire said three are local cases, and two are returning overseas Filipinos. The DOH is still checking the location of the remaining case. Health Secretary Francisco Duque said investigations are underway to establish the link between the local cases and the returning Filipinos that tested positive for the new variant. "What is important here is to keep the transmission rate really very low to prevent mutations because mutations will only happen if there is a continuing huge rate of transmission," Duque told a local television interview on Tuesday. On Tuesday, the DOH also reported an additional 30 cases of the variant initially detected in Britain. The number of cases in the country with the that variant has reached 87. The DOH urged the local government units "to be on heightened alert to monitor, detect, and report unusual spikes in cases in their area." The Philippines now has 578,381 confirmed COVID-19 cases, including 12,322 deaths. Enditem Al Zain, one of Bahrains most respected and established jewellery brands has announced the launch of its annual gold exhibition Treasures of Bahrain set to feature unique collections depicting the rich Arabian heritage in modern and practical designs. The exhibition is being held from the March 1 to April 10 at a regional level commencing in Bahrain, Saudi, Qatar and UAE. The collections will include Treasures of Bahrain, Heritage, and the Malaki set. The Treasures of Bahrain & Heritage collection both include semi-precious stones such as Malachite, Lapis Lazuli, Coral, Turquoise and Mother of Pearl; while the Malaki set includes precious stones such as rubies, emeralds and sapphires which complement the rich 21K gold colour. The Treasures of Bahrain is a lustrous 21K collection inspired by traditional Bedouin jewellery. Treasures of Bahrain is comprised of renowned elements of traditional Arabian jewellery, reworked and given a touch of luxury. A fascinating composition of coloured stones, intricate hand work, combined with delicate 3d printed elements. A rare and complex manufacturing technique mastered by Al Zain Craftsmen. The Heritage collection is distinctive, taking inspiration from the shapes and patterns of the traditional Arabian and Bedouin jewellery. The collection is styled in an unconventional and contemporary way that is unlike any other in the market. It combines contrasting finishes such as high polished and matte surfaces with highlights of diamond cutting creating a glistening and captivating look. The high-end Malaki collection is designed for those who want valuable and limited 21K gold pieces embellished with precious stones such as rubies, emerald, sapphires and natural Bahraini pearls. The collections will include a variation of the shabka, bangles, chokers, bracelets, earrings, necklaces, gubgub and rings. The exhibition is just in time to purchase the perfect luxury gifts for Mothers Day, Ramadan, Girgaoon, and Eid. These unique sets also work beautifully for a bride-to-be who wants to maintain her traditional heritage whilst remaining elegantly modern. For the first time in the Middle East, Al Zain uses advanced technology mechanisms such a 3D printing combined with traditional hand craftsmanship to develop world-class unique designs; pioneering the jewellery industry. Al Zain continues to embrace timeless heritage through contemporary designs fit for all generations. -- Tradearabia News Service Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 3) The last two packages of the Comprehensive Tax Reform Program (CTRP) and a measure that will aid pandemic-stricken small businesses are among the top legislative agenda of the Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council (LEDAC) this year. LEDAC determines and recommends to the President the top socio-economic development goals affecting national development. Acting Socioeconomic Planning Secretary and LEDAC Secretariat Head Karl Kendrick Chua said these pending bills in Congress are important for the country's economic recovery amid the COVID-19 pandemic. "These bills are crucial in ensuring the country's economic recovery and in regaining our development trajectory that was held back by the COVID-19 pandemic. We will continue working with Congress to move the legislative agenda forward and enact these priority legislations within 2021," said Chua. Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea said the passage of these bills will help create a stable economic environment and strengthen the national healthcare and fiscal systems against public emergencies. "The pandemic has pulled back our human development gains, but at the same time, it has given us the opportunity to assess how we can bounce back stronger and protect our people from future shocks. The measures in the CLA (Common Legislative Agenda) will lay the groundwork to ensure that Filipinos will not face the same problems of hunger, job loss, and sickness in the future," Medialdea said. The proposed Government Financial Institutions Unified Initiatives to Distressed Enterprises for Economic Recovery or GUIDE Act, recently approved by the House of Representatives in final reading last month, is part of the 12 priority measures that LEDAC hopes to be passed by June this year. The GUIDE Bill will help micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) cope with the pandemic by availing of loan assistance programs from the Land Bank of the Philippines, Development Bank of the Philippines, or Philippine Guaranty Corporation. RELATED: House approves bill providing financial aid to MSMEs amid COVID-19 pandemic The last two CTRP packages identified by LEDAC that must be passed by June are Package 3 or the Valuation Reform Act and Package 4 or the Passive Income and Financial Intermediary Taxation Act (PIFITA), both have hurdled the House of Representatives and are still being deliberated in the Senate. The proposed Valuation Reform Act, which seeks to establish a single valuation base for property-related taxes of the national and local governments, will help increase government revenues without hiking the existing tax rates or devising new tax impositions. On the other hand, PIFITA complements the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion or TRAIN Act where it harmonizes and lowers tax rates on passive income, which includes stock dividends, bank deposits, and other forms of income in the capital market, from 20% to 15%. The bill also seeks to impose 5% single gross receipt tax rate on banks, quasi banks, and certain non-bank financial intermediaries and 2% premium tax on health maintenance organizations, pension, and pre-need insurance products. The other priority measures targeted to be passed by June are amendments to the Public Service Act, Retail Trade Liberalization Act, and Foreign Investments Act. Other proposed laws in the list are Rural Agricultural and Fisheries Development Financing System Act, Medical Reserve Corps Act, Disease Prevention and Control Authority Act, Imposing Amusement Tax on Digital Platform and Offshore Betting Stations of Licensed Cockpits, Establishing the Tax Regime of Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators, and Strengthening Local Government Participation in National Development by Increasing the Share of Local Government Units in the National Internal Revenue Taxes. The LEDAC also listed 13 bills in its Common Legislative Agenda which it expects to be passed by December 2021. The list includes the Department of Overseas Filipinos Act, Department of Disaster Resilience Act, Boracay Island Development Authority Act, Unified System of Separation, Retirement and Pension of the Military and Uniformed Personnel Act, National Land Use and Management Act, and Internet Transactions Act. Among the other target legislative measures due for passage in December 2021 are the Magna Carta for Barangay Health Workers Act, National Housing Development Act, Expanded Solo Parents Welfare Act, Modernizing the Bureau of Fire Protection Act, Modernizing the Bureau of Immigration Act, Amending/Repealing the Continuing Professional Development Act of 2016, and Reviving the Death Penalty by Lethal Injection for Crimes specified under the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002. LEDAC added there are five priority measures that have secured the nod of both houses of Congress. These are the General Appropriations Act for 2021, Financial Institutions Strategic Transfer or FIST Act, Amendments to the Anti-Money Laundering Act, Coconut Farmers' and Industry Trust Fund Act, and Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises or CREATE Act. The Philippine economy plunged to -9.5% in 2020, the country's sharpest economic drop since the Philippine Statistics Authority started collecting data on annual growth rates in 1946, due to crippled consumer spending and business activities brought by the COVID-19 pandemic. Houston, March 2 : DeAnn Walker, Chairperson of the Texas Public Utility Commission (PUC) which that regulates the state's electric, telecommunications, and water and sewer utilities, has resigned amid criticism over power outages. The Texas Tribune reported on Monday that Walker provided a resignation letter to the media, reports Xinhua news agency. On Monday, Texas Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick called for Walker and Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) CEO Bill Magness to resign. Appointed by state Governor Greg Abbott, PUC is charged with overseeing ERCOT, a non-profit entity that manages and operates the electricity grid covering most of the state. The two organisations came under public criticism in the aftermath of Texas' recent power crisis that left millions of people in the dark for days and claimed dozens of lives. State lawmakers began to call on the commissioners to resign after hearing testimony from Walker last week, who took little responsibility for the crisis hearings on the power outages. During her testimony to lawmakers, Walker largely deflected blame to ERCOT and Magness, who testified in front of state senators on February 25 before Walker did. DES MOINES, Iowa More than $700,000 in state grants are going toward community improvements in North Iowa. The Iowa Economic Development Authority (IEDA) says $600,000 has been awarded to Cerro Gordo County for youth facility improvements and $109,200 is headed to Howard County to enhance employment transportation services. That money is part of $6.18 million in Community Development Block Grant funding announced for 18 communities across the state. IEDA says grants were made for water/sewer and stormwater infrastructure improvements, housing rehabilitation and employment-related transportation projects. They are awarded based upon the benefit to low- and moderate-income Iowans, financial need, project impact and readiness, and commitment of local resources to the project. Over the border in New York, a cancer patient, a hotel worker, a 65-year-old and someone with obesity are all eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine. Vaccine distribution rollout has been different across the country and even within a few miles, depending on which side of the Connecticut-New York border you may be standing on. New York has prioritized essential workers and people with underlying health conditions or who are 65 and over for the vaccine. Thats more than 7 million people, the state says. In Connecticut, the list is simpler. About 610,000 people became eligible on Monday when school employees and volunteers, child care providers and residents 55 and older qualified for the vaccine in Connecticut. Health care workers, medical first responders, and residents and staff at long-term care facilities and congregate settings were already eligible. The large number of people eligible in New York has created a backlog, somewhat similar to what those in Connecticut experienced Monday when they tried signing up for the vaccine. Still, Gov. Ned Lamont has stated that Connecticuts process will be faster and simpler once the supply, which he expects to arrive soon, is in place. Citing higher death rates among older residents, he argued this system is the quickest way to protect those who are most at risk. Age prioritizes public health and age is simpler, and that means equity, he said during his Monday afternoon news conference. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends states prioritize essential workers and people with underlying health conditions. Each state has adopted its own process, but no one has a sense yet of the most effective way to distribute the vaccine, said Dr. John Murphy, president and CEO of Danbury-based Nuvance Health, a network with seven hospitals in Connecticut and New York. Were conducting 50 experiments right now, he said. It would be important, actually, to step back and maybe the feds can do this and say, Listen there are three really effective ways to do this and here they are. Or maybe theres one way. Maybe next time around, there is a playbook that well all follow together, Murphy said. In Connecticut, it is easier to verify that patients are eligible, he said. Its very easy to produce ID that says this is my date of birth, he said. You dont need a whole lot of extra training to figure out how old somebody is, as opposed to saying OK, so you do have serious pulmonary disease. That is a more nuanced determination. The disadvantage is that a younger Connecticut resident with health problems is at the back of the line, he said. There are not right answers here, Murphy said. Connecticuts goal has been to vaccinate as many people as quickly as possible, he said. Their point of view is: By May everybody is going to be eligible and we will have done the greatest good for the most people, Murphy said. Lamont estimated more than 1 million people in Connecticut have received their first dose as of Monday. Connecticut is within the top five states in the nation in terms of percentage of residents to get their first dose, with the New York Times reporting 20 percent of residents have at least one shot. New York falls toward the end of the list, with 14 percent of residents getting at least the first dose. That state says it has gotten about 250,000 vaccines a week week for more than 7 million people who are eligible. Appointment challenges Among the Connecticut residents in the 55-to-64 age group to sign up on Monday was Ridgefield resident Michael Lordi. He works remotely for an energy company in New York, so he had initially tried to sign up in that state but learned he was not eligible. But he got an appointment in Connecticut for his first dose of the Moderna vaccine on Thursday at CVS and will get the second dose on April 1. His wife, however, was unsuccessful. So, shes not happy with me right now, said Lordi, 58. We both tried at the same time, but it was full. Right now, there is no possibility at this point in time to register in any of the options right now. He has a blood disorder that could put him at higher risk for serious illness from the virus, he said. Lordi moved to Ridgefield from New York City over the summer. He, his wife and 22-year-old daughter had been living in a 29th floor apartment and moved due to COVID-19. The backyard, being able to go outside, was key, said Lordi, adding he had lived in Ridgefield before. Lordi said there should be better collaboration allowing Connecticut residents who work in New York or vice versa to be vaccinated in the other state. That kind of cooperation across the border is important, said George Latimer, county executive of Westchester County. He said Connecticut opening vaccinations to those 55-to-64 is a good sign for those residents. Clearly, for those people who are in that area, 55 to [64], what Connecticut has done has been very supportive, he said during a media briefing on Monday afternoon. Supply challenges Both states have faced supply shortages and have seen residents struggle to get appointments. On Monday, tens of thousands of newly eligible Connecticut residents booked slots, but some could not find available appointments or needed to make one for the end of April. Ten of the 19 state sites listed on New Yorks website do not have appointments available as of Tuesday afternoon. Were dealing in a world of scarce product and high demand and were trying to manage it as best as we can, Latimer said. The Westchester County Department of Health, which serves 25 communities, has vaccinated almost 89,000 people between three clinics, he said. In Danbury, the health department had distributed 5,450 first and second doses as of Monday afternoon. But vaccine supply is getting better, the mayor said. Every week, the dosage amounts are improving, said Danbury Mayor Joe Cavo, adding the number of doses varies each week. Danburys clinic is filled for the next two weeks, but the city plans to add appointments in the future and is scheduling a clinic for 1,000 educators this weekend. A greater allotment of vaccines will help get shots in the arms of more residents, Lamont said. More vaccines helps, the governor said. More vaccines means more appointments. More appointments means more people are satisfied. Right now, we have a supply-and-demand disconnect. In New York, most state sites are open to all who are eligible, but some are limited to people in certain ZIP codes, said Ken Jenkins, deputy county executive in Westchester County. Connecticut has identified 50 ZIP codes and asked providers to ensure at least 25 percent of new vaccines go to vulnerable communities. New York has also set up pop-up clinics with targeted groups at churches, health centers and community organizations, Jenkins said. They are temporary, he said at a Monday news conference. There isnt a place to sign up for them. Those folks get reached out to directly. Pharmacies are for New York residents 65 and older to be vaccinated, Jenkins said. They have been getting between 100 and 200 doses a week, he said. Thats a challenge because there are many, many people that want to have the vaccine, that are eligible for the vaccine, he said. But theres just not the supply to go around. Evangelist Luis Palau now in hospice care as the 'end seems near,' son says Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment Prominent evangelist Luis Palau, who has been battling lung cancer for the past few years, has entered hospice care, his son reported Monday night. Andrew Palau posted a statement to the Luis Palau Facebook page explaining that his 86-year-old father's battle with stage 4 lung cancer "took a turn for the worse" at the start of 2021. "He spent two weeks in the hospital in January, dealing with heart and lung issues. Although the doctors thought they had stabilized his condition and [we're] happy to send him home, he returned to the hospital on Friday, February 19th," stated Palau. "After meeting with doctors, the decision was made to stop all treatment and start on hospice care. All the medications and treatments were proving to be too much for his body to handle." Palau was returned home to spend his final days with his family, the statement notes. We dont know exactly how much time we have left with Dad, but the end seems near, the son added. He is in good spirits and not in pain. We know this is probably hard for you to hear. Please know that the entire family is so thankful for your encouragement, prayers, and friendship. Andrew Palau thanked supporters for their love and prayers. We are all at peace. We serve a good God who loves us beyond compare," Palaus statement continued. "Dad is pushing hard to the finish line just to see each of the grandchildren as his final hearts desire. The Lord knows his actual timing, and Dad keeps reminding us in these last few days, 'As for God, His way is perfect.'" Born in Buenos Aires, Argentina in 1934, Palau moved to the United States in 1960 to engage in ministry work, eventually headquartering his efforts in Portland, Oregon. Overseeing his efforts through the Luis Palau Association, the evangelist was known for gathering large numbers of people for outdoor revival events, often cooperating with local churches. He is also said to have had a close relationship with legendary evangelist Billy Graham, whom he met at the age of 26. Graham invited Palau to speak at several events worldwide over the years. In 2015, Palau brought together more than 1,000 New York City churches to organize around 60,000 people in Central Park for an evangelism event. In 2010, Palau held an event celebrating 50 years of ministry at the Oregon Convention Center, which was attended by figures including Portland Mayor Sam Adams and award-winning music artist Steven Curtis Chapman. Palau posted on his Facebook page at the time that his years in ministry work have been a blessing and privilege. In 2018, the autobiographical film "Palau the Movie" was released depicting the evangelist's life story. In January 2018, Luis and his sons Andrew and Kevin announced that the elderly preacher was diagnosed with lung cancer. To me, the first thing you do is cry, the evangelist said in the announcement. I think 'oh wow, I can be gone in a few months' and one silly thought that came to mind is that I won't be able to pick up the phone and talk to the boys and hear their voice and talk to my wife. "So everything is ready, and if the Lord wants to take me home in the next two months or two years, then I'm ready, he stated. Palau continued to battle over the next couple of years. The evangelist reported in February 2020 that he was actually feeling quite well, with the disease being kept at bay. Its still there to be sure. But the doctors are very optimistic given the way things are going, Palau said in a statement at the time. Andrew Palau's statement echoed an earlier statement the Palau family posted to the website of Christian radio outlet K-LOVE late last week. Factories hum with activity as firms resume output faster than expected Moving back and forth beside an automobile assembly line, Zhang Tianshun conducts vehicle checks before they roll off the production line. "My job is to check the functionality of seven parts of the carfour windows, front and rear wipers and the sunroof. It takes two minutes to test each vehicle, and I need to handle about 200 cars per day. Things are even busier now than before the holiday," Zhang said. This year was the first time Zhang spent Spring Festival away from his hometown of Zhumadian, Henan province. The 19-year-old works at Hefei Chang'an Automobile Co Ltd in Anhui province. Zhang received a combined subsidy of nearly 3,000 yuan ($465) from the Hefei government and the company to stay put during the holiday. To prevent the sporadic resurgence of COVID-19, China encouraged people to stay in place over the holiday this year, which lasted from Feb 11 to Feb 17. The car plant resumed production on Feb 14, after a three-day break, when most people were still celebrating the holiday. More than 1,700 employees, or 85 percent of its staff, clocked in on the first day of work, including over 800 migrant workers who stayed on site during the holiday. The manufacturing capacity has returned to pre-holiday levels, with 600 to 700 vehicles rolling off the production line daily, the company said. "Another production line resumed operations on Feb 17, whose capacity is around 300 units a day. Cars coming from this assembly line will be exported to Saudi Arabia, Chile and Brazil," said Xue Wen, an engineer with the company. Factories across China are traditionally shut down for a couple of weeks during Spring Festival. Thanks to the stay-put measure, many enterprises were able to continue holiday production or resume production quickly after the holiday break. Like the auto factory, China Baowu Taigang Stainless Steel Precision Strip Co Ltd in Shanxi province also saw bustling production activity during the holiday, with more than 100 employees remaining on duty around the clock to handle increasing orders. The company specializes in producing wide super-thin precision stainless steel strips, or "hand-tearable steel", which can be used in folding screens, solar photovoltaic substrates, automobile airbags, high-end coating materials as well as military and aerospace applications. During this year's Spring Festival, the company received a large order from abroad, greatly boosting the morale of employees, said Qu Zhanyou, director of the company's sales department. In the workshop of LONGi Solar Technology Co Ltd in Shaanxi province, over 200 skilled workers were busy manufacturing solar photovoltaic modules after the holiday to complete their orders on time. Solar modules of nearly 2 square meters were churned out after a dozen steps including cutting, welding and pressing. "The output is expected to reach 120,000 modules in February, up about 50 percent compared with the same period last year," said Xie Shundong, general manager of the company's Xi'an module plant. Apart from boisterous production activity, construction of new projects continued or started during the holiday across the country, injecting new impetus into China's economy. On Feb 18, the first workday after the holiday, Anhui announced that a total of 272 projects started construction in the province, with a total investment of over 133 billion yuan, of which 45.3 billion yuan is expected to be implemented this year, according to the provincial development and reform commission. The bustling construction scene can also be seen in the High-tech Zone of Xi'an, Shaanxi province, where manufacturers and engineers were busy moving in and installing equipment to make final preparations for a new Samsung semiconductor memory chip production line. The first phase of the project was put into production in 2014, with an investment of more than $10 billion. Construction of the second phase of the project started in 2018, with an investment of approximately $15 billion. "More than 1,000 equipment manufacturers and engineers are adjusting equipment on site every day to prepare for the operation," said Sang Hyun-yi, vice-president of Samsung China Semiconductor Co Ltd. With the help of the Chinese government, Samsung's memory chip project has withstood the test of the pandemic, achieving an output value of 73.6 billion yuan in 2020, an increase of 43 percent from 2019. During the pandemic, in order to ensure the smooth construction of the second phase of Samsung's memory chip project, Shaanxi opened a "green channel" for international chartered flights to receive more than 3,000 equipment installation engineers for Samsung. Since the beginning of this year, the first phase of the project has been operating smoothly. The second stage of the second phase is advancing steadily, which will launch mass production within the year. At present, all Chinese employees and foreign technical personnel have returned to their posts, Sang said. JACKSON COUNTY, Mississippi -- A St. Martin teenager with a history of mental illness was reported missing Monday, but by Tuesday morning the girl had been found safe in Biloxi. Jackson County Sheriffs Office spokesperson Marcia Hill said Tuesday morning that 14-year-old Olyvya Rebecca Tozer had been found safe in Biloxi. Monday, Sheriff Mike Ezell said Tozer had last been seen Feb. 22, when she reportedly got into a gray or silver 2001 Toyota Camry around 2:30 p.m. at St. Martin High School. Ezell said Tozers family reported she had a history of mental illness, which suggested she could be in danger. Although the JCSO reported Tozer being found, they have yet to provide any information on exactly where she was found, who was driving the Toyota or how officers located her, adding that the investigation was continuing. Hill said Tuesday afternoon more information would be released as it becomes available. Vimean.com scored 41 Social Media Impact. Social Media Impact score is a measure of how much a site is popular on social networks. 2/5.0 Stars by Social Team This CoolSocial report was updated on 27 Jul 2015, you can refresh this analysis whenever you want. The total number of people who shared the vimean homepage on Google Plus by a google +1 button. 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We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Emergency department data shows 'large reduction' in violent injury during lockdown -- but no change in violence in the home The first UK COVID-19 lockdown saw a "rapid and sustained" fall in violence outside the home in the Welsh capital city, a new study led by Cardiff University has shown. Researchers from Cardiff University's Crime and Security Research Institute (CSRI) and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention studied data from Cardiff's sole emergency department (ED) from March to June 2020 and compared it to weekly data from January 2019 onwards. They found there were almost 60% fewer attendances per week for violent injury outside the home in the first lockdown during which time going outside was allowed only for limited reasons like medical need, exercise or food shopping. The researchers also found a significant reduction in the use of weapons and in violence-related ED visits by males of all ages. Contrary to expectation, the analysis found no significant increase in visits resulting from violence inside the home. The findings - the first analysis of violence from this perspective during the COVID-19 pandemic - are published today in the Journal of the American Medical Association. Lead author Professor Jonathan Shepherd, from the CSRI, said: "This sudden fall in violent injury is the largest any of us has ever seen. It's likely to reflect closure of city centre pubs and clubs in and around which most violence takes place, and widespread compliance with lockdown restrictions." The researchers investigated the association between COVID-19 lockdown and ED visits for violence-related injuries using detailed violence screening first implemented in Cardiff two decades ago. They studied violence time, whether it took place inside or outside the home, weapon use, perpetrator type and the age and sex of the injured. They examined visits at Cardiff's only emergency department - at the University Hospital of Wales - for violence-related injury from 1 January 2019 to 9 June 2020. The pre-lockdown period studied was 63 weeks and the lockdown period, 12 weeks. They used a "difference-in-difference" regression model to identify statistically significant changes during lockdown. This model accounted for seasonal changes in the number of attendances. For violence outside the home, they found significant decreases in ED visits during the lockdown of 92% among females under the age of 18 and 65% in males of all ages, and a significant decrease (92%) in those injured with a weapon. While people injured by strangers decreased significantly (65%), numbers of those injured by family members did not change significantly. Regarding violence in the home, no significant change was found in any category. "The lack of evidence of increase in violence in the home during the first UK lockdown is reassuring," said Professor Shepherd. "The massive decrease outside the home but no increase in the home reflects the nature of the two environments. The night-time economy (pubs and clubs and the streets where they are situated) is an environment which facilitates violence and violent injury. "On the other hand, in our study, the home environment is much less conducive to violence and violent injury. People who would have been injured in violence in the night-time economy are not injured in violence when they stay at home." The researchers found that during these first months of the COVID-19 epidemic ED visits for all reasons dropped by 43% relative to the previous year. They said that while fears about catching COVID-19 may have affected the number of violence related ED visits, it is unlikely this affected the overall findings. Cardiff University is due to release an England and Wales analysis of violence during the COVID-19 pandemic next month. ### The study, Association between COVID-19 lockdown measures and emergency department visits for violence-related injuries in Cardiff, Wales, March-June 2020, is attached as a PDF and can be found here after the embargo A graph of the key findings can be found here Professor Jonathan Shepherd is available for interview For further information and interview requests contact: Gerry Holt, comms & marketing, Cardiff University - 029 2087 5596 or HoltG2@cardiff.ac.uk Posted Monday, March 1, 2021 4:48 pm The road that led to the creation of Home Carpet Warehouse, Inc. now one of Southwest Washingtons largest in-stock flooring dealers began when co-founder Jon Vigre took a vacation to Southern California to visit his aunt. His aunt knew a flooring installer who was looking to hire, and who paid better than what Vigre was making in Lewis County at the time. So, at 21 years old, Vigre made the decision to move to California. And I wanted to learn sales, so he (the owner) said to me, if you want to learn sales, youve got to come in on your own time on the weekends, and I did, said Vigre, and in a few years time, I was his top salesperson. Vigre worked at that shop for roughly six years before the business, suffering from the economic recession that followed the Gulf War, shut down. That was when Vigre decided to move back to Lewis County where he opened Home Carpet Warehouse in 1994 alongside his brother, Wayne, who has since passed away. The business quickly outgrew its 1,800 square-foot building on National Avenue, which is now a Staples, and moved to the 5,500 square-foot Sertoma Bingo Hall building in 1996, said Vigre. After another growth spurt in 2001, Home Carpet Warehouse moved to its permanent home in the 20,000 square-foot former-Hilltop Fitness Center on Kresky Avenue, where the business operates today. That large square-footage has made it easier to operate in the COVID-era, said Vigre. Its nice to have a large building so social distancing is easy, he said. Staffing was reduced to a skeleton crew in the early days of the pandemic, but all of the regular staff have since been hired back. Weve been in recovery ever since we were OKed to go back to work, Vigre said. We adapted to it and were doing fine now. Home Carpet Warehouse offers customers a wide variety of flooring types to choose from, with over 150 full rolls of carpet and almost 100 full rolls of vinyl in-house, along with laminate, hardwood and ceramic tile floors. Clients can choose to have installation completed by an in-house installer or choose from a list of contracted installers. And Home Carpet Warehouse doesnt limit itself to just flooring they also offer kitchen and bathroom cabinets and countertops, and even have a designer who can help customers figure out the best options for their kitchen or bathroom based on the rooms layout. Financing and free home estimates are also available. More Information on Home Carpet Warehouse, Inc. Location: 1793 NE Kresky Ave., Chehalis Phone: 360-245-2264 Hours: 8:30 a.m.-5 p.m., Monday through Friday; 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. Saturday Website: www.homecarpet.net M ichael Stuhlbarg was in between shows, as Socrates in Tim Blake Nelsons 2019 play, when he was besieged by a bus load of Call Me by Your Name fans in New York. They called themselves the Peaches, recalls the 52-year-old. There must have been about 60 people. They wanted to express their thanks for the film but also for the performance. It was like having an enormously warm hug from a bunch of strangers out of the middle of nowhere. Im not surprised they wanted to speak to him. Though egregiously overlooked by the Academy, Stuhlbargs acclaimed performance in Luca Guadigninos sensual gay love story found his character anointed Best Dad Ever on many an Instagram and Twitter post. As Timothee Chalamets father, a watchful archaeology professor who intuits his sons sexual awakening and doesnt judge or condescend, Stulhbarg is by turns subtle and unflashy, at the end delivering a graceful, career-high soliloquy, rich in humility and heart-pinching pathos. In my place, most parents would hope the whole thing goes away, to pray that their sons land on their feet, his character says, alluding to his sons relationship with another man. But I am not such a parent. In your place, if there is pain, nurse it. And if there is a flame, dont snuff it out. Dont be brutal with it. We rip out so much of ourselves to be cured of things faster, that we go bankrupt by the age of 30 and have less to offer each time we start with someone new. But to make yourself feel nothing so as not to feel anything what a waste! The monologue, Stuhlbarg tells me from his home in New York, has had the greatest impact on me out of everything Ive done. Its been a gift that keeps on giving for me. This sort of gentle self-reflection crops up a lot when talking to Stuhlbarg. Every answer is thoughtful and considered; pauses linger. Even on Zoom you can tell exactly why on-screen he trades in restraint. But theres also an air that combines compassion with erudition qualities in his professor in Call Me by Your Name. At the 2018 Oscars, Call Me by Your Name was one of three films featuring Stuhlbarg to be nominated for Best Picture. In the other two, The Post and The Shape of Water (which won), he again elevated the material with sterling character work. Alas, he wasnt nominated once. I ask him if that stung. Its thrilling to have your name even thrown around under those circumstances, he explains softly, because they werent made in any kind of succession that youd imagine that they would come out around the same time. So, no, to answer your question. Were here, on my laptop screen, to discuss Your Honor, a taut new 10-part drama beginning on Sky Atlantic tonight. Adapted from the Israeli series Kvodo by British screenwriter Peter Moffat, it has an ingenious premise: Michael Desiato (Bryan Cranston), a well-respected judge in New Orleans, is faced with a moral dilemma when his teenage son kills another young man in a gruesome hit-and-run accident. Initially instructing his son to lawyer up and come clean, Desiato swiftly changes his mind when he learns that the victims father is Jimmy Baxter (Stuhlbarg), a local mafioso bent on revenge. From then on Desiato commits one crime after another, as he draws on all his legal nous to desperately cover up his sons manslaughter. As Jimmy Baxter in Your Honor (Skip Bolen/Showtime) In that respect, there are obvious parallels to AMCs Breaking Bad, in that Your Honor has Cranston again playing an ethically upstanding man pressed to protect his family, sucked deeper and deeper into a quagmire of crime and corruption. Stuhlbarg says the comparisons are inevitable. But, he adds, there are layers to Cranstons performance here that suggest Desiato may have already had a dark side whereas Breaking Bads Walter White, a nebbishy chemistry teacher turned ruthless drug lord, was more of a pure person, before a terminal cancer diagnosis prompted him to get inventive in an effort to leave a nest egg for his family. There are wonderful tiny details in what Bryan does here that suck you in when watching. As for Stuhlbargs performance well, hes just as compelling, playing Baxter as a coiled spring of a man: pained, quietly menacing and capable of paroxysms of rage. Fleshing out the details of his character, he says, was very much a collaborative process, particularly with Moffat, a former barrister whos written several legal dramas including Criminal Justice and Silk. The biography that Peter and I constructed together for his background story was so multi-layered that it was not as one dimensional as just being called the mob boss, he explains. There were a lot of elements to Jimmy Baxters story that were left by the wayside but we spent some very good time together collaborating on who he is, what his family dynamics are, where his money comes from, how he spends his days. Stuhlbarg speaks extensively and meticulously about the craft of acting. An alumnus of Juilliard, UCLA, Oxfords British American Drama Academy, and the National Youth Theatre, he spent years training to get where he is now, even studying mime at the University of Michigan, for one summer, with Marcel Marceau. Growing up in Long Beach, California, he first fell in love with acting aged 11, when he joined the community centres summer theatre school in the hope of designing, building and painting sets. He ended up being in the chorus to sing America the Beautiful. As Larry in A Serious Man (Mike Zoss Prods/Kobal/Shutterstock) In his early twenties, he headed east to New York, and quietly, assiduously made a name for himself on stage. His first big break on Broadway was a starring role in Martin McDonaghs The Pillowman (2005), a macabre black comedy featuring torture, dismemberment and child molestation that McDonaghs own mother described as horrific. Stuhlbargs performance, noted New York Magazine, should finally win over even those who, unlike some of us, have consistently underappreciated his many-sided talent. Around that time, Stuhlbarg volunteered for a childrens theatre company in New York, where he met Frances McDormand. When they were cast together in a workshop, he caught the attention of her husband, the director Joel Coen. Frances knew me well, and I imagine one way or another, they had come to see me in some things, says Stuhlbarg in typically self-effacing fashion. He was an unknown outside of theatre, and completely unprepared for acting on camera, but Coen took a punt. He cast him as the lead in his new film, A Serious Man (2009). Stuhlbargs role as a timid Jewish physics professor turned him into a movie star overnight; glowing reviews observed how he seemed to have come out of nowhere. It was my first experience in front of the camera, says Stuhlbarg now. It opened me up to a whole swathe of people who didnt know who I was, because there was nothing out there on television or in films for them to see. After that, there was no looking back. He worked with Martin Scorsese (as a studious film expert in Hugo), Steven Spielberg (as a Kentucky Democrat in Lincoln) and Danny Boyle (as a key player in the early history of Apple in Steve Jobs). He played a multi-millionaire gangster for four seasons of HBOs Boardwalk Empire, and Hollywood star Edward G Robinson (opposite Cranston) in Jay Roachs Trumbo (2015). By the time those three Best Picture nominees came around in 2017, he was one of the most respected actors around. As for what comes next, speculation has been rife about a sequel to Call Me by Your Name, which already exists in book form. Andre Acimans 2018 novel Find Me gives far more focus to Stuhlbargs character, Samuel, than the first book. Stuhlbarg cant say much about it yet, just that everybody wants it to happen. Luca [Guadagnino] has a whole array of projects in front of him. I imagine theyre going to take their time, but I do hope it happens. With Amira Casar, Armie Hammer and Timothee Chalamet in Call Me by Your Name (Frenesy Film Co/Sony/Kobal/Shutterstock) Theres a danger right now that the controversy surrounding Armie Hammer hes been accused by several women of emotional abuse, manipulation and coercion (a lawyer for the actor has described the allegations as patently untrue) could end up derailing the project, though Stuhlbarg believes the scandal will blow through. Still, it wouldnt be his first film to be cancelled because of problems involving a co-star: the Netflix biopic Gore, starring Kevin Spacey as Gore Vidal opposite Stuhlbarg as his partner, was pulled in 2017 after the sexual assault allegations against Spacey blew up. I had a wonderful experience making that film, he reminisces. And I do hope some day it can be seen for what it was meant to be. Its unfortunate, as for what happened, but also for the work the hundreds of us who put our time and effort into telling that story. I will wait and see what happens. Is there a period of time after which its OK to watch the art of people accused of bad things? Thats a constant question for all of us, isnt it? he muses. If you didnt know something about someone, and you saw something they made, you would have one opinion. And then if you learn things about them, they may put you off. Thats one of the enormous questions we have going on in our lives right now. Well see, he says. Well see. Your Honor begins on Sky Atlantic and NOW TV tonight The US Army creates a 'THOR' Microwave Anti-Drone Weapon, which is made to knock out enemy drones. The anticipation of future weapons like drones for use against troops and equipment is something out of a sci-fi movie. Drone technology has advanced that the development of swarming drones is becoming a threat in real combat. So, energy weapons that can take them down in one go are vital. Advanced energy weapons The US Army will be testing a microwave hurling weapon called 'THOR,' which is made to cancel out enemy drone swarms, and will be ready soon. THOR is based on a new weapon that uses microwaves that is the same in principle as a laser, reported Eurasian Times. Army officials say the testing will be done on-site at the New Mexico's Kirtland Air Force Base (AFB), where it will be evaluated. It is made to defend against drone swarms that might threaten and overwhelm military installations that are not prepared for them. Sheer numbers of drones can overrun bases if unprepared. THOR is a prototype directed energy weapon used to disable the electronics in #drones & is specifically engineered to counter multiple targets such as a drone swarm with rapid results. @AFResearchLab @USArmy https://t.co/ar0B0nUO8W U.S. Air Force Materiel Command (@HQ_AFMC) February 23, 2021 Sources say that Tactical High Power Operational Responder (THOR) was developed and built at the Air Force Research Laboratory's Directed Energy Directorate (AFRL-ED)at Kirtland Air Force Base (AFB). Initial reports about the energy-based defense weapon are for airbase protection against drones. What is THOR? THOR is a Microwave Anti-Drone Weapon device focused microwaves like sound, lasers, or microwaves hitting a target. It is like a heat ray that is electromagnetic in nature that causes water to boil under the skin. It uses any direct power source that it can connect to; it is similar to heat rays. Also read: US Sea Guardian Drone Integrates Seaspray AESA Maritime Radar, Improves Reconnoitering Abilities According to reports last year in December, China had used a similar type of weapon on the China-India border. But it is not confirmed if China really has the technology to make it. Lasers and Microwave Arms Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) or drones are part of modern warfare for today's combat. The list of nations that have it includes the US, Israel, Turkey, China, and the United Kingdom. They use UAVs in combat, recon, and surveillance or ISR. Drones come in all shapes and sizes, but autonomous to the military-grade drones like the 47.6 feet long Northrop Grumman RQ-4, which many armies use. Drones are perfect for terrorists and enemies of democracy, which is portable enough to assault military or civilian populations. Increased threats by terror elements Incidents of drone attacks have increased globally by those intent to terrorize or kill anyone. Developing THOR will enable defenses that will lessen the danger to military and civilians alike. Laser weapons like THOR will give the US Army another advantage in having energy-based weapons before its adversaries that work. Military officials have observed the new system in action at Kirtland (AFB). Investment in the Army's acquisition of microwave and laser weapons will be a defense against attacks. Getting more combat systems and tools will give the US a high-tech edge. The use of both laser and microwave energy weapons will layer defenses to cope with many US assets threats. The US Army will use a defensive combo of lasers killing on target or Microwave Anti-Drone Weapon for multiple targets. These high-tech systems will be fielded soon as part of the US arsenal. Related article: Top Secret Unmanned Aircraft System Built by Lockheed Martin, Is it Ready for Flight? @ 2021 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. The Oregon Brewers Festival has been canceled for the second consecutive year because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Art Larrance, who founded the festival in 1988, said the decision was made Monday night to skip a second year because, despite virus numbers dropping and vaccines becoming more available, there isnt enough time to get the event organized. Portlands signature gathering of craft breweries has grown to become one of the largest on the West Coast, attracting over 50,000 attendees annually. The brewers need time to get their brews lined up, and all the people that help us need to make their schedules, Larrance said. Youve got to plan way out in advance. You just dont go put one together in one day. The festival had been scheduled for July 28-31 at its venue for decades, downtowns Tom McCall Waterfront Park along the Willamette River. Organizers had said they were waiting until April to make a decision on this years event, but Larrance said the uncertainly with COVID prevented holding the festival this summer. Brewpublic first reported the cancellation. Theres just not enough time, he said. Not blaming anyone, just the facts of life. Larrance said he has considered pushing the festival back to fall, but that possibility also holds a lot of uncertainty. I talked to the city, but theyre not making any commitments to anyone at this time, he said. So we dont know about park availability or anything else. Theres lots of other events out there. Were all in the same boat, he said. Maybe we could do something in the fall, we dont know. My crystal ball is broken. Several other big summer events around the Portland area and across Oregon also have already canceled for 2021. The big Fourth of July fireworks display at Fort Vancouver announced at the beginning of February that the show would not go on this summer, followed days later by the cancellation of the Oregon International Air Show in Hillsboro (though the events McMinnville event is still on). Two of the biggest summer events on the Oregon coast, the Cannon Beach Sandcastle Contest and the Lincoln City Summer Kite Festival, also canceled their 2021 events this winter. Debbie Nelson, lead organizer of the sandcastle contest, said this summers event will once again be virtual, inviting people to submit their own sand creations wherever they live. Canceling for 2021 was ultimately an easy call, she said, as the COVID-19 risk level continues to oscillate in Clatsop County, changing what gatherings are allowed. A restaurant in Cannon Beach cant even be at full capacity, how can you have this on the beach? Nelson said. Other summer events are remaining resolute in their plans to go on in 2021. Organizers of the Chief Joseph Days Rodeo in northeast Oregon have said the event will be back the last week of July, with plans for parades, parties and the rodeo itself. The nearby Pendleton Round-Up has also said that plans are underway for a safe and healthy rodeo in September. Several major events have yet to make a decision either way. Chief among them is the Portland Rose Festival, which usually involves multiple parades and a weeks-long downtown fair, among other events, at the end of spring. Rich Jarvis, spokesman for the Portland Rose Festival Foundation, said the organization is planning to come to a decision about 2021 by the middle of March. At the very least, the festival will include events from the truncated 2020 schedule, like the virtual parades and an outdoor coronation of the Rose Festival queen. Weve been consulting with literally everybody, including public health experts, city officials and sponsors, Jarvis said. Were looking forward to be able to move ahead with whatever were able to do. The Oregon Brewers Festival becomes the second beer festival canceled this year, after the Portand Craft Beer Festival recently called off this years event because of COVID. The festival, which at its peak attracted as many as 85,000 people through the gates, had seen attendance decline in recent years. The COVID cancellations have added another layer of struggles, but Larrance said hell do whatever he can in the future. Im not trying to make something out of nothing, he said. You just have to rock n roll. We had a great time with it, some great years. We dont know if itll ever bounce back to what it was, but well see. Reporter Jamie Hale contributed to this report. -- Andre Meunier; ameunier@oregonian.com Subscribe to Andres text service and get ongoing alerts about beer releases and news from the Portland and Oregon beer scene. And check out Andres beer reviews on Untappd, where hes andremeunier13, and follow him on Instagram, where hes @oregonianbeerguy. MANZINI Some Members of Parliament (MPs) have proposed that government should consider setting up a fund at constituency level that would be used by the legislators to transport constituents to hospital. The legislators claimed to be feeling the pinch due to the shortage of ambulances in the country. The interviewed legislators purported that the shortage of ambulances in the country was a drain to their financial resources as the destitute public looked up to them to ferry their family members when in need of the emergency vehicles. Transportation The MPs who were engaged by this publication claimed that on a daily basis, there was a request for transportation, either to the nearest clinic and or hospital. With this need, they claimed that the challenge was that most communities were afar from health facilities, thus proving to be a costly exercise for them. Mostly, the legislators claimed, was the need for transportation by the electorate who could not even afford to contribute to the fuel for their transportation. This, they said, had created a challenge for them as regardless of their financial standing at their particular instance, they were coerced to transport those in need. The legislators proposed that government should also look into establishing a fund that would be administered by constituencies. This fund, they proposed, could assist in the legislators claiming where need be, for fuel of transporting the public. Lomahasha Constituency MP Ndumiso Masimula said yesterday he had to send money to someone who was seeking assistance as she was in labour. Masimula said due to that he could not offer the service as he was afar, he had to offer money so that the constituent could hire a vehicle to ferry her to hospital. In my constituency, its even worse as there are reported cases of malaria which cause those suffering from it to exhibit symptoms similar to COVID-19 and, therefore, they need transportation to medical facilities, Masimula said. He said such constant need for transport to medical facilities was a challenge as there were no ambulances and government should look into affording them a fund that would cushion their expenditure. Also relaying the same frustration was Siphofaneni Constituency MP Mduduzi Simelane. He said to attend to the constant need for ambulances, which were not available, he had bought two vehicles. However, he said the constant challenge he faced was that the public benefitting from using them (vehicles)their use did not afford to refuel them as some were destitute. Simelane said those who afforded to contribute towards fuel did so; however, a challenge was when there was no nearby vehicle to refuel. There are no ambulances in my area (Siphofaneni) and we need assistance from government, Simelane said. He said the delay in the procurement of ambulances was equivalent as dicing with peoples lives as it was an essential service that needed to be availed to the citizenry. Simelane said each passing day without ambulances was a threat to the lives of the citizenry and government needed to sort the challenges. Meanwhile, Nkwene Constituency MP Philemon Nhleko said government also needed to consider introducing mobile clinics. He said this would minimise the need by the public to seek transportation to nearby clinics as some ailments could be detected earlier and giving people enough time to travel to hospital. In his constituency, he said, a minor died following a snakebite as there was no transport to ferry the child to hospital. Nhleko said such was disheartening as it watered down the great strides taken by government towards offering services to the populace. Richwood, TX (77531) Today Variable clouds with thunderstorms, especially during the afternoon hours. High 84F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 50%.. Tonight Cloudy skies this evening followed by scattered showers and thunderstorms overnight. Low 73F. Winds SSW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 40%. Related departments of China's central authorities held a symposium from Sunday to Monday in the city of Shenzhen to hear opinions on improving systems related to "patriots governing Hong Kong." Xia Baolong, vice chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and head of the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of the State Council, attended the symposium, which heard opinions of representatives from various sectors of Hong Kong society. Representatives from sectors including industry and trade, finance, professional services and labor, as well as from the government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR), spoke at the symposium. Attendees to the symposium said the effective implementation of "patriots governing Hong Kong" is a prerequisite for the full and faithful implementation of the "one country, two systems" principle. One of the root causes of the chaos afflicting the social and political arenas of Hong Kong is the fact that the principle of "patriots governing Hong Kong" has yet to be fully implemented, the attendees said. Prompt measures must be taken to improve the electoral and other systems of Hong Kong in accordance with the law, while respecting the leading role of the central authorities on the electoral system, they said. Comprehensive measures must also be taken in terms of stepping up the appraisal and selection of governing personnel, strengthening citizenship education and improving the climate of public opinion, among other steps, they said. The attendees offered specific suggestions for improving electoral and other systems of the Hong Kong SAR. Reiterating the central authorities' unswerving determination in implementing the "one country, two systems" principle, Xia said the comprehensive implementation of "patriots governing Hong Kong" is the key to achieving the steady and sustained development of "one country, two systems" practice. Related systems must be improved to ensure that the bodies of power in Hong Kong are run by genuine patriots, Xia said. The central authorities will continue to listen to opinions and suggestions from people from all walks of life in Hong Kong on further improving related systems, he said. Charli DAmelio is the most followed person on TikTok. She used to be an average teenager from Connecticut but now has a huge social media platform. Its sometimes easy to forget that DAmelio is still technically in high school and juggling a career alongside her schoolwork. However, it seems fame has also had adverse effect on her grades. Charli DAmelio | Jason Kempin/Getty Images What school does Charli DAmelio attend? According to her father Marc DAmelios election profile, DAmelio used to attend King School, a private institution in Stamford, Connecticut. Her older sister Dixie graduated from the school in 2020. However, DAmelio has since switched to online learning to accommodate her busy schedule. As she told Variety last year, Im able to work my hours of schooling around that and I can do them a little bit earlier and get them done. Interestingly, DAmelio started her online schooling months before the country went into lockdown because of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Everyone was like, Did you drop out of school? I was like, No, I do online school, she shared. They were like, Thats not real school, and now everyones doing it. Why Charli DAmelio says she is currently failing every class RELATED: TikTok Star Charli DAmelio Says She Was Called Ugly Compared to Her Sister Dixie Online schooling can be tough for a number of reasons, and it seems DAmelio is struggling with it as well. During a recent appearance on David Dobriks Views podcast with Dixie, DAmelio revealed that her grades are not exactly impressive. Right now, Im working a lot, so its obviously hard to fit everything in, she admits. Then, she adds that she is failing every class. However, DAmelio shares that she is still trying to figure out how to balance her schoolwork with her career. Its not my fault, she says. I thought it was, like, a flexible school where I didnt have to Im doing an extreme school curriculum, so its like six classes a day. When Dixie comments that the course load is normal, DAmelio rebuts, No, but Im also working a full-time job. DAmelio adds, So were figuring out the new school thing, but I was trying really, really hard, and things just kind of got a bit ahead of meas it did with most kids who are doing online school right now. Charli DAmelio felt uncomfortable with her online fame when she went to an in-person school RELATED: Fans Slam TikTok Stars Charli and Dixie DAmelio for Acting Spoiled In a New Video It seems online schooling is also good for DAmelio in the fact that she can have more privacy than in an in-person school. She shared with Variety that when she began getting popular on TikTok, there were uncomfortable moments at school. At first, it was really uncomfortable because when TikTok started, it was kind of like, Oh, youre on TikTok? Thats weird, DAmelio explained. So I wouldnt tell people. Someone would come up to me and maybe ask for a picture and then someone else would be like, Oh, how do they know you? Like, what are you from? I was like, Oh, I do social media. I dont know, and I would get super uncomfortable. Eventually, DAmelio got less self-conscious about her TikTok fame, but she still enjoys the flexibility of online schooling. After James rejected Cuomo's proposal Sunday afternoon, the governor conceded. He agreed to an official referral of the matter to James' office, which would allow the attorney general to oversee the inquiry. James said an outside law firm would handle the investigation. The attorney general's office confirmed Monday that it received the referral from the governor. Boylan, who was an aide to Cuomo from 2015 to 2018, said the governor gave her an unwanted kiss after a meeting with him in his New York City office. She also recounted a story in which Cuomo told passengers, including Boylan, on a state plane, "Let's play strip poker." Bennett, who worked for the Cuomo administration as an executive assistant and health policy adviser until November, said she was harassed by the governor during a meeting with him at his Capitol office in Albany. She told the New York Times that Cuomo asked her personal questions and made comments about being open to relationships with women in their 20s. Cuomo said in a statement that he "never made advances toward Ms. Bennett nor did I ever intend to act in any way that was inappropriate." After the story about Bennett's allegations, there were bipartisan calls for an investigation. Some lawmakers think Cuomo should resign. The Daily Beast Photo Illustration by The Daily Beast/GettyMike Lindell, the MyPillow CEO and Trumpist conspiracy-peddler, flew his private jet to the Republican Governors Association meeting the other day.The guvs promptly threw him out. But the incident got Molly Jong-Fast thinking: Does the MyPillow CEO think hes already a governor or something?Subscribe to The New Abnormal on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Amazon Music, or Overcast. To listen to our weekly members-only bonus episodes, join Beast Inside here. Already a member? You can listen here and sign up for new episode email alerts here.Spoiler: Making MyPillows does not make you my governor. Now, chances that Mike Lindell could actually become governor of a small Republican state, 80 percent, she quips on the latest episode of The New Abnormal. Like, its not even that hard for someone that famous and insane in the Republican party to become a governor.Lindell claims he wouldnt run to be a dogcatcher right now, because he doesnt trust the voting machines. Plus, hes from the blue state of Minnesota. So maybe the risk of a Governor Pillow isnt quite so high. But L.A. Times columnist Virginia Heffernan would like to quickly add something about Mike Lindell being a cosplay governor.I think we need to understand that being in politics leads to governing and governing is boring. It is not a PR operation, she says. And I feel like we have made these jobs celebrity roles. Public service should not beis notbeing on a reality show.Like, I feel like we need to really dial down the razzle-dazzle, really play up the drudgery, Heffernan continues. I just don't know why every single industrialist and every single lady with abs or gorgeous arms would want to be, of all things, a governor.Biden, Heffernan opines, is doing a pretty good job at the drudgerydollars going out, jabs going out, all leading to Trump signs going down. Sure, the Donald has his cultists, like Lindell. But, I don't think people can hold onto this much insanity for this long, especially when it's a tiny minority of people who believe it, Heffernan adds. Democrats need to know how to win.To which Jong-Fast replies, oh-so-gently: Are you freakin kidding me? With all of these Republican attempts to retcon the Capitol riots? To chop away at the right to vote? To instantiate their ability to overturn elections? All while Team Biden snoozes it away? The Democrats are bringing an ice cream sundae to a knife fight, Jong-Fast says.Plus! Politicos Tara Palmeri talks about her search to find Liz Cheney supporters in Wyoming. And Battle for the Soul author Edward-Isaac Dovere gives us a peek into how Biden sees the political landscape. The presidency that he has in front of him now, he knows, is so different from what he ever expected to have, Dovere says, And part of that is rethinking how he incorporates the progressivism within the party that took root and that was so much part of this campaign. And its just, its a really complicated evolution for him. Its not the presidency he thought itd be running in 2019 when he got into this race.Read more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more. Ukraine plans to strengthen cooperation with the NATO Trust Fund for the medical rehabilitation of military personnel, the Ministry of Social Policy press service said. "On March 1, 2021, under the chairmanship of Deputy Minister of Social Policy Vitaliy Muzychenko, a regular meeting of the Coordinating Council of the NATO Trust Fund on physical rehabilitation (prosthetics) of servicemen wounded in the anti-terrorist operation was held," the ministry said in the statement. The ministry's press service said that the task of the project is to rehabilitate seriously wounded active military personnel, participants in hostilities in the ATO/JFO area in order to ensure that they can continue their military service. It is noted that the members of the NATO Trust Fund supported this initiative and decided to prepare preliminary lists of servicemen in need of rehabilitation for assessment by Dutch specialists. It is also said that the meeting discussed the prospects for the implementation of new initiatives of this project for the period 2021-2022. In particular, ten new initiatives were supported from the Ministry of Social Policy, the Ministry for Veterans Affairs, the Ministry of Defense, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the National Guard, the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Education and Science, as well as the Plenipotentiary of the President of Ukraine for the rehabilitation of combatants. These initiatives include: extension of the project implementation period, professional training and education of specialists in prosthetics and orthotics in Ukraine, as a result of which specialists will be trained on the basis of the Ukrainian Research Institute of Prosthetics, Prosthetics and Rehabilitation of Kharkiv National University of Radio Electronics in cooperation with the German educational school P&O Human Study in accordance with the internationally recognized ISPO Category AI standards, which will be able to produce prosthetic products using the latest technologies; procurement of medical equipment for institutions for the treatment (rehabilitation) of veterans subordinate to the Ministry of Defense, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Ministry of Veteran Affairs, the Ministry of Health; professional training (advanced training) and exchange of experience of medical personnel. Under pressure: Danone has agreed to ditch its stake in a Chinese dairy business Danone has bowed to activist pressure and agreed to ditch its stake in a Chinese dairy business. The consumer goods giant that makes Activia yoghurt has been facing calls to sell assets following poor performance from its shares, which lost a quarter of their value since the start of the year. Yesterday bosses caved to pressure from investors such as Artisan Partners and said they planned to take steps towards selling shares in Hong-Kong listed China Mengniu Dairy Co, thought to be worth 740million. Artisan has called for chief executive and chairman Emmanuel Faber to go and claimed that Danones latest annual results exhibited a continuation of poor performance. It has urged bosses to sell non-core assets and return more value to shareholders. Haiti - Politic : Vietnam calls on the parties to prepare well for the elections During a videoconference meeting of the UN Security Council on the situation in Haiti, Minister Counselor Nguyen Phuong Tra, Deputy Head of the Vietnam Mission to the United Nations, asked stakeholders in Haiti to prepare for the elections to be fair and transparent. "Vietnam calls on the international community, including the countries of the region, to continue supporting the political process in Haiti and to help Haitians resolve the current difficulties," said Phuong Tra. The Vietnamese representative welcomed the implementation by the United Nations Integrated Office in Haiti (BINUH) of measures to support local populations in recent times, and suggested that BINUH and the United Nations Working Group seek concrete solutions to urgent matters, in particular those related to the elections and the security of the inhabitants. As planned, the Haitian Government will hold a referendum on constitutional reform next June https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-33094-haiti-flash-the-referendum-postponed-by-2-months-official.html ( initially planned for April) next April and the organization of the elections in September. UN member countries condemned acts of violence, attacks and kidnappings against civilians, especially women and children, and called on the Government and political parties to engage in dialogue to reach consensus on the next elections. HL/ HaitiLibre Chinese President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, addresses the opening of a training session for young and middle-aged officials at the Party School of the CPC Central Committee (National Academy of Governance), March 1, 2021. (Xinhua/Wang Ye) BEIJING, March 1 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping on Monday called on young officials to carry on the glorious traditions and fine conduct of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and make contributions to fully building a modern socialist country. Xi, also general secretary of the CPC Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, made the remarks while addressing the opening of a training session for young and middle-aged officials at the Party School of the CPC Central Committee (National Academy of Governance). "Whether in the past, present or future, the glorious traditions and fine conduct of the CPC are always a precious spiritual treasure, inspiring us to brave hardships and move forward," Xi said. Xi noted that the CPC has fostered and upheld its traditions and fine conduct, which constitutes an important element of the Party's success in uniting and leading all the Chinese people to achieve the great accomplishments in the causes of revolution, construction and reform. He said that China is at a critical moment for realizing national rejuvenation, and there are still many difficulties and challenges facing the Party on the path ahead, stressing that the Party's conduct must be further improved. Xi underscored loyalty to the Party as the primary political character of a Party member, calling on young officials to learn from the older generations, continuously reinforce their faith, and demonstrate their loyalty through practical actions. Xi called for assiduous study of the basic tenets of Marxism and the theories developed by the Party in the new era, which will help young officials to conquer their confusion and better adapt their way of thinking and ethos to the needs of the Party's cause. Young officials should always seek truth from facts, be down-to-earth, and remain honest, Xi noted. Xi stressed that young officials should understand from the very beginning and always keep in mind that the people come before all else. Young officials should be active in spotting their own weaknesses and shortcomings and have the courage to rectify them, said Xi, adding that they should also help their fellow comrades in this regard. Noting that on a new journey to fully build a modern socialist China, there will be no fewer risks and challenges than before, Xi called on young officials to face hardships head on, learn how to overcome them and gain experience through practice. Young officials must inherit the spirit of working hard and leading a simple life, while steering clear of hedonism and extravagance with firm resolution, said Xi. Wang Huning, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and a member of the Secretariat of the CPC Central Committee, attended the event. A federal judge in Mexico has approved an arrest warrant for a former governor and his daughter, on allegations of laundering money. According to the country's Attorney General's Office, Roberto Sandoval, and his daughter, Lidy Sandoval, also have direct ties to the Jalisco New Generation Cartel. Roberto Sandoval governed the Pacific coast state of Nayarit from 2011 to 2017, and during that time, he and and his former state attorney general, Edgar Veytia, were allegedly involved in a string of crimes that included murder, abduction, illicit enrichment, robbery, threats and extortion. Veytia, a dual citizen of Mexico and the United States, was arrested in March 2017 by U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents at the Cross Border Xpress airport terminal, which links San Diego to Tijuana International Airport. In September 2019, Veytia, who was raised and attended school in San Diego, was sentenced to 20 years in prison and fined $1 million after he pleaded guilt to 'international heroin, cocaine, methamphetamine and marijuana manufacturing and distribution conspiracy responsible for importing illegal drugs from Mexico to the United States.' The Mexican government obtained an arrest warrant Roberto Sandoval on Monday. Sandoval, the former governor of the state of Nayarit, is accused of money laundering Lidy Sandoval, the daughter of former Nayarit governor Roberto Sandoval, is also wanted by the Mexican government Mexico's Office of the Attorney General revealed that Sandoval had bought real estate properties that were placed under the name of Lidy Sandoval, however, she had 'no way of covering these types of expenses since she was a university student.' The Office of the Attorney General's said in a statement Monday: 'The judge considered that the crime that is the subject of the request for the arrest warrant is of special relevance and social impact, given the excessive amount of operations reported to the economic detriment of the public finances of Nayarit. 'In addition, there is evidence, both in the [state] and federal courts, of their alleged relationship with various people who have been detained in a foreign country for crimes related to organized crime.' U.S. Department of Treasury in May 2019 sanctioned Roberto Sandoval under the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act, which focuses on 'perpetrators of serious human rights abuse and corruption' Former Nayarit governor Roberto Sandoval and his wife Ana Lopez. In May 2019, the U.S. Department of Treasury sanctioned the Sandoval, accusing him of diverting state funds and taking payments from the Beltran Leyva Organization and the Jalisco New Generation cartel. His wife and two children were also sanctioned Pablo Sandoval (top left), Roberto Sandoval (top right), Ana Lopez (bottom left) and Lily Sandoval (bottom right) are all banned from receiving visas to enter the United States The AG's office is also currently providing protection for 10 witnesses who testified against the former governor and Veytia following the February 8 arson of a restaurant owned by one of the witnesses who in December 2020 accused the pair of setting up and participating their kidnappings and tortures. That same month, the Nayarit state prosecutors' office seized two properties that were valued at $8.2 million and illegally obtained by Sandoval. One of the properties was a 40,000 square-foot ranch in Tepic, the capital of Nayarit. Authorities also seized the headquarter building of a foundation that specialized in the physical rehabilitation of children. Sandoval; his daughter Lily Sandoval; his wife, Ana Lopez Torres; and his son, Pablo Sandoval, have been barred from entering the United States since February 2020. The Nayarit State Attorney General issued an order in December 2020 that led to the seizure of two properties, including a ranch (pictured) that was reportedly purchased by former governor Roberto Sandoval with illicit money The Nayarit State Attorney General's Office also confiscated from former governor Roberto Sandoval a property in the capital city of Tepic that served as a rehabilitation site for children Former Nayarit, Mexico, governor Roberto Sandoval has been linked to the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, one of the most powerful criminal organizations in the country Former U.S. Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo then said that Sandoval 'misappropriated state assets and received bribes' from the Beltran Leyva Organization and the Jalisco New Generation cartel, who in return were rewarded with 'information and protection.' The 2020 ruling was a result of the former governor and his family having been sanctioned by the U.S. Department of Treasury in May 2019. Sandoval was sanctioned under the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act, which focuses on 'perpetrators of serious human rights abuse and corruption.' Lindsey is the North Augusta reporter at the Aiken Standard and North Augusta Star. She graduated from the University of South Carolina in 2017, and grew up in Hodges, SC. The RTE Short Story Competition 2021 in honour of Francis MacManus is now open for entries, the broadcaster announced today. Writers have until Friday, May 7 to submit their short story to the competition, which will be judged by writers Lisa McInerney, Declan Hughes and Lucy Caldwell. Since its inception 35 years ago, the RTE Short Story Competition has been a critically important launchpad for new and emerging writers in Ireland. Set up in 1986 to honour writer and broadcaster Francis MacManus, the competition recognises and rewards the best new Irish fiction writing for radio. Ten stories will be shortlisted and broadcast with a top prize of 3,000 on offer. Last years competition, which coincided with Irelands first Covid-19 lockdown, attracted record numbers of entries with over 4,000 submissions. Lisa McInerney, Judge for 2021, said: "I'm delighted to join the judging panel for this competition, not least because it acknowledges the short story as oral as well as written tradition. One of the reasons Irish people have such an affinity for the short story, I think, is our lively, playful vernacular, our love of timing and tall tales, and commanding the attention of an audience. What I love to find in a short story is a fresh twist in the telling, whether through a clever turn of phrase, or special clarity of character. And all the better if we can hear the heart beating in every sentence." The RTE Short Story Competition has been championing new talent for decades; past winners and shortlisted writers include Claire Keegan, Danielle McLaughlin, Anthony Glavin, Chris Binchy, Nuala OConnor, Liz Nugent, Colin Walsh and Sarah Gilmartin. All shortlisted stories are produced for radio, voiced by some of Irelands most talented actors. In recent years these have included Cathy Belton, Eamon Morrissey, Ali White, Ingrid Craigie, Janet Moran, Kathy Rose OBrien, Emmet Kirwan and Andrew Bennett. When youre writing your story for the RTE Short Story Competition, you are writing for the listener, even more than for the reader. I still think its a kind of magic, that a strangers voice can travel over that mysterious thing called airwaves, and reach us, enter us, disarm or distract or maybe even change us, said Judge Lucy Caldwell. These are your super powers. Use them wisely use them well. I cant wait to hear your stories. And Declan Hughes says: "The Irish short story is in rude health, with a vigorous infrastructure of literary journals and magazines, awards and independent publishers providing opportunities for writers at every level to place new work, produce collections and win prizes. I read a lot of work in progress and can testify to the seemingly inexhaustible supply of energy and talent out there. Im very much looking forward to reading the submissions for RTEs Francis MacManus Short Story award, which has played an important role in the development of Irish short fiction for over 30 years." A shortlist of ten stories will be announced in September, and the top prizewinners will be announced on an Arena special programme some weeks later. The overall winner will receive 3,000, while 2,000 and 1,000 will be awarded to the second and third place prize winners respectively. A further seven runners-up will receive 250 each, and all 10 shortlisted stories will be published on rte.ie/culture and broadcast in a season of new writing on RTE Radio 1 in the autumn. For competition rules, information on how to enter, and to read and listen to past winning stories, see rte.ie/writing. It's not often I defend politicians and I'm not taking on the role of defender today either. I do admit, however, that most of them, here and across the world, are working under unbelievable pressure. No one in living memory has had to carry responsibility for so many lives during a pandemic. It is unprecedented. No one knows the outcome. Try to remember they are only human; they will make mistakes; they are working without a blueprint. They should not be subjected to personal abuse, mainly in a cowardly way on social media. It's unfair and is way over the top. Read More I think it's time to pull back and examine this ongoing crisis sensibly. After a year spent being buffeted by an invisible virus, all of us are exhausted. That's understandable because we have been laid low in a way we never thought possible. Every plan we had ended up in a broken heap. We thought it would pass in a couple of months. But it didn't; it went from bad to worse so we are rightly finding it hard to cope. We feel justified blaming the usual suspects. Think about it; if we are confused then so are they; everyone is struggling. We accepted the first lockdown - in fact we were screaming for a lockdown weeks before there was one. We even enjoyed the first few weeks. Imagine not having to travel to work. Imagine getting paid to do nothing. Imagine no school. Imagine long sleeps and long walks every day. Imagine going to church in your kitchen with a mug of coffee to sip. The hurlers on the ditch - many of them fellow journalists - assured us we'd have a vaccine in no time and everything would return to normal. Just enjoy the break, they advised. Others became instant experts in medicine. Like Trump, they told us not to worry. It was only a mild flu. This is the era of science, they assured us; we now know how to handle these things. Forget those masks. No need to panic. Even the World Health Organisation refused to call it a pandemic in the beginning. Our arrogance was soon deflated though. As soon as lockdown began to work we campaigned for it to end. Businesses pleaded to have 'the country' opened up immediately. We doubted the wisdom and the motives of scientists and politicians. We compared ourselves to other countries and concluded we should adopt their policies - tried or untried. Read More The virus took full advantage of our disagreements and spread like wildfire causing death and suffering all over the island. It robbed us of our confidence; our ability to impartially weigh up the evidence became blurred. It stole a future full of promise from our young people. Eventually, because we relaxed long before we should have, it took the lives of mainly the old and the vulnerable. Schools, exams, colleges, churches and commerce went online. We proudly Zoomed our way through life. For a time it too was a novelty. We soon learned that nothing beats human communication. Nothing compares to a hug. We are meant to be together. Technology is a poor substitute. But the virus was still winning so we plummeted into a second lockdown as a kind of preparation for a blow out at Christmas - though Christ was never mentioned much. Once again medical experts and politicians were doubted, contradicted and eventually rubbished. Never mind the churches, the pubs have to open for Christmas, we heard repeatedly from publicans, hospitality, and every expert on radio, television and newspapers. It is easy to be an expert without responsibility. That was an utter disaster. There are many hundreds of good people in graveyards who would not be there if we had listened to the medical experts and acted as sensible people should. The inevitable third lockdown was hastily imposed. The effect was disappointing because if you cry wolf too often nobody listens. It is working, but painfully and slowly. That's why I have sympathy for the politicians. They are expected to do everything and do nothing at the same time. No matter what they do a poll will tell them they are the most incompetent politicians ever. Here's what I think. We need to be reminded that we each have the answer within our own grasp. We need to go on doing the simple things right if we are to kill this damned virus. Read More Wash your hands; keep your distance; stay at home when you can; wear a mask to protect your neighbour; get the vaccine and proceed with caution. I don't need any expert or any politician to help me do those simple things. If we scrupulously kept those rules, schools could open and sooner rather than later life would be worth living again. Thank God we have a vaccine now. That's a mighty leap forward compared to where we were a year ago. Vaccination is not a cure-all magic bullet but it will prevent suffering, sickness and death if we continue to do what we are supposed to do. We and the vaccine can work together to create our own miracle. When we're exhausted our judgement becomes skewed. We get angry too quickly. Anger is a normal emotion but we must use it positively to re-asses how we got to this point. Lashing out indiscriminately is not a healthy reaction. I fear too many of us are using exhaustion to blame everyone but ourselves. If enough of us do the simple things right, all of us will live joyfully together as we once did. Those fighting the virus deserve our respect and support. Let's fight the virus, not each other. U.S. Rep. Lee Zeldin, a four-term congressman representing part of Long Island and a former state senator, said Tuesday that he is considering a run for New York governor. Zeldin's possible gubernatorial bid was first reported by Newsday. He confirmed his interest in follow-up social media posts. "After your many messages of encouragement and after discussing it at length with my wife and daughters, I just announced that I am actively exploring a run for governor of New York against Andrew Cuomo in 2022," Zeldin wrote. He added, "As a proud New Yorker, I just can't sit back and watch Cuomo's attacks on our freedoms, our wallets and our safety. After his nursing home cover-up, bullying, abuse and harassment have come more to light in recent days and weeks, it's clearer now more than ever that he's been in the governor's office too long and it's time for Cuomo to go." Cuomo, who is in his third term as governor and plans to seek a fourth, has been under fire for his handling of COVID-19 in nursing homes. He is also facing allegations from two former aides that he sexually harassed them. A third woman accused him of an unwanted advance at a 2019 wedding. David Howell joins the Company as Chief Operating Officer, bringing over 20 years of operations experience PLAYA VISTA, CA, March 02, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- via NewMediaWire -- American Premium Water Corporation (OTC: HIPH) (the Company) announces the release of CEO Ryan Fishoffs annual letter to shareholders. Highlights of the letter include: In-depth overview of the Companys partnerships and brands, including its recently announced JV with Cali Bear Sales and monetization plan for the Companys proprietary nanotechnology Expansion of potential applications using the Companys nanotechnology including alcohol, cannabis, and psychedelics Increased focus on corporate governance in 2021 To read the entire letter, click here The Company announces that David Howell has joined as Chief Operating Officer. Mr. Howell brings over twenty plus years of operational, branding, and business development experience, having held numerous positions with large corporations and startups, including the beverage sector, where he has overseen the launch of branded beverages and been an investor in bottling and canning operations. Mr. Howell will also be appointed to the Companys Board of Directors. Ryan Fishoff, CEO of American Premium Water, commented, I am pleased to announce that David Howell will be joining the Company as Chief Operating Officer. David was instrumental in putting together the Cali Bear joint venture, and will play an integral role in executing the goals and objectives for 2021 that I outlined in the letter to shareholders. David brings tremendous experience in operations and business development, and his impact has already been quite significant in his short tenure in the position. I am quite confident that David will be a key contributor to the Companys growth and increase in shareholder value. David Howell, Chief Operating Officer, commented, I am honored to join American Premium Water Corporation. I want to thank Ryan Fishoff for bringing me on board and trusting me with this prestigious position. We share a similar vision for the Company; a premium branded consumer products company that leverages its nanotechnology in the CBD and functional beverages categories. Throughout my career, I have built a massive network that I believe can bring tremendous benefit to the Company and help it achieve its strategic objectives. I am excited to be working alongside Ryan fulltime and contribute toward the Company reaching its full potential. About American Premium Water Corp. American Premium Water (OTC: HIPH) is a diversified luxury consumer products company focused on businesses in the health and beauty and biotech sectors. The company is focused on harnessing the powers of Nano technologies paired without cannabidiol (CBD) to treat health disorders and enhance quality of life. The companys portfolio includes the LALPINA Hydro and LALPINA CBD brands (www.lalpinahydrocbd.com), Cali Bear (www.calibear.life) Vanexxe (www.vanexxe.com) plant + body essentials (www.plantbodyessentials.co). Safe Harbor Notice Certain statements contained herein are forward-looking statements (as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995). American Premium Water Corporation cautions that statements made in this news release constitute forward-looking statements and makes no guarantee of future performance. Forward-looking statements are based on estimates and opinions of management at the time statements are made. These statements may address issues that involve significant risks, uncertainties, estimates and assumptions made by management. Actual results could differ materially from current projections or implied results. American Premium Water Corporation undertakes no obligation to revise these statements following the date of this news release. Additional details of the Company's business can be found in its public disclosures as a reporting issuer under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission's ("SEC") EDGAR database. This press release is issued on behalf of the Board of Directors of American Premium Water Corporation. Investor Relations 888-983-0054 info@americanpremiumwater.com .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... Copyright 2021 Albuquerque Journal SANTA FE New Mexico would impose new limits on the use of out-of-school suspension and expulsion under legislation that passed the state House late Monday. The proposal, House Bill 93, would prohibit suspending or expelling a student unless its a last resort and required for the safety of other students and staff. ADVERTISEMENTSkip ................................................................ Schools would also have to take into account the youngsters household circumstances, such as whether the student faced poverty, abuse or neglect at home. Democratic Rep. Raymundo Lara of Chamberino said the proposal is aimed especially at students without homes or in foster care. School may be the only safe place they have, he said, a factor that should be considered before imposing out-of-school suspension or expulsion. This bill is intended to help some of our most vulnerable students in New Mexico, Lara said. Before suspension or expulsion, the school would have to try restorative justice or other interventions. Opponents of the bill said it would remove discretion from local educators who are better positioned to determine what discipline is necessary. We have taken all authority from our school boards, from our principals, from our superintendents and most especially from the teachers, Rep. Candy Spence Ezzell, R-Roswell, said. The House passed the bill on a 54-12 vote, sending it to the Senate with 19 days left in the session. Lara, who works as a coordinator for the Gadsden Independent School District in southern New Mexico, said the bill targets out-of-school suspension, not the use of in-school suspension. The important thing is they continue their education, Lara said. In particular, he said, the legislation would address students who dont have an adequate place to go home to. This is something that we have to take into consideration before we discipline these students before we get to the point of suspension. The measure passed two House committees before reaching the full chamber. Seven college students have been confirmed dead and four others have been hospitalized with serious injuries after they fell from a fourth floor balcony when a railing broke at a university in Bolivia. Video recorded by a bystander at the Public University of El Alto [UPEA] showed dozens of students jostling for position in a crowded hallway as they attempted to enter a lecture hall for an assembly Tuesday. Students could be seen leaning against the railing when a section of it suddenly broke, sending them falling to the ground four floors below. The school is located in El Alto, outside La Paz, Bolivia's capital. WARNING GRAPHIC CONTENT Students dangle from a balcony ledge moments after the section of the fourth floor railing snapped at the Public University of El Alto in Bolivia on Tuesday. At least seven students have been confirmed dead and four others suffered injuries Students gather near the Public University of El Alto on Tuesday after the accident A couple wait for information about the Public University of El Alto where seven students died Tuesday after a fourth floor balcony railing collapsed The footage also showed the heroic actions of a group of students, who grabbed out at others to stop them falling over the edge. A female student narrowly avoided falling from the balcony and then reached out to grab one of two other students who were dangling from the ledge. Another student who was pulled to safety had her legs stuck between the railing bars. Students at the Public University of El Alto fight for space in the fourth floor of a building before a railing broke Bolivia's Special Force to Fight Crime will be leading the investigation of Tuesday's accident at the Public University of El Alto The dead victims were identified as Raul Cadena; Genio Mamani; Saul Mamani; Daniel Rodriguez; Anahi Chipana; Loida Sosa; and Tania Roque, according to Bolivia's Special Force to Fight Crime. The agency, which has been tasked with leading the investigation of the accident, identified the injured students as Limbert Lucana , 19; Lino Paredes, 20; Carla Quispe, 20 ; and Ascencia Verastegui, 27. Bolivian Police chief, Colonel Jhonny Aguilera, told reporters that the students' cause of death was 'multiple defenestration trauma.' Aguilera said the students' remains would be directly turned over to their family members in order to avoid any incidents that could delay their burials. The senior federal cabinet minister accused of raping a 16-year-old girl in Sydney's Kings Cross will come forward to deny the allegation. Scott Morrison has been under pressure to out the minister, stand him down, and launch an inquiry since detailed allegations were sent to his office. He said the politician told him the allegation was not true, but the minister has now agreed to make a statement on Wednesday. An anonymous sender said they were inspired to write a letter (pictured) detailing the woman's allegations after former Liberal staffer Brittany Higgins went public with an allegation The woman's allegation became public last week after Scott Morrison received a letter from a mystery sender which included the statement. Police were due to travel to her home in Adelaide in March 2020 to take her statement but their trip was postponed due to Covid-19. In June the woman withdrew her allegation and died by suicide the next day, causing the investigation to be suspended before it was officially closed this week. According to Four Corners which first reported the allegation on Friday, the woman had bipolar disorder and had attended a psychiatric hospital in Melbourne in the months before her death aged 49. Friends say she was 'beautiful and clever' but 'consumed with trauma'. Mr Morrison said he did not read the letter but forwarded it to Australian Federal Police Commissioner Reece Kershaw (pictured) 'The matter is now closed': NSW Police statement In November 2019, a woman then aged 48, attended an Adelaide (South Australia) police station seeking advice about reporting historical sexual offences, which allegedly occurred in 1988 in Sydney (New South Wales). The matter was then referred to the NSW Police Force and an investigation by the Child Abuse and Sex Crimes Squad commenced under Strike Force Wyndarra. NSW Police Force has been the lead agency in respect to this investigation since February 2020. For various reasons, the woman did not detail her allegations in a formal statement to NSW Police. The woman passed away in June 2020. Following the woman's death, NSW Police came into possession of a personal document purportedly made by the woman previously. NSW Police have since sought legal advice in relation to these matters. Based on information provided to NSW Police, there is insufficient admissible evidence to proceed. As such, NSW Police Force has determined the matter is now closed. Advertisement As well as leaving her prepared statement, the woman made a 45-minute recording in which she talked about her allegations, according to the Herald Sun. In a letter to a friend she wrote: 'I guess I just worry that a trial has the potential to be an emotional bloodbath, particularly for me and anyone who appears as a witness in the case.' NSW Police said officers have sought legal advice about a 'personal document' made by the woman. The woman had told several family and friends about her allegation. It was presumably one of them who sent the letter to Mr Morrison, Liberal MP Celia Hammond and two South Australian senators, demanding an investigation. The rape allegation: A timeline 1988: Rape allegedly happens at event in Sydney when woman is 16 Late 2019: Woman engages lawyers and prepares a statement February 2020: Woman reports allegations to NSW Police March 2020: Police postpone trip to visit her due to Covid-19 June 2020: Woman dies by suicide February 24, 2021: Anonymous letter is sent to PM detailing allegations March 1, 2021: PM says minister completely rejects the allegations March 2, 2021: NSW Police close the case Advertisement The anonymous sender said they were inspired to write the letter after former Liberal staffer Brittany Higgins went public with an allegation she was raped by another staffer in Defence Minister Linda Reynolds' parliament office in 2019. Ms Higgins' allegations dominated the past two sitting weeks of parliament as ministers were repeatedly grilled over who knew about her claims and when. The sender demanded an inquiry into the 1988 allegation, writing: 'There will be considerable damage to community perceptions of justice... and the parliament when this story becomes public if it is simultaneously revealed that senior people (like yourselves) were aware of the accusation but had done nothing.' The identity of the cabinet minister is known among the media and politicians but cannot be disclosed for legal reasons. The ministerial code of conduct requires a minister to stand aside if charged with a crime. Former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull has urged the minister to reveal himself and said it is 'impossible for him to function in that cabinet'. Mr Morrison said he spoke to the minister on Wednesday evening and he 'vigorously rejected the allegations.' He said he did not read the letter but had been briefed on the contents of the allegations. Asked if he would set up an inquiry, he said: 'I'm not the police force. I have given it to the police to investigate.' Mr Morrison said AFP Commissioner Reece Kershaw had not advised him to take any action. He refused to sack the minister, saying: 'We can't have a situation where the mere making of an allegation and that being publicised through the media is grounds for, you know, governments to stand people down simply on the basis of that. I mean, we have a rule of law in this country.' Mr Morrison said the first he substantially heard of the allegation was last week. Before that he had only heard rumours of a journalist making inquiries, he said. Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young and Labor Senator Penny Wong received the unsigned letter and both released statements saying they had contacted the AFP. Senator Hanson-Young said the information she had received regarded a 'disturbing and a very serious allegation of a criminal nature against a senior member of the government'. The Australian Federal Police on Saturday issued a statement saying it would liaise with the relevant state authorities. 'Further enquiries can be directed to the New South Wales Police Force,' it said. 'The AFP will not be making further comment.' Ms Higgins (pictured) alleged she was raped in Parliament House after a boozy night out NSW Police said in a statement on Friday night that a report of alleged historic sexual violence was received in February 2020 and detectives commenced an investigation under Strike Force Wyndarra. 'After strike force investigators were advised that the body of a 49-year-old woman was located at a home at Adelaide by South Australia Police (SAPOL) on Wednesday 24 June 2020, the investigation was suspended,' the statement said. 'NSW Police understand that reporting sexual assault can be distressing and traumatic for victims and it is always the choice of an individual whether to proceed with an investigation or not.' KYODO NEWS - Mar 2, 2021 - 17:35 | All, Japan A female koala kept at a zoo in Hyogo Prefecture, western Japan, has been recognized by Guinness World Records as the world's oldest koala ever in captivity at age 24, the facility said Tuesday. Although she is a centenarian in human years, the koala named Midori is doing fine with no serious health problems, according to the Awaji Farm Park England Hill located on Awaji Island. The average longevity of a koala in captivity is about 16 years, and the previous record had been held by an animal in Australia that died in 2001 at age 23, according to the nature-themed park. Midori was born on Feb. 1, 1997, in Australia and was sent from Yanchep National Park to Hyogo Prefecture in 2003 as a gift of the Western Australia State government, according to the park and Guinness World Records. She has also been recognized as the oldest living koala in captivity. "I hope she will live as long as possible. I am thankful for zookeepers in charge of Midori and her fans visiting the park," said Kazuhiko Tahara, head of the facility. The Awaji farm park is planning to hold a ceremony on March 14 to commemorate Guinness World Records' certification of Midori as the world's oldest koala. Miguel Cardona confirmation as Education Secretary for President Joe Biden's administration has Twitter fans excited. The former fourth-grade teacher was confirmed by the U.S. Senate late Monday in a vote of 64 to 33, according to Cory Turner with NPR. TEACHER SHORTAGE: Texas school districts grapple with substitute teacher shortage amid COVID-19 pandemic Cardona's longstanding background as an educator seems to resonate with Twitter fans happy to see him take over the role of secretary of education. Before his nomination, Cardona served as Connecticut's education commissioner. He's been a staunch advocate for reopening schools during the COVID-19 pandemic, calling it necessary "to keep equity gaps from growing even wider," Turner wrote. Some of the topics of debate Cardona is walking into with his new role include how to safely reopen schools and the topic of vaccination for all educators. In addition, Cardona is also faced with tackling last month's issued guidance requiring states to resume annual testing of students, according to Turner. "Testing, like teacher vaccination, has become a painful political wedge for Democrats," Turner said. Cardona seems to echo the Biden administration's position saying in an earlier confirmation hearing "if we don't assess where our students are and their level of performance, it's going to be difficult for us to provide targeted support and resource allocation in the manner that can best support the closing of the gaps that have been exacerbated due to this pandemic." Twitter, of course, had even more to say about Cardona's new role. The superintendent of Meriden Public Schools, Mark Benigni, who promoted Cardona to work with him, says Cardona is the perfect guy to calm tensions, according to Turner. "Miguel's approach is to listen ... to work together to see the other side of the situation. I don't think he's ever, 'It's my way or the highway,'" Benigni said. Congress has launched an investigation into San Francisco-based health care provider One Medical following reports that it disregarded vaccine eligibility requirements in multiple cities, including at least three Bay Area counties. The investigation follows reports by NPR and Forbes that One Medical vaccinated ineligible people, including friends and family members of the companys executives. The Chronicle reported last week that Alameda, San Francisco and San Mateo counties had stopped providing doses to the company after learning it vaccinated or intended to vaccinate ineligible residents. San Francisco health officials required One Medical to return more than 1,600 unused doses. Marin County has also stopped providing additional vaccine doses to the concierge service pending a more thorough review of patient data, according to a health department spokesperson. One Medical has previously insisted it has followed the state and local guidelines for determining eligibility, and called allegations to the contrary ill-informed hearsay. In a letter to One Medical CEO Amir Rubin, Rep. James Clyburn, D-S.C., chairman of the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis, slammed the company over the allegations. Despite being warned that the companys lax oversight of vaccine eligibility rules was allowing ineligible patients to jump the line, One Medical has reportedly failed to promptly implement an effective protocol to verify eligibility and instructed staff not to police eligibility, Clyburn wrote. As a result of these irresponsible practices, numerous authorities have now halted distributions of vaccine doses to the company. Clyburn requested documents and information on One Medicals vaccination practices and urged the company to comply with state and local prioritization guidelines. As part of its investigation into One Medical, the subcommittee requested a list of all company facilities administering vaccines, the total vaccines administered by each facility, demographic breakdowns of those receiving vaccinations and documents related to the companys procedures for complying with state and local eligibility guidelines. A One Medical spokesperson wrote in an email that the company had received the letter from Congress and was committed to cooperating fully by providing the information requested. We support the objectives of this Congressional group, with whom we share a goal of executing a fair and equitable national vaccine roll-out, the spokesperson continued. Chronicle staff write Meghan Bobrowsky contributed to this report. Susie Neilson is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: susan.neilson@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @susieneilson The Ministry of Health (MS) informed on Tuesday that permission was granted by the Vienna-based AKH Hospital for the transfer of a second man who has sustained burns following the fire occurred in the village of Inotesti, Prahova County. "The Ministry of Health was informed, regarding the patients with burns sustained in the fire of March 1 at Inotesti, Prahova County, that the permission of the Vienna-based AKH Hospital was obtained for the transfer of the second patient to that facility. We mention that, as previously announced by the Ministry of Health, for one of the patients, the Department for Emergency Situations with the Ministry of Internal Affairs (DSU - MAI) got permission from the Reine Astrid Military Hospital in Belgium," the Health Ministry shows. The transfer to Vienna will be made as soon as possible by DSU - MAI under the legislation in force. The two men are intubated, as they are in critical condition, Spokesperson for the Ploiesti County Emergency Hospital Violeta Tanase told AGERPRES on Tuesday. According to her, the men underwent surgery to have their wounds cleaned, and are currently in the Intensive Care Unit. On Monday evening, a violent fire broke out at a company that manufactures crude oil products located in the village of Inotesti, Prahova County, that left two men injured. According to the Prahova Emergency Situations Inspectorate, when the fire crews arrived, the fire had spread over an area of approximately 700 square metres, having engulfed the entire hall, three motor vehicles and a road train. Police have opened a criminal case, with investigations being conducted into culpable destruction and criminal negligence causing bodily harm. Cuomo added that he never inappropriately touched anybody or propositioned anybody. That seemed to be a response to another ex-aide, Lindsey Boylan, who first accused Cuomo of sexual harassment on Twitter in December, and last week said hed kissed her and invited her to play strip poker. The New York attorney general, Letitia James, will oversee an investigation into all these charges, but that will only delay an eventual reckoning. Given what we know of Bennetts story, its hard to imagine how an inquiry could exonerate the governor; it can probably only determine the degree and prevalence of his apparent harassment. So eventually, Cuomos fate will tell us whether theres still power in the #MeToo movement. My guess is that if this scandal had broken a few years ago, high-profile Democrats would have felt no choice but to call for Cuomos resignation. Since then, however, a few things have happened. After the killing of George Floyd and last summers protests, the locus of our culture wars shifted from sex to race. Tara Reade made allegations against Joe Biden which got national attention but turned out to be full of inconsistencies. And most significantly, among many Democrats, theres tremendous bitterness toward those who pressured Al Franken to leave the Senate in 2018 after he was accused of grabbing several womens butts. Aside from Franken, the person who paid the biggest political price for that episode was New Yorks Kirsten Gillibrand, the first senator who called for Franken to step down. As Amber Phillips wrote in The Washington Post in 2019, while there are multiple reasons Gillibrands 2020 presidential bid sank, one of the undeniable anchors for her was a sentiment among the Democratic base that she was the reason Al Franken got pushed out of the Senate. So perhaps its not surprising that, rather than calling on Cuomo to step aside, Gillibrand has joined other Democrats in supporting an investigation. The scandal-plagued Cuomo has little in common with Franken, whose ethical record was unblemished prior to the groping accusations. Before Boylan and Bennett detailed their experiences, Cuomo was already under fire for forcing nursing homes to accept coronavirus patients who had been discharged from hospitals, and undercounting nursing homes deaths by the thousands. His handling of nursing homes during the pandemic is under investigation by the F.B.I. and the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York. About halfway through our Thursday night Zoom happy hour, our Director of Content Marketing tried to take a sip directly from an elaborate wine decanter, on camera. He missed his mouth entirely, sending his Bordeaux streaming out of frame and, presumably, all over the floor, and I got pictures. You might say the night went well. The Bordeaux and all our other wine came from Firstleaf, a customizable wine subscription that delivers a box of wine to your door every month, with a selection curated for your personal tastes by a quiz you take when you first sign up. Firstleaf is offering your first box at an introductory $40, with each subsequent box priced at $90, but this is offset by the fact that you get to rate each wine you receive. The longer you keep your Firstleaf subscription, the more the wine will be tailored to your specific likes and dislikes. Firstleaf wine club subscription - Firstleaf 39.95 Sign Up Now Choosing wine with Firstleaf Despite putting no more planning into this evening than we would a normal virtual happy hour, our team ended up enjoying a diverse collection of alcohol, though we all had a slightly different experience with how the wines lined up with our preferences. The process begins with a simple quiz: You select wines you like, followed by wines you dont, and then answer about a dozen related questions on food and how gastronomically adventurous you are. Naturally, being stalwart journalists, most of us chose adventurous. I chose a mix of red and white, leaning toward not sweet, Director of Content Marketing Ryan Craggs said. So far, his selection seemed satisfying: Ive only dipped into the Bordeaux and the Chardonnay. The Bordeaux was fine, but I surprisingly enjoyed the ChardonnayI take this recommendation as a win, because otherwise I might not have ever thought to try this wine. Others were a bit more confused about how the algorithm made its choices. I leaned towards red, but got a mix, says Director of Business Development Nyasha Bass. I actually went through the quiz a few times because I didnt like my options the first time. I chose sweeter wines, like Riesling (my favorite) during the initial taste analysis quiz, said Senior Commerce Editor Ana Suarez. You get the option to thumbs down wines you do not like, and I did that for every Chardonnay they tried to send my way. Im not a wine snob by any means, she continued. I drink wine 90% of the time when I do drink, but I have a habit of sticking to the same thing. Despite her preferences, the algorithm did try to send a Chardonnay, though she was able to remove it before hitting submit. My selection of wines was probably the most in line with my preferences for wine, since I selected a bunch of red wines that seemed familiar and received a box of red wines that, so far, has been completely delicious. But as you can tell by that last sentence, my palate is probably the least sophisticated of the group, and I might not even notice if they sent me a wine that I had precluded from my list. Still, I know what bad wine tastes like, and I havent located a drop of it in my Firstleaf box and I tasted quite the sample size during the Zoom happy hour. This is in stark contrast to Craggs, who said some would call me a snob; Ive lived in Spain and Italy and used to be a travel editor, so I fancy myself as knowing a few things about viniculture. But I also recognize Im an idiot and most people who think this about themselves are putting on airsme included. I enjoy the discovery aspect of wine. Joshua Sargent / SFGate If youre a wine newbie like me, youre going to be happy to try a bunch of stuff youve never heard of, and maybe develop some more precise interests. If you already have a preference, you might nitpick the quiz resultsbut luckily, youre able to revise the order before it goes through. Firstleaf delivery Its rare for any review to give unmitigated praise, but in this case, its absolutely warranted. Firstleafs delivery was quicker than any of us anticipated, especially considering the brutal snowstorm we endured: We all placed our orders on a Friday, and received a fresh box of wine by Tuesday night or Wednesday morning. What comes with your Firstleaf delivery Each wine comes with a note card featuring a photograph of the vineyard, an explanation of the region of the wine's origin, and the flavor profile you can expect. My card for La Belle France Bordeaux Rouge, for example, explains that the Gironde River flows directly from the Atlantic Ocean into the region, separating the area into Left Bank and Right Bank. The separation via the river creates uniqueness and individuality. Beneath that, it offers ratings for Body, Acidity, Sweetness, Fruit and Tannin, as well as suggesting pairings (in this case, filet, roasted chicken, and comte cheese) as well as the perfunctory stats like the wine's ABV (13.5%) and non-member price ($24). The note cards are real fun (Bass also selected them as a stand out part of the experience), adding an air of sophistication to the wine-drinking experience, providing valuable context for connoisseurs while being accessible enough for wine-newbies like myself to really feel like were learning something. Who will enjoy Firstleaf? At $90 for six bottles of wine, a Firstleaf subscription shakes out to $15 per bottle. Thats the price range of low- to mid-shelf wine in my neighborhood, and the stuff we got in our Firstleaf box would never be confused with bottom-shelf wine. In other words, Firstleaf seems tailored toward people who have a limited understanding of viniculture and want to expand their knowledge by jumping, mouth open, into the deep end. After a few months if youre not an expert, at least youll have gleaned enough buzzwords off these note cards to be able to convincingly fake it. Last minute petitions poured into bankruptcy court Monday, the final day that victims of clergy sexual abuse were allowed to file claims against the local Catholic church, and after all was said and done, well over 50 additional people alleged they were preyed upon by priests and deacons when they were children. Another 370 claimants had filed demands saying the Archdiocese of New Orleans owed them millions for other reasons, from outstanding utility bills to accidental falls on church property. The archdiocese filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy last May, and potential creditors were given until Monday to file claims for compensation. That included any new claims of clergy sex abuse that occurred before the bankruptcy case was filed. Scattered throughout the hundreds of claims posted on the website of Donlin Recano, the New York-based firm in charge of processing the demands, were at least 56 petitions in which the claimants name and address was intentionally omitted, a likely signal they were filed by anonymous abuse victims. The claims also did not include the names of offending clerics or any other information about the alleged abuse. Archbishop Gregory Aymond issued a statement saying the arrival of Mondays deadline known as a bar date was an important milestone. It is our hope that this brings us one step closer to healing for survivors of abuse and look to the day when we can be reconciled with those who have been hurt, it read. The Archdiocese of New Orleans is one of at least 27 Catholic dioceses across the U.S. that have filed for bankruptcy. Chapter 11 lets organizations get their books in order while shielding them from the demands of creditors, who have to fill out claims forms proving the bankrupt entity owes them money. The archdiocese said its reorganization was necessary due to significant financial distress from litigation and settlement negotiations surrounding the decades-old clerical abuse scandal, which prompted Aymond to publish a list of priests and deacons who have been considered credibly accused of child molestation over the years. That roster, first published in November 2018, lists more than 70 clerics. While the financial fallout is now far more clear for the archdiocese, uncertainty surrounding the exact number and total value of claims could linger throughout the week. Claims can be filed electronically or by mail. And documents mailed in to Donlin Recano will be accepted past the deadline as long as they were postmarked by Monday. Top stories in New Orleans in your inbox Twice daily we'll send you the day's biggest headlines. Sign up today. e-mail address * Sign Up Kristi Schubert, an attorney who helped people fill out clerical abuse claims ahead of the deadline, said her clients found the process to be both logistically vexing and emotionally grueling. Some started filling out claims but grew so frustrated they bailed midway. Theres no doubt in my mind that some people didnt file a claim because they couldnt decide yet if they were ready to come forward, and the deadline was just too soon for them, Schubert said. Other attorneys representing the largest groups of abuse survivors estimate helping dozens more file their forms. Kevin Bourgeois, a clerical molestation survivor who until recently led the New Orleans chapter of Survivors Network for those Abused by Priests and now trains archdiocesan staff on responding to victims complaints, said he helped a family friend fill out the form online last week. He agreed with Schubert that the process was psychologically taxing but said he found the process to be technically smooth. Clergy abuse survivors group leader leaves post over work for New Orleans archdiocese The local leader of a national group of survivors of molestation by Catholic clergy parted ways with the organization Friday, a day after the "Its the hardest thing anyone will ever do because you have to document what happened to you, but it's easy in the sense that it's all online, it's private, said Bourgeois, who is paid by the archdiocese for the training he provides. "In less than an hour we went through everything and there were tears shed, hugs given and support. The only abuse claims that qualify for compensation under the bankruptcy process are for sexual abuse of children and vulnerable adults by ordained clergy. After the proof of claim forms are filed, there will be a court-ordered process for verifying the legitimacy of each claim. 73rd clergyman added to New Orleans archdiocese's credibly accused list; 2 more suspended As the worldwide Catholic Churchs decades-old clergy molestation scandal continues to fester, the Archdiocese of New Orleans on Wednesday add U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Meredith Grabill, who is overseeing the archdioceses Chapter 11 filing, has not ruled on a request from clergy abuse claimants to dismiss the church's bankruptcy case altogether. Grabill has been weighing the decision since August, and observers believe she is unlikely to grant the request. The claimants' attorneys contend the church is on much better financial footing than it lets on in its reorganization case. And they have accused the church of heading to Bankruptcy Court merely to settle pending clergy abuse claims as cheaply as possible and to limit the number of claims through the bar date. "It was a means ... to slam the door in victims' faces," said clergy abuse plaintiffs' attorney Roger Stetter. A half-asleep Japanese woman jumped in shock when she felt a Sydney chiropractor sexually assault her during a massage, a jury has heard. The woman was receiving treatment for lower back and groin pain when Riaz Behi asked her to remove her underwear and began massaging her legs, groin and buttocks, the NSW District Court heard on Monday. Dazed from a night of poor sleep, the woman recalled feeling one of Behi's fingers go inside her. 'I felt it, I was shocked and then my body reacted in a jumping manner,' the woman, through an interpreter, told the jury in Darlinghurst. 'I did not want to have this kind of experience but I didn't know what to say to Behi.' Chiropractor Riaz Behi (pictured) has been accused of sexually assaulting a female patient. Pictured leaving the NSW District Court during a break in proceedings on Thursday Behi, 45, has pleaded not guilty to five counts of aggravated sexual assault and eight counts of aggravated sexual touching, with his lawyer suggesting the incidents during 10 consultations from January to April 2019 never occurred. The woman said the assault on February 7 only occurred for a second, at most. She couldn't recall what occurred next in the consultation but remembered asking herself over and over what was going on. The woman became tearful when explaining his treatment away from her genitals was making her feel better and that she'd begun to believe she should not doubt 'a doctor' and his treatments. She said she had been 'shocked' at the start of an earlier consultation when Behi instructed her it was 'necessary for my treatment' to remove clothes and underpants. But her friend, who paid for the consultations with the chiropractor, addressed her concerns by questioning why she didn't trust Behi. 'In my understanding, (he said) something like 'Behi is a medical doctor and he has good reviews, why don't you trust him?'' she said. The Crown alleges Behi's assaults included episodes of digital penetration and oral sex. The trial has heard the woman mostly communicated with Behi and her friend through Google Translate. Riaz Behi (pictured left) has been accused of sexually assaulting a Japanese woman while treating her for lower back and groin pain. 'In Japan, removing pants never happened for the purpose of massaging absolutely never happened,' the woman said. 'But, in Australia, I thought it was common to remove my underpants for the purposes of treatment so I didn't pay much attention to it.' The chiropractor agrees none of the touching alleged by the woman constitutes appropriate chiropractic treatment. The jury has been told a live issue will be why the woman kept returning for treatment if such 'horrendous things' were happening. 'No one in the circumstances outlined by the Crown would dare be putting up with that kind of treatment,' Behi's barrister, William Brewer, has told the jury. Mr Brewer says his client has never had a personal or professional complaint against him in 18 years of practice. The trial resumes on Tuesday. Extreme rainfall associated with climate change is causing harm to babies in some of the most forgotten places on the planet setting in motion a chain of disadvantage down the generations, according to new research in Nature Sustainability. Researchers from Lancaster University and the FIOCRUZ health research institute in Brazil found babies born to mothers exposed to extreme rainfall shocks, were smaller due to restricted fetal growth and premature birth. Low birth-weight has life-long consequences for health and development and researchers say their findings are evidence of climate extremes causing intergenerational disadvantage, especially for socially-marginalized Amazonians in forgotten places. Climate extremes can affect the health of mothers and their unborn babies in many ways - for example causing crops to fail, reducing access to nutritious affordable food, increasing prevalence of infectious diseases. Extremely intense rainfall in Amazonia causes river flooding exposing poorer households to water-borne diseases and creating ideal breeding conditions for mosquitos, leading to outbreaks of malaria or dengue fever. Major floods and droughts are extremely disruptive to people's lives; related stress and anxiety can contribute to premature birth and impair normal childhood development. The team focused on all the live births over an 11-year period in 43 highly river-dependent municipalities in Amazonas State, Brazil. For these 291,479 births they analysed how birth-weight, foetal growth and pregnancy duration were affected by local rainfall variability during pregnancy. Extremely intense rainfall in Amazonia was associated with severely reduced mean birth-weight due to pre-term birth or restricted growth - average birth-weight reduction was nearly 200 grams. Under climate change in Amazonia, sustained periods of exceptionally heavy rain are becoming more common and subsequent floods are five-times more common than just a few decades ago. Using satellite data, researchers calculated weeks of prenatal exposure - including the pre-pregnancy trimester - to each kind of rainfall variability and compared that to birth weight and pregnancy duration. The study also found Even non-extreme intense rainfall resulted in 40% higher odds of low birth-weight Drier than seasonal averages also caused harm - on average babies were born 39g lighter Even conception in the rising-water season resulted in a lower mean birth-weight - 13g less Dr Luke Parry of Lancaster University's Environment Centre and one of the authors of the report said: "Our study found climate extremes were adding another layer of disadvantage onto babies already facing a poor start in life. "Due to the deep social inequalities in the Brazilian Amazon, children born to adolescent indigenous mothers with no formal or little education, were over 600 grams smaller than those born into more privileged households. Extreme weather placed a further penalty onto these newborns. "Reducing the health risks found by the team will require much greater investment into poverty alleviation and better healthcare if we are to help Amazonia's river-dwelling populations adapt to changing rainfall patterns and increasingly frequent and severe floods and droughts." We used publicly available data on birth records to go 'back in time' to look at the relationship between climate extremes and birth weight. Our study showed that even intense but non-extreme rainfall was harmful. Increasing climatic variability in Amazonia is concerning, in part because subsequent disadvantages associated with low birth weight include in lower educational attainment, poorer health, reduced income in adulthood, and mortality-risks." Dr Erick Chacon-Montalvan, Study Lead Author, Lancaster University Jesem Orellana from FIOCRUZ in Brazil said: "Rainfall shocks confer inter-generational disadvantage for river-dependent populations living in neglected areas of Amazonia. These marginalized populations experience injustice because, despite contributing little to climate change, they are responsible for safeguarding most remaining forest and highly susceptible to climatic shocks. 404 VeggieTales co-creator to launch new animated series 'The Dead Sea Squirrels' Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment Mike Nawrocki, VeggieTales co-creator and voice of Larry the Cucumber, is teaming up with renowned Disney animator Tom Bancroft and legendary producer and artist Steve Taylor to bring to life the new animated series "The Dead Sea Squirrels now that the team has secured potential investors. Im thrilled to see the Dead Sea Squirrels coming to life, Nawrocki told the Christian Post. The beginnings of the idea came to me over a dozen years ago. So, to get the opportunity to write a book series and now to move into animation it is a longtime dream come true. Nawrocki said his prayer is that the stories in the new series will help kids make a connection to the Bible and life of Jesus. According to the Kickstarter campaign launched at the top of the year and then canceled, Nawrocki and the team needed to raise at least $1.2 million to get the animated series made because of the high cost of animation. But after raising over $35,000 in just a few days, they have lined up potential investors who would fund the entire project. "In the few days since our Kickstarter campaign launched we've had potential investors come forward to fund the series, an announcement posted to the fundraiser states. Everyone is committed to Mike Nawrockis vision and agrees he should retain creative control over the series content which was our main reason for choosing Kickstarter vs. traditional investor funding. As a result, we are suspending this Kickstarter campaign and hope to have more great news to share with you soon. The first six episodes of the series are based on Nawrockis book series of the same name. Its been a longtime dream of mine to bring this series to life, Nawrocki shared in a statement. What started as a title based on a cheesy pun has developed into a fun-filled world kids will love while giving parents an entertaining resource to pass on biblical values and life lessons. Plus, with VeggieTales, 3-2-1 Penguins, and now The Dead Sea Squirrels, I hope to cement my legacy as the cheesy pun title guy! The Dead Sea Squirrels tells the story of Merle and Pearl, two first-century squirrels from Israel whove been preserved in sea salt in a cave alongside the Dead Sea. When 10-year-old Michael discovers them 2000 years later and sneaks them home in his backpack, hijinks ensue after this salty couple reanimates and takes their new friend on adventures full of action, humor, music and character-building lessons, the synopsis reads. Nawrocki, a Lipscomb University professor, rallied together students hired to help animate the series in coordination with New Zealands Mukpuddy Animation Studios. Nawrockis team of industry professionals with whom he is colleagues at Lipscomb include Bancroft (known for his work on animated films like Mulan, The Lion King and Beauty and the Beast) and Taylor, who co-wrote The Dead Sea Squirrels theme song. For more information visit deadseasquirrels.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. Ryanair came under fire for the ads but owner Michael O'Leary defended the tone of the 'jab and go' campaign. (Niall Carson/PA) Complaints made against Ryanairs jab and go' adverts have been upheld by the Advertising Standards Authority of Ireland (ASAI). Ryanair were among six companies found to have breached the ASAIs code with advertisements. Nestle, Tesco, Blackberry Hearing, IndependentShop.ie and Goldcore were the other companies found in breach of advertising regulation. The airline came under fire a number of months ago after it launched a series of adverts aimed at encouraging international travel for the Easter break and into the summer. Read More Many of the complaints lodged against the airline revolved around whether the advertisements conflicted with public health guidelines, which had the potential to change, and whether it would be safe to travel at the time referenced in the advertising. The ASAI upheld this complaint on the basis the advert breached two sections of its code of conduct. Most of the complainants challenged whether the advertising had the potential to mislead consumers and considered that there was no guarantee that they would be able to travel to the destinations referenced in the advertising by Easter 2021. The ASAI also upheld this complaint. Allegations from complainants that the advertising was irresponsible, insensitive, offensive and trivialised the effects of the pandemic were also upheld when it was considered the impact it had on society and in particular front-line workers. Ryanairs Michael OLeary had previously remarked that the tone of the jab and go campaign was perfectly correct even though Ireland saw 1,000 deaths and 100,000 cases of Covid-19 in January. It was the right time to be sending that message, we need some optimism in Ireland, instead of the daily doses of pessimism being delivered by Nphet and RTE, he said on Morning Ireland last month. Nestle were found to have made misleading claims about one of their products, while Tesco were found to have falsely advertised a promotion as lasting an entire bank holiday weekend only for a customer to be told the promotion had ended early in-store. Goldcore were found to have made an unsubstantiated claim of being Irelands most trusted metal experts while Specsavers saw their claims against Blackberry Hearing upheld. Blackberry Hearings unsubstantiated claim of being Irelands Best Hearing Aid provider was among three complaints upheld by the ASAI that were lodged by Specsavers. IndependentShop.ie were found to have advertised a misleading sale price as the advertised price reduction was based on the price charged by a third party and not by the advertisers. Commenting on the latest ASAI ruling, Orla Twomey, chief executive of the ASAI, said it demonstrates how we ensure that ads in Ireland stick to the advertising rules. The main role of advertising self-regulatory organisations (SROs), such as the ASAI, is to ensure that ads and other marketing communications are legal, truthful, decent and honest, prepared with a sense of social responsibility to the consumer and society and with proper respect for the principles of fair competition. The ASAI is committed to protecting society in relation to advertising across all mediums. Self-regulatory ad standards provide an additional layer of consumer protection which complements legislative controls and offers an easily accessible means of resolving disputes. Read More Increased Devotion Commentary How sleep the Brave, who sink to Rest, By all their Countrys Wishes blest! When Spring, with dewy Fingers cold, Returns to deck their hallowd Mould, She there shall dress a sweeter Sod Than Fancys Feet have ever trod. By Fairy Hands their knell is rung, By Forms unseen their Dirge is sung; There Honour comes, a Pilgrim grey, To bless the Turf that wraps their Clay, And Freedom shall a-while repair To dwell a weeping Hermit there! Abigail Adams quoted from memory the ode How Sleep the Brave, by English poet William Collins, in a letter to her husband John, started on Sunday, June 18, and mailed on Tuesday, June 20, 1775. She had just confirmed reports of the death of their dear friend and family doctor, 34-year-old Joseph Warren. He had fallen gloriously fighting for his Country, Abigail wrote, and Those favorite lines of Collin[s] continually sound in my Ears. Warren had died on Saturday, June 17, in what came to be known as the Battle of Bunker Hill, where the British army had driven colonial militia from their positions but suffered heavy losses. He had been a leading patriot since the Stamp Act Crisis ten years before, when he was just 24. It was he who sent Paul Revere on his famous Midnight Ride. The extralegal Massachusetts Provincial Congress commissioned him as a major general of the militia just a few days before the battle, but he chose to serve as a private soldier and was killed on the third and final British assault. He immediately became a martyr of the Revolution. His death would later be immortalized by John Trumbull in the oil painting The Death of General Warren at the Battle of Bunkers Hill, 17 June, 1775, a version of which hangs today in the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. The Death of General Warren at the Battle of Bunkers Hill, 17 June, 1775, by John Trumbull. (Public Domain) The Battle of Bunker Hill took place within earshot of the farm in Braintree Massachusetts where Abigail and her four children were living. The battle began, she wrote, Saturday morning about 3 oclock. She thought it marked perhaps the decisive Day on which the fate of America depends. The constant roar of the cannon is so distressing, she said, that we can not Eat, Drink or Sleep. Weeks before, as militia streamed into the area in the wake of the battles of Lexington and Concord, Abigail had collected the familys pewter dishes and melted them down in a large kettle held over the kitchen fire to make bullets. From time to time, she heard alarms, warning that the Royal Navy was about to land forces along the coast. She had good reason to fear that the British would try to seize rebel leaders and their families. Her husband was 400 miles away in Philadelphia as part of the Massachusetts delegation to the Second Continental Congress. Six weeks earlier, he had written Abigail from Connecticut: I am often concerned for you and our dear Babes. In Case of real Danger fly to the Woods with our Children. Its hard in easygoing times to imagine what it could mean to face such an extremity: a mother forced to contemplate fleeing into the forest with her four children, pursued by hostile armies. It is hard to imagine being the husband hundreds of miles away writing such a letter to his wife or the wife reading such a letter from her husband. But Abigail Adams possessed all the self-reliance and courage that Johns letter counted on her to havecome what may. Far from fleeing to the woods, early on the Saturday morning of the battle, Abigail took her seven-year-old son and climbed to the top of Penns Hill to get a closer look. From there, the two could see fire and smell the smoke from houses burning in Charlestown. Seventy-one years later, after an illustrious career as a diplomat and a term as sixth president of the United States, and still serving as an active member of Congress, her son vividly remembered that day. In a draft of a letter, he wrote, I saw with my own eyes those fires, and heard Britannias thunders in the Battle of Bunkers hill and witnessed the tears of my mother and mingled with them my own, at the fall of Warren a dear friend of my father, and a beloved Physician to me. In that same letter, he repeated from memory the ode his mother had quoted to her husband in the letter she wrote 71 years before, when the fate of America hung in the balance. Back in that spring and summer of 1775, when he was just seven years old and the War for Independence swirled around him and his family, John Quincy Adams remembered, [my mother] taught me to repeat daily after the Lords prayer [the Ode of Collins] before rising from bed. A Tomb Guard or Sentinel from the U.S. Army 3rd Infantry Regiment, also called The Old Guard, marches in front of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Arlington Cemetery in Arlington, Va., on April 22, 2020. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images) How sleep the brave? Something like Abigail Adams slept, I should think. A few years after the War for Independence was won, when America was deliberating over a new Constitution, James Madison reflected in Federalist 55 that there are qualities in human nature which justify a certain portion of esteem and confidence, and that [r]epublican government presupposes the existence of these qualities in a higher degree than any other form. Human beings are not brave by nature, but it is human nature to be capable of becoming brave, and of acquiring all the other virtues, through habit that molds enduring character. Republican governmentself-government or free governmentdoes the greatest honor to human nature by regarding human beings as capable of acquiring all the moral and intellectual virtues needed to rule themselves. Bravery or courage is the first or most fundamental virtue free government requires of its citizens. It is indispensable for all that follows. America could not have become a self-governing republiccould not have assumed among the powers of the earth the separate and equal station to which the laws of nature and of natures God entitled uswithout the courage of Joseph Warren and the thousands after him gloriously fighting and dying for a country that was still an aspiration. In national memory, the young Nathan Hale would become representative of American patriots who offered and gave their lives that their country might be born. We all knowor used to knowthe story. Nathan Hale was a 21-year-old Connecticut boy in 1776. He was serving in the Continental Army during the American War of Independence. George Washington needed someone to spy on British troop movements behind enemy lines in New York. Nathan Hale volunteered for that job. He was captured by the British. The penalty for espionage was death by hanging, and he was hanged. On his way to the scaffold, Hale spoke the words that every generation of Americans since has been able to quote, as Abigail Adams and John Quincy Adams could quote the Collins Ode: I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country. British soldiers prepare to hang the American patriot Nathan Hale (17551776). Before his execution Hale declared that I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country. (MPI/Getty Images) America will always need Nathan Hales and Joseph Warrens. Every country does. America will always need citizens willing to give, in Abraham Lincolns words at Gettysburg, the last full measure of devotion for their countrys cause. If you are an immigrant seeking citizenship in the United States today, you must take an oath of naturalization, part of which involves a pledge that you will bear arms if necessary in defense of the Constitution of the United States. This means you have to be willing to be a Joseph Warren, a Nathan Hale. Native citizens live under the obligation of the same oath, even if we dont explicitly take it. Each of us is pledged to all, and all are pledged to each, to defend our lives and liberties as Americans when needed. In every generation, it has been so far a small percentage of our citizens who must offer and give the last full measure of devotion for our country. These are usually young. They used to be young men only; now, of course, they are young men and women. How can the rest of usthe vast majorityproperly honor such sacrifices? How can we be worthy of them? The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Arlington National Cemetery can teach us something about that, and about how it benefits us the living to honor those who have given their lives for us. Inscribed in capital letters on the western facade of the Tomb are the words: HERE RESTS IN HONORED GLORY AN AMERICAN SOLDIER KNOWN BUT TO GOD. More than 4 million visitors come to the cemetery every year from across America and around the world. Unless they have their own personal visit to make, what they most want to do is to climb the hill to the high ground of the Memorial Amphitheater and visit the Tomb. A Tomb Guard or Sentinel from the U.S. Army 3rd Infantry Regiment, also called The Old Guard, marches in front of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Arlington Cemetery in Arlington, Va., on April 22, 2020. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images) The American Civil War brought forth Arlington National Cemetery, on land belonging once to George Washingtons family and later to Robert E. Lees. More Americans died in that war than in all Americas other wars combined, and the first soldier buried at Arlington was Private William Christman, on May 13, 1864. The Great War, later tragically to become known as World War I, brought forth the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. The American Expeditionary Force that fought in the Great War in 1917 and 1918 lost more than 116,000 troops. Identification tags were a relatively recent introduction of modern warfare, but still almost 2,000 fallen American troops remained unidentified. One of those unidentified troops was selected for burial at Arlington, with solemn ceremony, on what was then still called Armistice Day, three years to the day after the war endedNov. 11, 1921. The Tombs sarcophagus that we see today standing above the grave was completed and unveiled to the public in 1932. It is made of marble from the same quarry in Colorado that provided the marble for the Lincoln Memorial. To the west of the Tomb, white marble slabs flush with the plaza mark crypts for an unknown soldier from World War II and another from the Korean War. As we know well today, advances in technology over the years made being unknown more and more difficult. So for the Vietnam War there is a third marble slab, over an empty crypt, inscribed with the words, Honoring and Keeping Faith with Americas Missing Servicemen, 19581975. The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier touches visitors so deeply, in part, because it prompts a realization that the experience and sacrifice of all fallen soldiers must in some ways always be unknown to usthough they are not unknown to God. At midnight on July 2, 1937, the Army began to maintain a constant guard over the Tomb. On April 6, 1948, these duties were assumed by the 3rd U.S. Infantry, known as The Old Guard, the oldest active-duty infantry unit in the Army. Since that day, 24 hours a day, every day of the year, in all weathers, The Old Guard has maintained its vigil. This sacred duty is carried out by the most specialized and famous platoon of The Old Guard, known as Sentinels of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. A Tomb Guard or Sentinel from the U.S. Army 3rd Infantry Regiment, also called The Old Guard, marches in front of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Arlington Cemetery in Arlington, Va., on April 22, 2020. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images) Senator Tom Cotton of Arkansas, who served at Arlington with The Old Guard between combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, has written a good book about their history called Sacred Duty. He tells the story of the young soldiers of The Old Guard, who dedicate themselves to [the] sacred duty of honoring those who have served and died for the nation. The movie Taking Chance gives an idea of what carrying out this duty looks like. The Changing of the Guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier happens every hour on the hour from October through March, and every half hour from April through September. It is the most visible manifestation of the sacred duty of honoring our fallen heroes. With exquisite precision and unbroken attention to detail, the Sentinels aim to make that ceremony perfect every time. They want to hold themselves to the ultimate standard by which men can be judged, because nothing less can begin to honor adequately the ultimate sacrifice they are there to honor. For the millions of Americans and foreigners who visit the Tomb each year, especially the young, the Changing of the Guard offers profound moral and political instruction. And what makes the ritual ceremony so powerful for visitors to see is that, in a vital sense, the visitors dont matter. The Sentinels are most devoted to achieving perfection when they are not seenwhen their precision, their attention to every detail, their concentration on the high purpose of honoring the fallen into eternity, is known but to God. Lincolns Gettysburg Address, Americas greatest speech, was a dedication of the soldiers cemetery at Gettysburg, months after the great battle fought there. It teaches how we the living are blessed to be dedicated to the unfinished work of all the Joseph Warrens and Nathan Hales and the thousands buried unnamed who gave the last full measure of devotion for the cause of freedom. We honor their memory by our increased devotion to their noble cause. This is their undying gift to us. To be worthy of their bravery and the bravery of all our Abigail Adamses takes all the wisdom and virtue a man or woman could hope to possess. Like the Sentinels of the Tomb, Lincoln teaches us that to honor those who made the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom, we need only hold ourselves to the ultimate standard in all we doeven when it is known but to God. From RealClearWire. Christopher Flannery is a senior fellow of the Claremont Institute, contributing editor of the Claremont Review of Books, and host of The American Story podcast. Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times. [March 02, 2021] The Presidio Group Advises on the Sale of Fink Automotive Group The Presidio Group LLC ("Presidio"), a leading investment bank specializing in retail automotive and related M&A transactions, exclusively advised Scott Fink, President of Fink Automotive Group, on the sale of seven new vehicle dealership franchises in the greater Tampa market to Lithia Motors, Inc. ("Lithia") [NYSE: LAD]. "The buy sell market is especially strong right now and we knew that joining efforts with a larger group was the best way to ensure that our dealerships will continue to be market leaders in today's fast-changing auto retail environment," said Scott Fink, President of Fink Automotive Group. "Lithia has the resources to elevate our dealerships to the next level of sophistication." "We chose to work with The Presidio Group because they are consummate professionals with extensive experience in advising on multi-dealership transactions and, just as importantly, a strong track record of identifying the right buyer for each business," Fink added. "We were very pleased to once again work with The Presidio Group on an important strategic acquisition," said Bryan DeBoer, President and CEO of Lithia Motors and Driveway. "The addition of Fink Automotive Group gives us a greatly expanded foothold in the key Southeast region. We are excited to welcome Fink Auto Group's employees to the Lithia family, especially Scott Fink, who will work with Lithia to continue our expansion in the Southeast." The acquisition of Fink Automotive Group more than doubles Lithia's footprint in the Southeast. Fink Automotive Group's dealerships include Hyundai of New Port Richey, Genesis of New Port Richey, Volkswagen of New Port Richey, Hyundai of Wesley Chapel, Genesis of Wesley Chapel, Mazda of Wesley Chapel, nd Chevrolet of Wesley Chapel. Hyundai of New Port Richey has been the highest volume Hyundai dealership in the United States for eight consecutive years. Dave Frazier, general manager of Hyundai New Port Richey, will continue to oversee dealership operations. "Scott is a long-time friend and I was especially pleased to work with him to find the right buyer for his stellar collection of dealerships," said George Karolis, President of The Presidio Group. "He is one of the best dealers in the country and Tampa is one of the hottest markets, as evidenced by the success of his 'Giant' Hyundai store in New Port Richey. We knew these franchises would complement Lithia's portfolio perfectly." "We were honored to assist Scott in the sale of his award-winning franchises," said Brodie Cobb, founder and CEO of The Presidio Group. "This move allows him to continue to utilize his knowledge and experience in the dealership world through working with Lithia." Scott Fink and his wife Kathy are well-known in philanthropy circles for their work with the St. Joseph's Hospital Foundation, the Metropolitan Ministries, and with the Hyundai Hope on Wheels non-profit, which helps children fight cancer. In 2020, Hope on Wheels donated $200,000 to St. Joseph's, and Scott and Kathy Fink followed that with a $1 million donation of their own. Scott Fink has served as a St. Joseph's board member for more than a decade and also serves as the Board Chair of Hyundai Hope on Wheels. The Presidio Group provided exclusive M&A advisory services to Fink Automotive Group through its wholly owned investment bank, Presidio Merchant Partners LLC. The Presidio Group LLC was founded in 1998 with the simple mission to relentlessly put the interests of our clients first. By steadfastly adhering to this philosophy, the firm has earned the trust of clients throughout the United States. During their careers, the professionals at Presidio have collectively done nearly 200 transactions for over $12 billion. It also publishes Presidio's Where the Rubber Meets the Road, a leading source of information about the automotive retail landscape and the automotive retail M&A environment. The Presidio Group is based in San Francisco, CA (News - Alert) . Presidio Merchant Partners LLC is a subsidiary of The Presidio Group LLC and is a member of FINRA and SIPC. For more information on Presidio, visit www.thepresidiogroup.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210302005289/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] U.S. House candidate Kim Klacik walked onto Mike Huckabee's cable talk show last August as the latest conservative celebrity, riding high on a viral campaign ad that had attracted 10 million views and was shared on social media by President Donald Trump and his eldest son. "We raised close to $2 million," the Republican congressional hopeful said of the three-minute spot, which showed her marching in a red dress and high heels past abandoned buildings in Baltimore, asserting that Democrats do not care about Black lives. But later that night, Klacik's staff told her it would be best to stop disclosing how much money the ad had raised for her campaign against Democratic Rep. Kweisi Mfume - because she wouldn't be keeping much of it, Klacik recounted in an interview. The company that produced the video, Arsenal Media Group, would take a cut. And a firm hired to promote the video, Olympic Media, would keep up to 70 percent of the money it generated, some of which was not disclosed in Klacik's initial campaign finance filings. Klacik, a self-described college dropout who launched a nonprofit organization to help disadvantaged women before running for office, said she did not personally approve or know about the contract with Olympic Media until that conversation. "When I saw it, I almost passed out," she said. Her campaign is an example of how some consulting firms are profiting handsomely from Republican candidates who have robust appeal in today's politically charged environment - even when they are running in deep-blue districts where it is virtually impossible for them to win. The more viral the candidate goes, the more money the companies make - a model possible only through the online outrage machine of hyperpartisan politics. Fundraising companies say their fees are well-earned and still leave candidates with more money than they would have if their ads had not been shared widely. But critics, including Klacik and some other 2020 candidates, say the system is deceptive, trapping first-time politicians in onerous contracts that siphon away cash their donors intended for them. "It sounds like part of the swamp that needs to be drained," said Bruce Dale, a Klacik donor from Michigan, who was aghast to learn that a chunk of his $800 in donations may not have made it to her. "They can say it's legal, but there are a lot of things that are legal that are wrong. This is wrong." - - - High-margin fundraising fees - sometimes in excess of 90 percent of a donor's first contribution - have sucked resources out of conservative politics ever since the movement organized in the 1970s around the costly medium of direct mail. Social media, email and text-message fundraising brought those same steep margins online. By the end of Klacik's campaign, she would raise a staggering $8.3 million and pay nearly $3.7 million of it to Olympic Media, according to campaign finance filings and her campaign manager. Klacik, now a frequent Fox News and Newsmax commentator, lost to Mfume in Maryland's 7th Congressional District by more than 40 percentage points. "I actually lost sleep over this," she said of the high share of donations claimed by Olympic. "These companies - it's a racket. Unfortunately, this is why we ask people to send us checks directly to our P.O. box." Olympic's founder and chief executive, Ryan Coyne, a former U.S. rower, countered that his company's work allowed Klacik - and Republicans in general - to amplify their voice in a traditionally Democratic part of the country and create a platform for future campaigns. "It's true, advertising costs related to getting your name out are the biggest driver of campaign expenses," he said. "We are proud to have raised and netted millions of dollars for the Klacik campaign - helping turn her into a household name, generating many millions of dollars in earned media." Another Republican long-shot candidate in a deep-blue district, Lacy Johnson, also worked with Olympic. But his campaign manager, Anton Lazzaro, considered the firm's rates reasonable in comparison with those of other vendors they encountered. Lazzaro stopped working with digital fundraiser Bryan Rudnick, for example, after signing a contract that gave Rudnick's firm 80 percent of the money it brought in for Johnson from new donors. Johnson was challenging Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., a national target of conservative scorn. Like Klacik, he urged Black voters to abandon the Democratic Party, saying it had served them poorly. Like Klacik, he lost by a wide margin - nearly 40 percentage points. He raised about $12 million from donors across the country. After Olympic's share and other fundraising costs were deducted, just $5 million remained, Lazzaro estimated. "There are so many vultures in GOP small-dollar fundraising," Lazzaro said. "It can be extremely difficult for first-time candidates to recognize legitimate fundraising vendors and self-serving operators taking upwards of 80 to 90 percent of gross donations." Rudnick's firm, LGM Consulting Group, is suing Johnson's campaign for alleged breach of contract, saying its fees, along with a five-year no-cancellation clause and certain exclusivity rights, were appropriate. "LGM invests significant time, effort and expense towards its client's campaign before it receives its first dollar," the company argued in a court filing. Rudnick referred questions to his attorney, who declined to comment. Several GOP consultants, speaking on the condition of anonymity to protect their clients, said that some first-time or long-shot candidates in desperate need of money and name recognition may have no choice but to agree to expensive contracts. But the consultants said that siphoning off such a large share of donations is counterproductive to achieving the greater conservative cause, because it redirects money that could be spent more directly on winning elections. "It probably needs to be changed," Klacik's campaign manager, Greg Stewart, said of the fundraising system he encountered. "A lot of us new candidates are getting into it and are like, 'What the heck?' But you are on the spot. Election Day is in X amount of time. Are you going to be able to change the system before the election? The answer is more than likely not." - - - Before the release of Klacik's viral ad, in mid-July, she had about $56,000 in the bank. She was mostly known as the person whose 2019 video highlighting trash and abandoned buildings in Baltimore caught the attention of then-President Donald Trump, who used it to attack then-Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., who was chairman of the House Oversight Committee. The campaign ad that would launch her onto Fox News and back into Trump's orbit took on a similar tone: blaming Baltimore's crime and blight on Democratic policies. Arsenal contracted with Benny Johnson, a Newsmax TV host and the chief creative officer at Turning Point USA, to script and direct the ad, which the firm asked prominent Republican activists to share online. Olympic took over the job of further prospecting for campaign contributions, Stewart said, placing the video in digital ads and sending it to lists of potential donors via email, text messages, and in Facebook posts. Rather than a traditional contract, where a client pays a fixed fee for products or services, Arsenal and Olympic each received $5,000 up front, with the promise of additional income based on how much money came in from donors. The ad was released online only. Klacik spent a relatively paltry $66,000 on traditional cable or broadcast advertising in her district, believing that she would draw more productive attention if her spots spread across social media. "We just felt like digital was the new wave," she said. "That's how President Donald Trump reached a lot of people." Klacik's campaign finance filings show she paid Arsenal just over $500,000 by the end of the campaign. That included about $100,000 in production and commission costs for the Baltimore ad and a second shoot later in the cycle, plus about $400,000 for a digital marketing campaign in her district, Stewart said. Initially the campaign disclosed a total of $1.6 million paid to Olympic by the end of 2020. A Feb. 1 amendment to federal filings revealed $1.2 million more paid to the company, and Stewart disclosed an additional $800,000 after questions from The Washington Post - bringing the total to nearly $3.7 million. The discrepancy was caused by an accounting mistake involving fees paid through WinRed, a GOP fundraising platform that allows vendors such as Olympic to deduct their share of donations automatically as the money comes in. Klacik reported paying millions of dollars to WinRed that actually went through the donation processor to other vendors. Stewart and a WinRed spokesman confirmed the error. Other Republican candidates, including Johnson and Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, also misreported expenses to vendors, WinRed said. Both the Klacik and Johnson campaigns said they are amending their filings. Jordan's campaign, which also hired Olympic Media for digital services, did not respond to a request for comment. WinRed said in a statement that it "proactively insists that campaigns report fees accurately" with the Federal Election Commission, and that it's "the responsibility of each campaign to manage their own agencies and their own FEC compliance." Stewart called the arrangement with Olympic the "price of doing business." He said Olympic - which also did work for Rep. Madison Cawthorn, R-N.C. - fit with the campaign's insurgent brand and "did good work for us" by repackaging the Arsenal video. But although Klacik said she thought Arsenal's fees were fair, given the company's creative work, she took issue with Olympic's digital marketing rates. "Whoever's over there is making a killing," she said. - - - Klacik certainly got something for the millions she paid her vendors: a national political platform. Within days of the Baltimore ad's release, she landed a speaking slot at the Republican National Convention. By October, she'd taken in more than $6 million - mostly from small-dollar donors across the country. She spent more than $50,000 on private jets. She joined Donald Trump Jr. at a rally in Arizona, and the president himself in Atlanta to announce a plan to increase capital in Black communities. She traveled her district on a customized bus and spent thousands of dollars on a campaign event at Trump's hotel in downtown Washington. Part of the reason Klacik's ad took off so rapidly was the influencers, including Trump Jr., that Arsenal and Benny Johnson brought Klacik who were willing to praise and share the spot on their social media accounts. The company shot similar ads for a half-dozen other GOP politicians, including a viral spot for Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., that shows her walking the streets of D.C. promising to carry a Glock pistol to Congress. Joe Collins, a Republican who raised more than $10 million in his losing bid against veteran Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., said his deal with Arsenal left him with more money than he would have had otherwise, and a list of donors he is using for his next campaign. A contract between Arsenal and another 2020 Republican campaign, which was obtained by The Post, showed in detail how the payment structure can work. After an upfront production fee of $20,000, the two parties used WinRed fundraising links to track how much money came in as a result of people viewing the spot in freely shared social media posts. The campaign kept the first $20,000, to reimburse production costs. It split the next $40,000 50-50, and forfeited 25 percent of the money raised above $60,000. Klacik and several campaign managers who worked with Arsenal and Johnson in 2020 said their arrangement worked out well because they were able to attract donors who otherwise might never have heard of the candidates. "Without (Benny Johnson) taking my message and putting it into a video forum, we would have never been on the level we were on," Klacik said. This month, she launched her own political-action committee, Red Renaissance PAC, which she said she will use to raise money for other Republicans. Jason Cole, the managing partner at Arsenal, said the company works "with all types of groups to tell their stories. Often their budgets are limited, and we try to figure out creative solutions," he said. "We will always bet on our candidates and our work." Once campaigns have the donors' names, email addresses and phone numbers, they can seek repeat donations and keep 100 percent of the proceeds. But if a candidate takes off as a national fundraising target, as Klacik and Lacy Johnson did, the share of the money raised by the fundraisers spikes as well. "If you're a candidate who doesn't have money, that makes sense," said one GOP consultant, speaking on the condition of anonymity to protect the identity of his clients. "It's just that ultimately, the campaigns aren't paying for it. The donors are." Suzanne Salata, who is active in Republican politics in San Jose, Calif., researched Klacik and gave her $500 after seeing her initial viral video on Fox News. "I knew she was a long shot, but I felt it was worth investing in her," said Salata, who also donated to Lacy Johnson and other GOP hopefuls. But Salata found it "ridiculous" that companies would take a sizable cut of a candidate's fundraising money. "Like at a nonprofit, if their overhead was 40 or 50 percent, you wouldn't give to them," she said. "It's not exactly apples to apples. But I've never heard of a kickback like this (in campaigns)." Greg Ruggles, of Bettendorf, Iowa, sent Klacik $100 after stumbling onto her Baltimore campaign ad. He said he felt a little "duped"after learning a large chunk may have gone to a vendor. "If you're giving money to a cause," he said, "you want it to go to the cause, not to the company creating the ad." In the future, he added, "I'll certainly be more cautious about my donations." - - - The Washington Post's Anu Narayanswamy, Erin Cox and Alice Crites contributed to this report. The recent shift by global industries at-large towards clean energy represents "an unprecedented level of interest," which shows little sign of slowing down, John Kerry, the U.S. special presidential envoy for climate, said Tuesday. The marketplace is making the decision for people, not government not regulation Kerry, the former secretary of state, said, speaking at the IHS Markit CERAweek conference. "It's the market of the future, and you're already seeing massive allocations. I think this is going to race ahead." The comment came amid increased warnings from the United Nations that governments are not moving fast enough to enact policies reducing emissions and keeping their pledge to limit the planet to a no more than 1.5 degree Celsisus increase in temperature. But corporations are showing less lag, with U.S. auto giant GM recently announcing it would stop producing gasoline and diesel powered vehicles by 2035 and BP pledging to be net zero emissions by 2050 - including the carbon emissions from the oil and gas products it sells. Kerry highlighted hydrogen energy, which can be made from natural gas, as a new line of business for oil and gas companies. "The fossil fuel industry could clearly do a lot more into being a full fledged energy companies that are embracing these new technologies," he said. "I don't object to fossil fuels. I object to the byproducts, namely carbon dioxide and methane." But there are limits to the private sector's ability to address climate. In a discussion with former energy secretary Ernest Moniz at CERAweek, Kerry mentioned the dire need to modernize the U.S. power grid to enable the movement electricity long distances, pointing to the recent blackouts in Texas as a "prime example." "We have a gaping hole in the middle of our country, he said of the power grid. "We can't afford that anymore. We need a smart grid." Asked by Moniz whether he saw Republicans and Democrats in Congress coming together to aid such a build out, Kerry said only they, "should." "Congress is more unpredictable today than any time historically," he said. CERAWeek gets is name from Cambridge Energy Research Associates, the consulting firm co-founded by Daniel Yergin, now vice chairman of IHS Markit and host of the global energy conference. BALLSTON SPA - A Saratoga Springs man who was incarcerated in the Saratoga County jail allegedly assaulted several corrections officers, injuring two, the Sheriff's Office said. John J. Martino, 35, of Verde Place was charged with four counts of assault, a felony, and four counts of forcible touching, a misdemeanor, after the Feb. 27 incident, deputies said. Now that the Johnson & Johnson coronavirus vaccine has been approved, it should arrive in the state within days, Gov. Phil Murphy said Monday. The state is expecting an initial shipment of 73,600 doses, and the same amount is expected in subsequent weeks, Murphy said at his latest COVID-19 briefing in Trenton. With three different vaccines soon available, some people are asking if they will be told which vaccine they are going to get when they schedule an appointment. Currently, most sites tell you which one of the two vaccines now available you will get, either Pfizer or Moderna, when you register. State Health Commissioner Judith Persichilli said Monday that you cant simply walk into a vaccine appointment and say which vaccine you prefer. Instead, you will get whichever vaccine the site has in its supply, she said. People should take the vaccine that is available to them, Persichilli said, noting that all three Pfizer, Moderna, and Johnson &Johnson are all highly effective against severe illness, hospitalization, and death. You can, though, try to book an appointment at a location where a certain vaccine is offered, she said. But that could mean turning down earlier time slots or preferred locations that are closer to your home. People can choose where to go to get vaccinated and so they can inquire what vaccines are available at each location, state Health Department spokeswoman Donna Leusner said. Its the same at most sites. Logistical reasons dictate which vaccine is distributed where, said Dr. Daniel Varga, chief physician executive of Hackensack Meridian Health. For example, he said, Pfizer vaccines are stored and administered where specialized freezers are located. CVS said right now its individual locations have either the Moderna or the Pfizer vaccine, not both. As we are able to expand the number of pharmacies offering the vaccine in the coming months, patients will be able to see which pharmacies offer which vaccine as part of the digital scheduling experience on cvs.com prior to making an appointment, spokeswoman Tara Burke said. Rite Aid said each of its stores has only one kind of vaccine, meaning if a store has Pfizer they do not have Moderna, spokesman Christopher Savarese said. The two retailers will get 22,500 doses this week from Johnson & Johnson through the federal partnership program, Murphy said. Thats in addition to the doses received by the state. Public health officials stress that its essential that people get vaccinated with any brand as fast as possible. We have three highly efficacious vaccines that also has a very good safety profile. Dr. Anthony Fauci said Monday during a federal coronavirus briefing on Monday. There were no hospitalization or deaths in any of the studies, he said of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine specifically. The Johnson & Johnson vaccine is 85% protective against severe illness, while the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines are both about 95% effective. NJ Advance Media staff writer Brent Johnson contributed to this report. Please subscribe now and support the local journalism YOU rely on and trust. Karin Price Mueller may be reached at KPriceMueller@NJAdvanceMedia.com. Restaurateur Frankie Randazzo wasted no time after Gov. Greg Abbott announced his plan to drop the statewide mask mandate and allow businesses reopen to 100% percent capacity next week. He took to social media immediately to encourage people to swing by his Madisons restaurant and support local businesses. But across Jefferson County, Port Arthur Mayor Thurman Bill Bartie, a COVID-19 survivor still coping with the after-effects, worried that Abbotts decision would lead to yet another spike in deaths and new cases. He fears a new spike similar to the one last summer when business restrictions were loosened prematurely. You watch and see, he said. People are going to start having picnics and parties, and then people are going to start dying. Abbotts announcement comes just over a week since Jefferson County was allowed to reopen bars and increase the occupancy rate to 75% after COVID-19 hospitalization rates in late December had forced the region to roll back reopenings. Top hits: Get Beaumont Enterprise stories sent directly to your inbox Effective March 10, all businesses of any type will be allowed to open to 100%, Abbott said at a news conference in Lubbock. That includes any type of entity in Texas, he said. Also, I am ending the statewide mask mandate. More Information Southeast Texas officials react "In the past year, you know what you've done to protect yourself. Don't be brash and so quick to return to some situation that you know is detrimental to you." - Port Arthur Mayor Thurman Bill Bartie "I think everybody is ready for it. I would recommend if you still feel vulnerable and you haven't gotten your vaccine yet, then wear one." - Orange County Judge John Gothia "My hope is that the practices we have learned through this ordeal: proper hygiene, handwashing, disinfecting, distancing, etc., will continue to be followed. I believe this will allow the wearing of masks to be a personal decision." - Beaumont Mayor Becky Ames "I believe that our citizens, schools and businesses are ready to return to a normal way of life and are responsible enough to make their own decisions regarding the need for masks or other infection control measures either as private individuals or on behalf of their own business or governmental organizations." - Jasper County Judge Mark Allen "Infection rates and hospitalizations are falling pretty dramatically." - Jefferson County Judge Jeff Branick "I still hope people will do the right thing and wear masks in public when they can't social distance. But I'm glad to see it's no longer mandated, and I'm very glad to see our businesses able to open back up to 100%." - Hardin County Judge Wayne McDaniel See More Collapse Beaumont Mayor Becky Ames said she cautiously supports allowing businesses to resume full occupancy. I pray this will not hinder the efforts we have made thus far, she said, and my hope is it will not cause us to go backward. Jefferson County Judge Jeff Branick, after noting that Abbott has even more medical advisers than the county, said he agreed with the timing of the action. Infection rates and hospitalizations are falling pretty dramatically, he said. Branick, who said he typically avoids large crowds, said he will stop wearing a facial covering during Commissioners Court meetings and other similar gatherings after Abbotts order goes into effect because his mask tends to fog up his glasses. Related: Fewer new infections, but COVID deaths continue As of Monday, Jefferson County was averaging 39 new cases of coronavirus each day. Thats down from the mid-January peak of 170 new cases. However, the county hasnt stabilized below the mid-20s since mid-June. Additionally, the nine-county trauma service area that includes Jefferson County hasnt seen the percentage of hospital capacity taken up by COVID-19-positive patients rise above 15% since mid-February. As of Sunday, just under 12% of hospital capacity in the region was occupied by coronavirus patients. These positive statistics led most Southeast Texas officials to agree with Abbotts move. Randazzo was live-streaming Abbotts news conference with a group of his general managers when the news was announced. When Abbott said the mandate for mask and occupancy restrictions would be rescinded by March 10, the chat blew up with emojis and cheers, Randazzo said. Obviously, it is a relief for local business owners, whether you agree with the science or not, he said. Hospitality companies have been targeted more than any other, and I just hope that we start to see some increased consumer confidence so our local businesses can try to get back on their feet. The owners of Cotton Creek Winery are taking a more nuanced approach. Related: BISD in-person students return to campus The Beaumont winery, owned by Traci and Art Tucker, closed its storefront for more than half a year relied on pickup orders from customers. The shutdowns also sidelined plans the couple had to open a tasting room on Calder Avenue. Traci Tucker said she was excited to hear Tuesdays news, but she didnt think businesses like Cotton Creek would ever truly feel like it did before 2020. We are nervous because we are attuned to how things spread now, she said. I think most of us were complacent about how our interactions impacted our health, but this has made us think twice about how we approach things. Related: Beaumont VA clinic to offer vaccines this weekend Tucker, who has been treated for breast cancer since last year, said she will wear a mask when she is running errands and in public. But she isnt putting any restrictions on her business. She said that she is leaving those decisions up to her employees and customers because she understands people have strong feelings about the masks. She is still considering whether, say, the bar will be reopened for seating. Texas grocery chain H-E-B on Tuesday announced it would continue to require employees and vendors to wear a mask, would only urge customers to do the same. Although there is no longer a statewide mask order, H-E-B believes it is important that masks be worn in public spaces until more Texans and our partners have access to the COVID-19 vaccine, H-E-B Houston public affairs director Lisa Helfman said. As an essential service provider during the pandemic, H-E-B is focused on the health and safety of our partners and customers. Related: Gas prices on the rise due to market hopes for vaccine Hardin County Judge Wayne McDaniel has been advocating giving people choices like that. I still hope people will do the right thing and wear masks in public when they cant social distance, he said, later adding that he plans to continue wearing his mask until hes vaccinated. But Im glad to see its no longer mandated, and Im very glad to see our businesses able to open back up to 100%. Bartie was less optimistic, expecting people to begin shirking precautions right away. Stressing that he was speaking as an individual still recovering from the virus rather than as a politician, Bartie said the state should have waited until more people were vaccinated before taking this step. Abbotts move comes too soon, he said. Related: Bars open, business occupancy expands as COVID cases fall I hate to say it like this, but now the government is giving people the right to commit suicide, Bartie said. Theyre saying, Go ahead and kill yourself. He also said educators and others who havent been prioritized in the vaccine rollout could be at greater risk. As long as there was a mask order in place, the individuals these workers were required to be around were at least supposed to be wearing a mask, he said. For the time being, local school leaders are waiting for guidance from the Texas Education Agency, which has not yet announced whether masks will still be required in schools. It may be difficult to change any mask protocols at this time due to COVID-19 quarantine rules that are still in effect, Orangefield ISD Superintendent Shaun McAlpin told The Enterprise. Related: A little bit of hope as PN-G teachers get vaccine Port Neches-Groves ISD Assistant Superintendent Julie Gauthier add that her district was still digesting the new policy. It doesnt go into effect until March 10 so that gives us time to look at our policies, she said. Our biggest concern will be keeping our kids from being in close contact. Districts are also waiting for guidance from the University Interscholastic League regarding capacity at upcoming sporting events and whether masks will be required for players and fans. We will follow whatever guidance they deem for student athletes, Gauthier said. Jorge Ramos contributed. kaitlin.bain@beaumontenterprise.com isaac.windes@hearstnp.com jacob.dick@beaumontenterprise.com In his CPAC speech on Sunday, former president Trump articulated a populist vision for the future of the Republican Party and for America. At the heart of the president's thinking lies a powerful message of hope for America's working people. Unlike the Democrats' idea of governance by and for the elite, Donald Trump believes in the ideals set forth in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution the principles of equality, opportunity, and unalienable rights. These principles did not vanish with the 2020 election, nor has President Trump. The conflict between the elitist and populist vision of America is the most crucial social and political issue of our time. I believe that the 2020 election was stolen because the political elite realized they could not defeat President Trump in a fair fight. Trump's populist vision is shared by at least 74 million Americans, and likely by far more. If the fraud can be contained, 2022 and 2024 will be victorious elections for the GOP and for populism in America. Declaring that his political journey is "far from over" and hinting that he may be the GOP presidential candidate in 2024 (and ruling out a third-party run), President Trump laid out the policy differences between his and President Biden's administrations. For most watching the speech, Trump's policies on immigration, job creation, constitutionalism, and foreign policy are clearly superior to those of Biden and Democrats in Congress. A CPAC straw poll revealed that 95% of those voting wished to see Trump's policies and agenda advanced. Underlying all of Trump's remarks was the stark divide between heartland Americans and the coastal elite. The president's assurance that conservatives will win in 2022 and 2024 rests on his belief that conservative thinking is "common sense" and that the conservative vision of America is founded on God-given rights. If that thinking truly is common sense and those rights truly are God-given and if, as Trump stressed in his speech, Republicans set about to forestall election fraud before the next election a conservative victory is likely. Since before its founding as a nation, America attracted a population that sought personal liberty and economic opportunity. A despotic, class-based system of privilege stood in the way of this population, and the British Crown imposed the same sort of tyranny that liberals seek to implant in America today. Americans do not want a European-style government with power centralized in the capital and exercised by a permanent elite akin to the graduates of Oxbridge in Britain or the Ecole nationale d'administration in France. The European political mentality a mentality that would accept unelected members of a commission in Brussels as rulers derives from centuries of serfdom that taught acceptance of an inherited class system. That mentality is alien to America's thinking, but elitists in the Democratic Party are trying to impose it on us. Biden and the elite that surround him know little about the real America or the wishes of the American people. Secretary of state Antony Blinken, for example, has practically no business experience outside government or, from what I can determine, any significant contact with ordinary Americans outside the coastal culture. He has served in the Clinton, Obama, and Biden administrations and with the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and with a liberal think-tank when Democrats were out of power. Blinken attended an elite prep school in New York City, followed by Harvard and Columbia Law School. His father and uncle were U.S. ambassadors, and Blinken himself began working on Democrat presidential campaigns as early as 1988, when he was just 26. There is no record of Blinken's ever working in the private sector (that is, producing or building anything), but he has played an important role in WestExec Advisors and Pine Island Capital Partners, for which he was hired, according to its chairman, for his "access, network and expertise." This sounds to me a lot like influence-peddling, something the Biden family appears to have engaged in as well, so much so that the New York Times hardly a unfriendly source questioned Blinken's potential conflicts of interest if appointed as Biden's secretary of state. As it is, Blinken is not the only person associated with Pine Island Capital Partners close to Biden. The list includes Lloyd Austin and Michele Fournoy. In fact, almost all of Biden's Cabinet appointees, from Blinken to Janet Yellen and John Kerry, fit the same mold: graduation from elite schools, long histories of government service, no real business experience, and complete loyalty to the Washington elite. It is this elite that President Trump is determined to defeat as he continues to work for the good of "every American," as he declared on Sunday. As he reaffirmed his overriding policy of "America First," Trump was in effect declaring that he will not accept the influence of the political elite, either in this country or from other countries that wish to exploit the American people by way of the Paris Climate Agreement, the Iran nuclear deal, weak trade agreements, flawed immigration deals, and other failures of Democrat administrations. What all of these failures have in common is their disregard for the ordinary working American, who is forced to pay for giveaways that enrich foreign entities through deals negotiated by liberals who then benefit in some way from them. In his CPAC speech, President Trump presented a remarkably clear-eyed assessment of the stakes we face and of the difficult road ahead. It will not be easy to defeat an articulate and united political elite determined to retain its privileges at the expense of a less organized and less unified public. But the great weakness of the left, as our former president pointed out, is that leftist policies are simply wrong. In the long run, no reasonable person can defend the idea of surrendering our sovereignty to our enemies. Once it is clear what Biden intends, most Americans, I believe, will rally around conservatives in 2022 and 2024. To paraphrase Isoroku Yamamoto, the American electorate is a sleeping giant. Biden's radicalism may be just what it takes to awaken it. Jeffrey Folks is the author of many books and articles on American culture including Heartland of the Imagination (2011). Image: Reuters via YouTube. The metrics are much more difficult to determine. Essentially, if you were to have 5% of units affordable, 95% of units would have to be less affordable to cover that, Village Manager Randy Recklaus said during the Village Board meeting that immediately followed the Committee-of-the-Whole session. The TheraFuze DBF Fiber Bag is a 100% allograft tissue alternative to the resorbable polymer mesh bag products that are currently on the market. The Fiber Bag is made from cortical demineralized bone fibers and processed using TheraCell's proprietary Bone Textile technology. TheraCell's patented TheraFuze DBF processes have been developed to produce uniform fiber geometry, size and texture, and to preserve the natural collagen structure of the allograft. TheraCell's FiberLok technology allows the Fiber Bag products to maintain their form and integrity after rehydration, permitting adequate time for manipulation and implantation. This next generation posterolateral solution is designed to be an improved alternative to the traditional boat, offering complete containment of added graft material. The Fiber Bag may be packed with autograft or additional allograft material, and the open end of the bag can be sutured for closure following rehydration. The fully contained fiber bag construct may be placed in the posterolateral gutters, in a bone void or cavity, or may be delivered using minimally invasive techniques. This is the 4th new product in TheraCell's comprehensive assortment of procedure-specific graft solutions to recently be commercialized. "The versatility of our technology platform has allowed us to develop and commercialize a range of procedure-specific fiber graft forms to rapidly expand our portfolio of TheraFuze DBF Fiber products," said Nelson Scarborough, PhD, TheraCell's Chief Scientific Officer and co-inventor on the Fiber Bag patent, "and the issuance of this new patent further enhances our strong portfolio of intellectual property and demonstrates our ongoing commitment to innovation and leadership in the orthopedic allograft industry." About TheraCell, Inc. TheraCell is focused on the development of advanced technologies for bone and soft tissue repair and the inventor of the next-generation TheraFuze DBF demineralized bone fiber technology. It is also in the process of bringing its novel O 2 ssify oxygenation technology to market that has been demonstrated to supercharge bone formation. Founded in 2008, the firm is headquartered in Los Angeles, CA and maintains offices and laboratories in Littleton, MA. www.theracellinc.com. TheraFuze DBF, TheraFuze DBF Fiber Bag, TheraFuze DBF FiberLok, Bone Textile and The Bag That Is A Graft are trademarks of TheraCell, Inc. For more information on these products, please visit TheraCell's website. SOURCE TheraCell, Inc. Related Links http://www.theracellinc.com Evan Blass has revealed that the forthcoming Oppo Find X3 Pro will level up smartphone macro photography. The respected leaker says the new phone will feature a flash-ringed macro lens with 25x zoom capabilities akin to being to carry a pocketable microscope. 4 Reviews , News , CPU , GPU , Articles , Columns , Other "or" search relation. 5G , Accessory , Alder Lake , AMD , Android , Apple , ARM , Audio , Business , Camera , Cannon Lake , Cezanne (Zen 3) , Charts , Chinese Tech , Chromebook , Coffee Lake , Comet Lake , Console , Convertible / 2-in-1 , Cryptocurrency , Cyberlaw , Deal , Desktop , Exclusive , Fail , Foldable , Gadget , Galaxy Note , Galaxy S , Gamecheck , Gaming , Geforce , Google Pixel , GPU , How To , Ice Lake , Intel Evo / Project Athena , Internet of Things (IoT) , iOS , iPad Pro , iPhone , Jasper Lake , Lakefield , Laptop , Launch , Linux / Unix , Lucienne (Zen 2) , MacBook , Mini PC , Monitor , MSI , OnePlus , Opinion , Phablet , Radeon , Renoir , Review Snippet , Rocket Lake , Rumor , Ryzen (Zen) , Science , Security , Smart Home , Smartphone , Smartwatch , Software , Storage , Tablet , ThinkPad , Thunderbolt , Tiger Lake , Touchscreen , Ultrabook , Virtual Reality (VR) / Augmented Reality (AR) , Wearable , Windows , Workstation , XPS , Zen 3 (Vermeer) Ticker Smartphone photography continues to make major strides with the latest flagship smartphones able to produce DSLR-like photos. Recently, Googles Pixel line has dazzled with its astrophotography mode while other makers have developed moon shooting modes. Oppo, however, is shifting its focus to macro photography with its new Find X3 Pro which will be launched on March 11. Renowned leaker Evan Blass published a new article with new photos, video and details of the next flagship device from the Chinese smartphone maker. Among the fresh tidbits on offer, Blass says that the Oppo Find X3 features a flash-ringed macro lens with 25x zoom that's being billed as a portable microscope. We havent yet seen any photos taken with the new camera, but the prospect of what it might be able to shoot certainly has us intrigued. The Oppo Find X3 Pro will also have at least one other groundbreaking feature. It will be the first smartphone on the market to feature end-to-end support for 10-bit color processing. This means that it will be able to shoot photos and video with 10-bit color depth but will also have a display that supports 10-bit color imaging capabilities as well. Coupled with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 processor, a solid chunk of RAM and storage sizes up to at least 512 GB, it will be one of most potent Android flagships of 2021. By Gary McWilliams HOUSTON (Reuters) - The largest and oldest electric power cooperative in Texas filed for bankruptcy protection in Houston on Monday, citing a disputed $1.8 billion debt to the state's grid operator. Brazos Electric Power Cooperative Inc, which supplies electricity to more than 660,000 consumers across the state, is one of dozens of providers facing enormous charges stemming from a severe cold snap last month. The fallout threatens utilities and power marketers, which collectively face billions of dollars in blackout-related charges, executives ... Mumbai, March 2 : Actress Kangana Ranaut on Tuesday took a jibe at lyricist Javed Akhtar for issuing a warrant against her. A Mumbai court had issued a bailable warrant against Kangana the day before, when she failed to appear for the hearing of Akhtar's defamation case against her. "Another day another FIR, yesterday Javed chacha with help of Maharashtra government got a warrant issued for me and now another FIR for supporting farmer's bill, meanwhile those who spread lies about this Bill and Farmer's genocide also caused riots, face no consequences. Thanks," Kangana tweeted. In a second tweet in Hindi she took a jibe at the Maharashtra government and the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation. She wrote: "Kitne bhi zulm karlo, mera ghar tod do yah mujhe jail bhej do, yah jhooth failakar mujhe badnaam kar do, main nahi darne wali, mujhe sudharne ki koshish karne walon main tumhe sudharkar dam lungi, karlo jitni koshish karni hai mujhe abala bechari banane ki, main baaghi paida hui thi, baaghi hi rahungi (No matter how much you oppress, break my house or send me to jail, or spread lies about me, I'm not scared. Those of you who are trying to correct me, I'll relax only after correcting you. No matter how much you try to portray me as a helpless woman, I was born a rebel and will always be so)." On Monday, Kangana visited her Bandra office for a meeting, and later tweeted to express that visit left her heartbroken. The actress also shared pictures of the destroyed office. In September 2020, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) had demolished parts of Kangana's office in Bandra citing illegal construction. The demolition work was stopped midway after a stay order from Bombay High Court on September 9. -- Except for the title, this story has not been edited by Prokerala team and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed HOUSTON, March 2, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Reveal Energy Services announces today that its ORCHID completions interpretation platform is gaining traction with customers who are creating knowledge capital while increasing productivity 80% applying well data integration, visualization, and analysis. The industry-first commercially available insourcing platform, recognized with the World Oil Awards Best Data Management & Application Solution Award, enables oil and gas operators to transform well data into action at lightning speed in days instead of months. "ORCHID, purpose-built for completion engineers, lets operators quickly uncover the knowledge capital stored in their data," said Sudhendu Kashikar, CEO of Reveal Energy Services. "In the industry's current capital-constrained position with a reduced margin for error, this knowledge capital supports fast and accurate decisions that have the most immediate, positive effect on operations." Until now, however, uncovering the knowledge capital in the data has been very expensive with multiple files from various vendors and different software programs, prompting many operators to forego the process altogether. Now, with ORCHID, the frustrating scenario of not having the resources to exploit the data is eliminated. ORCHID solves this unconventional well data dilemma, enabling a continuous improvement of completion designs to efficiently stimulate and produce future wells. A Permian Basin operator asked two engineers to load and analyze data from a 4-well pad with 160+ stages, including well locations, well trajectories, post-job reports, parent well pressure, and microseismic. One engineer worked 20 days analyzing 8 stages per day using the company's internal model. Another engineer, working in the ORCHID platform, finished the data loading and QC in 3 days and documented the fracture-driven interactions (FDIs), also known as frac hits, in the next 2 days using pressure data from the parent well. Besides saving 15 days, the operator, knowing the FDIs, can plan future completions to optimize field development by avoiding the most severe pressure communication. A large independent operator used ORCHID following the hydraulic fracturing of an 8-well pad with 360 stages. The operator outsourced the pressure and FDIs analysis, which took two months at a cost of $200,000. Using the insourcing power of ORCHID, an internal engineer did the same work in less than 10 working days. This positive result allowed the operator to update subsequent completions that prevented damaging FDIs at zero data outsourcing cost. Considering the most severe fracture-driven interactions have been eliminated from any parent well pressure communication, this operator, like the Permian Basin operator, is optimizing field development. ORCHID transforms well data into action by accelerating data-driven value discovery, utilizing the knowledge capital. A novel human-in-the-loop foundation offers a 360-degree operations perspective. The team will have a new understanding of complex subsurface dynamics with significantly reduced nonproductive time; streamlined, automated workflows; and QC regardless of data vendor format. The diverse amount of integrated information in one platform, including offset pressure, microseismic, and tracers, rapidly captures completion lessons learned to solve unconventional field diagnostic engineering challenges from a deep dive into comprehensive data. Bridging the gap between data and knowledge, the ORCHID platform's considerable upside empowers profitable decisions. About Reveal Energy Services Reveal Energy Services offers simple, accurate, affordable pressure-based technology that enables operators to improve completion efficiency, reduce completion cost, and increase unit production. The flagship IMAGE Frac pressure-based fracture maps offer unparalleled fracture measurements providing insight into completion design effectiveness and well-spacing decisions. The FracEYESM frac hit analysis service minimizes the effect of frac hits. The ORCHID completions interpretation platform lets engineers bridge the gap between data and knowledge at lightning speed. Reveal Energy Services was formed as a wholly owned subsidiary of Equinor in January 2016. The company, which is privately held, is funded by Equinor Ventures and Lime Rock Partners. Reveal Energy Services, with corporate headquarters in Houston, has regional offices in Midland, Denver, and Calgary. For more information, please visit: reveal-energy.com . Contact Sudhendu Kashikar [email protected] +1.832.529.1895 *Mark of Reveal Energy Services SOURCE Reveal Energy Services Related Links http://www.reveal-energy.com Demonstrators in took to the streets again on Tuesday to protest last month's seizure of power by the military, as foreign ministers from Southeast Asian countries prepared to meet to discuss the political crisis. Police in Yangon, Myanmar's biggest city, used tear gas against the protesters. The planned special meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations comes in the wake of worsening violence in The country's new military rulers over the weekend escalated their use of deadly force and mass arrests to try to quash protests against the February 1 that ousted the elected government led by The UN said it believed at least 18 people in several cities were killed on Sunday when security forces opened fire to disperse demonstrating crowds. Funerals were being held Tuesday for several of the victims. The authorities also detained more than 1,000 people over the weekend, according to the independent Assistance Association for Political Prisoners. Those detained included at least seven journalists, among them Thein Zaw of The Associated Press. At least two dozen journalists have been detained since the military's takeover. Hundreds of protesters gathered on Tuesday in the Hledan area of Yangon, where a day earlier police had fired repeated rounds of tear gas canisters. The protesters, many of whom wore construction helmets, dragged bamboo poles and debris to form barricades to impede any attempt to rush forward and make arrests, and chanted slogans and sang songs at the police lines. Tear gas was used again Tuesday. The demonstrators hundreds of mainly young people fled in panic but soon returned to their barricades. Protesters also took up their flags and banners and assembled to march through the streets of Dawei, a small city in southeastern that has seen almost daily large demonstrations against the Some of them also carried metal shields, an apparent response to the possible use of tear gas canisters and rubber bullets by police. On Sunday, Dawei was the scene of a violent crackdown, with up to five people killed when security forces shot into a large crowd of demonstrators. The reversed years of slow progress toward democracy in Myanmar after five decades of military rule, coming the day a newly elected Parliament was supposed to take office. Ousted leader Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy party would have been installed for a second five-year term in office, but instead she was detained along with President Win Myint and other senior officials. The military government has charged Suu Kyi with several criminal offenses that critics say are politically motivated and are meant to keep her locked up. If convicted of any of the charges, she would probably be barred from taking part in the election promised in a year's time by the military. Following her detention on the day of the coup, the 75-year-old Suu Kyi was initially held at her residence in the capital, Naypyitaw, but members of her party now say they don't know where she is. After the weekend's crackdown, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called the use of lethal force against peaceful protesters and arbitrary arrests unacceptable, said UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric. Words of condemnation are necessary and welcome but insufficient. The world must act. We must all act, the UN's independent expert on human rights in Myanmar, Tom Andrews, said in a separate statement. He proposed that countries could institute a global embargo on the sale of arms to Myanmar and tough, targeted and coordinated sanctions against those responsible for the coup, the crackdown and other rights abuses. Any kind of coordinated action at the United Nations, however, would be difficult since two permanent members of the UN Security Council, China and Russia, would almost certainly veto it. ASEAN's policy of seeking a consensus among it members also makes it unlikely to take strong action. Some countries have imposed or are considering imposing their own sanctions. In Washington, White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan issued a statement saying the US is alarmed by the violence and stands in solidarity with Myanmar's people. (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.) (Newser) A mother in Ohio has confessed to killing one of three young children she initially planned to abandon. That's according to the Middletown Division of Police, which received a report about the missing 6-year-old, James Hutchinson, on Sunday. The boy's mother, Brittany Gosney, 29, and her boyfriend, James Hamilton, 42, had told police about the missing boy in person, saying he was last seen Saturday night, which officers found odd. "Usually when you have a missing child, the first thing to do as the parents is they contact the police," Police Chief David Birk tells CNN. Under questioning, the pair allegedly admitted James had, in fact, been killed on Friday. Gosney had taken her children to a wildlife area with plans to leave them there, Birk says. Gosney instead ran James over when he tried to get back in the vehicle, police say, per WKRC. The Dayton Daily News reports the boy was dragged. story continues below Gosney allegedly left the area but returned to find James dead. She then returned home with the other children and the body, which she and Hamilton threw into the Ohio River in Lawrenceburg, Ind., on Saturday evening, according to Birk. A search is ongoing, complicated by high water levels. "The mother is not showing much remorse," Birk adds, per the Washington Post. "I don't understand what would drive someone to be a monster like that," James' father, Lewis Hutchinson, said at a Monday vigil, calling for justice for his son, per WKRC and the Daily News. The two other children, both in second grade, have been placed in foster care, joining a fourth child of Gosney, per WKRC. Held on a $1 million bond, Gosney is charged with murder, tampering with evidence, and abuse of a corpse. Hamilton, held on a $105,000 bond, faces the latter two charges. (Read more child murder stories.) 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. Twelve new export markets opened for Ukraine over past year Active work was aimed toward eventually entering 100 new markets on the six continents. Reporting by UNIAN If you see a spelling error on our site, select it and press Ctrl+Enter Glovo, one of the worlds leading multi-category delivery players, has launched its operations in Ghana. The multi-category delivery start-up entered Africa in 2018 and is currently present in four countries on the continent. The expansion into Ghana will make it the second market in West Africa and the fifth African country where the firm has established operations. The on-demand platform aims to make the lives of Ghanaians easier by providing access to convenient delivery services. From today, Glovos users will be able to receive deliveries anywhere in Accra from local restaurants, stores and businesses in the city. Through the Glovo app, users can simply log on and order food, groceries and drinks, or they can send a courier to pick up what they need. The app also has a special feature known as the "anything" category, which allows consumers to order whatever they want from restaurants, grocery chains, pharmacies and retail stores. Pearlyn Budu, General Manager for Glovo Ghana, said: We are excited about launching in Ghana. We are bringing a brand new service to Accra, which will make convenience a few clicks away. At this time, when it is essential for us to stay at home where necessary, our service will be a great way to get all the things you need, without leaving your home or office. We are confident that Ghanaians will love Glovo. This service will be a huge asset to business owners. In a city like Accra where traffic is a huge challenge, we have brought convenience and affordability to all residents. There is also a large segment of the population using apps to move around or order goods for delivery. Glovo provides a new opportunity to introduce a fresh new service with low prices and amazing user experience Founded in 2015, the Spanish company is seeking to bring affordability, convenience and comfort to the world, with operations in over 20 countries and over 140 cities. 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 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. [March 02, 2021] Pax8 Launches New Education Program Called MSP Foundations DENVER, March 02, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Pax8, the best place for IT professionals to buy cloud products, today announced MSP Foundations, its first live eight-week instructor-led course delivering managed service providers (MSPs) key fundamentals for developing a dynamic and profitable business. Offered through Pax8s partner education program Pax8 Academy, the eight-week class empowers partners to build strategic business initiatives, drive toward profitability, and excel in todays modern channel. Pax8 has a unique opportunity to share best practices and offer education to enable successful business growth through MSP Foundations, said Nick Heddy, Chief Revenue Officer at Pax8. We built this program so we can offer MSPs advanced knowledge, insights, and tools to be successful with cloud technology and build a robust recurring revenue business. Through the MSP Foundations course, partners will gain a deep understanding of industry-leading business methods for impacting growth, driving revenue, and creating a financially sound and long-lasting practice. Led by a 20-year MSP veteran, courses in finance, sales, marketing, and operations will empower attendees to make calculated business decisions, determine profitability, and establish a repeatable sales process. With MSP Foundations, partners will have the opportunity to network and collaborate with peers from different regions and verticals and participate in interactive workshops, applying critical learnings specifically to their businesses. Designed for MSPs with five or fewer employees or new MSPs that have been providing managed services for less than two years, MSP Foundations prepares enrolled participants for a remarkable and lucrative future. The 8-week course offers guidance in key business areas and ways to improve processes, increase revenue, and mature as a business. After completing this course, partners will have the skills and building blocks necessary to take their business to the nex level and create a profitable future. Partners who have completed the course averaged a 71% revenue increase in just six months. MSP Foundations is a terrific program that has been game-changing for my business, said Christopher Brescia, Owner at FreshTech. My goal was to learn one new method that would enable increased savings or revenue, but I learned much more, as each weeks content taught me impactful and valuable business approaches. The great knowledge, processes, and techniques presented throughout the course empowered me with the tools needed to drive growth strategically. MSP Foundations is proof that Pax8 doesnt just care about the success of their partnersthey enable it. MSP Foundations teaches partners how to: Develop a clear vision and mission statement Make business decisions based on financials Accurately determine the businesss profitability Establish a distinctive brand Optimize service delivery for clients and employees Build a repeatable sales process Understand the key drivers for growth in the modern workplace Track success through key performance indicators To sign up for MSP Foundations, please visit www.pax8.com/mspfoundations. About Pax8 Pax8 is modernizing how partners buy, sell, and manage cloud. As a born-in-the-cloud company, Pax8 simplifies the buying journey, empowering its partners to achieve more with cloud technology. The companys technology displaces legacy distribution by connecting the channel ecosystem to its award-winning transactional cloud marketplace. Through billing, provisioning, automation, industry-leading PSA integrations, and pre and post-sales support, and education, Pax8 is a proven disruptor in the market. Pax8 has ranked in the Inc. 5000 for three consecutive years #68 in 2018, #60 in 2019, and #111 in 2020 as one of the fastest-growing private companies in the US. If you want to be successful with cloud, you want to work with Pax8. Get started today at www.pax8.com. Follow Pax8 on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter. Media contact: John Trent PR Manager at Pax8 jtrent@pax8.com [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] A firm cited in a pay-to-play lawsuit resigned an appointment to a township government post last month days after it had been appointed for an additional year, local officials confirmed last week. Capehart Scatchard resigned its position as conflict counsel with Washington Township, Gloucester County, after a pair of citizen watchdogs accused it of making campaign contributions to several elected township officials, including the mayor. The firms were then paid more than $17,500 for annual no-bid contracts, which is a violation of state pay-to-play laws, according to the suit. Mayor Joann Gattinelli, four other council members and at least two other township officials are also cited in the complaint. The township is the defendant, not the public officials or the law firms. Phone and email requests for comments from Capehart Scatchard were not immediately returned. Township residents Joe Junfola and Brian McBride filed the lawsuit. Junfola said said he is encouraged by Capehart Scatchard stepping down. I would love to think their resignation had to do with pay-to-play action we filed, said Junfola, 40, who runs an internet startup company. I think timing is very, very interesting. So its one down and one to go. Township Solicitor Stuart Platt is also cited in the lawsuit. He remains in his position and referred comment to attorney Pat Madden, who is representing Platt and the township. Madden did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The complaint alleges the law firms of Capehart Scatchard and Platt and Riso have both made political contributions to Mayor Joann Gattinelli, Council President Joseph Perry and council members Sean Longfellow, Andra Williams and Andrea Dougherty. The filing cites a state law that prohibits no-bid contracts over $17,500 to political contributors. It also listed a recent no-bid contract to Capehart Scatchard that doesnt specify an amount for service. The court action claims this has been a method of awarding the contract despite pay-to-play regulations. Both law firms are awarded huge hourly rates to prosecute and defend litigation, respond to records requests and provide any legal advice the lawsuit said. In 2019 the firm was paid more than $71,000 for legal services for Washington Township and $337,220.50 for legal services for the Washington Township board of education, according to a 2019 filing with the state election enforcement commission. No board of education contributions were cited in the pending legal action. Please subscribe now and support the local journalism YOU rely on and trust. Bill Duhart may be reached at bduhart@njadvancemedia.com. A shooting that left a 5-year-old in critical condition was an act of retaliation, according to Mobile County District Attorney Ashley Rich. Demarcus Austin Jr. is still fighting for his life in a Mobile hospital after getting shot on Saturday in the 2600 block of Farnell Drive. Reginald Paul Pryor Jr., 21, was arrested and charged with four counts of attempted murder and two counts of shooting into an occupied vehicle. Austin was in the car with three others, including the childs father and a sibling of the child. Rich told WALA that they believe the shooting was out of retaliation, but would not elaborate further. Rich said more details would be made available during Pryors preliminary hearing on Tuesday. (Newser) Tragedy hit twice in the same day for an Akron, Ohio family. After 14-year-old Eirelyn Zuercher suffered a brain injury in a sledding accident, her father died from a massive heart attack as he arrived at the hospital, Cleveland.com reports. The teen was taken off life support five days later. "Her daddy got to heaven just before she did, just like he got to the finish line first in every Mario Kart game they ever played together," mother Katie Dougherty Zuercher said in a Facebook post . "She used to wait on the front porch for him to arrive home to greet him with the biggest hug before he could even get in the house. I imagine he is waiting for her now with the same eager anticipation." story continues below Dougherty Zuercher said Eirelyn was an organ donor and her death "saved the world for five individuals," People reports. St. Vincent-St. Mary High School asked the community to "lift the family up in prayer, especially wife and mother Katie and younger sister Noella." The Akron Beacon Journal reports that on Feb. 21, the day after Eirelyn's accident, 17-year-old Natalie Wilson broke her back and was partially paralyzed in a sledding accident at the same hill at the Cleveland Metroparks Hinckley Reservation. Hinckley Township Fire Chief Jestin Grossenbaugh said that in his 24 years with the department, there had been a few broken bones, concussions, and other injuries at the hill, "but weve never had any type of traumatic events that occurred like this weekend." (Read more Ohio stories.) Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. 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. KYODO NEWS - Mar 2, 2021 - 23:28 | World, All Foreign ministers of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations called Tuesday for de-escalation of the situation in protest-hit Myanmar and for dialogue to peacefully resolve the post-coup political crisis, while suggesting a bigger role for ASEAN. An ASEAN chair's statement issued after their online meeting said the ministers "expressed our concern on the situation in Myanmar and called on all parties to refrain from instigating further violence, and for all sides to exercise utmost restraint as well as flexibility." They also called on all parties concerned "to seek a peaceful solution, through constructive dialogue, and practical reconciliation in the interests of the people and their livelihood." "In this regard, we expressed ASEAN's readiness to assist Myanmar in a positive, peaceful and constructive manner," the statement said. Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi, who had pressed for the special meeting held via videoconferencing, told reporters afterward, "ASEAN met to discuss and seek solutions, but it takes two to tango." "The wish and goodwill of ASEAN to help will be unable to be carried out if Myanmar doesn't open its doors to ASEAN," she said. "Internal communications and dialogues among stakeholders in Myanmar will surely always become the best option, but Indonesia believes that ASEAN also stands ready to facilitate such dialogues when requested." In his intervention at the meeting, Malaysian Foreign Minister Hishammuddin Hussein asked Myanmar to consider proposed visits to the country by the ASEAN secretary general and a representative of Brunei, which holds the rotating chairmanship of ASEAN this year, with them being given access to all parties involved. Singapore Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan proposed that U.N. secretary general's special envoy on Myanmar Christine Schraner Burgener also be allowed to visit as soon as possible to meet all key stakeholders, including ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi who he said should be released from detention. "The immediate priority must be to step back from a rapidly deteriorating situation. It is not too late," Balakrishnan said, while admonishing Myanmar military authorities over the use of lethal force against unarmed protesters. Philippine Foreign Secretary Teodoro Locsin, in his remarks at the meeting, urged "the complete return to the previously existing state of affairs" before the military seized power on Feb. 1, ending a decade of civilian rule. "And the first step should be for the immediate release of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and subsequent dialogue among the parties involved in their country's destiny," he said. The Indonesian and Malaysian foreign ministers similarly all urged that all political detainees be released. Hishamuddin said ASEAN will continue engaging with its international partners collectively, or through the establishment of an ASEAN Troika, on the situation in Myanmar, while Balakrishnan urged ASEAN's external partners "not to impose broad-based economic sanctions that will harm the ordinary people of Myanmar." All the 10 ASEAN foreign ministers attended the meeting including Myanmar's military-appointed Foreign Minister Wunna Maung Lwin. ASEAN groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. Related coverage: Myanmar's detained leader Suu Kyi faces additional charges: lawyer FOCUS: 1 month on, anti-coup protests continue in Myanmar despite violence 18 anti-coup protesters killed in Myanmar: U.N. The Senate on Tuesday confirmed Gina Raimondo, a former governor of Rhode Island and a former venture capitalist, as the next secretary of commerce. A moderate Democrat with a background in the financial industry, Ms. Raimondo is expected to leverage her private and public sector experience to oversee a sprawling bureaucracy that is charged with both promoting and regulating American business. Her nomination was approved by a vote of 84 to 15. (An earlier version of this article misstated the vote as 85 to 15.) Hours later, Ms. Raimondo resigned as governor of Rhode Island. Soon after, the states lieutenant governor, Daniel J. McKee, was sworn in as her replacement, according to The Providence Journal. Under Ms. Raimondo, the commerce department is likely to play a crucial role in several of Mr. Bidens policy efforts, including spurring the American economy, building out rural broadband and other infrastructure, and leading Americas technology competition with China. The department also carries out the census, oversees American fisheries, weather monitoring, telecommunications standards and economic data gathering, among other activities. The five members of Harris County Commissioners Court on Monday agreed that Februarys blackouts affecting more than 1.4 million county residents during sub-freezing temperatures should not have happened. They agreed the deaths of more than 40 Houston-area residents linked to outages could have been prevented and took turns expressing anger over the suffering their constituents had to endure. The quintet could not, however, agree on who to blame for the disaster. The dispute was settled along familiar partisan lines, with the three Democrats passing a broad resolution rebuking state leaders for failing to ensure the states main power grid could operate in cold weather. It also expressed support for any federal investigations into what happened. What happened last week may have been unprecedented, but it wasnt unanticipated, said Precinct 2 Commissioner Adrian Garcia. The lack of action by the state will cost us billions in economic damage. The resolution, proposed by Garcia, notes that a federal report on the 2011 Texas blackouts caused by a winter storm recommended the state winterize its energy infrastructure to prevent a repeat of that incident. Two key state regulators, the Texas Railroad Commission and Public Utility Commission, failed to do so, the resolution says. It calls on the three PUC commissioners to resign and accuses Gov. Greg Abbott of attempting to deflect blame away from his administration. PUC Chairwoman DeAnn Walker resigned Monday afternoon following calls from lawmakers, including Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, for her to step down. Abbott appointed Walker, who served as his senior police adviser, to chair the PUC in 2017. Precinct 4 Commissioner Jack Cagle, a Republican, offered a substitute resolution, which omitted any criticism of state leaders and called on the county to support the Legislatures positive and proactive efforts to find meaningful solutions on behalf of the constituents of Harris County. He said Garcias version had a lot of subtle partisanship. Were criticizing the governor. Were criticizing all these elected officials who all happen to be the Republican ones; were not criticizing anyone else, Cagle said. There are many hands that went into this failure, so I cant support this resolution. Cagle did not mention any Democrats who should share blame for the blackouts. While members of both parties supported deregulating the electricity market in the late 1990s, Republicans have controlled every statewide office and, thus, appointments to regulatory bodies since 1999. Precinct 3s Tom Ramsey, the other Republican commissioner, seconded Cagles version. He said he admired Garcias passion to investigate the blackouts, but wanted more information before I go out and indict and shoot somebody. Lets get some answers, and I want to know the details, Ramsey said. And when we find them, believe me, Im going to be right up there in the front, holding people to account. As county judge, Hidalgo was the final vote on both proposals. The Democrat supported Garcias, citing the need to hold elected officials accountable rather than merely bureaucrats who run the power grid. We have to recognize that higher-level politics have to change, otherwise were going to have the same problem again, Hidalgo said. Commissioners Court did, however, unanimously support a motion to allow the County Attorneys Office to participate in Public Utility Commission hearings about the blackouts. The county attorney, which handles civil matters, also will research what powers Commissioners Court has under state law to leave the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, the states main power grid. County Attorney Christian Menefee announced last week that his office had launched a civil investigation into the power outages. zach.despart@chron.com Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-03 05:28:23|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close CAIRO, March 2 (Xinhua) -- Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi held talks on Tuesday with visiting Sudanese Foreign Mariam al-Sadiq al-Mahdi on the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) built on the Nile River. During the meeting, Sisi affirmed "Egypt's firm position on the inevitability of reaching a binding legal agreement regarding filling and operating the dam," stressing that the desired agreement should preserve the water rights of the two downstream countries, said the Egyptian presidency in a statement. The Egyptian president and the Sudanese diplomat also agreed to intensify coordination between Egypt and Sudan regarding this "vital issue." Sisi also affirmed Egypt's keenness on boosting relations with Sudan for common construction and development. For her part, the Sudanese foreign minister expressed Sudan's aspiration to develop joint cooperation between the two countries, appreciating Egypt's efforts to help maintain Sudan's security and stability. The meeting was attended by Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry, who also held talks with his Sudanese counterpart the same day. They voiced the concerns of Egypt and Sudan over Ethiopia's possible second phase of filling the GERD unilaterally, saying the move would pose a direct threat to the water security of Egypt and Sudan. Ethiopia, an upstream Nile basin country, started building the GERD in 2011, while Egypt is concerned that the dam might affect its 55.5-billion-cubic-meter annual share of the Nile water. Sudan has recently been raising similar concerns over the 5-billion-U.S.-dollar dam. Over the past few years, tripartite talks on the rules of filling and operating the GERD have been fruitless. Enditem In the 2020 election, it was voters of color who propelled Joe Biden to the White House and voters of color who flipped control of the U.S. Senate. Now, state legislatures run by Republicans are engaged in a concerted effort to roll back voting rights, particularly for communities of color. In battleground states, such as Georgia and Arizona, conservative legislators are pushing for new laws to make it harder to register and to cast a vote, indulging the same lies about voter fraud that fueled the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol and Trumps effort to overturn the election. Conservatives are clamoring for new hurdles to prevent voters of color from fully participating in our democracy. Advertisement Against this backdrop, the Supreme Court is poised to decide a critically important case that tests whether the Voting Rights Actthe law that has been long hailed as the crown jewel of the civil rights movementwill continue to serve as our nations front-line defense against racial voter suppression. On March 2, the court will hear oral argument in a key case out of Arizona, Brnovich v. Democratic National Committee. The question at hand is whether the Voting Rights Act bars state voting requirements that disproportionately disenfranchise voters of color without adequate legal justification. Advertisement Advertisement Brnovich concerns a pair of Arizona voting regulations. One requires ballots cast in the wrong location to be thrown out, even for statewide elections, a policy Arizonas current secretary of state admits unnecessarily disenfranchises voters, particularly in communities of color. The other criminalizes third-party ballot collection, a measure that passed the Arizona Legislature against the backdrop of racial fearmongering about voter fraud. 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. The conservative justices who currently dominate the Supreme Court have a terrible track record on voting rights: They have repeatedly treated the right to vote as a second-class right and bent the law to shut the courthouse doors to voters when it matters most. Chief Justice John Roberts, whos been an implacable foe of federal protection for voting rights since early in his career, has long had it in for the Voting Rights Act, according to a former colleague of his. Justice Clarence Thomas, joined more recently by Justice Neil Gorsuch, has signed opinions dramatically scaling back the Voting Rights Act. Justices Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett have threadbare records on voting rights, but the little we know suggests a willingness to give states broad authority to pile barriers on the right to vote, even though there is no right protected by more parts of the Constitution than the right to vote. Advertisement Advertisement The Roberts court has already dealt a severe blow to the historic federal law that Martin Luther King Jr., Rep. John Lewis, and other leaders for racial justice fought and bled for. In 2013, Shelby County v. Holder gutted the Voting Rights Acts pre-clearance requirement, one of our nations most successful weapons against racial discrimination in voting. The act had previously prevented states with a long history of discrimination from instituting voting changes without Department of Justice approval. But Shelby County took away this safeguard, which had helped ensure the constitutional mandate of equal political opportunity for all citizens regardless of race. Roberts and the courts other conservatives nullified one of the acts central pillars by turning a blind eye to the fact that the 15th Amendment explicitly gives Congress the power to enact legislation to eradicate the scourge of racism from our democracy. Advertisement After Shelby County, the Voting Rights Act has been hanging on by a thread. The key to its continuing promise is Section 2s nationwide ban on electoral practices that result in a denial of equal political opportunity to voters of color. Section 2s results test is critically important because its plain language targets discriminatory results, not merely purposeful discrimination by state policymakers. It forbids state laws that result in voters of color having less opportunity than other members of the electorate to participate in the political process and to elect representatives of their choice. Now, in Brnovich, the results test is in the crosshairs. If the court slashes what is left of the Voting Rights Act, states will have the green light to enact new voter suppression measures that make it harder for voters in communities of color to register to vote, cast ballots, and have them be properly counted. As in the aftermath of Shelby County, state voter suppression measures will once again proliferate. One of the most powerful weapons to combat white supremacy and safeguard a participatory democracy will be reduced to a historical relic. Advertisement Advertisement Brnovichs importance extends far beyond the specifics of the Arizona regulations at issue. While the Supreme Court has written scores of opinions applying the Voting Rights Act to questions concerning racial vote dilution in the context of redistricting, it has never decided how the results test applies to a vote denial claim. How the court answers this question will determine whether the act continues to provide a shield against racial voter suppression measures, including voter identification laws, voter purges, and other methods used to constrict access to the ballot. If the court hollows out the results test, the Voting Rights Act will be practically moribund. That is exactly what conservatives are hoping for. Both the Arizona attorney general and the Republican National Committee, which intervened in the case, are urging the six-justice conservative majority to double down on Shelby County. They insist that Section 2s results test is constitutionally questionable and must be radically pared down or face invalidation. In the most far-reaching of these formulations, all generally applicable time, place, and manner electoral regulations would be immune from challenge under the Voting Rights Act. This would effectively rewrite the act and open the door to blatant voter suppression. Advertisement Advertisement These arguments do violence to the text and history of the 15th Amendment, which prohibits every method of denying or abridging the right to vote on account of race and gives Congress sweeping enforcement powers to make the right to vote a reality. The 15th Amendments explicit grant of enforcement power gives Congress the authority to ensure that the right to vote is actually enjoyed by all citizens regardless of race, a principle that an originalist approach would recognize. The arguments that the Voting Rights Act is constitutionally dubious, in essence, depend on ignoring that the 15th Amendment transformed the Constitution by empowering Congress to enact prophylactic measures. The plain language of the Voting Rights Act and the Constitution both point in the same direction. It is the Supreme Courts obligation to heed the language Congress chose to make our Constitutions promise of voting rights for all, regardless of a race, a reality. When Congress chooses not to include any exceptions to a broad rule, as Justice Neil Gorsuch explained in last years landmark Title VII ruling, courts apply the broad rule. The question now is whether the Supreme Courts conservative majority will abandon its commitment to textualism and originalism to give states even more sweeping powers to suppress the vote. Congresswoman Michelle Steel (R-CA) arrives at the U.S. Capitol on November 13, 2020 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Samuel Corum/Getty Images) Orange County Congresswoman Entices Businesses to Modernize Ventilation Systems Congresswoman Michelle Steel introduced new legislation March 1 that seeks to incentivize businesses to improve their ventilation systems to reduce the transmission of airborne diseases such as COVID-19. The legislation, called the Filtering and Retrofitting the Environment for Safe and Healthy Activities Indoors and Revenue (FRESH AIR) for Businesses Act, offers participating businesses the chance to get a tax credit in exchange for modernizing their ventilation systems. The bipartisan bill is co-authored by Carolyn Bourdeaux (D-GA), and bicameral due to it having a companion measure in the senate introduced by Senators Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.) and Kevin Cramer (R-ND). The bill will help keep small businesses on their feet during what is an unusually tough time to stay in business, Steel said. Independently owned restaurants and small businesses are the backbone of our local economies, Steel said in a prepared statement. They have been some of the hardest hit during the pandemic, with prolonged lockdowns leading to almost 50 percent of small businesses in California at risk of closing and never reopening. These tax credits will help local businesses to keep their employees and customers safe, keep their payrolls active, and their doors open. Bourdeaux shared a similar sentiment, noting the hundreds of thousands of businesses already closed due to the pandemic. Since the beginning of the COVID-19 crisis, more than 400,000 small businesses across the country have closed their doors, and thousands more, including many in my district, struggle every day just to stay afloat, Bourdeaux said in a prepared statement. By incentivizing best safety practices, while at the same time offering businesses much-needed tax relief, our bipartisan and bicameral FRESH AIR for Businesses Act will help support at-risk businesses and make our communities safer from COVID-19. Various organizations have endorsed the effort, including the National Restaurant Association, the American Hotel and Lodging Association, the Small Business Roundtable, the Georgia Restaurant Association, the Gwinnett County Chamber of Commerce, and the Forsyth County Chamber of Commerce. Sean Kennedy, executive vice president of the National Restaurant Association, said: Restaurants remain committed to providing a safe environment for customers and employees alike. The FRESH AIR Act would provide important support for restaurants investing in new and improved ventilation systems At a time when restaurants are struggling to remain open, this targeted tax credit will both improve safety and help local businesses sustain the effects of COVID-19. An Illinois legislator has introduced a bill that would require Illinois water utilities identify and replace all lead service lines. Rep. Lamont J. Robinson, D-Chicago, filed House Bill 3739, the Lead Service Line Replacement and Notification Act, to create what he said was a feasible plan that provided funding and a timeline to eliminate toxic lead in drinking water. State Sen. Melinda Bush, D-Grayslake, is expected to file a companion version. Gov. Greg Abbott will be in Lubbock on Tuesday to make what his office has described as a "statewide announcement." Abbott did not hint at what he would announce, though he will be speaking at a Mexican food restaurant in the city and will address "small business and community leaders of the Lubbock Chamber of Commerce." The event begins at 1:30 p.m. Central. We'll be streaming here it live, thanks to our partners at KXAN in Austin. The U.S. District Judge overseeing the high-profile legal battle between Apple and Epic has confirmed the trial will begin on May 3, 2021 -- as previously indicated. As reported by MacRumors, the date was set during a management conference held on March 1. Notably, Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers outlined plans for an in-person trial that will require witnesses to travel to Northern California to answer questions before the court. Rogers claimed those involved in the case have the necessary resources to abide by the quarantine measures necessitated by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The court also intends to implement measures that will keep those in attendance safe, including restricting the number of people allowed in the courtroom and the use of social distancing. Epic and Apple have been at loggerheads over the latter's decision to remove Fortnite from its platform after Epic used an unauthorized third-party payment method to circumvent platform fees. Rogers has previously indicated the outcome of the trial could have consequences for the wider games industry, and last year warned of "serious ramifications" for other major players including Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo. In America, over 203,000 people are serving life sentences in prison, more than the country's entire prison population in 1970. Of the lifers, 30% are at least 55 years old. And, according to a new study by the Sentencing Project, more than two-thirds of those serving life in prison are people of color. Renaldo Hudson checked all those boxes. Originally sentenced to death for fatally stabbing a man in Chicago, his term was later commuted to life without parole, and he spent decades in the Illinois prison system. "In the prison I was in," Hudson said recently, referring to the Danville Correctional Center, "the lifer population was probably 95% people of color. I knew two White guys who were 'brothers.' Lifers call each other brothers." Hudson, a 56-year-old Black man, was granted clemency by the Illinois governor last September, after 37 years in which he learned to read, earned a bachelor's degree in Christian studies and led religious services for inmates. He also became acutely aware of the pain he had caused and the road he had traveled before committing murder. Now an advocate for the Illinois Prison Project, he is trying to help other prisoners get a second look at their sentences. As part of an effort to end mass incarceration in the American justice system and remedy decades of racial inequity, experts are focusing on the number of aging inmates essentially sentenced to die in prison. And the study by the Sentencing Project shows that, while the number of people incarcerated as juveniles or for nonviolent offenses has declined, the number sentenced to life in prison continues to make up a significant portion of the population behind bars, with an estimated cost of $1 million per inmatefor those who spend 40 years in prison. Among the findings: - The number of women serving life sentences without parole increased 43% from 2008 to 2020. The number of men serving such sentences went up 29% during that period. - The number of inmates serving life who are 55 and older, which was more than 61,000 as of last year, has tripled since 2000. Of those people, 675 were sentenced for crimes they committed as juveniles and have served an average of 37 years. In Georgia, 45 lifers were 13 or 14 years old at the time of their crimes. Recent Supreme Court rulings banning mandatory life sentences for juveniles have resulted in many re-sentencings and a 38% decline in teen offenders serving life without parole since 2016. - The United States holds about 40% of the world's life-sentenced population.About 15% of the entire U.S. prison population of 1.4 million is serving a life sentence. "This is a sign of how unforgiving, and how unjust, the justice system is for young Black and Brown offenders," said Karl A. Racine, the Washington D.C. attorney general, at a news conference last month discussing the report. He noted that Washington recently passed legislation allowing those sentenced by age 24 to seek reconsideration of their terms after 15 years. "It's past time for jurisdictions across the country to embrace these reforms," Racine said. For its study, the Sentencing Project counted life sentences imposed with a chance for parole, sentences of many decades that amount to "virtual life" terms, and life sentences without parole. Life sentences without parole are "virtually unheard of elsewhere in the world," said Ashley Nellis, the author of the study, and "imprisonment beyond 20 years is a predominantly American phenomenon." Worldwide, the research found, 83% of those serving life without parole are in American prisons. Alaska is the only U.S. state that bans life without parole, the study found. The Sentencing Project recommends that states and the federal government implement a 20-year maximum prison term except in rare circumstances. It cites the racially disproportionate issuance of life sentences, the cost of incarcerating older prisoners, the lack of a deterrent effect and studies that show a very small likelihood that a prisoner will reoffend after serving a significant term. "We are not the sum total of the worst mistake we ever did," said Pennsylvania Democratic Lt. Gov. John Fetterman, who oversees his state's Board of Pardons. He noted at the news conference that Pennsylvania recently released 13 people "who were condemned to die in prison. Most never took a life" but were sentenced for felony murder, in which a person has a role in a slaying but isn't the actual killer. "That's a travesty. They would have served the same sentence as the 'Tree of Life' killer," he said, referring to the fatal shooting of 11 people in a Pittsburgh synagogue in 2018. "That's not justice." Some big-city prosecutors are launching "sentencing review units" and supporting motions to release people who have served decades, even those who admitted committing murder, in order to make a dent in mass incarceration and reduce the costs of medical care for prison systems. George Gascon, the newly elected district attorney of Los Angeles, told The Washington Post last year that at least 20,000 prisoners would immediately qualify to have their sentences reconsidered because they were serving overly harsh terms, were older and unlikely to reoffend, or because of coronavirus concerns. Crime victims might be expected to oppose such amnesty and pardons for violent criminals, but victims groups have a more nuanced approach to punishment. "In our work," said Renee Williams, executive director of the National Center for Victims of Crime, "we have discovered that overwhelmingly survivors want to be part of the criminal justice reform conversation beyond punishment of their perpetrators and years spent in prison. In general, survivors really prioritize a safety and justice system that works - and focuses on prevention, accountability and recovery from harm rather than a 'lock them up and throw away the key' mentality." But simply eliminating all life sentences is not necessarily the answer, either, Williams said, adding that decisions on releasing prisoners should be made on a case-by-case basis. "Limiting sentences to 20 years across the board seems like a drastic, and dangerous, step to address issues with life without parole," she said. "While we believe in redemption and rehabilitation, and that lengthy prison sentences without rehabilitation are not useful, we also believe that survivors and/or their family members deserve a seat at the table when determining what happens to the person who caused them harm." Sentencing review advocates agree that victims should be involved in the discussions, but they also say the current parole system and means of seeking commutations or clemency are broken. They say many harsh sentences from the 1980s and 1990s would not be handed down by judges or juries today. Nearly 4,000 people are serving life terms for drug-related convictions, more than 60% of those in state prisons, the rest in federal. More than 16,000 people are doing life for robbery, and 5,000 received life sentences for kidnapping, the Sentencing Project study found. Reformers have also targeted "three strikes" laws, which mandate life sentences for a third felony conviction, and some prosecutors have said they will not use such enhancements, in part because of racial disparities in how they have been applied. In North Carolina, 81% of those sentenced as habitual offenders are Black, the study found. In Mississippi, 75% of those serving life without parole for being a habitual offender are Black, and two-thirds of the cases did not involve homicides. The study also notes that 173 people originally given death sentences were later exonerated through the intense scrutiny that capital cases typically receive, raising questions about the number of life sentences that might have resulted from wrongful convictions. Renaldo Hudson does not claim he was wrongly convicted. In 1983, he fatally stabbed Folke Peterson, a 72-year-old World War II Army veteran, inside Peterson's apartment, then set the apartment on fire. Hudson, then 19, was convicted and sentenced to death, a sentence that was commuted when Illinois commuted all death sentences to life without parole in 2003. "I wish I never did it, but I did it," Hudson said in an interview. "It was a horrible thing, but it was the act of a drugged-out kid. I was broken," the result of a horrific childhood in which he suffered repeated abuse and was shot by his own brother. Jennifer Soble, Hudson's attorney with the Illinois Prison Project, filed an emergency clemency request for Hudson last April, citing his multiple health problems including heart disease, tuberculosis and sciatic nerve damage, as well as his clean record and academic achievement in prison. Hudson is one of about 50 men and women to receive a commutation or a pardon from Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker for crimes dating to 1978, ranging from marijuana possession to murder, the Chicago Tribune reported. "People are starting to pay attention," Soble said. "The harm that our system of mass incarceration has imposed on communities is just undeniable." After his release, Hudson could have vanished. Instead, he signed on with the Illinois Prison Project because "it's important to educate the public," he said. "To put a human face on the tragedy of life without parole." For those serving such sentences, hope is a difficult concept, Hudson said. "During my early years, I struggled," he said. "I focused on educating myself so I could understand what was happening to me, and others. My personal process wasn't predicated on walking out of prison. I was preparing to die. I just didn't want to be viewed as a monstrous, horrible person." Now he wants to help others facing death in prison. "I daily think of them, so many of them are left behind," Hudson said. In Arctic Siberia, near the Markha River, the earth ripples in ways that scientists does not fully understand and can't affirm why these hills in the Russian Arctic ripple with stripes. NASA researchers posted earlier this week, a set of satellite images of the strange wrinkled landscape to the Earth Observatory website of the agency. Conflicting Explanations Given to NASA The photos, taken with the Landsat 8 satellite display the land on both sides of the Markha River waving with flipping dark and light stripes. The puzzling effect is apparent in all four seasons, but it is obvious in winter when white snow makes a conflicting pattern even harsher. But why is this particular section of Siberia marked by stripes? Scientists are not really sure, and several experts offered conflicting explanations to NASA. A single feasible explanation is written in the glassy ground. This region of the Central Siberian Plateau according to NASA uses about 90% of the year covered in permafrost, although it sometimes melts for short intervals. Read Also: Man-Made Barrier Surrounding the Earth Found by NASA Space Probes The Patterned Ground Scientists reported in the journal Science published in January 2003 that patches of land that constantly freeze, melt and freeze again have been known to take on circular or stripy designs called patterned ground. The consequence takes place when soils and stones sort themselves naturally during the freeze-melt cycle. Even so, other examples of patterned ground such as the stone circles of Svalbard in Norway are usually much smaller in scale than the stripy ones in Siberia. Erosion is another possible explanation. A geologist with the United States Geological Survey, Thomas Crafford, told NASA that the stripes look like a layer cake geology, a pattern in sedimentary rocks. Sedimentary Rock Pieces Crafford said these patterns occur when snowmelt or rain flows downhill, scrapping and flushing sedimentary rock pieces into piles. The process can show pieces of sediment that look like slices of a layer cake with the darker stripes symbolizing steeper areas and the lighter stripes representing flatter areas. According to the image depicted, this kind of sedimentary layering would stand out more in winter weather, when white snow lays on the flatter areas, to make them appear even lighter. Crafford added that the pattern dims as it advances towards the river, where sediment assembles into more uniform pieces along the banks after millions of years of erosion. This explanation according to NASA seems to fit well, but it remains one of those quintessentially Siberian curiosities until the region can be studied up close. Self-organization of Patterned Ground Striking circular, polygonal, and stripy patterns of stones self-organize in many polar environments. These forms arise because freeze-melt cycles cause an interrelation between two feedback mechanisms. One of which is the formation of ice lenses in freezing soil sorts stones and soil by removing soil toward soil-rich domains and stones toward its domains. Secondly, stones are transferred along the axis of stone domains, which are tightened and confined as there is an expansion in freezing soil domains. Related Article: Finnish Company Uses NASA's Concept to Create Food from Thin Air For more news, update about satellites and similar topics don't foget to fiollow Nature World New! Two suspected human smugglers were arrested after a vehicle pursuit that began near Rio Bravo and ended in south Laredo, according to an arrest affidavit. Elian Pecina and Daniel Alejandro Ovalle-Chavez were arrested and charged with transport, attempt to transport and conspire to transport immigrants who had crossed the border illegally. On Feb. 26, Webb County Precinct 2 Constables Office deputies responded to a report of a concerned citizen indicating that nine individuals had boarded a gray Dodge Ram south of Rio Bravo. Deputies encountered the vehicle traveling north on U.S. 83 near the rest area. The Dodge began accelerating when deputies started following it, and a chase ensued, according to court documents. After briefly losing sight of the vehicle, deputies located the Dodge abandoned at the intersection of Palo Alto and Cirio lanes. Several people from the area told deputies they saw people running from the vehicle. One concerned citizen pointed to an empty lot where Pecina was found. Upon his detention, Pecina alleged that he fled from the deputies because he was in possession of a small bag of marijuana. U.S. Border Patrol agents assisting the deputies located 10 people hiding under a parked tractor-trailer. An immigration inspection revealed that the 10 people had crossed the border illegally. Homeland Security Investigation responded to take over the case. Pecina refused to provide a post-arrest statement. Then, a Mexican citizen identified as Daniel Alejandro Ovalle-Chavez agreed to provide a post-arrest statement in Spanish. Ovalle-Chavez stated he was hired by human smugglers in Mexico to guide the other nine (immigrants) into the (United States) for financial gain. Ovalle-Chavez said after he entered the (United States), he was told to wait in the brush with the group until the following morning when a vehicle would be picking them up, states the affidavit. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full 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 lethal toll the pandemic is having on patients with non-Covid illnesses is revealed in new figures showing almost a million hospital appointments have been cancelled. The damage inflicted as the health service wrestles with Covid-19 shows that 200,000 fewer outpatient and inpatient appointments are expected this year. This comes on top of a similar situation last year when more than 723,000 hospital patient sessions did not go ahead. The new analysis, which is published today by the Irish Hospital Consultants Association (IHCA), reveals the devastating impact of the pandemic on patients with other illnesses, many of them urgent and life-threatening. It also emerged yesterday that from July there will be around 300 fewer intern doctors in hospitals across the country. The number is reverting back to 734 after getting a boost last year due to the pandemic. But it comes as waiting lists for public patients have risen to 860,000 and are on course to reach a record one million. Prof Alan Irvine, president of the IHCA, said: Yet again, these waiting time figures drive home the devastating impact not just of Covid-19 on the provision of care to patients, but of the persistent underinvestment in hospital infrastructure, bed capacity and other facilities in the past decade and the failure to address the consultant recruitment and retention crisis. Expand Close The IHCA's Alan Irvine during a Covid-19 committee meeting at Leinster House on Kildare Street, Dublin. Photo: Gareth Chaney/Collins / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp The IHCA's Alan Irvine during a Covid-19 committee meeting at Leinster House on Kildare Street, Dublin. Photo: Gareth Chaney/Collins 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. Planning is now required to ensure that services are resourced appropriately to cater for the increased demand. "But with over 700 permanent consultant posts vacant our acute hospitals are very poorly positioned to provide timely care to patients. Hospitals have had to put much non-Covid care on hold during recent months as they were flooded with patients battling the virus. However, there was some light yesterday as Prof Philip Nolan told a Covid-19 briefing that the number of admissions to hospital is falling and is below an average of 600 over the last week. There were no new patient with the virus admitted to intensive care in the previous 24 hours. Prof Irvine said additional consultants must be recruited to tackle waiting lists and address the backlog of treatment due to Covid. Government can no longer ignore the fundamental requirement that essential treatment is delivered by consultants and that no amount of investment in hospital services will reduce waiting lists unless we recruit and retain the necessary number of hospital consultants to deliver timely care, he added. The HSEs 2021 service plan has a budget of 20.6bn and pledges to hire more doctors and increase hospital beds. This includes another 66 intensive care beds, bringing the number to 321 at the end of the year. A spokesperson for the HSE said: The national number of medical internship posts available for July 2021 has reverted to 734, which is the standard annual intake in line with current workforce planning projections. The significant increase in intern numbers put in place for July 2020 was a direct response to the Covid crisis. Highlights: EarthRenew advances its growth strategy into the United States through the signing of a non-binding letter of intent with Diamond Feeders, the owner of a 50,000 head feedlot in Colorado. The new site is projected to provide EarthRenew with strategic access to the southwestern United States, one of the largest organic markets in the world. The new site is being designed to produce over 40,000 tonnes of finished product per year and can serve as a blending and granulation facility to meet United States demand. Once binding agreements are signed, we anticipate it will take approximately 12 months to permit, design and construct the blending and granulation facility, and a further 12 months to permit, design and construct the EarthRenew production facility. We continue to scout additional United States sites to support a broader growth plan for EarthRenews product lines. TORONTO, March 02, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- EarthRenew Inc. (CSE: ERTH; OTCQB: VVIVF) (EarthRenew or the Company) is pleased to announce that, further to its press release dated August 19, 2020, it has signed a non-binding letter of intent (the LOI) with Diamond Feeders, LLC (Diamond Feeders) for the potential development of EarthRenews first facility in the United States (the Colorado Site). EarthRenew previously completed a feasibility study on the Colorado Site in December 2020. If constructed, the new facility will be located on Diamond Feeders large feedlot in the western United States, which finishes over 50,000 head of cattle per year and could provide ample feedstock. We anticipate that the Colorado Site could be a strategic operational location, as it is in close proximity to the southwestern United States, one of the worlds largest organic farming markets. Once constructed, we estimate that the facility at the Colorado Site could produce 40,000 tonnes per year of our organic fertilizer pellets for distribution to markets in the southwestern United States, which is twice the capacity of our existing Strathmore, Alberta facility. In addition to the potential direct financial benefits of producing product at the Colorado Site, we anticipate that, following completion of our acquisition (the Acquisition) of Replenish Nutrients Ltd. (Replenish), the facility could also serve as a strategic United States hub for the blending and granulation of the Replenishs product line. For more information about the Acquisition, please see the Companys press release dated February 18, 2021, which is available here or on the Companys profiles at www.sedar.com and www.theCSE.com. Completion of the Acquisition remains subject to several closing conditions, including the execution of a definitive agreement. Pursuant to the terms of the LOI, EarthRenew anticipates signing a binding long-term lease with Diamond Feeders for the Colorado Site so that it can proceed to complete permitting and engineering activities. Key terms of the LOI include: terms of the lease and shared services for the Colorado Facility, parameters for feedstock fees and delivery and co-marketing of end-products, and terms for potential electricity sales to Diamond Feeders to meet its on-site demands. We are incredibly excited to sign the LOI and to move forward with binding agreements for our first United States facility. Diamond Feeders is aligned with our sustainability goals and looks forward to us providing them a solution to their manure disposal concerns, said EarthRenews CEO, Keith Driver. Mr. Driver continued, This new facility could potentially produce over 40,000 tonnes of our organic fertilizer pellets per year and will help us grow our line of products, which provides us with a tremendous opportunity to serve the vast United States market. Additionally, if we are successful at the Colorado Site, there is potential for future expansion to other United States locations owned by Diamond Feeders. Diamond Feeders is an arms length party to EarthRenew. Construction of a new facility at the Colorado Site remains subject to several conditions including, without limitation, execution of definitive agreements with Diamond Feeders, including a long-term lease agreement and agreements respecting shared services, feedstock delivery, co-marketing and electricity sales (collectively, the Definitive Agreements), completion of permitting and engineering activities, and EarthRenew entering into construction contracts. There can be no guarantees that the necessary permits will be obtained, that the Definitive Agreements and construction contracts will be entered into or that the new facility will be constructed. About EarthRenew EarthRenews mission is to support a farm system that puts healthy soils and grower profitability back on the table. We aim to be a driving part of the regenerative agriculture movement by offering fertilizer solutions that feed the soil in an effort to strengthen the earths ability to restore itself. We are building a unique, sustainable facility to generate premium organic fertilizer from animal waste using a natural gas fired turbine that also produces up to 4MW per hour of low-cost electricity. The exhausted heat from the turbine is used to convert animal waste into certified organic fertilizer. For additional information, please contact: Keith Driver CEO of EarthRenew Phone: (403) 860-8623 E-mail: kdriver@earthrenew.ca Cautionary Note regarding Forward-Looking Information This press release contains "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. Forward-looking information includes, but is not limited to, statements with respect to the Companys ability to complete the Acquisition or enter into the Definitive Agreements and construction contracts with respect to the Colorado Site, the timeline for permitting, designing and constructing the granulation facility and production facility at the Colorado Site, projected fertilizer pellet production capacity at the Colorado Site, our ability to sell products in the organic fertilizer market in the United States Southwest, our ability to execute our business plan, including our growth strategy, and our proposed business activity. Generally, forward-looking information can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "plans", "expects" or "does not expect", "is expected", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", or "believes", or variations of such words and phrases or statements that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will be taken", "occur" or "be achieved". Forward-looking information is subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information, including but not limited to: general business, economic, competitive, geopolitical and social uncertainties; regulatory risks; and other risks of the energy, and fertilizer industries. 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. There can be no assurance that such information will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. The Company does not undertake to update any forward-looking information, except in accordance with applicable securities laws. Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor its Market Regulator (as that term is defined in the policies of the Canadian Securities Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. FBI Director Christopher Wray said Tuesday that there's no evidence left-wing groups or people motivated by anarchist ideology had a role in the U.S. Capitol riot as senators sought details on what law enforcement knew before the siege. In his first public testimony since the Jan. 6 attack, Wray emphasized that the FBI focuses on extremist actions whether from the left or the right, and that overwhelming evidence so far shows that leftist groups weren't the agitators. Unsupported claims on social media say the attack wasn't the work of extremist supporters of former President Donald Trump. But Wray reiterated that evidence gathered to date, including more than 200,000 pieces of digital evidence, shows the instigators were violent right-wing militia extremists and white supremacists. White supremacists are the biggest, most lethal threat the FBI is tracking, he said. "While we're equal opportunity in looking for violent extremism of any ideology, we have not to date seen any evidence of anarchist violent extremists or people subscribing to antifa in connection with the 6th," Wray told the Senate Judiciary Committee. "That doesn't mean we're not looking. And we'll continue to look. But at the moment we have not seen that." Pressed repeatedly by senators from both parties, Wray conceded that he didn't see a report prepared by the FBI field office in Norfolk, Va., on the eve of the attack outlining the potential threat from violent protesters gathering in Washington. The report's dependence on raw, unfiltered intelligence made its contents difficult to gauge, he said. "In a perfect world, we would have taken longer to figure out if it was reliable," Wray said of the report. Wray said the Capitol attack was an example of "domestic terrorism" and that the Federal Bureau of Investigation has made hundreds of arrests and has as many probes into the breach underway. Amid criticism that law enforcement was caught unaware by the riot's severity, Wray said the bureau raised its focus on domestic extremism under his watch in 2019. "The problem of domestic terrorism has been metastasizing across the country," Wray said. "The FBI will not tolerate agitators or extremists who plan or commit violent. That goes for violent extremists of any stripe." Under questioning from Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., Wray emphasized that U.S. law has no process to designate extremist groups as domestic terror threats as it does for international groups like al-Qaida or Islamic State. But the agency gives equal priority to violent domestic extremists motivated by racial and anti-government ideology, he said. The divide between Republicans and Democrats was highlighted quickly in the hearing. Sen. Richard Durbin, D-Ill., the committee chairman, said the threat from left-wing extremist groups or ideologies like antifa isn't comparable to the risk from right-wing groups, including those believed to have actively planned the Capitol attack. "Let's stop pretending that the threat of antifa is equivalent to the white supremacist threat," Durbin said. That prompted Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, to say that "we're not serious about tackling domestic extremism if we only focus on white supremacy movements." Wray was pressed to explain what his agency is doing to get ahead of future threats. The bureau remains on alert for possible attacks in coming weeks, according to an FBI official who briefed reporters last week on condition of anonymity. The FBI sees the top domestic violent extremist threats for 2021 as racially or ethnically motivated, as well as those with an anti-government and anti-authority bent, the official said. That comes after acts of domestic extremism in 2020 that were unlike anything the bureau has seen in decades. Last year, three of four fatal domestic terrorist attacks were committed by people ascribing to anti-government or anti-authority violent extremist ideology, the official said. The FBI made 180 arrests related to domestic terrorism during fiscal year 2020 using a mix of federal, state and local charges, the official added. Since the Jan. 6 attack, the Justice Department and FBI have been conducting one of the largest investigations in their history, charging rioters with offenses from trespass to conspiracy. Attention is increasingly turning toward established groups like the "Oath Keepers," who prosecutors say actively planned and coordinated the Capitol breach, which took place as lawmakers were meeting to confirm Biden's electoral college victory. The Judiciary Committee hearing takes place as about 5,000 National Guard troops remain deployed in Washington in the riot's aftermath. They are expected to return home by the end of next week unless requested to stay on by U.S. Capitol Police. Two other Senate committees will hold a joint hearing on Wednesday where officials from the FBI, Defense Department and Department of Homeland Security will testify. "There's no question in my mind that there was a failure to take this threat more seriously, despite widespread social media content and public reporting that indicated violence was extremely likely," Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich., chairman of one of those panels, the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, said last week. Wray, who was appointed in 2017 to replace fired FBI chief James Comey, is a surprise survivor of the Trump era. The former president often talked about firing Wray but never did. Early in Biden's tenure, the new president signaled he would keep Wray, whose 10-year term ends in 2027, in his post. Credit Union women have blazed the DEI trail as a worldwide movement for over 12 years with an extremely relevant purpose advancing economic stability through diversity, equity and inclusion. This DEI movement takes on all shapes in accordance with what is needed to put the fire out or push for progress based upon individual and global circumstances. From poverty, struggling students and starving widows, to building a business, career development and breaking the glass ceiling, the vision applies! This initiative is called Global Womens Leadership Network and it was launched by World Council of Credit Unions in 2009. GWLNs goal is to encourage cooperatives to build a network across all boundaries to change societies by reaching families, children, men and women of all colors, sexual orientation and socioeconomic status. GWLN is inclusive as we know that bridging the gaps in society require us to unite as humans, people helping people. I have had the honor of chairing the GWLN since its inception, and its mission then and now is to provide women with opportunities to make a measureable difference in the lives of each other, their credit unions and their communities. Measurable is the key word! 130 local sister societies On 6 continents More than 4500 women and men from 85 countries 64 scholarships to women worldwide Plus, empowerment Grants that started business development centers in Asia, entrepreneurial enterprises in North Macedonia, feeding families in Kenya, and in the US, financial counseling for pregnant high school girls wanting to graduate and apply for college. The HE for SHE movement illustrates GWLNs inclusiveness by encouraging men to become members and wear pink ties to demonstrate visible commitment and the growing scale of GWLN. In fact, the GWLN pink has become a major connector as we witness a sea of pink at credit union events around the world. All of this could not have happened without incredible fundraising by our credit union and CUSO volunteers who committed their time, talent and treasure to advancing women. Not surprisingly, GWLN experienced extraordinary fundraising in 2020, as men and women stood up, realizing that women are being disproportionately affected by current events and the ongoing global COVID-19 pandemic crisis. In 2020, during a year of a health pandemic, social disruption and employee layoffs, problems abound. Children not in school and needing a virtual teacher. Grandparents in retirement centers isolated with no family to cheer them as they faced death alone. Women were particularly hit by the pandemic, because they were the ones expected to care for the family. It was women, more so, who lost their jobs. And it was women who were at the epicenter of tragedy at hospitals and care centers. Since February in the United States, more than 5.4 million women have left the workforce, and women of color face an unemployment rate that is double what it was in February, hovering over 9% according to CNBC polling. In addition, 14.2% of women with disabilities were unemployed through October, and 40% of women younger than the age of 20 have been out of work for six months or more. During a recent event hosted by CARE and United Nations Population Fund (UNFP) regarding the global impact of COVID-19 on women and girls, Rep. Chrissy Houlahan (D-PA) stated, While women make up 70-80% of frontline healthcare workers globally, they have also been disproportionately affected during the pandemic by increased rates of gender-based violence, lack of access to sexual and reproductive healthcare, and economic and food insecurity. There is no clear resolution of the pandemic in sight, and the negative impacts on women are grim. The UNFP estimates that if the situation continues for even six months, lack of contraceptive methods for as many as 47 million women in low- and middle-income countries may result in potentially 7 million unintended pregnancies. Equally devastating is an estimated 31 million additional cases of gender-based violence. There is much work ahead. And credit union women are prepared! GWLN has never been stronger. Thousands of women and men are connecting virtually worldwide to make a difference. Digital strategies have fast forwarded our communications and governments are taking note, recognizing the work credit unions are doing for women. The honorable Manisha Singh will be the keynote at GWLN Breakfast on March 3rd at 10:00 am EST to speak on Economic Stability and the Role of Women. Manisha is currently a member of the Board of Advisors for the American Foreign Policy Council. She most recently served as the Assistant Secretary of State for Economic and Business Affairs, a position for which she was unanimously confirmed by the U.S. Senate in 2017. The first woman to serve in this role, she led a team of 225 employees based in Washington with the support of more than 2,000 economic officers posted in embassies worldwide. Our legacy leaders believed in creating initiatives that scale and strategically position cooperatives for the future. Global Womens Leadership Network is another example of what credit union leaders and volunteers can do. There are so many people who courageously joined GWLN and worked hand in hand to blaze this DEI trail. There is no better time to strengthen our path forward. I am very proud of the work we have done and what we have created, and there is no better time to strengthen our path forward to face the issues ahead. I am excited to announce that on March 3rd, I will be passing the baton to a new Chair, an amazing woman who will carry the passion forward with the Worldwide Foundation team and all our beautiful volunteers worldwide. But the team cant do it alone. All of us must continue to push for progress as the world needs us more than ever right now. The passionate people I have met who believe so strongly in selflessly sharing their human spirits are an inspiration and will change your life as they have mine! So, rest assured that passing the baton does not mean standing down. In fact, I will be standing up as a member of the Credit Union DEI Collective Governing Body and I will remain on the Worldwide Foundation Board as we focus on bridging the gap. I believe that doing the right thing is always good business standing up together! The next 10 years are all about sustaining the work done to date and engaging more organizations in the mission to ensure Global Womens Leadership Network continues as the credit union premier program to advance women worldwide, emphasized Eleni Giakoumopoulos, GWLN Program Director, WOCCU and Worldwide Foundation. As the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic continues to spread among millions of people worldwide, scientists search for reliable ways to monitor it and predict new outbreaks. Several reports have dealt with the quantitative detection of the causative pathogen, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), in wastewater. A new preprint released on the medRxiv* server by researchers at the University of Innsbruck, Austria, takes this further in order to establish the limits of storage procedures while working on viral surveillance in this area. The detection of the virus in wastewater offers the chance to carry out viral monitoring in a large population, including those with and without symptoms of infection. However, these samples often need to be stored until collection from different wastewater treatment plants (WWTP) is complete. Without sufficient data to indicate the effect of storage on the results of RNA detection in the case of SARS-CoV-2, the comparability of various studies and samples stored by different methods is low. Study aims The current study aimed to explore the most common storage temperature for raw wastewater samples, namely, +4C and -20C, in terms of their effects on the subsequent ability to detect the copy number of SARS-CoV-2 genetic material in each setting. The researchers analyzed 24-hour samples of raw influent wastewater from WWTPs in Tyrol and Salzburg in Austria. They serve population equivalents of 30,000 and 680,000, respectively. The Tyrol sample was collected in April 2020 and the second in October of the same year. Due to the lack of knowledge about the possible infectiousness of such samples, the first sample was pasteurized at 60 C for 1.5 hours, but not the second. To detect the virus, the samples were then processed to remove as much non-viral RNA and inhibitors of the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) as possible. The researchers then measured the viral RNA concentrations of the templates to dilute the RNA content as required. The RNA copy numbers were also determined with a set of primers and probes based on the viral nucleocapsid N1 gene. The researchers observed that, as expected, the coefficients of variation ranged from 2% to 51%. This could be due to the inherent differences of the influent wastewater, as well as because wrong readings tend to pile up over the successive steps of the protocol. Such variation cannot be said to be dependent on the method used to concentrate the viral fragments. Detection rates lower at freezing temperatures The study found that when the wastewater was stored at 4 C for up to nine days, the gene copy number of SARS-CoV-2 did not change significantly, as expected from earlier studies on enveloped viruses. However, an earlier paper had reported that when gamma-irradiated viral particles were used to spike wastewater samples, which were then used in lieu of real-life samples, the rate of decrease of viral copy number was about 8% per day at this temperature. N-gene copy numbers and RNA concentration detected in wastewater from WWTP in Salzburg after 0, 2, 7, and 9 days of storage at 4 C as well as after freezing. (n = 4, Median, Box: min-max). The use of freeze-thaw techniques also leads to a marked decrease in the copy number of SARS-CoV-2 RNA. This led to a drastic reduction in the PCR signal for the viral gene from the sample. This is easily explained by the known damage to the cell cycle caused by this technology. This increases the RNA concentration within samples. At the same time, the lysed or damaged cell causes the release of protease and RNases, which may also reduce the detection of the virus thereafter. Thus, the researchers say that wastewater samples are best stored at 4 C for SARS-CoV-2 analysis, in preference to freezing them. *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. For nearly a century, the Boy Scouts of America has relied on a confidential blacklist known as the perversion files as a crucial line of defense against sexual predators. Scouting officials say theyve used the files to prevent hundreds of men who had been expelled for alleged sexual abuse from returning to the ranks. Theyve fought hard in court to keep the records from public view, saying confidentiality was needed to protect victims, witnesses and anyone falsely accused. It is a fact that Scouts are safer because the barrier created by these files is real, Scouts Chief Executive Robert Mazzuca said in video posted on the organizations website in June. DATABASE: Tracking decades of allegations Advertisement That barrier, however, has been breached repeatedly. A Los Angeles Times review of more than 1,200 files dating from 1970 to 1991 found more than 125 cases across the country in which men allegedly continued to molest Scouts after the organization was first presented with detailed allegations of abusive behavior. Predators slipped back into the program by falsifying personal information or skirting the registration process. Others were able to jump from troop to troop around the country thanks to clerical errors, computer glitches or the Scouts failure to check the blacklist. DOCUMENTS: A paper trail of abuse In some cases, officials failed to document reports of abuse in the first place, letting offenders stay in the organization until new allegations surfaced. In others, officials documented abuse but merely suspended the accused leader or allowed him to continue working with boys while on probation. In at least 50 cases, the Boy Scouts expelled suspected abusers, only to discover later that they had reentered the program and were accused of molesting again. One scoutmaster was expelled in 1970 for sexually assaulting a 14-year-old boy in Indiana. Even after being convicted of the crime, he went on to join two troops in Illinois between 1971 and 1988. He later admitted to molesting more than 100 boys, was convicted of the sexual assault of a Scout in 1989 and was sentenced to 100 years in prison, according to his file and court records. FULL COVERAGE: Inside the Scouts perversion files Advertisement In 1991, a Scout leader convicted of abusing a boy in Minnesota returned to his old troop right after getting out of jail. Basically, there were no controls, said Bill Dworin, a retired Los Angeles police expert on child sexual abuse who reviewed hundreds of the files as a witness for an Oregon man abused by his troop leader in the 1980s. In 2010, the plaintiff, Kerry Lewis, won a nearly $20-million jury verdict against the Scouts. In response to the Times findings, the Scouts issued a statement that said in part: The Boy Scouts of America believes even a single instance of abuse is unacceptable, and we regret there have been times when the BSAs best efforts to protect children were insufficient. For that we are very sorry and extend our deepest sympathies to victims.... We are committed to the ongoing enhancement of our program, in line with evolving best practices for protecting youth. Advertisement The Scouts have maintained ineligible volunteer files in one form or another since at least 1919 to keep track of men who failed to meet Scoutings moral standards. Files that involved allegations of child sexual abuse were dubbed perversion files. A master list of those banned from Scouting has been computerized since 1975 and is used to vet applicants for volunteer and paid positions. Only a select few in Scouting have access to the files, which are kept in 15 locked cabinets at Scout headquarters in Irving, Texas. But over the years, hundreds of the files have been admitted as evidence, usually under seal, in lawsuits by former Scouts alleging a pattern of abuse in the organization. Many of the files will soon be made public as a result of an Oregon Supreme Court decision. The court, in response to a petition by the Oregonian, the Associated Press, the New York Times and other media organizations, ordered the release of 1,247 files from 1965 to 1984 that had been admitted as evidence, under seal, in the 2010 lawsuit. In anticipation of the release, attorneys for the Boy Scouts conducted an informal review of 829 of the files, saying they sought to put the contents in perspective. The Scouts said the review found 175 instances in which the files prevented men whod been banned for alleged abuse from reentering the program. Advertisement The Times analyzed an overlapping, though broader and more recent, set of files, which were submitted in a California court case in 1992. Their contents vary but often include biographical information on the accused, witness statements, police reports, parent complaints, news clippings, and correspondence between local Boy Scout officials and national headquarters. The accounts that emerge are often incomplete. But the Scouts ultimately deemed the allegations sufficiently credible to expel the suspected abusers. Many files contain searing descriptions of molestation from young victims. I was crying, and I reached around and hit Max in the face, and said I was going to quit the troop and tell my daddy, a 10-year-old Scout wrote in 1972, describing his alleged rape by a Georgia troop leader, Samuel Max Dubois Jr. Then we heard the others coming back, and Max said put your pants back on. Advertisement Dubois was not tried in that case but was expelled from the Scouts. He was later convicted of child sexual abuse in North Carolina and spent 14 years in prison, state records show. Today, the Boy Scouts of America says it continues to use the confidential files as part of its efforts to prevent child abuse. In recent decades, it has added other protective measures. In 1988, for instance, Scouting did away with probation; its policy now is to expel anyone suspected in good faith of abuse. In 2008, criminal background checks were required on all volunteers, and in 2010 the organization required all suspected abuse to be reported to law enforcement. The extent to which these measures have succeeded is impossible to gauge: The Scouts continue to fight in court against the release of more recent files. :: The case of a Southern California troop leader named Stephen Field illustrates how porous the Scouts protections were in the 1970s and 80s. Advertisement Scouting officials first investigated Field in 1971, when a Santa Monica Scout said the leader had sexually abused him. A troop committee including parents and a psychiatrist concluded unanimously that the boys story was true and discovered that Field had a history of inappropriate behavior including making Scouts run around naked after games of strip poker, according to the file. But no one called police. Instead, a regional Scout leader followed what was then standard procedure: He filled out a biographical form on Field and assembled the evidence for national headquarters, which opened a confidential file and deleted Fields name from the membership rolls. From that point forward, any time Field tried to register as a Scouting volunteer, his name was supposed to be checked against a national list of those in the confidential files. Scouting officials assured the regional Scout leader that Field would never participate in Scouting again. Advertisement But he did. He was involved with several Southern California troops over the next 17 years, according to his file. Contacted recently by The Times, Field explained that after he failed a lie detector test required by the Santa Monica troop committee, he was encouraged to transfer to another troop in the city, where he served as scoutmaster for four years. They said it had all been cleared up with the Scouts, Field said. In Valencia, he joined his brother-in-laws troop but left after a parent intercepted a love letter he had written to a Scout, the file shows. At one point, the file says, Field was caught watching pornography with naked Scouts in his Jacuzzi. Advertisement No one appears to have reported either incident to national headquarters at the time. Headquarters didnt learn that Field had reentered the Scouts until 1988, when a Scouting official in Fillmore reported that Steve Field, chairman of the local troop committee, had been arrested for masturbating with a boy. It took a few days for officials to confirm he was the same Stephen D. Field who had been expelled in 1971. Sheriffs investigators found pictures of nude boys dating back 10 to 15 years in Fields possession and asked the Boy Scouts for their file on Field. The national office complied, with one request: We hope you will use this information with discretion since we have tried to maintain our files so that they cannot be subpoenaed in any legal action, wrote Paul Ernst, administrator of the confidential files from the 1970s into the 1990s. Advertisement Ultimately, Field was convicted of abusing two 13-year-old-boys in Fillmore and sentenced to 12 years in prison, his file indicates. In the interview, Field, 67, who now works in a law office in the Central Valley, denied most of the allegations, except those of which he was convicted. Told he had been on the Scouts blacklist since 1971, he expressed surprise at how long he had been able to remain in Scouting. Its like a no-fly list, he said. If your name is on the no-fly list, you shouldnt be able to get on a plane. Advertisement Field said he had no further contact with Scouts after his conviction. Other convicted molesters were able to return to the ranks. In 1973, Scoutmaster Alan C. Dunlap was arrested in Fresno on suspicion of using his position to abuse several children. He was arrested for the worst kind of sex deviation, the grandmother of some victims wrote in a letter to prosecutors contained in Dunlaps file. It was through his Scout work that his contacts and friendships had been made. Advertisement The Scouts had opened a file on Dunlap after he pleaded guilty to four counts of molestation and was committed to a California psychiatric hospital. Thirteen years later, in 1986, Dunlap had successfully registered as a Scout volunteer in Bryan, Texas, according to his file. There was no indication that anyone checked the blacklist before registering him. According to court records, he soon began abusing boys, including a 9-year-old Cub Scout whom he later pleaded guilty to molesting. Dunlap was sentenced to 12 years in prison. The national office received a request to include Dunlap in the confidential file then realized he was already there. Advertisement Convicted again child molestation, an official noted. In some instances, the Boy Scouts of America chose to give alleged molesters a second chance. In a 1992 deposition, Ernst, then keeper of the national file, testified that alleged abusers were given probation which required periodic updates on the persons behavior only if evidence of molestation was extremely weak. An individuals confidential file was generally destroyed after probation was completed. But the files sometimes survived when the men went on to abuse again. Several of those cases suggest the initial evidence of abuse was strong. Advertisement In September 1978, Scouting officials in North Carolina investigated the alleged abuse of a Scout by Mark F. Bumgarner, a 21-year-old assistant scoutmaster. One night after most Scouts had retired to their tents at Camp Schiele, the boy stayed up talking with Bumgarner, who reached into the boys pants and fondled him, according to a statement from the boys father that is in Bumgarners file. The boy objected repeatedly, but Bumgarner persisted, telling him the cartilage in [his] penis was similar to his nose and that he could break it, the father wrote. After considerable discussion, the national office decided that Bumgarner, an Eagle Scout and the son of the pastor whose church sponsored the troop, deserved another chance. Months later, he was arrested for sexually abusing two Scouts during a camp-out. He pleaded guilty to one count of child abuse, prompting the national office to expel him and open a file. Advertisement Six years later, Bumgarner was back, serving as an assistant district commissioner with the Scouts in Fairfax, Va. National headquarters learned about his return to Scouting only in April 1988, when Bumgarner was sentenced to six years in prison for the sexual battery of two boys. Probation also was given to Floyd David Slusher, a 19-year-old staffer at a Boy Scout camp in Germany, who was caught abusing a Scout in 1972 and sent home to the United States. Even after he was caught, they had to physically withstrain him of attempting to visit the Scout he was molesting, a Scouts official wrote to headquarters. A file was opened, but Slusher was allowed to continue working with Scouts. He went on to molest at least eight boys in a Boulder, Colo., troop, threatening to kill them if they told, according to a Boulder County Sheriffs Department report in his file. Advertisement Almost every Boy Scout in Troop 75 and Troop 73 has been approached sexually by Slusher on one time or another, a detective wrote, adding that the victims were too numerous to interview. After pleading guilty in 1977 to one count of sexually assaulting a child, Slusher was sentenced to prison, according to Colorado corrections records, and later released. In 1990, he was convicted of another child-abuse crime and is now serving a 25-year sentence, state records show. The Boy Scouts abolished probation and suspensions in 1988, around the same time a notorious case in San Mateo was coming to light. Richard Stenger, the head of a unit of the Sea Scouts part of the Boy Scouts was charged in 1971 with tying up and fondling three boys. Police found bondage equipment and books on pedophilia in his house. Advertisement He was convicted of contributing to the delinquency of a minor, and a judge sentenced him to four years probation, his file shows. The Scouts decided to suspend him during that period. But when the court-ordered probation ended, a local Scout executive and several parents successfully requested that the national office lift the suspension. I feel quite confident that no further problems will arise, wrote the local Scout executive, whose name is blacked out in the heavily redacted file. Fourteen years later, in 1989, a parent notified the Boy Scouts that the 320-pound Stenger had padlocked her 11-year-old Scout in a harness and watched him dangle for 15 minutes during a boating trip, according to Stengers file. Scouts notified police, who recovered from Stengers home dozens of restraints and hundreds of images of children in bondage, including one of a blindfolded 6-year-old tied to a bed. Two dozen former and current Scouts came forward to say they had been abused by Stenger as long ago as 1958. Advertisement This isnt in the handbook, one told police. DOCUMENTS: Read the Boy Scouts files STATEMENT: Read the Boy Scouts full statement and timeline jason.felch@latimes.com Advertisement kim.christensen@latimes.com Times researchers Maloy Moore and MBallu Tejan-Sie contributed to this report. Sorry! This content is not available in your region Democrats Push Biden to Include Recurring Stimulus Payments Several Senate Democrats are pushing the Biden administration to include recurring stimulus payments in the pending pandemic recovery packagerather than just issuing $1,400 checks. A letter sent by Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and signed by 10 senators calls for President Joe Biden to provide recurring direct payments and unemployment insurance extensions. We urge you to include recurring direct payments and automatic unemployment insurance extensions tied to economic conditions in your Build Back Better long-term economic plan, a draft of their letter (pdf) says. This crisis is far from over, and families deserve certainty that they can put food on the table and keep a roof over their heads. Families should not be at the mercy of constantly-shifting legislative timelines and ad hoc solutions. Wyden and the other senators did not elaborate on what amount the recurring payments should be. The $1.9 trillion bill supported by Biden, known as the American Rescue Plan, includes a provision for a third stimulus check worth up to $1,400. Families shouldnt have to worry about whether theyll have enough money to pay for essentials in the months ahead as the country continues to fight a global pandemic. Almost six in 10 people say the $1,400 payments set to be included in the rescue package will last them less than three months, the letter states. They also noted that there is wide support among both Democrats and Republicans for stimulus payments for the duration of the pandemic. Meanwhile, Rep. Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.), an ally of former President Donald Trump, submitted an amendment that slashed non-relief spending and offered $10,000 stimulus checks. It was later rejected. I offered an amendment to prioritize $10,000 stimulus checks to Americans most affected by COVID-19 and lockdowns, Gosar said in a statement to Fox News. Instead, Democrats chose foreign aid, Big Tech transit, and Pelosis political priorities over direct relief to American citizens. The stimulus payments were authorized for the first time last March under the CARES Act. They were designed to offset some losses that were incurred due to lockdowns issued by state and city governments, which have resulted in significant job losses over the past year or so. Other than stimulus payments, the American Rescue Plan includes $350 billion for state, local, and tribal governments; $130 billion for K-12 schools; $40 billion for colleges and universities; and some $75 billion for COVID-19 testing and support of the vaccine rollout, among other provisions. In brief remarks on Saturday from the White Houses Roosevelt Room, Biden said he called House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) to thank her for her support and urged the Senate to take up the bill quickly. I hope it will receive quick action. We have no time to waste, Biden said, without taking questions. The people of this country have suffered far too much for far too long. Senate Banking Committee Chairman Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) and Senate Budget Committee Chairman Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), as well as Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), and Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) signed-off on Wydens letter. Reuters contributed to this report. The State has no agency overseeing public contracts once they are awarded, the Dail Committee on Public Accounts (PAC) has been told. While there have been a number of reviews into the National Childrens Hospital (NCH), with many learnings, no authority gathered data on contract performance in the overall, members of the committee heard. No single body is responsible for assessing contracts once awarded, said Paul Quinn, chief procurement officer with the Office of Government Procurement. But David Moloney, acting secretary general of the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, said there were a lot of lessons to be learned about the management of bespoke mega-projects like the NCH, and new proposals for a tightening-up were going to Government. Read More The PAC was told there were 700 legal issues cropping up around the NCH project, which was awarded on a two-stage basis. Mr Quinn told Fianna Fail TD Marc MacSharry that litigious parties could not be arbitrarily excluded from tendering for new projects, as they had rights under EU law. They were also entitled to assert their rights before the courts. Mr MacSharry had asked if the State could use our own track record and common sense in assessing bidders, saying he would not re-use a builder who had sued him when previously given a construction job. He also asked about the use of Davy stockbrokers for major State contracts involving the National Treasury Management Agency (NTMA) in light of a record 4.1m fine by the Central Bank, but no such stockbroking contracts are part of centralised procurement process, Mr Quinn said. A problem involving the recall of hand sanitiser provided to schools across the country was a matter for the Department of Education and Skills, he added, while a 14m contract for ventilators that could not subsequently be used was being studied by the Department of Health and the HSE. On PPE and other equipment, Paul Quinn said things were done on an emergency basis last year, invoking the same to bypass drawn-out tendering processes. There was an absolutely scramble not only in Ireland but across the world to secure necessary supplies, he said. It is a basic principle of public procurement that competitive tendering should be used, except in justifiably exceptional circumstances for events that are unforeseeable. A pandemic is an example of such an unforeseeable event. The justification for no-competitive procurement is a matter for each contracting authority to decide. So for example the health sector . Any time non-standard procurement was used for contracts valued over 25,000 it was notified to the Comptroller and Auditor General , he said. We have been very involved since the start of the pandemic in working with the HSE and others in terms of trying to address the issues raised, Mr Moloney said. Another mechanism, a negotiated procedure, had been used to obtain at short notice the provided of calculated grades for the Leaving Cert last year. The American provider had then informed the Department of a fault in the system. Sinn Fein TD Matt Carthy asked if it would be disallowed from tendering again for any new project in this area, but the officials said the power to exclude bidders was very limited and had to be objective and not unreasonable, with any such entity given full legal entitlement to set out its view and any explanation or contention why it should not be denied access to a new competition. Read More Announcing a Fresh Approach to Visas & Residency in America WEST PALM BEACH, Fla., March 2, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- American Investment Migration (AIM), announces the launch of Live Work and Stay in the USASM a service that offers all the benefits of the US E-2 Visa together with what we feel is a viable path to permanent residency for individuals who may later wish to consider or pursue those options. To facilitate the launch of Live Work Stay in the USASM and the development of this unique approach to E-2, AIM is pleased to announce the appointment of Mr. Kraig Schwigen as a Principal of American Investment Migration. Mr. Schwigen brings 13+ years' experience in investment immigration via the EB-5 program along with a strong grasp of legislative matters affecting both E-2 and EB-5 investment migration. Kraig's relevant industry experience includes his position as Chief Operating Officer of CMB Regional Centers. Mr. Schwigen retired as COO in 2019 however, his current consulting role with CMB has kept him closely associated with the immigration through investment industry. "While there are a number of ways in which people of other nations can come to the US, most of them seem to fall short of the benefits and advantages of the E-2 visa program and AIM's unique approach to it. I believe one of the biggest detractors of the various US immigration programs is the lack of certainty. In contrast, I see the E-2 program differently because certainty comes about very quickly and most of the areas of uncertainty are under the control of the E-2 investor," Mr. Schwigen says. American Investment Migration LLC "We are delighted to welcome Kraig on board, his experience and insight in investment migration will add fresh perspective and approach to AIM's international relationship development. Kraig has demonstrated over many years a keen understanding of the hopes, dreams and desires of investment migration clients in terms of security and value having helped in excess of 5400 families settle in the USA," said American Investment Migration founder Stephen Parnell IMCM. With Second Citizenship is AIM's platform for sharing expertise and offering consultations and personalized support to our clients. Direct access to Live Work and Stay in the USASM is available at: https://liveworkstay.us About American Investment Migration LLC Since our original foundation in 2008, AIM has turned an idea, inspired by our first-generation immigrant founder, into a U.S.-based consultancy offering exceptional worldwide residency and citizenship solutions for successful people. Due to our base being in the USA, particularly in regards to the US E-2 visa program, we offer our clients a distinct advantage over non-U.S. based consultants. It is important to get the right advice on all immigration via investment options available. To find out more, please contact us. Contact Info: Stephen Parnell IMCM info@withsecondcitizenship.com American Investment Migration LLC 301 Clematis Street, Suite 3000, West Palm Beach, FL 33401 https://withsecondcitizenship.com Related Images live-work-and-stay-in-the-usa.png Live Work and Stay in The USA 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. LOS ANGELES, March 2, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Parabol , a leading Agile meeting platform, secured a Series A investment of $8 million led by M12 , Microsoft's venture fund, with continued participation from CRV, Haystack, Techstars, and others. The announcement comes on the heels of Parabol's latest milestone of registering 100,000 users across more than 3,000 companies worldwide to help them make their meetings more efficient and effective. This includes members of the United States Airforce, which awarded Parabol a $1.47 million contract via the Defense Department's small business innovation research program, to bring Parabol's Agile meeting platform to the U.S. military. "We're excited about Parabol's dual use as an enterprise solution with extensibility into the government and defense sectors," said Priyanka Mitra, Principal at M12. "The macro trend of distributed teams and remote work are here to stay, beyond the COVID pandemic era. Parabol puts in-person and remote participants on an equal footing, whether teams are brainstorming plans for a product launch or helping to keep the country operating." Parabol was founded in August 2015 to help remote and hybrid teams conduct structured meetings essential to Agile teamwork, such as retrospectives and daily stand-ups. By effectively collecting input from all meeting participants regardless of their physical location, Parabol provides an experience that is superior to physical meeting rooms and collaboration with whiteboards. Parabol seamlessly integrates with widely-used applications such as Slack, Jira, and GitHub, and automatically captures and summarizes the meeting output for all participants. Parabol will use its Series A funding to meet customer demand for additional Agile meeting types and add new enterprise features, expanding Parabol's ability to serve even more kinds of teams. "We're proud to have helped so many organizations move their Agile development processes online during this pandemic," said CEO and Co-founder of Parabol, Jordan Husney. "We believe nearly every user of backlog management systemssuch as Microsoft DevOps, GitHub, Atlassian Jira, GitLab, and Clubhousewill use an application to facilitate meeting activities atop these systems. With new resources at our disposal, Parabol will establish the 'agile meeting platform' category and lead it." With its continued growth, Parabol recognizes the need to bring more Agile meeting types to the digital space, beyond retrospectives and check-in meetings. The platform recently launched a new Planning Poker feature, which facilitates project estimation with an easy-to-use interface that integrates with popular project management tools like Jira. As Parabol continues to expand into new meeting types that can be conducted live or asynchronously, they aim to fundamentally change the ways that distributed teams collaborate. By offering an alternative to scheduling a meeting by allowing people to participate in team activities on their own time, Parabol is able to unlock new efficiencies and ways of working for distributed teams around the world. For more information on the Parabol app, its new Sprint Poker feature or the latest funding round, please visit parabol.co , or follow us on Twitter at @parabolco , and on Facebook at @parabolco . About M12 M12 , Microsoft's venture fund, invests in early-stage enterprise software companies with a focus on applied AI, business applications, infrastructure, security, and vanguard technologies. Since 2016, M12 has invested in over 100 companies, helping startups accelerate growth with unparalleled access to Microsoft. With offices in San Francisco, Seattle, London, Tel Aviv, and Bengaluru, M12 has the team and resources to support entrepreneurs globally. M12 is a return-driven fund investing independently of Microsoft's technology and business focus. PR Contact: 22PR Nicole Manigault [email protected] (917) 348-9754 SOURCE Parabol Ruoxi's mother found her daughter, then 6, lying on the sofa when she got back home after work one day. The daughter had a fever, refused to eat dinner, cried in a silent way and said she would not go to school the next day. The mother then learned that due to Ruoxi's poor performance on a Chinese exam, her teacher had yelled at her and threatened to expel her from school. Ruoxi was frightened. She had studied hard daily until about 9 pm as a grade-one student but achieved low grades in Chinese compared with her peers. When scolded by the teacher, she felt overwhelmed by helplessness. Several years later, during a discussion on helping children with dyslexia, which Ruoxi was later diagnosed with, her mother was still seized by sorrow when talking about her experience. The story is told in a three-episode documentary, titled The Chosen One, which shows the struggles of three children with dyslexia and their families. Produced by China Media Group's TV series and documentary center and Beijing Normal University's Documentary Center, it aired on CCTV-9 in January and got 9.4 points out of 10 on China's popular review site, Douban. Directors Li Ruihua and Fan Qipeng found out about dyslexia in 2017 while speaking to Li Hong, a psychology professor at Beijing Normal University. The duo learned that up to 15 percent of children in some English-speaking countries have the condition and the rate in China is between 5 percent and 8 percent. After hearing about some cases, they decided to make a documentary. "At the very beginning, we wanted to enhance people's understanding of dyslexia and children who have this problem. On that basis, we also wanted to discuss the anxiety about family education in a modern society," says Li Ruihua. According to Li Hong, dyslexia refers to the condition when children have ordinary IQs, equal access to schools and motivation to study but have difficulty learning words due to some mild brain dysfunction-especially memorizing, pronouncing and understanding the meaning of characters, which make it hard for them to read. As a result, students with dyslexia usually perform poorly on Chinese-language exams at first and later in other subjects that require reading. "People are usually born with dyslexia, and it's difficult to cure it. We can just provide intervention to reduce the influence," says Li Hong. Since public awareness of the problem is low in China, children with the disorder are often labeled "lazy" or "stupid", leading to their parents' anxiety, counterparts' ridicule and teachers' scolding. Pop star Xiao Jingteng, who has this problem, wrote in his autobiography: "Sometimes, for those who have dyslexia like me, others' misunderstandings can bring more harm than the problem itself." Li Ruihua says: "We wanted to show the dilemma of the families in the documentary." The first episode shows a rebellious Xiaoxiao's eagerness for freedom from his mother, who is strict with him. The second one shows self-disciplined and tense Qunxiao receiving recognition in school. And the third shows Ruoxi's family's efforts to overcome difficulties. Fan and Li Ruihua chose the three families from some 10 cases that BNU recommended after speaking with the families. It took three years to make the documentary. In the first year, the crew spent much time getting along and communicating with the families. They had meals, chatted and traveled together. This enhanced their understanding of the families' difficulties and the children's internal struggles. "It's not easy to shoot children and families. We must win their trust, and our shooting cannot interfere with their daily lives. Moreover, some children like Ruoxi were too young to express themselves when we started shooting. We had to wait for her to grow up a bit, so she could express her feelings," says Li Ruihua. "It was a slow process, but that also gave us more time to understand and observe the children." Fan says he was impressed by the parents' efforts to help their children. "Xiaoxiao's mother often organized activities inviting Xiaoxiao's classmates and their parents to join. She clarifies Xiaoxiao's problems with such activities, so that those around him would not misunderstand or laugh at him," Fan says. "Qunxiao's parents searched documents online about this problem, and found many of them were written by psychologist Shu Hua. They sent emails to Shu, asking for help, and Shu provided professional advice for Qunxiao. They did not just wait but tried every means to help their child." Shu says: "The most difficult stage is when the children are in primary school. If we help them to get through this period smoothly, things will get much better when they grow up since they would find their own strategies to deal with the problem, and their strengths in other areas except reading will play roles in their later development." In the documentary, Xiaoxiao's mother says: "I'm not worried about his future, but his current performance at school makes me feel anxious." Fan says people are generally anxious about children's education in a modern society. "It seems there is universal anxiety about education. Parents are worried their children will not get good grades to make the most of educational resources, so they urge children to study harder. And dyslexia adds to such anxiety in families, since the children's problems make them vulnerable to failure in an exam-oriented education system. Unfortunately, this problem cannot be fixed through pure hard work," Fan says. When such anxiety is hard to resolve, acceptance might be the better way. "None of us is perfect, but each of us is unique. At the end of the day, we need to accept the fact that we are imperfect. So are our children," Li Ruihua says. "Parents can only reduce their anxiety and offer effective support to their children when they respect the growth rate of each child, and give them more time and space for growth." VANCOUVER - Staff at international bank HSBC were well aware of telecom giant Huawei's control of another company whose business in Iran lies at the heart of fraud allegations against Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou, the British Columbia Supreme Court heard Monday. VANCOUVER - Staff at international bank HSBC were well aware of telecom giant Huawei's control of another company whose business in Iran lies at the heart of fraud allegations against Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou, the British Columbia Supreme Court heard Monday. Frank Addario, one of Meng's defence lawyers, told the court that the United States has provided the court with a "manifestly unreliable" description of the case against her and said he has evidence to prove it. Chief financial officer of Huawei, Meng Wanzhou arrives at the British Columbia Supreme Court in Vancouver, B.C., Friday, Jan. 29, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward Addario is asking the judge to admit affidavits including emails and bank account information into evidence to support the defence team's case at Meng's committal hearing, scheduled for May. "We have evidence showing the picture painted for you about (HSBC's) global risk committee's state of knowledge is unreliable and misleading," Addario said. Meng is accused of misrepresenting Huawei's relationship with Skycom during a 2013 meeting with HSBC, putting the bank at risk of violating U.S. sanctions in Iran. The U.S. alleges Meng called the meeting to reassure the bank and distance Huawei from Skycom after Reuters published articles suggesting HSBC could be at risk. Meng was arrested at Vancouver's airport in 2018 at the request of the United States and remains in Canada on bail while the extradition process is underway. Huawei and Meng, who is the company's chief financial officer and daughter of its founder, deny the allegations. A lawyer for Canada's attorney general, who represents the United States in the case, accused Meng's team Monday of confusing the limits of an extradition case. Meng Wanzhou, chief financial officer of Huawei, arrives at B.C. Supreme Court in Vancouver, Monday, March 1, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward It is inappropriate to ask the judge to weigh things like witness credibility at this stage, Robert Frater said. "An extradition hearing is not a trial," he said, adding that Addario's language asking for evidence to "balance" the picture betrayed him. "The very suggestion is one that leads you to consider competing inferences, which the case law says you cannot do," Frater said. "That is not your role." One of the principles of extradition law is that there is a strong presumption of good faith with respect to the case put forward by the requesting state, he said. Another is that a person charged with a crime will answer to those charges. He accused the defence of "cherry-picking" evidence and making an argument of "he must have known" that isn't necessarily supported. "All of what my friend put to you today, in my respectful submission, is in pursuit of an invitation to you to go beyond the limited function of an extradition judge." Addario acknowledged that extradition hearings are not the place for "credibility contests," nor do extradition judges typically weigh competing accounts of what happened. However, he said it's important that the Canadian court not make any decisions based on misleading information from the requesting state. "Although your powers are limited, there are cases where the inference is so dubious or the evidence is so unreliable that you must admit contrary evidence," he said. Addario told the court at least a dozen emails prove HSBC staff "fully knew" that Skycom was sold to Canicula Holdings in 2007, that Canicula was Skycom's parent company and that Huawei controlled the Canicula accounts. A senior banker overseeing HSBC's relationship with Huawei was also included on several emails describing Canicula "in terms that can only be understood as Huawei controlling the account," he said. Meng's team also wants admitted to evidence a listing of 188 Huawei bank accounts at HSBC from 2011 showing that two were named "Skycom" and "Canicula." "The relationship between these three entities was open knowledge," Addario said. This week marks the beginning of about seven weeks of argument between March and May in Meng's case. Ahead of the actual extradition or committal hearing, Meng's team will argue proceedings should be stayed because she was subjected to an abuse of process. The team alleges the abuses occurred in four different ways and if any is proven, then Meng should be released. The first branch of the abuse of process arguments begins Wednesdayand hinges on public comments made by former U.S. president Donald Trump during his time in office. Meng's team alleges Trump used her as a bargaining chip in trade negotiations with China, but Canada's attorney general has countered that the argument is irrelevant now that Trump is out of office. The court will also consider arguments that Meng's arrest at Vancouver's airport on Dec. 1, 2018, was unlawful, that the United States misled Canadian officials in its summary of the allegations against her and that the case doesn't qualify under international law because Meng had no meaningful connection to the United States. This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 1, 2021. Arsenio Hall, left, and Eddie Murphy star in "Coming 2 America." (Amazon Studios) While reminiscing about working on "Coming to America," Eddie Murphy and Arsenio Hall divulged telling new details about the casting process for their 1988 comedy classic. When TV host Jimmy Kimmel asked them Monday about comic Louie Anderson's involvement in the franchise, Murphy and Hall revealed that Anderson was tapped because Paramount Pictures insisted on including a white actor in the cast. In the film, Anderson plays Maurice, an employee at fast-food restaurant McDowell's. "I love Louie, but I think we were forced to put Louie in it," Hall said on "Jimmy Kimmel Live." "We were forced to put a white person." "[T]he whole cast is Black and this was back in the '80s so [Paramount] was like, 'We have to have a white person! There has to be a white person in the movie,'" Murphy added. "So it was, 'Who's the funniest white guy around?' And Louie, we knew him. We was cool with him. So that's how Louie got in the movie." According to Hall, Paramount presented them with a list of three white performers and said, "Who would you rather work with?" Asked by Kimmel if he remembered the other two options, Hall laughed and said, "Oh, yeah. But I can't say." On Feb. 24, Anderson responded to a similar anecdote Murphy shared with NBC's "Today" show. "Wait what?" he tweeted, suggesting he was finding out the truth behind his casting for the first time or cracking a dry joke about it. This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it. Anderson appears again alongside the comedy duo in the highly anticipated sequel, "Coming 2 America," for which Murphy and Hall reprised their beloved roles as Prince Akeem and Semmi, respectively. New to the royal saga are comedians Leslie Jones and Tracy Morgan, who was originally cast in the follow-up as Prince Akeem's son before it was decided that Morgan, 52, was too old to play the onscreen child of Murphy, 59. Story continues "We wrote two, three versions of the script, and then we started thinking ... 'Will people believe that Tracy is me and Leslie's child?" Murphy said. "He looks like he's our age. And then we started thinking about it differently." "And Jimmy, I would drop hints because I never liked that idea," Hall added. "I love Tracy. I wanted him in it. But I would say to Eddie, 'Hey, maybe for the third one, Morgan Freeman can be your son.'" Kimmel also teased Hall about his stint on "The Celebrity Apprentice," asking him if he still kept in touch with his "celebrity mentor," Donald Trump. (In 2012, Hall won the reality competition series' fifth season.) "We don't talk a lot," Hall joked, before recalling when Trump "got mad" because he allegedly failed to mention the former president in an interview. "He took the interview and he wrote, in Sharpie, 'No Trump,' and he photographed it and emailed it back to me," Hall said. "The strangest transmission I've ever had." "That's what I wrote on my ballot in November, actually," Kimmel quipped. "Coming 2 America" debuts Friday on Amazon Prime Video. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times. 404 ARLINGTON, Va., March 2, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The Association of Dental Support Organizations (ADSO) is excited to announce that the ADSO Board of Directors has selected Andrew Smith as the next executive director of the ADSO. In his new role, Smith will represent the DSO industry to policymakers and other key stakeholders to ensure that DSO-affiliated dentists can operate in a practice environment that allows them to receive the support they need. "DSOs are doing important work to expand access to patient care and provide dentists more time to focus on the clinical side of dentistry. I look forward to working alongside my fellow dental associations to shape the current and future discussions and supporting the dental industry as it grows its vision strategically," Andrew Smith stated. "I am thrilled to have Andrew join the ADSO team. Andrew's expertise will support the ADSO in advancing key relationships and navigating critical policy decisions," stated Emmet Scott, President of the ADSO. "His advocacy insights will help meet the needs of both emerging and established DSOs." Smith served as executive vice president of government relations and external affairs for Parallel (formerly Surterra Wellness) where he managed the state and federal government relations teams, served as the company's chief advocate and spokesperson to policymakers and regulators, and led the company's advocacy and communications goals in the public affairs space. Prior to joining the private sector, Andrew spent a decade working in government, campaigns, and public policy. In particular, Andrew worked as finance director and senior advisor for Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe where he oversaw the strategy, development, and implementation of a record-breaking $44 million fundraising operation. Andrew is originally from Chicago and is a graduate of Georgetown University with a degree in government and history. He currently lives in Greenwich, Connecticut with his wife Laura and their two children, Holden and Caroline. Succeeding Chris Badgley as executive director, Smith begins his position at the ADSO effective immediately. About the ADSO The Association of Dental Support Organizations (ADSO) is a non-profit organization committed to providing support to its members, allowing them to focus on patients, expand access to quality dental care and improve the oral health of their communities. Comprising more than 60 DSO member companies, several association partners, and more than 180 industry partners, the ADSO represents Dental Support Organizations (DSOs) before the public, policymakers and the media. Its members operate in 44 states and provide the highest level of non-clinical support to more than 10,000 dentists across the country as well as in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom. SOURCE Association of Dental Support Organizations (ADSO) Related Links https://www.theadso.org Dubai-based global marine terminal operator DP World said it has begun operation of the multipurpose terminal (MPT) at the Port of Luanda in Angola. The MPT was handed over to DP World Luanda by Porto de Luanda, following the 20-year concession agreement signed in January by Antonio Bengue, Chairman of Porto de Luanda and Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, Group Chairman and CEO of DP World. DP World said its Luanda unit will be investing $190 million to improve the terminal's facilities and in turn help Angola achieve its ambitions for economic growth and turn it into a trade hub along the western coast of Southern Africa. The terminal is the eighth port facility currently managed and operated by DP World in its Africa and Middle East region. Improvements at the terminal are already underway, with the procurement of new equipment, including 30 trucks, six reach stackers, four empty container handlers and four forklifts. New staff facilities will also soon be built and new Rubber Tyred Gantry cranes (RTGs) will be incorporated to the terminals fleet, which will be the first of its kind to be introduced in Angola. RTGs improve efficiency, are environmentally friendlier and allows for better utilization of the terminals yard. The Dubai group has appointed Francisco Pinzon, as the new CEO of DP World Luanda. A Panamanian national, he has more than 20 years experience in port operations and management, having worked at ports in Panama, Bahrain, Peru, Georgia, Djibouti, and Algeria. He joined DP World in 2016 as COO for DP World Djibouti, and in 2018 was appointed as Operations Excellence Manager in Middle East and Africa. Prior to his new role, he was the Deputy General Manager of DP World Djazair, Algeria, said the company in a statement. As part of its sustainability and responsible corporate citizenship, DP World Luanda also plans to invest in various ways in community projects to make a positive impact on the local community, it added. On his new role, Pinzon said: "Im honoured to lead and work with the team at DP World Luanda in the next phase of the terminals strategic development. Through leveraging our global expertise, technology, and capabilities from across the supply chain, well bring our best practices and systems to the terminal. "Weve already begun the process of integrating the local staff into DP World Luanda and will soon start implementing further training and development programmes for them, as well as build the new facilities and install new equipment," he added. Suhail Al Banna, CEO and Managing Director of DP World (Middle East and Africa) said: "Id like to welcome all our Angolan colleagues to the DP World team." "We are proud to be in Angola to further develop the terminal as a trade hub in the southern west Africa region, which will support the countrys economic growth objectives by attracting further investment and increased trade," he added.-TradeArabia News Service Israel and Kosovo have formally established diplomatic relations, following through on the decision for mutual recognition made in September 2020 and announced at the time at the White House. Because of COVID 19 precautions, Kosovo Foreign Minister Meliza Haradinaj-Stublla and Israeli Foreign Minister Gabriel Ashkenazi signed the deal in a virtual ceremony on February 1. State Department Spokesperson Ned Price called it a historic day: Deeper international ties help promote stability, peace, and prosperity in both regions. When our partners are united, the United States is stronger. In the past year, several other Muslim-majority and Arab countries have established new ties with Israel, including the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and Sudan which normalized relations with Israel in the fall of 2020. In December, Morocco and Israel signed a joint declaration pledging cooperation in a number of areas and agreed to move to full diplomatic relations in the near future. Spokesperson Price told reporters that the United States is hoping to build on the progress that has been made in normalizing relations with Israel and other countries. The United States will continue to urge other countries to normalize relations with Israel, and well look for other opportunities to expand cooperation among countries in the region. He warned, however, that normalization between Israel and other countries is not a substitute for Israeli-Palestinian peace. We hope, he said, that as Israel and other countries in the region join together in a common effort to build bridges and create new avenues for dialogue and exchange, these efforts contribute to tangible progress towards the goal of advancing a negotiated peace between Israelis and Palestinians. CGI opens eighth delivery center CGI has opened another of its delivery centers in a community away from major metropolitan areas. The latest was announced Friday in Knoxville, Tennessee, and includes a partnership with the state as well as the University of Tennessee at Knoxville. CGI has begun hiring for the center and expects to employ 300 people by 2026. After a competitive and wide-ranging search, CGI selected Knoxville based on a number of factors most notably access to talent and a strong culture of innovation within the Knoxville area and the state of Tennessee, said David Henderson, CGI president for U.S. commercial and state government operations. The Knoxville center is the eighth center CGI has opened in so-called "out of the way" places. The other centers are in Belton, Texas; Lafayette, Louisiana; Lebanon, Virginia; Mobile, Alabama; Troy Alabama; Waterville, Maine; and Wausau, Wisconsin. Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee was on hand when CGI announced the Knoxville center as well as Bob Rolfe, commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development. When CGI opens one of these centers, they seek to establish a close working relationship with state and local government and local colleges and universities. The company said it began creating these centers to tap into under-utilized talent pools. Part of the focus in Knoxville will be advanced analytics, cybersecurity and digital transformation. Seoul, March 2 : LG Innotek, a major electronics parts maker in South Korea, said on Tuesday that it has developed an automotive Wi-Fi module with advanced wireless communication technology as the company eyes to expand its presence in the future mobility market. LG Innotek claimed its latest automotive Wi-Fi module is the industry's first to be based on the next-generation Wi-Fi 6E (6th Generation Extended) technology using 6 GHz bandwidth. The company said it expects to commercialise the Wi-Fi 6E module in 2022. The automotive Wi-Fi6E module is a near-field wireless communications component connecting in-vehicle infotainment (IVI) systems to smart devices and external routers. The module combines a communications chipset, a radio frequency circuit and other components. LG Innotek said its module has a data transmission speed of 1.2 gigabits per second, which is roughly three times faster than the existing Wi-Fi 5. It takes only 2 milliseconds to connect to the network, which is seven times faster than the previous ones. Such communication performance will deliver seamless connectivity to passengers, allowing them to enjoy high-definition movies and games on the in-vehicle display or audio system, according to the company. LG Innotek said the product also boasts enhanced durability as it can withstand temperature changes between -40 degree Celsius and 85 degree Celsius. It was developed with a larger synapse surface design to cope with repeated shrinking and swelling. The company added its automotive Wi-Fi 6E module also has a small and slim form factor and is compatible with existing modules, reports Yonhap news agency. With the latest product, LG Innotek said it eyes to become a leading company in the automotive communications component market that is currently dominated by Japanese firms. TDT | Manama The Daily Tribune www.newsofbahrain.com Editors-in-Chief of local newspapers praised the national anti-pandemic efforts, led by His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the Crown Prince and Prime Minister, particularly the contributions of health workers. This came as they paid a visit yesterday to the Operations Room of the National Medical Taskforce to Combat Coronavirus (COVID-19) at the Crown Prince Centre for Training and Medical Research, where they were informed about its work mechanisms, various sections, as well as strategies and plans to deal with the pandemic. They expressed pride in the high preparedness of the national cadres at the Centre to deal with COVID-19, which contributed to protecting the safety and health of the citizens and residents and earned Bahrain international acclaim. Al-Ayams Editor-in-Chief Isa Al Shayji said Bahrain has set the example to be emulated in dealing with the pandemic, noting the distinguished performance of the national competencies has contributed to protecting public health and the economy. NSW Police have closed an investigation into allegations of rape against a federal cabinet minister after gaining legal advice that personal documents about the claims did not provide enough admissible evidence to proceed. The statement ends days of doubt over whether the police could continue an investigation into the accusation against the man, which he denied in a conversation with Prime Minister Scott Morrison last Wednesday. NSW Police have closed their investigation into a rape allegation against a cabinet minister. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen The woman alleged the rape took place in Sydney in January 1988 and made the claim to NSW Police in February last year, but the investigation was suspended in June when she took her own life. South Australia Police are investigating the womans death in her home city of Adelaide on behalf of the state coroner. Dauphin County authorities this week locked up a 16-year-old boy in adult prison after accusing him of stealing a gun and shooting at an older relative in Harrisburg. In many states, this boy would have been sent to a juvenile detention center and independently evaluated for rehabilitation. If prosecutors wanted to try him as an adult, they would have to make a strong case to certify him as an adult and send him to adult prison. But thats not how it works in Pennsylvania. In fact, its the opposite. Lawmakers passed Act 33 in 1995, amid the myth that juveniles were turning into super predators, making it so juveniles 15 and up who are accused of committing, or attempting or conspiring to commit, one of eight violent crimes automatically are processed in the adult criminal system. The burden is then on the juveniles to make a strong case to be decertified and processed in juvenile court, where the focus is on rehabilitation instead of punishment. A separate law that predates Act 33 also sends juveniles as young as 10 directly to adult court when accused of murder. The 16-year-old arrested this week is one of seven juveniles currently housed in a special section of the Dauphin County Prison for charges ranging from possession of firearms to homicide. They are only allowed out of their cells when other juveniles are out so they dont interact with adult inmates, county officials said. Pa. is one of 20 states that exclude certain serious crimes from the jurisdiction of the juvenile system, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Such systems force young defendants into adult prisons where they can languish for months or years. In most cases, the juveniles see their charges dropped or are eventually sent to the juvenile system, but not until after harm is inflicted by initially being treated as an adult, advocates say. A 2019 analysis of juvenile cases in Pennsylvania by The Sentinel newspaper found that the system disproportionately impacts Black youths, who were 10 times more likely to be charged and convicted in adult court than their white counterparts. When Act 33 was first passed in 1995, the main sponsor argued that trying and sentencing children who committed adult crimes in adult court would be rehabilitative and help deter other youths from offending, according to the Sentinels project. Research on similar laws that arose from the 1980s and 1990s, however, found neither of those assertions to be true. Instead, such laws actually increase criminal involvement, according to research. A 2003 study of the Commonwealth found youths charged as adults were twice as likely than similar youths sent through the juvenile system to be rearrested within 18 months. In the Harrisburg case, police say the 16-year-old stole a gun from a relatives car, then shot at the man as he ran away. No one was hit. The circumstances are considered aggravated assault, which is one of eight crimes that can automatically push a juvenile into the adult system if a weapon is involved. The other way juveniles can go straight into adult court is if they commit one of seven crimes, including rape or robbery, and have been previously adjudicated in juvenile court for one of those seven crimes. Such direct file laws have proven controversial, especially as the super-predator myth that youths were somehow getting more dangerous than prior generations was debunked and statistics showed crime has been steadily decreasing since a nationwide high in 1991. State Rep. Chris Rabb, of Philadelphia, is planning to recirculate a co-sponsorship memo soon to introduce a bill that would repeal Act 33. We should eliminate the presumption that a child should be treated as an adult by prohibiting direct filing of cases involving children to the adult system, Rabb wrote in his memo, noting that Act 33 was inspired by the racist, bipartisan trope of the super-predator. Charging children as adults is damaging to the well-being of the children, their families and the Commonwealth, Rabb wrote. The American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry wrote a statement in 2014 against the direct-filing of juveniles into adult court. Adolescents use their brains in fundamentally different ways than adults, the statement said. They are more likely to act on impulse or to be influenced by peers and less likely to stop, think things through or fully consider the consequences of their actions. The Supreme Court has recognized these biological and developmental differences in a series of recent decisions. The juvenile justice system developed over 100 years ago specifically to address the differences between juvenile and adult suspects and offenders, the statement said. The primary focus of the juvenile justice system is rehabilitation. Consistent with this philosophy, research has demonstrated that youthful offenders retained in the juvenile system have lower recidivism rates than those who are transferred to adult correctional facilities. The academy recommends independent judicial reviews to decide which juvenile cases to send to adult court instead of mandatory direct files or prosecutorial discretion. READ: What we know about the 14-year-old accused of killing her disabled sister and why shes in an adult prison READ: Gangs of Harrisburg: Police battle daytime shootings linked to shadowy conflicts Photo: The Canadian Press Prime Minister Justin Trudeau holds a press conference in Ottawa on February 26, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick A House of Commons committee is unanimously urging Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to promise he won't call a federal election while the COVID-19 pandemic rages across Canada. In a report by the procedure and House affairs committee, even Liberal members supported a recommendation calling for a commitment that there will be no election during the pandemic, unless Trudeau's minority Liberal government is defeated on a confidence vote. The committee makes no similar call for opposition parties to promise not to trigger an election during the pandemic by voting non-confidence in the government. However, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh has vowed his party won't vote to bring the government down as long as the country is in the grip of COVID-19. That should be enough to ensure the survival of the minority Liberal government for the foreseeable future, unless Trudeau decides to trigger an election himself. Trudeau has repeatedly insisted he has no interest in forcing an election but opposition parties remain suspicious. "Unfortunately, the Liberal government has already indicated their desire to recklessly send Canadians to the polls at whatever time they deem to be the most advantageous for the prime minister," the Conservatives say in a supplementary report to the committee's report. Indeed, the Conservatives assert, without explanation, that Trudeau has already tried to orchestrate his government's defeat. They thank Liberal committee members for taking "a stand against the whims of the prime minister, who has been eagerly pressing towards an election for the last few months." At the same time, Conservatives have been pursuing a strategy that could give Trudeau justification for calling an election: They've been systematically blocking the government's legislative agenda, including repeatedly delaying a bill authorizing billions in pandemic-related aid. They have also blocked debate on a bill that would give Elections Canada special powers to conduct an election safely, if need be, during the pandemic. Bill C-19 is the government's response to chief electoral officer Stephane Perrault, who has said special measures are urgent given that a minority government is inherently unstable and could theoretically fall at any time. However, some opposition MPs view the legislation as proof that the Liberals are planning to trigger an election. In their own supplementary report, New Democrats argue that an election in the midst of the pandemic "has the potential to undermine the health of our democracy." They point to the current delay in Newfoundland and Labrador's election due to a COVID outbreak as an example of the "delays, confusion and unforeseen barriers in voting" that could undermine Canadians' confidence in the outcome of a federal election. "This raises the spectre of a government whose political legitimacy is openly challenged," the NDP committee members say, adding that could lead to the kind of crisis that provoked a riot at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 by supporters of former president Donald Trump. The Capitol riot, sparked by Trump's unfounded claims that mail-in ballots were fraudulent, appears to have been on the minds of opposition committee members when it comes to other recommendations for how to safely conduct an election, if necessary, during the pandemic. Anticipating a massive increase in mail-in ballots, the chief electoral officer has, among other things, suggested that mail-in ballots received one day after the close of in-person polls should still be counted. The Conservatives say the procedure and House affairs committee should have rejected that proposal, arguing that "the election should end on Election Day and Canadians deserve to know the results without delay." Bloc Quebecois committee members, in their supplementary report, similarly argue that extending the deadline for receipt of mail-in ballots "would delay the election results, which would fuel voter suspicion and undermine confidence in the electoral system, which is obviously undesirable." I would have thought the biggest threat to WA is not tomatoes, its meth and heroin. A G2G pass is currently obligatory for all travellers, including returning WA residents. Travellers must complete an online application and declaration about their personal circumstances. University of Sydney professor of constitutional law Anne Twomey said it would be extremely difficult to establish new legislation that permitted restrictions on border access on an ongoing basis. Hed [Mr McGowan] have to create new legislation to do it, the existing legislative basis [the state of emergency laws] wouldnt allow ongoing restrictions to deal with drug trafficking, hed have to have new legislation that would do it, she said. Professor Anne Twomey. The big contrast is the COVID-19 restrictions are really tightly confined to particular periods of time and require constant monitoring and reassessment every 14 days by a minister. Im not saying its necessarily impossible, there might be a possibility that the High Court would say that protecting the state from drugs is a legitimate reason, but youre going to have to meet up the requirements of justification and reasonable necessity. Professor Twomey said states can already ban illegal drugs from coming in and have border checks but restricting people entering WA to reduce the likelihood of illicit substances being brought in was another matter. If it was just monitoring whos coming in, would that be a restriction on movement? I dont know, she said. Some people would argue its a slight restriction on freedom of movement and therefore its not such a problem and if its done for a legitimate purpose and its reasonable proportionate, well, maybe. WA Opposition Leader Zak Kirkup said trying to keep border restrictions in place was overreach. I think its extraordinary that the Premier is suggesting that West Australians who are trying to return home or people from across the country who might be visiting their families here in WA should be treated the same as meth traffickers, he said. When is it that we stopped being Australians, when is it that we stopped being a part of this country together. Liberal Democrat MLC Aaron Stonehouse, whose party promotes civil libertarianism, said the Premier had been hinting at taking more control and power with a policy that had nothing to do with COVID-19. Were basically under a state of emergency where the government has almost unlimited power, youve got a state opposition that is basically about to be obliterated in the upcoming election and the premier is using this as an opportunity to grab more power and impose border lockdowns that seemingly never end, he said. Giving police a blank cheque to surveil and control our movement, that is a serious risk to our civil liberties and our freedoms. Labor promises to expand meth plan On Sunday Mr McGowan unveiled a $79 million expansion to the $244 million meth action plan introduced by his government after Labor won the 2017 election. The premier said a range of measures put in place since 2017 had been effective in combating meth. The Australian Criminal Intelligence Commissions latest National Wastewater Drug Monitoring Program report shows meth usage in WA decreased by 23 per cent in the past year but had been increasing in the two years prior. Cocaine, heroine, and MDMA has all increased more than 170 per cent in the past year in WA. WA organised crime detectives seized more than 175kg of meth and almost $9 million in cash, allegedly found in two NSW trucks recently. Credit:Nine News Perth Mr McGowan said there were no easy solutions to dealing with the scourge of drugs. This is a war thats difficult to win but its something you keep fighting, he said. Well never give up on trying to help families and people who are addicted to get off it. Clearly the G2G pass system, the controlled border has worked, and it does actually help us prevent the flow of drugs. This [the controlled border] is obviously something that will be in place for at least the next year I would expect. If we need to extend it beyond that, thats something Im certainly willing to talk to the commissioner about because it does help us with dealing with the flow of drugs into the state. Labor also promised in October to spend $314 million on recruiting 800 extra police officers. WA Greens leader and alcohol and other drugs spokeswoman Alison Xamon said the premier needed to be transparent about what exactly he was proposing but also noted the federal and state governments had been failing to find measures, outside of the hard interstate border, to reduce supply into WA. Close to 40 lakh people have registered themselves to receive the Covid vaccines shot on the CoWIN portal till Tuesday morning, the Union Health Minister Dr. Harsh Vardhan told reporters on Tuesday. "It includes 34 lakh of those who were registered on Monday while the last I checked in the morning, more than 5 lakh people had registered themselves on the portal," he informed. However, the minister said that the actual number of registration could be higher. "As you know that from a single number, a person can register as many as four beneficiaries. Even if we reduce it to two, the number of actual registration may have gone beyond 70 lakh," he guessed. Harsh Vardhan revealed the information after interacting with the media after taking his vaccine shot at the Delhi Heart and Lung Institute. He came along with his wife who also received the shot. The couple chose the private hospital where they paid Rs 250 each for the doses received. By choosing a private facility over a public, Vardhan sent out a clear message which he reiterated that a person having the capacity to afford the costs of the vaccine, must get inoculated in a private facility. "I want to appeal to everyone that those who can afford the vaccine, should get it from the private hospital nearest to the home," he said. Meanwhile the minister also spoke about the "vaccine maitri" programme of India in which the country has sent and continues to deliver lakhs of Covid vaccine doses to other nations. "We have sent our vaccines to around 40 countries and about three to four dozens of nations will receive them shorty as well," Vardhan informed. Earlier, in an exclusive interaction with IANS, Minister of External Affairs S Jaishankar had told IANS that the ministry will dispatch Covid vaccines to 36 nations scattered across the globe. "It includes our neighbouring countries, South Asian nations, countries in the Gulf region, small islands near Australia, and South American countries. So I'll say that we are reaching out to nations across the globe," Jaishankar had informed IANS. Vaccines are being provided free of charge at the government health facilities and on a payment basis in the private health facilities. All private hospitals can charge Rs 150 for vaccines and Rs 100 for service charges fixed by the central government. Around 10,000 hospitals empanelled under Ayushman Bharat-PMJAY and 687 hospitals under CGHS can be used by states as Covid Vaccination Centres (CVCs). Phase three of Covid vaccination covering 27 crore of population above aged above 60 and those above 45 with comorbidities started from Monday. The previous two phases were started with vaccination of around three crore of healthcare and frontline workers in India. The Telegraph SIR Charles Moore makes reference to an article he wrote a year ago under the heading Was Covid-19 created in the lab?. In it he described work by two scientists, Angus Dalgleish and Birger Sorensen, who concluded that it was what is called a chimera it was built by human beings to see how infectious it could be to human beings. Lord Moore wrote that this does not mean that the purpose was to make people ill. He presumed it was to learn more about vaccines against viruses. A more disturbing interpretation might be that the research had a military purpose. Sir Richard Dearlove (a former head of MI6) was interested in the work of Dalgleish and Sorensen. As a teenager in the Fifties, I was invited to the microbiological research establishment at Porton Down by my uncle, its director. It was the height of the Cold War and he told me: Dont worry about nuclear war biological warfare is far more dangerous. Bill Filmer Lindfield, West Sussex SIR The Wuhan lab theory would make a plausible James Bond plot (which would be a first), but I find the species-leap theory more frightening. Michael Heaton Warminster, Wiltshire SIR With the genesis of Covid-19 still unclear, the accidental escape from laboratory theory may finally gain legs. Beijing still has much to explain with regard to the dreadful pandemic it appears to have inflicted on the world. It demonised whistleblowers when the virus emerged, then appears to have lied once person-to-person transmission was deemed likely and the epidemic gained pace. The World Health Organisation appeared to be both tardy and shy in conducting the necessary engagement. Members of its investigation team are said to have spent a mere three hours in the Wuhan laboratory. China is less than generous in welcoming outside scrutiny. That perhaps was to be expected. More disturbing is the stance taken by Facebook and others, which dismissed this theory far too readily at the outset. The time to seek the truth with all due rigour has now surely arrived. All evidence, no matter how unpalatable, must be objectively explored, to help prevent or mitigate the next time. The developing world in particular will struggle to cope with the lasting effects of this catastrophic event. While realpolitik may allow China to be an emerging superpower, it can still be held accountable for any lapses identified. Colonel Rob Davie (retd) Salisbury, Wiltshire SIR The lab theory was dismissed from the moment Donald Trump endorsed it. As with Brexit, the supposed intelligentsia could not countenance the possibility that Mr Trump, like Nigel Farage, might be right about something. Closed minds have costly consequences. Keith Phair Felixstowe, Suffolk The Johnson wedding SIR Boris Johnsons surprise confirmation of his status as a Catholic has raised many eyebrows, particularly in relation to his reputation with the ladies. However, I think Rome will provide a good home for him. Oscar Wilde, when questioned about his own late conversion to Catholicism, said that he was attracted to the faith because in this Church, Every saint has a past, and every sinner has a future. Anna Mackey Dublin, Ireland SIR When a Prime Minister is married for a third time, is it called a wedding or a reshuffle? Neville Stangroom Dereham, Norfolk SIR No, that was a fake wedding. The real one took place three days earlier, conducted in the garden of No 10 by the Archbishop of Canterbury with Dilyn as sole witness. Peter Thompson Sutton, Surrey SIR Typical! The Prime Minister gets married and Matt is away. Keith Macpherson Clevedon, Somerset SIR Bethan Holts report describes Carrie Johnson renting her dress as a very modern move, but I hired my wedding dress back in 1966. I chose a first hiring, even though it was more expensive, rather than a second, as I wanted to be the first to wear the dress. I couldnt afford a new dress, so was being practical. After all, my husband hired his morning coat. This year my husband and I celebrate 55 years of marriage. Lynda Burke Knowle, Warwickshire Beep, beep SIR Traffic reduction schemes, now known as low traffic neighbourhoods, are not that new. Portsmouth had a 20mph speed limit the whole way through. After an emergency trip I was directed home through Portsmouth. Seeing the first 20mph sign I stayed in second gear. Seeing more signs, I proceeded through the whole city in second gear, average speed 5mph. This meant every traffic light was green by the time I arrived at it. Very smooth. The traffic mayhem behind me was the citys problem not mine. Car engines do not like second gear. The pollution my car emitted must have been awful for residents. Maybe elected councillors are not familiar with car engineering. Sue Doughty Twyford, Berkshire Offended by the Duke SIR I have just read the report about Kings College. The idea of those staff members being offended by the Duke of Edinburghs photo is almost too much to bear. Can you imagine what traumatic lives these poor people must lead every day striving mightily from dawn to dusk, seeking out all offensive matter? The very idea horrifies me and has left me decidedly depressed. I am seeking an immediate appointment with Harrys therapist. Robert Chatterton Caythorpe, Lincolnshire SIR Cambridge has been worrying about micro-aggression. Should university lecturers or students found guilty of micro-aggressions receive micro-punishments? For example, someone found guilty of not giving eye contact could be stared at for five minutes. Brian Armstrong North Shields, Northumberland Abolished by the BBC SIR In his article Reform of the BBC must start at the very top, William Lewis suggests that a journalist editor-in-chief should be answerable to an independent editorial board. From 1990 to 1996 I was a member of such a board, the General Advisory Council (about 40 of us). We were supposedly a sounding-board for BBC policy. What usually happened was that the top managers told us how well they were doing, leaving precious little time for our questions. Under Sir Terry Heisers chairmanship we eventually insisted on setting the agenda ourselves. One result was that in 1993 we successfully challenged the director-general John Birts remuneration arrangements. It wasnt long before the BBC declared its Advisory Council redundant and abolished us. If an independent editorial board ever comes into being it will need a really strong mandate. The Earl of Northesk Elsworth, Cambridgeshire Tick-box banking SIR NatWest informed me that I could not have an appointment in a branch to open a new account because of Covid fears (Letters, May 31). Despite my husband and I having banked with them for over 40 years and currently holding, between us, eight different accounts with them, we had to spend nearly an hour on the phone trying to open a joint account. Having established who we were, was it then necessary for us to be treated as if we were new naive customers who had never had an account? We had to resupply information possessed by the bank about us, and were subjected to sales pitches for accounts we already hold. The hapless individual at the end of the phone was only interested in completing his script rather than applying a modicum of common sense. A face-to-face meeting might have avoided all of this. Dilys Taylor Birmingham Rude rhymes SIR That jingle from Aristophanes Frogs pinein kai binein, (Christopher Howse, The rudest word in Greek is no laughing matter, Comment, May 29), could be rendered in English as supping and tupping, or possibly boozing and floozing. Richard George St Albans, Hertfordshire A Saturday Derby lacks that holiday feeling 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. REDONDO BEACH, Calif., March 2, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Raddish Kids - the award-winning kids' culinary subscription kit and monthly cooking club for kids - has collaborated with Disney to celebrate the release of the all-new fantasy action-adventure Raya and the Last Dragon in theaters and on Disney+ with Premier Access* for an additional fee, starting March 5th, 2021, with a free downloadable Raddish cooking kit available today. This digital cooking kit features recipes that the entire family can make together, with the kids leading the charge. The free downloadable digital Raddish cooking kit features three illustrated recipes as well as Table Talk conversation cards and a bonus educational lesson that teaches kids about the cuisine and flavors of Southeast Asia. Before embarking on Raya's journey, families can go on a culinary adventure, making and enjoying recipes celebrating Raya's homeland Kumandra - a magical land inspired by the culture and cuisine of Southeast Asia. Magic, mythology, and heart-pounding action fuel the journey of Raya - a young warrior and sworn protector of the sacred dragon gem. Audiences will travel alongside Raya as she discovers the last dragon and assembles an eclectic team to save their broken kingdom from an ominous force. Before embarking on Raya's journey, families can go on a culinary adventure, making and enjoying recipes celebrating Raya's homeland Kumandra - a magical land inspired by the culture and cuisine of Southeast Asia. "We're thrilled to create these recipes in celebration of Raya and the Last Dragon, introducing families to the flavors of the Southeast Asian cuisine that inspired the setting for the film," said Raddish founder Samantha Barnes. "Families are in for a treat, making and enjoying a meal together before joining Raya on her spectacular adventure." The free downloadable digital Raddish cooking kit features three illustrated recipes designed for children as well as Table Talk conversation cards and a bonus educational lesson that teaches kids about the cuisine and flavors of Southeast Asia. In this kit, families can learn to make Shrimp Noodles, Pork Lettuce Wraps and Mango Sticky Rice. Additionally, Raddish Kids and Disney are inviting families to learn to make the Shrimp Noodles alongside a Raddish instructor in a pre-recorded virtual cook-along where a Disney chef also makes an appearance. The digital cooking kit is available at www.raddishkids.com/disneyraya today and a step-by-step cook-along video will be added at a later date. Disney's Raya and the Last Dragon can be seen in theaters or ordered on Disney+ with Premier Access* starting March 5, 2021. *Additional Fee Required. ABOUT DISNEY'S RAYA AND THE LAST DRAGON: Walt Disney Animation Studios' "Raya and the Last Dragon" travels to the fantasy world of Kumandra, where humans and dragons lived together long ago in harmony. But when an evil force threatened the land, the dragons sacrificed themselves to save humanity. Now, 500 years later, that same evil has returned and it's up to a lone warrior, Raya, to track down the legendary last dragon to restore the fractured land and its divided people. However, along her journey, she'll learn that it'll take more than a dragon to save the worldit's going to take trust and teamwork as well. "Raya and the Last Dragon" features an outstanding voice cast, including Kelly Marie Tran, Awkwafina, Izaac Wang, Gemma Chan, Daniel Dae Kim, Benedict Wong, Jona Xiao, Sandra Oh, Thalia Tran, Lucille Soong, Alan Tudyk, Gordon Ip, Dichen Lachman, Patti Harrison, Jon "Dumbfoundead" Park, Sung Kang, Sierra Katow, Ross Butler, Francois Chau and Paul Yen. Directed by Don Hall and Carlos Lopez Estrada, produced by Osnat Shurer and Peter Del Vecho, and written by Qui Nguyen and Adele Lim, "Raya and the Last Dragon" will be released simultaneously in theaters and on Disney+ with Premier Access on March 5, 2021. ABOUT RADDISH KIDS Founded by former middle school teacher Samantha Barnes, Raddish Kids is the leading, award-winning monthly subscription kit and cooking club for kids that delivers a new culinary adventure to families each month. Each thematic kit is designed by educators and chefs to nurture kids' confidence in the kitchen, expand their palates, and make learning delicious. Raddish cooking kits entice kids into the kitchen with beautifully illustrated recipes, culinary tools, and fun activities, and take the guesswork out of teaching kids to cook. Science, math, geography, STEAM, and other subjects are intricately woven into each themed kit, making the kitchen the tastiest place to learn. Raddish has been recognized as an Inc. 500 fastest growing company in the U.S. by Inc. Magazine as well as honored with a Parents' Choice Gold Award and CUBE Best Customer Experience Award. www.raddishkids.com . Media Contact: Jennifer Parnell [email protected] 720-515-3651 SOURCE Raddish Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. CLEVELAND, Ohio City Council President Kevin Kelley said Tuesday he thinks indicted Cleveland Councilman Ken Johnson should resign from the seat hes held more than 40 years. In an interview with cleveland.com and The Plain Dealer, Kelley said he talked with Johnson about his options after Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost filed with the Ohio Supreme Court asking that Johnson be suspended from office, but Johnson did not say what he would do. We discussed resignation, Kelley said. I think that would be best for everyone. Johnson could not be reached for comment. Johnson was arrested Feb. 23 after a federal grand jury in Cleveland indicted him 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. Among the accusations against him is that he fleeced the city out of more than $127,000 by submitting false monthly expense reports over several years. He is also accused of steering thousands of dollars in federal block grant money through the now defunct Buckeye-Shaker Square Development Corp. into accounts he controlled. Johnson denied the charges when he appeared in court last week. Meanwhile, Yost on Friday asked the Ohio Supreme Court to commence suspension proceedings against Johnson. Yost made the request under provisions in the Ohio Revised Code that authorize suspension of local public officials who, like Johnson, have been charged with a felony relating to their official duties. Yosts request asks for Ohio Chief Justice Maureen OConnor to appoint a three-member commission to consider his request. He took similar action in 2020 when members of Toledo City Council and Cincinnati City Council were under indictment. The suspension of a public official facing charges of public corruption is the proper remedy while the criminal case is resolved, Yost said last week. If suspended, Johnson would continue to hold his title and receive his nearly $87,000 annual salary. This is the last year of Johnsons current four-year term. He was first elected to the City Council in 1980. Prior to his arrest, he had obtained nominating petitions to gather signatures needed to run for re-election. If Johnson is convicted of corruption charges, he would be ineligible to hold office under Ohio law. More from Cleveland City Hall Cleveland City Council tweaks budget plan, targeting $5.25M for housing, neighborhood quality Heres why $65B in coronavirus relief didnt solve airlines woes, and why more aid is likely $46 million in federal coronavirus relief wasnt enough to cover revenue lost at Cleveland airports Cleveland considering a new recycling program that would require residents opt in to participate Indicted Cleveland Councilman Ken Johnson wouldnt get to pick successor if he resigns in disgrace Sorry! This content is not available in your region The drama that consistently follows Kathy Beale around Albert Square was momentarily forgotten on Monday as EastEnders star Gillian Taylforth took a break between scenes. The British star, who reprised her role as Kathy in 2015, was in high spirits as she chatted with crew-members on the set of the long-running BBC soap. Dressed in a sober black winter coat and matching slacks, Gillian, 65, was on hand to film additional scenes related to the funeral of former screen husband Gavin Sullivan, played by Paul Nicholas. Here she is: The drama that consistently follows Kathy Beale around Albert Square was momentarily forgotten on Monday as EastEnders star Gillian Taylforth took a break between scenes Previous scenes filmed in Hertfordshire town Bushey saw Gavin's biological daughter Sharon Watts dump his ashes in a park bin before engaging in a furious showdown with Kathy. During his brief time in Walford between 2015 and 2016, the villain threatened to kill himself and his daughter. Gavin also murdered his sister Margaret Midhurst (Jan Harvey) by pushing her off a balcony, and even convinced Sharon to lie about how she died. Quiet on set: Gillian was on hand to film additional scenes related to the funeral of former screen husband Gavin Sullivan, played by Paul Nicholas Sharon's adoptive father was played by the late Leslie Grantham, whose performances as 'Dirty Den Watts' captivated millions. The truth about the paternity finally was brought to light during a dramatic episode in 2015, which saw Gavin greet her with the phrase, 'Hello, Princess,' a term first coined by Den. The explosive showdown followed a string of episodes that have seen her attempt to uncover the truth about her biological father. Upbeat: The British star, who reprised her role as Kathy in 2015, was in high spirits as she chatted with crew-members on the set of the long-running BBC soap Good riddance: Previous scenes filmed in Hertfordshire town Bushey saw Gavin's biological daughter Sharon Watts dump his ashes in a park bin before engaging in a furious showdown with Kathy Both Kathy and Gavin returned to the Square 14-years after both were thought to have died during a car accident in South Africa. It later transpired that the couple had faked their own deaths, with the storyline playing a pivotal role in the show's 30th anniversary in 2015. Reflecting on her return to the show, Gillian told OK! she was initially reluctant to meet the casting director as she thought it would only be a cameo role. 'I assumed it would just be something fun, like coming to present everyone with a cake or something,' she said. 'So I asked if we could put the chat off until after Christmas I didnt end up seeing him until January.' This photo obtained from NASA on December 17, 2019 shows Boeing's CST-100 Starliner spacecraft as it sits atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station's Space Launch Complex 41 in Florida on December 5, 2019, for the program's first-ever Integrated Day of Launch Test the following day. Everything is ready in Cape Canaveral, Florida for the launch of the Boeing astronaut capsule, Starliner, which will take a model, Rosie, to the International Space Station, nine months after a similar SpaceX mission. The two companies have been paid by NASA to develop taxis for astronauts to provide round trips between the United States and the station (ISS), a function that only the Russians have fulfilled since the end of the American shuttles in 2011 . An unmanned test mission of Boeing's Starliner space capsule, which is eventually to transport astronauts to the International Space Station, has had to be postponed, NASA said Monday. The test, which had previously been postponed until early April, will suffer another delay, this time due to unprecedented cold temperatures in Texas that caused extensive power outages in the southern US state. "We did lose time with the weather in Houston. We lost about a week of time," said Steve Stich, the manager of NASA's Commercial Crew Program, during a press conference. NASA is "continuing to evaluate options" for the new test date. The Starliner's first crewed flight is currently scheduled for September, Stich added. During an initial test flight in December 2019, the Starliner capsule failed to dock at the ISS and returned to Earth prematurelya setback for aerospace giant Boeing. Since then, its program has fallen far behind SpaceX, the other companyowned by Tesla CEO Elon Muskchosen by NASA to develop a vessel to transport astronauts to the ISS. SpaceX's Crew Dragon capsule already carried astronauts to the station in June and November 2020. Four other astronauts, including Frenchman Thomas Pesquet, will return to the ISS in April. Explore further Boeing to redo test flight of uncrewed Starliner spaceship 2021 AFP The West Africa International Press has conferred on the founder and Chief Executive Officer of End Point Homeopathic Clinic, Dr Kofi Adu-Boateng, the Africa International Award of Merit. Dr Adu-Boateng who has on several occasions been awarded as one of the renowned medical doctors in Ghana received the award during the International Conference on Political/Civil Strife in Africa organized by the West Africa International Press (WAI). The multiple award-winning doctor was awarded for his vast charitable works, exceptional dedication and professionalism exhibited in the healthcare sector, and his contribution to the growth and economic advancement of this country. As part of his humanitarian works, Dr Adu-Boateng has constructed two 6- classroom modern facilities for the Eye of the Lord Orphanage and the Department of Early Childhood Education, University of Education Winneba (UEW). Receiving the award on behalf of Dr Adu-Boateng, Mrs Deborah Paintsil thanked the organizers and said Dr Adu-Boateng deserved every honour bestowed upon him. According to her, Dr Adu-Boateng is humbled and motivated to do more in the healthcare sector and society as a whole. His outfit, End Point Homeopathic Clinic, has been a provider of quality healthcare and unparalleled services; promoting and advancing the science of homoeopathy for the past ten years. The clinic received several prestigious awards, including having been adjudged the Most Result-Oriented Homeopathic Clinic in West Africa and winning the Outstanding Homeopathy Hospital of the Year-2016 awards. 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 NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / March 2, 2021 / For some years now, professionals in different areas no longer require their own offices to perform their work. Some people who look for flexibility, a professional working environment, and reasonable prices, rely on coworking spaces. In Boca Raton, the best is The One Cowork. Coworking spaces are shared offices where freelancers and entrepreneurs meet to work, and where the managers of the space try to connect and create professional and personal opportunities for their clients. Most professionals, such as programmers, designers, online community managers, journalists, salespeople, and consultants, only need a laptop, a phone and good internet connection to carry out their work. For The One Cowork LLC, it all started when Carmen and Todd Kenig went looking for a cool, friendly, and inspiring place to work in Boca Raton. Nothing met their expectations, but they found an alternative through their friend Sahap Scimoglu, who had a 6,800 square-foot office space available and wanted to do something interesting with the space. "We put our creative heads together and decided to create a cool, hip coworking space for people with the same vibe. What makes our business unique is that we don't fit the normal coworking space model." What differentiates a coworking space from business centers and classic shared offices is the figure of the manager, the person who works full time to help the members get to know each other better, generate a climate of trust, and the dynamics of collaboration. Coworking is the evolution of collaborative work. The concept emerged in San Francisco in 2005 due to the economy becoming increasingly social. People like having contact and interactions. Thanks to the evolution of the internet, people are more productive than ever and a single person is able to do the work of a company. Today, Carmen, Todd and Sahap run The One Cowork, a coworking space and office business model located at The Sanctuary Center in Boca Raton. This space is not the typical white-walled office. "It has a great balance of workspace, boardroom meeting spaces, open areas with hot desks and comfortable lounges. In addition, we have a Podcast room equipped to seat 4 people. A small photo studio with a light tent perfect for eCommerce businesses looking to showcase their products online and a ring light for YouTube content creators, video bloggers, or selfie lovers." What motivated Carmen, Todd and Sahap to create The One Cowork was the need to design a workspace that people would want to use every day for work meetings and professional development. "We wanted to create a space to inspire the creative mindset, cultivate collaboration and spark new ways of thinking. I'm inspired by artist collaborations; this office space is a gallery of collaborations where different artists can come together and express themselves." The One Cowork team values mindset when talking about business. They understand that to grow any business, people have to dedicate themselves 100%. They took this into account when facing several challenges, such as the COVID-19 pandemic. "Adapting to the slow-paced work mentality. Having to deal with city codes and permits. Most of all, dealing with COVID 19 and getting this place built during a pandemic while everything was shut down." That mentality laid the groundwork for The One Cowork's success. Today, they set themselves apart from their competition by being the most creative coworking space in Boca Raton. "Everything from our interior design to our small boutique feel is designed to create a better work environment. We offer inspiring spaces at affordable prices for those who are just starting out and incubating creative ideas. Our carefully selected furniture and energetic color scheme will keep you in a creative mood. Our offices are smaller and reasonably priced for people just starting out." The One Cowork provides a space where any business can grow. By not just providing internet service and a physical workspace, but also giving resources and tools such as a podcast and photo studio. Find out more about The One Cowork here. CONTACT: The One Cowork LLC (561) 656-6730 info@theonecowork.com www.theonecowork.com SOURCE: The One Cowork LLC View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/633083/Looking-to-Innovate-the-Coworking-Space-Three-Entrepreneurs-Created-The-One-Cowork-A-Space-That-Inspires-Creativity-and-Collaboration Toyota Motor Corporation joined hands with its group company responsible for a wide range of mobility development projects anchored in software, Woven Planet Holdings, to break ground on its new hitech development, Woven City, in Japan. The announcement for this 'prototype city of the future where all ecosystems are connected' was made at the CES 2020 event in Las Vegas, US. Located in the Japanese town of Susono, Woven City aims to continuously create advancements that will help better society by accelerating the cycle of technology and the development of services. The project aims to demonstrate a human-centered approach to community development. The ambitious project, which will come up at the old vehicle yard adjacent to the former Higashi-Fuji Plant site of Toyota Motor East Japan (TMEJ), aims to prepare the residents for an era in which all ecosystems that support everyday life are connected with data, said senior officials at the groundbreaking ceremony (Jichinsai) held recently. It was attended by the Governor of Shizuoka Prefecture Heita Kawakatsu, Mayor of Susono City Kenji Takamura along with Toyota President Akio Toyoda, Woven Planet CEO James Kuffner, TMEJ President Kazuhiro Miyauchi and others involved in the project. "The Woven City project has officially started," said Toyoda. "Taking action as one has decided is never an easy task. I must express my deepest gratitude to all who have provided their whole-hearted support and cooperation to the project through today," he noted. According to him, the Woven City will have three types of streets, which will be interwoven with one another on the ground level; one dedicated to automated driving, one to pedestrians, and one to pedestrians with personal mobility vehicles. There will also be one underground road used to transport goods. The community will start with roughly 360 residents, mainly senior citizens, families with young children, and inventors, and will eventually have a population of more than 2,000 individuals including Toyota employees. The infrastructure of Woven City aims to create an environment where inventions with the potential to solve social issues are created on a timely basis, he explained. "The unwavering themes of the Woven City are 'human-centered,' 'a living laboratory' and 'ever-evolving.' Together with the support of our project partners, we will take on the challenge of creating a future where people of diverse backgrounds are able to live happily," he added. TMEJ President Miyauchi said: "I am deeply grateful for having had our Higashi-Fuji Plant operate here for 53 years with the support of the local community. The knowledge and expertise we acquired from all of the people who worked at the plant must be carried on into the next chapter." "With the conviction that Woven City will stand not on mere empty land but where the history of the Higashi-Fuji Plant lies, I will offer the greatest possible collaboration in the future," remarked Miyauchi. "As part of Toyota's shift from an automobile manufacturer to a mobility company, Woven City will bring new technology to life in a real-world environment across a wide range of areas including automated driving, personal mobility, robotics, and Artificial Intelligence (AI)," he noted. "It is expected to provide a number of exciting opportunities for businesses and researchers around the world," he added.-TradeArabia News Service Trudeau is at it again, targeting law abiding citizens for his feeble attempt to gain votes. These proposed gun bans don't apply to criminals, who are responsible for the little gun crime we do have in this country. He even used footage from the US of people shooting actual assault rifles, which are still legal in some states, but have been banned in Canada since the 70's, to persuade the uninformed population that we don't need these guns in our country. Newsflash! They're already illegal here! All this BS does is incriminate legal gun owners, and does absolutely nothing to reduce gun crime in Canada, all on the taxpayers dime. Apart from that, parliament has less than 55 days left before the summer break and the election. That is not nearly enough time for this bill to go through all the necessary channels to be actually passed, so it is purely a mindless attempt to sway voters. Bill C71 took 350 days to get through. 55 days is not gonna happen. And now the proposed municipal handgun bans. The Canadian firearms program is federal, yet these clowns are trying to pass the buck onto municipalities. Legally owned handguns cannot leave their safe unless being transported directly to and from a sanctioned gun range, and must be permitted to do so. Canadian firearms owners are also vetted daily, so any run-ins with the law pop up immediately and if that person poses a threat to anyones safety, their firearms are immediately seized. Taking handguns from legal gun owners will not remove them from the streets. Guns used for the purpose of crime are obtained illegally, and those criminals won't surrender a damn thing. This government is a joke and needs to be removed from office ASAP. Rich Besinger SABA:--- The first vaccination round on Saba was closed off on Monday, March 1 with a total tally of 1,328. This figure represents more than 85 percent of the adult population and over 70 percent of the total population. In a fully COVID-19-free environment, the vast majority of about 1,500 adults on Saba went to the vaccination location at the Eugenius Johnson Center in the Windwardside from Monday, February 22 until Monday, March 1. On February 19, Saba received 1,500 Moderna vaccines, enough to vaccinate the entire adult population. Saba currently has the highest coverage within the Kingdom and internationally it has done exceptionally good as well. We are up there with the highest coverage in the world, said a proud Dr. Koen Hulshof who heads the Saba Public Health Department. To compare, in Israel, which serves as a worldwide poster child for the high vaccination rate, 54 percent of the population has had at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. Several factors contributed to Sabas success rate, explained vaccination coordinator Tedisha Gordon of the Public Health Department. The structure and the organization of the vaccination program contributed a lot, said Gordon. We have a strong, friendly, and efficient vaccination team. The process went very smooth. Saba started early with providing information to its community about the safety of the vaccine and the vaccination process. More than 30 small and bigger gatherings were held with face-to-face encounters, including town hall meetings, visits to schools, churches, organizations, and private companies. The positive vibe also contributed to so many Sabans deciding to get the Moderna vaccine, with many people eager to get back some sense of normalcy. Social media was used extensively, while the free transportation to and from the vaccination location was also a positive factor. On Tuesday afternoon, March 2, Sabas Outbreak Management Team (OMT) informed the Island Council about the results of the first round of the vaccination program and to discuss what the high coverage means for the current measures after May 1 when the island should be partially reopened, depending on the developments of the pandemic. In the next few weeks, Saba will receive the subsequent batch of the Moderna vaccine from the Netherlands for the second round. The second vaccination round will take place in late March. Looking back at seven days of vaccinating in the first round, Dr. Hulshof said: The team is tired but satisfied. It was a lot of work and it is great to see it materialized. It was a positive vibe from the start until the end. 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 coronavirus pandemic changed a lot about the Empire State, especially when it comes to public schools. Many students in New York City and across the state have yet to return to full-time in-person learning nearly one year after schools shut down at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Gov. Andrew Cuomo and state lawmakers agreed to hold school funding harmless fiscal speak for keeping funding levels at the same level as the prior year in the state budget they approved last year. This time around, state lawmakers hope new federal aid can help local school districts adjust to the new needs of the pandemic. An influx of billions of dollars and potentially higher taxes on the wealthy could also help Albany Democrats prevail in a yearslong dispute with the governor over whether the state owes billions in outstanding funding to local school districts. Winning a supermajority in the state Senate last year also gives Democratic legislators another source of leverage over Cuomo as ongoing scandals over nursing home deaths and alleged sexual harassment threaten his political future. City & State recently spoke with state Senate Education Committee Chair Shelley Mayer to hear the latest with school funding as the governor and state lawmakers get ready for the final weeks of budget negotiations before the April 1 deadline. This interview has been edited for length and clarity. Congress appears likely to approve somewhere around $12 billion in new aid for New York, how is that affecting state budget negotiations on education? The CARES Act was intended to preclude governors from supplanting their own contribution towards education by using federal monies. But the language did not seem to preclude what this executive has proposed, which is basically a cut in the states education spending by holding it harmless again by using federal money. What is he specifically proposing to cut? We want money for the cost of reimbursable aids (expense-based funding streams that reimburse schools for buying things like textbooks and school buses). We want to change and reject many of the long-term changes he made that will be permanent, including offsets in STAR funding. And then we want to make sure that this next tranche of federal money goes to schools, not to the state, and is used for expenses related to COVID, including compensatory learning, summer school, the costs of paying for PPE, new air filtration systems all the costs related to having kids come back and addressing their mental health needs. Whether its psychologists, social workers, or guidance counselors, these kids are going to face quite a bit when they get back to school full time. Before the pandemic, you were talking about updating the funding formula for public schools, whats the status of that and efforts to get the state to provide billions in additional funding per the 2006 Campaign for Fiscal Equity state court decision? Were calling again for the full funding of Foundation Aid phased in over three years as we did two years ago in our one-house budget, and I think we would have done (that) last year had COVID not come. The concept of deciding how much school districts get based on need is a very appropriate way to go forward. The changing demography of the suburbs and upstate requires that we really rethink this reliance on property taxes. Democrats have supermajorities in both chambers of the state Legislature, why not use them to get the funding levels you want over the objections from the governor? The 2004 state Court of Appeals decision in Silver v. Pataki still gives the governor extraordinary power in the budget process. Yes, we have a supermajority. We do want to have (an) on-time budget. I was there for some late budgets, where then-Gov. (David) Paterson imposed all kinds of things in his budget. This is a bit of uncharted territory now. I am hopeful the Senate and the Assembly will be united as much as possible to push back with our big majorities. 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. 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. A demonstrator dressed in a bird mask, representing the black plague, stands near police guarding a city government office where demonstrators protest a two-week-long lockdown to curb the spread of COVID-19 in Brasilia, Brazil, Monday, March 1, 2021. It's the second lockdown in Brasilia since the start of the pandemic one year ago. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres) Brazil's state health secretaries on Monday called for lockdowns and curfews in many parts of the country because hospitals are running short of intensive care unit beds as COVID-19 daily kills more than 1,000 people nationwide. Brazil's National Council of Health Secretaries said in an open letter that there should be "restriction at the maximum level" in regions where more than 85% of hospital beds are occupied and trending up so as to "to avoid the imminent national collapse of the public and private health care networks." "The return of the pandemic in several states is making their private and their public assistance networks collapse and has brought imminent risk of spreading it to all regions of Brazil," the council said, adding that the nation is experiencing its worst moment since the pandemic began. It also cited the slow pace of the vaccination program. Last week was Brazil's deadliest since the beginning of the pandemic, with 8,244 confirmed deaths from the virus. The letter from the council, which represents the nation's 27 health secretaries, suggested lockdowns in cities where no ICU beds are available and curfews between 8 p.m. and 6 a.m. in the rest. The council also said there is a "lack of coherent and unified national leadership in the reaction to the pandemic," and suggests the halt of all activities held in person, including religious ceremonies. Demonstrators sit in front of police guarding a city government office where they protest a two-week-long lockdown to curb the spread of COVID-19 in Brasilia, Brazil, Monday, March 1, 2021. It's the second lockdown in Brasilia since the start of the pandemic one year ago. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres) A demonstrator holds up the Portuguese message "I want to work" outside a city government office where police stand guard during a protest against a two-week-long lockdown to curb the spread of COVID-19 in Brasilia, Brazil, Monday, March 1, 2021. It's the second lockdown in Brasilia since the start of the pandemic one year ago. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres) A demonstrator with a Brazilian flag protests the lockdown on the first day it goes into effect to curb the spread of COVID-19 in Brasilia, Brazil, Monday, March. 1, 2021. It's the second lockdown since the start of the pandemic one year ago. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres) Demonstrators hold up Portuguese messages like "No lockdown!" and "Schools now!" on the first day of a two-week-long lockdown to curb the spread of COVID-19 in Brasilia, Brazil, Monday, March. 1, 2021. It's the second lockdown since the start of the pandemic one year ago. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres) Despite the warning, Sao Paulo Gov. Joao Doria decided also on Monday that religious gatherings are to be considered essential activities in Brazil's most populous state. Doria is a former ally turned foe of Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro. Brazil's capital, Brasilia, entered a two-week lockdown on Sunday, and at least eight states adopted curfews over the past week due to the rise in cases and deaths from the virus. On Monday, hundreds protested near the country's presidential palace, carrying banners that read "We want to work." The governor of the Federal District, where Brasilia lies, is an ally of Bolsonaro. In several Brazilian cities, owners of private schools also protested against stricter social distancing measures. They argued children are not major spreaders of the disease. Less than 4% of Brazil's population has been vaccinated against COVID-19. Almost 260,000 people are confirmed to have died from the disease in the South American country. Explore further Follow the latest news on the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission. An imposing fence surrounding the Apple store in downtown Portland is not a permanent fixture but could remain in place through mid-April, according to the company and city officials. The tall metallic barrier appeared suddenly last week as boards covering the building came down and the store reopened for the first time since late May. Its presence has prompted comparisons to a prison entrance or military checkpoint in a desolate city center still reeling from the coronavirus pandemic, months of racial justice protests and occasional rioting. It is also reminiscent of the barriers placed outside the Multnomah County Justice Center and Mark O. Hatfield U.S. Courthouse as demonstrators clashed nightly with police for most of last summer. According to Apple, the fence will remain outside the store during a spate of construction that includes replacing its large glass panel windows. Dylan Rivera, a spokesman with the Portland Bureau of Transportation, said the company has temporary street use permits along Southwest Yamhill Street between Fourth and Fifth Avenues through at least April 12. (Shane Dixon Kavanaugh / The Oregonian/OregonLive) Apples glass-fronted store was among several downtown looted amid raucous protests spurred by the Minneapolis police killing of George Floyd. The company covered its broken windows with black plywood, which artists promptly repurposed as a canvas for a civil rights mural that featured Floyd and other victims of police violence. Apple has since given the mural to Portland civil rights organization Dont Shoot PDX. A sign attached to the fence reads: Apple stands with you in the fight for racial and social justice. Black Lives Matter. Apples downtown store still isnt open for regular shopping. Customers can pick up online orders or schedule an appointment with the companys customer service, but to shop in-person they must make an appointment and travel to Apple stores at Washington Square or Bridgeport Village. The Oregonian/OregonLives Mike Rogoway contributed to this report. -- Shane Dixon Kavanaugh; 503-294-7632 Email at skavanaugh@oregonian.com Follow on Twitter @shanedkavanaugh Subscribe to Oregonian/OregonLive newsletters and podcasts for the latest news and top stories. 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. Nifty, Sensex may continue to rise Tuesday closing report To bookmark you need to sign in We had mentioned in Mondays closing report that Nifty, Sensex may try to rally. On Tuesday, the indices opened higher but were volatile and ended with decent gains. On the NSE, there were 1,160 advances, 724 declines and 86 unchanged. The trends of the major indices in the course of Tuesdays trading are given in the table below: Bharti Airtel has acquired 355.45 MHz and 2,300 MHz spectrum for Rs 18,699 crore. Telcos didn't bid for 700 MHz due to high reserve prices. All of the spectrum will enable Airtel to deliver 5G services in the future. Shipping Corporation of India privatisation will move to the second stage after the Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) secretary said multiple expressions of interest were received for the company. Mahindra and Mahindra total tractor sales registered a growth of 25% in February 2021 to 28,146 units, as against 22,561 units in February 2019. Hero MotoCorp total sales were up 1.5% YoY to 5,05,467 units against 4,98,242 units and its total domestic sales were up 0.9% to 4,84,433 units versus 4,80,196 units. The total exports of the company were up 18.1% YoY to 21,304 units versus 18,046 units. Linde India reported reported 91% fall in net profits at Rs 56.80 crore compared to Rs 634.50 crore YoY. Revenue grew 15% YoY to Rs 478 crore from Rs 414.63 crore YoY. Matam Venkata Rao has taken over charge as managing director & chief executive officer of Central Bank of India with effect from 1 March 2021. BPCL will exit Numaligarh refinery in Assam by selling its entire stake to a consortium of Oil India Ltd and Engineers India Ltd for Rs 9,876 crore. RITES bagged an order worth Rs 67.18-crore for signalling works from the ministry of railways. It also bagged the extension of general consultancy work for the Nagpur metro rail project and GEC positions from Gujarat Metro Rail Corporation amounting to Rs 26 crore. The top gainers and top losers of the major indices are given in the table below: The closing values of the major Asian indices are given in the table below: SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Singapore's Prime Minister on Tuesday called for Myanmar's military to release elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi to allow the country to move forward and said sanctions would hurt the people rather than the military. In a transcript of an interview with the BBC, Lee Hsien Loong said the military will have learned from the past that it was in the country's interests for it to work out an arrangement with an elected civilian government, as a military route would lead nowhere. (Reporting by Aradhana Arivandan; Writing by Martin Petty; Editing by Ed Davies) First lady Jill Biden and Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona will visit two public schools open for in-person learning on Wednesday, one in Meriden Cardonas hometown where he previously taught and one in Waterford, Pa. The trip is intended to showcase the Bidens administrations commitment to helping schools reopen for in-person classes, despite the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. President Joe Biden has set a goal of getting a majority of K-12 students taking classes in school five days a week by his 100th day in office, April 30. Biden and Cardona will visit Benjamin Franklin Elementary School in Meriden, where all students who wish to do so have been able to take in-person classes five days a week since before Labor Day, Meriden Superintendent of Schools Mark Benigni said. Gov. Ned Lamont will also attend the school visit and may make remarks at the event, Max Reiss, Lamonts communications director, said Tuesday. The visit will showcase the 343-student elementary school as a national model for reopening and highlight Cardonas previous work to help schools operate during the pandemic. Cardona, who was Connecticuts education commissioner since February 2020, encouraged schools to reopen and gave them detailed guidance, but did not mandate in-person classes everywhere. To offer in-person learning you need to be willing to work with your teachers. We have a close collaborative relationship with our teachers union they were at the table deciding our plans, said Benigni. We want to make sure our students are wearing their masks, that theyre washing their hands and that theyre watching their distance, but also we looked at traffic patterns in the hallways ... we spaced out rooms. Three percent of students and 10 percent of staff in Meriden Public Schools have tested positive for coronavirus this school year, according to data published by the district. Less than a third of students and a quarter of staff members have quarantined. Cardona has said his top priority as secretary will be helping schools across the country reopen for in-person learning. He was sworn in as secretary of education by Vice President Kamala Harris on Tuesday evening, after being confirmed by the Senate in a bipartisan vote on Monday night. Wednesday will be Cardonas first full day as secretary and for Biden, the trip will be one of her first domestic trips. Its the honor of my life to be sworn in as nations 12th education secretary, Cardona tweeted on Tuesday. Now its time to get to work for students. Biden is a community college educator and has a doctorate in education, as does Cardona. In Meriden, they will receive a tour of the Ben Franklin Elementary School Wednesday morning, before traveling to Pennsylvania. They will highlight the key CDC mitigation strategies that the schools have implemented successfully in these locations, listen to the challenges they are facing due to the pandemic, including the academic, social and emotional needs of students, highlight the additional resources in the American Rescue Plan needed for schools to remain open and address the needs of students, and thank educators for their work in supporting students and their families, said White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki on Tuesday. Local officials have been scrambling to prepare for the visit with local police coordinating with the Secret Service on security and public works employees launching some last-minute sidewalk cleaning and pothole-filling to spruce up the city. Meriden Mayor Kevin Scarpati and Meriden Board of Education President Robert Kosienski are both expected to attend the local school visit, as will state Sen. Mary Daugherty Abrams, D-Meriden. Members of Connecticuts Congressional delegation are not expected to be there due to votes in Washington, D.C. Cardona previously was a fourth grade teacher and principal in Meriden, but taught at different schools than the one he and Biden will visit Wednesday. His wife, Marissa, is a middle school liaison, and his two children attend Meriden schools. Miguel is a very personable guy. Hes very down to earth, someone who you can easily have a conversation with, Benigni said Tuesday. It will be great to see him and reconnect and congratulate him formally face to face tomorrow. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released new guidance for reopening schools last month and has crafted detailed recommendations on how schools can operate safely during the pandemic. Congress is considering a $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief bill that would include billions to support education institutions. Benigni said he believes additional funding will help schools continue to educate students during the pandemic while shouldering new expenses like additional staff, plexiglass, cleaning supplies and other costs needed to function. He also advocated for his staff to be vaccinated as soon as possible. Connecticut has designated priority designation clinics for teachers and educators to be vaccinated before the general population. emilie.munson@hearstdc.com; Twitter: @emiliemunson System error error: Can't call method "get_id" on an undefined value at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25. context: ... 21: 22: 23: % foreach my $c (@categories) { 24: <%perl> 25: my $category_id = $c->get_id(); 26: my @stories = Bric::Biz::Asset::Business::Story->list ( { element_type_id=>1148, category_id=>$category_id , Order=> 'cover_date', publish_status => 't' , OrderDirection=> 'DESC' , Limit=>10 } ); 27: 28: 29: ... code stack: /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html:25 /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm:951 /var/cache/mason/obj/1784076917/main/smetimes/dhandler.html.obj:17 /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/autohandler_template.html:149 Can't call method "get_id" on an undefined value at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25. Trace begun at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Exceptions.pm line 129 HTML::Mason::Exceptions::rethrow_exception('Can\'t call method "get_id" on an undefined value at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25.^J') called at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25 HTML::Mason::Commands::__ANON__ at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Component.pm line 160 HTML::Mason::Component::run_dynamic_sub('HTML::Mason::Component::FileBased=HASH(0x7fbfeea3f648)', 'main') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 951 HTML::Mason::Request::call_dynamic('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7fbfeeaac530)', 'main') called at /var/cache/mason/obj/1784076917/main/smetimes/dhandler.html.obj line 17 HTML::Mason::Commands::__ANON__ at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Component.pm line 138 HTML::Mason::Component::run('HTML::Mason::Component::FileBased=HASH(0x7fbfeea3f648)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1305 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1295 HTML::Mason::Request::comp(undef, undef, undef) called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 958 HTML::Mason::Request::call_next('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7fbfeeaac530)') called at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/autohandler_template.html line 149 HTML::Mason::Commands::__ANON__ at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Component.pm line 138 HTML::Mason::Component::run('HTML::Mason::Component::FileBased=HASH(0x7fbfeea28fa0)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1303 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1295 HTML::Mason::Request::comp(undef, undef, undef) called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 484 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 484 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 436 HTML::Mason::Request::exec('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7fbfeeaac530)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/ApacheHandler.pm line 165 HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler::exec('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7fbfeeaac530)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/ApacheHandler.pm line 831 HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler::handle_request('HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7fbfeda0b088)', 'Apache2::RequestRec=SCALAR(0x7fbfee7b3898)') called at (eval 487) line 8 HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler::handler('HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler', 'Apache2::RequestRec=SCALAR(0x7fbfee7b3898)') called at -e line 0 eval {...} at -e line 0 Dedicated to blending untraditional and exciting flavors together, Smashberry seeks to smash old paradigms and establish bold new ones with their line-up of fruit-forward wines from the Central Coast. Staying true to Smashberry's roots in blends, the 2019 Smashberry Chardonnay is a lively blend of Chardonnay and Viognier, sourced from SIP Certified vineyards in the Paso Robles appellation. "Smashberry is an unconventional brand focused on the diverse blending of varietals to create wines that burst with flavor and juiciness," says Roxie Ward, Winemaker. "With red and rose blends already in the market, we wanted to round out Smashberry's offerings by adding a white wine, and chose Chardonnay for its malleable character. The resulting wine showcases a different side to this traditional varietal." Featuring appealing aromas of apple, white peach, apricot and tangerine, the palate of the 2019 Chardonnay echoes the nose with refreshingly juicy flavors, accented by a silky mouth-feel on the prolonged finish. "Despite being full in body, the wine is aged in 100% stainless steel, which allows its bright fruit flavors and balanced acidity to feel refreshingly silky on the palate," adds Ward. "The untraditional co-fermentation of Viognier brings in subtle aromas of tangerine and floral jasmine, while adding complexity and length to the finish. This is an enjoyable blend worthy of the Smashberry name, and we look forward to sharing it with wine lovers soon." Miller Family Wine Company Miller Family Wine Company is a division of the Thornhill Companies the industry-leading umbrella brand of one of California's premier winegrowing families, the Miller Family, who have been farming California's Central Coast for five generations. Miller Family Wine Company manages acclaimed national branded wine labels, including J. Wilkes, Ballard Lane, Smashberry, Barrel Burner, Butternut and Volunteer wines, control label brands for prominent retailers across the U.S. and the French Camp vineyard in Paso Robles. For more information on Miller Family Wine Company, please visit www.millerfamilywinecompany.com . SOURCE Miller Family Wine Company Related Links https://thornhillcompanies.com/miller-family-wine-company/ A look at some of the major movers in London on Tuesday ( ) was off 15% at 11.5p after the company declined to say (for now) what it would do with the proceeds from recent disposals. The plastics products specialist has completed the disposal of Coral Product (Mouldings) limited and Interpack Limited. The disposals were announced on February 11. It is the board's intention to conduct a review to determine the most advantageous route to deliver shareholder value and apply the proceeds from the disposals." said Joe Grimmond, the chairman of Coral. 2.50pm: CloudCoCo Group gives back some of February's gains CloudCoCo Group PLC ( ) gave back some of Februarys handsome gains, sliding 8.3% to 1.65p in the wake of its full-year results announcement. The turnaround play saw its loss before tax narrow to 2.97mln in 2020 from a loss of 5.59mln in 2019 on revenue that rose to 7.97mln from 7.26mln. We are still in the early stages of our long-term plan, but there are green shoots clearly emerging, said Simon Duckworth, the non-executive chairman of the information technology and telecommunications specialist. 1.55pm: D4t4 finds interim replacement for its head abacus rattler PLC ( ) dived 7.1% to 276.5p after it announced an interim replacement for Charlie Irvine, its chief financial officer. Nitil Patel, formerly the chief financial officer at Dods group and Ten Alps (now known as ), will hold the fort until a permanent successor can be found for Irvine, who last month announced he was off to pastures new. The data solutions provider is currently undertaking an external search with a view to making a permanent appointment in due course. 1.00pm: DX reverses despite delivering a return to the black DX (Group) PLC ( ) retreated 8.3% to 29.7p after its interims failed to pack the punch investors were expecting. Adjusted profit before tax for the six months to January 2 was 3,8mln, compared to a loss a year earlier of 2.4mln. The freight firm said it has a healthy pipeline of opportunities in the parcels market, while trading in 2022 has so far been significantly ahead of last year, albeit in line with managements expectations. 12.05pm: Boohoo rocked by slave labour allegations ( ), down 4.9% at 327.75p, sashayed south as it faced a potential import ban in the US over allegations of slave labour. US Customs and Border Protection has received two petitions by campaign group Liberty Shared over the course of last month. The petitions concern the potential prohibition of imports to the US if they contain in whole or in part materials made with forced labour under the Tariff Act of 1930, from Boohoo or if made by apparel industry businesses based in Leicester with the exception of two companies, Basic Premier Limited and Ethically Sourced Products Limited. 11.05am: Hurricane share price gets sidetracked Hurricane Energy PLC (LON:HUR) tumbled 14% to 3.184p after it outlined some possible courses of action for a sidetrack from the 205/21a-7z well. The company has concluded that it will not be possible to drill this well during the 2021 summer weather window without unacceptable operational and cost risk. All options for potential further development activity are subject to factors that are or may be outside the company's control, which include field performance, prevailing oil prices and support from relevant stakeholders and counterparties, Hurricane told investors. 10.10am: PetroNeft encouraged by fracking results PetroNeft Resources PLC ( ) said it has completed its fracking programme on the Sibkrayevskoye and the Lineynoye fields, sending its shares 11% higher to 2.45p. The company said the initial results from the wells are very encouraging, leading to production increases and opening the door to potential further developments. Although it is still early days, results so far have demonstrated the value of fracking as a relatively low cost but highly effective means of increasing production, provided the right geological and operational conditions prevail combined with an optimized frack design. We look forward to identifying further candidates for similar activity within our licences, said David Sturt, the chief executive officer of PetroNeft. 9.15am: Amigo up after JPM increases its stake; Lookers escapes with a slapped wrist ( ), the scandal-hit loan company, saw its shares rise 21% to 19.76p on news of an increased shareholding. Funds managed by JP Morgan Chase upped their stake to 7.04% from 6.29% previously. Last night after the stock market closed, Amigo sneaked out details of its new long term incentive plan for its chief risk officer, Paul Dyer. Dyer will receive up to 1.5mln nil-cost options if the company hits certain performance targets. Talking of scandals, ( ) motored 10% higher to 44.4p after the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) ended its investigation into the car dealers activities. The FCA was looking into the possible mis-selling of regulated products, and associated issues relating to potential customer detriment in the first half of 2019. The FCA does not intend to apply any sanction against the group but made clear its concerns relating to the historic culture, systems and controls of the group. The board said it fully accepts the FCA's comments and remains committed to improving the culture. Proactive news headlines ( ) said its focus on properties that have omnichannel potential has been validated by the surge in online grocery sales during the pandemic. Next Fifteen Communications PLC ( ) said it will repay 1.4mln of cash received from the government furlough scheme - reflecting its strong trading performance and robust balance sheet. (LON:MXC, ASX:MXC, ) said distributor Swiss has increased by 85% its initial order volume for ArtemiC Rescue, an anti-inflammatory product targeting COVID-19. ( )( ) has completed its flotation pilot plant programme for the Songwe Hill rare earths project in Malawi. The programme was completed at ALS Metallurgy in Perth, Australia, and was effective in scaling up a new, optimised flotation regime for the project. Shanta Gold Ltd ( ) generated revenue of US$147.4mln from its gold production operations in Tanzania during the year to 31 December 2020, up significantly from the US$112.8mln generated in 2019. Neuro-imaging specialist ( ) has been brought in by new client Cyclerion Therapeutics to support the latters phase II trial of a treatment for Alzheimers. ( ) is planning to launch a non-fungible token (NFT) technology development studio in Gibraltar. In partnership with Indorse, a Singaporean company, it plans to develop smart contract systems for NFT applications including a bridge for NFTs on Bitcoin using Rootstock (RSK) blockchain technology. Sirius Real Estate Limited ( ) announced it has completed the acquisition of a mixed-use business park in Fellbach, near Stuttgart, for 9.2mln. ( ) has acquired a modern purpose-built primary care centre in Shankill, Co. Dublin, Ireland for 3.8mln. ( ) has made progress towards completing the purchase of the remaining interest in the Mikei gold project in Kenya. ( ) told investors that rig mobilisation for the Merlin-1 exploration well is progressing well and has seen only minor weather-related delay. Chariot Oil & Gas Limited ( ) signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Moroccan authorities committing to support the development of the Anchois Gas Development project. ( ) has launched a new directional drilling system, called SABER, which it describes as a disruptive alternative to traditional rotary steerable systems (RSS). Deepverge PLC ( ) said the Ecological Water Operating System, known as EcowaterOS, will begin its launch in China with an introduction via an industry webinar on March 17 and 18. ( ) has sold 19,634.15 SDT tokens in the Stake DAO (SDT) project, generating proceeds of US$255,542. The tokens were sold at an average price of US$13.02 each. ( )( ) has closed the 4mln placing it announced in mid-February, with just over 9.5mln shares issued at a price of 42p. ( ) is planning to list on Aim, a market to which the companys board believes it is more suited. Emmerson is about to enter into a pivotal period, with the commencement of mine construction at the Khemisset potash project in Morocco expected by the end of 2021. ( ) updated on its court case in the Bahamas reporting that, yesterday, the Honourable Justice Petra Hanna-Weekes allowed the company's application and ordered the applicants to post $200,000 security for costs within 30 days, pending which the proceedings will be stayed. ( ) notified investors that chief executive Richard Petti and chief financial officer Haywood Chapman will provide a live presentation relating to the company's preliminary results via the Investor Meet Company platform on 25 March at 4.30pm GMT. The presentation is open to all existing and potential shareholders. ( ) will host a webcast of an investor presentation on 12 March at 11am GMT. The call will be led by chief executive Osamede Okhomina, and will include a Q&A session at the end. The Company will provide an update on the business and its views on the drivers behind the current market. ( ) announced that chief executive Dr Markku Jalkanen will present in a pre-recorded presentation at the virtual HC Wainwright Global Life Sciences Conference that will be available on-demand starting Tuesday, March 9, at midday London time. An audio webcast of the presentation will be available in the investors section on Faron's website: https://www.faron.com/investors. ALAN WATTS MYSTICAL CHRISTIANITY A Reflection on Nondual Religion James Ishmael Ford A few weeks ago, I received an invitation to review a new edition of a book by Alan Watts. Pretty good for an author whos been dead for just shy of fifty years. As I poked through the manuscript, I found myself, not for the first time considering what an interesting thinker. And something more. Alan Watts almost perfectly captured the spiritual moment that was the 1960s. When I go back and look at his writings I am sometimes shocked at how often they must have been part of what has come to be how I see this world. What is surprising to me, frankly, is that he continues to be read. I mean such a perfect example of a moment. And, a moment that has passed. But these books, well, theyre in print, or, theyre being reprinted. Pretty much without pause. It doesnt hurt, Im sure, that a number of his recorded talks have been animated by younger admirers, most notably the team who do South Park, Eddie Rosas from the Simpsons, and others posted on YouTube. There is that. But, really, catchy animation isnt going to be enough. And, there are the books. No doubt if you look narcissist up in the dictionary, his picture is there. Watts is by turns eloquent, witty, opinionated, self-referential, and compelling. What is most important is how he touches the perennial spiritual thirst of our human condition. His critique could cut to the bone. For instance in his book Behold the Spirit: A Study in the Necessity of Mystical Religion, published in 1947, the year before I was born: It is all too clear that our age suffers from a vast hunger and impoverishment of the spirit which the organized Christian religion, as we know it, rarely satisfies. It would be easy to blame the modern world for ignoring Christianity if Church religion showed any strong signs of spiritual life. The truth, however, is that with some very few and scattered exceptions Church religion is spiritually dead, and the best minds of the Church admit and deplore it openly. This is so obvious that there is no need to stress it except as a starting point for constructive discussion. I began to blog sixteen years ago. Preparing for this, I looked Watts up and saw Ive given him attention seventy-one times. Some of these are fairly deep dives. And we get the benefit of that here in this reflection. (A large part for this based on a consideration of Watts contribution to the mystical literature first written in 2015, and then built upon in several iterations.) I actually met Alan Watts a couple of times. To quote from myself, because, well, because I can, in my history of Zen Buddhism come west, Zen Master Who? I describe the first of these. It was sometime, I believe, in 1969. I was on the guest staff of the Zen monastery in Oakland led by Roshi Jiyu Kennett. I was enormously excited to actually meet this famous man, the great interpreter of the Zen way. Wearing my very best robes (okay, I only had two sets,) l one for warm weather, the other for cold), I waited for him to show up; and waited and waited. Nearly an hour later, Watts arrived dressed in a kimono, accompanied by a fawning young woman and an equally fawning young man. It was hard not to notice his interest in the young woman who, as a monk, I was embarrassed to observe seemed not to be wearing any underwear. I was also awkwardly aware that Watts seemed intoxicated. Alan Watts was in fact the first person to write popular books about Zen in the West, beginning in 1937 with the Spirit of Zen. And more importantly in 1957 with his bestselling Way of Zen. It would be the first book about the subject that an entire English speaking generation would easily be able to access. He drew mainly on the scholarly work of D. T. Suzuki, the first person to write authentically about Zen in European languages. All it made accessible through Watts engaging style, enormously readable, and genuinely compelling. Well, and with Watts personal twist on the matter. As I summarized in my history, An erstwhile Episcopal priest, engaging raconteur, and scandalous libertine, Alan Watts was also a prolific author whose books created an inviting sense of Zen-as-pure-experience, which is also a controversial mark of Suzukis work, and very much Watts own do-what-you-want spirituality. These qualities each misrepresented Zen in its fullness, especially the do whatever part, and at the same time led many people to it. On that last note, some years later I attended a talk by an American Zen priest. At the end, during the question-and-answer period, someone asked about Watts. The priest sighed. Apparently he had heard this question before. And then said, I know theres a lot of controversy about Alan Watts and what he really understood about Zen. He paused. And then, added, But, you know. Without Alan Watts, I wouldnt be here. I have to say, in large part, thats true for me as well. In the 1960s and 70s, Alan Watts opened some important doors for many of us looking for a new way. Over these passing years Ive come to feel the title of his biography In My Own Way and maybe even more, the title of the English edition of Monica Furlongs biography of him, Genuine Fake, taken together points to the complexities of this intriguing Anglo-American Zen trickster/ancestor of our contemporary spiritual scene. In a relentless critique of Alan Watts, Lou Nordstrom and Richard Pilgrim, two religious studies scholars, one, Nordstrom, also a Zen priest, pointed out how an authentic spirituality must encompass practice, discipline, and effort, features completely lacking in Alan Watts Zen. Big emphases on the scare quotes around the word Zen. In large part I agree, but not completely. On the spiritual path there is absolutely a time and place of a falling away of practice, discipline, and effort. As we open our hearts, we find the way is in fact broad and forgiving. And it seems Watts tasted that freedom and joy. I really believe he did. But. The authentic spiritual is also in that delightful conundrum of a real life, totally bound up with practice, discipline, and effort. The intimate way is also, without a doubt, harsh and demands everything. And here Watts seems completely clueless. Now, in my opinion, Alan Watts was at his very best during a brief period when he tried at practice, discipline, and effort. Or, at least stood in their general neighborhood. Raised in England, his natal tradition was Anglicanism, although he formally abandoned it by sixteen for the eclectic and frequently Theosophically-tinged Buddhism of the London Buddhist Society. In his late twenties, having come to America and desperate for an occupation that paid something, he decided to become an Episcopal priest. Watts had not attended college, but by providing a very long list of the books he had read and then showing a suspicious faculty he had not only read them, but profoundly absorbed them, Alan Watts was admitted into the divinity program at Seabury-Western Theological Seminary in Evanston, Illinois. In 1945 Watts graduated with a Masters degree in Divinity, and was ordained an Episcopal priest. He was then engaged as the Episcopal chaplain at Northwestern University. He was at the time thirty years old. It appears to have been an amazing moment. He was wildly popular on campus, and his books were received in progressive religious circles as challenging and compelling. However, within five years Watts was out of the ministry. It all ended for many reasons, but not least of which was how his wife sued for an annulment on grounds of adultery. This part would become something of a pattern for his life. For our time here I want to remain focused within that Christian moment. His divinity degree thesis was reworked and published as the book Behold the Spirit, as I mentioned first released in 1947. I cant tell if it has ever been out of print. What I do know is you can buy a new copy today. Theres even a Kindle version. Its really interesting. An attempt at synthesizing eastern and western spirituality grounded in a broad and sympathetic expression of Anglicanism. Ive seen the term monistic or nondual Christianity being used here and there lately. Monistic or nondual as in the reconciliation of the myriad things of the world within an interdependence so complete one can speak of it all taken together as one. Of course, variations on monism are at the heart of much of Eastern religions, certainly of Hinduism and Buddhism and Taoism. And, worth noting, the Unitarian Universalists seventh principle is often understood in a nondual way. While one can argue there have been nondual currents in Christianity, particularly among some although not most early gnostic schools, this perspective has definitely not been a part of normative Christianity. In mainstream Christianity the world and God are seen as relentlessly separate, creator and created. And with a looming gap between the two. A world of problems have followed this setting up of a hierarchy with the spirit above and good and the world below. If the proposition that the world is completely separate from the divine were true, well, we would just have to live with it. But, and let me make a categorical statement rather than my usual hedging: Thats not true. Rather, as I open my heart to the world, the world, the great mess that is you and me and all things, I find each thing is created and creating all at the same time. We exisit within a dance or web of intimacy, where each of us is a moment in a shimmering play of reality. And that play of reality is exactly where I find the divine, the holy, the sacred. I dont need to go to some other place to find it. And neither do you. A small word of good news. Me, I see no need of some extra bit. Perhaps why I am not a mainstream Christian, or anywhere near by. That said there are today a host of emergent Christians who dont see the separation, either. Richard Rohr and Cynthia Bougeault are two contemporary and apparently popular writers that fit the bill. I would add in Bruno Barnhart, Bougeaults mentor, as well as a variety of Hindu influenced Christians like the nun Sara Grant, the anonymous Cistercian monk who writes under the name a Monk of the West, as well as, well the list is increasingly long, but such folk as the medieval mystic Meister Eckhart and the moderns Thomas Keating, Bede Griffiths, and Martha Reeves, who write as Maggie Ross. A pretty good start for those who wish to pursue this further. And. Alan Watts book Behold the Spirit kind of spells it all out in a way perhaps even best done by someone not actually immersed in it all. Instead standing more in the neighborhood of that practice, discipline, and effort than within it. Of course, that distance also means he misses some things. I admit I find Watts a tad too comfortable with his own insight, unchecked by others whove walked the way before, a danger for the spiritually unaffiliated. The book was a revelation when he hit the scene pushing on seventy years ago. It was, I gather, and perhaps obviously, criticized for its creeping pantheism. I would say the Alan Watts of that book was in fact a through going panenthiest screed. Panentheism is probably the most compatible Christian variation on pantheism, another word for nondual or monistic spirituality. In panentheism the world is seen is divine, but that the divine, God, cannot be limited to the universe. Even with that accepting at some point an other of some sort, this panentheism is still a major and, to my heart, healthy step from the normative dualistic vision of the Christian church. And with all this taken together a question bubbles up. In a meditation he wrote a quarter of a century after Behold the Spirit, Watts asks on behalf of all those who would challenge his thesis. Can Christianity abandon the monarchical image of God (a God separate from all that is in a great split between creator and created) and still be Christianity? To which he responds with another question, a rather burning one, as I feel it in my heart, (W)hich is more important to be Christian or to be at one with God? Or, for me: to follow some orthodoxy of separation, and cut myself off from what is calling to every molecule of my being, or commit whole-heartedly to the great play of the many as one found as I open myself to the world as it presents? A worthy challenge, I believe, perhaps the great challenge. And I think Watts in fact spells out a fair amount of what an affirmation of a nondual Christianity can look like in his thesis and book. The sad thing, as I see it, was that he couldnt follow through for himself. His personality, what he liked to characterize as his bohemian personality just didnt have a fit in the organized church. Id have to add his lack of personal boundaries would have meant he would never had made it as a Unitarian Universalist minister, either. He was born to be an outsider. And after that five years stirring up the Anglican church, he made sure he would forever be an outsider. But he also pointed a way. First, he spells out a reality. The metaphors are straight out of the traditional church, which might be difficult for some of us, and to my ears even more difficult when he uses a relentless masculine by preference language. He was writing before that necessary linguist shift within our culture. But, if we allow ourselves to listen, we find the underlying understanding he presents shakes the very foundations of the moral universe the conventional church preaches. He declares: God is the most obvious thing in the world. He is absolutely self-evident the simplest, clearest and closest reality of life and consiousness. We are only unaware of him because we are too complicated, for our vision is darkened by the complexity of pride. We seek him beyond the horizon with our noses lifted high in the air, and fail to see that he lies at our vary feet. We flatter ourselves in premeditating the long, long journey we are going to take in order to find him, the giddy heights of spiritual progress we are going to scale, and all the time are unaware of the truth that God is nearer to us than we are to ourselves. We are like birds flying in quest of the air, or men with lighted candles searching through the darkness for fire. Watts lays out the traditions of the Christian church as a manifestation of this truth of our radical interdependence, of our bottomless unity. The man who can only stand in the neighborhood of practice, discipline, and effort, shows where it can be found. I think in part because he really did taste the deeper truths, really did to some degree, and none of us are judge of how deep any other, or for that matter, even we ourselves have traveled, really did touch the great insight. So, as the Episcopal priest, Martin Smith noted, Even as a mirror reflects all colors and shapes without interference, Alan Watts could call us to stand in the place of the wise heart. (I)n the same way the mystical awareness of God does not contest place with other experiences and state(s) of mind. Mental states such as joy, sorrow, exaltation, dejection, pleasure, and pain are as a rule mutually exclusive. But the mystical stage is inclusive, just as God and His love include the whole universe. There is no conflict between experiencing the Now and things which happen in the Now. Smith touches the heart of wisdom as Alan Watts presented it. This is an extremely good pointing that even those of us with no affinity for the traditional language of the Christian church, can, none the less, recognize as an expression of what we all find as we open our hearts as wide as the human heart can be opened. The field is found. And the dance of things within it is revealed. In his little book and during those five years, Alan Watts showed those who love the Christian tradition how they can turn toward the real without abandoning their tradition. Genuine fake. A teacher for those willing to follow the way he pointed to, but who could not himself go. A wonder. And a joy. And. A hint of possibilities for us all. The intimate way. (And at absolutely no extra charge some examples of the animated adaptations of Alan Watts talks) She previously revealed she tries to do six workouts a week including SoulCycle, Yoga and Pilates classes. And Vanessa Hudgens showed off the fruits of her labour as she flaunted her enviably toned abs in a series of Instagram snaps on Tuesday. The actress, 32, slipped her gym-honed physique into a black crop top as she posed for the camera to show off her new hair after a visit to hairdresser Violet Teriti. Toned: Vanessa Hudgens flaunted her enviably toned abs as she showed off her new waist-length hair extensions in a series of Instagram snaps on Tuesday Vanessa teamed the look with quirky geometric print trousers and cinched in her tiny waist with a belt. The actress modelled her new wavy hair extensions which went all the down to her waist. Vanessa accentuated her natural beauty with a radiant make-up look and accessorised her outfit with gold jewellery. Looking good: The actress, 32, slipped her gym-honed physique into a black crop top as she posed for the camera to show off her new hair after a visit to hairdresser Violet Teriti It comes after Vanessa went Instagram official with her boyfriend Cole Tucker on Valentine's Day, after 12 weeks of dating. The High School Musical star- who boasts 69M social media followers - gushed: 'It's you, it's me, it's us. @cotuck.' At 32, Hudgens is eight years older than the MLB shortstop/outfielder, whose team the Pittsburgh Pirates celebrated their union with a High School Musical meme. Glow-up: The actress modelled her new wavy hair extensions which went all the down to her waist Gorgeous: Vanessa accentuated her natural beauty with a radiant make-up look and accessorised her outfit with gold jewellery The actress was first pictured putting on a cosy display with Cole on November 22 in Los Angeles. Hudgens was last romantically linked to Elvis star Austin Butler, but they ended their eight-year, live-in relationship after Halloween 2019. Vanessa had been in Scotland filming The Princess Switch 3 so she celebrated the romantic holiday with her mother Gina Guangco. On November 11, the Hollywood star wrapped her role as actress Karessa Johnson in Lin-Manuel Miranda's directorial debut Tick, Tick... Boom! which streams on Netflix later this year. The musical drama is based on composer Jonathan Larson's Pulitzer Prize-winning, semi-autobiographical play from 1990. The Taos News delivered to your Taos County address every week for a full year! We offer our lowest mail rates to zip codes in the county. Click Here to See if you Qualify. Plan includes unlimited website access and e-edition print replica online. Your auto pay plan will be conveniently renewed at the end of the subscription period. You may cancel at anytime. A Swedish professor who had been researching the effects of Covid-19 on children has quit after being bombarded with abuse online. Jonas F Ludvigsson, a paediatrician at Orebro University Hospital and professor of clinical epidemiology at the Karolinska Institute, published data showing few children in Sweden became ill from Covid-19 during the first wave. However, after publishing his findings in the New England Journal of Medicine, he was hit by a wave of criticism, leading him to put a stop to his work, according to the British Medical Journal (BMJ). Ludvigsson's research suggested Covid-19 had a minimal impact on children aged 1-6 in Sweden during the first wave. Swedish professor Jonas F Ludvigsson (pictured), who had been researching the effects of Covid-19 on children, has quit after being bombarded with abuse online because of his findings However, following publication of his study, Ludvigsson told the Swedish Medical Association he woke up at 3am every night after being bombarded by online criticism. The online abusers claimed Ludvigsson and his research had acted as representative's of Sweden's Covid-19 containment method - which had been more relaxed than other nations. He said the abuse led to him losing his appetite for researching and talking about Covid-19. As a result, Ludvigsson decided to quit researching the virus altogether. The data from his work found that between March 1, 2020, and June 30, 2020, only 15 children aged 1-16 in Sweden were treated in intensive care for Covid-19 or multi-inflammatory syndrome - which has been linked to coronavirus. This is the same as 0.77 ICU patients per 100,000 children in that age bracket. Over the weekend Sweden recorded 11,804 new coronavirus cases, with an additional 56 deaths as a result of the virus Speaking at the time of publication, Ludvigsson said: 'Four of the children had underlying diseases. None of the children died within two months after their period of intensive care.' Despite online abusers claiming his study was propaganda acting to support Sweden's more relaxed response to coronavirus, Ludvigsson told the BMJ his study underwent formal external peer review, including statistical peer review, and the manuscript was revised four times before it was published. In response to Ludvigsson's decision to quit his research, Sweden is planning to increase support for hits academics. Matilda Ernkrans, Swedens minister for higher education and research, told The BMJ: 'When people are silenced, its a threat against the freedom of speech and our democracy.' She also said that the Swedish government was set to propose an amendment to the Higher Education Act which protect those conducting research. It comes as Swedish health chief Anders Tegnell has warned a third coronavirus wave in the country is inevitable if people continue not to follow government guidance. The number of new Covid-19 cases being reported in Sweden has risen by ten per cent for the third week in a row - with intensive care units now beginning to feel the strain. A number of new restrictions were put in place yesterday to help curb the potential third wave, including limited opening hours for shops and restaurants; the number of people allowed in shops and gyms were slashed and a maximum of eight people are allowed to meet at one time. It comes as Swedish health chief Anders Tegnell (pictured) has warned a third coronavirus wave in the country is inevitable if people continue not to follow government guidance Despite this, in a press release, epidemiologist Anders Tegnell said that a third wave is imminent in Sweden if the current restrictions are not followed, Aftonbladet reports. This was echoed by Sweden's Public Health Agency (PHA), which warned that even tougher restrictions could be necessary if people do not follow the rules. Over the weekend Sweden recorded 11,804 new coronavirus cases, with an additional 56 deaths as a result of the virus. Sweden's death rate per capita is many times higher than that of its Nordic neighbours' but lower than in several European countries that opted for lockdowns. With Sweden already heading towards scenarios one and two, more restrictions are likely to be enforced, though Tegnell was unable to outline where new measures would be implemented. Instead he suggested that any new restrictions would be in response to relevant areas in which a large spread of Covid-19 occurs. However, one measure which has been proposed, is to set a maximum limit on the number of people admitted into shopping malls and department stores to just 500. This change could be enforced as soon as March 6, but the Public Health Agency is also working on other measures. MINSK -- A physician and a journalist in Belarus have been convicted of disclosing information that contradicted official statements about the death of a protester killed during a crackdown on demonstrations against authoritarian ruler Alyaksandr Lukashenka. On March 2, a district court in Minsk sentenced journalist Katsyaryna Barysevich to six months in prison and fined her 2,900 rubles ($1,110) for disclosing medical data and instigating a crime by pushing a first responder to share the information. Doctor Artsyom Sarokin was handed a suspended two-year prison term and ordered to pay a fine of 1,450 rubles ($555) for disclosing the data to Barysevich. The two were arrested on November 19, 2020, after Barysevich cited Sarokin in an article she wrote for the online media outlet Tut.by about Raman Bandarenka, who several days earlier died from injuries sustained in a beating by a group of masked assailants -- whom rights activists claim were affiliated with the authorities. Belarusian officials have said that Bandarenka's attackers had nothing to do with authorities or riot police, adding that he was drunk at the time of the attack. Contradictory Account Barysevich contradicted that account, writing that no alcohol had been found in Bandarenka's blood, information she obtained from Sarokin, whose ambulance team provided Bandarenka with medical attention and took samples for tests right after he was found severely beaten. In late November 2020, Amnesty International recognized Sarokin and Barysevich as prisoners of conscience and demanded their immediate release. Crisis In Belarus Read our coverage as Belarusians continue to demand the resignation of Alyaksandr Lukashenka amid a brutal crackdown on protesters. The West refuses to recognize him as the country's legitimate leader after an August 9 election considered fraudulent. Bandarenka is one of several people to have been killed during the protests demanding Lukashenka's resignation after he was announced as the winner in an August presidential election. Outrage over what was seen by both the opposition and by many Belarusians as a rigged vote to hand Lukashenka a sixth term in office brought tens of thousands onto the streets. Security officials have cracked down hard on the demonstrators, arresting thousands, including dozens of journalists who covered the rallies, and pushing most of the top opposition figures out of the country. Some rights organizations say there is credible evidence of torture being used by security officials against some of those detained. Lukashenka, who has run the country since 1994, has denied any wrongdoing with regard to the election and refuses to negotiate with the opposition on stepping down and holding new elections. The European Union, United States, Canada, and other countries have refused to recognize Lukashenka, 66, as the legitimate leader of Belarus and have slapped him and senior Belarusian officials with sanctions in response to the falsification of the vote and postelection crackdown. A doctor and his wife were brutally beaten by a family member who was upset at being told he should not attend a nightclub in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic in southern Brazil. Dr. Jose Mainart, 31, took to his Instagram account Monday morning and uploaded a photo that showed the black eye and bruised lip he suffered as a result of the assault last Friday outside his home in Toledo, Parana. Dr. Mainart said had attended several meetings before the Parana state government issued a 10-day order banning non-essential activities and services to contain the spread of the coronavirus. Upon arriving home, the infectious disease doctor approached his relative and explained that it would not be wise of him to attend a party because he would be putting others around him at risk of being infected. But he claims the relative responded by beating him, while a friend of the attacker held him in a chokehold. 'The answer I was given was kicks and punches, while one held me the other [relative] attacked me,' Dr. Mainart wrote on Instagram. Dr. Jose Mainart, an infectious disease physician in Brazil, was badly beaten by a family member last Friday. Dr. Mainart tried to explain his relative the dangers of attending a nightclub party in the southern state of Parana before he and his wife were attacked. No arrests have been made Dr. Mainart and his wife, Dr. Greici Schroeder, who was also attacked by his relative outside their home in the southern Brazilian state of Parana In an interview with Brazilian news outlet G1, Dr. Mainart said his wife, Dr. Greici Schroeder, also tried to intervene, but that she was also assaulted by his relative. 'I was attacked for trying to warn about the current situation of the pandemic and by a person who really doesnt sympathize with whats happening,' Dr. Mainart said. 'It hurts, but I feel like Im on the side that watches over life.' Dr. Mainart did not name his alleged attacker. It is not clear exactly how they are related, or whether they live in the same home. Dr. Mainart, a physician with seven years of experience, filed a police report with the Toledo Civil Police on Monday following a wave of support from his followers on Instagram. Dr. Mainart received a dose of the COVID-19 vaccine in January 'We emphasize that the council repudiates any act of violence and as it is the current pandemic moment, in which civil servants work tirelessly to save lives here in Toledo, as well as in the whole world,' the Toledo Municipal Health Council announced in a statement. 'Acts of this type point to total disrespect for others and only bring losses.' The suspects remained on-the-run as of Tuesday morning. Dr. Mainart received a dose of the COVID-19 vaccine in January. Data release by John Hopkins University shows that Brazil has registered 255,720 confirmed coronavirus deaths, second-most in the world behind the United States. The South American nation - the epicenter of the pandemic in Latin America - has reported 10.587,001 cases. The state of Parana has reported 11,686 deaths and at least 650,000 infections. Louise McGuane of JJ Corry Whiskey whose products will be distributed by Trinity Beverage Irish whiskey bonder JJ Corry has inked an exclusive importation and distribution deal in the United States that it says will help it to significantly grow its market presence in coming years. The company behind the JJ Corry brand, Chapel Gate Irish Whiskey, was founded by former Diageo executive Louise McGuane in 2015 on her familys farm in Co Clare. The company has raised in excess of 1m in funding since it was established and its products will now be distributed in America by Trinity Beverage Group. Ms McGuane said that the US is the worlds largest and most important market for Irish whiskey. She pointed out that the United States was the firms first export market in 2018. Weve been growing JJ Corry organically over the past few years and seeding the brand in key high-end accounts in target states, she said. This partnership with Trinity Beverage Group will enable is to significantly grow the JJ Corry market presence in the coming years, whilst building our brand credentials, she added. Trinity Beverages reach extends over 50 states and 88 distributors in the United States. It already distributes 85 brands such as Scotlands Porter Gin and Nobushi Japanese whiskey. It also distributes a number of imported and domestic US wines. In 2019, Chapel Gate launched sales of what was one of the most expensive ever Irish whiskeys. The 27-year-old single malt called The Chosen had a 7,500 price tag. Just 100 decanters of the super-premium drink were available for purchase. Chapel Gates backers include Jon Rickert, the head of European private credit at the Man investment group. An Atlanta-based family partnership has also invested in the Irish company. In 2017, Chapel Gates first blended whiskey, The Gael won gold in the Irish Whiskey Awards. Updated at 10:13 a.m. ET on 03-02-2021 As Muhyiddin Yassin enters his second year as Malaysias unelected prime minister, he is unlikely to face a no-confidence vote if parliament reconvenes, despite persistent concerns he may have lost majority support, analysts told BenarNews. Muhyiddin got an unexpected anniversary gift on the weekend, when two opposition lawmakers pledged support for him, days after a shock announcement from the king that parliament can indeed sit during an emergency sparked speculation that the PM would be in trouble. Constitutionally, it is Muhyiddin who has to recommend to the king that the house can have a session, said Barjoyai Bardai, an academic at Universiti Tun Abdul Razak. On parliament reconvening, even though the king said that, for parliament to convene, the PM has to advise the king. Looking at it through common sense, the PM will not do that, Bardai told BenarNews. A parliament session will be put off for as long as possible, James Chin, director of the Asia Institute at the University of Tasmania, also told BenarNews. Muhyiddin had suspended the legislature when the king declared the emergency on Jan. 12, a move widely criticized by the opposition. Even if the PM is pressured to advise the king to reconvene parliament, it is unlikely a motion of no-confidence will be allowed to be tabled, two analysts said. No, whats the point? Even if convened, it doesnt mean a vote of no confidence will be allowed to take place, Oh Ei Sun, senior fellow at the Singapore Institute of International Affairs, told BenarNews. The king simply said parliament could be convened, and not that Muhyiddin should step down. Ohs comments were echoed by Tunku Mohar Mokhtar of the International Islamic University of Malaysia. The analysts noted that the parliament speaker did not allow no-confidence motions to be tabled last year by either opposition or ruling coalition lawmakers, saying he didnt have the authority to allow it. Some of the motions by ruling coalition members were denied amid infighting in the ruling Perikatan Nasional (PN) coalition between Muhyiddins Bersatu party and the United Malays National Organization (UMNO) that dominates the ruling bloc. 'UMNO wont support no-confidence motion' Meanwhile, UMNO is unlikely to bring a no-confidence motion against Muhyiddin, said Annuar Musa, a minister and member of the party, and Mustafa Shah Abdul Hamid, an UMNO youth leader I do not think UMNO will support [a no-confidence motion] because Barisan Nasional MPs supported PN to form a government, Hamid told BenarNews, referring to the bloc that UMNO leads. I have not heard of any movement in UMNO for vote of no confidence...and I feel there is no necessity in taking that action. Musa said the stance of UMNOs supreme council that Muhyiddins coalition must be supported still stands, even though some people supported calls for snap polls by UMNO president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi in January. UMNO sacked Musa from his post as Barisans secretary general for speaking out against Zahids call for snap polls. Musa didnt name names, but said that those in UMNO who are unhappy with Muhyiddin are displeased because the PM isnt helping them get rid of courts cases against them. UMNO is splitting from within and that is the truth, Musa said, adding the current government has never been strong. Muhyiddins advice to the king to declare an emergency occurred at the same time the PM lost the support of two UMNO lawmakers, which nominally left him without majority support in parliament, lawmakers said at the time. But on Sunday, on the eve of the one-year anniversary of his government, Muhyiddin announced on social media that two MPs from the main opposition party, Anwar Ibrahims Peoples Justice Party, had switched their allegiance to his Perikatan Nasional ruling coalition. This defection offset the January decision of a pair of UMNO lawmakers to pull their support for the government. Anwar on Monday alleged that Muhyiddin had used underhanded means to engineer the defection of the two lawmakers from PKR. 'I understand the meaning of democracy Muhyiddin was sworn as Malaysia's prime minister on March 1, 2020, a week after the government of Mahathir Mohamad collapsed, in part because Muhyiddin deserted it. He then formed an alliance with UMNO, the scandal-ridden party that he had helped Mahathir topple in the historic 2018 election that brought about the first change of government in Malaysia history. Muhyiddin's ascent to power was met with howls of protest from citizens who accused him of forming "a back-door government," but such concerns were soon eclipsed by the onset of the coronavirus pandemic. Nevertheless, his small Bersatu party and UMNO are at times uncomfortable bedfellows, and the actual count of MPs who support him remains a mystery. Muhyiddin on Monday reiterated that he imposed the emergency Malaysias first since 1969 only to deal more efficiently with the COVID-19 pandemic, and not to hold on to power like many in opposition allege. I understand the meaning of democracy, the PM said, in a televised address to mark the one-year anniversary of his government. The emergency was not meant for me to occupy the prime ministers seat for a long time. I do not know which party now has more seats than me. Im convinced that my position is constitutionally right. Legal. I cannot be an illegitimate PM, he told state news agency Bernama TV a day earlier. The PM added that when the pandemic is under control, he will advise the king to dissolve parliament so that an election can be held. When we are done with it [the pandemic], I dont want to wait even a day [to hold elections], the PM said. UMNOs Musa said Muhyiddin would be true to his word. The PM has wanted to have elections since last year, Musa said. Musa also said the government had dealt with the pandemic admirably. Never in the history of the Malaysian government has any administration been faced with so many problems political, pandemic and economic all at the same time, and here we are, we managed to control COVID-19. I see that the cabinet functioning very well. Very harmoniously, and with swift decision making, Musa said. Coronavirus infections have fallen off in Malaysia since reaching a peak at the end of January. An earlier version of this story contained an incorrect figure for deaths in Malaysia. Migos rapper Quavo opened up about his interactions on set with Robert De Niro, who he's working with in the upcoming film Wash Me in the River. 'I said what's up to him,' Quavo, 29, told Billboard. 'I told him I said a line in one of my new songs about the trip I just took, and he was just like, "For real. M-I-G-O-S, right?"' The Athens, Georgia native said he was a bit starstruck working alongside the film icon, 77. The latest: Migos rapper Quavo , 29, opened up about his interactions on set with Robert De Niro, 77, who he's working with in the upcoming film Wash Me in the River 'I was like, "Yeah, he's finna go home and look me up,"' said the recording artist, who forms the musical trio with Offset and Takeoff. 'It was too hard. I couldn't wait to tell my Mom dukes that I'm gonna be on the screen and kicked it with him. He's a nice dude.' The rapper, whose real name is Quavious Keyate Marshall, makes his first appearance in a feature film in the movie, in which he portrays 'a ruthless gangster, ruthless killer named Coyote.' Quavo said he was humbled to work alongside the ensemble cast assembled for the Randall Emmett-directed movie. 'It's just an honor to be on the screen with Robert De Niro, Jack Huston and John Malkovich,' he said. 'I'm just blessed and I can't wait for y'all to see it. It's a very action-packed movie. I had fun doing it.' Details: Quavo said he was humbled to work alongside the ensemble cast assembled for the Randall Emmett-directed movie. He was snapped in Tampa earlier this month Gaining experience: The rapper has past experience appearing on TV, as he's been seen on shows such as Atlanta, Black-ish and Narcos: Mexico. He was snapped last month in Atlanta He opened up to the outlet on his experience amid production in Puerto Rico for the action-thriller: 'I stayed in Puerto Rico shooting for a whole month grinding. There was some long film days. Them film days are different. It's like you're shooting a video all day.' The rapper has past experience appearing on TV, as he's been seen on shows such as Atlanta, Black-ish and Narcos: Mexico. In a statement to Variety earlier this month, Emmett praised Quavo as 'a superstar and a real actor,' predicting more success on the silver screen for the rapper. 'Getting to see him bring the Coyote character to life is very exciting, and I think he is going to have a film career equally as big as his music,' he said. Australias top military officer has defended telling cadets not to make themselves prey to sexual predators while being out late at night alone and attractive, saying the comments were interpreted by some in a way that he didnt intend. General Angus Campbell told the new recruits at the Australian Defence Force Academy in Canberra to protect themselves by avoiding the attention of would-be predators. In his annual address to trainees on February 24, the ADF chief said the cadets needed to not fall victim to the four As: alcohol, out after midnight, alone and attractive. Chief of the Defence Force General Angus Campbell has been criticised for comments to young military recruits. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen The comments were on Wednesday slammed by support groups and Australian of the Year winner Grace Tame as victim-blaming, while Acting Defence Minister Marise Payne suggested General Campbell should have used his words differently. ADVERTISEMENT The Oyo State chapter of Zenith Labour Party (ZLP) and the former Gov Rashidi Ladojas group have finally collapsed their structures into the All Progressives Congress(APC). The announcement was made on Tuesday after a stakeholders meeting at the ZLP secretariat in Ibadan. Speaking, Kola Olaniyan, the state ZLP chairperson, said the meeting was to inform members of the decision to move into the APC. It is just to inform them that we are now moving to APC as a group. Our leaders have held meetings with the APC and we are still on the meeting. We know it is going to pay us better than where the promise and fail. Without Ladoja, we cannot move to APC. It is with his knowledge that we took that decision, he said. He said the failure of the PDP-led administration in the state to fulfill its campaign promises necessitated the movement to the APC, saying the decision was supported by Mr Ladoja. Kazeem Raji, a representative of Ladoja Group, said the meeting was to consider their next political move that would be beneficial to their members and the state. We are here today to consider various deliberations held with different political parties with a view to joining anyone that will take care of the interest of their members. After judging from different political narratives and we have to choose the best out of the lots, APC remains the best political party to join today. As you can see, a motion was moved by the chairman of ZLP from Egbeda Local Government Area (LGA) of the state and was seconded by the chairman, ZLP from Atiba LGA to dissolve ZLP as well as Ladoja Group into APC, he said. Kola Olabiyi, a party chieftain and former House of Representatives member, said the failure of PDP to fulfill the 2019 coalition agreement necessitated their movement into APC. He said their movement into the APC was a better alternative than the 2019 coalition, saying it was a prosperous arrangement. The 2019 coalition came into being few days to the election and of course, this is not 2019 and election is still far, the registration is going on. Politics is a game of numbers. At the end of the day, everybody will move back to the ward, work and some of the agreement that we have reached, we will look at how it can best suit us. So, what we are trying to do now is to mobilise our members to register as members of this political party, he said.(NAN) More than 1 in 8 Alabamians have received one or two doses of COVID-19 vaccine and more doses are on the way. The FDA authorized the Johnson & Johnson one-dose vaccine over the weekend and the first shipments will arrive in Alabama this week. But doctors say even those who have received their vaccines and certainly the rest of us should keep wearing masks for now. What we do know for sure is all these three vaccines prevent you yourself from getting symptomatic COVID, said Dr. Paul Goepfert, director of the Alabama Vaccine Research Clinic at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Thats what we know. What we dont know is whether these vaccines actually prevent you from spreading the virus to somebody else. Goepfert said the clinical trials to evaluate the vaccines safety and efficacy were not designed to evaluate whether vaccinated people could still spread the disease, so its still a big unknown. That means just as someone who is not showing symptoms can spread the disease, a person who has been vaccinated may still be able to pass the virus to others, even if they dont get sick themselves. There is emerging evidence from places like Israel, which has high rates of vaccination, that the vaccine makes people less likely to spread the disease. But less likely does not mean impossible. Goepfert, who coordinated clinical trials of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine at UAB, said there is some evidence from animal studies that suggests vaccinated people could still spread the disease, but more studies are needed in humans. The animal model data suggests that whats happening is that [vaccinated] individuals will get COVID, they will actually have COVID, their immune system will start getting rid of it, but by the time their immune system gets rid of it, which takes generally about four days, they can still spread the virus, Goepfert said. The vaccines work by teaching your bodys immune system to recognize and fight the SARS-COV-2 virus that causes COVID-19. That has proven to be remarkably effective in preventing death and the most severe cases of COVID-19. No one who received any of the three vaccines during the clinical trials died of COVID, and none were hospitalized. Some did test positive after receiving the vaccines, but not nearly as many as in the control group that received a placebo. Goepfert said its likely that people who are vaccinated will not be contagious for as long a non-vaccinated person, but it may still be possible for them to spread the disease. Until we know more information, its extremely important that even if you get the vaccine that you wear a mask, he said. The new US ambassador to the United Nations urged the community on Monday to "ramp up pressure" on Myanmar's military to restore democracy at a wide-ranging press conference where she also said she hopes to work with Russia and China on some key issues. Linda Thomas-Greenfield, who arrived at the UN last Thursday, strongly reiterated President Joe Biden's determination to re-engage with the world and make the United States again a nation that leads. Speaking on the first day of the US presidency of the Security Council in March, she touched on a number of other global hotspots, saying the Biden administration was "disappointed" that Iran started restricting inspections of its nuclear facilities last week. "We think it's an opportunity that they have really lost and we hope that they will reconsider that," she said. Thomas-Greenfield said Biden has made clear "that Iran will never attain a nuclear weapon," and has also made clear that if Iran resumes "full compliance" with the 2015 nuclear agreement that former President Donald Trump pulled out of, "the US is prepared to do the same." Tehran has rejected a European Union invitation to join a meeting with the US and the other original participants in the agreement. As for North Korea, which faced increasingly tougher Security Council sanctions before Trump's failed efforts to get the country's leader, Kim Jong Un, to commit to specifics on ridding the country of nuclear weapons, Thomas-Greenfield said the North remains a global threat to peace and security. The United States has "a vital interest to try to deter North Korea toward that goal," to defend against its provocations or use of force, and above all "to keep the American people and our allies safe," she said. The Biden administration is reviewing US policy toward North Korea and will continue to press for denuclearizing the country, she said. In the Middle East, Thomas-Greenfield called the humanitarian situation in conflict-torn Yemen "gut-wrenching" and said the US signature event during its council presidency will be on conflict-induced starvation and hunger in Yemen and Ethiopia" on March 11. On the February 1 in Myanmar, and the current military crackdown on protesters, Thomas-Greenfield reiterated US support to the people of Myanmar, saying "We stand strongly with them." "We do have to ramp up the pressure," she said, not only in New York but internationally to press the military to reverse the and restore the democratically elected government. The Security Council adopted a press statement on February 4 strongly backing a return to democracy in and calling for the immediate release of detainees including Nobel peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, whose party overwhelmingly won the country's November election. Thomas-Greenfield said the council plans to hold discussions on this month, "sooner rather than later," and she hopes "to push for more intense discussions." "It is clear the world is watching the situation in Burma," she said, using the country's former name, "and it's clear that we can't sit still and watch people continue to be brutalized and their human rights to be destroyed." Last week, Russia's deputy UN ambassador Dmitry Polyansky said "the red carpet" will be rolled out for Thomas-Greenfield and Moscow is ready to work with Biden's administration -- but "it takes two to tango." Thomas-Greenfield said Monday she met Russia's UN Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia last Friday and looks forward to working with him. "We have our differences," she said. "But we also have areas where we hope to cooperate with the Russians, particularly as we work together on the Security Council to bring peace, prosperity and security to the world. It's incumbent that we find ways to find common ground." At the US Senate hearing on her nomination, Thomas-Greenfield described China as "a strategic adversary" that threatens the world, and called a speech she gave in 2019 that praised China's initiatives in Africa but made no mention of its human rights abuses a mistake. That speech drew sharp criticism from some Republicans who voted against her saying they feared she would be soft on China. Asked Monday about the US-China relationship, she said she had also met Beijing's Ambassador Zhang Jun and called it "very complex." "There will be areas where we will significantly disagree, in particular as it relates to human rights," Thomas-Greenfield said, "but there are some areas where ... we hope to work with the Chinese in a cooperative way" including on climate change. "But as we look at our relationship moving forward ... we will never give up on diplomacy in trying to achieve what are our ultimate goals and that is to put values and transparency into how the United Nations works, and we hope to be able to work with the Chinese on improving that," she said. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) For every dollar contributed to a community foundation donor-advised fund in 2019, donors granted $1.08 to charity in 2020. We have always said that donor-advised funds allow charitable people to prepare for the needs of the future. Well, that future kicked us in the face last year, said Jennifer Leonard, president and CEO of the Rochester Area (N.Y.) Community Foundation. Donor-advised fund account holders at U.S. community foundations stepped up their giving to support communities impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 -- granting record amounts to help their neighbors in need. According to a survey by the Community Foundation Public Awareness Initiative, donor-advised funds (DAFs) at 84 U.S. community foundations granted more than $6.7 billion to nonprofits in 2020. This figure outpaced the $6.2 billion contributed into DAFs at community foundations in 2019. This means community foundation DAF donors granted $1.08 in 2020 for every dollar they contributed into their funds the previous year. The $6.7 billion granted to nonprofits from community foundation DAFs in 2020 also represented an increase of nearly $2 billion, or 41.1 percent, from the $4.75 billion granted from community foundation DAFs in 2019. These grants provided critical support to local nonprofits working to help families facing issues such as lost income, unstable housing, food insecurity, and more. Donors use DAFs as a tool to contribute assets such as money, investment income, and real estate and then directly grant those assets to charities. Once an asset is placed in a DAF, it must ultimately be given to IRS-recognized nonprofits. Donors have discretion over which charities receive grants and when they receive them. In 2020, donors choose to grant money out from their DAFs swiftly to meet the scale of the COVID-19 crisis. We have always said that donor-advised funds allow charitable people to prepare for the needs of the future. Well, that future kicked us in the face last year, said Jennifer Leonard, president and CEO of the Rochester Area (N.Y.) Community Foundation. The foundation took in $22.9 million in new gifts in 2020 and awarded $22.5 million in grants. It was a tremendous outpouring of support for the unprecedented challenges of 2020, Leonard added. About the Survey Community foundations are grantmaking public charities that mobilize the assets of past and current donors to improve the lives of people in a defined geographic area. They use the resources of individuals, families, and businesses to support effective nonprofits in their communities. The Community Foundation Public Awareness Initiative survey includes results from community foundations in every region of the country, covering 28 states, plus the District of Columbia. It includes data provided by all of the 15 largest U.S. community foundations, as well as data provided by smaller and mid-size foundations. The U.S. is home to nearly 800 community foundations meaning the total granted through donor-advised funds at all community foundations during this period exceeds the $6.7 billion granted by those who responded to the survey. Historically, donor-advised fund holders have stepped up to support their communities during difficult economic times. A 2019 study by Dan Heist, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania, and Danielle Vance-McMullen, an assistant professor at the University of Memphis, found that donors who manage DAFs tend to be more generous with their grantmaking during recessions, especially when compared with other forms of giving. An Unprecedented Response The response of community foundation donors to address COVID-19 is unprecedented in its size and scope. Although community foundations stepped up their efforts to educate and connect with their donor-advised fund holders about the scope and uniqueness of Covid-19-related community needs, many foundations reported that their donors did not need much convincing to act urgently. The Oregon Community Foundations donors responded quickly to their communities cascading crises in 2020 -- COVID-19, wildfires over Labor Day weekend, and the increased visibility of historical and current systems of racial injustices, said the foundations chief philanthropy officer Kirsten Kilchenstein. The foundations donors distributed a record $220 million to more than 3,000 nonprofits throughout Oregon in 2020, which reflected a 44 percent increase in donor-advised fund grantmaking from the previous year. OCF donors stepped up time and again, responding to calls for support as each crisis appeared, Kilchenstein added. Moreover, the breadth of response was remarkable: long-time OCF donors; individuals new to OCF; corporate donors; families -- the generosity reflected in the extraordinary increase in grantmaking was truly remarkable. Donors at the Kalamazoo (Mich.) Community Foundation granted more than $2 million from DAFs in 2020 a seven-fold jump from the $284,000 granted in 2019. Within a few weeks of activating our Community Urgent Relief Fund, donor advisors made more than $1 million in grant suggestions to support our Covid-19 relief efforts, said Kalamazoo Community Foundation vice president of donor relations Joanna Donnelly Dales. Eileen Connolly-Keesler, president and CEO of the Community Foundation of Collier County (Fla.), said the foundations work with donor-advised fund holders to make them aware of our local nonprofits needs paid off in 2020. With the foundations encouragement, many DAF holders also granted directly to nonprofits. We see part of our job as educators, she said. Frank Fernandez, the president and CEO of the Community Foundation of Greater Atlanta, emphasized the unique capability of community foundation to address the kinds of structural inequalities brought to light in the crisis at the local level. Donors in Atlanta increased their DAF giving at the community foundation by more than $10 million in 2020, granting more than $123 million. Across the Atlanta region, as around the world, Covid-19 laid bare hard, harsh truths and we cannot unsee them, Fernandez said. At the Community Foundation we are committed to using our resources -- grant investments, influence, programs, our voice and more -- to help break down these barriers that prevent so many from pursuing their concept of the good life, whatever that may be, and are thankful to our fellow community foundations across the nation for their parallel efforts towards a more equitable world. Resources for Reporters The Community Foundation Public Awareness Initiative can connect reporters with donors who are giving generously to support those impacted by Covid-19. Our network of community foundation leaders is also available to discuss community needs, donor behavior, and how their communities are working together to address the most pressing issues related to Covid-19. Contact: Peter Panepento peter@turn-two.co (202) 531-3886 Chinas deputy ambassador has accused Australian politicians, the media and critics of the Chinese government of brainwashing the public about his country, claiming that it was now a sin for Australians to be friendly to the superpower. In an appeal for greater collaboration after a tumultuous 12 months, Wang Xining told an Australia-China Business Council meeting in Canberra that a climate of suspicion, vulgar political slogans and fabricated arguments had clouded the relationship. Wang Xining, deputy head of mission at the Chinese embassy in Australia Credit:Alex Ellinghausen Currently, the friends of China are given a nickname panda-hugger. It used to be a word of appreciation but now it carries derogatory meanings. It seems that being friendly to China, to be a friend of China becomes a sin and mistake in Australia, he said. The excuse for such suspicion is Chinas threats to Australian sovereignty and security, which is totally ridiculous. Because up to today no one single case has been substantiated or supported by evidence. Witnesses to Sunday's bloody protests say police used tear gas, rubber bullets, water cannon and in some cases live ammunition in Yangon, Myanmar's biggest city. According to the Associated Press, photos of shell cases from live ammunition were posted on social media. Media videos show demonstrators dragging some of those injured away from the protests, leaving bloody smears on pavement. Meanwhile, security forces fired tear gas and stun grenades to disperse demonstrators in Yangon Monday, a day after 18 people across Myanmar were killed and more than 30 others injured in the deadliest day of demonstrations since the coup, according to the United Nations Human Rights Office. Suu Kyi was already charged with illegally importing and using six unregistered walkie-talkie radios found during a search of her home, and for breaking the country's natural disaster law by holding public gatherings in violation of COVID-19 protocols. A lawyer for the 75-year-old Suu Kyi said the ousted de facto leader looked well as she appeared via videoconference in the capital, Naypyitaw. The lawyer says prosecutors charged her with two new crimes during the court session -- attempting to incite public unrest and violating a section of the telecommunications law operating equipment without a license. Aung San Suu Kyi appeared in court Monday, her first public appearance since she and other members of Myanmar's civilian government were removed from office and detained by the military on Feb. 1. Police also aggressively sought to break up protests in other cities, including Mandalay and Dawei. "Throughout the day, in several locations throughout the country, police and military forces have confronted peaceful demonstrations, using lethal force and less-than-lethal force," said a statement from UN human rights office spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani. The statement called on the military to "immediately halt the use of force against peaceful protesters." Later Sunday, the UN special rapporteur, Tom Andrews, released a statement that listed options for UN member states and the security council to take action. "As the military junta of Myanmar ratchets up its violence against the people, I believe it is imperative that the international community ratchet up its response," Andrews said. Among the options laid out in his statement are a global arms embargo, sanctions against businesses owned or controlled by the junta, and the convening of the UN Security Council to discuss the issue. On sanctions, Andrews urged countries that have already established some to immediately consider more." The United States late Sunday condemned the bloody crackdown on protests and hinted at potential sanctions. "We condemn the Burmese security forces' abhorrent violence against the people of Burma & will continue to promote accountability for those responsible," tweeted Secretary of State Antony Blinken, referring to Myanmar's former name. "We stand firmly with the courageous people of Burma & encourage all countries to speak with one voice in support of their will." "We are preparing additional actions to impose further costs on those responsible for this latest outbreak of violence and the recent coup. We will have more to share in the coming days," national security adviser Jake Sullivan said in a statement. Popular protests have been staged across Myanmar on a daily basis since the military overthrew the civilian government, claiming widespread fraud in last November's election, which Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy party won in a landslide. The European Union condemned violence against protesters Sunday, calling security forces shooting unarmed citizens a "blatant disregard for international law." "The military authorities must immediately stop the use of force against civilians and allow the population to express their right to freedom of expression and assembly," EU Minister of Foreign Affairs Josep Borrell said in a statement. Last week, junta commander Senior General Min Aung Hlaing said the military was using "minimal force" to deal with protests. But at least 21 protesters have been confirmed killed during demonstrations, and the army has said one policeman has been killed. The junta has declared a one-year state of emergency. Min Aung Hlaing has pledged that new elections will be held to bring about a "true and disciplined democracy," but did not specify when they would take place. Myanmar's electoral commission denied the military's claims of election fraud. The United States and other Western nations have demanded the release of Suu Kyi and her lieutenants and called on the junta to restore power to the civilian government. Romania's Ministry of Health (MS) informed on Tuesday that for one of two men injured in a fire at Inotesti, Prahova County, permission was granted for his transfer to the Reine Astrid Military Hospital in Belgium, while permission for the second patient for treatment at the Vienna-based AKH hospital was being sought. "The management of the Ministry of Health was informed this morning by the Operational Centre for Emergency Management (COSU) with the Ministry of Health that the medical reports of the two patients with burns sustained in the fire at Inotesti, Prahova County were received. They were sent by the Ploiesti County Hospital, drawn by the specialist board set up at the hospital level under Order of the Minister of Health 2063/2020 for transfer abroad (...) The paperwork was also sent to the Department for Emergency Situations (DSU) with the Interior Ministry for the identification of available places for treatment at hospitals for serious burns in Europe and to make transfers under Order 2063/2020. According to the latest information received from COSU, permission was granted for one of the patients to be transferred to the Reine Astrid Military Hospital in Belgium. Permission is also sought from AKH Vienna for the second patient," the source points out. According to the information provided, a 59-year-old man has sustained IIA, IIB and III-degree burns on 60% of his body. A 53-year-old man has sustained IIA, IIB and III-degree burns on 70% of his body. Both have upper airway burn injuries. The two men have been intubated, as they are in critical condition, Spokesperson for the Ploiesti County Emergency Hospital Violeta Tanase told AGERPRES on Tuesday. According to her, the men underwent surgery to have their wounds clean, and they are currently in the Intensive Care Unit. On Monday evening, a violent fire broke out at a company that manufactures crude oil products located in the village of Inotesti, Prahova County, that left two men injured. According to the Prahova Emergency Management Inspectorate, when the fire crews arrived, the fire had spread over an area of approximately 700 square metres, having engulfed the entire hall, three motor vehicles and a road train. Salina, N.Y. -- A Sunday afternoon crash on Interstate 81 in Salina left two people in serious condition, according to New York State Police. Police responded to the two-car crash at 12:46 p.m., police said. An investigation has found that Daniel K. Brann, 34, of Brewerton, was driving a 2018 Hyundai Elantra southbound on the highway when he drove off the road, through the median and the car became airborne, police said. Branns car landed in the northbound lanes and hit a 2011 Chevrolet Impala head-on, according to police. Daniel K. Casciano, 34, of Syracuse, the driver of the Impala, was pinned inside his car and needed to be extricated, police said. Brann and Casciano were taken to Upstate University Hospital in serious condition. Police are still investigating the crash. Got a tip, comment or story idea? Contact Chris Libonati via the Signal app for encrypted messaging at 585-290-0718, by phone at the same number, by email or on Twitter. Paris, TX (75460) Today Rain showers this morning with some sunshine during the afternoon hours. High 77F. Winds W at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 50%.. Tonight Some clouds. Low around 60F. Winds NW at 5 to 10 mph. [March 02, 2021] VoIP-Pal Provides an Update on the Status of its Cases in the Northern District of California VANCOUVER, British Columbia, March 02, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- VoIP-Pal.com Inc. (VoIP-Pal, Company) (OTCQB: VPLM) reports that on Friday, February 26, 2021, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California issued an Order requiring the parties to meet and confer regarding alternative dispute resolution. The parties are expected to meet and confer this week and file a joint statement by March 8, 2021. The Company is continuing to explore all of its legal options in its current cases, and has requested the Court in the Western District of Texas to maintain the stay of the Texas cases pending the outcome of the alternative dispute resolution process in the Northern District of California. International Patents Additionally, VoIP-Pal is considering its options regarding how best to capitalize on its patent rights in countries outside the United States. In addition to the Companys extensive U.S. patent portfolio, the Company owns issued patents in foreign countries including Canada, Indonesia, India, Brazil and the European Union. The countries where VoIP-Pal owns foreign patents have a combined population of about 2.6 billion, compared to 330 million in the United States. VoIP-Pal CEO, Emil Malak stated, So far our efforts have been focused primarily on monetizing our patens within the United States. We believe the time is right for us to once again evaluate our options for monetizing our many foreign patents. Our complete patent portfoliowhich includes more than twenty U.S. patents and many foreign patentsis a valuable asset and we will actively seek to monetize it in the best way possible for our shareholders. The VoIP-Pal website will host further information about the Companys foreign patents. About VoIP-Pal.com Inc. VoIP-Pal.Com, Inc. (VoIP-Pal) is a publicly traded corporation (OTCQB: VPLM) headquartered in Bellevue, Washington. The Company owns a portfolio of patents relating to Voice-over-Internet Protocol (VoIP) technology that it is currently looking to monetize. Any forecast of future financial performance is a forward looking statement under securities laws. Such statements are included to allow potential investors the opportunity to understand managements beliefs and opinions with respect to the future so that they may use such beliefs and opinions as one factor among many in evaluating an investment. While the Company believes in the circumstances that legal action is needed to monetize its patents, patent litigation involves various risks and uncertainties that could affect its ability to monetize the patents. We recognize that it is impossible to predict the specific outcomes of litigation. Corporate Website: www.voip-pal.com IR inquiries: IR@voip-pal.com IR Contact: Rich Inza (954) 495-4600 [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Billionaire banker and MD & CEO of Kotak Mahindra Bank, Uday Kotak on Tuesday took the first shot of COVID-19 vaccine. The 61-year-old banker took to Twitter and shared his picture of getting vaccinated. Kotak wrote, "Happy to share that I took the first shot of the vaccine this morning. Smooth and no pain". Happy to share that I took the first shot of the vaccine this morning. Smooth and no pain. pic.twitter.com/G225LgDNCQ a Uday Kotak (@udaykotak) March 2, 2021 Phase 2 of COVID-19 vaccination commenced from Monday for those over 60 years of age and for people aged 45 and above with specified co-morbid conditions. Prime Minister Narendra Modi too took Bharat Biotech's Covaxin shot on Monday and shared a picture of the same on Twitter.Apart from PM Modi and Uday Kotak, many union ministers have also taken their first doses of a vaccine against COVID-19. Home Minister Amit Shah was administered the first dose of the vaccine at Medanta Hospital, Gurugram. Vice President Venkaiah Naidu took his first dose of the vaccine at Government Medical College, Chennai on March 1. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar also took his first jab yesterday. Infosys co-founder NR Narayana Murthy and his wife Sudha Murthy were administered the Covishield vaccine at Narayana Hrudalaya, Bengaluru. Biocon Chairperson Kiran Mazumdar Shaw said she got vaccinated at Narayana Health on March 1. Shaw took a dose of Covishield and said the experience was "painless no injection-related side effects". Bihar Chief Minister (CM) Nitish Kumar and Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik also took their jabs on March 1. As per Union Health Ministry data, a total of 1,28,630 beneficiaries over 60 years of age and 18,850 aged 45 and above with co-morbidities took the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine on Monday. The countrywide vaccination drive was rolled out on January 16 with the inoculation of healthcare workers, while the vaccination of frontline workers (FLWs) started on February 2. So far, the cumulative number of COVID-19 vaccine doses administered in the country has crossed 1.47 crore. Also read: Hackers target SBI customers with text phishing scam Also read: Delhi govt suspends subsidy on Nexon EV on low mileage claims; Tata says unfortunate Vodafone CEO Jason Paris delivered had a hilarious response to a disgruntled customer who complained about the company's use of te reo Maori in its communications. The customer, Catherine Beuning, contacted the Herald in an attempt to bring to attention to what she referred to as a "flippant reply" from the Vodafone CEO. She went on to share the full letter she sent to Paris with the Herald, in which she took particular exception to Vodafone's use of "Aotearoa" in its communications with customers. "I'd like to point out that we live in New Zealand, NOT Aotearoa, and will remain so until there's a referendum to change that name," Beuning says. "We also speak English, NOT Maori. Remember that English is the language of the World today NOT Maori [sic]". She then whipped out the classic cliche of saying she has Maori family members, which is the general go-to statement people say to justify their racist views and beliefs. "And before you think that I'm a redneck Pakeha, my daughter in-law is Maori and their three daughters therefore are part Maori. They too tell me that this WOKENESS has gone too far even for them [sic]." To the surprise of many, it turns out that speaking the indigenous language of Aotearoa is considered woke? Tell that to our tupuna who had their own language and culture beaten out of them. Too far? Hei aha... Beuning then goes on to say that she would be leaving Vodafone to join Spark, but she was going down swinging! "Mr Paris, I heard on the radio that about two hundred staff at Vodafone are losing their jobs, is this because Vodafone are losing customers due the WOKENESS that you and your company are foisting upon the customers and the rest of NEW ZEALAND. [sic]" Instead of trading shots with this poor misguided soul, Paris simply released a three word statement to the customer: "Haere ra Catherine." A Vodafone spokesman said Paris valued good debate but did not believe further engagement would drive the discussion forward in this case. "Jason regularly receives correspondence from our customers on a wide range of matters, including correspondence about our commitment to te ao Maori," the spokesman said. "He frequently engages in good discussion or debate with customers, either via email or on social media, however in this particular instance, given the aggressive nature and tone of the correspondence, felt it would be counter-productive to engage any further." Ka pai Jason, ka pai... 3 1 of 3 Waterbury Police / Contributed Photo Show More Show Less 2 of 3 Waterbury Police / Contributed Photo Show More Show Less 3 of 3 WATERBURY A man with a previous narcotics conviction now faces new gun and drug charges after his arrest late last week. Around 10:45 p.m. Feb. 26, officers with the Street Crime Unit were patrolling the area of Bishop and Adam streets due to recent violence, including shootings, illegal drug sales and other quality-of-life issues, police said. Amid the Covid-19 pandemic, after 20 years of trading goods in traditional way, shopkeepers and petty merchants have begun to sell products online. Dung, the owner of a grocery in Thanh Cong Market in Hanoi, said: Buyers now just stay at home and place orders with their smartphones to get products at their home." Dung shifted to a new online sale method one year ago. Online petty merchants are informed about orders via app and prepare the goods before delivery people come and take them away. Online payment is used for many orders. Thuy, a petty merchant in Hoang Mai district in Hanoi, said at first she hesitated to sell goods online. I felt worried because I had to deliver goods before getting payment, she explained. However, Thuy said she has no other choice. If she doesnt accept this, she will lose customers. At present, online sales just account for 30 percent of total revenue, but she believes the figure will be higher in the future. Tam, the owner of a store in Linh Dam new urban area in Hanoi, who introduced herself as an "older woman who hesitated to use a smartphone" has also made a decision on renovating her business and now uses high technology in store management. Now Tam can place orders for products via apps with her smartphone directly with manufacturers. Products go directly from producers to retail points, thus ensuring the best quality of products, she said. Dung, Thuy and Tam are among the owners of 1.4 million groceries and 9,000 traditional markets with total revenue of $10 billion a year in Vietnam, accounting for 75 percent of market share, according to Nielsen. Traditional markets and groceries are facing stiff competition, Dung said. The business has been going downhill. People dont go to traditional markets now." Instead of going to markets, customers now order products online and get deliveries at home. Changing the way of thinking Nguyen Thai Hai Van, CEO of Grab Vietnam, said that Covid-19 has made big changes and put pressure on all sectors in the economy, especially traditional businesses and small businesses with focus on offline activities. They need to use high technology or they will be left behind in the digital economy. Van said it is difficult to persuade petty merchants at traditional markets to digitize. Once selling products via apps, they have to strictly observe standards on quality and food hygiene. Petty merchants are required to show business licenses and certificates on the origin and quality of products. We also ask them to ensure the quality of products, sell products at quoted prices, and accept online payments, Van said. A representative of Vinshop said it is difficult to persuade grocery owners to use smartphones and install apps. They will only change their habits if they can see the benefits from the new method. In September 2020, Grab tried to put a traditional market on GrabMart platform in Da Nang and Hanoi and gained very encouraging results. The average daily number of orders in December 2020 was double of the month before. Vietnam is the third country in Southeast Asia where Grab is running a "traditional market" digitization program. The Covid-19 pandemic has accelerated the development of e-commerce. In 2020, Vingroup, after divesting from VinMart, decided to develop VinShop, digitizing its groceries. Before Grab and VinShop, some platforms such as Now and be also launched a shopping service. However, bes be Di Cho and Nows Now Fresh just shop at some supermarkets, convenience stores and well known food shops, and dont select products from traditional markets. Many merchants have shifted to the new model and have adapted very quickly, Van commented. Joining online markets, they have more customers." GrabMart is bringing benefits to nearly 100 petty merchants at traditional markets in Da Nang, Hanoi and HCM City. It plans to increase the number of petty merchants in the three cities by 10 times by the end of 2021. In the third quarter of 2020, the average daily number of orders gained a 3-digit growth rate with the number of partners increasing by seven times compared with the quarter before. After a one-month launch, about 26,000 groceries have joined VinShop. Duy Anh Digital transformation future of Vietnams agriculture Growing tomatoes via smartphones and sitting on the top of mountain selling vegetables to the US from a distance are what some Vietnamese farmers are doing today. Dolly Parton grew up in a small home in the Great Smoky Mountains of Tennessee with 11 brothers and sisters. Her family, along with the rest of the mountain people, didnt have much to give in the way of money. So when it came to paying for services, like those provided by a doctor, they gave what they had. And the Partons had corn. Dolly Parton | J. Vespa/WireImage for OK! Magazine USA The story of Dolly Partons birth Where Parton grew up, way back in the mountains, there werent any hospitals nearby. We had a missionary doctor that had been sent to the Smoky Mountains to take care of the poor mountain people, she told USA Today in 2020. He used to have to ride in on horseback, and the mountain people didnt have any way to pay him with money, so you paid them with whatever you had, your canned goods or some ham or some whatever. The Partons grew corn. So when it became clear that Dollys mother needed a doctor to safely deliver the future Queen of Country, they knew what theyd pay him with. Mama was having problems with me, so Daddy had to run out and get (the doctor), she said. They came back on horseback and Daddy paid him with a sack of cornmeal, and Ive always joked and said that Ive been raking in the dough ever since. Dolly Partons childhood RELATED: Dolly Parton Prays for the Same Thing Every Single Day Partons parents married as teenagers. By the time they were 35 and 37, they had six boys and six girls. So Parton always had playmates (or, rather, an audience) growing up. From the time she was a young girl, Parton put on performances for anyone who would listen chickens, pigs, dogs, and neighborhood kids alike. Shed fix a tobacco stick in the cracks of the porch and put a tin can on the top to act as a microphone and shed sing her heart out, like shes done her whole life. Who paved the way for the Queen of Country Like Parton, her mother was a lover of music. My mothers people were musical, mostly gospel, but my mother and all of her people play some musical instruments, and some of my daddys people, she said. Parton had an uncle named Bill Owens whod take her around to different places to sing. He was who taught her how to play guitar. RELATED: Dolly Parton, Feminist Icon, Says Shes Not a Feminist From a young age, Parton knew she was destined to share her music with a wider audience. I was on television before we ever owned one, on local TV, she said. My dad loved the Grand Ole Opry. Before we had electricity, we had an old battery radio that we used to pour water on the ground wire in order to bring it in. I just knew that I wanted to be out in a bigger world. I knew there was more than just the Smokies. I love my people, I love my home, but I just wanted to do more. LAFAYETTE, Ind. (WLFI) The Tippecanoe County Health Department's vaccine clinic is bracing for another wave of demand after the State of Indiana on Tuesday once again lowered the COVID-19 vaccine eligibility threshold. Health officials are urging patience because a limited supply of the vaccine is prolonging the scheduling process. The Indiana State Department of Health announced Tuesday morning Hoosiers 55 years of age and older can now get the shot. As News 18 previously reported, Hoosiers 60 years of age and older became eligible just a week ago. TCHD is struggling to keep pace as the rollout gains speed because its weekly allotment of doses hasn't increased. "With our wonderful volunteers that are graciously signing up and the layout of our clinic that's why we chose this layout because we are always hoping that we'll have an increase in allotment we can do more than what we're doing now," says TCHD Administrator Khala Hochstedler. Hochstedler says the new group of eligible people could have to wait until April. They can also check availability at the 12 other sites in Tippecanoe County, including pharmacy chains like Meijer, Pay Less and Walmart. "Some people that were initially 65 and older that were scheduled for the end of the month, we're trying to move them up to free up some dates toward the end of the month, but right now I think if you go ourshot.in.gov, you won't be able to get an appointment at our clinic until April," Hochstedler says. Hoosiers aged 50 years of age and older will be next in line for the shot. Eligible people must register online or call 211 to make an appointment. Hochstedler says she's unsure if the health department will receive an allotment of the new Johnson & Johnson vaccine. If so, the vaccine will be reserved for homebound, homeless and transient people because it doesn't require a second dose. Coronavirus mutations are leading to new 'variants of concern'. (Stock, Getty Images) The so-called Brazil variant may evade up to 61% of the immunity brought about after people overcome older versions of the coronavirus, research suggests. There are six known cases of the Brazil variant in the UK, one of which health officials are still trying to trace after they left their contact details off their coronavirus test registration card. The emergence of new variants raises questions as to whether they will spread more readily, cause more serious complications or even evade a former coronavirus patient's natural immunity, as well as that brought about by the long-awaited vaccination programme. To learn more, scientists from around the world screened virus samples collected in Brazil, with results suggesting its variant may evade between 25% and 61% of the immunity brought about after an individual overcomes a different version of the coronavirus. Read more: One Pfizer coronavirus vaccine dose cuts asymptomatic infections While it may sound alarming, Professor Sharon Peacock director of the COVID-19 Genomics UK Consortium stressed the results should be interpreted with a "note of caution", with there being limited evidence the Brazil variant will "threaten our vaccine strategy or effectiveness". More than 20 million people have received their first coronavirus vaccine dose in the UK. (Stock, Getty Images) The results are preliminary and yet to be published in a peer-reviewed journal. Viral mutations are entirely expected, with the majority having a neutral effect. Concerns were raised, however, when coronavirus cases spiked in Manaus the largest city in the Amazon despite incidences already being high in that region. Genetic sequencing of virus samples collected between November 2020 and January 2021 revealed a "variant of concern" had emerged. Now known as the "Brazil variant", it has 17 mutations, three of which affect the virus' spike protein, potentially aiding entry into cells. The spike protein binds to a cell's so-called ACE2 receptor, allowing it to invade the body. The protein is also a target for many vaccines. Story continues Read more: Children endure voice abnormalities after coronavirus-related inflammatory syndrome Using a "dynamic model" made up of genetic and death data, the global scientists estimate the Brazil variant is 1.4 to 2.2 times more transmissible than previously circulating versions of the coronavirus. The Brazil variant may also be able to evade 25% to 61% of "protective immunity elicited by previous infection" with other versions of the virus, the results suggest. To put this into context, "if 100 people were infected, 25 to 61 are susceptible" to the Brazil variant, according to study author Dr Nuno Faria, from Imperial College London. While it may sound alarming, Professor Peacock stressed the research was carried out in Brazil, with the results not necessarily applying to the rest of the world. "How they relate to the UK is yet to be determined," she said. "I would express a note of caution." Watch: No change to lockdown exit despite Brazil variant cases When it comes to how the Brazil variant may impact vaccine effectiveness, experts are cautiously optimistic, but still unsure. Studies have suggested the UK's three approved jabs Pfizer-BioNTech, University of Oxford-AstraZeneca and Moderna are effective against the so-called Kent variant. This was identified in the home county towards the end of 2020 and is thought to be behind the majority of the coronavirus cases arising in the UK 5,455 on 1 March. The three approved vaccines are also thought to protect against severe disease brought about by the so-called South Africa variant, but perhaps to a lesser extent. Speaking amid the latest research, Professor Peacock said: "We should be pushing on with vaccination. "The number of [Brazil variant] cases are very low at the moment. "I don't believe there's any threat to our vaccine strategy or effectiveness. "You can't take a study like this and speculate on vaccine efficacy. "Vaccine manufacturers will be looking to make adaptations to their vaccines so people can have boosters. She added: "It's a note of optimism, but a note we need to work with vaccine developers to ensure we have vaccines [that are] effective for our population." Read more: Two-thirds of coronavirus patients in hospital have one of four conditions Dr Faria agreed, stressing "there is nothing to suggest the vaccines won't work" against the Brazil variant. Professor Andrew Pollard who led some of the clinical trials for the Oxford-AstraZenca vaccine told BBC Today work is underway to uncover if the jab is effective against the Brazil and South Africa variants, which are "distributing themselves to many countries". The University of Oxford medic hopes people can move away from an "obsession" with each emerging variant. Dr Susan Hopkins, from Public Health England, added: "This variant that emerged in Manaus in Brazil is really quite similar to the [variant] from South Africa and they have a number of mutations that are suggested to increase transmissibility. "Manaus in particular reported a number of individuals were reinfected with this variant, and therefore that suggests having had prior immunity from primary infection wasn't enough to reduce infection and transmission, and that may also impact on the vaccine." Some believe vaccine effectiveness may be reduced, but is highly unlikely to be eliminated altogether. Dr Jeffrey Barrett, who genetically sequences coronavirus samples at the Wellcome Sanger Institute, also told the Today programme: "I think there is some laboratory-based evidence it [the Brazil variant] is partially less neutralised by vaccines. "I don't think we know how much of a difference that will make in the real world. "We certainly don't think it will be completely able to escape vaccination." Watch: 'Massive effort' to contain coronavirus variants, says Boris Johnson Paducah Man Sentenced on Child Porn Charges By West Kentucky Star Staff PADUCAH - A Paducah man was sentenced Monday on charges related to child pornography.According to the Circuit Court Clerk, 21-year-old Zachary Roach was sentenced to five years behind bars for four counts of possession of matter portraying a sexual performance by a minor and two counts of prohibited use of an electronic communication system to procure a minor. He is scheduled to be released in February of 2026.Roach pleaded guilty to the charges on January 11.In August, Roach was named a suspect by detectives in Ohio who said he had been trading illicit photos and videos with 14-year-old victims in Ohio and Mississippi. He was arrested on August 18.On the Net: BOSTON Six Dr. Seuss books including And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street and If I Ran the Zoo will stop being published because of racist and insensitive imagery, the business that preserves and protects the author's legacy said Tuesday. These books portray people in ways that are hurtful and wrong, Dr. Seuss Enterprises told The Associated Press in a statement that coincided with the late author and illustrators birthday. Ceasing sales of these books is only part of our commitment and our broader plan to ensure Dr. Seuss Enterprises catalog represents and supports all communities and families," it said. The other books affected are McElligots Pool, On Beyond Zebra!, Scrambled Eggs Super!, and The Cats Quizzer. The decision to cease publication and sales of the books was made last year after months of discussion, the company told AP. Dr. Seuss Enterprises listened and took feedback from our audiences including teachers, academics and specialists in the field as part of our review process. We then worked with a panel of experts, including educators, to review our catalog of titles," it said. +2 In 'Speak, Okinawa,' Elizabeth Brina seeks to understand her mother despite language barrier Its a book that I needed to write my whole life, Elizabeth Brina said of Speak, Okinawa, her brilliant new memoir of discovering the trut Books by Dr. Seuss who was born Theodor Seuss Geisel in Springfield, Massachusetts, on March 2, 1904 - have been translated into dozens of languages as well as in braille and are sold in more than 100 countries. He died in 1991. He remains popular, earning an estimated $33 million before taxes in 2020, up from just $9.5 million five years ago, the company said. Forbes listed him No. 2 on its highest-paid dead celebrities of 2020, behind only the late pop star Michael Jackson. As adored as Dr. Seuss is by millions around the world for the positive values in many of his works, including environmentalism and tolerance, there has been increasing criticism in recent years over the way Blacks, Asians and others are drawn in some of his most beloved childrens books, as well as in his earlier advertising and propaganda illustrations. The National Education Association, which founded Read Across America Day in 1998 and deliberately aligned it with Geisels birthday, has for several years deemphasized Seuss and encouraged a more diverse reading list for children. +9 'The search for Jackie Wallace two years later: a new book and an enduring, unlikely friendship Sometimes a photograph is a work of art or a powerful social message or an urgent call to action. Rarely is it all three. When photojournalist School districts across the country have also moved away from Dr. Seuss, prompting Loudoun County, Virginia, schools just outside Washington, D.C., to douse rumors last month that they were banning the books entirely. Research in recent years has revealed strong racial undertones in many books written/illustrated by Dr. Seuss, the school district said in a statement. In 2017, a school librarian in Cambridge, Massachusetts, criticized a gift of 10 Seuss books from first lady Melania Trump, saying many of his works were steeped in racist propaganda, caricatures, and harmful stereotypes. In 2018, a Dr. Seuss museum in his hometown of Springfield removed a mural that included an Asian stereotype. The Cat in the Hat," one of Seuss' most popular books, has received criticism, too, but will continue to be published for now. Dr. Seuss Enterprises, however, said it is committed to listening and learning and will continue to review our entire portfolio." +11 New Orleans and Louisiana authors will gladly tide you over for the holidays with these books In Iceland, they celebrate Christmas Eve with a tradition of jolabokaflo, the Yule Book Flood. People give books on Christmas Eve and spend Numerous other popular childrens series have been criticized in recent years for alleged racism. In the 2007 book, Should We Burn Babar?, the author and educator Herbert R. Kohl contended that the Babar the Elephant books were celebrations of colonialism because of how the title character leaves the jungle and later returns to civilize his fellow animals. One of the books, Babars Travels, was removed from the shelves of a British library in 2012 because of its alleged stereotypes of Africans. Critics also have faulted the Curious George books for their premise of a white man bringing home a monkey from Africa. And Laura Ingalls Wilders portrayals of Native Americans in her Little House On the Prairie novels have been faulted so often that the American Library Association removed her name in 2018 from a lifetime achievement award it gives out each year. By MARK PRATT, Associated Press. AP National Writer Hillel Italie contributed from New York. Strictly's Oti Mabuse has discussed her sister Motsi and fellow judge Shirley Ballas' trolling ordeal and how she herself has been judged on social media for being 'different.' Appearing on Tuesday's Steph's Packed Lunch, the ballroom sensation, 30, said her beloved sister, 39, had needed to 'step away' from social media due to the level of abuse - with her and Shirley, 60, learning to rise above the criticism. Oti said: 'She did find it hard, she was like "I need to step away because I don't actually see these people, so it can't really be real" Candid: Strictly's Oti Mabuse has discussed her sister Motsi and fellow judge Shirley Ballas' trolling ordeal and how she herself has been judged on social media for being 'different' 'Shirley was getting it even worse and they both had to kind of learn "I don't need to respond, it's not the real life and I'm good at my job". 'They both needed to learn that. But my mum was there, she was like "you're not going to say this to my daughter"' The two-time Strictly champion, who triumphed in the last series with Bill Bailey, said she herself is not immune to criticism, revealing she had been targeted over her body and personality. She said: 'I don't really get it too much about my image, I get it because I'm loud I'm like "you know where I'm from, get over it, turn your volume down" Judges: Appearing on Tuesday's Steph's Packed Lunch, the ballroom sensation, 30, said her beloved sister, 39, had needed to 'step away' from social media due to the level of abuse - with her and Shirley, 60, learning to rise above the criticism (above with Craig Revel-Horwood) Oti said: 'She did find it hard, she was like "I need to step away because I don't actually see these people, so it can't really be real"' 'Because I also look completely different from the other dancers, I'm a lot curvier, I stick out. So for me, I've had to use it as a plus and say "yeah I am different, but that's the way I am".' Last month Oti revealed the tough separation she has faced from her family during the global coronavirus pandemic. The Strictly Come Dancing professional spoke to Lorraine revealing that she didn't see her older sister Motsi for almost a year until Strictly reunited them. Judgment: She said: 'Because I also look completely different from the other dancers, I'm a lot curvier, I stick out. So for me, I've had to use it as a plus and say "yeah I am different, but that's the way I am"' (abpve with 2019 dance partner Kelvin Fletcher) She explained that before the 2020 series of the BBC dance competition began last Autumn, she hadn't seen Motsi since the final of the 2019 series thanks to travel restrictions. Oti lives in the UK with her husband Marius Iepure while Motsi is based in Germany with her husband Evgenij Voznyuk and their young daughter. After Motsi flew home following the 2019 Strictly finale, the coronavirus outbreak in early 2020 meant the two sisters were separated until the 2020 series. 'Actually the last time I had seen my sister was the Strictly final in 2019 and because of the travel bans I couldn't go over to see her on her birthday,' Oti explained to Lorraine. 'We usually celebrate together so because of Strictly that was the only family member that I could actually see.' Oti is also missing her family back home in South Africa, explaining: 'I havent seen my family in about two years because theyre from South Africa and it's currently not great in South Africa as well.' Online abuse: She said: 'Shirley was getting it even worse and they both had to kind of learn "I don't need to respond, it's not the real life and I'm good at my job". 'So to have Strictly is another thing that Im grateful for, even though we were in separate bubbles it was nice that I could actually see her and she was there.' Oti added that the lack of travel has actually allowed her to connect with her extended family though, as she explained: 'Theres opportunity to make new connections, to bond I know during the first lockdown we started Zooming weekly with the extended family, so first second and third cousins.' Everyone got to know each other, all the children. Christmas was also spent on Zoom, it was the entire family so it gave us the opportunity to make more connections and deeper ones.' 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. Photon-photon polaritons in microresonators. Credit: University of Bath Scientists at the University of Bath in the UK have found a way to bind together two photons of different colors, paving the way for important advancements in quantum-electrodynamicsthe field of science that describes how light and matter interact. In time, the team's findings are likely to impact developments in optical and quantum communication, and precision measurements of frequency, time and distances. Apple and wave: they both have a mass An apple falling from a tree has velocity and mass, which together give it momentum. 'Apple energy' derived from motion depends on the fruit's momentum and mass. Most people find the concept of momentum and energy (and therefore mass) an easy one to grasp when it is associated with solid objects. But the idea that non-material objects, such as light waves (everything from sunlight to laser radiation), also have a mass is surprising to many. Among physicists, however, it's a well-known fact. This apparently paradoxical idea that waves have a mass marks the place where quantum physics and the physical world come together. The wave-particle duality, proposed by French physicist Louis de Broglie in 1924, is a powerful concept that describes how every particle or quantum entity can be described as either a particle or a wave. Many so-called quasiparticles have been discovered that combine either two different types of matter particles, or light waves bound to a particle of matter. A list of exotic quasiparticles includes phonons, plasmons, magnons and polaritons. The team of physicists at Bath has now reported a way to create quasiparticles that bind together two differently colored particles of light. They have named these formations photon-photon polaritons. Detecting photon-photon polaritons The opportunity to discover, and manipulate, photon-photons is possible thanks to the relatively new development of high-quality microresonators. For light, microresonators act as miniature racetracks, with photons zipping around the internal structure in loops. The signature left by photon-photons in the light exiting the microresonator can be linked to the AutlerTownes effect, a peculiar phenomenon in quantum theory that describes strong photon-atom interactions. To achieve this effect in microresonators, a laser is tuned to the specific resonance frequency where a photon is expected to be absorbed, yet no resonance absorption happens. Instead, the photon-photon interaction makes up two new resonance frequencies away from the old one. A significant feature that has emerged from the Bath research is that the microresonator provided a whole set of split resonances, where each photon-photon pair displayed its own momentum and energy, allowing the researchers to apply the quasiparticle concept and calculate mass. According to the researchers' predictions, photon-photons are 1,000+ times lighter than electrons. Professor Dmitry Skryabin, the physicist who led the research, said: "We now have a situation where microresonatorswhich are millimeter-scale objectsbehave like giant atoms. The artificial atoms concept is rapidly gaining ground in the quantum-electrodynamics of microwaves in superconducting circuits, while here we are looking at the similar opportunity in the optical range of frequencies. "The small mass of photon-photons could lead to further developments of many important analogies between light and fluids, where other families of quasiparticles have already being used." Ph.D. student Vlad Pankratov, who participated in the project, said: "After a year of running models and collecting data, these are incredibly exciting findings for us. The potential applications of our results are in the terabit and quantum optical communication schemes, and in the area of precision measurements." The paper "Photon-photon polaritons in (2) microresonators" is published in Physical Review Research. Explore further Physicists finesse the storing of light to create rainbows of color More information: D. V. Skryabin et al. Photon-photon polaritons in (2) microresonators, Physical Review Research (2021). D. V. Skryabin et al. Photon-photon polaritons in (2) microresonators,(2021). DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevResearch.3.L012017 TORRINGTON The goal is to have on open dialogue about COVID-19 vaccines. To accomplish that, an education conversation program organized by Hartford HealthCare for residents with questions on the COVID-19 vaccine, will be held at 6 p.m. Wednesday, March 3 at Workman AME Zion Church. Brian Mattiello, Charlotte Hungerford Hospitals regional vice president strategy & community development, will lead the conversation, which will provide information on the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine. Matiello said the program is intended as a stepping stone to improve health equity overall in the city. Hartford HealthCare is being perfectly clear while vaccine is the occasion, the real objective here is to improve health equity overall, he said. Im very proud of my employer and what theyre asking me to do. The programs goal, according to the hospital, is to reach all residents of Torrington and Winsted, and the event will be shared on Facebook. Matiello said the talk will have three parts. The first is to speak about the vaccination as a whole, and use that occasion as an opening to discuss honestly where the science is regarding the vaccine, as well as the history of helping people of color, he said. We want to have an open, honest dialogue, answer questions and help build greater confidence. The second part of the talk is logistics, Matiello said. What can I expect, what to expect after (receiving the vaccine), he said. Matiello said the third segment is just a Q&A about relationships beyond just vaccination. Its a way to use this occasion as a launch pad to improve dynamics as best we can, he said. The director said Hartford HealthCare reached out to AME Zion to ask the church to participate. Theyre doing a Facebook Live, and having a call in number, Matiello said. This week, Hartford Healthcare announced that its COVID-19 vaccine and testing hours have changed. Visit www.charlottehungerford.org for the latest updates. Hartford HealthCare Vaccination Center at the Torrington Armory, 153 South Main St., is open from 8 a.m.to 4 p.m. Mondays, Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays, and 10:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Tuesdays and Wednesdays, and closed Sundays. All vaccinations are by appointment only; no walk-in appointments are available. Starting Monday, the state expanded its guidelines of who can receive the vaccine to include people 55 years of age and older, and educators and childcare providers. Hartford Healthcare has vaccinated more than 80,000 people in Connecticut with more than 130,000 first and second doses administered to date, hospital officials said. For help making an appointment or to schedule an appointment by phone, call the Hartford HealthCare Access Center at 860-827-7690 or 833-943-5721. For the most up-to-date information and scheduling help visit Hartfordhealthcare.org/vaccine . The Hartford HealthCare Testing Center, 211 High St., Torrington, is open 8 a.m to 4 p.m. Monday-Friday and 8 am. to noon Saturdays. According to the hospital, this testing is for patients who are experiencing symptoms and may have possible exposure and tests are done so patients do not leave their vehicles. The testing can accommodate adults and children of all ages, when accompanied by a parent or legal guardian. After testing, patients are given follow-up instructions and information about self-isolation. Patients receive their results online through MyChart. For faster testing, patients are encouraged to get a doctors referral. Those without a doctor can call the Hartford HealthCare Community Care Center at 833-621-0600 for assistance. Hartford Healthcare offers drive-up testing centers at locations across the state including Bridgeport, Hartford, Meriden, Norwich, Torrington, Willimantic and Windsor Locks. Also offered is same-day COVID-19 diagnostic and antibody testing at all Hartford HealthCare GoHealth urgent care centers and COVID-19 rapid testing at select centers. Visit dedicated coronavirus websites in English at www.hartfordhealthcare.org/coronavirus and Spanish at https://espanol.hartfordhealthcare.org/pacientes-y-visitas/coronavirus-covid-19 Pham Hong Quat, director general, NATEC and Leon Cai, regional director (Ho Chi Minh City), Enterprise Singapore The Vietnamese agency (NATEC) and Enterprise Singapore (ESG) have renewed their cooperation for another two years. What will be the focuses in the next stage? How will it benefit the innovation landscape for Singapore and Vietnam? Pham Hong Quat: Singapore is considered to be the hub of innovation as well as a paradise for startups, with startup-friendly policies including subsidies and a range of incubation schemes. With its advanced IT infrastructure, strong government support, intellectual property laws, and deep tech talent pools, Singapore has become a world-leading technology innovation centre. Thus, the cooperation between NATEC and ESG will provide an open space for best practices and know-how sharing, particularly on the crafting and execution of startup and innovation supporting policies, as well as building and operating startup hubs. Through market access programmes and joint events, Vietnamese startups will have a chance to experience and benefit from peer-to-peer learning with their counterparts. Operating in the worlds leading and most vibrant ecosystem, Singaporean startup founders and teams have admirable skills and qualities, for example, creative thinking; entrepreneurship and management skills; fundraising and management; as well as research and development (R&D). Moreover, there will be a high chance that our startups can find great partners or clients in a new market. One of the biggest concerns for Vietnamese startups might be how to get funding from venture capital funds or angel investors and how to manage them wisely, especially during the crisis. Thus, what they need to focus on is acquiring valuable know-how and skills from their counterparts and taking any opportunity to interact and learn from experienced investors and mentors. Leon Cai: The renewed MoU will build on existing partnerships between Vietnam and Singapore to facilitate collaborations for startups, ecosystem builders, and the tertiary institutions of both countries, especially in strengthening the global innovation communities access to Vietnams startup landscape, connecting startups from Vietnam to major technology hubs, and facilitating venture capital activities. In addition, the renewal will have an additional focus on leveraging existing open innovation initiatives such as the Singapore Open Innovation Network to crowd-source solutions for corporates in Vietnam. ESG will also share best practices with NATEC to develop similar open innovation platforms for Vietnam, among other initiatives. Trade and business links between Vietnam and Singapore have been robust ever since the countries established bilateral diplomatic relations back in 1973. In recent years, we have observed growing interest from Singaporean companies in Vietnams technology and innovation sector. With this renewed memorandum, we hope to build a vibrant ecosystem, leveraging the strengths of different innovation players from both countries to create an environment that enables startup and corporate partnerships, and catalyses business transformation and economic growth. How important s Vietnam's startup and innovation scene to the rest of ASEAN, the world, and to Singapore? Has there been any changes over the past five years in this regard? Pham Hong Quat: The Vietnamese government started to pay attention and set up initiatives to build and support the startup ecosystem since 2016 with the National Programme to Support Innovative Startup Ecosystem in Vietnam until 2025, also known as National Programme 844. Since 2017, Vietnam has emerged as a hub for startups, closely competing with Indonesia and Singapore. In the first half of 2019 for instance, Vietnamese startups raised $246 million with startups such as Tiki, VNPay, and VNG capturing 63 per cent of these deals. The first half of 2020 witnessed a 22 per cent reduction in deals compared to the same period in 2019, owing mainly to the economic impact of COVID-19. However, fundraising by Vietnamese startups has shown signs of recovery in the second half of 2020. To encourage entrepreneurship, the Vietnamese government has established a number of funds at state and provincial/city level to support startups. Our ecosystem is booming and emerging and in only two years Vietnam jumped from the second-least-active startup ecosystem among the six largest ASEAN countries (Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, the Philippines) into the third rank, trailing behind only Indonesia and Singapore, according to Southeast Asia-focused venture capital firm Cento Ventures. Vietnam, driven by its growing internet penetration, smartphone adoption, and young demographics, offers huge potential for startups, especially ones focusing on fintech, e-commerce, and enterprise solutions. These sectors have attracted significant portions of funding in the last year. Other emerging sectors include education technology, agri-tech, and logistics. Leon Cai: In the past five years, from 2015 to 2020, there has been an exponential increase in deal counts and investments into Vietnam, compared to the five years before then. Regulatory changes, too, have been passed in Vietnam to make it easier for startups to access tech from aboard. National agencies such as NATEC and innovation centres across Vietnam have been established to champion innovation. These are indicators that venture capitalists welcome and boost confidence among investors. Vietnam has risen significantly in 2019s Global Innovation Index rankings. Within ASEAN, Vietnam is one of the top three innovative nations, together with Indonesia and Singapore. As a whole, Southeast Asia has built a strong reputation in the innovation scene, with 13 unicorns groomed here. The region has also been attracting a significant number of global investors. According to DealStreetAsia, one of the biggest funds that closed this year in the region is global venture capital firm B Capital Group with more than $700 million that focuses on Southeast Asia. What lessons should Vietnam learn from Singapore to develop its startup and innovation ecosystem? Which best practices will ESG share with NATEC to develop similar open innovation platforms for Vietnam? Leon Cai: ESG has been working with public and private partners in Singapore to grow our open innovation ecosystem. As open innovation involves a win-win partnership between larger corporates and innovative startups and SMEs, these efforts include setting up the Singapore Open Innovation Network, which is a national gateway to aggregate all open innovation challenges out of Singapore, and the Startup SG Network featuring local startups and ecosystem partners. Most of the innovation calls are open to global solution providers and startups to apply. ESG also collaborates with foreign partners on international co-innovation programmes such as the EUREKA GlobalStars-Singapore call and the recently-launched inaugural Southeast Asia Open Innovation Challenge. Under the renewed MoU, we look forward to more opportunities to work with NATEC to facilitate exchanges between startups, corporates, investors, and other ecosystem players from Vietnam and Singapore, leveraging on existing initiatives such as the Singapore Open Innovation Network or through new collaborations like the Southeast Asia Open Innovation Challenge. Pham Hong Quat: Business-incubating infrastructure, tax incentives, cash grants, or financing schemes are outstanding government support initiatives from Singapore that push the ecosystem to the next level and those best practices are what we desire to learn. Most importantly, we are impressed by the way they form public and private partnerships in open innovation a global phenomenon and our focus in the past few years. We believe that this is an appropriate approach to build up sustainable ecosystem as government funding and supports are limited while there are a lot of opportunities from the private sector. By creating an open innovation platform where the government plays a role as facilitator, we can draw private resources into startup support activities on a sustainable win-win basis. We are positive that the renewed MoU will bring more impacts and benefits to the startup ecosystem of the two countries via a number of detailed activities such as market access and exchange, joint pitching sessions, capacity building, and open innovation platform. What successful tie-ups have there been between startups and corporations under the MoU? What are your future expectations? Leon Cai: ESG and NATEC signed the MOU at the sidelines of TechFest 2018 in Danang, Vietnam on November 30, 2018 to facilitate collaborations for startups, ecosystem builders and tertiary institutions between both countries. Over the past two years, the MoU has supported a number of initiatives: Strengthening the global innovation communities access to Vietnams startup landscape. NUS Enterprise, the entrepreneurial arm of the National University of Singapore (NUS), partnered Becamex IDC Corporation to launch ecosystem builder BLOCK71 Saigon in October 2020. As an entrepreneur enclave of startups, venture capitalists, and incubators, BLOCK71 Saigon connects Vietnams innovation players with a network of mentors, global tech talents, and resources from corporates and government agencies; Connecting startups to major technology hubs. BLOCK 71 augments the efforts of Enterprise Singapores Global Innovation Alliance (GIA) in Ho Chi Minh City, a partnership with Saigon Innovation Hub (SIHUB) and Singapore-based venture fund Quest Ventures that was launched in 2019. GIA is a network of global innovation hubs which Vietnams ecosystem players can tap on to access the latest R&D efforts, whilst familiarising the global startup community with market demands unique to Vietnam. More than 10 Singapore-based startups from various sectors participated in the first run of the GIA HCMC market immersion programme, which concluded recently with a number of participating startups in discussion for partnerships or pilot projects with Vietnamese partners; and Facilitating Venture capital activities. We have observed more fund raising activities from Singapore-based venture capital firms looking to invest in Vietnams fund and startups. Sea Group and Vertex Holdings invested in the recently launched Do Ventures fund, targeting Vietnamese startups. Other noteworthy fund-raising activities include Singapore companies, Insignia Ventures Partners, and TRIVE investments into Vietnamese technology companies Logivan and CoderSchool, respectively. Singaporean edtech startup Kalpha also raised seed funding from Vietnam-based VC Nest Tech VN. Moving forward, we hope to facilitate more co-innovation partnerships between startups and corporates. One example is the ongoing Southeast Asia Open Innovation Challenge that was launched at the Singapore Week of Innovation and TeCHnology in December last year. VNG Cloud launched its call to source for partners to co-innovate complementary technologies to support its eKnow Your Customer (eKYC) solution which enables digital banking for banks and financial institutions. The Open Innovation Challenge also saw participation from a number of other regional corporates including Central Group (Thailand), Hong Leong Holdings (Malaysia), Emtek (Indonesia), and Sunway (Malaysia), aiming to leverage Singapores business friendly environment, strong infrastructure and proximity to Southeast Asia to co-develop and scale new innovative solutions. The Vietnamese government has a number of supporting policies for startups. Do you think they are enough to facilitate startup development and lure Singaporean startup and venture funds? Leon Cai: Policies to support innovation has been remarkable in the last 10 years. At the enterprise level, MoUs such as those between ESG and NATEC further strengthen the role of the business sector in Vietnams innovation landscape. Our MoU encourages private and public partnerships, enterprise investments in science and technology initiatives, and expands public support for R&D at firm level by linking Vietnamese enterprises with research institutions. Efforts to strengthen training and knowledge transfers between research centres, academia, and foreign companies and national science and technology networks will also assure more domestic firms can access the latest technologies and build capabilities to improve on productivity and quality benchmarks. These efforts make Vietnam an attractive investment for Singaporean companies. * Username This is the name that will be displayed next to your photo for comments, blog posts, and more. Choose wisely! Mayfield Rape, Burglary Suspect Pleads Not Guilty By West Kentucky Star Staff Forty-nine-year-old Jonathan Chapman entered a not guilty plea in Graves Circuit Court. A pretrial conference is scheduled for April 19. Chapman was arrested Jan. 23 on charges of 1st degree rape and 1st degree burglary. Police said Chapman unlawfully entered the home of a female companion and sexually assaulted her. Officers reportedly found Chapman on a bicycle riding past the victim's home. Chapman was also served with an arrest warrant for violation of pretrial diversion. He was charged with possession of methamphetamine and tampering with physical evidence. He remains lodged in the Graves County Jail. MAYFIELD - A Mayfield man arrested in January on rape, drug and burglary charges made a court appearance on Monday. Airtel acquires airwaves worth Rs 18,699 cr Telecom operator on Tuesday said it has acquired radiowaves worth Rs 18,699 crore in the latest spectrum auction. The telco has acquired 355.45 MHz spectrum across Sub GHz, mid band and 2300 MHz bands, giving it "most formidable" spectrum holding in the country, Airtel said in a statement. All of the spectrum will enable Airtel to deliver 5G services in future, it added. Read more Exports dip 0.25% in February India's exports marginally declined 0.25 per cent to USD 27.67 billion in February while imports grew by 6.98 per cent to $40.55 billion during the month. The trade deficit widened to $12.88 billion in February as compared to $10.16 billion in the year-ago period. The exports during April-February 2020-21 period stood at $255.92 billion. Read more India adds 40 billionaires in pandemic year: Report Forty Indians entered the billionaires' club in the pandemic-stricken 2020 to take the number of those in the coveted list to 177 people, a report said on Tuesday. continued to be the wealthiest Indian with a networth of $83 billion. The head of Reliance Industries witnessed a 24 per cent jump in fortunes and climbed up one spot to be the eighth richest globally, as per the Hurun Global Rich List. Read more loses title as China's richest man Alibaba and Ant Group founder has lost the title of China's richest man, a list published on Tuesday showed, as his peers prospered while his empire was put under heavy scrutiny by Chinese regulators. Ma and his family had held the top spot for China's richest in the Hurun Global Rich List in 2020 and 2019 but now trail in fourth place behind bottled water maker Nongfu Spring's Zhong Shanshan, Tencent Holding's Pony Ma and e-commerce upstart Pinduoduo's Collin Huang, the latest list showed. His fall out of the top three comes "after China's regulators reined in Ant Group and Alibaba on anti-trust issues," the Hurun report said. Read more TMC's vote bank politics endangered security: Yogi Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister on Tuesday lambasted his West Bengal counterpart Mamata Banerjee for allegedly pursuing appeasement politics and endangering security by allowing illegal immigrants into the state for vote bank politics. He promised that cow smuggling will be stopped within a day if the BJP is voted to power in the state. "Appeasement politics for the sake of vote bank has endangered the security of not only West Bengal but also of the country. The government has a problem with refugees getting citizenship but has no issue with illegal immigrants coming to the state," Adityanath said. Read more New Delhi, March 2 : India on Tuesday exposed Pakistan for hosting the largest number of terrorists proscribed by the United Nations and providing them pensions out of state funds. The first secretary of Permanent Mission of India to the UN, Pawan Kumar Badhe said this in India's right of reply to statements made by Pakistan and the OIC under oral update by the high commissioner of human rights at UNHRC. Pakistan's deliberate misuse of this august forum for its malicious propaganda against India, aimed at diverting the attention of the Council from its own serious violations of human rights, has remained a constant, Badhe said. Pointing out that Islamabad has provided pensions to dreaded and listed terrorists out of state funds, the Indian representative said that Pakistan has the dubious distinction of hosting the largest number of terrorists proscribed by the United Nations. Pakistani leaders have admitted the fact that it has become a factory for producing terrorists, Badhe argued, adding that Pakistan has ignored that terrorism is the worst form of human rights abuse and the supporters of terrorism are the worst abusers of human rights. The Indian envoy urged the Council to ask Pakistan why the size of its minority communities such as the Christians, Hindus and Sikhs has drastically shrunk since Independence and why they and other communities such as Ahmadiyyas, Shias, Pashtuns, Sindhis and Baloch, have been subjected to draconian blasphemy laws, systemic persecution, blatant abuses and forced conversions. Holy and ancient sites of religious minorities in Pakistan have been attacked and vandalized, he pointed out. Enforced disappearances, extrajudicial killings and arbitrary detentions of those who try to speak against the establishment are rampant in Pakistan and have been carried out by the State's security agencies with impunity, Badhe said. The Indian representative mentioned that recently, Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh, the key suspect in the murder of the Wall Street Journal journalist, Daniel Pearl, was allowed to go scot free. Disappearances and killings of Baloch human rights defenders, he said, shows that human rights activists are not safe, even after they leave Pakistan. Idris Khattak, a human rights defender, who was picked up in November 2019, continues to be in secret detention, Badhe recalled. Pakistan, a country in dire economic situation, he said, will be well advised to stop wasting time of the council and its mechanisms, stop state-sponsored cross-border terrorism and end institutionalized violation of human rights of its minority and other communities. India, he said, rejects the reference to the union territory of Jammu and Kashmir in the statement of the OIC. It has no locus standi to comment on matters related to Jammu and Kashmir, which is an integral and inalienable part of India. It is regrettable that OIC continues to allow itself to be exploited by Pakistan to indulge in anti-India propaganda, Badhe said. We couldnt find anything at this address. Please check the URL or go to the 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. As protesters in Hong Kong gathered outside a court in the city in support of 47 pro-democracy politicians and activists charged with "subversion" under the national security law, some raised the mockingjay salute in solidarity with protesters in Myanmar. The salute, first seen on the streets of Hong Kong during 2014 Occupy Central movement in a reference to the movie Hunger Games, has been taken up by thousands of unarmed civilians protesting the February military coup in Myanmar, where police are increasingly using live ammunition to disperse crowds. The solidarity with protesters in another country isn't new: since Hongkongers and Taiwanese rallied on social media last year in support of pro-democracy protesters in Thailand, using the hashtag #MilkTeaAlliance. The Milk Tea Alliance has also taken on the Little Pinks, supporters of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), in a number of meme wars, amid a growing sense of solidarity and resistance to authoritarian rule. Myanmars military junta brought new charges against deposed country leader Aung San Suu Kyi on , accusing the detained state counselor of incitement and violating telecommunication laws, as protests continued to rage in major cities following a weekend of violence and bloodshed that left at least 20 demonstrators dead. In all, the 75-year-old politician faces four charges, carrying a total of up to nine years in jail, while President Win Myint is also being charged with incitement to defame the state. The parallels between the post-coup crackdown on a pro-democracy opposition in Myanmar and the charging of 47 Hong Kong activists with subversion for taking part in democratic primaries in aren't lost on protesters in Hong Kong, who chanted shouts of encouragement to Myanmar as well as Hong Kong outside the court building on . Four Myanmar-born residents of Hong Kong raised a banner that read: "Drink Milk Tea! Abolish Dictatorship! Fight for Freedom!" on the top of Hong Kong's Victoria Peak on , accompanied by a group of Hong Kong protesters. One of them, Debby Chan, who studies Sino-Myanmar relations, told the media that seeing protesters in Myanmar bravely facing down water cannons and bullets brought back painful memories of the 2019 protest movement in Hong Kong. "Hong Kong went through all of that in 2019, and so we want to show our support now," Chan told reporters. Pro-democracy protesters hold "Milk Tea Alliance" signs in support of Myanmar as they take part in a demonstration before a march toward the residence of Thailand's Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha in Bangkok, Feb. 28, 2021. Credit: AFP Similar struggles against authoritarianism Lennon Chang, senior lecturer in criminology at Australia's Monash University, said the Milk Tea Alliance is an enduring concept because all so many parts of the region are facing similar struggles against authoritarianism around the same time. "Unfortunately, these places all happen to be going through same thing at a similar point in time," Chang told RFA. "There's also a kind of butterfly effect, because technology allows people to gather more quickly and learn from the experience of people overseas." "That experience then becomes incorporated into practices in their own country," he said. "We can see that Myanmar are being run in a manner that is strikingly similar to the anti-extradition movement in Hong Kong." A woman holds up posters against Myanmar military coup during a Milk Tea Alliance united rally in Taipei, Taiwan, Feb. 28, 2021. Credit: Reuters Kalvin Fung, research director ASEAN and East Asian Studies at Hong Kong's Global Studies Institute, said there is a strong sense of identification between protesters in Hong Kong and Myanmar. "This has been bloody conflict, which has caught everyone's attention, and it ... reminds people of the equipment and methods they used during the 2019 protests," he said. "This makes people in Hong Kong feel that there is a fundamental connection." "I think it's also about the China factor ... as people were talking a lot about whether China was behind the military coup in Myanmar during the first couple of weeks," Fung said. Myanmar's protesters have also been garnering support in Taiwan, Thailand, Japan and Australia, where many protesters have also raised banners representing the Milk Tea Alliance. Meanwhile, in Indonesia and Malaysia, netizens posted support messages to the people of Myanmar using the #MilkTeaAlliance hashtag, which was used more than 1.7 million times on Twitter on alone. In Thailand, police used tear gas, rubber bullets and water cannon to disperse protesters who gathered in downtown Bangkok on , calling on the King to give up his military command. At least 33 people were injured and 22 arrested at the protest. Media reports also including references to solidarity with Myanmar among the protesters. Myanmar migrants in Thailand hold a "Milk Tea Alliance" sign as they take part in a protest in Bangkok against the military coup in their home country, Feb. 28, 2021. Credit: AFP Reported by Man Hoi Yan for RFA's Cantonese Service. Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie. .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... With $325 million already down the tubes, were hopeful a broadband internet bill unanimously passed by a House committee Monday and headed to the House floor really will deliver results this time. House Bill 10, the Connect New Mexico Act, would establish a centralized Office of Broadband within the Department of Information Technology charged with coordinating state, local and federal resources to build new infrastructure. The bill calls for mapping out the states broadband infrastructure and determining what it will take to get quality internet service to every New Mexico community. Its long overdue. Legislative analysts say the state and federal governments funded about $325 million in broadband projects in New Mexico in a recent four-year period, but its hard to track the money and ensure accountability. From remote learning to telemedicine, never has internet connectivity been more important. Around 76,000 New Mexico students dont have internet service at home. They have literally been disconnected for a year. Senate Bill 93, the creation of Sen. Michael Padilla, D-Albuquerque, is a similar broadband bill that was to be heard in committee Monday. Viante, a nonpartisan government accountability group, reports 22% of the state is underserved by broadband. Some areas of Socorro County are without service. ADVERTISEMENTSkip ................................................................ Viante estimates it will cost between $2 billion and $5 billion to adequately connect all of New Mexico. Its important we get bang for our tax bucks and dont invest in antiquated technology or pieces that dont talk to one another to get there. A comprehensive study showing our specific needs, along with oversight on the mechanisms to resolve them, is critical for our road map to connectivity. This editorial first appeared in the Albuquerque Journal. It was written by members of the editorial board and is unsigned as it represents the opinion of the newspaper rather than the writers. HarbourVest Partners has beaten the $600m target for its Credit Opportunities Fund II by reaching an $833m final close. The oversubscribed fund is double the size of the firm's debut in the strategy, which it closed on $375m in 2017. Republicans are weaponizing covid-19's nursing home deaths. In recent months, GOP lawmakers have heaped criticism on Democratic governors Andrew Cuomo of New York and Gavin Newsom of California for early missteps in handling the pandemic. Michigan Republicans, hostile to Gov. Gretchen Whitmer throughout the crisis, are now asking the state's attorney general to investigate how the Democrat coped with that challenge. Republicans say people died unnecessarily because of Whitmer's order that nursing homes readmit residents who had the coronavirus if the facilities had capacity and quarantine capabilities. Michigan's fatality rate was lower than the national average, and many of those on the pandemic's front line dispute the assertions. Having lost the presidency and unable to overturn the results with false claims of cheating, Republicans in Michigan and elsewhere are attempting to deploy pandemic criticism as Democrats did under Donald Trump: to undermine the president and his party. In Pennsylvania, Republicans have called for an investigation into Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf. And under Trump, the Justice Department sent letters seeking data on nursing-home deaths in California, Michigan, New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania - all states with Democratic governors. The Justice Department has yet to act further. With Whitmer running for reelection next year, Michigan Republicans see her nursing-home policies as a vulnerable spot. Eight GOP state senators signed a letter asking the attorney general, a Democrat, to investigate her performance. "They took nonresidents with covid to nursing homes and filled them up with sick covid patients," Sen. Dale Zorn said, echoing the charge that has been leveled against Cuomo. "That's how residents at nursing homes caught covid." Few have accused Whitmer of wrongdoing - in contrast to Cuomo in New York, where members of his own party have called for an investigation into allegations that he undercounted and concealed nursing-home deaths. Instead, Michigan Republicans have said Whitmer's decisions spread the virus. They have questioned the accuracy of data, seizing on testimony by Robert Gordon, former director of the Department of Health and Human Services. He said last year that mining good numbers from nursing homes "is a challenge" and that he could not entirely trust the death toll. Complicating matters for Whitmer is the fact that Gordon quit in January without explanation and took a severance package that included an agreement not to discuss the reason for his departure, according to the Detroit News. Health Care Associates of Michigan, a trade group representing nursing homes, and the Service Employees International Union, which bargains for workers, say that Whitmer made reasonable decisions and that deaths were unavoidable. Marianne Udow-Phillips, founding executive director of the University of Michigan's Center for Health Research Transformation, studied the nursing-home policies and reached the same conclusion. "I hear these allegations and ask, 'Where is the evidence?' " Udow-Phillips said. "There is no evidence. We found the governor's strategy to be reasonable and appropriate, especially at that time." Udow-Phillips mentioned the same statistic the Republicans are using: the nursing-home death rate. In Michigan, 33% of the more than 16,000 covid-19 deaths were in nursing homes. Nationwide, that percentage was almost 39%, she said. In Ohio, where 41% of deaths were nursing-home residents, Republican Gov. Mike DeWine has not faced a similar level of scrutiny, even though he also let residents with the coronavirus, which can cause the disease covid-19, into nursing homes, provided that they could be quarantined. As in many states, Michigan nursing homes were starved of equipment. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention put them behind hospitals for scarce masks and personal protective equipment (PPE), said Melissa Samuel, chief executive officer of Health Care Association of Michigan, the industry's trade group. "It was very clear from the beginning that PPE and the ability to test were very challenging," Samuel said in an interview. "The virus was most unmerciful to the population we care for." That created a nightmare on the front line, said Don Hill, an SEIU-represented nurse who works at Warren Woods Health and Rehabilitation outside Detroit. Few facilities had the most effective masks, N95s, until summer, he said. "If you had a surgical mask, you were doing pretty well, but N95 masks were rare," said Hill, who caught the virus in April and infected his wife, who died on a ventilator. "We lost a lot of people with covid." - - - Whitmer mandated weekly testing for nursing-home staff, but results took as long as seven days. Employees made about $13 an hour without paid time off, so many kept working even with mild symptoms, said Carolyn Cole, a nursing assistant at Four Seasons Nursing home in suburban Detroit. With cases piling up, Whitmer on April 15 issued a slew of directives: One ordered nursing homes using 80% or less of their capacity to create a dedicated coronavirus unit and provide PPE "as available." Another prohibited nursing homes from rejecting new coronavirus-positive patients or residents returning from the hospital. Samuel's association pushed back, and Whitmer amended her order with tighter protocols to contain the spread. Despite the changes, that order ignited a fight. Then-state-senator Pete Lucido introduced a bill in early June that would've banned admission of coronavirus-positive patients to nursing homes and required the state to set up separate facilities for them. "Who's better to decide - the nursing homes that have to care for patients, or the governor who thinks she knew what she was doing?" Lucido said in a recent interview. "It's called gross neglect, at a minimum." Republicans want to know why Whitmer did not send coronavirus-positive residents to a convention center in Detroit, said Zorn. - - - Michigan's Department of Health and Human Services looked closely at the idea, said a spokesperson for the department. The MDHHS concluded that the field hospitals erected in the convention centers were not set up with X-rays, CT scanners, ventilators and other equipment and did not have staff skilled to handle nursing-home residents. "The senators' allegations are shameful political attacks based in neither fact nor reality," Whitmer spokesman Robert Leddy said in a statement. "Our top priority from the start has been protecting Michiganders, especially seniors and our most vulnerable. Remember, the entire reason the virus spiraled out of control across the country is because the Trump Administration never got its arms around the pandemic." The governor vetoed Lucido's bill. Jeff Irwin, a Democratic senator, said the GOP included provisions - including moving patients without consulting a person's doctor or family - that forced her to stop the measure. He said lawmakers wanted to use the veto against her: "It turned into a political cudgel to try to beat the governor." Health experts say the biggest contributor to the coronavirus at nursing homes is the prevalence of the virus in he community outside. Republicans sued Whitmer to thwart her strict mitigation measures, including shutdowns of restaurants, bars and gyms. Other Republicans, such as Bronna Kahle, chair of the House Health Policy Committee, are trying to find common ground. Kahle recently introduced a bipartisan bill to help families safely visit loved ones in nursing homes to dispel isolation and loneliness. "Action can be taken more swiftly by working together and not by taking political shots at each other," Kahle said in an interview. "Last year is behind us. This is about moving forward and making sure they have their visits, and families aren't broken." Hundreds of Nigerian girls abducted last week from a boarding school in the country's northwest have been released, a state governor said Tuesday, as the West African nation faces a spate of school kidnappings. The girls, ages 10 and up, dressed in light blue hijabs and barefoot, packed into Zamfara state's Government House conference room. They appeared calm, chatting to one another as they sat in long rows while journalists photographed them. They will receive a medical checkup before being returned to their parents. Zamfara Gov. Bello Matawalle said that 279 girls had been freed after being abducted from the Government Girls Junior Secondary School in Jangebe town on Friday. The government last week said 317 had been kidnapped. It was not clear if the higher number was an error or if some girls were still missing. ``Alhamdulillah! (God be praised!) It gladdens my heart to announce the release of the abducted students,'' Matawalle said in a post on Twitter early Tuesday. ``I enjoin all well-meaning Nigerians to rejoice with us as our daughters are now safe.'' Officials said ``bandits'' were behind the abduction, referring to the groups of armed men who operate in Zamfara state and kidnap for money or to push for the release of their members from jail. At the time of the attack, one resident told The Associated Press that the gunmen also attacked a nearby military camp and checkpoint, preventing soldiers from responding to the school. One of the girls recounted the night of their abduction to the AP. ``We were sleeping at night when suddenly we started hearing gunshots. They were shooting endlessly. We got out of our beds and people said we should run, that they are thieves,'' she said. Officials ended the interview before the girl could give her name. The attackers eventually found her and some classmates and held guns to their heads, she said. ``I was really afraid of being shot,'' she said, adding that they asked for directions to the staff quarters and the principal. ``We said we don't know who she is.'' Nigeria has seen several such attacks and kidnappings in recent years, the most notorious in 2014, when 276 girls were abducted by the jihadist rebels of Boko Haram from the secondary school in Chibok in Borno state. More than 100 of those girls are still missing. Boko Haram is opposed to western education and its fighters often target schools. But most attacks in the northwest are perpetrated by armed criminal groups with no such ideology. Police and the military have been trying to rescue the girls from the Zamfara abduction, which caused international outrage. Officials did not say if a ransom had been paid for their release. ``We have been in discussion since Friday with the abductors and reached agreement on Monday,'' the governor said, adding that he would ensure additional security at all schools in the state. President Muhammadu Buhari expressed ``overwhelming joy'' over the release of the girls. ``I join the families and people of Zamfara state in welcoming and celebrating the release of these traumatized female students,'' he said in a statement. ``Being held in captivity is an agonizing experience not only for the victims, but also their families and all of us.'' The president called for greater vigilance to prevent bandits from carrying out such attacks _ but warned that paying money for the release of victims would only result in more assaults. Ernest Ereke, of the University of Abuja, agreed that ransoms are allowing criminal groups to buy more arms and expand their power. And the Nigerian state increasingly looks too weak to respond, he said. ``It is a lucrative venture in a country where a lot of young people are impoverished, jobless and hungry,`` he said. ``The state, which should confront these criminals, is enabling them by always pandering to their dictates. It should be the other way round, that is, the criminals should be scared of the state, but, in this case, it is the state that is scared of criminals.'' ``If the state is not able to crush them,'' he added, ``it means something is wrong with the Nigerian state.'' On Saturday, 24 students, six staff and eight relatives were released after being abducted on February 17 from the Government Science College Kagara in Niger state. In December, more than 300 schoolboys from a secondary school in Kankara, in northwestern Nigeria, were taken and later released. The government has said no ransom was paid for the students' release. Short link: ADVERTISEMENT A frontline civil society organisation advocating electoral reforms, Center For Liberty, has commenced a daily countdown to the Electoral Bill passage, in line with the March 2021 deadline set by the National Assembly. The Chair of the National Assembly and President of the Senate, Ahmed Lawan, had, on December 9, 2020, promised Nigerians of the passage of the bill on or before March 31, 2021. He regretted their inability to pass it in 2020. The Senate Chairperson on INEC and Electoral Matters, Kabiru Gaya, equally had at different fora, similarly assured of the March 2021 passage of the bill. A statement signed by its co-convener, Ariyo-Dare Atoye, also hinted that the bill is ready for legislative action while urging the National Assembly not to wait until the last legislative day in March. On December 9, 2020, at a public hearing, the leaderships of the National Assembly led by the Senate President, assured Nigerians that the bill for an Act to Repeal the Electoral Act No. 5, 2010 (As Amended) and Enact the Independent National Electoral Commission Act 2021, will be passed on or before March 31, 2021. The representative of Speaker Femi Gbajabiamila also gave a firm commitment to the March 2021 deadline at the public hearing, while noting that the passage will assist INEC to start early preparation for future elections. To this end, our organization has commenced a daily public countdown to the passage of the bill this month, while urging the National Assembly not to leave it too late in the month, so that we can quickly urge President Muhammadu Buhari to sign it into law. We have consistently urged the National Assembly that having come this far, it must do everything in its powers and pace to have the bill passed in record time before the end of March. The Independent National Electoral commission (INEC) has also expressed its desire to have a new Electoral Act in place for the electioneering process for Anambra 2021. It is heartwarming that the two committees of the National Assembly have succeeded in putting together the final draft of the bill for deliberations at plenary in the two chambers and subsequent passage. [March 02, 2021] The Law Offices of Frank R. Cruz Reminds Investors of Looming Deadline in the Class Action Lawsuit Against SolarWinds Corporation (SWI) The Law Offices of Frank R. Cruz reminds investors of the upcoming March 5, 2021 deadline to file a lead plaintiff motion in the case filed on behalf of investors who purchased SolarWinds (News - Alert) Corporation ("SolarWinds" or the "Company") (NYSE: SWI) securities between February 24, 2020 and December 15, 2020, inclusive (the "Class Period"). If you are a shareholder who suffered a loss, click here to participate. On December 13, 2020, Reuters (News - Alert) reported hackers have been monitoring email traffic at the U.S. Treasury and Commerce departments. The hackers are believed to have breached the emails by deceptively interfering with updates released by SolarWinds, which services various government vendors in the executive branch, the military, and the intelligence services. On December 14, 2020, the Company disclosed that "a vulnerability [was inserted] within its Orion monitoring products which, if present and activated, could potentially allow an attacker to compromise the server on which the Orion products run." The vulnerability was inserted in Orion products downloaded as well as updates released, between March and June 2020. On this news, the Company's stock price fell $3.93, or 17%, to close at $19.62 per share on December 14, 2020, thereby injuring investors. Then, on December 15, 2020, Reuters reported that Vinoth Kumar, a security researcher, alerted the Company last year that anyone could access SolarWinds' update server by using the password "solarwinds123." The article also reported that co-founder of cybersecurity company Huntress, Kyle Hanslovan, noticed the malicious updates were still available for download even days after SolarWinds was aware their software was compromised. On this news, the Company's stock price fell $1.56, or 8%, to close at $18.06 per share on December 15, 2020, thereby injuring investors further. The complaint filed in this class action alleges that throughout the Class Period, Defendants made materially false and/or misleading statements, as well as failed to disclose material adverse facts about the Company's business, operations, and prospects. Specifically, Defendants failed to disclose to investors that: (1) since mid-2020, SolarWinds Orion monitoring products had a vulnerability that allowed hackers to compromise the server upon which the products ran; (2) SolarWinds' update server had an easily accessible password of 'solarwinds123'; (3) consequently, SolarWinds' customers, including, among others, the Federal Government, Microsoft (News - Alert) , Cisco, and Nvidia, would be vulnerable to hacks; (4) as a result, the Company would suffer significant reputational harm; and (5) as a result, Defendants' statements about its business, operations, and prospects, were materially false and misleading and/or lacked a reasonable basis at all relevant times. Follow us for updates on Twitter (News - Alert) : twitter.com/FRC_LAW. If you purchased or otherwise acquired SolarWinds securities during the Class Period, you may move the Court no later than March 5, 2021 to request appointment as lead plaintiff in this putative class action lawsuit. To be a member of the class action you need not take any action at this time; you may retain counsel of your choice or take no action and remain an absent member of the class action. If you wish to learn more about this class action, or if you have any questions concerning this announcement or your rights or interests with respect to the pending class action lawsuit, please contact Frank R. Cruz, of The Law Offices of Frank R. Cruz, 1999 Avenue of the Stars, Suite 1100, Los Angeles, California 90067 at 310-914-5007, by email to info@frankcruzlaw.com, or visit our website at www.frankcruzlaw.com. If you inquire by email please include your mailing address, telephone number, and number of shares purchased. This press release may be considered Attorney Advertising in some jurisdictions under the applicable law and ethical rules. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210302005045/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE March 2, 2021 Contact: Angela Minicuci, aminicuci@martinwaymire.com, 248-765-0558 LANSING, Mich. Michigans food processing and agricultural workers are encouraged to register to receive a COVID-19 vaccination appointment as eligibility expands to Michiganders working in the food and agriculture sector. Throughout the pandemic, Michigans food and agriculture workers have been the backbone of our food supply chain and our rural economy, said Gary McDowell, director of the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development. I am pleased Michigan food and agricultural workers are now eligible for a COVID-19 vaccine because getting the vaccine is essential for their health and safety, the safety of their communities, and the stability of our food supply chain in Michigan. Those frontline essential workers who are eligible to receive the safe and effective COVID-19 vaccine as of March 1 includes food processing workers such as employees at meat processing and meatpacking facilities; workers who process fruit and vegetables; dairy processing; animal feed manufacturing; food and animal feed ingredient manufacturing; beverage production; and the production of food packaging. As a fruit processor in rural Michigan, and an employer of over 800 essential associates, Peterson Farms is appreciative of the announcement that food/ag workers will now be eligible for the COVID-19 vaccination, said Grant Boring, Marketing and Communications Manager for Peterson Farms. In preparation for this phase, Peterson Farms, in collaboration with MDARD and the District 10 Health Department, has been diligent in sharing resources and information with our associates to educate and inform them of the importance of getting the vaccine. Eligibility also includes farm workers, including migrant and seasonal workers, involved in raising, cultivating, harvesting, packing, storing, and distributing agricultural commodities, and those that work in close proximity to others. We want to make sure the dedicated Michiganders employed in our states food production facilities around the state have the tools and information they need to receive the vaccine, said Mike Johnston, VP Government Affairs, of Michigan Manufacturers Association. We will work with these facilities in their efforts to educate employees about the vaccine and eradicate the spread of the virus. Eligible food and agriculture workers can register in the following ways: Ryan Jarvi 517-599-2746 Attorney General March 2, 2021 LANSING An Ypsilanti man has pleaded guilty to embezzling more than $100,000 from a vulnerable adult, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel announced today. Calium Turnage, 59, appeared Monday in Washtenaw County Circuit Court before Judge Patrick Conlin, where he pleaded guilty to one count of embezzlement from a vulnerable adult over $100,000, a 20-year felony. As part of the plea deal, Turnage will pay $140,000 in restitution and additional charges were dropped. The evidence clearly demonstrates that the defendant personally benefited from the victims vulnerable position, and in doing so violated Michigan law, Nessel said. Our elder populations are particularly susceptible to financial exploitations and we in law enforcement must remain vigilant and prepared to hold bad actors accountable for such transgressions. Between July 2016 and December 2017, monthly checks of between $3,000 and $4,000 were written to Turnage from the checking account of a 91-year-old Ypsilanti man, who was an associate of Turnages. Turnage had been driving the elderly man to various destinations and doing odd jobs for him. About $30,000 in checks were paid to Turnage in that time span. During the same period, 288 ATM withdrawals totaling $142,000 were made from the victims accounts by Turnage. The elderly man was eventually found to be incompetent, and two weeks before he died, Turnage became entitled to the majority of the mans $600,000 estate after he submitted a request, allegedly on behalf of the victim, to remove the victims longtime girlfriend and name himself as primary beneficiary of the estate. That matter was disputed and settled in a civil lawsuit. Charges were initially filed against Turnage in December 2020. After the plea deal, the following charges were dropped: one count of embezzlement by an agent or trustee between $20,000 and $50,0000, a 10-year felony; and two counts of failure to file taxes, a five-year felony. Turnage is scheduled for sentencing at 1:30 p.m. April 12. This case was handled by the Attorney Generals Elder Abuse Unit. Nessel has made addressing elder abuse a top initiative during her term as Attorney General and helped establish the Michigan Elder Abuse Task Force in 2019. To view more about the task force, the Attorney Generals initiative and how to report suspected elder abuse, visit the Department of Attorney General's website. Villanueva: Economy can recover only if workers vaccinated Senator Joel Villanueva pressed for the vaccination of workers as soon as possible, saying it was the only way for the economy to recover. In an interview with RMN radio station on Tuesday, Villanueva, chair of the Senate labor committee, said he moved for the inclusion of workers in the vaccination program's "priority lane" because he knew that unless workers were given back their jobs, the economy will have a difficult time recovering. "We believe that we will be able to recover only if our workers are protected," Villanueva said. "Protected workers equals jobs," he said. Government data showed that up to 17 million workers lost their jobs at the height of ECQ from March to April. Villanueva said millions of families suffered economically because of the pandemic. "This is unacceptable," Villanueva said. He said there was only one thing needed for the country to get back on its feet: "Work, work, work." The vaccination program, Villanueva said, has been stripped of obstacles in sourcing and procurement of supplies by the law that Congress passed and which President Duterte signed recently. "We increased the role of local government units and the private sector," Villanueva said. "We are removing all excuses from those fond of excuses," Villanueva said. Nairobi, Kenya (PANA) - The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the UN World Food Programme (WFP) on Tuesday appealed for US$266 million to end food ration cuts for over three million refugees in East Africa Benjamin Joseph, a petitioner-turn-accused, appeared before the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory in Nyanya, Abuja, defending his petition over his loss of a N170million contract to an alleged fraud. Mr Joseph, who is the managing director of an Ibadan-based IT retail firm, Citadel Oracle Concept Limited, is being prosecuted by the police for making false claims against the suspects in his petition. The defendant had in his petition accused Mr Onny Igbokwe and Princess Kama of conspiring with the Company Secretary/Legal Adviser, Zinox Group and Technology Distributions Limited (TD), Chris Ozims, and others to hijack and illegally execute the contract awarded to his company. The contract was awarded to Citadel Oracle by the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) in 2012, but Mr Joseph said he only knew that the contract had been executed about nine months later when he received a tax demand over the proceeds of the contract. In October 2013, Mr Joseph petitioned then Deputy Inspector General (DIG) in charge of Force Criminal Investigation Bureau (FCIB), Solomon Arase, who later became the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), over the alleged hijack of the contract. He named Mr Igbokwe , who is the chief executive of a Port Harcourt-based IT company, Admas Digital Technologies Limited, as well as Pirovics Engineering Services Limited, and Ms Kama, as the facilitators of the alleged fraud. He also named a director of TD, Folashade Oyebode, and two staff members of Access Bank Plc, Obilo Onuoha and Deborah Ijeabu, as playing roles in the alleged scam. According to him, the suspects allegedly opened a fraudulent account at Access Bank in the name of his company using the companys forged documents, including a forged board resolution. On May 8, 2015, Mr Joseph again petitioned Mr Arase shortly after he was named the new IGP, to complain about his frustration to get the suspects prosecuted. On June 16, 2016, three days before Mr Arases retirement as the IGP, the police charged Mr Joseph with providing false information in his petition against the suspects. The prosecution led by Simon Lough had closed their case and Mr Joseph subsequently opened his defence with his testimony as the first defence witness in November last year. Continuation of defence Continuing his defence on Tuesday, Mr Joseph told the trial judge, Peter Kekemeke, how he initially reported the alleged fraud to a legal icon, Afe Babalola, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, in Ibadan, Oyo State. Led by his lawyer, Bob James, the defendant said after he was able to secure the details of the alleged fraudulent account, he went back to Mr Babalola, the founder of Afe Babalola University in Ado-Ekiti, who advised him to report the case to the Special Fraud Unit (SFU). He said Mr Babalola called then Commissioner of Police, SFU, Mr Tunde Ogunsakin, on his behalf, and asked him to proceed to report the case to the police unit. SFU revelations He said through the SFU investigations, we were able to know the people open account in the name of our company, Citadel Oracle Concept Limited. He added, It was one Chris Eze Ozims and Mrs Folashade Oyebode that were the signatories that operated that account in the name of my company. These people are not members of my company. Investigation revealed that they are staff members of Technology Distributions Limited, a subsidiary of Zinox Technologies Limited. They were invited by the police together with Princess Kama, Chief Onny Igbokwe, Deborah Ijeabu, and Mr Charles Adigwe, who is the accountant of Technology Distributions Limited. They all made their statements. ADVERTISEMENT Fake office address assigned to Citadel He said SFU investigations revealed that a fake address was assigned to his company on the account opening documents submitted to Access Bank. The police invited all of us, the parties, including me to a meeting. It was at that meeting that police showed me the account opening documents. In the account opening documents, the address of my company was Suite A11, Banex Plaza in Wuse, Abuja. Up till today, our company has no address in Abuja. That address was the address of AdMas Technology Limited, the company belonging to Chief Onny Igbokwe. Other fake information on bank documents He added that the phone numbers attributed to Citadel Oracle in the bank were that of Mr Igbokwe. Mr Jospeh said he got to know this because the phone numbers appeared on the letterhead of AdMas Technology Limited through which Mr Igbokwe wrote a September 9, 2013 letter to him denying knowledge or execution of the controversial contract. He also said email addresses attributed to him, his wife, who is the second director of the company, and the company were not theirs. Other documents faulted Mr Joseph also said SFU investigations also revealed that his mothers maiden name was written as Onyebuchi in the customer compliance form when the correct name is Ogbodo. He said the space for his signature on the customer compliance form was left unsigned. According to him, investigation also revealed that the second customer compliance form was filled in and signed by Chris Eze Ozims. The third customer compliance form was signed by one Mrs Folashade Oyebode, he added. He said on the mandate card, they wrote my name and omitted all my particulars including my date of birth. They left the authorisation signature space vacant, the defendant said. He said they left the passport photograph space vacant on the document, but added, Mrs Folashade Oyebode appended her signature and filled in her name on that form. On the third mandate form, it was Mr Chris Eze Ozims that was the signatory and he filled in the form, Mr Joseph said. Fake utility bill, board resolution He said the utility bill presented for the opening of the account was an Abuja Development Levy receipt that has the address of the company Suite A11 Banex Plaza, Wuse, Abuja. According to him, the fifth document which SFU investigations also discovered to have been used presented to the bank was the board resolution dated December 18, 2012 with a mimic signature that mimicked my original signature. He added, That document is a forged document. Also the letterhead was not from me. That document fell short of a board resolution. The board resolution form gave my name Joseph Benjamin and my wifes name. No signature of both of us. That board resolution has names of Chris Eze Ozims and Folashade Oyebode with her name appended on the document. The space for authorisation, which was a place for the denominator of the signatories, ought to be signed. They only wrote Joseph Benjamin in the space and no signature. ALSO READ: EFCC files fraud charges against Nigerian senator Also, the space for the secretary of the company was left blank and no signature was written on it. Referees, KYC He also said investigations revealed that the referee forms were filled in by Chief Onny Igbokwe and Princess Kama He noted that the Know Your Customer (KYC) form required the bank to visit the company for whom the account was to be opened. They wrote the name of my company and my name, but wrote the phone number of Chief Onny Igbokwe was written as the officer they visited, Mr Joseph said. Forensic examination He said following the dispute between him and the other parties over the authenticity of the board resolution, the SFU resolved to conduct a forensic examination of the document. He added that he pleaded with the SFU to extend the examination to all the other documents used for the opening of the controversial accounts. It was at this point the judge adjourned the case till Wednesday to enable him to attend to other cases listed for the day. Suspects deny Meanwhile, the named persons and companies have denied Mr Josephs allegations. They claimed that the Access Bank account was opened with Mr Josephs knowledge under an alleged partnership they entered into with him for the funding of the execution of the contract. Mr Joseph has also denied entering into any partnership with them insisting that the contract was hijacked from him through forgery and falsification of documents. He cited in his petitions instances of when the suspects were offering him monetary compensation after the alleged fraud was uncovered. Ms Kama, Igbokwe acquitted In Mr Josephs quest for justice, he had petitioned many government institutions and law enforcement agencies. While the police decided to turn him to the accused, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) filed charges against Ms Kama and Mr Igokwe. But a judge of the FCT High Court in Jabi, Danlami Senchi, on February 24 acquitted them of the charges bordering on the forgery of the disputed board resolution. Now that the Food and Drug Administration has approved Johnson & Johnsons COVID-19 vaccine, Texas is awaiting its first shipment of the third vaccine to be approved since the pandemic began. Texas could initially receive more than 200,000 doses, according to the Texas Department of State Health Services, but the agency hasnt received a timeline for when they would arrive. The company has said it plans to ship 20 million shots in the U.S. by the end of March and an additional 80 million doses before the end of June. Texas received about 1.5 million vaccine doses by Pfizer and Moderna last week, including doses that had been undelivered earlier in the month because of the winter storm. Unlike those vaccines, Johnson & Johnsons formulation is the first to only require one dose, and it can be stored at regular refrigeration temperatures. The others require two doses, and Pfizer doses must be stored at below-freezing temperatures. In clinical trials, the new vaccine worked especially well in protecting recipients from severe disease and hospitalizations, but its efficacy rate of 72 percent in U.S. trials is less than its competitors, which were shown to be 94 to 95 percent effective against COVID-19. However, Johnson & Jonshons vaccine was tested while COVID-19 variants were becoming more widespread; its unclear whether the other two vaccines efficacy rates would be affected by variants. Five million vaccine doses have been administered overall in Texas as of Feb. 25. That equals about 5.8 percent of the states population a long way from the 70 to 80 percent that experts estimate is necessary to achieve herd immunity. It would require nearly 100 percent of adults to be vaccinated to reach those figures, according to census numbers. Scientists are still monitoring how well vaccines prevent the spread of the coronavirus, and health officials advise those who are vaccinated to continue wearing masks, social distance and follow other COVID-19 safety guidelines. Gov. Greg Abbott announced Thursday that he and other state officials are considering when to remove the statewide mask mandate and other emergency orders related to COVID-19. He said he would make an announcement pretty soon. But even as hospitalizations and deaths have declined in recent weeks, U.S. health officials have warned governors to avoid removing restrictions too soon. Those declines may be stalling, Rochelle Walensky, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said at a COVID-19 White House briefing Friday. The CDC also has continued to sound the alarm about variants of the virus that continue to spread in the U.S, he said. Its important to remember where we are in the pandemic. Things are tenuous, Walensky said. Now is not the time to relax restrictions. The Texas Tribune is a nonprofit, nonpartisan media organization that informs Texans about public policy, politics, government and statewide issues. TORONTO, March 2, 2021 /CNW/ - 1911 Gold Corporation ("1911 Gold" or the "Company") (TSXV: AUMB) (OTCQX: AUMBF) reports results from the ongoing 18,000-metre Phase II Drilling Program on the 100% owned Rice Lake properties in Manitoba. This release includes nine first pass drillholes on new targets in the Bidou, Tinney, Poundmaker and Wanipigow East project areas, as well as four follow-up drillholes on the Janet target in the Bidou project area (Table 1; Figure 1 and Figure 2). To date, 51 drillholes, totalling 14,511 metres, have been completed in the Phase II Program, with assays now reported for the first 19 drillholes. 1911 Gold Corporation Logo (CNW Group/1911 Gold Corporation) Highlights: Drilling on 60-metre centres at the Janet (JT) target confirms a large-scale gold system, now traced over 400 metres along strike, with stacked structures defined by shear deformation, alteration, stockwork quartz veins and gold mineralization in favourable host rocks Drillhole JT-20-008, located on the middle drill section, returned multiple intercepts over a core length of roughly 125 metres, including 7.73 g/t Au over 0.5 metres, 0.74 g/t Au over 3.9 metres, and 0.4 g/t Au over 7.77 metres Drillhole JT-20-006, on the westernmost drill section, also returned multiple zones of gold mineralization, highlighted by 0.65 g/t Au over 11.15 metres, which includes 7.51 g/t Au over 0.5 metres, indicating the system is open to the west as well as at depth First-pass drilling of the Woodchuck discovery, which returned surface grab sample results up to 851 g/t Au, yielded several zones of gold mineralization, highlighted by 2.27 g/t Au over 3.26 metres, including 6.14 g/t Au over 0.6 metres, in WC-20-001 Drilling is in progress on several priority target areas, previously inaccessible due to inadequate freeze-up, at Tinney and Bidou where high-grade mineralization was discovered during the Phase I Program Dr. Scott Anderson, Vice President, Exploration, commented: "These results reflect the overall strategy of the Phase II Program: systematic follow-up drilling of discoveries from the Phase I Program to delineate the scale of gold systems, as well as first pass drilling of new targets generated from our ongoing regional exploration, which continues to highlight our strong project portfolio and the exceptional potential of the Rice Lake belt. With access now established for all drill targets, we are excited to see assay results from the initial Phase II drillholes at our most advanced targets at Tinney and Bidou in the coming weeks". Story continues Table 1: Assay results from Phase II drilling Target Hole ID(1) Easting Northing Length Az. Incl. From To Length(2) Gold(3) (NAD83, UTMZ15N) (m) (deg.) (deg.) (m) (m) (m) (g/t) Janet JT-20-006 335460 5638524 249 170 -60 9.75 20.90 11.15 0.65 Inc. 15.40 19.40 4.00 1.81 Inc. 17.70 19.40 1.70 2.61 Inc. 18.90 19.40 0.50 7.51 89.65 90.60 0.95 0.61 98.60 101.35 2.75 0.43 JT-20-007 335591 5638533 302 170 -65 107.00 109.65 2.65 0.65 Inc. 108.20 109.65 1.45 1.04 129.95 131.75 1.80 0.65 JT-20-008 335652 5638548 317 170 -60 22.70 23.25 0.55 0.81 32.15 32.65 0.50 7.73 76.75 78.10 1.35 0.48 82.20 86.10 3.90 0.74 Inc. 85.35 86.10 0.75 2.67 92.98 100.75 7.77 0.40 Inc. 100.25 100.75 0.50 3.29 145.85 146.35 0.50 0.91 JT-20-009 335777 5638546 309 170 -60 79.40 84.15 4.75 1.37 Inc. 82.50 84.15 1.65 3.44 Inc. 83.55 84.15 0.60 6.20 87.95 88.45 0.50 1.12 155.55 156.50 0.95 0.82 158.60 159.45 0.85 2.64 Woodchuck WC-20-001 334901 5638566 201 170 -50 92.94 96.20 3.26 2.27 Inc. 94.50 96.20 1.70 3.57 Inc. 94.50 95.10 0.60 6.14 WC-20-002 334967 5638560 202 170 -50 79.00 80.75 1.75 0.92 Inc. 79.60 80.10 0.50 2.02 WC-21-003 334880 5638558 200 212 -52 94.35 95.40 1.05 0.56 108.45 110.45 2.00 0.60 Bermuda BM-20-001 339091 5638407 185 245 -66 95.38 96.92 1.54 0.65 BM-20-002 338991 5638579 176 245 -60 120.55 122.00 1.45 3.15 Inc. 121.05 122.00 0.95 4.46 Poundmaker PM-20-008 307731 5663074 200 235 -60 124.95 126.10 1.15 0.62 144.75 145.25 0.50 1.87 PM-20-009(4) 307761 5663015 56 235 -60 NSV PM-20-010 307751 5663021 157 235 -70 NSV Wanipigow E. WP-20-001 308569 5659963 404 195 -60 NSV (1) Numbering reflects order in which drillholes were planned, rather than sequence of drilling (2) Represents drillcore length; true widths are presently unknown (3) All reported intervals are weighted averages; NSV, no significant values (4) Drillhole PM-20-009 was lost at 56 metres; re-collared as PM-20-010 Phase II Drilling Results Phase II drilling on the Janet target in the Bidou project area returned numerous mineralized intercepts, including local high-grade gold, defining a series of stacked structures that cut through chemically-favourable (Fe-tholeiitic) host rocks and felsic porphyry dikes. The mineralized zones are typically associated with stockwork quartz-tourmaline veins in silica-sericite-pyrite altered porphyry and basalt, and have now been confirmed in wide-spaced drilling over 400 metres along strike; results are pending for two additional drillholes completed to test these zones at depth (drillholes reported to date for Janet targeted the main structure at vertical depths of 100125 metres). New data from the nine drill holes now completed at Janet will be utilized to vector toward potential high-grade zones within this large-scale mineralized system. The Woodchuck, Bermuda and No. 2 zone targets (within the Bidou, Tinney and Poundmaker project areas, respectively) are kilometre-scale structures associated with high-grade gold occurrences on surface, with no record of historical drilling. Results from first pass drillholes, reported herein (Table 1), completed on wide-spaced sections confirm these structures along strike and to depth in each location, with localized gold mineralization associated with strongly sheared and variably-altered host rocks. These results will be evaluated in the context of the Company's exploration model to identify areas with potential to host high-grade vein systems along these major structures. Six additional drillholes have been completed on two parallel targets at Poundmaker, with results pending. The Wanipigow East target is located along the trace of the crustal-scale Wanipigow Fault and is covered with glacial-clay cover at surface. It is associated with a thick, tightly-folded iron formation within the fault, with coincident geophysical (MAG, IP, VLF-EM) and gold-in-humus geochemical anomalies. The initial drillhole (WP-20-001) targeted the core of the fold structure at a vertical depth of 200 metres, returning only local anomalous gold values; results are pending for two additional drillholes completed to test this structure at depth and along strike 450 m to the west of WP-20-001. Exploration Outlook Three drill rigs are currently testing targets at the Tinney, Bidou and Horseshoe projects that were inaccessible until recently pending completion of the ice-making program. These include several priority targets at Tinney and Bidou that returned high-grade intercepts from wide-spaced drilling in the Phase I Program; these compelling targets will be the main source of news flow in the coming weeks. Concurrent to the drilling program, 1911 Gold continues to plan for a comprehensive field exploration program in 2021, focussing on areas where high-grade gold mineralization was identified in bedrock during the 2019 and 2020 field campaigns, with the goal of advancing new targets to drill stage in several project areas within the Company's dominant land packages in the Rice Lake greenstone belt. QA-QC Protocols Sample handling, preparation and analysis are monitored through the implementation of formal chain-of-custody procedures and quality assurance-quality control (QA-QC) programs designed to follow industry best practices. Drillcore is logged and sampled in a secure facility located in Bissett, Manitoba. Drillcore samples for gold assay are cut in half using a diamond saw and are submitted to Activation Laboratories Ltd. (Actlabs) in Ancastor, Ontario, for preparation by crushing to 80% passing 2.0 millimetres, riffle splitting to obtain 250-gram aliquots, and pulverizing to 95% passing 106 microns; the pulverizer bowl is cleaned with sand after each sample. Pulps are analyzed by a 30-gram fire assay and AAS finish. For assays above 5 g/t Au, a cut of the original pulp was re-assayed with a gravimetric finish. Samples with visible gold are analyzed by metallic screen assay, with the weighted average of gold for the entire sample reported, based on fire assays of the screen oversize and undersize fractions. In addition to Actlabs' in-house QA-QC protocols, 1911 Gold inserts certified standards, non-certified blanks and field duplicates into the sample stream at regular intervals, such that QA-QC accounts for 10% of the total samples submitted. Results are routinely evaluated for accuracy, precision and contamination. Qualified Person Statement Technical information in this news release has been reviewed and approved by Dr. Scott Anderson, Ph.D., P.Geo., the Company's Vice President, Exploration, and Qualified Person as defined by Canadian National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects. About 1911 Gold Corporation 1911 Gold is a junior explorer that holds a highly prospective, consolidated land package totalling 54,344 hectares within and adjacent to the Archean Rice Lake greenstone belt in Manitoba, and also owns the True North mine and mill complex at Bissett, Manitoba, where it is reprocessing historic tailings on a seasonal basis. 1911 Gold believes its land package is a prime exploration opportunity, with potential to develop a mining district centred on the True North complex. The Company also owns the Tully and Denton-Keefer projects near Timmins, Ontario, and intends to focus on both organic growth opportunities and accretive acquisition opportunities in North America. 1911 Gold's True North complex and exploration land package are located within the traditional territory of the Hollow Water First Nation, signatory to Treaty No. 5 (1875-76). 1911 Gold looks forward to maintaining open, co-operative and respectful communication with the Hollow Water First Nation in order to build mutually beneficial working relationships. ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS Ron Clayton President and CEO CAUTIONARY STATEMENT REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION This news release may contain forward-looking statements. Often, but not always, forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of words such as "plans", "expects" or "does not expect", "is expected", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", or "believes", or describes a "goal", or variation of such words and phrases or state that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will" be taken, occur or be achieved. All forward-looking statements reflect the Company's beliefs and assumptions based on information available at the time the statements were made. Actual results or events may differ from those predicted in these forward-looking statements. All of the Company's forward-looking statements are qualified by the assumptions that are stated or inherent in such forward-looking statements, including the assumptions listed below. Although the Company believes that these assumptions are reasonable, this list is not exhaustive of factors that may affect any of the forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, future events, conditions, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, prediction, projection, forecast, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. All statements that address expectations or projections about the future, including, but not limited to, statements about exploration plans and the timing and results thereof, are forward-looking statements. Although 1911 Gold 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. All forward-looking statements contained in this news release are given as of the date hereof. The Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except in accordance with applicable securities laws. Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. SOURCE 1911 Gold Corporation Cision View original content to download multimedia: http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/March2021/02/c8479.html Northbrook, IL -- (SBWIRE) -- 03/02/2021 -- The report "Organic Feed Market by Type (Cereals & Grains, Oilseeds), Form (Pellets, Crumbles, Mashes), Livestock (Poultry, Ruminants, Swine, Aquatic Animals), Additives (Amino Acids, Enzymes, Vitamins, Minerals, Phytogenics), and Region Global Forecast to 2025" The global organic feed market size is estimated at USD 6.8 billion in 2019 and is projected to reach USD 10.1 billion by 2025, recording a CAGR of 6.8% during the forecast period. The market growth is driven by the increasing demand for organic food, rising organic livestock farming, expansion of organic farmlands, and the contribution to the environment. Developing countries in South America are projected to create lucrative opportunities for organic feed manufacturers in the coming years. Download PDF Brochure The cereals & grains segment is projected to be the fastest-growing segment in the organic feed market during the forecast period. The cereals & grains segment accounts for the largest share in the organic feed market. Cereals and grains in this study include corn, wheat, and barley. The US is among the largest producers of corn and wheat, as well as key raw materials used for manufacturing organic feed. According to the 2016 Certified Organic Survey (2015 to 2016), the US organic corn acreage increased from 166,841 in 2015 to 213,934 in 2016. Most of this production was used in organic feed rations. Due to these factors, the growth prospects for organic feed manufacturers remain high in the country. The poultry segment is projected to witness the fastest growth during the forecast period. The poultry segment is estimated to account for the largest share in the organic feed market in 2019. It is also projected to be the fastest-growing market during the forecasted period. Poultry meat is the most popular natural and organic meat among consumers. According to the USDA, in the US, the largest volume of organic meat sales is for poultry. According to the USDA's Economic Research Service (ERS), in 2016, the number of certified organic broilers produced totaled over 19 million in the US. The number of certified organic layer hens produced in the same year was over 15 million, and the number of certified organic turkeys produced was 410 thousand. In developing countries, organic feed manufacturers are focusing on capitalizing on significant growth prospects as consumers opt for organic products. The pellets segment is projected to record the fastest growth during the forecast period. Pellets are the most common and preferred form of organic feed. They also contain a high level of binders as compared to the mashed form of organic feed. The pelleted form of organic feed stimulates early organic feed intake. Pelleting of organic feed also reduces wastage, as it is easy to feed to animals, convenient to store, and is also preferred by backyard chicken farmers. North America is projected to be the largest market during the forecast period. North America is projected to be a key revenue generator for organic feed manufacturers due to the increased demand in the US. North America witnesses various key players operating in the organic feed market. These include Cargill (US), SunOpta (Canada), and Purina Animal Nutrition LLC (US). The demand for organic feed products remains high in the poultry segment in the region. The US is among the largest producers and consumers of corn, wheat, and soybean at a global level. These ingredients are majorly used in the feed industry, as they increase their nutrient quotient. Due to the rising consumer preferences for natural ingredients, the demand for these ingredients is projected to increase in the coming years. Request for Customization In Canada, some of the small scale players are focusing on offering organic feed for poultry, swine, and ruminants. In Mexico, the demand for organic poultry products, such as eggs and poultry meat, is projected to create lucrative opportunities for organic feed manufacturers. Milk is also projected to increase the demand for organic feed products among ruminant livestock, as consumers opt for organic dairy products in the region. Thus, North America is projected to offer high growth prospects for organic feed manufacturers in the coming years. This report includes a study of marketing and development strategies, along with the product portfolios of leading companies, in the organic feed market. It consists of the profiles of leading companies, such as Cargill (US), BernAqua (Belgium), Country Heritage Feeds (Australia), ForFarmers (Netherlands), SunOpta (Canada), Ranch-Way Feeds (US), Aller Aqua (Denmark), Purina Animal Nutrition LLC (US), Scratch and Peck Feeds (US), Cargill (US), K-Much Feed Industry Co., Ltd (Thailand), The Organic Feed Company (UK), B&W Feeds (UK), Feeddex Compaies (US), Country Junction feed (US), Green Mountian Feeds (US), Unique Organic (US), Kreamer Feed (US), Yorktown Organics, LLC (US), and Hi Peak Feeds (UK). 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, "Knowledgestore" 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 Vaccine politics could end up nudging countries in the region even deeper into Chinas orbit. As vaccines fail to materialise in many countries, doctors turn to cheap, widely available off-patent drugs such as Ivermectin. It is a time-honoured custom of business that manufacturers provide certain basic guarantees to prospective buyers about their products quality and safety. But U.S. pharma giant Pfizer wants to turn this on its head as it sells its experimental mRNA vaccine to desperate governments around the world. For Pfizer, its the buyer not the seller that should provide all of the guarantees. And that includes countries putting up sovereign assets, such as federal bank reserves, embassy buildings and military bases, as insurance against the cost of any future legal cases involving Pfizer BioNTechs vaccine, reports the Bureau of International Journalism (TBIJ): In the case of one country, demands made by the pharmaceutical giant led to a three-month delay in a vaccine deal being agreed. For Argentina and Brazil, no national deals were agreed at all. Any hold-up in countries receiving vaccines means more people contracting Covid-19 and potentially dying. Officials from Argentina and the other Latin American country, which cannot be named as it has signed a confidentiality agreement with Pfizer, said the companys negotiators demanded additional indemnity against any civil claims citizens might file if they experienced adverse effects after being inoculated. In Argentina and Brazil, Pfizer asked for sovereign assets to be put up as collateral for any future legal costs. One official who was present in the unnamed countrys negotiations described Pfizers demands as high-level bullying and said the government felt like it was being held to ransom in order to access life-saving vaccines. Campaigners are already warning of a vaccine apartheid in which rich Western countries may be inoculated years before poorer regions. Now, legal experts have raised concerns that Pfizers demands amount to an abuse of power. Pharmaceutical companies shouldnt be using their power to limit life-saving vaccines in low- and middle-income countries, said Professor Lawrence Gostin, director of the World Health Organizations Collaborating Center on National and Global Health Law. [This] seems to be exactly what theyre doing. Protection against liability shouldnt be used as the sword of Damocles hanging over the heads of desperate countries with a desperate population, he added. Zero Responsibility Nine Latin American countries have so far agreed to buy vaccines from Pfizer: Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Mexico, Panama, Peru, Uruguay and the Dominican Republic. The terms of these deals are unknown since all of the deals included a confidentiality clause. In the case of Argentina, the government acceded to almost all of Pfizers demands. But it insisted that Pfizer pay out in the event of negligence. Even that was a bridge too far for the drug maker. Its not unusual for governments to exempt companies of some degree of liability for the vaccines they manufacture. Since manufacturers develop the vaccines quickly and on a massive scale, governments often agree to cover some or all of the cost of compensation. If a citizen suffers serious side effects after being vaccinated, they can file a claim against the manufacturer. If successful, its the government not the company that ends up paying the compensation. Getting paid is often easier said than done, however. Attorneys in the U.S. say that less than 6% of the claims filed in the past decade resulted in payouts. But what Pfizer is after and is presumably securing from many of the countries that sign on the dotted line is additional indemnity from civil cases, says Gostin: [T]he company would not be held liable for rare adverse effects or for its own acts of negligence, fraud or malice. This includes those linked to company practices say, if Pfizer sent the wrong vaccine or made errors during manufacturing. Some liability protection is warranted, but certainly not for fraud, gross negligence, mismanagement, failure to follow good manufacturing practices. Companies have no right to ask for indemnity for these things. Some may argue, in Pfizers defence, that it did not participate in the U.S. governments Warp Speed vaccine initiative. Therefore it did not receive up-front federal funding for its research. As a private company, it is well within its rights to set whatever terms it wants in its negotiations with national governments. But these arguments are largely spurious. Pfizer did have an advance purchase agreement with the U.S. government worth $1.95 billion, which will have covered most, if not all, of the research costs. On top of that, Pfizers vaccine partner, BioNTech, received 375 million in subsidies from Germanys Ministry of Health. Perhaps most important of all, Pfizers total abdication of responsibility for its own acts of negligence, fraud, mismanagement or failure to deliver does not inspire confidence. And given Latin America is one of the regions worst hit by Covid, the optics could not be worse. A Big Boon for Other Vaccine Manufacturers Some nations in the region are looking elsewhere for supplies, in particular to Russian, Chinese and British-Swedish manufacturers. In December, Brazils Senate approved the purchase of 100 million doses of the AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine, which are set to arrive in the first half of 2021. National health regulator Anvisa has also approved a second request for emergency use of Chinese firm Sinovacs shot, to be produced locally. Argentina has agreed to purchase 22 million doses of the AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine. Most of them will be produced domestically. An Argentinean lab is churning out 18 million doses a month of the vaccine, reports El Pais. But they cannot be used yet due to lack of basic supplies, such as filters, sterile bags and vials, at the Mexican laboratory responsible for finishing the product. Argentina is also hoping to purchase 10 million doses of the Russian-produced Sputnik V vaccine. Mexico has struggled to secure an adequate supply of vaccines. The flow slowed to a trickle in early February 2021, largely due to a slowdown in shipments of supplies. Pfizer has so far delivered none of the 34 million doses Mexico has reserved. Mexico is also awaiting the arrival of 24 million doses of Sputnik V, 35 million doses of the Sinovac vaccine and is also hoping to finally begin production of the AstraZeneca vaccine in the coming weeks. To date the country has approved five vaccines Pfizer, AstraZeneca, Sputnik V, CanSino, and SinoVac but as of February 8 had only administered 718,000 doses. Five LatAm countries Uruguay, Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Cuba still hadnt received a single vaccine from overseas as of last week, according to the BBC. Cuba has produced its own vaccine, dubbed Soberana 02, which is currently waiting for domestic approval. At least 10 Latin American countries have signed contracts with AstraZeneca. The Russian Direct Investment Fund has also reached agreements with at least six Latin American countries to supply more than 60 million doses of Sputnik V. Other countries have said they are considering both Sputnik V and the Sinovac vaccine, not just because they are cheaper and easier to store but also due to the less onerous contractual terms. As such, vaccine politics could end up nudging countries in the region even deeper into Chinas orbit. China is already the most important trade partner for four South American economies: Brazil, Chile, Peru, and Uruguay. For the British-Swedish firm Astra Zeneca Pfizers scandalous sales practices could also represent a much-needed fillip after its own recent trials and tribulations trying to sell its product in the EU as well as the trouble its been having at its factory in India. Alternative Treatments In the meantime, as Latin America waits for the vaccines to materialise, doctors in the region have turned to cheap, widely available drugs that have shown promising results in the treatment of Covid. They include Ivermectin, a well-studied, well tolerated, (in the words of an FT article from 2013) off-patent anti-parasitical. According to a meta-analytical breakdown of 18 studies, the drug could cut the number of deaths from Covid-19 by as much as 75%. But the jury is still out. Many front-line doctors want to prescribe it but healthcare bureaucrats are dragging their feet. But in Latin America there are always ways of getting around things. In Argentina Ivermectin has been widely used in some provinces despite still awaiting national approval. In January, the Secretariat of Health of Mexico City and Mexicos Institute of Socal Security (IMSS) allowed Ivermectin to be prescribed to outpatients with Covid. Ivermectin, the Secretariat said, had significantly reduced patients viral load, with very few adverse effects. A day later, an official group of health experts condemned the decision, arguing that theres no scientific evidence that the drug is effective, and called for its immediate repeal. To their credit, both the Secretariat and IMSS have stuck to their guns. With virtually no vaccines currently available, what alternatives are there anyway? Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-02 23:41:58|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close JALALABAD, Afghanistan -- Three female employees of a local TV channel were shot dead by gunmen with one woman wounded in Jalalabad city, capital of Afghanistan's eastern Nangarhar province on Tuesday, the local government confirmed. "The incident occurred in Police District 1 of the city in the evening rush hour. The Jalalabad anti-criminal police have launched an investigation into the case," the government said in a statement. (Afghanistan-TV Channel-Gunshot) - - - - WASHINGTON -- The United States on Tuesday announced sanctions and restrictions against Russian individuals and entities over the alledged poisoning of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny. U.S. actions against Russia include export and visa restrictions, a senior administration official told reporters in a briefing call. (US-Russia-Sanctions) - - - - MOGADISHU -- Somali President Mohamed Farmajo has called for consultative talks on March 4 with federal member state leaders to break an election deadlock and avert a constitutional crisis. Farmajo said in a statement issued on Monday evening that the day-long event will take place in Mogadishu to help finalize talks on delayed elections and findings tabled by the technical committee. (Somalia-Election-Impasse) - - - - DHAKA -- Bangladesh said it won't consider joining any kind of security initiative under the so-called U.S. Indo-Pacific strategy. Bangladeshi Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen made public his government's stance while talking to a group of journalists at his ministry office in the capital Dhaka on Monday. (Bangladesh-US-Strategy) Enditem This is the Co Antrim man who bludgeoned a dog to death just to stop it barking. Michael McAllister was jailed by a district judge last week for the savage killing of pet chihuahua Marley. The judge said it was clear the death of the beloved pet in such violent circumstances had left his owner emotionally traumatised. But the cowardly thug reckons his horrific treatment of the miniature pooch wasnt deserving of a single night behind bars and he was immediately released after launching an appeal of his sentence. Chihuahuas are amongst the smallest breeds of dog in the world and stand at a maximum height of nine inches and weigh no more than 6lbs. Expand Close A chihuahua similar to the one killed by McAllister. Stock image / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp A chihuahua similar to the one killed by McAllister. Stock image Read More McAllister, who initially claimed he didnt remember anything about what happened, had previously threatened the dog warning he would choke it to death if it didnt stop barking. When we confronted him on his doorstep in the port area of the Co Antrim town this week, the 51-year-old told the Sunday World he couldnt speak about what happened as he was appealing. However, when asked if he had just lost his temper with the dog, a beleaguered McAllister replied: No it was nothing like that. Waving his hands in the air in exasperation, McAllister said: Its a terrible thing but I cant discuss it until after the appeal. He added: I dont want to go to jail. McAllister pleaded guilty to the theft of the dog and to causing unnecessary suffering to the animal during the shocking incident and is not appealing his convictions just the jail sentence. Jailing McAllister at Ballymena Magistrates Court on Wednesday, District Judge Nigel Broderick told him that to have caused the death of Marley was a terribly cruel thing to do. The judge added: There seems to be a greater concern when its totally wanton, unnecessary violence to an animal. Its a concerning trait as theres a possibility for that person to then engage in acts of violence against humans and others. DJ Broderick revealed that McAllister has a precious conviction for aggravated assault in 2003, an offence which resulted in a fine. He told McAllister that to have battered the young dog to death out of some sense of frustration with it because it was barking is wholly unacceptable. On the day his contest was due to start, McAllister entered guilty pleas to the theft of a dog and causing unnecessary suffering to the dog on August 4 last year. A prosecuting lawyer told the court how police were called to an address in the town over a report of a dog being killed and when they spoke to Marleys owner, she told them how McAllister had been in her flat in an angry state. The dog was barking and he lifted the dog and left the flat, said the lawyer, adding that two witnesses contacted police to report they saw the defendant with the body of a limp, dead dog. They took Marley off him and gave him back to his distraught owner and the court heard that a post-mortem examination determined the cause of death was due to a subdural haematoma which was caused by blunt force trauma. According to Marleys owner, McAllister had declared on numerous occasions... that he would choke the dog if it didnt stop barking. Arrested and interviewed, McAllister refused to answer police questions and claimed to a probation officer that he had no recollection of what had happened. Describing McAllister as a long-standing alcoholic who would drink two or three bottles of wine most days, the lawyer said there was a late guilty plea on the day of contest because he didnt want to admit that he had it in him to kill a defenceless animal. Losing his plea in mitigation, defence counsel Michael Smyth said there may have been some prevarication by McAllister when he was interviewed by probation because there may have been some difficulty in admitting to something quite so hideous. He is remorseful in that he is ashamed of what he has done both to the dog and to his friendship, said the lawyer. Jailing McAllister, DJ Broderick told him it was clear from the victim impact reports that Marley had given his owner a great deal of comfort and friendship and that he had no doubt she has been emotionally traumatised at the death of her much-loved pet. You had no justification whatsoever for taking this dog away and killing it, said the judge, who told McAllister that despite his protestations of amnesia, I have no doubt that you knew exactly what you were doing. Although initially taken to the cells, following a defence application, McAllister was freed on 500 bail pending an appeal of the sentence. The killing of a huge tiger shark by Australian fishermen has sparked furious debate about whether they should have killed such a huge animal. Paul Barning and his crew aboard the 'Dark Horse' reeled in the 394.5kg sharkon Sunday between Botany Bay and Port Hacking off the Sydney coast. A photo of the shark hanging off the back of the small vessel and dwarfing each of the six men aboard quickly went viral. Thousands of people commented - some saying the animals are a threat and others arguing killing the shark was 'selfish'. The massive 394.5kg tiger shark was reeled in off the coast of Sydney on Sunday (pictured) Tiger sharks are listed as a 'near-threatened species' on the International Union for Conservation of Nature's Red List - the world's leading authority on endangered species. Their numbers along the Australian east coast have plunged by two-thirds in the past 50 years. Tiger sharks are known to be resilient to the trauma of being caught and can recover well if released, with many people online questioning why the animal wasn't tagged and released. 'Good catch, but also sad to see such a big and old shark now dead for no reason. Poor thing. It should have been left to do it's thing,' one person commented. 'If this had been an elephant or rhinoceros there would have been a big outcry,' another person wrote. 'Power trip, actually it's murder of a shark minding its own business, living its life in the ocean... they should be charged,' added a third. NSW Game Fishing Association president Garry Chenoweth argued the problem was not game fishermen but commercial fishing. Pictures posted online caused heated debate about whether the 'near endangered' animal should have been killed or released There were eight fatal shark attacks in 2020, with Charles Cernobori killed by a 4m suspected tiger shark while body boarding at Cable Beach in Western Australia 'We don't even rate on the one per cent scale in terms of the impact on oceanic species,' Mr Chenoweth told Yahoo News. 'It's really easy to defend (game fishing), but people don't want to see the actual statistics.' He also noted that though many fishermen and the much of the public think nothing of catching bream or snapper, they are much slower growing than sharks. 'So if you take a five kilo snapper, it's probably about 35 years old. They'll fill an esky full of those,' he said. He also added the shark was donated to science to further understanding of the creatures. Tiger sharks are known as the second most deadly shark to humans behind the great white. There were eight lethal attacks in Australia over the years with the most recent being a 59-year-old Charles Cernobori who was killed while bodyboarding at Cable Beach in Western Australia in November. SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) A California serial killer known as the "I-5 Strangler" in the 1970s and 1980s has been killed in prison. State correctional officials said Monday that a correctional officer spotted 81-year-old Roger Reece Kibbe unresponsive in his cell at Mule Creek State Prison after midnight Sunday. His cellmate was standing nearby. Kibbe was initially convicted in 1991 of strangling a 17-year-old who had run away from home in Seattle. Investigators at the time said Kibbe was also a suspect in six other murders. In 2009, a San Joaquin District Attorney's Office investigator used new developments to connect him to the old slayings. An old photograph of Dilkusha from the Seoul History Museum exhibit in 2019. / Courtesy of Seoul History Museum By Robert Neff Seoul's newest museum is perched up on the hillside above Sajik Tunnel and flanked by a massive ginkgo tree in a two-story brick building known as Dilkusha. Built in 1923 by the American goldminer, businessman and journalist Albert Taylor for his wife Mary, the couple lived in the house until 1942 when they along with most of the Westerners living in Korea were deported from Korea by the Japanese. Many people are probably unaware of the role the Taylors played in Korea's fight for independence from the 1910-45 Japanese occupation. In her book, "Chain of Amber," Mary recalled that on March 1, 1919, she had just given birth to her son Bruce at Severance Hospital and woke up to discover a Korean nurse hiding a bundle of papers beneath her baby. When Albert visited her and their infant son, he discovered the papers copies of the Korean Declaration of Independence which were then smuggled out of Korea in his brother's shoe and broadcast around the world. Side view of Dilkusha. Albert Taylor's study where he did most of his writing is on the second floor. / Courtesy of Robert Neff After the Taylors left Korea, Dilkusha was pretty much forgotten and neglected. Only in 2005 did its past come to light through the efforts of a Korean professor and the Taylor family. In 2015, Seoul City Government began the restoration of the building and in 2017 it was declared a national heritage site. Jennifer Linley Taylor, granddaughter of Albert and Mary Taylor, on the first floor of Dilkusha / Courtesy of Robert Neff At a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Feb. 26, 2021, acting Seoul Mayor Seo Jung-hyup declared the newly restored Dilkusha would be used as a place to teach the living history of the Taylor family as well as their role in Korea's independence movement. It is a lofty goal but in my opinion the house in its present state is not a representation of the living history of the Taylor family it is beautifully restored but it is sterile and does not breathe history. Apparently I am not the only one who feels this way. Jennifer Linley Taylor (Albert Taylor's granddaughter), told me her first impression of Dilkusha as she walked up the driveway was that it had been "restored to perfection, somehow almost too perfectly." She was grateful that so much time and care had been used in its restoration. Taylor admitted, however, that the interior was somewhat disappointing. She had donated more than 1,000 items to the museum with the expectation that they would be on display, but the exhibits on Friday were sparse and lacked "the genuine feel, heart and soul of a house museum [which] should reflect the character of its inhabitants." "You want to feel like some things are frozen in time, that Albert and Mary might have just been there Mary's clothes hanging in a bedroom armoire, her easel with a painting clipped in place in a corner with some art supplies. Albert's pipe in his ashtray. His typewriter, pens and papers on his desk in his study, books on a shelf." The living room on the second floor / Courtesy of Robert Neff She said, "While going from room to room, I did not feel that I really got to know Albert and Mary, or connect with the historical events surrounding their lives, their life in Dilkusha, or understand their profound relationship with Korea and her people. The thread that should tell their story from each bead on Mary's amber chain is not present." Looking towards Albert Taylor's study on the second floor / Courtesy of Robert Neff She is correct there is more to the history of Dilkusha and the Taylor family than just the March First Independence Movement. Where are the anecdotes of living in Seoul during the World Wars, the Great Depression and the Spanish Influenza? The Taylor family came to Korea at the end of the 19th century as employees of a U.S.-owned gold mining company in northern Korea conditions at these remote mining camps were comparable to the American Wild West. Later the Taylors started their own gold mines (the exhibit has some pictures of the last mine but doesn't really provide much information about it). They also had other enterprises including a curio shop which sold antiques and furniture and one of the earliest car dealerships in Korea their ads in newspapers were of the day large and visually appealing. The huge ginkgo tree standing next to Dilkusha is also an important part of the house's history yet, despite dominating the courtyard, seems overlooked. For hundreds of years before the house was built, locals revered this tree and associated it with great powers of fertility. Mothers, hoping to bear a son, would come and pray at the base of the tree and offer little sacrifices (coins) to it. The 470-year-old gingko tree next to Dilkusha / Courtesy of Robert Neff At the ribbon-cutting ceremony I didn't see any coins at the base of the tree but I did see several sassy magpies flitting about in its branches and I recalled Mary had been warned that "they must never be frightened away." The ribbon-cutting ceremony on Feb. 26 / Courtesy of Robert Neff The villagers had also tried dissuade the Taylors from building Dilkusha through physical force and the supernatural including a shaman who cursed the Westerners: "The Spirit of the Place will be revenged. You will wither. Many evils will befall your family and your house will be consumed by fire!" Mary scoffed at the superstitious beliefs, but later, after several strange incidents including a fire that destroyed the interior of Dilkusha in July 1926, she tried to appease the spirits she had apparently offended. After the fire Mary wrote: "Beautiful objects enrich our lives. It is not always necessary that we possess them permanently. I was grateful for what they have given me to while I had them. Such gifts can never be taken away, once they have become an intrinsic part of us part of our eternal selves." Jennifer Linley Taylor gives her remarks at the ribbon-cutting ceremony on Feb. 26. / Courtesy of Robert Neff Press Release 2 March 2021 Hospitality Financial and Technology Professionals (HFTP) has introduced a new professional course from its HFTP Academy: the Hospitality Benchmarking Certificate, which demonstrates expertise in financial analysis and benchmarking. The course is a collaboration with the hotel benchmarking firm HotStats and will be supported by Ascend, a hospitality talent development company. The certificate is delivered as a comprehensive course available to all, with no previous experience required. Advertisements "HFTP continually strives to provide its members and the industry the tools to demonstrate expertise and progress professionally. Now with the addition of the new Benchmarking certificate, our catalog grows with another important financial skill set," said HFTP Deputy CEO Thomas Atzenhofer, CPA. "Developing and offering the certificates are a definitive way for hospitality professionals to prove to their employers their ease with important managerial skills to help navigate a company's financial strategy." The course emphasis will be to connect how benchmarking is essential for any profitability tool chest. The program is organized to explain the concepts and provide practical application to incorporate them into daily, weekly or monthly analysis. A special feature is that HotStats, a well-known hospitality data provider, is collaborating with HFTP and Ascend to add some real-world examples of applications. Using fictional hotels, but actual data, reporting examples will be incorporated to allow for immediate application of new skills within your organization. "Ascend's focus is to provide quality professional development with an immediate ROI to the learner and their organizations," said Ascend co-principals Arlene Ramirez, CHAE, CHE, CHIA, CAHTA and Agnes DeFranco Ed.D. CHAE, CHE, CHIA, CAHTA. "We are honored to once again partner with HFTP and now HotStats, an industry leader in the benchmarking space, on this new hospitality certificate." "Operational benchmarking plays a prominent role within a hotel's overall financial analysis toolkit, particularly amid these precarious times," said Pablo Alonso, CEO of HotStats. "It allows hoteliers to measure asset performance across an array of key performance indicators covering revenue, expense and profit, allowing them to identify areas of underperformance and outperformance. HotStats is thrilled to be partnering with the HFTP and Ascend to develop and deliver a benchmarking course that will not only aid hotels in the recovery, but have a lasting presence in the everlasting pursuit of driving bottom line growth." Participants receive 24/7 access and have three months to complete the course. Once all modules are completed, the participant will be required to take a 30-question assessment that needs to be passed with 100 percent accuracy. Participants will have unlimited attempts to achieve this perfect score. Upon successful completion of the entire certificate course, registrants will receive a digital badge and certificate recognizing their achievement and new knowledge base. In addition to the Benchmarking certificate, the HFTP Academy also offers two USALI-11 certificates. First is the USALI-11 Theory certificate, which covers the layout and content of the financial statements for each operating department and undistributed departments. In addition, the course reviews the Non-Operating Income and Expense section, Net vs Gross Revenue reporting, and the ratios provided in the 11th edition. The other is the USALI-11 Practice Analysis and Compliance Certificate, which takes the knowledge base from the theory course and applies numbers to provide insight on how best to analyze and interpret the information in the financial statements. Emphasis is placed on vertical, horizontal and ratio analyses. With the launch of the new Benchmarking certificate, the HFTP Academy is offering a discounted price for all certificates through May 31, 2021. The offer prices one course for $375 USD; two courses for $700 USD; and three courses for $1,000 USD (best value). On June 1, 2021, the certificates will return to the regular cost of $1,000 USD per course. For more information, visit the HFTP Academy or contact HFTP Certification Manager Robin Bogdon at [email protected]. About Ascend Ascend, a premier hospitality talent development company focused on delivering online learning and certification programs designed to address opportunities for professional growth within organizations. Retaining great talent is a necessity for any organization to remain competitive, Ascend provides a VALUE proposition to elevate existing talent. This approach involves validating the contributions made by employees, assessing their knowledge needs and developing learning programs that provide opportunities for individuals to apply new concepts within the organization to encourage internal professional growth opportunities. Ascend is proud to be an educational partner with HFTP in providing a solution to the administration and review and examination process for their premier certifications the CHAE (Certified Hospitality Accountant Executive) and the CHTP (Certified Hospitality Technology Professional). Ascend is based in Houston, Texas USA. About HotStats Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. NEWPORT BEACH, Calif., March 2, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Hoag's Pickup Family Neurosciences Institute (PFNI) today announced it is the first on the West Coast to utilize the Mazor X Stealth Edition Robotic Guidance Platform, the most advanced robotic-assisted, minimally invasive spine surgery option. The Mazor combines 3D pre-operative planning tools and analytics with intra-operative trajectory precision to provide surgeons with comprehensive information of the best approach and visualization of the target before the surgery starts. This new technology allows surgeons to operate with precision and efficiency, reducing need for x-rays, and minimizes pain and recovery time after surgery. "This revolutionary technology provides our patients and clinical team with the most advanced minimally-invasive tool available," said Burak Ozgur, M.D., chief of service for the Neurosurgery Spine Program at the Pickup Family Neurosciences Institute. "This robotic instrument allows the surgeon to be in complete control, but gives them the superior benefit of 3D-guided navigation in one easy-to-use tool." Hoag has received numerous national, state and local accolades for its success with robotic-assisted, minimally invasive surgery and has been designated a Center of Excellence in Robotic Surgery (COERS) from the Surgical Review Corporation. Hoag has shown repeatedly how such surgery can result in less blood loss, reduced muscle damage and faster recovery times. This new platform is representative of Hoag's dedication to innovation in increasing safety and accuracy within the operating room. Robotic platforms are important tools throughout Hoag's institutes. In fact, advanced computer-assisted technology is becoming the standard of care in cancer, women's health, cardiovascular conditions and general surgery at Hoag. By introducing this new 3D-guided technology to spine neurosurgery, Hoag is upholding its commitment to improving outcomes for patients through continued innovation. ABOUT PICKUP FAMILY NEUROSCIENCES INSTITUTE Delivering a personalized, integrated approach using best-practice guidelines, the most advanced technology, and integration of medical specialists in the most appropriate facilities, the Pickup Family Neurosciences Institute (PFNI) at Hoag provides world class care for patients with specific conditions of the brain and spine such as stroke, aneurysms and vascular malformations, brain tumors, epilepsy, movement disorders, memory and cognitive disorders, pain, minimally invasive spine surgery, multiple sclerosis, addiction medicine and sleep disorders, as well as the mind-body interface of behavioral health. Many of Hoag's PFNI programs have received high acclaim. Pickup Family Neurosciences Institute was ranked by U.S. News & World Report as the No. 1 hospital in Orange County and ranked No. 27 nationally in Neurology & Neurosurgery, placing it in the top 1% of hospitals across the U.S., and the only hospital in the top 30 without a formal academic residency program in neurology or neurosurgery. The Hoag Stroke Program was the first in Orange County and the second in California to be named a Certified Comprehensive Stroke Center by DNV GL Healthcare and was awarded the American Stroke Association's Get With The Guidelines Stroke Gold Plus Performance Achievement for stroke care. And as one of the first centers in the U.S. to offer the most advanced radiosurgical treatment system available, Leksell Gamma Knife Perfexion, the PFNI brain tumor program is the largest in Orange County and is also among the top volume programs in the western United States. Hoag has been recognized as a designated Level 4 Comprehensive Epilepsy Center by the National Association of Epilepsy Centers. The PFNI's memory and cognitive disorders program is nationally recognized. ABOUT HOAG Hoag is a nonprofit, regional health care delivery network in Orange County, California, that treats more than 30,000 inpatients and 480,000 outpatients annually. Hoag consists of two acute-care hospitals Hoag Hospital Newport Beach, which opened in 1952, and Hoag Hospital Irvine, which opened in 2010 in addition to nine health centers and 13 urgent care centers. Hoag has invested $261 million in programs and services to support the underserved community within the past five years, including areas like mental health, homelessness, transportation for seniors, education, and support for single mothers. Hoag is a designated Magnet hospital by the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC). Hoag offers a comprehensive blend of health care services that includes five institutes providing specialized services in the following areas: cancer, heart and vascular, neurosciences, women's health, and orthopedics through Hoag's affiliate, Hoag Orthopedic Institute , which consists of an orthopedic hospital and two ambulatory surgical centers. In the 2020 - 2021 U.S. News & World Report Best Hospitals Rankings, Hoag is the highest ranked hospital in Orange County and the only OC hospital ranked in the Top 10 in California. For an unprecedented 23 years, residents of Orange County have chosen Hoag as one of the county's best hospitals in a local newspaper survey. Visit www.hoag.org for more information. SOURCE Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian Related Links https://www.hoag.org Myanmars former leader Aung San Suu Kyi appeared at a court hearing using video conferencing on Monday. Her supporters, however, marched in several towns and cities. They ignored a crackdown following the deadliest day since February 1, the day that the military seized power in the country. Suu Kyi appeared to be in good health during her appearance before a court in the capital Naypyidaw, one of her lawyers said. Two more charges were added to those already brought against her after the military takeover, she said. I saw Amay on the video, she looks healthy, lawyer Min Min Soe told Reuters. She used the respectful word for mother to describe Suu Kyi, as many people in the country do. Suu Kyi is a Nobel Peace Prize-winner. She also leads the National League for Democracy (NLD). She has not been seen in public since the military dismissed parliament. She was detained along with other party leaders at that time. At first, she was charged with importing six illegal communications devices. Later, the charge of violating coronavirus restriction laws was added. On Monday, two more charges were added. The first was illegally publishing information that may cause fear or alarm. A lawyer said the other charge was under a telecommunications law that requires special permission for some equipment. The next hearing will be on March 15. Critics of the militarys seizure of power say the charges were false. Severe action Police fired tear gas and noise makers to break up hundreds of protesters in the main city of Yangon on Monday, witnesses said. They later searched streets firing rubber bullets. Local media reported that least one person was hurt. Demonstrators also marched on Monday in the northwestern town of Kale holding up pictures of Suu Kyi. A live video stream on Facebook showed protestors in the northeastern city of Lashio. Police and soldiers later raided a Christian religious center in the town and detained 11 people, a Christian group said in a statement. There have been protests in Myanmar every day since the military took power after claiming that the November election, won by the NLD, was unfair. The protests are becoming increasingly violent as police and the military try to stop them. On Sunday, police fired on protestors in several places killing 18 people, the United Nations human rights office said. We have to continue the protest no matter what, Thar Nge said after police forced him and others to leave a Yangon street. This is my neighborhood. Its a lovely neighborhood but now were hearing gunfire and we dont feel safe, he added. The military has not commented on Sundays violence. Police and military spokesmen did not answer requests for comment. The state-run Global New Light of Myanmar newspaper warned that severe action will inevitably be taken against protestors. The militarys takeover brought an end to Myanmars small steps toward democracy that followed nearly 50 years of military rule. The action has been condemned by Western countries and concern is growing among Myanmars neighbors. Foreign ministers from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) are expected to discuss the situation on Tuesday during a video meeting. Myanmar is a member of ASEAN. The organization will listen to the representative of the Myanmar military, Singapores foreign minister, Vivian Balakrishnan, told parliament. Balakrishnan called for the security forces to stop using deadly force, for Suu Kyi to be released, and for talks to find a way back to democracy. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken denounced what he called abhorrent violence by security forces. Canadas foreign minister, Marc Garneau, called the use of deadly force appalling. U.N. special rapporteur Tom Andrews said the international community had to answer Myanmars military because it will continue to use deadly force. He suggested an arms embargo, more sanctions on military businesses and sending cases to the International Criminal Court. We must act, Andrews said in a statement. Im Susan Shand. The Reuters News Agency reported this story. Susan Shand adapted it for Learning English. Mario Ritter, Jr. was the editor. ____________________________________________________________ Words in This Story crackdown n. a serious attempt to punish people for doing something this is not permitted; a sudden increased effort to enforce the rule of law inevitably adv. in a way that is sure to happen abhorrent adj. causing or deserving strong dislike or hatred appalling adj. very bad, in a way that causes fear or shock rapporteur n. (foreign) a person whose job is to do research and present official reports on a subject sanctions n.(pl.) actions taken to force a country to obey international law by limiting or stopping trade or cutting economic aid We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments Section, and visit our Facebook page. LAPD Police Chief Michel Moore was hospitalized overnight Monday but returned home Tuesday. No information about the reason for his stay was provided. (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times) Los Angeles Police Chief Michel Moore was back home Tuesday after an overnight hospitalization for symptoms the department would not disclose. Moore was hospitalized Monday night after "not feeling well" and transporting himself to a hospital, police confirmed to The Times on Tuesday. Moore was admitted to L.A. County-USC Medical Center for "testing and observation" and remained there until his release Tuesday. Moore's condition and symptoms could not immediately be determined. He has been vaccinated for COVID-19. "Chief Moore is in great spirits and appreciates your well-wishes and support," said Capt. Stacy Spell, an LAPD spokesman, in a statement while Moore was still hospitalized. "To respect his privacy, the Department will not be commenting further." After Moore's release from the hospital, Spell added that Moore "appreciates the expressions of support that he has received," and "asked that we continue to keep our department personnel still hospitalized in our thoughts and prayers." At least one LAPD employee was hospitalized in critical condition Tuesday related to COVID-19, and another was in critical condition after being struck by a vehicle in Newton Division on Friday night. Moore later tweeted a similar message from his own account, adding that he was "grateful to be at home" and appreciative of the medical center staff. "Truly dedicated and caring professionals," he wrote. Officials said the department had not determined a need for Moore's responsibilities to be officially assumed by other commanders. "He's the police chief. There is no acting chief," said Asst. Chief Horace Frank. However, assistant chiefs are attending meetings on Moore's behalf. Moore was absent from the regular L.A. Police Commission meeting Tuesday morning, with Asst. Chief Beatrice Girmala standing in for him, and a virtual meeting with reporters scheduled for Tuesday afternoon was canceled. Story continues Moore's wife was transported to the hospital to meet him there, sources said. Mayor Eric Garcetti was informed of Moore's hospitalization Monday night, his office said. Moore, a 40-year veteran of the LAPD, was appointed chief by Garcetti in 2018 after rising through the ranks as an officer, detective, sergeant and lieutenant. He also commanded the Rampart Division, worked in the Valley Bureau, served as a deputy and assistant chief, headed special operations and oversaw various other aspects of the department's operations, including fiscal and data operations. Particularly in the last year, Moore has been one of the most visible and scrutinized officials in Los Angeles, juggling multiple emergencies as the city and nation have grappled with the COVID-19 pandemic, surging violent crime and evolving public perceptions of the role police should play in society. Moore oversaw the LAPD's response to mass protests against police brutality last summer, a pivotal moment in L.A. and American policing. He received public criticism for failing to maintain order and for the extent of force used by officers to clear protest crowds, but maintained the support of Garcetti and most public officials. Moore also has been overseeing a reorganization of the LAPD in response to a budget cut, a reduction in sworn officers and new programs for calls about mental illness, substance abuse and homelessness. He also has been overseeing the LAPD's handling of COVID-19 which has infected more than 2,650 LAPD personnel and killed eight. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times. New Delhi, March 2 : The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Tuesday registered a case relating to a conspiracy by terror outfit Lashkar-e-Mustafa (LeM) and its chief Hidayat-ullah Malik, who had recced the office of National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval in May last year, working at the behest of Pakistan-based proscribed terrorist organisation Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) to carry out terrorist activities in the Jammu region. An NIA official said here that the agency registered a case on Tuesday as the LeM was trying to carry out terrorist activities in the Jammu area with the aim of threatening the sovereignty, integrity and security of India. The NIA took over the case which the Jammu and Kashmir Police had registered at the Gangyal police station in Jammu district on February 6 this year under several sections of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA). According to NIA officials, the arrested accused Malik is the chief of Lashker-e-Mustafa. "During searches, one hand grenade, three magazines and 28 rounds with other incriminating materials were recovered from his possession," the official said. The official further said that Malik had done reconnaissance of many security installations in Jammu and Delhi in 2018 and 2019 for carrying out terror attacks. According to the officers of J&K Police related to the probe, during interrogation, Malik confessed that he had done recce of Doval's office and several other locations and sent reports to the commanders of JeM in Pakistan. The official said that Malik was arrested from Anantnag and during his interrogation, he has revealed that he had taken a flight to Delhi last year in May and recorded a video of Doval's office and then passed it on to his Pakistani commander named Doctor through WhatsApp. Malik also confessed to have conducted a recce of the border area in J&K's Samba sector in mid 2019, along with Sameer Ahmad Dar, who was arrested by the NIA in January last year for his involvement in the 2019 Pulwama terror attack. According to NIA officials, Malik has been associated with other terror groups in past to further subversive and terror activities in the Kashmir Valley. "The terror group had also committed a daylight bank robbery in which Rs 60 lakh were looted from J&K Bank's main branch in Shopian in November 2020," the NIA official said. The NSA has remained a prime target for the terrorists since the 2016 Uri surgical strike and the Balakot air strike of 2019. Doval also questioned JeM chief Masood Azhar after his arrest in 1994, and was one of the persons to escort Azhar to Kandhar in the wake of the IC-814 hijack in 1999. Thank you for reading! Please log in, or sign up for a new account and purchase a subscription to continue reading. Lisa A. Prettyman, 58, of Middletown, Del., passed away Friday, Feb. 26, at her mothers residence in Pine Grove. Born Nov. 9, 1962, in Pine Grove, she was a daughter of Ruth (Heffner) Barbetta, wife of Richard, Pine Grove, and Dave Moyer, Schuylkill Haven. She was a graduate of Schuylkill Haven High School and then attended Bloomsburg University, where she got her bachelors degree. Lisa was self-employed as a CPA. In addition to her parents, Lisa is survived by her daughters, Kayla Kinley Haberstroh, Camden, Del., and Lauren Elizabeth Haberstroh, Baltimore, Md. If ever there is a tomorrow Where were not together There is something you must always remember You are braver than you believe Stronger than you seem And smarter than you think But the most important thing is Even if were apart Ill always be with you. A visitation for family and friends will be held from 2 to 6 p.m. Saturday, April 10, at 1100 St. Annes Blvd., Middletown, DE 19709. In Lisas memory, memorial donations may be made to the Delaware Breast Cancer Coalition Inc., 100 W. 10th St., Suite 209, Wilmington, DE 19801. To extend condolences to the family, visit www.gsesfuneralhomes.com. Ebling-Stabingas Funeral Home, Cressona, has been entrusted with the arrangements. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 2) The more transmissible COVID-19 variant first discovered in South Africa which appeared to make some vaccines less effective has reached the Philippines, the Department of Health confirmed on Tuesday. Cases of variants linked to the United Kingdom and coronavirus patients found with "mutations of interest" also continue to rise. Six cases of the South Africa variant, called B.1.351, were detected by the Philippine Genome Center when they conducted genome sequencing of the samples from COVID-19 patients. Three cases are considered local cases, two are returning overseas Filipinos, while officials are checking if the other case is local or a returning OFW. The three local cases were reported as residents of Pasay City, and whose samples were collected between January 27 and February 13, 2021. Two of the local cases, a 61-year-old female and a 39-year-old male, are active cases being managed by Pasay City. The third local case, a 40-year-old male, has already recovered. On the other hand, the two returning overseas Filipinos arrived in the country from the United Arab Emirates and Qatar. South African researchers believe this new variant is around 50% more contagious than the regular COVID-19 strain. It has a different pattern of mutation that causes more physical alterations in the structure of the spike protein compared to the variant first found in the United Kingdom. South Africa variants and vaccines Researchers said that one of South Africa variant's mutation, called E484K, appears to affect the receptor binding domain the part of the spike protein most important for attaching to cells. It could help the virus partly escape the effects of vaccines. Laboratory studies have suggested that vaccines made by Pfizer and Moderna can protect against coronavirus variants, including those linked in South Africa. Novavax has a lower efficacy of 60% when tested in Phase 2 clinical trials in South Africa, where the variant was prevalent, compared to the 89% efficacy rate when tested in Phase 3 trials in Britain. South Africa paused its rollout of the AstraZeneca vaccine after preliminary trial data showed it offered minimal protection against mild to moderate illness caused by the variant. Sinovac, the only vaccine brand currently rolled out in the Philippines, has yet to publish any study linked to its efficacy against variants. UK variant, mutations Thirty new cases of the variant from United Kingdom were also recorded in the country. This brings the total number of B.1.1.7 cases in the country to 87. Of the new cases, 20 are Filipinos returning from Middle East, Singapore, and USA; three local cases from the Cordillera Administrative Region; while seven cases are undergoing verification. Meanwhile, DOH said that two additional samples from Central Visayas were found to have both the N501Y and E484K mutations. Two mutation cases were also delisted, so the tally remains at 34 cases. Philadelphia, March 2, 2021--Taking the first deep dive into how the immune system is behaving in patients with multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C), researchers at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) and the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania have found that children with this condition have highly activated immune systems that, in many ways, are more similar to those of adults with severe COVID-19. The results, published today in Science Immunology, show that better understanding the immune activation in patients with MIS-C could not only help better treat those patients but also improve treatment for adults with severe COVID-19. "This study shows that children with MIS-C are tremendously immune activated, particularly when it comes to CD8 T cells, but that this activation subsides once patients begin to improve clinically," said Laura Vella, MD, PhD, attending physician in the Division of Infectious Diseases at CHOP and first author of the study. "Our findings provide a broad immunologic foundation for understanding pathogenesis and recovery in this novel SARS-CoV-2-associated inflammatory syndrome, with potential implications for adult disease." Pediatricians first recognized MIS-C in April 2020, when pediatric patients began presenting with symptoms involving hyperinflammation, including fever, gastrointestinal distress and cardiogenic shock. The syndrome, thought to be a post-infectious complication of SARS-CoV-2 infection, has similarities in clinical presentation to Kawasaki disease, especially the vascular involvement, but it differs from Kawasaki disease in key ways, including unique clinical, inflammatory, and autoantibody signatures. The syndrome also lacks the respiratory complications typical of adult and pediatric COVID-19. However, until this point, the immunologic features driving MIS-C remained poorly understood. To better understand the immunology behind MIS-C, the researchers collected blood samples from patients admitted to CHOP with COVID-19 or MIS-C between April and June of 2020. They analyzed more than 200 immune parameters, including serologic and plasma cytokine data, and compared these data with samples from adult COVID-19 patients, recovered adult COVID-19 subjects, and healthy adults. The researchers found that children with MIS-C had highly elevated T cells, particularly CD8 T cells and a highly activated vascular patrolling CD8 T cell subset. These vascular patrolling CD8 T cells have a proposed role in the control of persisting or reactivating viral infection and have also been implicated in cardiovascular disease, which could have relevance to the vascular symptoms observed in these patients. The researchers found patients with MIS-C, who all had high vascular patrolling CD8 T cells, also required vasoactive support, had elevated D-dimer, and had decreased platelets. The elevation of CD8 T cells far exceeded what the researchers observed in pediatric patients with acute COVID-19 and most adults with COVID-19, but the level of CD8 T cells dropped in MIS-C patients in conjunction with clinical improvement. The study also highlighted a skewed B cell response in patients with MIS-C compared to acute pediatric COVID-19 and resolved adult disease. Patients with MIS-C are almost universally seropositive for SARS-CoV-2, meaning enough time had passed since infection for an antiviral antibody to develop and be detected. Pediatric and adult patients with acute COVID-19 were not seropositive, consistent with the belief that that MIS-C is a delayed event following SARS-CoV-2 infection. Yet despite MIS-C being a delayed event, the researchers found that MIS-C patients had elevated plasmablasts, or immature plasma B cells, whereas plasmablasts in adults who recover from COVID-19 return to baseline two to three weeks after symptoms resolve, although a subset of hospitalized adult patients with COVID-19 did have a sustained elevation of plasmablasts. The researchers proposed three possible drivers of the immune pathogenesis in MIS-C: (1) continued activation of adaptive immune responses, driven by persisting SARS-CoV-2 antigen; (2) an additional trigger, such as the virus localizing to a new tissue type or a secondary infection, occurring two to three weeks after the initial infection with SARS-CoV-2; or (3) an autoimmune response. More research is needed to investigated these potential scenarios. "SARS-CoV2 infection can lead to a broad spectrum of clinical and immunological outcomes," said E. John Wherry, PhD, Director of the Institute for Immunology and senior author of the study. "The use of an 'Immune Health' profiling approach for pediatric COVID-19 patients not only identified distinct features of the pediatric MIS-C presentation of disease, but the insights gained by studying MIS-C patients may reveal new therapeutic opportunities for pediatric and adult COVID-19 patients." ### The research was supported by the National Institutes of Health, as well as the University of Pennsylvania Institute for Immunology Glick COVID-19 research award, the Allen Institute for Immunology, a Cancer Research Institute-Mark Foundation Fellowship, the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation for Childhood Cancer, and the CHOP Frontiers Program Immune Dysregulation Team. Vella et al. "Deep Immune Profiling of MIS-C demonstrates marked but transient immune activation compared to adult and pediatric COVID-19," Science Immunology, online March 2, 2021, DOI: 10.1126/sciimmunol.abf7570 About Children's Hospital of Philadelphia: The fossil of a huge dinosaur that lived around 140 million years ago has been unearthed in Argentine Patagonia and it could be the oldest 'titanosaur' known. Titanosaurs were a group of large long-necked, plant-eating dinosaurs that walked on four pillar-like legs and were among the largest land animals in Earth's history. The incomplete remains of the member of the new titanosaur species which experts have named 'Ninjatitan zapatai' were found south of the city of Neuquen. The researchers said the discovery of Ninjatitan demonstrates that titanosaurs, as a group, first appeared longer ago than was previously known. Scroll down for video The fossil of a huge dinosaur, pictured, that lived around 140 million years ago has been unearthed in Argentine Patagonia and it could be the oldest 'titanosaur' known Titanosaurs were a group of large long-necked, plant-eating dinosaurs that walked on four pillar-like legs and were among the largest land animals in Earth's history. Pictured: an artist's impression of what Ninjatitan zapatai might have looked when alive, 140 million years ago The incomplete remains of the member of the new titanosaur species which experts have named 'Ninjatitan zapatai' were found south of the city of Neuquen. Pictured, researchers analyse one of the fossilised bones of the Ninjatitan 'It is the oldest record known, not only from Argentina but worldwide,' paper author and palaeontologist Pablo Gallina of the National Council for Scientific and Technical Research of Argentina (CONICET) told Reuters. 'Titanosaurs are recorded on various sides of the world, but the oldest-known records were more modern than this find.' Reaching a length of around 65 feet (20 metres), Ninjatitan was a large dinosaur but much smaller than later titanosaurs like Argentinosaurus, which could reach a length of around 115 feet (35 metres). According to the researchers, the fact that a titanosaur has been found in Patagonia at such a relatively early point in time supports the hypothesis that the giant dinosaurs had their origins in the Southern Hemisphere. Titanosaurs belonged to a larger dinosaur group called sauropods which included such iconic members as Brontosaurus and Diplodocus. Both lived in North America during the Jurassic, the period from 201.3145 million years ago which preceded the Cretaceous, the period in which Ninjatitan lived. A number of the titanosaurs that inhabited Patagonia achieved gigantic proportions, including Argentinosaurus, Dreadnoughtus and Patagotitan. According to the researchers, the fact that a titanosaur has been found in Patagonia at such a relatively early point in time supports the hypothesis that the giant dinosaurs had their origins in the Southern Hemisphere. Pictured: the fossil remains of Ninjatitan zapatai The researchers said the discovery of Ninjatitan demonstrates that titanosaurs, as a group, first appeared longer ago than was previously known. Pictured: researchers work to painstakingly extract the fossilised remains of the titanosaur in Neuquen province The age of the Ninjatitan remains could have led people to assume that the fossil belonged to a different dinosaur group that predated the titanosaurs, palaeontologist Jose Luis Carbadillo, also of CONICET, told Agencia CTyS. 'In Patagonia, titanosaurs are only known about from less than 120 million years ago,' he explained. The full findings of the study were published in the journal Ameghiniana. Reaching a length of around 65 feet (20 meters), Ninjatitan was a large dinosaur but much smaller than later titanosaurs like Argentinosaurus, which could reach a length of around 115 feet (35 meters). Pictured: a bone from the recently recovered Ninjatitan specimen The incomplete remains of the member of the new titanosaur species which experts have named 'Ninjatitan zapatai' were found south of the city of Neuquen Certified by EXCiPACT, c-LEcta's production and distribution quality standards exceed ISO 9001 requirements Certification is deemed an international seal of approval and guarantees the highest quality standards for pharmaceutical excipients and other critical materials used by the pharmaceutical industry, such as DENARASE, a c-LEcta enzyme product that is used in the production of biopharmaceuticals and vaccines Certification confirms c-LEcta's high quality standards and facilitates supplier audits by customers c-LEcta, a global biotechnology company with technology leadership in enzyme engineering and bioprocess development, can significantly reduce the cost of supplier audits for customers thanks to its recent award of EXCiPACT certification. The certificate confirms compliance with particularly high quality standards in production and distribution. For customers from the pharmaceutical industry in particular, these standards are an important criterion for qualifying suppliers and the closure of contracts. The certification significantly eases cooperation with new and existing customers for c-LEcta. EXCiPACT certification is internationally recognized and confirms that c-LEcta complies with "Good Manufacturing Practice" and "Good Distribution Practice" for pharmaceutical excipients. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210302005046/en/ Inside c-LEcta's Leipzig production facility. (Photo: Business Wire) As a manufacturer of enzyme products for the food and pharmaceutical industries, c-LEcta places major importance on the highest quality standards in production and distribution. Customers, especially in the pharma industry, conduct audits regularly of their suppliers to verify their compliance with strict standards. As early as 2011, c-LEcta introduced an ISO 9001-certified quality management system that covers all areas of the company and also meets additional requirements for the internal manufacturing of products for the food industry. As EXCiPACT certification sets out further strict standards that can also be found in the corresponding U.S. standard ANSI NSF 363, cooperation with U.S. pharmaceutical customers will be facilitated as well. Dr. Ramona Schmiedel, Head of Operations, explains: "Our EXCiPACT certification contributes to enhanced transparency and improved quality across the entire pharmaceutical value chain; it defines binding quality standards of Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) and Good Distribution Practice (GDP) and combines them with ISO 9001 requirements. We therefore make a significant contribution to patient safety in the manufacture of our relevant products. c-LEcta is subjected to regular detailed audits as part of its supplier qualifications, and we work tirelessly to continuously improve our processes. We are therefore proud of the EXCiPACT certification, which demonstrates our successful work in this area and makes our efforts visible to customers. While this does not mean our work is over, it does show that we are at the forefront. We will, of course, continue to invest in improving quality; this is a matter of course for us." The EXCiPACT certification program, launched by an international initiative of industry experts in January 2012, defines binding quality standards of GMP and GDP. EXCiPACT focuses on the production and distribution of pharmaceutical excipients and is internationally recognized in the pharma industry. The certificates therefore ensure transparency and improved quality. At the same time, they promote efficiency since recognized standards can be checked independently and fewer audits need to be repeated by customers. Following an extensive initial audit, surveillance audits are performed annually, followed by recertification after three years. In-depth tests and plant inspections are carried out on site. As Dr. Marc Struhalla, founder and CEO of c-LEcta comments: "The highest quality standards are a very important requirement for the production of excipients and critical materials used by the pharmaceutical industry. Proving compliance with these standards can be a major time and cost factor in this and other areas. With EXCiPACT certification for certain products, such as DENARASE, it will be even easier for us to attract new customers in the future. The additional certification saves customers time and money and guarantees that they always offer patients the highest standard of quality. The EXCiPACT report also helps us to explain our quality management system to our customers in other markets and to inspire their trust." The certification was carried out by DQS GmbH, an independent certification body recognized by EXCiPACT. The EXCiPACT certification is valid for three years and includes annual surveillance audits. About c-LEcta c-LEcta is a world-leading biotechnology company with a focus on enzyme engineering and application in regulated markets like the food and pharma industries. The company is based in Leipzig, Germany, and has established itself as a leading player in the realization of high-value biotech products, either in the form of in-house developments or in close cooperation with industry. The company currently employs more than 100 people. c-LEcta delivers cost-efficient and sustainable production processes which open new markets and allow for better penetration of existing markets. The company is characterized by fast and efficient development of best-in-class biotech solutions and a rapid and successful market introduction and commercialization of the resulting products. This enables c-LEcta to leverage the unique potential of its core technologies. c-LEcta has a proven track record of more than ten successfully commercialized high-value industrial biotech products. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210302005046/en/ Contacts: cometis AG Matthias Kunz Phone: +49 (0) 611 205855 64 Fax: +49 (0) 611 205855 66 e-mail: kunz@cometis.de 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 COVAX vaccine-sharing programme said on Tuesday it will deliver 237 million doses of AstraZeneca's Covid-19 shot to 142 countries by the end of May as it steps up the global roll-out of its vaccine supplies. The timeline for the delivery of doses, made by AstraZeneca and by India's Serum Institute, will be split into separate two-month schedules, COVAX said in a statement, with the first in February-March and the second in April-May. "These timelines are dependent on a variety of factors including national regulatory requirements, availability of supply, ... The federal government has extended the international border ban until June citing the emergence of more highly transmissible variants of COVID-19 overseas, leaving at least 40,000 Australians stranded. The extension, announced on Tuesday evening, will make it 15 months that Australias borders have been shut to the rest of the world, and citizens banned from leaving, unless they seek an exemption. Minister for Health Greg Hunt says Australias borders will remain closed due to COVID-19 mutant variants overseas. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt said the Governor-General had extended the human biosecurity emergency period, first imposed on March 17, 2020, to June 17 to ensure the Australian government has the powers to take any necessary measures to continue to prevent and control COVID-19. The extension of the emergency period is informed by specialist medical and epidemiological advice provided by the Australian Health Protection Principal Committee (AHPPC) and Commonwealth Chief Medical Officer, Mr Hunt said in a statement. Variants spreading fast in Japan In what is an alarming trend for Japan ahead of the Summer Olympics, variants are spreading fast in Kobe, a study has found. The city conducted a random check for variants among people who tested positive for Covid-19 after January 1. Results showed that the number of those infected by a variant has gradually risen since February. The Japanese government has asked local health organisations to spot-check for variants among Covid-19 tests. In Kobe, the city's Public Health Research Institute has examined about 40 per cent of positive tests since the start of the year. Read here Let's look at the global statistics Global infections: 114,461,199 Global deaths: 2,539,235 Nations with most cases: US (28,664,459), India (11,124,527), Brazil (10,587,001), Russia (4,209,850), United Kingdom (4,194,289). Source: John Hopkins Research Center Donald Trump, Melania Trump quietly got vaccines, reports say Donald and Melania Trump received the vaccine before leaving the White House, according to multiple news reports on Monday. Citing unnamed advisers, the New York Times, CNN and other media reported that while other officials, including Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, and former vice-president Mike Pence chose to get their shots publicly to encourage confidence in the vaccines, the Trumps opted to quietly get vaccinated in January. There was no detail on which shot they received or how many doses they had been given. Both Donald and Melania contracted and recovered from Covid-19 during the 2020 presidential campaign. Read here Coronavirus unlikely to fade out by the end of the year, WHO warns Despite the spread of Covid-19 being slowed in some countries due to lockdowns and vaccination programs, it is premature and unrealistic to the think the pandemic will be over by the end of the year, the World Health Organizations executive director of emergency services said. Speaking at a press briefing, Michael Ryan said while vaccinating the most vulnerable people, including healthcare workers, would help remove the tragedy and fear from the situation, and would help to ease pressure on hospitals, the virus is very much in control. It will be very premature, and I think unrealistic, to think that were going to finish with this virus by the end of the year, Ryan said. Read here Single dose of AstraZeneca shot can protect elderly: Study The first dose of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine substantially reduced the risk of older people becoming ill with Covid-19, scientists in Britain reported on Monday, the strongest sign yet that a shot that much of the world is relying on to end the pandemic, will protect the elderly. Four weeks after the first dose, the vaccine was roughly 60 per cent effective in preventing Covid-19 among people at least 70 years old in England, the scientists wrote in a paper that is yet to be peer reviewed. Read here Horizon8, an innovative technology firm has launched a game-changing and award winning digital identity platform and mobile application, valid8Me, that transforms the customer onboarding and Know Your Customer ("KYC") document sourcing challenge for regulated companies across multiple industries, including Accountancy, Legal, Funds, Asset Management, Banking, Insurance and Real Estate. Average customer onboarding times can often exceed one month, with document sourcing for identity verification typically accounting for more than 50% of that journey. valid8Me makes the onboarding experience as simple as connecting with someone on LinkedIn, thereby dramatically reducing the pain, costs and time to source as well as maintain KYC documentation for all parties involved in the process. Speaking of the launch, Patrick Horgan, Managing Director of Horizon8 in Europe, headquartered in Cork, said "Horizon8 are thrilled to introduce valid8Me to businesses and consumers. Our team is very excited as valid8Me is a transformational approach that has had a fantastic reaction from the market in being able to overcome the historical challenges widely experienced in complying with KYC and AML regulations for all stakeholders. The valid8Me approach has never been more relevant than now, where the need for digital and remote customer onboarding is critical in today's environment. I'm very proud of the team in launching this truly transformative product that is bringing so much value to our clients.". Early adopters of the valid8Me platform span numerous sectors in Advisory, Accountancy, Funds, Real Estate and Legal including Grant Thornton, Mazars, Glandore, ReganWall, BKK, James Byrne Co and BlackBee Investments. With its universal approach, privacy by design and freemium model, the valid8Me vision is to become a de facto standard for digital identity and solve the KYC challenge for all businesses and consumers. valid8Me is designed to meet the needs for all stakeholders involved in the KYC process, including: Retail customers can now store, share, trace and manage their KYC information from one secure digital vault app on their phone. valid8Me fundamentally changes how we do business in the digital world, allowing for instant, secure and intuitive connections with all businesses. By giving customers the power to protect, release and revoke access to their KYC data, valid8Me is a universal identity key. See the retail customer video here. For corporate customers (both SMEs and Enterprise level), valid8Me is intuitive and can instantly capture the often complex relationships within businesses, by allowing seamless connections with Company Directors and capturing the complexities associated with corporate ownership structures. valid8Me provides full transparency and traceability regarding who is accessing corporate information and that of Authorized Representatives and Directors, enabling businesses to only have to maintain one instance of their KYC documents. This dramatic simplification has immense benefits to all. See the corporate customer video here. Onboarding companies who need to comply with AML regulations, can now access KYC documents dramatically quicker, leverage best in class document forensics controls to better help identify fraudulent customers, whilst enabling a frictionless onboarding and due diligence experience for all their good customers. The platform meets the end-to-end customer onboarding needs using our risk rating, risk assessment and workflow functionality, while allowing for seamless integration with existing systems (e.g. CRM's) and trusted external data providers. Facilitating customers to freely share KYC documents for all their business relationships ensures that the ongoing overhead of refreshing customer documentation is significantly reduced. See the customer onboarding video for businesses here. Download the valid8Me app from the Apple App store here. Download the valid8Me app from the Google Play store here. To find out more about valid8Me, click here to register for upcoming webinars introducing the valid8Me approach. *** ENDS *** For more information visit: www.valid8me.com View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210302005567/en/ Contacts: Caroline Sullivan caroline@cw8-communications.com Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain The term "zombie firm" was coined in the late 1980s in the context of "zombie banks." In fiction, the word zombie itself usually refers to a monstrous creature that is animated and yet dead. In the context of finance, however, we might think of a zombie as a commercial organization that remains active and yet is unable to pay its debts nor generate a profit. Moreover, the life of a zombie firm is often prolonged artificially by subsidies from third parties such as governments and foreign investors. Nguyen Thi Tuong Anh, Doan Quang Hung, Nam Hoang Vu, and Bui Anh Tuan of the Foreign Trade University in Hanoi, Vietnam, suggesting that addressing the problem of zombie firms is an important issue at the international level. They point out that many zombie firms are state-owned and invested in foreign transition economies. Writing in the International Journal of Business and Globalisation, the team explains how they have used longitudinal data concerning enterprises and the local business environment in a transition economy to devise a solution to the problem. They demonstrate that driving out persistent zombie firms in manufacturing industries might be possible by reducing entry costs to a market to facilitate greater competition. The approach, they suggest, may not be effective in non-manufacturing industries. The team concludes, based on their study of zombie firms in Vietnam, that rather than offering subsidized bailouts to such firms, governments should use market-based instruments to eradicate the zombies and stronger firms to emerge better adapted to the market. More information: Nguyen Thi Tuong Anh et al. Does lowering entry cost counter the persistence of zombie firms, International Journal of Business and Globalisation (2021). Nguyen Thi Tuong Anh et al. Does lowering entry cost counter the persistence of zombie firms,(2021). DOI: 10.1504/IJBG.2021.113273 Concerns have been raised over the fact that some special needs students will not be returning to school for almost another six weeks. Sinn Feins Donnchadh O Laoghaire told the Education Committee that parents of children with special education needs feel like theyve been forgotten by the Department of Education. The Cork South Central TD added that special needs students did not appear to be a priority of the Government, despite the Education Departments repeated assertions to the contrary. From what's happening, for those children, they don't seem to be a priority Donnchadh O Laoghaire, Sinn Fein Mr O Laoghaire said: From whats happening, for those children, they dont seem to be a priority. There doesnt seem to be any mention of a priority for children with additional needs in secondary schools. Do you think it will be right that a student in first year or second year with additional needs will have to wait until April 12, almost six weeks away, until they can get back into the classroom? Surely there must be some way to get them in school support in advance of that. Junior Minister for Special Education Josepha Madigan said there are about 8,500 special educational needs (SEN) students in primary school and that about half of those, or 4,000, were back in their classrooms. Special needs schools, having returned on a limited basis two weeks ago, returned to full capacity on Monday. Expand Close Josepha Madigan (Julien Behal Photography/PA) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Josepha Madigan (Julien Behal Photography/PA) But children with special needs who attend mainstream schools are returning to the classroom along with their peers. Junior and senior infants, first and second class primary school pupils as well as Leaving Certificate students returned to school on Monday. March 15 will see the return of the rest of primary school children third to sixth class and fifth year Leaving Certificate students. But secondary school students in first, second, third and fourth year will have to wait until April 12, after the Easter break, before they return to school. There are about 10,000 children with SEN who will return to the full class in due course with everyone else, Ms Madigan said. She added that it remains her absolute intention for all children with SEN get back to school as soon as possible. The Department has a selection of resources featuring advice for parents with children returning to in-school learning. For more see a https://t.co/JbVkCFUOGe pic.twitter.com/aMRnoHo4f0 education.ie (@Education_Ire) February 24, 2021 Mr O Laoghaire said: I understand the point youre making but those children do have additional needs and remote learning is very challenging for them and I think its a pity that theyve had to wait so long. Ms Madigan and Education Minister Norma Foley appeared before the Education Committee on Tuesday to provide an update on the reopening of schools and the 2021 State Examinations. Monday saw about 320,000 students return to their classrooms for the first time this year, about 60,000 of whom are Leaving Cert students. Ms Foley described their return to school as hugely positive for students, staff and families. The Kerry TD told the committee that antigen testing in schools has not been recommended by public health officials at present but that if that advice changes then the Government would re-evaluate the situation. She said an expert group under the guidance of Professor Mark Ferguson of Science Foundation Ireland was looking at antigen testing in a variety of settings and that report was due for completion later this month. Certainly if it is a recommendation of Nphet to utilise antigen testing then of course we will, Ms Foley said. We have been very flexible and very resilient in terms of any measures that have been requested from a public health review that we would introduce into the schools and we have introduced at a variety of measures and certainly we will do that going forward. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Pennsylvania is allowing public schools to postpone state standardized tests until the fall amid the coronavirus pandemic, but two Lehigh Valley superintendents say districts need to focus on getting students back to full-time learning in schools, not testing. The Pennsylvania Department of Education on Friday sent a letter to its federal counterpart announcing its decision to extend the testing window. Since the start of this pandemic, our work has been centered on protecting the health and safety of students, educators, and school staff across the state, said Acting Secretary of Education Noe Ortega. Our decision to extend the testing window continues to prioritize their health and safety and creates needed flexibilities for our unique school communities. The Biden administration came under fire last month after it announced states must give the exams in 2021, but offered flexibility in scoring and test administration. Under President Donald Trump, the federal Education Department allowed schools to skip the tests in 2020. Bethlehem Area School District Superintendent Joseph Roy says that as an educator and the parent of two elementary-aged students he thinks high-stakes testing right now is a poor idea. Thats why he announced on Twitter on Saturday that he plans to opt both of his children out of the exams. I just think it is wrong to put that extra stress on kids for something that is not going to be of use to schools, Roy said of the PSSAs. Since schools are ordered under penalty of law to give the PSSAs over the objections of educators, parents must now decide if their children will take the tests. My daughters will not. https://t.co/ZxjOzoX9nR Joseph Roy (@BASDSUPT) February 27, 2021 Students in grades three through eight annually take the math and reading Pennsylvania System of School Assessment (PSSA) exams. Students in fourth and eighth grades are also assessed in science. A provision of Pennsylvania law allows parents to opt their children out of standardized testing for religious reasons. Districts cannot deny an opt-out request and families cant be forced to prove how the testing violates their religious beliefs. Why would I have my kid stressed on on the few days shes gotten to be in school this year? Roy said of he and his wifes decision. I think parents should know it cascades down from the feds to the state, but ultimately parents can make a decision. Roy said he is just sharing his familys personal decision and not urging any family to follow his lead. Northampton Area School District Superintendent Joseph Kovalchik said on Twitter the priority should be getting students back to full-time instruction, not standardized tests. His district is starting to bring students back to the classroom four days a week this month. Districts are required to administer PSSA test this year. Not sure how valid that is with all that has occurred this year. The priority should be to get back to full time instruction, NOT take PSSA test. Parents have the ability to opt their child out of taking this test. https://t.co/ierAUe0CSH Joseph Kovalchik (@NASDschoolsSupt) February 28, 2021 The president of Pennsylvanias largest teachers union said last week he is disappointed a federal waiver is not on the table again, but he appreciates the state giving school districts flexibility in administering the PSSAs. We believe that if we truly want schools and educators to focus on learning recovery, we shouldnt be administering standardized tests at all this year, Pennsylvania State Education Association President Rich Askey said. Our students have already lost too much classroom instructional time. The Bethlehem Area School District is considering bringing back elementary-aged students later this spring five-days a week amid growing concerns about childrens social and emotional well-being, Roy said. The reality is there is no penalty to a parent if a child doesnt take the test, Roy said. I think under this situation of duress, when the federal government is insisting on the test and the state has to do it, parents need to know if parents are concerned for their child that there is not a consequence for parents. As superintendent of Pennsylvanias sixth largest school district, Roy said he does not see any educational value in the test, especially this year when it detracts from precious classroom time in an abnormal school year. Districts dont receive test results until the following year and schools are not provided a breakdown of what questions students got wrong, so it offers little in the way of educational feedback, Roy explained. Schools typically spread out the testing over several weeks in a normal school year. Now we would either be in position of doing that two days a week, breaking it up and then having it extend even longer, Roy said. Every minute of that is taking away from instruction that is already way too short. Roy appreciates that Pennsylvania is trying to give districts options by pushing testing until the fall, but he doesnt want to welcome students back to school for weeks of testing. Hes hopeful students will be returning for five-days-a-week learning. They need consistency and routine after more than a year of upheaval, the superintendent said, and testing will be a distraction. Pennsylvania superintendents have spent years urging parents to opt-their kids into the PSSAs because student participation factors into a school buildings School Performance Profile. But theres been a rising groundswell of opposition to high stakes testing in American public education for many years. Under normal circumstances even though I am not a fan of the test my daughters would take it, Roy said. Pennsylvanias promised it will not use any assessment results from testing during the pandemic for any high-stakes purposes, including school improvement designations. Bethlehem is still working out when and how it will administer the PSSAs. Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to lehighvalleylive.com. Sara K. Satullo may be reached at ssatullo@lehighvalleylive.com. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. In the rise of the new coronavirus variants, Latinos and Blacks are reportedly getting a smaller share of the COVID-19 vaccines in some areas of the country like Florida. Thus, government officials need to keep a close eye on the race of COVID-19 vaccines among their constituents. NBC News reported that Latino and Black leaders raised alarms after Florida has started the rollout of COVID-19 vaccines. But the first doses are mostly finding their way into the arms of mostly white senior citizens, making their communities left behind. Related article: Over 70% Latino Households Report Financial Difficulties Amid COVID-19 Pandemic COVID-19 Vaccine Rollout in Florida Some numbers serve as proof or support the allegations. A political science professor from the University of Central Florida, Aubrey Jewett, shared with Yahoo! News that Florida ranked near the bottom in the rate at which Black residents have been inoculated out of the 34 states that shared vaccine data by race and ethnicity. Jewett also shared with NBC News that Latinos in Florida have also been vaccinated more slowly, noting that their population accounted for 27 percent and 24 percent of the COVID-19 related deaths. Jewett further noted that behind all the factors, only 16 percent of Latinos were inoculated. On the other hand, NBC shared data from Kaiser Family Foundation suggesting that the Black community makes up 15 percent of the Florida population and 16 percent of COVID-19 related deaths. But only six percent of their community has been vaccinated so far. Managing partner of APM Research, Craig Helmstetter, shared with The Guardian that COVID-19 has very disparate impacts, making about half of all states currently fail to provide vaccination data by race and ethnicity. Helmstetter noted that in those states who are managing to provide data, Blacks and Latinos are getting far behind Asians, White, and Indigenous Americans. The Guardian reported that analysts warned that the available data is extremely patchy because of poor reporting by health departments. Latinos, Blacks Need More COVID-19 Vaccines Jewett told NBC News that the reason behind the disparity in the distribution of COVID-19 vaccines among people of color and other races is because of the age differences in Florida's populace. Jewett noted that the White community has a higher percentage of people with an age of 65 compared to Latinos and Blacks, whose population tilts on a younger bracket. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommendations prioritized healthcare workers and long-term nursing home residents, followed by front-line workers and people with ages ranging from 75 and older who do not live in retirement homes. However, some people are not happy with what is happening like the co-chair of the New York COVID-19 Vaccine Task Force and former Ohio State Senator Nina Turner, saying that Florida's numbers do not lie and the lack of understanding and attention to the communities that need the most attention are evident. With the data involving Latinos and Blacks, the state of Florida had reported nearly two million cases of coronavirus along with 31,000 deaths. Reports added that nearly half of Florida's residents aging 65 and older had received at least one shot of the COVID-19 vaccine, but Latinos and Black are still underrepresented in that group. Read more: Latino COVID-19 Deaths Hit 'Horrifying' Levels, up 1,000% Since November in L.A. County WATCH: Misinformation Continues to Plague Latino Vaccination Efforts in Florida From WPTV News - FL Palm Beaches and Treasure Coast Increases in visas for highly skilled foreign workers could fall by the wayside this year if Democrats decide to overhaul immigration through a series of small bills instead of the sweeping one put forward by President Joe Biden. Biden's immigration plan calls for dramatically boosting the number of green cards and expanding other avenues for high-skilled workers, a move welcomed by business interests, which have long sought reform of the H-1B visa and other programs. But House Democrats are weighing a piecemeal approach to immigration that would put more popular measures like helping refugees, agriculture workers and people brought to the U.S. illegally as children first, leaving no leverage to push through less popular measures like increasing immigration for skilled workers. Tech leaders like Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg and Google's Sundar Pichai want Congress to expand and update the H-1B visa system since demand for skilled workers in computer and information technology far outstrips the annual cap of 65,000. But that reform, once backed by both parties, now faces bipartisan skepticism, according to lawmakers. And without a strong advocate on Capitol Hill, any such measures could falter if asked to stand alone instead of as part of a large immigration package. Republican Senator Marco Rubio said passing skilled worker visa reform during the pandemic-sparked economic crisis would be "pretty difficult." And Democratic Senator Robert Menendez, who introduced Biden's bill, said any additional foreign worker visas would only get support as part of a broader bill that includes a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants. "I'm happy to consider other things but the key is, how do I get the 11 million or parts thereof on a pathway?" Menendez said. "So it can't just be high-tech visas and it can't just be farm workers for growers." Senate Democrats haven't settled on a strategy for immigration, either, leaving reforms for high-skilled workers at risk. Support for expanding H-1B visas was broad-based in Congress for many years, as both parties courted business interests. The visas, often used in the tech industry, are available to workers who have specialized training and advanced education. Fashion models "of distinguished merit" are also eligible under a separate category. But industries want the cap expanded, and workers' rights groups argue that tying the visas to a specific employer hurts employees. The sweeping immigration bill Democrats proposed at Biden's behest does not raise the annual cap on temporary worker visas. Instead, it expands the number of employment-based green cards available, a move that advocates say will take pressure off the guest worker programs like the H-1B visa. Xiao Wang, who heads Boundless Immigration, a Seattle-based startup that works to streamline the immigration application process, said that the current system forces foreign nationals who graduate from U.S. colleges to leave the country, taking their new skills with them. It also creates a bottleneck of skilled workers from India on H-1B visas who face country-based caps on getting green cards. Any increase in H-1B visas will be a tough sell in the current Congress, amid potential opposition from labor unions on the left, a more hawkish stance on immigration on the right and a sour economy that makes bringing in workers from overseas seem unnecessary to voters. Biden has supported unions, which are generally skeptical of temporary work visas, throughout his long career in politics. AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka warned lawmakers not to support immigration bills that would "expand programs that treat workers as disposable commodities in our global economy." Meanwhile, Republicans are much less likely to support increases in high-skilled immigration than in the past, as the party shifted from a largely pro-business posture to a more restrictive stance on immigration under former President Donald Trump. Former Trump senior adviser Stephen Miller and other hardliners met with conservative House members last week to plot their opposition to Biden's immigration proposal, according to a person with knowledge of the meeting. Trump opposed most immigration as president, adopting restrictions that caused H-1B visa denials to grow from 6% in 2015 to 29% in mid-2020, according to an analysis by the National Foundation for American Policy, a nonpartisan think tank. Later, they were suspended entirely amid the coronavirus pandemic. Trump also hit Biden on immigration in a speech Sunday at the Conservative Political Action Conference, signaling that Republicans plan to keep up their opposition. Republicans splintered on immigration after a 2007 overhaul collapsed in the Senate. Later, GOP lawmakers aligned with the anti-immigration Tea Party movement began winning seats and holding fast to their opposition. "You've lost a number of those more moderate Republicans who are probably more affected by the need for high-skilled visas, I think you've lost some of that for sure," said John Sandweg, former acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement under President Barack Obama, citing the absence of Senators John McCain and Jeff Flake. Wang said he's doubtful that reforms will make it through "this round of policy making," but he hopes that a strong economic recovery as the pandemic wanes could make it easier to return to the issue later. Sara Blackwell, a labor attorney in Florida who sued The Walt Disney Co. over its use of H-1B visas, said that she hopes any changes include tougher requirements to ensure that big businesses aren't abusing the system to bring in cheap labor from abroad. Since H-1B visas require a worker to have an employer to sponsor them, she argued that they make it difficult for foreign nationals to switch jobs, depressing their wages and hurting American workers in the same field. "I do think there should be more requirements on making sure no American workers are available, especially with Covid right now and people being out of work," she said. The next steps will depend on whether the Senate tries to pass immigration reform all at once, where high skilled visa expansion could be included in a package, or by breaking it up into separate bills that would have to stand on their own. Asked if he supports more H-1B visas or green cards for skilled workers, Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin said only if it's part of the horse-trading necessary to get a bigger bill with a citizenship pathway and other provisions. "I'll try to answer this tactfully: If it brings votes for final passage, it's a priority," the Illinois Democrat said in an interview. White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said Biden's aides have not yet had "extensive conversations" with lawmakers on how his immigration proposal will move through Congress but indicated the package could change. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi last month signaled she would consider taking on immigration changes piece-by-piece while Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said Feb 23 that he prefers a comprehensive approach to "get as much done as possible." And while some Republicans are balking at expanding skilled-worker visas without a broader proposal that invests more in border agents and interior enforcement -- a component that Biden didn't address in his proposal -- others say it's best to tackle each piece separately. "The problem with immigration is that everybody's got their piece and they say, I have to have this or I can't support it," said Senator John Cornyn of Texas, who is top Republican on the Senate Judiciary subcommittee on immigration. "And then it adds up and finally crumbles under its own weight." Union Minister on Tuesday asked automakers to build flex-engine vehicles for using alternative fuel. Road Transport, Highways and Shipping Minister Nitin Gadkari, talking to a delegation ofcarmakers from the Society of India Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM), on Tuesday stressed the need for indigenous technology for flex-fuel vehicles. "Gadkari has urged car manufacturers to give priority to the indigenous production of flex engines, which can be used in vehicles using alternative fuels such as ethanol," the Ministry of Road, Transport and Highways said in a statement. The minister said that with ethanol beginning to be easily available in the country and over 70 per cent of gasoline consumption being done by two-wheelers, there is a need to develop indigenous technology for flex fuel vehicles. "Discussions were also held regarding the request by SIAM to postpone implementation of BS-VI CAF Phase-II regulations to April 1, 2024, on the grounds that the industry is still recovering from the impact of COVID-19, and slow consumer demand," the statement said. While agreeing to examine the request, Gadkari made it clear to them that the Indian automobile industry has to have world-class quality, and that if the industry is meeting stringent anti-pollution standards in countries to which they are exporting vehicles, the same standards must be adhered to in India as well. The minister has asked the delegation to come back next month with a detailed study on what steps have been taken by the industry on meeting the BS-VI Phase-I standards. He also sought the financial implications of going ahead with BS-VI CAFE Phase II standards, before a final decision can be taken on the demand to postpone its implementation. (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.) 09/09/2020. NO FEE NO REPRO FEE. JULIEN BEHAL PHOTOGRAPHY. Briefing on 2020 Brexit Readiness Action Plan for publication Wednesday The Government today approved its 2020 Brexit Readiness Action Plan, building on earlier Action Plans of December 2018 and July 2019. Minister for Foreign Affairs Trade Simon Coveney pictured speaking at media briefing. NO FEE NO REPRO FEE. JULIEN BEHAL PHOTOGRAPHY. THE Government has agreed plans to reopen an embassy in Iran - nearly a decade after it was closed on cost-saving grounds. The Cabinet on Tuesday morning signed off on a proposal brought by Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Coveney to reopen an embassy in the Iranian capital of Tehran by 2023. In a statement announcing the move, Mr Coveney said: As part of our Global Ireland strategy, Ireland made a commitment to double our global impact by 2025. In that context, the Government has decided to re-establish an Irish diplomatic presence in Iran. As an elected member of the Security Council, it is particularly important that we have the ability to engage in more depth on the range of Middle East issues on the Security Councils agenda. Read More The move is primarily as a result of Irelands current membership of the UN Security Council which runs until 2022. One of its four responsibilities as a temporary member of the UNSC includes chairing the group overseeing the implementation of the Iran nuclear deal, which is officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). "As Facilitator of Resolution 2231 (concerning the implementation of the Iran nuclear agreement, the JCPOA) for the next two years on the Council, we have a particular responsibility to play a constructive and impactful role on the nuclear non-proliferation agenda. "Ireland is fully committed to the success of that agreement, and the prevention of the proliferation of nuclear weapons. The re-establishment of an Irish presence in Tehran is a concrete sign of our commitment to deepen dialogue with all relevant partners, including Iran, on this issue, said Minister Coveney. Following the approval of ministers this morning, the Government will initially send a charge daffaires to the Middle Easts second largest economy. They will initially be based out of an office at the German embassy in Tehran, before a full embassy will be re-established by 2023, Ministers were told this morning. Ireland currently has an honorary consul based in Tehran, while the Irish Ambassador to Turkey, Sonya McGuinness, acts as the main diplomatic link to Iran. The last Irish embassy in Tehran was one of three that were closed by the Fine Gael-Labour coalition in November 2011 at the height of the austerity measures enforced by the EU and IMF following the Troika bailout. As well as East Timor, the then Tanaiste and foreign affairs minister Eamon Gilmore also approved plans to controversially shutter Irelands embassy in The Vatican, which caused major controversy for the coalition at the time. The Irish embassy to the Holy See was re-established in 2014. Read More "Agility, and adapting to change was important in 2020," said Steve Schnall, Senior Vice President and Chief Development Officer at Phoenix Hospital Foundation. "But we're grateful that one thing remained unchanged the love, care and continued support from our partners at Desert Financial. In a year like no other, they continued to fight for our kids to give them everything they deserve." In 2020, 1 Darn Cool School served 4,800 patients and families. With nine certified, Master's level teachers on staff, the team works with local school districts to help students keep pace with academics while they heal. Homework, the teachers often say, means hope, and gives them a sense of normalcy. In 2020, in addition to uninterrupted services as teachers continued to work with patients, 1 Darn Cool School accomplished the following: Delivered bedside instruction to patients coping with critical illnesses and lengthy hospital stays Guided patients through school enrollment, college exploration, disability services, GED and career research Developed school reentry videos Served patients receiving dialysis treatments Worked with schools to develop learning plans, IEPs, homebound instruction and 504 plans Victor Quijano, a grateful patient at Phoenix Children's said, "Thank you Desert Financial for everything you do to support patients like me, and for everything you do for this 1 Darn School. The school has helped me achieve my freshman year to the fullest and beyond." The gift is the first installment of the multi-year, $3 million pledge, bringing $10 million in total gifts to the Hospital. During the virtual check presentation ceremony, Desert Financial's Jeff Meshey, President and CEO, and Executive Vice President, Ron Amstutz, spoke about how much the community-focused credit union values the partnership with Phoenix Children's. "The challenges of the past year highlighted that our values aren't just words," said Amstutz. "What matters is the community and the people we support." Celebrating more than 80 years in Arizona, Desert Financial is the state's largest local credit union with six billion dollars in assets, 350,000+ members and 47 branches. Membership eligibility is open across Arizona with contactless solutions via eBranch, making it easy to call, click or come in. As a not-for-profit cooperative, Desert Financial takes pride in sharing success. In 2020, members received $14 million in dividends via the Member Giveback Bonus, and Desert Financial gave more than $5 million in COVID-19 relief plus donations, scholarships and Random Acts of Kindness to our members, community and team. Learn more about the credit union difference at Desert Financial Credit Union and find news and information @desertfinancial on Twitter. SOURCE Desert Financial Credit Union Investor Alert! Oilfield service giants are looking like an increasingly good investment as oil prices rebound. Read our latest Global Energy Alert investment column to get the full breakdown of what to watch... Chart of the Week - The volume of crude that went into Gulf Coast refineries declined by 2.7 mb/d for the week of February 19 as a result of the Texas grid crisis. - The drop in refinery processing of 2.4 mb/d, or 28%, was the largest weekly decline since Hurricane Harvey in 2017. - In total, an estimated 3.7 million b/d, or 20% of total U.S. refining capacity, was shut in as a result of the weather, according to the EIA. Market Movers - Texas utility Vistra (NYSE: VST) sees a $1.3 billion hit from the Texas freeze. - Atmos Energy (NYSE: ATO) trimmed its expected loss from Texas grid crisis to $2.5 billion, down from $3.5 billion previously. - Baker Hughes (NYSE: BKR) and Akastor (OTCPK: AKKVF) have announced a joint venture company to pursue offshore drilling solutions. Tuesday, March 2, 2021 Oil prices pared gains at the start of the week, seemingly hitting a temporary high note. Traders are on edge as they away a decision from OPEC+ regarding the potential easing of production cuts. Oil up, but bearish forces remain. Oil prices have posted substantial gains in recent weeks, and most recently after fully pricing in the impacts of U.S. economic stimulus, combined with more positive vaccine news with the approval of the one-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine. However, Rystad Energy points to some caveats and potential pitfalls for crude prices: OPEC+ could add more supply this week; refinery maintenance season is upon us, and Chinese demand has run into a bit of a soft patch. Related: Why Big Oil Expects Record Cash Flow In 2021 Rystad: Energy transition to cut oil by $10. The downside risk that the energy transition can bring to oil prices is calculated to as much as $10 per barrel in the long term, meaning oil prices could end up $10 lower in the future than they otherwise would if the transition to cleaner energy speeds up, according to Rystad Energy. Texas utility files for bankruptcy. Brazos Electric Power Cooperative, Texas largest and oldest electric power cooperative, filed for bankruptcy after getting hit with a $1.8 billion bill from the grid crisis last month. Oil titans unsure about the energy transition. At CERAWeek, oil executives grappled with how aggressively to pursue energy transition. Some urged faster movement, others talked up the need for more fossil fuels. We dont think peak oil is around the corner - we see oil demand growing for the next 10 years, said John Hess, CEO of Hess Corp. (NYSE: HES). Were not investing enough to grow oil and gas in the future. UAE signals easing supply cuts in April. Abu Dhabis ADNOC has told Asian oil buyers that it plans to increase crude allocations in April, sources close to the matter told Reuters. The news comes just ahead of the OPEC+ meeting. U.S. cold snap leads to a record gas drawdown. Natural gas inventories plunged during the extraordinarily cold weather that hit much of the continent in February. Weekly stocks fell by 338 billion cubic feet (Bcf) in the week ending February 19, 2021, nearly three times the average withdrawal for mid-February, according to the EIA. A record amount of natural gas, 156 Bcf, was withdrawn during that week in the South Central region, which includes Texas. DOE to tap $40 billion in clean energy funding. U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm said she plans to revive a $40 billion loan program for energy projects. The program was authorized by Congress but went unused during the Trump era. Private shale step up drilling. Private shale drillers are leading the charge on new drilling as publicly-listed companies face pressure from investors. As Bloomberg reports, privately-held DoublePoint Energy has more rigs in the Permian basin than Chevron (NYSE: CVX). SEC says Exxon has to let shareholders vote on resolutions. In an early sign that a shift in direction is underway at the Securities and Exchange Commission, the SEC shot down a request from ExxonMobil (NYSE: XOM) to exclude a shareholder resolution. Major institutional investors, including BNP Paribas Asset Management, pushed a resolution that would require Exxon to release more information on its lobbying activities and its climate risk. Exxon wanted it tossed out, but the SEC declined. U.S. gasoline demand surge. U.S. gasoline demand surged by 1 mb/d last week to nearly 8.8 mb/d. Last week was pretty eye-popping indeed, Patrick DeHaan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy, told Bloomberg. Weve seen a continued recovery as Covid-19 slowed, on the warmer weather, and basically a big bounce since the Texas cold weather hampered numbers. Texas PUC Chair resigns. The head of the Texas Public Utility Commission resigned on Monday in the wake of the grid crisis. API considers carbon tax. The oil industrys most powerful lobby group is preparing to endorse a carbon tax. The Wall Street Journal reports that the decision has been highly divisive internally. Deep cuts put African oil at risk. Five of OPECs 13 member states are from Africa. Angola has gone from being Africas top crude producer just five years ago to barely pumping more than war-torn Libya while Nigeria--another key OPEC member--is in grave danger of suffering Angolas fate as Big Oil makes yet another round of deep CAPEX cuts. Can abandoned oil wells be used for geothermal? Some companies have been researching and testing something that could expand geothermals reach and benefit oil companies: turning abandoned oil wells into geothermal wells. Related Video: Goldman Calls $70 Oil in Q2, But Jet Fuel Is The Joker Petaluma, CA first city to ban new gas stations. Petaluma, California became the first U.S. city to outlaw new gasoline stations. Activists hope that it becomes a trend, not unlike the proliferation of bans of natural gas hookups in new buildings that started in California just a few years ago. Asia LNG price falls. The price of spot LNG in Asia has retreated almost as fast as it surged during a cold winter snap, leaving a market grappling with how best to deal with the recent extreme volatility. China plans a power grid upgrade. Chinas utility giant State Grid Corp of China has big plans to build ultra-high voltage transmission lines over the next few years to help shift the country away from coal. Electrification requires new mines. Can the U.S. build them? You cant have green energy without mining, Mark Senti, chief executive of Florida-based rare earth magnet company Advanced Magnet Lab Inc. Thats just the reality. Reuters explores the challenges of building new mines for lithium and other metals critical for batteries. Carbon emissions top pre-pandemic levels. Global CO2 emissions have surpassed pre-pandemic levels. By Josh Owens for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: 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. NANJING, March 1 (Xinhua) -- A Nanjing Massacre survivor passed away at the age of 95 on Monday, reducing the number of registered survivors to 70, said the Memorial Hall of the Victims in Nanjing Massacre by Japanese Invaders. Cai Lihua was the second survivor to die this year. "In the winter of 1937, Japanese soldiers suddenly broke into my house. I watched with my own eyes as they tied my father's hands and hung him on a wooden ladder before brutally stabbing his eyes with a bayonet, making egg-sized holes in my father's eyes, and then killed him with several shots," Cai once said in a testimony. "My mother was also stabbed in the back and a bullet grazed her scalp. I was there and narrowly escaped by hiding under a table," said the testimony. The Nanjing Massacre took place when Japanese troops captured the city on Dec. 13, 1937. Over six weeks, they killed about 300,000 Chinese civilians and unarmed soldiers in one of the most barbaric episodes of World War II. The Chinese government has preserved the survivors' testimony, recorded in both written documents and video footage. These records of the massacre were listed by UNESCO in the Memory of the World Register in 2015. 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 Jetsetters dreaming of their next overseas adventure have had their travel plans dashed with a further extension of the international border ban. The federal government extended its ban on international travel by a further three months until at least June 17, citing an 'unacceptable public health risk'. Tuesday night's announcement means the mandatory 14 day hotel quarantine for returned travellers will likely remain in place for much of 2021. March 17 will mark one year since Australia slammed its borders shut due to the coronavirus pandemic. More than 100,000 Australians were granted an exemption to leave the country in that time and another 40,000 desperate to return home remain stranded overseas. It will be another three months before Australians can head to Bali again after the international border ban was extended. Pictured is a traveller on the holiday island before coronavirus hit Health Minister Greg Hunt said the extension of the 'human biosecurity emergency period' was based on specialist medical and epidemiological advice provided by the Australian Health Protection Principal Committee and Commonwealth Chief Medical Officer. 'The AHPPC has advised the Australian government the Covid-19 situation overseas continues to pose an unacceptable public health risk to Australia, including the emergence of more highly transmissible variants,' he said. 'The extension of the emergency period for a further three months is about mitigating that risk for everyone's health and safety.' The international travel ban was due to end last December before the government extended the ban by a further three months, which was extended even further on Tuesday night. Cruise ships are also banned from entering Australia's shores in the wake of the Ruby Princess disaster in NSW a year ago which resulted in almost 900 infections and 28 deaths. Around 40,000 Australians remain stranded overseas due to the international travel ban. Pictured are New Zealand travellers arriving at Brisbane Airport in January Opposition's foreign affairs spokeswoman Penny Wong called on the federal government to take responsibility for the ramifications of the 15-month border closure. 'When Scott Morrison closed the borders he had no plan for the consequences,' she told the Sydney Morning Herald. 'A year later, 40,000 Australians are still stranded overseas, the border closure has been extended and there's still no plan for safe, national quarantine.' Simon Westaway from the Australian Tourism Industry Council called on the government to provide a roadmap for reopening international borders. 'The time is nigh to consider a targeted reopening with key and willing markets,' he told the publication. Hotel quarantime for returned travellers is expected to remain in place for much of the year. Pictured is a quarantine hotel in Melbourne during the recent Australian Open The border ban extension comes a week after Qantas hinted the airline could be flying travellers overseas as early as October 31. Airline boss Alan Joyce said travel would resume to 22 of the 25 destinations, including Los Angeles, London, Singapore and Johannesburg, despite the super-infectious South African strain. New York, Santiago and Osaka will remain off limits, though the airline has promised to fly holidaymakers over as soon as possible. Australia is expected to complete its rollout of the Covid-19 vaccine by the end of October. Speaking about the Emergency during a conversation with economist Kaushik Basu from the Cornell University in the US, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said on Tuesday that it was a "mistake". "I think that (Emergency) was a mistake. Absolutely, that was a mistake. And my grandmother (Indira Gandhi) said as much," Rahul Gandhi told Bose, who had served as the chief economic advisor to India. While attacking the current dispensation saying that "there is a fundamental difference between what happened during the Emergency, which 'was wrong', and what is happening in the country now", Rahul Gandhi said the Congress, at no point, attempted to capture India's constitutional framework. "Our design does not allow us that. Even if we want to do it, we can't," he said. "The RSS is doing something fundamentally different. They are filling institutions with their people. Even if we defeat the BJP in the elections, we are not going to get rid of their people in the institutional structure," Rahul Gandhi said. The former Congress President went on to say that people sitting in constitutional posts do not perform their duties, as he attacked Kiran Bedi, the former LG of Puducherry, and Manipur Governor Najma Heptulla. New WEA head details core beliefs of 600 million evangelicals worldwide in inaugural speech Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment The World Evangelical Alliance officially handed over its top leadership position to Bishop Thomas Schirrmacher on Saturday, with the new secretary-general and CEO of the global organization of evangelical churches detailing what it means to be evangelical. Speaking from a studio near the city of Bonn in western Germany for a 90-minute live-streamed event to honor the leadership handover, the 60-year-old Schirrmacher listed in his speech essential beliefs that hold the otherwise diverse movement of over 600 million evangelicals together. We believe in the Resurrection of Jesus and we believe in Pentecost where the Holy Spirit filled the believers, the members of the Church, said Schirrmacher, who studied theology in Switzerland and the United States but now lives in Germany. Some may say these events did not happen or do not need to have happened in real history, he continued. But we [as evangelicals] stand for the historicity of our faith. Jesus did receive new life from His Father, the Holy Spirit did fall on the believers, he underlined. He also suggested that evangelicals do not believe in this because we think of it as something confessional [or] something specific [only] we believe in. Rather, he explained, we think its the DNA of Christianity, that we owe everything to what Jesus did and what the Holy Spirit does. Schirrmacher, the founder of the Martin Bucer European Theological Seminary and Research Institutes, which has campuses throughout Europe, was unanimously affirmed as the WEAs next secretary-general by the WEA International Council last October. He will replace Bishop Efraim Tendero, who served for decades as head of the Philippine Council of Evangelical Churches. In his speech, Schirrmacher described the Bible as the confession of the Church that stands above everything and everyone. He pointed out that the very idea of a paper document rather than a person having ultimate authority originated in the Old Testament, where the Torah was regarded as higher than even the king. We are proud to have a Paper Pope because the Paper Pope assures that none of us, including me, are above the Word of God, he said. We all submit to the Word of God; no one is above it. Schirrmacher said this foundational principle and conviction also allows a diversity of traditions from Calvinist Reformed to Pentecostal and Charismatic to unite in one movement. Evangelicalism also essentially put emphasis on missions and sharing of the Gospel message, he added, quoting the opening line of the 2011 joint document on Christian Witness in a Multi-Religious World produced by the WEA, the Roman Catholic Church and the World Council of Churches. Schirrmacher had been serving as the WEAs associate secretary-general for theological concerns and chair of WEAs Theological Commission. He also served as the networks ambassador for human rights. He is also president of the International Council of the International Society for Human Rights. He said that all churches agree now that mission is the very being of the church. However, some Christian traditions may not be putting it into practice as much as evangelicals often do. The WEA leader said religious freedom and concern for persecuted believers have been integral to the evangelical movement from the very beginning. In 1846, the World Evangelical Alliance was the first-ever large religious body speaking up for religious freedom, he explained. And that meant speaking up against state churches and against Christian nationalism. Religious freedom, Schirrmacher clarified, is not simply a political principle. He said it is integral to the understanding of Gods love and His desire to be in a relationship with the humans He created. God Himself wants to be loved, wants us to trust Him, wants our life, he said. He does not want us to pray to Him because we are forced or because someone paid us or somebody cheated us. He wants our very trust, our very heart and our very love. And love is something that cannot be forced. Schirrmacher concluded that the WEA is a movement that strives for unity within evangelicalism, but stressed that if we want to bring the Anglicans, the Pentecostals, the Reformed, the Salvation Army, all those groups in our midst together, we can only do it around the DNA of Christianity. And we are open to any other church outside of our movement to join us in those points of the DNA, and so we hope that wherever possible to extend our vision to many other churches in this world, he stated. Ending his speech, Schirrmacher requested prayers from evangelical leaders who joined the online event from every region of the world, representing the nine regional and 140 national Evangelical Alliances that make up the WEA. I am privileged to serve the World Evangelical Alliance. I know all of us are sinners. We are under the one Holy Scripture, which defines when we fail in what we do. And so I am deeply convinced that it is only the prayer of millions and the prayer of close friends who might know me more closely that makes it possible to take over a task which is too big just for one human being, he said. Outgoing Secretary-General Tendero said he and Schirrmacher partnered together through the WEA Senior Leadership Team for several years. I saw in him the charisma, competence and capacity that is matched by the character, conviction and calling from God that are needed for such a global task, Tendero said. I have full confidence that he will lead the WEA as empowered by the Holy Spirit in advancing the Good news of the Lord Jesus Christ to all nations, and effecting personal, family and community transformation for the glory of God. ALTON The Hayner Public Library District will open its doors to the public this month. The library will open its doors to in-house patronage March 15. The Hayner Public Library District has offered curbside service since June. We have been so cautious because limited services is better than no services, said Hayners executive director Bernadette Duvernoy. We arent reopening; weve been open, able to offer continuous services this entire time, including curbside services, and we did not want to be a source of community spread. Patrons had full access to library services just not inside the library. The districts staff includes 58 employees, about 22 of them full-time. The rest are part-time. In Madison County, library staff members are not considered essential workers as they are in some other counties. We are currently working toward opening our doors with a soft opening to the public in mid-March, said Duvernoy during a conference call with Hayners Mary Cordes, assistant director, circulation services. There are a myriad of safety issues and procedures to be put in place to protect both staff and patrons. The library will continue to offer virtual programming and curbside service, adding more virtual programming in the past few months, for patrons who choose not to enter the facilities. One thing I discussed with my staff this is a very fluid situation, said Duvernoy. If the process doesnt work, well sit back and fix it. So far patrons have been wonderful and cooperative with our curbside service, and I and my staff are so excited to open the doors and have people in the library again to nearly full service in early April, she said. The library district will follow all virus prevention guidelines mandatory masks and social distancing, limitations on technology use, sanitizing procedures and material quarantining at all of its locations: Downtown Alton, 326 Belle St.; Genealogy and Local History Library, 401 State St.; and Alton Square. When were in full mode, prior to COVID, we averaged 18,000 people a month in in-person patronage, Duvernoy noted. We are not a little mom-and-pop library; this is a business. Once confident we can have more than 50 percent capacity, we will resume in-house programming, she said. Probably our summer reading will be mostly online. These precautions are not just for library staff, but to prevent community spread. Were happy to have reached this point. The library will offer shelf browsing only no lounging on furniture or study rooms due to restrictions and will not exceed 50% capacity in its buildings. Were not asking anyone to sign in, but masks must be worn, Duvernoy said. I dont know it the public knows what the library has to do to provide full services. Theres so many limits on shelving and distancing requirements. Hayner still is doing Dial-A-Story and childrens programs, and has added apps for students and teachers. The property tax supported nonprofit has waived fees and fines since March 2020. The library will continue to waive fees through March. Starting April 1, its traditional Food for Fido campaign begins in which patrons who go overdue during that month can bring or drop off a can of pet food. Collection boxes will be set up and staff member will call people with overdue reminders. By cutting back hours a little bit, that helped us get through this whole thing without having to lay anyone off, and full staff has been working as curbside providers, cleanings libraries and doing inventories, Duvernoy explained. Hayners services will resume March; home bound service will resume April 1, taking material to people who cant get out. Currently Hayner staff are arranging libraries furniture and computer stations so everything is social distanced. Hayner also has exponentially increased its sanitization efforts and cleaning services will be implement throughout the day. In fact, if you take a book to look at off the shelf, we dont want you to re-shelf it, Duvernoy said. We will put those books in tubs to quarantine them. We also take care of quarantining returned books put in the book drop at respective libraries and re-shelving those also. A computer area will be set up with a time limit of 60 minutes for computer usage. We are asking patrons to minimize their time in the library, she said, but not sure what kind of volume well have when we reopen the doors to in-house patrons. Were not going to follow patrons around, we just hope they will follow requirements and keep the environment as clean as possible. There will be plastic aprons, masks, gloves and hand sanitizer throughout the library for use, clean restrooms throughout the day and signage throughout the library. The library will remain fully accessible online to genealogy material, its newspapers and those doing research. Library hours were abbreviated originally when it went to curbside only; those hours remain. The Belle Street location is open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday. Alton Square is open 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday; and the Genealogy and Local History Library is open 10a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday, noon to 5 p.m. Wednesday, and 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday. For more details visit www.haynerlibrary.org or call 618-462-0677. Pashinian petitioned Sarkissian last week to sign a decree relieving General Onik Gasparian of his duties shortly after the chief of the Armenian armys General Staff and 40 other high-ranking officers issued a joint statement that accused the government of misrule and demanded its resignation. Pashinian rejected the demand as a military coup attempt. Sarkissian refused to sign such a decree on Saturday, saying that it appears to be unconstitutional and would deepen the unprecedented political crisis in the country. Pashinian criticized the refusal as unfounded and resent his motion to Sarkissian in another attempt to have him fire Gasparian. Under Armenian law, the president can now keep blocking or at least delaying the sacking only by asking the Constitutional Court to declare the decree drafted by the prime minister unconstitutional. Otherwise, the decree will enter into force even if Sarkissian refuses to sign it for a second time. The president has decided not to sign the draft decree, Sarkissians office said in a statement released on Tuesday. Significantly, the office announced no decision to challenge its legality in the Constitutional Court. This means that Gasparian will automatically lose his post if the head of state does not appeal to the court by Thursday morning. The Homeland Salvation Movement, an opposition alliance campaigning for Pashinians resignation, was quick to express serious concern over Sarkissians apparent decision to refrain from such an appeal. Its leaders demanded an urgent meeting with him. The alliance blames Pashinian for Armenias defeat in the autumn war with Azerbaijan and wants him to resign. Accordingly, it has hailed the unprecedented statement issued by the militarys top brass. Sarkissian already met with opposition leaders as well as pro-government lawmakers and Gasparian before making his first decision on the issue at the weekend. Pashinian visited Sarkissian on Monday. Addressing thousands of supporters who gathered in Yerevans Republic Square later in the day, he urged the president to stop objecting to Gasparians removal. On Sunday, a senior lawmaker close to Pashinian suggested that Sarkissian himself appears to have violated the Armenian constitution and might be impeached because of that. Sarkissian insisted afterwards that he acted impartially and in strict conformity with the constitution. [March 02, 2021] Building Industry Partners Portfolio Company, U.S. Fence Solutions, Completes Sale of Binford Supply to Fencing Supply Group U.S. Fence Solutions Company, LLC ("U.S. Fence"), a portfolio company of building industry-focused investment firm, Building Industry Partners LLC ("BIP"), has sold Binford Supply ("Binford" or the "Company") to Fencing Supply Group ("FSG"). FSG is a new investment platform focused on building a group of leading independent fencing distributors, and is an affiliate of The Sterling Group, a private equity firm based in Houston, TX. Binford Supply was founded in 1950 and has grown to become one of the largest residential & commercial fencing distributors in the U.S. Led by its President, Jeff Cook, Binford has over 150 employees across thirteen locations, currently serving residential and commercial fencing contractors throughout Texas, Oklahoma, and Colorado. Binford's product categories include wood, chain link, pipe and tube, ornamental, vinyl, gates and access controls, barbed wire, staining, concrete, agricultural, and fencing tools. Mr. Cook will continue to lead Binford following this transaction. Binford President, Jeff Cook, said "We're very proud of the business we've built at Binford Supply and the growth we've achieved amidst unprecedented market disruptions. As a team, we've successfully opened three new branches in the last two years alone, and we're just getting started. As the leading distributor of fence products in its markets, Binford has always been an organization that cares deeply about its people and serving its customers, and our dedication to both our employees and our contractor base will only continue to strengthen." Zach Coopersmith, Managing Partner of Building Industry Partners, said "We're grateful for all of the hard work from Binford's management team and employees over the past four years under BIP's ownership. Their efforts were especially noteworthy during the last year as the Binford team continued to grow the business through the pandemic and react dynamically to the challenges it presented. Jeff Cook and the management team remained focused on supporting Binford's customers and providing a safe and rewarding place for its employees to work. More than anything, we attribute Binford's success to its best-in-class culture and the employees whom we have been lucky to partner with over the past four years." Matt Ogden, Managing Partner of BIP, added, "Our journey with Binford began many years ago through our relationship with its prior owner and CEO, Steve Stanley. We feel fortunate to have partnered with Steve in 2017, and later with Jeff Cook when he joined as President of Binford in 2018. BIP is proud to have been a partner to Binford's people and a steward o Binford's business, and we're excited for the organization to join Fencing Supply Group and continue to elevate Binford's leadership role in the fencing industry. Steve, Jeff, and the Binford team fostered a people-first, collaborative and relationship-oriented culture which has set them apart in the fencing supply industry. Binford's culture has been an inspiration to the evolution of BIP's own firm culture and investment approach." "Binford has grown quickly because of the exceptional people involved in our business," Jeff Cook continued. "This can be seen throughout our organization, starting at the branch level and continuing to the team at Building Industry Partners. The support from BIP has been the catalyst to achieve our goals and we look forward to accelerating this momentum with The Sterling Group and our new partnerships." Following the successful sale of Binford Supply, U.S. Fence will focus on growing its core fencing installation businesses. U.S. Fence owns Split Rail Fence, the leading fencing installation business in the Front Range of Colorado; Ideal Fencing, the largest highway and bridge guardrail fabricator and fencing installer in Colorado; and Western Access Controls, a leading designer and installer of automated gate and access control systems, serving residential and commercial customers throughout the Rocky Mountain region. U.S. Fence was formed by BIP in early 2016 with the vision of building a best-in-class national fencing platform. Lincoln International and Holland & Knight served as financial advisor and legal counsel, respectively, as part of this transaction. Background of Building Industry Partners Building Industry Partners is the leading growth equity investment firm focused on the U.S. middle-market building products industry. Founded in 2008, BIP has offices in New York, Boston, and Dallas and is managed by Matt Ogden and Zach Coopersmith. BIP invests its principals' own capital, as well as that of a small number of like-minded family office and individual limited partners, including a number of leading active and retired building industry executives. BIP maintains a large proprietary network of building industry operators, thought leaders and service providers that support its industry-focused proprietary opportunity sourcing, due diligence, portfolio company management and value creation efforts. BIP invests via an "Operator First" model, serving as an equity capital partner to support proven building products industry leaders in building niche-leading businesses. To this end, BIP provides equity capital to: (1) owner-operators of niche-focused building products manufacturers, distributors and specialty service companies seeking capital for growth, liquidity and/or partial ownership transition and (2) proven building industry operators and entrepreneurs seeking to build a business within their niche of expertise, primarily via acquisition of a platform company and execution of organic and/or "buy & build" growth strategies. The Firm focuses primarily on majority or minority ownership investments involving platform companies with $20 to $250 million in revenues as well as smaller companies with unique growth opportunities or as part of larger "buy & build" acquisition strategies. BIP principals have co-founded and/or served as the equity capital sponsor for a number of the building products industry's leading middle-market companies and operators, including: U.S. LBM Holdings, now the 3rd largest LBM pro dealer organization in the U.S., in partnership with L.T. Gibson, BlackEagle Partners and team Kodiak Building Partners, in partnership with Paul Hylbert, Steve Swinney and team Rugby Architectural Building Products, in partnership with David Hughes (News - Alert) , Drew Dickinson and team United Cabinet Holdings, in partnership with Butch Reimer and team Homewood Holdings, in partnership with Jim Stockman and team U.S. Fence Solutions Company, in partnership with Jeff Cook, Jim and Matt Bockelmann, Hans Vonderhofen, Alain Brule and team BIP continues to seek opportunities to sponsor and support the building industry's most talented business leaders in realizing their entrepreneurial visions. In 2020, BIP kicked off the process of relaunching the firm to accelerate and scale our people-first investment and impact initiatives. BIP is engaging like-minded business and thought leaders who share a vision of advancing the building industry and its workforce over the next decade through investing in the industry's most critical asset, its people. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210302005190/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Instagram influencer Em Davies has landed in hot water, after an old Snapchat post she accidentally shared resurfaced and went viral this week. The Perth model, 26, had boasted of 'doing lines all weekend' in the original post, which was re-shared on Monday by popular Instagram account Celeb Spellcheck. Alongside a bizarre picture of herself using a face-altering filter, Davies had written: 'Sickkkk don't have my ID on me coz I did lines w it all weekend. 'Did lines all weekend': Instagram influencer Em Davies has landed in hot water, after an old Snapchat post she accidentally shared resurfaced and went viral this week 'Now can't get on my flight bc it links to an international so have to wait four hours to get another one :).' Daily Mail Australia is not suggesting Davies was referring to anything illegal. While she is yet to respond to Celeb Spellcheck's post, Davies later shared a cryptic quote on Instagram in which she alluded to being criticised online. 'Lines': The Perth model, 26, had boasted of 'doing lines all weekend' in the original post, which was re-shared on Monday by popular Instagram account Celeb Spellcheck Caption: Alongside a bizarre picture of herself using a face-altering filter, Davies had written, 'Sickkkk don't have my ID on me coz I did lines w it all weekend. Now can't get on my flight bc it links to an international so have to wait four hours to get another one :)' 'It's so sad how much time and energy people waste ripping on other people, mostly online and about the things they do themselves,' read the quote, which had originally been posted by Davies' friend Mia Gowler. Gowler also defended Davies in the comments section of Celeb Spellcheck's post, writing: 'Em is one of my closest friends. Her sharing of my story today was reiterating my frustration of posts like these.' Daily Mail Australia has contacted Davies' representative for comment. Speaking out: While she is yet to respond to Celeb Spellcheck's post, Davies later shared this cryptic quote on Instagram in which she alluded to being criticised online ALBANY, N.Y., March 2, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- EcoChain, Inc. ("EcoChain"), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Mechanical Technology, Incorporated ("MTI" or the "Company"), (OTCQB: MKTY), a cryptocurrency mining business powered by renewable energy, announced today the release of a strategic update discussing how EcoChain is setting the critical building blocks for its growth into place. In the presentation Mr. Toporek discusses the power cost of EcoChain's new data center in the South Eastern United States. "Having a power cost of $0.023 cents per kWh for at least 83% of the time opens up the opportunity to purchase second and third generation processors for immediate delivery at a 50% to 65% discount to current generation processors on a hash rate basis. When operations begin during the second half of 2021, we believe that this low power cost will allow us maximum flexibility to potentially optimize the Company's return on invested capital." Mr. Toporek also reviews how EcoChain manages return on invested capital, its long-term growth strategy and the results of its mine in Washington State. "Our Washington mine is operating at approximately 2.6MW. The assets were acquired in May 2020 and the capacity of the mine was increased in the fall of 2020, as a result of improvements mining operations and infrastructure. These improvements are expected to enable the return of 100% of the capital we deployed to the site by the end of the second quarter of 2021, or in under twelve months. This initial project may be small-scale in nature, but it effectively demonstrates how driving this kind of return on investment is part of MTI's and EcoChain's playbook and DNA." The update is available in a video presentation delivered by Michael Toporek, CEO on EcoChain's website at https://ecochainmining.com/news/ecochain-inc-announces-strategic-update. About EcoChain, Inc. EcoChain, Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Mechanical Technology, Incorporated, is engaged in developing and operating ultra-low cost green data centers focused on cryptocurrency mining. For more information about EcoChain, please visit www.ecochainmining.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 [email protected] Investor Relations: Kirin Smith, President PCG Advisory, Inc. 646.823.8656 [email protected] SOURCE Mechanical Technology, Incorporated Related Links https://www.mechtech.com/ Members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or ASEAN, are holding talks Tuesday to discuss the worsening political crisis in Myanmar. Foreign ministers representing each of ASEANs 10-member nations, which includes Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam, will hold talks via videoconference with their counterpart from member nation Myanmar. Singapore Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan told lawmakers Monday ASEAN believes the situation in Myanmar would have serious consequences for the region, and expressed confidence the bloc could facilitate a return to normalcy and stability in the country. He called on all parties to pursue a long-term peaceful political solution for national reconciliation including a return to the path of democratic transition which can only begin with the immediate release of de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi, President Win Myint and other high-ranking officials of the deposed civilian government. Balakrishnan also said ASEAN is appalled by the use of lethal force against civilians by Myanmar security forces. Popular protests staged daily across Myanmar against the militarys February 1 coup have grown increasingly violent and deadly. At least 21 people have been killed since the coup, including 18 people on Sunday, according to the United Nations Human Rights Office, the deadliest day of the unrest. Witnesses to Sundays protests say police used tear gas, rubber bullets, water cannon and in some cases, live ammunition in Yangon, Myanmars biggest city. According to The Associated Press, photos of shell cases from live ammunition were posted on social media. Media videos show demonstrators dragging the injured away from the protests, leaving bloody smears on the pavement. Police also aggressively sought to break up protests in other cities, including Mandalay and Dawei. Hundreds of protesters wearing construction helmets returned to the streets of Yangon Tuesday chanting slogans against the military regime as they stood behind makeshift barricades. Security forces responded by once again firing tear gas at the demonstrators to disperse them. The military has claimed widespread fraud in last Novembers election, won in a landslide by Suu Kyis National League for Democracy party, as justification for last months coup. Myanmars electoral commission denied the militarys claims of election fraud. Suu Kyi appeared via videoconference at a court in the capital, Naypyitaw, her first public appearance since she was removed from office and detained by the military. She was charged with two additional crimes during the session -- attempting to incite public unrest and violating a section of the telecommunications law regarding operating equipment without a license. The 75-year-old Suu Kyi was already charged with illegally importing and using six unregistered walkie-talkie radios found during a search of her home, and for breaking the countrys natural disaster law by holding public gatherings in violation of COVID-19 protocols. Her next court appearance has been scheduled for March 15. The United States and other Western nations have demanded Suu Kyis release, as well as that of her lieutenants, and called on the junta to restore power to the civilian government. Senior General Min Aung Hlaing said Monday during an address on state television that protest leaders and "instigators" would be punished. He said the army is also investigating financial abuse by the civilian government. White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Monday the recent killings of protesters in Myanmar represent an escalation of the situation there and said the Biden administration was preparing further costs on those responsible. The new U.S ambassador to the United Nations, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, urged the international community Monday to ramp up pressure on Myanmars military and said she hopes to use Washington's presidency of the United Nations Security Council in March to push for more "intense discussions" on Myanmar, formerly called Burma. It is clear the world is watching the situation in Burma, and its clear that we cant sit still and watch people continue to be brutalized and their human rights to be destroyed, she said. The United Nations said Monday that if serious international crimes have taken place in Myanmar, it would investigate. Nicholas Koumjian, head of the U.N. Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar, said if international law has been violated, we will build case files to facilitate criminal trials to hold those responsible to account in international, regional or national courts. Tom Andrews, U.N. special rapporteur for Myanmar, has called on the international community to take collective action against the military junta, including a global arms embargo, sanctions against businesses owned or controlled by the junta, and the convening of the U.N. Security Council to discuss the issue. Andrews also urged countries that have already established some sanctions to immediately consider more. As the junta ratchets up its brutal attacks against peaceful protesters in Myanmar, the world must ratchet up its response. Words of condemnation are welcome but insufficient. We must act. I'm releasing a statement today w options for UN member states & the UN Security Council. pic.twitter.com/q34vaaoYky UN Special Rapporteur Tom Andrews (@RapporteurUn) February 28, 2021 The junta has declared a one-year state of emergency. Min Aung Hlaing has pledged that new elections will be held to bring about a "true and disciplined democracy but did not specify when they would take place. This is why its so important for these unhinged conspiracy theorists to share their deranged ideas with anyone who will listen. It justifies their behavior and, to a degree, their purpose in life. At least at that moment. If they can change your mind or even prompt you to pause for a minute about any of their insane theories such as Trump returning to office Thursday it validates their mindset and their values. Johnny Depp and Vanessa Paradis' daughter Lily-Rose kissed her co-star Tye Sheridan in the first teaser for Lionsgate's Voyagers, which hits US theaters April 9. The 21-year-old two-time Cesar Award nominee and the 24-year-old Independent Spirit Award winner portray astronauts Sela and Christopher Rebbs in the PG-13 sci-fi thriller. 'I'll do anything you want,' Sela is heard saying in the preview. 'I'll do anything you want': Johnny Depp and Vanessa Paradis' daughter Lily-Rose kissed her co-star Tye Sheridan in the first teaser for Lionsgate's Voyagers, which hits US theaters April 9 'Increased pleasure': The 21-year-old two-time Cesar Award nominee (L) and the 24-year-old Independent Spirit Award winner (R) portray astronauts Sela and Christopher Rebbs in the PG-13 sci-fi thriller In Voyagers, 30 young men and women, bred for intelligence and obedience, embark on an expedition to colonize a distant planet. However, things get chaotic after the young astronauts decide to stop drinking a drug concoction called 'The Blue' which dulls their senses. Voyagers director Neil Burger also happened to helm the 2011 thriller Limitless, which featured a knowledge-enhancing pill called NZT-48. Soon enough the astronauts become 'consumed by fear, lust, and the insatiable hunger for power.' 'This is our future': In Voyagers, 30 young men and women, bred for intelligence and obedience, embark on an expedition to colonize a distant planet 'Don't drink it': However, things get chaotic after the young astronauts decide to stop drinking a drug concoction called 'The Blue' which dulls their senses 'It's all in your head': Voyagers director Neil Burger also happened to helm the 2011 thriller Limitless, which featured a knowledge-enhancing pill called NZT-48 'What does it feel like to feel something?' Soon enough the astronauts become 'consumed by fear, lust, and the insatiable hunger for power' 'Get ready to feel something': Voyagers' most rebellious antagonist appears to be Zac, played by Dunkirk alum Fionn Whitehead (L) In a gun-toting, primal sequence similar to The Lord of the Flies, Zac announces: 'Who cares about the rules? We can do what we want!' Voyagers' most rebellious antagonist appears to be Zac, played by Dunkirk alum Fionn Whitehead. 'Who cares about the rules? We can do what we want!' Zac announces in a gun-toting, primal sequence similar to The Lord of the Flies. At one point, Sela appears to be watching a monitor and asks: 'Why have they all gone crazy?' At one point, Sela appears to be watching a monitor and asks: 'Why have they all gone crazy?' 'This is control': One can guess there won't be much from mission leader Richard Alling (Colin Farrell), who's absent for much of the hedonistic trailer When Christopher (R) wonders whether 'this is our true nature,' Richard (L) condescendingly replies: 'That's a profound thought' 'This will tear us apart': Voyagers - which wrapped production way back in August 2019 - was supposed to be released November 25, but it was postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic Secret romance? While on the Bucharest set, Lily-Rose seemed to get especially close to her British castmate Archie Madekwe, who played the role of Kai (pictured in 2019) One can guess there won't be much from mission leader Richard Alling (Colin Farrell), who's absent for much of the hedonistic trailer. When Christopher wonders whether 'this is our true nature,' Richard condescendingly replies: 'That's a profound thought.' Voyagers - which wrapped production way back in August 2019 - was supposed to be released November 25, but it was postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic. Released VOD this Friday! Speaking of drug-fueled flicks, Depp will next play Emmie Kahane opposite the disgraced Armie Hammer (R) in Nicholas Jarecki's opioid thriller Crisis (pictured in 2019) While on the Bucharest set, Lily-Rose seemed to get especially close to her British castmate Archie Madekwe, who played the role of Kai. Speaking of drug-fueled flicks, Depp will next play Emmie Kahane opposite the disgraced Armie Hammer in Nicholas Jarecki's opioid thriller Crisis, which will be released VOD this Friday. The flick formerly known as 'Dreamland' also stars Gary Oldman, Evangeline Lilly, Greg Kinnear, Michelle Rodriguez, and Kid Cudi. Funeral Announcements A daily list of current funeral annoucements as heard on KXRA 1490 AM/100.3 FM News Updates The daily news, sports, and events delivered daily from Voice of Alexandria. Sports Update This current sports headlines delivered daily from Voice of Alexandria. Upcoming Events This email is the events of the area delivered daily from Voice of Alexandria. Breaking News The big news. Sent only as it happens. Washington: A day after it was reported that the Mumbai power outage in 2020 was a likely Chinese cyber attack, which took place amid the India-China border tension at the Line of Actual Control (LAC), a top US Congressman has called for a probe into the incident and urged US president Joe Biden to stand by India. "The US must stand by our strategic partner and condemn China's dangerous cyber-attack on India's grid, which forced hospitals to go on generators in the midst of a pandemic," Congressman Frank Pallone said in a tweet on Monday. "We cannot allow China to dominate the region through force and intimidation," Pallone tweeted, a day after Recorded Future, a Massachusetts-based company that studies the use of the internet by state actors, said a Chinese government-linked group of hackers targeted India's critical power grid system through malware, amidst the tense border tension between the two nations. The US State Department said it is aware of these reports. "For specifics, we refer you to the company that conducted the study. More broadly, however, the State Department works with partners around the world to respond to shared threats in cyberspace," a State Department spokesperson said "In general, we continue to have concerns about states' dangerous and coercive actions, including in cyberspace, and we reaffirm the importance of joint action on cybersecurity, critical infrastructure, and supply chain security," said the spokesperson. Recorded Future also raised suspicion whether the massive power outage in Mumbai was a result of the online intrusion. "The electric grid computer has a pre-installed malware, which is often installed by China. Because of this, it gets the remote control of the computer system, which can turn it off and can also cause a complete blackout," said Prashant Mali, a cyber expert. However, back then, Tata Power had attributed the power outage to a simultaneous substation tripping at state-run transmission company MSETCL's two substations in the suburbs of Kalwa and Kharghar. "Tata Power regrets the inconvenience caused to its consumers due to this unforeseen event in power failure due to the transmission system failure leading to the cascading impact to all downstream suppliers of electricity including Tata Power, BEST and its consumers," said an official statement. The statement added, "Based on the preliminary assessment of the situation, Tata Power would like to inform that today many parts of Mumbai experienced an unforeseen electricity failure starting at 10 am in the morning due to tripping of MSETCLs 400 KV transmission system at Kalwa which supplies to Mumbai and adjoining areas." The Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh on Monday stated that the Mumbai power outage in 2020 was a cyber-sabotage attempt. "Maharashtra Cyber Cell has submitted a preliminary report on this. The report findings state there is evidence that suggests there might have been a cyber-sabotage attempt," news agency ANI quoted Deshmukh as saying. It may be recalled that Mumbaikars had to face a huge problem as local trains and other essential services were also affected for over two hours in 2020. Several petrol pumps were also shut down in the city due to power outage. Live TV Tamil Nadu: Plea for release of eight fishermen held in Maldives March 02,2021 | Source: The Hindu With notification for the election to the Legislative Assembly announced, the model code of conduct came into force on February 26. Under such circumstances, the weekly grievances meeting held at the Collectorate was suspended until further orders. Officials, however, installed a box in which the petitions could be dropped. On Monday, a delegation representing Tharuvaikulam Fishermen Welfare Association led by its president Anthony arrived at the Collectorate and insisted on submitting a petition to the Collector personally. Collector K Senthil Raj said he would look into the petition. Later, the fishermen told reporters that colleagues from their hamlet set off into the sea from Kanniyakumari for fishing. As they were sailing southwards, an unexpected wind took their mechanised boat into the territorial waters of Maldives. A surveillance team from Maldives and naval authorities seized the boat and arrested the fishermen. For no fault of the fishermen, they have been detained for the last 10 days. Mr. Anthony said, we have made a request to the Collector to at least send our petition to the Central government, who alone can take action. Stone quarry In another petition, villagers from Srivaikundam, Keezhur, Naduvoor and other hamlets came to the Collectorate and pleaded with officials to suspend the licence issued to a stone quarry in their area. About 100 villagers claimed that the quarry site was not only causing pollution, but also creating tremor-like experience during odd hours. They threatened to boycott the poll if the officials failed to look into their grievance within a weeks time. 2021, THG PUBLISHING PVT LTD. Sorry! This content is not available in your region 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. A man and two companies in Alaska have been sentenced to three years probation and a $35,000 fine for violating the Clean Air Act involving asbestos work at a shopping center more than five years ago, a judge said. The work was performed at the Northern Lights Center in Anchorage, the former location of an REI store. Reports of potential asbestos exposure at the time closed the store for a day back in 2015, authorities said. U.S. District Court Judge Joshua Kindred sentenced Tae Ryung Yoon, 64, on Friday to probation, fined him $35,000 and said he owes $30,000 in restitution for medical monitoring of the four workers who claimed they were exposed to asbestos, the Anchorage Daily News reported. The owners of Yoo Jin Management Company Ltd. and Mush Inn Corp. were also sentenced after agreeing to plead guilty to a charge of violating the Clean Air Acts Asbestos Work Practice Standards. Both companies are owned by Chun Yoo, who is in his 80s and has serious medical conditions, and his wife, attorney Kevin Fitzgerald said. The couple still owns the center. The case centers on workers who said they were exposed to asbestos during improperly conducted renovations involving an old boiler room. The work was stopped when two of the workers raised concerns. High levels of asbestos exposure can cause lung disease or cancer. Prosecutors said in a statement that the building owners and manager relied on a contractor who was not a certified asbestos abatement contractor and failed to inform the contractor of the possibility of asbestos in the old boiler room. Fitzgerald argued that an assessment indicated no evidence of asbestos when his clients bought the center in 2006. Yoon was the buildings property manager at the time. Documents show the boilers were replaced by another company in 2012 and the old ones were removed in 2014 to make more room. Some of the workers took photos of what they thought was asbestos and emailed them to the property management company that employed Yoon. Based on Mr. Yoons inaction with respect to that email, Mr. Yoon has pled to the negligent release of asbestos, said Michael Moberly, who is representing Yoon. Data shows state workplace safety inspectors issued a $1,000 fine in 2015 against the company that put in new boilers related to asbestos. A restitution hearing is scheduled for March 15. Copyright 2021 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Topics Alaska Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full 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 look at some of the major movers in London on Tuesday ( ) was off 15% at 11.5p after the company declined to say (for now) what it would do with the proceeds from recent disposals. The plastics products specialist has completed the disposal of Coral Product (Mouldings) limited and Interpack Limited. The disposals were announced on February 11. It is the board's intention to conduct a review to determine the most advantageous route to deliver shareholder value and apply the proceeds from the disposals." said Joe Grimmond, the chairman of Coral. 2.50pm: CloudCoCo Group gives back some of February's gains CloudCoCo Group PLC ( ) gave back some of Februarys handsome gains, sliding 8.3% to 1.65p in the wake of its full-year results announcement. The turnaround play saw its loss before tax narrow to 2.97mln in 2020 from a loss of 5.59mln in 2019 on revenue that rose to 7.97mln from 7.26mln. We are still in the early stages of our long-term plan, but there are green shoots clearly emerging, said Simon Duckworth, the non-executive chairman of the information technology and telecommunications specialist. 1.55pm: D4t4 finds interim replacement for its head abacus rattler PLC ( ) dived 7.1% to 276.5p after it announced an interim replacement for Charlie Irvine, its chief financial officer. Nitil Patel, formerly the chief financial officer at Dods group and Ten Alps (now known as ), will hold the fort until a permanent successor can be found for Irvine, who last month announced he was off to pastures new. The data solutions provider is currently undertaking an external search with a view to making a permanent appointment in due course. 1.00pm: DX reverses despite delivering a return to the black DX (Group) PLC ( ) retreated 8.3% to 29.7p after its interims failed to pack the punch investors were expecting. Adjusted profit before tax for the six months to January 2 was 3,8mln, compared to a loss a year earlier of 2.4mln. The freight firm said it has a healthy pipeline of opportunities in the parcels market, while trading in 2022 has so far been significantly ahead of last year, albeit in line with managements expectations. 12.05pm: Boohoo rocked by slave labour allegations ( ), down 4.9% at 327.75p, sashayed south as it faced a potential import ban in the US over allegations of slave labour. US Customs and Border Protection has received two petitions by campaign group Liberty Shared over the course of last month. The petitions concern the potential prohibition of imports to the US if they contain in whole or in part materials made with forced labour under the Tariff Act of 1930, from Boohoo or if made by apparel industry businesses based in Leicester with the exception of two companies, Basic Premier Limited and Ethically Sourced Products Limited. 11.05am: Hurricane share price gets sidetracked Hurricane Energy PLC (LON:HUR) tumbled 14% to 3.184p after it outlined some possible courses of action for a sidetrack from the 205/21a-7z well. The company has concluded that it will not be possible to drill this well during the 2021 summer weather window without unacceptable operational and cost risk. All options for potential further development activity are subject to factors that are or may be outside the company's control, which include field performance, prevailing oil prices and support from relevant stakeholders and counterparties, Hurricane told investors. 10.10am: PetroNeft encouraged by fracking results PetroNeft Resources PLC ( ) said it has completed its fracking programme on the Sibkrayevskoye and the Lineynoye fields, sending its shares 11% higher to 2.45p. The company said the initial results from the wells are very encouraging, leading to production increases and opening the door to potential further developments. Although it is still early days, results so far have demonstrated the value of fracking as a relatively low cost but highly effective means of increasing production, provided the right geological and operational conditions prevail combined with an optimized frack design. We look forward to identifying further candidates for similar activity within our licences, said David Sturt, the chief executive officer of PetroNeft. 9.15am: Amigo up after JPM increases its stake; Lookers escapes with a slapped wrist ( ), the scandal-hit loan company, saw its shares rise 21% to 19.76p on news of an increased shareholding. Funds managed by JP Morgan Chase upped their stake to 7.04% from 6.29% previously. Last night after the stock market closed, Amigo sneaked out details of its new long term incentive plan for its chief risk officer, Paul Dyer. Dyer will receive up to 1.5mln nil-cost options if the company hits certain performance targets. Talking of scandals, ( ) motored 10% higher to 44.4p after the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) ended its investigation into the car dealers activities. The FCA was looking into the possible mis-selling of regulated products, and associated issues relating to potential customer detriment in the first half of 2019. The FCA does not intend to apply any sanction against the group but made clear its concerns relating to the historic culture, systems and controls of the group. The board said it fully accepts the FCA's comments and remains committed to improving the culture. Proactive news headlines ( ) said its focus on properties that have omnichannel potential has been validated by the surge in online grocery sales during the pandemic. Next Fifteen Communications PLC ( ) said it will repay 1.4mln of cash received from the government furlough scheme - reflecting its strong trading performance and robust balance sheet. (LON:MXC, ASX:MXC, ) said distributor Swiss has increased by 85% its initial order volume for ArtemiC Rescue, an anti-inflammatory product targeting COVID-19. ( )( ) has completed its flotation pilot plant programme for the Songwe Hill rare earths project in Malawi. The programme was completed at ALS Metallurgy in Perth, Australia, and was effective in scaling up a new, optimised flotation regime for the project. Shanta Gold Ltd ( ) generated revenue of US$147.4mln from its gold production operations in Tanzania during the year to 31 December 2020, up significantly from the US$112.8mln generated in 2019. Neuro-imaging specialist ( ) has been brought in by new client Cyclerion Therapeutics to support the latters phase II trial of a treatment for Alzheimers. ( ) is planning to launch a non-fungible token (NFT) technology development studio in Gibraltar. In partnership with Indorse, a Singaporean company, it plans to develop smart contract systems for NFT applications including a bridge for NFTs on Bitcoin using Rootstock (RSK) blockchain technology. Sirius Real Estate Limited ( ) announced it has completed the acquisition of a mixed-use business park in Fellbach, near Stuttgart, for 9.2mln. ( ) has acquired a modern purpose-built primary care centre in Shankill, Co. Dublin, Ireland for 3.8mln. ( ) has made progress towards completing the purchase of the remaining interest in the Mikei gold project in Kenya. ( ) told investors that rig mobilisation for the Merlin-1 exploration well is progressing well and has seen only minor weather-related delay. Chariot Oil & Gas Limited ( ) signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Moroccan authorities committing to support the development of the Anchois Gas Development project. ( ) has launched a new directional drilling system, called SABER, which it describes as a disruptive alternative to traditional rotary steerable systems (RSS). Deepverge PLC ( ) said the Ecological Water Operating System, known as EcowaterOS, will begin its launch in China with an introduction via an industry webinar on March 17 and 18. ( ) has sold 19,634.15 SDT tokens in the Stake DAO (SDT) project, generating proceeds of US$255,542. The tokens were sold at an average price of US$13.02 each. ( )( ) has closed the 4mln placing it announced in mid-February, with just over 9.5mln shares issued at a price of 42p. ( ) is planning to list on Aim, a market to which the companys board believes it is more suited. Emmerson is about to enter into a pivotal period, with the commencement of mine construction at the Khemisset potash project in Morocco expected by the end of 2021. ( ) updated on its court case in the Bahamas reporting that, yesterday, the Honourable Justice Petra Hanna-Weekes allowed the company's application and ordered the applicants to post $200,000 security for costs within 30 days, pending which the proceedings will be stayed. ( ) notified investors that chief executive Richard Petti and chief financial officer Haywood Chapman will provide a live presentation relating to the company's preliminary results via the Investor Meet Company platform on 25 March at 4.30pm GMT. The presentation is open to all existing and potential shareholders. ( ) will host a webcast of an investor presentation on 12 March at 11am GMT. The call will be led by chief executive Osamede Okhomina, and will include a Q&A session at the end. The Company will provide an update on the business and its views on the drivers behind the current market. ( ) announced that chief executive Dr Markku Jalkanen will present in a pre-recorded presentation at the virtual HC Wainwright Global Life Sciences Conference that will be available on-demand starting Tuesday, March 9, at midday London time. An audio webcast of the presentation will be available in the investors section on Faron's website: https://www.faron.com/investors. Canada's National Advisory Committee on Immunization released new measures on Monday that advise against inoculating seniors who are aged 65 and older with AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine. It cited a lack of information regarding the efficacy in that certain age group. AstraZeneca COVID-19 Vaccine Not Advised for 65 and Older The novel coronavirus vaccine was authorized for individuals who are 18 years old and older by the drug regulator Health Canada on Friday. The committee's guidelines are not imperative. However, it may influence provincial immunization plans. A national panel of vaccine experts states provinces must not use the Oxford-AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine on seniors. This opens the door for provinces to begin vaccinating younger populations with the newly authorized vaccine much earlier than anticipated. However, similar advice initially issued in Europe started to be revisited on Monday, France overturned its earlier decision against using it on seniors, and Germany is amid reconsideration, reported Tricity News. The AstraZeneca vaccine was permitted for use on Friday on all adults, involving seniors. However, the NACI is concerned there is limited data on the efficacy of the vaccine in older populations. There are no concerns that the vaccine is not safe for use. However, the NACI panel stated in its recommendations the mRNA vaccines from Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech are preferred for individuals 65 years old and above because of "suggested superior efficacy," reported CP24. Health Canada's decision underscored that available clinical trial data was too restricted to ascertain how well the vaccine worked in seniors 65 and older. However, it also stated "emerging real world evidence" in places that had already begun administering the vaccine that suggested a potential advantage and no safety concerns. Also Read: COVID-19 Relief Plan: When Will the Proposal Be Voted on in the Senate? According to the NACI, the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine should be offered to individuals under 65 so long as the benefits of receiving a good vaccine earlier outweigh any restrictions the vaccine may uphold in terms of efficacy. The advice indicated that people should be made aware of such limitations and how long they could otherwise wait for an mRNA vaccine. The panel's advisory helps provincial governments surmise how best to administer the vaccines available to them. However, provinces could make their own calls regarding what to do. It will now be up to provinces to evaluate if they open up vaccinations with AstraZeneca to individuals under 65 years old. According to a preliminary study of Scotland's vaccination drive published the previous week, it suggested AstraZeneca's jab had been highly competent in alleviating serious infections there. In Germany, the recommendation to use the vaccine merely for people under 65 years old has resulted in low uptake of available doses. Until now, provinces have not expected to expand the immunization campaign to include people younger than the age threshold for many more months. This is mostly in what they call Phase 2 or even Phase 3 of their vaccination program. Alberta Health Minister Tyler Shandro remarked the provincial government has decided to adhere to NACI's advice. They did not administer Oxford-AstraZeneca to anyone over 65 years old. Related Article: First Single-Dose Vaccine Should Be Available for Administering on Tuesday @ 2021 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. New Delhi: In DNA on Tuesday, Zee News Editor-in-Chief Sudhir Chaudhary analyses intolerance of the Congress party towards its own senior leaders. Chaudhary said that the Congress party suffers from the disease of intolerance and that there is no place for those who speak out against the Gandhi family in the party. The most recent examples of this are Congress leaders Ghulam Nabi Azad and Anand Sharma, who raised their voice against the party high command. They were met with severe backlash from other party leaders. Ghulam Nabi Azad, who dedicated 47 years of his life to the Congress party was criticised by several Congress leaders after he praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi. In West Bengal, Anand Sharma spoke against Congress' decision to join hands with the Indian Secular Front (ISF) as he believed it hurt the secular credentials of the party. But party leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury slammed Sharma for his comments. At a time when the party is going through such a huge political crisis because of internal conflicts, Rahul Gandhi is busy swimming and doing pushups. Gandhi is currently on a visit to poll-bound states of Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Puducherry. He can be seen swimming, flaunting six-pack abs and doing pushups. He is perhaps the fittest politician in the country. If fitness was enough to qualify someone as a leader, Gandhi might as well have been the prime minister. But that is not the case. And while the party is going through a crisis, his pictures reveal how much he cares. In the last 70 years, the internal democracy of Congress has been in shambles as it has been controlled by one family. From 1950 to 2020, the post of Congress President remained with the Gandhi-Nehru family for 39 years. And in the last 40 years, the command of the party remained with the Gandhi-Nehru family for 32 years. This includes Rajiv Gandhi, his wife Sonia Gandhi and his son Rahul Gandhi. In these 40 years, only two leaders outside the Gandhi family were able to reach the post of president in the Congress. The first was PV Narasimha Rao and the second was Sitaram Kesari. Both of these leaders were ignored later and their control in the party was weakened. Sonia Gandhi held the top post for 19 consecutive years from 1998 to 2017. She is still the interim president of the party. Now we take a look at the list of Congres leaders who opposed the Gandhi-Nehru family and for which their political career suffered. The first example is that of the former Prime Minister of India P.V. Narasimha Rao. He gave the Congress a stable tenure after the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi. But despite this, when he died in December 2004, his body was not allowed to be taken to the national headquarters of the Congress. Not only this, his funeral was not allowed to be held in Delhi at that time, after which he was cremated in Hyderabad. Sitaram Kesari was a prominent Dalit leader of the party but Gandhi family members removed him from the post of President and then removed him from the party as well. Similarly, Sharad Pawar, P.A. Sangma and Tariq Anwar were expelled from the party after they questioned Sonia Gandhi's authority. Another example is that of VP Singh, who raised questions on the Bofors case. Rajiv Gandhi first cast him out of the cabinet and later expelled him from the party. The list also includes Arif Mohammed Khan, who criticized the then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi's decision in the 1986 Shah Bano case. Arif Mohammad Khan was also expelled from the party after this. When the Congress was defeated badly in the 1977 general elections held after the Emergency, Congress leaders Y.B. Chavan and K. Brahmananda Reddy questioned the leadership of Indira Gandhi. This resulted in a split in the Congress party. When Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru was the prime minister, India's first law minister, Dr Bhim Rao Ambedkar, had to resign as he did not get support from him on Hindu Code Bill. Even Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel did not get the respect he deserved. Patel was awarded the Bharat Ratna posthumously, 41 years after his death. Whereas Jawaharlal Nehru gave the award to himself while he was still the prime minister. Live TV You have permission to edit this article. Edit Close To continue, please log in, or sign up for a new account. We offer one free story view per month. If you register for an account, you will get two additional story views. After those three total views, we ask that you support us with a subscription. A subscription to our digital content is so much more than just access to our valuable content. It means youre helping to support a local community institution that has, from its very start, supported the betterment of our society. Thank you very much! A former police officer has been found guilty of grooming a 15-year-old girl he met while investigating nude photos she circulated. Matthew Paul Hockley admitted he added the teenager on Snapchat and sent her messages, but said he was interested in the girl's mother. But after a five-day trial and nearly six hours of deliberating a jury found him guilty of one count each of grooming a child under 16 with intent to facilitate the procurement of a sexual act and using the internet to procure a child under 16. Police Officer Matthew Paul Hockley (centre) is seen leaving the Brisbane District Court in Brisbane, Tuesday Hockley admitted he added the teenager on Snapchat and sent her messages, but said he was interested in the girl's mother (stock) Hockley committed the offences while he was a senior constable working at the Inala Child Protection and Investigation Unit. He has since resigned. The 33-year-old was accused of making sexual and suggestive comments to the girl after adding her on social media days after he interviewed her over naked photographs she had circulated. The pair exchanged more than 1000 chat messages and 30 images over three weeks from July 30, 2019. In messages photographed by the girl he wrote, 'heading home to get naked and relax' and 'rather be chillin with you'. In another he said, 'I was so cold last night. Needed you to warm me up'. The trial heard the former officer also invited the teenager on holiday, told her he slept naked and called her 'beautiful' in some messages to her. He was also accused of commenting on sexual interactions between older men and girls. 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. But the girl did take pictures of three conversations using another device. Hockley and the teen exchanged more than 1000 chat messages and 30 images over three weeks from July 30, 2019 Hockley claimed the photographed messages were inappropriate, 'an overshare' and 'a horrible use of language'. But his explanations were rejected by the Brisbane District Court jury on Tuesday. However, the jury did find him not guilty on one count of grooming a child under 16 with intent to expose to indecent matter. Hockley is expected to be sentenced on Friday. His bail was extended until sentencing. Daniel Andrews has won enough support to extend the state of emergency that gives him the power to lock Victoria down until December. Draft government amendments were sent to MPs on Tuesday after talks with the Greens and key crossbenchers to extend the powers for another nine months. The state of emergency allows the government to enforce drastic rules, including lockdowns, mandatory face masks, CovidSafe work plans and people limits in venues that would usually be against civil rights. Pictured: Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews speaks to the media on Tuesday morning Greens leader Samantha Ratnam, Reason Party MP Fiona Patten, and Andy Meddick from the Animal Justice Party agreed to support the move. The trio, who also backed a six-month extension in September, were negotiating with Health Minister Martin Foley until late on Monday night. Ms Ratnam said the Greens secured a reduction in Covid-19 fines for young people, a commitment to review fines in disadvantaged communities, and a confirmation of the right to protest, in exchange for the extension. The government has also agreed to give people the right to appeal detention orders, as recommended by Victorian Ombudsman Deborah Glass in her review of the public housing tower lockdown. 'We haven't taken this decision lightly, which is why we put the interests of all Victorians on the table in these negotiations and agreed to support these legislations on the proviso that these reforms that will impact and hopefully support disadvantaged communities,' Ms Ratnam told reporters. Pictured: Police patrol the streets of Melbourne at the start of a lockdown in February imposed suddenly by the Victorian Government She said the government had begun working on legislation specific to the pandemic to replace the current state of emergency powers. 'My understanding is that should the legislation be ready earlier, they would seek to implement it earlier,' Ms Ratnam said. Ms Patten said the government also committed to introducing regulations within two weeks to ensure parts of the state could stay open in a future lockdown. 'This is not over. This will not be over in December. This will not be over in January 2022,' Ms Patten said. Victoria is the only state that caps the maximum length of time a state of emergency can remain in force, with the current powers due to expire on March 15. Premier Daniel Andrews said the extension was the 'legal framework' for public health measures such as hotel quarantine, isolation, mask-wearing and the state's travel permit system. Pictured: The empty streets of Melbourne. A State of Emergency would allow the government to impose lockdowns 'We all have to acknowledge that we still need rules to keep us open to keep us safe,' he said. Opposition leader in the upper house David Davis has described the amendments as a 'sell out by the minor parties'. 'It leaves intact the extraordinary power of Daniel Andrews until Christmas,' he said. Mr Davis said the opposition would support month-to-month extensions, accompanied by relevant public health advice. Victoria recorded a fourth consecutive day without a new coronavirus case, following 13,525 tests in the 24 hours to Tuesday morning. Pictured: An empty Degraves Street in the heart of Melbounre on February 13, 2021 Some 1,156 shots were administered to frontline health workers and hotel quarantine staff in Victoria on Monday. The premier defended the state's rollout of the vaccine, after less than a third of the supplied doses were administered in the first week, compared to 74 per in NSW and 100 per cent in Tasmania. Queensland similarly had used only 22 per cent of its vaccines. 'I'm really pleased with the way things are going, it started in a slow and careful way,' Mr Andrews said. 'Those numbers will grow and we'll deliver on all the commitments we made to the Commonwealth government and no doubt they'll be striving to keep their end of the bargain too.' [March 02, 2021] DataRobot Opens Applications for Second AI for Good: Powered by DataRobot Cohort DataRobot, the leading enterprise AI platform, today announced it is opening applications for the second cohort of its AI for Good: Powered by DataRobot program. The AI for Good program provides nonprofits and social good organizations with pro bono access to DataRobot's end-to-end enterprise AI platform, along with hands-on support from the company's dedicated customer success team. First launched in July 2019, AI for Good empowers nonprofits and social good organizations to solve the world's most pressing challenges with AI. Since the program launch, DataRobot has helped organizations around the world create more than 2,000 projects, build over 100,000 models, and enable more data-driven impact, from improving healthcare and education to monitoring water quality. Kiva, a nonprofit that expands financial access to underserved communities through its micro-lending platform, is a beneficiary of the program. Kiva used DataRobot to create and deploy more than two dozen models that can predict which loans should be promoted based on how likely they are to not be funded. According to Pradeep Ragothaman, Director of Data Science at Kiva, "Before DataRobot, we did not have a way to systematically direct lenders to loans that weren't getting enough attention after they got on to the site, and therefore were at an increased risk of not being funded. To solve for that, we worked with DataRobot to create a system that identifies and automatically promotes these loans-including those in geographically diverse regions-earlier in their funding cycle. Now, we're able to match lenders to enterprises on our platform more effectively, ensuring every underserved borrower/community has the opportunity to get the financial access they need to thrive." DataRobot has a deep-rooted mission to solve the world's most challenging and critical problems with AI. In July 2020, DataRobot expanded its traditional AI for Good program, extending pro bono cloud trial licenses of its enterprise AI platform to any nonprofit and social good organization. DataRobot has also worked extensively in the fight against COVID-19, including the creation of a not-for-profit initiative called ContagionNET that combines at-home self-assessments, anonymous data collection, and AI to dramatically reduce the spread of COVID-19. "We truly believe that AI has the power to solve the world's most pressing challenges-including the coronavirus pandemic-when organizations have access to the right tools and support," said Natalie Bucklin, Data Scientist and Head of AI for Good at DataRobot. "The impact we've seen our program participants create are truly awe-inspiring, and we are incredibly impressed with their ability to apply our platform to drive social good. We look forward to identifying a new group of participants and working with them to create AI programs that fit their unique needs and mission for making the world a better place." The application period for the AI for Good program is open now through April 30. Interested nonprofits and social good organizations can apply to join the second cohort on the AI for Good website. With help from GlobalGiving, a trusted partner in community-led philanthropy, organizations will be evaluated based on data availability and quality, applicability of machine learning, and project scalability. For more on the program, visit datarobot.com/ai-for-good or the DataRobot blog. About DataRobot DataRobot is the leader in enterprise AI, delivering trusted AI technology and enablement services to global enterprises competing in today's Intelligence Revolution (News - Alert) . DataRobot's enterprise AI platform democratizes data science with end-to-end automation for building, deploying, and managing machine learning models. This platform maximizes business value by delivering AI at scale and continuously optimizing performance over time. The company's proven combination of cutting-edge software and world-class AI implementation, training, and support services, empowers any organization - regardless of size, industry, or resources - to drive better business outcomes with AI. DataRobot has offices across the globe and funding from some of the world's best investing firms including Alliance Bernstein, Altimeter, B Capital Group, Cisco (News - Alert) , Citi Ventures, ClearBridge, DFJ Growth, Geodesic Capital, Glynn Capital, Intel Capital, Meritech, NEA, Salesforce Ventures, Sands Capital, Sapphire Ventures, Silver Lake Waterman, Snowflake Ventures, Tiger Global, T. Rowe Price, and World Innovation Lab. DataRobot was named to the Forbes 2020 Cloud 100 list and the Forbes 2019 and 2020 Most Promising AI Companies lists, and was named a Leader in the IDC (News - Alert) MarketScape: Worldwide Advanced Machine Learning Software Platforms Vendor Assessment. For more information visit www.datarobot.com, and join the conversation on the DataRobot Community, More Intelligent Tomorrow podcast, Twitter, and LinkedIn. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210302005800/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Five children from the same Texas family are in mourning after their mother was shot dead in a cold blooded murder-suicide. Nurse Kristen Slack, 45, from Universal City just outside of San Antonio was killed on Saturday morning by her boyfriend Todd Danhof having been shot multiple times. Slack was found dead on the front lawn of a home in Schertz, northeast of the city, while Danhof, was found dead inside by police. Kristen Slack, 45, who was a nurse from San Antonio, Texas was shot dead on Saturday The family are at a loss to explain what triggered the shooting and are grieving their mother Police believe the 46-year-old killed Slack before shooting himself as officers approached the home to investigate. The family are at a loss to explain what triggered the shooting and say that Slack had not been in a relationship with Danhof for very long. They saw no indications of possible violence. Schertz police are now investigating the case in an attempt to work out what led to the tragedy. 'She was a good person,' said Susan Dolgener, Slack's older sister to KSAT. She was informed of her sibling's death by the police. 'She was very caring. She did exceptionally well with Alzheimer's. She had this voice where she would always say, "It is ok."' Slack's son, Christian Gonzalez said, 'She was a very empathetic person. Easy to relate to. A people person. It is just terrible because he took her away from all of her children and I feel like crap dealing with it and I can't imagine how my younger siblings feel.' Slack's boyfriend, Todd Danhof, 46, killed her on Saturday morning on the front lawn of a home 'None of this makes any sense. Nothing adds up. I don't think anybody is prepared to ever hear those words, "Murder suicide." It doesn't feel like it is real.' Her oldest son, Christian Gonzales, described Slack as a very loving mother. 'She was a very empathetic person. Easy to relate to. A people person. It is just terrible because he took her away from all of her children and I feel like crap dealing with it and I can't imagine how my younger siblings feel. Gonzales had not met the boyfriend but said his mother seemed happy with her life. Police were quickly on the scene of the Saturday shooting but neither person could be saved Slack was a nurse and mother to five children of varying ages Photos of the family show Slack to be an engaged mother who doted on her children Slack can be posing with her children in various photographs released by the family 'The last times I messaged her, she just seemed happy with him and praised him and wanted me to meet him,' Gonzales said. 'That is why none of this makes any sense.' 'You take for granted people in your life. You think they are always going to be there and don't think events like this is going to happen. You have to cherish every moment with people because you never know when they will be taken away from you. 'I have no ill-will towards Todd's family. I know they are going to have to live with what he did. We just have to stay strong and be there for each other as we get through this,' Gonzales added. 'She was a good person,' said Susan Dolgener,Slack's older sister.'She was very caring. She did exceptionally well with Alzheimer's. She had this voice where she would always say, "It is ok."' The Taos News delivered to your Taos County address every week for a full year! We offer our lowest mail rates to zip codes in the county. Click Here to See if you Qualify. Plan includes unlimited website access and e-edition print replica online. Your auto pay plan will be conveniently renewed at the end of the subscription period. You may cancel at anytime. A medical worker prepares to give a shot of COVID-19 vaccine at a hospital in Gwangju, Tuesday. Yonhap By Bahk Eun-ji Whether or not to increase the number of doses per vial for COVID-19 vaccines with a new type of syringe has caused confusion for medical workers, as the authorities have been taking an ambiguous stance on its use. Critics say the government has caused confusion while trying to promote the domestically developed syringe as one of Korea's many unique responses to the pandemic. According to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA), Tuesday, discussions are to be held with the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety on the issue of using a low dead space (LDS) syringe, which minimizes the dead space between the hub and the needle. To mark International Womens Day, Glad U Came alongside Open Secret, a Mumbai-based gourmet snack startup celebrates the occasion by launching its #SecretAdmirer campaign. Glad U Came X Open Secret campaign, #SecretAdmirer revolves around women appreciating women who inspired them by their positive spirit. An influencer and celebrity-led social media campaign contributes towards yielding the best results for brands in order to reach your target audience. #SecretAdmirer campaign appealed to a number of celebrities and influencers wherein they wrote the #SecretAdmirer on their palm with the name of the woman they're talking about on a plain piece of paper/ placards and posted a picture holding it. The award-winning PR and Influencer Marketing agency alongside Open Secret aims to create an online space for women showcasing gratitude towards other women. The campaign also focuses on women supporting women by showing them true love, respect, and feeling secure. Commenting on the association, the founder of Open Secret said, I grew up in a small town in Rajasthan where I saw the gap between the opportunities available for girls and boys. Thankfully my mother thought otherwise while raising my brother and me. While I studied at Harvard business school, I knew I wanted to come back and make a difference. The only way forward for women is to stand by each other. While I cofounded open secret my mission was to empower women (especially mothers) not only with our products but every decision we make. We hired women contractors for our manufacturing, 50% of our staff is women! I believe that we all have the privilege to make a difference and its our responsibility to make this world a fairer place! Website: https://opensecret.in/ Maddie Amrutkar, Founder of Glad U Came said, We need to reverse the stereotype that women dont support other women. With this partnership, we vision of building a global community of strong women who share how women significantly inspire them everyday and help one another succeed. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. FOUR former top executives of the Zimbabwe National Roads Administration (Zinara) yesterday appeared in court on allegations of flouting procurement procedures by hiring two security companies rejected during an evaluation as sub-standard and then extending the contracts of the two. Former chief executive officer Nancy Masiyiwa-Chamisa, former finance director Simon Taranhike, and former acting CEOs Saston Muzenda and Matheline Mujokoro appeared separately at the Harare Magistrates Court charged with criminal abuse of office as public officers. Muzenda was the acting chief executive between June and November 2019 and Mujokoro between September 2013 and July 2019. Magistrate Mrs Vongai Guwuriro granted them bail of $20 000 each. Prosecuting, Mrs Tinashe Makiya said in 2016, Zinara flighted a tender for the provision of security services at its premises countrywide. A total of 24 companies, including Ex-Combatants Security and National Eye Security Service, responded to the tender. An evaluation team was set up after tenders were opened and it toured all 24 companies, but the team was disbanded before the final evaluation report was signed. However, the team had already found Ex-Combatants and National Eye Security failed to meet the requirements as they had neither firearms not dogs and their premises were not presentable, according to the State. After these evaluations, the Procurement Management Committee was supposed to sit and come up with a suitable bidder but no such committee sat to select a successful bidder. On April 3, 2017, contrary to his duties as the procurement chairperson who was supposed to ensure that procedures were followed and with intention to show favour to Ex-Combatant Security Service and National Eye Security, Taranhike single-handedly selected the two companies and wrote letters to them advising that they had won tenders to provide security services to the northern and southern regions, said Mrs Makiya. On May 9, 2017, Masiyiwa-Chamisa signed one-year contracts for the two security companies with a 12-months extension provision. On March 1, 2018, Zinaras administration and human resources director wrote to the two security companies advising them that their contracts were not to be renewed upon expiry but, said the State, Mujokoro, who was the acting chief executive officer, extended the contracts of the two security companies on September 7, 2018 from the date of expiry to April 30, 2019, without Zinaras approval. In June 2019, Modern Security and Real Star Security companies were awarded tenders to provide services in Zinaras northern and southern regions starting from September 1, 2019 with the contracts for Ex-Combatants and National Eye Security ending on August 31, 2019. I is alleged that Muzenda, now acting CEO, had already allowed Ex-Combatants Security to add security guards in areas that were manned by National Eye Security, when he assumed the post of acting CEO for Zinara. In a bid to cover his back, Muzenda allegedly wrote to the then Procurement Regulatory Authority on September 30, seeking an extension of services from Ex-Combatants Security. However, the authority asked Muzenda for the contracts but he responded saying that he had already awarded the tender to the security company, thereby extending its service provision by 12 months. He allegedly showed disfavour to Modern Security and Real Star Security companies who had won the tender. Herald During the three-day visit, Francis will travel to Baghdad, Najaf, Ur, Erbil, Mosul, and Qaraqosh. During his stay, he will give four speeches and deliver two homilies, an Angelus and a prayer of suffrage for war victims. On Saturday, he will meet Al-Sistani, the country's highest Shia authority. Vatican City (AsiaNews) Matteo Bruni, director of the Holy See Press Office, held a press conference today to present Pope Francis' trip to Iraq from 5 to 8 March. For the pontiff, the three main goals of the visit are: meeting the Christian community, deepening the relationship between different religions, and meeting Iraq. Words like fraternity and hope can sum up the upcoming trip to Iraq, which will take place during a pandemic. We shall have to take this into account, starting with the people who will join the Pope on the trip. Everyone the Pope, his retinue and the journalists on the Rome-Baghdad flight taking off at 7.30 am on Friday are vaccinated against COVID-19. Those who could not do so in their own country were vaccinated by the Vatican. During the three-day visit, Francis will travel to Baghdad, Najaf, Ur, Erbil, Mosul, and Qaraqosh. During his stay, he will give four speeches and deliver two homilies, an Angelus and a prayer of suffrage for war victims, as indicated by the updated programme released today by the Holy See Press Office. This will be Pope Franciss 33rd apostolic journey in 52 countries, the first by a pope in Iraq and the first in a Shia-majority country, hence the meeting scheduled on Saturday between Francis in Najaf and Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, the highest Shia religious authority in Iraq, a figure also revered in Iran. Such a meeting was certainly not neglected in planning the visit. Pope John Paul wanted to visit Iraq during the Jubilee year in 2000, a goal Francis reiterated on 30 October 2013, soon after his election, when he called to pray for Iraq, hit daily by tragic episodes of violence, so that it may find its way to reconciliation and peace. Iraq has been the victim of violence since 2004 culminating in the attack on 31 October 2010 against the Syro-Catholic Cathedral of Our Lady of Salvation, where Francis will go next Friday afternoon to meet bishops, priests, men and women religious, seminarians and catechists. According to Holy See Press Office, Iraq has about 590,000 Catholics, 19 bishops, 153 priests, 365 nuns, 20 deacons, 632 catechists, and 32 major seminarians. The Iraqi Church runs 55 kindergartens and primary schools, four lower middle and secondary schools and nine high schools. It also has seven hospitals, six clinics, five homes for seniors and disabled, ten orphanages and nurseries, one family consultation centre and one special social education or rehabilitation centre. The trips final schedule includes departure at 7.30 am on Friday from Rome with arrival in Baghdad at 2 pm, local time. After the official reception, a brief meeting with Prime Minister Al-Kadhimi will follow. At 3 pm the official welcome ceremony will take place at the Presidential Palace in Baghdad including a courtesy visit with President Barham Ahmed Salih Qassim. This will be followed by a meeting with the authorities, representatives of civil society groups and members of the diplomatic corps. At 3.45 pm, the Pope will give his first speech, with the second at 4.40 pm during the meeting with bishops, priests, men and women religious, seminarians and catechists at the Syro-Catholic Cathedral of Our Lady of Salvation. On Saturday, 6 March, at 7.45 am the Pope will fly to Najaf to pay a courtesy visit at 9 am to Grand Ayatollah Ali Al-Sistani. No official speeches are scheduled. At 10 am the pontiff will leave by plane for Nassiriya, for the interreligious meeting in the Plain of Ur, where he will give his third speech. Returning to Baghdad at 6 pm, the Pope will celebrate Mass at St Joseph Chaldean Cathedral. On Sunday, 7 March, at 7.15 am, Francis will leave by plane for Erbil, where he will meet with the president and prime minister of the Autonomous Region of Iraqi Kurdistan as well as local religious and civil authorities at a reception at 8.30 am. At 9 am Francis will depart by helicopter for Mosul, where he will recite a prayer of suffrage for war victims in Hosh al-Bieaa (Church Square). From here he will travel to Qaraqosh for a meeting with the local community with a speech at 11.30 am, followed by the Angelus in the Church of the Immaculate Conception. At 4 pm the Holy Father will celebrate Mass at Erbils Franso Hariri Stadium, before returning by plane to Baghdad. On Monday, 8 March, at 9.20 am, a farewell ceremony will be held before the Popes departure for Rome at 9.40 am. The papal plane is scheduled to land at 12.55 pm at Ciampino airport. (FP) 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. Federal Communications Commission Navajo Nation FCC Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program FCC Jessica Rosenworcel Congress Dec. 21, 2020 Donald Trump Navajo Nation Jonathan Nez Myron Lizer FCC Navajo Tribal Utility Authority (TNS) Thehas established a new program to help low-income families pay for internet service during the coronavirus pandemic a move lauded byleaders because it will strengthen internet access for tribal members.Under the Emergency Broadband Benefit Program, eligible households can receive up to $50 a month to help pay for broadband internet service. The assistance is up to $75 a month for households on tribal lands.It also will provide a one-time discount of up to $100 on a computer or tablet for eligible households.According to the, the program is open to households that participate in an existing low-income or pandemic relief program offered by an internet provider.It is also open to consumers under the Lifeline program, those on Medicaid orbenefits, households with children receiving free or reduced school meals, Pell Grant recipients and those who have lost employment or had a reduction in income in the last year.More: CCSD seeks applicants for school board seat"This is a program that will help those at risk of digital disconnection," actingChairwomansaid in a statement. "It will help those sitting in cars in parking lots just to catch a Wi-Fi signal to go online for work. It will help those lingering outside the library with a laptop just to get a wireless signal for remote learning. It will help those who worry about choosing between paying a broadband bill and paying rent or buying groceries. In short, this program can make a meaningful difference in the lives of people across the country,"The $3.2 billion provided for the program comes from the Consolidated Appropriations Act, which was passed byonand signed into law six days later by former President"The subsidies will be very beneficial for Navajo families who are eligible,"Presidentsaid in a press release from his office."The COVID-19 pandemic has magnified the need for broadband connectivity to meet the needs of our students, teachers, first responders, elders and others," Nez said then added that Vice Presidentadvocated for establishing the program during a roundtable discussion with thein early February.More: Lente seeks funding to support Native American education including a teacher pipelineSuch programs are needed as the tribe continues to work on meeting the demands of internet service at this time, the press release explained.Thehas used funding from the federal coronavirus relief bill to complete broadband installations and upgrades to existing equipment.NTUA also built four new towers for broadband and cellular services. Last month, the tribal enterprise dedicated a new tower in Beclabito. Housebuilding stocks started the week with a bang as hopes grew that Rishi Sunak will hand the industry two boosts in tomorrow's Budget. Reports suggest that not only will the Chancellor offer an extension to the stamp duty holiday but also a mortgage guarantee scheme to help get more young people on the property ladder. The stamp duty holiday on home purchases under 500,000 has been in place since July and has been credited with pushing up sales during the pandemic. Housebuilding stocks rose on reports that the Chancellor will offer not only an extension to the stamp duty holiday but a mortgage guarantee scheme too The measure was due to run out at the end of this month but, according to the current chatter, will be extended until the end of June. Although the holiday on the tax has been well received, some analysts have questioned it recently wondering how long it can artificially lift the market. But perhaps their worries will be soothed by suggestions in the weekend papers that the Government is planning to fund a mortgage guarantee scheme that would allow buyers to pay a deposit of just 5 per cent on homes worth up to 600,000. Traders were buoyed by the reports of the double whammy of assistance, snapping up shares in housebuilders before tomorrow's big reveal. Stock Watch - Plant Health Care Investors applauded impressive results from trials of Plant Health Cares soybean fungus treatment. Plant Health Cares technology was found to consistently improve control of a devastating disease called Asian Soybean Rust in 16 crop fields in Brazil. The AIM-listed science business is in talks with several companies about the treatment, named Saori, and some firms are already conducting their own tests. Plant Health Care rose 9.1 per cent, or 1.35p, to 16.25p. On the FTSE 100, Taylor Wimpey shot up 5.7 per cent, or 8.95p, to 166.55p, while Persimmon rose 5.4 per cent, or 139p, to 2729p, Berkeley Group was close behind, up 5.2 per cent, or 212p, to 4265p, and Barratt Developments by 5.1 per cent, or 33.6p, to 698p. FTSE 250-listed Bellway (up 6.7 per cent, or 189p, to 2997p) and Crest Nicholson (up 6.4 per cent, or 20.4p, to 341.6p) followed suit. Building materials supplier and Wickes-owner Travis Perkins also climbed in anticipation of the housing pledges, rising 2.8 per cent, or 40.5p, to 1478p. Digger and drill hire company Speedy Hire, another group that will benefit from increased infrastructure and home construction, also gathered pace, rising 5 per cent, or 3.2p, to 67.2p after it upgraded its profit estimates for the year to the end of March. The FTSE 100 rose 1.6 per cent, or 105.1 points, to 6588.53, while the FTSE 250 was up 1.5 per cent, or 311.09 points, to 21221.46. Although surges among builders and miners led the Footsie higher, the blue-chip index's top riser was British Airways-owner IAG. On Friday IAG shares rose despite the airlines conglomerate posting an eye-watering 6.8billion loss, as Covid laid waste to the travel industry in 2020. Yesterday positive takes from brokers at Peel Hunt and Credit Suisse helped send shares up 7 per cent, or 13.35p, to 205.3p. Peel Hunt analysts upgraded IAG to 'buy' from 'hold', while Credit Suisse kept its rating on 'outperform' but said the company will be 'even more competitive' after the pandemic because of a wide-ranging restructuring at the Aer Lingus and Iberia owner. Barclays brokers helped set off a rally in utility company Pennon shares (up 5.5 per cent, or 48.2p, to 922.2p) by upgrading its stock from 'equal weight' to 'overweight'. Profits at business supplier Bunzl (up 0.8 per cent, or 18p, to 2255p) jumped by more than a fifth to 556m as the pandemic sent companies scrambling to buy in cleaning and safety products, from toilet rolls to providing supermarkets with packaging with orders for gloves, gowns and disinfectant surging last year. Portable power generator provider Aggreko, however, swung to a 73million loss from a 199million profit the year before as it was hit with a cocktail of bad debts, fleet writedowns and disruption to business. But shares rose 1.3 per cent, or 10.5p, to 810.5p, as it said business was improving and promised to pay a 15p per share dividend for the year. [March 02, 2021] PUI Audio Unveils Innovative Audio Simulation Tool DAYTON, Ohio, March 2, 2021 /CNW/ -- The team at PUI Audio has unveiled an intuitive new tool, putting the power to "Be Heard!," directly in the hands of their customers. The PUI Audio Simulator was officially unveiled company-wide to the PUI sales team and manufacturing representative sales network on February 18 during the national sales kickoff, which took place virtually this year. The simulation tool is the first in the industry and is a web-based application with the ability to digitally replicate actual frequencies and varying types of sound waves. The tool allows users to log in, explore, select, and test audio components before identifying which components they need to implement the desired solution. PUI Audio CEO Paul Spain said the company designed the tool to simulate the experience of an in-person meeting with a PUI representative during the COVID-19 pandemic. "As we embarked on this project, we realized the benefits of this initiative would have far reaching impact beyond the temporary need for a virtual solution," he said. "I am incredibly proud of the effort by our team to create this state-of-the-art simulation tool and be the first in our industry." Users of the simulator are now able to experiment with sound variations to identify the exact output they need. Users can then identify the components necessar to achieve the desired goals and reach out to the sales team for quotes and solutions all in one on-line experience. Users unsure of what types of components they might need, can take the tool a step further and utilize the product wizard, answering a few simple questions to identify the right product combination. Brian Coleman, PUI Audio Vice-President of Sales, stated that the PUI team is currently distributing the tool throughout its existing customer base but is also planning to make the tool accessible via the company's website and other channels, so that anyone can use it, following registration with the company. "With the addition of The PUI Audio Simulator to the resources available to our customers, we are able to empower design engineers across all industries with a level of freedom and creativity while experimenting with audio that is like nothing they've ever experienced," he said. "Coupled with the expertise of our internal audio engineering and technical sales team, this web-based tool really does unlock the potential for possibilities and creative solutions to a broad range of challenges and removes any roadblocks in the way." PUI Audio is also working on additional enhancements for the tool and plans to roll out several exciting updates to the simulator throughout 2021 and 2022. To learn more about the PUI Audio Simulator Tool, please see this video. PUI Audio, Inc. is a Dayton-based audio component manufacturer. Founded in 1972, the company has built a strong reputation for its creative solutions and engineering expertise, helping clients in medical, industrial, security and consumer markets to, "Be heard!" no matter what the need. Media Inquiries: Contact: Erin Ruef Ruef@PUIAudio.com (937) 475-4799 View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/pui-audio-unveils-innovative-audio-simulation-tool-301238723.html SOURCE PUI Audio [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] YEREVAN, MARCH 2, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan issued a congratulatory message on the professional day of diplomats, noting that Armenia's future achievements in the international arena are particularly conditioned by the effectiveness of the work of the diplomats, ARMENPRESS was informed from the press service of the PMs Office. ''Dear diplomats, I congratulate you on your professional day. In today's complicated global atmosphere, your role and mission for our state become more and more important. The degree of your responsibility is great, the expectations from you are also great. Despite the blows of the war, we must be able to stand up, understand the causes of our past failures, and move forward to achieve our goals. Our future achievements in the international arena are particularly conditioned by the effectiveness of your work. I am confident that you will fulfill your mission and service with honor'', reads Nikol Pashinyan's congratulatory message. Duong Tan Hau (L) listens as a police officer reads a decision to place him under house arrest to be investigated for spreading Covid-19 in the community in HCMC, January 12, 2020. Photo courtesy of the police. A flight attendant in Ho Chi Minh City under investigation for breaching Covid-19 quarantine protocols has caused around VND4.475 billion ($193,870) in damage, city police said Tuesday. The police have recommended that Duong Tan Hau, 29, a Vietnam Airlines attendant, to be charged for "spreading dangerous infectious diseases in humans." Hau breached regulations when staying at the airlines quarantine facility and after returning home for designated self-isolation. His irresponsibility triggered a community outbreak of the novel coronavirus, according to police. He had returned to Vietnam from Japan on Nov. 14 and was quarantined for four days at a facility managed by Vietnam Airlines in HCMC's Tan Binh District. While there, Hau broke the rules by visiting another quarantine area and ended up contracting the virus from another crew member who had returned from Romania. As per Vietnams protocols on Covid-19 prevention, pilots and attendants need to use dedicated restrooms and their own vehicles once off the plane. No contact is allowed with passengers during flights. After two tests showed he was negative for the novel coronavirus, Hau was released from the airlines facility, but told to isolate himself at home for another 14 days. At home, Hau came in contact with his mother and two friends, including a visiting English language teacher. On Nov. 29, 15 days after he returned from Japan, he tested positive for the virus, with the teacher following suit the next day. The latter later infected a nephew and a student. The outbreak broke Vietnam's 89-day and HCMC's 120-day streak without community transmissions at the time. Hau was placed under criminal investigation for his actions on Jan. 11, and is held under house arrest. Authorities concluded Haus actions had resulted in around VND4.475 billion in damage, including the cost for Covid-19 testing, contact tracing and isolation. The lives of over 2,000 people in HCMC were also affected by quarantine measures. Hau is the first case in Vietnam where flouting Covid-19 prevention regulations is treated as a crime, but he was not the last. Two others, a man in Mekong Deltas Vinh Long Province who illegally entered Vietnam and a woman in northern Hai Duong Province who did not declare her travel itinerary nor who she came in contact with, are also being probed on the same charge. Vietnam has recorded 2,472 Covid-19 cases so far, with 541 still active. If you're into gadget tech, then you might have heard DxOMark exclusive rankings. They serve as a valuable reference for choosing the best cameras or lens, speakers, and smartphones by testing hardware and software performance. With over twenty-thousand followers, you know they mean business about quality control in products. Less than a day ago, DxOMark started assessing the newly released Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra product quality in the market. Samsung Galaxy S21 Performance Designed to be an epic upgrade from its predecessor Samsung Galaxy S20, expectation-wise, this phone's specifications have an exceptional operating system with a 5G Exynos Camera and an aspect ratio of 20:9, 3200 x 1440-pixel resolution with frame rates up to 120 Hz. Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra is a large phone. A 6.8-inch large display has a beautifully curved edge screen that makes the WQHD (Wide Quad HD) display to pop out, unlike any other of the Samsung flagship phones released. Unfortunately, this unit no longer supports micro SD cards, and users are limited to 1 TB internal storage. However, as the team of experts in DxOMark has decided to dive deeper into the phone's specifications, the results show a subtle lag in performance against the ultra-premium gadgets. Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra features a powerful camera with its Space Zoom. Unfortunately, this camera feature would also lead to its terrible ratings. While it delivers a dynamic range in highlights and shadows around the frame, HDR processing can be unstable. When exposed to low light, color saturation also decreases. The autofocus system struggles in soft but high-contrasting environments. Most notable in this phone's struggle is the texture/noise in the image. There is a visible loss of detail when shooting low light indoors or contrasting light outdoors. Scenic shots and evening pictures come out poorly on this phone. There are other problems to look out for with Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra. According to GSMarena: S21 Ultra has a large body and battery but poor battery life. While it supports the use of an S-Pen, bought separately from it is a bundle, there is no S-Pen socket on its hardware. You would have to store it in your pocket or purchase dedicated pen holders. Also Read: Galaxy S21 Ultra DxOMark Score Is Surprisingly Lower Than Expected The Truth about Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra With an average score of 121, Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra ranks below even compared to last year's flagship models, including the iPhone 11 at the score of 124. With the Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra price value compared to its performance, it would be best to reconsider purchasing this unit. Ultimately, Samsung continues to create mobile phones with an average performance in an overall assessment. Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra is by no means a weak phone. The phone is capable of capturing decent media of pictures and videos with the right circumstances. It offers an impressive display that is amazing for gaming and surfing the internet. However, as a flagship, there are better choices out there. The hardware specs, including its size and weight, could create an uncomfortable experience. Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra is not the best phone the market has to offer. This article is owned by Tech Times Written by Czarina Del Valle 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. TOKYO - Two Americans suspected of helping former Nissan Chairman Carlos Ghosn skip bail and escape to Lebanon in December 2019 have been extradited to Japan. FILE - In this Sept. 29, 2020, file photo, former Nissan Motor Co. Chairman Carlos Ghosn holds a press conference at the Maronite Christian Holy Spirit University of Kaslik, as he launches an initiative to help Lebanon that is undergoing a severe economic and financial crisis, in Kaslik, north of Beirut, Lebanon. Two Americans suspected of helping Ghosn skip bail and escape to Lebanon in December 2019 have been extradited to Japan. Michael Taylor and his son Peter were handed over to Japanese custody on Monday, March 1, 2021 and were due to arrive in Tokyo on Tuesday. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla, File) TOKYO - Two Americans suspected of helping former Nissan Chairman Carlos Ghosn skip bail and escape to Lebanon in December 2019 have been extradited to Japan. Michael Taylor and his son Peter had been held in a suburban Boston jail since May. They were handed over to Japanese custody on Monday and arrived in Tokyo on Tuesday. Ghosn, who led Nissan Motor Co. for more than two decades, was arrested in 2018, and charged with under-reporting his future compensation and breach of trust in diverting Nissan money for personal gain. He says he is innocent. WHAT ARE THE FATHER AND SON ACCUSED OF DOING? Michael Taylor, with the help of another man, George-Antoine Zayek, hid Ghosn in a large black box supposedly containing audio equipment, according to the authorities. The box passed through airport security in Osaka, central Japan, and was loaded onto a private jet that flew Ghosn to Turkey. Peter Taylor is accused of meeting with Ghosn and helping his father carry out the escape. Authorities say the Taylors were paid at least $1.3 million. WHERE WILL THEY BE TAKEN AND WHAT HAPPENS THERE? The Taylors, like other suspects, can be held up to 23 days without any formal charges at the Tokyo Detention Center on the outskirts of the capital and questioned for hours almost daily by prosecutors, without a lawyer present. Their lawyer can visit and they can receive snacks and books. The detention can be extended with rearrests, if more charges are tagged on. Ghosn spent more than 100 days at the centre before gaining his release on bail. The solitary cells are simple, with Japanese-style futon mattresses. The centre, which is different from prisons for people who have been convicted, also has an exercise area and clinic. IS THIS THE ROUTINE TREATMENT OF SUSPECTS IN JAPAN? The Japanese treatment of suspects has been widely criticized as hostage justice, designed to coerce suspects to confess and often resulting in false confessions. The Taylors lawyers in the U.S. say they worry they may be treated unfairly in Japan and subjected to mental and physical torture. They also argue that jumping bail is not a crime under Japanese law. That is technically accurate, but most people who escape are easily caught in Japan. Japanese prosecutors say they have enough evidence to convict the Taylors. WHAT CAN BE EXPECTED IF THEY GO ON TRIAL? Even after formal charges are filed, closed-door pre-trial sessions by the prosecutors and defendants before a judge generally go on for months. The media have no access to such sessions. Jury trials exist in Japan, but only for murders and other heinous crimes. A panel of three judges will hear the Taylors' case in a trial that could last months or even years. English translation will be provided during the trial. Media coverage is allowed, but no filming or recording. If convicted, the Taylors face up to three years in prison and a fine of up to 300,000 yen ($2,900). They could get a suspended sentence and not serve time. In principle, just as in the U.S., people are presumed innocent until proven guilty. But 99% of criminal trials end in convictions. WHERE IS CARLOS GHOSN AND CAN HE BE TRIED? Japan has put Ghosn on Interpol's wanted list, but Lebanon has no extradition treaty with Japan. Extradition from the U.S. isnt common, so the extradition of the Taylors for an alleged nonviolent crime reflects the determination of Japanese prosecutors to pursue the case against Ghosn. Ghosn is almost certain to be extradited if he sets foot in the U.S. Former Nissan senior executive Greg Kelly is on trial in Tokyo on charges he helped under-report Ghosns compensation. Kelly, an American, says he is innocent. Yuri Kageyama is on Twitter https://twitter.com/yurikageyama Seguin, Texas (78155) Today Thunderstorms likely this morning. Then a chance of scattered thunderstorms this afternoon. High 84F. Winds NNE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 60%.. Tonight Variable clouds with scattered thunderstorms. Low 67F. Winds NE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 60%. Moldova Intends to Urgently Buy 1 Million Doses of Coronavirus Vaccines - Cabinet Chisinau, March 2 (Sputnik) - Moldova intends to urgently buy 1 million doses of coronavirus vaccines, the country's cabinet said in a statement. "Moldovan Parliament President Zinaida Greceanii summoned members of the government led by acting Prime Minister Aureliu Ciocoi to a working meeting, she called to urgently find an opportunity to purchase a batch of 1 million doses of vaccine to immunize citizens," the cabinet said. "Ciocoi said the request would be considered urgently, after which the procedure for public procurement would begin," it said. As against the 317 quoted by the police, Zamfara State Governor, Bello Matawalle, said the number of schoolgirls abducted was 279 and all have been freed. PREMIUM TIMES had reported how the female students abducted from Government Girls Secondary School, Jangebe, Zamfara State, were freed early Tuesday. Yusuf Idris, media aide to Governor Matawalle, confirmed the release of the girls to this newspaper. The official said 279 schoolgirls were released around 4:00 a.m. on Tuesday. He said the girls were currently at the Zamfara Government House waiting to be reunited with their parents. PREMIUM TIMES had reported how the students were abducted early Friday amidst the worsening security situation across Nigeria. The abduction in Zamfara occurred about two weeks after dozens of students and some staff members were abducted by armed bandits from a school in Kagara, Niger State. The students in Niger were released on Saturday morning. Revision The actual numbers of confirmed abduction from the schools register was 279, not 317 as earlier said by the police, Governor Matawalle said in another statement. The Zamfara State Police Command also made the correction in a statement issued by its spokesperson, Muhammed Shehu. The Zamfara State Police command is glad to inform members of the public especially parents and guardians of the affected students that today being 2nd March, 2021, 279 students not 317 as earlier reported of Government girls science secondary school, Jangebe in Talata Mafara LGA abducted on Friday 26th February, 2021 have been successfully released, he stated. When asked about the cause of the erroneous figure, Mr Shehu did not respond to PREMIUM TIMES enquiries. A similar scenario played out in Niger after the release of the Kagara students. The government had initially declared 42 persons 27 students, 3 staff and 12 members of their family, missing after the attack. Meanwhile, in a statement issued by the Chief Press Secretary to Governor Sani Bello, Mary Noel Berje, after their release, it was stated that only 24 students, 6 staff and 8 staff relatives, totalling 38, were rescued. Although Mrs Noel-Berje did not respond to PREMIUM TIMES enquiries on the disparity in figures, an official in the state house maintained that the figures were muddled up because of the tension. In fact, we asked the students and everyone and they said only 38 people were abducted. We also confirmed it ourselves, the source said last week. Commenting on the pattern, Jide Ojo, a public affairs analyst, said the disparity is capable of affecting public trust. This is because we dont have reliable statistics in Nigeria. And it will affect public trust. When the abduction in Kankara happened, they said 330 but upon their release, the government announced that 344 were rescued, meaning that extra 14 students part of those rescued. I could remember in the case of the Chibok girls. They brandished different figures before it was later pegged at 276. ADVERTISEMENT Mr Ojo also cited cases of students who escaped abduction or took cover during the attack, which may affect figures being reeled out. If we have any parent who is yet to see his/her own child, Ill advise such parent to cry out, he added. The global oil market is rebalancing after damage to demand wrought by the COVID-19 pandemic was met with curbs on output by producers from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), the group's president said on Tuesday. "Crude prices are relatively stable ... we see a certain balance between demand and supply," OPEC president Diamantino Azevedo told Reuters in an interview. "However, due to the pandemic situation the world is living through and with new waves arriving, we could have a situation of smaller demand due to confinements. ... Trump Speech Cements Hold Over GOP, Charts Party Roadmap President Donald Trump extinguished all doubts over who controls the Republican Party and laid out a path for the future of the GOP in his speech in Orlando on Feb. 28. Trumps highly anticipated remarks at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) followed six weeks of absence from the public spotlight and served to clear up uncertainties about his political plans and the fate of the conservative movement and about rumors that the president may start a third political party. Trump disavowed the third-party idea, while laying claim to the GOP throne. He outlined a party platform focused on restoring election integrity, reopening schools, stopping illegal immigration, standing up to China, and breaking up big tech monopolies, among other issues. The president also set the groundwork to exert influence over the Republican National Committee (RNC) via the pocketbook by channeling donations toward his cause to the DonaldJTrump.com website and his Save America political action committee. President Trumps speech at CPAC cemented his spot as the leader of the Republican Party and laid down the gauntlet against Biden and his left-wing policy agenda, Andy Surabian, a Republican strategist and spokesman for Donald Trump Jr., told The Epoch Times. His speech should serve as a roadmap for other Republicans on how to stand up to Biden and his left-wing allies over the next four years. Trump delivered the closing speech at CPAC, where he has spoken regularly since before he announced his run for the presidency in 2015. The annual conservative conference is the biggest of its kind and serves as a stomping ground for Republicans eyeing a White House run. Even before he spoke, the mood and rhetoric at CPAC suggested that Trump was both the king and kingmaker of the conservative movement. Speeches and panels were devoid of any criticisms of the president, while mentions of his name frequently drew applause from the crowd. Trump is the leader of the GOP for one reason and one reason alone. Trump has been able to energize the Republican base that was dormant for so many years, George Santos, a Republican running for Congress in New York, told The Epoch Times. This is a man of the people, and its ironic it took a billionaire to become the man of the people. But this is a man whos leading with his might, with his wisdom, and with his charisma. That speech solidifies that theres no other person in this party that can get everybody to shut up and listen. The results of a straw poll that were announced before Trumps speech confirmed what was becoming more obvious over the course of the conference. Ninety-seven percent of the attendees surveyed approved of Trumps job performance and 95 percent said they want the Republican Party to continue with his policies. Nearly seven in 10 said they want Trump to run again in 2024. The intensity of the support for President Trump is just through the roof. Weve never seen anything like this, Jim McLaughlin, a pollster for Trump who conducted the CPAC survey, told NTD Television. President Trump is the conservative movement now. He hadnt seen the poll until he got here today, but he hit on most of the issues that were really important to the conservative movement. The support of the conservative base wont be the only lever Trump will have over the GOP apparatus. During the speech, the president called on his followers to donate using his website and his PAC. According to Rich Baris, the director of Big Data Poll, the move hands Trump leverage over the RNC, which will likely take a financial hit as a result. If he wanted to, he could basically bankrupt them into submission, Baris told The Epoch Times. I know theres a lot of people in the Trump world who are rightfully angry with how the RNC raised so much money when they were jointly connected and did not appropriate it right or definitely didnt appropriate it to the efforts that they said they would, like election integrity. Theres another element to thisthe hidden horse racewhich is the money race. The RNC and the National Republican Senatorial Committee, the National Republican Congressional Committee, if these guys cant raise money because Donald Trump is sucking all the oxygen out of the room, theyre in a lot of trouble because their candidates are relying on their support. Santos said the move sends a message that will force the RNC to acknowledge that the committee needs Trump more than they understand. This is a great example of how he is a more powerful individual than the party actually is, at this juncture, Santos said. The president hinted at a potential run for the White House in 2024. According to Baris, the tease was a message to the Republican Party establishment, which will have to deal with another Trump candidacy unless they fall in line with his agenda. Others believe that even if Trump doesnt end up running, he will still be the ultimate endorsement. Whether Trump ends up running and is on the ticket in 2024 or not, he will be the kingmaker, Jason Meister, a member of the Trump 2020 campaign advisory board, told The Epoch Times. According to data from VFT-Solutions shared by Meister on Twitter, Trumps speech drew more than 30 million views across several social media platforms, a testament to the presidents enduring popularity. President Trump was able to energize and mobilize a bloc of voters the GOP hasnt traditionally reached, and we saw massive enthusiasm from his base across the country when he spoke at CPAC, North Carolina GOP Chairman Michael Whatley told The Epoch Times. His message of unleashing the economy, rebuilding our military, and putting America First is here to stay in the Republican Party, and his ability to mobilize voters will be critical in winning back the House and Senate in 2022. Melina Wisecup contributed to this report. Covid-19 infections in Irish hospital staff have dropped by around 95%, Health Minister Stephen Donnelly has said. Mr Donnelly told the Oireachtas Committee on Health on Tuesday that the fall was largely thanks to vaccinations, as well as dropping levels of community transmission. Citing figures from Chief Clinical Officer Dr Colm Henry, the minister described the news as very encouraging. He said: The good news is the pressure has eased. Weve seen today that the number of Covid cases in hospitals has reduced below 500, which is very, very welcome. The Chief Clinical Officer was citing figures that suggested about a 95% reduction in Covid infection rates for hospital staff, which is very encouraging Stephen Donnelly, Health Minister The Chief Clinical Officer, the figures hes given are very encouraging in terms of the impact the vaccine is having. Now its not just the vaccine, it will be lower community transmission as well. But from memory, the Chief Clinical Officer was citing figures that suggested about a 95% reduction in Covid infection rates for hospital staff, which is very encouraging. Mr Donnelly also revealed that the National Immunisation Advisory Committee (Niac) is conducting a rolling review of the prioritisation list. He suggested the review could see key workers such as teachers and carers moved up the list. He said: What theyre now looking at is the next grouping, which is a very large grouping, which is key workers. So, for example, family carers. A lot of people have been advocating on behalf of family carers. He added: So one of the things Niac is now looking at is key workers, including for example, the role they play, for example in supporting healthcare or the vaccination programme itself. Or indeed other essential activities, like education and, or indeed, caring. Mr Donnelly said that the vast majority of people over the age of 85 will have received their first vaccine by the end of this week. He said there were outstanding cases for some people who are housebound, with special measures such as GP home visits and the ambulance service being put in place for those instances. By the end of this week, Mr Donnelly forecast that 500,000 vaccines will have been administered out of a total of 520,000 received. As of midnight, Monday 1st March, the HPSC @hpscireland has been notified of 359 confirmed cases of #COVID19. There is now a total of 220,630 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Ireland. Department of Health (@roinnslainte) March 2, 2021 The committee also heard that there are now over 700,000 people on hospital waiting lists, an increase of almost 22% on the previous year. Mr Donnelly said the nations waiting lists had been a problem for years and that this had been exacerbated by the pandemic. He said 1.1 billion euro of the Health Department budget would be put towards new measures to tackle the issue. This money will be used to address the known capacity deficits by funding more beds and employing more staff, he said. Meanwhile, the number of daily Covid-19 cases fell to its lowest number on Tuesday since mid-December, at 359. The Health Protection Surveillance Centre was notified of 14 additional deaths related to the coronavirus, three of which occurred in March, 10 in February and one in November. The number of people in intensive care units has dropped by four to 116. Please hold firm to the public health advice and together we can continue to protect and build on the progress we have made over the last two months Dr Ronan Glynn, Deputy CMO Deputy Chief Medical Officer Dr Ronan Glynn said: While the low number of cases reported today may be attributable to a weekend effect, it is nevertheless very welcome and represents the lowest number of cases reported on a single day since mid-December. While we continue to make good progress in Ireland, globally in the past week the number of cases of Covid-19 has increased for the first time in seven weeks. We must not allow this virus the opportunity to do the same here. Please hold firm to the public health advice and together we can continue to protect and build on the progress we have made over the last two months. If you're looking for an indoor space with a low level of particulate air pollution, a commercial airliner flying at cruising altitude may be your best option. A newly reported study of air quality in indoor spaces such as stores, restaurants, offices, public transportation -- and commercial jets -- shows aircraft cabins with the lowest levels of tiny aerosol particles. Conducted in July 2020, the study included monitoring both the number of particles and their total mass across a broad range of indoor locations, including 19 commercial flights in which measurements took place throughout departure and arrival terminals, the boarding process, taxiing, climbing, cruising, descent, and deplaning. The monitoring could not identify the types of the particles and therefore does not provide a direct measure of coronavirus exposure risk. "We wanted to highlight how important it is to have a high ventilation rate and clean air supply to lower the concentration of particles in indoor spaces," said Nga Lee (Sally) Ng, associate professor and Tanner Faculty Fellow in the School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering and the School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences at the Georgia Institute of Technology. "The in-flight cabin had the lowest particle mass and particle number concentration." The study, believed to be the first to measure both size-resolved particle mass and number in commercial flights from terminal to terminal and a broad range of indoor spaces, has been accepted for publication in the journal Indoor Air and posted online at the journal's website. Supported by Delta Air Lines, the research may be the first to comprehensively measure particle concentrations likely to be encountered by passengers from terminal to terminal. As scientists learn more about transmission of the coronavirus, the focus has turned to aerosol particles as an important source of viral spread indoors. Infected people can spread the virus as they breathe, talk, or cough, creating particles ranging in size from less than a micron -- one millionth of a meter -- to 1,000 microns. The larger particles quickly fall out of the air, but the smaller ones remain suspended. "Especially in poorly ventilated spaces, these particles can be suspended in the air for a long period of time, and can travel to every corner of a room," Ng said. "If they are viral particles, they can infect people who may be at a considerable distance from a person emitting the particles." To better understand the circulation of airborne particles, Delta approached Ng to conduct a study of multiple indoor environments, with a strong focus on air travel conditions. Using handheld instruments able to measure the total number of particles and their mass, Georgia Tech researchers examined air quality in a series of Atlanta area restaurants, stores, offices, homes, and vehicles -- including buses, trains, and private automobiles. They trained Delta staff to conduct the same type of measurements in terminals, boarding areas, and a variety of aircraft through all phases of flight. The Delta staff recorded their locations as they moved through the terminals, and the instruments produced measurements consistent with the restaurants and stores they passed on their way to and from boarding and departure gates. "The measurements started as soon as they stepped into the departure terminal," Ng said. "We were thinking about the whole trip, what a person would encounter from terminal to terminal." In flight, aircraft air is exchanged between 10 and 30 times per hour. Some aircraft bring in exclusively outside air, which at cruising altitude is largely free of pollutant particles found in air near the ground. Other aircraft mix outdoor air with recirculated air that goes through HEPA filters, which remove more than 99% of particles. In all, the researchers evaluated measurements from 19 commercial flights with passenger loads of approximately 50%. The flights included a mix of short- and medium-length flights, and aircraft ranging from the CRJ-200 and A220 to the 757, A321, and 737. Among all the spaces measured, restaurants had the highest particle levels because of cooking being done there. Stores were next, followed by vehicles, homes, and offices. The average sub-micron particle number concentration measured in restaurants, for instance, was 29,400 particles per cubic centimeter, and in offices it was 2,473 per cubic centimeter. "We have quite a comprehensive data set to look at the size distribution of particles across these different spaces," Ng said. "We can now compare indoor air quality in a variety of different spaces." Because of the portable instruments used, the researchers were unable to determine the source of the particles, which could have included both biological and non-biological sources. "Further studies can include direct measurements of viral loads and tracing particle movements in indoor spaces," she added. Jonathan Litzenberger, Delta's managing director of Global Cleanliness Strategy, said the research helps advance the company's goals of protecting its customers and employees. "Keeping the air clean and safe during flight is one of the most foundational layers of protection Delta aims to provide to our customers and employees," he said. "We are always working to better understand the travel environment and confirm that the measures we are implementing are working." Overall, the study highlights the importance of improving indoor air quality as a means of reducing coronavirus transmission. "Regardless of whether you are in an office or an aircraft, having a higher ventilation rate and good particle filtration are the keys to reducing the total particle concentration," said Ng. "That should also reduce the concentration of any viral particles that may be present." ### In addition to Ng, the researchers included Jean C. Rivera-Rios, Taekyu Joo, Masayuki Takeuchi, and Thomas M. Orlando from Georgia Tech; and Tracy Bevington, John W. Mathis, Clifton D. Pert, Brandon A. Tyson, Tyler M. Anderson-Lennert, and Joshua A. Smith from Delta Air Lines. Gujarat: 47-year-old cyclist slapped with challan for riding on wrong side of road Gujarat Panchayat Election Results 2021: AIMIM wins 17 seats in debut polls in 3 municipalities India pti-Deepika S Ahmedabad, Mar 02: Putting an impressive show in its debut election in Gujarat, Asaduddin Owaisi-led AIMIM won 17 seats in three municipalities in the state, where votes were counted on Tuesday. As per the final results declared by the State Election Commission (SEC), of the total 24 candidates fielded by the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) in three municipalities of Modasa, Godhra and Bharuch, 17 have emerged victorious. In two of these three municipalities, the AIMIM bagged the second position after the BJP relegating the Congress to the third slot. In Modasa municipality in Arvalli district, 9 of the 12 candidates of the AIMIM won. Though the BJP retained power in this 36-member municipality, the AIMIM has won one more seat than the Congress (8). Asaduddin Owaisi questions PM Modi over Covishield's efficacy In the 44-member Godhra municipality in Panchmahal district, the AIMIM won seven out of the eight seats the party had contested. Among others, the BJP bagged 18 seats, the Congress one while 18 seats were won by Independent candidates. In Bharuch municipality, one of the four nominees of the AIIMIM won. The Owaisi-led party had not fielded candidates for district and taluka panchayat polls which were held on February 28. In all, 81 municipalities, 31 district panchayats and 231 taluka panchayats went to polls on Sunday. Ahead of the polls, Owaisi had addressed campaign rallies in Modasa and Godhra towns. Recently, the AIMIM won seven seats in the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation which went to polls along with six urban civic bodies on February 21. Yerevan, March 2 : Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said the ruling party is ready for snap elections if Parliament approves it. "Let's hold another election and we will see whose resignation the people demand," Pashinyan said at a rally here on Monday. Meanwhile, he appealed to his supporters to hold a national referendum to adopt a new Constitution in October. "I think it's time to make efforts to adopt a new Constitution or Constitutional amendments in October of this year by a national referendum, and transition to a semi-presidential system should be one of the possible options," he said. The Prime Minister added that this procedure should be carried out in a close collaboration with the National Assembly, the government, the President, political forces and the civil society. The remarks came amid a rising tension between Pashinyan and Armenian army's general staff and the opposition parties on the resignation of the government. Pashinyan submitted another request to the President on February 27 to seek the dismissal of Onik Gasparyan, the army's general staff chief shortly after President Armen Sarkissian refused to sign the request and said the motion to fire the military chief was unconstitutional. On February 25, Pashinyan dismissed Gasparyan, accusing him of attempting a military coup. The Prime Minister's order needs a formal approval from the presidency. Earlier on February 25, Gasparyan, his deputies and dozens of top military commanders had signed a statement, demanding Pashinyan and his cabinet resign. The U.S., which once had a dominant head start in artificial intelligence, now has just a few years' lead on China and risks being overtaken unless government steps in, according to a new report to Congress and the White House. Why it matters: Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt, who chaired the committee that issued the report, tells Axios that the U.S. risks dire consequences if it fails to both invest in key technologies and fully integrate AI into the military. Driving the news: The National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence approved its 750-page report on Monday, following a 2-year effort. Schmidt chaired the 15-member commission, which also included Oracle's Safra Catz, Microsoft's Eric Horvitz and Amazon's Andy Jassy. On both the economic and military fronts, the biggest risk comes from China. "China possesses the might, talent, and ambition to surpass the United States as the worlds leader in AI in the next decade if current trends do not change," the report states. And It's not just AI technology that the U.S. needs to maintain a lead in. The report mentions a number of key technologies, including quantum computing, robotics, 3D printing and 5G. "We dont have to go to war with China," Schmidt said. "We dont have to have a cold war. We do need to be competitive." The big picture: On the military front, the commission offered support for AI-guided weapons, provided such weapons were "authorized by a human commander or operator and "properly designed and tested." The group also acknowledged the difficulty of ensuring other countries adhere to that standard. "I'm comfortable that our military has procedures that provide that," Schmidt said. "I am not comfortable that all the other countries have the same rules." Computer vision is one area where AI can help the military now, Schmidt said, saying it is a mistake for the U.S. to rely only on humans to examine drone and satellite footage, for example, when computers perform that task better than humans. Schmidt also reiterated his view that Google was wrong to withdraw from the Defense Department's Project Maven, an effort to improve its computer vision systems. Military leaders also want AI systems that can support broader decision making, Schmidt said, but added that is probably a few years away. My thought bubble: This might give you a flashback to the 1983 film "WarGames" and its computer called WOPR, which planned 24 hours a day for World War III. Between the lines: Semiconductors and software are both critically important, but Schmidt said it is much easier to control exports of hardware than algorithms, which he said inevitably spread beyond national borders. The report calls for the U.S. to maintain a two-generation advantage over China in semiconductor manufacturing . As we've reported , the U.S. has been losing ground: Intel is the only U.S. company focused on leading manufacturing technology, and it's already struggling to keep pace with Korea's Samsung and Taiwan's TSMC. As we've reported the U.S. has been losing ground: Intel is the only U.S. company focused on leading manufacturing technology, and it's already struggling to keep pace with Korea's Samsung and Taiwan's TSMC. China has set ambitious goals to catch up on chips, but the U.S. has limited its access to the gear needed to manufacture semiconductors, much of which is American designed or made. In addition to defensive moves, the report calls for the U.S. to double research spending each year until it reaches $32 billion. Yes, but: China already holds the lead in some areas, including some aspects of payment technology and facial recognition. While mass surveillance may not be an area where the U.S. needs to be ahead of China, Schmidt said, he is concerned that China has a five-year lead in e-commerce systems and electronic payments. "I think thats a very big deal," he said. The bottom line: Schmidt said competition can be a good thing for innovation, pointing to past technology battles such as PCs vs. Macs and iOS vs. Android. The key. he said, is that the White House and Congress need to provide the focus and dollars to match what's coming from China. Editors note: This story has been corrected to reflect that the commission approves of autonomous weapons if authorized by a human and done responsibly. The time may be coming for critical metals and companies like Venture Minerals will be best placed to take advantage of the changing sector. I have been a fan of tin since about 2002, and tungsten in 2012, when I started to get serious about the corporate side of the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX). I was looking at several places, such as Tasmania, Indonesia, Malaysia and Burma. Tin has been one of the higher-priced metals, but the market has not been good. It was highly manipulated in the Malaysian dominance time and I think it has not been well since then. I do not know the reason for the recent rise in tin pricing but it seems to have a lot of legs as the spot price is nearly US$30,000 per tonne. This is definitely worth noting as the world prepares itself for the EV revolution. Andrew Radonjic shares the story of Venture Minerals Limiteds ( ) Mount Lindsay Tin and Tungsten project in the northwest part of Tasmania. What is unique about this project is that a bankable feasibility study was completed in 2012 which is the best proof of concept. If you want to know something about this project, you must make yourself a cup of good coffee and spend the next 45 minutes taking notes. You will not be disappointed as Andrew tells us all about the value that gave the company a A$100 million market capitalisation in 2012. This is a good time to download the first Ebook (FREE) from as it is all about VMS (Volcanogenic Massive Sulphides). PODCAST: About Andrew Radonjic Andrew Radonjic is a geologist and mineral economist with over 25 years of experience in mining and exploration, with a specific focus on gold and nickel in the Eastern Goldfields of Western Australia. Radonjic began his career at the Agnew Nickel Mine before spending over 15 years in the Paddington, Mount Pleasant and Lady Bountiful Extended operations north of Kalgoorlie. He has fulfilled a variety of senior roles which gave rise to three gold discoveries, totalling in excess of 3 million ounces in resources and the development of over 1 million ounces. About Venture Minerals Venture Minerals Limited is exploring in Western Australia for copper-lead-zinc at the Thor Prospect, nickel-copper at the Odin Prospect, nickel-copper-cobalt at the Caesar Project, gold at the Kulin Project and zinc-copper-gold at the Golden Grove North Project. Recently the maiden drilling program at Thor intersected massive sulphides confirming the copper-lead-zinc target is a 20-kilometre VMS-style system. Thor is now a top priority target for Venture moving forward. Chalice Gold Mines ( ) has also recently committed to spend up to $3.7 million in Ventures South West Project, to advance previous exploration completed by Venture to test a Julimar lookalike nickel-copper-PGE target. The companys initial focus was on realising the full economic potential of the Mount Lindsay Tin-Tungsten Deposit in northwest Tasmania. The company has already defined one of the world's largest undeveloped tin deposits and has completed a feasibility study on Mount Lindsay. The emergence of tin as the metal most impacted by new technology through its use in Electric Vehicles has refocused Ventures approach to developing this asset and an underground scoping study is currently underway. 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BASEL (dpa-AFX) - Novartis AG (NVS) said that its shareholders approved all resolutions proposed by the Board of Directors at the Annual General Meeting. The shareholders approved the 24th consecutive dividend increase since the creation of the company in 1996, with an increase of 1.7% to 3.00 Swiss francs per share. The company will pay the 2020 dividend as of March 8, 2021. The shareholders re-elected Joerg Reinhardt as Chairman of the Board of Directors, and all members of the Board who stood for re-election, for one year. The Board plans to designate Simon Moroney as Chairman of the Compensation Committee. The shareholders authorized the board to repurchase shares as deemed appropriate from time to time up to a maximum of 10 billion francs between the AGM 2021 and the AGM 2024. The shareholders approved the total maximum aggregate amount of compensation for the Board of Directors, covering the period from the 2021 AGM to the 2022 AGM, and the total maximum aggregate amount of compensation for the Executive Committee for the financial year 2022. The shareholders approved an amendment to the Articles of Incorporation that, for future re-elections, replaces the current age limit with a term limit, according to which a member shall not serve on the Board for more than 12 years. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX NOVARTIS-Aktie komplett kostenlos handeln - auf Smartbroker.de Murdered: Brothers Willie and Paddy Hennessey from Corragorm, near Mitchelstown, Co Cork, pictured in 2009 Two separate funeral ceremonies are expected to be staged for three brothers who died in a horrific double-murder suicide in Cork. The bodies of Willie (66), Paddy (60) and Johnny (59) Hennessy were released to their heartbroken family following the triple tragedy last week that left a north Cork community reeling. A requiem mass is expected to be celebrated for Johnny tomorrow. It is expected that a separate joint requiem mass will be celebrated in Mitchelstown for Paddy and Willie on Thursday. Read More The arrangements which have not yet been confirmed will take place in strict adherence with Covid-19 Level 5 restrictions. A fourth brother, Jer, who died in tragic circumstances in January 2014, is interred at Brigown New Cemetery, where all three burials are now expected to take place. Willie, Paddy and Johnny were locally nicknamed The Saints. Their deaths followed a disagreement over income from the small family farm at Curraghgorm, about 8km outside Mitchelstown, which escalated tragically last Thursday evening. Post-mortem examinations were conducted at Cork University Hospital (CUH) by Locum State Pathologist Dr Margaret Bolster. Results have not been released by gardai for operational reasons. However, it is understood Willie and Pa both died from multiple severe trauma injuries to the head consistent with blows from a heavy axe. An axe was found a short distance from where their bodies were discovered. Johnny is understood to have died from drowning. Paddys body was found in the yard of the family farm where the brothers operated a firewood business and raised dry cattle. Willies body was discovered in a nearby shed. It is feared both were attacked by their younger brother, Johnny, after a dispute over farm income escalated out of control. Manhunt Both were pronounced dead at the scene late on Thursday night when armed gardai had attended the property after a relative raised the alarm on discovering one of the bodies lying in the farmyard. However, gardai found no sign of their younger brother Johnny at the farm where he lived. A manhunt was launched and Johnnys Toyota van was discovered on Friday morning parked about 4km away by Killacluig Church where the brothers regularly attended mass. At lunchtime, a Garda helicopter crew spotted a body in the nearby River Funshion just over 1km across fields from where the van was found parked. Gardai have confirmed they are not looking for anyone else in relation to the matter. A Garda Siochana Ombudsman Commission (Gsoc) review is under way over a possible contact with one of the deceased brothers in the hours before the tragedy. The world added 8 billionaires a week in 2020 421 in a year taking their total number to a record 3,288, according to the 10th Edition of Hurun Global Rich List 2021 released Tuesday. Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, the total wealth of all billionaires across the globe surged 32 per cent during the period under review to $14.7 trillion. Billionaires have added in the past year the equivalent of the gross domestic product (GDP) of Germany to take their wealth to the equivalent of China. They added $3.5 trillion to take their total wealth to $14.7 trillion, a huge concentration of economic power, the report said. The Hurun Global Rich List 2021 ranked 3228 billionaires from 2,402 companies and 68 countries. The wealth calculations are a snapshot of January 15, 2021. Tesla's added a massive $151 billion during the year to become richest man in world for first time, with $197 billion in net worth. Amazon.com Inc. boss with a staggering $189 billion in net worth and Bernard Arnault, chief executive of LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton SE, the world's largest luxury-goods company with net worth of $114 billion ranked second and third globally, respectively. Bill Gates (Microsoft) and Mark Zuckerberg (Facebook) are the other two that complete the top-five ranking line-up. Despite the disruption caused by Covid-19, this year has seen the biggest wealth increase of the last decade. A stock market boom, driven partly by quantitative easing, and flurry of new listings have minted eight new dollar billionaires a week for the past year, said Rupert Hoogewerf, Hurun Report chairman and chief researcher. Three individuals, according to the report, added over $50 billion in a single year, led by with $151 billion, whilst e-commerce billionaires of Amazon and Colin Huang of Pinduoduo added $50 billion each. At this rate, expect to see 50 or more break through the $100 billion mark within the next five years, Hoogewerf said. And most of these billionaires have toiled hard to achieve the status. Of all global billionaires, 71 per cent are self-made and only 29 per cent have inherited the wealth, the report said. Among the lot are 231 self-made women, up 51 from last year. China dominated with 66 per cent of the worlds self-made women billionaires, led by Zhong Huijuan of drug-maker Hansoh with a net worth of $23 billion. The richest woman in the world is Alice Walton of Walmart with a networth of $74 billion. The rise of Asia and India Country-wise, China leads with the most number of billionaires at 1058, followed by the US (696), India (177), Germany, the United Kingdom and Switzerland at over 100 each. By continent, Asia accounts for 51 per cent of the billionaires. India, the report said, now has 209 billionaires. India last year added billionaires at a similar rate to the US, 50 compared with 69, the report said. With $83 billion, Reliance Industries' (RIL) chairman was the richest in India, second richest in Asia and the eighth richest in the World. Gautam Adani (Adani Group), (HCL Group), Lakshmi N Mittal (ArcelorMittal) and Cyrus Poonawalla (Serum Institute of India) are the other top-ranking billionaires in India, according to the Hurun Global Rich List 2021. Apoorva Mehta of Instacart with a net worth of $1.7 billion and Nikhil Kamath of Zerodha with a net worth of $1.9 billion are the youngest Indians in the list. Indian wealth creation is dominated by cyclical/ traditional industries compared to tech-driven wealth creation in the USA and China. When the tech-driven wealth creation reaches full potential, India could potentially beat the USA in terms of the number of billionaires, said Anas Rahman Junaid, managing director and chief researcher, Hurun India. Among cities, Mumbai hosts the maximum number of billionaires (60), followed by New Delhi (40) and Bengaluru (22). KALAMAZOO, MI The Kalamazoo City Commission approved an agreement with the United Way of the Battle Creek and Kalamazoo Region (UWBCKR) to expand the Kalamazoo Small Business Loan Fund Program. The city commission voted at its Monday, March 1, meeting to approve the expansion as part of the meetings consent agenda. The city agreed to use $1,038,500 annually over a three-year period with a total investment of $3,115,500, from the Foundation for Excellence (FFE) Aspirational Fund, to implement the program, according to the city agenda packet. In March 2020, the City of Kalamazoo and the United Way of the Battle Creek and Kalamazoo Region (UWBCKR) collaborated to create the Kalamazoo Small Business Loan Fund Program (KSBLF) with an investment by the City of Kalamazoo through FFE funding of $2 million. The investment was an effort to provide COVID-19 economic development assistance to local community businesses. The KSBLF program has provided a total of $1,274,500 in funding as of January 21, 2021. According to UWBDKR, businesses who were approved reported 672 full-time equivalent, or 947 employees including salaried, hourly, and commission employees whose jobs were retained with KSBLF assistance. Out of 105 loans provided locally, the KSBLF program has had one default to-date and has had two loans completely paid off, according to the resolution passed Monday. The KSBLF program was created to provide a lifeline to small businesses and their workers, especially businesses with workers in the category of asset limited, income constrained, employed (ALICE), and to retain workforce capacity. The expansion of the program will also enable UWBCKR and city staff to prioritize women-owned and/or Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC)-owned businesses, with secondary consideration being given to businesses located within the Shared Prosperity Kalamazoo (SPK) neighborhoods (Edison, Northside, and Eastside) with a focus on equity and intersectionality, the city agenda packet states. In addition to the KSBLF, The City Commission approved the creation of the Kalamazoo Micro-Enterprise Grant Fund (KMEG) in June 2020. The KMEG is a business development tool to assist micro-businesses with 10 full-time employees or less. It was initially funded with $300,000 paid from the FFE-funded Business Development Fund. The city packet states the guiding principles of Kalamazoo Small Business Loan Fund include: Equity. The Loan Fund is intended to support community members living below the ALICE threshold and marginalized and disparate populations. Collaboration. Whenever possible, dollars from the Loan Fund will be used to leverage federal, state, and other local resources. Flexibility. The Loan Fund is designed to be flexible in terms of how the resources are spent to meet the most critical needs of businesses and their employees. The focus of the loan program will be on businesses located within the city of the Kalamazoo. Kalamazoo Small Business Loan Fund provides loans of $5,000 up to $50,000 to eligible businesses. It allows an eligible businesses which obtains a loan from the KSBLF to receive a non-cash $5,000 forgiveness grant in the form of a reduction in business loan repayment obligation under the KSBLF. For example, a business receiving a $50,000 loan with an accompanying non-cash grant would only be required to repay $45,000. An Eligible Business for the KSBLF program meets the following criteria: 1. Is located in the City of Kalamazoo. 2. Has 50 FTE employees or less. 3. Has annual revenue of $2.5 million or less. 4. Needs working capital to support payroll expenses, rent, mortgage payments, utility expenses, or other similar expenses that occur in the ordinary course of business. The KMEG offers $5,000 grants to eligible businesses. An Eligible Business for the KMEG program meets the following criteria: 1. Is located in the city of Kalamazoo. 2. Has 10 full-time equivalent employees or less. 3. Has annual revenue of $1 million or less. 4. Has been in operation for at lease 1 year 5. Needs working capital to support payroll expenses, rent, mortgage payments, utility expenses, or other similar expenses that occur in the ordinary course of business. All Kalamazoo Small Business Loan Fund Program expenditures will be decided by an advisory committee of representatives from UWBCKR, City of Kalamazoo/FFE, local banks, and local economic and community development entities. All KMEG expenditures will be decided by the UWBCKR staff. Read more: $5,000 grants available to help Kalamazoo micro businesses United Way commits $110K to help shelter Kalamazoos growing homeless 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. Fazal-ur Rehman Afridi, a member of the Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM), France Paris [France], March 2 (ANI): As Pakistan remains on the 'grey list' of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), a Pashtun rights activist has blamed the country for providing shelter to dreaded terrorists, including the Taliban. Fazal-ur Rehman Afridi, a member of the Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM), France said the tribal areas in Pakistan continue to remain safe haven for the terrorists and Pakistani security forces have failed to act against these outfits. He said, "If you actually look at the situation in Pakistan, particularly in ex-FATA (Federally Administered Tribal Areas), the tribal areas adjacent to Afghanistan there seems to be increased Taliban and terrorist activities in this region. Not only in FATA, but even in the settled areas like in the important cities Swabi, Mardan, Peshawar, Swat and even in Quetta, there seem to be Taliban activities. They are organising huge gatherings and collecting funds openly and the state is not responding against these activities." Afridi added, "It seems that either the state is responsible for these activities or there is no state in Pakistan. So, in both cases it has to respond to the international community." Last month, the FATF decided to keep Pakistan on the 'grey list' till June for failing to act on six key parameters. Prior to the decision, the global agency had held a three-day meeting to review the progress made by Islamabad in terms of measures taken by its government against money-laundering and terrorist financing. Afridi said, "Whenever there are important meetings of important organisations like the United Nations and FATF, these terrorists and terrorist organisations are banned but the moment these meetings are finished, then again these terrorist organisations resurface". Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) terrorist Ehsanullah Ehsan, whose group nine years ago, shot and badly wounded Nobel Laureate Malala Yousafzai, has allegedly threatened a second attempt on her life, tweeting that next time, "there would be no mistake". Story continues The threat prompted Malala to tweet herself, asking both the military and Prime Minister Imran Khan to explain how her alleged shooter, Ehsan, had escaped from government custody. "Ehsanullah Ehsan is the same case. He threatened openly on Twitter to Malala and the state of Pakistan actually, in the beginning, rejected the claim that it was a fake Twitter account, but it was a genuine Twitter account. So, the state of Pakistan is sponsoring terrorism, it is training Taliban and it seems that in the coming days it wants to destabilise Afghanistan again. And its partnering with other states like Iran, Turkey and Russia in this regard to further destabilise the region and not only Afghanistan," said PTM member. "Pakistan Army is very huge and its expenses are not covered by its present economy. So, in that context, it wants to conquer other countries or create instability in the region so that it can earn dollars from the international community as it has done in the so-called war on terror in the last 20 years in which they did not kill the Taliban and other terrorist groups, but they supported them to earn dollars from the international community and instead they killed innocent civilians. Thousands of Pashtuns, Baloch and Sindhis were forcibly disappeared, extra-judicially killed and tortured," he added. "So, it is the responsibility of the international community to take notice of it as Manzoor Pashteen (PTM leader) has said openly that if you fund Pakistan, you are indirectly funding terrorism. So, it should be clear to the whole world that action should be taken. Now, even the women are being targeted by terrorists, supported by the Pakistani state. And you have heard of four women workers of an NGO who were killed by these terrorists in North Waziristan region of Pakistan", said the Paris-based Pashtun activist adding that it is the responsibility of UN, FATF, European Union and the US to take action against these terrorist activities of Pakistan. (ANI) The World Socialist Web Site encourages our readers to attend a public lecture, being delivered this week by historian Dr. Joseph Scalice, on the subject of the 1971 bombing of the Liberal Party election rally at Plaza Miranda in the Philippines. The bombing marked a critical step toward the imposition of martial law by President Ferdinand Marcos in 1972, and remains one of the most controversial events in the countrys history. The lecture, sponsored by the UC Berkeley Center for Southeast Asian Studies, will take place on Wednesday, March 3, 5 PM PST (Thursday, March 4, 9 AM in the Philippines; Thursday, March 4, noon AEDT in Australia). You can register here: https://cutt.ly/plazamiranda Dr. Joseph Scalice Last August Scalice delivered a lecture examining the parallels between the support given by the Stalinist Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) to the fascistic Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte in 2016, with the role of the Stalinist Partiesthe CPP and the PKPin the establishment of the Marcos dictatorship. One day before the lecture, CPP founder, Jose Maria Sison, launched a malicious attack on Scalice, based on the slander that he is a CIA agent. In the same manner, Marco Valbuena, Chief Information Officer of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP), in a desperate bid to turn people away from this weeks lecture, has again maligned Scalice as operating on behalf of the CIA. The reason is obvious. In a chapter of his 2017 doctoral dissertation, carefully examining the Plaza Miranda bombing, Scalice established that the overwhelming weight of historical evidence reveals that the CPP was responsible for the bombing. The significance of Scalices historical research on the Plaza Miranda bombing was noted by Carlos Conde, the senior researcher for Human Rights Watch in the Philippines, who shared the WSWS article on the upcoming lecture on twitter. If this claim holds up, it will help upend post-Marcos Philippine history, he wrote. One needs to add, Scalices finding constitutes a damning indictment of the cynicism, opportunism and criminality of the CPP, which has slandered anyone, including former party members, who have provided evidence that it was responsible for the bombing. We publish below a slightly edited version of Scalices Facebook post, in response to the slanders of Marco Valbuena, and again encourage our readers to register for the lecture. On February 24, Marco Valbuena, Chief Information Officer of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP), published a lengthy statement pre-emptively dismissing my upcoming lecture on the 1971 Plaza Miranda bombing in the Philippines. This year marks the fiftieth anniversary of the bombing, one of the most controversial and important events in Philippine history. The bombing provided the pretext for Marcos suspension of the writ of habeas corpus, and was a turning point in the political struggle over the imposition of dictatorship in the country. A year later, Marcos declared martial law. Acutely sensitive on this topic, the CPP did not wait until my lecture was delivered to respond, but attempted to dismiss my scholarship in advance, employing ad hominems and rhetorical sleights-of-hand. Valbuena termed me a Trotskyite zealot who would spew lies and regurgitate the long-exposed falsehoods of the Philippine military and the US CIA. He accuses me of producing an unabashedly anti-communist version of Philippine history. Readers of the CPP statement should ask themselves: why is the CPP attempting, by attacking me at great length, to dissuade the public in advance from attending my lecture? What it is that the CPP does not want people to hear? Joma Sison, founder and ideological leader of the party, behaved in a similar fashion when I delivered a lecture in August last year that examined the historical background to the CPPs enthusiastic support for Duterte in the 2016 election. Sison dedicated an entire issue of Ang Bayan to attacking me, before I even delivered my talk. He claimed that it was an outright lie that the party ever supported Duterte. I established, in my lecture, with copious evidence, precisely how the party enabled the rise of Duterte and enthusiastically supported both his presidency and his war on drugs. More than 7,000 people have now viewed the lecture. Sison responded by repeatedly denouncing me as a CIA agent, and claimed that all UC Berkeley knew that the CIA funded my research. The faculty of the UC Berkeley Department of South and Southeast Asian Studies, where I earned my PhD, issued a public statement defending me against Sison's slanderous accusations: We at Berkeley know nothing of the sort. We reject these malicious, reckless and unfounded allegations. Scalice, a former Fulbright scholar, is a talented historian whose analysis has transformed understandings of the history of communism in the Philippines. An award-winning teacher, Scalices generosity of spirit and his commitment to sharing his deep knowledge of the Philippines, has further transformed the lives of countless students in our Southeast Asian Studies Program. We stand with Joseph Scalice. The response of the CPP to my upcoming Berkeley lecture is a repeat performance. It attempts, by lies and insinuation, to dismiss my scholarship and dissuade people from examining my evidence and arguments. Their basic political line is that there are only two possible schools of thought. Either you agree with the CPPs version of history, or you are an agent of the military and the CIA. It is in this way that the CPP attempts to label my Marxist study of its history as anti-communist. The CPP employs the term Philippine Left with a proprietary sensibility. There is no left but the CPP, and Sison is its prophet. This is why my historical exposure of the partys role stings Sison so badly, for it demonstrates that neither he nor his party merit the name. I encourage you to register for the talk and attend the lecture. Weigh the evidence for yourself. Dont allow yourself to be browbeaten by party leaders who think they can continue to hide their own history behind slander and lies. There are three days left to register. Again you can register here: https://cutt.ly/plazamiranda MSPs voiced fury today after it emerged Nicola Sturgeon could 'dodge' questions about crucial legal advice at her crunch committee hearing on the Alex Salmond row. The First Minister is finally set to be grilled by the inquiry tomorrow, but her deputy John Swinney has been accused of treating Holyrood with 'contempt' by dragging his heels about handing over key documents. Mr Swinney has admitted that lawyers had 'reservations' about continuing to resist a judicial review brought by Mr Salmond in 2018 over the handling of complaints against him. However, he insisted that legal advice will show there were 'good public policy arguments and reasonable grounds' for continuing the wrangling - which eventually resulted in Mr Salmond being awarded more than 500,000. Details of the advice had been expected to be made public today, after the Scottish government's hand was forced by the Opposition. But Mr Swinney is only handing it to the committee this afternoon and it is unlikely to be made public until tomorrow. There have been allegations that failing to heed the opinions of lawyers would have amounted to a breach of the ministerial code. Scots Tory MSP Murdo Fraser said: 'John Swinney's response to the Scottish Parliament's requests for the legal advice have been a disgrace from start to finish. 'He is showing contempt for the inquiry committee and the entire Parliament. 'The Deputy First Minister grandstanded about finally providing hand-picked parts of the legal advice, overlooking that he only acted when his job was on the line. 'Whatever he provides may not even be published before the First Minister's evidence session, allowing her to avoid questions on it and dodge scrutiny yet again. 'The Scottish Conservatives will hold a No Confidence vote in the Deputy First Minister this Thursday if he has not respected the will of Parliament by then.' Giving evidence to a Holyrood committee today, James Wolffe QC (left) said he had recused himself from key decisions over the handling of allegations against Alex Salmond. John Swinney (right) has been accused of dragging his heels over releasing the legal advice In six hours of brutal testimony last week, Alex Salmond laid out a case that senior SNP figures conspired to try to force him out of public life over harassment claims Mr Wolffe is facing a grilling on the eve of the long-awaited appearance by Nicola Sturgeon Nicola Sturgeon (left) has denied breaking the ministerial code and said she will give her full rebuttal tomorrow. The Conservative dossier (right) highlights dozens of instances when Ms Sturgeon appears to have broken the ministerial code What are the key issues in the row engulfing SNP? How and why did the Scottish government mishandle allegations against Alex Salmond? The Scottish government launched an investigation in 2017 after two women made formal complaints against Alex Salmond. He launched legal action against the government's handling of the investigation and won a judicial review in January 2019, receiving 512,000 to cover his legal fees. The parliamentary inquiry is examining how ministers and civil servants conducted the probe. Mr Salmond was charged with 13 counts of sexual assault, including attempted rape, but was acquitted of all charges in March 2020. Mr Salmond has claimed he was the victim of a conspiracy by senior SNP figures to end his role in public life. What did Nicola Sturgeon know and when? Ms Sturgeon originally told MSPs she learned of complaints against Mr Salmond on April 2, 2018, when the pair met at her house. That meeting is crucial as it is unclear whether it was SNP business, or government business - which should have been officially recorded. Peter Murrell, the chief executive of the SNP and Ms Sturgeon's husband, initially said he was not at home, but later revealed that he arrived home during the discussion. He insists he did not ask what they were talking about. Ms Sturgeon has also admitted she 'forgot' about a discussion with Mr Salmond's ex-chief of staff four days earlier where they talked about the issue. The ministerial code says that 'ministers who knowingly mislead the parliament will be expected to offer their resignation to the First Minister'. Ms Sturgeon is facing a separate independent investigation led by James Hamilton, who has to decide if she broke the ministerial code. However, it is thought that she is the final arbiter of whether the code has been breached. Does Mr Salmond have evidence of a conspiracy against him? Mr Salmond has said he is the victim of a 'prolonged, malicious' conspiracy by senior SNP and government figures. He has suggested Mr Murrell was part of efforts to damage him. Ms Sturgeon has demanded he presents hard evidence that is the case. However, he insisted today that he is not in the dock and the government has already conceded it acted illegally. Why was Mr Salmond's evidence to the inquiry redacted? Mr Salmond's submission to the inquiry was released online on Monday, but the Crown Office raised concerns with Holyrood about it, asking for redactions. He has raised questions about why the step was taken and whether it amounted to inappropriate interference. Advertisement Mr Swinney's defence came in a letter to the Holyrood committee of inquiry ahead of its long-awaited session with Ms Sturgeon tomorrow. In six hours of brutal testimony last week, Mr Salmond laid out a case that senior SNP figures conspired to try to force him out of public life over harassment claims. He was subsequently cleared of wrongdoing in a trial. He also vented fury that the Crown Office, led by Lord Advocate James Wolffe, had forced the redaction of sections of his written evidence to the committee. Mr Wolffe today dismissed claims of interference in the Alex Salmond probe as 'wholly without foundation'. Giving evidence to the inquiry he said he had recused himself from key decisions over the allegations against the former First Minister. And he flatly rejected that idea that the Crown Office had insisted on the redaction of parts of Mr Salmond's written evidence in a bid to hamper the process. Mr Wolffe said: 'Any suggestion, from any quarter, that the Crown's decision-making has at any time been influenced by irrelevant considerations or improper motivations would be wholly without foundation. 'Insinuation and assertions to the contrary are baseless.' He said the crown had been criticised for 'actions it has taken to protect the identity of the complainers' at Alex Salmond's criminal trial, at which he was acquitted of all charges. The legal advice received by the Scottish government over Mr Salmond's judicial review of its complaints procedure is due to be published after ministers caved in. Mr Wolffe suggested he had not been asked whether the advice could be released until yesterday, as ministers had not believed the 'public interest' favoured its disclosure until then. The Scottish Tories have accused Ms Sturgeon of breaching the ministerial code up to 38 times during the row. A Conservative dossier highlights dozens of instances when they say Ms Sturgeon appears to have broken the ministerial code. They include accusations of repeatedly misleading the Scottish Parliament about when she first knew of the allegations against Mr Salmond, delaying settling the judicial review despite legal advice, and meeting Mr Salmond on government business without any officials present or records being taken. Ms Sturgeon has denied breaking the ministerial code and said she will give her full rebuttal tomorrow. Scottish Tory leader Douglas Ross said: 'This dossier shows all the evidence of SNP cover ups, dreadful mistakes and terrible lapses of judgement. 'Sleaze and secrecy is running rampant throughout the ruling party of government. 'Nicola Sturgeon stands accused of breaking the Ministerial Code up to 38 times. The First Minister and her inner circle are facing 14 separate resignation matters. 'The weight of evidence is overwhelming and this is only what we know about. So much more continues to be hidden by the SNP. 'The First Minister has abused the power of her office and government to cover up what really happened, what she knew and when she knew it.' The burgeoning row is threatening to derail Ms Sturgeon's push to split up the UK, with support for independence diving over recent weeks. Scotland's Deputy First Minister John Swinney is today finally set to release the legal advice the government was given over the judicial review, after a dramatic U-turn in the face of a no-confidence motion. The advice relates to Mr Salmond's successful legal challenge of the Scottish Government's harassment complaints procedure, which led to him being awarded more than 500,000. In a letter to the committee this morning, Mr Swinney said details of the legal advice would be released this afternoon - and they show 'reservations' about proceeding with the case. 'The documents confirm that, whilst reservations were raised about the judicial review following the identification of the issue of prior contact with the complainers in late October, there were good public policy arguments and reasonable grounds for the Government to continue to defend the judicial review and to seek a determination from the Court on the matters raised, until the events of late December 2018,' he wrote. The Scottish Tories submitted a motion of no confidence in Mr Swinney at Holyrood yesterday after accusing him of failing to comply with two parliamentary votes calling for the publication of legal advice. Tory whip Miles Brigg MSP said he will not withdraw the Motion of No Confidence until MSPs are given assurances that SNP Ministers will deliver everything the committee has requested. Mr Salmond insisted last week that, if the case was pursued by Ms Sturgeon against legal advice, it would be a breach of the ministerial code. Mr Swinney said: 'In normal circumstances, government legal advice is not released. Indeed, such is the importance of being able to get frank, private advice, it is almost unheard of for the legal advice to be released. 'But, we have to acknowledge that the issues at stake now are not normal. The very integrity of the legal system is being questioned. The dossier's allegations about Ms Sturgeon include repeatedly misleading the Scottish Parliament about when she first knew of the allegations against Mr Salmond, delaying settling the judicial review despite legal advice, and meeting Mr Salmond on government business without any officials present or records being taken Scottish Tories accuse SNP of deliberately fixing Sturgeon's committee grilling for same day as the Budget The Scottish Tories have accused the SNP of trying to protect Nicola Sturgeon by fixing her committee grilling for the same day as the Budget. The First Minister is finally set to give her testimony at Holyrood tomorrow - with her career on the line. But the showdown could be overshadowed with Rishi Sunak delivering his historic post-Covid Budget on the same day. A Scottish Tory spokesman said: 'The timing of this appearance is certainly very convenient for Nicola Sturgeon. 'During Alex Salmond's evidence last week, the SNP MSPs on the committee embarrassed themselves by trying to run out the clock. It was a hopeless filibuster attempt that failed. 'Now they're clearly trying to give their boss a helping hand by limiting when and how long she appears before the committee. 'At every turn the SNP are trying to shut down scrutiny and cover up what really happened in this sorry affair.' Advertisement 'Serious allegations have been made. This material allows people to confirm that these allegations are false. 'We have already shared in private with the Scottish Parliament's committee on these issues the substance of the advice. 'Now, we recognise that in order to counter to the false claims being made by some, we must go further. Subject to the mandatory legal checks and processes, we will release the key legal advice.' It would have been the second time in less than a year that Mr Swinney faced a debate on his position after he survived a no-confidence in August thanks to the Scottish Greens. This time they had signalled they would vote against him. The Scottish parliament has twice voted to compel the release of the advice ministers and officials obtained during the judicial review brought about by the former SNP leader. However, they have previously refused to do so, citing legal privilege. In January 2019, the Government was forced to admit it had acted unlawfully and its investigation had been 'tainted by apparent bias' after Mr Salmond successfully challenged its investigation into complaints against him. The outcome of the probe was set aside when it emerged that the investigating officer had prior contact with two women who made allegations against Mr Salmond. It was previously revealed that the issue had been identified months before the Government conceded. But the inquiry is keen to know when ministers and officials were advised to drop their defence - and admit defeat. Mr Swinney's decision has received the prior agreement of the Law Officers in line with paragraph 2.40 of the Scottish Ministerial Code. Ahead of release, under the General Data Protection Regulation, legal notifications to individuals impacted are required. The Scottish Government said that these are expected to be complete and, subject to them, the Parliament will receive the material immediately thereafter. 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. Colorado Springs, CO (80903) Today Partly cloudy with afternoon showers or thunderstorms. Gusty winds and small hail are possible. High 64F. Winds NE at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 50%.. Tonight Partly cloudy skies. Low 46F. Winds WNW at 5 to 10 mph. ADVERTISEMENT A Paris court on Monday convicted French former President, Nicolas Sarkozy, for corruption and influence peddling, sentencing him to three years in prison. President from 2007 to 2012, Mr Sarkozy, 66, was convicted of trying to bribe a magistrate in exchange for information about a legal case in which he was implicated, AFP said. Two of the three years is suspended sentence, meaning he will not serve the term if he does not commit any new offense in the next five years. He was sentenced over some wiretapped phone conversations that took place in February 2014 which himself and his longtime friend, Thierry Herzog, had with now-retired magistrate, Gilbert Azibert. Prosecutors believed they promised Mr Azibert a job in Monaco in exchange for leaking information about another legal case involving Mr Sarkozy, AFP said, although no job was fulfilled. But the court held that the promising to give a job alone was criminal under French laws as persecutors also discovered that Messrs Sarkozy and Herzog communicated via secret mobile phones registered to the alias Paul Bismuth The trio were charged for the same offence and given the same sentence, according to AFP. The sentence is open to appeal, and Mr Sarkozy will remain free while he appeals his counsel has promised to appeal the judgment or he can ask to serve the term at home with an electronic bracelet. But Mr Sarkozys legal troubles are far from over. He is expected to face the Paris court again later this month over alleged suspicious spending of 42.8 million ($50.7 million) during his 2012 presidential campaign, which he lost to Socialist rival Francois Hollande. He is also under investigation in another trial from 2013 where he is accused of taking millions from late Libyan dictator, Moammar Gadhafi, to allegedly finance his successful 2007 campaign. Meanwhile, Mr Sarkozys sentence is the first time in Frances modern history that a former president has been convicted of corruption and given a prison term in what many believe is a dent to the political clout of Mr Sarkozy who withdrew from active politics after failing at his conservative partys presidential primary in the 2017 election. His predecessor, Jacques Chirac, who was found guilty in 2011 of misuse of public money during his time as Paris mayor, was given a two-year suspended prison sentence. Welcome Guest! You Are Here: BEIJING, March 1 (Xinhua) -- China's poverty alleviation achievements have made a great contribution to the cause of global poverty reduction, and provided important inspiration for other developing countries in lifting themselves out of poverty, a UN official told Xinhua in an exclusive interview on Monday. "This is a remarkable achievement," said Siddharth Chatterjee, the new UN Resident Coordinator in China, commenting on China's recent announcement that it has secured a "complete victory" in its fight against poverty. Since the implementation of the reform and opening-up policies, China has lifted 770 million people out of poverty, meeting the goal of ending poverty, as established in the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, 10 years ahead of schedule. In 2020, all of China's nearly 100 million impoverished rural residents living below the current poverty line cast off poverty after eight years of efforts. "I appreciate and congratulate China on its achievements in eradicating poverty and reducing inequality," Chatterjee said. He noted that China's progress in poverty alleviation is attributable to the strong leadership of the Communist Party of China, and the determination and action shown by the Chinese government and people. "When there is leadership and strong political will, everything is possible. If China, with a vast population of 1.4 billion people, can do it, I think the rest of the world can do it too," he added. "I feel very privileged to come at a time when there's an inflection point in the way human progress has to be made. I'm excited about the prospects of what we in the UN here will do with the Chinese government and Chinese people, not only to safeguard the gains, but with China to advance that knowledge, to advance those lessons learned, and to advance collaboration, so that we make sure that no country, no village, no community is left behind," he said. In January, Chatterjee flew from Kenya to South China's Guangzhou to take up his new post. "Upon arrival, I received rigorous and orderly entry screening, like other overseas passengers arriving in China," Chatterjee said, jokingly adding that his new role did not bring him any "preferential treatment." "Officials were wearing appropriate personal protective equipment, checking incoming travelers for signs and symptoms," Chatterjee recalled, adding that all overseas passengers arriving in China were directed to designated hotels to complete a 21-day quarantine period. Strict measures are essential to control the spread of COVID-19 through ports of entry, Chatterjee noted. "I realized that if every country in the world actually had a robust process of quarantine, of tests, of contact tracing, I think we would have ended this pandemic a long time ago. I think China has some important lessons from a public-health perspective," he added. As the former UN Resident Coordinator in Kenya, he noted that, since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, China has offered assistance to African countries, including Kenya. "This support was not just limited to Kenya; it was extended to all of Africa. As the former UN Resident Coordinator in Kenya, I want to express my deepest gratitude to the government of China for the speed, the effectiveness and the compassion with which it reached out to many countries in Africa that were grappling with just finding the basic supplies," he said. The economic upheaval caused by the COVID-19 pandemic rivals the Great Depression of the 1930s, upending lives and livelihoods, Chatterjee noted. "Health, climate and economic prosperity are vital to world stability and peace, and these should be what we should drive towards. And therefore, there is no space, there is no opportunity, for unilateralism to thrive," he said. "The Sustainable Development Goals are just 10 years away, and without us coming together, we will not be able to achieve them," he added. A group of Carlsbad residents has filed a lawsuit against San Diego County in an attempt to overturn the Board of Supervisors approval of the McClellan-Palomar Airport Master Plan Update. At issue is a provision in the update that allows the extension of the airports only runway by up to 800 feet. Opponents of the update said the longer runway would bring more traffic, noise and pollution and that it amounts to an expansion of the airport. The county and others, including independent consultants hired by the Carlsbad City Council, say the longer runway is not an expansion, because the airports boundaries wont change, and that the extension and other improvements are needed to safely accommodate present and future aircraft at the 1950s-era facility. Advertisement The group Citizens for a Friendly Airport claims the Master Plan Update approved Oct. 10 by the county Board of Supervisors is inadequate because of a lack of transparency in the planning process and deficient environmental studies. Too little is known about the business plan for the airport in the years ahead and about greenhouse gasses that would be released by the proposed construction, said Hope Nelson, a representative of the citizens group. Part of the runway extension would be built over an old landfill. We are concerned about the quality of water and what the impact is going to be of digging up the landfill, Nelson said. County officials declined requests Friday to comment on the lawsuit. The four supervisors who voted for the airport update expressed enthusiasm for the plans. Supervisor Kristin Gaspar excused herself from the discussion and vote, saying her family owns a business at the airport. Ive always wanted the runway lengthened, said Supervisor Bill Horn, whose district includes Carlsbad, at the October meeting. I think Palomar Airport is an extremely important asset to the entire county of San Diego. Horn and Supervisor Greg Cox said the Carlsbad airport helps to take some of the pressure off the crowds at Lindbergh Field in San Diego. Traffic at the Carlsbad airport peaked in 1999, with nearly 300,000 takeoffs and landings. Traffic dropped to less than half that by 2007 with declines in the economy, tourism and domestic travel, before leveling off. Advertisement Also, since the 1990s the airport has transitioned from mostly private, single-engine planes to larger corporate and commercial aircraft. The newer planes are quieter, have longer wingspans, and land or take off at higher speeds. The larger aircraft need a longer runway and more space between the runway and the airports parallel taxiway. The master plan update outlines the potential development of the airport over the next 20 years. It replaces a previous plan completed in 1997. Work on the update began in 2015 and included a series of public meetings with county staffers, consultants and community members. The airport, at the northwest corner of Palomar Airport Road and El Camino Real, is owned and operated by San Diego County. While its near the geographic center of Carlsbad, the city has little control over any of the activities there. Advertisement Other improvements outlined in the update include shifting the airports runway and its taxiway to the north to provide a greater separation between the two, and the installation of safety systems that can stop aircraft in emergencies at both ends of the runway. Any improvements are still years away, because so far no money is available for construction. Approval of the Master Plan Update allows county officials to proceed with details of the various development projects and apply to the Federal Aviation Administration and other agencies for the grant money they need. Advertisement philip.diehl@sduniontribune.com Twitter: @phildiehl Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full 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| 2021-03-02 20:09:45|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close GABORONE, March 2 (Xinhua) -- Botswana announced 2,356 confirmed COVID-19 cases between 23-26 February on Monday's weekly update, the largest number recorded in a single update so far. With the first case reported in March 2020, the southern African country has totally registered 30,727 cases with 332 fatalities, announced Mosepele Mosepele, deputy coordinator of the Presidential Task Force for COVID-19. The announcement followed an address by President Mokgweetsi Masisi last Friday that recent research conducted had shown that 80 percent of local cases are of the new variant first detected in neighbouring county South Africa in December 2020, which was reported to be easily transmittable. The first patch of vaccines are expected to arrive at this month, according to President Masisi. Mosepele warned the public that despite opening up sales of alcohol, they should continue abiding to strict COVID-19 regulations and avoid any form of gatherings that might result in further spread of the virus. Enditem Christian leaders react to Bethany Christian Services allowing LGBT couples to foster, adopt Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment Christian leaders have expressed disappointment after Bethany Christian Services, the largest Protestant adoption and foster agency in the United States, announced it will now be offering its services to LGBT couples. On Monday, the Michigan-based group announced it will begin placing children in LGBT families nationwide. In a statement to The Christian Post, Nathan Bult, senior vice president of the historically evangelical organization, said that faith in Jesus is at the core of their mission," but they are "not claiming a position on the various doctrinal issues about which Christians may disagree." "We acknowledge that discussions about doctrine are important, but our sole job is to determine if a family can provide a safe, stable environment for children. Unlike many other child and family welfare organizations, Bethany is committed to partnering with churches to find as many families for vulnerable children as possible, and we seek to place children with families that share our mission. "For us to carry out our mission, we are building a broad coalition of Christians finding families and resources for children in the greatest need. The people we serve deserve to know they are worthy of being safe, loved, and connected. The need is great, so we are taking an all hands on deck approach. "We believe that Christians with diverse beliefs can unify around our mission of demonstrating the love and compassion of Jesus. It's an ambitious mission, and we can only accomplish it together. The international agency said it will begin training all its employees, including those at locations that have not worked with gay couples. The announcement represents a shift for Bethany, an evangelical organization that has the stated aim of demonstrating the love and compassion of Jesus Christ by protecting children, empowering youth, and strengthening families through quality social services. According to its website, Bethany facilitated 3,406 foster placements and 1,123 adoptions in 2019 and has offices in 32 states. The group says it abides by Matthew 25:40: I'm telling the solemn truth: Whenever you did one of these things to someone overlooked or ignored, that was meyou did it to me. Bethanys latest decision was met with disappointment from evangelical and Christian leaders. Southern Baptist leader Al Mohler said that in choosing to open its services to LGBT couples, Bethany decided to meet the demands of the moral revolutionaries. The moral revolutionaries are now demanding that every single individual in this society every single institution, every single school, every single religious denomination, every single adoption, and foster care agency, must pivot ... In this case, that means capitulation, it means absolute surrender to the demands of the LGBTQ community, and now we're just talking about generalized the political left in the United States, he said on a Tuesday edition of The Briefing. We are now seeing a head-on collision between organizations like Bethany Christian services that had been very committed to a Christian understanding of marriage and the family and human sexuality and gender and the government. Mohler said Bethany has surrendered the Christian convictional part in order to retain its partnership with the government. Christians have to understand: If you're redefining marriage, if you're redefining parent and family, you are redefining civilization, he said. Jim Daly, head of Focus on the Family, tweeted that Bethany Christian Services should not have to choose between holding to their deeply held religious convictions and serving children and families. No government should tell any ministry how to run their ministry, let alone violate deeply held biblical principles, he added. Daniel Akin, president of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, said Bethanys decision is a very disappointing capitulation to cultural pressure. Children need a dad and a mom in a healthy, biblical home. Gods Word is clear, he tweeted. I am disappointed in this decision, as are many, Russell Moore, president of the Southern Baptist Conventions Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, said. This move will harm already existing efforts to enable faith-based orphan care ministries to serve the vulnerable without capitulating on core Christian convictions. Though Bethany previously referred LGBT prospective foster and adoptive parents to other agencies, the organization began placing foster children with same-sex couples in 2019 after a legal battle in Michigan. At the time, the agency announced that despite the decision, its beliefs have not changed. Bethany will continue operations in Michigan, in compliance with our legal contract requirements. The mission and beliefs of Bethany Christian Services have not changed, the agency said at the time. We are focused on demonstrating the love of Jesus Christ by serving children in need, and we intend to continue doing so in Michigan. At least 15 people were killed on Tuesday in a collision between an SUV and a tractor trailer truck in Southern California, about 10 miles (16.1 km) north of the Mexican border, the New York Times reported, citing local officials. The crash, on State Route 115 near El Centro, California, involved a sport utility vehicle carrying 27 people and a truck hauling gravel, local officials told the newspaper. An Imperial County Fire Department official told the Los Angeles Times that the agency responded to a mass fatality incident at 6:16 a.m. local time. Some 14 people died at the scene while another person died at the El Centro Regional Medical Center, the hospital's chief executive, Adolphe Edward, told the New York Times. "This is a major accident with major trauma, Edward said to the newspaper, adding he believed the victims were undocumented migrants. The truck driver suffered minor injuries, a spokesman for the California Highway Patrol told the Times. Short link: Will tour poll-bound states, ask people to defeat BJP: Farmers India oi-Deepika S New Delhi, Mar 02: Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM), which is spearheading anti- farm law protests in Delhi, will send its leaders to poll-bound states to appeal to farmers there to defeat the BJP in assembly elections, leaders of the outfit said on Tuesday. The protesting farmers will also block the KMP (Western Peripheral) Expressway on March 6 as the anti-farm law protest at Delhi borders completes 100 days. The expressway will be blocked at various points for five hours, from 11 am on March 6, SKM leader Yogendra Yadav said. He said SKM leaders will hold a public meeting in Kolkata on March 12 to appeal to the farmers of poll-bound states. SKM leader Balbir Singh Rajewal said that SKM teams will visit poll-bound states, including West Bengal and Kerala, to appeal to farmers to defeat the BJP. Farmers Protest: Road connecting Ghaziabad via Ghazipur reopens for vehicular traffic "We will not seek votes for any party. We will appeal to them to vote for those candidates who can defeat the BJP which has failed to address farmers' issues," Rajewal said at a joint press conference of SKM at Singhu border. The morcha leaders will also visit Karnataka where farmers are getting at least Rs 1000 less than MSP on various crops, Yadav said. On Womens' Day on March 8, women protesters will lead the protest at Delhi borders and other places across the country, Yadav said. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Tuesday, March 2, 2021, 23:39 [IST] Natuzzi S.p.A. (the "Company" and, together with its subsidiaries, the "Group") announced today the successful completion of the transaction contemplated by the agreement that the Company and the Vita Group (or "Vita") entered into on January 8, 2021 (the "Agreement"). Pursuant to the Agreement, Vita Italy S.r.l., a wholly-owned subsidiary of The Vita Group, has acquired, effective today, the entire share capital of I.M.P.E. S.p.A., a formerly wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company dedicated to the production of flexible polyurethane foam and based in Naples, Italy. As previously disclosed, this transaction is part of the Company's strategy to review its value chain and streamline the Group's manufacturing processes, focusing on value-added activities within its Italian factories. About Natuzzi Founded in 1959 by Pasquale Natuzzi, Natuzzi S.p.A. is Italy's largest furniture house and one of the most important global players in the furniture industry with an extensive manufacturing footprint and a global retail network. Natuzzi is the European lifestyle best-known brand in the upholstered furnishings sector worldwide (Brand Awareness Monitoring Report Ipsos 2018) and has been listed on the New York Stock Exchange since May 13, 1993. Always committed to social responsibility and environmental sustainability, Natuzzi S.p.A. is ISO 9001 and 14001 certified (Quality and Environment), OHSAS 18001 certified (Safety on the Workplace) and FSC certified (Forest Stewardship Council). About The Vita Group The Vita Group is Europe's leading flexible foam solutions provider. Built on 70 years of heritage, Vita develops, manufactures and markets a wide range of value added and differentiated flexible polyurethane foam and Talalay latex and flooring products. Vita's three divisions Comfort, Technical and Flooring cater for customers across a broad set of industries including Bed-in-the-Box mattresses and bedding, furniture, hygiene and medical, mobility, construction and flooring. The company's pan-European operating base is well positioned to serve local, regional and multi-national customers across Europe and provide innovative and value-added products and applications across the world. Vita has responded to the urgent need for products and materials to support healthcare, care homes, medical and hygiene applications during the COVID-19 emergency. The Company is currently delivering products for medical mattresses, filters for ventilators, PPE mask inserts, and many other healthcare relate products. For more information, please visit www.thevitagroup.com CAUTIONARY STATEMENT CONCERNING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS Certain statements included in this press release constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. These statements involve risks and uncertainties that could cause the Company's actual results to differ materially from those stated or implied by such forward-looking statements. Additional information about potential factors that could affect the Company's business and financial results is included in the Company's filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, including the Company's most recent Annual Report on Form 20-F. The Company undertakes no obligation to update any of the forward-looking statements after the date of this press release. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210301005764/en/ Contacts: Natuzzi Investor Relations Piero Direnzo tel. +39.080.8820.812 pdirenzo@natuzzi.com Natuzzi Corporate Communication Vito Basile (Press Office) tel. +39.080.8820.676 vbasile@natuzzi.com The Vita Group Alison Vesey Corporate Marketing PR Manager alison.vesey@thevitagroup.com Gilbert Davids Managing Director Comfort Division gilbert.davids@thevitagroup.com Tomas Stachura Regional Director South Europe tom.stachura@thevitagroup.com NASHVILLE, Tenn., March 2, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- AI solutions platform LogicPlum plans to continue expanding its efforts in India, having invested $2 million so far. As the demand for AI continues to grow worldwide, India is no exception. India has a large workforce of intelligent, IT-focused, English-speaking engineers dedicated to excellence and equipped with a strong services backbone. Those qualities happen to be precisely what LogicPlum looks for when it comes to supporting its customers. Founder of LogicPlum, Damian Mingle, said, "We believe India's digital economy is important to businesses in the region; after all, there are more than 700 million internet users and roughly half a billion yet to come online. This digital economy produces a significant amount of data that the LogicPlum Enterprise AI Platform can turn into real competitive advantage for companies." LogicPlum's investment will help build new research and development teams, expand regional offices, and recruit key leadership roles. The company recently opened a new regional headquarters in PMG, Trivandrum, India, quadrupling the size of the previous office space while also ensuring the company has 24-hour development and support with LogicPlum's global teams located in India, the U.S., and France. Mingle said, "We aim to cultivate the team like we do in other parts of the world: by shattering the status quo and uncover real business impact for organizations using LogicPlum's AI platform, it's R.E.A.S.O.N. method for business, and it's internationally recognized AI team." LogicPlum's commitment will also support a number of new hires at the new Trivandrum headquarters. To learn more about LogicPlum, click here. About LogicPlum LogicPlum's Enterprise AI platform makes it possible for companies to get massive business impact by creating significant speedups in data prep, model creation, validation including time-series and computer vision. It then deploys and monitors those models in a single solution, ensuring they remain skillful. LogicPlum customers are organizations that want to go to the next level with their business by innovating and reimagining aspects of their most important decisions. The LogicPlum team partners with those who want to start their AI journey and become an AI-driven enterprise. "Like" LogicPlum on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/LogicPlum/ Follow LogicPlum on Twitter @LogicPlum Media Contact: Rajani Suresh (615) 873-2187 ext. 711 [email protected] SOURCE Logic Plum, 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. Being the owner of a holiday letting business or guest house in Britain has been a financially depressing state of affairs during the past year. Repeated lockdowns mean that bookings have had to be postponed or cancelled while people stay at home, barring a surge when the economy was opened up last summer. But has Boris Johnson's plans for the lifting of the latest lockdown changed all of that? With holidays overseas still on hold, the staycation market has been given a massive boost by the announcement that these holidays are set to be allowed from the middle of April. This Yorkshire Dales guest house generated an income for July, August and September last year of 83,300 including VAT (more details and pictures below) Staycation giant Awaze, the owner of UK self-catering company Cottages.com, said it sold a record 10,000 breaks on February 22 - the day that the roadmap out of lockdown was announced. Camping site Pitchup.com, meanwhile, took one booking every seven seconds in a 24 hour period during the week of the roadmap announcement. And Habitat Escapes, which offers luxury holiday in the Cotswolds and Dorset, said that within 24 hours of the Prime Minister's announcement, sales were up 343 per cent compared with the previous week, and a staggering 9,559 per cent up on the same day last year. At the same time, Rightmove said interest in commercial properties has reached record levels, hitting a new high on Wednesday, February 17. While this was before the Prime Minister's roadmap announcement, there was already mounting speculation that he was going to make a statement. Rightmove said the second busiest day for the commercial section of its website was the day before on February 20, with all of the top 25 business days for commercial property recorded in January and February this year. The record for 2020 was set on August 19 when there were 128,021 visits. A boost for staycations The roadmap out of lockdown that was announced by Boris Johnson last week has been welcomed by the British tourism industry. While it has acknowledged a 'slow build back' for tourism at home, it says that the vaccine and roadmap is 'encouraging' for the industry. Patricia Yates, of VisitBritain/VisitEngland, said: 'The PM's roadmap announced on 22 February brought some welcome clarity on time frames for restarting domestic tourism in England and for businesses to start planning towards reopening. 'News of the vaccine progress and the July target is particularly encouraging for England's tourism industry and the millions of jobs and local economies that depend on it, especially coming in the run up to the critical summer season. 'We have already forecast a slow build back for the sector with domestic tourism spending estimated this year of 61.7 billion compared to 91.6 billion in 2019, and inbound tourism spending of 6.6 billion compared to 28.4 billion in 2019.' Advertisement If you're considering buying a holiday lets business, it is important to do your research thoroughly. This includes finding out what the business's revenue, cashflow and profits are - and whether they are sustainable once you take it over. Many business do not list these details on their website adverts, preferring to keep them private until they are approached. (Indeed, all bar one that we spoke to retained this information for serious buyers only, once viewings had been carried out.) This information is particularly sensitive at the moment given many hospitality parts of the economy have been shut for the best part of a year. Once you approach the sellers for this information, if they fail to provide plenty of documentary evidence, it may be better to walk away. Most residential properties with business attached require a commercial mortgage, which require a deposit of around 30 per cent of value of the bricks and mortar, while other lenders will lend up to 65 per cent of the total purchase price - which includes the house as well as the value of the business. Commercial mortgage rates also tend to be higher than those available on residential deals, at around 4 and 5 per cent. Most lenders will also want to see some evidence of experience of working in the sector, or relevant business expertise. So what could you buy? Below is a selection of some residential properties with holiday lets attached. 1. Twelve-bed guest house, Pembrokeshire, 850K This beautiful Grade II listed Welsh guest house in Cuffern, Pembrokeshire, is for sale for 850,000 The property includes two self-catering cottages, as well as generous owners' accommodation This Grade II listed house in Cuffern, Pembrokeshire, was built in 1770 and is less than four miles from the beautiful Welsh spot of Newgale beach. It includes two self-catering cottages, and generous owners' accommodation. It is for sale for 850,000 via estate agents West Wales Properties. 2. Twelve-bed guest house, North Yorkshire, 925K This 12-bed guest house sits in the Yorkshire Dales National Park village of Grassington and is for sale for 925,000 The popular guest house enjoyed a turnover of 155,000 for the year ending March 2020 This 12-bedroom guest house sits in the Yorkshire Dales National Park village of Grassington, Skipton, and is currently for sale for 925,000 via estate agents Christie & Co. The main guest house has 10 double bedrooms and is owned freehold by the sellers. There are two further bedrooms in a separate building across the car park that are held on a leasehold basis. It had a turnover of 155,000 for the year ending March 2020 and enjoyed a strong summer last year, with income for July, August and September amounting to 83,300 including VAT. Further information about the accounts can be provided to serious buyers only. 3. Eleven-bed hotel, Inverness-shire, 895K Lime Tree Hotel in Fort William, Inverness-shire, produced a turnover of 483,766 in 2020 and is for sale for 895,000. The property has nine letting bedrooms, as well as income from a gallery, self-catering and evening meals Lime Tree Hotel in Fort William, Inverness-shire, is a traditional Victorian country property that dates back to 1850. It currently has nine letting bedrooms, as well as income from a gallery, self-catering and evening meals. The property's asking price is 895,000 and the sale is being handled by estate agents ASG Commercial. 4. Nine-bed guest house, Devon, 565K This nine-bedroom Victorian guest house is in the pretty fishing village of Brixham, in Devon The large dining room has a bay window and space for seven tables, and chairs for 14 covers This nine-bedroom Victorian guest house is in the fishing village of Brixham, Devon, and boasts harbour and sea views. It is for sale for 565,000 via estate agents Ware Commerical. There is a six-bedroom guest house, as well as a one-bedroom holiday chalet and two-bedroom owners' accommodation. HSBC bankers fully knew that Huawei Technologies controlled the accounts of affiliates through which it did business in Iran, undermining US claims that Meng Wanzhou defrauded the bank by allegedly lying about the relationships, a Vancouver court heard on Monday. But a Canadian government lawyer at the extradition hearing said it was inappropriate for the judge to weigh evidence that would be eventually be presented in New York if Meng were sent there to face the accusations, which she denies. Save it for the trial, said Robert Frater, representing US interests in the extradition case. He said Mengs lawyers were trying to distract Associate Chief Justice Heather Holmes from her purpose of weighing extradition. Get the latest insights and analysis from our Global Impact newsletter on the big stories originating in China. Mengs lawyers are pressing their claim this week that the Huawei executive is the victim of an abuse of process, and that former US president Donald Trump tainted the American fraud case against her so badly that the US bid to have her extradited from Canada should be thrown out by the Supreme Court of British Columbia. They are also seeking to further a separate argument about the alleged abuse, that US authorities misled the court with their records of the case. They are applying to have a series of affidavits admitted to the court to bolster that claim. On Monday, Mengs lawyer Frank Addario told Holmes that the record of the case submitted by the US was manifestly unreliable. Meng is accused of defrauding HSBC by lying about Huaweis business interests in Iran, conducted through a company called Skycom, which potentially exposed the bank to the risk of breaching US sanctions on the country. Addario said the US record of the case left the court with the impression that as a result of a 2013 meeting between Meng and Witness T, an HSBC banker in Hong Kong, the bank believed Skycom had been sold by Huawei to an arms-length third-party company. Story continues But Addario said that Peter Z, another HSBC banker who managed the relationship with Huawei, fully knew that Skycom had been sold to a company called Canicula Holdings, whose accounts were still controlled by Huawei. The risk committee at the bank relied on Peter Z, said Addario, and US claims otherwise were very misleading as it underplays what [he] told the global risk committee, referring to the bank group that decided to continue working with Huawei in 2014. Meng Wanzhou, chief financial officer of Huawei Technologies, arrives at the Supreme Court in Vancouver on Monday. Photo: Bloomberg Canicula was no mere third party, it was a non-arms-length affiliate whose bank accounts were managed by Huawei, said Addario. In addition to Peter Z, plenty of other people at the bank were aware of this, he said, and it was never a secret. In HSBC emails, Skycom and Canicula were consistently referred to as Huawei accounts, Addario said. Holmes suggested that a fraud could be committed against a bank, even if its staff lower down the hierarchy understood the fraud or had information about it. Addario responded that Peter Z was far more than a gofer, he was the primary conduit of information between HSBC and Huawei. Either hes lied to the global risk committee or hes told them the truth and the requesting state has not told you the truth, Addario told Holmes, adding that either way the evidence should be in front of you. During his remarks, Addario initially identified both Peter Z and Witness T by their full names, prompting the Crown to complain; Holmes immediately imposed a publication ban on their full names. In rebuttal, Frater said there was an inappropriate purpose behind Addario seeking to admit the new affidavits, which represented an argument best made at trial and not at the extradition phase. An extradition hearing is not a trial, Frater said. To the extent that there is a weighing function, it is a limited weighing function, he added. He told Holmes: Your job is not to get bogged down in minutiae, the six-point font of emails. Addario had presented standard defence cross-examination material, which was not a matter for an extradition hearing. If they get to trial they will confront all of those witnesses Thats why we have trials, Frater said. The proposed evidence has no relevance to your function of deciding whether to commit [Meng], he told Holmes. The allegations that Meng is the victim of an abuse of process and that she was a pawn in Trumps trade war with China have hung over the extradition case since she was arrested at Vancouvers airport on December 1, 2018, throwing Chinas relations with Washington and Ottawa into disarray. The suspicions were highlighted 10 days later when Trump told the Reuters news agency he would certainly intervene in the case if it helped strike a trade deal with China. Mengs lawyers said this and other remarks by US officials showed the case was politically tainted. Canadian government lawyers, acting on behalf of US interests in the extradition case, say the entire argument is moot because Trump is no longer president. They have called the argument weak and hyperbolic. Hearings in the Vancouver extradition case are expected to continue until May 14, but appeals could drag proceedings out for years. Meng, who is Huaweis chief financial officer and the daughter of company founder Ren Zhengfei, is living under partial house arrest at a C$13 million (US$10.2 million) home she owns in Vancouver. Holmes adjourned the case until Wednesday morning. More from South China Morning Post: This article Meng Wanzhous lawyers say HSBC fully knew that Huawei controlled affiliates that did business in Iran first appeared on South China Morning Post For the latest news from the South China Morning Post download our mobile app. Copyright 2021. South Africa: eThekwini gears up to rebuild tourism industry eThekwini Municipality is taking the reins in getting its tourism sector back on track after being derailed by COVID-19 restrictions. On Wednesday, eThekwini Municipality Mayor, Mxolisi Kaunda, will host a virtual Durban Tourism Imbizo, which is expected to come up with ideas to rebuild the countrys tourism sector during COVID-19 and beyond. The imbizo follows President Cyril Ramaphosas announcement of adjusting the country to level 1 lockdown, and permitting visitors from any country, provided they follow health and safety guidelines. The tourism sector has welcomed the announcement of easing international travel restrictions under level 1, and expects to see an increase in business. Spokesperson for Kaunda, Mluleki Mntungwa, said as the tourism sector seeks to recuperate from the devastating effects of COVID-19, the imbizo will bring under one roof all tourism role-players to collectively deliberate on steering the sector towards recovery and growth in 2021. The imbizo will also reflect on the impact of COVID-19 on the sector through data from the 2020 Socio-Economic Impact Assessment Annual Report. The municipality will further use the platform to update industry players on milestones achieved to date on the city's Economic Recovery Plan, under which tourism is reflected as pillar number three, Mntungwa said. SAnews.gov.za This story has been published on: 2021-03-02. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. 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. She made the remarks on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the signing of the Vietnam-Russia strategic partnership statement (March 1). The statement is a clear confirmation of the aspirations of Vietnamese and Russian people for enhancing the bilateral ties on the basis of the time-honoured friendship and mutually beneficial cooperation between the two countries, the spokeswoman said. The signing is the result decades-long, effective collaboration between Vietnam and Russia across spheres, while demonstrating their determination to expand the relationship in the new historical context, according to the statement. Zakharova said over the past two decades, the strategic partnership has reaped impressive achievements, with high-level political dialogues and visits at the highest level by leaders of the two countries maintained. Meanwhile, cooperation in trade, economy, military and military technology, science-technology, and humanitarian collaboration have also received more momentum. She highlighted the intensified exchanges between the parliaments, Parties and localities, and new cooperation mechanisms, saying Vietnam and Russia elevated their relationship to a comprehensive strategic partnership in 2021. The solidarity and mutual support have been reflected during the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, Zakharova said. Vietnam and Russia have provided consultations and other necessary aid for each other, while sharing experience in the combat, she elaborated. Given difficulties facing the region and the world, the comprehensive strategic partnership remains an important factor of Russias foreign policy in Asia-Pacific, the spokeswoman said. On this occasion, Russias TASS news agency had an interview with Russian Ambassador to Vietnam Konstantin Vnukov who said the bilateral ties have made progress over the past two decades. Thanks to joint efforts, the two countries have reached serious agreements, even breakthrough ones, to strengthen the mutually beneficial relationship in all fields, the ambassador said. Mentioning the free trade agreement between Vietnam and the Eurasian Economic Union, he said the deal has contributed to raising Vietnam-Russia trade to US$5.7 billion in 2020 given the pandemic. He stressed effective cooperation in oil and gas, with the formation of such joint ventures as Vietsovpetro, Rusvietpetro, Gazpromviet and Vietgazprom that have benefited both sides. ST. PAUL, Minn. (March 2, 2021) Today, Explore Minnesota, the state's tourism promotion office kicked off its annual statewide conference on tourism, virtually. Governor Tim Walz and Explore Minnesota director, John Edman addressed more than 648 Minnesota tourism leaders from around the state about COVID-19's devastating impact on the industry and optimism for late 2021. According to Tourism Economics, the pandemic-related travel downturn has cost Minnesota roughly $7.1 billion in travel spending losses. Explore Minnesota shared highlights from its annual tourism industry report, including key economic indicators from 2019 and initial findings from 2020 that affirm the profound impact the COVID-19 pandemic has had on Minnesota's tourism economy, a critical sector of our state's overall economy. Preliminary estimates show that leisure and hospitality employment decreased by 73,000 (-27%), to 202,000 jobs in 2020. Hotel and lodging occupancy declined 41% statewide, more significantly in the Twin Cities metro area. Today's opening session also featured remarks from national leaders, U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar, Roger Dow, president and CEO, U.S. Travel Association, Chris Thompson, president and CEO, Brand USA, in addition to a 2020 mashup of Minnesota tourism industry success stories from spirited communities throughout the state. "The COVID-19 pandemic continues to have a devastating impact on Minnesota's tourism industry, but our tourism businesses are resilient and have found ways to help visitors enjoy the beauty of our state safely, providing much-needed respite and relaxation during this challenging year," said Governor Tim Walz. "As our state recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic, I look forward to continued partnership with Minnesota's tourism industry to ensure we come out of this pandemic stronger than ever." Explore Minnesota's free virtual conference engaged attendees with inspiring sessions about marketing, communications, destination development, and diversity, equity and inclusion, with keynote speeches from several of the nation's top tourism thought leaders including economist Anirban Basu. Conference attendees included representatives of visitors bureaus and other tourism organizations; hotels, resorts and campgrounds; and a variety of attractions, such as museums, parks, zoos, malls and historic sites. "The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted Minnesota's travel and tourism industry for years to come. Despite these challenges, our industry has persevered, showing what travel means to all of us," said John Edman, Explore Minnesota director. "I'm pleased to see so much interest and enthusiasm around this conference learning opportunity as we consider the path to tourism recovery for our communities, businesses and state's economy." For more details about the virtual Explore Minnesota Tourism Conference, including remarks and session recordings, visit exploreminnesota.com/conference. Remarks from Gov. Walz and Explore Minnesota director, John Edman can also be found here. The conference continues with an additional half day of sessions tomorrow, Wednesday, March 3 from 811:45 a.m. About Explore Minnesota As the state's tourism promotion office, Explore Minnesota works to inspire consumers and facilitate travel to and within Minnesota while pursuing an entrepreneurial approach and leveraging the state's tourism investment with increased involvement by the private sector. A council of tourism industry representatives connects Explore Minnesota with tourism businesses and organizations throughout the state. Tourism is a key sector of the state's economy, historically generating $16.6 billion in leisure and hospitality sales and employing nearly 275,000 workers in Minnesota's leisure and hospitality businesses. Visit exploreminnesota.com, and share your sights with @exploreminn on Twitter, or @exploreminnesota on Instagram and Facebook, using #OnlyinMN. Third, Illinois is notorious for carrying billions of dollars in unpaid bills. By paying our bills and reducing the current $5 billion backlog, we put cash in the pockets of Illinois service providers and vendors who are waiting to be paid and we also reduce our overall debt load. As businesses fight to stay afloat during the pandemic, we shouldnt add to their problems by making them wait and wait for the state to pay its bills. Further, when the state pays Medicaid bills which is one of the largest programs in the state budget we get matching funds from the federal government. During the pandemic, the matching rate has been temporarily enhanced for all states, meaning that Illinois can stretch every dollar even further. Zelensky signs law to disband tax police Ukraine's parliament passed a draft law on the creation of the Bureau of Economic Security on January 28, 2021. Reporting by UNIAN If you see a spelling error on our site, select it and press Ctrl+Enter ADVERTISEMENT The Governor of Zamfara State, Bello Matawalle, on Tuesday, said the abduction of the Jangebe schoolgirls was politically motivated. He said the people behind it offered money to the bandits to sabotage the negotiation by the state government for the release of the girls. The students were abducted by bandits at Government Girls Secondary School, Jangebe in Talata Mafara Local Government Area of the state. While the state was in negotiation with (the) abductors for the release of the schoolgirls, other persons offered money to the armed bandits to keep the girls in captivity, the governor said. Mr Matawalle stated this while addressing the freed Jangebe schoolgirls at the Government House in Gusau. The governor said he has relayed the information to the police and relevant security agencies to investigate the matter. He said the abduction of the schoolgirls was mysterious and politically motivated, vowing to expose those behind the abduction. Mr Matawalle added that the number of those abducted is 279 and not 317 as quoted by the police. He said all the abducted schoolgirls were freed. The actual numbers of confirmed abduction from the schools register was 279, not 317 as earlier said by the police, he highlighted. Sleepless Night Meanwhile, the governor said the abduction gave him four sleepless nights as he worked round the clock to ensure the safe return of the girls. I didnt sleep for four days. We worked hard for days to ensure the safe return of the girls to their families. (We are) using kinetic and non-kinetic approaches, and the non-kinetic is working for us. If not, we wouldnt have successfully negotiated the release of these girls, the governor said. The petitioner's lawyer submitted before the bench that his client is a government servant, and he will face suspension due to his arrest in the matter. AFP New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday asked a government servant accused of repeatedly raping a minor girl if he would marry her. Heading a three judge bench Chief Justice Sharad A. Bobde asked the lawyer appearing for the accused whether his client would marry the victim girl. We are not forcing you to marry. Let us know if you will. Otherwise you will say we are forcing you to marry her, he said, making clear the courts position. The lawyer, upon taking instructions from the accused rapist, informed the court that the accused cant marry the victim as he is already married. I wanted to marry her. But she refused. Now I cannot, as I am already married. Trial is going on, charges are yet to be framed, the accused told the court. You should have thought before seducing and raping the young girl. You knew you are a government servant, CJI Bobde told the lawyer appearing for the accused. Other judges on the bench included Justice A.S. Bopanna and Justice V. Ramasubramanian. Dismissing the petition by the accused as withdrawn, the top court in its order said However, there shall be stay of arrest of the petitioners for a period of eight weeks. Thereafter, the Trial Court will decide the question of the liberty of the petitioners. Describing it as atrocious, the Bombay high court had set-aside the trial court order granting anticipatory bail to the accused who has moved the top court against the high court order. The accused had repeatedly raped the victim when she was 16 years old and studying in 9th standard. However, when things came to light, the accuseds mother dissuaded the victim's mother from reporting the matter to police. She assured that when the victim turns 18 she will be married to the accused. But that did not happen and a complaint was filed after a gap of two years. (Bloomberg) -- Oil tumbled below $60 a barrel in New York with the OPEC+ alliance said to be set to agree to a production increase later this week. U.S. crude futures fell 0.9 percent to the lowest in more than a week on Tuesday, while its global counterpart Brent hit a two-week low. The widespread view among the producer group is that the market can absorb additional barrels, according to people familiar with the matter. That could put the alliance on track to implement the majority of the 1.5 million barrel-a-day output hike thats up for debate on Thursday. Oils underlying market structure has also weakened this week. The backwardation, an indication of tightening supplies, seen in key timespreads is shrinking. At the same time, some pockets of physical oil market strength appear to be wobbling, with observed flows of North Sea crude grades to Asia dropping in February to the lowest in four months. West Texas Intermediate for April delivery fell 89 cents to settle at $59.75 a barrel. While the Saudi surprise cut really kick-started this move higher, the unwinding of that will be more difficult for the market, said Edward Moya, senior market analyst at Oanda Corp. There is still significant risk for the short-term outlook. Crude has rallied more than 20% since the start of the year with support from a range of factors, including Saudi Arabias unilateral output cuts. The rollout of vaccines and an investor charge into commodities have also underpinned the gains. Even if OPEC and its allies restore 2.4 million barrels a day of crude output by June, global oil inventories are set to decline each month this year, according to an OPEC+ panel. India has reiterated a call for the group to increase its production from April. Prices were getting elevated enough that stabilizing the market makes sense, said Bill OGrady, executive vice president at Confluence Investment Management in St. Louis. It is a difference between what was expected and what was hoped. What you expect is that they will raise production, what you hope is that they dont. The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies must decide how much output is to be restored, with current reductions totaling just over 7 million barrels a day. The group is the largest actor in the oil market, with collective production covering more than 40% of worldwide demand. Saudi Arabia always said that its voluntary supply reduction would only last for two months. The kingdom will start to roll back its extra cut as planned in April, but is still discussing internally whether to return all of the barrels in a single month, or over a longer period, said people familiar with the deliberations. Meanwhile, oil shipments from OPECs Persian Gulf producers edged higher last month, despite the Saudi cut. Increased shipments from Kuwait and Iraq more than offset lower flows from the UAE and Saudi Arabia, vessel-tracking data monitored by Bloomberg show. In the U.S., crude inventories are expected to have declined last week, according to a Bloomberg survey. The industry-funded American Petroleum Institute will report its storage figures later Tuesday ahead of a U.S. government report on Wednesday. 2021 Bloomberg L.P. We're always interested in hearing about news in our community. Let us know what's going on! Go to form Farmers are calling on President Klaus Iohannis to mediate the conflict between them and the government over the omission of drought relief from the draft national budget, according to a statement from the Farmers' Force Association released on Tuesday, as reported by AGERPRES. "There are a few hours until Parliament's final vote on the draft version of the national budget, and the lawmakers in the majority, despite all the calls from agricultural associations, are about to deal a devastating blow to tens of thousands of Romanian farmers and endanger national agriculture in 2021, affecting the nation's food security," reads the statement. The Farmers' Force Association, on behalf of Romanian farmers, is publicly calling through the media on Klaus Iohannis, President of Romania, to heed to their request to mediate the situation as a result of the government and parliamentary majority's refusal to include drought relief the 2020 spring crops in the national budget. Farmers claim that the drought aid will not burden in any way the government deficit, insisting that it will produce economic growth and, implicitly, the money will be recovered by the Ministry of Finance by the end of this year through additional rates and fees. "We are convinced that, in these few hours left until the adoption of the budget bill in Parliament, a formula can be found by which the aid can be awarded. We want to point out that the amount necessary for the payment of drought aid is 1 billion lei (approximately 210 million euros). The amount is necessary for a large part of Romania's farmers to be able to set up their crops this year and to contribute to the economic growth that we so much want in 2021." AG's Office Finds Mount Greylock School Committee Violated Open Meeting Law BOSTON The Attorney General's Office has determined that the Mount Greylock Regional School Committee violated the Open Meeting Law in a July, 1, 2020, meeting about its plans to replace the district's superintendent. An assistant attorney general in the AGO's Division of Open Government notified the district and iBerkshires.com of the complaint's resolution via email on Monday afternoon. iBerkshires.com filed a complaint against the committee in July after it became apparent in an open session that the panel had discussed things in executive session that were beyond the stated purpose. Through its attorney, Westfield's Dupere Law Offices, the School Committee denied the allegation with a defense that addressed allegations not made in the complaint while ignoring the substance of the complaint itself. The complaint then went to the AGO for review. On Monday, the Attorney General's Office sided with iBerkshires.com. "[W]e find that the Committee violated the Open Meeting Law by discussing in executive session on July 1 certain matters that did not pertain to the Superintendent's separation agreement and thus did not fit within the parameters of Purpose 2 [for executive session]," Kerry Anne Kilcoyne wrote on behalf of the Attorney General's Office. Kilcoyne wrote that the AGO had reviewed the minutes of executive session meetings and had spoken to former Mount Greylock Superintendent Kimberley Grady and the district's counsel, Adam Dupere, in conducting its investigation. The AGO found that the committee's series of meetings in June and July of last year did include discussions of Grady's contract -- specifically a separation agreement -- but also went beyond the topic of negotiation, a legitimate point of discussion in executive session. "The Committee [on July 1] continued to discuss specific terms for reaching a separation agreement with the Superintendent but also discussed the need for an interim Superintendent and how to address questions and public comments regarding the Superintendent's departure" Kilcoyne wrote. "We find that the Committee's discussions relative to hiring an interim Superintendent and how to respond to comments and questions about the Superintendent's departure did not fit within the parameters of executive session Purpose 2, or any other executive session purpose." The Attorney General's Office only drew a conclusion that the School Committee violated the Open Meeting Law in its July 1 meeting, but the footnotes of the AGO's opinion indicate that the June 17 and June 25 meetings were equally problematic. "During the June 17 and June 25 executive session meetings, the Committee discussed specific terms for reaching a separation agreement with the Superintendent and some members commented on the Superintendent's overall performance," Kilcoyne wrote. That sentence has a footnote that reads: "We note that references to the Superintendent's professional competence that directly relate to the public body's consideration of whether to renew a contract can be appropriate under Purpose 2 [for executive session]. See District Attorney for Northern Dist. v. School Committee of Wayland, 455 Mass. 561, 568 (Mass. 2009) ("[w]hile professional competence must first be discussed in an open session, how that evaluation will factor into a contract or salary negotiation strategy may be a suitable discussion for an executive session"). The language of the Wayland decision cited in the footnote makes clear that professional competence "must first be discussed in open session." But the School Committee never discussed Grady's professional competence prior to her departure, unless you count a 2019 performance review that gave her passing grades. In fact, the School Committee ignored its contractual obligation to give Grady a 2020 performance review, and it never discussed in a public session her professional competence -- either before or after her departure and certainly not before its June 17 and 25 executive sessions. The Attorney General's Office also raised an Open Meeting Law violation not identified in the iBerkshires.com complaint against the School Committee. "Although not raised in the complaints, we note our concern with the Committee's apparent failure to convene in open session prior to entering executive session on June 3 and June 17," Kilcoyne wrote. "According to the minutes, the Committee met remotely and completed the procedural steps before convening in each executive session, including announcing the purpose for the executive sessions and taking a roll call vote. However, the public has a right to witness these procedural steps in order to observe the vote and learn the purpose for the executive session." iBerkshires.com filed a second Open Meeting Law complaint against the committee alleging that a closed-door meeting by the committee on July 24 to discuss the first complaint was not an appropriate use of executive session. The Attorney General's Office ruled in favor of the committee on that complaint. "Our office has stated in past determinations that public bodies may meet in executive session under Purpose 1 to review Open Meeting Law complaints against the body," Kilcoyne wrote. As for the July 1 violation by the Mount Greylock School Committee, only three members remain on the seven-person panel from that date: Carolyn Greene, Steven Miller and Chair Christina Conry. Adam Dupere, who attended the July 1 meeting, continues to serve as the district's counsel. Subsequent to the filing of the Open Meeting Law complaint, the School Committee released redacted versions of the minutes of the executive sessions cited in the complaint. "Because the Committee has released the July 1 executive session meeting minutes, we order no additional relief," Kilcoyne wrote. The AGO's opinion did, however, include a warning for how the School Committee should conduct itself going forward. "We order the Committee's immediate and future compliance with the Open Meeting Law, and we caution that similar future violations may be considered evidence of intent to violate the law," Kilcoyne wrote. FILE PHOTO: A health official draws a dose of the AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine manufactured by the Serum Institute of India, at Infectious Diseases Hospital in Colombo By Yew Lun Tian and Krishna N. Das BEIJING/NEW DELHI (Reuters) - China on Tuesday rejected an allegation by a cyber intelligence firm that a state-backed hacking group targeted the IT systems of two Indian coronavirus vaccine makers. Cyfirma told Reuters that hacking group APT10, known as Stone Panda, had identified gaps and vulnerabilities in the IT infrastructure and supply chain software of Bharat Biotech and the Serum Institute of India (SII), the world's largest vaccine maker. "Without showing any evidence, the relevant party made baseless speculation, distorted and concocted facts, to malign a specific party," China's foreign ministry told Reuters. "This behaviour is irresponsible and has ulterior motive. China firmly opposes it," it added in a written reply to questions about Cyfirma's allegations. Asked to respond to Beijing's comment, Cyfirma, a company which is backed by investors including Goldman Sachs, said in a statement: "We stand by our findings and research". SII declined to comment. Bharat Biotech, which said on Monday it did not comment on hacking-related matters, had no immediate comment on Tuesday. The office of the director-general of the state-run Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT) told Reuters on Monday the hacking matter had been handed to its operations director. It declined further comment. SII is making the Oxford University-AstraZeneca vaccine for many countries and will soon start bulk manufacturing Novavax shots, while Bharat Biotech plans to export its COVAXIN shot to dozens of countries including Brazil and the Philippines. China and India have both sold or gifted COVID-19 shots to many countries. India produces more than 60% of all vaccines sold in the world. Relations between the nuclear-armed neighbours soured in June when 20 Indian and four Chinese soldiers were killed in a Himalayan border confrontation. Recent talks have eased tension, and the Chinese foreign ministry said both sides were working towards safeguarding the peace in the border region. Story continues "China and India are using military diplomatic channel to communicate about how to properly manage the border situation," the foreign ministry statement said. "We hope everyone can work together to stop the spreading of fake information," it added. (Reporting by Yew Lun Tian in Beijing and Krishna N. Das in New Delhi; Editing by Alexander Smith) 6 Italians charged with attempted murder in Barcelona 'Torched police van with agent inside' (ANSA) - ROME, MAR 2 - Six Italians arrested in Barcelona Saturday during clashes with police during the latest protests in favour of Spanish rapper Pablo Hasel have been charged with attempted murder, Catalan judicial sources said Tuesday. They allegedly set fire to a police van with an agent inside, who managed to get out safely later, the authorities said. The local police, the Mossos d'Esquadra, also accuse the five young men and one young woman of belonging to a criminal group, public disorder and property damage. A Spanish woman and a French woman were arrested with them and face the same charges. Supporters of jailed Spanish rapper Hasel clashed with police and damaged property in fresh unrest in the Catalan capital Saturday night. (ANSA). Students chosen for prestigious Honors College Tuesday, March 2, 2021 2:00 PM People and Society, Academics, News Pittsburg, KS The roster has been finalized for Pittsburg State Universitys Honors College: 30 high achieving students from Arkansas, Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, and Nebraska have been chosen and will receive scholarships and other opportunities. First consideration was given to students with an ACT superscore of 28 or higher and a 3.5 unweighted GPA, with second consideration to those with an ACT superscore of 25 to 27 and a 3.5 unweighted GPA. The top 12 will receive the Presidential Scholar Award, the next 12 will receive the University Scholar Award, and the final six will receive the Crimson and Gold Scholar Award; together, theyll be part of a living-learning community and have a range of educational and community engagement experiences. Honors College Director Craig Fuchs said this was an especially challenging year for the students who applied to the program, given that so much of their high school training was influenced by the pandemic. The ACT exam dates were cancelled during the spring 2020 semester so students did not have the opportunity to take the exam as many times as they may have in the past, he said. Also, with most schools not offering a traditional educational opportunity last spring, many high school students missed out on the instruction and information they would have normally received. Despite these challenges, Fuchs said there is no question that we have another amazing group of students who are coming into our Honors College program. They have achieved at a very high level despite the challenges that COVID-19 presented and we are very excited to have them become part of our Honors College family and our Gorilla Nation, he said. The roster includes: Kansas Kassandra Burns , an elementary education major from Pittsburg High School Brady Bidnick , a construction management major from Mill Valley High School Trevor Bohnenblust , a finance major from Eudora High School Jenna Clark , a nursing major from Blue Valley West High School Kaitlin Crossland , a biology (pre-med) major from St. Marys-Colgan High School Ethan Dellasega , a chemistry major from St. Marys-Colgan High School Camryn Dillavou , a nursing major from Blue Valley Northwest High School Hannah Eckstein , a biology (pre-med) major from Frontenac High School Penner Fox , a chemistry (pharmaceutical) major from Fredonia High School Bailey Gallup , a management major from Shawnee Mission West High School Ronan Hallacy , a plastics engineering major from Wichita High School East Erin Hammeke , a biochemistry major from Ellinwood High School Grace Hite , a psychology (pre-law) major from St. Marys-Colgan High School Katherine McKain , a chemistry major from Blue Valley High School Abigail Peters , a nursing major from Mill Valley High School Christopher Saman , a biology (pre-med) major from Pittsburg High School Matthew Schmidt , a finance major from Pleasant Ridge High School Jeffrey Schremmer , a political science major from St. Marys-Colgan High School Rebekah Sheward, a biology (pre-den tistry ) major from Pittsburg High School Missouri Hope Barker , a nursing major from Southwest Missouri Reed Beyeler , a mechanical engineering major from Kearny High School Shae Gilstrap , a secondary English education major from Webb City High School Turner Fehrenbach , a biology (pre-med) major from Grace Classical Academy Trenton Hayes , a business economics major from Webb City High School Olivia Holman , a psychology major from Cassville High School Emma Lacey , a biology (pre-med) major from Carl Junction High School Blair Wilson, a nursing major from Nevada High School Nebraska John Paul Jansen, an automotive technology major from Daniel J. Gross Catholic High Schol Arkansas Nicholas Terrazas, a construction management major from Arkansas Colorado The Karnataka Secretariat has the motivational inscription, Government Work is Gods Work, but if truth be told, gods help is needed in most dealings with the government. The size of Indias government is not outlandishly large but its scope degree to which it intervenes everywhere is very wide and as a result, its effectiveness is low. Doing too many things badly leads to poor outcomes. If India is to reset for the 21st century, modernising and reforming government will be vital. One way of improving the effectiveness of the state is to ... Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Mr. Navalnys supporters praised the sanctions announced on Tuesday, although the measures fell well short of the sweeping action that the opposition leaders team had called for as he was being sentenced to two and a half years in prison. One of Mr. Navalnys top allies, Vladimir Ashurkov, sent Mr. Biden a letter in January arguing that only sanctions on top Russian decision makers, along with the business figures he said held their money, could make the regime change its behavior. The most painful sanctions, which, unfortunately, neither Europe nor the United States have yet reached, would be sanctions against oligarchs, Maria Pevchikh, another Navalny ally, posted on Twitter on Tuesday. In announcing the role of the F.S.B., or Federal Security Service, in the poisoning, American intelligence officials were confirming the reports of many news organizations, some of which traced the individual agents who tracked Mr. Navalny and attacked him with Novichok, a nerve agent that Russia has used against other dissidents. It was unclear if the United States planned to release a formal report, as it did last week when it confirmed two-year-old findings on Mr. Khashoggi, or whether it would simply summarize the key finding in the Navalny case. The sanctions are notable chiefly because they are the first Mr. Biden has taken in the six weeks since he became president. While most presidents have come into office declaring they would seek a reset of relations with Russia, Mr. Biden has done the opposite. He has warned that Mr. Putin is driving his country into an era of authoritarianism and promised to push back on human rights violations and efforts to destabilize Europe. One official told reporters on Tuesday morning that the Biden administration was not seeking to reset relations or escalate confrontations. The test may come in the next few weeks, when the administration is expected to announce its response to the SolarWinds cyberattack, in which suspected Russian hackers bore deeply into nine government agencies and more than 100 companies, stealing data and planting back doors into their computer networks. Pipeline 2 March 2021 Marriott International, Inc. today announced it has signed an agreement with PGA Hotel Management Group to introduce the first Westin all-inclusive resort to South America. Expected to welcome its first guests in September 2021, the Westin Porto de Galinhas will serve as the first Westin Hotels & Resorts-branded property in Brazil after undergoing an extensive renovation. Set on 215,000 square feet of oceanfront property, the Westin Porto de Galinhas is located on one of the most famous beaches in Northeast Brazil and only minutes from Porto de Galinhas' charming tourist center. The resort is slated to feature 128 rooms and 36 spacious suites, some of which will include private decks and jacuzzis. The property is set to include five pools treated with state-of-the-art UV technology with direct access to the beach and an exclusive luxury spa. Plans also call for adult and children's programming seven days a week and quality food and beverage offerings. Given growing demand for premium and luxury all-inclusive stays, Marriott International launched its all-inclusive platform in 2019 leveraging eight of its 30 global iconic brands. The Westin brand has been hospitality's global leader in wellness for more than a decade and is poised to introduce a new level of wellness to travelers in the destination. The all-inclusive brand extension of the iconic Westin brand will offer a nature-inspired design - remaining true to its brand promise of bringing guests closer to outdoor living. Currently, Marriott International operates 13 hotels in Brazil under the JW Marriott, Marriott Hotels, Sheraton, Renaissance, Autograph Collection, Four Points by Sheraton, Courtyard by Marriott, Residence Inn and Marriott Executive Apartments brands. The Pernambuco-based PGA group, which operates in the construction, hospitality, foreign trade and restaurant sectors, opened its first hotel, Porto de Galinhas Praia Hotel, in 2008. The company has played an important role to consolidate the touristic destination of Porto de Galinhas working in close association with the destinations official entities. PGA has been acknowledged by its philosophy of excellence that implies providing consistently levels of personalized services and innovative ways to improve the quality of customer service. 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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. Spain's Ministry of Health recommends taking one gramme of paracetamol before receiving the AstraZeneca vaccine, as well as continuing to take this analgesic every six hours if minor side effects appear after injection of the formula that the British laboratory developed in collaboration with the University of Oxford. In the latest update of the coronavirus vaccination plan in Spain, experts from the department headed by Carolina Darias have changed the protocol to introduce the use of paracetamol after verifying that there have been numerous cases in which people, during the 24 hours after the jab, suffered side effects similar to those of an intense but brief flu. In Spain the people who are reporting the most side effects are the youngest and, generally, in a better physical condition, since the AstraZeneca vaccine has been reserved for 'essential personnel' under the age of 55, such as health professionals, police, firefighters and teachers. In many cases, it is reported that these young and healthy people have had to take days off work to recover from the effects the vaccine, claim health sources. Health officials this Tuesday (2 March) acknowledged that the vaccination with the second dose of the AstraZeneca formula is causing even more episodes of general malaise, although in the vast majority of cases of a mild and temporary nature. Common mild local and systemic reactions are observed after vaccination. One gramme doses of paracetamol can be used prior to vaccination, followed by one gramme every six hours for the first 24 hours, significantly reduce local pain, low-grade fever, chills, myalgia, headache and post-vaccination discomfort without influencing the immune response", says the Ministry of Health in the fourth update of the vaccination strategy. This Tuesday, the distribution of 380,000 new doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine among the regions began. These doses join the 808,600 that the British laboratory has already delivered to Spain. A 33-year-old man has been arrested by detectives investigating the suspicious death of a 21-year-old woman at Altnagelvin Hospital in Derry on August 9, 2020. It followed an incident at an address in Gortnessy Meadows in the city on August 3. The man remains in custody at present. Detectives say they are keen to hear from anyone with information that could assist their investigation. Please call 101. A police spokesperson said there are no further details about the case. The Archdiocese of New Orleans has advised Catholics against receiving the new Johnson & Johnson coronavirus vaccine, calling the one-dose shot morally compromised. In a statement Friday, the religious organization said the new vaccine should be avoided due to its link to an abortion-derived cell line used in the vaccines development and production phases. But the available vaccines from Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna are morally acceptable, the archdiocese wrote, because only some lab testing utilized stem cells from aborted fetuses, making their connection to abortion extremely remote. We maintain that the decision to receive the COVID-19 vaccine remains one of individual conscience in consultation with ones healthcare provider, the archdiocese wrote. In doing so, we advise that if the Moderna or Pfizer vaccine is available, Catholics should choose to receive either of those vaccines rather than receive the new Johnson & Johnson vaccine because of its extensive use of abortion-derived cell lines. The Johnson & Johnson vaccine is the third COVID-19 vaccine to be authorized for emergency use in the U.S., joining the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines in the fight against the pandemic. Unlike its predecessors, the Johnson & Johnson shot only requires one dose and has an overall efficacy rate of about 66% in preventing moderate to severe coronavirus infection, McClatchy News reported. Pfizer and Moderna have a 95% efficacy rate against moderate to severe COVID-19 and require two doses separated by a few weeks. The use of stem cells from aborted fetuses for medical purposes has long been decried by the Catholic church as morally illicit. However, the Vatican seemingly OKd the use of such vaccines in December, writing: All vaccinations recognized as clinically safe and effective can be used in good conscience with the certain knowledge that the use of such vaccines does not constitute formal cooperation with the abortion from which the cells used in production of the vaccines derive. Story continues Pope Francis has argued that people have a moral obligation to get vaccinated against the virus, although he has yet to address the new Johnson & Johnson shot specifically. It is the moral choice because it is about your life but also the lives of others, he told Italys TG5 news in January. If the doctors are presenting this to you as a thing that will go well and doesnt have any special dangers, why not take it? Roll-out of the new Johnson & Johnson coronavirus vaccine is expected to begin immediately with nearly 4 million doses ready to be shipped across the U.S. Target is doubling Apples footprint in some of its stores, a move aimed at drawing more customers and boosting the big-box retailers electronics sales. Targets store at 18255 Blanco Road near Stone Oak is among 17 locations that will feature more Apple gadgets. Customers can watch demonstrations and test products in the dedicated areas, which will include displays for iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, AirPods, HomePod and Apple TV. Employees trained by Apple will be on hand to help. Target started rolling out the mini stores last month and plans to add more this fall. The retailer is also expanding the Apple line-up on its website and app. Apple products are popular with Targets guests, and this new, dedicated shopping experience offers enhanced service and expanded offerings, building on our strength as a go-to destination for electronics, said Christina Hennington, Targets executive vice president and chief growth officer. Its not the first time Target has added more space at its stores and online for outside brands. Disney started opening mini shops in some of the retailers stores in 2019. Target is also partnering with Levi Strauss & Co. and Chip and Joanna Gaines on collections. Ulta Beauty plans to set up shop-in-shop sections at more than 100 Target stores this year. Target has invested in making its stores welcoming and engaging and is eyeing areas where it can increase sales, such as electronics and especially Apple gadgets, said Neil Saunders, managing director of research firm GlobalData. While current displays at Target are perfectly acceptable, they lack the pizazz of Apples own stores and even of the Apple concepts at rivals like Best Buy, Saunders said. Moreover, Apple products can get a little lost in the wide array of gadgets that Target sells. For a popular, high-value product, this is something of a lost opportunity that the new mini shop will help remedy. Apples locations at North Star Mall and the Shops at La Cantera recently reopened after closing due to the coronavirus pandemic. Its unlikely the expanded lineup at Target will reduce foot traffic at Apples stores the companys arrangement with Best Buy hasnt curtailed visits, Saunders said. Along with selling Apple products online and in stores, Best Buy also assists with repairs. Those who want an immersive experience, to take advantage of the classes offered or to get deep knowledge will likely go to Apples own stores, Saunders said. Those who want convenience with a bit of service will probably go to Target or Best Buy. Apples products are so popular that there is really enough footfall for all retailers. Other retailers, such as Kohls, are also adding mini shops. Beauty store chain Sephora plans to open at least 850 shops inside the companys stores by 2023. The roughly 2,500-square-foot areas will include more than 100 brands. The Kohls store at 11781 Bandera Road will be among the first 200 locations with a Sephora space this fall. The partnership is a perfect illustration of the bold moves we are making at Kohls to accelerate our growth and reimagine our future for the next era of retail, said Kohl CEO Michelle Gass. These partnerships are beneficial to companies because ones strength can complement the others weakness, said Scott Benedict, director of the Center for Retailing Studies at Texas A&M University in College Station. Targets fleet of stores provides more exposure for Ulta, particularly with its private brands, and expands Targets beauty lineup, he said. The coronavirus pandemic has also diminished foot traffic at the stores of beauty chains. These arrangements appeal to companies because of their opportunity to reach a different demographic and to glean more information about customers and their product preferences, Benedict said. Businesses may also want to try something new and different. The combination bolsters each others brand and exposes each others brand to an expanded and desirable customer base, he said. In these cases, the consumer wins because now they get a couple different options in the same shopping experience. madison.iszler@express-news.net Tencent Cloud Plans First Mideast Data Center in Bahrain By Ding Yi / Mar 02, 2021 02:05 PM / World Tencents cloud computing arm has unveiled plans to launch an internet data center in the Kingdom of Bahrain this year, marking the Chinese tech giants first public cloud infrastructure in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. Tencent Cloud and the Bahrain Economic Development Board (EDB) have signed a memorandum of understanding for the project, which is a part of the kingdoms efforts to become a regional cloud computing hub, according to a joint statement issued on Monday. The memorandum of understanding will pave the way for Tencent Clouds ambition to widen the use of its services across the MENA region by using Bahrains regional position and the EDBs ties with local and regional partners, the statement said. Additionally, Tencent Cloud will explore the possibility of establishing training initiatives with the kingdoms universities and educational institutions for talent cultivation, according to the statement. The internet data centers launch is in line with Bahrains Cloud-First policy which sees cloud computing as a weapon to modernize the governments information and communication technologies, reduce the cost of deploying information technology infrastructure and increase the efficiency of citizen services. The Middle Easts cloud market is expected to grow from $2 billion in 2019 to $4.5 billion by 2024, climbing at a compound annual growth rate of 17.5% during the forecast period, according to MarketsandMarkets. Tencent Cloud operates mostly in China and the Asia Pacific region, but also has data centers in Silicon Valley, Virginia, Toronto, Moscow and Frankfurt, according to its website. Contact reporter Ding Yi (yiding@caixin.com) Related: Health-Care Big Data Provider Yidu Cloud Raises $529 Million in HK IPO Members of the Inner Wheel Club of Slidell spent many hours over the holidays making more than 300 beaded bracelets for the women of Guatemala to use in family planning. The project, which coincided with the International Inner Wheel Day on January 10, started from a presentation in which Slidell club members learned about The Grace Project that formed to support Guatemalan women too many of whom are victimized by human traffickers. One way to help was by making fertility bracelets with color-coded beads that women could use to help track their fertility cycles and, therefore, have some control over delaying pregnancy when needed. Gay DiGiovanni headed up the local project and created the kits; some members even enlisted relatives to help. International Inner Wheel is one of the largest women's service voluntary organizations in the world and is active in more than 104 countries. International Inner Wheel has three key objectives: to promote true friendship, to encourage the ideals of personal service and to foster international understanding. Ahead of Raje's planned yatra BJP's JP Nadda to arrive in Rajasthan today India oi-Ajay Joseph Raj P New Delhi, Mar 02: BJP chief JP Nadda will on Tursday arrive in Jaipur to address a state executive meeting, amid growing infighting in the party's Rajasthan unit. According to reports, BJP national general secretary and in charge for Rajasthan Arun Singh on Monday reviewed the preparations for the visit and held discussions with state president Satish Poonia. The BJP chief will address the meeting which will be attended by national office bearers from Rajasthan and state functionaries, including members of the state core committee, discipline committee, mayors and Zila pramukhs, state general secretary Bhajanlal Sharma. Inspired, humbled says Bharat Biotech after PM Modi gets vaccination The visit comes ahead of former chief minister Vasundhara Raje's planned "dharmik yatra" next week, seen as an attempt to re-assert her influence in the state unit after maintaining a low profile since the BJP's defeat in 2018 assembly polls. The Raje camp has been restive over the past few months with 20-odd MLAs expressing their resentment against the state leadership for allegedly not being allowed to raise public interest issues in the assembly. 1.28 lakh people over 60 years get 1st dose of COVID vaccine Some of the leaders considered close to Raje have already raised a demand that she be declared the chief ministerial candidate for the next assembly elections. Party leaders said that upcoming bypolls in four assembly seats, agitation against the Congress government in the state on various issues, and organisational matters were discussed in the meeting held today by Arun Singh. "The party president will arrive tomorrow for which there is huge excitement among the party workers," Singh said. Farmers' Protest: Delhi's Ghazipur border partially opens for vehicular traffic| Oneindia News "A total of five sessions will be held in the state executive meeting. The inaugural session will be held at 11 AM and Nadda will leave at 2.15 PM. Before returning to Delhi the same day, he will visit a temple in Malviya Nagar," Bhajanlal Sharma said. Seasoned industry executive Jennifer Geary appointed as General Manager, EMEA Cloud-based digital banking provider launches German subsidiary, nCino Germany GmbH LONDON, March 02, 2021to advance the digital transformation of German financial institutions. "I am extremely excited to be joining nCino at such a pivotal moment for the European financial services industry," said Jennifer Geary, General Manager, EMEA at nCino. "Having spent the majority of my career working in finance and technology, I look forward to using my experience to help financial institutions further adopt digital banking services as necessitated by the COVID-19 pandemic and evolving client preferences. nCino's culture and proven success record of delivering measurable and meaningful resultsto financial institutions across the globe were major draws for me, and I hope to make a positive and lasting impact on the industry in this role." Based in London, Geary is responsible for nCino's full European functions, spearheading business expansion across the continent and into Africa and the Middle East. Geary has more than 20 years of experience in finance, technology, risk and legal, across diverse industries from financial services to not-for-profit. Prior to nCino, she was the Chief Risk and Operations Officer at Asto UK. She also spent 13 years in Barclays plc, initially in investment banking, followed by wealth management and finally as Chief of Staff to the Group General Counsel. She holds a B.Comm from University College Dublin and a Masters in Accounting from the Michael Smurfit Graduate School of Business. Geary's appointment coincides with the launch of nCino Germany GmbH. The subsidiary was established to more locally meet the growing demands of financial institutions in Germany looking to modernise and improve their ability to innovate while reducing costs and keeping pace with changing regulations and client needs. Newly appointed in-country lead Jens Treskatiswill help scale nCino's German operations. With offices in London, Melbourne, Sydney, Toronto, Tokyo and Salt Lake City in addition to its worldwide headquarters in Wilmington, N.C., U.S.A., nCino currently works with more than 1,200 financial institutions ranging in size from large, international organisations to smaller neo and challenger banks. Built by bankers for bankers, nCino provides financial institutions with a flexible, digital, end-to-end platform that can help provide cost savings, improve portfolio quality, monitor risk, and cope with regulation demands. nCino's CEO Pierre Naude added, "The EMEA market plays an extremely important role in the future of nCino's business and Jennifer is perfectly placed to take the helm of the operation; we're very excited to have her join the team. Over the last twelve months and following our IPO in July, we have matured our position in the cloud banking market globally, and began working with financial institutions in new countries who are now experiencing the benefits of nCino. As such, we're pleased to formally commence operations in Germany while advancing our presence across the entire European continent in a commitment to support even more financial institutions through innovation, reputation and speed." About nCino nCino. MEDIA CONTACTS Claire Sandstrom, nCino Natalia Moose, nCino +1 646.520.0710 +1 910.248.4602 csandstrom@mww.com natalia.moose@ncino.com This press release contains forward-looking statements within the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements generally include actions, events, results, strategies and expectations and are often identifiable by use of the words "believes," "expects," "intends," "anticipates," "plans," "seeks," "estimates," "projects," "may," "will," "could," "might," or "continues" or similar expressions. Any forward-looking statements contained in this press release are based upon nCino's historical performance and its current plans, estimates, and expectations, and are not a representation that such plans, estimates, or expectations will be achieved. These forward-looking statements represent nCino's expectations as of the date of this press release. Subsequent events may cause these expectations to change and, except as may be required by law, nCino does not undertake any obligation to update or revise these forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are subject to known and unknown risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially. Additional risks and uncertainties that could affect nCino's business and financial results are included in reports filed by nCino with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (available on our web site at www.ncino.com or the SEC's web site at www.sec.gov). Further information on potential risks that could affect actual results will be included in other filings nCino makes with the SEC from time to time. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 2) The House of Representatives on Tuesday approved a bill that amends the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act despite contested provisions seeking to establish when a person can be presumed to have committed drug-related offenses. Voting 188-11 with nine abstentions, lawmakers passed on third and final reading House Bill 7814, aimed at strengthening the country's drug prevention and control. Those who voted against the proposed measure explained that while they agree with some of the provisions, several sections provide legal presumptions on who can be considered an importer and seller of illegal drugs, and coddler of drug operations, among others. For instance, under Section 2, a person is presumed to have imported or exported illegal drugs, "until proven otherwise," when relevant documents are found "in his/her possession or under his/her direct or indirect control." Documents include "purchase order, memorandum receipt, delivery receipt, bill of lading, or any written matter containing information related to or in connection with dangerous drugs and/or controlled precursors and essential chemicals." The section also states when a person is presumed to be a financier and protector of an importer or exporter of illegal drugs. Under Section 3, anyone spotted in the place where the sale, trading, marketing, dispensation, and delivery or distribution of drugs happen is presumed to be involved in these illegal operations "unless proven otherwise." The law goes on to enumerate presumptions in all the other criminal acts, such as the maintenance of a drug den, manufacture of drugs, and possession and use of drugs and other paraphernalia. Death is the maximum penalty stated in the bill, but capital punishment has not been reinstated in the country. Up to 12 years of imprisonment is imposed on the owner or lessor of a warehouse, building, or any property found to have been used as a clandestine laboratory or storage of illegal drugs. Tougher penalties await those found to have discovered the illegal activity but did not report to authorities. Meanwhile, owners or lessors are "presumed to have given their consent to the illegal use of the leased property if they fail to visit and inspect the leased property at least once every quarter." Penalizing on mere presumptions Lawmakers who rejected the bill said these legal presumptions are unconstitutional, violating the people's rights to presumption of innocence and due process. "House Bill No. 7814 is not simply amending the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002. It is revising the penal laws of our country," said Quezon City Rep. Jesus Bong Suntay, who heads the House Committee on Human Rights. "As a lawyer, I do not want to send the wrong message to the PDEA (Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency), to the police authorities, and the prosecution that an accused may now be convicted on mere presumptions," he added. Deputy Minority Leader and Bayan Muna Party-list Rep. Carlos Zarate likewise said the bill, once passed into law, would shift the burden of proof to the accused, who is supposed to be innocent until proven guilty. Meanwhile, Zarate expressed support for the provision that states members of the media should not be asked to sign the inventory of seized drugs. He said the practice exposes journalists to the threat of retaliation by drug suspects and to prosecution. For every yard in the Revenio collection, 7-15 bottles of plastic are diverted from the ocean. Annually, the Revenio Collection will divert an estimated equivalent of 4.6 million or approximately 37,000 pounds of discarded plastic bottles 1.37 million of those bottles will be collected in vulnerable coastline cities, where they will be intercepted before reaching the ocean. "This is our most sustainable textile collection yet," said Elaine Gerbers, Director of Materials at Herman Miller. "This new collection amplifies our commitment to creating a circular economy through the use of environmentally mindful materials. By utilizing 100% recycled content and introducing ocean-bound plastic, we are diverting plastic from the landfill and our waterways and giving them new life in these beautiful new textiles. Additionally, our new biodegradable textile reduces the environmental impact at the end of a product's life." The industry-leading 100% post-consumer biodegradable polyester can decompose in landfills and wastewater conditions at a rate similar to that of natural fibers (tested under ASTM D5511). This is achieved through the addition of a biocatalyst in the yarn extrusion process that enables anaerobic digestion in landfill and wastewater treatment conditions. In addition, these polyester fabrics can also be recycled and reused as raw materials for future generations of polyester fabrics. Herman Miller joined NextWave Plastics as a founding member in 2018 and has been working to incorporate ocean-bound plastic in its solutions. Convened by Lonely Whale, NextWave is a collaborative and open-source initiative convening leading multinational companies to develop the first global network of ocean-bound plastic supply chains. "Herman Miller was foundational to the creation of NextWave Plastics and since 2017 has been a driving force in our collective work to turn off the tap on plastic pollution," said Dune Ives, CEO of Lonely Whale. "This milestone launch is a story about perseverance and an ongoing commitment to open-source collaboration that makes a tangible impact for our ocean. Each year, over 8 million metric tons of plastic enters the ocean. If no action is taken, the amount of plastic going into the sea every year could triple in the next 20 years. Herman Miller, and all the NextWave Plastics members, are taking the action needed to keep plastic in the economy and out of the ocean." The Revenio Collection is currently made up of four textiles and will be available on Herman Miller seating and workspace solutions such as the Sayl Chair, Eames Molded Plywood Lounge and Dining Chairs, and Canvas Office Landscape. The textiles will also be offered on products from Herman Miller Group brands, Geiger and naughtone. They will be available to order starting March 1, 2021, in North America. Additional textiles with ocean-bound plastic and details around global distribution will be announced at a later date. Inside the Revenio Collection: Terra Terra is the industry's leading 100% post-consumer recycled biodegradable* polyester, and displays a curated neutral palette highlighting linearity and earth tones echoing the material's sustainable composition. Scatter With saturated colors and dark organic flecks, Scatter is a sustainable textile reminiscent of the intricacy and interest of recycled paper. Each yard of Scatter diverts nine plastic bottles from reaching our oceans. Mellow A sustainable, comfortable solution with softly tinted, tonal contrast in a cooling palette, is reflective of the material's eco-friendly origin. Each yard of Mellow diverts seven plastic bottles from reaching our oceans. Crepe A timeless favorite, Crepe, is now offered with ocean bound plastic content. The signature organic texture is created from the random nature of the weaving technique. Each yard of fabric diverts 15 plastic bottles from reaching our oceans. *Rate and extent of biodegradation into elements found in nature is 91% after 1,278 days under ASTM D5511 (Anaerobic Biodegradation of Plastic Materials Under High Solids Anaerobic Digestion Conditions). Test completed with same component (PET) polyester and biocatalyst additive. No evidence of further degradation. About Herman Miller Herman Miller is a globally recognized leader in design. Since its inception in 1905, the company's innovative, problem-solving designs and furnishings have inspired the best in people wherever they live, work, learn, heal, and play. In 2018, Herman Miller created Herman Miller Group, a purposefully selected, complementary family of brands that includes Colebrook Bosson Saunders, Design Within Reach, Geiger, HAY, Maars Living Walls, Maharam, naughtone, and Nemschoff. Guided by a shared purposedesign for the good of humankindHerman Miller Group shapes places that matter for customers while contributing to a more equitable and sustainable future for all. For more information visit www.hermanmiller.com/about-us. About NextWave Plastics NextWave Plastics is an industry-led, open-source collaboration among leading technology companies and consumer brands to develop the first global network of ocean-bound plastics supply chains. Convened by Lonely Whale, this consortium aims to keep plastic in our economy and out of the ocean and has committed to preventing 25,000 tons of plastic waste from entering the oceans by 2025 across countries most impacted by plastic pollution. Members include Dell Technologies, Bureo, CPI Card Group, Herman Miller, HP Inc, Humanscale, IKEA, Interface, Solgaard, and Trek Bicycle. In 2021, Lonely Whale (and NextWave) joined the Global Plastic Action Partnership (GPAP) , the World Economic Forum's platform for advancing progress in the fight against plastic waste and pollution, as well as transitioning governments, businesses and society towards a sustainable, circular economy for plastics. To learn more, visit www.nextwaveplastics.org, follow along on Twitter at @NxtWavePlastics, or connect on LinkedIn. Related Links hermanmiller.com/materials hermanmiller.com/purpose-and-values/ nextwaveplastics.org SOURCE Herman Miller, Inc. Related Links www.hermanmiller.com Meghan Markle could still face her father in court after a newspaper yesterday launched a bid to appeal the case she won last month. The Mail on Sundays lawyers gave the High Court 10 reasons why they say a senior judge got it wrong when he ruled in her favour. The Duchess of Sussex won her claim the newspaper breached her privacy by publishing extracts from a letter she sent her estranged father Thomas Markle. The Duchess of Sussex could still face her father in court after a newspaper yesterday launched a bid to appeal the case she won last month. They are pictured in a preview of their Oprah 'tell-all' interview Lord Justice Warby handed victory to her in a summary judgment in February without a trial being held. Now the Mail on Sunday - The Daily Mails sister newspaper - is seeking permission to appeal, saying the case cried out for the duchess to be cross-examined on oath. Meghan won her claim that the Mail on Sunday breached her privacy by publishing extracts from a letter she sent her estranged father Thomas Markle If an appeal was both granted and then won, Meghan would again face the prospect of a courtroom clash with Mr Markle, who backs the newspapers case. Among the 10 grounds of appeal put forward yesterday, it was argued Mr Markles right to give his side of the story was infringed. He has said he wanted his day in court to explain why he had decided to make parts of the letter public. It was also argued the judge had wrongly rejected a chance to hear evidence from the Palace Four. These senior royal courtiers - Jason Knauf, former communications secretary to the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, Samantha Cohen, their former private secretary, Sara Latham, their former director of communications, and Christian Jones, their former deputy communications secretary - have offered to shed light on the case by taking the witness stand at a trial. But Lord Justice Warby had disregarded the potential significance of what they had to offer, said Antony White QC. Now the Mail on Sunday the Daily Mails sister newspaper is seeking permission to appeal, saying the case cried out for the duchess to be cross-examined on oath. If an appeal was both granted and then won, Meghan would again face the prospect of a courtroom clash with Mr Markle In written submissions, he said: The judge wrongly dismissed the possibility that a trial would enable us to prove our case. He wrongly decided that no evidence of significance would emerge between now and trial, when in fact there were good reasons to believe that further evidence would come to light, including the evidence of the Palace Four, other witnesses, and documents. The publisher argues that Meghan co-operated with the book 'Finding Freedom' The judges ruling was also inconsistent with a legal precedent set in a privacy case in 2013, Mr White said. That case involved Boris Johnsons lovechild by art consultant Helen Macintyre. She wanted to keep the paternity of her daughter a secret, but the Court of Appeal ruled the public had a right to know, after hearing that she had spoken to friends about the identity of the girls father and had speculated about it in a magazine interview. Mr White said that, in the Meghan case, Lord Justice Warby had failed to take into account claims that five of her closest friends had given details of the rift with her father to US magazine People, including revealing the letter. She had also allegedly extensively collaborated with the authors of gushing royal biography Finding Freedom. Meghan, 39, handwrote the letter to Mr Markle after he failed to attend her 2018 royal wedding. She said publishing parts of it had also infringed her copyright. In his ruling last month, Lord Justice Warby concluded the duchess had a reasonable expectation that the inherently private and personal letter would remain private. There was no need for a trial, the judge said, because there is no prospect that a different judgment would be reached. But the newspapers lawyers said Meghan had yet to disclose evidence in response to key claims being made, and she had undermined or diminished the weight of her own privacy by collaborating with People magazine and with the authors of the gushing royal biography Finding Freedom. It was also argued the judge had wrongly rejected a chance to hear evidence from the Palace Four. Pictured are the Duke and Duchess of Sussex at the Commonwealth Day Service last year They said Lord Justice Warby had failed to take into account that her case had shifted after she admitted that she had authorised the Finding Freedom writers to be briefed. Mr White said: This shifting case cried out for investigation at trial through cross-examination of the [duchess]. Ian Mill QC, for Meghan, sought an order requiring a statement about the duchesss victory on the front page of the Mail on Sunday and the home page of MailOnline. The judge said he would make an order but that it would be considerably more limited than the duchess sought. Lord Justice Warby refused the paper permission to appeal his ruling, but added: The Court of Appeal of course might take a different view. The newspaper will now lodge an application directly with the Court of Appeal. Azerbaijan in cooperation with Turkey will shoot a film about the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh War, Azerbaijani Minister of Culture Anar Karimov said. "Azerbaijan liberated its lands, which were under occupation for 30 years," the minister added. "We intend, in cooperation with the film companies of fraternal Turkey, to make a film about the Nagorno-Karabakh War, about our heroic soldiers and officers who fought in this war," Trenc cited him as saying. Karimov added that Azerbaijan plans to study and use Turkey's experience in this sphere. SAN FRANCISCO, March 2, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The global antibiotics market size is expected to reach USD 57.99 billion by 2028, according to a new report by Grand View Research, Inc. It is expected to expand at a CAGR of 4.5% from 2021 to 2028. High usage of antibiotics and inappropriate prescription behavior of antibiotic drugs worldwide are the major factors anticipated to drive the market. Moreover, rising awareness among patients and healthcare professionals and increasing involvement of regulatory bodies in the R&D activities of new therapies to treat infectious diseases are expected to propel the market growth over the forecast period. Key suggestions from the report: By action mechanism, the cell wall synthesis inhibitors segment accounted for the largest share of 52.1% in 2020 and is anticipated to maintain its lead over the forecast period Based on drug class, the cephalosporin segment held the second-largest share in 2020. Pipeline candidates in cephalosporin drug class such as Fetroja (cefiderocol), cefilavancin, and ceftobiprole are anticipated to drive the segment in the forecast period The others' drug class segment is expected to grow at the fastest rate during the forecast period. The segment consists of various existing classes of antibiotics as well as some newly developed drugs, such as tetracycline, carbapenem, imidazole, peptides, lincosamides, and monoclonal antibodies Asia Pacific was the largest regional market in 2020 and is expected to witness the fastest growth in the coming years owing to the rising consumption of antibiotics and high disease prevalence North America emerged as the second-largest regional market in 2020 owing to government initiatives for the development of new therapies and better reimbursement scenario Read 120 page research report with ToC on "Antibiotics Market Size, Share & Trends Analysis Report By Drug Class (Cephalosporin, Penicillin, Fluoroquinolone, Macrolide, Carbapenem, Aminoglycoside, Sulfonamide, 7-ACA), By Action Mechanism, And Segment Forecasts, 2021 - 2028" at:https://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/antibiotic-market An increasing number of public-private collaborations, wherein funding and innovative R&D approaches are provided by public agencies to firms developing antibiotics, is expected to boost the product pipeline. For instance, in December 2018, Eisai Co., Ltd., and Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited announced an agreement with GARDP for the development of novel antibacterial compounds. Betterment in the approval process of antibiotic drugs is expected to boost the market growth over the forecast period. In February 2020, Merck received acceptance for a review of supplemental New Drug Application (sNDA) from the U.S. FDA for RECARBRIO (imipenem, cilastatin, and relebactam) intended for HABP/VABP. This submission is anticipated to reinforce the continued dedication of the company to R&D pertaining to antibiotic therapies that address unmet medical needs. Government reforms such as the Generating Antibiotics Incentives Now Act in the U.S. are projected to propel market growth in the coming years. This is further expected to facilitate the development process of advanced drugs. According to the Pew Charitable Trusts, about 30% of the outpatient oral antibiotic drug prescriptions are unnecessary and most of these prescriptions are for disease conditions against which antibiotics are not significantly effective, such as non-bacterial infections and acute respiratory conditions. The market is highly competitive and major market players have almost similar market share. Pharmaceutical players are adopting strategies, including mergers & acquisitions, collaborations, and strategic alliances, to gain a competitive advantage. The major pharmaceutical companies are collaborating for developing novel therapies to reduce the cost burden of the drug development process. In December 2019, Appili Therapeutics signed an agreement with Saptalis Pharmaceuticals for the reformulation of antibiotic metronidazole. According to the agreement, Saptalis will be responsible for manufacturing, marketing of ATI-1501 in the United States. Moreover, in October 2018, Paratek Pharmaceuticals, Inc. entered into a license agreement for the development and commercialization of Seysara (sarecyline) with Allergan. A group of key pharmaceutical players has launched AMR Action Fund worth USD 1 billion in July 2020. This fund is expected to support the research of innovative and novel antibiotics and is formed in collaboration with the European Investment Bank, the Wellcome Trust, and the World Health Organization. Due to the lack of commercial success for newly developed antimicrobial drugs, government and non-government bodies have adopted strategies to incentivize antibiotic drug R&D activities. For instance, the government in alliance with BARDA is supporting several companies to boost the R&D activities in new therapies for infectious diseases. BARDA has also been associated with pharmaceutical companies, such as GSK, Tetraphase, and Basilea Astra Zeneca. CARB-X is investing around USD 109 million to support the early-stage development of potential therapeutic candidates. Grand View Research has segmented the global antibiotics market on the basis of action mechanism, drug class, and region: Antibiotics Action Mechanism Outlook (Revenue, USD Million, 2017 - 2028) Cell Wall Synthesis Inhibitors Protein Synthesis Inhibitors DNA Synthesis Inhibitors RNA Synthesis Inhibitors Mycolic Acid Inhibitors Others Antibiotics Drug Class Outlook (Revenue, USD Million, 2017 - 2028) Cephalosporin Penicillin Fluoroquinolone Macrolide Carbapenem Aminoglycoside Sulfonamide 7-ACA Others Antibiotics Regional Outlook (Revenue, USD Million, 2017 - 2028) North America U.S Canada Europe U.K. Germany France Italy Spain Asia Pacific India China Japan Thailand South Korea Latin America Brazil Mexico Argentina Middle East & Africa & Saudi Arabia UAE South Africa List of Key Players of Antibiotics Market Merck & Co., Inc. Allergan plc (AbbVie) GlaxoSmithKline plc. Pfizer Inc. Melinta Therapeutics Basilea Pharmaceutica Ltd. Tetraphase Pharmaceuticals Paratek Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Nabriva Therapeutics plc Spero Therapeutics Find more research reports onPharmaceuticals Industry, by Grand View Research: Monoclonal Antibodies Market - The global monoclonal antibodies market accounted for USD 85.4 billion in 2015 and is expected to exhibit a growth rate of 5.7% over the forecast period. The global monoclonal antibodies market accounted for in 2015 and is expected to exhibit a growth rate of 5.7% over the forecast period. Animal Feed Additives Market - The global animal feed additives market size was USD 37.83 billion in 2019 and is projected to expand at a CAGR of 3.8% from 2020 to 2027. The global animal feed additives market size was in 2019 and is projected to expand at a CAGR of 3.8% from 2020 to 2027. Crohn's Disease Therapeutics Market - The global Crohn's disease therapeutics market size was estimated at USD 3.8 billion in 2016 and is expected to register a CAGR of 2.4% during the forecast period. 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: sales@grandviewresearch.com Web: https://www.grandviewresearch.com Follow Us: LinkedIn | Twitter Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/661327/Grand_View_Research_Logo.jpg Beshear Tours Flood Damage in Calloway County By West Kentucky Star Staff CALLOWAY COUNTY - Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear was in Calloway County Tuesday morning to assess recent flood damage after heavy downpours over the weekend dumped nearly six inches of rain in places in just a matter of hours.Beshear issued a state of emergency on Sunday due to the extent of the damage caused by major flash flooding that left vehicles, homes and businesses severely damaged, and many roads washed out. That declaration comes after Calloway County Judge Executive Kenny Imes issued a local state of emergency.Beshear surveyed flood damage from the air in a National Guard helicopter. He then spoke about what he saw during a press conference at Kyle-Oakley field."We've got a lot of structural damage here in Murray, but think about it, to our knowledge we don't have one lost life. That's people protecting people, realizing what our priorities are, and knowing that we can rebuild," Beshear said. "I'm here today to promise that the state is going to do everything it can to be a good partner in moving forward, in digging out, and in rebuilding."Beshear said Kentucky National Guard troops are on the ground across the commonwealth to help those in need, providing rescue operations as well as cleanup efforts to help the hardest hit areas get back to normal as quickly as possible."Our National Guard heroes more than 70 strong are on the ground throughout Kentucky helping in both saving lives and rescue, but also debris removal and making our roads clear again so we can move around and get to work," Beshear said. "Utility crews are also working across Kentucky to restore power."Beshear said the level of damage is likely to be sufficient to qualify for a national disaster declaration, which will mean more money from the federal government to assist those affected by the flooding."There's been coordination across all of our state cabinets that are involved to make sure that we can respond, remove red tape, and make sure we can get a full accounting of these events. We believe that they are likely to qualify for a national declaration by the President, which will provide additional funding." Beshear said.Imes thanked Calloway County residents for coming together and helping each other out, and Governor Beshear for his quick response."Everybody has pulled together as a team, and that truly I think is who I think Calloway County is. That's what I think makes Calloway County one of the greatest places on the face of this earth. Governor, I just want to tell you how much I appreciate the speed with which you're handling this and the resources you've offered." Imes said.Murray Mayor Bob Rogers said the city will continue to work to provide assistance wherever needed, and pledged to look into ways to help mitigate future problems in areas that are prone to flooding."We've tried to work with the county and offer any assistance that we can to them, and they to us. We'll continue to work together and we'll get through this," Rogers said. "Certainly this has identified to us some areas that we're gonna have to try to figure a way to stop this flooding. There's some areas that get hit every time." NEW YORK, March 2, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Q BioMed Inc. (OTCQB: QBIO), a commercial stage biotech company, announced today that it has signed an agreement for Strontium89 (Strontium Chloride Sr-89 Injection, USP) to be included on the Federal Supply Schedule ("FSS"). The agreement provides U.S. veterans and other federal government agencies access to Strontium89 for eligible patients. The final FSS contract is effective March 1, 2021 and has a five-year term. The FSS contract will extend access to Strontium89 to over nine million VA beneficiaries and others within the federal system. Veterans are at higher risk for prostate, breast, and lung cancer, the three most common cancers treated with Strontium89 if they become painfully metastatic to the bone. In fact, prostate cancer rates in the military are twice those in the general population[1] and military personnel were found to be nearly 40 percent more likely to develop breast cancer[2]. Now these patients will be able to benefit from Strontium89 treatment for their metastatic bone pain. In the Strontium89 pivotal trial, as many as 79% of patients had pain relief with Strontium89, and twice as many patients treated with Strontium89 had no pain for 3 months compared with placebo. Further, new pain sites were less frequent in patients treated with Strontium89[3] [4]. Strontium89 is administered once every 3 months via injection, and patients can be re-treated if needed. Please see Important Safety Information below. Q BioMed is preparing commercially to serve the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and Department of Defense (DoD) with activities that include a VA sales force, formulary and market access, medical education, and marketing. Efforts will begin in March 2021 and build throughout the year as the FSS agreement is translated to clinical use. "Q BioMed is very encouraged by this important milestone. This agreement further extends the commercial reach of Strontium89 to eligible adult patients suffering pain from metastatic bone cancer in the VA and other federal agencies," said Q BioMed CEO Denis Corin. "Q BioMed is committed to helping those who serve and have served their country and their families. It is our hope that, through this agreement, we can make a positive impact on the lives of veterans affected by cancer." Learn more at www.Strontium89.com. INDICATIONS AND IMPORTANT SAFETY INFORMATION: INDICATIONS AND USAGE Strontium Chloride Sr-89 Injection, USP is indicated for the relief of bone pain in patients with painful skeletal metastases. The presence of bone metastases should be confirmed prior to therapy. WARNINGS Use of Strontium-89 Chloride Injection in patients with evidence of seriously compromised bone marrow from previous therapy or disease infiltration is not recommended unless the potential benefit of the treatment outweighs its risks. Bone marrow toxicity is to be expected following the administration of Strontium-89 Chloride Injection, particularly white blood cells and platelets. The extent of toxicity is variable. It is recommended that the patient's peripheral blood cell counts be monitored at least once every other week. Typically, platelets will be depressed by about 30% compared to pre-administration levels. The nadir of platelet depression in most patients is found between 12 and 16 weeks following administration of Strontium-89 Chloride Injection. White blood cells are usually depressed to a varying extent compared to pre-administration levels. Thereafter, recovery occurs slowly, typically reaching pre-administration levels six months after treatment unless the patient's disease or additional therapy intervenes. In considering repeat administration of Strontium-89 Chloride Injection, the patient's hematologic response to the initial dose, current platelet level and other evidence of marrow depletion should be carefully evaluated. Verification of dose and patient identification is necessary prior to administration because Strontium-89 Chloride Injection delivers a relatively high dose of radioactivity. Strontium-89 Chloride Injection may cause fetal harm when administered to a pregnant woman. There are no adequate and well-controlled studies in pregnant women. If this drug is used during pregnancy, or if the patient becomes pregnant while receiving this drug, the patient should be apprised of the potential hazard to the fetus. Women of childbearing potential should be advised to avoid becoming pregnant. PRECAUTIONS Strontium-89 Chloride Injection is not indicated for use in patients with cancer not involving bone. Strontium-89 Chloride Injection should be used with caution in patients with platelet counts below 60,000 and white cell counts below 2,400. Radiopharmaceuticals should only be used by physicians who are qualified by training and experience in the safe use and handling of radionuclides and whose experience and training have been approved by the appropriate government agency authorized to license the use of radionuclides. Strontium-89 Chloride Injection, like other radioactive drugs, must be handled with care and appropriate safety measures taken to minimize radiation to clinical personnel. In view of the delayed onset of pain relief, typically 7 to 20 days post injection, administration of Strontium-89 Chloride Injection to patients with very short life expectancy is not recommended. A calcium-like flushing sensation has been observed in patients following a rapid (less than 30 second injection) administration. Special precautions, such as urinary catheterization, should be taken following administration to patients who are incontinent to minimize the risk of radioactive contamination of clothing, bed linens and the patient's environment. Strontium-89 Chloride Injection is excreted primarily by the kidneys. In patients with renal dysfunction, the possible risks of administering Strontium-89 Chloride Injection should be weighed against the possible benefits. PREGNANCY Teratogenic effects. Pregnancy Category D. See Warnings section. NURSING MOTHERS Because Strontium-89 Chloride Injection acts as a calcium analog, secretion of Strontium-89 Chloride Injection into human milk is likely. It is recommended that nursing be discontinued by mothers about to receive intravenous Strontium-89 Chloride Injection. It is not known whether this drug is excreted in human milk. PEDIATRIC USE Safety and effectiveness in children below the age of 18 years have not been established. ADVERSE REACTIONS A single case of fatal septicemia following leukopenia was reported during clinical trials. Most severe reactions of marrow toxicity can be managed by conventional means. A small number of patients have reported a transient increase in bone pain at 36 to 72 hours after injection. This is usually mild and self-limiting, and controllable with analgesics. A single patient reported chills and fever 12 hours after injection without long-term sequelae. You are encouraged to report negative side effects of prescription drugs to the FDA. Visit www.FDA.gov/medwatch or call (800) FDA-1088. Please see full Prescribing Information for Strontium-89 Chloride Injection. About Q BioMed Inc. Q BioMed Inc is a biotech acceleration and commercial stage company. Q BioMed is focused on licensing and acquiring undervalued biomedical assets in the healthcare sector. Q BioMed is dedicated to providing these target assets the strategic resources, developmental support, and expansion capital needed to ensure they meet their developmental potential, enabling them to provide products to patients in need. Please visit http://www.QBioMed.com and sign up for regular updates. Forward-Looking Statements: This press release may contain "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. Such statements include, but are not limited to, any statements relating to our growth strategy and product development programs and any other statements that are not historical facts. Forward-looking statements are based on management's current expectations and are subject to risks and uncertainties that could negatively affect our business, operating results, financial condition and stock price. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those currently anticipated are: risks related to our growth strategy; risks relating to the results of research and development activities; our ability to obtain, perform under and maintain financing and strategic agreements and relationships; uncertainties relating to preclinical and clinical testing; our dependence on third-party suppliers; our ability to attract, integrate, and retain key personnel; the early stage of products under development; our need for substantial additional funds; government regulation; patent and intellectual property matters; competition; as well as other risks described in our SEC filings. We expressly disclaim any obligation or undertaking to release publicly any updates or revisions to any forward looking statements contained herein to reflect any change in our expectations or any changes in events, conditions or circumstances on which any such statement is based, except as required by law. 1. https://zerocancer.org/get-support/zero-prostate-cancer-veterans/ 2. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2780333/pdf/nihms158630.pdf 3. STRONTIUM CHLORIDE Sr-89 INJECTION, USP THERAPEUTIC [PI]. Angleton, TX: IsoTherapeutics Group, LLC; 2020. 4. Porter AT, McEwan AJB, Powe JE, et al. Results of a randomized phase-III trial to evaluate the efficacy of strontium-89 adjuvant to local field external beam irradiation in the management of endocrine resistant metastatic prostate cancer. Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys. 1993;25(5):805-813. Q BioMed Media Contact: Denis Corin CEO Investor Relations: Keith Pinder +1(404) 995-6671 [email protected] SOURCE Q BioMed Inc. Related Links https://qbiomed.com Exactly a year after the states first confirmed coronavirus case the dawn of a crisis that eventually propelled Cuomo to national Democratic stardom the governor was silent as the fallout continued to shadow his beleaguered administration. His accusers were not quiet, however: Charlotte Bennett, a former aide who accused Cuomo of sexual harassment, issued her first public statement since outlining her claims in a New York Times article, saying that the apology and attempted explanation issued by the governor on Sunday night was woefully inadequate. These are not the actions of someone who simply feels misunderstood, Bennett wrote. They are the actions of an individual who wields his power to avoid justice. Bennett also called on other women, if they had similar stories about Cuomo, to come forward. If you choose to speak your truth, we will be standing with you, she said. I promise. Charlotte Bennett, a former aide to New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, has accused him of sexually harassing her last year Credit:Elizabeth Frantz/The New York TimesThe New York Times At the same time, the initial stages of a pending investigation into Cuomos actions were underway inside the offices of the state Attorney-General, Letitia James, who was evaluating options for an outside investigator. A lawyer for Bennett, Debra Katz, cast doubt on the governors initial suggestion, released in a statement on Saturday night, that his relationship to Bennett was of a mentor to his employee, nearly four decades his junior. He was not acting as a mentor, and his remarks were not misunderstood by Ms Bennett, said Katz, who specialises in harassment and employment discrimination and represented Christine Blasey Ford in the confirmation hearings of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh. He was abusing his power over her for sex, Katz said. This is textbook sexual harassment. Indeed, on Monday, Cuomos contrition a rarity in his decade-long tenure was rejected by some other New York Democrats, including Mayor Bill de Blasio of New York, who said the governors statement was not an apology. He seemed to be saying, Aw, I was just kidding around, de Blasio said. Sexual harassment isnt funny. Its serious and it has to be taken seriously. Loading Replay Replay video Play video Play video The political woes of Cuomo already under fire for his handling of nursing homes in the pandemic and his abrasive approach to governance deepened last week when Lindsey Boylan, a former top economic development official, posted a lengthy essay outlining a workplace environment where sexual harassment and bullying is so pervasive that it is not only condoned but expected. She described a series of uncomfortable interactions with Cuomo, including an unsolicited kiss in 2018, which the governor has strenuously denied. For Ruch, the circumstances were different, her exchange with the governor taking place at a well-attended celebration far from any official setting. In fact, the episodes highly visible nature made it all the more jarring, she suggested. She recalled Cuomo moving his hand to the small of her back exposed in an open-back dress within moments of their being introduced and shaking hands at the reception. Loading Ruch said that touch, on her bare skin, discomfited her. I promptly removed his hand with my hand, which I would have thought was a clear enough indicator that I was not wanting him to touch me, she said. Instead, Ruch said, Cuomo called her aggressive and placed his hands on her cheeks. He said, Can I kiss you? Ruch said. I felt so uncomfortable and embarrassed when really he is the one who should have been embarrassed. (A friend captured the exchange in a series of photographs taken on Ruchs mobile phone.) Shaken, Ruch said, she later had to ask a friend if Cuomos lips had made contact with her face as she pulled away. The governor had kissed her cheek, she was told. Its the act of impunity that strikes me, Ruch said. I didnt have a choice in that matter. I didnt have a choice in his physical dominance over me at that moment. And thats what infuriates me. And even with what I could do, removing his hand from my lower back, even doing that was not clear enough. Loading Unnerved and baffled, Ruch said, she posed for a photograph with Cuomo afterwards. Once the governor walked away, Ruchs friend approached her with a look of alarm. It was when my friend looked at me and said, Are you OK? with such genuine concern in her face that I realised how obviously inappropriate it was, Ruch said, not only to me but to those around me as well. In a text message a day or so later, Ruch wrote to the friend, Im so pissed, referring to the governor as this guy, with an epithet in that description. The Youth Service Re-Opens its Doors with Face-to-Face Sessions The Gibraltar Youth Service last week re-opened its doors and welcomed back their service users to the Youth Clubs for face-to-face sessions. Following recommendations from the Office of Civil Contingencies and the GHAs Public Health department, sessions are being restricted to groups of not more than 12 with the Youth Workers adjusting sessions and opening times. Members, parents and carers are kindly advised that signing up for sessions is paramount during theses unprecedented times (Please contact the Youth Workers at their respective youth clubs for further information). The Gibraltar Youth Service is also providing sessions via their online video platforms so that young people who are unable to visit the youth clubs can still have access to sessions online. For further information on the Youth Service you can visit www.youth.gi or contact Mark Zammit, Principal Youth Officer on This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or call 200 78637. Longford Chamber of Commerce is delighted to launch its membership campaign for 2021. Joining the Chamber of Commerce has never been more vital for business owners and managers as they seek to navigate their way out of lockdown and drive their business forward in 2021. Founded in 1948, Longford Chamber remains the only business representative organisation affiliated to Chamber Ireland (recognised internationally) in Co. Longford. With a newly elected President, Fiona Fenelon, and a new Chamber Council, the Chamber is the premier representative body for businesses in Longford to raise and champion their issues. The Chamber represents all types of businesses, from self-employed to multinationals, and full membership starts at just 100. To support this years launch, Chamber has produced a Membership Prospectus, highlighting the work they do, and what Chamber delivers for business. In addition, they are launching Associate Membership, costing just 75 for those who want to be involved and support the Chamber, but who may be retired or not currently active in business. Chamber plays an important role in the economic development of Longford through its membership of important committees on policing, infrastructure and economic development. Longford Chamber led the campaign for the upgrade of the N4 from Mullingar to the Leitrim border. This project is now in the route designation stage as you will know from billboards around Co Longford. Chamber also works closely with Michael Nevin and his team in the Local Enterprise Office to run events and training which provide the opportunity for business owners to upskill and use digital media to increase sales. Business owners can find it tough to keep up to date with all the relevant changes in taxation, Health & Safety Chamber through its newsletters and our social media channels keeps you up to date with the key changes you need to know about. Commenting, Chamber President Fiona Fenelon said: Business has endured its toughest 12 months since the 2008 recession. Now more than ever it is vital business issues and concerns are highlighted so that they can trade their way out of this difficult time. A strong Chamber will ensure these issues and concerns are heard at a local level, with local solutions in addition to central government supports. I would encourage all businesses to renew or join the Chamber to ensure their voice is heard. To download the prospectus and to join Longford Chamber, simply go to www.longfordchamber. ie/membership or go to our Facebook or Twitter page, or email info@longfordchamber.ie Posted Monday, March 1, 2021 1:10 pm Battle Ground once again has a citizen with formal recognition for being an exemplary member of the community, as Scott Keller was named the first Citizen of the Year by a new committee for his efforts in coordinating a food box program that has served thousands in the past several months. On Feb. 27, community members gathered at the Lewisville campus of Battle Ground Public Schools to formally honor Keller as the recipient of the 2020 Citizen of the Year award. He was honored due to his work bringing local food distribution from the USDA Farmers to Families program, which is a COVID-19-era effort to feed families in the current time of crisis. The program began in Spring 2020 as part of federal COVID-19 relief efforts, according to the USDAs website, with the department coordinating purchases from food producers of all sizes to make family-sized boxes ready to distribute to those in need of assistance, free of charge. Keller acknowledged that it felt great to receive such recognition, but he directed attention to the volunteers who have helped to make the program successful in Battle Ground. Without them, it wouldnt be possible, it would have just been an idea, Keller remarked. Im able to follow through with it, and here we are. Keller said the Battle Ground operation delivered 1,100 boxes weekly, with Saturday morning being the distribution day at the BGPS Lewisville campus. He said that there were roughly half a million plates of food-worth distributed from the site since it began operation in September. Keller said it was the only Farmers to Families distribution happening in Southwest Washington, adding the weekly operation has some 50 volunteers helping with the program. Its great to be recognized and I humbly accept it, Keller remarked. With the dissolution of the Battle Ground Chamber of Commerce in 2018, there was no longer a recognition of the Person of the Year for the city, Battle Ground Citizen of the Year Committee organizer Stefanie Adams explained. Alongside the presentation of a plaque for the individual, roses historically were planted at the citys Central Park off of Main Street in Old Town as part of festivities around the recognition. Once again, roses would be planted in an event to follow the formal presentation. Nominations for Citizen of the Year came in starting in December, Adams said, with about half being for Keller. She said the first year of organizing the program wasnt completely smooth-sailing, but with a year under the unusual circumstances of COVID-19, Citizen of the Year will be more robust in its coming iterations. We had a lot of people that were nominated that were fantastic, Adams remarked, but because 2020 was the year that it was, and because this (food box distribution) was the result of it, it was pretty clear that (Keller would be recognized.) Adams said she spearheaded reorganizing the award in order to help bolster community spirit. I wanted Battle Ground to have another point of pride, Adams remarked. Sign up for The Brief, our daily newsletter that keeps readers up to speed on the most essential Texas news. Gov. Greg Abbott will be in Lubbock on Tuesday to make what his office has described as a "statewide announcement." Abbott did not hint at what he would announce, though he will be speaking at a Mexican food restaurant in the city and will address "small business and community leaders of the Lubbock Chamber of Commerce." The event begins at 1:30 p.m. Central. We'll be streaming here it live, thanks to our partners at KXAN in Austin. CLEVELAND, Ohio Cleveland police arrested a 15-year-old boy accused of committing at least four carjackings on the citys West Side in about ten days. Police linked the teen to three carjackings late Thursday, shortly after he crashed a stolen car on Interstate 90 near Dead Mans Curve, according to a news release from the city. Police also suspect he committed several other crimes, but the news release does not elaborate. The first incident happened on Feb. 17 at a home on West 31st Street near Meyer Avenue in the citys Clark-Fulton neighborhood. The teen jumped into a womans car as it sat in the driveway. Three children ages 3 and 6 were in the car. The woman told police she took the key fob inside the home briefly and later told police she thought that would keep someone from taking the car. The teen drove away with the children still inside. He stopped a few blocks away and took the kids out of the car, put them in the street and sped away, police said. The children were uninjured, police said. On Feb. 21, the teen followed a woman into the Caribe Bake Shop on Fulton Road near Seymour Avenue, police said. He stood behind her in line, then snatched the keys from her hand, according to police. The woman chased him outside. He put the car in reverse and knocked the woman to the ground, police reports say. The woman suffered a bruise on her forehead. The next day, he jumped in a 67-year-old mans car while the car was warming up in the driveway of a home on West 32nd Street near Sackett Avenue, according to police. The man grabbed onto the car and was dragged several feet, according to police. He suffered multiple injures, and the teen sped away, police said. The teen about 6 a.m. Thursday carjacked a 40-year-old womans 2014 Lexus at gunpoint outside MetroHealth on Sackett and Scranton avenues. Officers spotted the car about 11 p.m. that night, speeding on West 28th Street near Detroit Avenue, according to police reports. The officers tried to stop the car, but he sped away. Police supervisors authorized the officers to chase the car, but the officers stopped because of unsafe conditions, according to police reports. The teen later crashed on I-90 near Dead Mans Curve, according to police. Officers scoured the area and found him hiding in nearby bushes. Officers noted the teen had the Lexus owners key fob in his pocket and a gun near where they found the teen. The teen later told a detective he was responsible for the Feb. 17 theft of a car with children inside, police said. Read more from cleveland.com: Firelands High School student arrested on suspicion of sending bomb threat, Lorain County sheriff says Euclid police officer charged with sex crimes involving juvenile Dead body found after East Cleveland fire Press Release March 2, 2021 No politics in getting access to COVID-19 vaccines, assures Bong Go Senator Christopher "Bong" Go emphasized that every Filipino will be given access to COVID-19 vaccines with consideration to the order of priority of sectors as determined by authorities and health experts. He also assured that the vaccination program is based on science and not politics, especially when it comes to providing access to those who need them. "Wala pong problema, alam niyo po itong bakunang ito ay para po ito sa lahat ng Pilipino, mapa-kritiko ka man o mahal niyo man kami," Go said during a radio interview on Sunday, February 28. The Senator guaranteed that the government treats everyone equally regardless of their political views. "Ulitin ko, mahal niyo man kami o hindi, para po ito sa Pilipino, pantay-pantay po tayo na Pilipino," Go assured. Rather than play the blame game, Go urged all government detractors to instead, work with the government so the country may immediately recover from the pandemic. "Dapat po magkaisa tayo at huwag na tayong magsisihan sa panahong ito dahil ang importante po ay malagpasan natin itong krisis na ito," Go said. Acknowledging their democratic right to dissent, Go said that it is all right to criticize the government as long as they do not spread misinformation or fake news. "Ako po, masaya na po ako kapag malagpasan natin itong krisis na ito dahil patuloy po kayong mag-criticize po muli," he said. "Ito naman po, this is democracy po. Karapatan niyo pong batikusin ang ating gobyerno, basta totoo lang po ang gagawin niyong information, totoo lang po," Go added. Go said that spreading misinformation will only bring confusion and does not help in the country's efforts against COVID-19. "Huwag kayong magpakalat ng disinformation dahil hindi po 'yan makakatulong sa ating mga kababayan," he said. The Senator, on Sunday, witnessed the arrival from China and turnover of 600,000 Sinovac vaccines in Pasay City with President Rodrigo Duterte. On board a Chinese military plane, People's Liberation Army Air Force Xian Y-20, the vaccines are donations from the People's Republic of China to the Philippines. The Senator called the vaccine donations "a testament of our friendship and cooperation between the Philippines and China during these difficult times." He added that the vaccines "will also jumpstart the vaccination program of our government." "Our government, our Team Philippines, is working very hard to secure the delivery of subsequent batches of vaccines. Sana po ay tuluy-tuloy na po ito," he added. Earlier, Go also expressed his willingness to be vaccinated together with Duterte in public once the President's doctors have recommended a vaccine suitable to his age and state of health. "Once meron na pong napili, willing kami sabay in public na magpabakuna," he assured. Risk appetite fell on Tuesday as disappointing economic data piled on top of warnings from Chinese regulators that US and European stock markets were over-priced compared to economic growth and Chinas own domestic property prices were in a bubble. Australias stock market turned a 1 per cent opening gain into a 0.4 per cent decline, closing 27.3 points lower at 6762.3 points. BHP hit an all time high of $50.81 before closing 1.9 per cent lower at $49.13. And Rio Tinto also hit new highs of $130.30 before closing 0.4 per cent lower at $127.18. Shaw and Partners investment advisor Craig Sydney said Tuesdays session was weak, but only when compared to Mondays surprisingly strong session. We are only back to where we were last Wednesday, he said. I think there is an element of profit taking and we were probably getting a bit ahead of ourselves this morning...I guess our market, unlike the US, is not so dominated by tech. Futures markets were pointing to declines on Wall Street overnight after very strong sessions on Monday. Australian housing approvals data plunged 19.4 per cent, seasonally adjusted, compared to expectations of a milder 3 per cent fall in January. Chinas financial regulator dampened risk appetite during Tuesdays session, warning about assets bubbles in US and European financial markets and property bubbles in China. Portfolio manager at Tribeca Investment Partners, Jun Bei Liu, noted this commentary would have spooked markets, even though Chinese authorities have been warning about leverage for some time. It is as we expected, but the equity market does not like the commentary, she said. Australias gross domestic product data was due out on Wednesday and was expected to be quite reasonable given what we have seen in terms of activity on the ground, she added. The consensus forecast was for quarterly growth of 2.5 per cent. Both Oil Search and Qantas dropped after going ex-dividend, while Fortescue Metals fell 4.7 per cent, and Afterpay dropped 1.7 per cent on news a major competitor was building a $US1 billion warchest. Gold miners dragged as falling bond yields eased inflation concerns. And Telstra dragged with a 1.3 per cent fall to $3.11. Commonwealth Bank, ANZ, and NAB closed higher, while Westpac declined slightly. And supermarket stocks Coles, Metcash, and Woolies outperformed the index. Just one member of George Floyds family will be permitted into the Minneapolis courtroom where the cop who pressed his knee against the late 46-year-old black mans neck for several minutes before he died will stand trial. The judge overseeing the trial of Derek Chauvin, who faces second-degree murder and manslaughter charges, made the announcement on Tuesday, according to the Floyd family attorney, Ben Crump. Cahill's decision, which also applies to Chauvin's family, stems from restrictions on indoor gatherings that have been imposed by the state due to the coronavirus pandemic. Judge Peter Cahill has announced that he will only allow ONE member of George Floyd's family to attend Derek Chauvin's criminal trial, Crump tweeted on Tuesday. After a deeply painful and emotional year, the Floyd family is understandably disappointed by this ruling. Crump then tweeted: The family is looking forward to the start of the Derek Chauvin trial as a critical milestone on the path to justice and a step toward closure in this dark chapter of their lives. He ended the tweets with the hashtag #JusticeforGeorgeFloyd. Fired police officer Derek Chavin (left) is scheduled to go to trial in Minneapolis on March 8 in the death of George Floyd (right) LaTonya Floyd, the sister of the late George Floyd, is pictured above during a funeral service in Houston on June 9 Philonise Floyd (center) and Bridgett Floyd (left), the brother and sister of the late George Floyd, walk from the Lincoln Memorial to the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial during the "Get Your Knee Off Our Necks Commitment March on the 57th anniversary of MLKs I Have a Dream speech on August 28, 2020 DailyMail.com has reached out to Chauvins attorney seeking comment. Jury selection is scheduled to begin on Monday in Chauvins trial on charges of second-degree murder and manslaughter. Opening statements are scheduled for March 29. The trial judge dismissed a third-degree murder count last October. But prosecutors asked the Minnesota Court of Appeals to reinstate the charge in light of its decision last month to uphold a third-degree murder conviction against former Minneapolis officer Mohamed Noor for the 2017 shooting death of Justine Ruszczyk Damond, an unarmed Australian woman who had called 911 to report a possible sexual assault. A three-judge panel that heard oral arguments on Monday said it would issue an expedited decision as soon as possible given the looming trial date. In anticipation of the trial, the city has already started installing a security perimeter around the Hennepin County Government Center and City Hall (pictured on February 17) Barricades are seen around City Hall in preparation for Chauvin's March 8 trial Barriers are seen stacked on Minneapolis' snow-covered streets on Wednesday Legal experts say reinstating the lesser count could increase the prosecution's odds of getting a murder conviction in what will be one of Minnesota's highest-profile trials ever. Floyd, who was black, died on May 25 after Chauvin, who was white, pressed his knee on Floyds neck while he was handcuffed and pleading that he couldnt breathe. Civil unrest after Floyd's death spiraled into violence locally. Protests spread around the world and forced a painful reckoning on race in the United States. Chauvin will stand trial alone in March due to the coronavirus pandemic while the other three former officers involved in Floyd's arrest will be tried together in the summer, according to scheduling orders filed in Hennepin County District Court. Thomas Lane, 37, J. Alexander Kueng, 26, and Tou Thao, 34, have been charged with aiding and abetting second-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter. The judge ordered that the officers be tried separately due to spacing and social distancing requirements brought on by the coronavirus pandemic. It is 'impossible to comply with COVID-19 physical restrictions' given how many lawyers and support personnel that four defendants say would be present, Cahill wrote. Derek Chauvin (pictured in court on September 11 in a court drawing in the center) is charged with murdering George Floyd, the 46-year-old African American whose death in May sparked nationwide protests DailyMail.com has sought comment from Crump and the office of Minnesota State Attorney General Keith Ellison, which is handling the case. Last month, Minneapolis leaders announced they were bolstering security measures in the city, including bringing thousands of National Guardsmen and additional police officers, closing down streets and erecting barriers, as the trial approaches. Mayor Jacob Frey said safety will be a top priority 'during this very difficult time in our city' and that the trial will likely increase trauma for many, especially as a verdict draws near. 'We believe it is on us to honor the magnitude of this moment and ensure that our families in this city feel safe,' Frey said. State Patrol Col. Matt Langer said authorities will be working to protect everyones rights to peacefully protest while also ensuring that businesses, government buildings and infrastructure are protected. Law enforcement will use quick reaction teams, bicycle rapid response officers, SWAT officers and other tactics to respond quickly to emergencies. Protests on freeways or unlawful behavior such as throwing objects, using illegal fireworks, setting fires or damaging property will not be tolerated, Langer said. Hennepin County Sheriff David Hutchinson said his deputies will ensure the courthouse is protected and the trial is not disrupted. 'We want to protect everybodys rights, but if you cause harm, if you break things, burn things, hurt people, hurt peoples livelihood, Im here to say: You will go to jail. We will arrest everybody who breaks the law,' Hutchinson said. 'We are not going to tolerate disorder.' The city started installing a security perimeter around the Hennepin County Government Center, City Hall and nearby buildings. The street and sidewalk in front of the courthouse closed on Monday. The intersection at 38th Street and Chicago Avenue, which has become a memorial to Floyd and a community gathering place, will remain closed to vehicle traffic until after the trial. Derek Chauvin, the Minneapolis police officer who was filmed pressing his knee against the neck of a 46-year-old black man, George Floyd, moments before Floyd died in police custody on May 25, will be tried separately from three other cops involved in the incident, a judge ruled Judge Peter Cahill cited the limitations of physical space during the coronavirus pandemic for his order to split the defendants' trials. The defendants are pictured above (clockwise from top left): Derek Chauvin, J. Alexander Keung, Tou Thao and Thomas Lane Frey said a law enforcement presence in the city will increase in coming weeks, and will peak during the trial, with the help of up to 2,000 National Guard members and 1,100 law enforcement officers from 12 agencies. Langer said the bulk of law enforcement resources will be present surrounding closing arguments, jury deliberations and announcement of a verdict. Erik Hansen, the citys director of Economic Policy and Development, said the city is advising business owners to consider emergency preparedness plans, add physical barriers such as boards over windows or security gates, make sure their insurance policies are up to date, and upload important records online. Authorities have no current 'actionable' intelligence suggesting that specific groups may be coming to Minneapolis to stir up trouble, said Department of Public Safety Commissioner John Harrington. He said authorities are taking what has been learned from past protests in Minneapolis, Los Angeles and Ferguson, Missouri and they believe their preparation and united approach can prevent bad things from happening and ensure peoples voices are heard. He said that last year, 'In midst of the riots, in the midst of the fires, in the midst of all that - peoples voices who really want to call out the death of George Floyd could not be heard over the vitriol and over the activity of folks that were there to destroy property and to hurt other people.' Conservative Life peer Lord Marlesford has sent an official question to the UK government over the outcomes of the internal review report on the Muslim Brotherhood, with which a specialised committee was entrusted in April 2014 upon a request from the government. Lord Marlesford, who co-chairs the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Egypt, a Country Group in the UK parliament, has called on the government of Prime Minister Boris Johnson to disclose its plans as regards publishing the report fully after releasing a summary in 2015 that did not include the most important conclusions. The member of the House of Lords added that the matter raised a question mark over the details included in the report about the Brotherhood's threat to the British national security. He also urged on Johnson's government to reveal its stance and assessment of those findings, asserting that the published findings of the review have indicated the Muslim Brotherhoods threat to the British national security and interests. Lord Marlesford asked the government about the plans it has "to undertake a further review of the muslim Brotherhood." A response from the British government about the request of disclosing the full content of the report is due by 9 March, according to the official website of the UK parliament. On 26 October, Lord Marlesford asked the government about its assessment over the appointment of Ibrahim Mounir to the role of Acting General Guide of the Muslim Brotherhood; and what assessment its has made of any threat posed by his presence to the UK national security and international relations. On 5 November, the British government said in a response to Marlesford's question saying "We do not comment on individuals, but the government keeps under review the views promoted and activities undertaken by the Muslim Brotherhood, including their associates in the UK." "Any allegations of threats to UK national security or misuse of charity funding within the UK are robustly investigated and appropriate action taken," it added. Also on 27 October, another question was tabled concerning the 2015 published report on the Brotherhood by the Conservative Lord Robathan who asked the government "what recent assessment, if any, they have made of the Muslim Brotherhood." An answer by the Government was sent stating that " the government remains committed to reviewing any groups or individuals whose actions may pose a national security threat to the UK." "These reviews are undertaken on the basis of credible evidence and we will continue to consider any new evidence on the Muslim Brotherhood's activities against the UK's legal thresholds," it added. The All-Party Parliamentary Group on Egypt aims to strengthen relations between British and Egyptian parliamentarians and to strengthen British-Egyptian ties with both chambers of the UK Parliament. The group is headed by Jonathan Lord of the Conservative Party and includes a large number of representatives from all parties and independent representatives. Samir Takla, a prominent figure in the Egyptian community in the UK, acts as the Egypt group's secretariat. Short link: .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... Copyright 2021 Albuquerque Journal SANTA FE The longtime executive director of New Mexicos teacher pension fund is stepping down to take a job at the New Hampshire retirement system. Jan Goodwin, who is also a former state tax secretary, said Monday she will continue working with the state Educational Retirement Board until the end of the current 60-day legislative session. ADVERTISEMENTSkip ................................................................ But she said the offer from the New Hampshire Retirement System, after a six-month national search, was too good to turn down. It just seemed like the right time, Goodwin told the Journal. As executive director of the Educational Retirement Board, Goodwin has pushed for legislative changes in recent years to ensure the pension funds long-term financial stability. That includes pushing for a bill during this years 60-day session that would gradually increase the rate of taxpayer-funded contributions to the fund. Employee contribution rates into the pension fund would not change. However, there have also been other legislative changes enacted in recent years, including a 2013 law that trimmed the annual cost-of-living adjustments for current workers and retirees. Those changes were upheld by the state Supreme Court after four retired educators filed a court challenge arguing the benefits represented promised property rights. Before going to work for the teacher pension fund in 2008, Goodwin was secretary of the Taxation and Revenue Department for five years after being appointed to the Cabinet position by then-Gov. Bill Richardson. She also was director of the state Board of Finance for a nearly three-year period. A top accomplishment cited by Goodwin was the ERBs commissioning of a study by the University of New Mexico Bureau of Business and Economic Research that found retired educators have, over the years, received significantly smaller benefits than state workers covered under the states other pension fund the Public Employees Retirement Association. The teacher pension fund currently has more than 61,000 active members and pays benefits to nearly 51,400 retirees. The ERB board will pick a successor to Goodwin, who makes a salary of slightly more than $183,000 a year. The board is also scheduled to hold a Tuesday meeting to appoint an interim director. ORLANDO, Fla. Back when he made his first run for president, Donald Trump attracted a crowd of camp followers hawking MAGA hats, T-shirts and bumper stickers. Not anymore. Now its a buyers market when it comes to Trump merchandise. As for the sellers, I ran into one in the exhibition hall of the hotel where the annual Conservative Political Action Conference was held over the weekend. She was standing next to a hand-drawn sign offering steep discounts on merchandise featuring the Donald. Bundle deal: Mug T-shirt and cap: $50 for all three, read one entry. Another read, Nancy Pelosi toilet paper $10: Lets make a deal! Even after I told her Im a journalist she implored me to buy something. Outside the hall, the vendors were trying to clean out their stock as well. One woman offered me a red Trump 2020 hat if I would just make a small donation. The root of Trumps problem could be found on a bumper sticker that I saw on a car in the parking garage. It read KEEP WINNING! Its what TRUMP does. Not anymore. If you go by the standard of coattails, Trump is among historys biggest losers. The presidential candidate is supposed to draw voters to those down ballot. But in many races around the country, the Republicans at the bottom actually fared better than the one at the top. At that point a man should start wondering whether hes a help or a hindrance to his party. Not Trump. He did his best to position himself as the leader of the Republican Party. Nope. The titular head of the GOP is Mitch McConnell, the Senate minority leader who said of the Jan. 6 riot in the Capital, The mob was fed lies. They were provoked by the president and other powerful people. Second in line is House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, who used a choice profanity when he tangled with Trump on the phone amid the chaos in the Capitol That didnt stop Trump from winning the straw poll that CPAC conducts every year asking attendees to name their top choice for president. But he got just 55 percent, not exactly a ringing endorsement from a crowd in lockstep with his message. The guy to watch is the second choice in the poll at 21percent, Ron DeSantis. Hes the Florida governor, of course, and the event was held in Florida. But hes popular with Republicans all over the country. I saw why on Sunday evening. The Fox network aired an interview during which DeSantis was interviewed at length by Mark Levin. My head was still hurting from listening to Trumps hectoring tone during his spiel earlier in the evening. Trump used to be the most amusing politician in America. Now hes just the most bitter. DeSantis is the complete opposite. Fox is the ideal venue for over-the-top rhetoric, but DeSantis fielded every question with answers long on facts and short on emotion, like the Harvard Law School grad he is. Another promising performance came from South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem. Like DeSantis, Noem didnt resort to lockdowns to address the COVID crisis. Like Florida, her state performed much better than states such as New Jersey and New York that did they rank No. 1 and 2 respectively in deaths per capita. South Dakota ranked eighth. Thats not great, but the crowd loved it when she touted the states low unemployment, and said, COVID didnt crush the economy. The government crushed the economy. During her speech at CPAC, South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem recounted a November incident in which George Stephanopoulos of ABC-TV asked New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo if he could give her tips on how to curb the COVID pandemic. It later came out that the Cuomo administration covered up thousands of nursing-home deaths. Noem, a former South Dakota Snow Queen, has been compared to former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, the 2008 GOP vice-presidential candidate. But I suspect that in 2024 she would fare better in that slot than Palin did in 2008. As to who will be at the top, I dont think it will be Trump. I suspect the real reason he lost the election was that Americans simply got tired of his tone and his tweets. As for voter fraud, hes absolutely right when he argues that the Democrats changed the rules to permit massive mail voting last year during the pandemic. But thats politics. What hes really saying is that he was outsmarted. Theres no reason to believe the 74-year-old Trump will be any smarter four years from now. Dont tell him that though. With your help, we will take back the House, we will win the Senate and then a Republican president will make a triumphant return to the White House, Trump told the CPAC crowd. And I wonder who that will be. I wonder who that will be. Who, who, who will that be, I wonder? So do I. But I suspect the winner wont be a loser. Myanmar police opened fire on Tuesday to disperse crowds protesting against a military coup as foreign ministers of neighbouring countries prepared to hold talks with the junta in a bid to find a peaceful way out of the crisis. The talks, to be held in a video call, will come two days after the bloodiest day of unrest since the military overthrew Aung San Suu Kyi's elected government on Feb. 1, unleashing anger and mass street protests across the country. Hundreds of protesters, many wearing hard hats and clutching makeshift shields, had gathered behind barricades in different parts of the main city of Yangon to chant slogans against military rule. ' If we're oppressed, there will be an explosion. If we're hit, we'll hit back,' demonstrators chanted before police moved in firing stun grenades to scatter crowds in four different parts of the city. There were no reports of injuries in Yangon but four people were wounded in the northwestern town of Kale, where police fired live ammunition to disperse a crowd after protesters threw things at advancing police, a witnesses said. "They were acting like they were in a war zone," a teacher at the protest said of the police. "I feel very angry and sad at the same time." The teacher, who declined to be identified, said as well as the four wounded by live ammunition, several people were hurt by rubber bullets. Hospitals and police in the area could not be reached for comment. Military spokesmen did not answer telephone calls. At least 21 protesters have been killed since the turmoil began. The army has said one policemen was killed. The coup halted Myanmar's tentative steps towards democracy after nearly 50 years of military rule, and has drawn condemnation and sanctions from the United States and other Western countries, and growing concern among its neighbours. Singapore Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan said his counterparts in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) would be frank when they meet by video call on Tuesday and will tell a representative of Myanmar's junta that they are appalled by the violence. In a television interview late on Monday, Balakrishnan said ASEAN would encourage dialogue between Suu Kyi and the generals. ' They need to talk, and we need to help bring them together,' he said. ASEAN groups Myanmar, Singapore, the Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Malaysia, Brunei and Vietnam. NOT BLANKET APPROVAL The military justified the coup saying its complaints of fraud in a November election won by Suu Kyi's party were ignored. The election commission said the vote was fair. Junta leader Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, in remarks read on state television by a newscaster, said protest leaders and "instigators" would be punished and threatened action against civil servants refusing to work. Min Aung Hlaing has pledged to hold new elections and hand power to the winner but has given no time frame. ASEAN's effort to engage with Myanmar's military has been criticised by supporters of democracy, with a committee of ousted Myanmar lawmakers declaring the junta a "terrorist" group and saying ASEAN's engagement would give it legitimacy. Sa Sa, the committee's anointed envoy to the United Nations, said ASEAN should have no dealings with "this illegitimate military-led regime". Philippine Foreign Minister Teodoro Locsin indicated on Twitter that ASEAN would be firm with Myanmar and said the bloc's policy of non-interference in each other's affairs was ' not a blanket approval or tacit consent for wrong to be done' . Suu Kyi, 75, appeared at a court hearing via video conferencing on Monday and looked in good health, one of her lawyers said. Two more charges were added to those filed against her after the coup, the lawyer said. The Nobel Peace laureate has not been seen in public since the coup. Hundreds of people have been arrested, according to activists, among them six journalists, one of whom works for the Associated Press. Tin Zar Oo, a lawyer for the AP journalist, said the reporter had been charged under a penal code section making it a crime to publish material that could cause a soldier or other service member ' to mutiny or otherwise disregard or fail in his duty' . Another reporter has been arrested in the coastal town of Myeik, his agency, the Democratic Voice of Burma, said. The United States warned Myanmar's military that it would take more action if security forces kill unarmed people and attack journalists and activists, which State Department spokesman Ned Price called 'abhorrent violence' . Short link: Jammu, March 2 : The Congress workers on Tuesday staged a protest against senior leader and former Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad in Jammu for praising Prime Minister Narindra Modi. Holding party flags in their hands they raised slogans against Azad and burnt his effigy. They said his praise for PM Modi is not helping the Congress party. The protesting party workers said the Congress has given Azad the best of the positions but when it was his turn to help in reviving the party, he has started taking the BJP line. "He is weakening the Congress party by praising Narindra Modi who took away the rights of J&K and its statehood," party leader Shahnawaz Choudhary said. "We demand that Sonia Gandhi sack him." On Sunday, Azad had praised Prime Minister Narindra Modi at a function of the Gujjar Desh Charitable Trust in Jammu. While addressing members of the Gujjar community in the presence of some J&K Congress leaders, Azad said Prime Minister Modi doesn't hide about his humble background and the fact that he comes from a village. He had said he may have political differences with Prime Minister Modi but he appreciates that he doesn't hide his true self. He said those leaders who hide their true self are living in an artificial world. -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text PRISTINA -- The European Unions special envoy for talks between Serbia and Kosovo, Miroslav Lajcak, says there is a clear understanding among Kosovo's leaders of the importance of EU-mediated normalization talks with neighboring Serbia. Lajcak made the comments at a press conference in Pristina on March 2, two weeks after the leftist-nationalist Vetevendosje (Self-Determination) party won parliamentary elections. Speaking after talks with acting President Vjosa Osmani, Lajcak said he believed a comprehensive agreement between Kosovo and Serbia could be reached within several months but that it was up to the two countries to decide how quickly they want to proceed. Osmani said that the upcoming administration will be ready to resume dialogue with Belgrade but she warned that Pristina can by no means accept that the issue of borders, sovereignty, constitutional regulation of Kosovo become part of the negotiations." The EU envoy kicked off his three-day visit to Kosovos capital on March 1, meeting with Kosovar Prime Minister-designate Albin Kurti, who said that dialogue with Belgrade is important but that the resumption of talks wont be his top priority, according to local media. Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in 2008, a decade after a 1998-1999 war between ethnic Albanian rebels and Serb forces. The war ended after a 78-day NATO air campaign drove Serb troops out and an international peacekeeping force moved in. Most Western nations have recognized Kosovo, but Serbia and its ally Russia do not. Kosovo-Serbia relations have remained tense despite the ongoing EU-led negotiations on normalizing ties. Dialogue between the two neighbors have stalled since a White House summit and talks in Brussels in September 2020. Osmani suggested that the final goal of the dialogue should be membership for both Kosovo and Serbia. "It is not a question of what Kosovo can give again, but how the EU can give the benefit to Kosovo and Serbia for EU membership," he said. Lajcak also met on March 1 with the U.S. ambassador to Pristina, Philip Kosnett, who reaffirmed U.S. support for a collaborative, EU-led dialogue process. Our goal: a comprehensive settlement and deeper Euro-Atlantic integration that benefits all Kosovo and Serbian citizens, the U.S. ambassador tweeted after the talks. During his March 2 press conference, Lajcak said cooperation between the EU and the new U.S. administration of President Joe Biden in the normalization process was as close as it could be. We are working very closely on a daily basis with our U.S. partners and friends and we share the same goal, which is a European future, for Kosovo and for the entire region of the Western Balkans, he said. The EU envoy will head to Belgrade after departing from Pristina. Chairman of APIC and Siniora Tarek Aggad said that this acquisition is a unique addition to Siniora and came as part of the company's growth strategy to increase its market share on a regional and global scale by expanding its production lines and targeting new markets. Aggad confirmed that the Turkish market will be the cornerstone for Siniora's products to reach European and global markets. Siniora CEO Majdi Al-Sharif stated that Siniora will work on upgrading its current production lines of Trakya ET Co. (Polonez). Al Sharif confirmed that this addition to Siniora's portfolio will contribute to enhancing its revenues and profits as well as strengthen its financial position and expected to boost Siniora's revenues by around USD 40 million in 2021. Siniora is a public shareholding company listed on the Amman Stock Exchange (ASE:SNRA). www.siniorafood.com. For more information on Polonez: http://polonez.com.tr SOURCE Siniora Food Industries Related Links http://www.siniorafood.com Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - March 1, 2021) - Crown Mining Corp. (TSXV: CWM)( FSE: C73) ("Crown" or the "Company") would like to report that on February 24th, U.S. President Joe Biden signed an executive order aimed at creating more resilient and secure supply chains for critical and essential goods. The order launches a comprehensive review of U.S. supply chains and directs federal departments and agencies to identify ways to secure U.S. supply chains against a wide range of risks and vulnerabilities. "This is about making sure the United States can meet every challenge we face in this new era - pandemics, but also in defense, cybersecurity, climate change, and so much more," President Biden said. "And the best way to do that is by protecting and sharpening America's competitive edge by investing here at home." The order directs an immediate 100-day review across federal agencies to address vulnerabilities in the supply chains of four key products, which includes critical minerals and large capacity batteries for use in electric vehicles. Crown is developing the Moonlight-Superior Project, a historically operated copper mine in California, located approximately 125 miles from Tesla's Gigafactory outside Reno, Nevada. President Biden's executive order highlights the important role that the Company can play in ensuring the United States has a secure supply of one of the key metals to achieve its transition to a low carbon economy. Copper is a critical material for everything from renewable power generation to electric vehicles. As such, it will be vital that the U.S. has a strong and viable domestic source of copper supply. Crown is focused on advancing its Moonlight-Superior Project towards the production stage. The Company hopes to support the United States' shift to a green future by providing copper to the myriad of industries involved in the green energy transition. CEO Steve Dunn commented, "The entire Crown team is working hard to prepare for this year's drilling program as we advance the project back into production.We are excited about the opportunity to be an integral supplier of copper metal to the U.S. domestic market." About Crown Mining Corp. Crown controls approximately 13 square miles of patented and unpatented federal mining claims in the Lights Creek Copper District in Plumas County, NE California; essentially, the entire District. The District contains substantial copper (silver) sulfide and copper oxide resources in three deposits - Moonlight, Superior and Engels, as well as several partially tested and untested exploration targets. The Superior and Engels Mines operated from about 1915 to 1930 producing over 161 million pounds of copper from over 4 million tons of rock containing 2.2% copper with silver and gold credits. The Moonlight Deposit was discovered and drilled by Placer-Amex during the 1960s. Details of the resources on Crown's property and the parameters used to calculate them can be found in the "Technical Report and Preliminary Economic Assessment for the Moonlight Deposit, Moonlight-Superior Copper Project, California, USA" dated April 12, 2018 on both the company's website at www.crownminingcorp.com or on www.sedar.com under the Crown Mining Corp profile. Mr. George Cole is the Qualified Person pursuant to NI 43-101 responsible for the technical information contained in this news release, and he has reviewed and approved this news release. For Further Information Contact: Mr. Stephen Dunn, President, CEO and Director, Crown Mining Corporation (416) 361-2827 or email info@crownminingcorp.com. Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this press release. This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of applicable Canadian and U.S. securities laws and regulations, including statements regarding the future activities of the Company. Forward-looking statements reflect the current beliefs and expectations of management and are identified by the use of words including "will", "hopes", "anticipates", "expected to", "plans", "planned" and other similar words. Actual results may differ significantly. The achievement of the results expressed in forward-looking statements is subject to a number of risks, including those described in the Company's management discussion and analysis as filed with the Canadian securities regulatory authorities which are available at www.sedar.com. Investors are cautioned not to place undue reliance upon forward-looking statements. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/75777 Ramada by Wyndham Downtown Dubai is offering 2+1 dining deals for ladies in its Kenza Restaurant in celebration of Womens Month. Throughout the month of March, women can avail the 2+1 offer when dining at the restaurant. This includes Friday lunch buffet priced at AED149 ($40.5) per person, everyday breakfast buffet priced at AED75 per person, and all a la carte orders. Ramada Downtown Dubai will also give away Rayya Wellness spa vouchers worth AED100, as an added treat for the all the ladies who deserve a day of relaxation and rejuvenation. For Mothers Day which is celebrated every 21st March, all moms will receive special gifts when they dine at Kenza on this day, plus a chance to win a free one-night stay at the property. 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. 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 Chilean governments failure to assertively warn women about the flaws in the pill packs was a stunning dereliction that resulted in at least 140 unintended pregnancies, reproductive rights activists say. Weve never seen such a systemic failure, that lasted as long as the case in Chile, with such severe consequences, said Paula Avila-Guillen, the executive director of Womens Equality Center, which monitors reproductive rights in Latin America. Ms. Riffo, a cashier at a sushi restaurant in the city of Chillan, had heard nothing about the faulty pills. She lives with her mother, who has cancer; she had been with her partner for only six months. The thought of bringing a child into her life left her in a panic. I dont have a career, I dont have anything stable, I dont have a home where he can be safe, she said of the baby. But without a legal option abortion is allowed in Chile in limited cases including rape or a danger to the mothers life she will have the child, she said. The case of the flawed pill packs, exacerbated by the Chilean governments perfunctory response, has brought the debate about womens reproductive rights and access to abortion into sharp focus in a politically decisive year, when Chile will overhaul its political establishment. A Russian theater and film actress has been banned from entering Ukraine for illegal visits to Crimea, spokesperson for Ukraine's State Border Guard Service Andriy Demchenko has told Ukrinform. According to him, the Russian citizen arrived at Kyiv's Boryspil Airport from Minsk on the evening of March 1. Border guards found out during passport control that the actress had been to the temporarily occupied Crimea, violating the laws of Ukraine. It was established that she is a theater and film actress, an honored artist of Russia. The Russian said that she allegedly made a private visit to the Ukrainian peninsula in the spring of 2020 and got there by plane. At the same time, according to Demchenko, other visits to the Russian-occupied territory of Ukraine were also recorded. According to the actress, she planned to take part in filming in Ukraine. For violating Ukrainian law, the Russian was fined and banned from visiting Ukraine for three years. A source in law enforcement agencies told Ukrinform that the issue concerned actress Roza Khayrullina. op State prosecutors in Manhattan who are investigating former President Donald J. Trump and his family business are sharpening their focus on the companys long-serving chief financial officer, asking witnesses questions about his dealings at the company, according to people with knowledge of the matter. The increased focus on the executive, Allen H. Weisselberg, could step up pressure on him to cooperate with the investigation if the prosecutors unearth evidence of wrongdoing on his part. He has served as the Trump Organizations financial gatekeeper for more than two decades and could be a vital source of information for the government about the inner workings of the company. In recent weeks, the prosecutors working for the Manhattan district attorney, Cyrus R. Vance Jr., have been interviewing witnesses who know Mr. Weisselberg and have asked at least one witness about Mr. Weisselbergs sons, Barry and Jack Weisselberg, according to two of the people with knowledge of the matter. Barry Weisselberg has been the property manager of Trump Wollman Rink in Central Park, and Jack works at Ladder Capital, one of Mr. Trumps biggest lenders. 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. China on Monday refuted reports that it had initiated cyber attacks against India's power grid resulting in massive power outages and also claimed that it is 'firmly opposed' to such irresponsible and ill-intentioned practices. Recorded Future, a Massachusetts-based company that studies the use of the Internet by state actors, in its recent report details the campaign conducted by a China-linked threat activity group RedEcho targeting the Indian power sector. 'China a staunch defender of cybersecurity' This has raised suspicion whether last year's massive power outage in Mumbai was a result of the online intrusion. The activity was identified through a combination of large-scale automated network traffic analytics and expert analysis, PTI reported. Speaking at a press briefing, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Wang Wenbin said, "As a staunch defender of cybersecurity, China firmly opposes and cracks down on all forms of cyber attacks. Speculation and fabrication have no role to play on the issue of cyber attacks, as it is very difficult to trace the origin of a cyber attack. It is highly irresponsible to accuse a particular party when there is no sufficient evidence around. China is firmly opposed to such irresponsible and ill-intentioned practice." In New Delhi, the Ministry of Power on Monday said there is no impact on operations of Power System Operation Corporation (POSOCO) due to any malware attack and that prompt actions are taken on advisories issued against such threats. Responding to the findings of the study, the ministry said, "There is no impact on any of the functionalities carried out by POSOCO due to the referred threat. No data breach/ data loss has been detected due to these incidents." READ | SAD's Manjinder Singh Sirsa backs Deep Sidhu; says 'will ensure he is out of jail soon' READ | Mamata praises Tejashwi after solidifying TMC-RJD alliance; sends 'message' to BJP It further said, "Prompt actions are being taken by the CISOs (chief information security officers) at all these control centres under operation by POSOCO for any incident/advisory received from various agencies like CERT-in, NCIIPC, CERT-Trans etc." The CERT-in (Indian Computer Emergency Response Team) is the nodal agency to deal with cyber security threats like hacking and phishing. However, the ministry did not mention the Mumbai outage in its statement. On October 12, a grid failure in Mumbai resulted in massive power outages, stopping trains on tracks, hampering those working from home amidst the COVID-19 pandemic and hitting the economic activity hard. The New York Times, in a report, said that the discovery raises the question about whether the Mumbai outage was meant as a message from Beijing about what might happen if India pushed its border claims too vigorously. The US company's report came as the armies of the two countries began disengagement of troops locked in over an eight-month-long standoff in eastern Ladakh. READ | Bharat Biotech responds as PM Modi takes its Covaxin Covid vaccine; 'will inspire masses' READ | Dr. Harsh Vardhan slams politicisation of PM's vaccine jab; lauds him for waiting his turn (With agency inputs) For full access, please log in, register your subscription or subscribe. Try for 99 a month for two months, cancel or pause anytime. The Tokyo Olympics organizing committee on Tuesday said it would appoint 12 new female members to increase women's representation on the board to 40%. Prior to the meeting, Seiko Hashimoto, president of the Tokyo organizing committee, told media that the board's decision was "important to restore people's trust." She took over the role from former Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori on Feb. 18 after he made sexist remarks that sparked domestic and international criticism. The total number of board members will rise to 45 from the current 34 with the addition of the 12 new female members. There are just seven women on the board now, representing only 20% of the current committee size. These changes will be officially approved on Wednesday. Go Nakamura, Stringer / TNS University of Houston will begin distributing a limited supply of a COVID-19 vaccine to students, faculty and staff who qualify this week. Suzy Harrington, UHs assistant vice president for student affairs, said in an email Monday morning that the Houston university received a limited supply of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine through the Texas Department of State Health Services. The UH Student Health Center, which has partnered with Walgreens, will distribute the doses to qualifying enrolled students and UH employees at an on-campus mass vaccination clinic on Wednesday, March 3 and Thursday, March 4. How and when to use 2-DG anti-Covid drug? DRDO issues guidelines Union health minister Harsh Vardhan, wife receive COVID-19 vaccine in Delhi India oi-Ajay Joseph Raj P New Delhi, Mar 02: Union health minister Harsh Vardhan and his wife Smt Nutan on Tuesday took the novel coronavirus vaccine shot. The health minister took the vaccine shot at Delhi Heart and Lung Institute. An earlier release from the health ministry had said, "Dr. Harsh Vardhan, Union Minister of Health & Family Welfare, along with his wife Smt Nutan will take the first dose of Covid-19 vaccine. At: Delhi Heart and Lung Institute. At: 11 am. On: March 2, 2021 (Tuesday)..." MP Budget 2021-22 to be presented by CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan's government today On Monday, India began the next phase of COVID-19 vaccination for those above 60 years of age, and people between 45 and 59 years of age with specific comorbidities. For this phase, that is likely to cover close to 270 million beneficiaries, self-registration has been open from 9am, After registration, one will have to book an appointment for vaccination. There is also an option for booking a walk-in appointment after registration. The registration will take place on the upgraded Co-Win website, and will be open till 3pm for registration of same-day appointments. Ahead of Raje's planned yatra BJP's JP Nadda to arrive in Rajasthan today According to the health ministry's Co-Win guidelines issued on Sunday, one person will be able to register only three more eligible people using his/her mobile phone number. Farmers' Protest: Delhi's Ghazipur border partially opens for vehicular traffic| Oneindia News Those with specified comorbidities will have to produce a medical certificate attested by a registered medical practitioner at the time of vaccination at the COVID-19 vaccination centre. According to the Union health ministry, as many as 14,301,266 doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been administered in the country so far. 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. [March 02, 2021] Conviva Grows Florida Footprint by Acquiring Network of 12 Health Centers and 49 Affiliate Practices Conviva, a leading provider of senior-focused primary health care in Florida and Texas, has announced the acquisition of a South Florida primary care physician network that will add 12 wholly owned health care centers to its existing network. Conviva, a wholly owned subsidiary of Humana Inc. (NYSE: HUM), is acquiring substantially all of the assets of Health Promoters Limited Liability Company; Jupiter Medical Group, Inc.; Primary Care Associates, Inc.; and Richard M. Hays, M.D., P.A., all of which were under the beneficial ownership of Rajendra Bansal, M.D. The four organizations will provide Conviva with 12 new centers and over 200 new Conviva team members, including more than 40 physicians, physician assistants and advanced practice registered nurses. Conviva will also add 49 affiliate practices to its network through downstream participation arrangements. This acquisition brings the total of payer-agnostic senior-focused primary care centers Humana owns to more than 170 - including its Conviva, Partners in Primary Care, and Family Physicians Group facilities across the U.S. "We're excited to grow Conviva's presence in South Florida - especially as we'll now serve more seniors who live in Treasure Coast region - and to welcome the exceptional clinicians working for Jupiter Medical Group, Primary Care Associates and Richard M. Hays, M.D., P.A., as well as our new independent physician partnerships through Health Promoters," said Kevin Meriwether, Care Delivery Organization Divisional Leader for Florida, including Conviva Operations. "Under Dr. Bansal's leadership, his network has earned a reputation for providing high-quality care for seniors throughout the region, and we look forward to continuing that tradition." The acquisition of Dr. Bansal's network further advances Conviva's strategy of managing seniors' health holistically through value-based care. This approach places high value on clinical leadership and the critical role physicians play in achieving improved health outcomes for patients and reducing medical expenses. Centers involved in the acquisition are located in the Florida communities of Ft. Pierce, Jupiter, Lake Park, Port St. Lucie, Royal Palm Beach, Stuart and Wllington. Meriwether said patients within the acquisition should know that the doctors they are used to seeing, and the care they are used to receiving, will remain in place. "In the near term, very little will change about the patient experience," he said. "The patients will still see the same care team and receive the same great care they have come to expect." Patients of Dr. Bansal's practice can expect to receive more information in the coming days. Dr. Bansal said he has been pleased with what he has learned about Conviva's commitment to quality care and helping seniors improve their health outcomes. "I am so proud of what we have built in our centers and practices where our team does such an outstanding job, every day, of looking after the health of the senior population we serve," Dr. Bansal said. "It is clear to me that Conviva also has a great approach to serving this population, and I want all of our patients to know that they will be in good hands in the years ahead. Conviva takes the time to treat their patients right." Additional terms of the transaction were not disclosed. About Conviva Conviva continues to reinvent excellence in healthcare by embracing meaningful patient relationships focused on producing optimal health outcomes. With more than 90 convenient locations throughout Texas (Corpus Christi, El Paso and San Antonio) and Florida (Broward County, Daytona Beach, Jacksonville, Miami-Dade County, Palm Beach County and Tampa/Gulf Coast), the vast community of Conviva Care Centers is comprised of a multi-disciplinary team of more than 300 primary care physicians and over 800 affiliated specialists that provide a wide range of vital healthcare services that patients require daily, including the advantages of senior care activity centers and 24/7 on-call providers. The success of Conviva is measured by its patients' clinical outcomes and long-term health benefits. To learn more, visit ConvivaCareCenters.com, or call (833) CONVIVA. About Humana Humana Inc. is committed to helping our millions of medical and specialty members achieve their best health. Our successful history in care delivery and health plan administration is helping us create a new kind of integrated care with the power to improve health and well-being and lower costs. Our efforts are leading to a better quality of life for people with Medicare, families, individuals, military service personnel, and communities at large. To accomplish that, we support physicians and other health care professionals as they work to deliver the right care in the right place for their patients, our members. Our range of clinical capabilities, resources and tools - such as in-home care, behavioral health, pharmacy services, data analytics and wellness solutions - combine to produce a simplified experience that makes health care easier to navigate and more effective. More information regarding Humana is available to investors via the Investor Relations page of the company's web site at www.humana.com, including copies of: Annual reports to stockholders Securities and Exchange Commission filings Most recent investor conference presentations Quarterly earnings news releases and conference calls Calendar of events Corporate Governance information View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210302005196/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. BAYTOWN The chairman of a committee tasked with researching whether Goose Creek CISD should rename Robert E. Lee High School told board members Monday night that they should not take any actions to rename the campus. Thomas Parent, chair of the Facility Names Committee, said the committee's report found a majority of community members, staff and current students responded to surveys saying they did not want the school renamed. About 72 percent of 2,327 community members surveyed said they did not want the district to change the names of any school facilities, including Robert E Lee High School, and 52 percent of 3,421 high school students polled said the same. Our committee understood throughout the process that we are not a decision-making body, Parent said. We only make recommendations. The debate over the schools name has exposed a massive rift in Baytown since trustees originally discussed potentially renaming the school at a Sept. 9 meeting. Before that meeting, proponents of keeping the name filed grievances against Trustees Shae Cottar and Agustin Laredo III after they voiced support for changing the name on social media and in media interviews. The complaints against the two were dismissed by their fellow trustees. Ultimately, the board voted 4-3 against changing the name at the time but did vote to create a committee to study the issue. School systems across Texas and the country have debated whether to change schools named for people associated with the Confederacy and segregation. Those debates escalated in Texas in the wake of George Floyds death in May 2020. Tyler and Midland ISDs voted last year to change the names of their Robert E. Lee high schools, and about a dozen other districts in Texas scrubbed the Confederate generals name from school buildings last year. On HoustonChronicle.com: Harris County Commissioners Court votes to rename Robert E. Lee Road Goose Creek CISDs board was not scheduled to vote on whether to change the name at Mondays meeting, but more than a dozen people sat in the districts central administration building to see the presentation themselves. Some said the committee to study changing the name was flawed from the start. The public was not allowed to attend the committees meetings, and the district refused to release a list of its members until the Texas Attorney Generals Office ruled they must. A Chronicle review of audio recordings from the meetings indicate they have been heavily edited. The lack of transparency and accountability is a disservice of all, said Susan Cummings during public comments, asking that the board toss the committees final report. You shoved off this work on your constituents, hiding behind the facade of community choice and majority rule. Sarah Graham, who served on the committee, said the issues of transparency shouldnt take away from the work the committee did. Many people put a lot of time and energy into this committee for the recommendations to be thrown out or not taken seriously, Graham said. On HoustonChronicle.com: For Black athletes, pain can linger from school names, mascots In a letter posted on Goose Creek CISDs homepage, Superintendent Randal OBrien said the meetings were closed and the members names were withheld because of how tense the debate has been. Victoria Marron, who spoke at Mondays meeting and served on the committee, said some in the community contacted her employer to complain about her role on the committee. Graham said she, too, faced backlash and criticism for serving with the group. Specifically, it was very important for us, as the administrators tasked with overseeing the committee, that committee members be able to participate on the committee free from undue interference by individuals who may seek to undermine the process and influence committee members in one way or another, OBrien wrote. Despite the concerns over transparency and the passions the name incited, Parents said the committee did its job. It went about as I expected. It was contentious over summer and I expected some of those conversations to be tense, Parent said. I think the committee did its job, and now its in the hands of the school board. shelby.webb@chron.com An American father and son were handed over to Japanese officials on Monday, their lawyer said, after losing an extradition battle over accusations they helped former Renault-Nissan boss Carlos Ghosn to flee Japan. Michael Taylor and his son Peter Taylor were arrested in May after Japan issued a warrant accusing them of helping Ghosn flee Tokyo for Lebanon in December 2019 -- reportedly hidden in a large box in a private jet -- as he faced financial misconduct charges. Two weeks ago, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected the Taylors' emergency appeal and cleared the way for their extradition following similar rulings by lower courts. The U.S. courts rejected the contention by the Taylors' lawyers that the two men would face torture-like conditions in Japanese prison sufficient to merit breaching the extradition treaty between Tokyo and Washington. Peter Taylor and his father, a former U.S. Special Forces member turned private security contractor, had been imprisoned pending the outcome of the extradition fight. U.S. court documents show the two, and a Lebanese national, allegedly helped smuggle Ghosn out of Japan inside a large musical equipment case. "This is a sad day for the family, and for all who believe that veterans deserve better treatment from their own country," Paul Kelly, their lawyer, said in a statement confirming they had been handed over to Japanese custody. We're always interested in hearing about news in our community. Let us know what's going on! Go to form EUGENE, Ore. -- A former Eugene elementary school teacher was sentenced to federal prison Monday for sexually abusing a teenage girl. William Hamann, 38, was sentenced to 13 years in federal prison and 10 years supervised release. Hamann was also ordered to pay restitution to his victim. Court documents said that on several occasions from 2018 to July 2019, Hamann paid a teenage girl for oral sex and recorded her performing the sex acts. The girl was 15 years old during the first encounter with Hamann. RELATED: FORMER EUGENE TEACHER PLEADS GUILTY TO SEXUALLY ABUSING TEEN Eugene Police Department detectives and FBI agents arrested Hamann on July 26, 2019, when he was to meet with the girl a fourth time. Agents searched his cell phone and found a recording of one of the sex acts. Hamann had used social media to arrange the meetings with the teenager. A search of Hamanns residence and digital devices revealed that he had previously approached several other girls online who said they were minors. Investigators uncovered evidence that Hamann had engaged in sexually explicit conversations with them even after they said they were underage. On Aug. 21, 2019, a federal grand jury in Eugene returned a four-count indictment charging Hamann with sexual exploitation and trafficking of a child, possession of child pornography, and attempted sex trafficking of a child. On Jan. 19, 2021, he pleaded guilty to sex trafficking of a child. Hamann was formerly a teacher at Spring Creek Elementary School in Eugene. POLICE: EUGENE TEACHER ALLEGEDLY PAID TEEN FOR SEX This case was investigated by the FBI and the Eugene Police Department. It was prosecuted by Jeff Sweet, assistant U.S. Attorney for the District of Oregon, and Katherine Green, Lane County deputy district attorney. Anyone who has information about the physical or online exploitation of children are encouraged to call the FBI at (503) 224-4181 or submit a tip online. Federal law defines child pornography as any visual depiction of sexually explicit conduct involving a minor. The U.S. Attorneys Office said it is important to remember that child sexual abuse material depicts actual crimes being committed against children. Not only do these images and videos document victims exploitation and abuse, but when shared on the internet, child victims suffer re-victimization each time the image of their abuse is viewed. To learn more, please visit the National Center for Missing & Exploited Childrens website. This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc. Dianne M. Stewart, a scholar of African-heritage religious cultures in the Caribbean and the Americas, has been awarded the Chronos Faculty Fellowship in Emory College of Arts and Sciences for 2021. The parallel religious and cultural traditions that flow back and forth between Africa and the diaspora have been on Dianne M. Stewarts radar for at least 15 years. Stewart, a scholar of African-heritage religious cultures in the Caribbean and the Americas, specifically wants to untangle the complex ties between the Central African Kingdom of Kongo now part of Angola, Democratic Republic of Congo and the Republic of Congo and the mostly Protestant diaspora in the coastal U.S. and the Anglophone Caribbean. As the second recipient of the Chronos Faculty Fellowship in Emory College of Arts and Sciences, Stewart will have a leave of absence for the coming academic year to unearth those stories for a book project, tentatively titled Local and Transnational Legacies of African Christianity in West-Central Africa and the Black Atlantic World. This is a dream come true, says Stewart, who gathered missionary reports, slave trade records, plantation records, letters between plantation owners and even rare Portuguese books to capture the intricacies of overlapping spiritual traditions. Im going to buy the paint to turn my home office wall into a whiteboard, so I can map it all out, says Stewart, who was recently promoted to full professor of religion and African American studies (effective Sept. 1, 2021) in Emory College. The Chronos Fellowship launched last year in Emory College to support such ambitious scholarship by tenured faculty in the humanities and social sciences. It aims to support work in the post-tenure period, when time for immersive research, deep thinking and writing can be difficult to secure. Funded by a grant from the Abraham J. & Phyllis Katz Foundation, the program includes a year of leave and $10,000 in research/travel funds, to allow for a fully immersive research experience and opportunities to develop new scholarship. Emory sociologist Bin Xu is the inaugural recipient of the fellowship, awarded in 2020. So far, he has spent the year focused on his scholarship to document the collective memory of the 17 million Chinese youth forced to migrate to the countrys villages and frontiers in the 1960s and 1970s. His second book, Chairman Maos Children: Generation and the Politics of Memory in China, due in October from Cambridge University Press, will highlight this work. I am very grateful for the Katz Foundations generous support, which gives me much extra time to think deeply and read widely about some of these issues, he says. This fellowship, as its name Chronos implies, provides me with the most important resource a scholar can have time to achieve my goals. Xu also begins work soon on The Culture of Democracy: A Sociological Approach to Civil Society, an introductory cultural sociology book he plans to complete this year that will be published by Polity Press in 2022. The Katz Foundation loves this fellowship. The recipients are among the most creative and intellectually curious members of Emorys faculty. The topics they are exploring are not only their personal passions, but important and relevant issues of our time, says David Woolf, executive director of the Katz Foundation. We look forward to hearing the successful stories that Xu, Stewart and others have to tell about their fellowship experience. Pursuing new knowledge of religious traditions Stewart expects to use most of her fellowship time as Xu did: reading, thinking and writing. She began gathering the materials for the project during a 17-month stint in the Democratic Republic of the Congo as a Fulbright Scholar in 2006. She continued her research for years, most recently as a senior fellow with the Bill and Carol Fox Center for Humanistic Inquiry in 2017. In that time, Stewart continued to teach and conduct research on other projects. Last year, she published Black Women, Black Love, a critically honored examination of Americas forced disruption of Black families for centuries. Her latest book, Obeah, Orisa and Religious Identity in Trinidad: Between and Beyond Colonial Imaginations, Volume II: Orisa, is due early next year. A joint venture with Tracey Hucks of Colgate University, who wrote Volume I: Obeah, it provides a historical, comparative account of African religions in Trinidad. Stewarts focus next year as a Chronos Fellow will be to expand beyond Trinidads faith practices to another understudied aspect of African descendants lives in the diaspora, specifically the Christian expressions of the Gullah, Jamaican Revival Zionists and Trinidadian Spiritual Baptist that depart from orthodox Protestant Christianity. I see correspondences among these traditions and those of the Catholic Kongo, Stewart says. I want to tell the story of these parallel traditions, that are interwoven to multiple flows of African people and the diaspora. Im very excited to dig in. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has apologized to the nation for the mistakes of the government. "I want to apologize to all of you, all Armenian citizens, to all Armenians of the diaspora, for our mistakes," he was quoted as saying during a rally of his supporters in downtown Yerevan on Monday. "I pondered a lot where I went wrong. <> As a prime minister, as a head of state, I apologize for all the mistakes of the republics authorities. But I dont want to sound regretful, I want it to sound a sign of our resolve that we, Armenian citizens, will never give up in our struggle for free and happy Armenia," Armenpress cited him as saying. He admitted that sometimes the choice was between bad and worse. He stressed that the nations future depends on how the current problems, such as security, foreign and domestic policy challenges, are resolved. "Strange as it might seem, but a key reason for our mistakes was our popularity as a government. We were loved so much that we tried to do everything too ideally. In many cases, the quest for excellence resulted in idleness," Pashinyan said. More than 10,000 people gathered for a rally in Pashinyans support on Monday on Yerevans central Republic Square, were the government building is located. After his speech, Pashinyan called on those present to march along the citys central streets. Around 10,000 Pashinyans opponents gathered yesterday for a rally in front of the parliament building in central Yerevan to demand the prime ministers resignation. A Berkshire Community College student is given a COVID-19 test last fall. Lenox has joined a number of other Berkshire school districts that plan to begin pool testing students. Precedence Research, Recently Published Report on Aerospace Adhesives & Sealants Market Size, Share, Growth, Trends, Segmentation and Forecast 2020 - 2027. OTTAWA, March 01, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- In 2019 the global aerospace adhesives & sealants market size was accounted at US$ 1.01 billion and expected to reach US$ 1.55 billion by 2027, growing with a CAGR of 5.5% during the forecast period 2020 to 2027. Adhesive is an important substance that binds together one or more surfaces of two different components to bind them together as well as resists their separation. Aerospace adhesives are used mostly in interior, exterior, and engine compartment of an aircraft. Physical properties of an aviation sealant and glue include high protection from heat along with the responses of substances. Growth Factors Aerospace sector impart great significance on the economy of a country because of which the demand of aerospace adhesives and sealants are subsequently expected to grow. The industry contributes significantly towards the national growth and hence has attracted numerous investors and stakeholders over the past decades. Thus, the above mentioned factors notably drive the market for aerospace adhesives & sealants. Furthermore, growth in the air logistics sector because of rise in e-commerce industry is the other most prominent factor that contributes towards the market growth. Get the Sample Pages of Report for More Understanding@ https://www.precedenceresearch.com/sample/1121 Report Highlights North America led the global market with a volume share of over 37% in 2019 because of increased focus of the U.S. government to strengthen its military force The Asia Pacific exhibits significant growth rate of around 6.5% during the upcoming period owing to rapid boost in the air passenger traffic coupled with the demand for new aircrafts Based on adhesive resins, epoxy led the global market and accounted for a value share of over 46%in 2019 because of its properties and large number of applications in the industry Polyurethane expected to be the most lucrative segment in adhesive resins and projected to grow at a CAGR of around 6% during the forecast timeframe, in terms of volume. The commercial aircraft segment dominated the global market accounting for a share of more than half of the total market volume in 2019 due to rising indirect demand for new commercial aircraft Surge in demand for new and advanced military aircraft that include patrol, transports, and fighters projected to impel the growth of military segment in the global market Get Customization on this Research Report@ https://www.precedenceresearch.com/customization/1121 Regional Snapshots North America emerged as a global leader in the global aerospace adhesives & sealants market accounting for a volume share of more than 37% in 2019 mainly because of increased spending by the government of United States on their military technology. In 2019, total defense spending by the U.S. was around USD 718 Billion, yet the figure has decreased compared to previous years that amounted to USD 849 Billion in 2010. Additionally, defense sector witness consolidation with top ten players capturing more than 50% of the global share, out of which seven major players are based in the U.S. Hence, the above mentioned factors have contributed significantly for the market growth in the region. On the other hand, the Asia Pacific seeks to be the most opportunistic market owing to the increasing demand for new commercial aircrafts in the region mainly because of increased passenger traffic in the region. As per a recent report of Boeing Pilot & Technician Outlook in 2019, the region expected to have a demand for 17,000 new commercial aircrafts by the year 2039. Among other Asian countries, China is the front-runner in terms of demand for new commercial aircrafts mainly because of its exponential growth in the tourism sector. Related Reports High Performance Adhesives Market - The global market was valued at USD 30.5 billion in 2019 and projected to hit over USD 40.5 billion by 2027 with registered a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of around 6.32% during forecast period 2020 to 2027. - The global market was valued at USD 30.5 billion in 2019 and projected to hit over USD 40.5 billion by 2027 with registered a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of around 6.32% during forecast period 2020 to 2027. Adhesives and Sealants Market - The global market size was valued at US$ 44.1 billion and US$ 10.4 billion respectively in 2019 and expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 6.7% and 6.1% during the forecast period 2020 to 2027. - The global market size was valued at US$ 44.1 billion and US$ 10.4 billion respectively in 2019 and expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 6.7% and 6.1% during the forecast period 2020 to 2027. Hot Melt Adhesives Market - The global market was valued at USD 6.53 Billion in 2019 and expected to reach USD 9.95 billion by 2027, with at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 5.4% during the forecast period 2020 to 2027. Key Players & Strategies The aerospace adhesives & sealants industry is highly competitive in nature because of various organic strategies adopted by the market participants to retain their market position. Top market players focus prominently on strengthening their distribution capabilities and product portfolio to maintain a competitive edge. For instance, in May 2017, 3M invested around USD 40 Million for the expansion of its manufacturing operations in Missouri, United States. With this expansion, the company aimed to produce industrial adhesives &tapes especially for the aerospace industry along with other heavy industries globally. The company also focuses on the technological advancements to offer custom solutions as well as to develop new products. Similarly, other industry players are also investing significantly in the production facilities coupled with new product development that are likely to be their key growth strategies over the forecast timeframe. For instance, in February 2018, Henkel Corporation announced its dedicated manufacturing facility for aerospace applications located at Montornes, Spain. Hence, these activities by market players are likely to increase the competition within the market. Some of the key players operating in the market are H.B. Fuller, Henkel Corporation, 3M, PPG Industries Inc., Huntsman International LLC, Cytec Solvay Group, Dowdupont, Bostik, Lord Corporation (Parker Hannifin Corp), and Hexcel Corporation among others. Buy this Premium Research Report@ https://www.precedenceresearch.com/checkout/1121 You can place an order or ask any questions, please feel free to contact at sales@precedenceresearch.com | +1 774 402 6168 About Us Precedence Research is a worldwide market research and consulting organization. We give unmatched nature of offering to our customers present all around the globe across industry verticals. Precedence Research has expertise in giving deep-dive market insight along with market intelligence to our customers spread crosswise over various undertakings. We are obliged to serve our different client base present over the enterprises of medicinal services, healthcare, innovation, next-gen technologies, semi-conductors, chemicals, automotive, and aerospace & defense, among different ventures present globally. For Latest Update Follow Us: https://www.linkedin.com/company/precedence-research/ https://www.facebook.com/precedenceresearch/ https://twitter.com/Precedence_R New Delhi: Former Miss India Delhi Mansi Sehgal joined the Aam Aadmi Party in the presence of party leader Raghav Chadha, the AAP said in a statement on Monday. Speaking on the occasion, Sehgal, Miss India Delhi 2019, said she was "inspired by the honest governance of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal" and therefore chose to join the AAP. For any nation to prosper, health and education are the two main pillars and there has been a "tremendous change" in these fields in the last few years under the leadership of Kejriwal, she said. "Inspired by the honest governance of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and hard work of MLA Raghav Chadha, I chose to join the Aam Aadmi Party, and I feel that through clean politics, we can bring about a substantial change in the world that we live in," Sehgal stated. Chadha inducted Sehgal into the AAP at Naraina Vihar Club in the presence of several residents. "I am delighted that the Aam Aadmi Party and Arvind Kejriwal instil confidence in young people to join politics and serve the people, and the AAP family is growing leaps and bounds with each passing day. I welcome Mansi into the AAP family," Chadha said. Sehgal is also a TedX speaker, trained engineer and entrepreneur with her own startup, the party statement said. Calling upon youth and women to be an active part of politics and to join the AAP, Sehgal said, "I would urge our youth and particularly our women to come and join us, and bring about the change that we all wish to see." Chadha said several eminent persons from Naraina in his constituency inspired by Kejriwal's "pro-people" governance model have joined the AAP. International Holding Company (IHC) has opened a new AED 200 million ($54.45 million) seafood processing facility which will process, store and distribute a quarter of the seafood consumed in the UAE. Operated by IHCs subsidiary ASMAK, the new seafood facility is the largest in the Middle East and is designed to support the UAEs food security aims, providing products to millions of consumers in the UAE and the region, a statement said. ASMAK, a leading provider of fresh and frozen seafood across the Middle East, will process an initial 40,000 tonnes of seafood annually through the facility, with scope to increase capacity to 60,000 tonnes. Annual seafood consumption in the UAE is currently approximately 270,000 tonnes. Coinciding with the Gulfood F&B trade exhibition, the factorys official opening on February 22, 2021 was presided over by Mariam Almheiri, Minister of State for Food and Water Security. Salah Abdalla Al Rayassi, Acting Assistant Undersecretary, Biodiversity & Marine Life Sector attended as the representative of Dr Abdullah Al Nuaimi, the Minister of Climate Change and Environment. Saud Abu Alshawareb, Managing Director of Dubai Industrial City, and ASMAKs senior management were also in attendance. Enhancing the capacity of the UAEs aquaculture and fisheries sector is an important aspect of the National Food Security Strategy, especially as the UAE population consumes around 30 kg per person each year, above the global average of 20.5 kg. This is why the UAE has invested more than AED 200 million to develop hatcheries and research centers, with the aim of creating a sustainable food value chain from controlled freshwater and seawater environments. These concerted efforts in the aquaculture sector as well as the volumes of seafood provided by the fisheries sector have placed huge demands on our processing capacity. ASMAKs new seafood processing facility will greatly support the current demand and also enable the UAE aquaculture sector to grow. Mamoon Othman, Chief Executive Officer of IHC Food, said: IHC is increasing its investments in sectors of strategic importance to the UAE and we expect our future growth to be closely aligned with the economic ambitions of the country. Our subsidiary ASMAK has been a regional leader in the seafood industry for many years, and we continue to set high standards for the sector in terms of quality, hygiene and efficiency. Our new state-of-the-art facility supports our community of local farmers, suppliers and consumers, and provides significant scope for future growth. Saud Abu Alshawareb, Managing Director of Dubai Industrial City, said: As the regions largest manufacturing and logistics hub, as well as a strategic driver of the Dubai Industrial Strategy 2030, we are committed to creating a competitive environment that supports innovation-driven food security. ASMAKs state-of-the-art processing and distribution facility will add significant value to our ecosystem and the UAEs ongoing vision to create a highly diversified, knowledge and innovation-based economy. With our strategic proximity to Jebel Ali Port and Al Maktoum International Airport, augmented by world-class infrastructure that provides direct access to major highways linking the UAE to the region, Dubai Industrial City is a vibrant business district. We have more than 23.5 million sq. ft. of land dedicated to the F&B sector and provide an agile and flexible environment for companies to reach two-thirds of the worlds population in eight hours. Food and agriculture are among IHCs key investment sectors, which also include real estate, healthcare, industrials, leisure and retail. The company is listed on the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange. IHCs subsidiary ASMAK is a leader in the regional food sector due to its commitment to the highest industry standards, achieving major international certification including MSC, ASC, Halal, HACCP, Organic, ISO 22000 and BRC Food.TradeArabia News Service Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 2) The Philippines and the United Arab Emirates have agreed to resume the deployment of Filipino household service workers to the Middle Eastern country starting March 31, the Department of Labor and Employment announced. The DOLE on Tuesday said that after a two-day joint committee meeting in Manila, the two countries signed a "historic" accord that provides more protection for Filipino household workers in the UAE. Deployment of household workers to the UAE has been suspended since 2014. Labor Undersecretary Claro Arellano, head of the Philippine delegation, said the deployment will be covered by a "Unified Employment Contract" similar to the standard agreement with Kuwait. The contract states that the employer, as well as the foreign and Philippine recruitment agencies, will be held liable should anything happen to the Filipino workers. Arellano said the contract is provided as an addendum to the Memorandum of Understanding on Labor Cooperation with Annex Protocol on Domestic Workers. It applies specific instructions from President Rodrigo Duterte that ensures workers have at least eight continuous hours of sleep every night, a paid break outside the home of the employer at least one full day every week, the right to keep his or her passport or identification documents, the right to have and use cellphones and other communication devices without getting confiscated by the employer, the right to open a bank account under the worker's name, and the right to cook his or her own food. During the meeting, the parties also agreed that the Philippine overseas labor office shall be notified whenever a tourist visa is converted into a work visa. However, the department noted that the Philippines is against converting tourist visas into work visas, adding that the UAE vowed to provide a modified contract taking this into account. But the addendum on the resumption of deployment will already be implemented, the DOLE 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. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full 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, March 2 : The Supreme Court on Tuesday pulled up Centre for dragging its feet by seeking more time for installing CCTV cameras in the offices of Central probe agencies like the CBI, NIA, ED and others. On December 2, the top court had directed the Centre to install CCTV cameras and recording equipment at the offices of investigating agencies -- NIA, CBI, ED, DRI, etc. -- which have the power of arrest and to carry out interrogations. On Tuesday, the matter came up for hearing regarding the compliance of the order. The Centre, represented by Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, sought adjournment in the matter. Expressing its displeasure, a bench headed by Justice R.F. Nariman told the Centre's counsel that it is setting an impression that the Centre is dragging its feet in the matter. Mehta replied that adjournment was sought, as the matter may have ramifications. The bench replied it is not concerned about ramifications. "This concerns the right of citizens. We are not accepting the excuses", said the bench. The top court also queried Mehta on the aspect of allocation of funds for installation of CCTVs in Central probe agencies. Mehta urged the bench to ignore the note seeking adjournment and sought some time to file an affidavit in the matter. The top court gave three weeks to the Centre to file an affidavit citing financial outlay for allocation of CCTV cameras and timeline for installation. The bench also examined the chart submitted by amicus curiae senior advocate Sidharth Dave in connection with the timeline sought by various state governments following court's order. The top court has granted 5 months to the state governments to install CCTV in police stations. For poll bound states -- West Bengal, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Assam and Puducherry -- the top court directed the implementation of CCTVs in police stations till December end this year. The bench gave 9 months for Uttar Pradesh and 8 months for Madhya Pradesh to comply with its order on installation of CCTV cameras. The top court has scheduled the matter for further hearing after Holi vacation. The top court had noted that whenever there is information of force being used at police stations resulting in serious injury and/or custodial deaths, it is necessary that persons be free to complain for a redressal of the same. "As most of these agencies carry out interrogation in their office(s), CCTVs shall be compulsorily installed in all offices where such interrogation and holding of accused takes place in the same manner as it would in a police station", the top court had said. It also emphasized that CCTV systems that have to be installed must be equipped with night vision and must necessarily consist of audio as well as video footage. The top court said most important of all is the storage of CCTV camera footage which can be done in digital video recorders and/or network video recorders. "CCTV cameras must then be installed with such recording systems so that the data that is stored therein shall be preserved for a period of 18 months", added the court. In February, the World Health Organization absolved China's Wuhan virology lab from any responsibility they may have had in the outbreak of the COVID-19 virus that has now caused over 2.5 million deaths worldwide. The W.H.O.-led investigation into the theory that the coronavirus began in a Wuhan lab that was studying coronaviruses produced underwhelming results. Scientists now claim that it was "highly unlikely" that there was a leak from the Wuhan lab. However, new evidence has come to light that even the American government and scientists participated in the cover-up of COVID-19 origins. According to The Gateway Pundit, as early as January 2020, there was already talk of how American scientists have aided Chinese scientists in developing a type of coronavirus, specifically in the laboratory of a certain Dr. Zheng-Li Shi at the Wuhan Institute of Virology, with the aid of Dr. Ralph Baric of the University of North Carolina. Thirteen days later, The Washington Times reported on an Israeli warfare analyst, who claimed that "The deadly animal-borne coronavirus spreading globally may have originated in a laboratory in the city of Wuhan linked to China's covert biological weapons program." Then Director of the White House's Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) communicated with the National Academy of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM), commanding it to "rapidly examine information and identify data requirements that would help determine the [COVID-19 origins], specifically from an evolutionary/structural biology standpoint." However, an uncovered non-peer-reviewed and already retracted Indian study titled "Uncanny similarity of unique inserts in the 2019-nCoV spike protein to HIV-1 gp120 and Hag" was reportedly a "scientific strawman," meaning that there may have been other government motives involved in the development of coronaviruses. In addition, Principia Scientific International reported in January that a video taken just days before the coronavirus pandemic broke out, virologist Vincent Racaniello interviewed British zoologist and president of EcoHealth Alliance Peter Daszak about new diseases and predicting pandemics. Daszak worked with Dr. Shi Zhengli, who is known for her work in investigating coronaviruses that come from bats. It is good to know that EcoHealth Alliance is funded by the NIH. In the interview, Daszak shared that researchers observed how some coronaviruses can "get into human cells in the lab" and that these coronaviruses are "untreatable with therapeutic monoclonals [antibodies] and you can't vaccinate against them with a vaccine." Daszak also shared that the goal of their recent research into coronaviruses was to find the next "spillover event" and "develop a pan-coronavirus vaccine for many different types of coronaviruses." Based on his statements, it is evident that the American government and scientists were well aware of the coronavirus studies being conducted and the risk that these labs would eventually be one of the COVID-19 origins. Political adviser Neil Patel wrote in The Daily Signal that there are a number of forces opposed to uncovering the true COVID-19 origins, including "the Chinese government, U.S. media outlets, the Big Tech platforms, and scientists with a financial or reputational stake in the outcome of any investigation." He highlighted the facts: China has been the source of two different coronavirus outbreaks since 2000. So how is it that the theory of the COVID-19 origins being from the Wuhan virology lab being marked as a conspiracy theory? To date, Patel said, "Nobody has answered this persuasively." Kanpur: A coal-laden truck overturned here leaving six people dead and 13 others seriously injured, police said on Tuesday. The incident took place on Monday when the truck was carrying labourers and their family members to Firozabad, said an official. Accident The labourers and their family members boarded the truck at Bhognipur crossing. While some of them were seated on top of the truck, others were seated inside the driver's cabin, SP (Kanpur Dehat), Keshav Kumar Chowdhary, said. The truck overturned near Maukhas village. After hearing screams of the victims, locals rushed to their help and informed police. AccidentPolice rushed the labourers to the Community Health Centre (CHC) and district hospital where six of them were declared dead. The injured persons have been admitted to the district hospital. TDT | Manama The Daily Tribune www.newsofbahrain.com Helped by investment and other income Bahrain Flour Mills company reported a jump in quarterly profit notwithstanding the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. The board also recommended a cash dividend of BHD 372,384 at 15% of its paid-up capital. Full-year profit, the company said, was impacted by a drop in the market value of the investment portfolio and the increase in the operating expenses. However, Marwan Tabbara - Chairman of the Board of Directors, said the company is determined to enhance its ability to achieve strong results with an optimistic outlook to support the local economy. Board directors also thanked Bahraini leadership for the continuous support to the food sector and Al-Matahin Company to provide subsidised food commodity to citizens and residents of the Kingdom. Tabbara also assured that the company took all necessary precautionary and preventive measures to limit coronavirus spread. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine welcomes the decision of the European Union to apply for the first time a new global sanctions mechanism against four Russian officials for human rights violations in Russia, spokesman for the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry Oleh Nikolenko said. "We hope that the new EU sanctions regime will also be applied against those guilty of suppressing fundamental rights and freedoms in the temporarily occupied Crimea and Sevastopol. Not a single crime by the Russian occupation authorities should go unpunished," the speaker said in a commentary published on Tuesday. The Foreign Ministry noted the fact that the new sanctions regime started working in a very short time. "It can become an additional effective tool for our state's fight against gross violations of human rights in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine, restoring its territorial integrity within internationally recognized borders," the commentary says. In addition, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said that the EU's decision once again demonstrates that the protection of human rights remains an unconditional priority of the EU's foreign policy. Biden officially nominates Auburn native Brian McKeon for State Department post President Joe Biden has made it official and nominated Auburn native Brian McKeon to a top p "In this era of partisanship, it's good when Republicans have nice things to say about Democrats, and vice versa," he said with a laugh. In the letter, the Republicans who signed it say they are "motivated by our deep respect for Brian as a leader who exhibits unfailing integrity, fairness, professionalism, and devotion to our national interests." While acknowledging that the relationship between Democrats and Republicans can be adversarial on the committee, the ex-GOP staffers recognized McKeon as a "vigorous defender" of Biden's policies and those held by the Democratic members of the committee. But, they wrote, he "also was a partner who consistently worked with us to find bipartisan solutions to matters before the committee." "We trusted Brian's word and frequently counted on his expansive knowledge of global affairs and the mechanisms of U.S. national security decision-making," they wrote. "Our own work and the accomplishments of the committee were enhanced greatly by Brian's leadership." 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. Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-02 18:32:44|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close Over the past 4 decades, China has lifted 770 million rural residents out of poverty, contributing to more than 70% of global poverty reduction. How do China's poverty-reduction achievements contribute to the protection of human rights? Does China "check the boxes"? #GLOBALink Produced by Xinhua Global Service In recent years, techniques have been developed to treat diseases with what are known as oligonucleotide drugs, based on short DNA or RNA molecules. The Wallenberg Centre for Molecular and Translational Medicine at the University of Gothenburg has now been awarded SEK 54 million by the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation, and SEK 48m from SciLifeLab and the University of Gothenburg, to create a national technology platform in this subject area: the OligoNova Hub. The rapid development of oligonucleotide drugs is due, in part, to the detailed knowledge we've gained about the human genome and how changes in it can give rise to disease. This knowledge makes it possible to use computers to fast-track the initial stages in development of new oligonucleotide drugs." Agneta Holmang, Dean, Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg Besides funding from the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation (KAW) and other stakeholders, the initiative has been facilitated by the contributions of AstraZeneca in Molndal: its unique knowhow and guidance while the OligoNova Hub is being established. The initiative is taking place in collaboration with SciLifeLab (the Science for Life Laboratory), a national research center for molecular life sciences. In the future, the OligoNova Hub will be part of SciLifeLab's drug development platform. "We're proud and happy to be able to set up this Hub, which gives researchers access to cutting-edge technologies and a chance to develop their results further. I'd also like to emphasize that none of this would have been possible without strong cooperation both within the University and with numerous partners. This really is a project in which KAW and many other forces for good have worked together," says Vice-Chancellor Eva Wiberg. Potential for more effective treatment methods Today, there are examples of oligonucleotide drugs that took just a few years to be developed. In contrast, in traditional drug development it takes at least five years before new drugs reach patients. With the platform now under construction, Swedish researchers will be able to further develop their scientific discoveries in the direction of new drugs. The hope is that this will lead both to more effective therapies and to future companies in a swiftly expanding part of the discipline of life science. "Although the first oligonucleotide drugs were developed to treat unusual, genetic diseases, we're now also seeing rapid development of new therapies against major disease groups. For example, the EU very recently approved inclisiran, the new oligonucleotide drug that's used to lower cholesterol," says Claes Gustafsson, Professor of Medical Chemistry at Sahlgrenska Academy. OligoNova Hub is to be connected with a large network for research and development of oligonucleotide drugs. Establishment of this network, through a national collaboration involving the University of Gothenburg, AstraZeneca and other partners, is underway. During the buildup phase (2020/21), this initiative is being funded by Vinnova through Swelife, the strategic innovation 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. Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - March 2, 2021) - Eco Depot, Inc. (OTC Pink: ECDP), a Nevada company, Eco Depot, Inc. subsidiary, Bronya Canada Group Inc., and WIELAND ELECTRIC INC, have completed a preferred distribution agreement to distribute four Bronya Climate Shield products to their client base. Wieland Electric is a manufacturer and global supplier of electrical and electromechanical components and solutions to large industrial sector leaders. Weiland Electric will sell and distribute the Bronya Climate Shield products to key manufacturers and large providers of critical infrastructure industries, manufacturers and builders, among others. Wieland Electric, a world market leader for pluggable, electrical installations in the field of building technology and a top solution provider of safety and automation technology with extensive electrical and electronics distribution in North America, will focus on Bronya Climate Shield products sales and distribution in Canada, U.S. and Mexico. Wielend intends to place Bronya Climate Shield products in "industrial accounts, end users and original equipment manufacturers in the electrical industry including but not limited to: lighting manufacturers, Engineering Procurement and Construction (EPC) large scale contractors, companies involved in power generation and distribution (including hydro-electric, nuclear, oil & gas and wind), various machine builders such as material handling providers, logistics and conveying providers, packaging, food and beverage providers, manufacturers of HVAC, building and access control equipment, and the mining industry." However, Wieland's distribution agreement is not limited to these industries. The Preferred Distribution Agreement focuses on four products which Bronya Canada Group manufactures and supplies: Bronya Classic - Thermal Insulation Coating (Interior); Bronya Facade - Thermal Insulation Coating (Exterior); Bronya Aquablock - Water Proofing Coating, and; Bronya Fire-Retardant - Fire Retardant Coating. Wieland Electric is highly reputable, known for excellence, offering high value to the most productive organizations within critical infrastructure industries. Bronya insulation products' thermal efficiency properties will now be available for industrial consumption through the distribution channels established over the last 30 years by Wieland. With applications tested at the macro and micro (nano) levels, Bronya products are positioned to be adopted by major manufacturers as an immediately available energy efficiency agent, capable of meeting fire retardant standards to improve products without disrupting manufacturing while improving energy efficiency by as much as 40%. Eco Depot is honored to expand the reach of Bronya product commercialization with Wieland as a powerful ally in meeting the corporate initiative to strategically place Bronya products with important global contributors. Through this new distribution partnership with Wieland, Bronya intends to support critical industry stakeholders in lowering overall production costs, improving working conditions for workers worldwide, improving equipment functionality and safety, and empowering organizations to help meet global and national energy consumptions goals. Eco Depot believes that Bronya liquid thermal insulation products applied at industrial energy production and transport levels to nano applications in electronics products with singular functions supports organizations in bridging the gap to meet 2030 SDG goals, especially in reduction of energy consumption to insure greater distribution of clean energy, while providing immediate economic benefit to stakeholders providing critical infrastructure contribution. About Bronya Climate Shield products distributed by Wieland Electric Inc.: Bronya Classic: Bronya Classic is our baseline thermal formulation, designed for a wide range of applications. It has strong adhesion to wood, concrete, metals and other construction materials. Our primary objective when developing Bronya Classic was to create a temperature-resistant, weather-protective and rust-inhibiting coating that is durable enough to withstand extreme conditions. Bronya Classic is extremely insulating and, when applied sufficiently, can reduce energy costs inside of most structures by up to 40%. Bronya Facade: Bronya Facade is our toughest formulation. It is uniquely developed for the thermal insulation of vertical surfaces. A single 1mm coat applied on the interior and exterior of a wall forms a single, joint-less surface, which helps maintain and insulate the interior climate. Bronya Facade reflects up to 80% of the visible solar and infra-red radiation spectrum. It significantly reduces indoor heat in the summertime, resulting in lower air conditioning expenditures. In cold climates, it can reduce heating costs by up to 40%. It is like the classic, but more effective for exterior use. Ensures thermal insulation of both interior and exterior walls. Does not increase structural load. Significantly reduces energy consumption. Reduces material expenses and labor costs. Uses significantly less space than standard insulation. It can be applied to brick, concrete, wood, vinyl, and metal walls. Bronya Aquablock: Bronya Aquablock is uniquely formulated to prevent water damage. It can be applied to roofing, foundations, bathroom floors, electrical cables and more. The surface of Bronya AquaBlock has no seams, which prevents any water from escaping or leaking. Due to its high adhesion, it is not affected by sunlight, humidity or temperature changes. It is easy to apply by brush, roller or spray gun. After curing, Bronya AquaBlock turns into a strong and durable coating that is not degraded by atmospheric or other environmental conditions. It is durable, extremely elastic and maintains its characteristics in the most extreme conditions. Fireproof version available. Elasticity reaches 220%. Bronya Fire Retardant: Bronya Fire Retardant can be found in various ratings of R45, R60, R90, R120. It is used to improve the fire safety of enclosing structures. Bronya Fire Retardant: Thin application to paper, wood, metal, and plastic will result in a very effective fire protective coating. Surface maintains the same physical and mechanical characteristics as was prior to application. LCTIM does not impair its thermo-physical properties and allows the product to maintain its fire retardant rating. Unlike its rivals, Bronya Fire Retardant can be colored. This has no impact on its efficacy. More cost-effective than the competition. Easy application for reduced labor costs. A single coat (without additional life-prolonging layers) is designed to maintain protection inside buildings for 30 years. ABOUT WIELAND ELECTRIC Wieland Electric (Germany: GmbH) is a medium-sized, family-owned company in the electrical and electronics industry, and is headquartered in Bamberg, Germany. The Wieland company, which celebrated its 100-year anniversary in 2010, is among the pioneers in electrical connection technology. The internationally aligned family company, market leader in the area of pluggable installation technology for buildings, maintains worldwide subsidiaries. In addition to the production lines in Bamberg, there are also production units in the Czech Republic, Serbia and China. Wieland Holding, to which STOCKO Contact GmbH & Co. KG has also belonged since 1998, is represented in over 70 countries, and includes about 2,200 employees. ABOUT ECO DEPOT Eco Depot, Inc. acquires, manages, and develops eco-friendly real estate assets and consumer brand products. Their focus is to provide investments, funding, and support for acquisitions, start-ups, entrepreneurs, and green companies dedicated to protecting the environment. Eco Depot is a development stage distributor of eco-friendly consumer brand products and is publicly traded Over the Counter at (OTC Pink: ECDP). ABOUT BRONYA CANADA GROUP Bronya Coatings Group, Inc. ("the Company") is based in Montreal and intends to commercialize a Multi-Purpose liquid thermal insulation paint Bronya Climate Shield product line in North America. The Company's mission is to establish third-party production facilities globally to reduce the costs associated with the business' supply chain. The Company also has established relationships with major home improvement stores on a worldwide basis. ABOUT BRONYA CLIMATE SHIELD Bronya Climate Shield increases energy efficiency, energy savings, and reduces carbon emissions through energy conservation. Product Website: www.bronyaclimateshield.com. CONTACT: Eco-Depot Inc 2300 West Sahara Avenue Suite 800 Las Vegas, NV 89102 Tel: 1 (800) 323-7006 WEBSITE: info@ecdp.co PRODUCT INQUIRIES: +1-(844)-427-6692 info@bronyaclimateshield.com Safe Harbor Statement This Press Release may contain certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The Company has tried, whenever possible, to identify these forward-looking statements using words such as "anticipates," "believes," "estimates," "expects," "plans," "intends," "potential" and similar expressions. These statements reflect the Company's current beliefs and are based upon information currently available to it. Accordingly, such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors that could cause the Company's actual results, performance, or achievements to differ materially from those expressed in or implied by such statements. The Company undertakes no obligation to update or advise in the event of any change, addition, or alteration to the information catered in this Press Release, including such forward-looking statements. FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION This press release contains forward-looking statements and information that are based on the beliefs of management and reflect the Company's current expectations. When used in this press release, the words "estimate", "project", "belief", "anticipate", "intend", "expect", "plan", "predict", "may" or "should" and the negative of these words or such variations thereon or comparable terminology are intended to identify forward-looking statements and information. The forward-looking statements and information in this press release includes information relating to the new team members expertise and how the Company will benefit from their ability to assist the Company implement its business plan. Such statements and information reflect the current view of the Company with respect to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from those contemplated in those forward-looking statements and information. By their nature, forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause our actual results, performance or achievements, or other future events, to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such factors include, among others, the following risks: risks associated with the implementation of the Company's business plan and matters relating thereto, risks associated with the industry, competition, regulatory change, the need for additional financing, reliance on key personnel, the potential for conflicts of interest among certain officers or directors, and the volatility of the Company's common share price and volume. Forward-looking statements are made based on management's beliefs, estimates and opinions on the date that statements are made, and the Company undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking statements if these beliefs, estimates and opinions or other circumstances should change. Investors are cautioned against attributing undue certainty to forward-looking statements. There are a number of important factors that could cause the Company's actual results to differ materially from those indicated or implied by forward-looking statements and information. Such factors include, among others, risks related to the Company's proposed business, such as failure of the business strategy and government regulation; risks related to the Company's operations, such as additional financing requirements and access to capital, reliance on key and qualified personnel, insurance, competition, intellectual property and reliable supply chains; risks related to the Company and its business generally. The Company cautions that the foregoing list of material factors is not exhaustive. When relying on the Company's forward-looking statements and information to make decisions, investors and others should carefully consider the foregoing factors and other uncertainties and potential events. The Company has assumed a certain progression, which may not be realized. It has also assumed that the material factors referred to in the previous paragraph will not cause such forward-looking statements and information to differ materially from actual results or events. However, the list of these factors is not exhaustive and is subject to change and there can be no assurance that such assumptions will reflect the actual outcome of such items or factors. While the Company may elect to, it does not undertake to update this information at any particular time. THE FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION CONTAINED IN THIS PRESS RELEASE REPRESENTS THE EXPECTATIONS OF THE COMPANY AS OF THE DATE OF THIS PRESS RELEASE AND, ACCORDINGLY, IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE AFTER SUCH DATE. READERS SHOULD NOT PLACE UNDUE IMPORTANCE ON FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION AND SHOULD NOT RELY UPON THIS INFORMATION AS OF ANY OTHER DATE. WHILE THE COMPANY MAY ELECT TO, IT DOES NOT UNDERTAKE TO UPDATE THIS INFORMATION AT ANY PARTICULAR TIME EXCEPT AS REQUIRED IN ACCORDANCE WITH APPLICABLE LAWS. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/75829 One of Western Australias most dangerous serial sex offenders is accused of performing a sexual act in front of children, less than 18 months after being released from prison for rape and sex attacks. Edward Latimer was the first serial predator in Western Australia to be jailed indefinitely for his sexual offences, which spanned over four decades. The 63-year-old has spent most of his adult life behind bars for rape and sex attacks but was released in 2019, with a Magistrate ruling he was fit to re-enter the communtiy. Less than 18 months later, Latimer was back behind bars on Tuesday, accused of indecent dealings with 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. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Thank you for reading! Please log in, or sign up for a new account and purchase a subscription to continue reading. Western Australia's premier is considering an extraordinary plan to keep the state's border tightly controlled even after the coronavirus pandemic. Mark McGowan said on Tuesday he was in discussions with WA Police Commissioner Chris Dawson about what aspects of the controversial plan would be legal. The premier claimed the idea, which would include tracking the movements of anyone who arrives using G2G passes and conducting vehicles searches, would control drugs in the state. 'On the border, we have staff who check for bananas and avocados,' he said. 'Surely we can have people there checking for meth as well.' Mark McGowan (pictured) wants to impose drastic border closures after the coronavirus pandemic has ended Mr McGowan said there has been an 'extraordinary drop' in meth usage in the state due to his eight-month hard border and strict controls since then. He claimed it was a welcome side-effect of the pandemic, and 'civil libertarians' who disagreed with the controversial move would be told abolishing meth was more important. In November, the High Court ruled that the state's hard border was legal, but only because of the pandemic. Though the premier backtracked on the G2G - which would enable state authorities to collect personal information - later on Tuesday, he did not concede on the idea of indefinite extension of all other border controls. Opposition leader Zac Kirkup (pictured) claimed the move would treat everyone like a math trafficker Opposition leader Zac Kirkup slammed the notion and said the invasive measures would be like 'treating every Aussie visiting WA as a meth trafficker'. 'Today the Premier announces that he wants to continue the hard border after Covid-19. Tomorrow, it might be that you start patting down every person that comes into the state. 'By the end of the week it could be strip searches - who knows.' He stopped short of describing the idea as that of a police state but suggested his rival was fuelling secessionist sentiments. 'When is it that we stopped being Australians?' he said. Mr McGowan spent the past year weaponising WA residents' famous antipathy for the eastern states, earning him a 93 per cent approval rating at one point. The border was completely close for eight months, even to states with no Covid cases for months, and the premier regularly sparred with his eastern counterparts. The premier's drastic border plan would only be considered if Labor win the March 13 election (pictured: Perth during lockdown) Pictured: Masked dog walkers at Sandy Beach in Bassendean in Perth on February 1 Mr Kirkup suggested tough anti-drug laws and more police was a better way to handle the meth situation. 'We are all Australian and we should have the freedom to travel in our own country without being treated like a criminal,' he said. The premier's drastic border plan would only be considered if Labor win the March 13 election, which even Mr Kirkup conceded it is certain to do. Polls also predict a Labor landslide, potentially reducing the Liberals to just a handful of seats. WA reported no new Covid-19 cases overnight. Almost 3,000 people have received their first dose of the Pfizer vaccine. Travellers from Victoria are required to quarantine for 14 days upon arrival, a measure that will be reviewed by the chief health officer in coming days. Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - March 2, 2021) -Defiance Silver Corp. (TSXV: DEF) (OTC Pink: DNCVF) ("Defiance" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that members of the Company's management team will be attending three events during the next several weeks: The Red Cloud 2021 Pre-PDAC Mining Showcase (March 3-5); PDAC 2021 (March 8-11); and the Leading Resource Investment Opportunities Event (March 4). Red Cloud 2021 Pre-PDAC Mining Showcase Defiance Silver invites you to join management for a presentation followed by Q&A on Friday, March 5th, 2021 at 10:00AM EST / 7:00AM PST. For more information or to register for the event, please visit the event page here: Red Cloud Financial Services Pre-PDAC Page Management will also be available for one-on-one meetings on Thursday, March 4th, 2021 from 9:00AM EST - 12:00PM EST. Please contact Red Cloud Financial Services to request a meeting. PDAC 2021 Virtual Defiance Silver invites you to attend the convention of the virtual Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada ("PDAC"). PDAC describes this conference as: "The World's Premier Mineral Exploration & Mining Convention." We invite you to visit with the Company, including members of the management team in the virtual Investors Exchange platform during the event. To book one-on-one meetings, please contact us directly uusing the contact information at the end of this release or through the virtual exchange, which opens March 1st. Leading Resource Investment Opportunities Event In addition, on Thursday, March 4th from 8:00AM EST - 9:30AM EST management will be giving a presentation and attending the Leading Resource Investment Opportunities Event, hosted by International Deal Gateway in partnership with Fasken Martineau DuMoulin. Defiance Silver's Chief Financial Officer, Sherry Roberge, will be participating in the Women in Leadership event, as well as the Leading Resource Investment Opportunities Event. More information about the event may be found at the link below: Leading Resource Investment Opportunities Event About Defiance Silver Corp. Defiance Silver Corp. (TSXV: DEF) (OTC Pink: DNCVF) (FSE: D4E) is an exploration company advancing the district-scale San Acacio Deposit, located in the historic Zacatecas Silver District and the 100% owned Tepal Gold/Copper Project in Michoacan state, Mexico. Defiance is managed by a team of proven mine developers with a track record of exploring, advancing and developing several operating mines and advanced resource projects Defiance's corporate mandate is to expand the San Acacio and Tepal projects to become premier Mexican silver and gold deposits. On behalf of Defiance Silver Corp. "Chris Wright" Chairman of the Board For more information, please contact: Investor Relations at +1 (604) 343-4677 or via email at info@defiancesilver.com . www.defiancesilver.com Suite 2900-550 Burrard Street Vancouver, BC V6C 0A3 Canada Tel: +1 (604) 343-4677 Email: info@defiancesilver.com Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. This news release may contain forward-looking statements including but not limited to comments regarding timing and content of upcoming work programs, geological interpretations, receipt of property titles, potential mineral recovery processes, etc. Forward-looking statements address future events and conditions and therefore involve inherent risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially from those currently anticipated in such statements. Defiance Silver Corp. relies upon litigation protection for forward-looking statements. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/75758 How Inequity Gets Built Into Americas Vaccination System People eligible for the coronavirus vaccine tell us they are running up against barriers that are designed into the very systems meant to serve those most at risk of dying of the disease. We plan to continue tracking these roadblocks. Its a fact that simply being eligible for a vaccine in America doesnt mean that you can instantly get one. Yet the ability to get to the front of the line isnt the same for everyone. ProPublica has found that, whether intentionally or not, some vaccine programs have been designed with inherent barriers that disadvantage many people who are most at risk of dying from the disease, exacerbating inequities in access to health care. In many regions of the U.S., its much more difficult to schedule a vaccine appointment if you do not have access to the internet. In some areas, drive-through vaccinations are the only option, excluding those who do not have cars or someone who can give them a ride. In other places, people who do not speak English are having trouble getting information from government hotlines and websites. One state is even flat-out refusing to allow undocumented workers with high-risk jobs to get prioritized for vaccination. The vaccine supply is too low to inoculate everyone who is eligible, and competition for appointments is fierce. My nightmare scenario is that we have this two-tiered health system where there are people who are wealthy, privileged or connected, and then there's everybody else, Dr. Jonathan Jackson, director of the Community Access, Recruitment, and Engagement Research Center at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, told ProPublica. Once we hit that saturation point where the first tier has all gotten their vaccines, the narrative will shift to blame. It'll be Why haven't you taken care of this yet? For People With Disabilities, It Can Be a Struggle Just to Access Their Appointments From the moment her 69-year-old father, Jose Balboa, became eligible for the vaccine in January, Kristine Mathason spent part of each day on the phone and online trying to get him a shot. She found available appointments a few times, but couldnt find a way to actually take her father to the vaccination sites. Balboa is paralyzed on his left side after a stroke and needs a wheelchair to get around. In Miami, where he lives, most vaccine sites are drive-up only. Mathason doesnt have a van that can accommodate Balboas wheelchair, and she isnt able to lift her father out of it. To move him between his bed and the chair, his home health aides use a patient lift. This isnt possible when trying to get him into a car, Mathason said, as the door gets in the way of either a lifting device or two people trying to support him at once. In the past when family members tried to move him, Balboa fell. Mathason said she was willing to jump through all the hoops to get Balboa the vaccine. Hes super high-risk: Hes diabetic, he had a stroke 17 years ago, she said. He has high blood pressure. My half brother who lives with him works at a restaurant, so thats like a high-risk job. We do our best. If You Cant Access or Navigate the Internet, You Might Have Fewer Options Eneyda Morales, a 40-year-old mother of three in East Hampton, New York, was diagnosed with breast cancer two years ago and is still undergoing treatment. Four days a week, she works at a bagel shop near her home. Id like to get a vaccine because of the health issues I have and because I work in a place where I have to serve people, Morales said in Spanish. But shes not sure how shes actually going to get a vaccine; while many Americans are hunting for information online, Morales doesnt own a computer, nor does she know how to use one. She has a smartphone, but she primarily uses it for simple searches like looking up addresses. The only computer at her home is the one her 8-year-old daughters school provided for classwork. Unclear Communication Leaves People Anxious and Unable to Plan James, 82, lives in Chesterfield County, Virginia, outside of Richmond. (He asked to be identified only by his first name for privacy reasons.) Like many Americans, he turned first to his primary care physician for information about the vaccine. I contacted my physicians office to find out if theyd let me, as a patient, know when Id get the vaccine, and they said, Oh, no, no, were not going to do that. They instead directed him to the Virginia Department of Health. So James went on the state health departments website. I filled in all their little boxes, Vaccines offer hope of a brighter and less socially distanced future, but while people are still hunkered down at home CT Folk will hold a virtual concert to promote Connecticuts musical talent. CT Folk is a nonprofit organization that works to engage, entertain and inspire a diverse audience through music and conversation, and to help create a socially responsible and environmentally sustainable community. Its website explains that it works to support emerging and established musicians and offer educational programming surrounding folk music. On March 6, CT Folk will hold its virtual Homegrown Folk concert to promote Connecticut-grown musical talent that will be live-streamed from The State House in New Haven. This concert is a perfect opportunity to support our independent music venues, our hard-working Connecticut-based musicians and to shine a light on the city where our nonprofit roots remain strong, said Nicole Mikula, CT Folk event director. New Haven musician and activist Ro Godwynn has performed with Phat A$tronaut and also has a solo EP. Joining Godwynn on CT Folks virtual stage is New Haven-based band The Moon Shells. Mikula said The Moon Shells music draws from the traditional music of Appalachia, Louisiana, West Africa and elsewhere to create a new sound. Bridgeports Caravan of Thieves will bring its folk-, jazz- and swing-inspired tunes to concert. Connecticuts own Stephen Kellogg will also take the stage with special guest Eric Donnelly from the Connecticut-based band The Alternate Routes. While CT Folk misses the artistic beauty and camaraderie that live music experiences provide, we have been gratified with the high quality and eclectic mix of musicians that have graced our virtual stage this past year, and in a manner that has allowed us to grow our viewing audience, Lisa Kaston, CT Folk board president, said. Mikula said when coordinating the virtual concert that CT Folk wanted to spotlight Connecticut musicians while ensuring the safety of all those involved in it. We will be live-streaming from The State House in New Haven, and in order to keep the ethos welcoming but safe, we felt it important to limit band size and stage changeovers, she said. Two of the acts are duos, one act is a trio, while the other is a solo. The artists are all very mindful of the need to work safely, while their enthusiasm in returning to a live stage is very evident. When asked what the concerts virtual attendees can expect from Homegrown Folk, Mikula promised excellent music. They can expect a bit of magic from watching The State House turn on their lights for the first time in months so that artists can come together, once again, to create and share inspired music. They can expect that CT Folk is doing their part to continue to pivot and create alongside our partner organizations, music venues and artists, she said. We cant say it enough: Support this donation-based show, support your local musicians, your local venues, buy your favorite band merch, etc. We are all in this together, and live music WILL continue to thrive. Homegrown Folk will stream March 6 from 4 to 9:30 p.m. The concert is sponsored by Grassy Hill Entertainment. There is a $20 suggested donation for the concert and tickets are available at CTFolk.org . tinamarie.craven@hearstmediact.com Please enable cookies on your web browser in order to continue. The new European data protection law requires us to inform you of the following before you use our website: We use cookies and other technologies to customize your experience, perform analytics and deliver personalized advertising on our sites, apps and newsletters and across the Internet based on your interests. By clicking I agree below, you consent to the use by us and our third-party partners of cookies and data gathered from your use of our platforms. See our Privacy Policy and Third Party Partners to learn more about the use of data and your rights. You also agree to our Terms of Service. Laurent Picciotto revels in the art of paradox. He set up shop as a watch retailer in the 1980s at a time when there was no such thing. In a world in which every word of every public statement had to be signed off at a board meeting, he dove headlong into social media. In 2011, he was MC for the Grand Prix dHorlogerie de Geneve (GPHG). Hes always been fond of independent watchmakers, even when the trend was towards the standardisation of institutional brands. It would be tempting to conclude that Laurent Picciotto likes to go against the flow; but the fact is that more often than not, hes the one deciding the direction of flow in the first place. Hes worked with dozens of partners, including Audemars Piguet, Hublot, MB&F, Urwerk, and of course Richard Mille, of which he was a shareholder and co-founder. He headed up an Audemars Piguet brand store for 10 years a concept that simply didnt exist 25 years ago. Then in 2007, he opened the first Hublot ownbrand store in the world right next door to his. A few minutes discussion with Jean-Claude Biver, key details jotted down on the back of an envelope, and a handshake. Thats how you did business with CEOs of that calibre in those days, recalls Laurent Picciotto. Laurent Picciotto Stephnane de Bourgies When it came to Urwerk and MB&F, the story was something else entirely, with Picciotto playing the role of midwife for both brands. Max Busser spares no praise when it comes to Laurent Picciotto: Curator, talent-spotter, risk-taker, benefactor, fine watch fanatic, compulsive enthusiast and above all, a faithful friend. Laurent Picciotto is always doing what youre least expecting. In 2017, he decided to sell off his entire personal collection. It was an exceptional auction over within the space of a few hours, under the hammer of Aurel Bacs. Why did he do it? It was time. I wanted to start again from scratch. Basically, Picciotto follows his instincts. He collects pretty much everything on wheels, designs guitars, and buys more leather jackets than hell ever be able to wear. And in 2020 theres still a steady stream of young designers calling on the veteran in his Parisian lair, all with the same question: Laurent, what do you think of this? Truly a case of You are what you is. *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 Rhonda Bomwell had never used a flea and tick collar before. Pierre, her 9-year-old Papillon service dog, was mostly an indoor animal. Still, her veterinarian recommended she purchase one, so Bomwell went to the pet store near her home in Somerset, New Jersey, and selected Bayers Seresto collar. A day later, on June 2, 2020, Pierre had a seizure, collapsing while Bomwell was making dinner. Lying on his back, the dog stopped breathing and his eyes rolled back. Bomwell tried giving him CPR. Then she called the police. An officer helped her lift the dog into her car, and she rushed him to the hospital. Pierre died before he could receive medical treatment. Bomwell didnt think to take off Pierres collar. I just didnt put it together, she said. Bomwell isnt alone. Seresto, one of the most popular flea and tick collars in the country, has been linked to hundreds of pet deaths, tens of thousands of injured animals and hundreds of harmed humans, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency documents show. Yet the EPA has done nothing to inform the public of the risks. Seresto, developed by Bayer and now sold by Elanco, works by releasing small amounts of pesticide onto the animal for months at a time. The pesticide is supposed to kill fleas, ticks and other pests but be safe for cats and dogs. Rhonda Bomwell, of Somerset, N.J., holds a necklace with her dog's ashes and a photograph of her 9-year-old Papillon, Pierre, that died June 1, 2020, because of side effects from wearing a popular flea and tick collar for pets. Bomwell, seen Monday, March 1, 2021, had never used a collar on Pierre because he was mostly an indoor animal. But thousands of pets are being harmed, according to federal documents obtained through a public records request from the Center for Biological Diversity, a nonprofit organization that watchdogs the EPA as part of its work to protect endangered species. The center provided the documents to the Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting. Since Seresto flea and tick collars were introduced in 2012, the EPA has received incident reports of at least 1,698 related pet deaths. Overall, through June 2020, the agency has received more than 75,000 incident reports related to the collars, including nearly 1,000 involving human harm. The EPA is in charge of regulating products that contain pesticides. The agency has known about these incidents for years but has not informed the public of the potential risks associated with this product, said Karen McCormack, a retired EPA employee who worked as both a scientist and communications officer. Story continues McCormack said the collars have the most incidents of any pesticide pet product shes ever seen. The EPA appears to be turning a blind eye to this problem, and after seven years of an increasing number of incidents, they are telling the public that they are continuing to monitor the situation, she said. But I think this is a significant problem that needs to be addressed sooner rather than later. Since Seresto flea and tick collars were introduced in 2012, the EPA has received incident reports of at least 1,698 related pet deaths. The EPA declined to say how Seresto compares to other pet products. But in response to a question about whether the product is safe, an agency spokesperson said in an emailed statement that the two pesticides in Seresto have been found eligible for continued registration based on best available science, including incident data. No pesticide is completely without harm, but EPA ensures that there are measures on the product label that reduce risk, the spokesperson said. The product label is the law, and applicators must follow label directions. Some pets, however, like some humans, are more sensitive than others and may experience adverse symptoms after treatment. Amazon, where Seresto is the top-selling collar, also has received numerous complaints about the product from customers who detailed significant issues. Dozens of people over the years have claimed the collar caused skin rashes in their pet. Others said it led to neurological issues in their pets. Despite the many warnings, Amazon has not removed the product from its online marketplace. Amazon did not respond to multiple requests for comment for this story. This isnt the first time that the EPA has failed to properly regulate flea and tick collars containing pesticides, said Miriam Rotkin-Ellman, a senior scientist at the Natural Resources Defense Council. The NRDC filed a petition against the agency more than a decade ago over its approval of a different pesticide than the one used in Seresto that is linked to cancer and brain development issues in children. In April 2020, a federal appeals court called the EPAs refusal to respond to NRDCs requests nothing short of egregious and told agency officials to make a decision on whether to ban the pesticide within 90 days. The EPA decided not to ban the pesticide, called tetrachlorvinphos. That pet collar continues to be sold under the brand name Hartz Ultraguard, Hartz InControl and Longlife. NRDC has challenged that decision; that lawsuit is currently pending. Even so, the number of incidents linked to that pesticide pales in comparison to those linked to Seresto. From 1992 to 2008, the EPA received about 4,600 incident reports regarding pet collars containing tetrachlorvinphos, including 363 deaths, according to EPA documents. Broken down per year, thats 30 times fewer incidents and 10 times fewer deaths than Seresto. And those are most likely an undercount, said Nathan Donley, a senior scientist at the Center for Biological Diversity and an expert on U.S. pesticide regulation. Donley said the number of reported incidents for Seresto is just the tip of the iceberg. In order to report an incident, a person has to make the connection between the collar and the issue with the dog, understand who to contact and how to report it, he said. Most of the time, people are not going to make the connection or theyre not going to take an hour or so out of the day and figure out how to call and spend time on hold, Donley said. He said the incident data creates lots of questions about EPA processes. My God, if this doesn't trigger a concern, that's a fundamental problem with the process, Donley said. The fact that EPA has not done anything to alert the public that there might be an issue here, it strikes me as bordering on criminal. The EPA has this system in place to compile information and its just collecting dust in some database. A big business Pet collars are big business. In its 2019 annual report, German agribusiness and pharmaceutical company Bayer reported revenue of more than $300 million on Seresto alone. The company sold its animal health division to Elanco Animal Health, a former subsidiary of Eli Lilly and Co., for $7.6 billion in 2019. The deal was finalized in 2020. As part of the deal, Bayer received $2.3 billion in Elanco stock, which the company said it would sell over time. Bayer did not respond to multiple requests for comment. Since being spun off as its own company in 2019, Elanco has lobbied the EPA quarterly on issues relating to animal health, according to the the nonprofit Center for Responsive Politics, which maintains a website tracking political contributions. Over two years, the company has spent $1.6 million on lobbying, records show. Keri McGrath, a spokeswoman for Elanco, said in an email the company takes the safety of our products very seriously and thoroughly investigates potential concerns related to their use. McGrath pointed out that regulatory authorities have approved the product in more than 80 countries, and the EPA is in the final stages of re-approving both pesticides. There is no timeline on the final decision. McGrath said that global data shows that 1 in 568 users of Seresto have an incident and the majority of these incident reports relate to non-serious effects such as application site disorders, e.g. a reddening of the skin or hair loss below the collar. Keep in mind that the existence of an adverse event report does not necessarily mean the product caused the problem, she said. Causality between the observed signs and the use of the product is evaluated on a case-by-case basis. That said, every adverse event collected, regardless of causality, is reported to the authorities. The EPA did not respond to a request about how Seresto compared to other flea and tick collars in terms of incidents. The Midwest Center has filed a Freedom of Information request for the incident database, but that request has not yet been filled. The extent of the damage is uncommon, said McCormack, the former EPA staffer. Ive never seen any product that had 75,000 incidents, McCormack said. Serestos pesticides more toxic together The EPA approved Seresto collars on March 16, 2012. The collars are designed to work for eight months. Under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act, the EPA must determine a pesticide product will not cause unreasonable effects on the environment. This determination requires weighing harms versus benefits, including assessments of risks to human health and the environment. Seresto contains two pesticides: imidacloprid and flumethrin. Imidacloprid belongs to the neonicotinoid class of insecticides, which are the most commonly used insecticides on crops in the U.S. Despite neonicotinoids being connected to massive die-offs of non-target insects such as bees and butterflies, the EPA proposed re-approving imidacloprid and other class members last year. The pesticide is banned in the European Union for outdoor use but allowed in pet collars. There is also growing evidence that mammals can be harmed by these pesticides as well. Flumethrin, EPA documents show, is only an active ingredient in one product: Seresto. Like with most pesticides, the data supporting the registration of Seresto was conducted by the company that produced it, Bayer. The majority of the studies were looking at each pesticide individually. However, a 2012 Bayer study found they have a synergistic effect, meaning they are more toxic together on fleas. The study found that the unique pharmacological synergism works as quickly as six hours to prevent ticks from attaching and feeding, preventing disease transmission. Additionally, eight companion animal safety studies were conducted by Bayer looking at the effect of Seresto collars on domestic cats and dogs. The EPA used these studies to approve Seresto. The California Department of Pesticide Regulation took issue with the validity of two of the studies but approved the collars anyway. Another issue could be a reaction of inactive ingredients, which are unknown and have caused problems in spot-on treatments, said Donley of the Center for Biological Diversity. Donley, who has a doctorate in cell and developmental biology and is a former cancer researcher, said this synergistic effect likely extends to pets. He said he wasnt sure what makes the two pesticides so likely to cause harm, but it is clear something is wrong with the product. You dont even see these kinds of numbers with many agricultural chemicals, Donley said. For whatever reason, this combination is just really nasty. History of unsafe pet treatments There are currently 18 flea and tick collars on the market: three that are approved for both dogs and cats (including Seresto), 10 approved for dogs and five for cats, according to the National Pesticide Information Center. In addition to allowing tetrachlorvinphos in pet collars despite evidence of its safety issues, the EPA also had approved the use of another pesticide linked to cancer and brain development problems propoxur, which was sold under many brand names, including Bio Spot, Scratex Color, Zodiac, Sergeants Dual Action and Sentry Dual Action. Rotkin-Ellmans research showed residues were high enough to pose a risk to children and adults who play with pets that were wearing the collars. In April 2016, pesticide companies voluntarily agreed to stop using propoxur to help protect childrens health. The brand names that used propoxur have switched to other active ingredients. In addition, in 2010, the EPA increased label requirements and limited some inert ingredients in spot-on treatments, which are applied to a specific area of a pet. This happened after incident data showed the treatments were causing hundreds of pet deaths, as well as issues such as irritation, rashes and hair loss, gastrointestinal problems and seizures. Collars have caused seizures, rashes in humans Its not just pets that are being harmed, EPA documents show. Between 2013 and 2018, 907 incidents were reported with humans, according to a September 2019 EPA assessment of human health risk. The assessment determined that there were 19 severe incidents. Of those, eight people had dermal symptoms, such as a rash or hives, and seven had neurological symptoms, which included numbness and headaches. Incidents listed by the EPA included: A 12-year-old boy who slept in a bed with a dog wearing a collar started having seizures and vomiting. He had to be hospitalized. A 67-year-old woman who slept in a bed with a dog wearing a collar reported having heart arrhythmia and fatigue. A 43-year-old man put collars on eight dogs and slept in the same bed as four of the dogs. A week later, he developed ear drainage and nasal and throat irritation and was told by a doctor that he had a hole in his ear drum. He removed the dog collars and the symptoms went away. He later reapplied the collars and the symptoms returned. An October 2016 EPA bulletin responded to citizen concerns about children being exposed to Seresto, saying it had found exposure to the collars to be negligible. As stated in the precautions on the label, do not allow children to play with the collars. In addition, try to keep the pet away from young children for a day after putting on the collar to minimize exposure, the bulletin said. Its really not just happening to animals. Its happening to people who pet them as well, Donley said. I have two young kids who are all over our dog all the time. I can imagine how highly exposed people would be to residues. Its just been a nightmare To Bomwell, the worst part was the lack of warning. Pierre had never been sick or had a seizure. He was just 9, so she thought he had half a decade left. Her last dog had died at 18. Plus, she felt like she was responsible. She was the one who put the collar on. It was so bizarre, Bomwell said. Its just been a nightmare. Rhonda Bomwell, of Somerset, N.J., holds a pillow Monday, March 1, 2021, with the image of Pierre, her 9-year-old Papillon, that died June 1, 2020, from side effects of wearing a popular flea and tick collar for pets. Even if the EPA had not received tens of thousands of complaints, a cursory search of the web would find dozens of posts from pet owners warning others to be careful with the collars, including a letter to an animal doctor column in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch in 2013, a radio news story in New York in 2016 and extensive comments on pet forums. Without the federal government stepping in, individuals are left in the dark. Thats something Ron Packard, of Brockton, Massachusetts, is hoping to address. In the days after the death of his two dogs in June 2019, Packard did what any person looking for answers does: He went to the internet. Two of Packards four dogs had recently had seizures on the same day, before becoming lethargic and vomiting and finally, refusing to eat. He brought them to the veterinarian, who couldnt find a problem. Within weeks, the two previously healthy cavachons, 10-year-old Danny and 5-year-old Dominic, were both dead. Ron Packard and his dog Dominic two weeks before the dog passed. (Photo provided by Ron Packard) The only thing Packard could figure out was both dogs had started wearing Seresto flea and tick collars a month before. Thirty-three and 54 days later, they're both dead, Packard said. Packard created a Facebook page, asking people who had similar issues to share their stories. Today, the page fills up with pictures and stories like Packards. A dog starts wearing a collar. Within weeks, a dog will have a seizure, sometimes it will later die. Other stories arent quite as extreme. Loss of hair around the neck. Lethargy. Packard encourages everyone to report their story to the EPA. I don't want others to go through what we went through, he said. Every time I read the stories, it brings me back to my dogs. But if I can save a few pets, I can deal with it. This story is a collaboration between USA TODAY and the Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting. The center is an independent, nonprofit newsroom covering agribusiness, Big Ag and related issues. USA TODAY is funding a fellowship at the center for expanded coverage of agribusiness and its impact on communities. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Seresto pet collars found to harm pets, humans, EPA records show Billionaire philanthropist Bill Gates has warned that the world might not return to normal until 2022 as he believes were not doing enough to end the pandemic globally. The philanthropist has long been vocal about the worlds response to the coronavirus outbreak, and he spoke out again this weekend after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the use of the Janssen COVID-19 vaccine to tackle the virus. In an interview with CNN, Gates discussed his predictions for the coming months as vaccinations continue to be rolled out throughout the U.S. "Describing the rapid development of vaccines as a miracle, Gates said that the rollout should help Americans achieve an almost-normal way of life as early as autumn. He said that basically every school [would be] back in session, and that restaurants and sporting events would be able to operate again on some level by the end of the year," he said. However, the billionaire Microsoft co-founder told CNN the big problem is that were not doing enough to end the pandemic globally. He commented: "The vaccines are just going to the rich countries, and this has been a big focus of the Gates Foundation throughout the crisis is to get additional factories, like the big factories in India. That is starting to happen with AstraZeneca already, and soon Johnson & Johnson and NovaVax." "And so the vaccines are a miracle, all five that have gone through western regulators are amazing vaccines and even though we have a little bit of tuning that you might have to take a third dose, because of the variants, we will get on top of that," Gates stressed. 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 Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-03 06:31:49|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close TIRANA, March 2 (Xinhua) -- The Albanian government is working on creating a COVID-19 vaccine passport in case other countries impose its use as a requirement, Prime Minister Edi Rama declared on Tuesday. Speaking at a weekly press conference on the economy, Rama said the government is working to create a COVID-19 vaccine passport for all the citizens that have received a vaccine against COVID-19 in order to facilitate their movement in case other countries impose this as a requirement. "Albania is interested in having its doors open for the tourist season and in order to break the chain of infections it will not rely on a lockdown, but on the vaccines," Rama added. On Monday evening, Albania received 15,210 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine. According to Rama, another batch of 30,000 vaccine doses is expected to arrive in April, including 14,000 doses from AstraZeneca through the COVAX mechanism. On Tuesday, Albania's Health Ministry reported 892 new coronavirus cases and 19 COVID-19-related deaths in the last 24 hours, taking the total number of confirmed cases in the country to 108,823, with 71,173 recoveries and 1,835 fatalities. As the world is struggling to contain the pandemic, vaccination is underway in an increasing number of countries with the already-authorized coronavirus vaccines. Meanwhile, 258 candidate vaccines are still being developed worldwide -- 76 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 Tuesday. Enditem Americans loved the 1965 Impala , theres no doubt about it, but as it turns out, some loved it so much they tried to convert the car into something it actually wasnt.The shorty that you see here is a 4-door 1965 Impala sedan that had been converted into a 2-door for a reason thats pretty hard to figure out. That's not only because the car looks, well, unexpected, but also due to the fact that the whole project involves a ton of work to get everything right.And judging from an ad published on Facebook , whoever did this liked the result so much that they eventually left the Impala all abandoned in a barn until the seller found it and decided to list it for sale.So this once a 4-door now a 2-door 1965 Impala can be yours, coming with what the seller describes as little to no rust. What you need to know, however, is the car is a roller, which means it doesnt ship with an engine, so were guessing youre supposed to be impressed by this one-of-a-kind 2-door look and buy the car anyway.Given its been sitting for a while, the Impala obviously isnt in its best shape, and the seller says youre also getting a series of extras, including two fiberglass fenders, one OEM deck lid, three OEM hoods, a grille, and a 4-speed Muncie transmission.How much is this Impala really worth? Quite a lot, it seems, as the seller expects you to pay close to $12,350. If you want to check out the car live, you can find it in Independence, Ohio. MUMBAI, India, March 2, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Cipla Limited (BSE: 500087) (NSE: CIPLA EQ) (hereinafter referred to as "Cipla") today announced that it has received final approval for its Abbreviated New Drug Application (ANDA) for Sumatriptan Nasal Spray, 20 mg from the United States Food and Drug Administration (U.S. FDA). Cipla's Sumatriptan Nasal Spray USP, 20 mg is an AB-rated generic therapeutic equivalent version of GlaxoSmithKline's Imitrex Nasal Spray. Imitrex Nasal Spray is a serotonin (5-HT1B/1D) receptor agonist (triptan) indicated for acute treatment of migraine with or without aura in adults. According to IQVIA (IMS Health), Imitrex Nasal Spray 20mg and its generic equivalents had US sales of approximately $53.3M for the 12-month period ending December 2020. About Cipla : Established in 1935, Cipla is a global pharmaceutical company focused on agile and sustainable growth, complex generics, and deepening portfolio in our home markets of India, South Africa, North America, and key regulated and emerging markets. Our strengths in the respiratory, anti-retroviral, urology, cardiology, anti-infective and CNS segments are well-known. Our 46 manufacturing sites around the world produce 50+ dosage forms and 1,500+ products using cutting-edge technology platforms to cater to our 80+ markets. Cipla is ranked 3rd largest in pharma in India (IQVIA MAT December' 20), 3rd largest in the pharma private market in South Africa (IQVIA MAT December'20), and is among the most dispensed generic players in the U.S. For over eight decades, making a difference to patients has inspired every aspect of Cipla's work. Our paradigm-changing offer of a triple anti-retroviral therapy in HIV/AIDS at less than a dollar a day in Africa in 2001 is widely acknowledged as having contributed to bringing inclusiveness, accessibility and affordability to the centre of the HIV movement. A responsible corporate citizen, Cipla's humanitarian approach to healthcare in pursuit of its purpose of 'Caring for Life' and deep-rooted community links wherever it is present make it a partner of choice to global health bodies, peers and all stakeholders. For more, please visit www.cipla.com , or click on Twitter , Facebook , LinkedIn . Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/947146/Cipla_Logo.jpg Chess grandmaster Levon Aronian said on Friday he was leaving Armenia and would represent the United States, citing what he said was Armenian officials indifference to chess as one of the reasons, The Guardian reports. The 38-year-old, who is ranked sixth in the world, announced his decision on his Facebook page. The past year has been very difficult for all of us with a pandemic, a war and in my case there was personal adversity and the states absolute indifference towards Armenian chess, he wrote, referring to six weeks of fighting between ethnic Armenian and Azeri forces over the Nagorno-Karabkah enclave. I was faced with a choice: quit my job or move to where I am valued, he wrote. Smbat Lputian, deputy head of the Armenian Chess Federation, said he regretted Aronians decision. This is a big loss for Armenian chess, he told Reuters. The Saint Louis Chess Club said Aronian was relocating to the US city to continue his career and would represent the United States at future competitions. US Chess Federation president Mike Hoffpauir said the organization would welcome Aronian pending the approval of the International Chess Federation (Fide). The US Chess Federation welcomes the news of Super GM Levon Aronians intent to relocate to the United States, Hoffpauir said in a statement. Until such time that he is living in the United States, the US Chess Federation has no jurisdiction with regard to his status with Fide. As with all transfer matters, the US Chess Federation does not allow for inviting or paying for the transfer of any player. Our role is to process the players administrative paperwork as required by Fide. Fide told Reuters it could not comment on Aronians intentions and plans. A player can represent the country/federations where he resides, Fide said. That doesnt necessarily imply that he changes his nationality. Aronians move follows political unrest in Armenia, where prime minister Nikol Pashinyan condemned what he said was an attempted coup on Thursday after the army demanded he quit. Should Fide approve the transfer, Aronian would become the fifth American in the top 20 of the current Fide world rankings, joining No 2 Fabiano Caruana, No 9 Wesley So, No 14 Leinier Dominguez and No 19 Hikaru Nakamura. OAKLAND, Calif., March 2, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Practicing attorney Shanti Brien addresses criminal justice reform in her debut memoir Almost Innocent: From Searching to Saved in America's Criminal Justice System (Amplify Publishing; March 2, 2021). A groundbreaking insider's account of the messy, tragic, and often unjust legal system in America, Almost Innocent outlines the human impact of the criminal justice system and illuminates one of the most urgent issues of our time. Cover image of "Almost Innocent: From Searching to Saved in America's Criminal Justice System" by Shanti Brien. Courtesy of Amplify Publishing. Shanti Brien has spent her professional career in criminal defense, specializing in appeals and post-conviction proceedings. In Almost Innocent, she details the stories of nine of her clients and goes behind the headlines to break down the dichotomies our country grapples withus versus them, good versus bad, guilt versus innocence, Black versus Whiteand challenges us to explore the humanity in between. Though her clients' profiles are as individual as their sentencesthe teenage gang member whose gun never fired, the victim of the world's most vindictive homeowners' association, the soft-spoken three-strikes rapist, and the single mother turned get-away driverthey all touched her life in surprising ways. They saved her from stupid mistakes; strengthened her NFL-ravaged marriage; and taught her about humility, redemption, and humanity. Shanti Brien's story is a "deft but humble investigation into who is worthy of compassion and where justice may have lost its way" (Kelly Corrigan). Part memoir, part political commentary, Almost Innocent is a "compelling, thought-provoking work that shies away from easy answers to questions of right or wrong" (Kirkus Reviews) and is "sure to capture the attention of anyone vested in living in a country of truly equal and just laws" (BlueInk Review). This book is an intimate portrait of the criminal justice system that offers suggestions for what it could be: more fair, more humane, and more just. Almost Innocent is available everywhere books are sold, and Shanti Brien is available for interviews, features, and virtual events. She is also the co-founder of Fogbreak Justice , an education and consulting company with the mission to transform the criminal justice system through experiences that reduce bias, promote fairness, build community trust, and create equity. SOURCE Amplify Publishing Spain is considering its own 'green corridor' for vaccinated Britons to allow them to visit this summer if there is no EU agreement on vaccine passports, the country's tourism minister has said. Fernando Valdes said his government is in talks with the UK about making travel easier between the two countries in time for the summer holidays. Meanwhile, UK tourists with vaccine passports could be allowed to skip lengthy queues at the Greek border if international travel resumes this summer, officials said. Mr Valdes said Spain is seeking to find an agreement with the EU to allow tourism to restart - but if that does not work, the country will open bilateral talks with non-EU countries. Spain is considering its own 'green corridor' for vaccinated Britons to allow holidaymakers to visit this summer if there is no EU agreement on vaccine passports, the country's tourism minister has said 'Right now we have discussions with our colleagues in the UK,' Valdes told Bloomberg TV. 'For us the British market is our main market. But obviously since we are a member of the European Union, the solutions have first to be part of the discussions with the EU. 'And obviously if that cannot be reached, we will be thinking of other corridors like green corridors with third countries that can help us restart tourism flows.' Meanwhile, in Greece, officials said British holidaymakers who can prove they have been jabbed will be allowed straight through customs, bypassing others who will have to wait for Covid tests. The scheme could be up and running by May, the earliest possible date that Britons might be allowed to travel following the results of a government consultation. The news comes after UK's health secretary Matt Hancock yesterday confirmed discussions about vaccine passports with other countries and the EU. 'We are absolutely working with our international partners on the need for certification in terms of having had a vaccine to be able to travel to another country,' he said, adding that the 'EU is part of those discussions'. Britons who book holidays to Greece and arrive with 'vaccine passports' could be allowed to skip queues of people who have 'only' taken Covid tests (file image) British and Greek teams are at an 'advanced stage' of talks over the system, Greek officials told The Sun. Greece has been pushing European leaders to adopt vaccine passports, allowing those with jabs to travel internationally, since at least the start of the year. In mid-January, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis urged EU members to 'urgently' consider such a system and how it would be implemented. Mr Mitsotakis insisted that vaccines would not be mandatory for travel, but that those with vaccination certificates should be allowed to come and go freely. Those who have not been vaccinated would require extra checks - such as testing - before being allowed to travel. Deputy Prime Minister Akis Skertsos expanded on the idea last week, saying that the process for non-vaccinated tourists would be 'slower'. They would likely have to be tested either before departure or on arrival and may have to self-isolate for a period of time, he suggested to the BBC. Haris Theoharis later added that all British tourists, whether vaccinated or not, would be welcome to come to Greece once international travel resumes. But those without vaccines would face a combination of PCR and rapid antigen testing in order to enter, he said. Haris Theoharis, Greek tourism minister, says the scheme could be up and running by May - the first date when Britons could be allowed to travel as the government eases restrictions 'We'll try to dovetail with the plan that has been announced in the UK,' Theoharis added in an interview with the Guardian. 'A date of 17 May has been set and we certainly want to be ready by then. The roadmap was a very, very good move by the UK government planning is a pre-requisite for the travel industry.' Non-essential travel is currently barred across much of the EU, with no sign that rules will be lifted soon amid a slow vaccine roll-out. But Greece, whose economy is heavily reliant on tourism, has been in talks with countries that have much faster vaccination programmes in the hopes of salvaging its summer season - after 2020 was largely written off. Greek ministers have already agreed that vaccinated Israeli citizens will be allowed to travel freely to the country once international travel resumes. Israel is running the world's fastest vaccination programme with 55 per cent of its population given at least one dose - compared to five per cent in the EU. Prime Minister Boris Johnson has outlined a roadmap out of lockdown for Britain as the country's vaccine programme gathers pace - with around 30 per cent of the population given at least one dose. While Mr Johnson's plan did not include a firm date for international travel to restart, he suggested that it could happen on May 17 as some other measures - including socialising indoors and indoor events such as theatre - are relaxed. The UK is now reporting around 6,000 coronavirus cases per day, its lowest infection rate since September and down around 50 per cent on a week-by-week basis. Deaths have also dropped rapidly, down around 40 per cent week-on-week and at also their lowest level since September last year. WILLIAMSTOWN Three top national politics reporters will discuss the status of women in politics at a Williams College event Wednesday that is free and open to the public. Maggie Haberman, a Pulitzer Prize-winning White House correspondent for The New York Times, and Yamiche Alcindor, an NBC and MSNBC political contributor will participate in a conversation moderated by Michel Martin, the Emmy Award-winning weekend host of NPRs All Things Considered. The discussion runs from 7:30-8:45 p.m. Wednesday, and members of the public can join via Zoom at https://bit.ly/3b7pLdz with the passcode 156005. Haberman and The Times won the Pulitzer for their coverage of the Donald Trump presidency and alleged Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. Alcindor has reported on how Trumps policies on immigration and working-class people and how police killings affect communities. Martin explored topics surrounding race, religion, gender and family as host of NPRs Tell Me More. The event is sponsored by the Cohan Family Forum Fund and co-sponsored by the Class of 71 Public Affairs Forum, according to a Williams College press release. A 22-year-old man who was arrested today is suspected of storing over 120,000 in his bank account which was stolen by an organised crime gang in a 1.1m fraud. The suspect who has been described as a money mule is the second young man to be arrested as part of Operation PARADE which is being run by the Garda National Economic Crime Bureau (GNECB). He is being held at Naas Garda Station where he is being questioned about his role in the theft. Last month, Independent.ie revealed that a 22-year-old Dublin-based bank employee was the first person to be arrested as part of the massive investigation which targeted a Dublin-based company last November. Senior sources said today that another 14 suspects are due to be arrested in the coming weeks as part of the operation. Fraud squad detectives have recovered around 1.05m of the money that was stolen in the elaborate fraud. An account used by the young Co Kildare man who was arrested today is the only account in which the criminals behind the fraud managed to get away with any money. Over 120,000 had been transferred to this individuals account and by the time that gardai were notified of the situation, a sum of around 50,000 was taken from it before the account was frozen and over 70,000 was recovered, a senior source said. Some of this cash was withdrawn at various financial institutions in west Dublin, including post offices and it is suspected that some of the money was used to make high-end purchases of laptops and phones for the wider criminal organisation, the source added. As part of the same garda investigation, gardai recovered 700,000 in a bank controlled by a Romanian national who is believed to have fled the country and also froze sums in various other accounts. Operation PARADE is an investigation being conducted by GNECB into the theft of approximately 1.1m from a Dublin-based company in November 2020 in an invoice redirect fraud, a garda spokesman said in a statement . The company received an email which they believed to be from a trading company telling them that their bank account was changed and to send the money to a new bank account. In this instance with the co-operation of various banks, approximately 1m of this stolen money was recovered in various other bank accounts, the garda spokesman said. Fraud squad detectives are trying to establish any links between the man in custody today and the bank employee from Lucan who was arrested on February 10 last. The bank employee was released without charge after being questioned at Clondalkin Garda Station but sources say important evidence has already been discovered on one mobile device linked to the suspect and officers are now trying to examine another device which may have even more details about the bank employees suspected involvement. While the bank worker is being investigated for being a possible inside man in relation to the huge theft, the man arrested today is suspected of allowing his bank account to be used by the organised crime gang. Money mule accounts are usually held by unconnected third parties, who are approached by recruiters and asked to allow their accounts be used for a transaction in exchange for a fee of a few hundred euro. Often the fraudsters use students' and young people's bank account details by offering them a fee to allow use of their accounts for a few days. Syracuse, N.Y. Mayor Ben Walsh announced a minor party endorsement Monday as he officially kicked off his campaign for re-election. Walsh has received the backing of the Independence Party of New York. Walsh, who is not registered with a political party, said Monday hell pass independent nominating petitions this spring to create a ballot line for the party. We will put the Independence Party back on the ballot, and my name will be on it, he said. Until recently, the Independence Party had a line on the ballot in New York state. Walsh earned that line on a write-in campaign in 2017 after the party initially backed one of his opponents, Republican Laura Lavine. The party lost its ballot line last year following a raft of changes to state election laws. For now, Walsh will need to collect 1,500 valid signatures from registered city voters starting in April to create the line. No one can sign Walshs petitions if theyve already signed for another candidate. The established parties get to collect their signatures first, beginning this week. That number, however, may change. The state legislature has passed legislation that would lower the independent petition signature threshold from 1,500 to 750. Gov. Andrew Cuomo has not yet signed the bill, though he previously signed a similar measure for the major parties. Candidates seeking an established ballot line (Democrat, Republican, Conservative, Working Families Party) need far fewer signatures. A Democrat needs 300 signatures to get on the ballot; a Republican needs 144; a Conservative needs 10; a Working Families Party candidate needs 7. Walsh said the timing and thresholds for major parties give them an advantage over independent candidates. Walsh is also seeking the Working Families Partys endorsement, along with the two Democratic candidates, Khalid Bey and Michael Greene. That party is expected to announce its candidate this week. The Independence Party bills itself as an organization where independent-minded New Yorkers, and people outside the political extremes, can find a home with those of similar views, according to its website. In his endorsement of Walsh, party Chairman Frank MacKay touted Walshs leadership style as pragmatic and non-partisan. You are the kind of independent-minded leader that embodies the philosophy of the Independence Party, he wrote. Walsh announced the endorsement as he formally launched his reelection campaign during an event at the Westcott Theater. He noted the significance of the location. The last time he hosted an event there was a Dems for Ben press conference during his 2017 mayoral bid, where several Democrats announced they would be backing him. Many of his advisors at the time described that event as the turning point of the 2017 campaign. Walshs 2021 campaign slogan will be keep rising, he said, an allusion to his 2017 theme, rise above. He said he will focus on his administrations fiscal achievements, its handling of the fallout from the Covid-19 pandemic and his solid relationships with higher levels of government. Now is not the time to go back to partisan bickering, to go back to gridlock, he said. Now is the time to double down on what we know is working. And thats what Im here to do. [March 02, 2021] Sanborn Partners with U.S. Geological Survey on Arizona Project Sanborn, in partnership with VeriDaaS Corporation (VeriDaaS), the State of Arizona (Arizona), and the USGS, has developed a public-private partnership to accomplish an aerial lidar survey in Arizona, consisting of approximately 5,033 square miles, including the partial counties of Maricopa and Pinal. Sanborn has been awarded this Task Order (TO) through the Geospatial Product and Service Contracts (GPSC) v3 contract. This particular TO requires the planning, acquisition, processing, and product generation for Quality Level 1 lidar data. The public-private partnership includes local, state, and federal government partners combined with private funding from VeriDaaS. This program marks one of the most recent USGS Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) awarded grants that successfully combines private and public dollars to support the USGS 3DEP mission. This USGS BAA is a successful grant program that facilitates the collection of lidar and derived elevation data for the nation's 3DEP. Recently, the program was opened to include commercial partners as well as government partners. This specific project will suport other federal agencies such as the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the Risk Mapping Analysis and Planning (Risk MAP) program, and many other state and local geospatial analyses. VeriDaaS, a private funding partner for this program, performed data acquisition using its high-density Geiger-Mode Lidar (GML) system. VeriDaaS has developed a Data-as-a-Service (DaaS) business model, called VeriMAP, where they offer clients subscription-based lidar data, acquired at up to 30 ppsm, from this project and its existing repository. About Sanborn Sanborn (www.sanborn.com) is an innovator in the modern geospatial industry, delivering state-of-the-art mapping, visualization and 3D solutions for customers worldwide. Sanborn operates a fleet of aircraft located strategically across the United States. Embracing cutting-edge technology, Sanborn specializes in oblique aerial imagery, aerial and mobile lidar, aerial orthophotography, 3D visualization products, indoor mapping, unmanned aircraft system services and image processing, and a host of geospatial software products. About VeriDaaS VeriDaaS is a Denver-based leading geospatial solutions provider focused on providing data, products, and solutions, based on the highest quality data. VeriDaaS is building a comprehensive US national geospatial data library, through a powerful (DaaS) business model to support customers of a wide range of Government and commercial vertical markets. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210302005409/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] A tragic murder near KCMO was finally put to rest today. Trigger warning for these horrific deets . . . Kevin Hurley, 62, was convicted of second-degree murder on December 16, 2020. A judge announced his sentence today, March 2. Brandy K. Helbock-Castaneda was reported missing on Dec. 5, 2015. Her body was found naked in the trash bag on Jan. 8, 2016 by waste collectors. The medical examiner ruled the cause of death was blunt force trauma. It was apparent that she was beaten to death. Links . . . Fox4: Man sentenced to 20 years for murdering Kansas City woman in 2015 KMBC: KC man sentenced to 20 years in prison for murder of Brandy K. Helbock-Castaneda OTTAWA The Trudeau government is escalating its concern about the Manitoba Metis Federation being excluded from the provinces COVID-19 vaccine task force, as the MMF starts trying to cut deals with manufacturers. OTTAWA The Trudeau government is escalating its concern about the Manitoba Metis Federation being excluded from the provinces COVID-19 vaccine task force, as the MMF starts trying to cut deals with manufacturers. "It is unfortunate that significant issues appear to remain with regards to the vaccine distribution process in Manitoba notably the issue of equal access for all Indigenous populations," Liberal cabinet minister (and Winnipeg MP) Dan Vandal wrote in a Sunday letter to Premier Brian Pallister. "I believe we can agree that it should not take an outbreak among Metis and Inuit populations before greater vaccine access is granted, and that these discussions should not be taking place through media negotiations. " Manitoba invited First Nations leaders and doctors to join the provinces vaccine task force, which decides on priority groups and logistics, around Christmas. The province had also signed a data-sharing agreement with First Nations in April, showing much more severe COVID-19 outcomes than the general population. The MMF and the province both blame each other for not coming to a similar agreement, with each side saying they failed to respond to correspondence. The MMF and Pallister have quarrelled over multiple issues since 2018. Yet, there are as many as 125,000 Metis people in Manitoba who are not currently prioritized for vaccines, as well as a much smaller cohort of Inuit people. Thats despite a federal advisory panel of scientists urging provinces for months to prioritize all Indigenous people, which the Trudeau government has echoed. MMF president David Chartrand shared the letter with the Free Press on Monday. "I do appreciate them pushing a little harder," Chartrand said. "The other provinces in the Prairies are taking heed to it, so why arent you?" Vandal raised the issue in a letter six weeks ago, and wrote another Sunday asking to meet with the premier, saying it appears meetings with his ministers have not fixed the issue. The MMF has said the province at one point asked it to provide a physician in order to join the task force, instead of a logistics technician, though the province has never confirmed this. The premiers office responded Monday that Manitobas prioritization is set by the vaccine task force the very body the MMF is trying to join. "We prefer to respond to inter-governmental correspondence through the proper channels, not through the media. However, I would remind you and your readers that vaccine criteria and priority lists are determined by Manitobas vaccine task force and our public health leaders, not elected officials," wrote spokeswoman Olivia Billson. Provincial officials have instead invited the MMF to partake in side committees that focus on messaging around vaccine hesitancy, and a separate committee to examine the logistics of reaching Metis communities which Chartrand said was akin to "the kiddie table." Thats why the MMF has started contacting vaccine manufacturers directly, asking to ink deals as a sovereign government. Chartrand said he spoke Monday with Pfizer Canada senior manager Bob Dawson, and the company noted a scarcity of doses worldwide. "We had a good discussion about whats happened with the Metis people in Manitoba," Chartrand said. "They said they wanted the medicine to reach every citizen that needs it." The Canadian government has purchased more doses of COVID-19 vaccine per capita than any other country, and provinces have been stymied in their own attempts to convince the main manufacturers to sign separate deals. dylan.robertson@freepress.mb.ca The Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said that it was deeply concerned about unreported nuclear material in Iran. The presence of multiple uranium particles of anthropogenic origin is a clear indication that nuclear material and/or equipment contaminated by nuclear material has been present at a location not declared by Iran, IAEA Director-General Rafael Grossi said a virtual meeting on Monday. "In the absence of a technically credible explanation from Iran, the agency is deeply concerned that undeclared nuclear material may have been present at this undeclared location and that such nuclear material remains unreported by Iran under its Safeguards Agreement," Xinhua news agency quoted Grossi as saying. Iran has not answered any of the IAEA's questions relating to the possible presence of nuclear material at three other locations either, he added. Grossi told reporters after the meeting that his agency has lost the additional protocol and "the transparency measures specific to the JCPOA (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action)". "To give you an example, if I wanted to go to a place which is part of a declared site, of which I have doubt, I cannot... It is a huge loss." He emphasised that the agreement he reached with Iran on February 21 is "a temporary technical understanding and that it is compatible with Iranian law". "It is to enable the agency to resume its full verification and monitoring of Iran's nuclear-related commitments under the JCPOA if and when Iran resumes its implementation of those commitments," he said. He told reporters that US President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken have both indicated that "their aspiration is to return to the JCPOA", and are "looking into means and ways to do it", noting it is important to give more time to diplomacy and consultations. "This is going to take time," he said. "I hope they will agree and we are going to be supporting them." The P5+1 countries (China, France, Russia, the UK and the US, plus Germany) negotiated the JCPOA on the Iranian nuclear program in 2015, before Washington under former President Donald Trump withdrew from the nuclear agreement in 2018. As a result of the US' unilateral exit, Iran has surpassed JCPOA-stipulated limits on its uranium enrichment level and on its stockpiles of heavy water and low-enriched uranium. The Islamic Republic has also lifted JCPOA limitations on its nuclear research and development activities. --IANS ksk/ (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.) Organisers of Coventrys 30 million UK City of Culture 2021 festival have no plans to further delay the showcase amid the Covid-19 pandemic as they revealed more details about the packed programme. More information on the host of people-powered artistic and creative events and collaborations were unveiled on Tuesday, including a summer of surprises. The signature event kicking off the 12-month festival will be a performance called Coventry Moves on May 15, involving up to 10,000 people from across the city. Expand Close The Specials frontman Terry Hall is due to perform in the summer (Isabel Infantes/PA) PA / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp The Specials frontman Terry Hall is due to perform in the summer (Isabel Infantes/PA) Chenine Bhathena, creative director, said Covid had meant more focus on extending the reach of the live events catalogue, involving more outdoor spaces across the city, and using television and social media broadcasts. She said: We are working within Government restrictions, looking at what we can do but understanding what it wont be possible to do. But we do intend over the summer to have live events back in the programme but have a strong focus on broadcast and live activity through different media. (We want to) bring people back together again in a socially distanced way, in a way people will feel safe and reassure people, but we know it is possible. Expand Close The BBCs annual three-day poetry and spoken word festival, Contains Strong Language, will be hosted in the city. (BBC/PA) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp The BBCs annual three-day poetry and spoken word festival, Contains Strong Language, will be hosted in the city. (BBC/PA) She said that for the moment theres no intention of delaying or postponing the start of the festival, with the Government saying almost all aspects of society could reopen by June 21. However, Ms Bhathena said organisers were working within the restrictions, pointing out they were able to host an ice rink in Coventry city centre over Christmas which was enjoyed by more than 16,000 people despite very difficult circumstances. The BBC is supporting the festival with a range of national and local television and radio programming, including a community radio takeover of BBC Coventry and Warwickshire Radio. The broadcasters four-day annual poetry and spoken word festival, Contains Strong Language, is also coming to the city in September. I cant think of a better place than Coventry... BBC director-general Tim Davie The BBCs director-general Tim Davie said in a pre-recorded message on Tuesday: To be chosen as the UK City of Culture 2021 is a huge honour and whilst things may run a little differently this year, I cant think of a better place than Coventry to embrace the uniqueness of the event and make it an even bigger reason to celebrate. He added: The BBC will be here to support the city every step of the way, helping to showcase the many talents of a city that is on the move and drawing on its rich history to connect with audiences through the joy and celebration of music, arts, poetry, film, comedy and much, much more. Festival organisers also revealed that the virtual announcement of the literary International Booker Prize winner will come from the city the first time it has ever been announced outside of London in June. The prize is awarded for a book translated into English and published in the UK or Ireland. Expand Close The Turner Prize will be coming to the citys Herbert Museum and Art Gallery. (Coventry UK City of Culture Trust/PA) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp The Turner Prize will be coming to the citys Herbert Museum and Art Gallery. (Coventry UK City of Culture Trust/PA) In October last year, organisers revealed the festivals keynotes, including the arrival in a first for both Coventry and the Midlands of the prestigious Turner Prize, to be hosted at the Herbert Art Gallery and Museum. An exhibition of the shortlisted artists is set to run from September 2021 until January 2022, with the winner announced on December 1. One of the citys most famous sons, The Specials frontman Terry Hall, is also set to be performing live and collaborating with other artists in July. Coventry will also host a 3.5-metre tall mechanically operated puppet named Amal on October 27, which will by then have travelled nearly 5,000 miles across Europe from the Syrian border, to raise awareness about unaccompanied child refugees. There are also dozens of collaborations with city artists, youth and community groups, in visual arts, theatre, music and dance, and literature, covering topics such as history, the environment, race and religion. Expand Close Coventry rapper and grime artist Jay1. (Coventry UK City of Culture Trust/PA) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Coventry rapper and grime artist Jay1. (Coventry UK City of Culture Trust/PA) In August, the CVX Festival featuring music co-produced by rapper and grime artist Jay1, will spread an anti-violence message among young people. Coventry was named City of Culture in 2017 by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), following in the footsteps of Derry-Londonderry and Hull. The trust which has been organising Coventrys showcase announced in summer last year that it was delaying the start of its programme to May 2021 because of the impact and ongoing uncertainty caused by the pandemic. Commenting on the latest announcements, Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden said: Coventry UK City of Culture is shaping up to be truly spectacular. The festival will catapult this fantastic city on to the world stage and offers a fantastic chance to bring people together both in the city and across the UK through innovative events and installations. I look forward to witnessing it first-hand as we build back better from the impact of the pandemic. New Delhi: India is handling the current Doklam standoff in Sikkim sector with maturity, thus, making China look like an adolescent throwing a temper tantrum, and if this escalates Washington might come to support New Delhi, a top US defence expert said. India and China have been locked in a face-off in the Doklam plateau for the last 50 days after Indian troops stopped the Chinese Peoples Liberation Army from building a road in the area. New Delhi has done things right thus far, neither backing away from the dispute nor replying in kind to Beijings over-the-top rhetoric, It is behaving as the mature power and making China look like the adolescent throwing a temper tantrum, Holmes said. Holmes said it was weird that China wanted to keep alive a boundary dispute with its most formidable neighbour. If China wants to pursue an assertive maritime strategy, it needs secure borders on land so it doesnt have to worry about overland aggression from its neighbours, Holmes said. In other words, confronting India in the Himalayas is not a purely rational course of action driven by rational cost/benefit analysis, said the professor from the US Naval War College. When asked why the US has remained silent so far on this issue, he said the current administration has too much on its plate. Its also possible Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his advisers dont want the United States involved in a Himalayan dispute it has little way of influencing. If the dispute escalates, chances are Washington will come out in support of New Delhi, Holmes said. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. 3 Dozen Cases of Spontaneous Miscarriages, Stillbirths Occurring After COVID-19 Vaccination Thirty-four cases of pregnant women experiencing spontaneous miscarriages or stillbirths after receiving a COVID-19 vaccine have been submitted to the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS). VAERS is a passive reporting system that allows people to submit a report of an adverse event after vaccination and is run by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Research funded by the CDC has shown that fewer than 1 percent of reactions from vaccinations are being reported on VAERS. Reports made to VAERS do not necessarily mean that a vaccine caused the event or reaction. Miscarriages are labeled as spontaneous abortions or abortions in the reporting system. Many cases of spontaneous miscarriages occurred in the first trimester, or the first 12 weeks of the pregnancy, with 25 occurrences after being immunized with a Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine. While the four cases of stillborns occurred in either the second (weeks 1327) or third trimester (weeks 2840). According to Verywell Health, an online resource on health-related issues: Research suggests that between 10% and 20% of women with a medically confirmed pregnancy will end in miscarriage. Eighty percent of these will occur during the first trimester. A health worker administers a dose of the Pfizer-BioNtech COVID-19 coronavirus vaccine to a pregnant woman at Clalit Health Services, in Tel Aviv, Israel, on Jan. 23, 2021. (Jack Guez/AFP via Getty Images) In one case, a physician in Tennessee, at five weeks pregnant, suffered a miscarriage 13 days after being immunized with a Pfizer vaccine. The 31-year-old woman had no known allergies or medical history. A 33-year-old Indiana nurse in her third week of pregnancy had a miscarriage five days after receiving her second Pfizer vaccine. She also reported that the adverse event caused a birth defect. And a 32-year-old woman in Virginia who was eight weeks pregnant reported having a miscarriage five days after being injected with the first dose of a Moderna vaccine in January. She had consulted with two obstetrics and gynecologists (OB-GYN) prior to receiving the vaccine on Jan. 14. She experienced abdominal cramping and vaginal bleeding two days later and had a miscarriage on Jan. 19. She had only been taking prenatal vitamins. In Michigan, a 35-year-old woman who was 28 weeks and five days pregnant said that the babys movements decreased two days after her first Pfizer vaccine in December 2020. The woman delivered a stillborn baby weighing two pounds and seven ounces at 29 weeks. She was being closely monitored for an umbilical cord abnormality called velamentous cord insertion. Pfizer and Moderna didnt immediately respond to a request by The Epoch Times for comment. In addition, the FDA didnt immediately reply to The Epoch Times inquiry on whether the regulatory agency will be looking into the VAERS report. An FDA spokesperson told The Epoch Times in an email that their subject matter experts working with vaccines are quite busy at the moment. Dr. Shelley Cole, MD, an OB-GYN and a member of Americas Frontline Doctors, says its concerning that a vaccine still in an experimental phase is being recommended to pregnant and lactating women and that science is no longer protecting them. As an obstetrician-gynecologist, it is a concern, Cole told The Epoch Times. Were [now] throwing science and the scientific medicine method out the window and jeopardizing pregnancies and future pregnancies. It concerns me that the CDC says that there are no studies, but its okay to get it and you dont even need to discuss it with your doctor, Cole said. I mean this is the opposite of everything that the scientific models and methods, and standard of care has been for a century. In its guidance on Vaccination Considerations for People who are Pregnant or Breastfeeding, the CDC says that pregnant or lactating women who are part of a group recommended to receive COVID-19 vaccine, such as healthcare personnel, may choose to be vaccinated and that they are not required to discuss with their doctor prior to vaccination even though there is limited evidence available on the safety of COVID-19 vaccines in this group. There is also no safety data on the effects of mRNA vaccines on the breastfed infant or on milk production/excretion, yet the vaccine is not thought to be a risk to the breastfeeding infant. The Logo of the World Health Organization (WHO) at their headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, on Feb. 24, 2020. (Fabrice Coffrini/AFP via Getty Images) The World Health Organization (WHO), in a news release on Jan. 8, said it does not recommend the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine for pregnant women unless they are at high risk of exposure, such as a health care practitioner. Pregnant women are at higher risk of severe COVID-19 than non-pregnant women, and COVID-19 has been associated with an increased risk of pre-term birth, the WHO said. However, due to insufficient data, WHO does not recommend the vaccination of pregnant women at this time. The WHO initially put out the same recommendation for the Moderna vaccine on Jan. 26, but revised it three days later, saying, We dont have any specific reason to believe there will be specific risks that would outweigh the benefits of vaccination for pregnant women, thus pregnant women in the health care environment or who have comorbidities which add to their risk of severe disease may receive the vaccine. Pregnant or lactating women were excluded from both the Pfizer and Moderna COVID-19 vaccine trials, but Pfizer is currently conducting a phase 2/3 trial on 4,000 healthy, pregnant women who will be given the shots during the second and third trimester. Governmental health agencies and health care personnel who recommend the vaccines claim that pregnant women have an increased risk of severe illness, including illness that results in ICU admission, mechanical ventilation, and death compared with non-pregnant women of reproductive age. Dr. Denise Jamieson, MD, MPH, chair of the Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics at Emory University School of Medicine, recommends pregnant women get the vaccine regardless of what trimester they are in and recognizes that safety data is lacking. If youre a health care worker in a healthcare setting, youre at risk every day, Jamieson told JAMA Network on Feb. 8. So I would advise to get vaccinated soon and not delay regardless of the trimester. I think one of the other things thats really important is just because we think the benefits outweigh the risks, that doesnt let us off the hook in terms of describing the risks, she said. And I think thats one thing that Im concerned about is that, you know, 15,000 women have been vaccinated, pregnant persons have been vaccinated, and yet we really have stunningly little safety information, and thats not okay. Hydroxychloroquine for COVID-19 The current CDC guideline for COVID-19 positive patients is to isolate at home and monitor symptoms while staying hydrated and taking over-the-counter medicines, such as acetaminophen. Medical treatments are only available for hospitalized patients. Colewhile certified in OB-GYN, now focusing only on gynecologyhas treated over 550 patients with COVID-19, and says she understands the fear pregnant women may have of contracting a severe illness from COVID-19. But she disagrees with the CDC, saying people have the option of being treated early with hydroxychloroquine instead of waiting until the disease progresses requiring hospitalization. She also recommends taking 1000 milligrams of vitamin C twice a day and 2000 to 5000, international units a day of vitamin D to help strengthen the immune system. Individuals should discuss with their physician before taking the supplements. So it is scary, it is scary, but the vast majority of women that are pregnant are under the age of 40, the death rate is extremely low, Cole said. And people do not have to go to the hospital if theyre treated early, or if they use early prevention. Now hydroxychloroquine is safe to use in pregnant women, its safe to use in any age group, its safe to use in breastfeeding women, she added. Hydroxychloroquine is an FDA-approved medication in use for 65 years to treat lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, and malaria. It is prescribed to various groups of people including pregnant or lactating women, children, and immune-compromised individuals. A map of where hydroxychloroquine is currently being used around the world for COVID-19 on March 1, 2021. (Courtesy of c19study.org) The politicization of the drug continues to overshadow studies that show hydroxychloroquine is safe and effective in treating COVID-19. According to c19study.com that tracks clinical trials on hydroxychloroquine around the world, all 27 hydroxychloroquine studies on early treatment reported a positive effect and an estimated reduction of 65 percent in the effect measured (death, hospitalization, etc.) However, the drug is not effective when used very late with high doses over a long period. The FDA says hydroxychloroquine is not approved for the treatment of COVID-19. Vaccine manufacturers that were granted an emergency authorization from the FDA are given immunity from liability for any adverse event that may be experienced after receiving a COVID-19 vaccine. Individuals injured from the vaccine must file a claim within one year and prove their injury under the Countermeasure Injury Compensation Program, established as a result of the Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness Act (pdf) in 2005. 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. Children across China participated in various themed activities, including sports challenges and parent-child games, over the last few days to celebrate the International Childrens Day, which falls on Tuesday this year. China established the day in 1949 and made it a full-day holiday for children under 14 in 1956 as an occasion to celebrate the spirit of youth Jun 01, 2021 05:38 PM The execution of the general consolidated budget in January 2021 ended with a deficit of 0.3% of the GDP, Finance Minister Alexandru Nazare told a conference on Tuesday, according to AGERPRES. "The budget execution will be published today. It is not a deficit of 0.5% of the GDP. It is indeed a deficit of 0.3% of the GDP, but you will notice when it is published that we have an increase in revenue of 5.9%. There are also good things in this execution and it is not significantly different from the January 2020 execution ... January is a normal month, which obviously gives me hope that we are on the right track," said Alexandru Nazare, at the debate "Romania's Digitalization, utmost priority", organized by DC News Media Group. Asked which institutions should be digitized urgently, he mentioned the Ministry of Finance and the National Tax Administration Agency (ANAF), stating that this process is absolutely necessary. The execution of the general consolidated budget in January 2020 ended with a deficit of 460 million lei (0.04% of the GDP), according to the data of the Ministry of Public Finance. In January 2019, a surplus of 700 million lei was registered, respectively 0.07% of the GDP. People's Party Chairman Ahn Cheol-soo, a candidate for the Seoul mayoral by-election, visits the European Chamber of Commerce in Korea (ECCK) in Seoul, Monday. Yonhap By Do Je-hae After minor opposition People's Party Chairman Ahn Cheol-soo was confirmed Monday as the winner of a third-party primary for the April 7 Seoul mayoral by-election, all eyes are now on whether it will be possible for Ahn and the main opposition People Power Party (PPP) to field a single candidate as he has been suggesting. But it is widely predicted the discussion to field a single candidate to represent the opposition bloc will not be easy, as the People's Party and the PPP differ on how to select one, with each preferring a method that favors their own candidate Ahn, who beat former ruling party lawmaker Keum Tae-sup in a public poll, said he will meet with the winner of the PPP's primary as soon as possible to enter into negotiations for a "unified candidate." "The process for selecting the final candidate should be carried out quickly," Ahn said on Facebook. "I will meet with the candidate of the PPP as soon as the selection process is over." The PPP will announce its final candidate Thursday. Former Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon and former PPP floor leader Na Kyung-won are the leading contenders. Some of the latest opinion polls show that Ahn, an entrepreneur-turned-politician, is gaining more support than Na and Oh. A survey released Monday by PNR Research showed that 42.4 percent of respondents supported Ahn outstripping the 26.2 percent who favored Na. Ahn was also ahead of Oh with 41.1 percent to 26.1 percent. The two parties are engaging in a war of nerves over creating the rules for a single candidacy. The Ahn camp wants a survey to find out which candidate will be most competitive against the candidate from the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK). But the PPP wants a survey to seek people's opinions on which party is more competitive. The two are also at odds over whether the two parties should merge. PPP interim chief Kim Chong-in and some other members of the party leadership insist that even if Ahn becomes the final candidate representing the opposition bloc he should be the PPP candidate. "The opposition bloc can't win the election if a member of a third party (other than the DPK and the PPP) becomes the candidate," Kim told reporters, Tuesday. He added, according to the Election Law, the PPP won't be able to campaign on behalf of the People's Party. The unified candidate to be selected from the opposition bloc will run against former SMEs and Startups Minister Park Young-sun, a five-term lawmaker who has been confirmed as the candidate for the DPK. The survey, conducted Feb. 28, was conducted at the request of Money Today, Research Center for Future Korea, and Gyeongnam Maeil. For more information, visit the website of the National Election Survey Deliberation Commission. PHILADELPHIA and ATHENS, Greece, March 02, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Hill International, Inc. (NYSE:HIL), the global leader in managing construction risk, announced today it was awarded a contract by LAMDA Development to provide Project Management Consulting (PMC) services for the Infrastructure and Landscape Program of the Hellinikon Project, Europes largest waterfront urban regeneration program. Following an international privatization process, LAMDA Development, through its fully owned subsidiary Hellinikon Global Investors 1 S.A., was selected as the Preferred Investor for the acquisition of 100% of Hellinikon S.A. Hellinikon S.A. owns the redevelopment and operational rights for the site of the former Athens International Airport and the additional adjacent plots that comprise the site for the project. The Hellinikon is located just 8 km southwest of Athens city center and comprises an area of approximately 6.2 million square meters (620 hectares). For comparison, the site is three times the size of Monaco, and enjoys a magnificent 3.5 km waterfront along the Athenian coastline as well as a marina. Inspired by LAMDA Development and master-planned by internationally acclaimed design firm Foster & Partners, the Hellinikon Project is a mega development with a total planned investment of more than 8 billion ($9.5 billion), with work planned in phases over the next 15 years. LAMDAs vision for the Hellinikon is to create a landmark destination for Athens anchored by a world-class park fostering sustainability, enhancing connectivity, and transforming the waterfront through integration with the park. The overall built area of the project will be circa 2.7 million square meters in gross floor area (GFA). Essentially, the Hellinikon will realize a new city within the city and once complete will include a spectrum of uses and typologies, including residential, hospitality, cultural, educational, healthcare, and others. The heart of the Hellinikon will be the Metropolitan Park, rivalling Londons Hyde Park and New York Citys Central Park in size, beauty, and functionality. At more than 2 million square meters, Metropolitan Park will connect the sea front with Hymettus mountain through fixed-track transport. This will provide direct access to the park and to the sea front from all over the Attica basin. The developments Infrastructure & Landscape Program also involves the construction of all new roadworks and utility networks, the development of the Metropolitan Park and other open areas, 50 km of pedestrian and bicycle paths, marine works to upgrade the waterfront, the creation of a 1 km long public beach, new solid waste management and wastewater management plants, associated flood protection, and other works. Hellinikon is Greeces Project of Projects says Manolis Sigalas, Hill Vice President & Managing Director for Southern Europe. The planning and implementation of this infrastructure program is absolutely key for the success of the overall development and, simply put, our mission is to work hard to help the project and LAMDA succeed. We are delighted and honored to have been selected as the PMC on this program says Hill Chief Executive Officer Raouf Ghali. Hill has managed mega master-planned developments around the world and has a distinctive operational presence in Greece. We are confident our teams capabilities and the best practices we bring will enable us to be a valuable partner to LAMDA for delivering the Hellinikons infrastructure program and beyond. About Hill International Hill International, with approximately 2,700 professionals in more than 69 offices worldwide, provides program management, project management, construction management, and other consulting services to clients in a variety of market sectors. Engineering News-Record magazine recently ranked Hill as the eighth-largest construction management firm in the United States. For more information on Hill, please visit our website at www.hillintl.com. Forward Looking Statements Certain statements contained herein may be considered "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, and it is our intent that any such statements be protected by the safe harbor created thereby. Except for historical information, the matters set forth herein including, but not limited to, any statements of belief or intent, any statements concerning our plans, strategies, and objectives for future operations are forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are based on our current expectations, estimates and assumptions and are subject to certain risks and uncertainties. Although we believe that the expectations, estimates, and assumptions reflected in our forward-looking statements are reasonable, actual results could differ materially from those projected or assumed in any of our forward-looking statements. Important factors that could cause our actual results to differ materially from estimates or projections contained in our forward-looking statements are set forth in the Risk Factors section and elsewhere in the reports we have filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including that unfavorable global economic conditions may adversely impact our business, our backlog may not be fully realized as revenue, and our expenses may be higher than anticipated. We do not intend, and undertake no obligation, to update any forward-looking statement. Hill International, Inc. Elizabeth J. Zipf, LEED AP BD+C Senior Vice President (215) 309-7707 elizabethzipf@hillintl.com The Equity Group, Inc. Devin Sullivan Senior Vice President (212) 836-9608 dsullivan@equityny.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. Gardai have arrested a 30-year-old petty criminal who threw a firework at gardai during Saturdays anti-lockdown riot in Dublin city centre. The Dun Laoghaire man is being held at Irishtown Garda Station after his arrest this morning. Gardai said in a statement that he is in custody and is currently detained under Section 30 of the Offences Against the State Act, 1939. Before his arrest this morning, the suspect was last seen by gardai on Saturday in the city centre running at speed shortly after the firework incident which in which gardai were lucky not to be seriously injured. A manhunt had been in place for the south Dublin man since Saturday and two properties were raided in the Dun Laoghaire area on Monday morning when members of the Armed Support Unit backed up investigating gardai to carry out early morning searches of the homes. However the suspect, who is previously known to gardai, was not present in either property yesterday. A photograph of the suspect was widely distributed among gardai on Saturday night and it is likely that he could face a number of serious charges including a reckless endangerment charge in relation to the incident. Senior sources say that gardai expect to make a number of other arrests in relation to Saturdays ugly protest. A massive investigation is ongoing into the riot which happened at an anti-lockdown protest in Dublin city centre on Saturday which led to three gardai being injured, 23 people being arrested and 13 people being charged with public order offences including a 68-year-old Shankill based dentist. Garda Commissioner Drew Harris is to meet garda representatives tommorow over a violent protest that took place in Dublin city centre at the weekend. Read More In a statement released yesterday, An Garda Siochana said: "The Commissioner is meeting with the GRA and AGSI on Wednesday on a number of matters including the violent protest on Saturday." The Garda Representative Association had earlier requested an urgent meeting with the commissioner and Minister for Justice to discuss the type of risk and injury that members were exposed to on Saturday. A total of 125 gardai including multiple public order units from across the city were present in the city centre to police the protest. Saturdays protest was organised online by a group called RiseUp Eireann who called it a "Unite the Tribes" event and in the aftermath of the shocking violence, the group took to social media to announce that the demonstration was a success. Heranba Industries will finalise the share allotment of its initial public offering (IPO) today. Investors who had bid for the issue can check allotment status on the online portal of Bigshare Services, the registrar to the issue. Applicants can also check their allotment status on the BSE website. Shares of the Gujarat-based agrichemicals manufacturer are expected to be listed on BSE and NSE on March 5. Ahead of listing on bourses, there was surge in demand for Heranba Industries shares in the grey market. The shares were trading at a premium of Rs 255 over the IPO price in the grey market as of Tuesday, indicating premium listing at bourses. This amounts to a 41 per cent premium over the issue price. Here are four easy steps to check your allotment status for Heranba Industries IPO on Bigshare Services website: Go to the online portal Click on the drop-down menu and select the company name as Heranba Industries in the drop-down menu of the investors' centre section. Enter your Permanent Account Numbers (PAN) or application number or Client ID. After entering the given captcha code, investors can click on submit button and view their allotment status. On BSE Applicants can also check their IPO allotment status on the BSE website Select Equity and then from the dropdown, select issue name - Heranba Industries Enter your Permanent Account Numbers (PAN) or application number and click Search Through the application status, investors can see the number of shares subscribed during the IPO, and the shares allotted on the page. The Rs 625-crore IPO of Heranba Industries, which closed on February 25, was subscribed 83.3 times. The IPO received overwhelming response from qualified institutional buyers as well as retail investors. The quota for qualified institutional buyers was subscribed 67.4 times, while portion for retail investors was subscribed 11.84 times. The shares were available in a price band of Rs 626-627 per share. The issue comprised fresh issue of shares worth up to Rs 60 crore and an offer for sale (OFS) of up to 90.15 lakh (90,15,000) equity shares, where investors can bid in the lot of 23 equity shares and multiples thereof. The company collected Rs 187.50 crore from 18 anchor investors. Also read: Heranba IPO opens today: Key things to know before you subscribe Also read: MTAR Technologies IPO to open tomorrow: 10 things to know about the share sale The Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine is now in the spotlight days after the FDA grants emergency authorization as the New Orleans Archdiocese declared to the Catholics that the coronavirus vaccine is morally 'compromised.' Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 Vaccine Receives Backlash from Church According to The Hill, the New Orleans Archdiocese asked Catholics to avoid it if there will be a choice as they cited concerns regarding the usage of cells with distant ties to abortion in the development and production of the vaccine. In the issued statement of the New Orleans Archdiocese on Friday, February 26, the archdiocese shared that as the decision regarding whether to get a vaccine is an individual choice, they emphasized that the latest vaccine developed by Janssen/Johnson & Johnson is morally compromised. They also added that they even use it in the testing. The statement also added that the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine somehow follow the same idea with numerous COVID-19 vaccine manufacturers that used cells originally derived from a tissue of an aborted fetus in the 1970s, but the vaccine produced by Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech used cell lines only to test their vaccines, making the connection to abortion extremely remote. As they argue, the new Johnson Johnson COVID 19 vaccine was granted for emergency use by the FDA over the weekend reported by NBC News. As such, the authors argue that Catholics in the locality should opt for the vaccines made by Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna if they will be given a choice. Read also: Pfizer's COVID-19 Vaccine May Not Work Well on Obese People, Study Claims Moreover, the decision and statement released by the New Orleans Archdiocese have the potential to impact the distribution of the vaccine as a number of houses of worship which include Catholic churches currently serve as vaccination centers, as so many faith-affiliated organizations. Meanwhile, it is still not clear whether any Catholic organizations that answer to the archdiocese are participating in the roll-out of the vaccine in New Orleans, the spokesperson of the New Orleans Archdiocese mentioned that the Archdiocese of New Orleans is asking all Catholic entities to distribute vaccines based on the ethical guidelines that they have released. In addition, the spokesperson of the office of LaToya Cantrell who is the mayor of the city of New Orleans declined to make any comment.On the other hand, at least one leader from one of the Catholic entities has argued that even the vaccines produced by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna are 'produced immorally.' Bishop Joseph Strickland has stated that the vaccine makers also used cells that must be rejected as well. The New Orleans Archdiocese also insisted that the decision is informed by guidance from the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops and the Vatican. However, the mentioned institutions have not yet issued any statement that discourages the use of the new Johnson & Johnson vaccine. In addition, the spokesperson of the archdiocese stated that the decision was also informed by a conversation together with the National Catholic Bioethics Center. The said statement is part of the longstanding debate regarding the usage of what they refer to as the HEK293 cells, which can be traced back to their origins to an aborted fetus from the 1970s based on the reports, Religion News Service reported. Related article: J&J's Single-Dose COVID Vaccine Receives FDA Advisers Backing @ 2021 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. In the year that has passed since New York confirmed its first case, COVID-19 has taken the lives of more than 38,000 people in the state, a once-in-a-century crisis that will shape policy and public debate for years to come. In the eyes of many, the pandemic has served as a reality check, exposing deep-rooted inequities in care. But a health emergency of this magnitude has also functioned as a stress test, one that New Yorks hospital system did well to withstand. The state confirmed its first COVID-19 case a Manhattan woman who had recently returned from Iran on March 1, 2020. By March 24, New York City was registering more daily per capita cases than Italy, where reports of hospitals buckling amid a surge in critically ill patients rattled policymakers around the world. Under an emergency order from the governor, hospitals across the state were already scaling up capacity. The Javits Center in Midtown Manhattan was converted into a field hospital, and the federal government dispatched a Navy hospital ship. But initial fears that the hospital infrastructure and even its financing might collapse under the crush of a patient influx were never borne out. At the peak of the first wave, 799 New Yorkers died on April 8, but most of the newly assembled surge capacity went unused. The system, to be sure, came under considerable strain. At the end of March, it was reported that Elmhurst Hospital Center in Queens was operating at 125% of its capacity. But while that facility was struggling to deal with the surge in patients, not far away others had vacant beds. One of the first things that the pandemic exposed, in fact, was the atomization of the states health system. A more coordinated system, one operating under central management, like the National Health Service in the United Kingdom, could have served the city better at the peak of the crisis. You could have told people who work in upstate hospitals, Please report to duty in Queens, said Bill Hammond, a senior fellow for health policy at the Empire Center for Public Policy. You could have told people in Manhattan, Please report to duty in Queens. You could have told ambulances to stop going to Queens, go to Manhattan. But what the system lacked in coordination it made up for in spare capacity. Before the pandemic, New York City had around 30 intensive care unit beds per 100,000 inhabitants below the national average of 36, but much higher than peer countries like the United Kingdom (8) and France (11). Over the past year, European governments have cited overburdened ICUs as a factor in imposing lockdowns, which in many cases have lasted longer and been more stringent than those in the United States. If you look at England, if you look at Italy even France, in some cases the hospitals have just run up against capacity, and that hasn't really been such a huge crisis here, said Chris Pope, a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute, a conservative think tank. In a sense, this is the flipside of our usually very high hospital costs. What the system lacked in coordination it made up for in spare capacity. The United States spends much more on health care than any other country: $7,164 per capita, compared with $3,867 in Canada and $3,222 in the United Kingdom. While many would argue that health care in the United States is too expensive and hospital costs inflated that slack in the system proved to be a silver lining during the pandemic. It is known that single-payer systems tend to lean out the health care system to its bare minimum and there is not enough economic elasticity to deal with emergencies, said Kenneth Raske, president of the Greater New York Hospital Association. According to Raske, the major hospital networks in the New York metropolitan area, which are often maligned by critics of the privatized system, handled 80% of COVID-19 patients during the peak of the pandemic. They were able to do so, he said, by drawing on their financial cushion to cover additional personnel and equipment expenses. But if the private model contributed to the ability of hospitals to flex their capacity during the pandemic, it also bears some blame for the inequitable distribution of that capability. Over the past 20 years, more than 40 community hospitals have closed across New York state, the majority in low-income neighborhoods. Reimbursements to providers are lower for Medicaid and uninsured patients, and advocates for equity in health care blame the uneven allocation of resources and the long-term trends towards downsizing and consolidation on market forces taking precedence over government planning. If you are a hospital executive trying to make sure that your system doesn't lose money in fact, maybe even makes some money your incentive is to locate the beds in the places where revenues will be higher, said Lois Uttley, the womens health program director at Community Catalyst, a national advocacy organization. Disparities in health care, moreover, are not limited to the distribution of ICU beds, and the ability of hospitals to rise to the challenge of a rare mass casualty event is only one measure of a systems overall strength. Because the coronavirus poses a graver threat to those with preexisting conditions, population health is a critical factor in assessing how well a system has acquitted itself during a pandemic. The relative dearth of investment in primary and preventative care in poor neighborhoods raises questions about the way New Yorks health care system is organized, irrespective of the payment model under which it functions. I think the pandemic proved that New York needs community doctors who know the patients, are from their neighborhoods and speak their language, said Dr. Ramon Tallaj, chair of the board of Somos Community Care, a network of health clinics. Barriers to primary care, which disproportionately impact communities of color, can lead to disparate health outcomes. Higher rates of chronic disease, such as obesity, hypertension and diabetes, have likely contributed to the greater toll that the pandemic has exacted on those communities. I think the pandemic proved that New York needs community doctors who know the patients, are from their neighborhoods and speak their language. Dr. Ramon Tallaj, chair of the board, Somos Community Care. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, between March 1, 2020 and Jan. 23, 2021, the rate of hospitalization per 100,000 people for COVID-19 in the United States was 775.2 for Hispanics, 689.1 for non-Hispanic Blacks, and 239 for non-Hispanic whites. Let's follow the data and put resources into these areas to make care more accessible, said C. Virginia Fields, the founder and CEO of National Black Leadership Commission on Health. If, for example, you have a large number of people in a given zip code known to have preexisting conditions, such as diabetes, are there specialists there or do they have to go so far out of their community to see doctors? Fields, who served as Manhattan borough president from 1998 to 2005, said that medical facilities could be lured to underserved areas through incentives, similar to the way empowerment zones attract businesses to communities suffering from disinvestment. Some advocates argue that the government should be more forceful in compelling networks to expand their footprint into underserved areas. The private health systems in New York provide a lot of really excellent care, and in some cases have been among the leaders in providing care to COVID-19 patients, but we need better regulation and oversight of those systems to help encourage their investment in communities that are underserved, Uttley said. But large networks have been reluctant to take on the financial risk of extending into areas where the payer mix includes fewer people with commercial insurance, and consolidation in recent years has increased their leverage. Richard Gottfried, chair of the Assembly Health Committee, told City & State it was a constant uphill fight getting the major hospital systems to take on more low-income patients. We would not have to fight that fight or certainly nowhere near as much if the poor persons gallbladder was worth as much as the rich persons gallbladder, Gottfried said. If the plan that covers rich people also covered low-income people, then the doctors and hospitals that take care of low-income people would not need special funding. Federal and state policy must provide adequate reimbursement for inner city hospitals, as well as hospitals that are in challenged communities, and it is because of the lack of adequate reimbursement that we have the problems with those institutions. Kenneth Raske, president, Greater New York Hospital Association. Gottfried is known for being the Legislatures leading proponent of the New York Health Act, which would establish a single-payer system in the state. Gov. Andrew Cuomo has opposed the bill, but Gottfried expressed optimism that a new class of progressive legislators in Albany was going to be an enormous boost for his cause. New York City Council Member Carlina Rivera, who chairs the Committee on Hospitals and supports the bill, told City & State that systemic racism and injustice have been allowed to fester in our states health care system. I do think its New Yorks responsibility to lead the way on this, she said. I think there are big systemic problems that will take a lot of time to fix. Raske, for his part, acknowledged the need to invest more resources in underserved areas, but cautioned that it would be a mistake to throw out the good aspects of our health care system. Federal and state policy must provide adequate reimbursement for inner city hospitals, as well as hospitals that are in challenged communities, and it is because of the lack of adequate reimbursement that we have the problems with those institutions, he said. Since U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders built a progressive grassroots movement during the 2016 presidential campaign, support for a single-payer health system has grown on the left. Racial inequities laid bare by the pandemic, moreover, have galvanized social justice activists in New York and across the country. At the same time, appreciation for health care workers and hospitals in general has also risen in the country. Sometimes in the past, hospitals were not necessarily viewed as well as they are now as not only a community resource, but the baseline defense for public health, Raske said. So, our political stock has been raised enormously, and I think all elected officials across the United States are recognizing that. The Round Tower at the ancient monastic site of Clonmacnoise has been selected as Offaly's Favourite Building. The selection follows voting by thousands of readers from an initial list of 50 buildings which was narrowed down to a shortlist of five and published in last week's Tribune. The tower, known as O'Rourke's Tower, forms part of an extensive site that includes the ruins of a cathedral, seven churches, two round towers, three high crosses and a large collection of Early Christian grave slabs. Most of the churches have recently undergone comprehensive conservation works, mostly re-pointing, with the Nun's Church (about 1 km off site), currently under wraps while it too undergoes the same process. O'Rourke's Tower is named after 10th-century Connacht king Fergal O'Rourke. The Chronicum Scotorum records that it was finished in 1124 by Turlough O'Connor, king of Connacht, and Gilla Christ Ua Maoileoin, abbot of Clonmacnoise. Eleven years later it was struck by lightning which knocked off the head of the tower. The upper part of the tower is later work, so there is some speculation that the masonry thus toppled in the storm of 1135 may have been reused in the building of McCarthy's Tower. The other buildings on the shortlist for Offaly's favourite were Durrow Abbey, Dan and Molly's public house in Ballyboy, the old post office in Tullamore and Charleville Castle, also in Tullamore. Clonmacnoise The monastic settlement at Clonmacnoise was founded by Saint Ciaran the Younger, from present day Co. Roscommon, in the mid sixth century. The monastery was established at the point where the major eastwest land route through the bogs of central Ireland along the Eiscir Riada, an esker left by the receding glaciers of the last ice age crossed the River Shannon. The first church was a small wooden structure and the first of many small churches to be clustered on the site. In September 549, not yet thirty-three years of age, Ciaran died of a plague, and was reportedly buried under the original wooden church, now the site of the 9th-century stone oratory, Temple Ciaran. Clonmacnoise's period of greatest growth came between the 8th and 12th centuries. It was attacked frequently during these four centuries, mostly the Irish (at least 27 times), the Vikings (at least 7 times) and Normans (at least 6 times). The early wooden buildings began to be replaced by more durable stone structures in the 9th century, and the original population of fewer than ten men grew to perhaps 1,500 to 2,000 by the 11th century. Artisans associated with the site created some of the most beautiful and enduring artworks in metal and stone ever seen in Ireland, with the Clonmacnoise Crozier (on display in the National Museum of Ireland) and the Cross of the Scriptures representing the apex of their efforts. The Book of the Dun Cow, a vellum manuscript dating to the 12th century, was written here and its main compiler, Mael Muire mac Ceilechair meic Cuinn na mBocht reputedly murdered in a Viking raid in 1106. By the 12th century Clonmacnoise began to decline. The reasons were varied, the Vikings under Turgesius and the Normans attacked. The influx of continental religious orders such as the Cistercians, Franciscans, Augustinians, Benedictines, Cluniacs, etc. around the same time fed into this decline as numerous competing sites began to crop up. Ireland's move from a monastic framework to a diocesan one in the twelfth century similarly diminished the site's religious standing, as it was designated the seat of a small and impoverished diocese. In 1552 the English garrison at Athlone destroyed and looted Clonmacnoise for the final time, leaving it in ruins. The monastery ruins were one of the stops on the itinerary of Pope John Paul II during his visit to Ireland in 1979. I believe it was my duty to make such a call to judges during those days when passions were flaring so that the courts in Armenia wouldnt be politicized in any way. This is what Chairman of the Supreme Judicial Council of Armenia Ruben Vardazaryan said during a discussion on the election of judges for the Court of Cassation in parliament today, responding to deputy of the ruling My Step bloc Maria Karapetyans question about the sensational statement that Vardazaryan had made. According to him, his statement was more of a wake-up call than a political statement, like many people think. My call was appropriate and served its goal because now courts are more independent than ever, Vardazaryan said. He also clarified that he had used the phrase whining judges with the expectation that the whole judiciary has been concerned about this issue for the past year-and-a-half. Many judges have asked me if Armenia has whining judges. We need to prove to the people that there are no whining judges in Armenia, Vardazaryan added. Let us remind that Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan was the one who used the phrase whining judges. A brain injury treatment center for military personnel will open its doors April 2 near the Naval Hospital Camp Pendleton. The $11.5 million Intrepid Spirit center is the seventh of nine such facilities at military bases across the country. It is funded by the New York-based nonprofit Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund founded in 2000 by Zachary Fisher, who also started the Fisher House Foundation for military families. The center will operate as a part of Naval Hospital Camp Pendleton to treat active-duty military patients who suffer from the physical and psychological effects of brain injury. The center will also provide education and other resources on brain injury for veterans and the wider community. The center will expand the hospitals existing program at the Concussion Care Clinic, which has served more than 2,000 patients since 2014. An estimated 550-600 new patients are expected to be referred to the center each year. Advertisement The facility will offer interdisciplinary, state-of-the-art evaluation of service members using clinical, laboratory and imaging resources to guide treatment, said Cmdr. Paul Sargent, medical director of the Intrepid Spirit center, Naval Hospital Camp Pendleton. The centers specialty rehabilitation and therapy programs will focus on providing service members strategies to improve recovery from physical, emotional and spiritual injuries. We know that being able to be close to home, surrounded by loved ones, is a crucial part of the recovery process, so we are opening centers on the West Coast this spring at Camp Pendleton and also at Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington in order that service members who need treatment do not have to uproot themselves and their families to get it, said David Winters, president of the Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund. Two teams of clinicians will serve the clinic. Their specialties range from neurology, physical medicine and rehabilitation, psychiatry, trauma psychology, neuropsychology and pain psychology to physical and occupational therapy, creative arts therapy and neuro-optometry. Our approach is a broadly collaborative center for preventing, treating and researching head trauma and injury to the brain, Sargent said. The Intrepid Spirit center includes research, education and clinical staff from the Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center, which is part of the Department of Defenses Health Agency. Teaching Marines, sailors and their commands about the risks of head injury, how to mitigate concussions and how to understand Traumatic Brain Injury signs and symptoms, along with how to improve readiness is a major goal of our TBI training, said Regional Education Coordinator Clint Pearman, a certified brain injury specialist with the Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center. Pearman provides outreach, education, training and resources for medical personnel, military commands, service members, veterans and family members and civilian community groups from the Camp Pendleton area up to northern California. Advertisement The centers design is based on the original National Intrepid Center of Excellence, which opened in 2010 at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Md., operated by the Department of Defense. There are hundreds of thousands of U.S. service members who continue to suffer from traumatic brian injury and other psychological health conditions, Winters said. The Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund has tried to help these brave men and women get the best care available, so we made it our mission to build nine Intrepid Spirit centers that provide comprehensive, state-of-the-art treatment. The clinics ground breaking was last May and a grand opening ceremony will be held at 11 a.m. April 4 at the Intrepid Spirit Center. For information about base access, visit pendleton.marines.mil/About/Base-Information/Base-Access. Advertisement Ska was born in Jamaica in the late 1950s, with its roots being in the popular Caribbean music of the day as well as American jazz and R&B. Gradually, ska slowed down and evolved into reggae, with both genres gradually spreading around the world. Now, a new compilation, Staring at the Rude Boys, presents a fascinating look at the British ska revival of 1979 through 1989. With the iconic 2 Tone record label and its flagship band, the Specials, leading the way, ska became an integral part of the British music scene throughout the 1980s. Appropriately, the Staring at the Rude Boys opens with the Specials, as they add some Stonsey swagger to the ska mix on Little Bitch. From there, Staring at the Rude Boys works its way through another 68 songs, spread over three compact discs, showcasing the breadth and depth of the British ska scene. In addition to the Specials, the leading lights of the British revival are represented by classic tunes like Bed and Breakfast Man (Madness), Street Feeling (The Selecter), Whine & Grine/Stand Down Margaret (The Beat, known in the US as the English Beat), and Inner London Violence (Bad Manners). These songs are all great, of course, but ska fans surely already have key albums and compilations by these bands. It was essential that Staring at the Rude Boys acknowledge the big bands of the era, but the great service that Staring at the Rude Boys provides is to gather the one-hit wonders, obscurities, and oddities of the 1979-1989 era. Its an enlightening and educational collection for sure, especially if a listener is only casually familiar with British ska but Staring at the Rude Boys is also a hell of a good time. While most people have a solid idea of what 80s ska sounds like the jittery rhythm guitars, blaring horns, occasional organ blasts, sometimes exotic bits of percussion, and oh-so-British-accented vocals Staring at the Rude Boys easily demonstrates that variety was possible within the genres parameters. The Ballad of Robin Hood by the wonderfully named Charlie Parkas has a country hoedown to feel to it. Modern Love by Indicators and I Was Wrong by the Rimshots are among tracks that show a technopop/new wave influence. Some of the slower tunes are practically reggae. While plenty of songs sound exactly the way you expect ska to sound, the bending and shaping of the genre keep things interesting throughout the collection. Staring at the Rude Boys also provides a glimpse of some future stars. Graduate features Roland Orzabel and Curt Smith, future founders of Tears for Fears, noting that Elvis Should Play Ska. The musical/lyrical in-jokes make it clear that the Elvis who should play ska is Mr. Costello, not Mr. Presley. Meanwhile, The Akrylykz check in to present Spyderman with future Fine Young Cannibal Roland Gift on vocals. In addition to being a launching pad for bands, the British ska scene gave some of the genres original stars another moment in the spotlight, with Laurel Aitken (Big Fat Man), Rico (Sea Cruise), and Desmond Dekker (Rude Boy Train) being comeback artists represented on Staring at the Rude Boys. While the majority of tracks are sung by men, songs featuring women vocalists including the Selecters Pauline Black on Street Feeling, Bodysnatchers Rhoda Dakar on Lets Do Rock Steady and the members of Red Roll-On on Pied Piper are highlights of Staring at the Rude Boys. Maybe a future Staring at the Rude Girls compilation will continue to explore the role of women in the scene. While the booklet that accompanies Staring at the Rude Boys doesnt include an essay that would tie these songs together, it does include extensive notes and picture sleeve illustrations for each song. Taken together, the song notes allow curious fans to piece the scene together for themselves to see how the British ska was an essential bridge from early Jamaican ska to the 1990s wave that brought No Doubt, Mighty Mighty Bosstones, and countless other ska-influenced bands into the world. Mostly though, this collection is fun, and I havent even mentioned the cover of Jimmy Webbs all-time classic, McArthur Park (by the Burtons) that you didnt know you needed to hear but do. If youve worn out multiple copies of The Specials and What Is Beat?, you are going to need to dive into Staring at the Rude Boys as quickly as possible. Islamabad, March 2 : The Pakistan government is planning to develop a massive oil city in Gwadar district in Balochistan province with an aim to host Saudi Arabia's $10 billion Aramco oil refinery and use it as a platform to mend the dented ties between the two countries. As per details of the model city, the development will be done on a massive, covered area of 88,000 acres of land, to be used to facilitate infrastructure to refine and process petroleum products. Supply of products will be coming from the Gulf countries and will be used for local consumption. "Master plan of the city is underway and it may be ready by the end of 2021," said a government official. "The planning of the mega oil city, which will host an Aramco refinery and petrochemical complex, is in progress, and we will take six to seven months to complete the master plan," confirmed Shahzeb Khan Kakar, Director General of Gwadar Development Authority (GDA). Pakistan and Saudi Arabia had signed multiple investment deals in 2019 after Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman visited the country. The investment agreements worth $21 billion included minerals, energy, petrochemicals, food and agriculture projects. The companies made part of the deals included Aramco, ACWA Power and the Saudi Fund for Pakistan. As per details, Aramco will be developing a refinery with a capacity of 260,000 to 300,000 barrels per day. The refinery is expected to be ready within six years. "Additionally, there is a $1 billion petrochemical complex coming up, which will boost Pakistan's petrochemical industry by producing polyethylene and polypropylene," government officials said. The Gwadar port, which is part of the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), plans to attract an investment of at least $57 billion in infrastructure and energy projects, making Gwadar the hub of such projects. Gwadar's geographical location makes it a land of opportunity for Pakistan and China as it would act as a gateway to the Middle East, Europe, Central Asia and Africa. Analysts believe that the change in the US administration has forced Saudi Arabia to rethink on its relations with Pakistan. "Tensions have been dialed down between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia. The flow of investment could resume. But Riyadh is unlikely to tilt back towards Islamabad on the Kashmir dispute," said Arif Rafiq, a Washington-based strategic analyst. Actor Hugh Sheridan has revealed he felt 'sad and lost' after being dropped from the cast of stage musical Hedwig and the Angry Inch late last year. The actor, 35, was due to play the lead role in the production, but he lost the job after objections from LGBTQIA+ group Queer Artist Alliance Australia. The activists objected because Hedwig is transgender but Hugh isn't. Hugh told Sam Armytage's Something to Talk About podcast he'd moved his entire lift from the U.S. to Australia for the role, only for it to fall apart. Gutted: Actor Hugh Sheridan has revealed he felt 'sad and lost' after being dropped from the cast of stage musical Hedwig and the Angry Inch late last year 'After Hedwig was cancelled I was feeling a bit out of place because the rest of my life is in Los Angeles and it's all stored away,' he said. 'I put everything away said goodbye to my cat. I took out a [new] lease, I furnished a new apartment in Bondi and suddenly my wage was gone.' 'I signed up [to Hedwig] thinking I was going to have an income and actually I was feeling very sad and lost. I was wondering why I was in Australia.' Unsettled: Hugh told Sam Armytage's Something to Talk About podcast he'd moved his entire lift from the U.S. to Australia for the role, only for it to fall apart Hugh revealed he was set to play eight roles in the one-man show version of Hedwig and that it was unfair he lost his job just because the title character is trans. 'What I found very difficult was that If you told me today you wanted to explore the idea of trans, I would say "go ahead",' Hugh told Sam. 'How can you stop someone? I feel like I was denied that expression.' Character: The actor, 35, was due to play the lead role in the production, but he lost the job after objections from LGBTQIA+ group Queer Artist Alliance Australia. The activists objected because Hedwig is transgender but Hugh isn't Hugh revealed he used to dress up as a girl when he was younger, before admitting he has 'constantly dressed up' throughout the years. 'I was really excited about exploring that part of myself. I think when you're an actor every character that you play is your exploring that mindset,' he said. Hugh explained the role was more of a drag character than a 'trans' character, which playwright John Cameron Mitchell has said himself. 'It has traditionally only ever been played by gay men or straight men. I think there's one trans person who has played it. And a woman has played it,' he said. Interpretation: Hugh explained the role was more of a drag character than a 'trans' character, which playwright John Cameron Mitchell has said himself Sam agreed, saying she believed the point of acting was to 'stretch yourself' beyond your own experience. 'Does that mean you can only play a mother if you have children... or a divorced person [if you're divorced]?' Hugh said. 'Should Cate Blanchett's Oscar be taken away for playing a man?' Hugh added rhetorically, referencing her role in I'm Not There in 2007. Controversial: Hugh sought mental health treatment at the Prince of Wales Hospital in November following the cancellation of Hedwig and the Angry Inch Hugh sought mental health treatment at the Prince of Wales Hospital in November following the cancellation of Hedwig and the Angry Inch. LGBTQIA+ group Queer Artist Alliance Australia had penned an open letter slamming producers for casting Hugh as a trans character. The letter resulted in Hugh being inundated with hateful messages online. Hugh described his hospitalisation as a 'wake-up call' at the time. 'I literally woke up in hospital and didn't remember how I got there and the doctors told me I had had an anxiety attack,' he said. For confidential support call the Lifeline 24-hour crisis support on: 13 11 14. Kids Helpline: 1800 55 1800 NEW DELHI: A day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi and several top leaders and chief ministers got vaccinated, Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan and all sitting and retired judges of the Supreme Court will receive the first dose of the homegrown COVID-19 vaccine on Tuesday (March 2, 2021). Dr Harsh Vardhan took to Twitter on Monday and tweeted, Now that I am eligible to get inoculated, I shall schedule to get vaccinated tomorrow. I urge each & every citizen to get vaccinated at the earliest whenever eligible. Tt's the best tool to end this #pandemic Now that I am eligible to get inoculated, I shall schedule to get vaccinated tomorrow. I urge each & every citizen to get vaccinated at the earliest whenever eligible. It's the best tool to end this #pandemic @PMOIndia @MoHFW_INDIA #LargestVaccineDrive pic.twitter.com/2VWCOY8pRw Dr Harsh Vardhan (@drharshvardhan) March 1, 2021 The Health Minister had on Monday praised the Prime Minister and said that he led by a ''shining example'' as he took the first jab of COVID-19 vaccine at the AIIMS, Delhi. The second phase of the nationwide Covid-19 vaccination drive for age-appropriate population groups began on Monday (March 1) with the Union Health Ministry calling out eligible people to get an appointment at respective hospitals in the country. The Health Minister also urged opposition leaders to take the COVID-19 vaccine and help in ending the vaccine hesitancy. "I have been saying from the beginning that both our vaccines are safe and perfect as far as immunogenicity is concerned. We are thankful to the Prime Minister, he has always told us that you have to lead by example. He took the jab first when the vaccination of people above 60 years has begun," said Dr Harsh Vardhan. According to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, over 25 lakh beneficiaries registered on the Co-Win portal on the very first day. Out of the 25 lakh, 24.5 lakh are citizens and the rest are healthcare workers (HCWs) and frontline workers (FLWs). About 6.44 lakh appointments were also booked on Monday by the citizen beneficiaries. A statement from the Union Health Ministry confirmed this development, saying vaccination will be done entirely through the Co-Win system and that the government facility within the Supreme Court precinct will be used. Meanwhile, sitting and retired Supreme Court judges will also get Covid-19 vaccine shots from today. The judges families will also get the vaccine in accordance with the guidelines issued by the Central government. Those in the know of the development added that the Supreme Court registry has arranged a vaccination facility on the premises in addition to the ones at the government hospitals listed for the vaccination. A total of 1,47,28,569 vaccine doses have been given across India, as per the provisional report till 7 pm on Monday. These include 66,95,665 HCWs who have taken the 1st dose and 25,57,837 HCWs who have taken the 2nd dose, 53,27,587 FLWs (1st dose), 1,28,630 beneficiaries more than 60 years old and 18,850 beneficiaries aged 45 and above with specific co-morbidities. The countrywide vaccination drive was rolled out on January 16, 2021. Live TV Peru reopened its businesses on Monday, including its archaeological icons such as the Inca citadel of Machu Picchu, amid a second wave of infections from the coronavirus. The reopening is taking place after a month-long lockdown. The end of the quarantine is being criticized by experts who claim that the relaxation of restrictions has come too early. Currently, some 6,000 people are getting infected every day, according to local authorities. Peru has reported more than 1.3 million cases of coronavirus and 46,494 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University. But the country's president Francisco Sagasti has said that people need the economy to reopen in order to survive, underlining the need to "find a perfect balance between health and economics." Last year, Peruvians experienced a 106-day lockdown that caused a collapse in the economy. Vendor Fabiola Benitez said that the past year has been the worst in her 15 years as a merchant. The end of the restrictions also brought to the streets more than a thousand casino and slot machine workers who are protesting because they haven't been able to return to their jobs. These businesses, which have been closed for a year, as well as discos, are not authorized to reopen. Others traders like Heydi Loa were forced to find jobs in the informal market. The economics university student said she became a street vendor because she needed to have money to pay for her studies. The company where she worked in telecommunications shut down. "Behind every person is a story, a very difficult story," she said. (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) SAN FRANCISCO, March 02, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Hagens Berman urges SolarWinds Corporation (NYSE: SWI) investors with significant losses to submit your losses now. A securities fraud class action has been filed and certain investors may have valuable claims. Class Period: Oct. 18, 2018 Dec. 17, 2020 Lead Plaintiff Deadline: March 5, 2021 Visit: www.hbsslaw.com/investor-fraud/SWI Contact An Attorney Now: SWI@hbsslaw.com 844-916-0895 SolarWinds Corporation (SWI) Securities Fraud Class Action: The complaint alleges that Defendants misrepresented and concealed that: (1) since mid-2020, SolarWinds Orion monitoring products had a vulnerability that allowed hackers to compromise the server upon which the products ran; (2) SolarWinds update server had an easily accessible password; and (3) consequently, SolarWinds' customers, including the Federal Government, Microsoft, Cisco, and Nvidia, were vulnerable to hacks. Investors allegedly began to learn the truth on Dec. 13, 2020 when Reuters reported Russian hackers had infiltrated the U.S. Treasury and Commerce departments systems by tampering with SolarWinds updates. Then, on Dec. 14, 2020 SolarWinds confirmed the vulnerability was inserted in its Orion monitoring products and existed in updates released between Mar. and June 2020. On Dec. 15, 2020, Reuters reported that (1) a security researcher alerted SolarWinds last year that anyone could access the companys update server by using the password solarwinds123, and (2) a cyber security expert noticed that even days after SolarWinds knew their software was compromised the malicious updates were still available for download. Significantly, shortly before these events unfolded, two investors controlling a majority of SolarWinds board of directors sold $285 million of SolarWinds shares at inflated prices. Most recently, on Mar. 1, 2021, SolarWinds filed its annual report, disclosing that it was the subject of numerous regulatory investigations, including by the DOJ and the SEC. Were focused on proving that SolarWinds knew about the security vulnerabilities before disclosing them, said Reed Kathrein, the Hagens Berman partner leading the investigation. If you are a SolarWinds investor and have significant losses, or have knowledge that may assist the firms investigation, click here to discuss your legal rights with Hagens Berman. Whistleblowers: Persons with non-public information regarding SolarWinds Corporation should consider their options to help in the investigation or take advantage of the SEC Whistleblower program. Under the new program, whistleblowers who provide original information may receive rewards totaling up to 30 percent of any successful recovery made by the SEC. For more information, call Reed Kathrein at 844-916-0895 or email SWI@hbsslaw.com. About Hagens Berman Hagens Berman is a national law firm with nine offices in eight cities around the country and eighty attorneys. The firm represents investors, whistleblowers, workers and consumers in complex litigation. More about the firm and its successes is located at hbsslaw.com. For the latest news visit our newsroom or follow us on Twitter at @classactionlaw . Revenues up significantly, management guides to $20-$25M in revenues for calendar 2021 Edmonton, Alberta--(Newsfile Corp. - March 1, 2021) - Radient Technologies Inc. (TSXV: RTI) (OTC Pink: RDDTF) ("Radient" or the "Company") , a manufacturer of high-quality cannabinoids based formulations and products today announced its results for the third quarter ended December 31, 2020 and provided an update on its recent corporate developments. Fiscal Q3 Highlights and Subsequent Events Business Developments Radient continued the transformation of its business by successfully launching a wide range of Cannabis 2.0 products in Canada utilizing its Sales License in the provinces of Alberta, BC, Manitoba and Saskatchewan This is a part of a broad strategy to introduce Radient branded products in the growing recreational market for Cannabis 2.0 products in Canada. For the quarter, the sales volumes were driven by the Company's products in the concentrate and vapes categories. The market for premium concentrates is showing early signs of adoption and growth and Radient is well positioned to create a market presence with its own brands and formulations. Radient announced a licensing agreement with Tunaaaaroom ("Tunaaaa") to manufacture and distribute a wide range of premium cannabis extracts targeting the recreational cannabis consumers in Canada, with a focus on distillate dabs and vape extracts. Radient will gain access to Tunaaaa's specific genetics and will bring Tunaaaa's vast catalogue of unique flavours to the market with monthly drops of new terp profiles. Radient and Tunaaaa will also work in collaboration on CBD and CBN distillate dabs to create additional unique terpene extract products for recreational cannabis consumers. Radient announced its first shipment of orders in January 2021 with Tunaaaaroom in Saskatchewan under the brand name TRX. Radient and Tunaaaaroom will be expanding their partnership by adding additional retail brands in Saskatchewan in March-April 2021 in various product categories. These include resin, dabs, vape carts, juice crystals, THCa diamonds, Shatter etc. Fiscal Q3 Summary Revenues generated in the quarter of $1.8M represented a significant growth from the previous quarter and reflected the beginning of a ramp up from reduced operations in Q1 2021. This represents a transformational quarter for Radient in its operating history as it transitions to commercialize its science-based technology stack into operating profitability. Fiscal Q1 2021 was impacted largely due to the shutdown of manufacturing activities at the plant and reduced staff. After the management and operational changes in Q2 2021, Radient began ramping up operations in Q3 2021, as sales volumes picked up. The revenue increase was predominantly on the back of the roll out of Premium 5 products and restart of operations with a focus on cannabis concentrates and vapes with Radient branded products. Radient announced the addition of new partners that include Tunaaaaroom, Fluum, Dreamy CBD etc. as sales volumes continued to grow. Radient expects the operational ramp up in volumes will continue in the coming quarters as it moves towards profitability on an operating basis. Radient expects sales volumes to be a minimum of 50,000 units per month through calendar 2021 driven by strong demand and existing partnerships that have been announced. Management believes gross revenues to be in $20-$25M range at a minimum for calendar 2021 and will provide additional earnings guidance in the upcoming months. Management is also focused on building its revenue profile through additional partnerships and collaborations to launch unique brands of formulations and cannabinoid products as it completes its product registrations across provinces in Canada. Loss before other income (expenses) reflected one time write down to net realizable of inventory of $6.6M mainly on account of soft distillate pricing. This is a non-recurring and a one-time charge. The loss numbers will change accordingly in the forthcoming quarters on the back of increases in revenues and wide-ranging cost cutting initiatives initiated by the new management. Radient continues to restructure its operations through a combination of cost reductions and deferring expansion initiatives in Edmonton and Germany. As product sales volumes increase, concurrently with a reduced cost curve, management believes Radient will turn cash flow positive operationally towards the second half of calendar 2021. Management Changes Radient announced the appointment of Harry Kaura as the CEO of the Company effective Feb 03, 2021. The change was a plan to leverage Radient's expertise in science and formulations and grow its revenues to build a strong Radient brand of cannabis products. Harry has been a board member of Radient since 2013 and played a key role in the Business Development initiatives and in the transformation of the manufacturing unit to roll out products that Radient has launched recently. Jan Petzel, who was the interim CEO of Radient during the transitionary period handed his role over to Harry Kaura. Jan continues to serve the business in an active advisory role to support Harry Kaura and the team. The new management is committed to take the Company to operational profitability in 2021. This will be achieved through a combination of the accelerated commercialization of Radient's products, the rationalization of capital spending and the implementation of wide scale cost reductions. Shares for Debt Radient also announced that it has entered into a series of shares for debt arrangements with various creditors for up to $1.8 M at a deemed value of $0.10 per share in January 2021 and then followed up with a subsequent announcement for up to $6M at a deemed value that was adjusted to $0.105 per share. This includes $2.2M of conversion of secured debt from Akaura Holdings (owned by CEO Harry Kaura) and an additional $1M of conversion of indebtedness into shares by Fillmore Construction Management. This is a part of the growing faith and confidence in the business prospects for Radient and steps initiated by the new management to turn the business into a positive operating cash flow in 2021. Management strategy remains focused to de-lever Radient's balance sheet, ramp up operations and execute its business plans. Securities issued in the shares for debt arrangement will be subject to a 4 month hold period and are subject to the approval of the TSX Venture Exchange. About Radient Radient Technologies is an innovative science-based company that is a commercial manufacturer of high-quality cannabinoid based formulations, ingredients and products. Utilizing a proprietary extraction and downstream processing platform that recovers up to 99% of cannabinoids from the cannabis plant, Radient develops specialty products and ingredients that contain a broad range of cannabinoid and terpene profiles while meeting the highest standards of quality and safety. Radient also has a science lab that is focused on innovation with expertise in formulations and technologies offering unique solutions in the cannabis and wellness space. Please visit www.radientinc.com for more information. SOURCE: Radient Technologies Inc. For further information please contact: Radient - Investor Relations, ir@radientinc.com Forward Looking Information: This press release contains "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. Forward-looking information includes, without limitation, statements regarding the growth of the Company's business operations. Generally, forward-looking information can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "plans", "expects" or "does not expect", "is expected", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", or "believes", or variations of such words and phrases or state that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will be taken", "occur" or "be achieved". Forward-looking information is subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements of Radient, as the case may be, to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information. Although Radient 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. There can be no assurance that such information will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. Radient does not undertake to update any forward-looking information, except in accordance with applicable securities laws. 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/75754 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). (TNS) COVID-19 made its U.S. debut in Washington state, but the virus was only the first of several intruders to attack the state in the past year.Last spring, cybercriminals breached the states unemployment system. Washington was one of the states affected by the massive SolarWinds hack, which was discovered in December. And in February, the state auditors office disclosed that fraudsters had exposed the personal information of more than a million residents.We have a serious governance and oversight problem, said Washington state Sen. Reuven Carlyle, a Democrat who chairs the Senate Environment, Energy & Technology Committee. The state auditor breach is historically serious, on every level. And weve had four or five major cyber incidents in the last year.Rocked by the massive SolarWinds hack, unemployment system breaches and other attacks, several states are trying to bolster their cybersecurity in the midst of the public health crisis.If theres ever been a year to reprioritize and make sure your cybersecurity is taken care of, this is it, said Forrest Senti, a vice president at the National Cybersecurity Center, a nonprofit think tank based in Colorado Springs, Colorado. These attacks are precursors to what could happen if were not investing properly and doing training and listening to those who know how to deal with this. We dont want cyber 9/11.Cyberattackers have forced states to take down websites, stolen $36 billion in unemployment payments and exposed millions of residents personal information to scammers.In Washington state, lawmakers are proposing to centralize agencies cybersecurity practices. In Minnesota, theyre considering creating a joint legislative cybersecurity commission. In Maine, Democratic Gov. Janet Mills issued an executive order establishing a cybersecurity advisory council. And in Texas, state officials are teaming up with a private security company to provide cybersecurity defense services to state and local agencies, after a series of ransomware attacks.Meredith Ward, policy and research director at the National Association of State Chief Information Officers, said attacks during the pandemic have brought more awareness to the need for stronger protections. Cybercriminals have had new opportunities to disrupt, she said, whether its trying to target the supply chain or launch ransomware attacks on hospitals and health care systems.Unfortunately, the bad guys seize on every opportunity they can. Thats what weve seen during the pandemic and with these high-profile cyber incidents, Ward said. Its brought attention to what state chief information officers and chief information security officers have been struggling with for a while.The SolarWinds espionage hack, which according to federal officials likely came from Russia, was one of the largest cyberattacks in recent memory.To access information, sophisticated cybercriminals hacked into and hid malicious code in a software update from SolarWinds, an Austin, Texas, technology company. It was distributed to thousands of public and private sector customers in the U.S. Among them: Microsoft, Cisco and the U.S. Justice and Commerce departments. Several universities were victims as well, including Iowa State and Kent State universities. The hackers also hit Pima County, Arizona, where an official wouldnt disclose the extent of the attack, but said there was no indication any data had been stolen. At least three state governments were breached in the SolarWinds attack, Bloomberg has reported. A spokesperson for the Virginia State Corporation Commission, which regulates utilities, insurance and other institutions in the state, later confirmed it had been one of the targets. Carlyle, the Washington state lawmaker, told Stateline that his state also was hit. The third state has not been identified.Alerts from the federal Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency warned that the SolarWinds campaign posed a grave risk to federal, state and local governments, and private companies. The hackers had the resources, patience, and expertise to gain access to and privileges over highly sensitive information if left unchecked, the agency cautioned.Brett Callow, a threat analyst for cybersecurity company Emsisoft, said these types of attacks are very hard to defend against because they come through organizations legitimate vendors.Unlike ransomware attackers, who are motivated by greed, hijacking computer systems and holding them hostage until their victims pay a ransom or restore systems on their own, the SolarWinds hackers were out to get information, cybersecurity experts say.Callow describes the SolarWinds hack as possibly the most serious cybersecurity incident of recent times. Callow said many governments, hamstrung by other budget priorities, are reluctant to invest enough in cybersecurity. But with so many recent attacks, he added, that may be changing. Theres a greater focus on cybersecurity now than there has been, he said.The SolarWinds attack wasnt Washington states only cyber crisis this past year. In late spring, Washington was one of more than a half-dozen states victimized in a massive fraud scheme in which cybercriminals struck unemployment systems, which already were overburdened with a huge influx of claims. The fraudsters apparently used information about people they may have gotten from previous hacks to file fraudulent claims on behalf of those who hadnt been laid off, without their knowledge. A cybersecurity company linked the attacks to a Nigerian crime ring it nicknamed Scattered Canary. Washington state officials say they were scammed out of hundreds of millions of dollars in fraudulent claims. The ring also apparently hit Florida, Rhode Island and Wyoming, among other states, according to The New York Times.In February, the U.S. Department of Labor announced $49 million in grants to 27 states to combat fraud in their pandemic unemployment assistance programs. Criminal organizations have tested the integrity of individual state unemployment systems, quickly exposing vulnerabilities, the agency said in a news release. In recent months, state unemployment programs have detected significantly more fraudulent attacks while new schemes emerge daily. Months after the first unemployment cyberattack on Washington state, it was struck again. On Feb. 1, State Auditor Pat McCarthy disclosed a massive data breach in her office. Hackers had compromised a software vendors data transfer services in December, exposing the Social Security, bank account numbers and other personal information of at least 1.4 million Washingtonians who filed for unemployment benefits last year.That data had been collected as part of the state auditors investigation into the earlier unemployment fraud scam. In response to the attacks, a group of Washington state senators in February introduced a measure to bolster cybersecurity, at the request of Democratic Gov. Jay Inslee. The bill would create an Office of Cybersecurity by statute within the office of the state chief information officer. The office would set standards and policies for safely storing sensitive data and develop a centralized cyber protocol for all state agencies, including those run by independently elected officials, such as the state auditor.Here we are, the home of some of the premier IT companies on the planet, and our cybersecurity and IT systems simply dont reflect that qualify, said Carlyle, the bills primary sponsor.Carlyle said his state has nine independently elected state officials, and each agency is convinced it can manage its own data.We have a decentralized, go-it-alone approach in this state, and it simply is not working, he said.Many lawmakers in Minnesota also are concerned about an uptick in cyberattacks against their state.A bipartisan group of state representatives there introduced a bill in February that would create a joint House and Senate legislative commission on cybersecurity. The panel would review state agencies cybersecurity policies and practices and recommend changes to protect the state from cyberthreats.Democratic state Rep. Kristin Bahner, the bills primary sponsor, said Minnesota has seen some dramatic cyberattacks during the pandemic.After the civil unrest that followed George Floyds killing in Minneapolis in May, the hacker group Anonymous breached the state Senates website, forcing officials to take it down. Then, in June, Minnesota was struck by a torrent of denial-of-service attacks, in which hackers try to knock websites offline by flooding them with traffic.In a time of incredible turmoil, there were cybercriminals waiting to exploit that and take advantage, Bahner said. The state needs to make sure its websites arent tampered with, and it must protect residents personal data, whether its drivers license information, Social Security or bank account numbers, she said. Our citizens will not be so forgiving if we allow someone to access their critical data or shut down services they rely on. Theres a new interest and understanding on both sides of the aisle. "In one call, on October 28, 2016, Herron advised Maher their fraud scheme carried '20 plus years' and was not a 'petty misdemeanor,'" court records say. "Herron stated that the scheme could be 'a guaranteed thing for life if done right,' but expressed concern that he needed to use new addresses, because his house was going to get 'flooded' with claims." Federal prosecutors say the two men "filed at least 55 fraudulent claims for (unemployment insurance) benefits seeking a total of approximately $578,185, of which EDD paid out approximately $485,685." Court filings say the two came up with names for their phony companies "Joe's Hauling" or "Central Valley Legal Shield," for instance then used the names, dates of birth and Social Security numbers of individuals they claimed were employees seeking unemployment insurance payments. "In most instances, after EDD verified the UI claimant's employer and wages (against the fraudulent information previously submitted by Herron and Maher), it notified a bank who then mailed an EDD debit card which could be used to withdraw the fraudulently-obtained UI benefits," court documents say. "All EDD debit cards were mailed to addresses controlled by Herron, Maher, or their associates. NEW DELHI: Bollywood's blue-eyed boy Tiger Shroff turns 31 on Tuesday (March 2). The handsome hunk kickstarted his birthday celebrations with his family members, including his mother Ayesha Shroff and sister Krishna Shroff, and rumoured girlfriend Disha Patani as they stepped out for a dinner outing on Monday night in Mumbai. Tiger, who made his debut with Sabbir Khan's 'Heropanti' alongside Kriti Sanon in 2014, has established himself as one of the most successful actors in the industry. In his career spanning six years, the actor delivered several hits and has carved a niche for himself in the industry. In fact, he is the youngest ever star from the Hindi film industry to have three franchises to his name - 'Baaghi', 'Herpanti' and 'Ganapath'. Tiger Shroff has been receiving heartfelt messages from his loved ones. His 'Student Of The Year 2' co-star Ananya Panday took to social media to greet the star on his birthday. The 'Khaali Peeli' actress shared a picture with Tiger wherein both the actors can be seen sharing a light moment on a stage. "Happy bday!! Ill try not to scare you with my hectic dance moves this year," she wrote in the caption. Tiger's mother Ayesha shared a heartwarming message for her son besides sharing few glimpses from his childhood. His sister Krishna Shroff too shared two pictures from their childhood to wish the 'War' star. Meanwhile, Tiger took to his social media to inform his fans that he will have a live session in the afternoon as he wont able to meet everyone following the COVID pandemic. He wrote in his Instagram story, "Hello my lovelies, i know I was to meet a lot of you tomo but because of the safety protocols we must all abide by and follow we cant make that happen.Butthow about we catch up on a live tomo afternoon see u guys there love u." He will next be seen on the big screen in 'Ganapath'. The film will be directed by Vikas Bahl and is slated for release in 2022. It also features Kriti Sanon in the lead role. Tiger and Kriti will be teaming for the second time after their debut release 'Heropanti'. Tiger also has Ahmed Khan's 'Baaghi 4' and 'Heropanti 2' in his kitty. We cant help but wonder how Trish DeBerry, the public relations whiz, would advise a client say, a prominent and outspoken new county commissioner about the merits of holding a contract with another government entity. We cant imagine someone as talented at PR and marketing as DeBerry would tell this client it is a good idea for a public official to hold a marketing contract with, say, the San Antonio Water System. We would like to think DeBerry would remind her client that just the appearance of a conflict of interest is enough to dog a public official and undermine faith in local government. We would like to think DeBerry would advise her client to steer clear of public comments about SAWS because it would only lead to questions and scrutiny about that contract and thus raise concerns about a perceived bias. The public might wonder if the contract somehow colored those comments, or if the elected official pulled any punches for a client. It would be an understandable concern even if everything was on the up and up and no punches were pulled. Maybe DeBerry would also point out that while the county doesnt oversee SAWS that falls to the city of San Antonio the utility serves the county commissioners constituents and so, indirectly, this contract could get very complicated. Lets say there was a widespread water outage following an unprecedented winter storm, and this new county commissioner called SAWS on behalf of constituents. Would that contract influence those conversations? If the answer is no, would people necessarily believe it? How does one prove a negative? What if the county judge, in a surprising lapse of judgment, appointed this new county commissioner as a liaison to oversee how SAWS responded to the outage? Would DeBerry advise her client to do this? After all, that would only invite more scrutiny about that contract and raise even more questions about the possibility of a conflict of interest, even if that role is simply to be an observer. The public might wonder, rightfully, how an elected official with a contract with SAWS could credibly observe a panel reviewing SAWS. We can only imagine what DeBerry might tell an outside client under such a scenario. Unfortunately, though, Trish DeBerry the PR executive does not appear to be offering great advice to Trish DeBerry the newly elected county official whose firm has maintained a $175,000 marketing contract with SAWS. We warned DeBerry during last years elections about the problems of maintaining public contracts if elected to public office. At best, its awful optics. Following the recent winter storm that left hundreds of thousands of San Antonians without power and water, DeBerry was sharply critical of CPS Energy at a County Commissioners meeting. She was also firm but less critical of SAWS. DeBerry argued for county representation on the CPS Energy board its not going to happen. But she did not extend that argument to SAWS. And as SAWS President and CEO Robert Puente told us during a recent Editorial Board meeting, There was more grilling of CPS Energy than there was of SAWS. Maybe this is because CPS Energys response to the winter storm deserves greater attention, but the point here is DeBerrys contract hangs over the discussion. Its not good enough for DeBerry to say: Im able to successfully extract myself from a contractual relationship with SAWS versus what is in the best interest of my constituents. If you have to say that, you have a problem. Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff has appointed DeBerry as a county liaison to a city panel reviewing the local response to the storm. This was a mistake. Wolff should withdraw the appointment. More importantly, DeBerry should sever her SAWS contract and all other public contracts. It is the only way to align her interests with the publics interest. At 1:51 p.m. on Jan. 6, a right-wing radio host named Michael D. Brown wrote on Twitter that rioters had breached the United States Capitol and immediately speculated about who was really to blame. Antifa or BLM or other insurgents could be doing it disguised as Trump supporters, Mr. Brown wrote, using shorthand for Black Lives Matter. Come on, man, have you never heard of psyops? Only 13,000 people follow Mr. Brown on Twitter, but his tweet caught the attention of another conservative pundit: Todd Herman, who was guest-hosting Rush Limbaughs national radio program. Minutes later, he repeated Mr. Browns baseless claim to Mr. Limbaughs throngs of listeners: Its probably not Trump supporters who would do that. Antifa, BLM, thats what they do. Right? What happened over the next 12 hours illustrated the speed and the scale of a right-wing disinformation machine primed to seize on a lie that served its political interests and quickly spread it as truth to a receptive audience. The weekslong fiction about a stolen election that President Donald J. Trump pushed to his millions of supporters had set the stage for a new and equally false iteration: that left-wing agitators were responsible for the attack on the Capitol. In fact, the rioters breaking into the citadel of American democracy that day were acolytes of Mr. Trump, intent on stopping Congress from certifying his electoral defeat. Subsequent arrests and investigations have found no evidence that people who identify with antifa, a loose collective of antifascist activists, were involved in the insurrection. Over 9,000 have first dose, nearly 5,000 have second in Wilkes 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 discrimination lawsuit against Amazon by a current employee depicts a stark contrast between the companys public statements affirming its commitment to racial equity and how the employer treats its nonwhite workers. Amazon manager Charlotte Newman filed a federal suit Monday in Washington, D.C., alleging the Seattle-based commerce giant paid her less than similarly qualified white peers and executives used racial stereotypes to justify denying her opportunities for promotion. Newman, a Black woman who works in Washington, D.C., for Amazon Web Services (AWS), Amazons cloud-computing division, also leveled allegations of sexual harassment and assault against a former Amazon director. Like so many other Black and female employees at Amazon, Charlotte Newman was confronted with a systemic pattern of insurmountable discrimination based upon the color of her skin and her gender, her lawyer, Douglas Wigdor, wrote in the complaint. Wigdor is known for representing victims of alleged sexual abuse by Harvey Weinstein. Newman filed her suit after the publication last week of an investigation by online tech outlet Recode detailing allegations by Black employees that Amazon routinely passed them over for promotion. Amazon is currently investigating the new allegations included in this lawsuit, a company spokesperson said in a statement. Amazon works hard to foster a diverse, equitable, and inclusive culture, and these allegations do not reflect those efforts or our values. We do not tolerate discrimination or harassment of any kind and thoroughly investigate all claims and take appropriate action. The lawsuit comes amid a steady thrum of employee organizing around issues of racial equity at Washington states largest employer. In social media posts, on Amazon.com and even between Amazon buildings, Amazon and its leaders have repeatedly voiced their public support for Black employees and the Black Lives Matter movement. But in her lawsuit, Newman describes those moves as superficial gestures ... far outweighed by Amazons mistreatment of its Black workforce, including the vast majority of its Black employees who work in its warehouses and fulfillment facilities. Workers have recently castigated the employer for its lack of diversity in managerial roles: At one point, for instance, there were more people named Jeff on Amazons leadership team than there were women, Black and Latino executives combined. Amazon does not publish detailed employee demographic data, though the company does make available overview data showing relatively proportional racial representation among all U.S. managers. Amazon did not respond to a request Monday for a breakdown showing what proportion of corporate employees and managers are people of color. Employees, however, say people of color are underrepresented among Amazons well-compensated corporate employees and overrepresented among lower-wage logistics workers, who make up the vast majority of Amazons global workforce. By 2019, according to Newmans complaint, concern among some women, Black and Latino employees that they were being unjustly passed over for promotion had grown to the point that they petitioned Amazons leadership team with a 15-page proposal asking the company to implement more equitable hiring and promotion practices. Early last year, employees again emailed Amazon executives to express outrage after Amazon general counsel David Zapolsky referred to a Black warehouse worker, Christian Smalls, as not smart or articulate. Smalls had been fired after he organized an employee walkout in New York to protest what he called Amazons inadequate COVID-19 precautions. Many interpreted the comments as racist; Zapolsky later apologized. Last summer, as protests over racial injustice gripped the nation, Amazon pledged to stand in solidarity with the Black community our employees, customers, and partners in the fight against systemic racism and injustice. In posts on internal websites and social media, Amazon workers said their employers statement was at odds with its partnerships with law enforcement agencies that disproportionately police people of color; the higher-than-industry-average injury rates at its warehouses, where one-quarter of workers are people of color; and the sea of white faces on its leadership team. Amazon pledged to embark on a listening tour and respond to Black employees concerns. In August, Amazon added a Black executive, Alicia Boler Davis, to its top leadership team for the first time. AWS enacted a one-year moratorium on the use of its facial-recognition software, which had been found to disproportionately misidentify Black individuals, by police departments. Some Black employees said Amazon was making progress to change its culture. Newman, though, contends that Amazon has not gone nearly far enough in rooting out racially and sexually discriminatory attitudes of the kind that she has experienced in her nearly four-year tenure at the company. Newman, a Harvard Business School graduate who previously worked as an economic policy adviser to New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker, applied to join AWS public policy team in 2017. At the time, she believed she was interviewing for a position with higher pay and more responsibility than the job she was eventually offered, according to her complaint. Shortly after Newman began working at Amazon, however, she began taking on duties commensurate with a much higher salary level, she contends. Within months of starting at [Amazon], she in fact was assigned and doing the work of a Senior Manager-level employee while still being paid at and having the title of the Manager level, according to the complaint. To make matters worse, and in defiance of the antidiscrimination laws, Ms. Newman was paid significantly less than her white coworkers, particularly in valuable Amazon stock. Other Black employees have said they have faced similar treatment at Amazon, which in the companys lingo of tiered job titles is termed de-leveling. While Newman was being paid a Level 6 salary, she had Level 7 responsibilities, she says, including engaging with foreign government officials on behalf of AWS. Newman says she undertook work above her pay grade for more than two years before she was promoted, while white men with similar experience climbed the corporate ladder more quickly. She contends Amazons delay in recognizing her work has cost her millions of dollars in missing pay. The bulk of Amazons compensation package for senior employees is made up of stock awards; the value of Amazon shares has risen more than 320% since Newman joined the company in 2017. Meanwhile, Newman says, her interactions with supervisors and other more senior Amazon executives showed signs of bias against her race and gender. Her first manager criticized her for being too direct, aggressive, and just scary, and warned Newman that she can intimidate people coded feedback thats often baselessly directed toward Black women while white male peers are rewarded for verbal sparring. (One of Amazons 14 leadership principles urges employees not to compromise for the sake of social cohesion.) Managers, Newman contends, frequently complained about the personalities of other female employees, which is not their common practice regarding men under their supervision. Another supervisor yanked on Newmans long braids without permission, telling her, You can leave this behind, according to the suit. The same employee, Andres Maz, touched Newmans upper thigh under the table during a work dinner, close to her genitalia, and grab[bed] and grope[d] her upper thigh, according to the complaint. Later the same night, Maz propositioned sex while Newman was waiting for a ride home. Newman told him that she would do no such thing, she says. Newman filed a complaint about Mazs conduct in June 2020. His employment was ultimately terminated. Amazon did not respond to a question about the cause of Mazs termination, and attempts to reach him were unsuccessful. The day before she complained about Maz, Amazon posted a message on Twitter committing to spark conversation and exploration about how we as individuals, teams, and a company can continue to be active participants in dismantling systemic racism, oppression and inequality. Our work is not done, and we still have a long way to go, the message read. On that, Ms. Newman and Amazon agree, she wrote in her complaint. 2021 The Seattle Times. Visit seattletimes.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. Syracuse, N.Y. Syracuse hospitals are allowing visitors again on a limited basis as Covid-19 cases decline in Central New York. St. Josephs, Crouse and Upstate University hospitals are allowing visitors between 2 p.m. and 6 p.m. with some exceptions. Visitation rules vary by hospital. St. Josephs: Each patient is limited to one visitor at a time. In the mother/baby unit, the mother can choose one person who can remain in the room with the mother and baby for the duration of the visit. One additional visitor at a time is allowed in the mother/baby unit between 2 p.m. and 6 p.m. Each neonatal intensive care unit patient is allowed up to two approved visitors on their list who can visit one at a time. Visitors are not allowed to accompany patients when they come to the hospital for surgery or procedures. No visitors or family members are allowed to accompany patients to the emergency department. Pediatric patients are allowed to have one person accompany them. Crouse: Visitors are allowed in medical/surgical units, the intensive care unit and the maternity unit. One visitor per patient is allowed in the emergency department for the duration of the patients stay. Visitors are not allowed to leave the ED during the patients stay. Upstate: Adult patients can have one designated visitor per day. That designated visitor is the only person allowed to visit during the adult patients entire hospital stay. Pediatric patients are allowed two support persons at their bedside 24/7. One visitor is allowed in the adult emergency department and must remain at the patients bedside. Support persons who accompany patients for surgery or procedures are asked to return home or wait in their cars. Support persons who traveled 60 miles or more will be allowed to wait in designated areas. James T. Mulder covers health and higher education. Have a news tip? Contact him at (315) 470-2245 or jmulder@syracuse.com These all-weather, deep-drafted ports are all set to be operational by 2023, creating an additional capacity of at least 100 million tonnes of cargo per annum in the short term, with a potential to grow by leaps and bounds in the long term. DC Image VIJAYAWADA: Chief Minister Y. S. Jagan Mohan Reddy informed Maritime India Summit 2021 that Andhra Pradesh aims to increase its share in exports from India to 10 per cent from existing four per cent by 2030. He expressed confidence that the target would be achieved with exports from major world-class port in Visakhapatnam, apart from five functional and 10 notified state ports, which can together handle more than 170 million tonnes of cargo per annum, second only to Gujarat. The Maritime India Summit was virtually inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Tuesday. The CM pointed out that, 95 per cent of Indias trade by volume and 70 per cent by value is through maritime transport, with ports handling approximately 1.2 billion metric tonnes of cargo in 2019-20 and attributed it to policy reforms like 100 per cent FDI, Make in India, Sagarmala and Bharatmala. He hoped Maritime India Vision 2030 document will become a testament of government commitment to exports through sea routes. Stressing the importance of the blue economy in growth, Jagan Mohan Reddy said it extends much beyond the maritime trade and export-import statistics. The true value of a blue economy can be unlocked only when all allied sectors such as aquaculture, maritime and coastal tourism, chemical and biotechnological exploration, shipbuilding, and other port-led industries; become mature enough to provide sustainable employment and growth opportunities. The draft of first- National Fishing Policy is an example of several such solid steps taken in that direction. The Chief Minister said the AP government had taken up transformative steps to leverage its coastal line of 974 km, the second-longest in India and longest on the eastern coast. He noted that AP was ranked No. 1 in the country in Ease of Doing Business and one of the factors that contributed to this was the state governments consistent efforts in developing port infrastructure, support ecosystem, and encouraging port-led industrialisation. Jagan Mohan Reddy said that in recent times, several industrial nodes have come up in AP, with ports as the focal point for development. The state government has undertaken development of three greenfield ports at Ramayapatnam, Machilipatnam and Bhavanapadu on an innovative model that mitigates all risks associated with development of greenfield ports. These all-weather, deep-drafted ports are all set to be operational by 2023, creating an additional capacity of at least 100 million tonnes of cargo per annum in the short term, with a potential to grow by leaps and bounds in the long term The CM said the state government, with support of government of India, established an aqua university to promote skilling, undertook development of eight fishing harbours, and established testing labs and cold chain facilities to provide better ecosystem for aquaculture. This has led to increase in its share of aqua-related cargo from the states ports, he pointed out. 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. By Stephanie Nebehay GENEVA (Reuters) - China said on Tuesday that it was discussing a visit to its Xinjiang region by United Nations human rights chief Michelle Bachelet, but that she should not set out with the aim of condemning its policies. Bachelet said on Friday that reports about arbitrary detention, ill-treatment, sexual violence and forced labour in Xinjiang necessitated a thorough and independent assessment of the situation. "The door to Xinjiang is always open, and we welcome the High Commissioner to visit Xinjiang. Communication is kept up between the two sides, but the aim of the visit is to provide exchanges and cooperation rather than ... so-called investigation based on 'guilty before proven'," China's delegate Jiang Duan told the U.N. Human Rights Council. China opposed the "politicisation" of human rights and interference in its internal affairs, he said, also rejecting concerns raised by Australia, Sweden and the United States at the Geneva forum. "We also find it regrettable the High Commissioner made unsubstantiated accusations against China based on misinformation and political pressure," said Jiang. People of all ethnic groups in Xinjiang and the Tibetan region enjoy wide-ranging freedoms, including religious and cultural harmony, he said. Bachelet said on Friday that she hoped to clinch agreement with Chinese officials about a visit. Louise Arbour was the last U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights to visit China, in September 2005. Activists remain sceptical about the prospects for a meaningful visit with unfettered access in China. Sophie Richardson, China director for Human Rights Watch, said in a tweet on Tuesday: "Of course #China statement that "the aim of the #Xinjiang visit is to provide exchanges and cooperation" says it all, doesn't it? That 'door' is firmly closed." Sarah Brooks of the International Service for Human Rights said: "After more than two years of spinning their wheels on a visit, the High Commissioner and her team, and the governments at the Human Rights Council, need to shift gears to take decisive action". (Reporting by Stephanie Nebehay; Editing by Kevin Liffey and Alex Richardson) [March 02, 2021] My Susu Inc. to Launch Mobile App in March of 2021 JOHNSTON, R.I., March 2, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Taking the next step in its mission to bring sustainable, community-oriented financial networks to Americans who have struggled to save, My Susu Inc. will be launching its mobile app in late March, preceded by its launch event on March 27, 2021, at 12:00 p.m. EDT. My Susu leverages financial technology and globally proven community-saving methods to help customers meet their financial goals and begin their path towards sustainable financial security. In its efforts to educate, empower, and transparently serve its customers, My Susu has adopted unique methods of relationship management that create an approachable and user-friendly experience for all. The way its business is structured, My Susu can only succeed when its clients do - so it will always provide customers with the tools necessary to realize their best financial future. Resources can already be found on the website, and members of the team will be answering any questions about the service, application, or website during a pre-launch Q&A session on Saturday, March 6, from 12:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m. EST. Susu groups, more traditionally referred to as rotational savings groups in the U.S., have helpedlift hundreds of thousands of people out of desperate financial situations in countries all over the world, and our founders have seen this firsthand. Effectively, rotational savings groups function through the agreement of several individuals to make financial contributions to a pot that one member receives the total sum of at the end of each predetermined cycle. The recipient then changes on a rotating basis, until every member has received at least one lump-sum. With the appropriate technology, accountability structures, and support, the team at My Susu Inc. fully believes that Susu groups can become an incredibly powerful tool for communities in the U.S., particularly due to some of their advantages: The positive social pressure from the community-oriented system encourages faithful, dependable commitment to all of the group's shared goals. The placement of your contribution in the rotational pot prevents any lapses in discipline caused by impulsive thinking, keeping users on track to meet their goals. Participation in Susu groups provides users with a network and support structure completely absent from traditional savings plans more common in the United States . My Susu Inc. is dedicated to providing Americans with the agency to determine their own financial future, and the knowledge and support structure needed to practice responsible savings methods. With the launch of its app, the team is excited to provide users with an accessible tool to start meeting all of their most ambitious savings goals and pave the way towards a higher quality of life. Consumers interested in becoming users of the app can be put on a waitlist by emailing waitlist@susuinc.com. My Susu Inc. 1-877-269-7878 inquiry@susuinc.com Related Files Press Release.pdf Related Images my-susu-logo.jpg My Susu Logo The Official Logo of My Susu Inc. View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/my-susu-inc-to-launch-mobile-app-in-march-of-2021-301238151.html SOURCE My Susu Inc. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Rwandas president Paul Kagame has endorsed The Independents Stop The Illegal Wildlife Trade appeal by joining an international conservation forum led by our campaigns charity partner, Space for Giants. President Kagame became the sixth African head of state to join the Giants Club, a forum that brings together African presidents with major business leaders, leading philanthropists, and global influencers to protect some of the continents most important natural landscapes that hold populations of large wild animals. Lord Lebedev, The Independents major shareholder, is the patron of both Space for Giants and the Giants Club. He was present in the Rwandan capital Kigali to witness the signing ceremony, which saw Rwanda officially join the initiative. Following the ceremony, Lord Lebedev said: It is increasingly clear that the health of the natural world is not separate from the health of humanity. President Kagame has led the way in committing Rwanda to a path of sustainable development. I am proud to work with such a visionary leader on this vital cause. Rwanda, famous for its mountain gorillas, has been a global leader in recent years in restoring conservation habitats and has used revenue from wildlife tourism to fund national economic development. Stop The Illegal Wildlife Trade We are working with conservation charities Space for Giants and Freeland to protect wildlife at risk from poachers due to the conservation funding crisis caused by Covid-19. Help is desperately needed to support wildlife rangers, local communities and law enforcement personnel to prevent wildlife crime. Donate to help Stop the Illegal Wildlife Trade HERE The country is now increasing its focus on restoring a network of national parks, including Akagera, which hosts the Big Five elephants, lions, leopards, buffalo, and rhino. Mr Kagame spoke exclusively to The Independent before the ceremony and praised the Giants Club for showing the value of international cooperation on issues of wildlife and landscape protection. The president added that conservation has been at the heart of his government policy due to its natural and economic benefits. We need to protect our environment because, if youre not protecting your environment, youre not protecting yourself, he said. And in the process we learn that in conserving the environment there is no conflict with economic wellbeing. In fact, with preserving the conservation of the environment, you can actually realise economic benefits equal to or better than what you are used to doing. Dr Max Graham, chief executive of Space for Giants, who was also present at the ceremony, said: Rwanda under President Kagames leadership has become a beacon for how a country can build conservation into a national economic sector to benefit all. Evgeny Lebedev and Dr Max Graham with Paul Kagame in Kigali (Plaisir Muzogeye) That resonates very strongly with the Giants Club, which promotes best practice in getting things done in conservation that deliver those wide rewards from protecting natural landscapes and their species. We are incredibly proud and excited that President Kagame has joined the Giants Club. Mr Kagame joins president Mokgweetsi Masisi of Botswana, president Ali Bongo Ondimba of Gabon, president Uhuru Kenyatta of Kenya, and president Yoweri Museveni of Uganda, who act as joint-leaders of the Giants Club. Botswanas former president Ian Khama holds the position of president emeritus. The Independents Stop The Illegal Wildlife Trade campaign, in partnership with Space for Giants and the anti-illegal wildlife trade charity Freeland, aims to combat the factors that contribute to poaching, wildlife crime, environmental degradation and the spread of zoonotic diseases like Covid-19. ( ) In the declaration officially joining the Giants Club, Mr Kagame pledged to continue the countrys work to combat the illegal wildlife trade in Rwanda and its neighbours while also promoting investment in responsible conservation and work to reduce the problem of human-wildlife conflict. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Texans are all about beer, barbecue, andbucha? The proliferation of kombucha companies based in the Lone Star state suggests its residents have another favored libation now. For those unfamiliar with this elixir, kombucha is a fermented tea with a tangy, slightly sparkly mouthfeel with marginal amounts of alcohol and caffeine. TAKE A DIP: These underrated Texas swimming holes will keep you cool this summer Though denizens of Russia and Manchuria have been producing kombucha for hundreds of years from well-tended Symbiotic Cultures Of Bacteria and Yeast (a.k.a. SCOBY), the beverage has come into relatively recent popularity in the United States. Whether youre a die-hard devotee of kombucha or a SCOBY-curious newbie, there are a host of locally-made types to try. Here are some of Texas main producers. Kickin' Kombucha Topping off our list is the OG kombucha company born and brewed in our very own H-town. Kickin Kombucha launched with an inventory of only 35 bottles and is now distributed in numerous major supermarkets and specialty food stores across the state. The current owners also operate a taproom in the East End where you can fill your own growlers (which they will sanitize for free) as well as taste-test limited edition varietiess. The most recent addition to the Houston kombucha scene, Bayou City Bucha has already amassed a loyal following for its perky, whimsical blends that use herbs and cold-pressed juices. Standouts from its line include Party Punch, a floral collaboration of strawberry, blueberry, pineapple and hibiscus, and Soul Cider, bursting with botanical notes from lime, green apple, chlorella and cucumber. To sample its stock, visit Henderson & Kane, Yellow Cup Coffee, Monkeys Tail Bar and other area joints. Jason Taragos Our neighborhood to the west is home to several kombucha collectives, including the blissful Buddhas Brew, which began as a booth in an Austin farmers market. So named for the creators interest in meditation and kombuchas tendency to produce whole-body energy, Buddhas Brew currently has a team of over 30 employees who churn out innovative flavors such as tangerine sea salt and basil honey ginger from its Greenbelt brewery. Another Austin outpost offering locally made kombucha is Kosmic Kombucha. Launched in 2010 by Omar and Mina Rios, a former paramedic and math instructor respectively, Kosmic Kombucha, despite its name, is not just for the stars. The (inter)stellar selection of varieties, which include Cherry Bomb, Wheatsvilles Pear of the Dog (a frothy concoction of prickly pear, olive juice and agave) are sold online and at various co-ops, small groceries and assorted Juiceland locations in Austin. Gavin Booth Rounding out the bucha purveyors in Bat City is Greenbelt Kombucha, whose founders are also responsible for the famed fermented foods manufacturer, Barrel Creek Provisions. Greenbelts low-sugar style kombuchas were among the first probiotic potables to be sold in practical, portable cans, rendering them perfect for poolsides and picnics. Find its wares at H-E-B, and starting in March, the original line plus four new flavors at WholeFoods. Distributed out of San Antonio but made of tea sourced from small local farms, Element Kombucha provides double the fermented fun with a dual line of 100 percent raw kombuchas. The original line comprises refreshing combinations such as lavender spearmint and ginger nettle, while the benefit focused assortment (Seasonal Allergy, Skin Vitality), are, as their names suggest, designed to target and combat specific physical issues. Yelp Richmonds The Kombucha Company vends its standard and seasonal kombuchas like Spicy Pickle, Watermelon and Yerba Mate by the 12-pack online or through a handy subscription kombucha service ($30 per month for 16 bottles). Intrepid DIYers can also purchase the Companys starter SCOBY and tea to brew their own kombucha. Members of the Proud Boys pray for a member who was stabbed during a protest in Washington on Dec. 12, 2020. (Stephanie Keth/Getty Images) FBI Does Not Consider the Proud Boys a Domestic Terrorist Group The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) does not consider the Proud Boys organization a domestic terror group, Director Christopher Wray said Tuesday. Asked about how the FBI classified the Proud Boys, Wray told lawmakers in Washington: Well, I dont think we have treated the Proud Boys itself as a domestic terrorism group. But we certainly have individuals he began adding, before being interrupted by Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), who wondered what it would take for a group to be put on the list. Well, there is, as you may know, senator, under federal law, under U.S. law, there is no list of domestic terrorism organizations the same way there is for foreign terrorist organizations, Wray said. Graham then asked whether the Oathkeepers is a domestic terrorist organization. Again, we have individuals with that group who are Wray started, before being cut off again. Graham asked about Antifa, to which Wray gave the same answer. So why dont we think about how to gather better information and expose some of these groups? If they were on a list would it make it easier for you? Graham asked. I think the issue of whether or not to designate or have a formal mechanism for designating domestic terror groups in the same way we do with, say, Al Qaeda or ISIS, I think theres reasonable debate about whether or not it would Wray said, before Graham interrupted him yet again. Graham asked whether the KKK is a domestic terror group, to which Wray stated bluntly: There is no legal designation. My point is I dont know if we should have one or not. But I think its time to think about it, Graham said. FBI Director Christopher Wray arrives to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee on the January 6th insurrection, in the Hart Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill in Washington on March 2, 2021. (Mandel Ngan/Pool via Reuters) Wray had said earlier in the hearing that the Jan. 6 Capital breach was domestic terrorism. The Proud Boys are a self-described fraternal organization. The Proud Boys confuse the media because the group is anti-[social justice warrior] without being alt-right. Western chauvinist includes all races, religions, and sexual preferences, the group says on an archived version of its website. Members of the group have been known to confront members of the far-left Antifa network during rallies and on city streets, and several were charged in the Jan. 6 breach of the U.S. Capitol. Enrique Tarrio, the groups leader, was arrested a few days before Jan. 6 for burning a Black Lives Matter banner and told to stay away from Washington. Later in January, it was reported he was a prolific informer for law enforcement. Canada designated the Proud Boys a terrorist group in early February. A sheriff official in Washington state in 2018 claimed the FBI categorized the Proud Boys as an extremist group with ties to white nationalism, but an FBI special agent in charge told The Oregonian that the description stemmed from a misunderstanding of a presentation. We do not intend and did not intend to designate the group as extremist, he said. Myanmar`s ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi appeared at a court hearing via video conferencing on March 1 as supporters marched in several towns and cities in defiance of a crackdown after the bloodiest day since the February 1 military coup. Police fired tear gas and stun grenades to disperse hundreds of protesters in the main city of Yangon, witnesses said. They later combed through side streets firing rubber bullets and at least one person was hurt, media reported. In an evening address on state television, army chief Senior General Min Aung Hlaing said protest leaders and "instigators" would be punished. The army was also investigating financial abuse by the civilian government, he said. Suu Kyi, aged 75, looked in good health during her appearance before a court in the capital Naypyidaw, one of her lawyers said. Two more charges were added to those filed against her after the coup, she said. "I saw Amay on the video, she looks healthy," lawyer Min Min Soe told Reuters, using an affectionate term meaning "mother" to refer to Suu Kyi. "She asked to meet her lawyer." The Nobel Peace laureate, who leads the National League for Democracy (NLD), has not been seen in public since her government was ousted and she was detained along with other party leaders. She was initially charged with illegally importing six walkie-talkie radios. Later, a charge of violating a natural disaster law by breaching coronavirus protocols was added. On Monday, two more charges were added, one under a section of a colonial-era penal code prohibiting publication of information that may "cause fear or alarm", and the other under a telecommunications law stipulating licenses for equipment, the lawyer said. The next hearing will be on March 15. Critics of the coup say the charges were trumped up. Myanmar has been in chaos since the military seized power after alleging fraud in a November election won by the NLD in a landslide, with daily protests getting increasingly violent as police and troops try to stamp them out. In his speech, read out by a newsreader on state-run MRTV, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing said action would be taken against civil servants refusing to work for the junta. He said the military was investigating what he called corruption by the civilian government, accusing the authorities of misusing money meant for COVID-19 prevention efforts. "The respective ministries are working to find out such financial abuse," he said, adding action would be taken against organizations where foreign currency funds were found. He said a committee formed by ousted lawmakers from the civilian government, which has announced the formation of a government-in-exile, was illegal and anyone associated with it would be punished. The Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (CRPH) on Monday declared the junta a terrorist group and called the violence against protesters a "declaration of war on unarmed civilians". On Sunday, police fired on crowds in several places, killing 18 people, the United Nations human rights office said. A committee representing lawmakers elected last year said 26 people were killed but Reuters was unable to verify that. "We have to continue the protest no matter what," Thar Nge said after police firing tear gas forced him and others to abandon a barricade in a Yangon street. The military has not commented on Sunday`s violence and police and military spokesmen did not answer calls. The state-run Global New Light of Myanmar newspaper warned that "severe action will be inevitably taken" against "anarchic mobs". Demonstrators marched on Monday in the northwestern town of Kale holding up pictures of Suu Kyi and a live video on Facebook showed a crowd in the northeastern town of Lashio, chanting slogans. Police and soldiers later raided a church in the town and detained 11 people, a church group said. The coup brought a halt to Myanmar`s tentative steps towards democracy after nearly 50 years of military rule and has drawn condemnation from Western countries and growing concern among its neighbours. Foreign ministers from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), of which Myanmar is a member, will hold a video meeting on Myanmar on Tuesday and listen to a representative of the Myanmar military, Singaporean Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan said. Balakrishnan called for the security forces to desist from the use of lethal force, for Suu Kyi`s release, and for talks on solutions and a way back to democratic transition. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken denounced what he called "abhorrent violence" by security forces, while Canada`s foreign minister, Marc Garneau, called the use of lethal force "appalling". Tom Andrews, a U.N. special rapporteur, said it was clear the junta`s assault would continue so the international community should ratchet up its response. He proposed a global arms embargo, more sanctions on those behind the coup and on military businesses and a U.N. Security Council referral to the International Criminal Court. The generals have for years shrugged off diplomatic pressure, partly because of the support of China and Russia. A Chinese foreign ministry spokesman urged Myanmar parties to keep in mind "the big picture" of development and stability and exercise restraint. The junta has promised a new election but not set a date. The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners said at least 270 people were detained on Sunday, from a total 1,132 it said had been picked up since the coup. Live TV Many of us have been tempted to redecorate our homes over lockdown but the cost of replacing furniture can soon rack up. Fortunately budget retailers like B&M have released cut-price pieces that are stylish enough to pass for high end designs - but cost a fraction of the price. The UK-based chain has recently released its latest collection featuring drawers, mirrors, stools and tables with prices starting at just 8. Among their designs is a velvet footstool for 20 with striking similarities to the 69 design on sale at Cult Furniture. Elsewhere, B&M are offering an 80 chest of drawers that is strikingly similar to a 239 set from Homebase. But can you tell B&M's must-haves from the big name lookalikes? Scroll down to test your knowledge and check your answers at the bottom. 1. Can you spot the B&M chest of drawers? One of these designs costs 80, meanwhile the other is almost three times the price at 239 2. One of these mirrors is from the budget retailer B&M for just 15, however the other style is an eye-watering 50 3. Both of these footstools are inspired by Scandinavian style with their combination of black and bronze - but which costs just 20? 4. One of these three-tier storage units costs 50, meanwhile the other is 77 - but can you spot the difference? 5. Can you spot the 15 side table from its more expensive lookalike? Both of these tables would compliment a living room 6. Both of these three tier trolleys would be handy around the house - but which one costs the most? 7. One of these cushions costs just 8, meanwhile the other is 15 - so which one the budget version from B&M? 8. Can you spot the B&M chair? One of these blush velvet chairs costs 100, and the other is almost four times more expensive at 395 9. One of these drinks trolleys is from the budget retailer, costing 40 - and the other is more than 300 from Graham & Green 10. Both of these mirrors have a beautiful gold arch that would look lovely in a bedroom or hallway, but which costs more? One will set you back 55, while the other costs 30 ANSWERS 1. B&M's Loft Studio Chest Drawers for 80 (pictured left) have a striking resemblance to the 239 Ice White Midi Chest Drawers (pictured right) from Homebase but at a fraction of the price 2. B&M Bamboo Swirl Mirror costs 15 (pictured left), but a lookalike version is 50 from La Redoute (right) 3. Cult Furniture's Baltimore Low Velvet stool (pictured right) costs 69, however B&M is offering a similar footstool for just 20 (pictured left) 4. B&M's Urban Paradise 3 Tier Shelf costs 50 (pictured left), meanwhile Maison Du Monde's Small Rattan 3 Draw Storage Unit (pictured right) is 77 5. The Urban Paradise Side Table at B&M is just 15 (pictured left), but Wayfair is selling their Amiya Side Table (pictured right) for 31.99 6. Both of these three tier trolleys would be handy around the house - but Dunelm's 3 Tier Trolley is 39 (pictured right) and B&M's 3 Tier Trolley is just 20 (pictured left) 7. The B&M Dragonfly Cushion is just 8 (pictured left), however Dunelm's Dragonfly Cushion is 15 (pictured right) 8. B&M's Hannah Blush Velvet Chair for 100 (pictured left) could be mistaken for the Flora Scalloped Dusty Pink Velvet Armchair from Oliver Bonas for 395 9. B&M's Deco Glam Drinks Trolley for 40 (pictured left) is almost ten times cheaper than Graham & Green Drinks Trolley for 315 (pictured right) 10. WILLEMSTAD:--- On Wednesday, February 24, 2021, at the request of the Public Prosecutor's Office Curacao, the 36-year-old J.K. was arrested in the Netherlands in a large-scale investigation called Themis. J.K. is suspected to have been involved in a shooting that is known on Curacao as the "Hato shooting". On July 15, 2014, two persons were shot to death with automatic firearms at the Curacao International Airport. Seven bystanders at the airport were wounded. Five suspects were previously arrested in this case. The two shooters were sentenced to life imprisonment. The other three suspects were sentenced to terms of 12, 14, and 24 years. J.K. is accused of involvement in the murders. Because J.K. was residing in the Netherlands, the Curacao Public Prosecutor's Office, with the order of Curacao examining judge, requested the Netherlands for his arrest and transfer to Curacao. J.K. has meanwhile been transferred to Curacao and will be brought before the examining judge in Curacao this week. Themis is an investigation regarding offenses that have been committed in several countries of the Kingdom of the Netherlands and abroad. Therefore, a special investigation team was formed for this research, consisting of members of the police forces of Sint Maarten, Curacao, Aruba, and the Joint Criminal Investigation Team (RST). This investigation team is under the leadership of the Public Prosecutors Office Sint Maarten and the Public Prosecutors Office Curacao. Earlier arrests have taken place in this investigation in November 2020 and in February 2021. Anyone with information that can help the investigation team can reach the team at the following telephone/Whatsapp numbers: +5999 521 3865 (Curacao). Those who prefer to remain anonymous can share information through the following tip lines (also Whatsapp): +5999 679 2896 (Curacao) or +1 721 553 0561 (Sint Maarten). Prosecutor's Office Press Release. An oceanfront Palm Beach, FL, property associated with the Trump family has splashed onto the market for $49 million, according to Bloomberg News. The beachfront abode had been owned by Maryanne Trump Barry, a retired federal appeals judge and the sister of former President Donald Trump. She purchased the place in 2004 for $11.5 million. Barry initially listed the home in late 2017 for $23.9 million, but ultimately decided to keep it in the family. She sold it in May 2018 for a discounted $18.5 million, to an entity managed by her nephews, Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump. After acquiring the home in 2018, the Trump siblings embarked on a renovation, updating the mansion's dated interiors and furniture. They then put the place on the rental market to the select few tenants able to pay $100,000 a month. But perhaps the red-hot housing market in Palm Beach was just too tempting for the Trumps to sit on the sidelines. The listing also follows a January report that the bank that financed the brothers' purchase in 2018 has decided not to do business with the Trump family any longer. So now, the property is for sale againthis time with a hefty markup. Trump-linked property on the market in Palm Beach realtor.com Walls of glass realtor.com Deck with ocean views realtor.com Living room realtor.com Updated kitchen realtor.com Built in 1956, the Bermuda-style home features a coveted 194 feet of beach frontage. Spanning 10,455 square feet, the recently renovated space includes eight bedrooms, eight bathrooms, and three half-bathrooms. The interior layout offers an open entertaining space with a formal living room, sunroom, family room, library, and wet bar. ___ Watch: This Is Where Donald Trump Grew Up--and You Can Stay There, Too ___ Walls of glass look out to Atlantic Ocean views. The modernized white kitchen features two ovens and a double sink. The outdoor space is a true highlight, with a waterfront balcony, patio, and pool. The exterior has also undergone a refresh and is now painted a bright white. The home sits across from the former presidents private club, Mar-a-Lago, where he and his wife, Melania, decamped after leaving the White House. Another perk for the buyer: The home comes with a Mar-a-Lago club membership. The well-placed property is also within close proximity to other Trump family members, some of whom own homes around Mar-a-Lago, the private beach club Trump bought in 1985. The former president converted the property into a private club in the mid-1990s. Away from the posh environs of Palm Beach, Trump family members have been busy with other real estate transactions in the Sunshine State. Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner, the former presidents daughter and son-in-law, have reportedly bought a 2-acre waterfront lot on Indian Creek Island for $32 million. Known as Billionaires Bunker, the elite island is close to Miami and offers a secure and picturesque locale. In the short term, the couple have rented a luxury condo in Miami. As for Donald Trump Jr., he and his partner, Kimberly Guilfoyle, also reportedly picked up adjacent properties going for millions in the posh Admirals Cove community in Jupiter, FL, about 20 miles from Mar-a-Lago, the Real Deal reports. While anyone with the funds could surely scoop up the Trump-owned investment in Palm Beach, it would be quite the prize for a supporter of the former president, if not for someone who already has Trump in their name. Lawrence Moens with Lawrence A. Moens Associates holds the listing. The post Palm Beach Mansion Owned by Trump Family Lands on Market for $49M appeared first on Real Estate News & Insights | realtor.com. ArborGen Holdings announced today that its wholly owned subsidiary in the US, ArborGen Inc., has received approval and funding from the Small Business Administration (SBA) under the CARES Act Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) for a second loan in the amount of US$1.95 million. The funds are to be used to fund payroll costs including benefits and other business related costs due to the uncertainties caused by COVID-19. The SBA will forgive loans if all employees are kept on the payroll for eight weeks and the money is used for payroll costs, rent, mortgage interest, or utilities payments over the 8 weeks after receiving the loan. At least 60% of the forgiven amount must have been used for payroll costs which includes employee salaries, hourly wages, sick or medical leave, and group health insurance premiums. As announced previously, ArborGen applied for a PPP loan early last year, subsequently receiving $2.335 million in May 2020. This funding allowed ArborGen to retain all employees and avoid any lay-offs during a period of significant uncertainty. ArborGen applied for forgiveness of this first PPP loan in accordance with the guidelines late last year. While this forgiveness application is still being processed, ArborGen believes it has provided the documents necessary to support the full forgiveness of the loan. Please see the link below for details: ArborGen receives second PPP loan Source: ArborGen Holdings 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: Infratil Limited (NZX: IFT) Update on Infratil Infrastructure Bond Offer 1st June 2021 Morning Report Synlait Milk Limited (NZX: SML) Update Following Canterbury Flooding 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 Category Select Category Apparel/Garments Textiles Fashion Technical Textiles Information Technology E-commerce Retail Corporate Association Press Release SubCategory Select Sub-Category One day before the administration announced its decision on Saudi Arabia, Biden gave the first major indication of his presidency that he would be willing to use military force in the Middle East if he considered it justified. He ordered retaliatory airstrikes against Iranian-backed fighters in Syria, showing his willingness to maintain a tit-for-tat military presence in the Middle East as Iran continues to support a web of anti-U.S. militias across the region. In response to the strikes which reportedly killed at least one fighter in the Kataib Hezbollah militia group, an Iranian-backed group that is also part of the Iraqi governments official security forces Iran declined a third-party invitation to join the United States in diplomatic negotiations. On the campaign trail, Biden committed to re-establishing the Iran nuclear deal signed by his former boss, President Barack Obama, and he highlighted his record as an opponent of Obamas intervention in Libya and the troop surge in Afghanistan. (Biden also opposed the risky mission that took out Osama bin Laden, though he has been less quick to brag about that.) When he arrived in office, one of Bidens first moves was to announce that he would end all American support for offensive operations in the war in Yemen, including relevant arms sales. It was seen largely as a pre-emptive move, given that Congress was likely to reintroduce a bill that Trump had vetoed cutting off arms sales to support the war in Yemen. But it also reflected pressure from within his party and from many Republicans supportive of Trump to turn the page on American intervention. Forever wars Yet Biden has surrounded himself with veterans of the Democratic foreign-policy establishment in Washington, prompting concerns from some critics in his party that he will return to the kind of moderate-interventionist approach that defined Obamas tenure. Weeks before his inauguration, a number of progressive groups sent him a list of 100 staff recommendations, as they grew concerned about his picks on foreign policy. Critics have pointed to the prevalence of former Obama administration officials with ties to the weapons industry during their years out of public service. Biden has said he wants to end the forever wars, and he often speaks of his experience as the parent of a service member deployed to Iraq (his son Beau, who died of cancer in 2015). But Biden is now seen as highly unlikely to follow through on a campaign promise to remove all U.S. troops from Afghanistan by May 1, in what will be a crucial test of his commitment to nonintervention in a situation where the results may be ugly either way. This, too, can be explained by his desire to focus on domestic policy, Parsi said, calling it a path-of-least-resistance approach. Two 'Scorpion' machine guns and 40 rounds of ammunition have been seized by police after arresting a teenager at a Tube station. The 19-year-old man was arrested at Chiswick Park station in the early hours of Tuesday morning. He was held on suspicion of possessing a firearm with intent to endanger life and possession of ammunition. Two 'Scorpion' machine guns and 40 rounds of ammunition have been seized from a teenager at a Tube station Officers recovered two 'Scorpion' automatic weapons - capable of firing 1,150 rounds per minute - and 40 bullets (pictured) The 19-year-old man was arrested at Chiswick Park station in the early hours of Tuesday morning Deadly machine gun favoured by terrorist groups The Scorpion is a machine pistol developed in 1959 by Czechoslovkia. It was made for security forces but was adopted by the Czech army and can fire up to 850 rounds a minute. The select-fire straight blowback-operated firearm was later used by armed groups including the IRA and the Italian Red Brigades who used a Scorpion in the 1978 kidnapping of Aldo Moro. It has also been linked to a series Al Qaeda attacks in France while police in Sweden estimated 50 weapons were in circulation there. Advertisement Officers recovered two 'Scorpion' automatic weapons - capable of firing 1,150 rounds per minute - and 40 bullets. The teenager remains in custody at a west London police station. The arrest was made as part of an operation by officers from the Mets Specialist Crime Command and Specialist Firearms Command. Met Police Detective Chief Superintendent Craig Turner said: 'The machine guns and ammunition seized could have undoubtedly led to the loss of life had they not been recovered in this operation. 'Tackling violent crime remains our absolute priority and operations like this are crucial in removing lethal weapons from the streets and restricting the ability of those intent on causing violence. 'This is one of our main focuses as we approach coming out of lockdown and we will be relentless in our activity.' He added: 'Anyone who believes they can walk the streets of London with horrific weapons in their possession should think again. 'We will continue to make London a hostile place for gangs to operate in and carry firearms.' Partial Results from 3 Holes Confirm Significant Continuity of Gold Mineralization Below Former Mine Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - March 2, 2021) - Pancontinental Resources Corporation (TSXV: PUC) (OTCQB: PUCCF) ("Pancon" or the "Company") reports complete results (gold assays and multielement geochemistry) for Hole 2 and partial results (gold assays) for Holes 4 and 5, out of the total 7 holes drilled in Phase 1 of its fully funded 10,000-meter diamond drill program at its flagship Brewer Gold Project. The Project, nearly 1,000 acres on the gold-rich Carolina Slate Belt in South Carolina, is where the former shallow Brewer Gold Mine produced 178,000 ounces of oxide gold between 1987-1995, and is located 12 kilometers along trend from the producing Haile Gold Mine. Highlights: Hole 5, from 56 meters' vertical depth (immediately below the bottom of the former mine), intersected 181.6 meters of 1.24 g/t gold, including: 152 meters of 1.4 g/t gold; 75 meters of 2.14 g/t gold; 24.2 meters of 4.26 g/t gold; and 3 meters of 24.3 g/t gold . . Hole 4, located 110 meters due south of Hole 5, from 66.4 meters' vertical depth (about 10 meters below the bottom of the former mine), intersected 115.6 meters of 0.91 g/t gold, including: 71 meters of 1.24 g/t gold; 15.5 meters of 2.35 g/t gold; and 3.45 meters of 5.29 g/t gold . . In Hole 5, Pancon geologists identified five sightings of visible gold in three different locations. in three different locations. In Hole 5, 144 out of the 146 samples contain detectable gold , with the lowest detectable gold sample value being 0.034 g/t gold and the highest being 30.2 g/t gold . , with the lowest detectable gold sample value being 0.034 g/t gold and . In Hole 4, 341 out of the 373 samples contain detectable gold , with the lowest detectable gold sample value being 0.025 g/t gold and the highest being 6.53 g/t gold . , with the lowest detectable gold sample value being 0.025 g/t gold and . In Hole 2, all 219 samples contain detectable gold, with the lowest sample value being 0.012 g/t gold and the highest being 2.05 g/t gold. Pancon analyzed historic Brewer data to locate Sonic Hole 1/diamond drill Hole 4 and Sonic Hole 2/diamond drill Hole 5, the only vertical holes in Phase 1 (see Figure 1). The Company is awaiting results for the two sonic holes. Figure 1: North-South Vertical Section (A-A' = ~550 meters) for Hole 4 (B20C-004) and Hole 5 (B21C-005) To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/5156/75751_712edfa2a498eaa0_003full.jpg Significance of Results and Exploration Model Layton Croft, Pancon President and CEO, stated, "To see continuous gold mineralization directly below the former shallow mine for 181 meters in one hole and 115 meters in a nearby hole, five sightings of visible gold in one hole, and detectable gold in 95% of all 738 samples, is absolutely thrilling! We could not have asked for a better outcome from this initial round of diamond drilling at Brewer. It's a game changer in terms of Pancon's exploration outlook and our level of confidence for the future of the Project. These initial results have greatly improved our chances of discovering additional gold-copper mineralization at Brewer." The gold and copper mineralization Pancon is exploring for is the upper, highly-leached carapace of what the Company believes is a much more extensive porphyry gold-copper system at depth. At Brewer, enargite, other copper minerals, pyrite, topaz, kyanite, andalusite, and sillimanite and their pseudomorphs are associated with higher concentrations of gold within a telescoped high sulphidation mineralizing system. These gold and copper-rich lithologies are associated with hydrothermal breccia textures and massive sulphide-bearing stockworks contiguous with the aluminosilicates, all within a highly metasomatized secondary quartzite carapace. Table 1: Select Gold Assay Results for Holes 2, 4 and 5 (see here for complete results) Hole ID Hole Size From (m) To (m) Interval (m) Au (g/t) B20C-002 HQ/NQ 116.10 141.90 25.80 0.53 incl. 120.60 134.10 13.50 0.85 and 120.60 123.00 2.40 1.70 B20C-004 HQ 66.41 182.00 115.59 0.91 incl. 104.00 175.00 71.00 1.24 incl. 150.50 166.00 15.50 2.35 incl. 162.55 166.00 3.45 5.29 B21C-005 NQ 56.00 237.60 181.60 1.24 incl. 60.00 212.00 152.00 1.40 incl. 62.00 137.00 75.00 2.14 incl. 64.90 89.10 24.20 4.26 incl. 64.90 67.90 3.00 24.29 See Quality Assurance and Quality Control Statement below regarding assaying techniques. Intervals are core lengths, and are not presumed to be true thicknesses. The Company has posted the Certificates of Analysis and corresponding complete gold-only results for Hole 4 and Hole 5, and gold plus multielement results for Hole 2 in our website (see it here). The Company cautions that the mineralization at the former Brewer Gold Mine is not necessarily indicative of the mineralization that may be identified by the Company's ongoing and upcoming exploration work. Challenges of Assay Turnaround Pancon, like many of its peers, is experiencing delays in assay turnaround. It is unclear when these various results will be received. The unusually long delays in results are due to exceptionally high demand on labs across North America plus logistical and labor challenges due to the COVID-19 pandemic. To mitigate against such long delays, the Company used two different labs for analyzing Phase 1 drill core: MPC Labs in Michigan and ALS Labs in Arizona. MPC is doing sample preparation for all holes, and for Holes 4 - 7, MPC is doing all gold assays. For Holes 1 - 3, ALS is doing all gold assays and multielement geochemistry, and for Holes 4 - 7 ALS is only doing multielement geochemistry. Pancon is still awaiting gold assay results for Hole 1, multielement geochemistry results for Holes 4 and 5, and both gold assay results and multielement geochemistry results for Holes 3, 6 and 7 as well as for Sonic Hole 1 and Sonic Hole 2 (each of which form the top parts, respectively, of Hole 4 and Hole 5). Multielement geochemistry results will show values for more than 50 elements, including copper and rare earths elements, of which elevated levels were found in samples of sludge concentrated and sequestered at Brewer from metal-rich acid mine waters routinely covered as part of the government's environmental mitigation plan (see November 16, 2020 news release). Figure 2: Phase 1 Drillhole Locations and Drillhole Traces (A-A' = ~550 meters) To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/5156/75751_712edfa2a498eaa0_004full.jpg Phase 1 commenced on November 3, 2020 (see November 5, 2020 news release) and concluded on January 27, 2021. In Phase 1, Pancon drilled a total 2,692 meters from seven diamond drill holes and two sonic drill holes (see Figure 2, and more details on all drill holes see January 28, 2021 news release). The first six holes of Phase 1 tested either geophysical anomalies and/or targets associated with historic diamond drill holes or RAB drill holes (see July 28, 2020 news release on geophysical results). The seventh hole stepped out to the northwest of the former mine in an area known to be especially rich in topaz, which has historic correlation to gold found and mined at Brewer. Sonic Hole 1 and Sonic Hole 2 are vertical holes through reclaimed waste rock and high-sulphide refractory ore backfilled from the former mining operation, which used cyanide to heap leach the oxide ore. Pancon's 2020 shallow rotary air blast (RAB) drill program demonstrated that the top layer of this backfill, down to 10-15 meters, contains attractive gold values, with two of the seven RAB holes in the backfill containing samples running more than 1 g/t gold (see November 16, 2020 news release). Figure 3: Plan Map of Select Phase 1 and Select Historic Drillholes (A-A' = ~550 meters) To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/5156/75751_712edfa2a498eaa0_005full.jpg Next Steps in Current 10,000-Meter Program Pancon intends to systematically explore the projected gold-copper porphyry system at depth as well as in satellite zones. Since Holes 4 and 5 were drilled vertically through and below the 55-65 meters of reclaimed material from the former mining operation and into natural rock, we intend to drill more vertical holes through and below the former mine in our upcoming Phase 2 program. Pancon also intends to conduct comprehensive mapping, geophysics, sampling and shallow drilling across the entire Brewer property as well as on Pancon's 100%-owned Jefferson Project that nearly completely surrounds Brewer, giving the Company a total exploration footprint of about 2,500 contiguous and highly prospective acres on the prolific and underexplored Carolina Slate Belt. Quality Assurance and Quality Control Statement Exploration core drilling was HQ/HQ3 and NQ/NQ3 size. The core was logged and marked for sampling and assaying by geologists contracted by Pancon. Samples, typically 1.5 meters in length, were sawn in half using a diamond core saw and one-half of the core was placed in sample bags and tagged with unique sample numbers, while the remaining half was kept in the core box for storage. Each bagged core sample was shipped to Minerals Processing Corporation's (MPC) ISO/IEC 17025 Certified sample preparation and assay laboratory in Carney, Michigan where it was dried, crushed and pulverized to >80% passing -200 mesh. Gold was analyzed by fire assay (30 g) with an AA (atomic absorption) finish at ALS Laboratories (Holes 1-3) and MPC (Holes 4-7) with detection limits of 0.005 g/t gold (ALS) and 0.025 g/t gold (MPC). Samples containing greater than 3.0 g/t gold were analyzed by fire assay with a gravimetric finish. Multielement analyses, including base metals and rare earth elements, were analyzed at ALS with ICP-MS (inductively coupled argon plasma mass spectrometry). Strict sampling and QA/QC protocols are followed, and assay integrity is monitored internally with a quality control program including the insertion of standards, blanks, and duplicates in the sample stream on a regular basis. Qualified Person The technical information in this news release has been prepared in accordance with Canadian regulatory requirements as set out in NI 43-101 and reviewed and approved by Richard "Criss" Capps, PhD, RPG, SME REG GEO, a Qualified Person as defined by NI 43-101. Amending Agreement Pancon also reports that on March 1, 2021 it executed an Amending Agreement to the existing Purchase Agreement with Voltage Metals Inc. (Voltage), formerly Tempus Resources Inc., whereby Voltage can purchase a 100% interest in Pancon's Montcalm, Nova, Gambler and St. Laurent nickel-copper-cobalt projects (the Projects) in Northern Ontario (see June 23, 2020 news release). The Amending Agreement provides Voltage with a revised schedule for its total $1 million payment: $100,000 on signing (paid); $100,000 by September 22, 2020 (paid); $300,000 by March 31, 2021; $300,000 by September 30, 2021; and $200,000 by December 31, 2021. Once Voltage's first $300,000 payment is made, by March 31, 2021, Pancon will fully exercise its option to own 100% of the St. Laurent Project, and grant Voltage the right to commence exploring on all four Projects. The Amending Agreement allows Voltage to acquire a 100% ownership in the Projects after completing its $1 million payment and after issuing to Pancon 1,000,000 common shares in the share capital of Voltage. Once Voltage owns 100% of the Projects, Pancon will not retain a net smelter return (NSR) on any of the Projects. About Pancon Pancon is a Canadian junior mining company focused on exploring the prolific and underexplored Carolina Slate Belt in Chesterfield County, South Carolina, USA. In January 2020, Pancon won the exclusive right to explore the former Brewer Gold Mine property. Between 1987-1995, Brewer produced 178,000 ounces of oxide gold from open pits that extended to 65-meter depths, where copper and gold-rich sulphides were exposed but could not be processed by the oxide heap leach processing facility. Brewer hasn't been explored since 1997, and most of the tools used previously to explore the property have since been updated with more advanced technologies. Brewer is a high sulphidation system driven by a sub-volcanic intrusive and possibly connected to a large copper-gold porphyry system at depth, as indicated by: widely known prospective geology, including diatreme breccias; associated high sulphidation alteration; gold and copper mineralization; and geophysics (Schmidt, R.G., 1978, The Potential for Porphyry Copper-Molybdenum Deposits in the Eastern United States, U.S. Geological Survey). Pancon's 100%-owned, 1,500-acre Jefferson Gold Project nearly completely surrounds the 1,000-acre former Brewer Gold Mine property, and both Jefferson and Brewer are located 12 kilometers northeast along trend from the producing Haile Gold Mine, which produced 146,100 ounces of gold in 2019 (https://oceanagold.com/operation/haile/). For further information, please contact: Layton Croft, President & CEO or Jeanny So, Manager, External Relations E: info@panconresources.com T: +1.647.202.0994 For additional information please visit our new website at http://www.panconresources.com/ and our Twitter feed: @PanconResources. Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. This news release contains forward-looking information which is not comprised of historical facts. Forward-looking information is characterized by words such as "plan", "expect", "project", "intend", "believe", "anticipate", "estimate" and other similar words, or statements that certain events or conditions "may" or "will" occur. Forward-looking information involves risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events, results, and opportunities to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from such forward-looking information include, but are not limited to, changes in the state of equity and debt markets, fluctuations in commodity prices, delays in obtaining required regulatory or governmental approvals, and other risks involved in the mineral exploration and development industry, including those risks set out in the Company's management's discussion and analysis as filed under the Company's profile at www.sedar.com. Forward-looking information in this news release is based on the opinions and assumptions of management considered reasonable as of the date hereof, including that all necessary governmental and regulatory approvals will be received as and when expected. Although the Company believes that the assumptions and factors used in preparing the forward-looking information in this news release are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on such information. The Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information, other than as required by applicable securities laws. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/75751 LONDON, March 2, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- According to a new market research report titled "Pharmaceutical Contract Development and Manufacturing Market by Service [Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Services (API, FDF), Drug Development Services, Biologics Development], End User [Big & Generic Pharmaceutical Companies] Global Forecast to 2027," published by Meticulous Research, the pharmaceutical contract development and manufacturing market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 6.5% from 2020 to 2027 to reach $134.23 billion by 2027. Download Free Sample Report Now @ https://www.meticulousresearch.com/download-sample-report/cp_id=5171 A pharma contract manufacturing company offers various services to drug companies, including drug development, drug manufacturing and commercial production, development of drug formulation, and biological manufacturing. A pharmaceutical CDMO serves pharmaceutical companies on a contract basis to provide all the above comprehensive services. This allows major pharmaceutical companies to outsource those aspects of the business, which can help with scalability or allow the major company to focus on drug discovery and drug marketing. Complex manufacturing requirements in the pharmaceutical sector, increasing investments in pharmaceutical R&D, increasing outsourcing of clinical trials, and the growing incidence of infectious diseases are some of the leading factors driving the growth of this market. In addition, rising demand for generic medicines & biologics, growing demand for cell & gene therapies, and increasing pharmaceutical outsourcing support the growth of this market. Impact of COVID-19 on the Pharmaceutical Contract Development and Manufacturing Market The recent outbreak of COVID-19 has catalyzed the demand for pharmaceuticals and has stirred the development of vaccines, antiviral vaccines, antibody therapy, and various pharmaceutical products. Due to this pandemic, contract development and manufacturing organizations are witnessing growth as many larger manufacturing units are hiring contract development and manufacturing organizations for pharmaceutical drug development and manufacturing. Most pharmaceutical companies, contract research organizations, and research institutes are working together to translate research into effective pharmaceutical products. For instance, in October 2020, Recipharm AB (Sweden) signed an agreement with Arcturus Therapeutics (U.S.) to support the manufacture of LUNAR-COV19 (ARCT-021) vaccine candidates. In September 2020, Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (U.S.) partnered with INOVIO Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (U.S.) to manufacture INOVIO's DNA COVID-19 vaccine candidate INO-4800 and to enhance the commercial production of INO-4800. Speak to our Analysts to Understand the Impact of COVID-19 on Your Business: https://www.meticulousresearch.com/speak-to-analyst/cp_id=5171 In addition, accelerated approvals have been granted to certain drugs, which are expected to show efficiency in the treatment of COVID-19. For instance, the National Medical Products Administration of China has approved the use of Favilavir as a treatment for coronavirus. The drug has reportedly observed beneficial in treating the disease with minimal side effects in a clinical trial involving 70 patients. In addition, many vaccines are entering into clinical trials in countries such as Israel, China, Italy, and India. Therefore, due to the high demand for effective drugs for COVID-19 treatment, the production of Chloroquine, vaccines, antibody, and other drugs is expected to increase globally, which is expected to drive the growth of this market. Flexibility, ready-made capacity, and convenience have been vital for CDMOs in the virotherapy space during the outbreak and will continue to be important in 2021 and beyond to meet the growing demand for viral vector treatments. Virotherapy development and manufacturing capacity will need to increase by 80% over the next decade to meet demand (Source: Vibalogics). The pharmaceutical contract development and manufacturing market sis mainly segmented by Service [pharmaceutical manufacturing services (API, FDF), drug development services, biologics development], end user [big & generic pharmaceutical companies], and geography. The study also evaluates industry competitors and analyzes their market share at the global level. Based on service, the biologics manufacturing services segment is slated to grow at the highest CAGR during the forecast period due to the rising adoption of advanced technologies for biological production, increasing applications of monoclonal antibodies (mAbs), development of next-generation antibody therapies, such as antibody-drug conjugates, and focus of the biopharma and pharma companies towards outsourcing of their activities. Quick Buy Pharmaceutical Contract Development and Manufacturing Market Research Report: https://www.meticulousresearch.com/Checkout/86251653 Based on end user, big pharmaceutical companies are estimated to dominate the overall pharmaceutical contract development and manufacturing market in 2020. The major share of this segment is primarily attributed to the growing prevalence of various infectious diseases, the growing need for state-of-the-art processes and production technologies, and the rise in the cost of clinical trials and early development studies. The report also includes an extensive assessment of the key strategic developments adopted by leading market participants in the industry over the past four years. The pharmaceutical contract development and manufacturing market has witnessed several agreements, collaborations, partnerships, acquisitions, & expansions in recent years. For instance, in August 2020, Catalent Inc. (U.S.) signed an agreement with AstraZeneca PLC (U.K.) to expand manufacturing support for the University of Oxford's adenovirus vector-based COVID-19 vaccine AZD1222 at the manufacturing facility located in Harmans, Maryland. Also, in May 2020, Lonza Group Ltd (Switzerland) collaborated with Moderna, Inc. (U.S.) to enable large-scale production of Moderna's mRNA vaccine (Mrna-1273) against SARS-CoV-2. The pharmaceutical contract development and manufacturing market is a highly consolidated with the presence of major players, such as Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (U.S.), Catalent Inc. (U.S.), PPD Inc. (U.S.), Lonza Group Ltd (Switzerland), Recipharm AB (Sweden) Vetter Pharma-Fertigung GmbH & Co. KG (Germany), AbbVie Inc. (U.S.), Synoes Health, Inc. (U.S.), Piramal Enterprises Limited (India), Almac Group (U.K.), Albany Molecular Research Inc. (U.S.), Fareva Holding SA (France), and Jubilant Life Sciences Limited (India) among others. To gain more insights into the market with a detailed table of content and figures, click here: https://www.meticulousresearch.com/product/pharmaceutical-contract-development-and-manufacturing-market-5171 Scope of the Report: Pharmaceutical Contract Development and Manufacturing Market, by Service Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Services Pharmaceutical API Manufacturing Services Pharmaceutical FDF Manufacturing Services Parenteral/Injectable Manufacturing Services Tablet Manufacturing Services Capsule Manufacturing Services Oral Liquid Manufacturing Services Other Formulations Manufacturing Services Drug Development Services Biologics Manufacturing Services Biologics API Manufacturing Services Biologics API Manufacturing Services Pharmaceutical Contract Development and Manufacturing Market, by End User Big Pharmaceutical Companies Small and Med-Size Pharmaceutical Companies Generic Pharmaceutical Companies Pharmaceutical Contract Development and Manufacturing Market, by Geography North America U.S. Canada Europe Germany U.K. France Italy Spain Rest of Europe (RoE) (RoE) Asia-Pacific (APAC) (APAC) China Japan India Rest of APAC (RoAPAC) Latin America Middle East & Africa Download Free Sample Report Now @ https://www.meticulousresearch.com/download-sample-report/cp_id=5171 Amidst this crisis, Meticulous Research is continuously assessing the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on various sub-markets and enables global organizations to strategize for the post-COVID-19 world and sustain their growth. Let us know if you would like to assess the impact of COVID-19 on any industry here- https://www.meticulousresearch.com/custom-research Related Reports: Contract Research Organizations (CRO) Market by Services (Clinical Research [Phase II, Phase III], Pre-Clinical [Pharmacokinetics, Toxicology], Laboratory Services, and others), Therapeutic Area (Oncology, Immunology), End User (Pharma and Biotech, Medical Device), and Geography - Forecast to 2027 https://www.meticulousresearch.com/product/CRO-market-5129/ Pharmaceutical Processing and Packaging Equipment Market by Mode of Drug Delivery (Oral, Parenteral, Topical), Secondary Packaging (Cartooning, Labeling), and End-Of-Line (Case Packaging, Palletizing, and Depalletizing) - Global Forecast to 2025 https://www.meticulousresearch.com/product/pharmaceutical-processing-and-packaging-equipment-market-5021/ Biopharmaceutical Processing Equipment and Consumables Market By Product (Filtration, Chromatography, Columns, Bioreactor, Cell Culture, Service), Application (Commercial, Research), And End User (Pharmaceutical, Biotechnology, CDMO)- Global Forecast to 2023 https://www.meticulousresearch.com/product/biopharmaceutical-processing-equipment-consumables-market-4200 About Meticulous Research Meticulous Research was founded in 2010 and incorporated as Meticulous Market Research Pvt. Ltd. in 2013 as a private limited company under the Companies Act, 1956. Since its incorporation, the company has become the leading provider of premium market intelligence in North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Latin America, and the Middle East & Africa. The name of our company defines our services, strengths, and values. Since the inception, we have only thrived to research, analyze and present the critical market data with great attention to details. With the meticulous primary and secondary research techniques, we have built strong capabilities in data collection, interpretation, and analysis of data including qualitative and quantitative research with the finest team of analysts. We design our meticulously analyzed intelligent and value-driven syndicate market research reports, custom studies, quick turnaround research, and consulting solutions to address business challenges of sustainable growth. Contact: Mr. Khushal Bombe Meticulous Research Direct Lines: +1-646-781-8004 (North America) +44-203-868-8738 (Europe) +91 744-7780008 (Asia-Pacific) Email- [email protected] Visit Our Website: https://www.meticulousresearch.com/ Connect with us on LinkedIn- https://www.linkedin.com/company/meticulous-research Content Source: https://www.meticulousresearch.com/pressrelease/391/pharmaceutical-contract-development-and-manufacturing-market-2027 SOURCE Meticulous Market Research Pvt. Ltd SPRINGFIELD Hiring teachers is even more difficult in southwest Illinois school districts than it is in most of the rest of the state, according to a new study from a regional superintendents group. Of the 61 southwest Illinois districts that responded to the 2020 Illinois Educator Shortage Study, 87 percent said they have a teacher shortage problem. Statewide, 77 percent of districts responding to the survey said they have at least a minor problem hiring teachers. The Illinois Association of Regional Superintendents of Schools report, which will be released Monday, shows rural areas are being hit the hardest by educator shortages. In the southwest region, those rural districts are forced to rely on uncertified substitute teachers to fill in the gaps. Longstanding substitute teacher shortages have deepened as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic in some districts. Sixty percent of responding districts said the substitute shortage is a serious problem in their area. Only two districts said they were having little or no problem hiring substitute teachers. Julie Wollerman, regional superintendent for 20 school districts covering Bond, Christian, Effingham, Fayette and Montgomery counties, said her schools have felt the substitute shortage. At the same time, Wollerman said districts in her region have had to rely heavily on long-term substitutes amid a shortage of more qualified candidates. Of the districts in the southwest region that responded, 43 percent said significantly fewer applicants qualified for the open positions in their district compared to previous years. We want to get certified teachers in the classroom certified for the area theyre teaching in, but were not seeing those in our applications, Wollerman said. We have teachers that are teaching out of their certification area. And we have classes that are being moved around and changed because we dont have the certified staff to teach each other anymore. According to the survey, 53 percent of districts in the southwest region believe substitute teacher availability has become significantly worse in the past five years. Im not sure it can get much worse. I feel like were kind of at the bottom of that right now, Wollerman said, noting she is worried that the increased reliance on long-term substitutes could become a problem. That puts a lot of pressure on the substitutes because a long-term substitute is not just somebody that comes in and stays in the classroom for the day to make sure nothing bad happens, theyre actually teaching, she said. Wollerman said substitute teachers must do research and figure out the content and the method of teaching, and full-time teachers and administrators often work harder to assist them in the effort. Our districts are having to make sure that theyre supporting those substitutes and putting time and effort and people in to make sure that theyre giving the best they can for their kids and helping those teachers with not only content but also actual instruction practice, Wollerman said. Before COVID-19 and related mandates, an educator in the Triad School District based in Troy who started coughing in the afternoon would likely be able to continue teaching for the rest of the day. The district would have time to find a replacement for the next day, Superintendent Leigh Lewis said. Now, thats not an option. The teacher must go home and begin isolation immediately, and finding a substitute teacher on short notice isnt always a possibility, Lewis said. Belleville School District Superintendent Ryan Boike said his district hired permanent substitutes for the first time this school year. A permanent or long-term substitute works five days a week, wherever theyre needed within the same district, rather than being on an availability roster for multiple districts. In late November, when average daily cases in the U.S. were increasing, Madison County Regional Superintendent Robert Werden estimated that, on average, between 150 and 200 subs were requested throughout the county each day, not including any permanent substitutes the districts might have hired. The Madison County Regional Office of Education had 159 registered substitutes. A person whos registered as a substitute isnt necessarily working as one. Werden said some people go to a classroom once and never go back. The states law increasing the minimum wage in Illinois to $15 hourly by 2025 poses another long-term problem for the substitute teacher shortage, said Kelton Davis, regional superintendent for the Monroe-Randolph Regional Office of Education. In the rural districts Davis oversees, he said the average rate for a substitute teacher was about $75 a day, and districts had to boost that up to about $85 during the pandemic. For a six- or seven-hour workday, either rate works out to right around the $11 hourly wage that took effect Jan. 1. Schools will have to boost their substitute teacher pay as the minimum wage increases, and Davis questions where that money will come from. Looking toward the 2022-23 academic years, the survey reports that 23 percent of respondents from the southwest region described the future situation concerning teacher shortages as a serious problem, 26 percent considered it a major problem and 37 percent considered it a minor problem. Belleville News-Democrat education reporter and Report For America corps member Megan Valley contributed to this story. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. 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. Former Broadcast Audience Research Council India, CEO, Partho Dasgupta has been granted bail by Bombay High Court at a personal recognizance bond of Rs 2 lakhs. Dasgupta approached Bombay HC after his bail plea was rejected by a sessions court last month. Dasgupta was arrested in December 2020 relating to the TRP scam investigation. He was the 15th person to be arrested and sought bail on the grounds that others who were arrested have been granted bail. 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 refugee from Ethiopia sits next to a bag of rice donated by Kenyan officials at a camp in Moyale, Marsabit County, Kenya. UNHCR/Will Swanson NAIROBI UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, and World Food Programme (WFP) appealed today for US$266 million to end food ration cuts for over 3 million refugees in Eastern Africa. Funding shortages have forced cuts up to 60 per cent. The agencies warned of growing risks including increased malnutrition and anaemia, stunted child growth and a myriad of protection risks. The impact of the funding shortfalls on refugee families is compounded by COVID-19 lockdowns and measures to contain the pandemics spread, which had already reduced the availability of food in markets in refugee camps and wrecked many refugees hopes of helping to support their families through casual labour and small businesses. The pandemic has been devastating for everyone, but for refugees even more so. said Clementine Nkweta-Salami, UNHCRs Regional Bureau Director for the East, Horn of Africa and the Great Lakes. Unless more funds are made available, thousands of refugees including children will not have enough to eat. Protection concerns are growing. Food ration or cash cuts are resulting in negative coping strategies to meet their basic food needs such as skipping or reducing meals, taking loans with high interest, selling assets, child labour, and increased domestic violence. There is often a desperation and a feeling of no alternative, she said. We must start meeting the food and nutritional needs of refugees in the region now, said Michael Dunford, WFP Regional Director for Eastern Africa. The immediate priority for us all must be to restore assistance to at least minimum levels for refugees, many of whom lost the lifeline of remittances due to the global impact of COVID-19. Weve never had such a terrible funding situation for refugees. We have a US$266 million shortfall for the next six months for refugees minimum needs. We are deeply concerned that if cuts continue, they will be faced with a very difficult decision: stay in the camps where food and nutrition security is deteriorating or consider risking going back when it is unsafe. In the 11 countries covered by UNHCRs Bureau for the East and Horn of Africa and the Great Lakes, 72 per cent of 4.7 million refugees face food cuts on top of funding shortfalls already for UNHCRs non-food assistance and support. Funding shortfalls have forced WFP to slash its monthly assistance for refugees by up to 60 per cent in Rwanda, 40 per cent in Uganda and Kenya, 30 per cent in South Sudan, 23 per cent in Djibouti and 16 per cent in Ethiopia. Almost 140,000 refugees and asylum seekers live in Rwanda, mostly from the Democratic Republic of Congo and Burundi. WFP supports 138,000 refugees in camps and 12,500 children from the host community who attend the same schools as refugees and receive school meals. The 60 per cent cut is unprecedented and will only worsen food insecurity. WFP predominantly supports refugees in Rwanda with cash transfers so relatively little additional funding could reverse the cuts. WFP needs US$11 million to provide refugees in Rwanda with full cash or food rations through August. In Kenya, WFP has reduced food rations for 417,000 refugees by 40 per cent. WFP needs US$61 million to provide full food and nutrition assistance to refugees from March through August. In Tanzania, WFP rations for 280,000 refugees are cut by 32 per cent of the minimum recommended kilocalorie requirement. WFP needs US$17 million for refugees in Tanzania through August. Uganda hosts the largest refugee population in Africa and in February WFP cut food assistance to 1.27 million refugees by 40 per cent of the basic survival ration. US$77 million is needed through August to provide full rations. In South Sudan, Ethiopia and Djibouti, WFP requires US$82 million to provide full assistance through August for almost 1 million refugees. Only refugees in Burundi and Sudan are receiving full rations. They need a total of US$18 million through August. The United Nations World Food Programme is the 2020 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate. We are the worlds largest humanitarian organization, saving lives in emergencies and using food assistance to build a pathway to peace, stability and prosperity for people recovering from conflict, disasters and the impact of climate change. Follow us on Twitter @wfp_Africa UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, protects people forced to flee their homes because of conflict and persecution. We work in over 130 countries, protecting millions of people by responding with life-saving support, safeguarding fundamental human rights and helping them build a better future. Follow us on Twitter @Refugees For more information please contact (email address: [email protected]): Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the United States ambassador to the United Nations told reporters Monday that the U.S. would live up to President Joe Biden's pledges and engage the world and repairs its alliances. Thomas-Greenfield's news conference comes as the U.S takes over the presidency of the U.N. Security COuncil for the month of March, but her comments were clearly focused on the U.S relations with China, Russia and Iran She said The U.S. and China continue to disagree on issues such as human rights but is working with the country in a "cooperative way" on climate change." On Russian-U.S. relations, she said the two countries are working together along with the Security Council to bring peace, prosperity and security to the world. Regarding Iran's decision to restrict international inspections of its nuclear facilities, Thomas-Greenfield said the U.S. is looking for opportunities to encourage the Iranians to go back to compliance, and if they make that decision, we are prepared to also rejoin the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or JCPOA.. (Disclaimer: This story is auto-generated from a syndicated feed; only the image & headline may have been reworked by www.republicworld.com) Please enable cookies on your web browser in order to continue. The new European data protection law requires us to inform you of the following before you use our website: We use cookies and other technologies to customize your experience, perform analytics and deliver personalized advertising on our sites, apps and newsletters and across the Internet based on your interests. By clicking I agree below, you consent to the use by us and our third-party partners of cookies and data gathered from your use of our platforms. See our Privacy Policy and Third Party Partners to learn more about the use of data and your rights. You also agree to our Terms of Service. An appeal by John Waters and Gemma O'Doherty against a refusal to permit them to challenge the constitutionality of laws introduced in response to Covid-19 has been dismissed by the Court of Appeal. The dismissal is on the basis the appeal was "misconceived and entirely without merit". The duo had appealed the High Courts refusal to permit the two to bring their challenge and its award of costs of that hearing against them. In their judicial review proceedings against the State and the Minister for Health, with the Dail, Seanad, and Ceann Comhairle as notice parties, they had sought to have various legislative measures declared unconstitutional and flawed. In its decision the three-judge Court of Appeal, comprised of the president of the Court of Appeal Mr Justice George Birmingham, Ms Justice John Edwards, and Ms Justice Caroline Costello dismissed all grounds of their appeal. Giving the court's decision Mr Justice Birmingham said the court was "quite satisfied" that the approach taken by the High Court in relation to their case "was the correct one". He added that while the case was "controversial and tendentious", no serious legal issue that would justify the granting of permission had been raised by the appellants. The applicants he said claimed "to know better than the Government and the Oireachtas" and in their submission they had dismissed internal and international advice concerning the pandemic available to the Government. Fiction over fact They had "chosen rhetoric over substance and fiction and distortion over fact" and failed to meet the threshold of establishing an arguable case, the judge concluded. Mr Justice Birmingham said that during the appeal Ms O'Doherty had referred to the World Health Organisation as "a private corporation" and had made "allegations of treason" against the respondents and notice parties. While the underlying circumstances, that resulted in the State taking "very far-reaching measures", are "extraordinarily grave", the judge said Ms O'Doherty and Mr Waters have "singularly failed to raises issues of substance". While some of the arguments advanced "might have a certain appeal if addressed to a flag-waving assembly outside the Custom House, they had no purchase when addressed to a court of law". The appellants, who claimed their case was supported by scientific evidence, were critical of Mr Justice Meenan's attitude towards a government whose actions they described as being catastrophic and in breach of people's fundamental freedoms. The judge said they had claimed that no scientific studies exist to support the wearing of masks to stop the spread of viruses and said they was much evidence to show wearing masks was bad for people's health. Ms O'Doherty stated there was a cure available for Covid-19 in the form of hydrochloroquine, zinc, and Vitamin C, but what health services had been doing was placing patients in ICUs on ventilators bringing about their deaths. The judge said that "to put it at its mildest there was a tendency by the appellants to present as unchallenged fact what is keenly in dispute". "One is reminded of comments in another context of the existence of alternative facts," the judge said adding the High Court had approached to these issues complained of was "entirely correct". The judge added that the court did not intend to depart from normal rule was that the losing parties should pay the legal costs of the action, unless it is asked to by one of the parties. If any party seeks such a departure must make written submissions to the court, the Judge added. The appeal was opposed by the respondents and the notice parties. Original case Last year, Ms O'Doherty and Mr Waters sought to challenge legislation including the 2020 Health Preservation and Protection and Other Emergency Measures in the Public Interest Act; the 2020 Emergency Measures in the Public Interest Act Covid-19 Act and the 1947 Health Act (Affected Areas) Order. They claimed the laws, and the manner in which they were enacted, are repugnant to several articles of the Constitution including concerning the rights to travel, bodily integrity and the family, and amounted to an unprecedented suspension of constitutional rights. Last May Mr Justice Charles Meenan refused to grant them leave and said their claims were not arguable. They had not provided any expert evidence or facts to support their view the laws were disproportionate or unconstitutional. The manner in which the Houses of the Oireachtas dealt with the laws, introduced by a caretaker government and voted on by an incoming Dail and outgoing Seanad, was not something a court could interfere with, he said. The laws are constitutionally permissible and the proceedings should have been brought via plenary hearing, involving hearing oral evidence, and not judicial review, he held. Submissions In their submissions to the appeal court, Ms ODoherty, and Mr Waters argued the High Court's decision refusing them permission to bring their challenge against the laws was wrong and that they didn't get a fair hearing before the lower courts. Mr Waters argued appeal court should set aside a High Court judgement that was "deeply tainted". Michael Collins SC, with Patrick McCann SC for the Minister and the State, said the applicants' appeal should be dismissed. Counsel said they have made many wild and general assertions, which he said were not supported by any reports or evidence. Some of their submissions to the court were appalling and offensive, counsel said. Francis Kieran Bl, for the notice parties, said the appeal should be dismissed as their claim was non-judiciable, and nothing had been put before the court that would allow them "climb the high legal walls" required for their arguments to succeed. Counsel adding that some of the applicant's submissions was "Bermuda Triangle stuff". A woman is to appear in court following a high-speed chase with gardai on the M50 which was livestreamed on social media. A suspect, aged in her 20s, was arrested for dangerous driving on Monday evening after a chase involving up to 20 garda cars and a helicopter. Video footage circulating online shows the suspect being apprehended in the Hampton Wood Drive area of Ballymun, Dublin. The hour-long chase took gardai from Ballymun to Wicklow and back again before the driver was finally arrested. In videos uploaded to an Instagram account, a suspect can be heard singing along to the radio and shouting at members of the gardai involved in the chase. A garda spokesperson said: Gardai are investigating an incident of dangerous driving that took place in the Ballymun area of Dublin, yesterday evening, Monday March 1 2021. The incident began at 5.55pm when a car failed to stop for gardai. The driver of this car, a woman aged in her 20s, was later arrested for dangerous driving at Hampton Wood Drive in Ballymun at 6.50pm. The woman was then taken to Ballymun Garda station. She has since been released and will now appear before the courts at a later date. No injuries have been reported. It is understood the chase began in Dublin, and took gardai as far as Bray, Co Wicklow, on the M50, before returning to Ballymun. A garda helicopter was also deployed during the chase. No collisions took place and there were no injuries reported to have occurred. Vaughan, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - March 1, 2021) - Spyder Cannabis Inc. (TSXV: SPDR) ("Spyder Cannabis" or the "Company"), an established Canadian cannabis and vape retailer, is pleased to announce that it intends to hold its annual and special meeting of shareholders (the "Meeting") on July 12, 2021 in Toronto, Ontario. The Company is issuing this press release at the request of the TSX Venture Exchange (the "TSXV"), as the Company has not held one or more prior annual shareholder meetings within the time periods prescribed by the TSXV. The specific time, location and format of the Meeting will be provided in the Company's notice of meeting and management information circular, which will be filed on the Company's SEDAR profile at www.sedar.com in advance of the Meeting in accordance with applicable securities laws. About Spyder Cannabis Inc. Spyder is a cannabis and vape retailer that operates in jurisdictions where the products are federally legal in Canada. The Company, through its subsidiaries, is a retailer involved in the development of two retail business units. The first is the sale of cannabis products and the second is the sale of smoking cessation products. Additional Information For more information, please contact: Spyder Cannabis Inc. Dan Pelchovitz President & CEO T: 1.888.504.7737 E: corporate@spydercannabis.com Cautionary Statements Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Certain statements contained in this press release may 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", "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. 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 Company. Risk factors that could cause actual results or outcomes to differ materially from the results expressed or implied by forward-looking information include, among other things, general economic and business conditions and a changes in the regulatory conditions in the markets within which the Company operates. The Company cautions the reader that the above list of risk factors is not exhaustive. The forward-looking information contained in this release is made as of the date hereof and the Company is not obligated to update or revise any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by applicable securities laws. Because of the risks, uncertainties and assumptions contained herein, investors should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. The foregoing statements expressly qualify any forward-looking information contained herein. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/75780 The school has been dubbed a hippy Hogwarts and pupils have lessons in this castle. (UWC) A second European princess is set to attend a school in Wales, dubbed a "hippie Hogwarts". Princess Alexia of the Netherlands is to start school at United World College Atlantic in September. The school is based in a castle in the Vale of Glamorgan.. She'll be there at the same time as Princess Leonor, the heir to the throne of Spain. Announcing the news, the Netherlands royal house said: "After the summer, Her Royal Highness Princess Alexia of the Netherlands will continue her high school days at the United World College of the Atlantic (UWC Atlantic College) in Llantwit Major in Wales. "She will go there for her International Baccalaureate. Princess Alexia is now in the fourth year of the Christelijk Gymnasium Sorghvliet in The Hague." Princess Alexia is second in line to the throne. She is the middle of three girls, and her older sister Catharina-Amalia is heir to the throne. She has a younger sister, Princess Adriene. Princess Alexia of The Netherlands during the annual summer photocall at Palace Huis ten Bosch in July 2020 in The Hague. (Patrick van Katwijk/Getty Images) Atlantic College in Wales is a popular destination for European royals. (Gareth Iwan Jones) Read more: Inside the Welsh 'hippy Hogwarts' where the future Spanish Queen will go to school Jens Waltermann, executive director of UWC International, said: We are always delighted when a student chooses to join the UWC global education movement. UWC's mission is to make education a force to unite people, nations and cultures for peace and sustainability. We fulfil this mission by bringing together young people who would otherwise never meet. Her Royal Highness Princess Alexia of the Netherlands will join 4,500 other students from 155 countries, and from a diverse range of backgrounds, at one of our 18 schools. It doesnt matter where a student comes from to access a UWC education, with over 75% of all students receiving partial or full scholarships. What matters is their potential to contribute towards building a better and more just future for all. Now more than ever we need to educate global citizens who want to engage in discourse, whatever their background or beliefs. Story continues UWC Atlantic was the first of the group of colleges to be established, and there are now several around the world. The founder of the UWC movement also set up Gordonstaun in Scotland, which Prince Charles attended. UWC Atlantic was dubbed a hippie Hogwarts by former pupil, now Times journalist Louise Callaghan, who said it was "full of oddballs who think they are fighting the forces of darkness." She added: "There are also ghosts. Lady Stradling haunts the history tower, and the smell of lavender and a lilac mist precedes her apparition." As well as going to school with an heir to another European throne, Princess Alexia will be following in other royal footsteps - including her father's. King Willem-Alexander of The Netherlands also went to UWC Atlantic from 1983 until 1985 and Princess Elisabeth, heir apparent to the Belgian throne, also attended, finishing her studies in May 2020. Princess Leonor's family explained that they are paying her fees themselves, but Princess Alexia's family did not include that information in their press announcement. Watch: Royals around the world: Europe's future queens Read more: 'Birth justice for all': What Harry and Meghan want you to do to help Whether or not the applicant can pay their own fees changes how potential pupils apply to UWC. It costs 67,000 for two years at UWC, though many students attend with partial or total grants to cover their costs. Like Leonor, Princess Alexia will be placed in one of seven houses, Pentti Kouri, Morgannwg, Powys, Whitaker, Gwynedd, Tice or Sunley, which are named after Welsh kingdoms or a benefactor of the college. Boys and girls are housed in separate wings and she will share with two to three other girls. The college doesn't house people with anyone from their own country, so both princesses will meet people from different cultures straight away. King Willem-Alexander, Queen Maxima and princesses Amalia, Alexia and Ariane in the garden of Paleis Huis ten Bosch before the summer holidays began. (Robin Utrecht/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images) The dining hall of the castle is not a common school lunch hall. (UWC) Alexia will study the International Baccalaureate, a programme which sees them tackle six subjects including at least one language. UWC was a founding partner in developing the IB. At Atlantic, students can choose subjects like Spanish literature, social and cultural anthropology, visual arts and global politics. Other colleges have a different spread of topics, including marine science, Korean literature and film. Lessons begin at 8am and finish by 1.10pm, with afternoon and weekends for creative activities and exercise. Creative activities, which the school often shares on its Instagram page, includes things like a Masterchef challenge and a Bake Off contest. Watch: Denise Van Outen and Eddie Boxshall meet couples counsellor, Keeley Taverner, in their new podcast, Before We Say I Do... Chaos continued at Heathrow today as passengers faced long queues at border control with no social distancing and red arrivals 'stood an arm's length from other travellers'. Pictures from last night showed snaking queues with bored passengers packed tightly together - with the crowd at one point bursting into a rendition of 'Take Me Home, Country Roads' to pass the time. One passenger who came through Terminal 2 last night told MailOnline it took them three hours to get through the border, and claimed there were just three immigration officers checking documents by the e-gates and four manned passport desks. The Home Office disputed these figures. Travellers also complained of chaos today, with Farah, a surgeon, tweeting: 'TWO HOURS & FIFTY MINUTES *standing* in line at passport control. How is this acceptable?' Pictures from last night showed snaking queues with bored passengers packed tightly together Another photo taken at Heathrow last night as passengers continued to see long queues One passenger tweeted: 'I'm in a coronavirus factory!! It's called HeathrowAirport arrivals' Meanwhile, another passenger tweeted: 'I'm in a coronavirus factory!! It's called HeathrowAirport arrivals.' He later said: 'You've got a queue of people from red list countries, standing no more than an arm's length away, from a queue of people entering from other ''non- red'' countries. Who's the floor manager? Give him a raise!' Holidays are currently banned but some people still need to travel for vital reasons such as work or to attend a funeral. All arrivals in Britain must have a negative Covid test and wear a mask while at the airport. Arrivals on the 'red list' of high-risk countries, such as Brazil and Portugal, have to stay in a quarantine hotel for 10 days. A passenger who came through Terminal 2 last night told MailOnline: 'There were at least three times the amount of passenger as there were a month ago. 'It was completely impossible to social distance and they had airport staff just stood about.' Travellers also complained of chaos today, with Farah, a surgeon, complaining to Heathrow Checking passports at the border is the responsibility of the Home Office, while enforcing social distancing and mask wearing within the airport is down to the Heathrow authorities. On Sunday, arrivals at Britain's largest airport told how they waited between five and seven hours with little social distancing. The Home Office said Sunday's backlogs were due to travellers arriving without having booked their testing package ahead of travel into the UK, meaning border officials were overstretched. What are the rules for entering Britain? You cannot enter the UK if you've been in or through a country on the banned travel list (known as the 'red list') in the last 10 days, unless you're British, Irish or you have the right to live in the UK You must either quarantine where you're staying or in a managed quarantine hotel for 10 days What you need to do depends on where you travel in the 10 days before you arrive - if you travel in or through a country on the banned travel list within 10 days, you must stay managed quarantine hotel; if not, you can quarantine at home You need to provide your journey and contact details in the 48 hours before you arrive in the UK. You must do this by completing the online passenger locator form You'll need to show proof that you've completed the form when you arrive at the UK border as well as proof of a negative PCR or antigen test taken three days before departure You could be fined 500 when you arrive at the border if you cannot provide proof that you have had a negative coronavirus test You do not need a test if you're travelling within the UK, the Isle of Man, Jersey and Guernsey; from Ireland; from Ascension, Falkland Islands or St Helena; and children under 11 do not need a test After arriving at a quarantine hotel you will be tested on days two and eight of your stay using a PCR test self-administered in your room In Scotland, arrivals from all international destinations have to quarantine, even if they are not on the red list. Advertisement Under the rules, arrivals from safe countries who are not subject to hotel quarantine have to purchase a testing package online before flying. It comes with two tests, to be taken on the second and eighth days of self-isolation at home. Aura Radu, 24, arrived on a flight from Romania at 6pm on Sunday but did clear passport control until just after midnight. She said: 'It was like hell on earth. Hundreds of us were made to wait for more than six hours and when we asked security staff what was going on, they just shrugged their shoulders. It was horrendous. 'We had no food, and it became very hot and a lot of passengers like me almost fainted. We pleaded with officials to give us some water, which they eventually did. 'There were passengers from red list countries and others who were not, all mixing together. It was complete chaos, an utter shambles.' A Heathrow spokesperson said: 'When additional measures were implemented at the border, we were clear with the Government that they must support the Border Force to ensure appropriate numbers of officials are on duty to minimise queuing in the Immigration Hall. 'It is deeply regrettable that Border Force has been unable to provide adequate resourcing, despite our many attempts to highlight the implications of not doing so. 'Leaving arriving passengers to queue for hours is unreasonable and no airport has the space to hold arriving passengers in socially distanced queues for over four hours, as has been the case in recent weeks.' Nick Jariwalla, director of Border Force at Heathrow said: 'It is incorrect to say that Border Force are not providing adequate staffing numbers at Heathrow. 'We are in a global health pandemic it is illegal to go on holiday and people should only be travelling for very limited reasons. 'Unfortunately a large number of passengers are continuing to arrive without having purchased their mandatory testing packages for the second and eighth days of quarantine in the UK. This causes delays as passengers may receive a fine or be subject to other enforcement action. All arriving passengers must purchase the testing package before leaving the airport. 'We make absolutely no apologies for this. Every essential check stops the spread of coronavirus in the UK these people should not have been allowed to travel without their testing packages and we are following up with regulators and carriers to ensure the law is enforced.' Sunday - Passengers were left furious as they waited more than six hours to pass through border checks It comes as police revealed that a man and a woman have been issued with 10,000 fines for failing to go into hotel quarantine after returning from Dubai. 33 'high-risk' nations from which arriving travellers will have to quarantine in hotels Angola Argentina Bolivia Botswana Brazil Burundi Cape Verde Chile Colombia Democratic Republic of the Congo Ecuador Eswatini French Guiana Guyana Lesotho Malawi Mauritius Mozambique Namibia Panama Paraguay Peru Portugal (including Madeira and the Azores) Rwanda Seychelles South Africa Suriname Tanzania United Arab Emirates (UAE) Uruguay Venezuela Zambia Zimbabwe Advertisement Merseyside Police said fixed penalty notices for failing to comply with travel regulations were issued to two people from the Wirral after they avoided a direct flight back from the country, which is currently on the foreign travel red list, to one of the specified ports of entry required for quarantine. A force spokesman said they received a report of rule-breaking last Tuesday. Following an investigation, both were issued on with a 10,000 fine on Friday and transported to a designated quarantine hotel. Chief Inspector Chris Barnes said: 'Strict rules around international travel have been put in place by the Government for a reason, and to disregard them in this way is selfish, inconsiderate, and potentially dangerous. 'Currently, the regulations mean that if you are a British or Irish national, or you have residence rights in the UK and are returning from a country on the foreign travel red list, you must quarantine in a Government-approved hotel for 10 days. 'If you are required to quarantine at a hotel, you can only arrive in England at certain ports of entry. 'In this instance, the pair in question avoided a direct flight route back from Dubai to one of the specified airports in an attempt to evade this process. 'However, this was ultimately unsuccessful and has now resulted in a significant fine of 10,000 each. 'I hope this incident sends out a clear message to anyone considering breaching travel regulations in this way that we will not tolerate it, and you will be dealt with robustly. 'We are at a crucial point in the pandemic and it's vital that everyone continues to abide by the restrictions so that we can meet the criteria needed for lockdown to ease. 'By not doing so, you are not only jeopardising this process, but recklessly putting your health and the health of others at risk.' Missing patient who tested positive for Brazil variant STILL has not been found, ministers admit, as it emerges mutant strain is in '15 countries not on the 'red list'' By Jack Maidment, Deputy Political Editor for MailOnline Ministers today admitted they are still searching for the unidentified sixth case of the Brazilian coronavirus variant in the UK as it emerged the strain has been identified in at least 15 countries not on the travel 'red list'. Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng this morning confirmed the person is yet to be found as he said 'we are still trying to work out exactly what has happened to that potential carrier'. Mr Kwarteng said the Government is 'still monitoring the situation very closely' as it scrambles to stop the variant from spreading. The strain, first discovered in the Brazilian city of Manaus, has spooked experts and ministers because it has mutations which are thought to increase transmissibility. There are also concerns that the variant can re-infect people who have previously had Covid and that it has the ability to lessen the impact of vaccines. The Government has deployed surge testing in South Gloucestershire after two cases of the variant were identified there WHAT DO WE KNOW ABOUT THE BRAZIL VARIANT? Name: B.1.1.248 or P.1 Date: Discovered in Tokyo, Japan, in four travellers arriving from Manaus, Brazil, on January 2. Why should we care? The variant has the same spike protein mutation as the highly transmissible versions found in Kent and South Africa - named N501Y - which makes the spike better able to bind to receptors inside the body. It has a third, less well-studied mutation called K417T, and the ramifications of this are still being researched. What do the mutations do? The N501Y mutation makes the spike protein better at binding to receptors in people's bodies and therefore makes the virus more infectious. Exactly how much more infectious it is remains to be seen, but scientists estimate the similar-looking variant in the UK is around 56 per cent more transmissible than its predecessor. Even if the virus doesn't appear to be more dangerous, its ability to spread faster and cause more infections will inevitably lead to a higher death rate. Another key mutation in the variant, named E484K, is also on the spike protein and is present in the South African variant. E484K may be associated with an ability to evade parts of the immune system called antibodies, researchers from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro said in a scientific paper published online. However, there are multiple immune cells and substances involved in the destruction of coronavirus when it gets into the body so this may not translate to a difference in how people get infected or recover. Do our vaccines work against it? There are concerns that vaccines might be less effective against the Brazilian strain, with trials of the Johnson & Johnson jab finding it was slightly less effective in Latin America at preventing mild or moderate cases. However, the trials found it still prevented hospitalisations and deaths. No studies have tested the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine against the P1 variant, while Moderna and Pfizer say their mRNA coronavirus vaccines should work against variants with the E484K mutation, with early results showing that these vaccines are only slightly less effective against the P1 variant. Advertisement The discovery of the six cases in the UK has prompted criticism of the Government's hotel quarantine policy, with Labour arguing it is not strict enough. Calls for the system to be toughened up are likely to grow after it emerged the concerning strain has been identified in at least 15 countries not on the 'red list'. The Guardian reported that a list of verified cases compiled by the World Health Organisation includes the US, Canada, France, Germany, Spain and Japan. The Government's 'red list' policy in England currently bans travel from more than 30 countries which have had variant outbreaks. UK citizens can still come back from those countries but they must spend 10 days in a quarantine hotel. Travellers returning from non-'red list' countries must self-isolate for 10 days at home. Labour has repeatedly called for the policy to be strengthened, arguing the Government's border measures are always 'too little, too late'. Health Secretary Matt Hancock last night defended the border arrangements as he argued that home quarantine measures were already in place and travel restrictions on Brazil had been imposed before the hotel policy was implemented. Mr Kwarteng was asked during an appearance on Sky News whether the sixth case had been found. He replied: 'I think we are still monitoring the situation very closely and you are quite right, I think there was one case of the Brazilian variant, as far as I know there are six cases, but there is one where the person involved didn't fill in the forms correctly and we are still trying to work out exactly what has happened to that potential carrier. 'But we are dealing with this situation and I would like to remind you also that we have the South African variant and we have been dealing with that too.' The missing person is thought to have been tested on February 12 or 13, possibly via a home postal test or a test collected from a local authority. In total, Public Health England has identified six UK cases of the concerning so-called P1 variant three in England and three in Scotland. Three cases are Scottish residents who flew to Aberdeen from Brazil via Paris and London, who all tested positive while self-isolating. Other passengers who were on the same flight to Aberdeen are now being traced. The other two cases in England are from the same household in South Gloucestershire after one person returned from Brazil on February 10 just days before the Government's hotel quarantine rule came into force. Two other people in the same household have also tested positive but are not currently included in the UK case total of six, while tests on their type of coronavirus continue. Officials are searching for passengers who were on the Swiss Air flight LX318 from Sao Paulo to Heathrow, via Zurich, which landed on February 10. Surge testing will now be carried out in the Bradley Stoke, Patchway and Little Stoke areas of South Gloucestershire to capture any potential spread in cases. Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said the discovery of the variant in the UK showed the Government had not 'secured our borders in the way we should have done'. Vaccines minister Nadhim Zahawi said any community transmission of the variant would be identified 'very, very quickly' through both regular PCR and lateral flow testing. ADVERTISEMENT A bill seeking to ban open grazing and regulate the business of livestock breeding and marketing in Bayelsa State, will be passed into law on Wednesday. Tonye Isenah, Chairman of the House of Assembly Joint Committee on Agriculture and Natural Resources, Trade, Industry and Investment, Environment, and Security disclosed this on Monday in Yenagoa during a public hearing organised by the committee. The public hearing followed the assemblys successful first and second reading of the bill titled Livestock Breeding and Marketing Regulation Bill, 2021. Mr Isenah, a former speaker of the House, said Governor Douye Diri would sign the bill into law, latest on Friday this week, after its passage by the House. He explained that the purpose of the public hearing was to get the views of other stakeholders, in order to enrich and strengthen the bill to become an efficient law in the state. He promised that inputs made during the public hearing would be harnessed by the committee. We want to assure that this week, the committee will sit tomorrow (Tuesday), prepare our report and submit it to the House on Wednesday. And that Wednesday it will undergo expeditious passage, then on Thursday or Friday, the governor should be able to sign the bill into law so that we can live as human beings, he said. Among the groups that made presentations on the bill were the cattle rearers and butchers associations, farmers and vegetable growers, civil society organisations, and traditional rulers. Others were the police, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, Ijaw Youth Council and Association of Local Government of Nigeria. The Leader of the House, Monday-Bubou Obolo, who is the sponsor of the bill, said the bill was very essential because the government has a constitutional duty to secure lives and property through proper legislated regulations. READ ALSO: Court jails herder one year for open grazing He said the bill when passed into law would prevent herders-farmers clashes and also prohibit movement of livestock on foot and possession of firearms, but will allow the use of trucks to convey livestock. Mr Obolo, also a former speaker of the House, said the bill had proposed the establishment of a Livestock Management Committee to be chaired by the Commissioner for Agriculture and Natural Resources. Government has the responsibility to secure lives and property. Therefore, the government has a duty to regulate livestock breeding and marketing in the state. Though the constitution provides for freedom of movement, it does not include livestock. Livestock is not human. The bill ensures registration for permit with the committee, which is empowered to impound roaming livestock and impose fees and other measures, Mr Obolo said. (NAN) ADVERTISEMENT The State Security Service (SSS) has freed Salihu Tanko, a former media aide to the Kano State Governor, Abdullahi Ganduje. Mr Tanko was arrested on Friday after calling on President Muhammadu Buhari to check Nigerias worsening insecurity or resign. He was sacked by Governor Ganduje shortly after his arrest. Mr Tankos father, Tanko Yakassai, confirmed to PREMIUM TIMES that he was released late Monday evening. The elder politician said he was yet to be briefed on the alleged crime for which he was arrested and detained by the SSS. PREMIUM TIMES reported Mr Tanko, on Twitter, saying the All Progressive Congress (APC) has failed Nigerians over the worsening insecurity. Following the abductions of 27 schoolboys in Kagara, Niger State and 317 schoolgirls in Zamfara, Mr Tanko took to social media to express his anger. He said the APC government at all levels has failed to deliver on its primary responsibility of protecting the lives and properties of Nigerians. Mr Tanko, in a series of tweets, called on President Buhari to deal with the escalating insecurity or resign. Clearly, we as APC government, at all levels, have failed Nigerians in the number 1 duty we were elected to do, which is to secure lives & properties. Not a single day goes by without some sort of insecurity in this land. This is a shame! Deal with terrorists decisively or resign, he wrote on his verified Twitter handle, @dawisu Governor Ganduje relieved Mr Tanko of his appointment after his arrest. A statement by the state government announcing the sack said he failed to differentiate between personal opinion and official stand on matters of public concern and therefore could not be allowed to continue to serve in a government he does not believe in. Confirming Mr Tankos arrest, the SSS spokesperson, Peter Afunnaya, in a short statement late Saturday in Abuja said he was in their custody, facing investigation. This is to confirm that Salihu Tanko-Yakasai is with the Department of State Services. He is being investigated over issues beyond the expression of opinions in the social media as wrongly alleged by sections of the public, the statement said. Dr. Morris Hartstein has not only provided eye care for people in his former home (St. Louis) or his current home (Israel) but has also made 10 trips to Ethiopia, where he has treated residents who otherwise cannot afford care, trained Ethiopian ophthalmologists and established a food program for more than 500 malnourished children. The St. Louis native will discuss his experience in the African nation during a virtual Mirowitz Center event on March 4 at 2 p.m. To register, visit http://bit.ly/Mirowitz-registration, call 314-733-9813 or email [email protected] During a 2014 visit, Hartstein, an ophthalmic, plastic and reconstructive surgeon, attended an afternoon mincha service in Gondar, Ethiopia, where thousands of Ethiopians were seeking to immigrate to Israel, according to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency. ADVERTISEMENT Hartstein thought the more than 100 people waiting at the service were there to pray, but it turned out they were there to see him. He determined that half of the people seeking his help had ocular health problems. At that point, all I could do was send them to the local hospital, Hartstein, director of ophthalmic surgery at Shamir Medical Center, Tel Aviv University School of Medicine in Israel told JTA. But it turned out that none of them followed through. They either couldnt afford the 50-cent fee or didnt know how to navigate the medical system. As a result, Hartstein kept coming back to Ethiopia to run clinics for patients. Before immigrating to Israel in 2004, Hartstein worked at Saint Louis University and belonged to Young Israel of St. Louis. Read more in the Lights 2018 interview with Hartstein about his experience making aliyah. The Cabinet has signed off on a return of bonuses at a bailed out bank for the first time since the global financial crisis, in order for AIB to buy Goodbody Stockbrokers. Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe has cleared the way for staff at Goodbody to be continue to be eligible to be paid bonuses even after a sale to majority state owned AIB is completed. Staff at the bank itself will still be subject to a pay cap and bonus ban, with the exception of 20 individuals who will transfer to Goodbody. The 138m deal ends years of drift for Goodbody itself after two previous efforts to sell itself to Chinese investors fell through. Read More But the timing, in a week where partially state owned Bank of Ireland is cutting one-in-three branches is likely to be controversial. The main beneficiaries of the sale will be Kerry based Fexco, which is Goodbodys majority shareholder with a just over 50pc stake and management led by FAI chairman Roy Barrett, who is expected to stand down once the sale is completed. AIB is buying the countrys second biggest stockbroker with its own funds but needed the Minister for Finances permission to pay bonuses to staff at Goodbody Stockbrokers. The sale values Goodbody at 82m factoring in cash on its books. Government imposed caps on pay and bonuses at bailed out banks, including AIB, have been in place since the banks were rescued by taxpayers. AIB sought an exemption to allow it to pay bonuses to staff at Goodbody Stockbrokers, although the firm itself has not paid bonuses in recent years and even needed to take Covid pay supports from the state last year. Even so AIB regards bonuses as a crucial element of pay for staff at the stockbroker where they are the industry norm. New Delhi: Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy was sentenced to three years in jail for corruption and influence-peddling on Monday (March 1). A French court found him guilty of trying to bribe a Magistrate by offering him a prestigious job in return for information about a criminal case against him. Sarkozy, however, will not go to prison as the court suspended two years of the sentence and allowed him to serve a year at home with an electronic tag. The crimes were specified as influence-peddling and violation of professional secrecy. What was the graft case against Sarkozy? The case involved telephonic conversations between Sarkozy and his lawyer Thierry Herzog that were taped by police in 2014. French investigators were looking into claims that Sarkozy had accepted illicit payments from the L'Oreal heiress Liliane Bettencourt for his 2007 presidential campaign. It was alleged that Sarkozy and Herzog tried to bribe Gilbert Azibert, a senior judge, in exchange for information about the investigation. He offered the judge a prestigious job in Monaco. According to media reports, in one of the conversations, Sarkozy was heard telling Herzog, "I'll get him promoted, I'll help him." On Monday, Sarkozy, along with the two co-defendants Herzog and Azibert, was convicted of corruption and influence peddling. Herzog and Azibert were also sentenced to three years in jail, two of them suspended. The judge observed that Sarkozy knew what he was doing was wrong and that his actions and those of his lawyer had given the public "a very bad image of justice". Live TV (Reuters) - Some of Myanmar's neighbours pressed its ruling junta on Tuesday to release ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi and cease using lethal force against opponents of their Feb. 1 coup to work out a solution to the crisis. The calls from fellow members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) came as Myanmar police again opened fire to disperse crowds after weeks of demonstrations against military rule. Several people were wounded, witnesses said. ASEAN foreign ministers held talks with a representative of the junta in a video call two days after the bloodiest day of unrest since the military overthrew Suu Kyi's elected government. At least 21 people have been killed since the coup, which Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said in an interview with the BBC was a "tragic" step back for Myanmar. The foreign minister of Indonesia, which has been pushing a regional diplomatic effort, urged Myanmar to "open its doors" to the ASEAN bloc to resolve the escalating tension, but said there was little it could do if it did not. Retno Marsudi, called for the release of political detainees and for the restoration of democracy, while pledging that ASEAN countries would not break their pledge of not interfering in each other's affairs. "Restoring democracy back on track must be pursued," Retno said. "Indonesia underlines that the will, the interest and the voices of the people of Myanmar must be respected." The foreign ministers of Malaysia and the Philippines also called for the release of Suu Kyi. But some countries were less emphatic and a statement from the group said "all parties" should refrain from instigating violence and that ASEAN stood ready to help. ASEAN groups Myanmar, Singapore, the Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Malaysia, Brunei and Vietnam. The bloc's effort to engage with Myanmar's military has been criticised by supporters of democracy, with a committee of ousted Myanmar lawmakers declaring the junta a terrorist group and saying ASEAN's engagement would give it legitimacy. Story continues Sa Sa, a senior member of the committee who has been anointed as its representative to the United Nations, said ASEAN should have no dealings with "this illegitimate military-led regime". Myanmar's own representative to the United Nations denounced the coup last week and after the junta announced he had been fired, he staked a formal claim as the legitimate representative, according to letters seen by Reuters. CONDEMNATION The coup halted Myanmar's tentative steps towards democracy after nearly 50 years of military rule and has drawn condemnation and sanctions from the United States and other Western countries. Singapore's Lee said sanctions would not affect the junta but hurt the people and the way forward was to free Suu Kyi and work out a solution - describing the takeover as "an enormous tragic step back". "To use lethal force against civilians and unarmed demonstrators, I think it is just not acceptable. That is disastrous not just internationally, but disastrous domestically," said. Hundreds of protesters, many wearing hard hats and clutching makeshift shields, gathered earlier behind barricades in different parts of Myanmar's main city of Yangon to chant slogans before police moved in firing stun grenades. There were no reports of injuries in Yangon but four people were wounded in the northwestern town of Kale, where police fired live ammunition to disperse a crowd after protesters threw objects at advancing police, witnesses said. State television MRTV later said security forces used stun grenades, rubber bullets and other non-lethal measures. "They were acting like they were in a war zone," a teacher at the protest who declined to be identified said of the police. MRTV said that crowds were being instigated through social media by illegal organisations and causing instability. It said 12 "riotous protesters" had been detained in Yangon. After the use of force by security forces on the streets, people protested from their balconies after dark across Yangon, chanting "the revolution must succeed" and calls for Suu Kyi's health. The military justified the coup saying its complaints of fraud in a November election won by Suu Kyi's party were ignored. The election commission said the vote was fair. Junta leader Senior General Min Aung Hlaing has pledged to hold new elections and hand power to the winner but has given no time frame. Suu Kyi, 75, appeared at a court hearing via video conferencing on Monday and looked in good health, one of her lawyers said. Two more charges were added to those filed against her after the coup, the lawyer said. More than 1,100 people have been detained, according to activists, among them six journalists in Yangon, one of whom works for the Associated Press, which has called for his release. (Reporting by Reuters Staff; Additional reporting by Tom Allard, Jospeh Sipalan; Writing by Martin Petty and Rob Birsel; Editing by Stephen Coates, Simon Cameron-Moore and Nick Macfie) U.S. Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., has found an early and powerful ally in his 2022 reelection bid. Former President Donald Trump said the junior senator from South Carolina has his "complete and total endorsement" in a statement issued by the Save America PAC on March 2. "He is both an outstanding Senator and a person who works tirelessly for the people of his great state, and the USA," Trump said in a statement. "Strong on the Military, Law Enforcement, loves our Vets, protects our Second Amendment and our Borders." On Twitter, the Republican said, "Thank you, President Trump!" Bradford Traywick, a spokesman for the senator, said Scott welcomed the endorsement. "Tim Scott is honored to have President Trumps endorsement," Traywick said. "In just four years they were able to pass historic tax reform, achieve record unemployment, seat 220+ conservative judges, begin Operation Warp speed, and enact vital criminal justice reform. He is looking forward to building on this success and putting South Carolinians first." The GOP senator has been seen as a rising star in the party even as it faces an identity crisis following Trump's tenure in the White House. Scott has been able to walk a fine line of Trump loyalty and also be a critic of his divisive rhetoric. Sign up for updates! Get the latest political news from The Post and Courier in your inbox. Email Sign Up! Scott previously said the Trump administrations moral authority had been compromised because of the response to the racial violence during a 2017 white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Va. In 2019, he also said Trumps comments were racially offensive when he targeted a group of Democratic congresswomen and told them to go back to their countries of origin. In 2020, Scott defended Trump and said he "misspoke" when the then-president told the far-right extremist group the Proud Boys to "stand back and stand by" during a televised debate against then-Democratic candidate Joe Biden. Scott has said his 2022 election bid, which he is favored to win, will be his last run for that office. Speculation continues to grow whether he will be in the conversation for the White House in 2024. At the Conservative Political Action Conference last week, Scott's name appeared in the straw poll results alongside Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, former South Carolina governor and U.S. ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul. A jockey who was exposed sitting on a dead horse the day after a trainer was caught doing the same apologised today and said 'I am heartbroken by the damage I have caused'. A video of Rob James, who won at Cheltenham Festival in 2020, showed him astride the animal in footage widely circulated on social media. Incredibly it came just a day after Irish trainer Gordon Elliott was seen in a separate grotesque picture of him sitting on a different dead horse as he chatted on his mobile. He described its emergence as the moment 'your world starts crumbling in front of you'. The images have been condemned by the industry with Elliot temporarily banned from entering horses into British races and under investigation. Owners have already said they will take their horses from his stables over the picture. Cheveley Park Stud revealed on Tuesday afternoon that they will remove their animals and take them to two different National Hunt trainers. Royal Ascot and Classic-winning trainer Francis Graffard spoke of his disgust over the images. He said: 'Now that we know though, condemnation must come. 'Without a responsibility to horses, and those who care for them, our industry makes no sense, and those emotions quickly become empty, the entertainment shallow and cruel. 'Our industry is made up of so many good people who have done nothing to deserve the tarnish that comes with this. Think of them, those that ask to be proud of what they do and the industry they work in.' A racing industry source, who asked not to be named, added to MailOnline: 'This type of behaviour is not something that is happening widespread in horseracing, that is why everyone is so outraged about it. 'It's a sport where the horses are treated with utter respect, so these images are completely unrepresentative of the sport. 'The kind of behaviour in those pictures is not a widespread problem and is completely at odds with how most people behave.' A sickening video appears to show jockey Rob James posing astride a horse George Elliott is being investigated by authorities after the image was posted on social media James (fourth right, centre) seen celebrating winning Riders Handicap Chase at Cheltenham The 43-year-old has trained 147 winners this season but is now unable to enter British races Wheres the headlines for this ??? pic.twitter.com/Bl1V0VU6Dw hushhush (@coveruphushhush) March 2, 2021 James was scheduled to ride in the 5:20 at Gowran Park, County Kilkenny today but his horse Gentle Jolie, trained by Sean Thomas Doyle, is now listed as a non-runner. He said this lunchtime: 'I have become aware of a video circulating of me on social media. I would just like to apologise for my actions which were wholly inappropriate and disrespectful to a lovely five-year-old mare, who unfortunately suffered a sudden cardiac arrest while at exercise earlier that morning, April 30, 2016. 'I sincerely apologise to the owners of the mare, the staff who cared for her, the horseracing industry and all followers of horseracing for my actions.' He added: 'To try defending my stupidity at the time would add further insult and hurt to the many loyal people that have supported me during my career. I have caused embarrassment to my employers, my family and most importantly the sport I love. 'I am heartbroken by the damage I have caused and will do my best to try and make amends to those hurt by my conduct.' It is not clear when the video is filmed but Jones is with at least two other people in the footage, with laughter heard as he poses as if he is riding the animal. Last year at Cheltenham, James rode Milan Native, an Elliott horse, to win the Kim Muir for Gordon Elliott and Gigginstown. Irish amateur James also competed on Monday, riding the horse 'King of Brazil' in the Blackhills Flat Race, finishing in fifth, despite the storm surrounding the image of Elliott. King of Brazil is trained by Colin Bowe. Elliott was banned on Monday from having runners in Britain while Irish authorities investigate the shocking picture of the trainer sitting on a dead horse while talking on his mobile phone. The top trainer claimed in a statement that he took a phone call and sat down on the horse 'without thinking', adding the image was taken 'some time ago'. The dramatic banning of Elliott by the British Horseracing Authority throws a huge question mark over his entries at the Cheltenham Festival, which starts in two weeks. They include his dual Grand National winner Tiger Roll and unbeaten Envoi Allen, hot favourite for the Marsh Novices' Chase. The BHA described their decision as 'proportionate in these circumstances'. The Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board have so far given no indication when a disciplinary hearing might be held as they continue their probe into the damaging image that was circulated widely on social media last weekend. The BHA said in a statement: 'The action taken by the BHA recognises that Mr Elliott is licensed in Ireland, whose regulatory body is carrying out its own investigation. However, Mr Elliott has entered horses to race in Britain, from which point the British Rules of Racing apply to him. 'The decision to refuse to allow horses trained by Mr Elliott to run in Britain is therefore an interim decision which the BHA regards as proportionate in these circumstances.' Onlookers can be heard laughing in the video as James appears to jumps on top of a grounded horse James won at Cheltenham in 2020, riding Elliott-trained Milan Native to win the Kim Muir The move heaps pressure on the IHRB to swiftly investigate the circumstances surrounding the picture and take action. Earlier on Monday, the BHA had said they were 'appalled by the image', adding: 'We expect all those in our sport to demonstrate respect for horses wherever they have them in their care. 'People who work in our industry believe their values of caring for and respecting our horses have been deeply undermined by this behaviour. 'On their behalf, and on behalf of all horse-lovers, we say loudly that British horseracing finds this totally unacceptable.' Speaking on Sunday, Elliott said the photo dated back to 'some time ago' and denied suggestions his actions had been 'callous', stressing that he was caught off-guard after receiving a phone call. 'I would like to address the speculation and rumours that have been rife since an old photo of me began circulating on social media,' he wrote in a statement. 'Firstly, I apologise profoundly for any offence that this photo has caused and can categorically state that the welfare of each and every horse under my care is paramount and has been central to the success that we have enjoyed here at Cullentra. 'The photo in question was taken some time ago and occurred after a horse had died of an apparent heart attack on the gallops. I appreciate that an initial viewing of this photo suggests it is a callous and staged photo but nothing could be further from the truth. On Sunday, Elliott said he sat on the horse 'without thinking' and was 'gesturing to wait' 'At what was a sad time, which it is when any horse under my care passes away, my initial reaction was to get the body removed from where it was positioned. 'I was standing over the horse waiting to help with the removal of the body, in the course of which, to my memory I received a call and, without thinking, I sat down to take it. Hearing a shout from one of my team, I gestured to wait until I was finished.' Elliott, who turned 43 on March 2, hit out at 'falsehoods and misinformation' around the picture on social media but said he put horse welfare first and would continue to co-operate with the investigation. 'Such background information may seem trivial at this time and will not allay the concerns of many people both within and outside the world of horse racing,' he added. Elliott's stock has soared thanks to Tiger Roll's successive victories in the Grand National 'However, I feel it is important to provide people with some context surrounding this photo. To the racing community, to anyone who has worked with and loves horses and to anyone offended by this image I cannot apologise enough. 'Horse welfare and the care and attention to detail involved is absolutely at the core of everything we do here and both myself and all of my team pride ourselves on those standards. 'Again I apologise for any offence caused and ask people to consider this statement as opposed to the various falsehoods and misinformation being circulated on social media.' On Monday, he showed more contrition in a damage-limitation interview, telling the Racing Post the incident was a 'moment of madness that I am going to have to spend the rest of my life paying for and that my staff are suffering for'. He added: 'I will be punished, I fully understand that. But it absolutely breaks my heart to read and hear people say that I have no respect for my horses. That couldn't be further from the truth. My whole life has revolved around horses since I was a child. Horses are all I have. I came from nothing and built a dream. 'When your world starts crumbling in front of you, it's a scary place to be. I just hope people can understand how truly sorry I am and find some way to forgive me.' Meanwhile dual Grand National-winning and Cheltenham Festival record-breaking jockey Ruby Walsh has labelled the image 'indefensible'. Ruby Walsh (left) said the image of Elliott is 'indefensible' and mad his 'angry' and 'embarrased' Speaking on RTE, Walsh said: 'A picture paints a thousand words, but I think that picture only painted one - and that's 'indefensible.' 'When I looked at it, I felt angry, I felt embarrassed for my sport and I felt very sad. 'I was always taught that the duty of care to the animal is as much when it is dead as it is when it is alive - that is the way I was taught to conduct myself, and it's the way I assumed most people within my sport would conduct themselves.' The Japanese government has asked China not to conduct coronavirus tests using anal swabs on Japanese people visiting the country. Chief Cabinet Secretary Kato Katsunobu told reporters on Monday that the government had made the request to the Chinese Foreign Ministry and Beijing city authorities. Kato said China is carrying out such tests on people in quarantine and some of those who enter the country. He explained that the Japanese Embassy in Beijing has been contacted by Japanese nationals who said they had to undergo the procedure and suffered significant psychological strain. Kato said Chinese officials have not responded to Japan's request and that the government will continue to urge the change. He also said the government doesn't know how many Japanese have undergone this type of test. He added that it has not been confirmed whether other countries conduct such tests. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin told reporters on Monday that China is adjusting its preventive measures from a scientific viewpoint, depending on the infection situation. Wang did not mention whether authorities will waive the procedure. Chinese media quote experts as saying that samples taken from infected people by anal swabs remain positive longer than those taken by nasal and throat swabs, which helps prevent officials from overlooking carriers of the virus. Authorities in Hanoi have allowed local restaurants and cafes to reopen as the latest wave of COVID-19 infections had subsided, but strict prevention and control measures will have to be taken at these venues. Vice-chairman of the municipal Peoples Committee Chu Xuan Dung announced at a meeting on Monday that all eateries and coffee shops with indoor services would be permitted to resume operations from 0:00 on Tuesday. Partitions must be installed or a minimum distance of one meter must be kept between each person. Other COVID-19 prevention and control measures will also have to be taken seriously. The municipal administration also encouraged these venues to focus on takeaway services as the safest option. Discos, bars, karaoke parlors, online game centers, and roadside eateries and cafes will remain shuttered until further notice, according to vice-chairman Dung. Due to the complicated development of the COVID-19 pandemic, Hanoi authorities previously shut down all karaoke shops, bars, and discos from February 1. Eateries and coffee shops were closed from February 16. According to Tran Thi Nha Ha, director of the Hanoi Department of Health, the city has not documented any local infections since February 16. The pandemic situation in the capital has been put under control, Ha continued, adding that all 51,000 samples of people arriving from northern Hai Duong Province, the countrys current epicenter, have tested negative for the novel coronavirus. The risk of virus spread in the community is still high as all students and learners would resume their normal classes from Tuesday, she stated. All residents are advised to strictly comply with the five rules of COVID-19 prevention and control, namely wearing face masks, disinfecting, keeping safe distance, avoiding large gatherings, and filling out health declaration forms. Vietnam has logged 2,472 COVID-19 cases as of Tuesday morning, with 1,892 recoveries and 35 deaths, according to the Ministry of Health. A total of 868 community-based infections have been recorded in 13 provinces and cities since January 27. Among them, 35 were detected in Hanoi, while the majority of the cases were documented in Hai Duong. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! HONEY bees are generally considered to be dangerous and the venom from their sting can cause a severe, life-threatening allergic reaction. However, despite their sting, the little insects have brought a new buzz to the life of a youthful entrepreneur in Bulawayo, Mr Welcome Bhila (33). He prides himself in being a successful young businessman who has made great strides in apiculture (beekeeping), an industry that is often overlooked in Zimbabwe despite its potential. A holder of a degree in information technology from the University of Zimbabwe (UZ) and a diploma in business management, Mr Bhila quit his job in one of the countrys leading companies to pursue his goal. He injected an initial capital of US$10 000 from his savings to start his own company in Bulawayo, Bees Honey Company in 2013. Today, Mr Bhila does not regret the bold move. The company employees 10 people in Bulawayo. In Harare they have a commercial office manned by two people with most of the operations being run from Bulawayo. Bees Honey Company manufactures beehives for beekeepers and also serves as Bulawayos sole market for honey. The company also does honey processing, packaging and distribution. As Bees Honey Company we are trying to fill the gap in terms of demand for honey in the industry. We work with small scale farmers by training them and supplying them with equipment and also buying their honey, said Mr Bhila. There is a huge demand for honey locally and on the export market. In fact, with this Covid-19 outbreak, there are health benefits associated with honey hence demand has even gone up. We are trying to create partnerships and linkages with anyone who is willing to make sure that the benefits of apiculture are realised. Mr Bhila said his long-term plan is to set up branches countrywide and expand his business by venturing into cosmetics and brewery. We have wines, lagers and ciders, which are made from honey. Our long-term plan is to go into serious value addition, but for now we are concentrating on honey because its demand in natural form, is very high and our production is still low, he said. For us to do value addition when quantities are still low is difficult because you cant create a demand for a value addition product yet you have not fulfilled the demand for a direct product. This is what we are trying to balance by trying to increase production by coming up with different schemes. Mr Bhila said he is in the process of building the countrys first beekeeping academy and research centre. We also provide training programmes for individuals around Bulawayo with some coming from as far as Harare. I will soon introduce a one-day beekeeping training for women and youths and my focus being to get as much knowledge as possible in return for more honey and other by-products, he said. Demand for honey and other bee products is high in Zimbabwe. Besides being a food and a sweetener, honey is used in making confectioneries and pharmaceuticals, and as a natural medicine. There is also a strong market for beeswax for making cosmetics, antiseptics, and for floor polish, furniture and shoe polish, soap, skin lotions and cough syrups. Honey has health benefits, as a detoxifier, and contains vitamins E, D, C, and K, which help strengthen the bodys immune system. Honey and beeswax are also growing export commodities along with bee venom, propolis and royal jelly. These show great potential for employment generation and the good thing about most of these by-products is that they fit into the cosmetology industry, said Mr Bhila. There is a wide diversity of values linked to bees and pollination beyond agriculture and food production. Bees and their habitats provide ecological, cultural, financial, health, human and social values. Mr Bhila said beekeeping is critical for local development as it typically requires minimal investment, generates diverse products and provide flexibility in timing and locations of activities. He said people who venture into bee-keeping without proper training are often not able to maintain the bees up to harvest time. Mr Bhila, who is also the national secretary of the Zimbabwe Apiculture Platform, said there is need for Zimbabwe, which used to be one of Africas largest producers of honey, to reclaim its position. I have trained in Zambia and Swaziland and Zimbabweans are more understanding when it comes to acquiring knowledge hence, we have better advantages compared to our countries. I have done training programmes under partnerships with Comesa and the African Union on beekeeping. I am a trainer of trainers and I am trying to train people as much as I can, he said. Mr Bhila said they buy the honey from local farmers and sell it to local pharmacies and pharmaceutical companies with some being exported to South Africa. We also do packaging and we have our own brand. Its rare to find it in the local market because it sells fast. With honey it is seasonal and in Zimbabwe we have two seasons that is May-June and November-December, he said. With beekeeping your only inputs are your beehives and if you do your planning well you recoup all your expenses in the first year. A beehive costs US$30 and that includes the mounting and setting up, and that standard beehive will give you 15kgs of honey and we are buying a kg at US$2. Mr Bhila said despite the company being in its infancy, they are already getting enquiries from companies in the Middle East, China, UK, Japan and Turkey interested in their products. The advantage of local honey is that it is semi-organic because the Government hasnt approved chemicals to be used on bees and therefore our honey is chemical free. Its semi-organic because most of the processes that we use on our bees dont use any chemicals and that is an advantage over our competitors, he said. Mr Bhila said the major challenge in the apiculture industry is access to funding largely because banking institutions are skeptical when it comes to issuing out loans to beekeeping farmers. Our industry is an area banks are not familiar with as they only associated bees with sting yet there is actually more money in honey than other farming activities. We buy a tonne of honey for US$2 500 yet there are no operating costs such as fertilizer among other inputs, he said. According to the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), through pollination, bees benefit human nutrition by enabling not only the production of abundance of fruits, nuts and seeds, but also more variety and better quality. Mr Bhila said the minimum lifespan of a beehive is eight years. He said they are working on a queen bee breeding programme whereby a farmer has an option to buy the bees without necessarily having to wait for the natural swarming to happen. Queen bee breeding is an artificial method of creating queens. He said Apitourism is also another area with a potential for Zimbabwe to earn foreign currency. Chronicle In the coming months, billions of doses of vaccines will be dispatched via truck, plane, ship and rail to hospitals, clinics and pharmacies around the world. With that cargo worth tens of billions of dollars and some individual shipments valued as high as $70 million one thing is certain: Crooks will try to steal some of it. For freight haulers, the vaccine rollout poses the biggest security challenge in a generation, says Thorsten Neumann, chief executive officer of the European arm of the Transported Asset Protection Association, an industry group representing companies that carry precious goods. in December issued an orange alert notice warning that it expects a dramatic increase in armed robberies of vaccine shipments, as well as vandalism by anti-vaccine militants. And if todays highly profitable black markets for drugs treating, say, cancer and arthritis are any guide, it will be relatively easy for thieves to unload their loot. On the dark web, Covid-19 vaccines of unknown origin and authenticity are already selling for $200 per dose. Thats spurred freight companies to adapt a playbook developed to fight the $40 billion in theft from shippers every year of goods such as 5G handsets, $500 sneakers, and $5,000 handbagsemploying methods ranging from added manpower to newfangled digital spycraft worthy of 007. The pandemic has already sparked an upswing in thefts of related products. Last year millions of respiratory masks were taken from an aviation facility in Kenya, $1 million worth of medical gloves were pillaged from a container in Florida, and almost 200 respirators headed for Colombia were stolen. Even toilet paper has been targeted: At the height of the panic-buying frenzy in 2020, 130,000 rolls were lifted from trailers in Britain. Dutch shipping company H Essers, which frequently transports sensitive cargo such as cash and fine art, has selected the most experienced drivers from its staff of 600 to haul doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine across Europe from a production facility in Belgium. Even though the 250 drivers who will handle those shipments have worked at Essers for an average of a decade, theyll all be subjected to enhanced background checks. The doors on their trucks will have digital locks that can only be opened remotely, and the drivers will undergo extra training on how to respond to any attack on the vaccine cargothough the company declines to provide details on that. Security-wise, its really at the highest level, says Ron Van Holland, an Essers manager who oversees the security measures. Each truck is a vault on wheels. Robert Coyle, who oversees transportation of health care products for Switzerland-based logistics giant Kuehne + Nagel, says the trucks hauling Moderna and Sinovac vaccine and the pallets of vials theyre carrying are unmarked to increase security. Theyll be escorted by armed guards in some places and have tracking technology so they can be watched around the clock by the two dozen employees on the companys Covid-19 premium service team. Theyre monitoring every shipment and are in communication with customers if there are any issues, Coyle says. We know if the doors are opened, we know when the truck stops, we know how long the truck should have stopped for a break, and if it goes over that we alert the driver and our teams. Aircargo Transport GmbH, a German freight hauler that specialises in high-value goods, has equipped a dozen Mercedes and Scania trucks for vaccine shipments at a cost of $300,000 per vehicle. The cargo doors have been fitted with alarms that blare at 90 decibels if theyre pried open. Theres a panic button on the dashboard for the driver to alert headquarters of any danger, and if the truck is hijacked, a kill switch can shut off the engine. The shipments will enjoy an enhanced level of physical security en route, with stops allowed only at preapproved locations. Convoys carrying over $10 million worth of doses will likely be flanked by a police escort. And all the shipments will be tailed by a car with two plainclothes guards to protect against miscreants who might try to blast open the back doors and steal the cargo while the truck is barreling down the highway a technique favoured by Eastern European gangs and that sounds a little bit like James Bond, says Horst Boedicker, manager at Aircargo Transport. Ned Gerard / Hearst Connecticut Media SHELTON City leaders are taking to social media to better keep residents informed of local happenings. Mayor Mark Lauretti said the city of Shelton Facebook page, created last month, is designed to keep the community updated on everything, from new business openings to changes in trash pickup schedules to weather-related closings. Courtesy of NFHS and National Music Council Steely Dan's Donald Fagen, Steve Winwood and Chic's Nile Rodgers are among a variety of artists who appear in a new video saluting teachers and school administrators who are supporting music education during the COVID-19 pandemic. The clip, which you can watch on YouTube, is part of a partnership between the National Music Council and the National Federation of State High School Associations to thank music educators in conjunction with the launch of the Music in Our Schools Month initiative. Music in Our Schools Month, which takes place annually in March, encourages schools across the U.S. to give attention to the importance of music education. Other well-known artists featured in the video include Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood, Paul Shaffer, Rosanne Cash, John Rich of the country duo Big & Rich, Take 6 and late jazz legend Chick Corea. In one segment of the clip, Fagen notes that "without [my music teacher's] encouragement, telling me to practice and keep at it, I wouldn't be where I am today. He adds later, "Your work is very important, you teachers and administrators, so keep at it. Keep up the good work." As for Winwood, he acknowledges that things are challenging during the pandemic, noting, "It looks like there's no easy answer to these times. We have to keep the music going." He adds, "With the necessary constraints, we will get more quickly back to normality." Meanwhile, Rodgers declares, "Music in the schools is the most important thing that you can ever do. It's the most important thing that you can ever teach. It's the most important thing to me that you can ever experience." He also maintains, "In these uncertain times, the consistency and the fun of doing music is probably the best thing that the kids will ever experience." By Matt Friedlander Copyright 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved. WASHINGTON -- About 17 years ago, J. Martin Laming, an astrophysicist at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory, theorized why the chemical composition of the Sun's tenuous outermost layer differs from that lower down. His theory has recently been validated by combined observations of the Sun's magnetic waves from the Earth and from space. His most recent scientific journal article describes how these magnetic waves modify chemical composition in a process completely new to solar physics or astrophysics, but already known in optical sciences, having been the subject of Nobel Prizes awarded to Steven Chu in 1997 and Arthur Ashkin in 2018. Laming began exploring these phenomena in the mid-1990s, and first published the theory in 2004. "It's satisfying to learn that the new observations demonstrate what happens "under the hood" in the theory, and that it actually happens for real on the Sun," he said. The Sun is made up of many layers. Astronomers call its outermost layer the solar corona, which is only visible from earth during a total solar eclipse. All solar activity in the corona is driven by the solar magnetic field. This activity consists of solar flares, coronal mass ejections, high-speed solar wind, and solar energetic particles. These various manifestations of solar activity are all propagated or triggered by oscillations or waves on the magnetic field lines. "The very same waves, when they hit the lower solar regions, cause the change in chemical composition, which we see in the corona as this material moves upwards," Laming said. "In this way, the coronal chemical composition offers a new way to understand waves in the solar atmosphere, and new insights into the origins of solar activity." Christoph Englert, head of the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory's Space Science Division, points out the benefits for predicting the Sun's weather and how Laming's theory could help predict changes in our ability to communicate on Earth. "We estimate that the Sun is 91 percent hydrogen but the small fraction accounted for by minor ions like iron, silicon, or magnesium dominates the radiative output in ultraviolet and X-rays from the corona," he said. "If the abundance of these ions is changing, the radiative output changes." "What happens on the Sun has significant effects on the Earth's upper atmosphere, which is important for communication and radar technologies that rely on over-the-horizon or ground-to-space radio frequency propagation," Englert said. It also has an impact on objects in orbit. The radiation is absorbed in the Earth's upper atmospheric layers, which causes the upper atmosphere to form plasma, the ionosphere, and to expand and contract, influencing the atmospheric drag on satellites and orbital debris. "The Sun also releases high energy particles," Laming said. "They can cause damage to satellites and other space objects. The high energy particles themselves are microscopic, but it's their speed that causes them to be dangerous to electronics, solar panels, and navigation equipment in space." Englert said that reliably forecasting solar activity is a long-term goal, which requires us to understand the inner workings of our star. This latest achievement is a step in this direction. "There is a long history of advances in astronomy seeding technological progress, going all the way back to Galileo," Englert said. "We are excited to carry on this tradition in support of the U.S. Navy." ### The Space Science Division executes research, development, tests and evaluations in solar-terrestrial physics, astrophysics, upper/middle atmospheric science, and astronomy. These include instruments to be flown on satellites, sounding rockets and balloons, and ground-based facilities and mathematical models. About the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory NRL is a scientific and engineering command dedicated to research that drives innovative advances for the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps from the seafloor to space and in the information domain. NRL is located in Washington, D.C. with major field sites in Stennis Space Center, Mississippi; Key West, Florida; Monterey, California, and employs approximately 2,500 civilian scientists, engineers and support personnel. The Syrian regime and Russia have accused the US of confiscating UN humanitarian aid and giving it to terrorists, writes The Syria Times. The Syrian and Russian Coordination Commissions have affirmed that the US exploits the deteriorating humanitarian condition in the al-Rukban camp in Syria to confiscate UN humanitarian aid and give it to terrorists. According to a joint statement released by the two commissions on Monday, the US hopes to get UN humanitarian aid to support terrorist groups present in the vicinity of the al-Rukban camp, a region that has turned into a hotbed for training terrorists. The statement added that the US hinders all exerted efforts to close the camp, release the hostages held in it, and return them to their houses in liberated areas. The Syrian state is ready to receive all the Syrian citizens who are held by the US and its mercenaries in al-Rukban camp, and to guarantee their safety, the statement asserted. Thousands of displaced Syrians are held as hostages in the al-Rukban camp, which is experiencing a severe shortage of food, healthcare, and water. The US and their mercenaries [terrorist groups] prevent the displaced people from leaving the camp through the humanitarian corridors that have been opened by the Syrian and Russian sides since last year. 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. Tokyo: Japan is deploying its Patriot missile defence system after North Korea threatened to fire ballistic missiles over the country towards the US Pacific territory of Guam, reports said on Saturday. Regional tensions are mounting as Washington and Pyongyang ratchet up their war of words, with President Donald Trump warning Pyongyang would "truly regret" any hostile action against the US. The defence ministry started deploying the Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3) system in Shimane, Hiroshima, and Kochi in western Japan, which Pyongyang warned could be along its missiles' flight path, public broadcaster NHK said. It was also to deploy the anti-missile system in neighbouring Ehime, NHK said. Television footage showed military vehicles carrying launchers and other equipment for the surface-to-air system entering a Japanese base in Kochi before dawn. While immediate confirmation of the reports was not available, Japan has in the past vowed to shoot down North Korean missiles or rockets that threaten to hit its territory. The government hopes to complete deployment of the system in western Japan by Saturday morning, Kyodo News said, quoting defence ministry officials. Yoshihide Suga, Japan's chief government spokesman, said earlier this week that Tokyo "can never tolerate" provocations from North Korea and the country's military, will "take necessary measures." In 2009, a North Korean rocket passed over Japanese territory without incident or any attempt to shoot it down. At the time North Korea said it was launching a telecommunications satellite, but Washington, Seoul and Tokyo believed Pyongyang was testing an intercontinental ballistic missile. For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. on Tuesday said it has picked up radiowaves worthRs 18,699 crore in just-concluded auction, while rival said spectrum acquired by it in five circles will help boost 4G coverage and capacity. The auction, which put on offer a total of2308.80 MHz of spectrum worthRs 4 lakh crorein seven bands, concludedon Tuesday, just a day after it commenced. Market sources estimated that Reliance Jio had acquired spectrum valued at about Rs 55,000 crore, but there is no official confirmation so far. Airtel, in a statement, said it hasacquired radiowaves worthRs 18,699 crore entailing 355.45 MHzspectrum across Sub GHz, mid band and 2300 MHz bands, arming it with "most formidable" spectrum holding in the country. Sunil Mittal-led Airtel further said all of the spectrum will enable the company to deliver 5G services in future. Despite the large amountofspectrum made available,the 700 MHz band did not get any bidfrom the operatorsas itmade "no economic case" for themdue to the highreserve prices, Airtel said in a statement. "The 700 MHzband coupled with the 3.5 GHz band has the potential toaccelerate India's progress to the top league of digitally enabled nations. Therefore, the reserve pricing of these bands must be addressedon priorityin future," Airtel added. Gopal Vittal, MD and CEO (India and South Asia) of Bharti Airtel, said the company now has a "solid spectrum portfoliothat will enable itto continue delivering the best mobile broadband experience in India". "We are most excited at bringing the power of Airtel services to an additional 90 million customers in India through the power of our pan-India Sub GHz footprint," Vittal added. On Monday, the opening day of auctions, bids worthRs 77,146 crore had come in with Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel, and Ltd (VIL) participating in the bidding process a response that the government had said was better than expected. On Day 2, the numbers have inched up higher, one of the sources said. VIL did not divulge the amount of radiowaves it had bought, or its value but said spectrum acquired by it in five circles will help boost 4G coverage and capacity, enabling the company to offer "superior digital experience" for its customers. In a statement issued after the conclusion of the spectrum auctions, VIL said it has used "this opportunity to optimise spectrum holding post-merger to create further efficiencies in few circles". With the telecom industry gearing up for 5G, VIL hoped that large quantum of spectrum in globally harmonised bands would be made available for all operators in the future at "fair prices". " entered this auction holding the largest quantum of spectrum with a very small fraction, which was administratively allocated and used for GSM services, coming up for renewal," VIL statement 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.) Image: Canva We are launching a series on Critical Race Theory. Its an important conversation today, since many are using the description and meaning different things. At the Wheaton College Billy Graham Center, we are committed to help Christians know and engage the culture with biblical discernment, so we are launching a conversation with, well, different views. As Christians, we want to think through these things together, and the series will include not just one opinion, but several. To start it off, I asked Sitara Roden from my team to give us a framing article. Tomorrow, we will start dropping articles, pro, con, and others on a continuum, modeling Christian dialogue and learning. I will share my thoughts at the end of the series. -Ed Stetzer Its likely youve heard the term Critical Race Theory, or CRT for short, more than a few times in the last couple of months, to say the least. CRT has been brought to the front stage of American culture after a summer of racial turmoil, and because former President Trump issued an executive order banning federal contracts from including the framework in diversity and inclusion training in September 2020. Though the theory has been in existence since the 80s, and its intellectual forefathers in existence since the 70s, we now see an extraordinary amount of interest, and controversy, surrounding CRT. White Evangelical Christians have been at the center of much of the controversy around CRT. Despite this continued interest, there seems to be a woeful lack of understanding around what CRT even means, and why it may be incompatible with the Christian faith. In consideration of its immense popularity and controversy that The Exchange is hosting a series on Critical Race Theory, similar to other conversations on the book White Fragility and on PhDs. We have invited several authors of varying backgrounds and views on CRT to discuss its merits, flaws, and to offer their thoughts on how Christians should engage with the popular school of thought. However, before we hear from our contributors, it is helpful to at least try and delineate a framework for understanding Critical Race Theory as a whole. Since its beginning, CRT has grown far beyond its original conceit, and co-opted by movements which might expand, or simply not align with, its original tenets. CRT is vast, at times convoluted, and I cannot hope to fully explain it in a 1,000-word article today. Furthermore, it may be helpful to keep in mind that this is a deliberately charitable explanation of CRT. This particular article is meant to explain instead of analyze, but perhaps most importantly remember, it is not meant to vilify. With these considerations in mind, lets begin our brief overview of Critical Race Theory. Tracing the Origins of CRT The term Critical Race Theory is formally credited to scholar and lawyer Kimberle Crenshaw in 1989, yet the movement began many years before then. American lawyer and professor Derrick Bell is commonly known as the father of Critical Race Theory, with many of its core tenets being found in his celebrate work Race, Racism & American Law, which was published during his tenure at Harvard Law School. Though Bell is known as the father, CRT was developed by many other scholars as well, including Crenshaw, and others like Cheryl Harris, Richard Delgado, Patricia Williams, Neil Gotanda, Mari Matsuda, and more. With this many founding figures, it is no wonder that CRT is often hard to define. It is important to recognize that CRT was created in and by legal academia, more specifically as a continuation of Critical Legal Studies (CLS). As defined by the American Bar Association, CLS argued that law was neither objective nor apolitical. The laws and legal system of a society are key in shaping the society as a whole, for better or for worse. Critical race theorists recognized that this core ideal is particularly relevant to the creation and maintenance of an unjust, racialized legal system. CLS and CRT scholars differ in their recognition of the reproduction of racism through law, and also because CRT scholars believe that the law can actually be used to ratify these injustices. Defining CRT CRT has been defined many different ways by many different people, and theres a high chance that our contributors will have varying definitions on what CRT is as well. Scholars and laypeople alike have used this term with reckless abandon, resulting in quite the mess of definitions. For this reason, I am including the iterations of several different authors as we define CRT today. Interestingly, Crenshaw herself defines CRT as a verb, not a noun. It is not a static thought, but an ever-evolving practice of critiquing how race and racism is perpetuated by our legal system and other institutions. The malleable nature of CRT is also a large part of the reason it is so difficult to define. CRT cant really be labeled as one particular theory, but more as a movement. For those who are not satisfied with this answer, you may find an examination of its core tenets as an easier way of understanding. Dr. Nathan Cartagena, professor at Wheaton College, defines CRT as a movement aimed at providing an antiracist understanding of the relationships between race and law. According to Cartagena, critical race theorists, at their most generalized, are united by two shared tenets and five common conclusions. The first interest is to understand how white supremacy has been created and maintained in the U.S. The second interest is that CRT scholars are not just interested in understanding the functions of racism, but actually in changing these injustices. The five common conclusions are more far-reaching. First, CRT scholars reject the idea that legal scholarship in particular can or should be objective, because humans themselves arent objective. Similarly, the second conclusion is that because of the subjectivity of scholarship, the formal production of knowledge in scholarship is inherently political. Third, our U.S. history of law should promote a dissatisfaction with the civil rights discourse weve had thus far, because weve settled for minor wins instead of reconstruction. Fourth, these minor, perceived wins for racial justice actually led to the reconceptualization of racism into de facto racism and the rise of the colorblind mentality, which swept race issues under the rug instead of actually solving them. Finally, this reconceptualization of racism encouraged social forgetting or rewriting of history that paints a meritocracy as the solution to racism, relying on exceptionalism to prove racism is gone instead of asking why it was so difficult for that person to reach success in the first place. As a reminder, please read his three part series on the subject here. Cartagena is also writing a book on the subject with IVP Academic. In the meantime, you may read more of his thoughts on CRT on his blog. Further Resources These brief definitions only give a birds eye view all that CRT is, and does not even begin to address the various intersections which CRT scholars study (like gender and sexuality), though I hope that it will provide helpful context as we embark on our conversation here on The Exchange. For those who are interested in learning more about CRT, I highly encourage you to explore the following resources: Sitara Roden serves as Managing Editor for The Exchange. A recent graduate of Wheaton Colleges Dept. of Sociology, Roden also serves as Promotions Strategist at the Wheaton College Billy Graham Center. This is an opinion cartoon. The murder of Jamal Khashoggi, an American journalist, was ordered by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. The Trump administration knew it. Pretended it never happened. No surprise. And now the Biden administration knows it. Doesnt seem to care all that much. Behind-the-scenes-slap-on-the wrist diplomacy wont do the trick, dude. Biden administration defends decision not to sanction Saudi prince in Khashoggi murder You inherited the blood. But you embraced it. With such a low bar set the past 4 years, President Biden should and will be held to a higher standard than his predecessor. Dont let the Saudis get away with murder. From the New York Times: President Biden lets a Saudi murderer walk The United States government publicly identified Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia as the murderer of an American resident, and then President Biden choked. Instead of imposing sanctions on M.B.S., Biden appears ready to let the murderer walk. The weak message to other thuggish dictators considering such a murder is: Please dont do it, but well still work with you if we have to. The message to Saudi Arabia is: Go ahead and elevate M.B.S. to be the countrys next king if you must. Check out more cartoons and stuff by JD Crowe Alabama basketball: SEC champs are Jonesing for respect Will medical marijuana cure ignorance and apathy? 2020 Alabama Crimson Tide: lotta love for Nick Sabans greatest team Nick Saban wins 7th championship; The Bear abides Alabamas DeVonta Smith wins Heisman with one-handed grab Will medical marijuana cure Alabamas ignorance and apathy? Gov. Cuomos undercover work? Nursing home COVID deaths Frozen windmills? Deregulation is to blame for Teas power grid fiasco Thaw your frozen heart, Kay Ivey. Expand Medicaid When Richard Shelby retires, whos gonna bring home the bacon? Tommy Bad Weather Tuberville is dumber than a snowman Something stinks about Kay Iveys prison lease deal Alabamas confusing COVID vaccine portal Alabama vaccine rollout: Four flat tires on a muddy road 2020 tributes: Gallery of heartbreak and heroes JD Crowe is the cartoonist for Alabama Media Group and AL.com and 2020 RFK Human Rights Award winner for Editorial Cartoons. Follow him on Facebook, Twitter @Crowejam and Instagram @JDCrowepix. The United States on Tuesday imposed sanctions on two military leaders of the Iran-backed Houthi movement in Yemen, accusing them of prolonging the country's civil war and exacerbating the humanitarian crisis. The U.S. Treasury Department in a statement said it blacklisted Mansur Al-Saadi, the Houthi naval forces chief of staff, and Ahmad Ali Ahsan al-Hamzi, the commander of Yemens Houthi-aligned Yemeni air force and air defense forces. The United States condemns the destruction of civilian sites by the Houthi militants designated today. These individuals command forces that are worsening the humanitarian crisis in Yemen, Director of the Office of Foreign Assets Control Andrea Gacki said in the statement. The Treasury said the action was being taken under an executive order issued by then-President Barack Obama in 2012 that aims to freeze the assets of people threatening the peace, security or stability of Yemen. The new sanctions were issued as President Joe Biden has withdrawn support for a Saudi Arabia-led military campaign in Yemen, declaring that the six-year war, widely seen as a proxy conflict between Saudi Arabia and Iran, "has to end." The Treasury said Iran has intensified the conflict by providing direct financial and materiel assistance to the Houthis, including small arms, missiles, explosives and unmanned aerial vehicles, or drones, that have been used against the internationally recognized Yemeni government. The Treasury said Al-Saadi has received extensive training in Iran and helped smuggle weapons into Yemen, while al-Hamzi has acquired Iranian-made weapons for use in the civil war, including in drone strikes. The action bans U.S. persons from engaging in transactions with the Houthi leaders and blocks any property they may have under U.S. jurisdiction. Short link: Four people were shot dead in a bloody shootout by the Royal Gendarmerie of Cambodia forces on Monday for allegedly attempting to extort a million dollars from a family. The Phnom Penh Gendarmerie said on its Facebook page that the operation was planned after authorities were made aware of the four individuals' plan to extort a family living in Sen Sok district's Borey Angkor Phnom Penh. The Gendarmeries said it took four days to plan the operation to capture the four people - who have not been identified. Eng Hy, a spokesperson at the Phnom Penh Gendarmerie, said that security personnel had to fire back in "self-defense" because the four men were armed. The situation was such that the suspects fired at the authorities. Thus, the authorities had to respond in self-defense and as per the law, he said. He did not give any details about the alleged abduction and the authorities' response, saying he was drafting a report. Photos posted by the Gendarmerie showed the gunned down suspects dead and laying next to an AK-47. After the operation, the Facebook post also showed an ID card belonging to one of the deceased, but VOA was unable to verify the origins of these posts. They named one of the four individuals, Im Sovannarith, with an alleged Bodyguard Unit ID card. Eng Hy said the elite Bodyguard Unit had denied that "Im Sovannarith" was an employee on their force. Roth Sreang, the head of the Phnom Penh Gendarmerie, posted on his Facebook page that the mastermind of the abduction attempt was Im Sovannrith, who was a chauffeur for the family. Sreang said Sovannarith had quit his job and when he asked to come back, the homeowner declined. The men had planned to force the homeowner to write a check for $1 million at gunpoint, according to Roth Sreang. He added that they planned to take the homeowner's daughter hostage until the check is cleared, after which they would kill everyone in the house. Seoung Senkarona, the spokesperson for local rights group Adhoc, said it was hard to evaluate if the use of force by the authorities was excessive. To a casual observer, the wooden shed sitting in a plot of land on the fringes of the University of Birmingham campus looks pretty nondescript. The only clues to its true purpose are the devices resembling miniature chimneys that are dotted across the roof. Some of the experts involved in this project understandably bristle at the use of the word 'shed', as the simple exterior belies the importance of what's going on in this building. For stacked inside are state-of-the-art machines, the size of filing cabinets, that are able to determine in more detail than ever before the make-up of pollutants in the air that we breathe. The hope is that this will help identify the best ways to clean it up a move that, in turn, may help reduce the rates of asthma, dementia and heart disease, and even the chance of developing infections such as Covid. The exterior of the 'shed' has deliberately been left unpainted, since painting it would lead to the emission of volatile compounds vapours given off as gases that the machines would detect, so skewing the data. To a casual observer, the wooden shed sitting in a plot of land on the fringes of the University of Birmingham campus looks pretty nondescript For these instruments, which constantly monitor air samples sucked in by the chimneys on the roof, are so sensitive they're able to determine not just the quantities of emissions, but also, by checking the chemical fingerprint of the particles and gases, the source of the pollution. For instance, they can determine whether it is diesel exhaust emissions, rubber wear from a tyre, particles from a car brake pad, or emissions from a wood-burning stove. Meanwhile, another machine cross checks the information with other data about the weather to pinpoint where it came from so the results are not just pertinent to the residents of Birmingham, they affect us all. Ella Kissi-Debrah, whose death was linked to unlawful levels of air pollution 'Pollution come from lots of sources, and that varies,' says Dr David Green, senior research fellow in the environmental research group at Imperial College London. 'One day it might be blowing in from the ocean, bringing a level of salt with it; the next day it might be coming from urban areas and will contain different pollutants. Sources change by the hour.' Data from the shed is being shared with government departments and local agencies to identify the key pollutants that need cracking down on. But, crucially, it's also being used to determine the impact these emissions are having on our health. The data can reveal how pollution correlates with the admissions to local hospitals, explains Dr Suzanne Bartington, a clinical research fellow in public health in the Institute of Applied Health Research at the University of Birmingham. 'We've already seen from other studies that the number of cardiac arrests can change according to the level of air pollution,' she says. 'We're now looking at how different pollution influences the number of hospital admissions for cardiac conditions more generally, as well as respiratory conditions. In the future, we'll move on to strokes and asthma.' Stacked inside are state-of-the-art machines, the size of filing cabinets, that are able to determine in more detail than ever before the make-up of pollutants in the air that we breathe Machines that are analysing pollution in more detail than ever before This, it is hoped, will provide greater understanding of the time lag between high pollution levels and the effects it has on our health and what needs to be done to address this. It may mean, for example, some at-risk groups being advised to stay inside on certain days. Birmingham is one of three air quality 'supersites' established around the UK in 2019. The others are in Manchester and London (where the site is split between two, on a road near Madame Tussauds and another in Honor Oak in Southwark). This is urgently needed work. In the UK, between 28,000 and 36,000 deaths a year can be attributed to long-term exposure to air pollution, according to Public Health England (PHE), although new analysis of 2012 data released last week in the journal Environmental Research suggests the true figure is more than 90,000. Differences over the figures aside, PHE acknowledges there is 'strong evidence' that air pollution causes heart disease, stroke, respiratory disease and lung disease, and that it exacerbates asthma. William Bloss, a professor of atmospheric science at the University of Birmingham Furthermore, studies suggest exposure to pollution won't just make asthma attacks worse, it can actually cause asthma, while there is mounting evidence to suggest it also directly damages the brain. And last month, new research linked pollution to a risk of a major cause of sight loss age-related macular degeneration (AMD). Researchers from University College London found that people in the most polluted areas of the UK were at least 8 per cent more likely to have AMD, reported the British Journal of Ophthalmology. Researchers speculate that pollution damages the retina the thin layer of light-sensitive cells at the back of the eye. Air pollution may even raise the risk of catching Covid. In a study, published in the journal Environmental Pollution in January, researchers showed that those who live in the most polluted areas of the UK are more likely to develop or die of Covid and the link is 'significant' even after taking into account factors such as deprivation and age. Dr Suzanne Bartington, a clinical research fellow in public health in the Institute of Applied Health Research at the University of Birmingham Scientists examined data from about 1,500 people who had taken a Covid test over 600 of whom tested positive and cross checked that with levels of pollution in their local areas. 'The correlation was stronger than we expected it to be,' Marco Travaglio, one of the researchers from the University of Cambridge, told Good Health. Co-author Yizhou Yu added: 'Other researchers from other countries [including the U.S. and Italy] also replicated the same or similar findings.' Tackling pollution and its impact on health requires information, and this is where the sheds come in. 'Every week a new disease is being linked to air pollution, so as soon as you have more detail you can start to do more to help,' says Dr Green. The type of air pollution they are monitoring falls broadly into two categories: particles and gases. One of these gases is nitrogen dioxide, formed when fuels such as diesel, coal or oil are burned at high temperatures. It's thought that when we inhale these gases, they inflame the airway, reducing lung capacity and triggering asthma attacks. It was high levels of nitrogen dioxide that were thought to have contributed to the death of nine-year-old Ella Kissi-Debrah after an asthma attack in 2013. An inquest in December heard that in the two years leading up to her death, she was so ill she had to go to hospital 27 times. And that pollution levels spiked near the family home in Lewisham, South London on the day of her fatal attack. Yet experts believe that while nitrogen dioxide levels are making people ill, pollutant particles pose an even bigger threat to health. Data gathered so far by the Birmingham site has been dominated by the pandemic. 'It was striking to see the changes in nitrogen dioxide' says Professor Bloss The particles being measured at Birmingham include particulate matter (PM) 2.5. These microscopic particles (which measure 2.5 microns less than a 50th of the diameter of a human hair) come from numerous sources, including diesel fumes and wood smoke, but also brake pads, tyre particles and road dust. 'These are particles that are small enough to breathe in and have a range of sources such as traffic, industry and agriculture,' says William Bloss, a professor of atmospheric science at the University of Birmingham. PM2.5 particles were classed as a carcinogen in 2013 by the International Agency for Research on Cancer. These fine particles are particularly harmful, adds Dr Bartington. 'They get into the lungs and then into the blood, where they can make it more sticky and encourage an inflammatory response thought to be the basis of many diseases. 'The particles are already linked to heart disease,' she says, adding that evidence suggests they may be linked to high blood pressure. PM2.5s are now implicated in increasing the risk of Covid, too. The Cambridge researchers found that every extra microgram of PM2.5 per cubic metre of air led to 12.5 per cent more cases. Researcher Yizhou Yiu adds: 'We know viruses can live on those [pollution] particles for longer.' Dr Bartington says other factors may also be at play. It's known that air pollution damages the mucus lining of the airway (this helps trap small particles). 'This is part of the first line of defence in the respiratory tract,' she says. PM2.5 isn't the only particle threat. The technology at Birmingham now allows scientists to detect levels of particles that are even smaller at PM0.1, a thousandth of a human hair in size. Dr Salim Alam, a research fellow in the School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences The technology at Birmingham now allows scientists to detect levels of particles that are even smaller at PM0.1, a thousandth of a human hair in size 'The issue with these is that as they are smaller, they get deeper into the lungs and can probably be more harmful than larger particles,' says Dr Bartington. 'We are researching how much of the damaging health effects we currently associate with PM2.5 is actually due to these [PM0.1] particles, also known as ultra fines.' One area of concern is their impact on the brain. 'Ultra fines are small enough to go straight through to the brain and damage neurons,' says Dr Bartington. 'It looks as if this can increase the risk of cognitive decline or dementia.' A study in BMJ Open in 2018 involving 130,000 adults in London aged 50 to 79, whose health was monitored between 2005 and 2013, found that those who lived in the most polluted areas had the highest risk of developing dementia. And damage may begin even before we are born. Last month, a study found that exposure to air pollution in the womb can affect cognitive skills decades later. Tackling pollution and its impact on health requires information, and this is where the sheds come in Researchers from the University of Edinburgh examined data from 500 people given a cognitive test at 11 and 70 and found that those exposed to the most pollution in pregnancy performed the worst. The difference between the groups was 'small' but apparent, said the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease. Dr Bartington believes few people realise the threat that poor air quality poses. 'It depends on your exact location, but air pollution can have as severe an impact on your health as smoking,' she says. Zongbo Shi, a professor of atmospheric biogeochemistry at the University of Birmingham Data gathered so far by the Birmingham site has been dominated by the pandemic. 'It was striking to see the changes in nitrogen dioxide which dropped to levels we haven't seen since the 1960s,' says Professor Bloss. 'It was a glimpse of what's possible in the future.' Yet the issue is not just the number of cars but how they are driven, says Zongbo Shi, a professor of atmospheric biogeochemistry at the University of Birmingham. 'Some people rev at the lights and screech away. That can contribute the same amount of emissions in a few minutes as in an hour by a more moderate driver.' A ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel cars will come into effect in 2030, but even electric cars aren't going to be a happy-ever-after. Half of emissions of PM2.5 are from the vehicle itself: brake-wear and tyre-wear and wear the car causes to the road surface, explains Dr Green. Work is also under way on improving junction layouts to reduce pollution. Other schemes include 'green infrastructure', explains Professor Bloss, where you screen vulnerable areas such as playgrounds using hedges. 'It can help change the air flow, but you can't clean up a whole city with a lot of vegetation,' he says. 'If you change air flow, the pollutants will go somewhere else.' Meanwhile, Dr Bartington hopes we will change how we view pollution. 'We wouldn't drink contaminated water, yet we're breathing in contaminated air,' she says. 'We seem to accept it as collateral damage of economic progress. 'Maybe as the links to more diseases and conditions becomes clear, attitudes will change.' Professor Bloss agrees: 'In the UK, life expectancy is reduced by, on average, six months because of our pollution levels and I would quite like those six months back.' 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. New Jersey minors who are caught with cannabis for the first time will just be given a written warning by law enforcement - and their parents won't be notified, causing tension with marijuana advocates and those wanting more stringent drug laws. Last Monday, Governor Phil Murphy signed three bills into law to ensure that the state had a peaceful transition to legalizing the drug in what he said was a bid to rectify disparities in policing. Murphy signed into law bills that allow possession of up to six ounces of marijuana by people age 21 or older. Distribution and growing cannabis without a license remain illegal. The legislation, passed late last month by the Assembly and Senate, also eased penalties for minors for possession of marijuana beyond the limits. Scroll down for video Last Monday, Governor Phil Murphy signed into law bills that allow possession of up to six ounces of marijuana by people age 21 or older. Distribution and growing cannabis without a license remain illegal. The legislation, passed late last month by the Assembly and Senate, also eased penalties for minors for possession of marijuana Minors, or those under the age of 21, can expect a variety of consequences if they are caught using marijuana by law enforcement on more than one occasion. First-time violators will be issued a written warning that will include their name, address, date of birth and details of the probable cause, Patch.com reports. Their parents won't be notified on the first offense. Those minors with a second offense will have a written note issued to them and their parents or guardian. Included in the notification will be a referral to a public or private agency or organization that specializes in community oriented substance-abuse services. Third-time violators will incur fine of up to $50, or will be required to provide community service. The fines collected from this new venture will go toward helping find and fund substance use and community service programs. Gov. Phil Murphy as he has signed into law legislation to set up a recreational marijuana marketplace on Feb. 22 Since minors are 'not capable of giving lawful consent to a search,' law enforcement officers can no longer request to search those they suspect of having cannabis. Law enforcement officers are also are now prohibited from initiating an investigation for people of any age simply for catching a whiff of cannabis, hashish, or any item associated with the drug. Officers also no longer have probable cause to initiate a search of a person or their property simply for noting an unconcealed possession of an alcoholic beverage or cannabis item. Underage people who buy cannabis or items for usage will no longer be subject to arrest nor will they be taken into custody by law enforcement. However, those who distribute weed to underage people could face a $250 fine for their first offense, followed by $500 and then $100 for each subsequent violation. The move from Murphy has angered those in law enforcement, with the New Jersey State Policemen's Benevolent Association claiming that bill 'dangerously ties your hands.' New Jersey State Policemen's Benevolent Association claimed that the bill 'dangerously ties your hands' 'It establishes penalties of only warnings for illegal use by minors of marijuana or alcohol BUT it essentially prevents an officer from even approaching a person suspected of being a minor,' the union claimed in a Facebook post shared last Monday. 'Absent the commission of another crime or clear legal guidance officers are being forced to ask themselves if writing a warning is worth risking being accused and charged with a 3rd degree crime? The mere smell of marijuana and its use in your presence will no longer be grounds to search an individual.' The union also slammed their ability to be charged with violating civil rights if they stop minors to conduct searches. 'The legislation is treacherous to you because it creates a penalty of 3rd Degree Deprivation of Civil Rights if an officer uses the odor or possession of marijuana or alcoholic beverages as the reason for initiating an investigatory stop of a person,' the police union added. New Jersey United for Marijuana Reform said on Twitter that getting the legislation passed has 'been a long time coming' According to Dr. David Nathan, a psychiatrist and founding member of both the New Jersey United for Marijuana Reform and Doctors of Cannabis Regulations, the passage of the bills will 'help people understand that the criminal justice approach to cannabis misuse is simply the wrong tool to be using.' But according to Dr. David Nathan, a psychiatrist and founding member of both the New Jersey United for Marijuana Reform and Doctors of Cannabis Regulations, the passage of the bills will 'help people understand that the criminal justice approach to cannabis misuse is simply the wrong tool to be using.' 'We've done a good job of not only creating a legal distinction between adult and underage use that reflects the science of what we want our kids to emulate but we have also shown and convinced our lawmakers that the criminal justice approach is simply the wrong approach for anyone with problems of cannabis misuse and that goes for kids as well. Speaking with Ami Kachalia of the American Civil Liberties Union in New Jersey, Dr. Nathan declared that the 'criminal justice system clearly doesn't work.' He continued: 'The fact is that at the same time that tobacco and alcohol usage decreased around the country for the past 40 plus years as a result of good, realistic, evidence based preventive education that kids have learned to actually trust... we've done quite the opposite with cannabis. When we are telling kids that cannabis is against the law for everyone because it is bad for everyone, they wouldn't listen to us.' Speaking with Ami Kachalia of the American Civil Liberties Union in New Jersey, Dr. Nathan declared that the 'criminal justice system clearly doesn't work' Nathan stressed that it was crucial to 'teach our kids that the non medical use of cannabis can indeed have deleterious health affects for minors that it doesn't typically have for adults. 'Now we have a chance at actually preventing underage use,' he added. We know that that approach works not just because of our success with alcohol and tobacco rates going down while it remained legal for adults but also because we see in the legalized states that non medical use marijuana is not going up among young people in legalized states.' Dr. Nathan took to his Twitter shortly after the legislation was signed by the governor, a fact that was trumpeted by the state's official Twitter account emblazoned with marijuana leaves New Jersey joins more than a dozen other U.S. states, including other East Coast states of Maine, Vermont and Massachusetts, in legalizing cannabis for recreational use. Dozens of states permit marijuana to be used by patients suffering a variety of medical conditions. The move is expected to boost New Jersey's pandemic-stricken economy by launching a for-profit cannabis industry that should generate millions of tax dollars for the state. Recreational sales at state-licensed dispensaries, however, may be as much as a year away. '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. 'We can stop the senseless arrests for possession and use of a product that should have never been criminalized in the first place, and the voters approved over three months ago,' he said. Hundreds of Nigerian girls abducted last week from a boarding school in the countrys northwest have been released, a state governor said Tuesday, as the West African nation faces a spate of school kidnappings. The girls, ages 10 and up, dressed in light blue hijabs and barefoot, packed into Zamfara states Government House conference room. They appeared calm, chatting to one another as they sat in long rows while journalists photographed them. They will receive a medical checkup before being returned to their parents. Zamfara Gov. Bello Matawalle said that 279 girls had been freed after being abducted from the Government Girls Junior Secondary School in Jangebe town on Friday. The government last week said 317 had been kidnapped. It was not clear if the higher number was an error or if some girls were still missing. Alhamdulillah! (God be praised!) It gladdens my heart to announce the release of the abducted students, Matawalle said in a post on Twitter early Tuesday. I enjoin all well-meaning Nigerians to rejoice with us as our daughters are now safe. Officials said bandits were behind the abduction, referring to the groups of armed men who operate in Zamfara state and kidnap for money or to push for the release of their members from jail. At the time of the attack, one resident told The Associated Press that the gunmen also attacked a nearby military camp and checkpoint, preventing soldiers from responding to the school. One of the girls recounted the night of their abduction to the AP. We were sleeping at night when suddenly we started hearing gunshots. They were shooting endlessly. We got out of our beds and people said we should run, that they are thieves, she said. Officials ended the interview before the girl could give her name. The attackers eventually found her and some classmates and held guns to their heads, she said. I was really afraid of being shot, she said, adding that they asked for directions to the staff quarters and the principal. We said we dont know who she is. Nigeria has seen several such attacks and kidnappings in recent years, the most notorious in 2014, when 276 girls were abducted by the jihadist rebels of Boko Haram from the secondary school in Chibok in Borno state. More than 100 of those girls are still missing. Boko Haram is opposed to western education and its fighters often target schools. But most attacks in the northwest are perpetrated by armed criminal groups with no such ideology. Police and the military have been trying to rescue the girls from the Zamfara abduction, which caused international outrage. Officials did not say if a ransom had been paid for their release. We have been in discussion since Friday with the abductors and reached agreement on Monday, the governor said, adding that he would ensure additional security at all schools in the state. President Muhammadu Buhari expressed overwhelming joy over the release of the girls. I join the families and people of Zamfara state in welcoming and celebrating the release of these traumatized female students, he said in a statement. Being held in captivity is an agonizing experience not only for the victims, but also their families and all of us. The president called for greater vigilance to prevent bandits from carrying out such attacks but warned that paying money for the release of victims would only result in more assaults. Ernest Ereke, of the University of Abuja, agreed that ransoms are allowing criminal groups to buy more arms and expand their power. And the Nigerian state increasingly looks too weak to respond, he said. It is a lucrative venture in a country where a lot of young people are impoverished, jobless and hungry, he said. The state, which should confront these criminals, is enabling them by always pandering to their dictates. It should be the other way round, that is, the criminals should be scared of the state, but, in this case, it is the state that is scared of criminals. If the state is not able to crush them, he added, it means something is wrong with the Nigerian state. On Saturday, 24 students, six staff and eight relatives were released after being abducted on February 17 from the Government Science College Kagara in Niger state. In December, more than 300 schoolboys from a secondary school in Kankara, in northwestern Nigeria, were taken and later released. The government has said no ransom was paid for the students release. SOURCE: AP New High Performance Hosting Capability Makes Gatsby Cloud the Ideal Platform for Building, Previewing and Deploying Gatsby BERKELEY, Calif., March 02, 2021, Inc., creators of the GatsbyJS open-source project, today announced availability of integrated Gatsby website hosting in Gatsby Cloud. The new Hosting feature in Gatsby Cloudis built on a global edge network optimized for delivering high-performance Gatsby sites. With hosting, Gatsby Cloud now provides organizations with an end-to-end platform for building, previewing and deploying Gatsby websites. Gatsby Cloud is the best environment for organizations that depend on their Gatsby website to drive web traffic, generate revenue, and deliver great visitor experiences. To learn more about the newest Gatsby Cloud capabilities, attend the upcoming webinar "Achieving the Optimal Web Experience by Hosting in Gatsby Cloud" on March 23, 2021. 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The Incremental Builds feature rebuilds only modified pages - with a typical build time of seconds - and deploys those updated pages to the global edge network immediately. Learn More The following resources provide more information about the new Hosting capability in Gatsby Cloud: Register to attend the Gatsby webinar "Achieving the Optimal Web Experience by Hosting in Gatsby Cloud (https://www.gatsbyjs.com/resources/webinar/hosting-in-gatsby-cloud)" on March 23, 2021 Attend the GatsbyConf session "Gatsby Cloud: Now with a global edge network" on March 2, 2021 at 10:15 am PT Try hosting for free in Gatsby Cloud (https://www.gatsbyjs.com/cloud/) About Gatsby, Inc. Gatsby, Inc. is the creator of GatsbyJS, the leading Jamstack frontend framework and static site generator. Gatsby lets organizations build highly performant, secure websites that can integrate data from multiple content management systems and other end points using its unique content hub architecture. 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CONTACT: Terry Erisman VP of Marketing, Gatsby terry@gatsbyjs.com (408) 438-0051 Inauguration of Tombill's Advisory Board, appointing Dr Quinton Hennigh and Mr. Gordon Reid Dr Hennigh, a doctorate in economic geology, has a well-earned long-term reputation in developing exploration mining companies Mr. Reid has a comprehensive understanding of the Geraldton Camp as the ex-COO of Centerra, which up to mid-December 2020 owned Greenstone, including the Hardrock Project Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - March 2, 2021) - Tombill Mines Limited (TSXV: TBLL) (the "Company" or "Tombill"), is pleased to announce the establishment of its Advisory Board, with Mr. Gordon Reid and Dr. Quinton Hennigh as its first members. Tombill Mines Advisory Board To capitalise on experienced mining executives already offering advice to Tombill, it was decided that an Advisory Board would be established. According to Adam Horne, CEO & Chairman, "Tombill is very fortunate in that there is a lot of high calibre, immensely experienced, and seasoned mining executives with vast operational and exploration expertise that were already offering us very constructive advice. They are keenly supportive of Tombill and the Geraldton Camp fulfilling its potential and achieving success. Consequently, to better capture and execute such know-how, we constructed an Advisory Board with Mr. Gordon Reid and Dr Quinton Hennigh as inaugural members." Quinton Hennigh Appointment Dr Hennigh is an economic geologist with 25 years of exploration experience and is a founder and current Chairman and President of Novo Resources Corp., which is exploring and developing gold projects in the Pilbara region of Western Australia, including its Beatons Creek, Karratha and Egina gold projects, the latter of which is under a joint venture with Japan's Sumitomo Corporation. Early in his career, Dr Hennigh explored for major mining firms including Homestake Mining Company, Newcrest Mining Ltd and Newmont Mining Corporation. He then joined the exploration mining sector in 2007 and has been involved with a number of Canadian listed gold companies, including Gold Canyon Resources Inc., where he led exploration at the Springpole alkaline gold project near Red Lake Ontario, a 5-million-ounce gold asset that was sold in 2015 to First Mining Gold Corp. Dr Hennigh was also instrumental in Kirkland Lake Gold's acquisition of the Fosterville gold mine, located in Australia and previously owned by Newmarket Gold Inc. Through his advisory work with Crescat, they are currently large owners of Tombill common shares. Adam Horne, commented, "We are excited Quinton is joining our Advisory Board and look forward to working with and tapping into his substantial knowledge, especially on our exploration and deposit types. His experience is very applicable and invaluable to where Tombill is right now and will be very beneficial. He has extensive knowledge of the Geraldton Gold Camp from prior investments in the region." "Tombill has one of the most strategic land positions in the Geraldton Gold Camp which is shaping up to become one of the most prolific large-scale gold exploration plays in Canada," said Quinton Hennigh. "Tombill is like the gold property that time forgot. In spite of being large and situated immediately adjacent to the multi-million ounce development-stage Hardrock Gold Project, there has been, until now, no modern exploration of significance at Tombill. Demonstration of Tombill's potential is clear when considering significant past production from Hardrock and other historic mines of the Geraldton Camp. I look forward to working with Adam and the Tombill team to realise Tombill's potential." Tombill also announces the grant of 200,000 options to Dr Hennigh for purchase of common shares of the Company. They are exercisable at a price of $0.245 vesting over three years. Gordon Reid Appointment Mr. Reid has some 40 years of experience in the mining industry working for many of the largest global mining companies in senior positions such as Noranda, Rio Algom, and Placer Dome. His last 15 years were at Centerra Gold Inc ("Centerra"), a large cap international gold mining company, that also owned -- until recently -- 50% of Greenstone Gold Mines ("Greenstone") including the Hardrock Project. At Centerra, Mr. Reid had multiple and uniquely different leadership roles spanning from VP for Business Development before moving to Kyrgyzstan in October 2007 to assume the role of President of Kumtor Operating Company - managing Centerra's largest gold mining asset in a very challenging operating region. He served in that role until March 2009 before returning to Toronto to assume the role of VP for Operations. He was promoted to VP and COO in 2013. More germane, until December 2020, Centerra was the 50% owner of Greenstone, Tombill Main Group's neighbour. Whilst with Centerra, Mr. Reid oversaw this asset, its development, and remained on the board of Greenstone until its disposal. His intimate knowledge of the Greenstone/Hardrock Project will be invaluable and of great benefit to Tombill. Mr. Reid is an owner of Tombill Common shares. Gordon Reid commented, "I had very focused, boots-on-the-ground exposure to the Geraldton Gold Camp as COO of Centerra and board member of Greenstone. I managed, and know the Hardrock Project well, and believe it and its surroundings represents one of the most exciting prospects for a gold mine in North America. Moreover, given Tombill's geographical overlap with Greenstone and Hardrock, I have been aware of Tombill for a long time. When Tombill decided to invest considerably in unlocking its potential, I became very interested in their program, the accelerated evolution of the region, and wanted to share my expertise." Adam Horne added, "Tombill had assembled a deep bench on the geological/exploration side which were instrumental in re-establishing, re-discovering and re-exploring the Geraldton Gold Camp and Hardrock. The addition of Gordon further cements this vital local knowledge, adding considerable and complementary senior operating and execution skills to our project. Gordon's experience is invaluable, and we are very pleased and fortunate he has accepted our invitation to join our Advisory Board." Tombill also announces the grant of 200,000 options to Mr. Reid for purchase of common shares of the Company. They are exercisable at a price of $0.245 vesting over three years. About Tombill Tombill owns various royalty-free mineral exploration and past-producing gold properties in the Geraldton and Beardmore Camp, Ontario. The Company's business is mineral exploration, primarily gold. It has 74 claims: 60 are owned and patented, five leased, and nine where it owns the mineral rights. Of these, the Tombill Main Group property comprises 58 claims: 54 owned patents, and four owned mineral rights. The Tombill Main Group claims were originally staked in the first Geraldton Gold Rush in the 1930's by Tom Johnson and his brother Bill. For more information, please visit www.tombillmines.com, and contact: Adam Horne Chairman & Chief Executive Officer Email: adam@tombillmines.com / Tel: +44 (0) 207 529 2351 Reda Jalabi Strategic Development & Investor Relations Email: reda@tombillmines.com / Tel: +44 (0) 207 529 2361 Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Information Certain information contained herein constitutes "forward-looking information" under Canadian securities legislation. Forward-looking information includes, but is not limited to, statements with respect to the trading date of the Company's common shares on the TSXV. Generally, forward-looking information can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "will" or variations of such words and phrases or statements that certain actions, events or results "will" occur. Forward-looking statements are based on the opinions and estimates of management as of the date such statements are made and they are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements or forward-looking information. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements and forward-looking information. The Company will not update any forward-looking statements or forward-looking information that are incorporated by reference herein, except as required by applicable securities laws. Additional information identifying risks and uncertainties is contained in filings by the Company with the Canadian securities regulators, which filings are available at www.sedar.com. Neither the TSXV nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the 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/75846 Frankfort, KY (40601) Today Cloudy skies. Slight chance of a rain shower. High 77F. Winds light and variable.. Tonight Showers this evening, becoming a steady rain overnight. Low around 60F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 90%. Rainfall around a quarter of an inch. AppGallery's app distribution surpassed 384.4 billion in 2020, 174 billion more than the previous year. Gaming leads this expansion; 500% more games are now available on the platform compared to last year. Huawei customers are amongst the first to experience innovative new gameplay, with recent launches including AFK Arena, Asphalt 9: Legends and Clash of Kings. The figures come one year on from Richard Yu, CEO of Huawei Consumer Business, unveiling Huawei's vision to make AppGallery an open, innovative app distribution platform that is accessible to consumers around the world while protecting users' privacy and providing them with a unique and smart experience. Mr. Zhang Zhe, Director of Global Partnerships & Eco-Development Business Development at Huawei Consumer Business Group, said the numbers are proof of AppGallery's progress as a truly global app marketplace: "In 2019, there were 25 countries with over a million AppGallery users. That number has now grown to 42 and we continue to see strong growth across global markets." AppGallery's "Global+ Local" Strategy AppGallery works with both local and global developers to help deliver more choice. In turn, developers are looking to AppGallery to penetrate local audiences and tap into its global audience. 2020 saw global applications HereWeGo, Bolt, Viber, Deezer and Qwant onboard to the growing platform. Huawei is using its expertise in China to guide overseas developers through the country's lucrative app market. Home to over 904 million mobile internet users, China has an estimated app download figure of 100 billion, with AppGallery helping over 1,000 overseas developers penetrate this growing mobile economy in the last year. PicsArt has been among the first to benefit from Huawei's position in China's mobile market; now boasting 300 million downloads in Mainland China. FaceTune 2 and Mondly have seen similar successes, receiving 2.2 million and 350 thousand downloads respectively. In 2020, AppGallery helped over 10,000 Chinese apps enter overseas markets. Banggood partnered with AppGallery to secure over 60,000 new downloads and 1000 new first-time subscribers in three weeks. Other Chinese apps now reaching global audiences through AppGallery include Pascal's Wager, Rise of Kingdoms: Lost Crusade and Night of Full Moon. AppGallery - One of the Top 3 App Marketplaces Globally AppGallery is an innovative ecosystem enabling developers to create unique experiences for consumers, available in more than 170 countries and regions. HMS Core integrates apps across devices, delivering a smoother and more convenient experience a part of Huawei's wider "1+8+N" strategy. Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1447668/Huawei_AppGallery.jpg SOURCE Huawei Now that the governor has opened up vaccine appointments to the next phase of eligibility in the rollout, millions more people in South Carolina are able to schedule a shot. Almost a year after the first COVID-19 cases were reported in South Carolina, Gov. Henry McMaster said March 2 he would move the state into the next phase for vaccinations starting March 8. "We are now in a position to make the majority of South Carolinians eligible for the vaccine," McMaster said. Here is what you need to know about whether you qualify now and how to get an appointment if you do: Who is eligible? Up to this point, those eligible to schedule a vaccine appointment in South Carolina were primarily health care workers, people 65 and older and medical first responders. With the March 2 announcement, many more people qualify, including essential workers, anyone 55 years old and older, and people with certain underlying health conditions. In making his announcement, McMaster newly opened eligibility to more than half of the state instead of limiting new appointments to smaller, select groups of people, as initial plans called for. The definitions McMaster shared of who can get a shot were broad, but he did share some concrete guidelines. The governor laid out the underlying health conditions that would make any adult eligible starting March 8: Obesity, organ transplant, cancer, chronic kidney disease, lung disease, Down syndrome, hypertension, pregnancy and sickle cell disease. He noted the qualifications are not limited to these conditions. People with special needs are also eligible, McMaster said, if those disabilities put the individual at higher risk for COVID-19. Essential workers include all educators in the state, as well as people who work in child care. People who work in law enforcement, manufacturing, hospitality, transportation, service, agribusiness, or local and state government are among the other front-line employees who will be eligible in the coming week. In a broad definition, officials said front-line workers include anyone who has to be in person for their job and can't socially distance, according to the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control. As a bottom line, if your job requires you to work in person, and you can't stay at least 6 feet away from others while at work, then you qualify. How do I find an appointment? Though the announcement came the morning of March 2, those newly eligible are advised to wait until March 8 before scheduling an appointment. DHEC hopes the announcement encourages people who were already eligible but haven't received a shot to sign up before they must compete with more than 2 million additional South Carolinians. If you have internet access, the most reliable method is to visit DHEC's vaccine appointment website, vaxlocator.dhec.sc.gov. Sites that have appointments available are shown in green. 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! If you do not have internet or need help, the public health agency has a call center open to field questions at 866-365-8110. The call center is open from 7 a.m.-7 p.m., and workers at the center are able to make a vaccine appointment for people who call in. Officials with DHEC have noted that demand is still higher than the amount of vaccine supply coming into the state. According to DHEC information, about 521,000 people are scheduled for an appointment. People should not expect to get on a provider's calendar right away. Why did it take South Carolina until now to move to the next phase? South Carolina's health officials have said they are taking the needed time to ensure people most vulnerable to COVID-19 have access to the vaccine first. Exacerbating the state's pace of vaccination is the fact that South Carolina's population skews older, compared with the rest of the country. Nick Davidson, senior deputy of public health at DHEC, said last week that states' vaccine categories include different groups, and some states' first categories were larger than others. A quarter of South Carolina's population is eligible in the first phase of the vaccine's rollout. "We will continue to focus on those who are most at risk," Davidson said. "We want to prevent illness and death in our state." Who has the most vaccine to give? The amount of vaccine a provider has available to give to people changes daily. Judging by information DHEC shares each day, thousands of doses of the Moderna vaccine are still available at local retail pharmacies across the state. Those chains giving vaccines include Publix, Ingles, Kroger, Harris Teeter, Walmart, Costco, Walgreens and CVS. How quickly is South Carolina moving to administer vaccines? All signs point to South Carolina being able to pick up its pace of vaccination. According to DHEC, the state's health care providers gave out about 182,000 shots the week of Feb. 22. And starting this week, the newly authorized vaccine from Johnson & Johnson will begin arriving in South Carolina. "We're seeing the number of vaccines rise a little faster than we expected," said Dr. Edward Simmer, DHEC's director. Even so, South Carolina ranks toward the bottom of states in the number of vaccines given to its residents, adjusted for the size of its population, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. An Arizona woman who found a Purple Heart while working her shift at a thrift shop was able to reunite the item with the family of the man who earned it in the Korean War. ADVERTISEMENT Teresa Ferrin said she was working at the Christian Family thrift store in Phoenix when another employee brought her a piece of cardboard with multiple medals and other military paraphernalia attached. One of the items on the cardboard was a Purple Heart dating from 1951-1952. "I looked on the back of the Purple Heart and his name was there," Ferrin told CNN. Ferrin said some online research determined the man, Korean War veteran Erik Karl Blauberg, had died in 1988. She said she was able to locate his grave in an Arizona cemetery, and that led her to calling an associated crematorium that was able to give her the names of Blauberg's children. Ferrin said she then used Facebook to contact Blauberg's daughter, Lisa Walker. "I didn't even know he had a Purple Heart," Walker told KPHO-TV. "It would be the only thing we ever had of my father's." Ferrin arranged to have the Purple Heart and the other items mailed to Walker in Florida. 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! "My father was in Korea the exact same time that their father was in Korea," Ferrin said. "And my father has passed away, so Lisa was saying it's divine intervention because she finally got something from her father." At least 1.6 million New Yorkers have tested positive for the coronavirus over the past year. And nearly 40,000 of them have died. COVID-19 has hurt many more. Its economic and societal side effects will endure for years to come. None of that seemed remotely within the realm of possibility when the first case of the virus was confirmed in the Empire State on March 1, 2020. Millions of people in China were living under strict lockdown orders at the time. Hundreds of Italians were dying every day in an overwhelmed hospital system. We have the best health care system in the world here, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said at a March 2 press conference with New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio. We have been ahead of us since Day One. The subsequent 42 days would show just how wrong the governor, the mayor and many others were about just how bad things would get. The coronavirus presented an unprecedented challenge to New York over the first six weeks of the pandemic, as front-line health care workers, elected officials and everyday New Yorkers scrambled to bend the curve of new COVID-19 hospitalizations. Daily press briefings during that time would thrust Cuomo into the national limelight as the state raced toward the much-awaited apex that would show that the worst of the first wave had passed. Public health experts like Tom Frieden said a faster shutdown might have saved thousands of lives. A different approach to increasing hospital capacity could have prevented the growing nursing home deaths scandal, which was sparked by a fateful March 25 state order. But hindsight is always 20/20. This video produced by City & State offers a glimpse of what it was like to watch Cuomos ascendance as the narrator-in-chief for better or worse of one of the greatest crises in state history. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Are you a current print subscriber to Columbia Gorge News? If so, you qualify for free access to all content on columbiagorgenews.com. Simply verify with your subscriber id to receive free access. Your subscriber id may be found on your bill or mailing label. Thank you for reading! Please purchase a subscription to read our premium content. If you have a subscription, please log in or sign up for an account on our website to continue. As the topic of rising homicide pushes to the forefront amid the latest murder spike, Kansas City's top ranking crime fighter shares evidence of his group's influence eclipsing so many other local TAXPAYER FUNDED organizations that mostly serve to provide political support to elected leaders. A few choice tweets make his case . . . Mr. Washington compares & contrasts . . . "My social media actually gets tips that solve murders. Tax funded anti-crime groups like Adhoc, mothers in charge & Aim 4 Peace waste tax funds & can only do interviews with the press & throw up balloons. None solve murders like me!" Social media success counted against KC efforts . . . "I have the biggest citizen focused social media campaign to solve murders in KC. I have 4 Facebook pages that are @ the 5000 friend limit & thousands of followers on each page without talking to the press." Fact . . . From having FIRST WORD of the Precious Doe case to several tips about violence & crime during the recent COVID spike . . . Mr. Washington has CONSISTENTLY proved his style of community outreach and engagement get results whilst local politicos seem to be content with following the same methods and getting worsening results. Developing . . . Families of more than 300 girls abducted in Nigeria from their boarding school in the Northwest region of the country continue to wait for news as security forces continue their search for the missing students. Security Forces Continue Search for 300 Girls Abducted in Nigeria Early morning on Friday, gunmen stormed the Government Girls Science Secondary School located in the town of Jangebe, in Zamfara state. The gunmen then took 317 girls who were at the boarding school. Despite rumors that the girls have already been released, families are still waiting for updates from authorities. According to Reuters, two of their correspondents witnessed heavy military presence in the capital of Zamfara on Sunday. They stated that police checkpoints have been placed on major roads and there were army trucks that moved in convoy. Search and rescue for the 300 girls abducted in Nigeria began on Friday with the Zamfara police working together with the army. The abduction of the girls in Zamfara is the second of such a kidnapping raid to happen in the northwest region of Nigeria in just a little over one week. Schools have become major targets for massive kidnap for ransom schemes in the state. On Friday, the country's President Muhammadu Buhari urged the local government of the states to not succumb to the kidnappers of the 300 abducted girls in Nigeria. He also emphasized not to give money or vehicles to the 'bandits'. Read also: Chinese Armed Forces Vow to Keeps 'Every Inch' of Ancestors' Land in Asia Many militants have adopted the tactic of school kidnappings from the jihadist groups Islamic State West Africa Province and Boko Haram who were the first to execute such modus operandi. The agenda of the militants, however, still remains unclear. Just on Saturday, 27 teenage boys were released by the gunmen who took them from their school in Niger state on February 17. Just like the return of the boys, the parents and relatives of the 300 girls abducted in Nigeria are also hoping to receive good news, US News reported. One of the fathers of the girls, who were taken, Balarabe Kagara, stated that he is praying for the safe return of the girls. Among those who were abducted were his two 14-year old daughters. The 54-year old father, who is working as a farmer, looked at the photos of his daughters and stated that he will be very happy if he gets to see them again. Meanwhile, on Sunday, rumors in social media have stated that the girls have already been released. The spread of the talks prompted the Zamfara state government to release a statement, stating that governor Bello Matawalle has become very disappointed with the rumors which could further hurt the victims and their parents. Matawalle also ordered for the immediate closure of all boarding schools in the state on Friday as a result of the kidnappings, Independent reported. Kagara, the father of two of the girls abducted in Nigeria expressed skepticism that children would eventually be allowed to go back to school. He further added that if there is enough security, then maybe parents will send their children back. Related article: Myanmar's Deadliest Day since Military Coup Leaves 18 Protesters dead, UN says @ 2021 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. MINNEAPOLIS, March 2, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Target Corporation (NYSE: TGT) today announced its plan to invest approximately $4 billion annually during the next several years to continue scaling capabilities across its retail platform. Building on years of sales growth and a record 2020 financial performance, Target will accelerate new store openings and store remodels, enhance fulfillment services and strengthen its supply chain as it provides guests with a safe, easy and convenient shopping experience. "2020 was a record-breaking year thanks to the work of our team and their commitment to serving our guests amidst unprecedented demand. As we head into 2021, we are building on the aspects of our differentiated model that make Target the preferred one-stop-shop for millions of guests," said Michael Fiddelke, chief financial officer, Target. "The bold investments planned for the next few years will scale key capabilities across stores, fulfillment, and supply chain to drive deeper engagement with new and loyal guests, continued market share gains, and long-term, profitable growth." Enhancing Fulfillment Services and Store Experience Millions of guests took advantage of Target's same-day services for the first time last year, and these fast-growing fulfillment options will get even easier and more convenient in 2021. After the enthusiastic response to last year's addition of fresh, refrigerated and frozen food items to Drive Up and Order Pickup nationwide, Target will increase the total fresh and frozen food pickup assortment. Additionally, following a successful initial trial in hundreds of stores, adult beverage pickup will be offered in 800 more stores in the next few months. Technology improvements will also offer Drive Up guests a more personalized experience in the Target app. This includes informing team members where to place the order in their vehicle or authorizing a different guest, such as a family member, to pick up the order. Throughout the pandemic, guests have turned to Target for its multi-category assortment of owned and exclusive brands, national brand favorites and brand partnerships. The retailer ended 2020 with 10 owned brands generating $1 billion or more in annual sales each, four of which surpassed $2 billion. Target will continue to bring brand partnerships to life in stores and online with the opening of approximately 100 Ulta Beauty at Target shop-in-shops in 2021, with plans to add hundreds more over time. Building on its more than 15-year relationship with Apple, Target has introduced a new Apple shopping destination online and in 17 stores, with an extended assortment, expanded footprint and service enhancements. More locations are scheduled to roll out this fall. New Store Openings & Remodels Following 30 store openings in 2020, including adding a record 29 new small-format stores in a single year, Target plans to accelerate the pace and open 30-40 new stores each year to meet community needs in urban centers, college campuses and dense suburban cities across the country. In urban centers such as New York City, Los Angeles and Portland, Target will open more small-format stores to reach new guests. In dense suburban areas surrounding cities such as Denver or Brooklyn, Target has identified sites for new mid-size stores to serve new guests that fill retail gaps. Across college campuses, including the University of Georgia and University of Michigan, Target will open new small-format stores to introduce its unique shopping experience to new, college-aged guests to form lifelong relationships. Target expects to accelerate its store remodel program this year and complete approximately 150 in time for the holiday season, with plans to remodel more than 200 stores a year beginning in 2022. The future store design will focus on safety and ease, with additional contactless features, updates that facilitate same-day fulfillment and more room for social distancing. Last-Mile and Replenishment Capabilities To add capacity to Target's fulfillment operation and further scale its stores-as-hubs model, the company is testing a new type of facility in Minneapolis called a sortation center and expects to open five more in 2021. With this new last-mile capability, the sortation center collects online orders from local stores multiple times a day and sorts them into efficient routes for carrier delivery. This pulls the sorting activity out of store backrooms so it can be consolidated more efficiently at one facility, giving store teams more time and space to fulfill additional orders, while reducing the load on external carriers. This process increases store fulfillment capacity, reduces last-mile fulfillment costs and speeds delivery to guests. The company is also making investments in its supply chain replenishment capacity to support stores' continued growth well into the future. This year, Target expects to open two distribution centers, one in Delaware and one in Chicago. Two more are planned in 2022 to support the east and west coastal areas. Miscellaneous Statements in this release regarding the company's future financial performance, planned investments in its business, enhancements to its fulfillment services and store experience, its brands and brand partnerships, new store openings and remodels, and its last-mile and replenishment capabilities, are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such statements are subject to risks and uncertainties which could cause the company's actions to differ materially. The most important risks and uncertainties are described in Item 1A of the company's Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended Feb. 1, 2020 and Item 1A of the company's Form 10-Q for the fiscal quarter ended May 2, 2020. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made, and the company does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statement. About Target Minneapolis-based Target Corporation (NYSE: TGT) serves guests at nearly 1,900 stores and at Target.com. Since 1946, Target has given 5 percent of its profit to communities, which today equals millions of dollars a week. For the latest store count or for more information, visit Target.com/Pressroom . For a behind-the-scenes look at Target, visit Target.com/abullseyeview or follow @TargetNews on Twitter. SOURCE Target Corporation Related Links www.target.com Sorry! This content is not available in your region Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI recently said in an interview that while he considers President Joe Biden to be a practicing Catholic, he is concerned about his support for the Democratic platform on abortion. The former pope was interviewed by the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera on Sunday, around the anniversary of his retirement in 2013 as head of the Roman Catholic Church. When asked his opinion of Biden, the second Catholic to hold the office of the United States president, Benedict offered a mixed opinion of the politician. Its true, he is a practicing Catholic and observant. And he is personally against abortion, he explained, according to Crux. But as a president, he tends to present himself in continuity with the platform of the Democratic Party. And on gender politics, we have not yet fully understood what his position is. Source:The Christian Post A deaf former employee of a South Florida Costco store wont be collecting $775,000 a federal jury awarded her in a discrimination and wrongful termination case. The U.S. Supreme Court last week declined to reconsider a judges decision to overturn the 2018 verdict in favor of Christine DOnofrio. An appellate court also declined to reinstate the award. DOnofrio had worked for Costco for 24 years, and said she never had issues communicating with managers until one arrived who mumbled, the South Florida SunSentinel reported. She requested an interpreter or to have communications written down for her. Instead, Costco provided her with a video phone with online interpretation services. Managers then wrote her up for yelling too loudly into the phone. She sent a letter to the companys CEO complaining about her treatment. Shortly after, she was suspended for a week, then terminated in October 2013, the lawsuit said. Jurors in the Fort Lauderdale trial agreed with DOnofrios claim that Costco didnt provide a reasonable accommodation as required by the Americans with Disabilities Act, but decided she wasnt terminated because of her disability and in retaliation for her complaints. Jurors awarded her $750,000 for mental anguish and $25,000 in punitive damages, the newspaper reported. U.S. District Judge William Zloch overturned the verdict, finding that no reasonable jury could have found in favor of (the) plaintiff. Zloch ruled that DOnofrio had rejected the video phone and online interpretation services provided by Costco. DOnofrios lawyers appealed, arguing that the phone and online services did not overcome communication problems that arose during her final year at Costco, the newspaper reported. The company argued that it went beyond its legal responsibilities in providing the interpretive services and equipment to DOnofrio. In January 2019, the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in a 2-1 decision found that Costco did provide reasonable accommodation to DOnofrio and declined to overturn Zlochs ruling, the newspaper reported. The petition to the Supreme Court asked justices to consider whether the appellate court failed to apply the correct standard of review. Her lawyer, William J. Butler in Miami Beach, said he had no insight into the Supreme Courts decision. Copyright 2021 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. (ANSA) - ROME, MAR 1 - Riccardo Muti and the Luigi Cherubini Youth Orchestra have renewed their commitment to promote music and help Italy's theatres by contributing to keep them 'virtually open' with a tour organised by the Ravenna Festival. The tour will cross Italy from north to south, with concerts in Bergamo, Naples and Palermo that will be streamed online for free on March 21, 26 and 28 respectively. The event at Bergamo's Donizetti theatre is a gift from BPER Banca to the city and it will feature the Don Pasquale Symphony and Beethoven's Eroica. It will be broadcast by BPER Banca's site. In Naples Muti and the Cherubini Orchestra will perform the symphony from Mercadante's I Due Figaro and Schubert's Symphony No. 9. This show was made possible thanks to collaboration with the Napoli Teatro Festival, which will play host to it on its website. The web TV of Palermo's Teatro Massimo will screen Schubert's Symphony No. 3 and Dvorak's From the New World Symphony. The three concerts will remain available for 30 days after they are first broadcast thanks to collaboration with RMMUSIC. It will also be possible to access them via Ansa.it thanks to a partnership with the agency that is part of the 'ANSA per la Cultura' (ANSA for Culture) project, as well as via ravennafestival.live. March 21, the first day of spring, was chosen for the Bergamo concert in a message of hope that comes a year after the first COVID-19 lockdown and is a sign of the attention BPER Banca has for an area that suffered so much because of the coronavirus. Riccardo Muti celebrated the 50th anniversary of the start of his career at the Teatro Donizetti in 2016 with the Don Pasquale Symphny. At the time he said this was because "I want to leave everyone with a sense of hope, a smile and a laugh". Today that desire seems all the more urgent and necessary. The homage to Bergamo composer Donizetti is doubly meaningful as Muti has a deep bond with Don Pasquale. The intrinsic value of the opera, which is the finishing line for a great tradition, that of the Neapolitan school and of Mozart, is on top of a personal factor - this was the first work directed by Muti in Salzburg at the invitation of Herbert von Karajan. The programme at the Donizetti is completed by Symphony No. 3, Beethoven's powerful Eroica, which features a funeral march of solemn melancholy infused with the ideals of equality, liberty and fraternity. The concert, which will be recorded on March 10, will be available from March 21 on bper.it, Ansa.it and ravennafestival.live. The deep love and constant commitment Muti has shown in promoting the rediscovery of the composers and works of the Neapolitan school and their fundamental contribution to European musical history could not fail to be the star in Naples. The programme of the concert at the Teatro Mercadante, which is also a taster for the 2021 Napoli Teatro Festival, opens with the Spanish Symphony that Saverio Mercadante composed for I Due Figaro. The manuscript was discovered in Madrid in 2009 by Turin scholar Paolo Cascio; I Due Figaro was created for the Spanish capital in 1826 to a libretto by Felice Romani. The dive into the opera world is counterposed by the symphonic universe, with Franz Schubert's Symphony No.9 in C major D 944, the 'Great' work composed between 1825 and 1826, but not performed in public until 1839, when it was directed by Mendelssohn after Schumann discovered it in the author's papers. The concert, which will be registered on March 19, will be available from March 26 on live.napoliteatrofestival.it, cultura.regione.campania.it, Ansa.it and ravennafestival.live. Schubert also features in Palermo, the last part of this tour, this time with Symphony No.3 in D major, D 200. Here Muti will be awarded honorary citizenship of the city for his work to promote the values of peace and communion between peoples via the universal language of music. Composed by Schubert in 1815, a few months after his 18th birthday, Symphony No.3 was also performed publicly for the first time much later, in London in 1881. The musical itinerary ends with a story of social integration. In 1892 Antonin Dvorak was invited by arts patron Jeannette Thurber to direct the New York National Conservatory, one of the first schools to admit women and African Americans. Having come into contact with Native American music and African-American spirituals, the composer combined two folk traditions, the Czech and American ones, in his Symphony No. 9 in E minor, "From the New World", Op. 95, B. 178 - a look towards the future. The concert will be recorded on March 21 and will be available from March 28 on the theatre's web TV, which can be accessed via theteatromassimo.it home page, and via Ansa.it and ravennafestival.live. (ANSA). An Iraqi medical worker holds a vial of the Sinopharm coronavirus vaccine before starting the vaccination of health personnel, at a clinic in Baghdad, Iraq, Tuesday, March 2, 2021. (AP/Photo/Hadi Mizban) Iraq launched its coronavirus inoculation program Tuesday just hours after the first doses of vaccine arrived from China, a Health Ministry spokesman said. The program kicked off as Iraq comes to grips with a second wave of the coronavirus. At dawn, a C-130 military plane arrived in Baghdad with 50,000 Sinopharm vaccine doses gifted by China. More were expected as Iraq's government has allocated funds to secure 1.5 million vaccines from Pfizer and signed a contract for 2 million more from AstraZeneca. Health Minister Hasan al-Tamimi was the first to receive the vaccine. He was followed by other ministry staff and essential frontline health care workers, said ministry spokesman Saif al-Badr. A health center close to Al-Mustansiriya University will provide vaccines to the elderly, al-Badr said. This week, the Health Ministry also made available electronic forms online for Iraqis to make an appointment to receive the vaccine. Health care worker Mohammed Khudeir was among the first to receive a jab Tuesday in Baghdad's al-Qif hospital. "We were the first who were vaccinated and after half an hour I am still in good health," he said. "I am calling upon the citizens not to be afraid of this vaccine." An Iraqi medical worker holds a vial of the Sinopharm coronavirus vaccine before starting the vaccination of health personnel, at a clinic in Baghdad, Iraq, Tuesday, March 2, 2021. (AP/Photo/Hadi Mizban) An Iraqi medical worker prepares a shot of the Sinopharm coronavirus vaccine to administer to health personnel, at a clinic in Baghdad, Iraq, Tuesday, March 2, 2021. (AP/Photo/Hadi Mizban) An Iraqi medic administers a shot of the Sinopharm coronavirus vaccine to a man giving a thumbs up, during vaccination of health personnel, at a clinic in Baghdad, Iraq, Tuesday, March 2, 2021. (AP/Photo/Hadi Mizban) Iraqi health personnel wait to receive a coronavirus vaccine at a clinic in Baghdad, Iraq, Tuesday, March 2, 2021. (AP/Photo/Hadi Mizban) Some Iraqis have expressed mistrust of the vaccines, their procurement and their effectiveness. Rollout will unfold similar to programs in other countries and prioritize the elderly and those with chronic diseases first, according to the ministry. Iraqi officials are in a race against time as the country grapples with a second wave of the virus, spurred by the more infectious strain first discovered in the United Kingdom. On Tuesday, Iraq recorded over 4,600 new cases over the previous 24 hours, inching closer to a September peak of over 5,000 new infections within a 24-hour period. A total of 703,000 Iraqis have been infected and 13,450 have died of the virus. Explore further Follow the latest news on the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission. System error error: Can't call method "get_id" on an undefined value at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25. context: ... 21: 22: 23: % foreach my $c (@categories) { 24: <%perl> 25: my $category_id = $c->get_id(); 26: my @stories = Bric::Biz::Asset::Business::Story->list ( { element_type_id=>1148, category_id=>$category_id , Order=> 'cover_date', publish_status => 't' , OrderDirection=> 'DESC' , Limit=>10 } ); 27: 28:
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This is as another young lady has be... It appears the killing of innocent persons in Yewa axis of Ogun State is yet to come to an end. This is as another young lady has been sent to an early grave by individuals suspected to be Fulani herdsmen. Elizabeth Pascal was said to have been gruesomely murdered on Monday at CAC Olorunda, Moriwi Community of Imeko-Afon Local Government. It was gathered that Pascal had gone to the stream to fetch water for domestic use when she met her untimely death. On her way back from the stream, the young lady had encountered her assailants, who, it was learnt, did not hesitate before hacking her to death in cold blood. The Eselu of Iselu, Oba Akintunde Akinyemi, confirmed the incident on Monday night. Oba Akinyemi told our correspondent that Pascal was killed by suspected Fulani herdsmen, who have continued to terrorise the Yewa axis of Ogun State from time to time. According to the traditional ruler, the incident happened around 3pm on Monday. Yes, it is true. The lady was killed today by Fulani herdsmen around Imeko Afon. She went to the stream and on her way coming she met the Fulani herdsmen and they killed her. It happened around 3 oclock according to the report, the Eselu stated. Recall that attacks on communities in Yewa have been going on for the past three weeks, even as the Governor Dapo Abiodun government makes efforts to stem the tide. To proffer a lasting solution, Gov Abiodun had visited some places in the troubled areas, with an assurance that criminal individuals would be dealt with. The Governor promised to deploy a security task force to the area in order to stop the killing of Ogun indigenes. But, Abiodun said those behind the killings in Ogun are not the peaceful Fulani people, who he said are traditionally herdsmen. According to him, the perpetrators of the heinous act are bandits, who the governor described as cattle rustlers. During his visit to President Muhammadu Buhari, Abiodun disclosed that relative peace is now being enjoyed in the affected areas. However, residents of the area said they were still under siege, with many relocating to neighbouring Benin Republic to seek refuge. HAYNEVILLE, Ala. (AP) The attorneys for a teenager charged with capital murder in the slaying of an Alabama sheriff are seeking youthful-offender status for him. If granted, the status would limit any prison time to a maximum of three years. The Montgomery Advertiser reported Tuesday that a hearing for William Chase Johnson is set for next Monday. Johnson was 18 when he was accused of fatally shooting Lowndes County Sheriff John Williams Sr. in the face as the sheriff was attempting to disperse loiterers at a Hayneville gas station in November 2019. If Johnson is not granted the status and is convicted, he could face the death penalty or life in prison without parole. KALAMAZOO, MI - Its fish fry time, folks. Thanks for all your nominations. We had more than 360 nominations across the state, including 19 in the Kalamazoo and Southwestern Michigan region in our search for Michigans Best Fish Fry. Starting now you can vote once per email address, every three hours. (Poll below.) You can also write in your votes if we missed your favorite spot. The deadline is 11:59 p.m. Sunday, March 7. You can vote in all of our regional polls. Those links are below, too. Our goal is to declare a winner in each region. Well also travel to as many as possible and share our experiences. If you have questions, feel free to email us. Amy Sherman: asherma2@mlive.com John Gonzalez: gonzo@mlive.com Want to vote in other regions? Click on these links below: Grand Rapids area - VOTE HERE Muskegon and Lakeshore area - VOTE HERE Kalamazoo area & Southwestern Michigan - VOTE HERE Jackson area & Central Southern Michigan - VOTE HERE Ann Arbor & Southeastern Michigan - VOTE HERE Detroit Metro area - VOTE HERE Lansing and Central Michigan - VOTE HERE Flint and Thumb area - VOTE HERE Midland, Bay City and Saginaw area - VOTE HERE Northern Lower Peninsula - VOTE HERE Upper Peninsula - VOTE HERE MLive.com's Amy Sherman and John "Gonzo" Gonzalez pose for a photo outside of Sweetwater's Donut Mill during the search for Michigan's Best College Eats in Kalamazoo, Michigan on Monday, Nov. 5, 2018. Joel Bissell | MLive.comJoel Bissell | MLive.com Follow our Michigans Best adventures on social media: @mlivemibest on Twitter @mlivemibest on Instagram Facebook at MLiveMIBest. Join in by using the hashtags #mibest and #BestFishFry. In addition: Amy Sherman is on Twitter @amyonthetrail, as well as Facebook and Instagram @amyonthetrail. John Gonzalez is on Twitter @michigangonzo, as well as Facebook and Instagram @MichiganGonzo. Canvas sided yurts line the street next to Frame in Hazel Park. The restaurant shares kitchen space with Joebar.MLive.com More Michigans Best Stories A 2021 guide to Jackson-area Friday Lenten fish fries Grand Rapids area 2021 fish fry guide for Lent Friday fish fry take-out will be flying out the door at these 21 spots across Michigan (2020) Michigans ultimate fish fry guide (2019) Michigans Best Fish Fry poll winners (2019) 3 places in the Northern Lower Peninsula for fantastic fish fry (2019) 6 things Michigan restaurant staff want you to know before you eat out Michigans Best Outdoor Dining: See winners from across the state The U.S. is slapping sanctions on seven senior Russian officials in response to Russia's 'disgraceful and unacceptable behavior' in carrying out the poisoning of opposition leader Alexei Navalny, the Biden Administration said Tuesday. The sanctions come on top of previous U.S. sanctions, and compound further sanctions action being taken by the European Union Tuesday in response to the poisoning that the U.S. assesses was carried out by Russia's Federal Security Bureau (FSB) 'Were sending a clear signal to Russia that there are clear consequences for the use of chemical weapons,' said a senior administration on a press call to announce the effort. An official on the call said Russias 'attempt to kill Mr. Navalny follows an alarming pattern of chemical weapons use by Russia.' Senior U.S. officials cited 'an alarming pattern of chemical weapons use by Russia' as they announced new sanctions on Russia for the poisoning of opposition leader Alexei Navalny. The list includes officials in Russian President Vladimir Putin's government The sanctions will block all property and property interests of the sanctioned individuals that come into the U.S. would be blocked, and U.S. businesses would be prohibited from having dealings with them. Any person who 'knowingly facilitates' a transaction with the sanctioned individuals risks being sanctioned themselves. The administration also said Russia imprisoned Navalny upon his return to Russia from Germany on 'politically motivated grounds,' and called for Russia to 'unconfidtionally and immediately release Mr. Navalny,' an official said. 'We share the EU's assessment that Russia is moving forward toward authoritarianism,' an official added. Officials also pointed to the 2018 Novichok poisoning of former Russian intelligence officer Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in Salisbury, England. White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said Tuesday that an existing review of Russia was ongoing, and didn't rule out further actions. 'The president, the national security team reserves the right to respond in the time and manner of their choosing,' she said. She said those actions might be 'seen and unseen once that process is concluded.' President Joe Biden's decision to impose sanctions for Navalny's 2020 poisoning reflects a harder stance than taken by his predecessor, Donald Trump, who let the incident last August pass without punitive U.S. action. 'Were not seeking to escalate. Were not seeking to reset. Were seeking stability and predictability,' said a senior administration official. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Tuesday that Moscow would respond in kind to any new U.S. sanctions over the treatment of jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny, the Interfax news agency reported. Navalny fell ill on a flight in Siberia in August and was airlifted to Germany, where doctors concluded he had been poisoned with a nerve agent. The Kremlin has denied any role in his illness and said it had seen no proof he was poisoned. Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny attends a hearing to consider an appeal against an earlier court decision to change his suspended sentence to a real prison term, in Moscow, Russia February 20, 2021 President Joe Biden's administration is imposing sanctions on senior Russian officials in response to the poisoning of Navalny using a chemical agent Law enforcement officers stand in front of participants during a rally in support of jailed Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny in Saint Petersburg, Russia January 23, 2021 Women, some of them wearing face masks to protect against coronavirus, attend a rally in support of jailed opposition leader Alexei Navalny and his wife Yulia Navalnaya, in St. Petersburg, Russia, Sunday, Feb. 14, 2021. Participants formed a human chain in a show of solidarity with those who were detained during protests calling for the release of jailed Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny Seven Russians sanctioned by the Treasury Andrei Yarin, chief of the Kremlins domestic policy directorate Sergei Kiriyenko, First Deputy Chief of Staff of the Presidential Executive Office Aleksei Krivoruchko, a Deputy Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation Pavel Popov, a Deputy Minister of Defense Alexander Bortnikov, Director of the FSB, Russia's intel service Alexander Kalashnikov, director of the FSIN, the Federal Penitentiary Service Igor Krasnov, Prosecutor General Advertisement Sources said Monday that the U.S. was expected to act under two executive orders: 13661, which was issued after Russia's invasion of Crimea but provides broad authority to target Russian officials, and 13382, issued in 2005 to combat the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. Both orders let the United States freeze the U.S. assets of those targeted and effectively bar U.S. companies and individuals from dealing with them. The sources said the Biden administration also planned to act under the U.S. Chemical and Biological Weapons Control and Warfare Elimination Act of 1991, which provides a menu of punitive measures. The sources said some individuals would be targeted in the sanctions to be announced as early as Tuesday, but declined to name them or say what other sanctions may be imposed. They added, however, that Washington would maintain waivers allowing foreign aid and certain export licenses for Russia. The State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the possibility of sanctions. A third source said the U.S. action may be coordinated with sanctions the European Union could apply as soon as Tuesday. EU foreign ministers agreed on Feb. 22 to impose sanctions on four senior Russian officials close to President Vladimir Putin in a mainly symbolic response to Navalny's jailing. The EU was expected to formally approve those in early March. In the case of Navalny, Trump, whose term ended in January, did nothing to punish Russia. Top U.N. human rights experts said on Monday that Moscow was to blame for attempting to kill Navalny as part of a pattern of attacks on critics to quash dissent. After his medical treatment in Germany, Navalny, 44, returned to Russia in January. He was arrested and later sentenced to more than 2-1/2 years in jail for parole violations he said were trumped up. Biden last month called the jailing of Navalny "politically motivated" and called for his release. He has pledged a new and tough approach toward Moscow, saying the United States would no longer be "rolling over" in the face of aggressive action by Russia. Washington and Moscow disagree on a wide range of issues on top of Navalny, such as Russia's military ambitions in Ukraine and Georgia, as well as a cyberattack on U.S. government agencies last year that Washington blames on Russia. Moscow has denied responsibility for the hacking campaign. CommandCentral software enables digital transformation and simplifies workflows for emergency medical services across Norway Health services are a critical discipline, where every second counts and the control room is at the heart of their mission-critical operations. Teams require collaboration and flexibility to effectively manage emergency health situations as they arise. This has become especially apparent with the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, where pressures on health services including medical communication centres, continue to rise. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210302005158/en/ (Photo: Business Wire) Motorola Solutions announced today it has been awarded a contract by Helsetjenestens Driftsorganisasjon for Ndnett HF (HDO HF) to provide the Norwegian Health Emergency Service with a new CommandCentral Control Room Solution (CRS). "The new control room solution allows for significant improvements to efficiency and scalability, providing the much-needed flexibility between mission-critical teams", said Lars Erik Tandsther, CEO of HDO HF. "These needs have long been in critical demand for the healthcare system and this solution will greatly improve our ability to respond to emergency calls." "Our CommandCentral control room solution unifies data, streamlines incident management workflows and will deliver greater flexibility to the teams at emergency medical communication centers in Norway", said Michael Kaae, regional vice president Europe at Motorola Solutions. "Every second counts when it comes to emergency management. That's why we're seeing a trend with organizations including HDO move their command centers onto a single platform to drive greater efficiency." The advanced control room solution will support the vital work of the Norwegian Health Emergency Services across all medical centres and external outpatient treatment centres. It will increase efficiency and collaboration for staff, regional health authorities and the emergency medical communication centres. HDO HF can host the solution within their private data centers, helping to simplify IT management, increase data capacity to meet rising demands and reduce costs by automating essential tasks such as reporting. The solution can also help to increase cooperation between emergency and broader healthcare organizations. Motorola Solutions' CommandCentral software suite is the public safety industry's most integrated, end-to-end mission-critical software plattform. Emergency control rooms benefit from bringing all communications channels together into a unified, online interface, with no limitations on the physical location of resources and unmatched operational flexibility and resilience. About Motorola Solutions Motorola Solutions is a global leader in mission-critical communications and analytics. Our technologies in land mobile radio mission-critical communications, command center software, video security analytics, bolstered by managed support services, make communities safer and help businesses stay productive and secure. At Motorola Solutions, we are ushering in a new era in public safety and security. Learn more at www.motorolasolutions.com. Follow @MotoSolutions on Twitter Follow @MotorolaSolutions on Instagram Follow @MotorolaSolutions on LinkedIn Like @MotorolaSolutions on Facebook MOTOROLA, MOTOROLA SOLUTIONS and the Stylized M Logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Motorola Trademark Holdings, LLC and are used under license. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. 2021 Motorola Solutions, Inc. All rights reserved. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210302005158/en/ Contacts: Elvan Lindberg Motorola Solutions Mobile: +46 (0)707448893 Elvan.Lindberg@motorolasolutions.com Susanne Stier Motorola Solutions Mobile: +49 (0)172 6161773 Susanne.Stier@motorolasolutions.com NEW YORK, March 2, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Solo New York, one of North America's largest and most innovative bag and luggage brands, today announces that it has been awarded a 2020 SEAL Business Sustainability Award, which celebrates leadership, transparency, and commitment to sustainable business practices. Although sustainability has always been part of the brand's mission, 2020 marked a significant advance for Solo, with initiatives including launching the Re:cycled Collection, fully revamping its packaging to eliminate plastic, developing biodegradable tags made from FSC-certified recycled paper, and starting the process of replacing traditional poly-bags for shipping with a recycled option. Solo was awarded the SEAL Environmental Initiative Award for its Re:cycled Collection of bags made from respun ocean-bound plastic, as well as for additional sustainability programs across the company. Solo was awarded the SEAL "Environmental Initiative Award" for its Re:cycled Collection of bags made from respun ocean-bound plastic, as well as for additional sustainability programs across the company. The Environmental Initiative Awards honor specific sustainability and environmental initiatives, using key criteria for selection including impact metrics, innovation and sharing of insights. For example, Solo plans to remove 40 million plastic bottles from landfills by 2024, its recycled fabric is certified by The Global Recycled Standard (GRS), and the team is now applying its learnings in recycled materials, packaging and waste reduction across the company and its products. While there are several ways to source discarded plastic, Solo worked hard to locate ocean-bound sources and landfills where plastic commonly ends up in oceans and waterways. The plastics are recovered, chipped and spun into the soft, durable fabric used for Solo bag collections. Although sustainability has always been part of the brand's mission, 2020 marked a significant advance for Solo, with initiatives including launching the Re:cycled Collection, fully revamping its packaging to eliminate plastic, developing biodegradable tags made from FSC-certified recycled paper, and starting the process of replacing traditional poly-bags for shipping with a recycled option. The brand has also been a partner of National Forest Foundation, helping replant thousands of trees in U.S. National Forests. Additionally, Solo's headquarters in New York is 100% powered by rooftop solar and single-use plastics are banned at the campus. "It is such an honor to be recognized by SEAL Awards. Solo is committed to the mission of sustainability and reducing our environmental footprint, which we know will be an ongoing process that requires constantly reevaluating our processes and looking for innovative new materials. From our packaging to products, we are always looking for more efficient ways that we can do business and support our customers," said Serkan Anders, Vice President of Marketing, Solo New York. "The Solo Re:cycled Collection demonstrates that there is a demand from both consumers and retailers for more sustainable products. From a business standpoint, sustainability isn't an option anymore, and we've demonstrated that it's possible to develop more sustainable products at prices that are accessible to a broad group of consumers. We are confident that we're the only company among our peers that is taking such significant steps for the environment." SEAL (Sustainability, Environmental Achievement & Leadership) Awards is an environmental advocacy organization that honors leadership through its business sustainability awards and environmental journalism awards while funding research and pursuing environmental impact campaigns. "Over the past five years, corporations like Solo New York have increased their investment in sustainable business practices, and we are honored to have Solo among our Business Sustainability Award recipients," said Matt Harney, Founder, SEAL Awards. "Our mission at SEAL is to rigorously assess and then celebrate extraordinary sustainability leadership, and Solo has demonstrated that they are committed to sustainable practices." About Solo New York: Back in 2008, we committed to shake up an old industry and make cool, stylish, and sustainable bag and case designs with thoughtful details available to everyone. Since then, the streets of New York have provided endless inspiration for us. Everything we design has unique style, sparked by the sights and sounds of the city. While New York is a place we call home, that dynamic spirit translates everywhere. Learn more at https://solo-ny.com and on Instagram, @SoloNewYork. Media Contact: Matt Bennett ECHOS Communications [email protected] (303) 647-5570 SOURCE Solo New York Related Links http://www.solo-ny.com Researchers at Tokyo Institute of Technology working in collaboration with colleagues at the Kanagawa Institute of Industrial Science and Technology and Nara Medical University in Japan have succeeded in preparing a material called cerium molybdate (-Ce2Mo3O13 or CMO), which exhibits high antiviral activity against coronavirus. The ongoing coronavirus pandemic has highlighted the urgency not only of vaccine development and rollout but also of developing innovative materials and technologies with antiviral properties that could play a vital role in helping to contain the spread of the virus. Conventional inorganic antimicrobial materials are often prepared with metals such as copper or photocatalysts such as titanium dioxide. However, metal-based materials can be prone to corrosion, and the effects of photocatalysts are usually limited under dark conditions. Now, a research team led by Akira Nakajima of Tokyo Institute of Technology's Department of Materials Science and Engineering proposes a new type of an antiviral material that can overcome these drawbacks. The team successfully combined a relatively low-cost rare earth element cerium (Ce) with molybdenum (Mo), which is well known for its antibacterial effects, to prepare two types of cerium molybdate (Ce2Mo3O12 and -Ce2Mo3O13) in powder form. Both powders exhibited antiviral activity against bacteriophage 6[1]. Notably, -Ce2Mo3O13 also exhibited high antiviral activity against SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. The researchers infer that an effective combination of cerium with the molybdate ion as well as the specific surface area[2] are key factors contributing to the observed antiviral activity. The study builds on earlier work led by Nakajima which demonstrated the antiviral activity of a material named LMO (La2Mo2O9), composed of lanthanum (La) oxide and molybdenum oxide. LMO's activity, however, was found to be better against non-envelope-type (bacteriophage Q) than against envelope-type (bacteriophage 6) viruses. Subsequent tests showed that incorporating cerium into the material to make La1.8Ce0.2Mo2O9 (LCMO) improved antiviral activity against bacteriophage 6. It was this remarkable finding that spurred further investigations into cerium molybdates (CMO) as promising materials with high antiviral activity against envelope-type viruses such as influenza and SARS-CoV-2. To obtain the desired CMO powder samples with an almost single-crystal phase, the team conducted many trial experiments before successfully preparing Ce2Mo3O12 using the polymerizable complex method and -Ce2Mo3O13 through hydrothermal processing[3]. If standardized and mass-produced, CMO could be used in a wide range of materials such as resins, paper, thin films and paints. This would open up the possibility of using CMO coatings for high-contact surfaces such as door handles, straps inside vehicles, elevator buttons and escalator belts as well as walls, tiles and windows. Nakajima envisions that materials incorporating CMO could also be used in everyday items such as smartphones and clothing. He notes that applications for eye and face ware such as glasses and masks may take a little longer time to develop, but be on the horizon. ### Technical terms [1] bacteriophage 6: A member of the virus family Cystoviridae that has the rare distinction of having a lipid envelope. It is thus considered a useful surrogate for enveloped viruses and is often used as a model in studies investigating antiviral activity. [2] specific surface area: Here referring to the total available surface area for adsorption of the virus. [3] hydrothermal processing: A method harnessing the chemistry of hot water under pressure that enables effective dissolution, which can yield high-quality inorganic products. Related links Living in a world with COVID-19 - Future technology for prevention, diagnosis, and treatment https:/ / www. titech. ac. jp/ english/ research/ stories/ with_corona_healthcare. html Nakajima-Matsushita-Isobe Lab http://www. rmat. ceram. titech. ac. jp/ staff_e. html Preparation of hydrophobic La2Mo2O9 ceramics with antibacterial and antiviral properties https:/ / doi. org/ 10. 1016/ j. jhazmat. 2019. 05. 003 About Tokyo Institute of Technology Tokyo Tech stands at the forefront of research and higher education as the leading university for science and technology in Japan. Tokyo Tech researchers excel in fields ranging from materials science to biology, computer science, and physics. Founded in 1881, Tokyo Tech hosts over 10,000 undergraduate and graduate students per year, who develop into scientific leaders and some of the most sought-after engineers in industry. Embodying the Japanese philosophy of "monotsukuri," meaning "technical ingenuity and innovation," the Tokyo Tech community strives to contribute to society through high-impact research. https:/ / www. titech. ac. jp/ english/ About Kanagawa Institute of Industrial Science and Technology We work as a reliable public experimental and research institute, by means of supporting creation of innovation and promoting local industry, science and technology. About Nara Medical University (NMU) Located in Kashihara, Nara, the ancient capital of Japan at around 7th century, NMU has opened as a prefectural University since 1948. As one of unique activities, we have been promoting the concept of medicine-based town (MBT), which aims to contribute to future society by medical approach, in order to utilize our knowledge and skills not only for medical practice but also for all things related to industrial creation and regional revitalization. Are you a current print subscriber? You qualify for online access to the Omak Chronicle. To receive your access, create a website account and then verify your print subscription or e-edition subscription with your subscriber number, which may be found on your bill or mailing label. Its been nearly a year since the vast majority of Californias 6 million students have experienced a normal school day, playing kickball at recess, huddling at a table to discuss Shakespeare, or cutting up frogs in science class, and the hope for even a partial return to classrooms before summer is fading fast. Many Bay Area families are setting their sights on the fall, hoping public schools will be back in person five full days by then, but in some cases, creating a contingency plan if theyre not. Those plans include moving to a school district thats open or enrolling in private school for those with options, but many families without financial resources are stuck with no way out. What learning will look like in August or September is still unclear. Predictions vary among experts, who almost universally say it depends on case counts, the possibility of vaccine-resistant variants emerging, local politics and labor demands. Variation within the Bay Area is likely. What it might look like in San Francisco where the health department is demanding 6 feet of distance between desks might be different than in Marin, where thats not a requirement. For months, health experts, government officials and parents have clamored for schools to reopen, saying it can be done safely and is critical to addressing the devastating academic and mental health effects of distance learning. Despite the data, most public schools in California remain closed to in-person learning. A deal announced Monday between the governor and Legislature could lead to a partial reopening in many districts before summer, but it remains unclear whether all students will be back in class full time in the fall. Getting to low case counts and transmission rates will be key, said Dr. George Rutherford, a UCSF infectious disease expert. If we get there which is kind of even money right now we might be able to tolerate the risk of elementary schools unmasked, less distance between students, he said. Im reading a crystal ball right now. There would mean less than one new case daily for every 100,000 people per county. In San Francisco, thats no more than nine or 10 new cases per day, well below the current daily case rate of about 70. Rutherfords prediction: Schools will be open full-time in the fall with mitigation, including masking and social distancing, though perhaps less than the 6 feet recommended or required in many districts. I dont think everybody is going to throw their masks away on Aug. 30, he said. By January, Rutherford added, life should be back to normal. His caveat: Nothing is guaranteed. San Francisco parent Komal Bawa wants a guarantee for the fall. Her first-grade son, Jeevan, has been doing fine in distance learning, often playing with Legos while in his Zoom classes at West Portal Elementary. The district has no timeline set for reopening and no plans to bring back middle and high school students this school year, even though private schools opened months ago in the city. Bawa worries that lingering restrictions by health officials or union contracts including 6 feet for social distancing will limit a full-time return in the fall. Weve done our private school applications at this point because weve lost faith, she said. If we had a guarantee we were going back full time, theres no way wed pull out. In San Francisco and many other districts, no one is making that promise yet. It is certainly not our intention to continue in distance and hybrid instruction beyond the time that these forms of instruction are necessary to maintain the health and safety of our students, communities, and staff, said Susan Solomon, president of United Educators of San Francisco. When the time comes that it is safe to remove layers of protection, that can be discussed. While vaccinations are increasing and case rates are declining, local, state and federal guidance dont include what conditions are necessary for schools to resume normal operations. Rutherford said theres no tier below the least-restrictive yellow in California, which allows for most businesses and schools to open, but with limited capacity or modifications. UCSF infectious disease specialist Dr. Monica Gandhi says the formula for fully reopening schools rests with vaccinating the adults in schools. The state and counties are already allocating vaccines for educators, though children wont be vaccinated by the fall. Gandhi has advocated that schools can reopen safely without vaccines and with mitigation efforts, but said it will likely take widespread vaccination of teachers before holdout unions will agree to return. If the teachers and everyone who would like a vaccine are all vaccinated, the biology should state there should be no more distancing, no more masks and no more mass testing for teachers, she said. While children younger than 16 cannot get a vaccine yet, Gandhi believes enough adults will be vaccinated to achieve herd immunity by September, meaning the virus cant circulate effectively so younger children wont be exposed. Gandhi predicts the fall will be back to normal, but warns that school reopening could hinge on whether districts are still dealing with politics rather than a pandemic. The politics of reopening have so far frustrated parent Roberto Angula, who has two children, a sixth-grade daughter in private school and a third-grade son at Alvarado Elementary. COVID Resources Coronavirus Map Tracking COVID-19 cases across the Bay Area and California. Angulo is concerned that San Francisco school officials are talking only about bringing children back through second grade this spring, with no indication of a plan for older students even in August when school resumes. He is also considering moving his son to private school. Weve resigned ourselves to the fact that he wont go back this academic year, he said. But if they dont go back in August, thats total B.S. Dr. Matt Willis, Marin County health officer, expects a full reopening of schools in the fall. Most schools in his county are already open, at least part time, and have shown it can be done safely, he said. But he also believes California counties are quickly gaining on the virus. In Marin County, for every new case of COVID-19, 80 people are getting vaccinated. Outbreaks have been virtually eradicated in nursing homes, and 75% of the 75-plus population has been vaccinated, Willis said. Willis predicted that despite a full return to classrooms, face coverings and restrictions on large gatherings might remain. But he also said that uncertainty has been a hallmark of the pandemic. Still, many fear that even if schools are back full time, the educational landscape will be changed. Oakland teacher Shelby Ziesing worries about the growing mental health needs of students as well as an exodus of teachers, who are opting to retire or just leave the profession given the strain over the past year. Normal might look different in the fall even if all schools are fully reopened, said the second-grade teacher at Joaquin Miller Elementary. It feels hard to envision, but all of us teachers, students and families we all just want to be back safely in our classrooms, she said. I think we really need to temper our expectation for what it will look like. Staff writer Heather Knight contributed to this story. Jill Tucker is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jtucker@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @jilltucker Kim Kardashian is a busy gal, raising four kids, studying law, and running several successful businesses. But her hairstylist Chris Appleton couldn't help but make fun of the multitasking mogul, 40, after she tried to squeeze in a power-nap during her latest glam session. Appleton trolled his favorite client by sharing a shot of her asleep in the salon chair which he captioned: 'I love you Kim.' However, the super-celeb was not amused by the photo, commenting: 'I f***ing hate you!! You exhausted me!' Catching Zzz's: Busy starlet Kim Kardashian squeezed in a power-nap while getting her hair done by hairstylist extraordinaire Chris Appleton, who couldn't help but post a photo of the hilarious moment But famous friends like Paris Hilton loved the candid moment, writing: 'Sleeping Beauty.' It looked like Kardashian was mid-beauty routine, rocking a full face of makeup while leaning back with her eyes closed and mouth agape. Chris sat besides her flashing a peace sign while an assistant continued to play with the SKIMS creator's tresses. After seeing several fans change their profile pics to her napping snap Kim started to get on board with the joke, tweeting: 'OMG everyones profile pics Im crying!!!' Trolled: The super-celeb was not amused by the photo, commenting 'I f***ing hate you!! You exhausted me!' while famous friends like Paris Hilton loved the candid moment, writing 'Sleeping Beauty' Amused: After seeing several fans change their profile pics to her napping snap Kim started to get on board with the joke, tweeting: 'OMG everyones profile pics Im crying!!!' Kim has had a lot on her plate since news she and husband of six-years Kanye West are divorcing emergon February 19th. Kardashian - who shares North, seven, Saint, five, Chicago, three, and Psalm, 21 months with the rapper/failed politician - took a road trip to Palm Springs shortly after break-up reports. She continued to lean on friends and family, seen getting getting dinner in Beverly Hills with sister Kourtney Kardashian and former assistant Stephanie Shepherd on February 23rd. The couple are requesting joint custody of their children and sources say neither is contesting their pre-nup. Kim is worth almost $1B thanks to her makeup, fragrance and intimates lines, while rapper is worth a reported $1.3B with his music, concerts, and apparel and shoe lines. Early days of love: West and Kardashian's divorce was made public on February 19th. Above the couple are seen during visit The Bay Queen Street to celebrate the Canadian debut of her jewelry line Belle Noel in Toronto, Canada in 2012 A source has claimed they plan for their children to remain in California, despite the Yeezy fashion designer splitting his time between LA and Wyoming. The Selfish author has had very little contact with the artist since last October, after tensions grew when he decided to run for President of the United States in July. During a rally, the outspoken star claimed Kim wanted North aborted, and also called his mother-in-law Kris Jenner 'Kris Jong Un.' An insider told People Magazine that Kanye is now 'resigned to reality' over the divorce filing, branding the decision 'a sombre day for him.' They said: 'It's as amicable as possible, but amicable doesn't mean joyful or ideal. It just means that they're being adults about the whole thing.' MESSINA, MAR 2 - A 'maxi trial' opened in Messina Tuesday into how Cosa Nostra clans scammed millions of euros of EU farming funds in the Nebrodi area of Sicily. The 'Nebrodi Mafia' trial sees 97 people in the dock including Cosa Nostra bosses, 'respectable' professionals, and soldiers of the clans. Messina prosecutor Maurizio de Lucia broke up the Nebrodi Mafia and found they had fraudulently obtained huge sums in EU funding. The trial has targeted historic clans in Tortorici, a town in the centre of the Nebrodi, the Batanesis and the Bontempo Scavos. They allegedly got "rivers of EU funding," de Lucia said, with the help of a notary public and officials at the local commercial agricultural centres. The two clans buried their differences and, instead of fighting each other, teamed up to parcel up cast plots of land in Sicily and elsewhere in Italy to qualify for the EU funding, the prosecutor said. "This scam deprived honest operators of huge public resources and gravely polluted the legal economy," he said. (ANSA). Detectives have closed an investigation into a rape allegation against a cabinet minister due to insufficient evidence. A woman accused the minister of raping her at an event in Sydney in 1988 but never made a formal statement to police and took her own life last year. New South Wales Police released a statement on Wednesday saying the man would not be charged. An anonymous sender said they were inspired to write a letter (pictured) detailing the woman's allegations after former Liberal staffer Brittany Higgins went public with an allegation 'The matter is now closed': NSW Police statement In November 2019, a woman then aged 48, attended an Adelaide (South Australia) police station seeking advice about reporting historical sexual offences, which allegedly occurred in 1988 in Sydney (New South Wales). The matter was then referred to the NSW Police Force and an investigation by the Child Abuse and Sex Crimes Squad commenced under Strike Force Wyndarra. NSW Police Force has been the lead agency in respect to this investigation since February 2020. For various reasons, the woman did not detail her allegations in a formal statement to NSW Police. The woman passed away in June 2020. Following the womans death, NSW Police came into possession of a personal document purportedly made by the woman previously. NSW Police have since sought legal advice in relation to these matters. Based on information provided to NSW Police, there is insufficient admissible evidence to proceed. As such, NSW Police Force has determined the matter is now closed. Advertisement 'Based on information provided to NSW Police, there is insufficient admissible evidence to proceed,' the statement read. The allegation against the minister became public last week after Scott Morrison received a letter from a mystery sender which included a statement the alleged victim had prepared for her lawyers in 2019. Police were due to travel to her home in Adelaide in March 2020 to take her statement but their trip was postponed due to Covid-19. In June the woman withdrew her allegation and died by suicide the next day, causing the investigation to be suspended. According to Four Corners which first reported the allegation on Friday, the woman had bipolar disorder and had attended a psychiatric hospital in Melbourne in the months before her death aged 49. Friends say she was 'beautiful and clever' but 'consumed with trauma'. Mr Morrison said he did not read the letter but forwarded it to Australian Federal Police Commissioner Reece Kershaw (pictured) As well as leaving her prepared statement, the woman made a 45-minute recording in which she talked about her allegations, according to the Herald Sun. In a letter to a friend she wrote: 'I guess I just worry that a trial has the potential to be an emotional bloodbath, particularly for me and anyone who appears as a witness in the case.' NSW Police said officers have sought legal advice about a 'personal document' made by the woman. The woman had told several family and friends about her allegation. It was presumably one of them who sent the letter to Mr Morrison, Liberal MP Celia Hammond and two South Australian senators, demanding an investigation. The rape allegation: A timeline 1988: Rape allegedly happens at event in Sydney when woman is 16 Late 2019: Woman engages lawyers and prepares a statement February 2020: Woman reports allegations to NSW Police March 2020: Police postpone trip to visit her due to Covid-19 June 2020: Woman dies by suicide February 24, 2021: Anonymous letter is sent to PM detailing allegations March 1, 2021: PM says minister completely rejects the allegations March 2, 2021: NSW Police close the case Advertisement The anonymous sender said they were inspired to write the letter after former Liberal staffer Brittany Higgins went public with an allegation she was raped by another staffer in Defence Minister Linda Reynolds' parliament office in 2019. Ms Higgins' allegations dominated the past two sitting weeks of parliament as ministers were repeatedly grilled over who knew about her claims and when. The sender demanded an inquiry into the 1988 allegation, writing: 'There will be considerable damage to community perceptions of justice... and the parliament when this story becomes public if it is simultaneously revealed that senior people (like yourselves) were aware of the accusation but had done nothing.' The identity of the cabinet minister is known among the media and politicians but cannot be disclosed for legal reasons. The ministerial code of conduct requires a minister to stand aside if charged with a crime - but he won't face court because under NSW law a rape charge can only be laid if there is a living complainant. Mr Morrison said he spoke to the minister on Wednesday evening and he 'vigorously rejected the allegations.' He said he did not read the letter but had been briefed on the contents of the allegations. Asked if he would set up an inquiry, he said: 'I'm not the police force. I have given it to the police to investigate.' Mr Morrison said AFP Commissioner Reece Kershaw had not advised him to take any action. He refused to sack the minister, saying: 'We can't have a situation where the mere making of an allegation and that being publicised through the media is grounds for, you know, governments to stand people down simply on the basis of that. I mean, we have a rule of law in this country.' Mr Morrison said the first he substantially heard of the allegation was last week. Before that he had only heard rumours of a journalist making inquiries, he said. Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young and Labor Senator Penny Wong received the unsigned letter and both released statements saying they had contacted the AFP. Senator Hanson-Young said the information she had received regarded a 'disturbing and a very serious allegation of a criminal nature against a senior member of the government'. The Australian Federal Police on Saturday issued a statement saying it would liaise with the relevant state authorities. 'Further enquiries can be directed to the New South Wales Police Force,' it said. 'The AFP will not be making further comment.' Ms Higgins (pictured) alleged she was raped in Parliament House after a boozy night out NSW Police said in a statement on Friday night that a report of alleged historic sexual violence was received in February 2020 and detectives commenced an investigation under Strike Force Wyndarra. 'After strike force investigators were advised that the body of a 49-year-old woman was located at a home at Adelaide by South Australia Police (SAPOL) on Wednesday 24 June 2020, the investigation was suspended,' the statement said. 'NSW Police understand that reporting sexual assault can be distressing and traumatic for victims and it is always the choice of an individual whether to proceed with an investigation or not.' The military has been enlisted to help with the coronavirus vaccine rollout in aged care facilities to ramp up the number of people receiving their first doses as 300,000 doses of both the AstraZeneca and Pfizer vaccines are distributed to states and territories. Army doctors and nurses are undergoing training this week before they join the work to immunise aged care residents and workers in regional and remote areas from next week. Army medics will assist in the effort to vaccinate aged care residents. Credit:Getty The Australian Defence Force will support the private logistics and healthcare companies already providing vaccines at aged care facilities around the country, with the addition of ADF personnel in logistics teams as well as more security and clerical staff. The military support comes after the aged care rollout fell behind schedule just days into the program last week, after a bungle that saw two aged care residents receive four times the prescribed dose. Courtesy of Cassandra Madison and Julia Tinetti Cassandra Madison and Julia Tinetti A pair of coworkers whose many similarities helped them form a fast friendship were surprised to learn recently that their "twin" nicknames for one another were quite accurate, considering they're actually biological sisters. Julia Tinetti, 31, and Cassandra Madison, 32, first met in 2013 as coworkers at the Russian Lady Bar in New Haven, Connecticut, Madison explained on Facebook. For more on Julia and Cassandra's story, listen below to the episode of PEOPLE Every Day! They had plenty in common, including matching Dominican Republic flag tattoos as a tribute to the country they'd each been adopted from, and soon struck up a close friendship. "We become friends, start wearing matching clothes, having a blast together and telling everyone, 'We're sisters,'" Madison wrote. A resemblance between the two inspired them to compare adoption papers, but the documents didn't match up, according to Good Morning America. RELATED VIDEO: After 200 Days Apart, Identical Twins Lock Eyes, Hold Hands for First Time Since Birth After 200 Days Apart, Identical Twins Lock Eyes, Hold Hands for First Time Since Birth There was nary a dry eye in the room. Still, the women remained convinced they had some sort of connection, and kept in touch when Madison moved to Virginia in 2015, they told GMA. Their case finally cracked open after a 23andMe DNA test led Madison to her biological father, whom she flew to visit in the Dominican Republic. Upon arrival, she learned that she had six biological siblings including one sister who'd also been given up for adoption as a baby, according to the outlet. RELATED: Woman's COVID-19 Diagnosis Leads Her to Surprise Reunion with Long-Lost Sister After 50 Years A DNA test that Madison encouraged Tinetti to take eventually confirmed the news: they were, in fact, sisters. "Fast forward to 2021 and I ask my dad if he gave up another baby he says yes! I'm buggin out, omg there's one more sibling!!!" Madison wrote on Facebook. "I jump in my car last minute and drove to CT to get [Tinetti] to do 23andme and the results came back yesterday." Story continues "WE ARE SISTERS!" she wrote. "Same mom, same dad ! Just two girls who happen to work together find out they're sisters. I love you twin!" According to GMA, the women believe that Tinetti's adoption papers were mixed up with those of her childhood friend Molly Sapadin, which would explain why Tinetti and Madison's papers did not match up when they first checked. RELATED: Vermont Woman Reunites with Biological Family 44 Years After She Was Lost at a Market and Then Adopted "[I'm] still processing the magnitude of the situation," Tinetti told the outlet. "This is the type of thing you see on TV. Finding my biological family just wasn't a thing for me. I grew up with a great family, so I just kind of left it to what it was." Madison, meanwhile, said it's been a relief to finally reconnect with her long-lost family. "For me, it's always been, 'I'm going to find these people if it's the last thing I do,'" she said. "I was going to die trying." By Ciara Farmer for MailOnline While Glee was easily one of the cheeriest shows to ever grace television screens, behind-the-scenes a murky curse has long-prevailed among its troubled cast and crew. The death of Naya Rivera comes among a string of heartbreaks and horrors surrounding the show, including Cory Monteith's accidental drug overdose in 2013, Naya's ex-boyfriend Mark Salling's conviction for possession of child pornography and subsequent suicide and recent rumors of unrest on-set. The show ran for six seasons from 2009 to 2015 and throughout its time on air and the years following, trauma has reigned supreme - leading to claims of a 'Glee Curse'. Not so Glee-ful: While Glee was easily one of the cheeriest shows to ever grace television screens, behind-the-scenes a murky curse has long-prevailed among its troubled cast and crew (Pictured top row L-R: Chord Overstreet, Harry Shum Jr., Naya Rivera, Dianna Agron, Iqbal Theba, Heather Morris, Chris Colfer and Jane Lynch. Bottom row L-R: Kevin McHale, Mark Salling (floor), Amber Riley, Jenna Ushkowitz, Cory Monteith, Lea Michele and Matthew Morrison in 2011) CORY MONTEITH'S FATAL DRUG AND DRINK BATTLE Cory Monteith played Finn Hudson In what was the start of the show's behind-the-scenes demise, on 13 July 2013, Cory Monteith, who played Finn Hudson, was found dead of a drugs overdose aged 31 in his Vancouver hotel room, after taking a lethal combination of heroin and alcohol. Four months before his death he had completed a stint in rehab. Cory was dating Lea Michele at the time of his death. After news broke of his overdose, it was revealed that Lea rang his mother, hysterical and screaming: 'Is it true?' Following his passing, she released a statement. Through her representative, the actress said: 'Lea is deeply grateful for all the love and support she's received from family, friends, and fans. Since Cory's passing, Lea has been grieving alongside his family and making appropriate arrangements with them. They are supporting each other as they endure this profound loss together.' Lea, who is expecting her first child with husband Zandy Reich, began dating Cory in 2012, and after his death, she said: 'There was no greater man than Cory. So, for the time we spent together, I consider myself very lucky.' Heartbreaking: Cory dated his co-star Lea Michele (seen left together in 2012) up to the time of his death. He was found dead of a drugs overdose aged 31 in his Vancouver hotel room, after taking a lethal combination of heroin and alcohol Five years after his death, Cory's mother Ann McGregor insisted her son had been on pain medication following dental work to cap his teeth in the weeks before his overdose and that he 'never meant to die'. She said he had battled his fair share of demons from a young age, drinking and smoking marijuana from 13, and with two stints in rehab by the time he was 19. While he managed to get clean for a time, he fell back into bad habits when he went to Hollywood. Ann, who admitted her son began using drugs again in December 2012, seven months before his death, said: 'He wasn't ready for the Hollywood world. Drugs were his way of checking out'. After his death, she said: 'I still can't pick up the pieces. My world totally stopped. And I'm a different person than I was before.' MARK SALLING'S HORRENDOUS CHILD PORN CONVICTION AND DEATH Mark Salling played Noah 'Puck' Puckerman The most horrific of the show's woes was undoubtedly Mark Salling's 2015 arrest and subsequent conviction in 2017 for possession of more than 50,000 images and 600 videos which showed girls, some of whom as young as three, being raped. It was described as 'the worst pornography collection the nation has seen'. Salling, who played Noah 'Puck' Puckerman on the show, had tried to conceal them by masking his IP address and storing them on an encrypted hard drive. They were revealed to police by an ex-girlfriend who he showed them to. She was sickened and notified authorities. In his plea deal, the extent of his collection was described in harrowing detail. He was found dead from suicide by hanging on 30 January 2018 near his home in Sunland, Los Angeles. His death came shortly before his sentencing, which was due to take place on March 7. He had attempted suicide the previous year by slashing his wrists, after which he was treated for psychological problems. Horror: The most horrific of the show's woes was undoubtedly Salling's 2015 arrest and subsequent conviction in 2017 for possession of more than 50,000 images and 600 videos which showed girls, some of whom as young as three, being raped. He is pictured left arriving at court, and right with co-star Naya Rivera, whom he dated for three years until 2010 Salling dated Naya from 2007 to 2010. In her 2016 memoir, Sorry Not Sorry: Dreams, Mistakes, and Growing Up, the actress admitted that she was not surprised by his horrendous convictions. She wrote: 'I can't say I was totally shocked. When Mark dumped me, I thought it was the worst thing ever, but can you imagine if that didn't happen?... 'And I was laying there in bed when the battering ram came through the door?' Prior to his death, in January 2013, Salling's ex-girlfriend Roxanne Gorzela accused him of sexual battery by forcing her to have unprotected sex without consent. He denied the charges and filed a countersuit for defamation. In March 2015, they out of court with judges ordering him to pay her $2.7million. LEA MICHELE'S DRAMA BEHIND THE SCENES Lea Michele played Rachel Berry Lea Michele, who played Rachel Berry on the show, was accused of bullying on-set by a number of cast and crew members in the summer of 2020. Accusations of on-set bullying began with a tweet from Lea's co-star Samantha Ware in June last year, accusing her of being rude to her on-set and behaving with 'traumatic microaggressions'. Others then piled on to the actress with allegations of their own, including Heather Morris, Dabier Snell and Yvette Nicole Brown. Lea was subsequently dropped by her sponsor, HelloFresh. Morris, 33, who played cheerleader Brittany S. Pierce on the Ryan Murphy show, claims Michele was 'very' unpleasant to work with, saying: 'Was she unpleasant to work with? Very much so; for Lea to treat others with the disrespect that she did for as long as she did, I believe she SHOULD be called out.' Shocker: Lea, who played Rachel Berry, was accused of bullying on-set by a number of cast and crew members in the summer of 2020, after co-star Samantha Ware (right) spoke out about her alleged behavior on Twitter. Lea was subsequently dropped by food brand HelloFresh and a spokesperson (left) Lea apologized and said she has 'never judged others by their background or color of their skin.' She also insisted she will learn from the mistakes she has made so she 'can be a real role model for my child' when she gives birth in a couple of months. Naya and Lea famously had on-set friction, with the former writing in her book: 'One of the Glee writers once said that Lea and I were like two sides of the same battery and that about sums us up. We are both strong willed and competitive not just with each other but with everyone and that's not a good mixture... 'We're all stressed, yes, but we're all working toward the same goal, so laugh it off and keep it movin'. Lea was a lot more sensitive, though, and it seemed like she blamed me for anything and everything that went wrong.' CREW MEMBERS' PASSING: 'WE'VE LOST ANOTHER ONE' Production assistant Nancy Motes passed away in 2014 Between 2013 and 2014, the show saw three heartbreaking deaths. Three months after Cory's 2013 death, assistant director Jim Fuller passed away in his sleep, from heart failure. In Season Four, a subtle shout-out was given to Jim, while Glee cinematographer Joaquin Sedillo wrote on Twitter after his death: 'This is such sad news. Jim was such a great guy and was so good to me always.' Then in 2014, the cast were left 'devastated' by the death of the production assistant Nancy Motes, the sister of Julia Roberts. Nancy died aged 37, after drowning in a bath on February 9, 2014. She was found surrounded by non-prescription and prescription pills, according to the Los Angeles County Coroner. She claimed in her suicide note that the actress was so cruel that she 'drove me into the deepest depression I've ever been in'. She described the Oscar-winning star as a 'so-called sibling' who should get nothing if she died - except the memory that she pushed her over the edge. Further pain: Nancy, the sister of Julia Roberts (pictured together in 2002), died aged 37, after drowning in a bath on February 9, 2014. She was found surrounded by non-prescription and prescription pills, according to the Los Angeles County Coroner In the handwritten note, which was used as evidence in court amid a legal battle over her estate, Nancy said that Roberts' abuse had been so bad that 'I burst into tears because I wake up'. Following Nancy's tragic death, fellow production assistant Cristina Lageman spoke to MailOnline about Jim's death, Nancy's suicide and the concerns over 'a curse' on the show'. Cristina said: 'She was such a good friend to me. It's just shocking. Yes, she had her own little struggles, but when we got together, we just bonded and she never let them get to her. It's such a shock, what with Cory passing last year, then we had a crew member, Jim Fuller, die. Now we've got this hit and it's almost too much. 'Glee was like a family. We spent 12 hours a day together. We would refer to each other as The Glee Family. Colleagues have been posting on Facebook: 'We've lost another one.' 404 MIDDLETOWN Local authorities are seeking information on a fatal shooting Monday evening, according to police. Officers were called to a house in the area of S. Main Street and Glynn Avenue on a report of gunshots just before 11 p.m. to find two people had been shot, according to a release. Both were taken to Middlesex Hospital, where the man died, police said. The woman was in stable condition, the release said. The identities of those involved were not immediately released. The incident was isolated, and there is no risk to the public, officials said. The investigation is continuing. The Connecticut State Police van and other police vehicles were on scene Tuesday. Mayor Ben Florsheim on Tuesday called the incident a tragedy, comparing it to similar trends happening across the nation. Weve seen an uptick in gun violence all over the country. Weve managed to avoid the brunt of that in Middletown. This is a wake-up call that things like this can happen anywhere, he said. Connecticut State Police said they are assisting in the investigation. A spokesman for Middletown police said there were no further details to release Tuesday. Anyone who may have information about the incident is asked to contact Detective Dan Spedding in the Major Investigations Division at 860-638-4153. The Daily Beast Photo Illustration by The Daily Beast/GettyMike Lindell, the MyPillow CEO and Trumpist conspiracy-peddler, flew his private jet to the Republican Governors Association meeting the other day.The guvs promptly threw him out. But the incident got Molly Jong-Fast thinking: Does the MyPillow CEO think hes already a governor or something?Subscribe to The New Abnormal on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Amazon Music, or Overcast. To listen to our weekly members-only bonus episodes, join Beast Inside here. Already a member? You can listen here and sign up for new episode email alerts here.Spoiler: Making MyPillows does not make you my governor. Now, chances that Mike Lindell could actually become governor of a small Republican state, 80 percent, she quips on the latest episode of The New Abnormal. Like, its not even that hard for someone that famous and insane in the Republican party to become a governor.Lindell claims he wouldnt run to be a dogcatcher right now, because he doesnt trust the voting machines. Plus, hes from the blue state of Minnesota. So maybe the risk of a Governor Pillow isnt quite so high. But L.A. Times columnist Virginia Heffernan would like to quickly add something about Mike Lindell being a cosplay governor.I think we need to understand that being in politics leads to governing and governing is boring. It is not a PR operation, she says. And I feel like we have made these jobs celebrity roles. Public service should not beis notbeing on a reality show.Like, I feel like we need to really dial down the razzle-dazzle, really play up the drudgery, Heffernan continues. I just don't know why every single industrialist and every single lady with abs or gorgeous arms would want to be, of all things, a governor.Biden, Heffernan opines, is doing a pretty good job at the drudgerydollars going out, jabs going out, all leading to Trump signs going down. Sure, the Donald has his cultists, like Lindell. But, I don't think people can hold onto this much insanity for this long, especially when it's a tiny minority of people who believe it, Heffernan adds. Democrats need to know how to win.To which Jong-Fast replies, oh-so-gently: Are you freakin kidding me? With all of these Republican attempts to retcon the Capitol riots? To chop away at the right to vote? To instantiate their ability to overturn elections? All while Team Biden snoozes it away? The Democrats are bringing an ice cream sundae to a knife fight, Jong-Fast says.Plus! Politicos Tara Palmeri talks about her search to find Liz Cheney supporters in Wyoming. And Battle for the Soul author Edward-Isaac Dovere gives us a peek into how Biden sees the political landscape. The presidency that he has in front of him now, he knows, is so different from what he ever expected to have, Dovere says, And part of that is rethinking how he incorporates the progressivism within the party that took root and that was so much part of this campaign. And its just, its a really complicated evolution for him. Its not the presidency he thought itd be running in 2019 when he got into this race.Read more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more. Sorry! This content is not available in your region Caused by the novel severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic continues to spread across the globe. The rise to dominance of several new variants of concern, some with observed heightened transmissibility, has contributed to a resurgence in cases in many parts of the world particularly in the U.S., the U.K., Brazil, and South Africa. To date, over 107 million cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed worldwide, with over 2.35 million deaths. Since the virus was first detected in Wuhan, China, in December 2019, the global scientific community has been mounting an unprecedented research effort to better understand SARS-CoV-2 from its transmission dynamics, to its complex mechanisms of infection, to its pathogenicity. Scientists the world over continue to study the virus and attempt to develop safe and effective prophylactics and therapeutics from vaccines to antiviral drugs to prevent its spread and to mitigate disease severity in those it reaches. In terms of vaccine development, as one of the worst public health crises in living memory, the COVID-19 pandemic has stimulated an enormous feat of nanotechnological innovation in the space of a year. Out of the social and economic chaos of 2020, stepped the messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) vaccine models. Most notably, the BNT162b2 candidate also known as the 'BioNTech-Pfizer vaccine' which was the first to receive a national regulatory body's approval and to be administered to members of a population. Evonik strengthens strategic partnership with BioNTech on COVID-19 vaccine. Image Credit: LookerStudio / Shutterstock BioNTech-Pfizer model Following the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in late-2019, the German biotechnology firm, BioNTech, teamed up with a pharmaceutical giant, Pfizer, to develop and trial a vaccine that would prevent SARS-CoV-2 infection. By early-November 2020, the BioNTech-Pfizer partnership announced positive outcomes for their third and final phase of clinical trials, which involved human volunteers. In these assessments, the vaccine yielded an efficacy of 95%. This is significantly higher than the World Health Organization's (WHO) recommended target of 70%. Through an emergency measures process called 'rolling review,' the U.K.'s regulatory body, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), had been assessing the candidate's clinical trial data as and when it was being released to speed up the process. Having scrutinized the trial data in consultation with the U.K.'s expert scientific advisory board, SAGE, the MHRA had officially approved the vaccine's use by December 2020. Shortly after, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) authorized emergency approval of the candidate to vulnerable individuals more susceptible to severe disease and to frontline healthcare workers at high risk of viral exposure. To date, the Pfizer vaccine has been approved and administered in several countries worldwide, from Canada to Israel to Belgium to Costa Rica. This radically new model of vaccine has hit the market in record time. In what would usually take as much as a decade, the BioNTech-Pfizer vaccine, as well as its rival mRNA candidate, the 'Moderna vaccine', were developed, trialed, approved, and rolled out in the space of a year. But what exactly are mRNA vaccines? And how do they work? The mRNA vaccine model SARS-CoV-2 infects host cells through the angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2), a host cell receptor that is abundantly expressed in human epithelial tissue. Epithelia is especially present in the human airway, and it is by this means that SARS-CoV-2 is a predominantly respiratory infection. SARS-CoV-2 binds to the ACE2 receptor of host cells to initiate infection. Image Credit: Design_Cells / Shutterstock The SARS-CoV-2 microbes surface is adorned with spike proteins (or S proteins), which latch onto the ACE2 receptor and instigate host-virion membrane fusion. From here, the virus hijacks the host cell's metabolic processes and instigates viral replication. While traditional vaccines typically inject an attenuated or inactivated version of the virus to elicit a robust immune response, the BNT162b1 vaccine is part of a new class of messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) vaccine that injects a part of SARS-CoV-2's genetic material within a surrogate lipid nanoparticle (LNP). The mRNA is a piece of the viruss genetic code that contains the message for building the spike protein. This then stimulates the host's cells to produce spike protein antigens, which, in turn, induces their immune system to produce neutralizing antibodies against it. These anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies persist as part of the hosts immune system for an extended period of time, conferring protection from infection or from severe disease at the least if they are exposed to the virus out in the community. The vaccine requires two shots (a primer and a booster) at least 21 days apart for optimal efficacy. Evonik teams up with BioNTech Given the enormous scale of vaccination efforts all over the world, effective supply chains for the vaccines themselves will be essential in turning the tide of the pandemic. The timely supply of their constituent parts is a crucial dimension of this. Evonik, a specialty chemicals company in Essen, Germany, is investing in the short-term expansion of its specialty lipids production, which are an integral ingredient in mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccines. Commercial lipid quantities are to be produced at Evonik's Hanau and Dossenheim sites in Germany as early as the second half of 2021 as part of a strategic partnership with BioNTech. In providing this essential service, Evonik is making an important contribution to increasing the supply security of COVID-19 vaccine. The pandemic requires decisive action. We are therefore doing everything possible to supply our partners with the critical lipids they need. At the same time, we are expanding our production capacity and competencies along the entire value chain." Christian Kullmann, chairman of Evonik's executive board. As lipids are a fundamental ingredient of mRNA-based vaccines to enable the delivery of mRNA to the human cells, only an increase in lipid supply can boost the volume of vaccines currently being produced. This move thus marks an expansion of the strategic partnership between Evonik and the vaccine manufacturer BioNTech to aid in the global vaccination effort. Evonik has been a contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) leader for advanced drug delivery for many decades, supporting pharmaceutical companies worldwide in the development and production of complex parenteral drug products that require formulation technologies such as lipid nanoparticles. Evonik already supplies one of the most important lipids for mRNA vaccines in pharmaceutical quality to multiple customers: A non-animal derived cholesterol under the brand name PhytoChol. In Hanau and Dossenheim, Evonik will soon produce two other specialty lipids needed to manufacture the COVID-19 vaccine. The company is one of the few integrated development and manufacturing partners for cell and gene therapies and has been actively involved in various mRNA-based vaccine projects for COVID-19. Facing a huge backlash in the country, WhatsApp deferred its new data privacy policy by three months and said that it will bring in its new policy on May 15 and yet there is no clarity from the government on how it will treat the new policy. WhatsApp had earlier said it has duly conveyed to the government of India that it remains committed to the protection of privacy of personal conversations across the country. "Due to misinformation and based on feedback from our users, we have pushed back the timeline of acceptance of WhatsApp's terms of service and privacy policy to the 15th of May. In the meantime, we continue to engage with the government and are grateful for the opportunity to answer questions that we received from them," WhatsApp said. It may be recalled that the messaging app had faced a volley of questions last month from the Centre after it informed users that it was updating its privacy policy under which it could share limited user data with Facebook and its group firms. This led to many users of WhatsApp migrating to other messaging platforms like Telegram and Signal. Now, the Delhi High Court had adjourned till April 19 hearing on petition against WhatsApp's new privacy policy after the Central government sought more time saying that they are examining the issue. The Court noted that the government is examining the issue and granted more time to the Centre to respond on the matter. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Posted Monday, March 1, 2021 12:29 pm At what point in time was the Clark County prosecutor granted the power to determine which state laws to enforce and which state laws to ignore? This is the question that I have been asking myself the past several months dealing with a home that my father has owned since 1980 which has been occupied by "squatters" since May 1, 2020. The house had been legally occupied by a single tenant through a lease with the Vancouver Housing Authority who left the residence on April 30, 2020. Since then, no rent received, neighbors complaining of drug dealing, mounting water and garbage bills that the city will look to the property owner to pay and unknown damage being done to the dwelling. The home already had a family wanting to move in but this could not occur after the illegal invasion. I fully understand one's first reaction might be that Gov. Jay Inslees eviction moratorium protects tenants so there is nothing that you can do. Contrary to this line of thought, although the eviction moratorium does offer protection from eviction, this protection is offered to legal tenants, with a rental contract or lease. Since no attorney at the time would even discuss evicting a tenant I thought I had found an answer to the problem. The answer came in the form of two state statutes (RCW 9A.52.105 and RCW 9A.52.115) which were enacted into law in 2017. Briefly, these two statutes allow for a property owner to petition the county sheriff to remove unauthorized persons from a property who have no legal right to be there. Although a number of county sheriff offices in the state have the necessary forms to request such actions to remove unauthorized persons to be removed, I found that the Clark County Sheriffs Office did not. After a number of phone calls and emails, I was able to speak to the person who oversaw the civil enforcement division. It was explained to me that the Clark County Sheriffs Office did not offer its services to enforce actions under the statutes in question. When I asked who was responsible for advising the sheriffs office not to take any action, I was informed it was the Clark County Prosecutors Office. With this knowledge, I sent an email to the prosecutors office inquiring into why the laws were not being enforced. The result was silence. If anyone can answer this question I would greatly appreciate it. As for the prosecutors office, can you hear me now? At the heart of Azure is a set of foundational services. Theyre the technologies Microsoft uses to build its platform, giving it the tools to deliver reliable, scalable applications, and theyre the first to be deployed in any new Azure data center or region. Many of them never get to leave the background, but those that do are powerful, cloud-native, distributed-computing tools that can help you build and run massive applications that can run at global scale across regions, scaling to millions of users and petabytes of data. One of these key services is Azure Cosmos DB, what Microsoft calls its planet-scale database. Built to support multiple database APIs and more practical consistency models than eventual or strong approaches, its a powerful tool that can work as a NoSQL document database, a SQL relational store, or a graph database. Recent changes have made it more affordable, too, offering a free tier for relatively simple applications with low demand, and a serverless option that lets you pay for resources as you use them. Although the free option limits your geographic reach, theres no difference in capabilities between the different Cosmos DB options, allowing you to move from tier to tier as your data and scaling needs change. Cosmos DB adds MongoDB 4.0 APIs for multidocument transactions Microsoft continues to evolve Cosmos DB to support other aspects of its Azure platform, as well as new releases of the various APIs used to access the core service. At the March 2021 Ignite, its announcing a series of major upgrades to Cosmos DB, improving support for its Mongo DB APIs. At the same time, its using Cosmos DBs internal change feed to introduce tools for real-time analytics with Azure Synapse, adding integrated continuous backups and tightening security with role-based access controls. MongoDB remains a popular NoSQL document database, and Cosmos DB offers a compatible set of APIs that track MongoDBs development. Currently it supports MongoDB 3.2 and 3.6, allowing you to quickly port existing applications from on-premises or self-hosted MongoDB instances to Cosmos DB. Data can be imported into Cosmos DB, and applications can use Cosmos DB endpoints without significant changes. Cosmos DB is only replicating the MongoDB wire protocol, so you will need to recreate any internal procedures as the Cosmos DB engine doesnt host any MongoDB instances. MongoDB updated its API to Version 4.0 in 2018, adding support for multidocument transactions. Microsoft has now updated Cosmos DB to work with the 4.0 API, adding the same multidocument features. Earlier versions of the API focused on working with a single JSON document at a time, with each operation a single atomic transaction. That approach is fine for simple applications, but in practice, larger-scale applications need to update or create multiple documents at the same time, much like a relational database working across multiple tables. NoSQL databases are fast, and using JSON documents to, say, store product or customer data or host a shopping cart can speed up e-commerce applications. Any user transactions will need to span many documents, updating customer records, stock levels, and more. You could write code to wrap multiple operations, but that adds a bottleneck to your application, waiting for each transaction to complete before moving on. Theres an additional issue if youre using Cosmos DB and taking this route to data operations, as each transaction will consume resource units, adding costs in pay-as-you-go instances or reducing your pool of available request units for prepaid instances. By supporting MongoDBs 4.0 API, Cosmos DB developers can now deliver those writes and updates in a single operation, simplifying the code you need to write without changing the underlying structure of your database. As most Cosmos DB developers keep common documents in a single shard, theres little or no impact from working with multiple documents in a single transaction. You do need to be careful when working across shards, but thats no different from any cross-shard operation where consistency can be an issue. Good Cosmos DB design practices will keep any risk to a minimum and should help deliver reliable and fast multidocument operations. Itll be interesting to see how Microsoft evolves its Cosmos DB MongoDB APIs in the future, as the 4.2 release added support for cross-shard distributed transactions, which should enable support for multidocument transactions in very large databases. Adding Cosmos DB indexes to Azure Synapse Modern databases, Cosmos DB included, are dependent on their internal logs. These provide the tools for replaying transactions or recreating a database in the event of errors. Cosmos DBs internal change feed is more than a tool for managing database history, its key to supporting the many different consistency models that the database uses, giving each shard and each instance a common, time-stamped history of what has happened where and when. The change feed is at the heart of two new major features in Cosmos DB, powering both Synapse Link and its Continuous Backup. With Azures increasing focus on analytics through its Synapse platform, adding support for Cosmos DB is a logical move. Microsoft has been working to make Synapse a way of delivering data lakescale analytics without needing complex ETL pipelines that slow down imports. Instead, by providing links directly into data stores, it can help provide real-time analytics that can be displayed on Power BI dashboards. (Large Cosmos installations may need to take advantage of the Power BIs new Premium G2 instances to process Azure Synapse data.) Although Cosmos DB uses APIs to provide different personalities to different endpoints, it keeps the same internal document database model. This approach allows Azure Synapse to access Cosmos DBs change feed to generate its own internal index. Keeping an index in Synapse speeds up queries, ensuring that your analytics get access to the latest data without requiring expensive and slow replication from Cosmos DB into a Synapse data lake. Using the change feed to create the index keeps the impact on Cosmos DB to a minimum, working in the background to export the feed and maintain it in columnar form in Synapse. Using Synapse in this way logically separates your analytical and operational stores. Developers can continue to work with Cosmos DB APIs as they always have, while business analysts and data scientists can use tools such as Synapse Studio and Azure Data Explorer to build and test analytical queries before exporting them to visualization tools. Theres no need for anyone to give up their tools or learn new ways of working. Using the change feed for continuous backup Cosmos DBs change feed is key to another new feature: continuous backup and point-in-time restore. With a log of every change to your database, you now have a way to recreate the database in the event of failure, restoring to a specific state based on time if youve identified a specific transaction as the cause of a failure or if it contains malicious data. Other new security features, including Azure Active Directorybased role-based access, should reduce unauthorized access to data. At the same time, Microsoft is supporting Cosmos DB in its Azure Purview data control tools. Microsoft continues to add new features to Cosmos DB, underpinning its importance to Azure. Tracking MongoDB API features ensures applications can move from on-premises to the cloud easily, scaling as needed. Support for links to Azure Synapse breaks down the barriers between operational and analytical data, ensuring that both Cosmos DBs developer and data science audiences get the most from their data. Cages vs. containment Regarding Crisis now developing at the border also merits Bidens attention, (A3, Feb. 28): In 2019 candidate Joe Biden said the following: Under Trump there have been horrifying scenes at the border of kids being kept in cages. Yet under Biden, migrant children are being held in the same camp as under Donald Trumps administration. The difference today versus then? Its a Democrat incarcerating them. Edward A. Vesely, Houston Middle East Regarding Bidens strike in Syria draws line with Iran, (A6, Feb. 27): President Biden is dashing the hopes of those who thought he might take a different approach to Middle East wars. Why bomb Syria? No matter the quality of its leadership, it is a sovereign country in which the U.S. is present illegally. It is against international law to enter, occupy and remain in a country uninvited. The bombing killed at least 17 people. The Biden administration claims the bombing is aimed at Iran-backed militia. This does not render it any more legal. It is past time for the U.S. to end the endless wars in the Middle East and North Africa and bring our troops home. Though I still hold out hope this will occur, the initial indications from Biden are that he will continue to back the wishes of the Pentagon and the defense industries rather than the majority of the American people. Shaun Smith, Houston Priorities Regarding Patrick rolls out series of upcoming red meat priorities, (A7, Feb. 25): The problem in Texas is our elected officials spend more time on bedroom bills, bathroom bills, gun-toting bills and suppressing the vote than they spend on our power, water, health care and education. You know, the really important stuff. But, until Texas voters change their priorities to the more important issues well still be subjected to the consequences of these misplaced priorities. Will the latest demonstration of failed leadership make a difference in the next election? Well see. Mike Beck, Houston Texans Regarding Its time to make a deal, (C1, Feb. 28): I have watched with increasing dismay the precipitous decline of the Houston Texans franchise. Among the factors affecting the Texans, one has not been given any serious discussion the fans. I have to wonder how the franchise leadership would be affected by the active threat of an organized fan boycott of the Texans, including a fan refusal to purchase any game or season tickets whatsoever until the franchise changes its leadership in such a manner as to satisfy the concerns of its key team player personnel. I think this is an issue which merits serious consideration and, if necessary, action. Brian L. Hope, College Station SARAJEVO (Reuters) - Former wartime enemy Serbia donated 5,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccine to the Bosniak-Croat region of neighbouring Bosnia on Tuesday, allowing it to launched its inoculation campaign. The Bosniak-Croat Federation, one of Bosnia's two autonomous entities alongside the Serb Republic, has ordered 1.2 million doses under the global COVAX vaccine-sharing scheme, and nearly 900,000 from the European Union, but has not received any yet. At Sarajevo airport, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic handed the vaccines to members of Bosnia's tripartite presidency, Sefik Dzaferovic, Zeljko Komsic and Milorad Dodik, and vowed to send another 5,000 doses in the coming days. "I am happy that we can save ... lives with vaccines, it is important and great thing," Vucic told reporters. "Serbia is acting as a friend and a neighbour." In 1992-95, Serbia under then-strongman President Slobodan Milosevic backed nationalist Bosnian Serbs in a devastating war to purge Bosnia of its Muslims and Croats and carve out a Greater Serb homeland. Around 100,000 people were killed. The 1995 Dayton peace accord created a federal Bosnia divided into two autonomous entities along largely ethnic lines. Serbia is now at peace with former 1990s foes, including fellow former Yugoslav republic and European Union member state Croatia, and is a candidate to join the EU. Bosnia is the third ex-Yugoslav republic to receive vaccines from Serbia, after North Macedonia and Montenegro. "When global multilateral mechanisms ... have failed, President Vucic sent (us) an offer (for vaccines) and we have accepted it," Dzaferovic said. Bosnia's Serb republic, which maintains close ties with Serbia, last month started inoculations with Russia's Sputnik V vaccine. Belgrade also allocated 5,000 vaccine doses to administer to Serb Republic medical staff. Around 1 million people in Serbia have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. In the Western Balkans, inoculations on a much smaller scale are under way in Montenegro, North Macedonia and Albania, while Kosovo and the Bosniak-Croat region have yet to launch their campaigns. So far, Bosnia has recorded 130,979 cases of the new coronavirus and 5,071 deaths. (Reporting by Aleksandar Vasovic; Editing by Mark Heinrich) The Victorian Liberals have lost their bid to fight an Andrews government decision that has stripped local councils of their power to make planning decisions on the construction of thousands of new social housing units. The oppositions motion to revoke the changes failed in the upper house on Wednesday morning by 25 votes to 12. The state government late last year announced it would assess and approve all 12,000 homes it plans to build over the next four years under its $5.3 billion social housing blitz, drawing the ire of some of Melbournes most affluent councils. Opposition planning spokesman Tim Smith said the government was running tawdry old-fashioned class warfare. Credit:Paul Jeffers Opposition planning spokesman Tim Smith, who is also the member for Kew, said on Wednesday morning normal planning processes must apply to the construction of homes, regardless of whether they were part of a social housing blitz or private development. 02 March 2021 Type Newsletter Information and updates from the Grass10 team Download Publication (PDF) The key messages in this weeks newsletter are: PastureBase data for the week & Elodie Ruelles MoSt Grass Growth Prediction Model. A return to dry and settled conditions at last! Grazing and Fertiliser advice as we move into early March. Begin walking your farm weekly from this week and record covers on PastureBase Ireland to monitor Average Farm Cover and % grazed. An update from William Burchill on the Teagasc/Dairygold Joint Programme on the benefits of using LESS technology. Grazing Management Tips on Irish Sheep farms as lambing begins from Philip Creighton in Teagasc Athenry, Co. Galway. Spring Grazing Update from Grassland Farmer of the Year, Dairy category and overall winner Caroline Walsh. After a wet February, many farmers around the country are behind target on their Spring grazing plans. Not to worry! Join the Grass10 & PastureBase Ireland team on their monthly webinar on Wednesday, 3rd March at 7pm, as we discuss what changes farmers need to make so as to plan out grazing throughout March. Hear from special guests heavy soils dairy farmer Sean Barry from Pallasgreen, Co. Limerick & beef farmer JP Hammersley from Lattin Co. Tipperary as they discuss how they will manage grass on their farms throughout Spring using the tools on PastureBase Ireland. On the night we will talk through JP's Spring Rotation Planner & Sean Barrys grass budget and the importance of updating these planner through weekly grass walks as we move through the Spring. More information on www.teagasc.ie/grass10 The New Orleans City Council is considering an ordinance that would bump the city's curfew up by a year, applying it to anyone under 17 years old. The measure, requested by the New Orleans Police Department, was advanced by the council's Criminal Justice Committee with little discussion on Monday. The full council will have to decide whether to agree to the change. The current city curfew prohibits anyone 16 or younger from being out in public after 8 p.m. from Sunday through Thursday or 11 p.m. on Friday and Saturday. During the summer, the weekday curfew is pushed back to 9 p.m., but an 8 p.m. curfew applies at all times in the French Quarter. While the measure to raise the age to 17 received unanimous support by the committee Monday, the Louisiana Center for Children's Rights, which represents youths charged with crimes and advocates for juvenile justice policies, blasted it as potentially leading to harassment of teenagers by police. +2 New Orleans launches in-home supervision program for kids accused of crimes Since a troubled electronic ankle bracelet program ended two years ago, Orleans Parish Juvenile Court judges have lacked options for keeping w New Orleans Police Superintendent Shaun Ferguson said the aim of the measure was not "an attempt by our department to arrest juveniles out after hours, it is actually the opposite. This is about ensuring their safety, ensuring they are placed in a safe environment after hours." Ferguson said the intent of increasing the curfew age is intended to bring city rules in alignment with a state law passed in 2016 that was intended to ensure anyone under 18 years old was not treated as an adult by the criminal justice system. Before the "Raise the Age" law was passed, 17-year-olds were not considered juveniles by the court system. Top stories in New Orleans in your inbox Twice daily we'll send you the day's biggest headlines. Sign up today. e-mail address * Sign Up The state law does not address curfews. "This is so we can treat our children as just that, as children," Ferguson said. Curfew in New Orleans will still be enforced, NOPD says, even as school is much different A strange school year awaits New Orleans children, with many set to spend at least some of the time taking virtual classes from home because The city's Curfew Center is currently closed because of the coronavirus, so those found in violation are now just brought home, Ferguson said. Before the pandemic, police would only bring violators to the center after a third offense, a policy that Ferguson said was an attempt to the connect the children and their families with resources. Ferguson also noted that officers had recently arrested two 17-year-olds who were out at 2 a.m. carrying stolen firearms, one of whom was the victim of a shooting at a later date. But Rachel Gassert, policy director with the Center for Children's Rights, said the ordinance would exacerbate an already bad policy. "The citys curfew policy is already a failure because it does not reduce juvenile crime nor the possibility that children will be victims of crime," Gassert said in an emailed statement. "All it does is make it easier for the police to stop young people, almost certainly young Black people, without cause. At best, that further erodes the relationship between Black communities and the police; at worst, it could lead to yet another avoidable death of a Black person at the hands of law enforcement." This is a nationwide effort to combat the malicious spread of disinfo by foreign governments intended to influence our electorate. @NASSorg & Secretaries of State across the nation will be sharing voter-empowering tools to make sure every persons vote counts. #TrustedInfo2020 https://t.co/NxNSiOSRrZ pic.twitter.com/FKuXkbXSMB Denise Merrill (@SOTSMerrill) December 12, 2019 A4: My team & I are always promoting creative graphics to help simplify the issue of misinformation online. So far, this one from @DHSgov is my favorite (share yours!) #TrustedInfo2020 https://t.co/iDviKwdf3M pic.twitter.com/5VHfaTbYFT Denise Merrill (@SOTSMerrill) December 12, 2019 Theres no question the U.S. election system is vulnerable. In fact, its even more vulnerable than originally reported following the 2016 election. Government executives at all levels know, and theyre working on the problem , focusing on cybersecurity, inter-agency communication, paper trails and audits.And the National Association of Secretaries of State (NASS) is working another angle: In mid-November, it launched #TrustedInfo2020, an education campaign that aims to fight election misinformation by encouraging citizens to look to their state and local election officials as the trusted sources for election information, according to the press release.The nation's secretaries of state, 40 of whom serve as their states chief election official, will guide voters directly to election officials websites and verified social media pages to ensure they get accurate election information.In a NASS-led Twitter chat held Dec. 12, secretaries of state from California to West Virginia along with various groups and associations discussed the initiative and how likely it is to make an impact.Connecticut Secretary of State Denise Merrill answered the first question why the #TrustedInfo2020 campaign is important by noting our democracy is only as strong as the information our voters have. Its crucial that voters know how to seek out and identify quality sources for election news & information, she said.In Iowa, Secretary of State Paul Pate pointed out that foreign adversaries and bad actors want to sow discord and create doubt in our elections. We can overcome that by working together in a bipartisan way to combat misinformation/disinformation, he said. Its vital that voters have reliable sources for election info.Merrill also noted the teamwork involved in this endeavor.In Connecticut, not only is Merrill talking about #TrustedInfo2020 everywhere she goes, but she also has launched a #DigitalCitizenship education campaign in the state.In Pennsylvania, the Department of State will provide to its network a promotional toolkit aimed at educating Pennsylvanians on the 2020 voting process. This campaign also helps the department show how we are defending the integrity and security of our elections with layers of protection such as: ongoing training, enhanced post-election audits, partnerships with security experts, and more.The more includes all Pennsylvania counties deploying new voting systems with voter-verified paper records no later than the 2020 primary election.And in California, the office of Secretary of State Alex Padilla has created http://HowToVoteForPresident.sos.ca.gov , a one stop website with instructions on voting for president in California on March 3, 2020, the office said during the chat. The rules for a presidential primary are different than most elections, so its critical that CA voters get #TrustedInfo2020 from our office.California also is going beyond social media; Padillas office will send #TrustedInfo2020 directly to California voters in the coming year. We will email voters information and deadlines, so they have election tools right in their inbox.In Washington, Secretary of State Kim Wyman said her office is incorporating #TrustedInfo2020 into 2020 election information by adding it to their outreach efforts. This includes adding the hashtag on our election related social media posts, graphics, and other outreach materials we provide for voters and candidates, she said.Several secretaries of state are also incorporating #TrustedInfo2020 on social media posts, voter guides and websites, and Iowas Pate said his office is taking the message straight to the voters through social and traditional media. Were encouraging Iowans to rely on election officials for their information, and not fall for everything they read on the internet.The Orange County, Fla., Supervisor of Elections Office echoed that sentiment: When in doubt, check with us, they said during the chat. If it is not official communication from our office, don't automatically assume it's right.The secretaries of state are getting creative too.The office of West Virginia Secretary of State Mac Warner is working to create fun #TrustedInfo2020 selfie signs for county clerks, and will use the signs to introduce the clerks on social media as trusted sources for election information in their regions.Wymans office in Washington is planning a comprehensive campaign that includes videos. We want #TrustedInfo2020 to be synonymous with @secstatewa here in Washington.Shareable graphics are part of the mix as well.Even the Council of State Archivists (CoSA) will be asking state archives to share images of historical voting records and of photos relating to voting and #elections and promoting wider distribution of its, "When Information is Misinformation" infographic, which is a collaborative effort among CoSA, NASS and the Chief Officers of State Library Agencies.Perhaps the biggest question is whether this campaign will have an impact, and the primary answers from chat participants who chimed in were, Yes! Absolutely. We think so! While the goal is well-intentioned and its execution seemingly solid, however, only time will tell how well the masses plug in to election information coming from official sources.The #TrustedInfo2020 education campaign runs from Nov. 12, 2019 through Dec. 31, 2020. When most of us saw what was happening in the storming of the Capitol in Washington back on January 6, we were stunned. A bunch of cranks, who were usually noisy but relatively harmless, launched an attack on the very democracy they pretend to love. Well, we saw something similar happen in our capital city at the weekend with the riot on Grafton Street. Obviously, the Irish unrest was on a much smaller scale than the American altercations but theyre seeds from the same pod. The violence in the US was ostensibly meant to be about Trump and the illusion that he had lost the election. But it was about more than that because the disgraceful scenes were perpetrated by people who think Covid is a hoax, who think face masks are mere muzzles to keep us all in our place and it was, with grim inevitability, seen by those responsible as a way of protesting against the apparently imminent installation of a New World Order. I cant help but feel that many of the violent protesters in Dublin on Saturday must have watched the events unfold in Washington with a giddy thrill of admiration and, perhaps, envy. Most of the Washington groups had very different causes for their grievances, but all of them were on the wacky fringes of the conspiracy community, a community which has been able to grow and strengthen in the last few years. There was a time when the anti-vaxxers, the conspiracy theorists and the cranks could be laughed at by the rest of us. They operated in a tiny, restricted little bubble of their own making and seemed happy to scurry around the margins of public life. In their own feeble echo chamber, anyone who disagrees with them is either brainwashed or part of the hated lame stream media. They were a joke then and theyre a joke now but that joke aint so funny anymore. Theres always a rather delicate tightrope to be walked when commenting on fringe groups who use violence to gain attention for their cause. On the one hand, nobody wants to give these people the unearned oxygen of free publicity. On the other, however, is the growing realisation that you ignore them at your peril. Lets put it this way, if more of those Capitol rioters had been properly challenged on their views then theres a good chance that the carnage of January 6 wouldnt have happened to quite the extent it did. Like anyone who believes in civil liberties and is constantly on the lookout for government overreach and when you give governments, any government, too much power they will always abuse it Im reluctant to condemn any peaceful protest. Freedom of expression and freedom of assembly are the cornerstones of any healthy democracy thats why both of those rights are usually the first to be targeted by any autocratic regime. But what we saw the other day wasnt a peaceful protest. It was a planned and concerted attack on the institutions of the State, launched by people who seem to think that democracy simply doesnt apply to them. And as history has taught us all too well, the people who believe that democracy doesnt apply to them are the people we all need to be scared of. Read More Of course, we all have issues with the Governments frequently hapless handling of the pandemic. The mixed messages, the sight of ministers openly contradicting each other. The endless blather. Also, the frustration of this, the third lockdown, has been particularly keenly felt. The ongoing confusion about the vaccine roll-out has created a sort of vaccine-vacuum, which means that far too many people still dont know when theyre going to get that precious jab. And it has to be said, there will be growing unrest in the coming weeks if the people arent offered more clarity. But the mob that gathered at the top of Grafton Street dont care about any of that they see this as their moment to finally emerge into the mainstream and exploit the justifiable fears of ordinary people. And as we know, frightened people make bad choices. But what were really witnessing now is the globalisation of paranoia. The similarities between our domestic rioters, who were happy to launch fireworks into a gardas face and their anti-lockdown peers in the US, the UK and even France, are striking they all remain convinced that the pandemic is part of some nefarious plot. And, I think we can all admit, some of these apparent plots are so far off the charts theyd be funny if they werent so depressing. The fact that some of the Irish protesters are now apparently convinced that senior members of RTE are kidnapping children and using their adrenochrome to keep them looking young and healthy is a true classic of its kind. But it can also be traced back to some of the wild allegations about Hillary Clinton and her apparent band of marauding, high-ranking Beltway paedophiles who were also in the habit of kidnapping children for their own evil ends. So, if you wanted to take a wry look at some of the wilder Irish claims, you could also point out that theyre not even original theyre just mad, unverifiable theories that are cut and pasted from one country to the next, with the details slightly amended to suit each individual region. Leo Varadkar simply dismissed these ideas as bonkers, and few would disagree with him. But those who do disagree will never be convinced of the error of their ways. Thats because this proto-political movement has now taken on almost Messianic zeal; this is as close to a religion as many of them are going to get. No true democrat wants to live in a society where marches and protests, whatever the cause, are banned. Also, these people desperately want to be made martyrs for their cause. And you should never make a martyr out of a moron. But I also dont want to live in a society where a thug can shoot a cop in the face with a large firework and say that hes a patriot (like their US counterparts, the Irish rioters like to play the patriot card whenever possible). It would be better to point out to the anti-lockdown protesters that everyone is anti-lockdown. Were all sick of it, but we dont want to have a fourth, or even a fifth lockdown, and the actions of these self-styled campaigners for freedom make such an awful possibility much more likely. There are rumours that Saturday was just a dress rehearsal for an even bigger gathering on St Patricks Day. Just when we thought we were finally getting a handle on this virus, it looks like this tiny band of unelected weirdoes and thugs want to drag us right back into more restrictions. Well done. You fools. She welcomed her first child, a baby boy named Noah, in January. And Charlotte Dawson tenderly held her son on Monday as she showcased her physique in a candid selfie and declared: 'I'm loving my tiger stripes'. The former Ex On The Beach star, 28, rocked black underwear as she detailed her new life as a mother and marked her son's five week birthday on Tuesday. Mom life: Charlotte Dawson tenderly held her son on Monday as she showcased her physique in a candid selfie while marking her son's five week birthday on Tuesday She swept her chestnut tresses up in a relaxed ponytail and sported minimal makeup while Noah rested peacefully in a blue babygro. Charlotte wrote in the accompanying caption: 'Mum lyf deffo not Milf lyf. 'Even tho I cant be arsed washing my hair doing my makeup be productive Im leaking from my udders I live in me Bridget knickers cba to start exercising I love being your mummy so much... 'You make my life brighter. Im loving my tiger stripes because they gave me you... Your my bestest my shadow my cherub stuck to my udders ...' 'I love being your mummy so much': The former Ex On The Beach star, 28, rocked black underwear as she detailed her new life as a mother Adorable: Charlotte also uploaded a picture of her sweet tiny tot resting peacefully underneath a quilted blanket as she penned: 'He's on his growth spurt my little cherub' She added: '5 weeks tomozza & your going through a growth spurt atm I just wanna cuddle you all day long n do nothing else thats what Im doing @noahdawsonsarsfield'. (sic) Charlotte also uploaded a picture of her sweet tiny tot resting peacefully underneath a quilted blanket. She proceeded to capture Noah on a mat wrapped in a grey elephant shawl and white blanket. She captioned the upload on her Instagram Story: 'Bath time with baby boyo,' alongside a blue heart emoji. It comes after Charlotte declared it's 'not normal' to 'snap back' after having a baby and said becoming a mum for the first time has taught her to love her body. Making memories: She proceeded to capture Noah on a mat, wrapped in a grey elephant shawl and a white blanket as they prepared for bath time The reality star vows to inspire other mums to 'embrace every single stretch mark and flabbiness' in the same way she does with her 1.1million Instagram followers. Charlotte insists mums who 'go straight back to the gym and eating healthily' don't accurately portray life with a newborn. In an exclusive interview with MailOnline, Charlotte said: 'I just want to make other mums and other women feel good about themselves. 'We can't be so hard on ourselves. Obviously I don't take myself seriously, as you all know, so I just embrace every single stretch mark, all my flabbiness, you've just got to embrace it, work with it, dance with it, shake it! And have a laugh with it. 'I can't sugarcoat it. Obviously there are days you don't want to get up or do your makeup, hair. 'I see some mums that go straight back to the gym and being healthy. That's just not normal mum life.' Charlotte stars with partner Matthew in new MTV series Celebrity Bumps: Famous and Pregnant, which follows their lives from pregnancy to birth, with the couple even filming Noah's arrival for the show. She explained: 'You definitely see my intimate moments! 'Matthew had a body cam on so we just kind of forgot about it and we had a few complications with the birth, you will find out. 'You see everything, literally! It's such a beautiful moment when it all happened, that pain just goes away.' By Afolabi Sotunde and Seun Sanni GUSAU, Nigeria (Reuters) - Gunmen who kidnapped nearly 300 schoolgirls from a boarding school in northwest Nigeria last week beat them and threatened to shoot them during a forced march into captivity, victims said on Tuesday after they were set free. The pupils from Jangebe, a town in Zamfara state, were seized in a raid just after midnight on Friday. All 279 had now been released by the gunmen, Zamfara Governor Bello Matawalle said. Dozens of girls in Muslim veils sat in a hall in a state government building before being taken for medical checks. A few parents arrived, and one father wept with joy after seeing his daughter. Farida Lawali, 15, told how she and the other girls had been taken to a forest by the kidnappers. "They carried the sick ones that cannot move. We were walking in the stones and thorns," she said, covered in a light blue veil. "They started hitting us with guns so that we could move," she added. "While they were beating them with guns, some of them were crying and moving at the same time." Another of the girls, Umma Abubakar, told Reuters they were forced to walk although many had injuries: "They said they will shoot anybody who did not continue to walk." Relief at their return was tempered by concern over the circumstances of their release. A series of similar school abductions in recent months has led many Nigerians to worry that regional authorities are making the situation worse by letting kidnappers go unpunished or paying them off. Zailani Bappa, a media adviser to the state governor, denied that a ransom had been paid, but said the captors had been offered amnesty, as well as assistance to resettle at a site with newly built schools, a hospital and other facilities. "The process means amnesty for those who repent and will be assisted to resettle," he said. "Those who surrender their arms will be assisted to start a new life. Since they are herders, they will be supported with a few cows each." Story continues But the state's apparent conciliatory approach was at odds with the central government. President Muhammadu Buhari called for the captors to be brought to justice and said that if ransoms were being paid, this would make future attacks more likely. His national security adviser, Babagana Monguno, said the president had ordered a massive military deployment to Zamfara, banned mining and imposed a no-fly zone in the state. The central government "will not allow this country to drift into state failure," Monguno said. "We are not going to be blackmailed." But the military is already stretched, and it was difficult to assess whether the flight and mining bans would have much impact in a state with no major airport, and where many mines already operate illegally. CRIMINAL GANGS Boarding schools in northern Nigeria have become targets for mass kidnappings for ransom by armed criminal gangs. The trend was started by the jihadist group Boko Haram, which kidnapped 270 schoolgirls from the town of Chibok in 2014, around 100 of whom have never been found. But recent months have seen a sudden escalation of similar attacks, including the abduction of 344 boys in December. Friday's raid on the Government Girls Science Secondary School was the second school abduction in little over a week. Officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, have told Reuters that the authorities have made payoffs in the past in exchange for child hostages, creating an incentive for abductions. Several of those officials declined to comment on Tuesday on whether they believed a ransom had been paid in the latest incident. Lawal Abdullahi, whose seven daughters were among those kidnapped and freed, said the incident would not deter him from schooling his children. "It's a ploy to deny our girls ... from getting the Western education in which we are far behind," he told Reuters. "We should not succumb to blackmail. My advice to government is that they should take immediate precautions to stop further abductions." (Reporting by Afolabi Sotunde in Gusaur and Alexis Akwagyiram in Lagos; Additional reporting by Ardo Hazzad in Bauchi, Seun Sanni in Gusau, Hamza Ibrahim in Kano, Felix Onuah in Abuja and Maiduguri Newsroom; Writing by Alexis Akwagyiram, Raju Gopalakrishnan, Giles Elgood and Peter Graff; Editing by Philippa Fletcher and John Stonestreet) Armenia ex-president Kocharyan gives interview to Russia newspaper Armenia acting deputy PM on unblocking of roads with Azerbaijan: There will be no troops standing there Nikkei: Toyota and Honda stop car production in Malaysia Armenia official on deploying international observers at Azerbaijan border: You will hear reaction on this matter soon USAID helps UN World Food Programme support displaced people in Armenia Armenia official: Work of trilateral working group on roads unblocking has stopped after recent incidents Russias Putin to Armenias Pashinyan: Relations between our countries are developing very successfully Armenia health minister: Improper storage of fallen soldiers bodies, remains was my omission 108 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia Armenia President to children: I believe that you will make our country much better Armenia CEC publicizes complete lists of political forces registered to run in snap parliamentary elections World oil prices going up Queen Elizabeth turns down PM's offer to name new royal yacht after Prince Philip Armenia parliament discusses 2020 state budget report Newspaper: Armenia acting FM resigns after 3rd attempt Newspaper: Yerevan mayor to leave office Israel, UAE sign tax treaty Newspaper: Even vagrants are persuaded, taken to Armenia acting PM Pashinyans rally in Vanadzor Swedish defense minister demands explanation from Denmark over spy scandal Acting Deputy PM: Armenia has not discussed and will not discuss issues within logic of "corridor" Armenia Central Electoral Commission determines numbers of political parties for elections Armenia 2nd President visits Cathedral of the Holy Mother of God in Gyumri (PHOTOS) Opposition Armenia bloc representative: We're running in elections to win Azerbaijan MFA comments on calls for release of Armenian POWs with infinite hypocrisy EC: Vaccinated citizens should be exempted from tests, quarantine when traveling within EU Armenia Ombudsman discusses rights of 6 captured Armenian servicemen with ICRC Delegation head EU ready to use all the tools at its disposal to change Turkey's behavior Yerevan court obliges to abolish violation of rights of Armenia Supreme Judicial Council ex-chairman Greek and Turkish leaders to meet in June on sidelines of NATO summit Armenia Central Electoral Commission to set up 2,008 polling stations for snap parliamentary elections Iranian companies to participate in reconstructing territories under Azerbaijan's control Opposition Armenia bloc's representative on acting PM's invitation to debate with 1st and 2nd Presidents Armenia acting FM dismissed upon presidential decree Body of brother of Armenian criminal authority "Don Pipo" found under bridge 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 The UKs decision to delay second doses of Covid vaccines in an effort to jab more older people has been credited with saving a large number of lives, after data suggested hospital admissions are being greatly reduced by the rollout. The exciting and hugely reassuring results from a Public Health England (PHE) study have indicated that the Pfizer and Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccines are highly effective in reducing infections. Protection against developing symptomatic Covid-19 in the over-70s ranged between 57% and 61% for one dose of Pfizer and between 60% and 73% for the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine, the study found. Over-80s who had been vaccinated with one dose of either jab had more than 80% protection against hospital admission, while the Pfizer jab was 85% effective at preventing death from Covid-19. More data is being analysed on how the Oxford jab prevents death, while figures for the over-70s are expected shortly. Professor Anthony Harnden, deputy chair of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), said the bold decision to delay the second dose so more older people could be protected by a single dose more quickly had saved lives. He said: These real world results from Public Health England demonstrate a very good effect from both vaccines after the first dose. The Covid vaccination strategy was designed to prevent as many deaths as quickly as possible. The bold decision to vaccinate more older people by delaying the second dose has undoubtedly saved a large number of lives. UK Health Secretary Matt Hancock hailed the exciting new data as extremely good news. He said the results may go some way to explaining why the number of Covid admissions to intensive care units among people aged over 80 in the UK have dropped to single figures in recent weeks. Mr Hancock is due to address MPs on the latest coronavirus developments in the Commons on Tuesday, a date which marks 12 weeks since the UK vaccine rollout began. Downing Street has committed to ensuring people receive their second jab within 12 weeks, a policy recommended by the JCVI. Prof Van-Tam said the data gives us those first glimpses of how, if we are patient, and we give this vaccine programme time to have its full effect, it is going to hopefully take us into a very different world in the next few months. Professor Paul Hunter, of the University of East Anglia, described the PHE study results as hugely reassuring and echoed praise for the decision to delay second doses. He said: This study gives very clear evidence that the UK strategy of delaying the second dose to allow more people to be protected by a first dose was the right approach to reduce the pressure on the NHS and reduce the number of deaths in this (older) age group. Professor Azra Ghani, chair in infectious disease epidemiology at Imperial College London, said those who have been jabbed should feel reassured that they will be highly protected with one dose, but will also further benefit from their second dose regardless of which vaccine they received. Government data up to February 28 shows that of the 21,091,267 jabs given in the UK so far, 20,275,451 were first doses a rise of 185,900 on the previous day. A further 104 people died within 28 days of testing positive for Covid-19 as of Monday the lowest daily figure since October 26 while there were another 5,455 lab-confirmed cases in the UK. Concerns remain around the worrying Manaus variant, but the Government has defended its border arrangements, with Mr Hancock saying home quarantine measures were already in place and travel restrictions on Brazil had been imposed before the hotel policy was implemented in mid-February. PHE has identified six UK cases of the P1 variant first detected in the Brazilian city of Manaus three in England and three in Scotland. Dr Susan Hopkins, of PHE, said they were tracking very closely the new variant and are in the process of trying to track down the one person who is yet to be identified who is believed to have taken a test on February 12 or 13. In Scotland, new pop-up blood donation centres are being launched to help a study into why some people become very ill with Covid-19 while others do not. Researchers for the GenOMICC Covid-19 study said they need to recruit more people from all backgrounds across Scotland, and especially from the countrys South Asian and Pakistani communities. Pop-up blood donation centres are now being set up in Glasgow and Edinburgh, with support from Muslim leaders, to make it easier for people to give blood samples to help the research. In Northern Ireland, ministers have asked civil servants to finalise details of Northern Irelands lockdown exit strategy, and it is thought to be likely the plan will be made public on Tuesday. In Wales, First Minister Mark Drakeford has said the the improving public health situation has opened up the possibility of restoring other freedoms at next weeks review of restrictions to go alongside the return to schools for all primary pupils. The Daily Beast Photo Illustration by The Daily Beast/GettyMike Lindell, the MyPillow CEO and Trumpist conspiracy-peddler, flew his private jet to the Republican Governors Association meeting the other day.The guvs promptly threw him out. But the incident got Molly Jong-Fast thinking: Does the MyPillow CEO think hes already a governor or something?Subscribe to The New Abnormal on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Amazon Music, or Overcast. To listen to our weekly members-only bonus episodes, join Beast Inside here. Already a member? You can listen here and sign up for new episode email alerts here.Spoiler: Making MyPillows does not make you my governor. Now, chances that Mike Lindell could actually become governor of a small Republican state, 80 percent, she quips on the latest episode of The New Abnormal. Like, its not even that hard for someone that famous and insane in the Republican party to become a governor.Lindell claims he wouldnt run to be a dogcatcher right now, because he doesnt trust the voting machines. Plus, hes from the blue state of Minnesota. So maybe the risk of a Governor Pillow isnt quite so high. But L.A. Times columnist Virginia Heffernan would like to quickly add something about Mike Lindell being a cosplay governor.I think we need to understand that being in politics leads to governing and governing is boring. It is not a PR operation, she says. And I feel like we have made these jobs celebrity roles. Public service should not beis notbeing on a reality show.Like, I feel like we need to really dial down the razzle-dazzle, really play up the drudgery, Heffernan continues. I just don't know why every single industrialist and every single lady with abs or gorgeous arms would want to be, of all things, a governor.Biden, Heffernan opines, is doing a pretty good job at the drudgerydollars going out, jabs going out, all leading to Trump signs going down. Sure, the Donald has his cultists, like Lindell. But, I don't think people can hold onto this much insanity for this long, especially when it's a tiny minority of people who believe it, Heffernan adds. Democrats need to know how to win.To which Jong-Fast replies, oh-so-gently: Are you freakin kidding me? With all of these Republican attempts to retcon the Capitol riots? To chop away at the right to vote? To instantiate their ability to overturn elections? All while Team Biden snoozes it away? The Democrats are bringing an ice cream sundae to a knife fight, Jong-Fast says.Plus! Politicos Tara Palmeri talks about her search to find Liz Cheney supporters in Wyoming. And Battle for the Soul author Edward-Isaac Dovere gives us a peek into how Biden sees the political landscape. The presidency that he has in front of him now, he knows, is so different from what he ever expected to have, Dovere says, And part of that is rethinking how he incorporates the progressivism within the party that took root and that was so much part of this campaign. And its just, its a really complicated evolution for him. Its not the presidency he thought itd be running in 2019 when he got into this race.Read more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more. ben porter News of Gov. Greg Abbott's decision to completely reopen Texas and end the statewide mask mandate left residents considering what the move would mean for essential trips to places like H-E-B. Dya Campos, H-E-B's director of public affairs, said mask-wearing will still be supported at the stores. Well-known brand names such as UNIQLO have increased their presence in Vietnam in recent years. Photo: Le Toan While most fashion brands in the world are shrinking as fashion followers have to stay away from shopping malls and stores during social restrictions caused by COVID-19, Fast Retailing Group, which owns UNIQLO, has already opened seven stores in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City since its first appearance at the end of 2019. Osamu Ikezoe, general director of UNIQLO Vietnam said, The opening of our chains stores in Vietnam is part of UNIQLOs business expansion plan in Southeast Asia, based on market survey results, the economic growth rate, population size, and proportion of young people. We also have been preparing well to ensure that our new business in Vietnam runs as smooth as any other of our locations. Up to now, the production proportion of each UNIQLO factory around the world has remained secret, but according to Ikezoe, the companys production is mainly concentrated in China, with only a small part being located in Vietnam, India, and some other countries. The general director of UNIQLO Vietnam also did not disclose the total investment in the Vietnamese market. Changes in consumer preferences, such as from durable attire to fashionable pieces of self-expression, have pushed the fashion market in Vietnam to absorb many imported products. Foreign brands are almost not in direct competition as their directions are mostly different, focusing on diverse target groups. However, Zara and H&M the two brands with the earliest and most successful presence in the Vietnamese market are still seen in some ways as rivals of UNIQLO. Spanish fashion brand Zara entered Vietnam in 2016 but has so far only sold products through its two stores in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. Swedens H&M, which entered the Vietnamese market in 2017, has distributed products through eight stores in all major cities. Only fashion brands with great financial potential can expand their business in Vietnam. At present, UNIQLO has a wide network of partners in Vietnam implementing its orders in the form of outsourcing. This has also helped UNIQLO to gain advantages not only over other global competitors but also Vietnamese fashion brands. In particular, the rapid and early production in the domestic market of Vietnam allows the company to reduce costs and time, and bring in greater profits. However, UNIQLOs performance in Vietnam is not solely meant to provide goods to the local market but also fuel the brands expansion plans in other markets. At the beginning of the companys presence in Vietnam, Tadashi Yanai, founder and president of Fast Retailing, told media that UNIQLO exports $3 billion worth of products from Vietnam annually. The quality of Vietnamese-made products is high, so they are accepted worldwide. Vietnam will have an increasing presence in the global market, Yanai added. Thus, the goal of expanding the UNIQLO brand in Vietnam is not only making an important contribution to the sales of Fast Retailing in East and Southeast Asia but also a step to realise the companys ambition to catapult Fast Retailing towards the number one position in the global clothing industry. Unequal race The pandemic and market domination through foreign brands retail channels, which UNIQLO is deploying the most, are pushing some of the leading Vietnamese brands such as An Phuoc, Viet Tien, Nha Be, and Garment 10 further away, and a series of major brands such as Ninomaxx, N&M, Blue Exchange, Ha Gattini, and others had to narrow their presence and change their business approach. Even Foci, a formerly successful brand with a chain of 60 stores across the country, has disappeared after it entered the market nearly 10 years ago. COVID-19 has been forcing many local exporters to return to the domestic market, and focus on production and sales options through domestic channels to reduce inventory, but competing with imported high-quality products is not easy. Nguyen An, general director of Garmex Saigon, said that the volume of the domestic market only accounts for 10 per cent of the companys production, though it has linked with domestic retailers to sell their goods. Although entering the Vietnamese market and launching a retail system is a difficult endeavour and can take a long time, factors like successful pandemic prevention and a large population still motivated UNIQLO to try conquering the market. However, Pham Xuan Hong, general director of Saigon 3 Garment JSC, described that the situation for local brands is challenging. Increasing the market share from 10 to 30 per cent in the domestic market is very difficult for Vietnamese textile and garment brands, he said. Data from German data analyst and provider Statista shows that the size of the Vietnamese clothing market in 2019 was estimated at $5.6 billion with an expected growth rate of 8.8 per cent per year for the 2019-2023 period. The Vietnam Textile and Apparel Associations (VITAS) assessment of the countrys market potential also estimates the domestic fashion consumption at around $3.5-4 billion. Fashion is inherently more than just a product keeping people covered and warm, and can also serve peoples needs of individuality, self-expression, and even spirituality. VITAS chairman Vu Duc Giang is thus concerned about the market share of domestic brands amid the increasing presence of some of the worlds leading apparel retailers, such as UNIQLO and H&M, even if Vietnam is one of the top textile exporting countries in the world. Reacting to change Giang pointed out that the impact of many free trade agreements that Vietnam has signed in recent years is slowly showing. As import tax has decreased and the retail market opened for foreign investors and businesses, many global fashion brands such as Zara, H&M, Topshop, UNIQLO, and Old Navy have entered direct competition with Vietnamese brands, sometimes generating revenue of hundreds of millions of US dollars per year. Overall, the growth rate of the domestic textile and garment sector, especially that of larger corporations, is very low, sometimes even way below the set targets, Giang said, adding that the pandemic has also made business more difficult. As a result, the revenue of many domestic fashion brands is gradually decreasing, and marketing remains ineffective and cannot keep customers closely attached to the brands. Some companies that have reported better business results are still struggling to find new development directions, especially since their business plans have been constantly delayed by the global health crisis. Giang said the pandemic has changed consumer behaviour, and what they buy and how much they pay for clothing. High-end shirts and suits have seen a lower consumption, with some businesses seeing their order reduce by 80 per cent, if there were any to begin with. Many businesses have had to change their production and business strategies, shifting to medium and low-end products. This transition has cost businesses a lot of money for equipment, technology, and labour re-training. The good news is that domestic textile enterprises, for many years, have continuously invested in and boosted production of new fashion lines to supply the domestic market. Some of them have built their brands with increasingly high product quality, reasonable prices, and a more suitable approach that meets the needs of society, while at the same time developing a nationwide distribution system. But the weakness of Vietnams textile and apparel sector remains the lack of diversification in market segments and pricing. The cycle of launching new collections, fresh looks, running ads, sharing feedback, special discounts, and cooperation with other businesses to reach new heights has become a cumbersome marketing act. For some this means that they have become somewhat passive, with a lack of creativity. Giang believed that this makes local brands lose their identity amid a market with too much competition. The negative effects of the health crisis may last for another year or two, according to Giang. Despite successfully controlling the spread of the pandemic several times now, local purchasing power will most likely stall in 2021, and the market share of domestic brands may continue shrinking, he said. Thus, domestic fashion brands do not only have to compete with other local competitors and constantly reinvent their unique selling points but also have to pay attention to the rapid development of foreign fashion brands like UNIQLO which are taking advantage of the Vietnamese markets potential. As the competition is fiercer than ever, fashion businesses will likely need to implement new strategies and change development directions. By Dong Sun-hwa K-pop act Brave Girls are basking in belated music chart success with their song, "Rollin'," which was released four years ago. The song has dominated the real-time charts of major streaming platforms, including Bugs and Genie, as of Tuesday afternoon. This is the first time the group has accomplished such a feat since its debut in 2011. The EDM track's belated popularity largely stems from a video posted Feb. 24 on the YouTube channel named "VIDITOR." The three-minute clip which features the online users' comments on their "Rollin'" performances went viral, attracting more than 3.8 million views as of Tuesday. "While I was serving my compulsory military service, 'Rollin' was extremely popular among all soldiers," reads a comment on the video. "We watched the performance videos hundreds of times." Another wrote, "I really hoped this song would climb back up the charts it is such a great tune." After its surprisingly sudden popularity, the channel on Feb. 28 uploaded another three-minute video, which has garnered 1.4 million views. Brave Girls member Yujeong says it is unbelievable. "All our members shed tears after hearing the news," she said on a radio program Monday. "We are truly thankful to everyone who helped us top the charts." Brave Girls debuted with the album "The Difference." The group was formed by Brave Brothers, who produced songs for big-name K-pop bands, including BIGBANG, Sistar and Brown Eyed Girls. This occasion is not the first time that a K-pop song has been brought back to the media spotlight, thanks to belated popularity via YouTube; 2PM's "My House" (2015) was among such songs last year. New health certification requirements for food and drink exports to Britain have the potential to seriously disrupt trade across the Irish Sea. The Department of Agriculture, Meat Industry Ireland (MII) and ICOS have all expressed concern that access to the British market, which is worth close to 4.8 billion annually, will be negatively impacted by the new certifications regime. MII admitted that the new certification requirements will represent a massive administrative undertaking for both exporters and the Department of Agriculture and has the potential to cause trade flow disruption if not appropriately resourced and rolled-out, Similar concerns were expressed by the Tanaiste Leo Varadkar, and the Minister of State, Martin Heydon. The Tanaiste told a recent Kerry IFA meeting that there will be a ten-fold increase in the number of health certificates needed for exports to Britain, which he claimed was pretty phenomenal. Expand Close Tanaiste Leo Varadkar Photo: Gareth Chaney/ Collins Photos Dublin / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Tanaiste Leo Varadkar Photo: Gareth Chaney/ Collins Photos Dublin Minister Heydon told the same meeting that between 130 and 140 additional vets could be required to deal with the additional workload. He said the number of extra vets that are needed in the Department is close to the total out turn of UCD for a year. So its not going to be possible to get everyone to do that, Minister Heydon conceded. He explained that a lot of the loads going through customs will require multiple certificates. At the moment such certification is done for exports to countries such as China, Japan and the US, but the challenge for the Department is the volume of exports to Britain. This is on a different level and is a very big operational challenge for us. Part of the challenge is that the UK hasnt told us everything they need yet. We need absolute clarity from the UK, Minister Heydon said. From April 1, all consignments of products of animal origin (POAO) entering Britain must be accompanied by a veterinary certificate or export health certificate (EHC). From July 1, all consignments must enter via border control posts and will be subjected physical checks. The Department of Agriculture estimates that the new certification requirement coming into effect on April 1 could require over 350,000 Export Health Certificates to be issued per annum for Irish food exports (meat, dairy, composite products, etc). MII has also raised concerns that exports transiting through Britain to the continent will require a similar level of certification. Meanwhile, ICOS director, Alo Duffy, called European Commission to step up engagement with the UK on safety, sanitary controls and certification in agri-food trade. Mr Duffy described current certification arrangements as not ambitious enough and actually damaging. However, he said this was largely the result of UK red lines on regulatory co-operation. The EU must seek to engage with the UK, to maximise any and all flexibilities and opportunities that are possible to simplify and streamline procedures for pre-notification and export certification, Mr Duffy said. Additionally, it is also necessary that further clarity is provided in the short term on the exact processes for certification, and assurances provided that the necessary infrastructure and personnel will be able to cope with the volumes. Supermarket giant Woolworths has abandoned a controversial trial of cashless stores following complaints from shoppers who still want to use notes and coins to buy their groceries. The trial, which started in June and spread to 14 metro stores across Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane, was spruiked as a way to make shopping as seamless as possible for busy inner-city customers. Woolworths has ditched a trial of cashless stores following a barrage of complaints from customers. Credit:Dallas Kilponen However, it was met with fierce opposition from some shoppers who said it was wrong for the stores to turn down their notes and coins. I refuse to shop at any of your card-only places, one customer wrote on Woolworths Facebook page. Cash is legal tender and I do not support the cash ban and will take my money elsewhere. At a closed-door meeting of his partys parliamentary caucus last Tuesday, federal Labor leader Anthony Albanese was reportedly asked by a colleague to give his opinion on the ongoing incarceration of WikiLeaks publisher Julian Assange, who is detained in Londons maximum-security Belmarsh Prison. Enough is enough, Albanese is said to have responded. I dont have sympathy for many of his actions, but essentially I cant see what is served by keeping him incarcerated. The comments were immediately leaked to the press and reported by several corporate outlets the next day. Anthony Albanese calls for Assange to be released, read one headline. Another widely syndicated article by the Australian Associated Press, shared by the official WikiLeaks Twitter account, proclaimed: Labor leader wants Julian Assange freed. WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is seen in a prison van traveling to Westminster Magistrates Court in London, Friday, Dec. 20, 2019 (Credit: AP Photo/Frank Augstein) On social media, a number of longstanding supporters of Assange hailed Albaneses purported comments. Thanks for stepping up Anthony, Welcome to the fight, and At last Labor is on board, were common refrains. The tenor of the response was summed up by a Twitter post which declared: The farce of British justice is finally over. After a long decade, the Australian leader of the opposition has stood up for a citizen persecuted for publishing. To be blunt, such comments have more in common with wishful thinking and self-deluding fantasy, than with an objective, political assessment of anything that has actually transpired. What really took place? A handful of little-known Labor Party backbenchers have joined a cross-party Bring Assange Home parliamentary grouping over the past year. Most of them have never uttered Assanges name in public. None have spoken out against Labors central role in the decade-long US pursuit of the WikiLeaks founder. Their posture of concern has not resulted in any of these MPs challenging Labors current position, which remains that the attempt to destroy Assange for exposing war crimes is a matter for the British legal system. The parliamentary group is, to all public intents and purposes, completely inactive. It appears likely that it was one of these Labor backbenchers who asked Albanese about Assange. The question, as reported in the press, did not raise a word of criticism, nor did it ask Albanese to state or to alter Labors official position, but merely to provide his personal opinion. As recounted in the media, the questioner posed the issue of Assange as though it had only come up recently, and not that the persecution of the WikiLeaks founder has proceeded for the past ten years with Labors support. Albaneses response was highly conditional and committed him and Labor to nothing. It was promptly leaked to the media, which obliged by grossly overstating the significance of the comments. In other words, this was a cynical public relations exercise, aimed at fostering the illusion that Labor and Albanese were doing something for Assange, when they are not and have no intention to. This has been demonstrated by what has occurred in the week since the caucus meeting, i.e., nothing. Albanese has not publicly stated even the mealy-mouthed comments he reportedly made privately. In fact, it is exceedingly difficult to find any record of Albanese having spoken about Assanges plight over the past two years of his Labor leadership. When he has, it has been to echo Prime Minister Scott Morrisons statements that Australian authorities are powerless, except to provide unstated consular assistance to the WikiLeaks founder, which Assanges relatives have said consists of little more than offering to bring him weeks old newspapers as they inquire on his welfare. The media exercise surrounding the caucus meeting occurred under conditions in which the lawless character of Assanges prosecution has been thoroughly exposed. In January, a British Magistrates Court judge ruled against Assanges extradition to the US, where he faces 17 Espionage Act charges and up to 175 years imprisonment, for publishing true documents that exposed US war crimes, diplomatic conspiracies and human rights violations. The verdict was narrowly focused on the fact that Assanges mental health has deteriorated dramatically over the past decade of his persecution, and he would be at a high risk of suicide in the draconian US prison system. This, in itself, is an indictment of the Australian establishments abandonment of the WikiLeaks founder, showing that the government and Labor have stood by as a citizen and journalist has been brought to the brink of death. The British court ruling upheld all the anti-democratic arguments of US prosecutors, effectively greenlighting future prosecutions of journalists. This was followed by a denial of a bail application, on the grounds that Assange posed a flight risk. The consequence is that the WikiLeaks founder is being indefinitely detained on remand in a maximum-security prison, solely on the basis of an extradition request that was rejected in the first court at which it was heard. Labor and the Australian ruling elite as a whole have long been fearful that the latent public support for Assange could develop into a political movement directed against imperialist war and a broader assault on democratic rights. Albaneses comments, and their leaking, are aimed at preventing this from taking place, and fostering the illusion that Assanges freedom can be achieved through plaintive appeals to a section of the parliamentary establishment. In the various responses to Albaneses comments, very little reference was made to Labors record. Far from being faltering friends and wavering allies in the defence of the WikiLeaks founder, Labor has been the most determined proponent of Assanges persecution within the Australian political establishment. In 2009, WikiLeaks published the then Labor governments secret blacklist of banned websites. This refuted claims that only criminal sites were blocked, and exposed significant internet censorship. Labor communications minister Stephen Conroy threatened to refer the publication to the Australian Federal Police (AFP). Assange later stated he was fearful that Labor was preparing police raids against him. In 2010, WikiLeaks released US army war logs from Iraq and Afghanistan documenting historic war crimes and exposing the neo-colonial character of the occupations. Towards the end of the year, it published 250,000 US diplomatic cables, revealing the daily intrigues of American imperialism, from coup plots, to interference operations and illegal spying on heads of state and United Nations officials. As senior US politicians responded by calling for Assange to be jailed, or even assassinated, Labor Prime Minister Julia Gillard joined the chorus. She slanderously declared that the foundation stone of the WikiLeaks organisation is an illegal act. This assertion, subsequently contradicted by the AFP, prefigured the US attempts to prosecute Assange for the 2010 publications. Gillard considered stripping Assange of his Australian passport, in violation of domestic law, and pledged to help the US intelligence agencies in their campaign to destroy WikiLeaks. This stance set the pattern for every government since, which has continued to deny Assanges rights as an Australian citizen and journalist. Gillards role was not an aberration. It expressed the character of Labor, as one of the preeminent parties of Australian imperialism, fully committed to participating in all US-led wars and military interventions. At the same time, Labor has directly implemented or supported one piece of anti-democratic legislation after another over the past two decades, first on the pretext of the bogus war on terror, and more recently as part of a McCarthyite campaign against supposed foreign interference. Albaneses refusal to defend Assange has gone hand in hand with his bipartisan support for the Liberal-National governments right-wing policies, from its pro-business response to the pandemic, to the massive tax cuts for the corporations and the wealthy contained in the last federal budget, to Australias escalating role in an aggressive US confrontation with China. If anything, Albanese has sought to pitch Labor as a more reliable partner for the US administration of President Joseph Biden, as it ramps-up preparations for war directed against Beijing and Moscow. The experiences of the past decade, and especially of the last two years, since Assanges expulsion from Ecuadors London embassy, demonstrate that his freedom will not be secured by fawning over pro-war parties of the political establishment. Such exercises in self-delusion serve only to bolster political forces directly implicated in the abrogation of Assanges rights, and to politically-neuter the latent support for the WikiLeaks founder. The fight for Assanges liberty must be connected to a broader struggle against imperialist war and the turn to authoritarianism. It must orient to the working class, the constituency that defends democratic rights and that is being propelled into struggle against the very governments that are seeking to destroy Assange. The road blockade was finally lifted at the Ghazipur border on the outskirts of the national capital on Tuesday amid the ongoing farmers' agitation against the new Union farm laws for the last three months. National Highway (NH)-9 has now been opened for commuters from Delhi going towards Ghaziabad and Noida in Uttar Pradesh. Following the violence on Republic Day, this national highway passing through the Ghazipur border was closed so that protesting farmers could not enter Delhi again. At present, this highway has been opened from one side only late Monday night. After the opening of the roads closed at the Ghazipur border since the last one month, people seem quite relieved. They had to take longer routes to commute to their offices, but after the opening of the highway traffic movement from one side has become easier. It is expected that the other remaining roads near the Ghazipur border would also be operational soon. The farmers have been protesting against the three new Union farm laws since November 26, 2020, at various borders of the national capital. They are agitating against the Farmers' Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020; the Farmers Empowerment and Protection Agreement of Price Assurance and Farm Services Act 2020; and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020. ADVERTISEMENT The judiciary must stay above dirty politics; very far away from it. Its gates must be locked against politicians by all means possible. Nigeria already suffers from too much politics: The politics of ethnicity, religion, difference and mischief there is cause for worry when the third arm of government, under the doctrine of the separation of powers, becomes a pawn in the hands of politicians It is most unfortunate that the proposed appointment of new judges for Nigerias Court of Appeal has been controversial since the announcement of a shortlist in December 2020. The President of the Court of Appeal, Justice Monica Dongban-Mensem has now found herself in an uncomfortable situation where she has to defend the integrity of her Court and the process that led to the emergence of a list of 20 preferred candidates and another list of additional 20 reserved candidates. To have the judiciary dragged in the mud of Nigerian politics, and the usual culprits ethnicity, religion, Federal Character and nepotism playing a prominent role in the matter, is disheartening. Why is it so difficult in Nigeria to have at least one sacred institution, a special symbol, that no one can desecrate? As it is, that seems increasingly impossible. I asked this question as I read a statement attributed to the President of the Court of Appeal, Justice Dongban-Mensem over the weekend, in which she had cause to protest that persons who have been complaining about the alleged manipulation of the ongoing process of appointing judges for her Court, are seeking to destabilise and scandalise the judiciary. She argued that the appointment process has so far followed due and usual process and that the allegation of favouritism is a false campaign of calumny: A total of 80 nominees were shortlisted and recommended for the appointment of 20 Justices to fill the existing vacancies. I state on my honour that any of the 80 nominees could be appointed, she wrote. It is unfortunate that some people have elected to go to the press without hard evidence which are readily available to those who seek to know. I hereby state that the current recommendation pending determination by the National Judicial Council was done without any preference for tribe, creed or association. The problem here is that many stakeholders and interested parties do not think so, MiLord. Shortly after the list was made public, the Southern and Middle Belt Leaders Forum (SMBLF) was one of the first groups to cry out in protest. The group alleged that the published list favours only Muslims from the North and does not in any way reflect the fact that Nigeria is multi-ethnic and multi-cultural. Thirteen out of the 20 preferred judges are from the North, including three Sharia judges. The SMBLF asked to know if there is no Christian at all from the North and the Middle Belt, who can be considered good enough to be a judge of the Appellate Court! Along the same lines, a civil society group, the Global Integrity Crusade Network (GCIN) petitioned the Chief Justice of Nigeria to ask that the National Judicial Council should not go ahead to approve the fraudulent list before it. Stakeholders from the South East of Nigeria also cried foul. In a petition to the President of Nigeria and the Chief Justice of the Federation, the Alaigbo Development Foundation led by Professor Uzodinnma Nwala pointed out that the proposed list of new Court of Appeal Justices is meant to deny the South East its quota in the Court of Appeal on the basis of the principles of Federal Character as enshrined in the 1999 Constitution. The ADF puts the matter thus: it is very unjust and unfair for only one Justice to be appointed from the South East out of twenty (20) justices that are being appointed from the six geo-political zones, whereas the other zones were allocated as follows: North West (8), North East (3), North Central (2) South West (4), South South (2). Before the ADF, the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) also found it necessary to express its feelings of sadness, disgust and anger at the insensitivity demonstrated by the FJSC in compiling the list. It seems undeniable that the recklessness displayed by the FJSC suggests a steady and gradual descend (sic) to a process of Islamising the Judiciary of Nigeria It is possible to dismiss all of these as rather too familiar: The typical Nigerian response to appointments and processes in the public sector but it must be noted that protests such as this speak to a major crisis that Nigeria is now grappling with on a daily basis: The menace of ethnicity, religion and geography. For this reason, nobody believes that the country is fair to anybody. There is a crisis of trust between the government and the people, and among the people themselves. More than 60 years after independence, Nigerians have reduced every institution of state to the politics of proximity and advantage. There is a prolonged and unending struggle over who gets what, and who controls power. The effect is that this dominant tendency brings out the worst in all of us. The educated man in the North who is a first-class intellect is likely to defend a bandit who kills and maims just because he thinks that by doing so, he is protecting his kinsman against other Nigerians of different ethnic and religious extraction, who are insisting that justice must be done. Similarly, a Southerner of the same pedigree would defend his own kinsman against the Northerner for no reason other than the fact that they both speak the same language or belong to the same region or religion. What is disturbing is that the judiciary, the last refuge of the common man, and the expected bastion of the rule of law, has now been dragged into the crisis of nationhood in a manner previously unseen. Before now, the Nigerian judiciary faced the challenge of military rule and the abbreviation of its constitutional rights. This is the ugly drama being played out in Nigeria. It is not new but the melodrama is now tragic. What is disturbing is that the judiciary, the last refuge of the common man, and the expected bastion of the rule of law, has now been dragged into the crisis of nationhood in a manner previously unseen. Before now, the Nigerian judiciary faced the challenge of military rule and the abbreviation of its constitutional rights. It survived. Today, the same judiciary is now accused of everything from nepotism, to mediocrity, corruption, incompetence, complicity in the Nigerian mess and, if care is not taken, eventual irrelevance. The last point is the main reason why caution is advisable. The judiciary must stay above dirty politics; very far away from it. Its gates must be locked against politicians by all means possible. Nigeria already suffers from too much politics: The politics of ethnicity, religion, difference and mischief. But whereas the involvement of the legislative and executive arms of government in cut-throat, dirty politics may be excused on the grounds that these two arms of government are dominated, unavoidably, by products of partisan politics, there is cause for worry when the third arm of government, under the doctrine of the separation of powers, becomes a pawn in the hands of politicians, or becomes even so openly mired in politics that its neutrality becomes a subject of analysis, speculation, and even protest. It is worse when the judiciary is accused of partisanship and desperately so. The court, the work-place of the judiciary, is expected to be a temple of justice and everyone who works therein, an honest, untainted officer. It is the duty of the judiciary to interpret the law and ensure justice, and provide a refuge for all persons whose rights may have been violated, and at the same time, punish according to the law, those errant characters in society who violate the public order and return society by their conduct to the state of nature as defined by Thomas Hobbes. The law exists, therefore, to restrain animal conduct and remind all of us of the need to be human. The judex are at the apex of the ladder. Given the privileged position that they occupy, they are expected to be above board, unimpeachable in terms of integrity, most deserving of their positions and of such moral and professional competence to be able to deliver justice without prejudice. When the judiciary, however, becomes a target, subject, victim of partisan politics, or rank emotionalism, this goal cannot be achieved. A politicised and compromised judiciary is a threat to the same rule of law that it is required to uphold and enforce. This re-affirmation is necessary against the background of what looks like the current politicisation of the proposed appointment of additional Justices for Nigerias Court of Appeal. Justice Monica Dongban-Mesem is in order to defend her Court. The Court of Appeal is too important in the hierarchy of courts to become a playground for public prejudice and suspicion. Men and women who sit on the Appeal Court must be seen to merit their positions on the basis of their accomplishments and experience. Trust and confidence in the due and usual process of the appointment of judges is relevant to the subsequent level of confidence in their performance in office. But with due respect, Her Lordships rebuttal does not go far enough. The hard evidence that she talks about, in terms of what is available in the public domain and what is known, contradicts her own declarations. It provides a strong justification for an interrogation of the queries that have been raised and why the National Judicial Council must review the list of proposed Judges before it takes any action. The key allegation is that the FJSC turned the list upside down and ignored the recommendations of the Court of Appeal. Is the President of the Court of Appeal defending the FJSC? Would she be willing to publish the original list that she submitted to the Judicial Service Commission to provide greater clarity and allow the public to compare and contrast? A review of all the complaints so far would suggest that the Court of Appeal indeed followed due and usual process in the screening of the judges that applied for appointment into the Court of Appeal, but problem arose after the President of the Court forwarded the decision of the Committees to the Federal Judicial Service Commission (FJSC). The key allegation is that the FJSC turned the list upside down and ignored the recommendations of the Court of Appeal. Is the President of the Court of Appeal defending the FJSC? Would she be willing to publish the original list that she submitted to the Judicial Service Commission to provide greater clarity and allow the public to compare and contrast? And just in case the list that is in circulation is incorrect, no one has said so. The hard evidence that is currently in circulation is that 13 out of 20 nominated judges are Northerners and Muslims. The 13 Muslim judges are from Niger, Plateau, Adamawa, Yobe, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Kano, Kaduna, Kebbi, Sokoto, Zamfara, and Katsina, the home state of the incumbent President, which has two nominees. The entire South-East is represented by one judge from Imo State. The South-South has two slots: Bayelsa and Delta State. The entire South-West has 4: Ondo (2) plus Ogun, and Lagos. The reserve list of 20 follows more or less the same pattern! By what criteria on earth did the FJSC arrive at such a list which can only fuel the anger about how under the present dispensation, there is an alleged deliberate attempt to grant undue advantages to a section of the country from cattle rearing, to public appointments? It may be argued that ordinary people have no business raising questions about the appointment process in the judiciary. But that would be a terribly wrong thing to say. Judges are first and foremost human beings. They are part of society. They have rights too. A lawyer who has chosen a career on the Bench expects that she would be promoted according to her ability. If she is denied the opportunity for advancement and self-actualisation, just because her kinsman is not in power or she does not know people in high places, she would be disturbed. He or she will be demoralised We expect the judiciary to dispense justice, but should such an institution also promote injustice and unfairness within its ranks? However, where are the judges who believe that they are qualified to be on the preferred list? Why are they not the ones writing petitions? Civil society groups may crow as they wish, but their efforts will ultimately raise the question of locus standi. Should judges who push this same principle be seen to be sleeping on their own rights? There have also been snide remarks about the competence of some of the judges on the FJSCs proposed list. I have no hard evidence in that regard. Elsewhere in the United States, for example, there will be open access to the judgments that judges about to be elevated have written, their positions on key judicial matters and their contributions to the development of the law. Here in Nigeria, there is so much politics and secrecy. Judges who think that they are more deserving are bound to feel discouraged. Last year, there was so much controversy over the appointment of the Federal High Court Judges in Abuja. This year, we are at the same point with the appointment of Justices of the Court of Appeal. At other times, there have been issues over the appointment of Chief Judges at the state level, and the thorny issues have been more or less the same: Merit, ethnicity and religion (re: Kebbi, Adamawa, Cross River). Who will judge the judges? It has also been said that the current list before the National Judicial Council does not include senior members of the Bar and persons from the academia whose inclusion in line with the enabling Guidelines can broaden the scope of the Court of Appeal, and provide the needed depth. Finally, the President of the Court of Appeal is a Christian. Right under her watch, we have this controversial issue of 13 nominee-justices of the Court of Appeal out of 20 who are Muslims and Northerners? Whatever she says, it will be recorded that the deed is hers. Was she intimidated or influenced? What other hard evidence do we need? What else would she be willing to defend on her honour? These are issues that the NJC must consider. Reuben Abati, a former presidential spokesperson, writes from Lagos. COLUMBIA Sixty years ago, about 200 mostly Black demonstrators gathered at the S.C. Statehouse to protest segregation. Another 200 to 300 people observed from the periphery. The young people on March 2, 1961, approached from Sumter and Main and Gervais streets and clustered before the building's facade, where they intended to conduct a silent protest. David Carter, a theology student at Benedict College, told them to follow their conscience. The students were warned by police to disperse within 15 minutes or face arrest for breaching the peace. They did not disperse. They did not remain silent. They sang We Shall Not Be Moved, The Star-Spangled Banner and other songs. They clapped their hands. They stomped their feet. Then, they were arrested. On the exact day of the event's 60th anniversary, the Columbia rally was commemorated with a gathering just across from the S.C. Statehouse, where a historic marker and stone monument were unveiled. The marker describes the historic event; the stone displays the names of the plaintiffs. The commemoration, sponsored by Columbia SC 63, the University of South Carolinas Center for Civil Rights History and Research, the city of Columbia and Historic Columbia, featured remarks from Rep. Leola Robinson-Simpson (who was among the young protesters in 1961), Mayor Steve Benjamin, retired S.C. Chief Justice Jean Toal, the Rev. James Edwards (lead plaintiff in the case) and lead organizer Bobby Donaldson. We wanted to acknowledge this milestone for these people in their late 70s early 80s, Donaldson said of the generation that protested segregation and injustice all those years ago. We wanted something near the Statehouse ... (by) the intersection where students were arrested. The protest prompted a legal challenge that reached the Supreme Court which, in an 8-1 decision, ruled in favor of the demonstrators. The legal groundwork had been laid by attorneys Matthew J. Perry, Lincoln C. Jenkins Jr. and Donald James Sampson. The Supreme Court determined that South Carolina had infringed on protesters' fundamental rights to free speech and assembly, as well as their freedom to petition for redress of grievances. The state could not interfere in the expression of these rights, according to the 14th Amendment. The case set a precedent that would be invoked elsewhere during the civil rights movement in Birmingham, Ala., in 1963, where fire hoses and dogs would be deployed against demonstrators, and in Montgomery, Ala., in 1965, where marchers from Selma assembled at the Statehouse to demand access to the polls. Robinson-Simpson read aloud a resolution presented before the General Assembly to honor the the 1961 marchers and commemorate the Edwards case. In Washington, D.C., Rep. Jim Clyburn also presented a resolution before the U.S. House of Representatives remembering the event and its impacts. Clyburn was a 20-year-old student at S.C. State College when he joined the Statehouse protest. Toal noted that the Edwards case was the first civil rights legal challenge to apply a First Amendment argument and a seminal event that protected so many demonstrations to come. To place a monument on Statehouse property requires approval from the General Assembly, which generally means monument advocates must navigate a complicated bureaucratic process and show patience. The Statehouse has 31 monuments on its grounds; only one honors the accomplishments of African Americans. Columbia SC 63 is a project started in 2012 to record and share the many stories of South Carolinas civil rights struggle. The state has played a major role in advancing the cause of equality and justice since the 1940s. Several key legal cases, including Duvall v. J.F. Seignous et al. (1944), Briggs v. Elliott (1952), Harvey Gantts integration lawsuit against Clemson College (1963), and Edwards v. South Carolina (1963) were argued in South Carolina. The state also provided the stage for several historical civil rights protests, including the 1969 Charleston Hospital Strike and the effort to desegregate All-Star Bowling Lanes in Orangeburg, which led to the deadly confrontation between students and law enforcement on the campus of S.C. State College in 1968. Donaldson, who is lead scholar for Columbia SC 63 and director of the Center for Civil Rights History and Research at the University of South Carolina, is striving to record oral histories, honor aging activists and show connections between past and present. Benjamin noted that South Carolina's role in the civil rights movement often gets short shrift. Yet the courage of young people during the 1960s should not be forgotten. We have the opportunity today to give some folks their flowers, he said. Houston-area doctors and medical professionals reacted with dismay to Gov. Greg Abbotts Tuesday decision to roll back the states mask mandate and other precautions against COVID-19. "I had a pretty strong visceral reaction like PTSD," said Dr. Matt Dacso, an internist at the University of Texas Medical Branch. "I can think of no other word but incomprehensible... Everybody is hurting, but gosh, man. The masks were doing a lot for us. Dacso said the order was a huge hit to morale, coming almost exactly one year after the first recorded case in New York. His team had been celebrating the progress made since then until they heard about Abbott's order. He and others noted that the order came shortly after reports that Houston was the nations first city to record all major strains of the virus. And public officials are also bracing for another wave of cases in the wake of last months ice storm, which forced many to abandon social distancing as they sought refuge outside of their powerless homes. COVID HELP DESK: Answering your questions on double masking, vaccine registry and more Its true that Texas has been vaccinating people, said Peter Hotez, vaccine researcher at Texas Childrens Hospital Center for Vaccine Development. But after the recent freeze, we rank at the bottom of states in the percentage of people weve vaccinated: Only 13 percent of Texans have had their first dose. I would have preferred to wait a couple of weeks to reopen while we see how these new variants play out here, and so that we could catch up to the rest of the country in terms of vaccinations, Hotez continued. While people who have been vaccinated may feel tempted to go out without their masks, they shouldnt, said Dr. Diana Fite, president of the Texas Medical Association. A vaccination means theyre less likely to face severe complications from COVID-19, not that theyre less likely to catch it and infect others. COVID-19 vaccine manufacturers are still studying the rate of transmission and infection in people who have been immunized, and trial data may not be available until the spring. Fully vaccinating 1.8 million people is still a huge number, but its far from getting anywhere near where we say things are going to be contained, Fite said. Local hospitals say they are not planning to change their masking requirements. The COVID-19 virus and its effects will be with us for a long time, St. Lukes Health officials said in a Tuesday afternoon statement. To ensure the safety and health of our communities, we urge people to continue to wear masks and practice other precautions like hand washing and social distancing, in addition to getting vaccinated. Wearing a mask is one of the most effective ways to limit the spread of the virus, which is why masks are still required at all St Lukes Health facilities. James McDeavitt, senior vice president and dean of clinical affairs at Baylor College of Medicine, said the hospital and medical school will continue to wear masks as a precaution for their patients. "Its a three-legged stool where people have immunity because they were previously infected and an increasing number of people are immunized," McDeavitt said. "But what is bridging us to true herd immunity is masking, distancing and staying out of crowded spaces." The Texas Medical Association is urging the public to continue following Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines to wear face masks, stay 6 feet apart and frequently wash their hands. It's tricky to figure out when to relax those restrictions if done too soon, the state could see a resurgence in COVID-19 cases, but if done too late, businesses may suffer greatly, McDeavitt said. The rollback will begin next Wednesday, and allow businesses across the state able to open at full capacity. Abbott said local officials will be able to impose limited restrictions again if the percent of local hospitalizations from COVID-19 rise above 15 percent of total hospitalizations. The Republican governor cautioned Texans to continue following recommended guidelines, including distancing and wearing face coverings. This does not remove personal responsibility, Abbott said. Personal vigilance is still needed to contain COVID. Its just that now, state mandates are no longer needed. McDeavitt said he believes its too early to completely relax mask requirements. The state should have a decline and then plateau of infection rates and hospitalizations before it ends the mandate, he said. He's not confident that the data is stable enough for that right now. "I think it's impossible to say whether rates will rise," McDeavitt said. "The governor also made the point that we have personal responsibility. People should still consider masking and distancing." Texas A&M epidemiologist Rebecca Fischer said she was concerned by the announcement, and took issue with Abbotts statements on personal responsibility and liberty. On HoustonChronicle.com: COVID cases are sharply dropping, but 'now is not the time to relax,' Texas A&M epidemiologist says The message that Texas is reopening can be confusing to the general public, Fischer said. We expect our officials to be aware of the scientific literature and to make decisions in a way that protects public health. Instead, now were asking individuals to make their own decisions. Now every individual Texan has to be their own epidemiologist and infectious disease expert. Cases have generally been trending downwards in the state, and many public officials have been optimistic about the outlook since last week, when three major vaccination hubs opened in Houston and Dallas, including one at NRG Park. But we are in a delicate situation now, Fischer said. Were coming off this incredibly high peak. Every peak has been higher than the last. Every valley has been higher than the last. Others agreed. From what weve seen, lifting restrictions fully can lead to a resurgence, but its not guaranteed, said Spencer Fox, a research associate at UT-Austins COVID Modeling Consortium. Because Texas hasnt reached herd immunity, its still vulnerable to new waves of the pandemic. Now that the state has begun vaccinations, Fox said, a new wave would take a different form than previous waves. Because many of the most vulnerable communities have been vaccinated, a new wave would likely mean larger numbers of infections but fewer hospitalizations and fatalities. Fite, the Texas Medical Association president, said its a possibility vaccinations will slow any rise in infection rates, especially if people continue to wear their masks. The UT teams epidemiological models dont include the new COVID variants, Fox said, since theres not yet enough data about the variants to make projections. He was hopeful that personal precautions, not required by law, would be enough to prevent a new surge. Even though the state is lifting restrictions, he said, its really important for people to take precautions to protect themselves and their communities. robert.downen@chron.com lisa.gray@chron.com gwendolyn.wu@chron.com KARACHI: A Lucknow-bound IndiGo flight from Sharjah made an emergency landing at Karachi in Pakistan after one of the passengers onboard fell sick. IndiGo airlines flight number 6E1412 travelling from Sharjah to Lucknow made an emergency landing on Tuesday morning in Pakistan's southern city of Karachi after a passenger onboard suffered a cardiac arrest. The passenger who suffered cardiac arrest was declared dead on arrival. The male passenger was administered all possible medical help onboard but he could not be revived, the airline said. IndiGo also issued a statement saying, "IndiGo flight 6E 1412 from Sharjah to Lucknow was diverted to Karachi due to a medical emergency. Unfortunately, the passenger could not be revived and was declared dead on arrival by the airport medical team. We are deeply saddened with the news and our prayers and wishes are with his family." The plane was at the Karachi airport for two hours before leaving for Ahmedabad. In the past also such instances have happened with Indian flights making an emergency landing in Pakistan in similar circumstances. In November last year, a Delhi-bound GoAir plane, carrying 179 passengers, made an emergency landing at Karachi after a passenger onboard suffered cardiac arrest and later died. Live TV Medical professionals on the front lines of the coronavirus pandemic desperately need reinforcements. Thats why President Biden, in his American Rescue Plan, proposes enough funding to triple the number of community health care workers. But if the administration doesnt have a clear policy of enforcing longstanding conscience protections for health care providers, it will jeopardize their ability to recruit the talent we need to defeat the coronavirus. Religious health care providers have a robust and lengthy history of providing quality care to people from all walks of life. Here at home, they have been on the front lines of the COVID pandemic, serving vulnerable populations such as the homeless and prisoners suffering from HIV, and they care for victims of sex trafficking, opioid addiction, and gang violence. Abroad, they serve in war zones and refugee clinics, with some even contracting Ebola while treating patients during the Liberia outbreak. But President Bidens pick of California Attorney General Xavier Becerra to lead his administrations Health & Human Services Department is a polarizing choice for a president who promised unity. Becerra has a long history of hostility towards doctors and nurses whose deeply held religious beliefs compel them to abstain from things like referring patients for abortion or filling scripts for abortion-inducing drugs. Becerra has also led the attack on crucial federal regulations protecting medical professionals from choosing between their career and their conscience. These regulations do nothing more than ensure that longstanding, bipartisan conscience protections in federal law are actually enforced by HHS. Decreasing access to health care by kicking qualified, compassionate providers out of the practice of medicine is bad policy for two reasons. First, it is not who we are as a country. We have always honored religious freedom from protecting conscientious objectors at the time of our founding and allowing doctors to opt out of participation in the death penalty to respecting medical providers who must avoid involvement in abortion. And second, it directly undermines our ability to effectively respond to the current health crisis. America requires fully staffed hospitals, clinics, and doctors offices fulfilling the medical needs of households and communities harmed by the pandemic. Becerras efforts to overturn time-tested, common-sense conscience protections foreshadow what a world without conscience protections might look like doctors would either have to perform abortions or risk losing their medical license. Take Dr. Regina Frost, an OB-GYN serving patients in Detroit, for example. As a devout Christian, she would be forced out of her profession if Planned Parenthood had its way every OB-GYN would be required to perform abortions or leave the job. Dr. Frost courageously spoke about how her faith is an integral part of who she is it is an identity that cannot be separated from her work. It is the driving force behind her desire to improve and save women's lives and their unborn babies every day. If she were mandated to perform an abortion on a patient, she would have no choice but to leave the medical profession and the patients who have relied on her care for years. We know that failing to give clear, intentional conscience protections discourages recruitment of bright new talent to the medical field. Instead of dividing us and stripping medical professionals of protections that Congress has long sought to offer, the Biden administration instead needs to unite us in this medical crisis by equipping workers with everything they need to fight the pandemic. Becerras record shows he is a divider, not a uniter. Doctors, nurses and other frontline medical heroes physically and emotionally exhausted from months of seemingly endless shifts deserve to know that their lifes work is valued and respected, no matter their faith background. Protecting their right of conscience in their practice is not an abstract issue. Steamrolling them will have real, tangible impacts on the patients who rely on them for quality care. In a big, diverse country like ours, there is more than enough room to ensure that everyone will receive the care they need without forcing doctors to perform procedures that are inconsistent with their faith and best medical judgment. Americas medical heroes deserve our respect for their brave service; they should not be punished for their religious beliefs. Nor should Americans access to health care suffer simply because of a person's deeply held religious beliefs. But thats Becerras track record. We dont need an anti-conscience culture warrior to lead our nations health efforts. Armenia ex-president Kocharyan gives interview to Russia newspaper Armenia acting deputy PM on unblocking of roads with Azerbaijan: There will be no troops standing there Nikkei: Toyota and Honda stop car production in Malaysia Armenia official on deploying international observers at Azerbaijan border: You will hear reaction on this matter soon USAID helps UN World Food Programme support displaced people in Armenia Armenia official: Work of trilateral working group on roads unblocking has stopped after recent incidents Russias Putin to Armenias Pashinyan: Relations between our countries are developing very successfully Armenia health minister: Improper storage of fallen soldiers bodies, remains was my omission 108 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia Armenia President to children: I believe that you will make our country much better Armenia CEC publicizes complete lists of political forces registered to run in snap parliamentary elections World oil prices going up Queen Elizabeth turns down PM's offer to name new royal yacht after Prince Philip Armenia parliament discusses 2020 state budget report Newspaper: Armenia acting FM resigns after 3rd attempt Newspaper: Yerevan mayor to leave office Israel, UAE sign tax treaty Newspaper: Even vagrants are persuaded, taken to Armenia acting PM Pashinyans rally in Vanadzor Swedish defense minister demands explanation from Denmark over spy scandal Acting Deputy PM: Armenia has not discussed and will not discuss issues within logic of "corridor" Armenia Central Electoral Commission determines numbers of political parties for elections Armenia 2nd President visits Cathedral of the Holy Mother of God in Gyumri (PHOTOS) Opposition Armenia bloc representative: We're running in elections to win Azerbaijan MFA comments on calls for release of Armenian POWs with infinite hypocrisy EC: Vaccinated citizens should be exempted from tests, quarantine when traveling within EU Armenia Ombudsman discusses rights of 6 captured Armenian servicemen with ICRC Delegation head EU ready to use all the tools at its disposal to change Turkey's behavior Yerevan court obliges to abolish violation of rights of Armenia Supreme Judicial Council ex-chairman Greek and Turkish leaders to meet in June on sidelines of NATO summit Armenia Central Electoral Commission to set up 2,008 polling stations for snap parliamentary elections Iranian companies to participate in reconstructing territories under Azerbaijan's control Opposition Armenia bloc's representative on acting PM's invitation to debate with 1st and 2nd Presidents Armenia acting FM dismissed upon presidential decree Body of brother of Armenian criminal authority "Don Pipo" found under bridge 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 SCHENECTADY A proposal to give the citys police oversight panel greater investigatory authority cleared a major hurdle Monday. Under the reforms passed by the City Councils Public Safety Committee, the Civilian Police Review Board (CPRB) will be granted access to audio and visual evidence from body-worn police cameras and other technology. At present, the CPRB has access to case files and transcripts, which summarize those materials. For additional information, the chairman must reach out to city police or ask the council to subpoena if they're stonewalled. But that process had never been formalized, said Chairman Dick Shave, who couldnt recall the last time members asked for additional materials. The change, which must be approved by the council, splits the difference between broader investigatory powers sought by activists calling for full subpoena and disciplinary powers, as well as the authority to submit cases to the attorney general for further review and investigation, and the more measured approach favored by moderate members of City Council, which has ultimate oversight over the panel. City police said last month they wouldnt have a problem complying with releasing body-worn camera footage. Yet officials said blurring out the faces of cops and suspects in order to maintain confidentiality is laborious and time-consuming. The Public Safety Committee also voted to allow convicted felons to serve on the panel, which is designed to investigate citizen complaints of misconduct, provided they have not been incarcerated or on parole for at least five years and their crimes did not involve an assault on a law enforcement officer. People in this category bring a different lens and conversation than people who do not, and thats often not a negative, said Councilwoman Marion Porterfield, who has been aggressive in pushing for reforms since the death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police last summer prompted a national debate on police brutality. Other potential changes to the CPRB fizzled, including Porterfields attempt to scrap the double-blind system that shields identities of both complainants and police officers in an effort to prevent bias. Names and other identifying information will continue to be kept private even in released materials. In order for this to be truly unbiased, we need to maintain a double-blind system, said Councilwoman Karen Zalewski-Wildzunas, who was joined by council members John Polimeni and Carmel Patrick in opposing the measure. Porterfield countered that other localities permit releasing that information and questioned Zalewski-Wildzunas claim that a double-blind system is the gold standard for civilian police oversight. I understand theres just not support for it at this time, Porterfield said. Lawmakers also tightened up language barring panelists from discussing cases externally at the risk of dismissal. Left unresolved was whether the council would overhaul how members of the nine-member panel are selected, reforms leadership had been advocating for. At present, most members are tapped by a different civic organization, a process that has previously led to extended vacancies that have hobbled the bodys work. Also not included were sweeping powers for an independent disciplinary process, reforms granted by the Albany Common Council on Monday pending a citywide referendum. A public hearing is scheduled for March 8 on the proposed changes in Schenectady, with a vote by the full City Council to follow. The process is running on a parallel track to the citys state-mandated police reform process, which is nearing the final stretch. The John F. Finn Institute for Public Safety last week released a draft report based on community feedback that will serve as the blueprint for any potential reforms. That report acknowledged that the community is broadly supportive of numerous changes, including deeper everyday relationships with the police, a more diverse police force, a strengthened Civilian Police Review Board and changes to how police respond to mental health calls. City police released an early version of their proposed policy reforms to the steering committee guiding the process late Monday, and are scheduled to discuss those proposals on Wednesday. Among the changes are a suggested new police substation, revamped community policing units and a pledge to "reimagine" hiring in order to diversify the force, as well as anti-racism training (which activists have said is not the same as existing anti-bias training). But the plan calls for nothing that resembles a transfer of money from the Police Department to social service agencies. The proposals also includes bare-bones descriptions for a unit that would respond to reports of people in mental health crises. City Council will ideally receive a final plan on Thursday, and must approve any changes by April 1 at the risk of losing state funding. The company is working to advance its psilocybin-based drug, KRN-101, as a treatment for cancer-related anxiety There are currently 3 million patients in the UK suffering from some sort of cancer, and it is thought that 1.2 million have been diagnosed with severe anxiety, depression or experience existential crises wants to advance the baton on psychedelic drugs as a treatment for mental health conditions in the UK. The Burnaby, British Columbia company has been privately held since its founding in 2020 but moved in January to undertake a reverse takeover of ME Resource Corp (CSE:MEC) (OTC:MEEXF). The combined company will list on the CSE under the name, and the public capital will help advance the psilocybin-based drug, KRN-101, as a treatment for cancer-related anxiety. Chief Medical Officer Malcolm Barratt-Johnson says the research on psilocybin as a treatment for cancer-related anxiety is encouraging, and the need is especially urgent as many cancer patients are not able to take anti-depressants. To speed up the development process, Albert Labs is pursuing a real-world evidence approach, which relies on electronic health records, patient-generated data from mobile devices, disease registries and more to inform study design and product development - and that Albert Labs says is faster and cheaper than traditional clinical trials. Proactive spoke with Barratt-Johnson about Albert Labs development of KRN-101, real-word evidence and going public. How did Albert Labs come to be? Albert Labs was created because we saw a clear need for innovation in the treatment of mental health. It is clear there is a growing global mental health crisis in part due to the stress of the coronavirus pandemic itself and due to the reduced ability to access mental health services. In February and March 2020 alone, there was a 34% spike in the number of prescriptions for anti-anxiety drugs with a 21% increase in anti-depressant, anti-anxiety and insomnia medicines over the same period. The increased need for these medicines shows that developing innovative, improved solutions is critical to addressing the mental health crisis. Albert Labs was formed to address this need, bringing together a team of experienced and dedicated professionals. Albert Hofmann was influential in the discovery of psychedelics and the entire class of psychedelic molecules. He not only synthesized LSD and later synthesized psilocin from psilocybin, but he was among the first to learn that these compounds had astounding psychological effects with a huge potential to revolutionize psychiatry. Our goal is to stand on the shoulders of the giants that went before and continue their work to reveal the true potential of psychedelics as a therapeutic medicine. Why psychedelics? Many believe the development of novel psychedelic drugs can bring nuance and innovation to the mental healthcare space. This follows a paradigm shift that has been recognized through use of natural psilocybin. There should now be an imperative on examining the benefits these innovative treatments may bring and providing clinical access to them. The results captured in early trials of psilocybin in the psychological arena are impressive. By expanding on this body of evidence Albert Labs believes we can accelerate the provision of these treatments to clinicians and their patients. Treating patients in a real-world setting we hope will provide rapid confirmation of the efficacy, effectiveness and safety of Albert Labs psilocybin-based medicine, KRN-101, in an area of unmet need like cancer-related anxiety. [Our study] will also provide a body of evidence to support KRN-101s approval more rapidly and at far lower cost than if we adopt the traditional, pharmaceutical route of using randomized clinical trials (RCTs). Can you elaborate on why youve chosen the real-world evidence path? There are several reasons for this, but the most important of which for us is speed. Gaining real-world evidence in an existing clinical setting is substantially faster than conducting randomized controlled studies, which typically have timelines of between 5-7 years as they transition from Phase I through to Phase III. By contrast, our timeline is this: we are currently developing our study protocols and hope to have our first patients recruited in Q3 2021. Initial outputs from these studies should be available in Q2 2022 with peer-reviewed publication soon after. In a year from now, we expect to be at the stage where we can publish a set of interim study results. We plan to have an extensive study program not only underway but yielding actionable results within 1-2 years. We also expect to have initiated our growth strategy and have commenced studies in other European countries. This is another positive to the Albert Labs commercialization model, it is scalable. We can replicate our strategy in other European countries and for other niche mental health indications, further broadening the Albert Labs brand and solidifying our position as a leader in the psychedelic space. Why begin with cancer-related anxiety? I think everyone has in some way been influenced by cancer, whether through their immediate family, friends or other relatives. This without a doubt rings true for the team here at Albert Labs, and indeed for me personally. The body of research in support of psilocybin for cancer-related anxiety is encouraging. There have been several studies that initiated the drive towards psychedelic therapy and these studies have primarily been for cancer-related anxiety, so it makes sense to start there. Another reason is that all too often patients with cancer-related anxiety go untreated. This is due to either patients being unable to take anti-depressants along with their other therapies, the side-effects being unmanageable or patients simply not seeing benefits from taking them. There are currently 3 million patients in the UK suffering from some sort of cancer, and it is thought that 1.2 million have been diagnosed with severe anxiety, depression or experience existential crises. Let's remember this is a pool of patients who are already going through substantial suffering both in their own and their families lives. We believe that by taking a holistic approach to treating psychological distress, we can improve not only the lives of the patients but those of their families, loved ones and the health care professionals who treat them. Albert Labs is about to go public. Tell me about that. That is right, we are undergoing a reverse takeover with ME Resource Corp and will be listed on the CSE under Albert Labs. The market conditions are extremely favourable because of the monumental opportunity that exists with psychedelics. Whilst on the surface it seems like Albert Labs is addressing a small, niche indication, albeit in the treatment of 1.2 million patients in the UK alone, our vision is far greater than this. We understand the overwhelming need for innovative medicines in this therapeutic space and to demonstrate success and transform the lives of patients. We attribute significant value in treating patients sooner and taking our learnings to build a protectable innovation portfolio, before we widen our scope and look to address other indications, in other jurisdictions, or even the use of other psychedelic compounds. The wider scope of our strategy is likely to require substantial capital, and here is where we can leverage our access to the public to raise additional capital, scale and ultimately treat more patients. Contact Andrew Kessel at andrew.kessel@proactiveinvestors.com Follow him on Twitter @andrew_kessel The assets of former president of Ukraine Viktor Yanukovych and his entourage will remain frozen in Switzerland for another three years. Seven years ago, the Swiss Federal Council decided to freeze all assets of Viktor Yanukovych and his entourage in Switzerland. In taking this measure, the Swiss Government wished to avoid any risk of misappropriation of Ukrainian state assets, the Embassy of Switzerland in Ukraine posted on Twitter. The Embassy noted that since then, the Swiss authorities had been closely cooperating with the Ukrainian counterparts in order to complete the process of restitution of these assets to the Ukrainian people following court rulings on their illicit origin. By Switzerlands law, the maximum duration of such a freeze is limited to 10 years, the Embassy reminded. As reported, on December 13, the Swiss Federal Council extended for another year preventive freezing of the assets of former president Yanukovych and his entourage. ol "In terms of racial equity, 2020 was a watershed moment for our state, our country and the world," said Dr. Craig Samitt, president and CEO of Blue Cross. "These poll findings are sobering but also serve to galvanize our own commitment to advance racial and health equity. We are also calling on businesses and individuals particularly those of us who represent mainstream culture to shift away from a 'none-of-my-business' mindset and instead make racism and its impact on health everyone's business." Racism as a public health crisis In 2020, Blue Cross joined local organizations, municipal and county governments, and the Minnesota House of Representatives in declaring that racism is a public health crisis. The statewide resolution failed in the Senate, highlighting that legislators do not see eye-to-eye on this issue along with most Minnesotans. While nearly two-thirds (64%) of Black, Indigenous and people of color in Minnesota say racism is a public health crisis, a majority of white Minnesotans (57%) disagree. "The reality is that racism is fatal plain and simple," said Vayong Moua, director of racial and health equity advocacy at Blue Cross. "Racial and health inequities exist because people don't have equitable access to things like health care, healthy food or a safe place to live. This lack of access impacts health and is rooted in structural racism, which has taken a damaging toll on the health of our state for generations." Learning, Reflecting, Changing To help individuals and businesses on their journey toward anti-racism, Blue Cross has created online tools and resources with actionable steps to take to address structural racism and health inequities. Businesses can learn, reflect, and make meaningful changes in areas such as: Diversity, equity and inclusion Representation and why it matters Equitable policies and practices Similarly, individuals can learn and reflect on ways to take action in areas such as: Bias How racism shows up every day Why we should we talk about racism not race The site also includes short animated videos offering simple definitions for key terms such as structural racism, white privilege and the Black Lives Matter movement. More video content will be added in the coming months. "Conversations on equity, racial justice and white supremacy can be challenging, especially when we don't have a shared understanding of the language needed for those difficult conversations," said Moua. "We're hoping this information provides a basic foundation for advancing meaningful conversation, reflection and action toward systemic change." How Blue Cross and partners are making race and health equity their business To address racial and health inequities and encourage others to do the same, it is critical to start from within a mindset and approach Blue Cross has maintained throughout its advocacy for more equitable policies and systems. These efforts include: Our long-term commitments to advancing health equity and racial justice through statewide community funding. In the last three years alone, the Center for Prevention has provided more than $27 million in funding across the state, and the Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota Foundation has granted nearly $14 million to support Minnesota communities in funding across the state, and the Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota Foundation has granted nearly to support communities Changing the mainstream narrative on health and shaping the next generation of BIPOC journalists through our award-winning partnership with ThreeSixty Journalism Working with Greater Minnesota communities like Willmar to address barriers to health faced by an increasingly diverse population. Our five-year Healthy Together Willmar initiative provided $2 million in funding and on-the-ground support to ensure all community members had access to what they needed to achieve their best possible health communities like to address barriers to health faced by an increasingly diverse population. Our five-year Healthy Together Willmar initiative provided in funding and on-the-ground support to ensure all community members had access to what they needed to achieve their best possible health Partnering with TPT to provide BIPOC communities with information about the COVID-19 vaccine Committing $5 million to the University of Minnesota to establish the Center for Antiracism Research for Health Equity, which will develop evidence-based, antiracist research to understand and measure the impact of racism on health to the to establish the Center for Antiracism Research for Health Equity, which will develop evidence-based, antiracist research to understand and measure the impact of racism on health Partnering with and funding the BIPOC-led, community-based organization Voices for Racial Justice to organize and lead a racial and health equity policy coalition. This cross-cultural coalition will advocate for and influence policies to impact racial and health equity at the local, regional, and state levels Becoming the first Minnesota health plan to create a Gender Services Consultant position, committed to supporting inclusive and equitable care and service to transgender and non-binary members Blue Cross is also proud to partner with Minnesota providers who have made strong commitments to racial and health equity, such as Allina Health. "We all have a responsibility to acknowledge and address racial and health inequities in order to give all Minnesotans the opportunity to live their healthiest possible lives," said Dr. Penny Wheeler, chief executive officer at Allina Health. "We must be intolerant of inequity in all forms, and each one of us has an obligation to take action to help eliminate systemic racism and improve the health of our communities." Allina Health has committed to efforts like collecting comprehensive race and ethnicity data to track inequitable health outcomes, as well as partnering with Blue Cross to create a shared commitment to advancing racial and health equity. This is just one example of ways that business leaders can prioritize this work and make meaningful change. More information about Blue Cross' efforts to advance racial and health equity can be found by visiting BlueCrossMN.com/HealthEquity. About the Poll The public-opinion poll was commissioned by Blue Cross and conducted by The Morris Leatherman Company between December 29th, 2020 and January 23rd, 2021. Statewide Methodology: The study contains the results of a sample of 625 randomly selected respondents who reflect key demographics of all adults within the State of Minnesota. Professional interviewers conducted the survey by telephone. The typical respondent took twenty minutes to complete the questionnaire. Cell phone only households were 45% of the sample, while landline only households comprised 10% of the households. Forty-four percent reported both a landline and cell phone. The results of the 625 sample are projectable to all Minnesota adults to within 4.0 % in 95 out of 100 cases. Non-White Methodology: The study contains the results of 400 randomly selected non-White residents in the State of Minnesota, including non-white respondents from the statewide survey and a subsequent balloon sample. Professional interviewers conducted the survey by telephone. The typical respondent took eighteen minutes to complete the questionnaire. Cell phone only households were 55% of the sample, while landline only households comprised 7% of the households. Thirty-eight percent reported both a landline and cell phone. The results of the 400 sample are projectable to all non-White Minnesota residents within 5.0 % in 95 out of 100 cases. About Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota ( bluecrossmn.com ), with headquarters in the St. Paul suburb of Eagan, was chartered in 1933 as Minnesota's first health plan and continues to carry out its charter mission today: to promote a wider, more economical, and timely availability of health services for the people of Minnesota. A nonprofit, taxable organization, Blue Cross is the largest health plan based in Minnesota, covering 2.9 million members in Minnesota and nationally through its health plans or plans administered by its affiliated companies. Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota and Blue Plus are nonprofit independent licensees of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association, headquartered in Chicago. SOURCE Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota It has been explained that the wearing of gloves is not part of the protocols for the COVID-19 vaccination programme. The protocol is that the vaccinator sanitizes the hands after every process and intermittently washes the hands. According to Presidential Advisor on Health in Ghana, Dr Anthony Nsiah Asare, "that is the most important thing to do," by sanitizing the hands and intermittently washing the hands. General Overview of Immunization Best Practices for Healthcare Providers The Centre for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that health care providers should be knowledgeable of safe injection practices and site identification. Intramuscular (IM) injection is the recommended route for COVID-19 vaccines. It said to ensure vaccines are safe and effective, a new needle and syringe should be used for each injection as well as perform hand hygiene before vaccine preparation, between patients, when changing gloves (if worn), and any time hands become soiled. "Gloves are not required unless the person administering the vaccine is likely to come in contact with potentially infectious body fluids or has open lesions on the hands. If worn, perform hand hygiene and change gloves between patients," it said. Ghanas mass vaccination programme for COVID-19 got underway in Accra Monday morning with President Akufo-Addo, his wife Rebecca, Vice President Bawumia and his wife Samira taking the first jabs. It marked the beginning of the deployment of the 600,000 doses of AstraZeneca vaccines from Tuesday March 2 to Monday, March 15, 2021 by the Ghana Health Service (GHS). Prime Minister Boris Johnson receives a flu vaccine in Downing Street on October 14, 2019 in London [GETTY IMAGES] Gloves However, on social media, a conversation has started on why the vaccinators who administered the jabs to President Akufo-Addo, Dr Bawumia, Mrs Rebecca Akufo-Addo and Mrs Samira Bawumia were not in gloves. When Graphic Online reached out to Dr Anthony Nsiah Asare, the Presidential Advisor on Health, he explained that "the vaccinator sanitized her hands. Thats the most important thing to do." Mrs Samira Bawumia taking her COVID-19 vaccine first jab at the Police Hospital in Accra on Monday, March 1, 2021. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was vaccinated against the coronavirus on live television. South African President Cyril Ramaphosa receives a Johnson and Johnson COVID-19 vaccine in Khayelitsha, Cape Town, South Africa, Wednesday, Feb. 17, 2021. Ramaphosa was among the first in his country to receive the vaccination to launch the inoculation drive in the country. (Gianluigi Guercia/Pool via AP) THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Source: Graphiconline.com Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. The Irish Charolais Cattle Society (ICCS) has hit out against the Departments unworkable Level 5 mart protocols following its first pedigree bull sale of 2021. ICCS secretary Nevan McKiernan said its online sale, which took place in Tullamore last Saturday, achieved just a 63pc clearance rate, with many breeders and buyers left angry after investing substantial time and money to prepare for the event. Mr McKiernan said: No exhibitors were allowed on site during viewing time, so when buyers came in to view the bulls, by appointment, there were no exhibitors there. It was very hard for a buyer to look at a bull standing up in a pen beside another bull and pay four or five thousand euro for that bull its different with a normal commercial animal. Some bulls kept lying down too. I wouldnt be fit to buy a bull without seeing him walking you need to see the legs. During the sale ICCS staff led bulls up and down to the ring which, he says was a safety concern. There is no reason one person per exhibitor could not have stayed with their animals during viewing time for health and safety reasons and for buyers coming in to view. Having us lead out other mens bulls was a safety issue. Men travelled four and five hours from the top of Donegal and were very angry that they couldnt get in to even talk to a buyer about their animals or to show their animals to a buyer after all their preparations. Having us lead out other mens bulls was a safety issue too, he said. While McKiernan said ICCS did the best we could he says the current protocols make it impossible to run a pedigree sale. It was just mad and ridiculous and it absolutely affected trade. On Saturday only 63pc of the bulls forward sold; there was a large amount not bought. "While the average was good, we must take into account that high priced bulls are bringing up the average two of them sold to Great Britain (GB) and another to Northern Ireland. From our main Irish buyers, it was a poor show from them, he said also cautioning about the impact of a new import requirement for cattle going to GB. Brexit rule The post-Brexit rule set by UK authorities outlines that EU-origin cattle must be certified as having remained for 40 days on the holding of origin before import into GB. As such vendors are having to maintain animals on behalf of GB purchasers for 40 days post-sale. "On Saturday there was one GB customer that bought two bulls, but he had an agreement with another party to take the bulls and hold them for 40 days. But the big test for that rule will be premier sales coming up - we have a premier sale on March 20 in Elphin and a lot of those bulls will go to Northern Ireland and GB, he said. But ultimately on the Covid-19 protocols McKiernan is urging the Department to reconsider the procedures in place. For the rest of spring for all bull sales, one person per exhibitor must be allowed to stay with their animal at all times. This is necessary from a health and safety aspect, but also to allow a buyer to see them. Or else bull sales will called off as there will be a bad trade and it will just be a disaster. We need a bit of common sense to prevail because these bull sales are essential for the breeding season, he said. Power trip Eimear McGuinness of Mart Managers of Ireland also criticised the Departments lockdown protocol regime for pedigree sales this spring. Annoyed goes beyond what we feel this week. Marts and breed societies have worked so hard to keep sales going through all of this and at great expense. The Department could have tightened up on rules if they had wanted, but instead they chose to punish farmers at the ICCS sale. They used the ICCS sale like a test. All the poor farmers who spent time and money getting bulls ready for the sale were the big losers and that who we are most angry for. Shame on the Department, for some it seems to just be a power trip, said McGuinness who is also manager at Donegal Livestock Mart. She also added that her concerns regarding the Irish Charolais Cattle Society sale have been raised with Agriculture Minister Charlie McConalogue. As gun violence in Philadelphia has claimed 78 lives already this year and more lives are lost in other communities around the state, a freshman Democratic lawmaker is offering legislation that seeks to crack down on the illegal firearms that are often used to commit these crimes. Rep. Amen Brown of Philadelphia intends to sponsor a bill that would subject previously convicted felons found to be in possession of an illegal firearm to progressively stronger sentences and a minimum jail sentence. He considers it to be a first step in stopping the violence in his city as well as other places around Pennsylvania. Prior convicted felons are illegally obtaining firearms to commit violence on our streets, feeling that if they are caught and prosecuted, their consequences are minimal, he said in a memo that began circulating Monday afternoon to his House colleagues seeking their support. The terrorizing of our neighborhoods must stop and those committing these crimes must be held accountable. Legislation being proposed by Democratic freshman state Rep. Amen Brown of Philadelphia seeks to impose stiffer penalties on prior convicted felons found to be in possession of illegal firearms. Rep. Amen Brown's website His proposal also would make these offenders ineligible for bail unless they can demonstrate that they wont pose a public safety risk if released. Brown, who could not be reached on Monday for comment, represents a district in West Philadelphia that residents live in constant fear in their neighborhoods, he said in his memo. It is hard to witness what is happening in my community, as well as hear the fear that my constituents possess, he said. While his proposal would run counter to the efforts to ratchet back mandatory minimum prison sentences, Brown indicated his measure would identify a specific, narrow, demonstrably highly violent category of offenders to stop those offenders from reoffending and deter those who might otherwise commit violent crimes. I believe that building up our neighborhoods and economically developing our communities starts by making them safe. He further proposes to have this crackdown remain in place for four years before sunsetting, in order to stabilize our communities currently roiling in senseless violence. Jan Murphy may be reached at jmurphy@pennlive.com. Follow her on Twitter at @JanMurphy. Will Aldred ran 62 miles along the Angles Way over the Bank Holiday weekend to raise money for the Saint Vincent to Paul Society (SVP) in Norfolk. Will Aldred ran 62 miles along the Angles Way over the Bank Holiday weekend to raise money for the Saint Vincent to Paul Society (SVP) in Norfolk. Yarmouth area churches are phoning a friend Five churches in the Yarmouth area are taking part in a phone befriending scheme, but more are being urged to join, as demand for the service grows. Read more TV film as Norfolk man changed one million lives A documentary about the amazing story of Norwich-based charity Care for Childrens dream to foster one million children in China will be premiered tomorrow night on Sky TV. Read more Have your say on future role of Celebrate Norfolk The team behind ecumenical Christian charity Celebrate Norwich and Norfolk wants to hear your thoughts about its future role. Read more After the Storm will be a chance to reflect After the Storm? is a series of events set to take place at St Stephens Church, Norwich, in September 2021 to give people the chance to reflect on the global Covid-19 pandemic which has enveloped us all. Read more Quiet Waters has summer offer for keyworkers The Quiet Waters Christian retreat house in Bungay would like to give a big thank you to those who have been Essential Workers during the past year. Read more Breakfast fellowship in Cromer for forces veterans An Armed Forces and Veterans Breakfast Club (AFVBC) has started meeting again in North Norfolk, ending the recent social isolation of veterans during pandemic restrictions. Read more Two Recovery Workers needed by Matthew Project The Matthew Project is advertising two exciting full time opportunities as Recovery Workers, to support people in the community delivering 1:1 and group work. The roles will be centred in either Great Yarmouth or Kings Lynn and Thetford. Read more Call to Prayer finds a new home in Heartsease The Call to Prayer ministry is moving this summer to a new base in Heartsease. Read more YMCA opens cafe and soft play in Norwich A brand-new cafe and soft play area is set to open in Norwich on May 28 run by YMCA Norfolk in its new community hub on Aylsham Road near the city centre. Read more A record-breaking year for Mid-Norfolk Foodbank Wellspring Church in Dereham, Swaffham Baptist Church, and Fakenham Salvation Army centre have provided the bases for a record-breaking year at Mid-Norfolk Foodbank. Read more Transforming Norwich offers chance to meet Transforming Norwich will hold its next ministers and Christian leaders meeting on Zoom on Wednesday June 30. Read more How can our weakness be a strength? Andrew Frere-Smith explains why there can be some positive outcomes from the trials of the last fourteen months. Read more Norfolk science-faith lecture on 'dying well' Professor John Wyatt will give the next Norfolk Science-Faith lecture on the ethical guidelines for palliative care, based on issues raised by the coronavirus pandemic. The lecture and discussion will be online on June 7. Read more Walsingham Way provides a new route for pilgrims A new waymarked walking route between Norwich and Walsingham is being launched to celebrate the tradition of pilgrimage. Read more Reedham Gospel Hall goes up for sale The Gospel Hall in the Broadland village of Reedham has closed, and will be going under the auction hammer, because of a decline in attendance. Read more Christian artists host art trail in North Norfolk Three faith-filled artists in the Fakenham area are opening their studios to the public at the end of this week as part of a new initiative called North Norfolk Studios. Read more Barbara begins leadership in Wymondham with baptism of fire At a hugely challenging time, the Alive network appointed Barbara McLellan as the new pastor for their church in Wymondham. Read more Questo comunicato e stato pubblicato piu di 30 giorni fa. Le informazioni su questa pagina potrebbero non essere attendibili. Market Highlights According to MRFR analysis, Aortic Valve Market is expected to register a CAGR of 11.1% during the forecast period of 2019 to 2025 and held a value of USD 6,454.91 Million in 2018. GET FREE SAMPLE COPY @ https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/8632 An aortic valve is surgically implanted in the heart to replace a valve that has damaged due to heart valve diseases such as stenosis, regurgitation, and atresia. The replacement of damaged valves with prosthetic heart valves reduces the morbidity and mortality associated with aortic valve disorders. The growth of the global aortic valve market is boosted by various factors such as the rising geriatric population, surge in prevalence of cardiac disorders, in conjunction with the introduction of innovative products in the market. According to the Heart Valve Voice, approximately 1.5 million people over the age of 65 years are currently affected by heart valve disease in the UK, and the number is expected to increase up to 19 million by 2050. Moreover, increasing product approvals are likely to provide favorable conditions for the growth of the market. For instance, in June 2017, the US FDA granted market clearance for aortic and mitral valve-in-valve procedures using the Edwards Lifesciences Sapien 3 transcatheter heart valve (THV). However, product recalls due to safety reasons and changing regulatory landscapes are likely to hamper the growth of the market during the forecast period. Several market players currently dominate the global aortic valve market. The key players are engaged in product launches and strategic collaborations to strengthen their market positions. Regional Analysis The market has been divided, by region, into the Americas, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and the Middle East & Africa. The Americas held the maximum share in the base year 2018, owing to the presence of established key players in countries such as the US and Canada. The aortic valve market in the Americas has further been branched into North America and Latin America, with the North American market is further divided into the US and Canada. The European aortic valve market has been categorized as Western Europe and Eastern Europe. The Western European market has been classified as Germany, France, the UK, Italy, Spain, and the rest of Western Europe. The aortic valve market in Asia-Pacific has been segmented into Japan, China, India, South Korea, Australia, and the rest of Asia-Pacific. The aortic valve market in this region is anticipated to be the fastest growing during the assessment period due to the booming geriatric population, rising prevalence of cardiovascular diseases, and favorable government initiatives for disease treatment. The aortic valve market in the Middle East & Africa has been divided into the Middle East and Africa. Aortic Valve Market Segmentation The Global Aortic Valve Market has been segmented based on Type of Valve, Suture, Surgery, and End User. The market, based on valve type, has been divided into mechanical and biological. The mechanical valve segment is likely to be the largest due to the high adoption of mechanical valves in replacement procedures. The biological valves segment is predicted to be the fastest-growing due to the increasing awareness about the advantages of biological valves in replacement procedures. Magna Ease (Edwards Lifesciences Corporation), Hancock II (Medtronic), Trifecta (Abbott) are some of the well-known biological valves brands currently present in the market. The Global Aortic Valve Market has been segmented, based on the surgery type, into minimally invasive surgery and open surgery. The minimally invasive surgery segment is further divided into transfemoral, transaortic implantation, transapical, and trans-subclavian. It is expected to hold majority share of the market owing to shorter hospital stay, less pain, and faster recovery as compared to open-heart surgery. The end users of the market are hospitals, ambulatory surgery centers. The hospital segment is likely to hold the maximum share during the forecast period. Browse Full Report Details @ https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/aortic-valve-market-8632 Key Players Some of the key players in the Global Aortic Valve Market are Boston Scientific Corporation (US), Medtronic(US), Abbott Laboratories (US), LivaNova PLC (UK), Edwards Lifesciences Corporation (US), CryoLife (US), Biotronik (Germany), Colibri Heart Valve (US), JenaValve (US), and TTK HealthCare (India), among others. A middle school teacher in custody for allegedly abducting a girl last year has been further accused of paying another minor for sex, police have revealed, reports the Asahi Shimbun In the latest allegations, Yasuhiro Funayama, 43, allegedly engaged in sex with a high school to engage in sex at a hotel in Tsuchiura City, Ibaraki Prefecture on six occasions between last August and January. Acc to the Takenotsuka Police Station, Funayama paid 20,000 yen to the girl, 17, for each encounter while knowing she was a minor. Upon his arrest on suspicion of violating the anti-child prostitution law, Funayama admitted to the allegations, police said. Funayama, a resident of Nerima Ward, teaches at a middle school in Nakano Ward. Last month, police accused Funayama of abducting a middle school student. Last July, he allegedly lured the girl out to two hotels after meeting her on a social-networking service. If you stay at a hotel, Ill pay you, the suspect reportedly wrote. The Nakano Ward Board of Education said that neither it nor the school has been able to confirm the facts of the case due to the stage of the investigation. The board also apologized. We will continue to work to prevent a recurrence and restore trust, a representative said, according to NHK (Mar. 2). Ukraine could receive IMF tranche before summer start - advisor to Presidential Office chief That's according to working-level agreements, Mylovanov claims. Reporting by UNIAN If you see a spelling error on our site, select it and press Ctrl+Enter Current Affairs G eneral elections in the Turks and Caicos Islands on Friday, February 19th, 2021, were "free and fair", according to the CARICOM Elections Observation Mission. The three-member mission, led by Dr. Robert Stephen Mahadeo Surujbally of Guyana, in a preliminary statement issued the day after the elections, said the peacefulness of the elections reflected the tranquility of the society of the Turks and Caicos Islands". The members of the CEOM visited 25 out of 33 polling stations across the ten polling station locations, specifically all polling stations in Providenciales, North Caicos and Middle Caicos. The CARICOM team highly commended the extensive public health protocols implemented by the Elections Department to ensure the safety of both voters and election day workers in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. It said that voters and workers observed social distancing and wore masks and the polling stations were sanitized throughout the day. The observers found that the voting process at polling stations was smooth and efficient. It noted that the polls opened late, but closed later to ensure the designated amount of time allocated to the voters to exercise their franchise was strictly adhered to. "With regard to voting, despite some variations in process across the polling stations visited, the process was relatively smooth and efficient. In general, the polling clerks explained the voting process in detail, and first-time voters were oriented appropriately. There were no incidents of intimidation of voters inside or outside of the polling stations," the team said They also felt that more measures could have been put in place to assist the elderly and differently-abled voters, particularly as they were encouraged to visit the polling stations to vote at a specific time of day. The CARICOM Mission will prepare a final Report for submission to CARICOM Secretary-General Ambassador Irwin LaRocque. It will also be shared with the Turks and Caicos Islands Government, the Leader of the Opposition and the Elections Department. Dr. Surujbally was joined on the Mission by Mr Ian Hughes, HE Ambassador Felix Gregoire and Ms Valique Gomes of the CARICOM Secretariat who provided support. West Chester, PA -- (SBWIRE) -- 03/02/2021 -- The family law attorneys at Carosella & Associates recommend that clients consider marital agreements before tying the knot or when big life changes occur. Although many relationships last a lifetime, a prenuptial or postnuptial agreement can help protect a client's assets in the event of a divorce. Even in the best of marriages, conflict over finances happens, and when divorce is involved things can become contentious. A divorce attorney who is experienced in drafting prenuptial and postnuptial agreements can help couples head off these issues before they start. "Our family law team is dedicated to helping couples and families resolve issues in a respectful, rational manner that takes everyone's feelings into account," says Vincent Carosella, founding Partner. "A prenuptial or postnuptial agreement is one way to help individuals set realistic expectations and avoid conflict. A well-drafted agreement that both parties support can actually strengthen a relationship and give couples peace of mind." There are many different reasons couples may choose to sign a prenuptial or postnuptial agreement. At Carosella & Associates, divorce lawyers and contract attorneys work in concert to develop creative solutions that fit each client's unique needs. This collaborative approach enables them to provide personalized legal services their clients have come to know and trust. Whether someone has significant assets or a couple with a blended family wants to create an agreement as part of an estate plan, a pre- or postnuptial agreement protects everyone's interests and helps them avoid potential legal, financial and emotional pitfalls should divorce or issues surrounding inheritance arise. About Carosella & Associates For more than 24 years, the skilled team of attorneys, paralegals, firm administrators, administrative assistants and legal secretaries at Carosella & Associates has provided top-quality legal representation for matters in myriad aspects of the law. The full-service law firm has decades of experience in many different areas, including estate planning, business succession planning, commercial and residential real estate, zoning, contracts, bankruptcy, immigration, divorce, and criminal law. Several of the attorneys at Carosella & Associates are licensed to practice law in both Pennsylvania and New Jersey. Cyber threats across commercial and government enterprises appear to be so common that seldom do we see major stories on the topic. The past couple of weeks were an exception, as gas stations along the East Coast ran out of fuel supplies, thanks to the paralyzing cyberattack on null DENVER, March 2, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Concept3D, the leader in creating immersive online experiences with 3D modeling, interactive maps and virtual tour software, today announced that - due to the hardships faced by the hospitality and tourism industries as a result of the global pandemic - the company is offering its software at no cost through December 31, 2021. Concept3D Offers Virtual Tour and Mapping Software to Hospitality and Tourism Industry at No Cost Concept3D is a trusted partner to major theme parks, convention centers, hotels and universities. The company's virtual experiences are a known quantity in addressing demand generation, lead engagement, and marketing strategy. As the industry looks for innovative solutions to deal with an increasingly virtual sales process, Concept3D is well positioned to assist in the transformation and reach organizational goals. "With people staying home and unable to travel, the tourism and hospitality industries have been hit hard, and we're hopeful that this offer and our software can help make a difference as hotels, resorts, restaurants, and many others are doing whatever they can to bounce back," said Gordon Boyes, CEO, Concept3D. "If a virtual tour or interactive map of your grounds and facility would help, our team is ready to make it happen." Concept3D software is designed specifically to create realistic virtual experiences, making it possible for people located anywhere in the world to view and learn about a location, helping them plan future trips, events, vacations and activities. The offer is only for clients in the hospitality and tourism industries, and customers will choose between Concept3D's 360 Tour or interactive map. The 360 Tour offer includes: 10 tour stops Hotspots Custom branding and style options Unlimited additional images per stop Audio narration VR-enabled Call-to-action buttons The interactive map offer includes: Categories and Location Integrated Map Tours Call-to-action Pop-ups Directions Share/Get this View Text Only Map Map Timer for Overlays Polygon Tool Learn more about the offer details and contact Concept3D at: https://www.concept3d.com/hospitality-2021 Examples of Concept3D's Virtual Tour and Interactive Map software: 360 Tour: The Hutton House, Wedding and Event Venue: https://tour.concept3d.com/share/M6OzAWpPw/stop/1 Hotel Covington: https://vr.concept3d.com/covington-map/ Interactive Map: Visit Indianapolis https://map.concept3d.com/?id=1801#!s/?ct/46583,45227 Hotel del Mar https://map.concept3d.com/?id=1179#!ct/27879 About Concept3D: Founded in 2006, Concept3D is a leader in creating immersive online experiences with 3D modeling, interactive maps and VR enabled virtual tour software. Concept3D software brings any physical location into an intuitive and navigable digital format, providing clients with a powerful competitive edge through applications like data visualization, wayfinding, virtual reality, and real-time data feed integration. Concept3D clients include convention centers and event spaces, data centers, healthcare and retirement facilities, large commercial sites, resorts, hotels and theme parks, and universities and colleges. Learn more at https://www.concept3D.com . Media Contact: Matt Bennett ECHOS Communications 303-647-5570 [email protected] SOURCE Concept3D More wayward souls caught up in the glitz and glamour of the illegal sea cucumber trade. A few years ago we reported on the growing problem of yakuza crews catching large amounts of sea cucumbers without a license. As odd as it may seem, sea cucumbers fetch a high price in some countries such as China where theyre used in cuisine and sometimes as a folk remedy. Sea cucumbers also arent as strictly regulated by Japan as other seafoods, making them easier to ship abroad in large quantities without drawing attention. According to some reports, the sea cucumber black market can be as lucrative as drugs for organized crime groups in Japan. In response, the government said they would tighten the rules surrounding sea cucumber exports, but it looks as if little has improved with the arrest of 10 scuba-diving gangsters as recently as 1 March. The incident occurred on 25 August of last year. A Hokkaido Prefectural Police patrol car spotted a car parked on the shore in the town of Omu, and questioned the driver. At that same time a rubber boat loaded with oxygen tanks, radios, and other equipment came ashore. There were no sea cucumbers on the tiny craft, but thats in keeping with past incidents. In some cases the poached echinoderms are loaded onto a high-performance speed boat capable of outrunning the coast guard, and whisked away. When the literal coast is clear, they are then loaded on to trucks and prepared for export. So, knowing that something was clearly going on, the police investigated the incident further and connected 10 members of the Asahikawa branch of the Yamaguchi-gumi yakuza family, including one 57-year-old boss. The industrialists behind Renishaw are set for a 2.6bn windfall after putting the engineering giant they founded up for sale. Sir David McMurtry, 80, and John Deer, 83, set up the company in 1973 and built it into a world-leading manufacturer of precision measurement devices, worth 5billion. But they said they now 'felt the time was right' to step back from the business and sell their collective 53 per cent stake. The announcement sent the firm's shares soaring by 19 per cent, or 1100p, to a record 6900p. Selling up: Renishaw founder John Deer, left, has a stake worth 834m while fellow founder Sir David McMurtry, right, has a holding worth 1.82bn That valued McMurtry's 36.2 per cent stake at 1.82billion while Deer's 16.6 per cent holding is now worth 834million. 'We are both grateful for our continued good health, however we recognise that neither of us is getting any younger,' the pair said. 'Now finding ourselves in our 80s, our thoughts have increasingly turned to considering the future of our shareholdings in the company and how we can actively contribute to securing the future success of the business. 'We approached the rest of the board to indicate that we felt the time was now right to discuss the best way to achieve this. We are focused on ensuring that we find the right new owner for our business one who respects and will continue to nurture these important attributes.' The proposed sale raises the prospect of yet another high-tech British success story falling into foreign hands or to a private equity bidder. Berenberg analyst Anthony Plom said that Renishaw was 'one of the few world-class UK manufacturing businesses left'. McMurtry and Deer stressed that they will seek 'a buyer who will respect the unique heritage and culture of the business, its commitment to the local communities in which its operations are based, and who will enable the company to continue to prosper in the long-term'. Futuristic: McMurtry's 30million eco home doubled as a TV supervillain's lair in BBC's Sherlock The company is based in Wotton-under-Edge, Gloucestershire, and employs nearly 4,500 people. McMurtry, who is executive chairman, remains Renishaw's biggest shareholder, while Deer is non-executive deputy chairman and the second-biggest shareholder. The pair met in the 1970s while working in Bristol for Rolls-Royce, where McMurtry rose to be deputy chief designer. He had been tasked with finding a way to measure small fuel pipes used in Rolls's Olympus engines, to power the Concorde jet. Workers had been doing this with a traditional probe but during a weekend in his garage, McMurtry invented the first 'touch trigger probe' using basic materials he had at home. The electrical device, which triggered a signal when it came into contact with the surface of a pipe, was capable of measuring to one millionth of a metre. 'It took me all weekend, many hours, and nearly a divorce,' McMurtry later said. It proved far more accurate and consistent than the old methods, and soon became ubiquitous in the manufacturing world. And from that kernel, the pair started Renishaw Electrical together in 1973. They bought the company, which came with its name, as an empty shell to bypass the lengthy incorporation process at the time. At first, Rolls-Royce patented McMurtry's idea but the partners became sole-licensees, co-owners and eventually sole owners after buying out their former employer. Berenberg analyst Anthony Plom said that Renishaw was 'one of the few world-class UK manufacturing businesses left' Renishaw also fought several court battles to protect its intellectual property from copycats, before going on to list on the London Stock Exchange in 1984. Since then, it has grown and now owns nearly 1,900 patents. In 2019, before the pandemic struck, it boasted annual revenues of 574million and profits of 110million. The headquarters in Wotton-under-Edge is a 19th century former woollen mill, previously owned by fabric maker Courtaulds Textiles, in 26 acres of parkland. And, ever the inventor, McMurtry built his own futuristic eco-mansion nearby the spectacular Swinhay House. The eight-bedroom, 30million property, with its distinctive blend of glass-panelled ceilings, metal panelling and Cotswold stone, doubled as a supervillain's lair in BBC show Sherlock. Across ten storeys and three wings, it boasts its own underground garage, bowling alley, squash court, 47ft high viewing tower, jacuzzi, sauna and a 25-metre swimming pool. But McMurtry and his family prefer not to live in the country home, which is used to host charitable events and rented out for photography and film-making. Renishaw, too, has branched out from its roots. While its measuring products are used to make sure machinery moves precisely in production lines ranging from food manufacturing to televisions, it also works in robotics, dental products and 3D printing. Russ Mould, investment director of broker AJ Bell, said the sale could see Renishaw taken private and removed from the stock market. Warning that the UK stock market was 'battling an identity problem', he added: 'News that Renishaw has put itself up for sale is a further blow if it results in a sale to a third party that delists the business. 'One could imagine that an Asian company would be interested in owning Renishaw, but such a buyer may have different views on whose culture should prevail.' Syracuse, N.Y. -- Amazon has begun hiring for jobs at a massive distribution center in Clay and a last-mile delivery facility in DeWitt, both of which are still under construction. The online retailer lists two support engineer positions at the Clay site, and eight jobs for process assistants, human resources personnel, driver trainers, field quality assurance employees and a yard marshal in DeWitt. The jobs are posted on the companys Amazon Jobs website. They are just a few of the hundreds of jobs that Amazon is expected to create in Onondaga County this year. At 3.8 million square feet of floor space, the Clay location off Morgan Road will be one of the largest warehouses in the world and will employ 1,000 people. The $350 million facility is scheduled to open this fall. Amazon is building a 112,000-square-foot delivery station on Kirkville Road in DeWitt that is expected to employ 200 people. It is scheduled to open in the spring. Jenna Hilzenrath, a spokesperson for Amazon, said the company typically starts hiring for most roles a few weeks before it opens a facility. Amazon has said jobs at the two facilities will pay a minimum of $15 an hour. Job seekers can apply online at the Amazon Jobs website. Rick Moriarty covers business news and consumer issues. Got a tip, comment or story idea? Contact him anytime: Email | Twitter | Facebook | 315-470-3148 Indian investigative agencies scored a major victory when London's Westminster Magistrates' Court ruled in favour of extraditing Nirav Modi to India. This marked a significant milestone in the long-drawn legal battle that Enforcement Directorate (ED) and Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had been fighting since 2018. The financial probe agency presented its case to extradite Modi in UK courts, through Crown Prosecution Service (CPS). It also continued to identify and attach assets belonging to the fugitive diamantaire and his associates, located in India and abroad, so that the proceeds of crime generating from defrauding Punjab National Bank (PNB) could be recovered. The ED seized assets worth hundreds of crores of rupees under this endeavour. ED began its investigation in the Punjab National Bank fraud case on February 14, 2018. It moved UK authorities to extradite Modi On July 27, 2018. The UK courts relied heavily on evidence furnished by the ED. Modi had been charged with money laundering, destruction of evidence and illegal businesses via shell companies. Nirav Modi's shell companies Evidence presented by the ED convinced the UK court that Modi, along with his associate Mihir Bhansali and others, arranged for appointment of dummy partners in Diamond R US, Solar Exports and Stellar Diamonds, who were then used to route money generated from defrauding PNB. "The individuals chosen to be dummy partners were paid a meagre cash sum and did not perform any genuine functions ordinarily associated with legitimate partners. The firms remained under the direct control of Nirav Modi," reads the order copy of the UK court. The ED also submitted before the court that Modi had set up several companies in Hong Kong and Dubai which received the proceeds of crime from the PNB fraud. Dummy directors, owners, managers were appointed in these companies, although they remained under Modi's direct control. "The companies were used for the circular rotation of diamonds, pearls, gold and jewellery at highly inflated values to give the impression that the companies in receipt of the Letter of Undertakings (LOUs) issued by Punjab National Bank were engaged in legitimate trade," reads the UK court order. Diversion of funds across India, abroad The ED also unearthed how Nirav Modi and his associates diverted proceeds of crime. These transactions included transfer of $50 million to Firestar International Pvt Ltd, India as foreign direct investment, over $50 million to a US-based jewellery rental company called "Bailey Bank and Biddle" owned by Nirav Modi, illegal payments and loads to companies in Hong Kong and Dubai controlled by Modi, purchase of properties using proceeds of crime laundered through multiple companies under his control and accounts of his close family members. ED also found evidence of proceeds of crime being transferred to various bank accounts in Switzerland, Singapore and other overseas jurisdictions. Some of this amount has been identified and seized by the agency. Nirav Modi's modus operandi After a detailed investigation, the ED found that between March 1, 2011, and March 1, 2020, Modi conspired with several individuals and entities to conceal, disguise, convert, transfer or remove criminal property, from the direct or indirect funds obtained through Buyer's Credit guaranteed by 1,214 Letters of Undertaking (LoUs) worth $1,015.35 million issued by the PNB, knowing those funds to represent in whole or in part the proceeds of criminal conduct. Modi's accomplices included Neeshal Modi, Nehal Deepak Modi, Deepak Kumar Modi, Shyamsunder Wadhwa, Gokulnath Shetty, Purvi Maiank Mehta, Maiank Mehta, Saju Poulose Parokaran, Aditya Nanavati, Hemant Bhatt, Subhash Parab, Mihir Bhansali, Dharmesh Bothra, Radashir Jewelery Company Pvt Ltd, Solar Exports, Stellar Diamond, Diamonds R US, Firestar International Pvt Ltd, Firestar Diamond International Pvt Ltd, Nirav Modi Trust, Firestone Trading Pvt Ltd, Mak Business Enterprises Pvt Ltd, Bentley Properties Pvt Ltd, Ami Nirav Modi, Neeshal Merchandizing Private Limited, Belvedere Holdings Group Ltd, Nirav Modi Ltd, Yanike Properties Ltd, Diamond Holdings SA, Central Park Real Estate LLC, Pavilion Point Corporation, Rhythm House Private Limited, Pacific Diamonds FZE, Fine Classic FZE and Firestar Diamond FZE. Threat to kill witness, destroying evidence Apart from the financial crimes, another grave allegation against Nirav Modi was that he threatened to kill Ashish Lad - a witness in the case. In the third supplementary request to the UK court, ED submitted evidence on conspiracy to prevent the course of justice and threats to kill Lad. The UK court noted that Modi and others, between September 2008 and June 2018, "conspired together, committed acts tending and intended to prevent the course of justice by causing evidence relevant to a criminal investigation into a fraud committed upon the Punjab National Bank, to be removed from the premises of Bank's Brady House Branch, Mumbai and concealing in the law firm Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas to prevent that evidence being discovered by investigators." The court also ruled that Modi was "involved in interfering with witnesses relevant to the investigation by arranging for them to travel to, and remain in, Cairo, Egypt, where they were pressured to sign false statements." The court also took in consideration ED evidence establishing destruction of a server in Dubai, as well as mobile phones and electronic devices which were taken away from the witness in Dubai and Hong Kong. On July 27, 2018, and June 10, 2019, Lad gave detailed accounts of "round-tripping transactions" which were used to create turnover for Nirav Modi's Firestar Group. He also revealed how transactions were communicated through a private communications system "panmail" or "crickinfo" within Firestar Group as well as the Dubai- and Hong Kong-based companies. Lad said in his statement that after investigation started in March 2018, Modi's accomplice Mihir Bhansali instructed all the dummy directors to withdraw money from the Dubai-based accounts. "They were told the cash would be handed over to Nirav Modi's brother Nehal Modi. Thereafter in March 2018, Nehal Modi and Mihir Bhansali instructed them to go to Cairo and threatened that police would arrest them if they remained in Dubai. Flights were arranged by Nehal Modi. In the meeting with the dummy directors, Mihir Bhansali told them that there is a hostile scenario in India right now, and if we go to India, we will be arrested by the investigating agencies. He also told us that if we cooperate with them, they will provide shelter and legal help," India Today quoted Ashish Lad as saying. Lad further said that Mihir Bhansali conveyed Modi's instructions about the terms of the sale and purchase transactions by Dubai-based firms with Nirav Modi's firms. He revealed that witnesses were told "to not disclose his [Nirav Modi] name before any authority". Lad also explained that Nehal Modi on his visit to Dubai took their mobile phones back with him and issued new ones. "There was a server in the office of World Diamond Distribution FZE in which all the data related to accounting and operations in respect of all the companies of Nirav Modi in Dubai was stored. The server was connected to all the branch/head offices of the supplier dummy companies of Nirav Modi. As I recollect, somewhere at the end of March or April 2018, the office premises of World Diamond Distribution FZE situated in Dafza was vacated and returned to the authority. Similarly, the other branch/head offices of certain dummy companies were also vacated and returned to the respective authorities. Prior to vacating the office of World Diamond Distribution FZE, the server was also removed. As per my knowledge, Nehal Modi handed over the server hard disc to the firm of Pakistani nationals for destroying the same," Ashish Lad said in his statement. Lad and others were taken to Cairo and their phones were taken again. Nehal Modi organised this trip. The ED also presented a video recording before the court where Modi's associates described themselves as "owners" of various companies. They revealed that they were made to sign documents stating that the Modi-controlled companies in Dubai belonged to them, for their safety, India Today reported. The documents stated that they have been carrying on business with Firestar and Nirav Modi and after his financial crises, their businesses faced difficulties and to avoid creditor claims, they have all come to Cairo. Based on this evidence, the court ruled, "The conversations show how Nehal Modi placed pressure on individuals to make untruthful statements, tell them what to say in statements. In a conversation between Nehal Modi and Ashish Lad, Nehal Modi is instructing Ashish Lad about how he should return to India via Calcutta to evade the authorities. He explains a lawyer will visit him and he will sign documents and make the same statements as Divyesh Ghandi. He also tells Ashish Lad he will need to go to Europe to make a statement in return for 20 lakh. In another transcribed call with Rushabh Jethwa, Nehal Modi instructs him to make a statement in which he states he travelled to Cairo because he was scared and that he does not work with Nirav Modi." ALSO READ: Extradition verdict against Nirav Modi vindicates efforts to curb corruption: CBI ALSO READ: Nirav Modi extradition verdict: Too early to celebrate, say legal experts ALSO READ: Nirav Modi to be extradited to India; Arthur Road Jail fit for him, rules UK court Vaccine trials in Vietnam are making steady progress. Photo: Dat Dat New hopes for the population came on February 24 when the first batch of nearly 118,000 doses of AstraZenecas COVID-19 vaccine arrived at Tan Son Nhat International Airport in Ho Chi Minh City. Deputy Minister of Health Truong Quoc Cuong said, The vaccine arrives timely for the countrys fight against the pandemic. While Vietnam has strived to control the virus spread, community vaccination plays an important role to achieve the dual goals of fighting against epidemics and developing the economy. The vaccine has been shown to be effective at preventing symptomatic COVID-19, and has been granted conditional marketing authorisation or emergency use approval in more than 50 countries, with the World Health Organization Emergency Use Listing accelerating the pathway to access in up to 145 countries through the COVAX Facility, the global procurement arm of COVID-19 Vaccines Global Access. The Ministry of Health (MoH) is now moving to increase further import of vaccines from other suppliers in line with the government directions, while making preparations to quicken inoculations in order of importance with the 11 priority groups of people to receive the COVID-19 vaccination already announced. According to Minister of Health Nguyen Thanh Long, the MoH is working to ensure supply of 100 million doses of the vaccine, including 30 million doses from the COVAX Facility, 30 million from AstraZeneca, 30 million in negotiation with Pfizer, and perhaps more from Russias Sputnik V, which could possibly supply up to 60 million doses for Vietnam. Together with the vaccine import, which makes Vietnam together with Thailand the two first countries in ASEAN to receive the COVID-19 vaccine, Vietnams domestically-made COVID-19 trials are in line with the schedule, and it is expected that production will begin next year. Vietnam was one of the first countries to successfully control SARS, A/H5N1 flu and A/H1N1 flu, and prevent a number of emerging dangerous epidemics such as influenza A/H7N9, Ebola, and MERS. Vietnams latest battles with the coronavirus have been contained, with the latest wave from the end of January hitting 13 cities and provinces. As of last week nearly all of the localities experienced well over a week of suffering no new cases. Swift and continued control of the situation is doing wonders for economic recovery compared to other nations worldwide. As more countries quicken the vaccination process so as to bring trade and life back to the normal, economic movements and national attractiveness is beginning to rise again this year. Vietnams GDP grew 2.91 per cent in 2020 despite the pandemic challenges, making it one of the three countries in Asia that gained positive growth. The economy continued to show signs of recovery in January on the back of the governments supporting policies when the index of industrial production rose 22.2 per cent on-year, registration of newly-established businesses ascended 21.9 per cent in number and 25.9 per cent in capital, and public investment disbursement increased 24.5 per cent. According to the General Department of Vietnam Customs, from January 1 to February 15, the economys total export and import turnover hit $74.16 billion, up 31.1 per cent on-year tantamount to a rise of $17.58 billion. The countrys successful control of the pandemic has won confidence of business community, and has become a target for a range of new plans for investment shifts. According to statistics from the Ministry of Planning and Investment, in the first two months of 2021, the disbursement of foreign capital reached $2.5 billion, up 2 per cent on-year. The World Bank forecast that the global economy is expected to expand 4 per cent in 2021 after shrinking 4.3 per cent in 2020. In this recovery, Vietnams prospects appear positive as the economy is projected to grow by about 6.8 per cent in 2021 and, thereafter, stabilise at around 6.5 per cent. WHITE COUNTY, Ind. (WLFI) - Thirteen local school districts from seven different counties came together Monday night as one voice to oppose several pieces of state legislation that do not support public education. This is the first joint school board meeting of its kind in Indiana. Educators across the state have been pushing hard for more public school funding since the Red for Ed Rally at the Indiana Statehouse in November of 2019, but many feel their demands are falling on deaf ears. According to Business Insider, Indiana ranks 38th in the nation in terms of teacher pay. Governor Eric Holcomb's Next Level Teacher Compensation Commission released its report in December, which emphasizes the need to increase teacher pay to attract more high quality educators and retain them. "92% of the kids in Indiana attend public schools," said J.T. Coopman, Executive Director of the Indiana Association of Public School Superintendents. "Why are we diverting money away from the majority of kids?" The schools who had voting quorum with school board attendance were Benton Central, Carroll Consolidated, Delphi, Eastern Pulaski, North Newton, North White, Pioneer and Tri-County. Four other schools had representation there to support the resolution: Rensselaer, Kankakee Valley, West Central and Frontier. The eight voting schools unanimously passed a resolution opposing three pieces of proposed legislation: House Bill 1005, Senate Bill 413 and Senate Bill 412. Educators who attended Monday's meeting want to make their voice loud and clear to Indiana lawmakers. "It's time that our state legislators put public education first," said Alesia Brown, an elementary teacher at Carroll Consolidated. "Small rural schools are the life blood of our communities," said Kate Daily, President of the Eastern Pulaski Teacher's Association. "Public schools have been pushed to the breaking point," said a representative from the Rensselaer Teacher's Association. "We've watched programs disappear, class sizes increase and teachers leave the profession." "What else is it going to take to make our elected officials stand with public schools?" asked the President of the Eastern Pulaski School Board. "Without high quality public schools, our democracy is going to crumble," said Coopman, who was the keynote speaker at the meeting. Indiana public schools are getting a pay increase of 3.5% over the biennium, as the current budget bill reads, but the educators at Monday's meeting say it's not enough. Especially since House Bill 1005 would take money that could be going to public schools and is expanding the voucher program for private and charter schools to an unlimited amount of vouchers. Charter schools were first introduced in Indiana in the late 1990's as a way to help innovate the ways of education. They were supposed to just be for low income kids who want better education options. But since then, Coopman said "entrepreneurs" have realized how profitable these schools are and have lobbied Indiana lawmakers to continue to increase funding to them. "To have another 3% of that money going into vouchers when we need it to fund our schools and pay our teachers is just wrong," he said. "These charter schools testified that we can do it better and cheaper, and that's how they got their foot in the door. But now they say we need more money, we don't have property taxes like public schools have and we need a portion of every school district's property tax. I disagree with that. We need a portion of any district that does a referendum, no you don't." It also significantly raises the household poverty income threshold for vouchers. Many of these vouchers are to private schools that are religiously affiliated. The argument of public school educators is that these private schools are taking public money and yet they don't have the same level of scrutiny and rules for how they use that money. It also brings up issues of the separation of church and state. "The threshold for House Bill 1005 for a family of four in poverty is $145,000. And that number goes up to $174,000 in 22, 23," said Coopman. "Does that sound like living in poverty to you?" The federal income poverty threshold for a family of four is $26,500 per year. Senate Bills 412 and 413 would divert funding towards educational savings accounts. A family would get a debit card with $5,000 to $7,000 thousand state dollars on it for them to spend on educational services. Coopman said they have been fighting ESA legislation for about the past three legislative sessions. "There's no accountability, there's no oversight, there's no how did you spend this money, there's no justifying how you spent the money," said Coopman. "In other states that have this the abuse has been horrendous." SB 412 died in the Senate, but SB 413 is still alive and is tailored to only families who have foster children or kids with special needs or disabilities. While giving this type of funding to these families seems like a great idea up front, Coopman said this bill is just like the charter schools. Once Pandora's box is opened, it will open the door for the ESA's to be expanded and expanded until any family can get one of these accounts and the program continues to divert more and more funding from public education. And while SB 412 died, Coopman said there is an absolute possibility it will be tacked on to the large budget bill, and will be passed anyways. District 7 State Senator Brian Buchanan (R) is currently sponsoring House Bill 1005, and he was the original author of SB 412. He voted to pass SB 413 out of the Senate. Five of the schools who attended Monday's meeting are in his district: Tri-County, North White, Twin Lakes, Frontier and Delphi. Sen. Buchanan sent the following statement Tuesday evening: "The goal of House Bill 1005 is to help children in Indiana receive the very best education possible. I firmly believe a quality education can unlock many positive opportunities for our youth. HB 1005 is focused on removing financial roadblocks and empowering more parents to take control of their childs education. We are just starting to work on HB 1005 in the Indiana Senate, and over the next few weeks, we will be talking with key stakeholders and gathering public input in regard to the legislation. I have personally talked with numerous school board members, administrators, teachers and parents from all across Indiana regarding this legislation. We will continue these discussions and dialogue in the coming weeks I have no doubt we can fully support our tremendous public schools and provide families with quality opportunities for school choice." State Senator Ron Alting (R) did not support SB 413 on its senate floor vote. When Governor Eric Holcomb first introduced his budget for they year, he allocated $370 million new monies for K-12 education. And while charter and voucher programs were still included in that, their funding was not expanded and it did not include ESA's at all. The current House budget bill, which passed out of the House on February 22nd, includes $144 million to expand publicly-funded private school programs. The vote to pass the budget largely fell along party lines. State Rep. Don Lehe (R) voted in favor of the budget. State Reps. Chris Campbell and Sheila Klinker (D) voted against it. State Rep. Sharron Negele (R) was excused from the vote. The bills are proposed as promoting school choice, but this group of educators say public schools should always be the choice for our legislators. "47% of children selecting another school chose a public school," said Coopman. "How does that demonstrate the need to promote vouchers and charters? The data is right there. There is no need to do that." The state budget bill was referred to the Senate Appropriations Committee on Feb. 24th and is waiting to be read. House Bill 1005 passed the House on Feb. 17th and has since been referred to the Senate committee on Education and Career Development. It hasn't been scheduled on that committee's agenda yet. Senate Bill 413 passed the Senate and was referred to the House on Feb. 24th. It has not yet been assigned to a committee. One place that is all too familiar with the impact of bank closures is Belleek. The village in west Fermanagh was once home to three banks. Now it has none. The loss of its Bank of Ireland branch, the last bank in town, almost four years ago marked the end of an era in the border village, home to the world famous Belleek Pottery. Two other banks - Northern (later Danske) and First Trust (now AIB) - had pulled out in previous years. In July 2016, the Bank of Ireland branch in Belleek was among eight across Northern Ireland earmarked for closure, joining Castlereagh, Draperstown, Antrim, Castlederg, Newtownards, Maghera and Belfast's Donegall Square South beside the City Hall. At the time, the bank said the volume of business at these eight branches was "insufficient" to sustain them on a commercial basis in the long term, a move that affected 54 staff. Bank of Ireland's decision to proceed with their Belleek closure plan came despite 7,500 people signing a petition opposing the move and a week of daily protests supported by local MLAs and councillors from both Co Fermanagh and neighbouring Co Donegal. Campaigners had argued that the closure of Belleek, which had over 5,000 customers from both sides of the border, would be devastating for the local community. A series of meetings were also held between public representatives and bank officials in a bid to reverse the decision. First Minister Arlene Foster had backed the campaign to keep the branch, located within her Fermanagh and South Tyrone constituency, open, arguing that its removal "would be a strike to the very heart of the village". Despite the well-publicised campaign to save Belleek's last remaining bank, the message fell on deaf ears as the branch shut its doors for the last time on March 31, 2017. Customers with accounts in Belleek now have to face a 50-mile return trip to Enniskillen to visit their nearest branch. SDLP councillor John Coyle, who represents the Erne North area, said the decision to close the only bank left in Belleek has deprived both local people and businesses of a vital service. "As a community we fought hard and did everything in our power to reverse the closure but in the end, Bank of Ireland just didn't listen. Rural areas like Belleek, which have been left without a bank, also have poor broadband and insufficient public transport links to accommodate the customers," Mr Coyle said. "In terms of customer service, the staff who worked in Belleek also knew every single customer when they walked in the door so that personal touch is gone too." Businesswoman Bridie Gormley, chairperson of Belleek Chamber of Commerce, was among those who fought to secure this vital community hub. "We shouldn't have run our campaign now in hindsight because the bank had their minds made up that they were leaving Belleek and that was the end of the story," Mrs Gormley said. She added: "Even though we tried, there was no room for consultation. We sat out for days gathering hundreds of signatures for our petition which I would say wasn't even looked at. "Local people are not making regular 50-mile round trips to Enniskillen so any cash has to be held on to at your own risk." Mrs Gormley said the closure has had a huge impact, particularly because of the large number of southern customers who had accounts in Belleek. "We would have had people coming in from as far away as Sligo to use the bank and they were also spending money in the businesses around town. That additional footfall is now gone," she said. By the end of this year, there will be just one Bank of Ireland branch left in Co Fermanagh following confirmation yesterday that Lisnaskea is now set to close as part of its strategic review of Northern Ireland business. "We have all had to adjust to moving our banking online. It seems to be the case that only the county towns will have banks in the future," Mrs Gormley added. The Tennessee Bar Association issued a statement on Tuesday challenging a Tennessee House resolution that would consider removing Nashville Chancellor Ellen Hobbs Lyle from office. House Resolution 23 (HR 23) would "have a chilling effect on the administration of justice in our state and threatens the bedrock principle of separation of powers, which lies at the core of Tennessee's system of government," the statement says in part. Rep. Tim Rudd, R-Murfreesboro, is asking for a legislative committee to be formed to remove her from the bench. He said the action relates to her earlier ruling expanding absentee voting, which he called "judicial overreach." TBA President Michelle Greenway Sellers said: Since 1881, the Tennessee Bar Association (TBA) has represented the entire spectrum of the Tennessee legal community, from plaintiff and defense attorneys to judges, government and legal services attorneys, corporate counsel, and many attorneys residing outside the State who retain an interest in the Tennessee legal profession.The TBA is a strong advocate for the profession and the development and maintenance of our justice system. This statement is not intended to be political or partisan, but instead one of extreme concern and caution related to the fundamental importance of the separation of powers and maintaining an independent judiciary in the State of Tennessee. We believe House Resolution 23 (HR 23) will have a chilling effect on the administration of justice in our State, and threatens the bedrock principle of separation of powers, which lies at the core of Tennessee's system of government. Article VI, Section 6 of the Tennessee Constitution provides a process for removing judges and attorneys for the state from office for cause. HR 23 appears to be the first time the legislature has used Article VI, Section 6 of the Tennessee Constitution to begin the removal process of a judge from office for cause based on rulings in a judicial proceeding. After a thorough review of HR 23 and the underlying case, the TBA has significant concerns about the resolution's impact on the constitutional separation of powers in our three branches of government. As stated in the Preamble to Rule 10 of the Code of Judicial Conduct, "[a]n independent, fair and impartial judiciary is indispensable to our system of justice." Judges should decide matters based on a thorough analysis and interpretation of the law without concern for the decision's potential political implications. Article VI, Section 6 is not a tool used as a matter of course, and we respectfully believe that the legislature should not use it in this circumstance. The TBA is concerned that HR 23, if successful, will create a precedent that any time a judge rules against the state, or on a statute, or renders a politically unpopular decision, that decision could potentially trigger legislative removal proceedings against that judge. This also results in the potential for removing a judge any time a ruling is overturned on appeal, when in fact the act of the appeal is a clear measure thatthe legal process is working appropriately. Tennessee law provides for multiple avenues to hold judges accountable should that prove necessary. One such avenue, the Board of Judicial Conduct, was created by the legislature itself. The board provides an orderly and efficient method for inquiring into, among other things, the fitness of judges, a judge's manner of performance of duty, and the judge's commission of any act that reflects unfavorably upon the judiciary or that may adversely affect the administration of justice. The board is comprised of 16 members, eight of which are appointed by the speakers of the Senate and House, respectively. Further, the judicial system has in place an appeals process. The state utilized the appeals process in the matters outlined in HR 23. Ultimately, the Tennessee Supreme Court overturned Chancellor Lyle's temporary injunction, although one justice did agree with her. The people act as another vehicle for judicial accountability. Article VI, Section 4 of the Tennessee Constitution provides that "...the Judges of the Circuit and Chancery Courts, and of other Inferior Courts, shall be elected by the qualified voters of the district or circuit to which they are to be assigned." Chancellor Lyle, like many other judges across this state, is an elected judge. She will stand for reelection and face a decision on her continued tenure by the voters in her district. The voters in her district should exercise their judgment about whether or not she should remain in office. Reasonable minds can and will continue to disagree with judicial decisions even in cases like this one of first impression. The remedies related to those disagreements lie in the appellate process and at the voting booth. Processes currently exist as a check on all judges, and those processes work. We strongly encourage members of the General Assembly and the citizens of this state to utilize the appeals process, make complaints to the Board of Judicial Conduct when necessary, and exercise their right to vote. We also urge the General Assembly to reconsider HR 23 and its impact on an impartial, independent judiciary. In states like Florida and South Dakota, schools and businesses have been widely open for months, and many local and state officials across the country have been easing limitations since last summer. Still, the pace of reopenings has quickened considerably in the last few days. Were, hopefully, in between what I hope will be the last big wave, and the beginning of the period where I hope Covid will become very uncommon, said Robert Horsburgh, an epidemiologist at the Boston University School of Public Health. But we dont know that. Ive been advocating for us to just hang tight for four to six more weeks. Jennifer Nuzzo, an epidemiologist at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, said that there are signs that the country may be through the worst of the pandemic. But she is still worried that states are reopening too hastily, repeating the same mistakes made in earlier periods of the pandemic when loosened rules were followed by new spikes in cases. Rather than opening a few lower-risk things and seeing just to make sure it doesnt change the numbers, it just feels like theyre just kind of opening the floodgates, Dr. Nuzzo said. Most schools across the country are open to students, at least partially in person, and evidence suggests they have done so relatively safely. But school reopenings for some districts have been delayed repeatedly by outbreaks in communities where other types of restrictions remain lifted. My son is due at the end of the week to attend hybrid learning for the first time, said Dr. Nuzzo, who lives in Maryland. Meanwhile, the restaurant restrictions have been lifted, the movie theaters are coming back, and it just feels like, let him at least get into the classroom first. In South Carolina, officials this week lifted a rule requiring restaurants to close by 11 p.m., and in North Carolina, bars were allowed to open indoors at limited capacity over the past weekend for the first time since last March. Agricultural stakeholders on the 2030 Agri-Food Strategy Committee have lamented the sudden exit of the Environmental Pillar from the process as the final publication nears completion. In statements to the Farming Independent, Dairy Industry Ireland (DII) and IFA described the move as regrettable, while ICSA said no strategy is worth the paper it is written on unless farmer viability is front and centre. Meanwhile, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said it was not in a position to comment on the development at this time. DII DII director Conor Mulvihill said: The Environmental Pillars withdrawal from the development of the Agri-Food Strategy 2030 is regretted. It would be far better if they remained engaged and continued to collaborate with all stakeholders to look for solutions. DII is on the record in saying that climate and environment are the key challenges for Irish dairy, but what is never put forward by the environmental lobby is that Irish dairy, and agriculture in general, is coming off a very high base. We have excellent EU leading metrics on the likes of air quality, water quality and carbon per unit of output. While we must of course be continually looking to improve our environmental credentials and metrics, the constant portrayal of Irish agriculture and especially dairy in a negative light is grossly unfair. Dairy has come out of a period of over 30 years of quota restraint in 2015, so it is a shock to no one that a there has been a strong demand for our grass-fed product from Ireland and abroad. This demand has driven this growth that has delivered for rural areas all around the island in areas where there is no prospect of an alternative industry. IFA IFA president Tim Cullinan said: Its regrettable that the Environment Pillar have withdrawn from the process. A lot of work has gone into the strategy over the last 11 meetings. When you step back from it, I think farmers and environmentalists have more in common than differences. Its only by ongoing engagement we can reach a consensus. ICSA ICSA president Dermot Kelleher said it is utterly unrealistic to keep imposing more and more demands on farmers in terms of biodiversity, environment and climate change when agri-environment schemes supports do not even remotely cover full participation costs. Previous strategies have all been about expansion but have paid little attention to getting a viable price for farmers especially in the beef and sheep sectors. When you take opportunity cost into account, in a country where there are many more lucrative off-farm opportunities, then the whole strategy for delivering environmental goods is flawed. As Bangkok lawyer arrives, Patong Police promise assistance for family of shot noodle vendor PHUKET: Patong Police Chief Col Sujin Nilabodi has promised to help the family of noodle vendor Aroon Thongplab, who was shot by an drunken off-duty Phuket police officer on Bangla Rd Tuesday last week. patongpoliceviolencecrimealcohol By Eakkapop Thongtub Tuesday 2 March 2021, 04:08PM The official police progress report on the investigation, explaining only that police were still compiling evidence. Photo: Eakkapop Thongtub At this stage, officers from the Phuket office of the Ministry of Justice have already come to discuss this with us, Col Sujin told reporters at Patong Police Station this morning (Mar 2). If the victims family asks for any compensation or help, we will file a request to the Ministry of Justice Phuket office so they can provide help and safety for them, he said. The officer arrested for the shooting, Pornthep Channarong (who was a corporal of the Phuket Provincial Police at the time of the shooting), was quickly stripped of his rank and dismissed from the Royal Thai Police. He now faces an attempted murder charge for shooting 25-year-old Mr Aroon in the stomach just before 6am last Tuesday while Mr Aroon was walking along the street after collecting a noodle bowl from a customer. Pornthep also faces charges of carrying a firearm in a public area, and discharging a firearm in a public area. Col Sujin today said that he had been informed by the case investigator, Lt Col Kittisak Sommart, that officers were still in the process of compiling evidence and witness statements in order to formally press charges against Pornthep. The next step is to question more witnesses and send the evidence collected to the Central Police Forensic Science Division, he said. I assure that we will work straightforwardly and decisively on this case. We will be fair to both sides. We will do our best for this case and will coordinate with relevant officers for helping the family, Col Sujin said. Col Sujins assurance of support for Mr Aroons family came as Kerdphol Kaewkerd, a renowned Bangkok lawyer who has volunteered to help Mr Aroons wife, Kulthida Chananan, with legal assistance arrived in Phuket. Mr Kerdphol today accompanied Ms Kulthida in talks with Col Sujin. Mr Kerdphol said that at this stage his visit is just to talk with police and follow up the case. Right now, police are doing their job, I did not come to interfere in their work. I have come to discuss the issues that are worrying Mr Aroons family, he said. A key concern was the Phuket Provincial Court approving Pornthep to be released on B600,00 bail, Mr Kerdphol said. The court granted bail approval last Thursday (Feb 23). Ms Kulthida, and another lawyer who is volunteering his services, last Saturday (Feb 25) filed an appeal to the court to reconsider its decision. The worrying issue is what we can do if the Phuket Provincial Court continues to approve the suspect to post bail, Mr Kerdphol said. The bail approval is now under the courts consideration again, even though the investigation police and the victims family have already filed an appeal with the court to refuse the police corporal charged for the shooting to post bail, he added. At this stage the relatives of the suspect have not presented to the court the surety to post bail. If there is the second request for detention, I want police to again ask for the court to refuse bail. The victims family is worried about their safety, of themselves and of witnesses. If the suspect posts bail, they are afraid he will threaten the witnesses to change their statements about the incident, Mr Kerdphol said. Regarding the police offer to help, Mr Kerdphol explained, At this stage, Mr Aroons condition is still stable. Doctors are treating his lungs and kidneys. Doctors will not operate on his damaged spine [which the bullet hit] because they have to keep him alive as their priority. If relatives want to transfer him to a private hospital or a hospital in Bangkok, the Patong Police will file a request to the Royal Thai Police to give assistance, he said. However, he added, Doctors have not given any comment whether it is safe for Mr Aroon to be transferred [to any other hospital]. In case Mr Aroon does survive, but cannot live his life like before, how do we help him and other members of his family his wife, sick mother and two children? Mr Kerdphol posed. If police can ensure that they can take care of their safety, they will go back to selling noodles, he said. I feel sad for Mr Aroons two children [a 4-year-old daughter and a 4-month-old son]. How can we help them, if Mr Aroon becomes disabled and his wife cannot work or make enough income for their family? They need a huge amount of funds, for living costs, the childrens education and for legal processes involved in this case, Mr Kerdphol. I may hold a fundraising auction for my gold amulets to help them, he concluded. Recent Israeli airstrikes near Damascus (the Syrian capital) were apparently retaliation for the attack on an Israeli-owned ship in the Persian Gulf two days earlier. In the aftermath of the Damascus attacks the Syrian Internet saw a spike in anti-Iran messages. There has been a shift in Syrian public attitudes towards Iran as Iran moves in more of its Lebanese (Hezbollah), Afghan and local mercenaries to Syrian army bases around the capital and other areas where a lot of Assad supporters live. That is followed by truckloads of missiles and other weapons from Iran to be stockpiled for use against Israel. Several hundred times over the last few years Israeli airstrikes have destroyed these Iranian stockpiles, usually with few casualties on the ground and those tend to be Iranians or their mercenaries. Now the Iranians, or at least their Hezbollah veterans, are talking of the need to store these weapons in residential areas to use Syrian civilians as human shields to discourage Israeli air strikes. But the Syrians know how this works. The Israelis guided missiles do not cause a lot of civilian casualties. Instead, the Iranian missiles, rockets and explosives do that as they explode and that causes most of the civilian casualties. The Iranians see this as a plus as it is supposed to make the locals more anti-Israel. The Syrians see the Israelis attacking no matter what, even if Iran switches to the human shields approach, because otherwise those weapons will be used against Israeli civilians. This shift in public opinion against Iran is a problem for the Assad government because Iran has hundreds of advisors working within the Assad government and military. These Iranians report potential problems back to Iran or, rather, the IRGC (Islamic Revolution Guard Corps) that runs Iranian operations in Syria and Lebanon. If the Iranians suspect that the Assad government is considering switching sides and joining an Arab coalition that opposes Iran and considers Israel an ally, Iran could do a lot of damage to the Assad clan. The IRGC also suspects Russia of working with Israel to broker a peace deal between the Assads and Israel. These suspicions increased three weeks ago when Russia brokered a deal with Syria to participate in an exchange with Israel that saw the return of two Syrian and one Israeli civilian who had crossed the border. Iran was not consulted and Russia refuses to reveal details. The Assads deny there were any hidden objectives. Iran did note that the deal also involved Israel reducing the prison sentence for a pro-Syrian Arab. And there were rumors that Israel would also help Syria obtain covid19 vaccine and so on. Rumors are rumors but the strain in Iran-Syria relations is real. To make matters worse for Iran, Turkey and Israel are negotiating a deal to improve diplomatic and economic relations. The Turks have been increasingly hostile to Iran lately and that includes ignoring Iranian requests during the recent war between Azerbaijan and Armenia. Turkey sent advisors, armed UAVs and Syrian mercenaries to help the Azeris score their first victory over Armenia in a three-decade long territorial feud. Iran was also unhappy with the fact that the Azeris gave credit to the many Israeli weapons that had purchased over the last decade. This included the Israeli Barak 8 anti-aircraft system which intercepted a number of Russia made ballistic missiles fired at Azerbaijan by the Armenians. One of those ballistic missiles was an Iskander, a recent Russian design that was supposed to be more difficult to detect and intercept. In short, Iran has reasons to be displeased at how its campaign in Syria is proceeding and how unhelpful, or even hostile, their allies have been. This is not a new development. As far back as 2018 there were signs that Iranian allies in Syria were something of an unnatural act. Israel had made it clear that they will fight if Iran establishes a military presence in Syria. That was complicated by the fact that Iran had allies in Syria; Russia and Turkey, who were traditional enemies. In contrast Israel and the Gulf Arabs are not. What to do? Israel and Russia began trying to negotiate a deal to prevent a war between Iran and Israel over Iranian plans (already announced and underway) to establish bases in Syria and organize anti-Israeli forces for a final battle. For Israel any long-term Iranian presence in Syria was intolerable. Russia believed it could work out such a deal but many Israelis were skeptical and Iran declared that such a deal was not possible. When it comes to opposing Iran, Israel always had some very public backing from Russia despite the fact that this put Russia at odds with their two other allies in Syria. The Russians see the Israelis as a more powerful and reliable ally than the Turks or Iranians. Russia is also backing the Kurds in Syria and that is causing problems with Turkey. Recently Turkey had come to agree with Russia and is seeking to improve relations with Israel, even it that is at the expense of Iran. March 1, 2021: In the south (Egyptian border) Israeli border guards detected and intercepted five smugglers from Egypt trying to bring 80 kg (176 pounds) of illegal drugs into Israel. There was no gunfire or casualties as there sometimes is when the smugglers try to shoot their way out of an arrest. The Israelis have modified their tactics to avoid gun battles on the border and this usually involves allowing the smugglers to get far enough into Israel that escape back into Egypt is no longer an option. February 28, 2021: Israel carried out a several airstrikes against Iranian targets outside Damascus. The sound of the many explosions could be heard in Damascus. Hezbollah gunmen quickly set up checkpoints and restricted access to the bases that apparently suffered a lot of damage, in part because warehouses containing weapons and ammunition were hit, triggering secondary explosions with debris scattered over a wide area, including many fragments of Iranian made weapons. February 26, 2021: In eastern Syria (Deir Ezzor province) an American airstrike, using two F-15E fighter-bombers, delivered seven smart bombs against an Iranian facility and largely destroyed it. There was at least one death and four wounded, The facility was built to support the Iraqi Kataib Hezbollah, an organization that is meant to become as powerful in Iraq as the original Lebanese Hezbollah has been since the 1980s in Lebanon. The U.S. holds Kataib Hezbollah responsible for recent rocket attacks on American bases and embassy in Iraq. Iran denies responsibility but the rockets used were made in Iran. The air strike was near the Al Bukamal crossing into Iraq. Iran is seeking to provide a safer environment for its Iraqi militias. Inside Iraq Kataib Hezbollah is subject to attack by security forces and pro-government militias. In eastern Syria the biggest threat is Israeli airstrikes and the occasional American one. For that reason the Americans warned Israel the day before that there going be U.S. airstrike, to ensure an Israeli airstrike was not scheduled to take place at the same target or another one in the area. The is the first American airstrike in Syria since a new U.S. government took power that had indicated it would no longer such American airstrikes in Syria. In the Gulf of Oman, near the Iranian coast, the Helios Ray, an Israeli owned RO/RO (roll on, roll off) vehicle carrier ship was apparently hit by missiles or some kind of weapon. There were two holes visible above the waterline on each side an empty cargo deck of the 35 meter (112 foot) wide ship. There was no serious damage to the ship, that had made several strops in the Persian Gulf to unload new vehicles. After the attack the ship turned around and returned to Dubai to get the hull patched and the damage examined by weapons experts to determine the source of the attack damage. The ship was on its way to Singapore, a voyage that was to take about a week. Iran was suspected of causing the damage, which is similar to what earlier happened to other commercial ships in the area. Iran denies any responsibility, but they usually do for such blatant violations of maritime law. February 22, 2021: In the south, off the Gaza coast, Israeli forces spotted an armed Hamas naval commando team trying to avoid detection by using a fishing boat to get close to the Israeli coast. The Israelis fired a missile to destroy the Hamas boats and later discovered that there were a dozen armed men on it. February 19, 2021: Diplomats from Russia, Turkey and Iran met and agreed to back Syrian claims that continued Israeli air strikes violate the 1974 UN brokered ceasefire that halted the Israeli advance on Damascus after defeating the Syrian surprise attack to retake the Golan Heights during the 1973 Arab-Israeli War. In 1973 the Arabs believed their simultaneous attacks against Israeli forces in the north and south would push the Israelis out of the Sinai Peninsula and the Golan heights and possibly other Israeli territory as well. After some initial success the Israeli defenses held and counterattacks forced the Egyptians and Syrians to retreat in an effort to defend their capitals. The ceasefire agreements that halted the fighting on both fronts included Egyptian and Syrian pledges to not back covert terror attacks on Israel. As far as Israel is concerned the Iranian military buildup in Syria is a violation of the 1974 agreement and justifies the continued airstrikes against the Iranians. Syria protests that the airstrikes endanger commercial air traffic and Syrian civilians living near Iranian military facilities. Russia and Turkey are unlikely to do anything to block Israeli airstrikes because Israel, Turkey and Russia all want Iran to get out of Syria but only Israel can admit it openly. February 18, 2021: Russia quietly brokered a prisoner exchange between Syria and Israel. The exchange did not involve terrorists, spies or soldiers but rather civilians who had crossed the border by accident or derangement. Israel got back a young woman who crossed over in early February for unspecified reasons. Israel released two shepherds who accidently crossed in to Israel. February 17, 2021: In eastern Syria (Deir Ezzor province) another Israeli airstrike hit an Iran base occupied by Syrian troops and Iranian mercenaries. There were at least 57 fatalities, including 17 Syrian army troops, sixteen Iraqi militiamen, and eleven Afghan mercenaries. February 15, 2021: Egypt reported that they disrupted a major smuggling operation based in Gaza that had been using four smuggling tunnels and a network of criminal gangs in Egypt to handle details on the Egyptian side of the border. Shutting down the four tunnels halted the exit of over 3,500 people from Gaza as well as the movement of weapons and consumer goods into Sinai. Hamas taxes these smuggling operations and that has been a major source of income for the Islamic terrorist group. February 13, 2021: Turkish diplomats are once again discussing reviving relations with Israel. Talk of Turkish-Israeli rapprochement has cropped up four or five times in the last three years but it didnt happen. In May 2018 Israel and Turkey expelled each others ambassador. The Turks objected to an Israeli operation that killed several dozen Palestinians in Gaza. Turkey also objected to the U.S. decision to move its embassy to Jerusalem. In Turkey president Erdogan portrayed himself as a protector of Palestinians. At one time Turkey and Israel were functionally allies, particular in defense technology and sharing intelligence. Dont expect a rapid thaw. But Turkish media note that Israels El Al airline now flies a route to Istanbul. The Tel Aviv-Istanbul route was suspended for ten years. Turkish and Israeli media both credit the Abraham Accords (Israeli-Arab rapprochement) with nudging Turkey. February 12, 2021: In the south (Egyptian border) an Israeli soldier was wounded by gunfire coming from inside Egypt. Along most of the border the major security problem is armed smugglers and in this case the source of the gunfire was a battle between Egyptian border police and smugglers trying to cross into Israel. So far this year Israeli-Egyptian cooperation on their border has detected and disrupted twenty smuggling attempts. In 2020 there were sixty interceptions. Israeli troops often intercept smugglers but the smugglers rarely shoot back. Sometimes smugglers or Islamic terrorists will deliberately fire from inside Egypt. When the smugglers try to get into Israel with their contraband, they realize that discovery means they must hustle back to Egypt and hope for the best. The Israeli troops are connected to a battlefield Internet type system that instantly alerts headquarters and other Israeli troops nearby when there is an incident like this and the smugglers remaining inside Israel cannot hope evade the Israeli reaction. Egyptian police are also alerted and respond in an effort to catch up with the smugglers before they are able to escape. Once back inside Egypt the smugglers, usually Israeli or Egyptian Bedouins, will often fire on Egyptian forces in an effort to escape. Indie Israel that is more difficult because the Israelis continually patrol the border with UAVs and will sometimes send those UAVs into Egypt when the Egyptians request such assistance. Egyptian cooperation with Israel has been going far longer than cooperation with the Sinai tribes. The animosity between the tribes and the Egyptian government is ancient, as in thousands of years old. The current arrangement was the result of the tribes persuading the Egyptians that cooperation against ISIL was possible if the Egyptians made their police and soldiers halt their abusive attitude towards the tribal population. The agreement has worked so far, but there are doubts that it will survive once ISIL is eliminated. During a conference in Athens, Greece, Turkey accused Greece of slandering Turkey. This got a mixed reaction from other attendees that included representatives from the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, France, Bahrain and Cyprus. The meeting, named the Philia (Friendship) Forum, was called to address economic and security issues in the eastern Mediterranean, the Persian Gulf and Europe. There was a special focus on the Balkans. Turkey contends Greece is trying to create an alliance whose goal is denying Turkey its economic rights in the Mediterranean. Greece and Turkey have disputes over maritime boundaries and offshore resource rights. The deep issue is divided Cyprus where the Turkish Army and the United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus have been deployed since 1974. February 11, 2021: In eastern Syria (Deir Ezzor province) another airstrike hit a convoy of trucks carrying Iranian weapons as it passed through the Iraqi Al Bukamal crossing into Syria. There were several large explosions, made possible by the munitions carried in the trucks. The attacking aircraft could not be identified but were believed to be Israeli and part of a campaign to cripple Iranian efforts to build up a large force in Syria that would be capable of launching thousands of guided and unguided rockets into Israel. February 10, 2021: In Egypt (central Sinai) 19 ISIL (Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant) gunmen attacked local Tarabin tribesmen twice in the last 48 hours, killing seven, wounding two and kidnapping one. The tribesmen belonged to the UST (Union of Sinai Tribes) a pro-government force that cooperates with the security forces in finding and eliminating Islamic terrorists in Sinai. In the last year the army/UST alliance has reduced ISIL capabilities in northern Sinai, causing many members, or at least their families, to surrender to avoid starvation. Now it appears ISIL is moving the surviving personnel of its Sinai Province to new bases in central Sinai. It was two weeks before ISIL took credit for these attacks on the Tarabin, but the tribes already suspected who did it because unknown armed men had been detected. To make their new bases viable ISIL has to obtain some cooperation from the locals and the recent violence was ISILs way of saying; cooperate or else. This violent persuasion approach backfired in northern Sinai and ISIL appears to have no new techniques to try in central Sinai. These Islamic terrorists are desperate and not afraid to die although feuding with fellow Moslems does not help with recruiting and fund raising. The tribes consider ISIL a murderous menace and not worth doing any business with. February 9, 2021: In Egypt the main crossing to Gaza at Rafah was reopened indefinitely or at least until the recent agreement, brokered by Egypt, between Fatah, which controls the West Bank and Hamas, which rules Palestinian Gaza, fails. The agreement has both sides putting aside their feud and once more holding elections to select one government for both West Bank and Gaza Palestinians. While Fatah is dominant in the West Bank and Hamas in Gaza, there are partisans of Fatah and Hamas in both areas and if the election result is contested by either party there will be more violence, some of it directed at Israelis. The success of this agreement is in doubt but reunification of the Palestinian government is seen as a positive move. The renewed access to Rafah is another source of income for Hamas, which taxes people and goods coming and going. The tax is higher on illegal operations. While Egyptian border guards check everyone going in or out, their main goal is to catch known criminals or Islamic terrorists. With enough cash and connections someone in Gaza can exit illegally and seek a better life elsewhere, preferably in in country not run by Moslems. February 2, 2021: In the north ( Golan Heights) there was another Israeli airstrike against Iranian forces across the border in Quneitra province. Like so many recent Israeli airstrikes this was targeting Iranian rockets or missiles being moved to Lebanon or firing positions near the Israeli border. February 1, 2021: Israeli media revealed that Israel, the U.S. and the UAE cooperated in disrupting Iranian plans to bomb their embassies in an unnamed East African country. The three nations have been threatened by Iran and cooperate in alerting each other when Iranian operations like this are detected. East African nations are also aware of this threat because in the past Islamic terrorists have carried out such attacks, and killed more locals than foreign embassy staff. The Iranian advance team included one member that had a European passport and dual citizenship. The team had a list of objectives which included confirming data about the three embassies, their security measures and local resources the bomb delivery team could use. The Iran threat is dangerous because there are systematic, not spontaneous with these attacks. Several of the advance team members were arrested and others are being sought. January 31, 2021: In the West Bank a Palestinian attempting to attack Israelis with a knife was shot dead by a nearby soldier. January 29, 2021: In northern India (Delhi) a crude bomb went off outside the Israeli embassy. A letter left nearby said the bomb was revenge for the death of Iranian terrorism chief Qassem Soleimani, killed by an American Hellfire missile as he and associates departed Baghdad airport in January 2020. The letter claimed that this attack was just the beginning. Throughout 2020 Iran has openly sought to strike back at the United States or Israel but has been unsuccessful. Israeli embassy security had been increased over the last few weeks but the Israelis would not make public what they believed the threat was. This Delhi bombing was obviously inspired by the death of Soleimani and Iranian calls for revenge, but it is unlikely Iran was directly responsible. Iran and India are trading partners and generally on good terms. Iran sees India as a friendly neighbor while Pakistan is distrusted by India and Iran. Indian police are seeking two men security camera video shows in the area about the time the bomb was left outside the embassy and detonated. India has an even closer relationships with Israel, which supplies more and more modern weapons India needs to modernize its forces. Created, written and exec produced by JP Delaney, the limited four-part series is adapted from Delaney's own best-selling novel of the same title. Marissa Lestrade (White Stork; Deep State 2) will co-write episodes of the series and Emmy nominated Lisa Bruhlmann (Killing Eve; Servant; Blue My Mind) will direct.The Girl Before tells the story of Jane (Gugu Mbatha-Raw), who gets the chance to move into a beautiful, ultra-minimalist house designed by an enigmatic architect (David Oyelowo). Theres just one catch: occupants have to abide by his list of exacting rules. Jane starts to feel the house changing her in unexpected ways, but when she makes the shocking discovery that her predecessor Emma died in the house, shes forced to confront unnerving similarities. As the two womens timelines interweave, Jane begins to question if her fate will be the same as the girl beforeGugu Mbatha-Raw says: I'm so excited to work with this amazing team on such a compelling story in my debut role as actor/producer.David Oyelowo says: This story is mind-bending in its clever construction and intricacy. I cant wait to see it, let alone be in it. Plus, Id go anywhere to work with my friend Gugu again.JP Delaney says: Having written for the screen in a previous career, its long been a dream of mine to adapt The Girl Before, but I was determined to only do it if I could find partners who wanted to pursue high quality, classy storytelling above all else. You really couldnt get a more quality-focused line-up than 42, the BBC and HBO Max and weve already attracted world-class talent in the shape of Lisa, Gugu and David."Psychological thrillers can be even more gripping on television than they would be as movies, and Im incredibly excited to be re-telling this particular story in a visual medium. Its also been great fun to collaborate on episodes two and three with a brilliant co-writer, Marissa Lestrade.Director Lisa Bruhlmann says: Can our surroundings, like a special house, affect who we are, even change us? The ability to change our beliefs and our character is highly fascinating to me. I can't wait to bring this female-driven thriller to life.Eleanor Moran and Rory Aitken, Executive producers for 42, say: We're thrilled to have the chance to bring JP Delaneys adaptation of his unforgettable bestseller to the small screen. Gugu Mbatha-Raw always brings such emotional complexity to her roles, and having an actor as accomplished as David Oyelowo as her co-lead is a dream come true. Lisa Bruhlmanns singular vision will add a whole other layer to the show. We cant wait to introduce a global audience to the extraordinary secrets hidden behind the walls of One Folgate Street.Piers Wenger, Director of BBC Drama, says: The scripts JP Delaney has prepared for The Girl Before are just as addictive and unputdownable as his riveting novel. To have Gugu and David leading the cast, Lisa Bruhlmann directing and Marissa Lestrade co-writing episodes really underlines the quality of this production and I cant wait to see One Folgate Street on screen.Jeniffer Kim, Senior Vice President, International Originals, HBO Max, says: We jumped at the chance to co-produce JP Delaneys intricate mind twister, The Girl Before, with the BBC and 42. With what will surely be stellar performances from the incomparable Gugu Mbatha-Raw and David Oyelowo, One Folgate Street is about to welcome new house guests from both sides of the pond.Executive Producers are Eleanor Moran, Rory Aitken and Ben Pugh for 42, Ben Irving for the BBC, JP Delaney and Lisa Bruhlmann. Jeniffer Kim will oversee the project from HBO. Rhonda Smith will produce and Gugu Mbatha-Raw is an associate producer. The adaptation was commissioned for the BBC by Piers Wenger, Director of BBC Drama and Charlotte Moore, Chief Content Officer.The Girl Before will air on BBC One and BBC iPlayer in the UK and HBO Max in the US. ITV Studios is the international distributor and brokered the co-commission deal with HBO Max.A global bestseller, The Girl Before has sold over one million copies since its publication in 2016. It is published by Quercus in the UK and Ballantine in the US.Further casting and filming details will follow in due course. A mother who was stabbed to death by her abusive ex-partner in front of her two-year-old daughter was 'let down' by the police, her brother claims. Miss Africa contestant Linah Keza, 29, of Leyton, East London, was killed on July 31st, 2013 by her former boyfriend David Gikawa, then 38, following years of violent and controlling behaviour. Linah made a number of phone calls to police in the week prior to her murder, telling them she was 'so scared she couldn't breathe', and in the early hours of July 29th played officers a phone recording of Gikawa's death threats in a Ugandan language. Despite Linah's fears, police assessed the risk to the mother as 'medium', and speaking to Femail, Linah's brother Ivan Kigenza, said that while the tape was obviously highly threatening, the Met Police 'didn't want to know' because it wasn't in English. Model Linah Keza, 29, of Leyton, east London, was killed on July 31st, 2013 by her former boyfriend David Gikawa, then 38, in front of their two-year-old child She met nightclub promoter Gikawa (pictured) at a dance event in 2009 and embarked in an 'on and off relationship', quickly turning violent after moving to London with him after falling pregnant in 2010 The case was re-examined in Crime + Investigation's Murder at My Door, where Ivan told that in the days leading up to her death, Gikawa sent the mother threatening texts, including pictures of a coffin, candle cross and a crossbow. Speaking of the recording, Ivan told: 'The police said 'What language is he speaking?' Linah said, "It's in Ugandan". The police weren't interested, they didn't want to know. 'They were really threatening, David was saying he was going to kill someone, he was saying "One of us has to die". Linah was translating the whole thing.' Linah had come to Britain in 2007, encouraged by her brother Ivan, where she worked as a model after studying social work at the University of Wolverhampton. Speaking to Femail, Linah's brother Ivan Kigenza (pictured), told that his sister was 'let down' by the police, who he believes disregarded a phone recording of Gikawa's death threats in Ugandan ahead of her death 'Linah was a happy girl,' said Ivan. 'As a sister she liked the family to be united and to be together, she never wanted the family to be divided. 'She was a good mother to her daughter and as a daughter as well. She loved her mum so much, she was that kind of person, I loved her.' She met nightclub promoter Gikawa at a dance event in 2009 and embarked on an 'on and off relationship', quickly turning violent after moving to London with him after falling pregnant in 2010. 'He was hitting her, putting the pillow in her face covering her lips to suffocate her. I was worried, I rang her once and when she was telling me what happened, I said "You know what, that man is going to kill you".' In 2011, Gikawa - who had eight convictions, a caution for assaulting a partner and had been in prison - tried to strangle Linah, who called the police. He was released without charge. In 2012, Linah first tried to leave her partner, taking her baby and moving to another part of East London, but Gikawa would continue to visit her, insistent that they were still a couple. Gikawa was found guilty of Linah's murder in May 2014 and was jailed for a minimum of 21 years 'At that time Linah had just told David to leave,' said Ivan. 'She wanted to move on, she was doing her own thing now, trying to get some contracts with some TV, she said she didn't want him anymore. 'He was dating another girl, but again he wanted to come back. He was threatening her, saying, "I don't want anybody near my daughter. I'll kill anybody". 'Linah couldn't call the police because of David. She would have to text other people to call the police. She once texted our cousin in Uganda who had to call the police from Uganda, to go to Linah's address to get rid of David, he didn't want to go, 'Any movement she did, David was there, Linah called me and said, "It's like I'm a prisoner in my own home, I can't go anywhere, he's just there, not leaving".' The mother finally found the strength to end the relationship in June 2013 following a trip to Rwanda to see her family, and moved once again, this time back to Leyton. 'I don't even know how she did it,' said Ivan. 'When she told him to leave he wasn't leaving. David left all his clothes there and wouldn't pick anything up.' Gikawa's behaviour became increasingly erratic in July 2013, with a probation report in July 2013 warning that Gikawa was stalking Linah. On 23 and 24 July that year, police were called to Linah's home, and failed to carry out the correct intelligence checks, which would have flagged Gikawa's previous convictions, to see if there was cause for concern. On the night of 28 July and in the early hours of 29 July, Linah showed police the recording of Gikawa's threats, but officers made no official note of them and failed to interview two friends of Linah who were present at the time. In 2011, Gikawa - who had had eight convictions, a caution for assaulting a partner and had been in prison - tried to strangle Linah, who called the police but he was released without charge They also disregarded the fact that one of the men's tyres had been slashed by Gikawa. Ivan says that Linah felt 'let down' by the police, who on July 30th, allowed her former partner to visit the flat to pick up belongings, despite officers previously stating he could only go to the flat with a police escort. On July 31st, officers were called to Linah's home at 4.30am by neighbours who heard screaming and thumping. They discovered she had been murdered by Gikawa. In 2019, the officers involved in Linah's case received final written warnings over their contact with the mother. The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) said the Metropolitan Police officers 'could and should have done more to protect Ms Keza from her abusive partner'. IOPC regional director Sarah Green said at the time: 'The death of Linah was truly tragic and I offer my condolences to everyone affected. In the days before her death, Linah made a number of calls to the Metropolitan Police raising concerns about the man who would ultimately kill her. Ivan says that Linah felt 'let down' by the police, who ignored several warnings ahead of her death in 2013 Ivan explained they have found comfort as a family knowing action has been taken surrounding the police failings in the run-up to Linah's death. Picture, the exterior of Linah's Walthamstow flat 'A panel has ruled that three officers prior to this terrible crime being committed, breached standards of professional behaviour in how they carried out their work.' Linah was someone's daughter, someones sister, someones friend, she was healthy', said Ivan. 'It took a while, it took about six years for them to come to that conclusion, it was justice delayed and denied. He explained they have found comfort as a family knowing action has been taken surrounding the police failings in the run-up to Linah's death. 'I don't have a problem with the police, lessons are being learned here,' he added. 'Nothing can bring Linah back, at least now the truth has prevailed. At least the truth won.' Gikawa was found guilty of Linah's murder in May 2014 and was jailed for a minimum of 21 years. Crime+Invetigations #HereForHer campaign is raising money and awareness for Refuge in light of the huge increase in demand for the Refuge helpline and emergency accommodation due to the nationwide lockdowns over the past year. Murder at my Door with Kym Marsh on CRIME+INVESTIGATION is available for 30 days on catch up and on-demand services. Since 1970, bird populations in North America have declined by approximately 2.9 billion birds, a loss of more than one in four birds. Factors in this decline include habitat loss and ecosystem degradation from human actions on the landscape. At the same time, enthusiasm for bird-watching has grown, with more than 45 million recreational participants in the United States alone. Now, researchers are looking into how to mobilize these bird enthusiasts to help limit bird population declines. Enter bird-friendly coffee. Bird-friendly coffee is certified organic, but its impact on the environment goes further than that: it is cultivated specifically to maintain bird habitats instead of clearing vegetation that birds and other animals rely on. Researchers from Virginia Tech's College of Natural Resources and Environment, Cornell University, and Columbia University explored whether bird-friendly coffee is on the radar of bird-watchers: are they drinking it and, if not, why not? The study results published in the journal People and Nature. "We know bird-watchers benefit from having healthy, diverse populations of birds, and they tend to be conservation-minded folks," explained Assistant Professor Ashley Dayer of Virginia Tech's Department of Fish and Wildlife Conservation. "My colleagues and I wanted to dig into this key audience to determine their interest in bird-friendly coffee." Bird-friendly coffee is shade-grown, meaning that it is grown and harvested under the canopy of mature trees, a process that parallels how coffee was historically grown. But with most farms in Central and South America and the Caribbean converting to full-sun operations, crucial bird habitats for migrating and resident bird species are being lost. "Over recent decades, most of the shade coffee in Latin America has been converted to intensively managed row monocultures devoid of trees or other vegetation," explained Amanda Rodewald, the Garvin Professor and senior director of the Center for Avian Population Studies at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. "As a result, many birds cannot find suitable habitats and are left with poor prospects of surviving migration and successfully breeding." Purchasing shade-grown coffee is one of seven simple actions that people can take as a step toward returning bird populations to their previous numbers. "But even simple actions are sometimes not taken by people who you would expect to be on board. Human behavior is complex -- driven by knowledge, attitudes, skills, and many other factors," explained Dayer, an affiliate of the Global Change Center housed in Virginia Tech's Fralin Life Sciences Institute. The research team surveyed more than 900 coffee-drinking bird-watchers to understand bird-friendly coffee behavior among bird-watchers. "One of the most significant constraints to purchasing bird-friendly coffee among those surveyed was a lack of awareness," said Alicia Williams, lead author and former research assistant at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and Virginia Tech. "This includes limits on understanding what certifications exist, where to buy bird-friendly coffee, and how coffee production impacts bird habitat." "I was surprised to see that only 9 percent of those surveyed purchased bird-friendly coffee and less than 40 percent were familiar with it," Williams added. "It was also interesting, though not surprising, that a large number of our respondents reported that the flavor or aroma of coffee was an important consideration in their coffee purchases, which could be a useful attribute of bird-friendly coffee to stress going forward." The next step to increasing awareness about shade-grown coffee and its potential impact on bird populations may include increased advertising for bird-friendly coffee, more availability of bird-friendly coffee, and collaborations between public-facing conservation organizations and coffee distributors. ### The Fort Worth, Texas-based carrier began ticket sales today for the twice-a-day flights between ONT and O'Hare International Airport (ORD), a growing hub in the American's system. The new flights to begin August 17 will depart ONT at 11:40 a.m. and 11:30 p.m. with ONT arrivals scheduled for 12:14 p.m. and 10:39 p.m. "It is welcome news that American and other air carriers are including Ontario in their recovery plans, but it is not a surprise," said Mark Thorpe, chief executive officer of the Ontario International Airport Authority (OIAA). "Ontario was the fastest growing U.S. airport before the COVID-19 pandemic's sudden and severe impact on global air travel. It is now the fastest-recovering airport in California and the third-quickest to restore flight services in the U.S." Flight # Origin Destination Departs Arrives 877 ONT ORD 11:40a 5:48p 910 ONT ORD 11:30p* 5:38a 977 ORD ONT 9:55a 12:14p 910 ORD ONT 8:20p 10:39p *Overnight/red-eye service (All times local) The carrier, which flies to Phoenix and Dallas-Fort Worth from Terminal 4 at ONT, will serve the Chicago O'Hare route with Boeing 737-800 aircraft equipped to accommodate 172 passengers in a three-class cabin with 16 in First-Class, 30 in Main Cabin Extra and 126 in Main Cabin. The number of passengers who traveled through ONT in 2020 totaled 2.5 million, about half as many as the year before. Many airports around the world saw passenger volume decline by 60%. Airlines operating at ONT resumed or initiated new service to five destinations including Atlanta, Chicago (Midway), Houston (Intercontinental and Hobby), Seattle and Mexico City in the second half of 2020 while plans were announced for flights to another nine markets by Spring including Chicago (O'Hare) Honolulu, Las Vegas, Miami, Newark, Orlando, Phoenix, Sacramento and San Francisco. Colombia-based Avianca Airlines will begin service to El Salvador this summer, the first to Central America from the Inland Empire. Ontario airport has been recognized three times since last summer for understanding and meeting the needs of its customers during the pandemic. "We applaud the efforts of our extraordinary team during what has been a challenging year for the travel industry," said Alan D. Wapner, President of the OIAA Board of Commissioners and Mayor pro Tem for the City of Ontario. "With the support of our airline and business partners, 2021 is shaping up to be a great year for ONT as we meet the needs of this vibrant region we serve." About Ontario International Airport Ontario International Airport (ONT) is the fastest growing airport in the United States, according to Global Traveler, a leading publication for frequent fliers. Located in the Inland Empire, ONT is approximately 35 miles east of downtown Los Angeles in the center of Southern California. It is a full-service airport which, before the coronavirus pandemic, offered nonstop commercial jet service to 26 major airports in the U.S., Mexico and Taiwan. More information is available at www.flyOntario.com. Follow @flyONT on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram About the Ontario International Airport Authority (OIAA) The OIAA was formed in August 2012 by a Joint Powers Agreement between the City of Ontario and the County of San Bernardino to provide overall direction for the management, operations, development and marketing of ONT for the benefit of the Southern California economy and the residents of the airport's four-county catchment area. OIAA Commissioners are Ontario Mayor Pro Tem Alan D. Wapner (President), Retired Riverside Mayor Ronald O. Loveridge (Vice President), Ontario City Council Member Jim W. Bowman (Secretary), San Bernardino County Supervisor Curt Hagman (Commissioner) and retired business executive Julia Gouw (Commissioner). OIAA Media Contact: Steve Lambert, (909) 841-7527, [email protected] SOURCE Ontario International Airport Related Links www.flyontario.com MERIDEN First lady Jill Biden and the nations top educator are scheduled to go to Pennsylvania after they tour Benjamin Franklin Elementary School today. U.S. Secretary of Education and Meriden resident Miguel Cardona and Biden are scheduled to visit Fort LeBoeuf Middle School in Waterford, Pennsylvania after making a stop in Meriden, the White House announced on Tuesday. South Vine Street, which fronts Ben Franklin, will be closed from West Main Street to Carl Street to all vehicular traffic from 7:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., Meriden police said. According to the schedule, the pair will give remarks during the Meriden stop and host a listening session with parents in Pennsylvania. The administration has pledged to provide teachers with vaccinations by the end of the month, in order to further a push to open schools within the presidents first 100 days. The 45-year-old Cardona was approved as education secretary by the U.S. Senate by a 64 to 33 vote. He will be tasked with guiding schools through the reopening process and sharing best practices on how to teach during a pandemic. Cardona served as a fourth-grade teacher, principal and an assistant superintendent for city schools before he was appointed state Commissioner of Education by Gov. Ned Lamont in August 2019. City workers have spruced up Ben Franklin and the area around it for the visit. nsambides@record-journal.com203-317-2279Twitter: @JrSambides ROME, March 1 (Xinhua) -- Italy's coronavirus infection rate has started to climb over the last week for the first time since December, as the head of the country's coronavirus task force was sacked and other health experts called for greater diligence from the public in order to slow the spread of the virus. The news from some corners of the country was positive. The island region of Sardinia, for example, was on Sunday declared the country's first "white" zone, a new low-restriction category on the country's yellow-orange-red scale indicating the strictness of health rules related to the pandemic. Another region, Valle d'Aosta, is reported to be near the same status. But overall, Italy's infection rate is trending in the wrong direction. The total number of infections reported by the Ministry of Health for Monday was 13,114, down from more than 17,000 a day earlier. But the rate topped the 17,000-infection benchmark in each of the previous four days, a rate previously not seen since Jan. 14. With 10,894 patients declared cured on Monday of COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, the day marked the ninth time in ten days that new cases outnumbered the number of cured individuals -- something that before Feb. 20 had happened just three times since late November. As such, the total number of active cases nationally climbed to 424,333, still well below its all-time peak of more than 800,000 from Nov. 22, but representing the first sustained climb for that indicator in more than three months. The number of COVID-19 patients in intensive-care units also inched higher, totaling 2,289 on Monday, an increase of 58 compared to Sunday and higher than 2,045 ten days earlier. Still, the mortality rate remained low by recent standards, with 246 new deaths reported for the 24-hour period ending Monday, higher than the 192 deaths recorded for Sunday but in line with recent totals. The one-day death figure has still not topped 500 since Jan. 26. The development comes as Mario Draghi, who was installed as Italy's prime minister on Feb. 13, removed Domenico Arcuri as the country's special commissioner for the pandemic. Draghi nominated Francesco Paolo Figliuolo, an Army general, to take the job. Figliuolo is expected to appear at his first coronavirus briefing in his new role on Friday. In the meantime, Minister of Health Roberto Speranza issued a warning about the country's rising infection rate, stating "the contagion curve is rising significantly again and we need to fight hard." The ministry said that new highly-contagious versions of the virus were among the factors behind the rising number of infections. The Italian government is mulling a new reshuffling of the regional categories for health restrictions, with the new categorizations expected as soon as Tuesday. Lazio, the region that includes Rome, is in the "yellow" category, the second-lowest level. But there is speculation it could switch to "orange," which would mean tighter restrictions. Alessio D'Amato, the region's public health chief, on Monday warned that if that happens public schools across the region could close their doors, sending more than 800,000 students home and putting classes back online. Italy's vaccine rollout continues to be plagued by problems. The country was the first in the European Union to distribute at least one vaccine dose to at least 1 percent of its population in mid-January. But since then, delivery shortfalls and distribution problems have taken their toll. The Adnkronos news agency, using data from the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control, reported Monday that Italy has now fallen to 25th place among 27 European Union states in terms of distribution rate for the first vaccine dose, covering about 4.2 percent of the adult population. Seen as the most powerful weapon against the pandemic, vaccination campaigns with authorized COVID-19 vaccines are ongoing in Italy and many other countries around the world. Meanwhile, 256 candidate vaccines are still being developed worldwide -- 74 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. 26. WASHINGTON - Democrats' hopes of including a minimum wage increase in their $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill seemed all but dead Monday as the Senate prepared to debate its own version of the House-passed aid package. President Joe Biden speaks during a virtual meeting with Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, in the Roosevelt Room of the White House, Monday, March 1, 2021, in Washington. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik) WASHINGTON - Democrats' hopes of including a minimum wage increase in their $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill seemed all but dead Monday as the Senate prepared to debate its own version of the House-passed aid package. Four days after the chambers parliamentarian said Senate rules forbid inclusion of a straight-out minimum wage increase in the relief measure, Democrats seemed to have exhausted their most realistic options for quickly salvaging the pay hike. In one decision, they abandoned a potential amendment threatening tax increases on big companies that don't boost workers pay to certain levels. "At this moment, we may not have a path but I hope we can find one" for pushing the federal pay floor to $15 an hour, said No. 2 Senate Democratic leader Richard Durbin of Illinois. Senate Democrats hope to unveil their version of the broad relief package and begin debate as early as Wednesday. Congressional leaders want to send President Joe Biden the legislation combating the pandemic and bolstering the economy by March 14, the date emergency jobless benefits that lawmakers approved in December expire. The overall relief bill is Bidens biggest early legislative priority. It looms as an initial test of his ability to unite Democrats in the Senate where the party has no votes to spare and risks lasting damage to his influence should he fail. Republicans are strongly against the legislation and could well oppose it unanimously, as House GOP lawmakers did when that chamber approved the bill early Saturday. The measure would provide $1,400 payments to individuals plus hundreds of billions of dollars for schools and colleges, COVID-19 vaccines and testing, mass transit systems, renters and small businesses. It also has money for child care, tax breaks for families with children and assistance for states willing to expand Medicaid coverage for low-income residents. Senate Budget Committee Chairman Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., said he wanted Democrats to ignore the parliamentarian's ruling blocking the minimum wage increase. He also wants them to vote to eliminate filibusters procedural delays that would take an unachievable 60 votes for Democrats to prevail. Neither idea seemed to have the support among Democrats or the White House needed to succeed. But Sanders, the Senate's lead sponsor of the hike to $15, said he'd force a vote on an amendment restoring the minimum wage increase anyway. "This is the soul of the Democratic Party," he said of the proposal. In an acknowledgement that his effort might fall short, he said, "If we fail in this legislation, I will be back" and offer it in the near future. The Senate is divided 50-50 between the parties with Vice-President Kamala Harris able to cast only tie-breaking votes. Democrats are employing a seldom-used procedure for the COVID-19 relief bill that will shield the measure from filibusters. Biden discussed the relief bill Monday in a virtual meeting with nine Senate Democrats, including Joe Manchin of West Virginia, an opponent of the $15 hourly target. A White House statement said the group was "united in the goal of quickly passing a significant package that reflects the scope of the challenges our country is facing." Democrats, who will need unanimity to pass the legislation, are pushing for several changes in the House measure. Manchin told reporters he wants the bills emergency unemployment benefits, set at $400 weekly by the House, to revert to the current $300 figure enacted in December. That is certain to be divisive and draw strong opposition from progressives. He and Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., also said they want spending to be better "targeted," which Manchin said meant "helping the people that need help the most." Republicans have said the legislation is too costly and spends money needlessly. Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, said he wants the bill's $350 billion for state and local governments to specify minimum amounts for municipal governments and wants perhaps $50 billion to improve broadband coverage. The parliamentarian ruled Monday that some House-approved provisions, which would provide billions to help some struggling pension plans and to help people whove lost jobs afford health insurance, could stay in the bill, according to Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden, D-Ore. The House-approved minimum wage language would gradually raise the federal floor to $15 an hour by 2025, more than double the $7.25 in place since 2009. After the parliamentarian said that provision would have to be deleted, Sanders and Wyden said they were working on plans to increase taxes on large corporations that don't meet certain levels for workers' pay. But that plan was dropped, Democrats said Monday, with Sanders saying the proposal would have been too easy for employers to evade. It was always questionable whether pressuring companies with tax increases would have won enough Democratic support to survive, and the idea would have affected only a fraction of workers paid the minimum wage. Raising the minimum wage has broad support among Democrats. But while its embraced passionately by the partys progressives, at least two Senate moderates Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona have voiced opposition to including it in the broader relief measure, wounding its prospects and fostering tensions within the party. Democrats must now decide "how we do minimum wage as part of another piece of legislation or on its own," said Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut. While eliminating filibusters or overruling the parliamentarian has strong support among progressives, the ideas lack appeal to moderates. They are wary of erasing procedures that the party has used in the past, and could use again, to protect its priorities when it is in the minority. Among those who've long supported retaining the filibuster is Biden, who served nearly four decades in the Senate. "The presidents view on the filibuster is well known. He has not changed that point of view," White House press secretary Jen Psaki said pointedly Monday. - Associated Press writer Kevin Freking contributed to this report. BBC newsreader Jane Hill has revealed she has been declared free of breast cancer, two years after she was diagnosed with the disease. The presenter told her followers on Twitter that she was celebrating with an 'alcohol-free beer' after being told by her doctors that 'the scariest period' of her illness had ended. Jane, who joined the BBC full-time at the end of 1991 and has been a regular news host since 2003, underwent a mastectomy in November 2018 and didn't talk openly about her illness until the following year. In a tweet on Monday, Jane told her 31,000 followers: 'Today I am officially two years clear of #cancer, described to me by medics as the scariest period. I feel so lucky I didnt have to have my operation in #covid times.' Scroll down for video News broadcaster Jane Hill, pictured in 2019 following her return to BBC News following a breast cancer diagnosis, told her Twitter followers this week that she's now 'officially clear of cancer' She told followers she would celebrate the good news about her health with an 'an extra large can of alcohol free beer!' and Champagne this weekend The broadcaster added that she was celebrating with 'an extra large can of alcohol free beer!' and hoped to crack open the Champagne bought by colleague Matthew Amroliwala on the final day of her radiotherapy treatment. She wrote: This weekend I hope to celebrate properly, and finally open the fabulous bottle of champagne given to me by the equally fabulous @AmroliwalaBBC on my last day of radiotherapy in 2019.' In August 2019, Hill told ITV's Lorraine she had decided against reconstruction surgery. The journalist also said that had been dealt a double blow when her long-term partner Sarah Shepherd's mother was also diagnosed with cancer in the same month. She told Christine Lampard on the show: 'I left work at the end of November. You just dont know how its going to go. You hope the operation is going to go well.' Jane pictured with wife Sara Shepherd, who she married in 2011. Sara's mother was diagnosed with cancer the same month as Jane (The couple pictured together in 2013) Jane, pictured with Matthew Amroliwala, who bought her the Champagne she says she plans to enjoy this weekend on the last day of her radiotherapy in 2019 'My surgeon was amazing. On the day of my diagnosis what she made me do was walk away thinking about all the positives in my case. 'I was super lucky, Christine. I didnt want to start talking about it on social media in case there was hiccup. It wasnt right for me for me to do updates.' On her return to work last year, Jane joked on social media that her BBC pass no longer worked when she tried to get into the building. The newsreader tweeted this morning to reveal that she was coming back to our screens today Just before 11.30am today she tweeted: 'Big day today. On air for the first time since November. 'Still... 6 months out of the newsroom... that's been plenty of time to sort #Brexit, right...? See you for @bbcnews at One.' The newsreader then quickly followed up with another tweet, and joked: 'Oh, and in true #W1A style, my pass had been cancelled and I couldn't get into the building. #welcomeback' After reading the news for the first time in months, Jane said at the time she was 'overwhelmed' by the support and 'lovely' messages she had received. Jane joined the BBC full-time at the end of 1991 and has been presenting the lunch-time news since 2003. During her career Jane has covered several major events and in the aftermath of the 9/11 terrorist attacks she reported from Washington DC. She also broadcasted for a eight hours straight on the BBC news in December 2003 on the day the US Special Forces captured Saddam Hussein. Jane also conducted the first televised interview with Kate and Gerry McCann following the disappearance their daughter Madeleine from Praia da Luz in 2007. She is married to camera operator Sara Shepherd and revealed she was gay in the BBC's in-house Ariel magazine in 2009. India: Tribal animists brutally beat pastor who refused to worship false gods Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment A pastor in India was brutally beaten by tribal animists angered by his refusal to contribute money toward the ritual worship of tribal deities yet police refused to punish the assailants. In January, Pastor Lakshman Oraon, a convert from tribal deism to Christianity, was summoned by the elders of Jungur village, Latehar District in Jharkhand state, Morning Star News reports. The elders demanded that the pastor and other village Christians help fund the ritual worship of tribal deities. When he refused, they became angry. Then they turned to me angrily, Why you will not give money? and started abusing me in filthy language, the pastor said. I asked, Why would I give money? When I dont believe in the rituals or the deities, why would we give money for their worship/puja? It is hard-earned money, and we dont spend it for rituals we dont believe. And also, how does it make any difference, since I am also not partaking in any of the rituals? When the pastor explained why Christians could not comply due to their faith, the animists, who worship gods based on ancestors, spirits, and nature, replied that his ancestors were tribal priests and that he was a useless ingrate who adopted a foreign faith and must be taught a lesson. Tying Oraon's hands behind his back, the village leaders kicked him to the floor before the crowd of about 80 followers of tribal deities, he said. They also threatened to expel the Christians from the village. A mob surrounded me and, one after the other, they took turns to kick me on my back, on my head and punched my face, Oraon told Morning Star News. The beatings continued for more than an hour. They locked the village council premises, threatening the Christians that if they took any photo or video or tried to venture out from the spot or attempted to contact police, the phones will be seized, and the persons will also face the same fate. They told us that one after the other they will beat us all up to death. Despite persecution, the pastor said he was not angry, taking comfort in Matthew 5:11-12, which reads, Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you. I received great strength from these words. There was a smile on my face all through, he said. Eventually, the mob released the pastor. Seeking justice, the Christians sent petitions to the Station House Officer (SHO) at Manika police station, the police superintendent, and the district collector. The SHO called both parties to the police station and effected a compromise that we would not file any case against them, and that they will not excommunicate us from the village, the pastor said. At the police station, the tribal leaders continued demanding funds for the rituals, and the SHO told the Christians to hand over the money, thinking that would resolve the matter, Oraon said. At the police station, we were asked to give the money, and we gave it, he said. We are praying for the salvation of village leaders and the devotees of tribal deities. The police assured us that they will be a phone call away if any problem arises, and that we will not face any troubles from the villagers after giving the money. Asked about the harassment of Christians in Jungur village, the SHO of Manika police station denied the mob assault, saying, no such incident took place. A recent report from Human Rights Watch warned that prejudices embedded in the government of the ruling Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party have increasingly infiltrated independent institutions, such as the police and the courts, empowering nationalist groups to threaten, harass, and attack religious minorities with impunity. India is ranked No. 10 on Open Door USAs World Watch List of 50 countries where it's most difficult to be a Christian. Open Doors notes that those who convert to Christianity are accused of following a foreign faith and blamed for bad luck in their communities. These believers are often physically attacked and sometimes killed, says Open Doors. If they do not 're-convert,' they may be boycotted by their community, with a devastating effect on their ability to earn income. Many believers are isolated and dont know any other Christians. Last year, India denied entry visas to representatives of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, who had planned to investigate reports of persecution of Muslims and Christians following the release of its report that designates India as a Country of Particular Concern. In a statement to The Christian Post, advocacy group The Federation of Indian American Christian Organizations of North America said at the time it was deeply disappointed India did not receive the CPC designation in 2020. The national government allowed violence against minorities and their houses of worship to continue with impunity and engaged in and tolerated hate speech and incitement to violence, FIACONA said. The Indian government headed by the Hindu nationalist BJP party continues to claim so conveniently that all such violence against Christians in India is isolated incidents and not the policy of the government. A member of the Paisas criminal gang has been arrested in Zapata County for being in the country illegally, according to the U.S. Border Patrol. Agents assigned to the Zapata Station apprehended Armando Flores-Rodriguez, a 64-year old Mexican citizen north of Zapata, Texas. Agents said they found Flores-Rodriguez walking alone in the brush near U.S. 83. A top American lawmaker on Monday urged the Biden administration to stand by India in view of the Chinese cyber attack on India's power grid system as reported by a US-based company that monitors such malicious activities by the state actors. "The US must stand by our strategic partner and condemn China's dangerous cyber-attack on India's grid, which forced hospitals to go on generators in the midst of a pandemic," Congressman Frank Pallone said in a tweet on Monday. "We cannot allow China to dominate the region through force and intimidation," tweeted Pallone, a day after Recorded Future, a Massachusetts-based company which studies the use of the internet by state actors, said Chinese government-linked group of hackers targeted India's critical power grid system through malware, amidst the tense border tension between the two nations. The State Department said it is aware of these reports. "For specifics, we refer you to the company that conducted the study. More broadly, however, the State Department works with partners around the world to respond to shared threats in cyberspace," a State Department spokesperson told PTI. "In general, we continue to have concerns about states' dangerous and coercive actions, including in cyberspace, and we reaffirm the importance of joint action on cybersecurity, critical infrastructure, and supply chain security," said the spokesperson. Also read: Chinese state-backed hackers attack Serum Institute, Bharat Biotech: cybersecurity firm It is no surprise that the number of older Americans in the United States only continues to grow. According to the U.S Census Bureau, the number of Americans aged 65 years and old is expected to double by 2050. In New York state alone, the current population of older adults is approximately 2.9 million and is expected to double to 4.4 million by the year 2040. As the number of older adults increases, there will continue to be a growing demand for services and supports for adults to live out their golden years, and age in place. One of the primary supports older adults rely on in the community is home care. Home care includes a range of medical, social, assistive and other services provided to an individual that would typically be provided in a hospital or facility setting at a lower cost to the long-term care system. One of the primary community services often required is in-home aide assistance. But what happens when this crucial support is simply not available? This is the reality many older adults and their caregivers are facing, and unfortunately this crucial long-term care system component was on the brink of collapse well before a global pandemic set in. Direct care workers are leaving the job at alarming rates. According to PHI a nonprofit research and consulting group, one in two direct care workers leaves their job within 12 months, citing low wages, limited benefits, overwhelming workload duties and limited advancement opportunities as some of the reasons for seeking other employment. Residing in a rural area such as many areas in Cayuga County come with additional challenges the lack of public transit workers often rely on, and other challenges, such weather conditions and traveling distance between clients, that can make the job more challenging. The federal and state government set fixed reimbursement rates for Medicare and Medicaid that have not kept up with other trends, such as the $15 minimum wage increase in New York state. It is now more lucrative for a person to work in a fast food establishment than provide home care to a frail, older adult in the community. The already depleted home care shortage is stretched even further when all entities (Medicare, Medicaid and private pay options) are simply trying to retain workers from the same pool of individuals. There will be over 800,000 job openings for home care workers in New York state in the next five years alone, and we simply do not have the individuals to meet the growing demand. Lakewood community leaders on Monday condemned photos taken in a township neighborhood showing children in blackface. The pictures spread on social media over the weekend following celebrations of the Jewish holiday Purim. Ocean County NAACP president Fred Rush said he witnessed children wearing blackface, afro wigs and Black Lives Matter sweatshirts on Ponderosa Drive and Pine Street while families on Friday afternoon were celebrating Purim. The holiday commemorates the saving of the Jewish people from a Persian Empire official planning to kill them more than 2,000 years ago. Jewish people wear masks and costumes during the public celebration. Rush said he drove to the neighborhood after someone told him about the incident and he spoke to people who appeared to be supervising the children. I went to their neighborhood and rode around and I talked to two gentleman and let them know that this is offensive. You need to teach your children, Rush said. If they celebrated in the spirit of what it is, I dont have a problem with that... But no, youre not going to do what youve always done and say Its just kids being kids.... I refuse to go along with it. The origins and use of blackface have long been considered racist in America. The practice was popular in the 1800s with minstrel shows, when white performers would paint their faces black to mock enslaved Black Americans and portray them in demeaning and dehumanizing ways. One photo taken in Lakewood on Friday circulating on Facebook posted by South Toms River resident Heather McKinnon shows two children in blackface wearing dashikis, colorful West African garments. Another picture shows two children from the back wearing afro wigs and Black Lives Matter sweatshirts. McKinnon said her daughter sent her the photos while she was walking to her job as a caregiver at a residential home in the area. She sent me the pictures and I was just appalled by it, McKinnon said. I was shocked to see that. The Lakewood Vaad, a local council of rabbis, released a statement to The Lakewood Scoop on Sunday denouncing the photos and saying blackface should never be done. Dressing as a member of another culture was once part of Purim and pictures of old show Jews innocently costumed on Purim as Romans, Greeks, Cossacks, Arabs, and as members of other groups. Today this is seen as offensive, and we are sensitive to the feelings of other groups. Dressing in blackface is particularly inappropriate and offensive, and should never be done, the statement reads. Lakewood School District Attorney Michael Inzelbuch also condemned the photos on Monday morning during a Zoom news conference held by the district in response to the controversy. Inzelbuch said he does not know if the children are Lakewood School District students, but said the district will have educational programming in place by the end of the week to teach about the offensiveness of blackface and the costumes seen in the photos. The boards position and my position is it is unacceptable. It shouldnt happen at all, Inzelbuch said. We are not going just say its a shame. Were going to put out education. ... What I do know is parents should be more responsible. Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com. Avalon Zoppo may be reached at azoppo2@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @AvalonZoppo. Egypt and Sudan called for international mediation on Tuesday to reach a legally binding agreement with Ethiopia on the filling and operating the of Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD). In a press conference in Cairo following their talks, Egyptian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sameh Shoukry and his Sudanese counterpart, Mariam Al-Saddiq Al-Mahdi, called on Ethiopia to show good will and resume talks over the GERD before the second filing of the dam. Shoukry said that Egypt supports Sudans suggestion and called for international mediation, involving a quartet committee composed of the United Nations (UN), African Union (AU), European Union (EU) and the United States (US) in order to reach a legally binding agreement with Ethiopia. Last week, Khartoum proposed this suggestion to a delegation from the Democratic Republic of Congo, the current chair of the African Union. Both ministers also expressed their concern about how the talks between the three countries under the auspices of the AU stalled, warning that the water security of both Egypt and Sudan will be in danger if Ethiopia goes on with the second filling of the GERD. Ethiopian officials have already announced that the second filling of the GERD will take place next July. The second filling of the GERD endangers the lives of 20 million Sudanese citizens, the Sudanese minister said. Al-Mahdi stated that both Egypt and Sudan are committed to reaching a legally binding agreement on the filling and operation of the dam before the second filling. Last year, Ethiopia finished the first filing of the dam without the approval of Egypt and Sudan. Shoukry stressed on the role Egypt is playing to help reach a fair and equitable agreement for all-stakeholders, adding that an agreement on the GERD is the only way to achieve the interests of the three peoples. We are now coming to an important stage after the past rounds of negotiations, said Shoukry, rejecting unilateral actions or policies that are fait accompli, saying that they may force Egypt to abandon positive foreign policy. Ethiopia must show goodwill to participate in the negotiations, Shoukry explained, stressing that it is not possible to sustain endless negotiations. The AU, US, and EU, as well as the World Bank participated in previous rounds of the GERD talks as observers. On Tuesday, the EU stated that it was ready to help and play a bigger role concerning the talks on the condition that all parties involved agreed to it. On Sunday, US State Department Spokesman Ned Price said in a press briefing that the US continues to support collaborative and constructive efforts by Ethiopia, Egypt, and Sudan to reach an agreement on the GERD. Price added that President Joe Bidens administration will review US policy on the GERD and will assess the role the administration can play in facilitating a solution between the countries. Last year, Washington attempted to mediate a negotiated agreement between the three countries but failed after Addis Ababa refused to sign on a draft deal in February 2020. Former US president Trumps administration had already suspended aid to Ethiopia over the unilateral filling of the reservoir. However, Washington announced in February days after Joe Biden officially assumed the office it will de-link its pause on some aid to Ethiopia from its policy on the controversial Blue Nile hydropower dam, saying the resumption of assistance will be assessed on several factors. Sudanese Ethiopian borders tensions The tensions between Sudan and Ethiopia over their borders were not absent in the press conference in Cairo as Al-Mahdi stated that Khartoum was open to make the Sudanese-Ethiopian region an area of joint cooperation but only after the demarcation of borders. The borders issue can be solved by diplomatic means she said during the press conference. In the past few months, Khartoum and Addis Ababa had tensions over the Al-Fashaqa border region, where Ethiopian farmers cultivate fertile land claimed by Sudan. The two neighbouring countries have been trading accusations of violence in the area and territorial violations. Egyptian-Sudanese cooperation During the press conference it was revealed that President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi was going to visit Khartoum in the upcoming days. According to Sudanese sources that spoke to Al-Arabiya News channel, El-Sisis visit will be next Saturday for a couple hours, where he will meet Abdel-Fattah Al-Burhan, the chairman of the Transitional Military Council. The sources added the GERD file will be among the top topics in the discussions between the two top officials. The Sudanese foreign minister met El-Sisi in Cairo, where they discussed the latest developments concerning the GERD, as well as ways to boost strategic relations between the two countries. This is the first visit for Sudanese Minister Al-Mahdi to Cairo after being appointed as a foreign minister in Sudan in February. Al-Mahdi is already participating in the periodic foreign ministers meetings of the Arab League being held in Cairo from 1-3 March. The visit coincides with the visit of Egypts Chief-of-Staff of the Egyptian Armed Forces Lieutenant-General Mohamed Farid to Khartoum, heading a high-ranking military delegation to partake in the seventh meeting of the Egyptian-Sudanese Military Committee in Khartoum. According to Sky News Arabia, the Egyptian and Sudanese Armed Forces officials signed an agreement in the meeting concerning training and exchanging expertise. Short link: An Alliance councillor whose original motion sparked controversy over its subject's history as a slave owner has called for it to be withdrawn ahead of tonight's full council meeting. An amendment to Alderman Yvonne Boyle's proposal at last month's Causeway Coast and Glens Leisure and Development Committee meant the council committed to explore the establishment of a heritage trail to Hercules Mulligan. Mulligan, thought to have been born in Coleraine, was one of the American founding fathers and his character featured in a recent Broadway musical, Hamilton, on the subject. However, research from local history group Limavady Area Ancestry, run by Fiona Pegrun and Stephen McCracken, subsequentlyy revealed he had been a slave owner, using census data to back up the claim. The revelation provoked a backlash from the North West Migrants' Forum, who wrote to the council with the backing of eighteen community groups asking for the motion to be rescinded. Now Alderman Boyle has called for the motion to be withdrawn, describing the incident as a 'learning experience'. "History is a messy business and there is never just one version of events," she said. "Hercules Mulligan was a complex character. This issue was originally taken forward at the request of a constituent in good faith and it was not my intention to offend anyone. "Further details of his slave-owning have emerged subsequently which were not in the public domain at the time. I have met with various groups since then and explained that in person. "I believe the amended motion should now be withdrawn by the UUP. Councillors wanted to promote a more positive view of the local area but as more about Hercules Mulligan has been discovered, it is clear that cannot be the case with this figure. "It is important history is acknowledged and not ignored. The impact of emerging links to slavery in Northern Ireland need to be recognised and how these affect respect for our diverse population in the present day. "Any future heritage projects should not about celebrating anyone but rather providing a balanced and critical assessment of who they were and actions they carried out. "We all must challenge perceptions of history as it has been written to date. This has been a learning experience for me and I hope for others. The motion is due to be discussed at tonight's full meeting of Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council. A surge of holiday bookings were made last week after Boris Johnson announced the roadmap out of lockdown with many hoping for a foreign break later this year. Some of the most sought after summer destinations already booked for this summer include Greece, Spain, Turkey, Italy and Portugal, new data has revealed. Holidaymakers are looking to get away for longer, with 66 per cent of travellers booking trips for longer than a week in July, indicating that pent up demand for a getaway is a top priority, according to research from Skyscanner. It also found that 59 per cent of Britons said they would be happy to carry digital health information, including testing results and vaccine information in the form of a digital pass, if it allowed them to travel again. Travel: Greece is one of the most popular destinations for British holidaymakers this summer Depending on the month depends on the most popular location with Spain and Greece taking the top spots for trips in August, while trips to Turkey, Italy and Portugal will be more likely in July. Spain is the UK's overall number one summer destination, returning after a year off the top spot in 2020. Some 54 per cent of trips to the country are booked for a week or less in length, showing travellers are not viewing it as a location for long stays. Among the bookings, Malaga, Palma and Ibiza have been found as the most popular locations. Those looking to head to Spain will also get a good deal as prices are currently up to 25 per cent lower than during summer 2020. Spain is the most popular destination for Britons with Malaga one of the most booked locations Greece is another summer 2021 hotspot with most bookings made since the announcement for trips departing in August. The country is desperate for tourism to boost the economy with average prices now up to 11 per cent lower than in 2019. Holidaymakers warned about travel insurance Travellers are strongly encouraged to take out insurance after booking any trips away as just one per cent of policies will cover them for cancellation of a trip if there is another lockdown. It will be more important than ever to ensure you are protected if choosing to travel abroad - or even on a staycation - as the pandemic eases but is still ongoing. Research from Defaqto found 96 per cent of products will cover medical expenses should travellers catch coronavirus while on holiday but if you catch Covid-19 before you travel, only 71 per cent of policies will cover your cancellation costs. To avoid being left shelling out huge sums of cash, customers are encouraged to read through their insurance policies very carefully before purchasing to ensure it has all the coverage needed. They are also urged to avoid buying the cheapest plan as this may not offer all the protection needed, should something go wrong. Turkey is also popular with an average of 2.9 passengers per booking, indicating most trips are for families and groups. Long trips to Turkey are common, with 76 per cent of bookings for trips longer than a week. Prices are also up to 27 per cent lower compared to 2020 and 31 per cent lower than 2019. Meanwhile the most popular time for holidays to Italy in summer 2021 is July, with an average of 2.2 passengers per booking indicating couples or two friends are looking for an Italian escape. Most are looking for a short getaway with 65 per cent of bookings for a week or less. Summer prices are also attractive compared to last year, up to 27 per cent lower than the 2020 average and 23 per cent lower than 2019. Portugal retains its popularity with family favourite Faro proving most popular in July, with almost half of those booking trips for a week or less. For holidaymakers looking to bag a deal Portugal could be the best bet with prices up to 34 per cent cheaper than summer 2020 and 23 per cent lower than 2019. Jon Thorne, Skyscanner's Traveller expert, said: 'Whilst UK holidaymakers are still waiting for the green light to be able to travel again, we've certainly seen consumers react to the latest roadmap announcement with a surge in bookings for summer 2021 and beyond. 'It's good news for those eager to get away this summer and book ahead as airlines look to be keeping prices low and flexible booking policies in place in order to entice travellers back to the skies.' What about the EHIC? European Health Insurance Cards (EHIC) are still valid for those who hold them but once they expire travellers will need to apply for a UK Global Health Insurance Card (GHIC). This offers the same protection as the EHIC but has replaced the original scheme after Brexit. Both allow state-provided medical treatment if people fall ill or have an accident in the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein. It will cover chronic or existing illnesses, routine maternity care and emergencies but specialised treatment, such as dialysis, will require 'a prior agreement' to make sure it is available. As before, there is no provision for taking you home free of charge if you fall seriously ill or suffer a serious accident. Only travel insurance will cover that. Those who do not have an EHIC, or it has expired, can apply for a new one on the NHS website. Three in five happy with digital health passes In separate research, Skyscanner revealed that 59 per cent of UK survey participants said they would be happy to carry digital health information if it meant they could travel again. The so-called vaccine passports may be essential in getting the world travelling again with airlines and airports able to tell who has been vaccinated against Covid or not. The digital passports could also show if travellers have been tested positive or negative and when. Some 24 per cent of people said they would be happy to carry health documentation if it meant they were able to avoid travel quarantine restrictions. Another 34 per cent added they would feel more confident booking a flight that had a health pass in scheme place, requiring passengers to carry test results. Just 8 per cent said they wouldn't carry digital health information for travel. When asked what would give travellers the confidence to take an international trip, being vaccinated ranked highest with 59 per cent. A further 35 per cent said they would be more confident about travel if the destination or place they planned to visit required all travellers and guests to be vaccinated. Hugh Aitken, vice president of flights at Skyscanner, said: 'Whilst it's too early to say whether digital health passes will become the global norm, some airlines and providers have already started to introduce apps which allow travellers to upload and store their Covid-19 test results. 'Since the beginning of the pandemic, travellers have shown they are willing to react and adapt to changing requirements in order to be able to travel safely. Contactless technology, like digital health passes, which promotes safety first, is clearly something travellers would be ready to embrace. 'Whilst more needs to be done to build a common understanding for consumers around what health passes are and how they work, these findings show that we can expect travellers to approach new health and safety measures for air travel much the same way as they have in the past, adjusting to any reasonable requirements that make easy, safe, seamless travel possible.' Skyscanner surveyed 2,000 UK respondents in February 2021. VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / March 2, 2021 / CIBT Education Group Inc. (TSX:MBA)(OTCQX:MBAIF) ("CIBT" or the "Company") reports that its subsidiary, GEC Education Center Limited Partnership, plans to raise total equity of $60 million to fund the construction of GEC Education Mega Center (the "Project"). The financing of the Project is expected to be progressive in that the offering price of each unit offering will increase in phases consistent with the construction progress. "GEC Education Mega Center represents one of our biggest flagship projects and has received much interest from the real estate investment communities both domestic and abroad. During the past 18 months and amid the pandemic, CIBT and its subidiaries successfully completed nearly $33 million in equity and convertible-debt financing, and received over $0.5 billion in mortgage financing between 2015 - 2020. These experiences and contacts have led us to discussions with several investment groups concerning potential equity investments in the Project ranging from $5 million to $30 million per party. Also, CIBT plans to participate in this financing to increase CIBT's interest in the Project," commented Toby Chu, Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer of CIBT. "We will continue to finalize the remaining procedures in the coming months to acquire the Development and Building Permits. Demolition of the building previously occupying the site is completed." About GEC Education Mega Center: A subsidiary limited partnership of CIBT acquired the Project site in downtown Surrey on August 30, 2019. The Company expended substantial efforts through several value-engineering exercises to reduce costs and increase efficiencies. The Project received approval from Surrey's Urban Design Panel in December 2020, Public Hearing 1 and 2 approval on February 8, 2021, and Public Hearing 3 approval on February 22, 2021. The total purchase price was $22.6 million, excluding closing costs. An appraisal report by an independent appraiser dated August 31, 2020, valued the property at $55.37 million without, given the date of the report, factoring in the approvals we received from September 2020 to February 2021, which increased the land use density from 0.4x to 9.0x, as well as current market conditions. The Project will be a 49 storey concrete mixed-used commercial and residential building with 41 residential floors, 6 commercial and retail floors, 2 amenity floors, and 7 underground parking levels. The building design stands 542 feet tall, making it the fourth tallest building in Metro Vancouver. The Project will comprise 404,249 square feet with 787 bedrooms, including 112 studio units, and accommodates up to 982 occupants. The upper floors will be allocated for residential rental housing and the middle floors for student-centric rental apartments and corporate housing. The lower six floors will accommodate at least five colleges and universities looking to expand their Surrey City Centre presence and a cafeteria-style restaurant with a premium food market on the ground floor. The Project's total development budget is approximately $270 million, land cost included. Schools tenants located at the Project will share the amenity floors, including dining areas, student lounges, electronic library, video-conferencing and meeting rooms. Such sharing arrangement reduces the operating cost for all the schools. Most importantly, students attending their schools can reside upstairs from the schools, saving them time and money, with increased safety. GEC Education Mega Center could also provide much-needed rental housing to the students studying at the Simon Fraser University Surrey Campus ("SFU"), only 150 metres from the Project. The Kwantlen Polytechnic University Surrey Central Campus ("KPU") is within 80 metres of the Project. The Project could also provide rental housing to the estimated 10,000 workers anticipated to be employed in the expanded Surrey Central Business District (Newslink: https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/surrey-central-station-centre-block-redevelopment) directly across the street. Other public amenities such as the Surrey SkyTrain station are 20 metres away, 100 metres from the Central City Shopping Centre and the Surrey Civic Library with the Surrey City Hall adjacent to it. The Surrey campus of the Company's education subsidiary, Sprott Shaw College, currently occupies over 10,000 square feet in central Surrey. The plan is to relocate the Sprott Shaw College (Surrey) campus to the Education Mega Center as an anchor tenant. The Company has been in discussions with numerous universities and colleges from across Canada and abroad and has received tremendous interest in the Project. About CIBT Education Group: CIBT is one of Canada's largest education services and academic real estate companies. With a global presence since 1994, CIBT employs nearly 600 staff at 46 business locations and operates a global network of 2,500 recruitment agents. In 2020, the group provided education, recruitment and accommodation services to over 11,000 students. Its real estate portfolio, including operating assets and development budget, exceeds $1.5 billion. CIBT's education subsidiaries include Sprott Shaw College (established in 1903), Sprott Shaw Language College, Vancouver International College Career Campus, CIBT School of Business and Global Education Alliance. These subsidiaries offer over 150 accredited educational programs in healthcare, business, e-commerce, cyber-security, hotel management, language training and recruitment services at 29 locations in Canada and abroad. CIBT's real estate subsidiary, Global Education City Holdings Inc. ("Global Holdings"), develops and manages academic-assets such as student-centric rental apartments, corporate housing, hotel and education super-centres. Under the GEC brand, Global Holdings provides B2B accommodation service to 72 schools in Metro Vancouver and B2C service to students from 77 countries. The GEC branded portfolio, including operational and under-construction or development, comprises 11 projects, 16 buildings, spanning over 1.5 million square feet. CIBT also owns Irix Design Group Inc. ("Irix Design"). Irix Design is a leading design and advertising company services over one hundred corporate clients, including CIBT. Visit us online at www.cibt.net . Toby Chu Chairman, President & CEO CIBT Education Group, Inc. Investor Relations Contact: 1-604-871-9909 extension 319 or | Email: info@cibt.net FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS Some statements in this news release contain forward-looking information (the "forward-looking statements") about CIBT Education Group Inc. and its plans. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts. Forward-looking statements in this news release include (without limitation) statements about financing plans to raise funds for the construction of the proposed GEC Education Mega Center, CIBT's plans to participate in such financing to increase its interest in the Project, the expectation that the Project will be completed, the anticipated number of workers to be employed at the proposed redeveloped Surrey Central Business District and the possibility that the Project might house some of those workers. Forward-looking statements are subject to various risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause CIBT's actual results or achievements to differ materially from those expressed in or implied by forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are based on the beliefs, opinions and expectations of CIBT's management at the time they are made, and CIBT does not assume any obligation to update its forward-looking statements if those beliefs, opinions or expectations, or other circumstances should change, except as may be required by law. SOURCE: CIBT Education Group Inc. View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/632869/CIBT-Subsidiary-Plans-to-Raise-60-Million-Equity-for-Construction-of-GEC-Education-Mega-Center Foreign ministers and representatives of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), including from Myanmar, appear on a screen during an online meeting, in Putrajaya, Malaysia, March 2, 2021. Southeast Asian nations called Tuesday for a halt to escalating violence in Myanmar, and dialogue to end the crisis there, as some countries demanded the immediate release of civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi and others detained by the military after it seized power last month. But a special foreign ministers meeting convened to discuss Myanmar and attended by its representative also exposed rifts within the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, with Singapore warning that the inability to reach a common position on the coup undermined the 10-member blocs credibility and relevance. This was ASEAN's first high-level meeting as a bloc to discuss the crisis in Myanmar. We expressed our concern on the situation in Myanmar and called on all parties to refrain from instigating further violence, and for all sides to exercise their utmost restraint as well as flexibility, Brunei, the current chair of ASEAN, said in a statement summarizing the meeting. We also called on all parties concerned to seek a peaceful solution, through constructive dialogue, and practical reconciliation in the interests of the people and their livelihoods. At least 18 people were killed when security forces fired on protesters in cities across Myanmar on Sunday, the bloodiest day in a month of mass demonstrations against the militarys ouster of Suu Kyis elected government. The special meeting of ASEANs top diplomats was held virtually and came after Malaysia and Indonesia jointly called for such a meeting days after the Myanmar military seized power on Feb. 1. Amid criticism that the regional grouping had failed to take a strong collective stand on Myanmar, Singaporean Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan said it was crucial for ASEAN that the bloc be united in upholding the principles of democracy, the rule of law, and human rights. It is critical that ASEAN continues to reiterate our guiding principles in light of the unfolding tragedy in Myanmar, Balakrishnan said in a statement. If not, we will have no choice but to state our views on the situation as individual ASEAN Member States. But quite frankly, this would starkly underscore our lack of unity, and undermine our credibility and relevance as an organization. In individual statements issued after Tuesdays special meeting, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines and Singapore urged Myanmars military rulers to free Suu Kyi and other political leaders who were arrested during the coup. Malaysia calls for the prompt and unconditional release of detained political leaders in Myanmar, including Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, U Win Myint and their associates, and encourages dialogue between parties concerned, Malaysian Foreign Minister Hishammuddin Hussein told his ASEAN counterparts during the online meeting. Singapore also called for Myanmar armed forces to pledge to not use deadly force on protesters. Suu Kyi and Win Myint, who served as state counselor and president of Myanmar, respectively, from 2018 until the Feb. 1 coup, have been under arrest since the government was toppled. The coup took place after weeks of tensions that followed the Nov. 8 general election, which Suu Kyis party easily won, but which the military said was tainted by voter fraud. Since the coup, at least 22 people mostly pro-democracy demonstrators have been killed and more than 30 wounded by Myanmars security forces. On Tuesday, Myanmar soldiers and police fired live rounds, rubber bullets and tear gas at anti-coup protesters, leaving at least three people critically injured, news agencies reported. In an unusually strong statement for the Philippines, Manila on Tuesday urged the Burmese military to return power to the government that was democratically elected in November. Our call is for the complete return to the previously existing state of affairs: with respect to the preeminent role of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi; alongside the Army her father created for the protection of the people he led to freedom and the country he gave them at the cost of his life, Foreign Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. said in a statement. This is what is needed. And the first step should be for the immediate release of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and subsequent dialogue among the parties involved in their countrys destiny. For her part, Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi said that while ASEAN members must adhere to the blocs founding principle of non-interference, they have a duty to respect its values for democracy, human rights, good governance, rule of law and constitutional government. If ASEAN fails to uphold and implement these principles, Indonesia is concerned that ASEAN will not be able to fully serve its people, which would hinder the aspiration to build an ASEAN Community. Indonesia is certain that ASEAN stands ready to play its role when required, Retno said. There had been harsh criticism of her shuttle diplomacy last week, during which the top diplomat of ASEANs largest nation met with her military-appointed Myanmar counterpart in Bangkok. Last week, when Reuters reported that Indonesia endorsed a plan by the Myanmar junta to hold new elections which Jakarta denied hundreds of protesters gathered outside the Indonesian Embassy in Yangon. They said that Myanmar already had a legitimate government that was democratically elected four months ago. Malaysias Hishammuddin on Tuesday also proposed that ASEAN form a group of eminent persons or experts in electoral matters to help bridge the discrepancies found in the last general elections. Myanmar, he said, may consider allowing the secretary-general and chair of ASEAN to visit the country and give access to all parties involved. ASEAN: Torn between the West and China Analysts described what they said was ASEANs difficult position vis-a-vis Myanmar. In issuing a flat and normative statement summarizing the meeting, ASEAN chair Brunei was likely trying to avoid putting Myanmar in a corner, said Teuku Rezasyah, a lecturer in international relations at Padjajaran University in Bandung, Indonesia. After all, ASEAN is currently in a difficult position, torn between the West and China. So what Im worried about is if ASEAN takes an overtly hard line and is not trying to be accommodative, Myanmar will choose to consult China. Aaron Connelly, a research fellow at the International Institute for Strategic Studies in Singapore, noted that the regional bloc would not want another humanitarian disaster like the one that saw more than 700,000 Rohingya refugees flee Myanmar during a brutal military offensive in Rakhine state in 2017. It is in ASEANs interests to keep open lines of communication with the Tatmadaw so long as it holds power, if for no other reason than to use these channels to urge the army to return to its barracks post-haste, Connelly said, using the official name for Myanmars military. But, in engaging with the junta, ASEAN risks legitimizing the very coup that gives rise to these risks, he said. Muzliza Mustafa in Kuala Lumpur and Jason Gutierrez in Manila contributed to this report. Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-02 20:38:11|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close KATHMANDU, March 2 (Xinhua) -- The Nepal government on Tuesday formed a task force to hold a dialogue with Netra Bikram Chand-led Communist Party of Nepal which was outlawed by the incumbent government in March 2019. The two-member task force led by Minister for Home Affairs Ram Bahadur Thapa has Rajan Bhattarai, a foreign affairs advisor of Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli, as its member. "The dialogue will start very soon," Minister for Communication and Information Technology, Parbat Gurung, who is also a government spokesperson, said in a press meet on Tuesday. "We will bring the party into mainstream politics through a dialogue." Immediately after the government's announcement, the Chand-led party also issued a statement announcing a two-member task force led by Khadga Bahadur Biswokarma, the party's spokesperson, and Uday Chalaaune as its member. Prime Minister Oli had been making public statements for the last one week that his government will hold dialogue with the Biplab-led party and bring it to mainstream politics. The incumbent government banned the party in March 2019, calling it a criminal after the party orchestrated two blasts in Kathmandu, killing one and injuring several others. Two months later in May 2019, four people were killed in a series of blasts by the armed outfit in different parts of Nepal's capital. Talking to the journalists, Minister Gurung said the government is yet to lift the ban on Chand's party. "However, the government is positive towards lifting the ban," he said. "The further move of the government will depend on how the dialogue moves ahead." Enditem Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-02 03:06:40|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close GENEVA, March 1 (Xinhua) -- The World Health Organization (WHO) on Monday said that it is "unrealistic" to expect the COVID-19 pandemic to be over by the end of 2021. "I think it will be very premature, and I think unrealistic, to think that we're going to finish with this virus by the end of the year," Dr. Michael Ryan, executive director of the WHO's Health Emergencies Program, said at a press conference here on Monday. "But I think what we can, if we're smart, finish with the hospitalizations, the deaths and the tragedy associated with this pandemic," he said. Dr. Soumya Swaminathan, chief scientist of the WHO, added that "the goal of COVAX is to bring an end to the acute phase of the pandemic by the end of 2021." COVAX is a program led by the WHO, Gavi (the Vaccine Alliance) and the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) aiming at distributing COVID-19 vaccines around the world. "We still face a huge challenge in rolling out vaccines equitably and fairly to those who most need them around the world," Ryan said. "We're in a much better position than we were. But nothing is guaranteed," he added. As the world is struggling to contain the pandemic, vaccination is underway in some countries with the already-authorized coronavirus vaccines. Meanwhile, 256 candidate vaccines are still being developed worldwide -- 74 of them in clinical trials -- in countries including Germany, China, Russia, Britain and the United States, according to information released by the WHO on Feb. 26. Enditem Armenia may shift to a semi-presidential system of government, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said. Pashinyan proposed holding a referendum in the former Soviet republic in late 2021 to adopt a new constitution, adding snap elections were possible under certain conditions. "In October, we need to start the process of adopting a new constitution or making changes to the constitution. A transition scenario to a semi-presidential system is also possible," he said, speaking to thousands of his supporters in Republic Square in Yerevan, adding a referendum should be held for that purpose. Under a semi-presidential system, the country is ruled by an elected president, a prime minister and a cabinet. "Our biggest task should be the creation and formation of such constitutional structures that will guarantee stability and security in the Republic of Armenia, will exclude the formation of such crises," said Pashinyan, who has been in power since 2018. "Lets go to the polls and see whose resignation the people are demanding," Anadolu Agency cited him as saying. Opposition groups demanding the resignation of Pashinyan and his government also gathered at the same time on Marshal Baghramyan Avenue in Yerevan. Mumbai/Pune, March 2 : The Lonavala Police have arrested a former Congress corporator of Mumbai, Sunit Waghmare, for allegedly raping a woman on multiple occasions on the pretext of marriage, officials said here on Tuesday. In her written complaint lodged at Bhoiwada Police Station in south-central Mumbai, the 28-year-old victim has claimed that Waghmare lured her to accompany him to Lonavala hill station (Pune district) ostensibly to discuss his divorce case with an advocate. That was the first time Waghmare forced himself on the woman in November 2019, and he allegedly repeated the act multiple times since then while promising to marry her, the woman said in her police complaint. Sunit - who is in the realty business - is the brother of Raju Waghmare, an official Spokesperson of the Maharashtra Congress. "I am under pressure and now fear for my life If anything happens to me, then Sunit Waghmare and his brother Raju Waghmare shall be responsible," the victim told mediapersons here on Tuesday afternoon. The woman said that she first met Sunit Waghmare when he offered her a job and started chatting with her over the phone. Later, he allegedly proposed to her but she declined as he was already married and had kids nearly her age, but he claimed he was planning to divorce his wife. Sunit Waghmare allegedly lied to take her to a holiday resort in Lonavala where he was planning to meet his lawyer to finalise the divorce procedure, and then raped her, she contended. Despite repeated attempts by IANS, Raju Waghmare did not take calls, but his colleague and Spokesperson Sachin Sawant said that Sunit (the accused) was removed for anti-party activities in the 2017 BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation elections and the party had no links with him. Taking a jibe at the Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party for taking undue interest in the case, Sawant reiterated that Sunit Waghmare has no connection with the Congress. Since the alleged offences took place in Lonavala, the Mumbai Police transferred the case to Lonavala Police for further investigation and necessary action, officials informed. Accordingly, a team of Lonavala City Police Station arrested Sunit Waghmare here and produced him before a magistrate court which remanded him to police custody till March 5, said an official. It must be an enormous relief for the SNP to have Angus Robertson among its number at this critical time. He has identified the source of the party's current problems, which include the potential imminent departure of the First Minister. The answer, you may not be shocked to learn, is Unionists. They are behind all the trouble, running down Scotland at every opportunity. It's a bit like the all too predictable ending of a Scooby-Doo episode where the masked villain is revealed as the owner of the local amusement park. Maybe they would have got away with it were it not for those pesky Unionists. Mr Robertson has form for rigorous investigation, of course. He was tasked with probing claims of 'perceived' inappropriate behaviour by Alex Salmond towards female staff at Edinburgh Airport back in 2009. Angus Robertson (pictured with Nicola Sturgeon) was tasked with probing claims of 'perceived' inappropriate behaviour by Alex Salmond towards female staff at Edinburgh Airport back in 2009 Leaving no stone unturned, Mr Robertson, former SNP leader in the Commons, said he raised it with Mr Salmond, who denied it so a line was drawn under the affair. Poirot has nothing on this guy and yet isn't he missing the point? The real cause of the party's woes, which are now undermining its lead in the polls, is rather closer to home. It's Mr Salmond himself, in fact, who used his appearance at Holyrood on Friday to lob several hand grenades at his erstwhile protegee, Nicola Sturgeon. He also suggested the leadership of various institutions of state had failed on Miss Sturgeon's watch. Attack Yet Mr Robertson's conclusion is that Scotland's 'democratic and public institutions are under full-frontal attack by Unionist politicians and commentators'. In fact, it was his own former boss making the most trenchant criticisms of government and the Crown Office. It's almost as if the SNP is so used to 'othering' the demonisation and smearing of its critics that even now, when the enemy is rather closer to home, it is effectively othering itself. After all, one of the legal experts speaking out last week was Lord Hope, an ex-Supreme Court judge. He suggested the redaction of Mr Salmond's submission to the Holyrood inquiry into the Government's in-house harassment probe might show a 'weakness' in the parliamentary system. He was surprised the parliament had buckled when the Crown threatened legal action over the possible breach of a contempt order banning identification of alleged victims at Mr Salmond's trial (when he was cleared of all charges). It's true the SNP does not always see eye to eye with the legal establishment. Kenny MacAskill, as Justice Secretary, criticised Supreme Court judges for their ignorance about Scotland, claiming their knowledge of it was limited to their trips to the Edinburgh Festival. He did pay a high price for that intervention. Lord McCluskey, writing in the Mail, launched a broadside against Mr MacAskill over this slight and a series of other issues and he was later sacked by Miss Sturgeon. Alex Salmond waves as he leaves Holyrood after giving evidence to a Scottish Parliament Nonetheless, it's hard to sustain the argument that Unionists are to blame for traducing our democracy when some of those making the allegations include 'commentators' of the calibre of Lord Hope, perhaps the finest legal mind of his generation. Undeterred, Mike Russell lashed out at The Spectator edited by a Scot, Fraser Nelson which went to court in a bid to change the wording of the contempt order in the Salmond trial. The minister tweeted: 'Anyone wondering about Fraser Nelson's new-found interest in the Scottish parliament and Scottish democracy might be enlightened by this. 'The real concern of the Right-wing Scottish exiles of the Spectator set is not concern for us but fear of losing control over us.' He was referring to The Spectator's front cover, which asked whether Boris Johnson was about to 'lose Scotland'. Mr Nelson pointed out he was Scottish, and has worked here, and has maintained an interest in Scotland. He has identified the source of the party's current problems, which include the potential imminent departure of the First Minister Perhaps a little shame-faced, if he's capable of such an emotional response, Mr Russell, born in England, replied, in schoolteacherly fashion: 'Well stop misrepresenting it [Scotland] for political purposes.' Naturally, it would never occur to Mr Russell to misrepresent anything for political purposes, though you might arrive at a different judgment if you looked even for a moment at his political career. He's held his own when it comes to spouting baseless rhetoric on Scotland's oppression under the English yoke. So too has independence-supporting journalist Ruth Wishart, who tweeted last week: 'It's fascinating to watch those living under the casual corruption of the Johnson government suddenly emerging as experts on the Scottish political condition.' Tawdry It seems there's no graver sin than having the temerity to speak out against the SNP when you're living or working in England, regardless of your nationality. As usual, everything is seen through the prism of the constitution nothing else matters. Isn't it possible those who are taking an interest might be genuinely appalled at what's unfolding a long and tawdry story that has highlighted some of the incestuous power networks holding sway over public life in Scotland? In parliament, Miss Sturgeon has tried a spot of 'othering' herself, suggesting that Labour MSP Jackie Baillie, a member of the Salmond committee (and one of its best inquisitors), had become the 'chief spokesperson for Alex Salmond' (a position formerly held by Miss Sturgeon). There are plenty of people within the SNP ranks who are deeply uneasy about the way government and Crown appear to have been less than transparent in their dealings with the Salmond inquiry. Meanwhile, the party's grassroots are at each other's throats over trans rights and tactics for furthering the push towards independence, which polls suggest is coming off the rails. Factionalism is helping to heighten the sense of internal crisis another example of the Nationalists becoming their own worst enemy. Tomorrow, Miss Sturgeon will be the star turn giving evidence to MSPs, another history-making moment, taking up the chair recently vacated by her former mentor. A lot rides on this. It's clear that after months of dead ends, the committee isn't in the mood for being pushed around. Whatever the outcome, we can be sure the SNP's master propagandists and spineless apologists will spin it as the Houdini moment when Miss Sturgeon saved her skin and put to rest any doubts about her role in the Salmond saga. But there's also the matter of a separate standards probe deciding whether or not Miss Sturgeon breached the ministerial code. If she has, she'd be expected to resign. If she's forced into it, you can bet that 'Unionists' will get the blame. In fact, the real blame will lie with a secretive and arrogant elite that believed itself to be above the ordinary rules of political accountability. 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. From The Empathy Diaries: A Memoir. Published by arrangement with Penguin Press, a member of Penguin Random House LLC. Copyright 2021 by Sherry Turkle. Its June 2018 and Im in Barcelona, a city in which I have little history. Ive been a tourist here twice. Once I came to see the wonderful Gaudi buildings and once I visited friends with my daughter Rebecca, who was 10 at the time. Rebecca had torn a ligament in her ankle in a playground accident a week before our planned departure. But we took off for Barcelona anyway, planning to take taxis and eat tapas. My friends had young children. If we couldnt do a lot of sightseeing, at least we would have the benefit of a new place, new food, deepening connection. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Over the weekend, we took a road trip to Barcelonas PortAventura, a Spanish version of Disneyland. At the entrance, Rebecca was issued a wheelchairher invalid status meant that everyone in our party automatically went to the front of every line, even the ones with two-hour wait times. We were thrilled by what felt like a guilty pleasure. Twenty years later, these happy associations come back to me. I have finished the first draft of this book, and I text Rebecca my good news. Weve been texting back and forth, working on details for her wedding, planned for the following summer. Im in Barcelona to give a speech about new trends in artificial intelligence. Ive called my talk The New A.I.Artificial Intimacy. Now machines are not content to show us they are smart; they pretend to care about our love lives and our children. Advertisement When computer toys first wowed children with their ability to play games, children not only saw the toys as sort of alive but actually changed how they talked about what was special about being a person. When they met computer toys, children saw people as special not because they were smart (these new machines were smart as well) but because they had feelings. Young children essentially described people as emotional machines. It seemed an unstable category. Even then, my computer-scientist colleagues dreamed of creating robots and screen avatars that could be our companions of the heartmachines with as-if feelings and as-if empathy. I wondered: Once people were in the company of these new emotional machines, the artificial ones, how would we distinguish ourselves from these pretenders? More important, would we want to? Would pretend empathy seem empathy enough? Advertisement Advertisement I came up with this troubling formulation: We nurture what we love, but we love what we nurture. After taking care of an object, even one as simple as a digital pet that lived in a plastic egg and wanted to be fed and amused on schedule, children (and their parents) got attached to it emotionally. This finding did not have to do with the intelligence or empathic qualities of the digital objects that asked to be taught or tended. It had to do with the vulnerability of people. When machines ask us to care for them, we become attached to these machines and think that the machines care for us. Pretend empathy had an awesome weapon: the deep psychology of being human. Advertisement And now we were beyond human vulnerabilities and projections. Now the machines were outright declaring their affection. This is the original sin of artificial intelligence. There is nothing wrong with creating smart machines. We can set them to all kinds of useful tasks. The problem comes up when we create machines that let us think they care for us. You are the wind beneath my wings, says Siri in response to Siri, I love you. These empathy machines play on our loneliness and, sadly, on our fear of being vulnerable to our own kind. We must confront the downside of living with the robots of our sciencefiction dreams. Do we really want to feel empathy for machines that feel nothing for us? Advertisement Advertisement As I prepare the final notes for my talk on the dangers of artificial intimacy, I suddenly remember a night in 1982. My husband Seymour and I had gone to the Boston premiere of Tron with A.I. researcher Marvin Minsky. We were excited. The film depicted the mind as a society of programsthis was the theory that Marvin and Seymour were writing about! After the film, we stood outside the theater while Marvin regaled us with his ideas about our object minds. The film, said Marvin, was on the right track. Everyone should take their kids to this film and avoid more traditional fare. In his mind, Walt Disneys Bambi was the worst. I took the bait. Advertisement What was wrong with Bambi? Every kid sees Bambi. Marvins response has stayed with me for half a lifetime: Bambi indoctrinates children to think that death matters. Someday we will conquer death by merging with computers. Such attachmentsBambis attachment to his mother, for examplewill be unimportant. People need to learn to give that stuff up. I knew Marvin to be a loving father and husband. But in his mind, attachment would only be an impediment to progress in a world where people and machines evolved together. Marvin Minsky died in 2016. But Im still fighting his idea, now more than ever part of the cultural mainstream, that it is good to have devices that can wean us from our dependency on one another. For Marvin, the burdens that come with human bonds were unnecessary and inefficient because an engineering solution was on the horizonwe are ultimately going to mate with machines or evolve into machines or become one with machines. Advertisement These ideas are seductive. Of course we want technology to bring us sharper wits and a cure for Parkinsons. We like the idea that some kind of artificial intelligence can help monitor the safety of isolated elders. And then we are caught short. There is a red lineone I have seen so many people cross. Its the line when you dont want children to get attached to their mortal mothers because they should be ready to bond with their eternal robot minders. Its the line where you take your child as your experimental subject and ignore her, registering her tears as data. Its the line you cross when one of your classmates commits suicide by jumping out a window and you joke about the laws of physics that were at work in his descent. Its the line you cross when you know that the car you manufacture has a design flaw and a certain kind of impact will kill its passengers. Youll have to pay damages for their lives. What is the cost of their lives in relation to that of redesigning the car? This is the kind of thinking that treats people as things. Knowing how to criticize it is becoming more pressing as social media and artificial intelligence insert themselves into every aspect of our lives, because as they do, we are turned into commodities, data that is bought and sold on the marketplace. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement At the very moment we are called to connect to the earth and be stewards of our planet, we are intensifying our connection to objects that really dont care if humanity dies. The urgent move, I think, is in the opposite direction. The evening before my talk in Barcelona, I thought about Marvin and Tron. I remembered that when Rebecca was small, I went out and bought her all the Disney movies I had seen as a child. Of course, I bought Bambi. In my home, there would be no shortage of stories with mother-child bonds. And now Rebecca is 27. Only a few weeks before, she helped me choose my gown for her wedding. I had a favorite, but wasnt the neckline too low? Studiously, patiently, my daughter stood opposite me, putting herself in my place, taking me seriously. My empathic girl. No, she said. The neckline is perfect. Future Tense is a partnership of Slate, New America, and Arizona State University that examines emerging technologies, public policy, and society. New Delhi: Actress Kangana Ranaut says she is heartbroken once again, after visiting her half-demolished Palli Hill Mumbai office on Monday (March 2). The 'Queen' star took to Twitter to voice her feelings. "I have been conducting meetings at my house, today Aksht Ranaut who founded Manikarnika Films with me also single handedly handling all 700 cases filed on me, insisted that today I attend important meeting regarding Emergency at the office,I wasnt ready and my heart broke again," wrote Kangana on her Twitter account. I have been conducting meetings at my house, today Aksht Ranaut who founded Manikarnika Films with me also single handedly handling all 700 cases filed on me, insisted that today I attend important meeting regarding Emergency at the office,I wasnt ready and my heart broke again. pic.twitter.com/mPfuCcmxOt Kangana Ranaut (@KanganaTeam) March 1, 2021 In September 2020, Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) half-demolished actress Kangana Ranaut Palli Hill office. BMC released a notice in which it stated 14 instances of illegal construction at the office site. On the work front, Kangana will next be seen in Razneesh Ghai's action-thriller 'Dhaakad', actress-turned-politician J Jayalalithaa biopic 'Thalaivi' directed by A L Vijay, and 'Tejas' directed by Sarvesh Mewara. Activists from left parties hold placards during a protest march demanding the repeal of the Digital Security Act in Dhaka, March 1, 2021. The United Nations rights chief on Monday urged Bangladesh to ensure an independent and transparent probe into the death of imprisoned writer Mushtaq Ahmed, as protests raged for a fourth day demanding repeal of the draconian Digital Security Act. Meanwhile, a court postponed to Wednesday a decision on whether to grant bail to cartoonist Ahmed Kabir Kishore, who was arrested along with Ahmed and is said to be seriously ill. The government must ensure that its investigation into Ahmeds death is prompt, transparent and independent, and that any allegations of ill-treatment of other detainees are also immediately investigated, U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet said in a statement. Various U.N. Human Rights bodies have long raised concerns about the ill-defined, overly broad provisions of the Digital Security Act that have been used to punish criticism of the government, Bachelet said. Bangladesh, she said, needs to suspend application of the act and bring its provisions in line with the requirements of international human rights law. All those detained under this Act for exercising their rights to freedom of expression and opinion must be released, Bachelet said. Ahmed, 53, was arrested in May and died in hospital on Thursday after suddenly falling ill, prison officials said. He had been refused bail six times since his arrest the last time two days before his death. Two government committees are investigating the cause of his death. Ahmed had published an article on Facebook criticizing the shortage of personal protective equipment for healthcare workers amid the coronavirus pandemic, PEN America and HRW said. He was arrested on charges of spreading anti-government remarks and rumors regarding the coronavirus situation and various law enforcement agencies, police said at the time of the arrest. The Digital Security Act allows police to arrest people without a warrant. The death sparked a chorus of concern from people inside and outside the country about the repression of free speech in Bangladesh. Last year, at least 142 people faced cases under the Digital Security Act, which was passed by the ruling Awami League government in October 2018, according to rights group Odhikar. 'No possibility to revoke act' Meanwhile, the government categorically said it would not repeal the Digital Security Act, as it was framed and passed for the security of people in the digital space. But it will review its application, Law Minister Anisul Huq told BenarNews on Monday. I am aware of the statement by the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights. But there is no possibility to revoke the act, Huq said. We will review the abuses of the law. I would like to make it clear that we are not reviewing the law; we are reviewing the abuses. Anger over Ahmeds death spilled onto the streets for the fourth day in a row on Monday, with protestors demanding the release of others who were arrested along with Ahmed, such as cartoonist Kishore, who is diabetic. Left-leaning organizations, members of the student wing of the main opposition party, Bangladesh National Party, and free speech activists protested in Dhaka, while smaller protests were held in almost every district of the country. In a statement, 51 prominent public figures including lawyers, activists and university professors called for a judicial inquiry into Ahmeds death, calling it a state killing, Bangladesh news outlet Prothom Alo reported. No death is desired In a press conference on Saturday in which she lauded Bangladeshs development progress, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina appeared to downplay international concern over Ahmeds death. What can we do if someone dies after falling sick? she said. No death is desired. It is also not desired that unrest will be created, AFP quoted her as saying. Weve built a Digital Bangladesh, and now it is our duty to provide the people with digital security, she said. Its our duty to prevent the youth from taking a wrong path or getting involved in militancy and terrorism; we must make sure that they do not do anything harmful to the country and the people, bdnews24 quoted her as saying. This is why digital security is absolutely necessary. Meanwhile, the Dhaka High Court on Monday said it would give its verdict on a bail plea for cartoonist Kishore on Wednesday, his lawyer, Jyotirmoy Barua, told BenarNews. When Kishore and Ahmed were brought to court last week, local media had reported that the two looked underweight. In addition, Kishore had reported abuse by prison guards, according to advocacy group Cartoonists Rights Network International. He is an insulin-dependent diabetic, and we had long expected he would not fare well in custody while unable to confidently and freely take adequate injections. But the reported issues with his eyesight and infected wounds in his ears and on his left leg as well as loss of weight cannot be easily explained merely by insulin rationing, the group said in a statement Friday. [W]e are now quite convinced that the cartoonist is in imminent danger of death. His immediate release is absolutely essential, the group said in a statement on Friday, after Ahmeds death. The U.N.s Bachelet on Monday reminded authorities of their obligation to promptly and effectively investigate the claims and to ensure Kishores safety and well-being. MUSKEGON, MI A local restaurant that supported the community with free meals earlier in the pandemic is feeling a return of love from the community. Facing the financial effects of the ongoing COVID-19 restrictions on Michigans restaurants, Curry Kitchen posted a plea on Facebook Friday night: Need help otherwise we will be closing soon. The Muskegon restaurant that gave away 23,000 free meals last year found itself in need of community support. The response that followed shocked restaurant owners Raj and Kismat Grewal. The Facebook post was shared nearly 2,000 times, reaching thousands of people and generating hundreds of comments. Saturday and Sunday were the busiest days we had in our history, said Raj Grewal. Curry Kitchen was struggling to stay afloat following a 10-week ban on indoor dining that gave way to a 25% capacity restriction, which is currently in place in Michigan. Grewal said he posted on Facebook to let customers know we still exist. For 12 uninterrupted hours each day over the weekend, Grewal and his staff served hundreds of people who lined up to help the restaurant. Wilma Vagenas, a Muskegon resident, stopped by Curry Kitchen on Sunday after seeing the Facebook post. She said it was crazy busy, but the restaurant didnt turn people away. They were helping the community, Vagenas said. Now to see the community come back and help them, thats a huge deal. Twice a week from March to September, Curry Kitchen gave full meals of chicken or vegetable curry, rice, salad and naan flatbread to people in need. Curry Kitchen has been a part of downtown Muskegon for nine years, but the Grewals have been in the area for two decades. Before opening the restaurant on Third Street, the couple brought the first Indian restaurant to Muskegon in 2005. We never predicted the community loves us so much said Grewal. CURRY KITCHEN BEEN IN MUSKEGON FAMILY FOR 9 YEARS NEED HELP OTHERWISE WE WILL BE CLOSING SOON Posted by Curry Kitchen on Friday, February 26, 2021 Comments flooded the Facebook post with people asking how they could help, promising to place orders and calling Curry Kitchen a treasure. CrashMasters, a tech repair shop in Muskegon, also jumped on board to support the restaurant. The business posted on Facebook saying, Its our turn to help them out, and bought $200 in gift cards from Curry Kitchen, which were given away in a social media contest. They want us to stay in Muskegon and stay in good shape, said Grewal. Curry Kitchen, which normally operates seven days a week, closed on Monday. Grewal said they ran out of stock and the staff needed a break after a busy weekend. We will reopen (Tuesday) to serve our community again, Grewal said. More on MLive: How can we help? Three cities in Muskegon County seek input from struggling residents Michigan ready for graduated reopening of restaurants, groups say in letter to Whitmer Congressman Meijer: $1.9T COVID relief bill puts government excess over direct dollars to Americans * Username This is the name that will be displayed next to your photo for comments, blog posts, and more. Choose wisely! Skip to main navigation For Release: Tuesday, March 2, 2021 DEC to Host 12th Annual Jefferson County Youth Turkey Hunt Free Program for Youth Ages 12 - 15 New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Environmental Conservation Police Officers (ECOs) today announced the 12th annual turkey hunt for youth ages 12 through 15. The event is free to the participants and all equipment will be provided if necessary. The two-day youth turkey hunt is being held at the Sackets Harbor Sportsmen's Club and begins at 9:00 a.m. on Sunday, April 18 with an educational day and a hunt day on Saturday, April 24. The hunt will feature special COVID-19 precautions to ensure a safe learning environment, including health questionnaires, capacity limits to ensure social distancing, and mask usage. Interested youth hunters must possess a New York State small game license and valid turkey tags. The event is hosted by the Sackets Harbor Sportsman's Club and sponsored by the Northern New York Chapter of the National Wild Turkey Federation and the New York Conservation Officers Association. Signup sheets are available at the Sackets Harbor Sportsman's Club, 17500 County Route 66, Akins Archery, 25834 NY-12, Watertown and VanTassel's Gunsmithing, 30412 NY-37, Evans Mills. For more information or to sign up for the event please contact ECO Steve Bartoszewski at 315-489-6984 or by email at steven.bartoszewski@dec.ny.gov. A party leader inadvertently interrupted a Dail committee today by telling everyone: Were boring everyone to death here. Catherine Murphy, co-leader of the Social Democrats, accidentally went live when listening to questioning of civil servants from the Office of Government Procurement. After she suddenly spoke to bemoan the monotony, Independent TD for Wexford, Verona Murphy, who had been carrying out questioning, said: Catherine, your microphone is live. Read More David Moloney, acting Secretary General of the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, appeared before the Public Accounts Committee, joined by Chief Procurement Officer Paul Quinn. The OGP is claiming to have achieved 570 million in savings since it was set up in the wake of the financial crisis but it was unable to provide a breakdown of the figures, promising to provide it later to members. Mr Quinn said the years 2016 and 2017 had seen the biggest savings as the new central purchasing scheme got into its stride, with tapering economies thereafter. He explained the benefits of across-the-board ordering by saying it could mean, for instance, a small school on the Aran islands paying the same for units of electricity as a body like the Revenue Commissioners. He said large-scale procurement not only achieved economies but allowed for secondary Government aims to be pursued, such as Green or social considerations. There are 8,000 public bodies in Ireland and centralised procurement was an improvement on the past situation where a lot of bodies were off doing their own thing. Read More Australia's outback, famous for vast red earth landscapes and rugged rock formations, also holds another less known but equally as impressive tourist attraction. At Gantheaume Point, about 15 minutes southwest of Broome in Western Australia, where sandstone cliffs meet the sapphire-blue ocean, visitors can see the fossiled footprints of dinosaurs. The rocky outcrops were formed in the Early Cretaceous period about 130million years ago and, at low tide, perfectly formed footprints of the ancient animals and imprints of plants from that time can be inspected about 30 metres out to sea. At Gantheaume Point (pictured) 15 minutes southwest of Broome in Western Australia, tourists can view 130million year old dinosaur footprints The rugged sandstone cliffs jut out into the crystal clear ocean at the spot on Western Australia's pristine north coast (pictured) Plaster imprints of the dinosaur fossils are embedded in the cliffs (pictured), while tourists can inspect the actual footprints on flat rocks at low tide While walking trails wind down from the promontory to the flat rocks where the footprints are preserved, there are also plaster casts of the fossils embedded on the cliffs for those who don't want to walk on the slippery reef. The dinosaur tracks extend in patches for about 80 kilometres down the coast from Broome - which was once a river delta teeming with dinosaur life. Gantheaume Point is one of the best places to get a close-up look at the relics, with about nine species of different dinosaur tracks identified. There are well defined three-toed tracks from theropod dinosaurs - carnivores, some of which are a relative to the Tyrannosaurus. Also visible are deep imprints from heavily armoured dinosaurs such as Ankylosaurus and Stegosaurus. And there are also round prints measuring 1.7 metres across from the sauropod group of dinosaurs - herbivores understood to be the largest animals to have ever walked the earth, of which Brachiosaurus is a member. While there are other locations where dinosaur tracks can be viewed across the country, none are quite as ancient as those found in the north of Western Australia. Another famous tourist spot, the Dinosaur Stampede National Monument in outback Queensland, features tracks from 95million years ago. They were formed when more than 150 small chicken-sized dinosaurs drinking at a lake were chased by a hungry theropod leaving stampede tracks in the mud which were fossilised. A close up of a three-toed therapod footprint (pictured) left by a dinosaur similar to a Tyrannosaurus The spot also features picturesque rock pools which tourists can cool off in (pictured) An actual fossilised dinosaur footprint at Gantheaume Point which can be inspected at low tide (pictured) Getting to Gantheaume Point is fairly simple, with flights running directly into Broome from most major cities. A one-way adult ticket from Perth is available from $305 booking a month in advance on Virgin Australia, while Qantas has similar deals. Tickets from Sydney are slightly more expensive starting fromthe $400 mark, while from Melbourne you can also find tickets for this price though you might need to book further ahead. From Brisbane, tickets will set you back $550 or more. Getting from Broome town centre to Gantheaume Point, located on the south edge of Cable Beach, requires a 15 minute cab ride or, for those feeling energetic, the spot is within walking distance and will take about an hour and twenty minutes to stroll to. The shooting took place in Jalalabad, in eastern Afghanistan Three female media workers have been shot and killed in Afghanistan, their TV network said, in what appeared to be the latest targeted killing to rock the country. Journalists, religious scholars, activists and judges have all been victims of a recent wave of political assassinations, forcing many into hiding -- with some fleeing the country. The killings have increased since peace talks began last year between the Afghan government and the Taliban. Tuesday's murders came in two separate attacks in the eastern city of Jalalabad, said Zalmai Latifi, the director of Enikass TV, where the three women worked. "They were going home from the office on foot when they were shot," Latifi told AFP, saying all three worked in the dubbing department for the broadcaster. Zahir Adel, a spokesman at Nangarhar's provincial hospital, also confirmed the toll. The local Islamic State group affiliate said its gunmen carried out the killing of what it called "journalists working for one of the media stations loyal to the apostate Afghan government". Afghan and US officials have blamed the Taliban for the wave of violence, but the group has denied the charges. A Taliban spokesman denied the group was involved in Tuesday's killings. The murders came as the US special envoy to Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad returned to Kabul this week for meetings with Afghan leaders, in a bid to revive a flagging peace process as a deadline for US troop withdrawal draws closer. Khalilzad's arrival marks the first time he has returned to Afghanistan since US President Joe Biden took office in January and asked him to stay in his post. Donald Trump's administration, eager to end America's longest war, tasked the veteran diplomat with negotiating with the Taliban, culminating in a deal signed in Qatar on February 29 last year. The accord states that the US will withdraw all troops from Afghanistan by May, with the Taliban promising not to allow territory to be used by terrorists -- the original goal of the US invasion following the September 11, 2001 attacks. Story continues America's future in Afghanistan under Biden is unclear, after the White House announced plans to review the withdrawal deal brokered last year. Some observers warn a speedy US withdrawal from the country may unleash even greater chaos in the war-weary country. bur-hg/kma The massive power outage in on October 12 last year was caused by human error and not due to cyber attack, said Union Power Minister "Two teams investigated the power outage and submitted that the outage was caused by human error and not due to cyber attack. One of the teams submitted that cyber attack did happen but they were not linked to the grid failure," Singh told news agency ANI on Tuesday. "Cyber attacks happened on our northern and southern region load dispatch centres but they (malware) could not reach our operating system. Home Minister has informed that cyber-attacks happened on their SCADA system in Mumbai," added Singh. While citing a probe report, Home Minister Anil Deshmukh on Monday said the Cyber Cell has mentioned in its preliminary report that unaccounted data may have been transferred to the MSEBs (state electricity board) server from a foreign server. He, however, did not name the country from where the data may have been transferred. Deshmukh's comments came in the wake of a US company's report claiming that amidst the border tension in Ladakh last year, a Chinese government-linked group of hackers targeted India's critical power grid system through a malware. The report raised suspicion whether the massive power outage in the financial capital was a result of the online intrusion. On October 12, a grid failure in resulted in a massive power outage, stopping trains on tracks, hampering those working from home amidst the COVID-19 pandemic and hitting the economic activity hard. The home minister said the cyber cell has mentioned in the report that 14 Trojan horses (malware) may have been introduced in the MSEBs server. Secondly, 8 GB unaccounted data may have been transferred into the MSEBs server from a foreign server, he said. Thirdly, the Cell has said in the report that there is a possibility of attempts being made to log into the MSEBs server through several blacklisted IP addresses, Deshmukh added. So, from the findings of the Cyber Crime department and electricity department experts, it seems that the October 12 blackout could have been due to it (sabotage), he said. "We don't have evidence to say that the cyber-attacks were carried out by China or Pakistan. Some people say that the group behind the attacks is Chinese but we don't have evidence. China will definitely deny it," said Singh. "Cyberattack issue is not just confined to Mumbai but it could spread across the country. We should not politicise this issue. I have spoken to Union Minister about this. He has sought details about it and said that we should remain alert," said Deshmukh on Tuesday. Meanwhile, Maharashtra Power Minister Nitin Raut on Tuesday said he will table all the reports on the October 12 Mumbai power outage in the Assembly tomorrow. A senior World Health Organization official has warned it is 'premature' and 'unrealistic' to think that the pandemic might be over by the end of the year. Dr Michael Ryan, director of WHO's emergencies programme, said that the world's singular focus right now should be keeping the transmission of Covid-19 as low as possible. But he did add that the recent arrival of vaccines could at least help dramatically reduce hospitalisations and death. 'If we're smart, we can finish with hospitalisations and the deaths and the tragedy associated with this pandemic' by the end of the year, Ryan said at a press briefing on Tuesday. Dr Michael Ryan, director of WHO's emergencies programme, said that the world's singular focus right now should be keeping the transmission of Covid-19 as low as possible, warning it is 'premature' and 'unrealistic' to think that the pandemic might be over by the end of the year [File photo] He said WHO was reassured by emerging data showing that many of the licensed vaccines appear to be helping to curb the virus' explosive spread. 'If vaccines begin to impact not only on death and not only on hospitalisation, but have a significant impact on transmission dynamics and transmission risk, then I believe we will accelerate toward controlling this pandemic,' Ryan said. However, Ryan warned against complacency, saying that nothing was guaranteed in an evolving epidemic. Speaking at the same press briefing, WHO's director-general said it was 'regrettable' that younger and healthier adults in some rich countries are being vaccinated against the coronavirus before at-risk health workers in developing countries. Immunisations provided by the UN-backed effort COVAX began this week in Ghana and the Ivory Coast. Pictured: Healthcare staff, security forces and teaching staff are being vaccinated in the Ivory Coast On Monday, 117,000 vaccines arrived to Bogota, Colombia through the COVAX mechanism Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said immunisations provided by the UN-backed effort COVAX began this week in Ghana and the Ivory Coast, but lamented that this was happening only three months after countries such as Britain, the US and Canada began vaccinating their own populations. 'Countries are not in a race with each other,' he said. 'This is a common race against the virus. We are not asking countries to put their own people at risk. We are asking all countries to be part of a global effort to suppress the virus everywhere.' But WHO stopped short of criticising countries who are moving to vaccinate younger and healthier populations instead of donating their doses to countries that have not yet been able to protect their most vulnerable people. WHO's Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (pictured) said it was 'regrettable' that younger and healthier adults in some rich countries are being vaccinated against the coronavirus before at-risk health workers in developing countries File photo] 'We can't tell individual countries what to do,' said Dr Bruce Aylward, a senior WHO adviser. On Monday, 117,000 vaccines arrived to Colombia through the COVAX mechanism. Tedros also noted that for the first time in seven weeks, the number of COVID-19 cases increased last week, after six consecutive weeks of declining numbers. He described the increase as 'disappointing,' but said it wasn't surprising. Tedros said WHO was working to better understand why cases increased, but that part of that spike appeared to be due to the 'relaxing of public health measures.' 'Even as COVID19 vaccines continue to roll out, we urge all governments and individuals to remember that vaccines alone will not keep you safe,' he said. Kanpur : , March 2 (IANS) Six persons were killed and about 20 seriously injured when a coal-laden truck overturned in Bhognipur area on Tuesday morning. The truck was carrying labourers who were on their way to Firozabad. The labourers were seated on top of the coal laden truck. All of them belong to Hamirpur district. As the truck approached Maukhas village, the driver apparently lost control and the vehicle overturned. Six people died on the spot. All the injured have been admitted to the hospital where the condition of eight of them is said to be critical. Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has taken cognizance of the incident and has directed district officials to provide proper treatment and all help to the injured persons. The plaudits have faded for New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo. Once hailed as a paragon of pandemic governing, he's since come under scorching criticism for undercounting the state's Covid deaths among nursing home residents by as much as half. The tallying flap drew attention to another misstep: a policy last March that directed nursing homes to accept Covid-positive patients from hospitals, potentially exposing high-risk, medically vulnerable nursing home residents to the deadly virus. Did the governor intentionally fudge nursing home death counts to deflect attention from the impact of an ill-advised directive? That depends on whom you ask. The governor's allies say the policy was a good-faith effort to assist hospitals that feared they were going to be overrun by Covid patients. The counting snafu, they say, arose out of an excess of caution because the administration didn't want to double count deaths. Critics, and there are many, point to a different motivation. They suggest the governor didn't want his image as a competent pandemic leader to be tarnished by a wrongheaded policy that the administration withdrew within weeks. Interest in these issues is unlikely to abate anytime soon. Following the critical report by the New York attorney general that highlighted the undercounting problem, the governor's top aide came under fire for admitting to state legislators that the administration withheld complete nursing home Covid death data from them. Now the FBI and the U.S. attorney's office in Brooklyn have reportedly opened an investigation into the handling of long-term care facilities during the pandemic. Judging from the number of questions and comments KHN and PolitiFact have fielded on the subject, it's clear that many readers are confused and concerned. Here's a quick guide to help sort it out. By the numbers Cuomo frequently touts how well New York stacks up against other states in preventing nursing home Covid deaths. In September, he said New York ranked 46th out of 50 states, a claim we examined and found to be Mostly False. A key problem is that until recently the New York totals didn't include deaths of nursing home residents that occurred in hospitals. State comparisons are tricky. But most other states, perhaps all of them, do include hospital deaths in their Covid nursing home totals, said Priya Chidambaram, a senior policy analyst at KFF, the Kaiser Family Foundation. (KHN is an editorially independent program of the foundation.) "New York's decision to pull out the hospital-based deaths was not based on standard practice," she said, noting that federal rules for reporting Covid nursing home deaths require that states include off-site deaths in hospitals. New York's unorthodox exclusion of hospital deaths was always noted in the fine print on the data sheets. But the governor didn't offer a disclaimer when he boasted of the state's better-than-average performance based on an incomplete count. Just how incomplete became evident when New York Attorney General Letitia James released a report in late January that found the state's published data on nursing home Covid deaths undercounted the total by up to 50%. The reason: the exclusion of hospital deaths as well as underreporting by some nursing homes. The state soon released a revised total of nearly 15,000 deaths among residents of long-term care facilities, about double the earlier tally of roughly 8,500, as reported by news outlets such as The New York Times and The Associated Press. The Empire Center set that number higher, around 8,940. Using the updated, more comprehensive figures, the state's Covid death rate for nursing homes of roughly 29% is still somewhat better than the national average of 37%, said Chidambaram, who tracks Covid mortality in long-term care facilities. Last month, we published a fact check examining Cuomo's recent claims about below-average nursing home Covid deaths and found them to be Mostly True. Advocates and public health officials agree it's crucial to incorporate hospital Covid deaths into the nursing home mortality figures. "If you can't source [the infection] back to the place it occurred, you can't stop it," said Christopher Laxton, executive director of the Society for Post-Acute and Long-Term Care Medicine, which represents medical personnel who work in those settings. The New York State Senate passed a bill last month that would require the Department of Health to record the Covid deaths of nursing home residents who subsequently die in hospitals as nursing home deaths. The March 25 policy Last March, New York was the epicenter of a disease outbreak whose scope was still unknown. More than a thousand people were being hospitalized every day in the state, and experts were genuinely concerned that hospitals would run out of space to treat the influx of Covid patients. Cuomo issued the controversial March directive instructing nursing homes to take in recovering Covid patients who'd been hospitalized. There was an almost immediate outcry that the policy seemed to put frail, elderly nursing home residents, who were particularly vulnerable to the virus, at enormous risk. The governor said he was simply following Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidance, a claim we investigated and found to be Mostly False. But was the administration's policy responsible for sowing the seeds of infection that killed thousands of nursing home residents, as a top Trump administration official claimed? We examined that claim and found it, too, was Mostly False. On May 8, the administration amended the March directive and said hospitals could not discharge patients to nursing homes without a negative Covid test. Last summer, the state health department put out a self-serving report claiming the timeline of when the 6,327 recovering Covid patients entered the nursing homes and when nursing home residents died showed that the Covid-positive patients could not have been a driver of infections or deaths in nursing homes. The report pinned the blame for spreading disease on staff members and visitors. Epidemiologists said the report's position that the governor's policy didn't open nursing homes to Covid infections was nonsense. But they agreed that staff and visitors likely played a larger role in introducing the virus. The Empire Center for Public Policy, a conservative think tank, released a report last month that found the March 25 directive was associated with 4.2 additional deaths per facility, on average. Showing an association is not the same as showing that one thing caused another, the report notes. And analysts pointed out other shortcomings in the study, such as not incorporating the precise dates when Covid-positive patients were admitted, which made any findings of associated deaths unreliable. In a statement, New York state health commissioner Dr. Howard Zucker said, "The Empire Center's conclusion that 'the data indicate that the March 25 memo was not the sole or primary cause of the heavy death toll in nursing homes'" is consistent with the health department's analysis that the policy "was not a driver of Covid infections and fatalities and Covid was introduced to nursing homes primarily through staff and visitors." Bill Hammond, a senior fellow for health policy at the Empire Center and the study's co-author, said he believed that deflecting criticism of the governor's March policy was at the root of the administration's decision to withhold the hospital Covid deaths of nursing home residents. The center sued the state health department to release the numbers. The Associated Press made a Freedom of Information Act request for the data. "If it hadn't been for a court order, they would still be hiding this data," Hammond said. Beyond the numbers New York's nursing home Covid controversy goes beyond whether Cuomo intentionally tried to obscure some numbers. Nationally, fewer than 1% of people live in long-term care facilities but make up 35% of Covid deaths, according to the Covid Tracking Project. The bullet point from the New York attorney general's report that has gotten the most attention was the assertion that nursing home deaths may have been undercounted. But other troubling factors documented in the report put nursing home residents at risk, including poor infection control practices, insufficient staffing and inadequate personal protective equipment and Covid testing. These findings are preliminary and the AG's office continues to investigate. The report highlighted the "catastrophe" that many nursing home residents and their families have experienced, said Richard Mollot, executive director of the Long Term Care Community Coalition, which represents people in long-term care settings. "It's part of the broader issue that we face, that the lives of nursing home residents are not counted much to begin with," Mollot said. Without a vaccine last year, "it really laid bare the need for better infection control: really good mask-wearing, a lot of testing of staff," said Denis Nash, an epidemiologist at the City University of New York School of Public Health. Crocodile Tears for Khashoggi Betray Info Op to Promote His Fellow Islamists Commentary With the Biden administration releasing an intelligence assessment claiming de facto Saudi leader Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman (MBS) approved the grisly 2018 murder of Jamal Khashoggi, the political-media class is once again shedding crocodile tears over his death. Its purpose is more than performative. It is signaling the dawn of the rebooted Obama-Biden administration project to Make the Middle East Great for Islamists Again, aided by the Iran DealMuslim Brotherhood echo chamber that is reassembling in real-time to amplify such stories. We know the outrage over Khashoggis murder, which the Biden administration has re-stoked, is disingenuous on account of two things: First, the political-media class has always been at pains to lionize Khashoggi as a highly sympathetic, muckraking, dissident journalist, while airbrushing out the more unsavory details of his life. Such details include his Muslim Brotherhood support and mourning of Osama bin Ladens death, apparent anti-Semitism, the backing of his Saudi-critical work by rival Qatar, and past service as a Saudi government mouthpiece. Second, the political-media class has, by contrast, ignored the fates of the scores of journalists who fit the idealized Khashoggi profile, from China, to Turkey, to Iran. To mention these omissions of Khashoggis views and associations is not to diminish his murder. But it is to call into question the circumstances surrounding it, which matter if there are to be consequences for our national security and foreign policyas our political-media class has long demanded. The facts suggest that contra the Official Narrative of Khashoggi as a freedom-fighting regime critic-in-exile, it might be more accurate to describe him as an Islamist political operative who was participating in a high-stakes geopolitical game involving dangerous playersamong them competing factions of the House of Saud, Qatar, and Turkey. The political-media classs feigned outrage over Laffaire Khashoggi betrays its true purpose: To leverage his death as part of a broader information operation aimed at justifying the return to the Obama-Biden administrations Middle East policy. Reason and facts are not on the side of this policy, so propaganda will have to do. The policy requires reorienting America away from the burgeoning partnership between Israel and several relatively secular strongmen Arab regimes, and towards the Iranian mullocracy, and other Islamist entities. The Trump administration fostered the former relationship in a bid to build a bulwark against the regions Islamic supremacists. This would allow America to reduce its footprint in a part of the world marked by chaos and violence, while ensuring our vital interests were protected. It would also allow America to turn towards greater threats, such as Communist China. The Biden administration is seeking to re-establish the latter relationship, with much of the same personnel in command. While the ground has shifted over the last four years, making it more difficult to effectuate such a reversalas the Biden administrations lip service to a Saudi-Israeli pact suggestsit once again seeks to make Iran, its Shia proxies, and Sunni Islamist partners the regional strong horses, under the twisted belief such dominance would somehow be good for America. The Biden administration evidently views Iranian partner China as a party to be engaged in this regard. The Biden administrations release of the aforementioned report on Khashoggis murder, consisting of less than two pages of substance, adding little if anything to the publics knowledge of what transpired, and revealing a frankly weak basis for its primary claim about MBSs culpability, must be seen in this context. Former Trump administration Acting Director of National Intelligence Richard Grenells take that the report reads like a gratuitous repackaging of intel and therefore a manipulation of intelligence for political gain, holds true. The political gain is greatest for Americas sworn enemies, who benefit by seeing our partners browbeaten for the kinds of acts they themselves routinely engage in. This is in keeping with the Biden administrations Middle East agenda, which requires downgrading the partners that the Trump administration had elevated, while appeasing the adversaries the Trump administration had confronted. Consider that before the release of the report, the Biden administration asserted it was recalibrating its relationship with Saudi Arabiathe Arab nation most critical in countering Iran, and thus the linchpin of the Trump administrations effort to bind similarly threatened Arab regimes and Israelgenerally, and away from de facto leader MBS specifically, snubbing and isolating him. This recalibration includes not only imposing sanctions, like the visa restrictions the State Department has slapped on 76 Saudi officials, but freezing arms sales both to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emiratesundoing in part a key plank of the Abraham Accords. The ripple effects of this move go beyond Riyadh (and Abu Dhabi). Such a recalibration likely sends a chill down the spine of other Sunni Arab authoritarian regimes because it may foretell a turn against them as well. And to whom? If past is prologueand considering, perhaps not coincidentally, Khashoggis sympathiesto the Muslim Brotherhood and its Islamist offshoots that threaten said regimes survival. These were the very forces the Obama-Biden administration embraced from Egypt to Libya and beyond, to disastrous effect. For their part, Muslim Brotherhood affiliatesjust like the Iranian regimereportedly celebrated Bidens presidential victory. It bears noting, such Sunni Islamist groups, and Iran, while theologically at odds, partner strategically to take on common enemies. Irans historic arming and funding of Muslim Brotherhood-tied Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and support for Al-Qaeda, are a testament to this fact. With respect to Iran, the Biden administration has already signaled that like the Obama administration before it, it will reward the mullocracys aggression. In just one short month, with Iran again openly enriching uranium to purity levels well in excess of Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) caps, putting it on the path towards a nuclear bomb; with its alleged proxies having attacked American servicemen and killed a civilian contractor in Erbil; and with the Houthis stepping up their attacks on Saudi Arabia, what has the Biden administration done? It asked Iran to come back to the JCPOA negotiating table without preconditionsin service of its desire for a longer and stronger Iran Dealafter withdrawing the snapped back United Nations sanctionsand revoked the Houthis foreign terror designation. The Biden administrations Middle East policy, simply put, is to punish our partners, and reward our Islamist adversaries. That Khashoggi is being used in death as part of the information effort that buttresses this policy, seems like a perversely fitting way for the administration to honor him. Ben Weingarten is a fellow of the Claremont Institute and co-host of the Edmund Burke Foundations The NatCon Squad. He is the author of American Ingrate: Ilhan Omar and the Progressive-Islamist Takeover of the Democratic Party, and is currently working on a book on U.S.China policy and its transformation under the Trump administration. Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times. Image via Getty/Raymond Boyd Ohio Police discovered that a mother had killed her son after lying to authorities and reporting him as missing. The Washington Post reports that Brittany Gosney and her boyfriend, James Hamilton, went to a Middletown, Ohio police station on Sunday morning to tell them she couldnt find her 6-year-old son, James Hutchinson. Officers quickly began looking for the boy, sharing information and photos of him. Investigators soon found out the 29-year-old mothers story wasnt true. Gosney had actually run her son over with her car in a park a few days before, after trying to leave him there. He died from the injuries to his body, and Gosney and Hamilton later dumped his body in the Ohio River. This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it. Gosney has since been charged with murder, abuse of a corpse, and tampering with evidence, while Hamilton is facing charges of abuse of a corpse and tampering with evidence. The two other children who lived at the couples home have been taken by state authorities. Its still unclear why Gosney killed her son. The mother is not showing much remorse at this time. But she has confessed to doing this, Middletown Police Chief David Birk said at a news conference. Shes not really saying what the motive was. Police said Gosney and her boyfriend drove all three children to Rush Run Park, where she allegedly attempted to abandon James. He tried getting back into the car, so she ran him over and left him there. When she returned to the area 30 minutes later and found James dead, she put him in the car and drove home. The next night, Gosney and Hamilton purportedly drove to a bridge overlooking the Ohio River and tossed James body into the water. The police thought the situation was suspicious when the couple took so long to file a report. It was a little unusual because usually when you have a missing child, the first thing you do as parents is to contact the police, Birk said. They said he was missing since Saturday night. Story continues This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it. The police first went to the park to gather evidence but discontinued the search and ended up arresting Hamilton and Gosney. When the couple confessed to the murder and disposal of his body, authorities went to look for his remains in the river. Gosney now has a $1 million bond. I dont know how to process this, James father Lewis Hutchinson told the Dayton Daily News. I want justice for him, thats what I want. Related Articles More Complex Sign up for the Complex Newsletter for breaking news, events, and unique stories. Follow Complex on: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Snapchat, TikTok Twitter has launched a new 'strike' system for users who post tweets containing misinformation about Covid-19, including vaccines. The strike policy will punish repeat offenders with temporary suspensions, which could lead to permanent suspension from the platform after five strikes. The social network is also expanding its use of warning labels to tweets that may contain misleading information about the Covid-19 vaccines. Offending tweets will appear with the message: 'This tweet may be misleading. Find out why health officials consider Covid-19 vaccines safe for most people.' Labels providing additional context are already attached to tweets with disputed information about the pandemic, but this is the first time the firm has focused on posts about vaccines specifically. The move is designed to strengthen the social network's stance anti-vax posts as Covid-19 vaccines which are crucial for bringing an end to lockdown measures are being rolled out Twitter also announced it has removed more than 8,400 tweets and challenged 11.5 million accounts worldwide due to Covid-19 misinformation so far. Offending tweets will appear with the following message from Twitter: 'This tweet may be misleading. Find out why health officials consider Covid-19 vaccines safe for most people.' TWITTER'S FIVE-STRIKE SYSTEM - One strike: no account-level action - Two strikes: 12-hour account lock - Three strikes: 12-hour account lock - Four strikes: 7-day account lock - Five or more strikes: permanent suspension Advertisement 'Starting today, we will begin applying labels to tweets that may contain misleading information about Covid-19 vaccines, in addition to our continued efforts to remove the most harmful Covid-19 misleading information from the service,' the firm said in a blog post dated Monday. 'We are also introducing a strike system that determines when further enforcement action is necessary. 'We believe the strike system will help to educate the public on our policies and further reduce the spread of potentially harmful and misleading information on Twitter, particularly for repeated moderate and high-severity violations of our rules.' Labels will first be applied by human staff when they determine content violates the firm's Covid-19 misleading information policy. This will help build 'automated tools' to advance Twitter's ability to identify and label similar content across the service. Twitter is feeling its responsibility to combat misinformation during the distribution of Covid-19 vaccines, which are crucial to getting the UK out of lockdown The firm's goal is to eventually use both automated tech and humans to address content that violates Covid-19 vaccine misinformation rules. The company is starting with English-language content and will work to expand to other languages and 'cultural contexts' over time. Labels may link to curated content and official public health information or the Twitter rules. Twitter said the strike system comes into play in instances where accounts repeatedly violate its Covid-19 misleading information policy. Users will face no additional action other than a warning on their first strike. Two strikes will lead to a 12-hour account lock, while the third strike will lead to another 12 hour account lock. A seven-day account lock will be imposed after four strikes, followed by a permanent suspension for five strikes or more. 'Through the use of the strike system, we hope to educate people on why certain content breaks our rules so they have the opportunity to further consider their behaviour and their impact on the public conversation,' the firm said. Last December, Twitter said it would soon begin to label Tweets that contain potentially misleading information about the vaccines. This policy covers false claims suggesting immunisations and vaccines are used to intentionally cause harm or control populations and that the disease 'is not real or not serious, and therefore that vaccinations are unnecessary'. Twitter's Covid-19 misleading information policy covers many more bizarre examples of misinformation including 'claims that specific groups or people are more or less prone to be infected or to develop adverse symptoms on the basis of their nationality or religion'. It also covers people who create fake accounts that imitate public health officials or agencies and research institutions. Twitter's new updates come amid ongoing concern about the spread of anti-vaccination material on social media. Wild and untrue claims made about vaccines online include the claim that they have been created by Microsoft founder Bill Gates to inject microchips into people, and that coronavirus has been made up as part of a plot to enforce vaccination. Mid and East Antrim Chief Executive Anne Donaghy "did not know the source of the threat" to council staff at the Port of Larne and had "no way of finding out other than through the PSNI", minutes have revealed. The document has been published on the council website. It was reported Ms Donaghy told councillors during a closed session that loyalist paramililaties were involved. Staff were withdrawn from carrying out inspections required by the NI Protocol after a perceived threat. Police later said it was not credible. The minutes said that at a meeting of group party leaders earlier that day, there had been "unanimous support across the parties to withdraw council staff with immediate effect until a full and formal PSNI threat assessment and council risk assessment could be completed". The report gave a "summary of allegations" to councillors, including the appearance of graffiti "indicating that border post staff were targets". Ms Donaghy was asked if paramilitaries were involved and if this had been confirmed by the PSNI. The report stated: "In reference to paramilitaries, she informed that she did not know the source of the threat. She reiterated that the reason why a formal PSNI threat assessment was being requested was that she did not know and had no other way of finding out other than through the PSNI. "She advised that she did know that the situation had initially been accredited to young people but that had changed and the messages received had been extremely mixed. As she did not have the answers, she believed that a better safe than sorry approach should be taken." Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-02 03:59:28|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close People wearing face masks walk on a street in downtown Tehran, Iran, Feb. 21, 2021. (Photo by Ahmad Halabisaz/Xinhua) -- Iran warns of "4th wave" of COVID-19 pandemic; -- Israel's total cases hit 779,958; -- Iraq reported 3,599 new cases, total infections approaching 700k; -- Turkey unveils province-based approach to easing restrictions; CAIRO, March 1 (Xinhua) -- Iran issued on Monday a warning over a possible "fourth wave" of the COVID-19 pandemic, after the country's daily death toll rises above 100 for the first since early January. Meanwhile, Israel reported 5,479 new COVID-19 cases on Monday, raising the total tally in the country to 779,958. "The death of 108 patients of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours is sounding the alarm of the fourth wave of the disease," Sima Sadat Lari, spokeswoman for Iran's Ministry of Health and Medical Education, said at her daily briefing. The new daily figure takes the death toll of the epidemic to 60,181 in Iran. Between Sunday and Monday, the ministry reported 8,510 new infections, Lari said, adding 812 of them need to be hospitalized. The total number of COVID-19 cases registered in Iran stands at 1,639,679, according to the official data. Moreover, 1,399,934 COVID-19 patients have recovered or been released from Iranian hospitals so far, though 3,727 remain in critical condition, said the spokeswoman. Since the beginning of the outbreak in February 2020, a total of 10,912,409 laboratory tests for the coronavirus have been carried out in the country, the Iranian official said. An Israeli woman gets vaccinated against the COVID-19 at a temporary facility set up by the Israeli Magen David Adom national emergency service in Tel Aviv, Israel, on Feb. 20, 2021. (Tomer Neuberg/JINI via Xinhua) Israel's Ministry of Health reported 5,479 new COVID-19 cases on Monday, raising the tally in the country to 779,958. The death toll from the COVID-19 in Israel reached 5,760 after 22 new fatalities were added, while the number of patients in serious condition decreased from 776 to 737, out of 1,238 hospitalized patients. The total recoveries in Israel rose to 735,850, with 7,217 newly recovered cases, while the active cases decreased to 38,348. The number of people vaccinated against COVID-19 in Israel has surpassed 4.74 million, or 51 percent of its total population, since the vaccination campaign began on Dec. 20, 2020. The country's COVID-19 reproduction number, also known as the R number, rose to 1, higher than 0.79 about a week ago. The R number is an indicator used to determine how fast COVID-19 is spreading, as an R number greater than 1 means that the number of patients increases at an exponential rate and multiplies from time to time. A healthcare worker collects a swab sample from a man for COVID-19 test in Baghdad, Iraq, Jan. 31, 2021. (Xinhua) Also on Monday, the Iraqi Ministry of Health reported 3,599 new coronavirus cases, bringing the total nationwide infections to 699,088. It also reported 22 new deaths, raising the death toll from the infectious virus to 13,428, while the total recoveries in Iraq climbed by 3,708 to 639,639. A total of 6,881,821 tests have been carried out across the country since the outbreak of the disease in February 2020, with 35,578 done during the day. The ministry also announced the launch of an electronic platform to distribute vaccines to citizens across the country, including the semi-autonomous region of Kurdistan. Citizens can enter the platform through their national cards to choose the type of vaccine they want, al-Tamimi said, adding that the vaccine would be free of charge. He also said the ministry has allocated 605 health centers to distribute vaccines throughout Iraq. Iraq said it will receive a shipment of China's Sinopharm vaccines on Monday evening. Iraq has taken a series of measures to curb the recent rise in infections after the Ministry of Health announced on Feb. 15 the detection of a new strain of coronavirus characterized by faster transmission and a higher level of severity. The Iraqi National Board for Selection of Drugs has approved the emergency use of China's Sinopharm and Britain's AstraZeneca vaccines to contain the spread of COVID-19 in the country. Lebanon registered on Monday 1,888 new COVID-19 cases, raising the number of infections in the country to 376,921, the Health Ministry said, adding the death toll from the virus went up by 51 to 4,743. Lebanon received on Monday 50 oxygen concentrators and four high-flow nasal cannula oxygen therapy devices from Spain to help the country fight COVID-19. Lebanon has been fighting against COVID-19 since Feb. 21, 2020. The country has received about 100,000 Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines and more doses are expected to arrive in two weeks. Morocco announced on Monday 112 new COVID-19 cases, taking the total tally in the North African country to 483,766. The total number of recoveries from COVID-19 in Morocco increased to 469,345 after 299 more were added. The death toll rose to 8,637 with 14 new fatalities during the last 24 hours, while 394 people are in intensive care units. A total of 3,568,670 people have been vaccinated so far against COVID-19 in the country. Morocco launched a nationwide vaccination campaign on Jan. 28 after the arrival of the first shipment of China's Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccines. Kuwait reported on Monday 1,179 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the total number of confirmed cases in the country to 192,031. People queue up to register to receive COVID-19 vaccine at the Vaccination Center in Hawalli Governorate, Kuwait, Feb. 4, 2021. (Photo by Asad/Xinhua) The Kuwaiti Health Ministry also announced two more deaths, taking the death toll to 1,085. The tally of recoveries in Kuwait rose by 946 to 180,155, while 10,791 coronavirus-related patients were receiving treatment. On Feb. 21, Kuwait started the extension of a ban on entry of non-Kuwaiti travellers to the country until further notice. The Kuwaiti government has also decided to close land and sea borders from Feb. 24 until March 20 with the exception of shipping operations. The Qatari health ministry on Monday announced 473 new COVID-19 infections, raising the total number of confirmed cases in the Gulf state to 164,137. While 440 more people recovered from the virus, bringing the overall recoveries to 154,061, the fatalities increased by one to 259. A total of 1,544,331 persons in Qatar have taken lab tests for COVID-19 so far. The Omani health ministry on Monday announced 312 new COVID-19 infections, raising the total number of confirmed cases in the country to 141,808. The kingdom also reported deaths in the day, pushing the death toll up to 1,577, according to a ministry statement quoted by ONA. The ministry urged everyone to adhere to social distancing instructions issued by the Supreme Committee entrusted with handling the novel coronavirus. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Gandhinagar, March 2 : Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani on Tuesday said that the people of the state have wiped out the Congress and reduced it to a level where it is not even considered fit to be in the Opposition. He was addressing the media at the state BJP headquarters in 'Shri Kamalam' here, where the party on Tuesday celebrated its impending victory in the local body elections. As per the results received for all the municipalities till 6 p.m. on Tuesday, BJP captured 2,027 seats, followed by Congress (375), Independents (168), Aam Aadmi Party (9), Bahujan Samajwadi Party (6), and others (24). In the district panchayat polls, 771 seats went to the BJP, 164 to the Congress, 3 to the independents, 2 to the AAP, 1 to the BSP and 4 to the others. In the tehsil polls, 3,236 seats went to the BJP, 1,201 to the Congress, 112 to Independents, 31 to AAP, 4 to BSP and 16 to other candidates. The AAP has opened its account in the Junagadh Tehsil Panchayat. "The Congress has been totally wiped out. Gujarati people have not even considered them worthy of selecting them as Opposition. They have secured very few seats as the people have rejected the party completely," Rupani said. As the counting progressed for the local body elections in tehsil, district and municipalities in Gujarat on Tuesday, it became clear that the BJP has improved on its 2015 performance. The Chief Minister said, "It was believed that even though the BJP might influence the urban voters, but the rural voters will stick to the Congress. But that too has been proven otherwise. The state president rightly said that the people have paid back to the BJP with interest." He said that it looked like the BJP would form more than 60 municipality bodies this year. Exercising its Right to Reply, India retorted to the statements made by Pakistan and the OIC under Oral Update by the High Commissioner of Human Rights and said that Pakistan's deliberate misuse of the August forum for its malicious propaganda against India, aimed at diverting the attention of the Council from its own serious violations of Human rights, has remained "constant even amid the pandemic. Indias Statement as Right of Reply to statements made by Pakistan and the OIC under Oral Update by the High Commissioner of Human Rights.@MEAIndia pic.twitter.com/GFbZ2SYcOB India at UN, Geneva (@IndiaUNGeneva) March 2, 2021 "Pakistan hosts the largest number of terrorists proscribed by the United Nations" Highlighting Pakistan's role in terrorism, the statement read, "Pakistan has provided pensions to dreaded and listed terrorists out of State funds and has the dubious distinction of hosting the largest number of terrorists proscribed by the United Nations. The leaders of the country have admitted to the same but have outrightly ignored the fact that terrorism is the worst form of human rights abuse and the supporters of terrorism are the worst abusers of human rights." READ: Pakistan Sanctioned Dawood Ibrahim & Other Terrorists 1 Day Before Escaping FATF Blacklist "Minority Shrinking in Pakistan" The statement went on to channelize the attention of the Council towards the treatment of the minority in Pakistan and appealed to ask the South Asian country why the population of Christians, Hindus, and Sikhs has drastically been shrinking since the independence and why they and other communities such as Ahmadiyyas, Shias, PAstunas, Sindhis, and Baloch, have been subjected draconian blasphemy laws, systemic persecution, blatant abuses and forced conversions. READ: Pakistan Walking Into A Swamp Of Criminal Jihad Inspite Of FATF Grey List: Sushil Pandit Further, the statement brought to light the enforced disappearance, extrajudicial killings, and arbitrary detentions of those who tried to speak against the establishment, carried out by the security agencies with impunity. The claim was supported with a recent example of Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh, the key suspect in the murder of the journalist Daniel Pearl who was allowed to go scot-free. "Disappearance and killings of Baloch Human Rights defenders show that Human Rights defenders are not safe, even after they leave Pakistan. Idris Khattak, a human rights defender who was picked up in November 2019 continues to be in secret detention," the statement under reply read. READ: Pakistan's Maryam Nawaz Says 'Imran Afraid Of Votes'; Slams PM Over Poll Fraud Allegations "Stop state-sponsored cross-border terrorism, human rights violation of minority" The above-listed points were followed by a piece of advice to Pakistan, referred to as a "country in a dire economic situation". The country was advised to stop wasting time of the Council and its mechanism and to stop state-sponsored cross-border terrorism, along with the institutionalized violation of human rights of its minority and other communities. READ: Indian Army Warns Pakistan: 'Ceasefire At LOC Will Have No Impact On Counter-terror Ops' "No locus standi to comment on J&K" Touching upon the reference of the Union Territory of Jammu & Kashmir in the statement of the OIC, the reply read, " IT has no locus standi on matters related to Jammu and Kashmir, which is an integral and inalienable part of India. It is regrettable that the OIC continues to allow itself to be exploited by Pakistan to indulge in anti-India propaganda." it added. Mumbai, March 2 : Actor Ronit Roy says he loves to work on the small screen and that he owes his career to television. Ronit shot to fame with his portrayal as the suave Rishabh Bajaj in the show Kasautii Zindagi Kay. He was later seen in shows such as Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi, Bandini and Adaalat among many others. Over the years, he has also made his space in Bollywood with roles in films such as Udaan, Boss, Sarkaar 3, Kaabil, 2 States, Student Of The Year, and Shootout At Wadala, among others Ronit, however, says he never left television. "I never left television and this is not a full length role, I am a host. I always love to work on television and the way people react to it. I owe my career to television," he told IANS. The actor is currently busy with his upcoming crime show Jurm Aur Jazbaat for Shemaroo TV. "I am shooting for Jurm Aur Jazbaat and a project called Candy, and there are quite a few projects in the pipeline, which I don't have the authority to talk about," he said. Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-02 11:21:01|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close GENEVA, March 1 (Xinhua) -- The first female and first African director general of the World Trade Organization (WTO), Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, officially took office on Monday, ending a six-month "leaderless" period of the organization, after former chief Roberto Azevedo stepped down on Aug. 31, 2020, a year ahead of schedule. "I am coming into one of the most important institutions in the world and we have a lot of work to do. I feel ready to go," she said. On arrival at the WTO's headquarters here, Okonjo-Iweala highlighted the importance of the organization. Addressing the General Council on her first day in the post, Okonjo-Iweala pledged to "bring all my knowledge, passion, experience and persistence to the task at hand, reforming the organization and achieving results." Okonjo-Iweala, 66, has served as Nigeria's finance minister twice and briefly acted as foreign minister. She has worked for the World Bank for 25 years, including as managing director for operations. On Feb. 15, WTO members agreed by consensus to appoint Okonjo-Iweala as the new director-general. Her term, which is renewable, will expire on Aug. 31, 2025. "It cannot be business as usual. We have to change our approach from debate and rounds of questions to delivering results," Okonjo-Iweala said. "We have to be more accountable to the people." Okonjo-Iweala hinted the WTO's upcoming 12th Ministerial Conference, also called MC12, as an immediate opportunity to deliver. "Virtually every delegation mentioned the urgency and importance of MC12 ... Therefore, we must work hard to complete a few deliverables before MC12 so that ministers can focus on ratifying agreements and agreeing best methods for implementation." The WTO's Ministerial Conference, which is attended by trade ministers and other senior officials from the organization's 164 member states, is the organization's highest decision-making body. Also at Monday's General Council meeting, WTO members decided that the MC12 will take place "in the week of 29 November 2021" in Geneva. The meeting was originally scheduled to be held on June 8-11, 2020, in Kazakhstan's capital, Nur-Sultan, but was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In terms of "deliverables" at the MC12, Okonjo-Iweala underlined the need to "prioritize action on COVID-19 both for the immediate and longer term" and to "focus on completing fisheries subsidies negotiations before the middle of the year." While WTO members continue dialogues on the potential to exempt COVID-19 vaccines from intellectual property rights, the new chief suggested cooperation with vaccine companies "to open up and license more viable manufacturing sites in emerging markets and developing countries" as "an interim solution." As to the negotiations on fisheries subsidies, Okonjo-Iweala once stressed that an agreement on the issue would be "a win-win for trade and sustainability." "It will signal to the world that the WTO is back, that it is capable of concluding a multilateral agreement vital for current and future generations." Okonjo-Iweala also underlined the necessity to reach an agreement on the "road map" on how to reform WTO's dispute settlement system, which can be submitted to the MC12 for endorsement. The Appellate Body, considered as the supreme court for global trade disputes, is supposed to have seven judges and needs a minimum of three to function. It has been paralyzed since Dec. 11, 2019. "We need to come to a new understanding about how disputes are settled in the WTO," Simon Evenett, professor of International Trade and Economic Development at the University of St. Gallen, said. "The dispute settlement system is about bringing countries back into compliance. There needs to be some where hard thoughts about what can be accomplished there, and not some short-term fix." The new head of the WTO acknowledged that high expectations for her tenure can only be met if members are willing to compromise and reach agreements, as the WTO is a membership-driven organization. "Getting countries to work out their differences on a multilateral basis, to refrain from imposing punitive tariffs to each other and to strengthen the role that diplomacy plays in solving disputes, will be absolutely key," Patrick Odier, chairman of the board of directors at Geneva-based bank Lombard Odier, told Xinhua. Enditem (Photo/CGTN) BEIJING, March 2 (Xinhua) -- Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban on Sunday received an injection of China's Sinopharm vaccine against COVID-19. "Vaccinated!" Orban wrote on Facebook, posting a photo of himself getting the shot, two days after Hungarian President Janos Ader got his shot. The Hungarian leaders joined a long list of world leaders who received COVID-19 vaccine ahead of their people or at the early stage of their nationwide vaccination campaigns, a symbolic act of demystification and, more importantly, reassuring. In pandemic-stricken Britain, Queen Elizabeth II, 94, and her 99-year-old husband, the Duke of Edinburgh, received COVID-19 vaccine in January. The monarch recently encouraged Britons to take the vaccine jab and to "think about other people." "As far as I could make out it was quite harmless. It was very quick, and I've had lots of letters from people who have been very surprised by how easy it was to get the vaccine. And the jab -- it didn't hurt at all," she said during a video call with British health leaders. Several days after Queen Elizabeth's inoculation, Indonesian President Joko Widodo received the COVID-19 vaccine shot developed by China's Sinovac Biotech, kicking off a mass immunization program and becoming the first Indonesian vaccinated in his country. After the president, the country's military chief, national police chief and health minister were also vaccinated, to show that the vaccine is safe. Similarly, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison last week became one of the first COVID-19 vaccine recipients in Australia, when he publicly received his first dose of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine. "Tomorrow our vaccination program starts, so as a curtain raiser today we're here making some very important points; that it's safe, that it's important, and we need to start with those who are most vulnerable and are on the front line," Morrison said. Numerous world leaders have made the same gesture. U.S. President Joe Biden received his first jab on Jan. 11, and on Twitter expressed hope to "get our country back on track." Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan received his first dose of vaccine on Jan. 14, as his country started mass vaccination against COVID-19. Chilean President Sebastian Pinera on Feb. 12 received the first dose of the CoronaVac vaccine developed by Sinovac, along with those aged 71 and over. They are unanimous in sending the information that receiving coronavirus vaccine is essential to protecting oneself and people around, and that the COVID-19 vaccine currently available is trustworthy. Commenting on the inoculation of the Hungarian prime minister, the country's Chief Medical Officer Cecilia Muller told a press conference Saturday that it is very important for high-ranking Hungarian officials to get immunized publicly, in order to set an example for the population. Senegalese President Macky Sall, vaccinated on Feb. 25, said that he wanted to show that all people over the age of 60 should be able to be vaccinated, and that he and members of the government were vaccinated to set an example. President Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa -- himself among those first vaccinated in the country -- said more people in leadership positions would be publicly vaccinated to encourage more people to get vaccinated. "We have called on leaders in various sectors and parts of the country to lead by example and get inoculated publicly," he said. .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... Copyright 2021 Albuquerque Journal Campaign season has officially arrived in Albuquerque. Candidates looking to run a publicly financed mayoral campaign can begin testing the waters this week the first in a series of mile markers during a 2021 election cycle that will determine who occupies the mayors office and five city council seats starting in January. Election Day is Nov. 2. Current Mayor Tim Keller already has said he plans to seek a second term and he confirmed Monday that he intends to seek public financing, though he has not made the formal declaration. That will likely happen later this month, he said. ADVERTISEMENTSkip ................................................................ As of Monday afternoon, no mayoral candidate had formally declared their intent to seek public financing with City Clerk Ethan Watson. They technically have until mid-June to do so. To get the taxpayer-supported pot which this year totals $661,309 a mayoral candidate must demonstrate sufficient public interest in their candidacy by collecting $5 contributions from 1%, or 3,779, of city voters during a qualifying period that begins next month. Starting this week, candidates can also begin one-on-one Zoom meetings with Watson to ask questions about the process. Bernalillo County Sheriff Manuel Gonzales III who has said previously he was considering a mayoral run has a scheduled meeting, Watson confirmed Monday. But Gonzales said in a written statement to the Journal Monday he was not ready to offer any kind of official announcement about whether he is running. City council candidates have a slightly different campaign calendar. Those interested in public financing can begin their exploratory period April 25 and start collecting their $5 contributions in May. The citys three West Side districts (1, 3, 5), the Uptown district (7) and the citys Southeastern-most district (9) are also on this years ballot. Incumbents Lan Sena (1), Klarissa Pena (3) and Cynthia Borrego (5) all confirmed to the Journal they intend to run. District 9 Councilor Don Harris, meanwhile, announced he will not seek a fifth term. Its unclear if District 7 Councilor Diane Gibson will seek reelection. Candidates for council and mayor can also run campaigns funded by private contributions. Whether they choose the public or private financing route, all candidates must collect enough petition signatures to get on the ballot 3,000 for mayoral candidates and 500 for the council. Due to COVID-19, Watson on Monday announced new procedures that allow the candidates to collect those signatures online, while also permitting them to still gather them in person. The office is creating a new website, in collaboration with New Mexico Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver, that will use the Secretary of States voter registration database for verification purposes before allowing a signature. The clerks office also is updating a second website that allows voters to make $5 contributions for candidates seeking public financing. JERUSALEM (AP) Israels attorney general has warned Benjamin Netanyahu that he cannot single-handedly share the country's surplus vaccines with far-flung allies in Africa, Europe and Latin America, and that such an important decision cannot be made by the prime minister alone. In an official letter, Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit argues that Netanyahu should have consulted the Cabinet for such a plan. The justice ministry released the letter, addressed to the national security adviser, Meir Ben Shabbat, on Monday. Netanyahu's announcement last week of his decision to share some of Israel's vaccine stockpile had caused an uproar and was later frozen, due to legal questions in Israel, but not before thousands of vaccine doses were shipped to Honduras and reportedly the Czech Republic as well. Netanyahu has not identified the countries he intended to receive Israeli vaccines, but an Israeli TV station said they included a number of nations supportive of Israels claims to the contested city of Jerusalem as its capital. Israel has immunized over half of its population against the coronavirus in one of the world's most successful vaccination drives since late December. Netanyahu is casting the country's vaccination success as a personal accomplishment as part of his campaigning ahead of the upcoming March 23 elections. The prime minister secured deals with drug makers Pfizer and Moderna to ensure enough supplies for Israels 9.3 million people. But his controversial plan has raised questions at home about Netanyahus decision-making as well as his choice to help nations in Africa and Latin America at a time of global shortages, and when the neighboring Palestinian territories are struggling to secure their own vaccine supplies. Critics say Netanyahu's plan illustrates how the prime minister treats the vaccine as an asset that can be used for diplomatic gain. On Sunday, Israel announced plans to vaccinate tens of thousands of Palestinians who work inside Israel and its West Bank settlements. Earlier, Israel had shared 2,000 vaccines with the Palestinian Authority to protect front-line medical workers in the West Bank. In his letter, Mandelblit recommends that for proper and complete government procedure," any decisions concerning the transfer of Israel's vaccines to foreign countries must be made by the relevant authorities. In light of the importance and diplomatic implications of such a decision, Mandelblit said it was appropriate that the subject be brought for discussion in the government, Cabinet or in another forum that includes all the relevant ministers in the matter. Miranda Kerr has shared the heartbreaking news that her grandmother Ann died on Saturday, weeks after the death of her grandfather Pete. The supermodel, 37, posted a heartfelt tribute to her beloved nan on Instagram on Wednesday, praising Ann for making her the woman she is today. 'Nan, there are no words to describe how grateful my heart is for you,' she wrote, uploading several throwback photos of the pair spending quality time together. Tragic loss: Miranda Kerr (left) posted a heartfelt tribute to her late grandmother Ann (right) on Wednesday, following her death on Saturday Miranda continued: 'You are the heart of our family. You're the reason we're all so close. You're the reason we have faith. You're the reason we are all cheeky. You've put a twinkle in all our eyes.' 'You've brought so much light and love into this world through everyone you have met. Everyone who has met you has been uplifted by your presence. You're the reason I am who I am,' she continued. The skincare mogul thanked her grandmother for teaching her life skills such as cooking, dressing, praying, looking after herself and caring for her family. Close: 'Nan, there are no words to describe how grateful my heart is for you,' she wrote, uploading several throwback photos of the pair spending quality time together. Pictured: Ann with Miranda at her wedding to Snapchat founder Evan Spiegel in 2017 'You're our compass and you'll continue to be that compass for me and our children for the rest of our lives,' she added. Miranda also thanked Ann for teaching her how to have a sense of humour and compassion, and promised to continue her nan's legacy for the rest of her life. 'Your love, kindness and generosity of spirit will never be forgotten. Until I see you in heaven, please know you'll always be my sunshine,' she wrote. 'Your love, kindness and generosity of spirit will never be forgotten': Miranda also thanked Ann for teaching her how to have a sense of humour and compassion, and promised to continue her nan's legacy for the rest of her life. Pictured: Ann holding Miranda as a baby Miranda went on to pay tribute to her grandfather Pete, Ann's late husband of 60 years, who was recently laid to rest. 'Give Pa a big hug from me. I love you both more than words could ever express,' she concluded. The sad news comes just weeks after Miranda announced she had buried her beloved grandpa. 'Give Pa a big hug from me': Miranda also paid tribute to her grandfather Pete (right), Ann's late husband of 60 years, who was recently laid to rest 'Today we laid my grandfather's body to rest, but his spirit will continue to live through our family and all those he loved,' she wrote on Instagram on February 15. 'One of my favourite recent memories with my Pa was listening to Glenn Miller, enjoying the sunshine on our backs and smelling the gardenia from our garden that Hart had picked for us. It was truly a heavenly moment,' she continued. Miranda hinted that Pete had been dealing with a serious illness before his death. 'He had defied the odds and lived longer than the doctors had expected. And even though we all knew that his time on this earth was coming to an end it didn't make his passing any easier,' she wrote. Calling him her 'rock', Miranda went on to describe Pete as a 'gentle yet strong man' who had 'tremendous faith and a strong heart'. Loss: The sad news comes just weeks after Miranda announced she had buried her grandpa Pete. She uploaded a tribute on Instagram alongside this photo of Pete smelling a flower SC judges to get jab today, no choice between vaccines India oi-Vicky Nanjappa New Delhi, Mar 02: The sitting and former judges of the Supreme Court and their family members will get the COVID-19 vaccine shots starting today. This comes a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi took his first dose of Covaxin at AIIMS. This comes at a time when the Supreme Court is planning on resuming physical hearing in the courts. "The Chief Justice of India made it clear that the judges of Supreme Court themselves are willing to restart the open court hearings but there are medical and technical issues which the registry of Supreme Court of India is trying to sort out and solve. Therefore, it will be done gradually," the Bar Council of India said in a press release. 1.28 lakh people over 60 years get 1st dose of COVID vaccine The Supreme Court has arranged a vaccination facility on the premises in addition to the ones at the government hospitals. The cost of the vaccination will be as per the Centre's guidelines. The private hospitals can charge up to Rs 250 per shot. Farmers' Protest: Delhi's Ghazipur border partially opens for vehicular traffic| Oneindia News The judges will not be able to chose between the Covaxin developed by Bharat Biotech and Covishield developed by Serum Institute of India. ROME, MAR 2 - There is a lot to be done on framing Italy's COVID recovery plan, European Economic Affairs Commissioner Paolo Gentiloni said Tuesday. "We cannot say we are late but it certainly won't be a walk in the park to complete the work", he said. Italy must set rigorous timeframes for absorbing and implementing EU COVID recovery funding, Gentiloni told parliament. He said this was all the more important given Rome's past difficulties in using EU structural funds. "It is clear that this is a particular challenge for our country," said Gentiloni. Gentiloni said the Draghi government was working with the Commission to boost the Conte recovery plan which "constitutes an important base for work, above all consistent with the thresholds of 37% for green investments and 20% in the digital sector". The other two points in the ongoing work between Rome and Brussles are "the quality and selection of investments" and long-awaited structural reforms to boost the economy and spur growth after COVID, especially "boosting the health system, fighting tax evasion, active labour policies, competition, making the civil service more efficient, and speeding up civil justice". Cutting business-stifling red tape, reforming Italy's bloated and inefficient civil service, and speeding snail-paced trials, all a drag on investment and growth, have long been recommended by economists and Brussels. The new government led by former European central banker, 'Super Mario' Draghi, the man who saved the euro with 'whatever it takes', has vowed to finally achieve these reforms. Implementing reforms will be a condition for the EU approving Italy's Recovery Plan, aimed at deploying 209 billion euros from the EU's Recovery Fund. In other remarks Tuesday, Gentiloni said he was "optimistic" that 13% of the recovery funds could be paid out early, before the summer. (ANSA). Shanghai (Gasgoo)- Chen Hong, chairman of China's biggest automaker SAIC Motor, proposed greater efforts to increase the application of locally-produced automotive-grade chips and help the domestic auto industry strengthen the capability of building an independent and well-controlled supply chain. Photo credit: SAIC Motor The proposal is among those Mr. Chen submits to the annual political gathering Two Sessionsmeetings of the country's top legislature and political advisory board National People's Congress (NPC) and Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC)which will kick off this week. As a deputy to the NPC, Chen Hong calls for greater supports for the industry of automotive-grade chips based on the supportive policies for consumer-grade chip manufacturers. He said the government should issue supportive policies dedicated to automotive-grade chips. For instance, the subsidies on the R&D, the production line construction and the application of the first piece (set) of crucial equipment should be launched to decrease companies R&D costs and products prices; insurance companies should be promoted to design product liability insurances to make the application of locally-sourced chips in completed vehicles guaranteed. He also suggests a two-step top-level design approach for automotive-grade chip makers to complete the transition of being driven by external power from getting stronger with internal strengths. For the first step, OEMs and system suppliers should work together to support key chip manufacturers in solving the localization issue on automotive-grade chips with relatively low technical thresholds and enhancing the systematic capabilities for the localization automotive-grade chips. As for the second step, chip suppliers should build their inherent dynamism of growth to handle the localization issues for the chips with higher technical thresholds. Targeting the chips with high technical thresholds, the government and companies should jointly launch special projects to make breakthroughs in complete vehicles, systems and chips, divvying up the R&D costs and sharing patents, said Chen Hong. Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-02 16:26:19|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close SEOUL, March 2 (Xinhua) -- South Korean stocks rose Tuesday as foreign and institutional investors bought stocks on eased worry about the U.S. government bond yields. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) gained 30.92 points, or 1.03 percent, to settle at 3,043.87. Trading volume stood at 1.72 billion shares worth 18.5 trillion won (16.5 billion U.S. dollars). The KOSPI started 0.29 percent higher and stayed in the positive territory throughout the session. The moderated concerns about the U.S. government bond yields encouraged foreign and institutional investors to purchase shares worth 442 billion won (393 million U.S. dollars) and 214.9 billion won (191 million U.S. dollars) each. Yields on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury fell to 1.43 percent overnight, after topping 1.6 percent last week. Among large-cap shares, gainers outnumbered decliners. Leading chemical firm LG Chem jumped 7.2 percent, and market bellwether Samsung electronics added 1.3 percent. Memory chip giant SK hynix advanced 2.1 percent, and the biggest carmaker Hyundai Motor climbed 0.8 percent. The most-used search engine Naver rose 0.7 percent, but biopharmaceutical behemoth Celltrion declined 2 percent. The small-cap KOSDAQ advanced 9.23 points, or 1.01 percent, to close at 923.17. The local currency finished at 1,124.0 won versus the greenback, down 0.5 won from the previous close. Bond prices ended lower. Yield on the liquid three-year Treasury notes rose 0.1 basis point to 1.021 percent, and the return on the 10-year government bonds was up 0.6 basis points to 1.966 percent. Enditem You have permission to edit this article. Edit Close Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-02 20:35:35|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close NAIROBI, March 2 (Xinhua) -- Two UN agencies on Tuesday appealed for 29.23 billion shillings (about 266 million U.S. dollars) to end food ration cuts for more than 3 million refugees in Eastern Africa. UNHCR, the UN refugee agency, and World Food Programme (WFP) said that funding shortages have forced cuts up to 60 percent and warned of growing risks including increased malnutrition and anaemia as well as stunted child growth. "We have never had such a terrible funding situation for refugees. We have a 266 million dollar shortfall for the next six months for refugees' minimum needs," said Michael Dunford, WFP Regional Director for Eastern Africa, in a joint statement issued in Nairobi. "We are deeply concerned that if cuts continue, they will be faced with a very difficult decision: stay in the camps where food and nutrition security is deteriorating or consider risking going back when it is unsafe." He said the immediate priority must be to restore assistance to at least minimum levels for refugees, many of whom lost the lifeline of remittances due to the global impact of COVID-19. According to the UN agencies, funding shortfalls have forced WFP to slash its monthly assistance for refugees by up to 60 percent in Rwanda, 40 percent in Uganda and Kenya, 30 percent in South Sudan, 23 percent in Djibouti and 16 percent in Ethiopia. The agencies said the impact of the funding shortfalls on refugee families is compounded by COVID-19 lockdowns and measures to contain the pandemic's spread, which had already reduced the availability of food in markets in refugee camps and wrecked many refugees' hopes of helping to support their families through casual labor and small businesses. Enditem Fastmarkets daily index for steel scrap, HMS 1&2 (80:20 mix), North Europe origin, cfr Turkey , was calculated at $450.49 per tonne on March 1, down by $1.68 per tonne day on day but up by $21.46 per tonne week on week.The weekly price assessment for steel HRC, export, fob Black Sea, CIS , was $725-735 per tonne on Monday, up from $705-725 per tonne a week earlier. A large cargo of Ukraine-origin slab was sold to Italy at $700 per tonne... (Natural News) Nearly a third of all freshwater fish species in the world now face extinction, according to a new report released Tuesday, Feb. 23, by 16 global conservation organizations. The report, titled The Worlds Forgotten Fishes, outlined the disastrous effects that the loss of freshwater fish could have on the planet. Freshwater fish are essential to the health of rivers, lakes and wetlands. Freshwater fish also support economies worldwide and serve as an important source of food for 200 million people. Unfortunately, the report revealed that 16 of the 80 extinct freshwater fish species to date disappeared last year alone. According to the report, various factors contributed to this outcome and the ongoing decline of fish, including the building of dams, the siphoning of rivers for irrigation and the release of wastewater. Other factors include the draining of wetlands, the introduction of invasive fish, overfishing and pollution. Now, of the more than 10,000 freshwater fish species whose conservation status has been assessed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), 30 percent are now at risk of extinction. Stuart Orr, the freshwater lead at the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), one of the conservation groups that took part in the research, said it is now time to shine a light back on freshwater fish. They are the aquatic version of the canary in the coal mine, and we must heed the warning, Orr warned in a statement. WWF is the worlds leading and largest conservation group. Other groups that took part in the research include the Alliance for Freshwater Life (ALF), Conservation International and The Nature Conservancy (TNC). Some freshwater fish species face extinction There are some 18,000 species of freshwater fish, accounting for over half of the worlds total fish species. They also account for a quarter of all vertebrates on Earth. This biodiversity is extremely important for both the health of the planet and the economic prosperity of communities worldwide. In fact, freshwater fish are one of the major sources of protein for some 200 million people across Africa, South America and Asia. And about one-third of those people rely on freshwater fish for their livelihoods. But despite their importance, freshwater fish are undervalued and overlooked. And that shows up as a palpable decline in freshwater biodiversity. In fact, freshwater biodiversity is declining twice as fast as ocean or forest biodiversity. For example, populations of migratory freshwater fish, such as salmon, declined by 76 percent over the last five decades. Meanwhile, populations of large fish species known as megafish, such as the beluga sturgeon, fell by 94 percent in the same period. (Related: Raising farmed salmon means KILLING tons of wild fish to make fish food.) Orr also explained that the clearest indicator of the damage that humans are doing to the planet is the apparent decline of freshwater fish populations. Nowhere is the worlds nature crisis more acute than in our rivers, lakes and wetlands. But the extinction of threatened fish species can be mitigated. The good news is that we know what needs to be done to safeguard freshwater fishes, said Orr. To protect these forgotten fishes, Orr and his colleagues outlined a six-point plan: Let rivers flow more naturally Improve water quality in freshwater ecosystems Protect and restore critical habitats for freshwater fish End overfishing and unsustainable sand mining in rivers and lakes Prevent and control invasions of non-native fish species Protect free-flowing rivers and remove obsolete dams The report also calls for the securing and implementation of a global biodiversity agreement at the upcoming United Nations (UN) Convention on Biological Diversity in Kunming, China. Go to Environ.news to learn more about the importance of freshwater fish for the environment. Sources include: GlobalResearch.ca WWF.Panda.org New Delhi, March 3 : The Kundli-Manesar-Palwal (KMP) expressway will be blocked for five hours on March 6 as the farmers' protest against the three Central farm laws complete 100 days, the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) announced on Tuesday after a meeting held on the 96th day of the protest to prepare future strategy. After the meeting, farmer leader Balvir Singh Rajewal said, "March 6 will mark the 100th day of the farmers' protest on the borders of Delhi. On that day, there will be a 5-hour blockade on the KMP Expressway connecting various protest sites. The blockade will be between 11 a.m. and 4 p.m. and no toll will be collected at the toll plazas during this time." "In the rest of the country, the day will be marked by hoisting black flags on houses and offices to support the movement. The SKM members will be wearing black bands on that day as a mark of protest," he added. The SKM is also working on a strategy for the states where Assembly elections are scheduled. The members of the farmers' body will visit the states and participate in various programmes. The SKM will mark March 8 as Mahila Kisan Diwas. The SKM has invited women's organisations and others on that day to support the farmers' movement and highlight the contributions of women farmers to the country. On March 15, the SKM along with the Central trade unions will mark the day as 'anti-privatisation' day. The SKM will support the call of trade unions by marking the day as 'anti-corporatisation' day and extend solidarity to the protests of trade unions across the country. The farmer leaders added that the SKM will also launch a 'MSP Dilao Abhiyan' across the country. As part of the campaign, the actual price received by the farmers in different markets will be highlighted so as to show the the government that the promises made about the MSP are false. The campaign will be started from the southern states - Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. Journalist Roy Greenslade today sparked further outrage by attempting to defend his comments about his secret long-standing support for the IRA. The erstwhile Guardian columnist today claimed he did 'nothing more than scores of journalists who keep political views to themselves' in sympathising with atrocities committed by paramilitary forces. It comes after the former Daily Mirror editor resigned as an honorary visiting professor of journalism at City, University of London, yesterday following a backlash from much of the industry and families of the victims of the IRA. But his attempts to defend his remarks today sparked further fury from industry chiefs, who described his comments as 'totally reprehensible'. Toby Granville, the editorial director of local news publisher, Newsquest, said the remarks were 'totally reprehensible'. In a post on Twitter, he said: 'Roy Greenslade's claims that 'scores of journalists' secretly support terrorism just like him is totally reprehensible and a slight on our industry.' Roy Greenslade previous articles must now be 'treated with suspicion' and viewed through the lens of his long-standing support for the IRA, critics urged today The erstwhile Guardian columnist today claimed he 'did nothing more than scores of journalists who keep political views to themselves' in sympathising with atrocities committed by paramilitary forces. Pictured: The scene of an IRA bombing in Downing Street in 1991 Mr Graville's comments were made on social media and were in reference to an article by the Press Gazette. The journalism industry news website spoke to Mr Greenslade after he earlier this week revealed his support for the IRA in the British Journalism Review. Asked whether his views on terrorism disqualified him from teaching ethics, Mr Greenslade said: 'The furore underlines the main point of my article: to have come clean in the 1970s with my beliefs would have rendered me unemployable. 'I did nothing more than the scores of journalists who keep their political views to themselves. 'My opinions did not affect my journalistic work, nor did they affect my university teaching.' It comes as the father of a 12-year-old victim of an IRA bombing also slammed Mr Greenslade over his comments. Colin Parry's son was killed in the 1993 Warrington bombing - which saw the IRA plant bombs inside two high street bins. Tim, and three-year-old Johnathan Ball, died as a result of the blasts. Mr Parry, who later launched a peace foundation in the two children's names, and who was awarded an OBE for his work, condemned Mr Greenslade's comments. Colin Parry's son Tim was killed in the 1993 Warrington bombing, when the IRA planted bombs inside high street bins. Tim and three-year-old Johnathan Ball died as a result In a post on Twitter, he said: 'Supporting Irish Republicanism is a political choice but his support for the IRAs campaign of violence leading to the murder of many non combatants like my 12 yr old son Tim. I find it inexcusable and contemptible.' It comes as today critics urged that the journalist's articles must now be 'treated with suspicion' and viewed through the lens of his long-standing support for the IRA. Today Northern Ireland veterans condemned Mr Greenslade's comments. Colonel Richard Kemp, who was deployed to the province eight times under Operation Banner between 1979 and 2001, told MailOnline: 'Anything he wrote now needs to be treated with suspicion because he was effectively leading a double life. 'His credibility and everything he's ever written has been undermined.' Until March last year Mr Greenslade was a media commentator for the Guardian and regularly used his column to tear strips off the British press, which was largely united in its opposition to Irish Republicanism. He says he has now 'come out of hiding' to make public his 'complete agreement about the right of the Irish people to engage in armed struggle'. But Colonel Kemp said: 'There are lots of people who supported IRA terrorism, including of course Jeremy Corbyn, but when it's a respectable newspaper editor who does it secretly, it's like getting a stab in the back.' He added that Mr Greenslade had 'blood on his hands' by supporting the IRA, who the ex-soldier said would be buoyed by the backing of a British establishment figure. 'People like Greenslade, whose identity was known to people in the Republican movement, encouraged their violence,' he said. Jeremy Corbyn has previously denied support of the IRA. When he was Labour leader a spokeswoman rejected the claims and said he had 'always worked for peace and respect for human rights'. Fellow Northern Ireland veteran Lord Benyon also hit out at Mr Greenslade, branding him a 'useful idiot' to the IRA. The ex-minister turned Tory peer, who served in the Royal Green Jackets, lost seven members of his regiment in the 1982 Hyde Park bombing by the IRA. Today the Guardian told website the News Letter that its independent reader's editor would be 'investigating' Mr Greenslade's work for the paper following a complaint. A spokesperson said: 'The readers editor will also be reviewing historical Roy Greenslade articles concerning Northern Ireland, to ensure that they meet the Guardians editorial standards and are sufficiently transparent.' Colonel Richard Kemp, who was deployed to the province eight times under Operation Banner between 1979 and 2001, said anything Mr Greenslade wrote 'now needs to be treated with suspicion' Fellow Northern Ireland veteran Lord Benyon branded Mr Greenslade a 'useful idiot' to the IRA In his British Journalism Review article, Mr Greenslade confirmed he had provided bail surety for IRA member John Downey (pictured), who was accused of involvement The aftermath of the 1982 Hyde Park bombing carried out by the IRA Roy Greenslade with his famous actress step-daughter Natascha Mcelhone (centre) and wife Noreen Taylor In his British Journalism Review article, Mr Greenslade confirmed he had provided bail surety for IRA member John Downey, who was accused of involvement. Lord Benyon today told MailOnline he was pleased Mr Greenslade was no longer an ethics lecturer at City University, saying 'it would have been an irony too hard to bear'. He added: 'I can't say I have been a greater student of Roy Greenslade's writings. But it feels it is part of a wider campaign of historical revisionism. 'There has been a definite campaign by IRA supporters to say it was a war, which it wasn't.' He added: 'I worry that young people who have no memory of those times and the families that bear the scars will think that it was understandable it wasn't. It was a terrible, terrible time.' Boris Johnson also weighed in on the row. His official spokesman said: 'All I can say is the simple fact that the PM outright condemns his comments, as I have said specifically those about the killing of civilians.' The former Guardian columnist retired from a full-time post at City University, where he lectured in ethics, in 2018, but he has 'occasionally' returned as a guest speaker. In the article Mr Greenslade, 74, who is now a member of Sinn Fein, said he had first become involved in republican causes shortly after Bloody Sunday in 1972, when paratroopers shot dead 13 demonstrators. He went on to hold senior roles at The Sun and the Sunday Times, as well as the editorship of the Daily Mirror in 1990 and 1991, but 'regularly' contributed to An Phoblacht, using the pen name George King, contradicting his newspapers which denounced the IRA's campaigns. David Meadows has more than 47 years of leadership, design, construction and project management experience. He retired from the Huntington District, U. S. Army Corps of Engineers, after 40 years of service. Gregory A. Williamson is an architect at Williamson Architecture PLLC, a sole-proprietor design firm in Winfield. A machine gun, ammunition, two loaded handguns and 115,000 worth of drugs were seized by gardai from abandoned cars in Dublin yesterday. At approximately 3.30pm on Monday, Gardai on patrol in the Clondalkin area seized two vehicles under Section 41 of The Road Traffic Act. Local gardai from Lucan district and members of the Armed Support Unit were involved in the search in Shancastle at around 3pm. After carrying out searches, they discovered a quantity of drugs and a machine gun in one vehicle. Meanwhile, more drugs and two handguns were taken from the other car. The guns were found in two cars that sources say were abandoned as a floating garda checkpoint was in the area at the time. Read More Sources say that gardai believe the occupants of the two cars fled the scene when they noticed officers in the area. The two 9mm handguns were found in one vehicle while the machine gun which had a full magazine beside it was found on the back seat of the other car. Gardai say the drugs comprised of cocaine, heroin and tablets (all pending analysis). They are estimated to be worth 115,000. The guns, along with ammunition seized from the vehicles, will now be sent for further analysis. Superintendent Paul Dolan said: "This is a significant seizure of weapons and illegal drugs. We would like to reassure the public that An Garda Siochana are taking all measures to tackle criminality in the community and keep people safe. No arrests have been made at this time but investigations are ongoing. Read More As the deadly pandemic swept through New Jerseys beleaguered veterans homes, the facilities were left dangerously short of help because scores of nurses and others who were sick and or scared did not come to work. But internal emails obtained by NJ Advance Media show that while administrators were desperately seeking to hire temporary workers, more than two dozen staff members were mysteriously suspended over still-unspecified allegations of abuse or neglect that apparently could not be substantiated. Unable to be fired, they were paid to stay home and told not to come to work. Those suspensions are expected to come up at hearings by Republicans in the Democratic-controlled Legislature that begin this week into what went wrong in the states long-term care facilities. The allegations are troubling, said Sen. Kristin Corrado, R-Passaic, who sits on the senate Health, Human Services and Senior Citizens committee. We need answers and accountability for the victims, our veterans and their families. The hearings begin Friday, March 5. Susan Ivanitski whose husband Joseph died in April at Menlo Park at the age of 69 after a 20-year battle with Parkinsons Disease said she and other family members intend to testify. Both sides should work together to correct this, she said. They are veterans, they are vulnerable people who fought for their country, she said. The staff suspensions have never been publicly disclosed. The Department of Military and Veterans Affairs, which has oversight of the veterans homes, would not discuss the suspensions or answer any questions about what happened, including when the staff members were taken off the floor or how long they were out. Since this involves personnel matters, I cannot comment, said a spokesman. By any measure, the pandemic took an appalling toll at the veterans homes. Since the virus struck, 155 residents and 2 staff members have died at the three state-operated nursing homes not including dozens more whose death certificates did not cite the coronavirus, but were believed to have died from COVID-related causes. Staffing at the veterans homes was an issue from the beginning, at a time when nursing homes across New Jersey were struggling with finding enough people to care for increasingly sick resident populations. Such was the case at the hard-hit state-operated facilities in Menlo Park, Paramus and Vineland, which would report some of the highest COVID-related death tolls in the country. But those were not the only problems. In hundreds of other documents released to NJ Advance Media through public records requests, internal emails revealed details of the crisis that overwhelmed the facilities that care for veterans and their spouses, painting a picture of turmoil. The crisis ranged from daily struggles over staffing and skyrocketing overtime costs, to the hunt for personal protective equipment, or PPE, to multi-million-dollar bills for testing residents and staff while people died. They were, based on information I had, derelict in protecting the residents of that facility, said state Sen. Joseph Vitale, D-Middlesex, long a proponent of better care in nursing facilities who chairs the Health, Human Services and Senior Citizens committee. Already critical of the states response to what was happening in the veterans homes, and particularly at Menlo Park, Vitale said flatly, This was a health crisis and they failed to protect the residents and the staff. Many of the problems at the veterans homes were not unique to the state. Brian Lee, executive director of Families for Better Care, a nationwide watchdog organization for the long-term care industry, said even before the coronavirus, nursing homes everywhere were always running short of staff. Always, he emphasized. They always tried to squeeze as much out of their staff as they possibly can. When the pandemic hit, Lee said nursing home workers here and elsewhere were afraid to come into work. People were afraid, not just of the virus, but reports that facilities did not have the required equipment to keep them safe, especially in the early days, he said. At Menlo Park, Shirley Suddoth-Lewis, a recently retired LPN who still heads the local chapter of AFSCME, the union representing nurses aides and other employees, described what it was like to work there. I characterize it as scary, she said, recounting days and nights of working to the point of exhaustion, often without adequate personal protective equipment, or PPE. At Menlo Park, the virus took one-in-three residents. But as staffing shortages grew here in New Jersey, emails show there were discussions behind the scenes at the Department of Military and Veterans Affairs, or DMAVA, about more than 25 staff members on suspension over allegations that managers admitted they were unable to prove. In an Aug. 28 email provided to NJ Advance Media, Susan Sweeney, the administrator of employee relations at DMAVA, complained that delays by the Health Department in the investigation of abuse and neglect allegations against workers at the veterans homes had left disciplinary proceedings unresolved and in limbo. In a August 28 email labeled close hold please, a DMAVA administrator cited an issue of "25+ staff members out on suspension pending removal hearings from state service," but said her unit could not meet its burden to pursue removal.NJ Advance Media illustration I have one CEO that currently has 25+ staff members (more than one million dollars in salaries) out on suspension pending removal hearings from state service wherein my Unit arguably cannot meet its burden of proof at the Office of Administrative Law for a removal, Sweeney wrote. We have attempted to settle these matters to lengthy suspensions, but the CEO refuses to return these staff members to the facility or to re-assign and retrain them. The facility was not named, but only Menlo Park and Vineland had female CEOs at the time. Suddoth-Lewis confirmed it was in fact Menlo Park. The emails and responses were forwarded to Elizabeth Schiff-Heedles, then the Menlo Park CEO, with a note from Sean P. Van Lew Sr., the director of the Division of Veterans Healthcare Services within DMAVA. Close hold please, he wrote. The emails did not offer any specifics about what the suspended individuals had been accused of doing. In her email, Sweeney said the CEO told her she was required to remove all staff accused of alleged abuse or neglect until the Health Department completed an investigation, which she said has an almost two-year backlog of cases to review. New Jersey Health Department officials, in response, disputed that. Questioned about the matter, Donna Leusner, a spokeswoman for the state Health Department denied there was a years-long backlog of cases involving alleged abuse or neglect complaints. She added that any complaints considered to pose an immediate jeopardy to residents are investigated within 2 business days, in accordance with federal requirements. Lee expressed surprise at the suspensions. Suspending staff in the middle of a COVID outbreak is like adding gasoline to the COVID-19 flames, the advocate said. Thats insanity. You need to have as many staff on board its all hands-on deck. If you dont have the staff in place to answer the call lights and pressure sore issues, and be able to slow everybody down enough to wash their hands, don and doff PPE like they should, it just exacerbates that. He added that the allegations would need to be very serious to warrant so many suspensions pending at the same time. I dont think I have ever been involved in a case of systemic abuse of residents at one given time, especially in a height of a pandemic. The most I have seen is 4-5 involved in a cover up, he said. According to Suddoth-Lewis, who was familiar with the staff suspensions, the allegations that led to the disciplinary proceedings had been trumped up and she claimed that most of those ordered to stay home ultimately returned to work. The union official and retired nurse called many of the charges an overreaction to incidents involving residents, such as falls, that proved to be nobodys fault. She added that a number of individuals were brought up on charges that she didnt even make any sense, and when they finally investigated, the Department of Health found there was no merit to the charges. It was all fabricated, she charged. But everything the direct care staff does is abuse, according to management. Corrado, who had been unaware of the suspensions, promised the issue would be definitely something we would want to look at when her caucus holds its hearings on COVIDs impact on the states long-term facilities. CORONAVIRUS RESOURCES: Live map tracker | Newsletter | Homepage Suspensions aside, staffing shortages were a major concern from the earliest days of the pandemic, according to the documents released to NJ Advance Media. After at least a quarter of those working at the three state-run facilities were sent home sick, or did not report to work, following the declaration of the coronavirus emergency on March 9, at least 75 Army National Guard medics were deployed to the homes in Paramus and Menlo Park in April to bolster the staffs. In a series of emails, DMAVA administrators outlined the need for 66 additional nurses at the three nursing homes, including 21 at Menlo Park. In an April 6 email, Van Lew, the Division of Veterans Healthcare Services director, distributed lists of registered nurses from the outside that had expressed a desire to help. Once contacted, we need to verify anyone that is willing to work in the homes has a current license. You should bring them on board as quickly as possible utilizing either per diem, or hourly, whichever is quickest, he instructed. HR in the homes needs to prioritize this as a method of filling our shortfalls. Your business offices should track this as a COVID-related expense. Emails released through public records requests detail the struggle to bring in nurses as quickly as possible.NJ Advance Media illustration The lack of staff affected the quality of care, asserted Suddoth-Lewis. Before reinforcements arrived, she said one nurse might find themselves working on a 60-bed unit with maybe two nursing assistants. If you were not there, you would never know the feeling we have inside, she said. Sometimes it makes me not even sleep at night. DMAVA spokesman Kryn Westhoven said the department hired 82 nurses or paraprofessional direct care staff for the three homes after April, when the call was put out for more staff. Currently, 31 are still employed at this time, he said. Still, among the emails released to NJ Advance Media were a series of communications from Jack McGreevey, an advocate for veterans and former Marine drill sergeant on Vitales staff who continued to complain into July to DMAVA and the Health Department that there were not enough people at Menlo Park taking care of residents. In a July 31 email, McGreevey said: During the understaffed weekends, veteran falls have increased, and veterans were left on the toilet for 45 minutes. In other emails, officials from both the Health Department and DMAVA disputed his assertions. He declined comment in response to a request from NJ Advance Media, saying he would let the emails speak for themselves. There were also mounting concerns by DMAVA administrators over the very high costs of testing and protective equipment, other emails show. We will essentially go bankrupt, warned one state nursing home administrator after estimating a cost of more than $2.3 million to conduct weekly testing of residents and staff over six months. Ultimately, the staff testing costs at the three veterans homes through the end of Dec. 31 came to $2.7 million. DMAVA paid for those directly, but was reimbursed $2 million by FEMA, according to Westhoven. Testing of residents was paid through Medicare, he said. New Jersey Army National Guard Combat Medics enter the New Jersey Veterans Home at Paramus, in April to provide medical support.New Jersey National Guard A spokesman for the governor said the administration took many steps to respond to the crisis at the veterans homes, including appealing for assistance to the U.S. Veterans Administration and securing additional personnel for the state veterans homes, bringing in National Guard members to assist at the homes, and rapidly hiring more nurses and staff. In the early days of the pandemic, PPE was extraordinarily limited and financial resources were immensely strained, said Michael Zhadanovsky. We mourn the loss of any of our veterans and are committed to doing anything possible to keep them safe. Looking ahead to this weeks hearing, Susan Ivanitski is already dismayed over who wont be there Democratic Senators whose party controls both houses of the Legislature. She said she did not know if COVID was a factor in the death of her husband, a Marine Corps veteran of the Vietnam War. But she talked about its impact, and how the shutdown of the Menlo Park home to visitors meant she could only advocate for him on the outside. I tried to get in there. I used to go every single day. They stopped the video calls, Ivanitski said. I knew he wouldnt make it if I didnt go. She said family members like herself have been calling lawmakers offices asking them to come and listen. This should be a bipartisan thing, she argued. Even if you agree or disagree, you should still listen to the family members. There are a lot of people who died at Menlo Park and Paramus. You have to get it right. ____ Local journalism needs your support. Subscribe at nj.com/supporter. Susan K. Livio may be reached at slivio@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @SusanKLivio. Ted Sherman may be reached at tsherman@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @TedShermanSL. In a show of gratitude for the hospitality the island has shown in welcoming the Juan Sebastian de Elcano, the Spanish Navy ship and its crew stood unwavering in the morning sun to bid Guam adios on Tuesday. The ship set sail on Tuesday for the Philippines, but before heading out to the vast Philippine Sea, it pulled into port at the Port Authority of Guam. Some of Guam's dignitaries and community members relished the sight of the worlds third-largest tall ship. The ship is retracing the route of the Magellan-Elcano global voyage on behalf of Spain 500 years ago. GVB General Manager and former Gov. Carl Gutierrez said, It's quite exciting to see and picture back 500 years ago, it's amazing here now half a millennia later. Gutierrez recalled watching the Spanish training vessel enter Guams waters on Feb. 26. One thing that really struck me was as this was lumbering in from the north and I see it and it's moving very slowly and our fleet of a couple of proas just moving along faster than they are. And without any animosity, it shows that we are still keeping our culture. While these guys upgraded to a better ship, said Gutierrez. The four-masted ship was named after Spanish explorer Juan Sebastian Elcano, who completed the circumnavigation of the world after Ferdinand Magellan was killed in the Battle of Mactan in the Philippines in 1521. Robert Underwood, I Estoria-ta Commission chairman, spoke at the commemorative ceremony and told the story of the first encounter between Europeans and Guam's CHamoru ancestors. Some 500 years ago on an undetermined shore near here, the island of Guahan, there was an encounter a meeting, a fateful event between Europeans and Pacific Islanders. The Europeans were represented by Spain but with an international crew from other countries. Pacific Islanders were represented by the CHamoru people as they existed in 1521. Today we represent both Europeans and the Pacific Islanders in ceremony and in the spirit of mutual honor and respect, said Underwood. We have taken now to honoring our ancestors, said Underwood. We engage in this commemoration in anticipation of cementing our relationship which will allow all of us to grow in knowledge and understanding and contribute to the future historical imagination, said Underwood. Gov. Lou Leon Guerrero thanked King of Spain Felipe VI for his response to her invitation to visit Guam after the COVID-19 pandemic. "On behalf of my people and my island and on behalf of the people who died here for no reason, I extend my hand of welcome to the representatives of the king, said the governor. The captain of the Elcano, Rear Adm. Santiago Barber Lopez, said it was a great honor to participate in this important ceremony. Being here today with you has a great symbolic meaning to compensate the effort of having strong historic ties with common history that goes 500 years and this is a lesson that other countries will have, said the ship's captain. The ship also sailed past Humatak Bay, as a symbolic and commemorative nod to the shared history of the CHamoru and Spanish people, according to the i Estoria-ta Commission. The Juan Sebastian de Elcanos passing of Humatak further recognizes the villages role in preserving the oral history of the CHamoru people and showcasing this historic encounter, the commission added. The expedition began in August 2020. We're always interested in hearing about news in our community. Let us know what's going on! Go to form NASA astronauts Kate Rubins and Victor Glover concluded their spacewalk at 1:16 p.m. EST, after 7 hours and 4 minutes. In the third spacewalk of the year outside the International Space Station, the two NASA astronauts began work to install modification kits required for upcoming solar array upgrades. The duo worked near the farthest set of existing solar arrays on the station's left (port) side, known as P6. Glover built a bracket structure and worked with Rubins to attach the bracket and support struts to the mast canister, the base, of one of the P6 solar arrays, known as 2B. One of the bolts did not fully engage on the first attempt, so Rubins used a power drill to back it out and reseat it, then used a ratchet wrench to tighten the bolt, reaching a safe configuration. The bolt likely will need to be secured further before installing one of the new solar arrays that will be delivered to the space station later this year aboard SpaceX's 22nd commercial resupply services mission. Rubins and Glover then moved to begin identical assembly work for the bracket for the second of the P6 solar array pair, known as 4B. They completed the construction of upper support hardware and secured it to the space station's exterior structure until work can be completed on the next spacewalk on Friday, March 5. To ensure a sufficient power supply is maintained for NASA's exploration technology demonstrations for Artemis and beyond as well as utilization and commercialization, NASA is augmenting six of the eight existing power channels of the space station with new solar arrays. The new solar arrays, a larger version of the Roll-Out Solar Array (ROSA) technology, will be positioned in front of six of the current arrays, ultimately increasing the station's total available power from 160 kilowatts to up to 215 kilowatts. The current solar arrays are functioning well but have begun to show signs of degradation, as expected, as they were designed for a 15-year service life. This was the third career spacewalk for both Rubins and Glover. Rubins has now spent a total of 19 hours and 50 minutes spacewalking. Glover now has spent a total of 19 hours and 20 minutes spacewalking. Space station crew members have conducted 235 spacewalks in support of assembly and maintenance of the orbiting laboratory. Spacewalkers have now spent a total of 61 days, 14 hours, and 11 minutes working outside the station. During the spacewalk March 5, Rubins and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Soichi Noguchi will venture outside the orbiting outpost to complete the installation of the 4B array modification kit and are expected to tackle additional work, including the venting of ammonia from the Early Ammonia System. Please follow SpaceRef on Twitter and Like us on Facebook. By Liu Pinran and Deng Xianlai The US military launched airstrikes on Iran-backed militias in eastern Syria and destroyed multiple facilities on February 25, said the US Department of Defense the very day, which was the first corroborated military operation authorized by Biden after he took office. Biden ordered the attack on the morning of February 25, said Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, adding that the intelligence assistance by the Iraqis was very helpful to us in refining the target. The New York Times quoted an American official as saying that American troops dropped seven bombs on complexes used to transport weapons and personnel, while the Washington Post reported several deaths. The Pentagon issued a statement saying these strikes were authorized in response to recent attacks against American and coalition personnel in Iraq and to ongoing threats to those personnel. Analysts said the operation sent an unambiguous message that Iran was not going to gain bargaining chips by harming Americas interests. Besides, the move could help the Biden administration dismiss the allies and Republicans doubts about its Iran policy. Although the new administration has made security commitments to regional countries, its recent announcement to return to the Iranian nuclear deal has in a way worried the Gulf countries, Israel, and Republicans in the country that Biden might ease up the pressure on Tehran. The latest airstrikes were solid proof that Washington will not "connive in" the malicious actions by Iran and its proxies in the region, and some Republican senators already welcomed the strike on the very day of its implementation. Why did the US choose to launch airstrikes in eastern Syria rather than Iraq? An American official told the media it was a top-down decision that involved more than military considerations. The hits on targets within the Iraqi territory authorized by the Trump administration have triggered intense anti-US sentiments within Iraq, so the Biden administration decided to attack targets in Syria to avoid unnecessary conflicts with the Iraqi government, especially to prevent its anti-US sentiments being utilized by Tehran. Pentagon called the strike a defensive operation, saying the American troops conducted the operation very carefully with the aim of mitigating the overall situation in eastern Syria and Iraq. Given the statement from the US side and the reported mode of operation and casualties, it seems Washington doesnt want the attack to escalate its tension with Tehran further. The SITE Intelligence Group published on its social media account that media agencies linked with Shiite militants played down the airstrikes that day. Recently, there have been signs of new progress on the Iranian nuclear issue. The White House has repeatedly expressed its willingness to discuss with all participants in the Iranian nuclear deal about a resolution through diplomatic means. It made a goodwill gesture last week by loosening the travel restrictions on the permanent Iranian mission to the New York-based UN and rescinding the letter by the Trump team last year announcing the resumption of the UN sanction on Iran unilaterally. However, on February 24, Irans president Rohani demanded Washington to immediately stop its failed policy of economic terrorism against his country and made that the precondition for restarting the multilateral negotiation on the nuclear agreement. Barbara Slavin, an Iran expert at the Atlantic Council, an American think tank, told the reporter via email that we need to see if Iran will strike back. Hopefully, the strike wont endanger the nuclear issue negotiations, but the situation is very complicated now. Since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic there have been repeated alerts about an escalating mental health crisis. Psychiatrists warnings from last May of a potential tsunami of referrals after lockdown were seized on by the right-wing media to fuel demands for a return to work. Ongoing research by the COVID-19 Psychological Research Consortium (C19PRC) paints a more nuanced picture of the mental health crisis, and suggests a more rational response that protects both physical and mental health. C19PRC is an international multidisciplinary team of clinical and research psychologists centred at Sheffield University, studying the psychological, social, political and economic impact of the pandemic. Their research points to interpersonal trauma as having a more damaging effect on mental health than collective trauma. An unemployment office in Britain At the beginning of the first lockdown, C19PRC, a team of experts from five British universities, began surveying 2,025 adults representative of the UK population in age, sex, household income, political attitudes and many other factors. Their survey was not confined to mental health, but also covered family relationships, attitudes to vaccines and coronavirus conspiracy theories, adherence to social distancing and other related topics. They have collaborated in similar surveys internationally. C19PRC have continued surveying these individuals as the pandemic has unfolded and have begun to draw out some patterns. Like other researchers, C19PRC saw an initial increase in rates of depression, anxiety and stress with the onset of the first lockdown. Those who had previously experienced mental health problems were hardest hit, but researchers noted the impact on the poor, the young, and those with small children at home. Lockdown conditions were exacerbating existing problems. Young workers have been particularly affected. In October-December 2020, after nine months of pandemic measures, fully one quarter of all those unemployed for 12 months or more were aged 16-24. The unemployment rate for 16-24-year-olds in October-December 2020 was 14.4 percent. This had risen over the preceding year, but for the last period before lockdowns already stood at 12.1 percentgiving the lie to arguments that reopening the economy was for their wellbeing. A survey of 1,300 mental health doctors last May reported a dramatic reduction in routine appointments. Professor Wendy Burn, president of the Royal College of Psychiatrists (RCP), expressed concern that this was storing up problems that would culminate in a tsunami of referrals. When former RCP president Adrian James described the current crisis as probably the biggest hit to mental health since the second world war, he was careful to oppose using this as an argument against lockdowns and the need for controlling the virus. But those most enthusiastic about reopening the economy, ending the lockdown and forcing a return to work used such observations to give their demands a humanitarian gloss. The pro-Conservative government Daily Telegraph cited Office for National Statistics (ONS) figures showing that rates of depression in adults have doubled during the pandemic to one in five, and a recent National Health Service (NHS) survey showing that one in six children is and now experiencing mental issues such as anxiety, depression and loneliness, up from one in nine in a comparable 2017 survey. Referrals to child and adolescent mental health services at their highest on record, and up 20 percent on the previous year. Describing The whole system [as] clearly under pressure, Adrian James said, Youve got to fund the long-term consequences of the pandemic. The Telegraph used this as an opportunity to promote full school opening. They quoted Dr Bernadka Dubicka of the RCP speaking of childrens sense of loss at their exam preparations coming to nothing, and of Landmark occasions being lost; never to be experienced by hundreds of thousands of children. In similar vein, former RCP president Simon Wessely was quoted saying, We have taken away a whole year of students lives For many of us those are the times that defined our futures. His comments were directed solely at mental health provision, but the Telegraph deployed him against lockdown more generally. A comment piece by Dubicka was accompanied by a box graph showing 41 percent of children say they are lonelier then before restrictions were put in place; 38 percent of children say they are more worried due to lockdown; 37 percent of children say they are sadder due to lockdown. Dubicka wrote of schooling as helping children move out of poverty because poorer children who are less able to engage in remote learning will therefore find their ability to reach their full potential and flourish in the workplace will be limited and could potentially consign them to a life of povertyone of the key drivers of mental illness. This is back-to-front. Poorer children must go back to school to escape a life of poverty, but what of the impact of the poverty they are already living in? And why does such disadvantage magically disappear in a classroom setting, when all available evidence point to social class as the primary determinant of educational achievement? This is where C19PRCs findings are most suggestive. While confirming the problems experienced during the first lockdown, they subsequently noted a general reduction in the number of people reporting above average levels of psychiatric symptoms, in line with other studies. There was instead a picture of adaptation and resilience, with some coming together collectively, stronger social bonds and a sense of belonging and shared identity. C19PRC confirmed that the pandemic had hit hardest those with a history of poor mental health, but its findings point to an underlying cause quite different to that proposed by the right-wing media. Writing in the Guardian against the tsunami narrative, Professor Richard Bentall said it was important to recognise that some of the consequences of the pandemic have been beneficialpeople who have kept their jobs have often saved money, the daily commute has been eliminated for some, and we found that most parents of older children have enjoyed having their kids at home. In mental health, as in all aspects of socio-economic and political life, the pandemic has acted as an accelerant for tensions and crises that already existed. This is corroborated by a Spanish study Bentall was involved in, into post-traumatic symptoms (PTS) and post-traumatic growth (PTG) during confinement caused by the coronavirus. That study confirmed the important role of intolerance of uncertainty in relation to PTSand, more specifically, to current anxieties. In other words, what is causing the mental trauma is not primarily the pandemic in itself but its effect on the work stresses and instability of life under capitalism. Those most likely to suffer worsening mental health are those already most traumatised by the profit system which casualises, trivialises and discards every aspect of workers lives and work. This was confirmed by last summers report from mental health charity Mind, which found that over half those living in social housing said their mental health was poor or very poor. Two-thirds living in social housing reported worsening mental health during lockdown. Nearly three quarters of those who were furloughed, lost their job or changed jobs saw a decline in their mental health, compared to two-thirds whose employment status did not change. More than half receiving free school meals (58 percent) said their mental health was poor or very poor, compared to 41 percent not receiving free school meals. Minds Head of Policy and Campaigns, Louise Rubin, said the survey revealed the major drivers of mental health problems were anxieties around benefits, losing jobs, and being able to put food on the table. This was an existing social crisis accelerated by the pandemic creating mental health problems. The forced reopening of workplaces does not ease the mental health of workers. Accompanied by a worsened threat to life and health, and the speed ups, job cuts and wage slashing of the employers, it will worsen it. Trying to temper the tsunami arguments, Bentall touched on this underlying crisis with reference to the restricted availability of health provision under capitalism. Even if there really were a tidal wave of mental illness washing over the population, he wrote, what would anyone be able to do about it ( it would not be possible to install a clinical psychologist in every neighbourhood )? [emphasis added] When additional resources are available for mental health services, he wrote, they should be targeted at the most vulnerable. Health provision should not be dependent on additional funding possibly becoming available. Like every aspect of social and economic life, it must be rationally planned and delivered for the benefit of all, not for corporate profit. Bentall wrote of the practical implications of their findings: The government can most preserve the populations mental health by protecting people from the economic consequences of the pandemic. Those economic consequences, however, are the inevitable product of the capitalist profit system in which the interests of the corporations and the super-rich are prioritised over the health and well-being of the working class. The solution lies with the socialist reorganisation of economic and social life. Middle East: army sentences Palestinian MP to 2 years prison Played a key role in Popular Front for Liberation (ANSAmed) - TEL AVIV, 02 MAR - An Israeli military court sentenced Palestinian MP Khalida Jarrar, 58, to two years in prison for having played a key role in the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, which Israel considers an illegal organisation. Given the time in administrative detention that Jarrar has already served, she should be released in eight months, said Israeli daily Haaretz. Jarrar was elected to the Palestinian Legislative Council in 2006. Since then she has spoken out in particular for women's rights and the rights of Palestinians detained in Israel. Her name attracted the attention of the Israeli secret services two years ago when a cell of the Popular Front carried out an attack in the West Bank in which a Jewish adolescent was killed and two relatives were injured. However, during the investigation it emerged that Jarrar was not aware of preparations for that attack, Haaretz said. The sentence, which was reached after a plea bargain, is therefore tied to other organisational activities she carried out for the Popular Front. (ANSAmed). One. Just give me the liquor neat Two, and one of them is ice Three is the perfect, simple combination Four or more! Let's get creative A beer and a shot, please Vote View Results FREMONT, Calif., March 2, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- SureCall, the performance leading cell phone signal booster manufacturer, today announced its national residential installation partnership with OnTech Smart Services, a subsidiary of DISH Network. Through the partnership, OnTech's team of expertly-trained professionals are able to quickly and conveniently install SureCall's award-winning booster technology in consumer's homes nationwide. How it works Offered as a bundle, homeowners purchase the Fusion Install through one of SureCall's select authorized resellers. A card inside the package directs the customers to a website where they can schedule an installation -- which can be completed as soon as the next day in most locations -- with one of OnTech's licensed professionals. "Working from home has opened a lot of people's eyes to the importance of a reliable and strong cellular signal. Interest in signal boosters is higher than ever, but most people don't have the time or don't feel handy enough to install one themselves," said Frankie Smith, vice president of sales for SureCall. "Our partnership with OnTech eliminates those barriers and gives consumers an easy and affordable option to improve bad cellular coverage inside their homes." Ideal for people who are hindered by slow cellular data speeds or frequently dropped calls, SureCall's Fusion Install amplifies any cellular device's signal to increase speeds and maintain reliable connectivity inside any home from two rooms to whole house coverage. Featuring SureCall's proprietary 2XP technology, the Fusion Install doubles the uplink power to the cellular tower and maintains a solid cellular signal everywhere from urban canyons to wide-open rural spaces. Compatible with all North American cell phone carriers, the booster also includes patented SureIQ technology that auto-adjusts the amplification, providing the best possible performance even in the most challenging signal areas. Additionally, all SureCall signal boosters are 5G compatible so they'll continue to work for years to come. "Having a strong cellular signal in the home has become vital to today's consumer," said Jeremy McCarty, GM and VP of OnTech Smart Services. "We're excited to partner with SureCall to provide professional home installation services to ensure even more consumers are able to stay connected." The Fusion Install bundle is available nationwide through select authorized resellers for $899.99. For more information on SureCall's booster installation program, including availability, visit surecall.com . Professional installation is available for residential homes in the USA only. For offices and commercial installations please contact SureCall directly. To learn how OnTech is safely serving its customers during the COVID-19 pandemic, visit OnTechSmartServices.com/pages/coronavirus . About SureCall SureCall is the multi-patent, award-winning performance leader for cell phone signal boosters. Since its inception in 2001, SureCall has quickly grown to innovate at the cutting edge of the industry, winning back-to-back Inc. 5000 awards every year since 2016 as well as the 2017 & 2020 CES Innovation Award, among many other accolades. SureCall combines its patented engineering with top-quality materials and comprehensive lifetime support to provide best-in-class solutions for mobile device users to access dependable cell service in their homes, offices and vehicles. As a result, industry leaders such as Chrysler, Marriott, NASA and HP all trust SureCall's FCC-approved signal boosters for their quality, reliability and performance. For more information, stop by our blog or visit us on Facebook , Twitter and LinkedIn . About OnTech Smart Services OnTech Smart Services was founded in 2019 and is one of the largest smart home service providers in the United States. Its nationwide service brings together a structured workforce of over 8,000 expert technicians, smart home devices from leading brands and award-winning customer service to make it easy for anyone to enjoy the benefits of smart home technology. OnTech is singularly driven by its mission to connect people and things. Visit OnTechSmartServices.com . SOURCE SureCall Related Links https://www.surecall.com/ CHAPEL HILL, NC - About four billion years ago, life arose from a primordial soup of chemicals. Somehow, amino acids linked together to form proteins, and from these proteins, the basic molecules of biological life took root, leading ever so slowly to the dawn of life as we know it. But how? How did the chaos of chemicals become ordered biology? Scientists at UNC-Chapel Hill aim to answer this question by leaning on their expertise, their collaborative spirit, and a prestigious $1-million award from the W.M. Keck Foundation, a Los Angeles-based philanthropic organization that supports important discoveries in science, engineering, and medicine. They also hope to enhance our understanding of important cellular processes to open new avenues for disease detection and treatment strategies. Charles Carter, PhD, professor in the UNC Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics at the UNC School of Medicine, is the lead investigator of this project. For many years, he has been conducting cutting-edge research in this field, which is one of the reasons the Keck Foundation funded this innovative collaboration. During his efforts to reveal more about how biology was originally born from chemistry, Carter reached out to a pair of Carolina colleagues - RNA biology expert Qi Zhang, PhD, associate professor in the UNC Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, and Abigail Knight, PhD, assistant professor in the UNC Department of Chemistry in the UNC College of Arts & Sciences who focuses on mimicking proteins with synthetic polymers. The team also recruited to the project Hiroaki Suga, PhD, professor of organic chemistry at the University of Tokyo. These four scientists have developed a collaborative strategy to test a hypothesis for how tiny chemicals wound up establishing how very basic biochemistry first came to be assembled, according to a genetic code four billion years ago. "At a foundational level, all living things depend on their ability to convert information stored in genes into functional enzymes, or proteins," Carter said. "This is called translation, and scientists have generally understood this process for a long time. But certain details about how this could have happened for the first time at the dawn of life have escaped the attention of the scientific community." Understanding the exact details of this process will allow scientists to better explore the possibilities of life outside of Earth. It could inspire new strategies for mimicking complex cellular components and processes important for human health. It will generate a useful public database for the field of synthetic biology, which has many research applications in medicine, manufacturing, and agriculture. Most of all, this project will help answer eternal questions that arose after Crick and Watson discovered the DNA double helix. Their seminal work revealed how information in genes is stored and passed from one generation to the next. But ever since the 1960s, how cells use that information has been a question at the heart of so many research questions related to nature, human health, and disease pathology. "Our project is the first to attempt to understand how particular aspects of the translation process happened in the first place," Carter said. "Understanding what enabled nature to make the same protein each time in accordance with the genetic code has the potential to be transformative. We are attempting to answer a profound and challenging question." Carter has worked on part of this complicated biochemical conundrum for more than a decade, but it has remained difficult to figure out how certain pieces of the translation puzzle could have occurred before the repetitive memory that evolution eventually provided. For instance, what was the precise chemical machinery that accelerated the translation of DNA into the short protein bonds between amino acids specified by a code, which is what must have happened for life to emerge? "Essentially, chemistry is random; it's chaotic," Zhang said. "We can imagine chemistry existing before life on Earth emerged, the so-called primordial soup. But biology is neither chaotic nor random. It is ordered." Knight added, "Through this project, we will develop a platform to help us investigate and understand the random chemical process that eventually led to non-random life." The scientists are focusing on one part of the translation machinery that today is known as the ribosome - tiny RNA and associated proteins that link together amino acids in a particular order specified by instructions in a gene. Chains of amino acids, or polypeptides, must fold into active proteins, which orchestrate biological functions that distinguish heart cells from lung cells, for example. In order to fold the same way each time, the amino acid sequences must be the same, which happens because of genetic coding. When thinking of life emerging for the first time billions of years ago, it is the linking together of amino acids that had to occur just so for ordered biology to emerge from random chemistry. But, in our cells right now, the ribosomes have developed a kind of "memory" in order to harness the power of the genetic code. And that memory came from a previous creation of biology, previous to the creation of cells. At the start of life, there were no cells and there could not have been a ribosome like we have now. So what was there? Well, there could have been triplet sequences of DNA and RNA, and it could be possible that these triplets called codons and anticodons were able to align perfectly and to "encourage" amino acids to form peptide bonds. And from that tipping point, very rudimentary life would become possible. This, in a simplified nutshell, is what the Carolina scientists hope to test. "Through our experiments, we aim to generate a massive amount of data on this biochemical process," Zhang said. "Because when life starts, there tends to be a lot of chaos that gradually becomes ordered. We plan to observe what could have happened." Carter added, "We are extremely grateful to the W.M. Keck Foundation for supporting this innovative project, and we are confident our work will shed light on the origin of life on Earth and open the door to answering many other research questions related to our current times." ### To read more about this project, check out the scientific abstract at the W.M. Keck Foundation website. The Office of Congressional Ethics is investigating a Mississippi congressman for what it called a concerning pattern of potentially misusing campaign funds, including spending more than $80,000 on a $1.2 million waterfront house that he was trying to sell. In a report published on Monday, the Board of the Office of Congressional Ethics said it had voted unanimously to recommend that the House Ethics Committee continue to investigate Representative Steven M. Palazzo, Republican of Mississippi, because there was substantial reason to believe that Rep. Palazzo converted funds to personal use to pay expenses that were not legitimate. At issue, among other allegations, the report said, was a concerning pattern of campaign expenditures on a large riverfront home which Rep. Palazzo owned and rented to Palazzo for Congress as an ostensible campaign headquarters. The four-bedroom home, which the congressman referred to as the River House, was outfitted with a boat dock and a guest cottage, and was mainly used as a weekend home by Mr. Palazzos family, which had owned it for about 20 years, according to the findings. A central Florida sheriff's deputy was suspended without pay for nearly a month after a civil rights group asked for an investigation into his Facebook posts from a year ago denigrating Muslims. The Orange County Sheriff's Office suspended Master Deputy Michael Johnson for 150 hours without pay after an internal investigation found he showed 'unbecoming conduct' and 'bias and disrespect' toward Muslims, according to a report obtained by the Orlando Sentinel in a public records request. In a February 2020 post on his personal Facebook page, Johnson wrote that 'Muslims are taking over America,' calling them the 'most intolerant people when it comes to other religions,' the report said. 'WAKE Up America, ... the Democrats only care about a vote, but with this radicalized people take (sic) over the United States you will know why because we stood there and did nothing to stop this!!! Donald J Trump for president for another 4 years!!' Johnson wrote in the post. Orange County Master Deputy Michael Johnson has been suspended for 150 hours without pay over his anti-Muslim Facebook posts from a year ago (stock photo) When interviewed by investigators, Johnson acknowledged that the post was 'offensive towards all Muslims.' He said he was 'trying to describe a small percentage of radicalized Muslims that only represent a very small percentage of the followers.' The investigation found Johnson's Facebook page can be 'associated' with his employment as a sheriff's deputy. He has numerous postings with photos in his uniform. Sheriff John Mina told the newspaper he updated the agency's social media policy after taking office in 2018 and warned deputies he would not hesitate to give 'very harsh' discipline for violations. The sheriff said Johnson, a 20-year veteran, was also placed on three months of disciplinary probation prohibiting him from certain perks such as working off-duty or taking home his patrol vehicle. He said Johnson had no other history of intolerant conduct. The Sentinel reported that at least five other deputies reacted with an emoji to Johnson's post. None of those deputies reported the post to the agency, and none said they had concerns with the post when interviewed by internal investigators. Mina told the newspaper deputies have an obligation to report any policy violations they see while on duty, but said that is not the case for an off-duty deputy. The investigation began when a civil rights attorney at the Council on American-Islamic Relations sent 10 screenshots of the deputy's Facebook activity to the agency. Attorney Taj Murphy wrote in his complaint said they were not out to censor the deputy's free speech, but found it 'concerning' that Johnson 'has made hateful, racist, and anti-Muslim statements under the color of authority of the Orange County Sheriff's Office.' The sheriff's office found only three of the posts flagged by the group, including the one that led to his suspension, needed further investigation, the newspaper reported. The two other posts with 'questionable content' involved Johnson's comments about undocumented immigrants arrested in Wisconsin, and his response in a comment thread about high-profile sex abuse cases, in which Johnson argued that women sometimes lie about sexual assault. Investigators determined those posts mainly 'contained political statements or support of political viewpoints,' the Sentinel reported. Murphy said he would still like to see the agency accept his group's invitation to provide their Islam 101 training to deputies, as they've done for other law enforcement agencies in Florida, But he was happy to see that Johnson got more than just a reprimand. 'I applaud Orange County on their response to this issue,' Murphy told the newspaper. Armenia ex-president Kocharyan gives interview to Russia newspaper Armenia acting deputy PM on unblocking of roads with Azerbaijan: There will be no troops standing there Nikkei: Toyota and Honda stop car production in Malaysia Armenia official on deploying international observers at Azerbaijan border: You will hear reaction on this matter soon USAID helps UN World Food Programme support displaced people in Armenia Armenia official: Work of trilateral working group on roads unblocking has stopped after recent incidents Russias Putin to Armenias Pashinyan: Relations between our countries are developing very successfully Armenia health minister: Improper storage of fallen soldiers bodies, remains was my omission 108 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia Armenia President to children: I believe that you will make our country much better Armenia CEC publicizes complete lists of political forces registered to run in snap parliamentary elections World oil prices going up Queen Elizabeth turns down PM's offer to name new royal yacht after Prince Philip Armenia parliament discusses 2020 state budget report Newspaper: Armenia acting FM resigns after 3rd attempt Newspaper: Yerevan mayor to leave office Israel, UAE sign tax treaty Newspaper: Even vagrants are persuaded, taken to Armenia acting PM Pashinyans rally in Vanadzor Swedish defense minister demands explanation from Denmark over spy scandal Acting Deputy PM: Armenia has not discussed and will not discuss issues within logic of "corridor" Armenia Central Electoral Commission determines numbers of political parties for elections Armenia 2nd President visits Cathedral of the Holy Mother of God in Gyumri (PHOTOS) Opposition Armenia bloc representative: We're running in elections to win Azerbaijan MFA comments on calls for release of Armenian POWs with infinite hypocrisy EC: Vaccinated citizens should be exempted from tests, quarantine when traveling within EU Armenia Ombudsman discusses rights of 6 captured Armenian servicemen with ICRC Delegation head EU ready to use all the tools at its disposal to change Turkey's behavior Yerevan court obliges to abolish violation of rights of Armenia Supreme Judicial Council ex-chairman Greek and Turkish leaders to meet in June on sidelines of NATO summit Armenia Central Electoral Commission to set up 2,008 polling stations for snap parliamentary elections Iranian companies to participate in reconstructing territories under Azerbaijan's control Opposition Armenia bloc's representative on acting PM's invitation to debate with 1st and 2nd Presidents Armenia acting FM dismissed upon presidential decree Body of brother of Armenian criminal authority "Don Pipo" found under bridge 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 Alibaba and Ant Group founder Jack Ma has lost his title as China's richest man, a list published today showed, after he angered Beijing and his empire was put under heavy scrutiny by Chinese regulators. Ma and his family had held the top spot for China's richest in the Hurun Global Rich List in 2020 and 2019. But now they trail in fourth place behind bottled water maker Nongfu Spring's Zhong Shanshan, Tencent Holding's Pony Ma and e-commerce upstart Pinduoduo's Collin Huang, the latest list showed. His fall out of the top three comes 'after China's regulators reined in Ant Group and Alibaba on anti-trust issues,' the Hurun report said. Ma's recent woes were triggered by an October 24 speech in which he blasted China's regulatory system, leading to the suspension of his Ant Group's $37 billion IPO just days before the fintech giant's public listing. Alibaba and Ant Group founder Jack Ma has lost his title as China's richest man, a list published today showed, after he angered Beijing and his empire was put under heavy scrutiny by Chinese regulators The clampdown on ecommerce giant Alibaba saw the one-time darling of China's entrepreneurs fall down the pecking order Regulators have since tightened anti-trust scrutiny on the country's tech sector, with ecommerce giant Alibaba taking much of the heat; the market regulator launched an official anti-trust probe into Alibaba in December. The clampdown on the company saw the one-time darling of China's entrepreneurs fall down the pecking order. Chinese regulators also began to tighten their grip on the fintech sector and have asked Ant to fold some of its businesses into a financial holding company to be regulated like traditional financial firms. Ma, who is not known for shying away from the limelight, then disappeared from the public eye for about three months, triggering frenzied speculation about his whereabouts. He re-emerged in January with a 50-second video appearance. Chinese regulators also began to tighten their grip on the fintech sector and have asked Ant to fold some of its businesses into a financial holding company to be regulated like traditional financial firms The news comes after it emerged that China created more than 200 billionaires last year as a booming stock market and a slew of new companies offset the damage caused by the Covid pandemic. The Hurun Global Rich List showed that 259 Chinese broke into the billion-dollar club in 2020, more than the rest of the world combined and taking the country to a total of 1,058 billionaires - the first to break the 1,000 mark. By comparison, the US created just 70 new billionaires last year bringing its overall total to 696. China - the country where Covid first emerged and which has been accused of covering up its early spread, leading to the pandemic - has seen its economy boom while the rest of the world's finances have been hammered by the disease. The news comes after it emerged that China created more than 200 billionaires last year as a booming stock market and a slew of new companies offset the damage caused by the Covid pandemic. Pictured: Chinese President Xi Jinping The country was the only major world economy to grow at all last year, with GDP up by 2.3 per cent. The US shrank 3.7 per cent, Germany was down 5 per cent, and the UK by 11 per cent. That growth helped create new billionaires, with Zhong Shanshan of bottled water giant Nongfu now leading the pack - becoming China's richest man after overtaking Jack Ma. Shanshan is worth an estimated $85billion after his drinks brand - which sells tea, coffee and juices as well as red-labeled bottles of water - went public. Zhong, a former construction worker, made his cash following a $1.1 billion initial public offering in Hong Kong last year. China created 259 billionaires in 2020, more than the rest of the world combined and led by Zhong Shanshan (left) who topped the rich-list with a wealth of $85billion. Colin Huang (right) was one of just three billionaires to add more than $50billion to their wealth in 2020 China, the country where Covid first emerged, was the only major world economy to record growth last year while others were hammered trying to deal with the pandemic Meanwhile, Pinduoduo's Huang's fortune grew 283% to 450 billion yuan, the list said. In comparison, the wealth of Ma and his family grew 22%, to 360 billion yuan. Zhang Yiming, founder of TikTok owner ByteDance, broke into the top five rankings among Chinese billionaires in Hurun's Global Rich List for the first time, with an estimated personal wealth of $54 billion. Three individuals globally added more than $50 billion in a single year, the survey found: Tesla's Elon Musk, Amazon's Jeff Bezos and Colin Huang of Pinduoduo, one of China's fastest-growing ecommerce players. Huang is now worth an estimated $60billion, putting him seventh on China's rich-list and 57th globally. Economists now think that China's economy will out-grow the US by 2028, thanks in part to the pandemic which 'tipped the scales in its favor' (pictured, tables comparing the size of the US and Chinese economies through the years, top and bottom) Overall, China continues to lead the world's wealth creation, Hurun's report said, adding 490 new billionaires in the past five years compared with the 160 added in the US. Hurun Report chairman Rupert Hoogewerf said that even with the pandemic chaos, the past year saw the biggest wealth increase of the past decade due to new listings and booming stock markets. 'Asia has, for the first time in perhaps hundreds of years, more billionaires than the rest of the world combined,' he added. The report also flagged a shift in Hong Kong, pointing out that the city's entrepreneurs are now being 'dwarfed' by their counterparts in the mainland - only three Hong Kong tycoons make it into the China top 50. Six of the world's top 10 cities with the highest concentration of billionaires are now in China, with Beijing top of the heap for the sixth year running. Economists now believe that China will overtake America to become the world's largest economy by 2028. The two men who were injured on Monday night in the fire that broke out in the commune of Colceag in Prahova County, Inotesti village, are intubated, their condition being serious, Violeta Tanase, the spokesperson of the Ploiesti Emergency County Hospital told AGERPRES on Tuesday. According to her, the men underwent surgery to clean the wounds, and are currently in the Intensive Care Unit, being intubated. She added that, for the time being, there are no vacancies for their transfer to a hospital in Bucharest, and the Health Ministry announced that steps will be taken to send them for treatment abroad. "The 59-year-old patient has burns on approximately 60% of the body surface. The 53-year-old patient has burns on 60-70% of the body surface. At the first assessment, both have affected upper airways," the Health Ministry informed on Monday evening. According to the quoted source, the men meet the criteria for admission to a large country center. "Given the first information transmitted on the affected area and the degree of burns, the patients meet the admission criteria in a high-burn center. Romania does not currently have such a center. After receiving the conclusions of the specialized commission of the hospital, the transfer is to be decided. The doctors in Ploiesti are currently working on stabilizing the patients," the Health Ministry mentioned. Thank you for reading! Please purchase a subscription to read our premium content. If you have a subscription, please log in or sign up for an account on our website to continue. Copyright 1995 - . All rights reserved. The content (including but not limited to text, photo, multimedia information, etc) published in this site belongs to China Daily Information Co (CDIC). Without written authorization from CDIC, such content shall not be republished or used in any form. Note: Browsers with 1024*768 or higher resolution are suggested for this site. 0108263 License for publishing multimedia online Registration Number: 130349 Registration Number: 130349 NEW YORK, March 2, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The pharma e-commerce market in Europe is poised to grow by USD 10.69 bn during 2020-2024, progressing at a CAGR of almost 14% during the forecast period. Here is an Exclusive report talking about Market scenarios, Estimates, the impact of lockdown, and Customer Behaviour. Get FREE Sample Report in Minutes! The report on the pharma e-commerce market in Europe provides a holistic update, market size and forecast, trends, growth drivers, and challenges, as well as vendor analysis. Pharma E-Commerce Market in Europe by Product and Geography - Forecast and Analysis 2020-2024 The report offers an up-to-date analysis regarding the current global market scenario and the overall market environment. The market is driven by increased internet penetration. The pharma e-commerce market in Europe analysis includes product segment and geography landscape. This study identifies the availability of multiple payment options as one of the prime reasons driving the pharma e-commerce market in Europe growth during the next few years. This report presents a detailed picture of the market by the way of study, synthesis, and summation of data from multiple sources by an analysis of key parameters. The pharma e-commerce market in Europe covers the following areas: Pharma E-commerce Market In Europe Sizing Pharma E-commerce Market In Europe Forecast Pharma E-commerce Market In Europe Analysis Companies Mentioned apo-rot BV Euro Apotheke K. Talu eK Mail.Ru Group McKesson Corp. myCARE e.K. ROSSMANN SHOP APOTHEKE EUROPE N.V. N.V. UK Meds Direct Ltd. Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. and Zur Rose Group AG. Related Reports on Consumer Discretionary Include: Water Heater Market by End-user, Distribution Channel, Type, and Geography - Forecast and Analysis 2020-2024 - The water heater market size has the potential to grow by USD 2.76 billion during 2020-2024, and the market's growth momentum will accelerate during the forecast period. To get extensive research insights: Get a FREE sample report in minutes - The water heater market size has the potential to grow by during 2020-2024, and the market's growth momentum will accelerate during the forecast period. To get extensive research insights: Get a FREE sample report in minutes Smart Retail Market by Solution and Geography - Forecast and Analysis 2020-2024- The smart retail market size has the potential to grow by USD 25.31 billion during 2020-2024, and the market's growth momentum will accelerate during the forecast period. To get extensive research insights: Get a FREE sample report in minutes Key Topics Covered: Executive Summary Market Landscape Market Sizing Five Forces Analysis Market Segmentation by Product Customer landscape Geographic Landscape Drivers, Challenges, and Trends Vendor Landscape Vendor Analysis Appendix Technavio suggests three forecast scenarios (optimistic, probable, and pessimistic) considering the impact of COVID-19. Technavio's in-depth research has direct and indirect COVID-19 impacted market research reports. Register for a free trial today and gain instant access to 17,000+ market research reports. Technavio's SUBSCRIPTION platform About Us Technavio is a leading global technology research and advisory company. Their research and analysis focuses on emerging market trends and provides actionable insights to help businesses identify market opportunities and develop effective strategies to optimize their market positions. With over 500 specialized analysts, Technavio's report library consists of more than 17,000 reports and counting, covering 800 technologies, spanning across 50 countries. Their client base consists of enterprises of all sizes, including more than 100 Fortune 500 companies. This growing client base relies on Technavio's comprehensive coverage, extensive research, and actionable market insights to identify opportunities in existing and potential markets and assess their competitive positions within changing market scenarios. Contact Technavio Research Jesse Maida Media & Marketing Executive US: +1 844 364 1100 UK: +44 203 893 3200 Email: [email protected] Website: www.technavio.com/ Report Page:https://www.technavio.com/report/pharma-e-commerce-market-in-europe-industry-analysis SOURCE Technavio Related Links http://www.technavio.com/ [March 02, 2021] A new case study from Mike Albert Fleet Solutions reveals the key to the success of Columbus Yellow Cab's transition to fleet electrification. CINCINNATI, March 2, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Mike Albert Fleet Solutions, one of the nation's top leaders in fleet electrification and electric vehicle (EV) fleet management, just released a case study about Columbus Yellow Cab's evolution from internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles to EVs and hybrids. The study's release celebrates the three-year anniversary of the business relationship between Columbus Yellow Cab and Mike Albert Fleet Solutions. In March of 2018, Morgan Kauffman, CEO and owner of Columbus Yellow Cab, decided it was time to do what's right for the planet and move away from ICE vehicles. Knowing that the shift to fleet electrification would be a job too big and specialized for anyone at his company, Kauffman contacted the EV experts at Mike Albert Fleet Solutions for help. "Mike Albert was extremely flexible when helping us not only organize the finances of switching to EVs, but also to locate all the EVs that we needed," says Kauffman. Over the years, Mike Albert Fleet Solutions has developed close working relationships with several OEMs in the EV space, including Tesla. The good will Mike Albert Fleet Solutions has built with Tesla made it possible for them to acquire 30 Tesla Model 3s for Kauffman, making Columbus Yellow Cab the first third-party Tesla shop in the world. The result of Columbus Yellow Cab's "electric" transformation has been very rewarding for them. The total cost of ownership for their vehiclesthe cost of owning a vehicle that includes fuel, maintenance, depreciation costs and morehas decreased significantly. Plus, having a fleet full of EVs and hybrids has provided them with an environmentally-responsible reputation that gives them an advantage over competitors in the transportation-as-a-service industry. "We're excited tht EVs and fleet electrification initiatives have become top of mind for businesses like Columbus Yellow Cab and government agencies that have carbon footprint reduction initiatives and want a lower total cost of ownership. We're proud to lead in this growing segment of the industry and help our clients realize the benefits of a zero-emission fleet," says Nate Shadoin, Director, Sales & Fleet Electrification at Mike Albert Fleet Solutions. Mike Albert Fleet Solutions has been active in the automotive electrification movement for the past ten years in pursuit of their mission to empower fleet clients to achieve their sustainability goals and improve their ROI with EVs. Through immense research and experience, their team has acquired extensive EV expertise including: -Flexible financing terms for EVs -Monetization of EV incentives, grants and tax credits -TCO and ROI data collection and reporting for EV fleets -Assistance with charging needs via charging infrastructure and consultation partners To see the full case study about Columbus Yellow Cab's transition to fleet electrification, visit https://www.mikealbert.com/success-stories/columbus-yellow-cab. About Mike Albert Mike Albert is a future-focused mobility company, 63 years in the making, that's home to three business units Fleet Solutions, Sales & Service and Rental. Mike Albert is proudly rooted in Cincinnati, Ohio, but serves clients nationwide. Whether you need the ways and means to transport people, products or services, Mike Albert associates pride themselves on matching you with the right vehicles, financing and services to help you achieve your goals today and tomorrow. Mike Albert Fleet Solutions, a top 10 national fleet management company, offers end-to-end services including vehicle acquisition and remarketing, leasing and financing, maintenance management, fuel management, telematics data and truck and van equipment and branding. Mike Albert Fleet Solutions serves fleets of any size, in any industry, including service contracting, pest control, construction, food and beverage, delivery, grounds management and municipalities. View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/a-new-case-study-from-mike-albert-fleet-solutions-reveals-the-key-to-the-success-of-columbus-yellow-cabs-transition-to-fleet-electrification-301238290.html SOURCE Mike Albert Fleet Solutions [ 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. Here's a selection of Business Standard pieces for the day The new rules for information technology intermediaries have troubling aspects which will negatively impact The Information Technology (Guidelines for Intermediaries and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, give the government wide-ranging discretionary powers to censor and platforms, and to take punitive actions against them. In this context, our lead editorial notes that these guidelines will create discretionary systems which can be selectively applied to harass political opponents and shut down criticism. No democracy, which guarantees freedom of expression, should formulate such draconian rules. The government has reestablished the primacy of as its top priority and accepted the need to put the private sector at the heart of the growth agenda, writes Akash Prakash The Indian pharmaceutical industry has the potential to rise up the global vaccine value chain but controversies about domestic approvals on the basis of sketchy data will do it no favours, writes Prosenjit Datta The leader of the Bright Armenia Party (LHK), Edmon Marukian, said he and Pashinian spoke by phone in the morning and will meet on Wednesday for further discussions on the proposed elections. Marukian himself called for the conduct of such polls late last week, portraying that as a compromise solution to the crisis deepened by the Armenian militarys unprecedented demand for the governments resignation. He said Pashinian should stop, for his part, trying to fire the countrys top general, Onik Gasparian. Pashinian has since continued to push for Gasparians removal. At the same time he expressed readiness on Monday to organize pre-term elections. Speaking to journalists, Marukian did not clarify what his party will do if the prime minister does get rid of the defiant general. The Prosperous Armenia Party (BHK), the other parliamentary opposition force, reacted more ambiguously to Pashinians proposal. A senior BHK member, Mikael Melkumian, said the party leadership has not discussed it yet. Unlike Marukians LHK, the BHK is part of an alliance of more hardline opposition forces that resumed street protests in Yerevan late last month in a bid to force Pashinian to resign over his handling of the recent war in Nagorno-Karabakh. Pashinian already expressed readiness in late December to organize fresh elections. The opposition dismissed the offer, saying that they be held by an interim government after Pashinians resignation. The ruling political team stated afterwards that it longer sees the need to dissolve the Armenian parliament controlled by it. Under Armenias existing constitution, snap polls must be called only if Pashinian resigns and the National Assembly twice fails to elect another prime minister. His My Step bloc officially controls 83 seats in the 132-member parliament and should in theory be able to easily prevent the election of another premier nominated by the opposition minority. Nevertheless, Pashinian demanded in January that the two parliamentary opposition parties formally pledge to refrain from such nominations in the event of his tactical resignation. Both parties refused to do that. The LHK now seems ready to sign a pre-election memorandum with My Step. But the BHK sees no need for such a deal. Melkumian argued that the ruling bloc controls enough parliament seats to hold elections on its terms. It was not clear if Pashinian is planning to meet with BHK leader Gagik Tsarukian as well. The results were contributed by recovered domestic consumption and steel export benefits. In the stock market, the shares of listed firms witnessed strong growth, such as Hoa Phat Group (HPG) up 114 per cent, Hoa Sen Group (HSG) up 193 per cent, and Nam Kim Steel (NKG) up 122 per cent at the end of the year (see chart). For the galvanised steel industry, it was difficult for any business 6-8 months ago to imagine the price of hot rolled coil reaching $700 per tonne in 2020, especially when prices plunged just before then. Hoa Sen and Nam Kim reported strong growth in this area too, while Hoa Phat continues to firmly build a leading position in the construction steel segment with market share increasing to 32.5 per cent in 2020. The company achieved net revenues of nearly VND91.3 trillion in 2020 ($4 billion) and a record net profit of VND13.5 trillion ($587 million). Vietnam-Italy Steel JSC (VIS) returned to profit after two years of heavy losses. Steel trading companies such as SMC Commercial Investment (SMC) and Tien Len Steel (TLH) simultaneously reported big profits in the last quarter of 2020 thanks to favourable changes in steel prices, thereby ending a year of success. As the only company in the industry that owns a distribution network of hundreds of points across the country, Hoa Sen plans to expand its business product portfolio through the development of a home furniture and building materials retail chain with a strategic partner. At its January annual general meeting, Hoa Sen chairman Le Phuoc Vu said that the group will no longer be a mere manufacturing enterprise, but move towards becoming a distributor of building materials and interior decoration items. While it would continue to produce the same items, it would not expand production capacity but instead invest in opening new Hoa Sen home stores and upgrading existing ones. The group is expected to reach VND33 trillion ($1.43 billion) in revenues this year and post-tax profits of VND1.5 trillion ($65.2 million), 20 and 30 per cent higher than in 2020 respectively. Nam Kim Steel meanwhile said it will focus more on distribution in the south, with plans to build a warehouse and steel pipe factory in the first quarter in the southern province of Binh Duong. Elsewhere, SMC Steel Ltd. wants to go deeper in the field of processing, becoming a supplier for manufacturers operating in Vietnam. Earlier this year, SMC together with Samsung C&T agreed to establish a steel processing joint venture with a planned factory located Ba Ria-Vung Tau provinces Phu My Industrial Park. Vietnams steel industry sales volume is expected to increase by nearly 16 per cent in 2021, three times higher than originally forecast thanks to new demand including infrastructure funding and foreign investment inflows, which are also helping to promote civil engineering along infrastructure and foreign-invested projects. According to a Mirae Asset Vietnam research report, it is estimated that output of the Dung Quat project will add 2.2 million tonnes of total output to the countrys steel industry, while the Pomina Phu My plant will increase construction steel output by 1.1 million tonnes. The report noted that in 2021 the real estate industry will gradually recover alongside the recovery of the global economy, which would benefit Vietnams steel industry. Output in 2021 is expected to reach 28.67 million tonnes, an additional 15.7 per cent on-year. More stable global supply is likely to lead to more intense competition in the market, and with the risk of COVID- 19 still present, the increases could also affect the overall recovery as well as production capacity and export markets. Venezuela Approves Sinopharm Coronavirus Vaccine - Health Ministry Moscow, March 2 (Sputnik) - Venezuelan authorities have approved the use of the Chinese Sinopharm vaccine against the coronavirus, Venezuelas Health Ministry informs. "Thanks to cooperation between China and Venezuela, we are taking care of the health and well-being of our people," the ministry said in a Monday statement. In February, Venezuela received the first 100,000 doses of the Russian Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine, which was registered in Venezuela in January. 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. WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Seventy-five years ago this week, former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill delivered one of the seminal speeches of the 20th century at Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri. In that March 5, 1946, speech, Churchill highlighted several aggressive moves by the Soviet Union, including the occupation of Eastern Europe, noting, "From Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic, an iron curtain has descended across the Continent." The phrase "iron curtain" would become shorthand to describe what was then the Soviet Union, along with its client states, during the Cold War. Additionally, Churchill called for a "fraternal association of the English-speaking peoples" and a "special relationship between the British Commonwealth and Empire and the United States," which amounted to a military alliance between the two countries. Shortly after the speech, and amid growing tensions between the U.S. and the Soviets, Gallup asked Americans their opinions of Churchill's proposed alliance. The poll found Americans were widely aware of the speech, with 68% saying they had heard or read about it. But their reactions to Churchill's proposed U.S.-Great Britain alliance tilted negative. Forty percent of all Americans said they disapproved of the U.S. and Great Britain continuing their present military cooperation as a check on Russia, while 18% approved. Another 4% thought the two countries should "stick together," but not with a military alliance. The rest either had no opinion or weren't familiar with the speech. Americans' Views on Winston Churchill's Proposed "Fraternal Association" Between the U.S. and the British Empire* Did you hear or read about Churchill's speech in which he suggested a continuation of the present military cooperation between the United States and Great Britain as a check on Russia's present moves? [IF YES, ASK:] What is your opinion on his suggestion? Familiar with speech Approve of his ideas and think they are right 18% The U.S. and Britain should stick together, but have no military alliance 4% Disapprove of Churchill's suggestion 40% No opinion 6% Unfamiliar with speech 32% * Among all Americans, 68% of whom reported awareness of Winston Churchill's speech. Gallup, March 1946 Gallup's original press release that reported these findings listed some of the specific reasons respondents gave for disapproving of an alliance between the U.S. and the British, including: concern that an alliance would further promote "jealousy and distrust" belief that the British already relied too much on the U.S. a desire for the U.S. to avoid military alliances of any kind belief that all disagreements should be worked out in the United Nations organization Americans Opposed Soviet Foreign Policy but Were Mixed on What Steps to Take In the same 1946 poll, Gallup asked the public how they felt about the policy Russia was following in world affairs and how the U.S. should respond. A solid majority of Americans, 71%, disapproved of Russia's foreign policy, while 7% approved and 22% had no opinion. When asked what the U.S. should do in response, half of Americans favored strong action, while 16% favored negotiation or "appeasement," and 12% favored no action at all. Americans' Views on U.S. Responses to Soviet Foreign Policy If Russia continues her present course what should we do, if anything? Take a strong stand Be firm, make her stick to agreements, no appeasement 44% Don't send money or materials, cut off Lend-Lease 5% Sever relations with her 1% Total favoring a strong stand 50% Negotiation or appeasement Go before the U.N.O.* 8% Get together and work things out 7% Try to appease Russia 1% Total favoring negotiation or appeasement 16% Other actions Do nothing, let her go, avoid trouble 12% Miscellaneous/No opinion 22% * United Nations Organization Gallup, March 1946 The largest percentage of Americans, 44%, believed the U.S. should "be firm" with the Soviet Union, "make her stick to agreements" and not appease it. Fewer Americans supported strong and punitive approaches -- such as cutting off material support, including the then-ongoing World War II-era Lend-Lease program (5%) or totally severing relations (1%). Larger percentages of Americans favored negotiation with the Soviets -- including taking the dispute before the United Nations (8%) or attempting to "get together and work things out" (7%). One percent of the U.S. public supported outright appeasement of the Soviet Union. Twelve percent of the U.S. public supported the U.S. "doing nothing." Churchill's "Iron Curtain" speech is remembered as one of the opening moves of the Cold War, and the Gallup data show why it may have been needed to stir U.S. support for a bilateral response to Russia. It was a confrontation Americans weren't quite sold on, having just finished fighting the Second World War. But despite Americans' doubts, Churchill's speech would prove remarkably prescient. Just three years later, in 1949, Churchill's proposal for a "fraternal association" would be given form in the newly created North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). And for decades to come, foreign policy analysts and politicians in both countries would refer to the U.S. and Great Britain as having a "special relationship." View the original 1946 Gallup news release on Russia and Great Britain (PDF download). Read more from the Gallup Vault. Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-02 22:27:50|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close BEIJING, March 2 (Xinhua) -- The United States should face up to its deep-seated domestic problems including racial discrimination and violent law enforcement, and take concrete measures to improve its human rights situation, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson said on Tuesday. Spokesperson Wang Wenbin made the remarks at a press briefing in response to a query that U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi recently joined so-called "Uygur rights defenders" for an update on human rights issues in China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. Xinjiang now enjoys social stability and a sound development momentum, and the local people are living a safe and happy life. All residents in Xinjiang fully enjoy their rights, including the right to subsistence and development. Languages, traditional cultures and customs of all ethnic minorities in Xinjiang have been well protected and inherited, Wang noted. Over the past 60 years or so, Xinjiang's economy grew by more than 200 times, its per capita GDP increased by nearly 40 times, and residents' life expectancy rose from 30 to 72 years, he added. The so-called "Uygur rights defenders" are in essence East Turkestan anti-China separatists, the spokesperson said. "We are firmly opposed to the U.S. attack on China's Xinjiang policy and interference in China's internal affairs under the pretext of human rights issues, and in disregard of the Chinese side's tremendous efforts to protect human rights and promote employment of residents in Xinjiang," he said. Enditem The decision to delay second doses of vaccine to ensure more older people are protected quickly has been praised (Nick Potts/PA) The decision to delay second doses of Covid vaccines in an effort to jab more older people has been credited with saving a large number of lives, after data suggested hospital admissions are being greatly reduced by the rollout. The exciting and hugely reassuring results from a Public Health England (PHE) study have indicated that the Pfizer and Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccines are highly effective in reducing infections. Protection against developing symptomatic Covid-19 in the over-70s ranged between 57% and 61% for one dose of Pfizer and between 60% and 73% for the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine, the study found. Over-80s who had been vaccinated with one dose of either jab had more than 80% protection against hospital admission, while the Pfizer jab was 85% effective at preventing death from Covid-19. More data is being analysed on how the Oxford jab prevents death, while figures for the over-70s are expected shortly. Professor Anthony Harnden, deputy chair of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), said the bold decision to delay the second dose so more older people could be protected by a single dose more quickly had saved lives. He said: These real world results from Public Health England demonstrate a very good effect from both vaccines after the first dose. The Covid vaccination strategy was designed to prevent as many deaths as quickly as possible. The bold decision to vaccinate more older people by delaying the second dose has undoubtedly saved a large number of lives. Health Secretary Matt Hancock hailed the exciting new data as extremely good news. He said the results may go some way to explaining why the number of Covid admissions to intensive care units among people aged over 80 in the UK have dropped to single figures in recent weeks. Mr Hancock is due to address MPs on the latest coronavirus developments in the Commons on Tuesday, a date which marks 12 weeks since the UK vaccine rollout began. Downing Street has committed to ensuring people receive their second jab within 12 weeks, a policy recommended by the JCVI. Expand Close (PA Graphics) Press Association Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp (PA Graphics) Prof Van-Tam said the data gives us those first glimpses of how, if we are patient, and we give this vaccine programme time to have its full effect, it is going to hopefully take us into a very different world in the next few months. Professor Paul Hunter, of the University of East Anglia, described the PHE study results as hugely reassuring and echoed praise for the decision to delay second doses. He said: This study gives very clear evidence that the UK strategy of delaying the second dose to allow more people to be protected by a first dose was the right approach to reduce the pressure on the NHS and reduce the number of deaths in this (older) age group. Professor Azra Ghani, chair in infectious disease epidemiology at Imperial College London, said those who have been jabbed should feel reassured that they will be highly protected with one dose, but will also further benefit from their second dose regardless of which vaccine they received. Government data up to February 28 shows that of the 21,091,267 jabs given in the UK so far, 20,275,451 were first doses a rise of 185,900 on the previous day. A further 104 people died within 28 days of testing positive for Covid-19 as of Monday the lowest daily figure since October 26 while there were another 5,455 lab-confirmed cases in the UK. Expand Close (PA Graphics) Press Association Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp (PA Graphics) Concerns remain around the worrying Manaus variant, but the Government has defended its border arrangements, with Mr Hancock saying home quarantine measures were already in place and travel restrictions on Brazil had been imposed before the hotel policy was implemented in mid-February. PHE has identified six UK cases of the P1 variant first detected in the Brazilian city of Manaus three in England and three in Scotland. Dr Susan Hopkins, of PHE, said they were tracking very closely the new variant and are in the process of trying to track down the one person who is yet to be identified who is believed to have taken a test on February 12 or 13. If you had a COVID test on the 12th or 13th of Feb & didnat get your result, please call 119 in England, Wales or Northern Ireland, or 0300 303 2713 in Scotland. Matt Hancock (@MattHancock) March 1, 2021 In Scotland, new pop-up blood donation centres are being launched to help a study into why some people become very ill with Covid-19 while others do not. Researchers for the GenOMICC Covid-19 study said they need to recruit more people from all backgrounds across Scotland, and especially from the countrys South Asian and Pakistani communities. Pop-up blood donation centres are now being set up in Glasgow and Edinburgh, with support from Muslim leaders, to make it easier for people to give blood samples to help the research. In Northern Ireland, ministers have asked civil servants to finalise details of Northern Irelands lockdown exit strategy, and it is thought to be likely the plan will be made public on Tuesday. In Wales, First Minister Mark Drakeford has said the the improving public health situation has opened up the possibility of restoring other freedoms at next weeks review of restrictions to go alongside the return to schools for all primary pupils. VERO BEACH, Fla., March 2, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Mannuel Modrono of EasyGrass, LLC in South Florida was recently honored with the Residential Project of the Year award by SYNLawn, the largest manufacturer and unrivaled innovator of artificial grass in North America. Mannuel and his team were recognized for their efforts on a 13,000 square foot residential installation in Vero Beach. "My team and I are honored to be recognized by SYNLawn with the Residential Project of the Year," said Mannuel Modrono. "This was a time-consuming and challenging installation for our team since we had to remove all existing natural turf and replace it with synthetic grass. Due to the unique landscaping of the area, we had to do most of the turf installation by hand. However, despite these challenges, the result of these efforts was a beautiful and realistic installation that the Corr Family will enjoy for years to come." The goal of this residential project was to create a realistic look for the landscaping of the Corr Family's home. In order to do so, Mannuel and his team used SYNAugustine 347 with Envirofill turf to create a beautiful and natural lawn with a realistic look. SYNAugustine 347 has multi-colored grass blades and a dense thatch for a natural look and superior strength and durability. It's considered SYNLawn's softest and most comfortable variety of turf, and its soybean based backing helps to ensure the installation is also environmentally friendly due to the use of sustainable materials. EasyGrass is Florida's largest supplier and certified installer of SYNLawn products. Mannuel and his team serve the region by providing artificial grass solutions for commercial landscaping and residential projects. Photos of the Corr Residence installation are available upon request. For more information about EasyGrass, please visit easygrass.net . ABOUT SYNLawn SYNLawn is the largest manufacturer and unrivaled innovator of artificial grass in North America. As part of the SportGroup Holding family of companies, SYNLawn, along with sister surfacing brands - Astroturf, Rekortan, APT and Laykold - delivers the best products available on the market. SYNLawn's product offerings also include Calico Greens, an upscale line of artificial wall displays. SYNLawn's turnkey network of 100 distributors seamlessly combines environmental stewardship with industry-leading innovations. Manufactured in Dalton, GA, SYNLawn uses bio-based ingredients, such as soy and sugarcane, and consumer-conscious additives such as antimicrobials to meet customers' wide range of needs. With more than 200,000 residential and commercial installations, the company is raising the bar for global synthetic turf standards and transforming the idea of grass. We have a proprietary system that accounts for more than 70 percent renewable content. For more information visit www.SYNLawn.com and follow us on Facebook , Instagram , LinkedIn , Pinterest and YouTube . Media Contact: Mackenzie Smith [email protected] 877.703.3824 x106 SOURCE SYNLawn Lender of Tomet LLC opposes idea of companys owner to write off 69 BLN rubles debt Tomet LLC 12:36 02/03/2021 MOSCOW, March 2 (RAPSI) The owners of Tomet LLC, which is in the process of bankruptcy, have offered creditors to conclude a settlement agreement by writing off 69.2 billion rubles ($933 million at the current exchange rate) of claims against the debtor. Uralchem's representatives explained why accepting these conditions was impossible. The owners of Tomet LLC seem to have deliberately prepared an obviously unacceptable proposal in order to accuse URALCHEM of a contentious position on the issue of bankruptcy of their company. Let me remind you that it was PJSC Togliattiazot that initiated the Tomet LLC bankruptcy procedure. Now, when the bankruptcy commissioner has analyzed the debtor's financial condition and confirmed the impossibility of fulfilling its obligations, it is clear that the only way to fulfill obligations to creditors and continue Tomet's operations is the arrival of a serious investor who will put things in order at the company - Dmitry Tatyanin, the Legal Affairs Director of Uralchem, has commented on the situation. The proposal to write off most of the claims against the debtor from the total debt in the amount of 87.7 billion rubles ($1.2 billion) comes from Triumph Development Limited, which owns Tomet LLC. The terms of the settlement were published on Tomets website at the end of February and, according to the lender, raised a number of questions. First, the draft settlement agreement contains no information about the compensations in favor of Togliattiazot (TOAZ), which are included in the bankruptcy case. At the same time, Uralchem, appointed by the court as a claimant with regard to this claim, intends to ensure that the compensation in favor of TOAZ will make the maximum possible amount of the debt. It is not possible to realize this intention within the framework of the terms of the settlement agreement. Second, the owner of Tomet LLC offers creditors a grace period of seven years and debt forgiveness of about 70 billion rubles ($944 million), without specifying the possible benefits to the recipients of this plan. Third, the write-off of the debt of 69.2 billion rubles will in no way resolve the situation with Tomet's insolvency, because upon completion of this procedure the company will have to pay a tax of 20% - 14 billion rubles ($189 million). However, Tomet's asset balance sheet is only 11 billion rubles ($148 million), which leads to the conclusion that it is impossible for Tomet LLC to fulfill this promise. "Thus, such a transaction obviously cannot lead to the restoration of the debtor's solvency, but will only entail a change in the main creditor, Uralchem representatives believe. Finally, the draft settlement agreement does not offer any way of securing the fulfillment of the debtor's obligations: property pledge, surety, or bank guarantee. This may indicate that the initiator of the deal does not really intend to perform it. Last week, the first meeting of Tomet LLC creditors took place; after the meeting the temporary manager of Tomet LLC Anatoly Selishchev told RAPSI about the most effective mechanisms for fulfilling obligations both to the creditors and to the company's employees. http://www.rapsinews.com/publications/20210226/306803525.html It is to be reminded that Tomet's obligations to Uralchem in the amount of 87.7 billion rubles ($1.2 billion) arose after the Komsomolsk District Court of the city of Togliatti convicted the beneficiaries of PJSC Togliattiazot Vladimir Makhlai and Sergey Makhlai and their foreign partners in a fraud case related to the TOAZ export operations in 2008 through 2011. Out of this amount, more than 77.3 billion rubles (about $1 billion) are to be paid as compensation for the damages suffered by PJSC Togliattiazot and 10.3 billion rubles ($140 million) are due to Uralchem. According to the court's decision, Tomet, owned by offshore company Triumph Development Limited, was found to be one of the defendants. The offshore company is controlled by convicted Swiss businessman Andreas Zivy, who is a partner of the Makhlais. The pilot organisation of urban administration in HCM City and Da Nang and the special mechanisms and policies for Da Nang were discussed at a meeting of standing Government members in Hanoi on March 1. An overview of the meeting (Photo: VNA) Addressing the event, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc said that in principle, the urban administration models in HCM City and Da Nang should meet the demands of each locality and ensure the unity and synchronicity of the State administrative apparatus from the central to local levels. From the pilot application of the new models, the two cities should reform the method of leadership and direction of the Party committees and administrations, while ensuring the concentrated and united management of the municipal Peoples Committee and its head to suit the renovations in the operation of wards and districts towards higher dynamism and efficiency, thus meeting the demands of enterprises and locals, he said. He asked the two cities to speed up the building of e-government and the reform of administrative procedures as well as policies for public servants. The PM asked the administrative agencies at ward and district levels to improve efficiency and focus more on the people, while officials, Party members and public servants should enhance the responsibilities to the Party and people. Over the contents of draft decrees, the Government leader asked the Ministry of Home Affairs to gather opinions, especially on the role of the Chair of the Peoples Committee of wards and districts when there is no Peoples Council as well as the authority and duties of the Chair of the Peoples Committee as the highest leader of State administration in wards and districts. He underlined the need to implement the principle of concentration and democracy in the work as well as the design of mechanism of supervising and discussion on important issues of wards and districts. He highlighted the significant role of the city Peoples Council, the National Assembly delegation, the Vietnam Fatherland Front committees and Party Committees at all levels in the field. He reminded the ministry of adjusting regulations on the organisation of the Peoples Committee at ward and district levels to suit regulations of relevant laws and resolutions of the NA with the collection of feedback from ministries and sectors on including representatives of police and military forces in the Peoples Committee. Da Nang city set to become special urban area The central city of Da Nang is set to be part of the global supply chain network and a gateway on the East-West Economic Corridor by 2030, a meeting in Hanoi on March 1 heard. Discussing adjustments to the citys master planning by 2030 with a vision towards 2045, the meeting was presided over by Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc. By 2030, the city is also expected to become a destination for global lifestyles, a centre of tourism and services, and a maritime economic hub in Vietnam and the region at large. In the long term, it eyes becoming a special urban area and an international city. Its population is predicted to stand at about 1.79 million by 2030 and its urban area is to cover 31,836 ha, or more than 32 percent of the local land area. The municipal Peoples Committee signed a contract with a joint venture between Sakae Corporate Advisory Ltd. and Surbana Jurong (Singapore) on the project adjusting the master planning. During the process of building the project, the municipal Peoples Committee organised three international workshops and collected feedback from local residents, businesses, departments, and agencies. In an assessment, the Ministry of Construction said the project identified the position and role of Da Nang as a core urban area of the Hue-Da Nang-Chu Lai-Ky Ha-Dung Quat (Van Tuong)-Quy Nhon urban area chain, forming the Da Nang urban region, encompassing Chan May (Lang Co), Da Nang, Dien Ban, Hoi An, and Nam Hoi An. In his remarks, PM Phuc lauded Da Nangs coordination with ministries and agencies as well as its response to opinions from local residents and socio-economic organisations in the planning work. Da Nang should develop beyond its current status as a first-tier urban area, he said, becoming a special city. Given that it boasts one of the most beautiful beaches in the region, he urged the city to pay more attention to waste water treatment and climate change issues and suggested it seek new development drivers apart from tourism. Corruption and other misdeeds in planning adjustment and implementation must be prevented, he reminded all in attendance, noting that planning and realisation must be in tandem./.VNA Published on 2021/03/01 | Source Actor An Woo-yeon will return to the small screen after being discharged from the military with tvN's one-act "Drama Stage 2021 - Mint Condition". tvN's "Drama Stage 2021 - Mint Condition" is the first work of the one-act play program "Drama Stage 2021", which consists of 10 works elected at CJ ENM's 'O'PEN' Contest for New Storyteller Support Project. Director Jeong Hyeong-geon, who directed the series "Let's Eat - Season 3" and "Drinking Alone" is drawing attention as he directed a comic but warm-hearted generation harmony comic close fantasy drama about old man in his 20s living with young hip-hoppers. In the drama, An Woo-yeon plays Lee Hyeon-cheol, an 'unlucky old man' who hates the younger generation but becomes a young man unexpectedly. An Woo-yeon, who returns to the small screen with "Drama Stage 2021 - Mint Condition" after being discharged from the military in November last year, will portray Hyeon-cheol's many twists and turns with a brilliant comic passion, showing his unwavering acting skills and giving a pleasant laugh. "Drama Stage 2021 - Mint Condition" will air at 12:10PM on March 3rd. Thank you for reading! Please log in, or sign up for a new account and purchase a subscription to continue reading. Hospitals support an extension of a statewide face mask order, at least until more people become vaccinated against COVID-19, the head of the Alabama Hospital Association said Monday. Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey is expected to announce this week whether she will extend the face covering mandate and other health orders that are set to expire Friday. The mandate has been in place since July and has been extended several times. A spokeswoman for the governor expressed optimism about state virus numbers and said the governor will provide an update soon. All along, Governor Ivey has made clear that she prefers personal responsibility to government mandates. We are optimistic that our state is heading in the right direction, and we still have some work to be done, Ivey spokeswoman Gina Maiola said Monday. Alabama, like much of the nation, has seen a significant drop in daily COVID-19 cases, but medical officials cautioned that the virus has not gone away, and uncertainty remains about the impact of emerging variants and upcoming events like spring break gatherings. It just seems to me until we get more people vaccinated, the most prudent thing to do is to stay the course and continue to try to drive these numbers down, especially because we are still worried about the U.K. variant and the South African variant, said Dr. Don Williamson, the former state health officer who now heads the Alabama Hospital Association. The number of COVID-19 patients in Alabama hospitals has dropped from 3,081 on Jan. 5 to 651 this week. The seven-day rolling average of daily new cases in Alabama has dropped from about 4,280 on Jan. 10 to under 915 on Sunday, according to The COVID Tracking Project. All of the numbers are going in the right direction, Williamson said. As of Monday, nearly 618,000 people in the state of 4.7 million people had at least one dose of the vaccine about 13% of the total population. Over the upcoming months, the St Paul publishing house will move its service, archive, and editorial departments from Gasperich into a new headquarters in Howald. The new building next to Cloche d'Or is practically finished and is about to change owners: Lafayette SA, which mainly manages the assets of Luxembourg's diocese, is selling the office building to a Swedish-Swiss investment fund, which is owned in part by the private bank Sarasin. According to a statement published by Lafayette, the building has a surface area of 14,000 square metres, which will house St Paul's editorial and service departments, as well as an additional 1,500 square metres which can be rented out. Layfette is very active in the construction of office and housing space and its current projects accumulate to a total surface area of 30,000 square metres. In 2020, the St Paul publishing house, whose publications include the magazine Telecran and the newspaper Luxemburger Wort, was purchased by the Belgian publishing house Mediahuis. Following the takeover, 71 of over 300 employees lost their jobs. The Luxembourg Confederation of Christian Trade Unions (LCGB) accused Mediahuis of not respecting the collective agreement. WASHINGTON and CAMBRIDGE, Mass., March 1, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Children's National Hospital and Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited (TSE:4502/NYSE:TAK) ("Takeda") today announced the creation of the Rare Disease Clinical Activity Protocols (Rare-CAP) program, which will establish a networked system for the development, dissemination and curation of protocols to help standardize the process of diagnosis and care for patients with rare diseases. Rare-CAP will be led by the Rare Disease Institute at the new Children's National Research & Innovation Campus that opened in February 2021 on the grounds of the former Walter Reed Army Medical Center. A $3.85 million commitment over five years from Takeda will help launch and sustain the program. Rare-CAP will leverage several novel features to serve as a protocol platform that reduces barriers for researchers, clinicians and patients in determining appropriate diagnosis and clinical care for rare disease patients. This includes ongoing input from patients and families and an open "wiki" format for near real-time updates from vetted contributors to enable access to the latest, real world data. Rare diseases impact hundreds of millions of families around the world1. Currently, no overarching model exists for uniform standards of care and diagnosis. It can take years for patients to receive a correct diagnosis for rare diseases. Even then, care protocols are often hard to find, amplifying the pain and anguish that families already face in their challenging medical journeys. "Just as Wikipedia revolutionized how we think of the encyclopedia, the Takeda commitment will help harness technology to revolutionize access to care standards for rare disease," said Marshall Summar, M.D., founding director of the Children's National Rare Disease Institute and chief of the Division of Genetics and Metabolism at the hospital. "We are extremely grateful for Takeda and their support of our work to unify rare disease research and real-world clinical experience in a way that's never been done before." "With a rare disease typically affecting fewer than 1 in 200,000 people2, there are unfortunately few standardized care protocols in place once a diagnosis is confirmed," says Tom Koutsavlis, M.D., Takeda head of U.S. Medical Affairs. "We're pleased to be part of this important effort with Children's National to help patients get faster access to the optimized treatment for their particular rare disease diagnosis, which is critical in helping them achieve better health. In addition, this partnership underscores our commitment to driving continuous innovation and personalized care for patients with rare diseases." The Children's National Rare Disease Institute is a first-of-its-kind center focused exclusively on advancing the care and treatment of children and adults with rare genetic diseases. It is the first NORD Designated Clinical Center of Excellence and provides a medical home for patients and families seeking the most advanced care and expertise for rare genetic conditions that remain largely unknown to the general medical community. Takeda's commitment represents one of the institute's founding partnerships. Takeda aspires to transform the treatment of rare diseases in immunology, gastroenterology, neurology, oncology, hematology, metabolic and lysosomal storage disorders. These rare diseases can have symptoms that vary widely and progress very differently from person to person, which means that people affected by these diseases are frequently misdiagnosed. About Children's National Hospital Children's National Hospital, based in Washington, D.C., celebrates 150 years of pediatric care, research and commitment to community. Volunteers opened the hospital in 1870 with 12 beds for children displaced after the Civil War. Today, 150 years stronger, it is among the nation's top 10 children's hospitals. It is ranked No.1 for newborn care for the fourth straight year and ranked in all specialties evaluated by U.S. News & World Report. Children's National is transforming pediatric medicine for all children. In 2021, the Children's National Research & Innovation Campus will open, the first in the nation dedicated to pediatric research. Children's National has been designated three times in a row as a Magnet hospital, demonstrating the highest standards of nursing and patient care delivery. This pediatric academic health system offers expert care through a convenient, community-based primary care network and specialty care locations in the D.C. metropolitan area, including the Maryland and Northern Virginia suburbs. Children's National is home to the Children's National Research Institute and Sheikh Zayed Institute for Pediatric Surgical Innovation and is the nation's seventh-highest NIH-funded children's hospital. It is recognized for its expertise and innovation in pediatric care and as a strong voice for children through advocacy at the local, regional and national levels. For more information, follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn. About Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited (TSE:4502/NYSE:TAK) is a global, values-based, R&D-driven biopharmaceutical leader headquartered in Japan, committed to discover and deliver life-transforming treatments, guided by our commitment to patients, our people and the planet. Takeda focuses its R&D efforts on four therapeutic areas: Oncology, Rare Genetic and Hematology, Neuroscience, and Gastroenterology (GI). We also make targeted R&D investments in Plasma-Derived Therapies and Vaccines. We are focusing on developing highly innovative medicines that contribute to making a difference in people's lives by advancing the frontier of new treatment options and leveraging our enhanced collaborative R&D engine and capabilities to create a robust, modality-diverse pipeline. Our employees are committed to improving quality of life for patients and to working with our partners in healthcare in approximately 80 countries. For more information, visit https://www.takeda.com. 1 World Health Organization, Priority diseases and reasons for inclusion, 6.19; https://www.who.int/medicines/areas/priority_medicines/Ch6_19Rare.pdf accessed 2/17/21 2 National Institutes of Health, Genetic and Rare Diseases Information Center: rarediseases.info.nih.bov/diseases, accessed 2/17/2021 SOURCE Children's National Hospital Related Links https://childrensnational.org Essex Property Trust to Present at The 2021 Citigroup Global Property CEO Conference Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) announced today that Michael J. Schall, President and CEO, will be participating in a roundtable presentation at the 2021 Citigroup Global Property CEO Conference held virtually on Monday, March 8, 2021, at 2:00 p.m. Eastern Time. To listen to the panel, please visit the webcast link on the Investors section of the Company's website at www.essex.com. An archive of the webcast will be available for thirty days following the event. A copy of any materials provided by the Company at the conference can be obtained through the Investors section of the Company's website. About Essex Property Trust, Inc. Essex Property Trust, Inc. ("Essex"), an S&P 500 company, is a fully integrated real estate investment trust ("REIT") that acquires, develops, redevelops, and manages multifamily residential properties in selected West Coast markets. Essex currently has ownership interests in 246 apartment communities comprising approximately 60,000 apartment homes with an additional 6 properties in various stages of active development. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210302006009/en/ In partnership with the Container Control Programme (CCP) operated jointly by the World Customs Organization (WCO) and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), the WCO COPES Programme1 organized a training course which was delivered online from 22 to 26 February 2021 in Tunisia. The workshop began with an address by Ms. Imen Bahlous, Director of the Office for International Cooperation (BCI), who expressed her appreciation to the CCP and COPES Programme for their efforts in bringing the workshop to fruition. The training course brought together 11 Customs commanders and lieutenants from the respective Port Control Units (PCUs) at Rades, Sfax and Sousse as well as from the Office for International Cooperation (BCI) in Tunisia's General Directorate of Customs. In its fight against the transportation of illicit goods in sea or air containers, the CCP is setting up PCUs and Air Cargo Control Units at the key seaports and airports of recipient countries. Personnel working in these units are therefore benefiting from training courses provided for the purpose of improving their capacity in relation to targeting, risk management, establishing Customs infringements and gathering evidence. They are thus able to expedite effective controls while minimizing disruption to the flow of legitimate trade. This course was organized with these considerations in mind. After the COPES Programme and its team had been presented and the course participants introduced, the agenda for the week was structured around the full spectrum of Customs enforcement activities, from the establishment of a violation, via the methods for gathering evidence and conducting seizures, all the way to the securing of a conviction. For further information about the COPES Programme, please send your request to: COPES@wcoomd.org. For more information on the CCP, please contact Norbert Steilen at: Norbert.Steilen@wcoomd.org. 1 Customs Operational Practices for Enforcement and Seizures. Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-03 05:41:45|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close BUCHAREST, March 2 (Xinhua) -- The Republic of Moldova kicked off its COVID-19 vaccination campaign on Tuesday, with first-line medical staff being administered first. As many as 751 medical employees were immunized on the first day of the vaccination campaign, according to the Ministry of Health, Labour and Social Protection. President Maia Sandu welcomed the start of vaccination in Moldova, stressing that "this is an important day for all of us." "The vaccine is the only way to stop the spread of disease, death, to gradually remove restrictions...every effort is being made to ensure that citizens have access to the vaccine as soon as possible," she wrote on her social media account. The cumulative number of confirmed COVID-19 cases reached 187,847 in the nation of some 3.5 million people, up 1,400 from the previous day, according to the latest data from the health ministry. With 27 more fatalities associated with the virus, the toll now stood at 4,002. According to the official plan, vaccination will take place in three stages in Moldova. Doctors from intensive care and COVID-19 departments will be the first to receive the vaccine, followed by all employees in the medical system. At the second stage, a total of about 733,000 people, including those over 60 years old, people with chronic diseases, teachers, law enforcement officers, penitentiary institution staff and the military, will benefit from the vaccine. The rest of the population will be vaccinated at the final stage. The first 21,600 doses of AstraZeneca vaccine, donated by Romania, reached Moldova on Saturday and the first batch of coronavirus vaccine under the COVAX platform is expected to arrive in the country by the end of the week. As the world is struggling to contain the pandemic, vaccination is underway in an increasing number of countries with the already-authorized coronavirus vaccines. Meanwhile, 258 candidate vaccines are still being developed worldwide -- 76 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 Tuesday. Enditem In November, Key West voters changed how the island will deal with the cruise ship industry. They capped the number of passengers that can disembark each day to 1,500, limited mooring to ships with a capacity of 1,300, and gave docking priorities to cruise lines with the best health and environmental records. But state lawmakers this year could cancel out those election results. The 2021 legislative session starts Tuesday, and the cruise ship issue is in the Capitol. Filed by state Sen. Jim Boyd, R-Bradenton, a so-called preemption bill would retroactively bar local governments from regulating seaport business, including restricting a vessels type or size. A companion bill was filed in the House by Rep. Spencer Roach, R-North Fort Myers, and Rep. Tyler I. Sirois, R-Merritt Island. Opponents to the bills, including the Key West City Commission, say the legislation goes against home rule, and cancels what local voters already decided at the polls. The City Commission last month unanimously passed a resolution urging the Legislature to support home rule, saying the bills would deny the will of local voters at the expense of the environment. The Florida Legislatures efforts to limit home rule conflicts with the rights and ability of local government and local voters to protect and improve their own community and the environment, the resolution states. But the Senate bill says allowing local governments to impose their own requirements on maritime commerce would be bad for business, and potentially drive it out of the port and out of the state in search of a more consistent and predictable operating environment, thus disrupting Floridas economy and threatening the publics health, safety, and welfare. For now, the issue is moot. No passenger cruises have departed from U.S. ports since March 2020 due to pandemic restrictions by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But cruise ships are a divisive issue in Key West, whether theyre sailing or not. Story continues Before the COVID-19 pandemic, Key West took in about a million cruise ship passengers each year. Local critics say the cruise passengers spent far less than overnight visitors and, with COVID-19, now bring the risk of a disease outbreak on an island with limited healthcare options. There are 167 hospital beds, including 10 ICU beds, in Key West. The distaste for cruise passengers eventually found its way to the ballot. The Key West Committee for Safer, Cleaner Ships emerged last year, gathering enough signatures to place three referendums before city voters in an effort to reduce cruise ship traffic. Although cruise ships bring 50 percent of all tourists to Key West, they bring only 6 percent of tourist spending, said Arlo Haskell, a committee organizer, at a Feb. 16 Senate Committee on Transportation hearing. Big ships dont bring big money to Key West but they do bring big problems. The campaign leading up to the Nov. 3 vote included disinformation-filled mailers paid for by cruise companies through a dark money scheme. But they didnt work. The limits on cruise ship visitors passed by 63%, and the ban on larger ships passed by 61%. A third referendum giving docking priorities to cruise ships with the best environmental and health records passed by about 81%. The referendums drew legal challenges in federal and state court, but they survived. After the election, though, the city was left facing a lawsuit in state court by Pier B Development, which is owned by Mark Walsh and is the only privately owned cruise pier in Key West, which has three. Its also the only private cruise pier in Florida. But Pier B dropped its case in late January. Safer, Cleaner Ships said the voluntary dismissal showed the weakness of the claim, but Pier B attorney Barton Smith said the case was dropped only because it sought to prevent the referendum vote from appearing on the ballot. That case is moot by the vote occurring, Smith said. My client certainly will look at options to potential claims it may have. Some say the new cruise ship limits in Key West go too far. The referendums were hardly a compromise when it comes to reducing the number of cruise ships that come to the island, said John Wells, the founder of Caribe Nautical, an agency that arranges ports of call from each ship that stops in Key West. In 2022, Key West already has 287 firm reservations for cruise ships of all sizes, Wells told the Senate Committee on Transportation on Feb. 16. Of those 287, only 18 will meet the size criteria, Wells said. Thats only 6 percent. Hundreds of thousands of passengers that want to come to Key West cannot come, and that affects all businesses that rely on cruise tourism. In an interview, Wells said the election didnt reflect the views of everyone in the Keys. All the people affected throughout the Lower Keys and Monroe County were not given the chance to vote, Wells said. The process was very flawed. The election was flawed. The Florida Harbor Pilots Association, which represents about 100 harbor pilots who man the states seaports, supports the proposed legislation. A patchwork of new local government regulations would make port operations unpredictable, drive away commerce, threaten port investments, disrupt Floridas economy, and result in job loss, Sarah Bascom, a spokeswoman for the association, said in a statement. However, the Florida Ports Council, the port industrys main lobbying group, is not on board with the bills. As currently written were concerned about what it does to existing operations at all of our Florida seaports, said Michael Rubin, vice president of government affairs for the council. We think its too broad and frankly unnecessary. Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo and Mayor Sylvester Turner slammed Gov. Greg Abbott Tuesday for allowing all businesses in Texas to fully reopen next week and lifting his statewide mask mandate, suggesting the governor timed the move to distract angry Texans from the widespread power outages during the recent winter storm. At best, todays decision is wishful thinking, Hidalgo said. At worst, it is a cynical attempt to distract Texans from the failures of state oversight of our power grid. Turner said Abbotts decision to rescind the COVID measures marked the third time the governor has stepped in when things were going in the right direction, a reference to the surges in cases, hospitalizations and deaths that ensued after Abbott implemented reopening guidelines last year. It makes no sense, Turner said. Unless the governor is trying to deflect from what happened a little less than two weeks ago with the winter storm." Abbott announced the rollback Tuesday afternoon at a chamber of commerce luncheon in Lubbock. Under the governors Hidalgo and other county judges will be able to implement some restrictions if COVID patients make up more than 15 percent of hospital capacity in their hospital region for seven straight days, though the local measures cannot force businesses to close more than 50 percent capacity. In Houstons hospital region, COVID patients made up 12.1 percent of hospitalized patients Tuesday. Before Abbotts announcement, Hidalgo and Turner sent the governor a letter urging him not to lift his statewide mask mandate. Supported by our public health professionals, we believe it would be premature and harmful to do anything to lose widespread adoption of this preventative measure, Hidalgo and Turner wrote, arguing the mandate has allowed small businesses to remain open by keeping cases down. The disparity between Hidalgo and Turners concerns that Abbott would simply lift the mask order but keep other restrictions intact and his decision to fully reopen the state puts on full display the diverging messages Houstonians are receiving from their local Democratic leaders and the Republicans who run the state. While Hidalgo is telling residents to stay home and buckle down, Abbott is giving the green light for a return to normal life, albeit one where Texans govern themselves using personal responsibility, he said Tuesday. Harris County remains at its highest COVID-19 threat level, which urges residents to work from home and avoid any unnecessary contact with others. Hidalgo lacks the power to issue enforceable rules, however, and many residents have ignored her pleas for months now. Hidalgo sharply criticized Abbotts decision, warning it would cause hospitalizations to rise as when the governor rescinded previous COVID measures. With the arrival of COVID-19 vaccines, were inching closer to the finish line of this pandemic now is not the time to reverse the gains weve worked so hard to achieve, Hidalgo said. In their letter to Abbott Tuesday, Hidalgo and Turner said it would not be enough for Abbott to urge people to continue wearing masks voluntarily, as he did in announcing the lifted restrictions. Removing (the mask order), even with associated messaging that urges voluntary compliance, sends wrong and confusing signals that masking is not important, not effective or that the virus is under control, Hidalgo and Turner wrote to the governor. jasper.scherer@chron.com zach.despart@chron.com In announcing the role of the F.S.B., or Federal Security Service, in the poisoning, American intelligence officials were confirming the reports of many news organizations, some of which traced the individual agents who tracked Mr. Navalny and attacked him with Novichok, a nerve agent that Russia has used against other dissidents. It was unclear if the United States planned to release a formal report, as it did last week when it confirmed two-year-old findings on the role of the Saudi crown prince in the killing of the journalist Jamal Khashoggi, or would simply summarize the key finding in the Navalny case. The sanctions are notable chiefly because they are the first Mr. Biden has taken in the six weeks since he became president. While most presidents have come into office declaring they would seek a reset of relations with Russia, Mr. Biden has done the opposite. He has warned that Mr. Putin is driving his country into an era of authoritarianism and promised to push back on human rights violations and efforts to destabilize Europe. One official told reporters on Tuesday morning that the Biden administration was not seeking to reset relations or escalate confrontations. The test may come in the next few weeks, when the administration is expected to announce its response to the SolarWinds cyberattack, in which suspected Russian hackers bore deeply into nine government agencies and more than 100 companies, stealing data and planting back doors into their computer networks. While the Navalny case was a vivid example of Russian brutality his F.S.B. attackers stalked him as he traveled across Europe and apparently applied the nerve agent to his underwear the Biden administration sees SolarWinds as a more direct attack on the United States. Jake Sullivan, the national security adviser, said the response will not simply be sanctions and hinted at some kind of covert response as well. Sosse Bedrossian, director of nursing services for the Los Angeles Unified School District, administers the COVID-19 vaccine to Supt. Austin Beutner on Monday, the first day that all school staff in the county became eligible. Beutner was among 1,000 district employees to receive shots in the parking lot of SoFi Stadium in Inglewood. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times) A huge boost in the number of vaccines targeted exclusively for the Los Angeles Unified School District could lead to in-person classes in the current academic year, but the district won't bring students back to campus for at least six weeks a return that also depends on the continued decline of coronavirus infection rates. The lack of a firm return date is tied to demands by the teachers union. Teachers and counselors will not return to school until all have been offered vaccines and have achieved maximum immunity, union leader Cecily Myart-Cruz said Monday. Her union, United Teachers Los Angeles, also has set standards for lowered coronavirus infection rates that have yet to be achieved. The union stance comes as the vaccine supply for LAUSD school staff greatly improved Monday, the first day of vaccine eligibility in L.A. County for the education sector. First, the county upped its allotment to the nation's second-largest school system to 8,800 this week and 8,800 next week, said L.A. schools Supt. Austin Beutner. Second and the clincher is that the district will receive its own allotment of 25,000 vaccinations from the state, a figure confirmed both by Beutner and an official with the administration of Gov. Gavin Newsom. Beutner called the promise of 25,000 immunizations a "game changer" that would allow for a faster reopening of elementary campuses and services for students with high needs. "Governor Newsom has made vaccinations for school staff a priority from the beginning and is ensuring thats the reality on the ground in the communities we serve," Beutner said in his weekly broadcast on Monday. A cautionary note was sounded by county education office Supt. Debra Duardo, who helps oversee the distribution of vaccines among all the county's 80 public school systems. Last week, her office had unveiled a formula that attempted to apportion the limited vaccine supply by taking into consideration enrollment, poverty, the prevalence of COVID-19 and the number of school employees already at work on campuses. Story continues The new, special allocation to L.A. Unified where 80% of students come from low-income families somewhat undermined that approach. It is encouraging that more educators have access to vaccines," Duardo said. "But I am advocating that available vaccines be allocated fairly and equitably among all of Los Angeles Countys 80 districts. All school systems got some vaccines this week but they'll need more. The Palmdale Elementary School District, where 90% of students come from low-income families, received 450 vaccines, said Supt. Raul Maldonado. The district has 3,100 employees and also will have to share 17% of its vaccines with two charter schools. Montebello Unified, with an 84% student poverty rate, received about 320 doses to begin the work of vaccinating some 3,200 employees directly serving students, said Supt. Anthony Martinez. In sheer numbers, L.A. Unified has more economically struggling families than any other school system in California and more areas devastated by the pandemic, which is why the state is providing special help to the district, according to the Newsom administration. Beutner has said 25,000 doses are needed to vaccinate staff at all district elementary schools serving about 250,000 students. That figure would inoculate school staff such as teachers, administrators, plant managers and food service workers and necessary off-campus support staff, such as bus drivers. With those doses imminent, the district on Monday suggested mid-April as the time frame for a return. Under state guidelines, district elementary campuses are eligible to reopen now an ongoing frustration for thousands of parents who want the option to send their children back. In opposing a faster return, L.A. teachers union president Myart-Cruz said the union was fighting for other parents Black and Latino parents from the communities most damaged by the pandemic. "Some voices are being allowed to speak louder than others," Myart-Cruz said. "We have to call out the privilege behind the largely white, wealthy parents driving the push for a rushed return." On the logistics front, the district took a high-profile step Monday, opening a mega-vaccine site for its staff in a parking lot outside of SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, which is outside the boundaries of L.A. Unified. The district also has three sites within its boundaries. Among them all, the district could handle up to 13,000 doses a day if the doses were available. Non-district vaccination sites across the county also have plenty of underused capacity as doses remain in short supply. Esther Hatch, a supervision aide at one school and a parent representative for another, was among the 1,000 school workers vaccinated Monday. "I was blessed to wake up this morning and grateful to be in line," she said. "And I just felt emotional and, you know, overwhelmed with joy when the needle went into my arm." Her son, a 10th-grader at San Pedro High School, is managing well academically in online classes, but feeling isolated and sometimes depressed. "He wants to be in class not just with his friends but also interacting with his teachers." Hatch said. L.A. Unified has no time frame for reopening middle and high schools and secondary campuses are not yet eligible to reopen at current infection levels. School board member Nick Melvoin said more families should have the option to return to campus available much sooner, but that the "political reality" is that students will have to wait as labor negotiations continue. Union leaders oppose a return to campus until infection rates in L.A. County drop to a seven-day average of seven daily infections or fewer per 100,000 residents. That would allow the county to exit the state's purple tier, which signifies the worst level of community spread of the coronavirus infection. Negotiations are scheduled for this week as is a membership vote seeking an endorsement of the union's negotiating position. Adding urgency to the talks is a tentative deal between Newsom and the state Legislature that would provide additional funding for school districts that reopen quickly. Myart-Cruz criticized the incentives as out-of-touch with the situation in L.A. Unified. "That money will only go to white and wealthier schools, she said. "This is a recipe for propagating structural racism and it is deeply unfair to the students we serve. She added: "The plan does not supersede our legal right to bargain and our continued determination to do so. Other smaller districts also face reopening challenges. El Rancho Unified Supt. Frances Esparza offers no apologies for the delay in her district, which serves Pico Rivera in southeast L.A. County, an area hit hard by the pandemic. "I have had staff pass, parents and grandparents pass, all in the same week one student lost her mother and grandmother within three days," Esparza said. "This is our reality and the fact that there is a push to return to in-person instruction without the vaccines is ridiculous." Her district received doses for 230 employees this week. About 1,000 more will have to wait a little longer. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times. BELGRADE - In Serbia, where the epidemiological situation has worsened considerably, virologists and specialists are calling for more drastic measures and general closures to fight the further spreading of coronavirus infections. Predrag Kon, the country's most well-known epidemiologist and a member of the crisis unit in the fight against Covid-19, said Tuesday that the medical component of the crisis unit has proposed newly enacting the state of emergency and a general closure of various businesses with the exception of pharmacies, supermarkets, food shops and petrol stations. In statements on Tuesday morning to public broadcaster RTS, Kon said such a drastic decision is the only way to stop the spread of infections. A state of emergency and curfew were in effect in Serbia one year ago at the start of the pandemic. In that regard, the specialist criticised the authorities' decision to close coffee bars, restaurants and shopping centres at 2 pm only for last weekend. In his opinion that measure was completely inadequate, given that as of Monday everything went back to before with closures at 8 pm for bars and restaurants and 9 pm for shops. Kon said drastic measures are needed so the public realises the danger of the situation, which is threatening the stability of the healthcare system. Some are also calling for the return of the curfew. After a period of progressive decline and relative calm, infections in Serbia began rising again, and the toll on Monday was nearly 3,500 cases of coronavirus and 16 deaths. Thus far there have been a total of more than 460,000 infections and nearly 4,500 deaths. Various criticisms have been made against the gathering of thousands of people at the two country's two ski areas (Kopaonik e Zlatibor), which have been operating at full capacity since the start of the winter season. In addition, gatherings and parties in private homes and public places have increased across the country, despite expanded police controls. The gatherings are taking place without any prevention measures, no face masks and no social distancing, as if the pandemic has disappeared. Political authorities have thus far been very reluctant to close businesses for fear of damaging the economy, the successes of which the political class never tires of praising. Meanwhile doctors, scientists and specialists are sounding the alarm over a continually worsening epidemiological situation that could cause the healthcare system to collapse and nullify the good results the Balkan country has thus far obtained in terms of vaccinations. I can never thank - the experienced attorneys at Pollack, Pollack, Isaac & DeCicco - enough! I am grateful for their precious help and for making this miracle happen! Past News Releases RSS On the morning of February 9th, 2021, a Long Island family was reunited after the father of three small children was released from the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) custody. He had spent more than eight months in federal detention centers in Louisiana and New Jersey, and was on the verge of deportation when a federal judge issued a temporary stay of removal in his long-pending immigration case. Mr. Singh, 47, an immigrant from India, has resided in the United States since 1993 and is married to a U.S. citizen since 2014. The couple has 3 small children, all born in the United States, including the 8-year-old seriously disabled Ashmeet. In 1999, Mr. Singh was ordered to voluntarily depart the U.S. following the denial of his application for political asylum by an Immigration Judge. Subsequently, immigration officials allowed him to remain in the country while under an order of supervision which required him to periodically check-in with Immigration authorities. In the interim period, Mr. Singh remained gainfully employed, paying his taxes, supporting his family, and obeying all laws of the United States. He married his current wife and mother of his children in 2014 and was processing his application to become a lawful permanent resident when ICE arrested and detained him in early summer 2020 under the Trump Administration's zero tolerance immigration policy. The law firm Pollack, Pollack, Isaac & DeCicco was retained to represent Mr. Singh soon after his incarceration to forestall his imminent removal from the U.S., and to gain his release from detention. Despite the extreme complexity of Mr. Singhs case, and following numerous legal setbacks, Pollack, Pollack, Isaac & DeCicco, LLP persevered and ultimately was successful in convincing ICE to exercise favorable discretion in his case, and he was freed from immigration custody. He was finally able to return to his home in Long Island, celebrating a joyous reunion with his family. Mr. Singhs quest to obtain his lawful permanent residence in the U.S. is coming to fruition as his visa petition was recently approved. The well-known law firm Pollack, Pollack, Isaac & DeCicco, LLP has over 35 years of experience in handling immigration, personal injury, real estate law, civil litigation, and other practice areas. The experienced attorneys at Pollack, Pollack, Isaac & DeCicco, LLP, provide personal attention for their clients and that is what saved Mr. Singh from being deported and estranged from his family. If you need assistance with your case and/or have any law-related questions, call the firms toll-free at 800-223-2814 or email news@ppid.com. (Case 40117K - Court of Record: Western District of Louisiana) China recently unveiled a new list of wild animals under state priority conservation, according to a joint announcement by the countrys National Forestry and Grassland Administration (NFGA) and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs. The scope of protected wildlife is largely expanded in the new list. All animals that existed in the old version are kept in the new list, and 517 species and classes are newly added. The number is even more than the original in the former list. Sixty-five wild animals, including jackals and narrow-ridged finless porpoises, are upgraded from the second level of national protection to first, while Assam macaques, Alpine ibexes and pythons, which were under first-level protection in the old list, are now under second level of national protection. A total of 988 species and classes of wildlife are in the new list, including 234 species and 1 class under first-level national protection, as well as 746 species and 7 classes with second-level status. Professor Zhang Wei from the College of Wildlife Resources and Protected Area, Northeast Forestry University of China, explained why China added so many species into the new list. On one hand, he said, China has gained a greater capacity of species protection by constantly enhancing its efforts to safeguard biodiversity, so it is able to incorporate more species under its protection list. In recent years, the country has accelerated the building of a nature reserve system with national parks as its main body, protecting a total of 11,800 natural reserves that cover 18 percent of the country's land territory, which puts under protection 90 percent of vegetation types and terrestrial ecosystem, as well as 85 percent of animal species under priority conservation. Besides, the country also stepped up efforts to strengthen protection for endangered wildlife, breeding stable populations for over 300 endangered species by artificial technologies. On the other hand, as taxonomy develops, changes happened to the classification system of animals, Zhang explained. These changes were taken into consideration when the new list was compiled, so the scope of animals under protection has been expanded. Animals listed under priority conservation will be better protected. The upgraded protection over species leads to increased investment, which is of vital significance for the recovery of animal population and habitats. "The new version also listed the valuable and endangered species that were newly discovered or with new geographical distributions in China," said Shi Kun, head of the Wildlife Institute and professor with the School of Ecology and Nature Conservation at Beijing Forestry University. For example, white-cheeked macaques, sloth bears and red serows, which exist in small population or marginal distribution in southwest China, have important ecological functions, and need to be put under key protection, he said. "Besides, Assam macaques, Alpine ibexes and pythons are degraded as they have stable population and are widely distributed. It's a decision made upon scientific assessment and indicates the achievements of animal protection," Shi added. The major adjustment made to the protection list has no doubt raised higher requirements for the protection of wildlife. An NFGA official noted that the country will further enhance protection efforts, urge local governments to fulfill their responsibilities, ensure the safety of habitats of valuable and endangered species, and strengthen law enforcement and monitoring to crack down upon illegal practices. In addition, the country will also launch more publicity activities to raise the public awareness for animal protection and guide the public to oppose illegal acts, so as to nurture a sound atmosphere of wildlife protection. Bidens Presidency Seems Ready to End Commentary Were now six weeks or so into the sham presidency of Joseph Robinette Biden, Jr., and already the end of the Biden era seems near. A bumbling shell of a man, constantly attended by his wife, Jill, and with the lengthening shadow of his vice president, Kamala Harris, looming in the background, Biden seems incapable of doing anything except signing the slew of executive orders his handlers shove under his nose until at last, exhausted, his team calls a lid on his workday and packs him back off upstairs at the White House for a nice lie-down before noontime. It would be funny if it werent so tragicor perhaps it would be tragic if it werent so funny. No one has ever mistaken Biden for an intellectual; indeed he has long acted like the bully at the end of an Irish bar, full of bluster and braggadocio, without being able in the slightest to back up his boasts. Harris in the Wings The good news is, hes not likely to be there very long. The bad news is who might replace him: In Harristhe daughter of two foreign-born parents who was raised by them in Canada, and who garnered no support from the Democrat primary electorate during her short, disastrous campaign for the top spot on the 2020 ticketwe have one of the most dangerous prospective presidents ever. As I wrote in April 2018: Imagine a combination of Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, and youve got Kamala Harris, the current seat-warming senator from California who, like Obama, is using the Worlds Greatest Deliberative Body as a resume-puncher before swiftly moving on to bigger things: the 2020 Democrat presidential nomination. She combines Obamas race with Hillarys sex, and as identity politics goes these days, thats going to be tough to beat. The other bruited candidatesBernie Sanders, Joe Bidenare superannuated white men who wont stand a chance once the usual suspects on the Left begin massing, chanting, and rioting. Well, as predicted, we got the massing, chanting, and rioting, but Harris couldnt keep up her end of the bargain. So once it became clear she wasnt going to get to the Oval Office under her own steam, the Democrat/Obama brain trust one year ago persuaded other competing candidates (Pete Buttigieg, Amy Klobuchar) to drop out just before Super Tuesday to clear the way for Biden, with the proviso that Harris be his choice for veep. Et voila And yet already the knives are out for the hapless figurehead, who mangled his way through a short speech in Texas the other day, fracturing some names and mush-mouthing others. What am I doing here? he exclaimed in frustration. Im going to lose track here. Good questionand Bidens not alone in wondering. A month before the election last year, Nancy Pelosi mysteriously brought up the subject of the 25th amendment, which allows for the replacement of an incapable president by means of a Cabinet-level coup or via a commission of doctors, shrinks, and has-been politicians. Lest you think the House speaker was thinking of Trump, think again. This is not about President Trump, she said flatly. And just last week, a group of Democrats, led by two House members, called for Biden to be stripped of his sole authority to launch a nuclear strike, calling for the vice president and the House speaker to concur in any such decision. (Do they know something we, officially, dont?) The fact that Harris is the vice president and Pelosi is the speaker is entirely coincidental. Expect similar motions to diminish Bidens waning authority to increase as his mental capacity decreases. Trumps Return Meanwhile, at the Conservative Political Action Conference on Feb. 28, Donald Trump returned to the political scene with a fiery speech asserting his control over the Republican Partyimmediately characterized by CNN as a new threat to American democracyand hinting that he might run again in 2024. He called for voting reform and even dangled his own list of proscriptions a la ancient Rome, anathematizing Rep. Liz Cheney and Sens. Mitch McConnell, Mitt Romney, and Ben Sasse, among others. Get rid of them all, he said. The comparison to Romeas it has been throughout the Trump presidencyis apt. During the campaign, Trump crossed his own Rubicon, engaged in battle with enemies and erstwhile allies both, and met at least his temporary political demise on the floor of the Senate when the votes were certified and accepted on Jan. 6 and the crowd marched on the Capitol. Yet even after his term ended, echoes of antiquity remain. After the Emperor Neros death by suicide in 68 A.D., Rome witnessed the Year of the Four Emperors, a period of turmoil and civil war that was finally ended by Vespasian in 69, after Galba, Otho, Vitellius each had fallen in turn. Only then did the political situation stabilize for a few years with the establishment of the Flavian Dynasty. Here in the United States, were on the verge of The Year of the Three Presidents. After all, 2021 began with Trump in the White House, followed by Biden on Jan. 20, with Harris now the odds-on favorite to supplant Sundown Joe once his deterioration becomes impossible even for the lickspittle robinettes in the media to ignore. Imagine, no more hard-hitting stories about Bidens favorite ice cream, or how he beat his granddaughter in a video game at Camp David: President Biden has joined the scores of people who turned to Mario Kart to stay entertained during the pandemicat least for one game with his granddaughter. Naomi Biden posted on Snapchat this weekend that she and her grandfather played an arcade-style game round of Mario Kart at Camp David over the weekendand that he won. Momentous news, indeed. Still, it could be worse, and probably will be as Biden fades and the Democrats ponder when to strike. But it wont take much more for the Democrats to depose himand get their first choice for president behind the Resolute Desk. And then were really in trouble. Michael Walsh is the editor of The-Pipeline.org and the author of The Devils Pleasure Palace and The Fiery Angel, both published by Encounter Books. His latest book, Last Stands, a cultural study of military history from the Greeks to the Korean War, was recently published. Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times. In an attempt to mitigate the escalating political crisis, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has agreed to hold snap elections, if the opposition agreed on certain conditions. Addressing his supporters in the country capital Yerevan, Pashinyan proposed to hold a referendum in October to adopt a new constitution as well as a snap election under certain conditions which includes the parliamentary factions promising that they would not elect anyone else as the PM candidate if he orders fresh elections. On Sunday, March 1, a crowd of Armenian protesters forced their way into a government building in Armenias capital Yerevan, as per a report by the RIA news agency. The demonstrators forced their way into the building to demand Armenian Prime Minister quits. The protesters then left the building shortly without violence, however, street protests continued. Over the past weeks, thousands of Armenians have participated in rival demonstrations in Yerevan. Anti-government crowds had called for the premier to resign, while Pashinyan managed to rally many supporters behind him on the streets. It is worth noting that Pashinyan has come under tremendous pressure from the people and the establishment after the country had to go on backfoot following its clash with Azerbaijan over the Nagorno-Karabakh region. Read:Sancho: Reus Let Me Take Penalty In Win Over Armenia Bielefeld Read: Armenia PM Nikol Pashinyan Denounces 'attempted Military Coup' After Calls For Resignation Meanwhile, after Pashinyan had announced the dismissal of the chief of General Staff Onik Gasparyan, President Armen Sargsyan rejected the prime ministerial order to sack him because he considered parts of the decree to be in violation of the constitution. Gasparyan was sacked by the PM after his office released a statement asking the PM and his cabinet to resign. Gasparyan had said that Pashinyans government is not capable of taking adequate decisions and further denounced attacks by the authorities aimed at discrediting the Armed Forces. Pashiyan calls out 'military coup' Pashinyan, on the other hand, warned of an attempted military coup after the countrys armed forces said he and his cabinet must resign. Pashinyan had even urged his supporters to gather in the centre of the Capital Yerevan and said that he considers the statement of the General Staff of the Armed Forces an attempted military coup. Further, the Armenian PM also told the military to "obey" the people and do their job as he addressed the crowd at Yerevan. Read: Armenian Protesters Force Their Way Into Govt Building To Demand PM's Resignation: Report Read: Sancho Stars In Borussia Dortmund's 3-0 Win Over Armenia Bielfeld Image: AP NEW YORK - Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo formally referred allegations of sexual harassment against him to the state's attorney general on Monday, a move that initiates an investigation of the veteran politician after two former aides alleged misconduct. The required referral letter was sent to the office of New York Attorney General Letitia James, a Democrat, who will name outside investigators to head the probe of Cuomo's alleged misdeeds involving two women who worked in his administration. The letter, signed by Beth Garvey, special counsel and senior adviser to the governor, was disseminated in a news release later in the day. "All New York State employees have been directed to fully cooperate with this review," Garvey wrote, adding that she would be the point of contact for interviews and documents from the executive chamber and other relevant offices. James, in a statement released Monday, said her office would release a public report at the conclusion of the investigation, which will begin after the outside attorneys or law firm are retained. "This is not a responsibility we take lightly as allegations of sexual harassment should always be taken seriously," James said in a statement with the letter's release. Initially, Cuomo resisted sending the review to James's office, instead suggesting former federal judge Barbara Jones be selected to take up the issue and pivoting later to propose the state's highest-ranking judge, Janet DiFiore, run the inquiry. Those efforts were quickly overcome by demands from Cuomo's fellow Democrats for an independent probe. Former Cuomo aide Charlotte Bennett detailed her alleged experience with Cuomo in a New York Times article on Saturday, saying the third-term governor harassed her last spring during the peak of the state's coronavirus response. The 25-year-old told the Times that Cuomo, 63, delved into her personal life in inappropriate ways and sought her opinion on romantic relationships with older men. Another accuser, Lindsey Boylan, said last week in an essay published on Medium that Cuomo made inappropriate gestures and comments, including on a flight back from an event across the state in 2017, sought to engineer meetings with her alone and once kissed her on the mouth at his office in New York City. Both women said they were uncomfortable and feared repercussions for brushing him off. A third woman, Anna Ruch, on Monday described to the New York Times an unwelcome encounter with Cuomo at a 2019 wedding in Manhattan. In an Instagram story reviewed by The Washington Post, Ruch superimposed a statement over a screenshot of a Times story about Bennett's account. "Slid his hand on my lower back which I promptly removed and then he proceeded to grab my face with both hands and asked if he could kiss me, laid one on my cheek and then told me I was aggressive," she wrote. She later posted an image of the encounter, which showed Cuomo with his hands on both sides of her face. Ruch could not immediately be reached for comment. In a statement Sunday, Cuomo said he "never intended to offend anyone or cause any harm" and described his actions as the result of his "playful" nature. "I do, on occasion, tease people in what I think is a good-natured way," the statement read. " . . . I have teased people about their personal lives, their relationships, about getting married or not getting married. I mean no offense and only attempt to add some levity and banter to what is a very serious business." He added that he "never inappropriately touched anybody and I never propositioned anybody." Bennett said in a statement Monday that Cuomo's comments amounted to a refusal "to acknowledge or take responsibility for his predatory behavior." She said the fact that Cuomo agreed to an independent investigation only after "significant backlash" shows he's a person "who wields his power to avoid justice." In a separate statement, Bennett's attorney, Debra Katz, called Cuomo's behavior "textbook sexual harassment" and said his own comments about his exchanges with employees are evidence that "the problem is a systemic one and the Attorney General must investigate whether other women were subjected to a sexually hostile work environment." "We are confident that no disinterested investigator who reviews this evidence would adopt the Governor's self-serving characterization of his behavior as mentorship or, at worst, unwanted flirtation," Katz added. The Washington-based civil rights attorney also called on James's office to identify anyone in Cuomo's administration who enabled his behavior. New York Mayor Bill de Blasio, who has a long-running feud with Cuomo, said at a news briefing Monday that Cuomo's words were "not an apology." He pointed to Cuomo's suggestion that his jokes with staff may have been misinterpreted, noting "sexual harassment is not funny." Cuomo "just clearly was letting himself off the hook for something that for the women involved sounded pretty terrifying," the mayor added. Later, in a CNN interview, DeBlasio said Cuomo should resign if the accusations are true. "If these allegations, if these charges are proven, there's just no way he can govern," he said. Since the accusations were made, Cuomo has avoided public appearances. The revelations followed questions about whether his office purposely underreported nursing home deaths related to the coronavirus pandemic. - - - The Washington Post's Michael Scherer and Josh Dawsey in Washington contributed to this report. The Midlands is at the bottom of the league regarding personal disposable income with Laois and Offaly fare particularly bad according to the most recent data from the Central Statistics Office (CSO). So says Sinn Fein TD Brian Stanley who was responding to the latest figures available published on income by Ireland's official statistics office. The figures are deeply disappointing as they show not just that the four midlands counties are at the bottom in terms of income but the gap is actually widening with other regions such as Dublin and Limerick," he said. The TD said that the latest figures are from 2017 and 2018 and these illustrate how incomes per person actually dropped between the two years in all four counties. In 2018 Laois stood at 17,302, a drop of 561, Offaly 16,907 down 294, Longford at 17,410 fell 533 and while Westmeath has the highest income out of the four counties, income fell there by 340 to 17,889. "Compare these figures to Dublin where disposable personal income is at 24,969 or Limerick on 23,302, it is clear that the Midlands and in particular Laois and Offaly are way behind. The two counties are also well below the State average of 21,270. This is despite our strategic location and our much improved road network," said the TD. He said the figures dont capture the impact of the closure of the ESB power plants at Shannonbridge and Lough Ree, or the cessation of peat harvesting by Bord Na Mona. He said the job losses from them will have a profound effect on all four counties. "It is time now for a new focus by Government, the IDA, Enterprise Ireland along with the Semi-State companies like Bord Na Mona, ESB and Coilte to create quality jobs in counties like Laois and Offaly. Substantial EU funding is also needed for to provide a major stimulus and reboot the economy in both counties, said that statement. English Francais Espanol Download PDF The Bahamas, Sri Lanka, and Uganda fight the pandemics disruption with innovation Never let a serious crisis go to waste. Innovators around the world are taking the saying seriously, responding to the disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic with creative digital solutions. The initiatives we highlight here are markedly diverse: the overnight transformation of Sri Lankas 125-year-old live tea auction; the worlds first central bank digital currency in The Bahamas; and the rapid pivot from a taxi-hailing app in Kampala, Uganda, to a thriving e-commerce platform. All three share a common characteristic: an innovative, entrepreneurial spirit born of an urgent need. The Bahamas initiative responded to a need to extend financial services to residents of remote islands whose lack of access was exacerbated by extreme weather. In Sri Lanka, the tea industryfundamental to the economy and employing millionscame to a sudden halt when COVID-19 prohibited the weekly tea auction from convening. And in Uganda, peoples ability to get food and medicine and earn an income was severely hampered by the pandemic lockdown. While the ingredients for success vary in each country, there is one constant: there was an enabling environment for these initiatives to germinate and quickly become reality. The end result? Innovative, homegrown initiatives that help millions of underserved people be financially included and have a better shot at prosperity. The Bahamas: first digital currency In October 2020, The Bahamas leapfrogged into the digital vanguard with the launch of the worlds first central bank digital currencythe sand dollar. Pegged one-to-one to the Bahamian dollar and using a blockchain-backed digital token, the new currency is available to people and businesses to buy and sell goods and services and send money to each other. Sand dollars are issued and regulated by The Bahamas central bank. The Bahamas territory is spread out over 700 islandsmaking it unprofitable for commercial banks to have ATMs or physical branches on remote, sparsely populated islands. Extreme weather events make the cost of maintaining infrastructure even steeper. As a result, the most vulnerable often lack access to financial services. The need to serve the unbanked and underbanked population, along with a drive to modernize the payment system, spurred the central banks introduction of the new digital currency. We didnt start with the idea of a central bank digital currency, says John Rolle, governor of the Central Bank of The Bahamas. We focused on eliminating as many obstacles as possible for persons having access to the equivalent of a deposit account or a mobile wallet account to conduct transactions. Following successful pilots the central bank began distributing sand dollars to Bahamian commercial banks, payment system providers, and money transfer operators. Funds are placed in clients digital wallets, which allow access to various amounts of money and transaction thresholds. Anke Weber, IMF mission chief for The Bahamas, attributes the fast rollout and growing interest to the need created by 2019s devastating Hurricane Dorian and the COVID-19 pandemic. It is still early days, with only $130,000 worth of sand dollars in circulation compared with $500 million Bahamian dollars. Customers initial reaction has been positive. Those who are using the sand dollar enjoy the ease, faster turnaround, and lower costs. When I first heard about the sand dollar, I was extremely excited, says Brandon Kemp, founder of Tin Ferl, a popular pop-up food park in Nassau. The amazing thing about the sand dollar is that there are no fees or transaction costs. So, if I need to pay one of my staff, I can do it right there in the moment; they receive it literally within seconds, and everybody is happy with that. Using the sand dollar doesnt even require a bank account or a mobile phone, although thats how most transactions take place. And while it wasnt designed with the pandemic in mind, users uniformly cite the safety of a cashless transaction as a key reason for adopting the digital currency. What convinced me to go with this sand dollar is mainly because of COVID, says Mikia Cooper, an attorney at law firm Twenty Twenty and Associates. As countries around the world experiment with central bank digital currency, lessons from The Bahamas experience will no doubt be watched closely. Sri Lanka: tea auction transformed For many, Sri Lanka (formerly known as Ceylon) and Ceylon tea are synonymous. The countrys economy and society are deeply intertwined with the majestic tea leaf. Today, 10 percent of Sri Lankans derive an income from the tea industry, which generated more than $1.2 billion in export revenues in 2020. For more than 125 years, the tea industry has depended on a tradition-steeped auction where hundreds have convened twice a week at the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce to buy and sell Sri Lankas finest leaves. When COVID hit, the worlds oldest tea auction, which had functioned without fail for more than a century, was suddenly unable to bring together buyers and brokers for the weekly bidding. Plantations and factories had nowhere to sell their product, buyers were left in a lurch, and millions were at risk of losing their income. Sri Lankas tea auction faced an urgent need to reinvent itself. The whole country said, rightnow theres 2 million people whose lives depend on this industry . . . we need to look after them, says Anil Cooke, CEO of Asia Siyaka Commodities, who led the task force charged with digitalizing the auction. With brokers and buyers unable to meet in person, the challenge was not just to find an alternative to the live auction, but to get it up and running and yielding good pricesimmediately. Sri Lankas tea industry had been mulling a switch to a digital auction for more than 20 years. But the auctions nuanced dynamicswhich drew on an innate knowledge of complex tea blends, frenetic in-person competition to draw top bids, and real-time market feedbackhad stymied previous attempts. With the stakes as high as ever, a team comprising the Sri Lanka Tea Board, technical experts, the government, brokers, auctioneers, and others came together to find a solution. Local IT company CICRA Holdings led technical development, working with brokers trained to interpret the dynamics of in-person bidding and with deep knowledge of tea categories and grades. To succeed, the e-platform would have to reimagine all the human and technical variables of the live auction. Within days, some 300 people had taken part in simulated training programs, with sessions running up to the night before the launch. I am happy to say that within a very short period of time, about seven days, we managed to build a solution . . . [and] made history on April 4, 2020, by having the first digital auction going live, says Boshan Dayaratne, CEO of CICRA. Not only is the new system COVID-safe, its also faster, more strategic, and cost-effectiveand even yields higher prices. The online auction has also improved transparency and efficiency and reduced duplication of work. Benefits are being felt locally as well. D. Gayan, supervisor of the Dessford Tea Estate, says the continuity of sales has enabled them to continue operations and pay workers. A. Rajakumari, a plucker who harvests tea by hand, says that even though we had a virus last year, those of us in the estate got our salaries. Its because of this work that, even during the corona problem, I was able to happily run the home and live comfortably with our children. Uganda: digital lifeline on wheels When COVID-19 hit Kampala, Uganda, small businesses were unable to get their goods and services to customers. People were unable to buy food and medicine. And millions faced the prospect of unemployment. Enter SafeBoda, an innovative homegrown company that swiftly adapted its business model to serve the urgent needs of this capital city of nearly 2 million people. Drivers of Kampalas motorcycle taxis (known as boda boda) are as ubiquitous as they are dangerous. SafeBoda launched in 2015 as an alternative, placing an intense focus on driver and passenger safety. To make ride hailing easier and cheaper, SafeBoda created a mobile app to connect riders with drivers. The quality of SafeBodas service stimulated customer demand for more offerings. At the same time, a prolonged problem faced by its drivers was bubbling to the surfacethe lack of proof of income affected their ability to qualify for loans. Financial inclusion is a big topic here, says Ricky Rapa Thompson, SafeBoda cofounder and director of operations. Because [drivers are] from the informal sector, a lot of banks and financial institutions were not that willing to work with them. So in 2017, SafeBoda introduced its wallet, which offers app users and drivers an integrated payment system through mobile service providers. As customers paid through their phones, drivers were able to document their income without a bank accounteffectively expanding the universe of financial services available to them. When COVID-19 hit in March 2020, mobility restrictions were put in place to control the spread of the virus. Vehicles were largely grounded, and commerce came to a near halt. People, many without refrigerators, needed food, and millions of jobs were at risk. SafeBoda quickly identified and partnered with local restaurants, food vendors, and markets, andworking with the UN Capital Development Fund and digital expertslaunched a new digital service, Shop, within two weeks. Today, the SafeBoda app has more than 1 million downloads, connecting customers to nearly 1,000 food vendors, 350 shops, 16 markets, and 21 United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) pharmacies through 20,000 moto drivers in Kampala. By offering a cashless, minimally invasive service, SafeBoda not only helped revitalize the local economy, it also played a role in mitigating exposure to COVID-19. Ruth Tindyebwa, one of the first market vendors to join the Shop platform, says the sign-up process was fast and that shes earning more than before the pandemic. I can now pay my rent. I pay school fees for my kids. SafeBoda driver Daniel Ssemu says that the shift to e-commerce and delivery of goods, it was quite a good thing. Now we are getting more money . . . because now we are doing both rides and deliveries. The service has helped mitigate exposure to the pandemic, spur the local economy, and offer inspiration for a new generation of digital innovators in Uganda, and beyond. SafeBoda is a good Ugandan story, says CK Japheth, team lead, Innovation Village. It kick-started the digital economy, and we now see that technology has offered a new competitive landscape of opportunities. The United States Supreme Court reportedly rejected Attorney Sidney Powell's lawsuits versus Pennsylvania election fraud without giving any explanation for doing so. According to The Gateway Pundit, the Supreme Court refused to review the Pennsylvania election cases filed by Attorney Sidney Powell last December and announced it as moot last Monday, March 1. The Supreme Court, however, did not provide any explanation or comment as to its decision to do so. Earlier, two of the judges former President Donald Trump nominated into the Supreme Court --Associate Justice Brett Kavanaugh and Associate Justice Amy Barrett-- took the side of the liberal justices while Associate Justice Clarence Thomas, Associate Justice Neil Gorsuch, and Associate Justice Samuel Alito dissented to the decision and have actually pushed that the cases be reviewed. The Gateway Pundit cited the February 22 tweet of the SCOTUSblog, which is an independent news and analysis on the U.S. Supreme Court, that announced the status of Powell's cases in court. "BREAKING: After 4 months of inaction, SCOTUS in a one-sentence unsigned order declines Trump's request to further postpone enforcement of a Manhattan DA subpoena for his financial records. The order clears the way for a NY grand jury to obtain the records & review them in secret," SCOTUSblog said. The SCOTUSblog added another tweet containing the link to the list of orders of the Supreme Court, which included Powell's case in it, before it posted another tweet giving information that the three justices dissented. "SCOTUS declines to take up a pair of leftover cases from the 2020 election. They involved the authority of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court to extend the state's mail-in ballot deadline. Thomas, Alito and Gorsuch say the court should have granted review," it ended. The last tweet was a repost of Supreme Court Reporter Amy Howe on the matter. Howe said that the Supreme Court "will not review challenge to Pennsylvania Supreme Court's extension of mail-in ballot deadline" that former President Donald Trump's team has filed a lawsuit on and that "Justices Thomas, Alito, & Gorsuch dissent from the denial of review". In addition, the Gateway Pundit also cited Politico Congress Reporter Kyle Cheney's tweet with a screencap of the first page of the Supreme Court's decision on the case. "BREAKING: The Supreme Court has denied Trump's Pennsylvania election challenge as moot," Cheney said. The first page of the decision read that the "motions of Donald J. Trump for President, Inc. for leave to intervene as petitioner are dismissed as moot. The motions of Thomas J. Randolph, et. al. for leave to intervene as respondents are dismissed as moot. Th emotion of Honest Elections Project for leave to file a brief amicus curiae in No. 20-542 is granted. The motion of White House Watch Fund, et. al. for leave to file a brief amici curiae in No. 20-574 is granted. The petitions for writs of certiorari are denied". Meanwhile, Law & Crime reported that the court said "the petitions for writs of mandamus are denied" for case numbers 20-858 and 20-859, which were the cases regarding the election results in Arizona and Wisconsin. Each of the mandamus petitions said that a "submission directly to this Court seeking an extraordinary writ of mandamus is unusual, but it has its foundation" and that "while such relief is rare, this Court will grant it 'where a question of public importance is involved, or where the question is of such a nature that it is peculiarly appropriate that such action by this Court should be taken'". Law & Crime said that the question of public importance is determined on the bases of the following guides: Whether presidential electors have standing to challenge the outcome of a presidential election for fraud and illegality that cause the defeat of their candidate; Whether federal courts have and should exercise jurisdiction under 42 U.S.C. 1983 over claims by presidential electors that the presidential election was stolen from them by fraud and illegality under color law in violation of their constitutional rights under the Elections and Electors, Equal Protection and Due Process Clauses of the U.S. Constitution; Whether a claim by presidential electors to de-certify the results of a presidential election and enjoin voting in the electoral college by the rival slate of electors is barred by laches when it is brought within the state law statute of limitations for post-certification election contests, and before the post recount re- certification; and Whether the remedial powers of a federal court under 42 U.S.C. 1983 and 1988 include invalidation of an unconstitutionally conducted election, and an injunction against presidential electors appointed in such an election from voting in the electoral college. However, Law & Crime explained, that none of the said questions were answered by the Supreme Court nor did they explain why they did not do so. Attorney Jesus Garcia, Jr. said the family is bringing the suit to hold CPS Energy and any other responsible parties accountable for this preventable catastrophe. "This was 100% preventable. Peak electricity for last week's storm was 69,000 megawatts. The Texas energy grid regularly meets summer demands of 125,000 megawattsalmost twice the peak demand experienced last week. CPS Energy and others could have increased electric production capacity in the San Antonio region in the days and weeks leading up to the February 2021 cold weather event." said Garcia. "Additionally, CPS Energy has known for decades that it needed to winterize and update its generation, transmission, and distribution facilities in order to prevent cold-weather failures like those experienced in February 2021, but consciously chose not to do so." Kherkher Garcia, LLP is a Houston-based law firm with over 30 years of success in trying cases to juries across the nation. The lawyers at Kherkher Garcia have won substantial verdicts and settlements for victims and their families in some of the largest cases in history. To learn more, visit www.kherkhergarcia.com . Contact: Sepi Khan 713-333-0851 [email protected] SOURCE Kherkher Garcia, LLP Related Links http://www.kherkhergarcia.com It starts with being more active, as well as keeping the brain stimulated, getting restful sleep, nourishing the body and having a vibrant social life. These are all quite doable lifestyle behaviors, I thought to myself, even during a pandemic. The benefit of physical activity is one of the books key take-aways. Theres nothing easier, yet seemingly harder, than getting off your butt a few times each week to do any kind of activity. Amid a rising death toll due to COVID-19 and economic hardship being faced by many country-wide, the Movement for Social Justice says, the blame game and "nasty mudslinging" in the political arena are only causing more harm than good. A copy of the book "And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street," by Dr. Seuss, rests in a chair, Monday, March 1, 2021, in Walpole, Mass. Dr. Seuss Enterprises, the business that preserves and protects the author and illustrator's legacy, announced on his birthday, Tuesday, March 2, 2021, that it would cease publication of several children's titles including "And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street" and "If I Ran the Zoo," because of insensitive and racist imagery. (AP Photo/Steven Senne) PHOTO:AP Photo/Steven Senne Six Dr. Seuss Books Deemed Racist By The Associated Press BOSTON - Six Dr. Seuss books including And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street and If I Ran the Zoo will stop being published because of racist and insensitive imagery, the business that preserves the author's legacy said Tuesday. These books portray people in ways that are hurtful and wrong, Dr. Seuss Enterprises told The Associated Press in a statement that coincided with the late author and illustrators birthday. Ceasing sales of these books is only part of our commitment and our broader plan to ensure Dr. Seuss Enterprises catalog represents and supports all communities and families," it said. The other books affected are McElligots Pool, On Beyond Zebra!, Scrambled Eggs Super!, and The Cats Quizzer. The Cat in the Hat," one of Seuss' most popular books, has received criticism, too, but will continue to be published for now. Dr. Seuss Enterprises, however, said it is committed to listening and learning and will continue to review our entire portfolio." The decision to cease publication and sales of the books was made last year after months of discussion, the company told AP. Dr. Seuss Enterprises listened and took feedback from our audiences including teachers, academics and specialists in the field as part of our review process. We then worked with a panel of experts, including educators, to review our catalog of titles," it said. Books by Dr. Seuss who was born Theodor Seuss Geisel in Springfield, Massachusetts, on March 2, 1904 - have been translated into dozens of languages as well as in braille and are sold in more than 100 countries. He died in 1991. He remains popular, earning an estimated $33 million before taxes in 2020, up from just $9.5 million five years ago, the company said. Forbes listed him No. 2 on its highest-paid dead celebrities of 2020, behind only the late pop star Michael Jackson. As adored as Dr. Seuss is by millions around the world for the positive values in many of his works, including environmentalism and tolerance, there has been increasing criticism in recent years over the way Blacks, Asians and others are drawn in some of his most beloved childrens books, as well as in his earlier advertising and propaganda illustrations. The National Education Association, which founded Read Across America Day in 1998 and deliberately aligned it with Geisels birthday, has for several years deemphasized Seuss and encouraged a more diverse reading list for children. In 2017, a school librarian in Cambridge, Massachusetts, criticized a gift of 10 Seuss books from first lady Melania Trump, saying many of his works were steeped in racist propaganda, caricatures, and harmful stereotypes. In 2018, a Dr. Seuss museum in his hometown of Springfield removed a mural that included an Asian stereotype. Numerous other popular childrens series have been criticized in recent years for alleged racism. In the 2007 book, Should We Burn Babar?, the author and educator Herbert R. Kohl contended that the Babar the Elephant books were celebrations of colonialism because of how the title character leaves the jungle and later returns to civilize his fellow animals. One of the books, Babars Travels, was removed from the shelves of a British library in 2012 because of its alleged stereotypes of Africans. Critics also have faulted the Curious George books for their premise of a white man bringing home a monkey from Africa. Laura Ingalls Wilders portrayals of Native Americans in her Little House On the Prairie novels have been faulted so often that the American Library Association removed her name in 2018 from a lifetime achievement award it gives out each year. A Motley Crew: How Jesus Turned Ordinary Men into Dynamic Disciples is endorsed by Dr. David Butts, Chairman of Americas National Prayer Committee. He wrote, This book blends biblical teaching with practical help that will bring encouragement to pastors. You will want to keep this book close at hand and refer to it often as you serve the Lord in His church. A Motley Crew, is written by Dr. Sam Warren, a pastor for over thirty-five years and ministry leader. Dr. Warren shares, In A Motley Crew: How Jesus Turned Ordinary Men into Dynamic Disciples, one is taken on a journey through the teachings of Jesus and Paul as they map out the path for the local church in making disciples who make disciples. One is given not only a view of the mistakes that have been made but hope for a brighter future as they are shown how to return to the original code of the early church in the making of disciples. Published by Christian Faith Publishing, Dr. Sam Warrens new book is a good book for those who are looking forward to learning more about the ministry of Jesus Christ. View a synopsis of A Motley Crew: How Jesus Turned Ordinary Men into Dynamic Disciples on YouTube. Consumers can purchase A Motley Crew: How Jesus Turned Ordinary Men into Dynamic Disciples at traditional brick & mortar bookstores, or online at Amazon.com, Apple iTunes store, or Barnes and Noble. For additional information or inquiries about A Motley Crew: How Jesus Turned Ordinary Men into Dynamic Disciples, contact the Christian Faith Publishing media department at 866-554-0919. NEW HAVEN The Mitchell Branch Library, located in the heart of the citys Westville section, has been a lifeline for Westville resident Katie Lancaster and her family including her soon to be 1-year-old pandemic baby, Hazel this past year. She, like fellow Westville residents Judy and Joy Meikle, all of whom were picking up or dropping off books Tuesday, doesnt know what she would do if the library were to close, as it might under the Crisis Budget, the more austere of two budgets that Mayor Justin Elicker presented Monday in case he cant get additional aid from the state and Yale University. The Crisis Budget is one Elicker said he does not want to pass and in fact, the city may not have to pass it following the state Senates approval Monday of a bill that could create a three-tiered Payment in Lieu of Taxes reimbursement system that could increase the citys reimbursement for tax-exempt property by $49 million. Hearst Connecticut Media But if it comes to that, the Crisis Budget, which Elicker presented before the Senate added its approval to a previous approval by the House of Representatives, would cut a host of employees and services, including closing the library as well as the East Shore Senior Center and the Whitney Avenue fire station. At the same time, it would raise taxes by 7.75 percent. Arnold Gold / Hearst Connecticut Media Even though the Mitchell Library, like all of the citys branch libraries, has been physically closed to the public for months, I feel like this library in particular is such a jewel, said Lancaster, who said the staff has gone above and beyond to help her get what she needed. She spoke as she unloaded some books she was returning, then put some new books a library staff member brought out into the red wagon in which Hazel, who turns 1 on March 10, was riding. 5 1 of 5 Arnold Gold / Hearst Connecticut Media Show More Show Less 2 of 5 Arnold Gold / Hearst Connecticut Media Show More Show Less 3 of 5 4 of 5 Peter Hvizdak / Hearst Connecticut Media Show More Show Less 5 of 5 Its a low blow, said Joy Meikle, who did not like the idea that Elicker seems to be counting on residents upset with service cuts to put the pressure on the state and Yale. But I will be outside picketing if the plan goes forward, she said. Personally, I use this library all the time, said Meikle. Its really been one of my salvations throughout the pandemic. ... I think both of us believe that Yale needs to step up and pay more in taxes. Meikle said that, among other things, closing the branch would mean she would have to drive downtown every time she wanted a book, rather than walk to the Mitchell Library. In addition to the convenience, walking to Mitchell presents a much better carbon footprint, she said. The Mitchell Library is one of four branch libraries in addition to the New Haven Free Public Librarys main Ives Library on Elm Street. The other three branch libraries the Stetson Library on Dixwell Avenue, the Wilson Library on Washington Avenue in the Hill and the Fair Haven Library on Grand Avenue, would not be affected by the proposed cuts. Elicker said he was optimistic after the Senate approved the PILOT bill. I think it makes it much more likely that well land closer to the (less austere) Forward Together budget, he said although he was not yet ready to count on it. Peter Hvizdak / Hearst Connecticut Media The legislature made a very serious step ... which dramatically increases funding for many cities and towns across the state that are very much in need of additional funding, Elicker said. When asked about the potential cuts that could close the East Shore Senior Center, Dr. Mehul Dalal, the citys community services administrator who oversees the Elderly Services Department, said that first and foremost, its a budget we dont want to have happen. Nevertheless, its a budget we have to put out there, he said. While no one wants to close a senior center, if a choice must be made, the East Shore Senior Center gets less use than the citys other two senior centers, the Atwater Senior Center in Fair Haven and the Dixwell Senior Center, Dalal said. During the pre-COVID 2019-20 fiscal year, Atwater had 6,025 visits from seniors, the Dixwell center had 5,193 visits and the East Shore Senior Center had 3,006 visits, according to figures provided by city spokesman Gage Frank. Asked what would happen to the people who currently use the East Shore center, Dalal said busing is a possibility. We can look into that. We can also look into nonprofit partners such as the Agency on Aging to make sure that we can fill the need. Among activities that the senior centers provide are senior-focused exercise programs, Bingo, a number of very structured activities and, in many cases, meals on a regular basis, Dalal said. They also provide company for people who might otherwise be home alone. Should the East Shore facility close, We would reallocate the services. ... Its really just about the facility itself and we would come up with other ways to deliver the services, Dalal said. But we really hope it doesnt come down to closure, he said. We had to put out something, he said. ... We couldnt rely on funding we didnt have in hand. Fire Chief John Alston said he understands that the city is facing an extreme deficit and it is tough on taxpayers and businesses. But people need to understand that if you close a station, then it increases your time and response in that area, he said. So every city has the ability to pay for the type of fire protection that they require. As fire chief, My job to make sure that the money is spent efficiently. ... But it is also my job to make the case to provide the best service the city can, Alston said. In New Haven, 83 percent of our workload is EMS, so if youre that person on the other end of a 911 call, waiting for help, it is very important that the fire department responds quickly in an emergency, he said. City Librarian John Jessen, who oversees a library system with a total budget of just over $4 million, does not want to close the Mitchell Library or any library. Closing the Mitchell Library would save the city about $350,000 annually, but it would hurt in other ways, he said. I think that obviously it would be devastating to the library community and the city of New Haven to lose a library, Jessen said. All of the library branches are very important. He said he was pleased to see that the state PILOT money appears to have come through, and believes the people of New Haven support their libraries. Im very confident that not only the people in the Westville section of the city of New Haven but library users all over the city would come out in favor of keeping the libraries open, he said. I think the city should be investing more in the library, Jessen said. Theres research that shows that for every dollar you invest in your public libraries, you end up bringing more money into your community. mark.zaretsky@hearstmediact.com The initial public offering (IPO) by MTAR Technologies, a precision engineering company, is set to hit the primary market on Wednesday, March 3. The company that manufactures critical and differentiated engineered products, primarily serves customers in the nuclear, space and defence, and clean energy sectors. The company looks to raise up to Rs 596.41 crore via a combination of fresh issue of shares worth Rs 123.51 crore and an offer for sale of Rs 472.90 crore. The is slated to run between March 3-5 with a price band of Rs 574- 575 per share. MTAR plans to utilise the money raised for repayment of the borrowings, to fund the working capital requirements and for general purposes. Key Strengths Healthy Financials: The company has an aggregate order book of Rs 336.2 crore as of December 31, 2020, which is at 1.7x its FY20 revenues. Moreover, it has grown at 16.5 per cent CAGR over the last 3 years at the topline, while its Ebitda margins were at 28.5 per cent in FY20. In times when the government has been cutting down on the defence budget, MTAR delivered profits at the bottom line, with net margins at 14 per cent at the end of FY20. For financial years, ended 2018, 2019 and 2020, the return on capital employed was 9.59 per cent, 16.96 per cent and 19.78 per cent, respectively. Further, the debt-equity ratio was at 0.13 and 0.27 for March 31, 2020 and December 31, 2020, respectively, against 0.07 as on December 31, 2019, 0.12 as on March 31, 2019. Strong Customer Base: The companys customers include some of Indias leading organisations in the nuclear, and space and defence sectors such as the NPCIL, ISRO, and the DRDO, among others. In addition, the company also supplies its products to international companies such as Bloom Energy and an Israeli defence technology company, among others. Wide Product Portfolio: As of December 31, MTAR's major product portfolio included three kinds of products in the clean energy sector, 14 kinds of products in the nuclear sector, and six kinds of products in the space and defence sectors. Robust Outlook: MTAR could benefit from the government's policy to construct 10 units of nuclear reactors as a single project as it will increase opportunities for domestic suppliers, said It added that in the next five years, the private sector is expected to receive the mandate for nearly 70 per cent of all the upcoming space missions of ISRO which is positive for MTAR. "Lastly, an additional manufacturing facility in Hyderabad is expected to become operational in FY22 that'll allow MTAR to undertake sheet metal jobs for Bloom Energy, ISRO and other customers," the brokerage noted. Key Risks The company faces stiff competition from L&T Heavy Engineering, Godrej & Boyce Manufacturing Company, HAL and Walchandnagar Industries in the nuclear and space and Besides, it's overdependence on Bloom Energy, which constitutes 65 per cent of its revenue, is another concern, analyst at Geojit Fiancial said. Grey Market Tracker The shares of the company were commanding a premium of Rs 420 per share in the unlisted market, as per Manan Doshi, co-founder of Unlistedarena.com. "The company's operating margins are expected to rise further. The government's focus on 'Make In India', exports of defence equipment, and rising budgetary allocations along with entry barriers in the business should support the company in the longer-term," he says. Analyst Take LKP Securities At the higher price band, the stock is valued at 20x FY20 earnings of Rs 28.3 and commands premium considering its healthy order book, visibility of top line growth, competitive edge, superior profitability as compared to peers, return ratios, wide clientele spread across the globe, sound R&D base and technological progress. We recommend investors to Subscribe to the Geojit Financial At the upper price band, MTAR is available at a P/E of 47.3x, which is aggressively priced. With no listed peers, positive sentiment in space and defence sectors due to Make in India and Atmanirbhar Bharat and limited competition for the products they manufacture, we assign a Subscribe rating, with a long term view. Choice Broking At a higher price band, MTAR is demanding a TTM P/E multiple of 56.5x. Considering the presence in the growth sectors like clean energy and space and and improving return ratios, we feel the demand valuation to be attractive. Thus we assign a Subscribe rating for the issue. Hem Securities The companys financial performance looks strong with a healthy balance sheet position. It has a wide product portfolio along with a marquee customer base and robust order book which gives strong revenue visibility going forward. Hence, we recommend investors to Subscribe the issue for short and long term. The chairwoman of the Public Utility Commission of Texas, the agency that regulates the states electric, telecommunication, and water and sewer utilities, resigned Monday, according to a resignation letter provided to the Texas Tribune. The Gov. Greg Abbott-appointed commission came under public criticism in the aftermath of Texas power crisis that left millions of people in the dark for days and claimed the lives of dozens. RELATED: Texas power council is 'anything but reliable,' Abbott says On Monday, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick called for PUC chairwoman DeAnn Walker and Electric Reliability Council of Texas CEO Bill Magness to resign. The PUC is charged with overseeing the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, or ERCOT, a nonprofit entity that manages and operates the electricity grid that covers much of the state. Lawmakers began to call on the commissioners to resign Thursday after hearing testimony from Walker, who took little responsibility for the crisis during the house and senate committee hearings on the power outages. Rep. Jared Patterson, R-Frisco, wrote on Twitter that he has zero confidence in her after the Thursday hearings and that she must resign. Walker came under fire during questioning for not doing more to prevent the crisis from occurring. Lawmakers probed how much information she had on whether the states power system could withstand winter storms, and questioned why she didnt raise concerns about the possibility of outages sooner. Walker, during her testimony to lawmakers last week, largely deflected blame to ERCOT and Magness, who testified in front of state senators on Thursday before Walker did. You know, theres a lot of things Bill said about our authority over them that I simply disagree that thats how its actually playing out in real life, Walker told lawmakers. RELATED: The heads of ERCOT's board of directors don't even live in Texas But lawmakers countered that she leads the regulatory agency with the oversight of the power sector: When you say you dont have authority, said state Sen. John Whitmire, D-Houston, Ive got you down as a pretty powerful person. Walker said the commission has not been given legal authority by the Legislature to require winter weatherization, a primary concern after the power crisis was precipitated by power plants tripping offline. Many power generators are not built to withstand extreme cold weather temperatures in Texas. Walker deflected blame to ERCOT, the entity her agency oversees, and added of winterization: It costs a lot of money. In her resignation letter to Gov. Abbott, Walker said she was resigning because she believed it to be in the best interest of the state. She also pushed back on criticisms that she did not take responsibility for the outages. I testified last Thursday in the Senate and House and accepted my role in the situation, Walker wrote. She went on to call on others, including the Railroad Commission, ERCOT, the Legislature, gas companies, electric generators and other industry players to come forward to acknowledge how their actions contributed to the power crisis all of them, she wrote, had responsibility to foresee what could have happened and failed to take the necessary steps for the past 10 years to address issues that each of them could have addressed. RELATED: ERCOT CEO tells Senate he wouldn't have done anything differently Renae Eze, a spokesperson for Abbott, said in a statement that the governor thanks Walker for her service to the state. "Our focus is to continue working collaboratively with the Legislature on reforms to our power system and look forward to passing lasting and meaningful solutions to ensure these tragic events are never repeated, Eze said in a statement. Walker was appointed to the position by Abbott in 2017 for a term that would have expired in September. Prior, she was a policy advisor to Abbott on regulated industries and before that, worked for CenterPoint Energy, a Houston-based electric utility company that moves power to much of the Houston region, as associate general counsel and director of regulatory affairs. (Newser) California's public schools could tap into $2 billion from the Legislature if they return to in-person instruction by the end of March, according to an agreement announced Monday between Gov. Gavin Newsom and legislative leaders. California, the most populous state, has 1,037 public school districts, more than 6.1 million students, and about 319,000 teachers. Most public school classes have not been held in-person since March of last year because of the coronavirus. Many districts have struggled to reach agreements with teachers unions on the best way to return students and staff to the classroom. Newsom, who could face a recall election this year spurred by his handling of the pandemic, had been at odds with legislative leaders on how to encourage school districts to bring students back, the AP reports. Monday's announcement marked a turn, with Newsom, Senate President Pro Tempore Toni Atkins and Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon praising each other for agreeing. All are Democrats. story continues below The deal sets aside $6.6 billion for schools, with $2 billion for schools that return to in-person instruction by March 31. The remaining $4.6 billion, which is not contingent on a return to classrooms, will be distributed among schools to help with learning loss through actions such as targeted interventions for vulnerable students or extending the school year and summer school options. Newsom cast the reopening as essential to getting California's economy back on track and as a move toward gender equity, as mothers have shouldered much of the burden of having children at home. "You can't reopen your economy unless you get your schools reopened for in-person instruction," he said. School districts are controlled locally, but the state can incentivize them to act with money. The president of the California Federation of Teachers said the plan doesn't meet every benchmark the union sought but improves upon prior plans. Prioritizing vaccines for teachers10% of the state's allocation with a minimum of 75,000 per weekis "a huge victory," he said. (Read more California stories.) Nigerian security officials say gunmen have released hundreds of schoolgirls recently kidnapped from a school in the northern part of the country. Zamfara state Police Commissioner Abutu Yaro tweeted Tuesday the 279 school children are happy and healthy. Yaro partly credits the governments ongoing Zamfara state peace accord with securing the girls release. He said more details will be provided later. It is unclear if their release was the result of a ransom arrangement. Authorities initially said gunmen abducted 317 girls in the raid on the Government Girls Secondary School in remote Jangebe village on Friday. But Zamfara state Governor Bello Matawalle said the "total number of female students abducted" was 279. No reason has been given for the error. Nigeria has seen several armed kidnappings in recent years, especially in Zamfara state, where demands are made for ransoms. The most high-profile school kidnapping in Nigeria involved more than 250 mostly Christian girls abducted by the radical Islamic group Boko Haram in the northern town of Chibok in 2014. Dozens of the girls from the Chibok school have not been returned home. Space startup Rocket Lab is taking on Elon Musk's SpaceX with a huge new reusable rocket called Neutron that could be used to transport humans to space. The California and New Zealand based firm has merged with a special-purpose acquisition company to go public, valuing the joint venture at $4.1 billion. Rocket Lab will use its new position and a $740 million cash balance to develop the new 8-Ton Neutron rocket that can launch mega-constellations of satellites. The Neutron rocket will be 40 metres tall, have a reusable first stage and capable of taking up to 8,000 kg of material to orbit on each flight. It isn't direct competition for the SpaceX Falcon 9, which can take up to 22,800 kg per trip, but Rocket Lab says it will work out cheaper than the larger alternatives. Space startup Rocket Lab is taking on Elon Musk's SpaceX with a huge new reusable rocket called Neutron that could be used to transport humans to space NEUTRON: MEDIUM LIFT PARTIALLY REUSABLE ROCKET The medium-lift Neutron rocket will be a two-stage launch vehicle that stands 40 meters tall with a 4.5-metre diameter fairing. It will have a lift capacity of up to 8,000 kg to low-Earth orbit, 2,000 kg to the Moon, and 1,500 kg to Mars and Venus, makers Rocket Lab confirmed. Neutron will feature a reusable first stage designed to land on an ocean platform, enabling a high launch cadence and decreased launch costs for customers. Initially designed for satellite payloads, Neutron will also be capable of International Space Station (ISS) resupply and human spaceflight missions. Advertisement Founded in 2006, since its inception Rocket Lab has deployed 97 satellites for governments and private companies using the partially reusable Electron rocket. The new Neutron launch vehicle will 'transform space access', according to the firm, as it will provide a 'dependable, high-flight-rate dedicated launch solution'. Unlike the smaller Electron, Rocket Labs' current launch vehicle, the new rocket will be able to lift more than 90% of all satellites forecast to launch up to 2029. While the cost of the rocket and the cost of each launch hasn't been revealed, Rocket Lab says it will be at a 'highly disruptive lower cost'. It is expected to come online and be ready to start launching satellites and other payload into orbit by 2024, according to Rocket Lab. 'There are some things we said we would never do, but we're going to build a big rocket,' CEO Peter Beck said in a video announcing the new launch vehicle. This is a big change for the firm, which has previously focused on launching relatively tiny satellites from the small boosters of its Electron rocket. Their first pivot from simply launching small rockets came last year when the firm followed SpaceX in making the Electron more reusable to bring costs down. The Neutron launch vehicle will 'transform space access', according to Rocket Lab CEO Peter Beck (pictured), as it will provide a 'dependable, high-flight-rate dedicated launch solution' In comparison to the 40 metre tall Neutron, the smaller Electron stands at 18m and can only carry up to 300kg satellites for launch into orbit. As well as being able to launch Starlink or OneWeb style mega-constallation satellites into orbit, it claims to do so in a more efficient and cost-effective way. 'Efficiently building the mega constellations of the future requires launching multiple satellites in batches to different orbital planes,' said Beck. 'It's a requirement that all too often sees large launch vehicles fly with payloads well below their full lift capacity, which is an incredibly expensive and inefficient way to build out a satellite constellation.' The Neutron rocket will be 40 metres tall, have a reusable first stage and capable of taking up to 8,000 kg of material to orbit on each flight ROCKET LAB: SPACE LAUNCH STARTUP Rocket Lab is an American/New Zealand space startup initially designed to sent small satellites into orbit using small booster rockets. Founded by New Zealander Peter Beck, they became the first Southern Hemisphere firm to launch to space with the Atea-1 rocket in 2009. Its Electron rocket started launching small satellites in 2018 including launches for NASA's ELaNa program. Up until 2020 they had focused on small scale launches with the Electron able to carry payloads up to 300kg. Going public and a period of major expansion in 2021 will see the firm make Electron partially reusable and launch a new heavier rocket. The Neutron will be able to carry up to 8,800kg into orbit including crew. Advertisement It can take loads of up to 8,000kg into orbit, but can also send loads of up to 2,000kg to the Moon - a market likely to grow in the coming years as NASA builds a new space station in lunar orbit and eventually a base on the Moon's surface. The vehicle will launch from NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia and will be 'human rated', meaning it will be able to launch astronauts into space in future. Rocket Lab is also scouring locations across America to establish a new state-of-the-art factory to support large-scale Neutron manufacturing. The company plans to launch a small satellite into lunar orbit for NASA this year on its Electron rocket, as a precursor to the Gateway space station. This is a Moon-orbiting outpost for NASA's Artemis mission that will see the first woman and next man land on the Moon and a permanent base established. Through its 'Photon' spacecraft, Rocket Lab is also working on a mission to Mars and Venus in the next few years, with the Venus mission to search for signs of life. The firm expects to generate more than $1 billion in revenue by 2026, in part due to the significant growth forecast for the launch, space systems and space applications market- which is forecast to grow to $1.4 trillion by 2030. The merger with Vector Acquisition Corporation, a special purpose company designed to help firms go public, will value the joint venture at $4.1 billion. Alex Slusky, CEO of Vector and Founder & Chief Investment Officer of Vector Capital, described Rocket Lab as a 'once-in-a-generation company'. 'Rocket Lab is ideally positioned to continue to capture market share in the rapidly expanding space launch, systems and applications markets. 'Vector is thrilled to partner with Rocket Lab as it seeks to capitalize on unprecedented commercial and government spending in the bourgeoning space economy.' DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) Police have charged five people with attempted murder in a brazen Des Moines shooting that critically injured a 2-year-old child. Police say the shooting happened Monday night when more than a dozen shots were fired into a house. Officers called to the home found that one of the shots had hit a toddler inside. The child was rushed to a hospital and remained in critical condition Tuesday afternoon. Police later arrested five people ranging in age from 18 to 20 believed to have been involved in the shooting. All were initially charged with attempted murder and weapons counts. Police say the group intentionally targeted the house, but say the toddler and a 17-year-old girl who were in the home at the time were not the intended targets. Rates for householders have been increased in eight out of Northern Irelands 11 councils. Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council had the largest increase for the second year in a row, setting a rate at 2.49%. Three local authorities also chose to freeze their rates Lisburn and Castlereagh City Council, Mid Ulster District Council and Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council. It follows a challenging year for local government with the pandemic increasing costs and cutting off revenue streams from leisure services. The rates bill for householders and businesses in Northern Ireland are calculated by adding the district rate set by councils and the regional rate set by Stormont. Last month, Finance Minister Conor Murphy announced that the regional rate for households and businesses will be frozen this year while pledging an extra 150m to compensate councils for losses in business rates. New legislation also allowed councils to set different rates for households and businesses, but only Mid and East Antrim used this option. Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council increased the district rate by 2.49%. A council statement said it was necessary to protect services due to budgetary pressures including increased waste and insurance costs and the continued uncertainty caused by the pandemic. For an average property (worth 161,000 in the council area) this will equate to an extra 30p per week or 15.60 a year. Properties worth around 100,000 can expect to pay an extra 9.69 per year. The council added that after taking account of the regional rate being frozen, this amounted to an increase of 1.1% for both domestic and business rates. Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council agreed a district rates increase of 1.99%. This means an increase in the average rates bill for households of around 19 pence per week, or 9.68 for the year. Ards and North Down Borough Council agreed an increase of 2.2% for household and business rates. A council statement said it was appreciated that any increase would be difficult for residents and businesses on top of the pressures caused by Covid-19. We welcome the move from Central Government to strike the regional rate at 0% for the coming financial year. This, along with the councils rate, means an overall increase of less than 1% for households and businesses equating to just less than 1 per month for the average household and less than 10 per month for the average business. Newry, Mourne and Down District Council agreed a 1.59% increase. This will mean householders with a property valued at 100,000 will pay an extra 6.37 per year, or an extra 53 pence per month. Council chairperson, SDLP councillor Laura Devlin, said reopening tourism and supporting businesses would be a priority for the year ahead. In Fermanagh and Omagh District Council, a 1.37% increase was set meaning householders will pay an around 2.75 extra for the year, with businesses paying an average extra 1.04 per week or 54 for the year. Mid and East Antrim Borough Council were the only council to take advantage of new powers allowing them to set a different domestic and business rate, at 0.99% and 0.69% respectively. The council said the slightly smaller increase for businesses was in recognition of the challenges as the economy recovers. Belfast City Council set a district rate of 1.92%, noting it was kept below 2% for the seventh year in a row. In real terms this means an average increase of 1 per month or 12 a year for domestic ratepayers, and an extra 11 per month for businesses or 132 a year. Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council agreed a district rates increase of 2.48%. This means an increase in the average rates bill for households of around 25 pence per week, or 11.77 for the year. Ards and North Down Borough Council agreed an increase of 2.2%, predicting that the freeze in regional rates would mean an average extra cost of less than 1 a month for households and 10 per month for businesses. Derry City and Strabane District Council set the district rate at 1.89%, calling it the lowest increase in the council area for almost 50 years. When added to the regional rates freeze, the council said this would equate to an overall rates increase of 0.99%. Householders will see the average rate increase by 18 pence per week or 9.16 a year. In a closely contested vote, Mid Ulster District Council also agreed to freeze their district rate one of three councils to do so. Passing by 17 votes to 16, councillors backed the 0% rate after council officials had called for a 1.59% increase. One council finance official told the meeting the freeze could mean a 5.38% increase is needed next year. The DUPs leader on the council, Paul McClean, said the freeze should be a one-off to allow for post-pandemic recovery. Freezing the district rate was a first for Lisburn & Castlereagh City Council. Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough council took the decision to freeze the rate to help businesses and residents already struggling through the pandemic. 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 U.S. Department of Defense has called on Ukraine not to stop defense sector reforms following the announcement on March 1 of a new $125 million package for the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI), according to a statement posted on the Department's website. "The Department encourages Ukraine to continue to enact reforms that strengthen civilian control of the military, promote increased transparency and accountability in defense industry and procurement, and modernize its defense sector in other key areas in line with NATO principles and standards," the statement reads. At the same time, the Department of Defense said that the USAI package includes two additional armed Mark IV patrol boats to enhance Ukraine's capacity to patrol and defend its territorial waters. To date, the U.S. has committed a total of eight Mark IV patrol boats. In addition, the package also includes capabilities to enhance the lethality, command and control, and situational awareness of Ukraine's forces through the provision of additional counter-artillery radars and tactical equipment; continued support for a satellite imagery and analysis capability; and equipment to support military medical treatment and combat evacuation procedures. According to the statement, the remaining $150 million in fiscal year 2021 USAI funds appropriated by Congress will be provided when the Defense Department, in coordination with the Department of State, certifies that Ukraine has made sufficient progress on key defense reforms this year, as required by the National Defense Authorization Act. "The United States has committed more than $2 billion in security assistance to Ukraine since 2014 and remains committed to assisting Ukraine with the implementation of these reforms to advance its Euro-Atlantic aspirations in support of a secure, prosperous, democratic, and free Ukraine," the statement reads. op Red Hat Adds Common Criteria Certification for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 Red Hat (News - Alert) , Inc., the world's leading provider of open source solutions, today announced further strengthening of Red Hat Enterprise Linux as a platform of choice for users requiring more secure computing, with Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.1 achieving Common Criteria Certification. The first major security certification for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8, this validation emphasizes Red Hat's commitment to supporting customers that use the world's leading enterprise Linux platform for critical workloads in classified and sensitive deployments. For Common Criteria, Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.1 was certified by the National Information Assurance Partnership (NIAP), with testing and validation completed by Acumen Security, a U.S. government-accredited laboratory. The platform was tested and validated against the Common Criteria Standard for Information Security Evaluation (ISO/ IEC (News - Alert) 15408) against version 4.2.1 of the NIAP General Purpose Operating System Protection Profile including Extended Package for Secure Shell (SSH), version 1.0 and is the latest Red Hat Enterprise Linux version to appear on the NIAP Product Compliant List. Red Hat Enterprise Linux and Evaluation Assurance Levels (EAL) Previously, Red Hat Enterprise Linux operating systems were certified at EAL4+. The treaty that enables countries to recognize certifications across borders now includes a new Common Criteria Recognition Arrangement that only recognizes up to EAL2. This treaty also rewrote Protection Profiles across products to be very specific about individual product requirements, documentation and testing procedures. It is now expected that a solution either meets the Protection Profile exactly or does not. In the previous EAL system, the number (EAL2, EAL4, etc.) distinguished the degree of rigor applied to meeting open-ended requirements. This revised certification is designed to be more predictable and better suited to an operating system with frequent, predictable minor releases like Red Hat Enterprise Linux, with future platform certifications intended to be aligned with this certification method. DISA STIG for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 Red Hat's long history of working with government and defense agencies extends beyond Common Criteria validation. Part of this collaboration includes the creation and validation of more secure configurations of the world's leading enterprise Linux platform for sensitive computing environments. The Defense Information Systems Agency (News - Alert) (DISA) recently published a Secure Technical Implementation Guide (STIG) for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8, which offers a configuration roadmap to deploy Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 with an approved security baseline while still helping to drive innovation across an organization. Red Hat Consulting has years of experience and specialized expertise in deploying more secure configuration of Red Hat Enterprise Linux in sensitive computing environments. Red Hat Training helps teams master their Linux skills. Supporting Quotes Paul Smith, senior vice president and general manager, Public Sector, North America, Red Hat "From bare metal servers to expansive hybrid cloud deployments, the operating system is the foundation for modern IT, making platform security even more important when it comes to sensitive environments. This first Common Criteria certification for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 shows that Red Hat continues to maintain crucial IT security certificates for its next-generation operating system as well as the fact that the world's leading enterprise Linux platform can now provide a more secure and more intelligent platform for critical and classified deployments while retaining the flexibility, scalability and innovation of Linux. " Ashit Vora, vice president, Acumen Security "Acumen Security congratulates Red Hat on the successful NIAP Common Criteria certification of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.1, the first for the Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 platform. This rigorous security evaluation against stringent requirements identified by the National Security Agency (News - Alert) under the global Common Criteria Certification Standard demonstrates and confirms Red Hat's commitment to make CC certified versions of Red Hat Enterprise Linux available to security conscious customers such as the national security-related agencies, finance and healthcare verticals. We are honored that Red Hat has once again selected Acumen Security as their security certification partner to achieve this significant milestone that few other operating system vendors in the industry have accomplished. " Additional Resources Connect with Red Hat About Red Hat, Inc. Red Hat is the world's leading provider of enterprise open source software solutions, using a community-powered approach to deliver reliable and high-performing Linux, hybrid cloud, container, and Kubernetes technologies. Red Hat helps customers integrate new and existing IT applications, develop cloud-native applications, standardize on our industry-leading operating system, and automate, secure, and manage complex environments. Award-winning support, training, and consulting services make Red Hat a trusted adviser to the Fortune 500. As a strategic partner to cloud providers, system integrators, application vendors, customers, and open source communities, Red Hat can help organizations prepare for the digital future. Forward-Looking Statements Certain statements contained in this press release may constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements provide current expectations of future events based on certain assumptions and include any statement that does not directly relate to any historical or current fact. Actual results may differ materially from those indicated by such forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements included in this press release represent the Company's views as of the date of this press release and these views could change. However, while the Company or its parent International Business Machines Corporation (NYSE: IBM (News - Alert) ) may elect to update these forward-looking statements at some point in the future, the Company specifically disclaims any obligation to do so. These forward-looking statements should not be relied upon as representing the Company's views as of any date subsequent to the date of this press release. ### Red Hat, Red Hat Enterprise Linux and the Red Hat logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Red Hat, Inc. or its subsidiaries in the U.S. and other countries. Linux is the registered trademark of Linus Torvalds in the U.S. and other countries. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210302005473/en/ Weve been holding off on that just because we are short staffed for what we would need to function as a restaurant that serves full service inside, even if there is limited capacity, Kwon said. Its kind of a Catch-22 for us. Does the loss of revenue offset what it would take for us to hire on more staff? And does that put them at risk? Do we shut down for a few weeks if someone got sick with COVID? For us its about keeping our staff as safe as we can and to keep everyone employed. 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 lot of people have now started practicing and preaching self-love. People have now started finding inner peace and instead of looking for love outside, theyve started looking for it within themselves. After all, loving yourself is extremely important. Instagram/SSIDTH So, to prove that self-love is important, a 35-year-old woman named Meg Taylor Morrison from Atlanta, Georgia married herself and celebrated by throwing a huge party. She bought a wedding dress for herself and cut a wedding cake alone and also made vows for herself. According to Mirror UK, she decided to marry herself after she broke up with her boyfriend and she said that this marriage is not a step towards healing. She expressed that she would have married herself even if she was in a relationship with someone. Instagram/SSIDTH She said, I wanted to marry myself as an act of self-love. Part of marrying myself was about going beyond people-pleasing or trying to look a certain way. It was about saying yes to my own desires. On her wedding day, Meg walked down the aisle in her wedding dress and blew bubbles along with drinking champagne and she made her wear a wedding ring. Not only this, she said the vows to herself and kissed herself in the mirror. Instagram/SSIDTH Also, the entire wedding cost her around Rs 1.02 lakhs. She said, marrying myself is an act to remind me to trust my judgment and put my health and happiness first daily. Earlier, a man in Brazil also tied the knot with himself after his fiance broke up with him and had a huge ceremony to celebrate the same. Instagram/SSIDTH What do you think? Let us know in the comments section below! Many people will look back at school dinners and remember hard vegetables, flavourless meat and burned chips, but hasn't stopped some reminiscing over their lunchtime dessert, which has become an unlikely new trend on Instagram. 'School dinner cake', a vanilla sponge cake with white icing and sprinkles has taken over UK social media, with more than 20,000 posts on the hashtag in the last few weeks. It's become so popular it's appearing on menus at restaurants and bakeries across the country offering home delivery - as thousands become nostalgic for the dessert which is being branded the lightest, fluffiest, cake ever'. 'School dinner cake', a vanilla sponge cake with white icing and sprinkles has taken over UK social media, with more than 20,000 posts on the hashtag in the last few weeks. Pictured: One Instagram users cake It's become so popular it's appearing on menus at restaurants and bakeries across the country - as thousands become nostalgic for the dessert which is being branded the lightest, fluffiest, cake ever'. Pictured: one Instagram users cake The rise in popularity of the delicious dessert - also known as a sprinkle cake or iced tray bake - may be down to a surge of nostalgia in lockdown. In December, Waitrose revealed shoppers are snapping up retro puddings as they seek comfort after a difficult year. HOW TO MAKE 'SCHOOL DINNER CAKE' INGREDIENTS 225g butter 225g caster sugar 275g self raising flour 1tsp baking powder 1tsp vanilla extract 4 eggs 4tbsp milk 150g icing sugar Water Sprinkles (hundreds and thousands) METHOD 1. Preheat oven to 180C/Gas mark 4 2. Mix together butter and sugar until light and fluffy 3. Add eggs one-by-one, mixing in as you go 4. Sift in the flour and fold to create a creamy batter 5. Transfer batter to preheated oven and bake for 50 minutes, until risen and golden 6. Leave to cool on a wire rack 7. Mix icing sugar with boiling water until you have a thick consistrncy to pour onto cake 8. Once cake is cooled, pour on icing using a spoon to guide to the edges and finish with sprinkles Advertisement The rise in popularity of the delicious dessert - also known as a sprinkle cake or iced tray bake - may be down to a surge of nostalgia in lockdown. Pictured: One Instagram users cake Reliving my childhood! One user shared a picture with sprinkles inside the cake saying they could taste the nostalgia Sales of trifles were up 35 per cent in 2020 and other retro desserts such as sticky toffee pudding and cherry pie have seen a 60 per cent increase, figures from the British supermarket chain reveal. The humble apple and blackberry crumble is another dessert which is receiving more love than normal as it has sold 13 per cent better than last year. Online searches for 'sponge pudding' and 'bread and butter pudding' also saw an increase by 888 per cent and 349 per cent respectively. Many Instagram users are selling the cake online - with hundreds being desperate to snap up the nostalgic dessert The classic traybake cake has been a staple of school dinners for decades, was its cheap to make and easy to serve 'Want to relive your childhood? This school cake will take you there,' one Instagram user wrote. 'Who remembers school dinners with sponge and custard?! When I was at Primary School (age 4-11) this was my absolute favourite dessert, so I thought Id recreate it,' said another. 'This is the lightest, fluffiest sponge ever,' commented a third. A classic treat! Many are showing the cake with different kinds of sprinkles - including circle sprinkles Meanwhile, Min Y Don holiday park in Twywn, North Wales revealed their added the cake to the menu, while the Nom Bakery in Nottingham said they were doing the same. The experts behind the Young British Food & Drink Awards, which celebrates fresh voices in food writing, also found that nostalgic deserts are on the rise in their 2021 report. When times get tough, escapism is the place Brits find happiness and M&S has seen the mini battered sausages chip shop style boxes soar in sales due to our love affair with comfort food, the YBF report reveals. Cake and custard! One Instagram chef poured their custard over their sponge mix for an extra dose of nostalgia Meanwhile, the once old-fashioned tipple Sherry is making a comeback, while Brits are turning to sweet treats to give themselves a boost from the misery of Covid tiers and lockdowns Sales of luxury quality chocolate and confectionery have soared as people comfort eat in what is known as the 'Covid Confectionery Effect' by producers of premium foods and hampers - who have reported a leap in demand for classic delicacies in recent months. Sales of 'old fashioned' sweets from people's childhoods, like cola cubes, rhubarb and custards, mint imperials, sherbet pips and other nostalgic products such as fudge, toffee and chocolate are soaring as the UK endures continued restrictions. Min Y Don holiday park in Twywn, North Wales revealed their added the cake to the menu (pictured) The dessert cup co, in Batley, West Yorkshire, also offers the cake, which they describe as 'light and fluffy' Cartwright & Butler, which is based in Yorkshire, reported a rise of 170 per cent in sales of butter fudge, while salted caramel fudge shot up a staggering 4500 per cent and peanut brittle purchases were up 84 per cent compared to the same time last year. Psychotherapist Charlotte Fox Webber previously told MailOnline: 'In a time period of turbulence and distressing change, nostalgia transports us back to what we know and there's such sweet familiarity in things from the past. 'There's something so evocative and comforting about past associations and memories. It makes complete emotional sense that in an era of chaos and sorrow and stress, we feel safe when we are reminded of childhood pleasures' Old school sprinkle cake! Psychiatrist Charlotte Fox Webber previously told MailOnline: 'In a time period of turbulence and distressing change, nostalgia transports us back to what we know and there's such sweet familiarity in things from the past. Back to school! Another user shared a version of the cake - with their icing falling off the sides online Welcome to the Day 1a coverage of the $10,300 Super MILLION$ Main Event at GGPoker starting at 6 p.m. GMT (1 p.m. EST) as part of the GGPoker Super MILLION$ Week. The GGPoker Super MILLION$ Week features a huge $30 million in guaranteed prizes across 31 events. GGPoker really stepped it up a notch with the festival's crown jewel in the Super MILLION$ Main Event. This event boasts a $10,300 buy-in along with a massive $10 million guarantee for double the $5 million guarantee this event featured as part of High Rollers Week in November. What's even more, is that it seems likely that the $10 million guarantee is merely a placeholder as it is on pace to blow well past this figure with 307 entrants already getting into the action on Sunday's Day 1a and the tournament needing 1,000 entrants to meet the guarantee. Italy's Luigi "shadinho94" Shehadeh, playing at GGPoker under a Tunisian flag, easily finished on top of the leaderboard of the 41 Day 1a survivors after parlaying his 100,000 opening stack more than 27-fold into a 2,705,791 in chips. Others were less than lucky than Shehadeh and will have to try again in order to advance to Day 2 including GGPoker Ambassadors Fedor Holz and Anatoly Filatov. Super MILLION$ Main Event Structure The Super MILLION$ Main Event boasts four opening flights on Feb. 28, March 2, March 6, and March 7. The tournament will be played eight-handed throughout Day 1 with the eventual final table slated as a nine-max affair. Players will begin the action with a 100,000 starting stack, good for 200 big blinds to begin the day. Blind levels will increase slowly at every 20-minutes and there will be a six-minute break every 55-minutes past the hour. Players will have plenty of chances to build a monster stack as they can re-enter an unlimited amount of times during the long 16-level late-registration window during each of the four opening flights. Each opening flight will end after 22 blind levels are in the books. Surviving opening flight players will then battle it out on Day 2 on Monday, March 8 at 6 p.m. GMT (1 p.m. EST) and conclude when just nine players remain. Randy "nanonoko" Lew and Kevin "RotterdaM" van der Kooi will host a live stream of the final table when it kicks off the following day at 6 p.m. GMT (1 p.m. EST) at the GGPoker YouTube channel. This dynamic duo will also be commentating on the final table of another big event in the $2.5 million guaranteed Event #6: $25,500 Super High Roller on March 2 at 6 p.m. GMT (1 p.m. EST). The PokerNews live reporting team will be bringing all of the action as the day unfolds, so stay tuned starting at 6 p.m. GMT (1 p.m. EST)! Follow PokerNews Live Coverage of Five Events PokerNews will not only be live reporting the Main Event from start to finish but also four other huge events at the dedicated GGPoker Super MILLION$ Hub as follows: Date Time (GMT) Event Buy-in GTD Feb. 28 6 p.m. Super MILLION$ Main Event Day 1a $10,300 $10,000,000 7 p.m. Event #4: Sunday High Rollers ME Day 1 $1,050 $1,000,000 8 p.m. Event #6: Super High Roller Day 1 $25,500 $2,500,000 March 1 6 p.m. Event #4: Sunday High Rollers ME Day 2 - $1,000,000 March 2 6 p.m. Super MILLION$ Main Event Day 1b $10,300 $10,000,000 6 p.m. Event #6: Super High Roller Day 1 - $2,500,000 March 4 7 p.m. Event #17: High Roller $10,300 $1,000,000 March 6 6 p.m. Super MILLION$ Main Event Day 1c $10,300 $10,000,000 March 7 6 p.m. Super MILLION$ Main Event Day 1d $10,300 $10,000,000 8 p.m. Event #30: Super High Roller $25,500 $2,500,000 March 8 6 p.m. Super MILLION$ Main Event Day 2 - $10,000,000 9-Mar 6 p.m. Super MILLION$ Main Event Final Table - $10,000,000 GGPoker Super MILLION$ Week Schedule Date Time (GMT) Event Buy-in GTD Feb. 28 5 p.m. Event #1: GGMasters High Rollers $1,050 $1,000,000 5:30 p.m. Event #2: Bounty Hunters HR Main Event $525 $1,000,000 6 p.m. Super MILLION$ Main Event Day 1a $10,300 $10,000,000 6:10 p.m. Event #3: PLO High Roller $10,300 $1,000,000 7 p.m. Event #4: Sunday High Rollers ME $1,050 $1,000,000 7:30 p.m. Event #5: Sunday 500 Special Edition $5,250 $1,000,000 8 p.m. Event #6: Super High Roller $25,500 $2,500,000 March 1 5:30 p.m. Event #7: Bounty Hunters HR Special $525 $200,000 6 p.m. Event #8: Monday Main Event $1,050 $400,000 7 p.m. Event #9: Bounty $2,100 $600,000 March 2 5:30 p.m. Event #10: Bounty Hunters HR Special $525 $200,000 6 p.m. Event #11: Super Tuesday $1,050 $500,000 6 p.m. Super MILLION$ Main Event Day 1b $10,300 $10,000,000 March 3 5:30 p.m. Event #12: Bounty Hunters HR Special $525 $200,000 6 p.m. Event #13: Wednesday Main Event $1,050 $500,000 7 p.m. Event #14: PLO $5,250 $250,000 March 4 5:30 p.m. Event #15: Bounty Hunters HR Special $525 $200,000 6 p.m. Event #16: Thursday Thriller $1,050 $500,000 7 p.m. Event #17: High Roller $10,300 $1,000,000 March 5 5:30 p.m. Event #18: Bounty Hunters HR Special $525 $200,000 6 p.m. Event #19: Friday Main Event $1,050 $250,000 7 p.m. Event #20: Short Deck High Roller $10,300 $250,000 March 6 5:30 p.m. Event #21: Bounty Hunters HR Special $525 $200,000 6 p.m. Event #22: Saturday Main Event $1,050 $300,000 6 p.m. Super MILLION$ Main Event Day 1c $10,300 $10,000,000 7 p.m. Event #23: Mini Super MILLION$ $108 $250,000 7 p.m. Event #24: Bounty High Roller $5,250 $500,000 March 7 5 p.m. Event #25: GGMasters High Rollers $1,050 $1,000,000 5:30 p.m. Event #26: Bounty Hunters HR Main Event $525 $1,000,000 6 p.m. Super MILLION$ Main Event Day 1d $10,300 $10,000,000 6:10 p.m. Event #27: PLO Bounty $5,250 $500,000 7 p.m. Event #28: Sunday High Rollers ME $1,050 $1,000,000 7:30 p.m. Event #29: Sunday 500 $5,250 $500,000 8 p.m. Event #30: Super High Roller $25,500 $2,500,000 March 8 6 p.m. Super MILLION$ Main Event Day 2 - $10,000,000 Boost Your Bankroll With the GGPoker Welcome Package Dont have an account? Download GGPoker via PokerNews to grab your lucrative 200 percent welcome bonus worth up to $600 on your first deposit. The bonus releases into your account in $10 increments each time you earn 6,000 Fish Buffet Points, which is the equivalent of $60 in rake or tournament fees. The National Center on Sexual Exploitation or NCOSE has just released the Dirty Dozen List 2021, an annual campaign that lists and calls out 12 mainstream entities, organizations, or companies for "facilitating or profiting from sexual abuse and exploitation." The NCOSE, former known as Morality in Media, is a non-profit organization that advocates against pornography and sex trafficking based on abolitionist principles. Started in 2013, the Dirty Dozen List is an annual review of 12 entities that are believed to be profiting off sexual exploitation. This year's annual list includes familiar entities such as Amazon, Twitter, Netflix, and other Big Tech names. According to Christian Post, NCOSE released the Dirty Dozen List for 2021 on Tuesday morning, during which experts and staffers spoke about these entities and why they made the list, through a virtual event conducted via Zoom. They hope to raise awareness about these entities and call them out to "stop promoting sexually graphic products and content and stop allowing sexual harassment, predatory grooming and child sexual abuse." The top five companies accused of profiting off sexual exploitation are Amazon, Google's Chromebook, the VoIP and messaging platform Discord, online resources provider EBSCO Information Services, online streaming service provider Netflix. Also included in the Dirty Dozen List of companies accused ot profiting off sexual exploitation are the state of Nevada where some counties consider prostitution legal, content subscription service OnlyFans, social news aggregation and discussion website Reddit, "sugar dating" platform Seeking Arrangement, microblogging and social networking service Twitter, network infrastructure provider Verisign, and retail shopping website Wish. Topping this year's Dirty Dozen List of companies profiting off sexual exploitation is Amazon, which subsidiary live streaming video website Twitch is an avenue for "sexual harassment, predatory grooming and child sexual abuse," NCOSE Executive Director Dawn Hawkins explained, as per Christian Post. "There are frequent conversations between children and strangers, with strangers daring kids to do explicit acts or to share their contact information." Netflix landed a place in this year's Dirty Dozen List because of its sexually graphic content, violence, and for streaming the controversial film "Cuties," which featured minors dancing provocatively. According to Variety, there was a huge spike of Netflix U.S. account cancellations due to the film's sexualized portrayal of children. The Jack Dorsey-founded Twitter, on the other hand, is named as one of the "Dirty Dozen" because it "failed to prioritize the safety of sex trafficking and child abuse survivors who are exploited on the app." Parents should also be concerned as some companies with services or products geared towards education also made the Dirty Dozen List. Google's Chromebook is reportedly on the list for its refusal to turn on safety features, thus exposing children in schools to sexually explicit material and sexual predators. EBSCO Information Services, which is a leader in online resources for schools and libraries, are also on the list for its "graphic sexual content and live links to prostitution and pornography websites," which are "easily accessible to K-12 students." NCOSE director of Corporate and Strategic Initiatives Lina Nealon warned that the entities on the Dirty Dozen List "exert enormous influence and power politically, economically, socially, and culturally." She said that while they provide convenient products and services used in everyday life, "they are also perpetuating and enabling violence and harm." Questo comunicato e stato pubblicato piu di 30 giorni fa. Le informazioni su questa pagina potrebbero non essere attendibili. Juvenile Macular Degeneration Market China and India contribute to the growth of the market. On the other hand, the Middle East & Africa hold the least share of the market due to the low prevalence of macular degeneration in the region and limited availability of funds and availability of medical facilities. The Middle East has a huge share for the Juvenile Macular Degeneration Market due to the presence of well-developed countries like Kuwait, Qatar, Oman and Saudi Arabia. However, due to the presence of a huge opportunity for the development of the market, Africa region is expecting a healthy growth in near future. Global Juvenile Macular Degeneration (Stargardt Disease) market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 7.2% during the forecast period 2017-2023. Sample Report: https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/4935 Key Players in Global Juvenile Macular Degeneration Market Acucela Inc. (U.S.), Alkeus Pharmaceuticals Inc. (U.S.), Astellas Pharma Inc. (Japan), ProQR Therapeutics NV (Netherland), Sanofi (France), Bayer HealthCare (Germany), F. Hoffmann-La Roche (Switzerland), Copernicus Therapeutics Inc. (U.S.), Grupo Ferrer Internacional SA (U.S.), Iris Pharma (U.S.), Nemus Bioscience Inc (U.S.), Ophthotech Corp (U.S.), Iconic Therapeutics (U.S.), Adverum Biotechnologies (U.S.), PanOptica (U.S.), RXi Pharmaceuticals (U.S.), Neurotech Pharmaceuticals (U.S.) The European juvenile macular degeneration market accounted for 32.7% market share in 2016. In Europe, Germany, the U.K, and France are the largest contributors to the market owing to the availability of funds for research, and extensive research and development activities in ophthalmology. The development of novel therapies and other treatment options for juvenile macular degeneration also fuel the growth of the market. The Middle East & Africa exhibit steady but positive growth owing to low technology penetration in developing regions of Africa, and increasing demand for diagnostics services in developing regions. In the Middle East, the United Arab Emirates accounts for the largest market share for macular degeneration. READ MORE @ https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/juvenile-macular-degeneration-market-4935 About Us: Market Research Future (MRFR), enable customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services. (Newser) It is, declares the headline of a lengthy story at ProPublica, "the murder Chicago didn't want to solve." And as Mick Dumke writes, the killing of Black politician Ben Lewis in 1963 does indeed remain unsolved after nearly six decades. The slaying was national news at the time: The 53-year-old Lewis, who'd just won reelection to the City Council and was expected to run for Congress in the near future, was found shot to death in his ward office. He was facedown on his desk, a bloody couch cushion covering his head, and he was handcuffed. Lewis wasn't just killed, he was assassinated. But why? That's still an open question, and Dumke runs the murder through the context of the times. Police spread stories to newspapers that Lewis was a womanizer (raising the prospect of a jealous husband) with links to the city's criminal syndicate. But an FBI agent concluded that such stories were being made up to "dirty him up." story continues below "His death was strictly a political murder" because he wouldn't follow orders, the agent wrote. A year after the murder, a different FBI report said an informant pinned the blame on two underworld figures. "Source heard that Alderman Lewis, before his assassination, was not cooperating with the criminal element in Chicago," an agent noted in that report. Dumke's piece focuses in particular on one of those underworld figures, Lenny Patrick. It also takes note of a cryptic phone call Lewis received from a police sergeant just before his death. The sergeant was questioned but never arrested. Another officer, long retired, tells Dumke he knows why Lewis was murdered and who ordered the killing. "I happened to be present and knowledgeable of certain circumstances where I know what transpired," he says. But he adds that what he knows won't be divulged until after his death. (Read the full story.) 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. Pope Benedict calls Biden a 'practicing Catholic,' concerned about Democratic platform Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI recently said in an interview that while he considers President Joe Biden to be a practicing Catholic, he is concerned about his support for the Democratic platform on abortion. The former pope was interviewed by the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera on Sunday, around the anniversary of his retirement in 2013 as head of the Roman Catholic Church. When asked his opinion of Biden, the second Catholic to hold the office of the United States president, Benedict offered a mixed opinion of the politician. Its true, he is a practicing Catholic and observant. And he is personally against abortion, he explained, according to Crux. But as a president, he tends to present himself in continuity with the platform of the Democratic Party. And on gender politics, we have not yet fully understood what his position is. Benedict also rejected any conspiracy theories regarding why he resigned in 2013. He became the first pope to resign in over 600 years. Benedict, who was born to the name Joseph Ratzinger, said his conscience is clear and that external forces did not influence his resignation. Within Catholic Church circles, there has been some debate over Biden's faith. While the former Delaware senator and former vice president is a regular churchgoer, his political policies on abortion seem to go against the Catholic Churchs teaching in opposition to abortion. For example, soon after taking office, Biden released a statement promising to codify the U.S. Supreme Court decision Roe v. Wade, which legalized abortion nationwide in 1973. In the past four years, reproductive health, including the right to choose, has been under relentless and extreme attack, stated Biden in January. We are deeply committed to making sure everyone has access to care including reproductive health care regardless of income, race, zip code, health insurance status, or immigration status. Bidens support for abortion rights has led some in the Catholic Church, among them Archbishop Joseph F. Naumann, chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' Committee on Pro-Life Activities, to conclude that Biden should not be considered a devout Catholic. The president should stop defining himself as a devout Catholic and acknowledge that his view on abortion is contrary to Catholic moral teaching, said Naumann in an interview with The Catholic World Report. It would be a more honest approach from him to say he disagreed with his church on this important issue and that he was acting contrary to Church teaching. Some in the Catholic Church believe Biden should be denied holy communion until he repents of his public policy positions on abortion. Others, including Cardinal Wilton Gregory, have stated that they will not deny Biden communion and will focus on working together on other issues and dialoguing. The kind of relationship that I hope we will have is a conversational relationship where we can discover areas where we can cooperate that reflect the social teachings of the church, knowing full well that there are some areas where we wont agree, Gregory told Catholic News Service last November. I hope its a real dialogue because I think thats the mantra of Pope Francis that we should be a church in dialogue, even with those with whom we have some serious disagreements." In 2019, Biden was denied communion at a South Carolina church because of his stance on abortion. Bidens political views on abortion have evolved through the years. He once stated during his first term in the U.S. Senate in 1974 that he thought Roe v. Wade went too far. In a 2006 interview, Biden called abortion a tragedy. Biden stated in his 2007 book, Promises to Keep: On Life and Politics, that he "stuck to my middle-of-the-road position on abortion for more than thirty years and noted that while he personally opposed abortion, he doesnt think he has the right to impose his view on the rest of society. In the lead-up to the 2020 presidential election, Biden criticized states that passed or introduced legislation meant to limit when abortions can be conducted, calling them extreme laws that violate a womans constitutional right to choose. In 2019, Biden officially ended his longtime support for legislation that blocks federal funding for abortion in most cases. Please enable cookies on your web browser in order to continue. The new European data protection law requires us to inform you of the following before you use our website: We use cookies and other technologies to customize your experience, perform analytics and deliver personalized advertising on our sites, apps and newsletters and across the Internet based on your interests. By clicking I agree below, you consent to the use by us and our third-party partners of cookies and data gathered from your use of our platforms. See our Privacy Policy and Third Party Partners to learn more about the use of data and your rights. You also agree to our Terms of Service. A burglar who broke in through the window of a sleeping woman's bedroom and sexually assaulted her as she fought to escape has been jailed for ten years. The woman described at the Central Criminal Court how she awoke in bed to find Ibrahim Elghynaoui (28) on top of her kissing her with his hand on her throat. She said she believed she was going die as Elghynaoui then strangled her during a struggle on her bedroom floor. She realised no one was coming to help her so began to fight back by pushing her thumbs into his eyes, kneeing him in the groin and biting him on the hand. She said she told herself: If you don't get yourself out of this you are going to die. As she got up to run for her bedroom door, she said Elghynaoui put his fingers forcefully into her vagina. She described this as having the force of an open-handed blow. She ran from the room and Elghynaoui escaped back out the ground floor window in her room back onto the street. Elghynaoui admitted to gardai that he was the burglar but denied sexually assaulting the woman. Elghynaoui of no fixed abode, had pleaded not guilty to aggravated sexual assault of the woman and burglary at her home in Dublin on July 17, 2019. He was convicted by a jury of both counts following a trial last December. Elghynaoui pleaded guilty to the burglary of another man's nearby apartment earlier the same night and attempted burglary of another home on July 12, 2019. Moroccan national Elghynaoui, who was homeless at the time of these offences, has 33 previous convictions across three jurisdictions. He has 22 Irish convictions for offences such as burglary, possession of a knife and failing to appear in court. He has been in custody since July 18, 2019. The court heard on Monday that Elghynaoui came to Ireland in 2017 and first appeared on the PULSE system in August of that year. He has no immigration status to be in Ireland and a deportation application was submitted by gardai in January 2018. He was in custody on foot of charges in April 2018 and applied for asylum. Elghynaoui was released from custody on the basis of that application but failed to engage with the process and the application was closed. Another deportation order is currently in place. Michael OHiggins SC, defending, said Elghynaoui will not apply to reactivate the asylum process and will be bound by the deportation order. Mr Justice Paul McDermott on Monday said the accused man had subjected the woman to the terror of a sexual assault on her own bed in the dead of night. He noted she had been in a vulnerable and defenceless position. He said she demonstrated very impressive fortitude and courage during the incident. Mr Justice McDermott said the effects of the attack on the woman had been devastating and long-lasting affecting her life, employment and relationships. He said the attack had been grossly humiliating and degrading with a clear overhanging threat of serious violence. The woman, who was alone and at her most defenceless, had been terrified and feared for her life as the accused made continuous efforts to keep her subdued. The judge said Elghynaoui bore a high degree of culpability and set a headline sentence of 12 years for the sexual assault and nine years for the burglary. He noted in mitigation that Elghynaoui had accepted the evidence in the case to a significant degree and acknowledged he was present but did not plead guilty or express remorse. He took into account the guilty pleas to the other burglaries and that Elghynaoui will serve his sentence in this country where he has no friends and will have social and cultural difficulties. Mr Justice McDermott imposed a sentence of ten years for the aggravated sexual assault, seven and a half years for the burglary of the woman's home. He imposed a sentence of three years for the earlier burglary and 18 months for the attempted burglary with all sentences to run concurrently. Additional Evidence To this day I do not feel safe, the woman told the court in her victim impact statement, describing the effect of being attacked in the privacy of her own bedroom. Nowhere feels safe. She said she lives in a state of hyper-vigilance and lives in constant fear it will happen again. I am fighting hard to heal from the ordeal. I do not want to look back in anger or regret but know my life, or my life before the crime is gone, and I am still grieving for that life. This crime which probably only lasted a few minutes has left an irreparable mark on my life and life of my family, she told Justice McDermott. She said after the crime, the trial process was the second worst experience of her life. She described how she had been in the dark for 18 months not knowing if she would have to face her attacker in court. I was terrified of seeing him and putting a face to the nightmares, she said. She said talking about her body and intimate details during the trial in a room full of strangers had been very traumatic and an experience she was still recovering from. Detective Sergeant Aine Grogan told Michael Delaney SC, prosecuting, that a man awoke from sleep to find an intruder in his apartment shortly after 3am on July 17, 2019. The intruder, Elghynaoui, left when challenged. Gardai were alerted and it was discovered an Apple Mac laptop had been taken. Elghynaoui then made his way to the woman's ground floor apartment, which she shared with two friends, each having separate bedrooms. She had left her bedroom window slightly ajar but had believed it was locked in position. The trial heard it was possible to gain entry through the window. During the trial the woman described how she awoke in her bed to the sensation of someone on top of her kissing her face. She screamed, struggled and succeeded in jumping from the bed but Elghynaoui threw her to the floor and put his hands on her throat more forcefully. The woman said she believed she was going to die and fought back by trying to get her thumbs into his eyes, kneeing him in the groin and, when he put his hand over her mouth to silence her, she bit down. She drew blood which she spat out. Elghynaoui got off her and she prepared to run for the bedroom door. She said as she did Elghynaoui put his fingers quite forcefully into her vagina. She described this as having the force of an open-handed blow. She managed to push him away and ran for the door but found it was locked. I thought that's it, I am dead, she said during the trial. She said she looked over her shoulder expecting to see the man coming but instead he was running away. She got out, slammed the door behind her and screamed to her flatmates that there was a man in the house. Her last view of him was as he ran in the opposite direction to the window. He escaped onto the street. The woman and her flatmates hid in a courtyard in the apartment complex. They alerted gardai and hailed at taxi using a mobile app. The taxi came a few minutes later and gardai, who had been investigating the earlier burglary, arrived at the same time. While enroute to the apartment the gardai had met Elghynaoui who gave his name, date of birth and moved on. The woman discovered two mobile phones, an iPad, some jewellery and handbag had been stolen. She was brought to a Sexual Assault Treatment Unit (SATU) where she was examined and found numerous cuts and abrasions including to her neck and genital area, as well as a bit mark on her breast. Elghynaoui was interviewed by gardai and admitted stealing items from the woman's home but denied sexual assaulting the woman. Det St Grogan agreed with Eoin Hardiman BL, defending, that Elghynaoui had volunteered his correct name when stopped and complied with all that was required of him in custody. She agreed that Elghynaoui gave information that he took drugs and lived on the streets. In her victim impact statement, the woman told the court that as well as the physical injuries she sustained, she also had to take medication to prevent sexually transmitted infections and prevent HIV, as well as having blood taken for a number of months until she got the all clear. She said immediately after the offence she was in a state of shock and disassociation, which recurred at the SATU when the bite marks, accused man's blood and cut to her vagina were discovered. She panicked that there might be other aspects of the attack she could not recall. She said she developed Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and cannot bear to be touched, something that has caused heartbreak in her very close and tactile family. She says she cannot bear to be alone, needs someone with her at night and suffers violent nightmares and flashbacks. She described how she suffers bad insomnia but is too frightened to take sleeping tablets because she is terrified of being unconscious and unable to defend herself if attacked. Michael O'Higgins SC, defending, submitted that while there had not been a guilty plea in relation to the burglary and sexual assault at the womans house the case had been conducted in such a way as to minimise trauma to the woman. He asked that his client's guilty pleas in relation to the other burglaries be taken into account. Mr O'Higgins said personal detail about his client was scant and getting instructions from Elghynaoui had been difficult. He said he believed this was not out of malice but borne of a deep distrust of anyone in authority. He said Elghynaoui was a Moroccan national, having left there when he was 16 and moved to Spain where he did odd jobs. He then moved to Brussels, and onto the UK for a number of years before coming to Ireland in 2017. He said his client had been living an aimless and rootless existence at the time of the offending, staying in a dilapidated squat and was not on social welfare. He said he did not advance intoxication as mitigation but did refer to it to explain his clients actions in circumstances where they appear to be significantly out of character. This winter, Commonwealth Edison has come along and cut half the tree down to string a new electric line, said Pat Carry, who lives four blocks away from the tree. Im sure ComEd did have the right to do that, but seeing that the tree is so old, they could have gone around it. TEACHERS unions yesterday said this years O and A Level students were not ready to sit for the Zimbabwe School Examinations Council (Zimsec) June examinations following the disruption of the educational calendar by the COVID-19 pandemic since last year. Several teachers unions told NewsDay that learners were not prepared as online learning was not effective, especially in the rural areas. They also said they were not ready for the reopening of schools due to governments failure to pay them a living wages. Their assertions came soon after government last week announced that Zimsec June examinations would go ahead as planned. Last Wednesday, Primary and Secondary Education minister Cain Mathema said the June examinations would go ahead, but indicated that they might be some adjustments to the timetable. The ministry is currently on a countrywide tour of schools to check on their preparedness for reopening. Amalgamated Rural Teachers Union of Zimbabwe president Obert Masaraure said: As of now, teachers are incapacitated. As long as the government does not address this issue, then there will not be proper implementation of the workplan for the scheduled examinations. It is painfully worrisome that we are entering the third month into the new year with teachers singing the same song of incapacitation. This is despite that the employer is in the full knowledge of the erosion of our salaries by price hikes which began as we approached the festive season last December, he said. Teachers are demanding salaries equivalent to US$520. Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe secretary-general Raymond Majongwe said rural candidates were not ready for the June examinations due to lack of internet connectivity. While teachers are ready to assist, our worry is that some learners, especially those in rural areas are not yet equipped to sit for the June examinations since they were not partaking in online lessons as they had no gadgets. Some of the teachers in the rural areas do not even own a smartphone, and this will affect June registrations, Majongwe said. Newsday Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 1) The Philippines has sent a note verbale to the US State Department seeking action on the rising criminal acts against Asian-Americans in various parts of the US. Philippine Ambassador to the United States Jose Manuel Romualdez confirmed the note verbale was filed last week, emphasizing the need to raise attention on the surge in hate crimes against Asian-Americans which include Filipinos. "We have requested the State Department's immediate assistance in raising this matter with the appropriate federal and state authorities to further strengthen and assure the security and protection of the lives of persons of Asian descent, including Filipinos and Filipino-Americans," Romualdez said. Romualdez added they are monitoring the cases of violence against Asian-Americans, especially Filipinos and Filipino-Americans, since September 2020. In early February, a 61-year-old Filipino man was slashed in the face on the New York City subway. Stop AAPI (Asian American Pacific Islander) Hate, an advocacy group documenting discrimination and racism against Asians during the pandemic, received over 2,800 firsthand accounts of anti-Asian hate between March and December last year, CNN International quoted the organization as saying. "A majority of those attacksabout 71%were cases of verbal harassment, while shunning or avoidance made up about 21%. About 9% of the incidents involved physical assaults, and 6% included being purposely coughed or spit on," CNN added. The Asian American Bar Association of New York noted in a report published early this month that from January 1 to November 1, 2020, New York Police Department saw an eight-fold spike in the number of hate crimes against Asians compared to the same period in 2019. Arora Akanksha, a native of India and citizen of Canada, submitted a formal letter of application for the role of United Nations Secretary General for the 2022-27 term. The 34-year-old aims to replace current Secretary General Antonio Guterres, 71, veteral Portuguese statesman as well as former UN High Commissioner for refugees. Arora Akaksha does not have any diplomatic experience and has worked at the UN for around four years as an auditor who was recruited from an accounting firm. Arora uses her family name first and prefers to be called that. She drew up a budget of $30,000 from her savings for the campaign. Arora has a website and a social media campaign to back her. "People in my profession aren't supposed to stand up to the ones in charge," she was quoted in her social media promotion. "We are not living up to our purpose or our promise. We are failing those we are here to serve," stated the application. Arora was born in Haryana and spent her early years in Saudi Arabia. Her parents, both doctors, had relocated there. She was in India from age 9 to 18 years, before she decided to move to Canada. She graduated from York University and worked for PricewaterhouseCoopers Canada as an auditing manager. She was hired by the UN to help improve its internal financial controls. It is then that her admiration for the organisation turned to shock. While working, she went back to school and attended Columbia University's graduate programme in public administration. No country has formally endorsed her candidacy so far. Nevertheless, her candidacy has put on focus the way the agency picks its leaders. Guterres is still expected to win a second term, said a report in New York Times. Arora said that the UN is wasteful, adrift, paternalistic, sclerotic, and patronising towards many of its younger staff members around the world. She claimed in one of her campaign videos on YouTube that only about 29 cents of every dollar from the UN's total revenue of roughly $56 billion goes to actual causes. "We spend our resources on holding conferences, writing reports. All these frivolous activities that are advertising. We have lost course on why we exist, what we're supposed to do," she said in an interview. She added that if the UN were a private company, it would have been out of business. Arora has taken a leave of absence from work for her campaign. She said that she has received many positive messages from co-workers. She is expecting to make her case to the UN ambassadors in the next few months. Arora is the first person to officially challenge an incumbent seeking a second term, said the NYT. She is also the first millennial candidate. If she wins, she could become the first woman to lead the UN. She has 'very supportive' parents, said Arora. She is known to live frugally and reads Harry Potter to relax. Her reasons to run for the position of UN Secretary-General stemmed from her family's background as refugees. Her grandparents fled from Pakistan to India during the 1947 partition. "Refugees have no plan B, hence I have no plan B," she said, when asked about the possibility of losing to Guterres. Also read: Extremely grateful for India's 2 lakh coronavirus vaccines for peacekeepers: UN's Antonio Guterres Also read: Premature, unrealistic to think COVID-19 pandemic will end by 2021: WHO The military has been enlisted to help with the coronavirus vaccine rollout in aged care facilities to ramp up the number of people receiving their first doses as 300,000 doses of both the AstraZeneca and Pfizer vaccines are distributed to states and territories. Army doctors and nurses are undergoing training this week before they join the work to immunise aged care residents and workers in regional and remote areas from next week. Army medics will assist in the effort to vaccinate aged care residents. Credit:Getty The Australian Defence Force will support the private logistics and healthcare companies already providing vaccines at aged care facilities around the country, with the addition of ADF personnel in logistics teams as well as more security and clerical staff. The military support comes after the aged care rollout fell behind schedule just days into the program last week, after a bungle that saw two aged care residents receive four times the prescribed dose. 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. Covid-19 has called cut for cinemas all over the world, but a new list of the world's most beautiful movie theatres aims to celebrate them in all their infinite variety. Time Out's 50 most beautiful cinemas in the world list ranges from multiplexes to opulent indies, and there's an eye-catching inclusion at No16 Dublins Stella Cinema. A beloved fleapit that closed in 2004, seemingly forever, the Stella sprung back into life in 2017 with a Gatsby-esque tszuj that restored it to its old 1920s grandeur, the global magazine says. The list is topped by Amsterdams Pathe Tuschinski, a mash-up of Art Deco and Art Nouveau styles owned by Pathe, followed by Le Grand Rex in Paris and New Yorks Village East Cinema. The Stella first opened in Rathmines in 1923. At the time, it was Irelands largest cinema with a capacity of 1,283 patrons decades before television brought screens into peoples homes. Read More Dublins Press Up Group relaunched the facility as a plush night-out proposition in 2017, retaining Art Deco features such as its mosaic tiling, handrails and ceiling mouldings, while serving dishes like churros, BBQ pulled pork fries and loaded nachos to cinemagoers seats. Being side by side with some of the most iconic theatres in the world of cinema is something we cherish and are incredibly proud of," said Karl Geraghty, the group's theatre director. The cinema's upstairs cocktail club pushes the Scott Fitzgerald vibe into the realms of French martinis and bourbon cocktails, Time Out adds. "Oh, and the screen itself isnt shabby either, with red armchairs, huge sofas and double beds to pick from. The Stella used to be Irelands largest cinema, now its just the swishest. Going to the Stella now is an occasion; it shows what can be done, historian Donal Fallon said in a recent episode of his Three Castles Burning podcast, which looks at the rise and fall of Dublins cinemas and a future when we may be able to treat ourselves to a night at the movies once again. The Press Up Group has also opened a sister cinema in the basement of Ranelagh's Devlin Hotel, although both screens are currently closed due to Covid-19 restrictions. Under Ireland's public health guidelines, cinemas, theatres, conferences and other "organised indoor gatherings" cannot open until Level 2 with social distancing, capacity limits (25pc in the Stellas case) and other health and safety measures in place. "Here's hoping that it won't be too much longer until we can warmly and safely welcome our guests back to Stella, Geraghty said. Time Out's full Top 50 can be found online here. Naver founder and Global Investment Officer Lee Hae-jin / Courtesy of Naver By Kim Bo-eun While it is not Naver's first time to launch portal services in Japan, the situation appears different this time due to it having partnered with Yahoo, which had previously been its competitor there. Naver is now equipped with a solid market share in both search engine and mobile messenger services via its Japanese subsidiary Line and is seeking to enhance competency with artificial intelligence capabilities. Naver and Yahoo Japan's parent company SoftBank launched the new entity A Holdings, Monday. Naver founder and Global Investment Officer Lee Hae-jin has assumed the position as co-head of A Holdings, alongside SoftBank CEO Ken Miyauchi. A Holdings is the holding company of Z Holdings (ZHD) Group, which wholly owns Naver's subsidiary Line and Yahoo Japan. ZHD Group said it will focus on businesses covering search engine, ads, mobile messenger-based commerce as well as reservations, delivery and fintech services, in a presentation the same day. The new entity is set to apply Naver's Smart Store e-commerce platform model in Japan. The platform offers a differentiated engagement model with merchants and consumers, as it presents products, tracks orders and deliveries, offers its own payment service and manages reviews. ZDH is set to help Japanese merchants establish online shopping malls and management. Japan's e-commerce market has grown at a slow pace, despite its reputation for embracing technology. The company is also seeking to focus on e-commerce via Line Messenger, which is the most-used service of its type in Japan. It plans to offer services through which Line users can send gifts via the messenger app as well as purchase certain products with other Line users at a discounted price. It is also planning live commerce, through which Line users can watch influencers introduce products and purchase those items. ZDH will also offer reservation services for restaurants and accommodations, as well as food delivery services. In addition, Line Pay's fintech business will be scaled up to offer loans, investment products and insurance to users. ZDH is seeking to integrate Line Pay and PayPay, the mobile payment app backed by SoftBank. ZHD Group stated plans to reach 21.2 trillion won in sales and 2.4 trillion won in operating profit by 2023. The company plans to invest 5.3 trillion won into artificial intelligence technology development over the next five years. ZHD's vision is to take its business beyond Japan into overseas markets. This has been Line's strategy, which began as Naver's subsidiary in Japan but expanded its overseas presence with its messenger and fintech services offered in Taiwan, Thailand and Indonesia. Naver GIO Lee has been envisioning Z Holdings' growth to take on bigtech companies of the U.S. and China. "Our goal is to become a globally leading AI tech firm based in Japan and Asia," ZDH stated at the presentation. Naver is betting big on its third attempt after two past failures. Naver Japan was first set up in 2000 but ceased service in January 2005. Naver tried again in 2007 but ended its services in 2013. * Username This is the name that will be displayed next to your photo for comments, blog posts, and more. Choose wisely! Former President Donald Trump at the Conservative Political Action Committee in Orlando, Florida, criticized Indias environmental record, among other criticisms throughout his first speech since leaving office Jan. 20. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images) .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... Copyright 2021 Albuquerque Journal Ignacio Ruiz, assistant superintendent for the Clark County School District in Nevada, said he grew up in a community similar to Albuquerque and thats part of the reason he wants to become the next Albuquerque Public Schools superintendent. I was an English learner going into school, he said. He playfully cited the states famous chile as another big draw to make the move. ADVERTISEMENTSkip ................................................................ Ruiz is now one of three finalists for the job after Ushma Shah, assistant superintendent of elementary schools, instruction and equity for School District U-46 in Illinois, withdrew her application. While I was excited to potentially make the move to New Mexico, recent personal matters have underscored the importance of remaining local at this time, Shah wrote in a letter to the APS Board of Education dated Feb. 28. Ruiz spent Monday night answering community questions and being publicly interviewed by board members. The bilingual administrator, who calls himself a lifelong educator and a collaborative leader, emphasized his experience in other large, urban districts. Ruiz said the district he is at now has 310,000 students and over 300 schools. Part of his job is overseeing an English language learner division. I really feel like Id be of service to the APS community, he said. When asked about boosting academics, Ruiz said he wants to raise student expectations. Grade-level standards are the floor, not the ceiling, he said. Too many times, we see the grade-level standards and thats where we stop. He also stressed targeting resources at students who are struggling. Ruiz was also asked about reopening schools during the COVID-19 pandemic. We need to get our kiddos back in school, he said. We need to be able to see them and be able to support them not only with the instructional piece but also that social, emotional piece. The superintendent finalist said partnerships with local health agencies and detailed protocols are key. He also stressed community communication is a crucial aspect of successfully reopening schools. According to an updated schedule, APS Interim Superintendent Scott Elder will go through the same process on Tuesday and Bolgen Vargas, a self-employed consultant and former superintendent of Rochester City School District in New York, will be under the spotlight on Thursday. Community forums are 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. and interviews are 7:15 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., all of which are livestreamed. The link is at APS.edu. The board has been looking for a permanent leader to succeed Raquel Reedy and has already conducted initial interviews with six semifinalists. The aim is to announce the superintendent selection as early as Friday. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. His Prison Cell Angel: an intriguing tale of faith and soul connection as two people are brought together to face the adversities that chase them. His Prison Cell Angel is the creation of published author Elizabeth Lott, a writer who taught school and loves reading, writing, quilting, cutting, and decorating eggs, and she loves to cook for her family. Lott shares, James Johnson, a CIA agent, was captured in Russia and thrown into prison. The punishment and torture that were inflicted upon him were brutal and barbaric. When he thought that he was about to die, from starvation and illness, James drifted off into a state of euphoria and bliss. A lady from his past, one that he had loved deeply, appeared to him as an angel. The Lady's name is Sarah. Seeing her in his dream gave James the courage to pray and a will to live. For almost a year now, Sarah has been having dreams about James. Some of them, the ones that she could remember, left her feeling uneasy about him. By chance, maybe some would say it was providence, James and Sarah found each other again... Published by Christian Faith Publishing, Elizabeth Lotts new book is an enthralling novel about James being saved from the tortures of a Russian prison with the hopeful light of love, faith, and will to fight for oneself. Readers will surely be hooked to this engrossing saga! View a synopsis of His Prison Cell Angel on YouTube. Consumers can purchase His Prison Cell Angel at traditional brick & mortar bookstores, or online at Amazon.com, Apple iTunes store, or Barnes and Noble. For additional information or inquiries about His Prison Cell Angel, contact the Christian Faith Publishing media department at 866-554-0919. Capital for Colleagues plc - Portfolio Update - Anthesis Capital for Colleagues plc / EPIC: CFCP / Market: AQSE / Sector: Investment 2 March 2021 CAPITAL FOR COLLEAGUES PLC ('Capital for Colleagues' or the 'Company') PORTFOLIO UPDATE - ANTHESIS CONSULTING GROUP LIMITED Capital for Colleagues, the investment vehicle focused on opportunities in the Employee Owned Business ('EOB') sector, is pleased to announce that it has sold its investment in portfolio company Anthesis Consulting Group Limited ('Anthesis') for consideration of 1.15 million in cash, a profit on the original investment of around 155%. Capital for Colleagues' investment in Anthesis was valued at 705,000 in the Company's investment update for the quarter ended 30 November 2020. Anthesis is a specialist consultancy, offering commercially driven sustainability services and solutions. The Company's investment has been realised as Anthesis puts in place a new investment structure to support its next stage of growth. The proceeds from this sale will be applied in the ongoing fulfilment of the Company's investment strategy and for general working capital purposes. Alistair Currie, Chief Executive of Capital for Colleagues, said: 'We are delighted to report our second substantial and profitable realisation of 2021. We have been stakeholders in Anthesis since 2016 and are pleased with the progress that the Company has made. We wish Anthesis well as the company moves to the next stage of its evolution.' Malcolm Paul, Chairman of Anthesis, said: 'We would like to thank Capital for Colleagues for their support during the early stages of Anthesis's development and growth. Employee ownership and engagement is an important part of the Anthesis culture and we wish Capital for Colleagues well in their support of this growing sector of the UK economy.' The Directors of the Company are responsible for the contents of this announcement. **ENDS** For further information, please visit www.capitalforcolleagues.com or contact: CAPITAL FOR COLLEAGUES PLC Richard Bailey, Chairman Alistair Currie, Chief Executive 01985 201 980 PETERHOUSE CAPITAL LIMITED Mark Anwyl Allie Feuerlein 020 7469 0930 Capital for Colleagues Capital for Colleagues is an investment company focused on the UK EOB sector. The Company has a proven management team, with a wide network of contacts and affiliates, as well as established access to investment opportunities, enabling the Company to execute its strategy and capitalise on EOB-focused investment opportunities. In addition, the Company educates and assists companies that are looking to launch employee ownership schemes, advising them, amongst other things, on how to secure investment and achieve their objectives. Market Abuse Regulation (MAR) Disclosure This announcement contains inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of the Market Abuse Regulation EU 596/2014 as it forms part of retained EU law (as defined in the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018). William Roper: There is! Gods law! More: Then God can arrest him. More says Rich should go free even if he was the Devil himself, until he broke the law. Roper: So now you give the Devil the benefit of the law. More: Yes! What would you do? Cut a great road through the law to get after the Devil? Roper: Yes, Id cut down every law in England to do that! More: Oh? And when the last law was down, and the Devil turned round on you, where would you hide, Roper, the laws all being flat? Loading This is the argument Scott Morrison invokes for the minister accused of rape. What is his alternative? If he was to do what those seeking justice demand he would name the minister, stand him down and then force him to a trial in front of some yet-to-be-invented parliamentary or quasi-judicial inquiry. Such an inquisition would essentially reverse the onus of proof on the minister because how can that be anything other than inventing a process where the accused is forced to prove his innocence? He may well deserve such a fate, but so do many. The world is rich with unpunished criminals. The minister is being urged to out himself, clear the names of his colleagues and mount his own defence. He may well do this as his name will inevitably go mainstream. When this happens, whether guilty or innocent, his career in politics will be over because there is nothing he can say that will placate his accusers. If an accusation alone is now enough to end a political career then it will be weaponised. Finally, mounting a defence for this man is, as the anonymous letter writer accuses, wilful blindness. It is why Lady Justice has always been depicted wearing a blindfold since she was first imagined in the form of the Greek goddess Dike. It is a symbol of her impartiality. Loading In a Man For All Seasons Bolt was walking in the footsteps of another great writer, Hesiod. In 700 BC the poet wrote listen to right and do not foster violence. The better path is to go on the other side towards Justice for Dike (Justice) beats Hybris (Outrage) when she comes at length to the end of the race. But only when he has suffered does the fool learn this. In this violent age of outrage any defence of the accused minister will stoke the fury of the mob because, if as many have already judged he is guilty, it is the equivalent of making an argument for Satan. Under Biden, ICE Officers Now Instructed to Defy Court Orders Commentary I have said for the past two years that when theyre in power, the anti-border left would never abolish Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) outright. Instead, theyd just cripple the agency with a lack of funding and policies that would tie their hands. I enforced the immigration laws for nearly 35 years, and I know the political games of Washington. The new administration in power is following this strategy to force immigration officers to defy court orders and betray the core mission of their agency. As I predicted, immigration enforcement has been cut by more than $300 million, mostly in detention funding and transportation costs. These two funds are needed to detain and move illegal aliens. Recent new instructions sent out on Feb. 18 by ICE headquarters make it so that the agencys officers and agents are unable to do their job. Its a page out of the Obama administration playbook when it crippled ICE enforcement in Fiscal Year (FY) 2013. The priorities then were so strict that we were unable to spend more than $200 million of the budget Congress had given us to enforce our nations immigration laws. Theres a significant difference between having limited resources and prioritizing the use of resources given, and tying the hands of sworn law enforcement officers to the point of them not being able to do their jobs. Its disgusting, and I hate to see it happening all over again, but this time its much worse. They say this narrowing is needed because of limited resources. Thats a lie. In FY12, ICE arrested and removed more than 409,000 aliens. In FY20, they arrested just over 103,000. They did 25 percent of the work they did in FY12 with the same resources and manpower. Therefore, their resources arent limited. In fact, they have plenty available in this current climate. Also, consider that the new priorities limit who ICE has arrested in the past by 90 percent; they in effect have reduced the already 25 percent less work by another 90 percent. ICE actually has little to do under its current directives. ICE officers are now ordered to defy a court order, issued by U.S. District Judge Drew B. Tipton of the Southern District of Texas, that granted (pdf) the state of Texass motion for a preliminary injunction against the new administrations 100-day moratorium on deporting aliens whovery often because of their criminal activityare subject to a final order of removal. The judge agreed that the deportation ban is unlawful. The court held that, though the ban amounts to an administrative rule that controls what immigration enforcement agents may and may not do, it didnt go through the notice-and-comment process required by law, and thus was void when issued. The court also held that the ban constitutes a blanket refusal by the administration to enforce the law requiring aliens unlawfully in the country to be deported, and thus is contrary to law, and that the ban was never rationally explained by the agency, and thus is arbitrary and capricious. I have a copy of an email that went out to field offices on Feb. 4 that instructed ICE offices on how to prioritize arrests and to use the same prioritization of those removed on existing and planned flights. This instruction directly defies Tiptons ruling. The email sent by Acting ICE Director Tae Johnson will greatly reduce ICEs ability to arrest and deport removable aliens. Those instructions were reissued by official memorandum on Feb. 18 (pdf). Simply put, the instructions make it so that the Immigration and Nationality Act is no longer the law of the land, but rather the policy whims of the Biden administration. The instructions sent to senior officials direct an immediate and major limitation in enforcement. Agents who have sworn an oath to enforce the immigration laws enacted by Congress are now instructed to turn a blind eye to those who are illegally in the country. Sworn law enforcement officers are no longer able to enforce the law, but rather, they are now restricted to only enforcing the law against those convicted of the most serious offenses. What kind of message does that say to the rest of the world who want to come here illegally? It says, get here by any means possible, just dont be convicted of committing a serious crime after you get here, and you are home free. Im also in possession of another email that canceled a planned sexual predator operation last month. On Feb. 3, another email went out to the field shutting down national Operation Talon, that sought to arrest at-large illegal aliens with sex crime convictions to include child molestation. Thousands of investigative hours go into planning for these operations from identifying targets, to locating them, to ensuring appropriate coordination with other law enforcement entities. These latest instructions will add to the enticements already out there and promised by the Biden administration that are causing a surge right now. The Border Patrol is catching more than 3,500 illegal entries per day. They are calculating that the crossings are well over 4,000 a day because many get away. Do the math. That is greater than 120,000 illegal entries per month. When Mexico ends the Title 42 COVID-19 restriction very soon, those numbers will skyrocket to more than 5,000 per day and 150,000 per month. Per the new instructions, agents will no longer seek to deport immigrants for crimes such as driving under the influence (DUI), assault, and burglary. The email says, Generally, these convictions would not include drug-based crimes (less serious offenses), simple assault, DUI, money laundering, property crimes, fraud, tax crimes, solicitation, or charges without convictions. What? Why is the Biden administration excusing crimes like assault or breaking and entering? I guess those crimes are no longer important, except if you are the victims of those crimes. Mothers Against Drunk Driving claims that a person drives drunk about 80 times before they are actually convicted of DUI. If ICE encounters you after youve driven drunkwhich we should all be able to agree is a threat to public safetyits your lucky day because the Biden administration doesnt consider you a threat to our communities even though more than 10,000 people die every year from DUIs. In addition, agents can no longer conduct at-large operations of criminal aliens who are in the general public and are absolutely a public safety threat without prior approval from the field office director. The officer has lost his trained ability to use his own discretion. Do police officers or a sheriffs deputy need to get approval from the chief or sheriff to enforce the law on each arrest? Of course not. This is a ridiculous proposition, blatantly imposed to strip officers and agents in the field of any authority to do their job. So how does all this defy the court order? Its simple. Rather than having a moratorium on deportations, they will arrest 90 percent fewer people. Therefore, 90 percent fewer will not be taken into custody. They will not be placed in immigration proceedings and therefore will not be ordered deported. In other words, theres a 90 percent moratorium on deportations. It gets them to the same result. And lets not forget, ICE officers are also being instructed to not execute a federal judges order to remove someone. There are 672,000 immigration fugitives in the United States right now who have had due process at great taxpayer expense and have been ordered removed by the courts. Those orders are now meaningless because they wont be carried out as required by law. What would happen to you or me if we ignored a judges order? Acting Director Johnson and the other leadership at ICE are great officers and I know them well. The acting director is forced to do things he disagrees with, and its unfortunate, because I know what its like to be in his shoes, having to execute a difficult mission within a restrictive and politicized framework. He has, along with the men and women of ICE, an important public safety job that theyre not allowed to carry out. Thomas Douglas Homan is the former acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement and a senior fellow at the Immigration Reform Law Institute. Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times. Chris Meagher, right, shown in this March 2020 Instagram photo, was national press secretary on the presidential campaign of Pete Buttieigeg, left, and is spokesman for the now-Transportation secretary. He starts the new job in the White House press office on Wednesday. Massachusetts Innovation Network Announces Inaugural Global Innovation Showcase The Massachusetts Innovation Network is pleased to announce its Global Innovation Showcase; an innovation bridge between countries and a virtual debut of international start-ups to the local market. Eleven companies will be featured on Wednesday March 24; they will deliver short presentations followed by Q&A sessions in individual, virtual, exhibit booths. Mr. Mark F. Sullivan, Executive Director of the Massachusetts Office of International Trade and Investment (MOITI) will deliver the Welcome Address. MOITI is the Commonwealth's primary international business development agency charged with promoting trade and investment with global partners in Massachusetts and around the world. Twenty-six Innovation Leaders will also join the showcase to welcome the cohort and meet the teams. The cohort companies include: Indian Biodesign Innovation Labs have developed RespirAID, a portable, affordable mechanical ventilation device that can stabilize patients in resource-constrained settings in the absence of sophisticated ventilators. Czechian Crytur has an ultra-intense solid-state light source: lightweight, with tunable wavelength, low power requirement and high intensity luminosity, it can apply to a variety of industries and markets. Swiss FairTiq is a transit ticketing app, based on check-in/assisted check-out technology. It requires no hardware, is user-friendly, automatically calculates best deals, and unlocks insights to support informed service and pricing decisions. Belgian Geckomatics solves the scarcity of high quality, recent geospatial information. Users redesign outdoor mobile mapping, with a portable HD camera that can be mounted on any vehicle; it uses AI to analyze city infrastructure including trees, traffic signs, city furniture, etc. Swiss Hydromea develops affordable, portable autonomous underwater drones, capable of monitoring and inspecting subsea infrastructure and underwater environments. Applications include offshore energy, hydropower, aquaculture, water treatment plans, and defense. MyHabeats, is a Greek app acting as a digital assistant for post-bariatric surgery patients. Designed by bariatric patients and behavioral science experts and approved by surgeons, MyHabeats is critical in post-surgery care and behavior modification. Swedish Scytales technology allows any first responder or home care provider to securely access a patient's electronic health record in real time through a hand-unit app, and ask for pro-diagnosis, adequate treatment preparation or reference to allergies and med interactions. Swiss Securaxis combines Acoustic Technology with advanced AI and IoT, to add the missing layer to smart cities: sounds analytics (detection, geolocation, recognition and categorization), allowing for real time updates, alerts, and biodiversity monitoring. Israeli Serenno Medical has a medical device that monitors ICU patients' fluid output balance and predicts, identifies and avoids common life-threatening complications like Acute Kidney Injury. British SERG Technologies has a Parkinson's Diagnostic wearable device that quantifies the three primary motor symptoms: rigidity, tremor, and bradykinesia. Processing is completed on a cell app, enabling clinical use at home (or on the move), and instant symptom assessment. Swiss Surgeon's Lab creates bench-top realistic training phantom simulators (true scale of patient's anatomy replica) for medical students, residents, and surgeons performing neurosurgeries. The micro-simulator is used to train microsurgical skills without endangering patients' lives. For more information: https://www.newenglandinnovation.org/2021globalshowcase View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210302005953/en/ Top ranking gardai in the Kildare Garda Division have agreed to a motion to divert cash seized in local crime into services in the community. The call was made at this weeks Joint Policing Committee (JPC) meeting which was held online. Committee member Cllr Fiona McLoughlin Healy called on the JPC to write to the Ministers for Justice, Finance and Public Expenditure to make provisions where money confiscated under the Proceeds of Crime Legislation be redirected from central funds back into local community. The Newbridge politician listed off areas that could benefit such as local addiction services, youth organisations and community initiatives to combat the effect of addiction in communities. Cllr McLoughlin Healy also requested that the necessary legislation is changed as a matter of urgency to allow this vital funding support to happen. JPC chairman Cllr Fintan Brett said that the sums of money involved are considerable from a local community point of view. He said that cash seized nationally in 2018 and 2019 amounted to 8m but 20m was seized in 2020. Supt Oliver Henry, who was deputising for Chief Supt John Scanlan of the Kildare/Laois/Offaly Garda Division, at the meeting, commented: This (motion) certainly seems to make sense. He suggested that some initiatives such as the Youth Diversion Programme (YDP) could be enhanced if they received more funding. The YDP helps to prevent young offenders and children involved in anti-social behaviour from entering into the full criminal justice system by offering them a second chance. Cllr Padraig McEvoy supported the motion and said that Cllr Seamie Moore had proposed a similar motion in the past . Cllr Chris Pender said that the extra funding could have a significant effect in local communities. Cllr McLoughlin Healy said that tackling the drugs issue was an uphill battle in many towns and villages and communities needed every possible resource. The meeting carried the motion. The chairwoman of the Public Utility Commission of Texas, the agency that regulates the states electric, telecommunication, and water and sewer utilities, resigned Monday, according to a resignation letter provided to the Texas Tribune. The Governor Greg Abbott-appointed commissioners came under public criticism in the aftermath of Texas power crisis that left millions of people in the dark for days and claimed the lives of dozens. RELATED: Texas' largest and oldest power cooperative files for Chapter 11 On Monday, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick called for PUC chairwoman DeAnn Walker and Electric Reliability Council of Texas CEO Bill Magness to resign. The PUC is charged with overseeing the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, or ERCOT, a nonprofit entity that manages and operates the electricity grid that covers much of the state. Lawmakers began to call on the commissioners to resign Thursday after hearing testimony from Walker, who took little responsibility for the crisis during the house and senate committee hearings on the power outages. Rep. Jared Patterson, R-Frisco, wrote on Twitter that he has zero confidence in her after the Thursday hearings and that she must resign. Walker came under fire during questioning for not doing more to prevent the crisis from occurring. Lawmakers probed how much information she had on whether the states power system could withstand winter storms, and questioned why she didnt raise concerns about the possibility of outages sooner. The Texas Tribune is a nonprofit, nonpartisan media organization that informs Texans and engages with them about public policy, politics, government and statewide issues. Michaela Coel and Eddie Redmayne are among the stars backing a campaign to raise money for the Theatre Artists Fund ahead of the anniversary of theatres closing. They will be joined by Maxine Peake, Harriet Walter and Ruth Madeley in encouraging donations to the fund, which provides emergency financial aid to struggling freelance theatre workers. Theatres around the country closed their doors last March amid the global pandemic and only a few were able to re-open with social distancing in between lockdowns last year. Stars have also been revealing their turning point a moment in their career when they were almost forced to give up but received a helping hand. Redmayne has revealed the turning point in his career was in 2003 when he was working in a pub and failing to land any parts before someone took a chance on him and cast him in a play. In Coels video, she discusses the two bursaries she received that allowed her to pursue her creative career. On March 16 they will be joined by more famous faces, theatre lovers and people across the industry sharing selfies in support, using the hashtags #16March, #TheatreArtistsFund and #FirstInLastOut referencing the fact that theatre workers were first into lockdown and will be among the last to return. The Theatre Artists Fund was set up in July 2020 by director Sir Sam Mendes, the Society of London Theatre and UK Theatre. It has since given out 5.5 million across 5,359 individual grants, made possible by donations from a range of organisations and individuals, including the Backstage Trust. Thousands of people in the theatre industry have been unemployed for a year and will continue to face months of career uncertainty and financial instability, despite the provisional timetable offered by the Government road map. Freelancers make up an estimated 70% of the sector and many are in urgent need of financial aid because they are not eligible for Government schemes, according to the Society of London Theatre. The fund, spearheaded by 1917 director Sir Sam, launched on July 6 with a 500,000 donation from Netflix. It counts Steven Spielberg, Armando Iannucci and David Walliams among its supporters. It offers grants up to 1,000 per applicant and is designed to support freelance artists who have been ineligible for Government aid. The Government has offered a 1.57 billion support package to protect the future of Britains arts. Anyone wishing to donate to the fun can visit theatreartists.enthuse.com/cf/theatre-artists-fund. Former Defense Ministry official gets 6.5 years behind bars for graft, abuse of office RAPSI, Vladimir Burnov 11:28 02/03/2021 MOSCOW, March (RAPSI) Moscows Khamovnichevsky District Court has sentenced ex-deputy head of the Defense Ministrys Competitive Procedure Directorate Alexander Boruvkov to 6.5 years in penal colony for graft and abuse of office, the Investigative Committees press service has told RAPSI. Additionally, he has been fined 368 million rubles (about $5 million). The court has also granted a civil claim to collect over 650 million rubles (about $9 million) from the defendant. Boruvkov earlier pled guilty. According to investigators, from February 2014 to August 2017, Boruvkov heading the Ministrys directorate created obstactles for organizations participating in the government procurement that allowed to resolve the anticompetitive risks and to ensure conclusion of state contracts with organizations of businessman Alexey Kalitin. As a result, the contracts were concluded on terms hard for Russia caused the state damage worth over 650 million rubles. The court found that during this period Boruvkov acting in an origanized group received a briber worth over 368 million rubles from Kalitin. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. After New York City public schools experienced a steep drop in enrolllment this school year due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, schools wont need to return as much money back to the city as they initially thought. Education officials told school principals in a letter on Monday that the money schools owe to the city this year is reduced by 25% if they experienced a drop in enrollment. Thats because the city Department of Education (DOE) said it will make a 25% restoration to the budget of every school that had to pay back money during the mid-year adjustment. The mid-year adjustment is a redistribution of funds to account for roster changes between what was projected and what actually occurred. And schools that enrolled more students than projected will get to keep their funds, the DOE added Were facing incredible financial challenges due to the pandemic and have made it a priority to provide additional funding directly to schools to address COVID-related expenses, while working around the clock to meet each and every communitys needs to ensure a safe and supportive school year, said Katie OHanlon, spokesperson for the DOE. As always, schools can request funding for additional staff if they need it, and for this year only due to pandemic-driven enrollment fluctuations, we are also able to make restorations to school budgets that experienced enrollment loss to help support them during these unprecedented times. In a typical academic year, schools could be required to return a portion of funding from their budget mid-year if they have less students than what the city projected. However, the city didnt account for steep drops in enrollment this school year a 4% drop citywide as the enrollment projections were made prior to the pandemic. Enrollment of public school students on Staten Island has declined by at least 1.7% compared to last school year. This meant schools with significant drops in enrollment would need to return a large amount of money back to the city. The funding schools receive for each student comes from the citys Fair Student Funding budget, which was at risk of $100 million cuts last summer for the 2020-2021 school year. However, the city restored the Fair Student funding before the school year began. The Fair Student formula was introduced in 2007 by the city DOE and provides additional funding per student based on need. It provides the majority of most individual school budgets, and is used at the principals discretion. This funding is typically higher at schools with large numbers of students with disabilities, English language learners, low-income students, and students performing below grade level. Elected officials, including Councilwoman Debi Rose (D-New York), have been against the city requiring schools to pay back hundreds of thousands of dollars because of enrollment fluctuations. The officials wrote in a letter in January asking the city to rescind the decision. This is an absurd, unfair demand that threatens to consume school budgets and push them into deficit, cause unnecessary anxiety for principals and school communities, and further erode educational quality during and after the pandemic, the officials wrote. In a statement to the Advance/SILive.com on Tuesday, Rose echoed the January letter that a drop from 28 to 26 students doesnt cut the cost of employing teachers or purchasing programming and equipment. At a time when students, parents, teachers and principals are struggling with health protocols, technology inequalities, and the physical and emotional stress that comes with teaching and learning during a pandemic, enrollment-based cuts to schools budgets made absolutely no sense, said Rose. Most schools did not have adequate resources before these cuts were made. This 25 percent restoration is welcome news, but I stand firm in calling for a full restoration of these cuts, as well as increased funding so that all students and teachers have the resources they need. The city stated its advocating around the clock for more support from the state, as resources are not unlimited and it remains constrained by the overall budget picture. School Zone: A new newsletter with the updates you need as our schools try to get back to normal. Enter your email address here and hit "subscribe" to receive this weekly newsletter: FOLLOW ANNALISE KNUDSON ON FACEBOOK AND TWITTER. 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 dean at the Rajiv Gandhi Hospital, Chennai, said that in the first one hour, over a 100 people had registered. The only dampener was the technical glitches on the Co-WIN app and confusion over walk-in. The response has been huge. Many senior citizens turned up, but not all had registered, and some did not have proper documentation, said Rupak Barua, director and group CEO, AMRI Hospitals. Whether its the government hospital in Chandigarh or AMRI Hospitals in South Kolkata, the scene was buzzing with people walking in to get the Covid shot. Pradeep Angre, dean of the Mulund facility, said the turnout was more encouraging in this round. "On most days, we were administering doses to 30-40 healthcare or frontline workers. Today, already over 50 senior citizens have been given the jab and more are waiting." As more vaccination centres get added and glitches are resolved, states expect an increase in vaccination. Even as the upgraded Co-WIN was launched, technical glitches continued and many places got off to a late start. At the BKC Covid centre, officials had to register details regarding allotment before administering doses and were unable to complete the process. While on-spot registrations began after 9 am, actual vaccination began only after 11 am. At Bengaluru, too, vaccination was to start at noon but could not be rolled out before 2pm. The halls were nearly empty and the number of people seated in the vaccination waiting area sparse at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi, just hours after Prime Minister Narendra Modis visit to get the Covaxin jab. In stark contrast, a line of makeshift canopies was erected in the backyard of Max Smart Super Specialty hospital in Delhi as senior citizens started pouring in from 9 am as soon as the Co-WIN registrations went live. 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 Gaborone, Botswana (PANA) - Botswana has allayed social media reports that purports that 120 rhinos with and without horns have been slaughtered in the past 18 months Governor Satyadeo Narain Arya has given assent to the Bill providing 75 per cent reservation in the private sector to job seekers from the state, Chief Minister said here on Tuesday. The Assembly had late last year passed the Bill, a key poll promise made by the ruling alliance partner Jannayak Janta Party. "The Governor today gave his assent to the Bill entailing 75 per cent reservation in the private sector to job seekers from the state. The government will notify it soon," the CM told reporters at a press conference here. The Haryana State Employment of Local Candidates Bill, 2020 provides quota for local people in private sector jobs that offer a salary of less than Rs 50,000 a month. The quota will initially apply for 10 years, according to the Bill. Apart from tackling unemployment among local people, the state government said the law will discourage the influx of migrants seeking low-paid jobs, which has a significant impact on local infrastructure and leads to the proliferation of slums. The Bill covers private companies, societies, trusts and partnership firms in the state. It provides for training to eligible local candidates when qualified people are not available. It defines local candidates as those domiciled in the state. For the domicile status, a person should be born in Haryana or have lived there for at least 15 years. Giving 75 per cent reservation in private sector jobs was a key poll promise by Dushyant Chautala's JJP, which is the BJP's coalition partner in the state. Chautala described the assent given by the Governor as "happiest moment for the youth of Haryana." "The rules on this new law will be framed soon and published," he said at Faridabad. A detention center officer in New Mexico is suing his employer for threatening to fire him if he refused to receive a coronavirus vaccine. The lawsuit filed by Isaac Legaretta on Sunday marked America's first legal challenge on the issue of mandatory COVID-19 vaccinations. The complaint alleges that the Dona Ana County Manager Fernando Macias and Legaretta's supervisor violated his rights by making the vaccine a condition of employment for first responders. 'You can't be forced to be a human guinea pig when a product is experimental,' Legaretta's attorney Ana Garner, who works for the nonprofit New Mexico Stands Up!, told Bloomberg Law. 'We have the right to bodily integrity.' Isaac Legaretta, a detention center officer in Dona Ana County, New Mexico, sued his employer for threatening to fire him if he refused to get a COVID-19 vaccine (file photo) An attorney for the county responded to the suit by arguing that the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) allow for employers to mandate vaccinations, except in select circumstances. Last March the EEOC issued a statement saying that employers covered by the American Disabilities Act and the Civil Rights Act cannot compel all employees to take a vaccine. Under those acts, employees could be exempt for certain health and religious reasons. However, the county attorney claimed that Legaretta hasn't presented evidence of having a qualifying condition exempting him from getting a vaccine. Macias first announced the vaccine mandate for all first responders - including police officers, detention center workers and anyone in contact with detainees - on January 29. 'It is required that, if you have not already started your vaccinations, that you be vaccinated with your first dose on one of those days, or contact Human Resources for accommodation,' the county manager wrote in a memo. 'Being vaccinated is a requirement and a condition of on-going employment with the County due to the significant health and safety risks posed by contracting or spreading COVID-19.' Legaretta's complaint referenced another memo on February 17 in which the county told him he had five days to provide proof that he'd been vaccinated. The complaint asserted that Legaretta's superiors have threatened to fire him or write him up at work on multiple occasions in response to his refusal. His lawsuit seeks an injunction against termination or reinstatement if he is potentially fired. Pictured: The Dona Ana County Detention Center where Legaretta works Ever since the vaccine rollout kicked off in December, experts have predicted an onslaught of lawsuits regarding whether an employer is allowed to dismiss an employee who refuses to get vaccinated and isn't protected by law. Many employment lawyers say the short answer to that question is yes. 'The employer has the latitude under the EEOC to keep the workplace safe,' Jerry Maatman, an employment law attorney with Seyfarth Shaw in Chicago, told the Associated Press last month. However, Maatman cautioned that while the EEOC has released guidelines about the vaccine, issues over employers' rights to dismiss staffers who don't comply would likely end up in court. 'These rulings are going to take place in the second and third quarters,' he says. Maatman said he advises businesses to seek legal or human resources advice before disciplining or dismissing employees over vaccinations, whether or not the staffers are in what's called a protected class. Legal and HR experts also recommend employers create companywide policies on vaccinations, provide each staffer with a copy and explain to everyone why the shots are necessary. And owners should keep in mind that this is a subject that requires sensitivity and understanding - an overbearing approach can be a morale buster. Joe Biden commented on the issue in December, saying he does not think the vaccine 'should be mandatory'. 'I wouldn't demand it to be mandatory,' the then-president-elect said. 'Just like I dont think masks have to be made mandatory nationwide.' Since taking office in January, Biden has worked hard to increase the availability of vaccines after promising to administer 100 million per day in his first 100 days. As of Tuesday nearly 25 percent of the population has received at least one vaccine, and an average of 1.8 million people are being inoculated every day. As of Tuesday nearly 25 percent of the population has received at least one vaccine, and an average of 1.8 million people are being inoculated every day A man who assaulted and choked his girlfriend until she wet herself and suffered a seizure at a Sydney CBD hotel has been released after just a month in jail. Guests rushed to the aid of the terrified woman after hearing her frantic screams for help at The Great Southern Hotel in May last year. The frightened and humiliated woman was found in a hallway wearing urine-soaked underwear after she was pushed, choked and kicked in the shins while trying to flee her partner after an argument in a hotel room. William Kirkbridge Jolly, 35, broke down in court on Tuesday as he told the magistrate he'd had time to think about the incident during his short stint behind bars. A woman was pushed, choked and kicked by her partner William Kirkbridge Jolly and then was dragged out into a hotel hallway, a court heard (stock image) Jolly entered a guilty plea at an earlier court appearance. The court heard the woman told Jolly 'I can't breathe, I can't breathe', as he held her head down on the bed before she had a seizure, The Daily Telegraph reported. Jolly dragged the woman out of the room and pushed her into the hallway with no pants on before throwing her handbag and jeans at her, according to the fact sheet. The woman was taken to St Vincent's Hospital to be assessed and later told police she was 'terrified' of Jolly following the attack, the court heard. The horrific incident occurred at The Great Southern Hotel (pictured) in Sydney's CBD Magistrate Erin Kennedy acknowledged the 'horrific' nature of the incident but accepted he was truly remorseful for the attack and accepted this was his first DV related charge. 'I hope this is a big wake up call,' she told him in court. 'If this lesson is not enough, you will go on and be back in court. Once you have a conviction, it's so easy for you to end up back in prison. You will be released today, Sir.' Egypt will receive 300,000 doses of the coronavirus vaccines developed by Chinas Sinopharm as a gift, Health Minister Hala Zayed said on Tuesday, without revealing the exact date of their arrival. China last week gifted 300,000 Sinopharm vaccine doses to Egypt. The first batch of the Chinese vaccine was sent to Egypt in December last year, consisting of 50,000 doses. The country also imported 50,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine manufactured in India late in January and is set to receive 8.6 million doses of this vaccine soon. In a meeting with Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly on Tuesday, Zayed said the state is preparing to start vaccinating the elderly and people suffering from chronic diseases, who have registered to reserve the vaccine within hours, a statement by the cabinet said. All citizens above the age of 18 could apply for the vaccination online on the website (https://egcovac.mohp.gov.eg) but the priority is given to citizens above 65 and others suffering from chronic diseases. Concerning a national health campaign that has been launched between 28 February and 3 March to vaccinate children below five against Poliovirus, Zayed said 14 million children have been vaccinated over the past two days. The campaign has targeted 16.7 million children, representing all Egyptian and non-Egyptian children under the age of five in the country. No Polio cases have been reported in Egypt since 2004 and UNICEF declared Egypt Polio-free in 2006. The campaign, however, was launched after Polio cases were detected in some neighbouring countries, in Africa and the East Meditteranean. The campaign ends on Wednesday at 5 pm. Short link: ALEXANDRIA, Va., March 2, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The Salvation Army has received a $45,000 donation from Dr. Buzz Aldrin, Apollo XI Lunar Module Pilot, USAF Colonel and Moonwalker, in support of the organization's ongoing relief efforts to serve vulnerable Americans, particularly those impacted by COVID-19. "Since last March, The Salvation Army has been hard at work serving the increase of people in need as a result of the economic and emotional impact of the pandemic," said Commissioner Kenneth G. Hodder, National Commander of The Salvation Army. "Through donors like Dr. Buzz Aldrin, we're able to continue providing support to those most affected by the pandemic. We can't thank Dr. Aldrin enough for his generosity." Donations made to The Salvation Army provide programs and services to more than 23 million people each year. Since the start of the pandemic, The Salvation Army has provided more than 225 million meals, 1.7 million nights of shelter, and 905,000 instances of emotional and spiritual care to individuals. Dr. Aldrin's experience quarantining along with fellow astronauts, Neil Armstrong and Michael Collins, following their lunar landing in 1969 has made him a voice of hope and inspiration through the pandemic. The donation to The Salvation Army adds to the growing list of support efforts for COVID-19 victims that Dr. Aldrin has led. "The pandemic has forced all of us to experience some form of isolation over the last year," said Dr. Aldrin. "Many were able to quarantine in the comfort of their own home, but not everyone has been so lucky. The pandemic has displaced many individuals and families, so supporting organizations like The Salvation Army is crucial they serve those in need when they have nowhere else to turn." To learn more about how you can support The Salvation Army's ongoing COVID-19 relief efforts, visit SalvationArmyUSA.org/usn. About The Salvation Army The Salvation Army annually helps more than 30 million Americans overcome poverty, addiction and economic hardships through a range of social services. By providing food for the hungry, emergency relief for disaster survivors, rehabilitation for those suffering from drug and alcohol abuse, and clothing and shelter for people in need, The Salvation Army is doing the most good at 7,600 centers of operation around the country. In the first-ever listing of "America's Favorite Charities" by The Chronicle of Philanthropy, The Salvation Army ranked as the country's largest privately funded, direct-service nonprofit. For more information, visit SalvationArmyUSA.org. Follow us on Twitter @SalvationArmyUS and #DoingTheMostGood. Contact: Layla Harrison [email protected] SOURCE The Salvation Army Related Links http://www.SalvationArmyUSA.org Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-02 02:57:25|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close File photo taken on Nov. 27, 2019 shows Kembo Mohadi attending an event in Harare, Zimbabwe. One of Zimbabwe's two Vice Presidents, Kembo Mohadi, resigned from his post on Monday following allegations in the media about his alleged affairs with married women. Mohadi served as Vice President from Dec. 28, 2017, following the removal of former President Robert Mugabe from power the previous month. (Xinhua/Zhang Yuliang) HARARE, March 1 (Xinhua) -- One of Zimbabwe's two Vice Presidents, Kembo Mohadi, resigned from his post on Monday following allegations in the media about his alleged affairs with married women. An online publication recently posted three audios purported to be those of Mohadi seeking sexual favors from some women, but Monadi denied that it was him, saying that he was a victim of voice cloning by his political enemies. In a statement late Monday, Mohadi, aged 71, said he had taken the decision to resign to save the image of the government. "I arrived at this decision not as a matter of cowardice but as a sign demonstrating great respect to the office of the President," he said. Mohadi had been under pressure to resign from various quarters but had appeared to be keen on staying on in his position. "Hard as it may be to my family, friends and comrades, and cadres of my party, ZANU-PF, I am taking the decision to step down as the Vice President of Zimbabwe, to save the image of my government," he said. "My decision to relinquish the Vice President post is also a way of respecting the citizens of this great nation, my party comrades some of whom have been affected by the falsehoods and character assassination in the digital ecosystems," he said. Mohadi said he would be seeking justice on the matter. "My decision is also necessitated by my desire to seek clarity and justice on the matter in which my legal team will pursue and deconstruct this pseudo-paparazzi and flawed espionage to achieve cheap political points," he said. Mohadi served as Vice President from Dec. 28, 2017, following the removal of former President Robert Mugabe from power the previous month. Enditem ALBANY The number of lawmakers calling for Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo to resign immediately increased this week after a third woman came forward Monday to allege the governor held her face and asked if he could kiss her while they were attending a wedding reception two years ago. The politicians breaking ranks with Cuomo include a batch of progressive Democrats in the Legislature as well as a Democratic member of Congress from Long Island. Pressure has been mounting without relief on Cuomo for more than a month as his administration is dealing with political scandals on two fronts: nursing homes and his alleged sexual harassment of multiple women. While his administration's actions in dealing with COVID-19 in nursing homes and the associated alleged coverup had spurred calls for his resignation or impeachment from some Republicans, the fallout had been more muted from many members of the governor's own party. The intensifying calls for his resignation follow unsettling allegations from three women former aides Lindsey Boylan and Charlotte Bennett, and Anna Ruch, who did not work for Cuomo but told the New York Times that Cuomo grabbed her and attempted to kiss her at a wedding. The story included a photo of Cuomo from the moment where Ruch said he held her face and tried to kiss her. That image quickly went viral on social media, with the governor cast in a ghoulish red light and holding a young woman's face with an uncomfortable expression on her face. "The time has come. The governor must resign," wrote U.S.. Rep. Kathleen Rice, a Long Island Democrat, on Twitter. Rice is the first Democratic member of Congress to call for Cuomo's ouster, and Rice was among the first to call for the departure of former Minnesota Sen. Al Franken after he, too, was accused of harassment. Others, including a New York City councilman and the Sexual Harassment Working Group, have called for Cuomo's departure, and the call was echoed by a number of state-level Democratic legislators, particularly those in a group of newer, progressive members who have been more eager to criticize Cuomo throughout their time in office. The Working Families Party, a left-leaning political group and one of the four remaining parties that can run candidates on New York ballots, called on Cuomo to resign around midday Tuesday. "Ive seen more than enough as well," said Sen. Gustavo Rivera. Sen. Jessica Ramos also called for his resignation, while Sen. John Liu said Cuomo is "not fit to govern. Senators Julia Salazar and Jabari Brisport published a news release Tuesday afternoon saying they supported Cuomo's impeachment, and four members of the Assembly signed on, too. Those speaking out Monday and Tuesday are joining their colleague, Sen. Alessandra Biaggi, who was the first senator to say that the governor should immediately resign. "While a truly independent investigation may uncover more evidence or instances of abuse, the existing details are sufficient for me to form my conclusion," Biaggi wrote Sunday. "As a New Yorker, a legislator, chair of the Senate Ethics and Internal Governance Committee, and a survivor of sexual abuse, I am calling for Gov. Cuomo to resign." Cuomo has said through intermediaries that he will defer further comment on the harassment allegations until after the investigation against him is completed. Monday, he formally referred the matter to the state attorney general's office, which will enlist private attorneys to probe the allegations and eventually issue a public report. Many of those calling for resignation are younger, particularly progressive Democrats. Most elected Democrats around the state have maintained support for the probe conducted by State Attorney General Letitia James, and they intend to await the report before offering judgment. I strongly support the full independent review being undertaken by the New York Attorney General," U.S. Rep. Paul Tonko, an Albany Democrat, said in an emailed statement. "I am confident that her work and the ongoing inquiries by the Department of Justicewhich will certainly include any new allegations that are brought forwardwill help us ensure the full truth is brought to light, misconduct is held accountable and justice can be assured. U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, who also was among the first to call for Franken's departure and has promoted her stance toward sexual misconduct as "zero tolerance," has stopped short of calling for Cuomo's resignation and instead said she is supportive of a non-criminal investigation that will be overseen by the office of state Attorney General Letitia James. Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer's position is the same, and he added that the allegations are serious and very troubling. Asked in the halls of the U.S. Capitol on Tuesday about Cuomo, Gillibrand said, "I've already answered that one," and when a reporter asked if she felt Cuomo should resign in light of the third allegation against him, she would not answer. 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. (Natural News) Buried by the flurry of Biden executive orders in the first few weeks, it is likely that many Americans missed the announcement that the Biden administration cleared a path to explore the issues of reparations. It is equally likely that many Americans didnt have a chance to absorb each new development in this area over the past year as well, given the constant coverage of other events. Among the forgotten or barely-covered pieces was Californias first-of-its-kind statewide study into reparations for black Americans in early October of 2020. The passage of local measures for reparations has already taken place in communities like Evanston, Illinois and Asheville, North Carolina. (Article by Parker Beauregard republished from TheBlueStateConservative.com) The Biden administrations willingness to even discuss the matter should worry all Americans. The California piece is particularly frightening, not least because it essentially codifies the leftist trope of systemic racism at a state level. Indeed, the short bill, which is now a legal mandate, includes passages like: [T]he nation reckons with the scourge of racial injustice rooted in the legacy of slavery and systemic racism and [o]ur painful history of slavery has evolved into structural racism and bias built into and permeating throughout our democratic and economic institutions. Lastly, the bill establishes a nine-member task force to inform Californians about slavery and explore ways the state might provide reparations. Just half of American adults are able to name the three branches of government and this is more relevant to the task at hand half of American adults dont know when the Civil War was fought (so by extension, when slavery was abolished). More Americans can probably name the current Bachelor or Khloe Kardashians latest boyfriend. None of it is surprising, but it never ceases to be depressing. Despite their limited knowledge of American History and Civics, surveys would be hard pressed to find an American who hasnt heard about the evils of slavery. Missing from that narrative, though, are many other facts and contextualizing features of American slavery. For example, how many Americans know that just 3-5% of all black African slaves crossing the Atlantic made their way to the North American continent or how millions more African slaves ended up in the Arab/Islamic Middle East than the entire Christian Western Hemisphere? Put another way, only America seems to have gained the attention of woke emancipators despite less than 400,000 African slaves arriving on our shores. Contrast this to almost 5 million ending up in Brazil, 3.5 million ending up in the Caribbean, and over 1 million in the Spanish portion of North America alone. This says nothing of the estimated 17 million black African slaves that were routed east and into Mesopotamia. No one knows this, of course, but all good liberals and leftists do know with doctrinal certainty that America is racist and was founded on white supremacist ideals. However, whether these issues are explored at local, state, (or, we should soon fear, the national level), all decent Americans should rightfully worry because each new study invites the potential for even further racial division and unrest. Their passages also prompt the entirely legitimately requisite questions of who is responsible for black enslavement in America and therefore who is responsible for paying. As we shall see, the issue is not so black and white. Never minding the fact that reparations for a universal sin long since abolished is ridiculous on its face, a reading of the 1860 census reveals some fascinating details into the realities of American slavery. Universally known is that some Americans owned slaves in the early United States; almost universally unknown is that free blacks owned slaves as well. In the lead-up to the Civil War, the free population of the entire United States, which also counted approximately 10% the black population (the other 90% of blacks were enslaved in 15 southern states), stood at just over 27 million. The slave population was just under 4 million. Of the 25-27 million whites, 1.6% of them individually owned slaves. That number has been cited frequently as being misleading, given that most whites belonged to a greater family unit. And indeed, that is the case; when accounting for families as opposed to individuals, an argument can be made that about 7.4% of all white families in the United States owned slaves. Obviously, all of them were in the South, but it is worth sticking to nationwide totals given that the entire nation today is being held responsible for this sin. It wouldnt be consistent for Black Lives Matter to say that just 25-30% of southern white families owned slaves while at the same time demanding fully 100% of all white families today repent for past wrongdoings. Importantly, it needs to be observed that more than just 7.4% of white families were involved in the slave-based economy of the south. Whether that was through transporting slaves, selling slaves, or manufacturing cotton or tobacco products procured through slave labor, the prevalence of slavery dominated the southern economic infrastructure. If we are going to accept that all whites, including those eking out a living in dying Appalachian coal-mining towns or quadriplegic military veterans, should foot the bill for black millionaire athletes, all for the sins of forefathers long gone (or not even forefathers at all), then it is only fair to assess the sins of all previous slaveowners. That means if were being consistent, blacks owe other blacks reparations, too. Referring to an 1830 census, of the 320,000 or so free blacks, almost 4,000 of them owned a total of 12,760 slaves . On its face, this might seem insignificant given that over 4 million slaves were freed in 1865. However, it makes sense to remain logically consistent with the left, which dictates that all whites ought to be burdened with the onus of paying reparations when most white families owned zero slaves (or came here after slavery was abolished altogether). Every slave matters in this conversation. Black ownership wasnt a new phenomenon in the 1800s. Sources dating back to 1650 reveal that one of the first court-won challenges codifying human chattel as property went to a black man. A local court ruled in favor of Anthony Johnsons ownership of John Casor, declaring that the former owned the latter for life. This reveals a few unfortunate truths for the left. First, a (presumably) white judge ruled in favor of a black, protecting him with the same judicial proceedings as any other landowner. Second, and completely related, this black man was a landowner. Third, almost as soon as the 1619 Project kicked off, blacks were right there with the evil white man in owning slaves to earn a profit. I will eagerly wait for Nikole Hannah-Jones to amend her academic work. Many blacks owned just one or a handful, but when able they amassed more than most whites. In the 1820s, a free black by the name of John Caruthers Stanly owned 163 slaves , spread across three plantations. He hired white slave masters to oversee each operation. William Ellison was another free black that, upon his death on the eve of the Civil War, owned 63 slaves and was wealthier than 90% of all South Carolinians. He forgot to tell the other 90% that they had privilege. When accounting for the regularity of black ownership of slaves, one historian observed that free black slave owners as the total number of free black heads of families was quite high in several states, namely 43 percent in South Carolina, 40 percent in Louisiana, 26 percent in Mississippi, 25 percent in Alabama and 20 percent in Georgia. How can we pillory whites today when, nearly identical percentages of southern white and black families owned slaves? At the peak of black ownership of black slaves, it is estimated that 7.5% of all free blacks engaged in the practice, reaching a high of 12% of the free black population in Virginia. This is not insignificant. While contemporary observers would say that these free blacks were just being complicit in a white-centric world and thus absolved of responsibility, couldnt that same argument be made that all actors of their time were simply doing what the system allowed for? To be clear, reparations of any kind are divisive and unwarranted. They are harmful, disingenuous, and entirely unfair, regardless of historical realities. But, if this is the direction we are headed, then is it time for the black community to open up its checkbookfor itself? The historical realities would suggest so. Read more at: TheBlueStateConservative.com and RaceWar.news. Supplier News 2 March 2021 Markham, Ontario Exceptional Service is at the heart of operations for Ocean Hotels Group in Barbados, but that is not what the family-owned company of three mixed-use, four and five star luxury resorts felt they were receiving from its previous property-management system provider. At the heart of the pandemic, and with two hotels recently reopening and a third hotel and residences undergoing an extensive renovation, the ownership group pulled the plug on its prior PMS and went live with Maestro. Today, Sea Breeze Beach House on Maxwell Coast Road and South Beach Hotel on Rockley Beach are thriving with Maestro, and when O2 Beach Club & Spa opens in September, it will be running on Maestro too. As a trusted partner to independent hotels, luxury resorts, conference centers, vacation rentals, and multi-property groups, Maestro provides a sophisticated and feature identical Web browser or Windows PMS suite with flexible deployment options. Whether hoteliers want their Web Browser Based PMS hosted on premises, self-hosted, in a private cloud, or cloud hosted with a SaaS-model, Maestro has the platform needed to support the latest mobile, contactless, and web-based technologies to enhance a safe and digital guest experience. "It is my expectation that a technology partner should be there to help, not hinder, hotel operations," said Jacqui McDermott, Ocean Hotels Group sales and marketing manager. "I was frustrated because our server-based PMS was too restrictive. With every glitch in the system came a patch; with every patch came another problem, and requests or fixes would spend months in research and development. The communication was poor and dependent on finding 'the one person that would help you'." "For two years we did extensive research to find the right PMS partner," McDermott said. "We needed a company that understood the unique needs of an independent, multi-functional, hotel/ownership/timeshare operation and offered a cloud-based solution. We wanted to move to fully understand how their technology worked and we talked to existing users to learn how the potential candidates treated their customers. We found everything we were looking for and more in Maestro. Believe it or not, mid pandemic proved to be the perfect time to make the switch. It gave us the breathing room we needed to configure, set up, and train on the system. When we reopened in August and September 2020 respectively, our new cloud-based Maestro PMS was up and running and ready for guests." Ocean Hotels Group is running on Maestro Version 5.5 that features the latest mobile and contactless tools, including: Maestro Web Browser Version, WebPro Mobile Registration, ResWave Online Booking Engine, Front Desk, Yield Management, Mobile Housekeeping, Digital Registration Card, eForms, Pre-Payment Portal, Sales and Catering, Condo Owner Management, SMS Messaging, Travel Agency, Work Order, and Gift Card modules. Maestro PMS also has deep integration to each property's Silverware POS, making the food-and-beverage transition quick and painless. McDermott said property teams are especially excited about Maestro's express check out functionality, and soon they will be using Maestro contactless check in. Also planned to enhance the stay experience, guests will be able to access their rooms via RFID contactless wristbands through Maestro's integration to Salto Systems keylock technology. "Having a PMS partner that is embracing contactless technologies and offers sophisticated features as Maestro does speaks volumes to their commitment to guest service and their understanding of luxury hospitality overall," McDermott said. "Maestro's contactless and mobile tools are enabling us to provide a far better customer experience that leverages technology while maintaining elevated service. The management experience has improved by leaps and bounds. More importantly, Maestro's reporting tools are helping us drive revenues. Switching to Maestro has greatly reduced my stress level." "I can't say enough wonderful things about Maestro's support teams," she added. "The training team was excellent. Even though all training was handled remotely, they stayed online all day so staff could dip in and out during their shifts to ask questions. They held my hand through the entire training process, and each person was brilliant at their respective tasks. Remote training is a lot of work, but Maestro made it look effortless. I applaud them on their skillset and for their dedication. The implementation team should also be commended. Everyone has been so patient with us. Onboarding a multi-property, multi-functional hotel group like ours comes with a lot of challenges, but Maestro had an answer to every question and a work-around for every obstacle. Today, I give Maestro a 9 out of 10; once we are fully operational and using every tool, they may just get a perfect score." Maestro President Warren Dehan said his family got into the custom software development business 43 years ago not to create IT problems for business owners, but to solve them. "Sure, software can get complicated, especially in today's new normal when guests are demanding contactless experiences and where integrations to 20-plus systems is not uncommon," Dehan said. "It's disappointing to hear of poor service; it gives all hotel technologists a black eye. Thankfully for Jacqui and her team, these three Ocean Hotels are now in good hands with Maestro. We build stable products that don't require constant fixing; developed a service culture centered around accessibility that enables people to access live agents, live chat support, and online training at their own pace; and we offer lifetime version upgrades and enhancements as part of our subscription fees because it's simply the right thing to do." "We can't wait for the day when it's business as usual, but until then, Maestro is here 24/7/365 to assist our customers no matter what their needs may be," he said. "We've actually taken calls from customers who need help with another vendor's equipment because its support team is nonresponsive. This substantiates that no matter how good a company's software may be, it needs to be backed by exceptional service. In a word, that's Maestro." About Maestro Maestro is the preferred cloud hosted and on-premises PMS solution for independent hotels, luxury resorts, conference centers, vacation rentals, and multi-property groups. Maestro's PCI certified and EMV ready enterprise system offers 20+ integrated modules on a single database including touchless and mobile apps to increase profitability, drive direct bookings, centralize operations, and enable operators to engage guests with a safe and personalized experience. For over 43 years Maestro's Diamond Plus Service has provided unparalleled 24/7 North American based support and education services to keep hospitality groups operational and productive. for more information on Maestro. Click here to get your free PMS Buying guide. That first handshake with Michael Gudinski never left me. I was nervous about one of my first interviews with a bona fide rock legend Jimmy Barnes but when the flesh got pressed in the record company boardroom, I learned who was in charge. The wild-eyed manager bloke with the unkempt hair and stubbly beard leant right into my space, then with one deft movement twisted my sweaty hand palm-up, then down in forced surrender. Got that, punk? OK. Heres Jimmy. Jimmy Barnes pictured with Michael Gudinski in the 1990s. Credit:Fairfax Photographic In that Perth winter of 1990, I was only vaguely aware of how this guy had already dominated my life. Id had my glam-rock radar zapped by Skyhooks and Split Enz as a kid; my first slow dance to an Ol 55 album at 15. I found my life-changing escape from suburban oblivion when The Sports blasted out of my lime-green transistor and beckoned me on to pub rock salvation. Gudinskis Mushroom Records logo was on all of them, and so many more as the decades rolled on that Im still sometimes aghast. As my passion veered into my job, it often seemed he was laying down half the tracks. The copious hits and misses, the chancers and the stayers, the awards and tours are all in the history books in the obits, now, as we reel from the terrible news of his passing. Chhattisgarh gets award for producing 28.68% more crops than last year Govt to provide 5 kg grains, 1 kg pulses for free over next 3 months: Sitharaman Vietnam buys rice from India for first time in decades: Report India sending 1,000 metric tonnes of rice, 100,000 hydroxychloroquine tablets to Madagascar India oi-Vicky Nanjappa New Delhi, Mar 02: India is sending a consignment of 1,000 metric tonnes of rice and 100,000 hydroxychloroquine tablets to Madagascar in response to the east African country's appeal for assistance to deal with a humanitarian crisis triggered by a severe drought, the Ministry of External Affairs said on Monday. The humanitarian assistance is being delivered on-board Indian Naval Ship Jalashwa, which will leave with the food and medical assistance on March 3 and is expected to reach the Port of Ehoala in Madagascar between March 21 and 24, 2021, the MEA said in a statement. Hydroxychloroquine has become highly politicised in US but India uses it widely: White House official The prompt Indian assistance to the Madagascar government was conveyed by External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar in a phone conversation with Madagascar's Foreign Minister Tehindrazanarivelo Djacoba A S Oliva, the MEA said. "Good conversation with FM of Madagascar @Tehindrazanari1. Informed him that Indian humanitarian assistance would be delivered in the coming days. Will include food and medical supplies," Jaishankar tweeted after the call. During the phone conversation, Jaishankar recalled the excellent bilateral ties of friendship between India and Madagascar, and that India has always been among the first responders when it comes to assisting the people of Madagascar in such humanitarian crises. In response to the urgent appeal made by Madagascar for international solidarity and assistance to deal with the humanitarian crisis in South of Madagascar due to severe drought, the government is sending a consignment of 1000 metric tonnes of rice and 100,000 tablets of HCQ to Madagascar, the MEA said. In September 2018, a consignment of 1,000 metric tonnes of rice was delivered on-board an Indian naval vessel to Madagascar. Indian Navy was the first to respond when Cyclone Diane struck Madagascar and prompt assistance was delivered under Operation Vanilla by INS Airavat in January 2020. In March 2020, INS Shardul visited the port of Antisiranana and delivered 600 tonnes of rice as HADR assistance to Madagascar from India for dealing with heavy floods in the Northern region of Madagascar, the statement said. Jaishankar assured his counterpart from Madagascar that as a maritime neighbour across the Indian Ocean, the government and people of Madagascar can always count on the support and solidarity of the government and people of India. The two foreign ministers also discussed other issues of mutual interest. During this trip, INS Jalashwa will also have on board an Indian naval training team, which is being deployed in Madagascar for capacity building and training of the Malagasy Special Forces for two weeks. INS Jalashwa will also call at Port Anjoun in the Republic of Comoros where it will deliver a consignment of 1,000 metric tonnes of Indian rice. The supply of this food assistance was announced by Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu during his visit to Comoros in October 2019. The supplies of food assistance and support for capacity building to the friendly countries of Madagascar and Comoros is in line with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision of SAGAR and India's time-tested role as a net security provider in the Indian Ocean Region, the MEA said. Meanwhile, Jaishankar also spoke with his New Zealand counterpart Nanaia Mahuta for the first time and discussed the COVID challenge as well as the expectations of an early recovery. "Our shared interests are expressed bilaterally and in the Indo-Pacific. Look forward to meeting her in person," Jaishankar tweeted. In another tweet, Jaishankar said, "Keeping our CARICOM commitment. Made in India vaccines arrive at Antigua for Antigua & Barbuda, St Kitts & Nevis, St Lucia, St Vincent & Grenadines and Suriname." Sources said the 40,000 doses of made-in-India vaccines arrived in St Vincent and the Grenadines and received by Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves. Farmers' Protest: Delhi's Ghazipur border partially opens for vehicular traffic| Oneindia News Comments The external affairs minister also retweeted Antigua and Barbuda Prime Minister Gaston Browne''s tweet thanking Prime Minister Modi for the 500,000 AstraZeneca vaccines that he shared with the Caribbean to assist in the fight against COVID-19. SAN FRANCISCO, March 2, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Mitokinin, Inc., a biotechnology company developing PINK1-targeted therapeutics for the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases, announced today that AbbVie, a leading global biopharmaceutical company, has purchased an exclusive right to acquire Mitokinin following completion of IND enabling studies on Mitokinin's lead PINK1 compound. Based on technology discovered at UCSF by Mitokinin co-founders Nicholas Hertz and Kevan Shokat, Mitokinin moved into MBC BioLabs San Francisco in September 2017 with Series A funding from a syndicate led by Mission BioCapital. Mitokinin's novel PINK1 compounds selectively increase the activity of PINK1, a master regulator of mitochondrial quality control that is genetically linked to Parkinson's disease. By increasing PINK1 activity, Mitokinin aims to address the mitochondrial dysfunction contributing to Parkinson's disease pathogenesis and progression. Under the terms of the agreement, Mitokinin will receive an upfront payment and will continue developing its PINK1 activator program through completion of IND enabling studies for Mitokinin's lead compound. "We're thrilled to be working with the world-class neuroscience team at AbbVie to bring our PINK1 program forward," said Daniel de Roulet, Co-Founder and CEO at Mitokinin. "We look forward to executing on the collaborative research plan, and most of all, to developing much needed therapeutics for Parkinson's disease patients." "It's a testament to the quality of our science and the strength of our scientific team that we were able to attract a partner of AbbVie's caliber," said Nicholas Hertz, Ph.D, Co-Founder and CSO at Mitokinin. "I'm excited to continue to demonstrate the therapeutic potential of our specific PINK1 targeting compounds and to push towards the clinic with the AbbVie team." "Mitokinin's breakthrough PINK1 approach has the potential to revolutionize the treatment of Parkinson's disease." said Michael D. Taylor, Ph.D., Executive Chairman of Mitokinin and Operating Partner at Mission BioCapital, "Our new relationship with AbbVie is key to continuing our development and potentially bringing this new class of therapeutics to patients." About Mitokinin, Inc. Mitokinin is a discovery-stage biotechnology company developing PINK1 targeted therapeutics for the treatment of neurodegenerative and mitochondrial diseases. Mitokinin's lead program targets idiopathic Parkinson's disease. Investors include Mission BioCapital, Pfizer Ventures, and Samambaia Investments. Mitokinin is located at MBC BioLabs next to the UCSF Medical Center campus in San Francisco. For more information, please visit www.mitokinin.com SOURCE Mitokinin, Inc. Related Links https://www.mitokinin.com The majority of the 317 female students abducted from a school in Zamfara State have been freed. The schoolgirls were kidnapped from the Government Girls Secondary School, Jangebe, in Talata Mafara Local Government Area of Zamfara State last Friday. Yusuf Idris, the media aide to Governor Bello Matawalle of Zamfara, confirmed the release of the girls to PREMIUM TIMES Tuesday morning. The official said 279 schoolgirls were released around 4:00 a.m. on Tuesday. He said the girls are currently at the Zamfara government house waiting to be reunited with their parents. He asked for more time to provide details on the remaining 38 girls. PREMIUM TIMES had reported how the students were abducted early Friday amidst the worsening security situation across Nigeria. The abduction in Zamfara occurred about two weeks after dozens of students and staff members were abducted by armed bandits from a school in Kagara, Niger State. The students in Niger were released on Saturday morning. President Muhammadu Buhari had condemned the abductions saying his government would not succumb to the blackmail of the bandits. On Monday, a leader of the federal government delegation sent to sympathise with the people and government of Zamfara State over the kidnapped Jangebe schoolgirls, Hadi Sirika, briefed President Buhari on the outcome of their mission to the state. Speaking to State House correspondents after a closed-door meeting with the president on Monday in Abuja, Mr Sirika, who is also the minister of aviation, expressed optimism that the abducted female students of Government Girls Science Secondary School, Jangebe, would soon be freed from their abductors. He said the government and people of Zamfara State have expressed satisfaction with the efforts of the federal government toward addressing the menace of banditry and kidnapping in the state. Mr Sirika said: Well, the message we have brought back to the president is that the government and people of Zamfara are very appreciative of the efforts of Mr President, including all of the things that the president had done towards Zamfara. The governor also said he has an unfettered access to Mr President and Mr President has always given him a listening ear, and they have helped him in so many ways in reaching a peaceful coexistence with his people. So hes very glad and hes very happy. He asked us to greet Mr President and tell Mr President that he should count him as a partner in this challenge. Mr Sirika had on Sunday delivered Mr Buharis message to the people and government of Zamfara. Released Zamfara Jangebe Schoolgirls, (PHOTO CREDIT: Twitter @Bellomatawalle1) Released Zamfara Jangebe Schoolgirls, (PHOTO CREDIT: Twitter @Bellomatawalle1) Released Zamfara Jangebe Schoolgirls, (PHOTO CREDIT: Twitter @Bellomatawalle1) He said new measures had been developed by the federal government which would bring a complete end to all forms of criminality in the nation. ADVERTISEMENT The president is saddened by the abduction of the students from Jangebe and reassures you that the government has all the resources and wherewithal to contain these criminals. Other members of the delegation were the Minister of Police Affairs, Maigari Dingyadi; Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management, Saadiya Umar-Faruk; and Minister of Women Affairs, Pauline Tallen. MASON CITY, Iowa The annual Grab and Give Grocery Event collected $6,233.82 for the Hawkeye Harvest Food Bank. The Cerro Gordo County Farm Bureau gathered 18 teams at Hy-Vee West in Mason City on February 23. Three heats were held with six teams in each heat and the goal was to gather as close to $250 in groceries in just five minutes. Teams were given a list of items most needed by the food bank and had to have at least 10 different items off that list in their cart. Farm Bureau says the 2021 winner was the North Iowa Coop as team members Sarah Sturges, Abby Servantez and Brent Ausborn collected $249.64 in groceries. The Greatest Grabber Award went to the Helena Chemical team for snatching up $335.98 worth of groceries in just five minutes. Other teams that competed were Cargill, Cartersville Elevator, Cerro Gordo County Farm Bureau Financial, Farmers State Bank, Fox Auction Company, Henkel Construction, Cerro Gordo County ISU Extension & Outreach, First Citizens Bank, KISS Country/ The FOX, North Iowa Collison Center, Nutriquest, two teams from Pioneer Seed, POET Biorefining, Hy-Vee West and Heartland Asphalt. Farm Bureau says monetary donations were also sent in by Auto Edge, Clear Lake Bank & Trust, Farm Credit Services of America, Mason City Red Power, Midwest Pipe Supply, Viafield and Scott & Paula Warren. O3 Mining drilled 86,000 metres during 2019 and 2020 on its Malartic and Alpha properties to build on its mineral inventory in Quebec of 3.9 million ounces of gold (total measured and indicated resource of 2.4 million ounces gold contained within 62.0 Mt @ 1.22 g/t Au and 1.5 million ounces gold contained within 20.2 Mt @ 2.27 g/t Au in the Inferred category). The exploration success to date, as well as a recently completed CDN $35.0 million bought deal financing which brought its total cash and investments to CDN $145.9 million, gives O3 Mining the confidence to expand the drilling program as it executes its triple exploration strategy to convert, expand and discover resource through the second-largest drilling program in Quebec behind its sister company Osisko Mining. The completion of the additional 250,000 metres will bring the total program to approximately 350,000 metres on the properties since it started drilling in September 2019. The exploration budget for 2021-2022 is CDN $49.3 million with 125,000 metres budgeted for Malartic and 125,000 metres for Alpha. After the winter season ends in April, the Corporation will continue drilling year-round, with six drill rigs. O3 Mining Strategy Convert: At the Marban project on the Malartic property, the Corporation is undertaking infill drilling to convert Inferred mineral resources to the Measured and Indicated categories as it moves towards completing a Pre-Feasibility Study, planned for 2022. Marban has a Preliminary Economic Assessment ("PEA") announced on September 8, 2020 which outlined open-pit production of 115,000 ounces a year for 15 years. Expand: O3 Mining will continue with step-out drilling and testing new areas within 5 kilometres of the proposed plant site at Malartic with the aim of identifying new mineral resources that can be brought within the mine plan, a strategy the Corporation successfully executed in 2020 (see Press Releases November 24, 2020 and November 3, 2020). The Marban PEA was based on a measured and indicated resource of 1.9 million ounces gold contained within 54.2 Mt @ 1.10 g/t Au and a total of 0.6 million ounces gold contained within 13.2 Mt @ 1.44 g/t Au in the Inferred category. O3 Mining also aims to continue to expand the mineral resource footprint in the Orenada-Bulldog and Akasaba sectors at Alpha where it has an option on the nearby Aurbel mill. Alpha hosts 1.2 million ounces of gold (total Measured and Indicated resource of 500,000 ounces gold contained within 7.7 Mt @ 2.00 g/t Au and 700,000 ounces gold contained within 5.9 Mt @ 3.80 g/t Au in the Inferred category). Discover: O3 Mining aims to continue to discover new mineralized zones at the Simkar and Omega sectors at Alpha and to test targets generated by its exploration team and verified using artificial intelligence ("AI") by Mira Geoscience Ltd. incorporating drilling and mapping databases, geochemical samples, Induced Polarization (IP), Electromagnetic (EM), magnetic and gravity datasets (see Press Release August 6, 2020). "We see the market looking for large, economic gold deposits in mining-friendly jurisdictions and that is exactly what O3 Mining is in the process of delivering. We have secured the financial resources to increase the planned scope of our 2021 and 2022 exploration programs to convert, expand and discover and keep building ounces around our two potential production sites in Val-d'Or. 2021 will be an exciting year for O3 Mining as this exploration program further advances the production potential of Malartic and Alpha," said President and CEO Jose Vizquerra. Highlights Drilling at the Malartic property will test extensions of the ore deposits included in the September 2020 PEA (See press release September 8, 2020) to grow the mineral resource base, specifically focused on the NorlarticKierens, North-North, North Shear, Marban, and the Gold Hawk deposits. Other drilling targets include Orion #8, Golden Bridge, MK, Malartic H, Marban NE, and Camflo deep, including extensions of historical mineralized zones within three kilometres of the PEA pit shells, which offer additional potential to increase resources within the Marban mining project area. Drilling at Alpha will aim to expand the known deposits at Bulldog, Orenada, Simkar, and Akasaba, and the Corporation will proceed to a resource estimate when it feels there are enough resources to generate an economic production scenario. Drilling will follow-up on significant drill intercepts to prove-up the continuity of grades and widths to turn these into new deposits as well as make new discoveries within the Bulldog-Orenada, Akasaba, Simkar, and Omega sectors. BMO 30th Global Metals & Mining Conference Jose Vizquerra, President and CEO, will present at the BMO Global Metals & Mining Conference on Wednesday, March 3rd at 4:00 p.m. (EST) as part of the Osisko Group Panel alongside Osisko Development, Osisko Mining, and Osisko Metals, and will be available for one-on-one meetings throughout the conference. Meeting requests can be made through the conference website. BMO Global Metals & Mining Conference is one of the sector's premier events. This five-day invitation-only conference brings together mining industry leaders and institutional investors from around the globe. The event is considered a barometer of industry sentiment for the year to come. Figure 1: Alpha Property Map Figure 2: Malartic Property Map Qualified Person The scientific and technical content of this news release has been reviewed, prepared, and approved by Mr. Louis Gariepy. (OIQ #107538), VP Exploration, who is a "qualified person" as defined by National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects ("NI 43-101"). About O3 Mining Inc. O3 Mining Inc., an Osisko Group company, is a gold explorer and mine developer ready to produce from its highly prospective gold camps in Quebec, Canada. O3 Mining benefits from the support, previous mine-building success, and expertise of the Osisko team as it grows towards being a gold producer with several multi-million ounce deposits in Quebec. O3 Mining is well-capitalized and owns a 100% interest in all its properties (137,000 hectares) in Quebec. O3 Mining trades on the TSX Venture Exchange (TSX.V: OIII) and OTC Markets (OTCQX: OIIIF). The company is focused on delivering superior returns to its shareholders and long-term benefits to its stakeholders. Further information can be found on our website at https://o3mining.com/ Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Information This news release contains "forward-looking information" within the meaning of the applicable Canadian securities legislation that is based on expectations, estimates, projections, and interpretations as at the date of this news release. The information in this news release about the transaction; and any other information herein that is not a historical fact may be "forward-looking information". Any statement that involves discussions with respect to predictions, expectations, interpretations, beliefs, plans, projections, objectives, assumptions, future events or performance (often but not always using phrases such as "expects", or "does not expect", "is expected", "interpreted", "management's view", "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 information and are intended to identify forward-looking information. This forward-looking information is based on reasonable assumptions and estimates of management of the Corporation, at the time it was made, involves known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the companies to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking information. Such factors include, among others, risks relating to the restart of operations; further steps that might be taken to mitigate the spread of COVID-19; the impact of COVID-19 related disruptions in relation to the Corporation's business operations including upon its employees, suppliers, facilities and other stakeholders; uncertainties and risk that have arisen and may arise in relation to travel, and other financial market and social impacts from COVID-19 and responses to COVID 19. Although the forward-looking information contained in this news release is based upon what management believes, or believed at the time, to be reasonable assumptions, the parties cannot assure shareholders and prospective purchasers of securities that actual results will be consistent with such forward-looking information, as there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended, and neither the Corporation nor any other person assumes responsibility for the accuracy and completeness of any such forward-looking information. The Corporation does not undertake, and assumes no obligation, to update or revise any such forward-looking statements or forward-looking information contained herein to reflect new events or circumstances, except as may be required by law. Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release. No stock exchange, securities commission or other regulatory authority has approved or disapproved the information contained herein. SOURCE O3 Mining Inc. Related Links https://o3mining.com/ CHARLOTTE, N.C., March 2, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Truist Financial Corporation (NYSE: TFC) demonstrated its commitment to corporate social responsibility by issuing its first social bond of $1.25 billion in aggregate principal amount. As part of the company's multitiered environmental, social and governance (ESG) strategy, the net proceeds from the issuance will support new and existing eligible social programs, including investments in affordable housing and enhancements to essential nonprofit services for communities in need. "We were thrilled by investor reception of our first social bond, particularly in the face of significant market volatility," said Corporate Treasurer Donna Goodrich. "Our heavily oversubscribed issuance demonstrated investor enthusiasm for this asset class and a desire to further the important work of building our communities, while also affirming confidence in Truist's credit quality." Notable terms and aspects of the social bond issuance include: First social bond issued by a U.S. regional bank 1.267% fixed-to-floating rate senior notes due March 2, 2027 (CUSIP: 89788MAD4) (CUSIP: 89788MAD4) Redeemable prior to maturity via a call feature included in the 6-year non-call 5 (6NC-5) structure Participation from more than 120 investors, including high-quality ESG-dedicated portfolios, with order book oversubscribed by 2.7 times Pricing reflected tightest new issue spread for a 6NC-5 note issued by a U.S. bank (50 basis point spread to the benchmark Treasury yield) "Investing in our communities is one of the most tangible ways we're able to fulfill our purpose of inspiring and building better lives and communities," said Head of Truist Corporate Social Responsibility Tori Kaplan. "This first social bond marks a significant milestone in our overall ESG commitment and our journey to advancing equity in the communities we serve." In its first year, Truist strengthened and formalized its ESG program by publishing its Corporate Social Responsibility Report and disclosing key information in accordance with leading ESG frameworks. Additionally, Truist achieved the following ESG milestones in 2020: Environmental: Extended $2.4 billion of renewable energy and sustainability financing of renewable energy and sustainability financing Provided $534.4 million in solar funding, which reached 15,703 households in solar funding, which reached 15,703 households Planted 800+ acres of trees in partnership with American Forests Disclosed Scope 1 and 2 emissions Published the company's first Environmental Statement in Truist Corporate Social Responsibility report Social: Continued execution on our $60 billion Community Benefits Plan to lend to and invest in low- and moderate-income borrowers and communities from 2020 to 2022 Community Benefits Plan to lend to and invest in low- and moderate-income borrowers and communities from 2020 to 2022 Provided $7.4 billion in community development loans, including loans for affordable housing in community development loans, including loans for affordable housing Awarded $178.6 million in total giving by Truist including the Truist Charitable Fund, Truist Foundation, Community Reinvestment Act and regional giving in total giving by Truist including the Truist Charitable Fund, Truist Foundation, Community Reinvestment Act and regional giving Contributed $78 million to efforts advancing diversity, equity and inclusion, including awarding social justice grants, supporting historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs), funding diverse small businesses and empowering the communities Truist serves through diversity initiatives to efforts advancing diversity, equity and inclusion, including awarding social justice grants, supporting historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs), funding diverse small businesses and empowering the communities Truist serves through diversity initiatives Completed more than 1,700 community service projects through the Lighthouse Project Signed PwC's CEO Action for Diversity & Inclusion pledge Governance: Demonstrated diverse representation on the Truist Board of Directors, with 45% of the board being racially, ethnically or gender diverse Exceeded year one target to increase spend with diverse suppliers and enhance supplier diversity at Truist Created the Truist ESG Council Received a 100% score on the Human Rights Campaign's Corporate Equality Index "In addition to advancing our commitment to a stronger ESG program, this bond extends our community development initiatives by creating a new, targeted funding vehicle to drive permanent and measurable social change," said Truist Director of Investor Relations Ryan Richards. "It's another way Truist is standing for better to advance diversity, equity and inclusion in our communities." Truist issued the social bonds in accordance with the Truist Sustainable Financing Framework, which guides the company's issuance of green, social and sustainable instruments. The framework addresses the four core components of the International Capital Markets Association (ICMA) Green Bond Principles, Social Bond Principles and Sustainability Bond Guidelines on use of funds; project selection and evaluation processes; management of proceeds; and reporting. Truist has obtained an independent second-party opinion on the framework from Sustainalytics. Learn more about the framework and second-party opinion here. This press release does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy the social bonds or any other securities, nor shall there be any sale of the social bonds in any state or jurisdiction in which such an offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such state or jurisdiction. About Truist Truist Financial Corporation (NYSE: TFC) is a purpose-driven financial services company committed to inspiring and building better lives and communities. Formed by the historic merger of equals of BB&T and SunTrust, Truist has leading market share in many high-growth markets in the country. The company offers a wide range of services including retail, small business and commercial banking; asset management; capital markets; commercial real estate; corporate and institutional banking; insurance; mortgage; payments; specialized lending; and wealth management. Headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, Truist is the sixth-largest commercial bank in the U.S. with total assets of $509 billion as of December 31, 2020. Truist Bank, Member FDIC. Learn more at Truist.com. SOURCE Truist Financial Corporation Related Links https://www.truist.com/ Children attend online classes at a learning hub inside the Crenshaw Family YMCA during the Covid-19 pandemic on February 17, 2021 in Los Angeles, California. (Patrick T. Fallon/AFP via Getty Images) LA Teachers Union Condemns States School Reopening Plan as Propagating Structural Racism The United Teachers of Los Angeles (UTLA) has condemned California Gov. Gavin Newsoms plan to reopen schools for in-person instruction, calling it a recipe for propagating structural racism. Newsom announced on Sunday that he has reached a deal with state legislators to set aside $2 billion in grants to help school districts cover the expenses associated with bringing students back to classrooms safely. Some major districts, such as the 600,000-student Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD), has kept classrooms closed since last March when the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus outbreak hit California. Under the deal, school districts in red tier counties, with seven or fewer new daily cases of CCP virus infection per 100,000 residents, must open elementary schools and at least one grade in middle or high school for in-person learning in order to access all available funds. For the most restrictive purple tier counties, school districts would be required to open kindergarten through second grade in order to receive the new money. While the plan does not force any school district to reopen, schools would start to lose one percent of their share of the $2 billion in reopening funds for each day that they remain closed after Mar. 31. Newsom also noted that teachers are not required to be vaccinated to return to the classroom, saying, We believe the data and the science bear that out. The UTLA, which represents some 33,000 teachers, condemned Newsoms reopening plan shortly after its release, claiming that it unfairly benefits white and wealthier and healthier school communities. If you condition funding on the reopening of schools, that money will only go to white and wealthier and healthier school communities that do not have the transmission rates that low-income Black and brown communities do, UTLA President Cecily Myart-Cruz said in a statement. This is a recipe for propagating structural racism and it is deeply unfair to the students we serve. The union specifically demands that purple tier counties be excluded from the reopening plan, staff in such counties to be either fully vaccinated or provided access to full vaccination before returning to in-person work, and that safety measures such as social distancing and ventilation to be in place in classrooms. Educators are being unfairly targeted by wealthier and healthier people who are not experiencing this disease in the same way as students and families in our communities, the union alleges. If this were a rich persons disease, we would have seen a very different response. Meanwhile, the statewide California Teachers Association welcomed Newsoms plan, but also pledged to review the terms more closely working with local unions as they negotiate with districts to reopen for in-person instruction. 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. GrandView doubled its fleet at the end of 2020 to meet increased charter demand as passengers are flocking to private travel to avoid commercial airline travel. The Phenom 300 light jet is the ideal aircraft for new fliers as it features nonstop range of up to 2000 miles, perfect for most travel in North America, and features state-of-the-art safety technology. Grandview will meet this need at KBED with a top-of-the-line light jet which outperforms similarly classed aircraft in range, size, storage, and is a comfortable transition for passengers new to private jets. "We can't wait to start flying private jet clients in the greater Boston area." Chief Operating Officer, Jessie Naor said, "With our locations in the Mid-Atlantic and Midwest, Boston is the prefect addition to extend our coverage area in the Northeast." Mindful of COVID risks, GrandView takes the utmost care in protecting their passengers by using electrostatic disinfection technology on all aircraft surfaces, in addition to thorough cleanings between flights, and anticipates that all its flight crewmembers will be vaccinated shortly after opening. GrandView Aviation's ability to serve another region provides added value to customers who have enrolled in the company's popular Altitude Miles Program. Members of the program are able to earn miles on charter flights that can be redeemed for catering, flight credits, and other amenities. The program also offers utilization of GrandView's flexible cancelation policy and empty leg deals available first to its members. GrandView Aviation GrandView Aviation operates a fleet of Phenom 300 private charter jets and helicopters giving access to departure points across the United States from the company's bases in Baltimore, Chicago, Atlanta, Austin, Phoenix, and Denver. GrandView Aviation is a FAA Part 135 certificated aircraft operator & carries the elite Wyvern Wingman safety rating. For more information about GrandView Aviation, please visit www.flygv.com . SOURCE GrandView Aviation Related Links flygv.com Boris Johnson is once again facing questions over the UK's international border restrictions after COVID cases involving the Brazilian variant were identified. (Christopher Furlong/pool/AFP via Getty Images) A senior Labour MP has questioned why the government has been so slow to act after the first case of coronavirus involving the Brazilian variant was identified in the UK. Yvette Cooper, chair of the House of Commons home affairs committee, subjected Boris Johnson to intense questioning about the matter on 13 January, almost seven weeks ago. Following the emergence of the Brazilian variant in the UK, Cooper re-posted this exchange with the prime minister when he appeared before the liaison committee on that day. To view this content, you'll need to update your privacy settings. Please click here to do so. On Sunday, Public Health England said it had identified six UK cases of the potentially more transmissible P1 variant, which was first detected in the Brazilian city of Manaus: three in England and three in Scotland. This has led to accusations that stricter and quicker restrictions should have been imposed on international arrivals. On 15 January, two days after the exchange between Cooper and Johnson, the government added Brazil to its so-called red list banning travel from the country, though British and Irish nationals were exempt. Watch: Boris Johnson says 'massive effort' ongoing to contain spread of new variants Upon entry from Brazil, they had to self-isolate for 10 days though there was nothing stopping arrivals getting on public transport as they made their way home, for instance. The rules were eventually toughened on 15 February, meaning any British or Irish national who had been in a red list country such as Brazil in the past 10 days had to isolate in a government-controlled quarantine hotel. With Johnson under pressure following the detection of the variant, he once again repeated his claim that the UK has one of the toughest border regimes anywhere in the world. Asked if the government was too slow to implement quarantine hotel measures, the PM also said: I dont think so, we moved as fast as we could to get that going." Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said the discovery of the Brazilian variant in the UK shows the government had not secured our borders in the way we should have done. Story continues Last week, Johnson announced his intention for England's lockdown to be lifted on 21 June, but Prof Graham Medley of Sage warned that new variants have the potential to set the road map "backwards". Read more: European country shielded from worst of COVID declares emergency after outbreak of UK variant Dont wreck this now: Two reasons to hang on and stick to COVID rules, according to Jonathan Van-Tam He told BBC Radio 4s Today programme on Monday: It is a variant of concern but we are going to be faced with these in the next six months as we move towards relaxing measures. There are going to be challenges on the way. "And there is always a risk that we might have to go backwards, and thats what nobody wants to do is to actually open up and then have to close down again." Watch: How England will leave lockdown Hybrid Workplace Re-Imagined The new normal will be a hybrid workplace, where work from home and the location-aware office take centre stage. Where technology and the network support elements like contact tracing, density planning and heat mapping ? all in a seamless and secure manner ? to keep employees safe and productive. Join KHIPU Networks on 16th, 17th and 18th of March at 2PM to discover more around the hybrid workplace re-imagined. Sign up to the series today: https://www.hybrid-working.co.uk/khipu/webinar/ The series consists of: How to adapt the employee experience with Jon Howell, Smart Spaces and IoT Lead EMEA, Aruba Tuesday 16th March 2021 ? 2PM to 3PM How to secure the network with Gareth Knight, Channel Sales Engineer, Aruba Wednesday 17th March 2021, 2PM to 3PM Visibility and remote access? You can with Aruba Central with Chris Linzell, Network Management, EMEA, Aruba Thursday 18th March 2021, 2PM to 3PM [March 02, 2021] WorkLLama Named Vanguard Leader in Ardent Partners 2021 Digital Staffing Platforms Technology Advisor Rankings for Direct Sourcing Solutions WorkLLama has been named a Vanguard Leader in the Ardent Partners 2021 Digital Staffing Platforms Technology Advisor Rankings for direct sourcing solutions. The research is designed to help procurement, HR, human capital and talent acquisition executives navigate the complex digital and on-demand solution provider landscape. Vanguard Leaders such as WorkLLama earn their positions for their uniquely progressive and innovative solutions. "WorkLLama brings an innovative approach to end-to-end direct sourcing through its unique blend of workforce solutions that harness the power of human connections via social referral management and rich candidate and employee experiences," said Christopher Dwyer, vice president of research at Ardent Partners. "By leveraging next-generation technology, including mobile-first applications and an AI conversational bot, WorkLLama enables its customers to build deep, branded talent communities and leverage social referrals to engage top-tier talent." The report points to WorkLLama's strengths, which include: - Dynamic marketing campaigns that enable users to gauge candidate interaction and the overall ROI of recruitment marketing campaigns. - Mobile app, which includes an AI conversational bot to drive multi-dimensional referrals, is one of the strongest in the market and serves as the agile engine for much of the platform's powerful direct sourcing functionality. - Brief competency tests can be included in mobile app messaging with potential candidates. "Business leaders frequently turn to Ardent Partners to understand the technology landscape and select the best partners for their needs, and we are thrilled to earn this ranking," said WorkLLama CEO Sudhakar Maruvada. "WorkLLama entered the corporate direct sourcing market at the end of 2019, and to be recognized for innovation and technology excellence in such a short time frame speaks volumes about our platform." To access the full report, visit https://www.workllama.com/2021-digital-staffing-platforms/. About WorkLLama WorkLLama is a talent community platform that helps companies leverage their brands to create powerful candidate, employee and client experiences. Its technology makes it possible to foster meaningful, more human connections with talent, leading to exceptional and inspired branded talent communities that fuel business success. WorkLLama drives digital transformation through social referral management; seamless candidate engagement; Sofi, its AI conversational bot; integrated, omnichannel communication; on-demand staffing; and direct sourcing solutions. For more information visit www.workllama.com. About Ardent Partners Ardent Partners is a research and advisory firm focused on defining and advancing the strategies, processes, and technologies that drive Best-in-Class performance for procurement and finance departments within the enterprise. Since 2010, Ardent Partners has actively covered the procurement, fin-tech, and workforce solutions marketplace and produced research to help business decision-makers understand the technology landscape and select the best-fit solutions for their needs. For more information, visit www.ardentpartners.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210302005822/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] (HealthDay)Don't skip your breast cancer screening mammogram. This is the overarching message of an extended study of more than a half-million Swedish women. Those who missed even one recommended screening mammogram were more likely to die from breast cancer, the study found. The new findingswhich appear March 2 in the journal Radiologyare concerning given the widespread delays and cancelations of preventative cancer screenings that took place during early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic. "You can save your own life by making sure to get your regular, routine mammogram," said Dr. Marisa Weiss, founder and chief medical officer of Breastcancer.org and Breasthealth.org in Ardmore, Pa. "Getting your mammogram won't increase your risk for COVID," said Weiss, who was not involved with the new study. "Make the call. Hospitals are safe; your mammogram can save your life." When performed regularly, screening mammograms can detect breast cancer in its most treatable and beatable stages. While experts agree that mammograms are beneficial, there is debate among medical groups about when to start screening and how often to do so. The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recommends women who are at average risk for breast cancer get their first mammogram at age 50, and then every two years until age 74. Meanwhile, the American Cancer Society (ACS) says 40- to 44-year-old women should consider annual mammograms, which are recommended yearly for women between 45 and 54. Older women may get mammograms every other year if they prefer, ACS says. In the new study, women who had shown up for their two routine screening exams before their breast cancer diagnosis were 50% less likely to die from breast cancer within 10 years than women who avoided mammograms. Women who missed one of their last two recommended screening exams were about 30% less likely to die from breast cancer, the study showed. The study covered more than 549,000 Swedish women from 1992 to 2016. During that time, 40- to 54-year-olds were advised to have mammograms every 18 months; 55- to 69-year-olds were told to screen every two years. "For women of screening age, the take-home message is to participate in regular scheduled screens," said study author Stephen Duffy, professor of cancer screening at Queen Mary University of London. "For providers, the message is to make the screening experience as safe, acceptable and positive as possible, so that women come back for their next screen." Screening mammography saves lives, said Dr. Laurie Margolies, chief of breast imaging at Mount Sinai Health System in New York City, who reviewed the findings. "Once-in-a-while mammography is not sufficient if your goal is to decrease the chances that you will die from breast cancer," she said. "If you miss even one yearly mammogram, the chances of dying from breast cancer increase." Weiss agreed that making sure you get your recommended mammogram is essential: "Don't let it slip and slide. You don't want to miss a year." If your mammogram was canceled due to the pandemic, reschedule it today, she advised. If you've recently had a COVID-19 vaccination, however, be aware that lymph nodes on the side where the shot was received may swell. Because the swollen lymph nodes may show up on X-ray, the Society of Breast Imaging recently recommended women wait four weeks after vaccination to have their mammogram. Explore further Screening mammograms and COVID-19 vaccine More information: To learn more about the benefits of screening mammograms, visit Journal information: Radiology To learn more about the benefits of screening mammograms, visit Breastcancer.org Copyright 2020 HealthDay. All rights reserved. Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. An 11-year-old boy on a bicycle was killed after being hit by a vehicle on New Mexico State Road 187 south of Truth or Consequences last week, New Mexico State Police announced on Monday. Police said that on Feb. 25 at about 6:45 p.m., a 2006 Chevrolet passenger vehicle was driving northbound near mile marker 19 when, for an unknown reason, a boy on a bicycle crossed into the northbound lane, where he was struck. The child was transported to a hospital where he was pronounced dead. Police didnt release his identity. Police said alcohol did not appear to be a factor in the crash, which remains under investigation. ADVERTISEMENTSkip ................................................................ We talked about this over the weekend and now it's news fact . . . Read more: KANSAS CITY, MO (KCTV) -- Last week, an illegal "side show" blocked traffic in front of the T-Mobile Center as drivers spun donuts in the street. Now, the city is looking at new ways to crack down on that kind of behavior. This Thursday, an ordinance will be introduced at the city council meeting. The Daily Beast Photo Illustration by The Daily Beast/GettyMike Lindell, the MyPillow CEO and Trumpist conspiracy-peddler, flew his private jet to the Republican Governors Association meeting the other day.The guvs promptly threw him out. But the incident got Molly Jong-Fast thinking: Does the MyPillow CEO think hes already a governor or something?Subscribe to The New Abnormal on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Amazon Music, or Overcast. To listen to our weekly members-only bonus episodes, join Beast Inside here. Already a member? You can listen here and sign up for new episode email alerts here.Spoiler: Making MyPillows does not make you my governor. Now, chances that Mike Lindell could actually become governor of a small Republican state, 80 percent, she quips on the latest episode of The New Abnormal. Like, its not even that hard for someone that famous and insane in the Republican party to become a governor.Lindell claims he wouldnt run to be a dogcatcher right now, because he doesnt trust the voting machines. Plus, hes from the blue state of Minnesota. So maybe the risk of a Governor Pillow isnt quite so high. But L.A. Times columnist Virginia Heffernan would like to quickly add something about Mike Lindell being a cosplay governor.I think we need to understand that being in politics leads to governing and governing is boring. It is not a PR operation, she says. And I feel like we have made these jobs celebrity roles. Public service should not beis notbeing on a reality show.Like, I feel like we need to really dial down the razzle-dazzle, really play up the drudgery, Heffernan continues. I just don't know why every single industrialist and every single lady with abs or gorgeous arms would want to be, of all things, a governor.Biden, Heffernan opines, is doing a pretty good job at the drudgerydollars going out, jabs going out, all leading to Trump signs going down. Sure, the Donald has his cultists, like Lindell. But, I don't think people can hold onto this much insanity for this long, especially when it's a tiny minority of people who believe it, Heffernan adds. Democrats need to know how to win.To which Jong-Fast replies, oh-so-gently: Are you freakin kidding me? With all of these Republican attempts to retcon the Capitol riots? To chop away at the right to vote? To instantiate their ability to overturn elections? All while Team Biden snoozes it away? The Democrats are bringing an ice cream sundae to a knife fight, Jong-Fast says.Plus! Politicos Tara Palmeri talks about her search to find Liz Cheney supporters in Wyoming. And Battle for the Soul author Edward-Isaac Dovere gives us a peek into how Biden sees the political landscape. The presidency that he has in front of him now, he knows, is so different from what he ever expected to have, Dovere says, And part of that is rethinking how he incorporates the progressivism within the party that took root and that was so much part of this campaign. And its just, its a really complicated evolution for him. Its not the presidency he thought itd be running in 2019 when he got into this race.Read more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full 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 rapid spread of the coronavirus offers a ready metaphor for rapid transmission of another public problem secrecy in government. In December, for example, Lackawanna Countys commissioners imposed a preposterous fee of 50 cents per minute, plus a $25 initiation fee, for members of the public to search public records that they already own. That vastly would have reduced public dissemination of government information. In doing so, the commissioners explained that, well, other counties had done it. They quickly rescinded the fees when faced with substantial public blowback. So, herewith a cautionary tale about another county, Chester, clamping down on the release of public information, in case it also becomes viral. Two months after The Philadelphia Inquirer relying partly on leaked information reported on major problems with a no-bid $13 million contract with a politically connected company for COVID-19 testing, the Chester County commissioners issued a new ethics policy. Some of the provisions, such as a ban on accepting gifts, are sound. But it forbids county employees from discussing any aspects of their jobs with anyone, including their friends and families, and precludes disclosing any information of any kind other than standard public information. Typically, government ethics bans preclude public employees from disseminating public information for their own profit, which is a legitimate ethics matter. As for the no-bid contract exposed by the Inquirer, the county has notified many county residents that their COVID-19 test results might be wrong, and has filed a lawsuit seeking to recoup $11 million of the $13 million contract price. The gag order tramples free speech, quite likely is unconstitutional, and is certain to expose taxpayers to further litigation costs. The state Legislature, which has been quick to prevent local governments from enacting local gun control measures, should act just as aggressively to prevent local governments from violating workers free speech rights. When Tony Coley is talking to people, inevitably they ask what he does for a living. He works at Truist Bank, he tells them. Then they ask which branch. His answer often surprises them: All the branches. In fact, hes the regional president for South Florida for the company, which was formed out of a merger of SunTrust and BB&T. Coley, who is Black and a former academic All-America linebacker for the University of Miami, said he doesnt fit peoples expectations for such a high-level position in banking. They dont envision me in that position, Coley said. And its no fault of their own. Its just the world. The world of banking and finance has been a frustrating climb for Black professionals. It starts at the top. The U.S. has never had a Black leader of the Securities and Exchange Commission, Federal Reserve or Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. Its a perception problem, said James Brewer, a certified financial planner and founder of Envision Wealth Management. Black and white people often have concerns about black people and money, said Brewer, who is a MIT-educated and Chicago-based. Brewer said many people dont believe Blacks are capable of handling financial jobs, and added many people dont know where to find qualified Blacks to lead national banking and financial agencies. Recently, theyve been picking people from Wall Street, Brewer said, and Wall Street hasnt had a love affair with brown folks. Coley, however, wants Blacks to know they can still achieve their dreams in the financial sector, an industry he called exciting. If youre dedicated, you work hard, have a positive attitude, and you come to work every day with the right attitude and you work to get things done, then good things will happen, he said. And thats never changed in my career. Its always been the same. I continue that to this day. But the diversity statistics arent impressive. A 2020 study of Racial Equity in Financial Services by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation and McKinsey and Company showed 75% of Black employees above the entry level are onlys, meaning theyre the only Black person at that job level. Just 4% of Whites are onlys compared to 31% of Asians and 40% of Latins. Worse, the same study showed while financial institutions initially hire people of color 40% of the time, 90% percent of people in the C-suite (CEO, CFO, etc) are White, meaning retention and promotion could be major issues. Patience might also be an issue. For example, it usually takes four years to pass the courses to become a Certified Financial Planner and five years to build a business. Peter Fondulas, president of Fondulas Strategic Research, did a study for the CFP Board Center for Financial Planning. It said there are just 1,200 CFPs among the 80,000 certified CFPs in America, or 1.5%. However, the same study found people of color were more satisfied in their careers as CFPs than whites and more likely to recommend it as a profession. Brewer said hed like to drill down on the survey results. I would like to understand what satisfied in their profession means, he said. Brewer said he sees very few Blacks at CFP conferences. Brewer thinks mentoring could help, just as introducing Blacks to possible financial careers in high school could help. Coleys professional journey started his senior year of high school. He was a celebrated high school linebacker who could have attended any college in the nation. But before the second game of his senior season he broke his leg. As scholarships offer disappeared, Coley vowed hed dedicate himself to becoming a good college student. At the UM, he never missed a class and always sat in the front row. His first job after college wasnt in the NFL, rather it was as a bank teller in Coral Gables across the street from the UM campus as part of a management training rotation for Barnett Bank. When hed chat with older bank executives theyd ask Coley what he wanted to do and hed usually give a mid-level answer. There were people who told me, and even more importantly, showed me there were bigger things available if you really work at it, Coley said, later adding, but you have to see it. Somebody has to show you this is possible. Coley hopes he can open some eyes in the same fashion his eyes were opened. You can do almost anything you want to do in this industry, he said. And in my career, I will do a lot of different things within this industry. Its exciting. Its not boring. Its not what people think it is. I really enjoy my job. -- Chris Perkins of the South Florida Sun Sentinel wrote this story. 2021 South Florida Sun Sentinel. Visit at sun-sentinel.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. Nairobi, March 2 (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 2nd Mar, 2021 ) :Four media workers in Ethiopia's conflict-wracked Tigray region, including a translator working for Agence France-Presse, have been arrested and detained, their families and employers said. Tigray has been the theatre 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. The area was an information black hole for much of that time, with reporting heavily restricted and the internet cut off. Seven international media organisations -- including AFP, the BBC and the Financial Times -- have now been granted accreditation to report from Tigray, but journalists were warned by officials they might face unspecified "corrective measures" if they did not meet local standards. Fitsum Berhane and Alula Akalu, who were working as translators for journalists from AFP and the Financial Times, were detained on Saturday, their families said. A third man, a journalist named Temrat Yemane, was also arrested in Mekele, the Tigrayan capital. Late Monday the BBC also said one of its journalists, Girmay Gebru, had been detained by the military in Mekele. Fitsum and Alula are being held at a military college near Mekele University, their families told AFP. Relatives have not been able to see them and no explanation has been given for the arrests. "They are under investigation. The information we have is that there is already some evidence," said Mulu Nega, the leader of the interim administration in Tigray which was appointed by Addis Ababa. Asked what the investigation was about and what the evidence was he said: "There is no detailed information." AFP's global news director Phil Chetwynd called for Fitsum's immediate release. "We have not been informed of any specific charges against Fitsum Berhane. His collaboration with a media outlet should not be a motive for his arrest," he said. The Financial Times said it was taking "all possible steps" to secure the release of the translators. "Our concerns have been raised with the relevant authorities as we work to understand the reasons for the arrests." The BBC said it had expressed its "concern to the Ethiopian authorities" and was awaiting their response. Media freedom group the Committee to Protect Journalists said the detentions could send a chill through the reporting community. "The Ethiopian military's arrests of journalists and media workers will undoubtedly lead to fear and self-censorship," the group said Monday. "Ethiopian authorities should release these journalists and media workers immediately and provide guarantees that the press can cover the conflict in Tigray without intimidation." We're always interested in hearing about news in our community. Let us know what's going on! Go to form A snag in the Co-WIN portal affected the COVID-19 vaccination process for senior citizens at private hospitals in in initial hours on Tuesday, a Health official said. The portal developed a glitch soon after the process for vaccination began after 9 AM, forcing many senior citizens who had gathered at the hospitals to take the first dose to leave. "As the snag stalled the entire process in the first one hour, several senior citizens had to go back. We regret the inconvenience caused to them," he said. The process restarted at 2.30 pm after the snag was fixed, the official said. Meanwhile, the health department on Tuesday allowed 15 private hospitals to administer COVID-19 shots to the people who are eligible under the latest drive. The government initially allowed only government hospitals to conduct vaccination when the second drive covering senior citizens and the people in the age group of 45 to 59 years with comorbidities began on Monday. Minister Coveney Announces Re-establishment of an Irish Diplomatic Presence in Iran Press release The Minister of Foreign Affairs and Minister for Defence, Simon Coveney, today announced the re-establishment of an Irish Diplomatic presence in Iran, following the closure of the Irish Embassy in 2012. A Diplomatic Mission will be established this year, to be headed at Charge dAffaires level, with a commitment to re-open an Irish Embassy in 2023. Announcing the decision, the Minister said: As part of our Global Ireland strategy, Ireland made a commitment to double our global impact by 2025. In that context, the Government has decided to re-establish an Irish diplomatic presence in Iran. As an elected member of the Security Council, it is particularly important that we have the ability to engage in more depth on the range of Middle East issues on the Security Councils agenda. As Facilitator of Resolution 2231 (concerning the implementation of the Iran nuclear agreement, the JCPOA) for the next two years on the Council, we have a particular responsibility to play a constructive and impactful role on the nuclear non-proliferation agenda. Ireland is fully committed to the success of that agreement, and the prevention of the proliferation of nuclear weapons. The re-establishment of an Irish presence in Tehran is a concrete sign of our commitment to deepen dialogue with all relevant partners, including Iran, on this issue. ENDS PRESS OFFICE 2 March 2021 Notes to Editor The Irish Embassy in Tehran closed in 2012, due to the impact of the financial crisis. Irelands Embassy in Ankara has maintained diplomatic relations with Iran via a Secondary Accreditation. Irelands Mission in Tehran will be headed at Charge dAffaires. The Mission will be co-located with the German Embassy under a co-location agreement. Ireland is Facilitator of Resolution 2231 on the Security Council. In this role, Ireland updates the Council on progress towards implementing Irans nuclear agreement, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. The JCPOA set strict limits on Irans nuclear activities, in return for sanctions relief. The US withdrew from the agreement in 2018 under President Trump, but the Biden Administration has indicated a willingness to re-engage with the deal, should Iran come back into compliance. Previous Item | Next Item Posted Monday, March 1, 2021 4:53 pm The Twin Transit Market Street bus stop, dedicated to a longtime local public transportation advocate in January, officially opened on Monday. The bus stop is located on Market Street in Chehalis in front of Chehalis Manor. It features a newly-installed bus pullout designed to improve the flow of traffic and reduce congestion at the intersection at Third and Market streets, Twin Transit said in a press release. The bus stop was dedicated to Jean Fairgrieve, who was instrumental in making the bus and transportation service a reality in Lewis County. She volunteered and gathered signatures to have a public transit measure placed on the ballot in the 1970s. The measure was approved in 1976 and Twin Transit was founded the same year. Since then, Twin Transit has grown exponentially, expanding to include LIFTT service, a DARTT dial-a-ride program, clean energy integration, community service support, and two physical locations, the press release states. In honor of Fairgrieve, a plaque was installed next to the bus stop that reads, Dedicated to Jean Fairgrieve for bringing public transit to the Twin Cities. Along with the opening of the Market Street bus stop, Twin Transit has made other bus route adjustments, including adding a Chehalis Timberland Library bus stop and a Chehalis Safeway bus stop behind the store on Washington Street. Twin Transit will be removing bus stops at the Colony House, Town Center, Lewis County Gospel Mission and Lewis County Work Opportunities. To help improve the flow of traffic, Twin Transit will no longer travel through downtown Chehalis. Instead, buses will turn right from Market, drive past the library, and turn left on Washington. The Downtown Stop will now be located one block up the hill from the Colony House, on NE Washington and Division Street, the press release stated. More information about the Twin Transit route adjustments can be found at twintransit.org. Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-02 16:15:57|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close BEIJING, March 2 (Xinhua) -- The following are the updates on the global fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. - - - - PHNOM PENH -- Cambodia confirmed 24 more local cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday, raising the total number of infected people linked to the third community transmission to 340, the Ministry of Health (MoH) said in a statement. The new cases were detected in the capital Phnom Penh and the southwestern Preah Sihanouk province, the statement said, adding that they were all related to the third community outbreak on Feb. 20. - - - - BANGKOK -- Thailand on Tuesday confirmed 42 new COVID-19 cases, mostly domestic, and one more fatality, according to a report of the Center for the COVID-19 Situation Administration (CCSA). Of Tuesday's new cases, 39 were domestic infections while three others were imported cases, the CCSA report said. - - - - ULAN BATOR -- Mongolia's COVID-19 tally reached 3,000 on Tuesday as 48 new cases were registered in the past 24 hours, according to the country's National Center for Communicable Diseases (NCCD). The latest cases were locally transmitted and detected in the country's capital Ulan Bator, which is hit hardest by the COVID-19 outbreak, the NCCD said in a statement. - - - - ADDIS ABABA -- The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases on the African continent reached 3,899,093 on Monday evening, the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) said. The continental death toll from the disease stood at 103,762 as of Monday evening, according to agency's COVID-19 dashboard. - - - - FREETOWN -- Chinese Ambassador to Sierra Leone Hu Zhangliang on Monday officially presented a batch of Chinese COVID-19 vaccines to Sierra Leonean President Julius Maada Bio. The vaccines arrived in Sierra Leone on Thursday last week. China is ready to work with other development partners to support Sierra Leone in prevailing over the pandemic at an early date, Hu said in his statement. - - - - MANILA -- The Philippines has detected its first six cases of a more contagious COVID-19 variant found in South Africa, its health ministry said on Tuesday. Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire expressed concern about the detection of the variant, which can spread more readily like the variant found in Britain, adding that the variant could evade immune responses and reduce vaccine efficacy. Enditem German-born Ragna Gruendler, who settled in Ireland almost by accident, has turned what was once unproductive land into a luscious agroforest, in Connolly, Co Clare. My foster-parents in Germany were farmers and I spent a lot of time working there as a teenager, she says. At the same time, I did an apprenticeship in north Germany on a mixed-enterprise farm where I milked 150 cows every day and looked after the other beef cattle, goats and sheep. Expand Close Ragna in her forest of native species / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Ragna in her forest of native species Although I worked 16-hour days on both farms, it instilled in me a love for agriculture and gave me a great start, as I saw first-hand how farming should be done. In 2001 Ragna took a trip to Ireland and she has been here ever since. I was looking out at the fields and the livestock around me and I just didnt want to go. So, I sold whatever I had in Germany and moved to Ireland spontaneously, she says. After arriving in Shannon Airport, life for Ragna was about to get even more unexpected. Things didnt work out well with my living situation and I was left with only the clothes on my back. I had truly little money and no idea what I was going to do, she says. Read More She was then presented with the opportunity of moving into a derelict farmhouse, in exchange for managing the owners land. He showed me the house, which was basically in ruins, and the land that surrounded it. It wasnt pretty or nice, but something drew me to it, she says. After five years, Ragna quit the job and bought the farmhouse and one hectare of adjoining land. I started off with a pet pig, some chickens and two horses of my own on that hectare. A few years later, she got the chance to buy a further 10 hectares beside her smallholding. I had no idea how I was going to buy it as money was tight, but by good fortune I managed, with my partner, she says. Ragna says Germany has a long tradition of working woodland and that she grew up appreciating trees. My godfather was a forester and was therefore in charge of the ecosystem of the forest and for looking after it, she says. I grew up in a place where the vegetation would grow, animals would feast on it, then fertilise it, and in turn, more vegetation and trees would come on. Expand Close Ragna walking through her forest / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Ragna walking through her forest It was a natural, healthy ecosystem, and I knew I wanted to transform my farm into something similar. Our goal is to have a high enough income to sustain ourselves, eat our own food as much as possible, share extra food with people around us and grow more fruit and nut trees. We want to put the livestock back into the kind of environment they are meant to be in, which is an open woodland setting with access to the trees and shrubs. Read More We want to make the place accessible to the public, be it for a walk, a workshop, or to buy some eggs or whatever else we might be able to provide. Ragna and her partner began to clean up the land and prepare it for becoming an agroforest, which is a mixture of horticulture and agriculture. There was no fencing or drains on the land, so we started from scratch, she says. After completing the work, they increased pig numbers, chickens and added a herd of Belted Galloway cross cattle. The Belted Galloways are a smaller breed and they come from Scotland. Theyre a hardy breed so perfect for this part of the country and theyre not so heavy that they will damage the land, says Ragna. Expand Close Ragna with one of her Belted Galloway cows / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Ragna with one of her Belted Galloway cows We like to keep them genetically diverse in order to keep them healthy, so we cross-breed them. The main reason for adding the cattle was because they required a herd number, to apply for a Native Woodland grant. I had a pig number, but that didnt count; the cattle were a welcome addition, though. In 2013, as part of the One Million Trees in a Day project, 4,500 trees were planted on five acres of Ragnas farm. We had 13 people help us plant the trees. Now, we have over 5,000 planted in that space, all of varying breeds, she says. Ragna knew that making a living from her 28-acre holding was always going to be a challenge. We didnt go down the pedigree route, so we knew that making money from cattle wasnt going to happen, so we got into sheep, she says. Own spin Theyre not the most valuable enterprise either, so I put my own spin on things. Ragna learned how to shear the sheep using traditional Irish hand-shears and began spinning the wool to make her own products. She invested in a spinning wheel and table loom to process the wool, and then built herself a peg loom. Expand Close Ragna with a ewe / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Ragna with a ewe I love spinning and weaving, its therapeutic, she says. She also took up needle felting and makes an array of different designs. Ragna then went one step further in utilising what her sheep provide, turning her hand to curing her own sheeps skin. A few years previously we slaughtered a bullock for the house, and I cured the skin myself at home. It took a long time, but I got the hang of it, she says. Its something pretty unique, there arent many people curing their own animal skin any more. Ragna trialled different methods for curing the sheeps skin. I now use egg yolk for curing. Its a long process first the skin must be stretched, then it must be salted and finally scraped, before being cured. Ragna sells her sheepskin, cured using zero chemicals, for 200 and sells her sheeps wool products for varying prices, all through her website and social media. I used to do the farmers markets, but they take up so much time and your customer base is limited, she says. Read More Since I started selling online, Ive found Im selling more and in a convenient way. Ragna also keeps her own beehives and harvests the honey, selling small quantities locally. Explaining how she has thrived with such a tight budget, Ragna says: We had many volunteers from different countries over the years and without those people we couldnt have gotten as far as we are now. We also had a lot of help and advice from neighbours and people in our wider community. Theres always someone available if a cow is calving or the tractor needs fixing. Weve never used any contactors for fencing or clearing land. Q&A: It took three years to save enough to buy a tractor. So in the beginning everything was done by hand and wheelbarrow How long did it take to get your business off the ground? We have been farming for eight years in this way, with small improvements and expansions happening all the time. We are still developing, and it will take another year or so before we can see we are really viable. Expand Close Ragna collecting home-grown firewood / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Ragna collecting home-grown firewood Was financing readily available from the banks for this type of business? We never took a loan from the bank and never even tried to. Its probably due to the way we both were brought up with the teaching that a loan of any kind is just an added burden so we just made improvements as we could afford. For example, it took us three years to save enough money to buy a tractor. So, in the beginning everything was done by hand and wheelbarrow, including the daily cleaning of the cowshed during the winter. What grant aid or other assistance was available? We are getting Farm Assist, which is means-tested. In the beginning we tried to get a grant from Clare Local Development to help us with opening an eco-campsite in one of our fields. The grant was denied on the grounds that we were not well-enough established. We were told to come back once we had repaired the shed, fixed fencing and put the basic infrastructure on the farm. Was insurance required? We dont have farm insurance. I tried to get insurance in order to develop a walkway on the farm, but the insurance companies were not keen on selling us insurance since we keep livestock on the land. However, we are still working on some options and are hopeful we can announce good news in that regard soon. What has been your biggest challenge? Finding a healthy balance between being productive and viable enough to make a living off the farm. How do you find customers for your farm products? Over the last few years, it has become known in the area that we sell extra produce from the farm. I used to do the local farmers market, but we dont produce massive amounts of honey, eggs, vegetables or plants to keep that going. Regarding the sheep skins and felting, spinning and weaving, I advertise whatever I have on Facebook. Expand Close Ragna working with her weaving table loom / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Ragna working with her weaving table loom If you could go back in time, is there anything you would have done differently? Thats a difficult question. My partner says we could have worked more and could have been faster. I agree with him, but, like everyone else Im sure, we had our personal up and downs which slowed us down at times. Maybe we should have looked for more funding than we did, but then again without funding and its instructions, we are free to explore and find our own way. Wally Adeyemo, President Joe Biden's nominee as deputy Treasury secretary, underscored his commitment to rigorous enforcement of US sanctions against Iran, Russia and other countries. In written responses to queries from members of the Senate Finance Committee, Adeyemo said Iran should only enjoy sanctions relief if it resumes compliance with the 2015 nuclear accord. He said Treasury would look carefully at "any Iranian efforts to evade sanctions and abuse the international banking system" to fund terrorist activities. ' Irans support for terrorism is a very serious concern and, if confirmed, I will work with colleagues at Treasury to closely monitor and seek to disrupt that support with all available tools,' Adeyemo said in responses viewed by Reuters. The Senate Finance Committee is slated to vote on Adeyemo's nomination on Wednesday, paving the way for a floor vote by the full Senate in coming weeks. Iran on Sunday ruled out holding an informal meeting with the United States and other major powers to discuss ways to salvage the unraveling 2015 nuclear deal, insisting Washington must first lift all its unilateral sanctions. The United States said it was disappointed but remained ready to ' re-engage in meaningful diplomacy' and would consult with the other major powers to seek a way forward. The Biden administration has said it is ready to talk to Iran about both nations resuming compliance with the accord, which scrapped broad economic sanctions against Iran in return for curbs intended to prevent it from acquiring nuclear weapons - something Iran says it does not want. Adeyemo also underscored his commitment to enforce sanctions targeting Russian actors, and said he would work closely with other U.S. officials to implement laws that mandate sanctions on companies and individuals involved with the Nord Stream 2 pipeline being built from Russia to Germany. Short link: Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa speaks during a televised national address at the State House in Harare, Zimbabwe, March 1, 2021. Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa on Monday lauded China for donating COVID-19 vaccines to Zimbabwe as the country embarks on its inoculation program. (Photo by Wanda/Xinhua) HARARE, March 1 (Xinhua) -- Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa on Monday lauded China for donating COVID-19 vaccines to Zimbabwe as the country embarks on its inoculation program. China last week pledged to donate an additional 200,000 Sinopharm COVID-19 doses in additional to 200,000 doses received in the country last month. Another 600,000 doses bought from Sinopharm are expected in the country this month. The one million doses of the Sinopharm vaccine will be enough to vaccinate at least 500,000 people including frontline workers at risk of infection and a significant portion of the elderly and those with chronic conditions. In a televised national address on Monday, Mnangagwa said the donation by China will go a long way in aiding Zimbabwe's fight against the pandemic. "On behalf of the government and the people of Zimbabwe, I once again express my profound gratitude to the president of the People's Republic of China Xi Jinping, the government and people of China for the additional donation of 200,000 doses of vaccines made to Zimbabwe just last week," he said. Mnangagwa said the generous gift by China will greatly contribute to Zimbabwe's quest to achieve herd immunity. "Over and above, the combined total of 400,000 donated doses, another 600,000 doses of Chinese vaccines will be arriving in the coming weeks, a further 1.2 million doses have also been availed by Chinese companies for Zimbabweans," he said. Mnangagwa also expressed gratitude to Russia, India and the United Kingdom for donating vaccines to the country. "I equally express our gratitude to Russia, India, the United Kingdom who have pledged donations of various vaccines," he said. In addition, Mnangagwa also said vaccines will be administered free of charge. Private players are also permitted to procure the vaccines but will be required to distribute them for free as the government do not permit profiteering from the vaccination program. Furthermore, Mnangagwa announced a relaxation of a coronavirus lockdown imposed in January to curb the spread of the virus. The further relaxation of the lockdown comes at a time when the southern African country has started its nationwide COVID-19 program with Sinopharm vaccines. The government is targeting to vaccinate at least 10 million people as the absolute minimum to start achieving a degree of herd immunity. More than 18,000 frontline workers have received the Sinopharm vaccine during the first week of the inoculation program which is currently underway. At least 49,000 frontline workers will receive two inoculation jabs during the current first phase. So far COVID-19 has killed 1,463 people in Zimbabwe and affected 36,089 people since March last year. Enditem 5 1 [ Editor: Zhang Zhou ] Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. EP Global Opportunities Trust plc (the "Company") Total Voting Rights As a result of the purchase of 40,000 Ordinary 1p shares placed into Treasury on 1 March 2021 and in conformity with Disclosure Guidance and Transparency Rule 5.6.1A, the issued share capital and voting rights of the Company are as follows: Class of share Total number of shares in circulation Number of voting rights attached to each share Total number of voting rights of shares in circulation Number of shares held in treasury (carrying no voting rights attached until issued) Total number of shares in issue Ordinary 1p Shares 38,042,725 1 38,042,725 26,466,917 64,509,642 The above total voting rights figure may be used by shareholders as the denominator for the calculations by which they will determine whether they are required to notify their interest in EP Global Opportunities Trust plc under the FCA's Disclosure Guidance and Transparency Rules. 2 March 2021 LEI: 2138005T5CT5ITZ7ZX58 Enquiries: Kenneth Greig Edinburgh Partners AIFM Limited Tel: 0131 270 3800 The Company's registered office address is: 27-31 Melville Street Edinburgh EH3 7JF Joe Biden's administration is preparing to impose sanctions on Russia for the poisoning and imprisonment of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny, CNN reported on Monday. A Biden executive order could also trigger sanctions on Russia for the SolarWinds cybersecurity hack for which Russia is the prime suspect, it is claimed. The sanctions would be Biden's first on Russia, and would be a marked departure from his predecessor Donald Trump's approach to dealing with Moscow. The US will co-ordinate with the EU to determine what the sanctions will entail and their exact timing, according to Biden administration officials. Joe Biden, pictured, is said to be preparing to impose sanctions on Russia after signalling a tougher stance towards Moscow than his predecessor Donald Trump Vladimir Putin, pictured, is accused of meddling in US elections and conspiring to poison Alexei Navalny, but the Kremlin denies these charges Trump was often accused of taking a soft line towards Vladimir Putin after US intelligence agencies found Moscow had meddled in the 2016 election. During a 2018 summit in Helsinki, Trump caused widespread outrage by backing Putin's denials of Russian interference. But Biden has signalled a tougher stance, with Western countries at loggerheads with Russia over the jailing of Navalny and crackdown on protests in his name. An intelligence review under Biden is also considering the allegation that Russia placed bounties on US soldiers in Afghanistan, it is claimed. The EU approved sanctions on four senior Russian officials earlier on Monday, while UN experts called for an international probe into Navalny's poisoning. Europe's sanctions are targeting four justice and law enforcement officers involved in Navalny's detention. The four are the first individuals to be targeted under the EU's new human rights sanctions regime, which came into effect in December. Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny gives a V-for-victory sign inside a glass cage at a Moscow district court last month They will be banned from travelling to the EU and any assets held in the 27-member bloc will be frozen. Meanwhile, Agnes Callamard, a UN special rapporteur on extrajudicial killings, and Irene Khan, the top expert on freedom of opinion and expression, insisted on the need to ensure accountability for Navalny's 'sinister poisoning.' They demanded his 'immediate release' from a Russian penal colony, where he was transferred last week from a Moscow prison. Navalny was jailed last month after returning to Moscow from Germany, where the 44-year-old had spent months recovering from his Novichok poisoning last year. The opposition leader blames Putin for the attack with the Soviet-era military nerve agent, but the Kremlin denies it was behind the attack. The imprisoning of Putin's best-known opponent sparked nationwide protests that saw thousands of demonstrators detained and triggered outrage in the West. Five local contractors allegedly implicated in the San Francisco City Hall bribery scandal are now prohibited from doing business with the city, the product of a new anti-corruption rule that allows the suspensions even while the executives cases are still winding through criminal court. City Attorney Dennis Herrera, who introduced the new legislation last year, on Monday announced the suspensions of the following executives and their companies: Nick Bovis and his company SMTM Technology LLC. Alan Varela and William Gilmartin and their company ProVen Management Inc. Florence Kong and her companies SFR Recovery Inc. and Kwan Wo Ironworks Inc. Walter Wong and his companies W. Wong Construction Co. Inc., Green Source Trading LLC and Alternate Choice LLC. All of those suspended have already been charged in a far-reaching federal case that alleges bribery between contractors and high-ranking city officials. Mayor London Breed signed the new rule in November, and it took effect on Christmas Day. Prior to the new legislation, contractors suspected or even charged with corruption were not officially blocked from bidding on or receiving contracts with the city until their cases were adjudicated. Now we have another tool to keep government clean, and were going to use it, Herrera said. Corruption will not be tolerated in our city. The new legislation was intended as a speedier and less burdensome precursor to debarment, in which contractors who committed willful misconduct are banned from city bidding for five years. Debarment, however, requires a high legal threshold, and a process can stretch on for years. Federal officials last year cracked open their years-long investigation into City Hall with the arrest of Mohammed Nuru, the former Public Works director accused of attempting to bribe an airport commissioner. Nuru, who was charged with fraud, is accused of being a key player in a convoluted web involving contractors, department heads and nonprofit groups accused of taking or offering bribes in exchange for insider help on lucrative city contracts. Alongside the federal governments criminal case, the City Attorneys Office launched its own public corruption investigation into potential policy violations. Bovis, a restaurateur arrested alongside Nuru last year and listed as a co-defendant in the alleged attempted bribe of an airport commissioner, has agreed to plead guilty to fraud charges and to cooperate with federal investigators. Kong last month was sentenced to a year in prison after pleading guilty to bribing Nuru with a Rolex watch. Wong, who has agreed to plead guilty to his own fraud and money laundering charges, was also a key informant for federal officials building a case against former Public Utilities Commission chief Harlan Kelly. Kelly has been charged with allegedly accepting bribes from Wong and has denied any wrongdoing. Megan Cassidy is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: megan.cassidy@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @meganrcassidy Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. The views expressed by public comments are not those of this company or its affiliated companies. Please note by clicking on "Post" you acknowledge that you have read the TERMS OF USE and the comment you are posting is in compliance with such terms. Your comments may be used on air. Be polite. Inappropriate posts or posts containing offsite links, images, GIFs, inappropriate language, or memes may be removed by the moderator. Job listings and similar posts are likely automated SPAM messages from Facebook and are not placed by WFMZ-TV. A High Court judge has dismissed the lead challenge over the calculated grades process adopted for the Leaving Certificate 2020 exam in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. A core issue in the case was whether the Minister for Educations direction to remove school historical data in the calculated grades process was unlawful. In his judgment today, Mr Justice Charles Meenan ruled the decision was not unlawful, arbitrary, unfair or irrational. The lead action was taken by Freddie Sherry, who was a 2020 Leaving Cert student at Belvedere College, Dublin, and was heard over some five weeks before it concluded early last month. The judgment is likely to have implications for some 60 other actions brought over calculated grades, which have been adjourned to March 10th. Mr Sherry, of Newtown, Celbridge, Co Kildare, brought his case against the Minister for Education and Skills and the State. He claimed the direction by the Minister last August to remove school historical records in the calculated grades process resulted in him being unfairly downgraded by 55 points in his Leaving Cert. He said he was hugely disappointed his teachers estimated CAO points total of 542 for him was reduced to 487 under the process. His first course choice was pharmacy in TCD. He claimed the Ministers direction unlawfully interfered in the calculated grades process overseen by an independent steering committee. The Minister and State denied the claims and maintained there was no reason to believe Mr Sherry would be in an improved position if historical school data was included. They said students in Belvedere College received on average higher scores in 2020 compared to the 2017-19 period and there was no basis for any assertion Mr Sherry would have been treated more favourably in another category of school. They argued, as the calculated grades process has been completed and CAO offers issued, any attempt to reinstate school historical data would be inappropriate or disproportionate as it would cast doubt on the results of significant numbers of students and their entitlement to college places. Comfort is a daily human experience central to the perception of our environment and the continuous processing of sensory input. Environmental factors such as smell, temperature and light can influence comfort, as can our interaction with products, such as the design of a chair or a mattress. Increasingly, researchers investigating the science of comfort and discomfort are focusing on the role of human behavior. A special supplement to the journal WORK presents the latest advances, from optimal seat design in offices and transportation to the influence of smell on comfort and the interaction between time and comfort. "This special supplement adds unique findings to comfort knowledge. It shows that not only is the environment or a product itself comfortable, but also that the comfort experience depends on the way the user interacts with the product or environment," explain Guest Editors Peter Vink, PhD, Faculty of Industrial Design Engineering, Delft University of Technology, Delft, The Netherlands; Susanne Frohriep, PhD, Grammer AG, Ursensollen, Germany; Neil Mansfield, PhD, Department of Engineering, School of Science and Technology, Nottingham Trent University, UK; Alessandro Naddeo, PhD, Department of Industrial Engineering, University of Salerno, Fisciano, Italy; and Karen Jacobs, EdD, OT, OTR, CPE, Department of Occupational Therapy, Boston University, Boston, MA, USA, and Editor-in-Chief of WORK. The supplement presents 26 peer-reviewed papers from the International Comfort Congress (2019) representing 99 authors and co-authors from 12 countries. In their contribution to the supplement, Dr. Vink and his co-author Maxim Smulders, PhD candidate, also at the Faculty of Industrial Design Engineering, Delft University of Technology, note that comfort research that has no information on the behavior of participants can be incomplete, as major influencing factors can be missed. For example, a straight spine in the sagittal plane is sometimes considered ideal for sleeping, but in reality, humans have different preferred postures and change positions frequently in bed. They discuss how posture and movement can affect comfort. Another study found that in self-driving cars, inattentive occupants move their heads relatively more, which may influence their perception of comfort. Other behavior factors that influence comfort include previous experience, distracting stimuli and time. Two studies found that when a person sits for a long time with no possibility to change posture, such as on an airplane or while taking an exam, comfort is reduced. Among the environmental factors explored in this supplement is the relationship between scent and comfort. One study found that the scent of mandarin is liked by many people, but the preferred intensity varied. Another study found that olfactory comfort is as important as thermal comfort in overall perceived comfort in cars. Radiative heating panels are more energy efficient than air heating in cars and offer the same quality of comfort. High intensity light was found to reduce visual and cognitive fatigue and increase comfort in computer users. Comfort factors related to the body's contact with products such as a floor, seat or bed are also discussed. The best design for a chair, based on several studies, is one that can be adjusted to various positions and buttock forms. A tilted backrest provides the most comfort for texting while in bed. Employees whose work requires that they stand for long periods of time may be more comfortable standing on a platform inclined between 5? and 10?. The supplement includes an important contribution to future research in the field. Comfort is an individual and subjective concept, depending on the personal experience and state of the person over time. Questionnaires are important in the evaluation of a user's experience of comfort or discomfort over time, along with objective measurements. Selecting the most suitable questionnaire in comfort research for product design can be a challenge, even for experienced researchers. A workshop of 55 comfort experts reviewed a number of standard comfort or discomfort questionnaires to develop an instrument for questionnaire selection. The resulting list of Preferred Comfort Questionnaires (PCQ) for product design lets researchers select the most appropriate questionnaire depending on application, design phase and use case. We expect the PCQ will be a useful instrument for researchers." Peter Vink, PhD, Lead Investigator, Faculty of Industrial Design Engineering, Delft University of Technology In conclusion the Guest Editors observe that "Reporting these factors allows for better evaluation and comparison of comfort research results, which should contribute to an increase of scientific knowledge on discomfort." 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. After Pakistan has relaxed restrictions related to the virus, the health experts during an interview with Dawn, which is a local Pakistani channel, said that the country may witness a resurge in the number of COVID-19 cases that might lead to the third wave of Coronavirus. Not only this, there has been a lukewarm response of even health workers to the government-run vaccination campaign. As per the local media reports, as many as 1,176 new COVID-19 cases were reported on Monday in Pakistan. READ | Union Ministers & BJP MPs Hail PM Modi Leading Covid Vaccination Drive; Cite '3 Messages' Pak's COVID-19 situation Since the beginning of the Coronavirus pandemic, Pakistan has reported over 5,81,000 cases and 12,896 deaths. Earlier on February 24, Pakistan's National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) had relaxed most of the restrictions on commercial activities, schools, officers and other work places, allowing them to function at full strength. Under the new directives, the time limit on commercial activities has been lifted and the condition of 50 per cent attendance at workplaces has also been removed. Now, the schools in the country have been asked to function 5 days a week with full strength. Permission to hold indoor wedding ceremonies and opening of cinemas and shrines has also been granted with effect from March 15. However, it is important to note that this decision to allow indoor dining will depend on the outcome of the review meeting, which is scheduled to take place on March 10. READ | Seems Third Wave Of COVID-19 In Delhi Brought Under Control: Arvind Kejriwal While speaking to Dawn, Secretary-General of Pakistan Medical Association (PMA) Dr Qaisar Sajjad said, "We are living in a society where people do not follow the SOPs. They even laugh at those wearing face masks. We have already observed the results of the lifting of restrictions in September last year when 100 to 200 daily cases were being reported, and within a month the government had to declare a second wave of coronavirus." READ | COVID-19: Up To Six Cases Of 'Manaus Variant' Detected In UK Stating that the restrictions should be lifted after vaccination 70 per cent population, PMA Secretary-General said that then only herd immunity can be achieved in the country. Pointing out that the response to the vaccination drive in Pakistan was very slow, the PMA secretary-general blamed the government for it and said that no one at the helm had bothered to handle the issue seriously. "Actors have been engaged for Covid vaccination campaign rather than renowned doctors. How a person can get medical advice from an actor? Moreover, advertisements should be shown during peak hours. Currently, we see a bombardment of advertisements during PSL matches but we don't see a single ad on vaccination during matches. Also, data of healthcare workers, who have been vaccinated so far, is not being shared. We don't know how many general practitioners, nurses, etc have been vaccinated," he said. READ | COVID-19: Ghana's President Becomes World's First Recipient Of Free COVAX Jab (With ANI inputs) 'Amid dull vaccination drive, Pakistan may witness third wave of COVID-19': Health Experts Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. [March 02, 2021] Innovation Pharmaceuticals Announces Publication of Peer-Reviewed Scientific Article in the Journal Viruses on the Anti-SARS-CoV-2 Properties of Brilacidin Emerging mutations to the coronavirus are unlikely to affect Brilacidins ability to inhibit the virus Brilacidin currently is being evaluated in a Phase 2 clinical trial in hospitalized COVID-19 patients WAKEFIELD, MA, March 02, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Innovation Pharmaceuticals (OTCQB:IPIX) (the Company), a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company, today announced the publication of a peer-reviewed scientific articleBrilacidin Demonstrates Inhibition of SARS-CoV-2 in Cell Culturein the journal Viruses. The article is accessible at the link below. Bakovic, A.; Risner, K.; Bhalla, N. (et al). Brilacidin Demonstrates Inhibition of SARS-CoV-2 in Cell Culture. Viruses 2021, 13, 271; https://doi.org/10.3390/v13020271 https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4915/13/2/271/ In the paper, Brilacidin was shown to exert potent inhibitory effects on SARS-CoV-2 in cell culture by decreasing viral load in different cell types, including ACE2 positive human lung cells, and, importantly, in both the Washington and Italian strains of the coronavirus. Testing of Brilacidin against additional SARS-CoV-2 strains is planned. Already with over a half-million deaths in the U.S. and over two million deaths worldwide attributable to COVID-19, the emergence of more transmissible and more virulent variants of the novel coronavirus is causing added concern. Last week, the U.S. FDA issued industry guidance outlining recommendations for developing vaccines, drugs and diagnostic tools based on variants. Brilacidins ability to disrupt viral integrity suggests Brilacidin likely is not subject to resistance developing due to coronavirus variantsunlike current COVID-19 treatments, such as monoclonal antibodies and convalescent plasma, and first-generation COVID-19 vaccines. This mechanism of action supports Brilacidin as a clearly differentiated antiviral in clinical development. Leo Ehrlich, Chief Executive Officer of Innovation Pharmaceuticals, commented, Infectious disease experts have noted the next phase in the global fight against COVID-19 will be in developing potent antivirals that directly act on the SARS-CoV-2 viruswhich is what Brilacidin has been shown to do in pre-clinical studies. The Company looks forward to continuing its scientific collaborations with government and academic researchers to further inform Brilacidins treatment potential as a broad-spectrum antiviral drug candidate targeting coronaviruses, regardless of mutation or strain. Currently, Brilacidin is being evaluated in a global Phase 2 clinical trial in hospitalized COVID-19 patients. Brilacidin and COVID-19 Brilacidin, which has received FDA Fast Track designation for the potential treatment of COVID-19, is one of the few drugs targeting COVID-19 that has been tested in human trials (a total of 8) for other clinical indications, providing established safety nd efficacy data on over 460 subjects, thereby potentially enabling it to rapidly help address the novel coronavirus crisis. Pre-clinical testing at independent laboratories supports Brilacidins antiviral ability to safely and potently inhibit SARS-CoV-2, and multiple strains of human coronaviruses (H-CoVs). In a human lung cell line against SARS-CoV-2, Brilacidin achieved a Selectivity Index of 426. A molecular screening study of 11,552 compounds also supports Brilacidin as a promising novel coronavirus treatment. Brilacidin antiviral research to date has been limited to laboratory-based experiments. Additional pre-clinical and clinical data support Brilacidins inhibition of IL-6, IL-1, TNF-a and other pro-inflammatory cytokines and chemokines, which have been identified as central drivers in the worsening prognoses of hospitalized COVID-19 patients. Brilacidins robust antimicrobial properties might also help to fight secondary bacterial infections, which can co-present in up to 20 percent of COVID-19 patients. Collectively, these data support Brilacidin as a unique 3-in-1 combinationantiviral, immuno/anti-inflammatory, and antimicrobialCOVID-19 therapeutic candidate, with pan-coronavirus treatment potential. The Company has initiated a randomized, placebo-controlled Phase 2 clinical trial of Brilacidin for treatment of COVID-19 in moderate-to-severe hospitalized patients. Global COVID-19 Cases and Mortality An online tool tracking COVID-19 cases and mortality, both in the U.S. and globally, can be found on the Companys website (http://www.ipharminc.com), and at the following link: https://ipixcovid19tracker.com/ Alerts Sign-up for Innovation Pharmaceuticals email alerts is available at: http://www.ipharminc.com/email-alerts/ About Innovation Pharmaceuticals Innovation Pharmaceuticals Inc. (IPIX) is a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company developing a world-class portfolio of innovative therapies addressing multiple areas of unmet medical need, including inflammatory diseases, cancer, infectious diseases, and dermatologic diseases. Brilacidin, a versatile compound with broad therapeutic potential, is in a new chemical class called defensin-mimetics. A Phase 2 trial of Brilacidin as an oral rinse for the prevention of Severe Oral Mucositis (SOM) in patients with Head and Neck Cancer met its primary and secondary endpoints, including reducing the incidence of SOM. The Company plans to advance Brilacidin oral rinse into Phase 3 development, subject to available financial resources. Positive results were also observed in a Phase 2 Proof-of-Concept trial treating patients locally with Brilacidin for Ulcerative Proctitis/Ulcerative Proctosigmoiditis (UP/UPS). Brilacidin for UP/UPS was licensed to Alfasigma S.p.A. in July 2019, who have recently completed a Phase 1 study with their formulation. A Phase 2b trial of Brilacidin showed a single intravenous dose of the drug delivered comparable outcomes to a seven-day dosing regimen of the FDA-approved blockbuster daptomycin in treating Acute Bacterial Skin and Skin Structure Infection. Brilacidin, based on promising in vitro antiviral activity against SARS-CoV-2, is being evaluated in a Phase 2 clinical trial as a potential treatment for COVID-19. Kevetrin is a novel anti-cancer drug shown to modulate p53, often referred to as the Guardian Angel Gene due to its crucial role in controlling cell mutations and has successfully completed a Phase 2 trial in Ovarian Cancer. More information is available on the Company website at www.IPharmInc.com. Forward-Looking Statements: This press release contains forward-looking statements made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 including statements concerning future drug development plans, statements regarding the antiviral capabilities and therapeutic potential of Brilacidin and its impact on SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) and other coronaviruses, as well as obtaining government regulatory approvals to commence clinical testing. Other statements regarding future product developments, and markets, including with respect to specific indications, and any other statements which are other than statements of historical fact. These statements involve risks but not limited to risks related to conducting pre-clinical studies and clinical trials and seeking regulatory and licensing approvals for Brilacidin and Kevetrin in the US and other jurisdictions; that prior test results may not be replicated in future studies and trials, uncertainties and assumptions that could cause the Companys actual results and experience to differ materially from anticipated results and expectations expressed in these forward-looking statements. The Company has in some cases identified forward-looking statements by using words such as anticipates, believes, hopes, estimates, looks, expects, plans, intends, goal, potential, may, suggest, and similar expressions. Among other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed in forward-looking statements are the Companys need for, and the availability of, substantial capital in the future to fund its operations and research and development; including the amount and timing of the sale of shares of common stock under securities purchase agreements; the fact that the Companys licensee(s) may not successfully complete pre-clinical or clinical testing and the Company will not receive milestone payments, or the fact that the Companys compounds may not successfully complete pre-clinical or clinical testing, or be granted regulatory approval to be sold and marketed in the United States or elsewhere. A more complete description of these risk factors is included in the Companys filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. You should not place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements. The Company undertakes no obligation to release publicly the results of any revisions to any such forward-looking statements that may be made to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this press release or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events, except as required by applicable law or regulation. INVESTOR AND MEDIA CONTACTS Innovation Pharmaceuticals Inc. Leo Ehrlich info@ipharminc.com [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] PLANO, Texas, March 2, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Sentara Health Plans has selected ZeOmega's population health management (PHM) platform, Jiva - to help improve clinical-management processes throughout their organization. Headquartered in Virginia Beach, Va., Sentara Health Plans is the health insurance division of Sentara Healthcare, a not-for-profit health system offering plans through its subsidiaries, Optima Health and Virginia Premier. Collectively, Optima Health and Virginia Premier provide health insurance coverage to over 875,000 members through a full suite of commercial products. "Jiva will help us improve clinical quality and safety by heightening our speed, accuracy, and breadth of health-information exchange," says Tom Lundquist, MD, SVP & CMO of Sentara Health Plans. "The streamlining and automation of communications will undoubtedly enhance member engagement. Jiva's flexibility will also allow us to quickly adapt to future regulatory changes and support our own strategic imperatives. We look forward to having a single platform that will help us grow, scale, and innovate quickly." Jiva will enhance care delivery for Sentara Health Plans by using Jiva's Care Management, Utilization Management and Appeals & Grievances modules in addition to the following areas: Medication Safety: Zeomega's powerful Jiva sentinel rules engine will manage and report opioid utilization through Virginia Premier's Patient Utilization Management & Safety program (PUMS). Zeomega's powerful Jiva sentinel rules engine will manage and report opioid utilization through Premier's Patient Utilization Management & Safety program (PUMS). Jiva Community Care - Mobile Application: Face-to-face care planning with member review and signature in real time will allow completion of all requirements at moment of interaction. Face-to-face care planning with member review and signature in real time will allow completion of all requirements at moment of interaction. Provider Services and Member Portal: Integration with Sentara Health Plans' member portal will ensure all team members receive the exact information they need, precisely when needed. Integration with Sentara Health Plans' member portal will ensure all team members receive the exact information they need, precisely when needed. Social Determinants of Health: Jiva will identify and stratify social risks and vulnerabilities while offering recommendations for individual social care planning. Jiva will identify and stratify social risks and vulnerabilities while offering recommendations for individual social care planning. Quality & Service: Jiva will track quality outcomes, care encounters, and care opportunities along with care plan compliance and incentive tracking. "It's a privilege to partner with Sentara Health Plans to support clinical management while paying heed to organizational expansion," says Sada Rai, President of ZeOmega. "When these developments culminate, Sentara will be even more finely tuned and poised to react swiftly to future demands. We are proud to support Sentara Health Plans as a key influencer in the healthcare industry." About Sentara Health Plans Headquartered in Virginia Beach, Va., Sentara Health Plans is the health insurance division of Sentara Healthcare, offering health plans through its subsidiaries, Optima Health and Virginia Premier. Collectively, Optima Health and Virginia Premier provide health insurance coverage to over 875,000 members through a full suite of commercial products including consumer-driven, employee-owned and employer-sponsored plans, individual and family health plans, employee assistance plans and plans serving Medicare and Medicaid enrollees. With more than 30 years' experience in the insurance business and 20 years' experience serving Medicaid populations, we offer programs to support members with chronic illnesses, customized wellness programs, and integrated clinical and behavioral health servicesall to help our members improve their health. About ZeOmega ZeOmega empowers health plans and other risk-bearing organizations with the industry's leading technology for simplifying population health management. Clients using the Jiva platform experience workflow excellence and proven results thanks to the system's stand-out integration capabilities, superior clinical content, and powerful rules engine. With deep domain expertise and a deep understanding of population health challenges, ZeOmega serves as a true partner for clients, offering flexible deployment and delivery models. By consistently meeting customer expectations and project benchmarks, ZeOmega has earned a reputation for responsiveness and reliability. SOURCE ZeOmega Related Links www.zeomega.com Wanted: Jordan Carr, 20, is wanted by Bedfordshire Police and has appeared to taunt the force on social media appeals A wanted man has appeared to taunt police officers by commenting below his own mugshot and wanted poster 'catch me if you can'. Jordan Carr, 20, is being hunted by Bedfordshire Police in connection with an incident in late January last year, but he appeared to use the appeal for information as a chance to cheekily challenge the force. A Facebook profile under his name posted the five-word mockery, which has been liked more than 5,000 times since, with many users bemused by the 20-year-old's apparent audacity. The mugshot and Facebook appeal describing him as approximately 6ft tall and sporting a 'Mum' tattoo on his hand didn't appear to deter Carr. Carr was sentenced to a total of one year's detention in a Young Offender's Institution in August last year after admitting possession of a 'zombie knife' at Croydon Crown Court. It is unclear why he is no longer behind bars but it is likely he served half his sentence behind bars before being released on licence. He is also wanted on recall to prison, Bedfordshire Police have said. The audacious comment left on the same day the post was published has raked in more than 1,500 replies. The brazen comment received a mix of online support and backlash since being published online, but the post is still live as the police confirmed they are still looking for Carr. Andy Watson said: 'I don't know what you did Jordan but you deserve a pardon for your humour. Good luck.' Jonny Gibbs joked: 'Bro if you need a place to hide more than welcome to hide here.' David Joyce said: 'I believe he handed himself in for the reward... he said he'll do a ten stretch easy if he knows he's got 250 to get out to!!' David Hartfield commented: 'Funny haha. You think you're a hard man and you will get caught. And [I] hope they put you away for a long time.' Rohit Gami said: 'About as funny as an episode of Panorama.' Bedfordshire Police's post reads: 'We are appealing for help in locating a wanted man. The Facebook profile of the user who posted 'Catch me if you can' message to police's page 'Jordan Carr, 20, of Palmerston Road, London is wanted in connection with an incident in Kempston on January 29th 2020 and on recall to prison. Carr has links to the Bedford area. 'He is around six-foot-tall, of medium build with short afro hair. He has the word 'Mum' tattooed on his hand and a small scar in the middle of his right hand.' Detective Constable David Gordon said: 'We're asking for the public's help in locating Carr, as we'd like to speak to him in connection with an incident in Kempston. 'If anyone knows of his whereabouts and is assisting him, you could be at risk of committing a criminal offence. 'Members of the public are asked to not approach him and instead call 101 if they see him or have any information on his whereabouts quoting reference number 40/AD/15893/20.' Bedfordshire Police have been contacted for comment. They confirmed Carr is still outstanding. The U.S. Supreme Court is pictured in Washington on Feb. 1, 2020. (Daniel Slim/AFP via Getty Images) Supreme Court Appears Favorable to Arizona Election Integrity Lawsuits Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich urged the Supreme Court on March 2 to affirm that his states electoral integrity laws were consistent with the federal Voting Rights Act and should be upheld. The case Arizonas top prosecutor argued is actually two consolidated cases: Brnovich v. Democratic National Committee (DNC) and Arizona Republican Party v. DNC. Although the justices peppered counsel for Arizona and the states Republican Party with at-times hostile-sounding questions, members of the Supreme Court seemed receptive to their arguments. Except for the more liberal members, the justices did not seem convinced that Arizonas election laws violated the Voting Rights Act. The Supreme Court threw out a series of Republican-initiated legal challenges on Feb. 22 to voting processes and results in Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin that were left over from the 2020 election cycle. And on March 1, the court dismissed an election challenge from Arizona, In Re Tyler Bowyer, and one from Wisconsin, In Re William Feehan, that were brought on Dec. 15, 2020, by pro-Trump attorney Sidney Powell. The oral arguments in Brnovichs case before the Supreme Court came days after an Arizona judge ruled in a separate case that state lawmakers have the right to access 2.1 million ballots cast in the states most populous county, Maricopa County, and related electronic materials in order to carry out an audit of the Nov. 3, 2020, election results, as The Epoch Times previously reported. The Supreme Court agreed on Oct. 2, 2020, to hear the case at hand, which concerns efforts that Republicans say would undermine electoral integrity measures and throw the Grand Canyon State open to ballot-harvesting and out-of-precinct voting. Understanding What Framers Intended I think we all should agree at this point that we want to have confidence in our election system, Brnovich, the states Republican attorney general, said in an exclusive interview with The Epoch Times days before his Supreme Court appearance, in which he shared his views about the upcoming oral argument at the high court and electoral integrity measures in general. We want orderly elections, he said, adding that he was optimistic that the court appearance would help to generate momentum for electoral integrity measures nationwide. More Americans need to become active in defending the nations founding and the institutions that came out of it, he said. There is a certain amount of establishment thinking out there that just wants to go along to get along [but] the stakes are so high right now in this country that we need champions that understand what the framers of our Constitution established here in this country. There is a need to understand traditional notions of federalism and to understand that the Constitution is all about protecting rights, and that the government is supposed to be limited and its powers defined. Forbidding unlimited third-party ballot harvesting is a commonsense way to protect the secret ballot, and to prevent undue influence, voter fraud, ballot tampering, and voter intimidation, Brnovich said. We have seen in the past where people have used ballot harvesting to undermine the integrity of elections. We also know that no less than Jimmy Carter in 2005 had recommended that there be commonsense measures in place when it came to ballot harvesting because absentee ballots were one of the largest sources of potential fraud, he said. The bipartisan Commission on Federal Election Reform, chaired by former President Carter and former Secretary of State James A. Baker III, found absentee ballots remain the largest source of potential voter fraud and vote-buying schemes are far more difficult to detect when citizens vote by mail. There was a time when this was a bipartisan issue, when all sides could agree that we want to make sure that we have safe and secure elections, and now, for whatever reason, its become a partisan issue, Brnovich said. Its unfortunate because everyone should have confidence in our elections. I think as a public official there is no higher priority among public officials than maintaining the public integrity of our elections, so we want to make sure that people are prevented from voting multiple times, we want to protect against voter intimidation, we want to preserve the secrecy of the ballot, and I think thats what our laws were designed to do. Discriminatory Intent Arizona, like other states, has adopted rules to promote the order and integrity of its elections. One is an out-of-precinct policy, which excludes provisional ballots cast in person on Election Day outside of the voters designated precinct. Another is a ballot-collection law, known as H.B. 2023, that allows only specific persons such as family and household members, caregivers, mail carriers, and election officials to handle another persons completed early ballot. Most states require voters to vote in their own precincts, and around 20 states limit ballot collection by third parties. A U.S. district court upheld Arizonas rules, which were challenged under the Voting Rights Act (VRA). A fortnight ago, the Biden administration sent a letter to the court in which it appeared to acknowledge the challenged Arizona laws were consistent with the VRA. Section 2 of the VRA prevents states and localities from imposing any qualification or prerequisite to voting or standard, practice, or procedure in a manner which results in a denial or abridgment of the right of any citizen of the United States to vote on account of race or color. A panel of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the trial court but then reversed at the en banc stage, going against the recommendations of the Trump administration. Arizonas policy of wholly discarding, rather than counting or partially counting, out-of-precinct ballots, and H.B. 2023s criminalization of the collection of another persons ballot, have a discriminatory impact on American Indian, Hispanic, and African American voters in Arizona, in violation of the results test of Section 2 of the VRA, Judge William A. Fletcher, a Clinton appointee, wrote for the court. H.B. 2023s ban on collecting another persons ballot was enacted with discriminatory intent, in violation of the intent test of Section 2 of the VRA and of the Fifteenth Amendment. The Arizona laws in question are unfair because American Indian voters, other minorities, renters, and poor people are disadvantaged because they have difficulty receiving and sending mail, Fletcher wrote. Minority voters rely on third-party ballot collection for many reasons, he added, citing the testimony of a community organizer. That court stayed enforcement pending appeal, allowing Arizonas laws to remain in place for the 2020 election. Brnovich said in the interview that he rejects those court findings, which were consistent with legal arguments made by Democrats. The state of Arizona endorses without qualifications the goals of the Voting Rights Act in racial discrimination and voting, he said. Our laws do not violate section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. But Republicans, Brnovich added, have been falsely accused of racism for a long time. Accusing someone of racism is the last resort of an exhausted mind, he said. Unfortunately, nowadays there are too many people that are intellectually lazy on the left and thats what they fall back on. Oral Arguments The Supreme Court allotted 60 minutes to oral arguments but used 114 on March 2. Arizona has not denied anyone any voting opportunity of any kind, said Michael Carvin, attorney for the Arizona Republican Party. No literacy test denies the right to vote and there is no vote dilution where white bloc voting denies minorities an equal opportunity to elect. Everyone here is eligible and registered to vote. All they have to do is utilize the myriad opportunities that Arizona has offered them over 27 days to vote by mail for free or in person. And since theres no denial of opportunity, this is a disparate impact claim that would not even be cognizable in other contexts. Justice Sonia Sotomayor suggested to Carvin that being poor is itself a violation of a persons voting rights. If you cant vote because you are a Native American or a non-Hispanic in areas where car ownership rates are very small, where you dont have mail pickup or mail delivery, where your post office is at the edge of town and so that you require either a relative to pick up your vote, or you happen to vote in a wrong precinct because your particular area has a confusion of precinct assignments, if you just cant vote for those reasons and youre notyour vote is not being counted, youve been denied the right to vote, havent you? Later, replying to Justice Neil Gorsuch, Carvin said, if socioeconomic factors lead to underutilization by minorities, thats not a cognizable factor under Section 2 because its got to be the voting practice that causes the diminished opportunity. Justice Amy Coney Barrett suggested to Jessica Amunson, counsel for Arizonas Democratic secretary of state, Katie Hobbs, that a clear legal standard was needed. All election rules are going to make it easier for some to vote than others, the justice said. Barrett asked Carvin, Whats the interest of the Arizona RNC here in keeping, say, the out-of-precinct voter ballot disqualification rules on the books? He responded: Because it puts us at a competitive disadvantage relative to Democrats. Politics is a zero-sum game, and every extra vote they get through unlawful interpretations of Section 2 hurts us. Its the difference between winning an election 50 to 49 and losing. Brnovich told the court that Arizonas laws are consistent with the VRA. Requiring in-person voters to cast their ballots at assigned precincts ensures that they can vote in local races and helps officials monitor for fraud. Restricting early ballot collections by third parties, including political operatives, protects against voter coercion and preserves ballot secrecy. Arizona urges this Court to adopt a clear and workable test for voter denial claims that allows states to properly regulate their elections. ANN ARBOR, MI An Ypsilanti man accused of bilking a 91-year-old man out of more than $140,000 and attempting to seize his $600,000 estate after he died has pleaded guilty to felony embezzlement charges. Calium Turnage pleaded guilty Monday, March 1, to one count of embezzlement from a vulnerable adult over $100,000, a 20-year felony, as part of plea deal with the Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessels Office. Turnage, 59, was originally charged in December 2020 by the Attorney Generals Elder Abuse Unit on one count of embezzlement by an agent or trustee between $20,000 and $50,0000, a 10-year felony, and two counts of failure to file taxes, a five-year felony. Between July 2016 and December 2017, monthly checks between $3,000 and $4,000 were written to Turnage from the checking account of the 91-year-old Ypsilanti man who was an associate of Turnages, according to the Michigan Attorney Generals Office. Turnage had been driving the elderly man to various destinations and doing odd jobs for him, and about $30,000 in checks were paid to Turnage in that time span, officials said. During the same period, 288 ATM withdrawals totaling $142,000 were made from the victims accounts by Turnage, officials said. The victim was eventually found to be incompetent, and two weeks before he died, Turnage became entitled to the majority of the mans $600,000 estate after he submitted a request, allegedly on behalf of the victim, to remove the victims longtime girlfriend and name himself as primary beneficiary of the estate, officials said. That matter was disputed and settled in a civil lawsuit. The evidence clearly demonstrates that the defendant personally benefited from the victims vulnerable position, and in doing so violated Michigan law, Nessel said. Our elder populations are particularly susceptible to financial exploitations and we in law enforcement must remain vigilant and prepared to hold bad actors accountable for such transgressions. Turnage is scheduled for sentencing April 12 before Washtenaw County Trial Judge Patrick Conlin. As part of the plea deal, the additional charges were dismissed and he will have to pay $140,000 in restitution. To view more about the task force, the Attorney Generals initiative and how to report suspected elder abuse, click here. For more Ypsilanti-area news, click here. More from The Ann Arbor News: 17 Blocks film from Ann Arbor native, University of Michigan alum brings light to gun violence Washtenaw County auto dealers join effort to bring hygiene products to community members in need Groundbreaking ceremony will usher in Ypsilanti District Librarys new branch building Russia must ensure full access of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) to all territories of Ukraine that are not controlled by the government, and return to the Joint Control and Coordination Center (JCCC), President of the European Council Charles Michel said during his visit to Ukraine. "We expect Russia to provide full access to the OSCE SMM to all territories of Ukraine that are not controlled by the government. The COVID-19 pandemic should not be used as an excuse to further separation of these regions from Ukraine. We also urge Russia to return to the Joint Control and Coordination Center," Michel said at a press conference with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Luhansk region on Tuesday. The President of the European Council said that the full implementation of the Minsk Agreements is a path to peace and welcomed important steps that Ukraine has taken in this regard under the leadership of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. "A complete ceasefire, more checkpoints and further demining will improve the lives of people on both sides of the contact line, and the EU is ready to support these efforts. Unfortunately, Russia has not demonstrated the same positive steps that Ukraine has taken to implement the Minsk agreements. That is why our economic sanctions against Russia will remain in place. Russia is a part of this conflict, not a mediator," Michel said. He said that in 2021, the war continues on the European continent, and this is a "shameful reality," people continue to die in this conflict and live in extremely difficult circumstances. "I wanted to come here to once again emphasize how unacceptable this situation is and to meet with those who are doing their job in extremely difficult circumstances. And I also wanted to reiterate the EU's unwavering support for the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine. We provide strong support in all possible ways to efforts in the Normandy format and the Trilateral Contact Group to bring peace to the people of Donbas," Michel said. Posted Monday, March 1, 2021 4:46 pm CENTRALIA POLICE DEPARTMENT Theft At 10:10 a.m. on Feb. 26, a caller in the 600 block of North Tower Avenue reported a bottle of wine was stolen. Just after 10:10 a.m. on Feb. 26, a caller reported mail was stolen from the 1600 block of Eshom Road. Merchandise was reported stolen from a clothing store in the 1400 block of Lum Road just after 12:10 p.m. on Feb. 27. Justin R. Bailey, 38, of Washougal, was arrested at 2:15 p.m. on Feb. 27 after allegedly taking items from a clothing store in the 2000 block of Haviland Street while being in possession of a tool to remove security sensors. He was booked into the Lewis County Jail on a charge of theft with special circumstances, as well as on an outstanding Department of Corrections warrant. Just before 1:50 p.m. on Feb. 28, merchandise was reported stolen from the 300 block of West Reynolds Avenue. A vehicle was reported stolen from the 2800 block of Russell Road just after 12:30 p.m. on Feb. 28. Burglary Just after 4:40 a.m. on Feb. 28, a second-degree burglary was reported at a store in the 200 block of North Tower Avenue. The incident is under investigation. Just before 3:30 p.m. on Feb. 28, someone reportedly attempted to gain entry into a residence in the 1000 block of North Scheuber Road. DUIs Ryan J. Brander, 34, of Centralia, was arrested at 2 p.m. on Feb. 26 in the 900 block of Harrison Avenue for allegedly driving under the influence and was booked into the Lewis County Jail. Doug K. Keffeler, 56, of Rochester, was arrested just before 11 p.m. on Feb. 26 for allegedly driving under the influence and was booked into the Lewis County Jail. Crash A non-injury, two-vehicle collision was reported in the 200 block of North Tower Avenue just before 3 p.m. on Feb. 26. Tampering With Fire Alarm Tolentino C. Celso, 36, of Centralia, was arrested just after 4:20 p.m. on Feb. 26 for allegedly pulling the fire alarm in a business in the 1000 block of Eckerson Road without cause to do so. He was released at the scene with a court date. CHEHALIS POLICE DEPARTMENT Hit-and-Run A hit-and-run was reported just before 2:10 p.m. on Feb. 25 in the 1100 block of South Market Boulevard. Crashed Into Street Sign A non-injury, one-vehicle collision was reported at the intersection of Southwest William Avenue and Southwest First Street just after 6 p.m. Possible Child Abuse Just after 4:30 p.m. on Feb. 25, a caller reported a possible case of child abuse in the 100 block of Southwest William Avenue. Yelling from a Rocking Chair Just before 9:30 a.m. on Feb. 26, a caller requested that a woman in the 500 block of North Market Boulevard who was yelling while sitting outside in a rocking chair she apparently brought herself be trespassed. Yelling at Cars A caller requested that a disorderly man who allegedly threatened a customer in the 1600 block of Northwest Louisiana Avenue and was yelling at cars be trespassed. Criminal Trespass Just before 4:15 p.m. on Feb. 16, a caller requested that a disorderly woman be trespassed from a business in the 500 block of North Market Boulevard. A caller requested that a disorderly man swearing at customers and saying he is going to mess them up be trespassed from businesses in the 1500 block of Northwest Louisiana Avenue. Refusal to Wear a Mask Just before 3:30 p.m. on Feb. 26, a caller in the 10 block of Southeast 16th Street reported that a household member had possibly been exposed to COVID-19 but was refusing to wear a mask in the house. Physical Disputes A physical dispute was reported in the 1600 block of Northwest Louisiana Avenue just before 11 a.m. on Feb. 27. No arrests were made. A physical dispute was reported in the 200 block of Terrace Road just after 1 p.m. on Feb. 27. No arrests were made. A physical dispute was reported in the 100 block of Southwest Interstate Avenue just after 10:45 a.m. on Feb. 28. No arrests were made. Malicious Mischief Brent G. Gates, 35, of Richland, was arrested on a first-degree malicious mischief charge just after 2:20 a.m. on March 1 for allegedly breaking glass doors in the middle of a building in the 1600 block of Northwest Louisiana Avenue and engaging in a physical dispute. Vehicle Prowl Just after 10:25 p.m. on Feb. 27, a vehicle prowl was reported in the 300 block of Northwest Chehalis Avenue. No arrests were made. Theft James E. Russell, 30, of Rochester, was arrested for allegedly shoplifting in the 1600 block of Northwest Louisiana Avenue at 4:50 p.m. on Feb. 28 and was released at the scene. A third-degree theft was reported in the 1500 block of Northwest Louisiana Avenue just before 6 p.m. on Feb. 28. A John Doe was arrested at 2:45 p.m. on Feb. 28 on charges of second-degree theft, obstruction of law enforcement, possession of a dangerous weapon and resisting arrest after he allegedly stole from a business in the 1700 block of Northwest Louisiana Avenue. He was booked into the Lewis County Jail. LEWIS COUNTY JAIL STATISTICS As of Monday morning, the Lewis County Jail had a total system population of 148 inmates, including 120 in the general population and 28 in the Work Ethic and Restitution Center. Of general population inmates, 102 were male and 18 were female. Of the WERC inmates, 23 were male and five were female. Sirens are compiled by reporter Emily Fitzgerald, who can be reached at emily@chronline.com. The Centralia Police Department can be reached at 360-330-7680 and the Chehalis Police Department can be reached at 360-748-8605. If you were a victim of physical or sexual abuse, domestic violence or sexual assault, call Hope Alliance at 360-748-6601 or the Youth Advocacy Center of Lewis County at 360-623-1990. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Trailblazing Instagram model Jessica Stein mysteriously vanished from social media in January last year, leaving her millions of followers fearing for her welfare. But it seems a simple clue in her profile's bio could provide the answer to the globetrotting blogger's whereabouts. Before her disappearance, the travel and fashion influencer, 38, had been keeping fans updated on her three-year-old daughter Rumi's battle with a chromosome disorder, and it seems this could be the reason for her decision to leave Instagram. Hiding in plain sight? Fans of 'missing' influencer Jessica Stein (pictured in NYC in September 2014) have noticed her Instagram bio includes a clue as to her current whereabouts The little girl was diagnosed with Mosaic Trisomy 2, with Maternal Uni Parental Disomy 2 - an extremely rare disorder which has been diagnosed just 10 times. Jessica's Instagram bio states: 'Wanderer in a past life. Mum to the strongest, happiest human.' Her choice of words suggests she's given up her past life of documenting her travels, and is now focusing solely on caring for her daughter. Priorities: Before her disappearance, the travel and fashion influencer, 38, had been keeping fans updated on her three-year-old daughter Rumi's battle with a chromosome disorder, and it seems this could be the reason for her decision to leave Instagram Hint: Jessica's Instagram bio states: 'Wanderer in a past life. Mum to the strongest, happiest human.' Her choice of words suggests she's given up her past life of documenting her travels, and is now focusing solely on caring for her daughter In October 2017, Jessica and her partner, Patrick Cooper, launched a GoFundMe page titled 'Our Little Warrior Rumi' to raise money for Rumi's medical treatments. The page, which has since been disabled, described the extensive care that was needed for their daughter as a result of her condition, including physiotherapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy, medical equipment such as 'gastrostomy tubing', special food and supplements. The fundraiser received $235,804 in donations. Rare: Rumi was diagnosed with Mosaic Trisomy 2, with Maternal Uni Parental Disomy 2 - an extremely rare disorder which has been diagnosed just 10 times Helping hand: In October 2017, Jessica and her partner, Patrick Cooper, launched a GoFundMe page titled 'Our Little Warrior Rumi' to raise money for Rumi's medical treatments, which included physiotherapy, occupational therapy and speech therapy Jessica, who goes by the online pseudonym Tuula Vintage, was once known for uploading idyllic photos of herself exploring the world in designer clothing. She used to work with major international brands, and is widely regarded as one of the first influencers to make a living from sponsored posts. So when Jessica suddenly stopped posting in January last year, her fans were understandably concerned and looking for answers. Glamorous: Jessica, who goes by the online pseudonym Tuula Vintage, was once known for uploading idyllic photos of herself exploring the world in designer clothing Success story: She used to work with major international brands, and is widely regarded as one of the first influencers to make a living from sponsored posts. Pictured in LA in 2014 'Hope everything is okay': Since her departure from Instagram, Jessica's last post has been flooded with comments from followers begging to know if she and her family are okay Since her departure from Instagram, Jessica's last post has been flooded with comments from followers begging to know if she and her family are okay. 'How is your daughter going? I noticed you haven't posted anything on Instagram in a long time and I hope she and you are doing well,' one wrote. 'Everything okay?' another asked. Other priorities: After Jessica welcomed Rumi in 2017, fans began noticing the once-prolific social media user was posting less frequently. Pictured with her partner, Patrick What is Mosaic Trisomy 2? Trisomy 2 mosaicism is a rare chromosome disorder characterised by having an extra copy of chromosome 2 in a proportion of a person's cells. In infants born with trisomy 2 mosaicism, signs and symptoms vary widely. The severity and specific symptoms present depend on the level of mosaicism (the proportion of cells affected). What is Uni Parental Disomy? Uniparental disomy (UPD) occurs when a person receives two copies of a chromosome, or of part of a chromosome, from one parent and no copy from the other parent. Reported symptoms A flattened appearance in the middle part of the face Abnormally set eyes Intellectual disability Heart defects Deafness Twisted intestines Growth and motor delay Physical asymmetry in the body and face Advertisement After Jessica and Patrick welcomed Rumi in 2017, fans began noticing the once-prolific social media user was posting less frequently. Jessica last posted about Rumi in July 2019, when she uploaded photos of the pair cuddling on the couch at a luxury hotel in Shoal Bay, New South Wales. 'This year has been a blur. One of our biggest hopes for 2019 was to spend as much time at home as possible, but we've somehow spent nearly five months of it living in hospital,' she wrote. Last sighting: Jessica last posted about Rumi in July 2019, when she uploaded photos of the pair cuddling on the couch at a luxury hotel in Shoal Bay, New South Wales Jessica then spent another five months off social media, before returning on January 5, 2020, to share an impassioned post about the Australian bushfires. She has not posted on social media since. Jessica suffered a rocky pregnancy due to complications from an injury she received after being hit by a car as a teenager. Announcing her pregnancy on Instagram at seven months, Jessica revealed: 'I experienced multiple pelvic and internal injuries after being hit by a car at 16 with ongoing pain and limitations, and was warned of what might never come to be.' 'I experienced multiple pelvic and internal injuries': Jessica suffered a rocky pregnancy due to complications from an injury she received after being hit by a car as a teenager 'I don't know the words to describe how hopeless I felt': Jessica also revealed she'd suffered serious complications at 20 weeks when her water broke early as a result of her bladder injury from the crash 'I've always wanted to adopt (as my incredible mum was) and my partner and I had been talking about it again just before this unexpected miracle happened,' she added. Jessica also revealed she'd suffered serious complications at 20 weeks when her water broke early as a result of her bladder injury from the crash. 'I don't know the words to describe how hopeless I felt not being able to control my own body, provide for my baby or see hope that we would make it through,' she wrote. Jessica added that while her partner was a 'rock of support and positivity', she had found the last few months the 'loneliest' of her life. Crystal Harris has hit back at being labelled a 'gold-digger' and a 'dumb blonde' when she began dating Hugh Hefner. The model, 34, who was married to the Playboy magazine founder for five years until his death in 2017 aged 91, began dating him when she attended a party at the mansion with a friend. Speaking to The Sun, Crystal said: 'I would get hit with all the stereotypes. People would say I was a dumb blonde, a fake, a gold-digger who didn't really love Hef. I suffered attacks on my relationship with him, on my looks, on my intelligence.' Hurtful: Crystal Harris has recalled how she was labelled as a 'gold-digger' and a 'dumb blonde' when she began dating Hugh Hefner (pictured in 2010) When Hef passed away, Crystal received a payout of around 5million and also inherited a 3.5million home in the Hollywood Hills. Yet, she suffered to come to terms with who she was following his death, confessing: 'I didnt know how to move forward because I had become so ingrained in his world and I didnt even know my own identity.' Discussing their first meeting, Crystal recalled how when she arrived at the mansion for the first time to attend a party, she had a Polaroid picture taken and had to wait in the car park. She later found out Hef rated girls who wanted to attend A, B, C and D with the A group allowed in first, which he gave Crystal. Couple: Crystal, 34, who was married to the Playboy founder for five years until his death in 2017 aged 91, began dating him when she attended a party at the mansion with a friend Hef moved Crystal, who was 60 years his junior, into the mansion the day after they met and she became one of his girlfriends along with twin sisters Karissa and Kristina Shannon who were 18 at the time. Crystal soon became his only girlfriend, admitting the couple became 'dependent' on each other which she thinks can be 'dangerous'. The TV personality, who previously described living in the mansion as like a 'golden cage' revealed that Hef began to control her life. She said: 'I came to rely on him so much that I didn't really have a life outside of him. At one point he told me, "When you start doing things away from the relationship, that's when it ends".' Wealth: When Hef passed away, Crystal received a payout of around 5million and also inherited a 3.5million home in the Hollywood Hills Hef proposed to Crystal with a 50,000 diamond ring at Christmas 2010, however the proposal left her feeling so overwhelmed that they briefly split up. Crystal was on the cover of Playboy at the time, announcing her upcoming wedding to the businessman. After she moved out, it was too late to change the issue so Hef stuck a 'Runaway Bride in this issue' sticker on the cover. They eventually reconciled and married on New Year's Eve, with Crystal saying Hef treated her much better for the rest of his life. The model was shocked when Hef died of sepsis brought on by an E. coli infection as he had always been in good health. Romance: Crystal, who is still vice-president of the Hugh M. Hefner Foundation, is now in a relationship with space engineer Nathan Levi, 32 She said: 'I didn't know how to move forward because I had become so ingrained in his world and I didn't even know my own identity.' Crystal, who is still vice-president of the Hugh M. Hefner Foundation, is now in a relationship with space engineer Nathan Levi, 32. The former Girls Next Door star said Hef was aware of their age difference and told her she would 'move on' after his death. Back in March, Crystal said she was still trying to find her own way in the world following Hugh's passing, but was finding it 'scary' on her own. She told Us Weekly: 'It's been a whirlwind. It's been trying to find myself. I became someone else's identity for 10 years. I'm finding my own identity and place in the world. It's scary.' She added: 'I've been doing a lot of traveling and seeing the world. I didn't do much of that living at the house. Hef and I were just homebodies. He didn't like me traveling. I guess I'm making up for lost time.' Armenia ex-president Kocharyan gives interview to Russia newspaper Armenia acting deputy PM on unblocking of roads with Azerbaijan: There will be no troops standing there Nikkei: Toyota and Honda stop car production in Malaysia Armenia official on deploying international observers at Azerbaijan border: You will hear reaction on this matter soon USAID helps UN World Food Programme support displaced people in Armenia Armenia official: Work of trilateral working group on roads unblocking has stopped after recent incidents Russias Putin to Armenias Pashinyan: Relations between our countries are developing very successfully Armenia health minister: Improper storage of fallen soldiers bodies, remains was my omission 108 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia Armenia President to children: I believe that you will make our country much better Armenia CEC publicizes complete lists of political forces registered to run in snap parliamentary elections World oil prices going up Queen Elizabeth turns down PM's offer to name new royal yacht after Prince Philip Armenia parliament discusses 2020 state budget report Newspaper: Armenia acting FM resigns after 3rd attempt Newspaper: Yerevan mayor to leave office Israel, UAE sign tax treaty Newspaper: Even vagrants are persuaded, taken to Armenia acting PM Pashinyans rally in Vanadzor Swedish defense minister demands explanation from Denmark over spy scandal Acting Deputy PM: Armenia has not discussed and will not discuss issues within logic of "corridor" Armenia Central Electoral Commission determines numbers of political parties for elections Armenia 2nd President visits Cathedral of the Holy Mother of God in Gyumri (PHOTOS) Opposition Armenia bloc representative: We're running in elections to win Azerbaijan MFA comments on calls for release of Armenian POWs with infinite hypocrisy EC: Vaccinated citizens should be exempted from tests, quarantine when traveling within EU Armenia Ombudsman discusses rights of 6 captured Armenian servicemen with ICRC Delegation head EU ready to use all the tools at its disposal to change Turkey's behavior Yerevan court obliges to abolish violation of rights of Armenia Supreme Judicial Council ex-chairman Greek and Turkish leaders to meet in June on sidelines of NATO summit Armenia Central Electoral Commission to set up 2,008 polling stations for snap parliamentary elections Iranian companies to participate in reconstructing territories under Azerbaijan's control Opposition Armenia bloc's representative on acting PM's invitation to debate with 1st and 2nd Presidents Armenia acting FM dismissed upon presidential decree Body of brother of Armenian criminal authority "Don Pipo" found under bridge 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 Don't miss the big stories. Like us on Facebook. State Rep. Carolyn Partridge, D-Windham-3, welcomes emails at cpartridge@leg.state.vt.us. The opinions expressed by columnists do not necessarily reflect the views of the Brattleboro Reformer. Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain The European Medicines Agency said on Tuesday that it is set to decide whether to authorise Johnson & Johnson's single-shot coronavirus vaccine for the EU on March 11. If approved by the Amsterdam-based regulator, the vaccine would be the fourth to get the green light for the 27-nation bloc, in a boost for its slow-starting vaccination programme. "EMA's human medicines committee expected to give its recommendation for COVID-19 vaccine from Janssen on 11 March" at a special meeting, the watchdog said on Twitter. Janssen-Cilag is the European subsidiary of US pharma giant J&J. The EMA had previously said it expected to make a decision in mid-March, after Johnson & Johnson filed for approval on February 16. The EU has so far approved three vaccines: Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna and AstraZeneca-Oxford. But the J&J would be the first that requires a single injection as opposed to two jabs, as well as being easier to store. The Johnson & Johnson shot appears less protective than Pfizer and Moderna's regimes, which both have an efficacy of around 95 percent against all forms of COVID-19 from the classic coronavirus strain. Explore further Follow the latest news on the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak 2021 AFP VANCOUVER, British Columbia, March 02, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Winshear Gold Corp. (TSX-V: WINS) (Winshear or the Company) is pleased to announce the appointment of Ms. Krysta Chapman as Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of the Company, effective immediately. Ms. Chapman is a Chartered Professional Accountant (CA) and a Chartered Financial Analyst. She holds a B.Sc. (Hons) in Mathematics and a Masters degree in Accounting from the University of Waterloo. Ms. Chapman worked with Pathway Capital Ltd., a private venture capital investment firm, as Chief Financial Officer, managing several private and public mining companies, and as Corporate Treasurer at Sandstorm Gold Ltd. The team at Winshear would very much like to thank Andrew MacRitchie for his great contributions to the company, both as team member and CFO. We wish him the very best in his new endeavours. About Winshear Gold Corp Winshear Gold Corp. is a Canadian-based minerals exploration company that is currently advancing the Gaban Gold Project in the Puno region of Peru. Gaban is a possible hard-rock source for the modern-day alluvial gold rush underway in the Madre de Dios basin downstream; Winshear is investigating the project for potential to host significant volumes of potentially minable gold resource. The Company is also conducting fully funded arbitration proceedings against the Tanzanian Government to recover its investment and damages for the expropriated SMP gold project in Tanzania. ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS Mark V. Sander Mark V. Sander, President 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. WASHINGTON (WTHI) - The two women facing charges in connection to the violence at the United States Capitol appeared virtually for court Monday afternoon. Dona Sue Bissey and Anna Morgan-Lloyd appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Zia Faruqui in a video conference. The court appointed attorneys for both defendants. The judge reaffirmed the conditions of their release; including staying away from Washington, D.C., and informing the court of travel outside of the Southern Indiana District. Court documentation also provides a picture into the specific allegations against Bissey and Morgan-Lloyd. According to court records, Morgan-Lloyd went to the Greene County Sheriffs Office to obtain a firearms permit on January 22. An employee recognized Morgan-Lloyd as a person that posted on Facebook about the January 6th events at the U.S. Capitol. After finding posts of Morgan-Lloyd and Bissey, the Sheriffs Office contacted the FBI. An investigation determined that two confidential witnesses submitted tips into the FBI tip line related to Bissey and Morgan-Lloyd. According to the court records, one post contains a photo of the two with a date stamp of January 6, a location tag of Washington, D.C., and the caption Inside Capitol Building. In response to a comment on this post asking if Bissey went into the building, she responded, Yes Maam! Probably in the first group of 100-200 people. Picking glass out of my purse. In other comments, she said she was just in the hallway, not the Rotunda. In additional screenshots, Bissey tagged Morgan-Lloyd as being with her. The court record says the photos appear to have been taking during the capitol violence on January 6th. One post shows Morgan-Lloyd writing Im here. Best day ever. We stormed the capitol building me and Dona Bissey were in the first 50 people in. The judge set hearings for March 22. Under coronavirus guidelines from the government, parties can appear virtually. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full 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. Ukraine expects to receive some $2.9 billion in financing from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in 2021, for which the parliament is supposed to pass legislative amendments on reforming the judicial system, presidential economic advisor Oleh Ustenko said. "We expect to receive an IMF tranche this year. Our program envisions $5 billion, and we have already received $2.1 billion," Ustenko said on Ukrainian television on Monday. "Ukraine's cooperation with the International Monetary Fund is continuing," he said. "The Verkhovna Rada is supposed to pass legislative amendments essential for receiving the next tranche. I am talking about the need for judicial reform and [legislation] ensuring the functioning of anti-corruption infrastructure," he said. He said "the requirements of the program of cooperation with the IMF coincide with the program of the President of Ukraine, on which the head of state has repeatedly said." Ustenko also said, in order to amend the Ukrainian legislation in terms of the judicial system, the president held many meetings, communicated with Ukrainian and foreign experts and persuaded the MPs of the Verkhovna Rada. "The program is taking place. As soon as the relevant legislative initiatives of the president are voted in the Verkhovna Rada, we can say that on our part we have fulfilled what we promised. We promised to fulfill not only the IMF, we do not do it for someone, we do it for Ukrainian people," the advisor to the head of state said. Ustenko said that successful cooperation with the IMF will give Ukraine the opportunity to make more profitable borrowings on the international market and is a good signal for foreign investors. He also added that 2020 was a difficult year in terms of attracting investment, but the Ukrainian economy could receive about $3 billion in foreign direct investment in 2021. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Chris Hemsworth and his wife Elsa Pataky let their hair down at a star-studded '80s-themed party in Sydney over the weekend. And the Hollywood power couple were seen looking a little worse for wear as they left the Crown Towers in the early hours of the morning on Sunday. Thor star Chris, 37, was yawning as he exited the venue at 1am with Elsa, 44, and slipped into a waiting car. Big night? Chris Hemsworth and Elsa Pataky looked worse for wear as they left a star-studded 80s party at Sydney's Crown Towers in the early hours of the morning over the weekend All partied out? Thor star Chris, 37, was yawning as he exited the venue at 1am with Elsa, 44, and slipped into a waiting car After partying up a storm with a large group of friends on a rooftop terrace, the famous parents called it a night. Bleary-eyed Chris and emerged from Crown ahead of his wife of 10 years. The Australian hunk showed signs of having a good time, and had traded his white singlet for a T-shirt. Meanwhile, Elsa had removed her neon pink and white retro fitness instructor costume for a pair of shorts and a jacket. Her hair, which was up most of the night in a teased ponytail, looked messy with loose strands as she walked towards the waiting vehicle. Hours earlier: Chris and his Elsa let their hair down at the star-studded '80s-themed party held for Chris' longtime pal and personal assistant Aaron Grist's 37th birthday The party was in celebration of Chris' personal assistant Aaron Grist's 37th birthday. The Marvel actor has known both Aaron and his personal trainer Luke Zocchi (who was also in attendance) since they were at primary school together. Joining the A-list affair was American actor Matt Damon, English actor Idris Elba, and Home and Away royalty Kate Ritchie. Bed hair: Elsa's hair, which was up most of the night in a teased ponytail, looked messy with loose strands as she walked towards the waiting vehicle Chris and Elsa are primarily based in Byron Bay, but have been regularly flying into Sydney for separate filming commitments. Thor: Love and Thunder began production on January 26, with Chris' Byron Bay pal Matt Damon due to join the cast in scenes to be shot this month. Elsa has been shooting Carmen, directed by Benjamin Millepied, in the city. As new developments constantly unfold in Barcelona's institutional crisis, a bold claim has emerged from the mouth of presidential candidate Joan Laporta. Laporta made the claim during a debate in which candidates Toni Freixa and Victor Font were also present, but only he took on the topic of Lionel Messi's future at the club. "I have a great relationship with Leo [Messi] and he will consider whatever proposal I make," said Laporta. "If I don't win, I am sure that Leo will not stay at Barcelona." The lawyer was keen to get this message home to voters and repeated on several occasions his view that only his presidency could tempt Messi to stay. "Messi will weight up the offer we make him," said Laporta. "I'm convinced that if the other candidates win, Messi will not remain at Barcelona. "He wasn't happy during Freixa's time on the board." Laporta knows Messi will be a key theme in the elections on March 7 and he claims that the Argentine is not solely concerned with money. "He's not guided just by money," added Laporta. "He wants a competitive team to win. "I'm sure he'll listen to my offer, just as I am [sure] that if someone else wins he will leave." Edmonton, Alberta--(Newsfile Corp. - March 2, 2021) -Altiplano Metals Inc. (TSXV: APN) (WKN: A2JNFG) ("Altiplano" or the "Company") is pleased to report on the January 2021 production results of from the Farellon Copper-Gold (Cu-Au) mine located near La Serena, Chile. During January 2021, Farellon produced approximately 3,480 tonnes of mineralized Cu/Au material at an approximate grade of 1.8% copper with shipments for processing totaling 2,770 tonnes. January revenue (after processing costs) generated US$220,000 from the sale of 151,960 pounds of copper compared with US$150,000 and 90,660 pounds of copper in December. At January month end, an additional 610 tonnes were stockpiled and available to be shipped. CEO, Alastair McIntyre commented, "I am pleased to see January's revenue and grade improve as we begin the new year. Our development to the SW beyond the intrusive dyke has been completed on the 389 m SW and 382 m SW levels where we can now return our focus on advancement and production. I am also encouraged to see the copper grade along the SW 389 m and 382 m level drifts improve from 1.2% to 1.7% previously recovered from the upper levels on the 395 m SW and 401 m SW drifts. This demonstrates that copper grade is improving with depth as anticipated. Furthermore, we are also encouraged by the stronger copper market that has broken the US$4.20/pound level and is in close range to break the all-time high of $4.63/pound set in 2011. With strong demand fundamentals and investor sentiment, the copper market looks very constructive." Figure 1. Monthly Review of Farellon Output and Grade To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/4303/75840_7d0e01f5a461bb63_001full.jpg Figure 2. Monthly Processed Material, Income and Mining Cost at Farellon To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/4303/75840_7d0e01f5a461bb63_002full.jpg Figure 3. Five Year Copper Chart To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/4303/75840_7d0e01f5a461bb63_003full.jpg Figure 4. Illustration of Underground Operations at Farellon To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/4303/75840_7d0e01f5a461bb63_004full.jpg * The decision to commence production on the Farellon deposit is not based on a feasibility study of mineral reserves demonstrating economic and technical viability and there is increased uncertainty and economic and technical risks of failure associated with the production decision. Further development of the Hugo Decline is scheduled to extend the underground workings at depth to access the 370 m level. This work will provide two additional development headings to access the NE - SW trending vein system at the 370 m working level. These new access points will bring the total number of development headings to eight once fully operational. The Hugo decline extension to the new 370 m level will be approximately 50 m and is expected to begin in March. Figure 5. Jackleg Drilling on the 376 m SW level To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/4303/75840_7d0e01f5a461bb63_005full.jpg Figure 6. Jumbo working on the 376 m level To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/4303/75840_7d0e01f5a461bb63_006full.jpg COVID-19 Update: The Government of Chile announced that its borders reopened to visitors on November 23, 2020 (https://chile.travel/en/coronavirus) where travel to the country is permitted with some limitations and requirements. The health and safety of our employees, contractors, visitors, and the local community remain our top priorities. Altiplano continues to follow the COVID-19 guidance issued by the Federal and Provincial Governments of Canada and Chile. Mine site safety and hygiene protocols (such as: disinfection points for hand washing and supply of face masks) remain in place in order to keep employees and stakeholders safe and to limit any spread at site or within the broader community About Altiplano Altiplano Metals Inc. (TSXV: APN) is a Canadian mining company focused on the acquisition and development of near-term cash flowing assets and exploration projects of significant scale. Altiplano's goal is to grow into a mid-tier producer of copper, gold and silver with immediate plans of generating profits from three cash flowing projects in 2021. Management has a substantial record of success in capitalizing on opportunity, overcoming challenges and building shareholder value. John Williamson, B.Sc., P.Geol., a Qualified Person as defined by NI 43-101, has reviewed and approved the technical contents of this document. Altiplano is part of the Metals Group of companies, managed by an award-winning team of professionals who stand for technical excellence, painstaking project selection and uncompromising corporate governance, with a proven ability to capitalize on investment opportunities and deliver shareholder returns. ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD /s/ "John Williamson" Chairman For further information, please contact: Jeremy Yaseniuk, Director jeremyy@apnmetals.com Tel: (604) 773-1467 Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the (TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. This release includes certain statements that may be deemed "forward-looking statements". All statements in this release, other than statements of historical facts, that address exploration drilling, exploitation activities and events or developments that the Company expects are forward-looking statements. A qualified person has not done sufficient work to classify any historical estimates as current mineral resources or mineral reserves and the issuer is not treating the historical estimates as current mineral resources or mineral reserves. The Farellon mine was previously in production dating back to the 1970's with a reported historical production (to a depth of 70 m) yielding approximately 300,000 tonnes at an average grade of 2.5% copper and 0.5g/t gold. This material was processed locally and sold to ENAMI. Altiplano is relying upon past production records, underground sampling and related activities and current diamond drilling to estimate grade and widths of the mineralization to reactivate production. The decision to commence production on the Farellon deposit is not based on a feasibility study of mineral reserves demonstrating economic and technical viability and there is increased uncertainty and economic and technical risks of failure associated with any production decision. Although the Company believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results or developments may differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements include market prices, exploitation and exploration successes, continuity of mineralization, uncertainties related to the ability to obtain necessary permits, licenses and title and delays due to third party opposition, changes in government policies regarding mining and natural resource exploration and exploitation, and continued availability of capital and financing, and general economic, market or business conditions. Investors are cautioned that any such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results or developments may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. For more information on the Company, investors should review the Company's continuous disclosure filings that are available at www.sedar.com. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/75840 She described a series of uncomfortable interactions with Mr. Cuomo, including an unsolicited kiss in 2018, which the governor has strenuously denied. Then, on Saturday, Ms. Bennett recalled her own encounters with Mr. Cuomo in the spring, when she said the governor asked her personal questions, including whether she had slept with older men, whether she was monogamous, and whether she thought age mattered in relationships. Ms. Bennett is 25; the governor is 63. The interactions, which Ms. Bennett described in a series of interviews with The Times, left her certain that the governor was suggesting a sexual relationship. I understood that the governor wanted to sleep with me, Ms. Bennett told The Times, saying she felt scared and upset. And was wondering how I was going to get out of it. For Ms. Ruch, the circumstances were different, her exchange with the governor taking place at a well-attended celebration far from any official setting. In fact, the episodes highly visible nature made it all the more jarring, she suggested. She recalled Mr. Cuomo moving his hand to the small of her back exposed in an open-back dress within moments of their being introduced and shaking hands at the reception. Ms. Ruch said that touch, on her bare skin, discomfited her. I promptly removed his hand with my hand, which I would have thought was a clear enough indicator that I was not wanting him to touch me, she said. Instead, Ms. Ruch said, Mr. Cuomo called her aggressive and placed his hands on her cheeks. He said, Can I kiss you? Ms. Ruch said. I felt so uncomfortable and embarrassed when really he is the one who should have been embarrassed. (A friend captured the exchange in a series of photographs taken on Ms. Ruchs cellphone.) The Daily Beast Photo Illustration by The Daily Beast/GettyMike Lindell, the MyPillow CEO and Trumpist conspiracy-peddler, flew his private jet to the Republican Governors Association meeting the other day.The guvs promptly threw him out. But the incident got Molly Jong-Fast thinking: Does the MyPillow CEO think hes already a governor or something?Subscribe to The New Abnormal on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Amazon Music, or Overcast. To listen to our weekly members-only bonus episodes, join Beast Inside here. Already a member? You can listen here and sign up for new episode email alerts here.Spoiler: Making MyPillows does not make you my governor. Now, chances that Mike Lindell could actually become governor of a small Republican state, 80 percent, she quips on the latest episode of The New Abnormal. Like, its not even that hard for someone that famous and insane in the Republican party to become a governor.Lindell claims he wouldnt run to be a dogcatcher right now, because he doesnt trust the voting machines. Plus, hes from the blue state of Minnesota. So maybe the risk of a Governor Pillow isnt quite so high. But L.A. Times columnist Virginia Heffernan would like to quickly add something about Mike Lindell being a cosplay governor.I think we need to understand that being in politics leads to governing and governing is boring. It is not a PR operation, she says. And I feel like we have made these jobs celebrity roles. Public service should not beis notbeing on a reality show.Like, I feel like we need to really dial down the razzle-dazzle, really play up the drudgery, Heffernan continues. I just don't know why every single industrialist and every single lady with abs or gorgeous arms would want to be, of all things, a governor.Biden, Heffernan opines, is doing a pretty good job at the drudgerydollars going out, jabs going out, all leading to Trump signs going down. Sure, the Donald has his cultists, like Lindell. But, I don't think people can hold onto this much insanity for this long, especially when it's a tiny minority of people who believe it, Heffernan adds. Democrats need to know how to win.To which Jong-Fast replies, oh-so-gently: Are you freakin kidding me? With all of these Republican attempts to retcon the Capitol riots? To chop away at the right to vote? To instantiate their ability to overturn elections? All while Team Biden snoozes it away? The Democrats are bringing an ice cream sundae to a knife fight, Jong-Fast says.Plus! Politicos Tara Palmeri talks about her search to find Liz Cheney supporters in Wyoming. And Battle for the Soul author Edward-Isaac Dovere gives us a peek into how Biden sees the political landscape. The presidency that he has in front of him now, he knows, is so different from what he ever expected to have, Dovere says, And part of that is rethinking how he incorporates the progressivism within the party that took root and that was so much part of this campaign. And its just, its a really complicated evolution for him. Its not the presidency he thought itd be running in 2019 when he got into this race.Read more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more. Genhe city in north China's Inner Mongolia autonomous region, known as China's "Pole of Cold", has made solid progress in developing eco-tourism by tapping into its abundant ice and snow resources and unique ethnic culture. People participate in a reindeer-pulled sled race in Aoluguya Ewenki autonomous township in Hulunbuir, North China's Inner Mongolia autonomous region, Dec 25, 2019. (chinadaily.com.cn/Wang Zheng) The city was dubbed China's "Pole of Cold" after Jingling in Jinhe town in the city set the record for the country's lowest recorded temperature - minus 58 degrees Celsius - in 2009. Lengji, the nearest village to Jingling, is 13 kilometers away. After banning commercial logging, the village made use of its unique "cold resources" and forest resources, and turned itself into a renowned tourist attraction. It has developed a series of winter tourism programs such as snowmobiling, horse-drawn sleigh rides and dog sledding. Visitors can also witness the spectacle of hot water instantly freezing in the cold air. Genhe is also home to a national wetland park, which attracts many tourists from near and far thanks to its magnificent natural scenery and high quality of planning. The city has also turned Aoluguya township into a tourist attraction that has become famous worldwide, where visitors can enjoy the mysterious charm of the unique folk culture of the Ewenki ethnic group. The Ewenki people, known as "the last hunting tribe in the world", mostly hunted for a living and settled in the township until 1965. The local government completed a relocation program in the township and helped the Ewenki people integrate tourism with their unique culture. In 2010, Aoluguya established a team to put on commercial shows and recreate scenes of Ewenki families moving around the forest with reindeers. In recent years, the township's unique ethnic culture has attracted more and more visitors and boosted the incomes of the Ewenki people. Thanks to the lively shows, tourists usually extend their stays there from two and a half hours to two days, further fuelling the development of the township's tourism sector. [March 02, 2021] ANALYGENCE Wins $20M DHS Science and Technology Financial Services Support Contract ANALYGENCE, a trusted partner for mission support, cyber solutions, and management services, today announced a $20M Department of Homeland Security (DHS) financial services contract in support of the agency's Science and Technology ( S&T (News - Alert) ) Directorate. This award further expands the relationship between DHS and ANALYGENCE after recently receiving the DHS Small Business Award, recognizing its support of the DHS mission. The recent DHS contract signifies significant progress in its three-year growth strategy as a solutions provider for government agencies and business entities. "We are excited to expand and diversify our service offerings within the Department of Homeland Security. This win demonstrates that ANALYGENCE continues to cement itself as a trusted advisor to DHS," says Tom Peitler, the Chief Operating Officer at ANALYGENCE. He adds, "This program was a key target of design for our organization, and we look forward to supporting S&T Finance and Budget Division (FBD) for the coming four years and beyond." Focused on flourishing in a post-pandemic year and putting more people to work, ANALYGENCE remains committed to prioritizing business outcomes alongside thriving teams. As a peole-first company, ANALYGENCE is grounded in its Driving Principles and Core Values, believing that people are "EQWEL" and supporting that priority by rewarding team members and enhancing its growth trajectory. This was especially critical as the company navigated the recent pandemic. According to Lonnie Parker, Founder and CEO of ANALYGENCE, "2020 was a tough year for everyone, our company included. We took the impact of 2020 in stride and decided to use the opportunity to reflect and refine the strategy that will launch ANALYGENCE into a premier mid-market organization. This contract award is one of many that are part of the vision that was established from our company's beginning." To support these efforts, ANALYGENCE made strategic investments in key leadership positions to elevate its operational capacity and service offerings. As a result, ANALYGENCE was recently named to the Inc. 5000, a list of the fastest-growing privately held companies in the United States. About ANALYGENCE ANALYGENCE is a trusted partner for mission support, cyber solutions, and management services. Offering full acquisition lifecycle support, engineer and IT services, cyber threat detection analysis, advanced cyber training, and intelligence analysis, ANALYGENCE provides solutions that empower mission success. Serving government agencies, military branches, and industry partners, ANALYGENCE leverages its diverse backgrounds and extensive management consulting expertise to craft customized client solutions. Visit www.analygence.com for more information and follow the company's updates on LinkedIn. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210302005343/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] A Queensland mother-of-two has avoided jail despite gambling away all of her daughter's $93,000 trust fund left to her by her late father. Andrea Jenelle Johnston, 45, from the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, failed to pay the money to her 23-year-old daughter, who inherited the money from her dad when he died in 2009. Johnston blew the entire sum gambling before her daughter even turned 18. She was sentenced to three years jail in 2018 after pleading guilty to one count of stealing property, but was given immediate parole on the proviso she repaid her daughter, Sunshine Coast Daily reported. However on Monday, three years after she was sentenced, the Maroochydore District Court heard she still owed her daughter $71,969 - meaning she could face six months behind bars. Andrea Jenelle Johnston, 45, from the Sunshine Coast, had failed to pay $93,000 back to her 23-year-old daughter and has since been ordered to pay $1,000 a month Crown prosecutor Stipe Drinovac said Johnston's daughter was unhappy that the $20,000 had been paid back in a 'sporadic and ad hoc' fashion. But Kylie Anderson, Johnson's Legal Aid lawyer, said her client had been unable to pay the money back because her job as a registered nurse had been suspended as health authorities considered cancelling her registration. And despite eventually being cleared to continue working as a nurse, she'd since struggled to get work. She urged a payment plan be imposed rather than a jail term. The 45-year-old had suffered with a gambling disorder, post traumatic stress disorder, major depressive disorder and anxiety, and felt shame over her behaviour, the court heard. Judge Richard Jones said he believed Johnston had expressed a desire to beat her gambling problem and make amends with her estranged daughter. He imposed a payment plan instead of jail time and ordered Johnston to pay her daughter $1,000 every month starting from April 1. The mother was also granted early access to her superannuation and will be able to pay her daughter another $8,000 by May. For support regarding gambling addiction, contact the Gambling Help website or helpline on 1800 858 858 Lifeline: 13 11 14 Suicide Call Back Service: 1300 659 467 Beyond Blue: 1300 22 4636 The death has occurred of Danny Aherne Of Raheenagh, Ballagh Died suddenly on March 1, 2021. Son of the late Dan, brother of the late Jim. Beloved son and brother. Danny leaves behind his heartbroken family, mother Julia, brothers Davy and Gerry, sisters Eileen, Catherine, Sheila, Nora and Ita, brothers-in-law, sisters-in-law, nephews, nieces, grandnephews, grandnieces, aunts, uncles, cousins and a wide circle of good friends and great neighbours. May he rest in peace The funeral cortege will leave his residence on Thursday, March 4, at 12 noon en route to St Itas Church, Raheenagh for a Private family Funeral Mass at 12.30pm, for anyone who would like to pay their respects in accordance with government guidelines. Mass will be livestreamed - link to follow. A private Cremation will take place afterwards in Shannon Crematorium. Family flowers only please, donations if desired to Enable Ireland. House Private Please. Mass cards and letters of sympathy can be sent to Riedys Undertakers Newcastle West. ******* The death has occurred of Oliver Coughlan Of Parkroe, Roxboro Oliver, died (peacefully) at University Hospital Limerick. Son of the late James and Christina. Very deeply regretted by his sisters Rose Danagher and Ann Creed, brothers James and Michael, nephews, nieces, other relatives and friends. May he rest in peace A private requiem Mass, for family only, will take place in St. Patrick's Church, Donoughmore, on Thursday, March 4 at 11.30am and funeral afterwards to Donoughmore Cemetery. Mass will be live streamed, click at https://www.facebook.com/dkrparish. In compliance with the current HSE guidelines, the funeral will be limited to 10 people. Please ensure social distancing and public health advice is adhered to. Cards and letters of sympathy can be sent to Cross' Funeral Directors, Lower Gerald Griffin Street, Limerick. ******* The death has occurred of Philomena Danaher (nee O'Shea) Of Knockaderry and Rathkeale Died peacefully on March 2, 2021, in the loving care of the staff in St. Catherine's Nursing Home, Newcastle West. Predeceased by her loving husband Ned, son Dermot, sisters Eileen Dowling and Martha Neville. Deeply regretted by her loving sons Ted, Aidan, Declan and Brendan, daughters Anne (Lane), Brid (Murphy), Bernadette (Hartnett) and Lourde (Ahern), brothers John and Michael, sister Magdeline (Casey), daughters-in-law, sons-in-law, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, nephews, nieces, relatives and friends. May her gentle soul rest in peace Arriving on Wednesday, March 3, for 12.30pm Requiem Mass at St Munchin's Church, Knockaderry. Burial afterwards in Cloncagh old cemetery. For those wishing to pay their respects, the Funeral cortege will leave her residence in Knockaderry at approx 12 noon en route to St.Munchin's Church. In compliance with HSE guidelines, Phils Funeral Mass will be restricted to family only. Sympathies may be expressed by post to O'Grady Funeral Directors, Ballingarry, Co. Limerick. Thank you for your understanding during this difficult time. ******* The death has occurred of Claire Garry Of Walnut Drive, Caherdavin Heights, Caherdavin, Ballina, Tipperary and Clare Claire died peacefully, surrounded by her family, at home. Sadly missed by her loving son Regan, parents Tom and Eileen, sister Aine, brother John, brother-in-law Brian, sister-in-law Joan, nieces Lisa, Ciara and Aoife, nephews Conor and Nathan, uncles and aunts, cousins and her many friends. Rest in peace Requiem Mass, for family members only, will take place in Christ the King Church, Caherdavin on Thursday, March 4 at 12 noon and will be streamed live. Mass can be viewed at https://www.churchservices.tv/caherdavin. Funeral afterwards to Ballycannon Cemetery, Meelick. Claires funeral cortege will leave the family home at 11:40am on Thursday. Please observe social distancing, house private please. Messages of sympathy may be expressed through the death notices section of www.griffinfunerals.com or by post to Griffins Funeral Home. ******* The death has occurred of Jeffrey Kelly Of Limerick City, and Mary Hill, Glasgow, Scotland Jeffrey died suddenly in Glasgow. Beloved only son of Richard and Sharon and dearest brother of Michelle, Grace and Becky. Deeply regretted by his son T.J., his parents and sisters, brothers-in-law, nephews, niece, other relatives and his very many friends. May he rest in peace House private please. Funeral arrangements later ******* The death has occurred of Anna O'Flaherty Of Sheares Avenue, Kilmallock Peacefully at Milford Hospice surrounded by her loving family. Deeply regretted by her loving parents, John and Teresa, brothers, sisters, nieces, nephews, uncles, aunts, relatives and friends. Rest in peace Funeral Mass Thursday at 12 noon at SS Peter and Paul's Church, Kilmallock, followed by cremation in Shannon Crematorium. Due to Covid-19 restrictions. Family only please. Letters of sympathy can be sent to McCarthys undertaker, Kilmallock. Armenia ex-president Kocharyan gives interview to Russia newspaper Armenia acting deputy PM on unblocking of roads with Azerbaijan: There will be no troops standing there Nikkei: Toyota and Honda stop car production in Malaysia Armenia official on deploying international observers at Azerbaijan border: You will hear reaction on this matter soon USAID helps UN World Food Programme support displaced people in Armenia Armenia official: Work of trilateral working group on roads unblocking has stopped after recent incidents Russias Putin to Armenias Pashinyan: Relations between our countries are developing very successfully Armenia health minister: Improper storage of fallen soldiers bodies, remains was my omission 108 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia Armenia President to children: I believe that you will make our country much better Armenia CEC publicizes complete lists of political forces registered to run in snap parliamentary elections World oil prices going up Queen Elizabeth turns down PM's offer to name new royal yacht after Prince Philip Armenia parliament discusses 2020 state budget report Newspaper: Armenia acting FM resigns after 3rd attempt Newspaper: Yerevan mayor to leave office Israel, UAE sign tax treaty Newspaper: Even vagrants are persuaded, taken to Armenia acting PM Pashinyans rally in Vanadzor Swedish defense minister demands explanation from Denmark over spy scandal Acting Deputy PM: Armenia has not discussed and will not discuss issues within logic of "corridor" Armenia Central Electoral Commission determines numbers of political parties for elections Armenia 2nd President visits Cathedral of the Holy Mother of God in Gyumri (PHOTOS) Opposition Armenia bloc representative: We're running in elections to win Azerbaijan MFA comments on calls for release of Armenian POWs with infinite hypocrisy EC: Vaccinated citizens should be exempted from tests, quarantine when traveling within EU Armenia Ombudsman discusses rights of 6 captured Armenian servicemen with ICRC Delegation head EU ready to use all the tools at its disposal to change Turkey's behavior Yerevan court obliges to abolish violation of rights of Armenia Supreme Judicial Council ex-chairman Greek and Turkish leaders to meet in June on sidelines of NATO summit Armenia Central Electoral Commission to set up 2,008 polling stations for snap parliamentary elections Iranian companies to participate in reconstructing territories under Azerbaijan's control Opposition Armenia bloc's representative on acting PM's invitation to debate with 1st and 2nd Presidents Armenia acting FM dismissed upon presidential decree Body of brother of Armenian criminal authority "Don Pipo" found under bridge 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 Mumbai, March 2 : Senior Congress leader Prithviraj Chavan on Tuesday questioned the Centre's move to charge people Rs 250 for the Covid-19 vaccine dosage. A person aged above 45 with comorbidities or over 60-years can get inoculated at a designated centre for Rs 250 per dose in the third phase of the nationwide vaccination drive. Taking umbrage at this, Chavan said that in the Phase-1, the Centre had procured 1.65 crore doses of the vaccine at a cost of Rs 210/dose. "As per the Feb. 1 Budget speech of Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Rs 35,000 crore has been allocated for the vaccination drive. In this amount, at the cost of Rs 210/dose, more than 1.50 billion doses can be procured," Chavan said. These 1.60 billion doses can help inoculate 75 crore of the Indians, covering almost the entire adult population of the country, and hence if budgetary provisions are made, then why the charges (Rs 250) are being levied, Chavan asked. He pointed out that in countries like the US, the UK or Canada, citizens are getting free vaccines either by budgetary provisions or through insurance companies. "I demand that all beneficiaries of the Pradhan Mantri Jan Aarogya Yojana (Aayushman Bharat) must be given free Covid-19 vaccines," Chavan said. Taking a jibe at the government, the former Union Minister and state Chief Minister said that "despite lofty budgetary announcements and India being the largest supplier of the Covid-19 vaccine, the Modi Government is digging into the common man's pocket" with the vaccine charges. In a related development, the Federation of Hotels & Restaurants Association of India (FHRAI) has urged the Centre and Maharashtra government to declare the hospitality sector workers as 'frontline warriors' for priority vaccination, said its Vice-President G.S. Kohli. Meanwhile, Maharashtra witnessed huge crowds for the Vaccination drive at all major designated centres in the state with senior citizens turning up in large numbers to get vaccinated. -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text Photo: The Canadian Press President Joe Biden, accompanied by White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan, left, and Secretary of State Antony Blinken, second from left, attends a virtual meeting with Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, in the Roosevelt Room of the White House, Monday, March 1, 2021, in Washington. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik) As President Joe Biden looks to dismantle the last administrations hardline immigration agenda, he worked Monday to build a partnership with someone who found an unexpected understanding with Donald Trump: Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador. Biden and Lopez Obrador met for a virtual bilateral meeting, with immigration, the coronavirus pandemic and climate issues on the agenda. Looming large was how the two leaders would get along in what has become an increasingly complicated relationship. We havent been perfect neighbours to each other, Biden acknowledged in brief remarks at the start of his video conference meeting with the Mexican president. Lopez Obrador, for his part, told Biden that he was thankful that the new president was willing to maintain good relations for the good of our people in North America. The Mexican president also gave a wink to a rueful observation attributed to Jose de la Cruz Porfirio Diaz Mori, the Mexican general who served seven terms as the countrys president, about the two countries relationship: Poor Mexico, so far from God, so close to the U.S. I can now say Its wonderful for Mexico to be close to God and not so far from the United States Lopez Obrador said. Lopez Obrador came to the meeting with his own checklist of priorities, including pressing Biden to give pharmaceutical company Pfizer permission to sell his country vaccine produced in the United States, something that Canada has also requested from the White House. We want to have an answer about a request we made, Lopez Obrador told reporters at his daily news conference, hours before speaking with Biden. Ahead of the meeting, White House officials reiterated that Biden remained focused on first vaccinating U.S. citizens before turning his attention to assisting other nations. Biden, in a brief exchange with reporters at the start of the meeting, said the two leaders would discuss vaccines. The two sides following the meeting issued a joint statement pledging greater co-operation on addressing migration, the coronavirus pandemic, and climate change. The Mexican government in a separate statement added the two sides also agreed to crack down on migrant trafficking. Relations with Biden will be much more complex and multi-faceted than they were with Trump. As a candidate, Trump referred to Mexicans as rapists. The Republican's signature campaign promise was building a big, beautiful wall across the length of the southern border. And leaked conversations showed Trump hectoring Lopez Obrador's predecessor, Enrique Pena Nieto, against publicly saying that Mexico would never pay for a southern border wall. But Lopez Obrador appeared to reach a one-issue understanding with Trump: Mexico stopped the flow of Central American migrants trying to reach the U.S. border, and Trump often appeared to turn a blind eye to just about every other facet in the complicated relationship. There was no shortage of issues that Trump largely overlooked or played down in exchange for Mexico slowing the flow of undocumented immigrants from the border. Lopez Obrador, who took office in 2018, accused U.S. officials of fabricating drug trafficking charges against the countrys former defence secretary, Gen. Salvador Cienfuegos, and demanded the general's return after he was arrested in Los Angeles in October. U.S. prosecutors eventually acquiesced. Under his watch, Lopez Obrador has attempted to consolidate the position of Mexicos national oil company and national electric utility, and prioritized fossil fuel companies amid a global push to curb greenhouse gas emissions. Early in his term, the Mexican president pursued a counter-narcotics strategy that largely ended the pursuit of high-profile arrests and focused more on poverty alleviation. Still, Trump heaped praise on Lopez Obrador, calling him a friend and great president in one of his final presidential speeches, an address from the border to celebrate progress made on building the wall. The effort to reset the U.S.-Mexico relationship under Biden comes as a flood of migrants have rushed to the border since his victory in November. Biden has backed a bill to give legal status and a path to citizenship to the estimated 11 million people living in the country illegally. Biden also broke with Trump by supporting efforts to allow hundreds of thousands of people who came to the U.S. illegally as young children to remain in the country. Border Patrol agents are apprehending an average of more than 200 children crossing the border without a parent per day, but nearly all 7,100 beds for immigrant children maintained by the Department of Health and Human Services are full. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas on Monday sought to push back against the notion that the situation at the border was spinning out of control. The men and women of the Department of Homeland Security are working around the clock seven days a week to ensure that we do not have a crisis at the border, that we manage the challenge as acute as the challenge is, and they are not doing that alone, Mayorkas said. Ahead of the meeting, Lopez Obrador also floated a proposal for a Bracero-style immigrant work visa program for 600,000 to 800,000 Mexican and Central American workers annually. Asked about the Mexican presidents proposal, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said that reinstituting the Bracero program would require action by Congress. The original Bracero program allowed Mexicans to work temporarily in the United States to fill labour shortages during World War II and for a couple of decades after the war. Lopez Obrador said the U.S. economy needs Mexican workers because of their strength, their youth. On Monday, Lopez Obrador added that his new proposal would be a program not only for agriculture workers but for other sectors and professionals. . : Sea Diamond Shraddha Kapoor is a daddy's girl! The Aashiqui 2 actress often has sweet things to say about her 'bapu' Shakti Kapoor in her interviews. On the other hand, the senior actor too, never fails to express his love for his darling daughter. In a recent interaction with Hindustan Times, the Coolie No.1 actor was all praise for Shraddha and said that he feels elated when people appreciate her performances. Shakti was quoted as saying, "As a person, no one can be better than her. In fact, she has qualities that I don't have (laughs). She has a heart of gold. She is generous and an animal lover. I am so happy that even today when she is so successful, she listens to me, consults me on all major decisions in life. She has given me that respect. I have no complaints in life. I am blessed. She is God's gift to me, an angel, a golden child." He continued, "I remember, in school, she would perform on stage and I felt she could become an actor but as she was an intelligent student, she went to study in the US. I never thought she would be an actor. But achanak, when I returned from shoot one fine day, I heard she had signed Teen Patti (2010)." Shakti further revealed that as a birthday gift, Shraddha wants him to quit him smoking. Shraddha and her family are currently stationed in Maldives to attend her cousin Priyaank Sharma's wedding with Shaza Morani. The actress will be turning 34 tomorrow (March 3, 2021). Speaking about her birthday plans, papa Shakti Kapoor revealed, "This year, Shraddha's birthday celebration will be huge as all of us including the extended family will be in the Maldives. Wedding and birthday will be big time, sab saath mein hai, toh maza aayega." With respect to work, Shraddha Kapoor will next be seen in Luv Ranjan's yet-to-be-titled film with Ranbir Kapoor and Vishal Furia's Nagin. ALSO READ: Shraddha Kapoor & Her Rumoured Beau Rohan Shrestha Have A Blast At Her Cousin Priyaank's Wedding In Maldives ALSO READ: Shraddha Kapoor Had This Epic Reaction To The Paparazzi Enquiring About Her Marriage New Delhi: In a major cause for concern, lakhs of people who were administered COVID-19 vaccine in the first phase have missed the second dose. From January 16 to February 1, 33 lakh 50 thousand 265 people across the country which included health care and frontline workers took the first shot of the vaccine. But out of these only 24 lakh 19 thousand 557 people showed up to get the second dose of the vaccine. This leaves out 9 lakh 30 thousand 708 people who either did not get the second dose in time or did not get it at all. The union health ministry has expressed concern in the matter. Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan said that the people who missed the dose cannot be forced to take it and can only be made aware of it. Bhushan said that the government has a COVID-19 system through which they can track those who missed the dose. He said that people should ideally get the second dose on the 28th day from the first, but in unusual cases, it can be done in a difference of 4-6 weeks. According to experts, the vaccination will not be complete if the second dose is not taken. States with the highest number of defaulters Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Gujarat, West Bengal and Rajasthan have the highest number of those who do not get the second dose of the vaccine in time. In Madhya Pradesh, where 2 lakh 86 thousand 538 people got the first dose of vaccine from January 16 to February 1, only 1 lakh 59 thousand 662 people got the second dose from January 13 to February 28. This means 1 lakh 26 thousand 876 people missed the second dose in time. In Maharashtra, out of 2 lakh 75 thousand 348 people who were vaccinated, only 1 lakh 58 thousand 658 people got the second dose, that is, 1 lakh 16 thousand 690 people did not get the second dose in time. In Gujarat, where 2 lakh 84 thousand 170 people got the first dose of vaccine, only 1 lakh 67 thousand 586 people got the second dose. 1 lakh 16 thousand 584 defaulted. In West Bengal, out of 2 lakh 38 thousand 178 people who got the first dose, only 1 lakh 38 thousand 847 got the second, i.e. 99 thousand 331 missed. In Rajasthan, out of 3 lakh 13 thousand 321 people who got the first dose of vaccine, only 2 lakh 20 thousand 942 people got the second dose i.e. 92 thousand 379 people were missed out. In Uttar Pradesh, 46 thousand 996 people missed the second dose in time. By February 1, 33 lakh 50 thousand 265 people were administered the first dose of the vaccine. 32 lakh 80 thousand 893 people were given the Covishield vaccine of Serum Institute, while 69 thousand 272 people were given Bharat Biotech Covaxin. Live TV LONDON, March 2, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- On Tuesday, February 23rd 2021, the Prime Minister of the Commonwealth of Dominica, Dr the Hon. Roosevelt Skerrit, took his first jab of the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine. Several other government ministers, officials and Office staff also joined him. Due to his dynamic leadership and diplomacy, he secured 70,000 vaccinations for Dominica from India. Displaying a kind gesture, the government of Dominica, in partnership with and Barbados, donated some of the vaccines they received to their sister nations and set an example of comradery in the whole Caribbean. The government also launched a website to get citizens registered and have the vaccination drive be carried out in a phased manner. Currently, Dominica is among the nations which have successfully curbed the pandemic and recorded zero deaths so far. The wise management of the Prime Minister has made the Nature Isle an example for countries worldwide, including CARICOM states, as COVID-19 severely impacts many. In a webinar that released this week, the Prime Minister emphasised the country's strong healthcare system. "Because we have had a very robust primary health care system, [it] helped us in containing the presence of COVID-19 in our country," he said. He also recognised the role of Dominica's Citizenship by Investment (CBI) Programme as a major sponsor in healthcare advancement. He said, "The Citizenship by Investment Programme has really been a very formidable contributor to our revenue base and also public sector investment programme." As the best country for citizenship by investment, according to the Financial Times' PWM CBI Index, Dominica is well known for making exceptionally good use of CBI contributions. In the healthcare sector alone, the CBI Programme was responsible for constructing many clinics, health centres, and a state-of-the-art hospital scheduled to be completed next month. Under the Programme, Foreign investors and their families can legally obtain second citizenship from Dominica within three-four months either by making a one-off contribution to a government fund or investing in pre-approved luxury and sustainable hotels. Firstly, though, all applicants must pass Dominica's thorough due diligence checks, deemed among the most rigorous of all investor immigration programmes. This guarantees the Programme's integrity for Dominica's sake, while investors can rest assured that their citizenship is for life and can safely be passed on to future generations. Economic citizens earn the right to live, work and study in Dominica, taking advantage of all the country's facilities, such as good healthcare, education, visa-free travel, safety and security for life. Contact: [email protected], www.csglobalpartners.com SOURCE CS Global Partners PITTSFIELD The Pittsfield public schools have been accepted into a free COVID-19 testing initiative, as talks continue over what form of testing the countys largest school system will follow, the interim superintendent said Monday. Entry into the states pool testing initiative was requested by the United Educators of Pittsfield during at-times contentious reopening talks with the district, while school leaders had said they planned to implement an alternative COVID-19 testing plan using CARES Act money. Pool testing hunts for signs of the coronavirus in batches of swabs from multiple people. If a pool returns positive, the district then would test each member of the group with an Abbott BinaxNOW rapid test, which returns results in 15 minutes. The process conserves tests by pooling specimens and only following up with positive groups. Other schools in the region are moving to pool testing as well. The Pittsfield districts testing partner, County Ambulance, has been subcontracted by CIC Health in Cambridge to be the boots on the ground monitoring pool testing programs in Pittsfield, North Adams, Lee and the Berkshire Hills Regional School District, said company President Brian Andrews. COVID19TESTINGATHOME (copy) County Ambulance paramedic Jennifer Sommers performs a swab test for COVID-19 on a staff member at a shared living home in Pittsfield last yea Pittsfields health and safety coordinator, Eric Lamoureaux, said the district applied for and was accepted into the pool testing program and now is in discussions with state officials and our local teacher union about full implementation of pool testing as there are logistics our school district faces due to its size. The district plans to start by offering weekly pool testing for student-athletes, starting the week of March 8 with Taconic and Pittsfield high students who are participating in sports, Lamoureaux said. Whether the district expands pool testing districtwide or takes another approach to coronavirus testing in the schools is an open question. Interim Superintendent Joseph Curtis said next weeks pool testing events offer a trial run, but that scaling up in a district the size of Pittsfield, with about 5,000 students and 1,200 staff, is logistically difficult. Curtis said there needs to be observers on hand to supervise the pool testing process in classrooms. Some districts have managed with their school nursing staff or paid contractors to serve as observers, Curtis said, an expense the state is covering for at least the next few weeks. The state is funding pool testing expenses for school districts until March 28, according to the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. After that, districts and schools can continue testing by purchasing pooled testing services under a state contract, Education Commissioner Jeff Riley has said. Pittsfield needs agreement from educators that they are willing to oversee pool testing in classrooms, Curtis said, an issue being discussed with the United Educators of Pittsfield. To carry out weekly testing of all students and staff, we do need educators to play a role in that, particularly as observers, he said. Curtis also questioned whether the district would continue pool testing after state money runs out, possibly requiring additional city resources. Once the state stops subsidizing the cost of the testing, how do we sustain that model? he asked. We want to create a system thats sustainable. The district also is trying to gauge how many students and staff would agree to participate in a recurring pool testing regime, he said. County Ambulance managed pilot surveillance testing events at a few schools last month, when only some vocational and special education students were back in classrooms. The number of students who consented to being tested was pretty low, said Curtis, though he would expect that more would sign on if and when more testing events are held. Lamoureaux pointed out a bright spot: It should be noted that the three testing sites we did resulted in zero positive tests out of a total of 118. The district might offer testing only if a member of the school community catches COVID-19. In that case, students and staff in classrooms shared by the positive case, as well as other close school contacts, would be invited to get tested themselves, according to Curtis. The response testing plan, he said, would detect in-school transmission. Lamoureaux said there are plans to coordinate additional pool testing events in coming weeks. Though Pittsfield hasnt committed to pool testing the entire student body, the city is a new participant in the program announced by the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education in January and initially rolled out in a limited number of Estern Massachusetts school districts. A former inmate of the prison where Russian opposition leader Aleksei Navalny is believed to have been transferred told Current Time that he was subjected to isolation, sleep deprivation, and bullying during his incarceration. A former manager of the Yukos oil company, Vladimir Pereverzin, said he expected Navalny to suffer the same treatment. A blackburnian warbler perches on a coffee bush in a shade-coffee farm in Colombia. Credit: Virginia Tech's Guillermo Santos. Since 1970, bird populations in North America have declined by approximately 2.9 billion birds, a loss of more than one in four birds. Factors in this decline include habitat loss and ecosystem degradation from human actions on the landscape. At the same time, enthusiasm for bird-watching has grown, with more than 45 million recreational participants in the United States alone. Now, researchers are looking into how to mobilize these bird enthusiasts to help limit bird population declines. Enter bird-friendly coffee. Bird-friendly coffee is certified organic, but its impact on the environment goes further than that: it is cultivated specifically to maintain bird habitats instead of clearing vegetation that birds and other animals rely on. Researchers from Virginia Tech's College of Natural Resources and Environment, Cornell University, and Columbia University explored whether bird-friendly coffee is on the radar of bird-watchers: are they drinking it and, if not, why not? The study results published in the journal People and Nature. "We know bird-watchers benefit from having healthy, diverse populations of birds, and they tend to be conservation-minded folks," explained Assistant Professor Ashley Dayer of Virginia Tech's Department of Fish and Wildlife Conservation. "My colleagues and I wanted to dig into this key audience to determine their interest in bird-friendly coffee." Coffee pickers head to work on a shade-coffee farm in Antioquia, Colombia. Credit: Virginia Tech's Guillermo Santos. Bird-friendly coffee is shade-grown, meaning that it is grown and harvested under the canopy of mature trees, a process that parallels how coffee was historically grown. But with most farms in Central and South America and the Caribbean converting to full-sun operations, crucial bird habitats for migrating and resident bird species are being lost. "Over recent decades, most of the shade coffee in Latin America has been converted to intensively managed row monocultures devoid of trees or other vegetation," explained Amanda Rodewald, the Garvin Professor and senior director of the Center for Avian Population Studies at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. "As a result, many birds cannot find suitable habitats and are left with poor prospects of surviving migration and successfully breeding." Purchasing shade-grown coffee is one of seven simple actions that people can take as a step toward returning bird populations to their previous numbers. "But even simple actions are sometimes not taken by people who you would expect to be on board. Human behavior is complexdriven by knowledge, attitudes, skills, and many other factors," explained Dayer, an affiliate of the Global Change Center housed in Virginia Tech's Fralin Life Sciences Institute. The research team surveyed more than 900 coffee-drinking bird-watchers to understand bird-friendly coffee behavior among bird-watchers. "One of the most significant constraints to purchasing bird-friendly coffee among those surveyed was a lack of awareness," said Alicia Williams, lead author and former research assistant at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and Virginia Tech. "This includes limits on understanding what certifications exist, where to buy bird-friendly coffee, and how coffee production impacts bird habitat." "I was surprised to see that only 9 percent of those surveyed purchased bird-friendly coffee and less than 40 percent were familiar with it," Williams added. "It was also interesting, though not surprising, that a large number of our respondents reported that the flavor or aroma of coffee was an important consideration in their coffee purchases, which could be a useful attribute of bird-friendly coffee to stress going forward." The next step to increasing awareness about shade-grown coffee and its potential impact on bird populations may include increased advertising for bird-friendly coffee, more availability of bird-friendly coffee, and collaborations between public-facing conservation organizations and coffee distributors. Explore further Wintering bird communities track climate change faster than breeding communities in Europe and North America More information: Alicia Williams et al. Tapping birdwatchers to promote birdfriendly coffee consumption and conserve birds, People and Nature (2021). Alicia Williams et al. Tapping birdwatchers to promote birdfriendly coffee consumption and conserve birds,(2021). DOI: 10.1002/pan3.10191 MAFS groom Cameron Dunne is expected to have a firm talking to by the show's experts after his explosive walk out on Monday's episode. The 32-year-old crane operator abruptly left the first dinner party and declared his relationship with Samantha Harvey 'over!' Speaking to the Today show on Tuesday, Samantha said the newlyweds will have a counselling session with relationship expert John Aiken to address Cameron's 'outward aggression' in an upcoming episode. Scroll down for video Walk it back: Married At First Sight bride Samantha Harvey (right) has revealed that the show's experts will intervene this week, after her husband Cameron Dunne walked out on Monday's episode 'That outward aggression and outward avoidance masks the inner sensitivity, I presume,' Today show host Karl Stefanovic theorised. Samantha agreed, admitting: 'I think we need help talking and communicating.' 'This week (on the show) we are going to see a lot of things being sorted out'. Samantha's comments implied the pair managed to resolve their issues - but that doesn't mean they're still together now, months after filming. Still together now? Samantha's comments on the Today show implied the pair managed to resolve their issues - but the fact they're now living in separate states doesn't bode well for their relationship Hands man: Samantha has been spotted wearing her ring seen since the show finished filming, but Cameron -who is rumoured to be involved in a cheating scandal on the show - was spotted out and about in January, with no ring in sight Samantha joined the show from Eden, New South Wales, while 'husband' Cameron is now living on the Gold Coast with MAFS alumni Jessika Power. She has still been seen wearing her ring, but the fact the pair are living in separate states is cause for concern. Cameron on the other hand - who is rumoured to be involved in a cheating scandal on the show - was spotted out and about in January, with no ring in sight. Tense: The couple's issues began at their honeymoon, after Cameron told Samantha he had 'no emotional chemistry,' and 'no attraction' to her The couple's issues began at their honeymoon, after Cameron told Samantha he had 'no emotional chemistry,' and 'no attraction' to her. Samantha was furious, especially given the fact they'd already slept together. 'You left me on the honeymoon and walked off, and ripped your microphone off and said, "Why am I matched with this girl? I want out of this experiment," because of our first hard conversation,' she said. 'That to me is not commitment.' Storming out: The 32-year-old crane operator stormed out of the show's first dinner party on Monday, before later declaring he was 'done' with his relationship Samantha's outburst led to Cameron's walk off. 'F**k! I'm done. I am done. It's so draining,' he said. 'It's pretty clear that the only option at the next commitment ceremony is to write "leave".' Married At First Sight continues on Wednesday from 7:30pm on Nine Ballot Measures, Recession Competing for Money "We Suffered Because of It" (TNS) In southeastern Washington's Asotin County, thinly staffed public health offices must balance COVID-19 contact tracing investigations with routine inspections of septic systems.In North Central Washington, staff shortages impeded Okanogan County health employees reaching out to educate and test agricultural workers before a coronavirus surge for a time turned their region last summer into the hardest-hit place in the state.And throughout the pandemic, former Washington Health Secretary John Wiesman lost sleep as the Department of Health (DOH) struggled to manage the COVID-19 data necessary to direct the response to the pandemic."I would wake up many nights at 2 in the morning, at 3 in the morning in a cold sweat ... panicked about how the hell are we going to get the data systems to work today?" said Wiesman, who left recently for a teaching position in North Carolina as part of a long-planned move. The COVID-19 pandemic that marched across Washington encountered a public health system gradually starved of money, staff and attention over the past two decades.Rural health offices like in Asotin, Okanogan and Mason counties have lost roughly half their full-time staff since the Great Recession, local officials say.Meanwhile, DOH, which had for years pleaded with state lawmakers and Gov. Jay Inslee for funds to increase disease investigation, boost the public health lab and update information systems, wrestled to report and post COVID-19 data.Those problems which included troubles reporting the negative test results necessary to estimate the virus's spread made it more difficult for the state and counties to respond to outbreaks and made it harder for the public to have faith in the system, officials and health experts have said.Now, as Democratic lawmakers and Inslee draft a new, two-year operating budget, they're vowing to make amends. The governor has proposed hundreds of millions in pandemic health funding for the next two years. That includes at least $205 million for basic public health services that would be paid for by an assessment on health insurers.No one in Olympia can claim ignorance to the problems.In 2010, Wiesman then the public health director for Clark County co-authored a report that warned of a "severe funding crisis" and called for a predictable, stable funding source for health programs. Such programs include restaurant and wastewater inspections, administering vaccinations to children, helping new mothers and tracking communicable diseases like measles, syphilis and COVID-19.Similar reports in 2015 and 2016 by a group that Wiesman co-chaired called the system "woefully inadequate" and "unable to meet its basic responsibilities." The 2016 report called for modernizing public health data processes.A 2018 report estimated that lawmakers and Inslee would need to provide more than $225 million in additional annual funding to DOH and local health offices to rebuild the system.In recent years, lawmakers and the governor influenced by other needs and priorities have added just a fraction of that estimated need to the budget.In a statement last week, Inslee acknowledged that public health has been "chronically underfunded" and cited the challenge of finding billions of dollars for K-12 schools after the state Supreme Court's order known as the McCleary decision."States have limited resources and their own unique challenges, such as our yearslong effort to find adequate funding in response to the McCleary decision," said Inslee in prepared remarks. "Our public health system has been chronically underfunded. However, no state, even with the power of hindsight, would have had all the tools at its disposal necessary to avoid COVID's impacts."In an interview, state Rep. Eileen Cody said that before Wiesman departed she told him, "Everybody's been trying to tell us, and I think you should tell us you told us so.""We can't fund the system to be prepared for something like COVID," added Cody, D- West Seattle and chair of the House Health Care and Wellness Committee. "But we should have been better prepared than we were."The problem began, state and local health officials say, with a pair of voter-approved initiatives about 20 years ago. Initiative 695 removed the state motor vehicle excise tax, a dedicated source of money to public health programs. Shortly after that, voters approved Initiative 747, which limited property tax increases that helped fund local health districts.Money problems festered as the Great Recession further hammered tax collections, officials say, and as federal funding became more restricted.Those issues created a cycle where every budget brought cuts or difficult spending choices."Almost in every budget cycle before I came on board, there had been pretty major cuts," said Patty Hayes, who in 2014 became the director of Public Health Seattle & King County. "And when I came on board six-and-a-half years ago we had a $12 million hole" in the budget.She described a series of hard choices as funding dried up. Vaccine clinics stopped, home visits were trimmed back and planning for emergencies like a pandemic fell by the wayside.Hayes described the loss of a program for identifying latent tuberculosis as a great example of how public health programs can save significant dollars.If latent tuberculosis is identified, it can be treated for about $600, said Hayes compared to $15,000 or more if the person develops the disease and later goes to the hospital.Properly funded programs can generate savings to society for a host of ailments, said Anthony Chen, director of the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department. And it's those same programs that will help communities recover from the pandemic."It's important for people to understand that, if nothing else," said Chen. "Public health is going to be pulling us out of this."Chen started as director in 2008, at the height of the Great Recession, saying, "I walked in the door, they had already done a round of cuts before I started."The department ended programs for tobacco-use prevention and enforcement, said Chen, as well as a domestic violence program: "That's how tight the money was."As Washington's economy recovered, lawmakers spent dollars restoring impacted government programs, cutting college tuition, providing state worker raises after years of pay freezes and addressing big court decisions.Front and center was the McCleary decision, which found that Washington was unconstitutionally underfunding K-12 schools by billions of dollars. Legislators also poured money into the state's troubled mental health system, which had drawn critical court decisions and federal inspections. They began directing funds toward Washington's homelessness and housing-affordability crisis.Legislators and Inslee also raised taxes to fund free and reduced college tuition for low-income and middle-income Washingtonians, and implemented new programs providing paid family leave and long-term care benefits.The low-profile mission of public health rarely attracts attention in the scramble for scarce budget dollars, said Sen. June Robinson, a Democrat from Everett who is sponsoring a pair of tax proposals this year to strengthen public health."The people who can make a real case of a crisis, 'we are in flames, we're going to go out of business or not be able to care for people if we don't get funding,' they just get more attention," said Robinson.Funding for health data systems is not cheap, said Wiesman, and doesn't make for a compelling political victory."What legislators want is to be able to go back home and show people is, 'look, I got you this new service,' " said Wiesman. "They don't want to say, 'well we've invested hundreds of millions of dollars into data systems and epidemiologists to protect your health."Since 2017, lawmakers have added some new public health funding: $15 million over the 2017-19 budget cycle and $28 million in the current, two-year budget cycle. But that is far short of the $225 million estimated annual need."Was it anywhere near adequate? Hell no, nowhere near adequate," said Wiesman, adding later: "It made a difference, it's just that it made a difference of a drop in a large bucket."Temporary COVID-19 aid from the federal government has helped public health programs for now. But that money will fade away, officials say, and won't fix long-term problems.Scott Lindquist cites himself as an example of how thin the agencies are stretched.Washington's state epidemiologist, Lindquist is also currently serving as DOH's acting state health officer.And he's helping to administer tuberculosis programs in Spokane and Yakima counties, he said, where interim health officers are filling in and don't have that expertise.Lindquist also recently doubled or quadrupled, or quintupled, depending on how you're counting as Island County's local health officer to briefly help with a vacancy there."There's just such a lack of funding and a lack of skilled workforce," said Lindquist, adding later: "We can repeat this [scenario] for nurses, we can repeat it for information technology."Since 2011, Asotin County Health Administrator Brady Woodbury has watched his staff of more than a dozen dwindle to six. The same staffers making calls for COVID-19 contact tracing must also still handle inspections and responses for septic systems."Contact tracing stayed the priority, but once you got enough, you break off and go get an inspection done," said Woodbury. If a septic system suddenly failed, he added, "we had to stop contact tracing."Okanogan County Public Health over the years lost outreach staff who connect with agricultural employees which include Mexican guest workers who work with apples, cherries and pears, said Health Officer James Wallace."And we suffered because of it, we wanted to test more people, test our farmworkers, provide more communication and education as soon as this pandemic hit," said Wallace. "And because we didn't have the funding and didn't have the people we were behind the ball on that."Wiesman said he's confident Inslee who during the pandemic has seen the system's struggles up close is committed to increasing funding, and cited the governor's budget proposal."Whether it was the decisions we had to make how to figure out how to slow the virus, or the data challenges," said Wiesman. "Whatever it was, he lived with it every day." CLEARWATER, Fla., March 2, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- West Coast Medical Resources has given in excess of a million dollars to charity and philanthropic causes in the last 7 years. The company, whose mission is to increase sustainability within the healthcare supply chain by purchasing and redistributing unused surgical supplies, currently contributes to over two-dozen charities annually. WestCMR reaches $1M charitable donation milestone, 7 years after launching philanthropy program Tweet this WestCMR team members present the Clearwater Free Clinic with a check for funds to purchase a new communications system. "At WestCMR, we believe that we have the power to transform lives through our philanthropic efforts," shares Randy Ware, Founder and CEO. In January of 2014, Ware aligned his personal passion for philanthropy with the goals of the company he started in 1997. Currently employing 63 individuals, WestCMR's impact reaches beyond its team, and continues to grow in its local community and beyond. "We are proud of the impact we have made in our community and all of the organizations we support. WestCMR's culture has always been one of helping others, and we look forward to increasing our footprint," shares Elvis Mrsic, Director of Operations at WestCMR and Chair of the internal Philanthropy Committee. The monetary donations driven by the employee-led committee are also complemented by acts of service: each employee of WestCMR receives two days of Volunteer Time Off (VTO) per calendar year to serve those who need it most. The company is not letting this milestone slow its contributions down: "we are planning out the next 5 to 7 years with the goal to eventually reach $1 million in annual impact," says Ware. "When you consider the fragility around us, and most recently the ripple effect of the pandemic, we hope the example we set will inspire other companies to get off the sidelines and follow suit," the CEO shares. "We at WestCMR are a tight and focused group of talented and passionate individuals that together are an unstoppable force in our industry and the world. We are proud of that, and we're just getting warmed up." About WestCMR Since 1997, West Coast Medical Resources has helped hospitals and surgery centers with cost savings and recovery on their unused surgical supplies. Proudly employing 63 of healthcare's best, WestCMR boasts competitive wages and unparalleled benefits, as well as a strong emphasis on community and philanthropy. In the last 10 years, WestCMR has been voted as one of the 150 Great Places to Work in Healthcare by Becker's Hospital Review 6 years in a row, awarded Large Business of the Year by the Clearwater Regional Chamber Commerce, and recognized as a Florida Company to Watch by Florida Trend. For more information, contact Camille Hebting, Public Relations & Content Marketing Specialist, at [email protected], or visit WestCMR.com. SOURCE West CMR Related Links www.westcmr.com Tehran, March 2 : Iranian health authorities issued a warning over a 'fourth wave' of the COVID-19 epidemic, after registering more than 100 deaths in 24 hours for the first time since early January, state TV reported. "The death of 108 patients of Covid-19 in the past 24 hours is sounding the alarm of the fourth wave of the disease," Sima Sadat Lari, spokeswoman for Iran's Ministry of Health and Medical Education, said at her daily briefing on Monday, Xinhua news agency reported. The new daily figure takes the death toll of the epidemic to 60,181 in Iran. Between Sunday and Monday, the ministry reported 8,510 new infections, Lari said, adding 812 of them need to be hospitalized. The total number of Covid-19 cases registered in Iran stands at 1,639,679, according to the official data. Moreover, 1,399,934 Covid-19 patients have recovered or been released from Iranian hospitals so far, though 3,727 remain in critical condition, said the spokeswoman. Since the beginning of the outbreak in February 2020, a total of 10,912,409 laboratory tests for the coronavirus have been carried out in the country, the Iranian official said. On Sunday evening, Alireza Raisi, spokesman for the Iranian national headquarters fighting COVID-19, said 187 cases of a coronavirus variant have been detected in Iran. Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19) It doesn't look like former San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer will be getting an endorsement from former President Donald Trump anytime soon. Faulconer, a Republican running to unseat Gov. Gavin Newsom in either a recall election or in 2022, governed as a moderate and and has worked to distance himself from the former president. He has now drawn the ire of the Trump's eldest son after he declined to state whether he wanted a Trump endorsement ahead of his election. "I think this race will garner national attention. But, my focus is going to continue to be right on California," Faulconer told Newsweek in a story published Monday. Donald Trump Jr. did not like his nonanswer one bit. "I think its safe to say if he wont say that he wants it that he likely doesnt deserve it," he tweeted in response to the article. The Trump family has been increasingly focused on purging the GOP of those they deem disloyal, as the president used his Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) speech to call on voters to "get rid" of Republican members of Congress who voted to impeach him following the Jan. 6 Capitol riots. Faulconer's political calculation was simple: Trump is very unpopular in California (he lost it by nearly 30 points in November) and internal polling suggests that voters would be significantly less inclined to vote to recall Newsom "if a leading candidate to replace Newsom was a former Trump official." Trump-friendly businessman John Cox Newsom's 2018 opponent who lost bigly is also in the race, and former Trump ambassador to Germany and former acting Director of National Intelligence Ric Grenell has hinted that he will enter the race as well. If the recall petition qualifies, voters will be faced with two questions: 1) Should Newsom be recalled? and 2) Which candidate should replace him? With the governor's approval numbers sliding, the Newsom team has worked aggressively to tie all of their Republican opponents to Trump, knowing that the governor has the best chance at surviving if they can convince Californians that voting to recall him will ensure rule by a Trump acolyte. Of course, Trump Jr. lashing out at Faulconer for not being loyal enough may complicate that strategy. Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-02 16:56:18|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close The World Trade Organization's (WTO) first female and first African Director General, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, officially took office, ending a six-month "leaderless" period of the organization, after former chief Roberto Azevedo stepped down on Aug. 31, 2020, a year ahead of schedule. Produced by Xinhua Global Service Thank you for reading! Please purchase a subscription to read our premium content. If you have a subscription, please log in or sign up for an account on our website to continue. New York prosecutors investigating Donald Trump's business empire are questioning witnesses about two sons of his long-time finance chief Allen Weisselberg, according to a new report. Investigators in Manhattan are looking at transactions involving Barry Weisselberg, who managed two ice rinks run by the Trump Organization, and his brother Jack Weisselberg, a director at a prominent Trump lender, according to Bloomberg. None of the Weisselbergs has been accused of wrongdoing, but the attention from prosecutors has sparked speculation that Allen Weisselberg could co-operate with the Manhattan district attorney's office and 'flip on Trump'. Weisselberg senior has worked for the Trump family business since 1973 and is still the organization's chief financial officer, and was granted partial immunity three years ago for his testimony in the Michael Cohen case. Allen Weisselberg, pictured between Donald Trump and his son Don Jr, is the longtime chief financial officer for the Trump Organization Allen Weisselberg's sons Barry (left) and Jack (right) have both had ties to the Trump business, with Barry running New York City ice rinks on behalf of the organization while Jack works for a major Trump lender The investigation by Manhattan district attorney Cyrus Vance's office is thought to be looking at Trump's dealings with a range of firms including Ladder Capital, where Jack Weisselberg is a director. Ladder Capital has lent at least $110million to Trump businesses, according to disclosure forms, making it one of his biggest creditors after Deutsche Bank. Investigators are said to be looking at transactions involving both firms, although Deutsche Bank last month cut ties with Trump following the violence at the Capitol. The January 6 riot also led New York City to cancel Trump's contracts to run two ice-skating rinks and a carousel that were managed by Barry Weisselberg. Prosecutors are said to have asked witnesses about Weisselberg's role in managing the Central Park Carousel and the Wollman and Lasker skating rinks. Mary Mulligan, a lawyer for Allen Weisselberg, declined to comment. DailyMail.com has also approached Ladder Capital and the Trump Organization, but neither they nor the district attorney's office offered any response to Bloomberg. Barry Weisselberg ran the Wollman Rink in Central Park, pictured, one of the Trump-operated attractions which the city says will no longer be linked to Trump after the events of January 6 Manhattan district attorney Cyrus Vance, pictured, is investigating business dealings involving the Trump Organization The focus on the Weisselbergs is thought to have started months ago, after Allen Weisselberg was previously questioned about the Cohen hush-money payoff to Stormy Daniels and Karen McDougal before the 2016 election. Weisselberg was granted immunity for his grand jury testimony in the Cohen case in 2018, which led to Cohen being jailed for three years on various charges. The 73-year-old CFO first joined the Trump business working for Fred Trump, the former president's father, in 1973. Seen as an intensely private, loyal numbers man, Weisselberg has rarely been in the spotlight except for a short-lived turn as a judge on The Apprentice. Trump testified in a case years ago that Weisselberg was the one who values his properties and other assets. He was registered as a Democrat for years and gave money to New York Democrats including Chuck Schumer and Mario Cuomo before switching to the Republican party ahead of the 2016 election. Weisselberg senior was granted partial immunity three years ago for his testimony in the Michael Cohen case (Cohen is pictured leaving federal court in 2018) The prosecutor's office scored a separate victory in the investigation last week when it finally obtained copies of Trump's elusive tax records. The documents were finally handed over last week after the Supreme Court rejected Trump's last-ditch effort to keep them private. Vance had been fighting for a year and a half to see the documents, which are protected by grand jury secrecy rules and are not expected to be made public. The New York Times separately obtained years of Trumps tax data and published stories last year detailing some of his finances last year. It included the revelation that he paid just $750 in federal income tax in 2017 and no income tax at all in 11 out of 18 years because of major losses. In a three-word statement after the Supreme Court ruled on Monday, Vance said only: 'The work continues.' Trump has called Vance's investigation 'a fishing expedition' and 'a continuation of the witch hunt - the greatest witch hunt in history.' Vance's term expires at the end of the year and he has not announced if he will seek reelection, leaving questions about who will lead any Trump-related prosecutions. The former president also faces possible legal scrutiny over his efforts to overturn his election defeat to Joe Biden, which culminated in the January 6 riot. As well as the Capitol attack itself, prosecutors are looking into Trump's call to Georgia officials asking them to doctor the results in a state won by Biden. Even GOP Senate leader Mitch McConnell has said that Trump is 'still liable for everything he did while in office'. Woolworths has scrapped its plan to go cashless after irate customers threatened to boycott the stores and pensioners slammed the supermarket for being 'ageist'. The supermarket promised the cashless trial, which began in June, would create a 'seamless' shopping experienced for inner-city customers in 14 stores around Melbourne, Sydney, and Brisbane. But furious customers criticised the move, claiming it was wrong for stores to refuse notes and coins. 'I refuse to shop at any of your card-only places,' one customer wrote on Woolworths' Facebook page. Pictured: A Woolworths customer at a self-service checkout in Sydney. Some stores refused to accept cash payments 'Cash is legal tender and I do not support the cash ban and will take my money elsewhere.' One Sydneysider was horrified when he realised a homeless man couldn't buy food at the Central Park store because it only accepted cards. 'He was distressed. And then a Woolworths staffer who had finished her shift quietly paid for his food. The corporate head office needs to act like the staff,' he tweeted. Someone else replied: 'I can't believe this ridiculous change was allowed through. It's exclusionary and wrong to deny people the right to use cash.' National Seniors Australia chief advocate Ian Hensche said the trial was 'a form of ageism' that disadvantaged elderly shoppers who 'grew up with piggy banks, cash and cheques'. 'These are people who grew up with cash and they feel comfortable with cash, it is what they want,' he told the Sydney Morning Herald. 'If I was an 89-year-old pensioner, why should I be prevented from shopping at my local supermarket?' Woolworths Metro general manager Justin Nolan said the retailer failed to 'fully appreciate' the reasons why some shoppers choose to use cash over card. 'While almost all Metro customers choose to pay with cards, cash remains incredibly important to those who dont for a whole range of reasons,' he said. One Sydneysider was horrified when he realised a homeless man couldn't buy food at the Central Park store because it only accepted card (pictured) National Seniors Australia chief advocate Ian Hensche said the trial was 'a form of ageism'. Pictured: A Woolworths shopper in Sydney Based on the feedback, Mr Nolan said the supermarket would end the trial and progressively reintroduce cash options in all metro stores by March 10. Melbourne stores that took part in the trial included Caulfield North and Yarraville, along with two outlets on Bourke and Elizabeth streets in the city. Sydney supermarkets included Manly and Rosebery, and two stores on York Street and George Street in the CBD. The stores were chosen because only 10 per cent of all monthly transactions were made in cash. The move to go cashless was accelerated due to the coronavirus pandemic, with many businesses claiming card-only transactions were more hygienic. According to researchers, it is possible but improbably to spread Covid-19 through coins and notes. The Reserve Bank of Australia also found that cash payments plunged from 69 per cent in 2007 to 27 per cent in 2019. Haiti - News : Zapping... A hundred escapees captured According to Frantz Exantus, the Secretary of State for Communication, Frantz Exantus, around 100 escaped detainees have been recaptured by the police... There are therefore still nearly 300 escapees in the wild to be captured See also : https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-33115-haiti-flash-arnel-joseph-killed-more-than-400-detainees-on-the-run-at-least-25-dead.html Remarks by the Secretary General of the Council of Ministers "The restoration of State authority is the essential condition for the protection of citizens. Certain discursive actions and practices delegitimizing the State create the conditions essential for the acute social, political and economic misery that some denounce. The greatest President Haiti has ever known, Leon Dumarsais Estime was accused of corruption, victim of a coup and ended his days in exile. The false revolutionary is one whose actions maintain the status quo or are only repetitions of the past," Renald Luberice, Secretary General of the Council of Ministers. Changes at PNH The Divisional Commissioner Marc Wilkens Jean is promoted to the post of Central Director of Administration and General Services (DCAGS). His predecessor the Inspector General, Jean Mary Wagnac was transferred to the Office of the Director General of the PNH as Special Advisor. It was Inspector General Jean Lionel Trecil who proceeded with the installation of the new DCASG which took place on Monday, March 1, 2021 in the presence of staff members. The Divisional Commissioner Jacques Joel Orival is the new Head of the Staff Department. He replaces in this function the Divisional Commissioner Frantz Lerebours who was promoted to the post of Chief of Staff to the Director General a.i of the PNH. Also a few weeks after being installed as Director of Staff of the National Police of Haiti (PNH), the Divisional Commissioner Frantz Lerebours has just been appointed as the new Chief of Staff of Leon Charles, Director General a.i. of the PNH. He replaces Inspector General Frantz Sebastien Jean Charles in this position, who was appointed Secretary of State for Public Security by decree dated Friday, February 12, 2021. Haitian website for reporting child sex images First web portal for reporting online images of child sexual abuse in Haiti. This new system for reporting online child sexual abuse images in Haiti will help Haitian citizens report child sexual abuse content when they become aware of it online. Once reported, the material will be evaluated by analysts at the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) and if it is found to contain images or videos of child sex exploitation, it will be removed. This new reporting portal, accessible at https://report.iwf.org.uk/ht The Merchandise Compliance Verification Program is suspended The General Customs Administration (AGD) informs the public and economic operators in particular that the implementation of the Merchandise Conformity Verification Program is suspended until the signing of a new agreement with the Societe Generale de Surveillance (SGS) Launch of a $5MM project The Embassy of Canada in Haiti was in Ayitika SA Camp-Perrin on Friday to launch a CAD$5 million project implemented by SUCO Haiti that will support farmers towards viable and profitable production and improve food security of the population. Black Twitter may not have its own app, but with its outsized cultural influence, some argue it is Twitter's heart. From joking about receiving our imminent superpowers to calling the pandemic everything but, the humor and creativity of Black Twitter is always front and center on the app. OPINION: Sedition is a white man's luxury While the term started out as a moniker for the community of Black users on Twitter, it eventually transformed into something much greater. The virtually interconnected community of African-Americans is the basis of a series of jokes, challenges and unofficial holidays. Black Twitter has managed to become so popular that some have actually looked for it in the app store to no avail, of course. While Black Twitter is a part of regular Twitter, Baylor Universitys Mia Moody-Ramirez says it has evolved since its forming. Ramirez is a coauthor of the 2018 book "From Blackface to Black Twitter: Reflections on Black Humor, Race, Politics, & Gender." The book, she said, focuses on the way Black people have used humor throughout the decades as a method of healing, teaching, and getting out of sticky situations. "Black people have used [Black Twitter] as a way to respond to social injustices and also to drive visibility to discussions about Black life and culture, whether its humorous or political or just calling out people," she said. Ramirez cited Rachel Dolezal as an example, the woman who, for years, identified as Black despite being born to white parents. While some people were openly upset with the former professor and activist, others used Twitter as a way to get their message across without being too serious. They jokingly asked questions such as "What flavor is purple koolaid?" to determine whether someone was Black. Humor has always been a binding part of the African American experience. It's an avenue for African Americans to exert power, relieve frustrations and signify their positions, attitudes and stance in a hostile world. That coping mechanism went virtual with the creation of Twitter. Although the app was founded in 2006, many people didnt start consistently using the app until the early 2010s, when Black Twitter emerged. With it, simple ideas and conversations among users could easily turn into a trending topic for days, whether positive or negative, and still somehow be rooted in humor. It began to become even more popular in 2014, five years after the death of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin in Sanford, Fla. The unarmed teen was gunned down by neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman, who went on to be acquitted of any wrongdoing. We didnt hear as much about Black Lives Matter until they started putting content out about it on Twitter and started calling it the Black Lives Matter movement, Ramirez said. So thats the other piece with Twitter, youre going to see more hashtags. People know they can search for certain terms and see whats trending, and that makes a difference. Echoing Professor Ramirezs definition, University of Houston associate professor Summer Harlow called Black Twitter a cultural phenomenon. It refers to this collective of Black identities who come together and make jokes, discuss deep issues related to racism, colorism and Black identity things that actually affect their community, Harlow said. Its not like its a separate place on Twitter, its just the way this collective of Black identities happens to come together in a particular way. According to Harlow, it's a great way of showing how social media platforms can be used to empower normally marginalized voices and amplify what people are interested in. "I truly believe Black Twitter holds power," popular Twitter personality and entrepreneur Tyler Chambers said. "Black Twitter literally has the power to collectively change the face of any industry or brand we got behind." Users on Black Twitter have curated timelines, and most content on their daily feeds consists of subject matter that relates to the Black community race, culture, celebrities and other news. From the outside looking in, its easy to misinterpret Black Twitter as something thats merely a joke, a bunch of Black people coming together on social media to wisecrack on different trending topics, but its impact runs deeper than the average person can see. While some may believe that cancel culture (the popular practice of withdrawing support for (canceling) public figures and companies after they have done or said something considered objectionable or offensive) doesnt exist, frequent tweeter and member of Black Twitter Jadah Cadogan would beg to differ. Ive definitely seen some people get canceled, Cadogan said. Its definitely hard to cancel celebrities, but Ive seen people with large platforms, or big influencers get canceled on Black Twitter. TWO AMERICAS: Are cops seriously taking selfies with Trump supporters at the Capitol? In fact, the heartbeat of most pop culture and trending news can be found on Black Twitter, often ahead of the discourse becoming popular among non-Black Twitter users. I have definitely seen the parallels between Twitter and other social media sites. Theyre all pulling from Twitter, Cadogan said. If youre on TikTok or Instagram, it all starts on Twitter. All of these other social media sites dont get wind of trending topics until after Black Twitter talks about it. So where exactly is Black Twitter headed? The online community is driven by hashtags and trends, neither of which are going anywhere. According to Ramirez, Twitter will always be an important medium because it provides a way for people to speak up. Harlow shared a similar sentiment. "I think that Twitter has shown self-representation and identity and has really allowed issues like racial inequality, police brutality and racism to come to the forefront of public discourse," Harlow said. "I don't know that without these social platforms we would be having a lot of the discussions we're having today, so hopefully we see more of that." Its exact outcome is unknown, but professors Ramirez and Harlow made one thing clear: As long as we're still dealing with systemic racism, Black Twitter is going to be around. Prague: Slovakia has been thrown into a political crisis over a secret deal to acquire Russias Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine orchestrated by the countrys Prime Minister despite disagreement among his coalition partners. Prime Minister Igor Matovic, who kept the deal secret until a plane landed on Monday (Tuesday AEDT) with the first 200,000 doses, defended the move. He said it was made in the public interest amid a surge of infections in one of the hardest hit European Union countries. Matovic said it wasnt the point where the vaccine was from but that it saves lives. Russias Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine arrives at Kosice Airport, Slovakia. Credit:AP Slovakia is only the second EU country after Hungary to use the vaccine, which hasnt been approved by the European Medicines Agency. Lt Governor on Tuesday said is the future destination for IT-enabled clean industry that is non-polluting, human capital intensive and more equitable, a statement stated. Addressing CII's State Annual Session and Business Conference, Baijal said in the Master Plan 2041, it is proposed to provide a suitable regime of incentives and disincentives to promote clean and non-polluting industries including IT and financial services among others. "Emphasised that building sustainable, green, inclusive and resilient economy is the way forward to be able to capitalise the untapped economic potential of Delhi," Baijal said in a tweet after addressing the Confederation of Indian Industry's (CII) conference. According to the statement, the lieutenant governor said, "Delhi is the future destination for IT-enabled clean industry that is non-polluting technology oriented, human capital intensive and more equitable." "With an ever increasing population of about 2.5 crores people and robust economic growth over the last seven decades, Delhi now faces severe problems of resource availability and management, space constraint and environmental pollution, like no other state," the statement quoted Baijal as saying at the event. (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, March 2) The Department of Education has extended the current school year in public schools by a month. A department order released on Tuesday said based on monitoring done by the DepEd, learning gaps were seen and have to be addressed "in order to meet the required essential learning competencies." "These learning gaps are attributable to reduced academic opportunities at home and substantial loss of live contact with teachers," said DepEd order No. 012, series of 2021. The current school year will now end on July 10, 2021 instead of June 11. It also noted certain dates within the period where students would be given interventions to help them attain required essential learning competencies. The DepEd added while the adjustment was for public elementary and secondary schools, it encourages private schools, as well as technical and vocational institutions and others to also implement the guidelines. Armenia ex-president Kocharyan gives interview to Russia newspaper Armenia acting deputy PM on unblocking of roads with Azerbaijan: There will be no troops standing there Nikkei: Toyota and Honda stop car production in Malaysia Armenia official on deploying international observers at Azerbaijan border: You will hear reaction on this matter soon USAID helps UN World Food Programme support displaced people in Armenia Armenia official: Work of trilateral working group on roads unblocking has stopped after recent incidents Russias Putin to Armenias Pashinyan: Relations between our countries are developing very successfully Armenia health minister: Improper storage of fallen soldiers bodies, remains was my omission 108 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia Armenia President to children: I believe that you will make our country much better Armenia CEC publicizes complete lists of political forces registered to run in snap parliamentary elections World oil prices going up Queen Elizabeth turns down PM's offer to name new royal yacht after Prince Philip Armenia parliament discusses 2020 state budget report Newspaper: Armenia acting FM resigns after 3rd attempt Newspaper: Yerevan mayor to leave office Israel, UAE sign tax treaty Newspaper: Even vagrants are persuaded, taken to Armenia acting PM Pashinyans rally in Vanadzor Swedish defense minister demands explanation from Denmark over spy scandal Acting Deputy PM: Armenia has not discussed and will not discuss issues within logic of "corridor" Armenia Central Electoral Commission determines numbers of political parties for elections Armenia 2nd President visits Cathedral of the Holy Mother of God in Gyumri (PHOTOS) Opposition Armenia bloc representative: We're running in elections to win Azerbaijan MFA comments on calls for release of Armenian POWs with infinite hypocrisy EC: Vaccinated citizens should be exempted from tests, quarantine when traveling within EU Armenia Ombudsman discusses rights of 6 captured Armenian servicemen with ICRC Delegation head EU ready to use all the tools at its disposal to change Turkey's behavior Yerevan court obliges to abolish violation of rights of Armenia Supreme Judicial Council ex-chairman Greek and Turkish leaders to meet in June on sidelines of NATO summit Armenia Central Electoral Commission to set up 2,008 polling stations for snap parliamentary elections Iranian companies to participate in reconstructing territories under Azerbaijan's control Opposition Armenia bloc's representative on acting PM's invitation to debate with 1st and 2nd Presidents Armenia acting FM dismissed upon presidential decree Body of brother of Armenian criminal authority "Don Pipo" found under bridge 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 Dr. Mary Walker was a volunteer surgeon for the Union Army during the Civil War, treating the wounded in Washington and at the Battle of Bull Run. Later, she became the first woman surgeon ever officially employed by the Army, seeing action at Fredericksburg, Chickamauga and Chattanooga. In 1864, she was captured by Confederate soldiers and spent four months in a prisoner-of-war camp. After the war, she was awarded the Medal of Honor for her service. In 1917, the U.S. government tried to take it back, along with 910 other Medals of Honor previously awarded. Walker declined to return it and wore hers for the rest of her life. "No backsies." - Mary Walker. Probably. (Library of Congress) Walker's medal takeback can more than likely be attributed to gender bias. Other civilian doctors received the medal while holding the same position as Walker. Maj. Gen. Leonard Wood earned his Medal of Honor as a civilian surgeon attached to an Army unit during the Apache Wars in Arizona. He received a commission after receiving the award, but still wasn't struck from the Medal of Honor roll. But that left 910 others to wonder why their medal suddenly didn't count. According to a 2015 Congressional Research Service report, some of them did not have to think too hard. With a new set of criteria for awarding the medal, along with a hierarchy of medals for gallantry and bravery, Congress decided to impose a new standard for the Medal of Honor and apply it retroactively. The Medal of Honor would be the highest honor on a pyramid of awards, requiring gallantry beyond the call of duty of an officer or enlisted person, at the risk of life and limb. In 1916, the Board of Generals, a commission of five retired Army generals led by Maj. Gen. Nelson Miles, a 42-year veteran who was at the Battle of Chancellorsville, was assigned to review each of the 2,625 Medals of Honor that had been awarded up to that point. Congress' direction for the board read: "Said board shall find and report that said medal was issued for any cause other than that hereinbefore specified the name of the recipient of the medal so issued shall be stricken permanently from the official Medal of Honor list. It shall be a misdemeanor for him to wear or publicly display such medal, and, if he shall be in the Army, he shall be required to return said medal to the War Department for cancellation." The commission found that 864 Medals of Honor had been given en masse to the 27th Maine Volunteer Infantry Regiment in 1863. After Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia invaded Pennsylvania that year, the Union Army converged on it, leaving Washington with a skeleton crew of defenders -- whose enlistment was almost up. President Abraham Lincoln authorized Secretary of War Edwin Stanton to offer the award to any member of the 27th who extended his enlistment to stay in the capital while the Union fought off the Confederates. Some 309 volunteered, while the rest went home to Maine. Those who stayed ended up staying in D.C. ... for four days. When the Gettysburg Campaign ended, the capital returned to its previous strength and the Maine troops returned home. When it came time to award the unit's Medals of Honor, a clerical error lost the names of the men who actually volunteered. So the War Department gave the medal to the entire regiment, even though the majority had not actually volunteered and none of them actually fought. If you can actually take a photo of a Medal of Honor action in 1863, it probably doesn't deserve the Medal of Honor. Maybe an ARCOM at best. (Library of Congress) Also stricken from the Medal of Honor roll were the names of four officers and 25 enlisted men, all first sergeants, who served as funeral guards for Lincoln's remains after his assassination. Other rescinded recipients simply didn't warrant a medal meant for gallantry. Lt. Col. Asa Bird Gardiner received his medal by writing a letter to the War Department, asking for one as a souvenir. Pvt. Robert Storr of New York was an ineligible British citizen. Pvt. James Hawkins, a quartermaster from New Jersey, put out a fire in a warehouse. Pvt. John Lynch of Indiana delivered dispatches, which was his job. You'll always have pork tenderloin sandwiches, Indiana. No one can take that from you. (Geoff Lane) Unfortunately, the law affected medals awarded to those who had earned it but happened to be civilians, like "Buffalo" Bill Cody and four other civilian scouts who assisted the U.S. Army during the Plains Wars against native tribes in the later half of the 19th century. However, the board did not rescind the 20 Medals of Honor awarded to soldiers of the 7th Cavalry who massacred 250 men, women and children of the Lakota Sioux at Wounded Knee, South Dakota, in 1890. A bill to rescind those would not be introduced in Congress until 2019. After the United States entered World War I, Congress decided to set the rules for awarding the Medal of Honor: "[T]he provisions of existing law relating to the award of the Medals of Honor ... are amended so that the President is authorized to present, in the name of Congress, a Medal of Honor only to each person who, while an officer or enlisted man of the Army, shall hereafter, in action involving actual conflict with an enemy, distinguish himself conspicuously by gallantry and intrepidity at risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty." By now, we all know what it takes to earn the Medal of Honor, and there's a reason it's usually awarded posthumously. I would give Buffalo Bill two if he actually did shoot a ghost. (Denver Public Library) For Buffalo Bill Cody and his fellow scouts, the story has a happy ending. In 1989, a special act of Congress restored their names to the Medal of Honor list. Mary Walker was recommended for the award by both Gen. William T. Sherman and the undefeated Gen. George Henry Thomas. She probably wouldn't give a damn if they wanted her to have it or not, but in 1977, it was "returned" to her -- as if she ever gave it up in the first place. -- Blake Stilwell, whose highest military award was the Joint Service Commendation Medal, can be reached at blake.stilwell@military.com. He can also be found on Twitter @blakestilwell or on Facebook. Want to Learn More About Military Life? Whether you're thinking of joining the military, looking for post-military careers or keeping up with military life and benefits, Military.com has you covered. Subscribe to Military.com to have military news, updates and resources delivered directly to your inbox. WARSAW, Poland (AP) A Polish court on Tuesday acquitted three activists who had been accused of desecration and offending religious feelings for producing and distributing images of a revered Roman Catholic icon altered to include the LGBT rainbow. The posters, which they distributed in the city of Plock in 2019, used rainbows as halos in an image of the Virgin Mary and the baby Jesus. Their aim was to protest what they considered the hostility of Polands influential Catholic Church toward LGBT people. The court in the city of Plock did not see evidence of a crime and found that the activists were not motivated by a desire to offend anyones religious feelings, but rather wanted to defend those facing discrimination, according to Polish media. The case was seen in Poland as a freedom of speech test under a deeply conservative government that has been pushing back against secularization and liberal views. Abortion has been another flashpoint in the country after the recent introduction of a near-total ban on it. One defendant, Elzbieta Podlesna, said when the trial opened in January that the 2019 action in Plock was spurred by an installation at the city's St. Dominic's Church that associated LGBT people with crime and sins. She and the other two activists Anna Prus and Joanna Gzyra-Iskandar faced up to two years of prison if found guilty. An LGBT rights group, Love Does Not Exclude, welcomed the ruling as a breakthrough. This is a triumph for the LGBT+ resistance movement in the most homophobic country of the European Union, it said. The image involved an alteration of Polands most-revered icon, the Mother of God of Czestochowa, popularly known as the Black Madonna of Czestochowa. The original has been housed at the Jasna Gora monastery in Czestochowa Poland's holiest Catholic site since the 14th century. Podlesna told the Onet news portal that the desecration provision in the penal code "leaves a door open to use it against people who think a bit differently. Story continues I still wonder how the rainbow a symbol of diversity and tolerance offends these feelings. I cannot understand it, especially since I am a believer, Podlesna told Onet. Podlesna was arrested in an early morning police raid on her apartment in 2019, held for several hours and questioned over the posters. A court later said the detention was unnecessary and ordered damages of about $2,000 awarded to her. Because of all the attention the altered icon has received, it is now a very recognized image in Poland, one sometimes seen at street protests. This photo taken on Jan. 21 shows the inside of a vinyl greenhouse that was being used as a dormitory for foreign workers at a farm in Pocheon, Gyeonggi Province. Korea Times photo by Seo Jae-hun By Lee Hyo-jin The Ministry of Employment and Labor said Tuesday that migrant workers will be allowed to change their workplaces if their employers provide substandard accommodation such as makeshift dormitories built in vinyl greenhouses. In cooperation with related government bodies, the ministry announced a set of measures designed to improve the living conditions of foreign nationals working in Korea under the Employment Permit System (EPS). The measures follow the death of a Cambodian worker last December, which highlighted the substandard living conditions suffered by foreign workers. Poor dormitories will be included in the list of reasons allowing employees to switch their workplace, while business owners caught providing inappropriate housing will be banned from hiring foreign workers. Currently, migrant workers are permitted to change their workplace up to five times during their near-five-year-stay in the case of contract termination or expiration. They may also request to end their contracts for "external" reasons such as assault and sexual harassment by employers, and delays in payment. But the measures have been criticized for being insufficient in fully protecting the workers from unfair treatment and abuse by business owners. In this regard, the labor authorities said opportunities for migrant workers to look for a new job will be expanded in order to prevent mistreatment and human rights violations at workplaces. Under the new measures, reasons for which foreign workers can change their workplace include: unsuitable accommodation; being laid off during off-seasons at farms and fisheries; physical or mental illnesses requiring over three months of leave of absence; and fatal industrial accidents (to others) at the workplace due to safety regulation violations by employers. In addition, sexual harassment by co-workers or employer's family members is a reason for an immediate change of workplace, which will be processed within three days from the request. Starting Tuesday, the ministry will allow a six-month preparation period for farm and fisheries owners to improve the living conditions of foreign workers to cover any lack of time and resources to immediately provide new housing. Those who plan to build brand new dormitories will be given one year. Business owners who fail to offer suitable housing within the period will be banned from employing foreign workers. Also, under the new measures, migrant workers at farms and fisheries will be eligible to register for the national health insurance program upon entering the country. Currently, they have to wait six months after arrival in order to individually subscribe to the National Health Insurance Service, but not as job-based subscribers if their employers in the farming and fishing industries are not registered as businesses. During the first six months after entry, their access to healthcare services is currently limited. "Now that foreign workers have become an essential part of the country's agricultural and fisheries sector, it is necessary to improve their working environment while promoting the coexistence of business owners and migrant workers," said Labor Minister Lee Jae-kap in a statement. "We will actively pursue our plans through further discussions with related government bodies," he added. The top 10 carmakers who produce 97 per cent of the total domestic sales clocked a 24 per cent growth in domestic volumes in February.. (Image credit: CarDelkho.com) PUNE: Major carmakers on Monday reported robust double-digit sales in February, bringing cheers to the automakers depressed from the prolonged Covid pandemic that had hit them hard. The top 10 carmakers who produce 97 per cent of the total domestic sales clocked a 24 per cent growth in domestic volumes in February at 298,694 units against 241,533 units sold in February 2020. Maruti Suzuki, Indias biggest car maker by sales, said it sales in February jumped 11.8 per cent to 1,52,983 units from 1,36,849 units it sold a year ago. Sales at its rival Hyundai, the second largest carmaker, also rose 29 per cent to 51,600 units, up from 40,010 units. Tata Motors reported an 119 per cent jump in sales to 27,225 units, up from 12,430 units. Korean brand Kia Motors logged a 7 per cent rise in volumes to 16,702 units against 15,644 units. Mahindra and Mahindra, the SUV specialist, also reported 41 per cent jump in sales last month to 15,391 units, up from 10,938 units a year ago. Japanese carmaker Toyota registered a 36 per cent sales growth last month. It sold 14,075 units compared to 10,352 units in February 2020. Toyota attributed this sales growth to new launches like Innova Crysta and Fortuner facelift and Fortuner Legender in January. French car brand Renault posted 26 per cent growth in February volumes to 11,043 units against 8,784. The company has started dispatches of their latest model Kiger to its showrooms. Honda Cars sold 28.3 per cent more cars at 9,324 units last month, up from 7,269 units it sold last year. Sales at MG Motor registered its best-ever monthly retail at 4,329 units last month, marking a growth of 215 per cent compared to February 2020. Chinas SAIC-owned British car- maker registered this growth on account of robust demand for Hector facelift, Hector Plus, and Gloster. Riding on the success of the Magnite SUV, Nissan Motor saw 313 per cent growth in February volumes to 4,244 units as against 1,028 units sold in the same month last year. MEDFORD, Ore. The former UPS driver accused of shooting at drivers along I-5 in southern Oregon received his sentenced in Jackson County Circuit Court on Tuesday after victims of the shootings delivered their statements. State troopers arrested 49-year-old Kenneth Ayers in August following a string of shootings along the Interstate corridor between Douglas, Josephine, and Jackson counties one of which injured a woman near Central Point. A grand jury indicted Ayers on a total of 34 counts in December. Though the shootings took place in three separate counties, Ayers agreed to have all of the charges tried in Jackson County. Last week, Ayers agreed to plead guilty on 15 counts in total three counts of Attempted Murder in the Second Degree, five counts of Unlawful Use of a Weapon, two counts of Criminal Mischief in the First Degree, three counts of Recklessly Endangering Another Person, and two counts of Criminal Mischief in the Second Degree. According to the Jackson County District Attorney's Office, Ayers will serve 20 years in prison for his crimes. The terms of his post-prison supervision are still being determined, but most of the charges carried supervision terms of one to three years. There will also be a hearing on restitution for the victims to be held at a later date. "During todays sentencing a number of victims addressed the court and expressed how traumatic this event was and the impact it had on their lives," the DA's Office said. "Ayers declined to make a statement regarding the case or his motive for the shootings." RELATED: OSP investigating shots fired at vehicles on I-5 between Josephine and Douglas counties (July) Oregon State Police investigated eight separate shootings between Central Point and Roseburg, stretching from May to August of 2020. During the investigation, a number of victims told police that they had been driving near a semi-truck when the shootings happened some identifying a UPS double or triple trailer. On August 19, a woman was shot in the shoulder while driving on I-5 northwest of Central Point. Witnesses said that a UPS truck had been getting on the freeway at the same time. State troopers later stopped a UPS truck in Douglas County, identifying the driver as Ayers. He was employed as a UPS truck driver at the time of the shootings. OSP forensic experts were able to determine that the gun used in each of the shootings was a .45 Auto Caliber Hi-Point, model JHP, semi-automatic pistol. After stopping Ayers and obtaining a search warrant for his truck, OSP troopers found the same model of pistol in Ayers' truck. According to the DA's office, Ayers admitted that the gun was his. The investigation also obtained GPS and ELD information from UPS, lining up Ayers' location with each of the shootings. Before May of 2020, Ayers drove a route for UPS that took him north of Roseburg, investigators said. He was put onto a route south of Roseburg around the same time that the first known shooting occurred. Facemasks with at least two or three layers are effective at reducing the spread of Covid, a top UK health official has said. Public Health England's Dr Susan Hopkins last night told the Downing Street press conference the 'more layers you have the better'. The comment came in response to a question about the effectiveness of wearing two masks together - a technique known as 'double masking'. The technique is more popular in America, where President Joe Biden and top medical official Dr Anthony Fauci have regularly been seen doubling up their masks. However Dr Hopkins last night said the current guidance in the UK is to wear a single mask with at least two or three layers. She said: 'What we recommend is at least two layers and ideally three layers in a mask. 'That is really important to reduce the virus transmission both from you to others and others to you. Facemasks with at least two or three layers are effective at reducing the spread of Covid, a top health official has said. Pictured: A library image of a woman double masking Public Health England's Dr Susan Hopkins (pictured) last night told the Downing Street press conference the 'more layers you have the better' The comment came in response to a question about the effectiveness of wearing two masks together - a technique known as 'double masking'. The technique is more popular in America, where President Joe Biden (pictured) and top medical official Dr Anthony Fauci have regularly been seen doubling up their masks 'We have got a face masks and face coverings advisory group who meet on a regular basis and look at new and emerging evidence. The US has looked at some of that evidence as well. 'We are in an ongoing discussion about what to do next. But we think one mask that has more than two layers in it is currently effective for the vast majority of the population.' What is 'double masking'? Double masking is the technique of putting one face covering over another. The technique is particularly popular in America, where high profile politicians, including President Joe Biden have regularly been seen using two masks. One particular method is to wear a respirator mask - such as an N95 mask - and a cloth mask at the same time. N95 respirator mask are designed to have a close fit and filter airborne particles, with an electrostatic charge that can trap matter. President Biden has often been seen using a N95 mask and a paper of cloth covering. However, the US President explained during the election campaign that he struggles to get a medical grade N95 mask to fit comfortably. Therefore he wears a paper one over the top to keep it in place. However, Dr Fauci, the president's chief medical adviser, has endorsed the method. He previously said: 'If you have a physical covering with one layer, you put another layer on. It just makes common sense that it likely would be more effective and that's the reason why you see people either double masking or doing a version of an N95.' America's top public health body, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), has also backed the method. The CDC published research last month saying that wearing one mask on top of another could reduce the likelihood of coronavirus transmission between two people by as much as 95 per cent. However experts in the UK have not pushed the idea and PHE's latest advice is to wear one mask with at least two or three layers. Advertisement The comments are likely to spark Britons into questioning the effectiveness of their current face masks. However millions of Britons may unknowingly be wearing double or triple layer masks already. Many commercially available cloth masks are at least double or triple layered, while disposable surgical masks are usually made of three layers of non-woven fabric. The Government also has advice on its website on how to create your own double layered face masks from scratch with two pieces of cloth. It comes after research published last summer suggested home-made face coverings need to be at least two layers and preferably three to curb the spread of Covid-19. The study, published in the journal Thorax in July, saw experts from the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia, test three types of masks. Their one-layer face covering was made using a cotton T-shirt material, the two-layer covering was prepared by sewing two strips together, and the third was a surgical mask. The researchers concluded that while a single-layer face covering is better than none at all, a double-layer was 'significantly better at reducing the droplet spread caused by coughing and sneezing'. They added: 'A surgical mask was the best among all the tested scenarios in preventing droplet spread from any respiratory emission.' Another popular technique, particularly in America, is to wear a respirator mask - such as an N95 mask - and a cloth mask at the same time. N95 respirator mask are designed to have a close fit and filter airborne particles, with an electrostatic charge that can trap matter. President Biden has often been seen using a N95 mask and a paper or cloth covering on top. However, the US President explained during the election campaign that he struggles to get a medical grade N95 mask to fit comfortably. Therefore he wears a paper one over the top to keep it in place. But, Dr Fauci, the president's chief medical adviser, has previously endorsed the method of double masking. He previously said: 'If you have a physical covering with one layer, you put another layer on. 'It just makes common sense that it likely would be more effective and that's the reason why you see people either double masking or doing a version of an N95.' Most commercially available cloth masks are at least double or triple layered, while disposable surgical masks are usually made of three layers of non-woven fabric Even though they may appear thin and flimsy, disposable surgical masks often have three layers inside America's top public health body, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), has also backed the method. The CDC published research last month saying that wearing one mask on top of another could reduce the likelihood of coronavirus transmission between two people by as much as 95 per cent. But David Heymann, a professor of infectious disease epidemiology from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, said double-masking might make sense as a 'precautionary measure'. He told the Guardian: 'I understand that it might give the wearer a sense of control. But people need to be reminded that the reason they are wearing the mask, or masks, is to protect others. I am sure people find it reassuring but the eyes are still exposed.' In England, face coverings have been mandatory in most indoor public settings such as shops, restaurants and on public transport since July last year. The Government say face coverings are largely intended to protect others, not the wearer, against the spread of infection. This is because they cover the nose and mouth, which are the main confirmed sources of transmission of virus that causes coronavirus infection. Those who do not comply face a 200 fine for a first offence, with doubling fines up to a maximum value of 6,400. Children under the age of 11 and those with medical exemptions do not have to wear face masks in indoor settings. [March 02, 2021] Fairbanks Morse Delivers Four Common Rail Technology Engines for USS John L. Canley Fairbanks Morse, a portfolio company of Arcline Investment Management and a leading provider of solutions that are powering the world forward, recently delivered four FM 6L48/60CR engines to General Dynamics (News - Alert) NASSCO in San Diego for Military Sealift Command on the USS John L. Canley (ESB 6). The ship is the sixth in the U.S. Navy's Military Sealift Command Expeditionary Transfer Dock (ESD)/Expeditionary Sea Base (ESB) program and is designed to serve as a mobile sea base that provides access to critical infrastructure for the deployment of forces and supplies. "We are proud to once again deliver American-made power and propulsion systems that support critical operations for the U.S. Navy's global missions," said George Whittier, Fairbanks Morse CEO. "Our common rail technology solution is one of the most fuel-efficient and reliable maritime power solutions available and will generate significant cost savings for the U.S. Navy over the operational lifetime of the engines." The four FM 6L48/60CR engines are rated at 6,480 kW and will deliver a total of 25,920 kW of installed power. The engines utilize common rail technology to deliver high fuel efficiency throughout the ships' operational conditions. Common rail technology uses a high-pressure header, high-pressure pumps, electronically controlled fuel delivery, electronic governing system and an advanced control system to deliver precise amounts of fuel throughout ll engine operations. This results in improved performance, increased fuel efficiency and lower emissions. ESB class ships are used for a wide range of military operations and may support multiple operational phases. Among these are Air Mine Counter Measures (AMCM), counter-piracy operations, maritime security operations, humanitarian aid and disaster relief missions and U.S. Marine Corps crisis response. ESB 6 honors Marine Corp Sergeant Major (Retired) John L. Canley, a Medal of Honor Recipient for his actions serving during the Battle of Hue City in Vietnam Jan. 31 - Feb. 6, 1968. The Medal of Honor is our nation's highest military honor. General Dynamics NASSCO started construction on ESB 6 in June 2020 and is also contracted to build ESB 7. Fairbanks Morse will begin construction on engines for ESB 7 later this year. Fairbanks Morse has served the U.S. Navy for more than 70 years, providing high-quality engines for marine propulsion and ship service systems. Today, Fairbanks Morse engines are installed on approximately 80% of U.S. Navy ships with a medium speed application. About Fairbanks Morse Fairbanks Morse manufactures and services heavy-duty, medium-speed reciprocating engines under the Fairbanks Morse and ALCO brand names, which are used primarily in marine and power generation applications. Fairbanks Morse has been the original equipment manufacturer of its engines for over 125 years and has a large installed base for which it supplies aftermarket parts and services. Fairbanks Morse is the principal supplier of diesel engines to the U.S. Navy, U.S. Coast Guard and the Canadian Coast Guard. One hundred percent of manufacturing is conducted in its U.S.-based facility in Beloit, Wis., while aftermarket parts and services are delivered through its growing network of service centers strategically located around the U.S. and through its affiliates Ward Leonard and Breco International. Fairbanks Morse is a portfolio company of Arcline Investment Management. Learn more about Fairbanks Morse by visiting www.fairbanksmorse.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210302005877/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [March 02, 2021] BIPOC owned agencies team up to launch a new Branded Video Ecosystem for brand, product and social marketing PHILADELPHIA, March 2, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, local film production company, Maestro Filmworks, announced a partnership with Bay Area brand strategy firm, BRANDKIND Marketing, to answer one of marketers' biggest challenges how to build an ecosystem of video story content that sells now while building a brand over time. "We have redesigned the project-by-project way our industry produces branded content. This old model is rooted in a history of making TV advertising spots and is no longer relevant in today's fast-paced, street-level co-creating world," explains Maestro's Founder & Executive Producer, Kris Mendoza. Marketers often get their budgets gobbled up on a single brand anthem video or in producing multiple rushed, short-lived product sales videos. BRANDKIND Maestro's Branded Video Ecosystem anchors to a single narrative and a single production plan to create a modular system of video and animated infographic content. "Think of our Branded Video Ecosystem as year's library of diverse, rich multimedia content. We're excited to offer clients an affordable way to get the benefits of an in-house production facility enjoyed by larger brands," said BRANDKIND's Managing Partner, Shantini Munthree, "The lock-down has also made brands more nimble and more open to the cultural nuances that smaller BIPOC owned agencies bring to their brands." The BRANDKIND-Maestro collaboration focuses their launch on food and beverages and financia services; industries where both companies share deep experience. The team will roll-out the Ecosystem to retail, consumer products, health services and nonprofits later this year. Interested companies may view video samples and leave contact details at: http://brandkind.maestrofilmworks.com/branded-video-ecosystem About Maestro Filmworks: Maestro Filmworks is an award-winning video production company and creative agency specializing in commercial, corporate and broadcast television production. Since 2005, Maestro's mission has been to produce engaging and imaginative films that inform, entertain and inspire. www.maestrofilmworks.com About BRANDKIND: BRANDKIND is a strategic marketing consultancy that builds brands to love and last. BRANDKIND advises enterprises, growth businesses and late stage start-ups on brand re-stages, strategy changes, M&A marketing, and new launches. BRANDKIND is a proudly woman-owned, BIPOC business based in Oakland, CA. www.brandkind.marketing EDITORS: For interview requests, contact: KRIS MENDOZA, Founder & Executive Producer Maestro Filmworks Tel: 267-908-4336 Email: kris(at)maestrofilmworks(dot)com SHANTINI MUNTHREE, Managing Partner BRANDKIND Marketing Tel: 484-238-6585 Email: shantini(at)brandkind(dot)marketing View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/bipoc-owned-agencies-team-up-to-launch-a-new-branded-video-ecosystem-for-brand-product-and-social-marketing-301238676.html SOURCE BRANDKIND An 83% increase in app distribution and a 33% growth in monthly active users marks a year of growth for Huawei's AppGallery. SHENZHEN, China, March 2, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- AppGallery, one of the top three app marketplaces globally, has seen a 188% increase in apps integrated with HMS Core, reaching 120,000. One year from revealing plans to expand at the 2020 MWC, the platform now has 2.3 million registered developers, a 77% increase from last year, and a global audience of 530 million MAU. AppGallery's app distribution surpassed 384.4 billion in 2020, 174 billion more than the previous year. Gaming leads this expansion; 500% more games are now available on the platform compared to last year. Huawei customers are amongst the first to experience innovative new gameplay, with recent launches including AFK Arena, Asphalt 9: Legends and Clash of Kings. The figures come one year on from Richard Yu, CEO of Huawei Consumer Business, unveiling Huawei's vision to make AppGallery an open, innovative app distribution platform that is accessible to consumers around the world while protecting users' privacy and providing them with a unique and smart experience. Mr. Zhang Zhe, Director of Global Partnerships & Eco-Development Business Development at Huawei Consumer Business Group, said the numbers are proof of AppGallery's progress as a truly global app marketplace: "In 2019, there were 25 countries with over a million AppGallery users. That number has now grown to 42 and we continue to see strong growth across global markets." AppGallery's "Global+ Local" Strategy AppGallery works with both local and global developers to help deliver more choice. In turn, developers are looking to AppGallery to penetrate local audiences and tap into its global audience. 2020 saw global applications HereWeGo, Bolt, Viber, Deezer and Qwant onboard to the growing platform. Huawei is using its expertise in China to guide overseas developers through the country's lucrative app market. Home to over 904 million mobile internet users, China has an estimated app download figure of 100 billion, with AppGallery helping over 1,000 overseas developers penetrate this growing mobile economy in the last year. PicsArt has been among the first to benefit from Huawei's position in China's mobile market; now boasting 300 million downloads in Mainland China. FaceTune 2 and Mondly have seen similar successes, receiving 2.2 million and 350 thousand downloads respectively. In 2020, AppGallery helped over 10,000 Chinese apps enter overseas markets. Banggood partnered with AppGallery to secure over 60,000 new downloads and 1000 new first-time subscribers in three weeks. Other Chinese apps now reaching global audiences through AppGallery include Pascal's Wager, Rise of Kingdoms: Lost Crusade and Night of Full Moon. AppGallery - One of the Top 3 App Marketplaces Globally AppGallery is an innovative ecosystem enabling developers to create unique experiences for consumers, available in more than 170 countries and regions. HMS Core integrates apps across devices, delivering a smoother and more convenient experience - a part of Huawei's wider "1+8+N" strategy. Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1447668/Huawei_AppGallery.jpg She recently said she's in a 'really good place' amid her healthy journey and incredible 66lb weight loss. And Rebel Wilson looked fantastic as she enjoyed a hike on Monday ahead of her 41st birthday. The actress wore a cap with 'Rebel' emblazoned across the front as she took a brisk walk with a friend in Los Angeles. Birthday girl: Rebel Wilson went for a hike on Monday ahead of her 41st birthday The Australian-born beauty looked fit in a sporty fuchsia top and some leggings and carried a face mask for the outing. On Monday Rebel celebrated her Australian birthday, which came early thanks to the 19-hour time difference between Sydney and LA. Posting a happy photo of herself wearing a colorful outfit Rebel wrote: 'Australian Birthday today. American Birthday tomorrow. Im so grateful and lucky to have lived such an exciting life so far. 'Thank you to everyone whos been a part of it and taught me so many valuable lessons. If you guys knew the shy unremarkable me from Sydneys Western suburbs, youd know how much I had to overcome in my life to get to this point, Transformation: The Bridesmaids actress looked fit in a pink top and leggings as she joined a pal for the brisk walk She added, '...and then against all odds, and with the visionary help of a malaria-induced hallucination became a successful international actress/writer/producer!' Rebel said last month that she's in a great place following her split from boyfriend Jacob Busch. She said: 'I feel like, I don't know if it's turning 40 or coming into your own I feel in a really good place. I am so busy with work, doing Pooch Perfect now, and I have three movies to shoot after this.' Despite feeling good, Rebel also admitted splitting from Jacob whom she was first reported to be dating in September hasnt been 'ideal'. She added to Extra: 'Any kind of breakup is hard and not ideal.' Lifestyle overhaul: The actress was seen stretching it out as she wore a cap with her name on it On Monday Rebel celebrated her Australian birthday, which came early thanks to the 19-hour time difference between Sydney and LA Rebel confirmed her breakup last month when she took to Instagram to share a picture of herself, in which she called herself a 'single girl'. She captioned the snap: 'Lots on my mind...aghhhhhh...#single-girl-heading-to-Super-Bowl! (sic)' A source close to the star then also commented on the news, saying the relationship had 'just run its course'. Rebel and Jacob were last photographed together during the Christmas holidays when they were on vacation together in Austria, which came three months after theyd confirmed their romance by attending Prince Alberts Planetary Health Gala together in Monaco in September. When their romance was first revealed, it was reported the couple were helping each other in their 'health journeys' as they were both striving to lose weight. Casey Rebecca Nunes, the general manager at Smitten Ice Cream in Oakland, had signed up for every possible notification to alert her about vaccine appointments. But it wasnt Alameda County, where she works, or San Francisco County, where she lives, that came through with the critical alert instead, it was a bartender friend on Facebook. After seeing her friends post about available appointments at the Oakland Coliseum, she immediately logged on to see what she could find. I just kept refreshing over and over and over again, said Nunes. [I told myself] I'm not going to stop and I'm going to give myself 30 minutes of refreshing and then I'll try again another day, but I had a good feeling about it. And, luckily, I got one. On Feb. 16, the Oakland Coliseum opened as a vaccination site through a partnership with FEMA and began allowing Alameda County essential workers in food and agriculture to start getting vaccinated. On Feb. 24, San Francisco also began allowing food workers to book appointments. For many Bay Area residents working in high-risk environments such as restaurants and grocery stores a recent UCSF study found that food workers are at the highest risk of death from COVID-19 among working age Californians this news came as a huge relief. Especially in light of the potential reopening of indoor dining coming to San Francisco this week. But actually managing to nab a vaccination appointment was no walk in the park. I went on to the portal, and I refreshed it multiple times, said Den Stephens, the general manager at North Light, a bar in North Oakland. He first learned he was eligible from word of mouth: A regular whose wife is an elementary school teacher texted him. Nicola Parisi / SFGATE I got on there early in the morning and basically checked it a couple of different times around 7:30, 8:30 and 9:30 a.m, he said. On a certain level, it was the definition of insanity where youre doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result but finally it popped up that there were some slots. Once Stephens landed one of those coveted appointments, the actual experience of getting a vaccine was a breeze, comparatively. Stephens booked a walk-in appointment at the Coliseum. First, he walked across the sky bridge to the BART Coliseum entrance for about three-quarters of a mile. This was the first checkpoint, where he was asked if he was there for an appointment. There was a pretty steady flow of people across the sky bridge, said Stephens. That was the most fun part of it it felt like there was a celebratory element to it. People are walking towards you as you are walking to your appointment, and a couple are really excited and wishing you good luck. He walked from checkpoint to checkpoint until he entered a tent where he received his first shot of the Pfizer vaccine. After that, he walked to another tent where he was offered a bottle of water and waited for 15 minutes so he could be monitored for any possible reaction to the shot. All together, the whole experience took less than 30 minutes. Bo Pimpat Prasert, the kitchen manager at Daughter Thai Kitchen in Oakland, also recently got her vaccine at the Coliseum. She booked a drive-through appointment and took along her sisters, who also work in the restaurant industry. The process was really quick we were in and out in 30 minutes, she said. It was kind of like playing a video game because it was just cones you had to follow. Blair Heagerty / SFGATE And as for the shot itself, she said, It didnt hurt Im really scared of needles and I didnt feel anything at all. Afterwards, her arm was a little sore and she felt a bit fatigued, but by the next day she felt fine. Now, Prasert is helping her co-workers at Daughter Thai to book appointments as well. She was the first at the restaurant to snag an appointment, and only succeeded in doing so by checking MyTurn (the statewide government site for COVID-19 vaccine information) every 30 minutes for several days. I think theres not a lot of information out there for people to know theyre eligible and where to get it, she said. So Im kind of trying to help my co-workers. The management team is definitely encouraging people to get the shot. Were all like a family so we want to make sure everybody is safe. While the legality of requiring vaccinations is murky, some restaurants and grocery stores have begun encouraging their employees to get the shot. In January, Trader Joes announced that it would provide its employees with two hours of pay for each vaccine dose they receive. Last week, Wonderful, a Chinese restaurant chain in San Mateo, closed early for the day to allow its employees time to get vaccinated. After navigating the tricky logistics, food workers reported a mixed bag of emotions preceding and following getting their first shot. I was nervous. My heart was definitely pounding, said Stephens. You feel the pressure to do exactly what youre supposed to do walk to the right place, sit in the right chair, answer the right question, so I had the nerves of that experience. And then honestly afterwards, I felt grateful but a little guilty. He also admitted to only feeling a little relieved by getting the vaccine, mostly because the jury is still out on whether vaccinated people can spread the virus. Blair Heagerty / SFGATE Im still gonna see 100 people a night face-to-face in an eating and drinking environment, and then Im gonna go home and see my girlfriend, said Stephens. She doesn't have a vaccine and is probably going to be near the end of the list, and honestly Im terrified of bringing it home to her. Im super thankful I have a much higher likelihood of being safe now, but Im also still nervous. Mike Raskin, a butcher at Barons Quality Meats & Seafood in Alameda who also runs popular pop-up Ediths Pie, described a similarly complex reaction. He recently got his first Pfizer shot at a drive-thru vaccination site at the Golden Gate Fields racetrack in Albany, an experience he described as surreal. It was super relieving, but it was like deflating a balloon that had been filled up for a long time, said Raskin. I felt stretched out from all of the stress and hypervigilance and maintained trauma of a year of asking people to pull their masks up and getting spit at and people getting hostile but also a frustrated feeling of all of that was for nothing. Thankfully I never got COVID, and no one that Im really close with did. But it was a little like he paused, sighing heavily. A year of this, and nothing even came of it, which is a weird survivors guilt trigger. Ethan Bridges, an assistant manager at Whole Foods in San Franciscos Ingleside neighborhood, got his vaccine last week at the Walgreens on Noriega Street. He also found out about open appointments via social media through District 6 Supervisor Matt Haneys Twitter, specifically. After a year of dealing with underlying fear every day and facing customers who refused to wear masks, he said it felt like finally finding the light at the end of the tunnel. When I got the appointment, I literally was crying because I was so happy and so excited, he said. And then once I was actually vaccinated, I was walking down Noriega looking at my little vaccine record card, and it felt like the scene in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory when Charlie finds a golden ticket. And he's so stoked and he's like, This happened to me? Little old me? He says he will feel much safer at work now, and looks forward to watching movies and cooking dinner with other vaccinated friends at his apartment after a year of only seeing friends outdoors and masked. While extremely grateful to have gotten the vaccine, some food workers were frustrated with the vaccine rollout. California was widely criticized for its slow vaccine rollout when it first started: In late January, the state ranked 50th out of 50 states in percentage of shots used. But as of last week, California has caught up, and most of the Bay Area has now administered a greater proportion of vaccines than the state and national average. That said, many were less frustrated with the when of their place in line and more with the how of finding an appointment. Theres a pretty inherent problem with a system of notifying people whose jobs keep them away from computers to need a computer, said Raskin. ... I was super frustrated that food workers were not prioritized in accessibility. This whole rollout was terribly done. To have to compete for a vaccine appointment, its like, Who can get to a computer faster? And calling people essential workers for a year and praising them for two months, and then stabbing them in the back on how to get protected. While Nunes of Smitten Ice Cream agrees that the rollout could have been smoother (The messaging behind getting restaurant workers vaccinated could have been a little bit stronger, she said), on a personal level, all her frustrations melted away when she pulled up to the Coliseum for her first shot. I was strangely emotional, said Nunes, who was born and raised in Oakland. Most importantly, I felt really good about doing my part to combat this horrible thing that's going on. ... And secondly, I felt really happy because I was doing it at the Coliseum where I have a lot of really good memories, like going to games and tailgating. I just have to add this to my memory bank for the Coliseum. Ana de Armas filled fans in on some of their most asked questions. The 32-year-old actress revealed some of her beauty secrets in a behind-the-scenes video from her Estee Lauder photoshoot posted on the beauty brand's Instagram account. Ana was unveiled as the new face of Estee Lauder last week, a company that Kendall Jenner and Elizabeth Hurley have been linked to in the past. BTS: Ana de Armas revealed some of her beauty secrets in a behind-the-scenes video from her Estee Lauder photoshoot posted on the beauty brand's Instagram account Glowing: The Cuban beauty sported a stunning gold silk dress for the shoot, keeping her glowing skin on display with her hair slicked back off her face 'Behind The Scenes with Estee Lauder Global Brand Ambassador Ana de Armas Lights, camera, action! We chatted with our newest Global Brand Ambassador, @ana_d_armas, to get to know her a bit better. Watch now and hear more about her journey as an actress, her beauty favorites, and her thoughts on joining the Estee Lauder brand,' the company captioned the informative clip. The Cuban beauty sported a stunning gold silk dress for the shoot, keeping her glowing skin on display with her hair slicked back off her face. 'I am thrilled to be joining the Estee Lauder family. I'm on set now shooting my new campaign and I can't tell you much more than that right now, but stay tuned,' she started the video. Ana revealed her reaction to being named as the latest Global Brand Ambassador for the beauty company: 'A little bit of a freak out. I was very excited and happy and proud. It's such an iconic brand.' Beauty: The 32-year-old actress was unveiled as the new face of Estee Lauder last week, a company that Kendall Jenner and Elizabeth Hurley have been linked to in the past Freaking out: Ana revealed her reaction to being named as the latest Global Brand Ambassador for the beauty company: 'A little bit of a freak out. I was very excited and happy and proud. It's such an iconic brand' As for her go-to beauty look, the Knives Out star says: 'If I really want to do something special, I would probably go red lip.' She added that mascara is the one beauty product she can't live without. The brunette bombshell explained that she knew she wanted to be an actress 'a long time ago,' adding: 'It was pretty clear for me very soon that that's what I wanted to do.' 'The first time I went to Cannes Film Festival. That was a huge pinch me moment,' she identified the first moment in her career that made her jaw drop. Secrets: As for her go-to beauty look, the Knives Out star says: 'If I really want to do something special, I would probably go red lip' Star is born: The brunette bombshell explained that she knew she wanted to be an actress 'a long time ago,' adding: 'It was pretty clear for me very soon that that's what I wanted to do' She said Thailand is her favorite place to visit that she can't wait to go back to: 'I have been twice - both times for over a month.' Ana also admitted tamales are the one dish from she misses the most, and that skydiving is on her bucket list. 'But I don't think I'll ever do it,' she said with a laugh. The Bond girl relaxes by 'doing something with my girlfriends' and ended the video by sharing her advice for her younger self. 'That's tricky. I would have told myself years ago to relax and take it easy and be patient. Relax,' she said. Travel fan: She said Thailand is her favorite place to visit that she can't wait to go back to: 'I have been twice - both times for over a month' Bucket list: Ana also admitted tamales are the one dish from she misses the most, and that skydiving is on her bucket list. 'But I don't think I'll ever do it,' she said with a laugh Advice: The Bond girl relaxes by 'doing something with my girlfriends' and ended the video by sharing her advice for her younger self: 'I would have told myself years ago to relax and take it easy and be patient' The announcement came just weeks after she ended her romance with boyfriend Ben Affleck, whom she met on the set of Deep Water and began dating in March 2020. The split was reported to be 'as amicable as can be', with sources insisting the pair still have 'a lot of love' for one another. An insider previously said: 'There is a lot of love still between the two of them. The split is as amicable as can be.' Not bothered: Ana has been taking her breakup from Ben Affleck in stride, looking undaunted in the candid moments she frequently shares on her Instagram stories Ana has been taking the breakup in stride, looking undaunted in the candid moments she frequently shares on her Instagram stories. The star posted a glistening selfie on Tuesday sitting by the window as the sun glistened off her gorgeous face. She still looked like a movie star clad in a white t-shirt and sweats as she tried to be productive despite the interruptions of her dog. 'Trying to work,' she captioned the photo to her 3.9 million followers. (AMF Autorite des Marches Financiers) Regulatory News: Genkyotex (Paris:GKTX) (Brussels:GKTX) Genkyotex shares ISIN code FR00011790542 Euronext Paris Brussels Date Number of shares making up the share capital Number of voting rights February 28, 2021 11,736,174 Theoretical number of voting rights(1): 11,736,174 Number of voting rights exercisable at a shareholders' meeting(2): 11,726,931 (1) In accordance with Article 223-111 of the AMF's General Regulation, this number of shares is calculated based on all shares carrying the right to vote, including those stripped of voting rights. (2) Less shares stripped of voting rights. About Genkyotex Genkyotex is the leading biopharmaceutical company in NOX therapies, listed on the Euronext Paris and Euronext Brussels markets. Its unique platform enables the identification of orally available small-molecules which selectively inhibit specific NOX enzymes that amplify multiple disease processes such as fibrosis, inflammation, pain processing, cancer development, and neurodegeneration. Genkyotex is developing a pipeline of first-in-class product candidates targeting one or multiple NOX enzymes. The lead product candidate, setanaxib (GKT831), a NOX1 and NOX4 inhibitor has shown evidence of anti-fibrotic activity in a Phase II clinical trial in primary biliary cholangitis (PBC, a fibrotic orphan disease). Based on its positive Phase II results, a phase 3 trial with setanaxib in PBC is being planned. Setanaxib is also being evaluated in an investigator-initiated Phase II clinical trial in Type 1 Diabetes and Kidney Disease (DKD). A grant from the United States National Institutes of Health (NIH) of $8.9 million was awarded to Professor Victor Thannickal at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) to fund a multi-year research program evaluating the role of NOX enzymes in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), a chronic lung disease that results in fibrosis of the lungs. The core component of this program is a Phase 2 trial with setanaxib in patients with IPF scheduled to recruit patients in first semester of 2020. This product candidate may also be active in other fibrotic indications. Genkyotex also has a versatile platform well-suited to the development of various immunotherapies (Vaxiclase). A partnership covering the use of Vaxiclase as an antigen per se (GTL003) has been established with Serum Institute of India Private Ltd (Serum Institute), the world's largest producer of vaccine doses, for the development by Serum Institute of cellular multivalent combination vaccines against a variety of infectious diseases. For further information, please go to www.genkyotex.com or investors@genkyotex.com Disclaimer This press release may contain forward-looking statements by the company with respect to its objectives. Such statements are based upon the current beliefs, estimates and expectations of Genkyotex's management and are subject to risks and uncertainties such as the company's ability to implement its chosen strategy, customer market trends, changes in technologies and in the company's competitive environment, changes in regulations, clinical or industrial risks and all risks linked to the company's growth. These factors as well as other risks and uncertainties may prevent the company from achieving the objectives outlined in the press release and actual results may differ from those set forth in the forward-looking statements, due to various factors. Without being exhaustive, such factors include uncertainties involved in the development of Genkyotex's products, which may not succeed, or in the delivery of Genkyotex's products marketing authorizations by the relevant regulatory authorities and, in general, any factor that could affects Genkyotex's capacity to commercialize the products it develops. No guarantee is given on forward-looking statements which are subject to a number of risks, notably those described in the universal registration document filed with the AMF on April 30, 2020 under number 20-0434, and those linked to changes in economic conditions, the financial markets, or the markets on which Genkyotex is present. Genkyotex products are currently used for clinical trials only and are not otherwise available for distribution or sale. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210302005901/en/ Contacts: Genkyotex Students enter the gate of Naesung Elementary School in Busan, Tuesday. Schools across Korea opened for the new school year amid a mix of hopes and concerns. Yonhap South Korean schools opened for the new school year Tuesday amid a mix of anxiety and hopes, as the country is still fighting against the third wave of the pandemic, but much-anticipated vaccinations have finally begun. The Ministry of Education has said it would expand in-person classes this year, by giving schools more leeway and revising the government's health protocols on COVID-19 at schools. In a policy unveiled in late January for school operations for the first half of the year, the ministry exempted day care centers, kindergartens and classes for first and second graders at elementary schools from the rules for attendance. It was designed to offer more in-person instructions to young kids most in need of adjusting to school life. The exemptions apply up until Level 2, the middle level of the country's five-tier restriction system. The greater Seoul area is currently under Level 2, and the rest of the country is under Level 1.5. Under the Level 2 rules, the school attendance cap is set at one-third for elementary and middle schools, but it can be relaxed to two-thirds depending on the situation of the pandemic. At high schools, it is set at two-thirds. With the exemptions, preschoolers, first and second graders of elementary school will go to school every day. Like last year, high school seniors are also exempt from attendance cap requirements. The rest of the students will have a hybrid of remote and in-person learning, similar to the schedules of last year. The shift in policy was made in accordance with scientific findings that younger children are less likely to fall seriously ill with the coronavirus and concerns over various side effects of long-term virtual learning and a widening learning gap, the ministry said. The ministry also relaxed the definition of small schools to those with 400 students or fewer, from 300 students or less. Small schools and schools for kids with special needs are allowed to decide on school attendance on their own until Level 2.5. Workers across a large cross-section of industries will all become eligible to be vaccinated against the coronavirus this month, Gov. Phil Murphy announced Monday. Eligibility will expand to groups that include teachers and school staff on March 15 and a group that includes grocery store and restaurant workers on March 29. The March 15 expansion kindergarten through 12th grade educators and support staff, child care workers, Motor Vehicle Commission workers, NJ Transit workers and other transportation workers, including bus, taxi, rideshare and airport employees can begin making appointments. Others eligible in less than two weeks include all public safety personal who have not already been made eligible such as probation officers, child protective service workers and probation officers. Migrant farmworkers, the homeless and members of tribal communities can also be administered a vaccination starting in the middle of the month. Two weeks later on March 29, grocery store employees will be vaccine eligible along with restaurant workers, warehouse employees, social support, hospitality and election personnel. In addition, people employed in the medical supply chain, postal and shipping services, clergy or the judicial system can schedule their shot on that date. Both expansions will add several hundred thousand eligible people each, Murphy said, while noting there continues to be a sharp imbalance between supply and demand with the current 4 million people eligible. Officials said 2,039,427 have been administered a vaccine shot as of about 9:30 a.m. Monday. Of those, 691,459 have received two doses and are fully vaccinated. Murphy disclosed 2,668 more COVID-19 cases and 21 more deaths on Monday. The state of 9 million people has reported 23,273 residents have died from complications related to COVID-19, including 20,942 confirmed deaths and 2,331 fatalities considered probable. CORONAVIRUS RESOURCES: Live map tracker | Newsletter | Homepage Heres a roundup of the latest coronavirus news in New Jersey and elsewhere: N.J. fully expecting all schools to be in-person by September, Murphy says: With teachers in the state set to become eligible for the coronavirus vaccine in less than two weeks, Murphy said Monday officials are fully expecting schools across New Jersey to have in-person learning safely and responsibly when the next academic year starts in September if that doesnt happen sooner. Of New Jerseys 811 public-school districts, charter schools, renaissance schools and schools for students with disabilities, 110 currently have all in-person learning (15 more than three weeks ago) and 533 have hybrid instruction (42 more). Hybrid and in-person account for about 834,000 students. There are currently 142 districts with all-remote learning 48 fewer than three weeks ago, though those districts have 447,000 students enrolled. Another 27 districts have a mix of in-person, hybrid, and remote learning down by 8. In all 82.5% of districts are offering some form of in-person instruction. Dont show up at N.J. COVID vaccine mega-sites hours early or without an appointment, Murphy says: Those with appointments for the coronavirus vaccination at one of New Jerseys six mega-sites should not show up hours early over fears that the location may run out of shots, Murphy said Monday. Simply put: If you have an appointment, you have a vaccine, the governor said at his latest COVID-19 briefing in Trenton. There is no need for anyone to be arriving at a mega-site hours before their appointment and waiting on line. We ask everyone to arrive 15 minutes prior to their appointed time. Johnson & Johnson shots available this week: CVS and Rite Aid stores in New Jersey will receive 22,500 doses of the newly-approved Johnson & Johnson coronavirus vaccine in addition to the 70,000 shots the state is likely to be delivered on Wednesday, the states top health official said Monday. State Health Commissioner Judy Persichilli didnt say which of the states 295 vaccination sites will receive the one-dose Johnson & Johnson shots, which can be stored in a regular refrigerator. Panic-buying for pandemic puppies is just part of the reason for pet food shortage: Companies like Nestle Purina and FreshPet are experiencing major production obstacles that have left some pet food shelves and fridges empty across the country. Manufacturers are juggling extreme winter weather, a rise in pet ownership, COVID-19 cases that can cause delays on the factory floor and overzealous shoppers stocking up on pet food just like they did toilet paper in March. 7 MVC agencies now closed due to the coronavirus: State Motor Vehicle Commission officials closed agencies in Newark, Vineland, Salem, and Lodi after a single employee tested positive for the coronavirus at each location. That brings the total to seven agencies closed statewide of 39, all of which are among the 23 agencies designated to handle drivers license transactions. U.S. cases: At least 514,660 of the approximately 28.7 million to test positive for the coronavirus in the U.S. have died as of 7 a.m. Tuesday, according to the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University. Worldwide cases: As of 7 a.m. Tuesday, the coronavirus has led to more than 2.54 million deaths in 192 counties, according to the center. More than 114.5 million have been infected since the outbreak started in December 2019. At least 64.7 million have recovered. Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com. NJ Advance Media staff writers Matt Arco, Josh Axelrod, Brent Johnson and Larry Higgs contributed to this report. CORONA, CA / ACCESSWIRE / March 2, 2021 / ADOMANI, Inc. (OTCQB:ADOM) DBA Envirotech Vehicles, Inc., a provider of new purpose-built electric vehicles and drivetrain solutions, is pleased to announce that the Child Nutrition Services Department of the Pittsburg Unified School District (USD) in Contra Costa County, California, recently ordered an upgraded Class 4 all- electric box truck. Pittsburg USD received a grant from the California Department of Education under its 2019 National School Lunch Program, (NSLP), Equipment Assistance Grants program to help defray the cost of the electric vehicle. This Class 4 electric truck will replace a diesel truck that the Child Nutrition Services Department is currently operating to deliver food to schools in the Pittsburg, California area. The new zero-emissions truck will be delivered on or before March 31, 2021. Envirotech Vehicles entered the commercial electric vehicle market in 2018 with the introduction of their class 3 and 4 all-electric trucks and vans. In June, 2020 the California Air Resources Board (CARB) took a bold step in adopting a first-in-the-world rule that requires truck manufacturers to move from diesel trucks and vans to all-electric, zero-emission trucks starting in 2024. The CARB rule, combined with California governor Gavin Newsom's September 23, 2020 executive order N-79-20, which requires all new cars and passenger trucks sold in California be zero-emission by 2035, has re-ignited the EV market in the state. Envirotech Vehicles is one of a very few national commercial EV distributors that has production models in inventory, ready to deliver to the market. "Implementing all-electric school buses was an important step in helping reduce toxic pollutants for the over 6.1 million school-aged children who are at risk due to poor air quality from riding diesel-powered buses," said Phillip Oldridge, Chief Executive Officer. "We are continuing to assist in this move to better air quality by helping school districts reach the full financial and health benefits of all-electric vehicle ownership through our commercial EV truck and van products. Pittsburg USD has areas that are classified as Disadvantages Area Communities, and having another zero-emission vehicle operating in these areas is a plus for all residents, especially the children" Oldridge concluded. The Pittsburg USD Board of Trustees had previously approved a cooperative bid for the ADOMANI ZEV Sales, the licensed California dealer and a wholly-owned subsidiary of Envirotech Vehicles, zero-emission, all-electric line of products in November 2019, that includes the Class 3-5 Electric Cab over truck chassis, Class 3 and 4 electric cutaway van chassis, and Neighborhood Electric Vehicle. This cooperative purchase bid allows over 1,000 California schools, in addition to numerous other Community Colleges, municipalities, and other governmental entities, to purchase the Envirotech line of electric vehicles without going out to bid themselves. The terms of the NSLP grant required a separate bid, and Envirotech Vehicles is proud to be the vendor of choice for these electric commercial vehicles for Pittsburg USD. About Envirotech Vehicles, Inc. ADOMANI, Inc. (DBA Envirotech Vehicles, Inc.) is a provider of new zero-emission electric vehicles and is a provider of zero-emission electric drivetrain systems for integration in medium to heavy-duty commercial fleet vehicles, as well as re-power conversion kits for the replacement of drivetrain systems in combustion-powered vehicles. Envirotech Vehicles' zero-emission electric vehicles are focused on reducing the total cost of vehicle ownership and help fleet operators unlock the benefits of green technology and address the challenges of traditional fuel price cost instability and local, state and federal environmental regulatory compliance. For more information visit www.ADOMANIelectric.com Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements Statements made in this press release that relate to future plans, events, financial results, prospects or performance are forward-looking statements as defined under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. While they are based on the current expectations and beliefs of management, such forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the expectations expressed in this press release, including the risks and uncertainties disclosed in reports filed by ADOMANI with the Securities and Exchange Commission, all of which are available online at www.sec.gov. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, are statements that could be deemed forward-looking statements, including statements containing the words "planned," "expects," "believes," "strategy," "opportunity," "anticipates," "outlook," "designed" and similar words. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date hereof. Except as required by law, ADOMANI undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements to reflect new information, changed circumstances or unanticipated events. Investor Relations Contacts: ADOMANI, Inc. Michael K. Menerey, Chief Financial Officer Telephone: (951) 407-9860 ext. 1205 Email: mike.m@ADOMANIelectric.com IMS Investor Relations John Nesbett/Jennifer Belodeau IMS Investor Relations 203.972.9200 Email: jnesbett@institutionalms.com SOURCE: ADOMANI, Inc. View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/632795/Pittsburg-Unified-School-District-Child-Nutrition-Services-Department-Purchases-Class-4-Electric-Box-Truck-from-ADOMANIR-DBA-Envirotech-Vehicles Australia has freed dozens of refugees after holding them in detention for years under a policy designed to deter people from seeking asylum in the country, advocates said Tuesday. More than 60 refugees were released over the past two days from hotels and detention centres in Brisbane, Sydney and Darwin, according to the Refugee Action Coalition and legal representatives. They were granted temporary visas after spending up to eight years in Australian detention on Pacific islands before being transferred to the country for medical treatment. Canberra has sent anyone attempting to arrive in Australia by boat to Papua New Guinea's Manus island and Nauru, under a hardline approach it says is designed to prevent people-smuggling. The group's release comes after more than 60 refugees were freed in similar circumstances in December and January. Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton told local radio in January that it was "cheaper" for the refugees to be released into the community than to be held in detention. Noeline Balasanthiran Harendran of Sydney West Legal and Migration said the releases came after several refugees took court action against the Australian government challenging the validity of their detention. "From our point of view, it's because we've been able to prove beyond reasonable doubt that they're being held with no purpose... to hold people in detention you need to have a purpose," she told AFP. Ian Rintoul, from the Refugee Action Coalition, urged the government to release about 75 other refugees still being held in Australia. More than 250 also remain in limbo in Papua New Guinea and Nauru. "They've got no idea why they've been left behind and no idea what the future holds," he told AFP. The Department of Home Affairs said government policy remained "steadfast" that the refugees "will not settle permanently in Australia". "Transitory persons have third country migration options and are encouraged to finalise their medical treatment so they can continue on their resettlement pathway to the United States, return to Nauru or PNG, or return to their home country," a spokesperson said. Story continues However, Dutton has admitted it would now be "very hard" for the government to make that happen. The United Nations, human rights groups and doctors have condemned Canberra for its treatment of detainees, as stories of dire living conditions, self-harm and violence emerged from the offshore camps over the years. hr/dm/axn Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Today, Murphy-Goode announced the launch of A Really Goode Job, a four-month-long nationwide search for one person to live out their ultimate dream job in wine country, starting August 2021. Do you love wine? Have you dreamt of spending your days in the sun-drenched vineyards of Californias wine country? If so, Murphy-Goode, pioneers of serious wine and serious fun, wants to hear from you. Today, the winery announced the launch of A Really Goode Job, a four-month-long nationwide search for one person to live out their ultimate dream job in wine country, starting August 2021. The job comes with a $10,000 per month salary, rent-free living for a year in the charming town of Healdsburg, one of Sonoma Countys premier destinations, and a years supply of Murphy-Goode wine. First launched in 2009, A Really Goode Job became a revolutionary campaign to create a real job opportunity in the wine industry at a time of economic distress and high unemployment. The original campaigns goal was to chronicle a year of living and working at Murphy-Goode through social media a new business area for many wineries at the time. Today, as the country faces a new set of challenges, creating access and viable career opportunities is more important than ever. With that in mind, the winery revived the campaign, but this time around, they are asking candidates to pitch their ultimate dream job. Murphy-Goode is casting the net wide and seeking candidates from across the country, who want to follow their passion and land their dream job in the wine industry. Were proud to bring back this impactful campaign amid a difficult year for many, said Rick Tigner, CEO of Jackson Family Wines, the family-owned wine company that includes Murphy-Goode. Living and working in this beautiful part of the world is a true gift, and we relish the opportunity to share that with someone who is passionate about breaking into wine. We hope to hear from a variety of candidates inside and outside the industry; in our backyard and beyond. To apply, contestants must create a short video explaining their ideal role in the wine industry and what they would bring to Murphy-Goode, then upload it to the official campaign website. The winner will be selected and announced in July 2021. Once selected, the winner will begin their year-long adventure with Murphy-Goode, first by shadowing rock-star winemaker Dave Ready, Jr., exploring the ins and outs of harvest in Sonoma County. Inspired by their application, Murphy-Goode will then work with the winner to identify their passion and create the ideal role at the winery for the remainder of the year, and hopefully beyond. For those wondering if this is the perfect job for them, view the job description here and follow Murphy-Goode on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter at @MurphyGoodeWine. To be considered for A Really Goode Job with Murphy-Goode, upload your video on the official campaign website http://www.murphygoodewinery.com/a-really-goode-job by June 30, 2021. The role officially starts August 2021 and runs through July 2022. Jackson Family Wines is an equal opportunity employer. This contest is open to anyone over the age of 21 in the U.S. and to those in Canada authorized to work in the U.S. About Murphy-Goode Winery Welcome to the Goode life. Founded in Sonoma County in 1985 in a spirit of love and friendship by Tim Murphy, Dale Goode and Dave Ready Sr., Sonoma Countys own Murphy-Goode Winery crafts some of Californias best wines without taking itself too seriously. The story lives on today under the Jackson Family Wines portfolio, continuing a tradition based on a shared appreciation of friendship, hard work, a wicked sense of humor and, of course, a good bottle of wine. Murphy-Goode offers high quality wines from some of Californias great growing regions with the approachable and inviting attitude of Sonoma County. Murphy-Goode is never pretentious, is often irreverent and is about having fun. Because of its consistent quality, the brand has become a favorite wine for consumers everywhere. For more information, http://www.MurphyGoodeWinery.com, and follow Murphy-Goode on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter at @MurphyGoodeWine. Berlinale Talents is in itself one of the biggest, if temporary hubs, for burgeoning creatives in film and TV. Here, Variety spreads the net slightly wider to spotlight 10 on the rise writers-directors. Miguel Angel Blanca More from Variety Director of two features to date, including sci-fi thriller I Want the Eternal, Blancas films skew towards tragicomedy, talks about double lives and everyday darkness. To world premiere shortly, his latest movie, Magaluf Ghost Town, addresses the downsides of intrusive tourism. Im happy genre-bending, twisting film language, working between documentary and fiction, mixing comedy and horror to create a dark image of everyday life, he says. Luis Lopez Carrasco His first feature, El Futuro, world premiered at Locarno, receiving excellent reviews. Lightnings struck twice with his an epic 300-minute doc feature The Year of Discovery, an analysis of Spains apparently boom decade of the 90s which has become the first documentary ever to be nominated for a best feature Goya Award. Carrasco will continue exploring the past to shed new light and create angles to understand the present in his next project, about the first Spaniard who refused to perform military service. Carmen Cordoba Her first and only short, the 3D, no dialog, family targeting Roberto, garnered 45 prizes off selection for over 100 festivals. I love stories told with little means, auteur cinema thats recognizable in just a few frames, and especially stories that thrill and accompany me for days, Cordoba says. Next: a new 2D short, Amarradas, about mother-daughter bonds, and early preparation of her first animated feature. Claudia Costafreda Story continues Veneno creators Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi signed Costafreda to the writers room of TV phenomenon Veneno after watching her shorts, also praised by Pose and Euphoria writers. The Javis, as they are called, will now join Atresmedia TV and Buendia Estudios to produce Atresplayer Premium original drama series Cardo, co-created by Costafreda. Trained at Barcelona prestige Escac film school, Costafreda says that there are still many unknown stories to tell, exploring emotions of misunderstood characters who have been deprived of any voice. Miguel Faus A London Film School alum, Faus The Death of Don Quixote earned him a best short Melies dArgent at Spains Sitges Film Festival. Backed by producer Saint Denis, hes currently developing a feature prequel to his second short Calladita, which was selected for Los Angeles Short to Feature Lab. It depicts the bourgeoisie in Catalonia from the POV of a Latin American domestic worker. I feel attracted to a personal cinema and need characters and stories that really thrill me, he says. Nuria Gimenez Lorang Following her short Kaffeneio, journalist and translator-turned-director Gimenez found 29 hours of family footage and decided to create a poetic but fictitious movie from it. The result, mockumentary My Mexican Bretzel, has won festival acclaim and now a 2021 Goya nomination. I want to make films that fascinate and obsess me, and allow me to create with total freedom, and find the unexpected, Gimenez says. She is currently working on a similar format involving archive footage. Alvaro Gurrea Produced by Rocio Mesa at My Deer Films, Gurreas first project, Mbah Jhiwo (Ancient Soul ), has been put through ParisDoc, Cinema du Reel, Cannes Doc, and San Sebastians WIP Europa. Now playing Berlinales Forum, it examines traces of colonialism still playing out in a mining community in East Java. Gurrea hopes Mbah Jhiwo is amateur in its classic meaning of lover; and marginal in its willingness to explore certain limits. Javier Macipe Macipe is making his first feature Blue Star, backed by Alejandro Amenabars regular producers at Mod. Inspired by real events, set in the 90s and to be shot in Argentina and Spain, Star will focus on a quixotic musical duo formed by a famous drug-addled Spanish rocker touring Latin America and a veteran down-on-his-luck musician. My aim is to make a cinema which is unclassifiable in genre, fictitious and honest in equal parts, Macipe says. David Perez Sanudo Chosen for Madrids prestige ECAM Incubator, Perez Sanudos feature debut, an mother-daughter relationship drama examining barriers between people and communities has snagged five 2021 Goya nominations. Currently, Sanudo is developing two projects, one based around the E.U. Erasmus program and the other inspired by Spanish cyclist Alberto Contador. I like cinema which is understood as a political act, even when it tackles everyday issues, but with a bold world vision, he says. Ainhoa Rodriguez Rodriguezs first feature, Destello bravio, a social, rural and surreal fantasy with documentary touches, world premiered at Februarys Rotterdam Festival becoming one of its most-viewed titles. Her next project is a kind of Western revolving around her childhood memories, she says. I like cinema which is made from the gut and with the greatest of freedom. Im interested in courageous works that transgress repetitive hegemonic stories. (Pictured: (L-R) Javier Macipe, Claudia Costafreda, David Perez Sanudo, Nuria Gimenez and Miguel Angel Blanca) Best of Variety Sign up for Varietys Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. VATICAN CITY, MAR 2 - Pope Francis will probably use an armour-plated car during his trip to Iraq on March 5-8, Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni said Tuesday. "An armour-plated car is always available for the pope's trips, and in this trip it is very likely to be used," he said. Francis will use a closed car in all his visits to cities, Bruni said, apart form Erbil stadium on Sunday March 7 when he will use an open car. The pope will celebrate Mass at the stadium. (ANSA). Advertisement More than eight million people in England live in areas where coronavirus may have disappeared, official figures revealed today. Department of Health data showed 1,065 out of 6,792 neighbourhoods 15 per cent recorded 'fewer than three cases' in the week to February 24, and may even have had none at all. Numbers are suppressed when they fall this low because health chiefs fear infected residents could be identified and shamed. The vast majority of Cornwall and Devon recorded fewer than three Covid infections. But areas with tiny, or non-existent, outbreaks were scattered across the country, including in parts of London. MPs today called on the Government to justify sticking to the national approach to easing lockdown, saying it was unfair to keep residents in Devon 'cooped up over Easter' because of bigger outbreaks elsewhere in the country. Boris Johnson has pledged that all curbs will be lifted no earlier than June 21. It comes as separate data today underscored the success of England's huge vaccination drive. Fascinating charts showed how 90 per cent of over-85s who are most at risk of dying from the virus now have Covid antibodies, suggesting they have some immunity against the disease. The Office for National Statistics revealed the rate was just 22 per cent at the start of 2021, before the jab roll-out began to rapidly pick up the pace. Other data from the ONS today also showed Covid deaths have continued to fall in England and Wales. Another 4,079 Covid fatalities were recorded in the third week of February a 28 per cent drop week-on-week. And MailOnline analysis revealed eight of the ten neighbourhoods with the biggest Covid outbreaks in England have prisons in them. Experts warned officers are struggling to enforce social distancing inside jails. Britain's daily coronavirus cases and deaths fell once again today, after another 6,391 infections and 343 fatalities were added to the official tally. Department of Health figures showed cases dropped by a quarter week-on-week while deaths plunged by 37 per cent. Matt Hancock today said 'freedom is on the horizon' for Britons, adding they were on track to get a first dose to all adults by July. He urged the nation to do 'whatever it takes' to keep coronavirus under control. The above map shows England broken down into districts defined as Middle-layer Super Output Areas (MSOAs) by statisticians. The dark green areas are where there are fewer than three cases, and possibly none at all Separate data from the Office for National statistics showed Covid deaths fell 28 per cent in the week to February 19 compared to the previous week after 4,079 were recorded, as the second wave continues to drop But deaths from all-causes remained above the five-year average in all regions of England, highlighting the immense toll of the outbreak on routine healthcare services EIGHT OUT OF TEN COVID HOTSPOTS IN ENGLAND ARE IN AREAS WITH PRISONS Eight out of England's 10 coronavirus hotspots are home to prisons, MailOnline can reveal. Public Health England data show that the highest infection rate in the country in the third week of February in the area surrounding a jail in Leeds was twice as high as the worst outbreak in a non-prison area. Prisons in Leeds, Hull, Peterborough, Manchester, Birmingham, Dorset, Rutland and Hatfield have all recorded outbreaks that sent local rates rocketing. Professor Seena Fazel, an Oxford University psychiatrist who works closely with inmates, said crowded and poorly ventilated environments make the virus hard to control, and prisons are 'porous' with staff and inmates regularly travelling in and out. He added that the institutions should not be considered cut off from the surrounding area because they are linked to local communities' health, with staff often living nearby and some inmates eligible for day release or travelling to meet court dates. Reading University microbiologist Dr Simon Clarke drew a comparison to care homes, saying both have confined people who are at risk of staff bringing the virus in to areas where social distancing is near impossible. Ministry of Justice figures show that 837 people in 65 prisons were diagnosed with coronavirus in England in the week ending February 22. The rate of infection was equal to 1.1 per cent of all inmates in the country, compared to a 0.11 per cent infection rate in the general population meaning cases were around 10 times more common than among the public. Advertisement In another day of coronavirus developments: France took a humiliating U-turn today saying it will now give the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine to over-65s amid a sluggish EU jabs rollout; New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern comes under fire after criticising KFC worker infected with virus for failing to isolate as Auckland enters another week-long lockdown; Britain is set to be included in the EU's vaccine passport scheme in sign of hope for holidays; The World Health Organization says it is 'unrealistic' to expect the pandemic to end this year; Missing patient who tested positive for the Brazilian variant STILL hasn't been found, minister admits; Experts say they fear the next flu season may be worse than ever after barely any cases were recorded this winter thanks to Covid restrictions. The data for our revelation on prisons and on the huge disparity of coronavirus cases across the nation was recorded by Middle-layer Super Output Areas (MSOAs). These are roughly the same as postcode areas, although some have amalgamated several of them. Each MSOA is home to around 8,000 people, on average. Office for National Statistics (ONS) population estimates suggest there were 8.05million people living in the 1,065 districts with fewer than three cases during the week ending February 24. When the areas where broken down by infection rates it showed the vast majority 4,219 or 62 per cent had a rate between 50 and 200 cases per 100,000 residents in that seven-day spell. For comparison, 12 per cent of MSOAs or 808 had between 20 and 50 cases per 100,000 residents, while a tenth of districts or 699 had an infection rate above 200. While a large number of areas with tiny outbreaks are in Cornwall and Devon, many are scattered across the country mostly focused in rural areas. Cheshire, Cambridgeshire, South Hampshire and Wiltshire all are home to MSOAs where there were no cases of the virus. Even Kent which was hit hard by the more infectious variant during the darkest days of January had several areas that recorded next to no cases. Boris Johnson pictured on a jog with dog Dilyn today. He has said the earliest all restrictions will be lifted is June 21 In London, neighbourhoods in Bexley, Bromley, Kensington and Chelsea and Lewisham recorded fewer than three cases. Exeter MP Ben Bradshaw today called for restrictions across Devon to be eased faster amid plummeting infection rates. 'Devons figures are down to 31 per 100,000 lower than in Europes best performing countries like Finland and Denmark,' he told MailOnline. 'By the end of this month, all our vulnerable groups will have been vaccinated. 'The Government must justify keeping my constituents cooped up over Easter and beyond, unable to see their loved ones, and our local businesses closed, because rates in Middlesbrough remain higher.' Selaine Saxby, the MP for North Devon, previously told MailOnline that the roadmap was going 'too slowly' for her area. 'I think our cases are low and we could have started local unlocking sooner,' she said. 'But I also think, for tourism, moving at a national pace is important.' The now defunct Tier system which twice failed to keep England out of lockdown saw certain areas enjoy months of lighter curbs, with friends and families allowed to meet in restaurants, pubs and cafes. No10 has, however, confirmed local lockdowns will come into force in England should case rates spike in areas as restrictions are eased. This would be to ensure that Boris Johnson's roadmap out of restrictions is not delayed. The number of deaths linked to the virus also fell in all regions of England and Wales, but deaths from all causes remained above the five-year average, which is the number of people expected to die at this time of year Deaths linked to the virus in care home residents also fell below 1,000 for the first time this year, after 969 were recorded The North East had the lowest number of fatalities from the virus (165), followed by the South West (268) and Yorkshire and the Humber (320). But deaths from all causes remained above the five-year average in all regions Eight areas with prisons were featured in the 10 areas worst hit by coronavirus in the week ending February 21, official data show. All of the named prisons had outbreaks reported in local news and saw their local area's infection rate skyrocket COVID DEATHS FELL 28 PER CENT IN A WEEK, ONS FIGURES SHOW Covid deaths have fallen by more than a quarter and dropped for the third week in a row, official figures revealed today. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) recorded 4,079 fatalities linked to the virus in England and Wales over the seven days to February 19, marking a 28 per cent drop from the previous week. This was also less than half the number of victims recorded during the darkest weeks of January. Every region in England recorded a dip in the number of people succumbing to the infection compared to the previous week, with the North East and South West registering the fewest fatalities. And deaths linked to the virus in care home residents fell below 1,000 for the first time this year, with just 969 in the most recent seven days. But, despite the promising statistics, deaths linked to Covid still accounted for almost a third of all fatalities and had not dipped below the levels at the start of January, when fatalities first spiralled out of control. And deaths from all causes remained above the five-year average by around 20 per cent. ONS death figures lag behind the daily tallies, which began falling at the end of January. Statisticians analyse the death certificates to identify exactly how many Covid was to blame for. There is a delay of about three weeks between someone getting infected with the virus and succumbing to the disease, meaning it takes time for a dip in cases to show up in death figures. Advertisement Amid Britain's fastest vaccine rollout in modern times, the Health Secretary told the Commons today: 'This country is on the road to recovery and we have freedom on the horizon. '(But) we must proceed with caution because although we're moving quickly, the virus moves quickly too. 'So let's not waver and do whatever it takes to keep this virus under control.' An ONS report today revealed the stunning success of England's jabs drive as the vast majority of over-85s in England - who are most at risk from the virus - now have Covid antibodies. Fascinating charts reveal how the proportion of elderly residents testing positive for the disease-fighting proteins which signal they have a degree of immunity has changed between the start of January and now. The figures showed 22 per cent had Covid antibodies at the start of 2021, before the inoculation roll-out began to rapidly pick up pace. But the rate stood at nearly 91 per cent on February 11, according to the most up-to-date estimate. Data also showed a dramatic rise in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland among the same age group but the ONS warned its estimates in the devolved nations were not as certain because they involved smaller sample sizes. The report which also showed one in four people overall had Covid antibodies in England, one in six in Wales and Northern Ireland and one in eight in Scotland looked at blood samples taken from 30,000 over-16s across the country. Rates were highest in London, where the ONS estimated 29 per cent of people had antibodies compared to just 16 per cent in the South West of England, the lowest in the UK. As well as through vaccination, antibodies are also made in the blood when someone catches and recovers from the virus. But the length of time antibodies remain at detectable levels in the blood is not fully known, given that studies have shown they can fade after a few months. It comes after Government analysis showed a single dose of the Covid vaccines being rolled out in the UK cut hospital rates in the elderly by 80 per cent. Public Health England research also found the Pfizer and Oxford University jabs stop about 60 per cent of people from falling ill with Covid a month after their first dose. More than 20million Britons have now received their first dose of Covid vaccines, and about 800,000 people have been given both injections. ONS data also showed Covid deaths had fallen for the third week in a row, dropping 28 per cent after 4,079 fatalities linked to the virus were recorded in the week to February 17, the latest available. Their figures lag behind the daily toll published by the Department of Health, because statisticians go through every death certificate to root out all those mentioning Covid. The North East had the fewest fatalities from the virus (165), followed by the South West (268) and Yorkshire and the Humber (320). It failed to spread rapidly through these areas before lockdown restrictions were imposed at the start of the year, which may have led to a lower death toll. The highest number of deaths due to the virus was in the South East (636), but this was 34 per cent below the number recorded the week before (974). The East of England had the second highest toll (566) and the North West had the third highest (563). In the East and South East the more infectious variant took hold before the country was locked down in January, while cases have not fallen as fast in the North West as in other areas. Boris Johnson has today refused to comment on reports that he is considering setting up a charity to pay for the refurbishment of his official flat, after the Daily Mail reported that the scheme could be funded by wealthy Tory benefactors. The paper said that it followed reports that the Prime Minister had complained the cost of refurbishing the flat over No 11 by his fiancee Carrie Symonds was 'out of control'. In response, the Prime Minister's official spokesman said: 'Matters concerning any work on Downing Street, including the residences, are covered in the Cabinet Office annual report and accounts. That is where we set out the details of what has happened. 'Downing Street is a working building, as has been the case under successive administrations, refurbishment and maintenance are made periodically.' Flash One of Zimbabwe's two Vice Presidents, Kembo Mohadi, resigned from his post on Monday following allegations in the media about his alleged affairs with married women. An online publication recently posted three audios purported to be those of Mohadi seeking sexual favors from some women, but Monadi denied that it was him, saying that he was a victim of voice cloning by his political enemies. In a statement late Monday, Mohadi, aged 71, said he had taken the decision to resign to save the image of the government. "I arrived at this decision not as a matter of cowardice but as a sign demonstrating great respect to the office of the President," he said. Mohadi had been under pressure to resign from various quarters but had appeared to be keen on staying on in his position. "Hard as it may be to my family, friends and comrades, and cadres of my party, ZANU-PF, I am taking the decision to step down as the Vice President of Zimbabwe, to save the image of my government," he said. "My decision to relinquish the Vice President post is also a way of respecting the citizens of this great nation, my party comrades some of whom have been affected by the falsehoods and character assassination in the digital ecosystems," he said. Mohadi said he would be seeking justice on the matter. "My decision is also necessitated by my desire to seek clarity and justice on the matter in which my legal team will pursue and deconstruct this pseudo-paparazzi and flawed espionage to achieve cheap political points," he said. Mohadi served as Vice President from Dec. 28, 2017, following the removal of former President Robert Mugabe from power the previous month. .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... AUSTIN, Texas Texas is lifting its mask mandate, Gov. Greg Abbott said Tuesday, making it the largest state to no longer require one of the most effective ways to slow the spread of the coronavirus. The announcement in Texas, where the virus has killed more than 43,000 people, rattled doctors and big city leaders who said they are now bracing for another deadly resurgence. One hospital executive in Houston said he told his staff they would need more personnel and ventilators. Federal health officials this week urgently warned states to not let their guard down, warning that the pandemic is far from over. ADVERTISEMENTSkip ................................................................ Abbott, a Republican, has faced sustained criticism from his party in Americas biggest red state over the statewide mask mandate which was imposed eight months ago as well as business occupancy limits that Texas will also scuttle next week. The mask order was only ever lightly enforced, even during the worst outbreaks of the pandemic. Removing statewide mandates does not end personal responsibility, said Abbott, speaking from the crowded dining room of a restaurant in Lubbock, surrounded by several people not wearing masks. Its just that now state mandates are no longer needed, he said. The repeals take effect March 10. The full impact of Texas reversal was still coming into focus. Target, one of the nations biggest retailers, said it would continue requiring customers to wear masks in Texas. Mark Cuban, owner of the NBAs Dallas Mavericks, said he had no immediate plans to change the limits on fans at the American Airlines Center, where the biggest crowd so far this season was about 3,000 spectators. Restaurant owners began confronting whether they, too, would relax COVID-19 safeguards in their dining rooms that were already allowed to be almost fully open. School administrators scrambled to figure out the ramifications for the states 5 million public school students. Local officials will have some ability to impose new rules if cases spike, Abbott said, but those powers will be limited. While weve made significant progress, Id hate to have that go away, said Tinku Saini, the CEO of Tarka Indian Kitchen, which has locations across Texas. He said he would now allow customers to go maskless but still require face coverings for staff. At Bobs Steak & Chop House in Dallas, founder Bob Sambol welcomed the ability to make decisions for his own restaurant again, even though he has not decided what approach hell take. I have a week, thank God, Sambol said. Abbott joins a growing number of governors across the U.S. who are easing coronavirus restrictions. Like the rest of the country, Texas has seen the number of cases and deaths plunge. Hospitalizations are at the lowest levels since October, and the seven-day rolling average of positive tests has dropped to about 7,600 cases, down from more than 10,000 in mid-February. Only California and New York have reported more COVID-19 deaths than Texas. Absolutely reckless, California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, tweeted in response to Abbotts announcement. Texas is fully reopening just ahead of the spring break holiday, which health experts worry could lead to more spread. Abbotts rollbacks come just as the U.S. is picking up the pace of vaccinating people with victory over the virus in sight. In Texas, 7.1% of its nearly 30 million residents have been fully vaccinated, according to state data reported to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The fact that things are headed in the right direction doesnt mean we have succeeded in eradicating the risk, said Dr. Lauren Ancel Meyers, a professor of integrative biology and director of the University of Texas COVID-19 Modeling Consortium. She said the recent deadly winter freeze in Texas that left millions of people without power forcing families to shelter closely with others who still had heat could amplify transmission of the virus in the weeks ahead, although it remains too early to tell. Masks, she said, are one of the most effective strategies to curb the spread. The top county leader in Houston, Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo, said at best the reversal was wishful thinking. At worst, it is a cynical attempt to distract Texans from the failures of state oversight of our power grid, said Hidalgo, a Democrat. Dr. Joseph Varon, chief medical officer at Houstons United Memorial Medical Center, said he called the hospitals top leaders immediately after Abbotts announcement and said they will need more staff and ventilators. I am just concerned that I am going to have a tsunami of new cases, Varon said. I truly hope I am wrong. But unfortunately history seems to repeat itself. Early in the pandemic, Abbott stripped local officials of their power to implement tougher COVID-19 restrictions, but now says counties can impose mitigation strategies if virus hospitalizations exceed 15% of all hospital capacity in their region. However, Abbott forbade local officials from imposing penalties for not wearing a face covering. Retailers and other businesses will also still be allowed to impose capacity limits and other restrictions on their own. Abbott imposed the statewide mask mandate in July during a deadly summer surge. But enforcement was spotty at best, and some sheriffs refused to police the restrictions at all. And as the pandemic dragged on, Abbott ruled out a return to tough COVID-19 rules, arguing that lockdowns do not work. Politically, the restrictions elevated tensions between Abbott and his own party, with the head of the Texas GOP at one point leading a protest outside the governors mansion. Meanwhile, mayors in Texas biggest cities argued that Abbott wasnt doing enough. Most of the country has lived under mask mandates during the pandemic, with at least 37 states requiring face coverings to some degree. But those orders are increasingly falling by the wayside: North Dakota, Montana and Iowa have also lifted mask orders in recent weeks. In Texas, it was only last week that emergency restrictions on restaurants and businesses were relaxed in the Rio Grande Valley, which has been walloped by the virus like few other places in America. I appreciate Governor Abbotts desire to return to normalcy, but I remain concerned that, at least in Hidalgo County, we may be moving too quickly, Hidalgo County Judge Richard Cortez said. ___ Associated Press writers Nomaan Merchant and Juan A. Lozano in Houston; Jake Bleiberg, Schuyler Dixon and Terry Wallace in Dallas; and Jim Vertuno in Austin contributed to this report. ALTON The Madison County Health Department provided COVID-19 vaccinations to 350 residents Monday at LaMays Catering, 909 E. Broadway. It is so gratifying to know that 350 of our residents received their first vaccine shot today, said Pastor David Goins. And it is equally satisfying that another 200 individuals are already registered for Monday, March 8. Participants for the March 8 vaccinations will be contacted March 4-5 and assigned an appointment time. Three additional phone lines have been added to accommodate the heavy call volume for vaccine registration: 618-491-9340, 618-491-9920 and 618-491-0021. The phone lines will be open 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Wednesday of each week through Wednesday, March 17. When calling, people are asked to provide their name, age, date of birth, phone number, home address and email address. A representative of the team will follow-up to schedule an appointment. The second Pfizer vaccine appointment will be provided when individuals receive the first dosage. The dates of the second vaccine shots are March 22 and 29 and April 5. An appointment is required to receive the vaccine. Our Alton clergymen are doing an excellent job of encouraging our seniors 65 years and older to get the vaccine shots, particularly African Americans, said Jason Harrison, president of the Riverbend Ministerial Alliance and owner of LaMays Catering. Organizers of this event are pastors David Goins, Morning Star Baptist; Gregory Denton, Bread of Life Fellowship; Jason Harrison, Deliverance Temple; Michael Porter, Millennium Temple; Peter Hough, Alton Mission; Dave Burger, Community Christian Church; Mike Adams, Life House; and associate minister George Dickerson at Harvest Christian Fellowship. The truth behind the video of lions at Gir in the aftermath of cyclone Tauktae Fact check: Viral video of man being washed is from Colombia, not Andhra Pradesh Amidst IT rules row, old video of Twitter geo-tagging Ladakh as part of China surfaces UP: Three men bury Covid19 positive fathers body using JCB machine, video goes viral After photo goes viral, death row convict Shabnam shifted to district jail India oi-Vicky Nanjappa Bareilly, Mar 02: Death-row convict Shabnam was shifted to the district jail here on Monday after a photograph of her in another jail where she was lodged till now went viral on social media. The picture was apparently clicked on January 26 in Rampur. The incident was taken as a breach of security and violation of the jail manual. Bareilly jail superintendent P Singh confirmed that Shabnam, who may be the first woman to be hanged in India since Independence, had been shifted to the district jail. Delhi woman stabbed to death during robbery bid A photo of Shabnam in Rampur had gone viral on social media and the jail administration decided on shifting her in view of the security concerns, jail superintendent P D Salonia said. The Rampur jail authorities had conducted an inquiry in this connection and suspended two jail guards, Salonia said. Shabnam, who is from Babankhedi village of Amroha, had killed seven members of her family on the night of April 14-15, 2008, along with her lover Salim. Both have been awarded death sentences by the court. Shabnam was lodged in Rampur jail since July 2019. The President had rejected the mercy petition of Shabnam and Salim. Her counsel has filed a fresh mercy petition before Uttar Pradesh Governor Anandiben Patel. Farmers' Protest: Delhi's Ghazipur border partially opens for vehicular traffic| Oneindia News The jail superintendent said a death warrant for Shabnam's hanging was sought from the Amroha court, which refused it after being informed about the pendency of mercy petition. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 2) The Health Department is racing against time to contain the spread of the more transmissible COVID-19 variant first found in South Africa after six cases were confirmed in the country on Tuesday. Stopping its spread is crucial because several studies show that the B.1.351 variant has a mutation that renders some COVID-19 vaccines less effective in protecting against the coronavirus. "Meron siyang isang component o mutation na nakakaapekto sa vaccine efficacy, ang tinatawag nilang immune escape," Health Spokesperson Maria Rosario Vergeire said in a media briefing on Tuesday. [Translation: It has a component or mutation that affects vaccine efficacy. It's called immune escape.] She explained "immune escape" as the vaccine having trouble in helping the inoculated patient build antibodies to fight off the virus because of the presence of the E484K mutation. The variant could lower the efficacy and protection of some vaccines, she added. One of these vaccines is UK-made AstraZeneca, OCTA Research fellow Fr. Nic Austriaco told CNN Philippines' News.PH. He said AstraZeneca doses are only 10% effective against the South Africa variant. "If the South African variant spreads in the Philippines, then the 17 million doses of AstraZeneca that we are supposed to receive will actually be useless. It will be like injecting water," the researcher said. South African researchers believe this new variant is around 50% more contagious than the original COVID-19 strain. It has a different pattern of mutation that causes more physical alterations in the structure of the spike protein compared to the variant first found in the United Kingdom. Researchers said that the E484K mutation found in the South Africa variant appears to affect the receptor binding domain the part of the spike protein most important for attaching to cells. It could help the virus partly escape the effects of vaccines. This is the reason why the South Africa variant is more alarming than the UK variant. "Itong South African variant ay mas binabantayan. Kaya gusto natin, as much as possible, fast containment tayo nitong variant na ito so we can prevent further spread," said Vergeire. [Translation: We are monitoring the South Africa variant. We want to contain it fast, as much as possible, to prevent its further spread.] Sinovac, the only vaccine available in the Philippines, has not published data on how the South Africa variant affects its vaccine's efficacy. Vergeire said they will continue the rollout of CoronaVac since it can still offer protection. Austriaco also urged the public to take "whatever vaccine is offered" to prevent the spread of the more infectious variants which he called "Super COVID." "Whatever vaccine is offered to you receive it now especially because with the variant," he said. "When the super COVID variants are in the Philippines, we have to vaccinate as much as possible, as fast as possible." Of the six cases of this variant, three were local cases from Pasay City, two were returning overseas Filipinos, and one case is undergoing verification. Pasay Mayor Emi Calixto-Rubiano said the cases in their city are aged 21 to 40; one is a seaman staying in a transient house while the other two are residents who regularly travel for work. She added they have recovered, but were subjected to another swab test to be sure. One tested negative again, while the other two are awaiting their result. DOH stressed that travel restrictions and border controls are not the only way to stop its spread. Vergeire said they are removing some COVID-19 patients in Pasay from their homes to transfer them to quarantine facilities, adding enhanced contact and backtracing the source can also stop it from getting transmitted. "Everything is being considered pero kailangan natin maintindihan na hindi lang lockdown o closing of borders ang pwede masagawa para malimitahan ang pagkalat," the official said. [Translation: We need to understand that lockdowns or border restriction are not the only ways to limit its spread.] However, Austriaco said increasing mobility such as through easing restrictions in Metro Manila to Modified General Community Quarantine, will only worsen the situation and even hamper vaccination. He said there are some areas where MGCQ can be implemented, but the National Capital Region is not one of them. "Our concern is that Metro Manila we are seeing cases, especially concentrated in Pasay but also, in the northern cities...There are cases in Malabon, in Caloocan, and so we are worried these cases will spread if we increase mobility at this time," the OCTA fellow said. Vergeire added that there is a probability that the 160% hike in new COVID-19 cases in Pasay is linked to the recently-detected South Africa variant in the city, but more reviews need to be conducted. She also said it is too early to say if there is local transmission of the more contagious variant in the city. Only one barangay, Barangay 183, is under localized enhanced community quarantine, while 210 houses from 77 barangays are also locked down. We are not convinced compulsory treatment is used as a last resort, royal commission chair Penny Armytage told Parliament after the report was tabled. The royal commission also recommended the government act immediately to reduce the use of seclusion and restraint, with the aim to eliminate these practices within 10 years. Royal commission chair Penny Armytage says seclusion and restraint should be eliminated. Credit:Jason South We made the recommendation that seclusion and restraint should be eliminated from our system, Ms Armytage said. We thought long and hard about that, and we had many, many opportunities to discuss with the workforce why in Victoria it was used as frequently as it was. But we also talked to those who both had to administer it and those who were the recipients of it, and the harrowing impact that it had on their wellbeing, setting back their recovery, abusing and creating trauma for them throughout it. We believe theres got to be a better alternative. The royal commission called for the regulation of chemical restraint in a new Mental Health and Wellbeing Act. The government has committed to adopting all 65 recommendations in the report. Ms Birthisel, who told her story to the royal commission, said she was encouraged by a social worker to report an abusive ex-partner to the police when she was discharged from hospital. Unbeknownst to me, if youre on an order and you have contact with police, they take you back to the hospital. Ms Birthisel said she had her arms put behind her back, was searched and was then taken back to the hospital in a divvy van. And then they kept me in that time and forced medication on me as soon as I got in there. They said to me, [You] take this, and I said, Im not on any medication, so they got a huge needle and four of them pinned me down and said, Youre getting this if you dont have medication. It was an anti-psych. And this was in front of two police officers, who were shaking their head and saying, I dont think theres any need for you to restrain her, because I wasnt objecting or anything. It was out of this world. Mental health advocate Maggie Toko on Tuesday. Credit:Jason South Ms Birthisel said she and and her children were traumatised by her experiences with the mental health system. I wanted to speak up, because I know how fearful it is, a lot of people said to me, Dont do it. Victorian Mental Illness Awareness Council chief executive Maggie Toko has experience of being sectioned compulsorily committed to a psychiatric hospital. Loading She says she was once detained for three months after checking in to hospital as a voluntary patient for a week. I spent Christmas and New Years in hospital, she says. I was questioning, What do you mean I cant go home, it was the most bizarre thing. Ms Toko, who was given a diagnosis of psychosis, said nothing was explained. I knew before I got sectioned that I had human rights, and I didnt feel they were being respected, and I was right because they werent. She said eliminating seclusion and restraint and ensuring compulsory treatment was a last resort was so important because these practices took away peoples free will. You havent done anything wrong, you are put in shackles, tied to a bed and put in a room on your own at the most vulnerable time in your life. 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. Watertown, NY (13601) Today Rain showers early with bright sunshine by the afternoon. High 73F. Winds SW at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 50%.. Tonight Clear to partly cloudy. Low 54F. Winds SSW at 5 to 10 mph. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 2) A Department of Education official assured the public limited face-to-face classes can be implemented within one week once they are approved. "Within one week, all systems go na po tayo pagka-nabigyan tayo ng pahintulot na makapagsagawa ng limitadong face-to-face (classes)," DepEd Undersecretary Diosdado San Antonio told CNN Philippines Newsroom Ngayon on Tuesday. [Translation: Within one week, we're all systems go once we are given the permission to implement limited face-to-face classes.] San Antonio said these will only be implemented in areas with low COVID-19 cases and if there is support from parents and local authorities. He added that preparations are ongoing in case they are given the go signal and that they are ready to present them in a Senate inquiry on Wednesday. He also said they welcome the suggestion of Senator Win Gatchalian to form a panel of experts that will guide pilot testing of the rollout of limited face-to-face classes in low-risk areas. Senators have adopted a resolution calling on the DepEd to immediately pursue pilot testing of classroom-based learning, saying many students from poor families are not able to keep up with distance learning. This will allow the agency to come up with rules for safe reopening of schools under the new normal, they added. DepEds proposal to resume face-to-face classes has been rejected twice by President Rodrigo Dutertefirst in December, then in February due to local cases of the more contagious UK COVID-19 variant. Better normal in education San Antonio mentioned some of the new protocols to be implemented in schools once physical attendance is implemented again, including temperature scanning prior to entry to the school and a maximum of 20 students per class. Students should also wear face masks and face shields, with sanitizing materials like alcohol readily on hand. Other existing protocols set by the national task force will also be implemented, he said. The education official said physical classes may be implemented in 1,000 schools across the country but will still be mixed with distance learning. Students whose parents choose to opt out of the program will not be forced to join, he added. Meanwhile, San Antonio clarified the department has yet to finalize the duration of the summer break for this school year, but he said it will last more than a month. DepEd has also proposed an academic ease to allow students having a hard time coping with school work to catch up before moving on to the third quarter. He noted that more than 90% of students passed the first quarter examinations based on data from the regions. The agency also issued Department Order no. 012, series of 2021, which moves the last day of classes from June 11 to July 10, 2021 "to allow schools to implement intensive intervention and remediation activities for learners and to give time to teachers for the different learning delivery modalities." All public elementary and secondary schools are instructed to implement the adjustment, while private schools, technical and vocational, and higher education institutions are encouraged to implement the guidelines. CNN Philippines correspondent Melissa Lopez contributed to this report. Teachers at the Walgett Community College in northwestern New South Wales (NSW) walked off the job in protest at significant staffing issues last week. Currently, 11 out of 21 teaching positions remain unfilled at the school, creating intolerable conditions for staff and students. The walkout is a sign of deepening discontent among teachers across the state and nationally. The Walgett teachers held a meeting before school last Wednesday and resolved to down tools at the commencement of classes. They returned to work after 20 minutes. Walgett teachers during the walkout (Credit: NSW Teachers Federation, Facebook) Major teacher shortages are being reported throughout NSW. At the beginning of this school year, 1,250 permanent positions remain unfilled, on top of unfilled temporary and casual teacher vacancies. These shortages, caused by years of public education under-funding by both Labor and Liberal-National governments, have created a disaster that is impacting on the ability of schools, towns and regions to function. Walgett is a remote rural town with a population of 2,145, about 70 percent of whom are Aboriginal. The district around the town, Walgett Shire, has a population of around 6,000. Walgetts pre-school, primary and high schools were re-structured in 2003 into the Walgett Community College (WCC), with 124 enrolments reported on the school website this year. The high school campus offers two trade training centres that deliver courses in hospitality, metal and engineering, and construction. It also runs a range of programs, as part of a government Connected Communities strategy to try to strengthen the educational outcomes for Aboriginal students. Walgett has significant social problems, with few jobs and high numbers of vulnerable children. During the COVID-19 pandemic, unemployment has exploded in the north-west region of NSW, going from an average of 2.5 percent in the two years prior to November 2020 to 9.5 percent in December 2020 and 8.9 percent in January 2021. Methamphetamine (ice) addiction is rife. Walgett and nearby Coonamble have recorded rates of non-domestic assault higher than 1,000 per 100,000 peoplemore than double the state average. The WCC has had a troubled past, with a frequent turnover of principals. Currently only 11 percent of students attend the school more than 90 percent of the time. A number of violent incidents have placed staff in physical danger. According to a Sydney Morning Herald report late last year, a student put a speaker cable around a teachers neck and threatened to kill him, and a pregnant teacher recently had to stop a fight involving a knife. The week before the walkout, the teachers had appealed to the Education Department, saying that inadequate staffing made the school unsafe and left them unable to deliver the curriculum adequately. In addition, staff shortages have forced the merging of classes. The merger of the intellectually mild class and the behaviour disorder class was of particular concern because it created the potential for unmanageable situations to arise. Since 2012, as a consequence of the discredited Local Schools, Local Decisions policy (LSLD), the Education Departments staffing unit has been significantly cut back, with the responsibility for staffing foisted onto individual principals. LSLD also undermined the statewide transfer system, seriously affecting many hard-to-staff schools, especially in rural and remote communities. The LSLD autonomy model eliminated 800 curriculum support positions in the departments central office and devolved many financial decisions to school principals. Thousands of permanent teaching positions were replaced by casual and temporary appointments as cost-cutting measures. LSLD also tied teachers pay rises to meeting standardsa step toward pay for student performance. Teachers opposed the introduction of LSLD, with 50,000 defying a strike ban in 2012 to protest against it, but that action was betrayed by the NSW Teachers Federation (NSWTF). As part of the LSLD program, teacher dismissal procedures were fast-tracked, assisted by a call by the trade union for a special task force to facilitate the removal of so-called underperforming teachers. This year the state Liberal-National Party government has replaced LSLD with a School Success Model that aims to further cut costs. With student enrolments forecast to grow by 20 percent over the next 15 years, and 25 percent over the next 20 years, the teacher shortage crisis is set to worsen. The gutting of funding and services support is driving schools, teachers and communities to the breaking point. The recently released findings of the Gallop Inquiry, initiated by the NSWTF, revealed that while the dedication and commitment of teachers remained high, there had been profound changes in the volume and complexity of their work, leading to unsustainable workloads. Principals are working, on average, 62 hours a week while teachers are working 55 hours a week, attempting to meet the needs of students while dealing with the education departments increasing compliance and administration burden. One teacher from rural NSW told the WSWS: The conditions that teachers and students face in schools all over rural NSW are difficult. The social crises in these areas are marked by historic levels of unemployment and underemployment. Drug and alcohol issues, crime and mental health issues all impact the youth in the most distressing ways imaginable. These young people, among the most vulnerable in the country, are then placed into the care of schools that are underfunded, and drastically understaffed, all but ensuring that these difficult conditions remain. The teachers who make their way into these areas, who are very often beginning teachers, find themselves bearing the full weight of the social crisis without access to the specialist support that these young people require. Growing teacher frustration and anger is being expressed in walkouts like those at Walgett, and at the Murrumbidgee Regional High School in Griffith last December over unbearable workloads and other chronic problems resulting from a merger. Recently a teacher posted on the NSWTF Facebook page saying: We need help now. I have never felt so overwhelmed at this time of year. Everyone I have spoken to feels the same. I already have parents going off, staff losing it and kids being totally disrespectful it is only week 5 swamped with admin, problem children, not enough time to actually enjoy time with my year 4s along with PAT testing, programming etc it is simply too much. It needs fixing now. Teachers should put no faith in the trade unions to lead any struggle to defend educators. The NSWTF is feigning support for some school walkouts, while keeping them confined to short protests as a means of letting off steam. The unions, including the NSWTF, have enforced the cost-cutting agendas of governments for decades. They called off the teachers boycott of the federal Labor governments NAPLAN testing regime in 2010, and entered into negotiations with the state Liberal-National government to police the LSLD measures in 2012. They were cheerleaders for the pro-business Gonski agenda, which poured funds into wealthy private schools, and worked closely with the education department on the School Success Model. The Committee for Public Education (CFPE) urges teachers to learn the lessons of these betrayals, and establish their own independent rank-and-file committees. Their task would be to coordinate an industrial and political campaign aimed at ensuring adequate staffing, well-paid, full-time jobs and decent conditions for students and staff. Above all, the ongoing assault on public schools underscores the need for a new, socialist perspective that rejects the subordination of education, and every other social need, to the profit demands of big business. The Committee for Public Education (CFPE), which fights for this perspective, can be contacted at: Email: cfpe.aus@gmail.com Facebook: www.facebook.com/commforpubliceducation Twitter: @CFPE_Australia The military takeover of Myanmar is unfortunate, and demands condemnation and opposition, but nothing further. No significant U.S. foreign policy interests are involved. No military threat to other nations is in evidence, or on the horizon. Killing protesters highlights, but does not alter, the fundamental situation. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 2) An official from the World Health Organization on Tuesday expressed optimism that Filipinos confidence and acceptance of COVID-19 vaccines will increase once more information on the products come in. This comes amid hesitancy on the part of some citizens to get inoculated against the virus. The issue right now is there is a lot of unknown information to the public and with that you would expect that the public is reluctant in some places to accept vaccines, WHO country representative Dr. Rabindra Abeyasinghe said in an interview with CNN Philippines The Source. But as we begin to find out more information and as we share information from other countries that are using the vaccination programs, we are confident that public perception will change and the acceptance of vaccines will increase, he added. Abeyasinghe noted that skepticism on vaccination is also common in other nations, especially with the absence of essential facts. But as more and more people are vaccinated and they dont see any adverse effects, the acceptance of vaccines increases," he pointed out. "So we are optimistic that we will see a similar picture in the Philippines." The Philippines kicked off its historic inoculation drive against COVID-19 on Monday, with doses of the China-donated Sinovac vaccine administered to pandemic frontliners and other personnel. However, not all sectors were receptive to the particular vaccine brand after concerns were raised on its efficacy rate, reported at around 50.4% after late-stage trials in Brazil. Heath experts who got inoculated during the first day of the program encouraged their fellow frontliners to get the vaccine that is available now, citing the huge impact it would have in preventing more deaths. The sentiment was echoed by task force officials, including vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr. and Health Secretary Francisco Duque III, who stressed that vaccination is the key to getting back our pre-pandemic life. Bloomberg photo by Luke MacGregor Steve Bannon already avoided criminal prosecution for fraud with a last-minute pardon by President Donald Trump, but he's still pushing for a judge to dismiss the charges because they're mucking up the title to property he owns in the chic seaside enclave of Laguna Beach, Calif., records show. As a condition of bail after Bannon was charged in August, a $1.75 million lien was placed against the Laguna Beach home, according to a Feb. 18 letter his lawyer sent privately to U.S. District Judge Analisa Torres in New York. It was filed publicly as part of the case on Tuesday. The government's top infectious-disease expert on Monday reiterated that the United States will stick to a plan to inoculate tens of millions of Americans with two doses of coronavirus vaccine, as calls mount to protect more people by letting them get one shot now. "There's risks on either side," Anthony Fauci told The Washington Post, warning that shifting to a single-dose strategy for the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines could leave people less protected, enablevariants to spread and possibly boost skepticism among Americans already hesitant to get the shots. "We're telling people [two shots] is what you should do . . . and then we say, 'Oops, we changed our mind'?" Fauci said. "I think that would be a messaging challenge, to say the least." Fauci said he spoke on Monday with health officials in the United Kingdom, who have opted to delay second doses to maximize giving more people shots more quickly. He said that although he understands the strategy, it wouldn't make sense in America. "We both agreed that both of our approaches were quite reasonable," Fauci said. Some public health experts and other Americans have urged policymakers to reconsider whether millions of doses intended as second shots in Pfizer's and Moderna's two-dose regimen could be distributed as first doses instead - to offer at least some protection to a greater number of people. The issue gained steam after regulators this weekend authorized a single-dose shot from Johnson & Johnson, and an advisory committee to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Monday wrestled with the question. Two Democratic senators on Monday also called for the Biden administration to inoculate Americans with a single dose to ensure more people get some protection before a possible spring surge of cases. "Based on conversations with health officials, we believe this approach is worthy of serious consideration," Sens. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., and Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., wrote to Jeff Zients, the White House coronavirus coordinator, in a letter shared with The Post. About 80% of adults have yet to get a single dose, according to CDC data. Fauci said the science doesn't support delaying a second dose for those vaccines, citing research that a two-shot regimen creates enough protection to help fend off variants of the coronavirus that are more transmissible, whereas a single shot could leave Americans at risk from variants such as the one first detected in South Africa. He also said there is insufficient evidence of the benefit of a single Pfizer or Moderna dose - or data showing how long the immunity conferred by one shot would last. "You don't know how durable that protection is," he said. Fauci argued that Pfizer and Moderna's commitment to provide 220 million total doses by the end of March, in addition to Johnson & Johnson's pledge to deliver 20 million shots this month, renders moot any debate about whether to redirect vaccine supply. "Very quickly the gap between supply and demand is going to be diminished and then overcome in this country," he said. "The rationale for a single dose - and use all your doses for the single dose - is when you have a very severe gap between supply and demand." Meanwhile, Fauci said he spoke on Monday with Chris Whitty, the British government's chief medical adviser, to discuss the U.K.'s strategy to prioritize first doses and delay second doses. The dialogue was part of a standing weekly call between the two nations' experts. In an inversion of the debate in the United States, British doctors have complained that the U.K. was wrong to delay second doses. "We had a really good conversation this morning," Fauci said, noting that officials on both sides of the Atlantic acknowledged that delaying second doses posed challenges. "We agreed that there is a risk of making things worse by doing that - balanced against the risk of not getting as many people vaccinated as quickly as you can." "There's no right answer to that, and when there's no right answer . . . we want to go with what is scientifically, absolutely correct," Fauci added. "We know that when you give people two doses, not only are they protected to a higher degree, but they have such a redundancy of antibody that you can protect them against even the worst variants." Fauci acknowledged that the United States repeatedly has shifted strategy during the pandemic - including his own reversal on whether Americans should wear face coverings - but said that the stakes are higher when it comes to communicating about vaccines. "People are very skeptical on vaccines, particularly when the government is involved," he said. By Melanie Burton MELBOURNE (Reuters) - Rio Tinto, the world's biggest iron ore miner, said on Wednesday its chairman would step down next year to take responsibility for the destruction of ancient rock shelters, the latest in a string of high-profile departures over the blasts. Simon Thompson will step down after next year's annual general meetings, while non-executive director Michael L'Estrange, who led the review into the company's handling of the incident, will retire in May. "I am ultimately accountable for the failings that led to this tragic event," Thompson said in a statement. Last year's destruction of the 46,000-year-old Juukan Gorge rock shelters in Western Australia for an iron ore mine sparked a massive public and investor uproar. It remains to be seen, however, whether the latest departures will allow the company to draw a line in the sand over the saga, with some investors suggesting that more heads may have to roll. "Other Rio Tinto directors who enabled the unhappy regime of the past few years, or who have made excuses for it, are encouraged to reflect on whether their continuing presence on the board is truly in the interest of the company and its shareholders," said James Fitzgerald, a lawyer with activist investor the Australasian Centre for Corporate Responsibility. In addition to Thompson and L'Estrange, former CEO Jean-Sebastien Jacques is due to leave the company at the end of this month. He has been replaced by Jakob Stausholm who was chief financial officer. Two senior executives, who were in charge of the iron ore division and corporate relations, the unit responsible for dealing with Indigenous communities, also left last year. Rio invited further outrage last month when it revealed that Jacques and the two senior executives had all finished 2020 with substantial payouts. Jacques received total remuneration of 13.3 million pounds ($18.6 million) under Australian accounting rules, up from 7.1 million pounds a year earlier. Story continues Thompson and L'Estrange had faced pressure to leave after what was seen as the board's mishandling of an investigation into the destruction that found no single person accountable. Thompson came under more pressure last month after elders of the Puutu Kunti Kurrama and Pinikura people accused him of breaking a personal promise that Ian Vella, who had been leading reconciliation efforts, would not change jobs until ties had been repaired. Independent directors Sam Laidlaw and Simon McKeon will lead the search for the new chairperson, Rio said. National Native Title Council Chief Executive Jamie Lowe welcomed the latest departures at Rio and said there was a dire need for a senior leadership position within the company to be held by an Indigenous person. He also said it was paramount that there also be significant law reform in Western Australia, which had approved the blasts. "Without this, it doesnt matter how many leadership changes we see within the mining sector. To adequately manage and protect our cultural heritage, the buck stops with government," he said. (Reporting by Melanie Burton in Melbourne; Additional reporting by Shashwat Awasthi in Bengaluru; Editing by Richard Pullin and Edwina Gibbs) Customers at a restaurant in Valencia on Monday. Monica Torres In Spain, a debate continues to rage over the kind of economic aid that should be provided to the industries hardest hit by the coronavirus crisis. Distressed businesses have been demanding direct aid to compensate for the drop in revenue, but so far the government has been offering assistance in the form of state-guaranteed loans, tax breaks, Social Security payment deferrals and other types of indirect relief. Last week the Spanish government, run by a center-left coalition of the Socialist Party (PSOE) and junior partner Unidas Podemos, announced a new 11 billion package for the hospitality industry that comes on top of several other aid programs rolled out in recent months. We need aid now, not financing for next year Pedro Campo, Spanish Retail Confederation This latest announcement has been received with equal doses of skepticism and excitement. In late 2020, several other rescue plans were announced with great fanfare, only to fall short. And the rush to publicize them created high expectations that the reality of Spains public accounts could not meet. It could be the same story all over again now. This is the third plan to support the tourism sector, and so far they have all been insufficient. If the 11 billion is not mostly made up of direct aid to help with immediate cash flow, it will be very hard to prevent many businesses from going under, warned Jose Luis Zoreda, vice-president of the tourism association Exceltur. This group estimated that the tourism sector will need slightly over 5.3 billion over the next six months. The retail sector, as well as the food service industry, have also done the math and they are requesting 12.5 billion in direct transfers. The government said it will disclose details about the plan later this month, but so far, everything seems to indicate that the new relief package will focus on helping small and medium businesses (SMEs) reinforce their solvency through measures that do not include direct money transfers. The executive is insisting that it is up to regional authorities to provide direct assistance, using the money provided to them by the central government as well as their share of a European recovery fund. At the end of their rope A demonstration by hospitality workers protesting coronavirus restrictions in Castilla-La Mancha last month. Ismael Herrero / EFE But tourism, hospitality and retail business associations warn that regional support alone will not be enough to compensate for the tremendous blow delivered by the crisis. One year later, many companies that were once viable have accumulated excessive debt just as the Bank of Spain warned. In these cases, even if a business does not go bankrupt, it may spend years trying to pay back this debt, making no investment and cutting jobs. Retail businesses are at the end of their rope, but not because of financing problems, its because of liquidity problems. There is no consumption, no revenue, the restrictions are still in place and the fixed expenses need to be paid each month, noted Pedro Campo, president of the Spanish Retail Confederation. That is why we need aid now, not financing for next year. Last year the government managed to prevent massive job and business destruction through the ERTE job retention scheme and ICO state bank credit lines. But the European Commission has already warned that the country faces a surge in corporate insolvencies when government support measures are phased out. And in early February, the European Central Bank noted that Spain was the country that spent the least in 2020 to help its business fabric. The pressure to come up with new forms of support is most evident in parts of Spain that are more reliant on tourism, which plummeted to historical lows last year. In areas such as the Canary Islands, the Balearic Islands or the Valencia region, businesses are crying out for direct aid to counter the effects of restrictions that have kept them partly or entirely closed for weeks and months at a time. Money for the regions Last year, regional authorities received their usual annual transfers from Madrid, plus a series of additional amounts to deal with the effects of the pandemic. This year, regional governments will have access to around 140 billion through a combination of funds and a bigger deficit margin. In 2021 and 2022 they will also be able to tap into 8 billion from the European React-EU fund, aimed at strengthening healthcare, education and social services, but also available to reactivate the economy. The central government wants regional officials to use these resources to provide their own direct aid to struggling businesses. Economy Minister Nadia Calvino said last week that regions will use around 2 billion from this European fund to help companies in distress. Castilla-La Mancha will use around 155 million of the React-EU fund to make transfers to SMEs and self-employed workers. And Extremadura plans to spend between 50 and 60 million of its 187 million assignment to aid the most affected sectors of its economy. But regional officials from both the PSOE and the conservative Popular Party (PP) are unhappy about having all the pressure for direct aid fall to them. The React-EU money has not been shared out based on the importance and drop in tourism revenues. The criteria are not well adjusted in order for us to provide that kind of support. Its a dramatic situation for us, said a tourism chief of a Spanish region that depends heavily on this sector. The government rushed to offer very high relief package figures from the beginning of the pandemic. But it did not stop to think about how efficient they would be, said Javier Fernandez-Lasquetty, the head of finance in the Madrid region, which is run by the PP. It wasnt thinking about businesses bottom line but about its own partys popularity in the polls. English version by Susana Urra. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. In the next phase of the vaccine war against Corona, people above 60 years of age will be able to get the Corona vaccine. The direct objective of this campaign is to make the corona vaccine available to more people in less time. To get vaccinated, first sign up for the CoWIN 2.0 service. Another phase of vaccination has started across the country. Prime Minister Narendra Modi (PM Modi) had taken the first dose of the vaccine. PM Modi arrived at Delhi AIIMS early in the morning and got the first dose of vaccine, as well as advising his countrymen to do so. Also, Union home minister Amit Shah took the first dose of covid vaccine. Doctors from the Medanta hospital administrated the vaccine to Amit Shah. Nitish Kumar, the Chief Minister of Bihar, and Naveen Patnaik, the Chief Minister of Odisha, also got the dose of the COVID-19 vaccine as the nationwide inoculation campaign started. According to the Union Health Ministry, more than 80 lakh citizens have received the Corona Vaccine throughout the world as of February 13th. On the other hand, 7,668 individuals and more than 7,000 health workers were vaccinated on the first day of the second dose. #LargestVaccineDrive More than 8 million Beneficiaries Vaccinated against #COVID19; 84,807 beneficiaries vaccinated till 6 pm today. Country starts Second dose of COVID-19 Vaccine from today; 7,668 HCWs received 2nd dose on the first day.https://t.co/aFpKl7fLvB pic.twitter.com/LcYdLu4n4w Ministry of Health (@MoHFW_INDIA) February 13, 2021 In the next phase of the vaccine war against Corona, people above 60 years of age or those over 45 years of age suffering from different diseases will be able to get the Corona vaccine. To get vaccinated, they must first sign up for the CoWIN 2.0 service. In this respect, the government has released a user manual for registration and nomination. The government has done excellent work on the ground in preventing the spread of the virus in our country and has given precautionary guidance to the people to protect it, the central government said in the introduction to the user manual. Also Read: Chinese hackers attack Indian vaccine makers; SII, Bharat Biotech on target The government has announced that the CoWIN 2.0 portal will open for registration at 9 a.m. For more information, go to cowin.gov.in. More than 10,000 private hospitals have been listed as vaccination centers under government schemes such as Ayushman Bharat PMJAY, CGHS, and other private hospitals. A fee of Rs 250 per dose of the Covid-19 vaccine will be able to be charged by private hospitals. The second vaccination phase will last for six weeks. The central government has established 20 dangerous diseases that affect people aged 45 to 59, and only those in this age range will be able to get the vaccine. The government has announced that the COVID-19 vaccine will be given free of charge in government clinics, although private facilities will be paid. Beneficiaries who are eligible can choose their preferred center and schedule an appointment based on available slots. Bihar: Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad receives the first dose of COVID19 vaccine at AIIMS Patna pic.twitter.com/vJ68r4ugGN ANI (@ANI) March 2, 2021 Karnataka Minister KS Eshwarappa takes his first dose of the #COVID19 vaccine at Government Ayurvedic Medical College & Hospital in Shivamogga. pic.twitter.com/9BGIMMIg24 ANI (@ANI) March 2, 2021 Prime Minister Narendra Modi by taking the COVID19 vaccine yesterday has given a clear message that we must take the vaccination drive ahead: BJP President JP Nadda in Jaipur, Rajasthan pic.twitter.com/gnIrDJ2PpP ANI (@ANI) March 2, 2021 Also Read: India, Maldives and Sri Lanka trilateral secretariat established: A leap in Maritime Cooperation Andrew Cuomo could be ordered to testify under oath in his sexual harassment inquiry after the New York Attorney General was handed full subpoena power. Independently elected Letitia James will now pick an outside law firm to investigate allegations against the governor. Those outside investigators could also compel other witnesses to speak and request documents, including emails and text messages. Calls for Cuomo's resignation intensified Tuesday after six socialist state lawmakers issued a statement saying he 'uses his power to belittle, bully and harass his employees and colleagues'. The state legislators called for impeachment proceedings. New York City Councilman Antonio Reynoso tweeted: 'The pattern of sexual harassment and predatory behavior by Governor Cuomo is unacceptable, and I believe the women coming forward. Governor Cuomo must resign.' It all comes after two former aides accused Cuomo of making inappropriate remarks to them; one says he forcibly kissed her. A third woman then said Monday he touched her face and back and asked to kiss her after they met at a wedding. Cuomo has maintained he had never inappropriately touched or propositioned anyone. He tried to play down the claims in a statement on Sunday, apologizing to the women but insisting they misinterpreted what he considers to be joking. The harassment allegations come on the heels of accusations the governor covered up the true death COVID-19 death toll in nursing homes. NY State Attorney General Letitia James said she would release the findings of the investigation once it was complete. She has been handed full subpoena power Andrew Cuomo could be ordered to testify under oath in his sexual harassment inquiry Six state lawmakers issued a statement saying he 'uses his power to belittle, bully and harass his employees and colleagues'. The socialist state legislators called for impeachment proceedings to begin CUOMO'S ACCUSERS Anna Ruch told The New York Times late Monday that she removed the Democratic governor's hand from her back, but he said she seemed 'aggressive,' promptly put his hands on her face and asked if he could kiss her. 'I was so confused and shocked and embarrassed,' Ruch, now 33, told the Times, which published a photo of the encounter showing the governor's hands on her face. 'I turned my head away and didn't have words in that moment.' The account from Ruch, who worked as a photographer at the White House during President Barack Obama's second term, made her the second woman to accuse Cuomo of touching her without permission. Former aide, Charlotte Bennett, had already said Cuomo quizzed her about her sex life and asked whether she would be open to a relationship with an older man. She said Cuomo told her he was lonely and looking for a girlfriend. Former aide Lindsey Boylan said Cuomo made inappropriate comments about her appearance, kissed her without her consent at the end of a meeting and once suggested they play strip poker while aboard his state-owned jet. Boylan, who is running for Manhattan borough president, first accused Cuomo in a tweet last December and elaborated on the allegations in a Medium post last week. Reporting by The Associated Press Advertisement AG James received a letter Monday from Cuomo's office authorizing her to take charge of the probe after a weekend of wrangling over who should investigate. The letter enables James, also a Democrat, to deputize an outside law firm to conduct an inquiry with full subpoena power. The findings will be disclosed in a public report, the letter said. A timeline for the investigation is unclear. The independent law firm carrying out the report had not been named by James as of Tuesday. Cuomo's office say they 'voluntarily cooperate fully' with the investigation into the sexual harassment allegations. Lawyer Kevin Mintzer told The New York Times: 'Before they question the governor an event of obvious significance they will be well prepared with what the documents and other people have said.' State Senator Michael Gianaris said: 'We'll wait for the report, but I do believe that something needs to be done ultimately and whether or not the governor can continue is an open question.' State Senator Todd Kaminsky added: 'I think Letitia James is independent, but the way the structure is set up, it's hard to retain independence when you have to report to the governor and the governor is involved with the finances. 'It's especially perverse when it is the governor himself who is under the microscope.' At first, Cuomo had wanted to run his own investigation into the allegations but James shot it down, insisting that his office refer it to her. On Monday, his office completed the referral process and she is now legally able to appoint a third party to investigate it. In a statement on Monday afternoon, she said: 'Today, the executive chamber transmitted a referral letter to our office, providing us the authority to move forward with an independent investigation into allegations of sexual harassment claims made against Governor Cuomo. 'This is not a responsibility we take lightly as allegations of sexual harassment should always be taken seriously. As the letter states, at the close of the review, the findings will be disclosed in a public report.' The letter authorizing James' investigation said that all state employees have been directed to cooperate fully with the review. Cuomo senior adviser Beth Garvey said she would facilitate interviews with witness and requests for documents from Cuomo's office. Ross Garber, a lawyer who has represented former governors Mark Sanford of South Carolina and John Rowland of Connecticut, said Cuomo is 'essentially handing his reputation to an outsider and saying, 'Have at it. Go find whatever you want and publish a report to the public about whatever it is you've concluded that I've done or not done.' Initially, Cuomo appeared wanting to retain a level of control over the investigation. His office said it was asking a former federal judge, Barbara Jones, to conduct the probe. Then, his office suggested that the attorney general and the state's top judge work together to appoint outside counsel. Finally, on Sunday, Cuomo acquiesced to James' demands that she take control. Cuomo has now hired white-collar defense lawyer Elkan Abramowitz to help him through the sexual harassment probe and through a separate investigation into his administration's alleged cover-up of the true number of nursing home deaths due to COVID-19. Cuomo has now hired white-collar defense lawyer Elkan Abramowitz to help him through the sexual harassment probe and through a separate investigation into his administration's alleged cover-up of the true number of nursing home deaths due to COVID-19 Ambramowitz confirmed that he'd been brought on to The Wall Street Journal on Monday. Charlotte Bennett, 25, has claimed that Cuomo had asked her inappropriate questions about her sex life, including whether she ever had sex with older men, when she was working for him last June. Cuomo responded to Bennett's allegations, which were first made public on Saturday, saying he never made advances toward her and never intended to be inappropriate. 'The last thing I would ever have wanted was to make her feel any of the things that are being reported,' he said of Bennett, who had worked as a health policy adviser in Cuomo's administration until last November. Cuomo said he had only intended to be a mentor for Bennett. Bennett on Monday issued a statement to the New York Times in which she accused the Democratic governor of refusing to take responsibility for his behavior and wielding his power to avoid justice. 'As we know, abusers - particularly those with tremendous amounts of power - are often repeat offenders who engage in manipulative tactics to diminish allegations, blame victims, deny wrongdoing and escape consequences,' Bennett said in her first statement since her accusations were made public. 'It took the governor 24 hours and significant backlash to allow for a truly independent investigation. 'These are not the actions of someone who simply feels misunderstood; they are the actions of an individual who wields his power to avoid justice.' Separately, her attorney Debra S. Katz said: 'He was not acting as a mentor and his remarks were not misunderstood by Ms Bennett. 'He was abusing his power over her for sex. This is textbook sexual harassment.' Her claims followed those of former aide Lindsey Boylan. She said Cuomo made inappropriate comments about her appearance, kissed her without her consent at the end of a meeting and once suggested they play strip poker while aboard his state-owned jet. Boylan, who is running for Manhattan borough president, first accused Cuomo in a tweet last December and elaborated on the allegations in a Medium post last week. The on Monday a third woman, Anna Ruch, told The New York Times late Monday that she removed the Democratic governor's hand from her back, but he said she seemed 'aggressive,' promptly put his hands on her face and asked if he could kiss her. 'I was so confused and shocked and embarrassed,' Ruch, now 33, told the Times, which published a photo of the encounter showing the governor's hands on her face. 'I turned my head away and didn't have words in that moment.' Boylan tweeted Monday about Ruch's experience with the governor, saying, 'This doesn't make me feel validated. It makes me feel sick.' Charlotte Bennett (left) told the New York Times the governor asked her questions about her sex life, whether she had monogamous relationships and if she ever had sex with older men all during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. Lindsey Boylan (right) elaborated on accusations she first made in December, saying Cuomo had subjected her to an unwanted kiss and made inappropriate comments about her appearance Anna Ruch, now 33, met Andrew Cuomo at her friends' wedding in September 2019. He was photographed cupping her face Cuomo has now been described as a pariah by political donors. Far from the pandemic hero he became last April, when some said he offered the leadership that the country was lacking, now no one wants to stand behind him while the issues of the nursing homes and the sexual harassment claims linger, one source said. 'No one is giving to him now. Everything is on hold,' a finance executive told CNBC on Monday. 'I think people who like him and have been with him for a long time are scratching their heads asking, how did he put himself in that position. 'Unless he comes forward and faces it completely and openly and honestly, he doesn't deserve a fourth term, even though I like him immensely,' Bernard Schwartz, a New York businessman who has supported Cuomo for years, added. Earlier on Monday, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said he was 'sickened' by the allegations and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called them 'credible'. De Blasio was particularly angry that Cuomo had tried to play down the allegations by saying the women misinterpreted a joke of his. 'That's not an apology. He seemed to be saying I was just kidding around. Sexual harassment's just not funny. It's serious. It has to be taken seriously. New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio on Monday said Gov. Cuomo's apology was 'not an apology' and that he'd tried to reduce the women's 'terrifying' claims by claiming he was joking 'Clearly he was just letting himself off the hook for something that for the women involved, sounded pretty terrifying. We need a full investigation. We need the whole truth of what happened.' He then went on: 'We need to make sure it never happens again and we need to look at the nursing home issue. 'We cannot just look at one or the other - we need a full investigation into the nursing home issue, where thousands of people died. Information was covered up on purpose. 'And we still don't know if our seniors are safe, our elders. 'We have not got a full accounting of the facts. Both these issues need to be looked in to.' Asked if Cuomo should resign over the claims, de Blasio said: 'What we can say here is we've got two women who worked for him... 'Anything like that, if someone purposefully tried to use their power to force a woman to have sex with them? 'Of course that's someone who should no longer be in public service.' De Blasio also went on New York City radio station Hot 97 to say the allegations 'sickened him. 'It sickened me, it sickened me. 'The thought of a powerful man trying to take advantage of his power, intimidate a young woman and just the sense that he was treating her like again these are allegations and we need a full investigation but if that was what truly happened it was like he was treating her like she was his property. 'Just disgusting, creepy.' Secretary of Education nominee Miguel Cardona testifies during his confirmation hearing before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington on Feb. 3, 2021. (Susan Walsh/Pool/Getty Images) Senate Confirms Cardona as Bidens Education Secretary The Senate voted Monday to confirm Miguel Cardona as education secretary, clearing his way to lead President Joe Bidens effort to reopen the nations schools amid the coronavirus pandemic. Cardona, 45, a former public school teacher who went on to become Connecticuts education chief, was approved on a 64-33 vote. He takes charge of the Education Department amid mounting tension between Americans who believe students can safely return to the classroom now, and others who say the risks are still too great. Although his position carries limited authority to force schools to reopen, Cardona will be asked to play a central role in achieving Bidens goal to have a majority of elementary schools open five days a week within his first 100 days. He will be tasked with guiding schools through the reopening process, and sharing best practices on how to teach during a pandemic. Miguel Cardona speaks during an event announcing his nomination at The Queen in Wilmington, Del., on Dec. 23, 2020. (Nicholas Kamm/AFP via Getty Images) The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention last month released a road map for getting students back into classrooms safely. The agency said masks, social distancing and other strategies should be used, but vaccination of teachers was not a prerequisite for reopening. Cardona, who gained attention for his efforts to reopen schools in Connecticut, has vowed to make it his top priority to reopen schools. At his Senate confirmation hearing last month, he said there are great examples throughout our country of schools that have been able to reopen safely. The debate has become a political firestorm for Biden, who is caught between competing interests as he aims to get students into the classroom without provoking the powerful teachers unions that helped put him in the White House. He says his goal of returning students to the classroom is possible if Congress approves his relief plan, which includes $130 billion for the nations schools. Republicans have rebuked Biden for failing to reopen schools faster, while teachers unions opposed the administrations decision to continue with federally required standardized tests during the pandemic. (HealthDay)Black and Hispanic Americans already face higher risks for dementia than the general population. Many also believe they'd get worse dementia care compared to white patients, according to a new Alzheimer's Association special report. Older Black Americans are about twice as likely to have Alzheimer's or another form of dementia as older white people, and older Hispanics are about 1.5 times as likely, the report revealed. But more than one-third of Black people (36%) and nearly one-fifth of Hispanics (18%) and Asians (19%) believe discrimination would be a barrier to receiving good care for Alzheimer's, surveys conducted by the association show. "If you don't trust your health care provider, you're not going to go to that provider to ask questions," said Maria Carrillo, chief science officer for the Alzheimer's Association. "And, in fact, Hispanic, Black and Native Americans are twice as likely to say they wouldn't even see a doctor if they were experiencing concerns." The report found that U.S. racial and ethnic minority communities expect and experience more barriers when accessing dementia care, have less trust in medical research, and are less confident that doctors understand their ethnic and racial background and experiences. A cyclical issue "This is all a very cyclical issue that needs to be addressed, and we need to bridge these barriers for dementia care because the older diverse population is growing exponentially," said Carrillo, herself of Mexican-American heritage. "By mid-century, 40% of the older population will be non-white Americans, so we have to increase our efforts to make sure that the next generation of health care providers are ready to work with people like my parents." Half of Black Americans report they have experienced health care discrimination, along with two out of five Native Americans and one-third of Asian Americans and Hispanic Americans, the survey shows. It's not just the patients themselves reporting problems. About half of non-white caregivers dealt with discrimination trying to advocate for their care recipient, with the top concern being that providers or staff do not listen to what they say because of their race, color or ethnicity. This concern was especially high among Black caregivers (42%), followed by Native American (31%), Asian American (30%) and Hispanic (28%) caregivers. However, only 17% of white caregivers expressed this view, the findings showed. Dr. Roy Hamilton, of Penn Medicine in Philadelphia, said, "It's important to note that is not an inaccurate perception, not only with respect to Alzheimer's disease but across a wide spectrum of neurologic disorders and medical disorders more broadly." Hamilton is director of the Laboratory for Cognition and Neural Stimulation and assistant dean of diversity and inclusion. There's solid research evidence that people from racial or ethnic minority groups tend to receive worse medical care than white people, and have to work harder to access even that lower level of care, Hamilton said. "This feeds into or contributes to a complicated cycle of problems where individuals from historically marginalized groups are both more suspicious and more wary of pursuing care," he added. "And when they do, oftentimes those suspicions are borne out." Overall, fewer than half of Black Americans and Native Americans feel confident that they have access to culturally competent health care providers. Only about three in five Asians and Hispanics express similar confidence. Carrillo pointed out that "people of color are saying that they would want health care providers who can understand their unique experiences and background, and our report shows they would doubt that they will actually have access to culturally competent providers." She added, "If you're going to make recommendations about their environment, it's important to recognize what that looks like. People from different backgrounds might be living in multigenerational households more than others. They might need information in different languages to take back home. They might need information around nutritional recommendations that are culturally appropriate." This communication gap has led to a lack of information about how Alzheimer's and dementia might affect health as people grow older, the report noted. Concern about developing Alzheimer's is much lower among Native Americans (25%), Blacks (35%) and Hispanics (41%) than among whites (48%), the findings showed. Sense of fatalism This might be motivated by a certain sense of fatalism when it comes to aging and brain health. More than half of non-white Americans believe that a significant loss of memory or brain function is a normal part of aging, the report said. Further, more than one-third of Native Americans and nearly three in 10 Hispanics do not believe they will live long enough to develop Alzheimer's or another dementia. Hispanic, Black and Native Americans are twice as likely as white Americans to say they would not see a doctor if they noticed problems with their thinking or memory, and about 20% of Black and Hispanic people said they would feel insulted if a doctor suggested screening to test their brain function. Hamilton suggested that the entire field of dementia research needs to undergo a conceptual change, based on the simple fact that brain diseases are more likely to affect communities of color. "If you were to close your eyes and imagine the most typical Alzheimer's disease patient in this country, just by the level of risk, that person ought to be a person of color, but that's not how the field has imagined itself since its inception," Hamilton said. Carrillo said that medical schools need to do a better job teaching cultural competency to health care professionals so they can properly care for people from diverse backgrounds. That effort, Hamilton added, would be further enhanced by attracting people from communities of color to join the medical workforce. Explore further Black and Hispanic Californians face health discrimination; less trusting of clinicians More information: The Alzheimer's Association has more about The Alzheimer's Association has more about race, ethnicity and Alzheimer's Copyright 2020 HealthDay. All rights reserved. Is it just us or has New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio been more vocal about Gov. Andrew Cuomos shortcomings recently? The mayor, who is often tight-lipped when it comes to the governor, despite their many public disagreements, has been lambasting Cuomo for his handling of nursing homes in the state, as well as his response to the two women who have alleged he sexually harassed them. On Monday, the mayor called for a full investigation into the harassment allegations, after a second claim surfaced over the weekend, and he suggested that Cuomo should leave office if the allegations are true. If someone purposefully tried to use their power to force a woman to have sex with them, of course that person should no longer be in public service, de Blasio said during a radio appearance on Hot 97. Three weeks ago, the mayor also weighed in on the governors growing nursing home scandal, after Assembly Member Ron Kim revealed that Cuomo threatened to destroy him over a statement he made regarding nursing homes. A lot of people in New York state have received those phone calls, de Blasio said during an appearance on MSNBCs Morning Joe. The bullying is nothing new. I believe Ron Kim and its very, very sad. No public servant, no person who is telling the truth, should be treated that way. The mayor also backed numerous other lawmakers calling for a "full accounting of what happened" in nursing homes after the state shared data that indicated over 15,000 nursing home residents died of COVID-19. Cuomo and de Blasio have been sparring partners for years, but the governor has typically had the last say on whatever matter theyre bickering over, whether its how the coronavirus crisis should be handled in the city, the subway or the euthanasia of a deer. Since the governor has so much power over the city, de Blasio has often been reluctant to air his grievances in public - even when the governor has criticized him - not even to anonymously trash his adversary, as Cuomo, or members of his staff, have frequently done to de Blasio. There have been times when the mayors frustration with the governor has boiled over and he has openly complained about policy decisions or Cuomos management style. But its previously followed from specific disputes, rather than de Blasio just weighing in on Cuomos actions from the sidelines. While Cuomo in the past could rely on de Blasio to be his and the citys punching bag, the current controversies are giving de Blasio a rare opportunity to indulge in something Cuomo frequently does: kicking your enemy when hes down. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. WASHINGTON The nation is poised to get a third vaccine against coronavirus, but because at first glance the Johnson & Johnson shot may not be seen as equal to other options, health officials are girding for the question: Which one is best? If cleared for emergency use, the J&J vaccine would offer a one-dose option that could help speed vaccinations, tamp down a pandemic that has killed more than 500,000 people in the U.S. and stay ahead of a mutating virus. I think its going to be huge, said Dr. Virginia Caine, director of the public health department in Marion County, Indiana, which includes Indianapolis. She expects the easier-to-use vaccine will give local officials more flexibility for mobile vaccination clinics or pop-up events. The challenge will be explaining how protective the J&J shot is after the astounding success of the first U.S. vaccines. Two doses of the Pfizer and Moderna shots were found to be about 95% effective against symptomatic COVID-19. The numbers from J&Js study are not that high, but it's not an apples-to-apples comparison. One dose of the J&J vaccine was 85% protective against the most severe COVID-19. After adding in moderate cases, the total effectiveness dropped to about 66%. I dont think its a second-tier vaccine, but weve got to avoid that perception, said Dr. Thomas Balcezak of Yale New Haven Health System. Biggest coronavirus vaccine allocation to date headed to Louisiana, possibly including J&J doses Louisianas mass COVID-19 vaccination effort is getting a proverbial shot in the arm: The state expects its biggest allocation of doses to dat The J&J shot was tested in the U.S., Latin America and South Africa at a time when more contagious mutated versions of the virus were spreading. That wasnt the case last fall, when Pfizer and Moderna were wrapping up testing, and its not clear if their numbers would hold against the most worrisome of those variants. Importantly, the Food and Drug Administration reported this week that, just like its predecessors, the J&J shot offers strong protection against the worst outcomes. By 28 days after the injection, there were no hospitalizations or deaths in study volunteers given the J&J shot, compared with 16 hospitalizations and seven deaths in those given a dummy shot. Independent advisers to the FDA will recommend Friday if there's enough evidence to allow widespread use of J&J's vaccine, setting the stage for a final decision within days. If it rolls out next week, U.S. officials expect to have only a few million doses to divide between states in initial shipments. But by the end of March, J&J has said it can supply enough to vaccinate 20 million people a much-needed boost to stretched supplies. The bottom line: Whatever vaccine is being offered is what you want, said University of Pennsylvania immunologist E. John Wherry. Still, the nuances of the vaccines raise ethical questions. 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 At Yale, Balcezak is struggling with how to make the best use of the J&J shot's advantages without appearing to target it to underserved populations. For example, its a logical choice for homeless shelters where people may have moved on before their second dose of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine. Im very worried about how that would be perceived, Balcezak said. The J&J vaccine is also easier to handle, lasting three months in the refrigerator compared to the Pfizer and Moderna options, which must be frozen. Balcezak said the Yale system has been working with pastors and other cultural ambassadors to answer vaccine questions from minority communities, and likewise will discuss the J&J shot's possibilities. +3 Louisiana coronavirus: 68,028 more coronavirus vaccine doses administered statewide; see data There have been 68,028 more coronavirus vaccine doses administered in Louisiana since the last update on Monday, according to the Louisiana De In Washington state, health officials see some clear need for one-and-done vaccinations including sailors in the maritime industry, who can spend months on cargo and fishing vessels. This is the ideal vaccine for them, said Dr. Scott Lindquist of the Washington State Department of Health. With the two-dose vaccines, the state had to send second doses onward to the next port of call. Other parts of the world already are facing which-is-best challenges. AstraZenecas vaccine, for instance, is cleared for use in Britain and Europe after data suggested it was about 70% effective. Italys government recently decided to reserve Pfizer and Moderna shots for the elderly and designate the AstraZeneca vaccine for younger, at-risk workers, sparking protest from the countrys main teachers union. In the U.S., health officials say it's critical for the government to send a clear message. Right now, its not vaccine against vaccine, its vaccine against virus, said Dr. Nirav Shah, director of the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention. By LAURAN NEERGAARD and MATTHEW PERRONE, Associated Press. AP Medical Writer Carla K. Johnson in Washington state contributed to this report. ___ The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institutes Department of Science Education. The AP is solely responsible for all content. The Biden administration has promised that U.S. states will be receiving 15.2 million coronavirus vaccine doses per week. It's a nearly five percent increase from the current 14.5 million doses states are receiving and a 76 percent increase from the 8.6 million when President Joe Biden took office, according to White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki. Biden announced Tuesday afternoon that the U.S. is on track to have enough vaccine doses - provided by Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson - to inoculate every American by the end of May. That goal will in part be facilitated by a new partnership brokered by the White House. Merck & Co will help manufacture Johnson & Johnson's one-dose coronavirus vaccine, the Biden administration announced Tuesday. Merck will receive $268.8 million from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) to help fund its production of Johnson & Johnson's vaccine. Psaki said the administration sought to secure a deal with Merck - which ended trials of its own immunization - after realizing J&J had fallen behind in production. 'As soon as we learned about the fact that J&J was behind in the manufacturing steps and efforts, we took steps to make sure we could expedite that and partner them with one of the world's biggest manufacturers,' she told reporters in a press conference on Wednesday. But neither Merck, J&J nor the White House have specified how quickly Merck will ramp up its production or how many more doses of the vaccine the second pharma giant's involvement will help make available. Sources familiar with J&J's production told the New York Times that converting the Merck's factories to make the vaccine could take months, and federal officials told to the outlet that the partnership would eventually double the possible supply. The firm shipped out just shy of four million in its first round of distribution, which began Sunday night. On Tuesday, the first doses of the single-shot vaccine were given at Ohio State University. Barbara Schamlenberger, 86, and Ohio State food sciences researcher Osvaldo Campanella became two of the first Americans to receive a dose of the one-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine outside of a trial. 'I can't believe it, I was so excited that I was one of the first. I felt so privileged,' Schmalenberger said after getting her shot. 'It's like a miracle. I can't wait to tell my family.' The Biden administration has promised that U.S. states will be receiving 15.2 million coronavirus vaccine doses per week as the U.S. seeks to speed up rollout This is a nearly 5% increase from the current 14.5 million doses states are receiving. So far, 50.7 million Americans - or 15.3% of the population - have received at least one dose and 25.4 million - 7.7% - have been fully immunized Barbara Schmalenberger, 86, became one of the first Americans to get Johnson & Johnson's one-dose COVID-19 vaccine on Tuesday at Ohio State University (file) Ohio is slated to receive 96,000 of the first four million doses of Johnson & Johnson's vaccine this week, Governor Mike DeWine said Monday. His state is getting a boost in its overall vaccine supply and will receive a total of 448,000 doses this week. Ohio - along with New York City and Florida - is expanding vaccine eligibility this week as its dose shipments increase. DeWine said that people with chronic conditions like type 1 diabetes, pregnant women, law enforcement and corrections officers, child care and funeral service workers. New York City has started vaccinating some food pantry, food bank, and certain meal delivery service workers as well as some hotel workers. Florida began allowing K-12 school employees aged 50 and older as well a police officers and firefighters to get vaccines on Monday. Each jurisdiction got a boost to its supply allocations as production and rollout of vaccines pick up speed in the U.S., which got off to a slow start in December. Despite accelerating, the American vaccination campaign lags well behind other countries'. While Pfizer's vaccine was still under review in America, the UK approved the shot December 2, and began administering doses on December 8. The UK also opted to risk delaying doses by up to 12 weeks in an effort to get more people some protection as quickly as possible. Meanwhile, the U.S. had emphasized getting a smaller number of people fully vaccinated and initially held back second doses. On Monday, Dr Anthony Fauci said the country must stuck to a two-dose strategy either three or four weeks apart for Pfizer's and Moderna's shot, respectively. He warned that shifting to a single-dose strategy for the vaccines could leave people less protected, enable variants to spread and possibly boost skepticism among Americans already hesitant to get the shots. 'There's risks on either side,' Fauci was quoted as saying by the Washington Post. 'We're telling people [two shots] is what you should do...and then we say: "Oops, we changed our mind?" I think that would be a messaging challenge, to say the least.' It comes as the White House announced Merck & Co will help Johnson & Johnson produce its one-dose coronavirus vaccine. Pictured: A lab worker holds a vial of Johnson & Johnson's COVID-19 vaccine candidate, undated According to the terms of the partnership, two of Merck's facilities in the U.S. will be strictly used for J&J's inoculation. One of the facilities will aide with the fill and finish portion, or filling vials with the vaccine itself and packaging them, while the other will produce the shot. 'It's a historic partnership,' one of the officials told The Washington Post, which first broke the news. He commended both Merck and J&J for their 'corporate citizenship' and for 'recogniz[ing] this is a wartime effort.' The officials did not comment on how soon it will take for Merck's facilities to be outfitted with equipment needed to make and package J&J's vaccine. According to The Post, the officials also did not say how the partnership will affect J&J's projected supply. Getting your COVID shot at CVS or Walgreens? Pharmacies to use customer data to promote services Americans can get their vaccines from pharmacies like CVS and Walgreens, but as millions of customers book their appointments they'll also be sharing their data so that these retailers can 'keep in touch' and promote their stores and services. According to the New York Times, CVS, Walgreens and Walmart are enrolling customers in patient systems and requiring them to register for customer profiles. The perk of such data allows these chains to use the information to promote their stores and services, which includes coupons and promotions, and tailor marketing. The companies have also said they want to keep in touch with consumers. 'Every one of these customers is coming through our digital front end, so we have their email, we have their text message, and we have the ability to communicate with them regularly,' Jonathan Roberts, CVS chief operating officer, told the Times. CVS has plans to stay in touch with customers who receive the vaccine even after they get their second shot in a bid to better market to them. CVS is also offering shopping passes and health education at its on-site clinics. The company is also encouraging vaccine recipients to sign up for its loyalty program while they wait, but the program is not a requirement to sign up for the vaccine. Walmart and Walgreens require customers to set up online patient profiles. Advertisement J&J shipped nearly four million doses of America's third coronavirus vaccine on Sunday, after it received emergency authorization from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Saturday. The company said it plans to deliver 20 million doses by the end of March and thinks it can deliver 100 million doses of the vaccine by July. It's unclear if the partnership means Merck will help J&J get to 100 million doses or help exceed that goal. J&J did not reply to DailyMail.com's request for comment. Merck did not address the partnership but, in a statement, said: 'Merck remains steadfast in our commitment to contribute to the global response to the pandemic and to preparing to address future pandemics. The U.S. is not the first country to attempt to make partnerships to help speed up the vaccine rollout that has lagged since its early days. French pharmaceutical firm Sanofi has signed an agreement with Pfizer Inc and its German partner BioNTech SE to help manufacture their COVID-19 vaccine. Sanofi is currently developing its own vaccine with British pharmaceutical firm GlaxoSmithKline, but production is delayed after early clinical trial data proved disappointing. With no vaccine of its own ready to produce, Sanofi decided to help BioNTech and Pfizer increase its manufacturing capacity. 'We asked ourselves how we could render ourselves useful in the present, how to participate in the collective effort to get out of this crisis as quickly as possible,' Sanofi CEO Paul Hudson told Le Figaro, according to a DailyMail.com translation. 'We are going to use our factor in Frankfurt, Germany, to package the product that will be supplied to us by Pfizer-BioNTech.' According to Hudson, Sanofi plans to produce 100 million doses of the vaccine by the end of the year. Prior to taking office, Biden announced a rather ambitious goal of getting 100 million shots in arms in his first 100 days. While it seems he will meet the goal, the president and his team have since found themselves floundering and grappling to keep the virus under control while simultaneously dealing with a vaccine shortage. So far, 50.7 million Americans - or 15.3 percent of the population - have received at least one dose and 25.4 million - 7.7 percent - have been fully immunized. The Telegraph SIR Charles Moore makes reference to an article he wrote a year ago under the heading Was Covid-19 created in the lab?. In it he described work by two scientists, Angus Dalgleish and Birger Sorensen, who concluded that it was what is called a chimera it was built by human beings to see how infectious it could be to human beings. Lord Moore wrote that this does not mean that the purpose was to make people ill. He presumed it was to learn more about vaccines against viruses. A more disturbing interpretation might be that the research had a military purpose. Sir Richard Dearlove (a former head of MI6) was interested in the work of Dalgleish and Sorensen. As a teenager in the Fifties, I was invited to the microbiological research establishment at Porton Down by my uncle, its director. It was the height of the Cold War and he told me: Dont worry about nuclear war biological warfare is far more dangerous. Bill Filmer Lindfield, West Sussex SIR The Wuhan lab theory would make a plausible James Bond plot (which would be a first), but I find the species-leap theory more frightening. Michael Heaton Warminster, Wiltshire SIR With the genesis of Covid-19 still unclear, the accidental escape from laboratory theory may finally gain legs. Beijing still has much to explain with regard to the dreadful pandemic it appears to have inflicted on the world. It demonised whistleblowers when the virus emerged, then appears to have lied once person-to-person transmission was deemed likely and the epidemic gained pace. The World Health Organisation appeared to be both tardy and shy in conducting the necessary engagement. Members of its investigation team are said to have spent a mere three hours in the Wuhan laboratory. China is less than generous in welcoming outside scrutiny. That perhaps was to be expected. More disturbing is the stance taken by Facebook and others, which dismissed this theory far too readily at the outset. The time to seek the truth with all due rigour has now surely arrived. All evidence, no matter how unpalatable, must be objectively explored, to help prevent or mitigate the next time. The developing world in particular will struggle to cope with the lasting effects of this catastrophic event. While realpolitik may allow China to be an emerging superpower, it can still be held accountable for any lapses identified. Colonel Rob Davie (retd) Salisbury, Wiltshire SIR The lab theory was dismissed from the moment Donald Trump endorsed it. As with Brexit, the supposed intelligentsia could not countenance the possibility that Mr Trump, like Nigel Farage, might be right about something. Closed minds have costly consequences. Keith Phair Felixstowe, Suffolk The Johnson wedding SIR Boris Johnsons surprise confirmation of his status as a Catholic has raised many eyebrows, particularly in relation to his reputation with the ladies. However, I think Rome will provide a good home for him. Oscar Wilde, when questioned about his own late conversion to Catholicism, said that he was attracted to the faith because in this Church, Every saint has a past, and every sinner has a future. Anna Mackey Dublin, Ireland SIR When a Prime Minister is married for a third time, is it called a wedding or a reshuffle? Neville Stangroom Dereham, Norfolk SIR No, that was a fake wedding. The real one took place three days earlier, conducted in the garden of No 10 by the Archbishop of Canterbury with Dilyn as sole witness. Peter Thompson Sutton, Surrey SIR Typical! The Prime Minister gets married and Matt is away. Keith Macpherson Clevedon, Somerset SIR Bethan Holts report describes Carrie Johnson renting her dress as a very modern move, but I hired my wedding dress back in 1966. I chose a first hiring, even though it was more expensive, rather than a second, as I wanted to be the first to wear the dress. I couldnt afford a new dress, so was being practical. After all, my husband hired his morning coat. This year my husband and I celebrate 55 years of marriage. Lynda Burke Knowle, Warwickshire Beep, beep SIR Traffic reduction schemes, now known as low traffic neighbourhoods, are not that new. Portsmouth had a 20mph speed limit the whole way through. After an emergency trip I was directed home through Portsmouth. Seeing the first 20mph sign I stayed in second gear. Seeing more signs, I proceeded through the whole city in second gear, average speed 5mph. This meant every traffic light was green by the time I arrived at it. Very smooth. The traffic mayhem behind me was the citys problem not mine. Car engines do not like second gear. The pollution my car emitted must have been awful for residents. Maybe elected councillors are not familiar with car engineering. Sue Doughty Twyford, Berkshire Offended by the Duke SIR I have just read the report about Kings College. The idea of those staff members being offended by the Duke of Edinburghs photo is almost too much to bear. Can you imagine what traumatic lives these poor people must lead every day striving mightily from dawn to dusk, seeking out all offensive matter? The very idea horrifies me and has left me decidedly depressed. I am seeking an immediate appointment with Harrys therapist. Robert Chatterton Caythorpe, Lincolnshire SIR Cambridge has been worrying about micro-aggression. Should university lecturers or students found guilty of micro-aggressions receive micro-punishments? For example, someone found guilty of not giving eye contact could be stared at for five minutes. Brian Armstrong North Shields, Northumberland Abolished by the BBC SIR In his article Reform of the BBC must start at the very top, William Lewis suggests that a journalist editor-in-chief should be answerable to an independent editorial board. From 1990 to 1996 I was a member of such a board, the General Advisory Council (about 40 of us). We were supposedly a sounding-board for BBC policy. What usually happened was that the top managers told us how well they were doing, leaving precious little time for our questions. Under Sir Terry Heisers chairmanship we eventually insisted on setting the agenda ourselves. One result was that in 1993 we successfully challenged the director-general John Birts remuneration arrangements. It wasnt long before the BBC declared its Advisory Council redundant and abolished us. If an independent editorial board ever comes into being it will need a really strong mandate. The Earl of Northesk Elsworth, Cambridgeshire Tick-box banking SIR NatWest informed me that I could not have an appointment in a branch to open a new account because of Covid fears (Letters, May 31). Despite my husband and I having banked with them for over 40 years and currently holding, between us, eight different accounts with them, we had to spend nearly an hour on the phone trying to open a joint account. Having established who we were, was it then necessary for us to be treated as if we were new naive customers who had never had an account? We had to resupply information possessed by the bank about us, and were subjected to sales pitches for accounts we already hold. The hapless individual at the end of the phone was only interested in completing his script rather than applying a modicum of common sense. A face-to-face meeting might have avoided all of this. Dilys Taylor Birmingham Rude rhymes SIR That jingle from Aristophanes Frogs pinein kai binein, (Christopher Howse, The rudest word in Greek is no laughing matter, Comment, May 29), could be rendered in English as supping and tupping, or possibly boozing and floozing. Richard George St Albans, Hertfordshire A Saturday Derby lacks that holiday feeling 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. WASHINGTON - FBI Director Christopher Wray on Tuesday defended the bureau's handling of alarming intelligence leading up to the Jan. 6 mob attack on the U.S. Capitol, saying he has long warned about the rising tide of such threats as the domestic terrorism caseload roughly doubled over the past year. "We have significantly grown the number of investigations and arrests," Wray told the Senate Judiciary Committee, his first testimony since the riot involving supporters of President Donald Trump. The FBI director testified in September that the number of such cases was about 1,000. By the end of 2020, there were about 1,400 such cases, and after Jan. 6 the figure ballooned again, the director said. Domestic terrorism "has been metastasizing around the country for a long time now, and it's not going away anytime soon," Wray said. "Whenever we've had the chance, we've tried to emphasize that this is a top concern." Wray defended the bureau's handling of intelligence in advance of the attack carried out by Trump supporters intent on disrupting Congress's certification of Joe Biden's presidential win. The director said agents followed procedure by rapidly sharing what they were learning with other law enforcement agencies, but he conceded that FBI officials will review internal practices because what unfolded at the Capitol was not, in his words, "an acceptable result." Wray's appearance on Capitol Hill was the latest high-profile congressional hearing to examine security and intelligence failures leading up to the riot, and what the federal government will do to counter the growing threat of violence from domestic extremists. On Wednesday, FBI and military officials are slated to testify before a separate panel looking into the events of that day. The questioning of senior officials comes amid a sprawling cross-country Justice Department investigation into the failed insurrection, which resulted in five deaths and has already led to criminal charges against more than 270 people. Law enforcement officials estimate that about 800 people were in the mob that forced its way into the Capitol. Lawmakers questioning Wray were at turns supportive of his efforts, skeptical that the FBI had done all it could to prevent the riot, and concerned that further politically motivated violence could be unleashed in coming days. In testimony last week, the acting Capitol Police chief warned that extremists have discussed another attack on the Capitol during President Biden's first address to Congress. Sen. Richard Durbin, D-Ill., the Judiciary Committee chairman, pressed Wray on how the bureau shared a situational information report, prepared by the FBI's Norfolk, Va., field office a day before the riot, which warned of specific appeals for violence - including a call for "war" at the Capitol. The District of Columbia police chief and the former Capitol Police chief acknowledged last week that their agencies had received the warning, but they suggested the FBI should have more aggressively sounded the alarm. "I would certainly think that something as violent as an insurrection at the Capitol would warrant a phone call or something," District Police Chief Robert Contee III told lawmakers. Wray said the report was shared in three ways - sent by email to the FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force, which includes the District and Capitol Police; posted on a law enforcement web portal; and mentioned in a command center briefing in the District. "It was unverified," Wray said of the intelligence. "In a perfect world, we would have taken longer to be able to figure out whether it was reliable. But we made the judgment, our folks made the judgment, to get that information to the relevant people as quickly as possible." Wray did not specifically address why no one had phoned the District police chief, and said that he, too, had not been briefed on the information before the attack. Lawmakers did not ask Wray why it was that, in the aftermath, a senior FBI official said there had been no intelligence indicating the potential for violence that day. The FBI's warning, which was first reported by The Washington Post on Jan. 12 but has yet to be shared with lawmakers, warned of social media chatter indicating Trump's supporters were talking about creating a perimeter around the U.S. Capitol and storming inside. The document quoted one person urging other Trump supporters to go to Washington "ready to fight. Congress needs to hear glass breaking, doors being kicked in, and blood from their BLM and Pantifa slave soldiers being spilled. Get violent. Stop calling this a march, or rally, or a protest. Go there ready for war. We get our President or we die. NOTHING else will achieve this goal." BLM is a reference to the Black Lives Matter movement for racial justice. Pantifa is a derogatory term for antifa, a far-left anti-fascist movement whose adherents sometimes engage in violent clashes with right-wing extremists. Those comments and similar calls for violence were posted on TheDonald.win, a popular discussion board among Trump supporters strategizing how to keep him in the White House even though he lost the electoral college and popular vote by substantial margins, according to people familiar with the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss a still-unfolding investigation. While many of the senators seemed sympathetic to the difficulty of preventing acts of domestic terrorism before they occur, others found Wray's answers unconvincing. Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn. said the Norfolk report seemed to be "beyond aspirational." "It seems like some of these reports that we now know exist out there were specific in terms of these plans that were going on," she said, asking Wray if he felt sending an email to other law enforcement agencies was a sufficiently aggressive response. Wray said the bureau had also briefed the report in a command post, and suggested it is the responsibility of personnel assigned there to notify their superiors when intelligence of this nature is shared among agencies. "The whole idea is they're supposed to go back and pass it up their chain of command," Wray said, later adding, "I do not consider what happened on Jan. 6 to be an acceptable result. And that's why we're looking so hard at figuring out how can the process be improved." Overall, Wray sought to downplay the significance of the memo, despite the fact that many things mentioned in the document - out-of-state rally points, a mob surrounding the Capitol, breaking windows, pushing through doors, and fighting with police officers - wound up happening less than 24 hours after its distribution. When Sen. John Neely Kennedy, R-La., said, "I think we can agree that the FBI had credible information that there was likely to be violence on Jan. 6," Wray replied, "I don't know that we had assessed its credibility. We certainly had information that was concerning." Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., said he understood Wray's answers, but added: "What I don't understand is why this chatter, raw intelligence, didn't prompt a stronger warning and alarm going to the very top of the United States Congress, because clearly the United States Congress was under severe threat." Blumenthal also pressed Wray on the QAnon conspiracy theory that prosecutors say motivated some of the Capitol rioters, but Wray demurred when the senator tried to get the director to criticize elected officials embracing or encouraging such dark fantasies. "We're concerned about any source that stimulates or motivates violent extremism," Wray replied. Blumenthal said he was "frankly disappointed that you're not discouraging one of the sources of incitement, which is prominent public officials endorsing a theory that in turn resulted in storming the United States Capitol." Republicans pressed Wray on the FBI's response to the violence over the summer connected to racial justice protests, which Wray said remained of concern. The bureau, he added, had seen a "huge uptick" in anti-government extremism. Wray said the bureau's response was similar to the investigation of the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol. "We're trying to look at sources of funding, planning, coordination, trying to learn more about tradecraft and tactics and things like that so that we can be better prepared to prevent it and feed information to our state and local partners so they can be better prepared to prevent it," Wray said. Asked by Durbin if there was any evidence that some of the violence at the Capitol was committed by "fake Trump protesters," as some prominent conservatives have suggested, Wray said he had not seen evidence of that, nor had he seen evidence of left-wing "antifa" infiltration. "We have not to date seeing any evidence of anarchist violent extremists or people subscribing to antifa in connection with the 6th. That doesn't mean we're not looking and we'll continue to look. But at the moment, we have not seen that," Wray said. The committee's senior Republican, Sen. Charles Grassley of Iowa, said the FBI should pursue domestic terrorism "very broadly, to include all forms of political extremism." Wray's appearance before Congress was his first since the failed insurrection, and his first as a part of Biden's administration. Wray had a fraught relationship with Trump, who publicly attacked him and the FBI over its approach to racial justice demonstrations, election security, and the investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 election. Durbin has criticized the Justice Department and FBI over their approach to the threat of violence posed by right-wing extremists during Trump's tenure. In a letter to Wray last week co-signed by nine other Senate Democrats, he accused the bureau of having minimized "the threat of white supremacist and far-right violence, a grave concern that some of us have raised with you on numerous occasions in recent years." In federal law enforcement circles, some have argued that the events of Jan. 6 represent a drastic failure of security and intelligence-gathering, while others have maintained that it was not an intelligence failure as much as failure to act on the intelligence they had. The Tri-States TRUSTED news source. Click here to stay informed and subscribe to Herald-Dispatch. Click #isupportlocal for more information on supporting our local journalists. Learn more about HD Media Thompson Engineering, a multi-disciplined engineering firm with offices in eight Southeastern states, announced Tuesday that the Thompson Foundation, the charitable fund of affiliated companies Thompson Engineering, Watermark Design, and Thompson Consulting Services, awarded its millionth dollar. The Thompson Foundation awards grants to non-profits and scholarships to students across the affiliated companies footprint. The Thompson companies have a long history of community service and philanthropic giving and were proud to be able to contribute financially to mission-based, non-profit organizations and programs, said John Baker, chairman of Thompson Holdings and CEO of Thompson Engineering. The real heroes of this achievement are the numerous charities that use these funds to do great work to better our communities. The Thompson Foundation raises money through company donations, employee payroll donations, and two employee-managed fundraisers. A committee of employees meets every other month to review grant requests, most of which come from employees who support non-profit organizations through volunteer service. The Thompson Foundation is proud to reach this million-dollar milestone, and were just as proud of our employees for volunteering in their communities and bringing grant requests back to the foundation committee for consideration, said Chad Brown, chairman of the Thompson Foundation. The celebration of this milestone highlights the meaningful impact of combining our employees volunteer efforts and Thompson Foundation dollars in the communities where we live and work. One of the areas where the Thompson Foundation is making a difference is in STEM education and engagement. In the last two years, more than $53,000 has been awarded to STEM-related programs. The Thompson Foundation reached the million-dollar mark with a round of grant approvals totaling nearly $15,000 for organizations such as Childrens of Alabama Pediatric Rheumatology, Flight Works Alabama, Adoption Rocks, JPS Tougaloo Early College High School Program in Jackson, Ms., and the Chattanooga Public Library. The Thompson Foundation has supported more than 250 organizations since inception. To watch a video about the foundations million-dollar milestone, click here. Kanpur : , March 2 (IANS) A woman and her two children were burnt alive when their tenant set them on fire in their house. The three were rushed to the hospital where the children died during treatment and their mother succumbed to burn injuries late on Monday evening at the Ursala Horseman hospital in Kanpur. The accused, Avaneesh Prajapati, 25, who is husband of a woman constable Usha, also sustained serious head injuries after being hit by a truck while fleeing after committing the crime. According to reports, the incident took place when Avaneesh allegedly poured petrol on Archana, 29, wife of corporator Jitendra Yadav, her five-year-old daughter Akshita and 15-month-old son Hanu and set them on fire. Police said the incident took place when Archana was in the kitchen. Her two children were also sitting with her while Jitendra was in another part of the house. Suddenly, Avaneesh arrived at the spot, doused Archana and the two children with petrol and set them afire. After hearing screams, Jitendra and his neighbours rushed to rescue the three and informed the police. Avaneesh, who was being chased by the locals, was hit by a speeding vehicle on the highway and sustained serious head injuries. He has been admitted to a hospital in Kanpur. Superintendent of Police Kanpur Dehat, Keshav Kumar Choudhary said, "It has come to light that Avaneesh has been under depression. We are trying to find out as to what actually prompted him to commit the crime." Its clear the centerpiece of the Biden administration will be combating so-called domestic extremism. This is an all-encompassing effort that includes social media censorship, pressuring cable companies to drop Fox News, a domestic terrorism law to allow the FBI to spy on Trump supporters and arrest them and now introducing loyalty oaths to the Democrat Party in the military. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin announced he wants members of the military to act as a league of junior spies and report anyone they encounter who holds political views the Democrat Party deems extreme. Theres not a single doubt in my mind that you take seriously your oath to the Constitution. And that you serve this country with honor and dignity, and character. And that you believe in and uphold our core values each and everyday, Austin began in his announcement. Secretary of Defense Austin then got to the meat of the matter encouraging active duty military to report to their superiors any experiences with so-called extremist ideologies. I also want you to share with your leadership your own personal experiences with encountering extremists and extremist ideology in the military, should you have any. And I want your leadership to listen to those stories and I want them to listen to any ideas that you might have to help us stamp out of the ranks the dangerous conduct that this ideology inspires, Austin added. Austin does not specify what defines an extremist ideology, but critics contend it is the new term for Trump supporters and that the goal of this initiative is to weed Trump supporters out of the military because active duty military is one of two institutions law enforcement being the other where the Left does not have complete control. LONDON (dpa-AFX) - Industrial equipment rental company Ashtead Group plc (AHT.L) reported Tuesday that its third-quarter profit before taxation dropped 4 percent to 210 million pounds from 225 million pounds last year. Earnings per share dropped to 35.7 pence from 37.0 pence a year ago. Underlying profit before taxation was 225 million pounds, compared to 257 million pounds a year earlier. Underlying earnings per share were 38.2 pence, compared to 42.3 pence last year. Underlying EBITDA dropped 5 percent to 539 million pounds from 584 million pounds in the prior year. Revenue edged down 1 percent to 1.21 billion pounds from prior year's 1.25 billion pounds. Rental revenue dropped 1 percent from last year to 1.08 billion pounds. Looking ahead, Ashtead's Chief Executive Brendan Horgan said, 'With our businesses performing well, we now expect full year results ahead of our previous expectations.' Group Rental revenue for the year is now expected to be down around 4 percent, compared to previous outlook of a decline of 3 percent to 7 percent, mainly reflecting weak U.S. revenues. The company expects capital expenditure for the full year to be at the upper end of previous guidance at about 700 million pounds. Looking forward to 2022, the company expects to return to growth and anticipate gross capital expenditure of 1.3 billion pounds to 1.5 billion pounds, which should enable mid-single digit revenue growth in the US. 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. Local officials say that doing nothing is untenable. By 2040, more than $3 billion worth of property could be lost to daily tidal flooding without action to reduce the threat, according to a report last fall by the Urban Land Institute. By 2070, that figure is projected to increase to $23.5 billion. But Katherine Hagemann, who heads climate adaptation policy for Miami-Dade, said it didnt make financial sense to respond to those threats by pulling back from the coast or paying large numbers of people to leave their homes. It made more sense, she said, to try to keep those areas livable. You see a really high return on investment for adaptation now, to protect the macroeconomic situation in South Florida, Ms. Hagemann said. The cost of retreat in some of those places, if you were to buy them out at market value, would be really high. The countys strategy focuses on a series of actions, noting that each comes with drawbacks. Those include elevating homes on stilts, which lets water pass underneath during flooding. That approach can work well when constructing new homes, but is expensive for existing structures. And it doesnt stop the roads that lead to the homes from becoming impassable. Another way to raise homes and roads is to repeatedly truck in dirt and rocks from elsewhere, using it to raise the level of the ground itself when building or rebuilding homes. That approach, called fill, can simply push water onto neighboring parcels of land. And, as the blueprint notes, it may be technically and financially challenging to raise a property on fill multiple times. Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, is a country in Southeast Asia and the easternmost country on the Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of 96.2 million, Vietnam was the worlds 15th most populous country in 2019, according to the General Statistics Office of Vietnam. The country has a total land area of over 331,200 square kilometers. Vietnam shares land borders with China to the north, and Laos and Cambodia to the west. It shares maritime borders with China and some Southeast Asian countries through the East Vietnam Sea. The combined length of the countrys land boundaries is 4,639 kilometers, and its coastline is 3,444 kilometers long. The capital of Vietnam is Hanoi, located in the north, while the most populous city and commercial hub is Ho Chi Minh City in the south. Vietnams unique geography creates a range of weather patterns, with both tropical and temperate zones, according to the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT). While the March-May period offers the best weather countrywide, there is no bad time to visit Vietnam, as there is always some part of the country with clear skies. Just like the diversity of its landscapes, Vietnam offers a variety of ways to get around. You may favor windswept motorbike rides, flying straight from point to point, or take the overland routes of trains and buses, soaking in the sights along the way. The official language of the country is Vietnamese, while people also speak ethnic minority languages and English as a foreign language. The national currency is the Vietnamese dong (VND), which had a reference exchange rate of US$1 = VND23,120 as of March 2, 2021. Visitors to Vietnam can choose from a wide variety of unique and memorable experiences from amazing cuisine and diverse culture to breathtaking scenery, blissful beaches, and bustling cities. What do you want to know about Vietnam? Ask us at VietQ by Vietnam Life Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! President Muhammadu Buhari, on Tuesday, expressed overwhelming joy over the release of abducted female students in Zamfara State. Buhari in ... President Muhammadu Buhari, on Tuesday, expressed overwhelming joy over the release of abducted female students in Zamfara State. Buhari in a statement by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, said he was excited that their ordeal came to a happy end without any incident. According to him, being held in captivity is an agonizing experience not only for the victims. He added that ransom payment will continue to prosper kidnapping. I join the families and people of Zamfara State in welcoming and celebrating the release of these traumatized female students, he said. He also called for greater vigilance by the people so that human intelligence could be collected early enough to nip the bandits plans in the bud. Buhari while urging the Police and the Military to go after the kidnappers and bring them to justice, warned that the time has come to reverse, completely, the grim and heartbreaking incidents of kidnapping. Telrad Networks, a global provider of innovative LTE telecom solutions, was chosen by the emerging engineering company Black Dragon Networks, LLC to provide crucial infrastructure for the startup's new rural broadband network in Hodgeman County, Kansas. Black Dragon Networks is a registered minority woman-owned busines that is dedicated to bridging the ruralurban dividea chronic disparity that limits access to affordable, high-speed broadband connections across large portions of the United States. "I named this company after the motherboard I used in the first PC I ever built," says Black Dragon owner and CEO Susan Nuss. "My aim is for Black Dragon Networks to be a similar kind of catalyst that led to my eventual career as an AT&T telecom engineer. By providing thousands of potential households across Hodgeman County with reliable, high-speed Internet access that's reasonably priced, we're opening up new opportunities and promising futures for rural residents." One such example is in education. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Nuss was struck by the challenges local K12 students faced when schools quickly moved to distance-learning models. To participate in virtual classrooms and access online assignments, many families had to rely on their smartphones in hotspot mode as their home routers. Faster, more robust last-mile Internet access will eliminate that need. "Unlike major network operators who prioritize population density to maximize profits, Black Dragon is committed to supporting our residents with a state-of-the-art communications infrastructure," she says. "Just because someone's heart is in the Heartland shouldn't mean that they're denied the broadband choice and speed found in more metropolitan areas. And Telrad's equipment is making it possible for us to level that playing field." Black Dragon Networks is using Telrad's high-gain CPE9000 and the CPE12000 device for maximum coverage and performance. These outdoor customer-side LTE units have been deployed alongside Telrad's versatile BreezeCOMPACT 1000 CBRS base station, which offers superior non-line-of-sight (NLOS) performance and throughput despite its economical size and price. Together these devices form the backbone of Black Dragon's modern, cost-effective network. "When we developed our product portfolio, these are precisely the kinds of use cases we envisioned," says Alex Freylekhman, VP of Sales at Telrad. "With our advanced equipment in place, Black Dragon has been able to truly maximize the CBRS spectrum and achieve higher speeds at distant endpoints along with superior coverage. "We're proud that a recognized woman-run company like Black Dragon Networks chose to partner with us. We're equally excited that Telrad is playing an important role in fulfilling our mission by bridging the ruralurban broadband divide." Black Dragon is currently rolling out its infrastructure with the help of federal and statewide communications-focused grants. The Telrad-powered network is achieving speeds close to 100Mbps in peak areas and providing connectivity to homes that have traditionally been unable to receive cell service. About Telrad Networks Telrad Networks is a global provider of innovative LTE telecom solutions, boasting over 300 4G deployments in 100 countries. Telrad stands at the forefront of the technology evolution with TD-LTE solutions and a path to 5G in the sub-6 GHz market. Since 1951, the company has been a recognized pioneer in the telecom industry, facilitating the connectivity needs of millions of end users through operators, ISPs and enterprises around the world. (https://telrad.com) About Black Dragon Networks Based in western Kansas, Black Dragon Networks, LLC is an up-and-coming independent telecom provider that specializes in wireless and fiber-based networks. The company was founded as a change agent to bring high-speed Internet to rural towns and remote areas that have been overlooked by other carriers. Black Dragon Networks is a registered minority women-owned business that can partner on federal government and state of Kansas bids. (blackdragonnetworks.com) Taryn Sipperly Director of Marketing Telrad (844) TELRAD | Taryn.Sipperly@telrad.com Police forces across the U.S. made more than 20,000 requests last year for footage captured by Ring's "video doorbells" and other home-security cameras, underscoring how the rapid growth of inexpensive home surveillance technologyhas given American law enforcement an unprecedented ability to monitor neighborhood life. The requests reflect the Amazon-owned company's policy of allowing police and fire departments to request video from camera owners who live near the scene of a crime. Some officers have celebrated the digital informants for helping them gather valuable evidence and watch over the public at large. But the proliferation of the kind of surveillance cameras once limited primarily to airports, banks and convenience stores also has meant millions of unsuspecting people - including camera owners' neighbors, peaceful protesters and anyone else walking down a residential block - are being recorded without their knowledge or consent. Some of those worries are beginning to come from the law-enforcement officials themselves. A South Florida gunman who authorities said killed two FBI agents at an apartment complex last month, during one of the deadliest days in bureau history, had seen them approaching his door through a home camera before opening fire. The always-on cameras have "given us a profound amount of evidence for crimes that used to fall by the wayside," said Michael D'Angelo, a security consultant and retired captain for the South Miami police. "But we didn't put as much thought into how these systems could be used against us." The consumer acceptance of the new generation of cheap and easy-to-use home-security cameras has brought surveillance technology to American neighborhoods on a massive scale. While the precise number of devices is unknown, the number of Internet-connected cameras from Ring, Google Nest and other video doorbell companies most likely totals in the millions. The motion-detecting cameras - installed indoors or around a home via doorbell, peephole or "stick-up cam" - can automatically record and alert their owners when someone passes within their view. The owners can watch and listen in real time, or they can save the footage for later viewing or sharing: Ring even has its own social network, Neighbors, that allows people to post clips of suspicious strangers and lost pets. More than 2,000 police and fire departments across the U.S. have cooperative agreements with Ring system, up from 60 in 2018, a Washington Post analysis of company data shows. The pace of new sign-ups has rapidly accelerated, to two new "partnerships" a day. Those partnerships allow officers to ask all camera owners within half a square mile of a crime scene to share video that could help with the case, and agencies have been seeking out video at a striking rate. Police in Milwaukee, for example, now send Ring video requests for every homicide and nonfatal shooting in the city; last year officers there requested video more than 800 times, police spokesman Sgt. Efrain Cornejo said. It's become "like social media," Cornejo said. "People will receive a message, they'll all look, and you hope to get back some" response. Ring's deals with law enforcement are active in every state except Montana and Wyoming, and they cover every kind of American community, from backcountry towns to urban sprawl. In December, the police department in Fairbanks, Alaska, posted a Ring video to its Facebook page of a "criminal mischief" suspect spotted outside a snow-covered church. A few weeks later, and 4,000 miles away, a sheriff's office in the Florida Keys did the same with a Ring video of a man with a "somewhat protruding stomach" spotted spray-painting a swastika onto a Key Largo boat. Ring spokeswoman Yassi Shahmiri said the video-request tool is "designed to protect a user's privacy and increase transparency when public safety asks the community for help." (Amazon founder Jeff Bezos also owns The Washington Post.) But privacy advocates say the systems also threaten to usher in a new age of excessive police surveillance. Los Angeles detectives who said they were investigating sporadic outbursts of physical injuries and property crimes requested videos from Ring owners in view of the city's Black Lives Matter protests last summer, according to copies of the request discovered last month by the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a digital-rights advocacy group. The request could have netted video of suspected criminals. But it also could have brought in footage of peaceful demonstrators marching against police abuse, said EFF analyst Matthew Guariglia, who called it a chilling reminder of how the cameras could track Americans exercising their First Amendment rights. The systems, Guariglia added, highlight the growing way public authorities are capitalizing on privately run camera networks and databases. Homeowners, he said, probably would object if police officers installed a high-resolution camera aimed at their front door. But they may not object when their neighbors do the installing, even though the end result is the same; in fact, many people pay to do it themselves. "When we let consumers build a large-scale surveillance network that police then get to request from at will, we are essentially letting police skirt the checks and balances they'd otherwise have to address if they wanted to build a CCTV [closed-circuit television] network for the government," Guariglia said. Ring prohibits video requests for protests and other lawful activities, Shahmiri said, but the LAPD's request was acceptable because it said it was aimed at identifying people responsible for physical injuries and property crimes. It was unknown if the requests led to any prosecutions; the LAPD declined to comment. Proponents of the technology have argued the requests are no different from the traditional police practice of asking people to voluntarily share information that could help solve a crime. Some police and community groups have even given the cameras out free, believing they could help deter crime or give officers the upper hand. Ring emails its police video requests directly to the camera owners, including the officer's name and details of the incident, and investigators can ask for up to 12 hours of footage. Camera owners can ignore the requests, but officers said many are eager to comply. Once the video is shared, law enforcement agencies can keep the footage forever and use or share it however they would like. "The neighborhood survey is the same. It's the technology's that's more advanced," said Eddy Durkin, a spokesman for the Tampa Police Department, which made 190 video requests in the last three months of 2020. "People can send us a video right then and there, as opposed to 10 years ago, when you were relying on someone's memory." Home-security cameras are nothing new, but the newer systems' ease of use and low prices - Ring's doorbells start at $59 and many of its rivals are priced under $200 - have greatly expanded a market once dominated by affluent buyers and camera hobbyists. Ring has declined to provide sales figures, but the company has offered hints of its vast cross-country footprint: In November 2019, the company said its doorbells in the U.S. were chimed 2.5 million times on an average day and 15 million times on Halloween. Dan Calacci, a researcher at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Media Lab who has analyzed usage of Ring's Neighbors app, estimated that more than 3 million Ring cameras are now online nationwide. (For comparison: London, one of the most surveilled cities in the world, has an estimated 600,000 CCTV cameras.) The competition among tech giants has also helped break ground on the cameras' surveillance capabilities. Google, whose Nest subsidiary sells a range of indoor and outdoor home-security cameras, spent $450 million in August to acquire a 6 percent stake of the home-security giant ADT, saying the deal would help "create the next generation of smart home security offerings." Ring said last week that its newest model boasts radar sensors that can track a person's movement, upgraded cameras that can record visitors from "head to toe," and improved "3D Motion Detection" that can spot someone from up to 30 feet away. The company has also advertised an unreleased camera drone, the Always Home Cam, that could fly itself around indoors. Police officers said they have grown more comfortable with asking for video in the years since cellphone cameras became an omnipresent part of modern life. But the home cameras add an additional benefit, because they stay on and watching 24 hours a day, and because owners don't always even know the full extent of what they've caught. Several officers said looking for Ring doorbells and other popular home-security cameras has become a routine part of canvassing a neighborhood after a crime: If they see one, they'll ask the owner to cue up what the camera saw. For crimes like package thefts and car burglaries that traditionally left officers with little evidence, the videos can offer a helpful lead or even identify the suspect outright. But many departments are also using the system for their most serious crimes. Investigators stopped by houses with doorbell cameras while searching for clues to who had planted two pipe bombs near the U.S. Capitol in the hours before it was Jan. 6 by an angry mob. The FBI, which said its agents were "using every tool in our toolbox," later shared photos and videos of the suspect captured by a nearby homeowner's security camera purchased from Arlo, whose Internet-connected cameras start at under $200. The gun battle last month in Sunrise, Fla., however, revealed how home-security cameras could be used to give violent criminals the upper hand. Two FBI agents were killed and three others were wounded while attempting to serve a search warrant of a man facing investigation in a case involving crimes against children. The FBI said the suspect, David Lee Huber, opened fire when the agents approached the door before killing himself. The FBI declined to say what kind of camera was used or offer further comment, but law enforcement individuals told the Miami Herald that the suspect used a doorbell camera in the ambush. Chuck Wexler, the executive director for Police Executive Research Forum, a nonprofit that advises police agencies, said home-security cameras have been a fruitful source of video for officers who need as much help investigating a crime as they can get. But the shooting, he said, offered a major "wake-up call" for officers in the field. "What happened there will influence police departments, in that they've got another thing to worry about," Wexler said. "Just the act of knocking on someone's door can be dangerous. They're trained how to do that. But this introduces another cautionary note for how that technology can have unintended consequences." Federal law enforcement officials have raised concerns before about the potential for exactly this kind of risk. A leaked FBI bulletin from 2019, first reported by the Intercept, stated that doorbell cameras and other Internet-connected monitoring devices could endanger agents by alerting suspects to their presence, capturing images of their faces and posing "a risk to their present and future safety." Agents in New Orleans said in another FBI "tradecraft alert" that they had been stymied by a suspect with a doorbell camera who "was able to see and hear everything happening at his residence" when they attempted to execute a search. Some officials have worked to take matters into their own hands. After the FBI shooting, a writer in the Journal of Emergency Medical Services urged first responders to block the lenses of doorbell cameras with sticky electrode pads when attending to calls related to mental health, domestic violence or other threats. D'Angelo, the retired South Miami police captain, said the recent FBI killings in Florida should spur police to more often use WiFi jammers to knock out the Internet at homes where a doorbell camera could give away their movements. "That's got to be something that is part of the protocol now when doing reconnaissance," he said. "Some countermeasure has to be built in so we can defeat these devices." Camera owners have said they love the reassurance and the thrill they get from watching people in and around their home, and some have credited the systems with helping them catch package-stealing "porch pirates" or keep an eye on passersby. But the cameras have also been targeted by hackers who have watched people's live video and scared their owners by shouting through the systems' speakers. Ring said last year that it had also investigated and fired several employees for abusing their access and improperly viewing people's videos. For people who aren't police officers, the effects of all that neighborhood surveillance has left a more subtle impact. Lesley Miller, a mother in Goleta, Calif., who is home-schooling three young children during the pandemic, let them play in the grassy areas around their townhouse community, believing the outside time was good for their health while everything is shut down. But she was surprised when a Ring video was posted to her neighborhood Facebook group showing her 7-year-old son throwing a foam volleyball at a neighbor's security camera. (He says he was trying to throw it over the roof.) She marched him over to the neighbor's door, where they rang the Ring doorbell and left an apology letter when no one answered. But more than 70 people had already watched the video and formed their own opinions, with some commenting about how the boy should be punished. One neighbor later threatened to call the police for "irresponsible parenting." She said she was frustrated that her son's little goof had been posted publicly, without her knowing, in a video branding him a criminal: How would her neighbors treat him the next time he went out to play? And she worried that the cameras were amplifying people's paranoia, making them more likely to be suspicious of neighbors they only see through a video screen. She sat her son down for a conversation she had hoped could wait until he was much older: When he is outside, she told him, he is often under constant watch. "Every time you ride your bike down this block, there are probably 50 cameras that watch you going past," she told him. "If you make a bad choice, those cameras will catch you." She hated that the cameras were part of his motivation, but she worried about what the next potential recording could bring. "I want him to make good choices because he cares about the people who live in those homes, not because he's afraid of being punished," she said. "But there is very little grace for mistakes when things are caught on camera." - - - The Washington Post's Dalton Bennett contributed to this report. Haiti - Security : Creation of an anti-kidnapping cell Jovenel Moise was yesterday Monday at the Ministry of Justice and Public Security (MJSP) to chair a crucial meeting of the Superior Council of the National Police (CSPN). Important subjects were discussed, among others, the general security conditions in the country. "In view of the increase in insecurity and remote-controlled kidnapping, the highest authorities of the State sent, this [Monday] morning, to the MJSP, a strong signal to remind the population that they are in the process of do everything possible to put the bandits out of harm's way," said Rockefeller Vincent. "The Central Financial Intelligence Unit (UCREF), the Anti-Corruption Unit (ULCC), the Ministry of Finance and the Bank of the Republic of Haiti (BRH) will control suspicious financial transactions with regard to the legal tools in order to detect possible cases of financing of violence in Haiti, in particular kidnapping," announced Jovenel Moise, announcing the creation of an anti-kidnapping cell in support of that of the DCPJ to better combat this scourge. "It was decided to create an anti-kidnapping cell which will operate under the authority of the DG of the PNH [Leon Charles]." Also he specifies that "Clear instructions have been passed to the Ministries of Finance and Justice with a view to mobilizing the competent technical services of the State to trace the use of funds from the kidnapping [...] Insecurity has changed scale and is knocking on all doors in our territory. Now is the time to act. The security forces must get in motion to combat these deadly and devastating phenomena of kidnapping, organized crime and banditry." For his part, the Prime Minister asked the Minister of Foreign Affairs to speak with the American authorities on shipments of arms and ammunition coming from the United States. Also Jovenel Moise asked the Minister of Justice and Public Security to create a hotline against kidnapping that can receive up to 250 calls per hour. HL/ HaitiLibre NEW YORK, March 1, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Citrin Cooperman congratulates Partner and Franchise Practice Founder and Co-Leader Aaron Chaitovsky for being named one of the 'Top 100 Global Franchise Influencers' by 1851 Franchise and SeoSamba. Tapping into the franchise world's thriving community is vital for both established and emerging franchisors and franchisees. For over 30 years, Chaitovsky has advised both franchisors and franchisees across the globe, from startups to some of the largest franchisors in the world. The 'Top 100 Global Franchise Influencers' list includes the most influential professionals in the franchise world. These influencers are franchise superstars who have been involved in turning local operations into world-leading business powerhouses and, through the involvement of these influencers, ensured their enduring success as springboards to global fame. This recognition reinforces Chaitovsky's place as one of the top influencers in the franchise world. "I feel honored and humbled to be recognized, and included as one of the Top 100 Global Franchise Influencers for 2021, alongside some of the most highly respected individuals in franchising," said Partner and Franchise Practice Founder and Co-Leader Aaron Chaitovsky. "I've always been very passionate about franchising and the franchise model, and have been fortunate to have had the opportunity to work closely with so many franchisors, franchisees, and suppliers that I truly respect. I've learned so much from all of them and hope that I have made an impact as well." Chaitovsky is a former board member and executive committee member of the International Franchise Association (IFA) and is the immediate past chair of the IFA's Supplier Forum Advisory Board Executive Committee. He currently serves on many of the IFA's other committees as well, including the IFA Budget and Finance Committee, the Membership Committee, and the Task Force for Franchising in the Social Sector. Additionally, Chaitovsky was actively involved as a member of the IFA Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) Task Force, which recently helped to successfully achieve new guidance from the FASB on revenue recognition requirements for franchising. This huge victory for privately-held franchisors will help to save considerable time and costs for these growing businesses. Chaitovsky is also a frequent speaker on various franchise-related topics, serving as a trusted advisor to both active and potential franchisors and multi-unit franchisees. In his role as founder and co-leader of the firm's Franchise Practice, Chaitovsky leads an ever-growing team of dedicated franchise industry accountants and business advisors. "We are all very proud of Aaron for his many achievements and this well-deserved honor," said Citrin Cooperman CEO Joel Cooperman. "He has worked hard to become the go-to business advisor for the franchising community, built a very successful practice group within our firm, and has excelled in his role as mentor to his team, for which we are all grateful." 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 Related Links http://www.citrincooperman.com Indonesia's foreign minister Retno Marsudi on Tuesday urged Myanmar to "open its doors" to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) bloc to resolve escalating tensions after a military coup. After a meeting with other ASEAN foreign ministers, Retno also called for the release of political detainees and for democracy to be restored in Myanmar, while pledging that ASEAN countries would not break their non-interference pledge. Short link: Gandhinagar, March 3 : The Gujarat Congress chief Amit Chavda and the Leader of Opposition Party (LoP) Paresh Dhanani tendered resignations from their posts on Tuesday, following the party's debacle in the local body elections in Gujarat. The Congress leadership accepted their resignations. However, both will continue till the party finds their replacement. On March 2, Congress' poor performance repeated in the Tehsil, district and municipality elections in Gujarat, after the grand old party was reduced to a paltry 55 seats from the 176 in the local body elections. The Congress managed to clinch only 356 seats in the municipality elections and 157 in the panchayat polls. Talking to the media on Tuesday, Amit Chavda said, "The results of the local body elections are contrary to our expectations. We accept the public mandate. I accept defeat as the party president here. We will continue to work for the people." There was buzz about the resignation of both the leaders after the Congress suffered defeat in 8-seat Assembly by-polls last year. Last week the BJP retained power in Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Surat, Rajkot, Bhavnagar and Jamnagar, proving it's dominance in the urban areas. The BJP vastly improved its performance by winning 483 out of the total 576 seats across the six civic bodies as compared to the previous election where it bagged 389 seats. -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text Pundits, armchair analysts, paid operatives, compromised journalists and media houses are having a field day blasting and censuring Ethiopia following the adventurous attack of the erstwhile TPLF ... Pundits, armchair analysts, paid operatives, compromised journalists and media houses are having a field day blasting and censuring Ethiopia following the adventurous attack of the erstwhile TPLF cabal forces on the Ethiopian Defence Forces of the Northern Command. Just to briefly recall: The cabal forces attempted a fatal putsch by mercilessly and cowardly slaughtering the national armyin their sleep. This triggered a fantastic and thunderous response that ended up consuming the plotters. This remains the undisputed narrative openly and officially acknowledged both by the victors and the vanquished alike. This treasonous act wasexpressly and promptlycondemned by a number of powerful entities including the former US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. The small country, Djibouti, awarded the highest national honor to the Chief of Staff of the Ethiopian Defence Forces in recognition of the decisive victory in crushing the plot which would have had a catastrophic impact in the region. Many other heavy weights, such as China and Russia, openly recognized the matter as an internal one and helped curtail the undueand ridiculouspressure on Ethiopia. Here cometh Emperor Kagame squealing on the issue during an interview with Hoover Institution, a US-based think tank, subtly and deviously faulting Ethiopia. In the interview, he audaciously called for direct UN Security Council intervention in Tigray when this is an indubitable matter of national jurisdiction. Who is Emperor Kagame? Emperor Paul Kagame, the-savior-of-Rwanda, has indeed played an important role in stabilizing the country. However, the same cannot be said for the region. Rwanda has long been implicated in the looting and embezzling of natural and other resources in neighboring countries. It once sparked a conflict which engulfed the continent involving more than half-a-dozen countries. It was also accused of numerous atrocities in the region. The Emperor of Rwanda, who now lectures on Ethiopian peace and security, is a villain well known for persecuting and killing his political opponentsat home and in exile. The killing of a high-ranking former intelligence chief, Patrick Karegeya, in South Africa which ensued a diplomatic fallout with the country is just one example. After the murder, Kagame boasted: Whoever betrays the country will pay the price. I assure you. Letting down a country, wishing harm on people, you end up suffering the negative consequences. Any person still alive who may be plotting against Rwanda, whoever they are, will pay the priceWhoever it is, it is a matter of time. Opposing Emperor Kagame of the small kingdom is tantamount to betraying the countrypunishable by death. And yet the TPLF cabal treacherously and perilously betrayed the army, the country and the peopleof over 110 million. The Emperor is yet to condemn this treason; if he has, I have yet to see it. The monarch, who has won all the elections under the skies of the small kingdommultiple times, and handsomely, for as long as he has been in powershould be slightly more modest in his lectures. Oh, yes, he has only been in power for over two decadesprobably with an intent to rule as long as he breaths. Kagame the mouse, who thinks that he is a lion, is not even a cat. He has been effectively hoisted by lavish funds of development partners who have been largely dashing to cleanse their sins for their devastating inaction to prevent the tragic genocide. Kagame has been adept at effectively manipulating it in advancing his oversized global egoand also capturing the limelight of the international media. African Solutions to African Problems: Really? The Emperor who deploys African Solutions to African Problems when it fits him, in this interview which is the source of the article, blurted: the US new administration and the UN and others should be thinking what we can do together with Africa and just as an afterthought pitched: Africa needs to be engaged primarily. In the interview, he further pontificated that I have not known of AU or UN or individual countries trying to help in dealing with the matter. He contemptibly gestured It is still just within the country itself of Ethiopia. Kagame, one of the purported active actors in the African Union, seems to declare ignorance of the proactive role played by South Africas President Cyril Ramaphosa who exactly did thatthough Ethiopia, as a sovereign state, rightly, declined the brotherly gesture. Kagames Motives: Speculations I have struggled to establish the motives of Emperor Kagame in distorting Ethiopias ability and resolve in surmounting its internal challenge. But somehow, I managed to cobble up two. We know that Emperor Kagame hails from the minority Tutsi tribe which completely dominates the political, economic, financial, military, intelligence, social and culture space of Rwanda. This is comparable to the Ethiopian situation where the minority Tigreans, only about 6 percent of the population, did exactly the same, probably with more brute force, treachery and cowardice. It should be cautioned that the greedy cabal does not represent the great majority of Tigreans whose trust has been betrayed. Alas, these two have a lot in commonamong others they both tend to win more than 99 percent of the votesmultiple timesa statistical impossibility where it is disproved in these kingdoms! Losing is unthinkableand is not even on the menu. Is it possible that Emperor Kagame is silently mourning the demise of a comparable, probably more monstrous, minority mafia next door as a warning shot for his small kingdom? He may as well be, as at the end, the reality of the voices of the majority over the minority remains inevitableat times with catastrophic consequencesas genocides. And Rwanda has already seen a barbaric one. The second motive, I speculate here again, is that this Emperor who has no clothes, may be suffering from an inferiority complex of size, economic and political influence, global visibility and military standing of its neighbors. Ethiopia has been a central force of peace and security in the region for a long period of time and this has earned her a respectable place in the UN peace-keeping missions, among others. The little mouse appears to be deviously maneuvering to diminish the omnipresent lion in the region. In Conclusion Nations after nations have fully recognized the critical importanceand needof thwarting treasonous acts as in the case in Ethiopia, through their favorable voices and their calculated silence. Emperor Kagame had a choice between these two plausibleand appropriatealternatives. He picked the wrong one. In fairness, Kagame may have been the victim of TPLF inspired and funded disinformation and lies. But then, he should have been more cautious if he, by his own admission, is aware that the other problem is that it has been cut off from the rest of the world; people do not know much about what is happening there. So how is it then the genius Emperor advising the UN to intervene in Tigray without information on the ground. This observation further lends some credence to my two speculative motives. For all the genuine critics of Ethiopia, it is imperative to seek the truth first, before uttering disastrous solutions; or else Ethiopia will continue to spurn them whether they come from a demagogue former US president or a miniature lifetime African emperor. If you cannot be part of the solution, do not be part of the problem. Truth always prevails. Ethiopia shall overcome. The Queen of Sheba may be reached at QueenOfSheba2020@outlook. com | Twitter: @TheQueenofSheb5 [March 02, 2021] OMRF Selects WekaIO Data Platform to Accelerate Drug Discovery WekaIO (Weka), the fastest-growing data platform for artificial intelligence/machine learning (AI/ML), life sciences research, and high-performance data analytics (HPDA), today announced that the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation (OMRF) has implemented Weka's Limitless Data Platform to simplify, speed up, and scale their mixed workloads. By using Weka, OMRF can run more and concurrent research jobs in a shorter amount of time. Established in 1946, OMRF is an independent, nonprofit biomedical research institute with more than 450 staff and over 50 labs studying cancer, heart disease, autoimmune disorders, and diseases of aging. Discoveries at OMRF led to the first targeted therapy approved in the U.S. for sickle cell disease and the first approved treatment for neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder, a rare autoimmune disease. OMRF's critical research is helping people live longer, healthier lives, one discovery at a time. The challenge for OMRF was to architect a system for scientists that would satisfy their growing informatics needs for their research: more compute, more storage, faster storage, for bigger data sets. By implementing Weka, OMRF was able to: Simplify their storage architecture Reduce job run time by 10x Achieve limitless capacity scaling by tiering to an object storage archive Facilitate more research by running jobs concurrently and complete them in a shorter amount of time "Our scientists can more easily complete their analysis and no longer have to deal with the storage management and life cycle," said Stuart Glenn, Assistant Director of Infrastructure and Research Computing at OMRF. "Our old workflow was complex and time-consuming, involving staging data to a compute node's local SSD for better application performance. With Weka, we have so much performance and expandable capacity that we don't have to think about it." After considering other products from their legacy storage vendor, all-flash solutions, and BeeGFS-based systems, OMRF decided to deploy Weka on Supermicro hardware to achieve a fast and cost-efficient storage system that enables it to focus on saving lives rather than focusing on storage. "Organizations have a large number of ptions when it comes to choosing a storage solution, but only Weka can simply and cost-efficiently manage mixed workloads at scale on a single platform without any impact to performance," said Ken Grohe, president and CRO at WekaIO. "The reduction in job run time that OMRF achieved with Weka will have a significant, positive impact on their research outputs. Working with partners like Supermicro and Silicon Mechanics, the Weka Limitless Platform delivered the benefits and return on investment OMRF needed to stay on the forefront of scientific discovery." With Weka's data platform, OMRF research jobs were reduced 10X, with one job reduced from 70 days to 7 days; another common analysis workflow was reduced from 12 hours to 2 hours. They can now support multiple and simultaneous new research initiatives; faster turn-around time and jobs finishing faster gets results to researchers faster. Weka solves the storage challenges common with I/O-intensive workloads delivering more enterprise features to store, protect, and manage data. Delivered as a broad solution for many use cases through the Weka Innovation Network (WIN), the Limitless Data Platform is built on the Weka File System (WekaFS), a software-defined architecture that delivers the industry's best performance and efficiencies by leveraging the latest technologies in storage such as NVMe, networking technologies like NVMe-oF, 100Gb Ethernet, and advances in computing technologies like GPU acceleration. "Silicon Mechanics has been working with OMRF for years on various HPC systems so we knew that the massively parallel-architecture of WekaFS and its ability to seamlessly tier to object storage would be a great fit for OMRF," said Matt Ritter, director of engineering at Silicon Mechanics, a WIN Leader Partner. "We can design and build the best HPC compute infrastructure in the world, but it won't meet our client's needs without a top-notch, integrated storage component. That's why we always leverage storage technology that provides the I/O throughput necessary to get the job done. With Weka, OMRF has the solution it needs to be successful." "We are pleased that OMRF was able to take advantage of Supermicro Storage Solution Bundle featuring WekaFS, which is preconfigured and optimized for maximum compute acceleration and reduced job times, delivering unmatched performance at scale," said Michael McNerney, vice president of marketing and networks security at Supermicro, a WIN Innovation Partner. "Our joint solution is currently available in a set of turn-key appliances that easily satisfy any performance, capacity, and footprint requirements." For more information about Weka's Limitless Data Platform, go to: https://www.weka.io, and to request a free trial of WekaFS, go to Get Started with Weka. To find a WekaFS authorized reseller in the Weka Innovation Network (WIN), go to https://www.weka.io/partners. Additional resources: OMRF Case Study Supermicro Storage Appliance with WekaFS Software About WekaIO WekaIO (Weka) is used by eight of the Fortune 50 enterprise organizations to uniquely solve the newest, biggest problems holding back innovation and discovery. Weka solutions are purpose-built to future-ready the accelerated and agile data center. Optimized for NVMe-flash and the hybrid cloud, its advanced architecture handles the most demanding storage challenges in the most data-intensive technical computing environments, delivering truly epic performance at any scale, enabling organizations to maximize the full value of their data center investments. Weka helps the enterprise solve big IT infrastructure problems to accelerate business outcomes and speed productivity. For more information, go to https://www.weka.io Follow WekaIO: Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook WekaIO, WekaFS, Weka AI, Weka Innovation Network, Weka Within, Weka AI logo, WIN logo, Weka Within logo, and the WekaIO logo are trademarks of WekaIO, Inc. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210302005386/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] - Due to its unique properties, such as superior flow properties & high water repellence, demand for RDP powders in grouts, cement-based plaster and waterproofing, thermal insulation systems and self-levelling is increasing dramatically - In the building and construction industry, RDP powders are commonly utilized in the making of concrete and cement repair mortar ALBANY, N.Y., March 2, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Redispersible polymer powder refers to a type of polymer emulsion created by applying a variety of procedures to thermoplastic resin materials in powder form, including spray drying, treatment of surface, and high pressure and temperature treatment. These powders are classified as redispersible polymer powders because after being processed with water, they can disperse back into new emulsions with characteristics identical to the initial copolymer emulsions. Multiple benefits of this powder is likely to support growth of the global RDP powder market in the years to come. Because of the prevalence of extraordinary circumstances of the coronavirus pandemic, the Indian construction industry is embracing the plug-and-play approach. COVID-19 vaccines and a drop in the number of active cases are expected to augur well for the global RDP powder market as companies start to recover and job prospects increase. Another growth-promoting factor for the market in this region is flourishing business of the Indian construction industry, which is the country's second-largest employer after agriculture. Request for Covid-19 Impact Analysis on RDP Powder Market: https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/Covid19.php In contrast to the rest of the world's construction industry, Germany is concentrating on profitability and liquidity to remain competitive. To cover their losses in 2020, RDP powder manufacturers are likely to take advantage of incremental opportunities prevailing in this market. As a result, construction activity in southern Europe and China is continuing to grow. Depending on a variety of factors, such as the development of the construction sector, the global RDP powder market is projected to grow at 7.5 % CAGR over the forecast timeframe. As such, with the increasing applications of RDP powder in the construction sector, the global RDP powder market is likely to observe growth in near future. Download PDF Brochure - https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php Key Findings of Market Report Multiple Benefits of this Power to Accelerate its Demand RDP powders are widely utilized in cement renders to enhance flexibility, workability, and adhesion. The advantages of RDP powders, such as hydrophobicity and thixotropy, are gaining traction. Manufacturers are increasing their production capacities in order to meet end user demands for reduced efflorescence in cement renders for wet interior and exterior applications. Growing prominence of this powder is likely to support growth of the global RDP powder market in the years to come. The global RDP powder market is likely to expand due to various applications such as interior base coat render and exterior finishing render. High-quality RDP items with multipurpose attributes that are appropriate for regular render dry mixes are being developed by manufacturers. Demand for High Tensile and Bonding Strength on Substrates to Boost Market Growth Manufacturing companies in the global RDP powder market should put in extra effort to resolve application and production issues in order to gain competitive advantage over its rivals. Mikem, a green chemistry specialist, is expanding its supply networks for MikrantTM RDP, a water-soluble polymer created by spray drying ethylene-vinyl acetate or EVA polymer. As a result, EVA has been linked to better flexural strength and bending of mortar. RDP powder manufacturing companies make organic adhesives that create a film with high bonding strength and tensile strength on various substrates. RDP products that increase resistance to abrasion, longevity, and impact resistance of mortar are becoming more easily obtainable. Applications that require severe weather resistance, such as freeze-thaw resistance and crack resistance are being considered. All these factors are likely to benefit the global RDP powder market in the years to come. View Detailed Table of Contents at https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/report-toc/81330 RDP Powder Market: Growth Drivers RDP powder finds utilization in a wide range of applications, such as dry powder interface agents, self-leveling mortars, ceramic tile adhesives, waterproof mortars, decorative mortars, and so on. Such extensive use of the powder is likely to spell growth for the market in near future. These powders are polymeric emulsion powders that disperse in water to create new emulsions when combined with water. When RDP powders are applied to mortars, they enhance flexibility, bond strength, and cohesion. These powders have outstanding hydrophobic and water repellent qualities, which assist in the prevention of shrinkage cracks. Purchase Premium Research Report on RDP Powder Market @ https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/checkout.php Global RDP Powder Market: Key Competitors The Dow Chemical Company Shandong Xindadi Industrial Group Co., Ltd. Dairen Chemical Corporation Wacker Chemie AG Organik Kimya BASF SE Explore Transparency Market Research's award-winning coverage of the global Chemicals and Materials Industry, High Performance Polymers Market - https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/high-performance-polymers-market.html Hydrocarbon Solvents Market - https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/hydrocarbon-solvents-market.html Explore More Upcoming Reports: https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/upcoming.htm About Transparency Market Research Transparency Market Research is a global market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. 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Contact Mr. Rohit Bhisey Transparency Market Research State Tower, 90 State Street, Suite 700, Albany NY - 12207 United States USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453 Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.com Press Release Source: https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/pressrelease/rdp-powder-market.htm Website: http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1085206/Transparency_Market_Research_Logo.jpg News Defying Military Regime, Myanmars CRPH Names Four Acting Ministers U Tin Tun Naing (top left), U Lwin Ko Latt (top right), Daw Zin Mar Aung (bottom left) and Dr. Zaw Wai Soe. YANGONIn its latest challenge to the legitimacy of the countrys military regime, a committee representing elected Myanmar lawmakers from the overthrown ruling National League for Democracy (NLD) appointed four acting ministers on Tuesday. In a statement, the Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (CRPH) said that since the militarys illegitimate arrest of President U Win Myint and State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, the cabinet had not been able to perform its duties. The Pyidaungsu Hluttaw is Myanmars Union Parliament. According to the statement, four people, three of them from the NLD, have been appointed as acting ministers to assume the duties on behalf of cabinet members. Daw Zin Mar Aung, who was elected to the Lower House representing Yangons Yankin Township in the Nov. 8 general election, was appointed acting foreign affairs minister. She is a member of the CRPH. The committee also appointed U Lwin Ko Latt to serve concurrently as acting Presidents Office minister and Union Government Office minister. In the Nov. 8 vote, he was elected as a Lower House lawmaker representing Thanlyin Township in Yangon. He is currently a member of the CRPH. Another elected Lower House lawmaker from the NLD, U Tin Tun Naing, was appointed acting minister for three crucial three economic ministries: Planning, Finance and Industry; Investment and Foreign Economic Relations; and Commerce. The CRPH also chose Dr. Zaw Wai Soe as acting minister for three ministries: Labor, Immigration and Population; Education; and Health and Sports. The University of Medicine 1 Yangon rector has played a leading role in Yangons COVID-19 fight since last year. He strongly condemned the military coup and is participating in the Civil Disobedience Movement against the military regime, having refused to serve in the militarys cabinet. Among the CRPHs members are 17 elected NLD lawmakers. The self-declared parliamentary committee was formed after the coup to counter military rule. The NLD won Myanmars Nov. 8 general election in a landslide. NLD candidates won 920 of the 1,117 elected seats nationwide, including seats in both houses of the bicameral Union Parliament and the state/regional parliaments, as well as ethnic affairs minister posts. On Feb. 1, the military staged a coup just hours before the new NLD-dominated Parliament was set to convene, claiming it was forced to act over what it called electoral fraud in the Nov. 8 general election. You may also like these stories: Myanmar Police Fails to Probe Headquarters Raid: NLD After Embassy Protest, Indonesia Denies Backing Myanmar Regimes Election Plan Myanmar Junta Leader Warns Media Against Using Junta or Regime The winners of the 2020 Protein Science Best Paper awards are Yu-Ting Huang from National Chung Hsing University, Taiwan, and Samuel Junod and Joseph Kelich from Temple University, USA. Dr. Huang, working in the lab of Pei-Fen Liu, made the unexpected finding that ATP can alter the folding and function of human proteins through protein destabilization. This phenomenon may be relevant in studying the function of proteins that exist in the specific metabolic environment of a cancer cell. As Yu-Ting explains, she wanted to be either a doctor, a scientist, or a medical specialist. "Although I couldn't get into a medical school, I met Dr. Pei-Fen Liu when I was a graduate student in National Chung Hsing University. He gave me a chance to get closer to my dream. Nowadays, people are paying more and more attention to their health, especially in these two years. It couldn't be better if what we have found in this research can help solve the problem of drug-resistance, and contribute to medical fields. For now, I'm teaching chemistry and science for teenagers. I hope that those kids will be inspired and become leading lights in academia." Pei-Fen Liu speaks highly of the skill and determination which Yu-Ting brought to the project. "Yu-Ting is an eminent and self-motivated young scientist in protein science. She originally joined my laboratory with limited background knowledge about protein folding. Surprisingly, she picked up most of the concepts and learned the key experiments quickly. Her problem solving and logical thinking are also beyond other students' standards. We initially suffered from the protein purification and sample preparation in this project for a human protein, uridine phosphorylase I. She managed to overcome all of the obstacles step by step. Continuously, she came up with a new experimental design to study the interaction between ATP and the partially unfolded state of this protein. An exciting model was then developed to explain the correlation between protein concentration and ligand binding effect. It is a pleasure to work with her in exploring unknown subjects. I believe that she is on the way to achieving success in her career path." The two other Best Paper awardees, Samuel Junod and Joseph Kelich, were recognized for their studies of the nucleocytoplasmic transport of intrinsically disordered proteins.2 By using high-speed super-resolution fluorescence microscopy in the lab of Weidong Yang, they could measure the transport kinetics and 3D spatial locations of transport routes through the nuclear pore complexes for various intrinsically disordered proteins. They found that the roles executed for folded proteins are not followed by disordered ones. For the latter, diffusion efficiencies and routes are determined by their content ratio of charged and hydrophobic amino acids. As Dr. Kelich explains "I am currently a post-doctoral researcher at the Wistar Institute in Philadelphia studying the role of telomeric protein defects in cancer. The project for which this award was given was conducted during my PhD studies in Weidong Yang's lab. I would also like to note that Samuel Junod and I formed a great team for this project and that the Yang lab provided a great multidisciplinary team-based approach to science that I love." Sam also outlines his own background. "My initiation to research began during my undergraduate studies under the guidance of Dr. Weidong Yang. With Dr. Yang's mentorship I resolved the spatial location of several nuclear pore complex (NPC) scaffold proteins using nanobody-specific labeling and single-molecule microscopy. Since the NPC is a major pathway for proteins entering and exiting the nucleus, mapping the location of its scaffold proteins gave further insight into the structural composition of the important cellular complex. After a brief departure into the private sector as a chemist, I returned back to Temple University to pursue my PhD and continue my research of the NPC with Dr. Weidong Yang. Currently, I have expanded my research of nuclear proteins to include the impact of disordered nucleoporins (Nups), characterized by the presence of phenylalanine-glycine (FG) repeats, on nucleocytoplasmic protein transport. I am very fortunate to study under Dr. Weidong Yang and to have collaborated on several projects with Dr. Joseph Kelich. I look forward to applying my knowledge of the NPC and single-molecule microscopy to other biological questions." As Dr. Yang explains, Sam and Joe were a great team. "Samuel Junod joined my lab initially as an undergraduate student in 2014, and then a master student in 2017. Based on his great performance in research, I recommended him to the graduate committee to admit him as a PhD candidate in our department in 2018. Joseph Kelich is one of the best PhD students in my lab. He graduated from my lab in 2018 and is currently a postdoctoral fellow at The Wistar Institute. Sam and Joe formed a good team to work on several projects including the nucleocytoplasmic transport of IDPs. In the IDP project, they had conquered the challenges of purifying and labeling various IDPs. They also took great efforts to learn single-molecule and super-resolution microscopy techniques before they successfully tracked single IDPs to move through native nuclear pores by these advanced methods." On behalf of Protein Science and the Protein Society, all congratulations to these three gifted young scientists for their outstanding accomplishments. The winners will be acknowledged at the 35th Anniversary Symposium which will take place virtually on July 7 - 9 and 12 - 14, 2021. The online meeting will feature 50+ speakers, including member and contributed talks submissions, Protein Society awards, live poster presentations, thematic workshops on crucial topics such as diversity and inclusion, and networking opportunities. ### References Huang Y-T, Yeh P-C, Lan S-C, Liu P-F. Metabolites modulate the functional state of human uridine phosphorylase I. Protein Sci. 2020;29:2189-2200. Junod SL, Kelich JM, Ma J, Yang W. Nucleocytoplasmic transport of intrinsically disordered proteins studies by high-speed super-resolution microscopy. Protein Sci. 2020;29:1459-1472. Protein Science, edited by Brian W. Matthews, is a major forum for the dissemination and discussion of leading-edge research into protein structure, function, design, and emerging applications. All submitted manuscripts will be considered for 'Best Paper' awards to be announced the year following their publication. These awards are intended to honor the exemplary work of first authors or other early-career contributors to the selected articles and represent a continuance of The Protein Society's longstanding commitment to supporting the next generation of protein scientists. The Protein Society is the leading international Society devoted to furthering research and development in protein science. Founded in 1986, the purpose of the Society is to provide international forums to facilitate communication, cooperation, and collaboration regarding all aspects of the study of proteins. In support of these goals, the Society publishes Protein Science, the premier journal in the field, hosts an annual international symposium, and facilitates the education of early-career protein scientists across all lines of discipline. The Protein Society members represent a wide spectrum of academic, industry, governmental, and non-profit institutions from more than 50 countries around the world. Media inquiries can be directed to Raluca Cadar, Executive Director at 844.377.6834. Mr. Biden campaigned on a sprawling infrastructure agenda, with trillions of dollars invested in transportation, water and sewer lines, and the scaffoldings of an energy sector that significantly reduces the United States carbon emissions, funded by tax increases on multinational companies and high earners. The components of the plan poll well which was not enough for Mr. Bidens predecessors. Mr. Obama failed, in large part, for political reasons: Republicans did not want to give him another victory. His attempt at selling Congress on a $50 billion plan to rebuild 150,000 miles of road, to lay and maintain 4,000 miles of rail track and to restore 150 miles of airport runways suffered for following on the heels of his 2009 stimulus bill. Republicans dismissed it as stimulus deja vu. While Mr. Trump talked frequently about investing in infrastructure, he never seemed serious about tackling the issue and constantly allowed other matters to distract him. For instance, in August 2017, the Trump administration organized an event at Trump Tower in Manhattan that was intended to highlight how the administration was seeking to streamline permitting. Instead, the news conference devolved into one of the grimmest and most defining moments of the Trump presidency: a fiery back-and-forth with reporters in which Mr. Trump defended white supremacists who had recently marched in Charlottesville, Va., arguing that there were very fine people on both sides. When it came to selling a message about infrastructure, we had some challenges in communication, said D.J. Gribbin, an infrastructure specialist who was in charge of the event while working for the National Economic Council. Lobbyists say that Mr. Biden starts with a better chance of success than either of his predecessors. Business groups and many Republicans have expressed a willingness to work with the administration to pass $1 trillion or more in infrastructure spending. Areas of agreement with progressives include spending on highways, bridges, rural broadband networks, water and sewer lines and even some cornerstones of fighting climate change, like electric-car charging stations. Recent news reports have mentioned how William Hogan, the Harvard professor who helped design Texas energy grid, described it as working as planned during the winter storm. Such a statement seems bizarre considering the personal misery and financial losses caused by the loss of power during the storm. Cost estimates from the power outages have been estimated as high as $50 billion. An analysis given the law and economics theory of legal liability provides a missing element in our understanding of the situation and implies the current system is not working efficiently. Such an analysis can also help respond to the calls for lawmakers to mandate winterizing Texas energy infrastructure. Specifically, how much winterizing should lawmakers mandate, and how should these mandates be enforced? Answers lie in the theory of legal liability: That if the producers of a product are forced to pay for losses suffered when the product fails, they will spend the right amount on prevention. Liability rules can be based either on strict liability, with producers paying for any harm caused, or negligence. Either rule can produce incentives to create a reliable product, although negligence rules require that courts properly distinguish between sufficient and insufficient prevention. These rules apply across most consumer products, including cars, baby food and insulation. Said another way, if Texas energy companies had been liable for the loss of life and damage to property from the winter storm, they would have been more likely to properly winterize their equipment. Instead, Texas rules allow them to stop providing energy at will, negating any liability they may have. While liability rules help provide efficient incentives, if the potential losses are extraordinarily large, these incentives may still be insufficient. Texas Take: Get the latest news on Texas politics sent directly to your inbox every weekday Bankruptcy laws allow companies to escape liabilities that are larger than the firms value. In 2019, Pacific Gas & Electric filed for bankruptcy after liability from California fires caused losses greater than it could pay. Thus, besides reallocating liability, Texas energy regulators should guard against energy companies that are undercapitalized or overleveraged. Such companies may take insufficient precautions, instead taking profits while they can and exiting the market if a winter storm forces them to take large losses. As a result of this problem, there is a role for regulators to monitor the general financial health of energy producers and possibly mandate some standards. As long as regulations did not decrease energy producers liability, energy companies would have incentives to choose the efficient amount of care that is, the proper level of winterization when producing their product. Free markets remain an excellent way to allocate scarce resources. However, lawmakers need to be aware of the environment in which these markets operate. The failures of Texas energy producers to provide energy when it was most needed should be a wake-up call for legislators to fix problems caused by a lack of liability and regulation. John Wald is a professor of finance at the University of Texas at San Antonio. NORWALK The city health department and Norwalk Community Health Center have partnered with Norwalk Public Schools to host a COVID-19 vaccination clinic for the citys school teachers, educators and child care professionals. The clinic will be conducted Wednesday afternoon at Brien McMahon High School, according to a statement from city spokesperson Josh Morgan. Donald McPherson is on trial over the death of Paula Leeson at Manchester Crown Court. A property developer murdered his wealthy wife by drowning her in a pool on holiday and making it look like an accident to get her "vast fortune", a court has been told. Donald McPherson is accused of killing Paula Leeson less than three years after their marriage, having secretly taken out seven life insurance policies on her worth 3.5 million. The 47-year-old had also forged her will to make him the beneficiary and he stood to inherit millions from her father's business, jurors at Manchester Crown Court have been told. McPherson, born Alexander James Laing and originally from Auckland, New Zealand, denies murdering her in Denmark on 6 June 2017. Read more: Employee spent stolen 1.7m on horses 'as it was more addictive than drugs' David McLachlan QC, prosecuting, said: The prosecution case is, that whilst at first glance it appeared that her untimely death was an accident, the evidence will show that it was not. It was a sinister pre-planned killing and the person responsible for her drowning was none other than her husband Donald McPherson. The motive for the drowning was the oldest and simplest one in the book. It was financial. He stood to gain a vast fortune by her death. This was something which was not known by the Danish authorities in the immediate aftermath of Paula Leesons death. McPherson married Leeson, also 47, at Peckforton Castle in Cheshire in June 2014, in a "grand affair and no expense was spared", the court was told on Tuesday. Three years on, the couple went on a mini-break to a remote part of western Denmark, though her family noticed Leeson seemed to "have something on her mind". She drowned in the swimming pool of the house they rented but hated pools and the seaside, having only gone to please her husband, the court heard. "Generous to a fault" Leeson, who came from Sale, Greater Manchester, stood to inherit the wealth from the family groundworks and skip hire business, and made her son Ben, from a previous relationship, her sole beneficiary in her will. Story continues She came to meet McPherson, who described himself as an orphan though the court heard that this was a lie to stop him discussing his past. He had trained to be a pilot but did not tell his wife about it, claiming to be at work if she called as he took flying lessons. McPherson "resented" that Leeson's father Willy "sat on his great wealth" and forged a second will for Leeson ahead of their marriage, the prosecutor said. Two life insurance policies for Leeson, each worth 400,000, benefitted her son but McPherson had forged a trust form attached to them which would divert the money to himself, the court heard. Handwriting experts were unable to say who forged the documents but McPherson was the only person who could gain, jurors were told. By 2016, he was paying 464-a-month premiums for the life insurance policies described in court as his "big secret" but never missed a payment despite sometimes being overdrawn and getting into significant debt, the court heard. The trial continues. Watch the latest videos from Yahoo News UK Toyota City, Japan, Mar 2, 2021 - (JCN Newswire) - Toyota Motor Corporation (TMC) announced today that it plans to issue "Woven Planet Bonds" to raise funds for projects that contribute to the U.N. Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The maximum issuance amount is planned to be a combined total of approximately 500 billion yen of yen-denominated and foreign currency-denominated bonds.The automobile industry is entering a once-in-a-century transformational period. Taking advantage of this opportunity, TMC is transforming itself from an automobile manufacturing company into a mobility company. Through its effort to evolve, TMC hopes to provide society with greater value and contribute to the achievement of the SDGs through its business activities.In addition to initiatives to solve social issues related to safety and the environment, TMC has been advancing initiatives for building a mobility society of the future. To raise funds necessary for such initiatives and accelerate its SDG initiatives, TMC plans to issue its Woven Planet Bonds.TMC's Woven Planet initiatives represent the company's determination to move step by step toward the future in the Toyota Philosophy spirit of "doing things for someone other than ourselves", which TMC has safeguarded and nurtured since its founding, and the SDG spirit of "leaving no one behind".The "Woven" of Woven Planet stems from the founding spirit that Sakichi Toyoda--Toyota Group's founder--had of "wanting to help his mother and others" when he invented the Toyoda automatic loom that led to the establishment of TMC. It also means to "weave" together the "streets" that are necessary to support the development and implementation of autonomous driving and mobility services. TMC will aim to create new services and products by connecting goods, information, and cities through software and connected technology centered on people.Meanwhile, the "Planet" of Woven Planet comes from the ambition to leave a beautiful home for the next generation, which embodies the global perspective that Earth is our "home planet", similar to our hometown or home country, and the people that live on this planet contribute to the future. Instead of conflicts, if each individual were united with the simple idea of "wanting to use one's strength for others", TMC believes this would contribute to achievement of the SDGs.Based on these ideas, TMC will continue to work on creating a better world, as envisioned by the SDGs and the international community.Source: Toyota Motor CorporationCopyright 2021 JCN Newswire . All rights reserved. A formal offer on teachers pay for 2019 and 2020 has been accepted by the five main teaching unions, with unions saying the agreement is a step in the right direction. The pay settlement will see teachers salaries increase by 2% payable from September 1, 2019 and an additional 2%, payable from September 1 2020. Education Minister Peter Weir said: I am pleased that the five trade unions which make up the Northern Ireland Teachers Council (NITC) have accepted a pay offer today on behalf of their members. Management side offered a cost of living increase of 2% payable from 1 September 2019 and an additional 2% payable from 1 September 2020. The pay award is applicable to all salary scales and teaching allowances. The business case for the pay offer will be subject to formal approvals from the Department of Finance. Mr Weir added: Teachers play a vital role in the Northern Ireland education system and I want to put on record my appreciation for the hard work they do on a daily basis, which has been made more difficult by the challenges of this pandemic. Unions welcomed the successful conclusion to negotiations. Gerry Murphy, Northern Secretary of Irish National Teachers Organisation, said: This salary uplift for the two years in question takes us further along the pathway in restoring teachers salaries to the levels they should be at. It is a task INTO will stick at and we remind our members that at the end of the summer we will begin negotiation with DE and the employing authorities on the next pay uplift. The uplift agreed of 2% for each of the years along with the associated back pay and the fact that the uplift comes with no strings attached is a positive step, he added. Considering the state of the local economy and the previous struggles we have had to endure to secure a pay uplift for teachers this pay award represents a continued improvement for the hard-working teaching workforce. INTO members can expect to see this uplift reflected in their salaries before the summer break. A spokesperson for the NASUWT added: Todays 2% pay award for 2019 and 2020 is a step in the right direction for school teachers. It is entirely unfair that FE lecturers are being offered less along with demands for detrimental changes to their contracts. The offer to teachers was made on Wednesday, February 10. Negotiations involved the employers and the Northern Ireland Teachers Council (NITC) which represents five unions the NASUWT, INTO, Ulster Teachers Union UTU, the National Education Union and National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT), along with representatives from the Department for Education and the Education Authority. 404 The US must stick to a two-dose strategy for the Pfizer-BioNTech and moderna COVID-19 vaccines, top infectious disease official Anthony Fauci told the Washington Post newspaper. Dr Fauci said that delaying a second dose to inoculate more Americans creates risks, potentially slowing the now-accelerating rollout that's seen nearly 77 million Americans get at least a first shot. He warned that shifting to a single-dose strategy for the vaccines could leave people less protected, enable variants to spread and possibly boost skepticism among Americans already hesitant to get the shots. 'There's risks on either side,' Fauci was quoted as saying by the Washington Post in a report published late on Monday. 'We're telling people [two shots] is what you should do...and then we say, 'Oops, we changed our mind'?' Fauci said. 'I think that would be a messaging challenge, to say the least.' His concerns come after a KEKT CNC survey found that about a third of Americans are still not absolutely sure they want a COVID-19 vaccine, though the share of those who do want one has risen from 58 percent in December to 64 percent in February. Dr Fauci warned that the US must stick to a two-dose COVID-19 vaccine regimen for the shots made by Moderna and Pfizer, or risk fueling greater mistrust among Americans 'Messaging challenges' have plagued the US from the start of the pandemic. First, it was masks, which even Dr Fauci discouraged in the first two months of 2020, arguing that anything less than an N95 would not do enough to prevent the virus's spread to be worthwhile. He said those high-grade masks should be reserved for health care workers. That guidance quickly changed, and all Americans were being urged to wear masks in public by April. Then, it was former President Trump, who continually assured Americans that COVID-19 was no worse than the flu until he did an abrupt about-face on March 31, 2020, warning that 'it's not the flu. It's vicious' And even as Operation Warp Speed officials encouraged speedy development, offering hope to the public that the pandemic's end might not be so far away after all, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) counseled patience and pledged it would not be pressured to hurry its safety reviews. Tensions and revised advice have left Americans confused and frustrated at times. That's perhaps compounded by watching other countries speed ahead with vaccinations. While Pfizer's vaccine was still under review in the US, the UK approved the shot - the first greenlit in the country - on December 2, and administered the first doses on December 8, putting pressure on the FDA. The UK also opted to risk delaying doses by up to 12 weeks in an effort to get more people some protection as quickly as possible, while the US emphasized getting a smaller number of people fully vaccinated and initially held back second doses. As of Tuesday, the UK ahs vaccinated nearly 31 percent of its population, according to data from Bloomberg. Just 15.3 percent of Americans have had one or more shot - about half the share of the population that the UK has vaccinated. Dr Fauci added that he spoke with UK health officials on Monday who have opted to delay second doses to maximize the number of people they could give shots more quickly. Fauci said that strategy would not make sense in the United States. He said the science does not support delaying a second dose for those vaccines, citing research that a two-shot regimen creates enough protection to help fend off variants of the coronavirus that are more transmissible, whereas a single shot could leave Americans at risk from variants such as the one first detected in South Africa. 'You don't know how durable that protection is,' he said. Early data from the UK's vaccination program suggests that a single dose of Pfizer's vaccine reduces the risk of COVID-19 infection by about two-thirds, compared to nearly 95 percent after two doses. Even now, about 36 percent of Americans either haven't been vaccinated or aren't sure they want to be, with some of the highest rates of hesitancy among at-risk black and LatinX people Moderna's vaccine prevented 80.2 percent of infections after a single dose compared to 94 percent after two doses, according to data it submitted to the FDA. In US trial, J&J's one-dose shot cuts infection risks by 72 percent (globally, including against variants, it is 66 percent effective). Fauci said on Sunday he was encouraging Americans to accept any of the three available COVID-19 vaccines, including the newly approved Johnson & Johnson shot. The US government authorized Johnson & Johnson's single-dose COVID-19 vaccine on Saturday, making it the third to be available in the country following the ones from Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna that require two doses. But J&J is also testing a dosing regimen that requires two of its shots, in case it might offer better protection. COVID-19 has claimed more than half a million lives in the United States, and states are clamoring for more doses to stem cases, hospitalizations and deaths. New event featuring top international teams and sailors racing around Europe will depart from Lorient La Base The French city of Lorient in Brittany has been appointed as the starting point for The Ocean Race Europe. The iconic port, in the heart of the renowned 'Bretagne Sailing Valley', will host the start for both the IMOCA and VO65 fleets as they charge south across the Bay of Biscay. This will mark the first racing under The Ocean Race banner for the high-tech IMOCA class boats and the one-design VO65 class. For the teams, The Ocean Race Europe will be the first step on the journey towards the 2022-23 edition of The Ocean Race round the world event and for some IMOCA teams for the Vendee Globe 2024 as well. "Lorient has been an important part of the history of The Ocean Race, as a much-loved stopover port in 2011-12 and 2014-15," noted Johan Salen, the Managing Director of The Ocean Race. "Now Lorient becomes the starting port for a new, Europe-oriented event, and a fresh, exciting story begins. We are racing from the heart of what we call the French Sailing Valley and into the heart of Europe, providing a platform for extraordinary sport and driving change towards a healthier planet along the way." The Ocean Race Europe brings together the top international sailors and teams from the two classes that compete in the next around the world race, the VO65s and the IMOCA 60s. The two fleets will race in a fully-crewed configuration in stages between iconic European cities, from the Atlantic Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea and a finish in Genoa, Italy in the third week of June. Lorient will host the start over the last weekend in May. As the home port for many IMOCAs, Lorient La Base is well positioned to welcome the race boats and teams ahead of the start of The Ocean Race Europe. "Lorient La Base is proud to host the start of The Ocean Race Europe. With almost 50 local companies related to offshore sailing, Lorient Agglomeration is an European renown territory of nautical excellence," said Fabrice Loher, the president of the Lorient Agglomeration, and the Mayor of Lorient. "Lorient La Base has all the advantages of a consolidated ecosystem to support the greatest sailing teams. This is why the top skippers chose Lorient La Base as their home port. The start of The Ocean Race Europe is a new step to consolidate the reputation of the city as a host port for amazing offshore sailing races." The fleets will assemble in Lorient ahead of the start from the 28th May. Prior to arriving in Brittany, the VO65 fleet will participate in The Ocean Race Europe Prologue event, beginning in the Baltic Sea in early May and winding south before gathering at Lorient La Base at the end of the month, alongside the IMOCA fleet. Organisers of The Ocean Race Europe are prioritising the health and safety of all competitors and stakeholders and will follow all relevant regulations and advisories with respect to Covid-19. Credit: CC0 Public Domain A new study has shown that streams of water carrying sound and microscopic air bubbles can clean bacteria from salad leaves more effectively than current washing methods used by suppliers and consumers. As well as reducing food poisoning, the findings could reduce food waste and have implications for the growing threat of anti-microbial resistance. Salad and leafy green vegetables may be contaminated with harmful bacteria during growing, harvesting, preparation and retail leading to outbreaks of food poisoning which may be fatal in vulnerable groups. Because there is no cooking process to reduce the microbial load in fresh salads, washing is vital by the supplier and the consumer. Washing with soap, detergent bleach or other disinfectants is not recommended and the crevices in the leaf surface means washing with plain water may leave an infectious dose on the leaf. Even if chemicals are used, they may not penetrate the crevices. In this new study, published in the journal Ultrasound in Medicine and Biology, scientists used acoustic water streams to clean spinach leaves, then compared the results with leaves rinsed in plain water at the same velocity. Professor Tim Leighton of the University of Southampton, who invented the technology and led this research, explains: "Our streams of water carry microscopic bubbles and ultrasound down to the leaf. There the ultrasound sets up sound fields at the surface of the leaves, and within the leaf crevices, that attract the microbubbles towards the leaf and into the crevices. The ultrasound also causes the walls of the microbubbles to ripple very quickly, like the cilia hair cells around a bacteria itself, causing strong currents to move in the water around the bubble, and sweep the microbes off the leaf. In effect we make a 'super-bacteria' out of the air bubble itself: the bacteria and the biofilms, and the bubbles themselves, are then rinsed off the leaf, leaving it clean." The results showed that the microbial load on samples cleaned with the acoustic streams for 2 min was significantly lower six days after cleaning than on those treated without ultrasound. The acoustic cleaning also caused no further damage to the leaves and showed the potential to extend food shelf life, which has important economic and sustainability implications. Improving how food providers clean fresh produce could have major role to play in combating the threat of anti-microbial resistance. In 2018 and 2019, there were fatal outbreaks of different strains of E. coli from romaine lettuce in the U.S. and Canada and samples from humans infected showed resistance to antibiotics. University of Southampton Ph.D. student Weng Yee (Beverly) Chong, who was part of the research team added: "I am very grateful to Vitacress and EPSRC for funding my Ph.D. I came from an engineering background, and took Professor Leighton's classes, but he told me that I could be a trans-disciplinary Ph.D. student, and become a microbiologist whilst increasing, my engineering skills. I am also very grateful to Sloan Water Technology that they have opened up their laboratories to use by students like me, so that I can keep working on my experiments. It is an exciting environment to work in because they are doing so much inventive work to combat the pandemic and infections as a whole." Previously as part of her Ph.D. Beverly has studied how the technology could reduce the infection risk to horses and other livestock through hay cleaning. The work was sponsored by Vitacress, whose Group Technical Director Helen Brierley said: "Ensuring food safety for our products is an essential requirement. At Vitacress, we wash our produce in natural spring water, and this type of ground-breaking new technology helps to enhance our process whilst ensuring our commitment to protect the environment is maintained. We are always interested in new developments and are excited to see the results of this research." Explore further Precut salad may encourage growth of Salmonella More information: Weng Yee Chong et al. The Possibilities of Using Ultrasonically Activated Streams to Reduce the Risk of Foodborne Infection from Salad, Ultrasound in Medicine & Biology (2021). Weng Yee Chong et al. The Possibilities of Using Ultrasonically Activated Streams to Reduce the Risk of Foodborne Infection from Salad,(2021). DOI: 10.1016/j.ultrasmedbio.2021.01.026 In total, Ukraine may get US$275 million in military aid from the United States in 2021. The U.S. Department of Defense has announced Ukraine will be provided with additional US$150 million if it makes sufficient progress on key defense reforms this year. On March 1, 2021, the Department of Defense announced a new US$125 million package for the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI) that includes training, equipment, and advisory efforts to help Ukraine's forces preserve the country's territorial integrity, secure its borders, and improve interoperability with NATO, as reported in a press release of March 1. It is noted the USAI package includes two additional armed Mark VI patrol boats to enhance Ukraine's capacity to patrol and defend its territorial waters. To date, the U.S. has committed a total of eight Mark VI patrol boats. The package also includes capabilities to enhance the lethality, command and control, and situational awareness of Ukraine's forces through the provision of additional counter-artillery radars and tactical equipment; continued support for a satellite imagery and analysis capability; and equipment to support military medical treatment and combat evacuation procedures. Read alsoUkraine integration into NATO requires progress in reform U.S. embassy"The remaining US$150 million in fiscal year 2021 USAI funds appropriated by Congress will be provided when the Defense Department, in coordination with the Department of State, certifies that Ukraine has made sufficient progress on key defense reforms this year, as required by the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA)," the report says. The Department encourages Ukraine to continue to enact reforms that strengthen civilian control of the military, promote increased transparency and accountability in defense industry and procurement, and modernize its defense sector in other key areas in line with NATO principles and standards. "The United States has committed more than US$2 billion in security assistance to Ukraine since 2014 and remains committed to assisting Ukraine with the implementation of these reforms to advance its Euro-Atlantic aspirations in support of a secure, prosperous, democratic, and free Ukraine," reads the report. U.S. military aid to Ukraine On March 1, 2021, the U.S. Department of Defense announced a US$125 million aid package for Kyiv as part of its ongoing Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative. Pentagon press secretary John Kirby said the package includes additional training, counter-artillery radars, medical support, and satellite imagery and analysis, and improvements that will allow Ukraine to improve interoperability with NATO. In total, the NDAA for 2021 Fiscal Year provides US$250 million in security assistance for Ukraine. Reporting by UNIAN The sudden departure of Jan du Plessis as chairman of BT after just four years is not a good look. It is normally the job of a new chairman to dispense with the services of the chief executive. That is what du Plessis did with Gavin Patterson after a short interregnum. In came former Worldpay boss Philip Jansen, bristling with the confidence and ambition which comes from a stint in private equity, during which he turned Worldpay from a fintech bit player into a global leader before selling it to US rival Vantiv. Departing BT chairman Jan du Plessis (pictured) saw the share price tumble from 300p to 100p last year Jansen has found running BT a very different proposition. Instead of creating value, as investors might have hoped, the share price has tumbled from 300p, when du Plessis took over from former CBI president Mike Rake, to 100p last year. It is now trading at just above 126p. At the current level, BT is valued at 12.5billion which is precisely the price that Patterson paid when he bought mobile network EE five years ago. Such wanton value destruction at the nation's flagship supplier of landlines and broadband is unacceptable. The tension between du Plessis and Jansen has been toxic. Du Plessis wanted to restore BT's reputation as an infrastructure champion and mend the long-standing distrust between BT and its regulator Ofcom. Jansen wants wholesale change, including the partial or full sale of Openreach, which is responsible for the nation's broadband services. He has contemplated bringing in a private equity partner, which would be a politically explosive move given Openreach's central role in government plans to speed up fibre broadband to the door. No one will miss the irony that it is Iain Conn, ousted chief executive of Centrica, who finds himself as the main player as BT's future plays out. As senior non-executive director at BT, Conn is central to the current shake-up and has the critical task of finding the next BT chairman. Former Kingfisher boss Ian Cheshire, who until recently chaired Barclays' ring-fenced UK bank, is mentioned as a possible replacement. Being chairman of BT is an unenviable role. It requires keeping happy a diverse range of interests, including Ofcom, pension fund trustees, the unions, consumers and a battalion of small investors who have held shares since privatisation in 1984. The newcomer needs to decide if he or she wants to persist with the transformation agenda of Jansen or tack towards laser focus on delivering fibre. Du Plessis's departure might not be the last. Humbled giant Exxon Mobil is the granddaddy of big oil companies, which historically would have batted away dissident shareholders without mercy. The march of the climate change agenda is changing that. BP, and to a lesser extent Shell, determined they have to change things from the inside, slowing exploration and production, and have set challenging carbon neutral targets. Both are investing in alternatives ranging from hydrogen to electric charging stations. Investors in Exxon have been impatient. Remarkably, chairman and chief executive Darren Woods has decided it's time for change. Rather than have the activists shouting abuse from the side lines, after he invested tens of billions of dollars on loss-making assets, Woods is embracing the cause and invited two outsiders onto the board in an effort to silence the clamour for change. The newcomers are Jeffrey Ubben, co-founder of Inclusive Investment Partners, which is focused on promoting environmental, social and governance, and private equity chieftain Michael Angelakis. The plan is that the new independent directors will drive the sustainability agenda and see off an effort by activists DE Shaw and Engine No.1 to appoint their own slate of directors. DE Shaw has endorsed the changes, but Engine is fighting on. Big oil may not yet be down and out, but with a market value of 175bn, Exxon looks like a dated tiddler when compared to Tesla and the tech behemoths. Payback time After the dividend cuts comes the restoration. Broker AJ Bell calculates that kept and restarted dividends in the period March 2020 to date come to 57.7billion, and now exceed those in the previous year suggesting many firms have put the pandemic behind them even as lockdown continues. That's a shard of light for the pensions of the whole workforce ahead of the Budget tomorrow. But prepare for the worst. Rishi Sunak, like previous chancellors, has his eyes on freezing or cutting the lifetime allowanc New Delhi, March 2 : The first voice against senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad has been raised in his hometurf in Jammu with scores of party workers raising slogans against him, even burning his effigy. The Congress has called J&K state President Ghulam Ahmed Meer to Delhi to discuss the scenario. Meer said that he is dismayed over the double speak of Azad praising the Prime Minister in a recent event in Jammu, with sources in the state unit saying they are embarrassed for welcoming the dissenters in the party. Sources in J&K Congress said that Azad praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi who withdrew the statehood of the erstwhile J&K. It also said that Azad was not present in the Valley during the recent DDC elections. Sanjay Nirupam, former chief of Mumbai Congress, tweeted that those who got everything from the party are now raising issues of organisation and showing concern, but their motive is to damage the prospects of Congress in the ensuing Assembly elections in five states/UT. Earlier on Monday, senior Congress leaders Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury and Jitin Prasada had hit back on party leader Anand Sharma for questioning the Left-Congress alliance with the Indian Secular Front (ISF) in West Bengal. In a Twitter war within the party, Sharma had on Monday objected to the Congress-Left-ISF alliance in West Bengal, saying that the core ideology cannot be compromised, adding that the Congress cannot be selective in fighting communalists, but must do so in all its manifestations. "Congress' alliance with parties like ISF and other such forces militates against the core ideology of the party and Gandhian and Nehruvian secularism, which form the soul of the party. These issues need to be approved by the CWC," Sharma had said. Bengal Congress President Chowdhury replied to Sharma on Twitter, while the party's Bengal in-charge Prasada also took a jibe at his party colleague. Adhir tweeted, "Know ur facts @AnandSharmaINC ji". He said the CPI(M)-led Left Front is leading the secular alliance in West Bengal of which Congress is an integral part. "We are determined to defeat BJP's communal and divisive politics and an autocratic regime, @INCIndia has got its full share of seats. Left Front is allocating seats from its share to the newly formed Indian Secular Front. Your choice to call the decision of CPM led front 'communal' is only serving the polarising agenda of BJP," Chowdhury said. He also urged the dissenters to work for the party, saying, "Those who are committed to fight against BJP 's venomous communalism should support the Congress and campaign for the party in five states rather than attempting to undermine the party by remarks in tune with BJP's agenda. "Would urge a select group of distinguished Congressmen to rise above always seeking personal comfort spots and stop wasting time singing praises of PM. They owe a duty to strengthen the party and not undermine the tree that nurtured them." Prasada also took to Twitter, saying, "Alliance decisions are taken keeping in mind the best interests of the party and the workers. Now is the time for everyone to join hands and work towards strengthening the prospects of the Congress in the poll-bound states." Bharti Airtel rose 2% to Rs 542.95 after the company said that it has acquired 355.45 MHz spectrum across Sub GHz, mid band and 2300 MHz bands for a total consideration of Rs 18,699 crore. The spectrum was acquired in the latest spectrum auction conducted by the Department of Telecom, Government of India. Airtel has now secured pan India foot print of Sub GHz spectrum that will help improve its deep indoor and in building coverage in every urban town. In addition, this precious spectrum will also help improve its coverage in villages by offering the superior Airtel experience to an additional 90 million customers in India. Through this auction, Airtel has also decisively strengthened its mid band and capacity spectrum holdings that will help it provide an exceptional customer experience at marginal capex. All of the spectrum will enable Airtel to deliver 5G services in future. Gopal Vittal, MD & CEO (India & South Asia), Bharti Airtel said, "At the outset, we would like to thank the Government for making abundant spectrum available for auctions. Airtel now has a solid spectrum portfolio that will enable it to continue delivering the best mobile broadband experience in India. We are most excited at bringing the power of Airtel services to an additional 90 million customers in India through the power of our Pan India Sub GHz footprint." The company added that despite the large amount of spectrum made available, the 700 MHz band bands did not get any bid from the operators as it made no economic case for them based on the high reserve prices. The 700 MHz band coupled with the 3.5 GHz band has the potential to accelerate India's progress to the top league of digitally enabled nations. Therefore, the reserve pricing of these bands must be addressed on priority in future. Bharti Airtel is a global telecommunications company with operations in 18 countries across South Asia and Africa. On a consolidated basis, the telecom major reported a net profit of Rs 853.60 crore in Q3 FY21 as against net loss of Rs 1,035.30 crore in Q3 FY20. Net sales during the quarter jumped 24.2% year-on-year (Y-o-Y) to Rs 26,517.80 crore. Powered by Capital Market - Live News (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A San Antonio campaign employee accused of interfering as an elderly woman filled out her absentee ballot had rows of gift bags that matched the one she gave the woman, according to arrest warrants. Raquel Rodriguez was arrested on Jan. 13 and charged with four felonies, including election fraud and illegal voting, by the state attorney general's office. She was released from the Kendall County Jail, northwest of San Antonio, the following day on bonds totaling $60,000. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton's office began investigating Rodriguez after Project Veritas, a conservative activist group, released a heavily edited video purporting to show her helping an elderly woman fill out her ballot and discussing unlawful voter influence tactics. READ MORE: Attorney for San Antonio woman accused of election fraud raises questions about arrest A sergeant with the attorney general's office reviewed the raw Project Veritas footage and interviewed the undercover activists who recorded it, according to arrest warrants signed by Kendall County District Judge Kirsten Cohoon. The warrants state that Rodriguez, who did political jobs for several candidates, agreed in exchange for $500 on Oct. 8 to take a person posing as a prospective client to watch how she obtains votes for her candidates. The pair visit a home north of downtown San Antonio, where Rodriguez appears to help a 72-year-old woman change her vote on her mail ballot from U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, a Republican, to Democratic challenger MJ Hegar. The woman was one of a dozen people in the area Rodriguez said she assisted in voting. Rodriguez brought the woman a gift bag containing a shawl that was adorned with a portrait of Mauro Garza, the Republican challenger to U.S. Congressman Joaquin Castro. Rodriguez said she worked for Garza and had rows of similar generic gift bags in her home office, the warrants state. "I could go to prison for what I just did," Rodriguez allegedly says after leaving with the woman's ballot and carrier envelope. Investigators found the woman's carrier envelope at the Bexar County Election's Office in December. There was no oath of assistance or assistant's name on the envelope as required by law, according to the warrants. Attorneys for Rodriguez, including former Bexar County District Attorney Nicholas "Nico" LaHood, filed a writ of habeas corpus on Jan. 29 asking a judge to void the warrants and release Rodriguez from her bonds and pretrial release conditions. The affidavits the attorney general's office used to apply for the arrest warrants "contained false and misleading statements and failed to inform the Court of material facts," Rodriguez's attorneys wrote. A hearing on the writ is set for March 9. Rodriguez has been charged with four counts: illegal voting, election fraud, unlawfully possessing an official ballot, and unlawfully assisting voter voting ballot by mail. Two of the charges were enhanced because the victim was over 65 years old. The affidavit for election fraud notes the offense is enhanced to a felony when the victim is 65 years of age or older provided the individual is not closely related to or living with the victim at the time of the offense. The sergeant wrote that the undercover footage and a report by an analyst showed no familial relationship between Rodriguez and the woman casting a ballot in the video. LaHood rejected that claim Tuesday, saying that Rodriguez is the biological niece of the woman. Rodriguez's attorneys do not anticipate the state contesting that the pair are related, he said. WASHINGTON (Mar. 2, 2021) -- A report released today by the George Washington University Program on Extremism reveals new information about the 257 people charged in federal court for playing a role in the Jan. 6 attack on the United States Capitol. The report, "This is Our House!" A Preliminary Assessment of the Capitol Hill Siege Participants," also provides several recommendations aimed at combating domestic extremism. The GW Program on Extremism tracked and categorized the people charged so far in the attack and the resulting report provides a preliminary assessment of the siege participants. "The events of Jan. 6 may mark a watershed moment for domestic violent extremism in America," Seamus Hughes, deputy director of the GW Program on Extremism said. "Individuals came from all corners of our country, with a healthy mix of those with some operational planning and others taking advantage of the moment. This report identifies some clear steps we can take now to identify extremist groups and keep the public safe." Here are the key findings from the report: The 257 people charged in federal court so far represent a diverse group, including 221 men and 36 women. They came to the Capitol from 40 states and more than 90% traveled to Washington, D.C. from outside the Washington metro area. About 33 people had a military background, and of those, 36% had ties to extremist groups like the Proud Boys. People involved in the siege were found to fall into one of three categories: militant networks characterized by hierarchical organization and chains of command; organized clusters, especially groups of family and friends; and inspired believers. The participants in the attack came from more than 180 counties throughout the U.S., with the highest total cases by county coming from Los Angeles County in California, Franklin County in Ohio and Bucks County in Pennsylvania. The alleged perpetrators face as many as 17 counts on their indictments. The charges range from trespassing and illegal entry, to conspiracy against the U.S. government and assault of law enforcement officers. 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 of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky welcomed President of the European Council Charles Michel on his first visit to Ukraine, and also noted the importance of his visit to the contact line in Donbas. "I would like to welcome Charles Michel. I am glad to see and hear you in Ukraine, in Ukrainian. I would also like to greet all the forum participants. We are delighted to host Charles Michel, who is visiting Ukraine for the first time. In my opinion, it is very important that his visit starts with a trip to the contact line. It is no secret that our European partners support us in Donbas issues," Zelensky said in Donbas during a joint address with the President of the European Council to the participants of the Ukraine 30 forum in Kyiv. Oregon will be getting 34,000 doses this week of the new COVID-19 vaccine produced by Johnson and Johnson, according to the Oregon Health Authority. The J&J vaccine was granted emergency use authorization Saturday, Feb. 27, by the federal Food and Drug Administration. This vaccine has some differences from the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines already in use. Below is a look at those differences. 1. Its a single shot. Unlike the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, which require two shots several weeks apart, the J&J regime is only one dose. Thats a huge advantage on three fronts: Supplies will go twice as far in getting people fully vaccinated; more people will be fully vaccinated in a shorter amount time frame, and it relieves the logistical headache of making sure people get a second shot in a timely manner. 2. It kicks in faster. The Pfizer and Moderna vaccines offer full protection about five to six weeks after an individual starts the regime, or about two weeks after the second shot. Because the J&J vaccine is only one dose, that process is shortened. The clinical trials showed protection against moderate to severe disease starts about two weeks after vaccinations, and there were no hospitalizations or deaths after four weeks. 3. Much easier storage/handling. The Pfizer vaccine is especially fragile: It must be stored and shipped between -112 to -76 degrees, requiring dry ice and special freezers. Once its thawed, it can only be held in a refrigerator for five days and it must be used within six hours of being diluted. The storage and handling requirements are not as stringent for the Moderna vaccine, but it also must be kept frozen and it has special handling requirements. The J&J vaccine can be stored in a regular refrigerator for up to three months, making it much easier for distribution by doctor offices and other smaller settings. 4. Lower efficacy, but tested at different period. Clinical trials showed the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines were 95% effective once the vaccine fully kicked in. An FDA analysis found the J&J vaccine is about 66% effective overall at preventing moderate to severe COVID-19, and has a 86% efficacy rate against severe forms of Covid-19 in the United States, and 82% in South Africa. Experts note the Pfizer and Moderna clinical trials occurred over the summer and early fall, before the emergency of variants, while the J&J shot was tested later as those variants were emerging. Experts are especially pleased by the effectiveness in South Africa because that country is experiencing one of the more worrisome variants. Experts say all three vaccines now on the market are considered highly effective and people should feel comfortable taking whatever vaccine is offered to them. 5. Different bioengineering. The Moderna and Pfizer vaccines use a new technology called messenger RNA, or mRNA, which deliver genetic material directly into cells via fatty particles. That genetic code gets taken up by cells that follow a genetic code to stimulate an immune response. The Johnson & Johnson vaccine uses viral vector technology. It also uses a genetic code to stimulate an immune response, but this vaccine delivers it via a common cold virus called adenovirus 26 that is genetically engineered. (The cold virus is modified so it cannot give people a cold and cannot spread in the body.) 6. Wont be widely available at first. J&J has had some production issues, which could have meant distribution of the vaccine would be uneven for the next month or so. However, the Biden administration announced that Merck will partner with Johnson & Johnson to speed up production of the vaccine and avoid those potential issues. Combining world-class innovation with unrivalled experience AUSTIN, Texas, March 2, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Ocean Infinity and MMT are excited to announce an acquisition that brings together MMT's deep expertise and established track record as a distinguished marine survey and data analytics provider and Ocean Infinity's best-in-class robotic technology and operational expertise. The combined force will maximise the potential of Ocean Infinity's fleet of Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUVs), and the soon to be launched Armada fleet of uncrewed, low-emission, robotic ships. The company will be uniquely placed to support its international clients' data acquisition requirements, working across multiple sectors including, energy, subsea cables, government and defence. Following the acquisition by Ocean Infinity, MMT will continue to operate under the MMT brand. The enlarged group will have a headcount of over 300 people and will operate from an expanded geographical footprint with offices in the US, Sweden, UK, Singapore and Norway. Per-Olof Sverlinger, CEO of MMT said: "These are two world-leading companies with highly complementary competencies that are joining to strengthen our unique positions and our continued international expansion and development. This is a highly positive development for all MMT stakeholders. Our clients will continue to receive our trademark, personalised levels of support, but will now also be able to access an expanded range of services. For our team it opens many exciting opportunities and the chance to be on the cusp of the wave at a time of real change in our industry." Ola Oskarsson, founder of MMT said: "We are a company with unique knowledge and unique employees, with a passion for what we do. As part of Ocean Infinity we can create new opportunities for our clients and our team and enjoy continued growth. Ocean Infinity has the ambition to be at the absolute forefront of technology when it comes to future analysis of the sea and seabed, which is a perfect combination for our skillset. I am proud of our past and extremely excited about our future." Oliver Plunkett, Ocean Infinity's CEO said: "When we started Ocean Infinity we revolutionised the industry with the deployment of AUVs on an unprecedented scale and we are set to push the boundaries again with our fleet of uncrewed low-emission robotic vessels. To achieve our ambition of transforming operations at sea through innovation and technology we need the very best people who share our passion for creating safer and more sustainable ways of working. I'm thrilled that we are being joined by a highly impressive group of new colleagues from MMT who collectively bring with them decades of knowledge, experience and a track record of excellence. With the team from MMT alongside us I have no doubt we will exceed all expectations and create the leading ocean and seabed data analytics business in the world." oceaninfinity.com / www.mmt.se The state begins the arduous job this week of vaccinating 99,000 teachers and school workers against COVID-19, opening the door for students to return to the classroom but whether and when they will return remain open questions. About half of the states school districts dont currently offer full-time, in-person learning, so districts will need to be able to first change their learning models. But they will also have to convince wary parents and students that being in school in person every day is safe and that students wont bring COVID-19 home to parents, especially those who work in front-line jobs or have pre-existing conditions. These two factors family hesitancy and districts not offering a full return to in-person learning are currently keeping 95 percent of students out of school full-time. We know that obviously kids do best in school, said Karlyn Fitzpatrick, a high school social studies teacher in Waterbury. We want our kids in school, but weve always asked for it to be done safely, and we have been waiting for vaccinations to really feel fully secure. And so I think that especially with our encouragement to the kids that we feel safe, and that we are fully ready for them to come back and be in person, I think well get a lot more kids coming in person with their teacher saying to them, I feel safe, you should feel safe. At this point, its time to come back.' But while educators like Fitzpatrick might feel more secure, others believe a full return might not occur until a greater percentage of the population is vaccinated. For communities like mine, if we do not vaccinate essential workers, we cant send kids back to school, said Rep. Antonio Filipe, a Democrat from Bridgeport. Those are their parents. Those are their aunts that live with them, those are their grandparents that live with them, their brothers, their sisters. So until we vaccinate essential workers, we cant safely send our urban kids back to school, because they wont have somebody to go back home to, and theyll just be spreading it among themselves, even though their teachers are already vaccinated. The vaccine only helps the educators. The students are still interacting, said Connecticut Parents Union President Gwen Samuel. I dont see parents going through the floodgates to get back in school, because theres still too many variables. Children-to-children contact, children-to-the-school-bus contact, at-the-bus-stop contact, so theres still exposures that parents cant limit. Gov. Ned Lamont has faced considerable pushback for defying federal recommendations by prioritizing school staff and older populations but not those with pre-existing conditions or essential workers such as grocery store workers. Those front-line workers are disproportionately Black and Latino, unlike older populations. Even though many students might not be ready to return, officials with the Lamont administration say getting educators vaccinated is critical to getting more schools to open full-time. They emphasize that school closures have more harshly impacted communities of color. A lot of teachers and other professionals in the schools have had to quarantine because of exposures, and thats forced a lot of shutdowns, temporary shutdowns of schools. If we want to keep schools open and get more schools open fully between now and the end of the year, we can avoid that by getting people vaccinated, said Josh Geballe, the governors chief operating officer. Its not just about the employees, but its also about the students. There have been tremendous impacts on students. Theres a real equity component to this as well, because we know a lot of the students whove been most impacted by schools that are closed are a lot of students in some of our cities, and so [we are] making extra effort to get the schools open, and this is a key tool for that, [which] we think will have meaningful impacts on children as well, which is a critical consideration here. A CT Mirror analysis of state data show that districts that are learning in-person are more likely to be predominantly white. Black and Hispanic students are most likely to be attending school online a day or two a week. State data also show that students attending remotely are missing almost twice as many days as those attending in-person. The Democratic governor said last week that he intends to leave the decision of when to reopen schools full-time to superintendents. Other states have taken different approaches. Ohios governor has opted to offer the vaccines to educators in districts that were already open or would open if vaccinated, and South Carolinas governor is resisting calls to prioritize teachers, saying it would be unethical, immoral, absolutely unacceptable to put educators in front of more vulnerable populations. Nationwide, 31 states currently offer school staff vaccines access, according to a running tally compiled by Education Week. In Massachusetts, the states education commissioner is seeking authority from his school board to remove remote and hybrid learning as an option for school districts and get students back into school full-time in April. Lamont said he doesnt see the need for a state mandate because he has already begun to see districts move towards full-time, when possible. I want to make sure these kids not only are going back to school this spring but [can attend] makeup and summer programs that youre going to have available to them. Maybe not all sit behind a computer. Theyve got to get out, theyve got to see their friends, theyve got to learn experientially to get them back into the groove going forward, said Lamont, during a press conference in Waterbury last week. Hartford has announced theyre moving back to a five day a week schooling. Theyll be doing the cleaning in the evenings a little more. I think we have a variety of other schools [that] are already full-time or going back to five days a week. Waterbury Superintendent Verna Ruffin said getting educators vaccinated means her district will soon be able to open schools for more than the current four hours a day. Were going to be able to open schools for our students. We see our most vulnerable students in elementary schools that really need to see their teacher and be able to learn phonics and learn the reading skills that are essential and that cannot always be done effectively electronically or with our virtual learning, she said. We are so excited that now the plan for reopening schools becomes real in Waterbury. Listen, this is really simple: We need to get our children back in school, and we all know that, said Waterbury Mayor Neil OLeary. We are all very well aware its time to get these children back to school as soon as possible. Is it safe for students to return? So if schools open full-time, will students come? State Rep. Geraldo Reyess grandchildren will. Im a father. Im a grandfather. My grandkids need to get back to school. Im too tired to keep watching them, said Reyes, the chair of the legislatures Black and Puerto Rican Caucus. Its unclear statewide how many students were given the option to return but were kept home by their families, but the state does track how many students are learning entirely from home. Last month, one out of every seven students were learning entirely online. In Waterbury, 75 percent of city students are taking courses entirely online. If Connecticut is going to get more students back in classrooms, state and local officials will need to overcome a huge confidence gap among some parents and staff. They will have to show whether the virus is spreading in schools, and they will have to address the shortcomings that parents and teachers have highlighted in various federal recommendations, such as having proper ventilation systems or spacing students six feet apart. The state releases data each week that shows the number of students in each learning model that have tested positive for the coronavirus, but those figures offer little context, since they do not show the rate of students in those learning models who have been infected. A CT Mirror analysis of last weeks data show that infection rates in all learning models are substantially under the 1 percent mark, the level above which community spread occurs, according to public health experts. However, the infection rate was higher for students learning in-person, with 13 out of more than 10,000 students infected last week, compared to a rate of six out of 10,000 students learning online and nine out of 10,000 learning in the hybrid model. Research released earlier this month by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention concludes that schools have not been super-spreaders. In-person learning in schools has not been associated with substantial community transmission. Although national COVID-19 case incidence rates among children and adolescents have risen over time, this trend parallels trends observed among adults. Increases in case incidence among school-aged children and school reopening do not appear to pre-date increases in community transmission, the federal agency concluded. Vaccinated individuals can still transmit COVID-19, though data suggest vaccines reduce efficacy of that transmission. A COVID-19 vaccine probably wont be ready for young schoolchildren until 2022, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said Feb. 19. What has to happen first, and what doesnt Sarah Miller, parent and organizer with New Haven Public Schools Advocates, said she plans to keep her sons Pablo and Mateo, who attend Columbus Family Academy, in remote learning mostly because of limited space within the school. I know that space is an issue in the buildings, and my husband and I both work from home, and its not ideal but were able to be home with our kids, she said. But I feel like we try to leave space for the people who really dont have the option, or have fewer options. She said if teachers and all school staff are vaccinated, she would consider sending her kids back to school in-person by April or May. She doesnt think many parents are going to choose to send their children to school just because vaccines are on the horizon, especially since there are still questions about the COVID strains and concerns about school buildings in the district. I do think that over time if the vaccine rollout is relatively smooth, if teachers start feeling more confident and most importantly that the COVID numbers keep going down, that people will feel more and more comfortable, she said. While CDC director Dr. Rochelle Walensky has said Vaccination of teachers is not a prerequisite for safe reopening of schools, Connecticut union leaders say it is much more complicated than that, as long as students cant be vaccinated and various school safety measures they recommend go unfilled in certain districts. So, to get everyone back in school full-time, everyone needs to be vaccinated. We had some districts that were able to do that, and some districts that were not able to do that, and so for the sake of equity, the only way to do that is to actually vaccinate our whole community or homeschool community, to make it equitable for all, said Jan Hochadel, president of the state chapter of the American Federation of Teachers. Those that need mitigation plans in order to get them back into school, this is what they need. Staffing two learning models one for students who want to stay home and one for those attending in-person can serve as a barrier to offering full-time instruction, since more staff may be needed to accommodate families preferences, said Fran Rabinowitz, the executive director of the Connecticut Association of Public School Superintendents. The vaccinations, though, she said, will prevent teachers from needing to quarantine and avoid the resulting staffing shortages and disruption that causes for students. The staff shortages because of quarantines, that will be gone, she said. There is an expectation on the superintendents part that once teachers are vaccinated, we will be back in full-time. I mean, that is the expectation that were all working under. We do think that we will be back in full for the fall semester. Maybe thats overly optimistic, but that is what we are thinking and planning for right now. Shellye Davis, a paraprofessional in Hartford and vice president for school related personnel at AFT, said that getting educators and school staff vaccinated is not the silver bullet to get schools fully reopened, and work remains to ensure children and their families are safe when they come to school. Even though the children wont be vaccinated, this is a good start, she said. We have to make sure that the other protocols of safety are in place. BLACKPINK Lisa is known for her killer dance moves and stunning fashion style. As the K-Pop idol continues to dominate audio streaming platforms and music charts worldwide alongside her other co-members, she has also been garnering more and more followers by the day. BLACKPINK Lisa Surpasses 6 Million Subscribers on YouTube On Tuesday, March 2, BLINKs have celebrated the latest feat BLACKPINK member Lisa has achieved recently. As of this writing, the co-member of Jennie, Jisoo and Rose already garnered more than 6 million subscribers on YouTube. BLACKPINK member Lisa has a total of 10 videos uploaded on her official channel called Lilifilm Official. Despite having lesser number of clips compared to other artists, the "Lovesick Girl" songstress has amassed more than 214 million views already. Among all the videos BLACKPINK member Lisa shared on YouTube, her dance performances video got most views, which range from 31 million views up to 53 million views. The idol's latest video, titled "LILI's FILM [The Movie]," got more than 32.3 million views with more than 2.7 million likes and more than 275,000 comments. Most, if not all, BLINKs are aware that Lisa set up her own YouTube channel in November 2018. Her first upload was a video called "Lili's Film #1 - Jisoo in Japan," which shows clips of her and Jisoo snacking, sightseeing and shopping in Japan as their "See U Later" track plays in the background. At the time, Jisoo showed her support by sharing a link to Lisa's YouTube channel on her official Instagram page. As of press time, the premiere video of BLACKPINK member Lisa already amassed 3.9 million views with more than 480,000 likes and 10,728 comments. BLACKPINK Member Lisa Garners 8 Million Followers on Weibo Aside from YouTube, BLACKPINK member Lisa has also amassed a huge following on Chinese microblogging website Weibo. As of late, the co-member of Jennie, Jisoo and Rose has more than 8.3 million followers already. The "How You Like That" hitmaker shared a post for the first time on Weibo on Jan. 8, 2020. In a short clip, BLACKPINK member Lisa divulged that she created the account so she could maintain a closer communication with her fans who are based in China, adding that she hopes to see them as often as possible through the platform. In February, Lisa uploaded a video titled "LILI'S FILM [The Movie] on the platform, which was warmly received by her devoted supporters. In fact, the said clip effortlessly amassed 142,000 views in just 10 minutes. As of today, the said video already got 3.35 million views with 17.4 million likes. BLACKPINK member Lisa credited Anthony King as the director of her record-breaking video. The "BOOMBAYAH" songstress also mentioned Cheshir Ha, who was contributed to the choreography, Yeseul Kang as the producer and Destiny for the music. On Feb. 27, Lisa shared snaps of her during some of her performances. The BLACKPINK member wrote in the caption that she hopes to be able to sing and dance on stage closer to the BLINKs very soon. For more K-Pop news and updates, always keep your tabs open here on KpopStarz. KpopStarz owns this article. Written by Nica Vaughn 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. Fake news is a significant reason that media literacy has emerged strongly in the education curricula around the world If the governments intent is to provide more rights to its people, it must help soothe the nerves of people who are now confused about what to say on the social media. (Representational image:Pixabay - PixelKult) The new Information and Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules 2021 under Section 79 of the IT Act has created a flutter. The news media has paid extraordinary attention, space and time to it as it unfolded, and with good reason. Few people dispute the need for some kind of regulation of the digital media. But the debate is over whether it does what is needed. How empowering a tool are the new rules for the public, who are the ultimate users? From the press statements of minister for information and broadcasting Prakash Java-dekar and minister for information technology Ravi Shankar Prasad, it seems that the new rules seek to rein in the online media and the social media platforms by intervening in their content, and that the overarching objective is to get the digital platforms to be envel-oped into the law of the land. (I draw a technical distinction between online platform from digital platform the first is an unbundled series of news stories released across time, while the latter is a package, similar to a printed newspaper.) Because the interpretations of sensitive laws of the land by government agencies in regard to the freedom of expression versus sedition, for example in recent years have been disputed, a certain amount of scepticism with regard to Rules 2021 should be expected. Experts have questioned whether the new rules even pass the test of constitutionality in terms of rationale, purpose, proportionality, necessity, and possible impingement on peoples basic rights. First, to tease out what is new in the rule. In its articulation, the rule seeks to empower the users voice, especially in case content is objectionable to them. The new rule changes the privacy protection norms that the social platforms seek to exercise by drawing a line between acceptable messaging and spreading objectionable messages. The mandating of age-appropriateness in the rule for the over-the-top (OTT) content certainly ensures that parents have the right to monitor which content is available to their child and which content could be abhorrent. International OTT channels do declare the customary caution about the nature of the content. The rule attaches online news to the conventional definition of news, making online-only news platforms adhere to the same Press Council of India and the Cable Act norms as the conventional media do. The rules mandate a self-regulatory mechanism, like the National Broadcasters Standards Association (NBSA). A three-tier redressal mechanism entails inter-ministerial oversight. Social media companies, or intermediaries, would need to disclose the originator of a mischievous message. I would like to take a media literacy point of view here. In a social media world, the user is also a producer of messages. Media literacy has increasingly gained popularity in school and college curricula in several countries after the alarming rise and opiate-like popularity of fake news. Recently, the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism at the Arizona State University introduced a degree programme in media literacy that takes a train-the-trainer approach and teaches journalism students to further educate society. It empowers the user through an understanding of messages, modes and meanings. Among other functions, media literacy unlocks the users understanding of how to decode media messages including what is omitted and unstated. Fake news is a significant reason that media literacy has emerged strongly in the education curricula around the world. Facts and fiction are distinguishable quite simply if you mix facts with fiction, the concoction can still be called fiction, but the other way around should not be acceptable. One would have expected the Rules 2021 to draw that distinction in an effort to stem fake news. In the long run, its mandate to identify and punish, presumably objectionable content may act as a threat and thereby a deterrent to fake news mongers. Handing itself the authority to know who the originator of an objectionable message is does empower the government to act against such individuals. But it misses the point on educating the user. The tiered approach of redressal would only empower users to the extent that social media platforms already allow through complaints about content that one may find objectionable. There is no real way in which to prevent fake news or intimidation or national security threats because there is no scope for prior restraint in the current technology adoption. The word media in the term social media is totally misleading it is merely media in a technology sense of the term. Yet it is an empowering tool like none other in recent history. People tend to use the social media as a public square, mixing facts and fiction, public and private. Other users exposed to the public discourse have been consuming and re-producing it, essentially dismissing the need for credible information, or for doing any kind of fact check. The new rule does not take care of this problem. How does a user distinguish between the credible and non-credible platforms? So, the proposed rule on the social media intermediaries seems both perfunctory and off the mark. Is it because the real intent is to rein them into a more government-controlled content environment in the name of the law of the land, which are being adhered to anyway? In an ideal world, strengthening the hands of the user and empowering the government should be the same thing. But is it possible for a government to use the former as a front for the latter? The decryption-on-demand mandate is a powerful indicator that this could be the result, providing access to the government to whether what people are saying and perhaps thinking can be punished if found to be politically inconvenient. The exemplary and now routine arrests of seemingly ordinary individuals who are seen to be endangering the nations sovereignty have spooked a large number of citizens. If the governments intent is to provide more rights to its people, it must help soothe the nerves of people who are now confused about what to say on the social media. If the government seeks to make genuine efforts through the Rules 2021, it must decontrol, not control, the information flow, but in parallel also launch a national drive to make the user more aware of the importance of real information, drawing a distinction between certified, credible platforms and opinionated individuals pretending to be the disseminators of information. Ryerson Holdings Corp., which owns the more than 70-acre site in the Gage Park neighborhood, has a contract to sell it to Amazon and lease it back for about two years, according to people familiar with the deal. (CNN) Excavators have discovered a large four-wheel ceremonial chariot at a villa near Pompeii, an ancient city in southern Italy. Excavators found the bronze and tin chariot almost fully intact, with wooden remains and the imprint of ropes, according to an announcement on Saturday from the Archaeological Park of Pompeii. "It is an extraordinary discovery for the advancement of our knowledge of the ancient world," said the outgoing director of the park, Massimo Osanna. "At Pompeii vehicles used for transport have been found in the past, such as that of the House of Menander, or the two chariots discovered at Villa Arianna, but nothing like the Civita Giuliana chariot." The villa, north of Pompeii in Civita Giuliana, had a stable where the remains of three horses were found in 2018, including one which was harnessed. The chariot was found inside a double-level porch which probably faced onto a courtyard, not far from the stable. The Archaeological Park of Pompeii described the find as "extraordinary" and that "it adds an extra element to the history of the house." The carriage is decorated with sheets of bronze and red and black wooden panels. At the back, there are various stories engraved onto bronze and tin medallions. The ceiling of the villa is deciduous English oak, a material frequently used in the Roman age, and it was removed carefully to allow for further investigation. Excavators first discovered part of the artifact emerge from the volcanic material on January 7. Weeks later, the entire chariot was revealed, miraculously intact despite the collapse of parts of the room that housed it. The Archaeological Park of Pompeii moved the artifact to its laboratory to remove the remaining volcanic material. The park will then begin a lengthy restoration and reconstruction process. "Pompeii continues to amaze with all of its discoveries, and it will continue to do so for many years to come, with twenty hectares still to be excavated," said Italy's culture minister, Dario Franceschini, in a press video Friday at Pompeii. "But above all, it demonstrates that valorization can occur, and tourists can be attracted from all over the world, whilst at the same time research, education and studies are being conducted..." The park believes the chariot had a ceremonial use, like accompanying festivities, parades, and processions. This type of chariot has never been found in Italy before, instead resembling finds from Thrace, in northern Greece, said the park officials. The ancient city of Pompeii is one of Italy's top tourist attractions, and a UNESCO World Heritage site. Much of the Greco-Roman city is still covered in debris from when Mount Vesuvius erupted and blanketed the city in ash and pumice almost 2,000 years ago. And experts are still uncovering tidbits that give clues to what life was life when the city was functioning. Looters have stolen from the villa several times in recent years. The Public Prosecutor's Office of Torre Annunziata, officers of the Naples Carabinieri Headquarters for the Protection of Cultural Heritage, and investigators of the Carabinieri Group Command of Torre Annunziata have been helping protect the chariot since January. The current excavation aims to protect one of the most significant villas in the region from looters who have developed a complex system of over 80 tunnels at a depth of over 5 meters, looting and partially destroying some areas of the site. "The fight against the looting of archaeological sites, both inside and outside the urban area of ancient Pompeii, is certainly one of the primary objectives of the Office," said Chief Prosecutor of Torre Annunziata Nunzio Fragliasso, in a press video Friday at Pompeii. This story was first published on CNN.com Ancient ceremonial chariot unearthed in Pompeii Heavy snowfall on Monday caused massive traffic congestion in the mountains of Gangwon Province. Hundreds of vehicles were stranded on the roads and accidents abounded. An expressway near Sokcho was blocked, and motorists were stranded for up to six hours at the Misiryeong Pass connecting Sokcho and Inje. Some 55.3 cm of snow fell in the valley, 51.5 cm in Jinburyeong, 39.1 cm in Gangneung and 23 cm in Yangyang. Boston College Law School Associate Clinical Professor Sharon L. Beckman, faculty director of the Boston College Innocence Program, is among Massachusetts Lawyers Weeklys 17 Lawyers of the Year, an annual distinction bestowed by the statewide law publication upon a select group of the Commonwealths attorneys for significant accomplishments during the previous year. She was co-honored along with co-counsel John J. Barter for the September 2020 exoneration of their client Frances Choy, whose arson and first-degree murder convictions were vacated based on new evidence of her innocence, including substantiation that someone else confessed to the crime, and scientific proof that contradicted trial testimony of a state police chemist. Ive been involved with other exonerations and there is nothing else like it in the law, Beckman told Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly, whose last law professor honoree was Harvards Elizabeth Warren. It is so overwhelming watching someone walk out of prison who was wrongly incarcerated and locked up for 17 years. The original charges against Choy stemmed from a 2003 fire in her Brockton home that claimed the lives of her parents, Chinese immigrants from Hong Kong and Vietnam, when she was 17 years old. After the fire, Choy was arrested by Brockton Police, and subjected to three trials before she was eventually convicted in 2011. The first two resulted in mistrials when the jurors could not unanimously agree on a verdict. Beckman and Barter banded together to work for her exoneration, and a key part of their success was gaining access to emails that showed the trial prosecutors racial bias and other exculpatory evidence. The Plymouth County District Attorneys office ultimately produced those materials, did not oppose Choys release from prison, agreed that her convictions should be vacated, and dismissed the charges against her. According to the National Registry of Exonerations, she is the first woman of color to be exonerated in Massachusetts since 1978, and only the nations second female Asian-American exoneree. At the time of courts decision, Beckman said: Frances was an innocent crime victim who was instead treated like a criminal suspect. Her wrongful conviction resulted from racism and other official misconduct and systemic failures. She can never get back the years the criminal legal system took from her, but we are overjoyed at her exoneration and hope her case will inspire meaningful reform. The BCIP legal team included supervising attorney and Adjunct Professor Charlotte Whitmore, and Sarah Carlow, J.D. 20, Rachel Feit, J.D. 20, Jesse Gibbings, J.D. 19, Annie Lee, J.D. 19, Eric Jepeal, J.D. 20, Matthew Sawyer, J.D. 19, Emily Smith J.D. 20, and Ye-Eun Sung, J.D. 22. Assistant Clinical Professor Claire Donohue J.D. 05, M.S.W. 05 and Amanda Savadian M.S.W. 20 provided critical social-service support. Rounding out Choys legal team were Berlindyne Elie 21 and Carolina Tiru 20, whose BCIP service placement was part of Professor of Philosophy Marina McCoys PULSE Program elective Mass Incarceration: Philosophical and Theological Perspectives. Beckman described the experience of representing Choy as a privilege that was transformative for students and faculty alike, and despite suffering unimaginable loss and injustice, Frances is kind and hopeful, and she does everything in her power to live in a way that would honor her parents. MEDFORD, Ore. The Medford Police Department has identified the 17-year-old suspect in an alleged murder on the Bear Creek Greenway last week, along with providing more details about the investigation that led to his arrest. According to the agency, officers responded just after 1 p.m. on Friday to reports of a possible shooting on the Greenway north of Railroad Park. On arrival, the officers found a man lying dead with an apparent gunshot wound to the head. The victim's body was discovered near a tent, which investigators later found belonged to him. Investigators canvassed the area, and witnesses reported hearing an argument from the victim's tent just prior to the shooting. Descriptions of the other party were limited, MPD said. Detectives later executed a search warrant on the tent finding evidence linking a 17-year-old male to the location, according to MPD. The juvenile, now identified as Levi Murray, was located about 10 p.m. that evening in the parking lot of Ray's Food Place in Phoenix. Police gave a home address for Murray in the 2100-block of Table Rock Road. "[Murray] was interviewed and admitted to shooting the victim over a rather minor dispute," MPD said. The agency said that Murray helped detectives recover the gun that was used in the murder, finding it in some brush about 100 yards from the scene. The gun had been reported stolen to Medford Police in October of 2020. "Detectives are still working on locating next of kin for the deceased. His name will not be released until that notification has been made," MPD concluded. The Jackson County District Attorney's Office announced on Tuesday morning that Murray could be waived into criminal court instead of being tried as a juvenile. Before 2019, Oregon law allowed for juveniles ages 15 and above who committed Measure 11 crimes to be tried as adults without going through the juvenile system. The legislature passed a bill in May of that year which changed how youth who commit serious crimes are prosecuted. "While Senate Bill 1008 took away the state's ability to file Measure 11 crimes directly into criminal court, it created a process for youths ages 15, 16, and 17 to be waived into adult court for certain crimes, including Measure 11 crimes after a hearing in juvenile court," the Jackson County District Attorney's Office said in a statement. Under the new requirements, prosecutors must file a motion requesting a waiver hearing in order to take the case to adult court. In order to waive a youth to criminal court, the judge must find that the youth was of "sufficient sophistication and maturity to appreciate the nature and quality of the conduct involved" at the time of the offense, the DA's Office said. "The judge may waive a youth to criminal court if after looking at the following factors, the judge determines by a preponderance of evidence that retaining jurisdiction will not serve the best interests of the youth and of society and therefore, is not justified," the DA's Office continued. The factors to be considered are: The amenability of the youth to treatment and rehabilitation available between juvenile and criminal court Protection to the community given the seriousness of the offense and if the youth can be safely rehabilitated under the jurisdiction of the juvenile court The aggressive, violent, premeditated or willful manner in which the offense was alleged to have been committed The previous history of the youth including prior treatment and out of home placements and the physical, emotional and mental health of the youth The youth's prior record of acts that would be crimes if committed by an adult The prosecutive merit of the case The desirability of disposing all cases in one trial if there were adult co-offenders The Jackson County District Attorney's Office says that it has filed a waiver hearing request under the new law the first such request in Jackson County since the law passed and the juvenile court will be setting a date for the waiver hearing. This is a developing story and will be updated with more details as they emerge. Alameda County officials have reported a second case of coronavirus infection caused by the variant from South Africa that is known to reduce the effectiveness of some vaccines. The second case, which was reported to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention last week, is not connected to the first one that was identified Feb. 9. In both cases, the individuals were residents of Alameda County who had recently returned from traveling internationally, and almost certainly became infected with the variant overseas, public health officials said. Both individuals became sick in January and have since recovered. One person who lives with the second individual also became sick and tested positive for the coronavirus. Public health officials said they suspected that person also was infected with the variant. Overall in California, three cases of the variant from South Africa known as B.1.351 have been confirmed, all in the Bay Area. Besides the two in Alameda County, the other case was reported in Santa Clara County on Feb. 9, also in a resident who had recently traveled. Nationwide, 53 cases of the variant have been reported in 16 states, according to the CDC. Dr. Nicholas Moss, the Alameda County health officer, said Monday that people should not be alarmed by the two cases in his county. So far the cases have only been reported in travelers, and public health investigations found no others were exposed in the community. Part of the reason cases have been found in the Bay Area, he said, is simply that authorities are looking for them testing for variants has increased dramatically in the region over the past few weeks. Just the fact that there are some laboratories locally that are ramping up their process to detect these (variants) means there will be more popping up, Moss said. It speaks to the fact that in populated places, where you have people traveling and going about their lives, if you look for these things youre going to find them. Variants are identified through genomic sequencing, a time-consuming process that reveals the entire genetic blueprint of a virus. In theory the sequencing can be done in a few days, but between sending positive samples to laboratories, identifying which samples to sequence, running the actual sequencing process and analyzing results, it can take two weeks or more to identify and report variant cases. There are several variants currently circulating in the United States that have raised concerns among public health experts. The variant from South Africa is worrisome because it may be able to partially evade the bodys immune response, though the current vaccines appear to mostly work against it. More than 200 cases of a variant from the United Kingdom, known as B.1.1.7, that is more infectious than the original virus from China have been identified in California. No cases of a third variant from Brazil, known as P.1, have been found; that variant also appears to make vaccines less effective. A California-bred variant that may also be more infectious now makes up more than half of cases in much of California, recent studies have found. That variant also has shown some resistance to the immune response, according to early studies done at UCSF. But experts believe vaccines will work against it, too. Moss said scientists undoubtedly will identify more variants in the coming weeks, even as overall coronavirus cases decrease and more people are vaccinated. But its still COVID, the usual stuff works: face coverings, physical distancing. And it remains important that people stay home when theyre sick, Moss said. We need to strike a balance between being vigilant and understanding the impact of these variants. But also keeping our eyes on the ball that the tools we have are the right tools, and we have to stick with them in order to stay ahead. Erin Allday is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: eallday@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @erinallday Boy Scouts of America is proposing to pay roughly $220 million toward a trust to compensate tens of thousands of former members who say they were abused during their time as scouts. That amounts to about $6,000 per victim, a sum deemed woefully inadequate by a committee that represents survivors. Lawyers for the former scouts were plainly hoping for much more. It clearly should be in the range of six-figures to seven-figures, said Paul Mones, a Portland lawyer who pioneered the sex abuse cases against the scouts. From the time I first got involved in these cases in 2004, it was clear to me that there was a level of arrogance that was incredible and it just wouldnt go away no matter how many times they lost in court, Mones added. That is reflected in this bankruptcy plan. The Boy Scouts have assets of at least $1 billion, Mones estimates. Affiliate organizations own large tracts of choice land all over the country. Local Boy Scout officials with the Cascade Pacific Council said they will continue to work toward a global resolution that will appropriately fund a Trust to equitably compensate victims and ensure the future of Scouting in our area, and throughout the country, for many years to come. More than 88,000 former scouts filed abuse claims in the bankruptcy. Ten years ago, in a Multnomah County courtroom, a jury sided with Kerry Lewis, awarding him nearly $20 million in a sex abuse lawsuit against the Boy Scouts. The case led to a tsunami of similar cases across the country. Mones was co-counsel for Lewis. He now spends the bulk of his time on Boy Scout cases. The Boy Scouts filed bankruptcy largely because of the cost of the sex abuse settlements. The organization is also facing declining participation. Active members now number less than 2 million, down from a peak of more than 4 million in in the 1970s. The plan will have to be approved by the judge in the bankruptcy case. Most of the pending sex abuse claims date to the 1960s, 70s and 80s, before the Boy Scouts adopted criminal background checks, abuse prevention training for all staff and volunteers, and a rule that two or more adult leaders must be present during activities. Local Boy Scout officials said the organization isnt going anywhere. We remain as committed as ever to delivering scoutings unparalleled experiences to young people throughout our communities, said the Cascade Pacific Council of the Boy Scouts of America. Scoutings value and our commitment to ensuring its future are evident in this years inaugural class of female Eagle Scouts as well as numerous community service projects. Paul A. Pavlou, dean of the C. T. Bauer College of Business at the University of Houston. Credit: University of Houston The coronavirus pandemic has drawn new attention to the digital divide, as the need for online schooling and working from home has disproportionately hurt those without computer equipment and skills. Research by Paul A. Pavlou, dean of the C. T. Bauer College of Business at the University of Houston, found that people with basic Information Technology (IT) skillsincluding the ability to use email, copy and paste files and work with an Excel spreadsheetare more likely to be employed, even in jobs that aren't explicitly tied to those skills. People with more advanced IT skills generally earned higher salaries, the researchers found. The work is described in Information Systems Research. "Unemployment and low wages remain pressing societal challenges in the wake of increased automation, more so for traditionally-disadvantaged groups in the labor market, such as women, minorities, and the elderly," the researchers wrote. "However, workers who possess relevant IT skills might have an edge in an increasingly digital economy." The findings, Pavlou said, reinforce the need for robust public policy to ensure people, especially women, older workers and others who are more likely to face employment discrimination, have the basic IT skills needed for the modern working world, since few companies provide on-the-job training in those skills. "Very few people can get these skills from their employer. Workers are expected to obtain these IT skills themselves, in order to get a job in the first place," he said. "And the less-privileged population they are, the harder time they have obtaining these skills that require computer equipment and internet access." That leaves many workers, especially from under-represented populations in the labor market, unable to even apply for work, as more job applicationsand now, interviewsare handled online. In addition to Pavlou, co-authors on the paper include Hilal Atasoy of Rutgers University and Rajiv Banker from Temple University. The analysis was conducted using two datasets from the Turkish Statistical Institute, and Pavlou said the findings are especially relevant for the developing world, where people are less likely to have IT skills and access to computer equipment than they are in the United States. But the pandemic has laid bare unequal access to technology in the United States, too, as schools and universities struggle to provide students with computers, internet hotspots and other equipment to continue their educations online. The work thus has implications for marginalized workers in the United States and other developed countries, Pavlou said. That includes women and older workers, who are more likely to opt out of the labor force if they cannot work from homejobs that are more likely to require at least basic tech savvy. "The digital divide is a major societal problem," Pavlou said. "I think the pandemic will make it even more pronounced. People with basic IT skills will have access to more opportunities, and it is imperative for educational institutions to provide these IT skills, especially in traditionally-disadvantaged populations." More information: Hilal Atasoy et al, Information Technology Skills and Labor Market Outcomes for Workers, Information Systems Research (2021). Journal information: Information Systems Research Hilal Atasoy et al, Information Technology Skills and Labor Market Outcomes for Workers,(2021). DOI: 10.1287/isre.2020.0975 A surf life saving club has slammed a plan to remove shark nets at some of Sydney's most popular beaches - just one day after a 394.5kg beast was hauled off the coast. Greens Councillor Lindsay Shurey wants Randwick Council moved a motion to phase out the shark meshing program at local beaches, including Coogee and Maroubra, in the city's eastern suburbs. Ms Shurey said other marine mammals, turtles and fish become trapped in the nets and she believes there are othre alternatives to keep sharks away from beachgoers. While the councillor's motion was rejected by Liberal councillor Brendan Roberts and NSW Minister for Agriculture Adam Marshall, the South Maroubra Surf Lifesaving Club has also joined the criticism. A local surf life saving club has slammed a plan to remove shark nets at some of Sydney's most popular beaches - just one day after a 394.5kg beast (pictured) was hauled off the coast Greens Councillor Lindsay Shurey last week issued a motion to Randwick Council to phase out the current shark meshing program at local beaches. In 2018 a 4.6 metre great white shark (pictured) was found tangled in a shark net, close to Sydney's Maroubra beach The club said it was very 'rare' for them to comment on 'political issues' but it is important to speak up when it comes to the safety of the community. 'It is important we raise our concerns before a vocal minority make a decision that places beachgoers on Maroubra, Coogee, Clovelly beaches at increased risk,' the SLSC group said. 'Some Greens Councillors on Randwick Council are lobbying to have physical barriers in the form of nets removed from protecting our kids and in fact all beach users, replaced by 'drum lines' which we see on regional beaches with nowhere near the numbers of beachgoers like Metro Sydney see each day, week and month.' South Maroubra SLSC said Maroubra Beach is about 1.2km wide and there are a 'series' of shark nets placed strategically to protect swimmers from the risk of shark attacks. 'We've had no attacks for many many years at Maroubra,' the post said. 'The protected area for humans on Maroubra Beach is limited to a relatively small area of the beach/ocean where a series of nets are strategically placed in channels blocking pathways for sharks from approaching shallow areas where people are likely to be located.' Greens Councillor Lindsay Shurey last week issued a motion to Randwick Council to phase out the current shark meshing program at local beaches including Coogee and Maroubra, in the city's eastern suburbs. Pictured: Coogee Beach Ms Shurey said other marine mammals and reptiles often find themselves trapped in the nets and she believes there are alternatives to safely keep sharks away from beachgoers. A scalloped hammerhead is seen caught in a shark net The club said a 4.6m white pointer was caught in a net at Maroubra Beach last season as 1,200 kids enjoyed water activities. 'Your club is conscious of protecting sea life however not at the expense of children and others and until technology is able to replace nets thereby protecting people we strongly reject the proposal to remove physical barriers,' South Maroubra SLSC said. 'South Maroubra SLSC respectfully asks that the lobbying to remove nets cease immediately until technology provides a similar barrier and safety.' In her motion, Ms Shurey said she considered the latest Shark Meshing Program Annual Performance Report. The report found that 480 marine animals were caught during the 2019/20 meshing season but only 50 were 'target' sharks. There were 430 'non-target' animals captured and only 41 per cent were released alive. 'Although the current shark meshing program is successful in minimising shark attacks in the Sydney region, it does significantly impact upon non-target species including non-harmful shark species, and marine mammals and reptiles,' she said. 'There are alternatives, for example, in comparison, SMART drumlines are showing a significantly lower impact on non-target species.' The motion comes as a tiger shark weighing a whopping 394.5kg was caught off the coast of Sydney, by Captain Paul Barning and the crew of the Dark Horse. The fishermen spent just over 45 minutes reeling in the deadly shark before hauling it onto the back of their boat and taking it to shore for a weigh in at Port Hacking in Sydney's Sutherland Shire. A dead hammerhead shark found caught in a shark net off a beach on the Gold Coast In 2018, a man hauled a huge 4.6m great white shark off Maroubra Beach after it was caught in a net. The fisherman from the NSW south coast - who goes by the handle Trapman Bermagui online - posted images of the great white on social media. 'A 4.6m Great White Shark was caught in the beach shark net,' he posted on Facebook. 'The tail alone was 2m tall, with the pectoral fins of over 1m. 'Shark is pushing over a ton in weight... one of Sydney's most popular surf beaches.' He posted several pictures of the shark and stressed he was not the one who caught it - as animal activists complained the shark was killed unnecessarily. 'The shark nets off Sydney are a state government-run project,' he wrote. In an effort to increase ease-of-access support for Napa Countys LGBTQ people, the Victim Witness Services Division of the Napa County District Attorneys Office will be holding office hours at LGBTQ Connections Napa community center. Historically DAs offices silently went about our business and served those victims who came to us and asked for help, Napa County District Attorney Allison Haley said in a news release. Its clear this method has inhibited access to our most vulnerable communities. This is the first of our efforts to bring services out into the community and to meet those in need in spaces that are comfortable and safe to them. This is particularly important in providing compassionate and sensitive service to our LGBTQ community, Haley said. Quality journalism doesn't happen without your help We're offering our best deal ever with this Editor's Special. Support local news coverage by subscribing to the Napa Valley Register. In October 2018, the Napa Countys Board of Supervisors partnered with LGBTQ Connection to convene an LGBTQ community input meeting. Crime and Safety was one of the identified issues of importance to the large group of attendees. According to reporting from PBS News Hour, a recent study published in the multidisciplinary Science Advances journal found that lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or gender non-conforming people are almost four times as likely to be victims of violent crime compared to those who are not LGBTQ. 20H/501Y.V2. VOC 202012/02. B.1.351. Those were the charming names scientists proposed for a new variant of the coronavirus that was identified in South Africa. The convoluted strings of letters, numbers and dots are deeply meaningful for the scientists who devised them, but how was anyone else supposed to keep them straight? Even the easiest to remember, B.1.351, refers to an entirely different lineage of the virus if a single dot is missed or misplaced. The naming conventions for viruses were fine as long as variants remained esoteric topics of research. But they are now the source of anxiety for billions of people. They need names that roll off the tongue, without stigmatizing the people or places associated with them. Whats challenging is coming up with names that are distinct, that are informative, that dont involve geographic references and that are kind of pronounceable and memorable, said Emma Hodcroft, a molecular epidemiologist at the University of Bern in Switzerland. It sounds kind of simple, but its actually a really big ask to try and convey all of this information. The solution, she and other experts said, is to come up with a single system for everyone to use but to link it to the more technical ones scientists rely on. The World Health Organization has convened a working group of a few dozen experts to devise a straightforward and scalable way to do this. Amazon stops streaming Clarence Thomas documentary during Black History Month Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment Amazon has stopped streaming a critically acclaimed PBS documentary on Justice Clarence Thomas, the only black justice currently serving on the U.S. Supreme Court, during Black History Month. This video is currently unavailable to watch in your location, the Amazon Prime page for Created Equal: Clarence Thomas in His Own Words reads. The film has a five-star rating on the platform. Additionally, the DVD version of the documentary is no longer available for purchase on through the online retailer. The documentarys producer Michael Pack of Manifold Productions Inc. told The Blaze that the documentary was pulled from Amazon Prime around Feb. 8., just eight days into Black History Month. The producer added that Amazon stopped streaming the documentary at its own discretion. On Jan. 31, Amazon announced that it is kicking off Black History Month 2021 with a monthlong celebration that is rooted in our commitment to being a place where Black leaders want to grow their careers, as well as supporting entrepreneurship and innovation in the Black community. We are committed to diversity and inclusion and always look for ways to scale our impact as we grow, Amazon states on its diversity and inclusion page. Amazon Prime is streaming four films on the late Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall, a liberal icon and Americas first black Supreme Court justice. According to Breitbart, Amazon Prime is also streaming two films on Anita Hill, who accused Justice Thomas of sexually harassing her during his confirmation hearing. A New York Times/CBS News poll after the Senate confirmation hearings in 1991 found that a majority of Americans were skeptical of the allegations against Thomas, who is one of the courts more conservative justices. Last June, the tech giant banned the Christian conservative activist group Family Research Council from its AmazonSmile program. The program allows customers to choose a charity to receive proceeds from their purchases on recommendations from the Southern Poverty Law Center. The SPLC frequently labels conservative and Christian organizations as hate groups. While Amazon customers can use the AmazonSmile program to donate a portion of each purchase to left-leaning organizations like Planned Parenthood, the Freedom From Religion Foundation, and the Center for American Progress (and to be fair, to many right-leaning organizations, too), Amazon has decided to single out a few well-known conservative organizations like FRC and [Alliance Defending Freedom] from receiving part of the tens of millions of dollars the program raises each year from customers, Kay Coles James, president of The Heritage Foundation, wrote in an op-ed at the time. The Scottsdale, Arizona-based Christian legal firm Alliance Defending Freedom, which has won several Supreme Court cases in recent years, was also banned in 2018 after SPLC labeled it as a hate group due to its biblical views on sexuality. In 2017, Amazon also banned D. James Kennedy Ministries from participating in the AmazonSmile program after it was labeled as a hate group by the SPLC. Robert Netzly, CEO of Inspire Investing, expressed concerns in an op-ed piece for The Christian Post that Amazon wasnt living up to its commitment to viewpoint diversity. He specifically called out Amazons board for recommending that shareholders vote against a resolution on viewpoint diversity. Amazon has taken great pains to portray themselves as champions of diversity, and have made public statements about their supposed commitment to respecting diverse viewpoints, Netzly asserted. For example, their website proclaims that diversity and inclusion are good for business and more fundamentally simply right. This begs the question, if Amazon is such a believer in diversity, why would its board recommend that shareholders vote against a resolution that would provide a full evaluation of viewpoint bias and associated risks to ensure that Amazon is making balanced decisions and that it is acting consistent with its commitment to diversity? he asked. UW Plays Big Role in COVID-19 Vaccination Efforts Marcela Gramcko, a third-year UW pharmacy student from Caracas, Venezuela, extracts the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine in preparation to vaccinate a patient at the former Mountain View Medical Park building owned by UW. UW has partnered with Albany County Public Health, Ivinson Memorial Hospital and local pharmacies to conduct Albany Countys vaccination clinics. (UW Photo) Students and employees of the University of Wyoming are playing a key role in Albany Countys COVID-19 vaccination efforts, ranging from scheduling appointments via telephone to providing facilities to actually administering the vaccine shots. The multidisciplinary efforts are part of a partnership involving UW, Albany County Public Health (ACPH), Ivinson Memorial Hospital (IMH) and local pharmacies that has provided the vaccine to 4,330 county residents so far. The work is expected to ramp up as more vaccine doses become available, extending well into the summer and possibly involving sending UW vaccination teams to other parts of the state. Getting the vaccine to members of our community is our best hope to end this pandemic, and were happy to use the universitys resources and expertise to help make it happen, says College of Health Sciences Dean David Jones, who oversees sample collection for UWs COVID-19 testing program at the same time he helps organize vaccine clinics. We feel very fortunate to work alongside our partners with Albany County Public Health, IMH, local pharmacies and others. For UW, its not only a way for us to fulfill our mission of service to our community and the state -- its also the best path forward to allow the university and the broader community to return to pre-pandemic conditions as quickly as possible. Since the start of the calendar year, UW employees and student volunteers have been working with ACPH and IMH professionals to conduct vaccination clinics at the former Mountain View Medical Park building, which was purchased by UW in late 2020 using federal CARES Act funding allocated by Gov. Mark Gordon. Some 20 students and clinical faculty members in UWs School of Pharmacy have been part of the effort, led by faculty member Melissa Hunter and Dean Kem Krueger. The clinic is a great interprofessional activity, Krueger says. This public health initiative has added to the students education, and they have been vital to the vaccination efforts. Students and clinical faculty from the Fay W. Whitney School of Nursing and Wyoming-WWAMI Medical Education Program have joined their pharmacy colleagues in vaccine administration, which this week will be expanded to a second facility -- Laramies former National Guard Armory, also owned by UW. The vaccines for the expanded operation have been secured by Laramies Pole Mountain Pharmacy, one of several pharmacies in the state receiving allocations alongside county public health agencies. Dr. Brant Schumaker, a veterinary epidemiologist and an associate professor in UWs College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, is organizing students and other volunteers for the expanded operation, which also involves checking in people when they arrive for their vaccinations; monitoring them after they receive their shots; and recording the vaccinations for the Wyoming Immunization Registry. Marcela Gramcko, a third-year pharmacy student from Caracas, Venezuela, who has been among those administering the vaccine, says shes glad to be part of the effort. She describes vaccinations as a step in the right direction to win this fight against COVID-19. Fourth-year pharmacy student Kristyn McKnight, of Dallas, Texas, prepares vaccine for administration. (UW Photo) Fourth-year pharmacy student Kristyn McKnight, of Dallas, Texas, says vaccinations not only will help protect the health of the individuals receiving them, but also will reduce the spread and overall burden of the disease. I sincerely hope that widespread COVID vaccinations in the UW community, paired with continued mask wearing and social distancing, will eventually lead to a return to normalcy, McKnight says. Connecting People with the Vaccine Meanwhile, UWs Wyoming Center on Aging (WyCOA) has provided staff to support the work of the Albany County COVID-19 vaccine call center. The team of 16 staff members from WyCOA and its subunit, the Dementia Support Center, as well as some staff from the UW Psychology Clinic, have answered thousands of phone calls and scheduled over 4,300 vaccination appointments for members of the community. Hosting a call center was a quick way to create equitable access to the vaccine for all eligible residents of Albany County, says Christine McKibbin, a professor of psychology and WyCOAs director. Just creating and launching the call center has been an incredible interagency partnership, and we are pleased to do our part to create equitable access to the vaccine for older residents of Albany County and all other eligible groups. The mission of WyCOA -- a grant- and contract-supported organization within the Department of Psychology and the College of Arts and Sciences -- is to optimize the health and well-being of Wyoming's older residents and their caregivers through interagency partnerships, basic and applied research, community education, and clinical training and services. McKibbin says she appreciates the strong support from IMH to create a scheduling platform; from UW Telecommunications and Information Technology (IT) to provide a telephone platform; from ACPH and UW veterinary sciences faculty who have provided guidance regarding vaccine priorities; and UWs College of Health Sciences and School of Pharmacy, and public health staff who have planned for and administer the vaccine. Brett Williams, UW ITs director of applications and customer relationships, has been at the center of the work, and UW Wyoming Survey and Analysis Center Senior Research Scientist Brian Harnisch developed an intake form for Albany County employers. The last few weeks, while working in the COVID vaccine call center, have been incredibly rewarding and energizing to me, says Sabine Schenck, a senior project coordinator with WyCOA. It is such meaningful work to personalize the vaccine appointment experience for older Albany County residents. Most of our callers have been socially isolated during the past year and are grateful and relieved that they will soon be able to get back to life. They appreciated talking to a person rather than having to set up an appointment electronically. Just Getting Started The university is preparing to extend its COVID-19 efforts beyond Albany County. Initial discussion with the Wyoming Department of Health has explored the possibility of UW faculty members and students being deployed as strike teams to assist with vaccine administration in counties where help is needed, as the number of available doses increases. So far, vaccination efforts in Albany County and other counties have focused on Phase 1a and Phase 1b of the Wyoming Department of Health priority tiers, including people age 65 and older as well as those in high-risk jobs or with high-risk medical conditions. As more vaccines and doses become available, the program will expand to broader populations, with the expectation that everyone may have access to vaccines by late summer or early fall. Albany County Health Officer Dr. Jean Allais says the collaborative vaccination program is a practical, effective approach to help the community eventually achieve herd immunity against COVID-19. Collaboration with the university, IMH and local pharmacies allows us to get more vaccines in more people more quickly, Allais says. The collaboration also lets each agency utilize their resources to provide customized services, locations and communications to their target audiences. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full 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: Washington sanctions Russia over Navalny poisoning The United States on Tuesday imposed sanctions on seven senior Russian officials as it said its intelligence concluded that Moscow orchestrated the near fatal poisoning of jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny. In action coordinated with the European Union, President Joe Biden's administration renewed demands that Russia free Navalny, who has been sent to a notorious penal colony after spurring massive rallies through his allegations of corruption by President Vladimir Putin. "The intelligence community assesses with high confidence that officers of Russia's Federal Security Service FSB used a nerve agent known as Novichok to poison Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny on August 20, 2020," a senior US official told reporters. Officials said that the United States would impose sanctions on "seven senior members of the Russian government" with the details expected to be released later Tuesday. The announcement comes one day after EU member states approved sanctions on a partly overlapping list of four senior Russian justice and law enforcement officials involved in his detention. The targeted Russians will be restricted from traveling either to the European Union or the United States, with any assets in the Western nations frozen. The Biden administration said it will also restrict certain exports to Russia as it vowed a harder line than defeated president Donald Trump, who voiced admiration for Putin. "We will take the appropriate actions as we see fit to make very clear that this kind of conduct is unacceptable for us, and we'll do it with our allies and partners," Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in an interview released on Tuesday. The Kremlin earlier on Tuesday denounced moves to impose sanctions. "Those who continue to depend on these measures should probably give it some thought: are they achieving some goal by continuing such a policy?" Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. "The answer will be obvious: such a policy does not achieve its goals." The Biden administration has vowed a clear-eyed view on Russia without either Trump's sweet spot for Putin or former president Barack Obama's initial attempt to "reset" relations. But Biden also quickly extended New START, the last major nuclear reduction treaty between the Cold War powers. "We're not seeking to escalate, we're not seeking to reset; we are seeking stability and predictability and areas of constructive work with Russia where it's in our interest to do that," one of the officials told reporters. Officials said that the United States would in the coming weeks also roll out intelligence assessments on other points of concern with Russia. The rows include allegations that Russia paid Taliban-linked militants bounties to kill US troops in Afghanistan, and early indications that Moscow was behind the massive SolarWinds hack that devastated US agencies and businesses. Navalny, 44, fell violently ill when he was taking a domestic flight. He was rushed to treatment in Germany where doctors said he had been poisoned with Novichok, a nerve agent developed by Soviet researchers and which was also blamed in a 2018 attack in England against Russian double-agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia. After recuperating, Navalny defiantly returned to Moscow in January and was immediately arrested. He was sent to the penal colony east of the Russian capital as a judge ruled that while in Germany he violated terms of parole in a suspended sentence over a 2014 fraud case, which critics say was trumped up. Navalny has persisted in needling Putin, releasing a viral video that purported to show a palatial Black Sea residence belonging to the president, who was forced to deny publicly that it was his. The dissident has also mockingly said that the veteran Russian leader "will go down in history as a poisoner of underpants" -- where agents allegedly placed the Novichok. (AFP) This story has been published on: 2021-03-02. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. Raised outside of Washington D.C. by an artist mother and a Haitian father who worked on global infrastructure projects for the U.N., Pean's education came partly in the form of visits to the Smithsonian (the Air and Space Museum was a particular favorite) and travel to far-off locales. She credits family trips down the Nile and through the Chinese countryside with teaching her to keep her eyes wide open. But art might not have been her path if not for a fateful tragedy in her mid-20s. In 2005, Pean was working as an analyst for Goldman Sachs, arriving at the office at 4 a.m. every day and leaving at midnight. I had seven computer screens, she says. But, when she was 25, her 16-year-old sister, Vanessa, was killed in a car accident, an event that halted life as she knew it. You think about time, existence what does it all mean? I did a complete 180, says Pean, who left her job and returned to travel, at one point receiving an invitation from a friend who worked with the Alaska Native Arts Foundation to visit the Arctic Circle. Welcomed into the igloos of members of the Inupiat and Yupik peoples, Pean witnessed firsthand their care for nature and how they used every part of the animals they hunted. The artists first brush with what she calls deep time came when her hosts showed her walrus tusk fossils that were hundreds of thousands of years old, with changes in hues that conveyed age and experiences, almost like a photograph. It made me want to go further back, says Pean. Galveston, TX (77553) Today Mixed clouds and sun this morning. Scattered thunderstorms developing this afternoon. High 83F. Winds S at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 50%.. Tonight A few isolated thunderstorms developing overnight. Low 76F. Winds SSW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 30%. A network of weather stations in South Australia to detect thermal inversions and help prevent pesticide spray drift Screenshot of the Riverland Mesonet during the beginning of an inversion Hi from the team who built the "mesonet" weather station networks in the state of South Australia! A mesonet is a term for a network of automated weather stations designed to monitor meteorological phenomena at high geographic density and updated frequently. We built these networks to help prevent pesticide spray drift - the phenomenon in which pesticide spray that is applied to a crop ends up drifting to other crops, sometimes many kilometres away. Spray drift can be a huge problem, as it can lead to damage or even destruction of highly valuable crops, and can also cause pollution to waterways and harm to native ecosystems. The biggest factor in spray drift the presence of a thermal inversion, a state in which temperature increases with increasing altitude, which usually happens in the evening and overnight when the earth is cooling, but can happen at other times. However other meteorological phenomena also affect the likelihood of spray drift, and different types of spray respond differently. So we designed a weather station to measure all the relevant meteorological phenomena, and in particular to detect thermal inversions, and a custom web app to display the data in format that is very fast and simple to access and understand. We've now deployed 70 of these stations across two of the major agricultural regions of South Australia, and so far it seems to be making a difference: no damage due to spray drift has been reported in these regions since the networks were rolled out. Background A group of stakeholders in the Mid North region of South Australia had identified spray drift as a major issue. The region, to the north of South Australia's capital of Adelaide, has a thriving agricultural sector, producing wheat, barley, wine grapes, pulses, livestock and other produce. The total annual output from the region is valued at nearly AUD $2 billion. It has been estimated that the potential loss in production from spray drift could be as high as $178M/year, and potential harm to waterways and native ecosystems is significant. The local stakeholders worked with meteorologists and researchers to develop a solution, then sought funding from the South Australia state government to fund the project. In 2018, a $1.4M grant was provided, and a pilot rollout of 40 weather stations was undertaken. It was named the Mid North Mesonet. The pilot was deemed successful, and in 2019, another grant was provided by the state government for a network in the Riverland and Mallee region to the north-east of Adelaide. In the two years since the Mid North Mesonet was rolled out, there have been no reported instances of crop damage due spray drift. The Problem of Spray Drift Farmers spray pesticides on their crops to manage pests. It is an important feature of modern farming. Herbicide may be applied to target broad-leaf plants, other times to target summer weeds. Spray drift occurs when pesticide spray 'drifts' across into non-target areas. Spray drift is a problem because: Causes of Spray Drift A combination of conditions can lead to spray drift. Wind Speed Wind speed that is very low or very high. Temperature A temperature over about 28C (83F). Humidity The effect of humidity varies depending on the type of spray. The spray manufacturer's instructions should provide guidance. Atmospheric Stability Unstable or stable conditions can lead to spray drift. Conditions should be neutral. Thermal Inversions A thermal inversion, in which temperature increases with increasing altitude, is a major risk factor for spray drift. Inversions generally happen in the evening and overnight as the earth cools, but they can happen at other times. Thermal Inversions For current farming practices, long-distance spray drift generally occurs during very stable weather conditions (i.e. little to no air turbulence). A thermal inversion occurs when a warm layer of air sits above a cooler layer of air near the ground. This reduces air turbulence and can act as a ~@~Xlid~@~Y for an airborne pollutant source. The lack of air turbulence means the smaller spray droplets float without settling on the target crops. A very slight breeze can then carry these floating droplets large distances before they eventually descend into a non-target area. It is illegal to spray during a thermal inversion. The problem: it is very difficult for farmers to tell if a thermal inversion is underway. Diagram of an inversion Photograph of an inversion with smoke Our Weather Stations Our weather stations were designed to: They consist of: Each tower is self-powered by a solar panel and battery. Weather Station at Walker Flat, SA Weather Station at Pinkerton Plains, SA The Web Application We initially used an off-the-shelf web application for displaying meteorological data, but soon realised we needed something tailored to our needs. We found a company that was already in the business of building web-applications to display environmental data for farmers, and they were willing to build a customised version for us. The key requirements for the application were: The key technologies are: Data is uploaded from the data logger via FTP (which may seem primitive, but the world of meteorological data still relies heavily on FTP). On detection of new data, the application first takes the most recent readings, and updates the data structures for the map and dashboard views. The historical data is then placed in a queue, for updating of historical graphs. All the data for the map view, dashboards and historical graphs are formatted into a JSON hash then serialized and stored in the Redis cache. That way, when the React web interface makes a request, the pre-formatted data can be retrieved and sent very quickly, as no querying, processing or formatting of data is required at request time. Screenshot of the Mid North Mesonet Map View with wind speeds shown Screenshot of the Riverland Mallee Mesonet Map View with temperatures shown Results so far In the two years since the Mid North Mesonet was deployed, there have been no reported cases of crop damage due to spray drift. Damage and loss had been reported in most of the previous years - though not all. So it is too early to tell if the problem has been completely solved, but indications are promising. Other government bodies and NGOs are expressing interest in establishing their own mesonets. Damon Grace Project Engineer damon.grace@cotl.com.au Warwick Grace Meteorologist warwick@graceresearch.com Tom Howard Web Developer tom+mesonet@taindata.com An inmate claims he was drugged and raped for three days in jail, before allegedly being marked with a series of 'grotesque' tattoos. The inmate at Yatala prison, in Adelaide's north, told jail officers on February 19 that he was 'forcibly tattooed' by another inmate. Guards noticed he had new designs etched into his stomach, thigh, and chest that were infected. Staff described the amateur body art as 'horrific' with derogatory and sexually-explicit words and imagery. Pictured: The 'horrific' and derogatory images etched into the bikie's skin. He claims he was forcibly tattooed Searches of several cells uncovered an illegal tattoo gun, needles, gloves and alcohol swabs, the Adelaide Advertiser reported. The man, who pleaded guilty to aggravated robbery but has not been sentenced yet, named three prisoners including a Hells Angels bikie, who were allegedly involved. They were transferred into separate blocks in the high security division. The inmate who allegedly forced him into getting the tattoos is serving almost five years for aggravated serious criminal trespass, discharging a firearm to injure, aggravated assault, and breach of bail. Correctional Services chief executive David Brown described the allegations as 'deeply disturbing' on Friday. 'When such allegations come up it is a criminal matter without any question and South Australian Police are immediately brought in,' he said. 'Sexual assault services are brought into the picture and we are very proactive in gathering evidence and supporting police in the work they are doing.' Staff said the tattoos (pictured) were amateurish and contained sexually explicit imagery But according to the Advertiser, detectives are investigating whether the prisoner fabricated the whole story. A source said a police investigation could not substantiate claims that the inmate was drugged or sexually assaulted. 'If he has made this up for his own purposes, he is in a spot of bother,' the source said. 'It won't be just the three he has made the allegations against he will have to worry about, everyone will be lining him up wherever they put him.' Ongoing investigations will determine how the tattoo gun was smuggled into the facility and whether the inmate allowed himself to be tattooed. Last spring, Kelli Rivera of Atlanta, Georgia, became so concerned with how local schools were dealing with the coronavirus pandemic that she decided to teach her children at her home. Her children are back in public school and mostly attending class in person - for now. But Rivera is thinking about putting her younger son in private school next year. And she hopes the state of Georgia might help her pay for it with an increase of school choice programs. In many American states, lawmakers and supporters of school choice are hoping to use the concerns of parents like Rivera to pass new laws about school choice. School choice suggests the use of public money to pay for private schools or teaching at home. Supporters and opponents Some kind of school choice program already gets public money in 29 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, notes EdChoice, a group that supports school choice. Supporters of school choice say they hope to make new gains this year as public opinion studies around the U.S. show private schools have been more likely to offer in-person learning. John Schilling is President of the American Federation for Children, a group that supports school choice programs. Schilling used terms such as mad and frustrated to describe how parents feel. He added that the pandemic has shown how inflexible the K-12 system is. K-12 means kindergarten through 12th grade the beginning year through the end year of the public school system. Opponents of school choice argue that such programs will take money from traditional public schools. Opponents suggest that school choice programs could be damaging for areas that serve low-income families. Vouchers play an important role in the debate. Vouchers are publicly financed savings accounts and tax credits to be used for private schools. Voucher programs generally target students in less wealthy areas where schools are struggling. But opponents argue in some cases vouchers help families who could pay their own way for private school. Jessica Levin of the Education Law Center said that vouchers take money from public schools and ... allow private schools to discriminate in all kinds of ways. The Education Law Center is part of an anti-voucher group called Public Funds for Public Schools. Levin said private schools are not required to admit students. She added that private schools do not have their academic results publicly examined and they may not offer special education services. New proposals There are new proposals in many states that already offer help with funding for private schools and homeschooling. The proposals appear more likely to pass in Republican-controlled states, where schools have been more likely to open for in-person classes. In Georgia, Republican state Rep. Wes Cantrell has introduced a bill that would create educational savings accounts. These accounts would let parents use money to pay for private schools or home-schooling costs. The proposal would give the money to different groups, including students in areas not offering full in-person classes. The major concern Ive had over the last year has been from parents who dont have a public school offering in-person classes, Cantrell said. If the public schools are not meeting their needs, they should have another choice. In Missouri, Republican Senate Majority Leader Caleb Rowden said his top priority is a bill giving tax breaks for donations to organizations providing scholarships to private schools or other public schools outside a students home district. School choice measures have failed in the state many times before. Rowden, who sends his child to a private Christian school, told the Associated Press recently, Ive got a lot of left and center-left friends who are more frustrated with the public school system than they ever have been in their lives. He added that such parents have realized they have so little control over the say of their kids education that something needs to be done about it. In Indiana, which already has one of the nations largest voucher programs, Republicans are trying to increase the number of students getting help by up to 40 percent next year. Rivera herself wonders about the conflict between her wishes to support her kids and support public schools. I would love to put my kids where I can offer certainty, she said, but I dont know what that does to our schools, I dont know the stresses it puts on our teachers. Im John Russell. And I'm Dan Friedell. Jeff Amy reported on this story for the Associated Press. John Russell adapted it for Learning English. Susan Shand was the editor. Quiz - Coronavirus Crisis Stirs Debate About School Choice Start the Quiz to find out Start Quiz _____________________________________________________________ Words in This Story frustrated adj. discouraged, or upset because of being unable to do or complete something inflexible adj. not easily changed account n. an arrangement in which a bank keeps a record of the money that a person puts in and takes out of the bank priority n. something that is more important than other things and that needs to be done or dealt with first district n. an area or region containing the schools that a school board is in charge of stress n. a state of mental tension and worry caused by problems in your life, work, etc. First Step Towards Global Distribution Strategic partnership for entry into Thailand, the first country to deregulate the use of hemp-derived oils and extracts for consumer-packaged goods Partnership serves as beachhead for DWS to gain access to the Asian hemp-infused market which is expected to grow to over $5.8 billion by 2024 DWS' initial contribution secures toehold equity stake of 4% in Quad Play with option to acquire control of QP once regulations in Thailand allows for control by foreign companies MOU is first step in development and marketing of consumer-packaged goods infused with hemp extracts for the Asian market, including wellness, food, beverage and cosmetics products Calgary, Alberta--(Newsfile Corp. - March 2, 2021) - Discover Wellness Solutions Inc. (CSE: WLNS) (formerly RMMI Corp.) ("Discover Wellness", "DWS" or the "Company"), a licensed producer and processor under the Cannabis Act (Canada), is pleased to announce that it has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding on Co-operation on Arrangement of Hemp Business in Thailand with Quad Play ("QP") of Thailand (the "MOU"). Thailand is an attractive market for Discover Wellness as it is the first country globally to deregulate hemp-derived oils and extracts which allows it to be included in consumer product goods. The MOU is the first step in DWS and QP creating a joint business for the development and marketing of consumer-packaged goods infused with hemp extracts for the Asian market, including wellness, food, beverage and cosmetics products. Under the terms of the MOU QP would import high-potency hemp seeds from DWS for distribution and cultivation in Thailand. QP will become an exclusive supplier of DWS seeds in Thailand. The agreement is subject to an initial trial order of 20,000 seeds. Upon successful completion of the trial order, QP will pre-purchase 200,000 seeds (US$200,000 value) and in return DWS will receive a 4% equity interest in QP. Additionally, DWS has a Right of First Refusal ("ROFR") to acquire control of QP once regulations in Thailand allows for control by foreign companies. Story continues QP will arrange for cooperation with producers in Thailand of medicine, food and drinks products who wish to incorporate hemp oils and extracts in their products. By this arrangement, DWS can use Thailand as a base for distributing seeds, cultivating and producing DWS's products for sales in Thailand domestically and internationally. Effective, January 29, 2021, the Thai government amended its hemp regulations. Under its new definition hemp with <1% THC can now be imported, exported and used for government, industrial, medical and research purposes. "We view this arrangement as a first step for Discover Wellness' global distribution strategy into the fast-growing food and beverage markets of Asia, a potential $5.8 billion market by 2024 according to Prohibition Partners. We are excited to be working with QP as our exclusive partner and leverage their deep relationships with traditional consumer packaged goods companies within Thailand and the broader Asian market," commented Peter Cheung, Interim Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer. Key points from the MOU The QP and DWS have the intention to co-operate and develop Hemp industry in Thailand to become the bio medical hub that produces a variety of hemp products, such as medical, food, beverages, and cosmetic products, for domestic and export to Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership ("RCEP") and global markets. Cooperation Plan QP to become the exclusive supplier of DWS seeds in Thailand. The agreement will be subject to an initial order of 20,000 seeds. QP to pre-purchase 200,0000 seeds (value of US$200,000) for 4,000 shares in QP that represents a 4% equity interest on a fully diluted basis in QP ("Equity Interest"). The Pre-Purchase and Equity Interest is subject to a successful Trial Order. After the initial 200,000 seeds, QP to pay on a per seed basis and Discover Wellness has the option to convert those amounts into additional equity of QP to a maximum allowed under foreign ownership rules currently at 33%. Discover Wellness shall have the ROFR to acquire control of QP once regulations in Thailand allows for control by foreign companies. QP and DWS are working diligently on completing the detailed implementation plan to be in line with the timeframe agreed and prepare a Joint Venture Agreement. The Company will provide updates from time-to-time in due course. Quad Play (Thailand) Co. Limited Quad Play is a Thai registered company with several licensed entities in the cannabis and hemp ecosystem. Quad Play recently signed a Memorandum of Agreement with Walailak University. Quad Play's wholly owned subsidiary Jai Sai currently has 2 licensed traditional Thai medical clinics with plans to roll out many more nationwide, they will form one of the main distribution channels for QP and DWS products. Quad Play will become a leader in developing genetics, cultivation, extraction technology, and production of bio medical products, for food, beverage, and health products for domestic market, and ultimately export to Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) and global markets. http://www.quadplay.co.th/en/Home/Index Discover Wellness Solutions Inc. Discover Wellness (formerly RMMI Corp.) is a Canadian company licensed, through its subsidiary, to cultivate, produce, process and sell cannabis in various forms. The Company's vision is to enhance shareholder value by establishing cost leadership in hemp processing and CBD extraction coupled with a global distribution strategy. More information about WLNS is available online at https://discoverwellness.solutions/ Contact Information: Manish Grigo, Chief Strategy Officer mgrigo@discoverwellnesssolutions.ca 416-569-3292 Peter Cheung, Interim Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer ir@discoverwellnesssolutions.ca Terry Uppal +1-888-228-5128 Certain information set forth in this news release contains forward-looking statements or information ("forward-looking statements"). By their nature, forward-looking statements are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties, some of which are beyond the Company's control, including the impact of general economic conditions, industry conditions, volatility of commodity prices, currency fluctuations, environmental risks, operational risks, competition from other industry participants, stock market volatility, and the ability to access sufficient capital from internal and external sources. Although the Company believes that the expectations in its forward-looking statements are reasonable, its forward-looking statements have been based on factors and assumptions concerning future events which may prove to be inaccurate. Those factors and assumptions are based upon currently available information. Such statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that could influence actual results or events and cause actual results or events to differ materially from those stated, anticipated or implied in the forward-looking statements. Accordingly, readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements, as no assurance can be provided as to future results, levels of activity or achievements. Risks, uncertainties, material assumptions and other factors that could affect actual results are discussed in our public disclosure documents available at www.sedar.com. Furthermore, the forward-looking statements contained in this document are made as of the date of this document and, except as required by applicable law, the Company does not undertake any obligation to publicly update or to revise any of the included forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. The forward-looking statements contained in this document are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement. Trading in the securities of WLNS should be considered highly speculative. NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO UNITED STATES NEWSWIRE SERVICES OR FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES. ANY FAILURE TO COMPLY WITH THIS RESTRICTION MAY CONSTITUTE A VIOLATION OF U.S. SECURITIES LAWS. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/75805 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 Most Rev. William Byrne didnt get to meet Pope Francis during his 2015 papal visit to Washington D.C., even though Byrne was then a pastor in the Washington archdiocese and served as a television commentator for the visit. But Byrne may be on the papal radar this month. His book, 5 Things with Father Bill: Hope, Humor, and Help for the Soul, published in October by Loyola Press, tied with Christopher Lambs The Outsider, as the Gold Medal winner in the Catholic category of the seventh annual Illumination Book Awards. Second place honors went to On Love by the 84-year-old pontiff, who is a prolific writer and author, as well as a member of the Jesuit order. When I learned that my book was awarded the Gold Medal and Pope Francis received the silver, I was worried that it might spurn a rivalry like the Red Sox and the Yankees, said Byrne when asked about edging out the pope. I was thinking of ordering big foam fingers that said 5 Things with Fr. Bill, but then I remembered what St. Paul wrote, If one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.... So the Pope and I are just rejoicing together. Loyola Press, which was founded by a Jesuit and which also published the popes book, described On Love as part of a Theological Virtues Series Kit that includes three books with each featuring a collection of wisdom from the writings and homilies of Pope Francis, as well as sources from Scripture, to explore the theological virtues of hope, faith, and love for the modern day Christian. It describes Byrnes book as a practical and engaging guide to embracing happiness. 5 Things with Father Bill features a forward by Touched by an Angel actress Roma Downey. It consists of a series of reflections originally published in the Catholic Standard, the Washington archdiocesan newspaper. It has been recorded by Byrne on YouTube as well. Byrne has said previously that people seem to respond to his format that takes a subject and breaks it out into five takeaways. Each one is a stand-alone and each one easy to digest, Byrne said. They take people on a little theological journey. I believe God shows himself in all things so if we can start training people on how to see God in the insights of the day, whether it be from your dog or your walk, then we have gone a long way in help people understand. Byrnes daily Lenten reflections, Spiritual Shorts, can be found on YouTube from the diocesan website. The Illumination Book Awards focuses on books dedicated to Christian belief and personal development and entry open to such books written in English and for the North American market. Judging is described as based on content, design, and production quality, with emphasis on innovation and creative ways of expressing a Christian worldview. Judges are said to include experts from the fields of education, clergy, book production and bookselling, with up to five medalists per category that include Bible study, parenting and self-help, and a portion of the current entry fee donated to Habitat for Humanity. Springfield Bishop William Byrne's "5 Things with Father Bill" recently tied for the Gold Award in the Catholic category of the Illumination Book Awards with Pope Francis' "On Love" getting the Bronze. (Photo by Anne-Gerard Flynn, Special to The Republican) Related content: This job expired on 1 May 2021. I ts very egg-citing. First we are treated to the news that the end of lockdown is in sight, next its Easter and for us that means indulging in the decadent selection of eggs carted out for the occasion. Life in lockdown hasnt been easy but if theres one thing that can get us through the next few months, its the latest and greatest offering from expert chocolatiers, from heavy-weights like Cadburys, Nestle, and Hotel Chocolat to more independent confectioners. If youve given up chocolate for Lent, Easter is the time to truly indulge your sweet tooth - and this years hatch is better than ever. To ease in the otherwise very challenging selection process, we have taken the time to personally sample each and everyone of the below to find you the ones worth splashing the cash on. Some simply nailed the classics - were looking at you Kit Kat and Aero - whereas others took egg-cellent ideas and ran with creating works of edible art. Honourable mention also goes to new additions like the mash-up of white chocolate and Oreo - thank you chocolate gods. Not an egg but in the truly trying testing process, we were thrilled to discover a new addition to Cadburys Easter line-up in the form of the mini egg bar - just try and resist it. Enjoy! Hotel de Crillon, A Rosewood Hotel Showstopping Egg Ready to cue the squeals of delight, Hotel de Crillon has pulled out all the stops this Easter. At Le Boudoir - the Parisian boltholes chocolate shop - the renowned Head Pastry Chef Matthieu Carlin has crafted a chocolate sculpture that can only be described as show-stopping. Using Caribbean and Dominican Republic origin dark chocolate, it shows a car - a 1973 Citroen DS to be specific - racing through the Place de la Concorde streets. Truffles are used to recreate the pavement. Hotel de Crillon Waitrose Chocolate Pomegranate File this under the wacky and wonderful category because this year, Waitrose is taking a very different approach to its Easter egg offering. You may be surprised to learn that this pomegranate is in fact crafted from Fairtrade white chocolate with the sweet and fruity taste that you know and love from the seeds. Waitrose Cadbury White Oreo Bring joy to your at-home Easter celebrations with the help of Cadburys who has launched a very special new addition to its range. Think white chocolate sprinkled with Oreo cookie crumbs. As delicious as it sounds. But dont take our word for it, pop this in your shopping trolley and you wont be disappointed. Tesco Deliveroo Mystic Egg Each Easter, Deliveroo serves up an usual treat as wacky and wonderful as the year before. After the success of the Creme Egg pizza and Invisible Eggs, for 2021, you can have the Mystic Egg delivered straight to your door. Crafted in collaboration with psychic Mystic Meg, crack into the dark chocolate vegan egg to find your fortune. The exterior resembles that of a crystal ball with a cosmic inspired teal, purple and gold pattern - but edible. It is available from March 31. Deliveroo Morrisons The Best Gold Lustre Easter Egg Why settle for just one egg when you can have a nesting doll-esque alternative with this option from Morrisons? The very first layer has a smooth milk chocolate with a chocolate vermicelli coating. Within this, youll find a dark chocolate egg decorated with white chocolate and at the very centre, a hand-shimmered milk chocolate egg - the star of the show that will not disappoint. Morrisons Mariage Freres Tea-Infused Easter Egg Tea lovers rejoice, your favourite brew now comes in chocolate form thanks to luxury French emporium Mariage Freres. Tis the season and to celebrate you can find the Joyeux Easter Eggs with a creamy ganache with The de Paques teas gourmet creme brulee combined with four flavour infusions; dark chocolate, almond paste, almond praline and hazelnut gianduja. The eggs are decorated with a playful colourful dot detail. Mariage Freres Evok Chicken Coup Taking a playful approach to its Easter display this year, the Parisian hotel collection Evok has crafted a chicken coup where the chickens are made from milk, dark, almond and pralines - each as show-stopping as the last and designed to represent its portfolio of hotels, from the Marais-based Sinner, to the Nolinski. Evok Joe & Sephs Chocolate Popcorn Easter Egg Joe & Seph is giving you the chance to win the Easter jackpot this year with the delectable combination of popcorn and chocolate that we didnt know we needed. But this is no ordinary popcorn. Its Salted Caramel and has been embedded into the milky shell. Well take five. Joe & Seph Also available directly at Joe & Sephs Butlers Chocolates White Wrapped White Chocolate Easter Egg Dive into the luxe pearlescent wrapping to reveal something special. A white chocolate egg that, when cracked into, will reveal mini chocolate truffle eggs. From Dublin-based chocolatiers, its creamy, smooth and delicious. Whats more, the packaging is recyclable. Butlers Melt Strawberry Easter Egg Pictures may be deceiving as this Easter egg is not your run-of-the-mill strawberry. While cleverly disguised as the fruit, it is in fact a dark chocolate treat, coated in fresh strawberries. Taste-wise, imagine you are strawberry picking and sampling one of the wild iterations. Clashing beautifully with the juiciness, is rich and creamy dark chocolate, making it perfect for vegans. The stem is passionfruit-flavoured chocolate. The brand is also offering a Dark Sea Salt Egg, Milk Sea Salt Egg, Wild Egg (using organic cocoa beans from Bolivias Amazon rainforest), Acorn Egg and a Milk Chocolate Sugar Free Egg - that are all as show-stopping. Melt Allpress Espresso Easter Egg The collaboration we didnt know we needed, Allpress Espresso has teamed up with New Zealand chocolatier Bennetts to delight coffee lovers everywhere. There are two flavours available in the carton; Double Espresso with 80 per cent cocoa dark chocolate combined with the brands signature Espresso blend for an indulgent yet bittersweet taste for those who like their morning cuppa black. Then theres the Flat White to better suit milky brew lovers. It is made from 45 per cent cocoa with a double shot of A.R.T Espresso Roast. Allpress Guylian Belgian Chocolate Easter Eggs For fans of the brands signature shells, youre in for a treat this Easter with the delicious Belgian chocolate in egg form. For 2021, Guylian has removed all foil and plastic for a more sustainable take on the occasion. There are two eggs on offer; the classic Easter egg complete with the signature seahorse design and the Temptations complete with a milk, dark and white chocolate snack bag. Guylian Hotel Chocolat Salted Caramel Hard-Boiled Egg This architecturally-impressive egg takes its exterior inspiration from the Tate Modern with a jewelled facet design thats enough to turn heads alone. But the flavours are the true selling point. While there are classic combinations of dark, mint, brownie, ginger and supermilk, were looking to the salted caramel to satisfy our cravings with the perfect balance of sweet and salt. Yum. Hotel Chocolat Cadburys Dairy Milk Orange Giant Buttons Easter Egg Does this count as one of your five-a-day? Probably not, but youll be able to sample to perfect marrying of fruit and sweetness. A new addition to Cadburys Easter range, the Dairy Milk Orange Giant Buttons Egg comes complete with a pleasingly large egg, as well as a go-bag of the fan-favourites. All bases covered. Tesco Kit Kat Chunky Milk Chocolate Easter Egg For the taste-factor guaranteed, you cant go wrong with the Kit Kat Chunky egg that is perfect for a much needed sugar hit to break up the working from home monotony. It comes with an egg crafted in the delicious milk chocolate alongside two bars of the crispy coated wafer finger. Tesco Aero Bubbles Milk Chocolate Easter Egg For decadence without the heavy richness, Aeros Easter egg will hit the spot. In this seasonal snack pack, youll be treated to an egg alongside milk chocolate with the brands signature aerated centre. Tesco Aldi Easter Chocolate Eggs Budget supermarket Aldi has gone all out on its Easter offering this year to bring you artisan-style eggs sure to delight even the pickiest of chocolate fans. Whether its ruby chocolate or you want something different with popping candy, there is something to delight all tastes. Were eyeing up the Specially Selected Exquisite Beehive Egg crafted from Fairtrade blonde chocolate with chunky honeycomb and bee pollen. It is also adorned with milk chocolate honey caramel filled bees, finished with a luxe gold lustre and paired with 12 milk chocolate and salted caramel truffles. Mouth watering yet? Special mention to the brands Giant Dragon Egg, back by popular demand. Crafted with Belgian milk chocolate, it is finished with a decorative gold, orange and copper detail. Calls for UK Government to step up and deliver long-awaited improvements at Ruabon Station This article is old - Published: Tuesday, Mar 2nd, 2021 A Wrexham councillor is demanding the UK Government steps up and helps deliver long-awaited access improvements at Ruabon Station. Campaigners wants to install lifts to help people with mobility issues move between platforms, but the station has missed out twice on funding for the improvements despite funding once being announced. Current access to the north bound Chester platform at the station is only possible by a footbridge with long flights of stairs on both platforms, with all passengers having to negotiate over 50 steps on this footbridge. Last year The Access for All Mid-Tier scheme saw Welsh Government nominate a number of stations, supported by match funding to the Department for Transport (DfT). However the local station was not selected by the UK Government in the final allocations for accessibility improvements, despite investment once being described as confirmed with obligatory photo-op on the station platform with Welsh Government due to supply the cash. Welsh Ministers have now once again asked the UK Governments Department for Transport to urgently agree to prioritise work at Ruabon. Local county councillor and leader of the Labour group on Wrexham Council Dana Davies said: The Friends of Ruabon group has been campaigning for this for years on behalf of local people, but the project has twice been stopped in its tracks by the UK Government refusing to invest in our area. While transport is devolved to Wales, its important to point out that responsibility for track, station infrastructure and signalling remains with the UK Government. Over the past 20 years, Wales has received less than 2% of the 102bn that that UK Government has spent on rail enhancement despite us having 5% of the population and 11% of the track miles. In 2017, former MP Susan Elan Jones presented a petition to Parliament on behalf of the Friends of Ruabon calling for action from the UK Government as Welsh Government had offered to match-fund upgrades. Cllr Davies added: This is an extremely important issue for people in my ward and the many other local people who use Ruabon Station. The Welsh Government has twice before put money on the table for this long-awaited work to go ahead even though its not a devolved area and twice we have been snubbed by the UK Government. Twice we have got our hopes up because we didnt think there would be any way they would refuse to cough up 50% of the costs. They should be paying for the work in its entirety, and so far theyve refused to contribute a penny. Its extremely frustrating and their lack of action makes no sense when there has been match-funding on the table from Welsh Government for more than two years. The Welsh Government say they have now written to UK Government Transport Secretary Grant Shapps asking him to approve its plans for step-free access at Ruabon, which it says would proceed urgently once agreement is forthcoming. Central Square, NY Central Square school district officials are working with law enforcement to identify the person who disrupted a remote class with extremely inappropriate and egregious actions,' according to a letter sent to parents. Superintendent Thomas Colabufo said the Zoom class at Central Square Middle School was interrupted by a persons inappropriate behavior that involved a persons private area. Colabufo said he cant reveal any more details as the case is under investigation. Central Squares school resource officers are assisting in the investigation. The disruption happened three times - once on Feb. 25 and twice the next day. Each time, the teacher kicked the person causing the disruption out of the session, sometimes before anyone noticed. Colabufo said the district has determined the suspect is not a Central Square student, but instead is someone who lives out of the state. Administrators believe a Central Square student shared the password to get into the Zoom class with someone else, and thats how the person was able to access the remote learning session. Colabufo said hes sent a letter to parents asking them to talk to their children about not sharing passwords, and also pointed out that actions such as these can have massive repercussions and are often illegal. Incidents like this are not rare. In Oregon, a man exposed himself on Zoom to a remote class. In Concord, NH officials investigated multiple reports of high school students being subjected to inappropriate content during remote classes, according to the Concord Monitor. 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 New Delhi: Secessionist group Sikhs For Justice (SFJ) on Tuesday (March 2) said that they have donated $10,000 (over Rs 7.33 lakh) to the United Nations Human Rights Commissioner Michelle Bachelet as a show of gratitude for her recent comments related to farmers protest in India. During the 46th session of the Human Rights Council on February 26, Bachelet said, Charges of sedition against journalists and activists for reporting or commenting on the protests, & attempt to curb freedom of expression on social media are disturbing departures from essential human rights principles. SFJ in a communique to Bachelet requested the OHCHR to establish a Commission of Inquiry to investigate Indias use of sedition to curb freedom of expression of the protesting farmers, their domestic and international supporters. While the Indian government has filed sedition charges against farmers and their supporters, hyper-nationalist Hindu supremacist supporters followers of Modi, on ground and online, in India and abroad, have embarked upon giving calls for lynching, beheading, rape and violence against anyone supporting farmer's right to protest, the letter read. SFJ further said that it is willing to provide all necessary financial support to a UN-backed commission to investigate the matter. We will also provide evidence and witness statements to the UN body during the investigations, said Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, General Counsel of SFJ. The letter mentioned statements from BJP Minister Anil Vij, Bollywood star Kangna Raunat and a UK-based group Inspiring Indian Women alleging that they were inflammatory in nature made against protesting farmers. Live TV An Amazon worker plunged to his death yesterday at one of the company's facilities in Las Vegas. Officers arrived at the LAS7 fulfilment center in Las Vegas, Nevada, around 7am and found the man inside the building. The man, who has not been identified yet, was pronounced dead at the scene, according to NBC. Cops said he had 'fallen or jumped'. Police officers were called to the LAS7 fulfilment center in Las Vegas, Nevada, (pictured) at around 7am yesterday after a worker was found having plunged to their death A spokesperson for the North Las Vegas Police Department said: 'Detectives were called out, and cause and manner of death will be revealed by the coroner.' They added that the Occupational Safety and Health Administration had been notified about the incident. Employees at the Amazon facility, the largest in the state at 855,000 sq ft, were sent home early with pay after the incident and Amazon spokesperson Lisa Levandowski said that grief counseling was being offered. Other Amazon employees at the facility were told to go home at around 9.40am, with pay, and people set to work night shifts were told not to come in yesterday She said: 'We're deeply saddened by this tragic incident. Their family and loved ones are in our thoughts, and we're supporting our employees during this difficult time.' An Amazon employee at the center, who wished to remain anonymous, told NBC that police cars and ambulances were already in the parking lot when they arrived at 7am. They said that staff started placing barricades around where the worker had been found before being sent home at around 9.40am. Approximately 90pc of all plantings were done by farmers 10 years ago, but in 2020 it was 30pc. A new report on the forestry sector, heavily critical of the Department of Agriculture's handling of issues in the sector, has recommended a new governance structure to address the ongoing issues. However, at the launch of 'Project Woodland' Minister of State Pippa Hackett, who has responsibility for forestry, failed to commit to a timeline of when current targets of 8,000ha per annum will be met. Project Woodlands is a report on the implementation of the Mackinnon report on forestry licenses, which was published in November 2019, and the issues surrounding licences in the sector. An increase in appeals against forestry licensing decisions since late 2019 has resulted in further delays in processing felling licences and declining confidence within the forestry sector. "The resulting further delays in processing felling licences in particular led to serious threats to business continuity along the supply chain to timber processors, which only started to be mitigated by the end of 2020," the report states. It also says that a "concerted effort by the Department and the Forestry Appeals Committee with a focus on larger approvals has mitigated the most immediate threat to the processing sector by releasing volume." However, it goes on to say that this "resulted in a greater focus on Coillte licences" while many private growers "remain deeply frustrated" at the slow and uncertain rate of approval. "There are extremely high levels of dissatisfaction with the lack of approval of licences in the private sector...generating negative focus in the media, which is further eroding interest in new planting amongst land owners." Approximately 90pc of all plantings were done by farmers 10 years ago, but in 2020 it was 30pc. Further, "failure to provide any level of confidence in the timeframe for the issue of planting, roading or harvesting licences has had a significant impact of landowners' views on forestry." The report also states that the Department "needs to act swiftly to address weaknesses in project management and communications" to establish a clear pathway to deliver the Mackinnon recommendations. Another issue highlighted in the report is that the viewpoints of farmers are not given due prominence. Hackett said the current split of licences being approved is 60:40, Coillte: private, and that Coillte supplies 75pc of the timber. Minister Hackett also said between 60 and 70 appeals are due to be heard in March and that she did not believe there are any grounds to narrow the scope for appeals. She also said, in response to calls to remove the licences from the sector that licences are there for a reason. Everyone would love to not have any licences, but they are there for a reason, with European legislation providing directives on habitats and birds. Jo O'Hara, the former Chief Executive of Scottish Forestry, who prepared the report said there has never been any suggestion that the EPA would be more efficient to regulate forestry in Scotland. The latest report proposes a new working group, to include people beyond the forestry teams in the Department, is to be established, set targets around clearing the backlog and ensure sufficient harvesting licenses. O'Hara will sit on the proposed project board, which will be managed by Colm Hayes, Assistant Secretary General at Department of Agriculture. In 2020, 4,342ha of forestry was approved and 2,488 planted, against a target of 8,000ha. Sorry, no valid subscriptions were found for this Publication. Please select from an option below to start a subscription. SUBSCRIBE TODAY! 24 Hour Access Agartala, March 2 : The much awaited elections to the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTAADC) will be held on April 4, officials announced here on Tuesday. Tripura State Election Commissioner M. L. Dey said that the polling to the 28-member TTAADC would be held on April 4 and counting of votes would be done on April 8. According to Dey, in all 8,65,041 voters including 4,28,490 females are eligible to cast their votes in the TTAADC, which has a jurisdiction of over two-thirds of Tripura's 10,491 sq km area and home to over 12,16,000 people, which has 90 per cent population as tribals. The five-year tenure of the TTAADC, considered as mini-state Assembly in terms of political significance, expired on May 17 last year and the BJP-led state government promulgated the Governor's rule by appointing a retired IAS officer as Administrator next day for a period of six months and then extending the term for another six months on November 17. After huge political controversies for the postponement of the elections, the Tripura High Court division bench of Chief Justice Akil Kureshi and Justice Satya Gopal Chattopadhyay following a Public Interest Litigation on January 12 has asked the state government and the election authority to hold the election to the TTAADC at the earliest. In a significant political development on February 20, antagonising the ruling BJP, its junior ally Indigenous People's Front of Tripura (IPFT) forged an alliance with other smaller tribal based parties to fight the upcoming polls to the tribal autonomous body. IPFT President Narendra Chandra Debbarma and General Secretary Mevar Kumar Jamatia, both are ministers of the BJP-led Council of Ministers headed by the Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb, however, said that they are still in coalition with the saffron party. Tripura royal scion Pradyot Bikram Manikya Deb Barman, who was earlier state President of Congress but subsequently quit the party in 2019, recently formed an alliance of few tribal based parties and named TIPRA (The Indigenous Progressive Regional Alliance). The IPFT leaders during the past two weeks held several meetings with Deb Barman. BJP spokesman Nabendu Bhattacharjee told IANS that the IPFT did not share their decision with them. "However, our senior leaders are discussing the latest political development," Bhattacharjee said adding that party's central observer Vinod Kumar Sonkar arrived here on Tuesday and he would discuss about the TTAADC election strategies with the senior state leaders including the Chief Minister. The opposition Communist Party of India-Marxist, which had been governing the TTAADC until May 17 last year, and the Congress strongly criticised the BJP government for not holding the polls in view of the grim Covid situation at the time. The CPI-M, which has a substantial base among the tribals, and the Congress also prepare themselves to contest the elections. CPI-M's veteran Tribal leader and former Minister Jitendra Chowdhury said that they already started the works for the elections. The IPFT has been agitating since 2009 for the creation of a separate state by upgrading the TTAADC, which was constituted under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution in June 1985. The IPFT's demand, however, is strongly opposed by all the political major parties including the BJP, the CPI-M and the Congress. Of Tripura's four million populations, one third are tribals and they played a crucial role in all kinds of political affairs of the northeastern state. Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun, center, poses with Hyundai Motor Group Chairman Chung Euisun, third from left, and SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won, fifth from left, during a signing ceremony for an MOU on hydrogen related businesses between Hyundai Motor Group, SK Group and Incheon Metropolitan City, at SK Incheon Petrochem, Tuesday. From left are Incheon Seo-gu Office Head Lee Jae-hyun, Incheon Mayor Park Nam-choon, Chung, Prime Minister Chung, Chey, Hyundai Motor President Kong Young-woon and SK E&S CEO Choo Hyeong-wook. Courtesy of Hyundai Motor Group By Kim Hyun-bin Hyundai Motor Group and SK Group are partnering to create a so called "hydrogen alliance" to better establish the groundwork for a nationwide hydrogen ecosystem. SK Chairman Chey Tae-won and Hyundai Motor Chairman Chung Euisun met Tuesday on the sidelines of the third Hydrogen Economy Committee event, hosted by Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun at the SK Incheon Petrochem headquarters in Incheon, to discuss increased cooperation in the hydrogen sector. In order to promote hydrogen as a clean energy source, the two shared the view that it was imperative to emphasize that its use would help the country achieve carbon neutrality. To do this, they noted, it will be necessary for them to maximize cooperation to create synergy. Chey and Chung also agreed to cooperate in diverse fields within the sector including supplying fuel cell (that utilize hydrogen) electric vehicles (FCEVs), establishing an infrastructure for fast hydrogen filling and electric charging stations, and setting up a Korea Hydrogen Council to oversee the envisaged hydrogen ecosystem. "Hydrogen is not only an energy source but can also be utilized for energy storage, and it is expected to play the role of an energy currency in the coming carbon neutral world," Chung said. "Through cooperation with SK Group we are seeking to establish a hydrogen economy that can systematically produce and distribute hydrogen, leading to the realization of a hydrogen society." Figure 1Hyundai Motor Group Chairman Chung Euisun, right, SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won shake hand in front of KiaNIRO EV at the SK Innovation Seosan battery plant in July. / Courtesy of Hyundai Motor, SK Group ZURICH (dpa-AFX) - Insurer Swiss Life Group (SZLMY.PK, SLHN.VX) reported Tuesday that its fiscal 2020 net profit declined 13 percent from last year to 1.05 billion Swiss francs. Swiss Life said it is now in advanced discussions with the US Department of Justice about the resolution of their inquiry. As a result, the company has taken a provision of 70 million francs charged against the 2020 results to address the financial component of the expected resolution. Adjusted profit from operations was 1.57 billion francs in 2020, 5 percent lower compared to the previous year. Swiss Life increased fee result by 11 percent to 601 million francs. Fee income in local currency came to 1.96 billion francs, up 11 percent. Premiums came to 20.0 billion francs. The company said the decline of 12 percent and the associated normalisation are due to the extraordinarily high single premiums written by Swiss Life in the previous year, as a result of the withdrawal of a competitor from the full insurance business in Switzerland. In 2020, Swiss Life generated a return on equity, adjusted for unrealised gains and losses, of 9.4 percent, compared to prior year's 10.8 percent. Further, the Board of Directors will propose to the shareholders at the Annual General Meeting on April 23 a 5 percent increase of the dividend per share to 21 francs for the 2020 financial year from previous year's 20 francs. Looking ahead, Swiss Life said it is on track with its Group-wide programme 'Swiss Life 2021' and confirmed its financial targets. The company is at the upper end of its ambition range of 8 to 10 percent for the Group-wide programme 'Swiss Life 2021'. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX SWISS LIFE-Aktie komplett kostenlos handeln - auf Smartbroker.de Questo comunicato e stato pubblicato piu di 30 giorni fa. Le informazioni su questa pagina potrebbero non essere attendibili. Market Synopsis: Two-piece hard capsules ensure effective and efficient personalization and precision to patients. It is likely to gain traction in the foreseeable future owing to the developments in the healthcare services. As per the analysis offered by Market Research Future (MRFR), the global two-piece empty hard capsule market is set to register a CAGR of 7.32% during the projection period 2018 to 2023. These capsules have gained popularity due to its key advantage of accurate dose management. In addition, it is also popularamongpatients who find it difficult to take tablets. Thus, the pharmaceuticals companies are shifting towards it which is projected to support the growth of the two-piece empty hard capsule market over the next couple of years. Get a Free Sample @ https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/6284 Healthcare sector is observing an upswing which has intensified the demand for medical facilities across the world. It is anticipated to have a positive impact on the growth pattern of the two-piece empty hard capsule market in the years to come. In addition, the changes in food pattern in conjunction with the adoption of a sedentary lifestyle has been prognosticated to boost the market growth across the assessment period. Capsule suppliers are focusing on increasing its production capacity which is poised to favor the proliferation of the two-piece empty hard capsule market in the foreseeable future. On the contrary, the stringent regulations pose a challenge to market expansion pace in the forthcoming years. Competitive Dashboard: Suheung Co., Ltd. (South Korea), Capsugel (U.S.), ACG Worldwide (India), Hunan ER-KANG Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. (China), CapsCanada Corporation (Canada), Shanxi Guangsheng Medicinal Capsule Co., Ltd. (China), andQualicaps, Inc. (U.S.). Market Segmentation: The report covers a segmental analysis of the Two-Piece Empty Hard Capsule Market Report based on raw material and end-user. By raw material, the global market has been segmented into gelatin, hydroxypropyl methylcellulose (HPMC), starch, and pullulan.The gelatin segment has gained the maximum popularity owing to its low cost coupled with protein content. At present, it accounts for the largest market share of 45.5% and is presumed to hold its position through the forecast period. In addition, the hydroxypropyl methylcellulose (HPMC) is projected to gain popularity in the forthcoming years and exhibit a relatively higher CAGR over the assessment period. The two-piece empty hard capsule market, by end-user, has been segmented into pharmaceuticals, health & nutrition and others.Among these, the pharmaceuticals segment is currently leading the growth of the market and accounts for 48.90% share of the market. It is forecasted to maintain its position in the upcoming years. Regional Analysis: The geographical assessment of the global two-piece empty hard capsule market covers Americas, Asia, Europe, and the RestoftheWorld (RoW). The market is dominated by North America owing to the availability of advanced healthcare facilities in conjunction with the presence of major pharmaceutical companies. Also, the region is technologically advanced which is anticipated to reflect on the growth trajectory of the two-piece empty hard capsule market in the region. Access Full Report Details @https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/two-piece-empty-hard-capsule-market-6284 Europe houses a considerable proportion of pharmaceuticals and nutraceutical companies which is projected to favor the growth of the regional two-piece empty hard capsule market. Increasing healthcare expenditure in the region is also forecasted to lead the expansion of the market. Asia Pacific is prognosticated to scale the highest CAGR during the forecast period. The consolidation of fast-developing nations in the region is poised to aid the growth of the two-piece empty hard capsule market. Industry News: In February 2019, researchers at M.I.T., Harvard have collaborated with a multinational pharmaceutical company, Novo Nordisk A/S (Denmark),announced the launch of Soma,a tiny robotic capsule that injects when it lands in the stomach. Vietnam has fallen eight spots to 18th out of 53 most resilient Covid-19 era economies in Bloomberg's ranking. The country posted a resilience score of 57.3 out of 100, down from 74.3 in the November ranking where it ranked 10th. Vietnam's slip was due to the new Covid-19 outbreak linked to new strains, with millions placed under lockdown in February, Bloomberg stated. The ranking measured 53 economies of over $200 billion GDP on key metrics including growth in virus cases to overall mortality rates, testing capabilities and vaccine supply agreements, capacity of local healthcare systems, the impact of lockdowns on these economies, and freedom of movement. It used data reported until Feb. 24. The report said Vietnam scored 77 out of 100 in "lockdown severity." A high score indicates social and economic activity are tightly restricted by government policy, meaning people are experiencing greater disruptions to their lives. Vietnam has struggled with a new wave of Covid-19 since Jan. 28 after a streak of 55 days without community transmissions in what the government said was caused by the U.K.-originated variant. In early February, many areas in Vietnam were placed under lockdown as authorities raced against time to contain the spread of the virus. New Zealand achieved the best score of 22 in "lockdown severity," while the U.K. performed worst. In terms of community mobility, which measures the movement of people to offices and retail spaces compared to a pre-pandemic baseline, Vietnam saw a decrease of 20.3 percent in travel, triggered by lockdown orders. Of the 53 economies, Vietnam had a test positivity rate of 0.1 percent while Mexico had the highest rate at 28.6 percent. The best rate of zero was scored by New Zealand, Australia and Singapore. Vietnam's access to Covid-19 vaccines reached only 21 percent, the report said. While the production of domestic vaccines is underway, the government has speeded up foreign procurement to vaccinate some prioritized categories of people. It has ordered 30 million doses from AstraZeneca, with the first batch of 117,600 doses arriving in Ho Chi Minh City last week. The country is stepping up negotiations with vaccine manufacturers in the U.S., Russia and some other countries. New Zealand with its closed borders, four vaccine deals and near-elimination of the virus locally held on to the top position, followed by Australia and Singapore. Having the highest case tally and death toll in the world, the U.S. stood 27th in the ranking while China, once the Covid-19 epicenter, ranked sixth. Vietnam, a country of 98 million people, has reported 849 community transmissions in 13 cities and provinces during the ongoing outbreak. BIG DATA AND AUTONOMOUS BUILDING Regulatory News: The AKKA Group (Paris:AKA) (BSE:AKA) (ISIN:FR0004180537), European leader in engineering consultancy and R&D services in the mobility sector and Data Science expert is joining forces with the Grenoble-based start-up SYLFEN via its Big Data platform in order to develop the building of the future, self-sufficient in renewable energy. SYLFEN develops integrated solutions that help building owners to make a successful energy transition. In order to minimise the environmental impact of buildings, responsible for 36% of greenhouse gas emissions in Europe, SYLFEN is working on the transition to a decentralised, decarbonised and digitalised energy. SYLFEN has developed the Smart Energy Hub, a modular equipment that can be integrated into any building thanks to an innovative hydrogen technology hybridised with batteries. This system allows in addition to other renewable energy sources not only to store surplus renewable electricity by charging batteries and producing green hydrogen, but also to supply the building with electricity and heat from locally produced stored energy (batteries, hydrogen) or natural gas (cogeneration). AKKA, partner and Big Data expert SYLFEN's objective is to provide its clients with (i) an automatic, predictive and optimised energy flow control for each building, (ii) a communication on environmental and energy performance and (iii) a service of predictive maintenance. To meet this objective, AKKA teams have operated in processing the large volume of data generated by integrating the Big Data platform into SYLFEN's information system. AKKA's Big Data platform is an integrated platform that manages the entire data processing chain. It allows to massively collect heterogeneous data from SYLFEN (solar production, electrical and thermal consumption of buildings, technical data, etc.) and to facilitate data visualisation and mining. First use cases have already been implemented and SYLFEN teams are trained for an independent long-term usage of the Big Data platform, enabling them to control, develop and improve algorithms for energy efficiency as well as for production and consumption forecasting. AKKA's contribution to this project highlights the Group's Big Data expertise and illustrates its ambition to reduce the ecological footprint of existing infrastructures and vehicles through technology and innovation. Denis Grandjean, Akka's Business Unit Director, says: "We are delighted to be associated with a promising French start-up which brings an innovation wave in this evolving sector. We relied on our Data Centre of Expertise to carry out the project. The availability of our Big Data platform and the expertise of AKKA SYLFEN teams will enable us to speed up data enhancement and, ultimately, time-to-market of SYLFEN's equipment. Value-added services for customers can thus be quickly developed, bringing an additional competitive advantage to SYLFEN. Nicolas Bardi, President of SYLFEN, adds: "In all our hardware and software developments, we seek to focus our efforts on innovations that have the greatest impact on our customers, by relying on the best partners to save time and to integrate industrial solutions. Our partnership with AKKA, which provides us with its expertise and strong reactivity, is an essential asset for SYLFEN's commercial success. NOTE FOR EDITORS: What is the AKKA Big Data platform? AKKA's Big Data Platform is an integrated platform, available immediately. It manages the entire data processing chain and allows to massively collect heterogeneous data. It provides great flexibility in data visualisation and exploration, in restitution, in addition to natively integrating machine learning tools. It can therefore be used to present first concrete results very quickly. Entirely based on open-source components, the AKKA big data platform includes several functions such as: high-volume data collection and storage (including archiving); data analysis; data transformation (ETL function); development of predictive models; development of real-time and batch applications; data exposure via web services and databases; data visualisation using interactive dashboards; deployment of applications within the platform itself or to other types of environments. ABOUT AKKA AKKA is the European leader in engineering consulting and R&D services in the mobility segment. As an innovation accelerator for its clients, AKKA supports leading industry players in the automotive, aerospace, rail and life sciences sectors throughout the life cycle of their products with cutting edge digital technologies (AI, ADAS, IoT, Big Data, robotics, embedded computing, machine learning, etc.). Founded in 1984, AKKA has a strong entrepreneurial culture and is pursuing its fast-paced growth and international development in line with its CLEAR 2022 strategic plan. With 22,000 employees, who are passionate about technology and dedicated to advancing the future of industry, the Group recorded revenues of 1.8 billion in 2019. Following the completion of the friendly take-over bid of Data Respons launched in January 2020, AKKA now holds 100% of the company's shares; with the success of this operation, AKKA leverages the most comprehensive portfolio of digital solutions in Europe to harness the growing demand from its customers in the mobility sector. AKKA Technologies is listed on Euronext Paris and Brussels Segment A ISIN code: FR0004180537. For more information, please visit www.akka-technologies.com Follow us on: twitter.com/AKKA_Tech ABOUT SYLFEN Sylfen is an industrial and software-based start-up funded in Grenoble in 2015, bringing to the market the missing piece to achieve the energy transition: a solution to supply buildings in a competitive and reliable way based on local and renewable energy. The Smart Energy Hub developed by Sylfen compensates the natural variability of renewable power sources like solar, wind power or small hydroelectricity, with a turnkey battery hydrogen solution also enabling on-site combined heat and power generation from natural gas. The technology was developed and validated in 2018 with CEA-Liten and Engie thanks to a proof-of-concept prototype. Today Sylfen manufactures in its industrial location in the French Alps region (near Grenoble) its first pilot products to be shipped to its first clients in France and Italy in 2021. Being able to cover now the needs of buildings from 1 500 to 10 000m of floor area, Sylfen develops for 2023 a second product for larger buildings, districts or campus. Sylfen works along its clients from the start to the end of a global new building or renovation project, by delivering projection studies (to configurate the best energy storage and cogeneration solution for each project), engineering studies (to plan the technical integration of the Smart Energy Hub in the host building), then handles the commissioning, automated operation, and maintenance of the product. For more information: www.sylfen.com View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210302005924/en/ Contacts: AKKA CONTACTS Investor Relations Stephanie Bia Group Communications Investor Relations Director Tel: +33(0) 6 47 85 98 78 stephanie.bia@akka.eu FTI Consulting akka@fticonsulting.com Media Relations, France Emily Oliver Lea Truchetto Tel.: +33(0) 1 47 03 68 15 SYLFEN CONTACT Media Relations Nicolas Bardi CEO of Sylfen Tel: +33(0) 6 74 95 10 65 nicolas.bardi@sylfen.com TORONTO, March 02, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Newscope Capital Corporation (CSE: PHRM) (OTCQB: PHRRF), who through its wholly-owned subsidiary, PharmaTher Inc. (PharmaTher), is a specialty life sciences company focused on the research and development of psychedelic pharmaceuticals, is pleased to announce that PharmaTher has entered into an exclusive license agreement with The University of Kansas for the development and commercialization for the intellectual property of ketamine in the treatment amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig's disease. The University of Kansas Medical Center inventors Dr. Richard J. Barohn, M.D., John A. Stanford, Ph.D., and Dr. Matthew Macaluso, D.O., have made the promising discovery that ketamine can be administered as an effective treatment for ALS. Their preclinical research has shown that the administration of ketamine preserves muscle function in advancing ALS and increases life expectancy when given in the early stages of muscle decline. Currently, there is no known cure for ALS. ALS affects approximately 50,000 people in the U.S. and Europe, with over 5,000 new cases diagnosed annually. Peak sales for a new drug to treat ALS can achieve over USD $1 billion. ALS is a progressive neuromuscular disease with a life expectancy of only 2 to 6 years after diagnosis. As ALS advances, upper and lower motor neurons die causing the brain to lose its ability to control muscle movement. ALS patients experience progressive loss of voluntary muscle action as an effect of the disease, resulting in the inability to speak, eat, move and, eventually, breathe. Thus far, only three pharmaceuticals have been approved by the FDA for the treatment of ALS: riluzole, edaravone, and most recently, Nuedexta (dextromethorphan HBr and quinidine sulfate). These drugs are effective against disease mechanisms of ALS but fail to have measurable effects on attenuating disease progression or improve survival. Therefore, there is an imperative need for new pharmacological therapies that can stop or slow the muscle decline associated with ALS progression and extend life expectancy of the ALS patient. Ketamine has the potential to effectively increase life expectancy of those with ALS at any stage and slow the progressive loss of muscle associated with poor outcomes of the disease. Ketamine works by blocking the action of the ionotropic glutamate receptor, the NMDA receptor. Unlike other inhibitors of NMDA receptor function, such as riluzole, ketamine dampens NMDA receptor-related glutamate excitotoxicity indirectly. Further, ketamine can lower D-serine concentrations intracellularly and also partially activates dopamine receptors. Collectively, these mechanisms of ketamine contribute in part to the drugs neuroprotective effects which may extend to the motor neurons targeted in ALS. PharmaTher will seek FDA approval for orphan drug designation of ketamine in the treatment of ALS and will advance towards an FDA investigational new drug application to conduct a Phase II clinical study this year. We are pleased to have added the Lou Gehrigs disease program to our already impressive development pipeline that focuses on novel uses, formulations and delivery of ketamine in the treatment of neuropsychiatric, neurological and neuromuscular diseases, said Fabio Chianelli, CEO of PharmaTher. Under the terms of the Agreement, PharmaTher gained exclusive worldwide development and commercial rights to provisional patent no. 63/025,778 titled Ketamine to Extend Survival after Muscle Wasting in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis. Consistent with industry standards, PharmaTher paid a one-time fee for entering into the Agreement, and all other future payments will be based on clinical trial and revenue milestones reached by PharmaTher. About PharmaTher Inc. PharmaTher Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Newscope Capital Corporation (CSE: PHRM) (OTCQB: PHRRF), is a specialty life sciences company focused on the research and development of psychedelic pharmaceuticals for FDA approval to treat neuropsychiatric, neurological and neuromuscular diseases. Learn more at: PharmaTher.com and follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn . For more information, please contact: Fabio Chianelli Chief Executive Officer PharmaTher Inc. Tel: 1-888-846-3171 Email: info@pharmather.com Website: www.pharmather.com Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider have reviewed or accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Cautionary Statement This press release contains forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. These statements relate to future events or future performance. The use of any of the words could, intend, expect, believe, will, projected, estimated, potential, aim 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 Newscope Capital Corporations (the Company) current belief or assumptions as to the outcome and timing of such future events. Forward-looking information is based on reasonable assumptions that have been made by the Company at the date of the information and is subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors that may cause actual results or events to differ materially from those anticipated in the forward-looking information. Given these risks, uncertainties and assumptions, you should not unduly rely on these forward-looking statements. The forward-looking information contained in this press release is made as of the date hereof, and Company is not obligated to update or revise any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by applicable securities laws. The foregoing statements expressly qualify any forward-looking information contained herein. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements are described under the caption Risk Factors in Companys managements discussion and analysis for the period of November 30, 2020 (MD&A), dated January 27, 2021, which is available on the Companys profile at www.sedar.com . This news release does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy, and shall not constitute an offer, solicitation or sale in any state, province, territory or jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such state, province, territory or jurisdiction. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director general of the World Health Organization, speaks during a news conference. (AP) Coronavirus cases have increased across Europe for the first time since the start of the year as countries start to ease lockdown measures, the World Health Organization (WHO) has said. The latest research from Our World In Data shows that there has been a recent uptick in cases in Europe in the last week. At a press conference on Monday, WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said an increase in cases can be seen across four of the organisation's six regions the Americas, Europe, South East Asia and the Eastern Mediterranean. Austria, Belgium, Portugal, Finland and Italy are some of the European countries to see a surge in new cases in the last few days, according to Our World In Data. Read: Boris Johnson was grilled over Brazil variant seven weeks before it arrived in UK Tedros said the increase was "disappointing but not surprising", blaming it on countries relaxing public health measures, the spread of new variants and people letting their guard down. It comes as countries race to vaccinate their population, with the UKs latest figures showing the rollout may already be helping to bring deaths and hospitalisations down. Vaccine programmes are bringing nations hope that they can soon start to lift economically crippling lockdown measures. But Tedros said it was too early for governments to rely totally on vaccination schemes and abandon other measures. "If countries rely solely on vaccines, they are making a mistake. Basic public health measures remain the foundation of the response," he said. Watch: Giving up on controlling COVID-19 is 'dangerous' - WHO Tedros also criticised rich countries for hoarding vaccine doses, saying that it was in everyone's interest for vulnerable people to be protected around the world. He noted that Ghana and Ivory Coast became the first countries on Monday to begin vaccinating people with doses supplied by COVAX, the international programme to provide vaccines for poor and middle-income countries. Story continues Read more: Brazil COVID variant could spread faster amid vaccine efficacy fears, says chief NHS Test and Trace adviser Have your say: How concerned are you about COVID variants in the UK? However, he added: "It's regrettable that some countries continue to prioritise vaccinating younger healthier adults at lower risk of diseases in their own populations, ahead of health workers and older people elsewhere." Maria Van Kerkhove, the WHO technical lead for COVID-19, told the briefing: "We need to have a stern warning for all of us: that this virus will rebound if we let it and we cannot let it." This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it. Mike Ryan, the organisations top emergency expert, said the global fight against the coronavirus was in a better state now than it was 10 weeks ago before the roll-outs of vaccines had begun but it was too early to say the virus was coming under control. "The issue is of us being in control of the virus and the virus being in control of us," he said. "And right now the virus is very much in control." Watch: World won't vanquish coronavirus this year, says WHO Russian-occupation forces violated the ceasefire in Donbas seven times over the past day in the area of the Joint Force Operation (JFO), nine soldiers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine were wounded, the JFO press center said. "Over the past day, on March 1, in the area of the Joint Force Operation, the armed formations of the Russian Federation violated the ceasefire seven times. Near Pavlopil, as a result of the explosion of a military vehicle on an unknown explosive device, one serviceman of the Armed Forces of Ukraine received a combat wound, and eight more soldiers received a combat injuries," the headquarters said on Facebook. It is noted that the fighters were promptly taken to the hospital, where they were provided with proper medical assistance by military doctors. In the area of responsibility of the Skhid (East) task force, not far from the settlement of Vodiane in the Azov Sea region, the occupation forces opened aimed fire from automatic easel grenade launchers, and at Pavlopil 'and Krasnohorivka, also from heavy anti-tank grenade launchers. In addition, near Krasnohorivka, the occupation forces fired at the Ukrainian positions from large-caliber machine guns. Near Nevelske, the enemy fired in the direction of the Ukrainian positions from small arms. In the area of responsibility of the Pivnich (North) task force near the settlement of Luhanske, the occupation forces twice opened fire from grenade launchers of various systems and large-caliber machine guns. Near Bohdanivka, the enemy carried out targeted shelling of Ukrainian positions from automatic easel and hand-held anti-tank grenade launchers. The soldiers of the Armed Forces opened fire on the shelling of the enemy. "The main goal of the actions of the Russian-occupation forces remains to provoke the Armed Forces of Ukraine to open return fire, followed by accusations of violating the ceasefire. In cases, the enemy fired at our positions simultaneously with a request for silence, allegedly due to shelling from the Ukrainian Armed Forces," the headquarters said. The Ukrainian side of the JCCC took response measures within the coordination mechanism through the OSCE SMM for all the facts of the violations recorded. "The armed formations of the Russian Federation continue to impede the work of the OSCE SMM. On February 28, the Mission's mini UAV was influenced near the village of Yasynuvata. While patrolling territories not controlled by the government of Ukraine, the OSCE SMM recorded 12 pieces of weapons and military equipment that were deployed with violations installed withdrawal lines and 16 units of weapons and military equipment along the withdrawal lines, but outside the designated storage areas," the headquarters said. It is noted that the Ukrainian side of the JCCC again records violations by the occupation forces of the requirements to ban engineering work in the area of the contact line. "Near the settlement of Troyitske, the armed formations of the Russian Federation continue to equip existing and build new fortifications in the direction of the positions of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. In order to prevent an escalation of the conflict, the Ukrainian side of the JCCC asked the OSCE SMM representatives to monitor these areas and call on the representatives of Orloy to immediately stop work," the press center said The Daily Beast Photo Illustration by The Daily Beast/GettyMike Lindell, the MyPillow CEO and Trumpist conspiracy-peddler, flew his private jet to the Republican Governors Association meeting the other day.The guvs promptly threw him out. But the incident got Molly Jong-Fast thinking: Does the MyPillow CEO think hes already a governor or something?Subscribe to The New Abnormal on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Amazon Music, or Overcast. To listen to our weekly members-only bonus episodes, join Beast Inside here. Already a member? You can listen here and sign up for new episode email alerts here.Spoiler: Making MyPillows does not make you my governor. Now, chances that Mike Lindell could actually become governor of a small Republican state, 80 percent, she quips on the latest episode of The New Abnormal. Like, its not even that hard for someone that famous and insane in the Republican party to become a governor.Lindell claims he wouldnt run to be a dogcatcher right now, because he doesnt trust the voting machines. Plus, hes from the blue state of Minnesota. So maybe the risk of a Governor Pillow isnt quite so high. But L.A. Times columnist Virginia Heffernan would like to quickly add something about Mike Lindell being a cosplay governor.I think we need to understand that being in politics leads to governing and governing is boring. It is not a PR operation, she says. And I feel like we have made these jobs celebrity roles. Public service should not beis notbeing on a reality show.Like, I feel like we need to really dial down the razzle-dazzle, really play up the drudgery, Heffernan continues. I just don't know why every single industrialist and every single lady with abs or gorgeous arms would want to be, of all things, a governor.Biden, Heffernan opines, is doing a pretty good job at the drudgerydollars going out, jabs going out, all leading to Trump signs going down. Sure, the Donald has his cultists, like Lindell. But, I don't think people can hold onto this much insanity for this long, especially when it's a tiny minority of people who believe it, Heffernan adds. Democrats need to know how to win.To which Jong-Fast replies, oh-so-gently: Are you freakin kidding me? With all of these Republican attempts to retcon the Capitol riots? To chop away at the right to vote? To instantiate their ability to overturn elections? All while Team Biden snoozes it away? The Democrats are bringing an ice cream sundae to a knife fight, Jong-Fast says.Plus! Politicos Tara Palmeri talks about her search to find Liz Cheney supporters in Wyoming. And Battle for the Soul author Edward-Isaac Dovere gives us a peek into how Biden sees the political landscape. The presidency that he has in front of him now, he knows, is so different from what he ever expected to have, Dovere says, And part of that is rethinking how he incorporates the progressivism within the party that took root and that was so much part of this campaign. And its just, its a really complicated evolution for him. Its not the presidency he thought itd be running in 2019 when he got into this race.Read more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more. Benign bone tumors may be present in nearly 20 percent of healthy children, based on a review of historical radiographs in The Journal of Bone & Joint Surgery. The journal is published in the Lippincott portfolio in partnership with Wolters Kluwer. Although that may sound frightening, non-ossifying fibromas and other common benign bone tumors in symptom-free children are harmless and may resolve over time, reports the new study by Christopher D. Collier, MD, of Indiana University School of Medicine and colleagues. "These findings provide unique evidence to answer many commonly encountered questions when counseling patients and their families on benign bone tumors," the researchers write. Study offers reassurance that benign bone tumors in healthy children are harmless Benign bone tumors are commonly detected in children incidentally on radiographs made for other reasons. Although some benign childhood bone tumors are classified as active or aggressive, these are usually discovered when they cause discomfort or pathologic fracture (caused by underlying disease). When latent benign bone tumors are discovered incidentally in an asymptomatic child, the child is usually evaluated by a specialist, such as a pediatric orthopaedic surgeon or orthopaedic oncologist. For some specialists, children with benign tumors account for more than half of new patients. Understandably, these tumors cause a lot of anxiety for patients and families as they await confirmation that the tumor is benign. They need reassurance and often ask how common these tumors are, when did they first appear, and whether they will resolve over time? We don't have much evidence to date to address these questions." Christopher D Collier, MD, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indiana University The researchers analyzed a unique collection of radiographs from a study called the Brush Inquiry, in which a series of healthy, "normal" children in Cleveland, Ohio, underwent annual radiographs from 1926 to 1942. Although the Brush Inquiry provided valuable information on skeletal growth and development in children, such a study couldn't be performed today for ethical reasons, now that the risks of radiation exposure are recognized. Close to a century later, the Brush Inquiry radiographs provide a unique opportunity to identify benign bone tumors and their outcomes over several years of follow-up. Dr. Collier and colleagues analyzed a total of 25,555 digitized radiographs in 262 children, followed from infancy to adolescence. The results confirmed the high prevalence of benign bone tumors. A total of 35 benign bone tumors were found in 33 children - an overall rate of 18.9 percent when considering that only the left side of the children was radiographed. More than half of the tumors were a type called non-ossifying fibromas, which are masses of connective tissue that have not hardened into bone. These fibromas tended to appear around age five, with another peak around the time of skeletal maturation, possibly related to changing growth rates. Of 19 non-ossifying fibromas detected, seven disappeared over time. Others may have resolved in the years after the children stopped undergoing annual radiographs. Less-common benign bone tumors included enostoses, sometimes called "bone islands"; and osteochondromas or enchondromas, representing areas of abnormal but harmless cartilage growth. These tumors persisted through the last-available radiographs in all patients who had them. The findings are generally consistent with previous studies of the rates of benign bone tumors in healthy adults. It is one of the first studies of benign bone tumors in children, and the only one to provide longitudinal follow-up, including the age at first appearance. Dr. Collier adds: "Despite the inherent limitations of our historical study, it may provide the best available evidence regarding the natural history of asymptomatic benign childhood bone tumors." New Delhi, March 2 : A Delhi Court on Tuesday took cognizance of the offences of sedition, promotion of enmity between groups and abetment in a charge sheet filed against 18 accused, including former JNU student Umar Khalid, in the Delhi riots conspiracy case. Additional Sessions Judge took cognizance of the offences under Section 124A (sedition), 153A (Promoting enmity between different groups on ground of religion, race), 109 (abetment), 120B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code. Besides this, the judge said that it is grossly unfair and unjustified that the reporting of the exact contents of the charge-sheet are reported in the media before cognizance is taken. During the proceedings, a question of media trial was raised. Khalid told the court that certain media houses were indulging in 'media trial' against him and the other accused. To this, the judge said, "Media is free to cover the stories but they must also be conscious of remaining careful and objective in their approach. It is the fundamental right of every person accused of any offence, to be provided the opportunity to defend himself." The Additional Sessions Judge said that there is a world of difference between an accused and a convict. "...there should, at least, always be a disclaimer when reporting, whether it is the version of the police or prosecution or the accused instead of presenting as if it is the order of the Court." "There is also a disturbing trend about the reporting of the exact contents of the charge sheet before cognizance is even taken or counsels for the accused are provided copies of it." The judge says that it is one thing to report generally about the charge sheet but quite another to reproduce it as it is and thus, obviously, the question of leakage would arise. Besides Khalid, Sharjeel Imam, Tahir Hussain, Safoora Zargar, Natasha Narwal, Devangana Kalita, Khalid Saifi, Ishrat Jahan are the other accused in the case. Others include Meeran Haider, Gulfisha, Shafa-ur-Rehman, Asif Iqbal, Shadab Ahmed, Tasleem Ahmed, Saleem Malik, Saleem Khan, Athar Khan and Faizan Khan. Ukrainian Army gets five upgraded T-72 tanks (Photos, video) The overhaul of the first batch of tanks was carried out as part of the state defense order. Reporting by UNIAN If you see a spelling error on our site, select it and press Ctrl+Enter China has condemned Australia for granting protection visas to Hong Kong passport holders in December and asked Canberra to abandon its interference in Hong Kong's affairs. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin on Monday said China's position on Hong Kong-related issues is consistent and clear. "Hong Kong affairs fall entirely within China's internal affairs. No foreign country has the right to interfere," Chinese state media Global Times quoted Wang as saying. "China urges Australia to stop interfering in Hong Kong affairs and China's internal affairs in any way, to avoid further damage to China-Australia relations," Wang said. A report from Australia's Department of Home Affairs on the processing of Subclass 866 onshore protection visas indicated that fewer than five Hong Kong passport holders had their applications approved in December. The allocation marked the first time that such visas were granted to passport holders from the region since at least 2010, Australian media outlet SBS reported on Monday. Sino-Australian relations have been in a downward spiral since April last year, when Canberra infuriated Beijing by proposing an independent international inquiry into the origins of the Covid-19 pandemic. Canberra has been locked in an ongoing trade war with Beijing for several months, which has seen China slap sanctions on various Australian products. Beijing has slapped several restrictions amounting to billions of dollars of Australian exports, including beef, barley and wine, citing dumping and other trade violations that analysts widely view as pretexts to inflict economic retaliation. China has unofficially banned Australian imports of coal, sugar, barley, lobsters, wine, copper and log timber since the start of November. It has also imposed anti-dumping duties on barley earlier this year. This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text. Subscribe to Mint Newsletters * Enter a valid email * Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. NEW YORK, March 2, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Deloitte today announced the launch of the Deloitte Center for AI Computing, a first-of-its-kind center designed to accelerate the development of innovative artificial intelligence (AI) solutions for Deloitte clients. Built on NVIDIA's DGX A100 systems, the center brings together the supercomputing architecture and AI expertise that clients require as they become AI-fueled organizations. Accelerated computing platforms featuring NVIDIA graphics processing unit (GPU) technology, NVIDIA networking and NVIDIA software are transforming data processing, analytics and AI by bringing massive parallel processing capability and speed to demanding deep learning, machine learning and data science workloads. This enables the development of extremely sophisticated AI solutions at scale. Deloitte has built its foundation on an NVIDIA DGX POD, built from a scalable, tested reference architecture featuring several DGX A100 systems, NVIDIA Mellanox networking and high-performance storage. The Deloitte Center for AI Computing will deliver an accelerated platform that allows Deloitte to co-innovate with clients and expedite the development of new AI applications. "The Deloitte Center for AI Computing is a pioneering effort that brings together Deloitte's deep AI experience with the powerful supercomputing capabilities of NVIDIA DGX A100 systems to innovate with clients and accelerate their journey from AI experimentation to becoming AI-fueled organizations," said Jason Girzadas, managing principal, Deloitte Consulting LLP. "Our collaboration with NVIDIA can enable clients to quickly deliver on the full promise of AI solutions to transform both their businesses and the basis of professional services." The center significantly expands Deloitte's ability to develop innovative AI solutions started in the AI Exploration Lab in Austin, Texas, and the AI Factory in Canada. "AI is moving from research labs into industry, and Deloitte's efforts will supercharge its reach," said NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang. "Every industry will be transformed by AI. Products and services will be revolutionized by AI. Companies will become learning machines and their people will be supported by AI. Together with Deloitte's global force of experienced specialists, we will turbocharge the realization of this vision." Many industries such as technology, media and telecommunications; government and public services; life sciences and health care; auto and transportation, financial services, and energy are accelerating their adoption of AI. The Deloitte Center for AI Computing will provide these organizations with a strategic platform, experience, and computing resources to speed the development of a wide range of AI applications, from autonomous vehicles to digital contact centers to public sector innovation. The center will collaborate with the Deloitte AI Institute, whose mission is to support the positive growth and development of AI through engaged conversations and innovative research. It also focuses on building ecosystem relationships that help advance human-machine collaboration in the Age of With, a world where humans work side-by-side with machines. About Deloitte Deloitte provides industry-leading audit, consulting, tax and advisory services to many of the world's most admired brands, including nearly 90% of the Fortune 500 and more than 7,000 private companies. Our people come together for the greater good and work across the industry sectors that drive and shape today's marketplace delivering measurable and lasting results that help reinforce public trust in our capital markets, inspire clients to see challenges as opportunities to transform and thrive, and help lead the way toward a stronger economy and a healthier society. Deloitte is proud to be part of the largest global professional services network serving our clients in the markets that are most important to them. Now celebrating 175 years of service, our network of member firms spans more than 150 countries and territories. Learn how Deloitte's more than 330,000 people worldwide connect for impact at www.deloitte.com. Deloitte refers to one or more of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited, a UK private company limited by guarantee ("DTTL"), its network of member firms, and their related entities. DTTL and each of its member firms are legally separate and independent entities. DTTL (also referred to as "Deloitte Global") does not provide services to clients. In the United States, Deloitte refers to one or more of the US member firms of DTTL, their related entities that operate using the "Deloitte" name in the United States and their respective affiliates. Certain services may not be available to attest clients under the rules and regulations of public accounting. Please see www.deloitte.com/about to learn more about our global network of member firms. SOURCE Deloitte Consulting LLP An Edwardsville High School student had the chance to show off her creative abilities through poetry through the 2020-2021 Poetry Out Loud competition, hosted by Southwestern Illinois College last month. The champion winner is Edwardsville High School Jordyn Ginestra for reciting The Wish, By a Young Lady by Laetitia Pilkington and My Partner Wants Me to Write Them a Poem About Sheryl Crow by Kayleb Rae Candrilli. The runner-up is Freeburg High School Joshua Merz for reciting Altered After Too Many Years Under the Mask by C.A. Conrad and Hunger for Something by Chase Twichell. Ginestra and Merz will advance to the Poetry Out Loud state competition in March 2021, along with two finalists from each of the other seven Illinois regional contests. Each contestant submitted recited works they selected from an anthology of more than 1,100 poems. Judges evaluated student performances on criteria including voice and articulation, evidence of understanding and accuracy. Seven area high schools participated including Collinsville High School, East St. Louis Senior High School, Edwardsville High School, Freeburg Community High School, Governor French Academy, Mascoutah High School and Wyvetter Younge Alternative Center. The school of the state champion will receive $500 for the purchase of poetry materials. The first runner-up in each state will receive $100, with $200 for his or her school library. The Poetry Foundation provides and administers all aspects of the monetary prizes awarded. Poetry Out Loud is a national arts education program that encourages the study of great poetry by offering free educational materials and a dynamic recitation competition for high school students across the country. This program helps students master public speaking skills, build self-confidence, and learn about literary history and contemporary life. Poetry Out Loud is a partnership of the National Endowment for the Arts, Poetry Foundation, Illinois Arts Council Agency and SWIC. To view all the poetry submissions or for more information visit swic.edu/poetry-out-loud or contact Amy Brockman at 618-235-2700, ext. 5324. The Daily Beast Photo Illustration by The Daily Beast/GettyMike Lindell, the MyPillow CEO and Trumpist conspiracy-peddler, flew his private jet to the Republican Governors Association meeting the other day.The guvs promptly threw him out. But the incident got Molly Jong-Fast thinking: Does the MyPillow CEO think hes already a governor or something?Subscribe to The New Abnormal on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Amazon Music, or Overcast. To listen to our weekly members-only bonus episodes, join Beast Inside here. Already a member? You can listen here and sign up for new episode email alerts here.Spoiler: Making MyPillows does not make you my governor. Now, chances that Mike Lindell could actually become governor of a small Republican state, 80 percent, she quips on the latest episode of The New Abnormal. Like, its not even that hard for someone that famous and insane in the Republican party to become a governor.Lindell claims he wouldnt run to be a dogcatcher right now, because he doesnt trust the voting machines. Plus, hes from the blue state of Minnesota. So maybe the risk of a Governor Pillow isnt quite so high. But L.A. Times columnist Virginia Heffernan would like to quickly add something about Mike Lindell being a cosplay governor.I think we need to understand that being in politics leads to governing and governing is boring. It is not a PR operation, she says. And I feel like we have made these jobs celebrity roles. Public service should not beis notbeing on a reality show.Like, I feel like we need to really dial down the razzle-dazzle, really play up the drudgery, Heffernan continues. I just don't know why every single industrialist and every single lady with abs or gorgeous arms would want to be, of all things, a governor.Biden, Heffernan opines, is doing a pretty good job at the drudgerydollars going out, jabs going out, all leading to Trump signs going down. Sure, the Donald has his cultists, like Lindell. But, I don't think people can hold onto this much insanity for this long, especially when it's a tiny minority of people who believe it, Heffernan adds. Democrats need to know how to win.To which Jong-Fast replies, oh-so-gently: Are you freakin kidding me? With all of these Republican attempts to retcon the Capitol riots? To chop away at the right to vote? To instantiate their ability to overturn elections? All while Team Biden snoozes it away? The Democrats are bringing an ice cream sundae to a knife fight, Jong-Fast says.Plus! Politicos Tara Palmeri talks about her search to find Liz Cheney supporters in Wyoming. And Battle for the Soul author Edward-Isaac Dovere gives us a peek into how Biden sees the political landscape. The presidency that he has in front of him now, he knows, is so different from what he ever expected to have, Dovere says, And part of that is rethinking how he incorporates the progressivism within the party that took root and that was so much part of this campaign. And its just, its a really complicated evolution for him. Its not the presidency he thought itd be running in 2019 when he got into this race.Read more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more. The blast that shattered the silence on Feb. 26 in the Gulf of Oman, ripping holes in the port and starboard sides of an Israeli-owned cargo vessel, is still resonating throughout the region. It is no less significant than the sounds of explosions caused by a US attack a day earlier on Iranian targets in Syrian territory. It took Israel 48 hours to conclude with certainty that Iran was behind the attack on the Israeli-owned vessel. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said so personally in various interviews on March 1, joining similar public comments by Defense Minister Benny Gantz and the chief of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), Lt. Gen. Aviv Kochavi. All that was left was for Israel to decide whether and how to respond. Israeli officials have avoided answering reporters questions of whether a response was in the works. The MV Helios Ray, flying a Bahamian flag, is owned by Israeli shipping magnate and vehicle importer Rami Unger, who also happens to be a close friend of former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. Israel believes Iran knew the vessel was Israeli-owned and targeted it in retaliation for the repeated blows it has sustained on its facilities in the region in the ongoing military campaign dubbed the war between the wars. Israel also believes that while the Iranian assailants could have easily sunk the ship, they opted to inflict only limited damage. Contrary to its initial assessment that the Helios Ray was hit by missiles, experts now believe a commando raid, probably using small speed boats, placed explosives on the ships hull and sped away. Iran is the only country with such capabilities in that location, a senior Israeli security official told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity. We have evidence that it was an Iranian operation and we believe it was not a random event. The Iranians know they were targeting an Israeli-owned ship. Iran, for its part, has denied any connection to the attack. The vessel is now anchored in Dubai where it is undergoing a meticulous examination by Israeli experts in an effort to determine conclusively just how the attack was mounted. Israel must now assess whether the attack constitutes a change in Irans strategy or retaliatory response to all the military strikes of recent years on Iranian targets, mostly in Syria, attributed to Israel. Are the Iranians, like Hezbollah, trying to strike a new balance of mutual deterrence by tit-for-tat attacks? What should Israel do? Should it respond to the Iranian action or ignore it, assuming that Iran is still way behind Israel in the war of attrition the two countries are waging against each other? Substantive disagreements on the matter arose at a Feb. 28 meeting Netanyahu convened with the heads of Israels security agencies to discuss Israels response to the ship attack. Most of the top brass present were of the opinion that there was no point in launching a specific response to the event, given the absence of casualties and limited damage. They argued that Israel would be better off leveraging the attack for diplomatic impact by presenting the Americans with conclusive proof of Irans culpability, adding all the quality intelligence Israel has collected regarding Irans continued state sponsorship of terrorism throughout the Middle East, and trying to convince the Biden administration to tighten sanctions on Iran or at least to maintain those imposed on the Revolutionary Guard. Mossad chief Yossi Cohen presented a different viewpoint, according to which Israel could not afford to ignore a daring attack in the Gulf of Oman on an Israeli-owned target. Cohen, who leaves office in June, is responsible for quite a number of Israeli offensives against Iran, which peaked with the 2018 theft of Irans nuclear archives and their smuggling from Tehran to Tel Aviv under the ayatollah's nose. It is unclear whether Cohen was advocating for a public Israeli response or a low-key operation that would avoid entangling Israel in the international arena but would send a clear signal to the target. Cohens position has been rejected, for now. Nonetheless, no final decision has been made, either. The possibility of a public Israeli response three weeks before the March 23 elections is generating grave concern in the political arena. Netanyahus gradual but consistent decline in the polls magnifies these concerns. Iran has served Netanyahu well throughout his political career. He has fanned the flames of the Iranian threat to great heights and repeatedly used them to his political advantage. Now, at almost the last minute before the elections, he has once again been handed this gift that keeps on giving. However, he is no longer as omnipotent as he was. His political rivals, Defense Minister Benny Gantz and Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi, are equal members of his power-sharing government. Netanyahu has consistently avoided sharing discussions and decisions with them almost since their binding agreement was signed last year, operating behind their backs and humiliating them at every turn. However, when it comes to a military strike on an Iranian target, he will have a harder time going it alone. Netanyahu, it should be recalled, is hardly an aficionado of military adventures. On the contrary, he fears widespread military campaigns and stays away from wars and entanglements to the extent he can. However, his political and personal fate hangs in the balance as the March 23 elections loom, with the results not only vital to his continued hold on power but also to his defense in the corruption trial he faces. Will these circumstances change Netanyahu? Is he capable of violating all the rules of the game vis-a-vis Israels most dangerous enemy? The answer is probably negative. Israel is now debating whether the Iranians were the ones who changed the rules and started a new game. It will take time for Israel to come up with an answer. Announcement of Periodic Review: Moody's announces completion of a periodic review of ratings of Naranjal/Litoral Uruguay Issuer 1Global Credit Research - 26 Feb 2021New York, February 26, 2021 -- Moody's Investors Service ("Moody's") has completed a periodic review of the ratings of Naranjal/Litoral Uruguay Issuer 1 and other ratings that are associated with the same analytical unit. The review was conducted through a portfolio review discussion held on 22 February 2021 in which Moody's reassessed the appropriateness of the ratings in the context of the relevant principal methodology (ies), recent developments, and a comparison of the financial and operating profile to similarly rated peers. The review did not involve a rating committee. Since 1 January 2019, Moody's practice has been to issue a press release following each periodic review to announce its completion.This publication does not announce a credit rating action and is not an indication of whether or not a credit rating action is likely in the near future. Credit ratings and outlook/review status cannot be changed in a portfolio review and hence are not impacted by this announcement. For any credit ratings referenced in this publication, please see the ratings tab on the issuer/entity page on www.moodys.com for the most updated credit rating action information and rating history.Key rating considerations are summarized below.Naranjal/Litoral Uruguay Issuer 1 Baa3 rating reflects the stability and predictability of cash flows from a long-term fixed-price power purchase agreement (PPA) with Administracion Nacional de Usinas y Trasmisiones Electricas (UTE), Uruguay's government owned electricity company. The project creditworthiness is supported by the credit positive features of the PPA such as no minimum production requirements, curtailment provisions and well-defined termination payment clauses. Nevertheless, given the close linkage between the government and the offtaker, the rating is constrained by the Government of Uruguay (Baa2). Moody's acknowledges in the rating the plants' improved performance against 1H19 levels but remains slightly below budget, after the culmination of a maintenance recovery plan to address underperformance issues. At the same time, Naranjal/Litoral Uruguay Issuer 1 financial structure holds typical project finance protections, but the rating is limited by a relatively high leverage that results in credit metrics that are consistent with lower rating categories.This document summarizes Moody's view as of the publication date and will not be updated until the next periodic review announcement, which will incorporate material changes in credit circumstances (if any) during the intervening period.The principal methodology used for this review was Power Generation Projects Methodology published in July 2020. Please see the Rating Methodologies page on www.moodys.com for a copy of this methodology.This announcement applies only to EU rated, UK rated, EU endorsed and UK endorsed ratings. Non EU rated, non UK rated, non EU endorsed and non UK endorsed ratings may be referenced above to the extent necessary, if they are part of the same analytical unit.This publication does not announce a credit rating action. For any credit ratings referenced in this publication, please see the ratings tab on the issuer/entity page on www.moodys.com for the most updated credit rating action information and rating history. Ursula Cassinerio Analyst Project & Infrastructure Finance Moody's Latin America ACR Ing. Butty 240 16th Floor Buenos Aires City C1001AFB Argentina JOURNALISTS: 1 800 666 3506 Client Service: 1 212 553 1653 Michael J. Mulvaney MD - Project Finance Project & Infrastructure Finance JOURNALISTS: 1 212 553 0376 Client Service: 1 212 553 1653 Releasing Office: Moody's Investors Service, Inc. 250 Greenwich Street New York, NY 10007 U.S.A. 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Result of hard work that BJP is main opposition in Bengal: Nadda Nadda vows to 'save' people of Bengal from chain of political violence TRP scam: Bombay HC grants bail to BARC's ex-CEO Partho Dasgupta India oi-Madhuri Adnal Mumbai, Mar 02: The Bombay High Court on Tuesday granted bail to Broadcast Audience Research Council's (BARC) former CEO Partho Dasgupta, an accused in the alleged Television Rating points (TRP) rigging scam. Justice P D Naik granted bail to Dasgupta (55) on a personal bond of Rs 2 lakh and two solvent sureties of the same amount. "The bail plea is allowed. The applicant (Dasgupta) shall be released on bail after furnishing a personal bond of Rs 2 lakh and two sureties of the same amount," the HC said. The court allowed him to furnish a temporary cash surety of the same amount for a period of six weeks, until which he would have to submit the solvent sureties. The permission was given after Dasgupta''s counsel Aabad Ponda told the court that the process of preparing and submitting the solvent sureties will take time. The court directed Dasgupta to surrender his passport to the police station concerned and not leave India without permission of the trial court. Bombay HC allows Varavara Rao to furnish cash surety for release "The applicant shall attend the police station concerned on the first Saturday of each month for a period of six months. After that, he shall appear once in three months," it said. The court directed Dasgupta to attend the case trial as and when required and not tamper with evidence or witnesses in the case. Dasgupta approached the HC in January this year after a sessions court rejected his bail plea while noting that he had played a vital role in the scam and was its alleged "mastermind". He was arrested on December 24 last year and is in jail since then. Dasgupta is accused of having misused his official position and conniving with ARG Outlier Media, the company which runs all Republic TV channels, and with Republic TV Editor-in-Chief Arnab Goswami, to manipulate TRPs. The Republic TV has denied any wrongdoing. Farmers' Protest: Delhi's Ghazipur border partially opens for vehicular traffic| Oneindia News The Mumbai police while opposing Dasgupta''s bail plea had said he played a direct role in the manipulation of TRPs for TV news channels. The police had relied on Dasgupta''s chats with Goswami where they discussed manipulation of TRPs. Dasgupta''s counsel Ponda earlier urged the HC to grant him bail, saying the police had already filed their charge sheet in the case and his custodial interrogation was not required any more. Ponda had also told the HC that Dasgupta''s WhatsApp chats, including his chats with co-accused Goswami, were merely "lose talks". On January 16, Dasgupta was rushed to the state-run J J Hospital here from the Taloja prison in neighbouring Navi Mumbai, after his blood sugar levels went up and he fell unconscious. He was admitted to the ICU of the J J Hospital and was discharged on January 22. Following his discharge, his lawyers had moved the HC seeking an urgent hearing of his bail plea Haryana Health Minister Anil Vij on Monday said that he did not need vaccination against coronavirus as he has a "high antibody count". His comments came as the next phase of the Covid-19 vaccine drive was rolled out in the country for those above 60 years of age and above 45 years with comorbidities. "Today coronavirus vaccination drive is beginning for the general public. Everyone should get it without any hesitation. "I cannot receive the vaccine because after being infected my antibody count is currently 300, which is quite high. Maybe the trial vaccine I had taken also had a role to play. I do not need the vaccine at this moment," Vij said in a tweet in Hindi. The minister had voluntarily taken a dose of Bharat Biotech's vaccine 'Covaxin' at a hospital in Ambala on November 20 last year. He had offered to be the first volunteer for the third phase trial of Covaxin, which had started in Haryana. Antibodies in the human body develop only after 14 days of getting the second dose However, after the jab he tested positive for coronavirus on December 5 last year and was hospitalised. Read more: PM Modi's Covid-19 vaccine shot powerful message to Indians to shed hesitancy: Bharat Biotech He had later clarified that he had received only the first shot of the two-dose Covaxin. Meanwhile, Vij launched the next phase of Covid-19 vaccination in the state on Monday. He said that in this phase the vaccine will be administered in 386 private hospitals empanelled under state government and the Ayushman Bharat Yojana. The Covid-19 vaccine will be administered free of cost in all government hospitals of the state, while its cost will be Rs 250 in the said private hospitals, Vij said The cost of Rs 250 includes Rs 150 as charges for the vaccine and Rs 100 as service charges of hospitals, he said. The minister on Monday addressed all civil surgeons, directors of private hospitals on the panel through video-conferencing, an official release said here. He directed the civil surgeons to carefully monitor the maintenance of cold chains in all hospitals. Besides, Vij asked them to ensure that private hospitals are adhering to the price fixed by the central government and these hospitals refrain from overcharging so that the beneficiaries are administered the vaccine on time at the prescribed rate. He said that so far about 70 per cent of health workers and more than 50 per cent of frontline workers have been already been vaccinated in the state. Along with this, frontline workers like employees of urban local bodies, sanitation workers, police personnel, civil defence workers, jail staff, panchayati raj institutions and staff of revenue department are being administered the vaccine, he said. Facebooks recent showdown with the Australian government should accelerate momentum in the U.S. Congress for a more sensible regulatory regime for massive social media platforms. To preserve the economic sustainability of the costly business of news gathering and dissemination, which is crucial to truly functioning democracies, Australia recently adopted a law requiring Google, Facebook and others to pay news organizations for use of their product news. The social media companies use news to attract people to their sites and make billions of dollars on advertising tied to the process, sharing a tiny percentage of it with the companies that generate the information. In Australia, Google objected to the law but complied with it, paying $30 million to several television news operations within a matter of weeks. Facebook reacted by preventing its Australian users from posting any news content, and blocking them from accessing any news content from anywhere in the world. It later negotiated a more flexible agreement than that required by the law. In the United States, the House Judiciary Committee is expected to produce a bipartisan bill that would allow small news organizations nationwide to negotiate, collectively, with the big social media platforms regarding use of locally generated news and fair compensation for it. Such a standard is long overdue. Its bizarre that demand for news never has been greater as hundreds of the companies that produce it have gone out of business or struggle to stay in business. Local newsroom employment nationwide has declined by 50% since 2008. Congress should pass the bill to establish that news has economic value, and that the companies and people who gather and disseminate it should be paid for it. Washington, March 3 : The United States announced sanctions and restrictions against Russian individuals and entities over the alleged poisoning of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny. US actions against Russia include export and visa restrictions, a senior administration official told reporters in a briefing call on Tuesday, Xinhua news agency reported. The US intelligence community assessed that officers of Russia's Federal Security Service used a nerve agent known as Novichok to poison Navalny on August 20, 2020, the official said. Russia has repeatedly denied such accusations, saying the case with Navalny is a purely domestic affair and foreign intervention is not allowed. "This is an exclusively internal matter. We will not allow anyone to interfere nor intend to listen to such statements," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in January. The US Treasury was designating seven senior members of the Russian government, according to the briefing call. In addition, the US Commerce Department added 14 parties to its entity list for their involvement in various aspects of biological agent production and chemical production. "Today is the first such response, and there will be more to come," said the senior official, adding that the United States would work closely with its European allies "in calling out and confronting Russia." Meanwhile, he noted that "the United States is neither seeking to reset our relations with Russia nor are we seeking to escalate." This move came as the EU placed sanctions on four Russian officials in connection to the imprisonment of Navalny on Monday. Relations between Washington and Moscow have been adversarial for recent years. The two were bitterly divided over Ukraine, Syria, and cybersecurity issues, and they mutually accused the other of domestic political interference. Navalny, a harsh Kremlin critic, fell into a coma on a flight from the Russian city of Tomsk to Moscow in August 2020. He was then transferred to a hospital in Berlin with suspected poisoning symptoms. In early September, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Navalny was poisoned with the Soviet-style Novichok nerve agent. Russian authorities denied the accusations and demanded substantial evidence from Germany. Navalny was detained this January upon his arrival in Moscow from Germany and was later sentenced to over two years behind bars, while his defence plans to appeal the ruling at a higher court. Press Release 2 March 2021 BARCELONA, Spain - Barcelona-based charity LligamDona is launching a pioneering project to provide a comprehensive support program to vulnerable women and their children in the local community. Advertisements The program, funded by the Hilton Effect Foundation, will provide end-to-end support to some of the community's most vulnerable women. As well as providing safe housing, it will include specialist training and support delivered by partner organizations. The program seeks to ensure that every participant builds the confidence and skills they need to live independently, and each will graduate from the program with a job offer. The initial phase of the program will last for two years and will support 10 women. Participants will be matched with specially selected partner organizations, identified based on their ability to support each woman's individual situation and requirements. Marisa Cabellos, president of LligamDona said: "Throughout 2020, LligamDona helped dozens of vulnerable individuals - many of whom had been subjected to violence and have lost confidence in their ability to live independently - to get back on their feet through practical support, skills workshops and training, and emotional support. Thanks to the support of the Hilton Effect Foundation, for the first time, we will be able to provide a holistic program that ensures these women leave our care with a job, as well as increased confidence and resilience." Last October, the Hilton Effect Foundation announced LligamDona as one of its grantees, jumpstarting the development of the new program. Hilton Effect Grants were awarded to 23 organizations across the globe in 2020, aiming to address some of the most urgent humanitarian needs arising from the pandemic including economic security, sanitation/hygiene, food security and clean air and water. LligamDona is the first Spanish organization to receive one of the grants, valued at $30,000. Hilton Diagonal Mar Barcelona has been working to support LligamDona's mission for a number of years. Last year, the hotel arranged a roundtable event in association with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to raise awareness of the growing issue of physical and mental abuse against women. Meritxell Vegue, Technical Director, LligamDona, spoke at the event to highlight the organization's work. The hotel also helped the organization to redecorate a safe house for women and their children escaping violence. "Hilton is committed to having a positive impact on the communities in which we operate. LligamDona's work within the local community in Barcelona has become even more critical since the Covid-19 pandemic, which has caused a spike in violence against women, with helpline call volumes increasing 75% during lockdown. The Hilton Effect Grant will help ensure LligamDona can expand their valuable services, ultimately helping more women and their children to rebuild their lives. We're looking forward to working together to bring this project to life," said Joachim Hartl, area general manager Iberian Peninsula, Hilton. About LligamDona LLIGAM is a non-profit organization based in Barcelona (Spain) that accommodates, accompanies, supports, guides and informs women who cannot access to housing, usually caused by the lack of economic resources and/or a stable social network (family, friends, etc.) Its objective is that, with the tools offered to them during their stay in their resources, the women attended acquire autonomy in the personal, economic, social and family fields to live in a stable and dignified way with their own resources. About Hilton Effect Foundation The Hilton Effect Foundation is Hilton's primary international philanthropic arm. The Foundation is a nonprofit established in the U.S. and is a registered 501(c)3 charitable organization. The Foundation awards grants, in alignment with Hilton's Travel with Purpose 2030 Goals, that have a positive impact on travel destinations around the world. Foundation grants are awarded throughout the year in accordance with tax and legal requirements. Visit HiltonEffect.org for more information. About Hilton Diagonal Mar Barcelona Located in one of Barcelona's most avant-garde neighborhood and mere steps from the beach, the Hilton Diagonal Mar Barcelona provides a contemporary space for both business and pleasure. Recently renovated rooms and meeting rooms have turned the hotel into a modern, vibrant and dynamic hub designed to attract a broad range of guests, from international business clients to the city's emerging talents to tourists and local clientele. The hotel has 433 rooms, including 21 spacious suites, as well as 22 meeting rooms with natural light and equipped to meet a full range of needs, a ballroom with a maximum capacity of 1,000 people, and a wide selection of outdoor spaces to accommodate events for up to 540 guests. Hilton Diagonal Mar Barcelona features three mouth-watering dining options: the Purobeach Barcelona Restaurant & Bar from May to October, the lobby bar MA'I and the restaurant AURT leaded by the Chef Artur Martinez awarded with 1 Michelin Star and 1 Sol Repsol. Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-02 00:08:22|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close A ship carrying the slogan of "celebrating the 23rd anniversary of Hong Kong's return to the motherland" sails at the Victoria Harbour in Hong Kong, south China, July 1, 2020. (Xinhua/Lui Siu Wai) SHENZHEN, March 1 (Xinhua) -- Representatives from Hong Kong attending a two-day symposium spoke of the urgency to improve related systems of "patriots governing Hong Kong" and plug loopholes in Hong Kong's electoral and other systems. Chinese central authorities held the symposium in south China's Shenzhen from Sunday to Monday to hear opinions of representatives from various sector of the Hong Kong society on improving systems related to "patriots governing Hong Kong." Rita Fan Hsu Lai-tai, former president of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Legislative Council, said that implementing the principle of "patriots governing Hong Kong" is the original aspiration of "one country, two systems" and the legislative intent of the Basic Law of the HKSAR. Shiu Sin-por, executive director of the New Paradigm Foundation, said those elected to wield public power, including the Chief Executive, Legislative Council members and District Council members, are absolutely not allowed to engage in activities to split the country, subvert the government or collude with foreign forces, adding this is the bottom line for improving the electoral and other systems. Most of Hong Kong residents support "patriots governing Hong Kong," said Lo Man-tuen, vice chairman of the All-China Federation of Returned Overseas Chinese. Lo expressed the hope for plugging loopholes in the electoral and other systems as soon as possible to ensure the governing power of Hong Kong is in the hands of patriots. Only by letting patriots exercise the governing power, can Hong Kong be truly well governed, integrate its development into the overall development of the country and create a bright future, said Priscilla Leung Mei-fun, a member of the HKSAR Basic Law Committee under the National People's Congress Standing Committee. Jamie Diaferia Infinite Global has made a firm-wide commitment throughout 2021 to undertake, on a pro bono basis, media activity for clients that relates directly to their efforts to combat climate change. The services will be available to any retained clients. In addition, the agency has joined the SME Climate Commitment, which requires the firm to halve its greenhouse gas emissions by at least 2030 and achieve net-zero emissions by 2050. As a values-driven organization, we accept and embrace our own responsibility when it comes to this issue, and are fully committed to also supporting our clients as they strive to do the same, said Infinite Global CEO Jamie Diaferia. Valerie Leary North Sixth Group launches Studios, a marketing, content and production house. Led by Valerie Leary, who has most recently served as vice president marketing for North Sixth, Studios will offer clients video and podcast production, demand and lead generation, digital marketing, content and storytelling, design and creative services. "The mission of Studios is to capture the 'lightning in a bottle' moment at which art becomes action and amplify that flashpoint through data-backed metrics that enable us to optimize marketing outputs against our clients' specific business outcomes," said Leary. The Studios production team is led by Michael Mehlhorn, who previously headed multimedia, creative and video for such technology and consumer companies as Splash and Conductor. Alejandro Butler Butler Positioning and Communications, based in Montevideo, Uruguay, is elected to partnership in PROI Worldwide, a consortium of communications agencies with partners in 50 countries. PROI worldwide global director Ciro Dias Reis says that expanding in South America is a priority for the organization this year. Founded in 2020, Butler offers services including advice in strategic and business communication, press management, content production, crisis management and internal communication. To expand our team with colleagues from all around the world will be a great benefit for our clients and the growth of our business, said Butler Positioning and Communications director Alejandro Butler. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. After the Government announced the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules 2021 for OTT and Digital Media last week, leading OTT players met yesterday (March 1, 2021) to deliberate on the implications of these Code of Ethics. The Economic Times has reported that meeting was held under the aegis of the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI), where the OTT players also mulled over whether IAMAI should be nominated as sole regulatory body with the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. As reported earlier, IAMAI had finalised as set of guidelines under its implementation toolkit for the OTT industry, taking a step towards self-regulation. According to a FICCI release, the self-regulation code issued by the IAMAI had mandated each OCCP (online curated content provider) to set-up a Consumer Complaints Department and/or an internal committee as well as an advisory panel to deal with complaints, appeals and escalations. However, the Government was not satisfied and had directed IAMAI to consider other regulatory models. The Government was of the view that the code lacked independent third-party monitoring. Besides, it does not have a well-defined code of ethics and fails to enunciate prohibited content adequately. Also read: What the new Code of Ethics for OTT and Digital Media mean for the industry Industry welcomes new code of ethics for Digital Media, but implementation is key IAMAI urges MIB to initiate public dialogue on draft guidelines for OTT IAMAI readies toolkit for self-regulation of OTT content IAMAI had recently agreed to a Universal Self-Regulatory code with MIB, which has been adopted by 17 of the leading online curated content platforms in the country. The self-regulatory code, which is under implementation, effectively delivers on the goal of providing strong consumer protection, while delivering a solid foundation for content providers to build from, IAMAI said in a statement issued. IAMAI in its statement expressed its dismay over some media reports stating that the Government intends to notify guidelines for OTT streaming platforms shortly. The industry has been working collectively to formalise transparent and stringent guidelines for self-regulation, but has been completely perturbed by the lack of any consultative process administered with the stakeholders that usually precedes such guidelines or regulations, IAMAI had said. However, after the Government announced the new Code of Ethics, Dr Subho Ray, President, IAMAI, said, IAMAI has welcomed the much awaited Intermediary Guidelines 2021. The Guidelines, focused primarily on consumer complaint, will help consumers of online curated content, social media users and online news and current affairs resolve their complaints in a process oriented manner. While finalising these Rules, both the Ministries of Electronics and Information Technology (MEITY) and Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) undertook elaborate consultations among themselves in order to have a harmonious, soft-touch oversight mechanism in relation to social media platform as well as digital media and OTT platforms, etc. Rules about digital media and OTT focus more on in-house and self-regulation mechanism, whereby a robust grievance redressal mechanism has been provided while upholding journalistic and creative freedom. The guidelines seek to address peoples varied concerns while removing any misapprehension about curbing creativity and freedom of speech and expression. Digital Media Ethics Code Relating to Digital Media and OTT Platforms to Be Administered by Ministry of Information and Broadcasting: There have been widespread concerns about issues relating to digital contents both on digital media and OTT platforms. Civil Society, film makers, political leaders including Chief Minister, trade organisations and associations have all voiced their concerns and highlighted the imperative need for an appropriate institutional mechanism. The Government also received many complaints from civil society and parents requesting interventions. There were many court proceedings in the Supreme Court and High Courts, where courts also urged the Government to take suitable measures. Since the matter relates to digital platforms, therefore, a conscious decision was taken that issues relating to digital media and OTT and other creative programmes on Internet shall be administered by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting but the overall architecture shall be under the Information Technology Act, which governs digital platforms. Consultations: The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting held consultations in Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai over the last one and a half years, wherein OTT players have been urged to develop self-regulatory mechanism. The Government also studied the models in other countries, including Singapore, Australia, EU and UK and has gathered that most of them either have an institutional mechanism to regulate digital content or are in the process of setting-up one. The Rules establish a soft-touch self-regulatory architecture and a Code of Ethics and 3-Tier grievance redressal mechanism for news publishers and OTT Platforms and digital media. Notified under section 87 of Information Technology Act, these Rules empower the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting to implement Part - III of the Rules, which prescribe the following: Code of Ethics for online news, OTT platforms and digital media: This Code of Ethics prescribe the guidelines to be followed by OTT platforms and online news and digital media entities. Self-Classification of Content: The OTT platforms, called as the publishers of online curated content in the rules, would self-classify the content into five age based categories - U (Universal), U/A 7+, U/A 13+, U/A 16+, and A (Adult). Platforms would be required to implement parental locks for content classified as U/A 13+ or higher, and reliable age verification mechanisms for content classified as A. The publisher of online curated content shall prominently display the classification rating specific to each content or programme together with a content descriptor informing the user about the nature of the content, and advising on viewer description (if applicable) at the beginning of every programme enabling the user to make an informed decision, prior to watching the programme. MINNEAPOLIS, March 2, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Wealth Enhancement Group, an independent wealth management firm, today announced that it has acquired North American Management (NAM), an independent registered investment adviser (RIA) based in Boston that has $1.75 billion in total client assets. Upon closing of the transaction, Wealth Enhancement Group's total client assets are expected to approach $30 billion.* Since its founding in 1928, NAM has developed an enduring and respected practice focused on providing planning-oriented wealth management, trust services and a broad range of investment offerings, including individual security portfolios, to ultra-high-net-worth individuals, families, endowments/foundations, and business owners nationwide. With its experience in multi-generational advisory services, the firm has built long-lasting relationships with its clients, some spanning as many as four generations. The acquisition will bring a close-knit team of 20 individuals, including nine financial advisors, to Wealth Enhancement Group, building upon the firm's long-term strategy of developing significant scale in the Northeast U.S. and other key markets across the country. The transaction also further solidifies the firm's position as a leading national wealth management and financial planning brand. Jeff Dekko, Chief Executive Officer of Wealth Enhancement Group, said, "We are thrilled to bring North American Management, with its long and notable tradition of client service, to our platform. NAM's success in building multi-generational client relationships is a model for our team, and will further expand Wealth Enhancement Group's ultra-high-net-worth and trust services capabilities, among many other benefits. We look forward to working with NAM's professionals to further deepen our presence in the strategically critical Northeast region, and to helping them accelerate their growth by leveraging our centralized marketing and technology platforms." North American Management Chairman and CEO Robert Scott said, "As a firm with a long tradition of building and sustaining multi-generational client relationships, the needs of the individuals, families and institutions who entrust us with their financial future have always been paramount in our decision-making processes. Our goal in identifying a new strategic partner was not simply to join a larger platform, but to find a home for our clients that will last for decades to come as we work to guide them toward their financial goals. Jeff Dekko and his team understand this client-first mentality, and we look forward to the continued evolution of our client services and our growth as part of Wealth Enhancement Group." Jim Cahn, Chief Investments and Business Development Officer of Wealth Enhancement Group, said, "With their long-standing history and deep client relationships, NAM will add tremendous capabilities and talent to our presence in the Northeast. Both firms will help each other grow and seek to deliver great outcomes for clients." Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed. North American Management Corp. was represented by Park Sutton Advisors. The transaction is expected to close in April, after which the practice will do business as the North American Management Team at Wealth Enhancement Group. About Wealth Enhancement Group Wealth Enhancement Group is a Greater Minneapolis-based independent wealth management firm offering comprehensive and customized financial planning and investment management services. Founded in 1997, Wealth Enhancement Group serves clients nationwide. Wealth Enhancement Group specializes in providing retail clients with the team-based knowledge and resources they need to simplify their financial life. For more information, please visit www.wealthenhancement.com. Advisory services offered through Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services, LLC (WEAS), a registered investment advisor. Certain, but not all, investment advisor representatives (IARs) of WEAS are also registered representatives of and offer securities through LPL Financial, Member FINRA/SIPC. Wealth Enhancement Group and Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services are separate entities from LPL Financial. Wealth Enhancement Group is a registered trademark of Wealth Enhancement Group, LLC. *Wealth Enhancement Group and its Registered Investment Advisor, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services, had $26.3 billion in client brokerage and advisory assets as of 1/31/2021. With expected closings on 3/1/21 of Reby Advisors ($727 million) and SVA Trust Company ($570 million), and on 4/1/21 of North American Management Corp. ($1.75 billion), Wealth Enhancement Group plans to have $29.4 billion in client brokerage, advisory and trust assets as of 4/1/21. Media Contacts Joseph Kuo / Chris Clemens Haven Tower Group 424 317 4851 or 424 317 4854 [email protected] or [email protected] SOURCE Wealth Enhancement Group The Park Hyatt Doha, which closed shortly after its opening in December 2019 due to Covid-19, is set for a reopening this month in the heart of Qatars latest sustainable, SMART and walkable city district. General Manager Stefan Gaessler said: We are thrilled to welcome back our guests and to have the opportunity to reintroduce our luxury property to travellers across the Middle East. We cant wait for our guests to experience the understated luxuries Park Hyatt is renowned for around the globe and for them to enjoy everything the vibrant city of Doha has to offer. As the tallest hotel in Msheireb Downtown, Park Hyatt Doha offers the most enviable views and a sense of place through its floor to ceiling windows. The 187 elegant and luxury appointed guest rooms and suites present interiors inspired by the Qatari desert and traditional local architecture. Guest facilities and services include unique residential style event space ranging from intimate study lounges and show kitchens to a luxurious pillar-less ballroom, a fully equipped business centre, complimentary valet parking, dedicated male and female spa facilities and gyms, as well as a 20-metre semi-covered outdoor swimming pool. In addition, the hotel offers a world-class culinary journey with the finest in modern Japanese cuisine at Sora, the hotels rooftop dining and lounge, a celebration of Qatari and French cuisine at Opus, and a vibrant and casual meeting place for the Msheireb Downtown community at Anis, featuring hearty and healthy food with products readily sourced from local suppliers and farmers. Unique features of the Park Hyatt Doha: All guest rooms and suites have opening windows for natural, fresh air All suites, and many of the guest rooms, are interconnecting, making the hotel the ideal address for VIP and corporate guests who travel with assistants or a security detail The Apartment is an 800 sq m (8,611 sq ft) residential style event space comprising The Ballroom made up of three different salons, The Study featuring a show kitchen with separate lounge and living room, and The Loft featuring a show kitchen and beverage server, making this unique space ideal for exclusive events and corporate meetings. The hotels 24-hour fitness centre is the largest gym in Msheireb Downtown and offers dedicated physio support to guests With its LEED certified building and various sustainability initiatives, the Park Hyatt Doha is a responsible corporate citizen that values sustainability and advocates environment-friendly operations, making it the ideal destination for the conscious business and leisure traveller. TradeArabia News Service Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. BBC Three stopped broadcasting on the UKs broadcast network as of February 2016 following a review by the BBC Trust in November 2015 which called for the corporations non-core channels including BBC Three as well as CBBC and BBC One+1 to go digital-only. The Trust said at the time that its plans would enable the BBC to deliver more distinctive content online, while bearing down on costs.Yet while undoubtedly cutting costs - and being the original home for smash hit TV series Gavin And Stacey, Little Britain and Torchwood as linear channels and then subsequently Fleabag, Normal People and Killing Eve as digital-only offers that particularly appealed to younger audiences - the move was revealed by a study from Enders Analysis as having led to audiences disappearing in masses. Despite Normal People driving the digital channel to its best week ever for programme requests on iPlayer in May 2020, more than doubling the previous record, Enders said that annual viewing minutes of BBC Three programming were down by more than 70% compared with its last year of linear TV broadcasting, and weekly reach amongst its target demographic of 16-34s had fallen by around 70%. This represented a loss far greater than those of other TV channels.However, as part of what it says is its drive to deliver more value to audiences, the BBC said that it now needs to back success and make sure its programmes reach as many young people as possible, wherever they live in the UK. And that regardless of the debates about the past, it wanted to give BBC Three its own broadcast channel again. The corporation noted that in its Annual Plan 2020/21 , published in 2020, research confirmed there remained an available audience on broadcast television for BBC Three. It added that having committed to double the investment on BBC Three commissions over the next two years, it wanted to showcase that content to a wider audience.The BBC proposes to launch Three on linear in January 2022 and adapt CBBCs operating hours to make the most value out of the increased content that it will commission going forward. The channel will be targeted at audiences aged 16-34. The new linear channel will broadcast from 7pm to 4am each day, the same as the hours of the channel when it closed in 2016. As a result CBBCs broadcast hours will revert to closing at 7pm - as was the case before 2016. The BBC also intends to expand the remit of BBC Three with a pre-watershed content offer suitable for those over 13+. The corporation stressed that it would not take any further traditional TV channel capacity for services, but reallocate distribution capacity from existing services within the current space.The BBC added that using both a broadcast channel and BBC iPlayer in tandem, will help to grow its offer and deliver more value to younger audiences. It said its research also identified a significant group of younger viewers who maintain a strong linear TV habit but are currently light users of the BBC. In this light, the BBC said that bringing Three back to linear would provide it with a new shop window to reach a younger audience currently underserved, bringing them the best BBC young programming and talent across all genres.BBC Three is a BBC success story, backing creativity, new talent and brave ideas has resulted in hit after hit, from Fleabag and Man Like Mobeen, Ru Pauls Drag Race UK and Jesy Nelsons Odd One Out, to Normal People and This Country, said chief content officer Charlotte Moore. "The BBC needs to back success and make sure its programmes reach as many young people as possible wherever they live in the UK. So regardless of the debates about the past, we want to give BBC Three its own broadcast channel again. It has exciting, ground-breaking content that deserves the widest possible audience and using BBC iPlayer alongside a broadcast channel will deliver the most value. MASON COUNTY, MI Police identified a Scottville, Michigan, couple and their unborn son who were killed March 1 in a crash on US-10. The victims are David Lee Mclain-Williams, 24, and Ashley Nicole Plotts, 22, who was 8 months pregnant with their son, David Jr., Mason County Sheriff Kim Cole said in a statement. The other driver, a 27-year-old Manton man who allegedly ran from the scene, was jailed after being treated for injuries, police said. His name was withheld pending charges, police said. The crash was reported at 1:42 p.m. on US-10 and Wever Road in Mason Countys Branch Township. Sheriffs deputies determined that Mclain-Williams was driving a 2005 Buick Terraza which was struck by a 2010 Jeep Patriot. Police found Mclain-Williams deceased in the vehicle with his passenger critically injured. She later died at Spectrum Health Ludington Hospital. Police were told that the driver of other vehicle ran away. A sheriffs deputy and state Department of Natural Resources conservation officer tracked the driver for a half-mile before residents helped them find him. He was treated at the Ludington hospital for non-life-threatening injuries. Police said that speed and alcohol are likely factors in the crash, which remains under investigation. More: Monster mother killed 6-year-old son with car while trying to abandon him at Ohio park: reports Mom dies of COVID-19 days after giving birth during emergency delivery Ahram Online Journalsit Doaa Abdel-Moneim has won first place at the Nawal Omar Journalism Award for her data-enhanced feature "SDGs vs COVID-19 in developing countries: The acid test," the award's supervisory committee announced late on Sunday. The article, published by Ahram Online in December, tackles the consequences of the coronavirus pandemic on daily life and sustainable development goals (SDGs), especially in developing countries and emerging markets. The second prize was clinched by Akhbar El-Yom's Journalist Ahmed Saad for a series of feature stories that he wrote on the pandemic, while the third went to Shimaa Adel and Radwa Hashem from Al-Watan newspaper, for their joint series of articles on the financial and social ramification of the pandemic on the Egyptian society. Veto news website's Journalist Sabry El-Deeb won the fourth prize for his articles on the government's handling of the pandemic. With the participation of media and journalism figures, an award ceremony will be organised soon at the Al-Ahram establishment to hand out the prizes for the winners. The award, organised by Al-Ahram in collaboration with the Egyptian Journalists syndicate, is held annually in honour of Al-Ahrams prominent late Journalist Nawal Omar. Short link: A China-Europe freight train bound for Barcelona of Spain waiting for departure in Xi'an, northwest China's Shaanxi Province, April 8, 2020. (Xinhua/Li Yibo) STOCKHOLM, March 1 (Xinhua) -- China-European Union (EU) Geographical Indications (GIs) Agreement took effect on Monday, injecting a dose of stimulus into bilateral trade, and marking another milestone in cooperation between China and the EU. GI is the label used for identifying the geographical origin of a product, and is also an important type of intellectual property right. According to the agreement, 100 GIs from each side, involving liquor, tea, food and farm produce, came under protection on the same day, which means consumers from China and the EU could buy authentic specialities of each other without worries about the inferior and fake goods. As "China's first comprehensive, high-level bilateral agreement on GIs, its coming into effect fully testifies to China and the EU's commitment to upholding free and open trade, and supporting rules-based multilateral trading system," China's Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Wang Wenbin said on Monday. "It will provide new impetus to China-EU economic and trade cooperation and be conducive to cementing the foundation, economic- and trade-wise, of China-EU comprehensive strategic partnership," he noted. GENUINE QUALITY GUARANTEED Together "with our Chinese counterparts," the "100 + 100" model offers better protections for various GIs, said Vincent Perrin, director general of Comite Interprofessionnel du Vin de Champagne, a trade association that represents the interests of independent Champagne producers and Champagne Houses. "China increasingly recognizes the value of geographical indications: it has a very rich heritage of food and artisanal know-how, and consumers are increasingly looking for guarantees of authenticity," Perrin told Xinhua. "This agreement will guarantee the protection of 100 EU agri-food GIs on the Chinese market. This is a further step which testifies to the will of the European Union and China to work closely together," Rodolphe Lameyse, chief executive officer of Vinexposium, a wine and spirits events organizer, told Xinhua. He added that it is important to protect European GI products, renowned for their "quality and diversity," at both EU and global levels "in order to guarantee their authenticity and preserve their reputation for the satisfaction of Chinese consumers." "The agreement... is extremely important for Europe and China since in return China will be able to use the European logo for its GIs as well. This recognition will allow Chinese producers to benefit from the economic development that a GI allows," Lameyse said. Wines from the DOQ (denomination of qualified origin) Priorat are among the Spanish brands included in the agreement. Salus Alvarez, president of the DOQ Priorat, told Xinhua, "We aim to show a high level in terms of quality and guarantee of origin, so what this agreement does is consolidate what we are and what we want to become." BILATERAL TRADE INTENSIFIED According to the Chinese Ministry of Commerce, the agreement will inject new impetus into China-EU economic and trade cooperation, potentially benefiting businesses and consumers on both sides. It "will help producers protect local competitiveness, improve the quality and reputation of goods, and protect consumers from counterfeiting ... and helps high-quality Chinese food enter the homes of ordinary people in Italy," Livio Mazzanti, area manager China for Italian winemaking company Marchesi Mazzei, told Xinhua. "I like a lot of Chinese food in the agreement, and tea has a big market in Italy. As these origins are protected, Italians can purchase Chinese food with greater confidence," Mazzanti added, noting "it is expected that the sales of Chinese food in Italy and Europe will grow rapidly." Jose Luis Benitez, general director of the Spanish Wine Federation, told Xinhua that he believed the forecasts for wine exports to China are showing a growing trend. "China is currently Spain's fourth largest market for bottled wines. However ... there are predictions that China could end up becoming the second largest market for Spanish wines," he said. HUGE POTENTIAL TO BE TAPPED In addition to the 100 GIs protected from each side respectively, 175 additional products from each side will be added to the GI list in the upcoming four years. In the extended list, GIs such as Xuan Paper, Huangmei Cross-stitch, Shu Brocade, and Qingshen Bamboo Weaving that represent traditional Chinese culture will also be included, potentially contributing to bilateral exchanges of culture as well. Analysts believe that the huge potential of the agreement is of special significance especially against the current backdrop of uncertainties characterized by unilateralism, trade protectionism, and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Among the EU's 175 products that will be included in the list are wines from the northeastern Spanish Priorat region, which are internationally recognized for their quality. "There are increasingly more Chinese companies interested in Priorat wines, and there are increasingly more of Priorat's small family wineries interested in that contract," said Alvarez. Although the impact of the pandemic has dampened the growing commercial ties between Priorat wine sellers and the Chinese market, Alvarez is confident that business will soon pick up. "We predict that 2021 will see a reunion with the Chinese market and the link that is being established in terms of friendly relations and of trust is very strong," he said. Polish Vodka has also been included in the list of the 100 European geographical indications under protection in China. "China is an enormous market and a great opportunity for producers of Polish Vodka," Andrzej Szumowski, president of the Polish Vodka Association, told Xinhua. "The Chinese market has enormous growth potential when it comes to food and drink from Europe," Szumowski stressed. BEIJING (Reuters) - China's financial technology companies are expected to meet capital adequacy requirements within a maximum of two years, said Guo Shuqing, head of the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission (CBIRC) on Tuesday. Micro lenders, consumer finance firms and banks operated by internet platforms should all have adequate capital like other financial institutions, Guo said at a news conference. Chinese financial regulators have rolled out a slew of measures since last year to tighten the oversight of online lending practices in the country, particularly of technology firms looking to expand into the financial space, moving away from its once laissez-faire approach. The drive scuppered Ant Group's $37 billion initial public offering last year and has seen Alibaba's fintech affiliate formulate plans to shift to a financial holding company structure. "Starting a business needs capital, so does starting a financial business," Guo said. "As long as internet platforms conduct financial operations, the requirement of capital adequacy ratio on them should be the same as financial institutions." Financial regulators have set various grace periods for different internet platforms, according to Guo. Some have until the end of 2020 and others until the middle of 2021 to meet capital adequacy requirements, he said. "But by a maximum of two years, (the capital adequacy of) all platforms should be back on track," Guo added. With regards to Ant Group's restructuring, Guo said there were no restrictions on the financial business it develops but that all of its financial activities should to be regulated by laws. Ant Group is in talks with other shareholders in its new consumer finance unit to bolster the firm's capital as the fintech giant prepares to fold in its lucrative micro-lending businesses, Reuters reported last week. It would need an additional capital of 30 billion yuan ($4.64 billion) to meet regulatory requirements, according to the report. ($1 = 6.4714 Chinese yuan) (Reporting by Tina Qiao, Cheng Leng and Ryan Woo in Beijing; Se Young Lee in Washington; Editing by Christian Schmollinger and Ana Nicolaci da Costa) Flash Chinese President Xi Jinping said on Monday night that China is willing to provide COVID-19 vaccines within its capabilities to Poland in accordance with the European country's demand. Xi made the remarks in a phone conversation with Polish President Andrzej Duda. Pointing out that Poland is a major country in Central and Eastern Europe as well as China's comprehensive strategic partner in Europe, Xi said that China has always attached great importance to the development of China-Poland relations. Since the outbreak of COVID-19, China and Poland have been looking out for and helping each other, with the two sides engaging in cooperation in pandemic prevention and control as well as resumption of work and production, which opened a new chapter of their friendship, he said. In the current situation, China and Poland should strengthen strategic communication, deepen pragmatic cooperation, and jointly address various risks and challenges, Xi said. China is willing to work with Poland to facilitate a stable and sustainable development of bilateral ties in the new year, he added. Xi said that China is willing to continue enhancing exchanges of experience in joint pandemic prevention and control with the Polish side, and in the meantime restoring mutual visits between their peoples in a safe and orderly manner. During the pandemic, the number and load of China-Europe freight train trips traveling to and from China and Poland have hit a record high, which reflected the high interdependence between the supply chains and industrial chains in China, Poland, the wider European Union (EU), and demonstrated a huge potential for economic and trade cooperation between the two sides, he said. China is going to push for more imports of quality agricultural and food products from Poland through establishing relevant mechanisms under the cooperation framework of China-Central and Eastern European countries (CEEC), Xi said, adding that the completion of negotiations of the China-EU investment agreement will open up broader space for China-Poland cooperation. Xi said that at the recent China-CEEC Summit successfully convened via video link, he, along with CEEC leaders, reviewed the journey of China-CEEC cooperation, thoroughly summarized development experience, jointly looked ahead to development prospects, reached broad consensus, and made important planning and guidance for cooperation mechanism. He added that China is willing to work together with the Polish side, and takes the summit as a new starting point to push for greater outcomes for the China-CEEC cooperation and China-EU relations. Duda said Xi's state visit to Poland in 2016 has effectively promoted the development of Poland-China relations. Not long ago, President Xi successfully hosted the China-CEEC Summit via video link, which is of great importance to promoting cooperation between the two sides and helping CEEC achieve economic recovery after the pandemic. Poland highly appreciates Xi's commitment to making China's COVID-19 vaccine as a global public good and his willingness to carry out vaccine cooperation with CEEC, which shows China is playing the role of a responsible major country under the leadership of President Xi, Duda said. He added that Poland is willing to strengthen anti-pandemic cooperation with China, noting that China-Europe freight train service has played an important role in fighting the pandemic. Duda expressed the hope that the two sides will continue to maintain personnel exchanges and cooperation in various fields and promote the balanced growth of bilateral trade. Poland stands ready to make contributions to the cooperation between CEEC and China, he added. Duda said he looks forward to visiting China again after the pandemic, and is willing to maintain close and friendly exchanges with Xi to jointly lift Poland-China relations to a new level. 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. Webinar on Sustainable Mobility and State Budget: Accelerating EV Adoption in Karnataka India oi-Vicky Nanjappa Bengaluru, Mar 02: Electric Vehicles (EVs) are the new wave of transportation that promise to be the future of sustainable mobility. They are increasingly becoming the more popular choice of transport around the world due to their many advantages, including low fuel costs, reduced emissions, lower maintenance, and eco- friendliness. Karnataka is set to make great strides in building an EV ecosystem. To this end, the Resurgent India Trust conducted a webinar which explored how the government can promote sustainable mobility solutions that will help Karnataka thrive in cleaner, greener ways. It brought together a diverse set of experts who identified key themes and challenges of EV mobility in Karnataka. The webinar participants examined and discussed innovative solutions to address these challenges and propose policy interventions required to make EVs a reality. Delhi govt to switch its fleet of cars for electric vehicles within 6 months: Sisodia Karnataka has been a pioneer in sustainable mobility and was the first state to introduce an Electric Vehicle (EV) Policy in 2017. It has spearheaded multiple measures to promote greener transport, including the setting up of 112 new charging stations last year, and aims to achieve 100% e-mobility in auto-rickshaws, cab aggregators, corporate fleets, and school buses/vans by 2030. However, Karnataka can do more to ensure affordable and accessible sustainable mobility options and make the state India's leader in the EV sector. An innovative and dynamic support system, including both the state government and private stakeholders, is required. With the state budget for 2021-22 financial year to be presented shortly, and with sky-rocketing fuel prices, now is the most appropriate time to explore how Karnataka can incentivise sustainable, efficient, and integrated urban EV systems across the state. The webinar saw an engaging discussion around solutions to improve the electric mobility ecosystem in Karnataka, with a target to make Bangalore an 'EV Capital' of India. The webinar was moderated by Prof. M.V Rajeev Gowda, Managing Trustee, Resurgent India Trust, and Ex-Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha' and the panelists included key experts and opinion leaders in the field of electric mobility, both from government organisations and the private sector: Kapil Mohan, IAS, Additional Chief Secretary, Government of Karnataka & Principal Secretary, Energy and Infrastructure Development; Gunjan Krishna, IAS, Commissioner for Industrial Development, Government of Karnataka; Pawan Mulukutla, Director, Electric Mobility, World Resources Institute; Dr. Praveer Sinha, CEO, TATA Power; Vivekananda Hallekere, CEO and Co-Founder, Bounce; Mr. Nagesh Basavanhalli, Group CEO, Greaves Cotton Limited; B. C. Datta (Vice President, Corporate Affairs, OLA Electric. Speaking at the webinar, Kapil Mohan, IAS, Additional Chief Secretary, Government of Karnataka & Principal Secretary, Energy and Infrastructure Development said Karnataka was at the forefront of the EV ecosystem in the country. The State aims to push further EV adoption by converting government vehicles to electric and potentially using the vast solar power surplus to fuel EV charging stations. Gunjan Krishna, IAS, Commissioner for Industrial Development, Government of Karnataka, stressed the importance of incentivisation in the EV sector through subsidies for land, manufacturing plants, machinery etc. She also proposed establishing "EV Clusters" in partnership with private companies, in districts and towns throughout the state, that would focus on accelerating EV development and adoption through R&D and testing centres, skill- building and training institutions and technical and manufacturing enterprises. Dr. Praveer Sinha proposed the allocation of government land to the EV sector, especially for the establishment of charging infrastructure and reiterated the importance of the government's role in integrating electric mobility with the public and private transport system. Pawan Mulukutla suggested that the two main factors needed to boost the EV market are creating demand and awareness on the consumer side and providing both fiscal and non-fiscal incentives on the producer/manufacturer side. Further, that the government must play a role in this. Nagesh Basavanhalli agreed with Mr. Pawan, and stated that creating and disseminating awareness about the benefits of EV adoption is crucial. He also stated the importance of improving battery logistics, as that seems to be a major hurdle in the current EV ecosystem. B. C. Datta talked about how the use of heritage sites like the Hubli-Dharwad corridor would be suitable for setting up EV manufacturing plants. Vivekananda Hallekere highlighted the importance of attracting young entrepreneurs and start-ups into the EV landscape. He also suggested focusing on integrating battery- swapping technology and to work towards either retrofitting old two and three-wheelers or developing new EV two and three-wheelers as they could form an untapped market. Farmers' Protest: Delhi's Ghazipur border partially opens for vehicular traffic| Oneindia News The inputs compiled in the webinar will be shared with the State government in the hope that the upcoming state budget will reflect the progressive ideas discussed today. With such a range of innovative players in the EV space, we can look forward to Karnataka becoming a leader in the EV space. An account from a local couple who experienced racial profiling at Desi Vega's Seafood and Prime Steaks in Metairie sparked a swift and widespread response. For Brandee Bocage, it also felt uncomfortably familiar. The controversy erupted when James Washington of New Orleans gave an account on Facebook Saturday of a date night with his wife at Desi Vega's. After the meal, the couple, who is Black, received a bill with a 20% tip already included. Suspicious of the automatic tip, Washington -- who cited his background in the restaurant business as a bus boy and waiter -- said he called the restaurant from his table and spoke with a manager who confirmed the 20% tip was restaurant policy. Still skeptical, Washington called friends who had been to Desi Vega's and said they had not received the same treatment. He then spoke to a White couple in the restaurant who had already paid their bill. The couple said 20% wasn't automatically added to their bill. "I called the manager over to the table and asked if he had lied. He admitted that he did," Washington wrote. "He confirmed that he and the server prejudged us. Said he felt bad so he kept the lie going. Said he was in a 'precarious' position. Said he didnt mean to racially profile us but his server asked him to do this to us so he went along with it. Said he was 'embarrassed and humiliated.' Promised hed never do it again. Said they never did it before." Washington's post, which was shared more than 3,000 times by Monday afternoon, led to a public apology from restaurant founder Desi Vega, who said on social media that the manager and waiter who were involved were suspended without pay, pending further review. That post also got Bocage and her friends talking. Bocage said they went to the same restaurant on Veterans Boulevard for a friends birthday dinner on Feb. 20. All the people at her table of four were Black. When they paid the bill, she was surprised to find a 20% gratuity had already been added. Automatic gratuities are common place in restaurants for larger groups, similar to service charges applied in other businesses; not so for tables of two or four. It was my first time there, so I thought maybe it was normal, Bocage said. After hearing the Washingtons story, she and her friends are looking back at the dinner with a different perspective. Food and restaurant news in your inbox Every Thursday we give you the scoop on NOLA dining. Sign up today. e-mail address * Sign Up Now to find out you might have been singled out, its disheartening, she said. It happened to us, it happened to this other couple. Maybe its normal practice there. Im glad they spoke out. Bocage provided a photo of receipts showing the 20% gratuity added to her bill. Vega did not immediately respond to a request for comment late Monday. But in his statement addressing the Washingtons' incident, Vega wrote that the automatic gratuity was improper. "The fact that my staff tried to cover the situation up by lying about it makes it much worse," Vega wrote. In a follow up Facebook post, Washington wrote that he and his wife Yasmin met with Vega and the restaurateur apologized to them. My wife and I believe his apology was genuine, Washington wrote. We did, however, emphasize that at this point, this is way bigger than us. The community has rallied behind this and has been vocal in seeking change. Our post began as a simple effort to bring public awareness to a horrible, racist experience, and ended up being shared and commented on more times than we could ever imagine. Washington wrote that, in addition to an apology, they requested that Vega implement implicit bias training throughout the company; post the restaurant's gratuity policy publicly; and work with, support, and donate to Cafe Reconcile, a longtime local nonprofit that uses its own restaurant as a platform to uplift under-privileged youth. +6 At Cafe Reconcile, a new chef, modern soul food and a mission that resonates deep Cafe Reconcile has red beans and rice on Mondays and seafood on Fridays. It has regulars who visit weekly. Sometimes the restaurant is slow, s In his public apology, Vega said that those steps will be taken. At Cafe Reconcile, the inclusion of their mission in this high-profile incident struck executive director Gerald Duhon as an opportunity to address long-simmering issues in the hospitality business. Through its empowerment and job training program, Cafe Reconcile provides mentoring and social services to young people to reconnect them with employment or education. Its interns often work at New Orleans restaurants as part of the program. I feel humbled that the Washingtons would include us in this conversation; we would like to see the industry as a whole become more equitable, said Duhon. New Orleans can be a leader in this. Just like were a leader in cuisine, we can be a leader in how our restaurants treat their staff, and how we treat our customers," he said. "We know that negative business practices, stereotyping people of color - both as guests and employees - are deeply embedded within the industry. We need to ask why this is not a more equitable space. Staff writer Kyle Whitfield contributed to this story. You have permission to edit this article. Edit Close Black credits, such as from loan sharks, could be reduced significantly by promoting consumer finance, photo Le Toan SSI Research has cited information from VPBanks Board of Management that the due diligence process for FE Credit sale has been conducted. FE Credit, Vietnams largest consumer finance firm, is in negotiation with its potential partners, though the discussion progress is somewhat interrupted due to the pandemic. However, VPBank expects the negotiation to be completed in the second quarter of 2021. If the two sides cannot reach a mutual agreement, VPBank would consider an initial public offering (IPO) for FE Credit by the end of this year. Based on the two scenarios, SSIs analysis team gave some assessment on the impact of the sale of FE Credit on VPBanks consolidated financial statements. If VPBank sells a 49-per-cent-stake in FE Credit at a valuation of around four times compared to the book value, the bank can record an after-tax profit of VND21 trillion ($913 million). According to Vietnamese accounting standards, if VPBanks control over FE Credit is maintained by holding 51 per cent of stakes, profit from the above capital sale will not be recognised as revenue. Instead, it will be directly recognised in the retained earnings on the banks balance sheet. With an additional $913 million in capital, VPBank will reduce the dependence on customer deposits, thereby reducing the average cost of capital. After the deal is completed, VPBanks consolidated pre-tax profit is estimated to increase by VND800 billion ($34.8 million) compared to the scenario where there is no capital sale at FE Credit. In 2020, FE Credits pre-tax profwas estimated to reach VND3.713 trillion ($161.43 million), down 16.3 per cent on-year, according to the latest report by VPBank. Meanwhile, HD Saison the consumer finance arm of HDBank and Japans Credit Saison was previously greenlit to switch from a limited liability to a joint-stock company format. The firm is reportedly preparing for an upcoming IPO. Last December, Credit Saison signalled its intention to expand its investment in Southeast Asia, especially Vietnam and Indonesia, with an initial commitment of around $9.6 million for local lenders. Credit Saison will finance such projects as lending to low-income borrowers and microenterprises in a practice known as impact investing. Elsewhere, SHB Finance is actively promoting the non-cash payment economy by co-operating with MasterCard. By partnering with SHB Finance, MasterCard wants to provide the most up-to-date digitalised user experiences to customers. Simultaneously, the company would bolster access to modest-income earners. Do Quang Hien, chairman of SHBs Board, also revealed that the consumer finance company is in the middle of negotiations with a foreign partner. Hoang The Hung, deputy general director of Electricity Finance JSC, said that the companys consumer loan disbursement balance in the past year reached VND1 trillion ($23 million), which failed to meet its target. The major reason lies in its strict loan disbursement to facilitate a better risk management mechanism. Elsewhere, foreign-invested consumer finance companies are laying focus on diversifying disbursement loans approaches. New products introduced over the past year are presenting alternative options for a wider swath of both Vietnamese and foreign customers. For example, Lotte Finance introduces credit cards in cooperation with other foreign banks such as NHB and KB. The firm also boasts several loans such as for cars and learning English with Jaxtina English Center. Mirae Asset Finance, on the other hand, decided to follow through on a broad diversification strategy. The South Korean company offers cash and electronics loan for education and beauty purposes. The loan package for beauty purposes would capitalise on clients who want to undergo plastic surgery. Home Credit, meanwhile, is creating new ways for the consumer finance industry by bolstering its insurance business to help customers alleviate the risks of permanent disability or death. According to the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV), by the end of 2020, the scale of Vietnams consumer finance market came to around VND1.8 quadrillion (over $77.25 billion), accounting for over 20 per cent of outstanding loans in the economy, up 7.4 per cent compared to the end of 2019. Dao Minh Tu, Deputy Governor of the SBV, emphasised in a conference in last month that promoting consumer finance and simplifying procedures for loan applications would be placed as top priority to abolish black credit. In recent years, the SBV and credit institutions in localities have been coordinating with the Ministry of Public Security and local authorities in implementing drastic measures to limit black credit. The SBV will continue improving the awareness of locals about credit policies, loan packages, and procedures for loan applications so that people could easily access bank loans. Meanwhile, the central bank will study and soon complete legal documents to deploy mobile money services in Vietnam while making loans from microfinance institutions easily accessible to citizens and then gradually limit black credit. A potent warm front delivered over 10cm of wet snow to Montreal on Saturday, February 27. The snow caught many by surprise, creating very poor driving conditions during most of the day. PHILADELPHIA, March 2, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Berger Montague PC has filed a Fair Labor Standards Act collective action lawsuit on behalf of Plaintiff Brian Lemm and a proposed class of merchandisers who work or have worked for Premium Retail Services, Inc. The lawsuit, Lemm v. Premium Retail Services, Inc., No. 1:21-cv-00171 (W.D. Mich.), was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan. The lawsuit alleges that Premium Retail knowingly failed to properly pay its merchandising employees for all the time they have worked, violating federal law governing the payment of wages and overtime compensation. Premium Retail is a retail solutions company that provides retail merchandising, strategy, and support to companies throughout the United States. Premium Retail employs merchandisers as non-exempt employees to perform these services for its clients. According to the lawsuit, merchandisers are regularly required to drive between different jobsites during the workday. However, they are not compensated for their travel time even though driving between jobsites is part of the employees' continuous workday. Premium Retail requires merchandisers to clock in and out at each different jobsite. The lawsuit alleges that Premium Retail's systematic practice of not paying merchandisers for their time spent driving between jobsites during the workday deprives them of earned wages including overtime compensation. The lawsuit also alleges that merchandisers routinely work off-the-clock each workweek without pay. Part of merchandisers' job duties include mapping out job assignments, opening and sorting point-of-purchase displays prior to arriving at each jobsite, taking stock of material required by each job assignment, and matching displays with the appropriate project. Premium Retail, however, only pays merchandisers for work performed at the physical retail location jobsites, further depriving them of wages they have rightfully earned. "Merchandisers deserve to be paid for all time worked, including travel time between jobsites," said Camille Fundora Rodriguez, shareholder at Berger Montague PC. "Here, we believe Premium Retail's compensation scheme of not paying merchandisers for travel between jobsites violates federal and state wage and hour laws." Berger Montague urges current or former Premium Retail merchandisers who are interested in joining the lawsuit to contact Ms. Rodriguez at (215) 875-4635 or [email protected]. Berger Montague is a national plaintiffs' class action and complex litigation law firm headquartered in Philadelphia with additional offices in Minneapolis, San Diego, and Washington, D.C. The Firm litigates complex civil cases and class actions in federal and state courts throughout the United States. During its 51-year history, Berger Montague has pioneered the use of class actions and collective actions and recovered over $35 billion for its clients and the class members it has represented. Please Contact Camille F. Rodriguez Shareholder Berger Montague PC (215) 875-4635 [email protected] SOURCE Berger Montague Related Links http://www.bergermontague.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. uschools/iStockBy ALEXANDER MALLIN and LUKE BARR, ABC News (WASHINGTON) -- Testifying in front of Congress for the first time since the Jan. 6 assault on the U.S. Capitol, FBI Director Christopher Wray told lawmakers Tuesday he was "appalled" about the violent attack while defending the bureau's handling of the rising domestic terror threat in recent years. "I was appalled that you, our country's elected leaders were victimized right here in these very halls," Wray said in his opening statement. "That attack, that siege was criminal behavior, plain and simple and his behavior that we, the FBI view as domestic terrorism. It's got no place in our democracy and tolerating it would make a mockery of our nation's rule of law." Wray testified as the bureau faces scrutiny over whether it properly shared intelligence leading up to the assault as well as its broader role in addressing the nation's domestic terror crisis. Wray told the Senate Judiciary Committee the bureau has arrested more than 270 suspects involved in the violent insurrection with more than 300 facing federal charges and more being identified every day. He called the American public the FBI's "greatest partner" in the investigation with more than 270,000 digital media tips sent to agents so far. More broadly, the FBI director said that there are 2,000 domestic terrorism investigations, up from almost 1,000 when he first started in 2017. Pressed by Judiciary Committee Chairman Dick Durbin whether the Capitol attack involved white supremacists, Wray said the majority of the people arrested could be categorized as militia extremists. "We at the FBI don't tend to think of violent extremism in terms of right, left, that's not a spectrum that we look at. What I would say is that it is clear .... a large and growing number of the people that we have arrested so far in the connection with the 6th are what we would call militia violent extremists ... and some already who emerged that I would have been in the racially motivated extremist bucket," he explained. The director said it is getting harder and harder to identify the motives of domestic extremists, but added that racially motivated extremist cases are "the biggest chunk of our domestic terrorism caseload overall." "And the most lethality over the last decade has been from these same extremists. The things that drive these people, I think range. One of the things that we struggle with in particular is that more and more the ideologies, if you will, that are motivating some of these violent extremists are less and less coherent, less and less linear, less and less easy to kind of pin down," adding it could be "a little bit of this and a little bit of that" with some personal grievance added in. He said at the moment there is no indication that any antifa members participated in the Capitol assault as some Republicans have suggested. The FBI director said the smallest, but the most serious, group that attempted to disrupt Congress were domestic terrorists. "The smallest group numerically, but by far and away the most serious group. are those who ... breached the Capitol grounds, who engaged in violence against law enforcement who attempted to disrupt the members of Congress in the conduct of their constitutional responsibilities and of those, some of those people, clearly came to Washington, we now know, with plans and intentions to engage in the worst kind of violence, we would consider domestic terrorism," he said. Wray told lawmakers that the FBI has been "sounding the alarm" about the rising domestic terror threat for "a number of years now." "Whenever we've had the chance we've tried to emphasize that this is a top concern and remained so for the FBI," Wray said. "The FBI will not tolerate agitators and extremists who plan or committed violence. Period. And that goes for violent extremists, of any stripe." When Durbin asked Wray about the situation report from the FBI field office in Norfolk on Jan. 5 that warned of individuals plotting "war" on Jan. 6, with specific intelligence about a potential attack on the Capitol, Wray said that the intelligence was shared three different ways: with local law enforcement and Capitol Police in an email to the Joint Terrorism Task Force, then verbally communicated by the FBI's command post in the bureau's Washington field office, and was then shared through a portal accessible by law enforcement around the country. Wray emphasized, as did former Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund at a congressional hearing last week, that the information was "raw" and "unverified" and said the information sharing process was consistent with the bureau's normal procedures. At the same time, he revealed he hadn't seen the report until after the 6th. Sund argued his force was not properly alerted by law enforcement and intelligence agencies about specific threats to the Capitol in advance of the attack and that he personally wasn't privy to the information from the FBI Norfolk field office. Robert Contee, acting chief of the Metropolitan Police Department, said last week that his phone is on 24/7 and is available to take any call and the fact that the FBI bulletin from Norfolk came through email after 7 p.m. is not excusable. Wray was not able to explain when pressed multiple times by lawmakers why the Norfolk field office's situational report is so far the only specific intel known to have been shared by the FBI prior to the Jan. 6 attack and why the bureau seemingly wasn't able to pick up on the extensive chatter among groups beforehand from individuals intent on committing violence. When Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar asked whether FBI could have done more in its intel sharing in advance of the Capitol attack, Wray conceded, "I do not consider what happened on Jan. 6 to be an acceptable result, and that's why we're looking so hard at figuring out how the process can be improved. ... We're gonna keep working to get better." Wray also said that people who were on an FBI watchlist were visited by agents to check in before they were set to travel to Washington to participate in the Capitol. "In a number of instances, we had agents in their home states or home cities approach those individuals, interview them and even if we didn't have a basis to charge somebody, it dissuaded a number of those people from traveling," he explained. Durbin opened the hearing by playing a video with footage of the violent episodes from the Capitol assault that included multiple excerpts from an ABC News exclusive interview Chief Justice Correspondent Pierre Thomas did with Capitol Police Officer Harry Dunn. "The hate on display that terrible day is not a new phenomenon in our country," Durbin said, after the emotional video ended with the audio of Dunn asking, "Is this America?" Copyright 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. I've been a reporter and editor at Missouri community newspapers for 35 years and joined the Columbia Missourian in 2003. My emphasis at the Missourian is on local government and elections. You can reach me at swaffords@missouri.edu or at 573-884-5366. Follow this search 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. Save Manage followed notifications Close Followed notifications Please log in to use this feature Log In Don't have an account? Sign Up Today WILTON With more people likely continuing to work from home even after the pandemic, the first selectman says ensuring the town has reliable cell and broadband service will be a key component to the 2022 fiscal year budget. The $33.9 million budget request is a 3.12 percent or $1,0278,762 increase from the 2021 fiscal year budget. First Selectwoman Lynne Vanderslice said the proposed budget has three specific goals. First, it aims to provide continued efforts to provide quality services at the lowest possible cost, she said. Next, it provides a continuation for efforts to ensure health and safety throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Finally, it looked to increase investment across multiple areas of need. Vanderslice outlined the budget breakdowns for investment into specific sectors. She detailed the need to invest in technological advancements for the town to provide better service to residents, investing in infrastructure and master planning which is being discussed at Planning and Zoning Commission meetings regarding Wilton Town Center and the need to explore new options for improving cell and broadband service in town. More and more has had to be done online, Vanderslice said of residents transition to working and schooling from home during the pandemic. There have been realizations that employees can work from home. She also pointed out companies are beginning to downsize their commercial footprint despite having to distance workers further apart in the workplace. The likely direction that businesses are headed, she said, will result in more residents opting to work from home for at least two to three business days each week. That will continue to increase the need for reliable broadband and cell service. In fact, the selectmen plan to allot $100,000 toward consultants for broadband, cell and infrastructure upgrades in the town for the 2022 budget. Wilton continues to work with the Western Connecticut Council of Governments, which has been pressing the state to take a more active role with internet and cable providers and expand broadband services, according to a release by Vanderslice on Jan. 18. Director of Land Use Management and Town Planner Michael Wrinn, Town Counsel Ira Bloom and Vanderslice also served last year as members of a WestCOG Task Force, which developed recommendations and practices for Connecticut communities to prepare for and facilitate 5G expansion. The first selectwoman also said she has been meeting regularly with local first selectmen in surrounding communities to discuss the possibility of a municipal broadband system. Other new initiatives during the proposed FY2022 budget include master planning, digitizing the Inlands Wetland and Watercourses mapping, the Norwalk River Valley Trail summer cleanup and further social services. Drivers of increase from the last budget to the 2022 proposed budget include wage increases at 1.2 percent and pandemic related spillover costs at 0.30 percent. As it stands, the operating capital request for FY2022 has increased significantly to $1.27 million. Vanderslice did, however, state this operating capital total can be forward for up to five years after the initial budget year it was introduced. That money is not always spent in the initial year budget, she said. Selectmen submitted questions on the budget. Vanderslice addressed Selectman Ross Tartells question if the budget went far enough to address the stark changes derived from the effects of the pandemic in 2020. Vanderslices answer was centered around the budgets focus on the towns appeal. Businesses and residents have been attracted to Wilton because of strong schools, central location, nature environment, low traffic and laid-back nature, Vanderslice stated in her response to Tartell before addressing the budgets focus on shifting priority and capital to areas that will make a large influence on the lives of residents moving forward, including in technology and the shifting business world. This was recognized as a high priority when we developed our Plan of Conservation and Development. When prompted about the feasibility of certain sustainability upgrades in the budget, including for the town to acquire hybrid and electric municipal vehicles, Department of Public Works Director Chis Burney said the immediate need wasnt quite there yet. The number of miles our vehicles do is about 3,000 to 5,000 miles a year, Burney said. It just doesnt make much sense right now. He did say the towns DPW vehicles were older, however, the department cycles vehicles each year to not put a stress on the budget. Selectwoman Deborah McFadden asked if there were any preliminary bonding items that Vanderslice could disclose. The first selectwoman said there are placeholders for an emergency radio system for $2.6 million and $1.6 million for ladder trucks for the fire department before she asked John Lynch, chief of police, and Jim Blanchfield, fire chief, to provide more context. We have a (communications) system that we maintain and update, but, the system we have now has reached its end, Lynch said. The police chief explained the radio system is not reliable. We can either jump in with the state, Lynch said before saying it would cost the town $4 million. The next option would be upgrading the current system. The latter would cost roughly $2.6 million. Lynch said he would be open to hiring a consultant in an attempt to save the town money. The police chief also clarified the project would not include the installation of any new towers in town, but rather the installation of antennas for emergency communications capabilities on existing towers. Blanchfield added that half of the fire departments mutual aid partners in surrounding towns were moving towards joining with the state communication system while the other half were upgrading themselves. The budget is an opus, Tartell said, citing that he believed the 2022 proposed budget was more well thought-out than the previous year. Supermarket giant Woolworths has abandoned a controversial trial of cashless stores following complaints from shoppers who still want to use notes and coins to buy their groceries. The trial, which started in June and spread to 14 metro stores across Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane, was spruiked as a way to make shopping as seamless as possible for busy inner-city customers. Woolworths has ditched a trial of cashless stores following a barrage of complaints from customers. Credit:Dallas Kilponen However, it was met with fierce opposition from some shoppers who said it was wrong for the stores to turn down their notes and coins. I refuse to shop at any of your card-only places, one customer wrote on Woolworths Facebook page. Cash is legal tender and I do not support the cash ban and will take my money elsewhere. Francesca Paris is The Eagle's data and public records reporter. She was previously the North Adams reporter. A California native and Williams College alumna, she has worked at NPR in Washington, D.C. and WBUR in Boston. Find her on Twitter at @fparises. Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-02 00:24:37|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close BEIJING, March 1 (Xinhua) -- China watchers worldwide have spoken highly of a new report, titled "Chinese Poverty Alleviation Studies: A Political Economy Perspective," on deciphering the country's latest anti-poverty accomplishments, saying it is very inspiring for other countries. The report, drawing on Chinese President Xi Jinping's discourses on poverty alleviation as ideological and theoretical foundations, decodes the "winning formula" in China's anti-poverty fight, explores the rationale behind the fight and its global implications. The report, released by New China Research (NCR), the think tank of Xinhua News Agency, gives a "very detailed and systematic explanation of" how China made the achievements in eradicating absolute poverty last year. "The most important reason, I think, is the unified leadership of the CPC (Communist Party of China), which ensures the longevity of China's poverty alleviation policy," said Chea Monyrith, president of the Chinese Cambodian Evolution Researcher Association. Sonia Bressler, a French writer and sinologist, also believed that China's anti-privation practices have brought inspiration to the rest of the world, noting that China's multiple five-year plans have demonstrated the country's continuous implementation of its poverty reduction policies, which are in the interests of its people. The newly-released report is a refined summary of China's rich experience in battling impoverishment, which are development-oriented and put much emphasis on improving the labor skills of the population in poverty-stricken areas, according to Sithixay Xayavong, director of the Chinese Studies Center at National University of Laos. Over the years, foreign scholars have been trying to decipher the "code" of poverty alleviation in China. Their views can be summarized as "5Ds"-- Determined Leadership, Detailed Blueprint, Development Oriented, Data-based Governance and Decentralized Delivery, according to the report. The publication of the report showcases China's willingness to share its development concepts and the "5Ds" well explains the country's experience in alleviating deprivation, which is worth learning by countries facing the challenge of fighting destitution, according to Egna Sidumo, a senior researcher at the International Strategic Studies Center of Joaquim Chissano University in Mozambique. Asked about what economic and social theory could be proven effective in China's efforts to eliminate poverty, renowned British economist Jim O'Neill, chairman of the London-based think tank Chatham House, said it might be "due to a combination" of industrialization, especially urbanization, welcoming integration to the world trade system, including participation in foreign direction investment, and clear prioritization and commitment from the Chinese government. China's removal of up to 700 million people from poverty is "the work of a nation committed to its people," according to Stephen Perry, chairman of Britain's 48 Group Club. Asked about what the experience other nations could learn from China in poverty reduction, Perry highlighted the significant role played by the policy of reform and opening up, which have been implemented for more than four decades and is being reinforced currently. "Building exports to pay for the work was key. China had to develop significant growth. It did and it went primarily to enabling the people to escape poverty," Perry noted. Enditem (Xinhua writers Mao Pengfei in Phnom Penh, Sun Xiaoling in London, Tang Ji in Paris, Nie Zuguo in Mozambique and Zhang Jianhua in Vientiane also contributed to the story.) Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. China and the United States should remove all barriers to travel between the two countries if the United States achieves herd immunity for COVID-19 with 90% of its population vaccinated, potentially by August, a Chinese epidemiologist has said. The United States is the worst-hit nation in the world by case count, with nearly 30 million infections so far, though new cases have been declining. As of Sunday, 15% of the US population has received at least one dose of a vaccine. "By August it could be reach 90% to reach herd immunity, so if that's the case, if we could remove all political barriers, just based on the science, the two countries could possibly be the first two countries to remove all barriers for free travel," Wu Zunyou, chief epidemiologist of China's Center for Diseases Prevention and Control, said on Monday. China has COVID-19 largely under control, with relatively small clusters of new local infections in recent months. No new community cases have been reported in mainland China since late January. "China is the safest country in the world in terms of COVID-19," Wu told an online forum organised by Tsinghua University and the Brookings Institution, a U.S. think tank. Wu said he hoped the vaccination rate in the United States could reach over 80% by June. China, with a population of around 1.4 billion, has administered 40.5 million doses as of Feb. 9. Also read: You may fly cheap on domestic flights soon; here's how Subscriber content preview SEATTLE A small apartment building at 4735 Ravenna Ave. N.E. sold for $2.3 million, according to King County records. The seller was Galbraith Apartments LLC, which had acquired the property in 1987 for about $162,000. . . . Gandhinagar, March 2 : Capturing six Municipal Corporations, the BJP is on a winning streak, with a vastly improved performance over its 2015 debacle in the local body elections. But this victory chariot was dented by a technicality in the Ahmedabad district Panchayats results. Despite having a majority in the body, the BJP will have to stay content with a Congress president. Despite having a big victory across all the local bodies in the state, the BJP saw a big setback in Ahmedabad. In spit of securing a majority in the Ahmedabad district panchayat, the president of the district panchayat will have to be from the Congress, as the post of the president, district Panchayat is dedicated to an ST councilor. The Congress candidate Paruben Padhar has won the Shahpur seat of the district panchayat, a reserved seat. Meanwhile on Tuesday the BJP's juggernaut moved all across the state by leading in 31 out of 31 district panchayats and in 185 seats in Taluka (Tehsil) Panchayats. The BJP was ahead in 71 out of 81 seats of municipalities, while the Congress was leading on just five. The Congress was trailing behind with leads in only 34 seats in the Municipalities. However, the victory juggernaut of the BJP was blocked by a defeat through the Congress' Hand in Dahod municipality. Kaid Chunawala, who was denied a ticket by the BJP, won on Congress ticket from Dahod Municipal Ward No. 3 for the fourth time in a row. With this, the Congress panel has won from the Dahod Municipality.A In the Rajkot district panchayat, the Congress has conceded power to the BJP, as the latter won 25 out of 36 seats while the Congress managed to save just 11 seats.A The BJP has also secured a majority in Mandvi municipality where it won 14 seats out of 24. The Congress won 3 seats. The counting for seven seats is still in progress. In Porbandar, the BJP has swept the polls by winning 12 seats. Sharon Swinhoe, 52, was serving a minimum of 25-years for murder A woman who murdered her retired civil servant ex-boyfriend and stuffed his body in a freezer has died after testing positive for Covid-19 in jail. Sharon Swinhoe, 52, was serving a minimum of 25-years for battering to death Peter McMahon and gouging his eyes out in the 2012 attack. Swinhoe and former lover Joseph Collins, then 54, killed the 68-year-old pensioner in Swinhoe's flat in Newcastle. The body was then moved in a suitcase to Collins' flat in Elswick, Newcastle, where they hid it in his freezer. The pair then plundered Mr McMahon's bank account of thousands of pounds. Police discovered the victim's mutilated body in the second-hand chest freezer in December 2012. Swinhoe had called 999 and tried to blame the killing on Collins. The pair were found guilty of murder at Newcastle Crown Court in July 2013 after a six week trial. Collins was sentenced to a minimum of 20-years in jail. A second man, Ronald Douglas, 77, also a former lover of Swinhoe, admitted helping move the body. Swinhoe battered Peter McMahon, 68, (pictured) to death and gouged his eyes out in the 2012 attack He was sentenced to four years for conspiracy to pervert the course of justice. Swinhoe died on February 23 after contracting coronavirus at New Hall jail in Flockton, West Yorkshire. She had been transferred from the all-women prison to a nearby hospital suffering from multi-organ failure. A Prison Service spokesperson said: HMP New Hall prisoner Sharon Swinhoe died in hospital on 23 February. "The Prisons and Probation Ombudsman has been informed. The Prison Service said it could not confirm the cause of death which was a matter for the coroner. Swinhoe died on the February 23 after contracting coronavirus at New Hall jail in Flockton, West Yorkshire (pictured) Swinhoe killed Peter McMahon with the help of Joseph Collins (left), then 54. Ronald Douglas, then 77, (right) admitted conspiracy to pervert the course of justice Newcastle Crown Court was told that Mr McMahon was last seen alive on 18 October 2012 when he took a taxi to the home of Swinhoe, with whom he had been having a relationship. His body was found six weeks later on the 1st December in the chest freezer in Collins's flat. A post-mortem examination revealed he had suffered a number of injuries, including gouging to the eyes. During the trial, twice-married Mr McMahon was described as being besotted with Swinhoe, who was 24 years his junior. He would buy her presents and she was described by the prosecution as seeing Mr McMahon as a sugar daddy. Swinhoe and Collins were assisted by another of her boyfriends, Ronald Douglas (pictured front left with them) Prior to his body being discovered Mr McMahons son phoned from New Zealand to tell his father he had become a grandfather. Swinhoe answered the call and said he could not come to the phone because he was sleeping - despite it being early evening. Jailing Swinhoe, Mr Justice Globe said at the time that she appeared to show no remorse for the killing, adding: 'You appear to care more about the rats you kept as pets than the man who loved you and asked to marry you and bought you an 1,100 engagement ring. 'Peter McMahon was a well-liked respected, generous, mature man living comfortably on his two pensions in the Newcastle area. 'In common with the two men sitting alongside you Sharon Swinhoe, his downfall was that he fell victim to your charm that has attracted men to you like magnets. 'Ultimately he fell victim to your much more sinister, controlling and violent personality.' More than 2,600 found in her flat after the murder must be repaid to the family, the judge ordered. The trio in the lift at Collins' flat on the night the body is believed to have been moved there (pictured) After the case Detective Chief Inspector Paul Young said: 'Peter McMahon was a decent, hard-working man who was looking forward to becoming a grandfather. 'Swinhoe and Collins targeted him for financial gain, preying on his generosity and then plundering his bank accounts after his death. 'Mr McMahon believed they were his friends, but they brutally murdered him and then conspired with Ronald Douglas to cover up their crime by hiding the body and denying responsibility.' In a statement, Mr McMahons family described Swanhoe as 'cruel, calculated and cold hearted. The statement said: 'He (Mr McMahon) will be greatly missed by his family and friends. 'It is particularly tragic that he not only had his life taken from him, but that these people showed utter disrespect for it afterwards. 'He was also denied the chance to learn he had become a grandfather which he had always dearly wanted. 'We still cant believe that anybody could be so cruel, calculated and cold hearted against our dad. 'Rest in peace dad.' The family thanked Northumbria Police and the CPS for bringing Mr McMahon's killers to justice. Following the verdict, Gerry Sydenham, head of the Crown Court Unit at CPS North East, said: 'It is clear from the evidence in this case that Swinhoe manipulated Peter McMahon in the same way that she manipulated the two men who would later assist her in his murder and the disposal of his body. 'It is evident that Peter had genuine affection for Swinhoe but she chose to exploit those feelings and, on October 18 last year, she led Peter to believe that he was leaving his home to rekindle their relationship. The truth is that she was leading him to his eventual death. 'After the murder, Swinhoe and Collins showed not a scrap of remorse. 'Their every action from that point was a calculated attempt to evade justice, including their inhuman treatment of Mr McMahons remains and the web of lies they told, both to Peters family and to police. 'Ultimately, the only thing that they have achieved through their despicable actions is to prolong the suffering of Peters family and friends. 'I am pleased with the sentences passed today and I would hope that they give some measure of comfort to those who knew Peter McMahon at what must be a very difficult time for them.' It is too soon to make plans for so-called vaccine passports, Irish health officials have said, despite moves being made at a European level to establish such a scheme. Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, yesterday announced she will present plans for a Covid-19 vaccination passport on March 17. The 'digital green pass' will include information on whether someone has received a Covid-19 vaccination, has been tested, or contracted the virus, and could see Europeans able to travel more freely by the summer. Hopes for travel reopening The aim is to gradually enable them to move safely in the European Union or abroad for work or tourism, Ms von der Leyen said, sparking hopes of increased international travel in the months ahead. However, deputy chief medical officer (CMO) Dr Ronan Glynn quickly poured cold water on the prospect, claiming it is "too early at this point to discuss the utility of it". Irish officials will be part of the discussions, but Dr Glynn said he anticipates some form of restrictions to be in place until the end of the year. Ursula von der Leyen, photographed on a visit to Ireland in January 2020, announced yesterday that she will present plans for a Europe-wide Covid passport on St Patrick's Day. However, Irish health officials have poured cold water on the plan. Picture: Leah Farrell/RollingNews.ie Due to the pace of the vaccine rollout, a Covid passport is not an urgent issue here, he said. Travel ban and quarantine In terms of travel in Ireland at present, the focus is on incoming travel, with the justice minister set to bring a memo to cabinet this morning to ban visas from all countries that currently require mandatory quarantine, while the Seanad yesterday passed the legislation for hotel quarantining, which will now go to the President to be signed into law. In terms of reopening society, in the coming weeks, a report on rapid antigen testing will be presented to Cabinet, Dr Glynn said. The Irish Examiner reported on Monday that a Cabinet memo outlined plans to use 15-minute antigen tests as part of the moves to reopen society. Professor Mark Ferguson is in the beginning stages of the report and it is not due to be presented to the minister until mid-March, health officials said. Rebooting the economy As part of their efforts to reboot the economy in the months ahead, the Government is to apply for 850m in funding under the European Recovery and Resilience Fund. Spending priority will be given to projects that create jobs, drive balanced regional development, and can be completed in less than five years. The Cabinet committee for economic recovery met yesterday to discuss the economic programme for the coming months, with a focus on green and digital issues on the agenda. The Government will publish a stability programme update next month, the national recovery and resilience plan will be published before the end of May, and the national economic plan, the revised national development plan, and the climate action plan will be published by June. Oregon small business owners who have struggled to pay their rent during the coronavirus pandemic can apply for help from the state beginning Monday, March 8. Small business owners with 100 or fewer employees will be able to apply together with their landlords for money to cover outstanding rent through the states new $100 million commercial rent relief program. Landlords must complete the initial application, but both the businesses and property owners need to participate in the application process and sign the grant agreement in order to qualify for funding. Business Oregon, the states economic development agency, is administering the program. It will award grants of up to $100,000 per business tenant for a maximum of $3 million going to each landlord. The grants must bring the business owners current on their rent payments. Landlords will also be required to sign an agreement forgiving any outstanding penalties or interest and ensuring that their tenants wont be evicted. This new funding comes at a critical time to bring small businesses out of accumulated debt caused by the pandemic, said Chris Cummings, Business Oregon interim director, in a statement. With improving COVID-19 numbers and us all doing our part to curb the spread, we can get businesses operating again. This program lets them get going with a little less weight on their shoulders. The Oregon Legislatures Emergency Board voted to seed the fund in January. At the time, Business Oregon hoped to launch the program in February, but it took the agency longer than anticipated to work out the details of the new fund. That has left small business owners who have struggled to keep up on their rent payments in a state of uncertainty. Oregon lawmakers voted in December to extend the states residential eviction moratorium through June for renters experiencing hardships, but the state has not had a commercial eviction ban in place since the end of September. Businesses have until March 31 to pay back their outstanding rent, which may have prevented an onslaught of commercial evictions in the months since the moratorium expired. But business owners who are unable to access help through the new commercial rent relief program could begin facing evictions in April. It is unlikely that the $100 million in commercial assistance will be enough to meet the needs of businesses that have struggled to keep up with their rent during the pandemic. Many Oregon businesses have been struggling for their survival since last March. Certain businesses, including gyms, restaurants and bars, have been shut down or required to limit operations multiple times throughout the pandemic as the state has announced revolving coronavirus restrictions. The state has loosened those restrictions recently in many Oregon counties due to declining COVID-19 cases, but businesses that are open are still operating with enhanced safety requirements and limited capacity rules. Business Oregon and other local government agencies across the state have launched numerous grant programs over the last year to help small businesses impacted by the pandemic, while the federal government has offered some relief through the Paycheck Protection Program and other Small Business Administration grants and loans. Oregons emergency small business grant program helped 7,500 small businesses last year with $43 million in grants. However, many of those grant programs, especially those at the local and state level, have been extremely competitive and many businesses have missed out on funding. The new commercial rent relief program is the first statewide fund that specifically offers rent relief to small business owners and their landlords. Business Oregon will keep the application process open for two weeks. The agency will distribute $50 million during the first round of funding before opening the application process for a second round in late April. Eligible applicants who dont receive funding during the first round will automatically be considered with any new applicants during the second round. Oregon is aiming to ensure that grants are distributed equitably across the state. Grantees in each area will be chosen through a lottery system. Business owners and landlords can learn more about the program on Business Oregons website. -- Jamie Goldberg | jgoldberg@oregonian.com | @jamiebgoldberg Athens, GA (30605) Today A mix of clouds and sun during the morning will give way to cloudy skies this afternoon. High 84F. Winds light and variable.. Tonight Partly cloudy this evening with more clouds for overnight. Low 61F. Winds light and variable. You have permission to edit this article. Edit Close A number of influential Senate Democrats want to take some of the uncertainty out of the countrys COVID recovery by setting key programs to continue sending families money as long as the economy stays weak. On Tuesday morning, the group sent a letter to President Joe Biden encouraging him to include recurring cash payments and automatic unemployment insurance extensions, both tied to the state of the economy, as part of his next major recovery proposal, which the White House and Congress will likely turn their attention to once they wrap up the $1.9 trillion relief bill now in the works. Advertisement This crisis is far from over, and families deserve certainty that they can put food on the table and keep a roof over their heads, the letter states. Families should not be at the mercy of constantly-shifting legislative timelines and ad hoc solutions. The missive was signed by Sens. Ron Wyden, Bernie Sanders, and Sherrod Brown, who chair the Senates important banking, finance, and budget committees, along with several of their colleagues in the chamber. Advertisement Advertisement While the U.S. economic response to COVID has been large by global standards, it has also often been haphazard, in large part because lawmakers have had to negotiate new, last-minute relief bills every time important programs for the unemployed and small businesses were set to lapse. Last summer, key jobless benefits expired while Democrats and Republicans found themselves locked in a showdown about issues such as whether to provide aid to state and local governments, leaving families to guess whether the government would ever deliver them more economic aid. Advertisement Throughout the crisis, a number of Democrats have suggested it would be more reasonable to just set certain programs on so-called automatic triggers, so that theyd continue delivering support as needed. Wyden released a bill with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer that would have tied unemployment benefits to the jobless rate, and followed up with another in December. Likewise, the partys progressive wing has long called for regular rounds of checks for households. But there has been some question about whether those ideas would still command support after Democrats took control of the Senate, giving them the ability to craft new relief bills as they went along, without partisan Sturm und Drang or the inherent uncertainty of having an erratic and distractible reality TV host in the White House. The new letter shows that interest in the idea of setting recovery programs on automatic is still very alive. Advertisement It also raises the question of whether Democrats might be willing to consider using automatic triggers as a permanent recession-fighting tool, or at least a semipermanent one. This is an idea that caught fire in certain wonky D.C. circles thanks to a book called Recession Ready, which argued that the U.S. could avoid repeating the mistakes that prolonged our recovery from the 2008 financial crisis by setting things like aid to states, cash payments to families, and unemployment extensions on autopilot, so that theyd kick in when the jobless rate rose. (One of the books editors, Heather Boushey, now serves on Bidens Council of Economic Advisers.) Before the coronavirus crisis hit, both Wyden and Colorados Michael Bennet, who also backed Thursdays letter, were working on legislation that would have linked unemployment benefits to the state of the economy. But its unclear how many of the letters backers are interested in putting automatic triggers in place long-term. A Democratic aide told me the letter was written to accommodate senators who think triggers should be permanent policy and those who believe these programs triggers should be temporary but long-lasting for the duration of recovery from this crisis. As another aide noted to me, it may be difficult to put triggers in place permanently using the budget reconciliation process, which Democrats are relying on to pass legislation without a filibuster, because of how their impact on the deficit would be scored. Advertisement Advertisement Still, the fact that Democratic leaders have stuck with this idea is encouraging. As I wrote at length in July, putting basic recession-fighting tools on autopilot so that we can count on them to kick in when disaster strikes is far more sensible than relying on whoever happens to be in Congress to reinvent the wheel by negotiating a new deal each time the country needs a fiscal response. But its also, frankly, a slightly boring idea that would take a lot of foresight to actually accomplish. Thankfully, it appears that at least some Democrats are starting to look ahead. FBI Director Christopher Wray arrives to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee on the January 6th insurrection, in the Hart Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill in Washington, on March 2, 2021. (Mandel Ngan/Pool via Reuters) Jan. 6 Capitol Breach Was Domestic Terrorism, Says FBI Director Update: Sicknick died of natural causes, according to the chief medical examiner for Washington. FBI Director Christopher Wray described the breach of the Capitol on Jan. 6 as domestic terrorism during a Senate panel hearing on Tuesday. Its got no place in our democracy and tolerating it would make a mockery of our nations rule of law, Wray told senators. That siege was criminal behavior plain and simple and its behavior that wethe FBIviews as domestic terrorism. The FBI, however, did not have credible threat reports of a pre-planned attack on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, he told lawmakers. Wray and other law enforcement agencies have faced criticism and questions for why authorities were so unprepared for the breach. The acting chief of the Capitol Police said that a Jan. 5 report from the FBI was handed to investigators in the police force and to the agencys intelligence unit but wasnt sent up the chain of command. In the hearing, Wray continued to say that so far, 300 people have been arrested by the FBI and other law enforcement agencies. More people are being charged with crimes related to the Capitol breach nearly every day, he added. January 6th was not an isolated event, the FBI chief remarked. The problem of domestic terrorism has been metastasizing. Wray cited alleged militia violent extremism as well as racially motivated violent extremism, but he added that FBI does not consider the Proud Boys a domestic terrorist group Going a step further, Wray asserted that it is a top concern and remains so for the FBI, adding that domestic terrorism is comparable to al-Qaeda and the ISIS terrorist groups. Later, he noted that domestic terrorism arrests have increased for militia extremists, racially motivated extremists, and anarchist extremists. Several people died in relation to the Jan. 6 protest, including supporters of former President Donald Trump and Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick, who died the next day. Early reports from the New York Times and other outlets claimed Sicknick was killed by a Trump supporter armed with a fire extinguisher before those reports were updated or retracted. Sicknicks mother told news outlets last month that she believed he may have suffered from a stroke. Wray told senators that in the midst of an FBI investigation, Sicknicks cause of death has not yet been determined. And for whether there were foreign actors involved, Wray told senators that its possible, but we havent seen any evidence of that. As the congressional push to root out alleged domestic extremists expands, more than 150 human rights organizations called on Congress not to expand the proposed expansion of terrorism-related legal authority. We urge you to oppose any new domestic terrorism charge, the creation of a list of designated domestic terrorist organizations, or other expansion of existing terrorism-related authorities. We are concerned that a new federal domestic terrorism statute or list would adversely impact civil rights, said the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights in a letter to Congress several weeks ago. Former New York Times journalist Glenn Greenwald issued a more dire warning in mid-January, saying that the war on domestic extremism could essentially criminalize any oppositional ideology to the ruling class, adding that there is literally nothing that could be more dangerous, and its not fear-mongering or alarmism to say it. Speaking to Fox News, Greenwald said he hopes the crackdown will expose the mistaken view that the way to understand Washington is Democrat versus Republican, and that you side with one team and believe they are on your side in defending your interests, and the other team is your enemy. China created more than 200 billionaires last year as a booming stock market and a slew of new company listings offset the damage caused by the Covid pandemic. The Hurun Global Rich List showed that 259 Chinese broke into the billion-dollar club in 2020, more than the rest of the world combined and taking the country to a total of 1,058 billionaires - the first to break the 1,000 mark. By comparison, the US created just 70 new billionaires last year bringing its overall total to 696. China - the country where Covid first emerged and which has been accused of covering up its early spread, leading to the pandemic - has seen its economy boom while the rest of the world's finances have been hammered by the disease. China created 259 billionaires in 2020, more than the rest of the world combined and led by Zhong Shanshan (left) who topped the rich-list with a wealth of $85billion. Colin Huang (right) was one of just three billionaires to add more than $50billion to their wealth in 2020 The country was the only major world economy to grow at all last year, with GDP up by 2.3 per cent. The US shrank 3.7 per cent, Germany was down 5 per cent, and the UK by 11 per cent. That growth helped create new billionaires, with Zhong Shanshan of bottled water giant Nongfu leading the pack - becoming China's richest man after overtaking Jack Ma, who fell foul of Chinese leadership over the last 12 months. Shanshan is worth an estimated $85billion after his drinks brand - which sells tea, coffee and juices as well as red-labeled bottles of water - went public. Zhong, a former construction worker, made his cash following a $1.1 billion initial public offering in Hong Kong last year. Meanwhile a clampdown on ecommerce giant Alibaba saw tycoon Jack Ma fall down the pecking order. The one-time darling of China's entrepreneurs came under pressure from regulators, who have reigned in Alibaba and fintech arm Ant Group on anti-trust issues. China, the country where Covid first emerged, was the only major world economy to record growth last year while others were hammered trying to deal with the pandemic Three individuals globally added more than $50 billion in a single year, the survey found: Tesla's Elon Musk, Amazon's Jeff Bezos and Colin Huang of Pinduoduo, one of China's fastest-growing ecommerce players. Huang is now worth an estimated $60billion, putting him seventh on China's rich-list and 57th globally. Overall, China continues to lead the world's wealth creation, Hurun's report said, adding 490 new billionaires in the past five years compared with the 160 added in the US. Hurun Report chairman Rupert Hoogewerf said that even with the pandemic chaos, the past year saw the biggest wealth increase of the past decade due to new listings and booming stock markets. 'Asia has, for the first time in perhaps hundreds of years, more billionaires than the rest of the world combined,' he added. The report also flagged a shift in Hong Kong, pointing out that the city's entrepreneurs are now being 'dwarfed' by their counterparts in the mainland - only three Hong Kong tycoons make it into the China top 50. Six of the world's top 10 cities with the highest concentration of billionaires are now in China, with Beijing top of the heap for the sixth year running. Economists now believe that China will overtake America to become the world's largest economy by 2028. Economists now think that China's economy will out-grow the US by 2028, thanks in part to the pandemic which 'tipped the scales in its favor' (pictured, tables comparing the size of the US and Chinese economies through the years, top and bottom) A study from the Centre for Economics and Business Research said the Covid-19 pandemic and the corresponding economic fallout had tipped China's economic rivalry with the US 'in China's favour'. Meanwhile China has used the pandemic crisis to cement its position as a player on the world stage, offering half a billion doses of its Covid vaccines to 45 countries to help them recover - including in the US's back-yard of South America. Chile took delivery of the jabs in late January, in a move hailed by the country's president Sebastian Pinera as 'a day of joy, emotion and hope'. Inoculations with Chinese vaccines have begun in more than 25 countries, and the shots have been delivered to another 11, according to an Associated Press tally. It's a potential face-saving coup for China, which has been determined to transform itself from an object of mistrust over its initial mishandling of the COVID-19 outbreak to a savior. 'We're seeing certainly real-time vaccine diplomacy start to play out, with China in the lead in terms of being able to manufacture vaccines within China and make them available to others,' said Krishna Udayakumar, founding director of the Duke Global Health Innovation Center at Duke University. China has said it is supplying 'vaccine aid' to 53 countries and exports to 27, but it rejected a request by the AP for the list. Beijing has denied vaccine diplomacy, and a Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson said China considered the vaccine a 'global public good.' Chinese experts reject any connection between the export of its vaccines and the revamping of its image. China has used the pandemic to export vaccines to 45 other countries, including the Philippines where members of the military are being inoculated with its jabs (pictured) China has targeted the low- and middle-income countries largely left behind as rich nations scooped up most of the pricey vaccines produced by the likes of Pfizer and Moderna. And despite a few delays of its own, China has largely capitalized on slower-than-hoped-for deliveries by U.S. and European vaccine makers. Like many other countries, Chile received far fewer doses of the Pfizer vaccine than first promised. Chinese company Sinovac acted quickly, sending in 4 million doses. The choices are limited for Chile and many other low- and middle-income countries. Vaccine deployment globally has been dominated by rich nations, which have snapped up 5.4 billion of the 7.8 billion doses purchased worldwide, according to Duke University. China's vaccines, which can be stored in standard refrigerators, are attractive to many countries that may struggle to accommodate the ultracold storage needs of vaccines like Pfizer's. Sinovac and Sinopharm rely on a traditional technology in which a live virus is killed and then purified, triggering an immune response. Some countries view it as safer than the newer, less-proven technology used by some Western competitors that targets the coronavirus' spike protein, despite the lack of publicly available safety data on the Chinese vaccines. In Europe, China is providing the vaccine to countries such as Serbia and Hungary - a significant geopolitical victory in Central Europe and the Balkans, where the West, China and Russia are competing for political and economic influence. Hungary is the first EU country to use a Chinese vaccine. Aegis Graham Bell Awards (AGBA) is an initiative Aegis School of Data Science, Cyber Security and Telecom and powered by mUni Campus to recognize young brains who has potential to grow as technology leaders; start-up founders; innovators; entrepreneurs; intra entrepreneurs who are transforming the lives of millions of Indians by their work in the fields of Information and Communications Technology (ICT). The 11thAGBA is supported by the Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology, Government of India; NITI Aayog, Skill India, Maharashtra State Innovation Society & National Informatics Centre Services Incorporated; FICCI as the chamber partner. AGBA supports the girls and women through Safe N Happy Periods. At the event, Honble Union Cabinet Minister Shri Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, Minister in Ministry of Jal Shakti and Honble Minister of State Shri. Pratap Chandra Sarangi, Minister of State for Animal Husbandry, Dairying and Fisheries and Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME), recognized 8 talented students from all over India, who were provided with a 100% scholarship to study Post Graduate Program (PGP) in Data Science; PGP in Applied AI, Machine Learning & Deep Learning and PGP in Cyber Security from Aegis School of Data Science & Cyber Security in association with IBM. Hon'ble Union Cabinet Minister Shri Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, virtually addressed the innovators and organizers and said I would like to congratulate the winners and finalists of the 11th AGBA and would also like to thank the Aegis School of Business, Data Science and Cyber Security that have not only encouraged new talents who are working for India but have created a robust avenue for their growth and continuity. I also congratulate the Jury members who have identified and short listed upcoming individuals in the field of education, ICT, AI, Data Science, health governance, MSME, Agriculture, etc and who are enriching the lives of lakhs of Indians through their valuable contributions and taking India towards Atmanirbhar Bharat. Hon'ble Minister of State Shri Pratap Chandra Sarangi said I congratulate you all who have organized the award and the award winners who are the future of India and are expected to create history. I m sure I may not inspire you, but I am inspired by you. This is a great tribute to the scientist Alexander Graham Bell, the father of telephony and thank you to all the supporting Minitrial partners of AGBA. Technology explosion is taking place every day and I am sure these young innovators will create history and not only run after jobs but will create jobs with their limitless potentiality. I congratulate all the young innovative minds and young innovators and students. Prof Anil Sahasrabudhe, Chairman, All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) said "I congratulate all the 8 winners of Aegis Graham Bell National Talent Hunt Phase 1, 2021. I hope all of them will create great startups, become great entrepreneurs and provide jobs rather than seeking jobs. Bhupesh Daheria, CEO of Aegis School of Data Science, Cyber Security and Telecom and Founder of AGBA said I would like to thank the Jury to put in efforts to identify and short list the winners and finalists and the way the award has been identified by the Juries who have come from academia, Government, industry stalwarts, top institutions to identify the winners transparently without any biases. Congratulation to all the winners and even to the finalists who have done great innovations. Also, extending my gratitude to Ministry partners and other partners who have supported the 11th AGBA. "This study shows that children with MIS-C are tremendously immune activated, particularly when it comes to CD8 T cells, but that this activation subsides once patients begin to improve clinically," said Laura Vella , MD, PhD, attending physician in the Division of Infectious Diseases at CHOP and first author of the study. "Our findings provide a broad immunologic foundation for understanding pathogenesis and recovery in this novel SARS-CoV-2-associated inflammatory syndrome, with potential implications for adult disease." Pediatricians first recognized MIS-C in April 2020, when pediatric patients began presenting with symptoms involving hyperinflammation, including fever, gastrointestinal distress and cardiogenic shock. The syndrome, thought to be a post-infectious complication of SARS-CoV-2 infection, has similarities in clinical presentation to Kawasaki disease, especially the vascular involvement, but it differs from Kawasaki disease in key ways, including unique clinical, inflammatory, and autoantibody signatures. The syndrome also lacks the respiratory complications typical of adult and pediatric COVID-19. However, until this point, the immunologic features driving MIS-C remained poorly understood. To better understand the immunology behind MIS-C, the researchers collected blood samples from patients admitted to CHOP with COVID-19 or MIS-C between April and June of 2020. They analyzed more than 200 immune parameters, including serologic and plasma cytokine data, and compared these data with samples from adult COVID-19 patients, recovered adult COVID-19 subjects, and healthy adults. The researchers found that children with MIS-C had highly elevated T cells, particularly CD8 T cells and a highly activated vascular patrolling CD8 T cell subset. These vascular patrolling CD8 T cells have a proposed role in the control of persisting or reactivating viral infection and have also been implicated in cardiovascular disease, which could have relevance to the vascular symptoms observed in these patients. The researchers found patients with MIS-C, who all had high vascular patrolling CD8 T cells, also required vasoactive support, had elevated D-dimer, and had decreased platelets. The elevation of CD8 T cells far exceeded what the researchers observed in pediatric patients with acute COVID-19 and most adults with COVID-19, but the level of CD8 T cells dropped in MIS-C patients in conjunction with clinical improvement. The study also highlighted a skewed B cell response in patients with MIS-C compared to acute pediatric COVID-19 and resolved adult disease. Patients with MIS-C are almost universally seropositive for SARS-CoV-2, meaning enough time had passed since infection for an antiviral antibody to develop and be detected. Pediatric and adult patients with acute COVID-19 were not seropositive, consistent with the belief that that MIS-C is a delayed event following SARS-CoV-2 infection. Yet despite MIS-C being a delayed event, the researchers found that MIS-C patients had elevated plasmablasts, or immature plasma B cells, whereas plasmablasts in adults who recover from COVID-19 return to baseline two to three weeks after symptoms resolve, although a subset of hospitalized adult patients with COVID-19 did have a sustained elevation of plasmablasts. The researchers proposed three possible drivers of the immune pathogenesis in MIS-C: (1) continued activation of adaptive immune responses, driven by persisting SARS-CoV-2 antigen; (2) an additional trigger, such as the virus localizing to a new tissue type or a secondary infection, occurring two to three weeks after the initial infection with SARS-CoV-2; or (3) an autoimmune response. More research is needed to investigated these potential scenarios. "SARS-CoV2 infection can lead to a broad spectrum of clinical and immunological outcomes," said E. John Wherry, PhD, Director of the Institute for Immunology and senior author of the study. "The use of an 'Immune Health' profiling approach for pediatric COVID-19 patients not only identified distinct features of the pediatric MIS-C presentation of disease, but the insights gained by studying MIS-C patients may reveal new therapeutic opportunities for pediatric and adult COVID-19 patients." The research was supported by the National Institutes of Health, as well as the University of Pennsylvania Institute for Immunology Glick COVID-19 research award, the Allen Institute for Immunology, a Cancer Research Institute-Mark Foundation Fellowship, the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation for Childhood Cancer, and the CHOP Frontiers Program Immune Dysregulation Team. Vella et al. "Deep Immune Profiling of MIS-C demonstrates marked but transient immune activation compared to adult and pediatric COVID-19," Science Immunology, online March 2, 2021, DOI: 10.1126/sciimmunol.abf7570 About Children's Hospital of Philadelphia: Children's Hospital of Philadelphia was founded in 1855 as the nation's first pediatric hospital. Through its long-standing commitment to providing exceptional patient care, training new generations of pediatric healthcare professionals, and pioneering major research initiatives, Children's Hospital has fostered many discoveries that have benefited children worldwide. Its pediatric research program is among the largest in the country. In addition, its unique family-centered care and public service programs have brought the 595-bed hospital recognition as a leading advocate for children and adolescents. For more information, visit http://www.chop.edu Contact: Dana Bate Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (267) 426-6055 [email protected] SOURCE Children's Hospital of Philadelphia Related Links http://www.chop.edu Keynote speaker Mel Robbins, the international bestselling author of The 5 Second Rule and four #1 audiobooks on Audible, will close out ATD 2021 Conference & EXPO in Salt Lake City, Utah, on September 1. Robbins is a television host, CNN contributor, and motivational speaker. She is known for her authentic, no-nonsense approach and ability to connect with and create meaningful change in peoples lives. Her work on behavior change has been translated into 36 languages and is being used by veterans organizations, pediatricians, and other medical professionals in clinical settings as well as by top brands such as Starbucks, JP Morgan Chase, and Microsoft to inspire organizational transformation. Robbinss book has a simple message: If you have an instinct to act on a goal, you must physically move within five seconds or your brain will kill it. The moment you feel an instinct or a desire to act on a goal or a commitment, use the rule. When you feel yourself hesitate before doing something that you know you should do, count 5-4-3-2-1-GO and move toward the action. Robbinss social media platforms inspire more than 60 million people every month, and her TEDx Talk has more than 25 million views. ATD 2021 International Conference & EXPO is offering multiple ways for the talent development community to participate in the conference. Along with the in-person conference, there will be a regional event option and a virtual conference option to give the entire TD community an opportunity to attend the worlds largest talent development conference. To learn more about the conference and to register, visit atdconference.td.org. About ATD The Association for Talent Development (ATD) is the worlds largest professional membership organization supporting those who develop the knowledge and skills of employees, improve performance, and help to achieve results for the organizations they serve. Established in 1943, the association was previously known as the American Society for Training & Development (ASTD). ATDs members come from more than 120 countries and work in public and private organizations in every industry sector. ATD supports talent development professionals who gather locally in volunteer-led US chapters and international member networks, and with international strategic partners. For more information, visit td.org. Australias COVID-19 vaccine maker CSL says it is open to making booster shots for AstraZeneca for new variants of coronavirus but warns new formulas may not be available until the end of the year. Representatives from the $122 billion biotechnology firm told senators at a COVID-19 committee hearing on Tuesday the company was close to hitting its target of making 1 million doses of AstraZenecas vaccine per week. The first locally-made doses of the product are due for release at the end of March. Senator Katy Gallagher listens as Dr Beverley Menner, executive director, COVID Vaccine Projects Lead and Christopher Larkins, senior vice-president, manufacturing operations. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen Senior vice-president of manufacturing operations at CSLs vaccine arm Seqirus, Christopher Larkins, told the committee the company could make any AstraZeneca booster products to target variants of the virus, such as that from South Africa, but not until the end of the year. By the time we have brought that into our facility, did the necessary qualification work and then the regulatory side of it with the TGA to get it approved I would estimate that were probably close to the end of the year [for booster doses to be ready], Mr Larkins said. Fianna Fail Senator for Louth, Erin McGreehan, has welcomed the announcement by the Department of Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science of the roll-out of 300,000 in funding to support students from the Traveller community. The funding is aimed at Traveller progression to and retention in higher education during the COVID-19 pandemic. It can be used to support students with study spaces, health and social impacts, caring responsibilities or technology supports. Senator McGreehan commented: I hope this fund is used to unlock the potential of students from the Travelling community. "Encouragement, supports and flexibility are needed to ensure access for students who come from a Travelling background. I would also suggest that there needs to be a follow on for the students who take up these courses to ensure that there is a huge effort in securing employment opportunities. "Travellers can be a huge addition to our economy if there is an effort to facilitate it concluded the Louth Senator. Having announced more than 50 planned innovations at its WebexOne event in December, Ciscos Webex is rolling out another of those capabilities today: real-time language translation. The feature will be available in Webex as a preview starting this month, with general availability in May. Users of the platform will soon be able to have their in-meeting speech translated in real time from an expanded library of over 100 languages, including Maori, Zulu and Armenian. The plethora of new languages underlines Ciscos aim to power an inclusive future for all. The feature was initially unveiled with only nine perspective languages in the works. Jeetu Patel, senior vice president and general manager of security and applications, said Cisco has made north of a billion dollars worth of investments in AI, including the acquisition of Voicea in 2019, a company specializing in meeting transcription, voice search, and meeting action items. Without providing specifics, Patel claimed that accuracy rates with real-time transcription are starting to get exciting. A recent report from Metrigy on intelligent virtual assistants found that nearly 24% of participants have meetings that include non-English native speakers, and of these, more than half have been using third-party services to translate meetings, costing an average of $172 per meeting. "The inclusive features of Webex help create a level playing field for users, regardless of factors like language or geography, Patel said in a statement. Enabling global real-time translations is another step toward powering an Inclusive Future, and an important component of driving better communication and collaboration across teams." WebexOne Todays launch continues to build on the goal Webex set last year when it unveiled a variety of changes and updates to Webex: Deliver a Webex experience that is 10x better than in-person [interactions]. The features unveiled at the virtual event fell into three over-arching categories seamless collaboration, smart hybrid work, and intelligent customer experiences are designed to address the needs of a rapidly evolving workplace and better position the company against rivals. Webex enables a shift towards hybrid working and less reliance on geography-based hiring, opening the global economy and giving everyone a seat at the table no matter where the table is," said Patel during a keynote speech at Ciscos 2020 WebexOne event. The December Webex meeting updates Patel argued in December that many of the new features on Webex arent available on competitors platforms. Among the changes and new features unveiled then: Webex meeting layouts that will be customizable, offering participants options beyond gallery or speaker view. New templates that allow users to select the type of meeting they want to host beyond traditional 30-minute time blocks. (Quick-sync meetings can be limited to a few minutes, with a visible countdown clock; round-table meetings allow users to speak uninterrupted for a set time limit in order.) Higher-quality video meetings that benefit from noise cancellation, speech enhancement, transcriptions and closed captioning, real-time translation, and more immersive sharing capabilities. Finally, in-meeting gestures that can be powered by body movement recognition. While some features were available immediately, most will arrive this year including an option for bigger meetings. With Webex Events native live streaming, users will be able to host up to 100,000 active participants. Zeus Kerravala, founder and principal analyst at ZK Research, was bullish on the changes when they were announced. The noise cancellation and speech enhancements greatly improve meetings, not just at home but in the office," Kerravala said. "Everyone has been in the meeting with the loud typist in an office, the person eating chips or the mower going at the person's home when they are working from home. Noise cancellation lets people work almost anywhere and not disrupt the meetings. He also praised the customizable layouts and the gesture recognition as smart additions, saying they should help drive greater meeting interactions and contributions. Calling and messaging Seperately, the company late last year made changes designed to position the platform as more of a direct competitor to Slack, Microsoft Teams and Google Meet. Users of the new Webex will be able to call, meet and message in one app via Webex Teams. Bringing Webex Meetings and Teams together was long overdue, Kerravala said. Cisco has long talked about maintaining continuous collaboration, and this is a big step in doing that." Along with the new messaging capabilities, Cisco added AI features to Webex that allow it to learn what projects, spaces and people are most important, and then elevate them for better visibility. Those features arose from the acquisitions of Voicea, BabbleLabs and Accompany; Cisco said it has spent more $1 billion on AI technology to underpin its Webex Assistant and Webex Graph software. Webex Calling will get new calling plans and call-routing features such as video-on-hold and interactive voice response; that makes it easier to escalate voice calls to video meetings, the company said. And users will get Webex message pinning, along with the ability to automatically send recorded meetings to specified groups and individuals. Contact center improvements In other December announcements, the company touted contact center improvements, a strengthened partner ecosystem and three new hardware devices. For contact centers, Cisco expanded its platform to support businesses of all sizes, meaning the system can field customer service requests to thousands of virtual agents. It also rolled out a new microservices architecture to enable greater customization, and incorporating text and social channels. As for the company's app ecosystem, Cisco said its new App Hub would make integrations with third-party services more unified. The hub allows meeting participants to find and use integrations with services such as Box, Dropbox, Salesforce, ServiceNow and Workplace from Facebook. Regardless of the application someone is using, they can work seamlessly with Webex, Patel said. In terms of hardware, Cisco unveiled a new Webex Desk Camera, Webex Desk Hub and Webex Desk. Though Zoom and Microsoft have also released videoconferencing and communication hardware, with Zoom for Home and Duo, respectively, neither saw much uptake in 2020. Still, Kerravala said hardware is an important part of communication. Cisco still has the largest install base, which is why they havent seen the same kind of growth [as other videoconferencing vendors]," he said. "However, they did take a backseat [in 2020] to a few other vendors as consumers flocked to Zoom and others. I think these features can help Cisco catch up and pass the field as it changes the way we think about meetings." Journalist Katerina Borisevich and doctor Artyom Sorokin sit inside a defendants' cage during a court hearing in Minsk, Belarus, on Feb 19, 2021. (Ramil Nasibulin/BelTA/Handout via Reuters) Belarus Jails Journalist for Revealing Medical Secrets in Protesters Death KYIVA Belarusian court sentenced a journalist to six months in prison on Tuesday for divulging medical secrets, after she contradicted official statements about the death of a protester who the authorities suggested was drunk at the time. Journalist Katerina Borisevich and doctor Artyom Sorokin stand inside a defendants cage before a court hearing in Minsk, Belarus, on March 2, 2021. (BelaPAN via Reuters) Katerina Borisevich from the local news outlet TUT.BY had reported that there was no alcohol in the bloodstream of protester Roman Bondarenko when he died. Officials said he had suffered fatal injuries in a drunken brawl while his allies said he had been beaten by security forces. Artyom Sorokin, the doctor who had shared Bondarenkos medical report with Borisevich, was given a suspended sentence. The death of the 31-year-old became a flashpoint in months of mass protests against veteran President Alexander Lukashenko, who launched a violent crackdown that has triggered Western sanctions on Minsk but support from Russia. Journalist Katerina Borisevich reacts inside a defendants cage during a court hearing in Minsk, Belarus, on Feb. 19, 2021. (Ramil Nasibulin/BelTA/Handout via Reuters) The authorities said that revealing information about Bondarenko posed a threat to public safety. The only fair verdict in this case would be a complete acquittal. Neither Katya nor Artyom committed any crimes, Marina Zolotova, TUT.BYs editor-in-chief, told Euroradio, a Belarus-focused radio station based in Poland. Supporters of Borisevich, 36, shouted We love you, Katya! as she was led away after the trial, footage shared on social media showed. In November, Bondarenko was detained by police after a clash with unidentified people who were removing red and white ribbonssymbols of the opposition against Lukashenkofrom a fence in a courtyard in Minsk. A few hours later, Bondarenko was taken unconscious from the police station to an emergency hospital, where police and medics said he died the next day due to beatings inflicted by unidentified people. Authorities denied any police involvement in his death. There have been several recent trials of opposition figures and journalists. In February, two journalists were jailed for filming protests. The crackdown led the top United Nations human rights official Michelle Bachelet to warn of a human rights crisis. Belarusian diplomats said their country was being unfairly maligned. On Tuesday, the Belarusian authorities said they were seeking the extradition of opposition figure Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, who fled to Lithuania after challenging Lukashenko in a disputed election last August. By Matthias Williams The Vietnamese diplomat thanked Michael Esterl and his ministry for boosting cooperation between the two sides, affirming the Memorandum of Understanding on Industry 4.0 cooperation clinched between the Vietnamese Ministry of Industry and Trade and the Austrian ministry provides a sound basis for both sides to carry out collaboration activities in the coming time. Michael Esterl, for his part, laid stress on the significance of the regular policy and legal consultation between the Vietnamese Embassy and the Austrian ministry as it creates opportunities for both sides to exchange trade and investment policies and regulations as well as market information in each nation. He suggested both sides maintain this mechanism in the forms that suit COVID-19 situation such as holding virtual conference. The Vietnam-Austria business conference could be organised to update information and pen measures to support enterprises of both sides so that they can seek cooperation opportunities and expand investment in each country, he added. Touching on cooperation in the time to come, he said Austria is pushing procedures to ratify the EU-Vietnam Investment Protection Agreement (EVIPA). Dung thanked Austrias support, stressing Austrian businesses have many opportunities to land investment in Vietnam. With a population of 97 million, Vietnam is a potential market for Austrian firms to expand their business operation, while it serves as a gateway for Austrian products and services to get access to the 670 million-strong ASEAN market. Additionally, being a favourite destination for foreign investors in the China, Plus One strategy, Vietnam will have preferential policies to attract foreign investment, he said, holding when the EVIPA takes effect, Austrian companies will gain great competitive edges if they invest in Vietnam. At the event, both sides reaffirmed they want to cooperate with each other in the fields of vocational training and labour. Austria said the country has huge demand for skilled workers in information technology (IT) and nursing in the future. They also reached consensus on urging competent authorities to kick off a pilot project to carry out Austrias vocational training model in Vietnam. Dung took the occasion to invite Michael Esterl to visit Vietnam in a suitable time when the COVID-19 pandemic is put under control. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 2) COVID-19 inoculations outside Metro Manila are set to begin this week as Sinovacs CoronaVac doses arrived in Cebu and Davao on Tuesday, authorities said. At least 7,200 Sinovac doses were transported to Cebu via a Philippine Airlines flight. The vaccine shipment arrived at 7:38 a.m., PAL said in a statement. The doses were then brought to Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center in Cebu City where they will be stored before the vaccine rollout on March 4, Inter-Agency Task Force Visayas chief implementer Melquiades Feliciano told CNN Philippines in an interview. Vicente Sotto hospital director Gerardo Aquino said separately only 600 out of their 2,900 staff are willing to be vaccinated with CoronaVac. He expressed hope the number will increase by Thursday. He added he will be among the first ones to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. Likewise, PAL delivered 12,000 doses of CoronaVac to Davao early Tuesday. Department of Health Davao chief Annabelle Yumang said the vaccines are initially earmarked for the Southern Philippine Medical Center or SPMC in Davao City, Davao Regional Medical Center in Davao del Norte, and only if there is an excess, also for some private hospitals. [Of] the 12,000 dosages, 8,000 will be used for the medical frontliners. The remaining 4,000 will be allocated for the second round of vaccination. We will be asking the national office for another 4,000 dosages, Yumang said. She said the inoculations in SPMC will begin on Friday and may last for two weeks. The second shot will be administered after 28 days. For his part, SPMC chief Dr. Ricardo Audan said at least 75% of their 5,900 employees expressed willingness to get the Sinovac vaccine. He added they are targeting to vaccinate 150 employees on Friday. We are aiming for a quality vaccination more than quantity, he said. Audan said that he will be the first to be vaccinated on Friday to boost the confidence of the other frontliners who have yet to decide whether they will be vaccinated or not. Meanwhile, the date of vaccination in Davao Regional Medical Center is yet to be determined and will commence once inoculation in Davao City has been completed. With the arrival of 600,000 CoronaVac doses donated by China, the government on Monday rolled out its vaccination program in six hospitals in Metro Manila, considered as the COVID-19 epicenter since the pandemic struck. Philippine General Hospital Director Dr. Gerardo "Gap" Legaspi was the first person in the country to get a COVID-19 vaccine legally. Prior to the legal shots received by Legaspi, PGH healthcare workers, FDA Director General Eric Domingo, vaccine czar Carlito Galvez, among others, it was admitted that several government officials and Presidential security members jumped the priority line and used smuggled vaccines made by Chinas Sinopharm as early as last year. House of Prime Ribs owner and famed friendly face Joe Betz, 81, is feeling like everything is on its way up: Hes gotten his second vaccination shot. Nearly 70 people are on staff again, and about half of them have had at least their first vaccination shot. And after a brief reopening in the fall, the historic San Francisco steak house is reopening for indoor dining at 25% capacity on Wednesday and tables are already booked for a good three months, in part due to rescheduling reservations that had to be canceled in the fall. Were going to try our best. We have a strong following, he said. And Im very grateful. On Tuesday, San Francisco confirmed that the county had entered the red tier, which allows restaurants to open their dining rooms at limited capacity but with additional rules like limiting indoor tables to one household. Unlike past back-and-forth reopenings, though, restaurateurs are hopeful that this one will stick due to declining cases and the vaccine rollout. Gov. Gavin Newsom said on Tuesday that he doesnt anticipate going backward again, with hopes for a full reopening by August. Many diners are ready to get back inside, especially at restaurants where fine dining wouldnt have quite translated to takeout. Playful, two-Michelin-starred Lazy Bear opened up reservations for indoor dining on Monday; with capacity for 23 people a night inside, the first week of dinners starting on March 10 is almost sold out, according to owner David Barzelay. Theres a lot of pent-up demand, Barzelay said. People are ready to come out and have a great time. Even throughout the shutdown, one of the citys premium sushi bars, Omakase, was fielding requests from diners who wanted to know when the Michelin-starred restaurant would open for indoor dining, said Carlos Prieto, operations manager of the Omakase Group, which owns Niku Steakhouse and Omakase. Its been a constant for us, Prieto said, adding that the restaurant is finally starting to take reservations for special indoor dining events. Still, not every restaurant has high demand for indoor dining, and requests for indoor tables doesnt mean businesses are going full force immediately. Many restaurants are waiting due to both safety concerns and needing to take time to rehire. Others are limiting tables even beyond the legal restrictions to gauge what diners will want. Omakase is starting slowly, with one indoor party of up to six people per evening. San Francisco seafood staple Waterbar and Epic Steakhouse havent had a ton of requests for indoor tables, so theyre going to offer the option starting on Wednesday to see how many people make reservations. Were going to basically let the demand dictate how busy we will be, said Pete Sittnick, managing partner for both restaurants. Dominique Crenns three-Michelin-starred French restaurant Atelier Crenn has had high demand for indoor dining. But it will be setting up just one or two tables inside and then gauging the situation before deciding to offer more tables in April. After a whirlwind of a year regarding openings and closings, Crenn is happy to at least reopen outdoor tables at the restaurant to accompany warmer temperatures as her team gets vaccinated. Food Guide Top 25 Restaurants Where to eat in the Bay Area. Find spots near you, create a dining wishlist, and more. Theres been so many back and forth with the official (restrictions), she said. The No. 1 thing is for me to protect my team. Its a sign that though the news is promising, the city is not yet out of the clear with the pandemic something restaurants are watching. Ittoryu Gozu, a Wagyu beef and seafood spot near Rincon Park, has installed a UV irradiation system within the space that completely decimates any kind of viral component in the air, according to chef and owner Marc Zimmerman. Betz, despite his vaccine and good vaccination rates on his staff, is planning continued vigilance for mask-wearing and temperature checks at the House of Prime Rib. But the news, many agreed, is a start. This last reopening just feels different than the last one, and I think the vaccine is a huge piece of that that we can all kind of see the end, said Zimmerman. I think people are ready to celebrate. Serena Dai is a San Francisco Chronicle senior features editor, and Annie Vainshtein is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: serena.dai@sfchronicle.com, avainshtein@sfchronicle.com [March 02, 2021] Topcon Partnership with CyArk Bolsters Cultural Site Archival Efforts Topcon Positioning Group announces its partnership with CyArk, a prominent non-profit organization committed to the conservation of cultural heritage sites around the globe. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210302005957/en/ (Photo: Business Wire) Utilizing 3D digital documentation technology, CyArk works to ensure that culturally significant sites can be thoroughly and accurately documented for the benefit of current and future generations. Many of the technologies needed for doing so come from the geospatial world, making the Topcon partnership a welcome one, according to John Ristevski, CEO of CyArk. "We have supported the documentation of over 200 sites around the world from the Mosque City of Bagerhat in Bangladesh to the iconic statues on Easter Island, but the need for high precision documentation continues to grow and there are many exciting projects yet to come," he said. "High precision measurement and documentation of these culturally significant sites is critical for decision making, so we are thrilled to be partnering with Topcon, an industry leader in that area and more." The commitment from Topcon includes GNSS receivers, robotic total stations, field controllers, MAGNET software and a subscription to Topnet Live, the company's real-time GNSS reference network. According to Ulrich Hermanski, executive vice president of Geopositioning for Topcon Positioning Group, having worked alongside CyArk in the past, it was a pleasure to continue to support the organization in this way. "Our relationship with CyArk dates back to 2015 when we helped them digitally document the Sogi Power Plant, one of Japan's national industrial historic sites," Hermanski said. "We quickly recognized and admired the crucial role they are playing in ensuring cultural landmarks of all types are preserved in a digital format. Our expertise - providing precision measurement solutions - blends perfectly with their needs, now and as they move forward. One of the first projects on which they plan to use the new solutions is mapping the redwood grove in Big Basin Redwood State Park, in California, an area that suffered severe damage in the recent wildfires. We are pleased to help with this important effort." CyArk's mission, to record, archive and share the world's most significant cultural heritage sites, stems from a desire to not only save these places digitally but provide critical information to aid in the physical conservation and restoration of the sites today. "In recent years alone, we've seen instances in which culturally-invaluable sites were damaged or lost to arson, terrorism or the effects of climate change," said Ristevski. "To know that the accurate digital documentation efforts can play a role in rebuilding or reconstruction is a humbling opportunity. We are grateful to have Topcon partnering with us in our efforts." More information on CyArk is available at cyark.org. About Topcon Positioning Group Topcon Positioning Group, always one step ahead in technology and customer benefits, is an industry leading designer, manufacturer and distributor of precision measurement and workflow solutions for the global construction, geospatial and agriculture markets. Topcon Positioning Group is headquartered in Livermore, California, U.S. (topconpositioning.com, LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook). Its European head office is in Capelle a/d IJssel, the Netherlands. Topcon Corporation (topcon.com), founded in 1932, is traded on the Tokyo Stock Exchange (7732). View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210302005957/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Dear Reader, Business Standard has always strived hard to provide up-to-date information and commentary on developments that are of interest to you and have wider political and economic implications for the country and the world. Your encouragement and constant feedback on how to improve our offering have only made our resolve and commitment to these ideals stronger. Even during these difficult times arising out of Covid-19, we continue to remain committed to keeping you informed and updated with credible news, authoritative views and incisive commentary on topical issues of relevance. We, however, have a request. As we battle the economic impact of the pandemic, we need your support even more, so that we can continue to offer you more quality content. Our subscription model has seen an encouraging response from many of you, who have subscribed to our online content. More subscription to our online content can only help us achieve the goals of offering you even better and more relevant content. We believe in free, fair and credible journalism. Your support through more subscriptions can help us practise the journalism to which we are committed. Support quality journalism and subscribe to Business Standard. Digital Editor The Oregon Health Authority announced 197 new cases of COVID-19 on Monday and four new deaths as state officials made plans for the new Johnson & Johnson single-dose coronavirus vaccine approved for use by the federal government. Oregon will receive 34,000 doses of the vaccine this week, but the state anticipates less vaccines for the next two weeks after the initial allocation. A majority of the doses will go to local public health authorities and pharmacies, an agency spokesman said. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration reported the vaccine was 66% effective for preventing moderate to severe COVID-19 starting 28 days after vaccination in clinical trials, which involved more than 43,000 participants in the United States, Latin America, Brazil and South Africa. It was 72% effective in the United States, the FDA reported. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has endorsed the Johnson & Johnson vaccine for adults 18 years and up. On Monday, Oregonians 65 and older became eligible for a COVID-19 shot. In response to a hectic few weeks for Portland-area seniors vying for appointments at the Oregon Convention Center and Portland International Airport mass vaccination sites, the state health authority has announced a change to the sign-up process. Instead of waiting for hours on the phone or website, seniors wanting to schedule appointments at the Convention Center in Northeast Portland must now register their names with the state. The state will randomly select a list of eligible names and send them to the operators of the mass vaccination clinic, and the operators will contact residents when their turn in line for a vaccination comes up. Where the new cases are by county: Baker (3), Clackamas (19), Columbia (5), Coos (6), Deschutes (4), Douglas (11), Jackson (12), Jefferson (2), Josephine (3), Lane (33), Lincoln (1), Linn (2), Marion (20), Multnomah (16), Polk (3), Umatilla (1), Washington (54) and Yamhill (1). Who died: The 2,209th COVID-19 death is an 89-year-old Josephine County man who tested positive Feb. 22 and died Feb. 28 at Asante Three Rivers Medical Center. The 2,210th death is a 76-year-old Josephine County man who tested positive Feb. 12 and died Feb. 28 at Asante Three Rivers Medical Center. The 2,211th death is a 92-year-old Lane County woman who tested positive Feb. 25 and died Feb. 27 at her residence. The 2,212th death is an 88-year-old Multnomah County man who tested positive Feb. 8 and died Feb. 21 at Providence Portland Medical Center. Unless noted above, each person who died had underlying health conditions or state officials were working to determine if the person had underlying medical conditions. The prevalence of infections: On Monday, the state reported a 3.6% positivity rate. The total number of new tests and positive tests was unclear, however, because officials announced that they added more than 150,000 test results that previously had not been included in the cumulative tally. Those tests appeared to have a positivity rate of more than 10%. State officials said the underlying positive cases had been previously identified in the states overall case count and routed to local public health agencies for follow up. But the numbers were not included in total testing numbers because they were reported through the Oregon COVID-19 Reporting Portal rather than the states Electronic Lab Reports process. Recent database improvements have made reporting these additional data possible, officials said, while acknowledging there may be some changes to previously reported test positivity rates. 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 (47); 10-19 (111); 20-29 (192); 30-39 (169); 40-49 (103); 50-59 (126); 60-69 (85); 70-79 (47); 80 and older (28). Whos in the hospital: The state reported 132 Oregonians with confirmed coronavirus infections were hospitalized Monday, two fewer than Sunday. Of those, 27 coronavirus patients were in intensive care units, one more than Sunday. Vaccines administered: Oregon has administered 986,816 first and second doses out of 1,241,415 received, which is about 79.5% of its supply. Oregon reported 13,794 newly administered doses, which includes 6,169 on Sunday and the remainder from previous days. Since it began: Oregon has reported 155,787 confirmed or presumed infections and 2,212 deaths, among the lowest per capita numbers in the nation. To date, the state has reported over 3,748,444 lab reports from tests. -- Jaimie Ding jding@oregonian.com; 503-221-4395; @j_dingdingding Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 2) The Philippine Health Insurance Corporation would bleed dry in the next seven years unless additional funds are injected into the state insurer, the Bureau of the Treasury said. National Treasurer Rosalia De Leon warned that the postponement of higher PhilHealth premiums from salaried members would deplete the agencys available funds. The implication is that it will shorten the fund life of PhilHealth by six months from August 2028 to February 2028, De Leon said during a Senate hearing on Tuesday. PhilHealth has outstanding liabilities worth 6.09 trillion as of end-2020, representing projected medical benefit payments for its members, she added. The Department of Finance earlier said it cannot accurately assess PhilHealths fund life due to its faulty database and IT system. The Senate Committee on Health and Demography is tackling bills that seek to give the President authority to postpone scheduled premium hikes during times of national emergency, a move meant to ease the financial burden on Filipinos. The House of Representatives approved a similar measure on third and final reading in February. President Rodrigo Duterte deferred the scheduled monthly contribution increases for 2021. Mandatory PhilHealth contributions are mandated to increase yearly since 2020 under the Universal Health Care law, which will be sustained until it reaches 5% of monthly income or a 5,000 ceiling by 2025. Those who have a monthly basic salary of 10,000 and below shall have a fixed contribution of 350 a month effective January 1, or equivalent to a 3.5% rate. Meanwhile, people earning 70,000 and higher per month will pay a fixed rate of 2,450 monthly. Without an increase in premium collections this year, PhilHealth will forego 20.25 billion from its operating income, followed by a 44.4 billion which will not be collected in 2022 as the subsequent contribution increases are also affected. PhilHealth acting chief operating officer Nerissa Santiago added that this will drive the agency into billions of pesos in losses in the next two years, which would deplete reserve funds to just 83.7 billion in 2022 versus the estimated 160.6 billion in 2020. The law ensures that our healthcare system will be more accessible and responsive, PhilHealth president and chief executive officer Dante Gierran said. The corporation supports the various legislative proposals provided that the subsequent scheduled increases in the premium contributions shall be adjusted to the years following the lifting of the suspension. The Budget Department also flagged the need to provide additional funding and improve the agencys financial position. Meanwhile, Gierran assured that they have so far accounted for 14.2 billion or 95% of the 15 billion which the agency reportedly lost to fraud and corruption. READ: PhilHealth: No 15-B lost to corruption We would like to assure the good chairman that we will liquidate this fully in due time, hopefully before the end of March of this year, Gierran told lawmakers. The state health insurer has been tarnished with corruption allegations in recent years. In August 2020, then president and chief executive officer Ricardo Morales stepped down after a whisteblower employee bared various illegal schemes in PhilHealth which led to the supposedly massive fund depletion. The National Bureau of Investigation has filed a complaint with the Ombudsman against Morales and other PhilHealth officials. RELATED: PhilHealth to cover treatment costs for adverse reactions to COVID-19 vaccines Catherine Castle stands on the porch of her home in downtown Paintsville, Ky., as floodwaters approach on March 1, 2021. (Ryan C. Hemens/Lexington Herald-Leader via AP) State of Emergency Declared, National Guard Activated Over Major Flooding in Kentucky A state of emergency was declared by Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear due to heavy rainfall across the commonwealth over the weekend, which triggered floods across the state. State officials also activated the State Emergency Operations Center to assist with rescue efforts amid major flooding. The impact of extremely heavy rainfall and flash flooding across the commonwealth led to numerous emergency rescues and evacuations in counties from west to east, said Michael Dossett, director of the Kentucky Division of Emergency Management, according to the Lexington Herald-Leader. The Kentucky National Guard was also activated, reported KSAZ. Weve experienced flooding in numerous regions. Please be aware of the presence of emergency responders and use caution near the many closed local and state roadways due to high water, said Dossett to the news outlet. The Lexington office of the National Weather Service (NWS) wrote that several rivers will see potential major flooding levels. Moderate flooding is expected along the Kentucky River, and could approach major flood thresholds in some locations. Interests along the river should monitor the latest forecasts. #kywx pic.twitter.com/b7RSxdG2cT NWS Louisville (@NWSLouisville) March 1, 2021 According to the office, some areas in central Kentucky saw as much as seven inches of rain over three days. Several Kentucky waterways were over their flood stage, reported the Herald-Leader, citing the NWS. The Kentucky River was observed over 34 feet and was predicted to reach about 37 feet, while the flood stage is 21 feet for that area. The South Fork of the Kentucky River at Booneville reached 43.5 feet, which is a record high. The Elkhorn Creek at Peaks Mill reached 11.6 feet and is expected to rise. The flood stage is about 10 feet, according to the NWS. Beshear declared a state of emergency Monday because of heavy rainfall across the state. We are acting swiftly to ensure the safety and security of Kentucky families and to get the needed help to our communities, he said in a statement. He said 13 counties and cities had declared states of emergency and the Kentucky National Guard was activated and was assisting with high water emergencies. In West Virginia, flooding hit some areas that were ravaged by power outages from ice storms last month. Floodwaters inundated roads in more than a dozen counties, highways officials said. The National Guard assisted with some evacuations Sunday night in the Dunlow area of Wayne County. And about a dozen people had to be assisted at a church in the Kanawha County community of Cross Lanes on Monday after high water cut off access to a road, WCHS-TV reported. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Police have seized drugs, cash and phones following a number of searches in the Magherafelt area on Tuesday morning under the Misuse of Drugs Act. Detectives from the PSNIs Organised Crime Branch recovered a small amount of suspected Class A controlled drugs, a significant sum of money believed to be around 23,000, mobile phones and other items which have been taken away for further examination. Detective Inspector Aubrey Shaw said: "We are committed to disrupting criminal activities and people who choose to become involved in this type of criminality are a blight on society and the communities they exert their control over. I would appeal to anyone who has information, or concerns about these type of criminal activities to get in touch. We will act on information we receive. It may not always be visible and immediate but, please be assured, every piece of information is assessed and acted on. Anyone with information should contact the PSNI on 101 or if you wish to remain anonymous please phone the Crimestoppers charity on 0800 555 111. Washington: Pakistani security forces are committing grave human rights violations in Balochistan, a Baloch-American leader has alleged while calling for the implementation of the Leahy Amendment which prohibits the US military aid to forces accused of breaching human rights. "I am appealing to all Americans of good will to help end crimes against humanity in Balochistan in whatever way you can," Amar Khan, founder, and president of the American Friends of Baluchistan said at an event at the George Washington University here yesterday. The event was addressed among others by Christine Fair, a South Asia expert and Associate Professor at the George town University and T Kumar from Amnesty International. "I have come here to appeal to our common humanity as the Baloch people are facing crimes against humanity at the hands of Pakistan due to a deadly USD 54 billion China Pakistan Economic Corridor," Khan said. He called for the implementation of the 1997 Leahy Amendment, under which US military assistance cannot be given to foreign armed forces suspected of committing, encouraging or tolerating human rights violation. Pakistani forces are carrying out the gross violation of human rights in Balochistan, Khan alleged. Baluchistan which is 44 per cent of Pakistan's land mass and less than 10 per cent of the population is extremely rich land with the poorest inhabitants, he said. Recounting his first-hand experience of being a victim of torture and human rights abuse by Pakistani intelligence agencies, Afghan American Najeeb Khan in his address urged Pashtuns and Afghans "to stand with the people of Baluchistan for their fundamental right of self-determination". For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. It sounds like the plot of a Hollywood heist film. Two thieves break into a major art gallery and steal a painting worth 40million in less than a minute. Showing off, they leave behind a note at the scene that reads: 'Thanks for the poor security.' Local authorities, Norwegian in this case, seek help from their British counterparts and the investigation is assigned to an unassuming Cambridge-born history graduate who goes undercover as a US art dealer to recover the stolen painting. Only this isn't the plot of a summer blockbuster, but the real-life story of the 1994 theft of Edvard Munch's The Scream, which was taken from Oslo's National Museum. And the British officer who found the painting - following a five-month investigation that culminated in a chalet in a Norwegian port town - was Charles Hill, the Vietnam War veteran and world-renowned art detective who has died at the age of 73. During his 20-year career in the Metropolitan Police, Hill was closely involved in many covert operations, including the recovery of paintings stolen by Irish gangster Martin 'The General' Cahill in a 1986 raid on Russborough House, the Co Wicklow mansion belonging to Sir Alfred and Lady Beit. Undercover: Charles Hill, the world-renowned art detective has died at the age of 73. During his 20-year career in the Metropolitan Police, Hill was closely involved in covert operations After retiring in 1996, Hill continued to work as a private detective. In 2002, he recovered Titians Rest on the Flight into Egypt for the Marquess of Bath, seven years after it was taken. In 2015 he was part of a team that helped reunite former Tory MP Esmond Bulmer, of the Bulmers cider dynasty, with millions of pounds' worth of artworks stolen during a dramatic raid on his country mansion. Born in 1947, Charles, also known as Charley, was the son of British ballerina Zita, who performed with cabaret troupe the Bluebell Girls, and Landon, a US Air Force officer who was one of the first people to enter Dachau concentration camp on its liberation. Charles spent part of his childhood in Essex before the family moved to Washington DC, where Charles attended St Albans School. Future vice-president Al Gore was a classmate. After serving as a paratrooper in the Vietnam War, Charles returned to the US to study history at George Washington University. He went on to study at Trinity College Dublin on a Fullbright Scholarship. While in Dublin, Hill met his future wife Caroline Stewart, a civil servant, and the couple married in 1979. They went on to have three children. High profile: Hill recovered Edvard Munch's The Scream (left) after it was stolen from Olso's National Museum in 1994. He also tracked down pieces stolen by Irish gangster Martin 'The General' Cahill (right) in a 1986 raid on Russborough House, home of Sir Alfred Beit Following a brief stint in Belfast, Hill moved to London to read Theology at King's College. However this was soon abandoned for a career in the Metropolitan Police. The 'making' of his career was, he explained, an undercover assignment in 1980. After being promoted to desk sergeant, Hill was tasked with meeting 'two hardened old criminals who had put away a painting for their retirement'. 'One was an old armed robber, the other an old safecracker,' he recalled in an interview with Garage magazine. 'They met me at Heathrowthey thought I was some dodgy dealer whod just come off Concorde, and we went to their place in Kent. 'I took one look at the picture and told them it was a Victorian pastiche, thinking it was best to be straight with them. It took them aback, but they were happy enough to pour cognac down my throat and took me back to Park Lane, where I was staying. They were soon raided by the Flying Squad from Scotland Yard.' Experts confirmed Hill's belief that the painting wasn't worth more than a 'few grand'. 'From that point on I was a made man,' he added. Happy customers: In 2015 Hill was part of a team that helped reunite former Tory MP Esmond Bulmer, of the Bulmers cider dynasty, with millions of pounds' worth of artworks stolen during a dramatic raid on his country mansion. Pictured, the Bulmers at home Hill's parents had taken him around art galleries as a child and his appreciation of culture had continued into adulthood. While at George Washington University, Hill held a season ticket to the Washington Symphony. His wife Caroline was the niece of Irish artist Louis le Brocquy. The recovery of The Scream was the most high profile of Hill's career. Five months after it was stolen, Hill was handed the artwork in an exchange at a chalet in a quiet Norwegian port town. Shortly afterwards the criminals involved were arrested. The case required Hill to pose as an American art dealer, with credentials provided by The J Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles. He typically posed as a backer, intellectual or art dealer in his operations, which took him around the world. In 1993, Hill found himself fearing for his life while tracking down artworks stolen by Cahill six years previously. In May 1986, Cahill and a gang of 10 men broke into Russborough House, the Co Wicklow mansion belonging to Sir Alfred and Lady Beit, and stole 18 paintings worth a total of 30million, including Vermeers Lady Writing a Letter with her Maid. In May 1986, Cahill and a gang of 10 men broke into Russborough House, the Co Wicklow mansion belonging to Sir Alfred and Lady Beit, and stole 18 paintings worth a total of 30million, including Vermeers Lady Writing a Letter with her Maid, pictured Just a month before he recovered the major paintings of the collection - including the Vermeer - in Antwerp, Hill became caught up in a terrifying confrontation with Niall Mulvihill, an associate of Cahill's who was trying to sell the paintings. 'I was undercover, and he thought I was from California,' Hill recalled. 'I was straight with him and told him he wanted too much for some of the paintings, but he was greedy so-and-so and thought I was holding back on him. 'The threats he made were serious, against me and my family. Im glad he didnt realize I was a cop, thats for sure. I had told one of my colleagues where I was going to be, so if Id be floating out to sea in Antwerp harbor they would have identified my body more easily.' Both Mulvihill and Cahill were later murdered. Hill's career also saw him work as a consultant for the insurance specialist Nordstern and at Sotheby's Institute of Art. Although he never made a great fortune, Hill always believed his work was worthwhile. 'I love art and I know the important thing is to get the stuff back,' he told the BBC. 'Someone has got to do it; who else is going to get these things back if I don't try?' 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. New Delhi: Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) has published the Term End Examination Result at its official website ignou.ac.in. This year the term end exam was conducted on June 2017. Students can check their result at the official website and can be accessed through the Student's Zone tab on the home page. Students can view their result either by logging into their individual student's profile or through the results link on the website. According to reports, over 6.2 lakh students have enrolled. For students who fail in the exam, the re-examination application form will be available from next month. Subject to provisions, students can fill re-examination form for exam which will be held in December 2017. Steps to Check IGNOU June Results 2017 : -Visit the official website of University, www.ignou.ac.in -Click on the activated link Results -Enter the required details -Click on submit button -The results will appear on the screen -Download the result and print out for further reference. About IGNOU: The Indira Gandhi National Open University, known as IGNOU, is a distance learning national university located in Maidan Garhi, New Delhi, India. Named after former Prime Minister of India Indira Gandhi, the university was established in 1985 with a budget of 20 million, after the Parliament of India passed the Indira Gandhi National Open University Act, 1985 (IGNOU Act 1985). IGNOU is run by the central government of India, and with over 4 million students, claims to be the largest university in the world. The Chief Executive of Ernest Chemists, Mr Ernest Bediako Sampong, has said the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) will create more employment opportunities in the pharmaceutical industry. He said new markets would help manufacturers increase employment due to the high demand for products. Mr Sampong, speaking at the Ghana National Chamber of Commerce Industry (GNCCI) virtual sensitisation seminar in Accra, said AfCFTA was a laudable idea but, I do not think it is going to be easy. He said the implementation would be challenging because of the attitude of Africans towards products that were manufactured on the continent. Mr Sampong said the industry would benefit from transfer of technology with international pharmaceutical companies setting up factories in Africa and creating employment opportunities. The event was organised by GNCCI in partnership with Joy Business and the Ghana Shippers Authority on the theme: AfCFTA: Adopting the right business strategies to fully benefit. It was aimed at sensitising small scale businesses to how they could strategise to benefit from the agreement. He said there would be opportunities for some multinationals to also collaborate with existing companies to enable them to export to the sub-region. Mr Sampong said there would be a possibility of medicine security and a boost in industrial investment and consequently called for workable policies and programmes to facilitate investments. Energy Quest Show He urged government to support the private sector to develop their businesses to contribute to the development of the economy. We urge government to waive taxes on equipment used for manufacturing. A Technical Advisor at the Ministry of Trade and Industry, Mr Anthony Nyame Baafi, said government through the ministry had set up institutional structures to support the implementation of the agreement. We have the inter-ministerial, the national AfCFTA Secretariat to provide information to everybody, who wants access to any information, he said. He said arrangements were in place to ensure that member states took advantage of the agreement, stressing that the government needed the private sector to partake in the implementation of the agreement and if there were any challenges, the Ministry and the Ghana Export Promotion Authority were ready to assist. The Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Shippers Authority, Ms Benonita Bismarck, said it was an opportunity to partner with the GNCCI to educate the private sector on how to maximise the benefits of AfCFTA. It is all about education and sensitisation, so at the end of it, we will go across the nation to ensure that our stakeholders fully understand and take advantage of this all-important concept, she said. Source: Graphiconline.com Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video New Delhi, March 2 : Giving birth to a baby can be extremely challenging for the mother's body, and yoga can help with both the elasticity and endurance power of expecting mothers, in turn increasing chances of a normal delivery, says a maternity yoga expert who runs a Gurgaon-based health and wellness yoga centre. Kedar Nath, Director of Maatriyoga says the aim of pregnancy yoga is to help the mother bring the unborn into the world with minimum hassle and completely no health complications. Positions and exercises practiced across the three trimesters of pregnancy can differ with every phase. The pre- and post-natal yoga sessions, now also conducted online, are focussed on ensuring maternal comfort, training to deal with labor pain and manage birth outcomes. Most of all, pregnancy yoga done in the correct way can help mothers avoid complicated surgical procedures. Envisioning a platform for women's empowerment and promoting holistic well-being, the health centre focuses on prioritizing self-care in pregnancy. The wellness services support expectants and new mums, and infants in the first 1,000 days of life. "As per industry estimates, about 90 per cent of women prepare themselves for a normal delivery. However, only 65 per cent of them are able to achieve this. There are factors, such as eating habits and overall well-being which hampers the natural delivery process. Yoga not just helps in delivery of the baby naturally but also helps maintain the physical and mental well-being of the woman," says Kedar Nath. "Although it became a trend to do yoga for physical fitness but it has meditative and spiritual value also. It brings contentment, and gives peace to your mind. Yoga helps to fight with all the problems which a woman faces during pregnancy," he adds. "You need more oxygen during pregnancy, and your body adapts to meet this need in several ways. An increase in hormones, particularly progesterone, directly affects your lungs and stimulates the respiratory centre in your brain. And while the number of breaths you take per minute actually changes very little during pregnancy, the amount of air you inhale and exhale with each breath increases significantly." For the first trimester, standing yoga poses are advised as this will help strengthen the legs, enhance circulation, generate energy, and may reduce leg cramps. During the second and third trimester, you should focus on breathing and meditation. you may reduce your time spent practicing the asanas to prevent fatigue and overwork. It is also not advised to practice from the tenth through the fourteenth week of pregnancy since these are crucial times. Do not overstretch the abdomen; the emphasis of your twisting poses should be on the shoulders and the upper back and not on the abdomen. "Besides these yoga asanas you can do walking which is one of the cheapest ways to get fit. During pregnancy chances of constipation and high blood pressure are high. So walking 30 minutes twice a day prevents these problems. Walk slowly but walk daily." (Siddhi Jain can be contacted at siddhi.j@ians.in) -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text The Ogun government on Tuesday deployed 10 patrol vans and 20 motorcycles in the Yewa axis of the state as part of efforts to check the herdsmen crisis in the area. Governor Dapo Abiodun, at the vehicle presentation ceremony in Abeokuta, said the measure was a fulfilment of his promise to return peace to the crises-affected areas in the Yewa axis. Mr Abiodun recalled that when the crisis broke out a few weeks ago, he had constituted a Joint Special Security Intervention Squad as well as a high-powered government delegation to mediate between the two parties. He also recalled that he promised to support the task force with operational equipment and other necessary support needed to accomplish its task. This gesture is, therefore, a step in making good my promise to support the taskforce for the success of its assignment, he said. The governor said the people of the area who lived close to the border area of the Republic of Benin usually had difficulties making distress calls in times of trouble. He explained that the state had been having a series of meetings with telecommunication firms, adding that plans are in top gear to deploy more masts in the area to address the issue. Mr Abiodun explained that the equipment were meant only for the Yewa axis, saying that the same measure would be replicated in other parts of the state. Saying that Ogun is widely known for peace, the governor assured that the government will ensure that anyone found sponsoring or perpetuating crime in the state will be severely dealt with. He called on the people of the state to stop ascribing crime to a particular ethnic group, saying that a criminal is a criminal regardless of where he comes from. The governor said the proliferation of fake news has also contributed to deepening the crises in the area. He described as falsehood recent reports that no fewer than 5,000 Ogun indigenes have escaped to seek refuge in the Republic of Benin because of the crisis. I wonder who took the census and how that can take place without meetings between Nigerian officials and those of the Republic of Benin. Some who came to Abeokuta because of the crisis were provided with free accommodation and so I wonder why some people would just sit down somewhere and be cooking up untrue stories, he said. Mr Abiodun explained that the state Ministry of Justice has already started working to ensure that there are necessary laws to punish publishers of fake news. The states Commissioner of Police, Edward Ajogun, in his remarks, commended Gov Abiodun for a promise kept. He assured that all security agencies in the state are committed to restoring peace to the area. According to him, the measure is a warning signal to perpetrators of violence that hard times await them. (NAN) ADVERTISEMENT A sharply-split Republican State Committee in Pennsylvania voted Monday night to again express its displeasure with Sen. Pat Toomeys vote last month to convict former President Donald J. Trump on an article of impeachment, but stopped short of voting to censure him. Committee members were given the choice of voting for a statement proposed by Chairman Lawrence Tabas that strongly rebukes but does not censure Toomey, and a second statement that does censure him. The censure movement was blocked by a narrow 128-124 margin, with 13 abstentions, according to a source who had been briefed on the results. The difference is essentially a matter of severity in the reprimand: neither option carried any real teeth with regard to Toomeys office or standing within the party. The second-term senator from the Allentown area has already announced his intent to leave the Senate at the end of his current term in 2022. But some members of the committee - and the broader party membership - who hope to see the party steer away from blind devotion to the former president with gubernatorial and U.S. Senate races on the horizon in Pennsylvania next year may see the lesser rebuke as a small sign of progress. The state party organization had not issued any statement in the wake of the Mondays final tally as of publication of this post. The top vote-getter in Mondays count was also said to include criticisms of Gov. Tom Wolf and other Democrats. Toomey was one of seven Republican senators to vote to convict Trump for incitement of his supporters to riot at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, as Trump was in the death throes of his attempt to block the final tabulation of President Joseph R. Bidens national electoral college win. In doing so, Toomey was part of a 57-43 majority that fell 10 votes short of the two-thirds threshold needed to convict. Midstate members of the state GOP committee seemed to reflect the overall split. County Republican committees in York and Adams counties, for example, have already passed their own censure resolutions, and other local groups have similar votes pending. But other midstate committee members like state Rep. Sue Helm, of Dauphin County, said Monday the infighting makes no sense to her. Instead of wasting our time on this, Helm told PennLive, I think we should be looking for a new and good candidate for when he (Toomey) isnt going to run in two years. Mondays vote seeks to wrap up a discussion launched in a virtual meeting last Wednesday that ended without a completed vote after the platform that the committee was using crashed. The censure vote had been seen differently by different groups. To some, it was like an exhibition season for the fights ahead in 2022, as the party tries to settle on nominees for an open gubernatorial and Senate races, and - in a larger sense - its post-Trump direction. Others saw it simply as those who are in firm control of the party at the moment having their say on a matter of internal party politics. They are counting on the future acts of President Joseph R. Biden Jr. and his thin Democratic Party majorities in Congress to help reunite the party in the longer run. Still some members went on record in advance of last weeks private discussion to express concerns about the effort to punish Toomey alienating another slice of existing party members and making it harder to reach new ones. The Republican Party needs unity, not a purge, Joseph DiSarro, a political science professor at Washington & Jefferson College in southwestern Pennsylvania, who also happens to be a member of the Republican State Committee, told PennLive last month. The last thing the party needs is a discussion of who is a true Republican, and who is a RINO, DiSarro said, using the acronym for Republican-In-Name-Only. 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. According to sources, the rallies are planned in such a way that all the 23 districts of West Bengal and 33 districts of Assam will be covered in these rallies. New Delhi : Ahead of assembly polls, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address 20 rallies in poll-bound West Bengal and six rallies in Assam, responding to the huge demand of local Bharatiya Janata Party leaders of these two states. "The demands of PM's rally is huge in all poll-bound states but BJP is focusing more on West Bengal and Assam," a source said. The BJP is also gearing up to reach up to the expectations of local BJP unit to meet the demand of rallies. BJP functionaries including Kailash Vijayvargiya, national general secretary, Mukul Roy national Vice-President, Sanjay Singh, General Secretary and Swapan Dasgupta, MP, Rajya Sabha are looking into the preparations at Brigade Parade Ground, where PM Modi will address public meeting on March 7 at Brigade ground, Kolkata. This will be PM Modi's first rally in West Bengal post the announcement of election dates by Election Commission of India. The core committe of BJP's West Bengal unit will hold a meeting here at party headquarter on Wednesday in presence of Union Home Minister Amit Shah and party chief JP Nadda. They will discuss election strategy and will also discuss expected candidates for the upcoming polls of West Bengal. West Bengal assembly elections will be held in eight phases starting from March 27 with the final round of voting taking place on April 29. Counting of votes will take place on May 2. In Assam, the assembly elections shall be held in three phases beginning from March 27 with the final round of voting taking place on April 6. Counting of votes will take place on May 2. Governor expressed optimism about the overall COVID-19 situation following the rollout of the vaccines and complimented all the SAARC central banks for their efforts in combating the pandemic, the central bank said in a statement on Tuesday. Das made these remarks in his opening speech at the 41st Meeting of the SAARCFINANCE Governors' Group in virtual format on Monday. Das chaired the meeting. Das led the discussions on progress made under the SAARCFINANCE initiatives, achieved with the all-round cooperation of the SAARC central banks and launched the maiden issue of the annual SAARCFINANCE e-Newsletter. While the Governors agreed that the pandemic had an adverse impact on their economies, they recognized the importance of leveraging technology to spur growth, the said. The meeting was attended by the Governors from other SAARC central banks Ajmal Ahmadi, Da Afghanistan Bank; Fazle Kabir, Bangladesh Bank; Dasho Penjore, Royal Monetary Authority of Bhutan; Ali Hashim, Maldives Monetary Authority; Maha Prasad Adhikari, Nepal Rastra Bank; Reza Baqir, State Bank of Pakistan; and W D Lakshman, Central Bank of Sri Lanka. With the RBI's tenure coming to a close, Governor Das handed over the SAARCFINANCE Chair (effective from April 01, 2021) to the Governor, Maldives Monetary Authority and assured him of the Reserve Bank's continued commitment to the SAARCFINANCE initiative. SAARCFINANCE is a network of central bank governors and finance secretaries of the SAARC region. The Reserve Bank of India is the present chair of the SAARCFINANCE from October 2019 to March 2021. While inaugurating the SAARCFINANCE Governors' Symposium on Tuesday, Das emphasised the importance of effective, creative and prudent use of technology by central bankers, especially in the areas of big data, digital currencies, reg-tech, sup-tech and cyber security. The keynote address was delivered by Jermy Prenio, Senior Adviser, Financial Stability Institute, BIS on the topic 'Suptech use in central banks'. The Symposium also included a Panel Discussion on 'Cyber Security in Central Banks' and a presentation by the researchers of the SAARCFINANCE Collaborative Study on 'Comparison of Financial Sector Regulatory Regimes in the SAARC Region', the RBI's release added. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) WASHINGTON, March 2, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- For a year, our country has been embroiled in not one but three crises: the COVID-19 pandemic, an economic meltdown and one of the most fraught political transitions in our history. But as signs grow that we are moving past the worst of all three, it's the perfect time to assess what we've learned since March 2020 and how to best move forward. In this month's cover story, AARP Bulletin spoke to doctors, economists, business leaders, policy makers, and authors around the country about lessons learned and paths forward. Among their observations: Technology came through for us all, and had a "tipping point" moment that accelerated our preference and reliance for doing things by phone or computer The crucial importance of savings was revealed to all, potentially leading to new, better tools and programs to help all of us put more cash away The pandemic unleashed medical research, leading not just to several vaccines in less than a year but learnings on how to attack other health issues moving forward Living healthy and avoiding chronic conditions has been proven to matter far more to your health risks than your age. Are we at the beginning of a healthy living revolution? In addition, the cover story explores more personal learnings about our future. How can we better sustain the bonds of family, which proved so crucial this year? How can we make the most of our own backyard and nature around us? How is the shift in the work landscape beneficial to the fifty-plus crowd? You may be surprised. PLUS: Special Report: President Biden's Agenda for Older Americans: President Biden launched his presidency with a laser focus on getting the COVID-19 pandemic under control and the economy reviving. But a review of his policy papers, campaign commitments and official website shows a deep, ambitious agenda for many other issues critical to older Americans. AARP Bulletin examines how the president has said he will tackle Social Security, Medicare and other key issues once the current priorities are addressed. Other stories in AARP Bulletin include: Fraud Watch Feds Say Crooks Prefer Gift Cards: Crooks' preference? Gift cards. According to the Federal Trade Commission, theft using gift cards has soared in recent years. "Once the victim reads the card number and PIN off the back, funds are drained without a trace," says Amy Nofziger of the Fraud Watch Network. This month, learn all about this scam and how to protect yourself from becoming a victim. Crooks' preference? Gift cards. According to the Federal Trade Commission, theft using gift cards has soared in recent years. "Once the victim reads the card number and PIN off the back, funds are drained without a trace," says of the Fraud Watch Network. This month, learn all about this scam and how to protect yourself from becoming a victim. Delete That Text! Scammers Find New Way to Scare You: Now more than ever, fraudsters are using text messages to lure you in and steal your money and information. The Bulletin offers suggestions on what to look for when you receive a text from an unknown sender and what questions you should ask yourself before hitting 'send.' In the News Safer Taxes : New Protection for Online Filers: Looking to protect your tax filing from identity theft? The IRS is now offering the option of creating a six-digit identification number. We break down everything you need to know. Your Life Clever Ways to Swap Out the Sugar: If you're looking for motivation to kick start your 2021 health goals, here it is. A new report finds that nonalcoholic fatty liver disease affects an estimated 80 million to 100 million American adults and is steadily on the rise. We offer suggestions on how to reduce your risk and easy ways to slash your sugar intake. If you're looking for motivation to kick start your 2021 health goals, here it is. A new report finds that nonalcoholic fatty liver disease affects an estimated 80 million to 100 million American adults and is steadily on the rise. We offer suggestions on how to reduce your risk and easy ways to slash your sugar intake. Your Safe Driving Check Up: On average, more than 20 Americans 65 or older were killed in traffic accidents each day during 2018, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). This month, AARP offers a unique seven-point assessment to see how your driving skills rate. The Bulletin's Safe Driving Check Up provides a way to have an honest check-in, assessing your vision, flexibility and more. On average, more than 20 Americans 65 or older were killed in traffic accidents each day during 2018, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). This month, AARP offers a unique seven-point assessment to see how your driving skills rate. The Safe Driving Check Up provides a way to have an honest check-in, assessing your vision, flexibility and more. PC Buying Tips: What's Changed, How to Choose: One of the lessons of the pandemic is how vital a computer is for everyday tasks. But buying one today is far different than just a few years ago. The Bulletin provides some factors to consider if you're looking to purchase a new computer. About AARP AARP is the nation's largest nonprofit, nonpartisan organization dedicated to empowering people 50 and older to choose how they live as they age. With a nationwide presence and nearly 38 million members, AARP strengthens communities and advocates for what matters most to families: health security, financial stability and personal fulfillment. AARP also produces the nation's largest circulation publications: AARP The Magazine and AARP Bulletin. To learn more, visit www.aarp.org or follow @AARP and @AARPadvocates on social media. SOURCE AARP Related Links www.aarp.org 18+ FOR.kg search news service (news aggregator, media aggregator) Read first Agreement on the use of the FOR.kg search site When using materials from the FOR.kg - reference to the source is required For all questions please contact customer support The Daily Beast Photo Illustration by The Daily Beast/GettyMike Lindell, the MyPillow CEO and Trumpist conspiracy-peddler, flew his private jet to the Republican Governors Association meeting the other day.The guvs promptly threw him out. But the incident got Molly Jong-Fast thinking: Does the MyPillow CEO think hes already a governor or something?Subscribe to The New Abnormal on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Amazon Music, or Overcast. To listen to our weekly members-only bonus episodes, join Beast Inside here. Already a member? You can listen here and sign up for new episode email alerts here.Spoiler: Making MyPillows does not make you my governor. Now, chances that Mike Lindell could actually become governor of a small Republican state, 80 percent, she quips on the latest episode of The New Abnormal. Like, its not even that hard for someone that famous and insane in the Republican party to become a governor.Lindell claims he wouldnt run to be a dogcatcher right now, because he doesnt trust the voting machines. Plus, hes from the blue state of Minnesota. So maybe the risk of a Governor Pillow isnt quite so high. But L.A. Times columnist Virginia Heffernan would like to quickly add something about Mike Lindell being a cosplay governor.I think we need to understand that being in politics leads to governing and governing is boring. It is not a PR operation, she says. And I feel like we have made these jobs celebrity roles. Public service should not beis notbeing on a reality show.Like, I feel like we need to really dial down the razzle-dazzle, really play up the drudgery, Heffernan continues. I just don't know why every single industrialist and every single lady with abs or gorgeous arms would want to be, of all things, a governor.Biden, Heffernan opines, is doing a pretty good job at the drudgerydollars going out, jabs going out, all leading to Trump signs going down. Sure, the Donald has his cultists, like Lindell. But, I don't think people can hold onto this much insanity for this long, especially when it's a tiny minority of people who believe it, Heffernan adds. Democrats need to know how to win.To which Jong-Fast replies, oh-so-gently: Are you freakin kidding me? With all of these Republican attempts to retcon the Capitol riots? To chop away at the right to vote? To instantiate their ability to overturn elections? All while Team Biden snoozes it away? The Democrats are bringing an ice cream sundae to a knife fight, Jong-Fast says.Plus! Politicos Tara Palmeri talks about her search to find Liz Cheney supporters in Wyoming. And Battle for the Soul author Edward-Isaac Dovere gives us a peek into how Biden sees the political landscape. The presidency that he has in front of him now, he knows, is so different from what he ever expected to have, Dovere says, And part of that is rethinking how he incorporates the progressivism within the party that took root and that was so much part of this campaign. And its just, its a really complicated evolution for him. Its not the presidency he thought itd be running in 2019 when he got into this race.Read more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more. She was a hit when she starred in Dolly Parton's West End 9 to 5 musical in 2019. And Amber Davies has landed the leading role in the theatrical adaptation of new musical Bring It On. The Love Island star, 24, will play newly crowned cheerleading squad captain, Campbell alongside Olympic gymnast Louis Smith, 31. Cheerleader: Amber Davies has landed the leading role in the new musical Bring It On Inspired by the 2000 film, Bring It On features an original score by the multi award winning creator of Hamilton, Lin-Manuel Miranda and Pulitzer Prize winning Tom Kitt, composer of Next To Normal. The production is directed by Guy Unsworth and choreographed by Fabian Aloise. It follows Campbell (Amber) who is forced to move to a neighbouring school Jackson High. But an unlikely friendship catapults Campbell back into contention with a powerhouse squad and the fire to achieve the impossible. Bendy: The Love Island star, 24, will play newly crowned cheerleading squad captain, Campbell alongside Olympic gymnast Louis Smith, 31 Musical: Inspired by the 2000 film, Bring It On features an original score by the multi award winning creator of Hamilton, Lin-Manuel Miranda High school drama: It follows Campbell (Amber) who is forced to move to a neighbouring school Jackson High In 2017, the brunette found fame by winning ITV2's Love Island with ex-boyfriend Kem Cetinay. They split 132 days after scooping the 50K cash prize. Amber went on to make her professional stage debut in 2019 as Judy Bernly in Dolly Partons 9 to 5 The Musical at the Savoy Theatre and subsequently on the UK tour. Four-time gymnastic Olympic medallist Louis, meanwhile, shot to fame in 2008 when he won the first British gymnastic medal in 100 years at the Beijing Olympics. Following his success at the London 2012 Olympic Games Louis later won that years BBC Strictly Come Dancing, before going on to win the Strictly Come Dancing Christmas Special in 2014. On stage he has appeared in Rip It Up in both the West End and on tour. The play will be shown at the Southbank Centres Queen Elizabeth Hall from Wednesday 8 December 2021 to Saturday 22 January 2022, following eight performances at the New Theatre, Peterborough from Tuesday 30 November to Saturday 4 December 2021. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Political tensions in Armenia heightened on Monday, with supporters of the embattled prime minister and the opposition each holding massive rallies at separate sites in the capital. Addressing a rally of thousands of his supporters, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan apologised for the mistakes his cabinet and he personally made after coming to power in 2018. He also voiced hope the president would endorse the dismissal of the General Staffs chief for meddling in politics. The prime minister also suggested calling a constitutional referendum in October to ask voters about expanding presidential powers to avoid future crises, although he didn't spell out specific changes. After an hour-long speech, Pashinyan led his supporters on a march across Yerevan under the heavy escort of police and security officers. Pashinyan, a 45-year-old former journalist who came to power after leading large street protests in 2018 that ousted his predecessor, still enjoys broad support despite the country's humiliating defeat in Nagorno-Karabakh and the opposition calls for his resignation. The prime minister has defended the peace deal as a painful but necessary move to prevent Azerbaijan from overrunning the entire Nagorno-Karabakh region, which lies within Azerbaijan but was under the control of ethnic Armenian forces backed by Armenia since a separatist war there ended in 1994. The fighting with Azerbaijan that erupted in late September and lasted 44 days has left more than 6,000 people dead. Russia has deployed about 2,000 peacekeepers to monitor the November 10 peace deal. (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) Will give ceasefire with Pak the best shot: General Raju India oi-Vicky Nanjappa New Delhi, Mar 02: General Officer Commanding of the Army's 15 Corps, Lieutenant General B S Raju, said that the Army would give the ceasefire with Pakistan the best shot. We will definitely give it our best shot. To make it successful. If something is happening, we will not be trigger happy. I'm sure the good officers across the border will also make it a success, he also said. In case of incidents along the Line of Control, as part of the agreement, both sides have established a mechanism where they can speak with each other. The hotline message can be exchanged both locally as well as in Delhi, he said. After LoC ceasefire agreement, onus on India for progress: Imran Khan "Our ability to control infiltration improves when there is an agreement for ceasefire in place. When Pakistan is shelling, typically it gives a window for infiltration to take place. In the absence of that, our ability to check infiltration will improve. I see no major implication other than, if the infiltration becomes successful. If they come in, then they can generate violence within the Valley," he further added. In a joint statement India and Pakistan said, the Director Generals of Military Operations of India and Pakistan held discussions over the established mechanism of hotline contact. The two sides reviewed the situation along the Line of Control and all other sectors in a free, frank and cordial atmosphere. In the interest of achieving mutually beneficial and sustainable peace along the borders, the two DGsMO agreed to address each other's core issues and concerns which have propensity to disturb peace and lead to violence.Both sides agreed for strict observance of all agreements, understandings and cease firing along the Line of Control and all other sectors with effect from midnight 24/25 Feb 2021. Farmers' Protest: Delhi's Ghazipur border partially opens for vehicular traffic| Oneindia News Both sides reiterated that existing mechanisms of hotline contact and border flag meetings will be utilised to resolve any unforeseen situation or misunderstanding. Cheyenne, WY (82001) Today Some sunshine with a thunderstorm or two possible this afternoon. High 66F. Winds NNW at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 30%.. Tonight A few clouds. Low around 45F. Winds W at 5 to 10 mph. DUBLIN, March 2, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Development of Global Server Brands in 5G Era" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. The world is stepping up the construction of new 5G networks. One of the key elements for the successful commercialization of 5G networks is the transformation of networks, including SDN (Software-Defined Networks), network virtualization, edge computing, and white-box equipment. Private network servers widely adopted by telecom operators in the past will be gradually replaced by general-purpose servers in the future. In anticipation of the new server opportunities arising from the network transformation, this report provides a glimpse into the development of servers in the 5G telecom industry; the pinpoints the deployment strategies of international server leaders, including Dell, HPE, Huawei, and Inspur, in telecom while examining their product development strategies in the 5G era. List of Topics: Development of global servers in the 5G telecom industry and includes telecom server market forecast for 2020 Development of major server brands in telecom, including Dell, HPE, Huawei, and Inspur Key development trends of servers in the 5G era, touching on edging computing and corresponding CPU solutions developed by Intel Key Topics Covered: 1. Global Telecom Server Market Forecast 1.1 Global Telecom Server Shipment Value is Estimated at US$7.7 Billion in 2020 1.2 Global Server Brands Make Inroads into 5G Telecom Market 2. Development of Major Server Brands 2.1 Dell 2.1.1 Deployment in Telecom 2.1.2 Proven Track Records of Cooperation with Telecom Operators 2.1.3 Server Solutions for 5G 2.2 HPE 2.2.1 Deployment in Telecom 2.2.2 Proven Track Records of Cooperation with Telecom Operators 2.2.3 Server Solutions for 5G 2.3 Huawei 2.3.1 Deployment in Telecom 2.3.2 Proven Track Records of Cooperation with Telecom Operators 2.3.3. Server Solutions for 5G 2.4 Inspur 2.4.1 Deployment in Telecom 2.4.2 Proven Track Records of Cooperation with Telecom Operators 2.4.3 Server Solutions for 5G 3. Key Industry Trends 3.1 Edging Computing Brings About New Server Specifications 3.1.1 Easy Deployment 3.1.2 High Scalability 3.2 CPU Providers Take Aims at 5G Telecom Market 3.2.1 Intel's Xeon Scalable Processor from the Network Core to the Edge 3.2.2 Intel's First Diamond Mesa Structured ASIC for 5G Networks 4. Analyst Perspective Companies Mentioned AMD Arm AT&T Broadcom BT Group China Unicom Citrix Dell Deutsche Telekom EMC GE HPE Huawei Inspur Intel Kaloom Koninklijke KPN N.V. Marvell Microsoft NVidia Orange Plexxi Red Hat Telecom Italia Telefonica VMwar For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/pftnju 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 New Delhi: The National Commission for Women (NCW) took cognizance of a case in which an elderly woman was harassed by members of a political party. Chairperson Rekha Sharma wrote to the Director General of the West Bengal police asking them to take action on the situation. The NCW came across a video of an old woman being harassed by members of a political party because her son supported a different party. The woman was allegedly assaulted by the TMC party goons in Nimita, North 24 Parganas district. In the letter written by the NCW Chairperson, she asked the West Bengal Police to take action on the matter and also asked them to make sure there will be no such incident in the future. Another letter containing the same information was sent to the Chief Election Commissioner. Apart from the letters sent, the commission is also seeking a detailed report on the action taken by the police. Denton, TX (76205) Today Considerable cloudiness. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 76F. Winds NW at 5 to 10 mph.. Tonight Partly cloudy skies. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 59F. Winds N at 5 to 10 mph. Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Darragh OBrien TD and Minister of State for Local Government and Planning, Peter Burke TD, have announced a 75m fund for Housing Adaptation Grants for Older People and People with a Disability. 1,368,805 of this will be spent in Offaly. The fund, which supports home adaptations for older people, those with a disability and people with mobility issues, is 80% exchequer funding through the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, with 20% funding from the relevant local authority. Grants of up to 30,000 are available to assist people with a disability in carrying out necessary works to make a house more suitable for their needs, up to 8,000 to assist older people to have necessary repairs or improvements carried out and up to 6,000 for mobility aids. Offaly Minister Pippa Hackett welcomed the funding and said: Providing supports for the vulnerable people in our community says a lot about the kind of society we are, so Im pleased to see that 1,368,805 will be spent on improving the homes of older people and those with a disability in Offaly this year. These works are designed to give people the independence they need to continue living in their own homes. Also commenting, Minister Darragh OBrien said, I am delighted to be in a position to allocate increased funding to each local authority so that they can continue to support older people and those with a disability to live independently. Importantly, home adaptations help reduce the dependency on our health services by supporting independent living for as long as possible and in other instances facilitate an early return from hospital, taking pressure off already over-burdened services. These grants will also provide a boost to local economies, creating employment opportunities for local contractors. While the current shutdown in construction activity remains in place, it is very important that people are aware that housing adaptation works can continue with the consent of the homeowner and once public health guidelines are adhered to, he concluded. Minister Burke added, I am pleased that funding for our Local Authorities to administer this scheme has been increasing year on year since 2014. This shows the importance that is attached to the scheme and the Governments commitment to older people and those with a disability. These grants have a huge impact on the quality of life of the many beneficiaries and play a vitally important role in helping people with a disability and people who are reaching an age in life when they are less mobile, to continue to live independently in their own homes. "As Minister of State with responsibility for housing for older people and people with a disability, I am fully committed to assisting individuals to stay in their own homes and within their own communities for as long as possible and these allocations today will facilitate this goal for many, he concluded. A student doctor has listed the six early signs of mental burnout, from feeling easily irritated to having trouble focusing and remembering things. Zachery Dereniowski, 27, is a Canadian motivational speaker and medical student at the University of Sydney, and he specialises in mental health and making educational TikTok videos around the subject. In one of his most recent clips, Zachery revealed why lacking motivation and feeling detached from the world are both signs that your mental health might be struggling, and what you can do now to combat it. Scroll down for video A student doctor has listed the six early signs of mental burnout, from feeling easily irritated to having trouble focusing and remembering things (Zachery Dereniowski pictured) Zachery (pictured) is a Canadian motivational speaker and medical student at the University of Sydney, and he specialises in mental health and making educational TikTok videos 'There are six early signs that you are having a mental burnout,' Zachery posted on TikTok. What are the six early signs of mental burnout? 1. Trouble focusing or remembering things. 2. Feeling of failure or self doubt. 3. Feeling detached to the point of feeling alone in the world. 4. Feeling more negative about any work you produce. 5. Feeling irritated and snapping a lot quicker than usual. 6. Lacking motivation, feeling helpless, trapped and defeated. Advertisement 'If you have trouble focusing or remembering things, you might be on the brink of burnout. Another sign is a feeling of failure or self doubt.' The student doctor highlighted lacking motivation, feeling helpless, trapped and defeated as sure-fire signs. Meanwhile, if you feel detached to the point of feeling 'alone in the world', then you might want to work on your mental health. 'Another sign is feeling more negative about any work you produce,' Zachery said. 'If you are irritated and snap a lot quicker than usual then you might be about to burn out.' For those on the brink of burnout, Zachery has a few tips: 'Create a routine you can stick with, try meditation and relaxation techniques and use exercise as an outlet for support,' he said. Most importantly, the student doctor explained you need to consult a professional, who will be able to help you with support. 'To whoever reads this, your life matters,' Zachery concluded. 'Professional support is key to recognising that you might have burnout and addressing the problem.' 'There are six early signs that you are having a mental burnout,' Zachery posted on TikTok (pictured) - these signs include feeling negative about anything you do and detached More than 20,000 people who saw Zachery's clip on TikTok said they appreciated him being so honest, and they didn't know they were on the brink of burnout till now. 'I have most of these signs,' one commenter wrote. 'Why is this so true? I was marking off each one of these, and they all apply,' another posted. A third added: 'I've had these for about a year now with COVID and social isolation'. More than 20,000 people who saw Zachery's clip on TikTok (pictured) said they appreciated him being so honest, and they didn't know they were on the brink of burnout till now Zachery has made a name for himself on TikTok and Instagram, thanks to his informative videos about general and mental health. He was inspired to become a motivational speaker after he failed his first year of college and was forced to withdraw from the biochemistry program. But rather than quit after he failed, he decided to use it to his advantage and returned to college to complete his remaining studies. He now speaks about how failure shouldn't mean you give up, but rather you should see it as an opportunity to grow. Zachery (pictured) has made a name for himself on TikTok and Instagram, thanks to his informative videos about general and mental health Previously, Zachery revealed why sayings like 'everything happens for a reason' and 'keep calm and carry on' are harmful for people struggling with their mental health. 'People do not feel better when you say "what doesn't kill you makes you stronger" and "everything happens for a reason",' Zachery said. Other quips that fall into this bracket include 'keep calm and carry on', 'get over it' and 'time heals all wounds', the doctor said. Zachery revealed the signs that might help you to know whether something is wrong with someone: 'There are five signs you should check in on someone's mental health,' he said. The doctor highlighted that if they say they are always 'busy' or express being 'overwhelmed' by things, then you should definitely check in with them. Previously, he revealed why sayings like 'everything happens for a reason' and 'keep calm and carry on' are harmful for people struggling with their mental health Zachery added that if you work with or know someone who says they are 'tired' the whole time, then that is often a sign that their mental health is struggling. 'If they are going through a difficult life event like divorce or unemployment, this can often be a time when people need extra help,' Zachery said. Similarly, if they always 'brush things off' that you say or seem emotionally distant, then there might be more wrong than meets the eye. Finally, the doctor said if a friend or family member is disengaged in conversation, especially on something that they are usually passionate about, then this might mean they are struggling. Thousands who saw Zachery's post were impressed with it, writing 'love this, thank you so much' and 'always check in on the ones who check on you'. 'Broken patterns are another good sign to check in,' one commenter said. 'Sometimes they are subtle. 'Other times, it's obvious, like not showing up to school or your job.' China has charged ahead with a bold effort to remake the way that government-backed money works, rolling out its own digital currency with different qualities than cash or digital deposits. The countrys central bank, which began testing eCNY last year in four cities, recently expanded those trials to bigger cities such as Beijing and Shanghai, according to government presentations. The journey of how you pay, its very similar to that of other Chinese payments apps, Huang said of the eCNY experience, though she added that it was not quite as smooth. After joining the lottery through the social media app WeChat, Huang, 28, a business strategist in Shenzhen, received a digital envelope with 200 electronic Chinese yuan, or eCNY, worth around $US30 ($38.58). To spend it, she went to a convenience store near her office and picked out some nuts and yoghurt. Then she pulled up a QR code for the digital currency from inside her bank app, which the store scanned for payment. The effort is one of several by central banks around the world to try new forms of digital money that can move faster and give even the most disadvantaged people access to online financial tools. Many countries have taken action as cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, which has recently soared in value, have become more popular. But while Bitcoin was designed to be decentralised so that no company or government could control it, digital currencies created by central banks give governments more of a financial grip. These currencies can enable direct handouts of money that expire if not used by a particular date and can make it easier for governments to track financial transactions to stamp out tax evasion and crack down on dissidents. Over the last 12 months, more than 60 countries have experimented with national digital currencies, up from just over 40 a year earlier, according to the Bank for International Settlements. The countries include Sweden, which is conducting real-world trials of a digital krona, and the Bahamas, which has made a digital currency, the Sand Dollar, available to all citizens. Loading In contrast, the United States has moved slowly and done just basic research. At a New York Times event last week, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen indicated that might change when she said a US digital currency was absolutely worth looking at because it could result in faster, safer and cheaper payments. SARATOGA SPRINGS A European restaurant called Brasserie Benelux is in the final weeks of development at 390 Broadway, former home to Braeburn Tavern, The Crown Grill and Brindisi's Restaurant. More: Local restaurants that are gone, but not forgotten An opening in late March is projected. More: Capital Region restaurants opened, closed or coming soon The owner is Armand VanderStigchel, a chef who has written books including "Wings Across America," "Adirondack Cookbook" and "Adirondack Cuisine." The latter was also a five-part series on PBS. VanderStigchel said he has consulted at restaurants in New York City, but this is his first involvement locally and first venture as a proprietor. He said he recently moved to Saratoga and has had a second home in Queensbury for 20 years. The son of Dutch parents, VanderStigchel was born in Chicago and as a child moved to Europe with his family, going on to live there for 15 years. "Benelux" refers to Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg, and Brasserie Benelux will feature fare from those countries as well as from Germany, Austria and France and the Scandinavian nations. Signature dishes will includes moules frites; wiener schnitzel with spaetzle, cucumber salad and lingonberries; jagerschnitzel with mushroom sauce; the Belgian beef stew known as carbonnade flamande; and what VanderStigchel described as "the most delicious Swedish meatballs, from a 40-year-old recipe from Sweden with sour cream and lingonberries." Initial service will be for dinner on Wednesday, lunch and dinner Thursday through Sunday, closed Monday and Tuesday. The website has been established but is presently empty. Guide: Restaurants that have opened and closed for good in 2020 Oil prices held steady on Tuesday before this week's OPEC+ meeting, with producers expected to ease supply curbs as economies start to recover from the coronavirus crisis. OPEC Secretary General Mohammad Barkindo said the outlook for oil demand was looking more positive, particularly in Asia. Brent futures rose 2 cents to $63.71 a barrel by 10:48 a.m. EST (1548 GMT). U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude rose 7 cents, or 0.1%, to $60.71. During the session, both Brent and WTI fell over $1 a barrel to one-week lows. Last week, both touched their highest since ... Mark Mulligan, Houston Chronicle / Staff photographer H-E-B will no longer require that customers wear masks, but they encourage shoppers to do so. Workers and vendors inside the store will still be required, however. The news comes after Gov. Greg Abbott announced he will end the Texas mask mandate starting March 10. Coronation Street have paid a touching tribute to actor Johnny Briggs, following his death on Sunday aged 85. The ITV soap dedicated Monday's episode to the Mike Baldwin star, as they hailed the screen legend 'incomparable'. Following the latest episode, the show shared an image of Johnny on their official Twitter page and said: 'In loving memory of Johnny Briggs 1935-2021. 'Incomparable': Coronation Street have paid a touching tribute to actor Johnny Briggs, following his death on Sunday aged 85 In addition, the tweet also read: 'Tonights episode was in loving memory of the incomparable Johnny Briggs, who played Mike Baldwin. Fans of the soap were quick to take to Twitter to praise the soap for honouring the late actor. 'Lovely tribute to a Corrie legend. R.I.P Johnny Briggs' wrote one viewer. While another shared: 'Nice tribute to Johnny Briggs tonight from @itvcorrie Mike Baldwin was a legend of the street.. specially the storyline with the love triangle Ken Mike and derdrie [sic]' In memory: The ITV soap dedicated Monday's episode to the Mike Baldwin star, as they hailed the screen legend 'incomparable' 'Nice touch by @itvcorrie at the end there, in loving memory of Johnny Briggs x' tweeted a third. With another fan adding: 'Lovely tribute to Johnny at the end of @itvcorrie.' An announcement at the beginning of the episode also told how the episode was dedicated to the TV favourite. Loving fans: Fans of the soap were quick to take to Twitter to praise the soap for honouring the late actor Johnny played underwear factory boss Mike Baldwin on the cobbles from 1976 to 2006 and received an MBE in 2007. He appeared in 2,349 episodes, including a 2012 special as a ghost, and is best remembered for his famous feud with Ken Barlow, played by Bill Roache, after he had an affair with his wife Deirdre, played by the late Anne Kirkbride. Johnny Briggs passed away at his home on Sunday morning after a long illness, his family confirmed. It remains unclear what the illness was. Role: Johnny played the underwear factory boss from 1976 to 2006 and and is best remembered for his famous feud with Ken Barlow (Bill Roache) after he had an affair with his wife Deirdre, played by the late Anne Kirkbride A family statement said: 'It is with great sadness that we announce the death of our father, Johnny Briggs. 'He passed away peacefully this morning after a long illness, with family by his side. He was 85. 'We politely ask for privacy at this time, so that we can quietly grieve as a family and remember the wonderful times we had with him. Thank you.' Briggs split his time between a home in Portishead, North Somerset, UK, and a house in Florida though it is unclear where he was staying at time of his death. New Delhi, March 2: With a spurt of new initiatives, India has begun to tap its shared, deep-rooted cultural and religious bonds with Nepal to strongly reinforce a deeply enmeshed political relationship. On Sunday, the bhoomi pooja (ceremonial breaking of ground) to mark the starting of work of conservation and restoration of Seto Machindranath temple in Kathmandu kicked off New Delhi's massive effort to preserve the cultural heritage sites in the Himalayan country. Believed to have been built in the 10th Century AD during the Malla era, the temple was damaged during the 2015 earthquake. It is located in Jana Bahal, the heart of Kathmandu city, and is visited by Hindus and Buddhist devotees to worship Seto Machindranath who is considered to be one of the protectors of the Kathmandu Valley. It is the first of 28 cultural heritage conservation and restoration projects being undertaken with a grant assistance of NRs 5800 million committed by the Indian government for post-earthquake reconstruction of the cultural heritage sites across eight districts of Nepal. All the 28 sites were identified by Nepal and India, the MoU for which was signed in August 2017. The rituals were performed jointly by Vinay Mohan Kwatra, the Indian ambassador to Nepal, Chief Executive Officer of National Reconstruction Authority of Government of Nepal and Mayor of Kathmandu Metropolitan City. Community members of Jan Bahal area where Seto Machindranath temple is located, also participated with fervour and enthusiasm in the ceremony. The conservation and retrofitting of the temple will be carried out at a cost of NRs 626 million. It will be conserved as per Nepal's Ancient Monument Preservation Act, and Department of Archaeology's Basic Guidelines and Manual for conservation and reconstruction of heritage affected by 2015 earthquake using material close to the original building material at the time of its construction as per the traditional ethos, local traditions and values that sustains and enriches such living heritage sites in Nepal. Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) has been engaged to provide technical support during the conservation and restoration work. Along with Seto Machindranath Temple, three contract agreements were also signed last month for construction of dharamshala at Budhaneelkantha and conservation and development of Kumari Chhen and Kumari Niwas. Located inside Ratnakar Mahavihara, the Kumari Chhen is a historic house of the living goddess of Patan. The living goddess is central to culture and traditions of Buddhist community. Kumari Niwas has an important place in the rituals associated with the living goddess. The conservation and development of Kumari Chhen and Kumari Niwas stands at NRs 456 million. Dharmashala at Budhaneelkantha lies within the heritage precinct of Budhanilkantha temple locally known as Narayanthan. It will be constructed at a cost of NRs 334 million and is expected to facilitate visit of pilgrims and tourists visiting the sacred temple. Earlier in November 2019, India had also built Mathadish building for Budhanilkantha temple at a cost of NRs 21.8 million. The projects highlight India's large-scale efforts to not just conserve the common cultural heritage but also to rebuild Nepal after the deadly 2015 earthquake which killed nearly 9,000 people and injured close to 22,000 citizens. "We are friends since Treta Yug (since ages). King Janak and King Dashrath tied not only Janakpur and Ayodhya but India and Nepal also in the bonds of friendship and partnership. This is the bond of Ram-Sita and of Buddha and also of Mahavir. This is the bond which pulls the people of Rameshwaram to Pashupatinath. This is the bond which pulls the people of Lumbini to Bodh Gaya and this is the bond, the religious belief, and this is that affection which has brought me to Janakpur today," Prime Minister Narendra Modi had said in his speech in Janakpur during his visit to Nepal in May 2018. As part of its 'Neighborhood First' policy, India has been playing a key role in the all-round development of Nepal. Increasing cross-border connectivity remains one of the main goals of the policy as India and Nepal are working on several projects such as road, rail and transmission lines. India had said last year that it has spent nearly Rs 550 crores to extend the Jayanagar-Kurtha rail connectivity between India and Nepal up to Bijalpura by March 2021. The train service would cover a distance of 35 kilometres from Jayanagar in Bihar to Kurtha in Janakpur. Jayanagar is just four Kms from the India-Nepal border and has Janakpur, the famous pilgrim centre in Nepal which is 29 Kms from Jayanagar. India has also committed a total grant of US$ 250 million for reconstruction projects in the education, health, cultural heritage and housing sectors in Nepal. As 'true friend' India continues to supply the 'Made in India' vaccines to various countries all over the world during the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, Nepal too had received a gift of one million doses in January for the immediate requirement of the country's healthcare and frontline workers. Nepal's Health Minister Hridayesh Tripathi said yesterday the country is planning to purchase an additional two million doses from India before the second phase of vaccination drive starting Sunday. The assistance isn't just limited to supplying vaccines. India is also helping Nepal build a robust healthcare sector. The Narendra Modi government is helping Nepal reconstruct 147 health sector projects in 10 districts under a grant of US$ 50 million. The Government of India has also gifted over 823 ambulances to governmental, non-governmental/non-profit making organisations in Nepal since 1994. For the education sector, India has committed a grant of US$ 50 million under which 71 educational institutions damaged during the 2015 earthquake are being reconstructed in eight districts of Nepal. In spite of the frequent political turmoil in Kathmandu, the Indian government has remained committed to continue its development partnership with Nepal which, it has reiterated time and again, is long-standing, unwavering, unmatched and multidimensional in nature. As PM Modi said during his Nepal visit, "The relations of Nepal with India have been tied by the politics, diplomacy and strategy and even beyond that they have been tied through our deities. Individuals and governments will continue to come and go, but this relationship is everlasting." (This content is being carried under an arrangement with indianarrative.com) Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. (Photo : Why Deepfakes Are Evolving and Its Effects on Your Business!) When we first started hearing about deepfakes, it was easy to dismiss the notion that they could be dangerous. To be fair, in those days the deepfakes that did see the light of day were so glitch and so obviously fake that it wasn't hard to be dismissive of their potential. After all, at the time the concept sounded more like something out of the old Nicholas Cage and John Travolta movie "Face-Off", just an interesting bit of science fiction. The narrative has changed since then. These days it is quite possible to make anyone do or say virtually anything. Do you want to star in a scene with your favourite celebrity, have a politician say something absolutely absurd, or even get anyone to sing your praises while dancing a jig? You can do all that and more if you can make a deepfake. Deepfakes are basically synthetic media where people in a video can be replaced with a likeness of someone else. Even though deepfakes sound like a figment of science fiction, but the threat posed by them most certainly is not fiction. Not only can deepfakes threaten the stability of political positions, they are evolving to become increasingly more threatening to the financial stability of businesses. Deepfakes are doctored video, picture, and audio files that have been altered so well that it is almost impossible to tell whether they are fake or real. This is a serious threat as these files can potentially ruin you and your business overnight. This is a potent threat and unfortunately it is a tough threat to counter because most businesses don't have the vaguest idea how they can fight against deepfakes. Here is a quick overview on how businesses can retain their power by learning about how to thwart the threat posed by deepfakes. The upsurge of deepfake scams Even though deepfakes have been around for a while, it is only recently that they have been considered as a serious threat by the business industry. Within the 9 month duration between December 2018 and October 2019, the number of deepfake videos online rose by 84%, a statistic that would be much higher if the study included the dark web. While a vast majority of these videos are primarily pornographic or other adult content (not surprising considering what the internet is most used for), but there is still room for potentially disaster inducing fake videos that could wreak havoc on your business because of the compromising situations they could potentially create. Owing to the rapid advancements in the technology responsible for making deepfakes, like advanced machine learning and artificial intelligence, it has become increasingly easier for cyber scammers, creators and criminals to create highly accurate and convincing deepfake audio and videos. Think about it, while you obviously would not share your bank details with any random hacker or con artist who calls or messages you, but what if you received a video call from someone who looks and talks exactly like your wife (or parent, or significant other) and they asked you for financial account information. What if your "wife" turned out to be an elaborate deepfake scan by a hacker using deepfake technology on a computer to scam you? Emergence of deepfake cons There have been many reporting of deepfake scam already where targeted threats have been made and have been proved to pay off. Unfortunately, the "success" of these scams has encouraged many cyber criminals to try the same. It is a well-known fact that once hackers figure out that a certain scamming strategy works, they will fine-tune it and make it even better so they can profit off of it In one scenario, the chief executive of a UK based energy company transferred $220,000 on the verbal instructions of somebody he was convinced was his boss. The money was transferred to a supposed Hungarian supplier and never seen again. Later the chief executive reported that not only was the voice quality and timbre exactly like his boss, the scammers even enunciated and pronounced the words exactly like the boss. In a study carried out by Symantec, it was discovered that several large companies have already fallen victim to successful deepfake audio scams. The modus operandi was the same, deepfake audio messages tricked the CFOs of these companies to transfer substantial amounts of money to these scammers. It has also been predicted by the proponents of said study, that deepfake scams could cost businesses around $300 million in 2021. Deepfake threats and scams to watch out for While many individuals and businesses are still been targeted using intricate email phishing cons and scams, the threats posed by deepfakes are rapidly becoming a much larger fish to fry. (Did you catch the pun there? I hope you did.) Deepfake scams may not be a prevalent problem right now, but you just watch and see it become they scamming tool of choice for hackers who have the right equipment, patience, and deep faking talent to turn this scam into a sugar daddy for them. Out of the many financial threats to your business posed by potential deepfakes, here are a few that you should watch out for: Scammers posing as clients or suppliers requesting a payment Scammers posing as supervisors or bosses requesting sensitive information Scammers posing as supervisors or bosses instructing the initiation of fund transfers Scammers posing as IT administrators to get access to the business's bank accounts Someone using fake audio and video for blackmail and extortion Someone using deepfake pictures, audios and video for launching smear campaigns on social media How to protect yourself and your business While the security team in your organization may understand the threat, actually protecting your business from deepfake scams is not that easy. While deepfake detection software are available, like Deeptrace and Cogito, they can be quite expensive and thus beyond the financial reach of smaller business concerns. However, there are a few precautions you can take to protect your company from the deepfake threat: Increase employee awareness about deepfakes Ask employees to report anything that seems unusual or peculiar Establish a cloaked or tiered communication policy, where phone calls are verified by email before action is taken. Ensure that internal communication is done via email addresses or phone numbers that are not made public. Bulk up cyber security measures overall so the cybercriminals cannot gain access to company data. Create strong policies regarding fund transfers, like having a two employee verification process policy. In conclusion Deepfakes are no longer just an emerging threat, they are now evolved into a force that must be reckoned with. Don't ignore the threat, take measures today to ensure the stability of your business tomorrow. 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Schools Information Roseburg Public Schools announced Sunday evening that a person at Roseburg High School had tested positive for COVID-19. The school district does not release information about the person infected with the coronavirus, but it did announce that as a result of this positive case all football-related activities would be suspended until March 8. Winston-Dillard School District informed parents that a student at Winston Middle School and a person at Brockway Elementary School tested positive for the coronavirus. All those who need to quarantine have been contacted either by the school district or Douglas Public Health Network. During the two week period ending on Feb. 27 there were a total of 317 cases in Douglas County, or 282.4 cases per 100,000 people with a test positivity of 6.2%, according to data from the Oregon Health Authority released Monday. Schools that are open to on-site learning are advised to stay open unless there is evidence of transmission of the virus in the school environment. There has been no evidence of spread within schools in Douglas County. Measures tipped for tomorrow's Budget including a government guarantee for 95% home loans and extensions to the stamp duty holiday and furlough scheme have been given an advance welcome. But Chancellor Rishi Sunak has been warned against raising taxes by his Labour opponents, and urged instead to focus on the post-pandemic recovery. Reports suggested the Chancellor is considering raising corporation tax to as much as 25% from 19%. Shadow chancellor Anneliese Dodds said now is "not the time" for tax rises, but signalled that she could support an increase in corporation tax in the future. Mr Sunak is expected to extend the furlough scheme to the end of June to preserve jobs hit by lockdowns. According to HMRC, 106,2000 jobs in NI were availing of the scheme at the end of January. Beyond HR managing director Neil McLeese said an extension would avoid firms having to embark on redundancy. "Redundancy can be expensive, time consuming and emotionally challenging for all parties involved and it is not something firms want to venture into without a clear longer-term view. "Therefore, an extension of the job retention scheme gives businesses the opportunity to future-proof their business." The Budget is also expected to contain measures aimed at boosting the housing market and help more young people onto the housing ladder. They will include extending the stamp duty holiday to the end of June - exempting purchases of below 500,000 from the tax - and introducing government guarantees on 95% mortgages. NI estate agent John Minnis said the stamp duty holiday will help buyers and sellers here. "The conveyancing process here can take three months so it will help with the overall sale. "There had been added pressure to complete transactions by March 31 so any extension to this will be a big help for anyone who would miss the deadline and for anyone selling in England and moving to NI this will help with their sale and their purchase." He also welcomed the prospect of the return of 95% mortgages. The All Party Parliamentary Group for Hospitality and Tourism said it needed more support. It wants an extension of the VAT cut to 5% on food and soft drinks for another 12 months and for it to be extended to the broad hospitality industry, including alcoholic drinks sold on-premises. [March 02, 2021] U.S. News & World Report Names Vivint Smart Home a Best Home Security System for Third Year Running Vivint Smart Home, Inc. (NYSE:VVNT), a leading smart home company in North America, today announced that U.S. News & World Report named the company a "Best Home Security System for 2021." This marks Vivint's third consecutive year among the best smart home security systems in the U.S. News 360 Reviews' annual guide to home security. U.S. News also named Vivint the "Best Professionally Installed Security System" for the third year in a row. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210302005370/en/ U.S. News & World Report names Vivint a "Best Home Security System for 2021." (Graphic: Business Wire) The U.S. News guide to home security features in-depth information on choosing a home security system and covers a range of options, including cost, features and size of network. The guide is the most comprehensive review of both professionally installed an DIY security systems. "Recognition from U.S. News for the past three years demonstrates our commitment to deliver products and services that are comprehensive, easy to use and affordable for the mass market," said JT Hwang, chief technology officer at Vivint. "We're focused on providing the premier end-to-end smart home experience through an integrated platform, best-in-class products, hassle-free professional installation, and 24/7 support and services." U.S. News highlighted the following benefits of a Vivint smart home system: "Vivint Smart Home is a feature-rich, wireless home security system that is professionally installed. Unlike the new breed of do-it-yourself systems, you won't lift a finger to install Vivint's system. Moreover, it offers a free home consultation with an experienced security advisor to determine the equipment you need." Read the full U.S. News review of Vivint here. U.S. News evaluated specific home security categories based on consumer needs, including the Best Professionally Installed Systems, the Best Do-It-Yourself (DIY) Systems and the Best Home Security Systems with Outdoor Cameras, where it also ranked Vivint among the best. The U.S. News 360 Reviews team applied an unbiased methodology that includes a nationwide consumer survey, opinions from independent security experts and third-party reviews. About Vivint Smart Home Vivint Smart Home is a leading smart home company in North America. Vivint delivers an integrated smart home system with in-home consultation, professional installation and support delivered by its Smart Home Pros, as well as 24/7 customer care and monitoring. Dedicated to redefining the home experience with intelligent products and services, Vivint serves more than 1.7 million customers throughout the U.S. and Canada. For more information, visit www.vivint.com. About U.S. News & World Report U.S. News & World Report is a digital news and information company that empowers people to make better, more informed decisions about important issues affecting their lives. Focusing on Education, Health, Money, Travel, Cars and Civic, USNews.com provides consumer advice, rankings and analysis to serve people making complex decisions throughout all stages of life. The 360 Reviews team brings the U.S. News approach to consumer guidance into a broad set of consumer product and service categories. More than 40 million people visit USNews.com each month for research and guidance. Founded in 1933, U.S. News is headquartered in Washington, D.C. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210302005370/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] You have permission to edit this article. Edit Close LONDON (dpa-AFX) - Renishaw plc (RSW.L) said its founders Sir David McMurtry and John Deer, Executive Chairman and Non-Executive Deputy Chairman, respectively have indicated to the Board their intention to sell their very substantial shareholdings in Renishaw. Together, the Founders, and certain persons connected with them, own about 53% of the issued share capital of the company and have expressed a preference for the disposal of their entire combined shareholding, the company stated. Further, the company noted that the Board has considered various options with its advisers. In considering these options the Board, including the Founders, has had regard to the interests of all the company's stakeholders. 'The Board has unanimously concluded that it would be appropriate to investigate the sale of the Company and is therefore launching a formal sale process for the Company.' The Board intends to seek a buyer. UBS is acting as sole financial adviser and corporate broker to the company in relation to the sale process. 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. 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. Travere Therapeutics (TVTX) came out with a quarterly loss of $2.37 per share versus the Zacks Consensus Estimate of a loss of $0.43. This compares to loss of $0.70 per share a year ago. These figures are adjusted for non-recurring items. This quarterly report represents an earnings surprise of -451.16%. A quarter ago, it was expected that this drug developer would post a loss of $0.59 per share when it actually produced a loss of $0.44, delivering a surprise of 25.42%. Over the last four quarters, the company has surpassed consensus EPS estimates two times. Travere, which belongs to the Zacks Medical - Biomedical and Genetics industry, posted revenues of $50.98 million for the quarter ended December 2020, missing the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 0.55%. This compares to year-ago revenues of $46.69 million. The company has topped consensus revenue estimates two times over the last four quarters. The sustainability of the stock's immediate price movement based on the recently-released numbers and future earnings expectations will mostly depend on management's commentary on the earnings call. Travere shares have added about 13.1% since the beginning of the year versus the S&P 500's gain of 1.5%. What's Next for Travere? While Travere has outperformed the market so far this year, the question that comes to investors' minds is: what's next for the stock? There are no easy answers to this key question, but one reliable measure that can help investors address this is the company's earnings outlook. Not only does this include current consensus earnings expectations for the coming quarter(s), but also how these expectations have changed lately. Empirical research shows a strong correlation between near-term stock movements and trends in earnings estimate revisions. Investors can track such revisions by themselves or rely on a tried-and-tested rating tool like the Zacks Rank, which has an impressive track record of harnessing the power of earnings estimate revisions. Story continues Ahead of this earnings release, the estimate revisions trend for Travere was favorable. While the magnitude and direction of estimate revisions could change following the company's just-released earnings report, the current status translates into a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) for the stock. So, the shares are expected to outperform the market in the near future. You can see the complete list of today's Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here. It will be interesting to see how estimates for the coming quarters and current fiscal year change in the days ahead. The current consensus EPS estimate is -$0.43 on $50.34 million in revenues for the coming quarter and -$2.17 on $210.86 million in revenues for the current fiscal year. Investors should be mindful of the fact that the outlook for the industry can have a material impact on the performance of the stock as well. In terms of the Zacks Industry Rank, Medical - Biomedical and Genetics is currently in the bottom 24% of the 250 plus Zacks industries. Our research shows that the top 50% of the Zacks-ranked industries outperform the bottom 50% by a factor of more than 2 to 1. Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Samsung C&T Corporation has secured a major engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) contract from Qatar Petroleum for the expansion of the LNG storage and loading facilities located within Ras Laffan Industrial City as part of the North Field East (NFE) Project. The order, worth more than $2 billion, had been awarded on a lump sum basis and was the second major onshore EPC contract award for the NFE project. Earlier this month, Qatar Petroleum had awarded the EPC contract for the construction of four LNG mega-trains with associated facilities to Chiyoda Technip Joint Venture. Both contracts represent the culmination of front-end engineering and design work that began in early 2018. This contract marks another concrete step towards the further development of Qatar's natural gas resources, and enhancing the country's position as the worlds largest, most reliable LNG producer, stated Saad Sherida Al Kaabi, the Minister of State for Energy Affairs, the President and CEO of Qatar Petroleum, after signing the deal with Oh Se-chul, the President and CEO of Samsung C&T. "This contract provides for the expansion of existing infrastructure required to ensure the safe loading and on-time delivery of our LNG cargoes to our international customers across the globe. Its scope includes three LNG tanks and three LNG loading berths for NFE, and options for two LNG tanks and one LNG berth for NFS project, and all associated pipes, lines and loading lines," noted Al Kaabi. On completion, the NFE Project will boost Qatars LNG production capacity from 77 million to 110 tonne per annum (MTPA). The second phase of the planned LNG expansion, the North Field South (NFS) Project, will further increase Qatars LNG production capacity from 110 MTPA to 126 MTPA by 2027, he added.-TradeArabia News Service Middletown Police Department The boyfriend of an Ohio woman charged with killing her 6-year-old son while trying to abandon him and his siblings had been pressuring her to get rid of the children, she told police. Thats according to a newly released police report that lays out in detail the alleged chain of events that led to James Robert Hutchinsons body being thrown in a freezing river last week. In a press conference on Monday, Middletown Police Chief David Birk said Brittany Gosney, 29, confessed to killing young James, but he said the motive was still unclear. However, an incident report filed by investigators points to James Russell Hamilton, Gosneys 42-year-old boyfriend, as the primary instigator behind her chilling crime. Heartbreaking: Ohio 6-Year-Old Died After Clinging to Car as Mom Abandoned Him, Cops Say According to the report, which was provided to The Daily Beast by the Preble County Sheriffs Office, Gosney told cops she drove Hamiltons 2005 Dodge Caravan to a local park on Feb. 27, where she tried to ditch James and her other kids, ages 7 and 9. Brittany stated she had planned to get the kids out of the vehicle and to leave them behind as Hamilton had been pressuring her to get rid of the kids, it says. When doing this, the 6-year-old, Hutchinson, grabbed onto the door handle. Brittany slammed the gas trying to leave the kids and drug [sic] Hutchinson possibly running him over. Brittany turned the vehicle around to check on Hutchinson and he was dead. Brittany then loaded the 2 live children and Hutchinson back into the vehicle and returned to her and Hamiltons residence. There, Gosney said, she stashed the corpse under a window in a spare room. Around 3 a.m. Sunday, the sheriffs report says, Gosney and Hamilton drove the Dodge Caravan to the bridge that goes over the Ohio River and threw Hutchinsons body into the water below. Later that morning, Gosney and Hamilton showed up at a local police station to report James missing. But something seemed odd about their stories, which didnt quite match each others. This set off alarm bells for the detectives, who said they got a confession from Gosney a short time later. James body has not yet been recovered, due to rough waters that have hampered the search. Story continues Authorities say Gosneys two surviving children, who were not physically harmed, have since been placed in foster care. Gosney reportedly lost custody of a fourth child prior to James death. Gosney is now facing charges of murder, abuse of a corpse, and tampering with evidence. Hamilton has been charged with abuse of a corpse and tampering with evidence. A judge set bail for Gosney at $1 million, and Hamiltons at $105,000. Both remain jailed. They are due back in court on March 8. In a Facebook post, a man identified as Gosneys stepfather said Hamilton should be facing a stiffer rap. Im so heartbroken I dont care if I had a million dollars I would not get her out but he is involved more than whats being said he should get the same, he wrote. Read more at The Daily Beast. Got a tip? Send it to The Daily Beast here Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now! Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more. Since the Senate parliamentarian decided Thursday that the White Houses pandemic relief package cannot include a minimum-wage increase under the filibuster-exempt reconciliation process, Democrats are trying to put on a brave face. President Joe Biden is absolutely committed to raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour, said White House press secretary Jen Psaki on CNNs State of the Union. Even progressive Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, sounded bullish, telling NBCs Meet the Press that Democrats are united behind a higher minimum wage. Democrats are not inclined to fire the parliamentarian as Republicans did in similar circumstances in 2001 or to overrule her. The only option that leaves is reforming the anti-democratic filibuster. Democrats would have to win over Sens. Joe Manchin, D-West Virginia, and Kyrsten Sinema, D-Arizona. Its a challenge, but one Democrats should try to climb, because Americans deserve and want a higher minimum wage. The policy case for a $15 minimum wage never has been stronger. Opponents point to the Congressional Budget Offices finding that it would cost 1.4 million jobs. But the most comprehensive review of studies on the subject found that, on average, a higher minimum wages effect on jobs would be negligible. And even the CBO found that a $15 minimum wage will boost paychecks for 17 million people and lift 900,000 out of poverty. The political case is stronger. Poll after poll shows that two-thirds of Americans support it, including strong support among Republicans. The same Florida electorate that gave Donald Trump a comfortable win also passed a $15 minimum wage with 61% of the vote. Manchin and Sinema are being overly cautious about their own voters. Four years ago, Arizona voters voted 58%-42% to increase the states minimum wage to $12 by 2020. Meanwhile, a new poll finds that 63% of West Virginians support a $15 minimum wage. There are some stopgap measures. Sens. Bernie Sanders, I-Vermont., and Ron Wyden, D-Oregon, propose tax penalties for big corporations that dont pay at least a certain amount, as well as tax credits to small businesses to incentivize higher wages. Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., for example, told Fox News Sunday that Id be concerned there about those corporations then outsourcing that work to small enterprises. Still, the idea has Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumers support, which is a start. But the proposal must be only a down payment on a wage raise. Twenty years ago, when a parliamentarian ruled against Republican efforts to pass tax cuts by reconciliation, the GOP replaced him. Democrats may believe they have good reasons not to follow that example, but they need to get this done. Failure risks sending a message that they dont prioritize a living wage for all Americans the way Republicans do tax cuts for the wealthiest. A $15 minimum wage is more than good politics. Its more than good policy. Its a test of whether Democrats can deliver on the trust voters have placed with them to overcome Washington dysfunction and move the country forward. JAMES DOWNIE is The Washington Posts digital opinions editor. Russia continues its crackdown on religious liberty, especially targeting minority religious sects and organizations. Jehovah's Witnesses have been singled out for particular persecution by authorities. Recently, a Russian court sentenced Jehovahs Witness Aleksandr Ivshin to seven and a half years in prison for his religious practice. It is the harshest sentence handed down since the Russian Supreme Courts ruling in 2017 that banned and criminalized the activity of Jehovahs Witnesses, calling the faith group extremist. The so-called extremist behavior of Mr. Ivshin included organizing online Bible studies with other members of the group. On February 10, police in Moscow and the surrounding region searched 15 homes of Jehovahs Witnesses and detained several members for questioning. Three of them remain in custody. On the same day, a regional court in Kursk again denied the early release of a jailed Danish member of the Jehovah's Witnesses who has been serving a six-year prison term since 2017. This is part of a pattern that has been escalating in recent years. According to the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, the Russian government in 2019 continued to target nontraditional religious minorities with fines, detentions, and criminal charges under the pretext of combating extremism. Russian legislation criminalizes extremism without adequately defining the term, enabling the state to prosecute a vast range of nonviolent religious activity. The situation worsened last year, according to press reports and human rights NGOs. Russian police have reportedly raided 1,296 private homes, initiated 197 criminal cases against 435 Jehovahs Witnesses, 42 Jehovah's Witnesses are currently in prison, and 27 are currently under house arrest. Church property was confiscated, and between 5,000 and 10,000 Jehovahs Witnesses are thought to have fled the country since 2017 as a result of persecution. The United States condemns Russias continued crackdown on Jehovahs Witnesses and other religious minorities in the strongest possible terms, said State Department spokesperson Ned Price in a statement. The United States affirms that as a matter of human rights, all people are entitled to believe or not to believe according to the dictates of their own conscience. A man was sentenced to four years in prison on Monday after pleading guilty to a robbery that left a man in the hospital with serious injuries. Advertisement Advertise With Us A man was sentenced to four years in prison on Monday after pleading guilty to a robbery that left a man in the hospital with serious injuries. Drayden Paul, 24, pleaded guilty in Brandon Court of Queens Bench to break-and-enter and robbery on Monday afternoon. Crown attorney Grant Hughes said the break-in happened on Dec. 7, 2018, when police received a 911 call from a 10th Street residence. A neighbour told police they just saw three men kick in the door of the apartment next door and they were still inside, said Hughes. When police arrived, they found two men walking down the steps of an apartment building carrying a TV. When the men saw police, one of them ran, said Hughes, and another one stayed behind. Officers also found a crowbar at the bottom of the stairs the men were coming down. Police found Paul in the area a few minutes later with cuts on his knuckles from punching with a closed fist. Hughes said he was wearing all black, matching the description of the suspects from the 911 caller. Officers went into the apartment and found a badly injured 58-year-old man. He was covered in blood and his left ear was partially severed, the Crown told the court. The man was taken to the hospital, where he gave a statement to police. Hughes said he told officers he was in bed when he saw three men in the back lane behind his apartment before he heard his door being forced open. The assailants came into his bedroom and two of the men hit him in the head, one with a bar or a pipe, the victim told police. He lost memory of what happened next. Police tried to conduct a followup interview an hour later, but the man said he no longer remembered what happened or that he talked to police earlier, said Hughes. The man was left with a severed left ear, bruised right eye, facial swelling and three circular cuts to the left side of his chest, bicep and forearm. The cuts were consistent with being speared with the end of a metal pipe, said Hughes. Both the victims and Pauls DNA were on a pipe officers found at the residence, said the Crown. Both Hughes and defence lawyer William Marks jointly recommended a four-year sentence, less time already served, and two years of probation. Hughes said Paul should get credit for pleading guilty and saving jurors from having to have to sit through multiple days of trial and deliberate during the pandemic. "This was a fairly terrifying incident from the perspective of (the victim). One can only imagine sleeping in your apartment and two individuals come in, beating you up rather severely," said Hughes. In a victim impact statement read by a Spanish translator, the victim said he never imagined being in the situation and has lost trust in others. He said he fears for his security and is scared someone could again knock on his door with the intention to hurt him. The man said he received stitches on his mouth and ear and sometimes feels a stretching sensation in his cheek after the injuries he sustained. Marks said Paul had a difficult upbringing, but said his client didnt want to go into detail in court. He also has addiction issues, which played a part in the events of Dec. 7, 2018. "He definitely has people out there that do care about him, its just a matter of Mr. Paul making the decisions to actually follow through with possibly better decisions going forward," said Marks. Justice Scott Abel endorsed the joint recommendation and said it takes into account the violence and injury inflicted on the victim. Abel sentenced Paul to four years in prison, minus approximately three years time served, and two years of unsupervised probation. dmay@brandonsun.com Twitter: @DrewMay_ Gwyneth Paltrow posted a heartwarming birthday tribute for her husband Brad Falchuk as he turned 50 on Monday. The actress, 48, posted a sweet message to her other half as she shared a selfie to her Instagram account. 'Happy 50th birthday @bradfalchuk. I just want to be with you, always, at least for the next 50,' she captioned the photo. 'I just want to be with you, always': Gwyneth Paltrow posted a heartwarming birthday tribute for her husband Brad Falchuk as he turned 50-years-old on Monday Gwyneth was cropped out of much of the photo, which primarily focused on her dashing husband. Brad gazed at the camera with his piercing blue eyes and a rather serious expression on his face. Brad is a celebrated writer, producer and director who is credited with co-creating series such as Glee, Scream Queens, 9-1-1, Pose and American Horror Story. He often works with television mastermind Ryan Murphy and their co-partner Ian Brennan. Aww: Paltrow with her dashing husband at a screening of The Politician in 2019 So in love: Paltrow enjoys posting snippets of their relationship to her Instagram account It was on the set of Glee that Falchuk first met Paltrow, back in 2010. They did not start dating, however, until 2014. The couple went public with their relationship the following year in the spring. They were married in September 2018 in the Hamptons. It is Brad who Gwyneth credits as having convinced her to return to acting, in the recent Netflix series The Politician, after a hiatus during which she focused on her company Goop. Feature Article The right stuff to find the right materials Murugesan's research--destined for Energy Sciences Center--adds to PNNL's battery technology contributions DOE/Pacific Northwest National Laboratory Vijayakumar "Vijay" Murugesan stands next to the X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy imaging system, which is attached to a glovebox via an in situ sample transfer port. The instrument helps Murugesan and other researchers design battery parts then conduct tests in the imaging system. The setup will move to the new Energy Sciences Center later this year. (Photo by Andrea Starr | Pacific Northwest National Laboratory) When he was a 10th grade student at a public school in southern India, Vijayakumar "Vijay" Murugesan submitted a science project that lacked peer review, among other things. The gist of his written proposal: there's a solution to ridding the community of the local paper mill's smelly emissions. Just capture them... somehow. And then--and here's the important part, so pay attention--send them into outer space. Murugesan laughs at the memory, which had two classmate collaborators who remain his friends. But Murugesan's intent behind the proposal--to make a difference and improve society--was genuine and sincere. It helps motivate him today. "If there is a problem, my philosophy is that there is a material to solve it," says Murugesan, a Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) physicist in the Physical Sciences Division and a team lead for interfacial processes within the Materials Sciences group. "We can learn from nature, or we can use our intuition to design it. Either way, there's always a material for any problem--we just need to be smart enough to find it or design it." Next-generation leader Murugesan is among the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) leaders exploring solutions to design and build transformative materials for batteries of the future. In 2019, he was named a next-generation leader at the Joint Center for Energy Storage Research (JCESR), a DOE Energy Innovation Hub. Murugesan is a focus area lead for the interfacial science thrust at JCESR--referred to conversationally as "jay-Caesar"--which involves leading the scientific efforts among several labs in multiple institutions. In JCESR, he has performed unique, in situ X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy to capture the spatial-chemical imaging of solid-liquid electrochemical interfacial processes. Colleagues regard Murugesan as a pioneer in nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), a tool he uses to probe battery behavior at the atomic and molecular levels, says George Crabtree, JCESR's director and a senior scientist and Distinguished Fellow at Argonne National Laboratory, southwest of Chicago. "That's significant because NMRs are a characterization tool to help identify the ultimate design space for next-generation batteries," says Crabtree, who has led DOE workshops on next-generation energy storage. Murugesan and PNNL team members also have been credited with research that is expected to lead to batteries with better performance. "Vijay's innovation of 'soft landing' atoms and molecules on an electrode surface explores how the structure and composition of interfaces promote ion transfer between electrode and electrolyte," Crabtree says. With his parents' backing, Murugesan had an inkling he wanted to pursue a science career. He leaned toward physics, in part because of an energetic secondary school teacher. But first, he had to perform exceptionally well on India's highly competitive Standardized Eligibility Test. He did so, in both the physics and chemistry sections. This glovebox is attached to an X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy imaging system. They are key components of PNNL battery research equipment that will be moving later this year to the Energy Sciences Center. (Photo by Andrea Starr | Pacific Northwest National Laboratory) Listening to the advice But he scored best in physics, earning him a place in Bharathiar University in southern India in the mid-1990s. The university and an internship would play key roles in shaping his career trajectory. After earning his undergraduate degree in physics, he pursued a master's degree in physics. At about that time, Murugesan worked briefly as an intern at the Indira Gandhi Center for Atomic Research near Chennai. Scientists there urged him to pursue a doctoral degree. Murugesan returned to Bharathiar with a PhD in his sights. The Indian national laboratory colleagues had told Murugesan it would be easier to get a job as a scientist if he had a PhD. He is candid about the motivations for his choice. "I come from a very poor community," Murugesan says of Erode, located in the state of Tamil Nadu, about 60 miles east of his university. "It's a community where many of the homes do not have reliable electricity. Some may have electricity for only a few hours a day." He earned a doctoral degree in physics from Bharathiar in 2004, authoring a thesis that advanced a theory about developing a better lithium battery. While pursuing the doctorate, he collaborated with Koichi Nakamura of Kyoto University of Advanced Science in Japan on battery-related research. After three influential postdoctoral assignments, Murugesan arrived at PNNL in 2008. He was interviewing for a job after learning the Lab was about to embark on a significant national role in battery development and storage. PNNL was looking for someone who could analyze materials as well as design them to control conductivity. In other words, Murugesan's specialty. As part of the interview process, as with all PNNL job candidates, Murugesan stood before potential colleagues describing his research and entertaining questions. One person at the back of the PNNL auditorium peppered Murugesan with questions. "He started with these basic questions," Murugesan recalled. "He said did you check this? Did you check that? And of course I did and said so, but I'm thinking, isn't that obvious? Of course I checked." "But then he finally asked a question or two that stumped me and made me think in new perspectives." The questioner, Karl Mueller, was visiting the PNNL campus, partly to conduct experiments at EMSL, the Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory, a DOE user facility located at PNNL, and partly to consider full-time work at the Lab. Mueller, now chief science and technology officer for PNNL's Physical and Computational Sciences Directorate, remembers well his first interaction with Murugesan. "In addition to softballs, I asked him a lot of tough questions," Mueller says. "His answers were excellent. I was very impressed by him and I remember saying to (PNNL materials scientist) Jian Zhi Hu, 'You gotta hire this guy. This guy is going to be great.' I didn't know at that point I would be his colleague and eventually his mentor." As it turned out, PNNL hired both Murugesan and Mueller. The duo has since worked closely on JCESR. "Vijay has so much insight about the absolute chemical nature of batteries and battery components," Mueller says. "While he's a materials scientist, he also has very innate chemical knowledge. These are two very different things." "Materials scientists tend to think about macroscopic properties and how all the atoms and molecules behave together to make up a material. Vijay looks at it from the individual chemistry point of view, considering every atom, every bond, and how they're important and what they do. He has built a team and capabilities around him that is advanced for his career stage and is something that is rarely achieved even by more senior scientists." Looking forward to the Energy Sciences Center Collaboration will continue to be an important component of JCESR's development, Mueller and Murugesan agreed. Both pointed to the highly anticipated opening of PNNL's new Energy Sciences Center (ESC) as a natural contributor to that collaboration. The $90 million center, paid for primarily by DOE, will accelerate scientific discovery in chemistry, materials science, and computational science. The state of Washington's Clean Energy Fund paid $8 million to buy scientific instruments, with additional funding from Battelle Memorial Institute and PNNL. It is expected to open later in 2021. The center will bring together researchers of varying expertise, which enhances the potential for scientific discovery, Murugesan says. "People who may not actually be directly involved in battery research will be down a hallway," he says. "The catalysis team will be right there. There's a lot of overlap between our two disciplines. This building offers the chance for random interactions, for us to sit together and join forces and come up with better materials." It's been a long time since Murugesan envisioned launching stinky emissions into space. Today, his goals remain equally formidable. And as he prepares to enter the ESC later this year, he does so with a world of experience, the potential for transformative collaboration, and the belief that solutions are around the corner, just waiting for the right materials. ### By Allan Brettman Welcome to Source Notes, a Future Tense column about the internets information ecosystem. In February, Molly White, age 27, received yet another creepy message: We have three people who are going to be taking a tour [of your apartment] and looking at it, but you will not know who they are because we wont disclose that ahead of time, just know that when they do they will be wearing a hidden camera and we will be sharing the deets. For White, the threat was one more example of the harassment she has received because she is one of Wikipedias most prolific female contributors. Advertisement Curbing malicious behavior is one goal of the Wikimedia Foundations new Universal Code of Conduct, which applies to Wikipedias many language editions and related projects. The code, which was released Feb. 2, enshrines concepts such as mutual respect and civility and makes clear that harassment, abuse of power, and content vandalism are unacceptable. According to the foundation, more than 1,500 Wikipedia volunteers representing five continents and 30 languages participated in the creation of the new code. Advertisement Advertisement Its not the case that Wikipedia has had no rules about conduct in the past. The English version of the encyclopedia has a formal civility policy, and the websites legal terms of use also restrict severely harmful behaviors. But until recently, those policies were not universal across other language editions of Wikipedia, nor were they written in a plain language style thats intended to communicate expectations to ordinary users without a law degree. Advertisement I have argued previously that more people should contribute to Wikipedia. Volunteering for the site helps curb internet misinformation and makes the project more comprehensive as a shared resource. But editing Wikipedia is not without its costs. Many would-be contributors have no doubt been turned off by the projects more toxic personalities. Others have been harassed off wiki by people who are upset about how their biographical page has been written. But if more people felt safe and welcome in contributing to Wikipedia, then the website could at last expand and diversify its editing ranks, and Wikipedia could advance its mission to become the sum of all human knowledgeor, at least, thats the theory behind the new code. Advertisement In the past, violations of the terms of use have been enforced by user bans from the foundation. Beyond that, the Wikimedia Foundation has historically left community governance up to the individual communities, some of which have developed fairly robust policies and systems of enforcement, said White. For example, volunteer administrators like Whiteeditors who are selected by their peerscan block users who violate the policies against incivility. The English Wikipedia and some other projects also have an Arbitration Committee, or ArbCom, composed of volunteer users, which reviews disputes and has been described as Wikipedias Supreme Court. Thats not the case for other language editions, like Scots Wikipedia, which has had its own unique problems. While most of us know what harassment looks like on TikTok or Twitter, its perhaps less clear, to those outside of the Wikipedia community, what it looks like in the context of an internet encyclopedia. Wikimedias 2018 Gender Equity Report found that 14 percent of the women who were interviewed had experienced poor community health on Wikipedia, reporting issues ranging from a general lack of support to harassment. I have had porn posted to my userpage, said one interviewee. Another interviewee reported that there was a lot of aggression when discussing [Wikipedia] biographies of women. Advertisement Editing Wikipedia is not without its costs. Meg Wacha, the president of the Wikimedia New York City regional chapter, told me that the overwhelming majority of the editors they have interacted with have been friendly and supportive. We enjoy spending time together and enjoy doing this work. For the most part, those gatherings are really joyful experiences, Wacha said, adding that in prior years, Wikipedia community members have hosted incredible dance parties. Then again, the Wikimedia New York City organization has occasionally encountered examples of highly abusive behavior, such as violations of a users personal space or user space (for example, turning an editors personal userpage into a wall of shame) and doxing (revealing personal information about an editor). Advertisement Whites story of contributing to Wikipedia unfortunately includes several incidents of doxing. She started editing the site in 2008, when she was 13, and for years she only went by the username of GorillaWarfare. She thinks that most Wikipedia editors assumed she was male, partly because her username gives that impression and also because an estimated 90 percent of the sites contributors are men, according to survey data. Then, in 2011, White agreed to allow the Wikimedia Foundation to use her photo in a fundraising campaign that featured appeals for donations from various Wikipedians and foundation employees. I was more naive then and didnt expect what I now see as a bit of a given, which is that some people zeroed in on the photograph of the young woman, White said in an email. Advertisement Since then, Whites private Facebook account has been posted to 4chan and Encyclopedia Dramatica, a trolling site known as Wikipedias evil twin. Strangers have contacted her employer to complain about her contributions to Wikipedia. She regularly receives harassing emails, including threats of violence (often extremely graphic or sexual), and people have dug into her relatives Facebook pages, which have fewer privacy settings than hers. Wikimedia Foundation CEO Katherine Maher discussed Whites harassment in detail in a 2016 speech, and White gave permission to use her name for this article. Some time not long after the doxing I began to be open about my name, gender, and city, White wrote. I found that to some extent, if you tell people the basic stuff, they dont always try as hard to dig for the information I do care about keeping private. White said her strategy worked pretty well up until around 2018, when she began editing pages on more contentious topics like incels. Advertisement Advertisement Most of Whites harassment has taken place off Wikipedia and on other sites. But other types of harassment can take place on Wikipedia itself, such as the horror known as hounding. Consider this hypothetical: A Wikipedia editor from a minority group is adding content to the encyclopedia. The hounding editor, likely someone with a grudge, begins systemically removing all of the other editors contributions. For example, the hounding editor might delete a biographical Wikipedia article about a woman by arguing that the subject lacks notability. After that, the hound will remove a photograph, claiming the copyright cannot be verified. Next, they delete the other editors text contributions by suggesting they are not written in the proper encyclopedic style, that is, from a neutral point of view. Advertisement The hounding editor keeps deleting and deleting taken individually, there is at least a colorable argument for each move. After all, two editors can reasonably disagree on what is proper. But by stepping back slightly, it becomes clearer whats really happening. The hounding editor is tracking the other editor, following all of their moves, and disrupting them, often with the aim of causing frustration and distress. Its the Wikipedia equivalent of stalking. In the past, Wacha told me that enforcers would consider most of these behavior issues in isolation, focusing on specific edit disputes rather than the entire picture. One positive of the new code, from Wachas perspective, is that there is new language relating to patterns of abuse. The new code explicitly states, In some cases, behavior that would not rise to the level of harassment in a single case can become harassment through repetition. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Most behavioral problems on the English-language version of Wikipedia have been handled by community representatives, including both volunteer administrators and ArbCom. This emphasis on governance by the user makes Wikipedia very different than Facebook and Twitter. Facebook is basically a snitch system, said Jillian C. York, a free expression activist and the author of Silicon Values. A user reports bad behavior, which is then reviewed by either a Facebook employee or a poorly paid contractor who may or not have a good understanding of the social context. Wikipedia is very different. Its community members holding each other to a set of rules, which for me is the ideal form of content moderation, York said. York noted that there are some similarities between Wikipedia and Reddit, which has likewise traditionally granted significant power to community moderators. Advertisement Back in 2019, I covered the banning of an editor named Fram, who was repeatedly accused of harassment. Fram was initially banned by the Wikimedia Foundations Trust and Safety team of employees for violating the sites terms of use. But the ban by the foundations employees sparked a surprising uproar among Wikipedia editors who thought the foundation was exceeding its authority. Many volunteer editors argued that the community itself should be responsible for policing and enforcing punishment for behavior. Eventually the Fram matter was reverted to ArbCom, which decided to remove Frams administrator tools but not block him from the site entirely. The messaging from the Wikimedia Foundation about the new code has been careful to make clear that Wikipedia is not intending to become more centralized or professionalized in the manner of Facebook and Twitter. Rather, the code is intended to empower communities themselves. This month the code entered Phase 2, which is dedicated to community approval and discussions about enforcement. A code of conduct is only ever as good as its implementation, and the support it provides to the people who are subject to it, Wacha said, adding that the implementation and enforcement are probably more important than the text of the code itself. Other Wikipedia editors told me that they expected the existing community governance would continue on established projectslike ArbCom on English Wikipedia. At the same time, the new code might help smaller projects that have not previously had sufficient levels of safety and support. To those outside the Wikipedia community, it might seem rather strange that Wikipedians are so passionate about the issue of governance by and for their decentralized group of volunteers. But thats what arguably makes Wikipedia so special compared with other sites. Wikipedias code is meant to ensure that a community of people behave in a certain way. The difference here is that were talking about a community, York said. Facebook is not a community, no matter what Mark Zuckerberg wants to believe. Future Tense is a partnership of Slate, New America, and Arizona State University that examines emerging technologies, public policy, and society. 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. 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Digital Editor This Dec. 2, 2020, file photo provided by Johnson & Johnson shows vials of the COVID-19 vaccine in the United States. The U.S. is getting a third vaccine to prevent COVID-19, as the Food and Drug Administration on Saturday, Feb. 27 cleared a Johnson & Johnson shot that works with just one dose instead of two. CFSB Center Vaccination Site Open Wednesday By West Kentucky Star Staff MURRAY - The Calloway County Health Department will open up its Regional Vaccination Site on Wednesday at Murray State University.Vaccinations will take place from 10 am to 4 pm at the CFSB Center. Appointments will be scheduled directly from the health department's sign-up list.Those receiving vaccinations will include individuals in the over 70 community, others in phase 1b, and some in phase 1c. You must have a previously scheduled appointment to be vaccinated at the Regional Vaccination Site.Anyone interested in receiving the vaccine can sign up at the link below.On the Net: The DIY system, launched by Edinburgh-based Boundary (Boundary Technologies), was designed and created by a team of experts, brought together by Boundary, to solve the problems associated with traditional alarm systems and using cutting-edge technology thinking. Grade 2 UK certification Having passed a programme of rigorous pre-compliance testing, Boundary is currently pending certification (expected to be signed off end Q1) to Grade 2 UK & European alarm testing standards, which not only means that the alarm is robust and performs reliably, but that it is also tamper-proof to would-be burglars. Grade 2 UK & European alarm testing standard certification is also one of the requirements of insurers, as well as the police for an automatic level 1 priority response. Boundary, the DIY system The DIY version (no police, self-monitored) of the alarm system, Boundary Technologies is simple to install The DIY version (no police, self-monitored) of the alarm system, Boundary Technologies is simple to install and can be easily controlled from a smartphone, meaning that the owner has full control over their siren no matter where they are. It can be integrated with existing smart home systems, including Alexa and Google Home. In addition to being fully controllable from a smartphone, the Boundary smart home security system gives protection against all known threats, with intelligent sensors designed to minimise false alarms (including those caused by pets). End-to-end data encryption Users are given a choice of protection levels, in order to give them control, including a key-holder option. Boundary systems use the same end-to-end encryption of data as internet banking applications, with over-the-air security updates ensuring maximum protection. Unlike similar products of its kind in the market, Boundary is built to last, with a lifespan of seven years. Whats more, the system uses advanced algorithms and technology to check the system remotely, including battery life which, in the sensors, should last over a year. Flexibility and connectivity in security alarm systems Boundary is spearheaded by the duo that disrupted the payments markets with successful FinTech business, IPOS. IPOS was sold to iZettle, later acquired by Paypal. After identifying a gap in the market for a smart home security system that offers flexibility and connectivity at a reasonable price, Robin Knox and Paul Walton started to explore how technology could be used to disrupt the market for traditional hard-wired burglar alarms. Boundary smart home security systems Boundary home security systems will become the only truly smart alarm system to meet the UK and European alarm standards Boundary home security systems will become the only smart alarm in the United Kingdom that are accurate enough to provide an automatic police response and the only truly smart alarm system to meet the UK and European alarm standards. Despite suffering setbacks as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the team at Boundary managed to pull a funding round of 1.7 million in 2020 and is launching their product in the market against the odds in 2021. Leveraging AI to protect homes Commenting on the launch, Robin Knox, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Founder of Boundary Technologies (Boundary) said, 2020 has been a year full of challenges, not least launching a highly regulated consumer hardware product in the middle of pandemic induced supply chain challenges. Im thankful to our customers, team, investors and suppliers for their hard work and support to Boundary. Robin Knox adds, With home improvement still at the top of many peoples priorities, were optimistic for 2021 and are already looking forward to the launch of our second product, which will leverage AI (Artificial Intelligence) to proactively protect homes. NEW YORK, March 2, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, Living Cities' Blended Catalyst Fund (BCF) announces a $2 million commitment to Advance, a regional, inclusive place-based fund managed by impact investment firm Mission Driven Finance. The San Diego-based firm, co-founded by David Lynn and Lauren Grattan, works to close capital gaps in order to close opportunity gaps. Mission Driven Finance's place-based strategies invest in small businesses, social enterprises, and nonprofits that deliver critical services, create paths to quality jobs, and lead inclusive economic development. BCF's investment in Advance, which is focused on the San Diego region, is the result of Living Cities' commitment to closing racial income and wealth gaps in U.S. cities. Ben Hecht, CEO of Living Cities, said: "The Blended Catalyst Fund blends grants, philanthropic and commercial debt to fund the acceleration, scaling, and replication of promising practices. We believe that Mission Driven Finance's approach to lending, in which they engage with communities and use alternative underwriting methods that go beyond assessing credit scores, is on the vanguard of how our systems have to change if we are serious about closing capital and wealth gaps for entrepreneurs of color." "The BCF loan enables us to level up and level the playing field in advancing inclusive economic opportunity in San Diego," added Lauren Grattan, Chief Community Officer of Mission Driven Finance. "In supporting emerging fund managers like us, Living Cities is prioritizing representation in financeover four-fifths of our team consists of women and/or people of color, and over half are first- or second-generation Americans. We need more unusual suspects to scale to meaningfully shift the market." David Lynn, CEO of Mission Driven Finance, said: "Traditional financial systems, structures, and policies in America have both intentionally and unintentionally restricted access to capital and opportunity. The result is significant racial and wealth inequality that hinders social mobility, dampens economic growth, and fosters conditions for political instability. Mission Driven Finance was built on the belief that we can change that." While small businesses are crucial to economic growth, they have difficulty accessing capital: According to data from the Kauffman Foundation, 81% of entrepreneurs nationally do not have access to either a bank loan or venture capital. Additionally, access to capital is not evenly distributed, as entrepreneurs and communities of color face a legacy of structural racism when seeking startup and expansion capital for their small businesses. Research from the Cleveland Federal Reserve Bank demonstrates that, compared to their White peers, entrepreneurs of color are turned down more frequently and/ or are awarded smaller loan amounts, even when holding credit quality constant. These challenges in accessing credit limit business growth and affect income and wealth-building opportunities for individuals as well as communities. Furthermore, the San Diego region is undergoing a rapid demographic transformation that mirrors future national trends, and through which the majority of San Diego's population now consists of people of color as the share of the White population is on the decline while the Latino and Asian American populations are on the rise. At the same time, there is a significant wealth divide in the region; San Diegans of color reside in some of the lowest income-per-capita neighborhoods in the U.S. while some of the highest income-per-capita communities are predominantly White. This has meant that historically, Black, Latino, and immigrant San Diegans have been shut out of the traditional financial system: research from the Woodstock Institute in 2017 demonstrated only 20% of businesses in low-income, predominantly communities of color in San Diego receive bank loans compared to almost 80% in high-income, predominantly White coastal areas. Lynn said, "We support and invest in nonprofit, social enterprise, and for-profit ventures across a variety of industries, unified through impact, management, and finance. All portfolio ventures have a deep underlying commitment to advancing economic opportunity, tenacious leadership, and have a challenge getting sufficient, affordable capital from traditional sources." Through Advance, Mission Driven Finance is filling the capital gap for women and communities of color in the San Diego region by providing flexible, affordable capital and business advisory support at crucial tipping points in a business's growth cycle. BCF's commitment will allow Advance to scale its efforts in supporting companies like LuckyBolt, a food social enterprise connecting local farmers and retail; CareCar, Inc., a non-emergency medical transportation platform; and Microtek, which combines engineering and life sciences to develop life-saving technologies. It will also support nonprofit organizations such as Skinny Gene Project, which works to prevent type 2 diabetes. About Living Cities Founded in 1991, Living Cities is a collaborative of the world's largest foundations and financial institutions. Living Cities fosters transformational relationships across sectors to connect those who are willing to do the hard work of closing racial income and wealth gaps. The organization partners with cross-sector leaders in cities across the country to imagine and create an America in which all people are economically secure, building wealth and living abundant, dignified, and connected lives. To learn more, visit www.livingcities.org. About Mission Driven Finance Mission Driven Finance is an impact investment firm dedicated to building a financial system that ensures good businesses have access to sufficient, affordable capital. Built from the ground up with a single purposeto make it easy to invest in your communityall our funds and structured products are designed to close financial gaps that will close opportunity gaps. We work with local and national investors to help them create the impact they want, and work with businesses and community partners to help them get the capital they need. Mission Driven Finance was launched in 2016 in San Diego, CA, and is a Certified B Corporation. Visit missiondrivenfinance.com for more information. Media Contact: Jeff Raderstrong, Living Cities, [email protected], 646-442-3236 SOURCE Living Cities Related Links www.livingcities.org Two Americans accused of helping former Nissan chair Carlos Ghosn flee Japan in a box in 2019 were taken into Japanese custody after arriving at an airport near Tokyo Tuesday, per the Wall Street Journal. Why it matters: The extradition of Michael Taylor, 60, a private security specialist and former Green Beret, and his son Peter Maxwell Taylor, 27, ends a months-long fight to remain in the U.S. A request for the Supreme Court to hear an emergency appeal was denied last month. The big picture: Ghosn was awaiting trial in Tokyo on financial misconduct charges following his 2018 arrest when he fled to Lebanon. The Lebanese citizen denies any wrongdoing. A new analysis of the participants in the siege of the Capital has identified a growing number of alleged perpetrators in the Capitol riots with military backgrounds who identified with militia and right wing groups. Rioters came from 40 states and the District of Columbia, with 33 out of 257 arrests analyzed coming from military backgrounds, according to a new report by the George Washington University Program on Extremism. Out of those with military backgrounds, more than a third, 36 per cent had ties to extremist groups. Among those with military and extremist backgrounds, 7 were members of the Proud Boys group, four were Oath Keepers, and one was from the Three Percenters group. Jessica Marie Watkins (2nd from Left) and Donovan Ray Crowl (Center), both from Ohio, march down the East front steps of the U.S. Capitol with the Oath Keepers militia group among supporters of U.S. President Donald Trump occupying the steps in Washington, U.S., January 6, 2021. A new analysis looks at those with both military and extremist ties, and regional breakdowns Rioters included members of military networks, military 'clusters,' and 'inspired believers,' the GW study published Tuesday found. Of they later group, they 'arranged their own travel, accommodations, and other logistics to join the crowds in Washington from areas throughout the United States,' according to the report. 'Charging documents claim that many of the more-organized individuals that participated in the siege were affiliated with nationwide anti-government militia movements, specifically the Oath Keepers and the Three Percenters. Both groups operate as umbrella organizations for dozens of militias throughout the country,' according to the group. Two days before the riots, the Oath Keepers website posted a notice: 'Call to Action: Oath Keepers Deploying to DC To Protect Events, Speakers and Attendees on Jan 5-6: Time to Stand! The report identified 33 out of 257 charged with military backgrounds There were 36 women charged out of 257 in the riots Researchers found extensive social media evidence, including many who posted about their alleged crimes in real time Kelly Meggs is one of the alleged Oath Keepers indicted Graydon Young was charged in a superseding indictment Feb. 19th Tom Caldwell of Berryville, Virginia poses for a photo at a mock White House rostrum during the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Oxon Hill, Maryland, U.S., February 28, 2019. Caldwell, 65, is described as the Oath Keepers' main organizer. FBI Director Christopher Wray testified for the first time since the January 6th MAGA riot Tuesday. He called the attack a form of 'domestic terrorism' A superseding indictment from Feb. 19th charges a group of nine alleged Oath Keepers. It charges the alleged co-conspirators with 'violent entry and disorderly conduct, entering a restricted building, obstructing an official proceeding, destroying government property, and tampering with documents or proceedings.' Thomas Caldwell, 65, from Berryville, VA, is described as the group's main organizer. Broken down by gender, there are 221 men and 36 women in the group. The highest totals of alleged participants came from L.A. County in California, Franklin County in Ohio, and Bucks County in Pennsylvania. Online evidence has proven devastating at the charging stage. A total of 15 per cent indicated their intent in advance online; 68 per cent documented their conduct in real time, and 25 per cent commented on it in the days that followed. The group includes 'organized clusters.' That includes Delaware man Kevin Seefried, who reportedly brought a Confederate battle flag inside the building, and got charged alongside his son, Hunter Seefried. The report came on a day FBI Director Chris Wray testified for the first time since the deadly Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol, calling it an act of 'domestic terrorism' while saying an FBI warning hours before the event was disseminated more widely than had been known. 'There were clearly some individuals involved, which I would consider the most dangerous who did have plans and intentions and some level of coordination,' Wray said. 'Certainly the capitol attack involved violence extremists,' Wray said, calling it 'a form of domestic terrorism.' Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) asked about the report. Alieu Kosiah should be convicted of all the war crimes charges he faces, jailed for a maximum 20 years and then barred from entering Switzerland for 15 years, prosecutors said on Monday in their final argument four days to the end of the historic trial. Chief prosecutor Andreas Muller told the Swiss Federal Criminal Court Mr Kosiah was guilty of the 25 counts of murder, cannibalism, rape, sexual enslavement, forced transportation, looting and recruitment of child-soldier. He told the three-judge panel that Mr Kosiah killed for power and looted for wealth. Theres no clean war, Kosiah is right, said Muller, quoting the suspected Liberian war criminal when he appeared in court last Monday. But war is no exception to the law, the ultimate red line that affects the victims concerns all of humanity. We are here to defend this ultimate red line. No matter how much time has passed, no matter the 5,000 kilometres that separate countries. Mr Muller said Mr Kosiah should be given more than 20 years, ruing an old Swiss law that limits penalties for war crimes to that period. Mr Muller pointed to the jail terms handed to others involved in the wars in Liberia and Sierra Leone Charles Taylor received 50 years, Chucky Taylor 97 and Mohammed Jabbateh, convicted of criminal immigration fraud rather than war crime, is serving a 30-year sentence. Alieu Kosiah acted in one of the most cruel conflicts in history, in defiance of the elementary rules of war and above all the very principle of humanity, Mr Muller said. So, Judge, dont sit back and do nothing. Mr Kosiah, 45, denies the charges against him, saying that he was not in Lofa County between 1993 and 1994 when the alleged offences were committed. A permanent resident of Switzerland since 1998, he is the first Liberian to face a war crimes court in connection with the countrys 14-year civil war. He is one of three former fighters of the United Liberation Movement of Liberia for Democracy (ULIMO) to be indicted for crimes related to the war. The others are Mohammed Jabbateh and Kunti Kamara. Murder Mr Kosiah is accused of 18 civilian murders, including seven in Zorzor, four in Kalahun, eight in Foya, one in Voinjama and one in Babahun. The brother of one of the victims in Zorzor is one of the seven Liberians who filed the case against Mr Kosiah in 2014, which led to his indictment in 2019 and the trial last December. The man, the first plaintiff to testify against Mr Kosiah when the trial began two weeks ago, said he watched the killings at a gas station that day. Mr Kosiah says he came to Zorzor after it had already been captured, a story another ex-ULIMO general corroborated. But Mr Muller asked the court not to believe the defendant. The murders took place after Zorzor was takenone day later, five days later. Regardless, [the first plaintiff] recognized Alieu Kosiah, although in reality, he doesnt know which commander took the city. Targeting civilians is prohibited! There is no room for interpretation in the law, Muller said. It is obvious that the accused knew that even in civil war, one cannot kill a civilian or a captured enemy. Kosiah: Looting and Forced Labor Mr Kosiah is accused of ordering the looting of two generators as well as palm oil, cocoa and other items from villagers. Plaintiffs say he ordered the civilians to carry those looted goods through routes to the Guinean border via Voinjama and Foya. All of the seven plaintiffs in this case, the prosecution witness and some of Mr Kosiahs own witness corroborated those claims. Mr Muller told the court looting was organized under Mr Kosiah. He said the ex-commander had a business model, forcing civilians to carry looted goods and ammunitions to the Guinea border. He said taking the goods to Guinea was important to the Mandingo-dominated ULIMO. He spoke of the alleged looting of generators in Pasolahun and Foya and forced transportations under Kosiahs order in Kolahun, Voinjama and other places. Alieu Kosiah is guilty of looting between July and December 1993, and between March 1994 and December 95, he told presiding Judge Jean-Luc Bacher. He must be sentenced according to the provisions already cited. Recruitment of child-soldiers Mr Kosiah is alleged to have recruited a 12-year-old boy in 1992 in Bomi County and used him as child-soldier throughout the first half of the civil war. The boy, now 42, who appeared as Mr Kosiahs own witness last week, told the court he fought and got wounded with Mr Kosiah on the frontline as a bodyguard and had to taste Mr Kosiahs food to ensure it was not poisoned. ADVERTISEMENT [The boy] decided to enlist to survive the war and save the lives of those close to him, Mr Muller said. Yes, his enlistment was voluntary but the defendant authorized his enlistment and also made him participate in the fighting. The defendant knew he was under 15 years old. He must be condemned for it. The trial resumes Tuesday with the final argument of the plaintiffs lawyer, Alain Werner. This report was produced in collaboration with New Narratives Nearly three in five (59%) undertook some form of charitable initiative: whether volunteering time; offering their business premise for free; giving discounts to NHS workers; or donating cash. Photo: Chris Jackson/Getty Images Small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) played a pivotal role in supporting communities through the coronavirus pandemic in 2020, contributing an estimated 18bn ($26.1bn) through community initiatives such as volunteering or cash donations. That's according to the new SMB Mutuality Report from Intuit QuickBooks and Oxford Economics, which also found that on average in 2020, each SMB gave: nine hours per month in staff volunteering; 679 in cash donations and 372 in product or service donations. Despite the UK experiencing the biggest fall in economic output on record in 20202, and 22% of SMBs saying they are at significant risk of closure in 2021, they went above and beyond to support their local communities in 2020. Nearly three in five (59%) undertook some form of charitable initiative: whether volunteering time; offering their business premise for free; giving discounts to NHS workers; or donating cash. And half (51%) of SMBs focused their efforts towards their local community demonstrating that SMBs are an essential foundation of communities across the UK. In turn, this was mirrored by an upswell in support and appreciation for SMBs from the general public, with 43% of consumers now more likely to shop at SMBs compared to before March 2020. READ MORE: Rishi Sunak to launch 100m UK taskforce to target COVID fraudsters Digitisation was an essential part of maintaining both SMBs relationship with communities and their ability to trade, with 73% of small and medium-sized businesses becoming more digital in 2020 with a third (36%) of those who launched a new digital product or service last year saying they could not have continued to operate without it. With the Chancellor poised to detail further support for SMBs in 2021 in the upcoming Budget, the report shows how critical these businesses are to the UK, bringing value beyond just economic benefits. Chris Evans, vice president and UK country manager at Intuit QuickBooks said: It takes real resilience to move fast, change and pivot, but whats amazing is this pivot has put digital at the heart of communities. Story continues Communities are more connected and this has created a circular effect where small businesses do more for their communities, while communities do more to support them in turn. Digital was crucial in making SMB support for their community possible and keeping these businesses trading. Of the 73% of SMBs that became more digital, 74% reported becoming more digital as important to their ability to contribute to and support their local community and wider society, while 88% said this was important for their business to continue operating. Overall, 22% of SMBs began offering digital products or services through existing platforms, such as Uber Eats or Amazon, while 13% launched their own digital product or service, such as an online store or click-and-collect. More than one in ten (14%) of businesses did both. Watch: What could scrapping EU labour rights mean for UK workers? Samsung has confirmed its extensive lineup of 2021 televisions, which span high-end Micro LEDs to refreshed gaming monitors and displays to new Frame models with more storage. Though most of the new TVs were unveiled at CES 2021, the latest details fill in the gaps on sizing, launch dates and even some specs that were amiss. Leading the pack is Samsung's premium Micro LED series featuring its display tech that promises deep OLED-style black levels and extreme contrast, but without the limited brightness and burn-in potential. This is achieved through tiny self-emitting LEDs that were previously only available on Samsung's gargantuan "The Wall" TV, which required custom assembly and installation. Starting at the end of March, the Micro LED tech will be available globally to general consumers in massive 110-inch and 99-inch TVs, with a smaller (but no less imposing) 88-inch set due in the fall and a 76-inch model also in the pipeline. Samsung has also confirmed sizing for its more mainstream Neo QLED TVs, which promise better backlight and brightness performance thanks to Mini-LED technology. The largest of these newcomers will be 8K sets in 65-inch, 75-inch and 85-inch sizes (priced between $5,000 to $9,000). While the 4K TVs come in two ranges that include 55-inch to 85-inch sets, with prices starting from $1,600 up to $5,000. In addition, the same display tech is featured on Samsung's latest Odyssey G9 curved gaming monitor and the Korean electronics giant is also releasing a game bar that brings ultra-wide aspect ratios to traditional TVs. Another "Smart Monitor" is also inbound that can switch between a work display (with support for WiFi, wireless DEX and Apple AirPlay 2) and a traditional smart TV. Elsewhere, Samsung has cranked up the storage on its new Frame TV lineup (priced between $1,000 to $3,000) to 6GB, enough for 1,200 ultra-HD photos. At 24.9 millimeters thick, the sets that double as picture frames are now thinner than ever. There's also a new "My Shelf" accessory that all three Frame models (55-inch, 65-inch and 75-inch) can be hung from, which comes in four colors: beige, white, brown, and black. For the outdoors, there's Samsung's weather-resistant and water-proof Terrace TV in 55-inch, 65-inch and a new 75-inch model that is due in the summer. Beyond TVs, Samsung is releasing its 4K ultra short throw laser projector, called "The Premier," later this year, complete with rollable screens. New Delhi: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Tuesday (March 2, 2021) took up the investigation of a bomb blast on the Trinamool Congress leader Jakir Hossain at West Bengal's Nimita Railway Station. Jakir Hossain, Minister of State for Labour, Government of West Bengal, was attacked on February 18 in Murshidabad's Raghunathganj when he was on his way to Nimtita Railway station to catch a train to Kolkata. The minister sustained serious injuries and was rushed to a hospital in Kolkata. The bomb explosion had also injured 21 other people. The NIA re-registered the case which was initially lodged on February 17 under section 326, 307 & 120B of the Indian Penal Code and 3 & 4 of the Explosive Substance Act against unknown miscreants at Azimganj GRP PS, Murshidabad District, West Bengal. Investigation in the case continues. Earlier, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had said that the attack on Jakir Hossain was a conspiracy and alleged that 'some people' were putting pressure on Hossain to join 'their party. The TMC supremo said, "This (attack) seems to be pre-planned. At the time of the blast, there were no officials from the railways and there were no lights too. It was a railway property where the incident occurred. It is a conspiracy. We want the truth to come out." However, state BJP president Dilip Ghosh attacked the TMC government and said that the incident was proof of the poor law and order situation in the state. Live TV The Daily Beast Apple TV+Directed by Pablo Larrain (Jackie, the upcoming Spencer), produced by J.J. Abrams, shot by Darius Khondji, starring Julianne Moore, Clive Owen, Joan Allen, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Dane DeHaan and Michael Pitt, and written by the author himself, Liseys Story mayoutside of Stanley Kubricks The Shiningboast the most illustrious pedigree of any Stephen King adaptation ever. Enlisting a plethora of talent makes sense for this eight-part Apple TV+ series (premiering June 4), given that its chockablock with everything under the sun. Fantastical worlds, parental abuse, ghosts, torture, murder, scavenger-hunt games, monsters, sisters, trauma, mental hospitals, self-mutilation, flashbacks, possession, psycho killers, and familial and marital issues involving love, trust, anguish, jealousy, and betrayal are all a part of this swirling, bursting-at-the-seams package. There are even some overt nods to Misery and The Shining thrown in for good measure, along with incessant babytalk, make-believe terms, supernatural rules, and recurring motifs.It is, to put it kindly, a lot.Thats in keeping with its source material, which King has remixed in ways that are mostly minor (a chronological flip here, a corner-cutting snip there), save for his villain Jim Dooley (DeHaan), whos been transformed from a one-dimensional Southern-fried sadist to a more fully formedif still derivativeAnnie Wilkes-style obsessive literature fan.Stephen King on Scary Stalkers, Being Canceled by J.K. Rowling, and Navigating TraumaDooley is an antagonist fixated on the late Scott Landon (Owen), a writer of out-there tomes that made him a national celebrity replete with hardcore acolytes he condescendingly referred to as deep space cowboys. At the start of this saga, Scott is dead, although his presence is nonetheless potently felt thanks to the recollections of his widow Lisey (Moore), whom Scott habitually referred to as babyluv and who, two years after his passing, now faces the prospect of having to clean out his barnyard office, where crates of scribblings and unfinished projects lie dormant, begging to be rediscovered.Lisey is in mourning, as well as in denial of the strange events that took place during her marriage to Scott. Those buried secrets come bubbling to the surface once entitled university professor Dashmiel (Ron Cephas Jones) shows up on her doorstep demanding that she hand over Scotts remaining output, since the public deserves it and sheas merely his bedmatehas no right to keep it for herself. When Lisey balks, he sets upon her the misogynistic Dooley, who proves to be simply the most dangerous of many threats to her well-being. As Dooley makes ever-more-intimidating demands, Lisey is forced to contend with her sisters Amanda (Allen), whos once more struggling with lifelong cutting compulsions that send her into a catatonic state, and Darla (Leigh), who resents Lisey for her wealth and good fortune. These calamities cause Liseys memories to come flooding back in waves and lead her to discover that Scott has left behind a beyond-the-grave treasure hunt of sorts (like the ones his brother made for him as a kid) that he calls a bool, with a mysterious prize waiting at the end.Liseys Storys basic premise is a smorgasbord of relationships and conflictsmany of which echo Kings prior workand it only grows more complex once Lisey starts letting her mind wander to yesteryear incidents shed just as soon repress. Scott, it turns out, grew up with an unstable father (Pitt) who believed that they were all cursed with a demonic evil known as The Bad (a term thats an improvement on the books bad-gunky), which soon got its grip on Scotts brother. Scotts harrowing adolescence is intimately connected to his young adulthood, when he demonstrated to Lisey that he had the ability to travel to an alternate universe that he dubbed Booya Moon where a giant blood moon hangs in the air, a towering creature known as The Lost Boy stalks the forest, and a shimmering pool offers visitors healing, enchantment, and inspiration (because its the actual pool of creativity from which all artists drink). Lisey goes there too, at multiple points of a story thats been shot and edited to dreamily blend the then and now, creating harmonious parallels across space and time in ways both big and small.Totemic language and objects abound in Liseys Story, be it the aforementioned phrases or the crucial shovel and lighthouse model in Liseys possession, and Larrain and Khondji bring their winding, disorienting drama to life with misty, shadowy, shimmering beauty. Mirrors, glass, reflective water and figures framed in distant doorways all speak to the transitional heart of this tale, as do the doubles that persistently appear across its eight installments. Another of the directors sagas about women in a state of anguished crisis, Liseys Story looks andcourtesy of Clarks soundtrack of unholy noises and sparse stringssounds magnificent. More importantly, it often captures the atmospheric essence of Kings books: that blend of terror, insanity and bittersweet longing for departed loved ones, all wrapped up in classic pop and rock songs (in this case, courtesy of an R&B wedding band) and the burning-embers light of a fall Maine sunset. At its finest, it conjures a prototypical King-ian sense of aching yearning for that which has been lost, even as it recognizes that nothing is ever truly gonefiguratively and, at least for brief moments in this magical fable, literally.Liseys Storys performances are, for the most part, similarly top-notch: the reliably great Moore captures Liseys determination, fierceness, fear and sorrow; DeHaan brings intense sociopathic creepiness to Dooley; Pitt goes fittingly over-the-top as Scotts perpetually soaked-with-sweat backwoods papa; and Owen radiates warmth and hurt as the scarred Scott. However, like the proceedings themselves, the cast is undercut by a surplus of lunacy. As with his novel, King packs this highly personal narrative full of myriad real-world and fantasyland elements and interests (including patricide and the power of storytelling), but the result is a case of more being less. Just as Moores Lisey exhibits various traits and yet never evolves into a fully distinctive human being, the plot itself is overflowing with threads, themes and issues and yet winds up not being about much of anything, save perhaps for Liseys quest to seize her female agency, and to confront and let go of her griefa mainline concern that holds true throughout, but is only one of innumerable things King aims to tackle.Which is to say, Liseys Story is defined by a disconnect between the splendor of its aesthetics and the professionalism of its primary players, and the overstuffed and outlandish nature of its story. Larrain and company eventually venture into all sorts of wild places, some entrancing and others awkward, while hitting numerous notes that will ring familiar to the King faithful. Not all of it coheres, and its late, self-conscious excuses for convenient twists dont help. But it also has moments of quiet grace in it, as well as an admirable and thrilling dedication (by esteemed artists) to truly go for it, right up to a climax featuring a titanic beast of a thousand souls. Best of all, it flickers, now and again, with that classic King magic, when the emotions, dreams and desires of the past and the present collide and intertwine, no matter how much misfortune has been shouldered or abuse has been suffered, in this world or those beyond.Read more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more. Hollywood actor Will Smith recently opened up about the possibility of venturing down a political path, maybe even running for president one day. While speaking on the Pod Save America podcast, Smith spoke about racism and revealed his personal experiences with discrimination. On his thoughts on running for the Office, he said that he absolutely has an opinion and he is optimistic, hopeful and believes in understanding between people. The 52-year-old actor said that he also believes in the possibility of harmony. Smith added that he will certainly do his part, whether it remains artistic or at some point ventures into the political arena. Further, while speaking about racism, the Bad Boys actor revealed that he has been called the n-word to his face five or six times. He added that fortunately he has, however, never been called the n-word by a smart person. READ: Will Smith Had The Chance To Attend MIT But Refused Due To THIS Particular Reason READ: Will Smith's Upcoming Movies That Fans Are Looking Forward To; Here's A List Smith talks about systemic racism Smith said that he grew up with the impression that racists and racism were stupid, and they were easy to get around. He added that he just had to be smarter now while they were very dangerous. He said that he never looked into the eyes of a racist and saw anything that he perceived as intellect. He continued to say that once he found a career in Hollywood, he also started seeing systemic racism around him. Smith added that, however, at the core of it, he noticed a difference between ignorance and evil. Now they're twins, for sure, but ignorance, can be educated and evil is a much more difficult problem, he said. The Hollywood actor said that he has always been encouraged that the process of education and understanding could alleviate some of the more dangerous and difficult aspects of racism that has unfortunately been embedded in the very fibres of the country. READ: Will Smith's Social Media Posts Which Prove He Is As Hilarious As His On-screen Characters READ: Are Cara Delevingne And Jaden Smith Really Dating? Everything You Need To Know They represent nearly every age group and come from all over the country, 40 states, but bunches came from a few counties, like Bucks County in Pennsylvania. They are mainly males, while 36 are women, and over 10% of them have prior military service. The average is 39 years old. Some are members of organized militant groups, some clustered together for the day, and others were lone travelers to Washington, D.C. on Jan. 6, 2021. They are the first 257 suspects charged with committing crimes during the insurrectionist invasion of the U.S. Capitol a siege which injured over 100 and killed five, one a police officer originally from New Jersey, Brian Sicknick. A report issued Tuesday by George Washington University that analyzes the 257 also shows that the majority were charged due to evidence investigators found on their social media accounts. The report, created by the universitys Program on Extremism and titled, This is Our House! found 15% of the suspects publicly indicated a prior intent on storming the Capitol, 68% documented their alleged actions in real time and 25% commented on social media in the days and weeks after the attack. The report is filled with numerous other statistics, like the fact that Bucks County, across the river from Trenton, New Jersey, is tied with two others in having four suspects, the highest in the country. The other counties with four suspects are Los Angeles County, California and Franklin County in Ohio, home to state capital Columbus. A graph from George Washington University's Program on Extremism report, "This is Our House!" issued on March 2, 2021. The report analyzes the first 257 suspects charged with crimes at the U.S. Capitol on Jan, 6, 2021. The Bucks County suspects include Ryan Samsel, 37, and Raechel Genco, 38, both of Levittown in Bristol Township, and who authorities allege traveled together the Washington on Jan. 6. Genco was charged last week. And, Dawn Bancroft and Diana Santos-Smith, who also allegedly traveled to Washington together. They were arrested and charged in late January. Pennsylvania joins New York, Florida and Texas with the most number of cases, each tallying 19 to 27, the report says. Among the suspects are 11 from New Jersey, 10 charged with committing federal crimes on Jan. 6, and one arrested on an unlawful entry charge by the U.S Capitol police. Six of them have been indicted, the latest Stephanie Hazelton, whos been indicted on six federal charges, including obstructing a Congressional proceeding, disorderly conduct inside the Capitol and civil disorder. Authorities allege Hazelton, 48, of Medford, a prominent conservative activist in New Jersey, said on videos from that day, We need more men, we need more men, keep going, keep pushing, men, we need men, not women, as rioters pushed through a Capitol hallway. She also uses the names Ayla Wolf or Ayla Wolfe. A screenshot from a YouTube video that the FBI says shows Stephanie Hazelton emerging from the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.(YouTube) The events of Jan. 6 may mark a watershed moment for domestic violent extremism in America, Seamus Hughes, deputy director of the Program on Extremism, said in a statement. Individuals came from all corners of our country, with a healthy mix of those with some operational planning and others taking advantage of the moment. This report identifies some clear steps we can take now to identify extremist groups and keep the public safe. Among the reports recommendations are better information sharing among federal agencies, including between the Department of Defense and the FBI, that the countrys intelligence agencies should get more involved in domestic terrorism, and that Congress should mandate an annual report that documents and assesses such investigations. The Capitol Hill Siege was a shock but not a surprise, the report concludes. While few would have expected the lapse in security which allowed participants to get as far into the Capitol building as they did, many experts expected to see an increase in extreme right-wing violence in America sparked by the imminent changing of administrations in the White House. The event itself and those who took part can help us to understand the nature, capabilities and future activities of violent extreme-right actors in America. A graph from George Washington University's Program on Extremism report, "This is Our House!" issued on March 2, 2021. The report analyzes the first 257 suspects charged with crimes at the U.S. Capitol on Jan, 6, 2021. Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com. Kevin Shea may be reached at kshea@njadvancemedia.com. You have permission to edit this article. Edit Close Appointment 2 March 2021 Four Seasons Resort Tamarindo, Mexico welcomes General Manager Felix Murillo, who has spent almost three decades in various positions at Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts worldwide. Murillo will lead this oceanfront oasis through pre-opening and its opening, slated for late 2021. With a plethora of knowledge from opening award-winning hotels and resorts in the brands portfolio, Murillo brings a breadth of luxury hospitality experience, a deep respect for the undiscovered destination and an intimate understanding of the community to his new role. Murillo joined Four Seasons in 1993 at Four Seasons Hotel London at Park Lane, and has since held roles at twelve Four Seasons properties throughout the United States, Latin America, Europe and Africa, most recently as General Manager of Four Seasons Hotel Lion Palace St. Petersburg. As General Manager of Four Seasons Resort Tamarindo, Mexico, Murillo will build a team of dedicated employees to deliver Four Seasons legendary service to the destination. Married with two children, Lucas and Sofia, and his majestic German shepherd Lola always by his side, Murillo and his wife Bettina met at Les Roches Hotel Management School in Switzerland. Murillo and Bettina worked for Four Seasons, often at the same time at different properties in different countries. Murillo is passionate in everything he does, and nothing pleases him more than to take on new challenges. Four Seasons Resort Tamarindo is the ultimate challenge, as it will be an opportunity for Murillo to open a brand-new and one-of-a-kind Resort that he will help shape into a luxury destination. The Resort is an incredible collaboration of passionate Mexican artisans, where Murillo is proud to unite a team of culinary experts, designers, and the industry's brightest minds to open this Resort. The Biden administration has announced sanctions of Russian officials and businesses for a nearly fatal nerve-agent attack upon opposition leader Alexei Navalny and his subsequent jailing. Senior administration officials did not immediately identify the Russian officials targeted. The Biden administration also announced sanctions under the US Chemical and Biological Weapons Control and Warfare Elimination Act for 13 businesses and another enterprise, most of which it said were involved in production of biological and chemical agents. Russian President Vladimir Putin and dissident Alexi Navalny. Credit:AP The US intelligence community concluded with high confidence that Russias Federal Security Service used the Russian nerve agent Novichok on the dissident last August, a senior administration official said. Tuesdays sanctions would be the first of several steps by the Biden administration to respond to a number of destabilising actions, said one of the administration officials, who briefed reporters on the condition they not be identified further. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. US President Joe Biden with wife Jill at the White House at the weekend. Photo: Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images Joe Biden may not attend Junes G7 summit in England in person if Covid restrictions are still in place, the White House has said. World leaders are expected to gather in Cornwall for the summit hosted by Boris Johnson between June 11 and 13. It had been anticipated as potentially Mr Bidens first trip abroad as US president. Asked if the president would physically go to the summit, Jen Psaki, the White House press secretary, said there was certainly a possibility that he would not. Whether he makes the trip will depend on how the pandemic develops over the next few months, and the advice of his medical team. Ms Psaki said: In terms of whether or not he will travel, we havent made a determination on that at this point. It will be related to Covid restrictions and the advice of our health and medical team, and I expect as we get closer, well have more of an update. Asked if that meant there was a possibility he would not fly to Britain for the event, Ms Psaki said: Well evaluate as we get closer. Theres certainly a possibility. Mr Johnson has chosen Carbis Bay, a Cornish beauty spot, for leaders to meet for the first in-person G7 summit in two years. They will discuss the pandemic, climate change, trade, technological change and scientific discovery. The G7 consists of the UK, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the US and the EU. Mr Johnson has also invited Australia, India and South Korea to boost links with them. Ms Psaki has said Mr Biden would not be making any invitations to Russia. Meanwhile, the White House was under growing pressure to punish Mohammed bin Salman, Saudi Arabias crown prince and de facto ruler, over the murder the journalist Jamal Khashoggi. The State Department said yesterday it was considering taking additional steps to promote accountability, but did not announce any new measures as had been expected. Ned Price, the departments spokesman, called on Riyadh to disband the Rapid Intervention Force responsible for Mr Khashoggis murder, as well as urging the kingdom to release jailed womens rights activists. This is not a rupture, but a recalibration, Mr Price said of the US-Saudi alliance. Hatice Cengiz, the fiancee of Mr Khashoggi, said it would be a stain on humanity if the prince was not punished. Agnes Callamard, the UN special rapporteur on summary executions, called for targeted sanctions against his assets and his international engagements. She said: It is extremely problematic to acknowledge someones culpability, then tell that someone but we wont do anything. Telegraph Media Group Limited [2021] 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. Rebel Wilson celebrated her 41st birthday on Tuesday. And the Sydney-born actress revealed she was celebrating the occasion over two days because of the time difference between America and Australia. The Pitch Perfect star explained she was celebrating her 'Australian birthday' first, before doing it all over again once it's Tuesday in the U.S. Double the fun! Rebel Wilson celebrated her 41st birthday on Tuesday. The Sydney-born actress revealed she was celebrating the occasion over two days because of the time difference between America and Australia 'Australian Birthday today. American Birthday tomorrow,' she wrote on Instagram. Rebel went on to say she was 'grateful' for her 'exciting life', then revealed how much she'd had to 'overcome' in her working life. 'I'm so grateful and lucky to have lived such an exciting life so far. Thank you to everyone who's been a part of it and taught me so many valuable lessons,' she wrote. Time difference: The Pitch Perfect star explained she was celebrating her 'Australian birthday' first, before doing it all over again once it's Tuesday in the U.S. 'If you guys knew the shy unremarkable me from Sydney's western suburbs, you'd know how much I had to overcome in my life to get to this point... 'And then against all odds, and with the visionary help of a malaria-induced hallucination became a successful international actress/writer/producer!' In the accompanying photo, Rebel posed in brightly coloured activewear. Journey: Rebel went on to say she was 'grateful' for her 'exciting life', then revealed how much she'd had to 'overcome' in her working life Last month, Rebel revealed she was excited about the future as she prepares to start filming and producing the comedy movie Senior Year. The comedian shared a photo to Instagram of herself posing next to a car, and wrote: 'Looking forward to all that's ahead!' According to Deadline, Senior Year is about a cheerleader who wakes up from a 20-year-long coma and returns to high school to claim the prom queen crown. Pre-Stabilisation notice March 2, 2021 Not for distribution, directly or indirectly, in or into the United States or any jurisdiction in which such distribution would be unlawful. Kreditanstalt fuer Wiederaufbau (KfW) Euro RegS benchmark due 2026 Pre-Stabilisation Notice Commerzbank AG (contact: Daniela Olt-Farrelly; telephone: +49 69 136-20) hereby announces, as Stabilisation Coordinator, that the Stabilising Managers named below may stabilise the offer of the following securities in accordance with Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2016/1052 under the Market Abuse Regulation (EU Regulation 596/2014). The security to be stabilised: Issuer: KfW Guarantor (if any): Federal Republic of Germany Aggregate nominal amount: EUR benchmark Description: RegS fixed rate due 15 June 2026 Offer price: tbc after pricing Other offer terms: Rating Aaa/AAA/AAA, off the issuer's EMTN programme, payment date 9 March 2021, denoms 1k/1k Stabilisation: Stabilising coordinator: Stabilising Managers: Commerzbank AG Barclays Bank BNP Paribas Goldman Sachs Bank Stabilisation period expected to start on: 2nd March 2021 Stabilisation period expected to end on: no later than 30 days after the proposed issue date of the securities Existence, maximum size and conditions of use of over-allotment facility. The Stabilising Managers may over-allot the securities to the extent permitted in accordance with applicable law. Stabilisation trading venue: Frankfurt, regulated market In connection with the offer of the above securities, the Stabilising Manager(s) may over-allot the securities or effect transactions with a view to supporting the market price of the securities during the stabilisation period at a level higher than that which might otherwise prevail. However, stabilisation may not necessarily occur and and any stabilisation action, if begun, may cease at any time Any stabilisation action or over-allotment shall be conducted in accordance with all applicable laws and rules. This announcement is for information purposes only and does not constitute an invitation or offer to underwrite, subscribe for or otherwise acquire or dispose of any securities of the Issuer in any jurisdiction. This announcement is not for distribution, directly or indirectly, in or into the United States or any other jurisdiction in which such distribution would be unlawful. END Advertisement They've made no secret of the fact they were vying for roles in Thor: Love and Thunder, and Melissa McCarthy and husband Ben Falcone both commenced filming on the sequel on Tuesday. The pair were pictured on the Sydney set of the upcoming Marvel blockbuster alongside Matt Damon and Luke Hemsworth, who was pictured wearing a blonde wig, breastplate and red cape to transform into his brother Chris' character Thor. Melissa, 50, was seen cackling as she sported a huge green headpiece to transform into Hela, who was originally played by Cate Blanchett in Thor: Ragnarok, which proves she has earned herself a coveted place on the movie. However, she has not replaced Cate but is instead playing Fake Hela. All the actors seen on set on Tuesday were portraying characters in a play-within-a-film, similar to the one featured in Thor: Ragnarok. Dream role: Melissa McCarthy (right) sported a huge green headpiece alongside a very muscular Luke Hemsworth (centre) and husband Ben Falcone (left) as they began filming Thor: Love And Thunder in Sydney on Tuesday Meanwhile, Melissa's husband Ben stood behind Luke, 40, who was dressed in his full Thor costume, complete with flowing long blond hair, he previously portrayed the God of Thunder in Thor: Ragnarok for an Asgardian play that depicted Loki's 'death' in Thor: The Dark World. In the play, Matt portrayed the Trickster god, who is normally played by Tom Hiddleston, and it appears he is back as the character as he was also seen on set. In the previous Thor film, Sam Neill took on the role of Odin for the mock play, wearing a wispy white wig, beard, and an eyepatch to embody Anthony Hopkins' character. Given the trio are back on set, it's clear director Taika Waititi would like to continue the joke, and the cast's costumes make it clear they are reenacting the events of Thor: Ragnarok. Performance: Melissa (left) was seen cackling as she sported a huge green headpiece to transform into Hela, who was originally played by Cate Blanchett in Thor: Ragnarok (right) Superheroes: Melissa was spotted on the Sydney set of the upcoming Marvel blockbuster alongside Luke Return: Luke played his brother Chris' iconic character in a hilarious mock play in Thor: Ragnarok (right) They're back! Luke and Matt Damon were dressed in full costume to embody Thor (Chris) and Loki (Matt), the pair previously portrayed them in Thor: Ragnarok for an Asgardian play that depicted Loki's 'death' in Thor: The Dark World And he's back: Matt was also pictured on set (left) wearing a long black wig to portray the Trickster god Loki Costume: Matt wore a green and gold jacket and matching tunic to look like Tom Hiddleston's Loki Busy: Chris and Melissa got to work on set together for the next instalment in the Marvel Cinematic Universe Dramatic: Luke and Melissa were seen having a tense conversation during the scene Trickster: In the play Matt portrayed the Trickster god (R), who is normally played by Hiddleston, and it appears he is back as the character as he was also seen on set Thor: Love and Thunder is an upcoming American superhero film based on the Marvel Comics character Thor, produced by Marvel Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures. It is intended to be the direct sequel to Thor: Ragnarok and the 29th film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The upcoming film has attracted a host of big names, including Natalie Portman, Christian Bale, and Tessa Thompson. Melissa and Ben, 47, were spotted filming their scenes by a cliff in Little Bay in south-east Sydney. Also making an appearance: In the previous Thor film, Sam Neill (L) took on the role of Odin for the mock play (R), wearing a wispy white wig, beard, and an eyepatch to embody Anthony Hopkins' character, and he was seen on set Villain: Hela was the Goddess of death who brought about Ragnarok on the gods of Asgard when she is released from prison following Odin's death Suited and booted: Sam wore a salmon pink suit jacket and a white shirt to portray Odin Smouldering: Luke seemed to embody his brother's character quite well while he was out on set Exciting: Given the trio are back on set, it's clear director Taika Waititi would like to continue the joke by having another mock play, and the cast's costumes make it clear they are reenacting the events of Thor: Ragnarok Costume change: Luke also wore a grey jacket which appeared to be to transform into Thor in Avengers: Endgame And, action! The cast were seen filming in front of a camera on a large crane The film's crew used umbrellas to try and block views of the set and security locked down the outdoor set, with guards using binoculars to keep an eye on proceedings. Melissa and Ben have been in Australia since late last year, with the Bridesmaids star filming the upcoming TV mini-series Nine Perfect Strangers in Byron Bay. On Christmas Day, Melissa and Ben shared a video of Instagram, jokingly appealing to Hemsworth and director Waititi to give them roles in Thor. Changes: Matt also dressed down in a black suit and tie for new scenes in the superhero flick Going through the motions: Luke and Matt filmed their scenes multiple times on Tuesday Chat: The acting duo were seen acting in front of a painted backdrop that was made to look like the sky, before a portal appeared to open behind them Touch-up: The make-up crew were seen tending to Matt's wig during a break from filming Stoic: Sam was seen with a serious expression on his face as he got ready to film scenes alongside Matt Tense: Matt appeared to be reenacting scenes when Ragnarok came to Asgard during the play Safety first: Luke was seen talking with a crew member who kept their mask on whilst filming was underway 'Melissa and I are desperate to be in the film, Love and Thunder,' began Ben, while Melissa added, 'Respectfully, respectfully, sure.' Turning it into an audition video, she added: 'I am not afraid to perform a monologue.' Meanwhile, Ben said he'd 'prepared something from The Tempest' by William Shakespeare. 'Also, Taika and Chris and whoever, and the people at Marvel Studios... also, I have been known to be a song and dance man,' continued Ben. He and Melissa then broke out into song, before Ben addressed the camera and said: 'That's just a taste, Taika.' Dynamic duo: Matt and Luke were seen with a crew member while on set Discussion: Matt and Taika were seen talking together on set while preparing for the scene Horsing around: A white horse was seen being taken by crew on set Looking cool: Taika was seen wearing a pink suit jacket over a bright yellow top The latest installment of Thor is being filmed in Australia after receiving a $24.1million location incentive grant from the Federal Government. Directed by Waititi, the film is expected to bring more than $178million to the local economy, create 2,500 jobs and enlist services from about 1,650 businesses. According to Screen NSW, it's part of a deal which will see several Marvel films made in Australia over the coming years. Warriors: Extras were seen dressed up as Asgardian soldiers with horned helmets for the scene Huge production: A variety of crew members were seen strolling around on set with masks Wow! An intricately detailed stage had been set up for the scenes with Matt, Luke, Neil and Melissa Intriguing: A white and gold dais was also set up along the coast nearby the stage Move it along: Crew members were seen standing around the sprawling set to make sure the public didn't wander inside The film is largely being shot at Sydney's Fox Studios, but elaborate structures have been seen at nearby Centennial Park, as well as Little Bay. In the forthcoming Thor instalment, Portman is back as Jane Foster, and will also pick up the hammer and become the Goddess of Thunder (the female Thor). Natalie was absent for 2017's Thor: Ragnarok, but was a key player in the first two Thor films in 2011 and 2013. Thor: Love and Thunder is due for cinematic release in May 2022. And... action! On Sunday, the hard-working crew for the Hollywood blockbuster were spotted creating an impressive set along the city's picturesque coastline Major win for Australia: The latest instalment of Thor is being filmed in Australia after receiving a $24.1million location incentive grant from the Federal Government Film magic: The blue boards will be used in post-production to add special background effects CHICAGO, March 2, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- West Monroe, a national business and technology consulting firm, today announced the appointment of seven new directors. In addition, seven current directors will assume new leadership roles as the firm flexes its management structure to address evolving market needs and prepare for significant planned growth. "Continuous expansion of our leadership structure and team is essential if we are to achieve our ambitious plan to more than double revenue by 2025. But this isn't just about growth. It is also central to our mission to build the next generation of leaders," said Doug Armstrong, West Monroe's chief operating officer. "The combination of sustained growth and evolution of our firmwide structure creates opportunities for new leaders to emerge. We are extremely proud of this group's contributions and congratulate them for reaching this well-deserved recognition." West Monroe appointed the following new managing directors: Saurabh Bansal works with energy companies and utilities to improve competitiveness and increase customer and shareholder value. He has 20 years of industry and consulting experience in operations, supply chain, business strategy, lean practices, and business transformation. He joined West Monroe in 2015. Jason Cutler is a recognized Salesforce expert with a diverse background in finance, strategy, and operations. He has led multiple $1 million-plus transformation initiatives for financial services, manufacturing, healthcare/life sciences, and software clients. He joined the firm in 2015 through an acquisition. Sam Dawes works with leading consumer and industrial products companies to deliver transformative digital and workforce solutions. Known for his intrapreneurship, he has also been instrumental in launching and growing West Monroe's Minneapolis office, the national C&IP practice, and numerous other strategic initiatives. He joined the firm directly from college in 2011. Michael Guckian partners with financial services organizations to challenge the status quo and deliver innovations that increase differentiation, enhance performance, and improve the bottom line. He has extensive experience implementing new technology solutions loan origination systems, card conversions, call center buildouts, and mobile banking platforms. He joined the firm in 2014. Andy Johnson guides private equity firms through all stages of the investment lifecycle. His relentless focus on value creation for portfolio companies has produced tangible wins for clients across industries and earned him a 2019 M&A Advisor's Emerging Leaders award. He joined the firm in 2014. Chris Stafford is a leader in West Monroe's longstanding Mergers & Acquisitions practice, focusing on software companies. He helps software-as-a-service (SaaS) and tech-enabled services companies navigate complex situations. A trusted advisor to private equity firms and management teams, he has led more than 300 transactions. He joined West Monroe directly from college in 2008. Sam Uyeno is a leading adviser to energy and utility companies on the West Coast. He has a unique blend of engineering, military operations, and business experience that enables him to examine complex issues from various perspectives. Always an innovator, he has developed tools that allow utilities and customers to assess the economic value of distributed energy resources. He joined the firm in 2015. All promotions were effective March 1, 2021. About West Monroe West Monroe is a national consulting firm that was born in technology but built for businesspartnering with companies in transformative industries to deliver real, measurable results. Technology is who we are, it is not something we bolted on overnight, and we believe it is one of the greatest enablers of business value. That's why we work in diverse, multidisciplinary teams that blend industry expertise with deep operational and technology capabilities to create quantifiable, financial value for our clients. Our 1,500 employees based in eight offices across the United States also own 100% of our business, so when you partner with us you know we are committedbecause your success is our success. Our undeniably different approach breeds undeniable results. Visit westmonroe.com to learn more. For all inquiries, please contact: Christina Galoozis Senior Manager, External Communications [email protected] 847.302.1762 SOURCE West Monroe [March 02, 2021] Bellevue University Named Top College for Community College Transfer Students Phi Theta Kappa has named Bellevue University, one of the nation's leaders in preparing students for lifelong career success with career-relevant knowledge and skills, to its prestigious 2021 Phi Theta Kappa Transfer Honor Roll. The Honor Roll recognizes the top four-year colleges and universities nationwide for creating dynamic and innovative pathways to support community college students. Bellevue University was the only Nebraska institution recognized on the Honor Roll and one of 150 institutions recognized nationwide. According to Phi Theta Kappa, colleges were selected based on their Transfer Friendliness Rating, which is determined by the online profile the college creates in PTK Connect. PTK Connect is Phi Theta Kappa's online tool that helps students find their best-fit colleges, career pathways and more. The tool includes specific information about admissions practices, cost of attendance, campus life, recruitment practices and peer reviews and reflects the transfer student experience at specific colleges. The top 25% highest-rated colleges are named to the PTK Transfer Honor Roll. Dr. Mary Hawkns, Bellevue University President, noted that Phi Theta Kappa is important in encouraging and recognizing the scholarship of community college students. "Through the Honor Roll, Phi Theta Kappa recognizes the commitment Bellevue University makes to help community college graduates advance and build on their success by completing their bachelor's degrees." "After helping more than 20,000 community college transfer students earn their bachelor's degrees, our experience confirms that our most successful students are those who first earn an associate degree," said Dr. Hawkins. She added that Bellevue University partners with a nationwide network of community colleges to "support their commitment to building workforce-ready talent." "The Transfer Honor Roll reflects the growing importance of recognizing and responding to the needs of transfer students," Phi Theta Kappa President and CEO Dr. Lynn Tincher-Ladner said. "This award is given to four-year colleges and universities with proven outcomes for transfer success. They are the best at providing a supportive and smooth transition from community college - equating to increased rates of bachelor's degree attainment for transfer students." Founded in 1966, Bellevue University is a non-profit university with more than 60,000 graduates worldwide. The University is a recognized national leader in preparing students for lifelong success with career-relevant knowledge and skills, while making college affordable. Routinely ranked among the nation's top military-friendly and accessible institutions, the University serves residential students at its main campus in Bellevue, Nebraska, and everywhere online with more than 70 undergraduate and graduate programs uniquely designed for working adults. The University is accredited by The Higher Learning Commission (hlcommission.org). View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210302005014/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Last week, the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) launched a new initiative to study a phenomenon known unofficially as long COVID. You likely know of someone grappling with it. It refers to those still struggling with symptoms of COVID-19 especially brain fog, fatigue or shortness of breath in the weeks or even months following their initial bout with the illness. Even if we manage to end the pandemic this year, the reach of long COVID could affect millions of people worldwide for years to come. There is so much we dont yet know about this disease hence the $1.15 billion Congress has allocated over the next four years to support research into the prolonged health consequences of SARS-CoV-2. 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. Zimbabwe's second vice-president Kembo Mohadi has resigned. The move comes barely a week after he dismissed reports that went viral accusing him of immoral relations involving married subordinates. In tendering his resignation, the state-run Herald Newspaper said VP Mohadi maintained his innocence saying he is a victim of information distortion, voice cloning, and sponsored spooking and political sabotage. Following the recurring dis-information and virilisation of my alleged immoral unions, dispensed through awkward slacktivism, I am stepping down as the Vice President of the Republic of Zimbabwe in terms of Section 96(2) of the constitution of Zimbabwe (No.20) Act, 2013 with immediate effect. Last week in his rebuttal, the VP distanced himself from what he called "imagined immoral unions by detractors angling to tarnish his political career as well as his standing as a national leader." He was speaking for the first time after a local online news outlet released the purported communication with the said women, the 71-year-old said he was a victim of political machinations peddled through voice cloning. Following the recent social media hype about my alleged illicit relationships with two married women, I have decided to come open and respond to the allegations being peddled by my detractors, he said. Despite growing impatience because of days of weird character assassination, I wish to categorically state that the allegations being levelled against me are not only false, but well-choreographed to demean, condescend and soil my image as a national leader and patriot. I am innocent and a victim of political machinations being peddled through hacking and voice cloning," he added. VP Mohadi refutes allegations of having illicit relationships @InfoMinZW @GNyambabvu pic.twitter.com/u3uw4w7cDW ZBC News Online (@ZBCNewsonline) February 24, 2021 In a series of phone calls published by local media, a man is heard arranging for sex including in his government office and a hotel.A rights group, the Womens Coalition, has called for a probe into possible illicit relations with subordinates and sexual harassment within the office of the vice-president.The Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum voiced concern about the allegations and a culture of abuse of office and power by a public official for sexual advantage whiles the main opposition called for Mohadi to resign.He is the southern African country's second vice president. The first is former army chief Constantino Chiwenga, who led the 2017overthrow of Robert Mugabe. President Mnangagwa was installed president and he subsequently won the first post-Mugabe polls in 2019. Source: BBC Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video NEWNAN, Ga., March 2, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Wood Partners, a national leader in multi-family real estate development, announced today the development of its newest luxury residential community - Alta Ashley Park - in Newnan, Georgia. Construction is underway, and the community is scheduled to open in Spring 2022. Once complete, Alta Ashley Park will feature best-in-class amenities and interiors. The community's 269 apartment homes will include granite countertops in the kitchen and bathrooms, undermounted single-bowl sinks, tile backsplash in the kitchen, stainless steel appliances, and luxury vinyl plank hardwood-style flooring. Floorplans will include a mix of one-, two- and three-bedroom layouts. The community will feature a variety of amenities for residents to enjoy including a large clubhouse building with a state-of-the-art fitness center, a resort-style swimming pool with tanning ledges, outdoor fire pits and grilling areas, a dog park and dog grooming area, bocce ball and corn-hole courts. Aside from the amenities, the location itself is what truly sets the community apart. There are very few living locations in Newnan that offer renters a walkable lifestyle. Alta Ashley Park is within walking distance to a variety of shopping, dining and convenient retail destinations just outside of the community's front door. "After an extensive planning process, we are excited to see Alta Ashley Park come to life in such a desirable, convenient location," said Bennett Sands, Wood Partners Managing Director. "This new community will appeal to a wide range of potential residents who are looking for a luxurious living experience while being within reach of everything Newnan and the Atlanta region have to offer. We would like to thank the City of Newnan for being a great partner to work with, and we look forward to becoming a successful asset in the community." Located off of Bullsboro Drive and Ashley Park Drive, the new community will be within walking distance to nearby Ashley Park Shopping Center, which features a wide range of convenient retail destinations such as Target, BJ's Wholesale Club, Dick's Sporting Goods, Best Buy, Belk, and dozens of dining options. The property is also just a short walk away from the LINC, a new trail system in Newnan that offers 26 miles of paved paths for walkers, runners, bicyclists, skaters and people using non-motorized vehicles. Another draw to the city of Newnan, also called "The City of Homes", is its reputation for having beautiful, well-preserved homes and buildings, including more than 40 recognized historic structures in the town's six historic districts. The historic downtown square features a variety of restaurants and local businesses that add to the city's charm. It's also known for hosting several major events throughout the year such as its annual Christmas parade. The future community is less than one mile away from Cancer Treatment Centers of America (CTCA) and three miles away from Piedmont Newnan Hospital and Yamaha Motor Manufacturing Corporation, three of the top four employers in Coweta County. Other employment opportunities in the area include major distribution centers for both Amazon and Goodyear Tire & Rubber. Additionally, the site is located just off exit 47 and Interstate 85, providing easy access to Downtown Newnan, Hartsfield Jackson International Airport, and major employment centers in Atlanta. About Wood Partners Wood Partners is a national real estate company that acquires, develops, constructs and property manages multifamily communities. The company has been involved in the acquisition and development of more than 85,000 multifamily homes with a combined capitalization of more than $15.6 billion nationwide. The company currently owns 68 properties across the United States with a combined total of more than 18,000 homes. Wood Partners has offices in 20 major markets nationwide including Atlanta, Austin, Boston, Charlotte, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Houston, Los Angeles, Nashville, Orange County, Orlando, Phoenix, Portland, Raleigh-Durham, Salt Lake City, San Francisco, Seattle, Washington, D.C., and West Palm Beach. Lillian Iffert [email protected] 317-989-9804 Related Images image1.jpg SOURCE Wood Partners Nigerian refugee Aisha and her family are among thousands who fled to Maradi, Niger, to escape violence. UNHCR/Selim Meddeb Hamrouni Only a few days into 2021, gunmen attacked Rambadawa, in northern Nigeria, to loot the village and steal cattle. I was on my way home when I came face to face with the bandits, says Abdoulaye. They said: If you move, you're dead! I barely moved a foot and they shot me in the leg. Abdoulaye fell to the ground, but somehow managed to reach a house to hide out. When the attackers left, two villagers were dead. Aisha, Abdoulayes heavily pregnant sister-in-law, was at home when she heard gunshots. See also: Surging violence in Nigeria drives displacement to Niger They were firing in all directions, people were fleeing for their lives. Everyone was panicking, she says. I took my children with me and we fled towards the border with Niger. Aisha and her four children walked all night to reach Sanguerawa, across the border in Nigers Maradi region, some 20 kilometers away. The villages 3,800 inhabitants are hosting 1,000 Nigerian refugees, 700 of whom have arrived since the start of the year. They were firing in all directions, people were fleeing for their lives." Soon after reaching safety, Aisha gave birth to a baby girl. After receiving treatment in hospital for his gunshot wound, Abdoulaye also made his way to Sanguerawa, where he rejoined his family. Like most others who fled empty handed in the rush to save their lives, they need water, food, shelter and access to medical care. The attack on Rambadawa is one of a growing number in north-west Nigeria. The surging violence is driving displacement into neighbouring Nigers Maradi region, which now hosts nearly 100,000 displaced people, including 77,000 Nigerian refugees, 7,660 of whom have fled since the start of the year. Rampant attacks in north-west Nigeria displace thousands in first two months of the year UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, is concerned that the unprecedented insecurity is also now spilling over the border. UNHCR teams in Niger have recorded a spike in deadly violence inside Maradi, with more casualties and serious incident reports in January and February 2021 than in the second half of 2020. Fearing for their lives, 22,153 people have become internally displaced. The rise in cross-border activity by criminal groups since the start of the year is a cause of real concern, says Alessandra Morelli, UNHCRs representative in Niger. We are adapting our response to the waves of forced displacement caused by growing insecurity and we are providing protection and access to basic services such as health, education and access to water. The rise in cross-border activity by criminal groups is a cause of real concern. To try and keep displaced civilians safe, some 11,320 refugees have been relocated further away from the border in three villages Dan Dadji Makaou, Garin Kaka, and Chadakori, since October 2019. UNHCR, Niger authorities and their partners have boosted water, health, sanitation, and education infrastructure for the displaced and their hosts, helping to ease pressure on local communities who have limited means. See also: Keeping displaced families safe amid surge in Niger violence The current displacement is worrying. Morelli noted that Maradi sits between two regions with major displacement crises, the Sahel and the Lake Chad Basin. Armed groups in both regions have been fueling two of the worlds fastest growing displacement and protection crises. 5.5 million people have been uprooted from their homes since violence erupted in 2009 in the Lake Chad basin and 2012 in the Sahel. Humanitarian efforts to respond to the dual emergencies in the Sahel and the Lake Chad Basin are dangerously overstretched. UNHCR is urging the international community to boost support for the region and to help governments root out the causes of this forced displacement and to boost strategic and sustainable development. ORMOND BEACH, Fla., March 2, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Richard B. "Rick" Orfinger retired after 20 years as a judge on the Fifth District Court of Appeal at the end of January and early the next month embarked on his career as a full-time neutral with Upchurch Watson White & Max Mediation Group. The Daytona Beach native did not miss a beat as mediations and arbitrations began to be set. Rick Orfinger has a long history in the judiciary. Altogether, Orfinger spent 30 years in the judiciary. He was a circuit judge for the Seventh Judicial Circuit of Florida from 1991 to 2000 and served as the circuit's chief judge from 1996 to 1999. In 2000, Gov. Jeb Bush appointed him to the appeals court, where he served until the end of January 2021. As the court's chief judge from 2011 to 2013, he was instrumental in the court's transition to a paperless environment. Earlier, he had organized the Seventh Circuit's Committee on Professionalism and served on the Florida Supreme Court's Commission on Professionalism and The Florida Bar's Professionalism Committee. While on the appeals court, Orfinger authored hundreds of opinions on numerous legal topics. "We are delighted to welcome Richard Orfinger, a distinguished newly retired appellate judge, to our firm," UWWM President and CEO John Upchurch said. "Our clients will be well served through his incisive intellect and natural warmth, coupled with his ability to translate complex concepts effectively, so well documented by his landmark decisions as published over the past 20 years." At the end of January, Orfinger told his local newspaper, "Like all human beings, judges come to the bench with their own life experiences and biases. But we must be intellectually honest, recognize our own biases and, to the extent possible, put them aside ..." He will bring this same spirit of neutrality to his work as a mediator and arbitrator. Orfinger also understands the work of an advocate. Before he took the bench, he was a shareholder in the Daytona Beach firm of Monaco, Smith, Hood, Perkins, Orfinger and Stout, P.A. from 1990 to 1991 and a shareholder in Orfinger and Stout, P.A. from 1979 to 1990. His public service began with working as an assistant state attorney in the Seventh Judicial Circuit from 1976 to 1978. Before that, he received his undergraduate degree from Tulane University in New Orleans and his law degree (with honors) from the University of Florida College of Law. He still lives in Daytona Beach with his wife of 35 years, Ellen. They have an adult daughter and son and two grandchildren. To schedule a mediation or arbitration with Orfinger, contact case manager Dawn Smith at [email protected] or 386-253-1560. Media Contact: Catherine Klasne (386) 253-1560 [email protected] Related Images mediator-arbitrator-richard-o-rick.jpg Mediator/Arbitrator Richard O. "Rick" Orfinger Rick Orfinger has a long history in the judiciary. SOURCE Upchurch Watson White & Max Mediation Group A popular farm attraction in Lincolnshire has been left devastated for a second time after a group of teenagers allegedly set fire to hay bales. The Pink Pig Farm, in Holme, near Scunthorpe, has shared images and videos of the aftermath of the attack, which happened on Friday 26 February. The arsonists set fire to 140 hay bales located just metres away from a barn containing 400 pigs and piglets. The blaze is thought to have caused an estimated 10,000 worth of damage. A group of teenagers were seen standing on top of the bales just before the fire started. The Pink Pig Farm said the incident was the second arson attack it had experienced since lockdown started. The farm attraction said on Facebook: "Set alight near the timberlands estate, its a dangerous fire right next to the pigs. "Weve had 140 straw bales been set on fire worth roughly 10,000, these bales are needed to keep the pigs warm at night. "This is devastating as this is the second arson weve had in lockdown." A GoFundMe page has been created to help the farm with costs, raising over 600 as of Tuesday 2 February. Page creator Candice Priest said the farm has had a string of difficulties recently due to the pandemic, trespassing and two arson attacks. "They deserve some local support and as soon as I heard about the recent arson attack tonight I felt as a community we should pull together and help them," she said. Humberside Police is urging anyone who may have any information to call 101 quoting log number 542 of February 26. "We are investigating a reported arson on Holme Lane, Scunthorpe, following hay bales being set alight at approximately 7pm. "Officers attended the scene and have been following up a number of lines of enquiry to determine those responsible. "Thankfully no-one was injured and the fire was quickly put out by our colleagues in the fire service." The cost of farm fires in the UK reached a five-year high in 2019 totalling over 49 million, according to figures by NFU Mutual. Patricia Clarkson will star as Lilly Ledbetter in Lily, a movie that focuses on an Alabama factory worker who became the driving force behind President Barack Obamas 2009 fair-pay act. Key casting for the independent film, which has been in the works since 2013, was confirmed today by Variety. Director Rachel Feldman -- known for her work on Criminal Minds, Blue Bloods, The Baxters and Beyond Belief: Fact or Fiction -- remains attached to the film. J. Todd Harris, whose credits include Bottle Rocket, The Trial of the Chicago 7 and The Kids are All Right, is on board as a producer. The script was written by Feldman and Adam Prince. There have been many films made about an ordinary citizen who fights entrenched, monolithic systems, but as a filmmaker, what interests me is not the struggle per se, but the psychological cost of activism, Feldman told Variety. Though Lilly never received a dime in reparations, she became the face of an issue, and speaking up for others defined a life of purpose, fulfilling her destiny. I believe Lillys story of radical resilience is a theme that will resonate around the world. Other actors havent been announced for Lilly, and theres no word yet on whether the movie will be filmed in Alabama. The film is set for production in the coming months, Variety said. Ledbetter, a native of Possum Trot in Calhoun County, wrote a 2012 memoir about her experiences as a labor activist, Grace and Grit: My Fight for Equal Pay and Fairness at Goodyear and Beyond, with Birmingham author Lanier Scott Isom. Ledbetter had worked as a supervisor at the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. plant in Gadsden from 1979 until she retired in 1998. She later sued the company for paying her significantly less than here male contemporaries, and she won a $3.8 million verdict that was subsequently overturned by an appeals court because she waited too long to file her lawsuit. In 2007, Ledbetters case reached the Supreme Court, which, in a 5-4 decision, agreed with the appeals court that she had not met the 180-deadline for filing her claim. In a dissenting opinion, however, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg urged Congress to amend the law to correct the courts parsimonious reading of it. That led to the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Restoration Act, which Obama signed into law in 2009, the first bill he signed as president. The act loosens the time restriction that the Supreme Court imposed in the Ledbetter v. Goodyear case for filing a discrimination lawsuit. Its unclear if Ledbetter will be involved in the filming of Lilly, and she hasnt released a statement in response to Clarksons casting. The actress has earned kudos for her sharply intelligent presence on screen, and the emotional complexity of her diverse performances. Actress Patricia Clarkson, a two-time Emmy winner for her work on "Six Feet Under," is set to portray Alabama's Lilly Ledbetter in an independent film.(Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP) Clarkson, 61, is known for her work in movies ranging from The Untouchables to The Station Agent to Maze Runner: The Death Cure. She received an Academy Award nomination in 2003 as Best Supporting Actress in Pieces of April. She has a long lists of TV credits that includes Sharp Objects, House of Cards, Six Feet Under, Frasier, Murder One, Davis Rules and more. Clarkson won two Emmys for her work on Six Feet Under, earning trophies in 2002 and 2006 for Outstanding Guest Actress In a Drama Series. She also earned a Golden Globe in 2018 for her work on Sharp Objects, in the category of Best Supporting Actress in a Series, Miniseries, or Television Film. Playing Lilly is truly an honor, Clarkson, a native of New Orleans, told Variety. Im thrilled to bring this extraordinary woman to life. Bob Carlton of AL.com contributed to this story. Shipping companies and major and minor ports in the country will ink 486 Memorandum of Understandings (MoUs) for investments worth Rs 3,38,561 crore on the sidelines of the ongoing Indian Maritime Summit. The three-day summit was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi on Tuesday.A total of 22 entities, including government shipping companies and ports will sign MoUs with gobal investors during the summit, according to an official close to the development. Going forward, Deen Dayal Port Trust tops the list with 44 MoUs envisaging an investment of Rs 77,277 crore. Mumbai Port Trust (MBPT) and Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT) will sign MoUs for investments worth Rs 28,179 crore and Rs 27,277 crore, respectively. "While JNPT will sign 32 MoUs, MBPT will ink 27 MoUs," said a source close to the development. Another big ticket MoUs will be signed by DG Shipping, Indian Port Rail and Ropeway Corporation Ltd, Paradip Port Trust, Sagarmala Development Company Ltd, Shipping Corporation of India, Syama Prasad Mukerjee Port Trust and VO Chidambaranar Port Trust, among others. DG Shipping will sign 45 MoUs worth Rs 19,339 crore, while SCI will ink 9 MoUs worth Rs 6,307 crore. Indian Port Rail and Ropeway Corporation Ltd will sign 12 MoUs entailing an investment of 12,097 crore, while Sagarmala Development company will finalise 44 pacts for investment of Rs 11,390 crore. On the investment in the ports sector, Paradip Port trust will sign 26 MoUs worth Rs 27,256 crore, Syama Prasad Mukerjee Port Trust 37 MoUs for Rs 25,308 crore, Vishakhapatnam Port Trust 26 MoUs for Rs 28,779 crore and VO Chidambaranar Port Trust 36 MoUs for Rs 27,137 crore). Additionally, Andhra Pradesh Maritime Board will also finalise nine MoUs worth Rs 27,488 crore. The global summit will conclude on March 4. Speaking about the summit last week, Shipping Secretary Sanjeev Ranjan said, "Maritime India Summit 2021 will promote domestic as well as international investment in Indian maritime sector. The shipping ministry has undertaken a number of major reforms. But there is still a lot of work to be achieved in the sector." The summit will explore the potential business opportunities in the Indian maritime sector in partnership with global firms. Also read: Govt to invite private investment in 400 port, shipping projects worth Rs 2 lakh crore An 80-year-old pedophile who repeatedly molested a six-year-old girl in his bathroom late at night will serve just 20 days in jail after being sentenced to probation as part of a plea deal. William Ira Wiltse was sentenced last Friday in Wichita Falls, Texas, after pleading guilty to four child sex crimes he committed against the girl back in 2013. As part of his plea deal, Wiltse was given 10 years of probation and ordered to serve the 20 days in jail. If he completes his probation, he won't have a conviction on his record. His charges could have brought a potential 30-year prison sentence. William Ira Wiltse, 80, was sentenced last Friday in Wichita Falls, Texas, after pleading guilty to four child sex crimes he committed against the girl back in 2013 Prosecutors told the judge that the victim's parents approved of the plea deal because they did not want their daughter to have to testify, the Times Record News reports. They specifically wanted Wiltse to register as a sex offender as part of his punishment. Wiltse is described in the police report as one of the girl's relatives but the exact relation is not known. He was charged after the girl came forward in 2017 when she was 11 years old - five years after she was assaulted. Police say Wiltse molested the girl on at least two occasions at his home when she was in first grade in March 2013. The girl had told police Wiltse the assaults took place in the bathroom after he woke her up late at night. He would remove her clothes and touch her inappropriately, according to police. Wiltse, who declined to give an interview to police at the time, pleaded guilty to two counts of indecency with a child by sexual contact and two counts of indecency with a child by exposure. He is now banned from having contact with any child under 18 unless he has prior approval and has to undergo a sexual abuse treatment program. Wiltse will have to pay a $2,000 fine, perform 240 hours of community service and is banned from owning a firearm or ammunition. Former Central Regional Chairman of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Allotey Jacobs has stated he is repelled by the activities of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) to the core. On his accord, regardless of God being tolerant and compassionate, He has since time immemorial stood against homosexuality and all its related activities. I read a portion of the new testament where God told Peter he had cleansed pigs and other animals for consumption. Before I read that scripture, I hated pigs but I now rear them. God says he has cleansed all things and made them whole but not homosexuality. He hates it to the core. I hate the idea of the LGBT community to the core. If it is brought to my attention that my child is engaged in such an act, I will disown him. I hate it and it shouldnt be practiced, he said in an interview with Done Kwabena Prah on Happy 98.9 FMs Epa Hoa Daben political talk show. He pointed out that during creation, God never created animal pairs as same sex, because He knew two male goats cannot make a kid. He created Adam and Eve for a purpose and the order of the Lord is for men to marry women and nothing more. Referencing the bible on some drastic measures people of the old took against homosexuality, he said, some male youth wanted to sleep with a Levite in the book of Judges but he offered his female servant to do as they please with, to which they agreed. But after reporting his ordeal to the Levite tribe, they sent a large army to end that tribe of Benjamin. This tells you how much God hates such people. Conversation and anger towards LGBT practices have been renewed in Ghana following a fundraiser which was attended by several diplomats including the Australian High Commissioner who pledged to support the group. The EU office in Ghana has also declared support for the group. But President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, has stated that the legalization of same-sex marriage will never happen under his watch. According to the President, I have said this before, and let me, in conclusion, stress again that it will not be under the presidency of Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo that same-sex marriage will be legalized in Ghana. It will never happen in my time as President. 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 (Newser) Plenty of people had to be rescued from flood waters in southeastern Kentucky over the weekend, including a woman who suffered a seizure, who was moved to safety in the bucket of a tractor. Eddie Stacy of the Hazel Green Volunteer Fire Department was moving his firetruck out of the path of a mudslide when he spotted a cellphone light shining in flood waters on Stamper Branch on Sunday. It turned out to be a family of five, including a 17-month-old boy, trapped in a stalled car with water up to the dashboard, Stacy tells USA Today. Firefighters used a rope to lead four of the five to safety, per WKYT. But the final woman suffered a seizure. That's when Wolfe County Sheriff Chris Carson "came with his tractor," the Fire Department wrote on Facebook. A video shows the woman being driven out of the water in the bucket of the tractor. story continues below Stacy, who'd been in the area to assist in removing a tree from the road, says firefighters "don't do too much training on this water rescue" but "instinct" kicked in. "That little flashlight just caught my attention," he notes. "It was God to have me in that place where I was supposed to be." He adds the woman later recovered. Heavy rainfall was seen across the state Sunday and Monday, causing flash floods and mudslides. "We expect this to be one of the largest flash-flooding events that we've had," state director of emergency management, Michael Dossett, said Monday as Gov. Andy Beshear declared a state of emergency. He added first responders had been "literally saving lives for the last 48, 72 hours." In nearby Lee County, people were evacuated from homes in dump trucks while vaccine doses were rescued by boat, per USA Today and CNN. (Read more Kentucky stories.) A jogger in New York City was shocked to discover dismembered remains that had washed up from New York Bay onto the Brooklyn shoreline, according to authorities. The running New Yorker discovered the grisly scene along Belt Parkway in Bay Ridge on Monday at around 12.45pm, the New York Daily News reports. First responders retrieved the remains and brought them on shore. Authorities soon determined that the remains consisted of a man's torso that was missing its head, arms and one leg. The running New Yorker discovered the grisly scene along Belt Parkway in Bay Ridge on Monday at around 12.45pm Officers with the New York Police Department's Harbor Unit tried searching for other body parts in the water but failed to locate any additional parts. Video from the scene shows several NYPD squad cars at the scene as officers try searching for additional remains. Authorities say that the body had been in the water for quite some time and was already badly decomposed, according to sources. Officers with the New York Police Department's Harbor Unit tried searching for other body parts in the water but failed to locate any additional parts It is currently unknown whether the body parts had been severed or if they had torn off during decomposition. Investigators are currently trying to determine the man's identity. An autopsy will be conducted by the city Medical Examiner to determine how the man died. Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-02 12:21:29|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close This photo from Facebook page of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban shows him receiving a dose of China's Sinopharm vaccine against COVID-19 in Budapest, Hungary, on Feb. 28, 2021. (Viktor Orban Facebook via Xinhua) Numerous world leaders have received COVID-19 vaccine. They are unanimous in sending the information that receiving coronavirus vaccine is essential to protecting oneself and people around, and that the COVID-19 vaccine currently available is trustworthy. BEIJING, March 2 (Xinhua) -- Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban on Sunday received an injection of China's Sinopharm vaccine against COVID-19. "Vaccinated!" Orban wrote on Facebook, posting a photo of himself getting the shot, two days after Hungarian President Janos Ader got his shot. The Hungarian leaders joined a long list of world leaders who received COVID-19 vaccine ahead of their people or at the early stage of their nationwide vaccination campaigns, a symbolic act of demystification and, more importantly, reassuring. In pandemic-stricken Britain, Queen Elizabeth II, 94, and her 99-year-old husband, the Duke of Edinburgh, received COVID-19 vaccine in January. The monarch recently encouraged Britons to take the vaccine jab and to "think about other people." "As far as I could make out it was quite harmless. It was very quick, and I've had lots of letters from people who have been very surprised by how easy it was to get the vaccine. And the jab -- it didn't hurt at all," she said during a video call with British health leaders. Indonesian President Joko Widodo (L) receives his second injection of the COVID-19 vaccine developed by China's biopharmaceutical company Sinovac Biotech at the Presidential Palace in Jakarta, Indonesia, Jan. 27, 2021. (Muchlis Jr/Presidential Press Bureau/Handout via Xinhua) Several days after Queen Elizabeth's inoculation, Indonesian President Joko Widodo received the COVID-19 vaccine shot developed by China's Sinovac Biotech, kicking off a mass immunization program and becoming the first Indonesian vaccinated in his country. After the president, the country's military chief, national police chief and health minister were also vaccinated, to show that the vaccine is safe. Similarly, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison last week became one of the first COVID-19 vaccine recipients in Australia, when he publicly received his first dose of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine. Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison attends a press conference in Canberra, Australia, June 26, 2020. (Photo by Chu Chen/Xinhua) "Tomorrow our vaccination program starts, so as a curtain raiser today we're here making some very important points; that it's safe, that it's important, and we need to start with those who are most vulnerable and are on the front line," Morrison said. Numerous world leaders have made the same gesture. U.S. President Joe Biden received his first jab on Jan. 11, and on Twitter expressed hope to "get our country back on track." Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan received his first dose of vaccine on Jan. 14, as his country started mass vaccination against COVID-19. Chilean President Sebastian Pinera on Feb. 12 received the first dose of the CoronaVac vaccine developed by Sinovac, along with those aged 71 and over. They are unanimous in sending the information that receiving coronavirus vaccine is essential to protecting oneself and people around, and that the COVID-19 vaccine currently available is trustworthy. Commenting on the inoculation of the Hungarian prime minister, the country's Chief Medical Officer Cecilia Muller told a press conference Saturday that it is very important for high-ranking Hungarian officials to get immunized publicly, in order to set an example for the population. Senegalese President Macky Sall, vaccinated on Feb. 25, said that he wanted to show that all people over the age of 60 should be able to be vaccinated, and that he and members of the government were vaccinated to set an example. President Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa -- himself among those first vaccinated in the country -- said more people in leadership positions would be publicly vaccinated to encourage more people to get vaccinated. "We have called on leaders in various sectors and parts of the country to lead by example and get inoculated publicly," he said. Actress Yvonne Nelson has indicated that Ghanaians are silent but are internally angry about Ghanas health sector which is stinking and that politicians are only concerned with staying in power. The actress who was on a tweet rant this morning indicated that Ghanaian politicians who are at the helm of affairs do not even trust the health system in the country hence moving out of the country when they are ill. Our Health Sector isnt their PRIORITY! Staying in power is! They run and leave the country when they get sick, don't ask why! They don't believe in the SYSTEM themselves. They don't TRUST doctors in their country. To her, gradually the people are getting angry and with time will strike if nothing better is done about the system. @NAkufoAddo DO BETTER! The anger is building up, she said. Adding that Our leaders have taken us (GHANAIANS) for GRANTED for too long!!!! @NAkufoAddo WE DEMAND A BETTER HEALTH SECTOR!!!. See her tweet below: The Strongest woman has spoken and its the Gospel fact https://t.co/ghzTdaNey8 @JooJo_93 (@HappyBoy_20) March 1, 2021 Source: twitter/mynews Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video The UN has described the tens of thousands of missing individuals during Syrias war as a national trauma, according to Asharq Al-Awsat. Tens of thousands of people rounded up by Syrian authorities during a decade of conflict are missing, with many tortured, raped, or killed, amounting to war crimes and crimes against humanity, UN investigators said on Monday. Opposition groups including the Free Syrian Army, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), and the Islamic State (ISIS) have also unlawfully detained, tortured, and executed civilians in custody, they said. The fate of tens of thousands of the victims who were subjected to the arbitrary and incommunicado detention and enforced disappearance by Syrian government forces, and at a lesser scale, by ISIS, HTS, and other armed groups, remains unknown as we reach the end of a decade, the investigators said in their latest report. The issue of detainees represents a national trauma that would affect Syrian society for decades, they said. The government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has denied many previous UN accusations of war crimes and says it does not torture prisoners. The Commission of Inquiry on Syria, led by Paulo Pinheiro, called for perpetrators on all sides to be prosecuted and for the creation of an international mechanism to locate the missing or their remains, some in mass graves. The investigators welcomed a court hearing in the German city of Koblenz last week sentencing a former member of Assads security services to four-and-a-half years in prison for abetting the torture of civilians, the first such verdict for crimes against humanity in the 10-year-old Syrian war. They have provided information to national jurisdictions handling more than 60 criminal cases and their reports were used as evidence in the Koblenz proceedings, they said last week. 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. IN the space of one month, the families of 326 people were left in shock and heartbreak after losing their loved ones to the Covid-19 virus. May 2021 was the deadliest month of the pandemic in Trinidad and Tobago and the month with the highest number of Covid-19 cases. The Archdiocese of New Orleans is warning local Roman Catholics that the newly authorized Johnson & Johnson coronavirus vaccine is "morally compromised" and should be avoided, if possible, in favor of other vaccines because of a connection to abortion. In recent weeks, public health officials in Louisiana and across the U.S. have advised against weighing the different vaccines against each other, telling residents that they should get vaccinated as soon as they are eligible and a shot is available. The statement from the local church, issued Friday, may raise questions about that guidance among area Catholics. The directive also appeared to go farther than recent public pronouncements from other church bodies in singling out the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. In its statement, the archdiocese argued that cells used to develop, test and produce the one-dose Johnson & Johnson shot were derived from abortions performed in the 1970s and 1980s. As such, the vaccine is "morally compromised, as it uses the abortion-derived cell line in development and production of the vaccine as well as the testing," the statement said. Though the developers of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines also relied on abortion cells, local church officials argued that the material was only used in lab testing. Those vaccines "therefore can be morally acceptable for Catholics, as the connection to abortion is extremely remote," officials said. The statement added that the decision to receive a coronavirus vaccine "remains one of individual conscience in consultation with one's healthcare provider" and didn't rule out receiving a Johnson & Johnson vaccine if other vaccines weren't available. The use of cells derived from aborted fetuses in vaccine development has become an issue for the church in recent months after some church leaders in the United States questioned whether it was acceptable to receive the shots. In December, the Vatican said that "it is morally acceptable to receive COVID-19 vaccines that have used cell lines from aborted fetuses" in the research and production process when "ethically irreproachable" vaccines arent available to the public. It added, however, that it wasn't endorsing the use of those cell lines. Archdiocesan spokesperson Sarah McDonald said Monday that Archbishop Gregory Aymond elected to issue the statement after receiving requests for clarification around the moral appropriateness of the vaccines. Top stories in New Orleans in your inbox Twice daily we'll send you the day's biggest headlines. Sign up today. e-mail address * Sign Up "It is the responsibility of the archbishop to provide guidance to Catholics," she said. "It remains the role of the church to always stand for its teaching." According to the church's statement Friday, archdiocesan officials researched guidance offered by the National Catholic Bioethics Center, the Vatican and the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops before releasing their own directive on Friday. Those organizations have not weighed in publicly on the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, though the USCCB in December said that a vaccine from AstraZeneca should be avoided "if there are alternatives available" because it extensively used an abortion-derived cell line. The document, titled "Moral considerations regarding the new COVID-19 vaccines," nevertheless allowed that should there not be a choice, Catholics should take the AstraZeneca vaccine due to the "serious consequences for ones health and the health of others" of delaying the inoculation. The statement from the local church comes as Louisiana has been preparing to accept shipments of the new Johnson & Johnson shot and as health leaders have publicly praised it as an efficient tool for reaching herd immunity. Last week, State Health Officer Dr. Joe Kanter recommended against trying to pick one vaccine over another based on studies of their efficacy and argued that residents should get a shot as soon as one of them is available. "Dont pass up the opportunity," he said. "Dont fall into the trap of trying to parse one versus the other." Some health experts expressed concern about the church's stance Monday, saying it could dissuade people from taking a vaccine that could keep them and others alive. "I am worried," said Dr. Sandra Kemmerly, Ochsner Health's system medical director of hospital quality. "It was completely surprising to me. Several months in we thought we've heard almost every sort of concern that has been raised, and this was new and it really was a surprise." A spokesperson for New Orleans' city government, whose health department has worked to promote vaccines, stressed the need for residents to make the "important decision" to be immunized, regardless of which shot they choose. "We understand that many residents have hesitancies about the COVID-19 vaccine for many reasons," spokesperson Beau Tidwell said. "There are currently three vaccines available to New Orleanians, and we hope that all of our residents take the opportunity to get vaccinated when it is available to them... The COVID-19 vaccines will save lives." Staff writer Emily Woodruff and The Associated Press contributed to this report. Former President of Ukraine Viktor Yanukovych, who has been living in the Russian Federation since 2014, does not have frozen bank accounts and assets in Switzerland, said Yanukovych's spokesman Yuriy Kirasir. "Once again we want to note that the Swiss authorities sent an official response to the request of the English lawyers of JHA LLP, representing the interests of V.F. Yanukovych, about the presence of bank accounts and economic assets belonging to the ex-President of Ukraine," ex-president's secretary said on Facebook on Tuesday, March 2. He clarified that the document says that "there are no bank accounts or other assets in Switzerland in the name of President Yanukovych, which they have frozen." Kirasir stressed that the asset freeze imposed by Switzerland "concerns other persons (i.e. not Yanukovych) listed in the Annex to the Ukraine-related asset freeze ordinance." "The Swiss Federal Council does not clearly indicate who owns the '70 million Swiss francs,' but at the same time officially recognizes that they do not belong to President Yanukovych. We demand from the Swiss Embassy in Ukraine to publish a refutation to its message, which mentions inaccurate information in the relation to V.F. Yanukovych," said Kirasir. As previously stated by representatives of the Swiss Embassy in Kyiv, Switzerland and Ukraine are working closely to return the frozen assets of Yanukovych and his entourage to the Ukrainian people. "Relationships are very important within our team at Brandt and we were not prepared to miss celebrating the holiday season together; we just needed to find another way ." says Brandt CEO, Shaun Semple. "We enjoyed a wonderful five-day gathering of team members from across the U.S., Canada, and around the world and, in the months since, we've been excited to engage with some truly amazing charitable organizations!" The theme of the final day was 'Gratitude' and the daily activity involved staff choosing from a selection of charities to be supported via a $250,000 Christmas philanthropic fund with $50,000 designated for American charities and $200,000 for Canadian groups. These funds were allocated through the company's Thanks A Billion program. Brandt's Thanks A Billion program was instituted in 2011 to express the company's gratitude in tangible ways to the people most responsible for their success: customers, employees and the communities in which they live and work. Community gifts and program sponsorships currently total over $13 million and are given in support of organizations that positively impact the lives of Brandt customers and employees. In the months since the event, Brandt's U.S. team has worked closely with three local charitable groups to help determine the most effective use of the funds that they designated. The recipients are: Wounded Warrior Project.................................... $25,000 Illinois CancerCare Foundation.......................... $15,000 Heartland Community College Foundation........ $10,000 Donation Recipients: Wounded Warrior Project Warriors Speak Warriors Speak is a prestigious group of wounded warriors and caregivers who share their unique, inspirational stories of courage, perseverance, recovery, and growth. The goal of Warriors Speak is to educate the American public on the struggles our nation's service members must overcome as a result of their service. "We are very conscious of the debt of gratitude that we owe to our nation's veterans and first responders. No dollar amount could adequately repay them for their service, but we want to do what we can to help those struggling with operational stress injuries as a result of their service." Hans Rasmussen, Sales Manager, Northern United States, Brandt Industries USA Ltd. "Brandt's generous contribution directly supports the programs and services that give warriors access to mental health services, physical health and wellness education, and many other programs such as career counseling. Warriors never pay a penny for these programs because they paid their dues on the battlefield." Nikki Aguilar, Warrior Support, Resource Development, Wounded Warrior Project Illinois CancerCare Foundation Illinois CancerCare works to provide comprehensive, compassionate care that enhances the lives of patients and their families while staying on the leading edge of breakthrough research and medicines. They are one of the largest private oncology practices in the nation and have helped countless individuals overcome this disease to live healthy, inspiring lives. "Cancer touches everyone's life at some point, either directly or indirectly. This donation reflects and honors the personal stories of so many of our employees and their families." Marc Eberle, Chief Operating Officer, Brandt Industries Ltd. "On behalf of the Illinois CancerCare Foundation Board of Directors, Volunteers, staff and all our cancer patients and their families, I would like to Thank Brandt Industries and Brandt employees for selecting Illinois CancerCare Foundation as one of your charities. Your generous donation will stay local helping cancer patients and their families navigate through their cancer journey by providing much needed clinical trial research, patient services such as transportation, nutrition and social service support, along with our holiday Trust in Hope Program. Our Illinois CancerCare Foundation, in collaboration with Illinois CancerCare, helps bring the latest nationally renowned clinical cancer research trials right here to our 14 clinic communities. Giving cancer patients and their families greater access to advanced treatment options, much needed patient services and greater HOPE close to home. We are grateful to each of you for your support." Tonda Thompson, Executive Director, Illinois CancerCare Foundation Heartland Community College Heartland Community College is a premier two-year technology and trades-focused college with three locations in Central Illinois. Heartland provides specialized training and education that is tailored to the workforce needs of the regional economy. "Meaningful, accessible educational opportunities are key to a thriving workforce and a growing economy. Heartland Community College does a fantastic job of training local women and men to succeed in their career journeys and we're thrilled to be able to have a part." Mike Nau, Operations Manager, Brandt Industries USA Ltd. "A huge thanks is due to the employees and leadership of Brandt for choosing to invest in Heartland Community College students. The support of Brandt will help area students with access to learning opportunities through scholarships, programs, and support services. Our partnership with Brandt has been vital to Heartland's efforts to educate the agriculture industry professionals of today and tomorrow." Chris Downing, HCC Foundation Executive Director, Heartland Community College About the Brandt Group of Companies The Brandt Group of Companies headquartered in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada is comprised of Brandt Agricultural Products, Brandt Engineered Products, Brandt Equipment Solutions, Brandt Road Rail, Brandt Positioning Technology, Brandt Truck Rigging & Trailers, Brandt Finance, Brandt Developments Ltd., Brandt Road Technology, Brandt Mineral Technology, and Brandt Tractor Ltd. the world's largest privately-owned John Deere Construction & Forestry equipment dealer. Brandt has over 100 locations in Canada and the U.S., over 3,200 employees, and a growing international audience; serving the construction, forestry, agriculture, rail, mining, steel, and energy industries with unique custom products. Brandt is one of Canada's largest privately owned companies and is among an elite group of Platinum Club members of Canada's Best Managed Companies. SOURCE Brandt Group of Companies Multinational mining giant Adani, which has rebranded itself as Bravus in Australia, has applied to the Supreme Court to keep secret confidential information in its case against activist Ben Pennings. On Tuesday, the companys lawyers asked the Supreme Court in Brisbane to withhold information from Mr Pennings relating to 350 confidential contracts it would refer to in its case, with documents only to be handed over to Mr Pennings lawyers. Stop Adani protesters outside the Supreme Court in Brisbane in support of Ben Pennings. Credit:Felicity Caldwell That was despite allegations Mr Pennings had already privately received confidential information via his activism with anti-mining group the Galilee Blockade. Adani and the Carmichael Rail Network launched legal action against Mr Pennings in the Supreme Court in Brisbane last year, accusing him of trespassing, breaches of contract, intimidation and conspiracy to injure. Texas' attorney general filed a lawsuit against Griddy Energy and Griddy Holdings for "false, misleading, and deceptive advertising and marketing practices" after the company sent sky-high electricity bills to customers during February's devastating winter storm. As the storm rattled Texas' power grid, Griddy, which connects customers directly to the wholesale electricity market for a monthly fee, "passed skyrocketing energy costs to customers with little to no warning, resulting in consumers paying hundreds or even thousands of dollars each day for electricity," Attorney General Ken Paxton, a Republican, said in a statement. The lawsuit says Griddy misled customers and downplayed the incredible risk of its pricing scheme, which charges the most when customers are most vulnerable. "I will hold Griddy accountable for their escalation of this winter storm disaster," Paxton said. "My office will not allow Texans to be deceived or exploited by unlawful behavior and deceptive business practices." The lawsuit comes just two weeks after a winter storm led to power outages for millions of Texans, creating life-threatening conditions in the freezing temperatures and causing spillover shortages of heating, fuel, water and food. While the vast majority of Texans pay a fixed rate for power and get predictable monthly bills, some Texans choose to pay based on the spot price of electricity at any given moment through Griddy. When power generators struggled and demand for heating shot up during the storm, prices increased to the legal limit -- and Griddy customers paid the price with massive electric bills that were auto-debited from their bank accounts. Last week, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) revoked Griddy Energy's right to conduct activity in the state's electricity market for lack of payment, according to a market notice posted Friday. Following ERCOT's decision, Griddy posted on their website saying they had "No choice but to power down," adding that "We have always been transparent and customer-centric at every step. We wanted to continue the fight for our members to get relief and that hasn't changed." CNN reached out to Griddy on several occasions but has yet to hear back. Allegations of misleading advertising The attorney general's petition, filed in Harris County District Court, says that during the February freeze, "Griddy, the company that promised Texans cheap 'wholesale' prices that would consistently beat traditional energy costs, blatantly contradicted these promotional representations as it auto-debited hundreds of dollars from Texans' checking accounts daily." The AG's office said they received over 400 consumer complaints against Griddy in less than two weeks. "One Houston resident stated in her complaint that Griddy debited her credit card $4,677 in one week for electricity in her 800 square foot, one-bedroom apartment. She stated in her complaint: 'I do not have the money to pay this bill. We need help,'" the petition reads. The lawsuit particularly targets Griddy's use of auto-debiting to "withdraw hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars from consumers' checking accounts in a period of days." This practice led to overdraft fees and prevented consumers from taking measures to protect themselves or save money to assist in paying the bills. For example, the lawsuit cites the story of a 67-year-old Arlington consumer who lives off her social security checks. She said her Griddy bill was usually about $49 to $61 per month, but the company debited over a thousand dollars from her bank account in a matter of days, leaving her account overdrawn, the lawsuit states. "My account is overdrawn. I cannot make it to the bank until Friday. My car is snow and iced ... I believe that there is an error on my account," she wrote in an email to Griddy on February 16. "Please give me until Monday when I can safely go out and take care of my balance. If I can safely go out before then, I shall. I'm 67. It's a safety hazard to go out at this time." Her plea for mercy was unheeded, the lawsuit states. Last week, a Texas woman filed a proposed billion-dollar class-action lawsuit against Griddy Energy that alleges the company engaged in unlawful price gouging during the outages. Her attorney, Derek Potts, released a statement on Monday praising the attorney general's filing. "Since both cases have now been assigned to the same judge in Harris County, we look forward to working with the Attorney General's office to protect all Texans against the outrageous electric bills that were sent to Texas consumers during the middle of the storm and resulting crisis," Potts said. WASHINGTON, March 1 (Xinhua) -- The United States started rolling out Johnson & Johnson's COVID-19 vaccine to states on Monday, after the single-dose vaccine got green light from regulators to be administered to people 18 and older. Trucks carrying the vaccines are en route to states and sites that have been seeking more doses to curb the pandemic. The shipments are expected to reach states and vaccination sites as early as Tuesday, according to the Joe Biden administration. Johnson & Johnson prepared 4 million doses for initial shipment, and expected to ship more than 20 million doses by March, according to the company. "The Johnson & Johnson vaccine will speed up rollout in part because it does not require the same cold chain as the RNA vaccines," Stanley Perlman, professor of microbiology and immunology at the University of Iowa, told Xinhua. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) authorized Johnson & Johnson's COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use on Saturday. A day later, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Sunday recommended the vaccine to be administered for Americans 18 years of age and older. It is the third COVID-19 vaccine that has received the FDA's emergency use authorization in the country, following the first one developed by American drugmaker Pfizer in partnership with German company BioNTech, and the second one developed by American drugmaker Moderna. Unlike the two-shot dosing for the vaccines from Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna, the Johnson & Johnson vaccine only requires one shot. Meanwhile, it does not require ultra-cold storage. Over 96 million vaccine doses have been distributed across the United States as of Monday, and more than 76 million doses have been administered, CDC data show. "Now, manufacturing and delivery are improving so both are less of an issue than they have been," Perlman told Xinhua. "But vaccine hesitancy may be a problem," he noted. Journalists covering protesters standing against Myanmars military coup have been detained by security forces with reports of up to 25 journalists arrested since the military junta seized power on February 9. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) demand the military to immediately release the journalists that have been detained for their media coverage and ensure media workers can operate without fear of arrest or persecution. Over Saturday 27 and Sunday 28 of February, at least ten journalists were detained by security forces across Myanmar amongst the arrests of hundreds of demonstrators in Chin State, Monywa, Yangon and other regions. Thein Zaw, a journalist from the Associated Press was one of the journalists taken into custody on Saturday in Yangon, Myanmars largest city, as was Ma Kay Zon Nway, from Myanmar Now who was arrested while live-streaming the protests. The United Nations Human Rights Office reports at least 18 dead and over 30 wounded on Sunday 28 and IFJ adviser Phil Thornton cites at least 19 confirmed killings and 10 unconfirmed killings reported by Myanmar local media as of 5:00 pm on Sunday 28. Following the violent weekend for protesters and journalists, Aung Kyaw, a correspondent for the independent media company, Democratic Voice of Berma (DVB), who covered the demonstrations in Myeik, Taninthayri Division on Sunday 28 of February was arrested at his home at 10:30 pm on March 1 in Myeik. Aung Kyaw live-streamed his arrest which showed the military firing live ammunition at him and breaking into his house to take him away. It is currently unknown where Aung Kyaw is or why he was arrested. According to The Irrawaddy, of the 25 journalists arrested since February 9, ten are still detained. The IFJ said: The frightening subversion of legal processes throughout the countless arrests of journalists without reason and the arbitrary use of deadly force by police highlights the violent reality of democracy in Myanmar. The IFJ stands in solidarity with media unions and workers in Myanmar and condemn the arrest of journalists, urging the military to immediately release those detained for covering the demonstrations. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Bank of Ireland will pull the shutters down on 88 branches from September. Photo: Colin Keegan/Collins There are mounting concerns that communities will be left with no local bank at all, as a fresh round of branch closures was announced. AIB has been called on to resist a large-scale cull of branches, after Bank of Ireland was severely criticised for announcing the shutdown of a third of its network. It comes just two weeks after Ulster Bank said the bank was closing, a move that puts its 88 branches under threat of closure. AIB has around 200 branches, with another 70 EBS offices. It is currently closing five branches, a move that was announced in December. The Financial Services Union (FSU) said AIB must not follow the lead of Bank of Ireland with a massive shutdown on branches. Read More The bank is due to report results on Friday. FSU general secretary John OConnell said: We expect that AIB will announce no further closures other than the previous stated amalgamation of five urban branches which are currently under discussion with the union. Asked whether it too would be following Bank of Ireland with widespread closures, an AIB spokesperson said: We remain committed to maintaining a strong branch presence in the communities we serve. Bank of Irelands decision to pull the shutters down on 88 branches from September was condemned as a slap in the face to farmers and rural communities. The bank was also accused of punishing customers for acting responsibly during the pandemic by avoiding going into branches. The move will cut its branch network in the Republic from 257 to 169. In Northern Ireland, the banks network will fall by 15 branches, from 28 to 13. IFA president Tim Cullinan said: This comes as a slap in the face to farmers and rural communities who rely on local branches for banking services. We estimate that over 80pc of the branches identified for closure are in rural locations. The withdrawal of this vital service will discommode those without internet access and people whose preference is to do their banking in person. Mr OConnell, of the FSU, accused the bank of punishing people for keeping to pandemic restrictions and avoiding going into branches. He called on the bank to defer any closures to the end of 2022 and for a review of the impact such closures would have on the communities in which they are located. A poll commissioned by the FSU found that 84pc of people think it is either very important or important to have a local bank branch with face-to-face customer service in their local area. This rises to 90pc for older people. Seamus Boland, of Rural Link, said he was extremely disappointed by news of the closures. We said it would happen. This is another blow to rural communities, even though I know some of the branches are in urban areas. Bank of Ireland chief executive Francesca McDonagh said there would be no compulsory redundancies among the 200 staff affected by the closures. Technology is evolving, and customers are using branches less, year on year on year, said Ms McDonagh. Covid-19 has accelerated this changing behaviour, and weve seen a seismic shift towards digital banking over the past 12 months. Weve now reached a tipping point between online and offline banking. The bank also announced it is entering a new partnership with An Post, which will offer its customers banking services at more than 900 locations across Ireland. The most senior Army officer to face a court martial in more than 200 years today stood trial accused of defrauding the taxpayer out of almost 50,000 to pay for his children's private school fees. Major General Nick Welch, 57, allegedly abused Army allowances when he took on the top job at the Ministry of Defence's London headquarters. A military court heard the two-star general, earning about 120,000 a year, told the Army that his wife Charlotte would be living at his new London residence - which meant he could claim an allowance for his children's education. In fact she spent most of her time at their 800,000 country home while they boarded at schools nearby, the prosecution said. One child was sent to the 37,000 a year Clayesmore School while another went to the 22,500 Hanford School. Welch has become the most senior officer to face a court martial since 1815, when a Lieutenant General was convicted during the Napoleonic wars. Major General Nick Welch, 57, allegedly abused Army allowances when he took on the top job at the Ministry of Defence's London headquarters Maj Gen Welch, who has a glittering career and an OBE, is accused of swindling just over 48,000 in education allowance over a period of 15 months from December 2015 to February 2017. The first day of his four-week trial at Bulford Military Court, Wiltshire, heard Maj Gen Welch and his family had been living in Gloucestershire in 2015 when he was appointed Assistant Chief of the General Staff. As part of the role, the father of three became the most senior officer at MoD HQ and had to relocate to a four-bed family quarters home in Putney, London. Continuity of Education Allowance (CEA) is offered to soldiers to help fund 90 per cent of their child's education when they relocate on assignment, as long as their family live with them, a practice known as 'serving accompanied'. However, it was heard after Maj Gen Welch told the Army his family would be living with him, his wife spent most of her time at their large cottage near Blandford Forum, Dorset, while his children boarded at two Dorset schools. A military court heard the two-star general, earning about 120,000 a year, told the Army that his wife Charlotte would be living at his new London residence - which meant he could claim an allowance for his children's education Mrs Welch, 54, who only visited London for work and social calls, texted her friend that she could see Hanford from her cottage window and it was heard her officer husband spent every weekend at the home. Opening the case, prosecutor Sarah Clarke QC said: 'Very rarely were they in London, it was not being used as the family home. 'It was in fact a convenient second property - and that's very nice, but that's not what CEA is about and if that was the case then Welch was not entitled to CEA. 'He should not have been claiming the allowance. He had a duty to inform of any risk that his family was failing to satisfy the CEA rules. 'And he does not dispute that. At no point did he raise a red flag and tell them.' She said an investigation showed Mrs Welch, who did freelance work in London on occasion, spent less than 10 per cent of Fridays over the 15 month period in London and zero Saturdays. The longest period she spent in London was five days, which only happened on three occasions. Ms Clarke QC said: 'The whereabouts of Welch's wife are the most important piece of evidence. 'If she is supposed to be living with him in London but spending more time elsewhere than that, the prosecution submits, that means Welch was not serving accompanied. 'It was not being used as the family home. The same applies to the children, particularly the youngest as they were too young to be at home on their own.' Maj Gen Welch also breached CEA rules by having his children stay at the Blandford home at weekends, as - aside from a few permitted occasions - boarding children must stay at their school. Ms Clarke QC said Maj Gen Welch first claimed CEA in 2007 for his eldest child. She said: 'He has been signing up to CEA repeatedly since 2007 so there can't be any doubt that he's not fully familiar with the rules.' It was heard one late evening in February 2017, when Maj Gen Welch heard he received a complaint about his alleged fraud, he had his wife hurry up to London. Ms Clarke QC said: 'He spoke to his wife the following morning and asked her to change the plans she made to stay in Blandford for the week and instead stay in Putney. 'She cancelled her plans, drove up and spent the week going out and about being seen and being visible in the local area. 'It shows a demonstrable change in the family's pattern of life.' Ms Clarke QC said without CEA a private education would have been 'beyond the means' of soldiers including Maj Gen Welch. His MoD role would have seen him earn around 120,000 a year. Maj Gen Welch has also previously been Chief of Staff, Allied Rapid Reaction Corps, and second in command of British and US troops in Helmand, Afghanistan and has served in Germany, Northern Ireland and Belize. He left the army in 2019 and took up a new role as Chief Operating Officer of the Bournemouth Arts University, Dorset. Maj Gen Welch is the the highest ranking officer to face court martial since Lieutenant General Sir John Murray was convicted of abandoning his siege guns without due cause in the Napoleonic wars. Murray was tried at Winchester, two years after the shambolic siege of Tarragona in southern Spain, during the Peninsula campaign. Maj Gen Welch's trial continues. The Myanmar army, police and militias use of violence against peaceful protestors reached another level on Sunday, February 28. By 5pm, local media reported at least 19 confirmed killings and another 10 unconfirmed. IFJ spoke to journalists covering the nationwide protests. Toe Zaw Latt, a video journalist and production director with Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), is not surprised by the brutality or the extreme force used by the security forces. Its their assignment, he said. This is what theyre trained to do. Arrest people for exercising their democratic rights. Shoot them, beat them with iron bars, use powerful slingshots to fire bolts, and metal spikes. Use tear gas and fire live ammunition into crowds of unarmed people. They want to silence journalists, but we need to report. Toe Zaw Latt was 17 in 1988 when he first faced the militarys violence. He prays the violence in 2021 does not reach the level experienced in 1988 when security forces fired live ammunition into crowds of peaceful protesters, killing thousands. Thousands of us had to take refuge in neighbouring countries. Protest leaders and other activists were jailed for years, tortured and denied any human rights in prison, he said. DVB, an independent media company, has managed to keep broadcasting, despite the crisis and enforced country wide military blackouts. They pulled the plug on us, but we now rely on our satellite being outside the country, said Toe Zaw Latt. Were managing to operate 24/7 and every two hours we have a 30-minute news bulletin plus our live social media platform. In 2021, technology is changing how journalists and protestors record abuses, he says. Everyone now has a smartphone and everyone can record the militarys crimes against humanity. But I fear for my staffs security. We are easily identified as journalists by our equipment and PRESS signage, but we are still targeted by security forces because they dont want their brutality and crimes recorded. Protestors and journalists are not the only ones using technology. Security forces are using surveillance tools to live track protestors locations, listen in on conversations and trawl through computers and phones. Justice for Myanmar, undercover advocates who campaign for justice and accountability in the country, released a number of reports implicating Western companies in the supply of surveillance technology now used by the military to track its pro-democracy opponents. The Ministry of Home Affairs budget files, obtained by Justice for Myanmar and reported in The New York Times, indicate that dual-use surveillance technology made by Israeli, American and European companies made its way to Myanmar, despite many of their home governments banning such exports after the militarys brutal expulsion of Rohingya Muslims in 2017. Justice for Myanmar spokesperson Yadanar Maung said: The military are now using those very tools to brutally crack down on peaceful protesters risking their lives to resist the military junta and restore democracy, and to move against journalists who are exercising their right to report on protests. Despite military surveillance, arrests and violence, Toe Zaw Latt says journalists seem determined to keep reporting. Its challenging for reporters working in these conditions. They [security forces] just start walking into residential streets and start shooting, theyre like mad dogs. Our professional equipment marks us as a target, but well continue to do our job. Aye Win, (not her real name) works for an international news agency in a major city, said it's the unseen violence that worries her the most. We fear most what we cant see snipers and the thought of what they will do to you when they take you to the barracks or jail, she said. Gunshots, loud can be heard in the background as Aye Win describes an army truck outside delivering more troops to the area. Its now 5.30pm and its not safe to go out. My female colleagues are scarednot of the crackdown, but of the unseen brutality. I worry about my freelancers, they have no protection, media laws are weak. Police have no respect for journalists, if you get too close they grab and steal your equipment. Ng Maung has been on the frontline since the coup started on February 1 and has noticed how the security forces tactics have evolved. They have started to remove their identification badges. Our PRESS logo is now a target. Not knowing where snipers are is a huge fear, we now need protection from bullets. If I can see them Im not scared. Its not safe to be on the streets at any time. 10 journalists have been arrested already. Toe Zaw Latt explained even if journalists work for international agencies or for a small local media outlet or as a freelancer there is no guarantees for their safety or protection of their right to work without interference from security forces. No one is safe under this military government. Were all in immediate danger, but at the same time we have to report, we cant stay silent. The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners an independent organization founded and run by former political prisoners reported as of March 1 that 1,213 people have been arrested and 913 remain in detention. AAP said security forces fired tear gas and rubber bullets at protestors and journalists and live ammunition was also fired at residential homes. Reports of security forces looting and robbing have been confirmed by video footage shared by credible sources on social media. Toe Zaw Latt said people have responded by trying to secure their neighbourhoods. Residents are blocking the roads to stop the police and army from entering, the community are protecting student protestors. Theres no rule of law in Myanmar, but people are helping activists and journalist with food, refuge and lifts. They treat people battling the effects of tear gas. They have even given us masks to stop the risk of Covid spread. People say the military is a bigger risk than Covid theyre far more dangerous to the people of Myanmar. Phil Thornton is an adivser for IFJ in South East Asia. Updated at 11:10 a.m. ET on 03-03-2021 Although U.N. officials have not been allowed to inspect a low-lying island that Bangladesh has developed to house Rohingya refugees, a delegation from the Organization of Islamic Cooperation visited the site Sunday and expressed satisfaction with infrastructure there, Bangladeshs foreign ministry said. The delegation led by Ambassador Youssef Aldobeay, the OICs assistant secretary general for political affairs, visited Bhashan Char as well as Kutupalong Rohingya Camp on the mainland on Sunday, according to a Bangladesh Ministry of Foreign Affairs statement issued the same day. While visiting the Bhashan Char, the OIC delegation discussed [the] overall situation of Rohingyas residing in Bhashan Char with the relevant stakeholders, and also interacted with the Rohingya people, the statement said. Aldobeay expressed satisfaction at the physical infrastructure in the Bhashan Char as well as the adequate facilities provided by the Bangladesh government for the Rohingyas, it said. On Monday, the OIC delegation visited with senior officials in Dhaka, where they applauded the initiatives taken by Bangladesh in relation to Bhashan Char, the foreign ministry said. Foreign Minister A.K Abdul Momen briefed the delegation about Bhashan Char, where the government has constructed facilities to house about 100,000 Rohingya. Shahriar Alam, Bangladeshs state minister of foreign affairs, reiterated the governments position calling for a safe repatriation of the Rohingya to Myanmar, and called on OIC members to push for their return. About 1 million Rohingya have fled from neighboring Myanmar and settled in refugee camps in and around Coxs Bazar in southeastern Bangladesh, including more than 740,000 who left following the August 2017 military crackdown in Rakhine state that some have described as attempted genocide. Waiting for permission The OIC visit was the first by any international official since Yanghee Lee, the U.N. special rapporteur on human rights in Myanmar at the time, went to the recently emerged island in January 2019 and advised Dhaka to allow full technical, humanitarian and security assessments before moving refugees there. "I had the opportunity to visit the island on my last visit to Bangladesh and saw with my own eyes the works that the Bangladesh government has undertaken. However, there are a number of things that remain unknown to me even following my visit, chief among them being whether the island is truly habitable," she told the U.N. Human Rights Council in March of that year. Since then, U.N. officials have not visited the island. We have been waiting for permission from the government to conduct the technical assessment, a U.N. official in Dhaka told BenarNews on Monday, requesting anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media on this topic. Despite the lack of those assessments, the Bangladesh government has begun relocating Rohingya refugees to the island, and plans to move another 3,000 this week, bringing the total thus far to 13,000. The OIC delegation met with Rohingya Sunday at Kutupalong Rohingya camp in Ukhia, Coxs Bazar. OIC, the organization, is supporting the Rohingya, we are supporting their return back to their country with full rights and dignity, Yousef Aldobeay told reporters through an interpreter. We also call on the international community to assume their duties and responsibilities to support the people of Rohingya to return to their home safe with full rights. A Rohingya woman who attended the meeting expressed satisfaction with the message. The OIC delegation told us that they have intensified their efforts to resolve the Rohingya crisis, Monowara Begum told BenarNews. Meanwhile, addressing concerns about a boat carrying dozens of Rohingya that has been adrift in the Andaman Sea since early February, Momen called on New Delhi to take them in. Indian authorities have reportedly declined to allow the refugees to land and said they were in talks with Bangladesh about their safe return. The boat carrying Rohingya adrift in the sea is about 1,700 km (1050 miles) off the Bangladesh maritime boundary, 147 km (91 miles) from Indian waters, and 342 km (212 miles) away from Myanmar waters. So, India should provide humanitarian assistance to the Rohingya, he told BenarNews. Bangladesh has not adopted a policy of giving shelter to every Rohingya wherever they are found on boats adrift, he said. Eight people on the boat carrying 90 Rohingya have died, the director of The Arakan Project, a human rights group that monitors the Rohingya humanitarian crisis, told BenarNews on Feb. 22. She said that Indian Navy ships had found the boat and were assisting its passengers. This story has been updated to revise the attribution of a quote. The Morrison government is verging on a breakthrough on its troubled $90 billion submarine program after months of tense negotiations with French company Naval Group over cost blowouts, delays and local content requirements. After reports Australia was willing to walk away from the multibillion-dollar deal, new in-principle agreements all but lock in the French company to building 12 new attack submarines to replace the ageing Collins-class fleet. Defence Minister Linda Reynolds during a visit to Naval Group in Adelaide last year. Tensions between Australia and the company have been building in recent weeks over the $90 billion submarine project. Credit:AAP Following a three-week visit to the country by Naval Groups global chief executive Pierre-Eric Pommellet, the Paris-based company has reached a critical deal with Defence officials covering the next two years of the project. The government had rejected Naval Groups original plan for the programs next phase but the company last week submitted its revised plan, which was developed in consultation with Defence officials. A popular brand of flea collars has been linked to the deaths of nearly 1,700 pets, but the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has not issued a warning to the public. According to USA Today, which cited the EPA, the Seresto flea collars, developed by Bayer, have been linked to at least 1,698 pet deaths since being introduced in 2012. Through June 2020, the EPA received more than 75,000 major and minor injury reports related to the collars The EPA report also includes nearly 1,000 incidents of humans being harmed while in close proximity of the collars. Karen McCormack told USA Today that the EPA has known about these incidents for years but has not informed the public of the potential risks associated with this product. McCormack, a retired EPA employee said: 'The EPA appears to be turning a blind eye to this problem, and after seven years of an increasing number of incidents, they are telling the public that they are continuing to monitor the situation. 'But I think this is a significant problem that needs to be addressed sooner rather than later.' A popular brand of flea collars, Seresto (file image), that have been linked to the deaths of nearly 1,700 pets yet the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has not issued a warning to the public Rhonda Bomwell came forward to say reveal that she believes her dog, Pierre (left and right) died from wearing the collar Last year, Bomwell bought the Bayer's Seresto flea collar for her nine-year-old Papillon service dog, Pierre, and attached it around his neck. But just a day later, Pierre had a seizure, collapsed and stopped breathing Keri McGrath, a spokeswoman for Elanco, which sells Seresto, told DailyMail.com: 'We take the safety of our products very seriously, and thoroughly investigate potential concerns related to their use.' She then explained what the numbers mean, saying: 'It is critically important to understand that a report is not an indication of cause. What those numbers represent is the number of reports received, and do not reflect causality. 'So, if a dog were to be wearing a collar and experience any sort of adverse event, the collar would be mentioned in the report. McGrath then noted that 'reporting rates have actually been decreasing over the life of the product'. 'That said, we continuously monitor the safety of our products on an on-going basis,' she added. The Seresto flea collar releases small amounts of pesticide onto the animal for months at a time in a bid to kill fleas, ticks and other pests while also being safe for the cat or dog wearing it. Pet owners who believe their beloved dogs fell victim to the dangers of the flea collars have also come forward. Rhonda Bomwell told USA Today that she had never used a flea collar until her veterinarian recommended she use one. Last year, Bomwell bought the Bayer's Seresto flea collar for her nine-year-old Papillon service dog, Pierre, and attached it around his neck. But just a day later, Pierre had a seizure, collapsed and stopped breathing. She called police who arrived to help her lift Pierre into her car. But it was too late. Pierre died before he could even receive medical treatment. She told the news outlet that she didn't even think about the collar being a cause to his seizure, saying: 'I just didn't put it together.' Ron Packard, of Massachusetts, also spoke to the news outlet about the loss of his two dogs. Both dogs, Danny, 10, and five-year-old Dominic, died in June 2019. Packard is pictured with both of his dogs before they died Before their deaths, Packard said his dogs had seizures, became lethargic and started vomiting before refusing to eat. He then took them to a veterinarian who couldn't figure out what was wrong with the dogs. Both Danny and Dominic died two weeks later While the EPA has yet to respond to a DailyMail.com request for comment on this matter, a spokeswoman for the agency told USA Today that the two pesticides - imidacloprid and flumethrin -in Seresto have 'been found eligible for continued registration'. 'No pesticide is completely without harm, but EPA ensures that there are measures on the product label that reduce risk,' the spokesperson said. 'The product label is the law, and applicators must follow label directions. Some pets, however, like some humans, are more sensitive than others and may experience adverse symptoms after treatment.' The Imidacloprid pesticide is part of a class of neonicotinoid, which are insecticides, most commonly used on crops in the US. Imidacloprid is banned in the European Union for outdoor use. Flumethrin is only an active ingredient in Seresto, according to EPA documents. In addition to death, other pet owners have reported their fur friends breaking out in skin rashes and having neurological issues after using the collars. Ron Packard, of Massachusetts, also spoke to the news outlet about the loss of his two dogs. Both dogs, Danny, 10, and five-year-old Dominic, died in June 2019. Before their deaths, Packard said his dogs had seizures, became lethargic and started vomiting before refusing to eat. He then took them to a veterinarian who couldn't figure out what was wrong with the dogs. Both Danny and Dominic died two weeks later. In a bid to get to the bottom of what happened to his dogs, Packard retraced his steps and the only thing he could think of was that he had put the Seresto collars on both dogs just a month before their deaths. To prevent other tragedies, Packard created a Facebook page where people can share their experiences with the Seresto collars. While some have shared that their pets have also died, others said they managed to save their pets after picking up on what could have been causing their illnesses. 'I don't want others to go through what we went through,' Packard told USA Today. 'Every time I read the stories, it brings me back to my dogs. But if I can save a few pets, I can deal with it.' The collars have also harmed people by causing seizures and rashes. In one incident a 67-year-old woman who slept in a bed with a dog that was wearing a collar reported having a heart arrhythmia and fatigue. The family of a 12-year-old boy who slept in a bed with a dog wearing a collar reported that he started having seizures and vomiting. The won all 31 district panchayats, 70 out of 81 municipalities and was far ahead of main rival Congress in 231 taluka panchayats as counting for the second phase of local body polls in was underway on Tuesday. The success follows the BJP's clean sweep in for six municipal corporations in the first phase last month. In the second phase of for which counting began at 9 in the morning, the had won 6,110 out of 8,261 seats for which results had been announced by the State Election Commission by evening. A total of 8,474 seats were up for grabs in the second phase across district and taluka panchayats and municipal councils. were held on February 28. The Congress was trailing far behind, winning 1,768 seats and only three municipalities so far. It could not win a single district panchayat, but was leading in a few taluka panchayats. The Aam Aadmi Party, a new entrant, has won 42 seats while independents have bagged 286 seats so far. As headed for a massive victory, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the results showed that remains firmly with the party's agenda of development and good governance. "Results of the Nagar Palika, Taluka Panchayat and District Panchayat polls across give a crystal clear message -- Gujarat is firmly with the BJP's agenda of development and good governance. "I bow to the people of Gujarat for the unwavering faith and affection towards BJP," he said in a tweet. Union Home Minister Amit Shah tweeted that "people in rural parts of Gujarat and farmers have made the BJP victorious and put a seal of trust on the welfare policies of the government in local body polls in Gujarat." "I bow to the masses," Shah said, congratulating Chief Minister Vijay Rupani, deputy CM Nitin Patel and state BJP chief C R Paatil as well as party workers for "the grand victory". Out of 8,474 seats, candidates on 237 seats remained unopposed, said the State Election Commission. Voter turn-out for polls to municipalities was 59.05 per cent, 66.67 percent for district panchayats, and 66.86 percent for taluka panchayats. Byelections were also held for two seats in taluka panchayats and 24 seats in municipalities. The BJP had won all the six municipal corporation bodies for which elections were held in the first phase on February 21. Hailing the "unprecedented" victory of the party, chief minister Rupani said the BJP has won convincingly in the entire state, be it the tribal belt, Saurasthra or in Central, North and South Gujarat, while the Congress has been almost wiped out. "The results of the polls have proved that Gujarat was the stronghold of the BJP...it is the stronghold of the BJP, and it will remain the stronghold of the BJP," he said. "The people have told the Congress party that they are not good enough to be in power and also not good enough to remain even in Opposition," Rupani told reporters in Gandhinagar. On the AAP's performance, Rupani said winning a few out of thousands of seats did not matter. "Even Independent candidates have won more seats than the Arvind Kejriwal-led party," he said. The results of local body polls come as a boost for Rupani ahead of 2022 Assembly elections. Questions had been raised about his leadership when the BJP scraped through in the 2017 Assembly polls. State BJP chief Paatil noted that the people had not given the party so many seats in 2015 local body elections, "but in 2021 the people have returned their love with interest". (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 top Nike vice president quit Monday amid swirling questions over her familys role in the turbulent sneaker-reselling markets. Ann Hebert resigned as the head of Nikes North American business just days after the company had defended her and asserted she had not violated any company policy. Bloomberg Businessweek magazine reported Feb. 25 about her 19-year-old son, Joe Hebert, and his fast-growing sneaker company. The article is packed with anecdotes about Joe Heberts exploits in the secondary sneaker market. His company, West Coast Streetwear, has figured out how to use technology and chutzpah to buy hot sneakers in bulk before the rest of the market. The company routinely then resells the shoes at handsome profit margins. The secondary sneaker market has become huge. It has the power to turn a disappointing shoe into a big seller. The big companies that actually design the products and get them built, like Nike and Adidas, seem to put up with it. Joshua Hunt penned the original story for Bloomberg. He is no stranger to Nike. He wrote University of Nike, a hard-hitting look at the close relationship between Nike co-founder Phil Knight and the University of Oregon. I didnt set out to write another Nike story, he told The Oregonian/OregonLive Monday. I just knew there was something interesting going on in this exploding secondary sneaker market, so I set out in search of a character to tell that story and came across Joe. Hunt writes that one day on the phone with Joe Hebert he saw the name Ann Hebert on the caller ID. He did a little research and learned she was a Nike vice president. He eventually asked Joe Hebert about his mother. The young entrepreneur insisted that his mother was not at all involved and then stopped communicating with Hunt. Hunt then went to Nike for comment. Sandra Carreon-John, a Nike spokeswoman, says Ann Hebert disclosed relevant information about West Coast Streetwear to Nike in 2018. There was no violation of company policy, privileged information or conflicts of interest, nor is there any commercial affiliation between WCS LLC and Nike, including the direct buying or selling of Nike products, Carreon-John said. Everything changed Monday. After more than 25 years with the company, Ann Hebert was out. Shed gotten a big promotion just eight months ago, becoming vice president and general manager of North American operations, one of Nikes very top jobs. In that role, Ann Hebert led sales, marketing, merchandising and other departments. Reached for comment Monday, Nikes Carreon-John said only that Ann Hebert made the decision to resign from Nike. The story comes almost a month after Errol Andam, a former Nike marketing executive, was accused in federal court of fraud and money laundering while he worked for the company. He allegedly steered Nike work to a friends company that he secretly had an interest in. -- Jeff Manning | jmanning@oregonian.com | 503-294-7606 Volvo will not produce hydrogen fuel-cell-powered models Volvo has become the latest luxury car maker to announce it will only be making electric vehicles (EVs) from 2030. The Swedish car group, which is owned by Chinese conglomerate Zhejiang Geely, said it was bringing forward its plans for EVs because of changing legislation and the rapid expansion of fast-charging infrastructure. Volvo said it expects to phase out new petrol and diesel models by 2025 with, at that point, hybrids to account for 50% of sales and EVs the remainder. Previously, the carmaker said its plans were for these two product groups to account for half of sales by 2025. Hakan Samuelson, chief executive, said that bringing forward its timetable would involve significant changes to both product design and how its plants are set up with the group also set to shift all of its sales online. To remain successful, we need profitable growth. So instead of investing in a shrinking business, we choose to invest in the future electric and online. We are fully focused on becoming a leader in the fast-growing premium electric segment, he said in a statement. Several luxury car manufacturers have recently unveiled plans to electrify their ranges to head off the possibility of ( ) taking an unassailable lead in the fast-developing EV market. Jaguar Land Rover said in February it would only produce electric cars from 2025 and roll out its first EV model by 2024. JLR is owned by Indian group Tata and intends to produce hydrogen-fuelled versions of its ranges, something that Volvo has rejected. The Swedish firm said it does not think there will be sufficient demand for fuel-cell-powered models, while the issue of the availability of hydrogen to refuel also has yet to be addressed. The EV market has been rife with speculation that Apple is set to enter through a collaboration with one of the Chinese manufacturers or even VW, though the German company dismissed the talk earlier in the year. One of the companies mentioned as a potential partner for Apple is Geely Auto, which is also owned by Volvos parent Zhejiang Geely but is a separate business. Plans for Geely Auto and Volvo to merge were unexpectedly scrapped last week with the two groups instead to collaborate on manufacturing parts for a range of EVs to be produced by both companies. Reports suggested that Zhejiang Geely might seek to list Volvo having acquired it from Ford ( ) in 2010 for US$1.8bn. Ford, itself, recently announced that its European arm would make only electric passenger vehicles by 2030 alongside a US$1bn investment to upgrade its Cologne manufacturing facility to produce a mass-market EV by 2023. "It underlines our commitment to Europe and a modern future with electric vehicles at the heart of our strategy for growth, the US car group said at the time. 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, AB / ACCESSWIRE / March 2, 2021 / PetroFrontier Corp. ("PetroFrontier" or the "Corporation") (TSXV:PFC) is pleased to announce that it has secured a credit facility enabling it to meet its drilling commitments. Credit Facility The commitment letter provided to the Corporation provides for advances in the amount of up to CDN $2,000,000 (the "Credit Facility") from a syndicate of lenders including Kasten Energy Inc. ("Kasten") and Paul Cheung (collectively, the "Lenders"). Kasten and Paul Cheung are insiders of PetroFrontier as they each own more than 10% of the outstanding common shares of the Corporation (the "Common Shares"). The closing of the Credit Facility is subject to the approval of the TSX Venture Exchange Inc. (the "Exchange"). Advances drawn under the Credit Facility ("Advances") bear interest at a rate of 8% per annum. The Advances under the Credit Facility are due on the earlier of one year from the date of the final Advance under the Credit Facility or April 30, 2022. The Credit Facility will be secured by a General Security Agreement in favor of the Lenders. Funds advanced under the Credit Facility will be used for the drilling of four (4) commitment wells required to be drilled under the Corporation's existing joint ventures. In accordance with the policies of the Exchange, the Corporation has agreed to pay, pro rata to the Lenders, a fee equal to 20% of the value of the Credit Facility which will be paid by the issuance of Common Shares at a deemed price of $0.075 per Common Share - being the closing price of the Common Shares on the date of entering into of the Credit Facility. The issuance of the Common Shares in payment of the fee remains subject to approval of the Exchange. Related Party Participation in the Credit Facility Kasten and Paul Cheung are insiders of the Corporation and provided $1.5 million and $500,000 of the Credit Facility, respectively, and are therefore entitled to receive a fee equal to 4,000,000 Common Shares and 1,333,332 Common Shares, respectively. As insiders of PetroFrontier participated in the Credit Facility, it is deemed to be a "related party transaction" as defined under Multilateral Instrument 61-101-Protection of Minority Security Holders in Special Transactions ("MI 61-101"). Neither the Corporation, nor to the knowledge of the Corporation after reasonable inquiry, a related party has knowledge of any material information concerning the Corporation or its securities that has not been generally disclosed. Prior to closing of the Credit Facility, Kasten and Paul Cheung own 95,000,000 and 57,184,395 Common Shares, respectively (representing 44.52% and 26.80% of the issued and outstanding Common Shares, respectively). Following closing of the Credit Facility, Kasten and Paul Cheung will own 99,000,000 and 58,517,727 Common Shares, respectively (representing 45.27% and 26.76% % of the issued and outstanding Common Shares, respectively). The Credit Facility is exempt from the formal valuation and minority shareholder approval requirements of MI 61-101 (pursuant to subsections 5.5(c) and 5.7(1)(b)) as it was a distribution of securities for cash and neither the fair market value of the Credit Facility or fees distributed to, nor the consideration received from, interested parties exceeded $2,500,000. The Corporation did not file a material change report more than 21 days before the expected closing of the Credit Facility because the details of the participation therein by related parties of the Corporation were not settled until shortly prior to the closing of the Credit Facility and the Corporation wished to close on an expedited basis in order to fund its drilling commitments. About PetroFrontier Corp. PetroFrontier is a junior energy company currently focused on developing two Mannville heavy oil plays in the Cold Lake and Wabasca areas of Alberta. PetroFrontier's head office is in Calgary, Alberta and its Common Shares are listed for trading on the Exchange under the symbol "PFC". Forward-Looking Statements This press release may contain forward-looking information that involves substantial known and unknown risks and uncertainties, most of which are beyond the control of PetroFrontier, including final approval of the Exchange and the use of proceeds of the Credit Facility. All statements included herein, other than statements of historical fact, are forward-looking information and such information involves various risks and uncertainties. There can be no assurance that such information will prove to be accurate, and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such information. Any forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this release and, other than as required by applicable securities laws, PetroFrontier does not assume any obligation to update or revise them to reflect new events or circumstances. 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. Not for release in the United States of America For More Information Contact Kelly Kimbley, President & CEO PetroFrontier Corp. Suite 900, 903 - 8 Avenue S.W. Calgary, Alberta, Canada T2P 0P7 Telephone: (403) 718-0366 Email: info@petrofrontier.com Website: www.petrofrontier.com SOURCE: PetroFrontier Corp. View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/632902/PetroFrontier-Corp-Announces-Credit-Facility After prime ministers waddle out of Downing Street for the final time theres a tendency for their looks to, well, go to pot. Think Gordon Browns haunted features or Tony Blairs stocking-over-the head visage. So when David Cameron appeared before the Joint Committee on National Security Strategy yesterday I was expecting an ungainly mass of cookie dough slumped in front of us. Instead, he looked in remarkably fine fettle. The hairlines holding firm. Those apple cheeks noticeably less podgy than the last time we saw him. He was also showcasing a snazzy new pair of spectacles, procured, quite possibly, from the same oculist as Brains from Thunderbirds. David Cameron was also showcasing a snazzy new pair of spectacles, procured, quite possibly, from the same oculist as Brains from Thunderbirds SamCam must have commandeered that cosy shepherds hut Dave bought to write his memoirs in for herself This was his first appearance to give evidence since his resignation speech outside No10 the morning after the EU referendum. On that occasion, his wife Samantha later admitted steeling herself with a mid-morning cocktail. Had Dave done something similar yesterday afternoon I would hardly have blamed him. The committee was a tad on the venerable side and at times it showed. Cameron appeared remotely from a living room in his Cotswolds home. Lots of taupe and fashionably exposed brick. Very Chipping Norton, darling. SamCam must have commandeered that cosy shepherds hut Dave bought to write his memoirs in for herself. The session was warm and respectful. Chairman Dame Margaret Beckett (Lab) even referred to him as Mr Cameron, but to all other members it was simply David. Unfortunately, the oldies werent all that comfortable with the technology. Former defence minister Lord King (Con) got off to a rocky start. We couldnt hear him. I think youre on mute, Tom, Mr Cameron urged politely. Lady Neville-Jones (Con) was interrupted when her computer blared out an advertising jingle. Poor Pauline looked like her fire alarm had gone off. Much of the discussion centred on his formation of the National Security Council. Colonel Sir Bob Stewart (Con, Beckenham) referred to it as Camerons baby. Cameron replied that it was more of teenager by now, almost ready to celebrate its 21st birthday. Speaking of youths, some of the Cameron children could be seen lolling in the background. Not entirely by accident, I felt. The Cameron charm was on full display, his voice as creamy as Lurpak. But that didnt stop him firing a couple of velvet-encased torpedoes. He felt it was a mistake for his successor Theresa May to let former Cabinet Secretary Sir Mark Sedwill combine his role and National Security Adviser. Tony Blairs old Cabinet enforcer Lord Reid (Lab) was next. Unmute! someone cried David Cameron was expected to have Gordon Browns haunted features or Tony Blairs stocking-over-the head visage There was a pop, too, at Boris Johnsons merger of the Department for International Development with the Foreign Office. (Boris, Im sure, will take that on the chin. He always regarded Dave as an oily squit). Up popped the face of Angus MacNeil (SNP, Na h-Eileanan an Iar). Been a while, chirped Angus. He asked if Cameron missed much about his old job. Cameron replied he certainly didnt miss having to do PMQs. MacNeil wondered if he might ever consider a political comeback. No, said Dave. I think the thought of Donald Trump making a comeback is enough to keep us all spinning over. Tony Blairs old Cabinet enforcer Lord Reid (Lab) was next. Unmute! someone cried. He was a surprising sight. Gone was that menacing character of yesteryear, leaving something softer, gentler. Chopper Harris devoid of bite. Strange. Beckett called creaky Lord Brennan (Lab). Again silence. Lord Brenn-nan she squawked sternly, like Nurse Ratched summoning him for his medication. Again, nada. Possibly the old boy had nodded off. It took dotcom entrepreneur Lady Lane-Fox (Con) to inject a bit of oomph and glamour. She wore a shirt emblazoned with lightning streaks and specs even flashier than Daves. Reminded me of one of those chin-strokers in east London art galleries. She asked whether Dave would have done anything different in his time. Er, I dont mean your whole premiership, she added quickly. Phew! It was 5.15pm after all, and, as Beckett kept pointing out, Dave was already running late. SamCam probably had him on supper duty. (Newser) Hundreds of Nigerian schoolgirls abducted last week from a boarding school in the northwestern Zamfara state have been released, the states governor said Tuesday. Zamfara state governor Bello Matawalle announced that 279 girls have been freed, the AP reports. Gunmen abducted the girls from the Government Girls Junior Secondary School in Jangebe town on Friday, in the latest in a series of mass kidnappings of students in the West African nation. story continues below An AP reporter saw hundreds of girls dressed in light blue hijabs sitting at the state Government House office in Gusau. Alhamdulillah! (God be praised!) It gladdens my heart to announce the release of the abducted students of GGSS Jangebe from captivity. This follows the scaling of several hurdles laid against our efforts. I enjoin all well-meaning Nigerians to rejoice with us as our daughters are now safe, Matawalle said in a post on Twitter early Tuesday. (42 of the more than 300 who were kidnapped had previously been freed.) A 30-year-old Houston man was shot dead after chasing after the carjacker who stole his vehicle and leaping into the front passenger seat. Treveon Buckner, 30, had been with friends at a Chevron gas station, in Houston late Saturday night when the suspect, seen in surveillance footage wearing a red Hollister hoodie and blue jeans, got into the victim's 2012 Buick Regal and sped away. KHOU reports Buckner and his friend gave chase in his buddy's car. When the suspect stopped momentarily, Buckner ran out and leaped into the front passenger seat of his own stolen vehicle. Scroll down for video A carjacking in Houston this weekend left one dead after the victim was caught in the crossfire Pictured: The suspect in the carjacking, who was wearing a red Hollister hoodie and blue jeans The suspect hit the gas and began shooting, as Buckner's friend returned fire. Buckner was hit multiple times during the high speed shootout, including a gunshot to his neck, which killed him. It's unclear who fired the fatal shot. 'Basically, the suspect shot back at the victim's friend's vehicle,' Houston Police Department Lt. Emanuel Pavel told KTRK. Pictured: Treveon Buckner, 30, the victim in this weekend's fatal carjacking in Houston 'The friend returned fire, so we're investigating to see who ended up shooting the victim.' Buckner's friend has been arrested, but the carjacking suspect currently remains at-large. The suspect and Buckner's friend have not yet been identified by authorities in the case. Police remain on the hunt for the unidentified suspect in the carjacking, who is at-large STOCKHOLM, Sweden, March 1, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Crunchfish is a technical pioneer within digital payments with its novel Digital Cash solutions that settle physical payments in two steps, first offline and then online, making digital payments robust and also preserves the payer's integrity. Digital Cash is extremely flexible and interoperable with all types of payment services, even cross-border and cross-schemes. Today Crunchfish announces that its Digital Cash solutions can solve Central Bank Digital Currency, CBDC implementation issues swimmingly easy, without any additional infrastructure. This promises to have a major impact on the whole CBDC industry and accelerate Central Bank implementations. Crunchfish's Digital Cash makes it swimmingly easy to implement CBDC, as there is no need for additional infrastructure. Central Banks may just use existing digital payment rails to distribute CBDC. This is a tremendous simplification that will accelerate CBDC roll-outs in the world. Central Banks in numerous countries are experimenting with Digital Currency using `tokenized value instruments' that represent physical banknotes in digital form. Digital Cash by Crunchfish, on the other hand, use `tokenized transaction instruments' instead, which may be compared to banker's cheques. Whereas a banknote is a representation of `money', a banker's cheque represents a `money transfer' between two parties. Digitizing `money transfers' instead of `money' simplifies CBDC implementations tremendously, as it does not require any additional infrastructure. The `tokenized transaction instrument' approach suggested by Crunchfish as Digital Cash provides all necessary properties of physical cash; robustness, ease of use and preserves the payer's integrity in relation to banks. To issue its fiat currency, the Central Bank may simply deposit it into a centrally held bank account and invite commercial banks to access and distribute it by means of regular transactions on the existing digital payment rails. Cash is king of digital payments. It always works, it's easy to handle and it safeguards personal privacy. Crunchfish preserves these features when cash goes digital. The transformation will be profound as digital cash will be present in all mobile wallets in the future". It is worth mentioning that Crunchfish's flexible Digital Cash solutions with its patent-pending two-tier settlement architecture may be integrated with any payment scheme - Card, Real-Time Payments, Closed-Loop Wallets, Cryptocurrency as well as CBDC. It is therefore certainly still possible to be integrated with any of the current CBDC solutions based on `tokenized value instruments', e.g. Digital Symmetric Cryptography from Crunchfish's partner eCurrency or Distributed Ledger Technology blockchains. About Digital Cash One year ago, Crunchfish announced offline frictionless mobile payments as a patent pending innovation, making mobile payments services far more robust by introducing the concept of Digital Cash using a two-tier settlement architecture, offline vs. online. The solution leverages the fact that it is not important to the merchants if the transfer to their accounts occurs at the moment-of-payment or a little later, as long as there is trust that the transfer will occur. It is critical however, that the payment experience must be robust, smooth and secure. This implies that the transaction cannot be dependent on the Internet and cloud payment services. No matter how much investments are made into IT-infrastructure, the systems will never be operational 24/7. The ingenious solution for robust digital payments is based on an implementation of a two-tier settlement architecture. Recently, this approach was proposed by VISA in a research paper describing an Offline Payment System (OPS) protocol applied to CBDC. Crunchfish has also enrolled as a VISA Technology Partner. Crunchfish's flexible Digital Cash solutions with its patent-pending two-tier settlement architecture may be integrated with any payment scheme - Card, Real-Time Payments, Closed-Loop Wallets, Crypto as well as CBDC. Crunchfish's Digital Cash approach is ubiquitous as it may be integrated into any payment scheme and also on cards. In addition, Digital Cash is also payment services interoperable, cross-borders and cross-schemes, which is key to accelerate CBDC roll-outs and its market acceptance. For more information, please contact: Joachim Samuelsson, CEO of Crunchfish AB +46 708 46 47 88 [email protected] Ulf Rogius Svensson, IR & Marketing Manager +46 733 26 81 05 [email protected] Vastra Hamnen Corporate Finance AB is the Certified Adviser. Email: [email protected]. Telephone +46 40 200 250. This information is information that Crunchfish AB is obliged to publish in accordance to the EU Market Abuse Regulation. The information was provided by the contact person above for publication on March 2, 2021. This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com https://news.cision.com/crunchfish/r/digital-cash-implements-cbdc-swimmingly-easy,c3298150 The following files are available for download: https://mb.cision.com/Main/14959/3298150/1380860.pdf 210302 - Digital Cash implements CBDC swimmingly easy https://news.cision.com/crunchfish/i/dc-patent--7,c2883196 DC Patent #7 https://news.cision.com/crunchfish/i/dc-architecture,c2883197 DC Architecture https://news.cision.com/crunchfish/i/dc-header,c2883198 DC Header SOURCE Crunchfish Three Midland County high school graduates are now one step closer to medical school. Zainab Falana, Enrique Mikey Mangan and Jonathan Michael Jon Michael Markgraf have all been accepted to Texas College of Osteopathic Medicine (TCOM) and will enter medical school in Summer 2022. The students will graduate this coming May from Midland College with an Associate of Science degree through MCs Primary Care Pathway Program. This coming August, they will enter the University of North Texas (UNT) and spend one year there taking upper-level science courses before entering TCOM. What all this means is that before obtaining their associate degrees, the three students have been accepted to medical school without having to take the rigorous and expensive MCAT medical school entrance exam. In just six to seven years after high school graduation, they will enter a medical residency programan accomplishment that normally takes eight years at a minimum. All three indicated that they want to return to Midland to practice medicine. Zainab Falana said that she knew she wanted to be a physician when she was a sophomore at Midland High School. I lost my father when I was in the 10th grade, Falana explained. My mom has a friend who is a doctor, and she really helped my family through our grieving process. I had always been good in math and science and thought that I might want to go to medical school; however, the compassion that my moms friend showed to our family made me realize that I wanted to not only be able to help people through skill but also have the opportunity to be compassionate to fellow humans. There are four children in my family, and I wasnt sure if I would be able to attend medical school because of finances. A high school counselor told me about MCs Primary Care Pathway Program, and I was immediately interested. I could stay at home for two years and obtain great scholarships through Midland College. Falana is the daughter of Falilat Falana and was the 2019 Midland High School valedictorian. Her family moved to Houston from Nigeria when Zainab was 9. Her fathers job in the oil and gas industry eventually caused a job transfer to Midland. Zainabs mother works at H&R Block in Midland. Zainab currently works 20 hours per week as a medical scribe at Midland Memorial Hospital. Ricky Mangan is the son of Yomar and Michael Mangan. Unlike most of the students in the Primary Care Pathway Program who spend two years studying at MC, Mangan will have only spent one year after high school graduation. He actually received an associate degree from MC in 2020 at the same time that he received his high school diploma from Early College High School at Midland College. Mangan has spent the 2020-21 school year taking additional science courses at MC. When I first heard about the Primary Care Pathway Program, it sounded too good to be true, Mangan said. I am very grateful for this program. If all goes as planned, I will have a medical degree within six years after graduating from high school! Currently, Mangans goal is to become a diagnostic radiologist, but he said that may change as he encounters his clinicals rotations during medical school. I am really interested in technology in medicine, he explained. Radiology has historically been the leader in applying technological advancements to workflow and patient care. That trend shows no slackening. Jon Michael Markgraf graduated from Midland Classical Academy in 2019. He said that his parents Stephanie & Jim Markgraf instilled in him a sense of service to others. Throughout high school, I volunteered as a tutor to children who were living at Midland Fair Havens, Markgraf stated. When I was a senior in high school, I took an anatomy and physiology course and really enjoyed it. That is when I decided that becoming a physician will be a good avenue for an enjoyable career where I can help others. Markgraf currently tutors college students who are wanting to get into nursing school. MC Associate Professor of Biology Joseph Schenkman serves as coordinator of the Primary Care Pathway Program. He explained that the purpose of the program is to increase the number of physicians practicing primary care in the Midland area and in the state of Texas. The program contains the following components: (1) An enhanced three-year premed curriculum that includes two years at MC and one year at UNT; (2) Health care enrichment activities that include mentoring and physician shadowing; (3) a summer enrichment experience. So far, 20 program graduates have been accepted into TCOM. To be eligible for MCs Primary Care Pathway Program, high school graduates must have competitive college entrance exam scores and be U.S. citizens or permanent residents with Texas residency. Dual-credit coursework may be accepted at the discretion of the program committee. Since the Primary Care Pathway Programs inception in 2016, participants have completed more than 2,000 community service hours, averaging 100 hours per student, and more than 1,000 health care-related service learning hours. While at MC, the students have also participated in more than 1,500 clinical training hours at Midland Memorial Hospital (average of 75 hours per student). The average GPA for program participants graduating from MC is 3.8, and the average GPA for program students at UNT is 3.9. Schenkman said that students who successfully complete all of the requirements in the prescribed timeframe while maintaining at least a 3.5 GPA may be granted an interview that can lead to an offer of early acceptance admission to TCOM. Additionally, by attaining only As and Bs, while maintaining the 3.5 GPA, the submission of an MCAT score will be waived. Falana, Mangan and Markgraf are three of those students. Schenkman further explained that in addition to partnering with UNT, the programs success can also be attributed to a third partnerMidland Memorial Hospital. Because of the relentless efforts of our two partners, the Midland community, University of North Texas Health Science Center and, of course, Midland College faculty, staff and administration, these students have continued to gain the foundation necessary to continue their success beyond Midland and Midland College, Schenkman said. The fact that Zainab, Ricky and Jon Michael want to return to Midland to practice medicine and give back to this community says a lot about the support they have received. Midland College has provided these students the tools and support for their success, but it is their drive and motivation toward medicine that makes them truly successful. Rebecca Bell is executive director of Institutional Advancement at Midland College. We're always interested in hearing about news in our community. Let us know what's going on! Go to form Productive farmland that may appeal to existing farming businesses in Scotland's central belt is now on the market. The 'well-managed' agricultural land, extending to around 133 acres (53.89 Ha), is situated at Dripend, Stirlingshire. The predominantly flat land is suitable for a range of arable crops or fodder production. It forms part of the well-known Carse of Stirling soil, which is traditionally well suited to the growth of fodder, such as Timothy Hay and a range of arable crops which are suited to heavier clay soils. Estate agency Galbraith says the land could appeal to existing farms looking to expand their landholding without the need to buy infrastructure. (Photo: Galbraith) "It may also be of interest to investors looking to purchase the land as a long term investment, meanwhile generating rental income. Alistair Christie of Galbraith, who is handling the sale, said: "The land has been well managed under the current ownership and is suitable for a range of arable crops or fodder production. "The close proximity to the motorway network and agricultural services is an added advantage for the purchaser. A significant drainage programme has been undertaken by the current owners with a combination of plastic and gravel drainage systems having been installed. (Photo: Galbraith) There is a useful set of livestock handling pens and a mains water supply for livestock watering or crop management. The land at Dripend is on the market for offers over 580,000. Please enable cookies on your web browser in order to continue. The new European data protection law requires us to inform you of the following before you use our website: We use cookies and other technologies to customize your experience, perform analytics and deliver personalized advertising on our sites, apps and newsletters and across the Internet based on your interests. By clicking I agree below, you consent to the use by us and our third-party partners of cookies and data gathered from your use of our platforms. See our Privacy Policy and Third Party Partners to learn more about the use of data and your rights. You also agree to our Terms of Service. Please 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. Jennifer Landry has always donated blood and always wanted to donate bone marrow. But before she had the chance, she saw a Facebook post from one of her friends. "O positive kidney donor needed," the post relayed. Landry, who has Type O-positive blood, decided she might as well try to see if she was a match. "Ten days later, I was a match," she said. "I didn't even know who I was donating to at that point." Landry has always been someone to help others. The 37-year-old Detroit native is a staff sergeant in the Marines. She planned to join the Navy, and had made her way to join just prior to the terror attacks on Sept. 11, 2001. "The day I went to the recruitment office, I thought, 'Nope. I'm going to be a Marine,'" she said. "It was kind of weird. I don't know what it was, but I just had a change of heart." Now, she's stationed at Grissom Air Reserve Base. She'll retire after 20 years in the Marine Corps later this year. She's ready to move on to something new and plans to take a little time off before starting to work toward her bachelor's degree in human resources. When she decided to answer her friend's post on Facebook in May 2018, she had no idea her organ would be going to a fellow service member. She was donating to her friend's boyfriend, retired Gunnery Sgt. Charles Dane. A DIVA KIDNEY The surgery was March 31, 2020, at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland. The process took a while to wait for Dane to be healthy enough for surgery, and was delayed further due to COVID-19 restrictions. The pair didn't even meet face to face until the original date of surgery in January 2020, but that didn't keep them from connecting when they met. "We often kid around," she said. "I call him a diva. You've got a diva kidney now. ... But there's something different among military. You don't have to explain yourself." While people can live normal lives with only one kidney, the surgery is major. In 2018, 6,442 people received a living-donor kidney, according to the National Kidney Foundation (NKF). Rate of recovery and any side effect depend on the patient and type of surgery. Most common side effects include pain and nerve damage at the surgery site, high blood pressure and reduced kidney function later in life, according to the NKF. Landry's kidney removal was a laparoscopic one, so she was able to leave the hospital the day after the surgery. The surgery was supposed to take about four hours, but was completed in two. "They say that the surgery is worse for the person who is donating than the person who is receiving, so I experienced a lot more pain than he did," she said. "So even though I was discharged the next day, it doesn't take away from the pain." Not just anyone would be willing to go through surgery for a stranger, and Landry knows that. There are more than 100,000 people on the waiting list for a kidney, according to NKF. "I've always had that mindset where I love helping people," she said. "When I saw this as an opportunity, knowing that I always wanted to donate my bone marrow, (and I) always donated blood, I just kind of jumped at it. "There was no hesitation. I just went for it." NO SURPRISE Landry said the hardest part of the surgery for her was not being able to have visitors. COVID-19 restrictions kept Landry and Dane from having anyone with them in the hospital. "Not having family or friends there after surgery was probably the biggest blow," she said. Additionally, the plan was to fly to Maryland for the surgery, but the pandemic meant she had to make a 13-hour drive by herself. Luckily, she had a friend drive her home three weeks later because she was still in pain and on medication. Landry's family and friends weren't really surprised by her decision, including her 15-year-old son, Vincent "Quad" Landry IV, who wasn't phased. "At first I didn't tell him because I didn't know for sure," she said. "But when I did, he wasn't shocked. He has two Marine parents, he's not easily surprised." A PROACTIVE APPROACH When people tell Landry that she's a good person for what she's done, she said sometimes she doesn't know what to say, but it's been nice to hear. "Especially during these really difficult times, it is nice," she said. "People say, 'The world would be better with more people like you.' But, I am just a person who wants to help." Landry has suffered a lot of loss in her family since she began the donor process. In 2019, she lost her aunt unexpectedly to cancer. In July 2020, she lost another aunt to stage 4 colon cancer. Then, her mother passed away from gallbladder cancer on Nov. 16, 2020. "For me, having donated and saved a life and all that, and then not be able to save my own family's life, it has just opened my eyes," she said. Now, she's an advocate for a proactive approach to health. No matter the health issue, Landry wants people to realize how important it is to take health seriously and know family history. "It's about awareness," she said. "It's about people just checking their health and being in the know. So for me, it's just awareness on life." This article is written by Laura Arwood from Kokomo Tribune, Ind. and was legally licensed via the Tribune Content Agency through the Industry Dive publisher network. Please direct all licensing questions to legal@industrydive.com. Bengaluru, March 3 : A CD was released to news channels on Tuesday, in which Karnataka Major and Medium Water Resources Minister Ramesh Jarakiholi could be allegedly seen with a woman in a compromising position. The CD has been released at a time when the BJP is gearing up to face elections in five states/UT, and just two days ahead of the month-long Budget session is scheduled to commence in Karnataka from March 4. The CD was released by social activist Dinesh Kallahalli after he filed a complaint with Bengaluru City police commissioner Kamal Pant. After filing the complaint, Kallahalli told reporters that he has sought help from the police to know the veracity of the contents of the CD and some audio clips, in which a 'powerful minister' is threatening the victim and her family members. "I also sought police protection for the victim and her immediate family members as they are living under 'tremendous' threat," he said. All throughout his media interaction, he was careful not to take anyone's name. According to Kallahalli, the victim met the minister (Jarkiholi) on the pretext seeking his help to create documentaries on dams across the state. "For this she wanted government clearance for drone cameras and other special equipment. During the interaction, the minister (Jarkiholi) told her that instead of running around, she could well be appointed in the Karnataka Power Corporation Limited (KPCL). From here on, he starts seeking sexual favours from her. Finally she also yielded, but prior to getting close to him, she set up a trap and the whole episode was recorded by hidden cameras," he explained. Kallahalli maintained that the victim is not ready to come forward and file a case fearing her and her family's safety. "Fed up with the minister's harassment, one of the family members approached me sometime ago and urged me to take up this case by filing a complaint in order to teach the minister a befitting lesson," he claimed. According to Kallahalli, he is going to keep the victim's name under the wraps until 'she gathers some courage' to face the people and the media. On repeated queries on which minister he filed the complaint against, Kallahalli said that in the CD it is very clear who the minister is. "Why do you want me to take his name," he asked. Answering to a question as to whether the CD was a part of blackmail tactics, he said if it was part of a blackmail strategy, why would he approach the police commissioner to file a complaint? "In my complaint, I have also requested the commissioner of police to investigate the blackmail angle, as this involves a powerful minister in the state," he said. Jarakiholi comes from one of the most powerful political families in the state and is a sugar baron from Belagavi district, the state's sugar belt. He is one of the 17 defectors from the Congress and the JD(S) whose defection resulted in the collapse of the Congress-JD(S) government in the state in 2019, leading to the formation of the BJP government. He was one of the primary forces behind rallying 17 MLAs from both the parties before they joined the BJP. The discovery of the Thanatotheristes degrootorum enhances the understanding of paleontologists into Canada's prehistoric past. Estimated to be at the top of the food chain, this tyrannosaur species pre-dates the Tyrannosaurus rex by 12 million years and is estimated to have been eight metres (26 feet) long. The fossil fragments, found by John and Sandra De Groot while out on a family walk along the Bow River in Alberta, are the inspiration for this coin. The fossilized skull of the giant appears atop the black-rhodium plated coin, giving it a rocky texture and truly capturing the story of this frighteningly named, toothy, two-legged carnivore. This exciting coin, and many others, can be ordered from the Mint as of today. Other coins offered this month include: The 2020 $10 Fine Silver Coin - O Canada! The Great Outdoors, part of a 6-coin series that each depict a famous Canadian symbol or scene from the artist's perspective; Fine Silver Coin - O Canada! The Great Outdoors, part of a 6-coin series that each depict a famous Canadian symbol or scene from the artist's perspective; The 2020 110 oz. Pure Gold Coin - Tribute to Alex Colville - 1967 1-Cent Coin, a timeless piece in honour of the 100 th anniversary of his birth; - 1967 Coin, a timeless piece in honour of the 100 anniversary of his birth; The 2021 $3 Fine Silver Coin - Floral Emblems of Canada - Nunavut Purple Saxifrage, designed by artist Lisa Thomson-Khan ; Fine Silver Coin - Floral Emblems of - Nunavut Purple Saxifrage, designed by artist ; The 2021 $5 Fine Silver Coin - Silver Maple Leaf - W Mint Mark, an ever-popular coin amongst collectors and struck at the Mint's Winnipeg facility; Fine Silver Coin - Silver Maple Leaf - W Mint Mark, an ever-popular coin amongst collectors and struck at the Mint's facility; The 2021 $20 Pure Gold Coin - 100 th Anniversary of Canada's Coat of Arms, featuring the Coat of Arms created for Canada in 1921 in extraordinary detail; Pure Gold Coin - 100 Anniversary of Coat of Arms, featuring the Coat of Arms created for in 1921 in extraordinary detail; The 2021 $50 Fine Silver Coin - The First 100 Years of Confederation - Coming of Age, designed by artist Glen Green , featuring the effigies of five monarchs on a single coin; Fine Silver Coin - The First 100 Years of Confederation - Coming of Age, designed by artist , featuring the effigies of five monarchs on a single coin; The 2021 $50 Pure Gold Coin - Gold Maple Leaf - W Mint Mark, a Winnipeg -struck tribute to the Mint's world-renowned Gold Maple Leaf bullion coin; Pure Gold Coin - Gold Maple Leaf - W Mint Mark, a -struck tribute to the Mint's world-renowned Gold Maple Leaf bullion coin; The 2021 $125 Fine Silver Coin - Triumphant Dragon, featuring the artwork of Simon Ng ; Fine Silver Coin - Triumphant Dragon, featuring the artwork of ; The 2021 $200 Pure Gold Coin - Celebrating Canada's Diversity Eternal Love, a Celtic-inspired tribute by Bonnie Ross ; Pure Gold Coin - Celebrating Canada's Diversity Eternal Love, a Celtic-inspired tribute by ; The 2021 Fine Silver Proof Set - 100 th Anniversary of Bluenose, featuring the legendary schooner in a selectively gold-plated glimmer; and Anniversary of Bluenose, featuring the legendary schooner in a selectively gold-plated glimmer; and The 2021 Special Wrap Roll Collection - First Strikes, uncirculated editions of the first 2021-dated coins. Mintages, pricing and full background information on each product can be found on the "Shop" tab of www.mint.ca. Images of the coins are available here. These products can be ordered by contacting the Mint at 1-800-2671871 in Canada, 1-800-2686468 in the US, or at www.mint.ca. About the Royal Canadian Mint The Royal Canadian Mint is the Crown corporation responsible for the minting and distribution of Canada's circulation coins. The Mint is one of the largest and most versatile mints in the world, offering a wide range of specialized, high quality coinage products and related services on an international scale. For more information on the Mint, its products and services, visit www.mint.ca. Follow the Mint on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. SOURCE Royal Canadian Mint Related Links https://www.mint.ca/ YEREVAN. Within the framework of the session of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly (PA), the Swedish delegation confirmed that the trilateral statement of November 9, 2020 could not be considered a full-fledged solution to the Nagorno-Karabakh [(Artsakh)] conflict, and that a comprehensive solution could be reached only within the framework of discussions within the OSCE Minsk Group format. Hripsime Grigoryan, member of Armenias delegation to the OSCE PA and an MP of the ruling My Step bloc, said this at Tuesdays press briefing in the National Assembly. Hayk Konjoryan, the head of the Armenian delegation to the OSCE PA and a lawmaker from My Step, added that the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Swedish Foreign Minister Ann Linde, also confirmed that we are far from resolving the Karabakh issue. "The key issues for us were the matters of the aggression of Azerbaijan and the return of Armenian captives. A member of the Armenian delegation raised the issue of [Azerbaijans] unjustified delay in the return of [Armenian] prisoners of war, presented the facts of cruel treatment of them by the Azerbaijani authorities, the [Azerbaijani] military aggression in the [Artsakh] villages of Hin Tagher and Khtsaberd after the signing of a trilateral statement. Issues related to the involvement of mercenaries in the conflict, as well as the status of Karabakh were also raised. The importance of the right of the people of Karabakh to free expression of will, the need for international pressure on Turkey and Azerbaijan were noted," Konjoryan stressed, assuring that the Armenian delegation was one of the most active during the aforesaid session of the OSCE PA. Ani Samsonyan, another member of the Armenian delegation to the OSCE PA and an MP of the opposition Bright Armenia faction, noted that the delegations from Sweden and Belgium spoke about the need to return the Armenian prisoners of war and Azerbaijan's war crimes. "I noted that Azerbaijan has not complied with the tripartite statements requirement in connection with the return of prisoners. Baku should have returned them, even if the statement had not said anything about it. In addition, I presented the fact that the Azerbaijani military took captives of war even after the [recent Artsakh] war, presenting them as criminals. I also reminded that Baku has not yet provided information on the number of detained Armenian captives," she concluded. By Bill Moore I recently had the time to read a well thought out and presented 2 part article outlining it was time to start the 2nd American Revolution. It was a well- documented and thought out treatise explaining why or what the Government has done to violate our rights and trust causing the necessity of a second American Revolution. Although I respect and believe what the author wrote as legally sufficient, I believe it is too early to start this action. First of all we all know what a disaster this election was outside of North Carolina based on massive voter fraud. Admittedly there was some fraud in our state but it appears not to the extent it occurred in other swing states. As we look at the elections in North Carolina we find the Party did well overall. Yes we lost the Governors seat but we won the Lt Governors seat and took 6 of 10 Council of State Positions. In addition, we swept all the state wide races for judges. In fact the Republican Party now has a majority on 61 out of 100 County Commission s. We retained majorities in both Houses of the General Assembly. As far as the 2022 elections, the State Party continues to expand their outreach to Trump voters and in fact it is expected to have a platform based on most if not all of Trumps positions. The General Assembly is working on actions to improve voter integrity. As far as the rest of the nation is concerned, the Party is taking steps to limit or stop the fraud that occurred. Our State Republican Party leader has been asked to head a national task force to go to other states and help them deal with the election issues. The Election of 2022 should be a barometer as to how successful we are. Secondly if we are prepared to take the step to start a revolution we should first be prepared to exhaust all options. The option not yet tried is a Convention of States. Convention of States is an option in the Constitution. This allows the States to call a convention separate from the Federal Government to enact changes or Amendments to the Constitution. It takes 34 states to call for the Convention. Each state legislature can send a delegation but each state only gets one vote. A simple majority is required to pass any proposed amendments. These amendments must be approved by or 38 State Legislatures before they go into effect. The people who are against such an action believe that they cannot trust the Convention or the state legislatures to make the necessary changes. I believe that the approval of 38 legislatures out of 50 is more than enough to ensure proper action. Either way, I believe there are several options that need to be explored prior to considering any action as severe as a second American Revolution. The author makes a compelling case for the 2nd revolution, it is just too early as every other option has not yet been explored nor attempted. 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. A cocaine addict who dressed up as a dinosaur while working as a porter at a hospital has lost his unfair dismissal action. Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) Adjudication Officer, Catherine Byrne found the dismissal was reasonable, proportionate and not unfair. The porter first came to the negative notice of his hospital bosses after a clinical nurse manager reported that on April 11, 2019, he was distracting staff from getting on with their work, had dressed up as a dinosaur and had disrupted the evening drug administration round. Ms Byrne said the facts as outlined by the hospital concerning the incident had not been contradicted. A representative for the un-named hospital told the WRC hearing the porter, on the date, was unable to perform his duties due to being under the influence of alcohol, unprescribed drugs or the misuse of prescribed medicine. The porter was referred to a rehab programme after the hospitals Occupational Health Consultant (OHC) confirmed he tested positive for cocaine and benzodiazepine and had an addiction to cocaine and alcohol. Four days after the dinosaur incident, on April 15 2019, at the first consultation, the OHC concluded the porter was suffering from depression and anxiety. However, the porter disagreed with the OHCs recommendation that he attend a rehab programme. A representative for the hospital told the WRC hearing the man failed to engage with management after disagreeing with the OHC recommendation. The hospital representative said despite numerous attempts to contact him, the porter did not make any contact with management until he was dismissed in September 2019. The hospital said the man, employed there since 2013, was dismissed for gross misconduct for failing to perform his job due to being under the influence of unprescribed drugs or prescribed medicine and for failing to engage with management about his ongoing absence. The hospital said it had no option but to terminate the porters employment due to his failure to engage with them, his failure to undertake a rehabilitation programme and his failure to fulfil the terms of his contract. The hospital said it has an intoxicants policy in place where the misuse of drugs or alcohol by an employee which impairs their ability to do their work may result in disciplinary action up to dismissal. The hospital said an employee with an addiction problem will be encouraged to seek help; however, failure to continue with treatment or to respond to treatment may result in disciplinary action up to and including dismissal. The hospital said the worker had an obligation to get treatment to deal with his addictions. In her findings, Ms Byrne said it is apparent the porter was dismissed for gross misconduct as a result of his failure to keep in touch with his employer during an absence of 20 weeks, breaches of the absence policy regarding medical certificates and his refusal to follow the advice of the OHC and get treatment for his addictions It was argued on behalf of the porter that the sanction of dismissal was disproportionate, as he had no disciplinary record prior. On behalf of the porter, SIPTU argued the hospital took no account of mitigating circumstances and that he was suffering from depression, his partner was expecting a baby and they had lost their accommodation and had to move in with his parents. Ms Byrne said she has taken account of these mitigating circumstances. It is clear to me that the complainant was not dismissed because he has a drug and alcohol problem, but because he failed to engage with his employer over a period of 20 weeks and to get support and return to work, she said. Ms Byrne said it was her view that, if he had cooperated with his employer from early on, or even from June 2019, when the OHC advised him to get treatment, he could have prevented his dismissal. Ms Byrne said: While I accept that the domestic and health issues he had to deal with were stressful and challenging, one of the positive things in his life was his job. Ms Byrne said she was confident that, if he had kept in touch with his employer, with the support of SIPTU, he would have been treated with compassion. Credit: Queensland University of Technology (QUT) It's 2032 and an elderly man lies critically injured on a remote road in Goondiwindi following a car accident. His life is in the balance, but data visualization, remote robotics, bio-fabrication and virtual care will combine to give him the best possible chance of survival. The story is told through a new film made by QUT's School of Creative Practice using ground-breaking Disney-inspired virtual production techniques to visualize the future of trauma care. Commissioned by the Jamieson Trauma Institute at Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital, The Future Journey of a Trauma Patient is QUT's first major virtual production release, integrating an actor into fully digital virtual environments to tell the story. Directed by Sorin Oancea and Joe Carter, lecturers in film and animation at QUT's School of Creative Practice, the project brought together a team of researchers, animation and film students, and acting students who portrayed the medical staff through motion capture. Professional actor Errol R J Morrison was employed to play the trauma patient. "QUT is one of only a handful of universities in the world with a virtual production pipeline which includes full body 3-D scanning technology, LED Wall Virtual Production, and Motion Capture systems to create high quality outcomes in a cost-effective manner," Mr Carter said. "Creating "The Future Journey of a Trauma Patient' gave us the opportunity to test and develop our techniques in this area. The technical inspiration comes from Disney's space western "The Mandalorian," which has brought virtual production to the mainstream, shooting almost all scenes using motion-tracked camera against virtual backgrounds which move in real-time to match the camera moves." Mr Oancea added that virtual production methods were fast changing the way we tell stories and make films, with hybrid reality cinematography blurring the lines between live action and animation. "We decided our CG production design was going to be based on a minimalist, highly polished sci-fi look and have the feel of a tribute to such classics as Kubrick's '2001: A Space Odyssey,'" Mr Oancea said. "This scope of work just in terms of 3-D modeling for the virtual sets and other assets, let alone animation, lighting, and effects would have been prohibitively expensive not long ago. "Now though, photogrammetry and 'virtual scouting' of customisable environments is largely replacing traditional production approaches. Along with using motion capture for acting performances, these methods brought our production to a higher standard than otherwise possible while maintaining the impactful look and feel we were after." The finished product is an engaging blend of real life and animation. In a nod to smart cars of the not-to-distant future, the driver's ute calls 000 after he rolls it on a lonely stretch of road. The drama then details how scans at Goondiwindi Hospital are viewed by a trauma team in Brisbane who virtually assist the local doctors to stabilize the patient. Scans are also sent to a biofabrication team in Brisbane to start work on printing bone implants for his shattered leg. "Nurse navigators," meanwhile, are in communication with his family on "John's' progress. "The Jamieson Trauma Institute researchers, led by QUT Adjunct Professor Michael Schuetz, were looking at how to capture live foreground action (the trauma patient) in an animated environment which changes as the trauma patient undergoes their journey through the health care system," said Mr Carter. "The film will be used by the Institute to present its vision for the future of trauma care and will be made freely available on its website to healthcare professionals (doctors, nurses, trauma rehab teams, medical facility designers, medical students and others) in Queensland, across Australia and internationally. "From our point of view, it has also served to demonstrate the growing capacity of QUT to utilize virtual production techniques as a way to produce visually and aurally striking content in a unique and cost-effective way. "The end result is a film that enriches communication, increases focus, empathy and impact." Michael Handy, assistant nursing director of trauma and orthopedics at Royal Brisbane Hospital and a JTI consultant said the film would play a vital role in summarizing current practices and those expected to be the norm within the next 10 years. "'The Future Journey of a Trauma Patient' will give people an understanding of the complexities of what goes on from when the trauma occurs right through the process of treatment, recovery and communication with all involved," Mr Handy said. Explore further Trauma surgeons and emergency surgeons positively impact patient satisfaction Panama's consul to Bogota, her husband and another family member died when their car was swept away by a full river in the rural southwest of Colombia battered by heavy rains, authorities said Tuesday Bogota, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 2nd Mar, 2021 ) :Panama's consul to Bogota, her husband and another family member died when their car was swept away by a full river in the rural southwest of Colombia battered by heavy rains, authorities said Tuesday. Telma Deleise Barria was travelling with her husband and fellow diplomat Pedro Cantillo, another family member and two other people when they ran into trouble trying to cross the Frio river in an official vehicle, the local authority said in a statement. The events occurred around 7:00 pm on Monday, and Barria's body was recovered by rescue workers four hours later. Two more bodies were found on Tuesday morning, according to local official Franky Vega of Colombia's Huila department. The other two people in the car were unharmed. The five were on their way to a rest spot that can only be reached by crossing the river. "The Ministry of Foreign Affairs regrets the death of the Consul of Panama in Colombia and her husband. We send our solidarity to their families, colleagues and friends at this difficult time," the Colombian government said on Twitter. Catastrophic rains in the country are associated with the recurrent La Nina natural phenomenon that alters weather patterns. A court officer fatally shot himself while in the in the bathroom of Manhattan's family court on Monday afternoon. The officer who has not been named was believed to be in his 50s. He shot himself in the head just after 3:10pm at the building located at 60 Lafayette Street. A fellow court officer then called 911 telling the emergency services that she believed he had shot himself intentionally. Paramedics were on the scene after a court officer shot him dead on Monday afternoon Officials from the New York Medical Examiner were on the scene shortly after the shooting The man was pronounced dead at the scene but his name and age were not released The man from Staten Island was pronounced dead at the scene but his name and age have so far not been released. 'It's just a tragedy,' New York State Court Officers Association President Dennis Quirk said to the New York Post. 'The union delegate was with him this morning. No problem, he was happy as could be and went into the bathroom and did it.' Quirk said the man was a 'great officer' and had been in his post for more than 15 years. 'The brothers are very close to him, and they are extremely upset,' said Quirk. The NYPD has also not yet released any details. New York State Court officers are pictures standing outside the court building on Monday Officer from the NYPD were on scene as they to ascertain what had occured The NYC medical examiner was quickly on scene to pronounce the court officer's death Several units from the NYPD were at the scene of the shooting on Monday NYPD officers were on scene in the hours after the incident Representatives from Hong Kong attending a two-day symposium spoke of the urgency to improve related systems of "patriots governing Hong Kong" and plug loopholes in Hong Kong's electoral and other systems. Chinese central authorities held the symposium in south China's Shenzhen from Sunday to Monday to hear opinions of representatives from various sector of the Hong Kong society on improving systems related to "patriots governing Hong Kong." Rita Fan Hsu Lai-tai, former president of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Legislative Council, said that implementing the principle of "patriots governing Hong Kong" is the original aspiration of "one country, two systems" and the legislative intent of the Basic Law of the HKSAR. Shiu Sin-por, executive director of the New Paradigm Foundation, said those elected to wield public power, including the Chief Executive, Legislative Council members and District Council members, are absolutely not allowed to engage in activities to split the country, subvert the government or collude with foreign forces, adding this is the bottom line for improving the electoral and other systems. Most of Hong Kong residents support "patriots governing Hong Kong," said Lo Man-tuen, vice chairman of the All-China Federation of Returned Overseas Chinese. Lo expressed the hope for plugging loopholes in the electoral and other systems as soon as possible to ensure the governing power of Hong Kong is in the hands of patriots. Only by letting patriots exercise the governing power, can Hong Kong be truly well governed, integrate its development into the overall development of the country and create a bright future, said Priscilla Leung Mei-fun, a member of the HKSAR Basic Law Committee under the National People's Congress Standing Committee. LONDON, ON, March 2, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Alimentiv Health Trust, the parent company of Alimentiv, Inc. (formerly Robarts Clinical Trials), a specialized global gastrointestinal (GI) contract research organization (CRO), announced today the acquisition of McDougall Scientific Ltd. a niche CRO specializing in statistical analysis, top-tier data management, reporting, and clinical trial design. The acquisition of McDougall Scientific delivers on the purpose of the Alimentiv Health Trust to build enduring organizations that prioritize investment in Health Research. "McDougall Scientific has for 35 years prioritized excellence in science through delivery of high quality statistical and data management services. We are thrilled to invite the McDougall organization into the Alimentiv family of companies and are eager to leverage our complementary capabilities to provide an enhanced level of services to our sponsors," said Jeff Smith, CEO, Alimentiv. John Amrhein, Vice President of McDougall Scientific who will assume additional responsibilities as Managing Director following the acquisition said, "The expertise of Alimentiv and McDougall Scientific are well aligned to enhance both the scope and depth of service offerings to the clients of both companies. Our shared values, emphasis on quality, and complementary corporate culture inspired this acquisition that will facilitate synergistic growth and expansion of services." Janet McDougall, Founder, McDougall Scientific, will retire following more than 35 years of operating McDougall Scientific. Janet will stay on as a consultant through the transition and offers the following: "McDougall Scientific has earned a reputation as an experienced CRO with a commitment to continually raising the standards of our industry. Valuable insights, timely, accurate data, and analytics leading to expedited time-to-market and lower development costs are the foundation of the work we do." Alimentiv and McDougall Scientific have core expertise in clinical trial design and statistical analysis. The combined strength of the organizations will provide benefits that include: Study design and statistical consulting services Data standards (CDISC), data conversion (SDTM/ADaM), and data visualization services Observational, registry, real-world evidence study designs, and analyses Technology solutions for small biotech and virtual organizations including EDC, IRT, and ComplyDocs (McDougall's proprietary eTMF system) Both companies are proud of their Canadian roots and support the continued growth of jobs in Canada and globally. Combined the companies have offices in London, ON; Toronto, ON; San Diego, USA; and Amsterdam, the Netherlands serving customers worldwide. Looking forward we expect to see strong continued growth in the global biostatics market and are excited about the benefits this acquisition brings and the opportunity we have to continue to prioritize our vision of building a leading clinical drug development CRO that through investment in academic research and delivery of clinical services accelerates drug discovery for our sponsors," said Smith. Related Links: www.alimentiv.com www.mcdougallscientific.com Contact: Fern Livingstone, Manager, Marketing & Communications, Tel: (519) 639 3205, Email: fern.livingstone@alimentiv.com New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday (March 2, 2021) inaugurated the 'Maritime India Summit 2021' and said that the Centre is aiming to operationalise 23 waterways by 2030. Prime Minister Modi said, "Ours is a Government that is investing in waterways in a way that was never seen before. Domestic waterways are found to be cost-effective and environment friendly ways of transporting freight. We aim to operationalise 23 waterways by 2030." He also pointed out that India has as many as 189 lighthouses across its vast coastline and said, "We have drawn up a programme for developing tourism in the land adjacent to 78 lighthouses. The key objective of this initiative is to enhance the development of the existing lighthouses and its surrounding areas into unique maritime tourism landmarks." Addressing the Maritime India Summit 2021. Watch. https://t.co/uLEPnJFbkO Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) March 2, 2021 He announced that steps are also being taken to introduce urban water transport systems in key states and cities such as Kochi, Mumbai, Gujarat and Goa. Speaking on the occasion, the Prime Minister also invited the world to come to India and be a part of the country's growth trajectory. "India is very serious about growing in the maritime sector and emerging as a leading Blue Economy of the world. Through the focus areas of upgradation of infrastructure, boosting reform journey, India aims to strengthen the vision of Aatamnirbhar Bharat," he said. He stated that instead of a piecemeal approach, the focus is on the entire sector as one. The Prime Minister informed that the capacity of major ports has increased from 870 million tonnes in 2014 to 1550 million tonnes now. He also informed that mega ports with world-class infrastructure are being developed in Vadhavan, Paradip and Deendayal Port in Kandla. He said that the Centre has recently widened the ambit of the maritime sector by renaming the Ministry of Shipping as Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways so that work happens in a holistic manner. PM Modi said that the Ministry of Port Shipping and Waterways has created a list of 400 investable projects and that these projects have an investment potential of $ 31 billion (over Rs 2.25 lakh crores). BEIJING, March 1 (Xinhua) -- China's Ministry of National Defense on Monday expressed the hope for steadily advancing the relationship between the militaries of China and the United States. The China-U.S. relationship has reached an important juncture where cooperation would benefit both sides and confrontation would hurt both, the ministry said in response to media queries. The military relationship between the two countries is an essential part of bilateral ties, the ministry said, adding that maintaining its stable and healthy development has become a prevailing trend as well as the responsibility of defense authorities of both sides. The ministry said it hopes the U.S. side would work with China to strengthen communication, expand pragmatic cooperation, and properly handle their differences in the spirit of non-conflict, non-confrontation, mutual respect and win-win cooperation. (Natural News) Joining ranks with Oregon, the state of Washington has nullified a drug possession statute that made it a felony to possess controlled substances meaning simple drug possession in Washington can no longer be criminally prosecuted. The Washington Supreme Court decided that RCW 69.50.4013, which tacks up to five years of prison time plus hefty fines onto convicted drug possessors, is unconstitutional because there is no way to prove that those caught in possession of illegal drugs knew that the drugs were on their person. This case presents an issue of first impression for this court: Does this strict liability drug possession statute with these substantial penalties for such innocent, passive conduct exceed the legislatures police power? the ruling asks. The due process clauses of the state and federal constitutions, along with controlling decisions of this court and the United States Supreme Court, compel us to conclude that the answer is yes this exceeds the States police power. Those in support of the ruling say it will prevent militarized police forces from further arresting and charging people for merely having on their persons substances that the government says people should not be allowed to possess. On the other hand, conservatives like Jason Rantz, a talk show host based out of Seattle, disagrees. To him, this ruling means that violent felons like child rapists could be released early from prison if their sentences were tied to drug possession charges. Consequently, police departments across the state, including in Seattle and Tacoma, will no longer arrest individuals for simple drug possession, Rantz laments. Is the War on Drugs ever really justified? Part of Rantzs argument makes sense to this writer in that drug possession charges are often used to catch actual criminals who commit real crimes like assault, rape, or murder. Charges of simple possession arent always just about simple possession, Rantz explains. Its a way to get dangerous criminals off the streets via an easily provable offense. For better or for worse, drugs are an in for cops to nab a suspect in the event that witnesses fail to testify. Drugs being illegal also serves as direct evidence, Rantz says, tying the suspect to the crime. It is the opinion of this writer that police officers simply need to do a better job, or be more willing to do their job, of conducting investigations into real criminal activity. Sure, nabbing someone for illegal drugs is easy, and it could lead to catching real criminals. But what about non-violent offenders who, were it not for the War on Drugs, would be considered innocent? Possessing and using drugs, no matter how much conservatives dislike the idea, is not a real crime. Prior to the 20th century, there was no such thing as a drug law and the world spun on just fine. Only in the last 100 years did governments decided to criminalize not just the use of what they refer to as drugs, but also possession of such. This has led to many non-violent offenders being locked away unjustly, setting their lives on a crash-course to failure due to rap sheets that follow them around for life. In many ways, left states like Oregon and Washington have the right idea trying to stop the criminalization of mere possession of substances, many of which exist as a matter of nature. Think magic mushrooms and peyote, rather than heroine and processed cocaine. There are still areas of the country where cannabis remains illegal, even though it has been proven time and time again to help people. If possession laws remain, then what will become of the sick who live in such areas and become criminals the moment they are caught? More related news can be found at PoliceState.news. Sources for this article include: MyNorthwest.com Courts.WA.gov NaturalNews.com Pennsylvania received more than 500,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccine during the past week and has averaged 64,000 shots per day during that time. Lindsey Mauldin, a senior adviser for the states COVID-19 response, called those developments a big step in the right direction. Mauldin also said the state expects to receive doses of the newly-approved Johnson & Johnson vaccine this week, although during a Tuesday briefing with news reporters she didnt reveal how many. Nor would she say how the state plans to use the Johnson & Johnson vaccine or whether it will be part of a plan to reach specific groups such as teachers. The Johnson & Johnson vaccine is considered groundbreaking because it requires only one dose and doesnt require special freezers, thus eliminating some of the logistical challenges associated with the two other brands, Pfizer and Moderna. Various state officials have suggested some of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine might be targeted to teachers as part of a plan to fully re-open schools. Mauldin said state officials hope to discuss more details related to teachers and plans for classroom education later this week. Meanwhile, the state said it will have received about 3.7 vaccine doses in total by the end of the week. As of Monday, about 1.7 million people had received one dose and 760,000 had received the two doses needed to be fully protected. The state on Tuesday also reported 2,564 new infections, bringing Pennsylvanias total to 935,854 since the start of the pandemic a year ago. It reported 74 new deaths, raising the toll to 24,100. The state said 1,715 people are hospitalized with COVID-19, including 366 who are in intensive care. She was grateful for the invitation from Lindy Hume, the current artistic director, to revisit the festival Archer created 20 years ago. Its had a few bumps along the way and its wonderful to see it really back in the form that it was originally intended, she says. It was one of those rare opportunities Ive had a couple in my career to actually make a new festival. Artistic directors usually step into well-oiled machines with established administrations and trajectories, she says what you would call corporate history. In this case then-premier Jim Bacon had called her and said look, I want to have an international arts festival here, because weve got a lot of artists but they dont really have any platform to show what they do. She was coming out of the 2000 Adelaide Festival, which had spent $700,000 on a single Peter Greenaway opera. Bacon put up $600,000 for her whole festival. She couldnt afford to bring in international stars of the order Adelaide and Melbourne commanded. So I alighted on the idea of having only artists from other islands in the world. Robyn Archer as Lola Blau in 1979. Credit:Robert McFarlane Its a different world now, she reflects. Especially now. Australias arts festival circuit has been hit by the necessities of the pandemic: its pretty much impossible to import shows physically to our continent; the best that can be done for the next year or so is to fly in a few choice artists and add most of the international via a digital program. Archer still believes in the main justification for international arts festivals: If you put on one show by itself thats very unfamiliar, maybe in a different language, not many people would come to it. If you put it in a festival people would take more risks and chances and they would come. They stir the pot, challenge artists and audiences. And most festival directors learnt along the way that you can add more local artists to the mix and more people will take a chance on them. Theres a tension between that and the inspiration that we can get from the greatest companies in the world, the greatest works, Archer says. This year, not having to spend the money on bringing in so many international artists has allowed more to flow to local artists, and its just been a fantastic moment, to use that opportunity. Were released in a sense from our original charter, to bring to Australia things that wouldnt get here otherwise. We can devote money to local works and theres been a fantastic spread right across the country. But she fears the whole arts ecosystem is fragile right now. She likens it to a forest. If all you do is take care of the canopy, a beautiful, luxurious, fabulous canopy, and ignore the undergrowth, then when the canopy starts to atrophy and collapse youll be left with chaos for a very long time, decades and decades. She is full of praise for government support that has kept big companies afloat through the pandemic shutdown. But youve got to support the undergrowth, too. Where does anybody think the cultural leaders of the present came from? Archer likens the current arts landscape to the devastation left in New Orleans by Hurricane Katrina. Theres a chance for great social renewal. But theres the risk, too, of terrible mistakes that leave permanent scars. She believes that, just as festivals have had to adapt quickly, the pandemic will trigger a new evolution. In the international festival talks and conferences she attends, everyone is talking about the benefits of the blended model of live with digital, with new accessibility for people who may not have attended festivals in the past because of time, money or geography. Girls: First, I want to let you know that I love you. I know that Im tough but its all because Ive witnessed and experienced things as a Black lesbian woman and I want to give you tools on how to navigate your life based off of what Ive learned so far. Although there is WAY more room for growth, I know that you both are brilliant and courageous enough to speak your mind and stand on your own when you are presented with a challenge. That encourages me in more ways than you may realize. It reminds me to keep being authentic, owning my space in whatever I do, because in doing so you both see it and you implement authenticity and self-expression so beautifully in your own way. Make sure you make mental wellness a priority. If youre stressed, overwhelmed or sad, please know that you dont have to live in that space by yourself. We as your parents are here to help you and support you. Were here to provide you with the resources and tools so that you can figure out how to live a happy and peaceful life, whatever that looks like for you. Part of maintaining mental wellness is embracing some form of spirituality. It is important to come to an understanding that Spirit is the base, well, entirety of who you are. As you get older, youll understand the importance of seeking a spiritual lifestyle until then, do your research, take time to think about God, life, things in the beyond that connects us all. Be mindful of who you let in your life be they friendships or relationships. They should add to you and not take away from you. Likewise, you should add to your friendships or relationships and not take away from them. It is a two-way street. Cultivating a healthy tribe comes with trial and error, but youll eventually find it. As I end the letter, I send this to you with all love and light. Love yourself and love others (within reason). Never forget to go after everything you want in life with a vengeance. You are the creator of your life, no one else is. It is your responsibility to go after what you want and stay focused until you get it. We always say Success is mandatory and failure is not an option it still remains true. Please believe in yourself, because we surely believe in you. The world is yours and everything in it for the asking only if you really want it. With love & adoration, Mrs. Tiffany March 02 : The makers of Tadap today dropped the first poster of the film and announced its release date. The Milan Luthria directorial film marks actor Suniel Shettys son Ahan Shettys debut in Bollywood. Tara Sutaria will be seen opposite Ahan in the film, touted as an incredible love story. The film will hit the cinemas on September 24, 2021. Suniel Shettys close friend Akshay Kumar took to his social media and launched the first poster of the romantic flick calling it a big day for Ahan Shetty. Big day for you Ahan...I still remember seeing your father, @suniel.shettys first film, Balwaans poster and today Im presenting yours....so happy and proud to share the poster of #SajidNadiadwalas #Tadap *ing @ahan.shetty and @tarasutaria, releasing in cinemas on 24th September!, Akshay wrote in his post. Tara Sutaria also took to her Instagram profile and shared the same poster as she wrote, Yeh pyaar ki #Tadap ab anjaam tak le jayegi.. Experience the magic in #SajidNadiadwalas #Tadap - An Incredible Love Story Releases in cinemas on September 24, 2021 #FoxStarStudios @ahan.shetty @milan.a.luthria @wardakhannadiadwala @nadiadwalagrandson @foxstarhindi. In the poster, a wounded Ahan can be seen hugging his love interest played by Tara. It seems that the makers strategically hid Ahans face as they may be planning to reveal him through a different poster. Ahan also shared the poster and thanked Milan Luthria and Sajid Nadiadwala for believing in him. Yeh pyaar ki #Tadap ab anjaam tak le jayegi. Thank you #sajidnadiadwala sir for giving me this opportunity and Milan sir for believing in me #Tadap releasing in cinemas on 24th September, he wrote in his post. A remake of 2018 Telugu film RX 100, this romantic action film is directed by Milan Luthria and produced by Sajid Nadiadwala. The film had gone on the floors in April 2019 in Mumbai. Earlier, talking about the film, Milan Luthria said the story of the film was very intriguing, and the love saga will leave the audience surprised. He also revealed that both the lead actors have strong roles to play, and the audience will like the immense chemistry shared by them. For months, health experts have cautioned that obese patients are more likely to be hospitalized and need mechanical ventilation if they contract COVID-19, and experts said they are 50% more likely to die from the virus. Now, prior bariatric surgery may reduce the severity of COVID-19 symptoms, according to researchers. Last week, the Biden administration released the long-awaited U.S. intelligence report finding that Saudi Arabias Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman was almost certainly responsible for ordering the murder of journalist and U.S. resident Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in 2018. However, while the administration announced new sanctions on dozens of individuals over the killing, it is taking no direct action against the crown prince, known internationally as MBS. For Iyad el-Baghdadi, the killing of Khashoggi and the U.S. reluctance to punish the man responsible for it are personal. Raised in the United Arab Emirates in a family of Palestinian refugees, the self-described Islamic libertarian rose to prominence during the Arab Spring thanks to his trenchant and sarcastic social media commentary on authoritarian governments throughout the Arab world. He was deported by the UAE over his political activities in 2014 and given asylum with his family in Norway. In 2019, he was warned by Norwegian authorities that they had received information from the CIA about a threat against him from the Saudi government, which he has frequently criticized. Today he is president of the Kawaakibi Foundation, an organization set up to support pro-democracy activists in the Arab world. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Subscribe to the Slatest newsletter A daily email update of the stories you need to read right now. We encountered an issue signing you up. Please try again. Please enable javascript to use form. Email address: Send me updates about Slate special offers. By signing up, you agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms Sign Up Thanks for signing up! You can manage your newsletter subscriptions at any time. I spoke with el-Baghdadi on Monday about how the crown prince is likely to respond to the mild U.S. response to the report, and what that means for the journalists and activists in his crosshairs. Our interview has been condensed and edited for clarity. Joshua Keating: What message do you think the action the U.S. took last week sends to activists and journalists working on Saudi Arabia? Iyad el-Baghdadi: Its a sensitive question, honestly, because we dont know if what they announced is it. If this is it, its potentially putting us more at risk. During the Trump period, Trump actually denied that MBS did it at all, right? He covered up for him. And that was the basis upon which he said, We dont really have to respond, because he didnt do it. Now were in this weird situation where the crime is acknowledged, but then theres no accountability. Advertisement In a sense, normalizing this was even worse than Trump, because this was kind of saying that these things can happen but there are certain people who cannot be touched. The best that we can do is punish his henchmen. As we all know, he can always get new henchmen. Advertisement Bidens officials are now using this new phrase, extraterritorial repression, to talk about how authoritarian regimes attack their critics abroad. What do you think would be an actually effective response to this problem, if theyre serious about stopping it? This is whats really sensitive, because he will have to use intelligence services to keep a check on what Saudi Arabia is doing, even though its an ally. We know from MBS own history that you cant really check his behavior. Just a few weeks after the Jamal Khashoggi murder, at the height of the international outrage, he actually sent another team into Canada for an attempted assassination of [exiled former Saudi Cabinet minister] Saad al-Jabry. Then there was another rendition attempt that year in Los Angeles, reported by the Daily Beast. Not to mention, of course, the threat against myself, which happened in 2019, well after the Khashoggi murder. Its very clear that he has not learned the lesson. Its very clear that if you dont hold him accountable, hes going to take it as permission. Advertisement Right, but unlike Trump, Biden has at least taken some steps with regard to Saudi Arabiacutting off support for the war in Yemen, freezing arms sales, announcing that they are no longer speaking directly with MBS. Do you anticipate this will have any kind of impact on Saudi behavior going forward? Advertisement Honestly, no. First of all, lets talk about the weapons ban. The weapons ban is about the Yemen war. Even if Jamal was not killed, there were already very good moral and legal arguments to stop the weapons sales. So you cant mix these two issues. Jamals murder needs a different response from that. As for not speaking to MBS directly, I think we have to think about to what extent the king is actually in control of things in Saudi Arabia. We know that MBS is the de facto ruler. We know that the king really does not have that much power. Theres a lot of speculation that the king is senile. Im really surprised by this idea that the king can actually control MBS because we have very clearly seen that he cant. Hes either unable to or unwilling. Probably, I think, hes unable. Advertisement Is there a scenario where MBS could actually be taken out of the line of succession? Is there anyone in the kingdom with the authority to do that? It is possible. If, for example, the United States pressures MBS into releasing some of the important princes who are now in prison or house arrest, the family could change their calculus about him. The whole point here is that some of the family members have been persecuted or imprisoned or tortured, but then there are others who are not, but theyre weighing their options and they have seen how brutal MBS can be. So what really has to happen is that the incentive structure around MBS has to change, in order to send us a message for the family. Advertisement Advertisement What did you make of the decision a few weeks ago to release Loujain al-Hathloul, the activist known for challenging the ban on women driving, from prison? Does that indicate anything about how the regime is responding to the new U.S. administration? Yeah. I do believe that if Trump had won in 2020 and if we didnt have President Biden now, Loujain would still be in prison. Loujain is a problem, has been a problem for MBS for a while, and she continues to be a problem for him. He needed to kind of create a counternarrative. MBS needed to create a situation where Loujain is neither free nor a prisoner. He needed to create a situation where the campaigns calling for her release cease, because they were really having an effect. But also he didnt want her to be free enough to actually campaign and continue her work. So he created the situation, this kind of in-between situation, where shes not in prison, but shes on probation. Shes banned from travel, shes banned from speaking. And theres no justice, of course, for everything that has been done to her. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement I guess, when I read about her case and of course Khashoggis, Im still a little confused by MBS motives. Just a few years ago, he was being celebrated not just by Trump but by the Western media as this great modernizing reformer. Now, even if hes not being sanctioned, the global perception of him has completely changed. Was going after these people really worth it for him? MBS is not a rational actor. The thing about the Jamal Khashoggi murder is that it seems like a completely outrageous story, but just because its outrageous doesnt mean that he wouldnt do it. I mean, just look at the Jeff Bezos hack. It seems completely outrageous. Advertisement This is the thing, not just about him, but about dictatorship. Because power is so centralized, it becomes about the personality and the psychology of the person in power, rather than about the rationality of an institution. Theres nobody to check him. Theres nobody to say, Hey, this was wrong. Again, this is not only in MBS but dictators generally: They surround themselves with people who simply reflect to them what they already want. Are you worried that once this period of controversy dies down, governments and the business community will fully embrace him again? Yeah, this is the role of civil society and this is why we cannot let our guard down. This is why our campaigns have to continue. If we dont continue to shine the light, then those who are looking for profits, who are looking for money, they will jump on the opportunity to embrace him again. So this is our job. January 2000 marked the start of a whole new chapter for Julien Tornare; having gained some initial commercial experience with Raymond Weil, he took the helm of Vacheron Constantins Swiss market during a very buoyant period. There, he learned all the ins and outs of managing a booming brand and discovered the particular characteristics of a multicultural country one that he saw as a kind of test lab for the world market as a whole. In 2004, at the age of just 32, he was put in charge of Vacheron Constantin in the US, where the brand was struggling. Within the space of a few months, he won the trust of key retailers, rebuilding a network that he managed to motivate and train by dint of a daily presence on the ground. His relentless and methodical approach earned him the support of the outlets, where sales increased fourfold over five years and the attention of the industry. He was recalled to headquarters in 2009 to be involved in international redeployment, familiarising himself with Latin America and the Middle East as he did so but aiming for Asia. And as things turned out, he was entrusted with the position of Asia-Pacific director when it fell vacant in early 2011. When Julien arrived in Hong Kong, his role consisted in developing a strong brand image, in particular by opening stores (15 in six years) and expanding human resources (from 80 to 200 employees). He professionalised his teams, emphasising CRM, quality, and in-house after-sales, as well as digital transformation. He was especially impressed by the hard-working, close-knit, resilient Chinese culture. Julien Tornare Zenith Then in early 2017, he received a call from Jean-Claude Biver, who had noticed his work in the US and asked him to come and apply the same approach to Zenith. The brand had always been close to Juliens heart, and the prospect of working with such a watchmaking genius was very appealing to him. The new CEO established a three-year roadmap with LVMH to get Zenith back on track, redefining the fundamentals and onboarding the vital skills implied by the task. In 2019, Tornare made outstanding use of the 50th anniversary of the El Primero calibre to revitalise the brand, thus fulfilling a commitment to organic growth. Zenith was indeed well-prepared for the decade to come. *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 Ministers are braced for 500 migrants a month to cross the Channel from France this year, despite their latest crackdowns. Priti Patel agreed a 30 million deal with France in November to fund increased enforcement around Calais, which was meant to make the route unviable for people smugglers. The Home Secretary will also announce tough new measures in the coming weeks to make it easier to remove illegal migrants and to deter the criminal gangs who exploit them, including the introduction of life sentences for the worst offenders. Home Office projections seen by the Mail forecast that an average of 500 migrants a month will successfully make the crossing this year France succeeded in stopping 70 per cent of attempted crossing in January, but this fell to just over 50 per cent last month And the Home Office is funding adverts on Facebook groups used by migrants, warning that they risk drowning if they try to cross the Channel illegally. One image shows a group of men with luggage at sea, accompanied by the message: You could pay with your life. But Whitehall sources concede the measures will not be enough to close off the illegal route that has seen thousands of migrants make the perilous crossing. Home Office projections seen by the Mail forecast that an average of 500 migrants a month will successfully make the crossing this year. That suggests 6,000 migrants are expected to make the crossing in 2021 lower than the record 8,417 last year, but far higher than the 1,890 in 2019. Boris Johnson yesterday railed at the criminal gangs making fortunes from the cruel trade. The Prime Minister said: It is outrageous that the gangsters, the people smugglers, these thugs, are still putting peoples lives at risks. What we are going to do is to absolutely, ruthlessly stiffen the sentences for anybody who is involved in this kind of people smuggling and trafficking human beings across the Channel. That is why we are working with the French authorities and others to stop the trade. But a Whitehall source told the Mail there were limits to what the Government can do under existing laws. France succeeded in stopping 70 per cent of attempted crossing in January, but this fell to just over 50 per cent last month. Eighty-seven migrants made the crossing on Saturday, taking this years total to 531 40 per cent higher than last year. An asylum seeker accused of assaulting a security guard at Napier Barracks is to face a jury trial. Mohammed Ali, 22, is alleged to have trapped the mans arm between a door and a wall as tensions flared at the Home Office-run site in Kent in January. In the wake of last Summers devastating riots in Minneapolis and St. Paul, Hollywood celebrities and left-wing politicians led by Kamala Harris joined forces to bail out violent criminals who committed arson, looting and other felonies. But apparently there were not enough such criminals to go aroundnot enough who got arrested, anywayso the Hollywood/D.C. leftists bailed out everyone in sight. Along with other victims, one or more Minnesota women have now suffered kidnapping and assault as a result of Kamala Harriss largesse: A twice-convicted rapist who was bailed out of jail by the Minnesota Freedom Fund last summer after being charged in two new cases involving sexual assault, kidnapping and assault is now wanted on a felony warrant for failing to comply with conditions of his release, according to court records. Its a classic. A known rapist is bailed out by liberals, commits new sex crimes in violation of the terms of his bail, but cannot now be found. Nice work, Kamala! Alpha News reported last March that level 3 sex offender Christopher Don Boswell was facing 10 felony charges in two new cases, both of which included kidnapping and third-degree assault. Other charges in the cases included second-degree criminal sexual conduct, second-degree assault and threats of violence. Boswell, now 38, had been previously convicted in two separate sexual assault cases, one with an unknown female teen and another with a known adult female. Boswell used force, threats and weapons to gain compliance from his victims in those cases, according to information from the Minnesota Department of Corrections. This is exactly the sort of person whom Kamala Harris and Hollywood celebrities want to be freed to prey on more victims. Following charges last year in the two new cases, Boswell remained in custody for several months on high bail amounts until the Minnesota Freedom Fund paid $350,000 to bail him out, according to a Fox 9 report last August. Recent court records indicate that a felony warrant was issued for Boswells arrest on Feb. 11 in one of the cases following a conditional release violation report and an order revoking Boswells interim conditions of release. At the time of this publication, Boswell remains at large on the warrant in that case in which he is charged with two counts of kidnapping, two counts of threats of violence and second and third-degree assault. Good going, Kamala! Who cares about a few women who are kidnapped and sexually assaulted when there are political points to be scored for the Democratic Party? Certainly not rich, powerful liberals like Kamala Harris. That is, pretty much, the story of our times. EMILY ST. LAWRENCE, Chariho girls lacrosse, senior: St. Lawrence tied a school record for goals in a game with nine in a win over Smithfield. St. Lawrence scored 17 goals for the week and has 32 for the season. CARLY CONSTANTINE, Stonington softball, sophomore: Constantine singled home Shea OConnor with the winning run to hand Waterford, the states No. 2 ranked team at the time, its first loss of the season. For the week, Constantine was 5 for 15. GREG GORMAN, Westerly baseball, junior: Gorman, a junior, hit a massive home run in a win against Barrington. The homer went over the fence in center field and landed in a nearby road. Gorman was 3 for 3 with four RBIs in the game. He is hitting .571 with 10 RBIs for the season. BRADIN ANDERSON, Wheeler baseball, freshman: Anderson, a freshman, pitched a complete-game shutout to beat Grasso Tech. Anderson struck out three to earn the first win of his varsity career. Vote View Results Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 2) Pasay City will get 5,000 more vaccine doses from the donation of China's Sinovac Biotech, amid the surge in coronavirus cases in the city. Interior Undersecretary Jonathan Malaya made this announcement on Tuesday during the ceremonial vaccination of CoronaVac doses to the health workers of Pasay City General Hospital. He himself received the first shot in the immunization drive. Malaya said that the 5,000 doses will go to the Pasay City General Hospital, apart from over 300 doses initially allocated to at least 100 medical and non-medical workers. "Lahat po ng pangunahing local tertiary hospitals ay binibigyan natin ng bakuna para masimulan na ang local vaccination program...Magbibigay po ng karagdagang bakuna ang government sa Pasay City General Hospital," he said. [Translation: All primary local tertiary hospitals are being provided with vaccines so we can start with the local vaccination program...the government will provide additional vaccines to Pasay City General Hospital.] The Department of Health reported on Monday that the Philippines now has six cases of the South Africa variant, a more transmissible COVID-19 variant called B.1.351. Three of them were local cases in Pasay City. The samples from the residents were collected between January 27 and February 13, 2021. Two of the local cases, a 61-year-old female and a 39-year-old male, are active cases being managed by Pasay City. The third local case, a 40-year-old male, has already recovered. READ: PH finds six cases of COVID-19 variant detected in South Africa, more cases of UK variant and mutations Pasay City Mayor Emi Calixto Rubiano, who has recently recovered from COVID-19, was present in the ceremony via teleconferencing. She said that the local government is intensifying its efforts to control COVID-19 transmission in the city by implementing localized lockdowns in its villages. However, contrary to the DOH report, she said there were four cases of the South Africa variant recorded in the city, but all have recovered to date. Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said in his briefing that Pasay City, along with Navotas and Malabon, have been classified as areas under "critical risk" in terms of healthcare utilization rate and average daily attack rate due to the uptick in COVID-19 cases. Pasay City's public information office has reported 44 new COVID-19 cases as of Monday, adding to the 519 total active cases in the city. At least 8,142 cases have been recorded in Pasay since last year. Foreign ministers and representatives of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), including from Myanmar, appear on a screen during an online meeting, in Putrajaya, Malaysia, March 2, 2021. Southeast Asian nations called Tuesday for a halt to escalating violence in Myanmar, and dialogue to end the crisis there, as some countries demanded the immediate release of civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi and others detained by the military after it seized power last month. But a special foreign ministers meeting convened to discuss Myanmar and attended by its representative also exposed rifts within the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, with Singapore warning that the inability to reach a common position on the coup undermined the 10-member blocs credibility and relevance. We expressed our concern on the situation in Myanmar and called on all parties to refrain from instigating further violence, and for all sides to exercise their utmost restraint as well as flexibility, Brunei, the current chair of ASEAN, said in a statement summarizing the meeting. We also called on all parties concerned to seek a peaceful solution, through constructive dialogue, and practical reconciliation in the interests of the people and their livelihoods. At least 18 people were killed when security forces fired on protesters in cities across Myanmar on Sunday, the bloodiest day in a month of mass demonstrations against the militarys ouster of Suu Kyis elected government. The special meeting of ASEANs top diplomats was held virtually and came after Malaysia and Indonesia jointly called for such a meeting days after the Myanmar military seized power on Feb. 1. Amid criticism that the regional grouping had failed to take a strong collective stand on Myanmar, Singaporean Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan said it was crucial for ASEAN that the bloc be united in upholding the principles of democracy, the rule of law, and human rights. It is critical that ASEAN continues to reiterate our guiding principles in light of the unfolding tragedy in Myanmar, Balakrishnan said in a statement. If not, we will have no choice but to state our views on the situation as individual ASEAN Member States. But quite frankly, this would starkly underscore our lack of unity, and undermine our credibility and relevance as an organization. In individual statements issued after Tuesdays special meeting, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines and Singapore urged Myanmars military rulers to free Suu Kyi and other political leaders who were arrested during the Feb. 1 coup. Malaysia calls for the prompt and unconditional release of detained political leaders in Myanmar, including Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, U Win Myint and their associates, and encourages dialogue between parties concerned, Malaysian Foreign Minister Hishammuddin Hussein told his ASEAN counterparts during the online meeting. Singapore also called for Myanmar armed forces to pledge to not use deadly force on protesters. Suu Kyi and Win Myint, who served as state counselor and president of Myanmar, respectively, from 2018 until the Feb. 1 coup, have been under arrest since the government was toppled. The coup took place after weeks of tensions that followed the Nov. 8 general election, which Suu Kyis party easily won, but which the military said was tainted by voter fraud. Since the coup, at least 22 people mostly pro-democracy demonstrators have been killed and more than 30 wounded by Myanmars security forces. On Tuesday, Myanmar soldiers and police fired live rounds, rubber bullets and tear gas at anti-coup protesters, leaving at least three people critically injured, news agencies reported. In an unusually strong statement for the Philippines, Manila on Tuesday urged the Burmese military to return power to the government that was democratically elected in November. Our call is for the complete return to the previously existing state of affairs: with respect to the preeminent role of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi; alongside the Army her father created for the protection of the people he led to freedom and the country he gave them at the cost of his life, Foreign Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. said in a statement. This is what is needed. And the first step should be for the immediate release of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and subsequent dialogue among the parties involved in their countrys destiny. For her part, Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi said that while ASEAN members must adhere to the blocs founding principle of non-interference, they have a duty to respect its values for democracy, human rights, good governance, rule of law and constitutional government. If ASEAN fails to uphold and implement these principles, Indonesia is concerned that ASEAN will not be able to fully serve its people, which would hinder the aspiration to build an ASEAN Community. Indonesia is certain that ASEAN stands ready to play its role when required, Retno said. There had been harsh criticism of her shuttle diplomacy last week, during which the top diplomat of ASEANs largest nation met with her military-appointed Myanmar counterpart in Bangkok. Last week, when Reuters reported that Indonesia endorsed a plan by the Myanmar junta to hold new elections which Jakarta denied hundreds of protesters gathered outside the Indonesian Embassy in Yangon. They said that Myanmar already had a legitimate government that was democratically elected four months ago. Malaysias Hishammuddin on Tuesday also proposed that ASEAN form a group of eminent persons or experts in electoral matters to help bridge the discrepancies found in the last general elections. Myanmar, he said, may consider allowing the secretary-general and chair of ASEAN to visit the country and give access to all parties involved. ASEAN: Torn between the West and China Analysts described what they said was ASEANs difficult position vis-a-vis Myanmar. In issuing a flat and normative statement summarizing the meeting, ASEAN chair Brunei was likely trying to avoid putting Myanmar in a corner, said Teuku Rezasyah, a lecturer in international relations at Padjajaran University in Bandung, Indonesia. After all, ASEAN is currently in a difficult position, torn between the West and China. So what Im worried about is if ASEAN takes an overtly hard line and is not trying to be accommodative, Myanmar will choose to consult China. Aaron Connelly, a research fellow at the International Institute for Strategic Studies in Singapore, noted that the regional bloc would not want another humanitarian disaster like the one that saw more than 700,000 Rohingya refugees flee Myanmar during a brutal military offensive in Rakhine state in 2017. It is in ASEANs interests to keep open lines of communication with the Tatmadaw so long as it holds power, if for no other reason than to use these channels to urge the army to return to its barracks post-haste, Connelly said, using the official name for Myanmars military. But, in engaging with the junta, ASEAN risks legitimizing the very coup that gives rise to these risks, he said. Reported by BenarNews, an RFA-affiliated online news service. Last week, Republican House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy of Bakersfield, spoke on the US House Floor. McCarthy was Tuesdays KVML Newsmaker of the Day. Here are his words: Mr. Speaker Democrats won the House by the slimmest of margins in November: a mere five seats and 32,000 votes nationwide. Their victory in the other branches was also tight. Usually, when one party has a tiny majority, they recognize that governing requires compromise. Not this majority. Less than two months into controlling the House despite promising to solve problems and restore democracy Democrats have proven that their primary goal is not governing, but grievance the politics of censorship, not common ground. In January, they eliminated the Motion to Recommit the last chance for the minority to improve legislation without a single Republican vote. Already, millions have lost their voice in Congress due to this brazen partisanship. What Democrats are doing this week is even worse. Today, they will hold a subcommittee hearing that will focus on broadcasters and cable news devotion to journalistic integrity. This explanation should concern every American. It has never been Congresss role to define and enforce journalistic standards. The First Amendment expressly prohibits the government from controlling what the press says. But Democrats are trying to give themselves the power to dictate what you can read and watch in your own home. And their assault on free speech goes beyond todays disgraceful hearing. On Monday, Representatives Eshoo and McNerney sent a letter to 12 cable, streaming, and satellite companies essentially threatening them to remove Fox News, Newsmax, and One America News Network from the airwaves. Here is just a quick snapshot of the answers theyre demanding from the carriers: What moral or ethical principles do you apply in deciding which channels to carry or when to take adverse actions against a channel? What steps did you take 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? Are you planning to continue carrying Fox News, Newsmax, and One America News Network both now and beyond any contract renewal date? If so, why? These are Members of Congress who are using their official positions to coerce and control the information Americans can watch and access in their homes. They are demanding more censorship, more deplatforming, and more control over what Americans can watch. In their letter, Eshoo and McNerney suggest that censorship is necessary because conservative views are not only different they are dangerous. This is not only false, it is the same script used in countries like China to silence speech they disagree with. Democrats would bring those same socialist standards to America. Yet those standards are dangerous, vague, and easily abused. They have no place here. Democrats actions this week make it clear that the greatest threat to free speech today is not a law from Congress, which is bound by the First Amendment. The greatest threat is politicians who bully private companies to silence dissenting views. Lastly, beyond these serious threats to free speech, the irony of Democrats actions this week should not be lost on us. For the last four years, we were told that the greatest danger to free speech was President Trump. To underscore this accusation, a liberal legacy newspaper in Washington adopted its first official slogan: Democracy dies in darkness. As usual, the heated rhetoric from the other side was off base badly. The same party that is now worried about misinformation rumor mills and conspiracy theory hotbeds was comfortable with endorsing destructive and false narratives for four years. Back in August, Rep. Eshoo herself baselessly alleged that the Trump Administration was intentionally attacking the U.S. Postal Service. She called it election theft and a campaign of sabotage. How about Rep. Schiff? For years, he said he had more than circumstantial evidence of Russian collusion. That was false. Nonetheless, networks like MSNBC continued to perpetuate the baseless accusation. Or how about Speaker Pelosi, who said in 2017 Our election was hijacked. There is no question. Mr. Speaker The American people are capable of making decisions about how best to live their lives. They deserve to decide how to take care of their families or open their businesses during a pandemic. And they deserve to decide to watch the news, judge the information they choose, and draw their own conclusions about its accuracy. They need us to trust them, not try to control them. If Democrats accepted robust debate, they would find that more people would trust Washington. I yield back. The Newsmaker of the Day is heard every weekday morning at 6:45, 7:45 and 8:45 on AM 1450 and FM 102.7 KVML. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 2) The Department of Health says the Health Technology Assessment Council is set to come out with its recommendations on the Sinovac vaccine. Speaking at the Laging Handa breifing on Tuesday, Health Spokesperson Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said assessments are done as soon as documents are received. "As soon as NITAG (National Immunization Technical Advisory Group) has received the document from FDA, natanggap na rin po ng HTAC ang dokumento at sila rin ay nag-aaral na. Pero kailangan po maintindihan ng ating mga kababayan, HTAC is an economic tool," she said. [Translation: As soon as NITAG has received the document from FDA, HTAC does too, and they conduct their own studies. But we must understand that HTAC is an economic tool.] Vergeire said HTAC studies government's efficiency in procuring or receiving vaccines, and as such, their studies are separate from the FDA. "HTAC is already reviewing. They are set to come out with their recommendations this week," she said but did not specify what day it would come out. Vergeire added that under the law, the donated vaccines do not have to undergo HTAC as there was no cost component from the government. Over the weekend, Vice President Leni Robredo said Sinovac vaccines should have undergone health technology assessment first. This was refuted by Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque who said the health technology assessment process is only recommendatory to the Department of Health and PhilHealth under the measure. Robredo's comment drew the ire of President Rodrigo Duterte. "Masyado kang apurado [You're too much in a hurry]," he said. "Nagdududa ka kasi na nagpabakuna na ako kasama ng sundalo... 'Yun talaga ang ano mo. [That's because you think I was already vaccinated along with the soldiers That's what you're getting at.] You seem to have an angel face but a devilish mind," he said during his weekly public address Monday night. Ben Higgins is best known for his time on the 11th season of The Bachelorette and starring in the 20th season of The Bachelor. After the lead role, the reality star attempted to throw his hat into a more political ring a seat in the Colorado House of Representatives. However, shortly after he filed the paperwork, Higgins posted a statement to his campaign website announcing that he would be pulling out of the race. Ben Higgins | Rick Rowell/Walt Disney Television via Getty Images Former Bachelor Ben Higgins decides to run for the Colorado House of Representatives In a Jan. 2016 episode of the Bachelor Party podcast, host Juliet Litman tells Higgins she thinks he should run for office (as reported by Jezebel). When youre ready, I think that you should run for public office in the state of Indiana, or Colorado, she tells him. I just think that you would win. Im fairly certain you would win. All right, he responds, after asking if she was serious (she was). Well, when I do, can we make the announcement well I should say, if I do, I havent really ever thought about that but if I do, can we make the announcement on your podcast? 100%, said Litman. I cant wait. Thanks @DustinOlson, there will be a lot to consider and think about the next few days/weeks. https://t.co/mzVMOb9jB9 Benjamin Higgins (@benhiggi) June 2, 2016 RELATED: The Bachelorette: The Real Reason Clare Crawley Canceled that Group Date Then in May, William B. Pinkston (then-Republican candidate for the seat Higgins ended up filing for) said in a statement that hed withdraw if the former bachelor decided to run. Ben is the only Republican in the district I would step aside for, he said in a statement sent to The Denver Post on May 31 by political consultant Dustin Olson. Hes a great guy and likely the only other Republican who can win. Ben Higgins very brief go at politics On July 21, 2016, Higgins filed the paperwork for his official campaign. I am definitely not a politician, but I have a lot to offer through my years in the financial services industry and, more importantly, my work in charitable and humanitarian organizations, Higgins said in a statement at the time. 'Bachelor' Ben Higgins running for Colorado state house https://t.co/FWpAWBeaP1 pic.twitter.com/enya2Hn9A9 FOX31 Denver KDVR (@KDVR) July 16, 2016 RELATED: The Bachelorette: Was Clare Crawleys Season Edited in a Purposefully Unflattering Light? But the very next day, the reality star released a statement on his campaign website saying hed be withdrawing from the race due to circumstances beyond [his] control. I regret that I must withdraw my candidacy. Despite my best efforts to pursue this opportunity in good faith, I recently received information that has made such a pursuit unworkable. Due to circumstances beyond my control, I will not be able to move forward as a candidate. I find solace in knowing that our intentions and actions have been fair and sincere. I entered into this endeavor wanting to bring positive change to my community, and it is with that same spirit that I will move forward, albeit on a different path. Ben Higgins Why did the former Bachelor suddenly drop out? Its still speculative as to why Higgins dropped out so suddenly. But the main theory seems to be that ABC didnt want to get involved in politics. National Political Editor & D.C. Correspondent Joe St. George tweeted his thoughts on the matter at the time. Basically source close to @benhiggi says ABC was scared of having politics in franchise, would have cost him millions #copolitics Joe St. George (@JoeStGeorge) July 22, 2016 Basically source close to @benhiggi says ABC was scared of having politics in franchise, would have cost him millions, he tweeted. Things I learned from Bachelor Ben source-Disney lawyers very powerful and dont want their hit franchises muddied with politics, he added. With everything thats going on in Bachelor Nation currently, its clear that being scared of having politics in [the] franchise didnt get the hit reality series anywhere. ABC appears to be at a crossroads where its viewers are expecting them to take a stance. 404 The latest news on COVID-19 developments in Canada (all times eastern): This undated electron microscope image made available by the U.S. National Institutes of Health in February 2020 shows the Novel Coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, yellow, emerging from the surface of cells, blue/pink, cultured in the lab. Also known as 2019-nCoV, the virus causes COVID-19. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP, NIAID-RML The latest news on COVID-19 developments in Canada (all times eastern): 6:30 p.m. Alberta is easing COVID-19 restrictions on indoor fitness centres and libraries. However, it is delaying lifting measures for hotels, banquet halls, community halls and conference centres. Premier Jason Kenney says there has been a sharp decline in hospitalizations and cases in long-term care homes. However, he says caution is needed because the test positivity rate and cases of new, more transmissible variants are rising. Chief medical officer Dr. Deena Hinshaw says there were 291 new cases reported in the past day along with two additional deaths. There are 257 people in hospital, including 48 in intensive care. 5:05 p.m. Ontario is asking the federal government for guidance on whether it can extend the interval between the first and second dose of its COVID-19 vaccines to four months. The province is making the request today in a joint statement from Health Minister Christine Elliott and Solicitor General Sylvia Jones. They say there is growing evidence to suggest that the intervals for the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines can be safely extended. British Columbia says today that it will extend the time between first and second doses of COVID-19 vaccine to four months. 4:45 p.m. The only Nunavut community with cases of COVID-19 has extended its state of emergency until March 9. The community of Arviat declared a state of emergency Feb. 24 after COVID-19 cases continued to rise. The orders include a nightly curfew between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. Arviat Mayor Joe Savikataaq Jr. says bylaw officers continue to patrol the streets 24 hours a day and four additional officers have been hired to enforce the curfew. The state of emergency was set to expire March 2. There are eight cases of COVID-19 in Arviat. 4:05 p.m. Officials say there are 154 new cases of COVID-19 in Saskatchewan. There are 151 people in hospital, with 21 people in intensive care. The Ministry of Health says to date, around 79,200 vaccinations have been done. 1:55 p.m. British Columbia will extend the time between first and second doses of COVID-19 vaccine to four months, freeing up more supply to target younger age groups earlier. Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry says the first dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines has been shown to provide miraculous protection of 90 per cent. Starting next Monday, seniors aged 90 and up can call to book their appointment for a vaccine, followed a week later by those aged 85 and over, and a week after that by those 80 and over. Henry says first responders and essential workers may be eligible to get vaccinated starting in April as the province also decides on a strategy for the newly authorized AstraZeneca vaccine. 1:55 p.m. Manitoba is releasing new data that shows COVID-19 infections have disproportionately impacted Indigenous and Black people, as well as other people of colour in the province. Dr. Brent Roussin, chief provincial public health officer, says its largely linked to pre-existing inequities like housing and employment. There was one more death and 35 more cases of the novel coronavirus Monday. Manitoba vaccines became available for the general population last week depending on age. Roussin says the age has now expanded for people born in 1930 and earlier and First Nations people born in 1950 and earlier. 1:40 p.m. New Brunswick is reporting one new case of COVID-19 today. Health officials say the case involves a person in their 30s in the Miramichi region. There are 36 active reported cases in the province and two people are hospitalized with the disease, both in intensive care. The number of confirmed cases in New Brunswick since the onset of the pandemic is 1,431 and there have been 27 deaths. 12:50 p.m. York Region says it registered 20,000 COVID-19 vaccine appointments within two hours of opening its booking system to the public today. Its one of several Ontario regions offering shots to residents aged 80 and older, weeks ahead of the scheduled start of the larger, provincewide campaign for that age group. Hamilton is warning of long wait times on its phone lines as clinics for residents 85 and older begin. Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph is encouraging eligible people to book vaccine appointments online as its phone line is at capacity. 12:45 p.m. Newfoundland and Labrador is reporting two new cases of COVID-19 today. Health officials say both cases are close contacts of previously reported infections and involve people under 20 years old. Chief medical officer of health Dr. Janice Fitzgerald says both cases are in the eastern health region, where officials have been battling an outbreak in St. Johns. The Avalon region, which includes the capital, remains under lockdown, while the rest of the province has moved to the less restrictive alert level four. 12:40 p.m. Nova Scotia is reporting one new case of COVID-19 today. Health officials say the new case is in the Halifax area and involves a close contact of a previously reported infection. Officials say two people are in hospital with the disease and both are in intensive care. Nova Scotia has 35 active reported infections. As of Sunday, the province had administered 32,856 doses of COVID-19 vaccine, with 12,845 people having received a booster shot. 12:15 p.m. Nunavut is reporting one new case of COVID-19 today. The new case is in the western Hudson Bay community of Arviat, the only place in Nunavut with active known COVID-19 cases. Chief public health officer Dr. Michael Patterson says Arviat is on the right track to contain the spread. Arviat has been under a strict lockdown since November, with all schools and non-essential businesses closed. There are eight active reported cases of COVID-19 in Nunavut, all in Arviat. 11:15 a.m. Quebec is reporting 613 new cases of COVID-19 today and six more deaths attributed to the novel coronavirus, including one within the past 24 hours. Health officials say hospitalizations rose by 11, to 612, while the number of people in intensive care rose by five, to 122. Officials say 6,308 doses of vaccine were administered Sunday, for a total of 438,815. Quebec has reported a total of 288,353 COVID-19 infections and 10,399 deaths linked to the virus. 10:40 a.m. Ontario is reporting 1,023 new cases of COVID-19 today and six more deaths attributed to the novel coronavirus. Health Minister Christine Elliott says of the new cases, 280 are in Toronto, 182 are in Peel Region and 72 are in Ottawa. Ontario says 939 more cases were resolved since the last daily report. More than 17,000 doses of a COVID-19 vaccine were administered in the province since Sunday's update. This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 1, 2021. The subcompact crossover has a length of 4,180 mm, width of 1,775 mm, and a wheelbase of 2,580 mm, which means that the Hyundai Bayon and the Kona are the same size. However, the Bayon appears to be a bit bigger thanks to the design treatment. The third lateral window and the C-pillars are proportionally larger than those of the Kona. Another design cue to make the Bayon especially attractive is a premium, high-tech styling typical of the brand's latest models. Weve seen this already with the Renault Captur, Seat Arona or VW T-Roc , but the Hyundai Bayon seems to push the trend further.The name of the car should be appealing, especially for European customers since it was inspired by a popular holiday location in France, known as Bayonne (capital of the so-called Basque Country). Designer Luc Donckerwolke himself (yes, the same man who penned the Lamborghini Murcielago, now Chief Creative Officer at Hyundai Motor Group) praises his creation: With its sharp look and integration of Hyundais SUV key design elements, Bayon solidifies Hyundais SUV design direction.Some very special colors were prepared by the design team to better underline the Bayons model identity. The Mangrove Green Pearl (with optional Phantom Black roof) is a striking example in this respect.At this point, there is nothing really special regarding the engine range. The mild-hybrid powertrain with a 48V electrical system features a 1.0-liter T-GDi that belongs to the Kappa engine family and is available with power versions of 100 PS (99 hp) and 120 PS (118 hp). It can be mated with the 6-speed manual gearbox or a 7-speed dual clutch transmission (7DCT). Please enable cookies on your web browser in order to continue. The new European data protection law requires us to inform you of the following before you use our website: We use cookies and other technologies to customize your experience, perform analytics and deliver personalized advertising on our sites, apps and newsletters and across the Internet based on your interests. By clicking I agree below, you consent to the use by us and our third-party partners of cookies and data gathered from your use of our platforms. See our Privacy Policy and Third Party Partners to learn more about the use of data and your rights. You also agree to our Terms of Service. A $6.6 billion reopening plan announced Monday for California schools comes with significant strings attached, requirements that could mean many Bay Area districts might see millions of dollars cut out of their cash windfall. The deal between Gov. Gavin Newsom and the Legislature would provide $4.6 billion to help schools navigate reopening and learning loss amid an ongoing pandemic, with money paying for staffing, ventilation, supplies, summer school or even an extended school year, with the condition it be spent by Aug. 31, 2022. There is also another $2 billion for districts that reopen for in-person instruction by April 1, with specific requirements depending on whether a county is in the states most restrictive purple tier or the less restrictive red tier. Schools that reopen after April 1 will lose 1% of funding each day they remain closed, up until May 15. Its unclear whether many Bay Area districts will be able to meet the reopening timeline set by the legislation. Though I wish it could, the governors announcement does not change our timeline because there are still many steps we need to take to get there, and many of those arent expedited even with financial incentives, said San Francisco Unified spokeswoman Gentle Blythe. We are getting closer each day. But the state plan puts increasing pressure on districts to return. Already, Bay Area parents are rallying for reopenings, with Zoom in protests, pushes to recall hesitant school board members and a lawsuit to push for in-person learning. With the state funds and the timeline, Bay Area school districts and teachers unions whose members are slowly getting vaccinated will likely feel heat to return to the classroom. State officials declined to provide estimates on how much money each district could get, given the amounts would vary depending on the number of low-income families, English learners and foster youth enrolled. The $6.6 billion equals about $1,100 per student. I think that creating powerful incentives for districts to move urgently is really important, said Oakland school board President Shanthi Gonzales. I dont know if well have everybody back in school by April 1, but we can at least have our vulnerable students and some of our elementary students. To get a full share, a district in the red tier must reopen elementary schools to all grades as well as one middle or high school grade, in addition to any child who is homeless, in foster care, lacks learning technology, has been chronically absent, is at risk of abuse or exploitation or who is an English learner. No ones compelling anybody, Newsom said during a Monday news conference. Were providing supports. We want schools to safely reopen. Period, full stop. Ive been saying this for months. The California Teachers Association praised the legislation for a commitment to safety and vaccinations, but labor officials said they would continue to push for testing and other mitigation measures. This pandemic has been difficult and wearing on all of us, and it is going to continue to take all of us to make opening our schools for in-person instruction safe, stable and successful, said President E. Toby Boyd. We are reviewing the proposals details more closely, and we look forward to working with local educators as they negotiate with districts to safely reopen for in-person teaching and learning beginning in one month. Others criticized the effort, saying it will take more than money to reopen schools. This isnt a breakthrough, its a failure, said Pat Reilly, a Berkeley parent and an advocate with OpenSchoolsCA, in a statement. There will still be closed schools and kids left behind a month from now and months afterwards until the governor, Legislature or the courts force them open. For districts already open for in-person learning or close to reopening, the governors announcement was great news. The governors plan is in alignment with our efforts to begin reopening elementary schools this Thursday, so we are pleased with the outcome, said Pleasanton Superintendent David Haglund. In Berkeley, Superintendent Brent Stephens said the district could see about $5 million from the deal and is poised to start reopening by the end of March. COVID Resources Coronavirus Map Tracking COVID-19 cases across the Bay Area and California. I do think well able to meet the criteria, he said, adding that the funding is critical to help the districts 10,000 students now and over the next two years in post-pandemic schools. Everything right now helps. Yet, across the Bay Area, many districts remained in remote learning, mired in labor talks and logistical issues. In San Francisco, which is expected to reach the red tier this week, the school district would have one month to reopen schools for up to 30,000 students if it wants to get all the available state funding. Out of the $4.6 billion, the citys school district would be eligible for about $40 million based on estimates with another $17 million if schools reopen as required by April 1. Bringing back students within a month is a big ask, given that the district has yet to reach an agreement with the teachers union on what the school day will look like. In addition, the Department of Public Health must approve all schools for reopening, yet the district applied to reopen only 13 of 64 elementary schools, and health officials have inspected six sites. We are grateful for the recognition that our public schools need more resources to serve our students during the pandemic, Blythe said. Make no mistake, we share the urgency to offer in-person instruction to as many students as soon as possible. Oakland Unified, which is eligible for an estimated $40 million from the state incentive program, is also negotiating for teachers to return to classrooms. About $12 million hinges on whether schools can start to reopen in less than a month. Its a big chunk of change, Gonzales said. I dont want to leave any money on the table. Jill Tucker is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jtucker@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @jilltucker Flash No matter how the regional and international landscapes may evolve, and what challenges and risks may arise, China will continue to work with Pakistan to cement their ironclad friendship, Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi said in a signed article published on a Pakistani newspaper Tuesday. This year marks the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Pakistan. Wang said that in a world of drastic changes unseen in a century, deepening China-Pakistan strategic cooperation is the natural option, and China will continue to work with Pakistan to build an even closer community with a shared future in the new era, according to the article titled "An Ironclad Friendship Growing Stronger in the New Era." In the article published on The Express Tribune, Wang said that "the two countries have stood together, rain or shine, and built an exceptional, ironclad friendship" in the seven decades since the diplomatic relations were established in 1951, which has become a strategic asset, most dearly cherished by both sides. Wang noted that the China-Pakistan friendship has a time-honored history, enjoys a solid foundation and has deep roots among the two peoples. "In times of hardship, one always extends a helping hand to the other as early as possible. Such mutual support and assistance have no strings attached, and are pure acts of goodwill and friendship," he said. Wang said the high-level exchanges between the two countries are frequent while the practical cooperation is fruitful. Under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, "70 early-harvest projects have been identified, among which 46 have been launched or completed. A total of $25.4 billion has been invested, creating 70,000 jobs for Pakistan," he said. Wang said the people-to-people exchanges between the two countries are booming, the cooperation on multilateral occasions is close and the friendship has withstood the test of the sudden onslaught of COVID-19, and has emerged even stronger. "During this year, China and Pakistan will inaugurate grand and warm celebrations to honor the 70th anniversary of diplomatic relations, including high-level visits, business exchanges and cultural activities," Wang added. On Tuesday, a virtual ceremony was simultaneously held in China and Pakistan to formally commence the celebrations of the 70th anniversary of diplomatic relations. "Both countries will be organizing a series of events throughout the year to commemorate this historic milestone in a befitting manner," the Foreign Ministry of Pakistan said on Monday. Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-03 00:34:53|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close RAMALLAH, March 2 (Xinhua) -- The Palestinian Authority (PA) has addressed an official letter to Israel on holding the upcoming general elections in the Palestinian territories, said a senior PA official on Tuesday. The official, who declined to be named, told Xinhua that the official letter included a request to allow holding the elections in East Jerusalem. He said the PA is waiting for Israel's official response to the letter. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has announced that the 2021 general elections will include legislative elections on May 22, presidential elections on July 31, and the Palestinian National Council elections on Aug. 31. The last Palestinian presidential elections were held in March 2005, and the legislative elections in January 2006, where Palestinian residents of East Jerusalem were allowed by Israel to participate in racing and voting. Enditem The company, which has about 1,700 employees at its stores, Loop headquarters and Forest Park distribution center, started with a single Chicago store in 1983. It grew to more than 160 stores by last spring after buying 27 leases from its bankrupt rival Papyrus. At the time, CEO Winnie Park said the company had never closed a single store. Weeks later, all were forced to close during the pandemic. A teacher who was found face down wrapped in his duvet died from natural causes, an inquest was told. Ramsay Urquhart, who grew up in Inverness and met his wife in China where he taught English, was found dead at his east London flat in April 2019. The 33-year-old diabetic had only been in London for two weeks looking for work and, just four days before his body was found, he had complained to the Metropolitan Police about being plagued by pranksters. Authorities have since confirmed that there is 'nothing to suggest this is anything other than a natural cause'. But Mr Urquhart's father, Murdo, has alleged that there was some kind of cover-up over his son's death and lodged a complaint with the Independent Office for Police Conduct. Ramsay Urquhart, who grew up in Inverness and met his wife Pan Ei Phyu (pictured together on their wedding day) in China where he taught English, was found dead at his east London flat in April 2019 Police broke into his Mr Urquhart's flat after his family expressed concern for his welfare. Officers found him face down, wrapped in a duvet and wearing trousers and a T-shirt. He had been dead for a matter of days and bodily fluids had pooled in his body, leading to a degree of decomposition. Rather than being bruised, his body was showing signs of discolouration caused by a process known as hypostasis, the inquest in Sunderland was told. An ambulance worker who attended the scene was shocked to find he was white as she initially thought he was a 'person of colour', the inquest heard. Pathologist Dr Rowena Smith carried out a post mortem on April 26 - eight days after he was found. The 33-year-old diabetic (pictured previously) had only been in London for two weeks looking for work and, just four days before his body was found, he had complained to the Metropolitan Police about being plagued by pranksters She ruled out foul play having examined the body and said the cause of death was 'unascertained'. The coroner heard it was likely he had suffered a diabetic attack or he could have had Sudden Adult Death Syndrome. Mr Urquhart had previously experienced hypoglycaemic episodes which put him in hospital. Sweets and fizzy drinks were found in the room, the inquest heard. Home Office pathologist Dr Jennifer Bolton reviewed the post mortem and was confident that Mr Urquhart had not suffered bruising and the discolouration was due to the pooled bodily fluids. 'Ultimately we have nothing to suggest this is anything other than a natural cause,' she said. 'The difficulty is knowing which natural cause.' Mr Urquhart had complained to the Metropolitan Police about being plagued by pranksters just four days before he was found dead. He had published his phone number to get teaching work and was being called repeatedly by 'kids' who called him 'Gordon Ramsay', the inquest heard. PC Nikki Yianni spoke to Mr Urquhart and told the hearing she and a colleague were with him for around 45 minutes, speaking to him in their patrol car, and that at one point she took one of the prank calls herself and told the hoaxer they needed to stop. She said Mr Urquhart was alive and well when they parted and he was content with the police's actions. His grieving father, who was watching the hearing via a videolink, has alleged there was some kind of cover-up about his son's death and lodged a complaint with the Independent Office for Police Conduct. 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. Workers are ween inside the production chain at a semiconductor manufacturing factory in Beijing, China on May 14, 2020. (Nicolas Asfouri/AFP via Getty Images) Chinas $18.5 Billion Semiconductor Investment Project Fails, Employees Asked to Resign An $18.5 billion semiconductor manufacturing project in Wuhan City backed by the Chinese regime has failed, with employees having been asked to resign before Feb. 28. Anonymous sources from Wuhan Hongxin Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Ltd. (HSMC) told Caixin its employees submitted resignation applications before Feb. 28 and completed the departure clearance before March 5. The notice was sent to the 240-member internal group chat with on Feb. 26. The company, which was once touted as the Chinese Communist Partys key to becoming a self-sufficient chipmaker, made clear that it had no plan for resumption of work and production. Reports said that the company did not offer an explanation or any compensation plan. Employees felt it hard to accept. One was quoted in the report as saying that I did not expect HSMC to fail so quickly as there has been speculation that companies like Xiaomi or Huawei might take over. Launched in November 2017, HSMC alleged to receive 128 billion yuan ($18.5 billion) investment, with 10 percent directly funded by the Dongxihu district government in Wuhan, to turn Wuhan into a semiconductor manufacturing hub. HSMC was highly valued by local officials and listed as a provincial-level major project in Hubei Province in 2018 and 2019, and a Wuhan city-level major project in 2020. Wuhan is the capital city of central Chinas Hubei Province. The company claimed on its official website, which was closed on Feb. 28, to have experience in making chips using 14-and 7-nanometer technology and smaller, and be able to produce 30,000 chips per month. Several leading chip scientists from Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, including executive Chiang Shang-yi, was poached when the phase one factory site was partially completed. However, a telltale sign that the company had an irreconcilable gap in funding surfaced in November 2019. HSMC was involved in a dispute with Wuhan Huanyu, an engineering firm building the factory as a subcontractor, due to the delayed payments. The project was then halted after the local court suspended the right to use the land for the next three years. In November 2020, the two-year-old company was taken over by the Dongxihu district government, due to a large funding gap and the risk of break in the capital chain at any time, the local government report stated (.pdf). Soon after, Chiang, the former CEO of HSMC, confirmed to the South China Morning Post that he had resigned in June, describing his experience with HSMC as a nightmare. A mainland China media outlet commented that HSMC was a multi-billion dollar fraud. The actual paid-up capital was zero by the previous major shareholderBeijing Guangliang Lantu Technology Companywhile hundreds of millions in capital flowed from local government. The two founders of the chipmaking project, Cao Shan and Li Xueyan, did not have any semiconductor manufacturing background. The analysis attributed the reason that HSMC could gain tremendous capital with almost zero credential to the Chinese regimes rush to pump up its semiconductor industry. HSMC is not the first setback to the CCPs ambition to be self-sufficient in the technological field in the next five years. In the past year, at least six chipmaking projects went belly-up, and each received billions in investment, according to CCPs mouthpiece Outlook Weekly. Previously, Wang Zhijun, the vice minister of Chinas Industry and Information Technology, expressed concerns about the short-sighted investment and abandoned projects in the Chinese semiconductor industry. US President Joe Biden paid tribute to his Irish ancestors as he officially proclaimed this month as Irish American Heritage Month at the White House on Monday. The tradition, which began in 1991, holds special resonance for Biden whose ancestors on both sides of his family hail from Ireland. In his speech, he paid tribute to his ancestors whom he described as Irish immigrants (who) arrived on our shores with an unyielding spirit of determination that has helped define Americas soul and shape our success across generations. "Driven by the same dreams that still beckon people the world over to America today, so many crossed the Atlantic with nothing but the hope in their hearts and their faith in the possibility of a better life. Thats what brought the Blewitts from Co Mayo and the Finnegans of Co Louth to the United States, he said of his parents forebearers. "For years, they brought Ireland into their homes in America. Working hard. Raising families. Remembering always where they came from. "By 1909, my grandparents Ambrose Finnegan and Geraldine Blewitt met and married in Scranton, Pennsylvania, and passed on to my mother, Catherine Eugenia Finnegan Biden, a pride and a passion that runs through the bloodstream of all Irish-Americans. The story of the Irish the world over is one of people who have weathered their fair share of hard times, but have always come out strong on the other side. "From often humble beginnings, Irish Americans became the farmers, servants, miners, factory workers, and laborers who fed our nation, kept our homes, and built our industry and infrastructure. "They became the soldiers who won American independence, died to preserve our Union, and fought in every battle since to defend America and its values. He paid tribute to the Irish Americans who became the firefighters and police officers who have protected us. "They are the activists who organised unions to give voice and strength to Americas workers. They are the educators who taught generations of American students and the public servants who have answered the call to service in the halls of the Congress, the Supreme Court, and the White House. He also said the US owes a debt of gratitude to the Irish-American inventors and entrepreneurs who helped define America as the land of opportunity. "Irish-American writers pollinated Americas literary landscape with their love of language and storytelling, while Irish lyricism has brought poetry, art, music, and dance to nourish our hearts and souls, he said. He cited his visit to Dublin in 2016 when he spoke of how our nations have always shared a deep spark linked in memory and imagination, joined by our histories and our futures. Everything between us runs deep: literature, poetry, sadness, joy, and, most of all, resilience. "Through every trial and tempest, we never stop dreaming. The fabric of modern America is woven through with the green of the Emerald Isle, he added. Advertisement At least 13 people were killed Tuesday morning when an SUV stuffed with 25 suspected undocumented immigrants, including children, collided with a semi-truck in Southern California. The crash occurred on State Route 115 in the area of El Centro, 10 miles north of the US-Mexico border, at around 6:15am local time, authorities said. The SUV, a maroon Ford Expedition carrying 25 passengers, had been driving westbound on Norrish Road when it traveled 'in the direct path' of a gravel truck heading northbound on 115. Twelve people were found dead at the scene, including the driver of the Ford, and another victim died after arriving at El Centro Regional Medical Center, California Highway Patrol Chief Omar Watson said. An area hospital had initially said at least 15 had died, but CHP later clarified the numbers. Several other passengers of the SUV were also hurt, including an undisclosed number of children. At least five of the injured were airlifted from the scene, three of whom are currently in intensive care at the trauma center of Desert Regional Medical Center in Palm Springs. The dead include some Mexican citizens, officials said, who ranged in age between 20 and 55. The injured, meanwhile, are aged between 16 and 55. Earlier Tuesday, chief executive officer of El Centro Regional, Dr. Adolphe Edward, said he believed that all the victims in the SUV were undocumented migrants. The claim is yet to be confirmed by authorities. Scroll down for video A Ford Expedition SUV (seen above) reported to be carrying 27 passengers on board had been travelling westbound on Norrish Road when it traveled 'in the direct path' of a gravel truck heading northbound on 115 A spokesman for the California Highway Patrol said that the driver of the truck suffered only minor injuries. It's unclear if he sought treatment at a hospital Several other passengers of the SUV were hurt, including an undisclosed number of children Dr. Adolphe Edward, the chief executive officer of El Centro Regional, said he believed that all the victims in the SUV were undocumented migrants Twelve people were found dead at the scene, Judy Cruz, the managing director of the emergency department at the El Centro Regional Medical Center said at a news conference All lanes of northbound and southbound SR-115 at Norrish Road are closed, and motorists are told to avoid the area A spokesman for the California Highway Patrol said that the driver of the semi truck suffered moderate injuries and was also hospitalized. He is expected to survive. It's unclear if the SUV had stopped at a stop sign before crossing into the path of the semi truck around 6:15am, CHP Chief Watson said. The truck struck the left side of the SUV, which appeared to have been pushed off the road. 'It would be premature for me to speculate or discuss what caused this collision. What we have to keep in mind is that 13 people died in this crash,' Watson said. 'Its a very sad situation.' Twenty-five passengers were inside the Ford Expedition at the time of impact. The older-model Ford should only fit six people, Watson said. 'Obviously, that vehicle's not meant for that many people,' he added. 'It's unfortunate that that many people were put into that vehicle because theres not enough safety constraints to safely keep those people in that vehicle.' Numerous people were ejected from the vehicle, while others 'were able to pull themselves' out of the wreck, according to Watson. Injuries are said to vary in severity from fractures, to chest injuries, to head traumas. Macario Mora, a spokesman for Customs and Border Protection in Yuma and El Centro, told KTLA his department is assisting with the investigation into the crash. He said the immigration status of those in the SUV was unknown and is currently being investigated. 'It was an unusual number of people in an SUV, but we dont know who they were,' Mora said. 'They might have just been farmworkers' - not necessarily undocumented. The California Highway Patrol is working with the Mexican consulate to 'determine who exactly was in the vehicle' in the hopes of identifying next of kin, Watson said. 'It's important to me is to make sure the families are notified and that we do a thorough investigation so that we know what the cause of the collision was,' he said. It's unclear if the SUV had stopped at a stop sign before crossing into the path of the semi truck around 6:15am Numerous people were ejected from the vehicle on impact, with injuries varying in severity from fractures to head traumas Macario Mora, a spokesman for Customs and Border Protection in Yuma and El Centro, told KTLA his department is assisting with the investigation into the crash Fifteen first responders from Imperial County, five fire engines and a helicopter all responded to the initial call Cruz said during Tuesday's press conference that officials believe the SUV was carrying 25 passengers on board when it struck the semi truck 'full of gravel' At least two other fatal accidents have happened at the same location, according to UC Berkeley's Transportation Injury Mapping System Seven people were taken to El Centro Regional Medical Center, where one person has since died The site of the crash is in southeastern California, about 10 miles east of El Centro and about 10 miles north of the Mexican border The Imperial County Fire Department was called to a 'mass fatality incident' just after 6:15am, on Highway 115, at Norris Road Details surrounding what caused the crash were not immediately available, with the matter currently under investigation. However, for decades, there have been concerns about the high death toll in crashes along the California-Mexico border, the LA Times reported. Many of those wrecks are said to have involved immigrants trying to cross into the US, with a significant number of crashes occurring during chases by American law enforcement. Of more than 500 pursuits conducted by US Border Patrol between 2015 and 2018 across California, Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona, one in three ended in a crash. There is no evidence to suggest Tuesday's collision involved a chase. A spokesperson for Customs and Border Protection told DC Examiner journalist Anna Giaritelli that CBP personnel were not involved in the collision, she tweeted. Dr. Edward, meanwhile called the incident a 'major accident, with major trauma'. 'The patients are of course going through a little bit of a difficult time as you can imagine,' he said. 'We are taking care of them in the emergency room department.' Dr. Shavonne Borchardt, also of El Centro Regional, said injuries ranged from fractures to life-threatening head and chest injuries. 'Our staff has done a tremendous job getting everything ready for these patients and being able to handle them and get them transferred out to the appropriate places as soon as possible, or if we can take care of them here, theyre being well taken care of as well,' Borchardt said. A spokesperson for Customs and Border Protection told DC Examiner journalist Anna Giaritelli that CBP personnel were not involved in the collision Details surrounding what caused the crash were not immediately available, with the matter currently under investigation There is no evidence to suggest Tuesday's collision involved a chase with law enforcement Hugo Castro leaves crosses at the scene of a deadly crash in Holtville, California, on Tuesday, March 2 Crucifixes and anti-Border Patrol flyers, left by an activist, are seen near the scene of the crash At least five were airlifted from the scene, three of whom are currently in intensive care at the Desert Regional Medical Center in Palm Springs Senator Diane Feinstein (D-San Francisco) tweeted that she has been left 'heartbroken' after hearing the news of the fatal crash. 'My office is closely monitoring the situation as we learn more about this horrific crash. My thanks to the Imperial County Fire Department and other first responders for their swift response and the various medical centers in the area that treated injured passengers,' she wrote. 'My thoughts are with the families of all those involved.' Fifteen first responders from Imperial County, five fire engines and a helicopter all responded to the initial call on Tuesday morning. The incident was escalated to a 'mass casualty event', which prompted a second-alarm response, with 25 additional personnel called to the scene along with at least four additional ambulances and four air helicopters. El Centro Fire Department units are also currently on the scene, along with Customs and Border Patrol officers, who are assisting the Imperial County Sheriffs Office. Video posted on social media that purports to show the crash's aftermath depicts a number of police, ambulance and fire vehicles surrounding the wreck. A jack-knifed truck hauling two trailers it is seen stationary in the middle of the road. It's currently unclear what speeds the two vehicles were traveling at when they collided. The speed limit for large trucks on the 155 is 55 mph. At least two other fatal accidents have happened at the same location previously, according to UC Berkeley's Transportation Injury Mapping System. The site of the crash is in southeastern California, about 10 miles east of El Centro and about 10 miles north of the Mexican border. All lanes of northbound and southbound SR-115 at Norrish Road remain closed as of Tuesday afternoon, and motorists are told to avoid the area. [March 02, 2021] Codat Announces Strategic Investments by PayPal Ventures and American Express Ventures NEW YORK, March 2, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Codat , the API-based platform for business data, today announced strategic investments from PayPal Ventures and American Express Ventures. Amex Ventures and PayPal join previous investor in Codat's Series A Index Ventures. Along with the announcement of these new investments, Codat also formally launched its U.S. operations. Codat is the fintech startup powering the small and medium business data ecosystem. Codat's API connects the tools and services that small businesses need for their operations and handles the heavy lifting of integrationsultimately leaving providers free to focus on improving their offerings for small businesses. "We're excited to welcome American Express Ventures and PayPal Ventures as investors to further our mission to make life easier for small businesses," said Codat founder and CEO Peter Lord. "It's clear that small businesses are the backbone of global economies, and in the next few years, we believe there will be a dramatic acceleration in the quality of financial products they are offered. We believe it starts with an industry-wide shift from siloed data to a more connected ecosystem.Our new investors further fuel our ambition to improve operations for SMBs everywhere." Codat was founded in London in 2017 to support small- and medium-sized businesses by providing a critical data exchange between SMBs and the financial institutions and fintechs that serve them. Codat customers include lenders, insurers, providers working in payments, point of sale software, corporate cards, debt collection, venture capital, automation, and expense management. "Small businesses continue to seek more intuitive financial services solutions," said Dana Eli-Lorch, Managing Director at Amex Ventures. "Codat's integrations have the potential to create value for financial providers, helping them deliver enhanced experiences and more efficient services for small and medium businesses." Zettle, a PayPal payments company that serves SMBs, leverages Codat's technology to transfer point of sale transaction data into their merchants' accounting software. This helps Zettle deliver a faster, more convenient experience for customers. "The data connectivity Codat enables is a game changer for small-to-medium businesses who want the flexibility to use their preferred tools to run and grow their business," said Peter Sanborn at PayPal Ventures. "Through Zettle's integration with Codat, we have seen first-hand how Codat drives important efficiencies for our mutual customers. We're excited to invest as Codat brings its solution to more businesses that are looking to streamline their data connectivity across multiple business software providers." ABOUT CODAT Codat is the fintech startup powering the SMB data ecosystem. Codat's API connects the tools and services that small businesses need for their operations and handles the heavy lifting of integrationsultimately leaving providers free to focus on improving their offerings for small businesses. Codat clients range from lenders to corporate card providers, and use cases span insurance to cashflow forecasting and more. Codat was founded in 2017 and has offices in London and New York. For more information visit www.codat.io Media Contact: Codat info@codat.io View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/codat-announces-strategic-investments-by-paypal-ventures-and-american-express-ventures-301238250.html SOURCE Codat [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Men shield themselves with umbrellas to hide from the scorching sun as they wait to send necessary supplies to family members at a Covid-19 quarantine camp in HCMC, March 2020. Photo by VnExpress/Quynh Tran. Temperature in the southern metropolis will rise to more than 35 degrees Celsius (95 degrees Fahrenheit) in the coming days, with UV levels expected to remain at a hazardous 10. Southern parts of Vietnam including Ho Chi Minh City are now experiencing dry season. "In the coming days, southern cities and provinces will suffer strong heat and scorching sunlight, with the highest temperature to surpass 35 degree Celcius," said Le Dinh Quyet, deputy head of the forecasting office under the Hydro-meteorological Observatory for the Southern Region. As predicted by the center, in the next 10 days, the average temperature in the city will remain around 24-35 degrees Celsius. In this period, skies would be less cloudy than normal or have no clouds at all. In the three days of March 1-3, the city's UV Index would reach the "very high" levels of 10-11. The UV Index is an international standard measurement of the strength of ultraviolet radiation from the sun. Between 0 and 3 is considered low and above 11 is deemed extreme with radiation that could burn skin and damage eyes within 20-30 minutes. American forecast services provider AccuWeather has made similar forecast, adding city air pollution reached unhealthy levels Monday and will remain unchanged for the next two days. During the last dry season, HCMC and southern Vietnam suffered different heat waves lasting from March to June, with HCMC spending days beneath the scorching sun as temperature rose to 37-38 degrees Celsius. President Michael D Higgins will sign mandatory hotel quarantine legislation into law early next week. The law change will see passengers arriving from 33 countries high risk countries as well as arrivals without a negative Covid test will have to undergo mandatory quarantine in hotels at their own expense for two weeks. The legislation was passed in the Dail last week after a Labour amendment to include all arrivals into the country was defeated. After President Higgins signs the legislation into law, the quarantine will come into effect as soon as possible. Read More The operational work is at an advantaged stage so soon after its signed into law it should come into operation as soon as possible, said a Government spokesperson. It is not yet clear how many facilities will be used, although it is understood that commercial discussions with certain providers are ongoing and are at an advanced stage. The topic was briefly mentioned at todays Cabinet meeting and it is understood that a procurement process is also ongoing. Minister Helen McEntee has said that because the passengers from high risk countries have not committed an offence, it would not be appropriate to have Gardai police the facilities. A one stop private security provider will instead monitor the facilities. Ireland is leading the EU on mandatory hotel quarantine and is has one of the fastest vaccine roll-outs in the bloc, Health Minister Stephen Donnelly said in the Seanad yesterday. He said Irish people need to see unity from their politicians, decrying claims that the vaccine roll-out in Ireland is a debacle or that mandatory quarantine is being introduced much too late. He added that it was simply not credible to suggest that the mandatory quarantine being brought in now is a case of better late than never. New Delhi, March 3 : The Congress has alleged that Manipur Governor Najma Heptulla is delaying the decision on disqualification of 12 Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLAs. Abhishek Manu Singhvi addressing a press conference in New Delhi flanked by former Manipur CM Ibobi Singh said, "Even after the September 2020 judgment of the High Court, which is under appeal now in the Supreme Court, but there is no stay, no order yet after more than five months, neither the Governor nor the Election Commission took any decision on the disqualification of 12 BJP MLAs." "This is nothing, but deliberate, unconstitutional, artificial delay to allow benefits to be reaped by a particular party," he added. The Congress alleged that after making the Government with the help of rebels, the BJP rewarded those very defecting MLAs, roughly 12 in number, with Parliamentary Secretary posts. They did not last too long and were removed after a few months because they realised that these posts are illegal, but what they did not realise was that subsequent to a judgment of the Supreme Court related to Assam in July 2017, where the apex court held that such laws appointing Assembly or Parliamentary Secretaries lie within the legislative competence and domain only of the Central Government and not the state. A petition was filed in the Manipur High Court, which ultimately following the Supreme Court judgment held that the Manipur law of 2012 under which these persons were appointed was stuck down. Immediately after that, under our constitutional provisions, especially Articles 190, 191, 192, a person, who has held or is holding the past or continue to hold any office of profit stands disqualified. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi also tweeted, "12 BJP Manipur MLAs should have been disqualified in 2018 in office of profit case. Now, the ECI says that Manipur Governor has already been instructed about the same but no action has been taken yet. Entirely unconstitutional of the Governor to protect BJP." -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text California Gov. Gavin Newsom speaks during a news conference on the campus of California State University-Los Angeles on Feb. 16, 2021. (Jae C. Hong/AP Photo) California Announces $6.6 Billion Deal to Accelerate School Reopenings California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced a $6.6 billion deal with state legislative leaders that will fund the reopening of some public school classrooms. The majority of the budget package will finance contact tracing efforts, school safety measures, and other aspects of returning to in-person instruction, with the rest to go toward expanding childrens opportunities to learn, with one example being summer school. To pressure districts into reopening faster, schools must offer in-person instruction to grades K-2 and all high-needs students, regardless of grade, by the end of March. If they dont, they stand to lose 1 percent of eligible funds for every day they delay. Single mothers, in particular, are celebrating I imagine this day, compared to many other previous days, Newsom, a Democrat, said at a press conference. So many of our kids and caregivers are celebrating this day because we all are united around coming back safely into the schools and helping with the social and emotional supports that our kids so desperately need. Part of the plan involves boosting the number of COVID-19 vaccine doses available to teachers, whose unions have pushed for vaccinations to precede a return to in-person learning. Assistant Principal Janette Van Gelderen, left, welcomes students at Newhall Elementary in Santa Clarita, Calif. on Feb. 25, 2021. (Marcio Jose Sanchez/AP Photo) But officials dont view vaccinations as a prerequisite for reopening, Newsom said, citing Dr. Anthony Fauci, a top federal health official, among others. Thats not my opinion. Thats the opinion of the CDC, Dr. Fauci, the opinion of educators and experts around the globe, including the opinion of President Joe Biden, he said. Studies conducted in multiple countries have shown that a return to in-person instruction did not drive a major increase in community transmission of the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, which causes the disease COVID-19. Schools in a number of states reopened last year for in-person instruction, with little impact. About 42.6 percent of U.S. primary students were attending in-person, everyday schooling as of Feb. 28, according to school data aggregator Burbio, including over 54 percent of K-5 students. But few schools in California have resumed such traditional schooling, the organization said in its latest update. Newsom made the announcement at Franklin Elementary School in the Elk Grove Unified School District, the fifth-largest in the state. The district was among the first to close its school doors last year; officials last week announced plans to reopen grades K-6 in mid-March and the rest of the grades next month. Volunteers sort recall mail to oust California Gov. Gavin Newsom, at Capital Campaigns Inc. in Newport Beach, Calif., on Jan 4, 2021. (John Fredricks/The Epoch Times) Republicans had blamed Democrats, who hold control of the governors mansion and both state legislative chambers, for not moving faster to reopen schools. For months, Republicans have been calling to reopen schools safely, in accordance with CDC guidance, Assembly Republican Leader Marie Waldron said last week. Yet, the Governors confusing and ineffective tier system is keeping schools closed and is causing hardship for parents and, most importantly, is causing irreparable harm to students. Newsom is facing a serious recall effort, in part because of backlash against his harsh orders during the pandemic; the restrictions havent prevented California from being the state with the most COVID-19 cases and the most deaths involving the disease. California is the most populous U.S. state. The special election to recall Newsom, who is in his first term, will likely be held by the fall, according to a senior adviser to the Recall Gavin 2020 effort. Welcome Guest! You Are Here: The death has occurred of Lesley Brennan Sallins Bridge, Sallins, Kildare / Kimmage, Dublin Brennan, Lesley, Sallins Bridge, Sallins, Co. Kildare and late of Kimmage, Dublin, February 28th 2021, peacefully after a short illness, at Naas Hospital, deeply regretted by her loving husband Raymond, son Jack, daughter Darcey, parents Fran and Kevin, brothers, sisters, brothers-in-law, sisters-in-law, nieces, nephews, relatives and friends. Rest In Peace Due to current government guidelines, a private family funeral will take place for Lesley. Those would have liked to attend the funeral, but due to the current restrictions cannot, please leave a personal message for the family in the condolence section below. Lesley's Funeral Service can be viewed on Thursday at 12 noon by clicking on the following link https://reillysfuneralhome.ie/webcam-clane/ The funeral cortege will be going via her residence at approx. 1.10pm en route to Newlands Cross Crematorium. Family flowers only please. Donations, if desired, to https://www.cancer.ie/ways-to-help/donate/donate Oliver Reilly Funeral Directors accept no responsibility for any live webcam interruptions or issues. The death has occurred of Stephen (Stafford) BRENNAN Knocknagee, Castledermot, Kildare / Carlow Brennan (Knocknagee, Castledermot, Co. Kildare) 26th February 2021, peacefully, at his home, Stephen (Stafford), predeceased by his brother Ted, sadly missed by his siblings Kathleen, Jim, Cecil, Carmel and Margaret, sisters-in-law Anne and Ann, brother-in-law David, nieces, nephews, grandnieces and grandnephews, extended family, his wonderful carer Denise, his great neighbours and friends. May Stephen Rest in Peace _________________________________________ In accordance with current Government/H.S.E. guidelines and in the interest of Public Health and the safety of our most vulnerable, a private family funeral will take place for Stephen (max of 10 people). For those unable to attend due to restrictions, you may view the Funeral Service from Mount Jerome Crematorium online at 2.30pm on Thursday afternoon (4th March) at the following link www.vimeo.com/event/153499 House private please. Stephens Funeral Cortege will pass his home in Knocknagee on Thursday at 1.15 pm en route to Mount Jerome Crematorium. _________________________________ Those wishing to leave a message of condolence for Stephen's family can do so below. The family would like to thank everybody for their support and understanding in these difficult days. The death has occurred of David Burson Westport, Mayo / Leixlip, Kildare Burson, David, formerly of Westport, Co. Mayo, Leixlip, Co. Kildare and born in Devon, England. Will be deeply missed and remembered always with much love and affection by his wife Mary (Maisie, nee Whelan), sons Colin and Trevor, daughters Audrey and Gwen, daughter-in-law Carolyn and Sharon and sons-in-law Darren and Arnoud, his adored grandchildren, David, Rebecca, Andrew, Katie, Isabelle and James and his great-grandchildren Dean & Emeyln, brothers, sisters-in-law, brothers-in-law, nieces, nephews, and large extended relatives and friends. The Funeral will be taking place in Melbourne on Friday 5th March at 10 am via live stream you can join on Thursday 4th March at 11 pm Ireland time. Webcast Link https://tobin.5stream. com/webcast/66051 Google Chrome advised as the web browser. The death has occurred of Michael CUNNINGHAM Ballymany Park, Newbridge, Kildare / Ferbane, Offaly CUNNINGHAM Michael, Ballymany Park, Newbridge, Co. Kildare, & formerly of Ferbane, Co. Offaly - 28th February 2021, (suddenly) at his residence. Michael, husband of the late Winnie, predeceased by his brothers Tommy & John. Sadly missed by Ann-Marie & Brian, his sister Mary, sister-in-law Marie, son-in-law Joe, daughter in-law Louise, grandchildren Max & Benn, nieces, nephews, relatives, friends & neighbours. May Michael Rest In Peace A private Funeral Mass will take place due to Government advice and HSE restrictions on public gatherings. Removal from Anderson & Leahy's Funeral Home, Newbridge on Wednesday morning to arrive at St. Conleths Parish Church for 11 am Mass. Michaels Funeral can be viewed on the parish webcam at https://www.newbridgeparish.ie/parish-church. Burial afterwards in St. Conleths Cemetery, Newbridge. Those who would have liked to attend but due to current restrictions cannot, can leave their condolences on RIP.ie. The death has occurred of Paddy Doran St. John's, Castledermot, Kildare Formerly of Inchaquire. Died 28th of February 2021 peacefully in Naas Hospital. Predeceased by his parents, brothers and sister. Deeply regretted by his brothers, sisters, nieces, nephews, extended family, relatives and friends. MAY PADDY REST IN PEACE Due to government advice regarding public gatherings a private funeral will take place for family and close friends. Reposing at Dunne's Funeral Home, Mill Road, Castledermot on Monday from 6pm to 10pm for family and close friends. Removal from there on Tuesday to the Church of S.S Mary and Laurence, Crookstown for Requiem Mass at 11am (max 10 people in church) followed by cremation to Newlands Cross Crematorium for 1.20pm. Feature Article Testing wraps up for first Fermilab-designed cryomodule for PIP-II accelerator DOE/Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory There is a first time for everything. Sometimes that thing is a highly complex machine designed to accelerate an 800-million-electronvolt proton beam to enable decades' worth of cutting-edge experiments at the United States' foremost particle physics laboratory. In January, scientists and engineers at the Department of Energy's Fermilab successfully completed phase-one testing on a prototype of the first superconducting cryomodule to be fully designed, assembled and tested at Fermilab for the PIP-II accelerator. "It isn't often that we have the privilege and opportunity of going through the entire life cycle of such complex structures, from design to testing," said Donato Passarelli, the Fermilab engineer leading the technical coordination effort for the cryomodule. Accelerating Fermilab science The Proton Improvement Plan-II, or PIP-II for short, is a highly anticipated upgrade to Fermilab's accelerator complex. The PIP-II accelerator will replace Fermilab's existing linear accelerator to enable the necessary power and versatility for the Fermilab-hosted international Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment and other next-generation experiments. Cryomodules are the major building blocks of a superconducting linear particle accelerator. Each cryomodule houses a "string" of superconducting cavities, which impart energy to the particle beam through an electromagnetic field, as well as magnets that keep the beam focused. Every component is carefully designed to boost the beam as efficiently as possible. The 215-meter-long PIP-II accelerator will use 23 cryomodules of five different accelerating structure types, connected end-to-end. When the beam has passed through all of them, the particles will be traveling at 84% the speed of light -- over 560 million miles per hour. The recently completed cryomodule from Fermilab houses a cavity type called SSR1, short for single-spoke resonator, type 1. Positioned as the second cryomodule in the accelerator beamline, the SSR1 cryomodule is designed to efficiently accelerate particles traveling at about 20% of the speed of light. Each SSR1 cryomodule will contain eight superconducting cavities and four focusing magnets. PIP-II, which is supported by the DOE Office of Science, is the first U.S. accelerator project that will have significant contributions, including some of PIP-II's cryomodules, from international partners. Research institutions in the U.S., France, India, Italy, Poland and the United Kingdom are all developing different parts of the accelerator. Collaborators at India's Bhabha Atomic Research Center contributed one of the superconducting cavities for the SSR1 prototype. The challenge is the opportunity "Of course, it's not the first cryomodule built at Fermilab," said Fermilab engineer Vincent Roger, who leads the engineering design of PIP-II cryomodules, "but it was the first time at Fermilab to fully design and build a cryomodule from scratch." SSR1 was the first single-spoke resonator cryomodule built in the United States and only the second in the world, so the Fermilab team often found itself in somewhat uncharted territory. It was challenging, but also a big opportunity to innovate. "When I first started on this project, the facility to perform the assembly was brand-new, and we were faced with having to design the techniques almost from scratch," said Mattia Parise, the Fermilab engineer heading up string assembly for the SSR1 cryomodule. His team had to creatively adapt existing knowledge to a new scheme to put the cavities and magnets together. When they tested their prototype in late 2020, scientists and engineers rigorously checked that the cryomodule components maintained their structural integrity and electromagnetic performance. In the test, they cooled the module to minus 456 degrees Fahrenheit, powered up the cavities and magnets, and finally accelerated a beam through the cryomodule. The prototype SSR1 cryomodule successfully met all of the PIP-II project specifications, and the team is now analyzing the test data and refining their analytical models to better predict the cryomodules' performance in the future. "If we want to be successful in developing superconducting accelerator technology for PIP-II, we need to continually check and refine the details," Passarelli said. Beaming into the future The prototype cryomodule incorporates several other innovative features besides the cavity design: for example, strongback technology, in which the cavities are connected to a common support frame rather than each other. The strongback frame is at room temperature, so that the cavities and other internal components contract together and stay aligned while they are cooled to near absolute zero. Computer vision techniques monitor the alignment with hair's-breadth accuracy, using cameras focused on reflective glass balls attached to each cavity and magnet. The computer monitors the cameras to measure if and how components move and ensure that the internal parts stay in alignment. This type of computer monitoring can also enable more automation in the assembly process. These features will be carried forward into the next sections of the accelerator, so the team is effectively validating aspects of multiple designs at once with this prototype. The biggest difference between the different superconducting cryomodules is the type of cavities they house. The cavity shapes in each successive cryomodule change as the beam is propelled to higher and higher energies, but the layout of the elements surrounding them will be standardized as much as possible. "Our main ideas will carry over to the other types of cryomodules designed at Fermilab because our test results show that the concepts work," Parise said. "We know that we did a good job, and we have more knowledge now about why the systems behave like they do." The success of this prototype is thus not only a milestone for PIP-II but a glimpse of things to come for Fermilab. It also reinforces Fermilab's position as a leader in the global superconducting accelerator community and a valuable partner for future projects. "It's important to us as a team because we successfully overcame many technical and scientific challenges," Passarelli said. "And it's important for the lab because it brings together knowledge from generations of Fermilab scientists, engineers and technicians to validate a concept that will be adapted for other PIP-II cryomodules." ### Fermilab is supported by the Office of Science of the U.S. Department of Energy. The Office of Science is the single largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the United States and is working to address some of the most pressing challenges of our time. For more information, visit science.energy.gov. One thing that can be said for certain about Arjun Kapoor and his sense of style, is that he is a massive fan of keeping things simple, sombre, and minimal. Instagram/arjunkapoor This is one of the reasons why, time and again, we genuinely have been impressed with his casual sense of style. The man knows very well how to turn heads while dressing down in a very casual manner. Instagram/arjunkapoor Recently, in Mumbai, the actor was seen outside a clinic wearing a dapper-looking, all-black outfit. What Was He Wearing Viral Bhayani Arjun was spotted wearing a dope-looking pair of denims and a hooded sweatshirt, both of which were black. Along with that, he paired a rather simple and plain-looking gaiter mask along with a pair of black sunglasses. And of course, sitting in stark contrast to all these, are his bright orange pool sliders. The Brands Viral Bhayani Arjun is essentially wearing Palms & Angels for this outfit. The hoodie, which has a dope-looking graphic art is called the Black Smiley Edition Juggler Pin-Up Hoodie and is part of the Palm Angels x Smiley collection. Made in Italy, the hoodie is mainly made out of cotton. Palm Angels The orange coloured sliders or slippers, on the other hand, are simply called the Orange Logo Pool Slides, again from Palm Angels. To say the look is super-hip would be an understatement. Palm Angels The Price Given that Palms Angels is an Italian-American high-fashion brand that specialises in streetwear and athleisure, you can expect their prices to be jaw-dropping. Viral Bhayani The Black Smiley hoodie that Arjun is wearing costs $900 or roughly Rs 66,000, whereas the orange pool sliders cost $195 or about Rs 15,000. All of these prices are before customs and import duties. Palm Angels While we get why the hoodie costs what it costs, what boggles the mind is the cost of the slippers. Sure, they arent nearly as expensive as some of the other pieces that Arjun as worn, but, then again, slippers that cost over Rs 15,000? That, for sure, makes us scratch our heads. Palm Angels Why It Works Viral Bhayani That is not to say that this is not a super-dapper outfit. On the contrary, the mainly black outfit, with that quirky-looking graphic, is set in perfect contrast with the orange slippers. The orange slippers stand out on their own, making them the statement piece in the ensemble. Viral Bhayani All in all, this is a really dope-looking outfit. Kudos, Arjun! A criminal expert has claimed it is possible conwoman Melissa Caddick was murdered and kept on ice before her body was dumped in the ocean. Caddick was declared dead by police on Saturday after DNA testing revealed a decomposing foot found wedged inside an Asics sneaker on Bournda Beach on the NSW south coast belonged to the missing 49-year-old financial adviser. Her foot was found about 400km from where she vanished from her mansion in Sydney's eastern suburbs in the early hours of November 12, a day after it was raided by corporate watchdog the Australian Securities and Investments Commission. Tim Watson-Munro, a leading criminal psychology expert, said he was not convinced her foot had been decomposing in water for the three months since her baffling disappearance, suggesting she was possibly murdered in recent weeks. A leading criminal expert has claimed it was possible conwoman Melissa Caddick (pictured) was murdered in recent weeks and did not end her own life 'on impulse' Caddick was declared dead by police on Saturday after DNA testing revealed that her foot, wedged inside an Asics sneaker, drifted ashore on Bournda Beach on the NSW south coast 'The decomposition of the shoe would suggest it hasn't been in the water for three months. While it's not my area of expertise, if that's the case a possible scenario is that she has been murdered recently or murdered and kept on ice for a while,' Mr Watson-Munro told NCA NewsWire. 'A severed foot is a great throw off (decoy). They (police and public) see this and let it go.' Police suspect Caddick took her own life because she could have reached clifftops 300m from her $6.1million Dover Heights home without being tracked by CCTV cameras. But Mr Watson-Munro said he believed it was unlikely she would have ended her own life on impulse and added he was convinced 'she had a plan'. 'When you have that sort of money at your disposal you can buy all sorts of talent who can keep you in a safe house for a fee or a split of the profit. One million takes you a long way if you disappear,' he said. Liquidators say Caddick 'meticulously and systematically' deceived those who entrusted millions of investment dollars to her over seven years, then used the money to fund her lavish lifestyle. Pictured: Melissa Caddick and her husband Anthony Koletti before she went missing on from her mansion in Sydney's eastern suburbs on November 12 Police suspect Caddick took her own life because she could have reached the Dover Heights clifftops (pictured) near her home without being captured on CCTV Pictured: Map shows the distance between where Caddick's foot was found, where she was last seen and Friday night's latest discovery of decomposing body parts Mr Watson-Munro said there was a possibility Caddick devised a way to escape once her dealings were uncovered and added it was likely other people were involved in the financial fraud and 'wanted to cover their tracks'. NSW Police Assistant Commissioner Mick Willing last Friday told reporters foul play against Caddick was possible but suicide was more likely. Modelling by NSW Police marine rescue teams, taking tides and drift patterns into account, has explored the possibility that Caddick entered the water near Dover Heights, where she lived, around November 12. The modelling deemed it possible that her foot could have drifted to Bournda Beach, where it was discovered by a group of campers. The discovery of the foot was followed by flesh and bones washing up on other beaches on the same coastline in the days after the first grisly find. Caddick vanished the day after corporate watchdog ASIC executed a search warrant at her luxury Dover Heights home on November 11 NSW Police Assistant Commissioner Mick Willing on Friday told reporters foul play against Caddick was possible but suicide was more likely. Caddick is pictured with her husband Anthony Koletti A large piece of torso flesh which included a belly button was found in the sand 150km away at Mollymook Beach five days later on Friday night. A fifth set of remains was found at Warrain Beach in Culburra in the state's Shoalhaven region on Sunday morning. Superintendent Joe McNulty, commander of NSW Marine Command, said he has never heard of a case where a body that entered the water in Sydney could float hundreds of kilometers down the south coast. 'That's never happened in my time in the water police,' Mr McNulty said. For 24/7 confidential support in a crisis call Lifeline on 13 11 14 Greg Rutherford's fiancee Susie Verrill uploaded a playful post to Instagram last week as she prepares to welcome her third child. The influencer, 32, looked typically radiant as she displayed her growing baby bump, which she joked was 'taking over the entire frame'. Treating herself to a relaxing pamper session, the blogger covered her tresses in a mask as she enjoyed a brief break from her parenting duties. Oh baby! Greg Rutherford's fiancee Susie Verrill uploaded a playful post to Instagram last week as she prepares to welcome her third child The social media star teamed a crop top with joggers and went make-up free for the candid shots. Susie wrote: 'Hair mask on. Belly taking over my entire frame (photo inspired by @maddiechester because Im terrible at remembering to document bumps).' (sic) The brunette and her Olympic long jumper partner, 34, are already parents to sons Milo, six, and Rex, three. She's growing! The influencer, 32, looked typically radiant as she displayed her baby bump, which she joked was 'taking over the entire frame' Cute couple: The brunette and her Olympic long jumper partner, 34, are already parents to sons Milo, six, and Rex, three (pictured last year) Last month, the doting mother was rushed to hospital after her baby girl 'stopped moving'. The sportsman admitted he 'almost cried' with relief when doctors found their little one's heartbeat. Greg said that he and Susie grew worried as their unborn child is usually very active, stating: 'So last night was stressful. 'After a busy day of tidying and clearing Susie suddenly realised she hadn't felt the baby move in a while. 'I almost cried': Last month, the doting mother was rushed to hospital after her baby girl 'stopped moving' THE FLUTTERS, SWISHES AND ROLLS: WHAT THOSE MOVEMENTS MEAN Reduced foetal movement is a reduction in a baby's regular pattern of movement. Most women begin to feel their baby move between 16 and 24 weeks of pregnancy, and the movement is typically described as a kick, flutters, swish or roll. The type of movement may change as pregnancy progresses. There is no set number of normal movements. A baby will have their own pattern of movements that mothers-to-be should get to recognise. From 16 to 24 weeks on, women should feel the baby move more and more up until 32 weeks, then the moves will stay roughly the same until birth. Usually, afternoon and evening periods are times of peak activity for a baby. During both day and night, a baby has sleep periods that mostly last between 20 and 40 minutes, and are rarely longer than 90 minutes. A baby will usually not move during these sleep periods. There is no set number of kicks a woman should be feeling. What is important is that they know what is normal for their baby. There is a common misconception that you should be feeling ten kicks over a set period, but this is no longer suggested as all babies are different. Women who are concerned that their baby has slowed down or stopped moving should contact their midwife or maternity unit immediately. Advertisement 'We went through all the steps to try and make her move and nothing happened. The worry was caused by the fact that normally she doesn't stop moving! 'We jumped in the car and headed to the hospital. They found the heartbeat and then in typical fashion, she kicked! This apparently made Susie feel like a weather person though so silver linings.' Most women begin to feel their baby move between 16 and 24 weeks of pregnancy, and the movement is typically described as a kick, flutters, swish or roll. There is no set number of normal movements, and a baby will have their own pattern of movements that mothers-to-be should get to recognise. The NHS website states that expectant mothers should call their midwife or maternity unity immediately if they notice their baby is moving less than usual, they can't feel any movement or there is a change of pattern. Susie has been diagnosed with Hyperemesis gravidarum - which causes extreme morning sickness. HG is defined as severe nausea and vomiting during pregnancy. Up to 20 per cent of sufferers experience symptoms up to weeks 14-to-20, however, most have relief in the later stages. Unlike morning sickness, which affects up to 80 percent of pregnant women, HG causes severe dehydration and prevents sufferers from keeping any food down. Greg proposed to Susie in May 2019 during a hike in Arizona, with the couple later proposing their planned 2020 wedding in the US due to COVID. Senate Connecticut Connecticut Senate Ned Lamont Department of Economic and Community Development Office of Fiscal Analysis Randy Collins Connecticut Conference of Municipalities Connecticut Groton Montville Norwich Heather Somers Groton Connecticut Indiana Connecticut Chamber of Commerce Tony Sheridan Cathy Osten Sprague Rob Sampson Wolcott Matt Lesser Middletown Norm Needleman Essex Connecticut David Lehman Joe Toner Connecticut State Building Trades Council New York Massachusetts Rhode Island Paul Mounds Christine Cohen Guilford (TNS) The stateon Monday evening passed a bill that would provide data centers locating inwith tax breaks if they invest a certain amount of money, a measure that has garnered enthusiastic support from some easternlegislators and advocates for the building trades.Thepassed the bill 29-5, after the House passed the bill by a 133-13 vote last Wednesday, which Gov.applauded.H.B. 6514 An Act Concerning Incentives for Qualified Data Centers to Locate in the State defines a qualified data center as a facility that houses networked computer servers in one location, thus centralizing the storage and dissemination of data.The legislation allows exemptions from sales and use, property, and financial transactions taxes, if the developer of the data center applies to the commissioner of theand meets certain requirements within five years.To get a 20-year agreement, the data center must make an investment of $50 million if the center is located in an enterprise zone or opportunity zone, or $200 million if it isn't. The commissioner can extend the agreement to 30 years if the investment is $200 million in an enterprise zone or opportunity zone, or $400 million otherwise.A developer or owner can't begin construction or renovation of a data center until entering into an agreement negotiated with the host municipality, which could require payments in lieu of taxes. If the terms of the agreement aren't met, the data center has 180 days to remedy the issue or else the agreement can be terminated and the data center is liable for taxes.The state's nonpartisandoesn't anticipate any revenue impact from the bill. Data centers would be required to pay up to $50,000 annually to a new office within DECD, but OFA anticipates that would cover additional administrative costs.from thesaid in a public hearing last week he's hearing that these types of facilities are being considered for eastern, and he's had conversations withandCollins stressed repeatedly that towns don't have to take advantage of this opportunity, that they can say no to an agreement they don't find beneficial.Some legislators expressed that they think a 30-year period is too long for a tax abatement program, but Sen., R-, said without 30-year agreements, data centers likely won't come.A vocal advocate for the bill, Somers said it would create a landscape needed to increase jobs, decrease reliance on the gaming and defense industries, and provide opportunities for land that otherwise isn't being used.She stressed that hyperscale data centers need consistent energy, fiber connectivity, and land, but unlike other buildings that require sewer and other infrastructure, data centers could be located in more rural areas. They also are attacted by tax breaks.Somers also noted that data is doubling every 18 months and there's not enough cloud space for storage, and thathospitals have their storage inis well positioned to attract investment from this growing industry that seeks a highly skilled workforce and benefits from proximity to the state's established industries: finance, technology, defense, health care, and insurance,"of Eastern Connecticut President and CEOsaid in written testimony supporting the bill. Sen., D-, also submitted written testimony in favor.Sen., R-, one of the five to vote against the bill, slammed it as corporate welfare, saying the state shouldn't "give any more power to a few well-connected people to decide who wins and who loses." Sen., D-, who also voted against the bill, tweeted that tax competition with neighbors is "bad, self-defeating policy."In response to Sampson, Sen., D-, saidis competing with 49 other states, and that a difference between prior incentives is the state isn't giving anything upfront.Needleman said in addition to the "huge amount of money required to construct one of these facilities, the ever-hanging technology means much of the equipment becomes obsolete within 2-3 years and has to be replaced."DECD Commissionersaid some of these centers can have 1,000 or more jobs needed to construct them over 18 or 24 months.of thesaid there is 30% unemployment in the trades and many members are traveling to, and, making this bill a great opportunity. Osten estimated a data center would generate about 50 permanent jobs and 1,500 construction jobs.Beyond job creation, Lehman said the two main benefits are growth in a town's grand list and income tax revenue. He also commented, "When you have state-of-the art data centers, you generally are going to have financial and technology jobs that want to be proximate to those data centers."He said this legislation would not impact existing data centers unless they decided to do a large enough renovation or new construction.Monday morning, Senate Democratic leadership said in a press release they expected the bill to pass, but announced a commitment to vote on another bill later in the session "to address the environmental impacts of data centers, including green building standards, emission standards for diesel generators used by data centers, and environmental justice.", chief of staff to the governor, said in a statement Monday the Lamont administration is committed to passing an environmental bill later this session that augments the current legislation.This was a concern that Sen., D-, chairwoman of the Environment Committee, expressed last week and on Monday, noting that data centers use "massive amounts of electricity." Egypts Ministry of International Cooperation announced on Monday the launch of a global digital campaign that aims to demonstrate the value of public-private partnership (PPPs) and work towards a greener economy. The campaign has been launched under the title GameChangers, as part of the ministrys Global Partnerships Narrative (People & Projects & Purpose), and will feature several testimonials by the private sector including entrepreneurs as well as micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs). 2021 is the year of private sector engagement. We have put private sector engagement, empowerment and enablement at the fore of our principles of economic diplomacy, concluding strategic partnerships to provide a sustainable ecosystem that fosters innovation and accelerates job creation, said Minister of International Cooperation Rania Al-Mashat. The campaign will run across social and digital media channels, including Facebook, Instagram and Linkedin, targeting young people locally and globally. The campaign started today with the story of the Egyptian Ministry of International Cooperations partnership with the Saudi Fund for Development (SFD) to finance IND for Construction and Solar Energy, one of the startup private sector companies working on the construction of Egypts Benban solar project. The company has received development financing worth EGP 6.4 million through the cooperation between the international cooperation ministry and the SFD, with EFG Hermes as the financial intermediary. The high ambitions for a greener future in Egypt are based on strong political commitment, as well as the capacity to enable a green transformation in the country. In 2019, Egypt unveiled its Benban solar field, the worlds largest, which generates over 1500 mw of power spanning 36 square kilometres of desert on 32 plots developed by over 40 companies from 12 countries, according to the international cooperation ministry. Egypt is on a mission not only to think green, but also act green in all policies and projects to help preserve the environment and bring sustainable energy to the countrys population, Al-Mashat illustrated. Egypts mission towards a sustainable energy-sufficient future is outlined in the 2035 Integrated Sustainable Energy Strategy (ISES), which involves increasing the use of renewable energy and improving energy efficiency in the power sector. Accordingly, the government has set targets for renewables to make up a share of 42 percent of the countrys electricity by 2035. The partnership between the international cooperation ministry and the SFD has financed more than 2,180 projects in various sectors and contributed to creating about 12,000 new jobs in 27 governorates. A grant worth EGP 225 million was extended to EFG Hermes to finance existing or newly established projects operating in the fields of new and renewable energy, healthcare, industry, and agriculture with a focus on Upper Egypt and Delta governorates. In line with Egypt's strategy towards bridging the gap between financial institutions and MSMEs, Saudi Arabia has awarded another grant, worth $200 million, dedicated to supporting MSMEs and facilitating their access to financing. The grant is entrusted to the SFD for supervision and execution, according to the ministry. In Egypt, there are 34 projects within the ministry's portfolio answering SDG 7, which is Affordable and Clean Energy, with a total of $5.95 billion, making up 23.2 percent of the official development assistance (ODA) the country received in 2020. Short link: We already confirmed that the Samsung Galaxy M62 will be coming soon and it's now official. Samsung Malaysia will launch the phone on 3 March 2021 which is exclusively sold on Lazada. The recommended retail price is RM1999 but during the special one-day-only sales, it will be on sale for RM1599 instead. To refresh your memory, one of the highlights of the Galaxy M62 features a 6.7-inch Infinity-O display FHD+ Super AMOLED+ display. As a mid-tier phone, it's using an Exynos 9825 chipset (7nm) alongside 8GB of RAM which is enough for the average casual user. It also boasts a 7000mAh battery with Wired PowerShare and 25W fast charging. If you want to learn more about the phone, you may visit the Samsung online store on Lazada here. So what do you think of the phone? Let us know in the comments below and stay tuned for more local gadget launching news at TechNave.com. FBI Director Chris Wray says the deadly attack on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 by supporters of then-President Donald Trump was ``domestic terrorism.'' Wray testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday for the first time in almost two years. Wray is defending the bureau's handing of intelligence indicating that there might be violence Jan. 6. He says the bureau immediately shared with other agencies a report that included ``raw and unverified'' intelligence predicting the attack. A Jan. 5 report from the FBI's Norfolk, Virginia, field office warned of online posts foreshadowing a ``war'' in Washington the following day. The former chief of the Capitol Police and others have said the information wasn't flagged for them and was only sent in an email. Wray says he did not see the report until after the insurrection but it was shared properly. Five people died as result of the violence. Short link: KYODO NEWS - Mar 2, 2021 - 23:50 | All, Japan, World, Coronavirus Japan said Tuesday it will strengthen border controls to keep new coronavirus variants at bay by requiring its citizens and resident foreigners returning from 13 other countries including Austria and Italy to go through additional quarantine measures. Returnees from the 13 countries where new virus variants are feared to be spreading will be newly asked to stand by at a designated facility after arrival for a retest for the virus on the third day after entering the country, effective Friday. The new requirement will be added to the current measures of turning in negative testing results within 72 hours of departure and taking a coronavirus test upon arrival. The 13 countries are Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Nigeria, Slovakia, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Arab Emirates. The countries join Ireland, Israel, Amazonas state in Brazil, Britain and South Africa that have already been subject to the strengthened quarantine measures for concerns over spreading new coronavirus variants. Even if negative in all the coronavirus tests, using public transportation will be prohibited until completing the rest of the 14-day self-quarantine period. Japan currently bans all entries of nonresident foreigners except for those given approval under "special exceptional circumstances." 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 Inner Mongolia is poised to ban new cryptocurrency mining projects and shut down the entire industry by the end of April as part of a plan to meet central government targets for reducing energy consumption over the coming five years. The Inner Mongolia Development and Reform Commission (DRC) released draft measures (link in Chinese) on Thursday to curb the development of high energy-consuming industries in order to meet goals set in Chinas 14th Five-Year Plan that runs from 2021 to 2025. Cryptocurrency mining is one of the sectors highlighted in the document which also says that in principle the region will no longer approve new energy-consuming coke, steel and ferroalloy projects. Cryptocurrency mining gobbles up vast amounts of power both through the electricity consumed by the specialized computer equipment needed to solve the mathematical puzzles that produce the currency and through the energy needed to cool the machines and prevent them from overheating. Global electricity consumption by the Bitcoin mining network, by far the biggest, has soared since November 2020 from an annualized 55.5 terawatt-hours (TWh) on Nov. 1 to 128.8 TWh on March 1, according to estimates from the Centre for Alternative Finance at the University of Cambridge in the U.K. That equates to more than the entire electricity consumption of Argentina in 2019 and enough to power all kettles used for boiling water in the U.K. for 29 years, the data showed. Cryptocurrency mining companies have been drawn to China, and in particular to regions such as the Inner Mongolia autonomous region in northern China and the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region in the far west, where electricity resources are abundant and relatively cheap. Link to methodology China is the biggest consumer of computational power for Bitcoin mining, accounting for 65.1% of the total global Bitcoin hashrate in April 2020, while the second-biggest consumer, the U.S., took up just 7.2%, estimates compiled by the Centre for Alternative Finance showed. The estimates are based on data from Bitcoin mining pools BTC.com, Poolin, and ViaBTC that collectively represented 37% of Bitcoins total hashrate. Hashrate is a measure of the computing power used by the Bitcoin network and shows the number of calculations per second. Xinjiang accounted for 35.8% of the global total hashrate, or just over half of Chinas hashrate, while Inner Mongolia accounted for 8.1% of the global total, the estimates showed. Link to methodology The cryptocurrency mining industry has been in the central governments crosshairs for some time. In April 2019, the National Development and Reform Commission proposed classifying it as a sector to be eliminated in its updated Industrial Structural Adjustment Guidance Catalog, although the designation was removed (link in Chinese) in the final version. As China works to implement its pledge to create a low-carbon economy and reach peak carbon emissions by 2030, policymakers are putting more pressure on local governments to play their part, setting annual targets for annual energy consumption per unit of GDP and for the use of renewable energy. All provincial-level regions, apart from Tibet, are to be given specific yearly targets for renewables share of their total power consumption through 2030, according to an internal draft plan the National Energy Administration sent to local energy authorities on Feb. 5. The Inner Mongolia government released (link in Chinese) its energy saving targets for 2021 in February, aiming to lower its energy consumption per unit of GDP by 3%, and cap the increase in energy consumption at about 5 million tons of standard coal. Inner Mongolias proposed ban will have some impact on mining farms, but it will not be significant, Jiang Zhuoer, founder of mining pool BTC.TOP, told Caixin. Experienced miners would still prefer to set up farms in Xinjiang where electricity generation is more abundant, he said. Provincial-level governments across China are gearing up to put more emphasis on lowering carbon emissions and creating a green economy. Beijing municipality released a draft of its local five-year plan in December which listed curbing carbon emissions as a top priority. The capitals deputy environmental chief said at a forum that month that Beijing would reduce its carbon emissions per 10,000 yuan ($1,545) of GDP by more than 22% this year. Guidance issued in January by the environment ministry reiterated (link in Chinese) that China must urgently draw up an action plan to reach peak carbon emissions before 2030, adding that the government will comprehensively use relevant policy tools and measures to sustain its promotion and implementation. Matthew Walsh contributed to this report. Contact reporter Timmy Shen (hongmingshen@caixin.com) and editor Nerys Avery (nerysavery@caixin.com) Download our app to receive breaking news alerts and read the news on the go. Follow the Chinese markets in real time with Caixin Globals new stock database. (Newser) After emerging from a coma and recovering from a poisoning, Alexei Navalny has another difficult stretch ahead of him. News reports in Russia said Monday that the opposition figure is being sent to a prison infamous for its treatment of inmates. Navalny will avoid Siberia or the Arctic, sites of Russia's most brutal prisons, the New York Times reports; Penal Colony No. 2 is east of Moscow in the Vladimir region in European Russia. It's a largely unchanged descendant of the 1930s Soviet gulag camps. Several dozen inmates live in each group, with the prisoners usually meting out discipline, in alliances with guards or criminal gang leaders. Former prisoners at Penal Colony No. 2 said it's run by an inmate-guard alliance in conjunction with the warden, which will ensure prison officials can control every aspect of Navalny's life. story continues below "Everything is done so a person feels his total dependence" on the warden, a lawyer said. "Everything is done to isolate political prisoners." The colony has a reputation for enforcing the rules, sometimes with the help of separate places inside the prison where inmates are taken to be punished. Inmates must stand for hours with their hands behind their backs, for example, looking at the ground, a former political prisoner said. They're watched when they go to the toilet. "Your personality deforms," he said. Navalny was ordered imprisoned for two years, eight months after losing an appeal last month of his sentencing involving his supposed violation of the terms of an earlier suspended sentence. The European Union on Monday sanctioned four Russian officials over Navalny's prosecution, and the Biden administration is planning its own sanctions, per CNN. The US penalties will affect individuals and Russian bodies, an official said. (Read more Alexei Navalny stories.) Senegalese operator Expresso has been granted a 4G licence by the countrys regulator ARTP (LAutorite de Regulation des Telecommunications et des Postes). TeleGeography reports that the deal was agreed following a meeting between Senegalese President Macky Sall and Magdi Taha, Chairman and CEO of Expressos parent firm, Sudatel Group. The agreement will see the remit of Expressos licence expanded to cover 4G services for the remainder of its validity period. Announcing the move, the ARTP said: After several months of negotiations, the ARTP and the operator Expresso Senegal, a subsidiary of Sudatel Group, have reached an agreement for the deployment of the 4G licence in Senegal as soon as possible. The operator, which is the countrys third largest by subscriber numbers, was aiming to launch commercial 4G on 31st March 2020 but delayed this as a result of the pandemicst March 2020 but delayed this as a result of the pandemic pushing it further behind its rivals Orange and Free, which have respectively been providing 4G services since July 2018 and October 2019. Expresso came under pressure from the ARTP in February for failing to invest adequately in its network, with the regulator threatening to revoke its licence unless services were improved. London, England--(Newsfile Corp. - March 2, 2021) - Net Savings Link, Inc. (OTC Pink: NSAV), a cryptocurrency, blockchain and digital asset technology company, today announced the formal signing of the closing documents for its latest equity acquisition, VirtuaBroker Ltd. https://virtuabroker.com , a Swiss Cryptocurrency Trading Platform with offices in London and Barcelona. VirtuaBroker, whose platform is based on Artificial Intelligence (AI), offers a full range of trading services, such as portfolio management, price search function, and much more. Their platform supports nearly all the major cryptocurrency exchanges, including Coinbase ($2 billion Revenue in 2019), Binance ($4.2 billion Crypto Assets), Bitfinex ($404 million Net Profits in 2018) and Kraken ($1.25 billion estimated Annual Revenues). With the recent announcements of Tesla and Mastercard joining the Crypto revolution, the management of NSAV believes that this will be a major step in fulfilling the Company's ambition of being a leading player in the over $200 billion annual cryptocurrency market. The Company plans to Roll Out the Global Launch of VirtuaBroker at the end of March. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. VirtuaBroker's AI Cryptocurrency Trading Platform is your 24/7 account manager. Customers will save time and be provided with an optimal trading experience. The AI Platform allows users to optimize the trades that they require according to their selected objectives and allows them to make decisions based on market sentiment data. VirtuaBroker's security policy is its pillar and is based on a five-tiered security stack, including Fraud Protection, Privacy Protection, Encryption and Network Defenses, VirtuaBroker Security ID and Security Alerts. Last week, NSAV announced the appointment of LABS Group Limited https://labsgroup.io CEO, Yuen Wong, to the Company's Board of Directors effective immediately. LABS Group is the world's first end to end Blockchain powered real estate investment ecosystem and powered by the LABS ecosystem token through decentralized finance (DeFi) and governance. Mr. Wong is also a Managing Partner at Bitmart Cryptocurrency Exchange https://www.bitmart.com . BitMart is a premier global digital asset trading platform with over 2 million users worldwide and ranked among the top crypto exchanges on CoinMarketCap. Bitmart's platform supports over 220 cryptocurrencies and has a 24 hour trading volume of approximately $2 Billion. In January, NSAV announced that the Company has finalized an amendment to its Articles of Incorporation, which would prevent NSAV from enacting a reverse stock split. The amended articles are now on file with the state of Colorado and can be viewed by the public at the Colorado Secretary of State's website or by clicking on the link below. https://www.sos.state.co.us/biz/ViewImage.do?masterFileId=20171168922&fileId=20211022901 James Tilton, president of NSAV stated, "We are thrilled to be able to announce the signing of the closing documents with VirtuaBroker. Of course, this would not have been possible without the efforts of our investment banker and private equity fund. I can assure all of our loyal NSAV shareholders, that we are already working on other projects in the cryptocurrency and digital asset arena." NSAV's vision is the establishment of a fully integrated technology company that provides turnkey technological solutions to the cryptocurrency, blockchain and digital asset industries. Over time, the Company plans to provide a wide range of services such as software solutions, e-commerce, advisory services, financial services and information technology. For further information please contact NSAV at info@nsavholdinginc.com The NSAV corporate website can be accessed at http://nsavholdinginc.com The NSAV Twitter account can be accessed at https://twitter.com/nsavtech This press release contains certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, which are intended to be covered by the safe harbors created thereby. Investors are cautioned that, all forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties, including without limitation, the ability of Net Savings Link, Inc. to accomplish its stated plan of business. Net Savings Link, Inc. believes that the assumptions underlying the forward-looking statements contained herein are reasonable, any of the assumptions could be inaccurate, and therefore, there can be no assurance that the forward-looking statements included in this press release will prove to be accurate. In light of the significant uncertainties inherent in the forward- looking statements included herein, the inclusion of such information should not be regarded as a representation by Net Savings Link, Inc. or any other person. Contact Net Savings Link, Inc. info@nsavholdinginc.com To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/75833 Advertisement The flat at Number 11 Downing Street has seen extensive refurbishments in the past two decades before Carrie Symonds made her recent renovations, making further changes to those left by the Camerons. The 'glum' decor is said to have been removed in favour of vintage furniture restored by hand by Miss Symonds and the hall floors stripped and burnished - with the living area, often lit by candles, painted deep green. The flat was seemingly stuck in the 1960s until Tony and Cherie Blair began living there in 1997. When Mr Blair became prime minister he opted for the four-bedroom No 11 flat instead of the smaller one at No 10, and he and his wife spent 127,000 on refurbishments between 1999 and 2005, including 3,500 on a bed. However Gordon Brown, his wife Sarah and their two sons are not thought to have spent anything on upgrades after they moved into No 11 in 2007, being content with the changes made by the Blairs. Then David and Samantha Cameron took residence in 2010 which prompted the next series of major changes, including a 64,000 makeover which included extensive work on a bathroom, give a new floor and ceiling. Among the changes made by the Camerons to the kitchen were the installation of a 3,400 Britannia range cooker and a Dualit toaster and Gaggia coffee machine, worth about 200 apiece. Theresa May, who is a keen chef and owns more than 100 cookbooks, is not thought to have changed anything significant when she moved in with Philip - and would therefore likely have been happy with the new kitchen. Now, it has been claimed Boris Johnson is secretly trying to set up a charity to help pay for a costly makeover of the Cameron's flat by his fiancee Carrie Symonds after claiming the cost was 'totally out of control'. The scheme is based on one used by the White House to raise millions of dollars for interior design, antiques and art - a presidential charity which is bankrolled by private donors. The proposed Downing Street version is expected to be funded largely by wealthy Tory benefactors, but runs the risk of claims of conflict of interest if it is seen as a back-door way of providing a financial benefit to the PM. Mr Johnson is alleged to have been alarmed by the cost of wallpaper, saying Miss Symonds appeared to have ordered 'gold wall coverings'. The restyled decor is said to have been inspired by interior designer Lulu Lytle. Mrs Lytle is the founder and director of Soane Britain which 'designs and makes British-made furniture, upholstery, lighting, fabrics and wallpaper' based on 'traditional crafts including blacksmiths'. Prince Charles visited her rattan workshop last year and her fabrics start at 100 a metre. Work on refurbishing the No 11 flat is believed to have been completed in recent months, having gone on for more than a year. Walls are adorned with paintings by the Prime Minister, who said to be a surprisingly good artist, and handprints by baby son Wilfred, along with pieces by Mr Johnson's mother, Charlotte. There are also works by John Nash. One friend of Miss Symonds said: 'The makeover is appropriate for a building of such huge importance. Carrie has exquisite taste. It is classic, stunning, stylish and chic. She should be congratulated not criticised.' Here is a rundown of how the flat at No 11 has changed over the years as successive prime ministers moved in: Samantha Cameron speaks with then First Lady Michelle Obama before having tea at Number 11 Downing Street in May 2011, which she redesigned after moving in there with her husband David Cameron following his elected as prime minister in 2010 The restyled decor following the overhaul by Carrie Symonds after moving into Number 11 Downing Street is said to have been inspired by interior designer Lulu Lytle - with examples of her work pictured above. THE BLAIRS (1997-2007) - How Cherie Blair joked decor 'might have been state-of-the-art in the 1960s' and ordered in 70-a-roll wallpaper in what would become a 127,000 makeover over six years After Margaret Thatcher stopped a proposed refurbishment of the No 11 flat in 1979, saying the public would not be impressed with the expenditure, it remained a product of the 1960s until Tony and Cherie Blair arrived in 1997. 'I won't sleep in Ken Clarke's bed,' Mr Blair declared of the Conservative chancellor, the most recent tenant, when he became prime minister and opted for the four-bedroom No 11 flat which was bigger than the one at No 10. A new bed costing 3,500 was swiftly shipped in courtesy of Mrs Blair's close friend and lifestyle adviser Carole Caplin. In the Blair years, the flat above No 11, frequently littered with toys belonging to baby Leo, born in May 2000, had 127,000 spent on refurbishments between 1999 and 2005, according to official records. Mrs Blair's memoirs record her first impression of the flat as being a whiff of Mr Clarke's cigar smoke and 'a series of heavy mahogany wardrobes that smelt of cedar and mothballs' as her 'heart sank at the sight of the kitchen.' She added: 'It might have been state-of-the-art in the Sixties, but that was then.' In came 70-a-roll wallpapers, new artwork and a set of custom-made glass-fronted bookcases for Mrs Blair's office. The couple were pictured at their private flat by photographer Anthony Crickmay for a Christmas card in December 1998, which also saw them with children Euan, then 14, Nicky, then 13, and Kathryn, then ten. Tony Blair with his wife Cherie, and their children Euan (left), then 14, Nicky (right), then 13, and Kathryn (front), then ten, as they appeared on the Prime Minister's Christmas card in December 1998 which was taken at Number 11 Downing Street The downstairs area of Number 11 Downing Street is pictured in 2005. The four-bedroom residence is located upstairs Floor plans for Number 10 and 11 Downing Street show the second floor of the complex has a large number of bedrooms Number 11 Downing Street is pictured in 2005, eight years after Tony Blair became PM and opted for the four-bedroom flat Number 11 Downing Street, pictured in 2005, remained a product of the 1960s until Tony and Cherie Blair arrived in 1997 THE BROWNS (2007-2010) - How Gordon Brown was happy with an 'adequate' and 'old fashioned' kitchen for his wife Sarah to cook him 'homely' meals When Tony Blair and Gordon Brown moved into Downing Street in 1997, Mr Blair persuaded the then-single Mr Brown to vacate the Chancellor's flat at Number 11 to provide room for the prime minister's young family. And when Mr Brown had a family of his own with his wife Sarah, they were based in his own Westminster house, before moving into the Number 11 flat when Mr Brown became PM in 2007. And the Browns appear to have been perfectly content with the property, because there are no records that he spent a penny on upgrades. In 2010, a friend of Mr Brown described the Number 11 kitchen as 'perfectly adequate, but obviously not up to Notting Hill standards'. They added: 'It's very plain and bare. It's a bit old-fashioned a bit like a Sixties-style kitchen. It's quite spacious and it was fine for Gordon and Sarah and her homely cooking.' Gordon Brown is pictured in the kitchen of the Number 11 Downing Street flat in October 2008, after moving in a year earlier Number 11 Downing Street is pictured in 2009, at the time when Gordon Brown was living in the four-bedroom flat upstairs The staircase leading from the ground floor of Number 11 Downing Street to the living quarters is pictured in 2009 The boardroom at Number 11 Downing Street is pictured in 2009, when Gordon Brown was living in the four-bedroom flat Chancellor Alistair Darling has breakfast with his wife Margaret (centre) and Ann Coffey (left), his private secretary, in a different section of 11 Downing Street in April 2009. Mr Brown promoted Mr Darling to chancellor to replace himself in 2007 A ground floor meeting room at Number 11 Downing Street is photographed in 2009 CAMERONS (2010-2016) - David and Samantha Cameron made a series of refurbishments totalling 64,000 including a complete overhaul of the bathroom and installing modern kitchen appliances including 3,400 cooker In 2010, David and Samantha Cameron made a series of major refurbishments to the flat, which clearly fell well short of their standards they were used to at their home in Notting Hill. They got rid of a mirrored exercise room where Carole Caplin had put the Blairs through their paces, while old carpets were also ripped out and expensive black granite worktops were installed in a new private kitchen. As part of a 64,000 makeover, extensive work was carried out in a bathroom, with everything apart from a towel rail stripped out and a new floor and ceiling installed. Some of the costs were met from the flat's annual 30,000 maintenance grant, and the rest by the Camerons. The couple went for an ultramodern, minimalist design of brushed steel and floating shelves in the second kitchen. This left the original 1960sstyle kitchen in its original state. Modern appliances were installed including a Dualit toaster and Gaggia coffee machine, worth about 200 apiece, along with a 3,400 Britannia range cooker. The Camerons also let the cameras in to photograph the Prime Minister working in the sitting room and meeting foreign heads of state - and his wife hosting charity meetings around the breakfast table. David Cameron in his kitchen at Number 11 Downing Street in March 2015, which had a major refurbishment after he moved in David Cameron speaks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel at his flat at Number 11 Downing Street in February 2014 A tabbed-up image showing the fittings at the Number 11 Downing Street flat, where Samantha Cameron is pictured eating breakfast with children as part of her work with the charity Contact A Family in January 2015 Samantha Cameron, wife of David Cameron, hosts a breakfast for the charity Contact A Family at No 11 in January 2015 MAYS (2016-2019) - Theresa May bought a red three-seater sofa and glass coffee table but did not make any major refurbishments to the flat Theresa May is not thought to have made any major refurbishments to the flat, but did buy a bold three-seater red couch, chrome lamp and a glass-topped coffee table on which to place a 25 Elemis Revitalise Me scent diffuser. A photoshoot with the Sunday Times revealed her colourful sofa had been covered with brown patterned throw cushions, while the coffee table - in front of a marble fireplace - having been brought in from Habitat for 195. On her side table was a 100 Zachery chrome table lamp from John Lewis, which was next to an extravagant 42 rose-scented Diptyque candle. The photoshoot also saw her wear a 495 cashmere jumper by Amanda Wakeley. But a profile of Carrie Symonds in Tatler magazine said the planned overhaul of the flat by Boris Johnson's fiancee aimed to clear out the 'John Lewis furniture nightmare' reportedly left by Mrs May. Boris Johnson is allegedly secretly trying to set up a charity to help pay for a costly makeover of his official flat at Number 11 by his fiancee Carrie Symonds. The couple are pictured together at Number 10 in December last year And here's how Number 11 looked as a residence for chancellors in the 1980s and 90s before the Blairs moved in... Norman Lamont poses in 1991 in the sitting room of the Number 11 Downing Street flat when it was occupied by the chancellor Chancellor Nigel Lawson celebrates his birthday with wife Therese and children Emily, 6, and Tom, 11, at the No 11 flat in 1988 Boris Johnson's secret fund for Carrie Symonds' No.10 makeover: Prime Minister plans new charity backed by rich donors to help pay for lavish revamp of private Downing Street flat By SIMON WALTERS FOR THE DAILY MAIL Boris Johnson is secretly trying to set up a charity to help pay for a costly makeover of his official flat by his fiancee, it was claimed last night. The scheme is based on one used by the White House to raise millions of dollars for interior design, antiques and art. The presidential charity is bankrolled by private donors and the proposed Downing Street version is expected to be funded largely by wealthy Tory benefactors. It runs the risk of claims of conflict of interest if it is seen as a back-door way of providing a financial benefit to the Prime Minister. Mr Johnson has complained the cost of the refurbishment by Carrie Symonds was 'totally out of control', the Daily Mail has been told. He reportedly said during one meeting that the sum amounted to 'tens and tens of thousands'. On another occasion he said it was 'over a hundred grand'. Prime Minister Boris Johnson with his fiancee Carrie Symonds in Whitehall in November last year He is said to have told one minister he was particularly alarmed by the cost of wallpaper chosen by Miss Symonds, saying she appeared to have ordered 'gold wall coverings'. Mr Johnson has asked multi-millionaire financier and Tory peer Lord Brownlow, who has close links with the Royal Family, to run the charity. It is believed that an application to register it with the Charity Commission is under way. The White House fund envied by Boris Johnson If the new Downing Street charity follows the lead set by America, then Carrie Symonds could play a major role. Incoming presidents and their families are allowed to spend $100,000 (72,000) on redecorating the White House. By tradition, the First Lady takes an active part in the White House Endowment Trust which maintains the fabric of the building. Funded by private donors, it has reported assets of around $50million (36million). Rosalynn Carter, wife of Jimmy Carter, is credited with a major shake-up of the White House Endowment Trust in 1978, including raising large sums of cash. George Bush's spouse Barbara handed oversight of the trust to the White House Historical Association. And Hillary Clinton, wife of Bill, increased the trust's wealth to more than $35million (25million). A White House Furnishings Committee established by John F Kennedy's wife Jacqueline was replaced in 1964 by the Committee for the Preservation of the White House, which includes top interior designers who advise on makeovers of the Oval Office study. Advertisement The official purpose of the charity is to raise funds to preserve No 10 and No 11 Downing Street for the nation on heritage grounds. But insiders say the proposal stemmed from the soaring cost of a makeover of the No 11 flat, which is preferred by prime ministers with families because it is bigger than the No 10 flat. The restyled decor is said to have been inspired by celebrated eco interior designer Lulu Lytle. She is the founder and director of Soane Britain which 'designs and makes British-made furniture, upholstery, lighting, fabrics and wallpaper' based on 'traditional crafts including blacksmiths'. Prince Charles visited her rattan workshop last year just before the pandemic. Miss Lytle's fabrics start at 100 a metre. Work on refurbishing the No 11 flat is believed to have been completed in recent months. It went on for more than a year and was disrupted by Covid. Mr Johnson first expressed concern at the rising cost early last year. He is said to have commented there was 'no way' he could pay for it after being informed by the Cabinet Office that the maximum taxpayer contribution was 'around 30,000'. That left a massive shortfall. Despite his salary of 150,000 a year as Prime Minister, Mr Johnson has taken a big pay cut because he earned 500,000 as a newspaper columnist and author before entering No 10. In addition he has had an expensive divorce from his ex-wife, Marina Wheeler. This newspaper understands that there were several meetings in No 10 where Mr Johnson discussed the possibility of asking Conservative donors to bridge the gap, either directly or via Tory Party HQ. After being warned that could be unethical, his advisers came up with an alternative scheme. They said the most practical and ethical way to secure extra financial help to pay for the refurbishment was by establishing a new charitable fund. Its purpose would be to maintain not just the No 11 flat, but also other parts of Downing Street, including the state rooms. That way, it could be presented as having a wider heritage purpose that would benefit future prime ministers, not just Mr Johnson, he was advised. He is said to have agreed to the proposal. However, according to some sources, in reality the real purpose was to bail out Mr Johnson and pay for Miss Symonds' expensive tastes. It is believed that the new charity will be designed to allow money to be used to pay for the refurbishment. It is modelled on a similar scheme used to maintain the White House, where the US president's wife customarily plays a big role in interior design. Incoming presidents and their families are allowed to spend up to $100,000 (72,000) on restyling the Washington mansion. When David and Samantha Cameron occupied the No 11 flat, they paid the bulk of a 64,000 redesign by Mrs Cameron, including a new kitchen. An ally of Mr Johnson last night defended the charity plan, saying: 'Downing Street is as iconic as Windsor Castle but is in danger of becoming tatty because the Civil Service does everything on the cheap. 'A new charity with privately raised money to preserve it in great shape for all time is great value for the taxpayer and a great idea.' Friends of Miss Symonds deny she has been extravagant. 'The makeover is appropriate for a building of such huge importance,' said one. 'Carrie has exquisite taste. It is classic, stunning, stylish and chic. She should be congratulated not criticised.' The Prime Minister's official country residence, Chequers in Buckinghamshire, is maintained by a trust with funds from Lord Lee, who gave the house to the nation a century ago. A No 10 spokesman said: 'The Downing Street complex is a working building, as well as containing two ministerial residences. 'As has been the case under successive administrations, refurbishments and maintenance are made periodically. 'Matters concerning works on the Downing Street estate, including the residences, are covered in the Cabinet Office annual report and accounts.' The spokesman declined to answer further questions from the Mail, including whether Mr Johnson had voiced worries about the cost of the refurbishment and whether he discussed asking Tory donors to help pay for it or asked Lord Brownlow to take charge of the proposed charity. The Charity Commission said it was not aware of any application to set up a Downing Street charity. Conservative Party HQ, the Cabinet Office, Lord Brownlow and Miss Lytle declined to comment. According to one insider the idea of creating a blind trust, an arrangement wherein a public figure's investments are handled by others whose identity is not disclosed to him or her to avoid a conflict of interest, was also discussed as a funding option. This is said to have been ruled out on the grounds that the identity of the Tory donors would almost certainly be known to the Prime Minister. Miss Symonds is involved in another charity controversy. She recently announced she was joining the staff of the Aspinall Foundation, whose financial governance is now being probed by the Charity Commission. Founded by the late John Aspinall, a friend of Lord Lucan, the foundation helps gorillas in the Congo and runs other conservation projects. The commission has launched a probe into concerns about 'financial management and wider governance'. The non-profit foundation allows its founder's son, gambling tycoon Damian Aspinall, to live in a 30-room manor for a fraction of normal market rates. He is charged just 2,500 a month for Howletts mansion, a Grade II-listed Palladian pile it owns in rural Kent. The charity is also shelling out large sums of money to Mr Aspinall's wife Victoria. Miss Symonds has suggested the Charity Commission's inquiry is all perfectly normal. She said: 'The commission made a number of ongoing routine inquiries at the end of last year as part of its regular checks.' However, commission sources told the Daily Mail: 'A routine check of their accounts in November raised a number of red flags, and these concerns are now being looked at.' Top designer who inspired Carrie Symonds' chic eco-makeover: Mixing bold colours and old-fashioned glamour, Lulu Lytle is one of the country's most successful interiors experts Downing Street's restyled decor is said to have been inspired by celebrated eco interior designer Lulu Lytle (pictured) The woman said to have inspired Carrie's lavish makeover is Lulu Lytle one of the UK's most influential and successful interior designers. Her designs combine a riot of bold colours and showstopping old-fashioned glamour. Think oiled-oak shelving, rattan furniture, shimmering gold wallpaper and intricate textiles. A marble bathroom, perhaps, with wrought iron finishings. She is especially passionate about sustaining traditional British craftsmanship. Mrs Lytle built up her Soane Britain interior design studio by scouring the country for the best artisan blacksmiths, cabinet makers, upholsterers and stone carvers creating furniture, lighting and fabrics using skills going back to the 18th century and beyond. In 2011, she put her money where her mouth is and bought the last rattan-weaving workshop left in England and started an apprenticeship programme. Prince Charles, himself passionate about sustaining traditional craftsmanship, visited the Leicester workshop a year ago, just before lockdown, to admire its creations. Soane's clients include five-star hotels and restaurants, private members' clubs, boardrooms, yachts and private houses all over the world. Mrs Lytle, 49, says her furniture, upholstery, lighting, fabrics and wallpapers all aim to 'contribute to the joyful atmosphere of any interior'. Born and raised in Worcestershire, the youngest of four sisters, Lucy Elizabeth Kottler, known as 'Lulu', developed a romantic passion for Egypt and took a degree in Egyptology. She met her husband Charles Patrick St John Lytle, known as Charlie, when he was training as a barrister. He is now a senior investment banker at Goldman Sachs. Mrs Lytle worked in antiques for four years, before starting Soane when she was 25, originally from the couple's one-bedroom flat in Notting Hill, west London. Soane's clients include five-star hotels and restaurants, private members' clubs, boardrooms, yachts and private houses all over the world Mrs Lytle, 49, says her furniture, upholstery, lighting, fabrics and wallpapers all aim to 'contribute to the joyful atmosphere of any interior' Born and raised in Worcestershire, the youngest of four sisters, Lucy Elizabeth Kottler, known as 'Lulu', developed a romantic passion for Egypt and took a degree in Egyptology She built up her Soane Britain interior design studio by scouring the country for the best artisan blacksmiths, cabinet makers, upholsterers and stone carvers Her plan was clear and has never changed to create beautifully made contemporary furniture based on antiques. She said: 'The life of an object is endlessly fascinating, there's a depth to old things.' The Lytles moved to a flat in one of London's nicest squares, close to Hyde Park, in 1999. They then bought its neighbour and knocked through to create a 4million home, which is now a stunning exhibition of Mrs Lytle's interior design genius and often showcased in glossy magazines. It mixes old and new Soane pieces, along with textiles collected worldwide, paintings, maps and artefacts. Searing Chinese yellow walls make a study area dramatic, while hand-painted lapis lazuli rocks bring luxury to the master bedroom's Carrara marble ensuite bathroom. The couple share their home with their three children Tom, 20, Bunny, 18, and Xan, 15 as well as a greyhound named Panther and Hammy the hamster. Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal instructed to create working groups at the level of each region to combat the illegal market of petroleum products, as well as to inspect filling stations, Head of the State Environmental Inspectorate Andriy Maliovany has said. "This morning, an online meeting was held under the leadership of the Prime Minister of Ukraine specifically on the issue of petroleum products turnover, in particular, illegal petrol turnover in Ukraine. All services, bodies of the National Police, the State Emergency Service were involved in it. On behalf of the Prime Minister, working groups will be created in each region, checks will be carried out," Maliovany said during an online press conference on Tuesday. According to him, this year the department will have the opportunity to conduct not only documentary checks of the origin of petrol at filling stations, but also laboratory analyzes of the qualitative composition of petroleum products. "Last year we worked exclusively with documents: we checked passports, technical regulations, studied the origin of petroleum products. This year, funding has been allocated for laboratory research. There is a procedure for purchasing such a service, since our laboratories do not have such technical capabilities," the head of the State Environmental Inspectorate said. Maliovany said that commissions would be created in each region, which would include representatives of the State Emergency Service, the State Labor Service, the State Service of Ukraine on Food Safety and Consumer Protection, as well as the State Environmental Inspectorate, the task of which would be to verify compliance with environmental legislation, including the quality of petroleum products from an environmental point of view. "Last year, we conducted 848 inspections of filling stations, which resulted in 979 decisions, orders and sanctions. Sanctions were imposed for a total amount of over UAH 8 million," the head of the State Environmental Inspectorate 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. 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 Nagol is Back! VTOs guide to this years Nagol, plus where to stay and play in south, central and north Pentecost. University of Queenslands Dr. Anthony Romilio has examined the Meidum Geese, a painting from the Chapel of Itet at Meidum in Egypt. The Meidum Geese painting was found in 1871 in a tomb located near the Meidum Pyramid, which was built by the pharaoh Snefru (reign 2610-2590 BCE). The tomb belonged to the pharaohs son, the vizier Nefermaat, and the painting itself was supposedly found in a chapel dedicated to Nefermaats wife Itet. As members of the royal family, the pair was granted a large mastaba tomb close to the pyramid of the king and could employ the most sought-after artists of the day to help in its decoration. The geese were depicted below a scene showing men trapping birds in a clap net and offering them to the tombs owner. While it is not uncommon to find scenes of fowling in the marshes in Old Kingdom tombs, this example is one of the earliest and is notable for the extraordinary quality of the painting. The painting, Meidum Geese, has been admired since its discovery in the 1800s and described as Egypts Mona Lisa, said Dr. Romilio, a researcher in the School of Chemistry and Biomolecular Sciences at the University of Queensland. Apparently no-one realized it depicted an unknown species. The strange but beautiful bird was quite unlike modern red-breasted geese (Branta ruficollis), with distinct, bold colors and patterns on its body, face, breast, wings and legs. In the study, Dr. Romilio used the Tobias criteria, a quantitative method for delimitating bird species, to examine the painting. He compared the visual appearance of the coloration and body markings in the painting with greylag geese (Anser anser), bean geese (Anser fabalis), greater white-fronted geese (Anser albifrons), and red-breasted geese. I applied the Tobias criteria to the goose, along with other types of geese in the fresco, he explained. This is a highly effective method in identifying species using quantitative measurements of key bird features and greatly strengthens the value of the information to zoological and ecological science. Dr. Romilio found that one goose form resembled greylag geese (but did not exclude bean geese), a second form was like greater white-fronted geese, but the third goose type did not plausibly match with red-breasted geese. Artistic license could account for the differences with modern geese, but artworks from this site have extremely realistic depictions of other birds and mammals, he said. No bones from modern red-breasted geese had been found on any Egyptian archaeological site. Curiously, bones of a similar but not identical bird have been found on Crete. From a zoological perspective, the Egyptian artwork is the only documentation of this distinctively patterned goose, which appears now to be globally extinct. The study was published in the Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports. _____ A. Romilio. 2021. Assessing Meidum Geese species identification with the Tobias criteria. Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports 36: 102834; doi: 10.1016/j.jasrep.2021.102834 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 Wang Yang, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) National Committee, attends the opening meeting of the 15th session of the Standing Committee of the 13th CPPCC National Committee in Beijing, capital of China, March 1, 2021. (Xinhua/Shen Hong) BEIJING, March 1 (Xinhua) -- The Standing Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) National Committee convened a meeting on Monday in Beijing to prepare for the upcoming annual session of the top political advisory body. Wang Yang, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the CPPCC National Committee, attended Monday's opening meeting. A decision was reviewed and adopted at the meeting to convene the fourth session of the 13th CPPCC National Committee starting from March 4 in Beijing. The decision also included a proposed agenda for the annual session. The meeting heard explanations on the drafting of the work report of the CPPCC National Committee Standing Committee and a report on how the Standing Committee has handled proposals put forward by political advisors, among others. Enditem EDWARDSVILLE The Edwardsville YMCA Board of Directors are happy to announce that Brandon Bell has been selected as the next CEO. Bell brings 16 years of YMCA experience and comes from the Shawnee Family YMCA in Oklahoma where he has been the CEO since 2017. In April, Bell will be taking over for Tom Verheyen, who has served as CEO for the Edwardsville YMCA since 2018. While Bell is coming from Oklahoma, he is not new to the area as he grew up in the Southwest Illinois region. He served for six years in the Army and upon completion of his responsibilities, Bell moved to Edwardsville to continue his education, receiving a bachelors degree in kinesiology from Southern Illinois University Edwardsville (SIUE), later earning his masters degree in business administration from Southeastern Oklahoma State University (SOSU). In 2005, Bell began his YMCA career with the Southwest Illinois YMCA (now the Gateway YMCA) as the Multi-site Associate Executive Director of the Downtown Belleville YMCA, East Belleville YMCA and the Belleville Outdoor Center. In 2014, Bell became the Executive Director of the Airport Area YMCA in Fort Worth Texas. Most recently, he served the Shawnee Oklahoma community as the Shawnee Family YMCA CEO. When asked about what drew him back to Edwardsville, Bell said I am extremely excited to move back to Edwardsville and lead the mission of the YMCA within the community. My wife (Miriam) and I have always admired the Edwardsville community and how the community embraces the educational system, trail system, and the YMCA. In addition to having family ties in the area, Edwardsville offers everything we would ideally look for in a community. Bell has been very involved with his community, serving as a Rotary president as well as being on multiple boards and steering and leadership committees. He supported community efforts at the local level, on county-wide initiatives and works closely with the Oklahoma Alliance of YMCAs. Bell said, I am extremely excited about many aspects of this new chapter in life including working with the established staff team at the YMCA, exploring new avenues for the YMCA to serve and making a positive difference by working with and partnering with community individuals and organizations to ensure we reach all aspects of the community. The Board of Directors President, Elizabeth Grant said, The YMCA Board is excited about Brandon Bell as our next CEO. We appreciate all the members who have stuck with us during these restricted times and look forward to a bright future as we emerge from this chapter. Brandon and Miriam are excited to return to our community, after living here while he completed his studies at SIUE. We feel honored that Edwardsville is where he wants to call home and look forward to welcoming him back! We want to thank the combined efforts of the Search Committee for their diligent work through this process in finding our next CEO. Finally, we also thank Tom Verheyen for the contributions he has made during his 16 years at our Y. We are in a strong position based on his leadership and thank him wholeheartedly for his service. We wish Tom and (his wife) Hayley continued success. Through the dedicated efforts of staff and volunteers, the Edwardsville YMCA is devoted to strengthening the foundations of the community through youth development, healthy living and social responsibility. Continuing to impact the lives of thousands of families and individuals in the surrounding Edwardsville area is very important to Bell saying, The Edwardsville YMCA has been such a great asset for the community and I am excited to join the Edwardsville YMCA during a time in which I believe our best work as a mission-driven, non-profit, community organization is yet to come. Over 50 lakh people have registered themselves on the Co-WIN portal, without any system glitch, since the window opened Monday morning, the said, adding that nearly 5 lakh beneficiaries above 60 or those aged 45-60 with comorbidities have received the first dose of COVID-19 vaccine till Tuesday evening. The vaccination drive for the above said group began on March 1, and the registration opened at 9 am Monday on the Co-WIN portal -- http://cowin.gov.in/" \ cowin.gov.in. A total of 1,54,61,864 vaccine doses have been given, as per the provisional report till 7 pm Tuesday, the ministry said in an update in the evening. These include 67,32,944 healthcare workers (HCWs) who have taken the 1st dose and 26,85,665 HCWs who have taken the 2nd dose, 55,47,426 frontline workers (FLWs, 1st dose), 828 FLWs (2nd dose), and 4,34,981 beneficiaries above 60 old and 60,020 beneficiaries aged 45 and above with specific co-morbidities, the ministry said. A total of 6,09,845 vaccine doses were given on Tuesday till 7 pm, the forty-sixth day of nationwide COVID-19 vaccination. Out of these, 5,21,101 beneficiaries were vaccinated for 1st dose and 88,744 HCWs and FLWs received 2nd dose of vaccine as per the provisional report, the ministry said, adding final reports would be completed for the day by late night. R S Sharma, the Chairman of the Empowered Group (EG) on COVID-19 Vaccine Administration, told a weekly health ministry press conference with other ministry officials here that there have been no glitches in the system. What happened was that people were looking for an App on Playstore which appeared similar to Co-WIN and started using that, when no mobile App meant for registration is actually present right now, he said. Citizens can register and book an appointment for vaccination using the Co-WIN 2.0 portal or through other IT applications such as Aarogya Setu, he said. "Though there were some glitches in the first version of the Co-WIN which was launched on January 16, we have had no glitches in the new version of the system, he said. After one has taken the first dose, the second jab will be automatically rescheduled at the same hospital, but if one is not in the city one can "schedule your appointment there also". "We will take care to ensure one doesn't get two different vaccines at two jabs," Sharma explained. The official said the government is watching the system closely as it has to be "highly scalable". After all, it is a program with which we will be vaccinating 1/6th of humanity and this program has to cater to millions of people at the same time," he said. "We want data to be secure and free from cyber-attacks. We are following best security practices. We are only collecting data in the form of name, age and gender as we need to monitor the second dose," he said. Sharma said state governments are coordinating with hospitals and supplying vaccines to them and "we are encouraging them to involve more and more private hospitals''. Total number of hospitals which are involved in this job are 26,000-27,000. There are 12,500 private hospitals. In response to a question on people facing problems in registering on the portal, Sharma said, "People might be facing trouble in getting registered maybe for some reason. As far as I know, 50 lakh people have already registered since yesterday morning. By this figure, we can say that at least 2 lakh people per hour have registered. It is a great speed. If there was so much of a problem then so many people would not have been able to register. Still there could be some shortcoming on our part and we will try to address it." Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan said the timeline of vaccinating between 9 am to 5 pm has been done away with. If the hospital has the capacity, the system permits them to do vaccination even after 5 pm in consultation with state governments. This has been briefed both to the state government as well as private and government hospitals," Bhushan said. On many healthcare and frontline workers not taking the 2nd dose, Bhushan said the vaccination drive is voluntary and no one can be forced. "Yes, those who have taken the first dose and not the second dose can be tracked as Co-WIN provides a provisional certificate to the ones administered with the first dose. Usually the second dose needs to be taken four weeks after the first but if for some reason the person is not available, then the dose can be taken 2-3 days after that also," he said. NITI Aayog member (Health) V K Paul stressed that it is very important to take the second dose as a person is protected only after both doses are administered. On how big a logistical challenge it was to supply vaccines at all locations and for maintaining the cold chain, Bhushan said, "It is indeed a huge and complex logistical challenge. We have 4 GMSDs, these are the depots where vaccines are stored by the union government. There are 60 consignee points across states and then there are 29,000 cold chain points which take the vaccine to the point where it is actually administered. This is the broad framework, he said. Broadly, five crore doses of vaccine have been moved so far within the country and roughly 46 lakh vials have been moved and this would not have been possible without the active collaboration of ministry of civil aviation, private airlines, Air India and the vaccine manufacturers," 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.) Intelligent.com, a trusted resource for online degree rankings and higher education planning, has announced the Top 32 Master's in Addictions And Recovery Degree Programs for 2021. The comprehensive research guide is based on an assessment of 57 accredited colleges and universities in the nation. Each program is evaluated based on curriculum quality, graduation rate, reputation, and post-graduate employment. The 2021 rankings are calculated through a unique scoring system which includes student engagement, potential return on investment and leading third party evaluations. Intelligent.com analyzed57 schools, on a scale of 0 to 100, with only 32 making it to the final list. The methodology also uses an algorithm which collects and analyzes multiple rankings into one score to easily compare each school. Students who pursue any one of these programs can expect to gain employment much quicker in comparison to candidates without a degree. In addition to accessibility and cost, the steady job growth in this market is one of the many reasons Intelligent.com researched and ranked the Top Master's in Addictions And Recovery Degree Programs. To access the complete ranking, please visit: https://www.intelligent.com/best-masters-in-addictions-and-recovery-degree-programs/ 2021 Master's in Addictions And Recovery Degree Programs featured on Intelligent.com (in alphabetical order): Aspen University Assumption College Bemidji State University Cambridge College Capella University Emporia State University Governors State University Grand Canyon University Indiana Wesleyan University Liberty University Mid-America Christian University Monmouth University Nova Southeastern University Ottawa University Post University Purdue University Global Regent University Springfield College State University of New York, Buffalo Thomas University Union College University of Arkansas, Pine Bluff University of Massachusetts, Boston University of North Texas University of Oklahoma University of South Dakota University of the Cumberlands Virginia Commonwealth University Walden University Washburn University West Virginia University Wright State University About Intelligent.com Intelligent.com provides unbiased research to help students make informed decisions about higher education programs. The website offers curated guides which include the best degree programs as well as information about financial aid, internships and even study strategies. With comprehensive, user-friendly guides and hundreds of program rankings, Intelligent.com is a trusted source among students and prospective students. To learn more, please visit https://www.intelligent.com/. ROME - Oxfam is calling on Italy to increase its funding for the humanitarian emergency in Yemen, it said in a statement. It said Italy is in 19th place as a donor country, with only five million euros allocated in 2021, less than all other G7 countries. "The Italian government confirms last year's commitment, not taking into account parliament's request to do more," said Paolo Pezzati, Oxfam Italia policy advisor for humanitarian emergencies. "It is a truly low amount if compared to what other G7 countries have allocated: over 200 million euros from Germany, 159 from the United States, 102 from Great Britain, 46 from Canada, 40 from Japan, 11 from France. Italy places after all the Scandinavian countries, on equal footing with Belgium and Ireland. Deputy Foreign Minister Marina Sereni has just been sworn in, but we are turning directly to her for a verification of the availability of more funds, as requested by parliament in December. At the same time, we are asking her to lead a serious and structured change to put Yemen at the centre of the Italian foreign policy agenda". Oxfam recalled that the UN is disappointed for the overall contribution of all donors. "The 1.4 billion euros committed yesterday make up only 43.75% of the 3.21 billion euros requested to help two-thirds of the population of Yemen, which at this moment is on its last legs," Pezzati said. "An entire population is without food, medicine, clean water, and with only half of healthcare facilities working is facing the deadly combination of the impact of Covid-19, of the worst cholera epidemic ever, and of the war that has already forced four million people to abandon their homes". Vienna, March 2 : The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said that it was deeply concerned about unreported nuclear material in Iran. The presence of multiple uranium particles of anthropogenic origin is a clear indication that nuclear material and/or equipment contaminated by nuclear material has been present at a location not declared by Iran, IAEA Director-General Rafael Grossi said a virtual meeting on Monday. "In the absence of a technically credible explanation from Iran, the agency is deeply concerned that undeclared nuclear material may have been present at this undeclared location and that such nuclear material remains unreported by Iran under its Safeguards Agreement," Xinhua news agency quoted Grossi as saying. Iran has not answered any of the IAEA's questions relating to the possible presence of nuclear material at three other locations either, he added. Grossi told reporters after the meeting that his agency has lost the additional protocol and "the transparency measures specific to the JCPOA (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action)". "To give you an example, if I wanted to go to a place which is part of a declared site, of which I have doubt, I cannot... It is a huge loss." He emphasised that the agreement he reached with Iran on February 21 is "a temporary technical understanding and that it is compatible with Iranian law". "It is to enable the agency to resume its full verification and monitoring of Iran's nuclear-related commitments under the JCPOA if and when Iran resumes its implementation of those commitments," he said. He told reporters that US President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken have both indicated that "their aspiration is to return to the JCPOA", and are "looking into means and ways to do it", noting it is important to give more time to diplomacy and consultations. "This is going to take time," he said. "I hope they will agree and we are going to be supporting them." The P5+1 countries (China, France, Russia, the UK and the US, plus Germany) negotiated the JCPOA on the Iranian nuclear program in 2015, before Washington under former President Donald Trump withdrew from the nuclear agreement in 2018. As a result of the US' unilateral exit, Iran has surpassed JCPOA-stipulated limits on its uranium enrichment level and on its stockpiles of heavy water and low-enriched uranium. The Islamic Republic has also lifted JCPOA limitations on its nuclear research and development activities. Northbrook, IL -- (SBWIRE) -- 03/02/2021 -- MarketsandMarkets forecasts the Radiation Detection, Monitoring, & Safety Market to reach 2.3 billion by 2022 from an estimated 1.7 billion in 2017, at a CAGR of 5.7% during the forecast period. The key factors driving the growth of this market include, growing security threats, growing prevalence of cancer worldwide, increasing safety awareness among people working in radiation-prone environments, growing safety concerns post the Fukushima disaster, growing security budgets of global sporting events, growth in the number of PET/CT scans, increasing usage of nuclear medicine and radiation therapy for diagnosis and treatment, and use of drones for radiation monitoring. However, nuclear energy alternatives such as renewable energy, shortage of nuclear power workforce, nuclear power phase-out, are expected to restrain the growth of this market. Opportunity:Proposed increase in the number of nuclear power plants; Though the nuclear power industry is currently witnessing a challenging environment, a high demand for nuclear energy is projected in the coming years due to the growing energy demands across the globe. Moreover, with increasing demand for oil and gas among Asian countries and the adverse impact of carbon pollution, nuclear power is considered as a safer alternative for catering to the rising energy demands. # As of December 2016, about 447 operational nuclear reactors in 30 countries and 60 new nuclear power plants are under construction in 15 countries (Source: International Atomic Energy Agency). The industry will continue to grow owing to the addition of new nuclear power plants and restart of existing nuclear power plants. For instance, between 2015 and 2018, in Japan 4 nuclear power plants have been restarted. Request Research Sample Pages: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/requestsampleNew.asp?id=987 Based on product; The radiation safety market is segmented into radiation detection and monitoring products and radiation safety product. The radiation detection and monitoring products segment accounted for the largest share of the global radiation detection, monitoring, and safety market, and it is also expected to register the highest CAGR during the forecast period. These radiation detection and monitoring products are extensively used for various applications such as in diagnostic medical imaging, homeland security, nuclear power plants, and industrial applications. Personal dosimeter market is expected to register highest growth rate during the forecast period. Based on application; The global radiation detection, monitoring, and safety market is categorized into healthcare, homeland security and defense, industrial applications, nuclear power plants, and other applications (environmental monitoring and academic research). The homeland security & defense segment is expected to grow at the highest rate owing to the increased spending on internal security and military expenditure. Download PDF Brochure: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/pdfdownloadNew.asp?id=987 Geographic segments in this report include North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and RoW. Of these, the North American segment accounted for the largest share of the market in 2017. The large share of North America in the radiation detection, monitoring, and safety market is attributed to the favorable government initiatives, increasing number of nuclear power plants, rising prevalence of cancer, and increasing awareness of radiation safety are the factors driving the market in this region. The global radiation detection, monitoring, and safety market is dominated by Thermo Fischer Scientific (US), Mirion Technologies (US), and LANDAUER (US). A majority of the leading players in the radiation detection, monitoring, and safety market are adopting the strategies of acquisitions, agreements, partnerships, collaborations, and new product launches. Other prominent players in the market include Fuji Electric (Japan), Ludlum Measurement (US), Arktis Radiation Detection (Switzerland), Radiation Detection Company (US), AMETEK (US), Ultra Electronics (UK), Arrow-Tec (US), and Polimaster (Austria). Thermo Fisher Scientific (US) accounted for the largest share of the radiation detection, monitoring, and safety market. The company offers a wide range of portable radiation detectors, personal radiation dosimeters and monitoring devices, integrated radiation monitoring systems, radiation contamination and environmental monitoring systems, neutron flux, neutron generators, and radiation detection portals & monitors. In 2016, the Analytical Instrument segment (offering radiation detection, monitoring, and safety devices) generated revenue of USD 3,472.1 million. The company invests a significant amount of its revenue in R&D activities to increase its depth of capabilities in technologies, software, and services. New Delhi, March 2 : An IndiGo flight from Sharjah to Lucknow made a medical emergency landing in Karachi on Tuesday. According to the airline, flight 6E 1412 from Sharjah to Lucknow was diverted to Karachi due to a medical emergency. "Unfortunately, the passenger could not be revived and was declared dead on arrival by the airport medical team," the airline said in a statement. The landing took place at around 5.30 a.m. as an elderly passenger developed medical complications. The patient was declared dead at Karachi by the airport medical team. Subsequently, the aircraft took-off at 7.30 a.m. from Karachi airport. The standard operating procedure was carried out under prevalent international civil aviation laws. Under these codes, civil aviation flights ferrying civilians under duress are allowed to land at airports which are not in their original schedule. In a bizarre incident, a passenger plane was forced to make an emergency landing and return to the airport at Sudanese capital city Khartoum after a cat was spotted in the cockpit. According to reports by Al Sudani News, the flight took off from Khartoum Airport and on its way to Doha, a cat appeared inside the cockpit and attacked the captain. The cat acted aggressively even after all attempts of trying to restrain the feline. Read: Zoom Cat Filter For Zoom: Learn How To Get The Cat Filter For The Zoom App Everybody has been safely landed but nobody knows how the cat managed to sneak inside. After a little information was obtained, it came to notice that the aircraft had spent a night stationed at a hangar at the Khartoum airport ahead of the flight. As per Al Sudani News, the cat likely sneaked aboard during cleaning or engineering review. After that, the feline hid inside the cabin. Read: 'Fur Burglar': Cat Sneaks Away With Toilet Rolls Amid Global Shortage Another such instance RT News reports that this is not the first such incident. In the year 2004, a Belgian airliner with 62 people on board had to return to Brussels after a feline called Gin went berserk in the cockpit. This happened after the feline managed to escape from the travel bag. Also, in the same year, a similar incident took place on board the national Bangladeshi air carrier. The pilot had to be offered first aid after he was attacked by a stray cat. Even after the mishap, the crew decided to complete their journey to Dhaka. Read: UN: 15 Tigrayan Origin UN Peacekeepers Seek Asylum In Sudan Also Read: 'Started As A Joke': Lancashire Farm Makes 50,000 After Offering Zoom Call With Goats Illinois residents who are 65 or older can start making appointments for the United Center mass vaccination site Thursday morning, officials announced. The site on the Near West Side wont open until next week, but registration will begin starting 8:30 a.m. Thursday. Officials also said Illinois is expected to receive more than 100,000 doses of the recently approved Johnson & Johnson vaccine this week. State officials said more than 90% of its supply of 83,000 doses will be distributed to mass vaccination sites. The city of Chicago, which gets its own supply of vaccines, is receiving 22,300 doses. The news comes as President Joe Biden said Tuesday that the U.S. expects to take delivery of enough coronavirus vaccines for all adult Americans by the end of May, two months earlier than anticipated, as his administration announced that drugmaker Merck & Co. will help produce rival Johnson & Johnsons newly approved shot. Meanwhile, Chicago will allow bars and restaurants to boost indoor capacity to 50% and remain open until 1 a.m. in the latest move from Mayor Lori Lightfoot to ease COVID-19 restrictions and help businesses. Lightfoot also will allow liquor stores to sell alcohol until 11 p.m. and boost the number of people allowed at indoor fitness classes to 20. Earlier on Tuesday, Illinois public health officials reported 1,577 new confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19 and 47 additional deaths. That brings the states totals to 1,189,416 cases and 20,583 deaths since the pandemic began. Officials said there were 61,061 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine administered in Illinois on Monday. The seven-day rolling average of daily vaccinations is 80,416 doses, the highest seven-day average to date, officials said. Heres whats happening Tuesday with COVID-19 in the Chicago area and Illinois: 4:20 p.m.: MCA reopens with show featuring Chicago artists, with MSI and Chicago History Museum to follow Museum reopenings continue this week as MCA Chicago welcomed visitors back Tuesday, and the Chicago History Museum and Museum of Science and Industry prepared for Thursday and Sunday reopenings, respectively. This is also the week that both major zoos opened back up after closing for the first two months of the year, a thing they have not done in previous winters but did this year primarily to cut operating costs during the pandemic. Read more here. Steve Johnson 3:50 p.m.: Biden says US expects enough vaccine doses for all adult Americans by the end of May 2 months earlier than anticipated President Joe Biden said Tuesday that the U.S. expects to take delivery of enough coronavirus vaccines for all adult Americans by the end of May, two months earlier than anticipated, as his administration announced that drugmaker Merck & Co. will help produce rival Johnson & Johnsons newly approved shot. The announcement comes as the White House looks to speed the production of the single-dose J&J vaccine and accelerate the nations plans to reach herd immunity in the U.S. and begin restoring normalcy after the pandemic. Biden noted that vaccine supply was only one bottleneck toward that goal, and that the new challenge will be injecting doses into arms as swiftly as possible. To that end, the Biden administration told governors Tuesday to prepare for their supplies of vaccine to continue to climb over the coming weeks. Additional doses are also heading toward a federally backed program to administer doses in more accessible retail pharmacies. Read more here. Associated Press 3 p.m.: Fans in stands? Lightfoot says she thinks Cubs, White Sox will host live spectators sometime this season Good news, Chicago baseball fans: Mayor Lori Lightfoot said Tuesday that the Cubs and White Sox will be able to host fans this season. But the mayor declined to offer a timeline on when, noting the city is in discussions with the citys baseball teams and theyll announce more details later. I think there will be a point, sometime this season, where youll see fans in the stands at both Wrigley and Guaranteed Rate Field, which I still call Sox Park, Lightfoot said. Read more here. Gregory Pratt 2:05 p.m.: Illinois set to receive more than 100,000 doses of new Johnson & Johnson coronavirus vaccine by midweek Illinois is expected to receive more than 100,000 doses of the recently approved Johnson & Johnson coronavirus vaccine this week, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. State officials said more than 90% of its supply of 83,000 doses will be distributed to mass vaccination sites. The city of Chicago, which gets its own supply of vaccines, is receiving 22,300 doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, according to the CDC. Unlike previously available vaccines which require two doses, the Johnson & Johnson model requires only a single inoculation. The doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine are arriving around the country today and tomorrow, and it will add significantly 20% roughly to the number of vaccines that we will have available in the state, Gov. J.B. Pritzker said at an Aurora vaccination site Tuesday. Itll be more widely available as the weeks move on, and so we just need to ask everybody continued patience, he said. Read more here. Jenny Whidden 1:45 p.m.: Advocate Aurora Health working on mass vaccination site at conference center next to Wrigley Field: sources Advocate Aurora Health is working on a mass vaccination site to be hosted at the conference center next to Wrigley Field, potentially giving the city another prominent location for shots distribution, sources told the Tribune. Unlike the United Center mass vaccination site on the West Side, this operation would not be led by the federal government but instead would be run by Advocate, sources said. Sources said the plans are not final but it is expected to launch later this month. An Advocate spokeswoman did not have an immediate comment. Officials announced last week the United Center would open up and inoculate 6,000 people per day against the coronavirus, with those 65 or older going first. The mass vaccination site was a joint effort by local, state and federal governments to help vaccination rates in older Illinoisans and communities hardest hit by the pandemic. The Federal Emergency Management Agency will play the leading role in operating the site, with shots administered in tents in Parking Lot E at the northeast corner of the stadium. The site is scheduled to be open for eight weeks under the federal program. Read more here. Gregory Pratt 1:10 p.m.: Registration for United Center COVID-19 vaccinations to open Thursday Illinois residents who are 65 or older can start making appointments for the United Center mass vaccination site Thursday morning, officials announced. The site on the Near West Side wont open until next week, but registration will begin starting 8:30 a.m. Thursday, Chicago public health Commissioner Dr. Allison Arwady said during a Tuesday question-and-answer session. That day, there will be more than 110,000 slots for those 65 or older, who can register at zocdoc.com/vaccine or call a phone number that will be released this week, Arwady said. Through a city partnership with Uber, 20,000 free rides also will be available to those residents who need help getting to the appointment and back after they sign up. Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday is the time that if you are over the age of 65, you know someone over the age of 65, please, help them get an appointment, Arwady said. I really want to see Chicago residents taking advantage of this so were getting the word out now. If there are still open slots by 4 p.m. Sunday, the United Center site will allow sign-ups for the rest of Illinois residents under phase 1b, which includes front-line workers in essential industries and, for most non-Cook County residents, adults with existing health conditions. Read more here. Alice Yin 12:13 p.m.: 1,577 new confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19, 47 deaths reported Illinois public health officials said the state will receive 83,000 doses of the newly authorized Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine by Wednesday and the vast majority will go to mass vaccination sites. There were 61,061 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine administered in Illinois on Monday. The seven-day rolling average of daily vaccinations is 80,416 doses, the highest seven-day average to date, officials said. Illinois public health officials Tuesday reported 1,577 new confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19 and 47 additional deaths. That brings the states totals to 1,189,416 cases and 20,583 deaths since the pandemic began. There were 56,181 tests reported in the previous 24 hours and the seven-day statewide positivity rate as a percent of total test is 2.4%. Chicago Tribune staff 11:30 a.m.: Chicago bars and restaurants can stay open until 1 a.m., boost capacity to 50%, Lightfoot announces Chicago will allow bars and restaurants to boost indoor capacity to 50% and remain open until 1 a.m. in the latest move from Mayor Lori Lightfoot to ease COVID-19 restrictions and help businesses. Lightfoot also will allow liquor stores to sell alcohol until 11 p.m. and boost the number of people allowed at indoor fitness classes to 20, the city said. Indoor capacity for bars and restaurants will be capped at 50 people per space, the city said. We have made incredible progress in recent weeks and months, and I thank our business community for their ongoing commitment to saving lives, Lightfoot said in a statement announcing the moves. In recent weeks, the city has touted decreases in caseloads to support lowering restrictions on local businesses. The indoor dining expansion was another step in the right direction to Sam Toia, president of the Illinois Restaurant Association. But Toia said he believes the city and state can offer more to his industry. He wants the cap for private gatherings in Illinois to go up from 50 people to 150 as spring approaches and weddings, communions, bar mitzvahs and other events might happen. Toia also said restaurant workers deserve to be in the current phase of vaccination in Chicago and Illinois. Read more here. Gregory Pratt, Alice Yin Chris Pieters speaks before the Naperville School District 203 school board Monday evening. (Rafael Guerrero / Naperville Sun) 11:25 a.m.: Parents tear into Naperville District 203 School Board for not reopening schools full time: You will all be replaced Multiple speakers at the Naperville District 203 School Board meeting Monday told the three incumbent board members seeking reelection in April that they will lose their seats if schools are not reopened for normal full-time classes. To think you have the slightest chance at reelection after willingly handing over that responsibility we gave you, your failure is laughable and you should be ashamed with yourselves, said Jim Parker, who has two children attending Maplebrook Elementary School. You will all be replaced if these schools arent open immediately, he said. A year ago District 203 schools were completely closed and classes moved online in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. A hybrid schedule was implemented earlier this year in which some students returned to in-person classes on a part-time basis if requested by their parents. Many in attendance Monday argued its now safe to return all students to full-time, in-person classes, and used the meeting to not only criticize the board but also to castigate district Superintendent Dan Bridges, the current return-to-learn plan and the social distancing restrictions that kept several people from being allowed into the meeting. Read more here. Rafael Guerrero 10:40 a.m.: Indiana makes COVID-19 vaccine available to residents 55 and older Indiana residents age 55 to 60 are now eligible to receive a COVID-19 vaccine, state health officials announced Tuesday in the latest expansion of the states vaccine rollout. The Indiana Department of Health said the expansion is the first step in making the free shots available to the nearly 858,000 Hoosiers in their 50s. Indianas vaccine eligibility pool had previously included Hoosiers age 60 and older, health care workers, long-term care residents and first responders. Additional groups will be added as more vaccine becomes available, officials said. The states current vaccine distribution plan indicates Hoosiers aged 50 to 55 are next in line to receive shots, although there are no specific timelines in place for when new eligibility expansions will take effect. Read more here. Associated Press 9:20 a.m.: Merck will help produce rival Johnson & Johnsons COVID-19 vaccine, Biden official says Drugmaker Merck & Co. will help produce rival Johnson & Johnsons newly approved coronavirus vaccine in an effort to expand supply more quickly, a Biden administration official confirmed Tuesday. The announcement comes as the White House looks to speed the production of the single-dose vaccine. Officials have said J&J faced unexpected production issues with its vaccine and produced only 3.9 million doses ahead of its receiving emergency use authorization on Saturday. The company says it is on pace to deliver 100 million doses by the end of June. The assistance from Merck was expected to help J&J meet its production commitments and expand supply even further, but the administration did not immediately provide specifics. Read more here. Associated Press Hope, a 5-year-old polar bear, recently arrived at Brookfield Zoo. (Jim Schulz/Brookfield Zoo) 6:50 a.m.: Brookfield Zoo reopens with new polar bear, Mexican gray wolves making their debut Three ladies are making their debut at the newly reopened Brookfield Zoo, and they dont mind the weather a bit. Hope, a 5-year-old polar bear, and mother/daughter Mexican gray wolves Sibi and 2-year-old Lorena, have been hanging out at the zoo for a few weeks now, but this is the first zoo members and visitors will be able to see them. As it was before the recent two-month closing, the zoos indoor buildings are temporarily closed to the public due to the coronavirus pandemic. But the outside exhibits are open, and the animals, at least in Mondays 30-degree weather, were out in full force, soaking up the rays and enjoying the calm, cold weather. Some of the animals recently experienced what may have been their first big snowstorms. As the temperatures rise, the animals want to have access to the outdoor habitats. (The other day) the rhino was just racing around the yard and splashing, and rolling around in it, and it was so fun to see the energy, thinking this is a different texture, said Leah Rippe, spokesperson for the zoo. Read more here. Wendy Fox Weber, Pioneer Press 6 a.m.: Schools in Park Ridge-Niles School District 64 to reopen schools for full-time in-person learning Schools in Park Ridge-Niles School District 64 will resume full-time, in-person after spring break, the district announced this week. After several weeks of hybrid learning, students will return to class five days a week on Monday, March 29, Supt. Eric Olson said in an email to parents Monday. The district will also offer an all-remote option for families that choose it, Olson said. There will be no hybrid option mixing in-person and remote learning, the email said. The community and school (COVID-19) metrics are showing improvement and the in-person learning we have done has proven to work, said District 64 Spokesman Pete Gill. Based on that, we are ready to take the next step. Read more here. Jennifer Johnson, Pioneer Press 6 a.m.: Two big annual trade shows canceled again at McCormick Place Two large industry events that typically bring a combined 126,000 people to Chicagos McCormick Place have been canceled for the second straight year because of COVID-19. On Friday, the National Restaurant Association said its show, which was to take place May 22-25, has been called off and rescheduled to May 21-24, 2022. On Monday, the International Housewares Association announced that The Inspired Home Show, which was to take place Aug. 7-10, has been canceled. The group said its decision was based on state restrictions related to large gatherings as well as government restrictions that are affecting domestic and international travel. The housewares trade event is set to return to McCormick Place March 5-8, 2022. Read more here. Chicago Tribune staff In case you missed it EQS Group-News: Nordea Bank Abp / Key word(s): Miscellaneous Nordea Bank Abp: Flagging notification 02.03.2021 / 09:30 Nordea Bank Abp: Flagging notification in accordance with Chapter 9, Section 10 of the Securities Markets Act Nordea Bank Abp Stock exchange release - Major shareholder announcements 2 March 2021 at 9.00 EET Nordea Bank Abp has on 1 March 2021 received a notification under Chapter 9, Section 5 of the Securities Markets Act, according to which BlackRock, Inc.'s indirect shareholding of Nordea Bank Abp's shares and voting rights crossed the threshold of 5 per cent on 26 February 2021. According to the announcement, BlackRock, Inc.'s indirect shareholding in Nordea Bank Abp has increased to 5.04 per cent of the shares and voting rights. The total number of Nordea Bank Abp's shares and voting rights held directly or through financial instruments by BlackRock, Inc. and its funds was 5.19 per cent on 26 February 2021. The total number of shares and voting rights in Nordea Bank Abp is 4,049,951,919. Total positions of BlackRock, Inc. and its funds: % of shares and voting rights (total of A) % of shares and voting rights through financial instruments (total of B) Total of both in % (A + B) Resulting situation on the date on which threshold was crossed or reached 5.04% 0.14% 5.19% Position of previous notification (if applicable) 4.92% 0.14% 5.06% Notified details of the resulting situation on the date on which the threshold was crossed or reached: A: Shares and voting rights Class/type of shares ISIN code (if possible) Number of shares and voting rights % of shares and voting rights Direct (SMA 9:5) Indirect (SMA 9:6 and 9:7) Direct (SMA 9:5) Indirect (SMA 9:6 and 9:7) FI4000297767 204,281,876 5.04% SUBTOTAL A 204,281,876 5.04% B: Financial instruments according to SMA 9:6a Type of financial instrument Expiration date Exercise/ Conversion period Physical or cash settlement Number of shares and voting rights % of shares and voting rights American Depository Receipt (US65558R1095) N/A N/A Physical 1,291,908 0.03% Securities Lent N/A N/A Physical 3,232,935 0.07% CFD N/A N/A Cash 1,435,425 0.03% SUBTOTAL B 5,960,268 0.14% The controlled undertakings through which the shares, voting rights and financial instruments are effectively held: Name % of shares and voting rights % of shares and voting rights through financial instruments Total of both BlackRock Japan Co., Ltd. Below 5% BlackRock Investment Management, LLC Below 5% BlackRock Investment Management (UK) Limited Below 5% BlackRock Investment Management (Australia) Limited Below 5% BlackRock International Limited Below 5% BlackRock Institutional Trust Company, National Association Below 5% BlackRock Fund Advisors Below 5% BlackRock Financial Management, Inc. Below 5% BlackRock Asset Management North Asia Limited Below 5% BlackRock Asset Management Deutschland AG Below 5% BlackRock Asset Management Canada Limited Below 5% BlackRock Advisors, LLC Below 5% BlackRock Advisors (UK) Limited Below 5% BlackRock (Singapore) Limited Below 5% BlackRock (Netherlands) B.V. Below 5% Aperio Holdings, LLC Below 5% For further information: Matti Ahokas, Head of Investor Relations, +358 9 53008011 Group Communication, +358104168023 or press@nordea.com The information provided in this stock exchange release was submitted for publication, through the agency of the contact persons set out above, at 9.00 EET on 2 March 2021. 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. 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. Today's follow-up statements from local officials . . . Three homicides occurring across Kansas City within six hours of each other have been tied to underlying issues detectives see often: domestic violence, mental health and drugs. On Twitter, Mayor Quinton Lucas expressed concern that Sundays homicides keep us close to our tragic pace last year. He called social services and education key. Weve seen over the years that investments in enforcement and prohibition as to narcotics alone wont dig us out of our problem, he wrote. We must continue to increase and enhance investment in broad based prevention and intervention efforts for those at risk. Here's today's update from po-po . . . Details still pending on third agreement between Emmet and Bay Bluffs Reports of shots fired led to a vehicle pursuit and the arrest of two people, according to Laredo police. Officers responded to a shots fired report at about 7 p.m. Saturday in the 400 block of West Plum Street. Minutes later, police received information about a silver Chevy passenger car with damage from gunshots that was located at the Juarez-Lincoln Juarez International Bridge. .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... Copyright 2021 Albuquerque Journal New Mexico's quest for statehood was slowed for years, in part, because of concerns about different languages and cultures here. Sen. Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., said he knows about his state's history, and it's one of the reasons he'll be leading the push to make Puerto Rico the country's 51st state. One of the things that shocked me was how similar the struggle really is, that the arguments haven't really changed, Heinrich said at a news conference in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday. Heinrich said he would introduce a bill on the Senate floor that would start the process for the group of islands that make up Puerto Rico for statehood. He's working alongside Rep. Darren Soto, D-Florida, and Jennifer Gonzalez-Colon, Puerto Rico's nonvoting member of Congress, on the Puerto Rico Admission Act. It is long past due for the millions of American citizens living in Puerto Rico to get the representation that they deserve, said Heinrich, who sits on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee that holds legislative jurisdiction over U.S. territories, including Puerto Rico. Heinrich cited a November referendum when a majority of Puerto Ricans voted to become a state in the Union. Americans in Puerto Rico reached a clear consensus: their destiny lies with statehood, said Soto, who is of Puerto Rican descent. There was bipartisan support for Puerto Rican statehood at the news conference where Heinrich announced his intended legislation. But Puerto Rico's bid to become a state also has opposition. In a letter to President Joe Biden last month, three former governors of Puerto Rico, Alejandro Garcia Padilla, Anibal Acevedo Vila and Sila Maria Calderon, raised concerns about statehood. Their concerns included how it would affect Puerto Rico's tax structure. They pointed out that Puerto Rico's more than 3 million residents are divided on the issue, saying only about 52% of Puerto Rico voters said yes to statehood during the vote. Liberals must view the issue of Puerto Rico status not as a civil rights issue but as a self-determination issue where all stakeholders are entitled to a fair hearing, the former governors wrote. ADVERTISEMENTSkip ................................................................ An emergency authorisation for the use of neonicotinoid seed treatment Cruiser SB on this year's sugar beet crop will now not be used. The emergency authorisation was subject to a threshold for the level of crop damage predicted from virus yellows infection, which is carried by aphids. New modelling carried out by Rothamsted Research has confirmed that the virus yellows prediction for the 2021 sugar beet crop remains very low. It says the cold weather has had a significant impact on overwintering aphid populations, both reducing their numbers and delaying the date of their migration into the 2021 crop. The 1 March forecast by Rothamsted predicts that 8.37% of the national sugar beet area will be affected by virus yellows by the end of August 2021. The forecast also predicts that the date of first aphids arriving in crops will be from the 18 May, much later than when aphids were first recorded in crops in 2020 which was in late March. The British Beet Research Organisation (BBRO) said the forecast was 'very welcome news' for this year's crops. "Clearly, the cold weather has had a significant impact on overwintering aphid populations, both reducing their numbers as well as the date of their migration into the 2021 crop. "This is a very similar national forecast to that in 2018: aphids were first recorded in crops in late May 2018." Neonics are banned in the European Union and the UK for use on all outdoor crops, because of the high risk to bees and other pollinators. Boris Johnsons plan to set up a charity to fund Downing Street refurbishments is monstrous and may be illegal, the former head of a standards watchdog warned yesterday. No 10 came under increasing pressure to release details of the renovation of the Prime Ministers official flat made by his fiancee Carrie Symonds. Sir Alistair Graham, former head of the Committee on Standards in Public Life, said setting up a charity to cover the costs could break the rules. Labour also demanded the Prime Minister come clean about the cost of the work, and how it would be paid for. Refurbishments: Boris Johnson and his fiancee Carrie Symonds. No 10 came under increasing pressure to release details of the renovation of the Prime Ministers official flat Sir Alistair Graham (pictured above), former head of the Committee on Standards in Public Life, said setting up a charity to cover the costs could break the rules But Downing Street refused to comment on the revelation in yesterdays Daily Mail that Mr Johnson is trying to set up a fund to finance the works. It said it would disclose the costs of the work in the Cabinet Offices annual report, but did not say when that will be published. The proposed charity to preserve No 10 and No 11 Downing Street is said to be based on one used by the White House to provide millions for US presidents to fund interior design, antiques and art. But it runs the risk of creating a conflict of interest if it becomes a way for wealthy Tory donors to attempt to gain influence with No 10. Sir Alistair said the proposal could be illegal because it directly benefits the Prime Minister. Clearly its an iconic building as far as the country is concerned, and it requires proper maintenance to preserve it for all future PMs, he said. But that should come out of public funds and wouldnt involve your partner as a designer. I suspect itll be illegal, and its certainly an unjustifiable use of public funds. It is not a good look at a time of austerity to be planning something like this for your personal benefit. The decor is said to have been inspired by interior designer Lulu Lytle, the founder and director of Soane Britain (sample design pictured) Ms Lytle makes furniture based on traditional crafts, including blacksmiths (sample pictured) Mr Johnson has asked Lord Brownlow of Shurlock Row, a Tory peer and multi-millionaire financier with close links to the Royal Family, to run the proposed charity (sample design above) He added: Its so bizarre and monstrous. I dont know how you could legally set up a charity to benefit yourself and your partner. What the rules will allow Charities must exist solely for the public benefit, not for that of an individual, the Charity Commission says. For an organisation to have legal status as a charity, it must have only charitable purposes not a combination of some that are and some that are not. The commission does not grant charitable status, but assesses whether an organisation meets the legal tests to be declared one. They cannot be added to its register if they do not solely benefit the public, or if they serve a political purpose. This suggests that a body set up to refurbish No 10 might not gain charitable status on the basis that it would benefit the PM and his partner rather than just the public. It might also not pass the political purpose test if it was deemed a way for Tory donors to secure influence. Advertisement Youre supposed to make donations through the Electoral Commission. There are so many ethical and practical objections that I cannot see how this can proceed. Opposition MPs called for the Government to release details of the refurbishment. Labour MP Sarah Owen wrote to the PM: Do you judge it appropriate for Conservative Party donors to make direct payments to you? Can you foresee any potential conflicts of interest with you personally taking direct payments from Conservative Party donors? She added: The British people rightly expect probity, integrity and transparency when it comes to spending public money. Fellow Labour MP Catherine McKinnell said that if Mr Johnson were to set up a charity, it would be an utter disgrace. Lib Dem chief whip Wendy Chamberlain said: If the Prime Minister has expensive tastes, he should cover the cost of it himself. Mr Johnson is said to be struggling to fund the makeover of his official flat by Miss Symonds. He privately complained that the cost was totally out of control and that she had ordered gold wall coverings, according to sources. In one meeting he reportedly said the bill ran to tens and tens of thousands, while in another, that it was over a hundred grand. The maximum costs to the taxpayer for maintenance and refurbishment of the PMs official flat are capped at 30,000 a year. The decor is said to have been inspired by interior designer Lulu Lytle, the founder and director of Soane Britain, who makes furniture based on traditional crafts, including blacksmiths. The maximum costs to the taxpayer for maintenance and refurbishment of the PMs official flat are capped at 30,000 a year (sample design pictured) An article in Tatler reveals that Miss Symonds has been overhauling the flat to remove all trace of Theresa Mays John Lewis furniture nightmare (sample) Mr Johnson has asked Lord Brownlow of Shurlock Row, a Tory peer and multi-millionaire financier with close links to the Royal Family, to run the proposed charity. An application to register it with the Charity Commission is said to be under way. The commission said yesterday that it had not yet received an application. While the charitys purpose would be to raise funds to preserve No 10 and No 11 on heritage grounds, insiders say the plans stemmed from the costs of the makeover. An article in Tatler reveals that Miss Symonds has been overhauling the flat to remove all trace of Theresa Mays John Lewis furniture nightmare. According to the magazine, the main living area of the flat has been painted deep green and is often lit by candles. A No 10 spokesman did not deny there were plans for a charity, saying: As has been the case under successive administrations, refurbishment and maintenance are made periodically. Matters concerning works on the Downing Street estate, including residences, are covered in the Cabinet Office annual report and accounts. NEW YORK, March 2, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- WHY: Rosen Law Firm, a global investor rights law firm, reminds purchasers of the securities of QuantumScape Corporation (NYSE: QS) between November 27, 2020 and December 31, 2020, inclusive (the "Class Period") of the important March 8, 2021 lead plaintiff deadline. SO WHAT: If you purchased QuantumScape securities during the Class Period you may be entitled to compensation without payment of any out of pocket fees or costs through a contingency fee arrangement. WHAT TO DO NEXT: To join the QuantumScape class action, go to http://www.rosenlegal.com/cases-register-2017.html or call Phillip Kim, Esq. toll-free at 866-767-3653 or email [email protected] or [email protected] for information on the class action. A class action lawsuit has already been filed. If you wish to serve as lead plaintiff, you must move the Court no later than March 8, 2021. A lead plaintiff is a representative party acting on behalf of other class members in directing the litigation. WHY ROSEN LAW: We encourage investors to select qualified counsel with a track record of success in leadership roles. Often, firms issuing notices do not have comparable experience or resources. The Rosen Law Firm represents investors throughout the globe, concentrating its practice in securities class actions and shareholder derivative litigation. Rosen Law Firm has achieved the largest ever securities class action settlement against a Chinese Company. Rosen Law Firm was Ranked No. 1 by ISS Securities Class Action Services for number of securities class action settlements in 2017. The firm has been ranked in the top 3 each year since 2013 and has recovered hundreds of millions of dollars for investors. In 2019 alone the firm secured over $438 million for investors. In 2020 founding partner Laurence Rosen was named by law360 as a Titan of Plaintiffs' Bar. Many of the firm's attorneys have been recognized by Lawdragon and Super Lawyers. DETAILS OF THE CASE: According to the lawsuit, defendants throughout the Class Period made false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: (1) QuantumScape's purported success related to its solid-state battery power, battery life, and energy density were significantly overstated; (2) QuantumScape's battery technology was not sufficient for electric vehicle performance as it would not be able to withstand the aggressive automotive environment; (3) QuantumScape's battery technology likely provided no meaningful improvement over existing battery technology; (4) QuantumScape is unlikely to be able to scale its technology to the multi-layer cell necessary to power electric vehicles (5) the successful commercialization of QuantumScape's battery technology was subject to much more significant risks and uncertainties than defendants had disclosed; and (6) as a result of the foregoing, defendants materially overstated the value and prospects of QuantumScape's battery technology. When the true details entered the market, the lawsuit claims that investors suffered damages. To join the QuantumScape class action, go to http://www.rosenlegal.com/cases-register-2017.html or call Phillip Kim, Esq. toll-free at 866-767-3653 or email [email protected] or [email protected] for information on the class action. No Class Has Been Certified. Until a class is certified, you are not represented by counsel unless you retain one. You may select counsel of your choice. You may also remain an absent class member and do nothing at this point. An investor's ability to share in any potential future recovery is not dependent upon serving as lead plaintiff. Follow us for updates on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-rosen-law-firm, on Twitter: https://twitter.com/rosen_firm or on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rosenlawfirm/. Attorney Advertising. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Contact Information: Laurence Rosen, Esq. Phillip Kim, Esq. The Rosen Law Firm, P.A. 275 Madison Avenue, 40th Floor New York, NY 10016 Tel: (212) 686-1060 Toll Free: (866) 767-3653 Fax: (212) 202-3827 [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] www.rosenlegal.com SOURCE Rosen Law Firm, P.A. Related Links www.rosenlegal.com James Argent has been warned by doctors that he could die if he caught coronavirus - after his weight crept up to 27 stone in lockdown. The former TOWIE star, 33, said he will have life-saving gastric surgery in the near future as he described doctors' stark warning as 'very worrying' while appearing on Good Morning Britain on Tuesday. The reality TV personality received his first dose of the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine last month after he was placed in the 'high-risk category' because of his weight. He said: 'They've [doctors] basically been saying, the size I am at the moment, it could be fatal. If I was to catch Covid, I could be a goner.' Health: James Argent has been warned by doctors that he could die if he caught coronavirus - after his weight crept up to 27 stone in lockdown Speaking to Piers Morgan and Susanna Reid, James added: 'It has been worrying. It's been difficult putting on so much weight and obviously the fact I've got so big. 'It kind of shows I haven't been in the greatest of places. But I'm sitting here this morning, I'm feeling super positive... 'I've got life-changing surgery, which is going to be taking place in the near future, it's all booked up. 'I really feel like I'm making positive steps and I can't wait to get back to my very best.' James went on to explain how doctors have warned him he is in danger territory due to his weight and how if he were to catch Covid, it could be fatal. He also spoke about 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. Weight battle: The former TOWIE star, 33, will have life-saving gastric surgery in the near future and described doctors' warnings as 'very worrying' (left, last month and right, in 2015) Making a change: The reality TV personality received his first dose of the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine last month after he was placed in the 'high-risk category' because of his weight 'I've been speaking regularly to the doctors and nurses at Transform Hospital Group. They've been giving me advice,' he said. 'They've basically been saying, the size I am at the moment, it could be fatal. If I was to catch Covid, I could be a goner. 'It's not just that, my mum and dad, they've had heart problems themselves, so it's kind of in my family hereditary, in my genes and stuff. I've got to tackle this now before it's too late.' James has said he is still undecided as to which type of gastric surgery he will have, but says once he has chosen, it will happen in the 'near future'. 'It's a really, really serious operation,' he said. Danger territory: Arg explained how being obese has major health implications and that if he caught coronavirus 'I could be a goner' 'At the moment I haven't decided specifically which one it's going to be, there's options of a sleeve, bypass, I need to still do a bit more research, speak to a few more people. 'But the surgery is going to happen, it's going to happen in the near future. I really hope it's going to work for me, it's going to be life changing.' James revealed obesity is something he has been struggling with since he was a teenager and has found it 'impossible' to maintain a healthy weight. He said: 'I'm not saying I can't lose the weight without this type of surgery, but I've never been able to maintain it before. 'So I just believe that going for it this time, I've made a decision, I've spoken to all my friends, family, everyone's had their opinions and you know nine times out of 10, they've said it's not funny anymore, go for it. That's why I've made the decision. Still friends: James was also quizzed on his ex Gemma during the interview and confirmed they weren't officially back together (pictured 2019) 'It's not like I've put weight on in lockdown and I'm doing something drastic to get it off, this is something that I've had this underlying issue in terms of weight and eating disorder since I was a teenager.' During the interview, James reflected on how he hasn't gone through life 'plain sailing'. After his interview, the reality star took to Instagram and told fans he 'can't wait to be happy and healthy again' and is feeling 'super positive' as he looks ahead to his surgery. He wrote: 'A CHANGE IS GONNA COME. I can't wait to be Happy & Healthy again, I'm feeling super positive. 'I'm nervous about the big operation & surgery but I know it's for the best & will be life changing! 'I'm inspired by @gypsyking101 [Tyson Fury's] comeback & can't wait to be back to my very best.' (sic) His inspiration: James said he draws motivation from Tyson Fury (pictured in 2020) and hopes to have comeback stronger than ever, like the heavyweight boxer Arg has battled drink and drug addiction since finding fame on TOWIE. In 2014 he was suspended from the show after he failed a routine drugs test. The TV star spent three months in a facility in Thailand over the festive season in 2016 in a bid to curb his addiction and revealed he checked himself in to a programme in order to get the 'ongoing support' he needed. In August 2019, Arg returned to rehab following a split from Gemma Collins in a bid to tackle his demons. 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 said: 'I have been through an awful lot. Some people go through life quite plain sailing, other people find life a bit more difficult and stuff. 'I've certainly gone through it. I do believe that there is a light at the end of the tunnel. 'I'm really excited, first and foremost the most important thing for me is health and that's what I'm concentrating on fully at the moment.' James said he draws motivation from Tyson Fury and hopes to have comeback stronger than ever, like the heavyweight boxer. 'A change is gonna come': After his interview, the reality star took to Instagram and told fans he 'can't wait to be happy and healthy again' and is feeling 'super positive' He said: 'I'm inspired by Tyson Fury. He's a heavyweight champion of the world, he's had similar problems and demons to me in terms of drugs, in terms of drink, in terms of weight. He was morbidly obese. 'If he can turn it around and come back and become a world champion and get his life in order. 'I'm not saying I'm going to go on and become a world champion but if I can have 10% of the comeback he has then that would be the dream for me.' James was also quizzed on his ex Gemma during the interview and confirmed they weren't officially back together. 'We're not officially back together. It's impossible to be in a relationship with anyone bearing in mind I can't meet anyone outside of my house and stuff like that. 'But I suppose on the positive note, she's no longer blocked on my phone. Listen, we're friends at the moment and we have been in contact. 'You know, whatever happens between me and Gemma, we've been through a hell of a lot together and we're always going to be close.' Watch Good Morning Britain weekdays on ITV from 6am and catch up on the ITV Hub. The Annual Practice Forum hosted by the NYU Stern Center for Sustainable Business will bring together the corporate sustainability and investor community to discuss how companies can better track and monetize their sustainability performance. SAO PAULO and NEW YORK, March 2, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Qintess, the Brazilian technology and digital transformation group, recognized as one of 100 most innovative companies in Brazil, joins the select group of companies invited by the NYU Stern Center for Sustainable Business (CSB) to discuss how to build the financial case for Return on Sustainability Investment (ROSI). With an agenda composed of different panels and renowned speakers like the CEOs of Ralph Lauren, HSBC Bank USA, Walmart, Burberry, among others, the event will take place on March 3 and 4, 2021. The objective is to generate insights based on cutting-edge CSB research as well as corporate and investor perspectives, connecting finance, corporate, academic, and non-profit professionals working in sustainable business around the world. "In the post-Covid-19 world, many changes can easily be predicted - less travel, more remote work, reduced focus on cities - that will require significant agility by corporations to find innovative ways to balance the well-being of their people and their responsibilities to society with the bottom-line needs of their businesses. But, less obviously, the challenges of dealing with Covid-19 are also likely to accelerate a shift that was already occurring toward a more sustainable and inclusive capitalism, and that's exactly what we're going to talk about," says Nana Baffour, CEO, Chairman & Chief Culture Officer of Qintess. According to the executive, who will be the moderator of the panel "Technology for People, Planet, and Profit," given the importance of the corporate organization in the modern economy, it is crucial that the right balance in the allocation of the company's resources among all key constituents - customers, employees, shareholders, and the community - is found. "Success and impact must be measured based not just on shareholder returns, but on how well each constituency is served, and technology has been a catalyst for this. This is our purpose at Qintess, to be an enabler to Sustainable Capitalism through Digital Transformation", concludes Baffour. Sponsored by Qintess, Glenmede, Investindustrial and Harvard Business Review, the NYU Stern CSB 2021 Practice Forum aims to show how sustainability returns are driven by innovation, operational efficiency, employee engagement, brand enhancement and risk mitigation. To Tensie Whelan, Director, NYU Stern CSB, and Clinical Professor of Business and Society at NYU Stern School of Business, building sustainable enterprises is about innovating in the face of significant change and competition, which requires business model transformation. According to Professor Whelan, NYU Stern CSB's research into Return on Sustainability Investment (ROSI) - the focus of this event - clearly illustrates the value that companies can derive by building sustainable enterprises. "A paradigm shift toward sustainable capitalism is needed to improve business performance in the new and rapidly evolving economy." According to CSB's research, sustainable businesses generate better results due to creating competitive advantage through stakeholder engagement; improving risk management; fostering innovation; improving operational efficiencies; building customer loyalty; and attracting and engaging employees. The NYU Stern CSB 2021 Practice Forum is an invitation-only event. About Qintess Qintess brings together experience in strategy, innovation, design, and technology to position itself as a leader in digital transformation. By developing innovative capabilities with emerging technologies, Qintess supports clients on their journeys towards sustainable business growth. Obsessed with innovation and agile decision making, innovative teams accelerate the delivery of solutions for various business challenges, generating value for customers, their employees, shareholders and for society. All actions are structured by ESG best practices, running with a genuine concern for people as well as the communities engaged with Qintess. Qintess has approximately 3,200 employees and more than 2,000 customers, with operations in Brazil, Chile, Colombia, the United States and EMEA. Qintess' main clients include seven of the top ten financial institutions in the world, eight of the top ten utilities companies in Brazil and two of the country's three largest telecommunications companies. To learn more, visit: www.qintess.com The series will include 10 new NK corn hybrids, four new Enogen corn hybrids and 20 new NK soybean varieties for the 2022 growing season, selected for both agronomics and yield potential . "Fueled by Syngenta R&D, the Field Forged Series aims to bring the most innovative corn and soybean seed options to farmers to help them meet their changing needs," said Quinn Showalter, NK head of sales. "We've been collecting agronomic data in the field and applying our technological capabilities in the lab to deliver these top-of-the-line genetics that produce not only the highest-yield potential, but also the healthiest crops to drive farmers' profitability." Each hybrid and variety selected for the series is backed by demonstrated performance and has been tested vigorously in the field. Showalter credits ongoing investments and increased efficiencies in research and development (R&D) to helping accelerate trait introgression and hybrid commercialization. Unmatched corn traits with improved standability The NK corn portfolio includes high-yielding hybrids with industry-leading traits to meet a variety of needs in the field. New products in the Field Forged Series will feature advanced Agrisure Duracade, Agrisure Viptera and Agrisure Artesian traits, which protect genetic yield potential and offer premium above- and below-ground insect control in hybrids. "With the latest in seed technology, the lineup of NK products for the Field Forged Series is more competitive than ever, bringing forward our strongest agronomic packages to drive winning yields," said Joe Bollman, NK corn product manager. "We've applied the latest technology to create hybrids that are backed by agronomic data to ensure results in the field no matter the conditions." At the heart of developing new hybrids is Syngenta Seeds' proprietary Stalk Crusher Technology, which measures stalk strength for improved standability. With more than 500,000 stalks measured, NK has cultivated a 40% increase in field data points enabling NK to double corn stalk integrity predictions, which supports smarter breeding for better standing hybrids. Farmers can expect 26 total NK hybrids in the Field Forged Series for the 2022 growing season. Plus, NK retailers will have access to six Enogen corn hybrids, unique products that add value for farmers who produce grain or silage for livestock feed or market grain to ethanol plants. Proprietary soybean genetics with in-demand trait choice The Field Forged Series introduces a step-change in innovation for NK soybeans with varieties that pair the latest, most desired traits with proven, proprietary NK genetics. The product lineup will include the launch of proprietary Enlist E3 Soybean varieties and proprietary XtendFlex varieties. "Each Field Forged Series product has been hand-selected for the consistent performance farmers expect and rely on," said Eric Miller, NK soybean product manager. "Not only does our trait portfolio offer industry leading herbicide trait choice, but now, with the Field Forged Series, we're adding in the power of our proprietary genetics to help deliver strong yields in even the toughest of growing conditions." State-of-the-art trait conversion capabilities at Syngenta have accelerated soybean seed development, enabling NK to bring the most desirable trait packages to market year after year. The NK breeding program is built on over 50 years of experience to produce seeds with the most in-demand features for whole-farm return on investment, Miller said. And, thanks to ongoing investments in R&D, NK breeders have been able to provide characteristics to combat key challenges, including sclerotinia white mold, soybean cyst nematode and Sudden Death Syndrome tolerance, for the new varieties. Committed to innovation for farmers Syngenta is committed to accelerating innovation in Seeds R&D while strengthening its focus on delivering new capabilities through investments in breeding and digital technologies. Scientists at Syngenta and NK have access to resources to bring the best products and technologies to solve the key problems that growers face, including innovative Hi-Edit Technology. Facilities such as the Syngenta trait introgression sites in Nampa, Idaho, and Clinton, Illinois, enable NK to accelerate seed development reducing the path to commercial varieties to as few as three years. In addition, the NK Seed Analyzer taps into decades of data to provide unbiased, field-specific product recommendations. To learn more, contact a local NK retailer or visit NKFieldForged.com. Join the conversation online connect with Syngenta at Syngenta-us.com/social and follow @NKSeeds on Facebook and Twitter . About Syngenta Syngenta is one of the world's leading agriculture companies, comprised of Syngenta Crop Protection and Syngenta Seeds. Our ambition is to help safely feed the world while taking care of the planet. We aim to improve the sustainability, quality and safety of agriculture with world-class science and innovative crop solutions. Our technologies enable millions of farmers around the world to make better use of limited agricultural resources. Syngenta Crop Protection and Syngenta Seeds are part of Syngenta Group with 49,000 people in more than 100 countries working to transform how crops are grown. Through partnerships, collaboration and the Good Growth Plan, we are committed to accelerating innovation for farmers and nature, striving for carbon neutral agriculture, helping people stay safe and healthy, and partnering for impact. To learn more visit www.syngenta.com and www.goodgrowthplan.com . Follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/Syngenta and www.twitter.com/SyngentaUS . Web Resources: Field Forged Series NK Seeds NK Corn NK Soybeans Syngenta Seeds Syngenta Newsroom Syngenta U.S. Thrive Magazine Know More Grow More Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements This document may contain forward-looking statements, which can be identified by terminology such as 'expect', 'would', 'will', 'potential', 'plans', 'prospects', 'estimated', 'aiming', 'on track' and similar expressions. 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Syngenta hereby disclaims liability for third-party websites. 2021 Syngenta. Important: Always read and follow label and bag tag instructions; only those labeled as tolerant to glufosinate may be sprayed with glufosinate ammonium-based herbicides. LibertyLink, Liberty and the Water Droplet logo are registered trademarks of BASF. GT27 is a trademark of M.S. Technologies and BASF. HERCULEX and the HERCULEX Shield are trademarks of Dow AgroSciences, LLC. HERCULEX Insect Protection technology by Dow AgroSciences. ENLIST E3 soybean technology is jointly developed with Dow AgroSciences LLC and MS Technologies LLC. The ENLIST trait and ENLIST Weed Control System are technologies owned and developed by Dow AgroSciences LLC. ENLIST and ENLIST E3 are trademarks of Dow AgroSciences LLC. Roundup Ready 2 Yield, Roundup Ready 2 Xtend, XtendFlex and YieldGard VT Pro are registered trademarks used under license from the Bayer Group. Under federal and local laws, only dicamba-containing herbicides registered for use on dicamba-tolerant varieties may be applied. See product labels for details and tank mix partners. Golden Harvest and NK Soybean varieties are protected under granted or pending U.S. variety patents and other intellectual property rights, regardless of the trait(s) within the seed. The Enlist E3 traits, LibertyLink, Roundup Ready 2 Xtend, Roundup Ready 2 Yield and XtendFlex traits may be protected under numerous United States patents. It is unlawful to save soybeans containing these traits for planting or transfer to others for use as a planting seed. Only dicamba formulations that employ VaporGrip Technology are approved for use with Roundup Ready 2 Xtend and XtendFlex soybeans. Only 2,4-D choline formulations with Colex-D Technology are approved for use with Enlist E3 soybeans. The trademarks or service marks displayed or otherwise used herein are the property of a Syngenta Group Company. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. More information about Agrisure Duracade is available at http://www.biotradestatus.com/. SOURCE Syngenta Related Links https://www.syngenta.com/en Jewish Woman Sees Numbers Tattooed on Uncles Arm; on Hearing the Story Behind It, Shes Shocked Joseph Sedaccas own children could tell that their father wasnt a normal man. Emotionally, they could see that there was something wrong with him. A Sephardic Jew born in Turkey in 1916, Joseph came to America after the second world war. He always seemed suspicious of others, as if threatened; he spoke very loudly and yelled often when his kids were young; his nieces and nephews, as children, were afraid of him. Stories of Joseph were told around the dinner table over the years, of how he was in the concentration camps where Jews were sent to be exterminated by the Nazis. Did he work in the ovens? some pondered. It must have been horrifying, they knew. Joseph Sedacca and his family in a photo taken in the mid-80s in Queens, NY: (Top Row, Left to Right) Janice Clough, Josephs son David, Joseph Sedacca, his son Albert, Janices mother Ida (Sarahs younger sister), and Josephs wife Sarah; (Bottom Left) Janices husband Ed; (Bottom Right) Davids then-wife Yvette. (Courtesy of Janice Clough) Josephs niece Janice Clough (on his wifes side) remembers that her uncle would wear long sleeves when he visited when she was young. Recalling a gathering years later, Joseph, wearing short sleeves, reached across the dinner table for matzah, and her young daughter saw the numbers 112594 tattooed on his forearm, and was curious about what it meant. Thus began Janices inquiry into her uncles traumatic past. Janice learned this was Josephs war number, as he called it, though he never spoke of the war to anyone for many yearsnot until the 1960s, when his children were in their 20s and 30s; they sat him down, coaxed him with beer after beer until sufficiently drunk, and got him to open up about his storiesthe horrors he lived. Each time he opened up, he would break down sobbing, and they would say, Pops, its okay, were not going to talk about it anymore. (Top Left) Janice Clough recounts the stories of Joseph Sedacca in a Zoom interview with The Epoch Times in February 2021. (Right) Joseph Sedacca and his wife Sarah. (Courtesy of Janice Clough) And slowly but surely, they got these stories out of him, only when he was slightly liquored up, because he could never talk about it, his niece Janice told The Epoch Times in a recent interview. His own father was killed in WWI, when Joseph was a boy, and he moved to a Sephardic Jewish community in Salonika, Greece, his mother remarrying a wealthy grocer. When the Germans arrived in WWII, they targeted the community, rounding them up (confiscating their property), and sending them by train to the concentration camps, including Auschwitz and Auschwitz-Birkenau. Joseph was separated from his mother, sister, and nieces, whom he never saw ever again. This photo depicts the sorting of prisoners at the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp station in Poland, around 1944. (Everett Collection/Shutterstock) In the camps, Josephs brother died in his arms of malnourishment, a broken man, and his stepfather also perished there. But Joseph vowed to surviveno matter what. He said the only way to spite them is to live on, that they will not kill him, said Janice, who has since dedicated herself to compiling his story. In the concentration camps, Josephs vow was put to the ultimate test. Roll call at Buchenwald concentration camp, circa 19381941, per Shutterstock. (Everett Collection/Shutterstock) Each prisoner was given a job. Josephs was as a barber, giving haircuts to German soldiers. And he endured many cruel beatings from them for no reason, leaving his face partially paralyzed, missing many teeth, and with a crooked smile afterwards. He would suffer terrible headaches throughout his life because of these beatings, said Janice, a Spanish teacher at John Jay High School in New York (where a colleague helped her piece together her uncles story). Adds Janice, They wouldnt feed them. They would make them work ridiculous hours, ridiculous jobs. He was very good at finding things to eat: the ends of carrots, potato peels, and he was so thirsty at one point, he drank horse urine from the horses. They would gather it and drink it because they had to survive some way. An electric fence at Auschwitz. (Erhan191/Shutterstock) There were Frenchmen in the camps alsothough they werent treated as badly as the Jews, and sympathized with them. They helped Joseph avoid danger more than once. One day, Joseph was placed in line, and a Frenchman told him he had to get out of that line. Joseph, a very nimble, strapping lad, was able to switch lines, saving him the torture of being castrated. The French were also put in charge of the cattle car trains and helped Joseph escape from the campsand from certain death, Janice explained. Nearing the end of the war, as the Americans and British were advancing, the Nazis sought to destroy all traces of their crimes. Joseph and the other prisoners were to be sent by train to be exterminated. The main idea was to get them to one of the other ovens, in a different camp to gas them and bury them in a huge, massive grave site, she said. Rows of bodies at Nazi German Belsen Concentration Camp on April 15, 1945. They were among thousands of corpses that lay unburied on the camp grounds when the camp was liberated. (Everett Collection/Shutterstock) One of the French contacted him ahead of time and told him, In the middle of the ride, you must open the door and jump from the train. I will make believe Im locking the door, but it wont be locked. Im telling you if you reach your destination thats going to be the end of your life. The Jewish prisoners were stripped of their clothing (to prevent them from escaping) and herded aboard the train. And at some point in the middle of their journey, the train slowed down. He edged his way up to the door, and he actually pulled it open with other menthey helped him pull it open, Janice said. It was unlocked the way the Frenchman said it was. Rail entrance to concentration camp at Auschwitz Birkenau KZ Poland. (CL-Medien/Shutterstock) But nearing the end of their journey, Joseph suddenly lost his nerve to jump. Then, he felt a hand on his back push him, and he fell out of the train and rolled down a ravine. Other prisoners also jumped, and the guards began shooting at them, killing some. Joseph was naked, and it was very cold outside, but he survived and managed to keep warm by rolling himself up in newspapers and garbage strewn about the train tracks. He huddled under papers and debris and waited there, Janice said. He was 80 pounds when he was found by an American soldier. Practically unconscious, Joseph didnt know how long he laid there. He was starving and dehydrated, and the American carried him to a truck and gave him blankets and a Hershey bar, which he threw up violently as his body couldnt handle it. Close-up view of the Liberation Monument, a memorial to the Holocaust depicting a U.S. soldier carrying a Nazi death camp survivor at Liberty State Park. (Glynnis Jones/Shutterstock) This was around 1945, when the Allies were capturing the camps and rescuing survivors. Although the Germans sought to destroy all evidence of the camps, it was their own copious notes, Janice says, which preserved many of these events for posterity. She cites the Auschwitz Chronicle as one record, which actually denotes her uncles number as one of the survivors. Joseph was taken to a hospital for treatment, and it took a year for him to recover. After leaving the hospital, he was sent to a mental institution for anger issues and was declared mentally unstable. With therapy, he eventually was released and offered passage back to Salonica, said Janice, but Joseph declined to return, for he had no one there anymore, everybody was gone. Instead, as fortune would have it, many Jews in New York were seeking to sponsor Holocaust survivors, and a letter reached the hospital where Joseph was staying. He was selected to go to America where he would be cared for by his new family. He accepted. (Top Left) Cover page of book Auschwitz Chronicle; (Top Right) A page from Auschwitz Chronicle that shows Joseph Sedaccas war number, denoting his admission into the concentration camps; (Bottom) Joseph Sedaccas American naturalization certificate. (Courtesy of Janice Clough) Joseph was welcomed into the home of his sponsors Mr. and Mrs. Beyo, in the Bronx, who became like parents to him. Through a matchmaker, following Jewish tradition, Joseph found his wife (Janices aunt), Sarah Altabet, and in 1951, their first son Benson was born. Over the years, Janice heard many stories about her uncle through her cousins, including a chance encounter Joseph had with a woman he knew from the camps during the war. The run-in happened after her uncle and cousins had left a Bar Mitzvah lesson and were on their way to her house in the Bronx: We all lived in the Bronx at that time, she shared. On the Grand Concourse there was a woman that approached him, and he stopped in his tracks. And my cousin looked at him, and he stared at this woman. She came nose to nose with him, and they hugged each other and sobbed for a good 15 minutes clinging to one another. Janices cousins were shocked, in complete awe. A view on Grand Concourse in Bronx, NY, in November 2014. (quiggyt4/Shutterstock) And then they parted, and they dried their eyes, and they said something in Spanish to each other, Janice related. And then she went, and he carried on his way to my house with my cousin. When her cousin asked Joseph, Who was that Dad? he replied, That was that a woman I recognized from the war. We were in the same camp. In New York, Joseph managed to find work as a barber at St. Barnabas Hospital, shaving heads for patients before surgery. Over the years, he received numerous restitutions from Germany (of which Janice collected numerous records). He was later eligible for huge payout from Swiss banks, but he died before he could collect it. In retirement, Joseph moved to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, with his wife before passing away in 2001 at around age 86. He is survived by his three sons: Benson, Albert, and David, now in their late sixties and seventies, and by three grandchildren. 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 This month, Hearst Television is celebrating Black history by having courageous conversations. The fight for civil rights and justice goes back generations and has looked different each decade. Were speaking with community leaders, elders those who have lived through victories and troubled times, to talk about their experiences, and compare them with what we still struggle with today. Cassandra Jennings is the president and CEO of the Greater Sacramento Urban League. She spoke with Brittany Johnson, a reporter at sister station KCRA, as part of Hearst TV's History & Hope project. Jennings reflected on her upbringing in Williamston, North Carolina, and how growing up during segregation would shape her life of community advocacy. Q: Let's go back to 1956 in Williamston, North Carolina, where you were born and grew up. How did Williamston, N.C., shape your life? Jennings: Williamston, North Carolina, will always be my home. It was where it all began. It's a small quaint town, the industries cotton, and peanuts, probably still some of that today. It was a family town. My grandparents lived next to their sisters, my aunt, and my mother and father had a house a couple of doors down and my aunt lived right next to us. I was born in the segregated South. I had a sister at that time and then later came a little brother. There were three of us and my mom and dad. I just remember growing up in the segregated South, and not really knowing what it meant. I could go to certain places. When we went to the restaurant, we had to go to the takeout. We couldn't go sit in. When we went to the stores, we had to stay in the back. I remember going to the movie theater where we had to sit up at the top and watch all the other people that didn't look like us sit at the bottom. I remember this one time finding some money and then running down to give the money to the person who was manning the movie theater, who didn't even say thank you when I was turning in money that I had found. But you know, it helped to shape me -- that negativity, ugliness. Hate is not something that I wanted to be a part of whatever was happening, we had to see beyond that to a better day. Q: Did you ever ask why? Why do we have to go through certain doors? Why do we have to eat here? Why do we have to fit at the top of the movie theater? Jennings: You know, I would ask my mother and father that often. My father would always respond that people didn't understand the color of our skin and they discriminated against us. My father being very, very light-skinned, and my mother being really, a darker complexion, had experienced those things when they were growing up and still today. My father would say that we're fighting to make things better, that people, this hatred, and bigotry is not what we're all about, that people should love each other and respect each other. He being in education was really at the forefront because people really looked up to principals and teachers, and would really just say, we can do better than this. And so, I would watch him by example. When people would get arrested, they would be calling the teacher, the principal to go and bail people out. And he was constantly giving up his time. And I kept watching him and watching my whole family just protect our community, while they were really in a struggle to try to make sure that it was better not only for them but for their families and their children. Q: What did your parents do? Jennings: My mother was one of seven children. Her father was a barber and her mother was a stay-at-home mom. They raised all their kids to get four-year degrees and beyond in Historical Black Colleges. One became a medical doctor and they all had different degrees. My father was the only child even back then, and his parents owned a store, had a tobacco farm. ... But they both were educated through Historical Black Colleges. And they were educated. My mom was a math teacher, my father a science teacher, chemistry, and physics, and he was a principal at the time in the college school that was actually first-grade through eighth-grade because then we didn't have kindergarten. So, I never went to kindergarten. I'm still sort of mad about that ... They were also community leaders because, you know, the saying it takes a village to raise a child, they were part of the village, and in the South, everybody, and beyond your parents and your grandparents are responsible for raising you. And despite what you had to go through, they were there for you. Q: What were you like as a child? Jennings: Well, I was a sensitive child, but a deliberate one, and I was determined. I was determined to make things better. Even when I was a little child, I was always trying to see how I could fix things. And so, as you ask the question, what did I think about everything that was going on? I kept saying, why? Why can't I go over there and play with those little kids that are right across the street from me? Why do I have the drink out of this fountain that is for coloreds only when there's a fountain over there, that is in fact closer to me, that is more accessible to me. And so, I was always curious. And then I was always determined to make it better. So especially by the time I get to middle school in high school, I was carrying a sign, I was protesting. ... I was setting up policies in my high school of how we could reach equality, how things could be equal, and, and certainly, even back then when I looked at it, I was doing it in a collaborative spirit. I didn't just say, let me fix it. I'm saying let's bring everybody together and figure out how we can do this together. Q: 1956, the year you were born, is the same year the U.S. Supreme Court ruled on Browder vs. Gayle case. The ruling stated that racial segregation on buses was unconstitutional. It ended the year-long Montgomery Bus Boycott. I know you were just born in 1956 but were things still segregated after that? Jennings: Things were still segregated. And that's interesting about policies. We put them in place and if we don't get behind them, they never get implemented. And it took way too long to do it. In fact, when I left North Carolina when I was about 10, the schools were just desegregating. So that's what 1966 and at that point where the white high school was, like three blocks from where we lived, we had to go like three miles in the other direction to school every day. Now, I got a ride, but others didn't. And in fact, what did that matter when there was a school closer to me that had better facilities that had better books. And while I got a good education, we did not have the tools or the resources that the other. When I moved to Maryland was the first experience of desegregation and busing was just starting where they were trying to bus kids from one neighborhood to another to integrate the schools. And in North Carolina, it was just so far behind that that wasn't even a gleam of hope at that time. So, policies are in place, but implementation and intentionality, and commitment to the success of it were really slow in my judgment. Q: Your entire life you grew up one way, right? You said, segregated. And then you go to Maryland, and things are starting to be different. What was it like when you first started to realize things were different there? What did you think? Jennings: Well, being a child and being and coming up in the family that I had, that was always with hope. I felt hopeful. But I'll tell you, the year that we moved to Maryland, we bought a house in a neighborhood that was primarily white, it was right out of the suburbs of Washington, D.C. In one year that whole community changed. It was the flight to the suburbs. It's like if they had come in, I'm leaving, right? And so, one, you think you're coming into a new community. There are embracing differences and commonalities and you're all living together. And in one year, the whole complexion of that neighborhood, as well as the school, just changed overnight. Then I knew that there was more work ahead. Q: Do you remember the very first time you were able to drink out of a water fountain that maybe you couldn't have back in North Carolina? Jennings: Well, as I say, when we get to Maryland, it was integrated, although very segregated within the integration. I do remember that when I went back to North Carolina, and I still go back there often, but when we would go to visit our grandparents and our families, I would say probably if I left when I was 10, it was probably around when I was 12 or 13, I purposely visited some places just to really sort of validate the sort of freedom or the progress that we had made to go to those water fountains at the bus stop at the bus station, and take a drink. I also remember going to our favorite barbecue place, and still today when I go back, I refuse to go to the window for the takeout. And even though I'm ordering take out, I go through the restaurant, order at the counter, wait for my food, and then take it out. So that was important to me, every time to really acknowledge from where I've come from, but where I never want to go back and where I was at that moment. So, we did that often. And of course, years later, we were all shopping in the same places in the little town and certainly in Maryland and across the country. But I think what is always sort of top of mind is what's underlining. Are we really at a point where we don't go back to that again? Or have we just sort of sugar-coated it? And there's still some issues that we need to deal with. Q: What was your role during the civil rights movement and what do you remember about that time? Jennings: Now, I was still a minor and under, under great supervision of great family. I think I was more of the very asking a lot of questions of my parents, and then demanding that they do their part. When we moved to Maryland was when the riots had just occurred in Washington, D.C., when unrest was obviously at a peak. And then sadly to say later, the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King. And as a child, I just remember weeping, weeping with the sense that the hope and dreams that Dr. Martin Luther King had talked about, that I had watched the March on Washington, that I had felt the pain that he described. My mom always reminds me that she could have been Rosa Parks on that bus. I just wept. And, I had pledged to myself, and my father knew this, probably more so than my mom, that I wasn't going to give up. He knew that even when I went to college, that I probably wouldn't be a pharmacist, because that wouldn't go make my dream come true, right, that I was going to be more active in the community, into driving change. People were looking at me to step up. I was stepping up since middle school through high school, in asking the questions, being on the committees protesting at the school campuses, asking the questions why? Why is this? Why isn't this environment more conducive to African Americans? And we called ourselves Black back then. It was a Black Power Movement, and similar to what we have now is Black Lives Matter. I mean, we were Black lives. We bushed our hair, you know, we did our homework, we looked at our heritage, and then we wanted to right the wrongs, and we could do that right in the schools. ... We did a policy at school to say, in any selection committee that you have, it will represent your people, and it would have somebody Black. We put that policy in place when I was a senior in high school. It didn't happen ... I had to go down in a gym full of people, 300 girls dressed to try out, the gym full of spectators. And we had to cancel that tryout because the school had not made true on its commitment. And they didn't need me to tell them every time that that was it. And of course, people were upset. They were upset that that happened. But I was more upset that it didn't happen, the way they plan and the way the policy was. And as a result, I got a lot of pushback. People vandalized my house, they threw eggs, they threw a brick through the window. And then at the end of the day, when we called the police, they asked me, what did you do to provoke it? And I was like, this is not real. We have done all this work to get here. And one thing happens, and we reverted right back to where we were when we started. Q: Is there ever a price too high to pay to get justice? Jennings: We have to do all that we can for justice. I know some lives have been lost and I don't want that to have to be the case. I do want us to stand up for justice. I want us to take nothing less for justice. And to do that, I think we really need to focus on the systemic changes that need to be done. In the institutionalized racism that's just embedded in the real fabric of many institutions, some knowingly and some not purposely, but we got to dig that up, we got to get rid of it. We all pay a price every day that we work, and we go through injustices. We pay the price. I don't wish any life to be lost. I do want us to put our lives on the line in a peaceful and respectful way because that's when people take us seriously. That's when we know that we have things, many things that need to be done. And then we all can be a part of that change. Q: What sort of images do you recall seeing on your TV screen and in the newspapers during the Civil Rights Movement and how did it make you feel? Jennings: It was horrifying to see people on the TV just peacefully walking for better opportunities, and then see the dogs just go at them, with the water hoses at them, fire hydrants, and then the law enforcement just unjustified, just beating on them. It was horrifying to see people that were in churches to be, to be marginalized, and to be just in bombings in, in basements of little girls. It was just awful. I tell you that we would just get on our knees and just pray to God that that would not continue. We knew that it wasn't fair. We were like, horrified. We would be like, how could we be in a country that was founded on freedom and equal rights and, and humanities, and God, be treating each other like that? It was just inhumane. And the more that people try to justify, the more that it just burned inside that this can't be. Q: Those images that you saw, that you experienced when you were growing up, are those similar to what we just saw in the global uprising after the killing of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor in police custody? Jennings: Very similar images that are magnified by a number of reasons. One, is because of cameras and videos and all of that, that you can see more sides of the story. Obviously, many years ago, that wasn't the case. But we certainly could see and then we could feel. We could talk to others. I think the similarities are, one is that people are standing up for what's right, and what they believe. What we see now and what we saw even back then, was not only Black people, but all people standing up together to right wrongs, and to really address injustices that are in systems. And that was the same that happened before and then we think to ourselves, why do we keep repeating this? Why is this repeating now of what we saw before? We have made a lot of progress, but we still have a long way to go. I think the similarities are the same. Q: Collectively, as a society, we haven't really wanted to acknowledge the existence of slavery, of a history of lynching and segregation. And people tend to skip over the apology or, when you talk about it, say get over it, that was in the past. But when I ride around today, it still seems like there's some signs of resistance. You still see Confederate flags. Is what we're witnessing today familiar to you in regard to resistance? Jennings: People are resistant to say there are some things that are wrong. I know some people apologize to me saying, you know that this is awful what's happening and what they've allowed to happen. Others act like it doesn't exist. And I think even in the state of California, with Proposition 209, and then the repeal of that with Proposition 16, all around affirmative action or anti-affirmative action, is that our state didn't approve of that, at all. When after 25 years of saying we didn't need any affirmative action. And this is nothing about free or giving people unqualified anything. It is about recognizing that a person and a people's past matter. The fact that there was slavery and lynching, and discrimination, and redlining is real. Many of us know our heritage, and we embrace that. Many of us have lived through unfair treatment and total discrimination. Once we acknowledge that, then we can figure out how to get through it. You can't change the past. You can change the way you address the future based on what you know about the past. I think that people are in denial, just like they were. When we would drive from Maryland, as a kid from Maryland and North Carolina, and see those Confederate flags flying and see them on the businesses, knowing how we needed to confront certain things, and stop certain places and not be stuck in certain places like the Green Book, you know, that stuff you can't make up. And that's the reaction that says that some people don't understand that we're all human beings, that we all deserve, equal, equal respect, equal opportunities, equal access. And we should not, as Martin Luther King, said, be judged by the color of our skin, but the content of our character. And so when we look at what's happening today, and I think is all-around leadership, is that we have allowed that hatred and that racism to raise its ugly head and to put another cloud on an already environment that is suffering. And I think that is unconscionable. It is unconscionable that in the year 2021, that we're allowing people to really say that it's okay to have hatred in your heart to show injustices and not want to make right wrongs to make wrongs. We need to do that everywhere. First of all, leadership in institutions need to say, timeout, we can't have this ... and we won't tolerate it. And then all the way down to what we teach our children. ... And we need to help them make the change they want to see and make sure it's sustainable. Q: The late representative John Lewis is sitting right over your shoulder, among others here on the wall. Over the last year, we've heard this quote, which he said a long time ago, but everyone is using it now, "Get in good trouble, necessary trouble and help redeem the soul of America." What do you think about those words? And then what is your message to youth? Jennings: I love the message because it inspires us to do all in everything that we can do to make a difference. In that message when it says good trouble, what it means to me is it there are a lot of necessary things that we can do. It should be nonviolent, it should be respectful, but it should be purposeful, it should be intentional, it should be sacrificial, and it must be sustainable. I look at the life and the legacy of John Lewis and I just say, wow, did he stay the course. He kept the fight, he ran the race, and he never gave up through it all. What it tells me is to keep going. What it tells you is, get on your job, get on your job, don't be afraid to speak out. Don't be afraid to stand for what you believe. Be proud of who you are and do it in a way that you can see the results that you want to see. Don't do it with vengeance, don't do it with pride for yourself, other than pride for what you're trying to do. You don't have to be silent; you don't have to be violent, you don't have to destroy things, and do it where you can have the impact. All of us have sort of different ways that we go about things, and there's room for lots of us. So if it's yours through the use of spoken word, if it's yours through carrying a protest, or becoming the class president, or having a community group to do something, or work in through your school, or in your home, there are so many things that can be good. But I see him saying, do something. Q: Growing up in the segregated south, did you ever see yourself as the president of a prominent organization? Jennings: It's a great honor to now have the opportunity to lead a civil rights organization, as well as be a part of a movement of the Urban Leagues across the country. I couldn't have imagined that this is where God had planned for me to be. I certainly take preparation very seriously, so lots of education, lots of experiences and opportunities. But now as I reflect on it, I think that I was being prepared for this, for my experience in local government, for my growing up, my background, even in the segregated south ... was all preparing me for this day to now say, here's a chance to make a difference. And when I look at the movement and look at all the things that have happened before me, and even the protests that is before us now, and say, what can we do to make it better? ... In an Urban League, do we have an opportunity to educate people? Yes. No matter where you are, whether you have a high school diploma, or you're trying to get one, and you're older than that, you know, or going to college or getting a trade. We can do that. These are the kinds of systemic things that have all the things that have been systemically and institutionalized that have denied us. Here we are, the Urban League, we can make a difference. And then the economics is so huge. And we think that it's about jobs and about businesses. I think of my grandfather, the barber in downtown Williamston, North Carolina, how he was moving and shaking. And he was saving a lot of money, because that man had a lot of money, you know? So, what about now? What about building wealth in our families and communities? Here at the Urban League we can connect you to jobs, we can prepare you for better-paying jobs, we can help you start your business, and develop your business and grow it and then build wealth and homeownership. I could have never imagined that all these bits and pieces in my life would lead me to this point in time. I take it very seriously. I take it very intentionally as to what I need to be doing now. To get in good trouble. To see our people be treated better. To be better. And this world would be a better place. ALBANY As it happens, I spent an hour last week taking the sexual harassment training that Gov. Andrew Cuomo mandated for employees in New York. It was an online course featuring, as you might expect, scenarios in which people in positions of power abuse their authority. None of the behavior shown was as egregious as what the governor himself is accused of doing. Charlotte Bennett, in an account published Saturday by the New York Times, describes gross and disturbing conduct by the man, her boss at the time, who was the most powerful politician in the state. Coming to an inbox near you Our writers share more about the topics they cover in our newsletters. Churchill's Corner: Chris Churchill goes in depth on his latest columns, and shares what readers are saying. Sign up here. Editor's Note (subscribers only): Editor Casey Seiler shares the story behind our biggest stories of the week. Sign up here. Click here for a complete list of newsletter offerings. Cuomo, according to Bennett, in June peppered her with questions about her sex life, including whether she was open to relationships with older men. The governor also told her he was open to relationships with women in their 20s, Bennett said, words she took as an overture. "I understood that the governor wanted to sleep with me, and felt horribly uncomfortable and scared," said Bennett, who was just 25 at the time. "And was wondering how I was going to get out of it and assumed it was the end of my job." Bennetts accusations follow sexual harassment allegations by Lindsey Boylan, a former state economic development official who says Cuomo even gave her an unwanted kiss on the lips. The 63-year-old governor denied Boylans claims and says he never acted inappropriately with Bennett. Nevertheless, the allegations threaten to end his political career. He may already be done. Cuomo didnt seem to grasp his new reality on Saturday, when he suggested, ludicrously, that an investigation into Bennetts claims be conducted by a former federal judge known as an administration ally. It was the suggestion of a man who still believed he could manipulate the process. It was the tactic of a politician who still thought he could control the narrative. But were passed that now. The governor is no longer Albanys puppeteer. He is no longer in control. And so, Sunday afternoon, after his initial proposal was scorned and mocked by Democrats and Republicans alike, Cuomo glumly acquiesced to an independent investigation, with subpoena power, to be overseen by Attorney General Letitia James. That's the same James, of course, who recently issued a searing report taking Cuomo to task for dramatically undercounting the number of nursing home residents who died of COVID-19. Cuomo is in real trouble, then, and a carefully worded statement he released late Sunday didnt help his cause. It suggested Bennett was a victim only of his "playful" and "good-natured" teasing. "I acknowledge some of the things I have said have been misinterpreted as an unwanted flirtation," the governor added. "To the extent anyone felt that way, I am truly sorry about that." Thats not a real apology, of course. Cuomo has rarely been willing to admit mistakes, and the governors faux regret, no doubt crafted by a team of damage-control experts, only seemed to offend Bennett. "The governor has refused to acknowledge or take responsibility for his predatory behavior," she said in a statement Monday, adding that Cuomos initial attempts to prevent an independent investigation were "the actions of an individual who wields his power to avoid justice." If nothing else, the response to Bennett's allegations shows that a governor who has infamously ruled by fear and intimidation is left with few allies now that the walls are crumbling and the fear has dissipated. The chorus calling for an independent investigation on Sunday was large, loud and included unexpected voices from within Cuomos own administration. "These allegations of sexual harassment are deeply troubling," tweeted Basil Seggos, commissioner of the state Department of Environmental Conservation. "There is no place for this behavior anywhere. Period. There must be a swift, thorough and independent investigation." That's exactly right, of course. But what a remarkable turnaround for a governor who was riding so high only months ago. Now, its increasingly difficult to see how Cuomo gets through this. While his resignation is unlikely, it seems unrealistic that a Democrat carrying the ugly baggage of sexual harassment allegations could win his fourth term in 2022. The irony is considerable, given that Cuomo responded to the #MeToo era with reforms that included mandatory sexual harassment training for New York workers the course I sat through last week. "We are doing everything in our power to crack down on sexual harassment and ensure inappropriate workplace conduct is addressed swiftly and appropriately," the governor said at the time, touting what he called the "strongest anti-sexual harassment package in the nation." But there's no evidence that Cuomo's alleged harassment was addressed "swiftly or appropriately" after Bennett reported her concerns to the governor's chief of staff. There is no evidence it was investigated. Instead, Bennett was transferred to another job, away from the governor. cchurchill@timesunion.com 518-454-5442 @chris_churchill The three people fled in the vehicle and crashed it on Interstate 290 soon after, police said about 12:40 a.m. on Sept. 18. They were standing on the left shoulder of the expressway when Illinois State Police troopers arrived, but began to run as a trooper got out of his car, according to state police. Phuket haze is gone, say health officials PHUKET: The Phuket Public Health Office (PPHO) this morning announced that the haze over Phuket is gone, reporting readings from Air4Thai to support the claim. Tuesday 2 March 2021, 11:10AM Reports by global air pollution monitoring portal aqicn.org report Phukets air quality today (Mar 2) as only Moderate. Image: aqicn.org Reports by global air pollution monitoring portal aqicn.org report Phukets air quality today (Mar 2) as only Moderate. Image: aqicn.org Reports by global air pollution monitoring portal aqicn.org report Phukets air quality today (Mar 2) as only Moderate. Image: aqicn.org The report posted by the Phuket Provincial Health Office this morning (Mar 2). Image: PPHO The Air4Thai report posted by the Phuket Provincial Health Office this morning (Mar 2). Image: PPHO The haze has eased, but still lingers in the air over Phuket this morning (Mar 2). Photo: The Phuket News The haze has eased, but still lingers in the air over Phuket this morning (Mar 2). Photo: The Phuket News Khao Toh Sae hill in the distance remains obscured by the haze this morning (Mar 2). Photo: The Phuket News Traffic passes through the Samkong Intersection as the haze continues to hover overhead this morning (Mar 2). Photo: The Phuket News However, The Phuket News notes that the haze has only eased, but still remains hanging in the air over the island. The PPHO reported that at 6am the air quality monitoring station in Talad Yai, Phuket Town, recorded an AQI (air quality index) reading of 48, with a PM2.5 reading of 36. For the past 24 hours, the average of PM2.5 was 26-37 g./m3, the PPHO reported. The AQI of 48 and PM2.5 reading of 36 was classified Green, meaning Healthy for everyone. For a green category, it was explained that The air quality is good, people can do outdoor activities or travel as normal. Of note, the worldwide air pollution monitoring portal aqicn.org, which uses raw data from Thailands Pollution Control Department today marks Phukets air quality as Yellow/ Moderate As of 10am, Patong registered a PM2.5 reading of 98, Chalong registered a reading of 88, while readings in Phuket Town ranged from 85 to 98, depending on the monitoring station. Regional Environment Office 15 Director Yongyuth Panitangkul told The Phuket News that the air quality in Phuket had improved quickly because the wind changed direction. The haze came with the wind from nearby provinces Krabi and Surat Thani. When the wind changed direction, the haze went, he said. The haze did not come from inside Phuket. We have a different situation to Bangkok where the haze is from the traffic and other causes, Mr Yonyuth explained. I want people to download the air quality checking Air4Thai application, so that they can check the air quality quickly by themselves, he advised. Sometimes the officials may not comprehensively publicize information to local people, so it is much easier to check by themselves, he said. When inmates felt sick, they often had to chase down medics and plead to be tested, and later beg for the results. Inmates werent removed from the general population until the results came back, which could take five days. When prisoners were secluded in groups after testing positive, they were left largely to fend for themselves, without basic supplies like acetaminophen or extra fluids. To call for help, they banged on the windows. South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem received a standing ovation during her speech at the recently concluded Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) held in Orlando Florida for stating that "America needs conservatives to fight for them" and for outlining the reasons why. "America needs us. To the thousands of conservatives I just spoke to at @CPAC, that was my message and call to action," Noem tweeted on February 28 with a link in YouTube on her CPAC speech. Breitbart reported that Noem's moving speech during the CPAC focused on her unique initiatives in addressing the COVID-19 pandemic and the importance of Conservatives in preserving what the forefathers have established and in providing a great future for America's next generation. "America needs conservatives at the state and local level. But we also need conservatives at the highest level of government too. In America, we have government of, by, and for the people. Our Founding Fathers established our national constitution. And the people of individual states crafted their own constitutions that place specific limits on the role of government," Noem said. "America needs people who will stand up for these fundamental principles. America needs conservatives. It's easy to look back on 2020 and remember the issues with COVID," she added. "But COVID is only one piece of a very problematic puzzle. It certainly showed us how deep the divide really is, and how thin the barrier is between freedom and tyranny." "We must go into this fight for freedom with our eyes wide open, educated to the tactics the liberals will use, and yet totally pure in our motives. This isn't about us. It's about our children and their future. It's about the nation that we will pass on to them. It's about telling the stories, over and over, that remind us why America needs conservatives-now more than ever," she stressed. America needs us. To the thousands of conservatives I just spoke to at @CPAC, that was my message and call to action. https://t.co/bPm1iYcQxi Kristi Noem (@KristiNoem) February 27, 2021 Noem pointed out that the ideals of the forefathers, which is "a government that will protect and uphold" America's "God-given rights" and the "fundamental rights enumerated by" the American "Constitution," "cannot be dismissed as the opinions of flawed men" because "to use those flaws to condemn their ideals and the greatest Constitution the world has ever seen is both unjust and self-defeating." She said that "to attempt to 'cancel' the founding generation is an attempt to cancel" America's "own freedoms." Noem cited her initiatives in South Dakota during the pandemic to safeguard the basic rights and freedoms of each individuals and of business owners. She did not impose any lockdown or any masking requirements because she does not believe that "Governors have the authority to tell" a business owner that his or her "business is not essential." What she did, however, was to look "at the science, data, and facts" and then "took a balanced approach." Hitting on the media, she criticized how she was "labeled" as "ill-informed, reckless, and even a 'denier'" in the way she handled the state during the pandemic and contrasted herself with the "media's COVID hero"--none other than New York Governor Andrew Cuomo--who now is under fire for covering up nursing home deaths during the pandemic and who, during an episode of the George Stephanopoulos's Sunday show, was told to give her "advice on how to deal with COVID." "We don't have the media on our side. Conservatives must be smarter than progressives. We must know our history. We must know what works and what doesn't work. We must think through issues," she highlighted. At the beginning of her speech, Noem praised former President Donald Trump for bringing America to a "roaring economy" by creating "seven million new American jobs" at the "beginning of 2020" that meant "the lowest unemployment rate in over half a century and unemployment for Black, Hispanic, and Asian Americans reached the lowest levels in history" and, more importantly, meant "more than 10 million people" being "lifted out of poverty and off welfare." The pandemic, she said, changed everything since it lead the "U.S. economy" to an "immediate halt." Reiterating what she said in her speech, Noem tweeted that the "Democrats and the media used the virus to promote FEAR and a political agenda. They wanted to control people so that they can change what this country looks like. That's why we need to stand up for the Freedom of every single American." She also repeated why Americans need conservatives during her guesting in CBS News' Face The Nation on Sunday. The maker of the worlds most popular electric car has warned the failure of Australian governments to embrace a switch to low-emissions vehicle technology risks leaving consumers behind. Nissan Australia chief executive Stephen Lester said a lack of leadership in embracing electrified cars was out of step with the worlds leading economies and there was no reason the nation could not be a global leader in the uptake of the technology. Nissans Leaf e+ can travel up to 384km on a single charge, a 40 per cent increase on the 270km of range of the current model. New figures show growth in electric vehicle sales stalled in Australia last year despite significant rises across Europe, China, India and the United States. New sales of 6900 were only slightly ahead of 2019s 6718. Battery and plug-in electric vehicles accounted for 0.7 per cent of total car sales in Australia in 2020, well below the global average of 4.2 per cent, according to data released by the Electric Vehicle Council on Wednesday. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 2) President Rodrigo Duterte will also personally welcome the arrival of the first batch of vaccines from the United Nations-backed COVAX facility even if it remains uncertain when it will reach the Philippines. Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said in his briefing in Malacanang on Tuesday that Duterte will be "on standby" to receive the 525,600 doses which were supposed to be shipped on February 28. He is set to discuss the matter with Cabinet officials on Wednesday. "Bukas po Wednesday, merong full Cabinet meeting. Bukod po diyan, he's on standby to be at the airport to receive the delivery of COVAX, AstraZeneca kung kailan ito mangyayari," he said. [Translation: Tomorrow, Wednesday, there will be a full Cabinet meeting. Apart from that, he is on standby to be at the airport to receive the delivery of COVAX, AstraZeneca, depending on when it is set to happen.] Vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr. earlier said there is no assurance when the AstraZeneca doses will be delivered, but National Task Force Against COVID-19 Deputy Chief Implementer Vince Dizon said these can still be expected within the month despite issues on supply shortage. COVAX is a global initiative co-led by the World Health Organization (WHO), along with Gavi the Vaccine Alliance and the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI). It aims to accelerate the development and manufacture of COVID-19 vaccines and ensure equitable access to every country in the world. The Philippines is set to receive 5.5 million to 9.2 million doses from AstraZeneca. RELATED: Delivery of AstraZeneca vaccines to PH faces 'indefinite' delay On Sunday, Duterte himself welcomed the first shipment of 600,000 vaccines donated by Chinese drugmaker Sinovac Biotech, a move which Malacanang earlier described as a show of "debt of gratitude" for coming to the Philippines' rescue. The Philippines then kicked off its first vaccination drive the following day in various government facilities, with health workers first on the priority to get the shots legally. Prior to the official vaccination rollout , it was admitted that some officials and members of the Presidential Security Group jumped the priority line and used smuggled vaccines made by China state-owned Sinopharm as early as last year. [March 02, 2021] Showcasing Innovative Wood Construction in Vancouver VANCOUVER, BC, March 2, 2021 /CNW/ - Investing in Canada's forest sector by building sustainable communities is an investment in our future. This is why the Government of Canada supports British Columbia's dedication to mass timber projects by increasing the use of wood as a green building material and leading our transition to a low-carbon economy. The Honourable Joyce Murray, Minister of Digital Government, on behalf of the Honourable Seamus O'Regan Jr., Canada's Minister of Natural Resources, today announced $648,250 for Fast + Epp, a structural engineering firm from Vancouver, toward the construction of their head office, a four-storey, hybrid, mass timber and steel building. This project is a highly visible head office building that showcases innovative mass timber design and construction technologies and is highly replicable across the country. This demonstrates Canada's leadership in low-rise non-residential wood construction while helping to reduce our carbon footprint and contributing to Canada's growing bioeconomy. Funding for this project is provided through Natural Resources Canada's Green Construction through Wood (GCWood) program, which encourages the use of wood in non-traditional construction projects, such as tall and low-rise non-residential buildings and bridges. The program aims to position Canada as a world leader in innovative timber construction systems and techologies and in the low-carbon economy. Projects like this will help Canada achieve its 2030 climate change goals by finding effective ways of building sustainably using Canadian wood products while reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Quotes "I am pleased to see such innovative mass timber building design in downtown Vancouver. By supporting greater use of sustainable, carbon-storing wood in construction, we can protect the planet, create jobs and support the competitiveness of the forest sector in Western Canada." The Honourable Joyce Murray Minister of Digital Government "Wood is being used more and more in building bigger and taller buildings, and we're leading the world at it. Creating new markets for Canadian timber supports our forestry workers, creates jobs and gets us to net zero." The Honourable Seamus O'Regan Jr. Canada's Minister of Natural Resources "It's a really special moment in our Fast + Epp company history to have the opportunity to move into a custom-built mass timber office building. It features a robust, sustainable structure; warm, exposed-wood interiors; and the latest in seismic technology using self-centring, energy-absorbing Tectonus connectors. The building will serve as living lab with ongoing thermal, moisture and vibration monitoring. It will also house Fast + Epp's Concept Lab, where physical testing of mass timber components and software development will take place." Paul Fast, Partner Fast + Epp "This project is an excellent example of an innovative, sustainable and high-performance wood building. It showcases technologically advanced wood products and systems, and how mass timber components work together for optimal designs that can be easily replicated. Projects such as this will address today's urgent demand for more efficient construction using sustainable building materials, toward a goal of carbon-neutral structures that will positively transform our built environment." Lynn Embury-Williams, Executive Director Wood WORKS! BC Associated Links Green Construction through Wood Fast + Epp Wood WORKS! BC Follow us on Twitter: @NRCan (http://twitter.com/nrcan) NRCan's news releases and backgrounders are available at www.news.gc.ca. SOURCE Natural Resources Canada [ 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. A British holiday park company has agreed to change its work culture after it was found they were operating a surname blacklist that excluded Gypsy and Traveller families. An investigation by the UKs Equality and Human Rights Commission found that Pontins was using an undesirable guest list, which included many common Irish surnames such as Delaney and OBrien. In February of 2020, the commission received information from a whistleblower that alleged the company had a discriminatory booking policy that excluded Gypsies and Travellers. The commission outlined that these practices included monitoring calls within its contact centre and refusing or cancelling any bookings that were made by people with an Irish accent or a blacklisted surname. Their list of Irish surnames was published on their intranet page, and it required staff to block any potential customers with those names from booking. According to the commissions investigation, Pontins was also using its Commercial Vehicles policy to exclude Gypsies and Travellers from its holiday parks. The executive director of the Equality and Human Rights Commission, Alastair Pringle, commented on their practices, saying: It is hard not to draw comparisons with an undesirable guest list and the signs displayed in hotel windows fifty years ago, explicitly barring Irish people and Black people. Banning people from services based on their race is discrimination and is unlawful. To say that such policies are outdated is an understatement. The owners of Pontins, Britannia Jinky Jersey, have now signed a legally binding agreement with the commission to prevent racial discrimination in the future. It is right to challenge such practices and any business that believes this is acceptable should think again before they find themselves facing legal action, Mr Pringle said. We will continue to work with Pontins and Britannia Jinky Jersey to ensure that our agreement is adhered to and its practices improve. Pavee Point addressed the situation today saying that banning a particular ethnic group is a despicable practice. This case shows not only how discrimination against Travellers is an ongoing issue - but also discrimination against Irish people in general in the UK, they said in a statement to Independent.ie. People with an Irish accent were targeted by Pontins for negative treatment as well as Irish Travellers. This highlights the vulnerability of minority ethnic groups to discrimination and racism. We know anecdotally that similar bans on Travellers is a common practice throughout Ireland especially in restaurants, bars, hotels and retail. We know from recent reports that there is huge under-reporting of incidents of discrimination among Irish Travellers and we urge the Government to raise awareness on equality legislation as part of its forthcoming National Action Plan Against Racism. The legal agreement signed by Pontins requires them to conduct an investigation into their undesirable guest list to ensure appropriate action is taken within the organisation and that lessons are learned. The commission will also do a review of its current intelligence system, booking policies and commercial vehicle policy to ensure they are not operating in a discriminatory way, and consider any recommendations. Enhanced training will be given on equality law for staff in Pontins human resources team and members of senior management. This will be in addition to training on equality and diversity for all customer facing staff on an annual basis. Pontins is also expected to appoint equality, diversity and inclusion champions across their organisation. If Pontins does not adhere to the terms of the agreement, the commission has the power to launch a full investigation under section 20 of the Equality Act 2006. A spokesperson from the owner's of Pontins said: Britannia Jinky Jersey Limited has agreed to work together with the Equality and Human Rights Commission to further enhance its staff training and procedures in order to further promote equality throughout its business. The surnames on the undesirable guest list included Irish surnames such as; Cash, Connors, Delaney, Doherty, Gallagher, Horan, MacLaughlin, McMahon, Murphy, OBrien, OMahoney and OReilly. Jordan-based Siniora Food Industries Company said it has acquired a 77% stake in Trakya ET, a meat manufacturing company in Turkey and the owner of the Polonez brand, in a deal worth $8.3 million. A subsidiary of Arab Palestinian Investment Company (APIC), Siniora is a leading and fast-growing regional meat processing company listed on the Amman Stock Exchange. This acquisition is a unique addition to Siniora and comes as part of the company's growth strategy to boost its market share on a regional and global scale by expanding its production lines and targeting new markets, said APIC and Siniora Chairman Tarek Aggad. "Turkish market will be the cornerstone for Siniora's products to reach European and global markets," he noted. CEO Majdi Al Sharif pointed out that Siniora will work on upgrading its current production lines of Trakya ET Companny (Polonez). This addition to Siniora's portfolio will contribute to enhancing its revenues and profits as well as strengthen its financial position and expected to boost the company's revenues by around $40 million in 2021, he added.-TradeArabia News Service .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... Copyright 2021 Albuquerque Journal SANTA FE Two New Mexico tax credits for low-income workers would be expanded under a sweeping tax bill unveiled Monday that would also create a new, higher tax bracket for top-earning state residents. The proposal, which advanced out of a key House committee, would also allow local governments to generate more revenue by raising an annual property tax increase cap for non-primary residences a provision aimed at second-home owners in Santa Fe and other parts of the state but which would include some rentals. ADVERTISEMENTSkip ................................................................ Backers of the legislation, House Bill 291, said the overall changes would make New Mexicos tax code less regressive without leaving a hole in the states budget, although they acknowledged they might not be a fix-all. Were asking for those of us who can pay a little bit more to help support the working families who are not doing so well, the bills sponsor, Rep. Javier Martinez, D-Albuquerque, said during a Monday meeting of the House Taxation and Revenue Committee. He also said the changes would not hurt New Mexicos economy, arguing that low-income workers getting more tax relief would end up spending much of the money on basic expenses. However, critics pointed out that creating a new top state personal income tax bracket of 6.5% the states top rate is currently 5.9% would make New Mexico even more out of line with neighboring states Utah, Colorado, Oklahoma and Texas, which does not have an income tax. This is going to hurt people were trying to help right now, said Rep. Jason Harper, R-Rio Rancho, referring specifically to rural doctors and small businesses. Several business groups also testified against the proposal, with J.D. Bullington, a lobbyist for the Greater Albuquerque Chamber of Commerce, questioning the need for tax increases with the state sitting on $2.7 billion in projected cash reserves. But supporters countered by saying that low-income New Mexicans have been hit harder by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic than have wealthier state residents. They also argued the changes to the tax code would help diversify the states revenue base, which is currently largely reliant on taxes and royalties paid by the oil and natural gas industries. The measure ultimately passed the committee on a party-line 7-5 vote, with Democrats voting in favor and Republicans in opposition. It now advances to the full House for consideration. Recent changes New Mexico lawmakers have made multiple changes to the states tax code in recent years. Those changes include sweeping tax cuts pushed by former governors in 2003 and 2013 that trimmed the states personal income tax and corporate tax rates, respectively. More recently, the Legislature approved a 2019 package that authorized state and local governments to start levying a tax on online sales and required nonprofit hospitals to pay the same gross receipts tax rate that other hospitals do, among other provisions. This years bill, which could still be amended in the coming days, would make it easier to qualify for the Low Income Comprehensive Tax Rebate and the Working Families Tax Credit, which is currently available to those who make less than $15 an hour. We know when lower-income workers have more spending power, they use it on essentials to support their families, stimulating the local economy at a time when it is sorely needed, said Rep. Christine Chandler, D-Los Alamos, one of the bills co-sponsors. Specifically, the changes would allow New Mexicans ages of 18 to 24 and those working legally who are not U.S. citizens to qualify for the tax benefits. Such a policy shift, along with expanded benefits, would cost the state an estimated $72 million. But the changes would be largely offset by the new personal income tax brackets and proposed limits to a state capital gains tax deduction. Property taxes The tax bill moving forward at the Roundhouse could also affect homeowners property tax bills. Specifically, the measure would more than triple an annual property tax evaluation limit from 3% to 10% for residential properties that are not their owners primary place of residence. Rep. Matthew McQueen, D-Galisteo, the architect of the provision, said it would leave the existing property tax cap in place for homeowners who live in their homes. He and other backers of the change said many second-home owners in the Santa Fe area have benefited from a law passed in 2000 that imposed the annual residential property value limits in an attempt to keep elderly residents from being priced out of their homes, But critics said the proposed change could also lead to higher rents, with owners passing along their higher tax bills to tenants. It just feels like we may be making it worse and slightly more hodgepodge by going in this direction, Harper said. The tax package is among dozens of bills still in the mix as lawmakers enter the final weeks of this years 60-day session, which ends March 20. Other tax bills under consideration include a larger tax break for veterans and a tax pyramiding proposal that would create a new gross receipts tax deduction for accounting services, while also expanding an existing tax break for manufacturing services. At a glance A bill that would make various changes to New Mexicos tax code is moving forward at the Roundhouse. Here are some highlights of House Bill 291: Would create three new personal income tax brackets. Top rate of 6.5% would be individuals who make more than $415,000 per year, or joint filers who make more than $622,000 annually. Expand income threshold for Low Income Comprehensive Tax Rebate from $22,000 to $36,000 per year. Starting in 2023 tax year, would increase annual limit on property tax value increases for homes not occupied by owners from 3% to 10%. They are everywhere, hard to escape, impossible to move throughout the region without seeing. Large, intimidating and looming, they are skeletons of our history that we so often overlook and forget about in the name of progress. Brick by brick they remain upright, facades updated with the name of something new affixed on large signage. Were talking about old breweries. Albany was once a leading hub of brewing and beer production. Craig Gravina, founder of Albany Ale Project (www.albanyaleproject.com), said that the first national beer output audit, conducted in 1878, found that Albany may have ranked at No. 21 for most breweries at the time Philadelphia was No. 1 with 90 breweries but ranked second nationally for beer production, behind Milwaukee. Most of the beer produced was exported out of the area. Its not about the number of breweries, it was about the output of beer, Gravina said. Today, craft breweries making only a few hundred barrels of beer are ubiquitous (New York has 440 craft breweries, according to New York State Brewing Association), but the amount of beer produced pales compared to the 1800s. In the 1850s, Albany was home to about 20 breweries, but one brewery alone, John Taylor and Sons, was producing 200,000 barrels, the equivalent of 6.2 million gallons, annually. Coming to an inbox near you Places & Spaces newsletter. Learn more about historical buildings and real estate news in the Capital Region. Sign up here. Click here for a complete list of newsletter offerings. You cannot find the Taylor brewery today, though, located on Broadway. Instead, a U-Haul franchise holds the footprint. Most breweries that existed in Albany and the greater Capital Region before the 1960s are gone, but a few still stand as shells of the regions rich history of brewing. The Amsdell Brewery, opened in 1854 by George and Theodore Amsdell, was one of the largest breweries in New York until it closed in 1920. It spanned a plot of land across Lancaster, Jay and Dove streets in Albanys Center Square neighborhood. No legacy of brewing is immediately noticed, even if the structure remains largely intact. The Knickerbocker Apartments now fills the space. While brewing technology has changed, one thing that has not is that making beer requires a lot of open space. Even small modern craft breweries resemble those from 200 years ago, in that once bar tops and mash tuns are stripped away, the space is cavernous. Old breweries have become a leading example of creative, adaptive reuse in architecture and while exterior walls and the footprints of city-bound foundations might remain, what is inside has drastically shifted into living quarters, production spaces and storage units. Locally, none found second acts as breweries. Kevin Mullen, owner of Rare Form Brewing Company on Congress Street in Troy, said, I think it would be pretty cool to open in an old brewery. You have the facility there and the history with it. When he scouted locations for Rare Form, which opened in 2014, he hoped to find a building with a history as a brewery. While there are several mere blocks from his current location (south, on Fourth Street, is the old Ruscher Brewing Company and north, on River Street, is the large Fitzgerald brewing and bottling compound) there were no locations available that were not already occupied by other businesses. His brewery occupies what was once part of the Trojan Hardware company, which was in business for 94 years. Kathy Sheehan, the city and county historian for the Hart Cluett Museum in Troy, said most of the regions breweries closed around the time of Prohibition, leaving large buildings available for quick resale. Certainly Prohibition did a number on them. There were 16 or 17 breweries here in Troy, Sheehan said, with the oldest brewery dating to 1793. Sheehan said there is no structural issue with opening a brewery in these buildings, it just comes down to availability and people doing the research to know the history of a building, its former owners and tenants. There is a lack of concern for brewing history. Most people just want to think about the future, Mullen said. Before the pandemic, he would host local historians to speak on brewing history once a month at Rare Form, and as many as 15 people would be in attendance, but few of them were ever brewers or brewery owners. I thought there would be more people interested in it, he said. While some breweries will gamble on reproducing historic beer recipes (Gravina has made versions of Albany Ale with C.H. Evans Brewing Company, at the Albany Pump Station) they tend not to sell the same as a new, intense IPA or sour beer. Michael Barrett, the executive director of Hudson Mohawk Industrial Gateway in Troy, has amassed a large collection of brewery artifacts from Troy and the surrounding region. He said like other industries, breweries are victims of progress and little emphasis was kept on maintaining the historic origins of the buildings which were usually built specifically for beer production after Prohibition. There are not that many where the exterior is still there, though some are fairly attractive once you know they were a brewery, he said. He referenced the Ruscher building on Fourth Street, which is now Olympic Bowling Supply. Large arched openings with prominent keystones point to the movement of wagons and trucks hauling barrels of beer out of the facility with a large brick chimney, likely to release steam from the building. On River Street, the former Quandt Brewery is now home to International Electronic Machines, a technology company backed by government contracts. When compared to historic photos of the brewery, the exterior building has barely changed at all, though there is no signage that would indicate it was ever home to a prominent brewery. Other buildings, like the Stanton brewery on Fifth Avenue, which was a feat of masonry design and stood several stories high, are no longer standing. Instead, the low-slung Italian Community Center fills that plot of land. In Albany, the Hinckel Brewery on Lincoln Park is now apartments, and faint block letters that mimic the arch of the roof line remain to indicate the architectural behemoths origins. Crossing back over to Troy via the Collar City Bridge, it is impossible to miss the former Fitzgerald Brewing bottling building, large and imposing like a physical barricade between the Hudson River and all of Hoosick and River streets. Millions of cars drive past it annually, few of the drivers ever knowing that it was once part of a block-long brewing complex rumored to be so innovative that beer was moved under the road in large pipes to be bottled and shipped around the Northeast. Instead, signage for Life Storage, owned by the First Columbia property firm, emblazons the buildings facade. Where once sudsy libations were packaged for consumption, now seasonal clothing, outdoor gear and the riffraff of life are tucked away for later use or permanent forgetting. Deanna Fox is a food and agriculture journalist. www.foxonfood.com, @DeannaNFox Four and a half years ago, Parnham House in Dorset was reduced by fire to a smouldering shell a catastrophe followed by the arrest of its owner, Austrian banker Michael Treichl, for suspected arson, and his subsequent death by drowning in Lake Geneva. But what promises to be one of Britain's most daring and innovative architectural resurrections is now in hand thanks to the man dubbed 'the new Leonardo of design'. Thomas Heatherwick is the creator of the stunning cauldron at the 2012 London Olympics, as well as an array of buildings and bridges around the world. Parnham House in Dorset pictured before a devastating fire reduced it to a smouldering hell James Perkins (pictured with his wife Sophie Taylor, former rave scene host-turned-restorer of historic houses, acquired the property for 2.5million He has, I can disclose, been invited to 'reinvent a new future' for Parnham by James Perkins, former rave scene host-turned-restorer of historic houses, who acquired the smoke-blackened husk and its surrounding 131 acres last year for 2.5 million. 'I've known Thomas for 12 years,' Perkins, 51, tells me. 'He's innovative in his way and I am in mine. You are going to have this really traditional, old-school-looking house, with a 16-century facade. But the idea is that the inside's not as it appears on the outside. It's going to have all sorts of technology behind it. 'The house and the restoration are 'Batman-inspired',' he adds, explaining that he also finds inspiration in the Arthurian legend and in Indiana Jones. The 2017 catastrophe was followed by the arrest of the home's owner, Austrian banker Michael Treichl, for suspected arson, and his subsequent death by drowning in Lake Geneva Perkins and his wife Sophie Taylor previously owned Aynhoe Park in Oxfordshire, which was hired by Noel Gallagher for his 50th and, last Christmas, by Cara Delevingne and family for a lavish party. Parnham will stimulate all generations, with Perkins explaining that he is talking to someone who's 'going to build some incredibly different tree houses' and to somebody else 'about building a telescope' to take advantage of what he describes as Dorset's 'fantastic lack of light pollution'. 'People wondered what happened at Parnham in recent years, with the previous owner, who was very private,' he reflects. 'We're going to be the opposite.' Ben's blessing for crewmate Cracknell Olympic champion James Cracknell's surprise engagement to U.S. financier Jordan Connell has got the thumbs-up from his best friend, Ben Fogle. 'I'm very happy for him getting married again,' says Ben, who rowed across the Atlantic with the double gold medallist. Olympic champion James Cracknell's surprise engagement to U.S. financier Jordan Connell has got the thumbs-up from his best friend, Ben Fogle 'I've met Jordan a few times, although obviously not for a long time due to the pandemic, and I think they work really well together.' Cracknell, 48, met Connell, 35, when he studied at Cambridge University in 2018 and they got engaged earlier this year. TV adventurer Ben whose documentary, Inside Chernobyl, is on Channel 5 tomorrow tells me of his old friend: 'I don't know if he's going to have a best man or anything. 'I think they are going for a more intimate affair, put it that way. But watch this space.' Mission Impossible star Simon Pegg admits he's been told off by his mother, former civil servant Gillian Smith, for swearing too much. 'I was getting a little bit of blowback for the amount of swearing on my Instagram stories, which is fine, because I like swearing,' he says. 'My mum's cool, but she was like: 'You swear a lot.' I said: 'Mum, swearing is a valuable catharsis which exists across the lexicon of every spoken language across the world. It's an act of liberation.' 'In the English language, at least, profanity is the tussle with our more basic functions and desires. 'Bad language can be fun. Bad language can give you a spasm of pleasure because in that moment, when you utter the forbidden words, you get a sense of relief you get a sense of calm as you embrace your true self.' I think he got off lightly... Vogue star puts caring in fashion Supermodel Karen Elson is ready to give back to younger generations by launching a mentoring service. Supermodel Karen Elson is ready to give back to younger generations by launching a mentoring service 'There is such a need for support and guidance within the industry, and often that's hard to come by,' explains the Lancastrian, 42. 'So I started toying with the idea of The Model Mentor.' The Vogue cover star, who struggled with an eating disorder at the height of catwalk fame, says her first online meeting will tackle body image. Actress Natascha McElhone, the stepdaughter of former Fleet Street editor Roy Greenslade who has revealed his long-held support for the IRA, is no stranger to the Troubles. She played a Belfast IRA operative in the Hollywood thriller Ronin and was much criticised for not getting the accent right. But then, she was brought up by Greenslade and her Irish mother in Brighton and attended Camden School for Girls. She also played an Irish-American IRA sympathiser in The Devil's Own. Paw to bishop four, Kaia? Cindy Crawford's model daughter, Kaia Gerber, has been making sure to nurture her more cerebral side during lockdown. The Stella McCartney campaign star has shared a picture of herself and her golden retreiver puppy playing chess in California. Cindy Crawford's model daughter, Kaia Gerber, shared a picture of herself and her golden retreiver puppy playing chess in California Kaia, 19, has also been learning guitar from her father, former model Rande Gerber, and leading a book club online. 'I know we are all feeling isolated, so I was trying to think of easy ways we can stay connected,' she says of the latter. The Duchess of Sussex is due to give birth later this year but she and Prince Harry can already line up a playmate. I hear Harry's second cousin, PR boss Kate Wake-Walker, 38 whose grandmother, Lady Anne Spencer, was Princess Diana's aunt has welcomed a baby with her husband, Alexander John. They have paid homage to Lady Anne, who died last year aged 99, by naming their daughter Isabella Anne. 'It's a very touching tribute,' says a friend. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday accused Iran of attacking an Israeli-owned ship in the Gulf of Oman last week. Netanyahu spoke to Israeli public broadcaster Kan and said that it was indeed an act by Iran, thats clear. Iran is the greatest enemy of Israel, I am determined to halt it. We are hitting it in the entire region, Netanyahu said. The mysterious explosion struck the Israeli-owned MV Helios Ray, a Bahamian-flagged roll-on, roll-off vehicle cargo ship, as it was sailing out of the Middle East on its way to Singapore on Friday. The crew was unharmed in the blast, but the vessel sustained two holes on its port side and two on its starboard side just above the waterline, according to American defense officials. The ship came to Dubais port for repairs on Sunday, days after the blast that revived security concerns in Mideast waterways amid heightened tensions with Iran. It remains unclear what caused the blast. The Helios Ray had discharged cars at various ports in the Persian Gulf before the explosion forced it to reverse course. It docked in Dubai on Sunday for repairs and inspection. In recent days, Israels Defence Minister and army chief had both indicated they held Iran responsible for the attack. Overnight, Syrian State media reported a series of alleged Israeli airstrikes near Damascus, saying air Defence systems had intercepted most of the missiles. Israeli media reports said the alleged airstrikes were on Iranian targets in response to the ship attack. Israel has struck hundreds of Iranian targets in neighboring Syria in recent years, and Netanyahu has repeatedly said Israel will not accept a permanent Syrian military presence there. There was no immediate response from Iran to the Israeli allegations. Iranian threats of retaliation have raised alarms in Israel following the countrys normalization deals with the UAE and Bahrain. Gettyimagesbank By Anna J. Park Koreans investing overseas set another monthly record in February, according to data compiled by the Korea Securities Depository, which showed that stock transactions by local investors reached $49.7 billion. This was a 35.1 percent hike from the previous month, and also the highest monthly total recorded in the 10 years since the KSD began compiling data. The previous monthly high was set in January, following an upward trend in Koreans investing overseas that began last October. When it comes to the number of net-purchases, however, February saw a 38 percent decrease month-on-month, meaning the record had more to do with increased net-selling amid last month's global market corrections. By item, shares in Tesla were still Koreans' top pick for purchasing at $382 million over the month. Big-data tech company Palantir Technologies and 3D tech firm Unity Software followed Tesla in the top three most net-purchased overseas stocks Apple was fourth. February's data also showed that Korean investors seem to be more interested in short-term gains. In terms of the entire trading volume purchasing and selling GameStop took second place with $3.02 billion, following only electric vehicle maker Tesla. The video game company stock showed an extreme level of trading volatility in late January and February, as retail investors battled institutional short sellers to cause them heavy losses. 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. A former top campaign aide to Donald Trump doesn't think Lara Trump running for Senate is the best idea, claiming she would make a bigger impact 'being on the outside' of Washington. Corey Lewandowski's comments come as speculation reignited that the former president's daughter in law could launch a Senate run in her home state as North Carolina Senator Richard Burr plans to retire at the end of his term in 2022. 'Let me try to get a little intel here. Lara Trump for Senate, is this happening?' Epoch Times editor and host Jan Jekielek asked Lewandowski in a taped interview during the Conservative Political Action Conference on Sunday. 'I hope so. I'm a great fan of Lara. Her and Eric are amazing people,' Lewandowski said. 'But here's what I would say to them: 'Why would you want to do this?' Look, I mean, I love you. This is like if the dog catches the car, then what do you do? What if you actually go and win, which she would win. Then you've got to serve,' he continued. 'And my problem is Washington is so fundamentally broken, that I don't know if it's a good thing anymore.' 'I think Lara Trump and she would be an amazing United States Senator if she decided to run, because she would win she has more influence and more opportunity to drive a narrative today being on the outside than being stuck in a broken system,' Lewandowski added. Former Trump campaign aide Corey Lewandowski said I don't know if it's a good thing anymore' for Lara Trump to run for Senate in North Carolina Lewandowski told Epoch Times editor Jan Jekielek at CPAC on Sunday that Lara 'has more influence and more opportunity to drive a narrative today being on the outside than being stuck in a broken system' Lara is married to Donald Trump's middle son Eric Trump speculation reignited after the former president was acquitted last month that she was still considering a Senate bid The New Hampshire native is heading up a new political action committee that will back 'America First' candidates specifically those launching primary runs against anti-Trump Republicans in 2022. The Trump-backed Fight Back Now America PAC will look to primary Republican members of Congress who voted to advance Trump's second impeachment. Jakielek understandably expressed confusion over why Lewandowski would discourage Lara Trump from running for Senate despite his effort to get more America First read pro-Trump lawmakers elected to Congress. 'Lara Trump's megaphone is massive, right? And she has such convictions to what she believes in. And look, I know a number of the U.S. senators. You ask them, 'How much of your job do you love?' They say, 'I love 20 per cent. The other 80 per cent are things I have to do and I can only work so much time on my specific issue,' Lewandowski detailed. He continued: 'It's really hard when you're inside that system.' 'Now there are great people who should run for office, and will run for office,' Lewandowski said. 'And those are the people we're going to support.' North Carolina Senator Richard Burr, who voted to convict Trump in his impeachment trial last month, has made it clear he does not intend to run for reelection in 2022 The former Trump campaign aide who worked on the former president's 2016 and 2020 run argued it isn't worth it for people with more influence to have to deal with the 'lunatics' in Washington, D.C. 'The president wanted me to run for office in New Hampshire and I said, 'What if I actually won?' And I would have won, is the problem. I said, 'I would have to go to Washington, D.C. and work with some of these lunatics,' he said during his Sunday interview, which was released on Monday. Lewandowski said governors have the ability to help people more directly than those in Congress. 'I think being a governor is a much better chief executive role than being one of 100 U.S. senators or one of 435 members of Congress because every decision you make as a governor has a direct impact on the people's lives in that state almost immediately,' he explained. 'And we've seen that with the different ways that the governors have responded to this pandemic.' At the time of Donald Trump's impeachment acquittal last month, new speculation emerged that Lara could still be considering making a run for Senate in her home state. Lara is married to Trump's middle son Eric and the couple lives in New York with their two children Eric Jr., 3, and Carolina, 1. Richar Burr, whose Senate seat Lara would be filling, was one of the seven GOP senators who voted for Trump's impeachment. The Republican from North Carolina already announced that he would not seek reelection in 2022. Lara and Eric are seen out in New York City last Wednesday The couple met with up Ivana, the mother of the former president's three eldest children Don Jr., Ivanka and Eric Trump ally and South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham told Fox News at the time of the impeachment vote that Burr's decision to side with Democrats basically assured that if Lara were to launch a bid, she would earn the Republican nomination in the state. 'My friend Richard Burr just made Lara Trump almost the certain nominee for the Senate seat in North Carolina to replace him if she runs,' Graham told Fox. One senior Republican official with knowledge of her plans told The New York Times at the time that while the January 6 Capitol riot did sour Lara's desire to seek office, she is still considering it. The official said she would decide over the next few months whether to run as part of a coordinated effort to bring back the Trump family to politics. Former President Trump made his grand comeback to the political limelight on Sunday with the keynote speech to conclude the four-day CPAC gathering in Orlando, Florida. Being a newcomer in the Marvel Cinematic Universe became more manageable for Tom Holland, thanks to Robert Downey Jr.'s unmatched inspiring words and support. Since he arrived in the MCU through the 2016 film "Captain America: Civil War," Holland surely received the guidance he needed through RDJ. In an interview with GQ, Holland recalled the time his father-figure gave him inspiring advice. According to the 24-year-old "Spider-Man: Far From Home" star, RDJ once took him away from a scene and told him how to "live in the moment." "He took me to one side and said, 'I remember the feeling. I've been through this before and it is incredibly stressful. Enjoy the process and let your body take over,'" Holland said. He then admitted that he is still using the advice until now. Holland detailed one instance he applied RDJ's words into his life. Per the actor, he ate a bowl of cereal while doing a new "Spider-Man" scene. He hilariously added that he could not consume the cereal "like a normal person." Director Jon Watts even saw him and asked what he was doing, to which he answered that he was just leading with his head and body. More Advice from RDJ His newest revelation came after RDJ spoke with GQ UK, as well. Per the "Iron Man" star, he once told Holland that there is also a life outside the MCU. "Look, Tom won't be playing Spider-Man when he's 37. At least I hope not. And when you're in the MCU, there's a feeling of all life beginning with it and ending it," he said. Robert Downey Jr. added that he and Holland can be compared with Keanu Reeves who recently wrapped up "The Matrix" filming. Like him, Reeves has been part of several franchises - "The Matrix" and "John Wick," to name a few. "I asked him what it felt like: 'Like being in Australia,'" RDJ said. "What I am saying is there was a Spider-Man before Tom Holland and there will be a Spider-Man after Tom Holland. That's facts, Tommo. Sorry." However, RDJ still expressed his desire to work with MCU after his 11 years stint as Tony Stark and Iron Man in 10 movies. See Now: Famous Actors Who Turned Down Iconic Movie Roles PUNE, India, March 2, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The Global Demand for global corona virus vaccine market in terms of revenue was worth of USD 0.37 Billion in 2020 and is expected to reach USD 75.75 Billion in 2021. The global corona virus vaccine market is expected to grow at significant growth rate due to number of driving factors. The study provides a crucial view of global corona virus vaccine market by segmenting the market based on infection type, vaccine type and region & country level. Based on infection, the corona virus vaccine market is segmented into HCoV-229E, HCoV-OC43, HKU1-CoV, NL63, MERS-CoV, New Haven CoV, SARS-CoV and SARS-CoV-2. Based on vaccine type, the market is segmented into S-protein based coronavirus vaccine, live attenuated coronavirus vaccine, inactivated coronavirus vaccine, MRNA vaccine and DNA-based vaccine. The regions covered in global virus testing diagnostic kits market are North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific and Rest of the World. On the basis of country level, global virus testing diagnostic kits market is sub divided into U.S., Canada, U.K., France, Germany, Italy, China, Japan, India, South East Asia, Brazil, Mexico, GCC, Africa, etc. Get Sample Copy of This Premium Report@ https://brandessenceresearch.com/requestSample/PostId/1050 Key Companies Covered in the Corona Virus Vaccine market: Inovio Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Moderna, Inc., Protein Potential, LLC, Novavax, Inc., Synairgen PLC, AlphaVax, Inc., NanoViricides, Inc., Zydus Cadila, Bravovax, GeoVax, Altimmune, Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies, CanSino Biologics, Vaxart, Vaxil Bio Ltd When most people in a community are vaccinated against a disease, the ability of the pathogen to spread is limited as vaccines can prevent infectious diseases. It greatly reduces the risk of infection by training the immune system to recognize and fight pathogens such as viruses or bacteria. As Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is an infectious disease caused by a newly discovered coronavirus i.e. SARS-CoV-2, which has spread rapidly throughout the world and in March 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the COVID-19 outbreak a pandemic. This pandemic has severely weakened health systems & economic and social progress globally. While countries, have taken strong measures to cover the spread of COVID-19 through better diagnostics and treatment, the coronavirus vaccines will provide a lasting solution by enhancing immunity and containing the disease spread. In response to the pandemic, the vaccine development process has been fast-tracked, as these vaccines safely deliver an immunogen which is a specific type of antigen that produces a resistant response for training the immune system to recognize the pathogen when it is come across naturally. There are many different COVID-19 vaccines are at development stage because it is not yet known which ones will be effective and safe. In April 2020; the access to COVID-19 Tools (ACT) Accelerator was launched to speed up development & delivery to countries of diagnostics, treatments and vaccines. Factors such as the present coronavirus outbreak, increasing healthcare expenditures, growing concerns regarding Corona virus outbreaks at regular intervals and the growing need to protect populations across the globe from known as well as unencountered virus strains are expected to drive the growth of the market. For example; the 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) was officially named as COVID-19 pandemic by the World Health Organization and has spread to more than 180 countries and the pandemic has had a negative impact on mental health. And, as of February 16th, 2021, India has about 10925710 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and globally, there are about 10,91,51,283 confirmed COVID-19 cases across 192 counties which has led to about 24,07,688 deaths. In addition, health financing is necessary to the ability of health systems to maintain & improve human welfare and as there is a rapid growth in cases of COVID-19, which has challenged national healthcare capacity, testing systems at an advanced ICU and public health infrastructure level to develop the preventive measure for the pandemic. Thus, many regional governments are taking so many efforts and spending much more expenditures to develop a vaccine. For instance; on February 11th, U.S. President Joe Biden announced his administration has secured about 200 million more doses of the Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines i.e. about 50% increase and also the Biden administration plans to deliver more doses directly to drugstores & pharmacies to speed up delivery of vaccine as part of about $1.9 trillion COVID-19 rescue plan. Hence, increasing healthcare expenditure for corona vaccine is also driving the growth of global coronavirus vaccine market. Moreover, increasing research & development for the corona vaccine may boost the growth of global coronavirus vaccine market growth within the forecast period. However, time required for each stage of clinical trials of vaccine and high costs associated with research & development of vaccines and drugs may hamper the market growth. Get Methodology of this report @ https://brandessenceresearch.com/requestMethodology/PostId/1050 Global Coronavirus Vaccine Market: Market Player Analysis Inovio Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Moderna, Inc., Protein Potential, LLC, Novavax, Inc., Synairgen PLC, AlphaVax, Inc., NanoViricides, Inc., Zydus Cadila, Bravovax, GeoVax, Altimmune, Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies, CanSino Biologics, Vaxart, Vaxil Bio Ltd Geographically, North America region is expected to dominate the coronavirus vaccine market. This is due to increasing research & development activities for corona virus vaccine in the region and presence of major players such as Inovio Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Moderna, Inc. and Novavax, Inc. & among others, in this region. For instance, according to springer nature limited; Most COVID-19 vaccine development activity is in North America, with about 36 i.e. 46% of developers of the confirmed active vaccine candidates compared with about 14 (18%) in China, about 14 (18%) in Asia (excluding China) and Australia and about 14 (18%) in Europe. Also, on April 08, 2020, Novavax, Inc. Company has announced that it has identified a coronavirus vaccine candidate, NVX-CoV2373 and it will initiate a first-in-human trial in Mid-May of 2020. Moreover, Europe is at second position in dominance and this is due to huge demand for coronavirus vaccine due to diverse coronavirus outbreaks in the current past, the presence of major players in countries in the region and rising investments in R&D activities, along with strong support from the government. For instance; on February 17th, 2021- Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech SE announced an agreement with the European Commission (EC) to supply an additional about 200 million doses of COMIRNATY-the companies' COVID-19 Vaccine to the 27 European Union (EU) member states. This new agreement is in addition to about 300 million doses which have already been committed to the EU through 2021 under the first supply agreement signed last year. The additional 200 million doses are expected to be delivered in 2021, with an estimated about 75 million to be supplied in the second quarter. So, the total number of doses to be delivered to the EU member states by the end of 2021 is about 500 million, with the potential to increase to about 600 million based on the option granted in the new agreement. Global Market Trends of Corona Virus Vaccine. In recent years, scientists and leading organizations are developing more than 110 vaccines by using wide range of techniques some of which are never been approved for medical purpose before and some of which are already well established. There are two sectors among the newest approaches for corona virus vaccine development that are viral vectors and RNA vaccines. These approaches are implementing for COVID-19 widely for numerous reasons such as their speed of development, scale and manufacturing fit as well as small dose size, all of which are highly desirable features for a rapid pandemic response. Both RNA and viral vectored vaccines have advents from doing investments in cell and gene therapies over the last 10 to 20 years. Some of the major trends in the global coronavirus vaccine market are. A) Inactivated and Live Attenuated Vaccines: Nowadays, almost all vaccines in use integrate an activated or weakened form of virus that is not able to cause diseases. When immune cells find out that they can make antibodies and these types of vaccines mainly contain selected viral proteins or inactivated viruses. These are pathogens that can be killed. The dead viruses can no longer multiply, but the body still determines them as intruders therefore, the body's defense system capable that antibodies are produced. The vaccinated individual does not develop the disease. This method utilizes based on tried and tested technology and it is already used in vaccines against diseases such as influenza, polio, whooping cough, hepatitis B, and tetanus. Inactivated vaccines use a pathogen that can be modified so that it cannot replicate to stimulate individual immune system. They are safe because they cannot cause any type of diseases, but at the same time booster doses are particularly required. The inactivation approach includes heat, radiation or chemicals to eliminate the pathogen's genetic material, which stops it from replicating. Inactivated vaccines can trigger a strong immune reaction, but it is not as advantageous as reaction that live attenuated vaccines can produce. Owing to this reason, a person may need booster shots to ensure ongoing protection. The COVID-19 vaccines that Bharat Biotech, Sinovac and Sinopharm, have developed are inactivated vaccines. For example; Scientists at the private company Sinovac developed an activated COVID-19 vaccine called as CoronaVac, on the other hand, Bharat Biotech and the Indian Council of Medical Research co developed Covaxin. Complete Access of This Report @ https://brandessenceresearch.com/Checkout?report_id=1050 B) Genetic vaccines: The gene-based vaccines include pure genetic information in the form of coronavirus DNA or mRNA type. Individual parts of genetic information from the pathogen are packed into nanoparticles and introduced into another cells. Once the vaccine is given inside the body, it should form harmless viral proteins that deliver strong immune protection. oDNA Based Vaccine: Many experimental vaccines do not give whole viruses. Instead, they offer genetic instructions for creating a viral protein. The protein can stimulate the immune system to produce antibodies and help in defensing against other coronaviruses. This method is known as a DNA vaccine. For example; the biotechnology company Inovio pharmaceuticals has previously developed experimental vaccines against MERS-CoV (INO-4700) and is evaluating a DNA vaccine against COVID-19. From the new study, comparing the immunogenicity of two investigational DNA based COVID 19 vaccines, researchers or scientists has shown the results that both prototypes induced potent immune response in mice. According to the scientists, their vaccines are based on a DNA-launched self-amplifying RNA (DREP) platform which is inexpensive, stable and also easy to produce and have a good safety profile. oRNA Based Vaccine: From the last few years, new technological innovation and research investment have enabled mRNA to become the milestone as a therapeutic tool in the fields of corona virus vaccine development. For example; the mRNA-1273 was the first mRNA vaccine which is developed by Moderna to be designed to fight against COVID-19 and has gained a time record of 63 days from vaccine design to human trials. RNA vaccines hold more benefits including faster, cheaper, more adaptable and easier to volume produce than other vaccines. For example; BioNTech and Pfizer Company launched a coordinated program to compare RNA based COVID-19 vaccine candidates in clinical studies conducted in Germany and the United States. The program was arranged to support the selection of a single vaccine candidate and dose level for a pivotal international safety and efficacy trial purpose. C) Viral Vector Vaccine: Viral vectors use modified viruses as boosters to access genetic and cellular material are one of the most commonly deployed tools in the search for a vaccine for SARS-CoV-2. Furthermore, scientists are increasingly using viral vector vaccines in therapeutics research well before the coronavirus pandemic, due to their use in gene therapy and cell therapy has proven to be effective. Now, those same applications are being repurposed to develop a coronavirus vaccine. These vaccines use a well-established inactivated or killed viral vector including adenovirus to evaluate proteins of SARS COV2, so that proteins can be determined by individual immune system to produce an immune response. Synthetic biology is a field of science which consists of redesigning of organisms for useful purposes with the help of engineering technique for making new abilities. synthetic biology market in terms of revenue was estimated to be USD 7.54 Billion in 2019 and is expected to reach USD 34.51 Billion in 2026, growing at a CAGR of 21.9% from 2020 to 2026. ContinuedCorona Virus Vaccine Research Report Have a Look at Related Report? Vaccine Contract Manufacturing Market is valued at USD 992.84 Million in 2018 and expected to reach USD 1559.52 Million by 2025 with the CAGR of 10.2% over the forecast period. Vaccine Delivery Devices Market is valued at USD 3927.1 Million in 2018 and expected to reach USD 6557.7 Million by 2025 with the CAGR of 7.60% over the forecast period. Immunotherapy Drug Market: Global Size, Trends, Competitive, Historical & Forecast Analysis, 2020-2025. Increasing geriatric population and adoption of targeted therapies with lesser side effects are major key factor which drives the Immunotherapy Drug Market. Vaccines Market: Rising burden of several infectious and non-infectious diseases, increasing government and non government support for vaccine development, and increasing Research and Underdevelopment likely to augment the growth of Global Vaccine Market. Veterinary/Animal Vaccines Market 2020 By Type (Attenuated Vaccines, Inactivated Vaccines, Subunit Vaccines, Toxoid Vaccines, Conjugate Vaccines, Recombinant Vaccines And DNA Vaccines), By Diseases (Porcine Vaccine, Poultry Vaccine, Livestock Vaccine, Companion Animal Vaccine, Aquaculture Vaccine, Others Vaccine), By Animal Type (Companion , Livestock), By Route Of Administration (Oral, Parenteral , Others), By Distribution Channel (Animal Hospitals, Animal Clinics, Pharmacies & Drug Stores , Others) Forcast To 2025 Global HIV Vaccines Market: Global Market Size, Trends, Competitive, Historical & Forecast Analysis, 2021-2027 Top 5 Bioinformatics Companies in the Global Market 2021 About Brandessence Brandessence market research publishes market research reports & business insights produced by highly qualified and experienced industry analysts. Brand Essence Market Research report will be best fit for senior executives, business development managers, marketing managers, consultants, CEOs, CIOs, COOs, and Directors, governments, agencies, organizations and Ph.D. Students. We have a delivery center in Pune, India and our sales office is in London. Website: https://brandessenceresearch.com Article: https://industrywatchnews.com/ Contact Mr. Aniket Patil aniket@brandessenceresearch.com Email: sales@brandessenceresearch.com Corporate Sales: +44-2038074155 Asia Office: +917447409162 Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1392316/BEMR_Logo.jpg Though NAV serves more than 1,000 clients across the globe of every size, we are especially proud of our history working with emerging managers and first time funds, supporting seamless and successful launches, said NAV COO Ambuj Garg. NAV Fund Administration Group, a leading provider of administrative services to alternative asset managers, was awarded Best Fund Administrator for Small/Start-up Funds at the Fund Intelligence Operations & Services Awards on February 24. NAV was chosen for the award by an independent judging panel selected for their industry experience and expertise. The award program is designed to recognize and reward excellence and outstanding contributions made by business, operations & technology leaders at asset management and service provider firms over the past year. Though NAV serves more than 1,000 clients across the globe of every size, we are especially proud of our history working with emerging managers and first time funds, supporting seamless and successful launches, said NAV COO Ambuj Garg. Over 60% of our clients began as new launches. We have committed to the philosophy that every client regardless of size merits superior support and the highest quality and most cost-effective fund administration solutions. The award was given virtually as part of the first annual Fund Intelligence Operations & Services Awards a merger of two separate 20-year-old award programs: Tech and WSL Awards, highlighting the top achieving firms in the US fund management trading and front office space, and Operations and Services Awards, honoring the best vendors supporting fund groups back/middle office and other legal and operational functions. According to Fund Intelligence, the new combined awards program featuring 32 categories -- was created to reflect fund groups thinking more holistically about their front to back solutions, and service partners doing the same and to feature one central place to shine a light on vendors who are truly delivering for their asset management clients in terms of service, technology and innovation across the fund complex. About NAV Fund Administration Group Founded in 1991, NAV is a privately-owned fund administrator recognized for its innovative and cost-effective fund administration solutions. A dynamic team of more than 1,000 professionals provide services to 1,000+ Hedge Fund, Private Equity & Real Estate Funds, CTA, and Managed Account clients across the globe while maintaining a 99% client retention rate. The company is headquartered in the United States, with three facilities in India supporting Back Office and Middle Office services, and locations in Singapore and the Cayman Islands. NAV ranks among the top 10 global hedge fund administrators by number of funds, and services more than $110 billion AUA. All operations are ISAE 3402 Type 2 certified. https://www.navconsulting.net About Fund Intelligence Fund Intelligence is the leading platform of news, data, and analysis providing key insights and business strategy for professionals across the U.S. mutual fund space. https://fundintelligence.global/ #FIOSAwards MILWAUKEE, March 2, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Phoenix Investors ("Phoenix"), a national private commercial real estate firm headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, announced a contribution totaling $50,000 was made to Pathfinders Milwaukee, Inc. ("Pathfinders"), a nonprofit organization dedicated to bringing safety, hope, and healing to youth in crisis in the Greater Milwaukee area. "We've been a long-time supporter of Pathfinders and believe their mission is noble," said Frank Crivello, Founder & Chairman in an official statement. "Our youth face so many challenges in today's world; it's a comfort to know that organization like Pathfinders not only exist but make a real impact and create true havens within our community. We are honored support Pathfinders and the youth and families they touch." Pathfinders serves over 5,000 of Milwaukee's youth per year directly, with nearly 1,000 receiving more intensive care services, like case management, counseling, housing, shelter, sexual exploitation and trafficking advocacy, and educational and basic needs support; the organization has been in operation since 1970. "Mr. Crivello's gift helps makes Pathfinders' mission to empower youth and change lives possible," said Renee Kirnberger, Senior Vice President of Development & Communications at Pathfinders. "As our young people tell us, 'Housing is the key to everything, really.' Our donors, like Mr. Crivello and Phoenix Investors, help ensure these young people can access the resources they need to achieve safety, stability, and success." About Phoenix Investors Founded by Frank Crivello, Phoenix Investors is a national commercial real estate firm based in Milwaukee, WI whose core business is the revitalization of former manufacturing facilities throughout the United States. This strategy leads to positively transforming communities and restarting the economic engine in the communities we serve. The most recent survey conducted by NREI ranked Phoenix Investors as having the 28th largest total industrial real estate portfolio. Today, Phoenix principally specializes in the renovation and repositioning of large, former single tenant industrial facilities throughout the United States that were previously owned by major corporate clients, REITs, or financial institutions. For more information visit https://phoenixinvestors.com. SOURCE Phoenix Investors Related Links http://www.phoenixinvestors.com Paris, TX (75460) Today Rain showers this morning with some sunshine during the afternoon hours. High 77F. Winds W at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 50%.. Tonight Some clouds. Low around 60F. Winds NW at 5 to 10 mph. LONDONContent creator platform Blisss has named industry veteran Sabrina Deep as manager and brand ambassador. "At the start of our Blisss journey it was a priority to secure the services of an influential figure with industry expertise to drive our fresh and exclusive platform; it became very obvious that Sabrina was the one for Blisss," said the companys Director Sam Gardner. "Sabrina's profile and connections within the industry are a perfect fit for us; her passion, drive and commitment are first rate, and we are excited to see how she can continue to drive Blisss onwards and upwards." Deep said she was pleased to join the company: "Blisss is a project entirely tailored around creators by creators which goes beyond the canonical relationship between them and their fans; it's the first time that a platform introduces the opportunity for creators to interact also with each other and to monetize these relationships," She said. "Creativity on Blisss does not end with the uploaded content, instead it is also expressed in the graphic customization of one's profile: you could truly say that Blisss is the first adult 'arteinment' platform in our industry. Furthermore, we have paid great attention to the dynamics of internal promotion, ensuring that all creators, regardless of their following and their fame, have equal opportunities to gain visibility and to promote their content. The team at Blisss immediately embraced with enthusiasm all my suggestions and ideas to create something truly different from today's standards, and I'm really excited to become an integral part of that same team, and to give my contribution towards the success of such an ambitious project." Access to Blisss will be initially available only to selected creators and fans who will have the opportunity to interact with the working group and to influence the development of the final product according to their needs and expectations. Creators and fans who aspire to get an early invitation may contact Sabrina at [email protected] or pre-apply at Blisss.Company. For more updates, follow the company on Twitter at @blissscompany where early followers will soon be granted early access to the platform. Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz announces a change of course in his vaccination plan. And he announces it just before his trip to Israel, not surprisingly. Austria, Denmark and other "first movers" will no longer rely on the European Union in the future and, together with Israel, will produce second generation vaccine doses for further coronavirus mutations in the coming years as well as working together to search for options for treatment, Kurz said. In preparation for the trip, the Chancellor today meets the representatives of the main Austrian pharmaceutical companies. "The EU approach - he said - has been fundamentally correct, but the EMA is too slow with approvals and there are delays in deliveries by pharmaceutical companies". For this, he added, "we must prepare for further mutations and no longer rely solely on the EU to produce second-generation vaccines". Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said yesterday, according to Reuters, that with Kurz and Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen will talk about "a collaboration on vaccine production". According to Kurz, Austria alone is estimated to need around 30 million doses of the vaccine. (Unioneonline / L) Subscribe to What Next on Apple Podcasts for the full episode. Just before the weekend, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence released a report plainly stating its official conclusions on the death of Saudi dissident and journalist Jamal Khashoggi. There arent many details, just a simple list of 18 people the U.S. government thinks helped kill Khashoggi about two years ago. And then, the logical conclusion that it would be highly unlikely that Saudi officials would have carried out an operation of this nature without the authorization of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, often known as MBS. During the primary, Joe Biden would answer in the affirmative when asked whether he would punish senior Saudi leaders for Khashoggis killing. But the day this intelligence report was declassified, President Joe Biden reached out to the king of Saudi Arabia and didnt even mention Khashoggi. If his administration cant cut ties with a prince it is accusing of murder, what kinds of actions will it take with Saudi Arabia and across the entire Middle East? To find out, I spoke with Joshua Keating, Slates international editor, on Tuesdays episode of What Next. Our conversation has been edited and condensed for clarity. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Subscribe to What Next Get more news from Mary Harris and her team every day. Subscribe Mary Harris: A lot has changed over the past few years thats made bowing out of the Middle East make logical sense. The U.S. is much less reliant on oil from this corner of the world, plenty of Americans have grown uncomfortable with the idea of the United States as the global police, and the murder of Jamal Khashoggi underlined how difficult strategic alliances can be here. Plus, foreign terrorism just isnt at the top of Americans minds anymore. Joshua Keating: It was really striking to me, as somebody who covers foreign policy, the degree to which terrorism did not factor into the last election at all. Its been a long time since weve had an election where al-Qaida or ISIS arent major issues on the campaign trail. It certainly was when Trump and Obama were elected, and going back to the Bush administration. So that is a real change, that stamping out terrorism is not a major priority. I mean, it is a priority, but its not something the U.S. public and the media spend a lot of time talking about anymore, whereas the national security shift has focused a lot more on domestic terrorism now. So thats certainly, I think, one reason why the administration would like to deprioritize the Middle East, or thinks thats an achievable goal, even if its going to take a lot longer than maybe it suggested. Advertisement Advertisement Biden doesnt seem to want to talk about the Middle East at all. He seems reluctant to be involved in these conflicts. But just when he thinks hes out, he keeps getting pulled back. Trump viewed it very simply. On one side there are our guys and on the other side are the bad guys. Biden, like Obama, wants to take a more balanced approach. Its not that hes switching sides but that he would like to have a more normalized, balanced relationship with Iran, where the U.S. isnt enlisted in this big regional cold war. Im wondering if we can just spell out exactly why there needs to be so much appeasement back and forth from the Biden administration to Saudi Arabia. Whats important about that relationship that led to that phone call where Khashoggi wasnt mentioned? Advertisement The U.S.-Saudi relationship dates back 75 years to when FDR met the king of Saudi Arabia on the Suez Canal in 1945. The traditional rationale has always been that we want to keep oil flowing out of the Middle East and the kingdom can play a role in maintaining regional stability. Now, whats changed in the past few years is the U.S. has emerged as a major energy producer in its own right. Saudi Arabia cant just cut off the oil supply to the U.S. the way it did in the 1970sthough hopefully, in the coming years, were reducing our dependence on fossil fuels, period. But Saudi Arabia doesnt have that kind of same energy leverage. And if youre talking about stability, its hard to point to Saudi Arabia playing that role, especially since Mohammed bin Salman has emerged as the de facto ruler. I mean, hes pursued this war in Yemen, which has been a disaster both morally and strategically. During the Trump years, MBS was given basically complete carte blanche: You saw him trying to blockade Qatar, basically kidnap the prime minister of Lebanon at one point, lock up and torture a number of prominent members of the royal family and business associates. This isnt really what stability looks like. Advertisement Advertisement But the argument is always that Saudi Arabia is our ally against Iran, right? Right, and that was certainly the rationale during the Trump years. Well, one of the main rationales during the Trump years was that for all their flaws, Saudi leaders are our allies in the main strategic competition in the Middle East, which is with Iran. Now Biden, like the Obama administration before him, wants to change the U.S. relationship with Iran and normalize it a little bit. I think from Bidens perspective, the administration definitely wants to get back into the nuclear deal, but it also wants to maintain some kind of leverage over Iran and negotiate from a position of strength. So that may be one reason why they dont want to completely rupture with the Saudis. Advertisement So, the Biden administration wants to pursue a reopening of the Iran nuclear agreement, were producing our own energy, we have these humanitarian concernsit seems like we dont necessarily need this relationship the way we once did. That is the case I would make. But I think from the Biden administrations perspective, Saudi Arabia is still influential, even if we dont directly depend on it for our oil supply, because Saudi Arabia is still the worlds top oil exporter, at about 10 million barrels a day. It still has an impact on global energy prices. We saw that last year when Saudi Arabia and Russia got into a price war in the middle of the pandemic and sent the price of oil dropping into negative territory. So its not as if the countrys role as an energy producer doesnt matter at all. I think there is a strategic calculation that Biden has made, that while Saudi Arabia is a very problematic ally and we dont want to give it the kind of blank check that the Trump administration did, its not worth having a complete rupture with it right now. Advertisement If youre talking about stability, its hard to point to Saudi Arabia playing that role. Joshua Keating The idea that Biden might take a step back from the Middle East almost seemed to be thrown out the window last week when the U.S. bombed multiple facilities in eastern Syria. The true target of these strikes was the militia inside these facilities: a militia that had attacked U.S. forces in Iraq and was funded by Iranian sources. Youve pointed out that, officially, the Middle East doesnt even rank in the top three foreign policy priorities for the Biden administration. But looking at this strike in Syria, it makes you wonder how low down on the list a country would have to be to avoid getting hit by a bomb from the U.S. Thats a good point. The U.S. is so committed in these conflicts already that its hard to simply walk away from them at this point. I wrote that it seems like the real strategic priority in the Middle East for the U.S. is cleaning up the messes that were left behind by the last strategic priorities. This is just the trap that one U.S. president after another always seems to find themselves in. Advertisement This kind of slow fade on the Middle Eastis it the only possible way this could go down, because it takes so long to get out of this complicated relationship? Advertisement Advertisement I do think its smart that the Biden administration is being slow and deliberate about this. I dont think it wants to repeat the mistakes that the Obama administration made, where those officials had to send troops back into the Middle East a few years later. But I do think there are areas where Biden officials could be a little bolder. For instance, MBS. I know it would be a headache and a big rupture to put sanctions on a guy whos the de facto head of foreign state Advertisement But hes also a de facto murderer. Right. If youre not going to do that after somebody orders the murder of a Washington Post journalist and Virginia resident, then when are you going to do it? And you could point to Iran as another case. The U.S. is saying its not going to drop sanctions until Iran gets back into compliance with the nuclear deal. But Iran is sayingcorrectly, in my viewthat it was the U.S. that violated the nuclear deal when Trump pulled out. Iran says it did what it did, abandon the provisions of the deal and the limits on the nuclear program, after the U.S. already pulled out. So, in my view, the U.S. could be a little bolder on that front, take the first step, drop some of these sanctions on Iran, and show that it is serious about getting back into compliance with the deal and then put it on Iran to follow suit. Advertisement Advertisement So you think the U.S. has something to prove with Iran? I do. Iran said its not interested in getting back into talks until the U.S. makes a more concrete move toward getting back into compliance with the deal. Im sure the airstrike in Syria didnt help on that front. I think that if Biden really wants to get back into this deal, as he said he did on the campaign trail, hes going to have to be a little bit bolder and take a few more political risks. Subscribe to What Next on Apple Podcasts Get more news from Mary Harris every weekday. A woman is treated by nurse as she got hit by tear gas during an anti-coup protest in Yangon, Burma, on March 2, 2021. (AP Photo) Burma Police Fire Tear Gas, Rubber Bullets at Protesters YANGON, MyanmarPolice in Burma (also called Myanmar) repeatedly used tear gas and rubber bullets Tuesday against crowds protesting last months coup, but the demonstrators regrouped after each volley and tried to defend themselves with barricades as standoffs between protesters and security forces intensified. Burma authorities have escalated their crackdown on the protests in recent days, making mass arrests and firing into the crowds. The United Nations said it believed at least 18 people were killed on Sunday by security forces. Foreign ministers from Southeast Asian countries were meeting Tuesday to discuss the increasingly volatile crisis. Despite the crackdown, demonstrators have continued to flood the streetsand are beginning to more rigorously resist attempts to disperse them. Hundreds, many wearing construction helmets and carrying makeshift shields, gathered in Burmas largest city of Yangon, where a day earlier police had fired repeated rounds of tear gas. They dragged bamboo poles and debris to form barricades, chanted slogans, and sang songs at the police lines. They even threw banana skins onto the road in front of them in a bid to slow any police rush. The mainly young demonstrators fled in panic each time tear gas canisters were fired but soon returned to their barricades. Videos posted on social media showed similar chaotic scenes in the Insein neighborhood of northern Yangon. Burma military with shields move forward during a protest against the military coup in Yangon, Burma, on March 2, 2021. (AP Photo) Protesters also took up their flags and banners to march through the streets of Dawei, a small city in southeastern Burma that has seen almost daily large demonstrations against the coup. One group of demonstrators was targeted by the security forces as it entered a narrow street on its way to pay respects at the house of a man killed in Sundays crackdown. Another was attacked on the main street in the citys center. Police also dispersed protests in Mandalay, the countrys second-largest city, on Tuesday. Yangon, Dawei, and Mandalay were among the cities where security forces reportedly fired live ammunition into crowds Sunday, according to the UN Human Rights Office. There were reports that they also fired live rounds Tuesday, but they could not immediately be confirmed. Some fear the juntas escalating use of force is meant to provoke a violent backlash by the demonstratorswho have largely remained nonviolentin order to discredit them and justify an even harsher crackdown. Videos from recent days show a greater number of protesters trying to stand their ground and throw objects at the police. Pictures of detained Burma President Win Myint and leader Aung San Suu Kyi are displayed at an intersection against the military coup in Yangon, Burma, on Feb. 16, 2021. (AP Photo) I beg the people in Myanmar not to fall in this trap, so to stay peaceful, UN Special Envoy on Burma Christine Schraner Burgener said in an interview with CNN, acknowledging that it was easier for her, safely away from the violence, to urge peaceful protesting. She also accused the authorities of spreading rumors about the conditions of people in detention to stir up even more anger on the streets. The Feb. 1 coup reversed years of slow progress toward democracy in Burma after five decades of military rule. It came the day a newly elected Parliament was supposed to take office. Ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyis National League for Democracy party would have been installed for a second five-year term, but instead she was detained along with President Win Myint and other senior officials. The military government has charged Suu Kyi, 75, with several offenses that critics say are trumped-up merely to keep her jailed and potentially prevent her from participating in the election promised in a years time by the military. Her party says it does not know where Suu Kyiwho has a long history of campaigning for democracy in Burmais being held. The weekend crackdown drew international condemnation. In addition to the use of force, authorities also detained more than 1,000 people over the weekend, according to the independent Assistance Association for Political Prisoners. Those detained included at least eight journalists, among them Thein Zaw of The Associated Press. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called the use of force and arbitrary arrests unacceptable, according to his spokesperson. The United States, British, and other governments issued similar statements of concern. Protesters flash the three-fingered salute, a symbol of resistance, during a protest in Mandalay, Burma, on Feb. 9, 2021. (AP Photo) But the military has shown no sign of backing down. The protesters and their supporters have appealed for help from abroad, but there are few prospects for major intervention. The results of Tuesdays special meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, held by video conference because of the coronavirus pandemic, were expected to be announced in the evening. But the 10-nation regional groups policy of seeking a consensus among its members makes it unlikely to take strong action. The UNs independent expert on human rights in Burma, Tom Andrews, has proposed that countries could institute a global embargo on the sale of arms to Burma and tough, targeted and coordinated sanctions against those responsible for the coup, the crackdown, and other rights abuses. But any kind of coordinated action at the United Nations would be difficult since two permanent members of the UN Security Council, China and Russia, would almost certainly veto it. Some countries have imposed or are considering imposing their own sanctions. A group of Democratic lawmakers are calling on Joe Biden to take it upon himself to include recurring direct checks for Americans in his coronavirus recovery plan on top of the $1,400 checks included in the latest relief package. 'We urge you to include recurring direct payments and automatic unemployment insurance extensions tied to economic conditions in your Build Back Better long-term economic plan,' a Tuesday letter, spearheaded by Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden, reads. 'This crisis is far from over, and families deserve certainty that they can put food on the table and keep a roof over their heads.' It adds: 'Families should not be at the mercy of constantly-shifting legislative timelines and ad hoc solutions.' The group of 10 Democratic senators say the Build Back Better program should fund recurring payments as well as boosted and automatic unemployment insurance benefits for those who have lost their jobs. A group of 10 Democratic senators sent a letter to Joe Biden Tuesday pushing the president to include recurring direct checks for Americans in his coronavirus recovery plan The lawmakers are claiming Americans should not be at the mercy of congressional timelines and partisan antics for their relief in the pandemic Co-signers with Oregon Senator Wyden include Senate Banking Committee Chairman Sherrod Brown of Ohio, Senate Budget Committee Chairman Bernie Sanders, an independent from Vermont, and Senators Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey of Massachusetts, Cory Booker of New Jersey, Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, Michael Bennet of Colorado, Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin and Alex Padilla of California. These benefits would be added on top of the one-time $1,400 checks included in the $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief bill currently making its way to the Senate after passing, mostly along party lines, in the House. The 10 Democrats argue that struggling American families should not be at the mercy of congressional timelines and partisan antics. They lay out in their letter that two payments of $1,200 at separate times, coupled with boosted unemployment benefits could keep 6.3 million people above the poverty line in the midst of the COVID crisis. 'As you have said, now is the time for boldness,' the senators wrote in their letter. 'As you prepare your Build Back Better plan for long-term economic recovery, know that we are ready to work with you in support of recurring direct checks and extended unemployment insurance benefits to support Americans who are still struggling during the pandemic.' The push for even more relief comes as the Senate prepares to take up the nearly $2 trillion relief package this week. The effort is being led Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden Progressive were dealt a blow when the Senate parliamentarian ruled that a minimum wage hike to $15 could not be included in the massive package, which is expected to pass now that Republicans no longer control the upper chamber. The latest legislation includes $1,400 direct checks for Americans on top of the $600 passed earlier this year, which brings the total combined to $2,000 the number Democrats, some Republicans and even then-President Donald Trump were pushing for at the time. The $1.9 trillion bill, if passed, would extend federal unemployment benefits through the end of August while providing a $400 per week boost to benefits starting in mid-March and going through the end of August. At 96 years old, Edward J. Miller was defying his age living alone, cooking his meals, and never missing a Fanwood Veterans Day parade or other veterans event. As recently as September, he was steering a boat across a lake in New Hampshire on vacation with his children. But a bout of low blood pressure sent him to Overlook Medical Center in Summit for 13 days in mid-October. Miller tested positive for the coronavirus the day he was discharged, according to his daughter, Denise Sherwood, who believes he caught the virus at the hospital. He died at home five days later. Also in October, Mary Ellen Petti, 72, of Green Brook Township was admitted to the seventh floor of Overlook Medical Center so she could get intravenous antibiotics for an infection. Two days later, Petti said, staff told her she had been exposed to COVID-19. Her roommate had been coughing for two days, but she said they told her that wasnt the problem. She said she tested negative at first but a few days later, another test came back positive. After five days of remdesivir and other treatments, Petti said she was discharged, but she was back at another hospital a week later with pneumonia and blood clots in her lungs. She said she spent another 10 days in the hospital, 10 days at a rehab center and 10 days staying with her sister before Petti could safely go home alone. The state Department of Health said it works with local health officials to investigate acute care hospital outbreaks, defined as two or more epidemiologically-linked patients occurring seven days or more after admission for a non-COVID condition, which would be an indication of in-hospital transmission. Since the start of the pandemic, theyve investigated 28 outbreaks in acute care hospitals, affecting 475 people, both staff and patients, according to Dawn Thomas, a spokeswoman for the Department of Health. With increased COVID-19 community transmission as well as an increase in the number of hospitalized COVID-19 positive patients, there is greater risk that staff working at a hospital, similar to other members of the public, may be exposed to COVID-19... Thomas said in a statement Dec. 30. While the source of transmission may not be known in all scenarios, staff to patient transmission is a potential factor in some outbreaks. Hospitals around New Jersey and the country are encouraging people not to delay elective procedures, promoting their infection control procedures. And while its important for people not to delay necessary treatments, health officials also acknowledge that when there is a lot of community spread, the risk of catching the virus in a hospital setting is never zero. Megan Avallone, head of the Westfield Health Department that has jurisdiction in Summit, said she understands how upsetting it is for the families involved, but to see exposures in any health-care facility is just not uncommon. Thats just what happens when were in a pandemic. The New Jersey Hospital Association declined requests for comment for this story, but it has been promoting the safety of the states hospitals in its Get Care Now NJ public awareness campaign, touting best infection control practices including cohorting of infected patients in separate units, staff and visitor screening, and constant cleaning and mask-wearing. Our hospitals are taking extraordinary COVID-19 safety precautions to be the centers of safety and care that our communities rely on, NJHA President and CEO Cathy Bennett said in a press release about a report showing people have been avoiding hospitals in the state since the pandemic. Sherwood said her father was at Overlook for 13 days without a roommate and had tested negative earlier in his stay. His only visitors tested negative and visitation had been stopped several days before he tested positive, she said. Because of those factors, the family feels confident that he caught COVID-19 from hospital staff despite precautions, and theyre considering a lawsuit. Mistakes happen. Its how you handle them that matters, she said. Edward J. Miller, 96, reads the newspaper at breakfast at home in September. He died Oct. 25, 2020.Provided Complaint leads to hospital inspection Losing her father to COVID-19 was hard enough, Sherwood said. But what incensed her to the point that she filed a formal complaint with the state Department of Health sparking an inspection that found some screening deficiencies, according to state records was that she said hospital staff repeatedly told her in the days before her father was discharged that there were no COVID-19 cases on the unit. She asked numerous times, she said, because she learned her father was being tested for the virus and she was told visitors and nonessential personnel were no longer allowed on the unit. If they called us to tell us, we could have made the decision to get him out of there, she said. In a Jan. 11 letter to Sherwood that she provided to NJ Advance Media, Patricia Sohler, the hospitals director of patient safety and risk management, acknowledged that a limited number of COVID cases were identified over a brief period of time during Millers stay in October. She also noted that the decision to restrict visitation on Millers unit was based on COVID rates in the community and the hospital. Asked about Sherwoods complaint, a spokesman for Overlook Medical Center said there were a limited number of COVID cases unexpectedly identified on a specific unit but did not specify the unit. As this occurred at the same time as a rapid rise in community spread, we immediately followed all appropriate guidelines and industry best-practices, and took steps to not only isolate the unit, test staff and patients, but also restrict visitation, said Robert Seman, a spokesman for Atlantic Health, which runs the facility. He declined to comment on Pettis claims of being infected at the hospital. It is nearly impossible to know how, where or from whom an individual specifically contracted the COVID-19 virus, he said in a statement. The increased spread in our communities since the start of fall, as well as the unique nature of the virus, which involves an incubation period during which a person can unknowingly be infected yet contagious, has been particularly challenging for health care systems across the state. The Department of Healths Health Facility, Survey and Field Operations investigated Sherwoods complaint after her father became ill. The inspector concluded after an inspection and interviews Oct. 22 that Overlook failed to ensure all visitors and healthcare personnel entering the facility are provided a screening to identify and isolate Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) in accordance with CDC guidelines and facility policy, according to a copy of the statement of deficiencies obtained through a public records request. Seman noted the findings did not find any deficiencies on the unit where the cases were identified in October. Overlook Medical Center in Summit.Google Maps The inspector wrote in her report that on Oct. 22 she walked past a security guard at Overlooks entrance and into a lobby where another staffer said, Your temperature is good, how can I help you? In total, three staffers she encountered entering the facility failed to screen her for symptoms or ask about any possible exposures, she wrote in the report. Staff later told her that visitors were supposed to be screened by the security guard at the door and via a thermal scanner in lobby, she wrote. She also noted that staff did not document that visitors were confirmed to have no symptoms, as the CDC recommends. In response to the findings, Overlook noted in its plan of correction that it has revised screening guidelines and questions to align with NJHA recommendations, retrained staff in the new procedures and added redundancy and electronic documentation to confirm everyone is screened on entry. The findings did not mention any specific staff screening issues, but Seman said Overlook has also implemented an electronic attestation process for staff that makes it easier to verify that screening takes place regularly. Seeking transparency While Sherwood was complaining that staff refused to admit there were COVID-19 cases on her fathers unit until after he had died, legislators and union leaders have been pushing for hospitals to be more transparent about cases among staff. Since April, the state has required long-term care facilities to report cases among residents and staff, and made that information publicly available on the states COVID-19 dashboard. But during most of the pandemic, hospitals were not required to do the same. After a nurses union and others pushed for transparency, hospitals began voluntarily reporting staff COVID-19 cases to the NJHA in the end of December. Thomas, with the Department of Health, said a dashboard with that data is being finalized and will be available soon. Legislators didnt wait for the NJHA, and passed a bill Dec. 17 requiring hospitals to make biweekly reports to the state. Gov. Phil Murphy signed it Feb. 4. Sherwood said the information about staff cases is something that wasnt available to her family when her father was admitted but it should have been. Maybe when these numbers become public, the residents of New Jersey can finally make informed choices as to where they prefer to be treated during this pandemic, she said. Petti, who said she is also considering a lawsuit, said she went to Overlook for treatment because she trusted that it was safe. I went in relatively healthy, certainly not on deaths doorstep, said Petti, who believes she caught the virus at the hospital. I trusted them and they basically almost killed me, when it comes right down to it. Thank you for relying on us to provide the journalism you can trust. Please consider supporting NJ.com with a subscription. Rebecca Everett may be reached at reverett@njadvancemedia.com. Tell us your coronavirus story or send a tip here. A woman walks through the Chinatown district arch in Sydney on March 4, 2020. (Lisa Maree Williams/Getty Images) Chinese Investment in Australia Plummets Over 61 Percent Chinese investment in Australia plummeted by more than 61 percent in 2020, according to new data from Australian National University (ANU). It follows the continual downward trend of Chinese investment in Australia since the 2015-16 financial year. The universitys Chinese Investment in Australia (CHIIA) Database reported that the total investment in 2020 added up to just over AU$1 billion ($775 million), down from $2.6 billion in the previous year. It was also generated by only 20 deals. The database has been operating since 2014 and pays particular attention to tracking investors back to their ultimate parent companies rather than focusing on the immediate origin of the investor. The large majority of the investment86 percentcame from Chinese companies already established within Australia, not directly from foreign firms. Shiro Armstrong, Director of the East Asian Bureau of Economic Research, attributed the fall to diplomatic tensions, additional scrutiny of foreign investment by the government, and the effects of COVID-19. Its a remarkable collapse given Australia was the largest destination for Chinese investment during the commodity boom, Armstrong said. However, in 2020, Chinese investment was confined to only three sectors: real estate ($461 million), mining ($414 million), and manufacturing ($153 million). This decline sees Chinese investment in Australia drop to the lowest point in six years amid a continual strain in the relationship between the two countries. The diplomatic tensions began escalating after Australia called for an independent inquiry into the origins of the CCP virus. In retaliation, China imposed punitive economic sanctions on Australian products, which at present includes beef, wine, barley, lobster, coal, and more. The Australian government then introduced the National Security Test, which gives the federal government power to scrutinize and reject foreign investment deals deemed a risk to national security. Some examples of the foreign investment law taking action include blocking the Chinese bids of $600 million for Lion Dairy and $300 million for a construction giant, Probuild. Quite frankly, no strategic asset or infrastructure should be owned, built, designed, or have anything to do with any company that is linked to the CCP, Federal Member of Parliament George Christensen told The Epoch Times. It is just a national security risk, full stop. Ahead of the broadcast of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's first tell-all interview, a royal commentator explained why the Sussexes should delay it. Over a year since Megxit, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex are about to drop their interview with Oprah Winfrey. Prince Harry and Meghan might speak damaging remarks against the royal family. But a commentator also said that the couple should at least consider Prince Philip's health before pushing the interview. According to political commentator Andrew Pierce, the timing of the interview may not benefit Prince Philip at all. The two teaser clips have already been released. However, the pair should still be careful since the Duke of Edinburgh recently got transferred to a new medical facility. In a report posted by Express UK, Pierce said that Prince Philip is clearly in danger due to poor health. The duke's transfer to St. Bartholomew's hospital - which is a cardiac specialist facility - hinted Prince Philip's real health status. "Harry and Meghan on Oprah should think very carefully about the timing of the release of that 'no holds barred' interview," he went on. "Oprah with Meghan and Harry" Trailer: What Will the Tell-All Interview Reveal? Though the interview will arrive on the U.S. T.V. screens on March 7, it remains unclear whether it will reach the U.K. In the first two promotional clips, Prince Harry spoke up about Princess Diana. The Duke of Sussex expressed his fear of history repeating itself and making his wife experience the same fate as his mother. "I can't begin to imagine what it must have been like for her going through this process by herself all those years ago, because it has been unbelievably tough for the two of us - but at least we had each other," he said. Princess Diana died in a car crash in Paris in 1997. During that time, the jurors ruled that Princess of Wales died due to the paparazzi who were chasing her. A Gallup poll that year even saw that 43 percent of the U.K. public believed that the photographers were responsible for the fatal smash. Meanwhile, 33 percent of the participants said that the chauffeur was responsible, too. Whether or not Prince Harry would still push through the interview remains unknown. But Buckingham Palace already reminded him and everyone that Prince Philip ill receive treatment for an infection and his pre-existing heart condition. See Now: Famous Actors Who Turned Down Iconic Movie Roles The Alabama Department of Public Health says the state could be in Phase 1B of the coronavirus vaccine distribution plan for the next several weeks, but that could change depending on the number of doses coming to Alabama. "I, as a physician myself, am anxious to continue to move forward," Dr. Karen Landers with the state health department said. "There's opportunity if more vaccines become available to the state of Alabama. That is really the factor that keeps us from moving forward at the moment." However, the Alabama Department of Public Health just doesn't know whether or not it will see a boost in supplies. It's also not sure how many vaccine doses the federal pharmacy program will bring to the state. Dr. Landers says people are going to have to be patient before the move into Phase 1C. "We do not want persons to be in a situation where the categories open up, but there's no vaccine for them," Dr. Landers said. But, there is a glimmer of hope. White House press secretary Jen Psaki says the federal government will increase the supply of vaccines to states next week to 15.2 million doses per week. That's up by about 700,000 doses. It's unclear how this will impact Alabama's supply, but the state health department has previously said Alabama receives about 1.4% per every million doses in the country. That means the new increase could bring 9,800 new doses to Alabama. State Health Officer Dr. Scott Harris is expected to further discuss the logistics and supply during his COVID vaccine update later this week. President Joe Biden is also expected to announce a new historic partnership on Tuesday afternoon. Johnson and Johnson and its rival Merck will work together to expand supply of the vaccine more quickly. Alabama expects to receive 40,100 doses of the Johnson and Johnson vaccines some time this week or next week. It's still unclear whether or not they'll see more doses in the future. That's why Dr. Landers asks everyone to just wait. "I think it's going to be a while before we fully expand. I would certainly await to see what Dr. Scott Harris fully advises in terms of moving forward," Dr. Landers said. Keep in mind the state health department is working with a population of 1.6 million eligible people. Almost 19% of that group is fully vaccinated. 39% have gotten one dose of a vaccine, while 680,976 people have yet to receive any doses of the vaccine. A man receives the boost dose at a COVID-19 community vaccination event, as West Virginia's vaccination rate ranks among highest in world, in Martinsburg, W.Va., on 25, 2021. (Kevin Lamarque/Reuters) CDC Director: Recent COVID-19 Gains Could Be Lost Due to New Variants The director of the nations top public health agency said Monday that the drops in COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations, and deaths could be erased in the near future due to new variants of the virus that causes the disease. The number of daily new cases has dropped sharply in recent weeks but theres evidence the declines are stalling around 70,000 cases a day, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director Rochelle Walensky. With these new statistics, I am really worried about reports that more states are rolling back the exact public health measures we have recommended to protect people from COVID-19. I understand the temptation to do this. Seventy thousand cases a day seemed good compared to where we were just a few months ago. But we cannot be resigned to 70,000 cases a day, 2,000 daily deaths, she said during a virtual briefing. Please hear me clearly: At this level of cases, with variants spreading, we stand to completely lose the hard-earned ground we have gained. These variants are a very real threat to our people and our progress. Now is not the time to relax the critical safeguards that we know can stop the spread of COVID-19 in our communities, not when we are so close. COVID-19, the disease caused by the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, has left hundreds of thousands dead in the United States since emerging around the start of 2020, and hospitalized many others. The disease primarily affects the elderly and the infirm but can also cause severe illness in others. Viruses change through mutation and new variants are expected to emerge over time; some emerge and disappear while others linger, persisting, according to the CDC. Major variants include B.1.1.7 from the UK, B.1.351 from South Africa, and P.1 from Brazil. All three have been detected in the United States. States like Massachusetts, Missouri, and Iowa have recently eased restrictions, such as rules on wearing masks and capacity limitations for certain businesses. Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, speaks during a White House briefing on the Biden administrations response to the COVID-19 pandemic, in Washington on Jan. 27, 2021. (White House via AP) Walensky is among the officials who have urged Americans to continue wearing masks, social distancing, and taking other precautionary measures even if theyve received COVID-19 vaccines, as they warn the pandemic is not over. We have the ability to stop a potential fourth surge of cases in this country. Please stay strong in your conviction. Continue wearing your well-fitted mask and taking the other public health prevention actions that we know work, she said. According to Dr. Anthony Fauci, a chief medical adviser to President Joe Biden, the CDC will roll out updated guidance soon for people who have been vaccinated, in terms of what they should and should not do after getting two doses of vaccines from Moderna or Pfizer, or one dose from Johnson & Johnson. Fauci told reporters in the briefing that officials are taking the New York variant B.1.526 very seriously. That variant has the ability to evade both monoclonal antibody and, to a certain extent, the vaccine-induced antibodies cases in this country, he added. Nearly 100 million COVID-19 vaccine doses have been distributed to states as of March 1, with nearly 77 million administered to roughly 50.7 million people. The daily average of doses administered stands at 1.7 million. Drug regulators recently authorized Johnson & Johnsons one-dose shot. Officials expect to deliver doses of that vaccine as early as Tuesday, with a projection of 20 million doses being distributed by the end of the month. The Chinese mainland's suspension of pineapple imports from the Taiwan region starting from Monday is a normal preventive measure to ensure biosecurity and is completely reasonable and necessary, said a mainland spokesperson. Zhu Fenglian, spokesperson for the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, made the remarks on Monday in response to a query about the accusations from Taiwan's Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) authority against the mainland regarding its decision. Zhu said that the law-based customs inspection of imported agricultural products is a requirement for executing relevant laws, regulations and standards, preventing plant diseases and safeguarding people's rights and interests. The DPP authority has made a malicious interpretation of what is actually a technical issue in an attempt to attack and smear the mainland, said Zhu. Zhu said the mainland has always attached great importance to the safety of agricultural products and will continue tight control of it. [March 02, 2021] Cindicator brings 'Hybrid Intelligence' data to Bloomberg App Portal users Cindicator, a provider of market sentiments and scores, launched its CND application in the Bloomberg (News - Alert) App Portal on the Bloomberg Terminal at {APPS CND }. Traders and investors can now access earnings indicators produced by Hybrid Intelligence of Cindicator's 163,000+ users and AI to help generate alpha. The addition of CND to the Bloomberg App Portal, enables Cindicator to deliver Hybrid Intelligence scores to Bloomberg's community of over 300,000 users among institutional investors. These new indicators provide Bloomberg Terminal subscribers with valuable quantified sentiments around company earnings in addition to traditional Wall Street consensus compiled. At a time when the role of retail investors in the markets is on the rise, measures of popular sentiment and optimism around corporate earnings can provide a source of alpha. Cindicator's AI engine processes data generated by thousands of its users. Since 2016, the resulting CND EPS indicators correctly signalled consensus outperformance in 70% of cases. Mike Brusov, Cindicator co-foundr & CEO, says: "Millions of new retail traders and trillions of dollars in additional money supply threw fundamentals and technicals out of the window. The prevailing sentiment is now crucial for equities analysis. CND quantifies the sentiment around each earnings report in three numbers, making them easy to use in both discretionary and algo trading. We're excited to share our products with Bloomberg users and look forward to innovating together." Currently, CND provides three types of indicators for major listed US companies, including Tesla, NVIDIA (News - Alert) , Apple, and more. Cindicator's 'EPS Indicator' shows whether or not Wall Street consensus will be beaten. 'Optimism Indicator' expresses expectations of traders' reactions on the first trading day after the report is published. 'Guidance Indicator' shows if the report's guidance will be positive or negative. Applications contributed to the Bloomberg App Portal are evaluated and selected using a variety of parameters, chief among them the ability for the application to add value to Bloomberg's existing feature set and information resources. App Portal gives Bloomberg Terminal users access to dozens of third-party and broker software tools for news and social sentiment analysis, technical charting analysis, data visualization and more. About Cindicator Founded in 2015, Cindicator builds analytical and trading products for traditional and crypto markets. Cindicator's 'Hybrid Intelligence' combines data from 163,000+ users on its collective intelligence platform and applies AI to enhance the resulting predictive indicators. In 2020, Cindicator joined 500 Startups Singapore programme to expand in Southeast Asia. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210302005846/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] A venture formed by Volkswagen AG, BMW AG and other automakers are in talks to substantially expand its European electric-car charging network to keep pace with rising sales of battery-powered vehicles. The manufacturers are considering additional funding for their Ionity GmbH consortium, which has been building out fast-charging points along European highways since 2017, emulating Tesla Inc.s Supercharger network. After EV sales tripled in the region last year, the companies fear long lines at charging points could put off potential buyers. Ionity and its shareholders are in discussions to work out a growth plan for the future, including a rapid expansion of high-speed charging infrastructure. Additional investment opportunities are in consideration," Chief Executive Officer Michael Hajesch said in an interview. Any extra funding would support Ionity beginning to target urban areas as well as less-frequented freeways where its currently absent. Each of the ventures shareholders -- which also include Daimler AG, Ford Motor Co. and Hyundai Motor Group -- already have each invested roughly 200 million euros into the company. Charging Gap Europe overtook China as the worlds biggest region for electric-car sales last year, when generous incentives combined with the threat of painful emissions fines to bolster shipments. As sales grow -- VW alone is planning to double electric deliveries this year -- manufacturers also are lobbying the European Union and governments to support 1 million public charging points by 2024, up from 224,500 last year. Carmakers and governments are engaged in a kind of shadow fight about wholl take the hit on charging infrastructure spending," said Marcus Kleinfeld, a partner at consultancy AlixPartners. BMW CEO Oliver Zipse last week urged governments and municipalities to increase efforts installing charging points to keep EV sales going and meet climate targets. Other automakers are mulling taking matters into their own hands. VWs Audi luxury-car brand is looking into building its own charging network in urban areas, CEO Markus Duesmann told Handelsblatt newspaper last month, citing the threat of a slowdown in EV sales without adequate infrastructure. Other Options An expansion through Ionity is just one of the options being weighed. Munich-based Qwello, a station operator in two German cities, is in talks with a major automaker for a partnership to roll out public chargers, co-founder Henrik Thiele said in an interview. Well see a huge scarcity of charging points, and a lot of noise about this in the coming months," Thiele said, adding that the number of EVs per charging station in Germany has doubled since 2017. Aside from talks with carmakers, the company will build out networks in one major German city and another in Scandinavia this year. Since its founding, Ionity has built about 400 charging stations along highways, stretching from Portugal to Finland. Hyundai Motor Co. has also joined the consortium. 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. LISBON (dpa-AFX) - Portugal's industrial production declined for the third straight month in January, figures from Statistics Portugal showed on Tuesday. Industrial production decreased 6.5 percent year-on-year in January, after a 4.6 percent decrease in December. Manufacturing output declined 5.4 percent yearly in January, following a 2.7 percent fall in the previous month. Energy output fell 9.4 percent annually in January. Production of investment goods and intermediate goods fell by 10.9 percent and 3.2 percent. On a monthly basis, industrial production fell 1.3 percent in January, after a 1.8 percent rise in the preceding month. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann. Firefighters in Utah said they used a ladder to rescue a cat that had been stuck in a high branch of a tree. ADVERTISEMENT The Weber Fire District said a member of the public visited Station 66 and told firefighters the feline had been stranded for at least four days. The district shared photos showing the firefighters using a ladder to reach the cat and bring it back to solid ground. "The cat ran off to get some much needed food and water," officials wrote. Photo: The Canadian Press MySafe Verified Identity Dispensers are shown in this undated handout photo. The federal government has provided nearly $5.6 million in funding for five "vending machines" that will dispense medical-grade opioids in British Columbia, Ontario and Nova Scotia. The machines, called MySafe, are akin to ATMs and allow drug users at risk of overdose to get hydromorphone pills dispensed to them after their palm has been scanned to identify its unique vein pattern. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO, Dispension Industries Inc. *MANDATORY CREDIT* The federal government has provided nearly $5.6 million in funding for five vending machines that will dispense medical-grade opioids in British Columbia, Ontario and Nova Scotia, in order to prevent overdoses. Darren Fisher, parliamentary secretary to Health Minister Patty Hajdu, says two machines are located in Vancouver, one is in Victoria and one each are in London, Ont., and Dartmouth, N.S. The machines, called MySafe, are similar to ATMs and allow drug users at risk of overdose to get hydromorphone pills dispensed to them after their palm has been scanned. Fisher says MySafe allows participants to access a safer drug without fear, shame and stigma, and without contact with anyone, which is all the more essential during the pandemic. Overdose deaths have spiked during pandemic with many people using alone and a more toxic illicit drug supply. Drug users are assessed by a doctor and a baseline urine sample is collected before they can access safer drugs through the MySafe machines, which are bolted to the floor. "At TaxBit, we believe that one of the greatest financial innovations and disruptions of the last century, cryptocurrency, should not be weighed down by the complexities of tax and accounting," said Austin Woodward, TaxBit CEO. "The past 12-months at TaxBit have been monumental, as our products are removing some of the largest roadblocks of this emerging asset class. With the support of Paradigm, Tiger Global, and many other amazing investors, we are excited to continue to scale world-class tax and accounting products so that cryptocurrency can continue to thrive among enterprises, consumers, and governments." Launched in 2018, TaxBit's platform automates all aspects of cryptocurrency tax compliance for enterprises, consumers, and governments. TaxBit's platform has produced and helped customers file over one million sets of tax forms across the market verticals it serves. TaxBit Enterprise and TaxBit Consumer transform the cumbersome experience of cryptocurrency tax reporting in a way that not only ensures compliance with tax law but also helps users actively tax optimize their investments and use of cryptocurrency. Tax compliance isn't the only focal point of the company. Working hand-in-hand with several of the leading cryptocurrency platforms, TaxBit is also developing the industry's first Big Four & SEC grade accounting ERP solution that will publicly launch later this year, along with plans for international expansion in 2021. "The rise of cryptocurrency poses new tax and accounting challenges for individuals, businesses, and governments alike. We believe TaxBit has built the best-in-class solution and are thrilled to be partnering with Austin Woodward and the rest of the TaxBit team," said Matt Huang, Co-Founder Paradigm. ABOUT TAXBIT TaxBit was founded by CPAs, tax attorneys, and software developers in order to enable widespread cryptocurrency adoption by automating the regulatory hurdle of tax and accounting compliance. TaxBit is located in Salt Lake City, UT. To learn more visit: www.taxbit.com, Twitter, LinkedIn. Media Contact Michelle O'Connor, VP Marketing, TaxBit (801) 332-9105 [email protected] SOURCE TaxBit Related Links www.taxbit.com A day after the start of the second phase of the COVID-19 vaccination drive, senior Union ministers, including Health Minister and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, got themselves inoculated on Tuesday and appealed to all eligible people to take the jab. Law minister Ravi Shankar Prasad and Minority Affairs Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi also got inoculated on Tuesday, taking their first dose of anti- at Patna and Rampur respectively. Vardhan and his wife took the first dose of indigenously developed COVID-19 vaccine Covaxin at the Delhi Heart and Lung Institute. They paid Rs 250 each for the vaccine jab. Completing the observation period of half an hour after taking the first dose of the vaccine, Vardhan addressed the media and appealed to eligible people to get themselves vaccinated. "Today, I and my wife took the first dose of Covid-19 vaccine at Delhi Heart and Lung Hospital. The observation time of half an hour is completed. Hospital authorities have informed me that I and my wife have been given Covaxin. In the last half an hour, I and my wife did not face any kind of difficulty," he told reporters. "On this occasion, I would like to urge all the citizens of this country whose age is above 60 or if they are in the age bracket of 45-59 having specified co-morbidities to take the vaccine," he said. Defence Minister Singh took the first dose of the at the Army's Research and Referral Hospital here. Dispelling apprehensions, he said the vaccine is completely safe. "The first dosage of COVID-19 vaccine was administered to me at RR Hospital today. India's resolve for making the country COVID-free has been strengthened by this inoculation drive. The vaccine is completely safe and hassle free. #LargestVaccineDrive," the minister said in a tweet. "I salute the efforts of India's scientists and doctors who developed the vaccine in a short span of time. I also thank the doctors and paramedic staff at the RR Hospital for the vaccination. I urge everyone who is eligible to take the vaccine and make India COVID-free," he added. Union minister and senior BJP leader Prasad was administered the first dose of anti- in Patna for which he paid Rs 250. He said all the Union ministers have decided to voluntarily pay the price fixed for the vaccine. "I also got myself administered the made in India vaccine -- Covaxin -- at AIIMS Patna," Prasad tweeted. "Though the coronavirus vaccine is free in Bihar, I paid Rs 250 to the hospital as price for the shot," he said. Union Minority Affairs Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi took the first dose of the coronavirus vaccine at Rampur's K D Dalmia Eye Hospital and was administered Oxford-AstraZeneca's Covishield vaccine manufactured by the Serum Institute of India. After getting inoculated, the minister thanked the medical staff at the hospital and urged all those eligible to get themselves vaccinated against COVID-19. Meanwhile, National Conference president Farooq Abdullah, who is the Lok Sabha member from Srinagar, also got his first dose of COVID-19 vaccine at a hospital in Srinagar. Makkal Needhi Maiam (MNM) founder Kamal Haasan was also administered with the COVID-19 vaccine at a Chennai hospital. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah and Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu were among the host of top leaders who took the first dose of the coronavirus vaccine on Monday. Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and his Bihar counterpart Nitish Kumar, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, Assam Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and NCP president Sharad Pawar also took the jab on Monday. The government had announced on Wednesday that everyone above 60 years of age and those over 45 years with comorbidities will be able to get the COVID-19 vaccine from March 1 for free at government facilities and for a charge at many private hospitals. (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.) CDC is pleased to announce that Allyson Felix, an elite track and field athlete and U.S. Olympian, has joined the Hear Her campaign to share her story and raise awareness about urgent warning signs that could indicate life-threatening complications during and in the year after pregnancy. Ms. Felix was diagnosed with severe preeclampsia when she was 32 weeks pregnant. During a routine prenatal visit, test results alarmed her doctor and she was immediately admitted to the hospital. She had an emergency c-section to deliver her daughter, who spent the first month of life in the neonatal intensive care unit. Her doctors diagnosis and fast actions may have saved Allysons life. Given her level of fitness and training, Ms. Felix felt prepared for the birth of her daughter and never imagined she would have a serious problem during pregnancy. While she experienced some symptoms, like swelling, she thought they were a normal part of pregnancy. Looking back, I wish I would have been better informed about potential warning signs and talked to the doctor about those symptoms, Ms. Felix said. I really want women to have information, to know if theyre at risk, to have a plan in place, to not be intimidated in doctors offices, and to feel empowered to speak up when they have concerns, While Ms. Felix fortunately survived her experience, not every woman does. About 700 women die in the United States each year due to complications related to pregnancy. Black women are three times more likely to die from these complications than White women. Through her involvement, Ms. Felix also seeks to raise awareness of the higher burden of poor pregnancy outcomes among Black women in hopes of generating change. We are delighted Allyson Felix has joined us to encourage women to speak up and ask those who support them to listen and act quickly if they raise concerns, said Wanda Barfield, MD, director, CDCs Division of Reproductive Health. Allysons passion and dedication to improving maternal health, particularly among Black women, makes her a strong partner for this effort. Ms. Felixs video story and a 30 second public service announcement are available for broadcast distribution. Graphics for social media are also available. Ms. Felix is one of several women featured in the campaign who share their story about severe pregnancy-related complications. With her involvement, CDC hopes to increase the reach and impact of the campaigns important messages. This campaign is supported through a partnership with the CDC Foundation and by funding from Merck, known as MSD outside the United States and Canada, through its Merck for Mothers program. To learn more about the Hear Her campaign visit www.cdc.gov/HearHer. For a list of urgent maternal warning signs to watch for during and after pregnancy, visit Urgent Maternal Warning Signs | CDC. 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. Police in Amuru District in Northern Uganda have arrested a 40-year-old man for allegedly killing his wife after she reportedly took family planning pills without his consent. Robinson Ojok is said to have beaten and injured his wife, Beatrice Amito, on Saturday evening after returning home from a nearby town centre to the news that she had taken family planning pills to control birth. The mother of seven died on the way to Lacor Health III in Pabbo Town Council where she was being taken for medication, according to the Local Council One Chairperson for Olinga Village, Mr Charles Openy. Upon her death, the locals immediately arrested Ojok and handed him over to Police at Pabbo Police Station as investigations into the matter continue," Mr Openy said. Aswa River Region Police Spokesperson, Patrick Jimmy Okema said investigations are underway. In a related development, police on Monday police arrested Bosco Anywar, the local council one chairperson of Larego village, Ajan Sub County in Pader District for allegedly hacking his wife to death and injuring his son. The deceased Lilly Atto, 30, was hit on the head before she died instantly, while her son, 15, is admitted to Jafo Health Centre in Atanga where he is receiving medication. Pader District police Commander Tai Ramathan said Anywar was in their custody as investigations continue. Source: monitor.co.ug Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video By William Schwartz | Published on 2021/03/01 Actress Song Hye-kyo has once again made a name for herself as a supporter of Korean history, collaborating with a Sungshin Women's University professor to distribute leaflets in commemoration of Korean Indepence Day which happened on March 1st. The leaflets can be seen at the Korean Cultural Center in Los Angeles. The leaflets go into detail about the expatriate Korean population in the United States and particularly the leader Ahn Chang Ho who once lived in that area. Song Hye-kyo has been a major booster of colonial era Korean history projects over the last ten years. Previously she had also worked to provide leaflets in cities such as Shanghai and Paris among others. Song Hye-kyo has no confirmed projects at present, though her name has come up in discussions of the upcoming drama "Now, We Are Breaking Up" as a possible lead. Written by William Schwartz On Friday, as a Food and Drug Administration expert panel recommended approving the Johnson & Johnson coronavirus vaccine, the Archdiocese of New Orleans offered a differing opinion. Taking the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, the Archdiocese said, would be immoral. "The archdiocese must instruct Catholics that the latest vaccine from Janssen/Johnson & Johnson is morally compromised as it uses the abortion-derived cell line in development and production of the vaccine as well as the testing," the Archdiocese of New Orleans said in a statement on Friday. The decision could put the archdiocese in conflict with the Vatican and Pope Francis, who have been aggressively pro-vaccine. Last December, the Vatican approved the use of vaccines "that have used cell lines from aborted fetuses in their research and production process," adding that it's "morally acceptable," although the pope has yet to specifically address the Johnson & Johnson shot. As some houses of worship host vaccination centers, the advice could also impact distribution efforts in New Orleans and could also drive people away from the single-dose vaccine as health officials urge Americans to take whichever doses are available. "If you go to a place and you have J & J, and that's the one that's available now, I would take it," Anthony Fauci, the nation's top infectious-disease doctor, said on NBC's "Meet the Press." "I think people need to get vaccinated as quickly and as expeditiously as possible." There is a long-standing debate in the Catholic Church over accepting vaccines and treatments that use fetal tissue, centering on HEK293 cells, which are cloned from an aborted fetus from the early 1970s, according to Religion News Service. The cells used now, such as those used in the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, are not from the original fetal tissue. In the case of the coronavirus vaccines, the Vatican said that they "can be used in good conscience" given the severity of the pandemic and since the vaccine's connection to the original abortion is remote. Pope Francis took the Pfizer vaccine, and last month the governor of Vatican City said that employees who don't take a vaccine could be sanctioned or fired. While the Archdiocese of New Orleans said it agreed with the Vatican's approval of the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines because they only used the cloned stem cells for testing, it singled out Johnson & Johnson's vaccine for using the cells in manufacturing as well. Per the Vatican's advisory late last year, a vaccine that is "produced" with the those cells is admissible. But the Archdiocese of New Orleans disagreed. "We advise that if the Moderna or Pfizer vaccine is available, Catholics should choose to receive either of those vaccines rather than to receive the new Johnson & Johnson vaccine because of its extensive use of abortion-derived cell lines," the statement says. A Vatican spokesperson did not immediately respond to a message from The Washington Post late on Monday about the New Orleans ruling. Some Catholic clergy have gone further. Bishop Joseph E. Strickland in Tyler, Texas, has tweeted repeatedly that Catholics should not take any of the three vaccines. "The fact remains that ANY vaccine available today involves using murdered children before they could even be born," he tweeted in January. "I renew my pledge . . . I will not extend my life by USING murdered children. This is evil WAKE UP!" Fetal tissue from abortions has been essential to scientific research for decades. Researchers have used it to help find treatments for a wide range of illnesses, including Ebola and cancer. It has also been crucial for studying the immune system. The treatment President Donald Trump used when he contracted covid-19 was tested using human cells. Trump endorsed its use, despite suspending federal funding for similar scientific research in 2019. The Johnson & Johnson vaccine offers a strategic advantage to a vaccine rollout as demand continues to outweigh supply. Not only does the one-shot dose allow for quicker and more widespread inoculations, it can be stored in a regular refrigerator for months. So far, Louisiana has administered nearly 690,000 first doses of coronavirus vaccines, covering almost 15% of the state's population. More than 385,000 people have been fully vaccinated in the state, according to The Posts's vaccine tracker. 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 .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... Copyright 2021 Albuquerque Journal SANTA FE Santa Fe Mayor Alan Webber has not announced if he will run for reelection this year, but it appears he's at least giving it serious consideration. In recent weeks, Webber has been calling potential supporters to ask for their endorsement in a future mayoral campaign, several people familiar with the matter told the Journal. These include various business, cultural and political leaders throughout the city, some of whom supported Webber during his 2018 campaign. One of them is JoAnn Balzer, a community organizer heavily involved in Santa Fe's art scene. Balzer said Monday that Webber recently reached out to her asking if he could list her as an endorsement should he decide to run. She said Webber did not definitively say he if he would run, but she plans on endorsing him if he does. Others who spoke with Webber said they believe the mayor will run for reelection, but is waiting for the right time to make an announcement. It appears many in Santa Fe's political circles are waiting for a Webber announcement. If he decides to run, it could impact the number of possible candidates willing to run against him. He raised more than $300,000 in the 2018 mayoral election more than his four opponents combined. So far, only City Councilor JoAnne Vigil Coppler has expressed interest in running for the seat and many observers say it could come down to just her and Webber. Santa Fe School Board President Kate Noble, who ran against Webber in 2018, said she's worried about the implications of a two-person race, because it limits the number of perspectives represented for the voters. I'm concerned that we are heading for a two-person, us-or-them, type of election, Noble said. That needs to be avoided at all costs. Webber said in a statement Monday afternoon that an update on his candidacy is forthcoming very soon. ADVERTISEMENTSkip ................................................................ Close February marked noteworthy progress for the James Webb Space Telescope of NASA as it completed its last functional performance tests at the Redondo Beach, California-based Northrop Grumman. According to a Space Coast Daily report, testing teams were successful in completing two important milestones that verified the internal electronics of the observatory are all functioning, as they are designed for, as seen on Cosmoknowledge's YouTube video below, and that the spacecraft, including its four scientific instruments, can both deliver and receive data appropriately through the same network they will utilize in space. Such milestones move the NASA telescope closer to prepared for launch later this year, specifically in October. The said trials are known as the all-inclusive systems test, which occurred in the Northrop Grumman, and the ground segment trial, which occurred in collaboration with the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore. ALSO READ: Kepler Space Telescope Reveals About 300 Million Habitable Planets Possibly Exist in the Milky Way 17-Day Systems Testing Before the launch environment trial, technicians ran a complete scan identified as a comprehensive systems test. This assessment established a starting point of electrical functional performance for the whole observatory and all of the various components working together to comprise the world's premier space science telescope. Upon conclusion of the environmental testing, engineers and technicians moved ahead to run another comprehensive systems test and compare the data between the two tests. After a thorough examination of the data, the team verified that the observatory would survive electronically and mechanically, the rigors of launch. Over the period of 17 consecutive days of systems testing, technicians switched on all of the various electrical components of Webb. They cycled through their planned operations to guarantee each was working and communicating with each other. The Final Ground Segment Test Webb's final ground segment test started by initially creating a simulated plan that each of its scientific equipment would follow. Commands to chronologically turn on, move and operate each scientific instrument were then transmitted from the Mission Operations Center or MOC of Webb at the STScI. The observatory is treated as if its distance is a million miles far in orbit during the trial. To do this, the Flight Operations team linked the spacecraft to the Deep Space Network, an international range of giant radio antennas used by NASA to communicate with various spacecraft. Nevertheless, since Webb is not yet in space, special equipment was used to imitate the actual radio connection between the Deep Space Network and Webb when the latter is in orbit. One of the final ground segment test's extraordinary features took place during a simulated flight environment when the team successfully practiced seamlessly switching over control from its main MOC at STScI to the backup MOC at the Greenbelt Maryland-based Goddard Space Flight Center of NASA. Software Patches Successfully Sent to the Observatory This established a backup plan that is not expected to be needed, although it is necessary to practice and perfect before launch. In addition, the team members successfully sent numerous software patches to the observatory while it was doing its commanded operations. When Webb gets in space, commands will follow one of the three Deep Space Network locations, including Goldstone, California, Madrid, Spain, or Canberra Australia, from STScI. Signals will then be transmitted to the orbiting observatory almost one million miles away. RELATED ARTICLE: Jupiter's Icy Moon Europa 'Glows in the Dark' Due to Radiation, Scientists Say Check out more news and information on Space on Science Times. Glasses rest on a copy of Peter German's report into money laundering in the B.C. real estate industry during a press conference at the legislature in Victoria, B.C., on May 9, 2019. (Chad Hipolito/The Canadian Press) Money Laundering Suspect Had Connections in BC, Las Vegas, and Macau Casinos: Cullen Commission The British Columbia money laundering inquiry heard testimony this week about how drug traffickers and loan sharks have moved money between Vancouver, Latin America, and Asia through underground Chinese banks. On March 1, the Cullen Commission heard about the RCMPs E-Pirate investigation into drug trafficking and money laundering activities in British Columbia Lottery Corporation casinos involving a suspect named Paul King Jin. RCMP Cpl. Melvin Chizawsky told the inquiry that investigations into suspected money laundering activities between Jin and Silver International Ltd., a Richmond currency exchange business, began in mid-2015. Although criminal charges against Jin and Silver International were stayed in November 2018, Chizawsky said Jin and his Vancouver Model money laundering network are under another ongoing RCMP probe called E-Nationalize, Global News reported. According to Chizawsky, the E-Pirate probe reviewed cellphone data that indicated Silver International had access to cash pools in numerous locations, including China, Mexico City, and Bogota. Records and videos seized in 2015 from Silver International, an unregistered currency exchange, also showed that the business received $220 million that year and paid out $217 million worldwide. While tailed by the RCMP, Jin allegedly took large bags of cash he picked up from Silver International to his parents home in Richmond, where he broke it into smaller amounts, then took the cash to his own illegal casino mansion, also in Richmond. Chizawsky said Jin was arrested in February 2016, and when interviewed, he admitted that he had gambling credit accounts at casinos in Las Vegas and Macau, according to Global, and that he used the accounts to run his own gambling business with Chinese nationals. Jin allegedly lent cash to the Chinese nationals at Richmonds River Rock Casino and Vancouvers Edgewater Casino and offered them the opportunity to do underground casino betting in Richmond. Some of these Chinese nationals used River Rock chips to bet at Jins illegal casino, the investigation found. Jin admitted running a casino at his Richmond mansion, but denied any criminality. The small casinoIm innocent too. I lose my money too, Jin said, according to an RCMP interview transcript read at the inquiry, as reported by Global. The RCMP connected Jins network to massage and restaurant businesses in Toronto and other areas, including cities in China. Chizawsky said Jin denied extorting any of his loan clients, although he did refer to himself as a loan shark. Xin has been convicted for aggravated assault, sexual assault, and sexual exploitation, he said. Jins lawyer, Greg DelBigio, questioned the accuracy of the affidavit and testimony given by Chizawsky, who has acknowledged inaccurate attribution of information in at least one case. Today Some sun this morning with increasing clouds this afternoon. High 78F. Winds NW at 10 to 20 mph. Tonight Mostly cloudy skies this evening will become partly cloudy after midnight. Low 47F. Winds W at 5 to 10 mph. Tomorrow Mainly sunny. High near 85F. Winds light and variable. Escalating concerns about the mining sectors treatment of First Nations communities and contribution to global warming have prompted Australias top miners to sign up to stricter monitoring standards for their social and environmental performance. The Minerals Council of Australia has told its members it will require them to adopt a system of guidelines in place across Canada and seven other countries, known as the Towards Sustainable Mining initiative. Under the system, miners would conduct consistent site-level measuring and reporting on areas including their ties with traditional owners and communities, environmental stewardship and greenhouse gas emissions. Juukan Gorge contained prized cultural heritage. Credit:PKKP Aboriginal Corporation Trust has been discussed a lot across corporate Australia over the past few years, Minerals Council chief executive Tania Constable said. This is how the industry can further demonstrate trust in the mining industry at a community level. The push comes as the mining industry is seeking to rebuild trust with First Nations communities, the Australian public and the global investment community following Rio Tintos destruction of 46,000-year-old Aboriginal rock shelters at the Juukan Gorge last year. As fund managers place ever-growing importance on mining giants commitment to environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues, a coalition of global investors managing a collective $14 trillion have put the nations leading resources companies on notice, describing the Juukan Gorge disaster as a wake-up call and demanding assurances about their relationships with First Nations peoples. Athens, GA (30605) Today A mix of clouds and sun during the morning will give way to cloudy skies this afternoon. High 84F. Winds light and variable.. Tonight Partly cloudy this evening with more clouds for overnight. Low 61F. Winds light and variable. THE co-leader of the Social Democrats Roisin Shortall has expressed concern over the proposed hospital project on the nortshide of Limerick city. In plans unveiled last month, a greenfield site between Coonagh and Moyross will see a private facility from the University of Pittsburgh Medical Centre, alongside 108 new social and affordable homes. This is down from a tender document from council which suggested the lands to the west of the Regeneration estate had the potential for up to 600 homes. The plans came as part of a 400m development announcement which identified 200 homes across three sites in the city. At the instigation of the local branch of the party, Ms Shortall pushed Housing Minister Darragh OBrien for information on the contract, and why the number of homes had fallen. In the Dail, he said that since the scheme does not form part of Regeneration, the Dublin TD should instead contact Limerick City and County Council. Ms Shortall asked how the development fits into the regions plans for universal healthcare, saying: The building of a private hospital in this location is in direct opposition to the agreed Slaintecare rollout. It is unclear how a new private hospital being built on publicly owned land in Limerick will benefit the city, and furthermore it appears out of step with the vision of Slaintecare to deliver a universal, single-tier healthcare system in which patients are treated on the basis of need rather than ability to pay, she said. The development of lands in Coonagh should see real benefit to the entire community; this project fails to deliver public gain for public lands. It fails to deliver on the housing requirements of Limerick people, which were reflected in the original tender. It fails to deliver on accessible healthcare as outlined in Slaintecare, added Ms Shortall. Northside Social Democrats representative Stephen Leahy says the proposal promotes the privatisation of medical care, a concern reflected by local Green councillor Sean Hartigan. A private hospital doesnt serve the whole community - only those who can afford to pay, said Mr Leahy. Chinas Richest Village in Financial Crisis Huaxi Village in Jiangsu Province, once touted by the Chinese regime as Chinas richest village, is in financial trouble, a situation that reveals the corruption among the elites, experts say. Huaxi Group, a company thats collectively owned by the village and its residents, and has many sub-companies and listed affiliates, has a debt load of 40 billion yuan (about $6.17 billion), leading some Chinese media to claim that its bankrupt. On Feb. 25, a video that showed a large number of residents waiting in several lines in the village square to withdraw their money from Huaxi Group went viral. Some residents told Chinese media that since Feb. 24, the dividend of Huaxi Groups shareholding has suddenly dropped to 0.5 percent from 30 percent. Because the 30 percent dividend had lasted for several years, many villagers invested. According to mainland Chinese media portal Sina, Huaxi Villages Communist Party Committee said that the company had sufficient funds. However, that didnt ease shareholders concerns and many continued to withdraw money. Some said that they were lucky to be able to get back their principal, as they were afraid of not receiving any money back. Following the rollout of its reform and opening up policy in 1978, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) promoted Huaxi Village as an example of its collective economy model under the campaign of building a new socialist countryside. Huaxi was dubbed as Chinas richest village and the first village in the world. Mainland Chinese media reported that the A shares of Huaxi Group were listed on the Shenzhen stock market in 1999. Huaxi Group became Chinas first listed company that was named after and owned by a village and was hailed as the first rural stock in China by state-run media. However, among the enterprises of Huaxi Village, except the listed companies, many large and medium-sized firms have become state-owned, and the shares of Huaxi Village have fallen. Huaxi Groups capital flow has been strained for a long time, Chinese media reports say. The company had a loss for the first time in 2020, losing 390 million to 435 million yuan (about $60 million to $67 million), Chinese news portal Sina reported, citing a performance report released on Jan. 26. Huaxi Villages enterprises are claimed to be collectively owned by the village, but they are actually controlled by the Wu familythey are the head of Huaxis Communist Party Committee. The son inherits the fathers position and business, and the grandson succeeds, Beijing-based scholar Rong Jian wrote on Twitter. The miracle of Huaxi Village, to put it bluntly, is that it totally relies on loans from the government and currently has nearly 40 billion yuan (around $6.17 billion) in debts. However, it only has 7 billion yuan (around $1.08 billion) in funds. How could they pay off the debt? Its a huge irony that these private family businesses under the banner of collective economy have been long-established by the government as a model of collective economy. Rong pointed out that this is a typical example of crony capitalism under communism. This kind of enterprise will collapse sooner or later. It is now acquired by the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of China, using state money to fill the holes hollowed out by them. It can be regarded as a safe landing [for them], he said. Cai Xia, an outspoken critic of the CCP and a former professor at Beijings Central Party School, wrote in Feb. 28 tweet: Huaxi Village is essentially an epitome of communist China. Do the former and current members of the Politburo of the CCP dare to take the lead in disclosing the properties and wealth of their families? Appointment 2 March 2021 On 1 April 2021 Desiree Dils will take up her position as General Manager of Kruisherenhotel Maastricht. She has been working for almost three years as Director of Food & Beverage at the five-star Hotel De L'Europe in Amsterdam. Over the past twenty years, Desiree has held various international positions, including in London and China and primarily in the luxury hotel sector. Desiree Dils: "Having completed my studies at the Hotel Management School in Maastricht and worked abroad for many years, most recently in Amsterdam, I am honoured to join the team of the Kruisherenhotel and the Oostwegel Collection family, in the most beautiful city in The Netherlands. Hospitality is in my blood - as it is for every Limburger and my great passion is to showcase this with a dedicated team." Vietnam's indigenous electric-vehicle startup VinFast, founded by billionaire Pham Nhat Vuong, has big America dreams. It plans to open a factory in the US with the aim of selling electric vehicles in the country by 2022, CEO Thai Thanh Hai told Bloomberg. VinFast plans to first set up a 50-member research office in San Francisco. With the aim of going global, the company also plans sales in Canada and Europe next year. VinFasts vision is to become a global smart electric car company and the US market is one of the first international markets that we will focus on," Thanh Hai was quoted as saying. We initially will develop high-end models for the US." (Also read | How Vietnams richest man plans to use Covid-19 crisis to sell EVs to the world) Last year, Vuong had said that he would back the companys US ambitions with $2 billion of his own fortune. However, the company's American dreams are not as easy to crack as they appear with established players like General Motors and Ford spending billions of dollars on making their line-up electric. Investors have been cashing in on blank-check companies in order to take EV startups public via reverse mergers. Companies like Nikola Corp, that is yet to launch its finished product in the market, has taken advantage of this and went public via a SPAC listing. Other such companies include Lucid Motors, Lordstown Motors and Fisker Inc. VinFast has its own ways to deal with the competition. In order to lure American customers into buying vehicle from a Vietnamese company that know little about, the company plans to offer top-quality luxury vehicles with high safety standards and advanced technology. Its two planned electric luxury SUVs for US, Canada and Europe are VF32 and VF33. (Also read | Vietnam's indigenous carmaker VinFast to launch first electric car in 2021) It further plans to open 35 showrooms and service centers in California this year. Regulators in California have also granted VinFast a license to test autonomous vehicles on public streets. VinFast first began selling gasoline vehicles in its home country in 2019 with BMW-licensed engines. The carmker sold about 30,000 vehicles last year and forecasts sales of more than 45,000 units this year. It will begin delivery of EVs produced at its factory in the northern port city of Haiphong to domestic customers by December. 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. Back Index Forward Weekly News Digest March 2, 2021 In addition to this week's NewsBreaks article and the monthly NewsLink Spotlight, Information Today, Inc. (ITI) offers Weekly News Digests that feature recent product news and company announcements. Watch for additional coverage to appear in the next print issue of Information Today. For other up-to-the-minute news, check out ITIs Twitter account: @ITINewsBreaks. CLICK HERE to view more Weekly News Digest items. 'California Wins Court Victory for Its Net Neutrality Law' by Cecilia Kang Cecilia Kang writes the following for The New York Times: A federal judge cleared the way for California to enforce its net neutrality law, denying a request by telecommunications providers to delay state rules meant to ensure equal access to internet content. Judge John Mendez of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California denied a motion for [a] preliminary injunction brought by the group of internet service providers that had sued to stop the 2018 state law from going into effect. Californias law was created after the Trump-era Federal Communications Commission in 2017 rolled back its federal net neutrality regulation. The Justice Department immediately sued the state to overturn its law. Broadband providers, through their trade groups, followed with a request for a preliminary injunction to stop the California law while the lawsuit wound its way through the courts. The trade groups suing the state said in a joint statement that they were reviewing the court decision and deliberating next steps. The courts ruling clears the way for California to enact its law, a move that is expected to be replicated by other states in the absence of a federal rule. Washington, Vermont and Oregon are among a handful of states that also enacted laws after the federal rollback of the rules. The Biden administration is expected to support the reinstatement of federal net neutrality rules. One month into the new administration, the Justice Department dropped its lawsuit against Californias law, leaving just the telecommunications industrys request for a preliminary injunction as the last hurdle for the law to go into effect. For more information, read the article. Send correspondence concerning the Weekly News Digest to NewsBreaks Editor Brandi Scardilli 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 United States is expressing concern over the Cambodian governments recent move to set up a national internet gateway that critics say will give authorities more power to surveil and censor internet users in the country. State Department Deputy Spokesperson Jalina Porter told VOA on Monday that the United States champions the freedom of expression on the internet as a matter of policy and she expressed concern over the Cambodian measures impact on Khmer Americans. We have a significant amount of Khmer Americans who are here in the United States. And we want to ensure that they're able to really speak to their family and their friends and relatives who are still back in the country, she said. Cambodias Prime Minister Hun Sen signed the new sub-decree on February 16, requiring internet service providers to reroute their services through a National Internet Gateway (NIG) within the next 12 months. Hun Sens government says the directive will boost Cambodian information technology infrastructure and control content that could harm national security and social order. But critics said the move is giving the Cambodian government more control over the flow of information on the internet and the ability to block content and websites. The State Department will soon unveil its 2020 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices. In its 2019 annual report, the State Department cited government entities monitoring online discussions in Cambodia. Three days before the 2018 national election, the government ordered local telecommunication companies to block several independent news websites, according to the State Department. Critics have accused the country of patterning its internet regulations on China, where authorities have locked down the domestic internet behind a massive government firewall. Prime Minister Hun Sen struck a dangerous blow against internet freedom and e-commerce in Cambodia by expanding the governments control over the countrys internet, said Phil Robertson, who is the Deputy Director of Human Rights Watch's Asia Division. In a statement, Cambodias Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications refuted the accusations that the new NIG directive would pave the way for Chinese-style censorship, saying such allegations are unfounded and politically motivated. It added a new law would soon be drafted to protect personal data. In line with the drive to return to in-person learning across the United States, on March 3 the second largest school district in TennesseeMetro Nashville Public Schools (MNPS)will complete its roughly month-long plan to allow all students to return to face-to-face learning. Davidson County, where Nashville is located, was one of the few counties in Tennessee to keep classes completely virtual for most of the school year. However, amid pressure from Republican governor Bill Lee both MNPS, it announced plans in February to begin offering in-person options. A teacher prepares her classroom (Credit: Bart Everson/Flickr.com) The reopening of schools in Davidson and Shelby Counties is now taking place as new and potentially more deadly variants of COVID-19 are being identified across the US and within Tennessee. The World Socialist Web Site recently spoke with a teacher at a charter school in Nashville about the conditions around the reopening of schools in the district. To avoid retaliation from MNPS, the teacher's name has been changed to Vicki. She said, The process of reopening has been strange. On Labor Day they were saying we would start the year virtual, then they were saying we would be virtual until Christmas, but in October they announced that they would be moving forward with a return to in-person learning. In October the district sent kindergarten through fourth grades and kids with special needs back first, since they were doing things in phases similar to what they are doing now. They were going to phase in middle school, but announced they would not reopen the middle schools because the cases were too high. They still kept the K-4 kids in the schools though, and sent them back later. Then in January a state representative form Williamson County met with the governor, and proposed a bill that districts that did not have 80 days face-to-face would have their funding cut. We had previously been told that high school would probably not return, but now they are getting ready to send them back. The line is that if Williamson County can be open, then so can Nashville. No one mentions that Williamson County has not handled this well, and has had to close temporarily at different points because of the spread of the virus. In Rutherford County, four teachers died, and it is just not discussed. The main reason they are giving for why we need to be in-person for the last two-and-a-half months is because the testing is going to be in-person. But, the testing is a mess basically every year, and I can only think of one time that it ran smoothly. The number used for reopening schools [COVID-19 Risk Score] in Nashville was between eight and nine when they were discussing the reopening, and it started to fall pretty rapidly. It is now below four. It is so clearly a lie. The one good thing is that [the director of MNPS] Adrienne Battle made sure that teachers could get vaccinated before the reopening. I think there was a lot of pressure put on Battle and the superintendent in Memphis to reopen schools. This reporter asked her thoughts about the reopening in other areas and Bidens prioritizing a return to face-to-face learning. Vicki responded, Honestly, I was glad when Biden beat Trump, but I am not dumb. I know that the two of them are not that different. The overarching priority is the economy, and the policy is really for teachers to act as babysitters so the parents can get back to work. I was more surprised when the bigger cities with strong unions like Chicago and New York decided to reopen. This reporter discussed with her the role of the teachers' unions in the Democratic Party's reopening campaign, which is relying upon them to isolate and demobilize teachers in order to reopen schools. The role of the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) was to lay the framework which the Democrats and the unions are now utilizing in cities around the country, from Los Angeles to Philadelphia. After this discussion, Vicki returned to the situation within Nashville schools. She added, We are constantly being given contradictory information. I teach in a 100-year-old building. They said that they upgraded the filtration system, but told us it was not a strong enough filter to get COVID-19 out of the air. But, then they say it is safe. There is no coherent policy for if a student gets COVID-19. They are not quarantining everyone he or she came in contact with. In October the plan was that if a family member tests positive for COVID-19, the student would be quarantined, but I actually dont know if that is the current plan. We have rapid testing and can separate the kids that test positive, but the reality is that when we get the test it is already too late. I will have roughly 30 kids in my class. They cant be six feet apart. They will be smooshed together on the bus, and will eat lunch together. Asked how teachers with kids have handled the reopening, she explained, A lot of teachers have had to take on substantial additional costs to prevent their kids from going back to the classrooms. Most of my friends have set up pods, where small groups of kids are doing virtual learning and they all pay for a babysitter to watch the group. But every teacher is still worried that they might bring the virus home to their family. One of my coworkers is on maternity leave, and I know she is terrified that she will expose her infant to the virus. But, she cant get an exemption from teaching in-person. A friend of mine, who teaches in another southern state, has rheumatoid arthritis and couldnt get an exemption either. She became incredibly sick, her arthritis is worse then ever, and she needs to use an oxygen tank. But her district keeps trying to push her to go back to the classroom. Asked if there is anything she would like to say to other teachers, she added, Last March we were all being told that we were heroes, and now if we raise our concerns about things not being safe and that we are risking our lives we are denounced for not caring about the kids. The reality is that there was no good choice for us this year. It is not the same kind of joy teaching virtually, when it is hybrid we are doing twice the amount of work, and in-person we are constantly worrying that we will expose our family to COVID-19. We need to ask ourselves: how much are we willing to tolerate? Are we going to risk our lives? Something needs to change, and we need to act. My hope is that this whole experience has opened peoples eyes to how little they [school administrators and politicians] care about us. The Academys fight for family medicine is nothing if not a long game. Sometimes, though, the playbook calls for the old ghost blitz. That was the maneuver last week when the AAFPs president, Board chair and Board members conducted a high-powered, minutely scheduled day of lobbying pandemic-style virtually. Howd it go? Great day, great day, Academy President Ada Stewart, M.D., of Columbia, S.C., said on the video call that participants shared afterward to debrief. It was a full day, certainly. Stewarts agenda had included sit-downs with staff from her states senators, Lindsey Graham and Tim Scott, and Rep. Joe Wilson, also R-S.C.; additionally, she joined AAFP colleagues for meetings with staff for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y. Board Chair Gary LeRoy, M.D., of Dayton, Ohio, took a similarly upbeat tone in recounting his day. I had a really good time, he said of his appointment with staff members for Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio. We made a connection. Before the day was over, a staffer called me to let me know about a special call set up Friday on vaccinations. Stewarts and LeRoys experiences were characteristic of our broader endeavor because they stretched across both political parties. Our board members live in red states and blue states, and their meetings balanced time down the middle of the aisle. One common result observed during the debrief: Republicans and Democrats alike expressed interest in joining the 51 (as of January 2021) of their colleagues who are members of the Congressional Primary Care Caucus, a bipartisan coalition we strongly support. After all, if ever there were a moment when every politician needed to be alert to the health of every American and responsive to the workforce most prepared to improve that health, even as it is increasingly squeezed(www.cbo.gov) that moment is now. With the primary care workforce in mind, the urgent requests we took to the Hill focused on a handful of key issues now in play as the American Rescue Plan inches forward. (Several provisions for which we have advocated steadily including COBRA subsidies, enhanced premium tax credits, postpartum Medicaid expansion and Teaching Health Center Graduate Medical Education program funding are included in the House-passed bill.)(www.cbo.gov) That sharp agenda also reflects a varied array of concerns shared by the greater AAFP membership. In particular, we again emphasized that Congress must increase Medicaid payment rates to at least Medicare level, righting an imbalance that threatens numerous primary care practices and worsens health outcomes. (Stewart said that Sen. Scott of her state says hes written to HHS and CMS regarding parity.) To that end, we called on every representative to co-sponsor the bipartisan Kids Access to Primary Care Act and for every senator to support the Ensuring Access to Primary Care for Women and Children Act existing legislation that would increase Medicaid enrollees access to primary care and ensure that primary care clinicians have enough resources to meet what we know will often be complex needs. Another priority for us remains solidifying deductible waivers for critical primary care services delivered via high-deductible health plans. We know that high out-of-pocket costs are causing patients to delay essential care a reality thats especially problematic during a pandemic. Legislators, however, dont necessarily accept this on faith. Board member Margot Savoy, M.D., M.P.H., of Philadelphia, saw this firsthand when she met with a staff member for Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pa. His staffer focused questions on, for instance, How do you know you are saving money? and Why dont folks just pick a different insurance plan? she told me. In fact, weve known for a while now that enrollees in HDHPs are less likely than people without deductibles to be screened for breast cancer or hypertension and also have lower rates of flu vaccination the kind of preventive care that the Congressional Budget Office analyzed(www.cbo.gov) last year for its effects on health outcomes and budgets. As that study puts it: Even if a preventive medical service increases health care costs, the spending may still be worthwhile. I think what I might try next time we talk is having specific details about the cost savings and pairing that with stories of folks who have HDHPs not because they wanted to, necessarily, but because it was all they could afford or all their employer offered, Savoy said. We are consistent about bringing data, science, evidence and facts to lobbying sessions, she added. In another of her meetings last week, with Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa., that preparation was acknowledged. Staff in that office, she said, value our ability to be reliable partners with them they see us as science experts as they make policy decisions. Overall I think the day went well, Savoy told me. It was difficult to get the staffers on the video, so it was done mostly by phone talking to a black box. That said, we were able to fit in our points because they could take the call from where they were, and they were engaged asking us questions and sharing information bidirectionally. Your Turn Now Im going to lobby those of you reading this who want to amplify your own constituent voices at this pivotal moment (and as the 2021 Family Medicine Advocacy Summit approaches). First, please add your voice to our Speakout campaign(www.votervoice.net) calling on Congress to invest in primary care in the ways described here. And if you can carve a little time out of your afternoon tomorrow, I urge you to attend our Center for State Policys Advocacy in a Virtual World webinar at 1 p.m. CT Wed., March 3. Well talk about virtual event platforms and with Erik Kanter, a government affairs and communications associate with Hoven Consulting, and a member from the Maryland AFP (which last month held a virtual advocacy meeting) discuss how to adapt your tactics when in-person meetings arent an option. The webinar is open to AAFP members and chapter staff, and there will be an opportunity to ask questions during the event; register here.(bit.ly) Expect to hear about virtual platforms and learn effective tips about lobbying through Zoom or Webex. Follow-up sessions this spring will focus on federal advocacy and how to polish your storytelling. Savoy, a seasoned AAFP voice whos now an experienced virtual advocate, has some good advice. Still prepare as if you were in person, she told me. They are still going to be asking probing and sometimes challenging questions, so be ready and prepared. Plan ahead who is running the meeting so you dont step over one another on the video or phone. And have someone with access to Google. We got asked a few quick questions, such as the actual Senate bill number or which senator sponsored the bill, and while one of us kept chatting, the other searched and provided the information before we got off the phone. Rome, March 2 : For the first time in its more than 2,000-year history, the Mausoleum of Augustus in Rome will be fully open to the public starting from Tuesday. But Roman history buffs may have to wait a little longer to see the inside of the resting place of the Roman Empire's most iconic leaders. Plans for the refurbishment of the massive structure, nested on the eastern banks of the Tiber River in the heart of Rome's historical centre, were first announced in 2006. Now, after at least half a dozen delays and with a budget of more than 10 million euros ($12 million), doors are set to open to all, 2,049 years after construction on the brick and travertine structure began. The mausoleum was the final resting place for the remains of Caesar Augustus and more than two dozen members of his family and subsequent emperors and other leaders up until the end of the first century. Since then, it has been sacked, plundered, buried and abandoned. It has been used as a castle, as stables, apartments, a circus and a concert hall. But this is the first time in its long history it will be fully open to the public. "There have been a few times over the centuries that the mausoleum was open by special appointment or for special events, but this is the first time anyone will have the level of access they will have now," said archaeologist Elisabetta Carnabuci, head of the refurbishment initiative. The problem for anyone who wants to see it in the near term is that tickets for the mausoleum are sold out until late April. Rome Mayor Virginia Raggi, who formally visited the mausoleum on Monday, declared in December 2020 that tickets would be available free of charge for anyone from the March 2 opening until April 21, the date considered to be the anniversary of Rome's founding in 753 BC. After that, residents will be able to visit at no cost until the end of the year. Though the structure is large, nearly 100 metres across and more than 40 metres in height, access will be limited to allow for social distancing due to the pandemic. A pub in Sydneys east has denied in court that it breached COVID-19 regulations, after a large group of people were photographed queueing outside the venue in July last year. The Golden Sheaf Hotel in Double Bay was charged with one count of not complying with a noticed direction under section 7, 8 or 9 of the Public Health Act after revellers were pictured lining up outside at about 9pm on July 8, in an image that was widely shared on social media. A queue of people outside The Golden Sheaf hotel in Double Bay in July 2020. Credit:Reddit According to court documents, the charge was laid in October 2020 by Liquor & Gaming NSW. Liquor & Gaming said in a statement several days after the photo was taken that the Golden Sheaf would be fined $5500 over the crowd, which it described as a group of around 250 customers [who] did not adhere to social distancing outside the pub. Thank you for reading! Please purchase a subscription to read our premium content. If you have a subscription, please log in or sign up for an account on our website to continue. New Delhi: In a heart wrenching incident in which at least 64 children have died over the last five days at the state-run Baba Raghav Das Medical College and Hospital after supply of oxygen cylinders to the hospital was disrupted. Following this a private company has provided over 200 cylinders despite having no contract or tender with the hospital. Earlier, Modi Chemical Private Limited used to supply oxygen cylinders to the hospital and its contract with the company ended in March. "When we came to know about the shortage of oxygen and the deaths following it, we supplied around 200-300 cylinders to the hospital out of humanity," Praveen Modi told ANI. UP: Oxygen cylinders being brought to #Gorakhpur's BRD Medical College pic.twitter.com/4NRHHm2HSc ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) August 12, 2017 However, the hospital still owes Rs. 20 lakh to the company. "In March, the medical college administration has stopped dealing with me and had given the tender to an Allahabad company," he added. It is being said that oxygen supply was disrupted by the provider because of non-payment of dues worth Rs. 69 lakhs despite several reminders. According to the sources, technicians had informed hospital authorities about the shortage of oxygen but it fell on deaf ears. The incident put a big question mark on the state BJP government as the hospital is in chief minister Yogi Adityanaths constituency and he even visited the hospital just two days ago to review its functioning. But despite his visit, no adequate majors were taken to ensure the safety of children. The state govt has blamed the hospital for the negligence and said a thorough probe has been ordered into the incident. Meanwhile, district officials have reached the hospital to investigate the matter. Also Read: Gorakhpur: 32 children die in BRD hospital due to oxygen disruption Gorakhpur DM Rajeev Rautela said that the cause of the deaths at the BRD Hospital was the disruption in the supply of liquid oxygen and further appealed to the suppliers to not cut the supply henceforth. Following this report, the Uttar Pradesh Government jumped in defence of the medical college, while also assuring that the District Magistrate has ordered a magisterial inquiry into the incident and the report will be out in 24 hours. The procured data also shows the number of oxygen cylinders sent for refilling each day, showing a clear shortage of liquid oxygen in the hospital. ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) August 12, 2017 Also Read: Gorakhpur tragedy: 1 more child dies at BRD Hospital, toll 64 With Inputs from ANI For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. The huge Gravity low-carbon business park has been mooted as the perfect UK home for the electric car maker "I've got a brand new gigafactory and I'll give you the key", the Worzels may one day sing ( ) has government support to construct a huge Gigafactory in south-west England to build electric cars and batteries. Business secretary Kwasi Kwarteng said today he believes Somerset "has the manufacturing skill and competence to be able to sustain an excellent gigafactory", adding that the government is considering and looking at a site in the county. This follows media speculation last year that the Elon Musk-run electric vehicle manufacturer could build a 90-acre factory in Somerset. Tesla CEO Musk flew his private jet to Bristol last summer to examine potential sites for the EV companys continued rapid expansion, according to Property Week. To guarantee the UK can manufacture cars in the electric era, there needs to be a step up in investment in all aspects of the car making supply chain, especially batteries. The Department for International Trade has approached local enterprise partnerships across the UK about information on large sites in the hope of enticing electric car manufacturers, The Times has reported. The DIT is working closely with partners to scope out sites for new investment into electric vehicle research, development and manufacturing across the UK, a spokesman for the government department said. Somersets Gravity low-carbon business park, which spans over 600 acres on the site of a former Royal Ordnance factory, has been mooted as the perfect potential home for the huge plant. Last year, Tesla chose a site near Berlin in Germany to locate its first European factory, instead of a proposed location in north-east England. Musk said the company chose Brandenburg over the Tees Valley due to Brexit uncertainty. But after difficulties with the construction of a Gigafactory near Berlin, the mayors of Tees Valley and Hartlepool sent a letter to urge the Tesla boss that it wasnt too late to change his mind. If Tesla is looking to expand with another overseas factory, the UK will have plenty of competition on its hands, including from India, where transport minister Nitin Gadkari said recently that the country is ready to offer strong incentives to ensure low production costs are even lower than its Gigafactory Shanghai in China. Rather than assembling (the cars) in India, they should make the entire product in the country by hiring local vendors. Then we can give higher concessions. The government will make sure the production cost for Tesla will be the lowest when compared with the world, even China, when they start manufacturing their cars in India. We will assure that, Gadkari told Reuters. Tesla is also reported to be looking to expand the size of its site in China by snapping up a plot of land next to its current gigafactory, with speculation that this area may be allotted for the production of Teslas new vehicles like a US$25,000 compact car or its Semi project. Dar Al Arkan, a leading real estate development company in Saudi Arabia and the Middle East, has announced the launch of a prime integrated real estate project, Dar Al Mashaer, in the heart of Makkah city. Located in a prestigious neighbourhood only 10 minutes drive from Masjid Al Haram and Jamarat Bridge, the seven-tower development will boast a total of 314 top-tier two, three- and four-bedroom apartments, together with six penthouses, complete with private swimming pools. The development, spread over an area of 6,300 sq m with integrated leisure facilities, will set a new benchmark in urban living as well as offering the opportunity to spend quality time in one of the holiest cities in the world, said the developer. On the key project, Chairman Yousef Bin Abdullah Al Shalash said: "Dar Al Mashaer is part of the Kingdoms Vision 2030 economic diversification mandate and the growing real estate development industry in Saudi Arabia." "It also meets the high demand for housing designed to cater for modern Islamic lifestyles and will provide the opportunity to invest in an aspirational lifestyle within a thriving community," he noted. On the payment part, Al Shalash said: "The potential purchasers will get to benefit from the option of a 12-year payment installment plan and an additional bonus of five years minus service charges." According to him, the stand-out features of the development include its proximity to Masjid Al Haram and a mosque within the complex. At the same time, residents of Dar Al Mashaer will also be able to enjoy an array of shopping experiences, to exclusive stores and cafes, noted Al Shalash. "The launch of Dar Al Mashaer offers an exclusive investment opportunity and the fulfillment of a dream for every Saudi to own a property in Islams holiest city, he added. LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) Heavy rain across Appalachia has led to water rescues, mudslides, road closures and power outages, officials said. In Kentucky, officials in Magoffin and Pike counties declared a state of emergency Sunday due to damage from the flooding and some evacuations took place including at Salyersville Nursing and Rehabilitation. The facility decided to evacuate residents to assure they remain safe, CEO Joshua L Calhoun said in a statement to WYMT-TV. He said residents were being taken to either a middle school or a hospital. While we do not have any water in the facility at this time and it is still accessible, due to the risk of flooding we made the decision to relocate, he said. Multiple water rescues were reported in Kentucky, Tennessee and West Virginia, authorities said. In Kentucky, Wolfe County Sheriff Chris Carson rescued four adults and a toddler from a vehicle trapped in flood water by using a tractor with a front end loader, according to the sheriffs Facebook page. Carson was able to get the people in the bucket and then to safety, the post said. In Tennessee, four adults and an infant were rescued from a partially submerged truck that slid off a water-covered bridge, news outlets reported. In addition, a child was injured in Nashville when he tripped over a downed power line while playing outside, officials said. High water and mudslides blocked roadways in West Virginia and eastern Kentucky, where flood warnings remained in effect Monday morning, the National Weather Service said. In West Virginia, flooding hit some areas that were ravaged by power outages from ice storms last month. Floodwaters inundated roads in more than a dozen counties, highways officials said. The National Guard assisted with some evacuations Sunday night in the Dunlow area of Wayne County. In Roane County, residents in one public service district were asked to conserve drinking water after a flooded water plant broke down and was inaccessible. The Clay Roane Public Service District said in a social media post that water tanks were dangerously low and cannot be refilled until the floodwaters recede and the problem is repaired. Some schools were closed or delayed classes due to flooding concerns and about 18,000 customers were without power in Kentucky and West Virginia, according to poweroutage.us, a utility tracking service. About the photo: Catherine Castle stands on the porch of her home in downtown Paintsville, Ky., as floodwaters approach on Monday, March 1, 2021. (Ryan C. Hemens/Lexington Herald-Leader via AP) Copyright 2021 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. In a repeat of a Valentines Day protest, a group of anti-maskers with picket signs congregated outside of a Trader Joes in Santa Cruz to protest the citys mask mandate. Unlike the organizations earlier February demonstration, in which they stormed into the grocery store and took food from the shelves while leaving cash at registers for cashiers who refused to serve them this protest took place almost exclusively outside. This go-around, a line of Trader Joes employees guarded the entrances prohibiting entry for the group of protesters while letting masked customers enter. Sunday, in fact, was allegedly known as National Maskless Day, based on fliers hung up by the group around the city, reported the Santa Cruz Sentinel. The group regularly protests outside the city's farmer's market. It also offers "free hugs," according to Lookout Santa Cruz. The Sentinel also reported that signs held up by the protesters read: Maskless Lives Matter and Enforce Love. The collective reportedly heckled masked shoppers, with one asking a customer if they were wearing a jockstrap. Trader Joes did not immediately respond to a request for comment from SFGATE. Officers did not cite or arrest any of the protesters, but were at the scene in their vehicles. Santa Cruz police did not immediately respond to a request for comment from SFGATE. Trader Joes has experienced a spate of anti-mask protesters throughout the state and elsewhere in the West Coast. In January, a Fresno Trader Joes temporarily shuttered after anti-maskers blocked the entrance to the shop. A few weeks later, a manager at a Salem, Oregon branch went viral for intervening after unmasked shoppers demanded to peacefully shop inside the premises. Also, last week, an employee was allegedly fired after asking the company's CEO for more-stringent safety measures for workers. In my conversation with the U.S.-based Filipino writer Isabel Yap, I found myself confessing to not pursuing personal writing projects. That all I could do after a long day of work is watch an episode of the volleyball anime Haikyuu. I love Haikyuu! she says. Yap, who is currently juggling writing (both fiction and her occasional Substack posts on her practice) and product management at a start-up in California, started watching Haikyuu during the second year of her MBA program at Harvard Business School a period where she had to grapple for time to write. Indulging in Haikyuu at the time was perhaps a good decision. A perspective on the anime she passes on to me: I feel like Haikyuu has a lot of parallels for writers or any other creative, because so much of the storyline is about working hard and persevering. Even if you don't have natural talent, even if you've been burned in the past, even if you know the odds are so slim. It's hard work, in the end. Yap has always loved anime, but what drew her to Haikyuu was a piece of fan fiction that she read about it. And as much as fan fiction is an inevitable part of anime and other fandoms, it, too, has become integral in her writing practice. I'm really not shy about how much fan fiction informs what I write and how I write. I've been writing fan fiction since I was eight. It's so much a part of how and why I write. Yap says. For me, reading fan fiction was where I learned writing. If I wanted to write a good sentence, I just reread the stories I liked over and over. They made me feel something and then I kind of copied what they were doing in my own stories. Over 20 years since she started writing fan fiction, Yaps work not only exists in fan forums; both her fiction and poetry have found their way into literary journals, magazines, and anthologies like Philippine Speculative Fiction. And just recently, Yaps debut collection Never Have I Ever was released by U.S.-based publishing company Small Beer Press, which has also published books by award-winning authors like Ursula K. Le Guin, Kelly Link, and Ted Chiang. Never Have I Ever is a compilation of 13 stories Yap wrote over the past 10 years. Here, she writes about traumatic experiences in all-girls schools, an immigrant manananggal who goes to therapy, young victims of the drug war who find themselves in the presence of the underworld deity Mebuyen, among others. In her stories, the supernatural perturbs the otherwise quiet life of her protagonists. But what these forces, whether borrowed from fascinating characters in mythology or invented through imagination, ultimately do is ground her characters (and the reader) in their humanness. Cover art by ALEXA SHARPE In this interview, Yap talks about a story from her new book, navigating identity in her work, and why she still writes fan fiction. My favorite story is "A Spell for Foolish Hearts." I think its one of the lighter stories in the collection. And I have to say that it did convey kilig well. How did that come to be? I knew that I wanted to write a story about the San Francisco fog being a person, but I wasn't really sure what the story was. I don't know why, but one time, I was just thinking that maybe I'll write a story about a boy who's a witch. To me, that was kind of interesting because we usually think of witches as girls. But what if you're a boy who's a witch? And then, I thought maybe it can be in the same story as the one where the fog is a person. And then maybe they can fall in love. You know, usually my stories start that way. It's combining different things and then finding a way into it. I worked at this startup for four and a half years, so it was very close to my heart at the time. If I [were] to write a story set in San Francisco, it had to be in a tech startup because that was my world for almost five years. The other thing was, I thought it would be interesting to write about a demisexual character. I didn't really know that term until a friend of mine said, "you know, I read one of your stories and I feel like the character was a queer demisexual." And I was like, "What is that?" Then, she was like, Oh you don't know?" And then she sent me a Tumblr post about it and then I read it and I was like, "Oh, I think this is me." And the definition this isn't a precise definition but you're basically on the spectrum of asexuality, meaning you're not interested in sex but you can have those feelings. And you feel them for someone that you're friends with or someone that you care a lot about. I've been in an experience like that. How Patrick feels about love is a lot of how I felt about love. I'm not stressed about it regularly but when I was 23 to 25, I kept having these thoughts na maybe there's something wrong with me because I've never had a crush. So, when it finally happened to me, I was like, "Oh, this is so weird." I'm analyzing it a lot and trying to understand what I was feeling. A lot of the feelings in the story are feelings that I had. And heres another thing about the story: I don't mention Patrick's nationality. He's not Filipino. I mean, he's not not Filipino either. There's no marker of his nationality, but he doesn't call his tita tita; he calls her aunt. There was a point where I was debating with myself if I should make him Filipino. But parang for this story, it's not relevant so I won't just put that there. And I wrote him that way, not as a Filipino but some guy in San Francisco. But I had a moment where I was like, "Is it my responsibility to make him Filipino?" Ultimately, I decided not to because his identity is not relevant to the story. I noticed that! At first, I was like maybe he's a Filipino because Gemma is a really Filipino name. Now that you've mentioned it, I want to ask you about the identities in your stories. A lot of times, their nationalities are clear. In the first story, we know that the character is Filipino because manananggals are Filipino and a portion of the story is set in Manila. In the second story, it's clear that the character is Japanese because it's set in Japan. How do you navigate the identities of your characters in your stories? As a kid growing up until I was in high school, I didn't think of writing Filipinos because why should I? Like, every book I read then was about a British person or an American person. I was also really, really into anime so parang the only protagonists that I see are white or they're Japanese. This changed a little in high school. I wrote a little bit of original fiction in high school for my school folio. Then, I went to Ateneo for two years. While I was in Ateneo, I was more focused on poetry but the fiction that I wrote, I would do two kinds. I would do a lot of retellings of foreign stories like The Little Mermaid or Loki from Norse mythology. I stuck with the mythology because of my background in fan fiction. I was actually thinking about it this morning. I've written so many fanfics but I've never written a Filipino in a fanfic because there's no Filipino in the media I consume. I've written fanfics for so many different things books, movies, anime, video games but there's never been a Filipino in them. And I think this started to bother me when I was in Ateneo, when I was part of Heights, which is the literary folio. Every story that we read for class if it was written by a Filipino, it was very depressing. The only story that I'd read up until that point that wasn't very depressing was Gilda Cordero-Fernando's The Dust Monster. I really loved that and "May Day Eve" by Nick Joaquin. Those are my two favorite Filipino short stories. The second kind of story I wrote was Filipino spec fic stories because those were the stories where there were open anthology calls. I'm really not shy about how much fan fiction informs what I write and how I write. I've been writing fan fiction since I was eight. It's so much a part of how and why I write. Writing Filipinos in my fiction was not a totally conscious choice until I moved to the States. It wasn't advocacy. I just wrote what I knew as a college student who didnt have a lot of life experiences to write about. Well, I know what it's like to grow up in Manila. I know what it's like to talk about white ladies, as in yung multo. I know what it's like to be in a Catholic girls school. Those were the things that were easy for me as a writer to draw from. But then, I realized when you start publishing in the States or abroad, you get asked the identity question a lot. People are like, "Oh, you're Filipino? Do you see yourself furthering the Filipino agenda? Or representing the culture?" And then, I realized actually it is important for me to write Filipinos into my fiction and to write queer stories because we don't read them enough. Thats when it became important to me in my writing. In the collection, the original draft that I sent my editors actually had more stories that were not from a Filipino point-of-view. So there's another story that got cut that was also from a Japanese perspective. It was a historical fantasy set in Japan. There was another story that got cut that was like a European fairytale. My editors switched those for two stories that are Filipino. Initially, I thought those stories they cut were better. We had a conversation about it because I was unsure. In fact, they didn't include the second story, A Cup of Salt Tears. And I was like, "Oh, can we talk about it? I really think that a lot of people liked that story. And I would feel weird if it wasn't included." Of the 13 stories in the collection, 10 of them have a clear Filipino protagonist. It was important to me, but then also I don't think I only need to write Filipinos. I think we shouldn't put that constraint on ourselves. If you want to only write Filipinos, that's fine. But I don't think we should limit ourselves in the perspectives that we write. It's just that you have to have good reasons to write a different perspective. Why shouldn't we limit ourselves from writing outside our own cultures? Again, the question goes back to why you want to write that story and why you think it needs to be told from a certain perspective. I write in genre fiction, so in a way, I should be able to do whatever I want. Obviously, certain perspectives are going to be really hard for me. I think it's especially tricky when it comes to race. But if I want to write [about] a white person, why not? They've been doing that to us for years, right? If my story needs a white protagonist, why should I not do that? But to me, the question is, "does this story necessitate a Filipino or not?" For example, the fairytale characters that I wanted to write were Little Red Riding Hood and Beauty from Beauty and the Beast. It would completely change the story I wanted to tell if Red Riding Hood is Pinoy. It would just change the setting, the language, everything. And thats not the story. Another example in my mind for this question tends to be Call Me by Your Name. To me, as a queer person, it was very good. I needed that story and I'm so grateful that it was told. I cried a lot while reading it. The author Andre Aciman has said hes not gay. Does that mean he shouldn't have told this queer story? To me, as a bi person, I feel like I needed it, so I'm grateful to him for telling it even if he's not claiming this identity. I know that some queer people will feel differently. I know some queer people will say that he shouldn't be writing our story. And because publishing is unfair, I understand that feeling and that perspective. Just simply for me as a person and a reader, I'm grateful that he wrote it even if it doesn't come from a lived queer experience. I think art has a gray area, right? If we're too limited in what we think people are allowed to write, then I don't think that's a good thing. But how do you make sure that youre doing it right? This question is particularly about the Japanese story, A Cup of Salt Tears. I think it's always a challenge. If a Japanese person were to call me out on that story and say that it's inaccurate, then I don't have a lot to stand on. Ive studied Japanese language and culture for a long time, I went to Japan for study abroad in 2012 and I wrote that story in 2013, so my experience of being in Japan was kind of fresh at the time. When I was thinking about what story I want to write, I was like, "oh, I want to write a story about a kappa and I want a story about onsen." Onsen was an experience I really loved when I was staying there. I was still in touch with some of my Japanese friends whom I met abroad, so I asked them for their opinion. I was also very new to publishing so I wasn't aware of the politics around it. In the years after, I have asked myself, "Am I allowed to write a Japanese story?" It's a real issue that potentially I could be taking that slot from a Japanese author. Theres probably some excellent writers who are not getting recognized outside of Japan because their work is not in translation, for example. Or there could be Japanese writers who write in English who haven't had the opportunity. I can fall back on my idea that it's all about the integrity of the story and the story that I'm trying to tell. I guess I'm lucky that it hasn't happened, that someone's like, "you got this completely wrong." I mean, I did research. I researched this and I researched the other Japanese story I wrote, The Oiran's Song. Those stories were written in 2013, 2014, and I haven't done it since. There are still stories I want to do that are set in Japan, but I have become more aware of identity politics and it has become more of a challenge for me to be able to write from a place where I'm not interrogating every experience. Part of me is like, I'm just going to go crazy if I try to think of all these identity politics and what I'm allowed or not allowed to write especially because I'm a diaspora writer. And so, if I think about everything too much, I will just not write because then I will just be terrified, so I have to find that common ground. And the place that I stand on is, What does the story need? And can I tell this in a way that I believe is still respectful and truthful? But I fully recognize that if I insist on writing these stories and I publish them, then I should also be completely accepting of whatever criticism comes my way, especially from people who actually come from that culture. I think if you're going to do it, you should be aware of the possible consequences. I guess related to the topic of identity is the way you write dialog in your stories. Its in English, but you casually drop Filipino phrases, which is understandable because the characters are Filipinos. One thing I noticed is that you dont italicize the Filipino words. As a Filipino reader, I think I got so used to reading Filipino words in italics when I see them within an English text. But you know, people say that formatting words that way feels othering. What are your thoughts on that? Until 2013, I thought the same as you. If you look at my early published stories, there were a few stories in the collection where the Tagalog was originally italicized and I had to change it. My approach changed when I attended the Clarion workshop. Nalo Hopkinson, an author from the Caribbean who was an instructor there told us not to italicize the words. Whos to say that the word is foreign, right? It assumes that your audience is white. As a default, I dont italicize it because I like Nalo's idea that you should just leave the text as it is and just let the words stand for themselves. That way, you're not default assuming that your audience doesn't know that this is a Tagalog word. There's already an embedded assumption there. To me, italics is now for emphasis but it's not about the language, and I like that idea that it's a neutral zone. Why not try and see what happens if I don't call attention to those words in the text, right? Isabel Yap. Photo by MEG WHITTENBERGER I want to go back to A Spell for Foolish Hearts. Ive never been such a big fan of anything that drove me to read or write fan fiction. But being exposed to the BL fandom and the culture of shipping, I felt that the story is what fan fiction would read like. Were you aware of that? Yeah, completely. There's a fan fiction trope called sex pollen where people drink something or there's pollen in the air. I think it came from Batman and Poison Ivy. The trope is that something happens in the air and then the characters in the fic have sex. Then, there are complications after that: They don't know if they really have feelings for each other or if it's just the pollen. And it's not always sex. Sometimes, it's just a kiss or whatever. That was the trope that I was thinking of. What if you think you have something with someone but it's not real? So, I wrote Fog Boys that's what I call it as a sex pollen fanfic except without the sex and the pollen. It was actually not what he thought it was. It was real, but the character thinks it's not real. I was really drawing from fan fiction conventions. It was a conscious decision for that one, but I didn't even know if it would work until I finished writing it. Now that youre publishing, how do you view fan fiction? I still write it. There was a period of time when I wasn't writing it because I didn't have a fandom and I didn't have time in between work and my writing. In 2019, I started writing it again. It's been amazing. I just love it so much. First of all, you're anonymous and I like that. I can just write what I want without worrying about, for example, all of these identity questions. I quit for a while in grade school because I felt I wasn't good and the reason why I felt that way was because my fanfics weren't getting a lot of comments. My mindset was, if I don't get comments on my fanfic then it's not good. I needed to get out of that mindset and write again for the joy of writing. There was a long period of time when I was writing simply for the joy of writing. Then in college, when I started getting recognition for my poems and getting into national workshops, my expectations for myself and my writing went up again. And when I didn't get into the Siliman Writers Workshop in Dumaguete, I freaked out because again I felt like a failure. Again, somehow I had fallen into this mindset that if I don't have the external reward of people telling me I'm good, then I'm not good. I needed to get out of that. Eventually I had a blank slate again. No one knew who I was when I went to Clarion and then started publishing. The thing that I've tried to do after that is to hold on to the belief that yes, publication and other things are great but I always have to remember that it's always about the writing in the end. And I never want to be the kind of writer na because I got recognized, people assume I'm good when I'm not really good; I want the works to be actually really good. "...a lot of people think fan fiction is training and when you start getting work published then you're done with it. That's cool and that's true for a lot of people. I think not everyone who writes fan fiction wants to write professionally." There are definitely periods where I'm focused on what other people are saying. Every year, in the genre writing community, there are multiple awards. I have always hoped that one of my stories would get nominated. It came close to being nominated for the Hugos. In the end, though, it wasn't nominated for a major award. I saw myself falling into that mindset again. I don't like it but it's hard to avoid it. And my friends are so talented. They regularly get into the awards list, so then it opens up this horrible comparing mindset. If I let myself think about it, I'll start to feel bad about myself because I've never been nominated. It's entirely my mindset of all I want in life is to get a Palanca. But why? Actually, it's not about the Palanca or the Hugos, it's about writing a good story and writing a story that's real and hoping that even one person will find it good. That's what it's all about. In fan fiction, I'm anonymous, there are no fan fiction awards. Once in a while, I'll get a comment that says, I'm crying. That's the whole comment. That's what it's about. To me, fan fiction is such an amazing reminder that what it is in the end is the story connecting with the reader somehow. There's no pressure. I can do it when I want. I can publish it as soon as I want to. I think fan fiction produces the most diligent writers, but I think it is also often looked down upon. I hear you on the stigma. That's why I don't say what my fan fiction name is. I get asked sometimes and Im like, Don't tell people because they're going to go to the fanfic I wrote when I was 15. I don't want to expose myself to that. I've seen it happen to people where they get criticized for their fan fiction along various weird dimensions. But I'm never going to disown what I've done in fan fiction because it's its own space. I think there's also a mindset and this is totally fair that a lot of people think fan fiction is training and when you start getting work published then you're done with it. That's cool and that's true for a lot of people. I think not everyone who writes fan fiction wants to write professionally. Sometimes they just want to write fan fiction and that's fine. Sometimes, like me, you start publishing professionally, but fan fiction still gives you something and you keep going there. I think a lot of the criticism about fan fiction is that it's bad writing or that it's only about sex. Neither of those things are true, but it doesn't mean that all fanfic is good. You know, it's like any kind of writing. Some of it is just not good, and youve got to find people that you think are good and learn from them. I think the blanket criticism is unfair. The way I operate in fandom is very like, I write and then I post. I don't engage as a fan because I dont have the time or energy. But I know my stories reach some people and that's what matters to me. And a lot of my favorite writers have mentioned that they've written fan fiction and I think that's partly why I like their writing. Zen Cho is a Malaysian writer who has written fan fiction; I think she's amazing. Theres Tamsyn Muir whose book Gideon the Ninth is super popular. I actually knew her when we were both writing fan fiction. I think the stigma is going to come down because so many of us started there. But it still exists for sure. What makes a story great? For me, I really like when a story makes me feel something. I can appreciate a lot of stories for being technically very good. But if it doesn't move me, it's not as successful. I can think Thats impressive, but I won't really feel anything. The works that stick out for me are the ones that make me feel. It is really a feeling. It's an emotion, a sensation, or maybe sometimes even physical. If you can make me laugh out loud or if you can make me cry, that's really good. What specifically in the writing achieves that effect? It's hard for me to describe but I think when the emotions are very real in the story, that's when I say, Wow, ang galing! What's the last great story or book that you've read? And why? I really like what I've been reading this year. I liked Less by Andrew Sean Greer and Upstream by Mary Oliver. I'm reading Cleanness by Garth Greenwell right now in audio. It's not easy to listen to. It's very brutal in some ways, but it does the things I described incredibly well. *** You can request a copy of Never Have I Ever from Fully Booked by emailing orders@fullybookedonline.com, or get an e-book version from the publisher here. MIAMI, March 2, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- TocMail Inc announces the release of TocMail 2.0. TocMail 2.0 introduces five new security features: TocDocs: TocDocs are 100% malware-free replicas of PDF, Word, and Excel attachments. Also, the links in TocDocs are protected by TocMail's patented phishing protection. TocMail now provides protection against malware and phishing for both email messages and attachments. TocDocs are 100% malware-free replicas of PDF, Word, and Excel attachments. Also, the links in TocDocs are protected by TocMail's patented phishing protection. TocMail now provides protection against malware and phishing for both email messages and attachments. AlienVault Integration: TocMail now integrates with AlienVault for automatic redirection to whitelisted final domains. This greatly expands TocMail's whitelist feature, providing the best possible user experience while maintaining the highest-level security. TocMail now integrates with AlienVault for automatic redirection to whitelisted final domains. This greatly expands TocMail's whitelist feature, providing the best possible user experience while maintaining the highest-level security. Logical Server Units: TocMail's infrastructure now supports Logical Server Units. Every company is now assigned its own Logical Server Unit to provide maximum security, privacy, and customization. TocMail's infrastructure now supports Logical Server Units. Every company is now assigned its own Logical Server Unit to provide maximum security, privacy, and customization. FastMail Logical Server Unit: TocMail has allowed personal accounts via FastMail. Now TocMail's FastMail security runs as a Logical Server Unit. TocMail will soon be creating Logical Server Units for other personal email providers. TocMail has allowed personal accounts via FastMail. Now TocMail's FastMail security runs as a Logical Server Unit. TocMail will soon be creating Logical Server Units for other personal email providers. Color-Coded Verdicts: The safety level of the final destination is now represented in intuitive color codes. "Most cybersecurity vendors say that data breaches are inevitable even when using their latest technology," said Michael Wood, TocMail Inc's CEO. "The vast majority of data breaches begin with a malicious email. With TocMail's patented technology, companies can finally keep attackers out of their network infrastructure, simply by accessing their emails through TocMail," he said. Companies can use TocMail 2.0 free for 30 days without restriction. Registration is available at https://tocmail.net. CONTACT: TocMail Inc. 3901 NW 79th Ave Suite 245 #873 Miami, FL 33166 305-728-2043 [email protected] https://tocmail.net Related Images tocmail.png TocMail SOURCE TocMail 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. [March 02, 2021] Raptor Technologies Names David Rogers Chief Marketing Officer HOUSTON, March 02, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Raptor Technologies , the nations leading provider of integrated school safety software, has named veteran technology marketing executive David Rogers as chief marketing officer. In his new role, Rogers is responsible for the company's digital marketing, advertising, brand, communications, market research and growth initiatives as Raptor looks to expand its school safety software and services for K-12 schools. David is a proven marketing leader with over 30 years of experience and a strong track record of successfully launching products and driving organic growth for some of the worlds leading tech companies, said Gray Hall, Raptor Technologies CEO. We are excited to add David as a core member of our leadership team and benefit from his talent and experience to further elevate our market leadership position in school safety software. Rogers previously served as senior vice president of marketing at private equity-owned Ministry Brands, the largest provider of SaaS platforms and payment solutions for churches. Prior to that he was vice president of marketing and product management for CoreLogic, a leading global provider of consumer, financial and property data, analytics and services to business and government. During his 10-year tenure at CoreLogic, Rogers helped establish their insurance services business, launch the CoreLogic brand n 2010 and increase growth across the mortgage, insurance, energy, and real estate segments. Preceding his role at CoreLogic, Rogers led the international launch of a new mobile processor line for Intel and played an integral role in helping the company move from an entry-level position in the early smartphone and personal digital assistant market to 50 percent market share and $500 million in revenue. Additionally, Rogers served as senior manager of marketing and business development at Motorola. Its an honor to join Raptor during this pivotal time in school safety, stated Rogers. The need for innovative safety solutions has increased as school administrators look to leverage technology to reduce risk and manage the impact of events on their campuses. Im looking forward to putting my marketing expertise into practice at Raptor as we work to keep our nations children and teachers safe. To learn more, visit www.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 A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/54e48bde-5d60-4cbc-b1da-6b92fb6f77ce [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] - Based on reported emissions targets - if achieved - European companies are in line with a 2.7 C increase in global warming by 2100.(1) - The top European companies by decarbonization reported a 15% drop in emissions last year - equivalent to the annual emissions of the Netherlands. -Switzerland, Denmark and Sweden closest to Paris agreement target of 'well-below 2C'; Belgium, UK, and Italy have highest temperature, at 3.0C. - Almost all banks lending to European companies and many asset managers now say they want to align with Paris agreement - but under 1 in 10 European companies currently meet that standard. - Capping global warming at 1.5C would take an 8x increase in the current ambition level of European corporates on emissions, report estimates. BERLIN, March 2, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- A 4 trillion mismatch is forming between bank lending that aims to be 'Paris-aligned' and the market for this corporate lending in Europe, according to new analysis from EU-funded non-profit CDP Europe and global management consulting firm Oliver Wyman. Running hot: accelerating Europe's path to Paris, released today, estimates that 95% of all corporate lending in Europe comes from banks with a Paris-alignment ambition. But under 1 in 10 European companies so far have emissions targets aligned with Paris' well-below 2C goal - meaning banks financing these companies are far from Paris-aligned today.2 The research is based on nearly 1,000 European companies worth around 80% of Europe's market value disclosing data in 2020 to CDP, which runs the global environmental disclosure system, and wider market research. The gap is starting to close. The latest corporate data shows momentum behind better target-setting among companies, with the best decarbonizing fast. 56% of companies report now having a transition plan in place - rising to over three quarters in the energy sector. Encouragingly, over 50% of European companies by market value have now joined the Science Based Targets initiative, which approves whether emissions targets are aligned with the Paris agreement.3 The best companies, in terms of decarbonization, reported total emissions reductions of 15% last year, and cut carbon intensity (emissions per revenue) by one fifth. But wide differences exist. In the steel and electric utilities sectors, the data shows the best companies are up to 4 times as carbon efficient as the lowest performing. And just 35% of companies in the highest-impact industries are so-far disclosing data on their most important indirect - Scope 3 - emissions, which make up a minimum (and underreported) 80% of all total emissions reported. The report authors also modeled three potential scenarios for 2030, setting out alternative rates of acceleration in corporate target-setting. Based on this, capping warming at 1.5C would take an 8x increase in the current ambition level of European corporates on emissions.4 The scenarios are based on CDP scores, which give an overall indication of a company's current climate performance, and CDP temperature ratings, which assigns a temperature pathway to companies based on emissions reduction targets. The report also points to the key role banks and investors play in achieving this target. Currently, only half of institutions assess if clients or investee companies have Paris-aligned strategies. But without more engagement, the report estimates that in a 'modest acceleration' scenario banks may need to adjust their lending portfolios by 20-30% to meet their Paris goals. Overall, Europe's corporate sector is on track for 2.7 C of global warming by the end of the century - with countries ranging from 2.3C (Switzerland) to 3.0C (United Kingdom, Belgium, Italy). The new report is presented today at the CDP Europe Awards , held with the European Investment Bank on Euronews, where speakers include Angela Merkel and the European Commissioner for Financial Stability, Financial Services and the Capital Markets Union. Maxfield Weiss, Executive Director of CDP Europe, said of the results: "The European corporate sector is running hot. Based on current ambition, it's on a 2.7C path of warming - over a degree more than climate science says we need to achieve to prevent climate change's most catastrophic impacts. That leading corporates across many sectors are now setting ambitious targets and delivering emissions reductions is positive, and shows rapid decarbonization is doable. But with less than 1 in 10 companies having ambitious enough targets, our new data shows we need far more action from corporates and financial institutions to make good on our goals. Banks and investors have their own big ambitions: now we need them to engage companies more to raise the level of disclosure and action so we accelerate Europe's path to Paris and to deliver the European Green Deal." James Davis, Partner, Financial Services and Head of Sustainable Finance Europe, Oliver Wyman, added: "This year's paper includes encouraging developments, with more than half of companies setting out transition plans, and many making real strides in cutting emissions. But it also shows how much we need to hasten the pace if we are to hit the Paris targets. Many of the region's leading financial institutions have set out a big ambition to align their lending and investments with Paris and that will help create a virtuous circle - those companies who are getting ahead of the transition should find it easier to raise capital." The full CDP Europe Report is available for download here: www.cdp.net/europeanreport About CDP CDP is a global non-profit that runs the world's environmental disclosure system for companies, cities, states and regions. Founded in 2000 and working with over 590 investors with $110 trillion in assets, CDP pioneered using capital markets and corporate procurement to motivate companies to disclose their environmental impacts, and to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, safeguard water resources and protect forests. Over 10,000 organizations around the world disclosed data through CDP in 2020, including more than 9,600 companies worth over 50% of global market capitalization, and over 940 cities, states and regions, representing a combined population of over 2.6 billion. Fully TCFD aligned, CDP holds the largest environmental database in the world, and CDP scores are widely used to drive investment and procurement decisions towards a zero carbon, sustainable and resilient economy. CDP is a founding member of the Science Based Targets initiative, We Mean Business Coalition, The Investor Agenda and the Net Zero Asset Managers initiative. Visit cdp.net or follow us @CDP to find out more. About Oliver Wyman Oliver Wyman is a global leader in management consulting. With offices in 60 cities across 29 countries, Oliver Wyman combines deep industry knowledge with specialized expertise in strategy, operations, risk management, and organization transformation. The firm has more than 5,000 professionals around the world who work with clients to optimize their business, improve their operations and risk profile, and accelerate their organizational performance to seize the most attractive opportunities. Oliver Wyman is a business of Marsh & McLennan Companies [NYSE: MMC]. For more information, visit www.oliverwyman.com . Follow Oliver Wyman on Twitter @OliverWyman. 1 Based on disclosed emissions reduction target data analyzed by CDP and weighted by total emissions, using the CDP temperature ratings dataset . 2 Under 10% of companies, weighted by the amount they borrow from banks. 3 https://sciencebasedtargets.org/ 4 The potential scenarios modelled suggest that to reach the 1.5C target, a minimum of 65% of European companies would need to have targets in line with at least well-below 2 C, and 30% would require 1.5C targets. This compares to today's 8% and 7% figures. Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1330561/Oliver_Wyman_Logo.jpg Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1447273/CDP_Logo.jpg As it prepares to lift the nation out of its list of the world's least developed countries, the supranational body said the country should turn its back on coal and other fossil fuels.The president of Bangladesh's renewable energy trade body has echoed a call made by the UN for the nation to turn its back on coal and embrace clean power as its status at the global body could be set to change. The United Nations' committee on development policy on Friday recommended Bangladesh no longer be included on the international organization's list of least developed countries. The UN greeted the recommendation ... 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. Jim Jordan Urges Jerry Nadler to Combat the Rise of Cancel Culture in America The top Republican member on the House Judiciary Committee Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) on Monday called on the committee chair Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) to hold a hearing to combat the rise of cancel culture. The phenomenon where an individual is ostracized or canceled from social or professional circles for expressing certain political views is drawing significant concern among conservatives and others who have fallen outside prevailing politically correct views who see it as a dangerous move to publicly shut down dissent. It was also the theme of the 2021 Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) that recently concluded. Cancel culture, which has its roots dating back to the French Revolution, is threatening fundamental free speech rights across America, Jordan said in a letter to Nadler. College campuses have canceled lectures because students disagree with the speaker. An editor for Americas newspaper of record was forced to resign for publishing an opinion piece by a Republican Senator with which the newsroom disagreed. Amazon has refused to sell books reflecting certain political views, and Twitter and Facebook have censored and de-platformed prominent conservatives including the sitting President of the United States, he said. He underscored the trend was dangerous regardless of an individuals viewpoint. Our society must always promote the free exchange of ideas, not cancel the ideas with which we disagree, he said. He urged Nadler to work with Republicans to address the threat, saying that if censorship goes unchallenged then it would run the risk of shutting down every viewpoint and every idea in the future, not just unpopular or controversial viewpoints. We must fight this trend before it is too late, he wrote. There is no better issue on which Republicans and Democrats can work together to address in our first full committee hearing than to address the scourge of cancel culture in the United States. Read More Cancel Culture: Its Origins and Implications for America Nadlers office did not immediately respond to The Epoch Times request for comment. Jordan, who focused on cancel culture during his CPAC speech, told The Epoch Times American Thought Leaders that free speech wont exist if the left is the only entity that is allowed to define what speech is. Thats the scariest thing happening in the country. If you cant have a First Amendment real debate, if you cant speak out, how are you going to win. How are you going to win the tax debate? How are you going to win the border security debate? How are you going to win in any public policy issue? If only one side is allowed to talk? So thats why we have to fight this more than anything else, he said. Republicans have begun pushing back, especially in the area of big tech censorship. Former President Donald Trump and several top Republican lawmakers have been calling for the abolishment or reforms to Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act to remove liability protections for companies that engage in what is perceived to be unbalanced moderation of user content that Republicans say typically targets conservative voices and viewpoints. The companies have been accused of using their monopolistic powers to police speech they dont agree with. The digital behemoths allegedly targeted their moderation of content against Trump and conservatives, in particular, during the lead up to the Nov. 3 election and after the Jan. 6 breach of the U.S. Capitol. This led to Trumps account being permanently suspended on Twitter and indefinitely banned on Facebook and Instagram. Many of these companies justified their censorship by saying it was necessary to protect against harm. Travellers looking to book a hotel should trust their gut instinct when it comes to online reviews rather than relying on computer algorithms to weed out the fake ones, a new study suggests. Research, led by the University of York in collaboration with Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, shows the challenges of online 'fake' reviews for both users and computer algorithms. It suggests that a greater awareness of the linguistic characteristics of 'fake' reviews can allow online users to spot the 'real' from the 'fake' for themselves. Dr Snehasish Banerjee, Lecturer in Marketing from the University of York's Management School, said: "Reading and writing online reviews of hotels, restaurants, venues and so on, is a popular activity for online users, but alongside this, 'fake' reviews have also increased. "Companies can now use computer algorithms to distinguish the 'fake' from the 'real' with a good level of accuracy, but the extent to which company websites use these algorithms is unclear and so some 'fake' reviews slip through the net. "We wanted to understand whether human analysis was capable of filling this gap and whether more could be done to educate online users on how to approach these reviews." The researchers tasked 380 people to respond to questions about three hotel reviews - some authentic, others fake - based on their perception of the reviews. The users could rely on the same cues that computer algorithm use to discern 'fake' reviews, which includes the number of superlatives in the review, the level of details, if it was easy to read, and appeared noncommittal. For those who already sceptical of online reviews this was a relatively straightforward task, but most could not identity factors such as 'easy to read' and 'non-committal' like a computer algorithm could. In the absence of this skill, the participants relied on 'gut instinct'. Dr Banerjee said: "The outcomes were surprisingly effective. We often assume that the human brain is no match for a computer, but in actual fact there are certain things we can do to train the mind in approaching some aspects of life differently. "Following this study, we are recommending that people need to curb their instincts on truth and deception bias - the tendency to either approach online content with the assumption that it is all true or all fake respectively - as neither method works in the online environment. "Online users often fail to detect fake reviews because they do not proactively look for deception cues. There is a need to change this default review reading habit, and if reading habit is practised long enough, they will eventually be able to rely on their gut instinct for fake review detection." The research also reminds businesses that ethical standards should be upheld to ensure that genuine experiences of their services are reflected online. ### The research is published in the journal Information & Management. Texas Opens Call Center for Citizens without Internet Texas Governor Greg Abbot has announced that the state has launched a call center to assist those without internet access. The surprising winter storm that Texas has dealt with over the last few weeks has left millions stranded without power or water. The call center will be run in a cooperative effort by the Texas Division of Emergency Management (TDEM) and the Texas Military Department. Between the hours of 8am and 8pm, Texans can call the number 844-844-3089 to submit details about damaged property or power outages. State emergency management professionals will visit the site if further documentation or proof is necessary. Those who still have access to the internet are urged to use the ISTAT website to file information, so that citizens without power will have an easier time getting through the call center. "The information gleaned from the iSTAT will help us advocate for the support and assistance our communities need to recover from the winter storm," said Abbott. "This call center is available to help Texans without internet access complete this crucial survey." If you are a Texas resident and need to file a winter storm damage report, click here. Edited by Maurice Nagle (TNS) A federal judge in San Francisco approved a $650 million class-action settlement to be paid by Facebook, settling claims it violated privacy laws by storing biometric data, like facial scans, without getting users' sign-off first."By any measure, the $650 million settlement in this biometric privacy class action is a landmark result," District Judge James Donato wrote in approving the settlement. "It is one of the largest settlements ever for a privacy violation, and it will put at least $345 into the hands of every class member interested in being compensated.""This settlement is a big win for consumer privacy, in line with global regulatory scrutiny over privacy-invasive practices and consumer sentiment in favor of privacy," Lourdes Turrecha, a professor who studies privacy technology and law at Santa Clara University School of Law, wrote in an email to The Chronicle.Donato characterized the settlement as a win for consumers in the "hotly contested" area of digital privacy.Facebook did not immediately respond torequest for comment. The case stems from a lawsuit filed in Illinois in 2015 that claimed the social media giant violated that state's law around collecting and storage of biometric data through the use of a software it uses to tag and identify people's faces in photos. Facebook previously appealed the case to the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and ultimately failed to have it heard by the Supreme Court.The settlement also includes changes that Facebook must make to how it collects that kind of data. The company will automatically set it's facial recognition scans on people's profiles to "off" unless the users first decide to opt in. The company will also have to delete any stored face templates for the more than 1.5 million class members, who have so far claimed the payments as of December.The company initially agreed to settle the claims for $550 million but another $100 million was added when Donato raised doubts that it was enough.In 2019, the company was hit with a $5 billion penalty from the Federal Trade Commission over consumer privacy violations, the highest penalty paid over that kind of infraction at the time. That case accused the company of deceiving users into disclosing information through its privacy settings.The company, with headquarters in Menlo Park, is currently embroiled in a public battle with another tech giant, Apple, over its advertising business. Facebook derives billions in revenue from targeted ads by tracking user behavior in its and other sites. Apple is planning to make that kind of data sharing optional on apps like Facebook in an upcoming software release which could threaten the social media company's revenue.The company reported more than $28 billion in revenue during its most recent quarterly report, released last month. The Northern Ireland Executive has outlined its pathway to a gradual easing of the current restrictions. Moving Forward: The Executives Pathway Out Of Restrictions sets out a step-by-step approach to the relaxation of the current regulations. The steps will involve: Step one: Contact limited to own household and support bubble Up to six from two households can meet outdoors not at a private dwelling Step two: Up to six people from two households can meet outdoors at a private dwelling Up to 10 people from two households can meet outdoors not at a private dwelling Stay at home messaging relaxed Step three: Up to six people from two households can meet indoors in a private dwelling Increased numbers allowed for organised gatherings not at a private dwelling Restricted numbers allowed indoors not at a private dwelling Step four: Up to 10 from two households can meet indoors and outdoors in private dwellings No household limits on meeting outdoors not at a private dwelling Overnight stays allowed Increased numbers allowed indoors not at a private dwelling Step five: Households limits lifted in private dwellings Organised outdoors gatherings are limited only by risk assessment and mitigations There are no dates involved in relation to each step. An Executive spokesperson said: "We have made significant progress and there is much to be hopeful for. "However, we are mindful that the Covid-19 pandemic can be highly unpredictable and the situation is complicated by the emergence of new variants, which can spread even more easily between people. "In moving forward, we must be cautious and measured. Our flexible framework outlines nine pathways each of which has five phases detailing the level of restrictions required. "The sequencing of progress through the phases will be based on evidence, the prevailing public health situation and an assessment of impacts for people, for society and for the economy. "This means that we may be in different phases across the nine pathways at any given time. "We have already begun our journey of gradual easements in some areas. "The process of returning our young people to schools will begin with phase 1 on Monday March 8; and phase 2 on March 22. Subject to the levels of community transmission, the return of other pupils to school will begin immediately after the Easter holidays with the aim of all pupils returning to school as soon as possible. "Each step must be informed by the impact of the last relaxation on community transmission and the R number. Thats why we believe a careful approach, taking one small step at a time and reviewing the impacts, is the best and safest way to move forward. While we understand that people want certainty, we cannot be bound by dates that would only serve to give people false hope. "A rigorous monitor, review and implementation system has been developed to assess the impact of each phase of the relaxations and identify possible next actions. "Businesses will rightly want time to prepare for reopening when the time is right to do so. Engagement with relevant sectors will be a core element of our four-weekly reviews, which will help to support preparations for Covid-19 safe environments. "The first Comprehensive Formal Review will be held on 16 March and subsequent dates are 15 April, 13 May and 10 June. "These should not be viewed as dates on which we will move to lift certain restrictions; rather, they are appropriate dates that have been identified to examine all relevant indicators. "In line with the Executives guiding principles on the management of the pandemic all decision-making will be evidenced, proportionate, necessary and sustainable." There are only a few known photographs of the Notorious B.I.G. and Tupac Shakur standing side by side, but just one thats truly canonical. Its from 1993. Biggie is on the left in a checkered headband, posed tough, toothpick jutting out of his mouth. Pac is on the right, in a THUG LIFE beanie and a black leather vest over a skull-and-bones T-shirt, extending both middle fingers. They look a little standoffish to each other, two people taking a photo theyre not quite interested in sharing with the other. Photos are incomplete snapshots, of course. And Biggie and Tupac were friends before they became rivals. Thats clear from footage of that same day from their friend era which appears late in the new Netflix documentary Biggie: I Got a Story to Tell. Theyre sitting at a table together, and Tupac is rapping for Biggie, an optimal audience. Both of them are lighthearted, two young rising stars finding a little respite with each other. As for the photo, a pose is just that. Memory history is whats left standing when all the rough edges are sandpapered down. And in the case of the Notorious B.I.G. who was one of the most commercially successful and creatively impactful rappers of the 1990s, and whose 1997 murder was a wound to the genre that remains unsolved history has perhaps been unreasonably flattening. Almost two and a half decades later, the Biggie Smalls narrative (music aside) often feels reduced to a few image touchstones, or even just facial expressions, to say nothing of the generations-later conflation of the Biggie and Tupac story lines into one, especially given that their musical careers told very different tales about hip-hop at that time. A cop walks into a bar, greets a seated female patron, is shoved so hard he loses his balance and is crudely told to get lost. But Senior Constable Mark Follington now admits the story he wrote after violently arresting Anya Bradford in 2019 was very different to what occurred. 'At the time of writing this narrative, I did it to the best of my knowledge without having viewed the (CCTV) footage,' he told a Sydney court on Tuesday. Follington, 61, has pleaded not guilty to tampering with evidence with intent to mislead a court and four other offences over the May 2019 arrest in southwest Sydney. Anya Bradford arrives at the Downing Centre Local Court, in Sydney, on September 30, 2020 Senior Constable Mark Follington arrested Anya Bradford (pictured) in southwest Sydney in 2019 He denies deliberately concocting a false story that was used to charge Ms Bradford with assaulting police, saying he filled out police and court documents to the best of his ability. The court has heard Ms Bradford was metres away from Follington when she got up and walked out of a gaming room in Liverpool's Golden Fleece Hotel. Asked for her name, she replied 'f*** off' and told police she didn't have ID and that she had a meeting to get to. CCTV footage shows Follington grabbed her arm to prevent her leaving the pub, leading to a scuffle in which the Crown alleges the officer shoved the woman's head into an ATM. Ms Bradford kicked Follington, ran off and was pursued into the foyer of another building, where the officer pulled her out of a lift, another officer used pepper spray and the woman was handcuffed. Asked what had brought Ms Bradford to his attention, Follington said her 'attitude' in the hotel was akin to those who have a warrant out for their arrest. Senior Constable Mark Anthony Follington arrives at the Downing Centre Local Court in Sydney on Tuesday 'When I was in the room, you could see I was focusing within the room, she had no eye contact with myself,' he told the Downing Centre Local Court on Tuesday. 'People normally come up and say hello, she was keeping her eyes down. 'To me, that starts to send a signal to me that this person is trying to hide from me.' He also said it was suspicious that Ms Bradford and her friend were sitting in opposite corners of the pub's gaming room. Ms Bradford, who was not subject of a warrant, has told the court she went to the pub to kill time before a 2pm meeting in the building in which she was eventually arrested. As she was led out of that building by police, Follington placed his elbow under the handcuffed woman's chin. Ms Bradford, who was not subject of a warrant, has told the court she went to the pub to kill time before a 2pm meeting in the building in which she was eventually arrested But the police officer denied it constituted an assault, explaining he had no gloves and needed to move her face away from himself and other officers. 'Because she was affected by OC (pepper) spray, she was bringing up phlegm and I believed I was going to be spat on,' he said. Ms Bradford is seen outside court in 2019 'She is struggling, she is trying to lash out, she's calling me everything under the sun, she's trying to spit.' Follington said he'd tried to access the CCTV footage of the incident before charging Bradford. But after being unable to view it, he took the advice of his sergeant and charged her based on his memory of the events, he said. He also denied using the word 'it' to refer to Ms Bradford when discussing the arrest with other officers. 'You knew the arrest was unlawful and you had to make up a story about Ms Bradford in order to justify the unlawful arrest and the force used,' prosecutor Claire Robinson suggested. 'That is incorrect,' Follington replied. The hearing continues ALBANY Despite a federal report ranking New York third in the nation for the number of Lyme disease diagnoses, not a penny has been set aside in Gov. Andrew M. Cuomos executive budget for research, prevention or treatment of the disease or other tick-borne illnesses. The latest Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimate is that the number of people nationally who contract Lyme each year is growing to nearly 500,000; state Sen. Sue Serino, a Hudson Valley Republican, and other lawmakers are urging their colleagues to include $1.5 million to tackle tick-related diseases. Serino said state funding for these efforts has been lackluster in recent years despite the Legislature adding funding for Lyme research, treatment and prevention. In 2018, $1 million was budgeted by legislators for the efforts, but in the following years that dwindled to $250,000 annually. In New Yorks fiscal year 2022, the proposed budget doesnt include the $69,400 the governor typically would include for the state Department of Health for tick-borne services, Serino said. Budgets are all about priorities, she said. Its actually a drop in the bucket to our massive state budget, and would go a long way in helping keep New Yorkers healthy and tick free. Detecting Lyme in its early stages is difficult. Current diagnostic testing is unreliable, and many people often are misdiagnosed for years. There are few signs of the disease beyond a distinctive circular rash, often described as a bulls-eye, that can appear around the site of the tick bite. But it only appears in 42 percent of infected individuals. Other symptoms include fever, aches and pains, and fatigue. The long-term impacts from Lyme can be debilitating and, at times, deadly. And cases of Lyme and other tick-borne diseases are on the rise in communities across the state, no longer concentrated in the Hudson Valley and Long Island areas that have been plagued by tick-borne illnesses for years. Brian Leydet, assistant professor of environmental forestry and biology at SUNY College of Environmental Science & Forestry, said New York is the epicenter for lyme and other tick-borne diseases. In fact, analysis the college has done on Lyme disease across the state shows declines in regions where tick-borne diseases were rampant while cases have soared in the North Country, central and western New York, and the Southern Tier. Ticks are spreading because of global climate change, he said. Ticks and their diseases are a significant public health threat and ultimately an environmental issue. The research at ESF helps us understand what types of landscapes are resilient to the spread of the tick or susceptible to the spread of the tick. Meanwhile, other dangerous tick-borne illnesses are popping up that further complicate prevention and treatment. For example, Anaplasmosis, another tick-borne illness, is on the rise in the Adirondacks and upstate New York. Some of the symptoms can include fever, muscle aches and respiratory failure, all similar signs of the infectious coronavirus disease that has killed more than 500,000 people in the United States since COVID-19 entered the country early last year. Anaplasmosis, if left untreated, can also be fatal. Not for distribution to United States newswire services or for dissemination in the United States HALIFAX, NS / ACCESSWIRE / March 2, 2021 / Silver Tiger Metals Inc. (TSXV:SLVR) ("Silver Tiger" or the "Corporation") is pleased to announce that it has closed its previously announced bought deal offering (the "Offering") of common shares of the Company (the "Shares") with a syndicate of underwriters. An aggregate of 38,333,334 Shares at a price of C$0.60 per Share for gross proceeds to the Company of approximately C$23 million were sold including 5,000,000 Shares for gross proceeds of approximately $3 million on the exercise in full of the over-allotment option granted by the Corporation to the syndicate of underwriters. The syndicate of underwriters was led by Sprott Capital Partners LP, as lead underwriter and sole bookrunner, along with Echelon Wealth Partners Inc. and Stifel GMP, as co-lead underwriters, and included Eight Capital, Beacon Securities Limited and Red Cloud Securities Inc. (collectively, the "Underwriters"). The Underwriters were paid a commission of 6% on the gross proceeds of the Offering. In addition, the Corporation issued compensation warrants to the Underwriters entitling them to purchase 6% of the number of Shares sold under the Offering at a price of $0.60 per Share for a period of 12 months following closing of the Offering. The Offering was completed by way of short form prospectus in each of the provinces of Canada, except Quebec, pursuant to National Instrument 44-101 - Short Form Prospectus Distributions. The Shares were not offered or sold in the United States except under Rule 144A or Regulation D or in such other manner as to not require registration under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended. This news release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy nor shall there be any sale of any of the securities in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful. The securities have not been and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "U.S. Securities Act"), or any applicable state securities laws, and may not be offered or sold within the United States unless registered under the U.S. Securities Act and applicable state securities laws, or an exemption from such registration requirements is available. About the El Tigre Historic Mine District Silver Tiger Metals Inc. is a Canadian company whose management has more than 25 years' experience discovering, financing and building large hydrothermal silver projects in Mexico. Silver Tiger's 100% owned 25,500 hectare Historic El Tigre Mining District is located in Sonora, Mexico. Principled environmental, social and governance practices are core priorities at Silver Tiger. The El Tigre historic mine district is located in Sonora, Mexico and lies at the northern end of the Sierra Madre silver and gold belt which hosts many epithermal silver and gold deposits, including Dolores, Santa Elena and Las Chispas at the northern end. In 1896, gold was first discovered on the property in the Gold Hill area and mining started with the Brown Shaft in 1903. The focus soon changed to mining high-grade silver veins in the area with production coming from 3 parallel veins the El Tigre Vein, the Seitz Kelley Vein and the Sooy Vein. Underground mining on the middle El Tigre vein extended 1,450 meters along strike and was mined on 14 levels to a depth of approximately 450 meters. The Seitz Kelley Vein was mined along strike for 1 kilometer to a depth of approximately 200 meters. The Sooy Vein was only mined along strike for 250 meters to a depth of approximately 150 meters. Mining abruptly stopped on all 3 of these veins when the price of silver collapsed to less than 20 per ounce with the onset of the Great Depression. By the time the mine closed in 1930, it is reported to have produced a total of 353,000 ounces of gold and 67.4 million ounces of silver from 1.87 million tons (Craig, 2012). The average grade mined during this period was over 2 kilograms silver equivalent per ton. The El Tigre silver and gold deposit is related to a series of high-grade epithermal veins controlled by a north-south trending structure cutting across the andesitic and rhyolitic tuffs of the Sierra Madre Volcanic Complex within a broad silver and gold mineralized prophylitic alteration zone developed in the El Tigre Formation that can be up to 150 meters wide. The veins dip steeply to the west and are typically 0.5 meter wide but locally can be up to 5 meters in width. The veins, structures and mineralized zones outcrop on surface and have been traced for 5.3 kilometers along strike in our brownfield exploration area. Historical mining and exploration activities focused on a 1.5 kilometer portion of the southern end of the deposits, principally on the El Tigre, Seitz Kelly and Sooy veins. The underexplored Caleigh, Benjamin, Protectora and the Fundadora exposed veins continue north for more than 3 kilometers. El Tigre Resource Estimate After acquiring El Tigre, Silver Tiger drilled 12,500 meters to define the wide halo of near surface gold mineralization around the mined high-grade veins of the historic El Tigre Mine. This allowed Silver Tiger to deliver a maiden resource estimate for the El Tigre Property to a depth of 150 meters containing indicated resources of 661,000 gold equivalent ounces at 0.77 g/t (21 g/t silver and 0.51 g/t gold) and inferred resources of 341,000 gold equivalent ounces at 1.59 g/t (88 g/t silver and 0.52 g/t gold). The National Instrument 43-101 Technical Report titled "NI 43-101 Technical Report and Updated Mineral Resource Estimate on the El Tigre Project, Sonora, Mexico" effective as of September 7, 2017 and dated October 26, 2017 prepared by David Burga, P.Geo., Yungang Wu, P.Geo., Fred Brown, P.Geo., Jarita Barry, P.Geo., Eugene Puritch, P.Eng., FEC, CET, Alfred Hayden, P.Eng. and Richard H. Sutcliffe, Ph.D., P.Geo. of P&E Mining Consultants Inc. is available on the Corporation's website at www.silvertigermetals.com and on www.sedar.com under the Corporation's profile. VRIFY Slide Deck and 3D Presentation - Silver Tiger's El Tigre Project VRIFY is a platform being used by companies to communicate with investors using 360 virtual tours of remote mining assets, 3D models and interactive presentations. VRIFY can be accessed by website and with the VRIFY iOS and Android apps. Access the Silver Tiger Metals Inc. Corporate Profile on VRIFY at: https://vrify.com The VRIFY Slide Deck and 3D Presentation for Silver Tiger Metals Inc. can be viewed at: https://vrify.com/explore/decks/492 and on the Company's website at: www.silvertigermetals.com. Qualified Person David R. Duncan, P. Geo., V.P. Exploration of the Corporation, is the Qualified Person for Silver Tiger as defined under National Instrument 43-101. Mr. Duncan has reviewed and approved the scientific and technical information in this press release and has reviewed the Technical Report. For further information, please contact: Glenn Jessome President and CEO 902 492 0298 jessome@silvertigermetals.com CAUTIONARY STATEMENT: Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. This News Release includes certain "forward-looking statements". All statements other than statements of historical fact included in this release, including, without limitation, potential mineralization, resources and reserves, the ability to convert inferred resources to indicated resources, the ability to complete future drilling programs and infill sampling, the ability to extend resource blocks, the similarity of mineralization at El Tigre to Delores, Santa Elena and Chispas, exploration results and the future plans and objectives of Silver Tiger, are forward-looking statements that involve various risks and uncertainties. Forward-looking statements are frequently characterized by words such as "may", "is expected to", "anticipates", "estimates", "intends", "plans", "projection", "could", "vision", "goals", "objective" and "outlook" and other similar words. Although Silver Tiger believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, 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 Silver Tiger's expectations include risks and uncertainties related to exploration, development, operations, commodity prices and global financial volatility, risk and uncertainties of operating in a foreign jurisdiction as well as additional risks described from time to time in the filings made by Silver Tiger with securities regulators. SOURCE: Silver Tiger Metals Inc. View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/632937/Silver-Tiger-Announces-Closing-of-23-Million-Bought-Deal-Financing The senior federal cabinet minister accused of raping a 16-year-old girl in Sydney's Kings Cross will come forward to deny the allegation. Scott Morrison has been under pressure to out the minister, stand him down, and launch an inquiry since detailed allegations were sent to his office. He said the politician told him the allegation was not true, but the minister has now agreed to make a statement on Wednesday. An anonymous sender said they were inspired to write a letter (pictured) detailing the woman's allegations after former Liberal staffer Brittany Higgins went public with an allegation The woman's allegation became public last week after Scott Morrison received a letter from a mystery sender which included the statement. Police were due to travel to her home in Adelaide in March 2020 to take her statement but their trip was postponed due to Covid-19. In June the woman withdrew her allegation and died by suicide the next day, causing the investigation to be suspended before it was officially closed this week. According to Four Corners which first reported the allegation on Friday, the woman had bipolar disorder and had attended a psychiatric hospital in Melbourne in the months before her death aged 49. Friends say she was 'beautiful and clever' but 'consumed with trauma'. Mr Morrison said he did not read the letter but forwarded it to Australian Federal Police Commissioner Reece Kershaw (pictured) 'The matter is now closed': NSW Police statement In November 2019, a woman then aged 48, attended an Adelaide (South Australia) police station seeking advice about reporting historical sexual offences, which allegedly occurred in 1988 in Sydney (New South Wales). The matter was then referred to the NSW Police Force and an investigation by the Child Abuse and Sex Crimes Squad commenced under Strike Force Wyndarra. NSW Police Force has been the lead agency in respect to this investigation since February 2020. For various reasons, the woman did not detail her allegations in a formal statement to NSW Police. The woman passed away in June 2020. Following the woman's death, NSW Police came into possession of a personal document purportedly made by the woman previously. NSW Police have since sought legal advice in relation to these matters. Based on information provided to NSW Police, there is insufficient admissible evidence to proceed. As such, NSW Police Force has determined the matter is now closed. Advertisement As well as leaving her prepared statement, the woman made a 45-minute recording in which she talked about her allegations, according to the Herald Sun. In a letter to a friend she wrote: 'I guess I just worry that a trial has the potential to be an emotional bloodbath, particularly for me and anyone who appears as a witness in the case.' NSW Police said officers have sought legal advice about a 'personal document' made by the woman. The woman had told several family and friends about her allegation. It was presumably one of them who sent the letter to Mr Morrison, Liberal MP Celia Hammond and two South Australian senators, demanding an investigation. The rape allegation: A timeline 1988: Rape allegedly happens at event in Sydney when woman is 16 Late 2019: Woman engages lawyers and prepares a statement February 2020: Woman reports allegations to NSW Police March 2020: Police postpone trip to visit her due to Covid-19 June 2020: Woman dies by suicide February 24, 2021: Anonymous letter is sent to PM detailing allegations March 1, 2021: PM says minister completely rejects the allegations March 2, 2021: NSW Police close the case Advertisement The anonymous sender said they were inspired to write the letter after former Liberal staffer Brittany Higgins went public with an allegation she was raped by another staffer in Defence Minister Linda Reynolds' parliament office in 2019. Ms Higgins' allegations dominated the past two sitting weeks of parliament as ministers were repeatedly grilled over who knew about her claims and when. The sender demanded an inquiry into the 1988 allegation, writing: 'There will be considerable damage to community perceptions of justice... and the parliament when this story becomes public if it is simultaneously revealed that senior people (like yourselves) were aware of the accusation but had done nothing.' The identity of the cabinet minister is known among the media and politicians but cannot be disclosed for legal reasons. The ministerial code of conduct requires a minister to stand aside if charged with a crime. Former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull has urged the minister to reveal himself and said it is 'impossible for him to function in that cabinet'. Mr Morrison said he spoke to the minister on Wednesday evening and he 'vigorously rejected the allegations.' He said he did not read the letter but had been briefed on the contents of the allegations. Asked if he would set up an inquiry, he said: 'I'm not the police force. I have given it to the police to investigate.' Mr Morrison said AFP Commissioner Reece Kershaw had not advised him to take any action. He refused to sack the minister, saying: 'We can't have a situation where the mere making of an allegation and that being publicised through the media is grounds for, you know, governments to stand people down simply on the basis of that. I mean, we have a rule of law in this country.' Mr Morrison said the first he substantially heard of the allegation was last week. Before that he had only heard rumours of a journalist making inquiries, he said. Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young and Labor Senator Penny Wong received the unsigned letter and both released statements saying they had contacted the AFP. Senator Hanson-Young said the information she had received regarded a 'disturbing and a very serious allegation of a criminal nature against a senior member of the government'. The Australian Federal Police on Saturday issued a statement saying it would liaise with the relevant state authorities. 'Further enquiries can be directed to the New South Wales Police Force,' it said. 'The AFP will not be making further comment.' Ms Higgins (pictured) alleged she was raped in Parliament House after a boozy night out NSW Police said in a statement on Friday night that a report of alleged historic sexual violence was received in February 2020 and detectives commenced an investigation under Strike Force Wyndarra. 'After strike force investigators were advised that the body of a 49-year-old woman was located at a home at Adelaide by South Australia Police (SAPOL) on Wednesday 24 June 2020, the investigation was suspended,' the statement said. 'NSW Police understand that reporting sexual assault can be distressing and traumatic for victims and it is always the choice of an individual whether to proceed with an investigation or not.' ROME, MAR 2 - Italy must set rigorous timeframes for absorbing and implementing EU COVID recovery funding, European Economic Affairs Commissioner Paolo Gentiloni said Tuesday. He aid this was all the more important given Rome's past difficulties in using EU structural funds. "It is clear that this is a particular challenge for our country," said Gentiloni. Gentiloni said the Draghi government was working with the Commission to boost the Conte recovery plan which "constitutes an important base for work, above all consistent with the thresholds of 37% for green investments and 20% in the digital sector". The other two points in the ongoing work between Rome and Brussles are "the quality and selection of investments" and long-awaited structural reforms to boost the economy and spur growth after COVID, especially "boosting the health system, fighting tax evasion, active labour policies, competition, making the civil service more efficient, and speeding up civil justice". Cutting business-stifling red tape, reforming Italy's bloated and inefficient civil service, and speeding snail-paced trials, all a drag on investment and growth, have long been recommended by economists and Brussels. The new government led by former European central banker, 'Super Mario' Draghi, the man who saved the euro with 'whatever it takes', has vowed to finally achieve these reforms. Implementing reforms will be a condition for the EU approving Italy's Recovery Plan, aimed at deploying 209 billion euros from the EU's Recovery Fund. In other remarks Tuesday, Gentiloni said he was "optimistic" that 13% of the recovery funds could be paid out early, before the summer. (ANSA). People wait in line to receive a dose of Chinese Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine during the vaccination at Belgrade Fair makeshift vaccination center in Belgrade, Serbia, Wednesday, Feb. 17, 2021. Serbian health expert Chief epidemiologist Predrag Kon on Tuesday March 2, 2021, called for the government to introduce a state of emergency and a strict lockdown to halt a surge in coronavirus infections in the Balkan country. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic) Serbian health experts urged the government on Tuesday to introduce a state of emergency and a strict lockdown to halt a surge in coronavirus infections that they say threaten the Balkan nation's health care system. The numbers of daily new infections have been rising sharply in the nation of 7 million despite a mass inoculation campaign that so far has seen nearly 1 million people receive a first vaccine shot. That rate of vaccinations has made Serbia, a non-European Union nation, one of the best in Europe when it comes to delivering vaccines to its citizens. Still, the demand for a state of emergency is unlikely to win support from the conservative government, which is hoping that its program of trying to get vaccines from the West, China and Russia will pull Serbia out of the pandemic's devastating economic and social undertow. Chief epidemiologist Predrag Kon of the government-appointed coronavirus crisis team told the state RTS television network on Tuesday that there is "no alternative" to ordering a lockdown. "We must ban contacts or we will break. And then we will realize what it means when the health system collapses," he said. "The exhaustion is beyond all limits," Kon said of the country's medical workers. "It can no longer be tolerated." People wait in line to receive a dose of Chinese Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine during the vaccination at Belgrade Fair makeshift vaccination center in Belgrade, Serbia, Wednesday, Feb. 17, 2021. Serbian health expert Chief epidemiologist Predrag Kon on Tuesday March 2, 2021, called for the government to introduce a state of emergency and a strict lockdown to halt a surge in coronavirus infections in the Balkan country. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic) Health authorities say 4,000 COVID-19 patients remain hospitalized in Serbia and reported new infections have reached 3,500 a day, up from under 2,000 a day only a few weeks ago. Serbia has recorded nearly 4,500 virus-related deaths. Experts have blamed the recent surge of infections on private parties and nightclubs flouting anti-virus rules as well as on ski resorts that stayed open throughout the winter. Yet the nation's top officials are against imposing a lockdown, warning that would hurt Serbia's economy. President Aleksandar Vucic said in the Bosnian capital of Sarajevo that "I don't believe we are close to (introducing) a state of emergency." Vucic said Serbia expects to receive additional vaccines in the coming weeks and expressed hope that further inoculations will help bring down the surge. A medical worker measures the temperature of a man during the vaccination with Chinese Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine at Belgrade Fair makeshift vaccination center in Belgrade, Serbia, Wednesday, Feb. 17, 2021. Serbian health expert Chief epidemiologist Predrag Kon on Tuesday March 2, 2021, called for the government to introduce a state of emergency and a strict lockdown to halt a surge in coronavirus infections in the Balkan country. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic) A medical worker gives a shot of Chinese Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine to a woman during the vaccination in Belgrade, Serbia, Wednesday, Feb. 17, 2021. Serbian health expert Chief epidemiologist Predrag Kon on Tuesday March 2, 2021, called for the government to introduce a state of emergency and a strict lockdown to halt a surge in coronavirus infections in the Balkan country. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic) People arrive to receive a dose of Chinese Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine during the vaccination at Belgrade Fair makeshift vaccination center in Belgrade, Serbia, Wednesday, Feb. 17, 2021. Serbian health expert Chief epidemiologist Predrag Kon on Tuesday March 2, 2021, called for the government to introduce a state of emergency and a strict lockdown to halt a surge in coronavirus infections in the Balkan country. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic) Workers unload boxes of the Astra Zeneca vaccine at the Belgrade Airport, Serbia, Sunday, Feb. 21, 2021. 150,000 doses of Astra Zeneca vaccines were delivered to Serbia. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic) Workers unload boxes of the Astra Zeneca vaccine at the Belgrade Airport, Serbia, Sunday, Feb. 21, 2021. 150,000 doses of Astra Zeneca vaccines were delivered to Serbia. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic) Workers unload boxes of the Astra Zeneca vaccine at the Belgrade Airport, Serbia, Sunday, Feb. 21, 2021. 150,000 doses of Astra Zeneca vaccines were delivered to Serbia. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic) In this Wednesday, Feb. 10, 2021 file photo, workers unload a container of China's Sinopharm coronavirus vaccines at the Belgrade Airport in Serbia. China is providing the vaccine to countries such as Serbia and Hungarya significant geopolitical victory in Central Europe and the Balkans, where the West, China and Russia are competing for political and economic influence. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic) People rest and are monitored for the possibility of side effects after receiving a dose of Chinese Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine in Belgrade, Serbia, Wednesday, Feb. 17, 2021. China is providing the vaccine to countries such as Serbia and Hungarya significant geopolitical victory in Central Europe and the Balkans, where the West, China and Russia are competing for political and economic influence. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic) A man receives a Chinese made Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine in Budapest, Hungary on Wednesday, Feb. 24, 2021. China is providing the vaccine to countries such as Serbia and Hungarya significant geopolitical victory in Central Europe and the Balkans, where the West, China and Russia are competing for political and economic influence. (AP Photo/Laszlo Balogh) "We must show more discipline, we have all behaved irresponsibly," Vucic said. "But people are fed up. They must work, our economies must work." Serbia introduced a curfew and a strict lockdown at the start of the outbreak last year, but has relaxed anti-virus rules in the past few months. Still, cafes and restaurants must close at 8 p.m., gatherings are limited and masks are mandatory in closed spaces. Analysts say Serbia's relative success on the mass inoculation front might have prompted people to lower their guard regarding virus protection. Serbia has vaccinated most people with China's Sinopharm jabs, followed by Pfizer, Russia's Sputnik V and recently the AstraZeneca shot. Explore further Follow the latest news on the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission. Carrot-Top Industries, Inc., a trusted industry leader providing institutions and businesses with patriotic and customized solutions, would like to announce the winner of its Spring 2021 Beacon Scholarship for Rural America. Emma Kitchin, of Newland, N.C., was awarded an $1,000 scholarship to be used to help offset the cost of her higher education expenses. Emma Kitchin will be attending Davidson College, in Davidson, N.C., as a freshman in Fall 2021. She will be working towards a bachelors degree in psychology. After college, she hopes to get a therapists license to help troubled youth with trauma and mental disorders. According to Kitchin, My passion to help others and the environment motivates me. I lead through becoming a friend to those around me, and I use laughter and a shared goal to inspire others to work together. Kitchin appreciates how much the Beacon Scholarship will help her with her education. Kitchin said, I am a passionate girl determined to make a change for the better in the world no matter how big or small, said Kitchin. I appreciate this scholarship and opportunity more than words can express. It will be used to fund my education through Davidson College as I work to become a licensed therapist helping heal youth with disorders and trauma. Kitchin describes her hometown of Newland, N.C., as a close-knit and supportive community known specifically for growing and selling Christmas trees. Newland is located in rural Avery County and Kitchins favorite part about her town is how the people come together so easily when there are people in need. Kitchin shared how she shows patriotism in her community in the essay she submitted. Here is an excerpt from her essay: I identify patriotism through the demonstration of loyalty and dedication. Whether it be advocating for a cleaner and greener town or singing and praying every year at my high schools steps on See You at the Pole Day, I dedicate myself to not only this county but to its people as well. You cannot tell others that you care about your community and expect any sort of results. You have to show them and encourage them through your actions to create a better environment for everyone. Avery County is my home because it is not only where my loved ones live, but it is where I have left a part of who I am behind here through my volunteer work, tutoring, environmental cleanups, farm work and friendships. Patriotism is defined as that unfading devotion and loyalty, so I can be comforted by knowing that I am patriotic for my home and for all who reside here. The Beacon Scholarship supports the American dream that every U.S. citizen should have an equal opportunity to achieve success and prosperity through diligence, perseverance and initiative even if there are limitations due to the cost of education. The Spring 2021 Beacon Scholarship awards one student with $1,000 annually. Graduating high school seniors, current college students and adult learners with a GPA of 3.0 or higher who planned to enroll in an accredited college program applied. Applicants were required to reside in a rural area, meet low-income criteria and provide an essay about how they show patriotism through their community involvement. We are excited to help rural, low-income students meet their educational goals so they can make a positive contribution to Americas future. The Beacon Scholarship celebrates the American dream of individuality, equal opportunity, hard work and determination, said Liz Morris, Carrot-Top Industries CEO and President. About Carrot-Top Industries Carrot-Top Industries, family owned and located in Hillsborough, N.C., is a trusted industry leader providing institutions and businesses with custom and patriotic solutions since 1980. As one of the largest, independent flag dealers in America, Carrot-Top offers additional product solutions for schools, government agencies, institutions and businesses across the United States. Carrot-Top continues to succeed by providing the highest quality products, a dedication to learning about customers needs, and unmatched flexibility in their shopping experience. Beijing (Gasgoo)- The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) officially issued a manual including products of automotive semiconductors and demands from automakers at a seminar last week, to ensure the sound development of automotive chip segment. Photo credit: CCTV-13 Qiao Yueshan, Director of the Electronic Information Department of the Ministry, said at the meeting that since more and more vehicles will be electrified, connected and intelligent, semiconductors will be much more important than ever before. Currently, demands for computing chips, power chips and memory chips have been surging. And the cycle for computing upgrades has been shortened from two years to half a year. The MIIT will provide active guidance and support for the development of automotive semiconductor segment and the improvement in supply capacity of integrated circuit. The platform for the segment will strengthen the supply chain construction, improve the efficiency of distribution, and provide strong support for the steady and sound development of the industry. The manual includes 568 products from 59 companies, covering a total of 10 categories such as computing chip, control chip and power chip. Besides, the manual also contains over 1,000 pieces of demand information from 26 automakers and suppliers. In this way, the ministry tries to facilitate the communication between buyers and suppliers. Tian Yulong, chief engineer of the ministry, said at a press conference on Monday that the chip industry faces opportunities and challenges at the same time, so it is necessary to form global partnership for joint establishment of chip industry chain and its sustainable development. And the Chinese government will provide strong support. 'Hold the Line on Spending' Education and Unemployment (TNS) Early Saturday morning, Kansas' three Republican U.S. House members voted against the massive Biden administration pandemic relief package that will send an estimated $1.6 billion to the state.Rep. Jake LaTurner, who represents the Topeka area, ripped the measure earlier this month as a "liberal state bailout." Freshman GOP Sen. Roger Marshall is one of the $1.9 trillion bill's most outspoken critics in the Senate, which will now take it up.Their GOP counterparts in the Kansas Legislature? They've effectively spent much of it already.Republican lawmakers are eyeing the relief dollars to fund $500 million in tax cuts, heavily targeted to multinational corporations and wealthy and retired Kansans. They also want the money for refunds to students relegated to online learning and replenishment of the state's unemployment insurance fund, which has been depleted by a record volume of legitimate and fraudulent claims. A House committee on Thursday recommended using the federal aid to fund $500 bonuses for teachers and grants for school security.The state Senate approved the tax cut earlier this month after growing its size from a proposed $175 million to an estimated $500 million. Though the House has not yet picked up the measure, Senate Republicans have pitched federal dollars as a way to keep it alive.Senate Majority Leader, Gene Sullentrop, a Wichita Republican, said immediately after the vote that the final size of the cut would be dependent on federal funding."We don't know the revenue stream that's going to ultimately come from the feds to provide relief in all areas of the budget," Sullentrop said.The tax measure has been blasted by Senate Democrats, who said it would decimate the state budget by using a one-time federal stimulus to pay for on-going expenses. They called it a "bullet train to Brownbacksville," a reference to the deep tax cuts under Gov. Sam Brownback that created huge budget shortfalls for the state.Gov. Laura Kelly said any stimulus funds need to be spent on one-time programs, not tax cuts or regular expenses."What we're getting from the stimulus will be one-time money so you don't pay for things that are going to be ongoing expenses," said Gov. Laura Kelly.Sen. J.R. Claeys, a Salina Republican and vice chair of the Senate Ways and Means committee, said he is most interested in preserving a provision of the tax cut that allows Kansans to itemize on state returns and not federal. Kansas returns are currently tethered to federal tax policy. Filers must accept standard deductions on both returns or itemize on both.According to Richard Auxier, a Brookings Institute tax analyst and member of the governor's council on taxes, the decoupling would bring the largest benefit to wealthier Kansans. Many of them, he said, have stopped itemizing on their federal returns because of an increase in the standard deduction included in the Trump administration's 2017 tax bill. They would gain a larger refund if they could still itemize on state returns.But using stimulus funds for such a change would create difficult decisions later as it reduces state tax revenue."If you got an infusion of federal dollars maybe you can find a way to make the math work this year but then you're going to get into next year and the year after that," Auxier said.Claeys said he wasn't concerned about subsequent years. When federal dollars stopped coming it would simply be incumbent on the state to tighten its budget."We have to hold the line on spending," he said. "You can cut taxes and have fair tax policy without having federal dollars come pouring in for something."In the House, Republican lawmakers said they would opt instead to direct federal funds toward unemployment insurance, refunds for higher education and to help the state's ending balance.Speaker of the House, Ron Ryckman, an Olathe Republican, said he anticipated the House would present its own version of the tax cut bill that would look closer to the $175 million the Senate originally proposed."What we're looking at is we have a major hole in our unemployment trust fund that was caused by the fraud that we're hoping that there's any stimulus funds that it can maybe help there," Ryckman said.The Kansas Department of Labor estimates that $290 million in fraudulent claims were paid out last year. A non-partisan Legislative Post Audit put the figure at $600 million.Additionally, House Republicans have suggested spending federal dollars on refunds for college students who had to learn remotely during the pandemic.Rep. Kristey Williams, an Augusta Republican, asked the House budget committee on Thursday to delay acting on the state's budget for K-12 schools until there was a better understanding of what federal funding was available.A K-12 Education Budget Committee chaired by Williams later recommended that schools use federal relief to provide security grants, fund a mental health pilot project and help pay for the Kansas School for the Deaf in Olathe."This is like our GOP leaders saying thank God the Democrats have control because we get money, but we're gonna complain about it while we do it," said Mark Desetti, a lobbyist for the Kansas National Educator's Association. "That's just shameful behavior."Last week, Rep. Susan Humphries, a Wichita Republican, said federal dollars could help cover the cost of refunds to college students who were forced to take classes online as a result of the pandemic.Rep. Brandon Woodard, a Leawood Democrat, called a proposal to give students refunds a "reckless" move that could wreck the budget for colleges and criticized lawmakers' dependence on federal funds."I, like everyone else, am optimistic that the federal package that will provide relief to our state and local governments will help but we can't rely on our federal government," he said, noting that many federal dollars will come with strings attached.Rep. Troy Waymaster, a Bunker Hill Republican and chair of the House Appropriations Committee, said he doesn't think the state needs the money or that the federal government should allocate it.If it comes, which he acknowledged is likely, Waymaster said his preference would be to use it on unemployment and cautioned that use of the funds on long term programs, like tax cuts, could hurt the state down the line."I'm timid I guess on receiving more money from the federal government and just accelerating the deficit and the debt that we have at the federal level," he said. On a recent episode of Amicus, Dahlia Lithwick talked with Jameel Jaffer, executive director of the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University, to unpack how the scope of the First Amendment continues to grow even as it fails in the face of so many of the free speech issues we face today. A portion of their conversation, which has been edited and condensed for clarity, has been transcribed below. Dahlia Lithwick: I think Ive had a Post-it note pinned to my screen saying, Do a First Amendment show for three years. It sweeps in every news cycle. From the Facebook Supreme Court, your own litigation around Trumps tweets, cancel culture, the speech defenses that came up at the impeachment trialI think of the First Amendment as a framework that governs all of those things. But of course it implicates less and less of those things. As you suggested to me, when we were thinking about this show, the First Amendment is everywhere but nowhere. I wonder if you could talk a little bit about this tension, where the Supreme Court is protecting more and more activity under the First Amendment, but as private actors flood this zone, the First Amendment actually matters less and less. Is that an accurate description of what is going on? Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Jameel Jaffer: Yeah, I think so. When I said that the First Amendment is everywhere and nowhere, I was thinking about the fact that the Supreme Court does keep expanding the First Amendments reach to more and more kinds of expressionnot just expression but speech very broadly construed. There was a case called Sorrell from a few years ago, which involved data mining and drug companies efforts to market their drugs to doctors. The Supreme Court held that this particular kind of commercial activity was speech, and theres a stray phrase in Justice Anthony Kennedys opinion, which says something like, Information is speech. Data is speech. There is this thread in recent Supreme Court jurisprudence that is consistent with that very broad conception of the First Amendment. This idea that the First Amendment protects not just speech as colloquially understood but any effort to convey information. If youre a First Amendment enthusiast, then maybe your first reaction to that is, Well, isnt that great? Isnt it great that the First Amendment is getting attached to more and more things? Well, it might be great or it might be not so great. Advertisement The consequence of attaching the First Amendment to new forms of expression or speech is that it becomes much, much harder for government to regulate those activities. Theres a case in the district court now, involving Clearview, which is a company that scraped millions and millions of photographs from the internet in order to build a facial recognition app. The ACLU and others have sued Clearview under an Illinois state law that applies to the collection and sale of biometric information. Clearview is represented by Floyd Abrams here, who is a legendary First Amendment litigator. Clearview is arguing that their activities are protected by the First Amendment and that this Illinois law is unconstitutional as applied to its activities. Advertisement Advertisement That just gives you a sense of whats at stake in these debates about the scope of the First Amendment. Because if you interpret the First Amendment very, very broadly to encompass the right of a company like Clearview to scrape photographs from the internet and build facial recognition apps of this kind, then you have really disabled legislatures from enacting laws that many people, including me, think are necessary to protect individual privacyand maybe even necessary to protect the integrity of public discourse, which is supposed to be what the First Amendment is all about. So the First Amendment is everywhere in the sense that the courts are extending the First Amendments application to more and more kinds of activity. Advertisement But its also true that the First Amendment is strangely absent in some places where we really should want it to be present. Some of them have nothing to do with the digital age and some of them are just much more places where we for a long time would have expected the First Amendment to be, but it doesnt seem to be. Im thinking about protest rights, for example, or whistleblower rights, right? During the Black Lives Matter protests over the last year, there were all kinds of abuses by police, abuses of protesters, abuses of the journalists being prevented from reporting on important public activities of the police. The First Amendment seemed to do very little work in protecting those core First Amendment rights. Advertisement Advertisement I would say the same thing with respect to whistleblowers. The Obama administration infamously used the Espionage Act more than any previous administration against whistleblowers who were sharing information with the press, and the Trump administration continued the trend. The First Amendment is really nowhere to be found when it comes to the right of whistleblowers to share informationnational security secrets with the press where those national security secrets would inform the public of the abuse of power by government officials, for example, or large-scale waste or fraud on the part of government officials. The First Amendment doesnt seem to be doing very much work. So the First Amendment is everywhere in some senses and nowhere in other senses. Advertisement What youre saying is there are benefits to being able to regulate some of this under First Amendment doctrine, but theyre real harms. And one of the harms is that it then falls almost entirely onto private entities. In some ways thats a good thing. I think you would contend right from the beginning we dont want the government deciding what is speech. But youre saying that the cost of saying, You know what, this has nothing to do with the First Amendment. Its entirely a private entity and they should regulate that, it might be what the Framers wanted, but it creates a whole host of new problems. Advertisement I think all of that is true. Now we have these private entities that are doing a lot of the work of regulating speech. When we engage in political speech now, its often on social media platforms or on new communications platforms that are controlled not by the government but by private corporations. Those private corporations now have a very significant role in determining who gets to speak, and what can be said, and what ideas get traction in the public sphere. That, I think, is a new thing and one that we havent collectively quite figured out how to deal with. Advertisement It feels as though part of what youre saying is the Supreme Court has been diligently beavering away and we all stipulate this is the most speech-protective Supreme Court probably in historycreating new free speech rights in all sorts of contexts. Yet there are these archaic rights, like assembly, which is something that we dont quite know what it means. Its fallen into disuse. The doctrine is aged. So its not actually doing the things its meant to be doing. The circle is expanding to encompass a whole bunch of other stuff, and then theres this other circle that is completely a separate sphere from government regulation of speech, which has all these private actors. We keep falling into this habit of thinking of them as First Amendment problems, but theyre entirely separate. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Its true that these private companies are not bound by the First Amendment in that particular sense. Id just say that thats true under current doctrine. There are many serious First Amendment theorists who think the current doctrine is wrong and that the First Amendment should have something to do with whether Facebook, for example, can tell somebody that they cant use Facebook. But under current doctrine, thats not governed by the First Amendment. Facebook is free to make whatever decisions it wants. But when governments try to regulate the technology companies, often the technology companies are relying on the First Amendment as a means of challenging the legitimacy of those regulations. The Clearview case is a good example of it, but its not the only example. Theres another case that my institute is tangentially involved in in Maine, involving an internet privacy law that restricts what internet service providers can collect about their customers and how they can use that data. The ISPs are challenging the law on First Amendment grounds. Theyre saying, This law prevents us from collecting certain kinds of information and from doing targeted advertising on the basis of that information and thats a restriction of our First Amendment rights and the law needs to be struck down. Advertisement Advertisement So its not just that the First Amendment doesnt regulate the activities that these companies are engaged in; its that when Congress tries to regulate those activities, these companies rely on the First Amendment to challenge the legitimacy of the regulations. Some people are looking to the First Amendment to be the solution to our problems in the digital public sphere. I think theres a real question: Can the First Amendment be a solution here? But theres also a question: Is the First Amendment the problem? Is the First Amendment, as currently understood, an obstacle to the kind of legislation and regulation we need to protect the integrity and the vitality of the digital public sphere? To hear their entire discussion, listen below, or subscribe to the show on Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Play, or wherever you get your podcasts. MOSCOW -- A court in Moscow has extended the pretrial detention of former journalist Ivan Safronov, who is charged with high treason, an accusation he has rejected outright. The Lefortovo district court on March 2 ruled that Safronov must be held until at least May 7. The hearing was held behind closed doors, as the case is classified. The 30-year-old Safronov, who has worked since May last year as an adviser to Dmitry Rogozin, the head of the Roskosmos space agency, was previously a prominent journalist who covered the military-industrial complex for the newspapers Kommersant and Vedomosti. He was arrested on July 7 amid allegations that he had passed secret information to the Czech Republic in 2017 about Russian arms sales in the Middle East. Safronov has repeatedly denied the accusations and many of his supporters have held pickets in Moscow and other cities demanding his release. Human rights organizations have issued statements demanding Safronov's release and expressing concerns over an intensifying crackdown on dissent in Russia. With reporting by TASS and Interfax As more people get vaccinated and states begin to roll back some of the restrictions put in place due to the COVID-19 pandemic schools, agencies and workplaces are working on a plan on how to safely return to normal. When a Malaysia Airlines plane was downed over Ukraine in 2014, Twitter accounts manned by Russias Internet Research Agency posted 111,486 tweets, many insisting that it had been shot down by Ukrainians. Bellingcat researchers proved instead that a missile had been fired at the plane by a Russian Buk launcher. They scoured YouTube footage of dashcam video posted by Ukrainian drivers who passed the missile as it was being driven to the launch site; examined tree shadows in online images to pinpoint when the missile was fired; and combed through the Russian version of Facebook to determine that Moscows 53rd Brigade the citys only military unit with Buk launchers was at the launch site. Ultimately, the evidence they unearthed led back to the Kremlin and Putin. Bellingcat has since exposed neo-Nazis at Charlottesville and the activities of a Detroit street gang, as well as the identities of a Kremlin hit team that poisoned a Russian exile and his daughter in England. Chronicling the dark arts of dogged internet investigation, this book is a powerful, exhortatory call to arms for citizen journalists fighting for truth in a world where authenticity has become the most elusive of commodities. DIRTY GOLD The Rise and Fall of an International Smuggling Ring By Jay Weaver, Nicholas Nehamas, Jim Wyss and Kyra Gurney 365 pp. PublicAffairs. $28. Image Behind the Trumpian glister of gold lies an apocalyptic story of once luscious rain forests reduced to smoldering vistas and biodiverse rivers poisoned with mercury and cyanide. The refuge of the wealthy in volatile times, gold has increased in value more than fourfold since 1999. But the worlds entire mined supply would fit into three Olympic-size swimming pools. For cartels and gangs in South America, gold now yields five times as much profit as cocaine, with significantly less risk. As one American gold dealer, who revered the Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar, exclaimed, Im like Pablo coming to Ecuador to get the coke. He later tests the purity of gold bars like a trafficker analyzing powdered narcotics. Australia is rushing specialist veterinarians to Britain as countries across the world move to contain the catastrophic outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease that began there. And amid warnings that Australia could lose $10 billion a year in exports and 25,000 jobs if the disease reaches here, strict checks are being imposed on all travellers who have visited contaminated countries in the past three months. Turkey yesterday announced that cases of the highly infectious animal illness had been detected there, though it was not known whether they were connected to the British cases. Belgium, too, announced it suspected a case in its north, and Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern, calling the disease a once-in-a-generation threat to Ireland, dispatched more than 1000 troops and police to border crossings from the north, where the disease was confirmed on Thursday. Already, abattoirs and farming organisation across Australia have been inundated with requests from the Middle East, Europe and South Africa for beef and lamb. Australian airports have imposed a strict regime of checks for people who have been in the United Kingdom, the Irish Republic and Turkey. All those who have are sent through the red channel to have their possessions examined and, if necessary, disinfected. Entrants to Hanoi from certain districts and cities of Hai Duong Province, the current COVID-19 epicenter in Vietnam, will be required to self-isolate for 14 days for monitoring, according to the Hanoi Center for Disease Control (Hanoi CDC). The direction was stated on Monday by Khong Minh Tuan, deputy director of the Hanoi CDC during a meeting of the National Steering Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control to review the state of COVID-19 transmission in Hai Duong. According to Tuan, Hai Duong reported four cases of COVID-19 transmission on Saturday, all of whom are in isolated zones, while other cases of direct transmission from the infected have been quarantined. Hai Duong has required its districts to comply with sets of COVID-19 prevention regulations. Specifically, Hai Duong City, Kinh Mon Town, Cam Giang District, and Kim Thanh District will have to follow the prime ministers directive No. 16, which requires safe distancing in public places and prohibits big social gatherings, until March 17. As the risk of transmission from the four locales remains high, returnees to Hanoi from these places will be obliged to self-isolate and monitor their health for 14 days. Individuals who took COVID-19 tests with a negative result that came no more than three days earlier will be allowed to return to work and study right away, Tuan added. During the meeting, Nguyen Hong Dan, deputy director of the Hanoi Department of Labor, War Invalids, and Social Affairs, said requisite measures have been prepared to welcome students back to schools and universities under the departments management, which is slated to start March 8. The department has required schools and universities under its management to thoroughly fumigate their campuses. Body temperature checkpoints and isolation rooms for suspected transmission cases have also been prepared, while mandatory mask wearing will be required for students. Students from outbreak sites must obtain negative COVID-19 test results and submit medical declarations to the authorities of residential areas as well as their education institutions, Dan said. Vietnam has recorded 2,472 coronavirus cases as of Tuesday morning, with 1,892 recoveries and 35 virus-related fatalities, according to the Ministry of Healths data. In the latest wave which started in late January, Hanoi recorded 35 cases, but it has so far gone two weeks without any new transmission. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! SHELTON The school district under the direction of Griffin Hospital and the Naugatuck Valley Health District will hold a COVID vaccination clinic for staff members on Saturday. Superintendent Ken Saranich, in an email to district employees Sunday, said Shelton school staff will receive the Pfizer vaccine. Appointments will run from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Shelton Intermediate School. This will definitely assist us in opening up our schools more quickly and safely as our entire school system of workers, including our maintenance, security, cafeteria and bus drivers, will be afforded the opportunity to get vaccinated, Board of Education Chairwoman Kathy Yolish said. Yolish credited Saranich, district head nurse and COVID-19 liaison Adrianna Collins and district Chief of Staff Carole Pannozzo with spearheading the creation of the clinic. Saranich called the establishment of the clinic wonderful news and only possible through the extremely hard teamwork of the NVHD, Griffin Hospital and the Shelton Public School system. I am very grateful to everyone involved, Saranich added. It is positive for our students, staff and Shelton as a whole as we take steps forward in creating a safer community. NVHD Director of Health Jessica Kristy said officials with the health district and Griffin Hospital, along with the superintendents and school nurses from each of the communities the NVHD serves, worked tirelessly to create clinics not only in Shelton but throughout the Valley. It was truly a community wide effort pulling this together, Kristy said. Kristy said the health district and Griffin Hospital have access to some 2,400 vaccines both Pfizer and Moderna. In Shelton, she said there could be as many as 750 vaccines administered if everyone eligible attends the clinic. From the school staffers, Kristy said the next step is vaccinating child care and day care workers. Griffin Hospital will continue to offer vaccines at its Progress Drive location Monday through Friday, and Kristy said the NVHD would still hold vaccination clinics Thursday and Friday at the Seymour Community Center, 20 Pine St., Seymour. She said vaccines will still be available for eligible members of the general public. Distribution was never the issue ... our resources are abundant, said Shelton Mayor Mark Lauretti, adding that the district has 14 nurses to administer the vaccine, with plenty of available locations. The biggest unknown was the availability (of the vaccine). Shelton is a key component in the Valley. Were growing, and the health district knows this, Lauretti added. Working together with the health district we were able to get this done. We need to get the kids back in school ... that is not lost in all of this. This just moves that process forward quicker. Saranich said he does not have a specific number of individuals to be vaccinated since district officials are still in the scheduling process. He did confirm that bus drivers and cafeteria workers will be eligible. At the Board of Educations regular meeting on Feb. 24, Saranich said there were more than 500 staffers who could be vaccinated. He also stated that a survey of staffers showed that 90 percent of the employees who responded want to be inoculated. Griffin Hospital will be setting up a separate booking platform for the district staffs vaccination site. Saranich said the district will not be uploading its rosters into the Vaccine Administration Management System (VAMS) system. We are asking that if staff choose to attend the Shelton clinics hosted for our districts that they do not self-register in VAMS and also schedule someplace else, he said. Redundant scheduling is strongly discouraged and can disrupt the system. NVHD is holding concurrent vaccination clinics on March 6 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., at Ansonia High School for Ansonia and Derby schools; Seymour Community Center for Seymour schools; and Naugatuck High School for Naugatuck schools. All eligible staff will be receiving a unique registration link from their superintendent where they will be able to schedule their appointment at the respective locations since the health department is running the school clinics as private third party VAMS clinics. Recipients will be able to schedule their second dose appointments for March 27 or April 3 after they have received their first dose using the same offline booking method. Saranich said the same clinics will run again in Shelton 21 days later on March 27. brian.gioiele@hearstmediact.com Claudine, marketed as an urban drama but really just a love story like any other, was released among the slew of blaxploitation films that surged during the 1970s and, as such, was distinguished from those films as an emotional and sincere evaluation of Black family life. It features alternately tender and passionate performances from a cast who play their roles with as much ease as they do intensity. On display, in particular, is a key performance from star Diahann Carroll, who would later make a household name for herself with a three-year stint on the television series, Dynasty (1981-89). Claudine is notable for its compassionate depiction of Black communities living in the quagmires of American economic and racial inequities during the 70s. What gives the film its power is that it is unsentimental in its designs of explaining hardship in the face of systemic racism. Working from Lester and Tina Pines script, director John Berry manages a fine intermediate between comedy and drama, never allow a gross overstepping of the two genres to mar the message of the film or the performances. Claudine (played by Carroll) is a single mother with six children who works a job on the sly so that she can continue to collect the welfare that she desperately needs to put food on the table and pay the rent. She meets a garbage collector named Rupert (played by an unusually not-so-intimidating James Earl Jones) one day while she is working as a housekeeper for an upscale family. Intrigued by the handsome mans garrulous charm, Claudine accepts his invitation for a dinner date. Rupert meets Claudine at her home and is suddenly inundated with the household furors of single-parent life; her children are boisterous and uncooperative and do not, initially, take a liking to Rupert. Rupert manages to sway Claudine into spending the night at his apartment and, later, as their romance begins to develop into a promising relationship, the question of marriage begins to loom. Rupert, however, has some personal baggage he has inadvertently brought into the romance, and just when the two have hit their stride, his past catches up with him. A sweetly embroidered drama stitched with the care-worn threads of a tried-and-true love story, Claudine benefits from its distilled narrative of pure performance. There is little action here and the story is unharmed for it; Carroll and Jones are afforded compelling dialogue to test their mettle and they throw themselves into their work without worry or constraint. It helps that the two leading characters have been drawn sensitively and judiciously. Carrolls restrained, perspicacious and maternally-anchored performance deservedly earned her an Oscar nomination. Her weary gaze holds a thousand truths about a woman on the precipice of a life-altering decision. Jones starry-eyed, love-smitten Rupert earns equal footing with his starring opposite; a father-figure hovering over the homestead like a circling hawk, he eyes the family with paternal concern, and his yielding empathy adds yet another nuanced layer to the dramatic proceedings. The six children are mercifully each given distinct personalities and are, as a result, real and unadorned before the camera, offering remarkable turns before their more experienced elders. As a whole, the ensemble cast performs an elegant swim through the narratives contraption of hardship and romance, dipping and curving expertly around its many twists and turns. The story is buried in the heart of Harlem, New York, and much of its tensions, the push-and-pull of human communions and dissensions, is sourced from this neighborhood. Most of the narrative oscillates between Claudine and Ruperts apartments, and these scenes proffer delicate shadings of sensual engagement, glimpses of lifes simple and frivolous pleasures: take-out meals, bubble-baths, and alternately idle and meaningful conversations, all taking place in the cramped corners of their limited spaces. These moments gather a curious warmth of lives lived in flux, people approaching middle-age in the hustle and bustle of an over-engaged city. Amidst these moments are a few light comic runarounds that broach the serious drama; an overly invasive social worker turns up at Claudines home, pen and pad ready at the hand for a deductive tallying. Its a welcome narrative gradation that adds some humor to the films matter-of-fact realism. Criterions Blu-ray release offers a striking transfer that is clean and clear of print debris. Colors are beautifully saturated, never bleeding out, and always contained within the lines of the sharp print. The palette offers a delectable color-scheme of muted maroons, deep burgundies, pastel pinks, and oakwood browns. Dialogue and audio are presented clearly here and the film is soundtracked by the soulful contributions of Curtis Mayfield and Gladys Knight & the Pips. Extras include a 2003 audio commentary with stars Carroll and Jones, a discussion with filmmaker Robert Townsend, as well as an essay booklet by Danielle A. Jackson. Optional English subtitles are available. Claudine is a valuable document of 70s-era Harlem lives that pays admirable respect to the neighborhoods grim realities. Its a compelling watch and it boasts performances that leave impressions upon the heart long after the film is over. Most of all, it serves as a brilliant showcase that was never bettered by another vehicle for the late Carroll, who creates in Claudine a woman as real as the one we have seen and met in any and every neighborhood weve walked. Copyright 1995 - . All rights reserved. The content (including but not limited to text, photo, multimedia information, etc) published in this site belongs to China Daily Information Co (CDIC). Without written authorization from CDIC, such content shall not be republished or used in any form. Note: Browsers with 1024*768 or higher resolution are suggested for this site. 0108263 License for publishing multimedia online Registration Number: 130349 Registration Number: 130349 Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. [March 02, 2021] Hospice & Palliative Care Charlotte Region First to Adopt Muse's Powerful Machine Learning Tool in North Carolina ST. PAUL, Minn., March 2, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Hospice & Palliative Care Charlotte Region (HPCCR) will be the first hospice in North Carolina to adopt Muse Healthcare's machine learning and predictive modeling tool to help deliver personalized care to their patients. Muse's technology evaluates and models clinical assessments, medications, vital signs, and other relevant data to perform a risk stratification of these patients. The tool then identifies patients who are deemed critical and visually alerts the clinical team to perform additional care. HPCCR will now be fully equipped to demonstrate data proven outcomes and provide quality care to patients that are in transition. The team at HPCCR is excited to use Muse as they begin to realize the benefits the tool will unfold for the organization. According to Vice President & Chief Operating Officer, Michael Bolewitz, Muse will give HPCCR a clearer picture of their patients and recommend a more meaningful level of care. "It's going to allow us to stratify our patients and give us a window into our patient population that we've never really had before. This gives us a powerful tool to align all of our resources for the patient at the right time," said Bolewitz. Hospice & Palliative Care Charlotte Region's Vice President of Business Development, Tara Connolly, believes that Muse will give their team an advantage over other hospices in the area. "We're implementing a cutting-edge technology to ensure we're providing the best care to our patients, especially when they need it most at the end of life," said Connolly. The Muse product continues to evolve as it revolutionizes the hospice industry. The most recent enhancement to the Muse transitions product is the Historical Clinical Snapshot. A hospice manager can easily see key agency defined assessment items, vital signs, and the latest narrative note for every clinical visit. "This new feature is a game changer for Muse's customers. It allows the users to have pertinent information at their fingertips to make clinical decisions about the patient's needs. The sped to data saves clicks and hours as clinicians review patients," said Daniel Ardoin, Director of Clinical Operations at Muse Healthcare. CEO of Muse Healthcare, Bryan Mosher, eagerly looks forward to the positive outcomes HPCCR will produce with Muse. "We warmly welcome the team at Hospice & Palliative Care Charlotte Region to the Muse family. We're confident that the Muse tool will help their clinicians deliver better care to their hospice patients," said Mosher. A partner in the industry, Homecare Homebase (HCHB), also shares Mosher's enthusiasm for how the Muse tool will benefit HPCCR. According to Senior Vice President of Tech-Enabled Services at Homecare Homebase, Brandy Sparkman-Beierle, the tool will transform how care is given to patients. "Adopting Muse ensures patients and families are cared for appropriately. Homecare Homebase is proud to partner with Muse as we see more hospices transform their care plans and the level of care they administer to their patients." About Hospice & Palliative Care Charlotte Region Hospice & Palliative Care Charlotte Region has provided end-of-life care, grief support, and community education since 1978. They are a committed team of clinical professionals who offer quality of life to patients and families in their community who are coping with serious illnesses. For more information, visit https://www.hpccr.org/ About Homecare Homebase Homecare Homebase (HCHB) is a Dallas-based software leader offering hosted, cloud-based solutions to streamline operations, simplify compliance and boost clinical and financial outcomes for homecare and hospice agencies. Our customized mobile solutions enable real-time, wireless data exchange and communication between field clinicians, physicians and office staff for better care, more accurate reporting and faster payment. Founded by industry veterans in 1999, the company is now part of the Hearst Health Network. For more information visit hchb.com or call toll-free at 1-866-535-HCHB (4242). About Muse Healthcare Muse Healthcare was founded in 2019 by three leading hospice industry professionals -- Jennifer Maxwell, Tom Maxwell, and Bryan Mosher. Their mission is to equip clinicians with world-class analytics to ensure every hospice patient transitions with unparalleled quality and dignity. Muse's predictive model considers hundreds of thousands of data points from numerous visits to identify which hospice patients are most likely to transition within 7-12 days. The science that powers Muse is considered a true deep learning neural network the only one of its kind in the hospice space. When hospice care providers can more accurately predict when their patients will transition, they can ensure their patients and the patients' families receive the care that matters most in the final days and hours of a patient's life. For more information visit www.musehc.com. View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/hospice--palliative-care-charlotte-region-first-to-adopt-muses-powerful-machine-learning-tool-in-north-carolina-301236753.html SOURCE Muse Healthcare [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] NEW MILFORD A Bright and Early Child Care Center is opening in the coming weeks with hopes of assisting families navigating child care during the pandemic. Director Liz Schwalbe said there is a big need for child care in the area and Bright and Early will provide an additional option. I was previously a director at another center in town and we were full and we had no more space for the children to come, so I think having this place here will be a great benefit, she said. The New Milford location is Bright and Earlys sixth center in the state and Bright and Early Owner April Lukasik plans on opening a seventh in Branford during the fall. If the pandemic has shown us anything, its how vital child care is and how people are not able to work unless they have reliable and excellent child care for their children, so I think thats what has been the driving factor for the ability to open more centers during this time, Schwalbe said. Lukasik said about a dozen families have reached out expressing their interest, although the center has not opened its enrollment yet. New Milford Mayor Pete Bass said there might be more of a need for these centers as the vaccine changes the child care landscape. With school now going back to five days, theres going to be more of a need for those parents who may need... those services as well now that theyre going to go back into the workforce, Bass said. I think theres going to be a need now and then all the way through when we get toward the end with more vaccinations and more people feeling safer, he added. Bass said one child care center did close during the pandemic, leaving the town with at least five others still operating. The Bright and Early center will open on March 15 at 204 Danbury Road, the former location of a Kinder Care center. The facility operating on weekdays from 6:30 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. expects to enroll a maximum of 116 children. Full-time tuition at the center costs $295 weekly for an infant and $265 for a pre-schooler, although there are also part-time options. Lukasik implemented several safety precautions for when the center opens to reduce COVID-19 risks including air purifier installations in each classroom and office space. Additionally, families will drop off children outside of the building to mitigate spread within the building. The center is also working with the towns health department to make sure its teachers and staff are vaccinated as doses become available. Despite the modified environment, Schwalbe and Lukasik are looking forward to the opening and benefiting the community. I hope that we benefit the community that we offer something different, unique and a wonderful place for children to learn, grow and have fun and be able to do that with other small learners, friends in the community, Lukasik said. Greater New Milford Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Denise Del Mastro said its very pleased that Bright & Early chose New Milford as the location for their expansion into the western part of Connecticut. Bright & Early provides high quality child care and early education solutions in a nurturing and scholastic environment. We thank Bright & Early for their investment in our town and look forward to their upcoming opening in March, said. South Africa: SA hosts workshop as tourism industry journeys to recovery South Africa is today hosting the 2021 Sharing of Best Practices Workshop, as the tourism industry wades through a long road to recovery in the aftermath of the Coronavirus pandemic. Tourism Deputy Minister Fish Mahlalela on Tuesday said COVID-19 has devastated the whole world and has forced people to change the way they do things, and interact with each other. The global outbreak of Coronavirus in late 2019 illustrated the vulnerability of travel and tourism to the effects of public health emergencies. As a result, tourism activity had come to an abrupt halt, thus affecting the tourism sector negatively. The impact of the virus has led to the closure of businesses and tourism establishments, and has led to severe job losses. It is therefore expected that the impact of the pandemic on the tourism sector and strategies to deal with it would be relevant as the theme/topic for the 2021 Best Practices Workshop, Mahlalela said at the virtual workshop on Tuesday, which was attended by several stakeholders from around the world. South Africa recently launched the Tourism Equity Fund, which is aimed at creating an inclusive and growing tourism sector by supporting entrepreneurship and investment on the supply side of the tourism sector. This comes after COVID-19 regulations severely restricted tourism operations, crippling many players in the sector. Mahlalela said Tuesdays workshop was an opportunity for role-players to robustly engage in discussions, and share information and the best practices on tourism recovery plans. The Deputy Minister noted that South Africas position was not unique, as the devastating economic impact of COVID-19 has left no country untouched. The workshop seeks to align tourisms contribution to Agenda 2063 through improving the standards, systems and policies in regulating the tourism industry while creating jobs and alleviating poverty. Of the worlds top 10 destinations by international tourists arrivals (including France, Spain, United States, China, Italy, Turkey, Mexico, Germany, UK and Thailand), eight were hardest hit by COVID-19. The economic and social disruption caused by the pandemic is devastating. Tens of millions of people are at risk of falling into extreme poverty, while the number of undernourished people, currently estimated at nearly 690 million, could increase to 132 million by the end of the year, Mahlalela said. Mahlalela said some countries are likely to face more substantial blows than others due to their high reliance on the tourism sector. He urged workshop participants to use the platform to share their countrys experiences in combatting the COVID-19 pandemic, and to assist in identifying strategies that will bring solutions for the recovery of the tourism sector post COVID-19. SAnews.gov.za This story has been published on: 2021-03-02. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. Olmsted County, Minn. - In the past two weeks, two Minnesota law enforcement K-9s have been wounded or killed in the line of duty. Anoka Police K-9 Bravo was shot and hurt during an armed carjacking, and Duluth Police K-9 Luna was shot and killed during an armed standoff with police. Olmsted County Sheriff's Office Deputy Ryan Mangan says the incidents hit close to home, as a fellow K-9 handler. "It's just sad all the way around when we know how much work goes into the dogs, how much the dogs mean to us: the sheriff's office and the community. Especially when it happens in our state, kind of in our backyard, it really hits home," he says. His K-9 partner Rajko is a 10-year-old german shepherd and a valuable asset to the county. He's trained in narcotics and patrol. Dogs' senses are stronger than humans, so they're useful in finding people and evidence. Dep. Mangan says K-9s are naturally protective of their handlers, just like a household pet may be protective of its owner. In return, handlers protect their dogs too. "We protect them from themselves a lot of the time because they will literally do anything for us as handlers. We train them that way. They're that confident in what they do. So we have to protect them, in that some situations we may not send them in because there could be a very high percentage they could get hurt or killed," he explains. In situations with more unknown factors, they may send in a dog to check it out. Olmsted County dogs also wear stab and bullet-proof protective vests. Although law enforcement K-9s are tools to protect peace officers and the community, Mangan says they're still family. A seriously injured or killed K-9 is also an expensive loss. A new, untrained addition to a department is roughly $10,000. This doesn't include training and equipment costs. CARLINVILLE Blackburn College has announced that Jameela Brown, a junior majoring in creative writing, from Belleville, is the recipient of the 2020-2021 Martin Luther King Student Leadership Award. The award is presented annually to a student who exemplifies the values of diversity and inclusion at the college. The Student Life and Career Services department coordinates the nomination process and a committee of students, faculty and staff chooses the winner. As the 2020-2021 award recipient, Brown received a $100 gift card, a certificate from Blackburn President Mark Biermann, and will have her photo displayed on the MLK Legacy Wall. A controversial lender advised by former Prime Minister David Cameron is fighting for survival after major backers walked away. Although Greensill Capital was founded by Australian Lex Greensill and is based in the small Queensland town of Bundaberg, its woes will reverberate in the UK where it has major operations. The companys demise is a serious embarrassment for Cameron who was hired as an adviser in 2018 and who regularly promotes the lender, which operates in the world of supply chain finance. Greensill Capital's demise is a major embarrassment for Cameron (pictured) who was hired as an adviser in 2018 and who regularly promotes the lender The crisis poses a threat to the British steel industry and the empire of Indian-born businessman Sanjeev Gupta, who relies heavily on Greensill for funding. Gupta owns much of what remains of the UK industry through Liberty Steel, part of his GFG Alliance. Problems for Greensill mounted yesterday when Swiss asset manager GAM said it would wind down a 600m fund they run together. The move came just a day after another long-term ally, Credit Suisse, froze 7billion of funds that invest in deals arranged by Greensill. It is now in talks with US private equity giant Apollo Global Management to arrange a rescue deal. To add to the companys problems the British Business Bank this week stripped it of a Government guarantee on its emergency loans to Gupta under the Coronavirus Large Business Interruption Loan scheme. The guarantees meant the taxpayer would have picked up 80 per cent of losses on these loans. But if Gupta fails to repay them, the burden will now fall on Greensill. Regulators in Germany are also on edge. The countrys financial watchdog, Bafin, has appointed a special representative to oversee the day-to-day operations at Greensill Bank, which is part of the larger group and has lent heavily to Gupta. Former investment banker Greensill, 44, set up his firm in 2011 after seeing his parents struggle to make ends meet while waiting for their crops to grow on their farm in Australia. It operates in the hard and high-risk world of supply chain finance, lending to businesses to pay suppliers. Initially, it appeared hugely successful and hired Cameron as a paid adviser two years after he left Downing Street. Former investment banker: Lex Greensill set up his firm in 2011 after seeing his parents struggle to make ends meet while waiting for their crops to grow on their farm in Australia Soon after, in 2019, Japanese giant Softbank poured more than 1billion into the firm. At one stage the business appeared to be heading for a valuation of 5billion but Softbank also appears to be losing confidence, and is said to be preparing to write down the value of its stake to close to zero. It is quite a change in fortunes for the entrepreneur, who became a paper billionaire following Softbanks investment. GAM said yesterdays decision to close the fund came as a result of recent market developments and resulting media coverage related to supply chain finance. Credit Suisse decided to suspend its supply-chain finance funds due to considerable uncertainties around their valuation. Apollo is now understood to be looking to cherry-pick some of Greensills best assets. It is thought the parts that Apollo is interested in could fetch just 70million. A spokesman said: Greensill confirms that it has entered a period of exclusivity with a leading global financial institution with a view to concluding a transaction with them this week. The transaction is expected to include large parts of Greensills business and its assets under management. While the structure of the new business is still being determined, we expect the transaction will ensure the majority of Greensill clients will continue to be funded in the same way as they currently are while also preserving a substantial number of jobs. The YSoft SAFEQ Universal Print Connector ensures customers can benefit from new Universal Print features in Microsoft 365 BRNO, Czech Republic and DALLAS, March 2, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Y Soft, the leading enterprise workflow solutions provider, today announced the general availability of the YSoft SAFEQ Universal Print connector, an integration with the latest Microsoft 365 cloud printing feature. SAFEQ customers can now connect their printers to Universal Print within their SAFEQ print management environment. YSoft SAFEQ Cloud, the company's soon to be released cloud-based print management family of services, also plans to connect with Universal Print. The YSoft SAFEQ integration with Universal Print is offered as a connector enabling organizations to move print servers to the cloud and to manage print queues through their Microsoft 365 subscription. "When we started working with Microsoft on this connector, we immediately recognized the benefits that Universal Print integrated with YSoft SAFEQ would bring in managing a single cloud-based, secure print queue. It enhances our existing solution while keeping all the benefits our customers already expect from SAFEQ," said Matthew Wrighton, product marketing director at Y Soft. YSoft SAFEQ with the Universal Print connector is ideal for multi-vendor environments, as many offices are today. Whether the office runs Windows (with or without Universal Print), Linux, macOS, or Chrome OS, YSoft SAFEQ supports these platforms. "YSoft SAFEQ is well known globally as a secure print management solution. Microsoft is excited to see that SAFEQ is supporting Universal Print with an elegant integration," said Rani Abdellatif, Sr. Program Manager in charge of Universal Print connector technology at Microsoft. The YSoft SAFEQ Universal Print connector is available as a free option to all existing YSoft SAFEQ 6 customers. Customers can contact a Y Soft regional sales manager, their certified Y Soft partner or visit our website at www.ysoft.com/safequp. For customers who do not need a full print management service, Y Soft also announced today the general availability of YSoft OMNI Series which enables cloud printing and instantly connects in-market printers1 to the Cloud and Universal Print. OMNI Series is ideal for small and medium-sized businesses and can be purchased at the YSoft Store. 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 www.ysoft.com. Media Contact: Steven Knuff 512 810 3207 [email protected] 1 IPP-enabled and PDF-compatible printers SOURCE Y Soft Related Links http://www.ysoft.com BEIRUT - Social tension has returned to Tripoli, the northern Lebanese port in the Eastern Mediterranean, where on Tuesday morning anti-government protesters blocked some access roads to the city, setting fire to car tyres and overturning rubbish bins to protest against the rapid deterioration of the economic situation in Lebanon, a country that has been formally in default for a year. The country has been suffering for days from, among other things, from a growing shortage of energy for domestic and industrial use. For decades in Lebanon electricity has been rationed, but in recent days electrical outages have increased and grown longer during the day in all areas of the country. The current protests are taking place against the backdrop of this situation in Tripoli, where for a year the anti-government protests have been more vicious. Tripoli has for decades been on the sidelines of social and economic development, and suffers from endemic and growing poverty amidst the country's economic collapse. Meanwhile, the national electric company EDL said in recent hours that bad weather and payment delays have hindered restoring electrical service across the country. Lebanese energy plants are powered by fuel, which is now scarce due to lack of government funds. EDL said two oil tankers full of fuel weren't able to unload their cargo due to the weather. A third tanker ship, which transports fuel for use in the two Turkish electric barges that have been anchored for years off the Lebanese coast, is awaiting a letter of credit from the Beirut government to pay for the fuel. Pastor Phillip Davis got his COVID-19 vaccine shot on video, where the rest of the community could see it. Listen, the pastor says in a Facebook video for the Easton-based Greater Shiloh Church, lets just get healthy. Lets make sure were taking the vaccine. And in a continuing effort to get more of the areas minority population immunized, Davis and his church are partnering with one of the Lehigh Valleys major hospital networks as a vaccination station with 500 shots. It takes all of us to fight this pandemic but the vaccination rate for minority communities are less than 5%. We are... Posted by Greater Shiloh Church on Friday, February 26, 2021 St. Lukes University Health Network and other community groups reached out and coordinated to set up a church vaccination station, Davis said. The church website tells members how to sign up for the vaccine through the St. Lukes portal. Davis said they are hoping to hold the clinic the second week of March. We think its a big deal, Davis told lehighvalleylive.com. Minority populations in Pennsylvania have so far been far less likely to get the vaccine. Data from the Pennsylvania Department of Health as of Monday show about 42,000 Black people statewide have received one or both shots of the currently available vaccines compared to 1.1 million white people. The data show at least 340,000 recipients whose race was not logged. Davis said that aside from hesitancy to trust medical professionals, accessibility is a big problem within minority communities. Churches and other faith communities play a big role in getting those resources to those who need it, he said. A St. Lukes spokesperson said the hospital network is partnering with more churches for the same purpose. (Cant see the map? Click here.) Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to lehighvalleylive.com. Steve Novak may be reached at snovak@lehighvalleylive.com. As impoverished Yemen edges closer to famine, activists and lawmakers are ramping up pressure on the White House to restore tens of millions of dollars in humanitarian assistance that was suspended by the Donald Trump administration last year. Innocent civilians need our help now more than ever, Senators Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) and Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) wrote on Monday, urging Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Gloria Steele, the acting administrator of the US Agency for International Development (USAID), to implement assistance free of political considerations or pressure. Particularly in complex and protracted emergencies such as the one in Yemen, the delivery of neutral, impartial, and needs-based assistance is a humanitarian imperative," the senators said. Their call comes nearly a year after USAID suspended $73 million in aid to Houthi-held northern Yemen last March, citing concerns the Iran-aligned rebels were interfering with the distribution of humanitarian supplies. USAID set aside carve-outs to provide funding for critical NGO activity but aid agencies have described the exemptions as too narrow to be effective. Relief organizations warn the continued aid suspension will exacerbate what the United Nations already considers the worlds worst humanitarian crisis. Roughly 80% of Yemens population more than 24 million people require humanitarian assistance to survive, the UN says, with some five million Yemenis just one step away from famine. This needless suffering will only be compounded by the ongoing USAID suspension, a coalition of anti-war and civil society groups said in a letter to President Joe Biden last week. We are alarmed that, regardless of Houthi activity, the brunt of this ongoing suspension will be borne by vulnerable civilians, and not by Houthi officials and commanders. The letter's signatories point out that the Houthis have eased up on their obstruction, dropping their demand for a 2% tax on humanitarian activities and allowing nongovernmental organizations to use biometrics to monitor fraud. In a letter to Blinken and Steele last week, Rep. Ted Deutch (D-Fla.) led a group of Democratic lawmakers calling for the United States to expedite, restore, and expand humanitarian assistance to Yemen, arguing that doing so is vital to encourage other countries to meet their pledges. An aid official speaking to Al-Monitor on background echoed those concerns: Its very hard to push others to pledge when your stated policy is were cutting off aid to much of the country because we dont believe aid is getting to where it needs to get. As the six-year-old war drags on, the United Nations has struggled to rally international funding for Yemen, the Arab worlds poorest country. A virtual conference held on Monday raised less than half of the UNs $3.85 billion target, meaning more UN aid agencies will see their life-saving services put on the chopping block. Blinken announced nearly $191 million in additional humanitarian assistance for Yemen. In a statement, he said the United States remains committed to delivering aid to the most vulnerable in Yemen, but despite growing calls to do so, didnt reveal plans to reverse the Trump-era funding freeze. "The situation is extremely serious with food rations halved for millions of people in the face of a dire famine warning," said Sultana Begum, the Norweigen Refugee Council's advocacy manager in Yemen. "The Biden administration has an opportunity to help turn around the situation in Yemen." The push to restore aid to Houthi-controlled northern Yemen comes as pressure builds on the Biden administration over its handling of the rebel group. Last month, the United States reversed the Trump administrations terrorist designation of the Houthis in a move welcomed by aid agencies who warned the rebels' blacklisting would complicate their humanitarian work and cut off commercial imports. But the Biden team is under fire for lifting the terror label without securing any concessions from the Houthis, who have since mounted a series of cross-border attacks targeting Saudi Arabia. Rolling out humanitarian assistance to Houthi-held areas could be complicated by accusations that the reversal, combined with Biden ending support for the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen, was an unintended gift to the Houthis. Theyre going to have to walk it back, an aid official said of the US funding suspension. I think theyre just trying to figure out, whats the way to do the walk back that saves the most face and does the least harm? The Biden administion announced sanctions on two of the group's leaders Tuesday, accusing the Houthis of fueling "the dire humanitarian plight of the Yemeni people." A humanitarian disaster looms in Yemens Marib province, where the Houthis have stepped up their offensive on the Saudi-backed governments last stronghold in the north. The oil-rich provinces population has swelled during the war to include some 850,000 displaced people, who aid groups warn will have nowhere safe to turn if the Houthis are successful in capturing Marib city. The assault on Marib comes as UN agencies warn of a growing hunger crisis across Yemen made worse by the funding shortage. Without urgent treatment, as many as 400,000 Yemeni children under the age of five are at risk of dying from acute malnutrition this year. Aisha Jumaan, president and founder of the Yemen Relief and Reconstruction Foundation, called on the conflicts warring parties to stop holding aid to Yemens population hostage to their demands. Yemeni children are not starving. They are being starved, Jumaan said. Two people have been arrested following the attempted murder of a man in Bangor on Sunday. Detectives investigating the attempted murder of the man in his 20s at an address on Fernmore Road in Bangor on Sunday 28 February, have made a number of arrests. A 38 year old female arrested on Sunday and a 39 year old man arrested on Tuesday remain in custody at present. A 47 year old man arrested on Sunday, was questioned and subsequently released on police bail to return at a future date. Read More PSNI Detective Inspector Darren McCracken said: Our enquiries into this brutal attack are progressing and the community should be assured that at this point we are not actively seeking anyone else in relation to this crime. "We would continue to appeal for witnesses and anyone with information to contact us by calling 101, quoting reference 316 28/02/21. Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-02 19:21:53|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close KUALA LUMPUR, March 2 (Xinhua) -- Nine Dragons Paper, a Chinese paper manufacturing company listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, will invest 5.4 billion ringgit (about 1.33 billion U.S. dollars) in Malaysia, the Malaysian Investment Development Authority (MIDA) said on Tuesday. The group's investments in Malaysia consists of two manufacturing facilities, namely ND Paper (Malaysia) in Bentong, Pahang involving the acquisition of an existing pulp and paper mill with a total investment value of 1.2 billion ringgit; and ND Paper Malaysia (Selangor) in Banting, Selangor with an investment value of 4.2 billion ringgit that will focus on test liner, kraft liner, corrugated medium paper, paper and pulp. "These projects will create a total of 2,180 job opportunities of which, nearly 90 percent will be Malaysians. The project in Banting, Selangor is expected to be in operation by 2022," it added. Both factories will be fully automated and equipped with Industry 4.0 technology such as system integration, Internet of Things (IoT), big data analytic and cloud computing from Europe and China, said the MIDA. Nine Dragons Paper (Holdings) Limited and its subsidiaries are among the major paper and paperboard producers in Asia, engaging in the manufacturing of containerboard products, including linerboard, high performance corrugating medium, coated duplex board and carton box, according to the MIDA. Malaysia's Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin received a courtesy call from Nine Dragons Paper (Holdings) Limited led by its Chairlady Cheung Yan at his office in Putrajaya on Tuesday. In welcoming the latest investment, Muhyiddin said a total of 572 manufacturing projects with China interest with investments of 78.61 billion ringgit have been approved by MIDA as of December 2020. "We are confident that Nine Dragons Paper being a China Fortune 500 company will be an endorsement for Malaysia as a preferred investment destination," said Muhyiddin. (1 U.S. dollar equals 4.06 ringgit) Enditem By Michelle Nichols NEW YORK (Reuters) - Myanmar's ambassador to the United Nations in New York has formally staked his claim as the country's legitimate representative while the junta seeks to replace him in a dispute that will likely have to be settled by the world body's 193 member states. Myanmar state television announced on Saturday that Kyaw Moe Tun had been fired for betraying the country, a day after he urged countries to use "any means necessary" to reverse a Feb. 1 coup that ousted the nation's elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi. But in letters to the U.N. General Assembly president Volkan Bozkir and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken - seen by Reuters on Tuesday - Kyaw Moe Tun said he remains Myanmar's U.N. ambassador. "The perpetrators of the unlawful coup against the democratic government of Myanmar have no authority to countermand the legitimate authority of the president of my country," he wrote. However, U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said the office of Secretary-General Antonio Guterres was notified on Tuesday that the Myanmar junta had terminated Kyaw Moe Tun and appointed his deputy Tin Maung Naing as the acting U.N. envoy. "Let's be honest here we're in a very unique situation we have not seen in a long time. We are trying to sort through all the legal protocol and other implications," Dujarric said. Guterres has pledged to mobilize global pressure "to make sure that this coup fails" and his special envoy on Myanmar, Christine Schraner Burgener, has warned that no country should recognize or legitimize the junta. The rival claims to represent Myanmar will now likely have to be considered by a nine-member U.N. credentials committee that reports to the General Assembly, which will then make the final decision. 'INTENSE DISCUSSIONS' According to the General Assembly rules of procedure, credentials must be issued by either a head of state or government or a foreign minister. The communication sent to Guterres' office on Tuesday was on Myanmar Foreign Ministry letterhead, but as a note verbale it was unsigned. Story continues Kyaw Moe Tun noted in his letter that President Win Myint and Foreign Minister Aung San Suu Kyi appointed him last year and they remain lawfully elected to their roles. Dujarric said the United Nations has not received any official notification of any change to Myanmar's government since the Feb. 1 coup. Elected lawmakers ousted in the coup have formed a committee and Kyaw Moe Tun told the General Assembly on Friday that is the "legitimate and duly elected government of Myanmar and must be recognized by the international community as such." The United Nations has previously had to address competing claims for representation at the world body. In September 2011, the General Assembly approved a Libyan request to accredit envoys of the country's interim government. The move came after the United States, Russia, China and European nations had all recognized the new authorities. As the United States hosts United Nations headquarters in New York City, Kyaw Moe Tun also asked Blinken to "continue to support my work with the immunities customary to this role." U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, met virtually with Kyaw Moe Tun on Tuesday. She commended him "for his courageous and compassionate statement" to the U.N. General Assembly on Friday and "expressed the United States' support for the people of Burma and the restoration of the democratically-elected government," the U.S. mission to the United Nations said in a statement. The 15-member U.N. Security Council is due to discuss Myanmar in a closed meeting later this week, diplomats said. The council has voiced concern over the state of emergency, but stopped short of condemning the coup last month due to opposition by Russia and China. (Reporting by Michelle Nichols, Editing by Howard Goller) BT chairman Jan du Plessis yesterday revealed he was stepping down after less than four years in the role. In a surprise announcement, the South African City veteran, who has chaired FTSE 100 firms for the past 17 years, said it was the right time to retire. But his sudden exit baffled analysts coming in what is seen as a crucial year for BT and one source claimed that a contributing factor was boardroom tensions. In a surprise announcement, BT chairman Jan du Plessis, who has chaired FTSE 100 firms for the past 17 years, said it was the right time to retire Amid a 50 per cent slide in the share price during du Plessis's time as chairman, the source said divisions emerged between the chairman and chief executive Philip Jansen over strategy. Jansen was said to favour selling a stake in BT's cables arm, Openreach, to a private equity investor to unlock value and boost funding for BT's fibre broadband rollout. But he encountered resistance to the idea from du Plessis and finance chief Simon Lowth. Iain Conn, the senior independent director, was asked to step in, the source added, before du Plessis's resignation. A BT spokesman denied the claims and said it was 'categorically untrue' that du Plessis and Jansen had disagreed over any matters of strategy. In his statement yesterday, du Plessis, 67, said: 'BT is a fantastic company and it is a huge privilege and responsibility to be its chairman. 'But after 17 years of demanding roles as chairman of significant FTSE companies, I know the time is now right for me to step down and focus on other interests. 'Until I hand over to my successor, I remain fully committed to BT and helping Philip continue to deliver for all our customers, colleagues and shareholders.' BT chief exec Philip Jansen was said to favour selling a stake in BT's cables arm, Openreach, to a private equity investor to unlock value and boost funding for BT's fibre broadband rollout Du Plessis is expected to stay on for some months while a successor is chosen, with Conn leading the search.However, analysts noted the timing of his exit was 'not ideal'. This month BT expects major decisions on the pricing and rollout of fibre broadband from regulator Ofcom, and after that it will grapple with a triennial review of its pension scheme, with analysts saying the imminent departure was 'not ideal'. Since joining BT in 2017, du Plessis has sought to steady the ship and mend the telecoms giant's relations with regulators, shifting its focus back towards being a 'national infrastructure champion'. And his exit caps a glittering career of blue-chip chairmanships that started in 2004 when he took the reins at BAT. He went on to serve as chairman of Rio Tinto from 2009 to 2018 and was chairman of SAB Miller from 2015 to 2016, before it was sold to rival AB InBev. Sir Ian Cheshire, a BT board member who was formerly chairman of Barclays UK, is seen as a potential internal candidate for the job. The chairman role which pays 700,000 a year is seen as a tricky balancing act, however, with BT's status as a former monopoly meaning it is heavily regulated and subject to regular political scrutiny. That often means juggling investor demands for dividend payouts with calls to invest more in infrastructure, with any big changes at the company also certain to face opposition from its highly-unionised workforce. A BT spokesman said: 'Jan's decision is a personal one: after 17 years of chairing FTSE 100 companies, he has decided to retire. The board of BT is fully aligned on the strategy and future direction of the business.' After new COVID-19 cases fell in recent weeks from their record-high peak in January, President Joe Biden's top public health officials warned Monday that the U.S. could "lose the hard-earned ground we have gained" if cases plateau at their current level. Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said she was "deeply concerned" as new case counts stall but states continue their rollbacks of virus-related restrictions. "We cannot be resigned to 70,000 cases per day, 2,000 daily deaths," Walensky said. Sunday marked the first time in more than a month that most states reported rising case counts, and more cases were recorded in the latest week than a week earlier, a USA TODAY analysis of Johns Hopkins University data shows. On Monday, new rollbacks also took effect in states, including Virginia removing a midnight-to-5 a.m. curfew and increasing capacity for outdoor gatherings, Wyoming lifting all restrictions on personal care businesses, New Jersey opening large entertainment venues at 10% capacity indoors, and Massachusetts easing restrictions for restaurant capacity and allowing a number of indoor venues to reopen with restrictions. Globally, infections increased last week after six consecutive weeks of declining totals, and World Health Organization head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said part of the reason was the relaxing of public health measures. Also in the news: Former President Donald Trump and his wife, Melania, were quietly vaccinated for COVID-19 in January before their departure from the White House, the New York Times reported. Though other high-level elected officials got vaccinated publicly to emphasize the vaccines' safety, Trump did not. He did encourage his supporters to get vaccinated during a speech Sunday. Twitter says it will start labeling tweets with misinformation about COVID-19 vaccines starting Monday. Since cracking down on misleading information about the coronavirus and vaccines, Twitter has removed more than 8,400 tweets and "challenged" 11.5 million accounts across the globe. Story continues The number of hospitals reporting full intensive care units has fallen by nearly 50% nationwide since early January, according to a USA TODAY analysis of data from the Department of Health and Human Services. California Gov. Gavin Newsom and state lawmakers have reached a deal that would provide $2 billion in incentives for public schools to bring back some students by March 31. School districts in counties in the second most restrictive tier of the state's reopening plan would be eligible for extra funding if they reopen all elementary schools and at least one grade of middle or high schools. Dr. Anthony Fauci, head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told NBC's "Meet The Press" on Sunday that elementary school children may start being vaccinated at the end of the year or beginning of 2022. High schoolers may start getting their doses in the fall, he said. Today's numbers: The U.S. has more than 28.6 million confirmed coronavirus cases and 513,000 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University data. The global totals: More than 114.3 million cases and 2.53 million deaths. More than 96.4 million vaccine doses have been distributed in the U.S. and about 76.9 million have been administered, according to the CDC. What we're reading: The number of COVID-19 cases and deaths at America's nursing homes has dropped significantly since December as millions of vaccine doses have been shot into the arms of residents and staff. Read the full story. USA TODAY is tracking COVID-19 news. Sign up for our Coronavirus Watch newsletter for updates directly to your inbox or join our Facebook group to connect with others about the coronavirus. More U.S. deaths in January and February than in first 6 months of pandemic If warnings from CDC officials about a possible resurgence in COVID-19 cases aren't enough to prompt continued vigilance, perhaps a reminder of the recent misery the U.S. has endured will accomplish that. It took the U.S. only two months January and February of this year to accumulate 160,209 COVID deaths. That's more than the country registered in the first six months of the pandemic, and more than the current total for all but two nations, Brazil and Mexico. It should also come as sobering news that on Sunday, for the first time in more than a month, a majority of states 29 in all reported rising case counts. These are the states with more infections in the latest week than a week earlier: Alabama, Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Washington, West Virginia and Wisconsin. -- Mike Stucka 'Fully vaccinated' cruise to sail from Israel In an effort to reassure passengers of the safety of its cruises, Royal Caribbean is planning a "fully vaccinated'' voyage leaving from Israel in May. The cruise line's latest ship, the Odyssey of the Seas, will make its debut on that trip, marking the first time the company has sailed from Israel. The Middle Eastern country has already vaccinated half its population against COVID-19. "Royal Caribbean will be the first to offer fully vaccinated sailings, where both crew and guests above the age of 16 will be vaccinated against COVID-19," the cruise line said on its website. -- Morgan Hines Local pharmacies say they need more vaccines as CVS, Walgreens ramp up shots Community pharmacies can play a critical role in delivering COVID-19 shots, but so far drugstore giants CVS and Walgreens and big-box stores such as Walmart and Kroger have been getting the lions share of vaccines from the initial allotment devoted to retail pharmacies, independent pharmacists say. Some independent pharmacists say they're frustrated that they arent receiving as many vaccines proportionally as major chains are getting from federal, state and local governments, and they reject the suggestion that they don't have the technology necessary to handle the scheduling process Still representing about 1 in 3 of the nation's 60,000 pharmacies, these businesses say their personal relationships with customers are crucial to a successful vaccine rollout, especially with low-income communities and people of color. In the 63 major jurisdictions identified by the CDC for distribution of vaccines, locally owned pharmacies were initially allotted shots in only 17, according to the National Community Pharmacists Association. Nathan Bomey Variant cases quintupled in February The U.S. reported 306 new coronavirus variant cases Sunday, a record increase for viruses that can spread more easily, dodge some treatments and immunities, or both. Nearly all the new cases were in three states: Florida, up 104 cases to 605; Michigan, up 85 cases to 421; and Texas, up 41 cases to 102. Among those, Florida added four cases to its previous one case of P.1, a dangerous variant first seen in Brazil, and the state's first reported case of B.1.351, a variant first seen in South Africa. The vast majority of cases new and existing are of B.1.1.7, a variant first seen in the United Kingdom that the CDC says could become America's predominant version later this month. In February, known variant cases quintupled from 471 to 2,463 even as total coronavirus infections were dropping from a peak in January. Presidential adviser Dr. Anthony Fauci said Monday a variant spreading in New York City has raised concerns because there's some evidence it can evade antibody treatments and render vaccines less effective. Mike Stucka Florida's oldest residents lag in COVID vaccinations, state report shows When Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in December limited inoculations to seniors 65 and older, he said, "The vaccines are going to be targeted where the risk is greatest, and that is in our elderly population." But as vaccinations ramp up statewide, Florida's oldest residents are not getting the share of immunizations equivalent to the risk they bear from the coronavirus, especially recently. Florida seniors 75 and older make up 62% of 30,734 residents killed by COVID-19, but only 32% of the 1,642,800 people who have received their second dose of the two-shot vaccine, a state report released Saturday shows. Seniors 65 to 74, meanwhile, account for 21% of the resident death toll and about 41% of the immunized. Chris Persaud, Palm Beach Post COVID-19 survivors might need only one dose of vaccine, studies suggest Six recent studies suggest that people who've already come down with COVID-19 might not need to get a second vaccine dose. The federal government has not changed its recommendation for a second dose, but studies that look at the immune response show that while a first shot gives people who have recovered from COVID-19 a huge boost, the second shot makes little difference. "I think that makes perfect sense," said Dr. Paul Offit, director of the Vaccine Education Center at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. Read more here. Karen Weintraub COVID-19 testing sites across US are closing amid plunging demand Just five weeks ago, Los Angeles County was conducting more than 350,000 weekly coronavirus tests, many of them at a massive drive-thru site at Dodger Stadium, as health workers raced to contain the worst COVID-19 hot spot in the U.S. Now, county officials say testing has nearly collapsed. More than 180 government-supported sites are operating at only a third of their capacity. "It's shocking how quickly we've gone from moving at 100 miles an hour to about 25," said Dr. Clemens Hong, who leads the county's testing operation. After a year of struggling to boost testing, communities across the country are seeing plummeting demand, shuttering testing sites or even trying to return supplies. Matthew Perrone, Palm Springs (Calif.) Desert Sun Contributing: Mike Stucka, USA TODAY; The Associated Press This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: COVID news: Trump, Melania vaccinated; infections, variant cases rise Wonder Woman star Gal Gadot, hours after attending the Golden Globes 2021, announced her third pregnancy on Instagram. The actress shared an intimate family picture while sharing the exciting news with the world. Gal took to Instagram and shared an unseen family picture featuring her daughters, Maya and Alma, alongside husband Yaron Varsano. The snap shows them all gathered on the bed, with their hands on her adorable baby bump. Gadot captioned the picture as, "Here we go again." The post quickly went viral with over three million fans liking it. The comments section was filled with congratulatory messages for the star and her family. Gal's Justice League co-star Jason Momoa who plays Aquaman, also commented on the post saying, "congratulations mama." Take a look at the post, Gal Gadot who has been one of the biggest names in the DC Extended Universe tied the knot with Israeli real estate developer Varsano in 2008. The couple welcomed their first daughter Maya in 2011, followed by Alma in 2017. Gal in 2020 was making headlines for her recent release Wonder Woman 1984. The actress has also confirmed returning to the role of Wonder Women for the third film in the franchise, with director Patty Jenkins. She will be seen alongside the DCEU team once again in the upcoming HBO release, Justice League Snyder Cut. Gal will also be seen in Death on the Nile, directed by Kenneth Branagh. The new Agatha Christie adaptation is a sequel to the 2017 release Murder On The Orient Express. She will also be seen in a Netflix release titled Red Notice, which also stars Dwayne Johnson and Ryan Reynolds, and a historical drama based on the life of famous Egyptian queen Cleopatra. ALSO READ: Justice League Snyder Cut's New Trailer Reveals First Look Of The Ultimate Villain Darkseid ALSO READ: Ali Fazal & Gal Gadot's Death On The Nile Faces Trouble Amid Armie Hammer's Abuse Sandal: Report Drilling within the existing strike of the deposit has returned high-grade mineralisation which is expected to materially enhance the existing 910,000-ounce resource. Assays from the remaining 28 RC drill holes for 3,903 metres are expected shortly. ( ) (OTCMKTS:GRXMF) (FRA:GR2) expects further results from resource expansion drilling at Tabakorole Gold Project in southern Mali will materially enhance the resource ounces and grade within this portion of the deposit where historical results encountered nearer surface were lower grade than those in the current program. Three holes totalling 512 metres intersected: 12 metres at 2.1 g/t gold from 18 metres; 18 metres at 1.9 g/t from 53 metres; 10 metres at 1.5 g/t from 97 metres; 3 metres at 2 g/t from 10 metres; 22 metres at 1.8 g/t from 77 metres; and 11 metres at 0.7 g/t from 141 metres. Focus on resource expansion The mineralisation encountered in these three holes is a significant improvement to what has been modelled in this area in both thickness and grade. Marvel managing director Phil Hoskins said: We are extremely pleased with the thickness and grades of these drill results. The focus of this drill program was resource expansion, with the majority of the holes testing strike extensions. A number of holes were planned within the existing strike to improve the resource and there is no doubt that these drill holes have accomplished that. Importantly, these results are near surface and viable within an open pit mining scenario. May confirm northwest extension Marvel is awaiting results from a further 3,903 metres across 28 holes including drilling expected to confirm the northwest strike extension of the Tabakorole resource. The company is currently undertaking a five-hole, 750-metre diamond drilling program in the southeast of the deposit and following up with an aircore program to the southeast of the deposit to further target the strike potential in this area. New Delhi, March 2 : A Delhi Court on Tuesday said that it will hear Mumbai-based activist lawyer Nikita Jacob's anticipatory bail plea on March 9, a day before her protection from arrest ends in connection with the 'Toolkit' case related to the farmers' agitation. Additional Sessions Judge Dharmender Rana adjourned the matter after he was apprised by the Delhi Police that they need more time to file a comprehensive reply to the application and that it be kept with a similar plea by co-accused Shantanu Muluk on March 9. On February 17, Bombay High Court had granted three weeks transit anticipatory bail to Jacob with a direction to approach the court concerned in Delhi, where the case is lodged. Her protection from arrest ends on March 10. Fearing arrest, she moved the Patiala House Court on Monday. Jacob, along with climate activist Disha Ravi and Shantanu Muluk, faces charges of conspiracy and sedition in the case. Muluk and Jacob had joined the investigation at Delhi Police's Cyber Cell office in Dwarka on February 22. They were confronted with Ravi following that. The court had granted bail to Ravi on February 23. The judge allowed the bail considering the scanty and sketchy evidence on record. A day later, the court also granted protection from arrest till March 9 to Muluk in the case and directed the police to not take any action against him till then. 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. They asserted that the 'Toolkit' was a sinister design to defame India and cause violence. -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text Genderwashing Practices Are Major Barrier to Womens Equal Standing at Work, Says Weber State Professor March 2, 2021 OGDEN, Utah Organizations create a positive public image by proclaiming their commitment to gender equity, but this often masks practices that hinder womens advancement at work and in society, according to research from Weber State Universitys Goddard School of Business & Economics. This process is called genderwashing, and its widespread, says Wendy Fox-Kirk, chair of business administration and marketing at Weber State. Together with colleagues Rita Gardiner and Haley Finn at Western University in Canada, and Jennifer Chisolm at Lakehead University, also in Canada, Fox-Kirk co-authored the peer-reviewed article Genderwashing: The Myth of Equality, published in Human Resource Development International in 2020. At the rhetorical level, organizations are talking about equality and how We value women; we value diversity, and we can see that diversity is good for business, Fox-Kirk said. But there's a big contradiction. When they go into these organizations, women and marginalized individuals experience the opposite. Thats the result of genderwashing. The papers major contribution is to offer a theoretically grounded working definition of the concept, providing other scholars a foundation to conduct further empirical studies. The authors describe genderwashing as a particular organizational process that perpetuates the myth that an organization is practicing equity and fairness. Yet, in many cases, women and other marginalized individuals continue to see little or no advancement, in terms of gaining access to power and decision-making within their organizations. This occurs through organizational structure and cultural practices such as policies, procedures, and norms, the article says. We think of the diversity policies and programs as being there to improve equality in organizations, Fox-Kirk said. What we're finding is evidence that theyre being used to perpetuate discrimination and oppression of marginalized groups. If an organizations public commitment to gender equity misrepresents the reality of womens experiences at work, this can thwart the organizations progress toward true gender equity by making it difficult for women to report experiences that conflict with the organizations professed values, Fox-Kirk said. This dissonance can also make it difficult for organizational leaders to accept that their commitment to gender equity is a goal, not reality. To illustrate the concept of genderwashing, the authors focus on organizations misuses of non-disclosure agreements. Though these agreements were originally developed to protect intellectual property rights, organizations began using them to suppress employees public reports of sexual assault and harassment, Fox-Kirk said. Rather than protecting women who experienced abuse at work, non-disclosure agreements protected the reputation of organizations, which has been the main priority of leaders and shareholders. Theres significant #MeToo evidence of this, Fox-Kirk said, Organizations were talking about how they were improving things for women while at the same time allowing continued violence and discrimination against them for years. Womens History Month in March is a time when milestones in womens equality are celebrated, from the 19th Amendments recognition of womens right to vote in 1920 to women becoming the majority of the college-educated U.S. workforce in 2019. In part, its this history of successes that sparked the research questions of Fox-Kirk and her co-authors. Weve had so much movement in terms of policy changes and legislative changes, lots of push to get women into leadership positions and recognition of womens value in the workplace, and yet the numbers are telling us something else that equity is not happening in organizations, Fox-Kirk said. These numbers, combined with the misuse of non-disclosure agreements, got us thinking, How does this happen? Nationally, 21% of C-level executives are women, and the proportion is much smaller for women of color, a 2020 McKinsey and Company report found. While these numbers indicate a problem, another statistic points toward genderwashing as a likely cause, Fox-Kirk said. Almost all companies (98%) have diversity programs, but only 25% of employees in diverse groups, including women, report benefiting from them, according to a 2019 report on diversity from Boston Consulting Group. Fox-Kirk and her co-authors, who represent different disciplines, discovered their shared interest in these disconnects when they met at an academic conference, where they discussed their questions at length. They ultimately brought together different veins of research to further develop the concept of genderwashing. The term was coined in 2011 by political psychologist Martha Burk, but it did not enter wide usage at the time, something the article seeks to change, Fox-Kirk said. The authors conclude the article with a call to action urging fellow scholars to devote more research to the subject, encouraging them to work on understanding how organizations engage in genderwashing and producing practical recommendations to help them avoid it. The majority of genderwashing is an unconscious process, Fox-Kirk said. The problem is that we think that inequality has been fixed in organizations, so anyone who raises concerns becomes further demonized. If we come from a position where we say, You know, we haven't quite got it right. We still need to work on things, then we will make the effort, we'll listen to the lived experiences of marginalized people in organizations instead of believing the organizational rhetoric, Fox-Kirk said. However, if we treat the organizational rhetoric as if it's true, as if we've sorted everything, then we will stop looking for problems, and those problems will deepen." While she researches womens status in the aggregate, Fox-Kirk has witnessed the personal consequences of gender inequity much closer to home. When she first first moved Utah, Fox-Kirk attended specialist business forums for women where participants advised each other to get up at 4 in the morning, make sure you look prettier, make sure youre thinner, make sure youre busier, if they wanted to be successful in their careers, Fox-Kirk said. Its all about women changing themselves, when theres nothing wrong with them, Fox-Kirk said. The problem is the systems and structures that treat them differently. As recently as 2019, Utah had the largest pay gap between men and women in the United States, with women earning $0.70 for every dollar earned by a man, as documented in YWCA Utahs 2019 Well-being of Women in Utah Fact Sheet. This ranking improved during the first quarter of 2020, according to The Ascent, when Utah ranked sixth among states with the worst gender pay gaps in the nation, with women earning $0.74 for every dollar earned by a man, compared to $0.80 nationally. Utah women also continue to face roadblocks hindering their advancement into leadership positions. In 2018, only 4.7% of chief executive officers in Utah were women, across companies of all sizes, compared to 28% nationally, according to a 2018 Research and Policy Brief by the Utah Women & Leadership Project. For more news about Weber State University, visit weber.edu/wsutoday. You have permission to edit this article. Edit Close "The reports revealed that 54 students are COVID-19 positive," Sharma said. | Photo: ANI Fifty four of a school near here have tested COVID-19 positive leading to suspension of classes and other academic activities, an official said on Tuesday. Karnal Chief Medical Officer (CMO) Yogesh Sharma said three of Sainik School Kunjpura had tested positive for the virus on Monday following which the health department took samples of 390 and staff members of the school for testing. "The reports revealed that 54 students are COVID-19 positive," Sharma said. Deputy Commissioner Nishant Kumar Yadav said the school building and its hostels have been declared as a containment zone. The Sainik are run by the Sainik Society under the Ministry of Defence and the students stay in hostels. The education department had reopened for classes 9-12 in December last year and classes 3-5 from February 24. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Restaurants in Hanoi will be allowed to re-open under certain requirements as from 0:00 on March 2, heard at a meeting of the capital COVID-19 prevention and control steering committee on March 1. Vice Chairman of the Hanoi Peoples Committee Chu Xuan Dung speaks at the meeting (Photo: VNA) The requirements include a distance of one metre from one customer to another or a shield between them. All restaurants have to use an app to report on their pandemic prevention and control work. Meanwhile, discos, bars, karaoke shops, online games shops, and sidewalk food stalls will remain closed. Local authorities have also requested competent agencies to check COVID-19 prevention and control at religious facilities in preparation for their operation resumption. At the meeting, Deputy Director of the municipal Health Department Hoang Duc Hanh said the pandemic has been basically placed under control, with the city recording no new domestic cases for 14 consecutive days. However, new cases are possible, as experts and technicians are allowed to enter the city, and students from across the nation will return to the city to resume their studies at local universities and colleges. Communications work and serious implementation of prevention measures are key missions of the city in the coming time. Between February 17 and March 1, Hanoi logged 35 COVID-19 cases, with 18 sites sealed off over links to the cases. Quarantine has now ended at all of these sites./.VNA A Senator and former member of the Fianna Fail National Executive has joined the Slane cumanns criticisms of party leader Micheal Martin. Sharon Keogan, now an Independent , said the top-down style of party management has coincided with his time at the helm. At a crisis like this, you need someone who inspires and is a very effective communicator, and the Taoiseach doesnt have it. I really hate to say that, and I am not being vindictive, she said. She said the current awful state of the party is a shame and a source of sorrow for those, like her family, steeped in its history. Read More It is not united, and is cannibalising itself from within. Ms Keogan, is also a former member of Meath Fianna Fail organisation where the latest leadership ranklings emerged. She left the party when she could not get a nomination to contest the general election in 2011. Micheal Martin is a very decent human being, but there are different skills needed as leader of the country. People felt safe with Leo and Simon Harris at the start of things last year. I dont think people feel safe any more. The public is really feeling it this time around. Meanwhile a minister is to be despatched to discuss their grievances with Slane Fianna Fail, after the Irish Independent revealed its open-letter to TDs and Senators calling for the replacement of the leader. Sean Fleming TD will meet the entire officer board of the Fianna Fail cumann in Slane, Co Meath. The junior minister in the Department of Finance, contacted party members in Slane on Tuesday morning. I thanked them for their views and said we should have a meeting, Mr Fleming said. The Laois-Offaly TD is carrying out a major review of the party's poor election performance over a year ago and is due to finalise his report in the coming weeks. "There is a lot of work going on, it's not just something that anyone could write in a week. There is a lot of research going into this one, both internal and external. He said it would not examine the decision by the party's membership to vote to enter Government last summer, but would focus solely on the election performance where Fianna Fail returned 38 TDs, a loss of six on its 2016 performance. Meanwhile a spokeswoman for Fianna Fail said: We are not commenting at this time on an internal party communication. The press office was one arm of the party attacked in the letter . That email said the party had become a laughing stock on occasion. We need someone with fire in his/her belly, someone that will reignite our pride in our once great party, it said. You have ignored us for the past seven years. TDs and Senators were told: We had a belief in a party that once was great, a party like a family unit; honest, caring and hardworking, and always at the back of the ordinary decent common man. We are disillusioned and abandoned. This is our last effort to try to regain our Fianna Fail identity. In despair, we have decided to put our thoughts and feelings on paper and to send this letter individually to each TD and to some Senators. Thomas Byrne, the sole FF TD in the two Meath constituencies, has said he does not agree with the call for a change of leader. Senator Keogan, whose uncle and aunt were both long-time Fianna Fail councillors, said it seemed talent was being pushed aside in the party, with Social Democrats and Labour Party personnel shining in the Dail and Senate. You have to make sure you look after your councillors on the ground. But theres a sense youre not in with a shot if you are not from a Fianna Fail dynasty. The matter may come up at the Fianna Fail parliamentary party meeting, although prominent leadership critic Marc MacSharry said: Many members are articulating the same views. Right now Covid is the priority but action is required soon if as a party we are serious about reversing the trend and consistency of low poll performances. People know what needs to happen. 'Palau the Movie' to Showcase Importance of Mentors in Life of Legendary Evangelist Luis Palau Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment NASHVILLE Actor Scott Reeves, actor Daniel Roebuck and minister Andrew Palau spoke with The Christian Post about the upcoming film "Palau the Movie," and the influence that discipleship and mentors had on the life of one of the greatest evangelists of our time, Luis Palau. The film began production before the shocking announcement that beloved world-renowned evangelist Luis Palau was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer earlier this year. It's the autobiographical film of Palau's life, which began in Argentina when he was discovered as a young street preacher who would go on to impact the world for Jesus. In "Palau the Movie," Reeves ("Nashville") plays Palau's mentor, Ray Stedman. The late evangelical Christian pastor of Peninsula Bible Church in Palo Alto, California, found Palau on that street corner in Argentina. He saw something special in Palau and offered him a pathway to the United States where he would later attend Dallas Theological Seminary. "Luis has fire and that was apparent from a young age and Stedman knew that if that was channeled in the right way then he could do great things and become who he is today and reach the amount of people he reached," Reeves told CP of Stedman's influence on Palau's life. Andrew Palau, one of Palau's two sons and an evangelist in his own right, added, "Pastor Ray Stedman mentored hundreds of men that same way, he was a real man's, man and he was such a kind, loving guy." Reeves, Andrew and Roebuck described Palau's mentor as someone who really lived up to his name because he was in fact very "steady." Roebuck ("Lost," "The Fugitive") plays the character of another strong male figure in Palau's life, Fred Roddick. "Like Ray Steadman, the character I play to Luis is someone to help guide his temper," Roebuck said. "Everybody's really a person. We're doing this movie about this guy, who's really a guy!" They admitted that it's not often men come together to help other men out because of pride and ego. According to statistics by WACMM, "90 million men are not involved in any kind of discipleship. Only 6 million men are involved in discipleship 1 out of every 18 men. More than 90 percent of American men believe in God, and five out of six call themselves Christians. But only two out of six attend church on a given Sunday." In addition, "Fewer than 10 percent of U.S. churches are able to establish or maintain a vibrant men's ministry and fewer than 1 percent of churchgoing men participate in any sort of ongoing men's ministry program." However, Palau's influence shows what can happen when men come together to build each other up as they share the Gospel with the world. Another popular evangelist who was influential in Palau's life after others poured into him was the late Billy Graham. In 1934, Mordecai Ham, a Kentucky-born Baptist revivalist inspired Graham to give his life to Jesus after hosting a revival in Charlotte, North Carolina. Later, Graham's mentor and academic dean, John Minder, gave Graham the scope to preach his first sermon during a Baptist conference center in Palatka, Florida. Those moments were part of the great legacy Graham leaves behind because he would later become the most renowned evangelist of his generation and even lend his voice to inspire Palau as well. "Mr. Graham, we honor him, we're rejoicing with him, he's there (in Heaven) and it's for this very reason that we preach. I'm a preaching evangelist now and doors are open but we have these great examples not just for me but all of us," Andrew maintained. "We see that God can take even a fatherless boy in Argentina with zero, but with God's call and with friends that are willing to sacrificially serve the thing that Ray Stedman and friends did for dad, it's amazing that dad would find men that would help him focus on the principles of the Bible." He added, "One of the great things that I love about the film is the way that Mr. Graham did influence my dad. He's just a picture of so many of the tens of thousands he impacted." When asked what advice Reeves, Roebuck and Andrew would give other men trying to break the walls of pride and division which work hard to keep men from connecting, they all admitted it's something that is difficult but so necessary. "I think that we're here to work in concert with one another," Roebuck said. "It's not about an individual, we gotta work together to be fully human. I mean, we're actors and we have egos, but sometimes you gotta get out of yourself. The purpose of this (movie) is that we all work together and bring God's light." The longtime entertainer said when he trains actors in Hollywood he often asks them whether they go to church or not because it's always an indication of how open they are to be working together with others. "It's a community that you belong to where you are reminded that you are not the center of the world. That is hugely important, I think," he stated. Reeves interjected: "It takes me back to iron sharpening iron and you have to come together as men to do that. I think it's so important, you know, it is hard for men because we're also put in a position of having to be a certain way and having to lead and the fleshly side of us as men sometimes could get the best of us and before you know it, you start to think pretty highly of yourself, individually, it is a struggle constantly." Roebuck added: "It is interesting, we live in a world where they're saying, 'We're all the same.' And as a father, I say, 'We're not the same because if you hear a noise downstairs I get up and I go take the first bullet. While you're dialing 911 I'm gurgling my last breath.' That is what we do, that is what we're called to do!" "A mother nurtures and a father protects. So we need to realize we're nurturing, too, we have to be nurturers of each other, remove our ego and just remind people that God's path is the path, not our own. So if we just keep pushing each other back toward that goal, I think our whole world's going to be better," he concluded. "Palau the Movie" will be released in Latin America and the U.S. in October. For more information, visit the film's Facebook page or PalautheMovie.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. Belfast City Council has agreed a district rate increase of 1.92% for the upcoming financial year. It means the annual increase has stayed below 2% for the seventh consecutive year and is slightly down from 1.99%. In real terms, the rate represents an average rise increase of less than 1 per month for domestic ratepayers and around 11 more per month for businesses. The rate was ratified at a meeting of Belfast City Council (BCC) on Monday night. Councillor Christina Black, chair of BCC's Strategic Policy and Resources Committee, which agreed the increase, said: "It has been an exceptionally challenging and unprecedented year with the ongoing pandemic and the impact that has had on our city and business community, but I am pleased that despite these challenges, we have delivered cash savings of 1.2m without impacting our frontline service delivery - something which has been crucial to our ratepayers throughout the ongoing pandemic. "It's important that we strike a balance between supporting communities, businesses and our most vulnerable as we look ahead to the city's recovery post-Covid, and forge ahead with investing in local communities and improving our services. "Our roadmap to recovery sets out a wide range of practical support that Council will deliver on - across our services, our communities, and on environment and digital innovation. We are also committed to making further efficiency savings in the next year." People Before Profit, however, hit out at the rise, with Councillor Matt Collins branding it "disgraceful". "It is a slap in the face to essential workers who have put themselves on the line without a basic pay rise, and to those who have lost their jobs and are facing financial crisis because of the pandemic," he said. Elsewhere, Mid and East Antrim Borough Council agreed to an increase of less than 1% on both business and household rates, making it the only council to allow a different rate for businesses and households, known as decoupling. The household rate for the upcoming financial year will be 0.4414p, a 0.99% increase from the previous year (a 9p average rise per week in domestic rates bills), and a business rate of 31.1326p, a 0.69% increase from the previous year (an 84p average rise per week to business rates bills). Derry City and Strabane District Council agreed to a rates increase of 1.89%, representing an annual rise of 9.16 for each household. At Newry, Mourne and Down District Council, a district rate increase of 1.59% was agreed. The domestic rate for the 2021/22 financial year will be 0.4067p. For a property valued at 100,000, this will equate to a rise of 6.37 per year, or 53p a month, while the non-domestic district rate will be 23.9970p. Last month, Ards and North Down council agreed an increase in the district rate of 2.2%. Fermanagh and Omagh District Council previously voted in favour of a rates increase of 1.37%. Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council agreed to a 2.49% increase in district rates last month. Lisburn and Castlereagh City Council agreed to freeze its district rate for 2021/22, as did Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council. Daily online courses, homework, cleaning houses six days a week and baking cheesecakes to sell on the side thats college life for Sun, an undergraduate at the University of Texas San Antonio. Shes 21 and pursuing a double major in cybersecurity and Mexican American studies, with a concentration in political science. And she is working hard to pay her way financial aid options are limited for students living in the country illegally. Sun who agreed to be interviewed under an assumed name is one of thousands of so-called Dreamers who came to this country illegally as children yet dont qualify for DACA, the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program that provides temporary protection from deportation and legal means to work in the United States. Im not saying cleaning houses is a bad job, because its not. I grew up seeing my mom cleaning houses, too, Sun said. But Im not even able to get a proper job while being in college and colleges dont even acknowledge that sometimes. We get no sort of support. Sun was a high school freshman when a teacher inquired into her DACA qualification. She quickly learned that her 2008 entry date into the U.S. from Mexico made her ineligible for the program, though she was only 8 years old at the time. Its an increasingly common situation for Dreamers in the San Antonio area and across the country, because DACA is getting older. Enacted in 2012 by the Obama administration, its requirements include a U.S. entry date prior to June 15, 2007. It protects those younger than 16 when they entered the country and under 31 as of June 15, 2012. Weeks before the inauguration of President Joe Biden ended four years of official hostility to the program under the Trump administration, a Supreme Court decision ordered it to resume taking new applications. But many wont make the cut. The entry day of 2007 is a ticking time bomb for the program, period. said Andrea Fernandez, a DACA recipient and digital communications coordinator for the American Business Immigration Coalition. I mean, its been 14 years. And people are thinking that no one has come into the country since then? After graduating from UTSA, Fernandez has continued to connect with high school and college students who are interested in applying. The vast majority, she said, dont qualify based on their entry date. An estimated 90,000 to 100,000 potential applicants live in Texas but the non-DACA eligible crowd is much, much larger, around 300,000 youths in the state, she said. About 216,000 students living in the country illegally, fewer than half of the estimated 454,000 such students in U.S. colleges and universities last year, were eligible for DACA, according to a report released in April 2020 by the Presidents Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration. The programs own requirements, combined with the hurdles implemented during the Trump years, has steadily reduced the number of students with DACA protections, said Damaris Ibarra, the assistant director of the Dreamers Resource Center at UTSA. Required Reading: Get San Antonio education news sent directly to your inbox The San Antonio Chamber of Commerce estimates there were 5,100 DACA recipients living in the city in 2020, down from about 9,000 in 2017. You can almost see entirely three to four (yearly) cohorts of students that were unable to apply for DACA, Ibarra said. And at UTSA it is my understanding that the majority of our Dreamer population (are) not DACA recipients. At ImmSchools, an immigrant resource and advocacy organization that focuses on helping K-12 students and their families, only about 5 percent of the students who ask about applying for DACA through the organization actually qualify for the program, said Viridiana Carrizales, its CEO. Now that the DACA applications have reopened, we have so few of our students who are graduating high school right now able to apply, because they are no longer able to qualify, Carrizales said. Cautious optimism The term Dreamers derives from the Development, Relief, and Education for Immigrant Minors Act, known as the DREAM Act, a proposal that polls showed has been popular nationally but was blocked in Congress even before Donald Trump was elected. Dreamers reacted to the election of President Joe Biden in 2020 with cautious optimism. The new administrations reopening of DACA to new applications has caused advocacy organizations to notice an increase in inquiries from first-time aspirants, not just those seeking renewals, and in many cases theyre getting bad news. While, yes, we celebrated that DACA is back and thats great, and folks are able to apply again, theres not many students who can even apply for it, Carrizales said. What Im hearing from a lot of them is a lot of disillusion. Diego Mancha works with ImmSchools and has seen that disillusionment. An adviser for Alamo Colleges who has a degree from UTSA, he qualified for DACA in 2013 and has been renewing his permit every two years since. But 2020 proved more nerve-wracking for Mancha than most years. His latest renewal application was on hold starting in April and he didnt receive approval until the last day of December. This is the longest that it had taken for me to renew, Mancha said. So, I have a current work permit that now expires in 2022. Im hoping that something will happen before next time I have to renew. At Alamo Colleges, Mancha is on a committee that seeks to offer better support to students living in the U.S. illegally. Approximately 61,000 eligible immigrants reached the minimum age of 15 required to apply for DACA while the program was closed to first timers, according to the National Immigration Forum. But these advocates say the few students theyve found who meet the qualifications to apply are having a hard time gathering the required proof of their stay in the country, a month-by-month documentation of their residence up until the application year. If an applicant was brought to the United States in 2005, that would mean collecting 16 years worth of proof. Ive spoken to a few of our students who do qualify but they dont have the records to prove it, Carrizales said. Some could only get a high school transcript because the elementary or middle schools they attended dont keep records longer than five years. Miriam Perez, 19, is one of the lucky ones. Shes in the process of sending a complete DACA application with legal help from ImmSchools. Her family had to gather pictures, school records, school transcripts, shot records, certificates, to show she has been in the country since she arrived in 2003, when she was 2. Perez had been preparing to apply for DACA status ahead of her 16th birthday when the Trump administration halted the program. We had our appointment with our lawyer, she recalled. So, our appointment was pushed back a week, and that week turned into three years where I couldn't apply. Perez not only renewed her hopes of going to college but was able to get a full scholarship through TheDream.US to attend Texas A&M University-San Antonio. She is now a freshman there. The new ask With or without DACA protection, many such students are finding ways to achieve their goals. But for those who have qualified, DACA remains a temporary protection, not a long-term fix. And those without DACA status remain deportable. DACA was a Band-Aid, and the solution cannot be DACA, Carrizales said. The solution cannot be, OK, lets update the requirements for DACA, and check mark that, and lets move forward. We need a permanent solution. DACA was President Barack Obamas response to a long congressional stalemate over comprehensive immigration reform. Thats still the biggest need, not just for people that qualify for DACA, but for really everyone else, Mancha said. I still consider myself undocumented in a way, because with this two-year permit that I have, I feel like Im still not protected. I feel like it can end at any time and I can be sent back. Theres no guarantee the stalemate over immigration will be resolved, but new legislation was introduced last month in the Senate by Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J., and in the House by Rep. Linda Sanchez, a California Democrat. It would include a pathway to citizenship for and an expedited pathway for DACA recipients and their families. It would also grant a six-year lawful prospective immigrant status to qualifying immigrants who arrived illegally before Jan. 1, 2021. Sun says her family doesnt discuss the subject much, to avoid getting their hopes up. She knows a pathway to citizenship would completely change their lives. I would finally be able to get a good job and do many things that Ive always wanted to do, Sun says. Help my mom a little bit more, not be so afraid, be able to see my grandma again finally. I dont know, theres so many things that I would be able to do. danya.perez@express-news.net One person died after a vehicle crashed into a Gettysburg business early Monday morning, according to police. Emergency responders were called to the 500 block of Baltimore Street around 4:20 a.m., police said, and found the vehicle engulfed in flames. The fire had already spread to the two buildings it hit. The fire was too intense to allow emergency responders to determine if anyone was in the vehicle when it was still burning, police said. Everyone out of the building with assistance from emergency responders and Baltimore Street was closed for several hours while crews worked on the fire. Once the fire was out, investigators found one person in the vehicle, according to police. The vehicle was taken to a secondary location so the coroners office could investigate and attempt to identify the body. Police said the vehicle type and owner were identified by the Vehicle Identification Number, but those details were not released as of Monday night. Police said the identity of the driver was being withheld pending notification to next of kin. Portions of one of the damaged buildings had to be removed before the street could safely re-open, police said, and utility crews had to disconnect service to the damaged buildings. Through the initial investigation, police believe the vehicle was speeding, traveling northbound heading into the borough of Gettysburg from Baltimore Street. The driver did not properly negotiate a right-hand curve in the road, ran off the left side of the road and hit the buildings at 529 and 531 Baltimore Street. When the vehicle hit the buildings, it burst into flames, police said. Police thanked all emergency responders for their efforts and assistance with the crash. Anyone with information or who witnessed the crash is asked to call Gettysburg police at 717-334-1168. Read more on PennLive: Marine Corps F/A-18 Hornets have flown off the flight deck of a Navy aircraft carrier for the last time. Members of Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 323, known as the Death Rattlers, returned to California last week after a 10-month deployment with the Nimitz Carrier Strike Group. It was the final F/A-18 Hornet carrier deployment for the Marine Corps, officials said in a news release about the historic mission. The squadron is transitioning to the F-35B Joint Strike Fighter. Read Next: Boeing's Drone Fighter Jet Sidekick Just Took Its First Flight The Hornets flew more than 35,000 flight hours and 14,000 missions during the deployment. They fired nearly 250,000 rounds of ammunition, according to the Marine Corps, while supporting Carrier Air Wing 17 in the Middle East and the Pacific. Rear Adm. James Kirk, Nimitz Carrier Strike Group's commander, said last week that, despite flying the oldest jets on the carrier, the Marines "met the mark," Seapower Magazine reported. "Those maintainers did a great job, and those Marine pilots executed those missions," Kirk added. VMFA-323 supported missions in Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan and East Africa during the deployment. The strike group also operated alongside other carriers in the South China Sea. The squadron has worked alongside the Navy for decades. It supported the Battle of Okinawa under the command of Adm. Chester Nimitz in 1945, according to the Marine Corps, and began preparing for the first of many carrier-based operations two years later. The Death Rattlers also supported Marines fighting in the famous Battle of Chosin Reservoir from the flight deck of the escort carrier Badoeng Strait during the Korean War. The squadron began flying Hornets in the early 1980s and kicked off its first carrier deployment with that aircraft in 1985 aboard the aircraft carrier Coral Sea. "Nearly 35 years after their first carrier deployment in the Hornet, VMFA-323 made history once again while deployed with [the Nimitz strike group] as the last legacy Hornet squadron to integrate with a carrier air wing," Marine officials said last week. The next time the squadron heads out on a carrier, it'll be flying the F-35 Lighting II. Marine leaders say the stealth aircraft will give the sea services the edge as the Navy and Marine Corps face more sophisticated adversaries. Editor's note: This story has been updated to correct the year in which the Battle of Okinawa occurred. -- Gina Harkins can be reached at gina.harkins@military.com. Follow her on Twitter @ginaaharkins. Related: After More than 3 Decades, the Corps' AH-1W Super Cobra Makes its Final Flight Ricardo Brazziell /TNS Gov. Greg Abbott announced the end to his orders first put in place at the beginning of the pandemic. He said "it is now time to open Texas 100 percent," meaning the capacity limit at local businesses will no longer be 75 percent starting next Wednesday. He also said the face mask mandate is no more starting next Wednesday, as well. Iranian health authorities issued a warning over a 'fourth wave' of the COVID-19 epidemic, after registering more than 100 deaths in 24 hours for the first time since early January, state TV reported. "The death of 108 patients of Covid-19 in the past 24 hours is sounding the alarm of the fourth wave of the disease," Sima Sadat Lari, spokeswoman for Iran's Ministry of Health and Medical Education, said at her daily briefing on Monday, Xinhua news agency reported. The new daily figure takes the death toll of the epidemic to 60,181 in Iran. Between Sunday and Monday, the ministry reported 8,510 new infections, Lari said, adding 812 of them need to be hospitalized. The total number of Covid-19 cases registered in Iran stands at 1,639,679, according to the official data. Moreover, 1,399,934 Covid-19 patients have recovered or been released from Iranian hospitals so far, though 3,727 remain in critical condition, said the spokeswoman. Since the beginning of the outbreak in February 2020, a total of 10,912,409 laboratory tests for the have been carried out in the country, the Iranian official said. On Sunday evening, Alireza Raisi, spokesman for the Iranian national headquarters fighting COVID-19, said 187 cases of a variant have been detected in Iran. --IANS int/ (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) 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. Are you a current print subscriber? You qualify for online access to the Omak Chronicle. To receive your access, create a website account and then verify your print subscription or e-edition subscription with your subscriber number, which may be found on your bill or mailing label. Adapt2 Solutions, a leading provider of AI-enabled multi-market operations and power trading software, today announced a new partnership with Xcel Energy, a Fortune 500 Utility headquartered in Minnesota, enabling the company to leverage Adapt2's flagship cloud-native solution, Adapt2 Bid-to-Bill (B2B), for multi-market operations, renewable assets and Western Energy Imbalance Market (EIM) expansion. With access to the cloud-native technology infrastructure managed by Adapt2, Xcel can further scale its energy portfolio to focus on renewable energy and distributed energy resources with confidence while being backed by data insights and predictive analytics provided by Adapt2's Tahoe data lake. "Our expansion into WEIM provided an opportunity for us to evaluate the latest technologies in market operations and the Adapt2 platform was a clear leader, said Jeff Haskins, Power Operations Manager at Xcel Energy. Having a multi-market, streamlined, cloud-native solution will give us the technology and cybersecurity we need to scale into new markets and grow our business." The partnership between Adapt2 and Xcel furthers high-tech transformation concepts for modernizing energy operations. As Xcel moves into WEIM, Adapt2 will support all facets of WEIM operations including EIM Entity Scheduling Coordinator (EESC), Participating Resource Scheduling Coordinator (PRSC), and providing analytics and management reporting on performance. Xcel Energy will automate front and back-office functionalities in MISO, SPP, and WEIM as Xcel Energy continues to lead carbon-emission reduction efforts through onboarding solar and wind assets. "Xcel Energy is a fantastic partner to add to our growing client base of Fortune 500 companies," said Jason Kram, Executive Vice President of Adapt2 Solutions. "Combining our technology innovation with the energy industry innovation of Xcel Energy will further transform energy market operations by providing a dynamic and flexible platform to evolve with changing market dynamics." To learn more about how Adapt2 is accelerating power and gas market operations, visit https://www.adapt2solutions.com/ or follow Adapt2 on LinkedIn (@Adapt2 Solutions) for more information on upcoming energy management webinars. About Adapt2 Solutions: Adapt2 Solutions (Adapt2) is the leading provider of AI-enabled multi-market operations software designed to help market participants streamline all of their front and back-office operations. Founded in 2008, Adapt2 delivers market-based solutions on the latest and most current technologies providing customers with a fast, intuitive, and stable user experience and performance. With over 160 market implementations representing over 2500 market participants, Adapt2 is a leading solution provider in the energy industry. Adapt2 Solutions is a privately held company based in Houston, Texas. To learn more about Adapt2, please visit http://www.adapt2solutions.com. About Xcel Energy: Xcel Energy Inc. is a leading energy-efficient utility holding company based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, serving more than 3.3 million electric customers and 1.8 million natural gas customers in Minnesota, Michigan, Wisconsin, North Dakota, South Dakota, Colorado, Texas, and New Mexico. Xcel Energy was the first major U.S electricity provider with a vision to serve customers with 100% carbon-free electricity by 2050 and to reduce carbon emissions by 80% by 2030 company-wide from 2005 levels. To learn more please visit http://www.xcelenergy.com Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) leaves the Senate chamber at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, on Jan. 30, 2020. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images) Pennsylvania GOP Rebukes Sen. Pat Toomey After Vote to Convict Trump The Pennsylvania Republican Party voted to rebuke Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) for his vote to convict former President Donald Trump. A rebuke is a political function and does not have any power. We are outraged that Senator Toomey took part in an impeachment process that facilitated Democrats tireless obsession with partisan political retribution, read a statement sent by the Pennsylvania Republican Party. Democrats used impeachment as a political weapon, which set a dangerous precedent in America, and Senator Toomey did not stand in their way, their statement added. We oppose the Senators actions in the strongest terms, but we have faith that the voters will properly address public officials who do not satisfactorily represent the best interests of this nation. The vote count was 128124, with 13 abstaining, to approve a statement expressing their displeasure with the senator. Toomey was censured by the York County GOP last month. The Pennsylvania Republican Party this week stopped short of censuring Toomey, who is slated to retire in 2022. Toomey was one of seven GOP senators who joined Democrats in voting to convict Trump last month. The former president was acquitted of allegedly inciting an insurrection during the Jan. 6 Capitol breach. The Epoch Times has reached out to Toomeys office for comment. Toomey explained his vote last month by saying that he voted that way because Trump allegedly urged the mob to march on the Capitol for the explicit purpose of preventing Congress and the Vice President from formally certifying the results, without providing examples. Some Republicans in the state said Toomey should have faced harsher punishment. There are going to be more [ticked] off Republicans now, said Mike McMullen, a GOP committeeman from Allegheny County who wanted to censure the senator, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer. So far, five of seven Republican senators who voted to convict Trump have been censured by Republicans in their home states. Similar actions have been taken against House Republicans who voted to impeach. [Trump is] the leader of the Republican Party, like it not, McMullen said. While the online vote was private, McMullen said he would seek a roll call vote and look to 2022 party elections to target committee members who opposed censure. Theres a group out there, and were coming after your ass, he continued to say. In his speech to the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) on Sunday, Trump called on conservatives to rebuke GOP lawmakers who are grandstanders and voted to impeach or convict him, reading out the names to the crowd. That included Toomey. The former president argued it needs to be done because Democrats, unlike Republicans, operate in a unified manner. Posted Monday, March 1, 2021 4:57 pm Hundreds of drug possession charges in Lewis County are being dismissed after the Washington state Supreme Court issued a ruling that struck down the states felony drug possession law last week. While other drug possession charges such as possession with the intent or delivery of a controlled substance still hold, simple possession of a controlled substance charges that were filed under the states current statute (RCW 69.50.4013) have been deemed unconstitutional as a result of the Feb. 25 ruling, requiring criminal justice systems statewide to go through and weed out all charges filed under the statute. This impacts cases all the way into the 1970s, Lewis County Prosecutor Jonathan Meyer said. On Thursday alone, Meyer estimates that 20 people were released from the Lewis County Jail, and between 50 and 60 active arrest warrants were quashed. And theres really not an option. Thats the only thing you can do when thats the only charge that there is, Meyer said. Cases with more than one charge are being pushed back to their originating agency for review, he said. Defendants who have already been sentenced on a possession of a controlled substance charge will be officially called back to court for resentencing, and if defendants have other felony convictions on their record, theres a chance that those too could be resentenced due to Washingtons sentencing system, which scores offenders based on the severity and number of felony charges are on their record. All of those prior felonies count against you and your time goes up; more points, more time, said Meyer, adding that if felony drug possession charges are revoked, that will lower your score and lower your time for all convictions that occurred after the drug charge. The ruling comes after the Supreme Court voted 5-4 in favor of a Spokane woman who challenged the states drug possession statute after she was found guilty of possession of an uncontrolled substance in 2016. The charge is considered a Class C felony, which carries a maximum sentence of up to five years in prison and fines up to $10,000. A corrections officer had found a small baggie of methamphetamine in the coin pocket of Shannon Blakes jeans and the state charged Blake with possession, despite Blakes defense that a friend had bought the jeans secondhand and she didnt know the jeans had drugs in the pocket. A trial court found that Blake had not met her burden to prove that her possession was unwitting, and found her guilty, according to the Supreme Court decision. Blake appealed the decision, and the Court of Appeals found that statute does not require the state to prove the defendants intent. This case presents an issue of first impression for this court: Does this strict liability drug possession statute with these substantial penalties for such innocent, passive conduct exceed the legislatures police power? wrote Justice Sheryl Gordon McCloud in the ruling. The due process clauses of the state and federal constitutions, along with controlling decisions of this court and the United States Supreme Court, compel us to conclude that the answer is yes this exceeds the States police power. The statute will need to be amended before law enforcement agencies can arrest or charge anyone on drug possession charges, and that new statute would only affect future cases. The Lewis County Prosecutors Office is working closely with the county clerks office, the jail and local defense attorneys to ensure that all affected charges are dropped. I want to make sure that nobody is missed, Meyer said. Credit: CC0 Public Domain The human central nervous systems provide us with the first hint that we're not well. Now, UNSW Canberra researchers are one step closer to developing aircraft that can 'feel' with similar sensory perception. This technology would allow early detection of structural fatigue issues, alerting engineers that an aircraft is in need of a health check. Aerospace and Aviation researcher Dr. Graham Wild said the development of Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) systems could significantly reduce the number of aircraft fatigue accidents, such as the catastrophic engine failure on a Boeing 777 over Denver in February 2021. "Early findings from the investigation into the Boeing 777 flight over Denver last week suggest that a fan blade may have sheared, causing significant damage to the rest of the engine," Dr. Wild said. "Aircraft engines are the number one location of fatigue failure with significant temperature and rotational or wear forces impacting parts. With most individual components only inspected by sight every 100 hours of flying time it can be very difficult to understand when underlying fatigue issues are happening, Dr. Wild said. "Our research is exploring how acoustic technology, interpreted by machine learning, can 'listen' for minor changes in the sound signatures components create, giving real-time insights and feedback into a holistic health monitoring system. "The core of our research is to develop a system where the aircraft is proactively monitoring its own health and can tell us when it is not 'feeling well," removing the need for human inspection and increasing aviation safety. Dr. Wild believes that the large-scale implementation of Structural Health Monitoring technology in aviation could commence within the next decade, citing the emergence of new industries such as Urban Air Mobility (UAM) as a driving force. "The introduction of Urban Air Mobility in our cities will dramatically increase the number of flying vehicles. The large number of flying hours and proximity to populations demand the best in safety, which in part will rely on these vehicles having Structural Health Monitoring systems," Dr. Wild said. The research, a collaboration between UNSW at ADFA and Edith Cowan University, was supported by the US Office of Naval Research Global, and was published in the International Journal of Prognostics and Health Management. Explore further Metal fatigue suspected in Boeing 777 engine scare More information: International Journal of Prognostics and Health Management, DOI: 10.36001/IJPHM.2021.v12.i3.2368 As the extended territorial disputes continue pitting powers against one another in Asia, Chinese armed forces vowed not to lose a single inch of their ancestors' land and even annex new ones. As a response to a question on the National Defense of China strategy, the Information Bureau of the Chinese Defense Ministry emphasized in their statement, which was published Monday, that they cannot lose a single inch of the lands that they inherited from their ancestors. The Chinese Defense Ministry also added that they would not also take a single cent from others' possessions. The remarks echoed the comments that the President of China Xi Jinping made during a visit to Beijing in June 2018 by then-Defense Secretary James Mattis. Since then, the tensions have worsened between the two largest economies in the world, which expanded the rift in their rival geopolitical views in locations like Taiwan, and naval territories like the East and the South China Seas. However, According to Newsweek, the Information Bureau said Beijing could both seek to safeguard Chinese sovereignty and remain at peace at the same time. Based on the statement, the socialist nature of China, Independent foreign policy of peace, and the Chinese cultural tradition of peace are the most precious, as the Chinese Armed Forces are determined that China will be unswervingly pursuing a defensive National Defense policy and insist on never seeking any territorial dominance. Moreover, the statement also mentioned that the never expanding and never seeking spheres of influence are the distinctive features of China's national defense in the new era. Besides, since the foundation of what the authorities of China called 'New China' or its establishment of the People's Republic by the Chinese Communist Party in 1949, also mentioned in the statement that the leadership in the country has never provoked a war, and they have never invaded even a single inch of territory from any other country, BBC reported. Read also: 47 Hong Kong Democracy Activists Charged Under National Security Law On the other hand, China has also battled against separatist movements and fought numerous conflicts within its borders, including India, Vietnam, and the former Soviet Union. Meanwhile, in an ongoing dispute that incorporates these things, China continues to threaten forced reunification with Taiwan, an autonomous island led by a government that called itself the Republic of China after losing a civil war with the mainland, South China Morning Post reported. Even the United States switched international recognition from Taipei to Beijing in 1979. Still, the US continued and maintained formal ties by providing military assistance to Taipei despite the Chinese protests. The said policy was even expanded by Former US President Donald Trump and current President Joe Biden, who has continuously supported Taiwan. Biden's administration has also rejected China's claims to the South China Sea with contested land formations such as Paracel Islands and Spratlys. The Western country has conducted 'freedom of navigation' operations in the area, which other international partners also join, which challenge the position of the Chinese Armed Forces. Related article: Myanmar's Deadliest Day since Military Coup Leaves 18 Protesters dead, UN says @ 2021 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Excellent Drilling Results From Peyes Farm Gold Project Perth, Mar 2, 2021 AEST (ABN Newswire) - Horizon Minerals Limited ( ASX:HRZ ) is pleased to announce further excellent high grade drilling results from the 100% owned Peyes Farm gold project, part of the Teal project area located 10km north west of Kalgoorlie-Boulder in the heart of the Western Australian goldfields (Figures 1 and 2*).HIGHLIGHTS- Infill and extensional drilling completed at the 100% owned Peyes Farm gold project, part of the Teal gold camp, 10km northwest of Kalgoorlie in the Western Australian goldfields- The drill program comprised 49 RC and three diamond holes for 3,808m to a maximum depth of 132m testing extensions to the supergene zone and improving JORC classification- New shallow high grade drilling results received from Peyes Farm include:o 8m @ 8.53g/t Au from 52m including 4m @ 14.2g/t Au from 52m (PFRC20026)o 6m @ 5.33g/t Au from 30m including 1m @ 22.0g/t Au from 30m (PFRC20025)o 16m @ 2.03g/t Au from 24m and 12m @ 2.39g/t Au from 48m (PFRC20018)o 4m @ 1.56g/t Au from 28m and 4m @ 6.58g/t Au from 60m (PFRC20043)o 4m @ 5.94g/t Au from 60m and 4m @ 1.09g/t Au from 72m (PFRC20009)o 12m @ 2.16g/t Au from 32m and 4m @ 1.47g/t Au from 60m (PFRC20008)o 8m @ 3.92g/t Au from 28m (PFRC20029)- Results demonstrate excellent width and grade continuity within the supergene zone with mineralisation remaining open to the north and south- Current Mineral Resource Estimate for Peyes Farm stands at 0.53Mt @ 1.70g/t Au for 28,860oz at a 1g/t Au lower grade cut-off- Latest assay results will enable compilation of an updated Mineral Resource Estimate due for completion in the June Quarter 2021- Open cut mine optimisation and design studies will then be completed for maiden Ore Reserve generation as part of the consolidated Feasibility Study- Further extensional drilling is planned at Peyes Farm later in 2021 as part of the organic growth planCommenting on the latest drilling results, Horizon Minerals Managing Director Mr Jon Price said:"Peyes Farm sits 100m to the east of the Jacques Find project and the latest results continue to demonstrate the quality of these multiple parallel mineralised structures that extend across the entire Teal project area with over 1,500m of continuous strike length.""Our aim is to define a number of these supergene deposits for open pit mining as we did with the successful Teal mine 400m to the north. We now look forward to releasing the updated resource and maiden reserve in the coming months and building the project into the long-term production plan."The Teal camp comprises the Teal, Jacques Find and Peyes Farm deposits and is one of four core satellite gold project areas being advanced to complement the baseload Boorara gold project as part of the consolidated Feasibility Study to deliver an initial five-year mine plan and underpin the establishment of a stand-alone processing facility at the Boorara mine site.The program at Peyes Farm is the first since the highly successful drilling campaigns completed by the Company in 2017 delivering a Mineral Resource Estimate of 0.53Mt grading 1.70g/t Au for 28,860oz at a 1g/t Au lower cut-off grade.In the December Quarter 2020, the Company completed 49 Reverse Circulation ("RC") and three diamond holes for 3,808m to a maximum depth of 132m. The aim of the drilling was to:- Infill a number of areas within the current mineralised envelope to improve JORC classification to the Measured and Indicated categories for Ore Reserve generation;- Extend areas of supergene mineralisation beyond the current resource model; and- Provide diamond core for additional geotechnical assessment and confirmatory metallurgical test work for mine optimisation, design and economic analysis.Project GeologyAs with the Jacques Find gold project immediately to the west, the Peyes Farm gold deposit comprises a well-defined supergene blanket located above shears and quartz within structurally controlled felsic schists, tuffs, sediments and porphyry rocks at depth. Mineralisation is strongly influenced by cross cutting structures and stratigraphy to the north to northwest striking shear zone which trend parallel to the regional geology.Gold mineralisation is developed in a flat lying oxide supergene deposit located between 24-75 metres vertical depth and in primary mineralisation within a sub-vertical shear zone. The mineralisation trends northerly over a strike length of approximately 500 metres.*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. Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-02 23:15:04|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry (R) and his Sudanese counterpart Mariam al-Sadiq al-Mahdi attend a press conference after their meeting in Cairo, Egypt, March 2, 2021. Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry and his Sudanese counterpart Mariam al-Sadiq al-Mahdi stressed on Tuesday that Ethiopia's possible second phase filling of the Nile dam unilaterally would pose a direct threat to water security of Egypt and Sudan. (Xinhua/Ahmed Gomaa) CAIRO, March 2 (Xinhua) -- Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry and his Sudanese counterpart Mariam al-Sadiq al-Mahdi stressed on Tuesday that Ethiopia's possible second phase filling of the Nile dam unilaterally would pose a direct threat to water security of Egypt and Sudan. The remarks came during the two ministers meeting in Egypt's capital Cairo, where the two diplomats tackled a number of issues of common interest, according to a joint press statement released after the meeting. The two ministers highlighted the importance of reaching a binding legal agreement on filling and operating the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) that would achieve the interests of the three countries, preserve the water rights of Egypt and Sudan, and limit the damages of the project to the two downstream countries. Shoukry and his Sudanese counterpart also stressed that they have political will and a serious desire to achieve this goal at the earliest possible opportunity, urging Ethiopia to show goodwill and engage in an effective negotiation process. They also expressed appreciation for the efforts made by South Africa during its presidency of the African Union in guiding the path of the GERD negotiations. The two ministers also affirmed that their countries are adhered to the proposal made by Sudan and supported by Egypt on developing the negotiation mechanism sponsored by the African Union through the formation of an international quartet led and managed by the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the current chair of the African Union. Ethiopia started building the GERD in 2011, while Egypt is concerned that the dam might affect its 55.5-billion-cubic-meter annual share of the Nile water. Sudan has recently been raising similar concerns over the 4-billion-U.S.-dollar dam. Over the past few years, tripartite talks on the rules of filling and operating the GERD, with a total capacity of 74 billion cubic meters, have been fruitless, including the early ones hosted by Washington and the recent ones by the African Union. Meanwhile, the two ministers reviewed various regional and international issues of common interest, including the developments in Libya, Palestine, Syria, Yemen and other countries in the region, according to the statement, During the talks, the two sides discussed opportunities to develop investment cooperation as well as the available fields for Egyptian companies to invest in Sudan in a way that achieves mutual interests of both countries. The ministers' discussions also dealt with means of boosting trade relations and economic exchange between the two countries. Enditem A vigil was held Monday outside Town Hall in Stratford to recognize COVID-19 victims and survivors. A total of 145 Stratford residents have died from COVID-19, according to numbers from the town. There have been 3,725 confirmed cases, and 405 probable cases. Mondays ceremony followed the national call by President Joe Biden to memorialize victims and survivors, as well as a call for recognition by the U.S. Conference of Mayors. Mayor Laura Hoydick read a proclamation honoring victims, followed by remarks by Reverend Simeon Law of the Stratford United Methodist Church. We have come a long way since this pandemic began, and while we have further to go, it is important that as a community we pause and reflect on those we have lost, and those who have fought the virus and survived, Hoydick said in a statement. Eurovision organisers overnight re-affirmed a Plan B for the event in Rotterdam in May. One of 4 previously outlined strategies, Plan B allows for all artists Live in Rotterdam, but with limited or no audience members, subject to government regulations. A COVID-safe plan will include regular testing, social distancing observed, with 500 journalists (a further 1000 in a new online press centre) and scaled-back events in the city of Rotterdam. All those attending from abroad are recommended to go into quarantine for 5 days before departure to the Netherlands and they must test negative for COVID-19 at most 72 hours before they fly. Once in the Netherlands, delegations have to stay in their hotel, except when they travel to Rotterdams Ahoy Arena for rehearsals, the live shows and other programme related activities. Should circumstances change in the coming weeks the event may still be scaled down. The spirit and tradition of the Eurovision Song Contest is about uniting Europe on one stage and we are very much still determined to achieve this in Rotterdam in May, said Martin Osterdahl, the Eurovision Song Contests Executive Supervisor. We are moving forward with our plans to produce a safe Eurovision Song Contest, with all artists performing live in Rotterdam. This protocol demonstrates our commitment to make this happen, with the health and safety of everyone attending, including crew and press, our top priority, he added. In recent months, a lot of hard work has been done behind the scenes on this extensive Health and Safety protocol, in order to allow us to stage this years Eurovision Song Contest in a responsible manner, added Sietse Bakker, Executive Producer Event of the 2021 Contest. With the help of extensive testing, mask wearing, hygiene measures, attention to ventilation and innovative measures, we will create an environment in which crew, artists and the press can work as safely as possible. 41 public service broadcasters will submit entries for the 65th Eurovision Song Contest. 2 Semi-Finals will be staged on Tuesday 18 and Thursday 20 May at the Rotterdam Ahoy Arena in the Netherlands. The Grand Final, featuring 26 songs, will be held on Saturday 22 May at 21.00 CEST (May 23 Australia). Australias Montaigne is yet to unveil her song but is performing at the Sydney Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras this Saturday, which is produced by local Eurovision experts Blink TV. One guess what she will be performing Related SALISBURY Through the efforts of seven local women, 130 people in need recently got to enjoy a hot meal. The effort, launched last week, was the first Souper Supper by Community Cares, the organization name the women have chosen for themselves. People who signed up with the group ahead of time received vegetable soup, bread rolls, cheese, an orange, a brownie, and tea bags donated by Harney & Sons. Community Cares is a name that we gave to a group of friends who have been concerned with whats been happening during this last year, since the pandemic has taken up and changed so much of our lives, said Salisbury resident Kathy Voldstad, 67, one of the organizers. The women plan to continue serving meals monthly. The next dinner is planned for the end of March. We are very aware people in our community are suffering, either from a financial situation or just from loneliness in so many other ways, Voldstad said. Families are educating their kids and working from home. Everybodys housebound. Voldstad said she and the other women wondered for a long time what they could do to help out, and brainstormed many ideas. Now that were getting vaccinated, we wanted to try to reach out and we came up with this idea, she said. To spread the word about their effort, the women distributed fliers throughout their community, to Salisbury Family Services, the Corner Food Pantry, Chore Service which provides jobs and housing assistance and on social media. They also told local supermarkets. For those who have been on the front lines, making sure that everything was working for this past year during the pandemic, we wanted to see if we could make them dinner, she said. Those who were interested in getting a meal signed up ahead of time, and the list kept growing. We didnt need to know anyones circumstances, Voldstad said. If they felt the need of a meal, we were happy to provide them with a meal. When looking for a commercial-sized kitchen they could use to prepare and serve the meal, the Congregational Church of Salisbury was very generous and offered to let us use their kitchen, Voldstad said. We made a menu and bought food and started fixing it. Freunds Farm Market in the East Canaan neighborhood provided the raw ingredients for the soup, such as green beans, cabbage, celery, onions, potatoes, zucchini and carrots. We picked up the ingredients on Tuesday. On Wednesday, we had a team chopping up vegetables and cooking them up. Thursday, we ladled it into the containers and Friday, we assembled the bags, she said. People came to the church to pick up their orders. For those unable to their their homes, we had several delivery crews, she said, adding she delivered about 20 meals to a local retirement community. Aside from wanting to respond to a need in her community, Voldstad said the hot meals are a way of paying it forward. There was so much enthusiasm, and the word spread around town, she said. It was really wonderful, especially after this last year, that we could reach out in the community. sfox@milfordmirror.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. With export turnover of $2.04 billion, the US surpassed China to become the largest consumer of Vietnamese agricultural products in the first two months of 2021. The latest report of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development shows that the total import and export turnover of agricultural, forestry and fishery products in the first two months of this year is estimated at nearly $11 billion, of which exports are estimated at $6.17 billion, an increase of 16.6% year on year. Imports are estimated at $4.8 billion, up 13.6%. The trade surplus is about $1.37 billion, up 28.4% over the same period of 2020. Export turnover of many key export agricultural products grew strongly during this time. For example, rubber export value reached about $516 million (up 9.9%); tea $29 million (up 11.1%); cashew nuts $442 million (up 21.5%), vegetables $610 million (up 14.6%); wood and wood products about $2.44 billion (up 51.0%); and rattan and bamboo products $128 million (up 43.0%). Notably, with export turnover of about $2.04 billion, an increase of 57.3% over the same period and accounting for more than 33% of market share, the US became the largest customer of Vietnamese agricultural products during this time. Following the US was China, with export revenue of $1.88 billion, up 57.9% over the same period last year and accounting for 30.53% market share. ASEAN ranked third with export turnover of $606 million, up 25.2%, accounting for 9.82%. In the coming time, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development will focus on trade promotion activities. Regarding export markets, it will focus on issues related to market regulations and technical barriers in free trade areas (FTAs) consistent with the development of the Covid-19 epidemic. The Ministry will also strive to increase exports of dragon fruit and passion fruit. In the domestic market, the Ministry will continue to monitor, collect and summarize information and data on prices, production and supply of agricultural products in the country, especially in Covid-hit provinces, and will implement the campaign calling for Vietnamese people to use Vietnamese goods in the 2021-2025 period. T. An Treasurer Josh Frydenberg has recently indicated the government is considering introducing more flexibility to the nations retirement saving system . (Sam Mooy/Getty Images) Treasurer Considers Adding More Flexibility to Superannuation System Treasurer Josh Frydenberg is considering whether to introduce more flexibility into the nations retirement saving system. Speaking on Feb. 27 at a retirement income forum hosted by the Council on the Ageing (COTA), Frydenberg signalled that the government would like to see more flexibility in the sector to allow people to better balance their working life and their retirement income. He noted that while the current system provided options for people who wanted to save more for retirement, it was very limited for people who wanted to save less to maintain their quality of life now. While compulsion will remain an important part of our system, providing Australians with more flexibility should not be seen as an attempt to undermine the system overall, he said. Far from it. The earlier Australians interact with the system, the more engaged they will be and the more ownership they will feel over their own savings, he continued. More flexibility also means better accommodating the many different circumstances Australians finds themselves in over the course of their lives. The comments from Frydenberg come after the Retirement Income Review, released in November last year, found that the Australian retirement income system is effective, sound and its costs are broadly sustainable. A point Frydenberg noted was demonstrated by the early release of the superannuation savings as part of the federal governments CCP virus response package. Early release of superannuation in many cases allowed people to stay in their homes, keep their kids in school and provide for their families during an exceptionally challenging period in their lives, he said. The Review found, because of our robust multi-pillar system even a person who accessed the maximum $20,000 today will still have an adequate income in retirement. Superannuation Guarantee Comes at the Expense of Wages However, Frydenberg noted there was a trade-off between the superannuation guarantee (SG) and wages, a highly controversial topic dividing politicians and industry. The federal government, Reserve Bank and retirement experts are concerned that any increase will affect real earnings and living standards of Australians right now. It is a concern backed up by the Review which found that a higher superannuation guarantee means lower wages for employees, with the people most affected by high default settings those with lower incomes. No-one should be surprised by this or find it controversial, Frydenberg said. It was part of the original policy design of the superannuation system. Frydenberg argued that superannuation contribution increase is not the only solution to lifting retirement income, nor is it the panacea to all the issues related. There are a number of ways that individuals can significantly boost their retirement incomes without having to increase their superannuation contributions. One of the Reviews key findings was that homeownership and voluntary savings are just as important as compulsory superannuation contributions in sustaining an adequate retirement income. Also, more efficient use of savings in retirement can have a bigger impact on improving retirement income than increasing the Superannuation Guarantee. If people efficiently use their assets, then with the SG rate remaining at 9.5 percent, most could achieve adequate retirement incomes when combined with the Age Pension, he said. According to Treasurys estimation, the resulting increase in retirement income could be over $100,000 for a median-income earner. Frydenberg has indicated the government will continue to pursue policies focusing on increasing the super systems efficiency and lifting homeownership, including pushing forward Your Future, Your Super reforms, First Home Loan Deposit and First Home Super Saver Scheme. Before leaving the White House on Jan. 20, then-President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump received their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine earlier in the month, a Trump adviser said Monday. The former first couple received their second shot while in Florida as private citizens. The adviser did not, however, disclose whether the Trumps received the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine. It was not immediately clear why Trump and his wife kept their inoculations a secret for several weeks or why he didnt mention it at a much-heralded political speech Sunday. Trump had earlier declined to get the vaccine after his doctors cited potential complications related to the monoclonal antibody treatment he received when he contracted the virus last September. Doctors generally recommend that people get vaccinated even if they have previously had COVID-19 since some people can get infected more than once. Conservative Republicans are among the groups most reluctant to take the vaccines and are also supportive of Trump. The former Republican president has been famously skeptical of other public health measures, particularly mask-wearing. But the 45th president reminded a cheering crowd at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Orlando, Florida, on Sunday that hes the one who gave America the chance to get vaccinated. This was us. We did this. And the distribution is moving along, according to our plan, Trump said. Its moving along really well. So everyone get your shot, he added. 2021 New York Daily News. Visit at nydailynews.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. No Beijing, only Delhi says former Nepal PM on ties with India India oi-Vicky Nanjappa New Delhi, Mar 02: Former Prime Minister of Nepal, Baburam Bhattarai on Tuesday assured India that Kathmandu is not leaning towards China and wants good ties with New Delhi. Bhattarai is in Delhi for his health check. He said that his country is going through a political crisis and it wants to bring back political stability and ensure good ties with India. "Some people in Delhi feel Nepal is completely leaning towards China, which is not the right perception. Historically, we have been closer to India. China is also our friend but we don't interact with them that much because they lie on the other side of the Himalayas," the former PM told ANI. Ready to face parliament, Nepal PM Oli in no mood to resign Farmers' Protest: Delhi's Ghazipur border partially opens for vehicular traffic| Oneindia News "Nepal is going through a crisis. Nepal Communist Party that had formed a government with a majority is almost divided into two factions...This is not right for a country's democracy when Parliament is dissolved midway to give way to instability," he also said. The woman responsible for drawing attention to a sexual abuse epidemic in Sydney's elite private schools has drafted eight topics that must be taught in sex education classes to give students a well-rounded understanding of consent. More than 5,000 young women shared harrowing stories of sexual abuse at the hands of first boyfriends, male friends or older schoolboys in a viral petition demanding better sex education in schools. Chanel Contos, the 22-year-old former Kambala School student who created the petition, will meet with principals from at least 10 private schools in Sydney late on Tuesday to discuss changes to the curriculum which would benefit students most. Enthusiastic consent, sexual coercion and the harms of sl*t shaming are among eight topics Ms Contos has identified as crucial to a teenager's education. Ms Contos believes earlier education in schools and at home would be beneficial for both boys and girls More than 20,000 people had already signed the petition by Tuesday, while some 1,484 testimonies had been posted and another 4,000 were waiting to be reviewed and shared Sexual Coercion Sexual coercion is characterised as an act which pressures a victim into performing a sex act or makes them feel guilty for choosing to not participate. I would cave even when I knew I definitely did not want to have sex with him. In a survey conducted by Ms Contos on her Instagram, 87 per cent of participants said they weren't taught about sexual coercion in the classroom. Ninety four per cent said they wished they were taught more about the topic. An overwhelming number of women who shared their own stories of sexual abuse in the petition said they were coerced into having sex with their abuser. 'I was dating a boy from Sydney Grammar who would constantly pester me for sex and when I would say no he would coax me into changing my mind by saying things such as ''it's only because I am so into you'', ''I can't help how you make me feel'' or most concerningly, ''if you actually cared about me or loved me you would do this'',' one woman recalled. 'It would make me feel guilty and cave even when I knew in my head that I definitely did not want to have sex with him.' Thousands of girls who attended Sydney private schools has claimed they were sexually assaulted and raped by private school boys. Pictured: Chanel Contos is calling for better sex education Victim Blaming Victim blaming is an attitude or implication that the victim of the assault was partially or entirely responsible rather than the accused. This includes when a victim is told they somehow provoked the assault - usually based on the way they dressed, acted or spoke. I still regret that I got so drunk Hundreds of women said they were made to feel as though they couldn't report their abuse while they were still at school because of rampant victim blaming. 'I woke up in an ex-Cranbrook boy's bed with him on top of me and his friend lying next to me as they both took turns having sex with me. I was drunk and have no recollection of how I got there,' one young woman revealed. 'I still regret that I got so drunk, I couldn't even explain what had happened because I don't remember what led to it,' another said. In Ms Contos' survey, 89 per cent said they were not taught about victim blaming, and 97 per cent wish they had a better understanding of it. At least 22,000 people have signed the petition or shared stories of their own alleged assaults. Pictured: Chantel Contos, who said she was forced to perform oral sex on a boy Toxic Masculinity Toxic masculinity is a relatively new phrase used to explain the traditional societal and cultural norms men are expected to conform to. This culture does not condemn bad behaviour among men and instead hypes it up while simultaneously degrading or belittling women. Ms Contos' original petition revealed that most of the private schoolboys in question often considered women conquests or prizes, and were rewarded for 'sleeping with other girls, regardless of how they made it happen'. Sl*t Shaming Young women - and occasionally men - are 'shamed' or criticised based on the amount of sexual partners they've had, their sexual history or even for things as trivial as the way they dress or act. For many of the women now anonymously coming forward to share their sexual abuse stories in school, they were sl*t shamed for acts they later learned were not even consensual. 'My rapist said I ''couldn't say no to sex'' because I was a ''slut'' who'd already had sex with other people,' one of the young women recalled. In Ms Contos' Instagram survey, 97 per cent of respondents said it must be taught in the classroom and the concept of a 'sl*t' must be dispelled by having in depth conversations about sex and healthy relationships. Chantel Contos, the 22-year-old former Kambala School student who first started the petition, was motivated by stories of teenagers who weren't aware they had been abused until it was too late Jacqueline Hendriks, who runs Curtin University's sexology curriculum, said young people need to be taught how to have 'really positive, enjoyable sexual relationships' in school Enthusiastic Consent 'If it's not hell yes! It's no', is the mantra that should be enforced to both boys and girls in the classroom, Dr Hendriks explained. Enthusiastic consent is the process of repeatedly, openly and excitedly being engaged in a sexual act, rather than simply 'going along with it' or 'waiting for a partner to say no'. 'Students need to be taught it's not simply a case of ''yes'' or ''no''. People must be actively and enthusiastically engaging for consent to be given,' she said. 'It's not just stumbling forward and into something and hoping the person doesn't say no.' According to Ms Contos' survey, 95 per cent want lessons on enthusiastic consent to be more thorough in sex education classes. This should also cover when and why a person may not be able to give informed consent - including if they're intoxicated or under a certain age. How to introduce the concept of 'consent' at a developmental age Dr Hendriks says sex education is important at any age - as long as it is age appropriate. Children start learning about the human body during primary school, and by grades five and six, they should be entering early discussions about puberty, to align with changes happening to their own bodies. The next step, starting from early high school, is to begin discussing sex. But Dr Hendriks says it is never too early to learn the meaning of consent. KINDERGARTEN TO YEAR FOUR While students in this age group mightn't necessarily be using the word 'consent', they should be learning about the necessities of giving and gaining permission. A kindergartener might be taught that they must ask to use a toy if another student is already playing with it, or ask to borrow colouring in pencils. Similarly, students are taught they have the right to say no to these requests. If a child is enjoying playing with a certain toy, they do not have to grant permission to another child to use it simply because they asked nicely. As students get older in this age bracket, they are taught that it is okay to not want to hug or kiss a family member, that they can say no to certain requests among peers on the playground and that they have the autonomy to make their own choices. YEAR FIVE AND YEAR SIX The final stages of primary school are when students are generally given lessons on puberty, how our bodies change and a more thorough look at the differences in male and female anatomy. Students are more likely to ask questions about the human body and discussions around consent and choices become more practical. HIGH SCHOOL Dr Hendriks says high school students should be taught via a 'sex positive' education program which reminds them (at an age appropriate level) of all the benefits and 'positive' outcomes of sex. She said current curriculums tend to focus heavily on the negatives like sexually transmitted infections and early pregnancy, while not touching on why so many people have sex in the first place. Students 'want to learn more about relationships, falling in and out of love and moving on' instead of focusing wholly on the repercussions of the activity itself. Schools must also ensure they are being inclusive in their sex education, which is something that 'can be improved across the board' she says. In particular, classroom discussions still tend to be heteronormative, which mightn't be as beneficial for every person in the classroom. Advertisement Rape Culture There are concerns that conversations about female pleasure and sexualisation help to stimulate a rape culture in which society is no longer shocked or outraged when a person is sexually assaulted. Among thousands of female testimonies about sexual abuse in private Sydney schools, several young men admitted that they were aware of assaults happening but it had become normalised and was not frowned upon among peers. 'I can recall countless instances of boys with stories of both sexually harassing and assaulting women. Looking back, the way it's bragged about amongst peers is also extremely frightening,' one former Scots College student said. Jacqueline Hendriks, who runs Curtin University's sexology curriculum, told Daily Mail Australia pornography was a 'huge issue' for young men and the promotion of rape culture. 'Studies show 80 to 90 per cent of pornography is really violent, aggressive, there is minimal communication let alone explicit consent. The safe sex practices like condoms aren't really prevalent and anal sex is quite popular,' she said. 'If that's what they're digesting online and that's what they think sex is, then they're more likely to try to be more aggressive or perform violent acts.' Chantel Contos (pictured) will meet with principals on Tuesday to discuss specific sex education lessons Female Pleasure Dr Hendriks explained that current curriculum in schools is 'negatively skewed' and often discusses the potential ramifications of sex - like pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections - without properly clarifying the positive outcomes. In turn, young women are reporting that they weren't aware of how they should have felt before, during and after sex, which often allowed them to be coerced. We want to teach young people to have positive sexual relationships Several victims explained that they were pressured into having sex because a boy told them he would be in physical pain if she didn't 'help him finish' after arousing him. 'It was never explained to me that men and women have very similar feelings of frustration and discomfort in that moment. I thought if I didn't do as he said I had physically hurt him,' one of them said. Dr Hendriks said educators can no longer simply teach the bare minimum and said statistics show more young people are having sex. 'We need to keep up with the times... Ideally, we want to teach young people to have really positive, enjoyable sexual relationships,' she said. Several victims explained that she was pressured into having sex because a boy told her he would be in physical pain if she didn't 'help him finish' after arousing him Queer Sex Education The final topic Ms Contos raised as of crucial importance is queer sex education and a deviation from the hetero-normative lessons being delivered in schools. As an increasing amount of students no longer publicly identify as straight, it is important that every student in the classroom feels educated and included in sex ed discussions. In her survey, 97 per cent of respondents said they were not taught queer sex ed in the classroom, while 92 per cent said it must be included in an updated curriculum. To read more harrowing submissions from victims or to sign Ms Contos' petition, visit the Teach Us Consent website. If this story has raised issues for you, please contact 1800 Respect 1800 737 732, Lifeline 13 11 14, beyondblue 1300 224 636, Domestic Violence Line 1800 65 64 63 A man and a woman have been issued with 10,000 fines for failing to quarantine after returning from Dubai, police said. Merseyside Police said fixed penalty notices for failing to comply with travel regulations were issued to two people from the Wirral after they avoided a direct flight back from the country, which is currently on the foreign travel red list, to one of the specified ports of entry required for quarantine. A force spokesman said they received a report last Tuesday that a man and woman had failed to quarantine after returning from Dubai. Following an investigation, both were issued on with a 10,000 fine on Friday and transported to a designated quarantine hotel. The man and woman returned from Dubai on an indirect flight before going back to the Wirral instead of hotel quarantine (stock photo) A member of the NHS Test and Trace team arrives at the Holiday Inn hotel near Heathrow Airport which is being used as a quarantine hotel. Merseyside Police took the man and woman in the Wirral to a hotel after fining them Chief Inspector Chris Barnes said: 'Strict rules around international travel have been put in place by the Government for a reason, and to disregard them in this way is selfish, inconsiderate, and potentially dangerous. 'Currently, the regulations mean that if you are a British or Irish national, or you have residence rights in the UK and are returning from a country on the foreign travel red list, you must quarantine in a Government-approved hotel for 10 days. 'If you are required to quarantine at a hotel, you can only arrive in England at certain ports of entry. 'In this instance, the pair in question avoided a direct flight route back from Dubai to one of the specified airports in an attempt to evade this process. 33 'high-risk' nations from which arriving travellers will have to quarantine in hotels Angola Argentina Bolivia Botswana Brazil Burundi Cape Verde Chile Colombia Democratic Republic of the Congo Ecuador Eswatini French Guiana Guyana Lesotho Malawi Mauritius Mozambique Namibia Panama Paraguay Peru Portugal (including Madeira and the Azores) Rwanda Seychelles South Africa Suriname Tanzania United Arab Emirates (UAE) Uruguay Venezuela Zambia Zimbabwe Advertisement 'However, this was ultimately unsuccessful and has now resulted in a significant fine of 10,000 each. 'I hope this incident sends out a clear message to anyone considering breaching travel regulations in this way that we will not tolerate it, and you will be dealt with robustly. 'We are at a crucial point in the pandemic and it's vital that everyone continues to abide by the restrictions so that we can meet the criteria needed for lockdown to ease. 'By not doing so, you are not only jeopardising this process, but recklessly putting your health and the health of others at risk.' Last week it was revealed that around 1,200 people are currently in a number of Government-approved quarantine hotels to prevent mutant variants of coronavirus from high-risk countries including Portugal from spreading around the UK. MPs were told that more than 100 people a day are going into the hotels at London Heathrow Airport, where they must stay for 10 days at a cost of 1,750 for the accommodation on risk of criminal prosecution. However, the Government has not yet released data on how many people have tested positive for coronavirus since going into a quarantine hotel, with ministers expected to publish an update in the coming weeks. The rules say you cannot enter the UK if you've been in or through a country on the banned travel list in the last 10 days, unless you're British, Irish or you have the right to live in the UK. If you do enter, you must either quarantine where you're staying or in a managed quarantine hotel for 10 days Arrivals who lie about where they have been could be jailed for a maximum of 10 years, and if they leave before the end of quarantine they could be fined a maximum of 10,000. I dont think that ignoring it makes it go away. Helen Haines, the independent MP for the Victorian seat of Indi, said the conjecture was so intense that the cabinet was being compromised. Loading Replay Replay video Play video Play video So the nation will be best served if the minister makes a public statement, she said. Tasmanian Senator Jacqui Lambie said the minister should suck it up and make a public statement. Every man and his dog knows [who it is] so hes only digging his hole deeper, she said. Loading If he has nothing to hide then come out and face the music. Labor leader Anthony Albanese has not called for the cabinet minister to step aside or face an independent inquiry, saying the decision was up to Mr Morrison. The strong views on the crossbench raised the prospect that someone would name the minister in Parliament when it resumed on March 15, setting a deadline for the government. The accused minister knows who he is, the entire parliament knows who he is, Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young said. If he is innocent he should step forward and declare it. The integrity of his ministry and the entire government is now in question while he remains in hiding with such a grave allegation levelled against him. Senator Hanson-Young was one of several politicians including Mr Morrison, Labor Senator Penny Wong and Liberal MP Celia Hammond who received an anonymous letter last week about the womans claims. A public statement by the cabinet minister would seek to follow the precedent set by Mr Shorten when he stood alongside his wife, Chloe, and announced in August 2014 the Victorian Police had closed its investigation. I will not go into details, except to say the allegation was untrue and abhorrent, Mr Shorten said at the time. The Labor deputy leader at that time, Tanya Plibersek, said Mr Shorten couldve carried on without ever expressing the fact the report was about him, and she said his statement would draw a line under the matter. Richard Marles, now the Labor deputy leader, described the statement as a courageous step and said the result made it clear there was no case to answer. The woman who alleged the cabinet minister raped her made her claim to the NSW Police in February last year, but the state investigation was suspended in June when she took her own life. The South Australian Police is investigating the womans death in her home city of Adelaide on behalf of the state coroner. There is no public timeframe on that process and no decision on whether to hold an inquest. With claims about the case being referred to federal and state police, NSW Police Commissioner Mick Fuller sought legal guidance on the investigation and received formal advice it could not continue. The NSW Police statement said the woman did not detail her allegations in a formal statement last year and other documents were not enough to continue the case. Following the womans death, NSW Police came into possession of a personal document purportedly made by the woman previously. NSW Police have since sought legal advice in relation to these matters. Based on information provided to NSW Police, there is insufficient admissible evidence to proceed. As such, NSW Police Force has determined the matter is now closed. Australian Federal Police Commissioner Reece Kershaw played down the options for the federal agency to investigate further, given the accusation of rape was a state matter. The AFPs role is to liaise and support and provide whatever advice those jurisdictions need in this matter, he said. Crossbenchers were divided on whether to name the cabinet minister if he did not make a public statement. Loading I am only aware of the person via rumours, so no, Centre Alliance Senator Stirling Griff said when asked if he would name the man. South Australian Senator Rex Patrick said parliamentary privilege had to be used very carefully but he supported steps to identify the man. I think there is public interest in the minister being named. But I think in order to do that the person who does the naming must have first-hand knowledge, Senator Patrick said. African American men in Cuyahoga County have a 60% increased risk of being diagnosed with prostate cancer and an 80% increased risk of dying from prostate cancer compared to white men, according to data from the Case Comprehensive Cancer Center. With a new $2.75 million, three-year grant from the Bristol Myers Squibb Foundation, researchers at the Case Comprehensive Cancer Center at Case Western Reserve University will collaborate with a team of community partners in a different approach to fight this health disparity. The Cleveland African American Prostate Cancer Project, directed by Erika Trapl, an associate professor in the department of Population and Quantitative Health Sciences at the Case Western Reserve School of Medicine, will develop and implement a comprehensive, sustainable, community-based program to increase the number of African Americans screened for prostate cancer. Trapl, the research project's principal investigator, director of the Office of Community Outreach and Engagement at the Case Comprehensive Cancer Center and director of the Prevention Research Center for Healthy Neighborhoods, said prostate cancer does not have any known modifiable risk factors, so early screening is the only way to reduce prostate cancer mortality. "The best bet," she said, "is to identify prostate cancer early and reduce late-stage diagnosis." To do so, Trapl has established a team of researchers that includes expertise in cancer disparities, social work, bioethics, culturally-specific intervention development, urology, genetic epidemiology, community outreach and dissemination and implementation science. The collaboration includes the Case Comprehensive Cancer Center Community Advisory Board, the Urban Barber Association, Cleveland Department of Public Health, Office of Minority Health, The Gathering Place, University Hospitals Seidman Cancer Center, Cleveland Clinic Taussig Cancer, MetroHealth Cancer Center and the Cleveland Institute for Computational Biology. The team hopes to engage other partners as the work grows. The project is designed to develop and evaluate a community-based prostate cancer screening program, increase the number of African American men who receive baseline prostate-specific antigen (PSA), establish awareness of prostate cancer risk and reduce cancer disparities. Elevated or continuously rising levels of PSA--proteins produced by the prostate gland--could be a sign of prostate cancer. Studies to define the normal range of PSA levels are based on mostly white populations. By establishing a baseline for African American men at an earlier age, researchers can establish baseline PSA ranges to help detect cancer at an earlier stage. The initiative has four objectives: Create a culturally and linguistically appropriate approach to prostate cancer screening education and testing in partnership with barbers, community navigators and health care providers. Develop and implement a Community Navigation program that provides supportive services and returns screening results, ensuring that the needs of participants and their families are met. Implement prostate cancer education and screening in barbershops with African American men (ages 40 and older). Convene regional grassroots and institutional partners to raise awareness of prostate cancer disparities and screening. From our experience addressing health disparities and helping to eliminate barriers to equitable access to quality healthcare around the world, we recognize that this program has the elements needed for success. Through the innovative approach that recognizes the value of barbershops as community hubs, strong, deep collaborations facilitated by patient navigators and a comprehensive and strategic plan for implementation and evaluation, we are confident this program will deliver positive impact in the fight against prostate cancer for African American men." Catharine Grimes, Program Director, Bristol Myers Squibb Foundation Focusing on communities most at risk of suffering the impacts of serious diseases in the regions of the world that are hardest hit, the Bristol Myers Squibb Foundation empowers partners to build innovative solutions to advance health equity and improve access to quality healthcare for patients. Its programs are addressing cancer, cardiovascular disease, and immunologic disease, as well as clinical trial diversity in the United States, and prevalent cancers in Africa, Brazil and China. The idea for the project was born in a Case Comprehensive Cancer Center Community Advisory Board meeting last year. Budding research questions are presented to the group to ensure community needs are considered from the beginning of a project through execution. Complicated science was distilled to simplified images and metaphors, making it easier to understand. Waverly Willis, a member of the Community Advisory Board, acknowledges a history of distrust between minority people and others coming into their neighborhoods and communities. "You have to be tactful and meet people where they are," said Willis. Barbershops make up part of the fabric of the neighborhood and are a trusted environment, said Willis, owner of Urban Kutz barbershop, executive director of the Urban Barber Association and chairman of the Ohio Barber and Beauty Alliance. "Our board pushed us to bring the work to locations central to men's lives, such as barbershops," Trapl said. "From there, the idea has taken off, thanks to the partnership of people living in this community facing these genuine issues. We hope it will become a national model." Popular Bollywood actor Tiger Shroff is celebrating his 31st birthday today (March 2, 2021). While his family dug out rare childhood pictures to wish him, fans too showered him with love and birthday messages on social media. In a recent interview with Hindustan Times, Tiger's father and actor Jackie Shroff opened up about the War actor's birthday tradition and revealed that he usually plants a tree in his name. The tabloid quoted Jackie as saying, ""I usually plant a tree in his name, and my boy would have planned something for himself, his mother and the little baby Krishna. I have a shoot that day, so they must have planned something in the evening, probably dinner at home." The senior actor said that it is a moment of pride when people acknowledge him as 'Tiger's daddy.' "That is what I always wanted. It is like you go through waves, you go up and down, and suddenly my son has got onto a different rise, because everyone has accepted me as Tiger's dad. They like my work, but it is like a cherry on top. He is like a cherry on my head," Jackie gushed over his son. Speaking about Tiger's personal life, the young star is rumoured to be dating his Baaghi 2 co-star Disha Patani for quite a few years now. From vacaying together to going out for lunch/dinner dates, the lovebirds have been painting the town red with their romance. When Jackie was quizzed about Tiger's marriage plans with Disha, the Radhe actor replied, "He is married to his work right now. I don't think he is going to defocus because once he focuses on something then he has a laser like focus. If he gets married, I know he will be going to focus on that." Meanwhile, on Tiger's 31st birthday today, Disha penned a sweet birthday wish for him. She shared a picture of her rumoured beau from his Maldives trip and wrote, "happy b'day "the Casanova" @tigershroff". For those unversed, the actress was referring to Tiger's latest single 'Casanova.' ALSO READ: Happy Birthday Tiger Shroff: Krishna Shroff Shares Unseen Childhood Pictures Of Her 'Bestest Friend Forever' ALSO READ: Happy Birthday Tiger Shroff: 5 Actresses We Would Love To See Opposite This Action Star! There are currently 15 gas stations in Petaluma, and city officials have decided that the small North Bay city doesn't need any more. The ban after a unanimous city council vote this week makes the Sonoma County city the first in the nation to halt the construction of new gas stations. The city is also targeting zero emissions by 2030, and encouraging current fossil fuel gas stations to transition to battery and hydrogen cell stations. Existing gas stations will not be allowed to add more pumps, though they can instead add more infrastructure for electric vehicles. "Within Petaluma there are multiple gas stations located within a 5-minute drive of every existing residence," the resolution states. "Therefore, there are adequate gas stations to serve existing and future internal combustion vehicles to the extent as they continue to exist." Environmental nonprofit Stand.earth, which supported the campaign, hopes the move will encourage similar rulings across the state. Theres no need for new fossil fuel infrastructure, from gas stations to pipelines to refineries, Matt Krogh, campaign director at Stand.earth, told Gizmodo. In California in particular, where state climate targets are required by law, new gas stations will have a short shelf life, and could be abandoned before they make enough money to pay for their own shut down and clean up. This gas station ban is a common sense step to not get further bogged down by fossil fuel infrastructure. The burning of fossil fuels is exacerbating a climate crisis that has played an "undeniable role" in the wildfires that have devastated California in recent years, according to the Scientific American. "The science is clear," the magazine wrote, "More than half of the acres burned each year in the western United States can be attributed to climate change. The number of dry, warm, and windy autumn days perfect wildfire weather in California has more than doubled since the 1980s." Last year California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed an executive order banning the sale of new cars with an internal combustion engine starting in 2035. California Air Resources Board will develop regulations to mandate that 100 percent of in-state sales of new passenger cars and trucks are zero-emission by 2035," Newsom's office said at the time, "a target which would achieve more than a 35 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions and an 80 percent improvement in oxides of nitrogen emissions from cars statewide. The ex-president was a polarizing figure, a firebrand who relished in ruffling the feathers of opponents to the left. At home, he demonized immigrants and ethnic minorities and aped the rhetoric of the far right. His penchant for shattering norms, including efforts to politicize the judiciary, drew the ire of critics. Abroad, he raised eyebrows after conspicuously courting Middle East potentates. His glamorous wife, at least for a time, was more admired than him. Eventually, the public tired of his act and the support of a motivated base proved insufficient; he became a one-term president, cast out of power by a national electorate eager for a return to "normalcy." Stripped of the shield of presidential immunity, he then found himself mired in spiraling legal battles. He raged against the "grotesque" witch hunt against him, but could not forestall an ignominious reckoning. No, we're not talking about former president Donald Trump. On Monday, a French court found former French president Nicolas Sarkozy guilty of corruption and influence peddling. He was given a three-year sentence, two years of which were suspended. He may still avoid actual jail time following appeals, but the reputational damage, at the very least, is done - Sarkozy is only the second head of state in modern France to be convicted of corruption. The echoes of what's happening to Sarkozy ought to be ringing loud for Trump. Despite considerable differences in the political contexts where they operated, the two share elements of a political style. In his memoir published last year, former president Barack Obama described Sarkozy as an incorrigible narcissist, "his chest thrust out like a bantam cock's . . . never straying from his primary, barely disguised interest, which was to be at the center of the action and take credit for whatever it was that might be worth taking credit for." Both Trump and Sarkozy demanded absolute loyalty from those around them - as a Le Monde editorial once noted, with Sarkozy it was either "allegiance or vengeance." And they harnessed a divisive, angry agenda to get their way. "After Sarkozy's million-miles-an-hour presidency, France - like America now - was running on fumes," wrote CNN's Cyril Vanier last year. "The country was exhausted. For many voters, the passions unleashed, the acrimony, the national soul-searching hadn't been sustainable." Trump was impeached an unprecedented two times by the House on charges including abuse of power; Sarkozy is now contemplating a spell in prison for the same. "The charges against Sarkozy, who was president between 2007 and 2012,were centered around the question whether the former French leader was behind a deal with a magistrate to illegally receive information on inquiries linked to him, using false names and unofficial phone lines," explained my colleague Rick Noack. "According to the prosecution, Sarkozy and his then-lawyer and longtime friend Thierry Herzog attempted to bribe the magistrate, Gilbert Azibert, by offering him a high-profile position in return for information. The incident took place after Sarkozy had left office." Sarkozy also faces other legal woes, including allegations that he received campaign funding from the late Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi in 2007, an investigation into whether he fraudulently overspent in his failed 2012 reelection bid and a probe launched January into alleged influence-peddling after Sarkozy signed a lucrative contract with a Russian insurance company. In court, Sarkozy rejected the various charges against him. "Never abused my influence, alleged or real," he said in December. "What right do they have to drag me through the mud like this for six years? Is there no rule of law?" But prosecutors argued that he was finally facing the consequences for his abuse of power. "The events would not have occurred if a former president, as well as a lawyer, had kept in mind the magnitude, the responsibility, and the duties of his office," prosecutor Jean-Luc Blachon told the court in Paris as the trial concluded. The legal dragnet is tightening around Trump, too. While Republican senators guaranteed his second acquittal on impeachment charges last month, Trump as a private citizen still faces a crowded slate of criminal and civil litigation, including his role in stoking the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, his pre-presidency business dealings and defamation claims by women who allege he assaulted them, claims he has denied. The allegations are in some instances far more grave than those associated with Sarkozy. But though the stain of illegal activities doomed Sarkozy's attempt at a political comeback in 2016, Trump seems still in pole position to make a new bid for the presidency in 2024. He took center stage Sunday at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference and, unrepentant, once more delivered his customary airing of grievances and falsehoods. Rather than work to sideline the former president, the bulk of the Republican Party appears still in his thrall. That may change as the legal cases against Trump and some close allies start to catch up. "There has to be some consequence for telling these lies - because when you lie to people, they take action based on what they think is true," said Philadelphia City Commissioner Al Schmidt, a Republican who received threats after false allegations of fraud in the counting of the city's votes, to The Washington Post. "Because it's such a dangerous new thing that occurred, there has to be some reconciliation. Moving on isn't enough." She was portrayed as the 'bride from hell' on Married At First Sight, but Ines Basic is laughing all the way to the bank. In an interview with the Unpopular podcast this week, the 31-year-old confirmed she was still making a living as a professional Instagram influencer more than two years after her season originally aired in Australia. The former legal assistant also confirmed her follower count had skyrocketed since MAFS aired in the UK, leading to higher rates for sponsored posts. Influencer: Married At First Sight villain Ines Basic is laughing all the way to the bank these days thanks to her lucrative career as a social media influencer 'It's amazing because I've been getting some really good work opportunities with the UK - large, massive brands,' she said. 'I don't know if any Australian has done it yet, maybe Tammy Hembrow has,' she added, referring to the popular Aussie influencer. 'I've got that coming up in one or two weeks, I'm just confirming with my management.' Raking it in: 'It's amazing because I've been getting some really good work opportunities with the UK - large, massive brands,' she told the Unpopular podcast this week The Bosnian's beauty's fashion credentials are well established, with several of the outfits she wore on Married At First Sight selling out in stores when her season aired in Australia in 2019. First, the camouflage zip dress Ines wore during her secret rendezvous with Sam Ball sold out on online store The Iconic. Ines did it again with the figure-hugging raspberry frock she wore to the first reunion dinner party. Selling out: Ines' fashion credentials are well established, with several of the outfits she wore on Married At First Sight selling out in stores when her season aired in Australia in 2019 Fashionista: The figure-hugging raspberry frock Ines wore to the first reunion dinner party sold out online after her episode aired The $40 Sienna Rose dress from Australian designer Bianca and Bridgett sold out on their website shortly after the episode aired. The next night, Ines wore a red leather Alice McCall dress worth $450, which also flew off the shelves after viewers saw her in it on screen. Despite her success as a fashion and beauty influencer, Ines is still determined to use her platform to give back. Big bucks! The former legal assistant confirmed her follower count had skyrocketed since MAFS aired in the UK, leading to higher rates for sponsored posts She's preparing to launch her own product line, with 10 per cent of sales set to go to a Bosnian children's charity. The sixth season of Married At First Sight Australia recently finished airing in the UK to record-breaking ratings. Due to the show's explosive success, seasons seven and eight of MAFS will also air in the UK sometime this year. Risk appetite fell on Tuesday as disappointing economic data piled on top of warnings from Chinese regulators that US and European stock markets were over-priced compared to economic growth and Chinas own domestic property prices were in a bubble. Australias stock market turned a 1 per cent opening gain into a 0.4 per cent decline, closing 27.3 points lower at 6762.3 points. BHP hit an all time high of $50.81 before closing 1.9 per cent lower at $49.13. And Rio Tinto also hit new highs of $130.30 before closing 0.4 per cent lower at $127.18. Shaw and Partners investment advisor Craig Sydney said Tuesdays session was weak, but only when compared to Mondays surprisingly strong session. We are only back to where we were last Wednesday, he said. I think there is an element of profit taking and we were probably getting a bit ahead of ourselves this morning...I guess our market, unlike the US, is not so dominated by tech. Futures markets were pointing to declines on Wall Street overnight after very strong sessions on Monday. Australian housing approvals data plunged 19.4 per cent, seasonally adjusted, compared to expectations of a milder 3 per cent fall in January. Chinas financial regulator dampened risk appetite during Tuesdays session, warning about assets bubbles in US and European financial markets and property bubbles in China. Portfolio manager at Tribeca Investment Partners, Jun Bei Liu, noted this commentary would have spooked markets, even though Chinese authorities have been warning about leverage for some time. It is as we expected, but the equity market does not like the commentary, she said. Australias gross domestic product data was due out on Wednesday and was expected to be quite reasonable given what we have seen in terms of activity on the ground, she added. The consensus forecast was for quarterly growth of 2.5 per cent. Both Oil Search and Qantas dropped after going ex-dividend, while Fortescue Metals fell 4.7 per cent, and Afterpay dropped 1.7 per cent on news a major competitor was building a $US1 billion warchest. Gold miners dragged as falling bond yields eased inflation concerns. And Telstra dragged with a 1.3 per cent fall to $3.11. Commonwealth Bank, ANZ, and NAB closed higher, while Westpac declined slightly. And supermarket stocks Coles, Metcash, and Woolies outperformed the index. Bengaluru, March 2 : Karnataka BJP MLC, A.H. Vishwanath on Tuesday expressed his desire to be part of the ongoing Kannada version of the Bigg Boss reality show, which is in its eighth season now. Maverick BJP leader, Vishwanth is known for his witty and acerbic remarks. He started his political journey in the Congress from early 70s till recently after his feud with Karnataka Kuruba strongman, Siddaramaiah, who is now leader of the opposition. Bigg Boss show in Kannada is hosted by Kannada superstar Kiccha Sudeep. He was recently seen in the role of a villain opposite Hindi superstar Salman Khan in Dabangg 3. "My friends in the Kannada movie industry are asking me to be part of the current Bigg Boss show. I am also thinking of appearing on the show," he told reporters. He added that he had been receiving feelers from the show makers for the last two or three seasons, but he could not take up the assignment due to the longer duration of stay in Bigg Boss house. "It is a good show, I can be part of but only if I am allowed to stay there for three or four days as a guest not as an inmate," he said. Vishwanath is one among the 17 legislators of the Congress and Janata Dal (S) who defected from their parent parties to join the BJP in 2019. After their resignations, the Congress-JD(S) coalition government headed by H.D. Kuamraswamy came down crashing. After quitting the Congress, Vishwanath joined JD(S) as its state unit president and won the Assembly election in 2018 but lost in 2019 by-elections after joining the BJP. Atorvastatin API market 2020 could procure a growth rate of 3.34% between 2018 and 2023 (analysis period), confirms Market Research Future (MRFR). MRFR also reveals that the market size can reach USD 425,804.16 thousand by 2023. We will provide COVID-19 impact analysis with the report, along with all the key developments since the coronavirus disease outbreak. Atorvastatin API Market Key Boosters and Deterrents There has been a significant change in consumer preference when it comes to medications, following the COVID-19 outbreak. The novel coronavirus pandemic has had a positive impact on the pharmaceutical industry, especially in relation to cardiac therapies, anti-diabetic and respiratory. Other segments like vitamin, pain therapies and gastro seem to be struggling, owing to the slackened demand. This could be due to the growth in chronic heart, diabetics and lung diseases following the onset of SARS-CoV-2, prompting people to buy more of drugs with respect to these ailments. Get customized Sample with complete Toc, Inclusive of COVID-19 Industry Analysis @ https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/7885 Studies have confirmed that the higher level of cholesterol boosts the chances of being infected by the SARS-CoV-2 infection. This is a major reason for the elderly population being the prime target for the pandemic. Therefore, the surge in COVID-19 impact despite the worldwide lockdown and cases of cardiovascular diseases are expected to be favorable for the atorvastatin API market. The surging cases of obesity and the resultant increase in LDL cholesterol and triglyceride levels in light of the rising prevalence of sedentary lifestyles has also bolstered the global position of the atorvastatin API market. Increasing kidney disorders along with the high drug dosage common among elderly people to bring down cholesterol levels can also induce considerable market growth in the coming years. Increasing approval by the FDA of vast range of drugs encouraging more and more pharma companies to come up with new and innovative medications also enhances the consumption rate of atorvastatin API. Atorvastatin API Market Segmental Insight The atorvastatin API industry has been studied extensively by MRFR experts, with respect to applications. The key applications covered in the market report are hypertriglyceridemia, dyslipidemia, hypercholesterolemia, and more. Out of these, the hypercholesterolemia category can take the lead in the global market and touch a valuation of USD 210,753.23 thousand by 2023-end, estimates MRFR. Hypercholesterolemia cases across the globe have doubled in recent years, given the increasing adoption of lifestyle choices like bad eating habits, tobacco consumption and lack of exercise, all of which increase the cholesterol level in the blood. Some other secondary factors giving rise to these cases can be dialysis, alcohol intake, diabetes mellitus (Type 2), monoclonal gammopathy, obesity, and more. In a nutshell, the growing prevalence of hypercholesterolemia worldwide can help the segment record the fastest CAGR of 4.09% between 2018 and 2023. Atorvastatin API Market Regional Study Some of the key markets for atorvastatin API globally include Europe, Asia Pacific/APAC coupled with Europe and North America. In 2017, with the biggest share of 40.64%, North America secured the lead in the global market and is projected to record a CAGR of 3.10% during the conjectured period. Alarming surge in heart diseases in conjunction with bad eating habits and rise in obesity are major reasons behind the market lucrativeness in the region. Technological innovations in drugs along with the expanding supply channel networks of leading firms in the region also adds to the projected growth. APAC is a promising market and is soon expected to garner the fastest growth rate, while China can be the fastest expanding market in the region, with a rate of 5.86% from 2018 to 2023. Growing employment rate, surge in hectic lifestyles and mounting health concerns among people have led to higher demand for atorvastatin APIs in the pharma industry. Promising pipelines and the spike in hypercholesterolemia cases also bolster the market growth in the region. The European industry is presumed to cross USD 131,094.04 thousand by the year 2023, thanks to the massive prevalence of hypercholesterolemia as well as mixed dyslipidemia. France, followed by the UK, is the biggest gainer in the regional market, as a majority of the pharmaceutical companies in the country are striving to expedite their research and development to produce huge volumes of drugs. Atorvastatin API Industry Players Highly reputed industry players considered in the market study are Centrient Pharmaceuticals (The Netherlands), Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd (India), Morepen Laboratories Ltd (India), Jubilant Life Sciences Ltd (India), Cadila Pharmaceuticals (India), Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd (Israel), Ind-Swift Labs Ltd (India), Anuh Pharma Ltd (India), Dr. Reddy's Laboratories Ltd (India), Zhejiang Hisun Pharmaceutical Co Ltd (China), to name a few. Get Premium Research Report, Inclusive of COVID-19 Impact Analysis, Find more information @ https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/atorvastatin-api-market-7885 About Market Research Future: At Market Research Future (MRFR), we enable our customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through our Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services. Kody Brown is fed up. The Sister Wives stars bad mood was on full display in the Feb. 28 episode of his familys TLC reality series. Kody and his four wives were at odds with each other over what to do with the familys Coyote Pass property. Also at issue was his fractured relationship with first wife Meri Brown. It all made for a grumpy Kody, as he admitted while live-tweeting the episode. Kody Brown and his sister wives clash over Coyote Pass Kody Brown of Sister Wives | Stephen J. Cohen/Getty Images RELATED: Sister Wives: Kody Brown and His Wives Explain Why They Felt Like Second-Class Citizens in Utah This episode of Sister Wives actually opened with some two pieces of good news for the Brown family. First, Meri and Kodys daughter Mariah Brown and her fiancee Audrey are moving back to Utah, much to the delight of the entire family. Second, Christine Brown has finally received an offer on her Las Vegas house. Its the last of the familys four properties in Nevada to sell. Unloading the Vegas home means the Browns can put that chapter in their lives behind them. But it also means it will be harder than ever to put off dealing with their Coyote Pass property in Arizona. The Browns hope to build homes on the land for each wife, but they dont appear to be anywhere close to starting construction. The wives are ready to begin work on the project, but Kody admits hes stalling, in part for financial reasons. Plus, theres still disagreement about where each wifes house will be located. Christine suspects Kody actually wants everyone to live separately, while Kody wonders if he should just sell the property. Are Kody Brown and Meri Brown still together? RELATED: Sister Wives Star Meri Brown Jokes That Shes Throwing a Wrench Into Fan Speculation About Her Marriage to Kody Brown The fault lines in Kody and Meris marriage were also on full display in the most recent Sister Wives episode. Though Robyn tries to play peacemaker between the two, Meri and Kody seem unable to see eye-to-eye on anything. Shes still one of his sister wives, but the relationship appears to be hanging by a thread. In an interview segment, Meri declares shes left the ball in Kodys court. But Kody sounds like hes done with the marriage. If Meri and I really wanted to be together, we would, he says. He also complains that Meri burdens him with her emotions, and he cant take it anymore. Im not carrying this burden, because theres no reason that I should, he says. Kody calls plural marriage his toughest challenge Thanks for joining us. I have to apologize for being grumpy, Im feeling a bit cynical this season. Plural marriage is my toughest challenge. See you next week. PEACE! #SisterWives Kody Brown (@realkodybrown) March 1, 2021 Kody took to Twitter to share his thoughts as the episode aired. Though he insisted the family has big plans for Coyote Pass, he also admitted he was grumpier than usual in this episode something his wives dont really appreciate. Thanks for joining us, he tweeted. I have to apologize for being grumpy, Im feeling a bit cynical this season. Plural marriage is my toughest challenge This isnt the first time Kody has expressed that he might be disenchanted with polygamy. In the Sister Wives Season 15 premiere, he confessed he could no longer be an advocate for plural marriage. I have all the love I want, he said, but admitted his wives might not feel the same way. Im more aware now than I ever was before of the apparent and obvious unfairness in the relationship, he said. Plural marriage is a struggle, he added. I wonder if I would do it again, knowing what I know. Check out Showbiz Cheat Sheet on Facebook! Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-02 16:29:47|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close KATHMANDU, March 2 (Xinhua) -- A massive fire that broke on Tuesday morning has gutted around 40 houses at Dobhan Bazaar, a small town, in Taplejung district of eastern Nepal. The fire that started from a cloth shop of local Bhola Poudel at around 8:30 a.m. local time spread rapidly, engulfing over half of the town within a few hours. The houses were connected to each other which made the fire spread easily, Shiva Bhattarai, a local from the town whose brother's house was completely destroyed, told Xinhua over phone. "Most of the houses were constructed of wood and stones roofed with zinc sheets." He said different types of shops, hotels and a remittance center turned into ashes by the fire. Hours of efforts from the local, security forces and a fire extinguisher from Phungling, the district headquarters, brought the fire under control after four hours, though it was not completely extinguished by 1 p.m. local time. The incident site, which borders Meringden and Aathrai Triveni rural municipalities of the district, is the second biggest market after Phungling. "This is a huge loss to our place," Ganesh Bahadur Limbu, chairperson of Mringden Rural Municipality, told Xinhua. "We are holding a meeting with the chief district officer, security forces and the local leaders to ascertain the actual loss." Limbu said, though property worth millions got destroyed, there was no loss to human life. Enditem [March 02, 2021] Reblaze Disrupts Web Security with Curiefense; Brings Open Source, Cloud Native Security to the Enterprise SUNNYVALE, Calif., March 02, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Reblaze , a leading cloud native, fully managed application security solution provider, today announced the general availability of Curiefense . Designed to disrupt web security, Curiefense is a unified, open source security platform protecting cloud native applications and APIs in the enterprise. According to Gartner , more than 75% of global organizations are predicted to run containerized applications in production by 2022, up from less than 30% in 2020. This exponential growth is indicative of the modern enterprises shift to cloud native architecture. Meanwhile, the range of cyberattack vectors is expanding, creating new and evolving challenges for securing modern ecosystems. The modern enterprise requires scalable security that is built into the environment from the beginning, while ensuring complete control and privacy of customer and user data. For organizations looking to adopt open ecosystems, legacy security solutions present challenges for developers and engineers. From third-party data access concerns to lack of service mesh integration, these challenges create an unfriendly and potentially less secure environment for innovation. Reblaze has launched Curiefense to address cloud-native security needs and obliterate these challenges by adopting an open platform, collaboration-driven model. Curiefense builds upon modern practices such as GitOps and provides native security support for containerized deployments such as Kubernetes and service meshes such as Istio. In addition, Curiefense gives developers the ease of deployment and extensibility of open source applications, while offering a full suite of API and application protection, incluing DDoS, WAF, and advanced bot detection. While legacy providers decrypt, analyze and store customer traffic on proprietary infrastructure, Curiefense maintains complete privacy, eliminating the need for third-party access to customer traffic and data. Full specifications of Curiefense include: GitOps based, drivable via API or UI Application and API protection including DDoS, WAF, advanced rate limiting, and session flow control Real-time analytics/metrics, integrated with Prometheus/Grafana and ELK stack Built-in automated threat feeds + bring your own Advanced bot detection/biometric human verification Premium services including machine learning-based, automated security configuration and 24/7 support The range, frequency and severity of cyberattacks is ever evolving and security is no longer just a CISO/CSO issue; its a developer issue, said Tzury Bar Yochay, CTO and co-founder of Reblaze. Open source is the new frontier for security companies. To defend the modern enterprise, collaboration is key. We are excited to announce Curiefense and partner with the Envoy, Kubernetes and other cloud native communities to bring enterprise security to developers at scale. Modern cloud native deployments need sophisticated edge networking security and, historically, open solutions have lacked in this space, said Matt Klein, creator of Envoy Proxy. Curiefense takes a new open approach to an age old problem and I am very excited to see this unique solution on the market. The Envoy community looks forward to working with the Curiefense team to iterate and collaborate on this critical initiative. The modern security landscape is rapidly evolving, and we must always look ahead to the next technological evolution to ensure we are one step ahead of nefarious actors, said Chris Ferreira, Principal Engineer, Architect for WebEx Platform, Cisco. Curiefense marries the historical ability of Web Application Firewall with the new frontier within microservices; this allows us to truly put our customers, their data and development needs first. Supporting Resources Curiefense Quick Start Guide GitHub Repo OReilly Katacoda Demos Reblaze Blog Curiefense Blog About Reblaze Reblaze is a cloud-based, fully managed security solution provider for sites, web applications, services, and APIs. Its unified and proprietary technology solution is fully integrated with AWS, Azure, Google, and Digital Ocean, and combines Machine Learning, adaptive threat detection, and dedicated Virtual Private Clouds to protect client assets from Internet threats. It offers next-gen WAF, autoscaling DoS/DDoS protection, Bot Management, API Security, CDN integration, real-time traffic control, and more via its intuitive web-based management console. Biometric human detection and Behavioral Analysis identifies and blocks even sophisticated modern bots that mimic human actions and can evade traditional bot mitigation solutions. In addition to its international partner network, Reblaze has offices in the U.S., Singapore, and Israel. Media Contact Reagan McAfee Offleash for Reblaze reblaze@offleashpr.com [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] The San Antonio Police Officers Association on Tuesday stepped up its campaign against a ballot initiative that would remove the unions ability to collectively bargain. The initiative, listed as Proposition B on the May 1 ballot, would repeal what is known as Chapter 174, which gives police officers the right to negotiate a contract with the city through collective bargaining. An organization called Fix SAPD gathered more than 20,000 signatures to get it on the ballot. Danny Diaz, the union president, accused Fix SAPD of lying to voters about the real objective of their campaign and wanting to defund the police department. Diaz said at a news conference that taking away the unions ability to collective bargaining is a form of defunding. Youre taking away the officers rights to bargain with the city, pay, insurance, those types of things, he said. On ExpressNews.com: Ballot initiative to gut San Antonio police union draws opposition from AFL-CIO Fix SAPD board member James Dykman refuted the unions claims, stating Fix SAPD is not about defunding. Were about providing a means to police accountability while ensuring officers are still protected, he said. We find that repealing 174 doesnt offer any mechanism to defund the police. Any insinuation that it does is pretty much just a blatant attempt at misinformation to the public, he added. By repealing 174, the organization hopes to foster more community input in future contract negotiations to hold officers more accountable, according to Ananda Tomas, the organizations deputy director. Fix SAPD has pushed for police reforms since the nationwide outcry over the killing of George Floyd, an unarmed Black man, by Minneapolis police. Alonzio Hardin, the president of the San Antonio Black Police Officers Coalition and a 14-year veteran with SAPD, can see both sides and said that while there needs to be changes, repeal of collective bargaining isnt the solution. We especially in the Black community know we must look at ways to work closer with the community and examine reform, said Hardin, who spoke on behalf of the unions stance at the news conference. The answer is not to defund the police, Hardin continued. Defunding the police hurts Black families, hurts Black communities and makes our neighborhoods less safe. But thats not what Fix SAPD is aiming to do, organization officials said. We know that police misconduct affects communities of color most of all, Tomas said. Creating a contract where we hold officers more accountable and have better discipline, it can only benefit Black and brown communities. Diaz and Hardin were concerned that organizations listed as partners of Fix SAPD on its website want to cut police department funding. Dykman countered by saying, Outside organizations dont define our mission, we do. On ExpressNews.com: 'A step in the right direction': San Antonio continues contract negotiations with police union The union and the city are negotiating a new contract, and city officials are pushing for changes in the departments disciplinary rules. If the contract is negotiated, ratified by union members and adopted by City Council before the election, and then voters decide May 1 to repeal Chapter 174, the contract would remain in force and collective bargaining would end after it expires, according to Liz Provencio, the first assistant city attorney. The current contract expires Sept. 30. Even if voters approve the proposition in May, police officers could still negotiate wages and benefits through meet-and-confer talks with the city. Other major cities in Texas, such as Houston, Dallas and Austin, use that method instead of collective bargaining. We are moving forward with a system that resembles that of other cities across Texas, said Fix SAPD co-founder Ojiyoma Martin. We are trying to (go) along with them in paying our officers more, taking care of our officers, but also ensuring that our officers are held accountable. But if the proposition is approved, the city would not be required to enter into labor negotiations with the union, SAPOA negotiator Ron DeLord has said. The next bargaining session takes place at 12:30 p.m Friday. The last day to register to vote is April 1, and election day is May 1. 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. 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We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has assured interstate travellers they could feel confident about holidaying in Queensland over Easter, when most of the states hotel quarantine workers would have received their first vaccine jab. A flurry of southern visitors was expected to boost Queensland tourism during the Easter long weekend, which coincides with the start of school holidays. Travellers arriving at Brisbane Airport. Credit:Jono Searle/Getty But many people remain apprehensive about crossing state borders after a series of snap closures during the summer holidays. Since the start of the year, Queensland has closed its borders for short periods after more contagious strains of the coronavirus seeped out of quarantine and into the community. Credit: CC0 Public Domain Austria and Denmark have further dented the European Union's already fragile coronavirus vaccine solidarity by announcing plans to team up with Israel to produce second-generation vaccines against COVID-19 variants. Chancellor Sebastian Kurz plans to visit Israel with Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen later this week and confer with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on vaccine research and production cooperation. Kurz said Tuesday that his country and Denmark intend to stop relying solely on the European Union for coronavirus vaccines. As part of its strategy, the EU has six contracts for more than 2 billion doses of vaccines, with Moderna, AstraZeneca, Sanofi-GSK, Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer-BioNTech and CureVac. It is in negotiations with two other manufacturers, but only three vaccines have been approved for use so far in the bloc. Amid delays in production and deliveries of shots, the rollout of vaccines to the EU's 27 member states is lagging far behind that of Israel and some other countries including the U.S. and Britain. According to the EU, almost 33 million doses of vaccine have been given so far, but only 11 million Europeans have been fully vaccinated. Israel, a country of 9.3 million people, has immunized over half of its population since late December. Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz speaks behind a plastic shield at a press conference at the federal chancellery in Vienna, Austria, Monday, March 1, 2021. The Austrian government has moved to restrict freedom of movement for people, in an effort to slow the onset of the COVID-19 coronavirus. (AP Photo/Ronald Zak) Kurz said in a statement to the Austria Press Agency that it was right in principle to take a European-wide approach to inoculations, but maintained that the European Medicines Agency, the EU medical regulator, has been too slow to approve vaccines and pointed to companies' delivery shortfalls. "We must prepare for further mutations and should no longer be dependent solely on the EU in the production of second-generation vaccines," he said. Kurz said Austria and Denmark "will no longer rely on the EU ... and will in the coming years produce doses of second-generation vaccine for further mutations of the coronavirus together with Israel as well as researching jointly treatment possibilities," APA reported. Asked whether the move would undermine the EU's vaccine strategy, EU Commission spokesman Eric Mamer said all member states want to continue to be part of it, Denmark's Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen gives a coronavirus media briefing in the Mirror Hall of the Prime Minister's Office in Copenhagen on Wednesday Feb. 24, 2021. Frederiksen announced the first phase of arrangements to reopen society from national lockdown restrictions because of the COVID-19 virus. (Jens Dresling/Ritzau via AP) "The point is that none of the member states has signaled in any way that they want to receive less doses based on our EU vaccine strategy," he said. "What certain member states are looking at is how to prepare the future. We will continue with our vaccine strategy exactly as before and continue to adapt as the situation evolves." Mamer added that, with 27 member countries and a population of 450 million, the EU faces a much bigger challenge than Israel. "It's not as if you can take one model and simply stick it on the European Union and say: That's what you should be doing," Mamer said, adding that each country is in charge of its own vaccine rollout strategy. Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said she does not consider the plan to join forces with Israel as a breach of European (vaccine) cooperation. A testing station in a school hall as pupils return to school at Dueholmskolen, Denmark, Monday March 1, 2021. The older students are returning to school classes Monday, with COVID-19 quick testing twice a week in an effort to re-start some normal life. (Bo Amstrup / Ritzau via AP) "I think we are best off being in European cooperation in the field of vaccines as well," she said. The EU secured vaccine doses for its member states collectively but its members can also decide to negotiate separate agreements as long as they don't compete with the advance purchase agreement sealed by the EU's executive arm. This photo from Facebook page of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban shows him receiving the COVID-19 vaccine, making him the only leader of EU to receive the vaccine produced in China, in Hungary, Sunday, Feb. 28, 2021. Hungary have agreed to purchase 5 million doses of the vaccine developed by Sinopharm, enough to treat 2.5 million people. (Viktor Orban Facebook via AP) Several member states have openly criticized the EU for the slow rollout and considered using vaccines developed in China and Russia although they have not been approved by the European Medicines Agency. On Sunday, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban got the Sinopharm shot, after recently saying he trusted the Chinese vaccine the most. In a Twitter post, Kurz praised EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen for her role in securing vaccine doses for the whole bloc. "But now we must prepare ourselves in time for further dangerous COVID-19 mutations," he wrote. Kurz added that experts expect annual vaccinations for some 6 million Austrians. Explore further Follow the latest news on the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission. Hopes of foreign summer holidays were given a boost last night after the European Union said its 'vaccine passports' scheme could be opened up to the UK. European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen announced plans for a so-called 'Digital Green Pass' to kick-start travel. It could come into force as early as June and the idea would be to open it up to non-EU countries to unlock the continent's beaches and resorts in time for the lucrative summer season. European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen revealed plans for a so-called 'Digital Green Pass' Last night Health Secretary Matt Hancock said the UK was in discussions with Brussels and he believed the plan also included facilitating travel for non-vaccinated tourists who can show proof of a recent negative test. It came as Spain revealed it has opened side-talks with British officials and Greece said its proposal with the UK included welcoming non-vaccinated tourists who can show proof of a negative test. Several EU countries have been calling for a relaxation of travel restrictions to boost their Covid-ravaged economies. Announcing the measures yesterday, Mrs von der Leyen said the 'vaccine passports' scheme would aim to open up travel within the bloc first, raising the prospect of Europeans booking up hotels and resorts before Britons get the chance to join it. She said: 'The Digital Green Pass should facilitate Europeans' lives. The aim is to gradually enable them to move safely in the EU or abroad for work or tourism.' But crucially, her chief spokesman added: 'We're of the view that in collaboration with the World Health Organisation, there should be a way to scale this up globally.' A source close to the European Commission chief said Britons were 'always welcome', adding: 'As long as you meet all of the conditions and standards.' It is understood the number of Covid infections in Britain will have to continue falling before the scheme is extended to the UK, but the comments will offer a glimmer of hope to lockdown-weary Britons desperate for a break abroad. Boris Johnson's spokesman said: 'The Department for Transport will work and speak to countries across the world in terms of how they may look to introduce passports.' And at last night's Downing Street press briefing, Mr Hancock said: 'We are working with international partners. The EU is part of those discussions, as are several other countries around the world, and it's obviously important work. 'In a sense, this already exists because you need to have a test before you can travel to the UK and, as far as I understand it from the details set out today, the EU proposal is that certification includes both whether you've had the vaccine and also whether you've recently had a test for those who can't get vaccinated yet. 'Therefore it's something that we're working with them and others on and it matters that we get the details of this right for international travel.' However, England's deputy chief medical officer Professor Jonathan Van-Tam urged caution, saying there is still 'great uncertainty' over the prospects for foreign holidays this summer. He said Europe's slow rollout of the vaccine could scupper hopes of holidays there, adding: 'We are still in a zone of great uncertainty about what the virus will do next. On top of that, many of the vaccination programmes in Europe which is a place where we frequently go on holiday abroad are running behind ours.' The Health Secretary Matt Hancock said the UK was in discussions with Brussels A spokesman for Boris Johnson said the Department for Transport would speak to countries across the world in terms of how they may look to introduce passports The European Commission will unveil its final proposals for its bloc-wide 'vaccine passports' scheme on March 17, with EU leaders set to discuss them at a summit in Brussels a week later. The timing coincides with Britain's own roadmap for easing travel restrictions, with a taskforce led by the Department for Transport set to report to the Prime Minister on April 12 about when international travel could re-start. Under the roadmap it can be no earlier than May 17. Spain, where 18 million Britons holidayed every year before the pandemic, yesterday seized on Mrs von der Leyen's announcement, with tourism minister Maria Reyes Maroto calling on Brussels to accelerate the plans. She urged Eurocrats to avoid 'prohibiting the movement of travellers within the internal market and also with third countries', in a thinly veiled call for British holidaymakers to be allowed to join the passports scheme. Pedro Siza Vieira, Portugal's economy minister, said it was 'important' for EU countries to pile pressure on Brussels to reopen travel. But Belgium said it did not like the passport plans because it could lead to discrimination. Foreign minister Sophie Wilmes said: 'For Belgium, there is no question of linking vaccination to the freedom of movement around Europe.' Avian cholera is a highly contagious disease that has produced rapid population loss in Northern common eiders. Credit: Shutterstock Herd immunity, when a threshold proportion of a population becomes immune to a disease-causing organism, reducing or stopping further transmission, is very much in the news. Avian cholera much less so. But there is an intersection between these two subjects that appears to have played out over eight summers between 2005 and 2012 at the largest colony of Arctic-nesting sea ducks, specifically Northern common eiders, in the Canadian Arctic. To wildlife disease ecologists, an ideal place to test ideas about herd immunity is Mitivik Island, Nunavut. The sea duck colony on this well-demarcated 24-hectare island was exposed to avian cholera in the recent past. This population, long-monitored by Inuit and researchers, was likely entirely naive, or previously unexposed, to this disease before 2005. Avian cholera is a disease of birds, caused by an entirely different bacterial species than that responsible for human cholera. Notably, both diseases can lead to outbreaks among their hosts as they are highly transmissible between individuals and highly infectious. When tens to hundreds of dead or dying waterfowl are found locally and are not showing overt signs of emaciation, it could very well signal an avian cholera epidemic. Avian cholera has been responsible for rapid and mass die-offs of birds around the world, but it is particularly problematic for waterfowl in North America where epidemics are relatively common. Our research on avian cholera suggested herd immunity resulted in the flip side of an outbreak, called an epidemic fadeout. In wildlife, as in humans, immunity can be naturally or artificially generated, principally due to heightened antibody and T-cell responses to the infectious organism itself or due to vaccination against the agent or a (biologically engineered) part of it. Natural immunity Sea duck immunity was all natural. Cholera antibody levels were determined by laboratory screening of frozen and archived blood samples, as a sort of cold case investigation. An overview of the threat posed by avian cholera to the common eider. We found the average antibody level in the sea ducks correlated inversely with infection rate. For example, antibody levels were high among sea ducks in years when death rates among nesting hens were low. This variable provided an estimate of the mathematical term R0, which is shorthand for the average number of new infections generated by a single infected individual. R0 was widely variable among years, but was not correlated with the proportion of birds carrying the bacterium estimated from genetic tests, nor was it associated with annual population size of sea ducks on the island. Only average antibody level was an important predictor of R0. Why should we care about sea ducks and avian cholera? These Northern common eiders are free-ranging but colony-nesting birds that can provide important tests of factors affecting localized epidemics in wildlife. Our scientific study was meant to determine if the proportion of birds carrying healthy reserves of antibodies to avian cholera negatively affected susceptible birds returning to nestand whether protective herd immunity of remaining naive birds resulted. Herd immunity appeared to have been reached, but it was not without its demographic insults. Losses on the way to herd immunity The local breeding population lost approximately 3,000 birdsor 36 percent of its nesting birdsthrough mortality caused by avian cholera in the summer of 2006. The numbers of breeding hens on Mitivik Island were reduced by upwards of half over the entire course of the cholera epidemic from an all-time high of over 8,000 breeding hens. This outbreak threatened the viability of this colony, and similar fears are being raised about eiders in Iceland as the disease has reached its shores in the past couple of years. Because herd immunity is not perfect (populations exchange naive and infected individuals), the disease still smolders among Arctic eiders colonies. Local outbreaks, likely from movement to and from sites with smoldering infections, repeated throughout the many smaller Arctic nesting colonies, which led to studies on environmental correlates of disease occurrence, most notably spring migratory routes from wintering sites in Atlantic Canada to the Arctic breeding sites. Arctic eiders are culturally important. Common eiders, known collectively by Inuit as Mitiq along with King eiders, are part of a subsistence economy. There is a local trade built around collecting feather down for winter clothing and harvesting eggs and the birds for consumption. Understanding threats to the viability of populations of these sea ducks may seem crucial to protecting this subsistence economy. But avian cholera outbreaks may not be manageable in the Canadian Arctic where populations are widespread but dispersed and difficult to access with management options. The reality might be just to wait it out. Explore further Up to 600 waterfowl die in western Idaho from avian cholera This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. I spoke yesterday afternoon noon with Hennepin County District Court press contact Spenser Bickett about the live stream of the trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin. Chauvin is charged with responsibility for the death of George Floyd. Spenser explained to me that the live stream will be carried on the Internet by Court TV. It is therefore accessible to the public online. The Court TV home page is here. The home page is running a banner touting gavel to gavel coverage of the trial. The Court TV live stream is here. If you want to take in the trial, you may want to check out the live stream in advance of the proceedings. The Chauvin case is pending before Hennepin County District Judge Peter Cahill. Yesterday afternoon Judge Cahill entered a trial management order posted here via the court page dedicated to the Chauvin case here. The case management order provides that the proceedings will begin with a hearing on motions in limine (preliminary motions) next Monday at 8:00 a.m. (Central) before jury selection begins. (Newser) Framing Britney Spears has brought attention to old interviews in which young female celebrities were made to feel uncomfortableand on her podcast Monday, Paris Hilton weighed in on one of her own experiences. "It was just very cruel and very mean," Hilton said on "This Is Paris," per USA Today, describing her 2007 interview on The Late Show With David Letterman. "It was like he was just purposely trying to humiliate me." The interview, which you can watch in our gallery, features Letterman asking Hilton questions about her time in jail, despite the fact that she only agreed to go on the show if he agreed not to ask her about that. She is clearly uncomfortable throughout the interview, and asks him multiple times to move on from the topic before he finally does toward the end of the sit-down. story continues below She also recalled Sarah Silverman's joke about her at the 2007 MTV Awards, which Hilton attended on the eve of reporting to jail, Yahoo Lifestyle reports. The comedian's NSFW jokes (which you can watch here, but seriously, they're graphic) were "so disgusting and so cruel and mean," Hilton said. Silverman herself has talked about the joke, saying in 2011 that the truly "mean" treatment of Hilton was the fact that the cameras focused on Hilton's reaction as Silverman started talking, as the audience cheered and roared with laughter. Silverman actually roasted Spears at the same awards show, and has also been recently criticized for those comments, among them calling Spears' kids "adorable mistakes" (see the clip here, it's also NSFW). Hilton says she hasn't spoken to Silverman since, but she did eventually go back on Letterman after he apologized. (Hilton has been speaking out about abuse she suffered at boarding school.) ALBANY - The attorney for Ellazar Williams, who was paralyzed in a 2018 police shooting, wants the city of Albany to provide 10 years of data on all incidents involving , resistance or a firearm or other deadly force, according to court papers filed in Williams federal civil rights lawsuit. Every time an officer points a firearm at a subject and uses the threat of deadly force to subdue the subject, that is an incident that involved a firearm, James Knox, the lawyer for Williams, said in a letter to U.S. Magistrate Judge Daniel Stewart on Feb. 23. We believe that every time an officer chases a suspect who is armed with a firearm and apprehends him, that is an incident that involved a firearm. A lawyer for the city balked at the request, calling it unduly burdensome and not relevant to the claims filed in the suit by Williams in U.S. District Court. The lawyer, Stephen Rehfuss, said in a response to the request on Tuesday that the city had already disclosed information on nine incidents involving a firearm or other deadly force during the time frame. He said Knox massaged an initial request. And once again, we are advised by our client that even if the court were to broadly interpret this demand to include this information, this type of information cannot be electronically searched, Rehfuss stated. The matter will be discussed at a hearing before Stewart at 2 p.m. Thursday. Williams filed the suit in December 2018. The next year, Knox requested all use-of-force and "subject resistance" reports dating back 10 years, but was rejected. He appealed that decision. In the time since, state law now requires greater transparency of police disciplinary histories. In the wake of the 2020 killing of George Floyd by police in Minneapolis, Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed a law to repeal Civil Rights Law 50-a, which prevented the release of material that could be used in law enforcement personnel decisions. Discovery reform that took effect on Jan. 1, 2020, requires prosecutors to disclose to the defense 21 kinds of material, which includes anything that could used to cross-examine an officer at trial to impeach their credibility. The Times Union recently reported that as a result of a 2019 ransomware attack, the department lost access to their digital case management files from November 2018 until the first two weeks of March 2019. In his letter to the judge, Knox noted he first put forth the request for the police information nearly a year ago. Knox said the city handed over hundreds of documents, but they were ones only related to the officers being sued. He said the request was later made to be within a 10-year period so it would be easier for the city to comply. "(Williams) is attempting to move this case along," Knox stated. "Production of documents seems the simplest task, and in the interest of moving forward, respectfully requests that the court order defendants to fully comply with plaintiffs demands." Knox requested "Copies of Use-of-Force reports, Subject Resistance reports, incident reports, and internal investigation documents related to any incidents involving either a firearm or other deadly force by City of Albany police officers from August 20, 2008 through and including August 20, 2018. Knox said the city has never explained "how the demand is unduly burdensome." In his response, Rehfuss told the judge the nine incidents disclosed to Knox included one in which the use-of-force incident report was no longer available due to the ransomware attack. Another use-of-force incident report in 2010, he said, was stored in a box in the Hall of Records and cannot be found. "The Albany Police Department is still actively searching for this report," Rehfuss said. Williams, who was shot in the back on Aug. 20, 2018, in a courtyard outside the former Tony Clement Center for Education in West Hill, is paralyzed from the chest down. His lawsuit, filed by Knox and attorney Julie Nociolo, accuses police of excessive force, false arrest and unlawful imprisonment and failure to intervene. In December 2018, an Albany County grand jury cleared the officer who fired the shot, since-retired Detective James Olsen, of any criminal wrongdoing. Albany County prosecutors presented for the public the findings of their 16-week investigation of the incident. On the day of the shooting, prosecutors said Williams and two other people caused a disturbance outside a grocery store on Central Avenue. Olsen told investigators for Soares that during a foot pursuit Williams ignored his command and ran in his direction holding a hunting knife. Olsen could be heard yelling into his radio: "Look in his hand! Look in his hand!" Olsen told investigators he saw a shiny object in Willams hand. Another detective, Lawrence Heid, told investigators that before the shooting he saw a flash of chrome in Williams' right hand and believed they were "about to be in a gun battle." Olsen, whose shot hit Williams in the left shoulder blade, later said that when he fired he believed Williams posed a deadly threat to himself, Heid and Detective Chris Cornell. Williams' lawyers later released enhanced surveillance video that they said showed Williams ran away from Olsen, fell, and then was shot as he tried to get back on his feet. The video did not appear to show Williams moving toward Olsen.. "(Williams) is paralyzed from the chest down because of the bullet unlawfully fired into his back by defendant Olsen," the lawsuit stated. 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. Intelligent.com, a trusted resource for online degree rankings and higher education planning, has announced the Top 50 Information Technology Degree Programs for 2021. The comprehensive research guide is based on an assessment of 159 accredited colleges and universities in the nation. Each program is evaluated based on curriculum quality, graduation rate, reputation, and post-graduate employment. The 2021 rankings are calculated through a unique scoring system which includes student engagement, potential return on investment and leading third party evaluations. Intelligent.com analyzed 159 schools, on a scale of 0 to 100, with only 50 making it to the final list. The methodology also uses an algorithm which collects and analyzes multiple rankings into one score to easily compare each school. Students who pursue any one of these programs can expect to gain employment much quicker in comparison to candidates without a degree. In addition to accessibility and cost, the steady job growth in this market is one of the many reasons Intelligent.com researched and ranked the Top Information Technology Degree Programs. To access the complete ranking, please visit: https://www.intelligent.com/best-information-technology-degree-programs/ 2021 Information Technology Degree Programs featured on Intelligent.com (in alphabetical order): Arizona State University Bellevue University Brigham Young University California Baptist University, Online Carnegie Mellon University Central Washington University Colorado State University, Global Campus Colorado State University, Global Campus Cornell University Daytona State College DePaul University East Carolina University Elmhurst University Ferris State University Florida International University Florida State University George Mason University Georgia Southern University Hallmark University Hodges University Idaho State University Illinois Institute of Technology Kennesaw State University La Salle University Liberty University Lindenwood University Lipscomb University Loyola University Chicago Marist College Mesa Community College Missouri State University Montclair State University New Jersey Institute of Technology New Mexico State University Oakland University Oregon Institute of Technology Purdue University Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Rochester Institute of Technology State University of New York, Albany Towson University University of Arizona University Of Denver University of South Florida University of Tulsa University of Washington University of West Florida University of Wisconsin, Stout Western Governors University Western Kentucky University About Intelligent.com Intelligent.com provides unbiased research to help students make informed decisions about higher education programs. The website offers curated guides which include the best degree programs as well as information about financial aid, internships and even study strategies. With comprehensive, user-friendly guides and hundreds of program rankings, Intelligent.com is a trusted source among students and prospective students. To learn more, please visit https://www.intelligent.com/. Haiti - Energy : Towards the installation of 70,000 prepaid meters As provided for in the clauses of the agreement between EDH and the firm ABD, by June or July 2021, at the end of the initial phase of the project, 70,000 units of smart meters will be installed across several neighborhoods of the metropolitan area. The General Directorate of Electricity of Haiti (EDH) in a note to its customers informs that in order to gradually and considerably improve the service provided to customers that it intends to promote a culture of innovation by introducing on the energy market, a new service aimed at making the system more transparent in order to maximize customer satisfaction. To this end, the EDH will replace the "post paid" meters by meters in "prepaid" mode. This provision falls within the framework of the Company's new commercial strategy, the objective of which is to redress the financial situation of this Institution to better meet the demands of its clients. In this sense, it asks everyone to provide their full support and support to EdH technicians and those of the ABD/NURI firm who will have to carry out these operations for EDH clients. HL/ HaitiLibre The site at Merchants Arch currently houses the Irish Pub Shop and several other small commercial units Dublin City Council has approved controversial plans for the development of a new hotel and restaurant in Temple Bar which is strongly opposed by local residents who say it is a "Trojan horse" for a super-pub. The council has granted planning permission for a four-storey hotel with restaurant at ground floor level at Merchants Arch on the site of a building which houses the Irish Pub Shop and several other small commercial units. It is the third time the owner of the adjoining Merchants Arch pub, Tom Doone, has sought to develop the site which is located in a corner of Temple Bar Square. An Bord Pleanala has twice upheld appeals against plans to develop a boutique hotel on the site in recent years. Council planners have approved the latest proposal, despite having asked Mr Doone to revise the plans and explore options for a three-storey building as well as finding an alternative use for the ground floor given the large number of existing restaurants in the area. Read More However, consultants for the publican resisted the councils suggested changes, claiming the site was sufficiently wide to accommodate a development of more than three storeys as evidenced by other buildings in the area. They also argued the councils suggestion to find a retailer for the ground floor did not make sense given the decline in shopping in the city centre during the Covid-19 pandemic. The council ruled that, on balance, the proposed development would upgrade a prominent location in the city and would allow for the construction of a striking and innovative contemporary, modern building. However, the decision is likely to face an appeal to An Bord Pleanala given the history of opposition to efforts to develop the site. Temple Bar Residents claim the proposal for the hotel is a Trojan horse for a licensed premises. The plans are also opposed by Crampton Buildings Residents Group which claimed the biggest problem in the area is noise from nearby pubs including Merchants Arch as well as fumes and waste from restaurants. The group said it had the same concerns as with previous plans as residents were worried that the proposed restaurant would inevitably become a licensed premises. The whole character of the area where we live has changed beyond recognition over the past 30 years or so, said the group. It pointed out that the number of restaurants, cafes and fast food takeaways had increased from 11 in 1984 to 85 by 2019. TUCSON, Ariz., March 2, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The Internal Revenue Service is implementing the 8,000 page 2021 Covid-19 CARES Act that was rushed out by Congress on December 21,2021. Buried in the bill is a great financial relief package for U.S. small businesses, non-profit organizations, churches and schools the 2021 CARES Act Employee Retention Tax Credits (ERC). The 2021 CARES Act ERC provides small businesses and non-profit organizations payments up to 70% or $14,000 of an employee's wages for retaining employees through June 30, 2021. To be eligible for the 2021 Employee Retention Tax Credit, employers have to demonstrate that they incurred at least a 20% decline in gross receipts compared to 2020. Small businesses, non-profit organizations, churches and schools up to 500 employees are eligible. To assist small businesses, navigate through the complex ERC Act, the national accounting firm, Profitopia, is providing free consultations to small businesses and non-profit organizations to help them determine if they are eligible for the program. The calculations for qualifying and determining employee retention credits are complicated. Profitopia's accountants are experts in the 2021 CARES act Employee Retention Tax Credits. They are trained in all specifics of this unprecedented legislation. Kevin Marshall, CPA, President, Profitopia. believes the ERC Act, is the " best financial shot-in-the arm to help small businesses and non-profit organizations thrive during the economic challenges of the pandemic. The ERC is free money from the U.S. government it does not require repayment." At no cost or obligation to a small business or non-profit organization, Profitopia, will analyze a business' eligibility and calculate their potential cash refund. If a business or organization elects to retain Profitopia to file their ERC Tax Credit, the accounting fee is not due until the business receives their money from the US government. There is no risk or cost for US small businesses or non-profit organizations to get their free consultation. The 2021 CARES Act ERC can be a lifeline for a small business. "For example, if a small business or non-profit organization has 5 employees, they could be eligible to get up to a $70,000 check back from the US government, according to Kevin Marshall, CPA. For a free consultation, Profitopia's ERC experts can be reached at 888778-6742 or www.ERCexpert.com Media Contact David Arond 520-401-4193 [email protected] SOURCE Profitopia, LLC Protection from COVID-19-related lawsuits may be on the way for Illinois businesses through House Bill 3003. Known as the COVID-19 Liability Act, the legislation was filed Feb. 18 in the House of Representatives. If passed, the bill would offer businesses protection from people claiming they were infected at a business and therefore the business is liable for medical costs, pain and suffering or more. Clark Kaericher, vice president of Government Affairs at the Illinois Chamber of Commerce, says there so far have been two crises coming from the coronavirus: a public health crisis and an economic crisis. We are very fearful though that a third crisis is coming, and that is one of legal liability for businesses already staggered by this economic crisis, Kaericher said. An estimated 365 lawsuits related to COVID-19 have been filed in Illinois since the pandemic started, which is raising legal questions concerning employment laws and torts among others, according to an article in Lexology. Kaericher said businesses are barely staying afloat and Illinois cant afford to lose any more. The last thing they can afford right now is a series of costly lawsuits that, even if they were to prevail, the attorney fees alone would be enough to push them over the edge into insolvency, he said. Its no secret that Illinois legal climate is challenging to businesses, Kaericher said. We have the unfortunate distinction of being named judicial hellholes by several ratings groups and we dont need, we dont need another crisis Kaericher said. Hoping to provide them some protection, lawmakers wrote the COVID-19 Liability Act. The bill is sponsored by state Reps. Mark Batinick, R-Plainfield; Jonathan Carroll, D-Northbrook; and Mike Murphy, R-Springfield, but has yet to move forward. The bill solidifies language that puts the onus on plaintiffs to prove through clear and convincing evidence a business was at fault, according to the Illinois General Assemblys website. The person would then have to prove that the business was not following best practices, and then the failure to do so resulted in them contracting the virus, Kaericher said. This is necessary because businesses are not able to prove that plaintiffs caught it elsewhere, he said. But what you can prove, and what we think should be the standard, was businesses were listening to the experts, they were being responsible citizens and they were doing their best to follow all public health guidelines, Kaericher said. Kaericher emphasizes they are not trying to give protection to those who have flouted rules but want to offer a shield to those who have followed the rules from the beginning. .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... Growth in New Mexicos charter schools has been strong in recent years, so strong in fact that charter school proponents say the only thing holding them back is space. While charters are public schools, unlike traditional schools they dont have funds reserved for capital projects and dont qualify for capital awards from the Public School Capital Outlay Fund (unless their facilities have fallen into a state of disrepair a rarity, because most are leased facilities and the landlords require upkeep, and students and parents would vote with their feet). Without the money to buy or build, their only real option is leasing facilities, often in strip malls, like the high-performing Albuquerque Collegiate Charter School does in the heart of the South Valley (79% proficiency rates in reading versus 34% in the states traditional public schools). Senate Bill 318, introduced by state Sen. Gerald Ortiz y Pino, D-Albuquerque, makes much-needed fundamental adjustments for charter schools, such as requiring school districts to let charter schools know about unused facilities and land that could be leased or purchased, expanding facilities eligible for capital outlay grants, and creating a charter facility fund to pay off lease-purchase agreements, starting with a $1 million infusion. And it includes oversight from the New Mexico Finance Authority. Charter schools offer parents and students an option to traditional schools many are jumping at. They now serve 9.3% of the states student population. And in Albuquerque, where there are several nationally recognized charter schools, its even more pronounced, with over 19% of Albuquerque Public School students attending charter schools. More than 10,000 New Mexico children are on waiting lists to attend one of the states 98 charter schools. At a pace of enrolling 500 to 800 more students a year, well never get through those waiting lists and realize those students dreams. ADVERTISEMENTSkip ................................................................ Charter schools, with their smaller classrooms and targeted curricula, arent for everyone, but they are the school of choice for the 29,000 New Mexico students enrolled in them and the 10,000-plus who are waiting to get in. SB 318, which recently passed the Senate Education Committee but has stalled awaiting a hearing in the Senate Finance Committee, would put charter schools on a more level playing field with their traditional counterparts. For the sake of our students, the bill needs to move ahead, and quickly, with time running out in the legislative session. Its a smart and efficient investment in our students, allowing high-performing schools such as Albuquerque Collegiate Charter School to reach beyond their current square footage so our children can reach their potential in the classroom. This editorial first appeared in the Albuquerque Journal. It was written by members of the editorial board and is unsigned as it represents the opinion of the newspaper rather than the writers. Company welcomes Microsoft's new Employee Experience Platform as an aid to connecting remote workers with a culture of learning and collaboration AARHUS, Denmark, March 2, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Today LMS365 announced its commitment to seamless integration with Microsoft Viva to provide a complete Learning Experience Platform (LXP). LMS365's existing integration with Microsoft Teams already enables its customers to take full advantage of Viva. Used together, these tools will enable organizations to improve employee engagement and learning in today's remote and hybrid work environments. Click to Tweet: @lms365 and @Microsoft Viva Improve Employee Experience and Learning: https://www.elearningforce.com/the-future-of-engagement-and-learning-microsoft-teams-lms365-and-viva/ remotework LandD Microsoft Viva unites communications, knowledge, learning, resources and insights into an integrated experience that empowers individuals and teams to communicate, collaborate and learn. One of Viva's four pillars is Viva Learning, which will focus on the importance of creating a learning culture that supports the need for an engaging, effective and accessible learning experience. Already seamlessly integrated with Microsoft Teams, LMS365 fully supports this vision to work smarter and learn better within the flow of work. By combining LMS365 and Microsoft Viva, learners will have access to the complete learning experience platforms with all the functions they need, entirely built and operated in Microsoft 365 and Azure. Since the shift to remote work, maintaining quality employee experience has been a great challenge for organizations across the board-whether this be in onboarding new members or training employees for best practices using new technology. One of the biggest challenges to offering these services remotely in a meaningful way has been finding a user-friendly platform that empowers users rather than confusing and frustrating them. Through Microsoft Teams, organizations can leverage Viva and LMS365 to deliver seamless digital learning and employee experience platforms to remote workers, allowing them to continue learning and collaborating with ease. The platforms offer benefits to the following stakeholders: Learners - Employees will use the tools and resources brought by Viva and LMS365, stored on Sharepoint with easy accessibility from Microsoft Teams for seamless learning and collaboration. - Employees will use the tools and resources brought by Viva and LMS365, stored on Sharepoint with easy accessibility from Microsoft Teams for seamless learning and collaboration. Human resources leaders - Human resources teams will leverage Viva and LMS365 to roll out the training, tools and resources needed to train and onboard employees, all within Microsoft Teams. - Human resources teams will leverage Viva and LMS365 to roll out the training, tools and resources needed to train and onboard employees, all within Microsoft Teams. IT teams - IT teams will benefit from consolidating operations into Microsoft infrastructure, simplifying the troubleshooting and issues that come with disparate infrastructures. Christopher Rousset, managing director of Americas & vice president of global alliances, LMS365, said: "Employees often report that remote work makes them feel disconnected from their organizations and coworkers. Using a learning and communication platform helps organizations and their employees remain resilient and flexible. The combined features of LMS365 and Microsoft Viva embed a learning culture into daily work life and enhance the onboarding process. We look forward to teaming up with Microsoft Viva as features roll out this year." About LMS365: LMS365 has 800+ enterprise and public customers with over 4 million users. 50+ trusted partners have implemented the solution in more than 40 countries, with customers in all sectors, and deployments ranging from a few hundred employees to 50,000+ employees. LMS365, a Microsoft Preferred Solution, is one of the fastest-growing cloud-based Learning Management Solutions in the market today. LMS365 provides a modern, integrated, and familiar learning experience as learning is now made possible within Microsoft Teams, Mobile and SharePoint Online. LMS365 is fast to install, highly configurable, easy to use and fully integrated with the rest of your digital workplace, including Microsoft 365, SharePoint & Teams. Website: LMS365.com PR Contacts: Shyna Deepak Nadel Phelan, Inc. 831-440-2408 shyna.deepak@nadelphelan.com Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1138737/ELEARNINGFORCE_Logo.jpg Google, Civil Groups Concerned Over World-First Australian Cyber Takedown Laws Sweeping new powers are being granted to Australias eSafety Commissioner to monitor and takedown seriously harmful content, including those related to cyberbullying and revenge porn. However, lawyers, civil rights groups, and tech giant Google have expressed concerns about the new laws scope and possible infringements on civil liberties. Introduced into Parliament last week, the Online Safety Bill grants the Commissioner authority to address headline issues such as cyberbullying, toxic online abuse, child sexual abuse, image-based abuse (revenge porn), and any other content deemed harmful. It also establishes minimum online safety guidelines for the industry. When people interact in person, they take for granted that the rule of law applies. People should be able to expect the same when they interact online, Communications Minister Paul Fletcher said in a statement. Paul Fletcher, Minister for Communications, Cyber Safety and the Arts, speaks at the Museum of Contemporary Art before the Cathy Freeman projection event on September 25, 2020, in Sydney, Australia. (Lisa Maree Williams/Getty Images) The Commissioner will also have the power to compel internet service providers to block access to content deemed harmful. Further, app stores and search engines will need to remove software or links that enable such content proliferation. Online service providers will initially receive a notice from the Commissioner and will have 24 hours to activate it or risk penalties. The Commissioner will also be granted a rapid takedown power for crisis events, such as the 2019 Christchurch terrorist attack that was live-streamed on Facebook. Content blockages by the Commissioner can last up to three months under the law. Individuals responsible for producing and uploading the content will not be able to hide behind anonymity either. The new law compels companies behind social media, electronic services (messaging apps), and internet providers to hand over end-users contact details. A picture taken on October 1, 2019, in Lille shows the logos of mobile apps Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter, Facebook, Google and Messenger displayed on a tablet. (Denis Charlet/AFP via Getty Images) Matt Warren, professor of cybersecurity at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, supports the law, saying it is a key step to dealing with serious social issues, such as revenge porn. The government has a duty of care to protect Australia and Australian citizens, he told The Epoch Times. At the moment, the Commissioner does not have these the powers and is disadvantaged when it comes to protecting Australians, he added. The Commissioner will rely on the National Classification Code to determine what content is harmful. The Code has been used to classify films, computer games, and publications and includes content that deals with sex, revolting or abhorrent phenomena, or content unsuitable for minors. Digital Rights Watch, a non-profit group focused on educating Australians on their digital rights, warned that sex workers or sexual education material could be put at risk. Some (internet service) platforms will default to blanket removal of all sexual content to avoid penalty rather than deal with the harder task of determining which content is actually harmful, according to a submission by the group. Lawyer Graham Droppert SC warned the Code was overly broad and could capture more content than intended. Stock image of a laptop. (Burst on Unsplash) In its current form, the Bill centralises power (in the eSafety Commissioner) without due process and opens up the ability for the Commissioner to remove public interest material, Droppert of the Australian Lawyers Alliance said in a statement. Many elements of the Bill address important issues in relation to online safety, but it is critical that the Bill includes an effective, accessible internal review process so that people can challenge removal notices in a timely manner, he added. Droppert suggested more stakeholders be involved in reviewing decisions for blocking content. Google Australia said the 24-hour takedown timeframe should be more flexible. Further, it said the cross-platform reach of the new law would be difficult to enforce, particularly around cloud services. The cloud provider typically does not have visibility into its customers content to meet the privacy, security, and regulatory demands of its customers, Google said in a submission (pdf). Even if something was flagged by an external observer, it is often impossible for a cloud provider to remove individual pieces of content. NORWALK As eligibility for the COVID-19 vaccine in Connecticut expanded Monday to educators and residents 55 and older, some places in Norwalk are already struggling to handle the influx of registrants through VAMS. There are few available appointments in the state, with many locations listing no availability for months. Seems like the system is bombarded everywhere, Norwalk Communications Manager Josh Morgan said. Doesnt seem to be too many appointments around the state at the moment, but that should improve in the days and weeks ahead. City-run clinics are scheduling vaccine appointments week by week to ensure there are enough doses to fulfill the scheduled vaccinations, Morgan said. The expansion qualifies 610,000 people in Connecticut aged 55 to 64 and educators for the vaccine. It didnt make sense to start putting them out through March and April only to have to cancel people, Morgan said. The city has plans to hold a clinic later in the week for Norwalk schools staff, but a date has yet to be finalized, he added. The Norwalk Community Health Center is entirely booked into April, spokesperson Betty Cordellos said. Norwalk Community Health Center is getting slammed with phone calls on our main number and COVID testing line for COVID-19 vaccine appointments, she said. Cordellos reminded Norwalkers they must go through VAMS to schedule a vaccine appointment at Norwalk CHC. That is the procedure and we are not able to make COVID-19 vaccine appointments for them except through VAMS, Cordellos said. Additionally, people who should be going through VAMS tie up our phone lines, preventing our patients from getting through. In light of the expansion, Morgan said the city is looking to host more vaccine clinics. We are hopeful to receive more doses to help get more residents, as well as educators and child care providers, vaccinated in the weeks ahead, Morgan said. Unfortunately the demand for vaccine is still expected to exceed the available supply of vaccine. Norwalk resident Hans Bulteryst, an educator, said registration was easy, but finding a provider with available appointments was the hard part. Registration was pretty easy and quick, but there are no appointments available at all, he said. Bulteryst said he is the vaccine coordinator at a school and helped register staff without a hitch, yet found it impossible to actually register for an appointment. What is the point of all this if the Health Department and CDC are not able to properly prepare and manage the distribution of the vaccines? Bulteryst said. Another Norwalk resident, Paul Zeidan, a social studies and special education teacher for a Westchester, N.Y., high school, registered for his first dose Monday. Zeidan, 52, said he had previously registered through VAMS and was set to receive a vaccine from New York before his appointment was canceled due to a lack of supply. At that point, I was searching for anywhere I could get the vaccine, Zeidan said. In New York state, there was nothing on the horizon. They wouldnt even show future dates. Thats when I concentrated on Connecticut. Since he was already registered through VAMS, Zeidan pulled up the CVS website Sunday night and waited. After about an hour, he was able to schedule a vaccine appointment but was routed to a location in Bridgeport. As an educator, Zeidan believes teachers should have been prioritized to receive the vaccine sooner. I do think educators should be prioritized. We are in such close proximity and dont have any protection other than PPE, Zeidan said. abigail.brone@hearstmediact.com In the first week of 2021 Russia announced that the army will receive over 400 upgraded tanks and IFVs (infantry fighting vehicles) in the coming year but none will be the new T-14 Armata tanks and T-15 Armata IFV. The Armata is a radical new design for tanks and IFVs but is too expensive given the defense budgets available. In 2014 oil prices went way down and stayed down while the Ukraine invasion resulted in many economic and trade sanctions. Since then, the Russian replacement program for elderly Cold War era gear has had to settle for more rebuilt than brand new stuff. This means the army received more upgrades of old T-72s to the T-72B3M and a smaller number of T-80BVMs and T-90Ms. Currently Russian troops prefer the T-72B3M. Since 2013 the army has been receiving an updated version of the old BTR-80 wheeled armored personnel carrier, the 8x8 BTR-82A. While the United States abandoned wheeled armored vehicles after World War II, Russia kept theirs and constantly improved their BTR series. The BTR-80 appeared at the end of the Cold War (in 1986). While not as heavy or as high tech as the American Stryker, the BTR vehicles are popular with many nations, especially for use by police and paramilitary forces. The current export model of the BTR-80 is the BTR-90. The 15-ton BTR-82A is armed with a 30mm autocannon in a turret. This weapon is stabilized, enabling it to fire accurately while the vehicle is moving. The vehicle also mounts a 7.62mm machine-gun. The BTR-82A has a fire suppression system and a floor built to better protect the three crew and seven passengers from mines and roadside bombs. The hull incorporates a Kevlar layer to provide better protection against shell and bomb fragments. The BTR-82A has an improved engine, electronics, and is amphibious. In mid-2017 Russia ordered 540 upgraded BMP-2 and BMD-2 IFVs as part of its 2018-2025 military modernization program. Upgrading the current fleet of BMPs and BMDs will take time as 540 vehicles are a small portion of 4000 BMP-2 and BMD-2 IFVs in service and considered part of the modernization. The BMP modernization is mainly about improving firepower and fire control capabilities while other areas like armor or mobility remain relatively unchanged. The 14.6-ton BMP-2 and 11.5-ton BMD-2 were designed in the 1980s as upgrades or successors of the original BMP-1 from 1960s. The BMP-2 needs major mechanical and engine upgrades to support major upgrades. Thats why the BMP-2M weighs about 15 tons and basically has a new turret and fire-control system. The lighter BMD-2 is for airborne forces and but is otherwise similar to the BMPs. BMD deliveries were soon completed but the upgraded BMP-2M will take much longer. The BMP-2M IFV features the new Berezhok turret, fitted with four ready-to-launch Kornet ATGMs (laser guided anti-tank missiles) in two twin launchers on each side of the turret. Kornet's range is 5,500 meters and is much easier to use than older Fagot or Konkurs single tube ATGMs previously used on IFVs. Not only were these older systems outdated versus more capable enemy IFVs, but with only one launch tube had to be reloaded manually by the crew. These four ready-to-fire missiles are especially useful because Kornet can fire a two-missile salvo at one target. The 30mm cannon received improved stabilization and remote-controlled weapon station fitted with 30 mm automatic AGS-30 grenade launcher. The commander/gunner sight, thermal imagers, missile guide channel and laser rangefinder will receive an upgrade as well. These upgrades increase BMP-2 weight by half a ton. Nearly half of that is missiles and ammunition for the AGS-30. Meanwhile the airborne BMD-2M received similar weapons upgrades but with only two Kornet missiles. These upgrades will dramatically improve BMP-2 and BMD-2 firepower capabilities and make them equal or superior to Western vehicles like the PUMA, CV90 or VBCI. This creates an interesting situation in which Russia will have very well armed IFV but poorly protected IFV compared to western designs which lack firepower (no ATGMs on CV90 or VBCI). This upgrade seems like a desperate attempt to modernize their mechanized forces because the new Armata tank and IFV are untried in combat and very expensive. Russia has basically declared the Armata based vehicles will remain in development for years while problems are discovered and worked out, and more money is available to mass produce them. CONTACT: Stephen Conley, Scientific Aviation sconley@ScientificAviation.com Scientific Aviation today announced the launch of Project Falcon, a 6-month joint industry partner study that aims to determine the best way to deploy continuous methane monitoring technology that will allow energy companies to find, detect, and repair methane leaks faster. Chevron, ConocoPhillips, Devon Energy, ExxonMobil, Pioneer Natural Resources, Shell and TRP Energy will test Scientific Aviations SOOFIE (Systematic Observations of Facility Intermittent Emissions) system, an affordable ground-based technology that measures methane emissions 24 hours a day, in real-world environments, and immediately alerts operators about issues. The tests will be conducted in Colorado, New Mexico and Texas starting in March 2021. The data and results will be made available to the industry, regulators and the public through publication in a peer-reviewed journal. As the scientific community, the United Nations, and countless others have issued dire warnings about the impact of greenhouse gases on earths environment, the fight to combat this problem will take energy and technology companies working together to accelerate change, said Dr. Stephen Conley, President of Scientific Aviation. These companies have determined that doing all they can to protect the environment requires collaboration. We are excited to see how much can be done when the energy industry joins together to tackle a problem as important as protecting the environment. The foundation of Project Falcon is Scientific Aviations SOOFIE system: a self-contained leak detection system in which each sensor contains its own solar panel, battery, cellular or WiFi connectivity, and the ability to take five methane measurements per second. SOOFIE also captures atmospheric conditions that are essential to the calculation of actual emission rates, rather than measuring concentration levels which can be susceptible to producing many false alarms. SOOFIE is also able to measure other gases, such as H2S, NO and NO2. Methane emissions detection and reduction should be a shared goal that industry works proactively and collaboratively to achieve, which is why we are proud to support efforts like Project Falcon, said Vanessa Ryan, manager of carbon reduction. At Chevron we believe the future of energy is lower carbon, and we are actively addressing the reduction of methane emissions by using data, technology and innovation to prioritize the most efficient detection and reduction strategies. ConocoPhillips has long been committed to reducing emissions from its facilities, including the development of new technologies designed to better detect where the sources of these emissions are and allowing them to prioritize their resources to address larger leaks faster. To battle fugitive methane emissions from our facilities more effectively, we knew we had to employ the latest technologies and use the best tools available to us, said Khalid Soofi, Geoscience Fellow at ConocoPhillips. We needed a way to reliably monitor our facilities more effectively, including facilities that arent regularly staffed and are often very remote. Mike Smith, EHS Advisor for Devon Energy, said At Devon, we continuously search for innovative ways to help us further reduce our emissions footprint. This program is another way not only to help us more precisely understand, measure, and quantify our emissions, but also to enhance our capacity to rapidly identify and reduce leaks. We are excited to participate in this important initiative that we think will benefit the broader energy industry. ExxonMobil is field-testing multiple technologies to detect and speed repair of methane leaks in the Permian Basin and will begin testing the SOOFIE system as part of Project Falcon said Bart Cahir, senior vice president of unconventional at ExxonMobil. This is the latest example of how ExxonMobil is applying scientific rigor and taking meaningful steps to find commercially scalable and affordable solutions that help all operators improve safety and environmental performance. Pioneer has committed to environmental stewardship in everything we do, every day, through our Stewardship 365 initiative, says Sri Sridharan, Sustainability and Environmental Programs Advisor for Pioneer Natural Resources. We remain committed to doing the right thing, every day, and part of that is actively finding new solutions rather than just waiting for those solutions to present themselves. When we heard about Project Falcon and its goals of helping develop and optimize the next generation of technology for detecting methane emissions, we were 100% on board. Shell has announced a target to maintain methane emissions below .2% by 2025. We are working hard in the Permian to reduce methane emissions and are looking for ways to enhance our existing leak detection program through collaborations with the scientific community and testing of new technologies, such as SOOFIE, says Steven Craig, Safety and Sustainability Manager at Shell. While several detection technologies are being developed, the industry needs to guide the innovation process to solutions that are most effective. Efforts to decarbonize the global energy supply are underway, but the oil and gas industry remains the backbone, providing affordable energy that improves the quality of life in both emerging and developed economies. As a responsible energy producer, we are committed to reducing our carbon footprint as we supply vital oil and gas, said Randy Dolan, co-CEO of TRP Energy. Weve always sought out partnerships with environmental thought leaders to gain perspective and find effective solutions to lower our full-cycle environmental impact. In that spirit, Project Falcon allows us to utilize cutting edge methane detection technology, collaborate with industry leaders, and share best practices with others. While Project Falcon specifically focuses on the use of SOOFIE sensors, the findings of the group will be useful regardless of which continuous monitoring system an operator may implement in the future. The goal of this project is to test and optimize implementation of real-time monitoring of methane emissions at the facility level. The results of Project Falcon will complement other efforts investigating sensor networks for continuous monitoring of emissions at a regional level. Despite being part of Scientific Aviation, I am first and foremost an atmospheric scientist, said Dr. Stephen Conley, president of Scientific Aviation. And while myself and the other PhD scientists at Scientific Aviation are fully confident in the capabilities of SOOFIE, we dont want the fight to protect the environment to be us against other companies with this type of technology. The findings of Project Falcon will be peer reviewed by the scientific community and published for everyone to see, providing valuable insights to operators around the world about how to best implement and utilize continuous methane monitoring, regardless of which solution they choose. About Scientific Aviation Scientific Aviation, a leader in airborne research, is a scientific research company specializing in atmospheric measurements and emissions flux quantifications of methane, CO2, and other trace gases, with applications for air quality, climate, leak detection and repair (LDAR), and atmospheric research. Our services and expertise provide our clients and collaborators with advanced capabilities to better understand our impacts on the atmosphere, and the sound data needed to make informed decisions. To learn more, visit http://www.scientificaviation.com. The health minister of Somalia on Monday proposed new efforts to curb the rising number of coronavirus infections in the country, which is battling a worsening caseload amid an impasse over elections that were due last month. The minister, Dr. Fawziya Abikar, said she had advised the government to close all schools and universities and to double down on other measures to stop the virus, including adhering to social distancing and prohibiting large gatherings. The situation is dire, Dr. Abikar said in a statement posted on Twitter, adding that the health authorities were nonetheless confident that the rollout of vaccines would help manage the rising cases. Somalia has yet to receive any Covid-19 vaccines; Dr. Abikar said last week that the first doses would arrive in March. With a population of more than 15 million, Somalia has one of the worlds most vulnerable health systems. Just a quarter of the population has access to essential health services, according to the World Health Organization. Besides Covid-19 and the threat of the extremist group Al Shabab, the country is also facing a humanitarian crisis, with flooding and desert locusts exacerbating food insecurity for 2.6 million people, according to the United Nations. Tokyo, March 2 : Japanese authorities on Tuesday arrested two American men who are suspected of helping ousted Nissan Motor Co. Chairman Carlos Ghosn escape to Lebanon in 2019 while on bail. Michael Taylor, 60, a former Green Beret, and his son Peter Taylor, 28, were taken into custody after they arrived at the Narita airport near Tokyo following their extradition from the US, reports Xinhua news agency. The Taylors are suspected of taking the former Nissan chairman to a hotel in Osaka prefecture from his home in Tokyo before putting him on the private jet leaving from Kansai International Airport with knowledge that his bail conditions did not allow him to travel overseas. They lost their battle against extradition last month. The Japanese prosecutors obtained arrest warrants for the Taylors in January 2020 and they were detained in Massachusetts in May. Last October, the US State Department approved the extradition of the suspects to Japan. Ghosn, who holds Brazilian, French and Lebanese nationality, is accused of under-reporting his remuneration for years and for embezzling company funds. He has denied all the charges, claiming that company insiders conspired against him. Japan has no extradition treaty with Lebanon and has been trying to have Ghosn detained via Interpol. India provided COVID-19 vaccines to Saint Lucia on March 01. 'Made in India' vaccines was received by the Prime Minister Allen Chastanet of Saint Lucia. India provided 25,000 doses of coronavirus vaccine to the island nation Saint Lucia. The consignment of coronavirus vaccine reached under India's 'Vaccine Maitri' initiative. The 40,000 doses of 'Made in India' coronavirus vaccines also arrived in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. It was received by Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves on March 01. They received Serum Institute of India (SII)'s Covishield doses today. Earlier, India supplied COVID-19 vaccines to neighbouring countries Bhutan, Maldives, Nepal, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan and Bangladesh under the 'Neighbourhood First' policy. Manila: The Philippine president has dismissed his former ambassador to Brazil after she was seen on video physically abusing a Filipino member of her household staff. President Rodrigo Duterte said on Monday night he had approved a recommendation to fire Marichu Mauro, revoke her retirement benefits and disqualify her from public office for life. The decision comes as Duterte pushes a campaign against official abuses and corruption in his last full year in power. Mauro was recalled from Brazil in October after the video, reportedly taken from security cameras in the ambassadors residence in Brasilia and shown by Brazilian broadcaster GloboNews, showed a woman attacking somebody who appeared to be a housekeeper. Screenshot from GloboNews of video footage showing the Philippines ambassador to Brazil with her housekeeper. Credit:Internet The Department of Foreign Affairs in Manila said at the time that the unidentified victim had returned to Philippines and that it was trying to reach her. The $350 billion in state and local government aid contained in the Democrats' $1.9 trillion Covid relief package is showing to be a point of conflict. Concerns sparked about the state and local government aid Several Democratic senators are known to have pressed for changes to that provision of the stimulus bill, citing fears that states could respond to an increase in federal aid by lowering taxes rather than allocating the funds to pandemic-related needs. "We should send billions to states and make them lower taxes - governors are talking about that, and it's not the point here." Last week, Sen. Angus King (I-Maine), a member of the Democratic Party, told The Washington Post. He added that there should be a ban against voluntarily diminishing revenues. The state debt isn't as bad as feared. Nearly a year after the first coronavirus-related lockdowns, statistics indicate that the financial effect on most state budgets has been much less than expected, Yahoo reported. Read also: Biden Had His First Defeat as President After Cabinet Nominee Receives Backlash The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget recently noted that early in the pandemic, state and local governments appeared to be in danger of losing hundreds of billions of dollars - or by some projections upwards of $1 trillion - in revenue. Thanks to a strong federal response and a relatively strong yet uneven partial economic recovery, the worst-case scenario has luckily been prevented. Although some state and local governments are already failing, others are doing excellently, and some are going to fare as poorly as predicted. According to The New York Times' Mary Williams Walsh, the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center found that gross state revenues were down just 1.8% from April to December relative to the same period last year. Read also: Republican Governors Mock Biden's Stimulus Bill for 'Penalizing' States Do State and Local Governments need $350 billion in aid? A good summary can be found at the Commission for a Responsible Federal Budget. Few states have been hit extremely hard in the tax department, but overall, things aren't that grim, especially when you remember the federal assistance that these governments have already provided. Furthermore, the half-trillion dollars in aid proposed by Democrats is well over most estimates of governments' current needs, even those from left-leaning sources. It's so much revenue that even the worst-affected states would get more than they need to make up for their losses. Democrats and the Biden administration have pushed for passage of a $1.9 trillion stimulus package called the American Rescue Plan, which they say would save the US from the increasing coronavirus crisis. To pass the bill quickly, Democrats seek to do so by budget reconciliation, a legislative process that would not require a single Republican vote, as per National Interest. On the other hand, economists have expressed concerns over the administration's pricey piece of law, which injects billions of dollars into the economy and is expected to have long-term economic effects that would be impossible to reverse. As per the nonpartisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget (CRFB), one point of concern with the current package is the amount allotted for state and local government aid. The CRFB took a firm stand against a crucial Democratic goal this week, writing that state and local governments don't need the $500 billion proposed in President Joe Biden's proposal-a sum that includes $350 billion in direct assistance for state and local governments, $130 billion for public schools, and $30 billion for transportation authorities-because they've already earned more than $360 billion in help. Read also: Will a Fourth Stimulus Check Be Possible as the Third Nears Its Distribution To Eligible Americans? @ 2021 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. The house on Glendale Circle aboard Marine Corps Base Hawaii couldn't have been better located. It occupies a corner lot not far from a splash park and community center, is near the beach and walking trails, and its lanai, or patio, overlooks a military training range and the Ulupau Crater, an ancient volcano on Oahu's windward coast. The Rudd family -- Master Sgt. John Rudd, wife Tammy and their three children -- moved into the freshly painted four-bedroom duplex in June 2019. When they accepted the home from management company Hunt Military Communities, they had few concerns, except that the home's fire detectors weren't operable, having been removed during the maintenance turnover from the previous tenant. But that small issue, unaddressed, would ultimately cut short the family's residence. The months that followed would include a destructive fire, and the Rudds would be saddled with a $32,000 bill for damages. While in the end they were not forced to pay the bill, the ordeal left them disillusioned, homeless and wanting to warn other military families about their nightmare experience. In conversations with Military.com, a Hunt representative said she could not immediately speak to the specifics of the Rudds' fire detector claims, but added that it is company policy to have smoke detectors installed before tenants move in. She said the family's bill was reversed when the fire was determined to be accidental, though the Rudds maintain that the issue was resolved only after a military family advocate stepped in. Read Next: Air Force Wing Commander Fired Due to 'Loss of Trust and Confidence' The Rudds say they had requested that the alarm systems be reinstalled in their home after they moved in, but months passed without action to fix the problem. According to the Rudds, they filed a second work request for the repairs, noting that their lease prohibits tenants from tampering with smoke detectors. When that inquiry went ignored, Rudd installed a temporary smoke alarm near his kids' bedrooms, and the family went on with their lives. Photographs from the beginning of their occupancy of the home show the smoke detectors were not installed. Their happy, if slightly hazardous, tenancy ended Dec. 23, 2020, when a lithium-ion battery on John's electric bike exploded in their garage. The blast buckled the garage door, ignited everything within 10 feet and sent smoke billowing into the house -- all without ever triggering a smoke alarm. The devices that were supposed to be reinstalled by Hunt 18 months earlier sat silently on a shelf where they'd been placed, and smoke never reached the alarm Rudd had put near the kids' bedrooms, according to photos. Fortunately, it was 11:30 in the morning. Rudd was at work, and his family was getting ready to go grocery shopping for Christmas. "It sounded like there was a big truck ramming into the garage door," Tammy Rudd said. "I immediately grabbed my youngest, who was in the backyard; my eight-year-old was playing a video game. ... My 19-year-old was upstairs in the shower. I walked out and saw smoke billowing out of the garage and the garage door bowed out. At that point, I started freaking out." After several frantic minutes that included 8-year-old Tobias running into the house to alert his older sister, the family got out and the fire department arrived, extinguishing the blaze and leaving behind access holes, charred belongings and a house full of soot. The Rudds spent that night and the next four in a temporary home provided by Hunt, grateful to be alive and celebrating the holidays. The Rudd Family, Natalya, Eliana, Tammy, Master Sgt. John Rudd and Tobias (Courtesy of the Rudd family) They never could have predicted what would happen next, however: Nearly two months to the day after the fire, they received a bill for $32,131.08 from Hunt for damages related to the fire, including air duct cleaning, repainting, restoration and a new garage door. Adding insult to injury, Hunt denied their request to be reimbursed for $6,930 in rent for the remainder of December, January and most of February. The company had been collecting it even though the Rudds never spent another night in the home. "Your request for your rent to be refunded to you from the date of the fire has been denied. I have, however, waived the 28-day notice to vacate for you that is required," wrote Peyton Hoban, community director for Ohana Military Communities, Hunt's subsidiary in Hawaii, in a Feb. 18 email obtained by Military.com. The emails and bill left the Rudds speechless. "The last week has been more stressful than the days following the actual fire," Tammy Rudd told Military.com. "If we can't close out [of housing], John cannot execute his permanent change of station orders. They are threatening his career." "They have essentially crafted a strategy exploiting us rather than protect us," John Rudd added. Since roughly 1996, military housing on domestic U.S. installations has been constructed and managed by private companies, an effort to improve the housing stock for service members and their families following years of maintenance neglect by the Defense Department. Under the arrangement, DoD officials were to provide oversight of the companies to ensure they provided quality housing in return for service members' Basic Allowance for Housing. But over the years, the Pentagon has taken a back seat, allowing the companies, which hold 50-year contracts to provide military housing, free rein to manage the properties. In 2018, Reuters published the results of a two-year investigation of military housing that revealed systemic negligence by the companies, including falsification of records and other types of deception, shoddy construction and dangerous living conditions. Those conditions included faulty wiring, extensive mold contamination, flaking lead-based paint and vermin. In response to the Reuters coverage and subsequent news reports, as well as a survey of military families that found more than half said they had "negative or very negative experiences" with their houses, Congress held a series of hearings in early 2019 to understand the scope of the problems and hold the companies and DoD accountable. During testimony, the service secretaries and chiefs promised to inspect the homes, hold listening sessions with residents and develop a tenant bill of rights that would give more power to residents to negotiate with their landlords. The CEOs of the private housing management companies also pledged to do better and "learn from our mistakes." "At Hunt, we do not succeed unless we provide our residents with safe and healthy homes," President John Ehle said during a Feb. 13, 2019, hearing. "We are a company of accountability, and if someone is falling short of expectations, we take action." Hunt manages 32,000 homes that serve 165,000 residents, and holds interest in an additional 20,000 homes across 49 military installations in 21 states. In 2019, eight military families filed a lawsuit against Hunt over their housing at Randolph Air Force Base, Texas, which they claimed contained pervasive mold and infestations, contaminated ductwork and other maintenance issues. The same year, a federal judge in Gulfport, Mississippi, dismissed a case filed by a family at Keesler Air Force Base over mold in their Hunt-managed property. Other military housing property managers, including Lincoln Military Housing, Corvias Property Management and the Michaels Organization, face similar suits. To ensure that the companies abide by their contracts and provide quality housing and service to U.S. troops, the Defense Department in 2020 rolled out its own tenant bill of rights that gave residents a list of accommodations they can expect in housing, including healthy homes with working appliances, clear instructions on leases and expectations, and the right to report problems and to expect maintenance and property management services that exceed industry standards. Another three rights are expected to be instituted by this summer, including the ability to withhold rent during disputes and assistance in mediating issues. These may have helped the Rudds in their battle with Ohana, which left the family not knowing where to turn immediately after the fire and in the faceoff over the bill. "At one point, I was asking myself, do I pay the 32K or do I go retain an attorney and just pay them that money?" Rudd said. Immediately after the blaze, Hunt housed the Rudds in another home on base, with an expectation that they vacate by Dec. 28, according to a text exchange between Ohana representatives and Rudd. Not knowing what to do, Rudd consulted with family members in the legal and insurance professions and learned he should contact his insurance company, USAA, which holds his renter's insurance. That coverage paid for a hotel where the family moved after their five-day allowance in temporary housing ended. The family stayed briefly on Waikiki and then checked into the temporary lodging facility on base, where they remain. In the subsequent insurance investigation, USAA concluded that the fire was not the family's fault. Company representatives notified Rudd in mid-February they planned to file a claim against the battery manufacturer and would deny any claims filed against the Rudds by the housing office, according to a report provided to the family and obtained by Military.com. The Rudds assumed Hunt would do the same -- seek reimbursement from its own insurer or the battery maker -- but instead, the family received the $32,000 bill on Feb. 22, payable on receipt. "From the beginning, we've done the right thing, and I'm just really confused as to why I have to help with the bill for the repairs," John Rudd said. In an email along with the bill, an Ohana representative offered the couple a payment plan. Rudd, an explosive ordnance disposal technician who has served nearly 20 years in the Corps and holds a Bronze Star with Combat V device for disarming a roadside bomb while under fire in Afghanistan in 2011 while, said he was at a loss for what to do next. "They already have the infrastructure in place to charge Marines payments with interest. If they are doing this to me, they absolutely are doing it to other Marines with no agency," he said. In addition to family, Rudd consulted base legal services; his brother, also a Marine stationed in Quantico, Virginia; and his brother's wife, Jessica Rudd, a former Marine who was selected Marine Corps Spouse of the Year in 2017 by Armed Forces Insurance and Military Spouse magazine. A lifelong military family advocate, Jessica Rudd was stunned by the story and took action. On Feb. 24, she emailed several of her contacts in Congress who work military personnel issues. "If they can do this to an E-8, they can do this to anyone," Jessica Rudd said. Two days after Jessica Rudds email, the Rudds received another bill -- this one for just $70, the cost for some broken blinds and a refrigerator drawer. The bill for fire damages had vanished in the wake of action taken on behalf of the family by Jessica Rudd's contacts, including military advocates and lawmakers. The Rudds also have been told they will be reimbursed for the rent paid after the fire made the house uninhabitable. Paris Cousin, senior director of operations at Hunt Military Communities, said March 1 that it is company policy to turn homes over to prospective residents with installed smoke detectors. "I couldn't tell you exactly what the situation was back in 2019, but I will tell you when someone moves into a home, smoke detectors are provided, installed in homes," Cousin said. Smoke detectors that had been removed in the Rudd household and never replaced. Image taken after the fire. (Courtesy of the Rudd family) When pressed about the existence of photos taken weeks after the Rudds' move-in date showing no smoke detectors, Cousin said she was responding to Military.coms questions about the Rudds' bill and not smoke detectors. She added that the company keeps maintenance records on the homes, but said those were not available to her at the time of her call to a reporter. Regarding the bill and the dropping of the $32,000 charge, Cousin said Hunt receives quotes for damages that "initially would be applied" to the residents' close-out bill -- the first bill they received. But since the cause of the fire was ruled to be accidental, "we reversed the charges and notified the resident of this." Cousin added that she was "not familiar with" Jessica Rudd's effort to help her brother-in-law. "I'm not familiar with that part of it. I just know that for us here, we reversed the charges because at the end, it was an accidental fire and the resident was not responsible for it," Cousin said. The Consumer Products Safety Commission has conducted at least 64 recalls of products using lithium-ion batteries since 2006. Explosions and deaths from lithium-ion batteries remain rare but have happened. In 2008, lithium-ion batteries that were being charged on a Navy mini-submarine at Pearl Harbor were responsible for a blaze onboard. Since then, the service has carefully controlled and vetted lithium-ion batteries on ships, including banning all vaping devices from vessels after they sparked fires. Across the country, lithium-ion batteries have been responsible for fires and several deaths: In 2018, the batteries in a Tesla were found to have contributed to a deadly crash that killed two teenagers. And batteries in cellphones, cameras and dive equipment were cited as a possible source for a fire that killed 34 on a dive boat off the California coast in 2019. The battery explosion in John Rudd's electric bike caused extensive smoke and radiant heat damage throughout the garage, according to the investigation, and sent smoke into every nook and cranny of the home, destroying many electronics; clothing; and upholstered belongings. If the fire had happened at night while the family was sleeping, they might not have made it out alive, Tammy Rudd said. "If we had not been right there, it could have been a lot worse," she said. John Rudd said he is disappointed that Hunt has never acknowledged the missing smoke detectors, which remained sitting on a counter in the home for the next tenant. He had high praise for his unit, the command and the base legal office, whom he described as supportive and helpful throughout the ordeal. He added that he was reluctant to go public with the story, but decided in the end that the incident could serve as an example of a housing company trying to "take advantage" of their military tenants. "We need junior Marines, junior sailors, junior soldiers, junior airmen to be protected from [the companies]. I've got to be the last service member this happens to," Rudd said. The Rudds are moving this spring to Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, where they had planned to live on base. Now, however, they say they likely will buy a house in the community, even though the market is hot in the popular coastal region. "We've decided we'll take our chances," Tammy Rudd said. -- Patricia Kime can be reached at Patricia.Kime@Monster.com. Follow her on Twitter @patriciakime. Related: Military Families in On-Base Housing May Soon Be Able to Withhold Rent in Disputes By Andrew Hammond Almost two decades after 9/11, one of the biggest early foreign policy decisions that U.S. President Joe Biden will have to make is over Afghanistan with that nation standing at a historic crossroads. Biden and his new administration are in the throes of a comprehensive Afghan policy review over how best to end Washington's 20-year engagement in the country, the nation's longest ever running involvement in a military conflict. Biden will report before the May 1 deadline to withdraw all foreign forces set in a U.S.-Taliban peace agreement brokered by the Trump team. In advance, NATO which took control of international security operations in Afghanistan in 2003 met Feb. 18 to discuss its own presence in the troubled country in what is also the military alliance's longest, costliest, and most ambitious operation ever. At the meeting, NATO defense ministers effectively pushed back a decision on the May 1 deadline to wait for Biden's review to try to ensure alignment with Washington. It is plausible that the final call on NATO's operation post-May will not come until after the organization's foreign ministers meet in mid-March. And to try to "buy time" before then, Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg urged the Afghan government and the Taliban to step up in coming weeks the pace of reconciliation talks. NATO now has around 10,000 troops in Afghanistan, helping to train and advise the nation's security forces. Most are not now U.S. personnel, but the wider troop contingent could not continue if U.S. transport, logistics and other support were withdrawn. The Biden review of the peace deal, which involves withdrawal of foreign forces in exchange for security guarantees by the Taliban, comes as Afghanistan stands at a critical crossroads. The peace deal has been violated repeatedly with growing concerns that levels of violence are still too high to justify a total pull-out of foreign forces. While the peace process with the Taliban may offer the best hope for a sustained peace for decades, many in Afghanistan are understandably anxious about their collective futures. While fragile gains have been made since 2001, the country faces a daunting array of economic, security, and political risks. The biggest challenge may remain the country's internal security situation, despite pledges that are made by Taliban militants. This increase in disorder comes after Afghan authorities have released thousands of Taliban prisoners promised in last year's deal. In this context, fears have been repeatedly raised that, should the security situation deteriorate much further in coming months, this U.S. and NATO foreign force (now a tiny fraction of the previously 150,000-strong combat presence) is not big enough. This footprint also remains key for ensuring training and cohesion for the several hundred thousand strong Afghan police and military personnel which have day-to-day responsibility for security in the country which may otherwise disintegrate. On the economic front, the news is not good either. Reconstruction has been slow, unemployment remains very high, and over a million Afghans are internally displaced in the country, with millions more refugees believed to be in Pakistan and Iran. And this, despite estimations that Washington has spent more on Afghan reconstruction than the cost of the Marshall Plan that helped rebuild Europe after the Second World War. It is also clear that, since the fall of the Taliban regime in 2001, the economy has not been diversified enough from drug exports such as opium and heroin. This despite the fact that the country has abundant natural resources gas, minerals and oil with an estimated value of some 3 trillion dollars. However, in the midst of this difficult picture, there remains some cause for optimism, especially if a sustainable peace deal can be agreed with the Taliban. Take the example of the country's fledgling democracy. The country's national unity government has survived more than seven years since first formed in 2014. Its creation represented the first democratic transfer of power in the country's history following President Hamid Karzai's post 9/11 administration. While there have been significant tensions, the national unity government has helped consolidate the legitimacy of the new post-Taliban political system. Other gains include Afghanistan's accession to the World Trade Organization and wider moves to revive economic links with the outside world, including the modern Silk Road, a new rail route connecting the country to China and Central Asia. Meanwhile, there are more children, including millions of girls, enrolled at schools; greater recognition of women's rights, and spread of technologies such as the internet and cell phones across the country. Yet, these potentially reversible gains remain in jeopardy at the historic crossroads the country is now at, depending upon the outcome of the intra-Afghan peace process. While a sustainable peace breakthrough remains possible subject to Taliban acquiescence, there is a growing prospect of intensified political, security and economic instability if the reconciliation process breaks down plunging the country into new uncertainty. Andrew Hammond ( ) is an associate at LSE IDEAS at the London School of Economics. SAN FRANCISCO, March 2, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Today Interlace Ventures announced it has expanded its team with two commerce technology luminaries. Vibhu Norby and Sydney Werber will join as venture partners while retaining their respective roles at b8ta and Avise, bringing their insight and expertise as operators who are reinventing commerce. Backed by Bain Capital Ventures and some of the largest entities in retail, fashion and consumer packaged goods (CPG), Interlace Ventures invests exclusively in early stage commerce infrastructure companies. Norby joins Interlace Ventures to support the fund's portfolio and expand its network. He is a repeat entrepreneur, Y Combinator alumnus, commerce innovator and previously a lead engineer at Nest Labs, which was acquired by Google in 2014. He will retain his current position as CEO & co-founder of b8tathe retail-as-a-service company that has launched thousands of products and is changing how online brands engage with customers in stores around the world. "Interlace is a top-tier fund investing in the infrastructure of modern commerce, an area I am deeply passionate about," said Vibhu Norby, venture partner at Interlace Ventures. "I'm thrilled to join as a venture partner to invest in and advise companies in this fast-growing space." Werber brings to Interlace Ventures her impressive social and video commerce expertise, which she honed as VP Strategy and Finance at ShopShops, a global livestream shopping platform. She will support the investment practice while retaining her role as VP Finance and Operations at Avise, a financial SaaS platform in beta. A seasoned angel investor and executive with strong experience in new digital commerce between the US and China, she will help Interlace Ventures deepen its expertise in social commerce while widening its global footprint. "I'm excited about building social commerce experiences that rethink how Western consumers shop," said Sydney Werber, venture partner at Interlace Ventures. "The challenges brought on by COVID-19 have also presented unique opportunities for brands to accelerate the offline-to-online bridge, and I look forward to helping build the next generation of commerce giants with Interlace Ventures." As consumer behavior and expectations continue to evolve, the commerce experience must also transform. Customers have come to expect a more personalized, convenient, and sustainable experience; technology allows both traditional retailers and emerging players to deliver on that promise. Interlace Ventures invests in pre-seed and seed-stage commerce companies, with the goal of identifying and funding the next Shopify in its early stages. Today's consumers are also more diverse than ever before, a reality that is reflected in both the team and its portfolio55% of its companies are led by underrepresented founders. The funds' existing portfolio includes innovative, proven concepts such as Alloy Automation, b8ta, Cargo, CommerceJS, ForDays, and Olive. In addition to strategic capital, Interlace Ventures offers its portfolio unparalleled access to executives at leading global brands such as Mars, Inc. The fund has created a unique Commerce Platform which gives corporations and e-commerce websites access to the most innovative companies in commerce technology. Executives at the world's largest retail, fashion and CPG brands look to Interlace Ventures to connect them with exciting startups building new commerce experiences, technology and infrastructure. "We've created a unique alignment between our companies, limited partners, and network. This allows us to deliver both business and capital to our portfolio," said Joseph Sartre, Managing Partner at Interlace Ventures. "Very few seed funds take a diverse, global approach, but our boots-on-the-ground experience as operators enables us to help large corporations identify, connect and integrate the latest technologies." To learn more, please visit www.interlaceventures.com. About Interlace Ventures Interlace Ventures is an early stage fund that helps build transformative commerce technology companies. The fund is backed by Bain Capital Ventures and some of the largest families and executives in retail, fashion and consumer packaged goods (CPG). Based in New York City and San Francisco with operating experience spanning Europe and Asia, the team has invested alongside world-class early stage software and technology venture funds on both coasts. The team also offers a unique Commerce Platform, powered by an extensive global network of brands who deliver both business and growth to companies that are reinventing commerce. As immigrants from diverse backgrounds, the team believes diversity is a strength and ensures its investments reflect those values. More than half of Interlace Ventures' portfolio is led by women, immigrants, or people of color, and Managing Partner Vincent Diallo is an active member and committee chairman at BlckVC. Find them at www.interlaceventures.com and follow them on @interlacevc and LinkedIn. Lauren Graffort PR Representative BuzzKat, Inc. for Interlace Ventures [email protected] This release was issued through WebWire. For more information, visit http://www.webwire.com. SOURCE Interlace Ventures Related Links http://www.interlaceventures.com Delhi leaders and workers staged a protest near the headquarters here on Tuesday against the rising prices of petrol, diesel and cooking gas. The protesters, raising slogans against the BJP-led central government, took out a march from the Delhi office but were stopped by police before the headquarters on the DDU Marg. Women workers carried cooking gas cylinders during the protest, as the steep rise in the cooking gas price has terribly upset household budgets, already severely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a statement issued by the Delhi Congress. Delhi Congress vice presidents Abhishek Dutt, Shivani Chopra, Jaikishan, Mudit Agarwal and Ali Mehndi, along with Mahila Congress president Amrita Dhawan, participated in the protest. The party leaders demanded that the government should provide immediate relief to people from the rising prices of petrol, diesel and cooking gas. The Congress workers questioned the silence of BJP and Aam Aadmi Party leaders who used to protest even when a minor hike in oil prices was effected when the Congress was in power, the statement said. Indian Youth Congress (IYC) activists also staged a protest outside the Petroleum Ministry. (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| 2021-03-02 00:56:51|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa speaks during a televised national address at the State House in Harare, Zimbabwe, March 1, 2021. Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa on Monday lauded China for donating COVID-19 vaccines to Zimbabwe as the country embarks on its inoculation program. (Photo by Wanda/Xinhua) HARARE, March 1 (Xinhua) -- Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa on Monday lauded China for donating COVID-19 vaccines to Zimbabwe as the country embarks on its inoculation program. China last week pledged to donate an additional 200,000 Sinopharm COVID-19 doses in additional to 200,000 doses received in the country last month. Another 600,000 doses bought from Sinopharm are expected in the country this month. The one million doses of the Sinopharm vaccine will be enough to vaccinate at least 500,000 people including frontline workers at risk of infection and a significant portion of the elderly and those with chronic conditions. In a televised national address on Monday, Mnangagwa said the donation by China will go a long way in aiding Zimbabwe's fight against the pandemic. "On behalf of the government and the people of Zimbabwe, I once again express my profound gratitude to the president of the People's Republic of China Xi Jinping, the government and people of China for the additional donation of 200,000 doses of vaccines made to Zimbabwe just last week," he said. Mnangagwa said the generous gift by China will greatly contribute to Zimbabwe's quest to achieve herd immunity. "Over and above, the combined total of 400,000 donated doses, another 600,000 doses of Chinese vaccines will be arriving in the coming weeks, a further 1.2 million doses have also been availed by Chinese companies for Zimbabweans," he said. Mnangagwa also expressed gratitude to Russia, India and the United Kingdom for donating vaccines to the country. "I equally express our gratitude to Russia, India, the United Kingdom who have pledged donations of various vaccines," he said. In addition, Mnangagwa also said vaccines will be administered free of charge. Private players are also permitted to procure the vaccines but will be required to distribute them for free as the government do not permit profiteering from the vaccination program. Furthermore, Mnangagwa announced a relaxation of a coronavirus lockdown imposed in January to curb the spread of the virus. The further relaxation of the lockdown comes at a time when the southern African country has started its nationwide COVID-19 program with Sinopharm vaccines. The government is targeting to vaccinate at least 10 million people as the absolute minimum to start achieving a degree of herd immunity. More than 18,000 frontline workers have received the Sinopharm vaccine during the first week of the inoculation program which is currently underway. At least 49,000 frontline workers will receive two inoculation jabs during the current first phase. So far COVID-19 has killed 1,463 people in Zimbabwe and affected 36,089 people since March last year. Enditem Amid escalating violence in Myanmar after the February 1 coup, the Foreign Ministers of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) on Tuesday prepared for a special meeting with the country's ruling military to open a channel to tackle its escalating political crisis, reported Bangkok Post. Singapore Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan said his counterparts in ASEAN would be frank when they meet by video call on Tuesday and will tell a representative of Myanmar's military they are appalled by the violence. In a television interview late on Monday, he said Asean would encourage dialogue between Suu Kyi and the junta. "There is the political leadership ... and there is the military leadership, on the other hand. They need to talk, and we need to help bring them together," he said. The talks will come two days after the bloodiest day of unrest since the military removed Aung San Suu Kyi's elected government a month ago, unleashing anger and mass street protests across Myanmar. The streets were largely quiet in the biggest city Yangon early on Tuesday ahead of what protesters said would be another big demonstration. Several shopping malls announced closures due to the unrest, some in places where protests have taken place. ASEAN groups Myanmar, Singapore, the Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Malaysia, Brunei and Vietnam. However, ASEAN's effort to engage with Myanmar's military was met with a fierce rebuke from groups in the anti-coup movement, including a committee of ousted lawmakers that have declared the junta a "terrorist" group. Sa Sa, the committee's anointed envoy to the United Nations, said ASEAN should have no dealings with "this illegitimate military-led regime", reported Bangkok Post. The alumni of ASEAN youth programmes in Myanmar said the bloc should be talking to the international representatives of Suu Kyi's administration, not to the regime. "ASEAN must understand that the coup or the re-election promised by the military junta is utterly unacceptable to the people of Myanmar," it said in a letter to the ASEAN. Meanwhile, Philippine Foreign Minister, Teodoro Locsin, indicated on Twitter that ASEAN would be firm with Myanmar and said its policy of non-interference in a member's internal affairs "is not a blanket approval or tacit consent for wrong to be done there", reported Bangkok Post. Earlier, Aung San Suu Kyi appeared at a court hearing via video conferencing on Monday and looked in good health during her appearance before a court, one of her lawyers said. Two more charges were added to those filed against her after the coup, she said. Hundreds of people have been arrested since the coup, according to activists, the latest a journalist for the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), who live-streamed security forces outside his apartment on Monday in the coastal town of Myeik, where he had been filming protests. DVB confirmed the arrest, Bangkok Post reported. The US had warned Myanmar's military rulers on Monday that it would take more action if security forces kill unarmed people and attack journalists and activists, which State Department spokesman Ned Price called "abhorrent violence". White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said the Biden administration was preparing further costs on those responsible for the coup. US Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield said on Monday she hoped to use Washington's presidency of the United Nations Security Council in March to push for more "intense discussions" on Myanmar. The military coup of February 1 has halted Myanmar's tentative steps towards democracy after nearly 50 years of military rule and has drawn condemnation and sanctions from the United States and other Western countries, and growing concern among its neighbours. (ANI) Also Read: Myanmar junta use snipers to fire on pro-democracy protesters, several dead, over 50 people arrested Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - March 2, 2021) - Sparta Group (TSXV: SAY) (the "Corporation" the "Company", "Sparta Group", "Sparta Capital", "SAY.V" or "Sparta") has signed a Memorandum of Understanding ("MOU") with Ethema Health Corporation (GRST) of West Palm Beach, FL ("Ethema") that could see the Company expand business into new markets related to the fight against emerging pathogens, including SARS-CoV-2, the virus responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic. For over 40 years, the food processing industry has been expanding technology to include various forms of pathogen killing processing equipment. Much of the continuous pathogen protection revolves around the use of a naturally occurring substance known as hypochlorous acid ("HOCl"), which both beef and poultry processors have discovered is effective, affordable, and safe to use. With a number of COVID-19 variants circulating the globe and some experts talking about a third wave to the pandemic, the two joint venture partners have decided to explore the use of HOCl disinfectant technologies in various market verticals, including health-related and industrial manufacturing settings. Hypochlorous acid has been used in many different industries, yet the general public is largely unaware of its disinfection abilities. A recent U.S. National Library of Medicine paper , published by clinical professors from the Louisiana State University of Dentistry, indicates that HOCI has multiple uses, including in farming, restaurants, and health care. The authors state that fogging with hypochlorous acid has shown "virucidal" activity against several different types of viruses and bacteria. Ethema Health develops specialized world-class health centers for addiction treatment. Addiction Recovery Institute of American ("ARIA"), a 40-bed addiction treatment facility, located in West Palm Beach Florida, has been using a COVID-Clear supplied hypochlorous acid dispersion system since the beginning of the global Coronavirus pandemic with favorable success. Now Ethema is looking to share their experience and knowledge with similar facilities to help reduce the spread of the CoV-SARS-II virus. Hypochlorous acid is naturally produced by our white blood cells and is an important part of the human immune system. By properly controlling the balance between the concentration ("PPM"), the acidity ("pH") and the oxidation reaction potential ("ORP"), the HOCl can be produced to closely emulate the human immune system's neutrophils; releasing their attack to destroy pathogenic organisms. While safe for humans, HOCI can be a powerful weapon against viral outbreaks. HOCI destroys viruses by forming chloramines and nitrogen-centered radicals, thus leading to single and double-stranded DNA breaks, which render the virus harmless. HOCI is EPA registered and FDA approved for wound care and various forms of food processing. "We already have the programs in place to provide long-term antimicrobial protection for virtually all workplace surfaces; the ability to provide app based ACHU@work technology to monitor the health of the individual workers via a wearable (such as a Fitbit or Apple Watch); and we have COVID-19 rapid testing capability to help employers maintain a safe work force. So, adding continuous pathogen protection that can be provided through the application of HOCl technology makes a lot of sense. We are so pleased to have our scientific teams collaborating to see how we can open up more opportunities to distribute this clean, green and safe solution," said, Sparta President John O'Bireck. Scientists report that in the past, it was difficult to produce large amounts of HOCI in a cost-effective manner and without traces of salt being left behind. "Thanks to advances in technology made in the food processing arena it is our expectation that we will be able to offer an affordable and residue free hypochlorous acid solution that can be used in various markets," said Mr. Len Shara P.Eng., Sparta Group's Lead Scientist and member of Sparta's Technical Advisory Board. About Ethema Ethema Health Corporation (GRST) operates in the behavioral healthcare space specifically in the treatment of substance use disorders. Ethema developed a unique style of treatment over the last decade and has had much success with in-patient treatment for adults. Ethema will continue to develop world class programs and techniques for North America. For more information you can visit our website at www.ethemahealth.com. About Sparta Sparta Group (a.k.a. Sparta Capital Ltd.) is a technology-based company that owns or holds a controlling interest in a network of independent businesses that supply energy saving technologies designed to reduce energy inefficiencies, achieve reduced emissions and increase operating efficiencies in various industries. In response to the COVID-19 crisis, Sparta has also expanded its scope to help facilitate supply of necessary materials while assisting talented inventors who are looking to introduce innovative technical solutions that will bring greater normalcy to the post COVID-19 world. Sparta's network of independent businesses provides a wide range of specialized energy capturing, converting, optimizing, and related services to the commercial sector. Sparta provides capital, technical and engineering expertise, legal support, financial and accounting knowledge, strategic planning and other shared services to its independent businesses. Sparta is a publicly traded company listed on the TSX Venture Exchange Inc. under the symbol "SAY" (TSXV: SAY). Additional information is available at www.spartagroup.ca or on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. For further information please contact: John O'Bireck, President Email: jobireck@spartagroup.ca Telephone: (905) 751-8004 This news release contains "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable securities laws. When used in this news release, the words "estimate", "project", "belief", "anticipate", "intend", "expect", "plan", "predict", "may" or "should" and the negative of these words or such variations thereon or comparable terminology are intended to identify forward-looking statements and information. Although the Corporation believes in light of the experience of its officers and directors, current conditions and expected future developments and other factors that have been considered appropriate that the expectations reflected in this forward-looking information are reasonable, readers are cautioned to not place undue reliance on forward-looking information because the Corporation can give no assurance that they will prove to be correct. Forward-looking statements are made based on management's beliefs, estimates and opinions on the date of publication of this news release and the Corporation undertakes no obligation to update such forward-looking statements if these beliefs, estimates and opinions or other circumstances should change. Furthermore, the Corporation undertakes no obligation to comment on analyses, expectations or statements made by third parties in respect of the Corporation. These include, but are not limited to, the failure to obtain necessary regulatory approvals, necessary financing and risks associated with the environmental technologies industry in general. All forward-looking statements contained in this news release are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement. Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. SOURCE: Sparta Capital Ltd. Resident, Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Louisiana State University School of Dentistry, New Orleans, LA To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/75830 ST. LOUIS, March 2, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Twain Financial Partners closed on three milestone ground lease capital transactions with Mequity Companies and Stonebriar Commercial Finance. The transactions are Twain's first deals within the self-storage industry and are the result of a collaborative effort between Twain and Stonebriar. Twain contributed a total of $23.5 million and Stonebriar contributed a total of $15.5 million to the three Mequity projects located in Florida, Massachusetts, and New York. Ground leases offer property owners the ability to finance development projects or reposition existing assets by entering into sale and leaseback agreements with repurchase options. Property owners receive a lump sum payment for a portion of the value of the ground and current or future improvements. Further, property owners retain ownership and operational rights while making ground lease payments to Twain. All three projects consist of the ground-up construction of self-storage facilities. The projects are located in high growth locations of Port St. Lucie, FL; Framingham, MA; and Port Jefferson, NY. "Ground lease capital is an excellent cost-effective option for Mequity as part of the capital stack in our self-storage development projects," said Bill Marsh, CEO of Mequity. "Twain has been great to work with in providing this capital and has become a valued programmatic partner for Mequity." "Stonebriar is thrilled to partner with Twain and Mequity to bring these projects to life," said Travis Bell, Managing Director of Originations at Stonebriar. "Our collaboration resulted in a successful and creative financing option for Mequity. We look forward to partnering with these companies again in the future." "Only a year after launching, we have found our ground lease capital program to be a great fit for self-storage developers," said Jon Kelly, Business Development Officer at Twain. "Through our successful partnership with Mequity and Stonebriar we hope to spread the word and do many more projects in this asset class." Mequity Companies is a real estate group focused on the development, construction, and operation of self-storage facilities. Mequity's primary target markets are the cities and surrounding metropolitan areas of New York City / Northern New Jersey; Boston; Philadelphia; Atlanta; and Miami / South Florida. Mequity develops "Class A" facilities in undersupplied submarkets around the country and are currently looking for new development sites. Stonebriar Commercial Finance is a privately held financier established in 2015 and based in Plano, TX. With financial resources and stable capital funding, Stonebriar is building a world class, multibillion-dollar platform of commercial loans and leases. SCF offers financing solutions to a wide variety of industries throughout the entire credit spectrum, for businesses located in the United States, Canada, and select foreign jurisdictions. Twain Financial Partners is an investment management firm located in St. Louis, Missouri with over $4 billion in assets under management within the public-private partnership sector. The firm works with a wide variety of investment types, specializing in tax credit, structured debt, and real estate transactions. Twain works closely with financial institutions and corporations to structure and manage investments that offer both attractive economic return and social benefits. SOURCE Twain Financial Partners Related Links http://www.twainfinancial.com The Nagol is Back! VTOs guide to this years Nagol, plus where to stay and play in south, central and north Pentecost. Galveston, TX (77553) Today Mixed clouds and sun this morning. Scattered thunderstorms developing this afternoon. High 83F. Winds S at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 50%.. Tonight A few isolated thunderstorms developing overnight. Low 76F. Winds SSW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 30%. A Bristol secondary school has adopted a 'black hair code,' that allows pupils to wear afros, braids and cornrows. Bristol Brunel Academy has announced it is backing 'The Halo Code,' an initiative set up amid complaints that black people are 'humiliated at work because our hair is deemed unprofessional,' according to the initiative's founders. The 1,100-pupil secondary school has backed the campaign, saying it could help 'create a future without hair discrimination'. Around 25 other schools across England, including the 17,640-a-year Sutton High School, have signed up to the same code, according to The Halo Collective's website Bristol Brunel Academy is the latest school to sign up The Halo Code, which accepts different African hairstyles in a bid to 'create a future without hair discrimination' Bristol Brunel Academy, rated Good by Ofsted at its last inspection in 2017, said it would welcome hairstyles including afros, locs, twists, braids, cornrows and fades, along with 'hair straightened through the application of heat or chemicals,' weaves, wigs, headscarves and wraps. A statement on the school's website reads: 'At this school, we recognise and celebrate our staff and students' identities. 'We are a community built on an ethos of equality and respect where hair texture and style have no bearing on anyone's ability to succeed.' The code was created by the Halo Collective, which claims to have Unilever and Marks and Spencer on board with the project. It also states around 25 schools have signed up, most of which are based around London and Manchester. A statement on its website reads: 'For many Black employees, battling workplace dress codes - official or unofficial - is part of everyday life. We are forced to choose between our career on the one hand, and our cultural identity and hair health on the other. 'Weve heard heartbreaking stories of Black people humiliated at work because our hair was deemed unprofessional, unruly, unkempt, a distraction to others. The Halo Collective are an alliance of organisations and individuals that work to fight against hair discrimination. Pictured: Examples of hairstyles shown on The Halo Collective's website The organisation protects employees who go to work with natural hair and protective hairstyles. Pictured: Hairstyles shown on The Halo Collective's website 'Thats why we are working with employers and professional bodies to support them to adopt the Halo Code, the UKs first Black Hair code. 'The Halo Code explicitly protects employees who come to work with natural hair and protective hairstyles associated with their racial, ethnic, and cultural identities.' Abbi Bainton, Assistant Principal at Bristol Brunel Said, 'Our values at BBA already aligned closely so adopting the Halo Code was positive recognition of our inclusive ethos. 'At BBA we believe that no Black staff or students should have to change their natural or protective hairstyle in order to thrive at school. 'We hope that the Halo Code will move us one step closer to a world free from discrimination, where all Black members of our community have their identities fully recognised and celebrated.' A GLOBAL investor services group has given Shannon a jobs boost after outlining plans to open a facility in the town. Some 45 positions are to be created by IQ-EQ, which is launching its own dedicated funds business in Ireland. IQ-EQ which will create the jobs over the next five years provides a range of compliance, administration, asset and advisory services to alternative funds, global companies, and private and institutional investors globally. Already, it employs 135 people in Northern Ireland, and has other facilities in London and Luxembourg. IQ-EQ has been active in Ireland for over 30 years, providing a full range of corporate administration and structured finance solutions from its offices in Dublin and now in Shannon. A number of staff will transfer to Shannon but among the 45 new hires will be those holding roles in fund accounting, transfer agency and support. IQ-EQs managing director for Ireland, Joanne McEnteggart, said: Establishing a Funds business in Ireland was a logical next step for IQ-EQ which has operated in Ireland for the last 30 years. In fact, taking this step was very much a client led initiative with many of our clients and intermediaries looking to us to set up a funds operation in what is recognised as a key funds domicile. This is an important milestone not only for the Ireland team but for the Group as a whole as it takes us one step closer to achieving our strategic objective of becoming the most complete independent provider to alternative asset managers globally. IDA Ireland chief executive Martin Shanahan said: Todays announcement by IQ-EQ to expand its operations in the Mid-West is a welcome addition to the regions financial services cluster and is aligned to IDA Irelands strategy to win jobs and investment for regional locations. This expansion is a solid endorsement of the strong talent pool available in the region. Minister of State for Higher Education and Limerick TD Niall Collins said the investment shows again the regions competitiveness and attractiveness when it comes to financial firms. An anti-lockdown protester is held by police officers in Parliament Square outside the House of Commons in London on Jan. 6, 2021. (Leon Neal/Getty Images) Enforcing UKs Restrictions as Lockdown Eases Not Manageable, Says Metropolitan Police Federation Britains police officers dont want to enforce residual CCP virus restrictions as the country eases out of its third national lockdown, the chairman of a major police staff association reportedly said on Sunday. Police dont want to police this, said Ken Marsh, Chairman of the Metropolitan Police Federation (MPF), according to The Telegraph. We have had enough of this. It is not policeable. It is not manageable, he said. Amid reports that people have already started to congregate ahead of lockdown measures relaxing, Marsh explained that in order to move close to people to disperse or arrest them, police officers themselves need to break social distancing restrictions on a daily basis. However pending legal advice, unless police are vaccinated, he threatened to tell the MPFs 32,000 members to instead stick rigidly to the two-meter (6 feet) rule, The Telegraph said, which would result in resistant rule-breakers not being apprehended. A woman is detained by police officers as protestors from the Million Mask March and anti lockdown protesters demonstrate, amid the CCP virus outbreak in London, on Nov. 5, 2020. (Henry Nicholls/Reuters) The MFP is calling for the police to receive vaccines as one of the countrys priority groups. On Monday it launched a scathing condemnation of the government for not agreeing to this. The Prime Minister and Home Secretary have shown unforgivable contempt for police officers by snubbing them for any level of priority for the COVID-19 vaccine, the MPF said in a statement. Its absolutely disgusting. Police officers are catching and dying from COVID-19 because of their job and yet we are still not being given the protection the vaccine offers, Marsh said. Its like we dont exist, he added. Marshs criticisms come after the government last week followed advice from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) that vaccines against the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, commonly known as novel coronavirus, should continue to be rolled out to groups in descending age order. Restructuring vaccine distribution to immunize people in specific occupations would slow down overall deployment, the JCVI said. Our Job is Unique Marsh, however, said the police are a special case. Our job is unique, and we deserve the highest levels of protection. And we deserved it weeks ago, he said. We cannot police from two meters [6 feet] away. We cannot do what we do from a social distance, he added. The Home Office said in a statement that it had nothing to add to what the JCVI have announced about vaccine prioritization. Police officers detain a protestor during an anti-CCP virus lockdown demonstration outside the Houses of Parliament in Westminster, central London on Jan. 6, 2021. (Tolga Akmen/AFP via Getty Images) Commenting on whether police should robustly enforce restrictions as lockdown rules are lifted, former Detective Chief Inspector Mike Neville told The Epoch Times that they should not. Im a big human-rights a big fan of freedoms and civil liberties, he said, adding that the police should avoid cracking down too much. Thats not British policing at its best, he said. And when all this lockdown ends, the police are going to have to go back to normal, he added. He also said that for 150 years UK people have favored the friendly British bobby model. By way of illustration, he recounted the experience of a Jewish child who was brought to safety in England in the late 1930s. Her comment was that the policeman smiled, Neville said. And I think thats a lovely vision where she came from these awful automatonsyou know, arresting and bullying people. And when she got off that ship, the first thing she sawthe policeman smiled. And I think that we the British police should always live up to that, he added. The Metropolitan Police meanwhile said in a statement that Londoners should stick to the rules and that the police would carry on enforcing them. While the Governments roadmap contains positive news, now is not the time for complacency, the Met said. Officers across London are continuing to take action against rule-breakers, adopting the Four Es process of engaging, explaining, encouraging, and then enforcing. The White House on Tuesday declined to defend Dr. Seuss after President Joe Biden left the children's author out of a proclamation celebrating Read Across America Day. White House press secretary Jen Psaki said the day is 'a chance to celebrate diverse authors whose work and lived experience reflect the diversity of our country.' Her comments come after Biden omitted Dr. Seuss from Read Across America Day, which is held annually on the children's author's birthday on March 2. But now six of his children's books will no longer be published because of racist and insensitive imagery, Dr. Seuss Enterprises, the company that preserves and protects the author's legacy, announced Tuesday. Biden broke presidential tradition when he left out any mention of Dr. Seuss during his proclamation. Both former presidents Barack Obama and Donald Trump have recognized Dr. Seuss' contributions several times in their proclamations each year. Psaki said the Education Department wrote the proclamation, not the White House. But she added: 'It's especially important that we ensure all children can see themselves represented and celebrated in the books that they read.' Dr. Seuss, whose real name is Theodor Geisel, had been the face of the annual Read Across America day for more than 20 years. Asked if he was omitted this year because of racist images in some of his writing, Psaki said: 'I think it is important that children of all backgrounds see themselves in the children's books that they read, but I would point you to the Department of Education for any more details on the writing of the proclamation.' The White House declined to defend Dr. Seuss after President Joe Biden left the children's author out of a proclamation celebrating Read Across America Day 'It's especially important that we ensure all children can see themselves represented and celebrated in the books that they read,' White House press secretary Jen Psaki said These six Dr. Seuss books will no longer be published because of racist and insensitive imagery, according to the company that preserves and protects the author's legacy Explaining the decision to stop the publication of the six Dr. Seuss books, the company said: 'These books portray people in ways that are hurtful and wrong.' In 'And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street,' an Asian person is portrayed wearing a conical hat, holding chopsticks, and eating from a bowl. 'If I Ran the Zoo' includes a drawing of two bare-footed African men wearing what appear to be grass skirts with their hair tied above their heads. Dr. Seuss Enterprises, the company that preserves and protects Theodor Geisel's (above in 1987) legacy, made the announcement on Tuesday, which coincides with the late author and illustrator's birthday 'Ceasing sales of these books is only part of our commitment and our broader plan to ensure Dr. Seuss Enterprises' catalog represents and supports all communities and families,' the company said. The decision to cease publication and sales of the books was made last year after months of discussion, the company said. 'Dr. Seuss Enterprises listened and took feedback from our audiences including teachers, academics and specialists in the field as part of our review process. We then worked with a panel of experts, including educators, to review our catalog of titles.' Random House Children Books, Dr. Seuss' publisher, issued a brief statement on Tuesday: 'We respect the decision of Dr. Seuss Enterprises and the work of the panel that reviewed this content last year, and their recommendation.' As adored as Dr. Seuss is by millions around the world for the positive values in many of his works, including environmentalism and tolerance, there has been increasing criticism in recent years over the way blacks, Asians and others are drawn in some of his most beloved children's books, as well as in his earlier advertising and propaganda illustrations. The National Education Association, which founded Read Across America Day in 1998 and deliberately aligned it with Geisel's birthday, has for several years de-emphasized Seuss and encouraged a more diverse reading list for children. This image appears in the 1937 book 'And To Think I Saw It On Mulberry Street', which shows an illustration of a 'Chinaman who eats with sticks' - a caricatured picture of an Asian man with slits for eyes carrying a bowl of rice 'If I Ran the Zoo', which was published in 1950, includes a drawing of two bare-footed African men wearing what appear to be grass skirts with their hair tied above their heads Racist drawings and shocking cartoons: Why Dr. Seuss's legacy is in question Dr. Seuss's reputation has been called into question in recent years because of racist imagery in his children's books, including stereotyped cartoons of Chinese and Japanese people that he drew in the 1930s and 1940s. One such illustration appeared in the 1937 work And To Think I Saw It On Mulberry Street, which includes a drawing of a 'Chinaman who eats with sticks' - a caricatured picture of an Asian man with slits for eyes carrying a bowl of rice for no apparent reason. Drawings in If I Ran The Zoo, published in 1950, includes African characters resembling monkeys and an Arab chieftain on a camel with a caption suggesting he too should be in a zoo. A so-called 'Chinaman who eats with sticks' in a 1937 work by Dr. Seuss As well as children's books, Dr. Seuss produced political cartoons and advertisements that contain controversial images. A 1929 drawing showed black people for sale to whites and adapted a racially charged phrase to say: 'Take home a high-grade [N-word] for your woodpile'. During World War II, he drew cartoons of Japanese people, including one showing them queuing up for supplies of TNT and suggesting they were waiting for the 'signal from home'. The wartime cartoons, published in New York newspaper PM, are also credited with 'railing against isolationism, racism and antisemitism' as he urged people to help the effort. This 1929 cartoon shows black people for sale and uses the N-word A 2019 article called The Cat Is Out Of The Bag: Orientalism, Anti-Blackness, and White Supremacy in Dr. Seuss's Children's Books, said the author had published 'hundreds' of racist political cartoons, comics and advertisements. A collection dedicated to Dr. Seuss's art acknowledges that some of his early drawings 'were hurtful then and are still hurtful today'. However, it says that he later amended his works - for example changing 'Chinaman' to 'Chinese man' - and wrote about equality during the 1960s civil rights movements. It also defends him by saying that his drawings reflected stereotypes which were widely held at the time. Geisel himself is quoted as saying later in life that the cartoons were 'just the way things were 50 years ago'. The fresh scrutiny of his works has seen the Mulberry Street illustration removed from a Dr. Seuss museum in 2018 - a decision which his great-nephew said was 'extreme'. Last month a Virginia school district distanced itself from the author, saying his books would no longer be the 'emphasis' of Read Across America Day. 'Research in recent years has revealed strong racial undertones in many books written/illustrated by Dr. Seuss,' it said. He has now also gone missing from the White House celebrations after Joe Biden broke with a tradition continued by both Barack Obama and Donald Trump. Advertisement School districts across the country have also moved away from Dr. Seuss, prompting Loudoun County, Virginia, schools just outside Washington, D.C., to douse rumors last month that they were banning the books entirely. 'Research in recent years has revealed strong racial undertones in many books written/illustrated by Dr. Seuss,' the school district said in a statement. In 2017, a school librarian in Cambridge, Massachusetts, criticized a gift of 10 Seuss books from first lady Melania Trump, saying many of his works were 'steeped in racist propaganda, caricatures, and harmful stereotypes.' In 2018, a Dr. Seuss museum in his hometown of Springfield, Massachusetts, removed a mural that included an Asian stereotype. 'The Cat in the Hat,' one of Seuss' most popular books, has received criticism, too, but will continue to be published for now. Dr. Seuss Enterprises, however, said it is 'committed to listening and learning and will continue to review our entire portfolio.' Books by Dr. Seuss, who died in 1991, have been translated into dozens of languages as well as in braille and are sold in more than 100 countries. He remains popular, earning an estimated $33 million before taxes in 2020, up from just $9.5 million five years ago, the company said. Forbes listed him No. 2 on its highest-paid dead celebrities of 2020, behind only the late pop star Michael Jackson. The decision to stop publication of the six books was announced just one day after President Biden broke with tradition and left Dr. Seuss out of the 2021 Read Across America Day proclamation. Read Across America Day had traditionally featured on Dr. Seuss books including classics like The Cat In The Hat and The Grinch. In Obama's 2014 proclamation, he had said: '[Dr Seuss'] tales challenge dictators and discrimination. They call us to open our minds, to take responsibility for ourselves and our planet.' In 2015, Obama stated: 'The works of Theodor Seuss Geisel, better known to us as Dr. Seuss, have sparked a love for reading in generations of students. His whimsical wordplay and curious characters inspire children to dream big and remind readers of all ages that 'a person's a person no matter how small.' The following year, Obama said in 2016 that Seuss was 'one of America's revered wordsmiths' who 'used his incredible talent to instill in his most impressionable readers universal values we all hold dear.' Former first lady Melania Trump celebrated Read Across America Day in 2017 by reading Dr. Seuss books to hospitalized children. 'Dr. Seuss has brought so much joy, laughter and enchantment into children's lives all around the globe for generations,' Melania said at the time. 'Through his captivating rhymes, Dr. Seuss has delighted and inspired children while teaching them to read, to dream, and to care.' Trump, in his 2018 proclamation, urged Americans to 'always remember the still-vibrant words of Dr. Seuss: 'You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose.' Trump also referred to Dr. Seuss in his 2019 proclamation. Numerous other popular children's series have also been criticized in recent years for alleged racism. In the 2007 book, 'Should We Burn Babar?,' the author and educator Herbert R. Kohl contended that the 'Babar the Elephant' books were celebrations of colonialism because of how the title character leaves the jungle and later returns to 'civilize' his fellow animals. One of the books, 'Babar's Travels', was removed from the shelves of a British library in 2012 because of its alleged stereotypes of Africans. Critics also have faulted the 'Curious George' books for their premise of a white man bringing home a monkey from Africa. And Laura Ingalls Wilder's portrayals of Native Americans in her 'Little House On the Prairie' novels have been faulted so often that the American Library Association removed her name in 2018 from a lifetime achievement award it gives out each year. There has been increasing criticism in recent years over the way blacks, Asians and others are drawn in some of Theodor Geisel's most beloved children's books, as well as in his earlier advertising and propaganda illustrations Presidents Clinton, Obama and Trump have all mentioned Dr. Seuss in conjunction with Read Across America Day, which is designed to encourage school children to read more. The Obamas are pictured in April 2010 Ashley James has defended sharing breastfeeding selfies online and said they are an attempt to 'normalise' nursing her seven-week old baby, Alfie Rivers. The DJ and influencer, 33, made the comments during an appearance on Channel 5's Jeremy Vine chat show on Tuesday, stating the 'stigma' around breastfeeding needs to end. Ashley, who shares Alfie with Tom Andrews, 31, said she believes 'boobs have been so hyper-sexualised', leading to her receiving backlash from posting pictures of her feeding online. Normal: Ashley James appeared on Jeremy Vine chat show on Tuesday to defend sharing breastfeeding pictures, saying they are an attempt to 'normalise' feeding her son Ashley appeared on the show via video link from her London home, saying that by posting candid pictures of her feeding her baby she is simply showing that she is 'feeding a child'. She said: 'I have had big boobs since I was a teenager and this is the first time I feel like I don't have to be ashamed of my breasts. 'I am feeding a child - what more amazing thing can you do with breasts than that?' The model, 33, said the 'stigma' around breastfeeding needs to end and that by posting candid pictures of her online she is simply showing that she is 'feeding a child' She added: 'I think it [the backlash] kind of shows why the UK has one of the lowest breastfeeding rates in the world because there is still so much shame and stigma around breastfeeding.' In 2018, a report by Swansea University revealed that the UK has one of the lowest rates of breastfeeding in the world. Just 34 per cent of UK babies are receiving breast milk at six months of age, compared to 62 per cent in Sweden. New mum: Ashley said she believes 'boobs have been so hyper-sexualised' which is why she thinks she has received backlash from posting pictures of her feeding online Ashley said: 'When I have spoken to other mums the thought for them of having to breastfeed in public - so never mind online - is one of the reasons why they don't carry on breastfeeding... 'So that's why I've decided to do my bit to normalise breastfeeding.' Another guest on the show, journalist Angela Epstein, said that while she breastfed all four of her children, she thinks that mothers shouldn't share pictures of it, saying it is something 'intimate' and it doesn't need to be paraded online. She said: 'Things you post online live forever. I can't imagine if I had posted a picture of one of children being breastfed by me, and they are now grown up, and they saw it they would be absolutely horrified! 'So we are not actually even thinking about the baby here.' Ashley replied: 'I think you are proving why there is so much shame and stigma around breastfeeding the thought that we would be horrified to learn that we were breastfed!' The former Made in Chelsea star continued: 'Boobs have been so hyper-sexualised. 'Why is it we can look at an advert for someone selling lingerie and that's fine, but we can't feel comfortable... feeding [my son]?' Ashley, who has shared lots of pictures of her body before and during her pregnancy, has admitted that she's received lots of negative messages since sharing her breastfeeding journey on social media. 'It's food': Last month, Ashley took to her social media pages to slam the 'creepy and judgmental' comments about having her cleavage out Last month, she took to her social media pages to slam the 'creepy and judgmental' comments about having her cleavage out. She penned: 'During this time, my inbox has been flooded with creepy comments from men (weird to sexualise someone breastfeeding), and judgemental comments from women about how often they're out, or about me attention seeking. 'It genuinely makes me so sad that there are still women who think I / other big boobed women get our boobs out for male attention.' She captioned one of the images: 'Breastfeeding is normal. It's not attention seeking. It's food.' Sweet: In another Instagram post from last month, she wrote about her love of breastfeeding her son, saying it is an opportunity to 'bond' with her baby In another Instagram post from last month, she wrote about her love of breastfeeding her son, saying it is an opportunity to 'bond' with her baby. She wrote: 'Breastfeeding is the first time since having boobs at 13 that my boobs haven't felt inappropriate or sexual. 'I love it, and I love getting to bond with and feed my son. If people have a problem with me using my breasts for what nature intended then I think that would say a lot more about them than me.' A serial killer whose victims included a Bay Area woman was found dead in his cell at a state prison near Sacramento on Sunday, prison officials said. The death of Roger Kibbe, 81, is being investigated as a homicide, according to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. Kibbe was found unresponsive in his cell at Mule Creek State Prison by prison staff about 12:40 a.m. Sunday, officials said, with his 40-year-old cellmate, Jason Budrow, standing nearby. Prison staff took Kibbe to a health clinic and tried saving him, but he was pronounced dead at 1:23 a.m. Kibbe, known as the I-5 Strangler, was tied to the killings of at least seven women and girls in the 1970s and 1980s. His trademark was cutting his victims clothing in strange patterns. He was originally convicted in 1991 of the killing of Darcine Frackenpohl, a 17-year-old runaway from Seattle whose partially nude body was found by a jogger west of South Lake Tahoe below Echo Summit in September 1987, two to three weeks after she was killed. Her pink dress was discovered about 1,000 feet from the body. At the time, investigators also suspected Kibbe in the murders of six other women, along Interstate 5 in the Sacramento and Stockton areas, but were unable to file charges in those cases. Kibbe was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison for Frackenpohls death. In the early 2000s, a San Joaquin District Attorneys Office investigator used new developments in DNA testing to connect him to the old slayings. One of the killings eventually tied to Kibbe was that of Lou Ellen Burleigh, a 21-year-old Walnut Creek woman who disappeared after leaving her home for a job interview in 1977. After the DNA evidence led authorities to Kibbe, he confessed to several slayings that took place along Interstate 5, including Burleighs, the Chronicle reported in 2011. Kibbe told authorities that he met Burleigh under the guise of a job opening for a secretary. Kibbe told Burleigh that his office was under construction and they should meet in a van, authorities said. He then tied up Burleigh and drove her to Lake Berryessa, where he raped and killed her, investigators said. Efforts to find Burleighs remains were unsuccessful until 2011, when investigators found a small piece of bone in a creek bed, which DNA testing later revealed belonged to Burleigh. Kibbe pleaded guilty in San Joaquin County to six new counts of murder in Amador, Contra Costa, Napa, Sacramento, San Joaquin and Stanislaus counties. His other victims were Stephanie Brown, 19; Lora Heedrick, 20; Katherine Kelly Quinones, 25; Charmaine Sabrah, 26; and Barbara Ann Scott, 29, all in 1986. Prosecutors said they agreed to drop the possibility of the death penalty because Kibbe was unlikely to ever realistically face execution. Corrections officials said he was serving two life terms without the possibility of parole from San Joaquin County from 2009, beyond the earlier life with parole sentence El Dorado County for Frackenpohls death. Officials could not immediately explain the lack of other listed charges. Budrow, who is serving a life sentence on a first-degree murder conviction, is being housed in a segregation unit, pending an investigation into Kibbes death, authorities said. It was not immediately clear Monday whether he was facing additional charges relating to Kibbes death. Prison officials did not say how Kibbe died. The Associated Press contributed to this story. Michael Williams is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email Michael.Williams@sfchronicle.com Farmers in Wangmantian village, east China's Anhui province, lit up fish-shaped lanterns on the evening of Feb. 24 to celebrate the Lantern Festival, which fell on Feb. 26. Fish-shaped lanterns in Wangmantian village, Shexian county, Huangshan city of Anhui, have a history of over 600 years, and have been designated an intangible cultural heritage of the city. Every year during the Lantern Festival, local people hold fish-shaped lanterns parades to pray for good harvests, fortune and prosperity. Thanks to the geographical and historical features of the village, Wangmantian has developed its own unique style of fish-shaped lanterns. Holding fish-shaped lantern parades has become a folklore activity that passes on the villages traditional culture and aesthetics. Wangmantian village was listed as one of the fifth batch of traditional Chinese villages, and included as a provincial-level beautiful village in 2020. Heysem Topalca, a fugitive who allegedly played a key role in the Turkish intelligence operations in Syria before vanishing into thin air in 2015, has died at the age of 54, leaving several unanswered questions behind. Topalca, notoriously known as Hytham Qassap'' or Hytham the butcher, and two other passengers in his car were killed in a traffic accident in the central Anatolian province of Konya on Feb 10. Topalcas name was embroiled in various controversies from his alleged involvement in Ankara's weapons transfers to armed Syrian groups to accusations that he played a role in two separate terror attacks inside Turkey and that he helped radical jihadi groups to supply chemical agents. In 2015, a Turkish court sentenced him to 12 years in jail for terrorism-related charges. He has supposedly been wanted by the Turkish authorities since then. Hailing from Syrias predominantly Turkmen region of Bayir Bucak in the Latakia countryside, Topalca had allegedly collaborated with Turkeys National Intelligence Organization (MIT) to arm Turkmens in the region against the Syrian government. He had also led a jihadi Turkmen faction there, where he was dubbed ghost commander for his ability to freely conduct all sorts of smuggling operations. According to a 2014 police report, Topalca had entered and exited Turkey 873 times from 2011 to 2014. How he had managed to travel with such ease during a time frame in which his name was implicated in several investigations over terror-related crimes remains an open question, fanning claims that he had been collaborating with the authorities. Moreover, Topalca was arrested multiple times by security forces only to be freed every time another indication that he was under some sort of protection. But he also held many secrets. Thats why the car crash that claimed his life evokes the memorable road accident near the northwestern town of Susurluk in 1996, which exposed ties between the Turkish state and the underworld as a senior police chief, a parliamentarian and a wanted hitman turned out to be among the passengers in one of the vehicles. Unlike Susurluk, Topalcas death was hardly reported in the Turkish press, which is under the strict control of the government. Topalca was buried in Yayladagi a border town where his family resides near Turkeys southeastern province of Hatay on Feb. 11, according to a routine obituary notice published on the Hatay mayor's office Facebook page. Yet the accident revealed that his connections in Konya, where he allegedly supplied the weapons sent to Syria, were still active at the time of his death. Although Ankaras need for men like Topalca had diminished after the Turkish army entered into the Syrian scene in a 2016 military operation, Topalca's life provides some insight into the evolution of the armed conflict in Syria. He was a cab driver and an ordinary smuggler along the Syrian border until the beginning of the armed conflict in 2011. By the eruption of the conflict, he had swiftly transformed his business according to the needs of changing circumstances and put his experience into the service of armed groups by supplying their various needs. He escorted militants who were traveling to the Latakia coast from the countryside. He even formed his own opposition group, called Brothers in the way of God, as part of the Turkmens armed campaign against the Syrian government. He was also targeted by some jihadi groups because of his pre-war ties with some local Syrian officials. In 2013, a radical jihadi group kidnapped Topalca and Turkish journalist Bunyamin Aygun who was interviewing him in western Syria. Topalca was released more than two weeks earlier than Aygun, owing to his well-established ties in the country. He was among the group of Turks who traveled to Syria to take Aygun back after the journalists release was secured. Topalcas name had come under further light after speculations over his alleged involvement in arms and explosives trafficking. Most notably, Topalcas name was embroiled in a 2013 twin car bombing in Turkeys border town of Reyhanli. During the trial over the attack that claimed 53 lives, some defendants blamed Topalca, prompting questions about Ankaras straight-off accusations that Damascus was behind the attack. Nasir Eskiocak, the No. 1 suspect of the trial, claimed they had arranged the minivans used in the attack to smuggle narcotics from Syria to Turkey, unaware that they would be used in the attack. Eskiocak claimed that he and Yusuf Nazik another key suspect of the trial discussed the smuggling plans in the presence of Topalca and two MIT officials. Nazik also blamed Topalca for the attack. Topalca set us up. We were collaborating with him to smuggle goods from Reyhanli. The minivans used in the attacks were for smuggling, Nazik told the press while in Syria before he was caught and handed over to Turkish officials. Both defendants were convicted of the attack and sentenced to life in prison, while Topalca wasnt even summoned to testify before the court. The only official public information about him remained limited to an information note sent to the court by the MIT at the courts request. In the note, they identified Topalca as a Syrian citizen who was born in Latakia in 1967 and said he was residing in Syria. In response to attorney inquiries, Turkish authorities said there had been no ongoing investigation over Topalca. Yet at the time, Topalca was on trial after being caught with possession of some chemical substances that were reportedly used to produce sarin nerve gas. This was the only trial Topalca had failed to avoid. The trial came after he was detained along with five others during a police raid in Adana in May 2013. The six men were in possession of some chemical substances that the Turkish media referred to as sarin a claim denied by the government and local governors office. In the meantime, the government dismissed the prosecutors overseeing the investigation as part of Ankaras clampdown on the network of US-based cleric Fethullah Gulen, which it has designated as a terrorist organization. In October 2013 a Turkish court released Topalca. However, when an expert report sent to the court established the chemical substances found in the mens possession could indeed be used to make sarin nerve gas, the court issued an arrest warrant for Topalca. He was never apprehended. He was convicted of terrorism-related charges and sentenced to 12 years in jail in absentia. The opposition accused the government of a cover-up. Another controversy that Topalca was implicated in was the Nov. 7, 2013, seizure of a truck in Adana which carried 933 rocket heads. The driver of the truck claimed that the cargo belonged to Topalca. He was detained, but he was released with the help of a secret hand, only to be implicated in a fresh controversy a few months later. In January 2014, acting on a tip-off, Turkish prosecutors issued a warrant for three Syria-bound trucks allegedly carrying weapons to al-Qaeda-affiliated groups in Syria. Security forces stopped the trucks in Adana, but the men in a vehicle accompanying the trucks identified themselves as members of the MIT and stopped the search. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan argued that the trucks carried humanitarian supplies to Bayir Bucak Turkmens, but few were convinced. The prosecutors who issued the warrant were later arrested as part of the governments crackdown on Gulen, whom Ankara accuses of masterminding the 2016 coup attempt. During the trial, one of the prosecutors, Aziz Takci, claimed the MIT was collaborating with Topalca for the arms and ammunition shipments to Syria. He also claimed that Topalca had links with Islamic State militants who launched a deadly attack on Turkish security forces on a road in the central Anatolian province of Nigde in 2014, in which two Turkish security officials were killed. Wiretapping records of one of the attacks suspects have led to further questions about alleged ties between the assailants and Topalca. According to a 2015 indictment over the attack, suspect Ayhan Orli was heard speaking about Topalca over the phone, claiming at the time he was fighting in the northwestern Syrian town of Kesab an ethnic Armenian town that came under the control of jihadist groups in March 2014. According to a 2014 gendarmerie report, Topalca also smuggled machinery parts from Aleppos industrial zone and historical artifacts from various Syrian regions to Turkey. The report also detailed Topalcas involvement in the Reyhanli bombings and supplying ammunition for al-Qaeda-affiliated groups. Claims surrounding Topalcas smuggling activities and his alleged ties with the government were also brought to the attention of the parliament in 2013. Ali Ozgunduz, who was then the main opposition deputy, accused Topalca of plundering Alawite villages in Syria and questioned how Topalca managed to escape security forces every time he was caught. For what reason is your government backing Topalca? Are claims that this person works for the National Intelligence Agency true? Ozgunduz asked the government. These and many other questions will remain unanswered, as Topalca has taken all of his secrets with him to his grave. This undated electron microscope image made available by the U.S. National Institutes of Health in February 2020 shows the Novel Coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, yellow, emerging from the surface of cells, blue/pink, cultured in the lab. Also known as 2019-nCoV, the virus causes COVID-19. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP, NIAID-RML Alex Reid has revealed he has been diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome at the age of 45 after years of 'relentless bullying for being different'. The cagefighter and reality star has said the diagnosis has helped him to understand why he's always felt different and called it a 'relief' but admitted it was 'unnerving.' He told The Mirror: 'It's a relief in many ways but it's a bit unnerving because it's coming to terms with new things, but it also explains so much.' Honest: Alex Reid has revealed he has been diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome aged 45 after 'years of relentless bullying for being different' Asperger's is a form of autism, characterised by significant difficulties in social interaction and nonverbal communication, along with restricted and repetitive patterns of behavior and interests. Alex detailed how he discovered he is autistic after walking through a park with fiancee Nikki Manashe when a young boy ran towards him and accidentally tripped him up. He ended up befriending the family, who have a few relatives with autism, and the more he spent time with them, the more they began to notice some similarities. Asperger's is a form of autism: It's characterised by significant difficulties in social interaction and nonverbal communication, along with restricted and repetitive patterns of behavior and interests (pictured in October 2019) What is Asperger's syndrome? Asperger's syndrome is a lifelong disability that affects how a person interprets the world around them, processes information and relates to others. A form of autism, it affects people in many different ways and to varying degrees and is also a 'hidden disability' as it generally isn't easily viewed. The National Autistic Society said that people with the condition tend to have difficulties in social communication, social interaction and social imagination. However, they are distinct from people with autism as they have fewer problems with speaking and are often of average, or above average, intelligence. They do not usually have the accompanying learning disabilities associated with autism, but can have specific learning difficulties such as dyslexia and dyspraxia. Source: National Autistic Society Advertisement Alex said: 'I was so friendly with the children and the parents started to notice so many traits in me. They saw that in interviews I can sometimes be so together and then I can completely fall apart. They said they thought I was autistic. 'My friends, the Boyce family, suggested I had an autism test and I came up significantly autistic.' Alex also said that he has been bullied in school for being unable to answer questions and he was also bullied in the army for 'being different.' He noted that he always tries to put on a brave face but inside he's a 'little boy crying' - but no one knows because he is a great actor. 'It's not good for the immune system': Alex recently declared himself an 'anti-masker' and claims coronavirus can be cured by a 'positive mindset' in an interview with FUBAR Radio Alex, who is expecting his second child, his first with Nikki - she is 20 weeks along, is hoping to educate others on autism. Earlier this week, Alex declared himself an 'anti-masker' and claims coronavirus can be cured by a 'positive mindset'. In an extraordinary interview with FUBAR Radio, the former mixed martial artist admitted he's 'not a big buyer' on the law-enforced measure, despite scientific evidence proving that face coverings may reduce the spread of the deadly virus. The sportsman also accused his ex-wife Katie Price of 'trolling' following the breakdown of their 11-month marriage in 2011, and revealed he underwent 'so much therapy' to combat his suicidal thoughts. Meanwhile, several other people have spoken out about being diagnosed with Asperger's. Happy news: The TV star is expecting a baby with fiancee Nikki Manashe following a seven-year IVF and fertility battle - she is 20 weeks pregnant Teenage environmental activist Greta Thunberg has opened up about her Asperger's diagnosis and revealed that it led to her suffering from an eating disorder. In a frank social media post in September 2019, the 18-year-old addressed comments about her appearance and beliefs and said that before she started school she had 'no energy, no friends and I didn't speak to anyone'. 'I have Asperger's syndrome and that means I'm sometimes a bit different from the norm. And - given the right circumstances - being different is a superpower.' TV presenter Chris Packham has revealed how discovering his love for punk rock music as an 'isolated and very unhappy' teenager saved his life. The TV host, 58, who was diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome in his 40s, explained how while he was growing up other teens excluded him for being different. The Winterwatch presenter, from Southampton, discovered punk when he was around 15 and embraced the genre - a move he described as 'empowering'. And comedian Amy Schumer has discussed her husband's Asperger's Syndrome in an effort to get rid of the 'stigma that comes along with it'. The actress, 38, revealed her husband Chris Fischer, 40, was diagnosed with the form of autism on her Netflix comedy special Amy Schumer: Growing. Explaining her decision to speak out about her personal life, she told Late Night host Seth Meyers,'We both wanted to talk about it because it's been totally positive'. Environmental activist: Teenage environmental activist Greta Thunberg has opened up about her Asperger's diagnosis and revealed that it led to her suffering from an eating disorder Candid: Chris Packham has opened up about his battle with Asperger's Syndrome which he was only diagnosed with in his 40s Gaza, March 2 : The Islamic Hamas movement, ruling faction of the Gaza Strip, has welcomed a decree issued by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to form an electoral court ahead of the general elections as "a positive step toward the right direction". "President Abbas is asked to carry out more practical measures to implement what the Palestinian factions has recently agreed upon in Egypt's capital Cairo, mainly issues related to public freedom," Xinhua news agency quoted Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum as saying on Monday. "Establishing a status of confidence and safety among the Palestinians would encourage them to participate in the vote with no fear or pressure that would negatively affect the electoral process," he added. On Monday, Abbas, also head of the ruling Fatah party, issued the presidential decree ordering the establishment of an electoral court to resolve the disputes between the Palestinian factions in the electoral process. In the intra-Palestinian national dialogue that ended in Cairo last month, leaders of 14 factions, including Hamas and Fatah, agreed to hold the general elections as scheduled. The factions also agreed to set up an electoral court of judges from East Jerusalem, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip to monitor all matters related to the process. The independence of the electoral court has been a central demand by the Hamas, which has expressed concern that Abbas could use a court to revise election results should he lose, according to political analysts. In January, Abbas announced that the 2021 general elections will include legislative elections on May 22, presidential elections on July 31, and the Palestinian National Council elections on August 31. The last legislative elections in the Palestinian territories were held in January 2006 when Hamas won a majority 74 of the 132 seats. Abbas was elected as the President of the Palestinian Authority in March 2005. The internal Palestinian division between Hamas and Fatah began in 2007 when the former forcibly took over the Gaza Strip from the latter. Since then, the Palestinian territories have been split into the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip and the Fatah-dominated West Bank. The popular gospel show on NTV Crossover 101 has a new resident disc jockey following DJ Mos dismissal late last year. The Nation Media Group-run television station over the weekend unveiled DJ Son of Nations as Crossover 101 co-host alongside Grace Ekirapa. DJ Son of Nations made his debut on the rebranded Crossover show on Sunday, February 28, 2021. The first episode of the rebranded gospel show, titled Fresh Start, was held outside Nation Media offices along Kimathi Street in Nairobi. My New Home @ntvkenya For Gods Glory #ForeverGrateful #SonOfNations wrote the DJ. Adding: Its a Fresh Look, Its a New Season, Im truly Humbled and Grateful to be part of this. Join us @graceekirapa And I for the Biggest Gospel Show in town. #Crossover Only on @ntvkenya its gonna be Ms Ekirapa welcomed her new co-host noting they had previously worked together. I think people do not know this, but it is not the first time that me and you are working together. Things dont just happen, there is a reason for every season, she said. Prior to joining Crossover, DJ Son of Nations worked at the Kenya Broadcasting Corporation (KBC) where he co-hosted the Backyard show. DJ Mo left Crossover 101 unceremoniously shortly after he was embroiled in a cheating scandal. New Delhi, March 2 : Automobile major Toyota Kirloskar Motor on Tuesday confirmed that TKM Employee's Union has officially called off the ongoing labour strike at its factory in Bidadi, Karnataka. According to a company statement, although a majority of members from a total of 3,350 employees had already voluntarily resumed work earlier, the labour strike that has been continuing has now officially come to an end on Tuesday. Furthermore, the company said that on March 1 it had accepted the undertaking given by Union leaders on behalf of the members that was presented by them to the government. "The company has also made a final appeal to all the other members to return to work by 5th March 2021, and ensure synergies based on mutual trust for the future and to respect the terms of their mutual understanding," the statement said. "Throughout TKM's long history in India, the company has been well recognised for their strong people friendly culture and their commitment to development. Going forward, TKM will continue to work towards strengthening this value system by fostering relationships based on collaboration, trust, discipline and mutual respect." -- Syndicated from IANS WASHINGTON - H Street downtown was nearly deserted and few people noticed Monday morning when workers at St. John's Church took down dozens of sections of black steel mesh fencing, a barrier that had gone up during the tumultuous summer of 2020 when the church wound up at the center of national debates about race, religion and security. Across a small park from the White House, St. John's had been known for decades as the "president's church" for its elite congregation, but in June made news worldwide. As protests against police brutality and racism boiled across the country, someone threw a flammable substance through a basement window at the church, igniting a small fire. Then, after federal law enforcement officers used gas and horses to clear protesters, President Donald Trump walked to the front of the church to pose for cameras, holding a Bible aloft. Soon local Episcopal leaders slammed Trump for the use of force and the Bible as, in their view, a prop. The Rev. Rob Fisher, the church's rector, and the region's bishop, Bishop Mariann Budde, became national figures as they watched the elegant building graffitied, squatted at and set fire to during protests while holding firm that their sympathies rested with the protesters and those opposing racism and police brutality. Within a few weeks of Trump's appearance, fencing went up around the entirety of the steepled, yellow church, along with concrete barriers and rows of police. In the weeks that followed, crowds often swelled at the corner outside St. John's, where the roads were closed and filled with protests, a tented city and, sometimes, violence. The corner also became a high-profile speaking spot for Black Lives Matter activists and clergy. A pop-up restaurant even opened there. The tiny slice of St. John's congregation of 400 that could come in for services each Sunday during the pandemic had to weave through armed police and an opening in the fencing, making them feel isolated. The National Park Service and Mayor Muriel Bowser's office didn't immediately respond Monday to requests for comment about why the fencing came down now, but much has changed at St. John's - and in the city and in the country - since the fencing appeared. Fisher told The Washington Post last summer that St. John's leadership had given the city permission to put up the fencing with the understanding that the entire block was being cordoned off; they didn't want to be the only structure outside the barrier. They also wanted to help lower tensions between city officials and protesters, he said. Later in the summer, Bowser demanded that H Street be reopened and protests waned, but St. John's remained surrounded for months by high fencing. But the church community found a different way to cope with its new borders, partnering with an arts collective aimed at youth in underserved communities and brought in artists to remake the huge boarded-up windows around the church. More than 20 artists from P.A.I.N.T.S. (Providing Artists with Inspiration in Non-Traditional Settings) Institute created striking, bright murals. The artists, Fisher said Monday, "covered the plywood with beauty and with messages of God's grace and calls for justice." As St. John's gained nationwide attention, an online congregation grew where previously there was none. "This is one of the bright spots of this whole era, because we have become a church without walls," Fisher said. The congregation has grown to include people who pay tithes and consider themselves members of St. John's but have never been there. Some are close by and some are hundreds of miles away. About 700 people might now watch a typical service. The racial, policing and political issues at the heart of the initial conflict outside the church led to discussion among congregants of St. John's, said Budde, which took up a 10-session study of race and religion. "They embraced this moment in the country and in the city and also tried to discern what it meant for them right there on Black Lives Matter Plaza," she said. Although they were physically at the center of 2020 protests, St. John's members typically "come with significant privilege." They choose to be there. "They're not the ones normally bearing the brunt of racism. But they've shown up big time. They've committed to the incredible witness to the gospel given where they are." Soon another milestone will pass: The murals will come down, Fisher said, and will be donated to the National Museum of African American History and Culture. St. John's hopes to expand its in-person worship to 100 people by the last week of Lent. Kamal Haasan, the veteran actor-turned-politician received the COVID-19 vaccination. The Makkal Needhi Maiam president received the first dosage of COVID-19 vaccination at the Sri Ramachandra hospital, Chennai on Tuesday (March 2, 2021). Kamal Haasan revealed the update through his official Twitter page, and penned down an inspiring note, urging his followers to take the vaccination. "I was vaccinated against coronavirus at Sri Ramachandra Hospital. Those who care not only for themselves but also for others should put up with it. Immunization of the body immediately, vaccination against corruption next month. Get ready," wrote Kamal Haasan on his Twitter post. The veteran actor also shared a picture clicked from the hospital during his vaccination, along with the post. As hinted in his Twitter post, Kamal Haasan is all set to contest in the upcoming Tamil Nadu assembly elections. As per the reports, the actor-politician is likely to contest from two constituencies - Anthalloor and Coimbatore. An official announcement regarding the same is expected to be made very soon. Coming to his acting career, Kamal Haasan was initially expected to wrap up the shooting of Indian 2, the upcoming Shankar directorial, before the Tamil Nadu assembly elections. However, there has been no update on the project for quite a while. The makers are expected to release an official statement on the status of the project, before the elections. Kamal Haasan is joining hands with the young talented filmmaker Lokesh Kanagaraj for the highly anticipated project, Vikram. If the reports are to be true, the Ulaganayagan is planning to kickstart the shooting of Vikram in a couple of weeks and finish the project in a single schedule. Kamal Haasan is also said to be planning to don the director's hat with the upcoming project, Thalaivan Irukkindran. Also Read: Thalapathy 65: Vijay-Nelson Dilipkumar's Film To Go On Floors From THIS Date? Thalapathy 65: Sivakarthikeyan To Join The Vijay-Nelson Dilip Kumar Project? Syracuse, N.Y. Let the campaigning begin. Today, Tuesday, marks the official start of political campaigning for the 2021 election. Its the first day candidates can pass designating petitions to get on the ballot. The marquee race this year will be the contest for Syracuse mayor. Mayor Ben Walsh is seeking re-election. Common Councilors Michael Greene and Khalid Bey are running in a Democratic primary to determine who will challenge him in November. The Onondaga County Democratic Committee endorsed Greene as its candidate last month. But Bey said he will force a primary. Two Republicans have also said they plan to run for mayor. The Republican Committee endorsed Janet Burman last month. Thomas Babilon has said he plans to force a primary. Babilon is a lawyer who formerly worked in the citys corporation counsel office. Other seats up for election this year include all 17 spots on the Onondaga County Legislature, two at-large seats on the Syracuse Common Council, the Common Council presidency, all five district seats on the Common Council, one seat on the Syracuse City Court bench, three Syracuse election commissioner seats and positions in most towns and villages (see the full list of openings here). In order to get on the ballot for any of those positions, a candidate must collect petition signatures from registered voters. The petitions that start today are called designating petitions. Theyre only for candidates seeking an already established ballot line. There are four of those this year: Democrat, Republican, Conservative and Working Families. Mayor Ben Walsh wont start collecting his petition signatures until next month, since he isnt running with a major party. Hell attempt to create his own ballot line under the banner of the Independence Party. He ran with that party in 2017, but it has since lost its ballot access following changes in state election law. Candidates this year will need to gather far fewer signatures than a typical election year. Theyll also have just three weeks to collect signatures, as opposed to the typical six-week window. The state legislature lowered the signature requirements to try to minimize the spread of Covid-19. For a citywide office (mayor, judge, council president or at-large councilor) a Democrat needs to gather 300 signatures; a Republican needs 144, a Conservative needs 10 and a Working Families candidate needs seven. The full list of signature requirements can be found on the county Board of Elections website. Walsh, currently, will need 1,500 signatures from voters who havent previously signed a petition in order to create his ballot line. That could be lowered to 750 if Gov. Andrew Cuomo signs a bill passed by the state legislature. Candidates generally try to collect twice as many signatures as are required by law. Opponents often seek to invalidate a candidate by scouring their signatures and looking for errors. Common errors include signatures from people who arent actually enrolled with a party, signatures from someone who has already signed another petition or clerical mistakes like a missing witness signature. The signatures need to come from a registered party member. A Democrat, for example, can only collect signatures from registered Democrats. Signature requirements are based on how many voters are enrolled with a party. Here are a few things to know if someone comes to your door asking you to sign a political petition: The U.S. Capitol building is pictured in Washington on Nov. 7, 2018. (Zach Gibson/Getty Images) Memo Outlines Republican Plan to Take Back House Majority in 2022 In a memo Tuesday, Congressional Leadership Fund (CLF) President Dan Conston outlined a five-point plan for how House Republicans can regain the majority in 2022. Conston stressed building on the recruiting successes of 2020, repairing the fundraising problem on the candidate side, contrasting the lefts socialist policies with GOP policies, taking redistricting into account, and maximizing the battlefield. We will win back the majority if were clear-eyed about the obstacles in front of us, apply the lessons learned from 2020, and follow our plan to victory, wrote Conston (pdf). The CLF spent $140 million during the 2020 elections, helping House Republicans get within five seats of winning the majority. The SuperPAC now plans to play a similar role for the 2022 cycle. Conston said he wants to continue the trend of 2020 of winning with candidates who are women, minorities, or veterans. He specifically mentioned three House members who should be targeted during the 2022 races, writing, Continuing to recruit similar candidates is a foundational building block to the majority in 2022. Conston mentioned Reps. Jared Golden (D-Maine), Matt Cartwright (D-Penn.), and Ron Kind (D-Wis.) because they are from Trump-friendly rural and working class districts. He suggested star Navy SEAL Derrick Van Orden run against Kind but wants stronger candidates to take on Golden and Cartwright. Conston said the 2022 candidates should take online funding raising more seriously and that fundraising is the biggest threat to taking back the House. Too many candidates didnt raise enough money to wage sufficient campaigns, in some races leaving independent expenditure efforts to fund nearly all advertising and field and voter contact programs, he wrote. To win back the majority, Republicans also need to highlight the Democrats overreach on issues like keeping schools closed, limiting fracking, and canceling the pipeline. In contrast, CLF stayed laser-focused on kitchen table issues that actually impact peoples lives: threats to their jobs, impending tax hikes, and risks to public safety. Our 2020 message was a significant element of our success, the memo states. Conston predicts redistricting will bring on painful member-vs.-member primaries, but he expects redistricting to ultimately help Republicans pick up seats in states like Texas, Florida, Arizona, and Montana because voters are fleeing poorly-run high-tax Democrat-held states for the friendly environs of well-run low-tax Republican-led states. In a Saturday Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) panel with Rep. Jim Banks (R-Ind.) and American Conservative Union Chair Matt Schlapp, House GOP Leader Rep. Kevin McCarthy (D-Calif.) said that hes so confident that Democrats will lose their majority in the House in 2022 that he would bet his own house on it. Were going to get the majority back. Were five seats away, he said. I would bet my house. My personal house. Dont tell my wife, but I will bet it. This is the smallest majority the Democrats have had in 100 years. Conston was also confident that Republicans could win at least the five seats needed to win back the majority because the National Republican Congressional Committee reported that there are 50 districts that have the potential to go to the GOP. In early February, the NRCC unveiled nearly 50 offensive targets held by Democrats, said Conston. These districts include rural and working class areas, key suburban districts, and districts with large Asian and Latino populations. If we stay vigilant to raise the money, recruit the candidates, and remind the voters of the clear contrast between our parties vision for America, we believe voters will respond, he said. NEW YORK, March 02, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Petrogress, Inc. (OTC PINK: PGAS) ("Petrogress" or the "Company"), a fully integrated oil commodity business that primarily serves the Mediterranean and West Africa, today announced that its wholly owned subsidiary, Petronav Carriers LLC. (PCL), on February 17, 2021, entered into a long-term lease agreement (TCH) of an FKAB MR. The TCH anticipates the long-term (4 years) lease of a 38,000 DWT Tanker of Oil Products and Chemicals, with an option to lease one more MR within the next two months. The FKAB MR is IMO type II, carrying oil products and chemicals, designed for worldwide unrestricted operations with the energy-efficient technical solutions as well as careful impact on the environment. The new MR will join Petronavs tanker fleet the first week of March, and she will be employed in West Africa, to service Petronavs new Affreightment (COA) project for the shipping of petroleum products within Nigeria and Europe. Petronav Carriers ( www.petronavcarrier.com ) is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Petrogress Inc., which manages an in-house fleet of crude oil carriers and trades them in West Africa and Mediterranean. Petronav s leadership team, holds substantial combined shipping industry experience in managing financial, commercial and technical aspects of the business and ensures leading the company on a foundation of safe, cost-and energy-efficient and environmentally-friendly practices. The company values its team, which consists of skilled and experienced managers, port captains, technicians, ship officers, as well as specialists in the areas of safety, commercial and personnel management. Petronav retains key talent, rewards performance and continually develops its staff and holds it to high performance standards. Through qualified experience in conducting safe operations, understanding of environmental challenges, and strong leadership and coordination, Petronav shuttle fleet provides Ship-to-Ship (STS) services and/or lighting other product carriers in the area where Petronav is active. Story continues About Petrogress Inc Petrogress Inc. (Delaware), is an integrated energy company, engaged in the upstream, downstream and midstream segments. The Upstream segment consists of exploration and production of crude oil in West Africa, associated with processing and storage. The downstream segment comprises of refining of crude oil into petroleum products as well as marketing of crude oil and refined products of Gas Oil, Naphtha, Fuels and lubricants. The company operates internationally through its wholly owned subsidiaries "Petrogress Int'l LLC." and "Petronav Carriers LLC.". Petrogress is involved in diversified oil and gas activities throughout the U.S., Europe and Africa and has branches and representations in Greece, Cyprus, Monaco, Egypt, Ghana and Nigeria. The Company is actively seeking expansion opportunities in oil reserves and exploration in West Africa, including operating and developing natural gas production and transmission facilities along with LPG processing. Petrogress -as an independent Maritime Company- also owns and operates a fleet of tankers from its base in the historic Port of Piraeus through a series of Marshall Islands entities and provides sea-transportation services by its tankers fleet. Since last year, the company entered into the retailing market by leasing a number of Gas-fueling stations in Greece. CAUTIONARY STATEMENTS RELEVANT TO FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION Certain statements in this press release are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Act of 1995. Words or phrases such as anticipates, expects, intends, plans, targets, forecasts, projects, believes, seeks, schedules, estimates, positions, pursues, may, could, should, will, budgets, outlook, trends, guidance, focus, on schedule, on track, is slated, goals, objectives, strategies, opportunities, poised, potential and similar expressions are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are based on our current expectations and beliefs and are subject to a number of risk factors and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements. Such risks and uncertainties include, without limitation, the strength of world economies and currencies, general market conditions, including fluctuations in charter rates and vessel values, changes in demand for tanker shipping capacity, changes in our operating expenses, including oil prices, dry-docking and insurance costs, the market for our vessels, availability of financing and refinancing, charter counterparty performance, ability to obtain financing and comply with covenants in such financing arrangements, changes in governmental rules and regulations or actions taken by regulatory authorities, potential liability from pending or future litigation, general domestic and international political conditions, potential disruption of shipping routes due to accidents or political events, vessels breakdowns and instances of off-hires and other factors. Among the important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements are: the negotiation and execution, and the terms and conditions, of a definitive agreement relating to the proposed transaction and the ability of Petrogress to enter into or consummate such an agreement; changing crude oil and natural gas prices and demand for our products, and production curtailments due to market conditions; crude oil production quotas or other actions that might be imposed by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and other producing countries; public health crises, such as pandemics (including coronavirus (COVID-19)) and epidemics, and any related government policies and actions; changing economic, regulatory and political environments in the various countries in which the company operates; general domestic and international economic and political conditions; changing refining, marketing and chemicals margins; the companys ability to realize anticipated cost savings, expenditure reductions and efficiencies associated with enterprise transformation initiatives; Petrogress does not undertake an obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statement. Investors should read the risk factors set forth in the Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2019, as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") on May 13, 2020 and future periodic reports filed with the SEC on or after the date hereof. All of Petrogress' forward-looking statements are expressly qualified by all such risk factors and other cautionary statements. The information set forth herein speaks only as of the date hereof. No Offer or Solicitation This press release is for informational purposes only and shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any securities pursuant to the transaction or otherwise, nor shall there be any sale of securities in any jurisdiction in which the offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to the registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such jurisdiction. No offer of securities shall be made except by means of a prospectus meeting the requirements of Section 10 of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended. CONTACT: Company Contact: petrogress@petrogressinc.com +30 (210) 459 9741 www.petrogressinc.com What sets Bishop Kukah apart is his commitment to the transformation of Nigeria, which has been manifested in more concrete ways than the occasional public censure that draws cries of alarm and protests from beneficiaries of the days establishment. He does not fear Satan I O mankind! We created you from a single (pair) of a male and a female, and made you into nations and tribes, that ye may know each other (not that ye may despise (each other). Verily the most honoured of you in the sight of Allah is (he who is) the most righteous of you. And Allah has full knowledge and is well acquainted (with all things). (Quran 49:13) Nigeria means different things to its peoples. These varying sentiments can be split into three broad categories, which are neither presented as exhaustive nor individually exclusive, but as a realistic enough picture of prevailing mindsets. The first category views Nigeria as a mere geographical expression within which they, as members of a sub-national, primordial ethnic identity, have been trapped in an unproductive union with others who do not share their concerns and aspirations. To the second category, it is a multi-ethnic political entity where they are guaranteed access to vast resources, either by virtue of the numerical size, real or perceived, of their ethnic nationalities or by an influence theyve acquired through illicit accumulation. The third but far from the least category are those who are neither privileged by their ethnic origin nor by any financial influence nor do they care about such things. These three broad categories have equally separate agendas: The first insists on an exit; the second is for the status-quo but offers restructuring as a last-ditch concession; the third is committed to resolving the disparities as a way of correcting what is now a precarious national situation. In the last couple of years, there have been increasing tensions brewing mainly between the first two categories of sentiments within the polity. Such tensions sustained as they are by the deteriorating economic and security situation in the country if they spill over, are most likely to be expressed via traditional media, i.e., along ethno-religious lines, which have the potential to throw the country into chaos. II (Quran 5:8) Indeed, unguarded statements have proven powerful enough to exacerbate and or set off an already simmering situation, a case-in-point being the 2011 post-election violence, the immediate cause of which has been attributed to the careless statements of a failed candidate. Nonetheless, in as much as we must insist that citizens must guard their utterances, especially in the public domain, we must also try to distinguish between inciting comments and constructive criticism. This is important because it is in our interest and that of our democracy to cultivate the habit of speaking up soro soke to draw attention to and condemn, in strong terms, practices that do not bode well for our future, especially where the number one citizen is found lacking. Surely, what can be construed as the tacit complacency and unfounded optimism of this government inspires no calm or confidence among perceptive citizens. III O you! who have believed, fear Allah and speak only the right words of appropriate justice. He will [then] amend for you your deeds and forgive you your sins. And whoever obeys Allah and His Messenger has certainly attained a great attainment. (Quran 33:70 and 71) One individual who has always endeavoured to speak his truth to power is Bishop Matthew Hassan Kukah. The sixty-nine-year-old Catholic priest who hails from Zangon-Kataf in Kaduna State is observably passionate about Nigeria. With a Ph.D. from the University of London under his belt, Kukah has published extensively on the topic of Nigeria in areas of democracy and civil society, religion, and politics. One of his famed publications is Religion, Politics and Power in Northern Nigeria (1994). Kukah has served in various capacities under three different administrations. He was a member of the Nigerian Human Rights Violations Investigation Commission (Oputa Panel) between 1999-2001, Secretary to the National Political Reform Conference; Chairman, Ogoni-Shell Reconciliation, and served in the Committee for Electoral Reform between 2007-2009. Also, he has been appointed to serve in several prestigious capacities by different pontiffs within the Vatican. These and other such engagements have not only granted him access to the corridors of power, but as one might expect, it has also afforded him better insights into Nigerias power relations, who the key players are, and other such insider information not available to average Nigerians. This is probably why his opinions on national issues are held in high regard and why they usually stir many controversies. His most recent run-in with Aso Rock came in the form of a Christmas homily delivered on December 25, 2020. In unequivocal terms, the Bishop rolled out eight salient points split between statements on the countrys deplorable economic and security situation and criticism of the presidents handling of national issues. Since the return of democracy in 1999, Bishop Kukah has been embroiled in several controversies, mainly resulting from his knack for commenting on the actions and inactions of the government of the day. As such, he is considered by many as a clergyman with an agenda. As for this agenda, some say he strives to be the champion of his people (from Southern Kaduna) involved in a liberation fervour. Others suggest he is merely lashing out for being ignored by the Buhari administration. Some believe that, as a high-ranking church official, he represents the interest of the church and Christians in Nigeria. But before we speculate further on what the Bishops agenda might be, lets take a quick detour to provide some historical context on church-state relations. The history of the church and the state is a checkered one, marked by intermittent conflicts and the occasional harmonisation in agenda. The predicament of the church in China today is a classic example of how the state has attempted to check the influence of the church in a series of persecution campaigns, which has been unsuccessful. There have also been known attempts in medieval Europe by the church to usurp state powers through the activities of ambitious men who sat at intervals on the most revered seat (office) in Christendom that of the Roman Catholic Pope. The fact that the state has always been wary of the churchs wealth and ability to influence the actions of the multitude under its dome which the former considers a threat to its sovereignty has been a constant source of friction. Yet, this has not prevented both the church and the state from coming together in matters of territorial integrity, social welfare/order, and foreign policy as was the case with some Western missionaries in Africa during colonisation. However, it has led to the separation of the church and the state, resulting in the creation of secular states. It must be stated here that apart from the occasion of the enlistment of Nigeria in the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), the church in Nigeria has had a good working relationship with the state. The job of a clergyman, especially a priest in the Roman Catholic sense of the word appears to be cut and dried: Administer the Sacraments, celebrate the Holy Mass, oversee Confession, and other such sacerdotal duties. Hence, to be seen as being friendly, courting, or fraternising with sinful and ungodly men as politicians are commonly perceived among Nigerians amounts to a fall from grace, corruption of character, and an establishment of bias. This begs the questions: Are the duties of a priest really confined to his parish? Does the cassock shield him completely from the odours of a decaying society? Should the priest, as a citizen of the heavenly realm, concern himself with earthly politics, even where it poses a threat to the well-being of his flock? I daresay if we pose these questions to the esteemed Bishop Desmond Tutu (South Africa) or the late Cardinal Joseph-Albert Malula (Congo DRC), their responses will betray a disappointment in our ignorance as to the enormity of the African challenge and why it cannot be picky about whence its saviour must come Bethlehem, Mecca, or Ile-Ife. ADVERTISEMENT IV Bishop Kukah is hardly your everyday clergyman as he, in his usual unassuming manner, might have you believe. This assertion has very little to do with the fact that he is a Bishop, nor is it owed to his intimidating, yet impressive credentials. What sets Bishop Kukah apart is his commitment to the transformation of Nigeria, which has been manifested in more concrete ways than the occasional public censure that draws cries of alarm and protests from beneficiaries of the days establishment. He does not fear Satan: (Quran 3: 175) His most recent run-in with Aso Rock came in the form of a Christmas homily delivered on December 25, 2020. In unequivocal terms, the Bishop rolled out eight salient points split between statements on the countrys deplorable economic and security situation and criticism of the presidents handling of national issues. And in the usual manner of a divided society, there was the characteristic uproar between those who felt spoken for and those who felt spoken against. This righteous man Al-Ubudiyyah delievered the message of Allah one of love, from the mouth of the truthful (Surah Nisa 4:69), cautious and targeted to the ears of the true ones (Surah Tawbha 9:119), and to all Nigerians whom Allah wants to become one nation (IQS. Al-Maaida 5: 48). That speech did not cross the line, was nowhere close to Kitab al- farg, and lacking the rupturing capacity of Al-Maghilis aj al-din fi ma yajib ala I-muluk. Neither did Hassan, the awj, violate the principles by Allah Subhanahu Wa Taala, who said: O you who have believed, let not a people ridicule [another] people; perhaps they may be better than them; nor let women ridicule [other] women; perhaps they may be better than them. And do not insult one another and do not call each other by [offensive] nicknames. Wretched is the name of disobedience after [ones] faith. And whoever does not repent then it is those who are the wrongdoers. (QS. Al-Hujuraat 49: Verse 11). Kukahs khutbah low grade compared to the Ilorin acidic street minstrels was to unify, to bring peace and progress, to demand justice and equity, all in the established tradition enjoined by Allah Subhanahu Wa Taala (QS. Aal-i-Imraan 3: 103). It hardly requires any divination to discern what Bishop Kukahs agenda for Nigeria is. Armed with the basic principle of deduction, an observant mind can quickly arrive at a conclusion. A look into his career would reveal a history of over thirty years of contributions to the Nigerian project Issues such as the presidents nepotistic-divisive tendencies, the inefficiency of his security chiefs to contain and curtail the insurgency in the North-East, and the spread and frequency of kidnapping and banditry in other parts of the country were topics on the lips of Nigerians. These have also been the subject of a series of media discussions and publications at home and abroad. Altogether, they were the topical issues that made up most of the national discourse, at least from 2019. That it whips up such a storm on the lips of Kukah speaks to the pedigree of the priest, which is not easily earned, especially in a neo-patrimonial society. Is it therefore not a gift that he has chosen to use this influence in the service of the voiceless and downtrodden? It hardly requires any divination to discern what Bishop Kukahs agenda for Nigeria is. Armed with the basic principle of deduction, an observant mind can quickly arrive at a conclusion. A look into his career would reveal a history of over thirty years of contributions to the Nigerian project, during which he served in different sensitive capacities, brokering peace and reconciliation and contributing to the strengthening of the nations democracy, as part of several reform initiatives, and from his intellectual publications. One of such national assignments he took on, the Ogoni-Shell Reconciliation, lasted for five years. These were five years of unfaltering commitment to a cause vital to Nigerias peace, harmony, and survival. It involved extensive consultations, reaching as far as the United Nations, many visits to the concerned communities sometimes at grave risks to person and reputation and all for no other reward than seeing an end to a lingering crisis that threatened the livelihood of the people. Other evidence of the Bishops investment in Nigerias development is seen in his concern for and commitment to ensuring peaceful coexistence between Nigerias faith groups. This has manifested in the establishment of the Kukah Centre, a policy research institute that emphasises inter-faith dialogue and involves actively promoting conversations among Nigerias faith communities. Without doubt, it is an important factor for Nigerias development prospects, given the place of religion as a source of discord and a hindrance to social cohesion. If a man is to be judged by his works and the words from his mouth, then Bishop Kukah is easily established as a patriotic Nigerian who is committed to peace and national development. He has repeatedly demonstrated this by availing himself of service when called. Unlike many of his peers, he has refused to be hindered by his priestly robes or to entertain any fear for his personal safety. Whether the Bishop has read the Quran or not, I dont know, but he has consistently kept to the words in the Hadith on speaking when one sees injustice/evil: Abu Said al-Khudri reported: The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said, Whoever among you sees evil, let him change it with his hand. If he is unable to do so, then with his tongue. If he is unable to do so, then with his heart, and that is the weakest level of faith. Source: Sahih Muslim 49. Grade: Sahih (authentic) according to Muslims. Bishop Kukah has instead chosen to extend his service to God beyond the walls of his parish. Though some might take exception to his approach to issues, preferring a quiet tete-a-tete method, the Bishops style of open criticism has so far yielded the quickest reactions. It has had the desired effect of keeping government on its toes and, hopefully, more awakened to its responsibilities. For his efforts, the Bishop has been bestowed with several titles: rabble-rouser, bridge-builder, social crusader, development agent, activist priest, and the clergy with an agenda. It is time to ask him to define himself! Do please join us for a conversation with Bishop Matthew Hassan Kukah: Sunday, March 7 5:00 PM (Nigeria) 4:00 PM (GMT) 10:00 AM (Austin CST) Register and Watch HERE. Toyin Falola is professor of History at The University of Texas at Austin. A Los Angeles teacher's union leader has blamed 'white wealthy parents' for the push to reopen schools in the area after California Gov Gavin Newsom revealed the state had reached a deal to fund getting children back in classrooms. The United Teachers Los Angeles, which is the union that represents staff in the Los Angeles Unified School District, fears that Newsom's school reopening plan will favor 'white and wealthier schools' in neighborhoods where COVID-19 is less prevalent. It's the latest in a series of controversial statements from school boards in California, with the entire Oakley Union Elementary School District resigning last month after a member said parents wanted schools open so they could sit home and smoke pot. Meanwhile, a teacher who runs the union in Oakland said last month that 'rich white parents' complaining about schools being shut should 'take a seat.' Newsom and lawmakers have been under increasing pressure to come up with a statewide plan to allow students to return for in-person classes given most have been learning from home for the past year. If approved by the Legislature, the plan announced on Monday would see $2 billion set aside to pay districts that get select groups of students into classrooms by the end of the month. Cecily Myart-Cruz, head of UTLA, has slammed the plan and argued that it was being driven largely by 'white wealthy parents'. Cecily Myart-Cruz, head of United Teachers Los Angeles, has slammed Gov Gavin Newsom's plan and argued that it was being driven largely by 'white wealthy parents'. 'Some voices are being allowed to speak louder than others. We have to call out the privilege behind the largely white wealthy parents driving the push for a rushed return,' she told KABC. She said their experiences amid the pandemic was not the same as those endured by the families of students of color. 'Unfortunately, the plan reverts to deeply flawed ideas in Gavin Newsom's proposal in December to offer school districts more money if they open faster,' Myart-Cruz said. 'If you condition funding on the reopening of schools, that money will only go to white and wealthier schools that do not have the transmission rates that low income black and brown communities do.' The Los Angeles Unified School District has more than 650,000 students, according to district materials, and is 74 percent Latino, 10 percent white and 7.8 percent black. California's budget package, which is $6.6 billion in total, marks the latest effort by a US state to get schoolchildren back in class after nearly a year confined to home learning. To get their slice of the $2 billion, districts in counties under the state's most restrictive set of COVID rules - known as the purple tier - must offer in-person learning for transitional kindergarten through second grade, plus certain vulnerable students in all grades. This includes students who are disabled, homeless, in foster care, learning English, don't have access to technology or are at risk of abuse and neglect. The United Teachers Los Angeles, which is the union that represents staff in the Los Angeles Unified School District, fears that Newsom's school reopening plan will favor 'white and wealthier schools' in neighborhoods where COVID-19 is less prevalent Newsom and lawmakers have been under increasing pressure to come up with a statewide plan to allow students to return for in-person classes given most have been learning from home for the past year. Pictured are protesters on Monday in Los Angeles Counties in the next group, known as the red tier, must offer in-person instruction for all elementary school grades, plus at least one grade each in middle and high schools. With new COVID cases falling, Newsom said he expects most counties to be in the red tier by the end of the month. Districts that meet the March 31 deadline get full compensation based on a complicated formula, while those that meet the standards after April 1 get less money. Districts that fail to have children back in classrooms before May 15 won't get any money. The bill does not say how long students must be in the classroom each week. The legislation announced by Newsom does not require districts to have an agreement with teachers' unions on a plan for in-person instruction. That is a barrier that many districts, including the nation's second-largest district in Los Angeles, have not been able to overcome. The plan also doesn't require all teachers be vaccinated, which teacher unions had urged and that could take months given the nation's limited supply of vaccine. The legislation would make it state law that 10 percent of the state's vaccine supply be set aside specifically for teachers and school staff. Assistant Principal Janette Van Gelderen welcomes students at Newhall Elementary in Santa Clarita, which reopened last month The plan does not order districts to make the return compulsory and no parents would be compelled to send their kids back to school in-person. 'You can't reopen your economy unless you get your schools reopened for in-person instruction,' Gov Newsom said. 'We expect all of our transitional kindergarten to grade two classrooms open within the next month. 'And our core belief is this: Once you dip your toe in... once you build trust, then we will start to see a cadence of reopening across the spectrum.' The announcement comes at a critical time for Newsom, who could face a recall election later this year fueled by anger over his response to the pandemic. Newsom has imposed some of the harshest restrictions of any state on California's roughly 40 million residents, and many businesses still remain closed. The state's two largest teachers unions mostly praised the agreement, with California Federation of Teachers President Jeff Freitas calling the prioritization of vaccines for teachers 'a huge victory.' Kevin Gordon, a lobbyist representing many of the state's school districts, called the plan 'a grand slam home run,' saying it 'dismantled every impediment to reopening that we've had so far.' A worker at a children's after school service has described the moment he heard gunshots and found murder victim David Douglas lying on his back in a next door shop with "blood everywhere". Witness John Shaw told the non-jury Special Criminal Court court of how he instructed his co-workers at the 'Busy Bees' service to lock the door and get the children "out of the way". Lee Canavan (31), with an address at Edenbrook, Rathfarnham, Dublin 14, has pleaded not guilty to murdering Mr Douglas (55), who was shot six times with injuries to his chest, neck, back, torso, elbow and jaw at Shoestown, Bridgefoot Street, Dublin 1, on July 1, 2016. A semi-automatic pistol with its serial number removed was found next to his head. The accused also denies a second charge of criminal damage to a Suzuki Swift vehicle at Strand Road, Sandymount, on July 4, 2016, the property of Teresa Devoy. It is the prosecution's case this was a "meticulously and carefully planned assassination" and Mr Canavan was "the person who literally pulled the trigger" after entering Mr Douglas' shop shortly after 4pm on the day of the shooting. The Special Criminal Court heard evidence today from a number of people who were in the vicinity of Bridgefoot Street on the afternoon of the fatal shooting. Mr Shaw told prosecuting counsel Sean Gillane SC he knew the deceased from working in 'Busy Bees', an after school service next door to the shoe shop on Bridgefoot Street, which was run by Mr Douglas and his wife. Mr Shaw told the non-jury court that he would regularly meet Mr Douglas when he went outside to smoke a cigarette as he [Mr Douglas] would often talk to locals at the front door of Shoestown when the shop was empty. The witness said he went for a cigarette around 4pm on July 1 and met Mr Douglas at the front of the shop. "We were talking about the previous time he had got shot," he said. Mr Shaw told Mr Douglas that he had just fed the children chicken curry and asked him if he wanted "some grub". The witness said he then gave him a bowl of chicken curry and Mr Douglas heated the food up in a microwave inside his shop. Mr Shaw said he was drying some dishes in Busy Bees when he heard an initial bang and thought it was fireworks. He then heard three or four more bangs. The witness testified that he saw someone running by his door and down towards Oliver Bond Street. "He was moving quite quickly and dressed head to toe in black. I couldn't see his face as it was completely covered," he added. Mr Shaw said he looked into Shoestown and saw Mr Douglas lying on the floor. He then ran into Busy Bees and told his co-workers to lock the door and get the children "out of the way". On returning to the shoe shop, he said Mr Douglas was so close to the doorway that he could not close it and blood had "started to come out from everywhere". He said the deceased was on his back with chicken curry coming out of his mouth. "There were marks on his chest and it looked like the blood vessels in his eyes had exploded, they looked black," he said. Mr Shaw said he knew nothing could be done for the deceased so he rang 999. Mr Douglas's daughter then came from the back of the shop and she was "freaked out", said the witness. Emma Farrelly told the three-judge court that she was driving out of the car park at the National College of Art and Design on Thomas Street around 4pm on July 1. As she sat in heavy traffic on Bridgefoot Street, Ms Farrelly noticed a dark grey Mercedes backing into a parking spot beside a van. "It reversed into the van as I noticed that the van did a little jump," said the student. The witness said she heard a loud bang as she sat in the traffic and knew something had happened. She said she saw somebody coming from the shops on Bridgefoot Street and get into the passenger side of the Mercedes. "He had his hood up and was wearing dark clothing," she added. Pauline Corcoran said she was stopped at a junction on Bridgefoot Street on the afternoon of July 1 and she noticed a man sitting in the driver's seat of a car on Oliver Bond Street, which was facing in the wrong direction and parked beside a van. The witness said she then saw another man who was dressed in black, hurry around the corner and jump into the passenger seat of the parked car. "It pulled off instantly before he had closed the door," she said. Earlier, the judges spent an hour being talked through some crime scene maps and photographs. Mr Canavan is the fourth person to appear before the courts charged in connection to the murder. In 2018, Frederick 'Fat Freddie' Thompson (41) was jailed for life by the Special Criminal Court for the murder of Mr Douglas. In 2019, Nathan Foley (22) of Maryland, Dublin 8, was jailed for six years after he pleaded guilty to assisting a criminal organisation by driving one of four cars and buying mobile phones used in the offence. Gareth Brophy (26) was jailed in February 2020 for 10 years by the Special Criminal Court for his role as getaway driver. The case continues tomorrow at the non-jury court before Mr Justice Michael MacGrath, presiding, sitting with Ms Justice Sinead Ni Chulachain and Mr Justice Dermot Dempsey. It is expected to last four weeks. The Chinese cloud company Tencent Cloud has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Bahrain Economic Development Board (EDB) that will see the company build a data centre in the kingdom. This will be its first MENA facility in Bahrain. The new facility is due to go live by the end of 2021. Bahrain's Minister of Transportation and Telecommunications Kamal bin Ahmed Mohammed pointed out that this was an important milestone in Bahrain's journey to become the MENA region's cloud and data centre hub. He added: Tencent joins leading global cloud giants in setting up in Bahrain, which will drive massive growth in data traffic towards MENA. Moreover, the launch of the new data centre stands to create a clustering effect as other global providers turn their attention to the increasingly attractive region. Tencent is, of course, far from the only data centre company investing in Bahrain. AWS launched a Bahrain region in 2019, and Huawei has previously built a data centre in the Kingdom. Tencent has data centre locations in the US, Singapore, Russia, Germany, Canada, and India as well as its home market of China. Last year the company announced it would spend close to $70 billion over the next five years on data centre investment. Category Select Category Apparel/Garments Textiles Fashion Technical Textiles Information Technology E-commerce Retail Corporate Association Press Release SubCategory Select Sub-Category 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. Australia's Foreign Investment Review Board (FIRB) is a master in maintaining the increasingly fictional idea that Australia is open for foreign investment. It repeatedly advises that most foreign investment applications are approved. The recent withdrawal of a $300 million bid for the Australian construction firm Probuild by China State Construction Engineering Corporation exposes the heart of this fiction. The offer was withdrawn in a sleight of hand move. It was not formally rejected by the Australian Treasurer so it is not classed as a palpable rejection of foreign investment. The proposal was not formally rejected by the Foreign Investment Review Board so it is not included in the calculus of applications. It is included in the "withdrawn" columns for reporting purposes, but this is a fig leaf cover for the real political reasons for the withdrawal. After eight months of FIRB consideration, the offer was withdrawn by the South African owners of ProBuild because they were advised by Treasurer Josh Frydenberg that the FIRB would declare the transaction a risk to national security and contrary to Australia's interest. The delay compares unfavourably with the rapid 2020 approval of global energy company Iberdrola's takeover of Infigen Energy. This rejection follows the Treasurer's rejection last year of China's Mengniu Dairy's proposed $600 million acquisition of Japanese owned Lion Dairy and Drinks on the grounds that it was against Australia's national interest. The rejection was seen as an arbitrary decision because the investment had been approved by all the relevant Australian regulatory authorities. The Australian government has secretly rejected several other Chinese takeovers over the past six months in the construction and technology industries. The reasons cited for the ProBuild rejection are national security grounds, and because they are national security there is no obligation on the FIRB to explain the reasons. ProBuild executive chairman Simon Gray slammed the rejection. "No one can give us a real reason why we're a national security risk." He said building projects deemed sensitive could have been carved out of the deal. This latest move sends a strong and almost unequivocal message that Chinese investment is no longer welcome in Australia. It's part of the aggressive Kangaroo diplomacy that came to prominence in 2020. It's a pugilistic approach based on a false narrative that suggests it's not possible to do business with China because China does not adhere to the same ideals as Australia. This does not prevent Australia developing strong trade relationships with others who do not share Australian ideals, like the Philippines or India or Myanmar. Every country has a set of rules around national security concerns and they are an important and valid factor in considering foreign investment. This becomes an issue when the rules appear to be targeted at a particular group, or when the net is cast so wide that every-day investment opportunities are caught. These decisions become even more politically opaque as recent changes mean the FIRB will scrutinise every bid for an asset classified as a "sensitive national security business", regardless of whether the bidder is state-owned or private, and regardless of the value of the asset. The FIRB will apply the new national security test to entities operating in the energy, telecommunications, ports, water, and data sectors. The changes also give the Treasurer new powers to have an already approved deal reviewed on national security grounds if circumstances change. Reserving the right to back out of a deal and retrospectively change the conditions of investment is usually associated with high sovereign risk countries in Africa and Latin America. The concentration of national security powers in the hands of the Treasurer is an inevitable politicising of the investment approval process and of the ability of an investment to proceed and develop with certainty over the life of the investment. Although clearly aimed at China, these changes also impact on every foreign investment in Australia. Investment capital is hard-headed and intolerant of fictions. As much as the FIRB may protest that most applications are passed, including most Chinese applications, investors are quick to understand the reality. Australia is open only for selected business and from selected sources. The result is already self-evident with Chinese investment in Australia falling by 58 percent in 2019 according to a KPMG report. After this ruling and the Mengniu rejection the level of Chinese investment in Australia is likely to fall even further. This may be greeted with cheers from the anti-China hawks but for thousands of Australian businesses it signals the destruction of decades of work to build the business links with China which have underpinned Australia's prosperity in the 21st century. The process of approval of foreign investment in Australia can no longer pretend that most proposals are approved nor that the process is less than opaque. Daryl Guppy is an international financial technical analysis expert. He is a national board member of the Australia China Business Council. 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. Thank you for reading! Please purchase a subscription to read our premium content. If you have a subscription, please log in or sign up for an account on our website to continue. A Belfast woman who alleged she had been raped as a teenager by an IRA man has questioned why she was demonised by former Fleet Street editor Roy Greenslade, who has admitted being a secret sympathiser of the terror group during the Troubles. Mairia Cahill said that Mr Greenslade "chose the angle he did is not surprising, but it is disgusting". In a recent article, Mr Greenslade, a former Daily Mirror editor, said he had "come out of hiding" to explain why he believes the IRA bombing campaigns of the 1970s to 1990s were justified. His comments triggered anger from relatives of victims of the IRA, prompting Mr Greenslade to resign as honorary visiting professor of journalism at City University of London yesterday. Boris Johnson also slammed the remarks. The PM's official spokesman said: "All I can say is the simple fact that the PM outright condemns his comments, as I have said specifically those about the killing of civilians." Ms Cahill recalled in The Spectator that aged 16, she was "repeatedly raped and sexually abused by an IRA man". She complained to police in 2010, but the case was dropped four years later after she withdrew her support for the prosecution. She wrote that "after I waived my lifetime right to anonymity, Roy Greenslade decided to attempt to throw a cloak of caution around my credibility". Ms Cahill wrote: "In a Guardian article, headlined 'BBC Programme on IRA rape allegations flawed by lack of political balance', Greenslade questioned why the programme did not disclose my brief membership of a political dissident group - 13 years after I was abused. "'Critics suggest that Spotlight's presenter and producer were too willing to accept Cahill's story and did not point to countervailing evidence,' he wrote. 'That is not to say that she was not raped. Nor does it negate her view that the IRA handled her complaint clumsily and insensitively.' "After attacking the 'lack of balance' in the BBC NI piece, he then took it upon himself to list my political history - some of it inaccurate - which he viewed as highly relevant when discussing my brutal experience of abuse, and of the IRA and Sinn Fein's treatment of me as a result." She said it was strange "that he did not disclose in the same piece, his own secret long-held support for the IRA". "I appeared on countless live TV and radio programmes, and answered all questions put to me, which is more than any of the IRA members involved in my case did. Women's Aid, the Rape Crisis centre, and countless editorials provided public support. Greenslade chose instead to bemoan the media treatment of Gerry Adams." Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. SAN MATEO, Calif., March 2, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The Board of Trustees of St. Matthew's Episcopal Day School recently announced the appointment of Ralph Wales as the new Head of School at St. Matthew's. After an extensive nationwide search, as well as a brief period as Interim Head of School, Mr. Wales was selected unanimously by the Board of Trustees to lead the school through June 2023. Ralph Wales, newly appointed Head of School at St. Matthew's Episcopal Day School located in San Mateo, California. "Ralph is one of the most accomplished school heads in the country. His vast experience and wealth of knowledge in Pre-K through 8th-grade schools, his understanding of and direct involvement in key initiatives currently underway at St. Matthew's, the exceptional impact he has made in his first six months, as well as his understanding of, and commitment to, our mission and community made him the ideal candidate for us, and we are thrilled to have him as our new Head of School," said Nicole Magaddino, Chair of the Board of Trustees at St. Matthew's. "It is an honor and a privilege to lead St. Matthew's," said Mr. Wales, "Even as this year has continued to be impacted by the pandemic, our mission to authentically engage our students in impactful learning continues. This community embraces our children's hearts and minds in equal measure. These beliefs match mine and inspire me to do my very best to advance St. Matthew's toward the attainment of its most cherished, mission-based ideals. I am more than ready to serve and support such a committed and caring community." Ralph Wales has worked as an educator, administrator, and Head of School for several independent schools since 1980. He served for 24 years as head of the highly respected Gordon School in East Providence, Rhode Island. During this time, he positioned the school as one of the leaders in early childhood to middle school education in the region, established a cutting edge academic curriculum, a $10 million endowment, and a campus transformation project, and implemented programs to strengthen school culture and diversity. Before his tenure at the Gordon School, Ralph was at The Buckley School in Sherman Oaks, CA first as Assistant Lower School Principal, then moving after a year into the role of Lower School Principal. While there, he created and led the Lower School Curriculum Committee that was charged with reviewing and assessing all major academic strands in the Lower School. Most recently, he has had two very successful Interim Head positions at St. George's Episcopal School in New Orleans and The Benchmark School in Pennsylvania. Read more at https://www.stmatthewsday.org/about/head-of-school-announcement. ABOUT ST. MATTHEW'S EPISCOPAL DAY SCHOOL St. Matthew's Episcopal Day School is a private, independent school located in San Mateo, CA. Igniting curiosity and a passion for learning in students from Pre-K to 8th Grade, they value academic excellence and inspire students to become leaders of positive change in the world. Learn more at www.stmatthewsday.org. SOURCE St. Matthew's Episcopal Day School Related Links http://www.stmatthewsday.org/ STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. The New York task force responsible for reviewing coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccines okayed the one-shot version from Johnson & Johnson for use in the state, the office of Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced Monday. The announcement comes on the one-year anniversary of the states first case of the virus, and follows a Saturday emergency use authorization for the vaccine from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). One year ago today, the unimaginable tragedy of COVID-19 began for New Yorkers, Cuomo, who hasnt held a full press briefing in a week amid multiple scandals, said in an emailed statement. Weve faced great pain and loss over the last 365 days, but theres reason to be hopeful for the future, and the states Clinical Advisory Task Forces recommendation of the next vaccine for COVID is part of that ongoing convalescence. In total, 38,577 New Yorkers have died with the virus, according to the latest data available from the state Department of Health (DOH). According to information from the FDA, the vaccine was 85% effective in preventing severe cases of the virus after 28 days of receiving the single shot, and 66% effective in preventing moderate to severe cases. Dr. Janet Woodcock, the FDAs acting commissioner, said the vaccine was approved and met the administrations rigorous standards for safety, effectiveness, and manufacturing. The authorization of this vaccine expands the availability of vaccines, the best medical prevention method for COVID-19, to help us in the fight against this pandemic, which has claimed over half a million lives in the United States, she said. The vaccine, developed in partnership by Johnson & Johnson and Janssen Pharmaceuticals, uses a specific virus that helps the recipient develop an immune response to COVID-19. New York expects to receive 164,800 doses of the newly approved vaccine this week, and is finalizing plans to distribute it. In addition to being a single shot, this vaccine also has the advantage of having less restrictive storage protocols. Johnson & Johnsons single-shot vaccine with less restrictive storage requirements will make it easier for the state to reach more New Yorkers, faster, Cuomo said. Theres a lot of work ahead, but this vaccines approval gives us cause for optimism as we move forward to a post-COVID future. FLINT, MI -- A Flint doctor who serves as health advisor to Mayor Sheldon Neeley has filed objections to a proposed $641-million water crisis settlement, particularly its reliance on bone scans to measure lead exposure and as a tool to provide higher awards to children and adults who have the highest levels of lead in their bones. Dr. Lawrence Reynolds, who also served as a member of former Gov. Rick Snyders Flint Water Advisory Task Force and past president and chief executive officer of Mott Childrens Health Center in Flint, filed his objections in U.S. District Court on Friday, Feb. 26. He repeated his claim that the bone testing equipment being used in Flint was never designed to be used on human beings -- at all during the weekend on Neeleys weekly Facebook Live broadcast. This is a human rights violation. It is the Tuskegee experiment all over again ..., Reynolds said during the broadcast. Neeley said he trusts Reynolds opinion but added his filing doesnt represent the total views ... of our Facebook broadcast. Reynolds objections are the most recent development in the burgeoning debate over the use of bone scans to help determine the amount of money individuals would receive if the proposed water settlement is approved in federal and state courts later this year. The settlement is the result of mediation between attorneys for Flint residents who claim they were harmed by Flint water and the state of Michigan, city of Flint, McLaren Regional Medical Center and Rowe Professional Services. Blood tests, bone scans and neurological examinations can all have a dramatic effect on the amount of the individual checks residents who participate in the settlement ultimately receive in some compensation categories but the availability of the tests has been limited. Last week, a website thats being operated on behalf of the U.S. District Court to share information about the settlement offered a way for residents to get a bone scan from a temporary clinic set up by the law firm Napoli Shkolnik -- even if they are not clients of that firm. But less than one day after a link to the scheduling site for the bone scans was posted online, every available time slot was completely taken. Paul Napoli of Napoli Shkolnik said the bone lead tests being offered by the firm are safe -- similar to receiving an X-ray procedure from a dentist or doctor and are effective at measuring the extend of lead in a persons body. Napoli called Reynolds filing with the court contrary to science and probably just outside (Reynolds ) specialty as a doctor. Napoli Shkolnik set up the clinic, overseen by a physician from New York University, as a way to show the court which Flint residents making water settlement claims were the most damaged by exposure to lead in drinking water. Napoli said the clinic was already testing at its Flushing Road facility six days a week before offering the service to residents represented by other attorneys on Sundays, but said those other attorneys should blame themselves for not arranging their own testing if their clients cant get a test now. Now (that there are not enough appointment times for all residents), everybody goes holy moly, we didnt do anything ..., he said. You dont sit on your hands and be surprised now. Reynolds was one of the health officials in Flint who sounded warnings about increasing lead levels after the city changed its drinking water source from Lake Huron to the Flint River in 2014. After the switch in water sources, state regulators mistakenly allowed Flint to distribute river water without requiring that it first be treated to make it less corrosive and the water caused water service lines to leach lead. A pediatrician by training, Reynolds said in his court filing that he was asked to participate in bone lead testing here by another law firm involved in the Flint water settlement negotiations but declined because of his reservations about the use of the hand-held lead measuring equipment on humans when it was designed for use commercially in mining and soil measurements. I declined ... It is my belief that any ethical medical practitioner should have declined as well, his court filing says. Reynolds said the use of the equipment is being proposed by misinformed attorneys for an undisclosed research project. In his remarks to Neeley, the doctor compared the use of the bone lead scans to the Tuskegee Study of Untreated Syphilis in the Negro Male, a 1932 study by the Public Health Service, working with the Tuskegee Institute, to record the natural history of syphilis. The study was conducted without the benefit of patients informed consent, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Researchers told the men they were being treated for bad blood and they did not receive the proper treatment needed to cure their illness. Read more on MLive: Bone testing for lead expands in Flint but appointments fill up almost immediately Dr. Lawrence Reynolds in line for appointment to Genesee County Health Board Four takeaways from the Flint Water Advisory Task Force preliminary report This service applies to you if your subscription has not yet expired on our old site. You will have continued access until your subscription expires; then you will need to purchase an ongoing subscription through our new system. Please contact the Parsons Sun office at (620) 421-2000 if you have any questions Great Barrington Receives Shared Winter Streets And Spaces Grant BOSTON Great Barrington received $137,310 in Shared Winter Streets and Spaces grants from MassDOT to construct the Old Route 7 Greenway. The shared use path will improve pedestrian and bicycle safety along Route 7/Stockbridge Road, link two community centers, and complete the last link of a 2.5-mile loop of the Fountain Pond State Park/Three Mile Hill trail system. The Shared Winter Streets and Spaces program provides grants as small as $5,000 and as large as $500,000 for municipalities to quickly launch changes for safer walking, biking, public transit, recreation, commerce, and civic activities. These improvements can be intentionally temporary or can be pilots of potentially permanent changes. MassDOT is particularly focused on projects that respond to the current public health crisis and provide safe mobility for children, for elders, to public transportation, and to open space and parks. Great Barrington received a portion of the $2,805,194.22 MassDOT dispersed in the fourth round of funding from the Baker-Polito Administrations Shared Winter Streets and Spaces program. The program, which was launched on Nov. 10, provides technical and funding assistance to help Massachusetts cities and towns conceive, design, and implement tactical changes to curbs, streets, and parking areas in support of public health, safe mobility, and renewed commerce, with a special focus on the particular challenges of winter. The awards will provide funding to 17 municipalities and two public transit authorities for 19 projects. 58 percent of the awarded municipalities are designated Environmental Justice communities and 79 percent are considered high-risk for COVID-19 infections. 53 percent of the recipients have never received a Shared Streets and Spaces award before. Since the inception of the program in June of 2020, the Commonwealth has invested $21.1 million in municipal Shared Streets projects. Denmark has become the first European nation to tell Syrian migrants they must return to their home country, saying it is now safe for them there. The Scandinavian nation has stripped 94 Syrian refugees of their residency permits after it determined Damascus and the surrounding area as being safe. Migrants will be sent to deportation camps, but will not be forced to leave. But rights groups say the government is trying to give migrants no other option than to return to Syria on their own accord. Mattias Tesfaye, Denmark's immigration minister, said last month that the country had been 'open and honest from the start' with refugees coming from Syria. 'We have made it clear to the Syrian refugees that their residence permit is temporary. It can be withdrawn if protection is no longer needed,' he said, according to The Daily Telegraph. His comments came as Denmark extended the parts on Syria considered safe for people to return, to include the southern Rif Dimashq Governorate. Pictured: Migrants, mainly from Syria and Iraq, walk at the E45 freeway from Padborg, on the Danish-German border, heading north to try to get to Sweden on September 9, 2015 (file photo). Millions of migrants fled the middle east into Europe after conflict broke out in Syria 'We must give people protection for as long as it is needed. But when conditions in the home country improve, a former refugee should return home and re-establish a life there,' he said. Denmark's ruling centre-Left Social Democratic Party has taken a fierce anti-immigration stance in an effort to fend off challenges from parties on the Right. Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen has promised to target 'zero' asylum seekers applying for residence in the country. Mattias Tesfaye (pictured), Denmark's immigration minister, said last month that the country had been 'open and honest from the start' with refugees coming from Syria While Germany had previously ruled that criminals can be deported to Syria, Denmark is the first country in Europe to say refugees can be returned. The decision made by Denmark on the Rif Dimashq Governorate now means that a further 350 Syrian residents in the country will have their temporary protection permits reassessed. This is on top of the roughly 900 refugees from Damascus who had their cases reopened last year. By mid-January, The Telegraph reports that 94 Syrians from the Damascus area living in Denmark had seen their permits revoked. This came after a December 2019 ruling by Denmark's Refugee Appeals Board that the conditions in Damascus were no longer sufficiently dangerous to give grounds for temporary protection, without any additional personal reason to give asylum. But human rights groups have spoken out against Denmark's move to send people back to war-torn Syria. Steve Valdez-Symonds, Refugee and Migrant Rights Director at Amnesty International UK, told the MailOnline: 'That the Danish government is seeking to force people back into the hands of this brutal regime is an appalling affront to refugee law and people's right to be safe from persecution. 'This reckless violation of Denmark's duty to provide asylum also risks increasing incentives for other countries to abandon their own obligations to Syrian refugees. 'Not only will this put the lives of even more women, men and children at risk. It will add to reasons that cause people to travel ever further afield in search of safety and security for themselves and their family.' Michala Bendixen, from the rights group Refugees Welcome, said that Syrian refugees in Syria now faced a 'very, very tragic situation', and would be forced from their homes, jobs and studies and into Denmark's deportation camps. Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen has promised to target 'zero' asylum seekers applying for residence in the country, in attempt to see-off challenges from the political Right Speaking to The Telegraph, Bendixen said the refugees face years of limbo, and while they will not be forced onto planes, she said Denmark is hoping that the refugees will have no other option other than to return to Syria. 'The government hopes that they will go voluntarily, that they will just give up and go on their own,' she told the newspaper. Normally, refugees who do not leave Denmark voluntarily or if the country has no repatriation arrangement in place with their home country are accommodated at 'departure centres'. This is the case for Syrian refugees in Denmark because the country does not cooperate with the Assad regime. But Denmark's opposition Liberal party, a Right-wing organisation, called for the returns to be accelerated through an agreement with the brutal regime of Bashar al-Assad, Syria's authoritarian ruler. 'I can imagine an agreement that will only extend to the framework for sending people back, with some guarantees that you can return without being persecuted,' Mads Fuglede, the foreign spokesperson for the opposition Liberal Party, told Denmark's Jyllands-Posten newspaper. This, he said, would prevent Syrians from being stranded in deportation camps. 'If Denmark doesn't think that can be done, we should push for dialogue with the Assad regime at EU level,' Fuglede added. However, he later took to Facebook to say that his proposed deal in no way suggested recognising the 'criminal dictatorship' of Assad. Pictured: A general view taken on October 6, 2014, shows the Dakhaniyeh neighbourhood, southeast of the capital Damascus, after Syrian government forces seized control of area. Denmark has stripped 92 Syrian refugees of their residency permits after it determined Damascus and the surrounding area as being safe 'I want to stress that the Liberal party does not think Denmark should recognise the Assad regime,' he wrote, adding that the regime is a 'criminal dictatorship which we in no way wish to rubber-stamp'. 'But we should discuss what to do with all the Syrian refugees in Europe as Syria has become safer around Damascus, and how they can safely return to their country,' he explained. 'But it is clear that if this can only be done by recognising Assad, then it can't be done. Then we'll have to find other options.' Denmark's ruling centre-Left Social Democratic Party has already rejected the prospect of discussing a repriatration agreement with Assad's regime. 'It would send the completely wrong signal that we consider Assad to be the victor in Syria,' the party's immigration spokesman Rasmus Stoklund told Jyllands-Posten. Foreign Minister Jeppe Kofod has also said the government does not support the proposal. 'It is completely wrong to cooperate with one of history's worst dictators just to look tough (on immigration). These are people we're talking about,' Social Liberal spokesperson for immigration Andreas Steenberg tweeted. Denmark is a signatory to the European Convention on Human Rights, which prevents asylum seekers from being deported if they risk torture or persecution in their home countries. Syrians walk along a severely damaged road in the northeastern city of Deir Ezzor in this file image taken in January 2014 The Syrian civil war, which began on March 15, 2011 as part of the wider 2011 Arab Spring protests and involved a number of different factions including Assad's Syrian Arab Republic, Hezbollah, ISIS and the U.S.-supported the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria, displaced millions of Syrians. Pre-war, the population of the Syrian Arab Republic was estimated at 22 million, with the UN identifying 13.5 million of that number as displaced persons, requiring humanitarian assistance. The war, along with conflicts in Afghanistan, Iraq and Africa - among others - contributed to the European Migrant Crisis said to have begun in 2014, which saw millions of migrants flee into Europe. The majority - 46.7 percent - are believed to have been Syrian. On Monday, the United Nations investigators said that thousands of civilians had been subjected to 'unimaginable suffering' including torture, sexual violence and death in detention during a decade of conflict in Syria. The report said that men, women, boys and girls detained by government or pro-government forces had been subjected to inhuman treatment and torture, including rape. 'At least 20 different horrific methods of torture used by the government of Syria have been extensively documented,' the report said. 'These include administering electric shocks, the burning of body parts, pulling off nails and teeth, mock executions, folding detainees into a car tyre and crucifying or suspending individuals from one or two limbs for prolonged periods, often in combination with severe beating.' Tens of thousands of civilians who were detained are unaccounted for, with no trace of their whereabouts, the UN Commission of Inquiry on Syria found. Mourners attend the funeral of civilians and fighters, who died during attacks by Turkish-led forces on the border town of Ras al-Ain, in a cemetary in Tal Tamr, near the Syrian Kurdish town of Ras al-Ain in October 2019 The three-member panel's report was based upon more than 2,500 interviews conducted over 10 years and investigations into more than 100 detention facilities. It found that almost every major party that has controlled territory in Syria since 2011 has committed detention-related violations and abuses. 'Hundreds of thousands of family members have a right to the truth about their loved ones' fate,' said commission chair Paulo Pinheiro. 'This is a national trauma that needs to be urgently addressed by action from the parties and the international community.' The report stressed that detainees continued to be mistreated in notorious detention facilities even as the conflict approached its 11th year. 'These detainees have endured unimaginable suffering,' the commission said. 'This has been happening with the knowledge and acquiescence of the governments who have supported the different parties to the conflict. Thousands of civilians have been subjected to 'unimaginable suffering' including torture, sexual violence and death in detention during a decade of conflict in Syria, United Nations investigators said. Above, a file image of a boy being rescued from a building in Aleppo in 2014 'The fate of tens of thousands of civilians who were forcibly disappeared by Syrian government forces, many nearly a decade ago, remains unknown. Many are presumed to have died or been executed.' Commissioner Karen Koning AbuZayd said parties to the conflict had, with few exceptions, failed to investigate their own forces, with the focus seemingly on concealing rather than probing crimes committed in detention facilities. The authors called for all parties in the conflict to stop violations, immediately release certain categories of detainee and allow independent monitoring of detention facilities. Its findings will be presented to the UN Human Rights Council on March 11. The Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Syria was mandated by the council to investigate and record all violations of international law since March 2011 in the country. The commission has repeatedly accused the various sides of war crimes and in some cases crimes against humanity. Since Syria's civil war broke out in 2011, more than 387,000 people have been killed and millions forced from their homes. Alabama removed 12 Confederate symbols in 2020, third most among the states, according to a report from the Southern Poverty Law Center. The total reflected the ongoing reassessment of monuments honoring the Confederacy in public places, as 160 were removed throughout the U.S., according to the SPLCs Whose Heritage? report. Though the practice continued a trend over the last few years, 2020 saw widespread action on the issue after protests and demonstrations following the May death in Minneapolis of George Floyd. The trend was recognizable, according to the group, as only one Confederate symbol - a Virginia state holiday - was changed prior to Floyds death at the hands of a policeman. The SPLC began keeping a database on Confederate monuments following the murders of nine Black people by a white gunman during a Bible study at Mother Emanuel A.M.E. Church in Charleston, S.C. on June 17, 2015. SPLC Chief of Staff Lecia Brooks called 2020 a transformative year for the Confederate symbols movement. Over the course of seven months, more symbols of hate were removed from public property than in the preceding four years combined, Brooks said. Despite this progress, communities informed the SPLC about more than 300 Confederate symbols located across the United States that remain. As the report noted, 94 Confederate monuments were removed last year. Between 2015 to 2019, 58 Confederate monuments were removed from public spaces. Virginia took action against 71 Confederate symbols, followed by North Carolina, with 24. Alabama tied with Texas, by removing 12. In Alabama, these included a statue of Raphael Semmes in Mobile, a statue of John Pelham in Anniston, Birminghams Confederate Soldiers and Sailors Monument, a monument at the University of Alabama, a statue of Robert E. Lee at the high school bearing his name in Montgomery and the renaming of several schools and halls at universities. A list of the 168 Confederate symbols that have been removed can be found here. According to the report, more than 2,100 Confederate symbols are still present in the U.S., and 704 of those symbols are monuments. This encompasses government buildings, Confederate monuments and statues, plaques, markers, schools, parks, counties, cities, military property and streets and highways named after figures associated with the Confederacy. WEST FRANKFORT Centerstone will host a free virtual Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) training 10-11:30 a.m. on March 10. The training will cover ACEs, information on how they can affect individuals wellness throughout the lifespan, review risk factors and the role of protective factors. TypTap, a five-year old Florida-based writer of private market homeowners and flood insurance, has attracted $100 million in financing from investment firm Centerbridge Partners. The company plans to use the money to expand nationally. TypTap said it has obtained regulatory approval to do business in the states of New Mexico, Utah, Nevada, South Carolina, Mississippi, Indiana, West Virginia, Michigan, Montana and South Dakota. It also has approvals pending in nine other states including Georgia, Massachusetts, Iowa and Illinois. The company said it expects to hire between 50 and 100 people by the end of 2021. Florida Homeowners Insurtech TypTap Goes National; Plans Roll-Out in 20 States Paresh Patel, HCI founder and CEO, explains why the timing is right to begin the national expansion. We will immediately begin preparing TypTap for future growth, Paresh Patel, CEO of HCI and TypTap, said in prepared remarks. TypTap was launched in 2016 as a Florida private flood insurance provider with backing from HCI Group. By the third quarter of 2020, TypTap reported $15 million in flood insurance premiums in Florida and has been profitable despite multiple hurricanes in the state. In 2018, TypTap expanded into homeowners insurance in Florida, generating a total of $15 million in premiums. That number reached $60 million in 2019, and last year the company reported $100 million mark in homeowners premiums. The company uses an online platform to quickly quote and bind policies. Algorithms and artificial intelligence drive the platform, which the company said helps identify policies that deliver profitable results while mitigating risk. TypTaps homeowners offering will be similar to what is available in Florida, but there will be nuances based on each individual states needs and legal requirements, Patel told Insurance Journal in October in discussing plans to expand. The company will gradually launch in its chosen states as it receives regulatory approval and appoints agents. Despite TypTap falling under the insurtech umbrella, Patel said the company is very agent friendly. Currently, 90% of TypTaps business comes from agents. Centerbridges investment reflects about 11.75 percent of TypTap, based on post-money valuation for the company of about $850 million. The arrangement gives Centerbridge preferred shares with liquidation, dividend, redemption and other rights, along with a four-year warrant to purchase 750,000 HCI common shares at $54.40 per share. According to TypTap, the preferred shares automatically convert to common shares once an initial public offering meeting certain goal posts is completed. Centerbridge also gets to appoint one director to both the HCI and TypTap boards of directors. Topics Florida Flood Homeowners Armenia ex-president Kocharyan gives interview to Russia newspaper Armenia acting deputy PM on unblocking of roads with Azerbaijan: There will be no troops standing there Nikkei: Toyota and Honda stop car production in Malaysia Armenia official on deploying international observers at Azerbaijan border: You will hear reaction on this matter soon USAID helps UN World Food Programme support displaced people in Armenia Armenia official: Work of trilateral working group on roads unblocking has stopped after recent incidents Russias Putin to Armenias Pashinyan: Relations between our countries are developing very successfully Armenia health minister: Improper storage of fallen soldiers bodies, remains was my omission 108 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia Armenia President to children: I believe that you will make our country much better Armenia CEC publicizes complete lists of political forces registered to run in snap parliamentary elections World oil prices going up Queen Elizabeth turns down PM's offer to name new royal yacht after Prince Philip Armenia parliament discusses 2020 state budget report Newspaper: Armenia acting FM resigns after 3rd attempt Newspaper: Yerevan mayor to leave office Israel, UAE sign tax treaty Newspaper: Even vagrants are persuaded, taken to Armenia acting PM Pashinyans rally in Vanadzor Swedish defense minister demands explanation from Denmark over spy scandal Acting Deputy PM: Armenia has not discussed and will not discuss issues within logic of "corridor" Armenia Central Electoral Commission determines numbers of political parties for elections Armenia 2nd President visits Cathedral of the Holy Mother of God in Gyumri (PHOTOS) Opposition Armenia bloc representative: We're running in elections to win Azerbaijan MFA comments on calls for release of Armenian POWs with infinite hypocrisy EC: Vaccinated citizens should be exempted from tests, quarantine when traveling within EU Armenia Ombudsman discusses rights of 6 captured Armenian servicemen with ICRC Delegation head EU ready to use all the tools at its disposal to change Turkey's behavior Yerevan court obliges to abolish violation of rights of Armenia Supreme Judicial Council ex-chairman Greek and Turkish leaders to meet in June on sidelines of NATO summit Armenia Central Electoral Commission to set up 2,008 polling stations for snap parliamentary elections Iranian companies to participate in reconstructing territories under Azerbaijan's control Opposition Armenia bloc's representative on acting PM's invitation to debate with 1st and 2nd Presidents Armenia acting FM dismissed upon presidential decree Body of brother of Armenian criminal authority "Don Pipo" found under bridge 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 As the U.S. prepares to withdraw from Afghanistan, lawmakers and others are trying to figure out how to keep it from becoming... She's a Sydney-born, New York-based star of film and television. And Aussie actress Rose Byrne has revealed exactly what she's sick of being asked by her American fans during an interview with fellow ex-pat Laura Brown on her Ladies First podcast. 'People are just fascinated with the Australian outback and the wildlife,' grumbled the Bridesmaids star, 41. Infuriated: Rose Byrne has revealed exactly what she's sick of being asked by her American fans during an interview with fellow ex-pat Laura Brown (bottom) on her Ladies First podcast However, the actress clearly found questions about Australia's rugged terrain and 'dangerous animals' irritating given where she was raised. 'It's as foreign to me as it is to them, because I grew up in the city,' Rose explained. 'I'm a city mouse,' she told the InStyle magazine editor-in-chief. 'People are just fascinated with the Australian outback and the wildlife,' grumbled the Bridesmaids star, 41 Ex-pat: Rose has been in a relationship with US actor Bobby Cannavale since 2012, and the couple share sons Rafa, two, and Rocco, four. Despite being based in New York, the couple recently traveled to Australia so that Bobby could film his Hulu limited series Nine Perfect Strangers 'One day are you just gonna snap?' asked Laura. 'Yeah I am,' joked the Damages star. 'I'm going to snap. If you ask me about a kangaroo...' Rose has been in a relationship with US actor Bobby Cannavale since 2012, and the couple share sons Rafa, two, and Rocco, four. No expert: 'It's as foreign to me as it is to them, because I grew up in the city,' grumbled Rose City-dweller: 'I'm a city mouse,' she told the InStyle magazine editor-in-chief Despite being based in New York, the couple recently traveled to Australia so that Bobby could film his Hulu limited series Nine Perfect Strangers. The Byron Bay-shot series is produced by Nicole Kidman. Filming began on August 10 and ran for 19 weeks. Rose subsequently returned to the United States and was last month spotted in Los Angeles, where she was shooting scenes for the Apple TV+ dramedy Physical. After 2014, opposition fighting battle for India, not for power: Rahul India pti-Deepika S New Delhi, Mar 02: The Congress has to change and be humble to fight the arrogance of the BJP, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said on Tuesday, asserting that after 2014 the opposition is fighting the battle for India and not for getting power. In a conversation with India''s former chief economic advisor Kaushik Basu, now a professor in the Cornell University in the US, Gandhi said the Congress party has to open itself to the people and submit itself to them, bringing together the resistance against the Modi government. Asked what is his vision for the Congress in the face of recent electoral defeats, the former Congress chief said, "Gather the resistance. Bring together the resistance. There is resistance across all fronts, many different types of people, many different types of ideas and the Congress party has to have the humility, flexibility and respect to absorb them." "It has to change itself, it has to transform itself to playing that role. Remember when we started the Congress party, it was basically bringing together the resistance, we used to call it passive resistance in those days because we are not into the violent kind of resistance, we still are not, so we will never do anything violently, anything aggressively, anything nastily, all polite, all nice, but we will bring together India''s power," he asserted. Gandhi said the Congress has to open itself to the Indian people and submit itself to them going forward. Rahul Gandhi terms grandmother Indira Gandhi's 'emergency a mistake' "It has to be humble, because it is fighting arrogance. So that is what the Congress party has to do. It is not an easy transformation, it is a difficult transformation," he noted. Gandhi said a lot of people are not happy with what is going on in the country currently and the Congress has to carry all these forces together. "I actually believe that not just the Congress party, the opposition after 2014 is no longer fighting for power, we are fighting now for India. For me we are now fighting a battle for India," he said. "Before 2014, we were fighting elections to win elections, we were fighting for power, now that game has changed, because the rules now have completely changed. We don''t have the institutions to protect us," he alleged. Gandhi said India essentially was about a "negotiation" in which India decided that it is going to have a free and fair fight for power and that is what happened till 2014. "You mentioned that there was the brief period of Emergency where the Congress party was wrong, I am the first to say it. But that changed in 2014 (with the Modi government coming to power). That is not happening anymore. There is no free fight for power in India anymore which means now we have to fight for India," he said. Copyright 1995 - . All rights reserved. The content (including but not limited to text, photo, multimedia information, etc) published in this site belongs to China Daily Information Co (CDIC). Without written authorization from CDIC, such content shall not be republished or used in any form. Note: Browsers with 1024*768 or higher resolution are suggested for this site. 0108263 License for publishing multimedia online Registration Number: 130349 Registration Number: 130349 STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. City health officials remain focused on new coronavirus (COVID-19) variants around the globe, and said Tuesday that additional booster shots against the virus might be needed in the future. Drs. Dave Chokshi, Ted Long, and Jay Varma held a morning press briefing to address concerns about the virus following the mayors daily call with reporters. A focus of health officials in recent days has been a new variant that Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergies and Infectious Diseases, said Monday had most likely originated in Washington Heights. It started off in what is likely in the Washington Heights section, and then has gone through multiple boroughs, and is now gaining, he said during a White House press briefing. So its something we take very, very seriously. A New York Times report from Feb. 24 quoted Dr. David Ho, one of the lead researchers to first identify the variant officially known as B.1.526, saying theyd identified cases in Westchester, in the Bronx and Queens, the lower part of Manhattan and in Brooklyn, and that the variant seems to be widespread. On Tuesday, city health officials were less urgent to say exactly where the virus originated and how cases were distributed throughout the boroughs, because they feel more research needs to be done. We have to answer some of the fundamental questions about this variant, Chokshi, the commissioner of the citys Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, said. We have not seen any evidence that its concentrated in a particular area as yet. We dont have enough evidence to say that it even emerged from a particular place. Dr. Dave A. Chokshi, Commissioner of the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene is shown at City Hall. Thursday, February 18, 2021. (Ed Reed/Mayoral Photography Office) City officials said they currently consider the New York variant to be one of interest as opposed to one of concern. Variants of interest are those that have been identified in a lab. The further classification to a variant of concern requires a better understanding of the mutations effects on people. So far, three variants have been identified as concerning, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. They are the variants first identified in the United Kingdom, South Africa, and Brazil. Each of these variants, which have been identified in the U.S., show mutations that may make them more dangerous or more resistant to immunity build-ups in people. The Columbia University study led by Ho and Dr. Anne-Catrin Uhlemann said more research is needed, but they have found signs that the New York variant shares some worrying characteristics with those variants first identified in South Africa and Brazil, particularly resistance to some vaccines and treatments. Varma, the senior advisor on public health to Mayor Bill de Blasio, said while these variants have shown mutations from the original COVID-19 virus, something he described as COVID Classic, none of them have met scientific requirements to be classified as an entirely new virus, a COVID-20 for instance. He and Chokshi said that the extent to which the virus has mutated in different variants allows them to remain confident that global efforts at treatment and vaccine over the past year-plus will remain effective. Right now, we dont have any evidence that this is evolving into a brand new virus that would require a brand new approach to how we diagnose it, and how we prevent it, and how we treat it, Varma said. He went on to say that the current evidence also makes them quite confident in recommending vaccines, including the one-shot version from Janssen Pharmaceuticals and Johnson & Johnson approved Monday for use in New York. Even with their confidence in vaccines, the officials said that as new vaccine evidence emerges and study on the virus continues, that its something people will be dealing with into the future despite improvements as the years go on. Varma said hes optimistic that things will return to some sort of normalcy by the end of 2021, but specified that were not getting rid of this virus. He said that vaccines will work to prevent the worst outcomes of the virus hospitalizations and deaths but that they may need to be updated with booster shots on an unspecified timeline. This is a virus that were going to be fighting for years to come, Varma said. My guess is going to be that Yea, were probably going to have to get some type of boosters in the future, but thats what were going to rely on the studies to help us know for sure. CHICAGO (dpa-AFX) - Meggitt PLC (MGGT.L) said it signed a long-term, multi-million agreement with Boeing for the supply of cockpit indicators on the 737 MAX. The deal covers a suite of cockpit indicators across all versions of the aircraft. This contract expands Meggitt content on the 737 MAX programme, which already includes the engine and APU fire detection & suppression systems, electrical power conversion equipment, and elastomeric seals. The company noted that the deliveries are scheduled to commence in the second quarter of fiscal 2022. Meggitt Chief Executive, Tony Wood, said, 'We are delighted to be expanding our relationship with Boeing at this important time as the 737 MAX returns to service and the wider aviation industry starts to look through the challenges of the last year towards a recovering outlook for air traffic globally.' 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. Head of Ukraine's National Council of Television and Radio Broadcasting Olha Herasymiuk has noted the presence of problems with impartiality and propaganda in programs aired on the Pryamiy television channel, owned since February 18, 2021 by former Ukrainian President and co-chairman of the European Solidarity parliamentary faction Petro Poroshenko. "Their problem is the 'partisanship' of their speech, party propaganda. Unfortunately, this is so. They pursue a strange stance: since they are patriots, they are allowed to do what others are forbidden to do like swear during live broadcasts, use offensive language, give biased information. I am categorically opposed to such a stance," Herasymiuk said in an interview with The New Times online newspaper published on Monday. The National Council has already warned Pryamiy TV channel over the use of obscenities in its programs, she said. As reported earlier, in June 2020 the National Council of Television and Radio Broadcasting ordered an after-quarantine inspection of the Pryamiy television station in response to the use of swear words by Echo of Ukraine program host Matviy Hanapolsky in broadcasts on May 1, May 2, and May 3. The District Administrative Court of Kyiv earlier received the Pryamiy TV channel's lawsuit contesting the council's January 9, 2020 decision regarding an unscheduled inspection. On January 9, 2020, the council ordered a snap inspection of the Pryamiy television station over a program host's remarks that allegedly sought to "discredit the honor and dignity of President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky." According to the council, those accusations center both on remarks belonging to TV host Serhiy Poyarkov and on the program's contents in general, which the council believes failed to observe generally recognized ethical norms. The European Solidarity Party said on its website that Poroshenko bought the Pryamiy TV channel from former parliamentarian Volodymyr Makeyenko on February 18, 2021. "I have paid money, big money, which might have been spent on charity or other projects, including social ones. It's about millions and millions in order to settle the channel's debts and other things," he said. EUGENE, Ore. Eugene Police and other security personnel will be present at high school games in Eugene School District 4J, working to keep spectators away to ensure COVID-19 safety. Following guidance from the Oregon Health Authority and OSAA, the district will be providing campus security during these games, in addition to paying officers. According to a district spokesperson, spectators are not allowed on the sidelines, bleachers or along the fence line. Families are allowed to be in their cars in the parking lot. Parents told KEZI they were confused at this decision. "We were shocked actually when we heard there was going to be police presence at the schools," said Sandi Sperry, a parent of two students at Sheldon High School. "They were the ones who eliminated police from schools this year. Now they're basically threatening parents from getting into the venue." Several parents also left comments on our Facebook page. "So we kick EPD out of schools but they can be there to ensure parents can't be by the fencing," one user said. Another wrote: "What a waste of taxpayer money." The district has set up a livestreaming option to watch games via devices. Both Bethel and Springfield school districts will provide streaming options through the NFHS platform. Bethel School District said a School Resource Officer and employees will be on campus at Willamette High School to help enforce the mandate. Springfield School District said they have not hired any additional security at this time as they do not anticipate any challenges. The Court of Appeal has dismissed John Waters and Gemma O'Doherty's appeal against a refusal to permit them to challenge the constitutionality of laws introduced in response to Covid-19 on the basis it was "misconceived and entirely without merit." They had appealed the High Courts refusal to permit the two to bring their challenge and its award of costs of that hearing against them. In their judicial review proceedings against the State and the Minister for Health, with the Dail. Seanad and Ceann Comhairle as notice parties, the appellants had sought to have various legislative measures declared unconstitutional and flawed. In its decision the three-judge Court of Appeal, comprised of the President of the Court of Appeal Mr Justice George Birmingham, Ms Justice John Edwards and Ms Justice Caroline Costello dismissed all grounds of their appeal. Giving the court's decision Mr Justice Birmingham said that court was "quite satisfied" that the approach taken by the High Court in relation to their case "was the correct one". He added that while the case was "controversial and tendentious" no serious legal issue that would justify the granting of permission had been raised by the appellants. The applicants he said claimed "to know better than the government and the Oireachtas." and in their submission they had dismissed internal and international advice concerning the pandemic available to the government. They had "chosen rhetoric over substance and fiction and distortion over fact" and failed to meet the threshold of establishing an arguable case, the judge concluded. Mr Justice Birmingham said that during the appeal Ms O'Doherty had referred to the World Health Organisation as 'a private corporation.' and had made "allegations of treason" against the respondents and notice parties. While the underlying circumstances, that resulted in the state taking "very far-reaching measures", are "extraordinarily grave" the judge said Ms O'Doherty and Mr Waters have "singularly failed to raises issues of substance." While some of the arguments advanced "might have a certain appeal if addressed to a flag-waving assembly out the Custom's House, they had no purchase when addressed to a court of law. " The Judge the applicants, who described themselves as experienced journalists in the fields of law, science and medicine, were aggrieved by the High Court's criticisms of them for giving unsubstantiaed opinions and speeches and drawing a comparison with Nazi Germany. The appellants, who claimed their case was supported by scientific evidence, were critical of Mr Justice Meenan's attitude towards a government whose actions they described as being catastrophic and in breach of people's fundamental freedoms. The judge said they had claimed that no scientific studies exist to support the wearing of masks to stop the spread of viruses and said they was much evidence to show wearing masks was bad for people's health. Ms O'Doherty stated was a cure available for covid19 in the form of hydrochloroquine zine and Vitamin C, but what health services had been doing was placing patients in ICUs on ventilators bringing about their deaths. The judge said that "to put it at its mildest there was a tendency by the appellants to present as unchallenged fact what is keenly in dispute." "One is reminded of comments in another context of the existence of alternative facts" the judge said adding the High Court had approached to these issues complained of was "entirely correct." The Judge added that the court did not intend to depart from normal rule was that the losing parties should pay the legal costs of the action, unless it is asked to by one of the parties. If any party seeks such a departure must make written submissions to the court, the Judge added. The appeal was opposed by the respondents and the notice parties. Last year Ms O'Doherty and Mr Waters sought to challenge legislation including the 2020 Health Preservation and Protection and Other Emergency Measures in the Public Interest Act; the 2020 Emergency Measures in the Public Interest Act Covid-19 Act and the 1947 Health Act (Affected Areas) Order. They claimed the laws, and the manner in which they were enacted, are repugnant to several articles of the Constitution including concerning the rights to travel, bodily integrity and the family, and amounted to an unprecedented suspension of constitutional rights. Last May Mr Justice Charles Meenan refused to grant them leave and said their claims were not arguable. They had not provided any expert evidence or facts to support their view the laws were disproportionate or unconstitutional. The manner in which the Houses of the Oireachtas dealt with the laws, introduced by a caretaker government and voted on by an incoming Dail and outgoing Seanad, was not something a court could interfere with, he said. The laws are constitutionally permissible and the proceedings should have been brought via plenary hearing, involving hearing oral evidence, and not judicial review, he held. In their submissions to the appeal court Ms ODoherty, and Mr Waters argued the High Court's decision refusing them permission to bring their challenge against the laws was wrong and that they didn't get a fair hearing before the lower courts. Mr Waters argued that the CoA should set aside a High Court judgement that was "deeply tainted." Michael Collins SC, with Patrick McCann SC for the Minister and the State said the applicants' appeal should be dismissed. Counsel said they have made many wild and general assertions, which he said were not supported by any reports or evidence. Some of their submissions to the court were appalling and offensive, counsel said. Francis Kieran Bl for the notice parties said the appeal should be dismissed as their claim was non judiciable, and nothing had been put before the court that would allow them "climb the high legal walls" required for thier arguments to succeed. Counsel adding that some of the applicant's submissions was "Bermuda Triangle stuff." Watertown, NY (13601) Today Rain showers early with bright sunshine by the afternoon. High 73F. Winds SW at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 50%.. Tonight Clear to partly cloudy. Low 54F. Winds SSW at 5 to 10 mph. VANCOUVER - A lawyer for a group of British Columbia churches that are challenging the province's COVID-19 rules prohibiting in-person religious services argued Monday the orders reflect a "value judgment." Free Reformed Church is seen as people attend Sunday Service, in Abbotsford, B.C., Sunday, Feb. 21, 2021. A legal advocacy group challenging British Columbia's COVID-19 restrictions on worship services and public protests is scheduled to be in court today arguing for the church and others that COVID-19 restrictions violate their charter rights. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck VANCOUVER - A lawyer for a group of British Columbia churches that are challenging the province's COVID-19 rules prohibiting in-person religious services argued Monday the orders reflect a "value judgment." Paul Jaffe said provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry's orders allow secular gatherings such as in-class education and food distribution for people in need to continue, while discriminating against the churches and their congregants' right to freedom of religion. He told the court his clients which include the Riverside Calvary Chapel in Langley, Immanuel Covenant Reformed Church in Abbotsford and the Free Reformed Church of Chilliwack have been careful to adopt safety protocols similar to those approved by Henry in places that remain open. Jaffe also argued the province has not provided medical justification showing that the virus is spreading through church services and posing a greater risk to the public than other activities that remain allowed. Henry told a news conference last month that churches were operating with safety measures in place throughout the summer and fall, but as the pandemic worsened, so did transmission in faith settings. Jaffe noted the orders do not prohibit outdoor assemblies over matters of public interest or controversy, and said religion is a matter of public interest. But if religion is the subject of discussion at an outdoor assembly, it's prohibited, he told the court. "How can the (province) possibly say that you can get together outside to address climate change, for instance, but you can't get together outside to worship?" Jaffe said an affidavit from deputy provincial health officer Dr. Brian Emerson in support of the public health orders treats "all churches as through they're one big homogenous group without any recognition that some churches have been very careful meeting or exceeding the requirements imposed on secular activities." Henry and the province have said they are confident the health orders are in accordance with the law, including the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Hearings over the churches' petition are set to continue Tuesday. Jaffe works with the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms, a Calgary-based legal advocacy group that's also asking the court to dismiss tickets of up to $2,300 each for alleged violations of the orders by the churches. He told the court his clients' religious beliefs are deeply held and a key tenet of their faith is congregation, though he added "some churches are fine with (online) meetings" and alternatives to in-person services. B.C. Supreme Court Chief Justice Christopher Hinkson dismissed an injunction request in February by Henry and B.C.'s attorney general, whose lawyers argued churchgoers who are breaking COVID-19 rules would be more likely to comply with a court order. Hinkson said he did not condone the churches' conduct and he was satisfied with the province's argument that the public could suffer from transmission of the virus where people are unsafely attending gatherings. But he said during a hearing that the province was putting the court in an "impossible position" before the churches' own petition is heard this week. Hinkson said he was also concerned that the administration of justice could be brought into disrepute if an injunction was granted but not enforced if the Crown found it would not be in the public interest to prosecute people who refused to adhere to it. This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 1, 2021. This story was produced with the financial assistance of the Facebook and Canadian Press News Fellowship. According to the analysts, the German photovoltaic market would grow by 23% this year, compared to 2019. Strong growth is expected to come from large scale projects.From pv magazine Germany German market research company EUPD Research forecast that around 6 GW of new PV systems may be grid connected in Germany this year. If confirmed, this result would represent 23% growth compared to 2019, when the newly installed PV capacity reached 4.88 GW. The company's analysts said that, although the business of around half of the German installers was negatively impacted by the Covid-19 crisis, most of ... 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. Stormont ministers are expected to meet later to finalise details of Northern Irelands lockdown exit strategy. First Minister Arlene Foster and deputy First Minister Michelle ONeill plan to unveil the document on the floor of the Assembly in Belfast. Ministers have already made clear the blueprint will be led by data, not dates. The plan is likely to outline the sequence in which current lockdown restrictions will lift, with moves taken when the public health situation allows. In just two months, now a third of Northern Ireland's adult population has received the Covid vaccine. Over 500,000 doses have now been administered. It is a remarkable achievement and well done to all those whose hard work and long hours has made it possible. pic.twitter.com/BdfHSvldb0 Arlene Foster #WeWillMeetAgain (@ArleneFosterUK) February 25, 2021 The initial phase is understood to be titled cautious first steps. Ministers met on Monday to examine the plan for a gradual easing of restrictions. It is understood officials have been asked to clarify some areas before the Executive formally signs off on the plan. Mrs Foster has said the devolved executive will review the level of restrictions every three weeks. Northern Irelands lockdown and accompanying stay-at-home message is in place until April 1. Ministers are due to review that policy on March 18. People who are aged 60-64 can now book a Covid-19 vaccine online. To make an appointment please visit the online portal https://t.co/vqf6xIMQ13 pic.twitter.com/l7guG3z48r Department of Health (@healthdpt) March 1, 2021 The executive has already outlined plans for a phased return of face-to-face learning at schools. Only vulnerable children and those of key workers have been attending classes in mainstream schools since January. P1 to P3 primary school children will return to school on March 8, and on March 22 secondary school children in key exam years years 12-14 will go back to class. On that same date, the P1 to P3s are currently due to revert to home learning for one week ahead of the Easter holidays to mitigate the impact on infection rates of the secondary school cohorts return. However, officials from the departments of health and education were asked last week to examine that aspect of the plan and Mrs Foster has expressed hope that those primary pupils will ultimately be able to remain in school that week. No date has so far been given for the return of the wider school population. Phased return of pupils to school starting in March. https://t.co/ZBAfm8f4F6 pic.twitter.com/6FNyIiX7si Education NI (@Education_NI) February 18, 2021 Covid-19 vaccinations have been extended to people aged 60-64 in Northern Ireland. Those eligible are urged to book online for appointments at health trust mass vaccination centres, the Department of Health said. More than half a million doses of coronavirus vaccine have been administered in Northern Ireland. One more person has died with Covid-19 in Northern Ireland, the department said. A further 138 people tested positive. A total of 258 hospital beds are occupied by Covid-19 patients, 34 are in intensive care. Not rape: SC says on consensual sex in live in relationship India oi-Vicky Nanjappa New Delhi, Mar 02: The Supreme Court said that in a prolonged relationship, consensual sex between a couple cannot be categorised as rape, if the man fails to keep the promise of marriage to the woman. A Bench comprising, Chief Justice of India, S A Bobde, Justices A S Bopanna and Ramasubramanian said that making a false promise to marry is wrong. Even a woman should not promise to marry and then break away. But that does not mean in a prolonged live-in relationship, sexual intercourse would be categorised as rape. The case pertained to two call centre employees who were in a live in relations for five years. The man finally married another woman, leading to the lady slapping rape charges against him. She accused the man of indulging in sexual intercourse on the false promise of marriage. Will you marry her? SC asks govt employee accused of rape The man through his counsel told the court that if consensual sex in a live in court result in rape charges, which leads to the arrest, it could set a dangerous precedent. The lady told the court that the man had displayed to the world that they were living as husband and wife and had married the the woman in a. Temple, but wriggled out of the promise after assaulting and extorting money. Farmers' Protest: Delhi's Ghazipur border partially opens for vehicular traffic| Oneindia News "It is a good case for you to seek discharge from the trial court," the Bench said. There's a clear distinction between rape and consensual sex," the Bench also said. The court protected the man from arrest for 8 weeks and asked him to find out from the trial court whether the prosecution was able to produce evidence to substantiate rape charges. GILBERT, Ariz., March 2, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- PS Academy Arizona, located in Gilbert, Arizona, is a private K-12 school for students with autism and other exceptionalities. PS students are grouped by ability and their programs are customized to meet each student's needs. Their commitment to families is to "See Past the Label, Focus on the Able. Location shouldn't be a barrier to ensuring your student's needs are being met! Throughout the past several years, PS Academy has heard from parents in Arizona that there isn't a private school for their student with autism located near them. The common thread is their student is struggling in public school. With that in mind, PS Academy developed an innovative statewide virtual program called Campus Connect. With the help of the advanced technology, SWIVL, they are able to bring the classroom to your home. Many virtual learning programs are primarily focused on automated lessons, reading, and online tests and quizzes and less emphasis on live interaction with teachers and peers. At PS Academy, they're doing it differently. Each student will connect to the campus virtually, attending all classes "with" on-campus students. They can be online side-by-side with their peers and teachers, attending classes and interacting LIVE with the classroom 100% of the time. Students may qualify for free tuition through the Arizona Empowerment Scholarship Account (ESA). PS Academy can walk parents through funding options (98% of their students have their tuition fully paid for.) The prevalence of autism is growing exponentially, especially in Arizona. One out of every 64 children is diagnosed with autism. As the numbers increase so does the demand for specialty schools like PS Academy Arizona. For more information or to schedule a media interview, contact Mary Beth Mayer at [email protected] or 480-490-1166 (mobile). About PS Academy Arizona PS Academy was founded in 2008 to offer children with autism and other exceptionalities a comprehensive program from kindergarten through 12th grade. PS Academy uses innovative teaching techniques, working cooperatively with students and parents to set and achieve goals that focus on academic, social, and emotional development along with the acquisition of daily living skills. Students participate in electives and clubs like Rock Band, Student Council, Girl Power, Theater, Cake Decorating, Sign Language, and Rocketry. For more information, visit www.psacademyarizona.com SOURCE PS Academy Arizona Related Links http://www.psacademyarizona.com Hong Kong imposed record-high monetary penalties in its capital markets last year as authorities stepped up vigilance and enforcement to clamp down on market misconduct. The Securities and Futures Commission slapped HK$2.8 billion (US$361 million) of fines on industry participants, 117 per cent more than in 2019, according to data compiled by law firm Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer. The amount was also 32 per cent higher than the sum collected from 2015 to 2019. The bulk of the sum, or HK$2.71 billion, was extracted from Goldman Sachs (Asia) when it reprimanded the US investment bank's unit for "serious lapses and deficiencies" that contributed to the misappropriation of funds at the Malaysian sovereign investment fund known as 1Malaysia Development Bhd. Get the latest insights and analysis from our Global Impact newsletter on the big stories originating in China. "Given the SFC's focus on 'high-impact cases', we can expect to see the SFC continue its pursuit of large fines," said Tim Mak, a partner of Freshfields, which began compiling the statistics in 2014. Mak said civil fines from disciplinary actions tend to be easier to obtain because of the lower threshold of proof than in criminal cases. A Goldman Sachs sign is displayed inside the company's post on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) on April 18, 2017. Photo: Reuters alt=A Goldman Sachs sign is displayed inside the company's post on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) on April 18, 2017. Photo: Reuters Goldman has paid more than US$5 billion in penalties in Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, the UK and the US for its role in helping 1MDB raise US$6.5 billion in three bond offerings in 2012 and 2013. Much of the money was siphoned off by people associated with disgraced former premier Najib Razak and funnelled to pay for a Manhattan apartment, Monet art, a superyacht and even a Hollywood movie. In 2019, the SFC imposed HK$814 million of fines on five investment banks - UBS, Morgan Stanley, Merrill Lynch, Standard Chartered Bank and China Merchants Securities (HK) - for shortcomings as sponsors for several initial public offerings (IPOs) over the past decade. Story continues As Hong Kong is one of the world's leading IPO venues and the SFC has been focusing significant efforts on enhancing the market quality, the watchdog will continue to scrutinise the work of the listing sponsors, Mak said. Hong Kong was the top IPO venue globally seven times in the past 12 years, while the stock exchange operator has planned to expand its listing reforms further to attract more candidates. "Historically, Hong Kong regulatory fines have tended to be lower than those in other major markets like the UK and the US, but the SFC is catching up," Mak added. The UK's Financial Conduct Authority meted out about 200 million (US$278.5 million) of fines last year, while the US' Securities and Exchange Commission handed out US$4.68 billion, according to data published on their websites. "It is good to see the SFC issuing heavy fines on some big investment banks for those malpractices" to protect investors, said Tom Chan Pak-lam, chairman of the Institute of Securities Dealers, the brokerage industry body in Hong Kong. "They will act as a deterrent to market participants. It shows the SFC is very keen to improve the market quality." Chan hopes to see the SFC handing out more compensation to investors who suffered as a result of malpractice in the market. The US Securities and Exchange Commission returned about US$600 million last year to investors as a result of enforcement actions. In Hong Kong, the SFC fines go into the government's treasury, according to local law. The commission, however, can seek compensation for investors by seeking a court order, as it did in the case of Tianhe Chemicals Group last September. In that event, the market watchdog initiated legal action against China's largest lubricant additives producer and its executive director Wei Xuan in the Market Misconduct Tribunal. It is seeking to recover HK$3.52 billion of proceeds from its 2014 IPO, saying the parties overstated revenue by US$1.04 billion from 2011 to 2013. This article originally appeared in the South China Morning Post (SCMP), the most authoritative voice reporting on China and Asia for more than a century. For more SCMP stories, please explore the SCMP app or visit the SCMP's Facebook and Twitter pages. Copyright 2021 South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved. Copyright (c) 2021. South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved. WASHINGTON A group of Democratic senators is urging President Joe Biden to support recurring direct payments to lower-income Americans, arguing that regular, additional cash assistance is necessary until the economy fully recovers from the pandemic-induced downturn. The proposal which likely would face an uphill climb to become law even if gained wide support within the Democratic Party would build on the means-tested, one-time $1,400 stimulus check included in Bidens coronavirus relief bill, which passed the House last week and is now under consideration in the Senate. Its an indication of how many party leaders have coalesced around the once-contentious idea of sending money directly to Americans during the ongoing pandemic. The senators, who also requested Biden support automatic unemployment insurance extensions, said they would like the president to include the ideas in a future economic recovery bill. This crisis is far from over, and families deserve certainty that they can put food on the table and keep a roof over their heads, a group of 10 senators wrote to Biden, in a letter obtained by McClatchy. Families should not be at the mercy of constantly-shifting legislative timelines and ad hoc solutions. The letter was signed by Sens. Ron Wyden of Oregon, Cory Booker of New Jersey, Sherrod Brown of Ohio, Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, Bernie Sanders of Vermont, Alex Padilla of California, Michael Bennet of Colorado, Ed Markey of Massachusetts, Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin and Kirsten Gillibrand of New York. The support from Sanders, Warren and Wyden three of the Senates leading liberals is an indication of the proposals popularity with the partys left wing. The senators letter did not mention many specifics, including the size of the assistance checks, which income brackets the payments would be directed toward, or what economic conditions would end the automatic extensions and direct payments. Any proposal to install recurring payments could also face long odds in the House and Senate, where some moderate Democrats might balk at additional major spending. But the senators are pairing their request with an effort from a liberal political group, the Progressive Change Institute and Economic Security Project, which is urging other lawmakers to sign on to the proposal. Georgia showed the political power of checks, and data shows these checks plus unemployment benefits keep millions of families out of poverty, said Adam Green, PCIs co-founder. President Biden could expect broad support throughout the Democratic Caucus if he includes recurring benefits in his Build Back Better long-term economic recovery plan. Democrats have rallied around the notion of sending direct payments to Americans after the Georgia Senate runoff elections in January, when both of the partys candidates, Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock, pledged to deliver additional financial relief. Their surprise victories, many Democrats believe, were proof of the proposals popularity. Biden himself campaigned for the additional funds, and has supported their inclusion in the COVID-19 relief bill. As you have said, now is the time for boldness, the senators wrote. As you prepare your Build Back Better plan for long-term economic recovery, know that we are ready to work with you in support of recurring direct checks and extended unemployment insurance benefits to support Americans who are still struggling during the pandemic. Earlier this year, House progressives also urged the president to adopt a plan that would institute recurring stimulus payments until the pandemic ended. -- Alex Roarty of the McClatchy Washington Bureau wrote this story. 2021 McClatchy Washington Bureau. Visit at mcclatchydc.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. Photographer Captures the Beauty of Motherhood From 50 Countries Across the Worldand Its Amazing One remarkable photographer is capturing the beauty and wonder of motherhoodalong with the hearts of we the viewersby taking some extraordinary portraits of mother and child from all parts of the world. Mihaela Noroc, a Romanian photographer, is known for her photographs of 500 women from over 50 different countries. She created the top-selling book Atlas of Beauty, while backpacking across the globe with her camera. Now, her latest collection focuses on the bond between mothers and children from a rich spectrum of cultures throughout the worldfrom Kathmandu, to the Andes Mountains in Peru, to New York City. KATHMANDU, NEPAL, A Hindu mother and her boy (Courtesy of Mihaela Noroc) TEHRAN, IRAN, Leila and her son Abtin (Courtesy of Mihaela Noroc) Of the bond between mother and child, Mihaela shared with The Epoch Times: Theres always an intimate chemistry between them. And theres always so much beauty and kindness in these special moments. It was during her travels that the photographer noticed something unique about mothers in every country. There are so many differences between the cultures of the world when it comes to raising a baby. The way a newborn is fed, carried, or educated is never the same, she said. But whats [most] similar all over the world is the intense love of a mother. Before long, she realized that she wanted to capture this universal feeling in her photography. And capture it she has. MILAN, ITALY, The daughter, Caterina, is a ballerina and her biggest supporter is her mother, Barbara (Courtesy of Mihaela Noroc) NEAR REYKJAVIK, ICELAND, Andrea, an adventure guide, and her son Benjamin (Courtesy of Mihaela Noroc) In her collection of photographs, from 6 continents and 28 countries, she has immortalized the deep love between mother and child. By capturing these photos, Mihaela says she hopes to prove that a mothers love knows no bounds, and that this truism prevails in all corners of the world. I think the mothers love is the most intense feeling that exists, she explained. And we must talk more about it, we must show it more often in mass media because it can be a cure for all the hate and negativity that surrounds us today. ANDES MOUNTAINS, PERU, Juliana and her son Alex (Courtesy of Mihaela Noroc) TOKYO, JAPAN, Shiori and her seven months daughter, Kanade (Courtesy of Mihaela Noroc) Mihaela added that her own journey of motherhood also served as an inspiration. This particular project has helped her grow closer to her daughter, Natalia, who traveled the world with her for the last two years. Traveling with my little daughter in all corners of the world is both challenging and amazing, she said. There are [many] more stories waiting to be discovered and now, as a mother, I feel an even stronger desire to bring my small contribution in making this world a better place for future generations. NEW YORK, USA, Jenny and her daughter Lily were having a walk around the neighborhood (Courtesy of Mihaela Noroc) TEL AVIV, ISRAEL, Mother and her daughters (Courtesy of Mihaela Noroc) BAHIR DAR, ETHIOPIA, Ethiopian mother and son (Courtesy of Mihaela Noroc) REFUGEE CAMP, GREECE, This mother and her daughters fled the war in Syria (Courtesy of Mihaela Noroc) GUANGZHOU, CHINA, She was on the way to the hospital to give birth (Courtesy of Mihaela Noroc) CHISINAU, MOLDOVA, Ina and her one month baby (Courtesy of Mihaela Noroc) BALI, INDONESIA, Mother teaching her daughter a traditional dance (Courtesy of Mihaela Noroc) SAN ANTONIO AGUAS CALIENTES, GUATEMALA, The mother created all these splendid outfits (Courtesy of Mihaela Noroc) BERLIN, GERMANY, Masha, whos Ukranian, and her son Gasper (Courtesy of Mihaela Noroc) BUCHAREST, ROMANIA, Carmen and her daughters, Ranya and Zara (Courtesy of Mihaela Noroc) AMSTERDAM, NETHERLANDS, Rachelle told me: We are resting after a long day at work (Courtesy of Mihaela Noroc) KATHMANDU, NEPAL, Upasha and her daugher Prayusha (Courtesy of Mihaela Noroc) KOLKATA, INDIA, Tabassum moved here from Bangladesh in hope of a better life for her daughter. (Courtesy of Mihaela Noroc) NORTHERN VIETNAM, Gau and her son Khoi (Courtesy of Mihaela Noroc) BERLIN, GERMANY, Mother and daughter in the park (Courtesy of Mihaela Noroc) AMSTERDAM, NETHERLANDS, Ans and her daughter, Marloes (Courtesy of Mihaela Noroc) Thats me and my daughter Natalia (Courtesy of Mihaela Noroc) 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 Research News Scientists induce artificial magnetic texture in graphene By CORY NEALON Independent of each other, graphene and spintronics each possess incredible potential to fundamentally change many aspects of business and society. But if you can blend the two together, the synergistic effects are likely to be something this world hasnt yet seen, Graphene is incredibly strong, lightweight, conductive the list of its superlative properties goes on. It is not, however, magnetic a shortcoming that has stunted its usefulness in spintronics, an emerging field that scientists say could eventually rewrite the rules of electronics, leading to more powerful semiconductors, computers and other devices. Now, an international research team led by UB is reporting an advancement that could help overcome this obstacle. In a study published Feb. 25 in the journal Physical Review Letters, researchers describe how they paired a magnet with graphene and induced what they describe as artificial magnetic texture in the nonmagnetic wonder material. Independent of each other, graphene and spintronics each possess incredible potential to fundamentally change many aspects of business and society. But if you can blend the two together, the synergistic effects are likely to be something this world hasnt yet seen, says lead author Nargess Arabchigavkani, who performed the research as a PhD candidate at UB and is now a postdoctoral research associate at SUNY Polytechnic Institute. Additional authors represent UB, King Mongkuts Institute of Technology Ladkrabang in Thailand, Chiba University in Japan, University of Science and Technology of China, University of Nebraska Omaha, University of Nebraska Lincoln, and Uppsala University in Sweden. For their experiments, researchers placed a 20-nanometer-thick magnet in direct contact with a sheet of graphene, which is a single layer of carbon atoms arranged in a two-dimensional honeycomb lattice that is less than 1 nanometer thick. To give you a sense of the size difference, its a bit like putting a brick on a sheet of paper, says the studys senior author Jonathan Bird, professor and chair of electrical engineering at the UB School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. Researchers then placed eight electrodes in different spots around the graphene and magnet to measure their conductivity. The electrodes revealed a surprise the magnet induced an artificial magnetic texture in the graphene that persisted even in areas of the graphene away from the magnet. Put simply, the intimate contact between the two objects caused the normally nonmagnetic carbon to behave differently, exhibiting magnetic properties similar to common magnetic materials like iron or cobalt. Moreover, it was found that these properties could overwhelm completely the natural properties of the graphene, even when looking several microns away from the contact point of the graphene and the magnet. This distance (a micron is a millionth of a meter), while incredibly small, is relatively large microscopically speaking. The findings raise important questions relating to the microscopic origins of the magnetic texture in the graphene. Most importantly, Bird says, is the extent to which the induced magnetic behavior arises from the influence of spin polarization and/or spin-orbit coupling, which are phenomena known to be intimately connected to the magnetic properties of materials and to the emerging technology of spintronics. Rather than utilizing the electrical charge carried by electrons (as in traditional electronics), spintronic devices seek to exploit the unique quantum property of electrons known as spin (which is analogous to the earth spinning on its own axis). Spin offers the potential to pack more data into smaller devices, thereby increasing the power of semiconductors, quantum computers, mass storage devices and other digital electronics. The work was supported by funding from the U.S. Department of Energy. Additional support came from the U.S. National Science Foundation; nCORE, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Semiconductor Research Corporation; the Swedish Research Council; and the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science. The on Monday (local time) voted to confirm President Joe Biden's pick Miguel Cardona to lead the Department of Education. Cardona, 45, a former public school teacher who went on to become Connecticut's education chief, was approved on a 64-33 vote, CNN reported. President Biden has pledged to reopen most schools by May, within his first 100 days in office, and is pushing Congress to approve another USD 170 billion in education funding. Cardona, whose family is from Puerto Rico, enjoyed a meteoric rise to the top of Connecticut's public education system. He began his career as fourth-grade teacher in Meriden, in the same district where he attended school. Cardona soon became a principal and then assistant superintendent of the district before being named state commissioner in 2019, CNN reported. It further reported that his predecessor, Betsy DeVos, was a controversial nominee from the start when former US Vice President Mike Pence had to make a tie-breaking vote to confirm her to the role. DeVos, a staunch school choice and private school advocate, had almost no experience in public education and was often at odds with the teachers' unions. The unions back Cardona and are pleased with Biden's push to reopen schools but have warned that the 100-day reopening timeline may need to be a goal rather than a fixed target, CNN reported. (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.) There are rough roads ahead, but highway and street departments are working to make them smooth again. As winter ice and snow freeze on streets and then melt into cracks in the road surface, street foundations can be compromised and lead to potholes. In Jacksonville, the work of combating holes in the roads surface already has begun. Les Ballenger, superintendent for Jacksonville Municipal Services, said theyve already been addressing areas of concern after the recent large freeze thawed last week into more mild temperatures. This is a problem we see every year, Ballenger said. You get freezing roads, then thawing, and you get potholes. As soon as the snow gets off the roads, its bam, they appear. Loading The city, which uses about 300,000 tons of rock and gravel each year to repair potholes, already has purchased materials and crews will be working to repair them as they appear in coming weeks, Ballenger said. Larger roads and highly traveled roads will be given priority over smaller roads and alleys, with issues being dealt with as they occur, he said. The warmer weather at the moment is benefiting road crews, Ballenger said. The warmer weather is nice and its drying the roads out, he said. County and state roads also are being addressed. The Illinois Department of Transportation oversees state highways and roads, while the county addresses county roads and individual municipalities are responsible for those within their city limits. Morgan County highway engineer Matt Coultas, who also is the county engineer for Scott County, said both departments will bid for materials for their spring road maintenance at the end of March, though they will address pothole issues as they can until the materials arrive. So far weve seen nothing out of the ordinary and we are preparing for our standard maintenance, Coultas said. Morgan County maintains roughly 170 miles of county highway. Materials for the countys spray patcher typically are not available until April, so the county usually applies a cold patch as a temporary solution until the materials arrive to make a more permanent fix, Coultas said. IDOT has the storage to hold materials through the winter; we dont, Coultas said. Our system is fairly sound, so we dont have as much of a fight with potholes as some of the road districts or more rural roads. Potholes should be reported to the department responsible, Coultas said. If it is not clear which department maintains a road that needs repairs, Coultas office can help point people with repair requests to the correct district, he said. A Vietnamese man has been caught clinging onto a foam float to swim from the COVID-19 epicenter of Hai Duong Province to Hai Phong City in northern Vietnam, instead of traveling through control points. The Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control in Hai Phong on Monday said that the case was discovered by police in Dai Ban Commune, An Duong District and a task force of Van Tien Village during a patrol session on Sunday. Accordingly, Truong Van Luan, a 43-year-old man dwelling in Minh Hoa Ward in Kinh Mon Town, Hai Duong, swam with the support of a foam float on the Lach Tray River to enter Van Tien Village in Dai Ban Commune. When he reached the riverside in Van Tien Village, he was immediately caught and taken to the local medical center for health declaration. After checking Luans personal information and health status, police in Dai Ban Commune booked the case and escorted him to the bordering area between Hai Phong and Hai Duong to return him to the latter province. Hai Duong is currently Vietnams COVID-19 epicenter with 676 cases having been documented since January 27. People traveling to and from Hai Duong are requested to make entrance via control points for medical declaration. Vietnam had gone nearly two months logging zero domestic cases before it detected the first one on January 27 and confirmed it one day later, according to the health ministrys data. A total of 868 community-based cases have been confirmed 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 announced in the country on January 23, 2020. Hai Phong has registered four COVID-19 patients in this new wave. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! I am becoming more and more intolerant of intolerance. As I watched the riot on Grafton Street on Saturday, led by people determined to try to goad the Gardai into over-reaction, I was filled with disgust. The thing was fomented on social media by groups with names like antilockdownireland and RiseUpEireann. In advance they posted banners with messages like Freedom no more lockdowns, our country is suffering, we matter. Another one was all about Stand for Freedom. And, of course, they were all in the national colours of green white and orange. After the riot the posts were all about the great awakening, of all things. Their adherents, if thats what they are, began posting rubbish claiming that some people had been planted in the crowd to foment violence and give an otherwise peaceful protest a bad name. Naturally. Their adherents, by the way, arent the sweetest and most polite. When I was critical of the riot in a programme on the radio on Sunday morning, I got several bits of personal abuse. Im a deluded South Dublin type, apparently, who likes labelling everyone the same way. The other thing Ive now been accused of, arising from the same radio programme, is that I want to take peoples PUP away if they protest. Thats absolutely untrue. I didnt articulate what I said on the subject well, and the programme presenter, Gavan Reilly, rightly pulled me up on it, but I was trying to point to the irony that some people should feel entitled to demand an immediate end to the lockdown as it affects them, while at the same time ignoring the health and economic effects that would cause for thousands of others. If theyre demanding an immediate end to the lockdown, theyre also in effect demanding an immediate end to the wage subsidies the lockdown has forced and which have to be helping to support many of the people marching. The PUP and wage subsidies are essential features of the lockdown, and people suffering the economic consequences of the lockdown are 100% entitled to them just as any Irish citizen who has to depend on the PUP also has a democratic right to protest. The right to protest Although it didnt stop the dogs abuse, I dont think anyone who knows me believes that I would agree for a minute that people should be penalised for exercising their right to protest. Ive protested all my adult life. Ive walked in dozens, if not hundreds, of protest marches over nearly five decades. Ive been involved in campaigns for democratic change in Ireland since I was young, and I will be again. I believe absolutely in the right to protest in fact, I regard it as an absolute cornerstone of a democratic system. Very little of the progressive change weve seen in Ireland would have happened if the demand for change hadnt been accompanied by democratic protest. So I know what a democratic protest looks like when I see one and this wasnt it. In fact, the demonstration on Saturday demeaned the entire concept of protest. It wasnt just in the loutish behaviour, in Grafton Street and later at the GPO, or in the deliberate attempts to foment violence. It was also in the message. The people who took part in that march on Saturday said only one thing, and they said it with one voice. A simple, direct message. We dont care. We dont care about the people who have died. We dont care about people who are lonely, or have had to put some of their closest relationships on hold. We dont care about the thousands of people who are living in fear. We care only about ourselves, and our right to do whatever we want. They seem to think theyre the only ones suffering. But theyre not. I have yet to meet anyone who doesnt hate the lockdowns. But I honestly believe that 99% of us accept that we have to live with them. We mightnt like our government, or believe that it has got everything right, but nobody really believes this is a conspiracy against us. Except a few or maybe more than a few. What was easily dismissed not so long ago as a few headbangers came dangerously close to tipping over the edge into really serious violence at the weekend And the people leading this movement, for want of a better name, dont just want to end lockdowns. They seriously propagate the message that the pandemic isnt real, that theres a global conspiracy to enslave us all, that its all linked to some mad plan to control the world. The same people also want to persuade us that we can solve all our economic and social problems if we all get a bit more racist or homophobic or Islamophobic or whatever youre having yourself anything that will drive the stranger out and recapture Ireland for the Irish. Removing their platforms Surely the time has arrived to remove these people from their platforms. There are complicated and difficult arguments to be had around freedom of expression and the internet, and its time we had them. There are parts of the world where suppression of free speech and democracy is made easier by state control of the means of expression. This isnt one of those parts of the world, and nobody wants it to be. But in a well functioning democracy, nobody should be allowed to spread hate on a widely used communications medium on the one hand, and hide behind a fake name or curtain of anonymity on the other. Weve been listening to promises for a long time now about how someday were going to have an internet commissioner wholl mind us and keep us safe from harm. But surely the solution is simpler? It is already the case that its very difficult to have an account on Twitter or Facebook or even some of the less salubrious alternatives without supplying a phone number. It should surely be mandatory that you also supply a name and an address (and a proof of address). Personally, I wouldnt have any difficulty allowing the tech companies to keep that data private unless a court order obliged them to hand it over for the purposes of investigating a crime. It seems clear from media reports that the Gardai already know the identities of some of the leading thugs at the actual riot. They also know that the men involved werent motivated by anything ideological or political. They were there to have a riot. But there are shadowy and more sinister ideological forces behind people like that. There is an ideology of hate at play in the background, and its impact is beginning to grow. Of course, people are discontented, and its very easy to tap into that discontent. They used to say that everyone who could be described as other was responsible for everything that ails us. Now theyre tapping into something deeper, and trying to persuade fed-up people that the pandemic is a conspiracy against them. Last weekend shows that the time has come to stop laughing at the loony right. Theyve put down roots all over the world they could do it here. [March 01, 2021] CPI Card Group Inc. Announces Pricing of Private Offering of $310 Million of Senior Secured Notes CPI Card Group Inc. (OTCQX: PMTS; TSX: PMTS) ("CPI" or the "Company") today announced the pricing of the previously announced private offering by its wholly-owned subsidiary, CPI CG Inc. (the "issuer"), of $310 million aggregate principal amount of its 8.625% senior secured notes due 2026 (the "notes") and related guarantees. The offering is expected to close on March 15, 2021, subject to customary closing conditions. The issuer intends to use the net proceeds from the offering, together with cash on hand and initial borrowings under a $50 million secured asset based revolving credit facility that it expects to enter into concurrently with the issuance of the notes (the "ABL revolver"), to repay in full and terminate its existing credit facilities and to pay related fees and expenses. There is no assurance that the issuer will be able to enter into the ABL revolver simultaneously with the issuance of the notes or at all. The notes are expected to be general senior secured obligations of the issuer and guaranteed by the Company and certain of its current and future wholly-owned domestic subsidiaries (other than the issuer) that will guarantee the ABL revolver, and will be secured by substantially all of the assets of the issuer and the guarantors, subject to customary exceptions. The notes and related guarantees were offered only to persons reasonably believed to be qualified institutional buyers in accordance with Rule 144A under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "Securities Act"), or outside the United States to certain non-U.S. persons in compliance with Regulation S under the Securities Act. The issuance and sale of the notes and related guarantees have not been, and will not be, registered under the Securities Act or the securities laws of any state or other jurisdiction, and the notes and related guarantees may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration or an applicable exemption from the registration requirements of the Securities Act and other applicable securities laws. This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy the notes and related guarantees. Offers of the notes and related guarantees were made only by means of a private offering memorandum, and are not being made to any person in any jurisdiction in which such offer, sale or solicitation is unlawful. Forward-Looking Statements Certain statements and information in this press release (as well as information included in other written or oral statements we make from time to time) may contain or constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. These forward-looking statements relate to, among other things, expectations regarding the closing of the offering and the use of proceeds therefrom and the entry into the new ABL revolver. These forward-looking statements are based on our current expectations and beliefs concerning future developments and other information currently available. Such forward-looking statements, because they relate to future events, are by their very nature subject to many important risks and uncertainties that could cause actul results or other events to differ materially from those contemplated. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to: the potential effects of COVID-19 on our business, including our supply-chain, customer demand, workforce, operations and ability to comply with certain covenants in our credit facilities; our lack of eligibility to participate in government relief programs related to COVID-19 or inability to realize material benefits from such programs; our substantial indebtedness, including inability to make debt service payments or refinance such indebtedness; the restrictive terms of our credit facilities and covenants of future agreements governing indebtedness and the resulting restraints on our ability to pursue our business strategies; our limited ability to raise capital in the future; a disruption or other failure in our supply chain; the effects of current or additional U.S. government tariffs as well as economic downturns or disruptions, including delays or interruptions in our ability to source raw materials and components used in our products from foreign countries; system security risks, data protection breaches and cyber-attacks; interruptions in our operations, including our IT systems, or in the operations of the third parties that operate the data centers or computing infrastructure on which we rely; failure to comply with regulations, customer contractual requirements and evolving industry standards regarding consumer privacy and data use and security; disruptions in production at one or more of our facilities; our failure to retain our existing customers or identify and attract new customers; our inability to recruit, retain and develop qualified personnel, including key personnel; our inability to adequately protect our trade secrets and intellectual property rights from misappropriation or infringement claims and risks related to open source software; defects in our software; problems in production quality, materials and process; a loss of market share or a decline in profitability resulting from competition; our inability to develop, introduce and commercialize new products; new and developing technologies that make our existing technology solutions and products obsolete or less relevant or our failure to introduce new products and services in a timely manner; costs and impacts to our financial results relating to the obligatory collection of sales tax and claims for uncollected sales tax in states that impose sales tax collection requirements on out-of-state businesses, new U.S. tax legislation increasing the corporate income tax rate and challenges to our income tax positions; failure to meet the continued listing standards of the Toronto Stock Exchange or the rules of the OTCQX Best Market; a continued decrease in the value of our common stock combined with our common stock no longer being traded on a United States national securities exchange, which may prevent investors or potential investors from investing or achieving a meaningful degree of liquidity; quarterly variation in our operating results; our inability to realize the full value of our long-lived assets; our failure to operate our business in accordance with the Payment Card Industry (" PCI (News - Alert) ") Security Standards Council security standards or other industry standards; a decline in U.S. and global market and economic conditions and resulting decreases in consumer and business spending; costs relating to product defects and any related product liability and/or warranty claims; our dependence on licensing arrangements; risks associated with international operations; non-compliance with, and changes in, laws in the United States and in foreign jurisdictions in which we operate and sell our products and services; the effect of legal and regulatory proceedings; our ability to comply with a wide variety of environmental, health and safety laws and regulations and the exposure to liability for any failure to comply; risks associated with the controlling stockholders' ownership of our stock; the influence of securities analysts over the trading market for and price of our common stock; our inability to sell, exit, reconfigure or consolidate businesses or facilities that no longer meet with our strategy; potential conflicts of interest that may arise due to our board of directors being comprised in part of directors who are principals of our majority stockholders; certain provisions of our organizational documents and other contractual provisions that may delay or prevent a change in control and make it difficult for stockholders other than our majority stockholders to change the composition of our board of directors; and other risks that are described in the "Risk Factors" section of our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2020 and in our other reports filed from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission. We caution and advise readers not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date hereof. These statements are based on assumptions that may not be realized and involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from the expectations and beliefs contained herein. We undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements after the date they are made, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. About CPI Card Group Inc. CPI Card Group is a payment technology company and leading provider of credit, debit and prepaid solutions delivered physically, digitally and on-demand. CPI helps our customers foster connections and build their brands through innovative and reliable solutions, including financial payment cards, personalization and Software-as-a-Service ( SaaS (News - Alert) ) instant issuance. CPI has more than 20 years of experience in the payments market and is a trusted partner to financial institutions and payments services providers. Serving customers from locations throughout the United States, CPI has a large network of high security facilities, each of which is registered as PCI compliant by one or more of the payment brands: Visa, Mastercard, American Express (News - Alert) and Discover. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210301006080/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] In April 2020, the Indian government had revised its foreign direct investment (FDI) policy vis-a-vis its neighbors, including China, to prevent opportunistic takeovers of local firms during the pandemic. This was reiterated in the Consolidated FDI Policy, 2020 that came into effect October 15, last year. As a result, investment from Indias neighboring countries would be allowed only after federal government approval, even in sectors where automatic clearances were previously permitted. Any changes in the ownership of shares no matter how miniscule would also require clearance from the federal government. The increased scrutiny and subsequent stalling of Chinese investment proposals, however, coincided with clashes along the India-China border. Parallel to this, more than 100 Chinese apps were also banned by India, for security reasons, including ByteDances popular video-sharing app TikTok, Tencent Holdings WeChat, Alibabas UC Browser, and Tencents popular videogame PUBG. Indias stance on restrictions affecting Chinese investment Now, as geopolitical tensions appear to be subsiding there have been reports that the government will be clearing Chinese FDI proposals after a nine month freeze. Speculation was rife after New Delhi cleared three new FDI proposals from companies based in Hong Kong in January 2021. However, soon after, news outlets quoted officials denying any meaningful change in Indias stance. According to official sources quoted by news outlets, The government of India has put in place a robust FDI policy. The amended policy says proposals from countries sharing borders with India have to go through security analysis and only after a thorough analysis can permission be given. The same sources further add that the final decision on security assessment will rest with the Home Ministry. With regards to the proposals cleared in January, the sources stated: These proposals were by Citizen watches, Nippon paints, and Netplay. Of the three, two are Japanese and one belongs to an NRI [non-resident Indian]. New guidelines announced in March Latest reports as of March 3 suggest that the Indian government will selectively consider Chinese investment proposals, while adhering to three-pronged standard operating guidelines. All Chinese investment proposals will have to undergo mandatory security clearances. The new guidelines are as follows: Large Chinese FDI in critical sectors: Any large-scale investment from China might be considered for approval in a critical sector where local companies have inadequate capacity. Companies headquartered elsewhere and routing FDI via Hong-Kong: Proposals from those companies that have their headquarters in countries other than China, and plan to invest in India, might be considered for approval. Small investment by Chinese investors: Those proposals entailing small investments by investors from China might also be considered for approval. Without any official word from the government yet, it remains to be seen how the guidelines will be implemented. A positive development with respect to pending Chinese FDI proposals cannot be ruled out either. Experts believe any easing of restrictions could be part of a larger agreement between New Delhi and Beijing to deescalate tensions at the border and attempt to restore parts of the relationship. Meanwhile, no word is yet out on overturning the ban on Chinese mobile applications. According to a report from the analytics firm AppsFlyer, the market share of Chinese apps in India (tracked by share of installs) dropped to 29 percent in 2020 from 39 percent in 2019. Indian apps were able to leverage this vacuum by increasing their own market share to 39 percent in 2020. Going forward New Delhi is likely to continue treating Chinese businesses and investments into India with an abundance of caution, using the security and sovereignty card not dissimilar to Beijings own policy in the internet and technology sphere. Chinese FDI garners attention due to the blurred lines of separation between state-owned enterprise (SOE) and private enterprises in the country. This attention becomes even more relevant with Chinese firms and Chinese-invested firms acquiring controlling stakes in Indian companies, particularly in the technology sector, where definitions of security or strategic implications are rapidly evolving. In early January, China had raised concerns with the World Trade Organization (WTO) over the harmful impact of New Delhis FDI restrictions. This was brought up during Indias trade policy review at the WTO; the US and European Union flagged Indias trade barriers, including high and fluctuating import duties, at that review. Reading between the lines official tone flip-flops on relaxing scrutiny Since the 2020 FDI restrictions, several Chinese outbound investment proposals have been stuck in limbo. According to Indias government data, since April 2020, the country has received over 120 foreign direct investment (FDI) proposals worth INR 120 billion (US$ 1.63 billion) from China. Most of these investments are for brownfield projects. The new FDI policy has redirected all these incoming proposals to the government approval route, but owing to the recent border standoff, no clearances have been given as of yet. This resulting pile up is hurting the expectations of Chinese companies in India and Indian companies in need of Chinese funding. Initial positive reports suggested several relaxations to Chinese investors keen on Indian markets. They include the following: Approvals may be given to some Chinese greenfield investment proposals if they are not sensitive to national security. As for brownfield projects, FDI proposals that are not a risk to national security may be cleared after the first round of clearance to greenfield investments. Investments for stakes of up to 25 percent in non-sensitive sectors like heavy machinery, automobile parts, services and technology, which dont have any security implications may revert to the automatic route for nations with which India shares land borders. New bureaucratic clearance process To help smoothen the process, the federal government has set up a coordination committee comprising of bureaucrats from key ministries Home Affairs, External Affairs, Commerce and Industry, and Niti Aayog, the governments policy think tank. This inter-ministerial coordination committee will scrutinize FDI proposals from all neighboring countries, but they will ultimately be screened by the concerned ministry, which will have a final say. Chinese investment in India Though the political ties between India and China date to 1950, bilateral trade relations were established in the mid-1980s, picking up pace since the early 2000s. Between April 2000 and September 2020, India received US$2.43 billion in FDI from China. In 2020, despite a temporary setback in the relationship, China continued to remain Indias largest trading partner with bilateral trade at US$77.7 billion. The India China bilateral trade relationship was a lopsided and transactional one in the initial decade (2000-10) and driven by Indian purchases of Chinese machinery and equipment, which accounted for more than half of the total Indian imports from China. However, starting from 2014, this transactional pattern witnessed a shift towards deep rooted investments. The shift could be attributed in part to a favorable investment climate and facilitative governmental policy. Since then, Chinese companies have actively invested in Indias development and industrial capacity-building, with an aim to establish long-term presence. They have adopted a multipronged approach, tapping into hyperlocal start-ups (reminiscent of the Chinese landscape 10 years ago), acquiring local firms, and developing joint venture strategies with Indian companies to give them acute access to the Indian market, across industries. Sectoral composition of Chinese investments in India Regardless of the hype, the actual proportion of Chinese FDI received by India constituted only US$2.43 billion (0.51 percent) of total inflows. According to the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, the majority of this FDI inflow from China happened between April 2014 to March 2019 (US$1.81 billion), with the automobile (US$876.73 million), electrical equipment (US$152.5 million), and services sectors (US$127 million) receiving the largest share. Indias pharmaceutical sector was also a major recipient of Chinese FDI. The Shanghai-based drug firm Fosun Pharma acquired a 74 percent majority stake in the Hyderabad-based pharmaceutical manufacturing and R&D firm Gland Pharma in 2017, at a valuation of US$1.08 billion, according to The China Global Investment Tracker. 2016 onwards, Indias technology space began to see an influx of private Chinese capital. Dozens of Chinese technology firms and venture capital players led by tech giants Alibaba (in Paytm, BigBasket, and Zomato) and Tencent (in Ola, Flipkart, and BYJUs) acquired minority or controlling stakes in Indian start-up unicorns. According to data from Invest India, leading Chinese smartphone makers OPPO, VIVO, Xiaomi, and Huawei have all secured 100 percent FDI for contract manufacturing of electronic gadgets in India and have set up plants in the states of Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, and Tamil Nadu. The Chinese automotive company SAIC, which conducts R&D, manufactures, and sells passenger and commercial vehicles, also has a presence in India. Its India operations include a former General Motors company that it acquired and currently has a production capacity of 80,000 units per year. SAIC Motors UKs subsidiary MG Motors has also registered its presence in India. BYD Auto Co successfully launched electric buses in 2020. Other Chinese automotive companies whose proposals are in the pipeline awaiting approval include Changan, which was earlier slated to start operations in 2022-23, and Great Wall Motors (GWM). Commenting on the blocked proposals and possible easing of tensions between India and China, the former National Security Advisory Board Chairman Shyam Saran was quoted saying to the media that: If [the GM-GWM deal] is going to be cleared that seems to suggest that part of the overall deal between the two sides may also begin untangling the commercial and economic issue. On its part, India is actively pushing for greater foreign investment in target sectors, such as electronics and auto manufacturing, to supply its vast market needs, reduce import dependencies, create jobs, move up the value-add chain etc. For now, its still wait and watch mode The state of commercial relations between India and China will impact the world economy given their respective market sizes and levels of trade, business, and investment engagement. Industry analysts and emerging markets watchers will be keenly watching how the two giants negotiate and move past political hiccups. Amid the ongoing pandemic and nascent vaccine roll-out prolonged disruptions and stalled movement of trade and capital will be costly to all sides. This article was originally published on March 2, 2021. It was last updated on March 5, 2021 to reflect additional developments. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Beaumont ISD trustee and immediate past president Thomas Sigee is bowing out of the election for District 3 after it was found that he no longer lives in the district. Following a review of candidate applications for the May 2021 Beaumont ISD Trustee election, BISD and Mr. Sigee became aware that due to a change in residency, Mr. Sigee does not reside in the district for which he was elected to serve, BISD Spokesperson Denise McLean said in a statement. As a result, BISD immediately declared Mr. Sigee ineligible as a candidate for the trustee position for District 3, and he voluntarily withdrew from participation in the election. Because Mr. Sigee has established a residence outside District 3, he has vacated his trustee position. Under a state constitution provision, Sigee can continue to serve as a BISD board member until his successor is appointed or elected and duly qualified for office. All actions taken by Sigee in his official capacity as BISD trustee after the date his residency lapsed were valid and authorized under the Texas Constitution, according to the district. BISD is grateful to Mr. Sigee and his dedication and service as a board member to our district, McLean said in the statement following a Monday night meeting. He has made being a dynamic leader and champion for BISD his vocation throughout the past several years. He is solely interested in what is best for the students in BISD. Sigee was not available for comment after the meeting. According to a district bio, Sigee is graduated from Beaumont Charlton-Pollard High School in 1979. He then went on to earn an associate's degree in Business and Finance at El Paso Community College and a bachelor's degree in Criminal Justice and Political Science from Lamar University. Sigee served in the U.S. Army Reserves, ending his service in 2014; and has served in Jefferson County as the Director of Pre-Trial Release Program, a member of the county auditing department. He currently is ing as a Treasurer's Collection Officer. Before the decision to step down was discussed in a closed session, the district amended a policy so that students who transfer into Beaumont ISD after their sophomore year will not be eligible to receive the title of valedictorian or salutatorian. The BISD board of trustees voted on the measure during the special meeting, after a discussion and amendment. Trustee Tillie Hickman underscored the importance of giving students who have been in Beaumont ISD for years the priority to receive the top rankings. If you have from a school where your straight As put you in the 25th percentile, but you come to Beaumont and the grades are more rigorous, and frequently harder to come by; that kid who may have coasted at Kelly for a year suddenly is ahead of our kids who have worked their tails off in our schools, Hickman said. Trustee Denise Wallace-Spooner likened the debate to when former high schools Ozen and Central combined to form Beaumont United in 2014. If you think about the merger between Ozen and Central that created a massive problem for the district she said. Students were on the track at Central and then putting them in Ozen it knocked a lot of students down. The board came to a consensus after about 15 minutes of discussion. You have to be enrolled in BISD for six semesters, and that will give you the time to fall in line, Trustee Darell Antwine said in conclusion. The official language of the measure calls for a student to have been continuously enrolled in the same district high school for six semesters immediately preceding graduation. isaac.windes@hearstnp.com twitter.com/isaacdwindes New Delhi, March 2 : The Supreme Court on Tuesday pondered as to what should be an appropriate 'Ankush' (curb) to stop people from using bad language for criticising the court. A bench headed by Justice S.K. Kaul said: "We do not believe in hanging philosophy. What should be an appropriate Ankush?" The top court made the observation during the hearing of a plea against the recall of Gujarat High Court Advocates' Association (GHCAA) President Yatin Oza's senior designation by the Gujarat High Court in a suo moto contempt case last year. A battery of senior advocates represented the GHCAA and Oza in the Supreme Court. Oza's counsel argued that taking away the senior gown is a veritable kiss of death, as it takes away his professional career. "The gown was taken away in July last year, and he had hardly gone to the court since then. There is no question of doing it again. He has undergone enough humiliation," argued senior advocate Arvind Datar. Justice Kaul noted that the court needs to perform a balancing act, keeping in mind the sentiments of the high court, as a full court decided to take action against him. "Arriving at an unanimous decision by a full court is a very difficult thing. If you, by your conduct, have invited the decision, something must have been done," the top court observed. The court noted that nobody says the court's registry cannot be criticisd, but everything is about the language. "A lot of things can be said in a nice manner," said the top court. Senior advocate C.A. Sundaram, representing the GHCAA, urged the top court to consider Oza's unconditional apology in the matter. Senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, representing Oza, said his client has unconditionally apologised and it is a different thing that nobody is willing to accept the apology. "This matter does not need to go further. I have learnt the lesson of my life," submitted Singhvi on behalf of Oza. The top court pointed out that Oza had repeatedly made mistakes. "He is the leader of the bar. What guidance is he giving to his colleagues," asked the top court. The top court queried advocate Nikhil Goel, representing the high court, could the gown (senior designation) be restored after the summer vacation as an interim measure? After a detailed hearing, the top court scheduled the matter for further hearing next week. Last year, Oza had made some allegations against the high court and its registry. Later, the high court issued a contempt notice against him. "Scurrilous remarks appear to have been made without any substantive basis and without any intent to know the truth as also without approaching the Chief Justice for any inquiry as the head of the institution," the high court had said. Coronavirus LIVE Updates: Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan today received the first dose of the coronavirus vaccine. Vardhan received his jab of Bharat Biotechs Covaxin in front of cameras at the Delhi Heart and Lung Institute along with his wife Nutan Goel. The minister and his wife paid Rs 250 each. Me and my wifeneither of us have experienced any side-effects so far, he told reporters. I appeal to all those who are above 60 and above 45 with comorbidities. Please go ahead and get vaccinated either at government or private hospitals. He said the vaccines will prove to be sanjeevani for all of us. The second phase of the vaccination drive, for those over 60 years of age and for people aged 45 with illnesses, began yesterday. Among other key names that got vaccinated today are Union Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi in Uttar Pradeshs Rampur and National Conference MP Farooq Abdullah in Srinagar. Ghanas President Nana Akufo-Addo became the first recipient of a coronavirus vaccine under the global Covax scheme, as US health workers prepared to distribute nearly four million doses of the single-shot Johnson & Johnson jab. Covax, a scheme designed to ensure poorer countries do not miss out on vaccinations, is aiming to deliver at least two billion jabs by the end of the year. Akufo-Addo received his AstraZeneca shot live on television along with his wife, while in neighbouring Ivory Coast a presidential spokesman got the countrys first jab, also part of a Covax delivery. Ivory Coast received some 504,000 doses from Covax, while Ghana got 600,000 that it will start to roll out this week. It is important that I set the example that this vaccine is safe by being the first to have it, so that everybody in Ghana can feel comfortable, the president said. Colombia became the first country in the Americas to receive vaccines through Covax, with President Ivan Duque hailing the day as a very important milestone. World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus welcomed Covaxs progress. Its encouraging to see health workers in lower-income countries starting to be vaccinated, but its regrettable that this comes almost three months after some of the wealthiest countries started their vaccination campaigns, he said. Story continues Indias Prime Minister Narendra Modi also got vaccinated on Monday although a glitch in the online booking system meant thousands of others were turned away from hospitals nationwide. And in the United States, 3.9 million doses of the one-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine are due to be delivered after it became the third jab approved by US regulators. The J&J rollout comes as a boost to President Joe Bidens plan to beat back a virus that has killed more than half a million Americans, making the US the worlds worst-hit nation. Also on Monday was the latest in a string of positive news about the available vaccines: a British study showed that the Pfizer and AstraZeneca vaccines were highly effective in preventing serious illness in older people, with a more than 80 percent reduction in hospitalisation. The real-world study came just hours before France reversed its decision and authorised the AstraZeneca vaccine for people over 65. Health Minister Olivier Veran said the vaccine would be extended to those between 65-75 with comorbidities. Germany is also believed to be reconsidering its refusal to authorise the vaccine for the elderly over earlier concerns over its efficacy. Despite the promising signs from vaccines, the WHOs emergencies director Michael Ryan said it was unrealistic to think that were going to finish with this virus by the end of the year. But I think what we can finish with, if were smart, is the hospitalisations, the deaths and the tragedy associated with this pandemic, he added. He pointed out that global new case numbers increased last week after six consecutive weeks of decline. Vaccines are seen as crucial to returning the world to normality and healing the economy after a pandemic that has claimed more than 2.5 million lives across the globe. More than 224 million doses have been administered worldwide, according to national data compiled by AFP, with the Philippines among the latest countries to launch a rollout on Monday. A new row is brewing over a call led by India and South Africa for intellectual property rights to the vaccines to be waived. Backed by dozens of governments from Argentina to Bangladesh, they argue that this would boost production and ultimately bring the pandemic to a swifter end. SULLIGENT, Ala. (WTVA) -- Emergency responders in Alabama including police officers and firefighters became eligible to receive coronavirus vaccines toward the end of January. Some people WTVA got to talk with said they received both shots of the Moderna coronavirus vaccine, but they said some of their fellow workers decided not to get it at all. Sulligent Police Chief Rick McDaniel said everyone in his department is now vaccinated with the Moderna vaccine, except for one who will receive his second shot soon. He said he urged all of his officers to get the shot. "For the safety of their family, and also for the safety of the people we serve here," McDaniel said. However, it was not mandatory. McDaniel wants to encourage others to get the vaccine when it becomes available. Captain Michael Franklin of the Sulligent Police Department said he had side effects from the vaccine. "Chills, low-grade fever, headache, weakness, but it only lasted for twenty-four hours." Franklin explained that before getting vaccinated, he had actually gotten the coronavirus and recovered. Afterward, he was able to get the vaccine. "It was a Godsend for me. It makes me more confident in my work," Franklin said. "It's still more comforting to know that we've had the vaccine." Right down the street at the volunteer fire department, Volunteer Firefighter Terry Carter also received the Moderna vaccine. She said the process to get the vaccine was simple, and she's glad she got it. However, she thinks it is ultimately up to individuals if they get it. "The vaccine didn't bother me none. I can't say that for everybody, everybody's different, I don't look at anybody any different whether they wanna take it or they don't wanna get it," she said. Dear Mr President, The world has welcomed your election and commitment to restore diplomatic engagement with the international community to the center of US foreign policy. By rallying governments to create the conditions for an equitable and environmentally sustainable global economic recovery, your leadership can encourage transformative changes. For too long, international institutions have failed to deal with one of the most toxic aspects of globalisation: tax avoidance and evasion by multinational corporations. Fair of multinationals is needed to create the type of societies that we aspire to, and it must be a central part of any progressive tax system aimed at driving economic growth and creating high living standards for all. Ending corporate tax avoidance is also one of the best ways to tackle rampant inequality of wealth and income. By shifting their profits to tax havens, large companies deprive governments worldwide of at least $240 billion per year in fiscal revenues. This shortfall affects not only the United States, where some 50 per cent of overseas profits made by US multinationals are transferred to tax havens each year, but also the Global South, where revenue sources are more limited and hence reliance on corporate tax receipts to fund public services is greater. As members of the Independent Commission for the Reform of International Corporate (ICRICT), we urge you to fulfill your promise to lead efforts internationally to bring transparency to the global financial system, go after illicit tax havens, seize stolen assets, and make it more difficult for leaders who steal from their people to hide behind anonymous front companies. To do that, your administration should engage actively in ongoing efforts to overhaul the international tax system to ensure fair of multinationals, which is currently being discussed within the G20-mandated OECD process. Unfortunately, these negotiations have not gone well. The governments of leading member states (including the previous US administration) have negotiated under the misplaced assumption that their national interest is best served by protecting those multinationals headquartered within their borders. Discussions on the reform of international taxation have thus sacrificed common ambition to the lowest common denominator. Meanwhile, multinationals continue to avoid taxes that could help pay for public expenditure to support the post-pandemic recovery. The world cannot afford this. The negotiating process has, nonetheless, reached agreement that multinationals should be considered unitary businesses. This means that their worldwide profits should be taxed in line with their real activities in each country. This is a familiar concept in the US, where corporate profits are allocated to different states on a formulaic basis, according to the key factors that generate profit: employment, sales, and assets. But the current proposal applies this allocation criterion to only a small share of a firms global profits particularly those of highly digitalised multinationals, which are mainly US-based. E-commerce grew by nearly a third during the pandemic, and it is critical that not only digital multinationals, but all multinationals digital business operations pay their fair share of taxes. An ambitious and comprehensive reform therefore should be adopted to replicate the US system at the international level, without distinction between digital and non-digital businesses. Such a rule would help to establish a more level playing field, reduce distortions, limit opportunities for tax avoidance, and provide certainty to multinationals and investors. This system should be supported by a global minimum tax on multinationals, putting an end to harmful tax competition between countries and reducing the incentive for multinationals to shift profits to tax havens. But the 12.5 per cent minimum rate being discussed at the OECD and elsewhere could become the global ceiling, in which case the laudable initiative to oblige multinationals to bear their fair share of taxes would end up doing the opposite. Your campaign promised to raise the US minimum tax on US corporations foreign earnings (known as GILTI) to 21 per cent. This measure would not only have the merit of increasing your countrys fiscal resources; it would also provide the political support for other countries policymakers to follow suit. An ambitious global minimum tax could be a game changer in the fight against tax avoidance. If G20 countries were to agree to impose a 25 per cent minimum corporate tax (as the ICRICT advocates) on the global income of their multinational firms, more than 90 per cent of worldwide profits would automatically be taxed at 25 per cent or more. Of course, it is also essential that such a tax should be designed to allocate taxing rights fairly between firms home and host countries. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said at her confirmation hearing that your administration looked forward to actively working with other countries in order to try to stop what has been a destructive, global race to the bottom on corporate taxation. There is no evidence that the recent trend toward lower corporate tax rates has stimulated productive investment and growth. The 2017 US rate cut mainly ended up funding dividend payments and stock buybacks. Corporate taxation is in effect a tax on pure profits, and so lowering the rate has little effect on economic activity. In other words, corporate taxes are essentially a withholding tax on dividends, and thus an income tax on the wealthy, because equity holdings (directly, or indirectly through, say, pension funds) are even more unequally distributed than income. We ask you to ensure that the US once again leads by the power of example and cooperates with other countries willing to deliver a comprehensive reform that is equitable for the US and the rest of the world. Until such equitable reform is adopted, trade sanctions against countries that have already decided to tax digital businesses many of them developing countries desperate for additional revenues will be counterproductive. Re-engaging with the multilateral system while accepting a weak international compromise on taxation of multinationals will further erode, not restore, trust in the system. It is fully within our power to build a post-pandemic world that is more sustainable, cooperative, and fair, where multinationals pay the taxes they should. The ICRICT would be honoured to support your administration in achieving this crucial goal. Jose Antonio Ocampo, a former finance minister of Colombia and UN under-secretary-general for Economic and Social Affairs, is a professor at Columbia University and Chair of the Independent Commission for the Reform of International Corporate Taxation. Joseph E. Stiglitz, a Nobel laureate in economics, is University Professor at Columbia University and a member of the Independent Commission for the Reform of International Corporate Taxation. Jayati Ghosh, Executive Secretary of International Development Economics Associates, is Professor of Economics at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and a member of the Independent Commission for the Reform of International Corporate Taxation. Project Syndicate, 2021 A appeal for aid to to alleviate the world's worst humanitarian disaster raised some USD 1.7 billion Monday a result the UN chief called disappointing. At a virtual pledging conference co-hosted by Sweden and Switzerland, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres had appealed for USD 3.85 billion this year to address the impoverished Arab country's dire needs. The amount raised, however, was less than what the U.N. received last year, and a billion dollars short of what was pledged in the 2019 conference, he said. Guterres called for countries to consider again what they can do to help stave off the worst famine the world has seen in decades." From the outset, it was unlikely that donors would meet the U.N.'s goal given the coronavirus pandemic and its devastating consequences for economies around the globe. Corruption allegations in aid operations were also a factor. Yemen's war started in 2014 when the Iran-backed rebel Houthis seized the capital, Sanaa, and much of the country's north. The Saudi-led, U.S.-backed coalition intervened months later to dislodge the rebels and restore the internationally recognised government. The conflict has killed some 130,000 people, spawned the world's worst humanitarian disaster and reversed development gains by 20 years, according to the U.N. Development Program. Half of Yemen's health facilities are shuttered or destroyed and 4 million Yemenis have been driven from their homes. The pandemic, cholera epidemics and severe malnutrition among children have led to thousands of additional deaths. The U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs warned that more than 16 million people in will go hungry this year, with some half a million already living in famine-like conditions. Guterres called for a nationwide cease-fire and U.N.-led negotiations to end the war. "In the end, the only path to peace is through an immediate, nationwide cease-fire... There is no other solution, he said. Jan Egeland, secretary general of the Norwegian Refugee Council, who is on a week-long visit to Yemen, also called the outcome of the conference disappointing," warning that the lack of funding would cause massive cuts to Yemen aid. The shortfall in humanitarian aid will be measured in lives lost, he said. Saudi Arabia, which leads the coalition fighting the Houthis, announced it would donate $430 million in aid for Yemen this year to be funneled through the U.N. and related agencies. had pledged half a billion dollars in 2020, the largest amount pledged by any country. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken led the U.S. delegation to the conference, which took place amid efforts by President Joe Biden's administration to bring an end to the conflict. He said the U.S. would donate USD 191 million for Yemen this year, a decrease of about USD 35 million from the amount it announced in the 2020 pledging conference. He said the U.S. was donating USD 191 million for Yemen, bringing the U.S. total to more than USD 350 million so far in fiscal year 2021. He called for a cease-fire and for warring parties to halt their interference in aid operations and allow assistance to reach the innocent women, children, and men. We can only end the humanitarian crisis in Yemen by ending the war in Yemen. And so the United States is reinvigorating our diplomatic efforts to end the war," Blinken said. Other major pledges came from Germany (USD 241 million), the United Arab Emirates (USD 230 million), the United Kingdom (USD 123.23 million) and the European Union ( USD 116.2 million). Wealthy countries, such as the U.S., and the United Arab Emirates, cut back drastically on aid to Yemen last year. The reductions came amid the pandemic, corruption allegations and concerns the aid might not be reaching its intended recipients in territories controlled by the rebels. Last year, aid agencies received about USD 1.9 billion half of what was needed and half of what was given the previous year, according to David Miliband, head of the Rescue Committee. Mohammed Abdul-Salam, spokesman for the Houthis, said such pledging conferences don't help Yemen as much as they help the aggression countries, referring to the Saudi-led coalition. Halting the aggression and lifting the siege is the biggest aid that can be provided to Yemen, he said in a series of tweets. Several speakers at the conference called for the Houthis to stop their offensive on the central province of Marib and their increasing cross-border attacks on Money is not the only thing Yemenis need. They need an end to attacks on civilians; they need a ceasefire; they need an end to bureaucratic and political blockages on aid flows," said Miliband. The rebels renewed their offensive on Marib earlier last month to retake the oil-rich province from the internationally recognised government. But they have not made progress. The fighting has displaced more than 10,500 people in just three weeks, the U.N. migration agency said Monday. Saudi Arabia's civil defense authority said the Houthi projectile landed in a street in the southern province of Jizan Monday, wounding at least five civilians, including three Saudis and two Yemenis, the official news agency reported. The projectile also damaged at least houses and vehicles. There was no immediate comment from the Houthis. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Daily Beast Photo Illustration by The Daily Beast/GettyMike Lindell, the MyPillow CEO and Trumpist conspiracy-peddler, flew his private jet to the Republican Governors Association meeting the other day.The guvs promptly threw him out. But the incident got Molly Jong-Fast thinking: Does the MyPillow CEO think hes already a governor or something?Subscribe to The New Abnormal on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Amazon Music, or Overcast. To listen to our weekly members-only bonus episodes, join Beast Inside here. Already a member? You can listen here and sign up for new episode email alerts here.Spoiler: Making MyPillows does not make you my governor. Now, chances that Mike Lindell could actually become governor of a small Republican state, 80 percent, she quips on the latest episode of The New Abnormal. Like, its not even that hard for someone that famous and insane in the Republican party to become a governor.Lindell claims he wouldnt run to be a dogcatcher right now, because he doesnt trust the voting machines. Plus, hes from the blue state of Minnesota. So maybe the risk of a Governor Pillow isnt quite so high. But L.A. Times columnist Virginia Heffernan would like to quickly add something about Mike Lindell being a cosplay governor.I think we need to understand that being in politics leads to governing and governing is boring. It is not a PR operation, she says. And I feel like we have made these jobs celebrity roles. Public service should not beis notbeing on a reality show.Like, I feel like we need to really dial down the razzle-dazzle, really play up the drudgery, Heffernan continues. I just don't know why every single industrialist and every single lady with abs or gorgeous arms would want to be, of all things, a governor.Biden, Heffernan opines, is doing a pretty good job at the drudgerydollars going out, jabs going out, all leading to Trump signs going down. Sure, the Donald has his cultists, like Lindell. But, I don't think people can hold onto this much insanity for this long, especially when it's a tiny minority of people who believe it, Heffernan adds. Democrats need to know how to win.To which Jong-Fast replies, oh-so-gently: Are you freakin kidding me? With all of these Republican attempts to retcon the Capitol riots? To chop away at the right to vote? To instantiate their ability to overturn elections? All while Team Biden snoozes it away? The Democrats are bringing an ice cream sundae to a knife fight, Jong-Fast says.Plus! Politicos Tara Palmeri talks about her search to find Liz Cheney supporters in Wyoming. And Battle for the Soul author Edward-Isaac Dovere gives us a peek into how Biden sees the political landscape. The presidency that he has in front of him now, he knows, is so different from what he ever expected to have, Dovere says, And part of that is rethinking how he incorporates the progressivism within the party that took root and that was so much part of this campaign. And its just, its a really complicated evolution for him. Its not the presidency he thought itd be running in 2019 when he got into this race.Read more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more. MUSKEGON, Mich., March 2, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- AvaSure, a leading provider of virtual patient safety monitoring systems, today announced new features of its Online Reporting of Nursing Analytics (ORNA) software. ORNA, AvaSure's unique comparative database on safety, quality and the experience of care, provides a real-time dashboard for day-to-day clinical triage; hospital-specific data to investigate adverse events; and the ability to run comparison reports with similar hospitals. The updated software available early 2021 allows for comparisons of performance to be more focused, helping to improve outcomes through its TeleSitter Solution. TeleSitter, an interactive audio/video solution, allows hospitals and other clinical care environments to monitor inpatients to prevent patient harm, protect staff from violent patients and visitors, and enhance nursing resources. "ORNA now enables users to run their own comparisons on utilization and alarm rates, and monitor staff interventions and their effectiveness, as well as bedside staff responsiveness," said Lisbeth Votruba, MSN, RN, chief clinical innovation officer of AvaSure. "Users can compare data with similar organizations nationally or regionally, by market type and filtered by care units or specific groups. This allows the user to educate, evaluate and optimize performance of their TeleSitting program to see how they stack up relative to similar hospitals." ORNA v0.1.2.x.x and later allow the user to analyze their own hospital TeleSitting comparison data based on three new features including creating customizable groups, filtering graphs by facilities or care units, and comparing like-hospital types. "The release of this data shows that AvaSure is helping health systems improve cost, quality and safety," said Votruba. "As we transition to a post-pandemic healthcare system, data becomes more and more of a strategic asset." AvaSure ORNA 2020 Recap Report, which demonstrated AvaSure's impact of utilization for remote video monitoring from January 1, 2020 through December 31, 2020, revealed that through the use of TeleSitter, 250,000 patients were monitored Five falls were prevented per patient monitored 400,000 hours of monitoring patients with COVID-19, reducing exposure to infected patients and preserving PPE 13,000 suicide-risk patients were monitored AvaSure is used in 48 states and Canada, 80% of the nation's largest health systems, 75% of U.S. News and World Report 2020-2021 Best Hospitals List, 37% of Magnet-recognized hospitals and 75 academic hospitals. For more information, visit www.avasure.com. Contact: Jessica Price Phone: 734-837-5810 Email: [email protected] SOURCE AvaSure We're always interested in hearing about news in our community. Let us know what's going on! Go to form 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. L'Oreal Paris Women of Worth premiered its new campaign this past Sunday, February 28 during the height of Awards Season, calling on Americans across the nation to place their nominations for this year's Honorees. Featuring the voice of Viola Davis, as well as images of last year's National Honoree, Noelle Lambert and other alumnae, the new advertisement put the spotlight on incredible moments throughout the last 16 years of Women of Worth. In 2021, the philanthropic program continues to bring to life the brand's iconic tagline, "Because You're Worth It," championing women whose unwavering resilience, bravery and courage show the power of owning one's worth. This year's Honorees will join the multifaceted program's alumnae network of 150 individuals, who champion a diverse range of causes that exemplify embracing their own worth and instilling worth within others. "As we celebrate 50 years of our iconic 'Because You're Worth It' tagline in 2021, we welcome stories that reflect not only the power of the Women of Worth who came before them, but individuals who demonstrate the intrinsic value and worth of women everywhere," said Ali Goldstein, L'Oreal Paris USA President. "In this landmark year, we are proud to elevate the next 10 extraordinary women who find beauty in giving back, and we can't wait to meet them." L'Oreal Paris will once more join forces with Points of Light, the world's largest organization dedicated to volunteer service, to find it's ten Honorees. In addition to receiving financial support for their organization, Women of Worth provides each Honoree with a national platform to tell their stories, and the opportunity to build a network that amplifies their cause to make an even greater impact in the lives of others. "It is a privilege to help L'Oreal Paris recognize this year's Women of Worth Honorees and highlight those who seek to ignite change in their communities and make the world a better place," said Natalye Paquin, President and CEO of Points of Light. "The 2021 Women of Worth have touched countless lives through their important philanthropic work, and we believe they represent the best of humanity." Last year, Women of Worth launched its first-ever national television special, bringing together L'Oreal Paris' notable roster of spokeswomen to highlight each Honoree's unique mission. In 2021, L'Oreal Paris will double its individual grants to $20,000 to create an even greater impact. One National Honoree, chosen by popular vote, will receive an additional $25,000 for her charitable work. Each of the 2021 Women of Worth will be recognized as a shining example of how giving back can truly change the world. For more information about Women of Worth, to nominate a fearless woman making a difference in the world or to learn more about past Honorees, visit LOrealParis.com. For more information on Points of Light's innovative programs, campaigns and events, visit www.pointsoflight.org. About L'Oreal Paris The L'Oreal Paris division of L'Oreal USA, Inc. is a total beauty care brand dedicated to empowering women by offering luxurious and innovative products and services available in the mass market. The brand's signature tagline, "Because I'm Worth It," was born in the United States in 1973 to celebrate the beauty and intrinsic self-worth of women, and for more than 100 years, L'Oreal Paris has been providing women around the world with products in four major beauty categories: hair color, haircare, skincare and cosmetics. With L'Oreal's invention of hair color in 1909, the brand continues to serve as a leading innovator of hair products across color, care, and styling with brands such as Superior Preference, Feria, Colorista, Elvive, the Ever Collection, and Elnett Satin Hairspray. L'Oreal Paris provides scientifically-advanced skincare products that are tested to address individual skin concerns through its renowned brands Revitalift, Pure-Sugar, Pure-Clay, Age Perfect, and Sublime Bronze. L'Oreal Paris' iconic cosmetics include best-seller Voluminous Lash Paradise, as well as the Infallible, True Match, Colour Riche, Voluminous, and Visible Lift collections. For more information about L'Oreal Paris and to receive personalized advice, expert tips, and exclusive content, please visit www.lorealparisusa.com or follow on Instagram (@LOrealParis), Twitter (@LOrealParisUSA), Facebook (@LOrealParisUSA), and Pinterest (@LOrealParisUSA). About Points of Light Points of Light is a global nonprofit organization that inspires, equips and mobilizes millions of people to take action that changes the world. We envision a world in which every individual discovers the power to make a difference, creating healthy communities in vibrant, participatory societies. Through affiliates in 200 cities across 37 countries, and in partnership with thousands of nonprofits and corporations, Points of Light engages 5 million volunteers in 14 million hours of service each year. We bring the power of people to bear where it's needed most. For more information, go to www.pointsoflight.org. Press Contact Golin Salina Benitez [email protected] SOURCE LOreal Paris Related Links http://www.lorealparisusa.com H.E. Mr. Yevhen Korniychuk, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Ukraine to the State of Israel acquainted with irrigation technologies for using in the modernization of certain sectors of Ukrainian agriculture. The Embassy of Ukraine in the State of Israel reported this at Facebook. The Ambassador visited one of the largest kibbutz in Israel - Naan. The purpose of the visit was to get acquainted with the advanced developments and technologies in the field of irrigation for the cultivation of various fruit and vegetable crops, - the message says. The head of the diplomatic mission also held working meetings with the leadership of the Israeli company NaanDanJain Irrigation, which specializes in the production and commercialization of irrigation systems and greenhouse complexes, and the Israel-Ukraine Association for Development and Cooperation. During the meeting, the prospects for cooperation of this company with Ukraine were discussed, in particular, at the regional level in the context of introducing optimal solutions for the modernization of certain sectors of agriculture, -the Embassy says. [March 02, 2021] Globant Acquires CloudShift and broadens its digital and cognitive transformation expertise LUXEMBOURG, March 2, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Globant (NYSE: GLOB), a digitally native technology services company, announced today its acquisition of CloudShift , a leading Salesforce partner in the UK specialising in multi cloud digital transformation. With this acquisition, Globant reinforces its leadership in digital and cognitive transformation by scaling its cloud expertise in market leading platforms like Salesforce. At the same time, it will help the Company continue growing its operations in Europe. "We found in CloudShift an amazing team with deep Salesforce multi-cloud experience and a strong vision of how to deliver digital transformation," said Martin Migoya, Globant's CEO and co-founder. "Just like we do, CloudShift truly understands the challenges that organizations are facing today and have the necessary experience to reinvent business models. We are excited to have this highly innovative and agile company as part of our team and to expand our presence throughout Europe." Headquartered in London UK, CloudShift has 89 professionals working for renowned brands such as Hitachi, Square Enix, Freshfields and Colliers International. The company is one of the leading Salesforce Regional System Integrators in the UK. Like Globant, CloudShift is a Salesforce Platinum Partner, and has a proven track record of enterprise level digital transformation. This includes deep multi cloud technical expertise in the entire Salesforce product stack including MuleSoft, Tableau and Slack. "CloudShift design and build innovative digital platforms on Salesforce that help bring companies and customers together. With Globant's digital transformation expertise and global presence, CloudShift are excited to expand our capabilities and Salesforce studio across Europe. We are thilled to become part of the Globant team, a premier leader in digital and cognitive transformations, recognized worldwide for its ability to incorporate cloud technologies that enhance customer experience and success," said Alastair Murray, CloudShift's founder and CEO. Martin Umaran, Globant's co-founder and Chief of Staff in charge of M&A, added: "With this acquisition we are moving forward with closing strategic investments in areas that reinforce Globant's value proposition. We have strong expertise in Salesforce gathered under our own Salesforce Studio. CloudShift key partnerships with Salesforce, MuleSoft, Tableau and Slack will help broaden our own portfolio of cloud solutions." To learn more about Globant's Salesforce Studio, visit www.globant.com/studio/salesforce About Globant We are a digitally native company that helps organizations reinvent themselves to create a way forward and unleash their potential. We are the place where innovation, design and engineering meet scale. We have more than 16,250 employees and we are present in 16 countries working for companies like Google, Rockwell Automation, Electronic Arts and Santander, among others. We were named a Worldwide Leader in CX Improvement Services by IDC's MarketScape report. We were also featured as a business case study at Harvard , MIT , and Stanford . , , and . We are a member of the Cybersecurity Tech Accord. For more information, visit www.globant.com Forward Looking Statements This press release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The expectations related to the businesses of Globant and CloudShift may differ from their actual results and consequently, you should not rely on these forward looking statements as predictions of future events. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by terminology such as "believe," "may," "will", "estimate," "continue," "anticipate," "intend," "should," "plan," "expect," "predict," "potential," or the negative of these terms or other similar expressions. These forward-looking statements include, without limitation, expectations with respect to the anticipated benefits of the proposed acquisition. These forward-looking statements involve significant risks and uncertainties that could cause the actual results to differ materially from the expected results. Most of these factors are outside of the control of Globant and CloudShift and are difficult to predict. Factors that may cause such differences include, but are not limited to: (1) the ability to recognize the anticipated benefits of the proposed acquisition, (2) costs related to the proposed acquisition, (3) changes in applicable laws or regulations, (4) the demand for CloudShift's services together with the possibility that CloudShift may be adversely affected by other economic, business, and/or competitive factors; and (5) other factors discussed under the heading "Risk Factors" in our most recent Form 20-F filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission and any other risk factors included in subsequent reports on Form 6-K. Because of these uncertainties, you should not make any investment decision based on these forward-looking statements. Except as required by law, we undertake no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statements for any reason after the date of this press release whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Contact Lucia Ledesma pr@globant.com +1 (877) 215-5230 View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/globant-acquires-cloudshift-and-broadens-its-digital-and-cognitive-transformation-expertise-301237873.html SOURCE Globant [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] New Delhi: E commerce giant Flipkart has become the third most funded private company in the world post receiving a whopping USD 2.4 billion from Japanese technology and telecom giant SoftBank. The Indian e-commerce company has raised almost USD 7 billion in a capital, higher than that raised by global firms like online house rental aggregator Airbnb ($3.3 billion) and mobile phone maker Xiaomi ($1.4 billion). The list of the most funded companies is topped by China-based Didi Chuxing and USbased Uber. Flipkart can now up the ante in the high-stakes battle against Amazon India in what is probably the worlds fastest growing e-commerce market. While Amazons Jeff Bezos has committed $5 billion to the Indian business, Flipkart now has $4 billion in the bank after Japanese investor SoftBanks infusion of close to $2.5 billion. In April, Flipkart raised $1.4 billion from Tencent, eBay and Microsoft at a valuation of $11.6 billion. People familiar with the deal said the investment is worth USD 2.5 billion, with about USD 1.5 billion being directly funnelled into Flipkart and USD 1 billion for part of Tiger Global Management's stake. The SoftBank Vision Fund, the world's largest technology-focused fund, will get about 20 per cent stake in Flipkart, they said. The investment, which comes less than two weeks after Snapdeal dropped merger talks with its bigger rival, willswell Flipkart's cash holdings to more than USD 4 billion. Snapdeal is backed by SoftBank. The investment is part of the financing round announced in April this year where Tiger Global-backed Flipkart had raised USD 1.4 billion from Tencent, Microsoft and eBay. At that time, Flipkart was valued at USD 11.6 billion. With the latest funding, Flipkart is estimated to have raised well over USD 5 billion till date. SoftBank was mediating the talks for Snapdeal's merger with Flipkart. The discussions were terminated after the smaller rival decided to pursue an independent path. Sources had said SoftBank was keen to pick up stake in Flipkart and was looking at investing about USD 1.5-2 billion. For Flipkart, the funding provides it with more arsenal to compete with Amazon. The two companies have been locked inan intense battle for leadership in the burgeoning Indian e-commerce market. "India has a thriving Internet market with close to 500 million Internet users and as per market research, the Indian e-commerce market is expected to grow at a five-year CAGR in excess of 30 per cent," the statement said. The funding round further solidifies Flipkart's balance sheet and will help accelerate investment in driving continued market leadership, it added. Amazon and Flipkart have been pumping in millions of dollars to strengthen infrastructure as well as bring more sellers and buyers online. While Flipkart has now raised close to USD 4 billion this year, Amazon pumped in about USD 600 million across various units in India since January this year. "This is a monumental deal for Flipkart and India. Very few economies globally attract such over whelming interest from top-tier investors," Flipkart co-founders Binny Bansal and Sachin Bansal said. Masayoshi Son, founder, Chairman and CEO of SoftBank Group Corp, said India is a land of vast opportunity. "We want to support innovative companies that are clear winners in India because they are best positioned to lever age technology and help people lead better lives. As the pioneers in Indian e-commerce, Flipkart is doing that every day," he added. SoftBank, which has investments in Indian start-ups like Snapdeal and cab aggregator Ola, had committed investments worth USD 10 billion in India in 2014. In May this year, SoftBank pumped in USD 1.4 billion(over Rs 9,079 crore) in Indian digital payments platform Paytm. SoftBank Vision Fund, founded by Son, has participants like Apple, Foxconn and Public Investment Fund of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. While reporting its financial results for June quarter, SoftBank had included the Fund as a new reportable segment. The completion of the investment in Flipkart is subject to customary regulatory approvals and closing conditions. Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC served as financial advisor and Gunderson Dettmer LLP served as legal advisor to Flipkart. Citi served as financial advisor and AZB and Partners served as legal advisor to the SoftBank Vision Fund. For all the Latest Business News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Double-edged reporting . . . OR two reasons to either vote against Missouri Republicans OR tell your parents to stop watching so much cable news. Waiting for their shot: Older adults frustrated with lack of access to vaccine Read more . . . KANSAS CITY, Mo. - In Missouri, mass vaccination sites are being scheduled, but critics argue, it's coming at the expense of urban areas. That's a claim Gov. Mike Parson has outright denied. But the frustration has been building for weeks. Many are angry that mass vaccination sites are going to rural towns rather than metropolitan [...] WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Yum! Brands, Inc. (YUM), the owner of KFC, Pizza Hut, Taco Bell and The Habit Burger Grill brands, announced Tuesday that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire the artificial intelligence-based consumer insights and marketing performance analytics business of Kvantum, Inc. Founded in 2012, Kvantum develops and deploys algorithms and artificial intelligence models to help brands understand consumer behavior and make informed media and calendar decisions. The acquired Kvantum business combines machine learning and econometric modeling into its Marketing Performance Analytics Platform in a seamless manner. The move to acquire the Kvantum business will enhance the ability of the four brands of Yum! Brands to apply powerful consumer insights and data analytics to drive calendar and marketing spend optimization in several international markets. Yum! Brands plans to combine Kvantum's artificial intelligence and machine learning approach to understanding human behavior with the unique skillsets of the anthropologists and sociologists at Collider Lab, a culture-based consumer insights and marketing strategy consultancy Yum! acquired in 2015. The Kvantum business unit, as part of Yum! Brands, will continue to offer their consultancy services to external clients outside of the restaurant industry. The acquisition of the Kvantum business is expected to close by the end of the first quarter of 2021, subject to standard closing conditions. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann. The Daily Beast Photo Illustration by The Daily Beast/GettyMike Lindell, the MyPillow CEO and Trumpist conspiracy-peddler, flew his private jet to the Republican Governors Association meeting the other day.The guvs promptly threw him out. But the incident got Molly Jong-Fast thinking: Does the MyPillow CEO think hes already a governor or something?Subscribe to The New Abnormal on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Amazon Music, or Overcast. To listen to our weekly members-only bonus episodes, join Beast Inside here. Already a member? You can listen here and sign up for new episode email alerts here.Spoiler: Making MyPillows does not make you my governor. Now, chances that Mike Lindell could actually become governor of a small Republican state, 80 percent, she quips on the latest episode of The New Abnormal. Like, its not even that hard for someone that famous and insane in the Republican party to become a governor.Lindell claims he wouldnt run to be a dogcatcher right now, because he doesnt trust the voting machines. Plus, hes from the blue state of Minnesota. So maybe the risk of a Governor Pillow isnt quite so high. But L.A. Times columnist Virginia Heffernan would like to quickly add something about Mike Lindell being a cosplay governor.I think we need to understand that being in politics leads to governing and governing is boring. It is not a PR operation, she says. And I feel like we have made these jobs celebrity roles. Public service should not beis notbeing on a reality show.Like, I feel like we need to really dial down the razzle-dazzle, really play up the drudgery, Heffernan continues. I just don't know why every single industrialist and every single lady with abs or gorgeous arms would want to be, of all things, a governor.Biden, Heffernan opines, is doing a pretty good job at the drudgerydollars going out, jabs going out, all leading to Trump signs going down. Sure, the Donald has his cultists, like Lindell. But, I don't think people can hold onto this much insanity for this long, especially when it's a tiny minority of people who believe it, Heffernan adds. Democrats need to know how to win.To which Jong-Fast replies, oh-so-gently: Are you freakin kidding me? With all of these Republican attempts to retcon the Capitol riots? To chop away at the right to vote? To instantiate their ability to overturn elections? All while Team Biden snoozes it away? The Democrats are bringing an ice cream sundae to a knife fight, Jong-Fast says.Plus! Politicos Tara Palmeri talks about her search to find Liz Cheney supporters in Wyoming. And Battle for the Soul author Edward-Isaac Dovere gives us a peek into how Biden sees the political landscape. The presidency that he has in front of him now, he knows, is so different from what he ever expected to have, Dovere says, And part of that is rethinking how he incorporates the progressivism within the party that took root and that was so much part of this campaign. And its just, its a really complicated evolution for him. Its not the presidency he thought itd be running in 2019 when he got into this race.Read more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more. In an image from surveillance video, a man identified as William Robert Norwood is seen in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda in Washington on Jan. 6, 2021. (FBI) FBI: Capitol Rioter Disguised Himself as Antifa Activist The FBI in a criminal complaint is alleging one of the men who stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 disguised himself as a member of the far-left Antifa network. FBI special agent Tyler Freedman, based in Washington, said that William Robert Norwood was posing as an Antifa activist during the tumult seen in the nations Capitol during a joint session of Congress. The FBI received tips from members of the public, including one man who received text messages allegedly from Norwood. The defendant before the storming of the Capitol wrote: Im dressing in all black. Ill look just like ANTIFA. Ill get away with anything. He shared a picture of a black tactical helmet favored by Antifa members. The following day he wrote in part, It worked I got away with things that others were shot or arrested for. He also said: The cop shot a female Trump supporter. Then allowed ANTIFA Trump supporters to assault him. I was one of them. I was there. I took his [expletive]. Norwood then sent a photograph of himself wearing what appeared to be a U.S. Capitol Police tactical vest. Later in the message thread, which included multiple people, Norwood said: I fought 4 cops, they did nothing. When I put my red hat on, they pepper balled me. He added: I got a nice helmet and body armor off a cop for Gods sake and I disarmed him. Tell me how that works. According to the affidavit attached to the complaint, Norwood agreed to speak to FBI agents on Jan. 22. He said he traveled to Washington on Jan. 6 and did enter the U.S. Capitol. He said two Capitol Police officers were waving people inside and one told him, Im on your side. He also said he wanted to leave but couldnt because of the crowd density. Norwood also said he helped protect officers from being assaulted. William Robert Norwood is seen in Washington on Jan. 6, 2021. (FBI) A picture of a text message thread on a cellphone shows messages sent by William Robert Norwood, according to the FBI. (FBI) Norwood said he obtained a police helmet from a pile of police equipment lying on the ground outside the Capitol building and that another person put a vest on him. Norwood denied assaulting any officers. In a photograph Norwood provided to agents, he is seen wearing a camouflage jacket, and a red Trump 2020 hat. Agents used surveillance footage to pinpoint a person they say resembles Norwood in the Capitol Rotunda. Through a search warrant on Verizon, the cellphone sharing the messages cited in the complaint showed the phone utilized a cell site consistent with providing service to a geographic area that includes the interior of the U.S. Capitol building, the FBI agent wrote. Norwood was arrested in Greer, South Carolina, late last month, and charged with obstructing Congress, knowingly entering a restricted building without lawful authority, and theft of government property. Norwood did not have a lawyer listed on the court docket as of March 2. FBI Director Christopher Wray told lawmakers in a hearing on Tuesday that the FBI doesnt know of any Antifa activists taking part in the Capitol storming. John Earle Sullivan, a self-described Antifa activist, was among those charged in the breach. Donald Trump received a rapturous welcome from the audience at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Orlando on Sunday. It was a first test of his support among Republicans since the Jan. 6 riot the former president incited against the U.S. Congress. It showed plenty of Republicans still love him. Donald Trump received a rapturous welcome from the audience at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Orlando on Sunday. It was a first test of his support among Republicans since the Jan. 6 riot the former president incited against the U.S. Congress. It showed plenty of Republicans still love him. Mr. Trump used the occasion to denounce by name the Republican representatives and senators who voted to impeach or convict him because of the riot. He clearly means to silence his critics within the party. He also dismissed the idea of starting a new Trump party that would run candidates against Republicans. His plan at the moment is to use the Republicans as the Trump party. Trump calls for GOP unity, repeats lies about election loss Click to Expand Former president Donald Trump speaks at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) Sunday, Feb. 28, 2021, in Orlando, Fla. (AP Photo/John Raoux) Posted: 5:32 AM Mar. 1, 2021 ORLANDO, Fla. - Taking the stage for the first time since leaving office, former President Donald Trump called for GOP unity, even as he exacerbated intraparty divisions by attacking fellow Republicans and promoting lies about the election in a speech that made clear he intends to remain a dominant political force. Speaking Sunday at the Conservative Political Action Conference, where he was hailed as a returning hero, Trump blasted his successor, President Joe Biden, and tried to lay out a vision for the future of the GOP that revolves firmly around him, despite his loss in November. Read Full Story This should come as good news to President Joe Biden and the ruling Democrats. Mr. Trump lost the election four months ago with 74.2 million votes and 232 electoral college votes against 81.3 million votes and 306 electoral votes for Mr. Biden. The election was, above all, a referendum on Mr. Trump and his four years in office. It showed that he scares more Americans than he delights, by a ratio of 81 to 74. His conduct since the election, especially the Jan. 6 riot, has won him new enemies but no new friends. Mr. Trump and his followers say and may actually believe that the election results were falsified and he received more votes than Mr. Biden. After polling day, he tried hard to persuade the elections chief in the state of Georgia to falsify the result so as to deliver that state to him. Mr. Trump clings to the belief that the way you win elections in America is by sneaking behind the curtain and bullying the electoral mechanics to re-write the numbers. It didnt work for him in 2020 and it is unlikely to work better in a future election. The Trump movement is powered by overlapping delusions. Despite the evidence of the election results, the movement believes it enjoys majority support. Despite the failure of Mr. Trumps vote-rigging efforts, the movement believes it can win elections by vote-rigging, even if the majority of votes are against them. While they persist in these delusions, they need not worry about winning new friends and supporters. STEPHEN M. DOWELL / TRIBUNE MEDIA Former president Donald Trump speaks at CPAC on Sunday. This leaves the ruling Democrats in a strong position. They hold the slimmest possible majority in the Senate 50 of the 100 seats plus the deciding vote of Vice-President Kamala Harris and a majority of just 10 seats in the lower House. But the former president they just defeated, who has seemingly lost touch with reality, has a firm grip on the party now in opposition and is inducing it to accept his delusions. The main obvious threat to the Democrats at the 2022 mid-term elections and the 2024 presidential election will be voter suppression aimed at disenfranchising Democratic supporters. Strenuous Democratic registration and campaign efforts spurred by fears of Mr. Trumps re-election neutralized the voter suppression tactics in 2020. As long as Mr. Trump or someone like him runs for the Republicans next time, the same fears can be mobilized once again. If Mr. Trump or his party starts to show signs of recognizing that they lost in 2020 and that they have to start listening to people who disagree with them, the Democrats could be in trouble. Until then, Mr. Biden can sit back and watch the Republican party tear itself apart. Sex workers descended upon the streets in the Netherlands today in protest against the government's coronavirus lockdown and to demand their right to go back to work. Crowds of demonstrators gathered on the streets of The Hague with placards and set up a peep show outside parliament as they protested against the country's measures. Elsewhere in Rotterdam, revellers were seen enjoying the weather outside a cafe as eateries across the nation set up their terraces, without serving, in protest against the country's restrictions. The scenes came just weeks after a Dutch court ordered the government to lift the country's 9pm Covid curfew after it sparked the Netherlands' worst rioting for decades. Crowds of sex workers descend upon the streets of The Hague in the Netherlands today to demand their right to go back to work A woman holds a placard as a group of Dutch sex workers demonstrate in The Hague today Demonstrators hold signs as they campaign against the country's coronavirus restrictions A sex worker from Arnhem, who identified herself as Melissa, said: 'We also have to pay rent just like any other person who works so why can everybody work except us.' Sex workers are frustrated that they have been prevented from working while other 'contact professions' such as hairdressers, beauty salons and masseurs have been allowed to reopen from Wednesday. The move, which the government last week called a risky relaxation strategy, came despite infection numbers starting to edge higher recently. A woman, who used the name Moira Mona and who described herself as a dominatrix, said she could work further from her clients than a hairdresser. She said: 'I can insult people from a distance and I have whips that are longer than scissors for cutting bangs. So I'll be fine.' Elsewhere in Rotterdam, revellers were seen enjoying the weather at an outdoor cafe table as eateries across the nation set up their terraces in protest against the coronavirus measures. A group of sex workers display placards as they take to the streets and demanding their right to work Demonstrators hold signs above their head as they join other businesses across the country in protest against the coronavirus restrictions A protesters holds a placard and wears a face mask as they campaign against the restrictions One protester wore a gas mask as they demanded their right to work (left) while another carried a red umbrella as they walked through the streets (right) A sex worker performs in a mobile peep show in The Hague, The Netherlands Peter Bender, who runs De Ooievaar bar in Rotterdam, placed a cup of coffee and slice of apple pie in front of one of his guests. He said: 'We've waited long enough, we still don't see any perspective from the government. 'We have a ludicrous action - today dolls are sitting here, next week it will be real guests. We're really sick of it.' The protests come amid growing lockdown fatigue not only in the Netherlands but across the European Union, where 531,000 people have died in the pandemic and governments are still attempting to rein in new infections while slowly ramping up the pace of vaccinations. A protester prepares a peep show during the demonstration in The Hague today Sex workers carry signs and wear masks as they protests against the coronavirus lockdown A mobile peep is held in the city by one protester as businesses across the capital challenge the lockdown restrictions More than 1,000 people gathered in the Hungarian capital, Budapest, on Sunday demanding an end to pandemic restrictions that have left the tourism and hospitality sectors at a standstill for nearly four months. Marches to denounce Covid restrictions have also been taking place in a scattered form across France and other countries. The pandemic has taken a brutal economic toll in the Netherlands. Turnover at the country's accommodation and food services sector shrank by an unprecedented 33.9 per cent in 2020 due to the pandemic and lockdown measures, the national statistics office reported on Monday. In the final quarter of the year, as the lockdown was tightened again after a summer of eased measures, cafes saw their turnover decline by 70.4 per cent compared with the previous quarter. Revellers enjoy the sun as they sit at a cafe terrace that has been put outside in Rotterdam, Netherlands A cafe terrace is set up in Rotterdam in protest against the coronavirus lockdown measures Bar owners insist that they can reopen their terraces safely by enforcing social distancing and hygiene measures. They have been spurred into action in part by recent scenes of large crowds of people packed into city parks enjoying unseasonably warm weather and largely ignoring social distancing measures. Last month, the 9pm curfew that was imposed in the Netherlands was overturned by a judge in The Hague, in a victory for anti-lockdown campaigners who had challenged the government's order. The curfew was the first to be imposed in the Netherlands since the Nazi occupation in World War II. Meghan Markle has been planning her upcoming interview with Oprah Winfrey for almost two years, sources tell DailyMail.com. The Duchess of Sussex originally tried to arrange a televised talk with friend and CBS anchor Gayle King after her son Archie's birth in May 2019 but was overruled by the Royal Family's public relations machine, the sources claimed. TV insiders say King and Winfrey have been in talks over a sit-down with the Sussexes ever since, eventually leading to the 90-minute interview set to air on CBS March 7. In 2019 Meghan was hoping to do a 'short interview' about her time adjusting to Royal life and becoming a mother. But public relations officials at Kensington Palace, who at the time were trying to tamp down rumors of tensions between the Sussexes and senior royals, quickly put a stop to the plans fearing 'it would alienate the UK press', a source close to the controversy said. Meghan Markle and Prince Harry sat down with Oprah Winfrey for a tell-all interview which is to be aired Sunday March 7 on CBS Sources tell DailyMail.com that Meghan had been in talks with Oprah and Gayle King for two years An uneasy compromise was struck, with King and her CBS TV crew instead being invited to the first photo shoot of Harry and Meghan with their newborn baby at St. George's Hall in Windsor. Traditionally footage is shared between British TV broadcasters as a 'royal pool arrangement', but the insider said that after her interview was denied by royal handlers, 'Meghan put her foot down' that King, close friend to the Duchess' confidante Oprah, would be invited to the shoot. 'This interview has been two years in the making with either Gayle or Oprah asking the questions. In reality it is the two of them prepping for the in-depth conversation,' the source said The spat was an early sign of the rift between the Palace and the Sussexes that eventually led to the couple losing their royal titles. The source said Meghan was attempting to 'manage their own public image away from select UK media' and told staff that her motto was 'our lives - our way.' 'It was seen as a huge stride away from the usual methodology of Royal PR. It caused friction with the Sussexes, and a feeling that this was forbidden,' said the palace source. 'They were emphatically told she could not conduct her own lengthy interviews with US media friends after Archie's birth. 'That led to tension with courtiers as the pair wanted to tell their stories about philanthropic and personal matters. 'Certainly from their side there was an element of feeling handcuffed and not having full ownership of their image. 'The couple wanted to usher in a new era and mindset about having control, not just in their messaging but also about who they chose to speak with. Oprah and Gayle have been supportive publicly of Meghan and Harry, since they dated. So for the Sussexes their friends felt like a safe place.' King, the host of CBS This Morning, was in London at the time filming Meghan and Harry Plus One, a 60-minute show that aired that month and was sympathetic to the couple. The show's producers Patti Aronofsky and Judy Tygard included in the documentary commentators accusing UK media and others of having racist and sexist motivations for speaking out against Markle. The morning show legend's team got access to Markle's makeup artist Daniel Martin and friend and actress Janina Gavankar for the program perceived as a 'nod of approval' from the Sussexes. Although King failed to secure the coveted sit-down with the Sussexes in 2019, she, Winfrey and the couple stayed in touch with a 'discussion on the table about when they would do that interview' the source said. 'Oprah and Gayle have been supportive publicly of Meghan and Harry, since they dated. So for the Sussexes their friends felt like a safe place,' sources said Gayle covered the royal wedding of Meghan and Harry and has been supportive of the couple since they were first dating 'This interview has been two years in the making with either Gayle or Oprah asking the questions. In reality it is the two of them prepping for the in-depth conversation,' the source said. 'It is what the Sussexes have wanted for a long time - to present ''our lives, our way''.' The world witnessed Harry and Meghan's increasing frustrations with the British press play out publicly during their African state visit in October 2019. Harry snapped furiously at a Sky News reporter for asking a question as he walked to his car. During his tour finale speech he addressed his anger with the media. 'My deepest fear is history repeating itself,' he said. 'I've seen what happens when someone I love is commoditized to the point that they are no longer treated or seen as a real person. 'I lost my mother and now I watch my wife falling victim to the same powerful forces.' In her 2019 documentary Harry and Meghan Plus One, King compared Markle to Princess Diana, outlining clear comparisons between her outlook on child-rearing and that of Harry's late mother. King, who regularly speaks with the Duchess and attended her baby shower in New York, has previously insisted that despite reports of tensions in the House of Windsor, the Queen and Prince Charles support the former actress and are part of a 'team' raising Archie a claim that has become increasingly unlikely as the divide between the Royal Family and the Sussexes widened. King and her CBS TV crew were invited to the first photo shoot of Harry and Meghan with their newborn baby at St. George's Hall in Windsor after the interview was denied Gayle King teased her 'royal special report' and spoke of her trip to Winsdor when Meghan was overdue and hours away from labor in 2019 The royal source said that King is helping Oprah prepare questions for their March 7 interview and played a key role in the deal to secure it. The source also claimed that the Sussexes' decision to hire Hillary Clinton's former senior campaign aide Sara Latham as their Head of Communications in the UK was a key aspect of their drive for independence though they later parted ways when the Sussexes left the country. Meghan's decision to work with Latham on carving out her own family's media image was announced in March 2019. Latham, who was part of their Kensington Palace office and media team, helped ensure that CBS TV cameras were present for baby Archie's reveal photo shoot at Windsor Castle. Despite tradition that only UK media record such an occasion, one of King's CBS camera team attended the three-minute briefing. The invitation prompted a furor in Royal circles. Former press spokesperson Dickie Arbiter said: 'Choosing a US Network, friend or not, is treading on dodgy ground. That the inclusion of CBS in the pool means the pictures will make US Breakfast Shows is a fatuous excuse.' But the palace source said that the Royal family's handlers were worried about an even greater 'backlash' from UK broadcasters had they let the planned interview with King go ahead. King, who regularly speaks with the Duchess and attended her baby shower in New York (pictured), has previously insisted that despite reports of tensions in the House of Windsor, the Queen and Prince Charles support the former actress and are part of a 'team' raising Archie 'Had the Sussexes sat down with Gayle then, it would have prompted a war behind closed doors,' the source said. 'Senior Palace courtiers felt a move would prompt a backlash from major UK broadcasters, including the BBC. 'Buckingham Palace has always stood firm that no matter the severity of news or issues cutting off media outlets was never an option. The monarchy's famous motto 'Never complain. Never explain' stands firm. 'It led to frustration and angst between the Sussexes' team and other royals' handlers.' But the source added that Harry and Meghan's split has afforded them new freedoms. 'Now that they are separated from royal duties, the Sussexes have full ownership of who they speak to and what they discuss,' the source said. 'The Oprah and Gayle experiment is the start of their sole ownership of their media representation.' On Friday's episode of Good Morning America, King said that Oprah's interview had been filmed at the Sussexes' Montecito home and was a triumph. 'Harry and Meghan are talking to Oprah. It's their first major broadcast since giving up their senior royal duties,' King said. 'I've heard from reliable sources this is Oprah talking that it's the best interview she's ever done. So I'm curious. I think that's saying something!' British police failed to send alerts on 135,000 foreign criminals' convictions to their home countries, it can be revealed today. Almost 200 killers and rapists were among the huge number of European offenders whose UK court records were missed by a catastrophic computer glitch, potentially putting lives at risk. The Home Office knew about the problem six years ago but tried to hush it up and the massive backlog of files is still being sent to police forces across the continent, most to Poland, Ireland and Romania. It means dangerous predators could have returned to their home countries without the authorities knowing about their convictions, and gone on to commit further crimes or been allowed to work with children when they should have been barred. Almost 200 killers and rapists were among the huge number of European offenders whose UK court records were missed by a catastrophic computer glitch, potentially putting lives at risk The true scale of the Police National Computer blunder, revealed today by the Mail, comes as the Home Office scrambles to recover records of more than 112,000 people wrongly deleted from the same creaking IT system. The problem was caused by the Police National Computer, a massive database of information about criminals operated by the Home Office which generates daily files of the latest updates on convictions. If a foreign offender is sentenced then ACRO Criminal Records Office, a UK body responsible for international police data sharing, is meant to alert their home country's force via the European Criminal Records Information System (ECRIS). But as far back as six years ago, documents obtained under the Freedom of Information Act reveal, officials realised there was a serious glitch in the system and warned the Home Office. A note written on February 10th 2015 for ACRO's Strategic Meeting explained that many of these Daily Activity Files were not being created as intended. Where no fingerprints were recorded or where the offender had dual nationality, the file was not being generated and so 'in the region of 30% of DAF' were being 'suppressed'. In addition, the files were not being created when an offender was recorded as coming from 49 current countries and another 92 historic ones such as Rhodesia. Another error meant that 15 individuals were listed as coming from Pitcairn Island who were actually Polish, and several were recorded as coming from a tiny atoll in the Pacific Ocean known as Wake Island when in reality they lived in Wakefield, West Yorkshire. The report makes it plain that this had been raised at a senior level within the Home Office: 'Significant funds and resources would be needed to process the missing records and engagement has already started with HO Colleagues, by the Head of ACRO.' A second internal ACRO report shows that a detailed 'change request' to correct the DAF software was sent to the Home Office in January 2017 - but it was delayed. And although police continued to raise the issue with Government, it was kept secret from overseas forces. A note from an ACRO meeting in May 2019 admitted: 'There is a nervousness from Home Office around sending the historical notifications out dating back to 2012 due to the reputational impact this could have.' It was only after the scandal of the missing alerts was uncovered by a newspaper a year ago that Ministers pledged to fix it. At the time the number of missed records was estimated at 75,000. But new figures obtained by the Mail show that the true number is almost twice that. Extracts from a meeting in December show that the 'legacy notifications' started to be sent to countries across Europe last autumn. A letter sent to each one admitted: 'This is clearly a significant number that will have an impact upon you.' By November, 60,614 had been sent with another 23,137 about to enter the system and another 51,769 waiting - many of which require 'manual intervention' to include changes to the records - suggesting a total of 135,520. Some are likely to relate to career criminals like pickpockets or shoplifters who received more than one conviction in the UK in recent years. By last week 81,706 alerts had been sent out, including 19,565 to Poland, 17,996 to Ireland and 12,466 to Romania. Police said the records included details of '109 convicted killers, 81 rapists, and 1 subject convicted of both types of offences'. Almost all of these are likely to remain behind bars in Britain, or have been deported to their home nations. But MEP Sophie In' t Veld, who sits on the European Parliament's Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs Committee, said: 'The day will come that one of these people commits a very serious crime and then everybody is going to be up in arms and say 'how come we didn't know about it?'.' She said it raised questions over whether or not the UK would abide by the security and data-sharing arrangements agreed in the Brexit deal. 'I'm worried, and irritated. What's the point in having an agreement if even before the ink is dry, they're not living up to it. 'Already the UK was not meeting its obligations when it was a member of the EU and now we have less means to enforce it.' The Home Office said: 'The Home Office has been working with ACRO at pace to ensure the necessary data is shared with affected Member States. The majority have now been issued and we are working through the remaining data files, which require careful manual intervention. 'The individuals relating to the data have all faced justice in the UK and will have received the appropriate sentence.' A bridge or tunnel connecting Northern Ireland to Scotland is "impractical but not impossible", a leading bomb disposal expert has said, Former Royal Navy clearance diver Michael Fellows says Beaufort's Dyke, where surplus munitions from the two World Wars and radioactive waste were dumped, is one of many obstacles that could scupper Boris Johnson's plan. It's estimated that Beaufort's Dyke contains over a million tonnes of munitions dumped there by the War Office and its successor the Ministry of Defence up until the mid-1970s. As well as conventional weaponry such as artillery shells, the dyke was also used as a dumping ground for incendiary bombs containing phosphorus, which ignite on contact with air, as well as chemical weapons including mustard gas, tear gas, phosgene, and the nerve agents tabun and sarin. Remnants of weapons containing phosphorous have washed up here and in Scotland. In the past the dump has been described as "unstable", with Mr Fellows telling the BBC in 2004 that there were "sporadic explosions two or three times a month" in the Irish Sea. "A tunnel under the Irish Sea would be a dodgy operation with all the explosives lying down there," Mr Fellows told the Belfast Telegraph yesterday. "Whatever you put in place, be it a tunnel or a bridge, it's going to need supports, so you're going to have to be very careful where you place those supports so that you don't hit something while drilling. You'll also have to conduct regular surveys to stop any explosions." Last month the UK and Ireland Nuclear Free Local Authorities campaign group said it would be a "real challenge" to develop either project, particularly if built over Beaufort's Dyke. "The idea of a connection between Scotland and Northern Ireland is a brilliant one but you have got to get rid of the explosive problem initially, which is an almost impossible task," Mr Fellows added. During his 35-year career with the Royal Navy he became the first man to defuse an unexploded bomb on board a warship at sea. The bomb had been dropped on HMS Antrim by an Argentinian jet during the 1982 Falklands War. It took him 10 hours to make the device safe. He later established commercial bomb and mine disposal company Fellows International. The Prime Minister has dismissed concerns relating to Beaufort's Dyke. "The problem is not the undersea Beaufort's Dyke or lack of funds. The problem is an absence of political will," he said in 2018. While the idea of the transport link has drawn criticism and derision from many, Network Rail chairman Peter Hendy is studying a proposal for a direct 25-mile rail tunnel and is expected to release his conclusion on its feasibility within the next few weeks. Mr Johnson's latest proposal for a link involves building three tunnels. The plan, first reported in The Sunday Times, includes tunnels from Stranraer, Heysham and near Liverpool, with a roundabout under the Isle of Man. Stormont Infrastructure Minister Nichola Mallon has written to Mr Johnson urging him to ditch the idea of a link altogether, branding them "vanity projects". Former Municipal Chief Executive for Akuapem North and a member of the NPP Communication team, Dennis Miracles Aboagye says legalizing LGBTQ+ in Ghana "won't happen today nor tomorrow". The issue of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual Transgender, Queer (LGBTQ+) has generated lots of discussions and anger in the country after an office was opened in Accra to promote their rights. The Police on Wednesday, February 24 stormed and locked down the office of the group at Ashongman Estate in Accra. Dennis Miracle speaking to this issue on Peace FM morning show 'Kokrokoo' said: "when you go to the United States Of America (USA), they say they don't negotiate with terrorists. In Ghana, we don't negotiate with LGBTs. Nobody in this country will state that it should be legalized; it will not happen today, it will not happen tomorrow...they should leave us alone" Call Diplomats to order Miracle has also asked the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) to invite the diplomats who backed and supported the commissioning of the LGBT office to explain why they flouted the laws of the country. According to him, "they have gone against our laws. As an Ambassador, you are to respect the laws of your host country and so if the laws of your host country do not support LGBTs and yet you engage in such an act, you need to be called to order immediately" Listen to him in the video below Source: Peacefmonline.com Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Announces Plans for International Branding Company That Will Be Led by Lou Weisbach, the Former Founder and CEO of HA-LO, and JoAnn Gilley, the CEO of Overture Promotions CHICAGO, March 2, 2021 /PRNewswire/ - Westbridge Capital Ltd. ("Westbridge Capital"), through its subsidiary, Overture Promotions Inc. (the "Company"), today closed the acquisition of the business of promotional products company, Overture Promotions ("Overture"). Westbridge Capital will be supporting a team led by Lou Weisbach and JoAnn Gilley who are building a premier global branding company. Lou Weisbach identified the business of Overture as ideal for providing the foundation for the building of this global branding company. Lou Weisbach founded HA-LO Advertising Specialties in 1971 and served as its CEO for almost three decades. During Weisbach's tenure HA-LO became the world's largest promotional products company, with revenue of $770 million and a market valuation of $1.25 billion. JoAnn Gilley was an original investor in Overture, and has been the CEO of Overture for 3.5 years, leading the company to 300% revenue growth during that time. Overture is one of the promotional product industry's leading distributors and one of its fastest growing companies, with reported 2020 revenue of $127 million, up from $82 million in 2019. The company is an award-winning, Top 20 Distributor, known for its creativity, extraordinary customer service, and end-to-end in-house services, which give account teams more control over cost, design, decoration quality, brand integrity, turnaround time, and accuracy. Overall Industry sales in 2020 were $21 billion. "Overture's strong management team responded well to the challenges and changing business environment in 2020 and achieved significant growth in its client base and revenue," Weisbach said. "After looking at many potential acquisitions, we decided Overture would make an excellent platform company to serve as our foundation." "Our vision is to create the premier international branding company to help organizations build global brands with best-in-class marketing, licensing and promotional products," Weisbach continued. "Our growth plan will be driven by both organic and strategic acquisition opportunities. We will be aggressive, yet selective, in acquiring companies in the coming months that not only build upon the Overture Promotions platform but add products and services." Weisbach's team is comprised of himself, JoAnn Gilley, Michael Nemlich and Mark Serdar. "We are excited to team up with Westbridge Capital who shares our vision." "The Overture team is excited to officially start this new adventure," said JoAnn Gilley. "We look forward to adding new services and technology to support our customers and scale our operations, and to welcome acquisitions to the Overture family." Michael Nemlich an investment banker covering the healthcare, consumer and business service sectors was responsible for taking HA-LO Advertising Specialties public. Shortly thereafter he joined the company, where he was involved in acquisitions, structuring of deals and strategic planning, all of which contributed to HA-LO's phenomenal growth. He also served as Vice President of Investor Relations and was responsible for all financial and marketing communications. Mark Serdar was a Managing Director at JP Morgan Chase, where he held multiple senior positions, including Chief Technology Officer and firm-wide Head of Globalization Strategy. He was an Executive Vice President and CSO at Expert Global Solutions, a $1.3 billion business process outsourcing company. He also held management roles at Accenture and Ernst & Young's Strategic Consulting Group. "Our objective is to leverage technology to completely differentiate ourselves in the market," said Serdar. "We are delighted that we share a vision with Westbridge Capital to create and build exciting new technology solutions." Mike Meekins, President of Westbridge Capital, indicated that: "We are excited about teaming up with Lou and JoAnn and the rest of the Overture team to lead our growth in the highly fragmented promotional products industry. The industry is primed for consolidation, and we believe the acquisition of the business of Overture as a platform company is a fantastic start. We look forward to funding more acquisitions going forward. About Westbridge Capital Ltd. Westbridge is a private equity management company. Westbridge focuses on real estate and private equity investments that by their nature have little correlation to publicly listed securities and may be used to diversify a portfolio and reduce overall portfolio risk and volatility. For more information please visit https://www.westbridgecapital.ca/ . About Overture Promotions Overture is an award-winning, Top 20 Distributor of promotional products. Overture's hallmark is its end-to-end in-house services, including domestic and international sourcing of promotional products, graphic design, web development, on-site screen printing and embroidery, 170,000 square feet of office and warehouse space, kit assembly, packing, and domestic and international shipping. The company designs, builds and hosts customized webstores which give its customers an easy-to-use platform for ordering branded merchandise with marketing support and detailed reporting. It is a founding member of the Brand Unbound global network, a global collective of best-in-market promotional product agencies with proven track records in meeting the needs of enterprise-level organizations. For more information please visit https://www.overturepromotions.com/ . Safe Harbor Statement This press release includes statements that may constitute forward-looking statements made pursuant to the safe harbor provision of the 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," or the negative of these words and/or similar statements. Statements that are not historical facts, including statements about the Company's beliefs and expectations, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements. For example, statements about future revenues and the Company's ability to fund its operations and contractual obligations are forward looking and subject to risks. Several important factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statement. Potential risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, the inability to raise capital to support the Company through its growth stage, the Company's inability to generate projected sales and trade relations between the United States and China. The Company does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statement, except as required under applicable law. SOURCE Westbridge Capital Ltd. WINNIPEG - The Manitoba government is loosening many restrictions on stores, gyms, restaurants and household gatherings as its COVID-19 case numbers continue to drop. Advertisement Advertise With Us Manitoba Premier Brian Pallister got a look at the province's new COVID-19 vaccination centre at Winnipeg's Convention Centre, Friday, Jan. 1, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/John Woods WINNIPEG - The Manitoba government is loosening many restrictions on stores, gyms, restaurants and household gatherings as its COVID-19 case numbers continue to drop. Starting Friday, maximum capacity at stores and restaurants will increase to 50 per cent from 25, although restaurants will still have to ensure that only members of the same household sit together. Indoor religious services will be able to run at 25 per cent capacity or 100 people whichever is lower up from 10 per cent. Licensed establishments will be able to reopen their video lottery terminals. People who want to hold gatherings in their home will have more options. Currently, people are allowed to designate up to two people from different households as visitors. On Friday, people will be able to choose between that option or designating one entire household to visit, in essence, creating two-home bubbles. Outdoors, a limit on public gatherings will jump to 10 people from five. "Manitoba's case numbers and test positivity rates continue to trend in the right direction," Dr. Brent Roussin, chief public health officer, said Tuesday. "That's why we're able to begin to look at other options to cautiously reopen services in Manitoba." The Opposition said the government should expand the two-households rule to restaurants. "I wonder why a grandparent couldn't sit with their grandkids at a restaurant, if, in fact, they are part of that same (two-) household bubble," NDP Leader Wab Kinew said. Health officials reported two additional COVID-19 deaths and 64 new cases Tuesday. However, eight cases from unspecified dates were removed due to data corrections for a net increase of 56. The percentage of people testing positive, which peaked near 13 per cent in the fall, was down to four per cent. Roussin said COVID-19 variants remain a concern. One new case involving a variant first seen in the United Kingdom was reported Tuesday, as were two cases involving a variant that first surfaced in South Africa. The looser rules to take effect Friday will also allow fitness facilities to restart group classes, although masks will be required. Casinos, bingo halls, theatres and concert venues must remain closed. "These changes, once again, are cautious changes to ensure we continue to protect and safeguard Manitoba lives," Premier Brian Pallister said. He also announced another round of grants to businesses and charities that have had to scale back due to public-health measures. Like the previous two rounds, the new one will offer each business up to $5,000 to make up for some lost revenue. The loosening of some restrictions is not a sign that life is returning to normal, Roussin said. People must remain cautious, wear a mask and stay home if they are ill. "We are getting closer ... but we still have more work to do." This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 2, 2021. COLUMBIA After a yearslong dispute over whether The Citadel can legally remove a Confederate flag hanging in a chapel on campus, a South Carolina lawmaker is proposing the General Assembly clarify the law that's prevented it from coming down. The Citadel's Board of Visitors voted 9-3 back in 2015 to take down a Confederate naval jack from the Summerall Chapel, but an opinion from state Attorney General Alan Wilson the year before said the flag is protected by the state's Heritage Act. That 2000 law forbids removal from public property of flags or memorials for any war, historic figure or event without a two-thirds vote of the Legislature. State Sen. Dick Harpootlian, D-Columbia, introduced a resolution March 2 that, if passed, would declare The Citadel's Confederate naval jack does not fall within the scope of the Heritage Act, which would allow the college to take it down. The resolution says the flag, which was gifted to The Citadel in 1939, is "displayed in the chapel, not atop the Statehouse or on the Statehouse grounds; it is not a monument or memorial to any of the wars identified in the Heritage Act, and is not public property named after an historic person or event." It would direct The Citadel to immediately remove the flag and dispose of it in any way that school's board of visitors chooses, as long as it's not displayed anywhere else on campus. "I just find this particularly offensive to have the Confederate naval jack in the chapel at The Citadel where an African American cadet would have to look at it while he's praying to God," Harpootlian said. "That's beyond the pale." The proposal will likely find a skeptical audience in the Republican-dominated Legislature, where lawmakers have been wary of taking down any more flags or monuments since their 2015 decision to remove the Confederate flag from the Statehouse grounds in the wake of the Emanuel AME Church shooting in Charleston. Sign up for updates! Get the latest political news from The Post and Courier in your inbox. Email Sign Up! S.C. Judiciary Committee chairman Chris Murphy, a North Charleston Republican who graduated from The Citadel in 1990, said he would oppose Harpootlian's resolution and does not believe the flag should be taken down because he views it as a matter of historical recognition. "This issue comes up at least once a year, but I believe the placement of the flag is proper and it should be in Summerall Chapel," Murphy said. Another Citadel graduate in the Legislature, state Sen. Stephen Goldfinch, said he understands the desire to remove the flag because "it has caused too much of a crisis among alumni, legislators and statewide leaders, taking our eyes off the real ball, which is educating principled leaders." But Goldfinch, R-Murrells Inlet, said his personal opinion about the flag is not relevant to Harpootlian's proposal because he thinks the Legislature should not be inserting itself into legal issues that should be resolved by the attorney general or the courts. "I'm not sure how that's not a crossing of governmental lines that shouldn't be crossed, declaring that an interpretation of the law is constitutional or not," Goldfinch said. "The courts are the ultimate arbitrator of that decision, so I think it ought to be left to the court if somebody would like to raise that issue." For now, it appears unlikely the issue will wind up in court, as The Citadel has declined to contradict Wilson's advisory opinion by taking the flag down and forcing a legal dispute. Col. John Dorrian, a spokesman for the college, said one of The Citadel's core values is a duty to follow the law. "The South Carolina Attorney General stated previously that the college was following state law by treating the flag as a memorial that falls under the Heritage Act," Dorrian said. "If the law changes, The Citadel will act in accordance with that change. "Citadel leaders cannot require our cadets to follow all of the rigorous rules and regulations inherent in cadet life, but also pick and choose which laws we will follow and which we will not," Dorrian added. Posted Monday, March 1, 2021 1:03 pm U.S. Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler will have a host of challengers from her own party as three Clark County locals have thrown their hat in the ring more than a year-and-a-half before the 2022 election. The announcements came roughly around the same time late last month, with candidates seeking to move representation of Washingtons Third Congressional District farther to the right. The candidates seek to unseat Herrera Beutler, R-Battle Ground, who has represented the district following her first successful election in 2010. Army veteran Joe Kent, said he was an America-first Republican in a campaign video. He had spent more than 20 years in the Army, including 11 deployments and assignments in the Ranger regiment and Special forces, a biography on his campaign website stated, retiring when his wife, Shannon, who was also a combat veteran, was killed fighting ISIS in Syria. I am mostly concerned that the person we elected to represent our values and make our voices heard decided to listen to deceptive and divisive media and radical left instead of standing strong for the people of Southwest Washington and the over 74 million Americans who voted for President Trump, Kent said on his campaign page. In his campaign video Kent said his decision to run for office was based on Herrera Beutlers vote to impeach then-President Donald Trump following the storming of the U.S. Capitol by Trump supporters Jan. 6. On his campaign page, Kent denounced those who participated in the storming, saying that those who acted violently are criminals and have no place in our movement. However, the violent actors are a small fringe group, not representative of our over 74 million strong, diverse populist movement, Kent wrote. Kent grew up in Portland, though he notes he spent a lot of time in Southwest Washington in his youth. He left Portland for Yacolt after seeing how Portland had changed from being a vibrant small city into a hotbed of lawlessness and far left ideology, his campaign page stated. Kent, who has written opinion pieces about military operations for foxnews.com, listed pulling troops out of Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria was one of his policy points he mentioned on his campaign page, and he supports modernization of the military to focus on our main threat, China. He notes he is anti-abortion, supports strict immigration, and will not support any new firearms legislation. Author Heidi St. John, a Battle Ground resident, said she was a Reagan conservative through and through during a speech at a Clark County Republican Party meeting Feb. 23, adding that conservatism in this nation has taken a backseat to the Democrats for too long. Its time for us to get off the bench and get on the battlefield, St. John remarked. St. John, who noted she and her husband have a family with seven children and three grandchildren, took issue with the state of education in the U.S. There is no one in Washington D.C. advocating for children right now, St. John said, adding that the woke Democrats and the progressive Left in this nation were sources of issues with education. Among the issues she had was with comprehensive sex education being taught in schools. Someone needs to stand up and say thats enough, no farther, St. John remarked. St. John also notes energy independence on her website and mentioned her opposition to the Affordable Care Act during her speech with Clark County Republicans as issues she would address if elected. St. John, who has a social media following of more than 360,000, said she was not planning on making a career out of a House seat if elected, pointing to the inability of those serving multiple terms to achieve results during their tenures. It was astonishing to me to watch Republicans run for the hills when President Trump tried to get something done, St. John said. I want to go to Washington, D.C. not because I have nothing better to do, St. John said, but because this is a war, and we need to step up to the plate. Marxism is at the door of the United States, and we need to say no more, St. John remarked. United States Navy Veteran and Trump Administration Appointee Wadi Yakhour has also launched his campaign to unseat Herrera Beutler. For the last four years, I have watched self-serving politicians fight only for themselves and the powerful special interests who control them, instead of the voters who put them in office, Yakhour said in a news release. It is high-time our district and great country have representatives who steadfastly stand up for their values. Censorship and socialism have no place in the United States of America, free speech should be free, our elections must be made secure, and our schools and businesses should be open, Yakhour continued. One day, Jamie Herrera Beutler will make a great Biden Administration appointee, CNN contributor, or Lincoln Project Board Member but she certainly no longer has a place representing the Republican party for Washingtons third district, and I am running to help her make that career change, Yahkour concluded. Yakhour moved to the Vancouver area when he was 11 years old and his mother served as a Deputy Sheriff at the Clark County Sheriffs Office for nearly 20 years, according to the news release. Yakhour joined the United States Navy in 2008 and served as an Aviation Warfare Systems Operator. He later received the Navy Achievement Medal in recognition of his service to the country, according to the release. Treasurer Josh Frydenberg has accused Annastacia Palaszczuk of 'grandstanding, petty politicking' and ignoring facts in the latest round of their ongoing JobKeeper dispute. In January the Queensland Premier visited struggling tourism businesses in Cairns and asked the federal government to extend the $100 billion scheme beyond March 28. But she was rebuked by Scott Morrison and criticised for crippling small companies with her sudden border shutdowns throughout the coronavirus pandemic. The Queensland Premier has demanded an extension of JobKeeper but the government has refused. Pictured: Brisbane residents wearing masks during an outbreak in January Writing in the Courier-Mail on Tuesday, Mr Frydenberg said the federal government has done the 'bulk of the heavy lifting' to support Queenslanders and Ms Palaszczuk should open her own wallet. The federal government has given $28.5 billion to Queenslanders in the past year, while the premier has only committed $8.8 billion across the next four years. He suggested the premier was misleading voters, writing: 'Annastacia Palaszczuk is entitled to her own opinions but not her own facts'. 'The reality is the Morrison Government has already delivered to Queenslanders more than three times the amount of economic support than the Palaszczuk Government has committed to.' Mr Frydernberg, who has previously urged Ms Palaszczuk to do more to support tourism businesses, also said her government has provided the lowest level of economic support of any State or Territory Government. Treasurer Josh Frydenberg (left) has accused Annastacia Palaszczuk (right) of 'grandstanding, petty politicking' and ignoring facts Victoria has committed to spend nine per cent of its income on Covid-19 support measures and NSW has pledged seven per cent - but in Queensland that figure is only two per cent. By contrast the federal government has committed $251 billion, or 13 per cent of GDP, on measures such as JobKeeper, tax cuts and boosted welfare payments. 'No amount of grandstanding and petty politicking by the Queensland Premier will detract from the indisputable fact that when it comes to the economic response in Queensland, the Morrison Government has done the bulk of the heavy lifting,' Mr Frydenberg wrote. The premier hit back, telling reporters on Tuesday: 'When JobKeeper ends there are going to be a lot of people in the tourism industry that are really going to be feeling the effects of it. 'I notice that Josh Frydenberg said some words today. I'd like to say one thing to Josh Frydenberg: go up to Cairns and talk to people.' The Treasurer explained that JobKeeper cannot continue because it stops workers moving to more productive roles and keeps businesses afloat that would otherwise go under even without coronavirus. The federal government has committed $251 billion, or 13 per cent of GDP, on measures such as JobKeeper, tax cuts and boosted welfare payments But he said he was considering further 'targeted' support that is 'proportionate and temporary.' Some analysts say this could include loans to tourism businesses. Last month the prime minister rejected Ms Palaszczuk's plea to extend JobKeeper beyond March 28, saying that state governments must accept the cost of the policies they impose. 'States can make decisions about what they intend to do in areas of their responsibility but they are then also responsible for dealing with and mitigating the decisions that they make. 'It is not a blank cheque,' he told reporters. Mr Morrison said the federal government has already done 'the heavy lifting' in terms of supporting the economy through coronavirus and insisted 'you can't run the economy on taxpayers' money forever.' Tara ONeill / Hearst Connecticut Media BRIDGEPORT A second alarm was struck as city firefighters battled a blaze in a vacant apartment building at the P.T. Barnum apartments overnight, according to officials. Units were dispatched to the 400 block of Bird Street for a reported structure fire in Building 8 shortly before 4 a.m. Tuesday. The United States has announced sanctions on two military leaders of Yemens Houthi rebel movement following a spate of attacks on neighboring Saudi Arabia. Mansur al-Saadi, the head of the Houthis naval forces, and Ahmad Ali Ahsan al-Hamzi, head of the rebels air force, were sanctioned on Tuesday for procur[ing] weapons from Iran and oversee[ing] attacks threatening civilians and maritime infrastructure, the State Department announced today. The United States accused the rebel officials of orchestrating attacks that have impacted Yemeni civilians, bordering nations and commercial vessels in international waters on behalf of the Iranian regimes destabilizing agenda, according to a US Treasury statement. Al-Saadi is also alleged to have overseen smuggling of Iranian weapons into Yemen and mastermind[ing] lethal attacks against international shipping in the Red Sea. Houthi forces under al-Hamzis command, the Treasury said, have carried out targeted UAV strikes. Why it matters: The new US administration is shifting its tone toward the Houthis after an initial conciliatory gesture in a bid to end Yemens civil war. Last month the United States revoked a terrorist designation for the Houthis, a move Gen. Frank McKenzie, the head of US forces in the Middle East, called an act of good will to convince the rebels to engage in peace talks to end the war. I think weve put some chips on the table, McKenzie said, adding that the next steps lie with the Houthis and their Iranian backers. Instead, a recent string of Houthi missile and drone attacks on neighboring Saudi Arabia continued. On Saturday, the kingdom announced it had intercepted yet another ballistic missile over the capital, Riyadh. Meanwhile in Iraq, rocket attacks by suspected Iran-linked militias have struck Baghdad and local military bases in recent weeks. The Biden administration initially avoided pointing the finger at Tehran, but following an Iraqi-led investigation, retaliated last week with an airstrike on an outpost used by Iran-backed militias in Syria. Having vowed to hold Tehran accountable for the actions of its proxies in the region, the US administration is now publicly linking the two, accusing the newly sanctioned Houthi leaders receiving training in Iran. Whats next: Bidens Middle East agenda which includes reforming relations with Saudi Arabia, ending Yemens catastrophic civil war and reentering nuclear negotiations with Iran is already being tempered by the regions tough realities. On Sunday Iran rejected a proposal to meet with US and European Union representatives in direct talks. Though Western officials are optimistic that talks will be held in some form, Tehran continues to demand the United States relieve all sanctions imposed by the previous administration before Iran returns to compliance with the 2015 nuclear deal. The Biden administration may be reluctant to acquiesce because the United States will need some leverage to pursue follow-on negotiations over Irans ballistic missile program and support for proxy fighters in Iraq, Syria and Yemen. Meanwhile, sabotage attacks continue in the region. Yesterday Israels Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu blamed Iran for an explosion aboard an Israeli-owned cargo ship in the Gulf of Oman. The United States has also blamed similar maritime shipping explosions on Tehran. Know more: Despite removing the Houthis terror designation, the Biden administration shows no sign of approval for the rebels behavior and has condemned their ongoing offensive against Marib. The United Nations sanctioned a senior Houthi criminal investigator this week, accusing him of overseeing violent crimes against women. HOUSTON, March 02, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- In its mission to help companies address their environmental goals, terrapass, a carbon offset and renewable energy specialist, and a member of the Just Energy Group (TSX:JE; NYSE: JE), has joined ALLY Energys ESG Council as a Founders Circle member. With the rapid pace of the Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) movement and calls by government, consumer, community and investor stakeholders for greater transparency, terrapass joins other thought-leaders to share learnings and advance ideas to help companies strengthen their ESG strategy and goals. Terrapass looks forward to lending expertise and influence in driving the Councils environmental mission. Terrapass joins Ally Energys ESG Council to foster understanding of carbon impacts on consumers We are thrilled to have terrapass join as Founders of the Council, said Katie Mehnert, CEO and Founder of ALLY Energy. Together we will create an environment where ALLY members can collaborate and learn together on ESG challenges and celebrate impact. It is an exciting opportunity for terrapass to work alongside ALLY Energy and its members, says Karra Marino, Vice President, terrapass. In leading with our peers, we are driving innovative actions to address ESG goals that will generate the momentum needed to address the issues of climate change now, as well as make social equality the backbone of our corporate governance success. In addition to Ally Energys ESG Council membership, Karra Marino recently shared her insights at ALLY Energys Paris, Were Back: Now What?. She and the other panelists spoke on the need to educate, collaborate, lead and be accountable, while addressing climate change and the key behavioral shifts from private citizens to corporate entities needed to make a true difference. Dedicated leadership groups such as ALLY Energys ESG Council are important facilitators at the corporate level in helping businesses understand the impact of their operations, shape attainable and meaningful carbon mitigation goals, and act on them. To learn more about how companies and individuals are taking action to reduce their carbon footprint visit terrapass.com. Terrapass presents at Source for Tomorrow conference to discuss net zero carbon emissions Further, Sam Telleen, Director of Renewables at terrapass, participated in Source for Tomorrows, How Companies are Approaching Net Zero from Different Sectors, contributing his insight on where companies should start their path to net zero. Businesses need to be thinking about the potential for future carbon regulation and how it could affect them. Panelists agreed that the first step is calculating a business carbon footprint and then understand that carbon reduction is a journey, approached one step at a time through commitment, corporate accountability and integration within the companys culture. From buildings that are planning for net zero targets to sourcing sustainable product packaging, there is growing importance and activity across the industry spectrum towards environmental responsibility. And its the mission of terrapass to help people and businesses, located anywhere, meet their goals through carbon offsetting plans to reduce their carbon footprint. About terrapass Terrapass, a member of Just Energy Group Inc., works towards a more sustainable planet by pursuing solutions to climate change. We support projects throughout North America that remove greenhouse gases, produce renewable energy and restore freshwater ecosystems. Our products and services provide individuals and businesses with the ability to reduce the environmental impact of their everyday activities. Learn more at terrapass.com About Just Energy Group Inc. Just Energy is a retail energy provider specializing in electricity and natural gas commodities and bringing energy efficient solutions and renewable energy options to customers. Currently operating in the United States and Canada, Just Energy serves residential and commercial customers. Just Energy is the parent company of Amigo Energy, Filter Group Inc., Hudson Energy, Interactive Energy Group, Tara Energy, and terrapass. Visit https://investors.justenergy.com/ to learn more. Media Contacts: terrapass Karra Marino pr@terrapass.com Source: terrapass and Just Energy Group Eddie Murphy and Arsenio Hall discussed the difficulties of portraying multiple characters on Coming 2 America using makeup and how it's a thankless job while appearing on Jimmy Kimmel Live. ADVERTISEMENT Murphy mentioned on Monday how they underwent six hours of makeup to portray all the characters at the barber shop in Coming 2 America, a sequel to their 1988 comedy Coming to America that is hitting Amazon Prime Video on Friday. "It's kind of, like, it's thankless because a lot of people don't know that that's us in those makeups," Murphy said before mentioning how Oprah Winfrey didn't know the duo portrayed the characters in the barber shop during a recent interview. Hall then stated that Murphy once used the movie disguise to hit on an elderly woman after makeup artist Rick Baker told the actors to try the makeup out and see how it works. "He got an old lady's phone number because she thought he was a real old dude," Hall said. "Not only did I call, no never mind," Murphy said before laughing when asked if he ever contacted the woman. Kimmel asked the duo about comedian Louie Anderson's inclusion in the original Coming to America, with Murphy stating that Paramount Pictures forced them to have a white actor in the film. Anderson portrayed Maurice in the comedy. "The whole cast is black and this was back in the 80s so it was like we have to have a white person, there has to be a white person in the movie," Murphy said about what Paramount wanted. 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! "I had a list, they gave me a list with three white guys and they said who would you rather work with. I said Louie," Hall said, but the actor wouldn't mention who else was on the list. Murphy and Hall also discussed how their Coming 2 America co-star Tracy Morgan was originally going to portray Murphy's son in the sequel. Jermaine Fowler eventually took on the role with Leslie Jones portraying the mother. "We wrote two, three versions of the script and then we started thinking like, after we started writing for Leslie, we was like, 'Will people believe that Tracy is me and Leslie's child' because he looks like he's our age and then we started thinking about it differently," Murphy said. "I would drop hints because I never liked that idea. I love Tracy, I wanted him in it but I would say to Eddie, 'Hey maybe for the third one Morgan Freeman can be your son,'" Hall said. Most recently, Aquilina served as Advisor to the Board of Directors of the global incident response firm The Crypsis Group during its run-up to acquisition by Palo Alto Networks. Before Crypsis, Aquilina was the President of Aon Global Cyber Solutions at Stroz Friedberg, playing a pivotal role in the business development, global expansion, and market growth of one of the best known multinational digital forensics and risk management firms. "We are thrilled to welcome James to BlueVoyant," said Jim Rosenthal, co-founder and CEO at BlueVoyant. "As we continue to scale our operations and fuel growth, our initiatives require a strategic, long-term revenue-focused executive to help us stand out in the crowded cybersecurity market. James brings a superior blend of executive leadership and cybersecurity credentials that will help us expand our business as we continue to bring our unique cybersecurity services to organizations looking to drive maximum value and create a cyber-resilient culture," added Rosenthal. Prior to Stroz Friedberg, Aquilina served for almost a decade as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Criminal Division of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Central District of California, where he conducted and led investigations and prosecutions of computer intrusions, extortionate denial of service attacks, computer and internet fraud, and other cybersecurity-related matters. He is a published author on malware forensics and has served as a special master or court-appointed neutral in various complex matters involving digital evidence. Aquilina is a regular speaker and commentator on cyber, most notably having spoken at the International Law Enforcement Academy, Interpol, the Ninth Circuit Judicial Conference, the Association of Corporate Counsel, and the American Bar Association, and having been quoted in the Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, CNBC, Fortune, Newsweek, and the Financial Times. "There is enormous need for what BlueVoyant brings to the table," said James M. Aquilina. "The company's innovative cybersecurity solutions go beyond identifying cyber risks, allowing clients to mitigate threats across their environment and in the supply chain, to create a solid security posture, and to promote a pervasive cyber-resilient culture. I'm thrilled to be working with BlueVoyant," added Aquilina. Aquilina currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Advanced Imaging Society, formed by content creators and tech companies to advance the use of emerging technologies in content production. He is an Emeritus Board Member of the Constitutional Rights Foundation, a non-profit educational organization dedicated to educating America's youth about the importance of civic participation in a democratic society. He is also a member of the National Association of Corporate Directors, the Corporate Directors Forum, and the Digital Directors Network. James is a graduate of the University of California Berkeley School of Law and of Georgetown University. About BlueVoyant BlueVoyant is an expert-driven cybersecurity services company whose mission is to proactively defend organizations of all sizes against today's constant, sophisticated attackers, and advanced threats. Led by CEO, Jim Rosenthal, BlueVoyant's highly skilled team includes former government cyber officials with extensive frontline experience in responding to advanced cyber threats on behalf of the National Security Agency, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Unit 8200 and GCHQ, together with private sector experts. BlueVoyant services utilize large real-time datasets with industry leading analytics and technologies. Founded in 2017 by Fortune 500 executives, including Executive Chairman, Tom Glocer, and former Government cyber officials, BlueVoyant is headquartered in New York City and has offices in Maryland, Tel Aviv, San Francisco, Manila, Toronto, London, and Latin America. BlueVoyant Press Contacts: Danielle Ostrovsky C8 Consulting (Americas) T: 001 410-302-9459 E: [email protected] Jim Pople C8 Consulting (EMEA) T: +44 7955 030191 E: [email protected] SOURCE BlueVoyant Related Links https://www.bluevoyant.com Published on: 2 March 2021 Cinema has served as a vital bridge between cultures and countries for South Asian people in Britain. Cinema has served as a vital bridge between cultures and countries for South Asian people in Britain. The Young Curators Lab (YCL) is an annual workshop initiated as part of the UK Asian Film Festival (UKAFF) to nurture a new generation of film curators and audiences and showcase a diverse spectrum of South Asian cinema. Young curators have the opportunity to gain curatorial skills and watch a selection of new feature films submitted to the UK Asian Film Festival from which they will select a film that will be screened as the 'Young Curators' Choice' and receive a special award at UKAFF 2021. Previous editions of the Young Curators Lab have involved several Queen Mary students. The YCL workshops led by Dr Devasundaram will once again involve budding curators from across the UK including London, Leicester, Edinburgh and Glasgow as well as Coventry, UK City of Culture 2021 of which UKAFF is an official partner. Young Curators Lab South Africa Dr Devasundaram will be facilitating a weekend workshop in March for selected applicants but will also be leading the first ever edition of the Young Curators Lab in South Africa. This year the UK Asian Film Festival (UKAFF) is teaming up with students from the Wits School of Arts, Johannesburg as well as participants from Coventry, who will be joining the team for the online learning workshops. Dr Devasundaram has been collaborating with the University of Witwatersrand Centre for Indian Studies in Africa (CISA) and Wits School of Arts: Film & Television Department for a number of years. He was invited in 2019 to a symposium bringing together international researchers and film practitioners around the theme 'Cinema of the Global South: Towards a Southern Aesthetics' and his documentary film Movies, Memories, Magic which received a QMUL Community Engagement Prize in 2018, was screened at the Bioscope Independent Cinema in Johannesburg. Building on this interaction, Dr Devasundaram and Dr Damon Heatlie (Wits University) will co-facilitate an inaugural YCL in March, aimed specifically at young participants from Johannesburg, whose input will inform the selection of the Young Curators Choice film for UKAFF 2021. This interactive workshop and screening evaluation session will expand the ambition of YCL UK to South Africa, and will set the foundation for future collaboration with academics, curators and students from the University of Witwatersrand in Johannesburg. Dr Devasundaram, Senior Lecturer in Queen Marys Department of Film Studies said: "The inaugural South Africa edition of YCL provides a wonderful opportunity to gain fresh perspectives on South Asian cinema and build global bridges around film curation. I am looking forward to interacting with aspiring curators from Johannesburg." About the UK Asian Film Festival The UK Asian Film Festival offers an eclectic mix of films, stimulating interviews, outstanding masterclasses, workshops, live performances, visual arts exhibitions and an annual short film competition. The Festival aims to celebrate, award and reward great films, filmmakers and artists from South Asia. The festival provides a unique platform for South Asians working in film and media around the world. Screenings and events include feature films, documentaries, short films, panel discussions, and educational and community screenings. More information Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-02 00:33:42|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close DAR ES SALAAM, March 1 (Xinhua) -- Tanzanian health authorities said on Monday medicines worth 26.7 billion Tanzanian shillings (about 11.5 million U.S. dollars) were stolen in public hospitals between July 2019 and December 2020. "Stealing medicines worth 26.7 billion Tanzanian shillings in just a year and half amounts to sabotage," said Dorothy Gwajima, the Minister for Health, Community Development, Gender, Elderly and Children. Gwajima told a news conference in the commercial capital Dar es Salaam that the stolen medicines were revealed in a report compiled by a team of medical experts that investigated the distribution and delivery of medicines in 28 public referral hospitals in the country. She said the investigation was conducted by medical experts from the Ministry of Health and other relevant institutions. The minister said she formed the investigative team following complaints from patients across the country that there was acute shortage of medicines in public hospitals. "The complaints on shortage of medicines in public hospitals were raised against the backdrop of government's increased budget on acquisition of drugs," said Gwajima. Enditem A young mum has sent TikTok into meltdown after claiming her beloved Woolworths $3 Creamy Pasta Salad comes with a bizarre 'aftertaste'. Taylah Davies shared a series of videos that have gained worldwide attention comparing the aftertaste of the classic Australian meal to 'TV static'. 'If I was on death row this would be my last meal, but as Australians can we all collectively get together and just ask: 'WTF is the aftertaste?' she says in one video. The post was flooded with comments from other Aussies and pasta salad lovers around the world agreeing with Ms Davies and giving their own suggestions as to what may cause the distinct flavour. The viral TikTokker has since taken it upon herself to get to the bottom of the matter, taste testing four pasta salads from different stores in a desperate attempt to find out which ingredient leaves the unusual taste in her mouth. Australian mother Taylah Davies has sent TikTok into meltdown after claiming Woolworths' Creamy Pasta Salad has a distinct 'aftertaste' 'Why does it taste like TV static? Why is no one talking about this? It literally stains your mouth with TV static for the next hour,' Ms Davies said. 'What is that ingredient? Just take it out.' Hundreds commented they'd experienced the same taste while others even said the 'aftertaste' was worse if they had eaten it with metal cutlery. Taking the experiment to the next level, Ms Davies then filmed herself doing a blind taste test with variations of the pasta salad bought from Woolworths, Aldi, Coles and IGA. After trying a mouthful of each store's product she revealed that in her opinion Aldi's version tasted the best - but all four still left her tasting 'static'. Some speculated it may be the combination of vinegar and dijon mustard used in the dressing, while others suggested it was the starch of the pasta. Ms Davies decided to put her theory to the test and tried the pasta salad from different supermarkets including Coles, Woolworths, IGA and Aldi Others said the taste was simply down to the pairing of celery and spring onion while another blamed the red capsicum. A Woolworths spokesperson wasn't able to reveal if there was hidden ingredient in the popular salad but said it was a crowd favourite. 'The experience of taste is unique to everyone and one of the great joys of food is the discussion it generates,' they said. 'While it might not be for everyone, we know our Creamy Pasta Salad is a favourite for many customers, with millions of tubs sold each year.' Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. TDT | Manama The Daily Tribune www.newsofbahrain.com Bahrain Airport Company (BAC) Chief Executive Muhammad Yusef Al Banfalah paid an inspection visit to the aviation fuel depot complex at Bahrain International Airport, with the aim of determining its readiness and the ongoing preparations to start operating soon. Upon completion, the complex will help cement the Kingdom of Bahrains position as a prominent and advanced hub for aviation fuel supply services in the region and will contribute to advancing sustainable economic growth in the country in line with the goals of Bahrain Economic Vision 2030. During the visit, the Executive Director of the project and a member of the Board of Directors of the Bahrain Airport Jet Fuel Company, Engineer Abdul Majeed Al Qassab, explained the latest developments in the project and the safety measures that are strictly applied to ensure that the complex adheres to the highest international standards. Al Banfalah praised the great progress made by the project as the final stages of the complex are currently underway, and the necessary tests are being conducted, as well as the operational processes tested before the actual operation begins. He said that the necessary testing phase and the operational processes are proceeding smoothly as planned, which would help determine the aspects that need to be developed before the start of the operation. Al Banfalah expressed his happiness with the overall progress and the efforts of the work team to bring this very important project to the advanced stages today, stressing that the most important priority is to ensure that it will start safely and efficiently according to the set plans. The aviation fuel depot complex is an essential part of the Bahrain International Airport modernisation programme, as it will add significant value to the airlines business by facilitating fuel supply and maintenance at the airport, said Al Banfalah. It will also contribute to promoting the growth of the air transport, logistical services, and oil and gas sectors in the Kingdom, as well as its role in laying the foundations for a more sustainable and diversified economy in line with the objectives of Bahrain Economic Vision 2030. Michael Bunel/NurPhoto via Getty ImagesBunny Wailer, a founding member of The Wailers alongside the late Bob Marley and Peter Tosh, died Tuesday morning at a hospital in Kingston, Jamaica, the Jamaica Observer reports. He was 73. Wailer's manager Maxine Stowe confirmed the news to the newspaper, saying, "He died about 8:00 this morning." No cause of death was announced, but Bunny had suffered multiple strokes in recent years. Wailer, whose birth name was Neville Livingston, was raised in the Trench Town neighborhood of Kingston. He co-founded The Wailin' Wailers with Marley and Tosh in 1963, and contributed vocals and percussion to the group. He remained with the band after it changed its name to The Wailers. As The Wailers began to achieve international success, Wailer and Tosh saw their roles in the group diminished, and in 1973, they both exited the band to focus on solo careers. Over the years, Bunny released dozens of solo albums, and won three Grammys for Best Reggae Album. Marley died of cancer in May 1981, while Tosh was shot to death at his home in September 1987. In 2017, Wailer was honored by the Jamaican Government with a prestigious Order of Merit. By Matt Friedlander Copyright 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved. In a new commentary for the journal Science, an associate vice president for research at The University of Texas at Arlington argues that emerging protein-based immunotherapies could lead to highly effective "off-the-shelf" cancer treatments for more patients. Jon Weidanz, who also is a professor in the College of Nursing and Health Innovation at UTA, is the author of a perspective regarding the development of cancer immunotherapies. His article, "Targeting cancer with bispecific antibodies," will appear in the March 5 edition of Science. It evaluates the findings of three studies by researchers at Johns Hopkins University and proposes that an emerging method of protein-based immunotherapy that targets commonly occurring mutations in cancer cells or neoantigens--mutated antigens produced by tumor cells--could lead to treatments that are effective for oncology patients. Immunotherapy, a method to treat illness by stimulating a person's immune system, is a developing alternative to traditional cancer treatments. "Up until recently patients were limited to four treatment options: surgery, radiation, chemotherapy and targeted therapy," Weidanz said. "However, the holy grail has always been to develop strategies that would harness the power of the immune system to attack and destroy the cancer. With recent breakthroughs in immuno-oncology along with the new findings being published in Science, it does appear we are closing in on cancer with new immunotherapies." As medicine has advanced, immunologists have discovered ways to engineer a person's T-cells, the white blood cells that fight and kill infected cells, to recognize and target cancer cells and eliminate them from the body. This approach has led to exciting advances in the field and remission in some patients. However, more work is required to make this form of T-cell therapy more broadly accessible. Alternatively, researchers have developed approaches that stimulate the immune system without removing T-cells from the body. These "off-the-shelf" protein-based treatments, known as bispecific T-cell engaging antibodies, have proven effective in treating patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia, a type of blood cancer. The ideal is to create protein molecules that have two arms. One arm can recognize the cancer cell and bind to it. The other arm binds to T-cells. The protein drug then brings the T-cells into proximity with the tumor cells, which activate the T-cells to destroy the tumor cells." Jon Weidanz, Professor, College of Nursing and Health Innovation, Univesity of Texas, Arlington These two-armed, or bispecific, proteins would avoid healthy cells while destroying cancer cells. Weidanz argues that this method of protein-based immunotherapy could make a difference. The key comes down to the unique targets expressed by the cancer cells that the bispecific protein drug recognizes. Bispecific antibodies could bind to particular neoantigen targets found on tumor cells and recruit T-cells to destroy the cancer. "The beauty of bispecific proteins is that you could manufacture those proteins and put them on the shelf as an immunotherapy agent," Weidanz said. "If a doctor sees that a patient's cancer expresses the neoantigen target, they could be treated immediately. It's still a personalized medicine, but would not require engineering T-cells." An expert in immunology, Weidanz has more than 30 years of experience in biotechnology research with an emphasis on immunotherapy, especially related to oncology and product development to diagnose and treat cancer. His research lab at UTA investigates how the immune system identifies malignant cells with the goal of designing treatments that boost immune cells' ability to destroy cancerous cells. "Dr. Weidanz's substantial expertise in the field of immunology will lead us into the next generation of cancer management," said James Grover, interim vice president of research. "The developments of his lab and those of his many talented colleagues across the nation make this a pivotal moment in the history of a devastating disease." Weidanz said immunotherapy holds the promise of transforming cancer into a more manageable condition with better prognoses for patients. "We are getting to a point where we will be able to make cancer more of a chronic disease," Weidanz said. "Now, we look at five-year survival. Maybe we can start looking at 15- or 20-year survival readouts because we're able to manage the disease with immunotherapies that are being developed. It's a very exciting time." Nation fighting COVID-19 with all its strength: PM Narendra Modi at Mann ki Baat PM Modi inaugurates Maritime India Summit 2021, says USD 82 billion being invested in ports India oi-Madhuri Adnal New Delhi, Mar 02: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday inaugurated the 'Maritime India Summit 2021' through video conferencing. He also released the e-book 'Maritime India Vision 2030', during the video conference. India will invest USD 82 billion in port projects by 2035, raise share of clean renewable energy source in maritime sector, develop waterways and boost tourism around lighthouses as part of port-led development, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said. Speaking at the Maritime India Summit, he invited global investors to invest in Indian ports, shipyards and waterways. PM Narendra Modi said that the government's focus is on upgrading current infrastructure, creating next generation infrastructure, boosting reform journey. Speaking about the private investment, he said that we can boost private investment in port sector by encouraging investment. He said,''Our govt is investing in waterways in a way that was never seen before. Domestic waterways are found to be cost effective and environment friendly way for transporting freight. We aim to operationalize 23 waterways by 2030.'' ''India has as many as 189 lighthouses across its vast coastline. We have drawn up a program for developing tourism in the land adjacent to 78 lighthouses,' PM Modi further said. The Summit brings together many stakeholders relating to this sector. I am sure we will achieve great success in boosting the maritime economy. India is a natural leader in this sector. Our nation has a rich maritime history, said prime minister. ''Through this Summit, I want to invite the world to come to India and be a part of our growth trajectory. India is very sincere about growing in the maritime sector and emerging as leading blue economy of the world,'' PM Modi said during Maritime India Summit 2021. He also informed that the government is focusing on domestic ship building and ship repair market. It will provide financial assistance for shipyards. The Maritime India Summit 2021 is being organised by the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways on a virtual platform from March 2-4. Saddened by demise of BJP MP Nand Kumar Singh: PM Modi The summit will visualise a roadmap for India's maritime sector for the next decade and will work to propel India to the forefront of the global maritime sector, the statement said. Farmers' Protest: Delhi's Ghazipur border partially opens for vehicular traffic| Oneindia News Eminent speakers from several countries are expected to attend the summit and explore the potential business opportunities and investments in Indian Maritime domain, it said. Denmark is the partner country for the three-day summit. The statue of 17th century merchant, Edward Colston, falls into the water after protesters pulled it down during a protest following the death in Minneapolis police custody of George Floyd, in Bristol, England, on June 7, 2020. (Keir Gravil via Reuters) UK Statue Toppling Suspects Plead Not Guilty of Criminal Damage Four people who were charged for allegedly toppling a statue in Bristol during last years Black Lives Matter (BLM) protests have pleaded not guilty. The four people, who appeared at Bristol Crown Court on Tuesday, were accused of damaging the statue of Edward Colston, a 17th-century merchant, which was toppled during a Black Lives Matter protest in Bristol in June 2020, following the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis police custody. The four defendantsRhian Graham, 29, Milo Ponsford, 25, Jake Skuse, 32, and Sage Willoughby, 21were charged in December with causing criminal damage. After hearing their pleas of not guilty, judge Peter Blair set Dec. 13 as the start date for their trial, which is expected to last seven or eight days. A worker cleans the defaced statue of Winston Churchill, which was spray painted with the words was a racist, in London, on June 8, 2020. (Dan Kitwood/Getty Images) During last summers BLM riots, protesters in the UK defaced a statue of Winston Churchill in Londons Parliament Square, taping a Black Lives Matter sign to it and spraying it with graffiti. The protests triggered a series of acts of cultural revision in the UK, including the renaming of Gunga Din House, a senior boys boarding house at an independent Oxford school over perceived racist connotations; and the renaming by the University of Edinburgh of a campus building over 18th-century philosopher David Humes 260-year-old comments on race. The British Museum reorganized displays to reflect the exploitative context of the British Empire, prior to its reopening in August. In September 2020, the British government wrote to several museums and cultural institutions warning that their public funding could be called into question should they remove statues or other historical objects that have become the focus of protests or complaints. Britains Housing, Communities, and Local Government Secretary Robert Jenrick arrives at 10 Downing Street in central London, on March 17, 2020, (Tolga Akmen/AFP via Getty Images) On Jan. 17, Britains Communities Secretary Robert Jenrick announced new laws to protect Englands cultural and historic heritage, which said historic statues should not be destroyed but should be retained and explained for future generations. Writing in the Sunday Telegraph, Jenrick said, Any decisions to remove these heritage assets will require planning permission and councils will need to do so in accordance with their constitution, after consultation with the local community. Mary Clark, Tom Ozimek, and Reuters contributed to this report. Special Commissioner for the COVID emergency Domenico Arcuri speaks during a news conference as the country begins vaccinations against the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), at the Spallanzani hospital in Rome, Italy, Dec. 27, 2020. (Remo Casilli/File Photo/REUTERS) Italys Draghi Fires COVID Commissioner, With Vaccination Drive in Spotlight ROMEPrime Minister Mario Draghi on March 1 fired Italys special COVID-19 commissioner Domenico Arcuri and replaced him with an army logistics expert, in a signal the government wanted to speed up vaccinations. The move followed growing complaints about Arcuris handling of the crisis and concern that the anti-COVID vaccine campaign was moving forward too slowly. Its one of Draghis first major decisions since becoming premier in February and follows his firing last week of the chief of the civil protection agency. That step was also seen as an attempt to improve Italys response to the COVID crisis. The new coronavirus commissioner is General Francesco Paolo Figliuolo, a former commander of NATO forces in Kosovo and head of army logistics since 2018. Draghi told parliament in February that he wanted to involve the military in the nationwide vaccine roll-out plan. Italy launched its inoculation campaign at the end of December and has so far administered 4.3 million vaccines, including second shots. In all, it has received 6.3 million vaccine doses from manufacturers, but supply delays, which have also affected other European Union states, have hampered efforts. The country is due to receive millions of more doses this month, but critics have said theres no coherent plan in place to allow for the sort of massive vaccination programs that Britain and Israel instigated. Draghi said in February that there was a growing case for Italy to follow the British example of making it a priority to give first shots to as many people as possible. At present, many EU countries, including Italy, are following drugmaker recommendations to give people two separate vaccinations and are holding back doses as a result. Arcuri, who also heads the national investments agency Invitalia, was appointed special COVID commissioner in 2019 by the then-prime minister Giuseppe Conte. He has come under pressure in recent months after a judicial investigation alleged that one of his longtime acquaintances had received 12 million euros from a Chinese consortium after it won a major contract from the commissioners office. Magistrates have placed the friend under investigation for alleged corruption. Arcuri is not under investigation himself and has denied any wrongdoing. In its statement on March 1, Draghis office thanked Arcuri for his commitment and dedication in a moment of particular emergency for the country. By Crispian Balmer Following the conclusion of the James Webb Space Telescope's recent milestone tests, engineering teams have confirmed that the observatory will both mechanically, and electronically survive the rigors anticipated during launch. Credit: NASA/Chris Gunn February marked significant progress for NASA's James Webb Space Telescope, which completed its final functional performance tests at Northrop Grumman in Redondo Beach, California. Testing teams successfully completed two important milestones that confirmed the observatory's internal electronics are all functioning as intended, and that the spacecraft and its four scientific instruments can send and receive data properly through the same network they will use in space. These milestones move Webb closer to being ready to launch in October. These tests are known as the comprehensive systems test, which took place at Northrop Grumman, and the ground segment test, which took place in collaboration with the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore. Before the launch environment test, technicians ran a full scan known as a comprehensive systems test. This assessment established a baseline of electrical functional performance for the entire observatory, and all of the many components that work together to comprise the world's premiere space science telescope. Once environmental testing concluded, technicians and engineers moved forward to run another comprehensive systems test and compared the data between the two. After thoroughly examining the data, the team confirmed that the observatory will both mechanically and electronically survive the rigors of launch. Through the course of 17 consecutive days of systems testing, technicians powered on all of Webb's various electrical components and cycled through their planned operations to ensure each was functioning and communicating with each other. All electrical boxes inside the telescope have an "A" and "B" side, which allows redundancy in flight and added flexibility. During the test all commands were input correctly, all telemetry received was correct and all electrical boxes, and each backup side functioned as designed. "It's been amazing to witness the level of expertise, commitment and collaboration across the team during this important milestone," said Jennifer Love-Pruitt, Northrop Grumman's electrical vehicle engineering lead on the Webb observatory. "It's definitely a proud moment because we demonstrated Webb's electrical readiness. The successful completion of this test also means we are ready to move forward toward launch and on-orbit operations." Webb's recent systems scan confirms the observatory will withstand the launch environment. During its final full systems test, technicians powered on all of the James Webb Space Telescope's various electrical components installed on the observatory, and cycled through their planned operations to ensure each was functioning, and communicating with each other. Credit: NASA/Chris Gunn Following the completion of Webb's final comprehensive systems evaluation, technicians immediately began preparations for its next big milestone, known as a ground segment test. This test was designed to simulate the complete process from planning science observations to posting the scientific data to the community archive. Webb's final ground segment test began by first creating a simulated plan that each of its scientific instruments would follow. Commands to sequentially turn on, move, and operate each of four scientific instruments were then relayed from Webb's Mission Operations Center (MOC) at the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) in Baltimore. During the test, the observatory is treated as if it were a million miles away in orbit. To do this, the Flight Operations Team connected the spacecraft to the Deep Space Network, an international array of giant radio antennas that NASA uses to communicate with many spacecraft. However, since Webb isn't in space yet, special equipment was used to emulate the real radio link that will exist between Webb and the Deep Space Network when Webb is in orbit. Commands were then relayed through the Deep Space Network emulator to the observatory at Northrop Grumman. One of the unique aspects of Webb's final ground segment test occurred during a simulated flight environment when the team successfully practiced seamlessly switching over control from its primary MOC at STScI in Baltimore to the backup MOC at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. This demonstrated a backup plan that isn't anticipated to be needed but is necessary to practice and perfect prior to launch. Additionally, team members successfully sent multiple software patches to the observatory while it was performing its commanded operations. "Working in a pandemic environment, of course, is a challenge, and our team has been doing an excellent job working through its nuances. That's a real positive to highlight, and it's not just for this test but all of the tests we've safely completed leading up to this one," said Bonnie Seaton, deputy ground segment & operations manager at Goddard. "This recent success is attributable to many months of preparation, the maturity of our systems, procedures, and products and the proficiency of our team." When Webb is in space, commands will flow from STScI to one of the three Deep Space Network locations: Goldstone, California; Madrid, Spain; or Canberra, Australia. Signals will then be sent to the orbiting observatory nearly one million miles away. Additionally, NASA's Tracking and Data Relay Satellite networkthe Space Network in New Mexico, the European Space Agency's Malindi station in Kenya, and European Space Operations Centre in Germanywill help keep a constant line of communication open with Webb. Engineers and technicians continue to follow personal safety procedures in accordance with current CDC and Occupational Safety and Health Administration guidance related to COVID-19, including mask wearing and social distancing. The team is now preparing for the next series of technical milestones, which will include the final folding of the sunshield and deployment of the mirror, prior to shipment to the launch site. The next series of milestones for Webb include a final sunshield fold and a final mirror deployment. Explore further Ground segment testing a success for James Webb Space Telescope NHS workers could be forced to have Covid jabs under plans being discussed by ministers. The Mail can reveal that a review of vaccine passports will consider whether health staff who decline an injection could be legally obliged to have one. The review is also expected to look at whether compulsion should apply to care home staff, most of whom are not employed by the state. Ministers believe the move could cut the virus death toll and limit delays to the easing of lockdown. However there are major legal and moral issues as well as uncertainty as to what could happen to those who still refuse to be inoculated. As many as 200,000 NHS and care employees have refused the offer of a jab so far, despite working in close proximity to the vulnerable. It is extraordinary that so many people in the health sector appear to have turned down the vaccine, a Cabinet source told the Mail. The Mail can reveal that a review of vaccine passports will consider whether health staff who decline an injection could be legally obliged to have one. Pictured: A library image of a vaccinator administering the jab to a patient in Darlington Ministers believe the move could cut the virus death toll and limit delays to the easing of lockdown. Pictured: Prime Minister Boris Johnson at a vaccination centre on Monday It seems incredible that anyone working in that environment could give any credence to the rubbish put out by the anti-vaxxers. But we do need to get those people vaccinated. A spokesman for NHS England last night said many trusts were reporting that nine out of ten staff had had the jab. But ministers are keen to see the rate get as close to 100 per cent as possible because of the serious risks posed by hospital-acquired infections. Official figures last week revealed that 28 per cent of care home staff had still not been inoculated. Downing Street last night confirmed the issue was being looked at as part of a review led by Michael Gove into Covid status certification, otherwise known as vaccine passports. Mr Hancock yesterday appeared to indicate that some form of vaccine certificate would be introduced, telling MPs it was clear that we will need to provide people with the ability to certify whether they have had the jab. He said ministers would need to absolutely take into consideration those who have a certified clinical reason why they cant have the jab which does apply to a relatively small number of people but it is an important consideration that will be taken forward as part of that work. NHS and care staff were given top priority for the jab, with offers rolled out to frontline workers from December. But a persistent minority have so far refused all offers and encouragement. The review will have to consider what sanction health workers should face if they refuse to have a compulsory job. Sackings could be a recipe for industrial unrest, but staff could be moved away from frontline duties or required to use additional PPE. Analysis by the Health Service Journal found that an average of more than 450 Covid cases a day were probably acquired in hospitals in January. Hospital infections have also been a major cause of staff sickness piling pressure on the over-stretched NHS. The situation in care homes is thought to have been at least as acute. Care UK, which operates 120 homes, said last week that it would take on only staff who have been vaccinated. A spokesman said: Everyone applying for a role which requires them to go into a home will be expected to have been vaccinated before they start work. Chris Whitty, chief medical officer for England, last month said NHS staff had a professional responsibility to have a jab. NHS England last night said the vast majority of staff were vaccinated and urged the rest to come forward. A spokesman added: While it is for Government and parliament to decide which groups of people are required to get the vaccine, the NHS national medical director and chief nurse agree with Chris Whitty, with the chairman of the BMA and other professional leaders that NHS staff have a duty to be vaccinated unless they have a valid clinical reason not to do so. Mr Goves review is due to be published ahead of the final stage of the lockdown exit roadmap on June 21. It will examine whether there should be a system enabling people to access services on the basis of their vaccine or Covid test status. A Government spokesman has acknowledged that any form of scheme would raise significant ethical, equalities, privacy, legal and operational issues. 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 Biden administration on Monday indicated it is still undecided on ending the Trump-era ban on issuing of new H-1B visas, with the Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas asserting that its top priority is the acute needs of individuals fleeing persecution. In January, the then President Donald Trump had extended the ban on issuing of new H-1B visas till March 31 arguing that the country is having a very high unemployment rate and the US cannot afford to have more foreign workers. "His successor President Joe Biden has revoked dozens of the executive orders of Trump including several of those related to immigration like the lifting the Muslim visa ban or those related to Green Card, the one that imposed ban on issuing H-1B has still not been lifted. It will expire on March 31, if Biden does not issue a fresh proclamation. "What is the status of the review of the Trump era visa bans for H1B visas and has the White House decided to lift those bans before they expire at the end of the month?" Mayorkas was asked at a White House news conference. "I don't really (know)--I hate to end the questioning on a question. The answer to which I am not certain. But this goes to what proceeded us. We have so much work to do to repair and to restore and to rebuild that we have a prioritization matrix and of course, the acute needs of individuals fleeing persecution is a high priority. Which brings me to this meeting this morning," Mayorkas said in response. At the same time, the US Citizenship and Immigration Services has gone ahead with its H-1B application allocation process for the fiscal year beginning October 1, 2021. Last month it announced that it has received enough applications to allocate 65,000 H-1B visas and another 20,000 H-1B visas to those who have completed their higher education from US universities. Biden has revoked a policy issued by his predecessor during the COVID-19 pandemic that blocked many Green Card applicants from entering the US, a move that will benefit many Indians working in America on the H-1B visa. Trump, a Republican, issued the ban last year, saying it was needed to protect US workers amid high unemployment due to the coronavirus pandemic. A Green Card, known officially as a Permanent Resident Card, is a document issued to immigrants to the US as evidence that the bearer has been granted the privilege of residing permanently. Indian IT professionals, most of whom are highly skilled and come to the US mainly on the H-1B work visas, are the worst sufferers of the current immigration system which imposes a seven per cent per country quota on allotment of the coveted Green Card or permanent legal residency. The H-1B visa, the most sought after among Indian IT professionals, is a non-immigrant visa that allows US companies to employ foreign workers in speciality occupations that require theoretical or technical expertise. Technology companies depend on it to hire tens of thousands of employees each year from countries like India and China. The US is currently facing a backlog of nearly 473,000 qualified family-based Green Card requests. As a result of Trump's ban on issuing green cards, as many as 120,000 family-based preference visas were lost. But this came as a big boon for issuing employment-based green cards, mainly those on H-1B visas. Thousands of Indian IT professionals who painstakingly waited for their Green Card received their legal permanent residency as a result in the last few months of the Trump administration. Also read: PM Modi dials Joe Biden, discusses regional, climate change issues The online payments platform development company Stripe announced last year that it will buy the Nigerian-based Fintech company Paystack. Stripe is one of the highly valued privately-owned tech startups. Paystack provides service for about 60,000 businesses in Africa. Stripe didn't disclose the real worth of the merger and acquisition, but a TechCrunch source put the deal at over $200 million. Fintech industry watchers see this move as one of the most significant in the online payments industry. With Paystack already processing payments for close to 50% of the online transactions in Nigeria and Ghana, its acquisition by Stripe will boost the expansion of its service to other African countries. So, what will one of the largest tech acquisitions of a Nigerian-based startup do for Fintech in Africa? Here are more details about the recent merger and its potential to expand online payment processing in Africa. A Rundown of the Merge From Stripe's own newsroom, we learn that acquiring Paystack is a move to accelerate online business across Africa. African businesses will grow and global companies will move into the continent with the fastest growth in mobile telephony. The online economy in Africa is expanding rapidly, with online commerce growth estimated at 21 percent year-on-year. This growth rate is 75 percent higher than the current global average. The agreement Stripe made to acquire Paystack can lead to a sharp increase in the online GDP of the continent. Paystack's payment solution and APIs make it easy for businesses of varied sizes to process payments online and offline from different parts of the world. Paystack clients use their platform to develop new business models and build better customer relationships. Presently, Paystack's platform processes over 50 percent of the online transactions in their home country. The company also has plans for rapid growth across Africa and recently started a pilot scheme with South African businesses. The popularity of online businesses in South Africa has risen in recent years. Having the capability to receive payments online is now a prerequisite for businesses of all sizes. From online shopping sites to bill payments, to online gaming and casinos, the importance of electronic payment systems cannot be overemphasized. With the ever-increasing number of internet-enabled mobile devices in South Africa, many online casinos are available to gamers within and outside the country. While most of them accept USD as their currency for transactions, many South African casinos now accept the Rand. Accepting South African Rand for transactions makes it easy for gamers to avoid the additional currency conversion fees when making a withdrawal or deposit. With payment gateways like Paystack, gamblers can take advantage of the most convenient payment method that offers low fees and fast transactions. What Comes After the Acquisition of Paystack? The merger will most likely be successful. Paystack and Stripe have had a close working relationship. Stripe led the Series A funding of Paystack in 2018 and has offered professional guidance for the company to scale its operations. Stripe's business team lead, Matt Henderson, said that the company has achieved in five years what other companies have not been able to achieve in decades. He said that the technology-first approach, the values, and ambition of Paystack align with those at Stripe. As a result, they believe that acquiring Paystack is a smart decision. The acquisition will allow Paystack to develop new solutions, support new businesses and reduce the fragmentation in the African online payments market. Paystack's acquisition will not stop them from operating independently. The company will have the freedom to add more global payment methods and scale its operations on the continent. Over the next few years, Paystack's capabilities will be added to the Global Payments and Treasury Network managed by Stripe. This programmable platform for international monetary movement is now available in over 40 countries. On his part, Shola Akinlade, CEO of Paystack, is delighted to combine forces with Stripe to nurture creative businesses in Africa. From the Paystack blog, he said he has a firm belief that African tech creators and entrepreneurs can do amazing things when they have access to the right tools. With the resources obtained from Stripe, the company is set to speed up its geographical expansion, launch additional payment channels, and deepen integrations with other global payment platforms. Benefits of Online Payments in Africa A robust payment gateway, like the one offered by Paystack, gives a merchant the ability to expand outside of their local base and boost revenue. Using online payment systems improves security, reduces costs, and increases the number of payment options. It also appeals to impulse buyers and it helps to increase sales through affiliates. For companies whose business is based on a subscription model like software-as-a-service, online payment is the most effective way of collecting recurring revenues. The acquisition of Paystack by Stripe and the growth of various locally developed payment gateways like M-Pesa will boost e-commerce in Africa. Many new businesses will spring up and use these payment platforms to broaden their reach and increase revenue. 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. credit: Toons mag Much has been written about police departments using taxpayer dollars to create their own Public Relations (PR) departments. But this latest twist might leave you screaming for justice for George Floyd's killers. As Dan Grossi from the Police1 website admits, a police department's public information officer (PIO) sometimes isn't enough to convince the public to believe their version of events. "With police-public relations more complicated than ever, a highly trained PR department can help manage an agencys image." "Law enforcement agencies should be deploying public relations strategies to establish a positive relationship with the community before an incident occurs." As Discover Policing reveals, police departments enlist an entire network of "Community Policing" to push their version of events. From PIO's to PR departments, law enforcement has a near endless list of tools at its disposal. Police departments go out of their way to influence government agencies like city hall, health and human services, faith-based community groups, neighborhood groups, schools, private businesses, non-profits, police advocacy groups and the media. An article in the Minnesota Reformer reveals, that the Minneapolis City Council is hiring social media influencers to change the public's opinion about George Floyd's killing. "The area around the downtown Minneapolis courthouse where Derek Chauvin will soon go on trial for the murder of George Floyd is gradually taking on the look of military occupation." It appears that the Minneapolis Police Department police is not happy with using the traditional ways of influencing the public. "Before Scott Fletcher was elected to the City Council, he was out in the streets organizing protests, training protesters, serving as protest marshal all of it. Now that hes part of the government, hes trying to use his protest experience to help residents through the trial." Does anyone else find it a bit suspicious that a protest marshal who was "organizing protests and training protesters" has convinced the city to hire social media influencers? "The city plans to share information on the ground and online and get input from the public through community members who meet regularly; create safety toolkits for residents and community groups and form a community information network, including partnerships with media." Police departments use community members or "community liaison officers" to help influence the public. "One common duty of a community liaison officer is to give safety presentations to community organizations and schools. They also may work to improve problematic areas, neighborhoods, or cities and visit with citizens to increase crime awareness and prevention. Additionally, community liaison officers may also host or attend regular community meetings." City pays over $1 million to spread police departments' version of events Minneapolis has set aside nearly $1.2 million in taxpayer dollars to create the "Community Organizations For Public Safety And Engagement Services" to help spread the police departments' version of events. "Leverage existing City roles: Utilize the network of staff who have roles relevant to the work around 38th and Chicago, community safety and engagement to share information out and share back community concerns. " Only "trusted paid social media influencers" will be allowed to post City generated and approved messages. "Social media influencers: Paid partnerships with community members who are considered trusted messengers and have large social media presence to share City generated and approved messages. These partners also support our JIS situation monitoring so we can address/dispel incorrect information." The city of Minneapolis is going out of its way to influence the community and black-led media. "Local media partnerships: Enhanced partnerships with local media who have reach into our BIPOC and under-represented or under-served communities and residents who dont rely on mainstream media/City channels for their news. Ensure partnerships with Black-led media." According to the Minnesota Reformer, the city of Minneapolis is blanketing social media with their own version of events, "The city is finalizing contracts with six social media influencers to share messages with the African American, American Indian, East African, Hmong and Latino/a/x communities, city spokeswoman Sarah McKenzie said." "The city has also expanded its cultural radio programs on KMOJ, WIXK, KALY and La Raza, which reach the African American/Black, Hmong, Somali and Latino/a/x communities by going from bimonthly or monthly programs to weekly programs." It is hard for anyone but the most fervent pro-police supporters not to see how closely Minneapolis's community policing parallels that of the "Voice of America". "The Voice of America is an American international broadcaster funded by the United States Congress. It is the largest and oldest U.S. funded international broadcaster. VOA produces digital, TV, and radio content in 47 languages which it distributes to affiliate stations around the globe. It is primarily viewed by foreign audiences, so VOA programming has an influence on public opinion abroad regarding the United States and its people." Is community policing paid for by the DOJ and taxpayer dollars? Yes. Does community policing use PIO's, PR departments, digital, TV, and radio to influence public opinion,? Yes. Does anyone else find it ironic that some of the most outspoken agencies of fake news over the past few years have been law enforcement? How can police departments who employ a network of PIO officers, PR departments and social media influencers claim that stories about police violence are fake news? Michigan reported 1,569 new coronavirus cases and 12 new deaths between Sunday and Monday, Feb. 28 through March 1. That means that the last two days averaged an additional 785 cases. The state is averaging 1,107 new COVID-19 cases per day and 25 new deaths per day over the last week. This is the second straight day the seven-day average of cases increased. Since the start of the pandemic, Michigan has reported 589,150 confirmed cases and 15,543 deaths related to COVID-19. Additionally, the state has reported 58.265 probable cases and 985 probable deaths, in which a physician and/or antigen test ruled it COVID-19 but no confirmatory PCR test was done. (The above chart shows Michigans 7-day rolling average of new confirmed coronavirus cases. You can put your cursor over a bar to see the number. You also can click on the option just below the headline to see the actual number of new cases reported by day.) Sixty-eight of Michigans 83 counties reported new cases between Sunday and Monday. Wayne County led in new cases with 316, with the next closest being Macomb and Oakland with 157 and 149, respectively. Other top reporting counties included Kent with 126 additional cases, Genesee with 94, Washtenaw with 61, Ingham with 40, Livingston with 36, Bay with 34 and Jackson with 32. Eleven counties each reported a new death with Bay and Eaton counties leading the way with two apiece. Wayne, Kent, Genesee, Barry, Tuscola, Cheboygan, Otsego, Gogebic and Marquette each reported one. (The above chart shows Michigans 7-day rolling average of deaths involving confirmed coronavirus cases. You can put your cursor over a bar to see the number. You also can click on the option just below the headline to see the actual number of new deaths reported by day.) Hospitals statewide were treating 824 patients with confirmed or suspected cases of COVID-19 on Monday, including 195 patients in the ICU. Thats nearly the same hospitalizations as Monday, Feb. 22, but ICU patients are down from 225 at the time. Of the 20,686 diagnostic tests processed on Sunday, 4.37% came back positive for SARS-CoV-2. The average positivity rate over the last seven days is 3.55%. As of Wednesday, Michigan had administered more than 2.35 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine. That includes about 1.51 million first doses, and 859,526 second doses. The Moderna and Pfizer vaccines recommend two doses administered weeks apart. Read more: 6 things you need to know about new Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine Case reporting First is a chart showing new cases reported to the state each day for the past 30 days. This is based on when a confirmed coronavirus test is reported to the state, which means the patient first became sick days before. You can call up a chart for any county, and you can put your cursor over a bar to see the date and number of cases. (In a few instances, a county reported a negative number (decline) in daily new cases, following a retroactive reclassification by the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services. In those instances, we subtracted cases from the prior date and put 0 in the reported date.) The next chart below shows new cases for the past 30 days based on onset of symptoms. In this chart, numbers for the most recent days are incomplete because of the lag time between people getting sick and getting a confirmed coronavirus test result, which can take up to a week or more. You can call up a chart for any county, and you can put your cursor over a bar to see the date and number of cases. For more statewide data, visit MLives coronavirus data page, here. To find a testing site near you, check out the states online test finder, here, send an email to COVID19@michigan.gov, or call 888-535-6136 between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. on weekdays. Read more on MLive: Mental health struggles are surging in Michigan families during the pandemic. Here are their stories. The pandemics psychological toll on our children Letter from the Editor: We asked students, parents and teachers, Are you OK? They said no When will I get vaccinated? The No. 1 pandemic question thats making Michiganders nervous Florida, beach parties and road trips: Not all Michigan colleges canceling spring break this year Here are todays leading news stories: Politics -- The pilot organization of urban administration in Ho Chi Minh City and central Da Nang City was discussed at a meeting of standing government members in Hanoi on Monday. The event was chaired by Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc. Society -- The Ministry of Health recorded 11 local COVID-19 infections in the northern province of Hai Duong on Tuesday morning, raising the countrys tally to 2,472, with 1,892 recoveries and 35 deaths. -- Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc on Monday afternoon issued a letter to praise Nguyen Ngoc Manh for saving a three-year-old girl who fell from the 12th floor of an apartment building in Hanoi on Sunday. The premier also awarded Manh a certificate of merit on the same day. -- Leaders of northern Hai Duong Province have decided to end social distancing and lift lockdown on Chi Linh City and Cam Giang District from March 3 as the COVID-19 situation has been controlled well during the past 33 days. -- The Hanoi Peoples Committee on Monday announced that local restaurants and cafes would be allowed to reopen from 0:00 on Tuesday, but strict COVID-19 prevention and control measures would have to be taken at these venues. -- The Ministry of Public Security confirmed on Monday it had initiated legal proceedings against the incumbent and former directors of the health department in the Mekong Delta city of Can Tho for violations of bidding regulations. -- A 61-year-old man suffered serious arm and leg injuries after drilling suspected mortar ammunition in the northern province of Dien Bien on Monday afternoon. Business -- Vietnams export value of aquatic products reached US$405 million in February, spurring the figure in the first two months of 2021 to over $1 billion, up by 2.2 percent year-on-year, according to the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers. -- From February 27 to March 31, passengers of domestic flights operated by budget carrier Vietjet will receive a special gift of 20kg checked baggage in addition to 7kg hand luggage for free. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! Armenia ex-president Kocharyan gives interview to Russia newspaper Armenia acting deputy PM on unblocking of roads with Azerbaijan: There will be no troops standing there Nikkei: Toyota and Honda stop car production in Malaysia Armenia official on deploying international observers at Azerbaijan border: You will hear reaction on this matter soon USAID helps UN World Food Programme support displaced people in Armenia Armenia official: Work of trilateral working group on roads unblocking has stopped after recent incidents Russias Putin to Armenias Pashinyan: Relations between our countries are developing very successfully Armenia health minister: Improper storage of fallen soldiers bodies, remains was my omission 108 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia Armenia President to children: I believe that you will make our country much better Armenia CEC publicizes complete lists of political forces registered to run in snap parliamentary elections World oil prices going up Queen Elizabeth turns down PM's offer to name new royal yacht after Prince Philip Armenia parliament discusses 2020 state budget report Newspaper: Armenia acting FM resigns after 3rd attempt Newspaper: Yerevan mayor to leave office Israel, UAE sign tax treaty Newspaper: Even vagrants are persuaded, taken to Armenia acting PM Pashinyans rally in Vanadzor Swedish defense minister demands explanation from Denmark over spy scandal Acting Deputy PM: Armenia has not discussed and will not discuss issues within logic of "corridor" Armenia Central Electoral Commission determines numbers of political parties for elections Armenia 2nd President visits Cathedral of the Holy Mother of God in Gyumri (PHOTOS) Opposition Armenia bloc representative: We're running in elections to win Azerbaijan MFA comments on calls for release of Armenian POWs with infinite hypocrisy EC: Vaccinated citizens should be exempted from tests, quarantine when traveling within EU Armenia Ombudsman discusses rights of 6 captured Armenian servicemen with ICRC Delegation head EU ready to use all the tools at its disposal to change Turkey's behavior Yerevan court obliges to abolish violation of rights of Armenia Supreme Judicial Council ex-chairman Greek and Turkish leaders to meet in June on sidelines of NATO summit Armenia Central Electoral Commission to set up 2,008 polling stations for snap parliamentary elections Iranian companies to participate in reconstructing territories under Azerbaijan's control Opposition Armenia bloc's representative on acting PM's invitation to debate with 1st and 2nd Presidents Armenia acting FM dismissed upon presidential decree Body of brother of Armenian criminal authority "Don Pipo" found under bridge 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 Two Americans have been extradited to Japan in relation to Lebanese businessman Carlos Ghosns escape from the country. Former US Army Green Beret Michael Taylor and his son Peter Taylor were extradited to Japan on Tuesday morning, a Justice Department spokeswoman told Al-Monitor. The Taylors were first arrested in May of last year in the US state of Massachusetts after a Japanese request in relation to Ghosns escape from Japan. Ghosn was CEO of the Japanese car company Nissan from 2001-2017 and chairman from 2001-2018. He was arrested in 2018 in Japan for alleged financial misconduct, which he denied. He was released on bail in April 2019. He then fled to Lebanon via a flight to Istanbul in what later became a highly publicized escape at the end of the same year. Court documents the Justice Department sent to Al-Monitor allege that the Taylors flew to Japan and helped facilitate his escape. A lawyer for the Taylors did not immediately respond to Al-Monitors request for comment. Their attorneys previously told NBC Boston that their clients denied the charges. This distinguished former member of the US Army Special Forces and his son did not commit any crime and are being pursued by Japan in an effort to save face after the departure of Carlos Ghosn from their country, they said, as reported by the outlet. A US Supreme Court justice ruled in favor of the extradition in February following an emergency appeal. Japan also named a Lebanese citizen as an accomplice in the escape, according to Agence France-Presse. Lionbridge to sharpen focus and accelerate investments in innovative technology solutions for core language market WALTHAM, Mass., March 2, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Lionbridge, a global leader in translation and localization solutions, today confirmed the close of the previously announced sale of its artificial intelligence (AI) division, Lionbridge AI , to TELUS International (NYSE and TSX: TIXT), a digital customer experience innovator that designs, builds and delivers next-generation solutions for global and disruptive brands. TELUS International is a subsidiary of Canada-based TELUS Corporation (T-TSX; NYSE-TU), a leading communications and information technology company. The transaction closed on December 31, 2020. Lionbridge AI will complement TELUS International's expanding portfolio of next-generation digital solutions as the organizations team up to support the rapidly advancing field of artificial intelligence. The sale of Lionbridge AI will further Lionbridge's commitment to delivering innovation for its core language customers across technology, life sciences, games, digital commerce and more. "Combining Lionbridge's AI business with TELUS International's advanced set of digital platforms will create a newly formed company with a unique set of cutting-edge solutions. In addition to enhancing TELUS International's go-to-market strategy, we felt this merger was a very good cultural fit for our talented global team given our companies' shared commitment to employee engagement and well-being," said John Fennelly, CEO of Lionbridge. "I have no doubt that our AI team and their expanding community will continue to thrive as part of TELUS International." "2021 will mark the 25th anniversary of Lionbridge and there is no better time for us to return to our roots, lead the way in transforming the language space and continue to deepen our relationships with our customers," continued Fennelly. "I'm excited for the possibilities in store as we enter this next chapter and accelerate our focus on innovation, technology and bringing new products and services to market." Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC acted as financial advisor and Kirkland & Ellis LLP served as legal advisor to Lionbridge in connection with the transaction. About Lionbridge Lionbridge partners with brands to break barriers and build bridges all over the world. For 25 years, we have helped companies connect with their global customers and employees by delivering translation and localization solutions in 350+ languages. Through our world-class platform, we orchestrate a network of passionate experts across the globe who partner with brands to create culturally rich experiences. Relentless in our love of linguistics, we use the best of human and machine intelligence to forge understanding that resonates with our customers' customers. Based in Waltham, Massachusetts, Lionbridge maintains solution centers in 26 countries. Learn more at www.lionbridge.com. Media Contact Stephanie Carone Lionbridge [email protected] +1-781-434-6000 SOURCE Lionbridge Related Links http://www.lionbridge.com When cinephiles hear the surname Lucas, the first person who invariably springs to mind is George, the man who created the Star Wars franchise, and in the process changed mainstream American cinema forever. But while his movie successes are undeniably impressive, theres one achievement that was always just beyond him. Despite receiving Best Director and Best Writing nominations for both American Graffiti and Star Wars, Lucas has never won an Oscar, but another member of his family has. Georges first wife Marcia picked up the award for Best Editing back in 1978 for her work on Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope, alongside Paul Hirsch and Richard Chew. I love editing and Im real gifted at it, she said in an interview back in 1983. I have an innate ability to take good material and make it better, or take bad material and make it fair. Im compulsive about it. Born in Modesto, California, on October 4, 1945, Marcia was mostly raised in North Hollywood. After studying chemistry at Los Angeles City College she worked at the Sandler Film Library as a film librarian, where her appreciation for editing first emerged. By 1967, she was at Sandler Films alongside Verna Fields, who would later win an Academy Award herself for "Jaws." This is also where she met her future husband and collaborator George, who at the time was a film school graduate from USC. After working as Lucas's assistant editor on his debut "THX-1138," a dystopian sci-fi where mankind lives in underground authoritarian cities, Marcia edited his follow-up, "American Graffiti," with Fields in 1973. It was Marcias work on Lucas deeply personal coming of age comedy that really established her as one of the best editors in Hollywood. After Fields left to edit Peter Bogdanovichs "Whats Up, Doc?", George struggled with the films complicated structure, and its running time exploded to the gargantuan size of 3 and a half hours. Marcia helped George move away from rigorously following the films main characters Curt, Steve, John, and Toads stories in synchronized order. She sliced down various scenes, threw some away entirely, and even combined them when necessary. The result struck a chord with critics and audiences alike, and "American Graffiti" became one of the most profitable films ever made, while earning Marcia her first Academy Award nomination for editing. Unsurprisingly, Martin Scorsese quickly jumped at the chance to work with Marcia. Between 1974 and 1977 she edited three of his films. The dramatic comedy "Alice Doesnt Live Here Anymore," which resulted in Ellen Burstyn winning the Best Actress Oscar, followed by the all round masterpiece that is "Taxi Driver," and then the subversive yet hugely ambitious musical/drama New York, New York. George had initially decided that he should hire someone else to edit "Star Wars" so that his wife could escape his rather large shadow, which had started to obscure her own career. But then George asked her to replace John Jympson in the position, and she turned the film into a much more emotional and exciting adventure. Marcias assistance on the sci-fi epic wasnt just confined to the editing bay. As he worked on the script for the film, she was the one who suggested that Alec Guinness Obi-Wan Kenobi should die at the hands of Darth Vader. Throughout the writing process, Marcia was Georges sounding board, questioning him when certain sections didnt make sense or sounded too corny, while also giving him the necessary encouragement. Her crowning moment being when she reassembled the final action sequence in the Death Star trench. Thanks to her ingenious assembly, it managed to build in tension and then deliver a satisfying and rousing conclusion that undoubtedly contributed massively to the films popularity. After the release of "Star Wars"and "New York, New York" in 1977, though, Marcia nearly stopped working as an editor. She did uncredited edits on "More American Graffiti" and "The Empire Strikes Back," and officially edited "Return Of The Jedi" alongside Sean Barton and Duwayne Dunham, while also constantly making suggestions for Lucas other projects. Most notably, after watching an early screening of Raiders Of The Lost Ark, Marcia turned to her husband and director Steven Spielberg and told them there was no emotional resolution to the ending because Jones's love interest Marion Ravenwood just disappeared. Spielberg instantly agreed, and shot an additional scene in San Francisco that showed Ravenwood waiting for Jones outside a building mocked up to look like it was in Washington, D.C. But as Georges focus fixated on the ever expanding Star Wars and Indiana Jones series, as well as building Industrial Light & Magic, Lucasfilm, and Skywalker Ranch, their marriage started to struggle. By the middle of 1982, Marcia had asked George for a divorce, which was finally announced in June, 1983. Since then Marcia has basically lived in anonymity and has given no interviews. Her only credit has been as an executive producer on "No Easy Way," a drama about a pianist becoming friends with a panhandler that was forgotten about as soon as it was released in 1996. Worse than that, though, even her contributions to "Star Wars" have been overlooked. Those who were involved know how important Marcia was to the process, though. In fact, back in 2013, Mark Hamill told Freak Central that you can see a huge difference in the films Lucas has done since he was divorced. She was really the warmth and the heart of those films, a good person he could talk to, bounce ideas off of, who would tell him when he was wrong, said Hamill. Considering the reaction to the "Star Wars" prequels and Georges distance from the franchise now, its not a stretch to say that Marcia was actually the glue that kept the galaxy far, far away together. Or, at the very least, helped repair it when it needed to be fixed. Gregory Wakeman is a Los Angeles-based freelance culture writer. His writing has appeared in The New York Times, Yahoo Movies UK, Metro US, and Four Four Two, among other publications. The Tri-States TRUSTED news source. Click here to stay informed and subscribe to Herald-Dispatch. Click #isupportlocal for more information on supporting our local journalists. Learn more about HD Media FBI Director Chris Wray testified Tuesday for the first time since the deadly Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol, calling it an act of 'domestic terrorism' while saying an FBI warning hours before the event was disseminated more widely than had been known. 'There were clearly some individuals involved, which I would consider the most dangerous who did have plans and intentions and some level of coordination,' Wray said. 'Certainly the capitol attack involved violence extremists,' Wray said, calling it 'a form of domestic terrorism.' Wray spoke after Senate Judiciary Chairman Sen. Richard Durbin called violent white supremacist violence and domestic terrorism 'the most persistent and lethal threat in the homeland' setting the tone for a hearing that focused on threats posed by extremists. The Senate Judiciary hearing began with a dramatic video presentation including comments from Capitol Police officers who battled rioters, complete with images of confederate flags and white supremacist paraphernalia among rioters. 'The hate on display that terrible day is not a new phenomenon in our country, said Durbin (D-Illinois), the Senate Judiciary Committee chairman, at the start of the hearing. 'I was appalled like you at the violence and destruction that we saw that day,' he told senators. 'The problem of domestic terrorism has been metastasizing across the country for a long time now and it's not going away any time soon,' said Wray. FBI Director Christopher Wray testified for the first time since the January 6th MAGA riot Tuesday. He called the attack a form of 'domestic terrorism' Wray told lawmakers federal agents have made more than 270 arrests since January 6th, with 270,000 digital media tips from Americans. 'Some have even taken the painful step of turning in their friends or their family members,' he said. Durbin asked Wray if he had seen any evidence of online conspiracy theories that rioters, many clad in pro-Trump gear, were 'fake' Trump supporters carrying out a false flag operation. 'We have not seen evidence of that,' Wray testified. 'When it comes to racially motivated violent extremism, the number of investigations and number of arrests has grown significantly on my watch,' Wray said. Wray also spoke about a 'raw' threat warning from the FBI's Norfolk field office that was sent the night before the riot warning of plans for 'war' on the Capitol. He addressed a comment from the head of D.C. police that the warning deserved a phone call, not just an email. Wray said it was communicated through an email to the Joint Terrorism Task Force. He also said it was transmitted 'verbally through the command post briefing that we had,' as well as through a nationwide law enforcement portal. The briefing was at the Washington, D.C. command post at the Washington field office, he said. 'I didnt see the report myself even until after the 6th,' he said. He said it was a 'belt and suspenders' approach. But he also allowed: 'I do not consider what happened on January 6th to be an acceptable result.' Questioned by Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), Wray declined to say how the Capitol Police should have responded when they received it. In this Feb. 2, 2021 file photo, acting U.S. Capitol Police Chief Yogananda Pittman pays respects to U.S. Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick in the Capitol Rotunda in Washington. Wray did not provide details on the state of the Sicknick investigation Wray testified about different groups of people who took part in the events, including those who merely protested, those who got swept up in events, and those who planned the Capitol breach in advance 'I really want to be careful not to be an armchair quarterback here,' he said. Durbin's counterpart, ranking Republican Sen. Charles Grassley of Iowa, gave a hint of how the hearing might break down on partisan lines when he repeatedly referenced summer protests as well as violence and vandalism at government buildings in Portland. 'We're not serious about tackling domestic extremism if we care about some government buildings being attacked, but not others,' he said. Grassley expressed surprise at violent antifa demonstrations at Democratic Party headquarters in Oregon the day President Joe Biden was sworn in. 'You'd think the results of the election ought to satisfy 'em,' Grassley said. 'We don't want Biden. We want revenge for police murders, imperialist wars, and fascist massacres,' read a banner demonstrators held up during the march where the vandalism occurred. Questions about the FBI's preparations for the riot, and investigations into it, are expected to dominate Wray's appearance Tuesday before the Senate Judiciary Committee. He's also likely to be pressed on how the FBI is confronting the national security threat from white nationalists and domestic violent extremists and whether the bureau has adequate resources to address the problem. The violence at the Capitol made clear that a law enforcement agency that revolutionized itself after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks to deal with international terrorism is now scrambling to address homegrown violence from white Americans. President Joe Biden's administration has tasked his national intelligence director to work with the FBI and Department of Homeland Security to assess the threat. Jacob Anthony Angeli Chansley, known as the QAnon Shaman, is seen at the Capital riots Acting Capitol Police chief Yogananda Pittman testified about a warning the FBI sent up from the FBI's Norfolk field office the day before the Capitol riot Wray has kept a notably low profile since a violent mob of insurrectionists stormed the Capitol two months ago. Though he has briefed lawmakers privately and shared information with local law enforcement hearings, Tuesday's oversight hearing will mark Wray's first public appearance before Congress since before November's presidential election. The FBI is facing questions over how it handled intelligence in the days ahead of the riot and whether warnings it had of potential violence reached the correct officials. Last week, for instance, the acting chief of the Capitol Police said a Jan. 5 report from the FBI made its way to investigators within the police force and to the departments intelligence unit but was never sent up the chain of command. The report warned about concerning online posts foreshadowing a 'war' in Washington the following day. The FBI has said the report, which it says was based on uncorroborated information, was shared through its joint terrorism task force. Wray may also face questions about the FBI's investigation into the massive Russian hack of corporations and U.S. government agencies, which happened when elite hackers injected malicious code into a software update. It was just so surreal watching a humbled Donald Trump take the stage at CPAC, visibly shaken by his election loss, bend the knee to Romney-Cheney Republicanism, and express his hope that the attack dogs in the press would leave him alone during his twilight years away from the public eye. Er...nope. That doesn't even sound believable. The only place where that establishment fantasy played out was the online fan fiction board of the Hillary ClintonJohn KasichBen Sasse mutual support and suffering group. Most presidents leave office looking worse for wear; six weeks after being deplatformed by the swamp, Donald Trump looks more like a wrestler getting ready to rumble. If Washington thought it could weaken President Trump's appeal by making him an "enemy of the state" and trashing his supporters as seditionists, it miscalculated. If anything, the D.C. mafia cemented his status as the quintessential outsider against whom all future outsiders will be compared, and it has only made the president's in-your-face, take-no-prisoners style of political pugilism more cutting. In his first public speech since being "Myanmared," Trump used his opportunity at CPAC to batter Biden's incompetence, rally conservatives to his banner, and dispose of those members in his party who still prefer electing Democrats. As he read through the list of Republicans who helped instigate a second fake impeachment with a personal promise to destroy them one by one, that unique Trump swagger was in overdrive. He sounded like a mix of Johnny Cash's "man goin' 'round takin' names," putting together a list nobody should ever want on, and Mark Wahlberg's menacingly polite choir boy telling whiny RINOs unwelcome at CPAC to "say 'hi' to your mother for me" as he smiled for the cameras. If swiping his election through mail-in balloting and painting him as the leader of a terrorist group was meant to make him disappear, then there's no doubt that removing him from office was a government-run operation. Only the government could screw up this badly. At CPAC, the Boss was back, and he didn't look to be going anywhere. While President Trump wove in and out of scripted points he wanted to hammer home (Ol' Touchy-Smelly's administration is endangering Americans by encouraging endless illegal immigration, failing to get kids back into school, appeasing China and Iran, and senselessly destroying American energy independence.) and delighted his base with the impromptu comedic flourishes that make him compelling, his ninety-minute speech at CPAC was also a conspicuous reminder that Joe Biden is nowhere to be seen, hidden away from the public, kept on ice. How is it that the former president has managed to deliver a detailed State of the Union Address spoiler alert: the Union's gone a little gamy since President Popsicle arrived before the new sitting president? Does anyone enjoying the perks and privileges of power in D.C. find this strange? Because to normal folks, Trump sure looks like a president not yet finished, while Biden looks so finished that he's not sure he's president. Free advice, Deep State: If you're going to take down a sitting president who has more energy than Tom Cruise dancing on Oprah Winfrey's sofa, then at least install a body in the Oval Office more lively than a medical cadaver. Otherwise, people start wondering how the naptime president could possibly have scored more votes than anyone else in American history, while his predecessor is still doing two hours of cardio live and onstage in Orlando before sold-out crowds. That's something else Washington's bloated bureaucracy never understood about Donald Trump's appeal to his voters: he actually enjoys having fun with ordinary people. He can tell a joke, and he can take a joke, and most of D.C.'s ruling class can't do either. While Washington has become a militarized zone complete with barbed wire fencing and shock troops to scare the masses, there's former president Trump laughing it up in Orlando with his friends and giving generous shout-outs to everyone in attendance. (Jim Jordan, where are you? Great wrestler, that guy!) Pelosi's capital is a prison; DeSantis's and Trump's Florida is a party. Those are optics that even overpriced political operatives from the swamp can understand. What they cannot understand is how Donald Trump is still standing and politically viable after everything D.C. has done to crush him. Framing him as a Russian asset didn't work. Using the criminal justice system as a form of political persecution against his supporters had no effect. Not one, but two farce impeachments turned into nothing more than badges of honor. And tarring the sitting president as an insurrectionist intent on toppling Congress seems to have only made him more popular. (Go figure!) The more D.C. demonizes Trump, the more it turns him into just the kind of folk hero who is going to rattle establishment cages for generations. CPAC made that clear. Donald Trump, the man, still looms over everything just as before, but more importantly, Donald Trump's issues loom over everything, too. Establishment Republicans might not care about border security, but Republican voters most certainly do. Establishment Republicans might still prefer Wall Street bankers in wingtips, but there's no doubt that the Republican Party's future belongs to working-class voters in Red Wings. And while too many Establishment Republicans would still rather send American troops abroad than bring American manufacturing back home, it is certain that Trump's new Republican Party has become a home for Main Street patriots with Main Street concerns. How is it that D.C. can't succeed in destroying Donald Trump's influence? Partially, it's because the president actually listened to the concerns of ordinary Americans and made their problems his problems. Before government officials became nothing more than paid beneficiaries of lobbyists and foreign interests, this was considered normal politicking. Because the ruling class has abandoned and betrayed ordinary Americans for so many decades, though, Donald Trump made it look revolutionary. And now the next wave of Republicans, including Ron DeSantis and Kristi Noem, is following in his footsteps. Listening to the people what a concept! Establishment Republicans refused to understand why ordinary voters overwhelmingly chose "outsider" candidates such as Trump. They refused to understand President Trump's popularity as anything other than a "cult of personality" that would wither away with his presidency. If the president put one thing to bed at CPAC, though, it was this: Old Guard Republicans can either become part of the change that is transforming the Republican Party or get steamrolled on their way to irrelevancy. Either way, it's Trump's party from here on out. Hat tip to Seneca the Elder. Image: The White House via Flickr, Public Domain. The Federal High Court in Abuja on Tuesday awarded N50million damages against the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in favour of a defendant, Babatunde Morakinyo, who was unlawfully re-arrested by the commissions operatives last year. The judge, Inyang Ekwo, ruled that the anti-graft agency abused its powers by re-arresting Mr Morakinyo after he was granted bail by another judge of the court, Ahmed Mohammed, on March 19, 2020. Mr Ekwo ordered the commission to publish a public apology to Mr Morakinyo in two national dailies within 14 days for trampling on his rights when he was re-arrested on the court premises in Abuja shortly after he was released on bail. The commission had claimed that Mr Morakinyo was rearrested for another charge filed against him in the Lagos Division of the court. But Mr Ekwo dismissed the commissions excuse for the rearrest. Abduction Mr Ekwo, in the certified true copy of the judgment seen by PREMIUM TIMES on Tuesday, described the re-arrest as an abduction of the applicant. He declared that the abduction and detention of the applicant from the court premises by the respondent on March 19, 2020 after bail was granted to the applicant by the Federal High Court, Abuja in Charge No.: FHC/ABI/CR/75/2020 is unlawful, unconstitutional and a breach of the applicants right to personal liberty as guaranteed by section 35 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) and Article 6 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights (Ratification and Enforcement) Act. He also declared that the abduction and detention amounted to a breach of his right to dignity of human person as guaranteed by S. 34 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) and Article 5 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights (Ratification and Enforcement) Act. He also issued an order directing the respondent to publish a public apology to the applicant in two (2) national dailies within 14 days of the grant of this order and notify the applicant accordingly. An order is hereby made awarding the sum of Fifty Million Naira (N50,000,000.00) exemplary damages in favour of the applicant and against the respondent for abusing its statutory powers and arbitrarily trampling on the fundamental rights of the applicant, the judge ordered. Suit Mr Morakinyo had, through his lawyer, Chikaosolu Ojukwu, sued the EFCC after his re-arrest by the commission last year. The issue started after the trial judge in Abuja, Ahmed Mohammed, before whom Mr Morakinyo was arraigned on criminal charges, granted bail to the defendant on March 19, 2020. The judge had immediately released Mr Morakinyo before meeting the bail conditions, based on the undertaking signed by his lawyer to take custody of the defendant and produce him whenever necessary. The judge also ordered that the defendant be remanded in prison if the lawyer was unable to put in his written undertaking. The defence lawyer, Mahmud Magaji, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, wrote the said undertaking before the Deputy Chief Registrar (Litigation) as directed by the court, and the judge immediately issued and signed a release warrant for the defendant. Mr Morakinyos lawyer said the EFCC in disregard of the order of this court, abducted the applicant forcefully from the court premises to its detention facility even in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, knowing fully well that their actions is offensive and an affront in the face of the Court. EFCC justifies rearrest On its part, EFCC, through its lawyer, E.E Iheanacho, claimed that it was investigating the applicant for about N9billion that was paid by Kwara State Government as contract fees between 2009 and 2016. The commission alleged that the funds passed through over 50 bank accounts operated by several companies and persons including Mr Morakinyo. ADVERTISEMENT It claimed that some of the suspects had been interviewed while others were still on the run. It recalled that Mr Morakinyo reported to its office for investigation on January 20, 2020, after allegedly refusing to report on two previous invitations. The anti-graft agency said it subsequently filed two separate criminal charges against the applicant in the Abuja and Lagos Divisions of the Federal High Court based on the facts of the cases and the venue where the alleged offences occurred. According to the commission, while one of the cases was assigned to Mr Mohammed in Abuja, the other filed on 13 March, 2020 was assigned to R.M. Aikawa of the Lagos division of the court. It added that the defendant was arraigned before Mr Mohammed on March 19, 2020, and was granted bail by the judge same day. However, it added that it rearrested the defendant that day in order to arraign him before Mr Aikawa subsequently. Defendant granted bail need not be rearrested Dismissing EFCCs excuse for the re-arrest, Mr Ekwo ruled that a defendant that had been granted bail by a court needed not to be re-arrested. He added that the commissions excuse had no valid foundation. The judge said, Where a court has granted bail to a person and the person has met the terms of bail and release warrant has been issued to him, but he is facing arraignment in another court, he needs not be rearrested. He can be served the subsequent charge and given the opportunity to appear in court on the date fixed for his arraignment. The assumption that such a person is likely not to appear in court for the other trial is unfounded as his particulars of bail are in the custody of the court already. The court which he is appearing next has the discretion to grant him bail upon the previous terms or modify same. He is aware that it is in his interest to appear in court to answer to the allegations against him. Therefore, there is no valid foundation for the subsequent arrest of the applicant on the excuse of a pending charge in Lagos when he had been granted bail by a court of coordinate jurisdiction in Abuja upon arraignment for another charge. Brandon University is using Provincial Engineering and Geoscience Week, which runs until Sunday, to highlight how far its geology department has come since the school started teaching geoscience 110 years ago. Advertisement Advertise With Us Brandon University is using Provincial Engineering and Geoscience Week, which runs until Sunday, to highlight how far its geology department has come since the school started teaching geoscience 110 years ago. Of course, department chair Hamid Mumin recently told the Sun that although the rocks and minerals they study havent changed throughout the past century, geoscience itself is constantly evolving and BU is doing its best to keep pace. Hamid Mumin For example, BU added an environmental geoscience stream in 2019 to stay relevant with an industry that is increasingly relying on green technology. "And green technologies require sophisticated high tech metals and minerals," Mumin said on Friday. "So the industry is in fact expanding, even throughout COVID." Of course, Mumin laments the fact that BUs geology department wont be able to celebrate this 110-year milestone the way they would like, since the COVID-19 pandemic is hampering their ability to organize a major conference or their usual research expeditions that take place across the country. "Thats certainly been a set back for students this current year," he said. "We havent been able to do a lot of what we normally do in terms of field trips and professional development programs we get involved in." However, Mumin remains excited for everything the BU geology department can accomplish moving into the future, especially since they plan to add stratigraphy and palaeontology streams to their programming as well. For right now, Mumin said geoscience students can at least look forward to a fall 2021 lecture from geology graduate Melissa Anderson, whose time at BU directly led to a teaching and research position at the University of Toronto. But until then, the department chair is confident that the mining and energy sector will be able to endure and provide ample job opportunities for graduates, given all the changes he has witnessed in the industry throughout his career. "The demand doesnt go down. It actually evolves and expands over time," he said. "Now were looking at new energy minerals like lithium and cobalt and graphite theyre all becoming increasingly more important in society for energy efficiency." Brandon University was first established in 1889. The Brandon Sun There is a new bill #AB1400 for a single payer plan for California...Help publicize it, help win for all Californians! We have signs and banners to share or bring your own. National Nurses United Says: AB 1400 would guarantee comprehensive, high-quality health care for all Californians as a human right, leading the nation in the larger fight for health care justice. Details on parking and distancing/masking plans at Facebook page here. Please wear a mask and keep 6 ft distance. Rally Sponsors: Santa Clara County Single Payer Health Care Coalition (Raging Grannies Action League, member organization) Co-sponsors Include: Silicon Valley Democratic Socialists of America South Bay PNHP Physicians for a National Health Program South Bay SNaHP Students for a National Health Program For more event information: https://www.facebook.com/events/2715432535... The philanthropic program doubles its individual grants to $20,000; one woman will be named this year's National Honoree, receiving an additional $25,000 for her charitable endeavors NEW YORK, March 2, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- L'Oreal Paris, the #1 global beauty brand, is seeking the everyday heroes among us by announcing the call for its 2021 Women of Worth nominations. Now through April 30, consumers are invited to nominate a woman at LOrealParis.com who is selflessly giving back to their community through non-profit leadership for a chance to be named one of ten Honorees, receiving up to $45,000 for their cause. L'Oreal Paris Women of Worth premiered its new campaign this past Sunday, February 28 during the height of Awards Season, calling on Americans across the nation to place their nominations for this year's Honorees. Featuring the voice of Viola Davis, as well as images of last year's National Honoree, Noelle Lambert and other alumnae, the new advertisement put the spotlight on incredible moments throughout the last 16 years of Women of Worth. In 2021, the philanthropic program continues to bring to life the brand's iconic tagline, "Because You're Worth It," championing women whose unwavering resilience, bravery and courage show the power of owning one's worth. This year's Honorees will join the multifaceted program's alumnae network of 150 individuals, who champion a diverse range of causes that exemplify embracing their own worth and instilling worth within others. "As we celebrate 50 years of our iconic 'Because You're Worth It' tagline in 2021, we welcome stories that reflect not only the power of the Women of Worth who came before them, but individuals who demonstrate the intrinsic value and worth of women everywhere," said Ali Goldstein, L'Oreal Paris USA President. "In this landmark year, we are proud to elevate the next 10 extraordinary women who find beauty in giving back, and we can't wait to meet them." Story continues L'Oreal Paris will once more join forces with Points of Light, the world's largest organization dedicated to volunteer service, to find it's ten Honorees. In addition to receiving financial support for their organization, Women of Worth provides each Honoree with a national platform to tell their stories, and the opportunity to build a network that amplifies their cause to make an even greater impact in the lives of others. "It is a privilege to help L'Oreal Paris recognize this year's Women of Worth Honorees and highlight those who seek to ignite change in their communities and make the world a better place," said Natalye Paquin, President and CEO of Points of Light. "The 2021 Women of Worth have touched countless lives through their important philanthropic work, and we believe they represent the best of humanity." Last year, Women of Worth launched its first-ever national television special, bringing together L'Oreal Paris' notable roster of spokeswomen to highlight each Honoree's unique mission. In 2021, L'Oreal Paris will double its individual grants to $20,000 to create an even greater impact. One National Honoree, chosen by popular vote, will receive an additional $25,000 for her charitable work. Each of the 2021 Women of Worth will be recognized as a shining example of how giving back can truly change the world. For more information about Women of Worth, to nominate a fearless woman making a difference in the world or to learn more about past Honorees, visit LOrealParis.com. For more information on Points of Light's innovative programs, campaigns and events, visit www.pointsoflight.org. About L'Oreal Paris The L'Oreal Paris division of L'Oreal USA, Inc. is a total beauty care brand dedicated to empowering women by offering luxurious and innovative products and services available in the mass market. The brand's signature tagline, "Because I'm Worth It," was born in the United States in 1973 to celebrate the beauty and intrinsic self-worth of women, and for more than 100 years, L'Oreal Paris has been providing women around the world with products in four major beauty categories: hair color, haircare, skincare and cosmetics. With L'Oreal's invention of hair color in 1909, the brand continues to serve as a leading innovator of hair products across color, care, and styling with brands such as Superior Preference, Feria, Colorista, Elvive, the Ever Collection, and Elnett Satin Hairspray. L'Oreal Paris provides scientifically-advanced skincare products that are tested to address individual skin concerns through its renowned brands Revitalift, Pure-Sugar, Pure-Clay, Age Perfect, and Sublime Bronze. L'Oreal Paris' iconic cosmetics include best-seller Voluminous Lash Paradise, as well as the Infallible, True Match, Colour Riche, Voluminous, and Visible Lift collections. For more information about L'Oreal Paris and to receive personalized advice, expert tips, and exclusive content, please visit www.lorealparisusa.com or follow on Instagram (@LOrealParis), Twitter (@LOrealParisUSA), Facebook (@LOrealParisUSA), and Pinterest (@LOrealParisUSA). About Points of Light Points of Light is a global nonprofit organization that inspires, equips and mobilizes millions of people to take action that changes the world. We envision a world in which every individual discovers the power to make a difference, creating healthy communities in vibrant, participatory societies. Through affiliates in 200 cities across 37 countries, and in partnership with thousands of nonprofits and corporations, Points of Light engages 5 million volunteers in 14 million hours of service each year. We bring the power of people to bear where it's needed most. For more information, go to www.pointsoflight.org. Press Contact Golin Salina Benitez sbenitez@golin.com Cision View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/loreal-paris-women-of-worth-launches-call-for-everyday-heroes-301238711.html SOURCE LOreal Paris 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. Almost exactly 21 years ago, I wrote a piece in the Spectator magazine alleging that Roy Greenslade, a prominent and respected columnist for The Guardian newspaper, had strong sympathies for the Irish Republican movement which he had never publicly admitted. This was, I believe, the first time anyone had pointed out Greenslade's dubious connections. I mentioned his association with Pat Doherty, who was for many years a member of the Provisional IRA army council. Two days ago, the Sunday Times published a lengthy piece by Greenslade, taken from a journalism quarterly, in which he unapologetically admitted his lifelong support for the IRA and its violent methods. He wrote that he was 'in complete agreement about the right of the Irish people to engage in armed struggle'. Roy Greenslade with his famous actress step-daughter Natascha Mcelhone (centre) and wife Noreen Taylor Gerry Adams, then Sinn Fein president, (left) with the party's then vice president Pat Doherty in 1999 Writer Ronan Bennett, who had been a passionate defender of Irish Republicanism in print and elsewhere. In 1975 he had served six months in Long Kesh prison for the murder of a Northern Irish policeman Many people won't have heard of Roy Greenslade, who is not exactly a household name, and so may be tempted to think his contemptible endorsement of terrorism is of no great consequence. I believe it is. He has been a major figure in British journalism. He was briefly editor of the Daily Mirror. He subsequently wrote a column for the Leftist Guardian for many years in which he pontificated about media ethics. He was also a Professor of Journalism at City, University of London, from 2003 to 2018. Moreover, Greenslade is one actor in a story in which the other players were the morally compromised, though powerful, Guardian newspaper (along with its then editor, Alan Rusbridger), as well as the future Prime Minister of this country, Boris Johnson. In February 2000, when my piece (the first of three) appeared, Mr Johnson had been editor of the Spectator for only six months. He can't have been prepared for the firestorm that was about to engulf him. On the whole he conducted himself coolly and courageously. My article suggested there was a 'Republican cell' at the heart of The Guardian, evident in editorials sympathetic to the IRA. This cell included Greenslade, the paper's deputy editor Georgina Henry and her partner, Ronan Bennett, who had been a passionate defender of Irish Republicanism in print and elsewhere. Bennett, we should also note, was a close friend and literary collaborator of Alan Rusbridger's. In 2000, the two men co-wrote a BBC drama about monster plants and genetic engineering. When he read my piece, Rusbridger went ballistic and dispatched an eight-page letter to Boris attempting to debunk my thesis. Greenslade, by his own admission in his piece, guaranteed bail for convicted IRA member John Downey (pictured in 2019) when he was accused of involvement in the 1982 Hyde Park bombing A young journalist called Philip Geddes was killed aged 24 when the IRA detonated a bomb at London's Harrods in 1983 (pictured) One of his complaints was that Pat Doherty had not gone fishing with Greenslade, as I had alleged. He also strongly denied that Georgina Henry wrote leaders for The Guardian. The irate newspaper editor demanded an apology, which Boris refused to give. Rusbridger then published an editorial suggesting that the piece was little more than 'half-baked gossip' and floated the idea that I was an 'MI5/6 asset'! A 2,500-word Guardian tirade from him then followed. Was the normally composed Rusbridger protesting too much? It seemed he couldn't bear the suggestion that he might be aiding and abetting the IRA's cause. When Boris wrote a letter to The Guardian in response to its wild editorial, Rusbridger refused to publish it. Now we know that there was a Republican cell at the Guardian, though it is difficult to be sure how pervasive its influence was. There were certainly many Guardian journalists who thoroughly disapproved of the paper's tendencies. Some of them criticised its editor and his policy to me privately. Probably more influential than the deceitful Roy Greenslade was Ronan Bennett. In 1975 he had served six months in Long Kesh prison for the murder of a Northern Irish policeman before being released because his identification in a parade was deemed by a judge to be unsatisfactory. STEPHEN GLOVER: Greenslade (pictured alongside wife Noreen Taylor) is one actor in a story in which the other players were the morally compromised, though powerful, Guardian newspaper, as well as the future Prime Minister of this country, Boris Johnson Aged 18 or 19, he left Belfast for England and joined an anarchist group called the Angry Brigade. With others, he was put on trial for robbery (the original charge of 'conspiracy to cause explosions' was dropped) and acquitted. He then read History at London University, took a First, did a D. Phil and embarked on a successful career as a novelist. Incidentally, the moment Boris Johnson briefly wobbled was when I wrote a long, third piece solely about Bennett. Pardonably wary of another onslaught from Rusbridger, he took the article home for his then wife Marina, a distinguished lawyer, to read. She declared it must be published. The one thing you can say in Ronan Bennett's favour is that he has never concealed his Republican beliefs. It was on account of them that he was barred from the House of Commons in 1987 after being hired as a researcher by a young Labour MP called Jeremy Corbyn, a man whose own Republican sympathies are notorious. Alan Rusbridger, former editor of the Guardian, where Roy Greenslade was a media commentator Roy Greenslade, by contrast, has lived a life of deception, concealing his support for the IRA's terrorist war both from his employers and his readers and the students whom he instructed in the 'do's and don'ts' of journalism. What a teacher! It's true that in the late 1980s he started writing for An Phoblacht, the Sinn Fein newspaper, which then served as a propaganda sheet for the Provisional IRA. But this was done covertly under the duplicitous pseudonym of George King. Lurking in the shadows, though, was finally too much for him. It may well have been vanity that drove Greenslade to write the article published by the Sunday Times. Whatever the impulse, there was a complete absence of contrition in every word he wrote. He resigned yesterday as Honorary Visiting Professor at City, University of London surely a case of jumping before being pushed. Still, a condemnation from City of his endorsement of terrorist violence would be welcome and also from his old employer, The Guardian. But I don't think this is the end of it. Greenslade boasts in his piece that he had 'played a very minor role as messenger during the [peace] process' in Northern Ireland during the late 1990s. This raises the possibility that he was in some way acting on behalf of the IRA. Was he privy during his lifelong friendship with Pat Doherty to the IRA's thinking? (Rusbridger's contention that they never fished together is ludicrously beside the point.) Did he ever pass information to the IRA that might have been of use to it? Here is a man who, by his own admission in his piece, guaranteed bail for convicted IRA member John Downey when he was accused of involvement in the 1982 Hyde Park bombing. Does Greenslade approve of that bombing? And all other terrorist atrocities? A young journalist called Philip Geddes was killed aged 24 when the IRA detonated a bomb at London's Harrods in 1983. Author and broadcaster Christopher Wilson, who helped set up a memorial fund in his memory, asked last night if, given his links to senior IRA figures, Greenslade may have information about those connected with criminal acts. Yesterday Boris Johnson condemned Greenslade over his piece, according to his official spokesman. He showed admirable spine 21 years ago and I shall always be grateful to him. Wouldn't it be bracing if, after all these years, the supercilious Alan Rusbridger admitted there was an Irish Republican cell at The Guardian and apologised for his misguided defence of Roy Greenslade? I shan't be holding my breath. When artist Kristina Libby started the Floral Heart Project to give the survivors of COVID-19 victims places to mourn, she was thinking of people like Michelle Pepe. The last time Pepe saw her father was just before she went into quarantine after contracting the coronavirus and unwittingly infecting both parents. Her last goodbye to him came by phone. Family members were unable to visit him at the hospital, nor could they hold a funeral service for him after he died in Delray Beach, Florida. Instead, they held a socially distanced, 15-minute graveside burial in Boston. Pepe watched via video conference call as she continued to care for her mother, who has multiple sclerosis and was recovering from COVID-19. We never had any closure. ... He was treated, as they were back then, as diseased, she said, a body that nobody wanted to touch. Similar stories can be told by countless families, survivors of a pandemic that has now claimed more than 500,000 lives in the United States. Living in New York in the early days of pandemic, Libby was saddened that families had no public memorials, so she decided to act. Each week she would construct and lay large floral hearts around New York City. I would watch people kneel down and pray. I would watch people sort of kiss their fingers and then kiss the heart, Libby said. It was allowing them to feel like it was OK to admit our sadness in this moment. Libby expanded her efforts outside of New York with the help of volunteers and donations from large floral companies like 1-800-Flowers and Bloom Studios. So, on Monday, floral hearts were laid in 75 locations nationwide in remembrance of the victims of COVID-19. In Tempe, Arizona, Tara Krebbs honored her jazz-loving father with a floral memorial at the Arizona Heritage Center. He died in the summer after contracting the virus. I think its just a really important step nationwide, but especially in Arizona, that our community sees our numbers have been bad, Krebbs said, but this is a part of our history. Its not a beautiful part, but it needs to be remembered. Story continues In the Boston metro area, three separate floral hearts were placed in different towns throughout the day. Pepe, Jill Federman and Lisa Mazerolle, who lost their fathers within days of each other, visited all three. The women hugged as they visited the first one, each of them holding a single yellow rose and photographs of their fathers. They knelt silently and placed the flowers inside the heart-shaped wreath. Federman, whose 83-year-old father died almost a year ago, describes this as the worst year of her life. I feel like Im in a nightmare and I just cant wake up, Federman said in a recent video call with Pepe and Lisa Mazerolle. I wish I could wake up and my father be here. Its really about not just memorializing them but raising awareness, Mazerolle said. The more awareness, the more people might understand, like, `Oh, wow, this could happen to me. Theres no other outlet for our grief. We have nothing, Pepe said. The three say they have become like sisters and plan to create another memorial in April around the anniversary of their dads deaths. They consider Libbys efforts both moving and vital. Its just so precious that Kristina thought to do this ... and all of these volunteers, to memorialize our dads, Pepe said. They deserve it. ___ One Good Thing is a series that highlights individuals whose actions provide glimmers of joy in hard times stories of people who find a way to make a difference, no matter how small. Read the collection of stories at https://apnews.com/hub/one-good-thing ___ Associated Press religion coverage receives support from the Lilly Endowment through The Conversation U.S. The AP is solely responsible for this content. Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - March 2, 2021) - Ethos Gold Corp. (TSXV: ECC) (OTCQB: ETHOF) (FSE: 1ET) ("Ethos" or the "Company") today announces that its Board of Directors has approved a drill program on its fully permitted Perk-Rocky Copper-Gold Porphyry Project ("Perk-Rocky") located ~ 200 kilometers west of Williams Lake at the western end of a northwest trending linear array of porphyry copper mines and development projects including Highland Valley (Teck), New Afton (New Gold Inc.), Yalakom (Barrick) and New Prosperity (Taseko Mines Ltd.). The Perk-Rocky project contains a highly prospective, extensive 8 by 5-kilometer porphyry-style alteration footprint that may be related to one or more porphyry centers and contains copper sulphides at surface. Perk-Rocky is one of few road accessible, metal endowed magmatic-hydrothermal systems in British Columbia that has never been drill tested. Craig Roberts, P.Eng., CEO of Ethos stated: "We are very excited to begin our inaugural drill program at our fully-permitted Perk-Rocky copper-gold porphyry project. In addition, we have launched plans to aggressively advance four highly-prospective gold exploration projects to drilling by year-end. Led by a strong technical team with a history of world-class discoveries, and with a portfolio of district-scale opportunities, Ethos is well positioned for success in 2021." Ethos is also pleased to announce that planning is underway to launch drill programs in 2021 on four district-scale gold projects, including Perk-Rocky (BC), Savant Lake (Ontario), Schefferville (Quebec), Toogood (Newfoundland), and Iron Point (Nevada). The Company intends to carry out non-brokered private placements of flow-through units to raise gross proceeds of up to C$1,200,000 to fund its planned exploration activities. 2021 Perk-Rocky Drill Program Highlights: Perk-Rocky (100% earn-in) is a large copper-gold porphyry target located within a major copper deposit trend in Central BC, fully permitted for drilling. (100% earn-in) is a large copper-gold porphyry target located within a major copper deposit trend in Central BC, fully permitted for drilling. The project exhibits extensive copper-gold mineralization over an 8km x 5km area. Work to date indicates that multiple porphyry centers may be present on the property with three high-priority target areas now defined. Widespread telescoped low- to high- temperature alteration suggests that overprinting mineralized systems may be present. Preserved high-level environment which is supported by localised advanced argillic alteration and 50+ Cu showings at surface suggests that the highest-grade positions within zoned porphyries may be present (Figure 1). Inaugural drill program will focus on three targets, with 3-4 holes, totaling approximately 2,000 metres. Drilling is expected to begin in May-June. Figure 1. Copper in Rocks and Target Areas at the Perk-Rocky Project. To view an enhanced version of Figure 1, please visit: https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/1564/75791_2bdf6b9864a08a7c_002full.jpg 2021 Drill Plans: Following significant field work and desktop analysis from the Ethos's technical team, the Company anticipates advancing multiple drill campaigns on four gold projects in 2021, including: Savant Lake (Ontario, 70% earn-in): mobilization of field crews in early spring with the intention of ground truthing target areas followed by drilling in Q3, 2021. (Ontario, 70% earn-in): mobilization of field crews in early spring with the intention of ground truthing target areas followed by drilling in Q3, 2021. Toogood (Newfoundland, 100% owned / 100% earn-in): mapping and sampling program followed by a ground truthing program planned for the spring of 2021. An initial drill program is planned for later in 2021. (Newfoundland, 100% owned / 100% earn-in): mapping and sampling program followed by a ground truthing program planned for the spring of 2021. An initial drill program is planned for later in 2021. Iron Point (Nevada, 50% earn-in): Drilling of select targets is expected to commence in 2021. (Nevada, 50% earn-in): Drilling of select targets is expected to commence in 2021. Schefferville (Quebec, 100% owned / 100% earn-in): continued analysis of recently acquired project data and plans to commence field work in the spring of 2021 with the intention of developing drill targets for testing later in 2021-2022. Further details of the Company's projects can be found in the January 27, 2021 Corporate Update, HERE. Announcement of Flow Through Financings: Ethos announces the following non-brokered private placements (collectively, the "Private Placements") for aggregate gross proceeds of up to $1,200,000, consisting of: a British Columbia flow through private placement of flow through units priced at $0.24 per unit. Each unit will comprise one flow through share, and one half of one non-flow through common share purchase warrant. Each whole such warrant will be exercisable into one common share of the Company at an exercise price of $0.40 for a period of two years following closing. The common share purchase warrants will be subject to acceleration at the Company's discretion in the event its common shares trade on the TSX Venture Exchange on a volume weighted average price ("VWAP") basis of C$0.60 or more for a period of ten consecutive trading days. Proceeds of this offering will be utilized on the Company's Perk Rocky copper-gold porphyry project in British Columbia or on eligible flow through expenditures on other British Columbia projects. an Ontario flow through private placement of flow through units priced at $0.24 per unit. Each unit will comprise one flow through share, and one half of one non-flow through common share purchase warrant. Each whole such warrant will be exercisable into one common share of the Company at an exercise price of $0.40 for a period of two years following closing. The common share purchase warrants will be subject to acceleration at the Company's discretion in the event its common shares trade on the TSX Venture Exchange on a volume weighted average price ("VWAP") basis of C$0.60 or more for a period of ten consecutive trading days. Proceeds of this offering will be utilized on the Company's Savant Lake Gold Project in Ontario or on eligible flow through expenditures on other Ontario projects. a national flow through private placement of flow through units priced at $0.22 per unit. Each unit will comprise one flow through share, and one half of one non-flow through common share purchase warrant. Each whole such warrant will be exercisable into one common share of the Company at an exercise price of $0.40 for a period of two years following closing. The common share purchase warrants will be subject to acceleration at the Company's discretion in the event its common shares trade on the TSX Venture Exchange on a volume weighted average price ("VWAP") basis of C$0.60 or more for a period of ten consecutive trading days. Proceeds of this offering will be utilized on the Company's Toogood gold project in Newfoundland or on eligible flow through expenditures on other projects within Canada. Members of the Company's management and technical advisory team are expected to participate in certain of the Private Placements. Finder's fees may be paid on a portion of the Private Placements. The Private Placements are subject to the approval of the TSX Venture Exchange and customary closing conditions. Qualified Person The technical content disclosed in this press release was reviewed and approved by Jo Price, P.Geo., M.Sc., VP Exploration of Ethos, and a Qualified Person as defined under National Instrument 43-101 ("NI 43-101"). About Ethos Gold Corp. Ethos Gold, a Discovery Group company, has accumulated a portfolio of district scale projects in British Columbia, Ontario, Quebec, Newfoundland, and Nevada that we believe have large scale discovery potential. The Company has a strong technical team led by Dr. Rob Carpenter, formerly the CEO of Kaminak Gold Corporation. Rob led the Kaminak team from initial listing in 2005 through acquisition and discovery of the multiple-million ounce Coffee Gold Project. In Ethos he has assembled a senior geologic team with a strong record of discovery success including Dr. Robert Brozdowski, P.Geo., Dan MacNeil, M.Sc., P. Geo, and Dr. Alan Wainwright, P.Geo. Dr. Quinton Hennigh, an economic geologist with 25 years of exploration experience formerly with Homestake Mining Company, Newcrest Mining and Newmont Mining Corp oversees the Company's work at the Iron Point project in Nevada. With working capital of approximately C$4.5 million, the Company is well funded to advance its projects. Ethos Gold Corp. Per: "Alex Heath" Alex Heath, CFA, President For further information about Ethos Gold Corp. or this news release, please visit our website at ethosgold.com or contact Alex Heath at 604-354-2491 or by email at alexh@ethosgold.com. Ethos Gold Corp. is a proud member of Discovery Group. For more information please visit: discoverygroup.ca Forward-Looking Statement Cautions: This press release contains certain "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Canadian securities legislation, including, but not limited to, statements regarding the Company's plans with respect to the Company's projects and the timing related thereto, the merits of the Company's projects, the Company's objectives, plans and strategies, the Private Placements, and other project opportunities. Although the Company believes that such statements are reasonable, it can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts; they are generally, but not always, identified by the words "expects," "plans," "anticipates," "believes," "intends," "estimates," "projects," "aims," "potential," "goal," "objective,", "strategy", "prospective," and similar expressions, or that events or conditions "will," "would," "may," "can," "could" or "should" occur, or are those statements, which, by their nature, refer to future events. The Company cautions that Forward-looking statements are based on the beliefs, estimates and opinions of the Company's management on the date the statements are made and they involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Consequently, there can be no assurances that such statements will prove to be accurate and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Except to the extent required by applicable securities laws and the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange, the Company undertakes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements if management's beliefs, estimates or opinions, or other factors, should change. Factors that could cause future results to differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements include the risk of accidents and other risks associated with mineral exploration operations, the risk that the Company will encounter unanticipated geological factors, or the possibility that the Company may not be able to secure permitting and other agency or governmental clearances, necessary to carry out the Company's exploration plans, risks and uncertainties related to the COVID-19 pandemic, risks and uncertainties related to the Company's ability to complete the Private Placements and the size of the Private Placements, and the risk of political uncertainties and regulatory or legal changes in the jurisdictions where the Company carries on its business that might interfere with the Company's business and prospects. The reader is urged to refer to the Company's reports, publicly available through the Canadian Securities Administrators' System for Electronic Document Analysis and Retrieval (SEDAR) at www.sedar.com for a more complete discussion of such risk factors and their potential effects 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. NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO U.S. NEWS WIRE SERVICES OR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/75791 BEIJING, March 1 -- Currently, the situation in South China Sea is generally stable and countries in the region are committed to making it a sea of peace, friendship and cooperation, said the Information Office of China's Ministry of National Defense in a written statement on Monday, urging relevant countries to make constructive contributions to the peace and stability of the South China Sea. The statement came in response to some comments that the South China Sea might become a wrestling ground for major powers, as warships of the French Navy sailed through the South China Sea recently and British Royal Navy claimed that they are preparing for an operation in the region. Noting that China is resolved to maintain peace and stability in the South China Sea, the statement voiced strong opposition to the military presence ramped up by any country in the name of "freedom of navigation," and pointed out that such moves create tension, intervene in regional affairs and damage common interests of regional countries. The statement stressed that China hopes relevant countries will make constructive contributions to the peace and stability of the South China Sea, instead of making provocations and heating up tensions. The National House of Chiefs (NHC) say it will strongly resist any attempt to impose foreign cultures that seem to undermine the traditions of Ghanaians. The chiefs say though they would continue to respect the human rights and opinions of individuals, they would never entertain Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer and Intersex (LGBTQI) in their communities. A statement signed by Ogyeahoho Yaw Gyebi II, President of the House and issued in Kumasi, said chiefs in Ghana would never support or accept same sex marriages in their communities. As traditional leaders and for that matter, custodians of our lands, we will never support, accept or condone such practices. As much as Nananom would continue to respect the human rights or opinions of individuals, Nananom will never entertain LGBTQI in our communities, they emphasized. According to the statement, nowhere did the Ghanaian culture subscribe to LGBTQI, which was a taboo, inhuman and alien to the Ghanaian society. It said God created man and woman to fulfil the procreation of humans on earth to satisfy Gods will. The symbolism for sex marriage was between man and woman, as such the idea of man marrying man and woman marrying woman is an abomination to our tradition and culture as Ghanaians, the statement pointed out. The statement urged the government never to succumb to any external pressure in the name of bilateral relationship. It however, appealed to Ghanaians not to take the law into their own hands by burning, lynching, molesting or visiting mayhem on suspected gay or lesbian couples, but rather, report such individuals to the law enforcement agencies for the necessary action to be taken. On the issue of COVID-19, the NHC commended the government for its rapid response by ensuring the availability of vaccines in the country and appealed to everybody to avail themselves of the upcoming covid-19 vaccination exercise. 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 WACO, Texas, March 2, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- DreamMaker Bath & Kitchen, with its "Code of Values" emphasizing service, honesty and integrity, has been named the 2021 Top Home Services Franchise in franchisee satisfaction by Franchise Business Review. Each year, the leading franchise market research firm Franchise Business Review ranks the 200 best franchise opportunities based on results of an independent survey of franchise business owners. DreamMaker Bath & Kitchen is named #1 Home Services Franchise in 2021 by Franchise Business Review (FBR). FBR is a franchise market research firm that performs independent surveys of franchisee satisfaction. DreamMaker was among over 300 franchise brands, representing more than 28,000 franchise owners, that participated in Franchise Business Review's research. Franchisees were surveyed on 33 benchmark questions about their experience and satisfaction in critical areas of their franchise systems, including training & support, marketing, technology, operations, franchisor/franchisee relations, and financial opportunity. "This is a tremendous honor for our organization," says President and Chief Stewarding Officer Doug Dwyer. "Our business systems haven't been built overnight. It is to the credit of our corporate team and franchisees. Together, they have elevated our systems to where they are today, enabling our franchisees to grow their businesses and deliver an excellent remodeling experience." DreamMaker Bath & Kitchen is the nation's premier kitchen, bath and interior remodeling franchise opportunity. The company requires that all franchise owners and their employees adhere to the company's "Code of Values," which emphasizes respect, integrity and staying focused on delivering the clients' remodeling dream. "Our franchisees understand how big of a decision remodeling kitchens and baths is for homeowners," adds Dwyer. "They guide clients through the remodeling process from design to completion so homeowners feel comfortable and informed every step of the way. It is a simple process with constant communication managed all by one company; this is how we try to deliver on providing a remodeling dream." Franchise Business Review, a franchise market research firm that performs independent surveys of franchisee satisfaction, provides the only rankings and awards for franchise companies based solely on actual franchisee satisfaction and performance. Franchise Business Review publishes its rankings of the top 200 franchises in its annual Guide to Today's Top Franchises. For 20 years, DreamMaker Bath & Kitchen has strived to deliver excellent customer service through kitchen, bath and interior remodeling. DreamMaker's focus is honesty - to treat people with respect and integrity. Over the last two decades, this focus has earned the company a 96% recommendation rate on Guild Quality from customers submitted by its franchisees. DreamMaker Bath & Kitchen has been named among the 2020 Top 10 National Design/Build Remodelers in the nation by Remodeling Magazine and Qualified Remodeler Magazine and has been rated as a Top 50 Franchise brand in Franchisee Satisfaction by Franchise Business Review seven years in a row. Franchise Business Review also recognized DreamMaker Bath & Kitchen in 2020 as a Top Franchise for Innovation and a Top Franchise for Culture. Based in Waco, Texas, DreamMaker Bath & Kitchen has 36 independently owned and locally operated franchises in 26 states. Learn more about DreamMaker at DreamMakerFranchise.com. Please contact Deb Samson for more information: [email protected]. Related Images dreammaker-bath-kitchen-is-named-1.jpg DreamMaker Bath & Kitchen is named #1 Home Services Franchise in 2021 by Franchise Business Review DreamMaker Bath & Kitchen is named #1 Home Services Franchise in 2021 by Franchise Business Review (FBR). FBR is a franchise market research firm that performs independent surveys of franchisee satisfaction. Related Links Explore DreamMaker's Website Explore DreamMaker's Facebook Related Video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a_iUnXakreo SOURCE DreamMaker Bath & Kitchen A young Co Armagh musician is being tipped for stardom after winning an online singing competition run by Irish chart-topping pop star Dermot Kennedy. Odhran Murphy (21), from Crossmaglen, beat dozens of hopefuls taking part in Kennedy's #betweenmeandparadise challenge, to walk away with a signed guitar and words of encouragement from the Dublin singer-songwriter about a bright future ahead. Kennedy, a Brit Awards nominee whose debut album Without Fear has just sold one million copies and is currently number one in the Official Irish Albums Chart, had thrown down the gauntlet to budding pop stars to post a cover version of his hit single Paradise on social media. And classroom assistant Odhran, whose own online performances were already starting to go viral and garner widespread attention, was the one who caught Kennedy's attention - and won the acoustic guitar. Speaking to the Belfast Telegraph, a delighted Odhran said he initially thought his friends were playing a prank on him when he saw Kennedy's congratulatory post on his Instagram page. "I'm a huge fan of Dermot Kennedy's and I've seen him play a few times in Dublin so when I saw he had organised this competition, I decided to try my luck," he explained. "He asked us to post a cover of his dance track Paradise with producers Medusa online, which I did. We had to use the hashtag 'betweenmeandparadise', and then he picked the winner. "I posted my cover around 11pm but loads of people were entering so I thought nothing of it. I went off to bed and the next morning my mum asked me if there was any news. "I couldn't believe it when I looked at my Instagram. My performance had received around 13,000 views overnight and Dermot had posted that he loved my cover version and that I'd won. "At first I was convinced it was one of my mates playing a joke on me but then I realised that no, I had actually won." Kennedy sent Odhran a signed guitar, bearing the words 'To Odhran, wishing you all the best. See you down the road'. He intends to try out his new guitar when he takes to the stage at Crumlin Road Gaol on May 28 and 29 for his first headline shows. "So much has happened in the last few months and it's all pretty overwhelming," Odhran said. "I released a few songs, Older and Ours Tonight, which have been getting a lot of radio airplay, then I did the virtual Cocoons gig with Matt McGinn, which got great feedback and now I'm playing my first ever headline shows in Belfast. I've also just been booked to play a couple of dates at Crumlin Road Gaol in October. "The first gig I announced for May 29 sold out within 24 hours, which is amazing. I'm still pinching myself." Odhran said he was 'chuffed' with the words Kennedy had written on his guitar and that he hoped he could perform with his hero some time 'down the road'. "Who knows what's going to happen. Maybe someday I'll get to perform with him on stage or be his support act. That would be class," he added. "But in the meantime, I'll be sending him an invite to my Belfast shows. Whether he makes it up to Belfast is another matter, but I'd absolutely love to have him there." Limited tickets are still available for Odhran's May 28 gig at Crumlin Road Gaol. Tickets via www.ticketsource.co.uk After Congress leader Anand Sharma criticized Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury's move to join hands with ISF and left parties ahead of West Bengal polls, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Tuesday has hit back at the grand-old party and Anand Sharma. On their Twitter handle, the saffron-party said, "Such is the burden of loyalty that he despite being PCC President, floor leader in LS, and a former Union Minister gets insulted on stage, yet he is made to live with this insult and defend communal elements. What a pitiable position to be in." Minister of Petroleum & Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan has also slammed Congress for its move and said, "While the heir-apparent alleges death of democracy in India, Congress's core members expose the withering condition of free-speech within the party. If there was ever an award for the most foot-in-mouth moments, the Congress will emerge victorious hands down." READ | Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury Defends ISF Alliance Ahead Of Polls As Party Disgruntled With Move READ | Sandeep Dikshit Backs Anand Sharma; Slams Cong-ISF Alliance But Adds 'parties Can Change' Anand Sharma Disgruntled Anand Sharma has criticized the move by Congress party members in West Bengal over their alliance with the ISF and had tweeted "Congress alliance with parties like ISF and other such forces militates against the core ideology of the party and Gandhian and Nehruvian secularism, which forms the soul of the party. These issues need to be approved by the CWC." Reacting to Sharma 's statement, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhary said that he and the other party members were in Bengal to bring all the 'secular forces together' so Congress can avail more seats that the Left has agreed to offer it. The CPM after talks with the ISF has given it 30 seats. And the Congress has got 92 seats from the Left," Chowdhary was quoted as saying by ANI. ISF is a party that was recently formed by Abbas Siddiqui of the Furfura Sharif shrine in Hooghly of West Bengal. Congress that is aiming to defeat the ruling TMC and the contesting BJP in the upcoming Bengal polls, was in Bengal in a rally where Siddiqui joined the Left-Front Congress alliance. Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhary who is the West Bengal Congress President had attended this rally with other senior party members. READ | Prashant Kishor's New Role Draws BJP's Ridicule; SAD Slams Congress' 'deceitful Tricks' READ | TRS, BJP Leaders Argue On Twitter Over Who Created More Jobs; Repeatedly Exchange Barbs (With ANI Inputs) Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-02 16:46:55|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close BEIJING, March 2 (Xinhua) -- The National People's Congress (NPC), China's top legislature, will hold a press conference on Thursday, one day ahead of the opening of its annual session. A spokesperson for the fourth session of the 13th NPC will take questions from Chinese and foreign reporters on the agenda of the session and work of the NPC, according to the press center of the session. The press conference, scheduled for 9:40 p.m., will be held via video link due to the COVID-19 prevention and control requirements. The event will be broadcast live by China Media Group and on xinhuanet.com. Enditem It is inconceivable that international transport workers in Longford and other counties are not being prioritsed for Covid-19 vaccination because of the essential work they do. Such workers need to be offered COVID-19 vaccinations as a matter of urgency, according to FTA Ireland (FTAI), the business group representing the Irish logistics sector. Aidan Flynn, General Manager of FTAI, comments: It is inconceivable that international transport workers the individuals we rely on to provide the nation with the essential goods it needs are at risk of not receiving their COVID-19 vaccine for many months. With approximately 3,000 haulage drivers per week making the journey from the Republic of Ireland to Great Britain or continental Europe, FTAI is urging Stephen Donnelly TD, the Minister for Health, to provide urgent confirmation on when these vital workers will receive their jabs. "While many countries require proof of a negative antigen test before hauliers can travel and this offers some protection the testing regime is costly, cumbersome, and acts as a barrier to smooth trade flows while failing to guarantee the safety of workers. "And with the Irish government considering implementing stronger restrictions on international travel mandatory home quarantine after overseas travel vaccination is the only option to preserve international connectivity while providing drivers and their families with peace of mind that they are being kept as safe as possible, he said. FTA Ireland describes itself as a not-for-profit membership trade association for the Irish freight, passenger and logistics industries. We are wholly owned and governed by our members, and act solely in advancing their best interests. FTA Ireland says it covers all aspects of private and public freight transport, passenger transport and logistics supply chain, including road, rail, sea and air. FTAI represents some of the largest freight and passenger operators in Ireland, with more than 25,000 employees and 10,000 vehicles operating between them. Previously, as the Senior Vice President & Global Head of Biocons insulins business unit, he was responsible for the P&L and expanding the insulins portfolio across several geographies Shreehas Tambe, takes on the role of Deputy CEO of Biocon Biologics, wef March 1, 2021. Tambe has been with Biocon since 1997 and has played a critical role in shaping the biosimilars business, till most recently he was the Chief Operating Officer of Biocon Biologics. He has over 20 years of leadership experience in operational and strategic roles and has led large, diverse teams at R&D, manufacturing and projects & engineering during his tenure. Previously, as the Senior Vice President & Global Head of Biocons insulins business unit he was responsible for the P&L and expanding the insulins portfolio across several geographies. Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, Executive Chairperson, Biocon Biologics, said: I am delighted to welcome Shreehas Tambe in his new role as the Deputy CEO of Biocon Biologics. Shreehas has also worked closely with Dr Arun Chandavarkar, Managing Director of Biocon Biologics, on formulating business strategies and achieving operational excellence. Dr Arun Chandavarkar, Managing Director, Biocon Biologics said: I would like to congratulate Shreehas Tambe for his new role as the Deputy CEO of Biocon Biologics. Shreehas has played a critical role in shaping our biosimilars business over the years in different roles and more recently as the COO of Biocon Biologics. Tambe said, I am deeply honoured to take on this role to drive Biocon Biologics towards becoming a global leader in affordable healthcare. Along with the leadership team, I am looking forward to realising the several opportunities that lie ahead of us and work collaboratively to address challenges. Tambe holds a Masters degree in Bioprocess Technology from ICT (UDCT), University of Mumbai and has also studied Pharmaceutical Sciences & Technology at University of Pune. He was conferred the coveted Distinguished Alumnus Award (Professional) by his alma mater, the prestigious ICT, Mumbai, in 2020. The Daily Beast Photo Illustration by The Daily Beast/GettyMike Lindell, the MyPillow CEO and Trumpist conspiracy-peddler, flew his private jet to the Republican Governors Association meeting the other day.The guvs promptly threw him out. But the incident got Molly Jong-Fast thinking: Does the MyPillow CEO think hes already a governor or something?Subscribe to The New Abnormal on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Amazon Music, or Overcast. To listen to our weekly members-only bonus episodes, join Beast Inside here. Already a member? You can listen here and sign up for new episode email alerts here.Spoiler: Making MyPillows does not make you my governor. Now, chances that Mike Lindell could actually become governor of a small Republican state, 80 percent, she quips on the latest episode of The New Abnormal. Like, its not even that hard for someone that famous and insane in the Republican party to become a governor.Lindell claims he wouldnt run to be a dogcatcher right now, because he doesnt trust the voting machines. Plus, hes from the blue state of Minnesota. So maybe the risk of a Governor Pillow isnt quite so high. But L.A. Times columnist Virginia Heffernan would like to quickly add something about Mike Lindell being a cosplay governor.I think we need to understand that being in politics leads to governing and governing is boring. It is not a PR operation, she says. And I feel like we have made these jobs celebrity roles. Public service should not beis notbeing on a reality show.Like, I feel like we need to really dial down the razzle-dazzle, really play up the drudgery, Heffernan continues. I just don't know why every single industrialist and every single lady with abs or gorgeous arms would want to be, of all things, a governor.Biden, Heffernan opines, is doing a pretty good job at the drudgerydollars going out, jabs going out, all leading to Trump signs going down. Sure, the Donald has his cultists, like Lindell. But, I don't think people can hold onto this much insanity for this long, especially when it's a tiny minority of people who believe it, Heffernan adds. Democrats need to know how to win.To which Jong-Fast replies, oh-so-gently: Are you freakin kidding me? With all of these Republican attempts to retcon the Capitol riots? To chop away at the right to vote? To instantiate their ability to overturn elections? All while Team Biden snoozes it away? The Democrats are bringing an ice cream sundae to a knife fight, Jong-Fast says.Plus! Politicos Tara Palmeri talks about her search to find Liz Cheney supporters in Wyoming. And Battle for the Soul author Edward-Isaac Dovere gives us a peek into how Biden sees the political landscape. The presidency that he has in front of him now, he knows, is so different from what he ever expected to have, Dovere says, And part of that is rethinking how he incorporates the progressivism within the party that took root and that was so much part of this campaign. And its just, its a really complicated evolution for him. Its not the presidency he thought itd be running in 2019 when he got into this race.Read more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more. 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 first day of Oregons new lottery system for doling out COVID-19 vaccine appointments in the Portland area left most seniors still coming up snake eyes or feeling that way, at the very least. More than 200,000 Oregonians aged 65 to 69 who had yet to receive the vaccine became eligible Monday, joining the ever-growing line of seniors already waiting for appointments. Last week, state health officials announced they would scrap the digital free-for-all for scheduling a shot at the Oregon Convention Center, one of two mass vaccination sites in Portland. That booking system forced thousands of seniors to frantically attempt to secure online appointments at 9 a.m. Mondays or Thursdays before the slots quickly disappeared, overwhelming the technology and frustrating Oregonians. Now, seniors seeking an appointment at the convention center must sign-up through the states vaccine notification system if they live or work in Multnomah, Clackamas, Washington or Columbia counties. Oregonians who sign up will later be selected at random through a lottery system and notified that they can book an appointment. As of Friday, the state said 208,365 people had registered for the system via the getvaccinated.oregon.gov website. But the Oregon Health Authority did not answer when asked how many people had signed up Monday alone. Only 1,900 appointments will be made available March 3 to 9, according to one of the four medical providers running the convention center clinic, although its not clear if thats the total figure available. Rudy Owens, a state health spokesperson, did not provide a figure for the number of lottery recipients. This is determined by the number of appointments available, he said in an email. The new system has left some seniors with a new unknown: Did I get through the system correctly, and will I be receiving a call soon? Im not sure Im in the lottery system, said Steve Weiner, a 72-year-old Beaverton man who was still looking for an appointment after missing out under the old system last week. Weiner and his wife, Teresa Barker, struggled to register through the states portal Monday morning. They were able to eventually register but said they struggled to log back into the system. Neither was sure theyd get a call anytime soon. Am I going to hear back from somebody in July? Weiner asked. Is it going to be next week? Its like a mystery game. Oregons rollout for the elderly has left many wanting. Gov. Kate Brown prioritized vaccinating teachers over seniors, with Oregonians 80 and older not able to schedule appointments until Feb. 8. The state has expanded eligibility by five-year increments each week since. The largest wave hit Monday, when 255,000 more Oregonians age 65-69 became eligible, although about 40,000 people in that range had already secured a shot because they live in nursing homes or otherwise qualified. Lisa Helderop, a spokesperson for Providence Health & Services, one of the four health care giants running the convention center facility, said the organizations expect to receive 3,000 names from the Oregon Health Authority of eligible Portland area residents to contact. Only 1,900 appointments are actually available for filling between March 3 to 9, she said. Appointments will be confirmed on the phone, not via email, she said. We sent texts to 750 people today letting them know we would be calling to schedule a vaccination appointment, Helderop said in an email Monday. After we send texts, we start calling people, she added. We will make two attempts to contact each person via phone. The texts/calls are taking place over four days. Owens said anyone who was eligible and had provided their information -- including those who signed up last week or Monday -- were among those included in the lottery. The agency provided a strictly random sample of people 65 and older for schedule appointments, he said. A smaller section of that age group may be considered for future appointments as this process continues to evolve, he added. Its not clear that the lottery system will help the state address its inequities in the percentage of people of color who have received a vaccine so far. The state, Owens said, is not referring people based on ethnicity or race. That information was optional in the notification system, he said, and only a limited number of individuals have chosen to include that data in their profile. Switching to the new system seemed to prevent major disruptions. Owens said he was not aware of any down time Monday for the Get Vaccinated Oregon tool, though he did say that the chat bot, which was used for weeks to help seniors and educators navigate to the scheduling interface, presented issues for some users. Meanwhile, the regions other mass vaccination site, at Portland International Airport, still booked appointments the old way: with Oregonians needing to snag a spot when the slots opened at 9 a.m. Mondays and Thursdays. Oregon Health & Science University, which is managing the drive-through clinic at Portland International Airport, said it saw a similar number of users trying to register for appointments Monday morning. The site is for people with mobility issues. Tamara Hargens-Bradley, an OHSU spokesperson, said the airports 2,400 appointment slots available in coming days were snatched up in 10 minutes. Last Thursday, the same number of appointments booked in approximately 10 minutes, she said. OHSU will release more appointments Thursday morning at 9 a.m. During a Monday afternoon legislative hearing, Oregon Health Authority executive David Baden acknowledged the state has a long way to go to vaccinate all seniors. Officials hope to have enough vaccines to provide shots to seniors who want them by the end of March, he said. Aiding those efforts are 34,000 of the single dose Johnson & Johnson vaccines that are soon expected. There wont be any additional to order for the next couple weeks, Baden said, saying it was a little bit of a onetime order. Baden said Oregon expects to receive more of the single dose vaccine eventually, but it has a three-week forecast from the federal government that helps with planning for future supply. He said millions of the Johnson & Johnson shot are expected nationwide in coming weeks. Well see what exactly that means for us, Baden told lawmakers. Weiner, the Beaverton man, and his wife were still trying to figure out Monday what Oregons new vaccination system meant for them, too. Many hours after registering for the online notification system that is the critical piece of the states new lottery program, Barker, 68, received a text message saying she had successfully registered. It felt good to know the system functioned to that point, Barker said in an email. Now shell have to wait until shes randomly selected. Andrew Theen; atheen@oregonian.com; 503-294-4026; @andrewtheen 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. Residents in Tema on Monday appealed to the Government to compel commercial drivers to reduce the number of passengers on Taxi and Trotro buses to help stop the spread of COVID-19. In a random interview at Tema by the Ghana News Agency, scores of commuters expressed concern about the number of passengers on-board these commercial vehicles without observing COVID-19 protocols. Madam Sarah Adjei, a commuter told the GNA that, I am so scared of contracting the virus from a commercial bus because the six feet social distancing is not working at all in our commercial vehicles. Drivers and their mates virtually force passengers to sit so close to each other, in the midst of these some passengers also refuse to wear the nose masks thereby putting all other passengers at risks. "I am pleading with the Government to come to consensus with the commercial drivers by reducing the cost of fuel for the drivers to also reduce loading capacity," she said. Madam Adjei recommended that, Government consider reduction of the cost of fuel, which would in turn force the drivers to reduce the number of passengers. Other residents expressed similar sentiments, and appealed to the Government to engage the Ghana Private Road Transport Union (GPRTU) to come out with new modalities to adhere to the COVID-19 protocols. Most of the residents wants Government and GPRTU to go back to the restriction era. Others also called for adequate precautionary measures by transport owners to protect passengers since the majority still depended on public transport to commute across the country. Mr Samuel Gyasi, Chairman of the Tema Community One Shell Drivers Association, told the GNA, Drivers cannot reduce the number of passengers without other incentives from Government. The price of Fuel continue to be increased, so if we reduce the number of passengers it will affect our income. He said the persistent increment in fuel prices was worrisome and pleaded with the Government to support commercial drivers. In March last year, GPRTU announced measures to curb the spread of the COVID-19, the move among others was to ensure that precautionary directives given by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo on social distancing were observed on all public transport vehicles and terminals. The measures was that: all Passenger Carrying-vehicles including taxis seating 1-3 passengers on a row shall seat not more than two passengers on a row. All Passenger Carrying-vehicles seating 1-4 passengers on a row shall seat not more than three passengers on a row; all Passenger carrying vehicles seating 1-5 passengers on a row shall seat not more than three passengers on a row. All GPRTU members were tasked to comply with the directive and ensure that all transport terminals have adequate running water basins and sanitizers to enable passengers wash and sanitize their hands before boarding. 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 ADVERTISEMENT Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq of Kwara State on Tuesday led a delegation of state officials and traditional rulers to Ibadan for a joint security meeting with his Oyo State counterpart, Seyi Makinde. The meeting held to address the security challenges between farmers and herdsmen in Oyo and the influx of displaced herdsmen into Kwara. They discussed the need for the two states to share intelligence and find lasting solutions to security menace across border communities. PREMIUM TIMES gathered that the states agreed that they have to collaborate and devise ways to tackle security challenges and foster economic cooperations without relying on the federal government. Giving an update on the meeting on his Twitter handle, Mr Makinde said: This afternoon, we held a joint security meeting with His Excellency @RealAARahman, Gov of Kwara State, heads of security agencies and traditional rulers from both Oyo and Kwara states. We commended the security agencies for their efforts so far and encouraged them to do more. We agreed to set up a working team in the next few days for both Oyo and Kwara states to address security issues including the displacement of some residents of Igangan to Kwara State. We resolved that the traditional rulers in both states would be involved in our intelligence gathering efforts by disclosing information to the security agencies to enable us stay on top of the security situation. We also agreed that the National Livestock Transformation Plan which is already being implemented in Kwara State would be implemented in Oyo State leading to further collaborations between both states on economy and security. Armenia ex-president Kocharyan gives interview to Russia newspaper Armenia acting deputy PM on unblocking of roads with Azerbaijan: There will be no troops standing there Nikkei: Toyota and Honda stop car production in Malaysia Armenia official on deploying international observers at Azerbaijan border: You will hear reaction on this matter soon USAID helps UN World Food Programme support displaced people in Armenia Armenia official: Work of trilateral working group on roads unblocking has stopped after recent incidents Russias Putin to Armenias Pashinyan: Relations between our countries are developing very successfully Armenia health minister: Improper storage of fallen soldiers bodies, remains was my omission 108 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia Armenia President to children: I believe that you will make our country much better Armenia CEC publicizes complete lists of political forces registered to run in snap parliamentary elections World oil prices going up Queen Elizabeth turns down PM's offer to name new royal yacht after Prince Philip Armenia parliament discusses 2020 state budget report Newspaper: Armenia acting FM resigns after 3rd attempt Newspaper: Yerevan mayor to leave office Israel, UAE sign tax treaty Newspaper: Even vagrants are persuaded, taken to Armenia acting PM Pashinyans rally in Vanadzor Swedish defense minister demands explanation from Denmark over spy scandal Acting Deputy PM: Armenia has not discussed and will not discuss issues within logic of "corridor" Armenia Central Electoral Commission determines numbers of political parties for elections Armenia 2nd President visits Cathedral of the Holy Mother of God in Gyumri (PHOTOS) Opposition Armenia bloc representative: We're running in elections to win Azerbaijan MFA comments on calls for release of Armenian POWs with infinite hypocrisy EC: Vaccinated citizens should be exempted from tests, quarantine when traveling within EU Armenia Ombudsman discusses rights of 6 captured Armenian servicemen with ICRC Delegation head EU ready to use all the tools at its disposal to change Turkey's behavior Yerevan court obliges to abolish violation of rights of Armenia Supreme Judicial Council ex-chairman Greek and Turkish leaders to meet in June on sidelines of NATO summit Armenia Central Electoral Commission to set up 2,008 polling stations for snap parliamentary elections Iranian companies to participate in reconstructing territories under Azerbaijan's control Opposition Armenia bloc's representative on acting PM's invitation to debate with 1st and 2nd Presidents Armenia acting FM dismissed upon presidential decree Body of brother of Armenian criminal authority "Don Pipo" found under bridge 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 Scottsdale, Arizona--(Newsfile Corp. - March 2, 2021) - NOHO, Inc. (OTC Pink: DRNK), a Wyoming corporation (the "Company"), announced the following: The management of NOHO, Inc. is pleased to provide information concerning the company's financial reporting and filings. Following the Company's release of the asset purchase transactions with Sibannac, Inc. (OTC Pink: SNNC), the Company has received a substantial number of communications from shareholders concerning the status of the Company's current accounting and corporate filings. Management has prioritized communication with our shareholders at the highest level and wishes to provide full transparency regarding these inquiries. Wyoming NOHO has retained local counsel in Wyoming, the Company's state of incorporation, to handle its state filings in order to reinstate the Company to good standing with the secretary of state. Counsel has indicated to the company that the updated records and good standing should be finalized in approximately two weeks. The Company will advise when the filings are completed. OTC Filings The Company is focused on bringing its financial statements, filings and reporting current, and will be submitting the same to OTC Markets, with a target date of March 20, 2021. Management recently accomplished the same process with Sibannac, Inc. In this effort, the Company is investigating the legitimacy of outstanding debt and prior share issuance obligations entered into by prior management dating back several years. While the Company will report the information in the filings, it is current management's position, that most of these obligations, including unconverted promissory notes, are not legally enforceable or collectible based on the legal status of the lenders and statute of limitations. As a result, it is anticipated that the accounting treatment of these past debts should be reflected positively on the Company's balance sheet. The Company's securities counsel will be issuing the required legal opinion concerning the updated reporting upon completion of the review. NOHO's CEO, David Mersky, said, "Following the news of the proposed acquisition of RaD8, our new Delta-8 THC brand, we've received a lot of communication from our shareholders regarding our financial reporting and accounting and felt that it was necessary to keep the public updated. Management is committed to restoring NOHO to good standing with its state filings and providing current financials to OTC Markets. We will be continuing to open communications with shareholders and will be providing a platform to ask management questions about operations and products. We will identify the key topics and provide responses accordingly to keep the public apprised of our progress and commitment to full disclosure. Open communication provides the foundation for shareholder confidence and that is the most important thing for management to understand." NOHO will continue to provide status updates on its filings and accounting as they occur. Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements. This press release contains statements that constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. These statements appear in a number of places in this release and include all statements that are not statements of historical fact regarding the intent, belief or current expectations of the Noho, Inc. (the "Company"), its directors or its officers with respect to, among other things: (i) financing plans; (ii) trends affecting its financial condition or results of operations; (iii) growth strategy and operating strategy. The words "may," "would," "will," "expect," "estimate," "can," "believe," "potential" and similar expressions and variations thereof are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Investors are cautioned that any such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond the Company's ability to control, and actual results may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements as a result of various factors. You should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements since they involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, which are, in some cases, beyond the Company's control and which could, and likely will, materially affect actual results, levels of activity, performance or achievements. 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. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the company's expectations include, but are not limited to, those factors that are disclosed under the heading "Risk Factors" and elsewhere in documents filed by the company from time to time with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission and other regulatory authorities. NOHO Inc. 9535 E Doubletree Ranch Road, STE 120 Scottsdale, AZ 85228 David Mersky CEO Phone: (516)-660-9669 To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/75782 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. WINNIPEG, MB, March 2, 2021 /CNW/ - Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, Canadian food producers and processors have stepped up to deliver quality food for Canadians. From the outset, the Government of Canada has supported their investments in safety measures and in capacity to keep up with demand. Today, on behalf of the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food, the Honourable Marie-Claude Bibeau, the Special Representative for the Prairies, the Honourable Jim Carr, announced support of up to $7.8 million through the Emergency Processing Fund for 24 meat processing companies across the Prairies. This funding helps these businesses keep employees safe and the regional food supply chain running strong. Recipients are using this funding to make adjustments to enable social distancing, purchase reuseable personal protective equipment (PPE), install protective barriers, improve sanitation and develop training for employees. These changes are also helping the food plants avoid production bottlenecks and safely keep up with Canadian consumer demand. The announcement was made alongside two of the 24 recipients: Winkler Meats Ltd., a federally inspected abattoir and processing plant in Manitoba , which is receiving up to $1,447,693 ; and, , which is receiving up to ; and, Viva Deli, a meat processing and retail operation in Alberta , which is receiving up to $70,184 . The Government of Canada will continue working with food processors to protect the health and well-being of workers in food processing plants across Canada and strengthen our food supply chain. Quotes "The COVID-19 pandemic has brought on many challenges for the food processing industry, in particular for meat processing plants of all sizes. The hard-working women and men in this industry continue to step up to ensure Canadians have high-quality food on their plates. Through the Emergency Processing Fund, we are giving businesses the support they need to keep their employees safe and our food systems running strong." - The Honourable Marie-Claude Bibeau, Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food "Our Prairie meat businesses have shown incredible resilience throughout this time of crisis. The investments announced today are helping many local businesses adapt their operations to help protect the health and safety of their employees which will allow them to continue supplying good food for Canadians." - The Honourable Jim Carr, Special Representative for the Prairies "We applaud the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food's efforts and support for the meat processing industry. The funding will help us continue, to keep our employees safe with increased social distancing and make our plant resilient in supplying Valley Lea Farms Fresh Pork and Winkler's line of Sausage products to Canadians." - Dickson Gould, President, Winkler Meats Ltd. "We are very grateful for support from Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada during this pandemic. As we are a new food manufacturing company, the funding has helped us to accommodate all the regulations that were put in place during COVID-19. We were able to keep operating our facility, keep a safe environment for our staff by separating our employees, improving our air quality and being compliant with local/provincial regulations." - Inessa and Vitali Kojlo, Owners, Viva Deli Quick Facts The $77.5 million Emergency Processing Fund is helping food processors implement measures to protect the health and safety of workers and their families in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, with an emphasis on supporting meat processing facilities in Canada . The Fund also supports facility upgrades to help strengthen Canada's food supply. Emergency Processing Fund is helping food processors implement measures to protect the health and safety of workers and their families in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, with an emphasis on supporting meat processing facilities in . The Fund also supports facility upgrades to help strengthen food supply. Across the Prairies, the meat processing industry accounts for 19,000 jobs and $12 billion in sales, nearly half of total food processing jobs and sales on the Prairies. in sales, nearly half of total food processing jobs and sales on the Prairies. Today's announcement builds on other measures introduced to keep Canada's agri-workforce strong, including: agri-workforce strong, including: almost $85 million in funding for the Mandatory Isolation Support Program for Temporary Foreign Workers to assist Canadian employers with some of the incremental costs associated with the mandatory 14-day isolation period imposed under the Quarantine Act on temporary foreign workers upon entering Canada ; and, in funding for the Mandatory Isolation Support Program for Temporary Foreign Workers to assist Canadian employers with some of the incremental costs associated with the mandatory 14-day isolation period imposed under the on temporary foreign workers upon entering ; and, a $35-million Emergency On-Farm Support Fund to boost protections for domestic and temporary foreign workers and address COVID-19 outbreaks on farms. Follow us on Twitter: @AAFC_Canada Like us on Facebook: CanadianAgriculture Backgrounder Emergency Processing Fund supports 24 meat processing companies across the Prairies March 2, 2021 Winnipeg, Manitoba Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada The Emergency Processing Fund (EPF) is a one-time, federal investment of up to $77.5 million to help companies implement changes to safeguard the health and safety of workers and their families due to the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. COVID-19 and Food Processing COVID-19 has caused significant changes and adaptation in Canada's food system. As a result, Canadian food producers, processors, and manufacturers have taken on unexpected and exceptional activities associated with risk mitigation measures to be able to maintain Canada's food production and keep workers and their families safe. To date, 24 meat processing companies across the Prairies are receiving up to $7.8 million in funding through the program to help improve worker safety. In Alberta, these projects include: Aliya's Foods Limited - $406,999 Bouvry Export Calgary Ltd. - $27,150 Bry-Conn Developments Inc. - $16,576 Canada Lamb Processors Ltd.- $22,404 Cut-Rite Meats Ltd. - $71,432 Forestburg Meat Processing Inc. - $137,271 Harmony Beef Company Limited - $88,134 Irvings Farm Fresh Ltd. - $44,250 JBS Food Canada - $804,912 Provost Packers Ltd. - $49,980 Ryley Sausage (1991) Ltd. - $44,182 Serben Farms - $14,500 Soleterra d'Italia - $231,096 Spolumbo's Fine Foods & Deli - $69,472 Trochu Meat Processors Ltd. - $63,287 Viva Deli Inc. - $70,184 In Saskatchewan, these projects include: Drake Meat Processors Inc. - $49,500 Pineview All Natural Meats Inc. - $40,000 Prairie Pride Natural Foods Ltd. - $14,175 In Manitoba, these projects include: 6381023 Manitoba Ltd. - $320,000 East 40 Packers Ltd. - $99,999 HyLife Ltd. - $3,670,334 Timothy's Country Butcher Shop - $32,174 Winkler Meats Ltd. - $1,447,693 In addition to these projects, Olymel, a Canadian meat packing and processing company headquartered in Quebec, is receiving up to $1.6 million through the Emergency Processing Fund, with a portion of the funding being used to support improved safety measures at its facilities in Alberta and Saskatchewan. SOURCE Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada For further information: Jean-Sebastien Comeau, Press Secretary, Office of the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food, [email protected], 343-549-2326; Media Relations, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Ottawa, Ontario, 613-773-7972, 1-866-345-7972, [email protected] Related Links www.agr.gc.ca 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 Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamonts effort to legalize recreational cannabis for adults received criticism Friday from two completely different fronts: people who outright oppose legalization and those who support it, but believe the Democrats bill falls short in addressing racial inequities. Multiple members of Lamonts administration tried to assure the General Assemblys Judiciary Committee that the 163-page bill which creates a framework for a new legal system allowing people 21 years and older to possess, use and consume up to 1.5 ounces of cannabis is a starting point for discussion. They insisted Lamont always intended to expand the bill to ensure Black and other communities of color adversely affected by the war on drugs benefit from a new, legal marketplace. The governor wants to sit down and go beyond this, said Jonathan Harris, a senior advisor to Lamont, referring to the bill. He said the governor is not ignoring equity, noting how Lamont created an equity discussion group on cannabis legalization last fall. But he said there wasnt enough time to flesh out the cannabis proposal before the legislative session opened in January. Other cannabis-related bills have been offered this session, including one in the Labor and Public Employees Committee that has been embraced by some advocates. It includes new grants and loans to minority cannabis entrepreneurs, training and education for people with a history of cannabis-related criminal offenses and other provisions. Harris insisted the two bills arent competing but rather complement one another and called for further negotiations. Yet some activists, legislators and others insisted that Lamonts bill also would give Connecticuts existing medical cannabis growers an unfair advantage over small, fledging businesses looking to enter the industry. They argue the bill would delay the implementation of an equity program for applicants for cannabis-related businesses, thus lending the states existing medical cannabis companies a head start. Others said Lamonts bill doesnt go far enough in expunging criminal records and doesnt allow people to cultivate cannabis at home, with some likening it the home-brewing of beer. The core of legalization of cannabis should be about criminal justice reform, Jason Ortiz, of Hartford, a board member of the Minority Cannabis Business Association said. And to me, equity means making sure that the benefits of the legal cannabis market go to the communities that were overpoliced. An advocacy group called Black and Brown United In Action submitted testimony calling Lamonts bill not only an insult to democracy but another knee on the neck of Black and Brown communities by continuing to disenfranchise them. Meanwhile, physicians and other resurrected concerns raised in past years about the potential negative impact of legalizing cannabis. Doctors warned about an increase in car accidents and deaths; children who might inadvertently overdose on cannabis edibles, including gummy candies; and the worsening of severe mental health issues. The Connecticut State Medical Society urged lawmakers to oppose the governors bill. The rush towards legalization of recreational cannabis ignores how profit-driven corporations hooked generations of Americans on cigarettes and opioids, killing millions and straining public resources, the organization said in written testimony. We need to learn the lessons from history to ensure that any legalized cannabis product does not become the Big Tobacco of the 21st Century. The bill awaits further action in the Judiciary Committee. WASHINGTON, March 2, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- A recent study over a 10-year period showed Arizona's women business owners (WBOs) grew by 53.6 percent in number, but only 1.9 percent in employmentmeaning they were starting businesses at an impressive rate but not growing them. To support their growth, three chapters of the National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO) in Phoenix, Greater Tucson and Sedona-Verde Valley are hosting the Women With Vision conferencenow in its second year. "We wanted to create this fire in our state to support WBOs, and the only way we could do that is by coming together," says Angela Garmon, NAWBO Phoenix's immediate past president, who co-chairs the event with current chapter president Jean Briese. This year's event will be held virtually on Wednesday, March 10th from 9:00 a.m. to 3 p.m. Safe, in-person hubs will also be offered in different parts of the valley, where attendees who choose to can join together in small groups to experience the event together. Goals include: Understand the voice of WBOs: Attendees will share what impacts their business and discuss solutions. Attendees will share what impacts their business and discuss solutions. P ropel WBOs forward: General sessions, keynotes and breakouts will focus on professional development and business growth. General sessions, keynotes and breakouts will focus on professional development and business growth. Build critical connections: Attendees will discuss collaborative partnerships with other state thought leaders. Attendees will discuss collaborative partnerships with other state thought leaders. Recognize women with vision: Three of Arizona's phenomenal WBOs will be honored. Last year's conference attracted state legislators, business owners, corporate entities, and leaders who came to figure out how to strengthen the voice of women business owners, as well as to facilitate connections for growth. This year, they will build on the momentum with: Keynotes by Vanessa Shaw of The Business Growth Academy and Coral Evans , former Flagstaff mayor and now Northern Arizona director for U.S. Senator Mark Kelly . of The Business Growth Academy and , former Flagstaff mayor and now director for U.S. Senator . Representatives from Small Business Development Centers (SBDCs) speaking on an SBDC panel and Pacific Southwest Minority Supplier Development Council, Salt River Project and Women's Business Enterprise Council West on a certification panel. A chance to win two roundtrip Southwest Airlines tickets. Cristina Morales Heaney, chair of the NAWBO National Board of Directors, commends Arizona's leaders for their commitment to the growth of WBOs. "We were the fastest growing sector of the U.S. economy heading into this pandemic, and efforts like this will ensure WBOs of all sizes and sectors only continue to grow." About NAWBO Founded in 1975, NAWBO is the unified voice of America's more than 11.6 million women-owned businesses representing the fastest growing segment of the economy. NAWBO is the only dues-based organization representing the interests of all women entrepreneurs across all industries. NAWBO develops programs that help navigate women entrepreneurs through the various stages of their business growth. To learn more, please visit www.nawbo.org. SOURCE National Association of Women Business Owners Related Links http://www.nawbo.org Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-02 15:16:26|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close Staff members unload vaccines donated by China at a Philippine Air Force base in Manila, the Philippines, on Feb. 28, 2021. (Xinhua/Rouelle Umali) BEIJING, March 2 (Xinhua) -- The ongoing pandemic coupled with profound changes unseen in a century have made world affairs even more complicated and unpredictable. But at least one thing is certain: As efforts to make the global economic development pie bigger are challenged, how to share the pie becomes even more important. As the ancient Chinese say, it is not a matter of scarcity but of inequality. The lingering question of how to achieve more equal distribution continues to haunt the world. The social justice issues arising from distribution and redistribution have ignited long-standing discontent in many countries, leading to the rise of populism. How to achieve more equal distribution of limited resources and push economic globalization towards an open, inclusive, balanced and mutually beneficial direction have become a common concern of humanity. The question needs to be asked in terms of both economic development and the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. To make the best possible use of vaccines, the production capacity of which is limited, there is a need to find optimal distribution solutions around the world, especially to ensure that they are equitably distributed between high-income countries and low- and middle-income countries. This is an ultimate test of values and courage as well as political wisdom. Criticism has already been voiced. Some countries have been greedily hoarding vaccine pre-orders, reserving enough doses to vaccinate each of its nationals a few times over while turning a blind eye to the scarcity of vaccines for developing countries. In the face of a global pandemic, no one can manage it alone. The optimal distribution of vaccines may determine how quickly and effectively humanity recovers from this unprecedented public health disaster. In the last few years, China has made a superscale attempt to work around the issue of distribution. From the perspective of political economy, China's approach to eradicating extreme poverty and deploying limited resources in a way that "concentrates power to achieve great things" is essentially a form of optimal distribution. In the case of poverty reduction, China has been devoted to finding the kind of cake dividing that best ensures a greater share for everyone. In some countries, the "trickle-down strategy" of sustained socio-economic development has failed to address the "last mile" of the fight against poverty. China has adopted a precise approach to poverty alleviation in the last phase of penury reduction, allocating its limited resources to areas of deep poverty and making the distribution more precise and effective with the help of infrastructure development, millions of poverty alleviation resident officials in the villages and big data. China's poverty alleviation practices, to quote Friedrich Engels, explores the optimal mode of distribution "which allows all members of society to develop, maintain and exercise their capacities with maximum universality." China has actually made the poor not only the beneficiaries of distribution but also the contributors to growth. The Chinese way of distribution has activated the endogenous motivation of the impoverished and helped them to compete in the market. China's practices and achievements in poverty reduction may inspire the world to look at issues such as social equality and vaccine distribution: How can we find the optimal distribution to make society more just? Equitable COVID-19 vaccine distribution will lead to the biggest reduction in deaths. Mathematical modeling suggests that if wealthy countries stockpile COVID-19 vaccines, we will see nearly twice as many deaths as if vaccines were shared equally across the globe. This is not to say that all countries should make their altruistic choices, but perhaps prioritizing access to public goods for health care workers in developing countries who are in desperate need of vaccines could effectively prevent many deaths. China has promised from the very beginning that the COVID-19 vaccines it developed will be made a global public good when they are available. A number of countries have already received Chinese vaccines. China has also officially joined the COVAX to actively promote the fair and effective distribution of the vaccine. From poverty reduction to pandemic responses, China's quest for optimal distribution will be part of the world's relentless pursuit of better distribution in this era. Introducing Aerovac Major Supplier/Manufacturer of Process Materials and Tooling SCHAUMBURG, Ill., March 2, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Composites One, the leading North American supplier of composites materials and value added services, has completed its purchase of the Process Materials business from the Solvay Composites Materials Global Business. The acquisition is a unique opportunity for the company to add international manufacturing and sales capabilities in specialized materials used in a variety of vacuum-assisted composite manufacturing processes. Working with Composites One on the successful acquisition was Emko Capital, which specializes in investing in and managing privately held industrial and manufacturing businesses. The acquired business has been rebranded as Aerovac and is a major manufacturer, developer and supplier of process materials, tooling and services used in prepreg processing, vacuum infusion, glass lamination, and other industrial applications. The Aerovac brand was first established in the 1970s in Europe and has always represented innovation in process materials. It changed in 2000 to Richmond/Aerovac, a name referenced in current Aerospace specifications. "The name Aerovac pays homage to the brand's heritage and customer focus which is now combined with the market presence of Composites One," said Robert Murdock, Vice President & General Manager of Aerovac. The Aerovac line is comprised of an extensive array of vacuum bagging materials, from bagging films, breather fabrics, release films and fabrics, to peel plies, sealant tapes, valves and hoses. Also available are tailored process materials kits and hard and soft tooling. These products are the same quality process materials that Composites One has been providing to customers the past two years while serving as Solvay's North American distributor. "Aerovac is a natural, strategic extension of Composites One's business." said Steve Dehmlow, CEO of Composites One. "It positions us for future growth, and further establishes Composites One as a major supplier to the Aerospace, Wind Energy and Marine markets." "We believe that the Process Materials business will greatly benefit from being part of Composites One," said Carmelo Lo Faro, President of Solvay Composite Materials Global Business Unit. "Their intent is to grow and invest in the business, fostering innovation, reliability and customer service and build on the excellent work that our Team has done." With the acquisition, Composites One gains multiple manufacturing, kit design/fabrication and materials distribution locations including Santa Fe Springs, California; Sumner, Washington; Keighley UK; Mondovi, Italy and Toulouse, France. An additional site in Toulouse focuses on the design and manufacture of hard and soft tooling. Another attractive inclusion is a UK-based distribution business, Med-Lab, which trades in aircraft engine overhaul consumables and fuel testing instruments. For more information about Aerovac, please visit www.aerovac.com. About Composites One Composites One is North America's leading distributor of composite materials serving customers from more than 44 locations. Composites One offers composites fabricators and molders thousands of products from 600 of the industry's top suppliers through a technical sales, technical support, and customer service force that is the most knowledgeable in the industry. The company offers a variety of value-added services that include closed mold technologies, process applications reviews, regulatory compliance assistance and unmatched technical support. Composites One is headquartered in Schaumburg, IL. Find out more at www.compositesone.com. About Emko Capital Emko Capital focuses exclusively on investing and managing privately held industrial and manufacturing businesses. You can learn more about Emko at www.emkocapital.com . SOURCE Composites One Related Links https://www.compositesone.com Thank you for reading! On your next view you will be asked to log in to your subscriber account or create an account and subscribepurchase a subscription to continue reading. Children across China participated in various themed activities, including sports challenges and parent-child games, over the last few days to celebrate the International Childrens Day, which falls on Tuesday this year. China established the day in 1949 and made it a full-day holiday for children under 14 in 1956 as an occasion to celebrate the spirit of youth Jun 01, 2021 05:38 PM NASA and SpaceX are in final preparations to launch four astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS) on a Falcon 9 rocket and have announced two crew members making the journey for the first time. The second crewed mission of the commercial spacecraft will launch from the NASA Kennedy Space Center in Florida no sooner than April 20. The SpaceX Crew Dragon spaceship will take NASA astronauts Shane Kimbrough, acting as spacecraft commander, and Megan McArthur, as pilot, to the ISS. They will be joined by European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut Thomas Pesquet and Akihiko Hoshide from the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). The mission marks the first time in over 20 years that astronauts from the three agencies have flown together. In addition, the Falcon 9 will utilize the same booster as the SpaceX Crew-1, the first time a booster is being reused in a crewed launch. Scroll down for video The crew for the second operational SpaceX Crew Dragon mission, SpaceX Crew-2: Pilot Megan McArthur of NASA (left), Mission Specialist Thomas Pesquet of the European Space Agency, Mission Specialist Akihiko Hoshide of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency and Commander Shane Kimbrough of NASA The four astronauts are scheduled to spend approximately six months aboard the orbiting lab, conducting research into health, medical technology and other fields, before returning some time in the fall. They will overlap with some of the first astronauts sent up to the ISS on the first Crew Dragon spaceship in November 2020. NASA astronauts Shane Kimbrough and Megan McArthur will serve as spacecraft commander and pilot, respectively. Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Akihiko Hoshide, and ESA astronaut Thomas Pesquet will join as mission specialists. The crew field questions from reporters during a virtual press conference at the SpaceX training center in Hawthorne, California. Their mission will launch from the NASA Kennedy Space Center in Florida no sooner than April 20 The crew for the second operational SpaceX Crew Dragon mission, SpaceX Crew-2, trains inside a mockup of the vehicle. While he and Hoshide have been to the ISS before, Kimbrough (second from right) told reporters, 'It's a new vehicle for all of us' Kimbrough (left) and McArthur will serve as commander and pilot respectively for the SpaceX Crew-2 mission to the ISS. McArthur is married to astronaut Bob Behnken, who was actually part of the first SpaceX commercial crew to the ISS in May 2020 Crew-1 astronauts Michael Hopkins, Victor Glover and Shannon Walker from NASA, as well as JAXA astronaut Soichi Noguchi are scheduled to return early May on the Crew-2 ship. McArthur is married to fellow astronaut Bob Behnken, who was actually part of the first SpaceX commercial crew to the ISS in May 2020. 'My husband was very supportive,' McArthur told reporters at a virtual press conference Monday. 'It wasn't but two weeks after he got home that he took over the home duties and has watched me go through this pretty intensive training So he's been there along the way to give me pointers, and feedback. It's been really great having his advice.' European Space Agency astronaut Thomas Pesquet (left) and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Akihiko Hoshide, mission specialists for the SpaceX Crew-2 mission to the International Space Station, training at the SpaceX training facility in Hawthorne, California While he and Hoshide have been to the ISS before, Kimbrough told reporters, 'It's a new vehicle for all of us.' 'We're all still learningit's a new vehicle, it's not one that has had a lot of history on it,' he said, adding that the team was able to give input during training that led to changes to some procedures and equipment. McArthur told reporters that the hardest part of their training was 'the volume and variety of the things that we have to cram into our brains' before liftoff. 'We're not only learning a brand new vehicle that we're going to launch in and how to monitor and operate in that vehicle, but we're also learning all of the things that we're going to be expected to do while living aboard the space station,' she said. NASA and SpaceX both indicated they're working to ensure the problems that caused an unmanned Falcon 9 rocket to miss the landing pad and crash into the water last month won't affect the upcoming launch. 'That'll be something we'll bring before our program control board and make sure we understand that anomaly before we go fly,' said Steve Stich, program manager for NASA's Commercial Crew Program. The rocket successfully deployed 60 Starlink internet satellites into orbit, but the booster missed the Of Course I Still Love You droneship in Port Canaveral upon its return and crashed into the ocean. It was the rocket's sixth launch, NBC reported, and SpaceX director Benji Reed put the accident down to wear and tear. 'A little bit of a hole developed and allowed hot gases to be where they're not supposed to be and caused that engine to shut down,' he said. Hryvnia keeps sliding: Fresh rates for March 2 The rate against the euro is fixed at UAH 33.72. Reporting by UNIAN If you see a spelling error on our site, select it and press Ctrl+Enter Bengaluru, March 3 : Flatly denying his alleged involvement in the sex CD released by a social activist in Bengaluru, Karnataka Major and Medium Water Resources Minister Ramesh Jarakiholi on Tuesday termed the purported CD as fake and claimed that it was released to dent his 'impeccable' political image. Jarakiholi has come under scanner soon after a video clip was released to news channels, allegedly showing him in a compromising position with a woman. Speaking to a channel, Jarakiholi said, "Why would I resign? What for I should resign? What is my mistake? For the last 21 years, I have been in public life and none had pointed even a finger at me. The CD smacks of political vendetta. My political opponents have released the fabricated CD to tarnish my impeccable political image." The minister added that if he resigns, it will show that he had committed the crime. "I will not allow this charge to stick on me. I have spoken with the Chief Minister (B.S. Yediyurappa) and demanded that he should initiate a high level probe to expose those who are behind this," he said. The minister added that he was never targeted in the last 21 years of his public life, but he has been targeted only after joining the BJP. "This only means that I am powerful and my rivals want to weaken me by releasing fake videos and audio clips through a social activist," he said. About 3:45 a.m., a semitrailer was traveling north at reduced speed because of heavy traffic on Interstate 294 near 95th Street in Bridgeview, near Hickory Hills, state police said. Another semitrailer failed to slow down and hit the slowed truck from behind. The impact killed the 41-year-old driver of the second vehicle, identified by the Cook County medical examiner as Floyd D. Davidson, a resident of Plano. He was pronounced dead at the scene, police said. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. Pronounced verb-oh, VRBO (an acronym for Vacation Rentals By Owner) has been hotter than ever as families take domestic road trips during the COVID-19 pandemic, cautiously avoiding international travel and chain hotels because of the COVID-19 pandemic. One weekend road trip idea is Niagara Falls, commonly considered the unofficial eighth wonder of the world (the seven natural wonders of the world include the Northern Lights, the Grand Canyon, Paricutin, Mount Everest, Harbor of Rio de Janeiro, Victoria Falls and the Great Barrier Reef). Because it is located in NYS, there are no quarantining regulations before and after your trip. Check out these great properties in VRBO and plan your trips to Niagara Falls (New York side, not Canadian side, if you dont want to quarantine). View the Falls from two locations at Niagara Falls State Park, ride the Maid of the Miss Boat Ride, and visit Cave of the Winds, Three Sisters Island, and the brink of the Canadian Falls at Terrapin Point. February 22, 2015: Subzero temperatures have caused Niagara Falls to become frozen, attracting tourists from near and far. (Dr. Gracelyn Santos/Staten Island Advance) 1. Super clean, 2 bedroom, 1 bath, very clean with luxury sheets, spa like towels. $122/night Location, location, location! 1.5 mile-drive to Niagara Falls USA, Maid of the Mist, Cave of the Winds and The Outlets of Niagara Falls and in the heart of Little Italy! Walk, bike or trolley to many restaurants! The Como Restaurant is steps away as well as several casual diners, fast food restaurants and one of the best pizza parlors in NY, LaHacienda!! We have everything youll need within 2 miles of our home. To learn more and book, click here. 2. Fully equipped 4 bedroom house. Permitted to operate. $371/night Life is good every day and all year round in this amazing place. The Life is good vacation home is a beautiful English Tudor, 1927, located in Historic District of Niagara Falls, NY in walking distance to the majestic Falls, State Park, dining and shopping!!! Totally remodeled with all new furnishings this home offers, 4 bedrooms with a queen size beds, 2 of them have bunk beds and cribs, 2 full bathrooms, large and cozy living room with a fire place and TV, spacious and inviting dining room, well designed and fully equipped kitchen. This home is perfect up to 14 people, ideal for families and children, business conferences, church retreats, and your opportunities for adventure around every turn are endless!!! Off street parking for 2 cars. Bring the food and cook your own food in our kitchen and you could stay and have a great time without leaving the property. To learn more and book, click here. 3. Large home that accommodates up to 15 people. $199/night. This is absolutely perfect for large groups or multiple families. You will get 2 interconnected units (upstairs/downstairs) with an interior door. Both are fully renovated. Kids upstairs. Parents downstairs. Excellent for multiple families traveling together but need a bit of separation. Hotel quality linens, high quality memory foam mattresses, amazing pillows and fluffy towels. There are 2 full kitchens, 4 bedrooms, 2 full baths, 2 living rooms. New appliances. All pictures are recent and accurate of the offering and space provided. To learn more and book, click here. February 22, 2015: Subzero temperatures have caused Niagara Falls to become frozen, attracting tourists from near and far. (Dr. Gracelyn Santos/Staten Island Advance) February 22, 2015: Subzero temperatures have caused Niagara Falls to become frozen, attracting tourists from near and far. (Dr. Gracelyn Santos/Staten Island Advance) February 22, 2015: Subzero temperatures have caused Niagara Falls to become frozen, attracting tourists from near and far. (Dr. Gracelyn Santos/Staten Island Advance) Are you a current print subscriber? You qualify for online access to the Omak Chronicle. To receive your access, create a website account and then verify your print subscription or e-edition subscription with your subscriber number, which may be found on your bill or mailing label. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 2) In a bid to boost public confidence in COVID-19 vaccines, some "influencers" were supposed to get inoculated ahead of others, but the proposal received a firm "no" from the government's advisers. This was revealed by Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque in his briefing on Tuesday. Roque said the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Disease previously came up with a list of "influencers" that included him, other government officials, as well as media personalities and celebrities to take the anti-coronavirus shots. The IATF proposed to reserve some 50 doses for them, but the interim National Immunization Technical Advisory Group rejected this, insisting that the vaccines should go to medical frontliners, Roque added. "Tatapatin ko po kayo, kami po sa IATF ay nag-propose na mga 50 bakuna ireserba para sa tinatawag nating 'influencers' para mapaigting natin ang ating vaccine confidence," Roque revealed. "Hindi po sumang-ayon ang iNITAG at ako'y sumusunod naman." [Translation: I will admit to you, we in the IATF had proposed to reserve some 50 shots for what we call "influencers," so we can boost our vaccine confidence. The iNITAG rejected this and I'm obeying it.] "Ang emphasis nila, kung anong meron, ibigay muna sa medical frontliners," he added. [Translation: Their emphasis was, whatever's available should first be given to medical frontliners.] Roque said the iNITAG only agreed to prioritize Vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr., National Task Force against COVID-19 deputy implementer Vince Dizon, and Metropolitan Manila Development Authority chairman Benhur Abalos. They were all vaccinated on Monday, the first day of the country's immunization drive. Roque noted that President Rodrigo Duterte explicitly ordered Galvez and Dizon to get inoculated, while Abalos had to represent all Metro Manila mayors amid the pandemic. Roque added that while he was rejected, he will simply follow the advisory group's recommendation. He did not give any other specific names from the list, but Duterte, some congressmen and senators were supposed to be included. "Susunod na lang po ako diyan para wala nang away," he said. [Translation: I will simply follow so there will be no more arguments.] The Philippines kicked off its first vaccination drive among health workers in various government facilities on Monday, a day after receiving 600,000 doses from China's Sinovac. Members of the Concerned Farmers Association have threatened to embark on a massive demonstration against the NDC Minority in Parliament for rejecting the nomination of the Food and Agriculture Minister-designate. The Association says its members across the 16 regions are planning to hit the streets in protest against what they described as a shocking and unfortunate decision by the NDC side of the Vetting Committee to vote against Hon. Dr Owusu Afriyie Akoto. In a statement issued and signed by its National President, Nana Opambour Boateng, the group accused the NDC of sacrificing the national interest for their individual and parochial interest. "We are sending strong caution to the NDC and their members in Parliament to be careful of their actions. They can do politics with everything but certainly not our agricultural sector because we will fiercely resist it" it said. According to them, the sector is on it's way to recovery thanks to the massive interventions spearheaded by the Minister and therefore any attempt to sabotage him will not be entertained. "We view the decision by the NDC as highly political and petty; as far as we are concerned the Minister-designate acted in the interest of the ordinary Ghanaian farmers and so we are at a loss as to why the Minority will arrive at this whimsical conclusion " it noted. Members of the Association are therefore calling on the NDC to rescind their decision or face their wrath. They observed that if the Minority in Parliament has the interest of farmers in this country at heart, then they should take a second look at their decision. "We know the NDC have a huge majority of constituents who are farmers, particularly in the northern parts of the country; they should not forget they stand to lose a lot should this Minister be rejected" the Association argued. They further called on well-meaning Ghanaians to join hands in condemning the NDC for their decision to sacrifice competence on the altar of personal interest and vendetta. 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 Teaming up with our sponsors and distributors globally, Pinkbike's Share the Ride raises money to bring disadvantaged children from all over the world the opportunity to share the joy of being on two wheels by providing them with bicycles, helmets and locks. Since its inception in 2013, the foundation has raised over $200,000 and brought smiles to hundreds of children around the world. Information on the Share the Ride foundation can be found at https://www.pinkbike.com/sharetheride/, And thats why we do it, folks. I had the funds, I had the kids now all I needed was help! I immediately reached out to my friends at Comox Bike Company who were on board before I could even finish explaining what the program was. With Stephens help, we reached out to my sponsor, Specialized Canada. With the funds Pinkbike graciously gave us, we made that hefty bike wish list into a reality. Unfortunately, our timeline didnt match up with the DH race at Mount Washington. It started to feel like my mission was slipping through my fingers. But I didnt give up. Share the Ride is a great event. It gets kids on bikes and that is what it is all about. I am trying to continue with what my son, Steve Smith, started. His goal was to get kids on bikes and give them guidance they needed. He would have been 'full of stoke' for Pinkbike and all the volunteers that are putting smiles onto the kids' faces and dreams into their reality! Tianna Smith Memories of a legend on display It always means more when you build it yourself. We are so proud to have been part of the Share the Ride program. Rebecca's organization combined with the generosity of Pinkbike, Specialized Canada, Kathy Segriff and the staff at Arden Elementary, along with so many local businesses and community members made it an incredible day. The emotion and stoke from the kids, and their families, makes an event like this so memorable and truly worthwhile.. Craig Harris, Co-Owner Comox Bike Co The team that made it all happen, lead by Rebecca Nicol Tianna Smith, doing what she does: inspiring kids and carrying on Stevie's legacy Not sure who's having more fun; the kids or the adults? The next generation of local shredders Fresh Spesh for a stoked rider Itching to get after it Everyone wishes they looked this cool on a bike We would like to acknowledge that the land on which we gather is the traditional territory of the Komoks First Nation. Chad and CJ Hendren, Owners of Gravity MTB Just a whole stack of fun The boys from Comox Bike Co taking in the joy that they helped create Interested in hosting a Share the Ride event in your community? We are always happy to hear from you - please let us know more about yourself HERE Along with all the Pinkbike users who donated to Share the Ride Foundation It almost feels surreal now that its over. What took nearly a year of planning was over and done in less than four hours! Of course I am referring to the Pinkbike Share the Ride in the Comox Valley on January 19, 2020. This event was the first of its kind here on the island, and to say it was a success is seriously downplaying it!Rewind to spring of 2019 when I reached out to Stephen Exley to help get the funding for the event. Something like this had never been done in the valley, but after spending time in the community coaching (I was newly transplanted from Squamish) it became clear that the love of cycling was very alive here, and the need for a program like this was apparent.Fast forward to Summer 2019. After coming to terms with the fact we would not receive the funding, Pinkbike came through! It only made sense to host the event in conjunction with the Stevie Smith Memorial Cup held on Mount Washington on September 15. We had the funds, a deadline, and now we just needed the recipients.Im not sure if youve ever tried to get in touch with teachers in the middle of the summer. Ill tell you now, its nearly impossible! Thats where Kathy Segriff from Arden Elementary came in. When I first approached her regarding the Share the Ride event, she thought it was a dream come true. Right away she was nearly in tears thinking of all the children that would benefit from a new bike, either due to behavioural/physical needs or their family situation. I tasked her with building a wish list of children. She did not disappoint! When Kathy emailed me her final list, she prefixed the email with I know this is a bit of a dream list of 14 kids, but I set out to deliver!With the help of my amazing partners, Comox Bike Company and Gravity MTB, as well as the efforts of Kathy Segriff and Arden Elementary, we set a new date and carried on full steam ahead. Our eyes were set on January 19, 2020. Nearly a year after I first approached Pinkbike! Jared Walker of OGC came through with 14 brand new helmets. Gravity MTB donated coaching lessons to all the kids. Brett Kroeker was on board for photos and pulled Scott Bell out of the woodwork for video. We had everything and everyone we needed to make this event happen.Fast forward again to Sunday, January 19th. After a record snowfall and snowfall warning had us concerned we might have to postpone, again, we arrived at Arden Elementary and prepared ourselves to make dreams come true. 14 students entered the gymnasium accompanied by their families and the overwhelming glee was infectious. Students gasped and cried tears of joy as they found the bike with their name on it. Their eyes widened as they cried mom, dad, look while checking out their gift bags filled with swag!Each student worked with Comox Bike Co to set up their bikes and install their water bottle cages. Volunteers helped fit their brand new helmets generously donated by Giro Cycling. Tianna Smith share stories of Stevie Smith and helped spark the passion in all the young riders. To help maintain the momentum of this new found love, Gravity MTB donated a personalized coaching session for all students! We made dreams come true! And all the hugs and thank you letters reminded me exactly why I started on this path almost a year ago!A very special thank you to the everyone for working together to make this event a success:Rebecca Nicol - Specialized AmbassadorStephen Exley - Dunbar Summer SeriesSarah Lukas - PinkbikeSpecialized Bicycles CanadaNicholas Russell - Specialized CanadaComox Bike Co. - Craig Harris | Craig Patrick | Chip MurrayGravity MTB - Chad and CJ HendrenJared Walker - Giro SportsBrett Kroeker PhotographyScott Bella VisualsTianna SmithKathy Segriff and all the staff at Arden ElementaryRyders PizzaVideo: Scott Bellhttps://www.scottbellvisuals.com/insta: @scottbellvisuals Photos: Brett Kroekerwww.brettkroeker.comInsta: @brett_kroekerwww.comoxbikeco.comInsta: @comoxbikecowww.gravitymtb.caInsta: @gravitymtb.caRebecca Nicolwww.spreadthestoke.cainsta: @tennesse_whiskeee In the face of criticism from public advocates, Pacific Gas and Electric Co. argued this week it doesn't deserve to be fined for its failure l The solar plant is planned to be built in southwestern Kosovo and to come online next year.Kosovo's grid operator KOSTT has revealed that a 150 MW solar park will be built soon, in the municipality of Gjakova, in the southwestern part of the country. The CEO of KOSTT, Mustafa Hasani, and the director of Solar Energy Group Europe sh p k, Egbert Schnuse, signed, this week, an agreement for the grid connection of the solar plant, which is planned to be connected to the 110 kV transmission network through a new 110 kV line with a length of about 6.5km, the network operator said in a statement. The ... 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. 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. State Rep. Valerie Gaydos is a month early with a proposed and badly needed state constitutional amendment to reduce the size of the bloated House of Representatives, in that April Fools Day is not until April 1. The Allegheny County Republican spoke the obvious truth recently while proposing to cut the size of the House from 203 to 151 seats. Pennsylvania has the second-largest state legislature in the country, Gaydos said. Reducing the number of seats in the House of Representatives will not only provide a significant cost savings to taxpayers, but also streamline the legislative process and make it easier for lawmakers to reach consensus. Not only that, but a smaller House would make it harder to gerrymander legislative districts because each would have about 85,000 residents rather than the current 63,000 (each U.S. House district includes about 770,000 residents), and many would have to cover more territory. That raises at least the prospect of political diversity in more districts, thus more competitive elections. As Gaydos suggested, greater diversity within larger districts would compel more lawmakers to actually legislate that is, compromise in search of broad progress on important matters rather than spout ideology that small, homogeneous constituencies want to hear. Gaydos also did not make the same mistake that killed the most promising effort to reduce the size of the Legislature, about a decade ago. Then, House Speaker Sam Smith sponsored an amendment to reduce the House to 151 seats, but it died because it included reducing the 50-seat Senate to 28 seats and assured its demise in that chamber. Gaydos bill addresses only the House. Gaydos proposal has an element of cruelty to it because it is rational, rooted in sound public policy, badly needed, yet impossible to get by the very chamber that it would affect. In that sense, it serves the further purpose of offering a microcosm of governance in Pennsylvania. Fuel price hike: Delhi Congress holds protest against rising fuel prices India oi-Ajay Joseph Raj P New Delhi, Mar 02: Delhi Congress leaders and workers on Tuesday staged a protest near the BJP headquarters here against the rising petrol, diesel and cooking gas prices. The protesters, raising slogans against the BJP-led central government, took a march from the Delhi Congress office but were stopped by police before the BJP headquarters on DDU Marg. Main darne wali nahin hoon: Kangana Ranaut on another FIR Delhi Congress vice presidents Abhishek Dutt, Shivani Chopra, Jaikishan, Mudit Agarwal and Ali Mehndi, along with Mahila Congress president Amrita Dhawan and other leaders, were leading the protest. The party leaders demanded that the BJP government should provide immediate relief to people from the rising prices of petrol, diesel and cooking gas. No one was detained by police during the protest, Delhi Congress leader Parvez said. TN Elections 2021: DMK unhappy on seat allocation; No promises made with Left, Congress Petrol and diesel prices remained unchanged across the country on Tuesday. The prices were last changed on Saturday when the petrol price was hiked by 24 paise per litre and diesel was raised by 15 paise in Delhi. Petrol price in the national capital stands at Rs 91.17 per litre while that of diesel is at Rs 81.47 on Tuesday. In Mumbai, petrol prices currently stand at Rs 97.57, while diesel is retailing at Rs 88.60. Farmers' Protest: Delhi's Ghazipur border partially opens for vehicular traffic| Oneindia News Fuel prices depend on the taxes levied by state as both central as well as state governments charge taxes along with the freight charges. The Daily Beast Photo Illustration by The Daily Beast/GettyMike Lindell, the MyPillow CEO and Trumpist conspiracy-peddler, flew his private jet to the Republican Governors Association meeting the other day.The guvs promptly threw him out. But the incident got Molly Jong-Fast thinking: Does the MyPillow CEO think hes already a governor or something?Subscribe to The New Abnormal on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Amazon Music, or Overcast. To listen to our weekly members-only bonus episodes, join Beast Inside here. Already a member? You can listen here and sign up for new episode email alerts here.Spoiler: Making MyPillows does not make you my governor. Now, chances that Mike Lindell could actually become governor of a small Republican state, 80 percent, she quips on the latest episode of The New Abnormal. Like, its not even that hard for someone that famous and insane in the Republican party to become a governor.Lindell claims he wouldnt run to be a dogcatcher right now, because he doesnt trust the voting machines. Plus, hes from the blue state of Minnesota. So maybe the risk of a Governor Pillow isnt quite so high. But L.A. Times columnist Virginia Heffernan would like to quickly add something about Mike Lindell being a cosplay governor.I think we need to understand that being in politics leads to governing and governing is boring. It is not a PR operation, she says. And I feel like we have made these jobs celebrity roles. Public service should not beis notbeing on a reality show.Like, I feel like we need to really dial down the razzle-dazzle, really play up the drudgery, Heffernan continues. I just don't know why every single industrialist and every single lady with abs or gorgeous arms would want to be, of all things, a governor.Biden, Heffernan opines, is doing a pretty good job at the drudgerydollars going out, jabs going out, all leading to Trump signs going down. Sure, the Donald has his cultists, like Lindell. But, I don't think people can hold onto this much insanity for this long, especially when it's a tiny minority of people who believe it, Heffernan adds. Democrats need to know how to win.To which Jong-Fast replies, oh-so-gently: Are you freakin kidding me? With all of these Republican attempts to retcon the Capitol riots? To chop away at the right to vote? To instantiate their ability to overturn elections? All while Team Biden snoozes it away? The Democrats are bringing an ice cream sundae to a knife fight, Jong-Fast says.Plus! Politicos Tara Palmeri talks about her search to find Liz Cheney supporters in Wyoming. And Battle for the Soul author Edward-Isaac Dovere gives us a peek into how Biden sees the political landscape. The presidency that he has in front of him now, he knows, is so different from what he ever expected to have, Dovere says, And part of that is rethinking how he incorporates the progressivism within the party that took root and that was so much part of this campaign. And its just, its a really complicated evolution for him. Its not the presidency he thought itd be running in 2019 when he got into this race.Read more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more. 7 day print subscribers enjoy unlimited access to yakimaherald.com Enter the LAST NAME and the 7 DIGIT phone number on your print subscription account to connect your print subscription to your yakimaherald.com account. Just one booster jab in the autumn could protect people against both the South Africa and Brazil coronavirus variants that are worrying scientists, an Oxford expert said today. Professor Andrew Pollard, who has been running trials of the university's Covid vaccines, said the UK needs to stop its 'obsession' with new variants of the virus. He is hopeful, he said on BBC Radio 4, that vaccines will be able to tackle the new strains of the virus and the two worrying ones at the moment could even be kept at bay with a single jab. Oxford is already making an update for its own vaccine and the manufacturers, AstraZeneca, have said they expect it to be ready to use by the autumn. The Brazilian and South African variants of the virus both have mutations that make them able to reinfect people who have already had Covid, but they are so similar that a single booster vaccine might stop them both in their tracks, Professor Pollard said. His comments came as Professor Sharon Peacock, director of the variant-tracking COG-UK institute, said the virus might be reaching a 'plateau' in its evolution. Professor Peacock said fewer new mutations are cropping up in the virus and it is showing 'convergent evolution' in which unconnected variants look the same. Although mutations in the virus happen at random, only the ones that somehow make it stronger than other versions of the virus tend to stick around. Professor Peacock said it was possible that the coronavirus would reach 'optimal fitness' and stop developing major mutations because it couldn't improve itself. A study today revealed the Brazilian variant discovered in the UK over the weekend is around 50 per cent more transmissible than the original version of the coronavirus. And it may be able to reinfect between 25 and 61 per cent of people who are already immune to older strains because it can slip past their immune systems. Professor Sharon Peacock (left) from the Covid-19 Genomics UK (Cog-UK) Consortium, said it was possible the coronavirus could reach 'optimal fitness'. Oxford's Andrew Pollard (right) sounded confident that vaccines would be able to tackle the new strains of the virus STUDY FINDS BRAZIL VARIANT MAY REINFECT 2/3 PEOPLE WITH IMMUNITY A study led by Imperial College London and published online today has found that the Brazil variant of coronavirus may cause reinfection among 61 per cent of people who have already had Covid caused by a different strain. Research on the P1 variant among people living in the Brazilian city of Manaus found potentially high levels of reinfection, and that the variant was more transmissible than the original pandemic strain. British experts have cautioned that the study cannot be used to predict what may happen in the UK. According to the new study, blood testing suggests more than 67 per cent of people in Manaus may have had Covid by October 2020. There was surprise then when the city suffered another huge wave of coronavirus at the start of this year, so experts sought to find out why. They found that the proportion of Covid cases that were the P1 variant grew from zero to 87 per cent in about eight weeks. P1 was found to be 1.4 to 2.2 times more transmissible than other variants in Manaus, and was found to evade 25 per cent to 61 per cent of protective immunity from previous infection. Dr Nuno Faria, reader in viral evolution at Imperial, told a briefing: 'If 100 people were infected in Manaus last year, somewhere between 25 and 61 of them are susceptible to reinfection with P1.' The study could not say how severe illness was in people who were reinfected. It found a slightly higher death rate connected to P1 cases in Manaus but said this coincided with 'substantial healthcare failure' and hospitals running out of oxygen, so it couldn't be pinned on the new variant. Coronavirus genetics expert at COG-UK, Professor Sharon Peacock, said the study could not be used to speculate on the effectiveness of vaccines or how things 'will pan out in other countries including the UK'. Advertisement The South African and Brazilian variants of the coronavirus are the two concerning officials in the UK because they might make vaccines less effective or increase the risk of reinfection. The main mutations they carry are all on the virus's external spike protein, which it uses to latch onto the body, and are named N501Y and E484K, and they both have similar but slightly different mutations on the K417 gene. N501Y is also found in the Kent variant, and is what makes all three versions of the virus spread faster than older strains, which is why they are now taking over. E484K and the K417 mutations, found on the Brazil and South Africa strains but not the English one, makes the virus less susceptible to immune cells made in response to older versions of the virus or to vaccines. This means people are more likely to get infected even if they have immunity from having Covid or from a vaccine. But the mutations are likely to only reduce some of the vaccines' effectiveness against mild illness, while they should still prevent severe illness and death. Professor Andrew Pollard said on BBC Radio 4 today: 'It is difficult because were very focused on what were seeing today and of course the nature of this virus is that it will continue to throw out new mutations in time. 'And so, to some extent, weve got to start moving away from an obsession with each variant as it appears [and] try to rely on the excellent sequencing that is being run nationally to pick up variants so that new designs of vaccines can be made as and when they are needed. 'Certainly at the moment there are some similarities between the P.1 Brazil variant and the B.1351 South African variant. 'So the work at the moment is partly to understand whether a vaccine for one of them might actually protect against both. 'Theres a lot more that we dont know yet about this, but all the developers are working on new vaccines to make sure we are ready if we need to be.' In a briefing today Professor Peacock said she did not believe the discovery of the Brazilian P1 variant in the UK would ruin the vaccine roll-out or lockdown plans. 'The majority of disease in the UK is caused by the B117 [Kent] variant which we can vaccinate against using the vaccines that we have available to us at the moment,' Professor Peacock said. 'The numbers of cases [of P1] in the UK are very low at the moment and I dont think there is any threat to our vaccination strategy or effectiveness.' She said that vaccine-makers would adapt their jabs to make sure they could target the Brazil and South Africa variants of the virus in the future. AstraZeneca, Pfizer and Moderna the big three vaccine makers supplying the UK have already committed to updating their jabs. Professor Peacock said the similarity between the variants was a cause for 'optimism' and explained: 'It could be there's a point at which the virus has optimal fitness in terms of transmission and immunity what we dont know is what happens after that. 'I dont anticipate that things are going to get worse from this point... 'We seem to have reached a relative plateau in terms of what the virus is doing in terms of evolution. But we need to keep our eye on it. Unfortunately, I dont have a crystal ball so I cant predict whats going to happen next.' The Brazilian Covid variant has been found in 15 countries that are not banned for international travel by the UK's red list. UK residents must quarantine in a hotel for at least ten days after returning from 33 countries where variants of concern are known to exist. But the Brazilian variant known as P.1 has also been found in the US, Canada, France, Germany, Spain, Japan, Mexico, India, Italy and South Korea, none of which are on Britain's 'red list'. A list compiled by the World Health Organization also included further reports of the variant being found in China, Croatia, Ireland, Sweden, Switzerland and Turkey. The report has prompted concerns the UK is not doing enough to prevent P.1 coming into the country. Matt Hancock said the country's red list is based on countries where variants are dominant or found in substantial numbers. WHAT DO WE KNOW ABOUT THE BRAZIL VARIANT? Name: B.1.1.248 or P.1 Date: Discovered in Tokyo, Japan, in four travellers arriving from Manaus, Brazil, on January 2. Why should we care? The variant has the same spike protein mutation as the highly transmissible versions found in Kent and South Africa - named N501Y - which makes the spike better able to bind to receptors inside the body. This means it spreads faster and has the potential to become dominant in some areas. What do the mutations do? The N501Y mutation makes the spike protein better at binding to receptors in people's bodies and therefore makes the virus more infectious. Exactly how much more infectious it is remains to be seen, but scientists estimate the similar-looking variant in the UK is around 56 per cent more transmissible than its predecessor. Even if the virus doesn't appear to be more dangerous, its ability to spread faster and cause more infections will inevitably lead to a higher death rate. Another key mutation in the variant, named E484K, is also on the spike protein and is present in the South African variant. E484K may be associated with an ability to evade parts of the immune system called antibodies, researchers from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro said in a scientific paper published online. However, there are multiple immune cells and substances involved in the destruction of coronavirus when it gets into the body so this may not translate to a difference in how people get infected or recover. It has a third, less well-studied mutation called K417T, and the ramifications of this are still being researched but it also appears to give it an advantage against the immune system. Do our vaccines work against it? There are concerns that vaccines might be less effective against the Brazilian strain, with trials of the Johnson & Johnson jab finding it was slightly less effective in Latin America at preventing mild or moderate cases. However, the trials found it still prevented hospitalisations and deaths. No studies have tested the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine against the P1 variant, while Moderna and Pfizer say their mRNA coronavirus vaccines should work against variants with the E484K mutation, with early results showing that these vaccines are only slightly less effective against the P1 variant. Advertisement Speaking at the Downing Street coronavirus briefing last night, the Health Secretary said the WHO's list included countries where the proportion of cases caused by the variant were 'exceptionally low'. It comes as it was revealed that scientists will sequence more tests in a bid to find more cases of P.1 in the UK. Five people who tested positive for the variant, which originated in Manaus on the Amazon river in Brazil, are currently in self-isolation. But the identity of a sixth person who has been confirmed to have the variant remains unknown because they didn't fill in Test & Trace paperwork. Mr Hancock said it was possible the missing patient took a test during a local authority surge of house-to-house testing aimed at finding the South African variant, which is similar to P.1. Professor Jeffrey Barrett, who is in charge of Britain's Covid-19 genome sequencing programme and a researcher at the Sanger Institute, told BBC Radio 4's Today that scientists will sequence more tests in order to find extra cases of the variant. He said: 'We're still sequencing on the minority, maybe 20 per cent of the infections that happen. 'But when we do see examples of - in this case - P.1 that information can then be used to detect specific kinds of interventions such as the ones we're seeing now to try to keep the onward transmissions as low as possible.' Professor Barrett said that more cases of the variant could have gone undetected in the UK, with only one in five tests having been sequenced so far. He said: 'The hope being that as the case numbers continue to go down and our capacity for sequencing continues to go up we can be capturing a larger and larger fraction of all of these infections.' Dr Julian Tang, a virologist and University of Leicester, said the time required to sequence coronavirus cases means the Government's red list for travel could go out of date. He told the Guardian: 'We saw that Ireland reported three cases of the P.1 Brazilian variant about 10 days ago. 'It was not surprising to see other imported cases in the UK mainland soon afterwards and these cases may have already created others here. 'Restricting international travel from red-listed countries may slow down the introduction of new variants from elsewhere, but eventually, such variants will likely spread to non-red-listed countries from red-listed countries then to the UK from there if different countries have different red lists.' And Labours shadow home secretary Nick Thomas-Symonds said the Government has consistently acted 'too little, too late' to add countries to the red list. Three cases of the P.1 variant have been confirmed in England and three in Scotland. Two were tracked to South Gloucestershire but the third English case has not been located and could be anywhere in the nation because they failed to fill in personal details when they were tested for Covid. Authorities are also tracking 136 people who were on Swissair flight LX318 that arrived at Heathrow from Sao Paulo, via Zurich, on February 10. One of the know cases of P.1 was on the flight, which arrived only five days before arrivals from Brazil became required to quarantine in a hotel for 10 nights. None of the known cases was discovered at a quarantine hotel. New week. New episodes. It has only been just two weeks, yet "Vincenzo" is gaining more attention and viewers are starting to love the series even more! In the newly released episodes 3 and 4 of "Vincenzo," another explosive weekend happened, making the ratings soar high and even break its previous records. Song Joong Ki's New Series "Vincenzo" Sets New High Viewership Ratings According to Nielsen Korea, the previous episodes of the Mafia-themed drama "Vincenzo" was able to achieve new records. During the third episode that aired last Feb. 27, the drama garnered a viewership rating of 8.1 percent and surprisingly made it into double digits during their fourth episode on Feb. 28, which received an average nationwide rating of 10.2 percent and a peak of 11.5 percent, producing a new personal record for the drama! Also, it has been reported that most of the viewers watching the series are from ages 20 to 49; these key demographics garnered an average score of 7.2 percent nationwide. The wide range of these age numbers tells the power that the drama holds. Warning: Huge Spoilers Below! Episode 3: Vincenzo Reveals What the New Drugs the Babel Group is Secretly Producing The hidden illegalities of the drugs that the Babel Group is producing has come to ligh. Vincenzo and lawyer Hong Yu Chan are looking for the right move in order to put the mastermind behind bars. Meanwhile, in the middle of their busy days, Hong Yu Chan found out that the woman he has been helping for years is the woman that Vincenzo has been longing to be in his arms again, his mother, Oh Gyeong Ja. Hong Yu Chan's proofs are solely from his observations, and he was able to let the two come face to face even without introduction. Meanwhile, after meeting for a short time, Vincenzo and Hong Yu Chan already built a special bond together. Every after their tiring workdays, they go to their favorite drinking place to treat themselves some good food and drinks. This is among the times they can talk about each other's personal lives. Alas, little did they know that the last time they enjoyed food and some makgeolli will also be their last time to bond. The last thing Vincenzo saw before succumbing to long sleep is that both of them were already covered in blood. At that time, Vincenzo lost the man whom he was just starting to know and the only man he knew he could trust to help him in his mission. Episode 4: Vincenzo Cassano & Lawyer Hong Cha Young Join Forces to Avenge Hong Yu Chan's Death After the death of lawyer Hong Yu Chan, his precious daughter Hong Cha Young has decided to seek revenge. For her, her father's death was not just a mere vehicular accident. Hong Cha Young believes that there are more people involved in the case. After suspecting that the law firm she works at has involvement in her father's death, the competitive lawyer handed her resignation letter and immediately left. In order to punish the people behind the incident, she asked for Vincenzo's help and even made a deal to make their missions stick the landing. Vincenzo and Hong Cha Young began to look for the people who happened to be suspects in the case. Joining them in search is Nam Joo Sung, the assistant and right hand of lawyer Hong Yu Chan. After they threatened the two individuals involved, they put Babel Group's laboratory, where the production of the dangerous drugs RDU-90, into flames. Vincenzo, Hong Cha Young, and a team of hired individuals managed to enter the place by introducing themselves as a team to make rounds for disinfection. The lab doctors had no idea that the supposed disinfection will turn into a disaster. After putting enough gas all around the surface of the building, Vincenzo started to light up his lighter and swiftly flipped it, just like what he did in the mansion in Italy. The massive building was quickly covered in flames while explosions occured one at a time; and that's when they knew that Vincenzo and Hong Cha Young accomplished their first mission, and fulfilled Hong Yu Chan's dream of burning down all the drugs that can kill thousands of lives. Just four episodes down and "Vincenzo" storyline is getting more and more exciting. This only proves that the tvN's new drama is a drama worth gracing your screens! Viewers are now looking forward to more of Vincenzo Cassano and Hong Cha Young's tandem and chemistry! What are you most looking forward to in the next episodes of "Vincenzo"? Spill it in the comments! For more K-Drama, K-Movie, and celebrity news and updates, keep your tabs open here at Kdramastars. Kdramastars owns this article. Written by Shai Collins On 3 March, the World Customs Organization (WCO) joins the international community in celebrating the United Nations (UN) World Wildlife Day, to draw attention to the essential role that biodiversity plays in sustaining our planet and its people. On this occasion, the WCO reiterates its pledge to protect the worlds fauna and flora, and its continuing support to its partner, the Secretariat of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). The theme of World Wildlife Day 2021 is Forest and Livelihoods: Sustaining People and Planet, highlighting the role of forests and their ecosystems in sustaining the livelihoods of millions of people around the world. The UN estimates that between 200 and 350 million people globally live within or near forests, relying on its resources for their livelihoods, food, shelter, energy and medicines. Protecting these resources is therefore crucial. Customs administrations play a key role in ensuring that wildlife and forestry products are preserved and traded legally and sustainably, thanks to vigilant controls at borders and efficient risk profiling techniques, in compliance with legislations and procedures. Ensuring the sustainability of natural resources through legal trade is a duty that the international Customs community is committed to honour, said WCO Secretary General Dr. Kunio Mikuriya. Despite restrictive measures in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, Customs across the world rose to the challenge and maintained their efforts in disrupting the illegal trade in wildlife and forestry products, to continue to protect both communities and the environment. Forests have been particularly vulnerable to poaching and illegal logging since the start of the pandemic. However, Customs are constantly stepping up their efforts in combatting wildlife and forestry crime. Because Customs cannot stop these crimes alone, it forges partnerships and strengthens collaboration between administrations, government agencies and other actors along the supply chain in order to win this fight. The WCO partners with the CITES Secretariat, INTERPOL, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), and the World Bank to form the International Consortium on Combating Wildlife Crime (ICCWC). This powerful partnership enables a worldwide impact, as shown by Operation Thunder 2020, a global enforcement operation targeting illegal wildlife trade, conducted in September and October 2020, co-led by the WCO and INTERPOL with the support of the CITES Secretariat. This Operation was a major success, with over 2,000 seizures and close to 700 suspects identified. The WCO activities conducted under the ICCWC Programme are generously funded by the European Union and the United Kingdom. The WCO also supports its Members to combat illegal wildlife trade through the WCO INAMA, generously funded by the U.S. Department of State. This Project provides comprehensive training and support to strengthen the CITES enforcement capacities of beneficiary Customs administrations in Africa, Asia and South America, whilst enhancing international and inter-agency cooperation globally. These efforts are essential to protect both human well-being and the long-term conservation of forests and their ecosystems. The WCO gathers with the Customs community and all its partners to call for the end of illegal wildlife and forestry trade, and to preserve a healthy planet and flourishing communities. Chennai, March 2 : Makkal Needhi Maiam (MNM) founder Kamal Haasan is likely to contest from two constituencies in the coming Assembly polls in Tamil Nadu -- Anthaloor and Coimbatore South -- party sources said on Tuesday. The 234-member Tamil Nadu Assembly will go to the polls on April 6. The results will be declared on May 2. The actor-turned politician has entered into a political alliance with the All India Samathuva Makkal Katchi (AISMK), helmed by R. Sarathkumar who was an MLA from Tenkasi constituency in alliance with the AIADMK. MNM is also eyeing political ties with Vijayakanth's DMDK if it snaps its alliance with the AIADMK over seat-sharing. Vijayakanth's wife Premalatha Vijayakanth and her brother L.G. Sudheesh have threatened the AIADMK leadership of snapping ties if the demanded number of seats are not been alloted to the party. DMDK has also entered into a seat-sharing discussion with Kamal Haasan, which, if materialises, would lead to the emergence of a powerful third front. Haasan is also planning an alliance with the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) which is mulling to contest the state elections. The Indhiya Jananayaga Katchi (IJK) led by Loksabha MP T.R. Paarivendhar has also entered into an alliance with Sharathkumar's AISMK, which will be part of the Kamal Haasan-led third front alliance. The actor-politician had already announced that if his party comes to power in Tamil Nadu, liquor sale will be privatised with half the sales through government controlled TASMAC and the rest through private players. With the DMK-led front, which includes DMK, Congress, CPM and other Left forces, on one side and the AIADMK-led front comprising AIADMK, BJP and other parties on the other, it has to be seen how the emergence of a third front alliance led by Kamal Haasan and his MNM cuts into the vote share of the major alliances. A United States Navy service member was killed and five others were injured as a result of a road accident involving a convoy of military trucks near Camp Pendleton just north of San Diego. According to the California Highway Patrol, five military trucks were traveling southbound on Interstate 5 near San Onofre State Beach just before 7am when the crash happened, Fox 5 San Diego reported. 'For reasons that are still under investigation, the convoy began to slow causing a chain reaction collision,' CHP said in a news release. 'One of the truck trailers was pushed forward into the cab causing fatal injuries to the driver.' Emergency crews responded to the scene of a road accident involving a military convoy near Camp Pendleton in Southern California on Tuesday morning A 26-year-old Navy sailor died at the scene and another sailor in his early 20s suffered severe injuries, according to California Highway Patrol. Four other service members were taken to hospital having suffered minor injuries According to the California Highway Patrol, five military trucks were traveling southbound on Interstate 5 near San Onofre State Beach just before 7am when the crash happened The injured sailors were evacuated to Camp Pendleton Naval Hospital and Mission Hospital in Orange County for treatment. Camp Pendleton is pictured above The above image is a file photo of a California Highway Patrol car According to CHP, a 26-year-old sailor died at the scene. Another sailor in his early 20s suffered severe injuries and four other service members, two women and two men in their early 20s, suffered minor injuries, CHP said. The injured service members were rushed to Camp Pendleton Naval Hospital and Mission Hospital in Orange County for treatment. First responders and personnel from CHPs Oceanside area, Camp Pendleton Fire Department, United States Marine Corps Camp Pendleton Provost Marshals Office and the United States Marine Corps Criminal Investigation Division responded to the scene. The identity of the sailor who died has not yet been released. The crash happened not far from another fatal accident that took place about an hour beforehand. A semitruck crashed into an SUV carrying 25 people on a Southern California highway, killing 13 and leaving others injured, authorities said. CHP Chief Omar Watson said 12 people died at the scene, which is about 11 miles north of the US-Mexico border, and another died after arriving at the hospital. A Ford Expedition SUV (seen above) reported to be carrying 25 passengers on board had been travelling westbound on Norrish Road when it traveled 'in the direct path' of a gravel truck heading northbound on 115. The accident left 13 people dead and others injured A spokesman for the California Highway Patrol said that the driver of the truck suffered only minor injuries. It's unclear if he sought treatment at a hospital The site of the crash is in southeastern California, about 10 miles east of El Centro and about 10 miles north of the Mexican border Hospital officials earlier reported there were 15 killed and more people in the SUV. Highway Patrol said it's not clear what caused the crash between the SUV and a tractor-trailer full of gravel on a highway through fields in the agricultural southeastern corner of California, about 100 miles east of San Diego. It's unclear if the SUV had stopped at a stop sign before crossing into the path of the semitruck around 6:15am, Watson said. The truck struck the left side of the SUV, which appeared to have been pushed off the road. 'Obviously, that vehicle's not meant for that many people,' Watson said. 'It's unfortunate that that many people were put into that vehicle because theres not enough safety constraints to safely keep those people in that vehicle.' He said numerous people were ejected. The SUV was a Ford Expedition that would typically seat eight to nine people legally. The crash involving the Navy sailors is under investigation and CHP is asking anyone with information to contact their Oceanside office at 760-643-3400. Ireland and Leinster captain Johnny Sexton has signed a one-year contract extension with the Irish Rugby Football Union. The new deal for the 35-year-old fly-half, who has been capped 97 times by his country, will run until the end of the 2021-22 season. He becomes the latest Ireland international to agree fresh terms following recent extensions for vice-captain James Ryan and lock Iain Henderson. This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it. I am really enjoying my rugby and I want to keep learning and adding value to both the Ireland and Leinster environments, Sexton told the IRFU website. I am enjoying the challenge of captaincy and the added responsibility that it brings. My appetite for success is the same as it ever was and the ambitions of both the Ireland and Leinster squads match my own. Sexton has been a key figure for Ireland for more than a decade following his international debut against Fiji in November 2009. The 2018 World Player of the Year is second only to fly-half predecessor Ronan OGara in the list of all-time points for his country, having taken his total to 886 with two penalties and six conversions in Saturdays 48-10 Guinness Six Nations win over Italy. A two-time tourist with the British and Irish Lions, Sexton has won three Six Nations titles, including a Grand Slam in 2018, and four European Cups with Leinster. He took on the Ireland captaincy from Rory Best following the 2019 World Cup and has spoken of his desire to play at the 2023 tournament in France, by which time he will be 38. IRFU performance director David Nucifora said: Johnny continues to show he has the quality and appetite to compete at the highest levels. Ireland locks James Ryan, left, and Iain Henderson, right, have recently agreed new deals (Brian Lawless/PA) He is playing an important leadership role with the Ireland squad and his insight and experience continues to be of great value to the group. The IRFU last year refrained from entering into contract discussions with players due to financial uncertainty caused by the coronavirus pandemic. But that stance has since changed, with Sextons immediate future now secured after Leinster lock Ryan agreed a three-year deal early last month and fellow Ulster captain Henderson last week signed a two-year extension. Ireland continue their Six Nations campaign on Sunday, March 14 against Scotland at Murrayfield, before completing their fixtures six days later at home to England. Digital subscriptions are critical to local news publishers bottom lines, but new findings suggest that an increasing number of these subscribers are zombie readers who seldom consume what they pay for, highlighting an unnerving trend among readers who remain unengaged even though they may still pay for local news. Recent data analysis conducted by Northwestern Universitys Medill Spiegel Research Center found that, on average, nearly half of local news outlets digital subscribers (49 percent) dont visit the news sites they pay for even once a month. An additional 54 percent said they visit the website of the news outlets they pay for only one day per month or fewer, 58 percent reported visiting two days a month or fewer, 69 percent visited seven days or fewer, and 79 percent visited 15 days or fewer. The Medill Spiegel Research Centers findings come on the heels of a viral Feb. report, which found that about 42 percent of The Arizona Republics digital-only subscribers didn't read a single article on the papers website in the last month. That Gannett property, which was founded in 1890, is the Grand Canyon States largest daily newspaper. Sharing these findings via Twitter, CNN host Brian Stelter wrote, I think Ive lost the passwords for 42% of the digital outlets I subscribe to. Research for the Medill Spiegel Research Center study was based on data analysis of local news outlets in 45 U.S. markets. Mazda Reports February 2021 US Sales IRVINE, Calif. (March 2, 2021) Mazda North American Operations (MNAO) today reported total February sales of 26,008 vehicles, a decrease of 8.4 percent compared to February 2020. Year-to-date sales totaled 51,267 vehicles, a decrease of 1.4 percent. With 24 selling days in February, compared to 26 the year prior, the company posted an increase of 0.7 percent on a Daily Selling Rate (DSR) basis. Sales Highlights Sales of the CX-30 totaled 5,005 in February, an increase of 33.3 percent compared to February 2020. Sales of the CX-9 totaled 3,151 in February, an increase of 7.7 percent compared to February 2020. Sales of the MX-5 Miata totaled 836 vehicles, an increase of 3.6 percent compared to February 2020. Mazda Motor de Mexico (MMdM) reported February sales of 4,240 vehicles, a decrease of 9.9 percent compared to February 2020. Mazda North American Operations is headquartered in Irvine, California, and oversees the sales, marketing, parts and customer service support of Mazda vehicles in the United States and Mexico through approximately 620 dealers. Operations in Mexico are managed by Mazda Motor de Mexico in Mexico City. Weather Underground bombing, Puerto Rican nationalists: 5 other times the US Capitol was attacked Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., has called for a commission to investigate the attack at the U.S. Capitol last month. Democrats and Republicans are debating how to proceed, including the political composition of the commission and whether to broaden the scope to include the deadly riots that took place last summer or only look into Capitol security on Jan. 6. On that day, while Congress met to certify the results of the 2020 presidential election, hundreds of Trump supporters and others stormed the Capitol building ahead of a scheduled rally that was meant to start that afternoon following a separate event where then-President Trump spoke at the Ellipse. Several people were injured in the melee and five people died, including Ashli Babbitt, an unarmed woman who was shot and killed by a Capitol police officer as she attempted to climb through a smashed door pane into the House chamber, another woman who died from injuries she sustained after being trampled on by the crowd, one individual who suffered a heart attack, and another who had a stroke. Capitol police officer Brian D. Sicknick, who had responded to the riot, died hours later. In response, fencing with razor wire was erected around the Capitol and 25,000 National Guard soldiers were deployed to Washington, D.C., ahead of President Joe Biden's inauguration. Some 6,000 soldiers are expected to remain in the District at least through March and possibly until the fall. Although the violent riot could be considered unprecedented in some respects, the Capitol has seen its share of politically-inspired violence since the district's founding. Here are five times when the Capitol was the scene of armed attacks by gunmen and domestic terror groups. These include the invasion of British troops during the War of 1812, a bombing by the Weather Underground, and a mass shooting of congressmen by Puerto Rican nationalists. Due to the lack of safe water sources, the village with a 300-strong population depends on this pond for drinking water. (Representational Photo: PTI) ANANTAPUR: Women during their monthly periods are not allowed to fetch drinking water from a small pond at Paipedu, an interior village in Mudigubba Mandal. The practice exists for many years. Due to the lack of safe water sources, the village with a 300-strong population depends on this pond for drinking water. Though a water pipeline served the area from a nearby village for some time, it got damaged a year ago. Women are not allowed entry to the pond area for five days when they are through their monthly periods. When their men are not around to help them, they have to depend on other families for their drinking water needs. Lakshmi Devi, a villager said the custom is being followed by the entire village. No woman during her menstrual period should touch the pond. When the pond dried up a decade ago, villagers suspected it happened due to the entry of some woman into the pond during her periods. We are strictly following the custom for many years. Neighbours and friends supply drinking water for families that do not have a male member on such occasions, she said. Paipedu, located at a hillock about 23km away from the Mandal headquarters of Mudigubba in Kadiri revenue division has no road access even from the gram panchayat headquarters of Madannagari Palle, about 3km away. The area is badly hit by fluoride presence in groundwater and the water from a bore well that existed in the village with 7.8Ph is not used for drinking purpose. Previously, a 3km-long pipeline existed from Madannagaripalle connecting the village to the water tank and it served drinking water for Paipedu. The pipeline was badly damaged during the erection of a road and water supply stopped a year ago. Since then, the entire village depends on the small pond, a villager said. No action was initiated by the gram panchayat and the rural water supply wing to solve the water problem. During the time when there was a drinking water supply via the pipeline, the women even during their periods fetched water from it, and no custom prevented them from doing so. The pond draws in rainy water as also depends on groundwater sources, which are not pure for consumption but the people have no alternative source. Landowner P. Venkataiah came forward to donate land for drilling a bore well about a km away from the village, with fewer chances of fluoride content. I shall donate the land, but the government should bear the expenses to drill a bore well and install a pipeline into the village, he told DC. Interestingly, the entire village follows another female custom. The women will have only home deliveries and will not go to hospitals for childbirth. The medical department tried to create awareness among them while the health care workers are concentrating on the village to reduce such post-delivery complications. SANTIAGO, Chile, March 02, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- After various months of testing with over 250 businesses, and after receiving the authorization from the local regulator, the Financial Markets Commission (CMF), Getnet, the new acquiring network, has begun to officially operate. With this, Getnet will expand throughout the country, expected to benefit thousands of businesses, with the objective of reaching a market share of 15% in the next three years. Miguel Mata, CEO of Santander Chile, affirmed that we are taking an important step to increase competition in the payments market in Chile, following the trends in developed countries where this industry is open to diverse operators. With this, businesses will be the major benefactors as they will have a new and robust offer available, with better payment times, innovative and diverse plans and high standards of security. This will permit Getnet to compete in this market with an important growth potential in the country. With the approval of the CMF, Chile joins the other countries within the Santander Group that already offer acquiring, including Argentina, Brazil and Mexico, as part of PagoNxt, the strategic brand of the Santander Group created to consolidate the payments business on a global level. Differentiating Offer Through Getnet available for natural and legal persons clients will be able to receive the money from their sales in a Santander account (either simple debit or current account) up to five times in one day, including holidays. This is a differentiating characteristic, given that other operators pay from 24 to 72 hours after, excluding weekend and holidays. Also, the cardholders that use the Getnet POS will no longer need to answer the question Credit or debit?, since the system can detect the type of card automatically, reducing errors and offering a more agile shopping experience. In the first stage, Getnet offers a POS solution that includes a SIM card with data incorporated and can be used as a fixed POS, for example in a store, or in settings where the POS needs to be taken directly to the consumer, such as restaurants or delivery services. Sign up for this product is done digitally through getnet.cl. Furthermore, in alliance with Banco Santander, the SME client that receives their payments from Getnet to their Santander account will receive 50% discount on the monthly fee for the Plan Empresas. Clients will also be able to opt for the Plan Comercios with a rebate of 50%. Additionally, a client will have access to purchase an insurance Facturacion Protegida, covered by Zurich Santander, for those businesses that cannot operate due to material damages to the shop, natural disasters or other reasons covered under the insurance policy. Getnet accepts all cards: debit, credit, and prepaid cards, from national and international banks, with the brands Mastercard, Visa, American Express and Magna. It operates under the new four part model with the highest operating and security standards of the international brands. The system offers all the functionalities that are known by the businesses and more: contactless payment, the use of the PIN (4-digit passcode), tips, installments, etc. Additionally, it offers refunds from the credit and debit card online. CONTACT INFORMATION Robert Moreno Investor Relations Banco Santander Chile Bandera 140, Floor 20 Santiago, Chile (562) 2320-8284 Email: irelations@santander.cl Website: www.santander.cl Small business bosses are to get the chance to go back to college to improve their management skills in a 520million Budget plan to boost productivity. Rishi Sunak will unveil the Help to Grow scheme tomorrow as part of wider plans to get the economy back on track. Mr Sunak, who gained an MBA degree from Stanford University in the US, said he wanted more business people to benefit from professional management advice. The scheme, which will also subsidise business software designed to improve efficiency, is expected to help 130,000 firms. Rishi Sunak will unveil the Help to Grow scheme tomorrow as part of wider plans to get the economy back on track The Chancellor said: 'Our brilliant small and medium-sized enterprises are the backbone of our economy, creating jobs and generating prosperity so it's vital they can access the tools they need to succeed. 'Help to Grow will ensure they are embracing the latest technology and management training, fuelling our Plan for Jobs by boosting productivity in all corners of the UK.' The scheme will give firms access to subsidised courses at top business schools. The Treasury said dozens of the UK's leading institutions had signed up to offer 50 hours of tuition with one-to-one support from a business mentor. Tony Danker, of the CBI business organisation, said many small firms lacked 'the cash and capacity to keep innovating' after working flat out to survive last year's downturn. Pictured: an empty high street in Shrewsbury in January during England's third national lockdown The Office for National Statistics said earlier this month that over the whole of 2020 the economy dived by 9.9 per cent - the worst annual performance since the Great Frost devastated Europe in 1709 The move reflects concern that some British firms are failing to take advantage of the latest management and IT expertise. The Treasury said the UK ranks fifth among the G7 group of industrialised nations for use of modern management techniques. Evidence suggests even small improvements in management could lead to a 10 per cent increase in productivity. Firms can also get 5,000 towards software. The Treasury said modern customer relationship management software could boost sales by up to 18 per cent per employee. Tony Danker, of the CBI business organisation, said many small firms lacked 'the cash and capacity to keep innovating' after working flat out to survive last year's downturn. He added: 'The UK has some of the most productive companies in the world but also a long tail who are not yet firing on all cylinders.' Mike Cherry, national president of the Federation of Small Businesses, said: 'Practical help matters most when it comes to productivity growth in small firms.' New Delhi, March 2 : For the Tamil Nadu assembly polls, the BJP-AIADMK alliance is likely to seal the seat sharing deal in a day or two. During his recent visit to Tamil Nadu, Union Home Minister Amit Shah had discussed the seat-sharing formula with the AIADMK leadership. Polls for the 234-seats Tamil Nadu assembly are scheduled on April 6. BJP National General Secretary and Tamil Nadu in-charge C. T. Ravi said talks are on with the alliance partner and everything will be finalised within a couple of days."Talks are on with AIADMK and the outcome (seat-sharing formula) will be shared with everyone in the coming days," he said. Recently union minister of states for Home, and poll in-charge for Tamil Nadu, G. Kishan Reddy, party state unit chief L. Murugan and Ravi held talks with AIADMK leadership.On Sunday, Chief Minister E K Palaniswami and his deputy O Panneerselvam met Shah to discuss the seat sharing. BJP sources said the BJP has identified 60 assembly seats in states where the saffron party had performed well in the past. "The BJP has demanded maximum seats from these 60 'A' category seats," he said. Another BJP source said that the AIADMK is offering a lesser number of seats than what the party (BJP) asked for. "The AIADMK leaders told us that they can't give more than 20 odd seats to us. Talks are on and a seat sharing formula acceptable to both the party will be reached soon," he said. It is learnt that the BJP is seeking something over two dozen seats to contest and make its presence felt in the state assembly. "Our focus is to get maximum seats from where chances of our winning are good and ensure maximum strike rate on seats that the BJP candidates are going to contest in Tamil Nadu," a senior BJP leader said. The AIADMK has sealed a deal with its alliance partner PMK by offering 23 seats. Seats on which the PMK will contest will be identified later. She announced she was expecting her first child back in December. And Tina Daheley was every inch the glowing mum-to-be as she showed off her bump in a new snap on Monday. The BBC news presenter, 39, proudly showcased her growing stomach as she posed in a chic scarlet dress for the bump selfie. Pregnancy glow: Tina Daheley was every inch the glowing mum-to-be as she showed off her bump in a new snap on Monday The gorgeous high-necked dress tied with a chic ribbon around her growing bump and boasted elegant puffed sleeves. Tina wore her tresses in soft waves while feline flicks of liner and rose gloss accentuated her pretty features. The star looked radiant and happy as she counts down the final weeks of her pregnancy. Back in December, the journalist and broadcaster shared an Instagram photo of her baby bump, while revealing she was over five months pregnant. Happy news: Tina confirmed she was expecting her first child with fiance Kane William-Smith in December Captioning the post, she wrote: 'Some exciting news to share! Beyond thrilled to be welcoming a new addition to our family in Spring 2021. Thank you @bbcradio2 family for all your lovely messages this morning.' While the presenter typically keeps her private life away from social media, her fiance Kane occasionally features in sporadic posts - including Tina confirming the couple's engagement via Instagram in January 2018. Tina confirmed her engagement to long-term partner Kane in January 2018, sharing a photo of her sparkling ring on Instagram She wrote alongside the image: '07.01.18 Making plans for the rest of our lives.' Inseparable: Tina confirmed her engagement to Kane in January 2018 by sharing a photo of her sparking ring (pictured) After reading the news on the Radio 1 breakfast show for several years, Tina covered events such as the pre-election debate and fronted her first Panorama programme about the Manchester bombing. She has since become a regular fixture on the BBC Breakfast sofa alongside the likes of Charlie Stayt and Naga Munchetty, Louise Minchin and Jon Kay. Speaking in 2018, the presenter told Harper's Bazaar she 'worked ridiculously hard' to get where she is after her parents told her she'd have to try even harder than her white contemporaries. Specfial occasion: Tina and Kane made a rare public appearance together at the Virgin TV British Academy Television Awards in 2017 'I was doing the news on BBC Three, finishing at midnight and then coming in to do breakfast, which comes back to what my parents said about having to work two or three times as hard,' she explained. Tina is the daughter of first-generation immigrant parents of Indian heritage, who themselves grew up in Nairobi and Tanzania. She added that gender and class also play a part in the lack of diversity in the media, saying: 'Theres no point having Im saying it as Im saying to my friends loads of brown privileged people in prominent roles. 'That isnt really representative. The further up I get in my career I realise there arent many people like me. Im from a very working class background.' Egypt's President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi has called for increasing cooperation with international financing agencies to achieve development in various state projects, especially the national project to develop the Egyptian countryside. El-Sisis directives were made during a meeting held on Monday with Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly and Minister of International Cooperation Rania Al-Mashat, presidential spokesman Bassam Rady said in a statement. El-Sisi was briefed on the latest efforts exerted by the Ministry of International Cooperation to maximise cooperation with partners and international financing institutions in various national development projects. During the meeting, Al-Mashat reviewed the efforts with international partners to mobilise support for the major development projects that are currently underway, the statement added. The minister also touched upon the proposed action plan for expanding projects to support rural communities and women, including determining the activities that would be implemented there and the required funding. The Egyptian government has been working to improve living conditions for millions of people in the countrys poorest villages, with a total cost of over EGP 500 million (around $32 million). The project aims to develop all components of infrastructure, including water, electricity, natural gas, sanitation, canal lining, road paving, and other services. It also includes a services axis that will encompass educational and health services as well as social programs. Short link: Canada is like America just a lot nicer. So, whats so awful about an EU-Canada trade deal? The Green Partys internal divisions on the issue were put aside but never resolved before Christmas due to a threat of failure to get TDs and senators to ratify the trade agreement. The issue was politically parked last month pending an expected Dail committee review that was seen as a Government device to minimise Green Party divisions and get the lucrative trade deal over the line. This awkward row which has left many in Fianna Fail and Fine Gael rather bewildered is about to come back into view this week as a low-level mini turf war over which Oireachtas committee should do the review looks close to resolution. It now appears likely the EU affairs committee will take it on and public proceedings are expected later in the month. We can expect Sinn Fein and Solidarity People Before Profit to make every effort to highlight Green Party tensions in moves also aimed at stretching Fianna Fail and Fine Gael patience. There is a view across many parties at Leinster House that the Green Party may lose at least two TDs over the issue, with entrenched objections coming from Neasa Hourigan and Patrick Costello. Some in Fianna Fail, Fine Gael and indeed among the Green Party ranks itself tend to paraphrase Shakespeares Macbeth talking about his impending murder of the Scottish king, when it comes to a potential loss of Green TDs. If it were to be done twere better done quickly. But even opponents of the deal acknowledge this EU-Canada trade deal is potentially very lucrative for Irish exporters. They point out that, with the exception of France and its links to French-speaking Quebec, Ireland is the closest EU state, culturally and politically, to Canada. It was very hard won, taking seven years to craft, and it has been applied provisionally since 2017 as about half the EU states managed to give it the necessary green light in their national parliaments. Supporters of the deal say Irish exports to Canada have grown in the interim from 1.2bn per year to almost 2bn. The problem rests with a business arbitration scheme that enables business dispute resolution outside of the courts for Canadian investors in the EU. The so-called investor courts system was something Green Party leader Eamon Ryan and others, including Dublin MEP Ciaran Cuffe opposed during their opposition years. Campaigning politicians and NGOs raised fears that national and EU environmental and social laws could be set aside by this arbitration process. Opposition was by no means confined to Ireland. When the French-speaking Walloon assembly in Belgium objected along these lines to the draft deal in 2017, the matter was referred to the EU Court of Justice in Luxembourg. The judges said the tribunals set up by the agreement could not have the power to interpret or to apply EU law, other than those in the deal, in a way that could hinder the power of EU institutions. In April 2019 the Luxembourg court ruled that the EU-Canada deal did not override EU law and there were also provisions that deprived the dispute-solving tribunals of questioning the choices of states on protection of public order, public safety, food safety, the protection of public morals, consumer protection, protection of fundamental rights and human life and health. The court said the deal offered remedies for foreign investors, but their situation was not comparable to that of investors of member states. This is part of the reason Eamon Ryan says the EU-Canada deal is now acceptable. He and others also argue that ratification of this deal is implicit in their coalition deal with the other two parties. This point is also contested by opponents of the trade deal. Party strategists will be trying to minimise evidence of internal dissent. But that may be a tall order. TUNIS - Tunisian border authorities at the Tunis port of La Goulette stopped 30 people last week who were attempting to board one of the ships anchored at port to illegally reach European countries, said a statement from the Tunisian Interior ministry, adding that all those who were stopped have been reported to the judiciary. The ministry also said that last week the national guard arrested two Tunisians in Nabeul who were riding in a private vehicle with plastic containers full of fuel intended for an operation of "illegal crossing of maritime borders". The public prosecutor has decided to open a criminal investigation into those suspects as well, the statement said. No proof of fraud against Srinivas, Gambhir: They were helping, Delhi Police tells HC Toolkit: Nikita Jacobs anticipatory bail plea to be heard on March 9 India oi-Vicky Nanjappa New Delhi, Mar 02: The Delhi High Court today gave the Delhi police time to file a response on the plea by advocate Nikita Jacob seeking anticipatory bail in the toolkit case. The matter will come up for hearing next on March 9. The police have accused Jacob of helping edit the social media toolkit on the farmer protest. The police said that the toolkit was created in support of the farmer protest. The police also liked the same with the violence that broke out on Republic Day. Toolkit: Shantanu Muluk gets protection from arrest until March 9 It may be recalled that the police had arrested Disha Ravi from Bengaluru in connection with the case. Ravi was granted bail by the court on February 23. The police said that there was a zoom meeting before Republic Day which was attended by Mo Dhaliwal of the Poetic for Justice Foundation, a pro-Khalistan group. The meeting was also attended by Nikita, Disha and Shantanu. It may be recalled that violence broke out on Republic Day, when the farmers had arranged a tractor protest. Farmers' Protest: Delhi's Ghazipur border partially opens for vehicular traffic| Oneindia News The meeting was aimed at creating a storm on Twitter, the police also said. Further the police also found that Disha had deleted the WhatsApp group she had created to spread the toolkit. Armenia ex-president Kocharyan gives interview to Russia newspaper Armenia acting deputy PM on unblocking of roads with Azerbaijan: There will be no troops standing there Nikkei: Toyota and Honda stop car production in Malaysia Armenia official on deploying international observers at Azerbaijan border: You will hear reaction on this matter soon USAID helps UN World Food Programme support displaced people in Armenia Armenia official: Work of trilateral working group on roads unblocking has stopped after recent incidents Russias Putin to Armenias Pashinyan: Relations between our countries are developing very successfully Armenia health minister: Improper storage of fallen soldiers bodies, remains was my omission 108 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia Armenia President to children: I believe that you will make our country much better Armenia CEC publicizes complete lists of political forces registered to run in snap parliamentary elections World oil prices going up Queen Elizabeth turns down PM's offer to name new royal yacht after Prince Philip Armenia parliament discusses 2020 state budget report Newspaper: Armenia acting FM resigns after 3rd attempt Newspaper: Yerevan mayor to leave office Israel, UAE sign tax treaty Newspaper: Even vagrants are persuaded, taken to Armenia acting PM Pashinyans rally in Vanadzor Swedish defense minister demands explanation from Denmark over spy scandal Acting Deputy PM: Armenia has not discussed and will not discuss issues within logic of "corridor" Armenia Central Electoral Commission determines numbers of political parties for elections Armenia 2nd President visits Cathedral of the Holy Mother of God in Gyumri (PHOTOS) Opposition Armenia bloc representative: We're running in elections to win Azerbaijan MFA comments on calls for release of Armenian POWs with infinite hypocrisy EC: Vaccinated citizens should be exempted from tests, quarantine when traveling within EU Armenia Ombudsman discusses rights of 6 captured Armenian servicemen with ICRC Delegation head EU ready to use all the tools at its disposal to change Turkey's behavior Yerevan court obliges to abolish violation of rights of Armenia Supreme Judicial Council ex-chairman Greek and Turkish leaders to meet in June on sidelines of NATO summit Armenia Central Electoral Commission to set up 2,008 polling stations for snap parliamentary elections Iranian companies to participate in reconstructing territories under Azerbaijan's control Opposition Armenia bloc's representative on acting PM's invitation to debate with 1st and 2nd Presidents Armenia acting FM dismissed upon presidential decree Body of brother of Armenian criminal authority "Don Pipo" found under bridge 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 Armenia ex-president Kocharyan gives interview to Russia newspaper Armenia acting deputy PM on unblocking of roads with Azerbaijan: There will be no troops standing there Nikkei: Toyota and Honda stop car production in Malaysia Armenia official on deploying international observers at Azerbaijan border: You will hear reaction on this matter soon USAID helps UN World Food Programme support displaced people in Armenia Armenia official: Work of trilateral working group on roads unblocking has stopped after recent incidents Russias Putin to Armenias Pashinyan: Relations between our countries are developing very successfully Armenia health minister: Improper storage of fallen soldiers bodies, remains was my omission 108 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia Armenia President to children: I believe that you will make our country much better Armenia CEC publicizes complete lists of political forces registered to run in snap parliamentary elections World oil prices going up Queen Elizabeth turns down PM's offer to name new royal yacht after Prince Philip Armenia parliament discusses 2020 state budget report Newspaper: Armenia acting FM resigns after 3rd attempt Newspaper: Yerevan mayor to leave office Israel, UAE sign tax treaty Newspaper: Even vagrants are persuaded, taken to Armenia acting PM Pashinyans rally in Vanadzor Swedish defense minister demands explanation from Denmark over spy scandal Acting Deputy PM: Armenia has not discussed and will not discuss issues within logic of "corridor" Armenia Central Electoral Commission determines numbers of political parties for elections Armenia 2nd President visits Cathedral of the Holy Mother of God in Gyumri (PHOTOS) Opposition Armenia bloc representative: We're running in elections to win Azerbaijan MFA comments on calls for release of Armenian POWs with infinite hypocrisy EC: Vaccinated citizens should be exempted from tests, quarantine when traveling within EU Armenia Ombudsman discusses rights of 6 captured Armenian servicemen with ICRC Delegation head EU ready to use all the tools at its disposal to change Turkey's behavior Yerevan court obliges to abolish violation of rights of Armenia Supreme Judicial Council ex-chairman Greek and Turkish leaders to meet in June on sidelines of NATO summit Armenia Central Electoral Commission to set up 2,008 polling stations for snap parliamentary elections Iranian companies to participate in reconstructing territories under Azerbaijan's control Opposition Armenia bloc's representative on acting PM's invitation to debate with 1st and 2nd Presidents Armenia acting FM dismissed upon presidential decree Body of brother of Armenian criminal authority "Don Pipo" found under bridge 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 YSoft OMNI Series consists of YSoft OMNI Bridge , a serverless Edge device, and YSoft OMNI Apps , which are annual subscription services for print functionality and other applicable industries; the first OMNI App is OMNI UP365 accessing Microsoft's Universal Print. OMNI Series eliminates the need for on-premises print servers and printer driver management, long-standing burdens on IT resources, making it an ideal solution for small and mid-size businesses. Its zero-infrastructure approach also ensures zero-trust network security, and zero IT know-how is required; cloud printing is simply available to users in seconds. The availability of YSoft OMNI Series coincides with Microsoft's announced general availability of Universal Print, a new feature in Microsoft 365. While new printers coming to the market will eventually have Universal Print capabilities, existing printers do not and may require costly firmware updates, if firmware updates are available at all. Y Soft developed OMNI Series in close cooperation with Microsoft to provide businesses a cost-effective way to take advantage of Universal Print now without replacing their printers. "Our goal of printing from anywhere helps organizations with Digital Transformation by eliminating costly on-premises print infrastructure and IT resources," said Rani Abdellatif, Sr. Program Manager in charge of Universal Print connector technology, Microsoft. "With OMNI Series, Y Soft is enabling businesses to take advantage of cloud printing through Universal Print on their existing print fleets," he added. "YSoft OMNI Series has been designed to plug and play so no IT knowledge is required, and employees can be printing in the cloud in a matter of minutes in the office or at home," said Wouter Koelewijn, Chief of Products, Y Soft. "To mark OMNI Series' general availability and to reinforce the cost savings that businesses will achieve, Y Soft is offering a limited time introductory discount on OMNI Series in the YSoft Store." Y Soft has a 20-year history of designing and manufacturing companion hardware products for its print-management software. This experience along with being a Microsoft Gold-certified ISV partner makes the company uniquely qualified to offer YSoft OMNI Series as the perfect solution for Universal Print capabilities today and the future services YSoft OMNI Apps will provide. While OMNI Series offers serverless cloud printing, YSoft SAFEQ offers full print management features, and Y Soft also announced today that Universal Print is now generally available in YSoft SAFEQ on-premises as a free connector. YSoft SAFEQ Cloud, the company's soon to be released cloud-based print management family of services, also plans to connect with Universal Print. OMNI Series Availability in the YSoft Store The YSoft Store is the company's new eShop where companies can purchase OMNI Series bundles and OMNI Apps directly from Y Soft. YSoft OMNI Series is now generally available to any U.S.-based business and additional countries will come online soon. The company is offering a choice of three bundles; each bundle includes an OMNI Bridge and either 1, 5, or 25 packs of OMNI UP365 1-year subscriptions ranging in price from $275.00 to $720.00 USD. Individual OMNI UP365 packs are also available in either 1, 5, or 25 packs and range from $30.00 to $475.00. A 50% introductory discount is automatically applied at checkout for the first two of any individual OMNI Series bundle or individual OMNI UP365 pack items. 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 www.ysoft.com. Y Soft, YSoft SAFEQ, YSoft OMNI Series, YSoft OMNI Bridge, YSoft OMNI Apps and YSoft OMNI UP365 are trademarks or registered trademarks of Y Soft Corporation a.s. in the European Union and other countries. 1 Printers should be IPP-enabled and PDF compatible Contact: Steven Knuff, [email protected] SOURCE Y Soft Related Links http://www.ysoft.com MetLife CEO To Speak At U.N. Global Compact 'Target Gender Equality Live' Conference MetLife, Inc. (NYSE: MET) today announced that Michel Khalaf, president and CEO, will participate in the "Women's Empowerment Principles: Foundations for Equality in Practice" panel discussion at the U.N. Global Compact " Target (News - Alert) Gender Equality Live" conference on Tuesday, March 16, 2021, beginning at 8:00 a.m. (ET). Khalaf will join other partners of the Women's Empowerment Principles to reflect on past accomplishments and discuss the path forward to gender equity. "MetLife's partnership with the U.N. plays an integral role in our approach to advancing gender equity in the workplace and in our communities," Khalaf said. "Maintaining frequnt and candid dialogue at forums like this is essential to identifying barriers and expanding opportunities for women across the globe." The conference will be an immersive, multi-session online experience. More information is available via the U.N. Global Compact "Target Gender Equality Live" website. About MetLife MetLife, Inc. (NYSE: MET), through its subsidiaries and affiliates ("MetLife"), is one of the world's leading financial services companies, providing insurance, annuities, employee benefits and asset management to help its individual and institutional customers navigate their changing world. Founded in 1868, MetLife has operations in more than 40 markets globally and holds leading positions in the United States, Japan, Latin America, Asia, Europe and the Middle East. For more information, visit www.metlife.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210302005268/en/ [March 02, 2021] Xendit Raises US$64.6 Million Series B Led by Accel to Scale Its Digital Payments Infrastructure Ushering in a New Era of Economic Security and Reliability in Southeast Asia Xendit, the fastest growing digital payments infrastructure for Southeast Asia, announces it has raised US$64.6 million in a Series B round led by Accel to deliver more secure and reliable economic success in the region. Altogether, the company has raised $88 million in funding. Amid Southeast Asia's rapid digital transformation, Xendit is quickly bolstering businesses of all sizes, processing more than 65 million transactions with US$6.5 billion in payment value annually. "Southeast Asia is a massively complex region, with Indonesia having 17,000 different islands alone-not to mention the region's regulatory and technological challenges. Trying to build the businesses of tomorrow on yesterday's infrastructure is holding Southeast Asia's businesses back," said Moses Lo, CEO and Co-Founder. "This latest investment will enable Xendit to scale our digital payments infrastructure quickly and provide millions of small and medium-sized businesses across Southeast Asia with an on-ramp to the digital economy." "With more than 170 million Indonesians online and a rapidly growing middle class, Indonesia's digital economy is on track to quadruple by 2025," said Tessa Wijaya, COO, and Co-Founder. "Southeast Asia needs access to a reliable payments infrastructure of its own. Xendit's platform will supercharge the region's incredible digital economy, ensuring the next generation of businesses can soar." Accel led the round with added support from YCombinator. Xendit is the first Indonesian company to go through YCombinator's accelerator program and was named one of YCombinator's top 100 companies of 2021. Xendit's diverse, worldwide team brings localized solutions to a global framework. Both CEO Moses Lo and COO Tessa Wijaya were born and raised in Asia, with a deep understanding of its culture and local nuances. After pursuing higher education in the US, Tessa honed her expertise in Southeast Asia's market dynamics and regulations. At the same time, Moses gained insight into global tech accessibility and Silicon Valley's startup ecosystem. Together, Tessa and Moses have joined forces to build Southeast Asia's next digital economy. Xendit's efforts dovetail perfectly with the region's continued steps towards digitization and financial freedom. The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) joined forces to adopt its Community Vision 2025 to expand financial literacy, enhance connectivity, strengthen regional infrastructure, expand digital payments scope, raise awareness against digital fraud, and prioritize bridging the digital gap. From Indonesian kiosks (warungs) to SMBs and large enterprises-like Traveloka, Transferwise, Wish, and Grab-businesses have experienced a long battle to digitize without proper tools for Southeast Asia's economic nuances. Now, Xendit provides them all with payment solutions to set up and deploy commercial initiatives quickly, including processing payments, running marketplaces, disbursing payroll, and detecting fraud. With Xendit, businesses can access: The most reliable payment solution for Indonesia, the Philippines, and Southeast Asia Best-in-class fraud detection with a privacy-forward approach A quick-to-implement API deploying in days rather than months World-class 24/7 customer service "Xendit has quietly built a modern digital payments infrastructure that's transformed how Southeast Asian businesses transact," said Ryan Sweeney, partner at Accel. "Their team's combination of deep local expertise and global ambitions means they're uniquely positioned to do what no other company could do in the region. We're excited to partner with Moses, Tessa and the founding team to help take Xendit to the next level." About Xendit Xendit is a financial technology company that provides payment solutions and simplifies the payment process for businesses in Indonesia, the Philippines and Southeast Asia, from SMBs and e-commerce startups to large enterprises. Xendit enables businesses to accept payments, disburse payroll, run marketplaces and more, that is easy to integrate with and supported by 24/7 customer service. Amidst the fragmented payment landscape in Southeast Asia, Xendit enables businesses to accept payments from direct debit, virtual accounts, credit and debit cards, eWallets, retail outlets, and online installments. Building the region's digital payments infrastructure, Xendit is shaping the next generation of scalable businesses across Southeast Asia. Xendit is propelling the region's digital transformation by addressing access, reliability, and regulatory needs enabling more businesses to scale and thrive. As the first-ever Indonesian startup to graduate from YCombinator and backed by global investors and other venture capital firms in the region, Xendit powers some of Southeast Asia's fastest-growing brands including Traveloka, Transferwise, Wish, and Grab. To learn more, visit xendit.co. About Accel Accel is a global venture capital firm that is the first partner to exceptional teams everywhere, from inception through all phases of private company growth. Atlassian (News - Alert) , Braintree, Cloudera, Crowdstrike, DJI, DocuSign, Dropbox, Etsy, Facebook, Flipkart, Freshworks, Jet, Pillpack, Qualtrics, Slack, Spotify, Supercell, Tenable, UiPath, and Venmo are among the companies Accel has backed over the past 35+ years. The firm helps ambitious entrepreneurs build iconic global businesses. For more, visit www.accel.com or www.twitter.com/accel. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210302005433/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] (Newser) As of Feb. 22, air travelers to Canada must take a COVID test upon arrival and quarantine in a qualifying hotel until their results are in, reports Global News. That can take up to three days, but in the case of Cristina Teixeira, her results were in after just one nightbut that's where the good news ends for her. Teixeira says she was charged about $2,750 for that single-night stay, and is lobbing blame at both the Crowne Plaza Hotel and the Canadian government. Teixeira was flying home to Ontario with her brother and daughter after traveling to Portugal for her father's funeral. She tells CTV News that she struggled to get details about the hotel quarantine program while abroad and was denied an exemption upon arrival in Toronto when she explained the reason for her trip. She was told to book a room at the Crowne Plaza, an approved quarantine hotel. story continues below The hotel informed her there was a minimum of three nights, at $610 a night plus taxes. "At this point it was 1:30 in the morning, we were exhausted and we just agreed," she explains. Some 15 hours later, their results were in, but she says the hotel wouldn't budge on charging them for the three nights at the quarantine rate. "If I were to walk off the street that room would have cost me $159 plus $10 per extra person," Teixeira says. "The government has not really figured out the plan. It's literally just horrible." A column at the National Post agrees. It calls out the "staggering ineptitude" of the government's approach, which was modeled off of New Zealand's but with unreasonable economics: PM Justin Trudeau announced it would likely cost travelers $1,500 for those three nights, while under New Zealand's plan, it was about $2,000 for a two-week quarantine. (Read more quarantine stories.) Thank you for reading! Please log in, or sign up for a new account and purchase a subscription to continue reading. Privatisation-bound Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) on Monday said it will exit Numaligarh refinery in Assam by selling its entire stake to a consortium of Oil India Ltd and Engineers India Ltd for Rs 9,876 crore. The sale of Numaligarh Refinery Ltd clears the way for privatisation of India's second-largest fuel retailer. In keeping with the Assam Peace Accord, the government had decided to keep Numaligarh Refinery Ltd (NRL) in the public sector. As part of this, BPCL was to sell its entire 61.65 per cent stake to state-owned firms. A consortium of Oil India Ltd, Engineers India Ltd, and the Government of Assam expressed interest in buying the stake and the BPCL board on Monday approved the sale. "The board of directors of BPCL at the meeting held on March 1, 2021, has approved the proposal for sale of entire equity shares of 445.35 crore held by BPCL in NRL to a consortium of OIL and EIL and to Government of Assam," the firm said in a filing to the stock exchanges. Total consideration would be Rs 9,875.96 crore. The consortium of OIL and Engineers India Ltd is likely to acquire 49 per cent and the rest 13.65 per cent will be sold to the Government of Assam. NRL operates a 3 million tonnes per annum oil refinery in Assam. OIL currently holds 26 per cent equity in NRL while the Government of Assam has around 12.35 per cent. Department of Investment and Public Asset Management Secretary Tuhin Kanta Pandey in a tweet said, "privatisation process of BPCL moves ahead with BPCL Board deciding to exit from NRL at a consideration of Rs 9,875.96 cr for its 61.65% stake with transfer of control. OIL, EIL and Government of Assam will be picking up the stake". Privatisation process of BPCL moves ahead with BPCL Board deciding to exit from NRL at a consideration of Rs 9875.96 Cr for its 61.65% stake with transfer of control. OIL, EIL and Government of Assam will be picking up the stake. pic.twitter.com/X0vqzzuMSn a Secretary, DIPAM (@SecyDIPAM) March 1, 2021 Post NRL sale, BPCL would be left with three refineries at Mumbai, Kochi (Kerala) and Bina (Madhya Pradesh). The government is selling its entire 52.98 per cent stake in BPCL in the nation's biggest privatisation till date. Vedanta Group and private equity firms Apollo Global and I Squared Capital's Indian unit Think Gas have put in an expression of interest for buying the government's stake. The sale of NRL is the first step towards the disinvestment of BPCL. The government has already indicated that it expects to complete BPCL privatisation by the first half of the fiscal beginning April (2021-22). The sale is key to achieving the Rs 1.75 lakh crore disinvestment target set for 2021-22. BPCL will give the buyer ownership of around 15.33 per cent of India's oil refining capacity and 22 per cent of the fuel marketing share. NRL is looking to expand its refining capacity from 3 million tonnes per annum to 9 million tonnes a year at an investment of Rs 22,594 crore. The project is expected to be completed by 2024. The expansion also involves setting up of crude oil pipeline from Paradip in Odisha to Numaligarh and a product pipeline from Numaligarh to Siliguri in West Bengal. In the run-up to the privatisation, BPCL last month agreed to buyout Oman Oil Company's shares in the Bina refinery project for about Rs 2,400 crore. BPCL holds a 63.68 per cent stake in Bharat Oman Refineries Ltd (BORL), which built and operates a 7.8 million tonne oil refinery at Bina. It will buy 36.62 per cent of the equity share capital from OQ S.A.0.C. (formerly known as Oman Oil Company S.A.0.C.) for Rs 2,399.26 crore. BORL was incorporated in February 1994 to build a refinery at Bina. The unit initially could turn 6 million tonnes of crude oil annually into fuel, which was subsequently raised to 7.8 million tonnes. Also read: SBI commits Rs 11 crore to PM CARES Fund to boost COVID-19 vaccination drive Also read: COVID-19 vaccination: Over 29 lakh registrations on Day 1, says Dr. Harsh Vardhan STL appoints Chris Rice as CEO for its Access Solutions Business PUNE, India, March 2, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- STL [NSE: STLTECH], an industry-leading integrator of digital networks, today announced the appointment of Christopher Rice as the Chief Executive Officer for its Access Solutions Business. Chris's appointment reflects STL's strong focus on driving growth and innovation in the access segment. Leveraging 25 years of experience in optical communications and system integration, STL is now expanding its capabilities across digital networks by building core solutions in the edge access area, both on the wireline and 5G wireless side. With over 5 years of investment in access technologies and key product launches, the company has launched the Access Solutions Business Unit focusing on Open RAN, 5G, programmable FTTx, and controller/orchestration software. Chris is a seasoned technology executive who will lead this BU and advance STL's growth plans. Chris brings over 25 years of experience in the telecom industry. Prior to STL, he was associated with AT&T where he delivered on a multi-year technology strategy and vision for both the network and the underlying system's evolution. He also led AT&T's pivot to software-defined networking (SDN), leading the team that built the fundamental automation and platform capabilities to drive this shift. Chris holds an MBA from the University of Central Florida, a Master's degree in Electrical Engineering, from Virginia Tech, and is a graduate from Rutgers' wireless information networks laboratory (WINLAB). "The digital networking space is at an inflection point where open technologies and software-driven infrastructures are becoming increasingly relevant," said Chris Rice." STL is uniquely positioned to capitalise on this megatrend through its growing access portfolio that supports scale, latency, openness, and agility. Telecom companies require these characteristics across consumer and enterprise networks. I am very excited to lead this business and this impressive team. Together, we will build next-gen solutions to realise the full potential of fibre broadband and 5G. We will deliver these with programmability and at the cost points the industry is demanding," he added. Commenting on Chris's appointment, Anand Agarwal, Group CEO, STL, said: "STL is committed to making open source and converged networks a reality. We have been investing in SDN for 5G wireless and fibre-based wireline networks for over 5 years. I am extremely excited to have Chris lead our Access solutions team. I am sure that with an exceptional track record in driving these major shifts globally, Chris will take the 5G and access solutions business to the next level and achieve technology and market leadership for STL. I welcome Chris to the STL family and wish him the best for this new journey." About STL - Sterlite Technologies Ltd STL is an industry-leading integrator of digital networks. Our fully 5G ready digital network solutions help telcos, cloud companies, citizen networks, and large enterprises deliver enhanced experiences to their customers. STL provides integrated 5G ready end-to-end solutions ranging from wired to wireless, design to deployment, and connectivity to compute. Our core capabilities lie in Optical Interconnect, Virtualised Access Solutions, Network Software, and System Integration. We believe in harnessing technology to create a world with next-generation connected experiences that transform everyday living. With a global patent portfolio of 462 to our credit, we conduct fundamental research in next-generation network applications at our Centre of Excellence. STL has a strong global presence with next-gen optical preform, fibre, cable, and interconnect subsystem manufacturing facilities in India, Italy, China, and Brazil, along with two software-development centers across India and a data centre design facility in the UK. Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1447651/Chris_Rice_STL.jpg Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/876464/Sterlite_Technologies_STL_New_Logo.jpg (Disclaimer--Features may vary depending on the regions; subject to change without notice.) MT. MORRIS TOWNSHIP, MI -- The Westwood Heights Schools Board of Education has placed Superintendent Peter Toal on non-disciplinary paid administrative leave pending the results of an investigation. Board members unanimously voted to make the move following a closed session during a Feb. 26 special meeting. Toals suspension went into effect Monday, March 1. The school district and board is not providing comment on the situation outside of the current suspension, according to a district spokesperson. No timeline was placed on the length of the suspension. Leslie Key, the districts director of student and family affairs, has been appointed to serve as the interim superintendent. Last week, ABC 12 reported that Toals wife, an English teacher at Academy West, is under investigation for allegedly making racist and homophobic comments in the school building and on social media. The following passage in the Westwood Heights Schools Board of Education Policy Manual addresses social media use by staff: An employees personal or private use of social media, such as Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, blogs, etc., may have unintended consequences. While the Board respects its employees First Amendment rights, those rights do not include permission to post inflammatory comments that could compromise the Districts mission, undermine staff relationships, or cause a substantial disruption to the school environment. This warning includes staff members online conduct that occurs off school property including from the employees private computer. Postings to social media should be done in a manner sensitive to the staff members professional responsibilities. The district superintendent and building principals are tasked with enforcing the policy, which can be found in the handbooks 7000 Property section under Staff Education Technology Acceptable Use and Safety. Read more on MLive: Mt Morris schools approves full-time in-person plan Grand Blanc schools approves plan for hybrid in-person learning Flint-area administrators reflect on school year amid coronavirus pandemic More than 100 New Lothrop students, staff quarantined after positive coronavirus cases Certain Michigan schools have found a winning formula for vaccinating teachers The Morrison government is verging on a breakthrough on its troubled $90 billion submarine program after months of tense negotiations with French company Naval Group over cost blowouts, delays and local content requirements. After reports Australia was willing to walk away from the multibillion-dollar deal, new in-principle agreements all but lock in the French company to building 12 new attack submarines to replace the ageing Collins-class fleet. Defence Minister Linda Reynolds during a visit to Naval Group in Adelaide last year. Tensions between Australia and the company have been building in recent weeks over the $90 billion submarine project. Credit:AAP Following a three-week visit to the country by Naval Groups global chief executive Pierre-Eric Pommellet, the Paris-based company has reached a critical deal with Defence officials covering the next two years of the project. The government had rejected Naval Groups original plan for the programs next phase but the company last week submitted its revised plan, which was developed in consultation with Defence officials. Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-03 00:12:56|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close Latvian President Egils Levits (R) meets visiting Estonian President Kersti Kaljulaid at his office in Riga, Latvia, March 2, 2021. Estonian President Kersti Kaljulaid paid a working visit to Latvia on Tuesday, with the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic and recovery from the crisis featuring high on her agenda, the office of Latvian President Egils Levits said. (Office of Latvian President/Handout via Xinhua) RIGA, March 2 (Xinhua) -- Estonian President Kersti Kaljulaid paid a working visit to Latvia on Tuesday, with the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic and recovery from the crisis featuring high on her agenda, the office of Latvian President Egils Levits said. Levits, who welcomed his Estonian counterpart at Riga Castle, noted that Kaljulaid's visit symbolically marks the 100th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between the two countries. The two leaders' talks focused on their experiences in battling the COVID-19 pandemic, including educating people about vaccines against the coronavirus and their safety, as well as countering disinformation. "The sooner a large number of people get the vaccine, the sooner we will return to normality," the Latvian president said. They also discussed plans for economic reforms, which the Baltic countries intend to carry out with support from the European Recovery and Resilience Facility. The two leaders reasserted their commitment to common goals in the field of renewable energy, including a plan to jointly build a wind farm in the Baltic Sea. Enditem Tokyo, March 2 : Japan has received its third batch of the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine, with the shipment containing up to 526,500 doses developed by US pharmaceutical giant and its German partner BioNTech. So far, Japan has received half of the 2.66 million doses it expects to receive in March as its vaccination campaign has expanded to include more healthcare workers, reports Xinhua news agency. Tthe government has planned to begin inoculating 4.7 million healthcare workers from this week onwards, followed by 36 million people aged 65 and older who are next in line to be vaccinated from April 12. Those with pre-existing health conditions and workers at elderly care facilities will be vaccinated before the inoculation drive for the general population begins, the government has said. According to Minister in charge of the vaccine rollout Taro Kono, the government is planning to have the requisite number of doses delivered to inoculate all health care workers and elderly citizens by the end of June. Japan will be allowed to transport and store the vaccine at regular freezer temperatures for up to two weeks, according to Pfizer, so as to distribute the jab more widely among medical facilities. Japan has procured enough doses of vaccines for its population of 126 million people, with the government inking deals with Pfizer, AstraZeneca and Moderna. On Monday, Chief Cabinet Secretary Katsunobu Kato said that a clinical study has also started in Japan for US company Johnson & Johnson's single-dose vaccine. While the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines both require recipients to receive two doses, Johnson & Johnson's jab is the first approved in the US that requires a single dose. On February 17, Japan launched the first phase of its vaccination program for 40,000 medical workers at 100 hospitals nationwide. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 1) It is not clear when the over half a million coronavirus vaccine doses from AstraZeneca will reach the country as the COVAX facility faces supply shortage, vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr. said on Monday. The first batch of vaccines from the COVAX facility was supposed to arrive on Feb. 28, but it was delayed by a week. Now, Galvez is saying, there is no assurance when the 525,600 doses will be shipped. "Ang pagkakasabi sa amin indefinite. Hopefully this coming first quarter pa rin darating," he said during the vaccination rollout in the Philippine General Hospital. [Translation: They told us it's indefinite. Hopefully it can still arrive in the first quarter.] The COVAX facility is a global initiative led by the World Health Organization which aims to ensure equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines. The Philippines is set to receive a total of 5.5 million to 9.2 million doses from AstraZeneca. A school system in Loudon County, Virginia highlighted negative aspects of Dr. Seuss books in a statement which coincided with Read Across America Day. The statement for the annual eventwhich seeks to promote reading within younger demographicswarns students of the strong racial undertones within the authors works. Those who caught wind of the story werent too happy at the school systems statement. Many accused the Loudon County Public School (LCPS) system of attempting to cancel the author entirely despite his contributions to childrens literature. However, Wade B. Byard, a spokesman for the school district, informed the Washington Post that the authors literature had not been banned from the school despite what other reports may have stated. Schools in LCPS, and across the country, have historically connected Read Across America Day with Dr. Seuss birthday, Byard tells the publication in a statement. Research in recent years has revealed strong racial undertones in many books written/illustrated by Dr. Seuss. Given this research, and LCPS focus on equity and culturally responsive instruction, LCPS has provided guidance to schools in the past couple of years to not connect Read Across America Day with Dr. Seuss birthday exclusivelyThat being said, Dr. Seuss books have not been banned; they are still available to students in our library and classrooms. Deadline reports that the books of Dr. Seussreal name Theodor Geiselhave in recent years faced scrutiny for the ways in which they portray various ethnicities. Dr. Seuss himself once stated that it was just the way things were 50 years ago when directly questioned about certain imagery depicted in some of his past works. The New York Post further reports how the schools initial statement regarding Dr. Seuss strong racial undertones came as a response to an article that delved deep into imagery used in his stories. [March 02, 2021] Michigan-based cybersecurity company AaDya Security names cybersecurity executive, Julie Cullivan to Board of Directors DETROIT, March 2, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- AaDya Security, provider of enterprise-grade security to small and midsize businesses through Marzo4, an all-in-one cybersecurity platform, has named cybersecurity executive Julie Cullivan to its Board of Directors, effective, March 1, 2021. "I have been fortunate enough to work with Julie twice in my career, at two different cybersecurity companies," said Raffaele Mautone, AaDya founder and CEO. "I am thrilled and honored that she has agreed to join our Board. As we continue on our path to change the cybersecurity landscape for small and medium sized businesses, Julie's knowledge and expertise will be invaluable assets." Cullivan has more than than two decades of operational and technical experience across some of the world's largest cybersecurity and IT brands. She has spent her career helping enterprise software and cloud companies scale their businesses and is a sought-after speaker on diversity and inclusion, security as a boardroom imperative, innovation and building high-impact teams. She has held executive roles focused on global sales and business operations at Forescout, FireEye, Autodesk, McAfee, EMC and Oracle. "What love about AaDya's mission is the focus on simplifying security for small and medium sized businesses," said Cullivan. "Instead of needing a purpose-built security tool for each threat vector, this segment of the market deserves enterprise grade solutions without the complexity or price tag." AaDya launched Marzo4 in June 2020 with a robust suite of security tools including: single sign on, password management, anti-phishing and endpoint protection, powered by machine learning and artificial intelligence in the form of "Judy," which on the front-end, takes the form of an interactive virtual cybersecurity assistant. In addition to serving on AaDya Security's Board of Directors, Cullivan also serves as a Board Member for HeartFlow, Axon Enterprise and Cobalt.io. She has a bachelor's degree in finance from Santa Clara University and lives with her family in Santa Clara, California. About AaDya Security Headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, AaDya Security provides smart, simple, effective cybersecurity software solutions for small and medium-sized businesses. Marzo4, our all-in-one cybersecurity platform, powered by Judy, an interactive AI virtual assistant, is simple, affordable and provides 24/7 cybersecurity protection and intuitive customer support for companies who lack the time, expertise and capital to successfully implement these solutions on their own. For more information please visit our website, AaDyasecurity.com. View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/michigan-based-cybersecurity-company-aadya-security-names-cybersecurity-executive-julie-cullivan-to-board-of-directors-301238768.html SOURCE AaDya Security [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-02 04:21:13|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close STOCKHOLM, March 1 (Xinhua) -- The number of COVID-19 patients in intensive care has increased dramatically in Sweden. In ten days, their number has jumped from 197 to 240, with many of them admitted in the past two days, the TT news agency reported on Monday. More than half of the country's regions have registered an increase in the number of seriously ill COVID-19 patients. In relation to its number of inhabitants, the Vasterbotten region in the northern part of Sweden is worst off. Incidentally, in February it was the first region to record a major outbreak connected to the mutated strain of the virus first discovered in Britain. "It is always worrying if a small region receives a large influx of patients," Taha Alexandersson, deputy director of crisis response at the Swedish National Board of Health and Welfare, told TT. "The Swedish health care system is based on regions being able to help each other, but if several regions have it just as tough, it can be difficult. In the northern regions, there is a great habit of transporting patients, but the resources are not endless." The Stockholm region has also recorded a dramatic 70 percent increase in the past ten days in the number of patients requiring intensive care. The situation is not as bad as it was during the peak of the second wave, but the region's director of health and medical care believes the third wave had arrived. "You can look at it that way," Johan Bratt told Swedish Television News. "But what's positive is that nearly all nursing home residents have been vaccinated, so the frailest are protected." As the world is struggling to contain the pandemic, vaccination is underway in some countries with the already-authorized coronavirus vaccines. Meanwhile, 256 candidate vaccines are still being developed worldwide -- 74 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. 26. Enditem Proposal for an Internet Service: The Eternal Home Page Information Sciences Research Center, AT&T Labs - Research, Florham Park, New Jersey 07932, U.S.A. Email address: njasloane@gmail.com. December 13, 1996. Revised November 11, 1997. Abstract This paper describes a possible Internet service that some major organization such as Harvard University, AT&T, the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers, the American Mathematical Society, the American Medical Association, or even the Vatican, might offer: a home page "in perpetuity". Such a "perpetual page" or "eternity page" or "e-memorial page" would be a home page that the organization would help the customer set up, with a guarantee that it would last for (say) 500 years, or until the organization no longer exists. It would list all the things that the customer would like to be remembered for (accomplishments, family, etc.). As the population of the U.S. ages, such a service should prove very popular. After all, almost everyone wants to be remembered by posterity. Details The name for this service needs to be chosen with care, and of course registered. "Eternity service", "Perpetual page", "Eternity page", "E-memorial page", "Everlasting page" are a few possibilities. I will use "Perpetual page" in this paper. The first version of this paper was written in December 1996, although the idea for the "Perpetual home page" first occurred to me in January 1996. Not surprisingly, it turns out that other people have had similar ideas, and there may be some commercial services that provide electronic gravestones available even now. But my vision is that this service would be offered by a major organization or institute, that has already existed for a long time and has some chance of existing 500 years from now. And I'm not thinking of tombstones, but home-pages. The "Perpetual page" could include such things as: photographs of houses, boats, paintings, other precious possessions lists of awards, accomplishments writings, drawings, songs, even unpublished novels (disk space is cheap) links to perpetual pages of one's family (including ancestors!) and friends This is the customer's chance to write their own New York Times obituary page, or "time capsule". (Many people do not realize that except for a handful of major obituaries, every obituary item in the New York Times has to be purchased at about $40 per line -- this can be a humiliating experience for the next-of-kin. Setting up a "Perpetual page" in advance for the sick and elderly could be both therapeutic and comforting for the family.) There should be a generous amount of disk space available for each page - a minimum of ten megabytes, to allow a number of photographs to be included. (Most Internet providers at present do not allow nearly enough disk space.) As my colleague Andrew Odlyzko has pointed out in his discussion of the future of scholarly journals, the cost of disk space is dropping so rapidly that it is likely that the cost of providing a service in perpetuity will be not much more than that of providing it for one year. The organization would help the customer set up the initial page, and would provide instructions on how to maintain it. A "help desk" would be part of the service. One way to structure the offer might be to tell customers: For a one-time fee of $X, we will provide you with Y MB of storage, and as long as you pay a small monthly fee, you can keep modifying it. Once you stop paying the monthly fee (say because you die, or switch to a different provider) we will keep the latest version forever. Part of the offer would be a guarantee that when the Internet is replaced by some other service in a few years, all the "Perpetual pages" would be automatically converted to the new medium. It is important that the organization offering the servce should have been in existence for a long time, and have a good chance of still existing 500 hundred years from now. The organizations mentioned in the Abstract certainly satisfy these conditions, and it is easy to think of others. Such a service would not carry much conviction if offered by some tiny local Internet service provider. This is the first time in history that such a thing is possible. Incidentally, the New York Times} for Saturday Dec. 7 1996 describes (on page D2) a patent, US 5,517,791, for a new tombstone design that can incorporate a person's life story - including photographs. So ideas like the one I am proposing are "in the air". As one may verify by visiting cemeteries in New Jersey, tombstones are rarely legible after a hundred years have passed. One of the advertisements for the proposed service could show a family searching through a cemetery full of grave stones that have been worn smooth, looking for the lost grave of an ancestor. Furthermore, as the world population continues to explode, cemeteries will become increasingly irrelevant. The "perpetual page" service would especially appeal to mature customers. There are several ways in which advertisements could point out the futility of earlier attempts to be remembered, even by world leaders. For example, one advertisement could show a replica of the original Mausoleum at Halicarnassus, after which all later mausoleums are named. (See The Oxford History of the Classical World, ed. J. Boardman et al., Oxford, 1993, p. 150.) One of the Seven Wonders of the World, it was built in the year 353 for King Mausolus of Caria by his wife. It no longer exists. "But if King Mausolus had had a perpetual page, we could still read about his victories today ...". An alternative way in which the "perpetual page" could be used is by family and friends after the death of a loved one, by setting up a permanent memorial for the deceased. The Page would need to have an authorized keeper, to screen out inappropriate material. A certain amount of permanent space would be purchased, to which interested parties could contribute in any way they wished. Another advertisement could have a voice reading P. B. Shelley's poem Ozymandias , while the picture shows dust blowing around an appropriate ruin: I met a traveller from an antique land Who said: Two vast and trunkless legs of stone Stand in the desert ... Near them, on the sand, Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown, And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command, Tell that its sculptor well those passions read Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things, The hand that mocked them, and the heart that fed: And on the pedestal these words appear: `My name is Ozymandias, king of kings: Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!' Nothing beside remains. Round the decay Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare The lone and level sands stretch far away. , while the picture shows dust blowing around an appropriate ruin: It will also give all the unpublished poets and writers, the unrecognized painters and musicians, the scientists whose theories are rejected, the opportunity to have their work immortalized. Yet another advertisement could have Jessye Norman singing the moving and unforgettable aria "Remember Me" from Henry Purcell's "Dido and Aeneas". (The formal title is "Thy hand Belinda - when I am laid in Earth" [Philips CD 434 161-2].) Acknowledgements: I am grateful to Colin Mallows, Andrew Odlyzko, Susanna Cuyler Sloane and Nambi Seshadri for a number of helpful comments. See also: My home page | Related links In a few months, a number of Armenias most distinguished classical musicians are set to land in Malta, having been invited by the European Foundation for Support of Culture (EUFSC) to perform in the annual InClassica Malta International Music Festival, as well as the inaugural edition of the Malta Classical Music Academy, which shall both be taking place between the 17th of April and the 11th of May. Talented Armenian exports, such as the award-winning violinist Sergey Khachatryan, shall be collaborating at the festival with the Armenian State Symphony Orchestra (ASSO) under the baton of its founder, Artistic Director, and principal conductor, Sergey Smbatyan, to put on a veritable celebration of Armenian culture on the international stage. The soloist will be delivering his interpretation of Jean Sibeliuss Violin Concerto in D minor on the 10th of May, with the same concert also set to see the ASSOs rendition of famed Armenian composer Aram Khachaturians Symphony No. 2, also known as The Bell Symphony, which was completed in 1944 to mark the horrors brought about by the Second World War on the Armenian people. Legendary pianists Martha Argerich and Grigory Sokolov shall also be making an appearance at InClassica, alongside an array of some of the most talented musicians and soloists working today, with figures like Rudolf Buchbinder, Daniel Hope, Gautier Capucon, Danielle De Niese, Maxim Vengerov, Gidon Kremer, Denis Matsuev, Andreas Ottensammer, and many others, all travelling to the sunny Mediterranean island for this global celebration of classical music. Additionally, working in collaboration with celebrated Italian conductor Gianluca Marciano, the ASSO shall also be taking on the role of Orchestra-in-Residence at the EUFSCs Classic Piano Malta International Piano Competition, which will be taking place during InClassica as well. This grand endeavour is the culmination of the organisations two-year-long 14 Ways to Malta piano competition, which spanned the globe with a series of competitions that were held in Austria, USA, China, Israel, Japan, Italy, South Korea, Switzerland, UK, Belgium, Russia, Armenia and Germany. The top five participants of each of these competitions were then invited to compete in this grand finale that shall bring together 70 distinguished performers from all over the world, who will test their musical abilities over the competitions four rounds spanning a range of classical and contemporary music. The pianist and conductor Nikita Mndoyants took note of the abundance of classical music events taking place throughout InClassica, observing that, Theres going to be a complete conglomeration of classical music during these three weeks. I can barely believe it! Its so rare for people to get the chance to not just attend a single music event, but to completely immerse themselves in this world for weeks on end, with concerts, competitions, and events around every corner. Im truly looking forward to coming to Malta and breathing this atmosphere of classical music with a community of people who are as passionate about this world as myself. I have no doubt that it will be a glorious three weeks, both for all those that will attend, and for us performers. Meanwhile, Smbatyan himself shall also be conducting a host of world-renowned orchestras at the festival in addition to the ASSO, including the Malta Philharmonic Orchestra with whom he also holds the position of principal conductor , the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra, Russian National Orchestra, Deutsche StaatsphilharmonieRheinland-Pfalz, and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. A host of celebrated Armenian musicians, like violinists Haik Kazazyan and ZohrabTadevosyan, and pianists Nikita Mndoyants and Stepan Simonian, have also been invited to Malta to deliver masterclasses at the Malta Classical Music Academy, which is gearing up to be one of the largest and most ambitious classical music academies in Europe. Kazazyan expressed his eagerness at being able to travel to Malta and take part in the Academy, as he stated that, I am so excited to be returning to Malta again this year. It is a wonderful place that I have already had the fortune of visiting a couple of times, and this time it will be even nicer because there is going to be both a huge festival with the participation of some of the worlds biggest classical music stars, as well as the Malta Classical Music Academy where musicians shall perform and conduct masterclasses. I think that all the students of the Academy shall find the time they spend there very useful and beneficial because they will be able to benefit both from the experience of the daytime and evening concerts as well as the chance to be taught by these stars. I would like to thank the EUFSC and its President, Konstantin Ishkhanov for inviting me to this event, and for organising these projects which have such a positive impact on the classical world. The project will feature three weeks of masterclasses and lectures in all, and shall include the participation of the Armenian masters as well as some of the most renowned names in the world of classical music education such as Pavel Gililov, Bernd Goetzke, Peter Donohoe, Ana Chumachenko, Zakhar Bron, Davide Alogna, and Giuliano Mazzoccante, amongst others. The famed Armenian violinist and pedagogue, ZohrabTadevosyan, marvelled at the stature of the individuals involved, noting that, I am truly honoured that I have been invited to take part in an Academy alongside such illustrious figures. This event will truly be unlike any other, and the opportunity it shall provide to all those who wish to further their musical abilities will be quite unparalleled. The EUFSC and Konstantin Ishkhanov deserve all the praise they receive for making such an event possible, and I promise that I shall do my utmost to ensure that it will be a memorable and successful occasion for all. Konstantin Ishkhanov In addition to the masterclasses, the Academy shall also incorporate a series of daytime concerts with the participation of a multitude of international musicians and orchestras, including illustrious soloists like Armenian violinist Karen Shakhgaldyan and duduk soloist KamoSeyranyan. These established musicians shall also be joined by a number of young virtuosi for a number of concerts that shall form part of a new initiative entitled Young Classical Music Stars. Most significantly, the most accomplished students within the Academy itself shall be given the opportunity to perform in these concerts and live out the experience of playing alongside established artists and orchestras in a professional concert setting. The European Foundation for Support of Culture has a long and beautiful history of collaborating with Armenia and the many talented musicians that this wonderful country can boast of, and I am extremely proud to be welcoming some of Armenias top classical musicians to Malta for our InClassica Music Festival, as well as the Malta Classical Music Academy. These events promise to deliver a truly grand celebration for all classical music lovers around the world, and I am certain that the musical talents and abilities of these wonderful musicians shall provide a welcome addition both to our festival and academy, as well as our piano competition, as they continue making Armenias name shine on the international stage. Konstantin Ishkhanov, President of the EUFSC. All Academy students shall be given access to all the concerts that will be forming part of InClassica itself, and will also be awarded with an honorary diploma upon successful completion of the course. For more information about InClassica, or to book, visit the official website here. For more information about the Malta Classical Music Academy, click here. By Julian Francalanza People who applied for alternative service rather than mandatory military duty because of their religious or other ideological reasons take an oath during an entrance ceremony at the Daejeon Correctional Institution, Oct. 26, 2020, the first day of their service. Korea introduced the alternative service system for conscientious objectors earlier in the year putting them to work at correctional facilities. Joint Press Corps By Jung Da-min The country's alternative service to military duty for conscientious objectors has been undergoing adjustments to meet social changes that embrace a wider range of diversity in beliefs. The government adopted the most recent changes to the system in October 2020, following a Constitutional Court ruling in 2018 that the then-Military Service Act was unconstitutional as it lacked any alternative public service for conscientious objectors whose religious or other ideological beliefs should be guaranteed. Traditionally, virtually all of the nation's conscientious objectors have come from religious groups. But recently the Military Manpower Administration's (MMA) alternative service commission decided to allow this form of mandatory duty for two men who applied for it based on their personal beliefs rather than religious reasons. These were the first such cases in the history of the nation's nearly 70-year-long conscription policy. Since the introduction of the alternative service, the commission has made allowances for 984 people. With the exception of the two men previously mentioned, all were believers belonging to a religious group Jehovah's Witnesses. One of the cases involved a man subject to active military service, and the other was a man who had already completed mandatory service but refused to join reserve forces military training required after the mandatory duty period is completed. The commission said it determined the two men sincerely held beliefs of nonviolence. "The commission's decision to incorporate the two individuals, who applied for alternative service based on their personal beliefs rather than religious reasons, in the military's alternative service system has been made based on a thorough verification of their specific reasons as to why they could not undertake military training, based on statements of their own and their acquaintances as well as other evidence," read a press release by the commission. A man who applied to take alternative service to mandatory military service says goodbye to his family members in front of the Daejeon Correctional Institution before beginning his duty there, Oct. 26, 2020. Join Press Corps Separately from the two men's cases, the Supreme Court also recently upheld a lower court ruling that found a man not guilty of violating the Military Service Act. He had already completed his mandatory military service despite his personal belief in nonviolence, after being persuaded by friends and family, but later refused to undergo reserve forces military training and was indicted. After reviewing the relevant evidence, the court ruled his reasons were valid. Regarding the changing trend in the country's mandatory military duty and alternative services, some people have expressed concern over the possible abuse of the latter to dodge the former. But Yu Kyun-hye, secretary general of the MMA's alternative service commission, said it would not be easy for young men subject to mandatory military service to abuse the system, because alternative service is for a period of 36 months, almost twice the period of mandatory active military service and those who serve alternative duties are primarily stationed at correctional facilities. Beds at a dormitory for those who undertake alternative service as opposed to mandatory military duty, at the Daejeon Correctional Institution are seen in this Oct. 26, 2020 photo. Joint Press Corps SAS Australia instructor Ant Middleton has been cut from the original UK series SAS: Who Dares Wins after 5 seasons by broadcaster Channel 4. A Channel 4 spokesperson said: Ant Middleton will not be taking part in future series of SAS: Who Dares Wins. Following a number of discussions Channel 4 and Minnow Films have had with him in relation to his personal conduct it has become clear that our views and values are not aligned and we will not be working with him again. Middleton said: After five years on the show it just felt like I had achieved everything I could with the format. Theres so many other formats that I am working on now that feel more suited to who I am today. Its been a brilliant experience being on that show but Im honestly happy to let some new blood come in and put their own stamp on it. The Sun reports Middleton made headlines a year ago when he posted a tough-love video message on social media urging his followers to carry on as normal despite coronavirus. As the world rapidly went into lockdown, he faced a backlash and posted an apology. There was another backlash in June after he posted a video of violence at anti-racism protests in London. He tweeted: The extreme left against the extreme right. BLM and EDL are not welcome on our streets, absolute scum. What a great example you are to your future generation. Bravo. He later defended to video saying, It was the protesters fighting and violence and rioting in broad daylight. Everything I fought for abroad to stop happening on our shores. In 2013, as a result of a nightclub bust-up he was convicted of the unlawful wounding of one police officer, PC Christopher Brooksbank, and common assault upon a second, PC Katherine Alison. He was sentenced to 14 months in prison, of which he served five months. He later said, It was alcohol-fuelled. Once I realised what Id done, I thought, Oh my God Ive regretted it ever since. It isnt clear what has triggered the latest move by Channel 4 (he has already filmed S6). Middleton is due to arrive in Australia shortly ahead of filming SAS Australia for Seven in April. A Seven spokesperson said today, Ant Middleton and his fellow DS (Directing Staff), Mark Billy Billingham, Jason Fox and Ollie Ollerton, will all be returning for the second season of SAS Australia which is currently in pre-production. Next week Seven screens Ant Middleton: Straight Talking with Rebel Wilson. Related 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. 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 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, MAR 2 - Premier Mario Draghi's government on Tuesday was putting the final touches to a decree with a new regime of COVID-19 restrictions that is expected to be in force from next weekend until April 6, the day after Easter Monday. On the whole, the current system of tiered restrictions based on a region's COVID contagion risk level, going from low-risk white to moderate-risk yellow, medium-risk orange and high risk red, is set to remain. In red zones all restaurants and bars are closed, except for takeaways and home deliveries, and all non-essential shops are closed too. In orange zones, shops can do business but restaurants and bars must stay closed. In yellow zones, shops are open and so are bars and restaurants until 6pm. In white zones many of these restrictions can be dropped and, for example, restaurants can serve food in the evening. Sardinia is Italy's only white zone at the moment. At a meeting on Monday, however, ministers were split on the measures to adopt in specific areas within orange zones where there is a particularly high number of cases - 250 per 100,000 inhabitants or more - sources said. While the ministers agreed that it is necessary to close all schools in these areas, there was disagreement over whether to shut non-essential shops too. One possible change is that the new decree is expected to force hairdressers and barbers to close in red zones, according to a draft. Up to now these businesses have been able to operate even in high contagion risk areas. Furthermore, all schools in red zones are set to close. The package is expected to allow cinemas and theatres to reopen from March 27 in yellow zones and allow people to visit museums at the weekend. At the moment museums are only allowed to open from Monday to Friday in yellow zones. A nationwide ban on swimming pools, ski facilities and gyms being open is expected to remain though. The government is also tipped to resist pressure, including from League leader Matteo Salvini, to allow restaurants in yellow zones to serve customers at tables in the evening. A ban on travelling between regions, except for work or health reasons or other situations of need, looks set to stay too. (ANSA). The House will vote on two immigration bills next week, including one to protect undocumented immigrants who came to the U.S. as children, Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) said Tuesday on a call with the Democratic caucus. Why it matters: This is likely the only realistic shot the Biden administration has at this point to pass immigration reform. The two bills, the Farm Workforce Modernization Act and the American Dream and Promise Act, both passed the House with bipartisan support last Congress. The first one would provide permanent residency for undocumented farmworkers, while the other would allow undocumented immigrants who came to the states as children to stay in the country and apply for citizenship. Sens. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) introduced a Senate version of the Dream Act last month, indicating the bill has at least some bipartisan support in the Senate. Americans overwhelmingly support letting undocumented immigrants who came to the U.S. as children stay in the country and apply for citizenship. Between the lines: Democrats are still whipping Biden's U.S. Citizenship Act of 2021, which would reverse many executive orders handed down by the Trump administration, possibly providing citizenship for more than 11 million undocumented immigrants. But congressional sources tell Axios the House does not have the votes on the comprehensive bill. What's next: After campaigning against former President Donald Trump by accusing him of putting "kids in cages," Biden is now seeing a brewing child migrant problem. While famed Italian-American chef Lidia Bastianichs PBS culinary shows may bear her name, the real scene-stealer has been her mother, Erminia, whose death at age 100 earlier in February was recently announced. Always smiling and encouraging, Grandma Erminia deeply influenced Bastianichs work and family. Italian-American chef Lidia Bastianich smiles for the camera | Ben Hider/Getty Images Bastianich was by her mothers side during the pandemic quarantine The Lidias Kitchen host kept her mom and herself safely inside their New York City home during the recent quarantine. Bastianichs mother, who made appearances on her daughters programs, was always a welcome sight. The owner of Italian restaurant Felidia opened up about her experience staying home during the Covid-19 pandemic. Happy birthday grandma, we need another 100 with you. You bring us so much joy and love. Buon compleanno Mamma, nonna e bisnonna. pic.twitter.com/KFIGja6Clg Lidia Bastianich (@LidiaBastianich) January 23, 2021 I am sequestered at home with my 99-year-old mother, she told TimeOut in 2019. She is well into her years but she is alert and enjoys a good game of cards and expects a good meal, especially when her daughter, the chef, is cooking. Grandmas words of wisdom On the My American Dream authors website, she shared the wisdom her mother imparted to her throughout the years. Bastianich grew up in a small city on the Istrian Peninsula (today, Croatia). She lived a happy childhood helping her grandmother prepare meals and tending orchards and vineyards. She and her family, however, lived under the suffocating Communist regime and finally, they had to leave quickly. RELATED: Food Network Star Giada De Laurentiis Shares Her Favorite Italian Cookies: Perfect For the Winter Season Lidias family fled to Trieste, in Italy, where they would spend two years as refugees held in a camp. My father saw what was coming and wanted to get us out, she told New York Lifestyle in 2015. He sent us supposedly to visit relatives in Trieste while he remained behind. The Communists refused to let an entire family leave. They felt that by keeping at least one member behind, there was little chance they would defect to The West. Once their US visas arrived, they traveled to northern New Jersey and then to New York City. The chef shared her mothers words of wisdom about the delicate nature of life in a YouTube video. We all come from the ground, Grandma Erminia said in her comments. And we go back to the ground. This way, the process of life is similar to the plants, more or less. Erminias death in February My dear mother, Erminia, affectionately known as Grandma passed away quietly at home with me and the immediate family several days ago. Our team will be dedicating many of my future posts to her as we get through this difficult time. pic.twitter.com/FvecvLGJ3u Lidia Bastianich (@LidiaBastianich) February 19, 2021 Erminia died last month, her daughter tweeting that My dear mother, Erminia, affectionately known as Grandma passed away quietly at home with me and the immediate family several days ago. Our team will be dedicating many of my future posts to her as we get through this difficult time. While no official date was given, the family matriarch seems to have died in the middle of February. Bastianich dedicated her 2007 cookbook Lidias Italy to her mother whose strength and vision carried them in a new country: This book is dedicated to Erminia, my mother, the nonna to my children and the bis nonna to my grandchildren. Without your unconditional love, your uwavering guidance and support, all of this could never have happened. Grandma will be missed on Lidias future culinary programs but will surely be there in spirit. WASHTENAW COUNTY, MI -- Hundreds of Washtenaw County businesses struggling through the pandemic recently benefitted from $55 million in state grants. The grants have helped the businesses stay afloat and retain employees during closures and restrictions. Ann Arbor SPARK distributed $4.7 million to Washtenaw, Jackson, Lenawee, Hillsdale, Livingston and Monroe County businesses in the latest round of grants from the Michigan Strategic Fund, which approved the statewide funds. Of the hundreds of businesses, some received $7,500 while others were given $10,000 in Washtenaw County. The database shows that 51 businesses received the higher amount. In other counties, some received as much as $20,000 in funding. Flat Rock Speedway in Monroe County was one of them. See which businesses in your county got help from Michigans $55 million COVID-19 aid program Ann Arbor-based Bivuoac president AJ Davidson received $7,500, which was used to cover payroll. Getting money for payroll means we dont have to cut back anyones hours. It gives us a little breathing room although in the grand scheme of things, thats not a ton, Davidson said. The clothing retailer has more than 50 employees, many of which are part-time, which alleviated pressures of laying off staff early in the pandemic. However, Davidson said they needed to cut a few hours off some employees weekly schedules to keep up with the expenses. Weve really been trying to make it a point to retain everyone on staff. Even when we were closed for several monthswe still paid everyone some sort of salary, Davidson said. Kevin Spangler, who runs Boober Tours, a bicycle service that transports users across town, received a $10,000 grant, which helped cover his $2,000 rent in a 2,200 square-foot warehouse in downtown Ann Arbor. I still have regular clients but my whole business has collapsed, where theres nobody moving around. Hopefully that starts to pick up, Spangler said. When they had all the places closed and when they had the outside seating with those little greenhouses, those people wouldnt go from bar to bar like they used to. While the grant is helping cover rent, Spangler is also using it to develop a mobile app to order one of his riders, much like the Lyft or Uber apps, called GoBoober. It is only available in the Apple store for now, but hes aiming to release the Android version in March. Other businesses to receive the grant include restaurants and bars such as Last Word, Haabs Restaurant, Ricks Cafe and Sidetrack, along with various others such as yoga and massage centers. Search the database below to see which Washtenaw County businesses got the grants, how much they received and the number of jobs that were retained due to the grant. Click here if you cannot see the database below. Read more here: Zingermans Cornman Farms to host Pie & Mash pop-up shop Cauliflower oatmeal? University of Michigan students say yes, and launch company to promote healthy eating Homewood Suites hotel with solar panels, electric charging stations to open in Ann Arbor Mar. 2As Congress prepares to push the national debt to nearly $25 trillion with the latest spending plans, a group of millennial leaders worried about America's growing federal debt will get some advice next week from Tennessee's current and former governors about balancing budgets. Tennessee's current governor and two of the state's former governors will speak in a rare joint appearance next week to address efforts to tackle the U.S. budget deficit, which the Congressional Budget Office estimates will total $2.3 trillion this year even with an improving economy. Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee, a Republican in his first term, and former two-term governors Bill Haslam, a Republican, and Phil Bredesen, a Democrat, will discuss the consequences of the growing federal debt during a one-hour virtual event from 2-3 p.m. EST on Thursday, March 11, at the Beacon Center in Nashville which is sponsoring the event along with the Tennessee Chapter of Americans for Prosperity and the Millennial Debt Foundation. Weston Wamp, the son of former U.S. Rep. Zach Wamp who twice ran unsuccessfully for the GOP nomination in Tennessee's 3rd congressional district, is chairman and founder of the Millennial Debt Foundation and the Millennial Debt Commission working to find long-range solutions to America's growing federal debt. "It's no secret that on both sides of the aisle in Washington, the deficit has not been taken seriously for some time," Wamp said. "So I believe we've got to begin to have conversations across the country among local, state, federal officials, business leaders and others about what the impact of that will be." Without a change in course, the size of the federal debt is projected to double in the next generation, far exceeding the country's GDP and potentially threatening U.S. sovereignty over its currency over time. Wamp said governors have a unique perspective on budget deficits because they are mandated to have balanced budgets during good times and during economic downturns "so they make tough decisions all the time. Story continues "These three governors in Tennessee at different times and for different reasons have each been forced to make really difficult decisions and because they have I believe our state's fiscal health is relatively strong and that is a key reason why we are such an attractive state for people to do business in," Wamp said. Tennessee maintains one of the lowest per capita debt levels among the states and ranked favorable in a recent study of states' economic competitiveness. Next week's forum among the Tennessee governors is part of a year-long conversation that the Millennial Debt Foundation is having with leaders across the country, including a discussion last month with state political leaders in Texas and a planned virtual forum next month with federal elected officials in Wisconsin. Wamp and Beacon Center Chief Executive Officer Justin Owen will join Gov. Lee and the former governors in the hour-long discussion. "Fiscal responsibility is one of the cornerstones of Tennessee's success story," Owen said. "Because of the free-market policies and fiscal responsibility championed by the past three Governors and the Beacon Center alike, Tennessee is the gold standard when it comes to fiscal stewardship." The forum, which is part of the Millennial Debt Foundation's Stewardship Series, also will include at 3 p.m. EST discussion with U.S. Rep. Mark Green and Millennial Debt Commission members and Chattanooga business leaders Cam Doody and Nick Macco. "Between our January launch of the Stewardship Series in Austin and the time we convene in Nashville, the national debt is likely to increase by another $2 trillion," Wamp said. "Tennessee, like Texas, is a state where sound fiscal policy and good stewardship of the state economy has blossomed under conservative fiscal policies of all three governors, and we are honored to have these distinguished governors join us." Persons interested in watching the event may register at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-stewardship-series-tickets-143791234453 Contact Dave Flessner at dflessner@timesfreepress.com at 757-6340 Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full 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 Colin Packham CANBERRA (Reuters) - Australian police said on Tuesday an investigation into a rape allegation against an unidentified cabinet minister was closed after authorities concluded there was insufficient evidence. Several opposition Australian lawmakers said late last week they had received a letter detailing an allegation of rape against a male cabinet minister before he entered parliament. Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the allegation had been referred to the Australian Federal Police (AFP), although the minister had "vigorously rejected" the allegation in a conversation with him. On Tuesday, the AFP said it would not investigate as it did not have jurisdiction and police in New South Wales (NSW) - where the alleged crime is reported to have occurred in 1988 - also ruled out an investigation. "AFP's role is to liaise and support and provide whatever advice those jurisdictions need in this matter," AFP Commissioner Reece Kershaw told Australia's Channel 9. NSW Police said they had concluded there was insufficient evidence. "NSW Police Force has determined the matter is now closed," it said in an e-mail. It said also the alleged victim did not make a formal statement to them detailing her account before she committed suicide last year. NSW Police did obtain a "personal document" purportedly made by the woman, but had been legally advised this was insufficient to proceed with an investigation, it said. While the ruling means Morrison will not have to suspend the minister as directed by parliamentary rules, it does little to ease pressure on his government. Three former staff members of the ruling Liberal party said last month they had been raped by an unidentified colleague. One victim who went public with her allegations has made an official police complaint. Morrison's government said on Tuesday it had established an independent and confidential 24/7 telephone service for current and former parliamentary employees to report allegations of improper conduct. (Reporting by Colin Packham; editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan) The Department of Telecom (DoT) has announced the winners in the 2021 spectrum auction in various circles that ended after 2 days. At the end of the auction government got bids worth Rs. 77,814.80 core with Rs. 77,146 raised on the first day after four rounds and Rs 668.20 crore raised in the two rounds on the second day. This substantially exceeded pre-bid estimates of Rs. 45,000 crore. Bharti Airtel Ltd, Vodafone Idea, and Reliance Jio took part in the auction. The government had put radio waves in 700 MHz, 800 MHz, 900 MHz, 1800 MHz, 2100 MHz, 2300 MHz and 2500 MHz, but participants did not bid in 700 MHz and 2500 MHz bands. A total quantity of 2308.80 MHz spectrum wasput to auction, including spectrum that is expiring up to December, 2021. Of this quantity, bids were received for 855.60MHz of spectrum. Excluding spectrum in 700MHz and 2500MHz bands, this is about 60% of the spectrum put to auction. In the 2016 spectrum auction, where there were 7 bidders, the spectrum sold was 41% by quantity and 12% by value of the total spectrum put to auction. The corresponding figures in the 2021 spectrum auctionare 37% and 19% respectively, with 3 participants. Bidder Total quantity (MHz) Total amount (Rs crore) Bharti Airtel Ltd 355.45 18,698.75 Vodafone Idea Ltd 11.80 1,993.40 Reliance JioInfocomm Ltd 488.35 57,122.65 Reliance Jio Reliance Jio acquired the right to use spectrum in all 22 circles across India. Circle wise details of spectrum acquired are provided in the following table Circle 800 MHz band (FDD) 1800 MHz band (FDD) 2300 MHz band (TDD) Andhra Pradesh 6.25 4.20 10.00 Assam 0.00 4.60 10.00 Bihar 5.00 5.00 10.00 Delhi 8.75 4.60 10.00 Gujarat 5.00 4.00 10.00 Haryana 5.00 5.00 20.00 Himachal Pradesh 5.00 0.00 10.00 Jammu & Kashmir 0.00 0.00 20.00 Karnataka 10.00 5.00 10.00 Kerala 10.00 5.00 10.00 Kolkata 10.00 0.00 10.00 Madhya Pradesh 5.00 3.60 10.00 Maharashtra 10.00 5.00 10.00 Mumbai 7.50 3.40 10.00 North East 0.00 3.60 10.00 Odisha 5.00 5.00 10.00 Punjab 6.25 4.80 20.00 Rajasthan 5.00 0.00 20.00 Tamil Nadu 10.00 3.20 10.00 Uttar Pradesh (East) 5.00 3.60 20.00 Uttar Pradesh (West) 5.00 5.00 20.00 West Bengal 10.00 0.00 10.00 Total 133.75 74.60 280.00 The payment to be made for the right to use this technology agnostic spectrum for a period of 20 years is Rs. 57,123 crore, as per the details below: (amount in Rs. crores) Frequency Band Upfront Payment Deferred Payment Total Payment 800 MHz 8,623 25,868 34,491 1800 MHz 6,231 6,231 12,461 2300 MHz 5,085 5,085 10,170 Total 19,939 37,184 57,123 As per terms of the spectrum auction, the deferred payments have to be made over a period of 18 years (2 year moratorium plus 16 year repayment period), with interest computed at 7.3% per annum. Reliance Jio said that it has very well-balanced spectrum for LTE Services and future upgradation to 5G Technology Through this acquisition, RJILs total owned spectrum footprint has increased significantly, by 55%, to 1,717 MHz (uplink+ downlink). RJIL has the highest amount of sub-GHz spectrum with 2X10 MHz contiguous spectrum in most circles. It also has at least 2X10 MHz in 1800 MHz band and 40 MHz in 2300 MHz band in each of the 22 circles. RJIL has achieved complete spectrum derisking, with average life of owned spectrum of 15.5 years. RJILs spectrum has been acquired in the most cost efficient manner with an effective cost of Rs 60.8 crore per MHz. With the enhanced spectrum footprint, especially contiguous spectrum, and pan-India infrastructure deployed, RJIL has enhanced network capacity to service its existing users as well as hundreds of millions of more subscribers on its network. The acquired spectrum can be utilised for transition to 5G services at the appropriate time, where Jio has developed its own 5G stack. With the deployment of additional spectrum acquired in this auction in the networks of Telecom Service Providers, the Quality of Service and customer experience of telecom consumers across the country are expected to improve. Airtel Airtel said that it has secured Pan India footprint of Sub GHz spectrum that will help improve its deep indoor and in building coverage in every urban town. The spectrum will also help improve its coverage in villages by offering the superior Airtel experience to an additional 90 million customers in India. Through this auction, Airtel has also decisively strengthened its mid band and capacity spectrum holdings that will help it provide an exceptional customer experience at marginal capex. All of the spectrum will enable Airtel to deliver 5G services in future. Airtel thanked the Department of Telecom for conducting a very efficient auction and putting out a large quantum of spectrum across multiple bands in the latest auction. The Company added that despite the large amount of spectrum made available, the 700 MHz band bands did not get any bid from the operators as it made no economic case for them based on the high reserve prices. The 700 MHz band coupled with the 3.5 GHz band has the potential to accelerate Indias progress to the top league of digitally enabled nations. Therefore, the reserve pricing of these bands must be addressed on priority in future. This will help the nation to benefit from the digital dividend that will inevitably arise out of this. Gopal Vittal, MD & CEO (India & South Asia), Bharti Airtel said: At the outset, we would like to thank the Government for making abundant spectrum available for auctions. Airtel now has a solid spectrum portfolio that will enable it to continue delivering the best mobile broadband experience in India. We are most excited at bringing the power of Airtel services to an additional 90 million customers in India through the power of our Pan India Sub GHz footprint. Vodafone Idea Vodafone Idea Limited in a statement said: We congratulate the DoT for the successful completion of the spectrum auction which was conducted in an absolutely flawless and smooth manner. Vodafone Idea lauds the Governments efforts in taking Indian telecom sector from an era of spectrum scarcity to one of surplus spectrum. With sufficient spectrum availability and adequate number of market players, Indian telecom sector is well positioned to drive the Digital India agenda. Vodafone Idea entered this auction holding the largest quantum of spectrum with a very small fraction, which was administratively allocated and used for GSM services, coming up for renewal. We have used this opportunity to optimize spectrum holding post-merger to create further efficiencies in few circles. The spectrum we have acquired in the 5 circles will further help us to enhance our 4G coverage and capacity, enabling superior digital experience for our customers. In the next few years, the industry readies to deploy 5G technology with India specific use cases. We are hopeful that a large quantum of spectrum in globally harmonized bands, will be made available for all operators in the future as well as it would be at fair prices that allow operators to have the ability to rapidly rollout networks. GUSAU, Nigeria - Hundreds of Nigerian girls abducted last week from a boarding school in the countrys northwest have been released, a state governor said Tuesday, as the West African nation faces a spate of school kidnappings. Student Amtallahi Lawal, 11, who hid under her bed and managed to escape when gunmen abducted more than 300 girls from her boarding school on Friday, recounts her ordeal at her house in Jangebe town, Zamfara state, northern Nigeria, Monday, March 1, 2021. Families in Nigeria waited anxiously on Monday for news of their abducted daughters, the latest in a series of mass kidnappings of school students in the West African nation. (AP Photo/Sunday Alamba) GUSAU, Nigeria - Hundreds of Nigerian girls abducted last week from a boarding school in the countrys northwest have been released, a state governor said Tuesday, as the West African nation faces a spate of school kidnappings. The girls, ages 10 and up, dressed in light blue hijabs and barefoot, packed into Zamfara states Government House conference room. They appeared calm, chatting to one another as they sat in long rows while journalists photographed them. They will receive a medical checkup before being returned to their parents. Zamfara Gov. Bello Matawalle said that 279 girls had been freed after being abducted from the Government Girls Junior Secondary School in Jangebe town on Friday. The government last week said 317 had been kidnapped. It was not clear if the higher number was an error or if some girls were still missing. Alhamdulillah! (God be praised!) It gladdens my heart to announce the release of the abducted students, Matawalle said in a post on Twitter early Tuesday. I enjoin all well-meaning Nigerians to rejoice with us as our daughters are now safe. Officials said bandits were behind the abduction, referring to the groups of armed men who operate in Zamfara state and kidnap for money or to push for the release of their members from jail. Lawani Adali, a security man with a Dane gun, explains his experience on the day more than 300 girls were abducted by gunmen from the Government Girls Secondary School, in Jangebe town, Zamfara state, northern Nigeria, Monday, March. 1, 2021. Families in Nigeria waited anxiously on Monday for news of their abducted daughters, the latest in a series of mass kidnappings of school students in the West African nation. (AP Photo/Sunday Alamba) At the time of the attack, one resident told The Associated Press that the gunmen also attacked a nearby military camp and checkpoint, preventing soldiers from responding to the school. One of the girls recounted the night of their abduction to the AP. We were sleeping at night when suddenly we started hearing gunshots. They were shooting endlessly. We got out of our beds and people said we should run, that they are thieves, she said. Officials ended the interview before the girl could give her name. Student Amtallahi Lawal, 11, who hid under her bed and managed to escape when gunmen abducted more than 300 girls from her boarding school on Friday, recounts her ordeal at her house in Jangebe town, Zamfara state, northern Nigeria, Monday, March 1, 2021. Families in Nigeria waited anxiously on Monday for news of their abducted daughters, the latest in a series of mass kidnappings of school students in the West African nation. (AP Photo/Sunday Alamba) The attackers eventually found her and some classmates and held guns to their heads, she said. I was really afraid of being shot, she said, adding that they asked for directions to the staff quarters and the principal. We said we dont know who she is. Nigeria has seen several such attacks and kidnappings in recent years, the most notorious in 2014, when 276 girls were abducted by the jihadist rebels of Boko Haram from the secondary school in Chibok in Borno state. More than 100 of those girls are still missing. Students who were abducted by gunmen from the Government Girls Secondary School, in Jangebe, last week are seen after their release meeting with the state Governor Bello Matawalle, in Gusau, northern Nigeria, Tuesday, March 2, 2021. Zamfara state governor Bello Matawalle announced that 279 girls who were abducted last week from a boarding school in the northwestern Zamfara state have been released Tuesday. (AP Photo/Sunday Alamba) Boko Haram is opposed to western education and its fighters often target schools. But most attacks in the northwest are perpetrated by armed criminal groups with no such ideology. Police and the military have been trying to rescue the girls from the Zamfara abduction, which caused international outrage. Officials did not say if a ransom had been paid for their release. We have been in discussion since Friday with the abductors and reached agreement on Monday, the governor said, adding that he would ensure additional security at all schools in the state. A girl is helped as some of the students who were abducted by gunmen from the Government Girls Secondary School, in Jangebe, last week wait for a medical checkup after their release meeting with the state Governor Bello Matawalle, in Gusau, northern Nigeria, Tuesday, March 2, 2021. Zamfara state governor Bello Matawalle announced that 279 girls who were abducted last week from a boarding school in the northwestern Zamfara state have been released Tuesday.(AP Photo/Sunday Alamba) President Muhammadu Buhari expressed overwhelming joy over the release of the girls. I join the families and people of Zamfara state in welcoming and celebrating the release of these traumatized female students, he said in a statement. Being held in captivity is an agonizing experience not only for the victims, but also their families and all of us. The president called for greater vigilance to prevent bandits from carrying out such attacks but warned that paying money for the release of victims would only result in more assaults. Some of the students who were abducted by gunmen from the Government Girls Secondary School, in Jangebe, last week after their release meeting with the state Governor Bello Matawalle, in Gusau, northern Nigeria, Tuesday, March 2, 2021. Zamfara state governor Bello Matawalle announced that 279 girls who were abducted last week from a boarding school in the northwestern Zamfara state have been released Tuesday.(AP Photo/Sunday Alamba) Ernest Ereke, of the University of Abuja, agreed that ransoms are allowing criminal groups to buy more arms and expand their power. And the Nigerian state increasingly looks too weak to respond, he said. It is a lucrative venture in a country where a lot of young people are impoverished, jobless and hungry," he said. "The state, which should confront these criminals, is enabling them by always pandering to their dictates. It should be the other way round, that is, the criminals should be scared of the state, but, in this case, it is the state that is scared of criminals. If the state is not able to crush them, he added, "it means something is wrong with the Nigerian state. On Saturday, 24 students, six staff and eight relatives were released after being abducted on February 17 from the Government Science College Kagara in Niger state. In December, more than 300 schoolboys from a secondary school in Kankara, in northwestern Nigeria, were taken and later released. The government has said no ransom was paid for the students release. Olukoya reported from Lagos, Nigeria. AP writer Carley Petesch in Dakar, Senegal contributed [March 02, 2021] Alabama to Use HealthCare Interactive's CARES Online Dementia Training Statewide to Reduce Use of Antipsychotics Healthcare Interactive, an edtech company dedicated to providing the highest quality caregiver training for Alzheimer's disease, dementia, and other brain disorders, announced today the statewide launch of its award-winning CARES online dementia care training in 125 Alabama nursing homes to reduce the off-label use of antipsychotics in controlling resident behavior. The one-year effort, in conjunction with the Alabama Nursing Home Association (AHNA) and funded through the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), aims to reduce Alabama's antipsychotic use rate. The project will train direct-care staff with alternative methods to medication when responding to dementia-related behavior such as yelling, swearing, hitting, and biting. Beginning this month, nursing homes across the state will begin to train and certify staff members with CARES Dementia Basics and CARES Dementia-Related Behavior online training programs. CARES teaches staff to see behavior as a form of communication. It emphasizes person-centered care and provides ways to reduce and respond to resident behavior. HealthCare Interactive's proprietary approach to caregiving used in CARES de-escalates resident behavior, prevents the behavior from occurring, and reduces the need to turn to antipsychotics, often used to control such behavior. "Responding to resident behavior is difficult and challenging for direct care workers, nursing staff, and administrators alike," said John Hobday, CEO of HealthCare Interactive and creator of the CARES online training programs. "In the absence of clear ways for staff to de-escalate or prevent resident behavior, antipsychotics become a common resort in nursing homes. This innovative CMS program allows us to begin to change that pattern." CMS funds quality of are innovations such as the CARES project in Alabama through the Civil Monies Penalty (CMP) program. CMP redirects fines assessed on nursing homes during annual surveys into state funds, which may then be used to fund support activities that protect or improve the quality of care or quality of life for residents. CMP funds are granted to protect or improve the quality of life for nursing facility residents. According to Hobday, "We developed our CARES online training and certification for one simple reason-to improve quality of care for people living with dementia by giving staff an easy-to-learn, easy-to-remember, five-step approach to caregiving that's proven to help reduce behavior without taking away human qualities. We can't expect nursing homes to reduce use of antipsychotics unless staff members have a better way respond to resident behavior. This statewide effort, in strong partnership with the Alabama Nursing Home Association, does just that." "We are eager to implement the CARES training and certification effort across the state of Alabama," said Brandon Farmer, CEO and president of the Alabama Nursing Home Association. "This innovative training will improve the quality of care for Alabama nursing home residents and give strong support for our dedicated staff members, especially during these challenging times with COVID-19." This CMP effort began February 15, 2021, and will run for an initial period of one year. Both antipsychotic and online training rates will be correlated facility by facility and compared quarterly across the state. ABOUT THE ALABAMA NURSING HOME ASSOCIATION Founded in 1951, the Alabama Nursing Home Association (ANHA) represents 97% of the state's nursing homes. It is Alabama's oldest and largest long-term and post-acute care trade organization. For more information, visit www.anha.org ABOUT HEALTHCARE INTERACTIVE Founded in 1997, Healthcare Interactive is an edtech company headquartered in the Twin (News - Alert) Cities and dedicated to providing the highest quality caregiver training for Alzheimer's disease, dementia, and other brain disorders. The company's CARES online, video-based dementia care training, certification, and credentialing are widely published in academic literature and the only online dementia care training to be formally recognized by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. To learn more about these award-winning educational programs tailored to professional caregivers, organizations, and families, visit www.hcinteractive.com View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210302005931/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Northbrook, IL -- (SBWIRE) -- 03/02/2021 -- The pharmaceutical excipients market is projected to reach USD 9.7 billion by 2025 from USD 6.9 billion in 2019, at a CAGR of 5.8%. The Factors such as the growing pharmaceuticals industry coupled with advancements in functional excipients, rising adoption of orphan drugs, and increasing uptake of biopharmaceuticals, are driving the market for pharmaceutical excipients. The emergence of multifunctional excipients, shifting the focus of pharmaceutical manufacturing to emerging markets, and the growing biosimilars industry also present significant growth opportunities for market players. Recent Developments: # In April 2019, Colorcon, Inc. (US) signed an agreement with DuPont Nutrition and Biosciences (US) in order to enhance the current product portfolio of CR Alliance products. # In February 2019, Associated British Foods plc (UK) signed an agreement with Indchem International (India) under which, Indchem will distribute Associated British Food's functional lipid excipient product line in the Indian market. # In January 2019, Croda International (UK) acquired Brenntag Biosector (Denmark) for its vaccine adjuvants portfolio which would be complementary to Croda's pharmaceutical excipients portfolio. # In December 2018, Roquette Feres (France) signed an agreement with Thermo Fisher Scientific (US), which gives Thermo Fisher the right to distribute the product portfolio of Roquette in the US and Canada. By functionality; The fillers & diluents segment accounted for the largest share of the pharmaceutical excipients market in 2018. This market segment is expected to grow due to the increased use of fillers and diluents in the development and production of solid oral drugs. Oral formulations account for a majority share in the pharmaceutical industry, and as these formulations require fillers and diluents the most, this segment automatically has the majority share of the pharmaceutical excipients market. Download PDF Brochure@ https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/pdfdownloadNew.asp?id=956 By formulation; Based on formulation, the pharmaceutical excipients market is segmented into oral, topical, parenteral, and other formulations. In 2018, oral formulations accounted for a major share of the pharmaceutical excipients market, mainly because oral formulations are the most common route of drug delivery. Owing to the shrinking pipeline of new chemical entities (NCEs), companies are increasingly focusing on developing orally disintegrating tablets (ODTs) and other novel methods of oral drug delivery. There is also a growing trend towards sachet formulations. The Asia Pacific region was seen as the fastest growing region in the pharmaceutical excipients market. The ease of doing business in the Asia Pacific region in terms of reduced regulatory stringency, reduced raw material & labor costs, and a higher target market make this region the fastest growing market in 2019. Global Leaders: The key players in the global pharmaceutical excipients market are Ashland (US), BASF (Germany), DuPont (US), Roquette (France), Evonik Industries (Germany), Associated British Foods (UK), Archer Daniels Midland Company (US), Lubrizol (US), and Croda International (UK). Request Sample Pages@ https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/requestsampleNew.asp?id=956 Joe Biden won the Presidency because the coronavirus enabled him to 'hide his biggest weakness, which is himself', a new book claims. The President did almost everything wrong during the 2020 election and ran a lethargic campaign that nearly went bankrupt. The claims are in 'Lucky: How Joe Biden Barely Won the Presidency' by Jonathan Allen, a senior political analyst for NBC News, and Amie Parnes, a senior correspondent with The Hill. By simply hiding out at his home in Wilmington, Delaware, while Donald Trump mishandled Covid-19 meant Biden was able to look presidential by comparison. One Biden aide, quote the authors, put the campaign strategy in blunt terms: 'You put your dumb uncle in the basement.' Top Biden adviser Anita Dunn said that 'Covid was the best thing that happened to him' because it covered up his failings. A new book claims Joe Biden did almost everything wrong during the 2020 election and ran a lethargic campaign that nearly went bankrupt The authors claim he was only able to win the presidency due to Donald Trump's mishandling of the Covid-19 pandemic Allen and Parnes have written numerous behind-the-scenes political books including Shattered, about Hillary Clinton's doomed 2016 Presidential run. The book, which is published by Crown, says Barack Obama refused to support Biden even though he served as his Vice President for eight years because he feared he was a 'tragicomic caricature of an aging politician having his last hurrah.' And it claims Biden was so out of touch he didn't see why his habit of touching women was a problem because he 'didn't think he did anything wrong.' Biden had previously run for the Presidency twice before he entered the fray for the 2020 election after becoming incensed at Trump's equivocation about white supremacy. The claims are in 'Lucky: How Joe Biden Barely Won the Presidency' by Jonathan Allen and Amie Parnes He trailed in the Democrat primaries and lost the first three states but a thumping win in South Carolina started an improbable turnaround for the 78-year-old, who went on to become the oldest President in history. Allen and Parnes say that Biden won the election because he was a safe choice that voters settled on despite their lack of enthusiasm for him. They write that Democrats 'weren't willing to take a chance' on anyone who might jeopardize the most important mission: get Trump out of office. The book says: 'Everything else, he'd (Biden) gotten wrong. He'd run a lousy campaign, flubbed debates, spent so much money on Iowa and New Hampshire that he teetered on the edge of insolvency, lost three straight states to start the primary, and allowed himself to be defined by his frailties.' Biden won despite having a 'bland message and a blank agenda', as 'Lucky' puts it. At a time when the Democrat party was being roiled by progressives like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and the Black Lives Matter movement, Biden 'offered no revolution, no reformation, and no fresh look.' 'Lucky' says: 'Factions of his party would want to superimpose their priorities on him because, on most issues, he was more reactive and cautious than his fellow Democrats. Amid a series of schisms in his party - the populists against the elites, the progressives against the centrists, and the next-generation leaders against the old guard - Biden had stood mostly to the side. Rather than a path forward, he proposed backtracking to the pre-Trump era.' Trump's internal polls showed that he expected to win the 2020 election with 400 electoral college votes before the coronavirus pandemic, a figure that Allen and Parnes say was probably 'optimistic.' Covid-19 changed everything and Trump's biggest challenge showed he was not up to the job so Biden did not break one of the golden rules in politics: never get in the way of an imploding rival. The coronavirus gave Biden a 'justification to lay low' but it played to his advantage as he could wait it out in the basement of his home in Wilmington. One Trump adviser said: 'They used coronavirus as an excuse to keep him in the basement, and it was smart. 'Biden was able to hide his biggest weakness, which is himself. And he did it with an excuse that sounded responsible.' Barack Obama refused to support Biden even though he served as his Vice President for eight years, the authors write Obama reportedly feared Biden was a 'tragicomic caricature of an aging politician having his last hurrah' Even Anita Dunn, the Biden adviser who has been called the 'Mastermind Behind Biden's No-Drama Approach to Trump', admitted in private: 'Covid was the best thing that happened to him.' Keeping Biden locked up at his home proved to be controversial and one associated described it as: 'You put your dumb uncle in the basement.' From there Biden released badly produced videos in which he condemned Trump and laid out his vision for America, but the poor quality of the early footage was embarrassing. 'Lucky' says there was a 'hostage-video quality' to one broadcast because it was so dark. One Biden confidant who watched on television said: 'I cringed the entire time. 'Who puts a podium in a basement rec room? It was awful. It just looked so bad. He looked like he didn't know what he was doing.' Among the issues that threatened Biden's campaign were his habit of being handsy, something he claimed was his way of empathizing with people. In April last year Tara Reade, a former junior staffer in Biden's Senate office, accused him of sexually assaulting her in 1993. Reade said: 'His hands went underneath my clothing and he was touching me in my private areas and without my consent.' When she pulled away from Biden he pointed his finger at her and said: 'You're nothing to me, nothing.' Biden denied it but a slew of videos of him went viral including one showing him giving a Senator's daughter a creepy looking kiss. According to 'Lucky', in private Biden didn't see what all the fuss was. Joe Biden accuser Tara Reade, a former junior staffer in Biden's Senate office, accused him of sexually assaulting her in 1993 Anita Dunn (left) the Biden adviser who has been called the 'Mastermind Behind Biden's No-Drama Approach to Trump', admitted in private: 'Covid was the best thing that happened to him'. Jennifer O'Malley Dillon, (right) one of Biden's Presidential campaign managers who is now his deputy chief of staff, joined his team out of pity and headed up his Nevada operation One longtime ally said: 'I don't think he understood it on some level. 'He constantly thought 'Yeah, so what? What's the big deal?' He needed a lot of convincing. Every time someone flagged that it was a problem, it went right over his head'. Biden simply refused to say he was sorry and, as one adviser put it: 'He won't apologize because he thinks he did nothing wrong'. Allen and Parnes write that Obama held off endorsing Biden because he 'seemed to be enamored with a former Texas congressman, Beto O'Rourke'. The book says: 'For many Democrats, Biden simply seemed unsuited for a modern campaign. Obama's allies sometimes explained the former president's reluctance to bless Biden's candidacy as fear that Biden would dishonor himself with a bad campaign'. Obama's fears about Biden 'ran deep - deeper than defeat'. 'Lucky' says: 'Obama worried that his former vice president would embarrass himself on the campaign trail and that the people around him would not be able to prevent a belly-flop. 'He wanted reassurance that Biden's legacy would be protected, that his staff would not let him become a tragicomic caricature of an aging politician having his last hurrah'. During a discussion with prominent black businesses executives Obama failed to even mention Biden, a telling omission that spoke volumes. One of them had to remind Obama to talk about his former Vice President after going through all the frontrunners. Covid-19 changed everything and Trump's biggest challenge showed he was not up to the job so Biden did not break one of the golden rules in politics: never get in the way of an imploding rival Among the other revelations in the book is that Biden's inner circle were alarmed by his lackluster showing in the Iowa caucus, where he came third It was only around Super Tuesday during the Democrat primaries that Obama began to encourage Biden's rivals like Pete Buttigieg to drop out. Obama would go on to become Biden's attack dog, mocking Trump with incendiary speeches during the Presidential election. But the lack of enthusiasm still hurt and Biden knew that 'Barack Obama had not believed in Joe Biden', 'Lucky' says. Obama didn't even call Biden until November 7th, the day the TV networks finally called the election, another sign that the man he once called his 'brother' was far from it. Among the other revelations in the book is that Biden's inner circle were alarmed by his lackluster showing in the Iowa caucus, where he came third. Friends saw a candidate who was 'lethargic and uninspiring on the stump and sometimes at a loss for the right words'. The low point came on February 4th last year when the campaign has just $1.5m in the bank and were not sure they could pay their staff. Jennifer O'Malley Dillon, one of Biden's Presidential campaign managers who is now his deputy chief of staff, joined his team out of pity and headed up his Nevada operation. She thought: 'If he's going to end his campaign, I can help him do that with dignity'. Another member of the Nevada team said: 'It was a s*** show'. During the protests over the police killing of George Floyd Biden was criticized by his Hollywood backers for not saying he supported defunding the police. Biden wrote an op-ed in USA Today embracing both police and protesters which 'set off a firestorm' among A-list actors and movie executives. One Biden aide told him: 'There's all this backlash from everybody, from activists to Hollywood types. 'Hollywood people are calling up and saying: ''Hey, my people in these circles are saying this ain't good.'' 'Lucky' reveals that Biden thought that Hillary Clinton was a 'terrible candidate' in 2016 because she 'didn't have a message.' Biden event thought that Clinton might face a formal prosecution for her use of a private email server while she was Secretary of State. The book was written by Jonathan Allen, a senior political analyst for NBC News, and Amie Parnes, a senior correspondent with The Hill The book says: 'As the (2016) Clinton-Sanders race heated up, Biden remarked to one ally that he couldn't believe how bad Hillary's trustworthiness numbers werehe could cite them from memory- and said that, while he hoped she would not get indicted, he wasn't sure. 'He added that the trust issue could be politically fatal for her'. The book confirms that John Kerry, the former Democrat Presidential candidate, did consider a late entry to the 2020 field and balked because he would have to give up lucrative position as chairman of Bank of America. 'Lucky' says: 'Kerry had spent weeks campaigning for Biden, and he had come to a damning conclusion: He was convinced that his old Senate pal didn't have fire in his belly. Joe's got a lot to work with, Kerry thought, but he doesn't seem to personally want it 'He (Biden) sounds like he's trying to move the country backward; he needs to be the candidate of the future'. Kerry put his misgivings behind him once Biden became President - and became his climate envoy. Scandal-plagued New York governor Andrew Cuomo drew the ire of the Biden team for submitting a self-aggrandizing video for the Democrat National Convention - held virtually due to the pandemic - that only mentioned Biden at the last minute. Such tactics were typical of Cuomo and Biden's team had already been asking themselves: 'How is Andrew Cuomo going to f*** us this time?' One aide said: 'They put his speech on our doorstep, lit it on fire, rang the doorbell, and then ran away'. The first COVID-19 vaccination clinics open to educators were held on Monday, as teachers, school staff and child care providers joined the list of those eligible for the jabs. Several clinics have been planned for educators this week, including in Milford, Trumbull, Stratford, Bridgeport, Fairfield, Ansonia and Derby. Doses are limited for this first stretch, but school districts and health departments have joined forces to quickly distribute as much vaccine as possible a big step in getting school-aged children back to some semblance of normalcy. In Milford, teachers and other staff can sign up for the vaccine through their schools, according to Mayor Ben Blake. A closed, educators-only clinic will replace the standard Bridgeport Hospital site on Tuesday. Public and private school employees can also get vaccinated on Wednesday and Friday at the local health department clinic. By the end of next week, everyone will be vaccinated, at least for their first shot, said Blake. School officials in Trumbull circulated a survey revealing that about 80 percent of staff who had not been vaccinated would sign up for a special clinic. About 1,000 public school staff are eligible, plus a few hundred more from the towns four private schools, according to education and health department estimates. The Trumbull Health Department anticipates 800 Johnson and Johnson vaccine doses for school staff. The department will distribute the vaccines this week the exact day dependent on when the shipment arrives and require proof of eligibility, such as school identification cards or pay stubs. The closed weekly clinics will continue in Trumbull until everyone who wants a vaccine has gotten one. Alternatively, school workers are being told that they can sign up through VAMS, the federal vaccine management system. Appointments through that system were being given for as far out as May for some, including those 55 and older who also became eligible for the vaccine on Monday. Stratford educators, including support staff and child care providers, can get vaccinated at a closed clinic on Saturday or in a couple of weeks on March 16. The department expects to finish the first round of doses by the end of this month, and second doses will be distributed in April. Teachers and other staff are encouraged to schedule appointments at educator-only hubs through VAMS. Andrea Boissevain, Stratfords health director, said there arent enough vaccine doses for all teachers and school staff this first week. We ordered 1,000 and received only 400 (dosages), she wrote in an email. So were doing the best we can. In Bridgeport, closed vaccine clinics at Central High School are scheduled for Friday after school, Saturday afternoon and all-day March 12. Superintendent Michael Testani expects the district will inoculate a couple hundred workers per day on Friday and Saturday, and about 600 to 700 next Friday for a total of 1,200 to 1,300 people to vaccinate. Im being told we should be fine theres going to be enough supply, he said. Some workers in Bridgeport public schools got the vaccine already, because they were eligible by age or by mistake. For everyone else, Testani is encouraging them to get vaccinated through the district. Ive urged them to wait for our clinics, so they dont take a spot from 55 and older, he said. Testani sent an email this morning to school staff, asking them to cancel any appointments through the district or VAMS theyre not using, he said, because that takes an appointment away from someone else. Fairfield hosted a site Monday not exclusively for teachers, but about 1,000 people who had appointments for the Moderna vaccine were mostly educators. More than a half-dozen people who received doses on Monday described the process from sign-up to vaccination as easy. Jill Mitchell, a nursing supervisor in the school district, called the clinics so far a success. We havent had to waste a single dose, she said. Ansonia and Derby school districts organized a vaccine clinic with Griffin Hospital and Naugatuck Valley Health District for Saturday at the Ansonia High School gymnasium. In addition to the two districts staff, employees of Emmett OBrien Technical School, St. Mary-St. Michael School and Assumption School, and the All-Star bus drivers serving the districts, also have access to the closed site. Ansonia Superintendent Joseph DiBacco said a Pfizer dose will be waiting for anyone who signs up. Griffin has more than enough supply, he said. When all is said and done from Ansonia, about 500 people are eligible. Teachers and other employees will receive a link to Griffin Hospitals registration portal, rather than VAMS, to sign up for the closed site. If school staff cant make the clinic, DiBacco said Griffin Hospital and NVHD will give them priority this month to schedule a vaccination. DiBacco expects that about 95 percent of school employees will be vaccinated by the end of March. I hope the staff will feel more comfortable now, he said. I love my Ansonia staff and want to do everything I can to make sure they feel comfortable in the buildings. Staff writers Donald Eng, Clare Dignan and Ethan Fry contributed to this report. [March 01, 2021] QOMPLX, a Leader in Cloud-Native Risk Analytics, Elects to Become a Public Company Through a Merger with Tailwind Acquisition Corp QOMPLX, a cloud-native leader in risk analytics, and Tailwind Acquisition Corp. (NYSE: TWND), a special purpose acquisition company, today announced that they have entered into a definitive business combination agreement. Upon closing of the transaction, the combined company (the "Company") will operate as QOMPLX and plans to list under the symbol QPLX. The transaction reflects an estimated post-transaction equity value for QOMPLX of approximately $1.4 billion. QOMPLX helps organizations make intelligent business decisions and better manage risk through its advanced, proprietary risk cloud. Its cloud-native platform rapidly ingests, transforms, and contextualizes large, complex, and disparate data sources in order to help organizations better quantify, model, and predict risk in areas including cybersecurity, insurance, and finance. QOMPLX's rapid growth has been fueled by its emergence as the global leader in Active Directory and identity security challenges currently plaguing enterprises and government agencies. Its core analytics platform combines inside-out with outside-in views on cyber risk posture alongside powerful streaming analytic detections and continuous monitoring across diverse data sources. QOMPLX's pro forma 2021 revenue is expected to be $141M. In 2020, the pro forma company's go forward revenue base was $96M(E), and the core company had a 139% net revenue retention rate. QOMPLX's rapid organic growth rate was 700%+ from FY19 to FY20. The combined business has more than 95 enterprise and government customers. QOMPLX was co-founded by CEO Jason Crabtree and CTO Andrew Sellers. Jason is a former Special Advisor to the Commanding General of the U.S. Army Cyber Command, West Point graduate where he was selected as the First Captain of the Corps of Cadets, a Rhodes Scholar, and combat veteran who served in Afghanistan. Andrew is a U.S. Air Force Academy valedictorian, Truman Scholar, and Iraq War veteran who originally met Jason during their respective graduate fellowships at the University of Oxford. Customers of QOMPLX include a number of the world's leading technology, financial services, insurance, and professional services companies and the pro forma business extends their customer base into major government entities. QOMPLX's unique ability to detect catastrophic attacks on Active Directory and enterprise authentication events using its massively scalable unified analytics platform will continue to drive commercial expansion for cybersecurity operations. The company also serves a more strategic role for clients, leveraging its unique technology platform to collect and process a combination of inside out and outside in data to power superior, and continuously updated, views of cybersecurity risk that better allow the data, operations, finance and risk teams in the enterprise to develop a shared sense of ground truth. QOMPLX's deep cybersecurity and insurance domain expertise allows cybersecurity and other telematics data to be leveraged in broader insurance underwriting, exposure management, loss mitigation and risk finance applications. Using technology to better specify risk transfer, model future possibilities, and enable data analytics across the insurance value chain, QOMPLX will lead the coming revolution of better real-time analysis of risk accumulation across portfolios in order to bring novel risk transfer products to market. William P. Foley, II, Founder and Chairman of Cannae Holdings, said: "We are very excited to announce Tailwind's transaction with QOMPLX and to invest additional capital into this portfolio company as it enters public markets. Cybersecurity and risk management are increasingly fundamental in business and government. QOMPLX uses technology to drive more disciplined business decisions about risk with a financial lens. This is a highly scalable company with real and rapidly growing revenues with formidable domain expertise." "Today's agreement furthers QOMPLX's mission to help organizations get to "ground truth" in their cybersecurity and risk quantification, risk management and risk finance efforts. Andrew and I founded QOMPLX with the express goal of allowing organizations to make economically rational decisions about cybersecurity and other challenging risks. Exceptional risk programs require continuous monitoring of real world data along with prospective modeling of future scenarios," said Jason Crabtree, co-founder & CEO of QOMPLX. "Reaching public markets via our partnership with Tailwind expedites QOMPLX's ability to reach more customers globally and supports our continued development of the core technology platform for mission critical customer applications. With the exceptional Sentar and Tyche domain experts joining QOMPLX, we are poised for growth fueled by extraordinary people, defensible technology, and a strong balance sheet." As part of the business combination, QOMPLX has also entered into definitive agreements to acquire two companies in the cybersecurity and insurance analytics industries to further extend QOMPLX's leadership positioning as a global leader in risk: Sentar: Sentar is one of the fastest-growing cyber intelligence, analytics and operations solutions providers focused on the National Security sector. The acquisition of Sentar's decades-long technical and national security sector experience gives QOMPLX greater leverage with cybersecurity and broader analytics offerings, including its premier Active Directory security and authentication attack detection and advanced security data fusion use cases. Sentar and QOMPLX have already begun to partner around industrial control systems security and continuous monitoring using shared expertise and QOMPLX software. The combined company will provide much needed technology and domain expert support to the challenging identity and authentication security gaps in the government as illustrated by Sunburst and SolarWinds (News - Alert) . Tyche: Tyche's core modeling platform focuses on the complex challenges facing insurers: pricing risks, modeling and reserving capital, and improving efficiency. It offers actuarial software that reduces time and costs framework for insurers and reinsurers to produce critical actionable data for critical commercial and regulatory decision-making. The modeling platform powers Tyche's core flagship software offerings, which are Tyche Capital Model, Tyche Model Generator, and Tyche Pricing System. Tyche bolsters QOMPLX's insurance analytics offerings and the combined business will offer more comprehensive insurance underwriting, pricing, risk modeling, capital modeling, and reserving functionality. "QOMPLX has developed the most advanced cloud native software when it comes to identity attacks, privilege escalation, and lateral movement detection," said Philip Krim, chairman of Tailwind Acquisition Corp. "These capabilities are now must have competencies for organizations of all sizes, and the demand for this has crossed a tipping point given recent events like SolarWinds which highlight the gaps in Active Directory and enterprise authentication. QOMPLX is differentiated in its ability to link specific data, security controls, and simulations to financial risk. Jason and Andrew are world class founders who will lead QOMPLX to become the 'go to' Risk Cloud for organizations who realize data can quantify and reduce risk in critical areas like cybersecurity and business continuity." Transaction Overview The transaction values QOMPLX at an estimated post-transaction equity value of $1.4 billion at $10.00 per share. It is anticipated that the combined company will receive approximately $280 million of gross proceeds from a fully committed common stock PIPE offering of $180 million, along with approximately $334 million cash held in trust, given approximately $200 million in cash acquisition costs, and assuming minimal redemptions by Tailwind's existing public stockholders. The PIPE included participation from Cannae Holdings, Fidelity Management & Research Company LLC, Hedosophia and RenaissanceReVentures Ltd., a subsidiary of RenaissanceRe. QOMPLX's and Tailwind Acquisition Corp.'s boards of directors have unanimously approved the proposed business combination. Completion of the proposed business combination is expected in mid-2021, subject to approval by Tailwind's stockholders and the satisfaction or waiver of other customary closing conditions identified in the Business Combination Agreement entered into by QOMPLX and Tailwind Acquisition Corp. Additional information about the proposed transaction will be provided in a Current Report on Form 8-K to be filed by Tailwind today with the Securities and Exchange Commission and available on www.sec.gov. Advisors Jefferies is serving as exclusive financial advisor, sole placement agent on the PIPE, and lead capital markets advisor to Tailwind. Piper Sandler is also serving as capital markets advisor to Tailwind. Barclays is serving as exclusive financial advisor and capital markets advisor to QOMPLX. Mizuho and William Blair are also serving as capital markets advisors to QOMPLX. Kirkland & Ellis LLP is acting as legal counsel to Tailwind Acquisition Corp. and King & Spalding LLP is acting as legal counsel to QOMPLX. Conference Call, Webcast and Presentation Information Management of QOMPLX and Tailwind will host an investor call on March 2, 2021 at 8:30 A.M. ET to discuss the proposed transaction. The conference call will be accompanied by a detailed investor presentation. A live webcast of the call will be available to those who register at http://public.viavid.com/index.php?id=143806, and can also be accessed on QOMPLX's website at https://qomplx.com/investor-relations/ and Tailwind Acquisition Corp.'s website at https://twnd.tailwindacquisition.com/. For those who wish to participate by telephone, please dial 1-877-451-6152 (U.S.) or 1-201-389-0879 (International) and reference the Conference ID 13717158. A replay of the call will also be available via webcast here and at https://twnd.tailwindacquisition.com/news/events. In addition, Tailwind will file an investor presentation with the SEC (News - Alert) as an exhibit to a Current Report on Form 8-K prior to the call, which will be available on the SEC's website at www.sec.gov and at https://twnd.tailwindacquisition.com/presentations. All materials can also be found at https://qomplx.com/news/ and at https://qomplx.com/investor-relations/ About QOMPLX QOMPLX is the cloud-native leader in risk analytics. We help organizations make intelligent business decisions and better manage risk through our advanced, proprietary risk cloud platform. We are the leaders at rapidly ingesting, transforming, and contextualizing large, complex, and disparate data sources through our data factory, in order to help organizations better quantify, model, and predict risk in areas including cybersecurity, insurance, and finance. Backed by Bill Foley's Cannae Holdings, QOMPLX is co-founded by CEO Jason Crabtree, a former Special Advisor to the Commanding General of the U.S. Army Cyber Command and the Department of Defense, West Point graduate, Rhodes Scholar, and veteran of the War in Afghanistan, and by CTO Andrew Sellers, a U.S. Air Force Academy valedictorian, Truman Scholar, and Iraq War veteran. QOMPLX has entered into a definitive business combination agreement with Tailwind Acquisition Corp. and will be traded on NYSE under the ticker QPLX upon closing of the transaction. For more information visit qomplx.com. About Tailwind Acquisition Corp. The Company is a blank check company formed for the purpose of effecting a merger, capital stock exchange, asset acquisition, stock purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses in the consumer internet, digital media and marketing technology sectors. The Company is led by Chairman Philip Krim, Chief Executive Officer Chris Hollod and Chief Financial Officer Matt Eby. In addition to the members of its management team and board of directors, the Company has assembled an Advisory Board that will help position the Company as the value-add partner of choice for today's leading entrepreneurs. About Cannae Holdings Cannae Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: CNNE) is engaged in actively managing and operating a group of companies and investments, as well as making additional majority and minority equity portfolio investments in businesses, in order to achieve superior financial performance and maximize the value of these assets. Cannae was founded and is led by investor William P. Foley, II. Foley is responsible for the creation and growth of over $140 Billion in publicly traded companies including Fidelity National Information Services (News - Alert) ("FIS"), Fidelity National Financial ("FNF"), and Black Knight, Inc. ("BKI"). Cannae's current principal holdings include Dun & Bradstreet Holdings, Inc. ("DNB"), which recently completed a successful business transformation and IPO. Cannae holds an approximately 18% interest in Dun & Bradstreet (News - Alert) or ~76 million shares. Cannae's second principal holding is Ceridian ("CDAY"), which Foley transformed from a legacy payroll bureau into a leading cloud based provider of human capital management software. Cannae owns approximately 9.5% of Ceridian representing ~14 million shares. Important Information and Where to Find It A full description of the terms of the transaction will be provided in a registration statement on Form S-4 to be filed with the SEC by Tailwind that will include a prospectus with respect to the Company's securities to be issued in connection with the business combination and a proxy statement with respect to the shareholder meeting of Tailwind to vote on the business combination. Tailwind urges its investors, stockholders and other interested persons to read, when available, the preliminary proxy statement/ prospectus as well as other documents filed with the SEC because these documents will contain important information about Tailwind, QOMPLX and the transaction. After the registration statement is declared effective, the definitive proxy statement/prospectus to be included in the registration statement will be mailed to stockholders of Tailwind as of a record date to be established for voting on the proposed business combination. Once available, stockholders will also be able to obtain a copy of the S-4, including the proxy statement/prospectus, and other documents filed with the SEC without charge, by directing a request to: Tailwind Acquisition Corp., 1545 Courtney Avenue, Los Angeles, California 90046, Attn: Chief Executive Officer. The preliminary and definitive proxy statement/prospectus to be included in the registration statement, once available, can also be obtained, without charge, at the SEC's website (www.sec.gov). Participants in the Solicitation Tailwind and QOMPLX and their respective directors and executive officers may be considered participants in the solicitation of proxies with respect to the potential transaction described in this press release under the rules of the SEC. Information about the directors and executive officers of Tailwind is set forth in Tailwind's final prospectus filed with the SEC pursuant to Rule 424(b) of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "Securities Act") on June 8, 2020 and is available free of charge at the SEC's web site at www.sec.gov or by directing a request to: Tailwind Acquisition Corp., 1545 Courtney Avenue, Los Angeles, California 90046, Attn: Chief Executive Officer. Information regarding the persons who may, under the rules of the SEC, be deemed participants in the solicitation of the Tailwind stockholders in connection with the potential transaction will be set forth in the registration statement containing the preliminary proxy statement/prospectus when it is filed with the SEC. These documents can be obtained free of charge from the sources indicated above. Non-Solicitation This press release is not a proxy statement or solicitation of a proxy, consent or authorization with respect to any securities or in respect of the potential transaction and shall not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy the securities of Tailwind, the Company or QOMPLX, nor shall there be any sale of any such securities in any state or jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation, or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of such state or jurisdiction. No offer of securities shall be made except by means of a prospectus meeting the requirements of the Securities Act. Special Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements This press release contains forward-looking statements that are based on beliefs and assumptions and on information currently available. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by the following words: "may," "will," "could," "would," "should," "expect," "intend," "plan," "anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "predict," "project," "potential," "continue," "ongoing" or the negative of these terms or other comparable terminology, although not all forward-looking statements contain these words. These statements involve risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results, levels of activity, performance or achievements to be materially different from the information expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. Although we believe that we have a reasonable basis for each forward-looking statement contained in this press release, we caution you that these statements are based on a combination of facts and factors currently known by us and our projections of the future, about which we cannot be certain. Forward-looking statements in this press release include, but are not limited to, statements regarding the proposed business combination, including the timing and structure of the transaction, the proceeds of the transaction, the initial market capitalization of the Company and the benefits of the transaction. We cannot assure you that the forward-looking statements in this press release will prove to be accurate. These forward looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, including, among others, the ability to complete the business combination due to the failure to obtain approval from Tailwind's stockholders or satisfy other closing conditions in the business combination agreement. The inability of QOMPLX to consummate the acquisitions of Sentar and Tyche, the occurrence of any event that could give rise to the termination of the business combination agreement (including any even that could give rise to the termination of the transaction agreement for each of Sentar and Tyche), the ability to recognize the anticipated benefits of the business combination, including as a result of a delay in consummating the potential transaction or difficulty in integrating the businesses of Tailwind, QOMPLX, Sentar and Tyche, and other risks and uncertainties, including those to be included under the header "Risk Factors" in the registration statement on Form S-4 to be filed by Tailwind with the SEC and those included under the header "Risk Factors" in the final prospectus of Tailwind related to its initial public offering. Furthermore, if the forward-looking statements prove to be inaccurate, the inaccuracy may be material. In light of the significant uncertainties in these forward-looking statements, you should not regard these statements as a representation or warranty by us or any other person that we will achieve our objectives and plans in any specified time frame, or at all. The forward-looking statements in this press release represent our views as of the date of this press release. We anticipate that subsequent events and developments will cause our views to change. However, while we may elect to update these forward-looking statements at some point in the future, we have no current intention of doing so except to the extent required by applicable law. You should, therefore, not rely on these forward-looking statements as representing our views as of any date subsequent to the date of this press release. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210301006049/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Armenias Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian is in trouble. The countrys military just issued a memorandum urging his government to step down. Describing the ultimatum as a coup attempt, Pashinian dismissed the militarys top commander and took to the streets with his supporters. Daily Sabah reports that former President Robert Kocharian and former Prime Minister Vazgen Manukyan endorsed the militarys statement shows that Armenias politics are out of control. Hardly anyone finds it surprising that Armenia, which suffered a humiliating defeat in the second Karabakh war, is experiencing turmoil. Tensions had been building up, as Armenians attempted to find someone to hold responsible for their defeat. Under heavy pressure, Pashinian infuriated Moscow by claiming that Armenias Russian-made ballistic missiles did not work. The military, in turn, blames what happened on the prime ministers misguided foreign policy. To be fair, all of those claims are partly true. Pashinian, a pro-American politician, could not strike a healthy balance between the Russian influence over his country and his governments policy of closer cooperation with the Western alliance. Failing to appreciate Azerbaijans military preparedness, support from Turkey and active diplomacy with Russia, he ended up making futile calls to Western capitals. The solution was to hand over Azerbaijans sovereign territory, which was under Armenian occupation, to Baku. Instead, Pashinian, suffering from jingoism, started an unwinnable war. It is no secret that Armenias Russian-made defense equipment proved ineffective against the Turkish armed drones. For three decades, Azerbaijan made preparations to liberate Nagorno-Karabakh, whereas the Armenians planned its defense. Lets not underestimate Yerevans preparations involving Russian weapons. The Armenians built an impressive line of defense, circling hilltops in mountainous terrain, with tanks and artillery. Indeed, the Armenian forces dealt heavy blows to Azerbaijans military in the early stages. Over the following days, however, armed drones devastated Yerevans line of defense and determined the outcome of the war. Armenia, whose hopes were tied to Russian weapons and political support, is unmistakably disappointed in Moscows wartime policy. Pashinians attempt to blame the defeat on Russia, however, disturbed the fragile balance. Pro-Russian soldiers and politicians thus joined forces to remove the Armenian prime minister from power. Pashinian, who came to power on the back of popular protests in 2018, is unlikely to keep his seat after his humiliation in Nagorno-Karabakh. He has to choose between resignation, early elections or the threat of a coup, in which the military and the opposition will be complicit as was the case in Egypt. Several questions now need answering: Is the Kremlin merely threatening the Armenian prime minister or intent on ending his rule? Or do the Russians want to finish what they started before Joe Biden, the White Houses new resident, takes action? Will the Joe Biden administration rush to Pashinians aid, per its commitment to defend democracies? We will soon find out. Whereas Moscow expressed concern and called for a peaceful resolution, Ankara condemned the coup attempt unequivocally. Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said that Ankara was opposed to coups and coup attempts wherever in the world they may take place. The Turkish governments opposition to the coup attempt is, first and foremost, a matter of principle. That policy is directly related to the fact that Turkey experienced a coup attempt just five years ago. Moreover, Turks do not want Armenia to suffer from political turmoil or to set the stage for a civil war. Turkeys preference is to promote peace, cooperation and economic integration in the South Caucasus. Hence the proposed establishment of a six-party mechanism. Stability in the Caucasus, the Caspian and Central Asia would facilitate the transportation of energy and trade which serve Turkeys interests. The creation of a land corridor between Turkey and the Turkic republics via Nakhchivan, too, is good news for Ankara. Peace between Azerbaijan and Armenia, normalization between Turkey and Armenia, and Armenias reintegration to address its economic problems are key to stability in the Caucasus. The rise to power of coup plotters, who will launch a new war against Azerbaijan, or Armenias deterioration into a failed state due to Russian-American competition, would create many problems, including irregular migration. It would seem that the coup attempt in Armenia will test the Biden administrations commitment to containing Russia and defending democracies. Kayleigh McEnany, the former White House press secretary, on Fox News. Fox News Kayleigh McEnany told Fox News that she had expected the "Stop the Steal" rally to be peaceful. She said she felt "disbelief" and "shock" when the rally turned into a riot. "It was a very hard, difficult day in the White House, there is no doubt," she said. Visit the Business section of Insider for more stories. The former White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said she was shocked that the pro-Trump "Stop the Steal" rally on January 6 turned violent. In her first interview since leaving the White House, McEnany told Fox News that she had expected the rally for then-President Donald Trump to be peaceful. Those events have a history of violence, and law-enforcement agencies had issued warnings about the rally. "I think that at the beginning of the day, before everyone went to the rally, everyone was expecting peace," McEnany said. "We had been to hundreds of rallies - I've probably been to hundreds at this point, certainly many dozens - and they were nothing but peaceful events, and we expected that day to be the same. "And then as those events transpired, it was disbelief, shock, somber, sad, horrified by the violence, and it was a very hard, difficult day in the White House, there is no doubt." McEnany said the mood in the White House was a "synonymous feeling" of horror when the Trump supporters stormed the Capitol in an attack that resulted in five deaths, including the Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick. McEnany said "everyone" was "just completely condemning the actions of that day." While multiple White House staffers and Cabinet members resigned after the riot, Trump was said to have been pleased with the violence. One former aide told CNN in early February that Trump was "loving watching the Capitol mob," while officials told The New York Times that Trump was initially pleased with the violence and ignored aides' attempts to get him to intervene. Story continues McEnany's final White House press conference was a two-minute affair held the day after the riot. She condemned the violence, calling it "appalling, reprehensible, and antithetical to the American way." She packed up her office a week later and reportedly finished out her days on the job working remotely from her home in Florida. Read the original article on Business Insider Ms. Wiley and Ms. Morales are also further behind in fund-raising; neither has yet qualified for the citys generous matching-funds program. But while the two are competing for the progressive vote, they have largely stayed out of each others way, even naming the other as their second choice for mayor. Mr. Adams and Mr. McGuire, on the other hand, seem destined for a collision course. I cant remember a time where you had this many strong African-American candidates, because what normally occurs is one will emerge out of a group of several with everybody else standing down, said Mr. Jeffries, who has not decided if he will endorse anyone in the race. Theres no expectation that will happen in this particular instance. Evan Thies, a spokesman for Mr. Adams, described the prison yard remarks during the video call as nothing more than friendly advice about the intense world of city politics. To infer otherwise, he continued, is an example of the kind of bias that Eric has been fighting his entire life. But Mr. Adamss video call in December was not the only time he had directed criticism at Mr. McGuire. At a forum in January, Mr. Adams said that he didnt go to the Hamptons when the pandemic struck New York City an apparent jab at Mr. McGuire, who said he had spent a total of three weeks in the Hamptons with his family last summer. The remarks were similar to ones Mr. Adams made at a virtual meeting with the Fred Wilson Democratic Club in Queens in December, when he said that he didnt attend Harvard and didnt need to introduce himself to voters. Mr. McGuire, who left his job at Citigroup to run for mayor, has also sought to draw a contrast with his rivals, often saying that he has not been termed out and isnt looking for a promotion a likely reference to Mr. Adams and Scott M. Stringer, the city comptroller, who are both barred by city law from running for third consecutive terms. "Milanov always said, "Well, you see, Mr. Bing needed me." She told frequent colleague, Robert Merrill, "When I returned to the Met during the 1950-1951 season, I felt like a queen." Indeed, Milanov had no rivals in the Italian wing - Rigal and Nelli, although competent and adequate, didn't come close either in voice or temperament to the Croatian diva, who chalked up over 130 performances between 01/17/51 and 01/29/55, evidence that Mr. Bing did, in fact, need her. Then, on 01/31/55 the first serious "rival" to Milanov's regal status debuted: Renata Tebaldi. On 10/29/56 a second "challenger" arrived at the Met, Maria Callas. In actuality, though, the only role all three had in common at the Met was Tosca. According to Wikipedia's Tebaldi bio: "The alleged rivalry aside, Callas made remarks appreciative of Tebaldi, and vice versa ... Francis Robinson of the Met wrote of an incident in which Tebaldi asked him to recommend a recording of La Gioconda in order to help her learn the role. Being fully aware of the alleged [Callas-Tebaldi] rivalry, he recommended Zinka Milanov's version. A few days later, he went to visit Tebaldi, only to find her sitting by the speakers, listening intently to Callas's recording. She then looked up at him and asked, "Why didn't you tell me Maria's was the best?" Although candid in the interview, remarkably, Zinka is highly respectful of Tebaldi and Callas. Tebaldi, by the way, sent a beautiful bouquet of lovely red roses to the first Milanov Memorial Service, expressing condolences and noting Zinka's exceptional career. Comparative career stats: Milanov - 1,049 appearances in opera; 260 verified concerts Tebaldi - Tebaldi, 1,048 appearances in opera; 214 concerts. Callas - according to the website, 4,000 performances" During his brief stay at the hospital, the PM chatted with the nurses and other staff and even cracked jokes with them. PTI New Delhi: The second phase vaccination drive to cover the general population above 60 years and those above 45 with co-morbidities began Monday with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and some of his Cabinet ministers taking the first dose of the anti-Covid jab. The 70-year-old PM took the first dose of the indigenously made Covaxin at New Delhis AIIMS to launch the second phase drive. Took my first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine at AIIMS. Remarkable how our doctors and scientists have worked in quick time to strengthen the global fight against Covid-19. I appeal to all those who are eligible to take the vaccine. Together, let us make India Covid-19 free! the PM tweeted after taking the vaccine shot. The decision to take the Covaxin shot by the PM was intended to quell the apprehensions and suspicion over the India-made vaccine as several Opposition leaders have questioned its safety and efficacy. The government has given emergency use authorisation to Bharat Biotech, which has developed Covaxin in collaboration with the Indian Council of Medical Research-National Institute of Virology. He took the Made in India Bharat Biotech Covaxin, vaccine and showed that both vaccines are safe and efficacious. We must come forward and take whichever vaccine is available. There has been controversy comparing one vaccine to the other, that has also been laid to rest today, said Dr Randeep Guleria, the director of AIIMS. Along with the PM, top political figures including vice-president M. Venkaiah Naidu, home minister Amit Shah, external affairs minister S. Jaishankar, NCP patriarch Sharad Pawar, his daughter and MP Supriya Sule, Rajasthan governor Kalraj Mishra, Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik and Bihar CM Nitish Kumar also got vaccinated. The vice-president took the jab at the Government Medical College in Chennai. Supreme Court judges and their family members will get the vaccine jabs on Tuesday. Health minister Harsh Vardhan also announced he will take the shot on Tuesday. During his brief stay at the hospital, the PM chatted with the nurses and other staff and even cracked jokes with them. One of the nurses who administered the vaccine to him, P. Niveda, said the PM, after getting the vaccine shot, remarked: Laga bhi diya, pata bhi nahin chala (Already done? I didnt even feel it). Mr Modi also used humour to put at ease the medical staff during the inoculation and asked the nurses administering the vaccine whether they planned to use some special thick needle as politicians are known to be very thick-skinned, drawing laughter. When Prime Minister Modi arrived early in the morning, it was natural that the medical staff at AIIMS were perhaps a bit overawed, a source said. Realising this, the PM instantly struck up a conversation with them, asking their names and about where they came from, the hospital staff said. Nurse Rosamma Anil said: The PM greeted us with folded hands, saying vanakkam, was under observation for 30 minutes after taking the Covaxin injection. Sir had no complications. He was very happy. The members of Opposition parties have questioned the selection of the two nurses who administered the vaccine. The Opposition believes it was not mere a coincidence the two nurses, P. Niveda and Rosamma Anil, are from Puducherry and Kerala respectively, both of which will hold Assembly elections soon. In addition, the PM was sporting an Assamese gamocha (scarf). Assam too is headed for polls, along with Tamil Nadu and West Bengal. PM Modi has this quality of sending a message from whatever he does Our health minister has taken the vaccine, AIIMS director has taken the vaccine but the way it was presented with the PM taking it is if he is the only one who has taken it. He decided to wear a gamocha from Assam, and nurses who vaccinated him were from Kerala and Tamil Nadu (second nurse was from Puducherry). Coincidentally, there are elections in these states. If only he had carried Rishi Aurobindos photo and the Gitanjali, all five states would have been included, said Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chaudhary. As the second phase of vaccinations began, the BJP has asked its leaders, including Union ministers and MPs, who fall under the category for the second phase, to take Covaxin shots, preferably in their constituencies, to build confidence among people to get vaccinated. The MPs and MLAs have also been asked to pay for the jab. In the second phase, vaccines will be administered free of cost at government hospitals and health centres. At private health facilities, the vaccine is priced up to Rs 250 per dose. PM Modi had clearly said that our Covid-19 warriors would be vaccinated first, and then us. To those who were questioning him, he has replied, I was waiting for my turn. We ministers have decided to avail of the paid vaccination facility, law minister Ravi Shankar Prasad told PTI. Minimum-wage increase would lift 1.3m Americans out of poverty - Jayapal Democratic congresswoman Pramila Jayapal says it an increase in the national minimum wage is deeply essential after signing a letter to President Joe Biden and Vice-President Kamala Harris making the case for such a measure to be kept in Bidens stimulus bill. On Monday, 22 House Democrats wrote to Biden and Harris urging the latter to user her powers as the Senates presiding officer to overrule the Senate parliamentarians ruling that a minimum-wage hike to $15 an hour cannot be passed under budgetary reconciliation, the process Dems are using to push the presidents $1.9tn relief package through the upper chamber without Republican support. Reconciliation allows lawmakers to pass legislation with a simple majority of 51, rather than the filibuster-proof 60 votes usually required in the Senate, which is currently a 50-50 Democrat-Republican split. Theres 27 million people that would be lifted up in terms of their wages, 1.3 million people who would be lifted out of poverty, 30% of black workers would get a raise, 26% of Latinx workers would get a raise, Jayapal told MSNBC on Monday. She added: It is just a myth that number one its not going to lift a lot of people up out of poverty, that its not deeply essential after 12 years of not raising the wage. And number two, this is a policy that is popular with Democrats, Republicans and independents. Lets not forget that Florida went for Donald Trump in the last election, and voted a $15 minimum wage through with a super majority of voters. Jayapal continued: Ive already said that I think the parliamentarian should be overruled - that is not unprecedented. Hubert Humphrey did it in 1967 and 1969, Rockefeller did it in 1975. These are certainly unprecedented times where we could thank the parliamentarian for her opinion - its an advisory opinion - and then we could still include it []. Ive spoken to the speaker about this, Ive spoken to the White House about it, its why the House left it in our bill even after the parliamentarians ruling, because we believe that it has to be included. Democrats are going to have to have a choice here: are we going to give Mitch McConnell veto power over all the things that we have promised to voters across the country and that are really popular. She added: There are so many things that we have promised. Voters gave us the House, the Senate and the White House and were either going to have to include things in reconciliation or were going to have to reform the filibuster. Frankly, were probably going to have to do both, because there are some things that cant be included in reconciliation. Type address separated by commas Your Email: MOSCOW -- Veteran Russian activist Lev Ponomaryov has shut his well-respected human rights organization due to the country's controversial laws on "foreign agents." Ponomaryov announced his decision to shut down his For Human Rights NGO in a televised interview on March 1, the day laws increasing fines for violating the so-called "foreign agent" law took effect. Ponomaryov's organization was established as an unregistered group in 2019 after a Supreme Court ruling to liquidate his movement with the same name, which had conducted rights monitoring and advocacy for more than two decades. The original group was shut down because Ponomaryov refused to register it as a foreign agent, a requirement of a 2012 law on nongovernmental organizations that receive foreign assistance and that the government deems to be engaged in political activity. At the end of 2020, the legislation was modified to allow the Russian government to include individuals on its foreign agents list and to impose restrictions on them. Ponomaryov said on March 1 that the law also now targets unregistered organizations, and therefore it is impossible for his group to continue its activities. "We have a major problem here," Ponomaryov said. "We are in a situation where thousands of experts working for my organization across the country...may be fined en masse now." Ponomaryov, 79, is a former Soviet-era lawmaker and State Duma deputy who helped found the Memorial human rights group. In 1991, he headed the legislature's investigation into the August coup attempt against Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev. On December 28, 2020, he was added as an individual to the Russian Justice Ministry's list of media accused of carrying out the functions of a "foreign agent." The government gave no explanation for including Ponomaryov on the register. Russia's "foreign agent" legislation has been widely criticized by Western governments and Russian and international rights groups as an effort by the government of President Vladimir Putin to stifle dissent. Human Rights Watch has described the laws as restrictive and intended to demonize independent groups." Jaipur, March 2 : BJP national president JP Nadda on Tuesday was accorded a warm welcome at 12 places on his way from Jaipur airport to the Birla Auditorium, as the state unit of the party presented a united face with different fractions standing together to welcome him. Speaking on the occasion, Nadda said that our priority is to strengthen the BJP which is a cadre-based party. "Hence, we need to strengthen the booth, panna pramukh ( and sashakt mandal for which we should start working from today itself. We need to have a Panna Pramukh at each booth by the birthdate of former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee," he said. "We won from the Surat seat with highest margin because our work at the booth level and Panna Pramukh level was the strongest here," he added. Earlier, Nadda inaugurated the BJP state working committee meeting at Birla auditorium. Nadda further said that workers must find solutions. "We need to become smart workers who visit the location where there is an issue but don't just work like postmen passing the message. We should remember that we take people along and care for every worker. There are many people who do not take people along but walk alone but it won't work. Ekla Chalo Re won't work, he added. Nadda also spoke on efficient handling of the Corona crisis by the central government. Sabka Sath, Sabka Vikas, a slogan given by our PM is basically a roadmap for our economic growth, he added further. Nadda said that farmer leaders have done politics since the last many years. However new reforms shall change their destiny and fortunes. Attacking the Congress, he said that telling lies was in their culture and it was the responsibility of the BJP to bring forth each fact in front of the public. Earlier, BJP state president Satish Poonia praised former CM Vasundhara Raje, presenting a united face in front of national president of the saffron party. It needs to be mentioned here that BJP appeared like a house divided a few days before Nadda's visit where two factions under Raje and Poonia stood separate on many issues. -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text Government wildlife officials released two more critically endangered red wolves into the wild in North Carolina and could place several more captive-bred wolves into the habitat this year, according to a new plan submitted to a federal judge. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said in the filing Monday that it brought two male wolves from a Florida wildlife refuge, paired them with wild female wolves from North Carolina and let them loose in February. One of the male wolves was later killed by a car. The service said it also plans to release another captive-bred pair into the wild this summer and will aim to introduce captive-bred pups into any wild litters born in the breeding season that runs through May. Releases of captive-bred wolves had largely been halted by the government in recent years. Wolf conservation groups responded that the government needs to move faster. The plan was submitted to U.S. District Judge Terrence Boyle, who ordered the agency in January to introduce more wolves into eastern North Carolina, the only place in the world where they roam free. At the time, Boyle noted that as few as seven red wolves remained in the wild. Another approximately 250 live in zoos and refuges as part of the captive-breeding program. Boyle has given conservation groups suing the federal government two weeks to raise any objections to the new plan. The officials who prepared the plan wrote that the federal agency "remains committed to reintroducing the red wolf into portions of its historical range and recovering the species in the wild. The officials also noted that they planned to proceed deliberately in moving captive-bred wolves to the wild in order to maintain a a robust captive population thats genetically diverse. A spokesman for the agency didnt immediately respond to a message seeking further comment. An attorney who represents the conservation groups suing the government said the plan should go further. Story continues While we are still reviewing the agencys plan and will formally respond with the court, we can say that it clearly falls far short of quickly releasing eight wolves, which plaintiffs requested to protect the wild population based on expert opinion and the services own past practice, said Sierra Weaver of the Southern Environmental Law Center. Ron Sutherland, a biologist with the Wildlands Network who's not directly involved in the lawsuit, said he hopes the federal court will force the government to move more quickly with reintroductions. In a February letter to the government, he urged the release of 16 wolves. The release of the two wolves was a step in the right direction. It was not an ambitious step. But it was a step, Sutherland said by phone. Conservation groups took the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to court late last year with a lawsuit arguing that the federal wildlife officials had violated the Endangered Species Act through actions that included a decision in 2015 to stop releasing captive-bred wolves. Between that decision and the judge's ruling in January, only one other captive-bred wolf had been released into the North Carolina wild. Red wolves once occupied much of the Eastern U.S. but were driven to near extinction by trapping, hunting and habitat loss before they were reintroduced to North Carolina in 1987. The reintroduced population had grown to more than 100 but has fallen sharply in recent years. Their range is limited to five North Carolina counties. ___ Follow Drew at www.twitter.com/JonathanLDrew Farmers in the northern regional regional parts of the country are growing in anger following reports that the Minority side of the Vetting Committee has rejected the nomination of the Agric Minister-designate, Hon. Dr Owusu Afriyie Akoto. They are therefore threatening to stage a massive nationwide demonstration if the Minority side of the house does not rescind its decision. In a strongly-worded statement issued by the spokesperson for the Farmers Forum in the Upper West Region, Alaska Kantong, the farmers called on the 137 NDC Members of Parliament to put the interest of the nation above that of their personal interest. We want to urge the NDC Members of Parliament to totally reject the recommendation of their members on the Minister-designate for Food and Agriculture. They should know that majority of us who are farmers in the northern regions of the country are not happy with their action the group said. The group further reminded the NDC that the majority of their constituents stand to lose a lot should they go ahead to vote against the Agric Minister-designate, adding that his rejection could mark the end of the hugely successful Planting for Food and Jobs programme which they say has brought massive success to farmers in the country. The Farmers Forum noted that since his inception as the Minister for Food and Agriculture in 2017, the nominee has always acted in the supreme interest of ordinary farmers through various initiatives which have improved their businesses and socio-economic development. According to them, Hon. Dr. Owusu Afriyie Akotos love and commitment for the socio-economic wellbeing of Ghanaian farmers is unprecedented in the history of this country, cautioning that any attempt to sabotage his approval will be fiercely resisted. We are calling on the NDC not to make a mistake that they will regret later. Because we farmers are very comfortable with the current administration of the Agric Minister and there is no way we are going to accept their decision to reject the Agric Minister-designate 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 The U.S. Senate will take up the House-passed $1.9 trillion coronavirus stimulus bill this week, Majority Leader Chuck Schumer announced Monday. I expect a hearty debate and some late nights, Schumer, D-N.Y., said on the Senate floor. But the American people sent us here with a job to do: to help the country through this moment of extraordinary challenge, to end, through action, the greatest health crisis our country has faced in a century. And thats just what were going to do. Every House Republican voted against the legislation, and Senate Republicans are lining up in opposition as well. Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., on Monday decried what he called a bad process, a bad bill, and a missed opportunity to do right by working families. President Joe Biden also is making passage of the stimulus bill a priority, hoping to sign the bill into law by March 14, when the current extension of federal unemployment insurance benefits expire. Weve reserved time in his schedule to ensure that he can be engaged, roll up his sleeves, and be personally involved in making phone calls, having more Zoom meetings, potentially having people here to the Oval Office to get this across the finish line, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Monday. Biden met with moderate Democratic senators at the White House to discuss the legislation. Some senators have talked about diverting as much as $50 billion of the proposed $350 billion in state and local aid to expand high-speed internet connections, while others have suggested that the next round of stimulus payments be more targeted to lower-income households. The House-passed bill provided $1,400 checks to individuals making up to $75,000, phasing them out up $100,000. Couples would get $2,800 if they make up to $150,000, with the payments phasing out up to $200,000. U.S. Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., who attended the White House meeting, told reporters afterwards that the discussion was not about reducing the size of the spending bill but just targeting the money that was in it. He said he expected some changes from the House-passed measure, but pretty modestly. CORONAVIRUS RESOURCES: Live map tracker | Newsletter | Homepage One big change is that the Senate bill wont raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour. Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough said the provision could not be included since the legislation was being considered under a procedure known as reconciliation, which prevents a filibuster and allows the bill to pass by majority vote. Psaki said that neither Biden nor Vice President Kamala Harris, who presides over the Senate and would cast the tie-breaking vote if every Democrat supports the legislation and every Republican opposes it, would overrule the parliamentarian. The president, the vice president have made the decision theyre not going to move forward with that step, Psaki said, noting that both Biden and Harris formerly served in the Senate. Senate Budget Committee Chairman Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., said he would offer an amendment to put the minimum wage back in. Unlike New Jerseys law, the federal minimum wage proposal also would raise the salaries of tipped restaurant workers and bartenders to $15 an hour. To the best of my knowledge, there will be a vote on the minimum wage, and well see what happens, Sanders told reporters. There will be a roll call vote and well see whos gonna vote for it and whos not gonna vote for it. Jonathan D. Salant may be reached at jsalant@njadvancemedia.com. Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com. BJP will stop 'Love Jihad', cow smuggling in Bengal if voted to power: Yogi at Malda rally India oi-Deepika S New Delhi, Mar 02: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Tuesday attacked the West Bengal government over cow smuggling and "love jihad" issues in the poll-bound state. He promised that cow smuggling will be stopped within a day if the BJP is voted to power in the state. "'Love jihad is being executed here [West Bengal]. We made a law in Uttar Pradesh. But there is appeasement politics here [West Bengal]. So the state government is unable to stop cow smuggling and love jihad. These are dangerous activities that will show results in the time to come," Adityanath said while addressing a rally in Malda district''s Gazole. Claiming that the raising of ''Jai Shri Ram'' slogan is not allowed in West Bengal, Adityanath said that the people of the state will give a befitting reply to the TMC government for "playing with their religious sentiments". 'Should have discussed': Anand Sharma slams party's tie-up with ISF in Bengal "Jai Shri Ram slogan is not allowed in West Bengal, but people won''t allow this to continue. ''Love Jihad'' incidents are happening in Bengal. In Uttar Pradesh, we have made a law to stop such incidents but the TMC government has failed to stop both cow smuggling and ''Love Jihad''," he said. "If the BJP is voted to power in West Bengal, we will stop cow smuggling within 24 hours," he added. Elections to the 294-member assembly will be held in eight phases between March 27 and April 29. White House press secretary Jen Psaki said that U.S. President Joe Biden would not consider Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obradors expected request that the U.S. share its coronavirus vaccine supply with its neighbor to the south. Biden and Lopez Obrador are scheduled to meet virtually Monday afternoon for a summit that Psaki said will reaffirm the enduring partnership between the U.S. and Mexico, which is "based on mutual respect and the extraordinary bond of family and friendship." But during the upcoming conversation between the two leaders, Psaki said Biden would reject his foreign counterpart if asked to contribute a portion of U.S. vaccine doses to Mexico - a solicitation Lopez Obrador is reportedly likely to make. "No. The president has made clear that he is focused on ensuring that vaccines are accessible to every American. That is our focus," Psaki told reporters at a White House press briefing. "The next step is economic recovery. And that is ensuring that our neighbors, Mexico and Canada, have similarly managed the pandemic, so that we can open our borders and build back better," Politico cited her as saying. For the time being, however, "the administrations focus is on ensuring that every American is vaccinated," Psaki said. "And once we accomplish that objective, were happy to discus further steps beyond that." Luis Palau says cancer is at bay 2 years after terminal diagnosis; now passing ministry mantle Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment World-renowned evangelist Luis Palau revealed his cancer is now at bay, though doctors had given him months to live when he was diagnosed two years ago. And now hes ready to fully pass the mantle of ministry to his sons. At the top of 2018, the beloved minister made the unexpected announcement that he was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer. Months later, in a Thanksgiving Day update, Palau testified that he was defying the odds and doing much better than doctors had anticipated. Now, two years after the diagnosis, Palau says his cancer is under control because of their care regiment. In March 2018, Palau shared that after two months of chemotherapy, the doctors were amazed at the results of his CT scan and blood work. All tumors had shrunk by one-third and there was no new growth of the tumors. The results were so uncommon for someone with stage 4 cancer that Palau said the doctors were stunned. Again, at the end of last year, "One of the tumors actually shrank slightly!" he wrote on his website. "I'm actually feeling quite well. And the cancer seems to be kept at bay with the current protocol," he said. Since then, the Luis Palau Association has carried on with multiple initiatives and in a new interview with CBN, the minister said its time for him to step out of the way and let his sons and those that follow continue on with the ministry freely. He said moving aside and allowing Andrew and Kevin Palau to take up the ministry mantle will be "without relinquishing love and caring for my sons." "You've got to make room for the next generation to freely minister freely do," Palau said. "Although you think, 'OK, we've transitioned.' Kevin is the president [and] Andrew is the better-known evangelist. But are you still in the way? And I've come to realize I am somewhat in the way." Palau also has two other sons, Keith and Stephen, and he was filled with love and joy as he spoke of his children. "I used to say when people would ask me years ago, I'd say, 'I hope my boys will put on my burial tomb: My father wasn't perfect, but he sure loved Jesus Christ," he described. Although he continues to defy the odds, Palau said he is ready to go to Heaven whenever God sees fit. "The only sad thing is leaving my wife and my kids and the team and a few of my best friends," he said. "But really, I'm ready to go. I have the peace of the Lord." The Palau Association has collaborated with thousands of churches in hundreds of cities around the world. Palau has led millions into a personal relationship with Jesus Christ in over 75 nations. An autobiographical movie on the life of the renowned preacher, "Palau the Movie, was released last year. The film journeys through the life of Palau, revealing how a bad-tempered young street preacher goes on to impact the world for Jesus. Unbearably itchy skin is a very common eczema symptom. Nonetheless, scratching only makes the skin condition worse and invites infection, according to Harvard Health Publishing. When itching is very troublesome, eczema treatment often includes oral antihistamines (along with other medications), which are drugs used to stop the itch-scratch cycle of eczema that can bother you in the day and even keep you up at night. While antihistamines won't stop the eczema flare-ups from happening, they will help to relieve some of the itchiness, and itchiness is the No. 1 complaint I hear from my patients with eczema, says Debra Wattenberg, MD, a dermatologist in private practice in New York City. Atopic eczema, also known as atopic dermatitis, is the most common type of eczema, according to the National Eczema Association, and is considered similar to an allergic condition. In the case of allergies, the body mistakes harmless substances like pollen or dust mites as a threat and releases histamine, an immune system protein that helps protect cells from infection, to fight them off, according to the Mayo Clinic. Allergic symptoms like itchy eyes and skin can result. Antihistamine drugs are often used to treat allergic conditions. They block the effects of histamine to provide relief, per the Cleveland Clinic. Antihistamines "are the only oral medications we have to treat itching," says Suephy Chen, MD, a dermatologist and the chair of the department of dermatology at Duke University School of Medicine in Durham, North Carolina. But, she explains, they work differently when used as an eczema treatment. RELATED: I Tried Wet Wrap Therapy for Eczema, and It Helped Reset My Skin Antihistamines as a Treatment for Eczema "Eczema is not really a histamine problem, but antihistamines do seem to have some effect. The sedating effect is helpful because scratching always makes eczema worse. So if the medications keep people from scratching, indirectly they can help the eczema," Dr. Chen says, adding that antihistamines are still not as effective as we would like in treating the itch of eczema. In general, there are two types of oral antihistamines on the market: first-generation antihistamines and second-generation antihistamines. First-generation drugs, such as Benadryl (diphenhydramine) and Chlor-Trimeton (chlorpheniramine), affect the brain and can cause side effects like drowsiness, according to the Cleveland Clinic. These sedating antihistamines are most beneficial as a treatment for eczema, especially if the eczema symptom of itchy skin is keeping you from sleeping, says Dr. Wattenberg. And getting a good night's sleep promotes healing and is beneficial for the immune system, according to the nonprofit Allergy & Asthma Network. When taken as directed, first-generation antihistamines are safe, even for children, according to the American Academy of Dermatology Association, though its important to talk to your childs doctor first. Because second-generation antihistamines don't have an effect on the brain, they aren't sedating. So, Chen says, as a treatment for eczema, second-generation drugs are "even less likely to work because of the nonsedating properties." Second-generation antihistamines include Claritin (loratadine) and Zyrtec (cetirizine), the Cleveland Clinic notes. Whether youre taking a first- or second-generation variety, just dont get your hopes up too high. When it comes to using antihistamines to help with eczema, they arent a cure-all. Antihistamines wont prevent flare-ups because they dont target the actual root of the disease, but they do help with the itch, which could allow your flare-up to heal faster, says Wattenberg. RELATED: Your Everyday Guide to Living Well With Eczema Side Effects of Antihistamines as Treatment for Eczema Because first-generation drugs are sedating, here are some side effects you need to watch out for, according to the National Health Service in the United Kingdom, especially if you're taking them at times besides before bed: Your ability to drive or operate machinery may be impaired. You might not be able to think clearly, so work or school may be difficult. Mixing antihistamines with other sedatives, muscle relaxers, or sleeping pills can increase the sedation. Common side effects also include dry mouth, dizziness, and decreased appetite, according to MedlinePlus. First-generation antihistamines may not be right for you. Talk to your doctor if you have any of these medical conditions: Glaucoma Trouble urinating due to an enlarged prostate gland Breathing problems, including asthma, emphysema, or chronic bronchitis Thyroid disease Heart disease or high blood pressure Epilepsy Diabetes Many first-generation antihistamines are available without a prescription at your local drugstore, says Wattenberg. Prices vary, but at one nationwide drugstore chain, a box of 24 Benadryl Allergy Liqui-Gels cost less than $9. Store brands with the same active ingredients are generally less expensive. Ask your doctor about what would be best for you, suggests Wattenberg. RELATED: The Best Natural and Essential Oils for Eczema Taking Care of Your Eczema Stopping itchy eczema symptoms as soon as possible is essential to managing the condition. Sticking to your medications is very important. I recommend taking antihistamines in conjunction with topical steroids to improve the skin health, says Wattenberg; she also advises against topical antihistamines, which she says may actually irritate your eczema. Your doctor might suggest a corticosteroid cream, which is a topical steroid thats often a go-to treatment for eczema, according to the Eczema Foundation, and helps fight inflammation. Also, youll want to steer clear of irritants or allergens. A study published in January 2021 in the journal Cell found that for some people with eczema, acute itching may be caused by environmental allergens like animals, dust, and mold. Also, researchers found that for those with eczema, taking antihistamines may not always help with these hyper-acute flare-ups (caused by environmental allergens) because the itch-signals are carried along different brain pathways. And of course, don't forget to keep your skin hydrated by using plenty of moisturizer. According to the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology, moisturizers help improve the skin barrier. Additional reporting by Regina Boyle Wheeler. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo was fighting for his political life on Tuesday after a third woman accused him of sexual harassment. The Democrat has suffered a spectacular fall from grace since he became a national star last year for his handling of the state's coronavirus pandemic. Many commentators had tipped him for a role in President Joe Biden's administration but now members of his own party are calling for his resignation. Already facing heat over accusations he deliberately underreported Covid-19 deaths in nursing homes, Cuomo referred himself for investigation Monday over sexual misconduct allegations by two former aides. Hours later, Anna Ruch, 33, told the New York Times that she met the now 63-year-old Cuomo at a wedding in September 2019. During the reception, he put his hand on her bare lower back -- which she pushed away -- and asked if he could kiss her. "I was so confused and shocked and embarrassed," Ruch, who did not work for Cuomo, told the Times. "I turned my head away and didn't have words in that moment." The newspaper published a photo showing the governor holding a visibly uncomfortable Ruch by the cheeks. Democrats and Republicans have joined Cuomo's accusers and anti-harassment campaigners in calling for the three-term governor to quit. The scandal engulfing Cuomo illustrates how allegations of sexual harassment gain traction in the #MeToo era. "If these allegations are true, he cannot govern," said New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, a long-time rival of Cuomo's. Sam Abrams, a political science professor at Sarah Lawrence College, said the third accuser "makes it much harder" for Cuomo to stay around. "He is a fighter and will clear his name if it's believed to be a misunderstanding," Abrams said. "But if he loses the support of the party, and that is happening, he has no future or fourth term." Cuomo enjoyed national adoration last spring with his straight-talking yet empathetic virus briefings that contrasted sharply with then-president Donald Trump's dismissive approach to the pandemic. Story continues Some Democrats even urged him to run for the White House, but now his stock has never been lower. The New York senate announced Tuesday it would repeal the emergency powers granted to Cuomo at the start of the pandemic because of the nursing home affair. The powers were due to expire April 30. - 'Horribly uncomfortable' - Ruch's testimony came just days after former aide Charlotte Bennett told the New York Times that he sexually harassed her last year. Bennett, 25, said that Cuomo told her in June that he was open to dating women in their 20s, and asked her if she thought age made a difference in romantic relationships, the Times said. While Cuomo never tried to touch her, "I understood that the governor wanted to sleep with me, and felt horribly uncomfortable and scared," she said. Another ex-aide, Lindsey Boylan, described unwanted physical contact from Cuomo when she worked for his administration, from 2015 to 2018. Boylan, 36, alleged that the governor had given her an unsolicited kiss on the lips, suggested that they play strip poker and went "out of his way to touch me on my lower back, arms and legs." Cuomo said Sunday he was "truly sorry" if his conduct had ever been "misinterpreted as an unwanted flirtation." He denied ever inappropriately touching or propositioning anyone. Cuomo, loathed by many on the left-wing of the Democratic Party, was slammed for the wording of his apology. He bowed to pressure for an independent probe into the misconduct claims, which will be led by New York Attorney General Letitia James. The findings will be disclosed in a public report that may not be released for months. Cuomo has led New York for ten years and is widely believed to covet a fourth term when his current one ends in 2022, to surpass his father Mario Cuomo, who served for three terms. With detractors unlikely to be able to muster enough votes to impeach Cuomo in the state legislature, experts say his future may hang on the outcome of the investigation. "If it's really bad for him, then he either resigns or gets impeached," said Columbia University politics expert Lincoln Mitchell. pdh/bgs The BRICS New Development Bank (NDB) on Tuesday approved another 7 billion yuan (about USD 1.08 billion) of emergency assistance loan to support China's economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. This is the second emergency loan for the same amount approved by the NDB to help fight the pandemic. The previous 7 billion-yuan loan was endorsed and paid in 2020. The Shanghai-based bank had also fully disbursed USD 1 billion loan to India under emergency assistance programme last year, to support the government in containing the COVID-19 outbreak and reduce human, social and economic losses. The latest loan to will support the restoration of production activities, stabilise employment, promote sustainable economic development, a statement from the bank said. India this year has taken over as the rotating chair of the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) and is set to hold the annual summit of the five-member bloc. In April 2020, the bank set up a mechanism to offer emergency assistance program loans to its member countries, assisting them in combating the pandemic. It has so far approved seven anti-virus-related emergency loans, totalling about USD 7 billion. The NDB is a multilateral development bank founded in 2014 by BRICS member countries to support infrastructure and sustainable development projects in the BRICS countries and other emerging economies. It formally opened on July 21, 2015 in the eastern Chinese metropolis, Shanghai. (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.) Majority leader and Minister-Designate for Parliamentary Affairs, Hon. Osei Kyei Mensah Bonsu, has disclosed that the President, HE Nana Addo Dankwah Akufo Addo will on March 9 present his first state of the nation address in his second term to the House. According to him, the president has a constitutional mandate to brief and inform Ghanaians on the state of the country, as well as his administration's plans for the nation. Speaking on Okay Fm's Ade Akye Abia program, he added that "the House reconvened today (Tuesday) after they took a month break to purge themselves of COVID 19" which had ravaged the entire world; not excluding the Legislature. The State of the Nation address is in accordance with Article 67 of the 1992 constitution which states that the President shall, at the beginning of each session of Parliament and before a dissolution of Parliament, deliver to Parliament a message on the state of the nation. Also known as SONA, the state of the nation address was first implemented under the administration of the second President of the Fourth Republic of Ghana. The President is expected to speak on the ravaging impact of the COVID-19 and other sectors of the economy and social development. Watch Video Below Source: Isaac Kwame Owusu/Peacefmonline.com/[email protected] Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Giving birth to a baby can be extremely challenging for the mother's body, and yoga can help with both the elasticity and endurance power of expecting mothers, in turn increasing chances of a normal delivery, says a maternity yoga expert who runs a Gurgaon-based health and wellness yoga centre. Kedar Nath, Director of Maatriyoga says the aim of pregnancy yoga is to help the mother bring the unborn into the world with minimum hassle and completely no health complications. Positions and exercises practiced across the three trimesters of pregnancy can differ with every phase. The pre- and post-natal yoga sessions, now also conducted online, are focussed on ensuring maternal comfort, training to deal with labor pain and manage birth outcomes. Most of all, pregnancy yoga done in the correct way can help mothers avoid complicated surgical procedures. Envisioning a platform for women's empowerment and promoting holistic well-being, the health centre focuses on prioritizing self-care in pregnancy. The wellness services support expectants and new mums, and infants in the first 1,000 days of life. "As per industry estimates, about 90 per cent of women prepare themselves for a normal delivery. However, only 65 per cent of them are able to achieve this. There are factors, such as eating habits and overall well-being which hampers the natural delivery process. Yoga not just helps in delivery of the baby naturally but also helps maintain the physical and mental well-being of the woman," says Kedar Nath. "Although it became a trend to do yoga for physical fitness but it has meditative and spiritual value also. It brings contentment, and gives peace to your mind. Yoga helps to fight with all the problems which a woman faces during pregnancy," he adds. "You need more oxygen during pregnancy, and your body adapts to meet this need in several ways. An increase in hormones, particularly progesterone, directly affects your lungs and stimulates the respiratory centre in your brain. And while the number of breaths you take per minute actually changes very little during pregnancy, the amount of air you inhale and exhale with each breath increases significantly." For the first trimester, standing yoga poses are advised as this will help strengthen the legs, enhance circulation, generate energy, and may reduce leg cramps. During the second and third trimester, you should focus on breathing and meditation. you may reduce your time spent practicing the asanas to prevent fatigue and overwork. It is also not advised to practice from the tenth through the fourteenth week of pregnancy since these are crucial times. Do not overstretch the abdomen; the emphasis of your twisting poses should be on the shoulders and the upper back and not on the abdomen. STORY LINK Pound to Canadian Dollar (GBP/CAD) Exchange Rate Steady as UKs Search for Brazilian Coronavirus Variant Continues GBP/CAD Exchange Rate Rangebound as UK House Prices Rise in February Canadian Dollar (CAD) Falls as Canadas GDP Falls Below Forecasts in December GBP/CAD Exchange Rate Outlook: Could Rising Oil Prices Boost the Loonie This Week? Like this piece? Please share with your friends and colleagues: The Pound to Canadian Dollar (GBP/CAD) exchange rate held steady today as the search for the UKs missing Brazilian Covid-19 variant is narrowed down to the south-east. The pairing is currently fluctuating around CA$1.76.As a result, Sterling investors are remaining cautious as the Brazilian variant could cause a problem for the effectiveness of the UKs Covid-19 vaccination further down the line.According to researchers, the original variant was found in Manaus Brazil and can evade 25% to 61% of the protection of people living in the Amazonian city.Dr Nuno Faria of the MRC Centre for Global Infectious Disease Analysis at Imperial College London, explains:If 100 people were infected in Manaus last year, somewhere between 25 and 61 of them are susceptible to reinfection by [the] P1 [coronavirus variant].We caution, however, that our results from analysis should not be generalised to other epidemiological contexts and/or other variants of concern.In UK economic data, today saw the publication of the UK Nationwide Housing Prices data for February, which rose by 0.7% month-on-month.Robert Gardner, the Nationwide chief economist, said:The outlook for the housing market is unusually uncertain. There is scope for shifting housing preferences to continue to boost activity, especially if there is frther policy support in the budget. Nevertheless, if labour market conditions weaken as most analysts expect, it is likely that the housing market will slow in the months ahead.Consequently, GBP investors are becoming more cautious about the economy ahead of Chancellor Rishi Sunaks 2021 Budget announcement on Wednesday.The Canadian Dollar struggled today following the publication of Canadas Gross Domestic Product data for December, which fell below forecasts from 0.8% to 0.1%.Statistics Canada commented on the figure:This eighth consecutive monthly increase continued to offset the steepest drops on record in Canadian economic activity in March and April. Nevertheless, total economic activity was about 3% below Februarys pre-pandemic level.As a result, Loonie traders are more concerned that Canadas economy could get off to a slow start this year.However, this weeks rebound in oil prices has managed to stabilise the CAD/GBP exchange rate.The commodity-linked Canadian Dollar has benefited from a spike in oil prices following the success of US President Joe Bidens $1.9 trillion Covid-19 stimulus plan in the House of Representatives.Canadian Dollar traders are awaiting tomorrows release of the latest Canadian Building Permits figure for January.Any improvement in the outlook for Canadas economic performance would be CAD-positive.Oil prices will also continue to dictate the CAD/GBP exchange rate this week.Any signs that the US Covid-19 stimulus package will likely pass through unchallenged would boost oil prices and drive-up the commodity-linked Loonie.The GBP/CAD exchange rate could continue to head higher this week, however, if the outlook for Britains economy remains largely optimistic.As Covid-19 cases continue to fall and the UKs vaccination programme steams ahead, we will likely see Sterling head higher. 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: Canadian Dollar Forecasts Pound Canadian Dollar Forecasts VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / March 2, 2021 / JNC Resources Inc. (CSE:JNC)(OTCBB:JNCCF)(FRA:5VH) ("JNC" or the "Company") and Southern Precious Metals Limited (SPML) are pleased to announce the signing of the definitive agreement (replacing the LOI signed December 8th, 2020), in which JNC will acquire a 100% interest in SPML and their assets, the Malebo and Solomons properties in New South Wales (NSW) Australia. In signing this definitive agreement with SPML, JNC would like to specifically thank and welcome key shareholders Dr. Chris Wilson and Dr. Quinton Hennigh for all their hard work and diligence in reaching this agreement. We look forward to leaning on both Dr. Wilson and Dr. Hennigh for their experience and advice to further these premier properties. "We are very excited to have the opportunity to work with two such esteemed mining professionals specifically in the Australia Region. Dr Wilson is committed to assembling an industry-experienced exploration team in Australia and will help us advance these properties to their fullest potential" JNC President and CEO Mike Mulberry states. Dr. Wilson will also be working on the potential to further advance the company through land acquisitions, joint ventures or other strategic moves he deems beneficial for the success of JNC. Dr Wilson notes that exploration and staking activity increased rapidly in Victoria and the Pilbara following major discoveries. The same was not true of NSW where it was possible, until recently, to stake ground at relatively low cost. Yet, NSW is prolifically mineralized and comprises several metallogenic belts which have been largely unexplored outside of the major mining camps. Drs Hennigh and Wilson believe that NSW is the emergent exploration state and potential exists for one or more major discoveries. Dr Wilson is a commercially-driven exploration geologist with over 30 years of experience in area selection and prospect generation, target generation, and the design and management of large resource definition drilling and pre-feasibility programs. He has worked in over 75 countries, on most commodities and deposit styles from grassroots through resource definition to feasibility. More recently Dr. Wilson has been involved in resource to mine to production reconciliation studies, project valuation and fatal flaw analysis. Dr Wilson has extensive project review and target generation experience, with ability to rapidly identify and test high-value targets, using complex multidisciplinary data sets. This is combined with a strong deposit model knowledge ensuring key controls on mineralization are placed within the wider context of a project's geological, structural and hydrothermal evolution. He has a proven ability to lead multi-disciplinary and multi-cultural teams under diverse cultural and physiographic regimes. Dr. Wilson is a qualified person for Joint Ore Reserves Committee and National Instrument 43-101-compliant reporting and valuation (VALMIM and CIMVAL). As Exploration Manager for Ivanhoe Mines Mongolia, he was responsible for an exploration portfolio of over 11 million hectares. Dr. Hennigh has been an integral figure in Australian junior exploration for many years. His advisory role in Kirkland Lake Gold's (KL) acquisition of the Fosterville gold mine in Victoria Australia lead to a dramatic increase in shareholder value as Kirkland Lake's shares rose from $6/share in 2015 to over $75 in 2020. Dr. Hennigh's Novo Resources (NVO) has also made a major discovery in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. As founder, then its CEO and currently Chairman, he has led them from a junior explorer to a producer. Dr. Hennigh began his distinguished career in gold exploration after obtaining his PhD in Geology/Geochemistry from the Colorado School of Mines. After working with major gold companies such as Newcrest Mining and Newmont Mining, Dr. Hennigh founded Novo Resources Corp (NVO) acting as its CEO and currently serving as Chairman. Among his notable project involvements are First Mining Gold's Springpole gold deposit in Ontario, Kirkland Lake Gold's (KL) acquisition of the Fosterville gold mine in Australia, the Rattlesnake Hills gold deposit in Wyoming, and Lion One's Tuvatu gold project on Fiji, among many others. About JNC Resources Inc. JNC is a North American-based junior mineral exploration company with a goal to develop under-explored properties and benefit from deal flow generated by strategic partnerships and growth opportunities. Currently the Company is developing its 100% optioned Triple 9 Project in South Central British Columbia. The Triple 9 Project is a gold property with a new discovery of high levels of base metals, located 20 km from the town of Sicamous. JNC also has an option agreement with Great Basin Resources to acquire 100% control and interest in the Imperial Project in Nevada. The Imperial Property is located in Esmeralda County, Nevada, which has been a prolific mining area in the state. The Property is in close proximity to the town of Goldfields, where gold production occurred in the early part of the 20th century. JNC also recently optioned the Malebo and Solomon claims in the province of NSW Australia, subject to closing, with an exploration program planned in 2021. For further information please contact: Michael Mulberry T: 778-855-5001 info@jncresources.com Forward-Looking Statements This press release may contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of applicable securities law. Forward-looking statements are frequently characterized by words such as "plan", "expect", "project", "intend", "believe", "anticipate", "estimate" and other similar words, or statements that certain events or conditions "may" or "will" occur. Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in applicable forward-looking statements are reasonable, there can be no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. Such forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results, performance or developments to differ materially from those contained in such statements. NEITHER THE CANADIAN SECURITIES EXCHANGE NOR ITS REGULATION SERVICES PROVIDER ACCEPTS RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THIS RELEASE. SOURCE: JNC Resources Inc. View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/632799/JNC-Resources-Signs-Definitive-Agreement-with-Southern-Precious-Metals-Ltd Lisa Lin can understand why home cooks might be interested in Recipeasly. The website allows users to collect their favorite recipes from around the Internet in one convenient location, sort of like an online recipe box. But as the founder of Healthy Nibbles, a seven-year-old website featuring hundreds of recipes, Lin doesn't like how Recipeasly has marketed itself or how it developed a product without any apparent buy-in from the food bloggers and recipe developers who could be most affected by it. "I can see why you want to bookmark all of them in one place," Lin said during a phone call from her home in Sacramento. "I wouldn't go and create a [website] that mines all of that content and puts it into a new thing for people to access for free. There's just so much copyright infringement on there. So I just don't understand why that kind of process didn't go through the developers' minds." After a presumably lengthy development period, the Canada-based Recipeasly announced a relaunch on Sunday in tweets from at least two of its creators, Tom Redman and Jack Read. Redman trumpeted that Recipeasly would "fix online recipes" by removing the clutter. Both men said the site would give users access to their favorite recipes "without the ads or life stories." They asked for feedback and retweets. They got a lot of the former, most of it critical of a site that's built on the backs of recipe developers and bloggers, many of them people of color who rely on their own websites for income and to provide intimate cultural and culinary information in the "life stories." In the Recipeasly model - based on conversations with food writers who tested the site before the founders took it offline - users can paste in a URL, and the site will strip the recipe of ads, long intros and everything else, save for the information found in the "recipe card" section of a coded webpage, which usually includes a photo, ingredients list and cooking directions. The resulting Recipeasly page doesn't even include a mention of the recipe developer's name, just a small link button back to the original recipe. Numerous critics were labeling this outright theft of intellectual property, although copyright protections for recipes are not so clear-cut. Neither Redman nor Read responded to emails or tweets from The Washington Post seeking comment. But Redman spent a fair amount of time on Sunday trying to explain the business model for Recipeasly as the criticism mounted. He apologized to "content creators" and said the site's founders had "nothing but respect and admiration for the time, money, effort and years that going [sic] into creating great recipes & websites." Redman also noted that "imported recipes are only visible to the user who imported them - similar to if a user had printed the recipe or copied it into a doc." He added that Recipeasly and its creators "do not make any money off of this. There is *no* revenue, much less profit." Redman even suggested that the site was built for bloggers and recipe developers to monetize their work. The comments fell mostly on deaf ears. Some bloggers, for instance, screen-captured pages from Recipeasly. One page clearly indicated that users can make their recipe collections private or public. If the scraped recipes are public, they have the potential to hurt the very people who created them, said Lin, the founder of Healthy Nibbles. For starters, should Recipeasly build a large and loyal user base, the recipes on its platform could rank higher in Google search results than those on websites where the recipes were originally published. That could diminish traffic to the original sites and therefore hurt ad sales. Right now, Lin said, she lives off the ad sales from her site. She declined to say how much money her site generates but said it's in the six figures annually. Just as troublesome for bloggers, if Recipeasly built a loyal following, its creators could use the site to sell products, ingredients and tools to home cooks, thereby creating revenue streams for the founders. An active user base, uploading thousands of recipes a month, could generate data that could be of value to outside marketers and businesses. All of this value, food bloggers note, would be based on recipes that Recipeasly's founders did not create. According to the U.S. Copyright Office, recipe developers cannot copyright a mere list of ingredients. But they might have a copyright protection claim, the department's website notes, when "a recipe or formula is accompanied by substantial literary expression in the form of an explanation or directions, or when there is a collection of recipes as in a cookbook." A food blogger's website could, in this sense, constitute a "collection of recipes." Recipeasly is not the first website and/or app to come under criticism for scraping recipes from food bloggers, online magazines, newspapers and the like. In 2019, Apple removed Copy Me That from its App Store after recipe developers complained to the tech giant. Copy Me That offers premium memberships for $12.99 a year (or $24.99 for a lifetime membership), which, among other things, allows users to scale recipes they've saved or create customized shopping lists. "The app removal was instigated by a handful of website owners who filed complaints with Apple. They say it infringes on their copyrights when you save their recipes into your own private recipe box," Copy Me That said in a statement at the time. "Of course, bloggers, photographers and recipe creators deserve to make money from their hard work," the statement continued. "This is why the Community recipes encourage people to visit the original websites, why even private recipes have a link back, and why you have to visit the original website in order to create your own copy of a recipe." One look at the Apple App Store finds numerous other tools that help consumers scrape outside sources for recipes. They go by names such as Cook'n, Recipe Keeper, RecipeBox and the like. They're all designed to collect a user's favorite recipes in one location, a convenience for those who don't want to comb the web or a library of cookbooks for their go-to dishes. But the apps and websites have increasingly become a source of tension between those who just want recipes without the stories and advertisements and food bloggers who rely, in part, on the stories to generate web traffic, which in turn generates revenue. Stories, bloggers will tell you, contain keywords, demonstrate authority and generally appease the Google algorithm gods in a way that can place these blogs higher in search results. But it's even more complex than that. The stories are personal. They're cultural. They're often told from the perspective of women, immigrants and people of color who have created and invested in a platform to share their stories. The recipe aggregator sites, bloggers note, basically tell the creators that their stories have no value. It's the same message America has told immigrants and women for centuries, now just in electronic form. "Guys, if I'm sharing something like a bolo bao (pineapple bun) recipe, you're damn right I'm going to mention that bolo bao was a childhood staple and how my mom used to buy these for me from Chinatown," Lin wrote in an Instagram story, the words superimposed over Recipeasly's homepage, which read "Your favourite recipes without the ads or life stories." "I want you to know why this recipe matters to me as a Chinese America[n] and why creating the recipe brought back memories," Lin continued. Hours after Recipeasly relaunched, it was back down, its creators seemingly crushed by the negative response. It wasn't even clear whether the site would return. In a tweet late Sunday, Redman said there will be changes to the site, "if we come back." 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. Digitisation will force the reform of the state apparatus, Prime Minister Florin Citu said on Tuesday, adding that this year, in addition to the measures already adopted, the electronic invoice will be implemented, which should lead to an increase in government revenues, according to AGERPRES. "Yes, we are doomed to do it, we cannot go on without reform, and digitisation itself will force this reform. (...)" Citu told "Digitisation of Romania, utmost priority," an event organized by DC News Media Group. He noted that an e-billing project will be introduced this year, which should increase government revenues. According to Citu, digitisation is "an objective way" to reform, and under the National Recovery and Resilience Plan approximately 2 billion euros will be allocated for projects such as the implementation of a government cloud. He added that this year the government will rely on two pillars - reform and investment. "This year, you will see that there will be bills or ordinances that will change the way we work, and when we say digitisation in particular, we are talking about ANAF [National Tax Administration Agency]. I am referring today to ANAF, but the whole public apparatus should, it will start this year with e-invoicing, I hope it will be by the end of the year. (...) Connecting the cash registers - there are two solutions that ANAF has at its disposal; it has to choose one of them," Citu explained. 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 Daily Beast Photo Illustration by The Daily Beast/GettyMike Lindell, the MyPillow CEO and Trumpist conspiracy-peddler, flew his private jet to the Republican Governors Association meeting the other day.The guvs promptly threw him out. But the incident got Molly Jong-Fast thinking: Does the MyPillow CEO think hes already a governor or something?Subscribe to The New Abnormal on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Amazon Music, or Overcast. To listen to our weekly members-only bonus episodes, join Beast Inside here. Already a member? You can listen here and sign up for new episode email alerts here.Spoiler: Making MyPillows does not make you my governor. Now, chances that Mike Lindell could actually become governor of a small Republican state, 80 percent, she quips on the latest episode of The New Abnormal. Like, its not even that hard for someone that famous and insane in the Republican party to become a governor.Lindell claims he wouldnt run to be a dogcatcher right now, because he doesnt trust the voting machines. Plus, hes from the blue state of Minnesota. So maybe the risk of a Governor Pillow isnt quite so high. But L.A. Times columnist Virginia Heffernan would like to quickly add something about Mike Lindell being a cosplay governor.I think we need to understand that being in politics leads to governing and governing is boring. It is not a PR operation, she says. And I feel like we have made these jobs celebrity roles. Public service should not beis notbeing on a reality show.Like, I feel like we need to really dial down the razzle-dazzle, really play up the drudgery, Heffernan continues. I just don't know why every single industrialist and every single lady with abs or gorgeous arms would want to be, of all things, a governor.Biden, Heffernan opines, is doing a pretty good job at the drudgerydollars going out, jabs going out, all leading to Trump signs going down. Sure, the Donald has his cultists, like Lindell. But, I don't think people can hold onto this much insanity for this long, especially when it's a tiny minority of people who believe it, Heffernan adds. Democrats need to know how to win.To which Jong-Fast replies, oh-so-gently: Are you freakin kidding me? With all of these Republican attempts to retcon the Capitol riots? To chop away at the right to vote? To instantiate their ability to overturn elections? All while Team Biden snoozes it away? The Democrats are bringing an ice cream sundae to a knife fight, Jong-Fast says.Plus! Politicos Tara Palmeri talks about her search to find Liz Cheney supporters in Wyoming. And Battle for the Soul author Edward-Isaac Dovere gives us a peek into how Biden sees the political landscape. The presidency that he has in front of him now, he knows, is so different from what he ever expected to have, Dovere says, And part of that is rethinking how he incorporates the progressivism within the party that took root and that was so much part of this campaign. And its just, its a really complicated evolution for him. Its not the presidency he thought itd be running in 2019 when he got into this race.Read more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more. OSLO, Norway, March 2, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- 2020 was a good year for Adline despite the events of the world that affected so many businesses. The year brought solid growth from a 35 client strong base to exceeding the 100 mark with a string of international and Nordic brands such as KYGO, Rebel and Skoveng signing up for the Multi-channel self-service advertising platform. Cost efficiency and great results have aided client acquisitions across globally to now include SMBs in Dubai, US, Switzerland, UK, Austria, Sweden, Germany and the Netherlands. And the list is growing. Carl Wilhelm Vedvik, a strong and skilled leader and tech CEO at the mere age of 24 has taken the company from zero to hero after Adline experienced a difficult time a few years back. Reignited with a group of smaller shareholders and visionaries including Chairman of the board Dag Honningsvag, Jakob Greger Gravdal, founder Jo Hansael and tech investors Simula Innovation and Altitude Capital. A recruitment of a new Head of Sales, Oxford born Mike Damnjanovic and a ramped up marketing strategy has consequently doubled sales from Q3 to Q4 with month to month growth in sight for 2021, with intent of raising further capital in Q3 for increased expansion globally. Damnjanovic explains: "Adline is passionate about helping other great companies get customers. We have been doing this ourselves and we want to help others do the same. Going forwards in 2021, we have already passed over 64% of last year's turnover so our aim is to fill our calendars with other companies that are looking to grow their businesses." Why Adline? Time is precious and results vital for the modern marketer. Adline simplifies marketing by collating the most important advertising channels into one user-friendly platform. Advanced algorithms together with a carefully constructed criteria run alongside each other creating fantastic ROI. CEO Vedvik adds "Clients get the most out of their advertising budget with a streamlined set up". This gives Adline a competitive advantage and many SMEs are opting for Adline to stand up to the tech giants in the market. With the ongoing Apple iOS14 launch limiting data sharing with Facebook, targeted advertising is becoming more challenging for small- to medium-sized businesses. Adline's answer is a development of their CPA (Cost Per Acquisition) 2.0, a separate tracking code which will allow for their customers to take 100% ownership of their own data and increasingly better targeting as a consequence. The client is in control with the Adline platform. Adline Vision in 2021 CEO Carl Wilhelm Vedvik predicts that 2021 will be a strong year for Adline and he states "While the martech space is getting increasingly more complex, we simplify it. And it takes geniuses to make marketing technology simple. It's very hard. Our guiding mission is to constantly simplify how to get customers and enable growth for great businesses. Whether you're a small or a big company, and you have a great product, you deserve the chance to grow. Easily." For more information visit www.adline.com. Sign up for the future of digital advertising here:https://prod.adline.com/auth/sign-up Customer case studies can be found here: https://adline.com/customers/ ' LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/adlineai/%20 Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/adlineprofessional/%20 ai digitalmarketing advertising googleads attribution analytics optimization Contact: CEO Carl-Wilhelm Vedvik Email: carl@adline.com Mob: +47 989 97 911 This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com https://news.cision.com/adline-professional-as/r/adline-accelerates-client-acquisition-globally---oslo-based-saas-company-creates-another-nordic-succ,c3298157 The following files are available for download: 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. Israeli Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit said yesterday that any transfer of coronavirus vaccines to another country should be deliberated by the cabinet. In a letter to national security adviser Meir Ben-Shabbat, Mandelblit wrote that a first step for such a decision should be for the legal adviser of the Health Ministry to verify it corresponds to the contracts Israel signed with pharmaceutical companies, followed by consultations with the foreign minister, who should recommend which countries should receive vaccine donations, and with the finance minister, who should evaluate the budgetary aspects. Mandelblit stated, The treatment of the matter must be done with full legal oversight from beginning to end. Several politicians, including Defense Minister Benny Gantz, have demanded that the attorney general weigh in before any vaccines are donated to foreign countries, forcing the office of the prime minister to stop and ask for Mandeblit's input. The attorney general noted that he had not been asked for a legal opinion until some vaccine doses had already been given away and that he was not given significant details about the plan, including its objectives, the compensation that was given or promised, the official who conversed with the foreign countries and so on. On Feb. 23, Netanyahu said he was planning to give some COVID-19 vaccine doses to the Palestinian Authority and various other recipients. Netanyahu did not specify how many doses would be donated or to which countries but some 20 countries were reported to expect between 1,000 to 5,000 doses each. The list included Honduras, Guatemala, the Czech Republic, Chad, Cyprus, Mauritania, Hungary, the Maldives Islands, San Marino, Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, Congo, Morocco and Equatorial Guinea. Only Honduras apparently received shipments before the move was halted. Netanyahus opponents accused him of using the Moderna vaccine surplus without prior deliberations for his own political needs, to advance alliances he had forged with several world leaders. It is unclear whether Netanyahu will proceed with the donations. Still, Netanyahu's vaccine diplomatic blitz continues on other fronts. Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz and Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen are expected in Israel March 4 to see Israels rapid vaccine drive up close and discuss the possibility of a joint vaccine venture. Netanyahu had said not long ago he was pushing for the construction of a vaccine production plant in Israel. On Feb. 25, Netanyahu and Bahrain's Crown Prince Sheikh Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa discussed the possible involvement by the Gulf country in establishing a vaccine plant in Israel, according to a statement from Netanyahus office. Please enable cookies on your web browser in order to continue. The new European data protection law requires us to inform you of the following before you use our website: We use cookies and other technologies to customize your experience, perform analytics and deliver personalized advertising on our sites, apps and newsletters and across the Internet based on your interests. By clicking I agree below, you consent to the use by us and our third-party partners of cookies and data gathered from your use of our platforms. See our Privacy Policy and Third Party Partners to learn more about the use of data and your rights. You also agree to our Terms of Service. Please enable cookies on your web browser in order to continue. The new European data protection law requires us to inform you of the following before you use our website: We use cookies and other technologies to customize your experience, perform analytics and deliver personalized advertising on our sites, apps and newsletters and across the Internet based on your interests. By clicking I agree below, you consent to the use by us and our third-party partners of cookies and data gathered from your use of our platforms. See our Privacy Policy and Third Party Partners to learn more about the use of data and your rights. You also agree to our Terms of Service. Breaking a streak of five days without a COVID-19 fatality reported, Laredo and Webb County leaders reported 16 positives and 8 deaths due to the novel coronavirus in their daily update. The news came shortly before Governor Greg Abbott's announcement that Texas will soon do away with mandatory mask restrictions in place around the state. Texas businesses will also be allowed to reopen to 100% capacity starting next Wednesday, Abbott announced Tuesday afternoon. With the media briefing wrapping up before the Governor's press conference, Laredo leaders were unable to address the news. However, the city is expected to issue a statement later today, according to a city spokesman. However, the office of Laredo Health Authority Dr. Victor Trevino quickly issued a statement condemning the move. "The Governors decision to open up Texas and remove all mitigation is not only unfortunate, it is not based on the prevailing data and science set forth by the CDC and WHO," the statement reads. "Laredo as a border community has suffered significantly throughout this pandemic, and I fear that this decision is going to eliminate all the gains that we have achieved." In recent weeks, hospitalizations in Laredo have fallen to new low. Reportedly, 39 people are under treatment with COVID-19 in Laredo hospitals. That number is the lowest seen in the city since mid-June. Additionally, only 262 cases remain active. Since March, 42,757 have tested positive and 788 people have died. Of the eight deaths confirmed today, only one occurred this week. A man in his mid 50s died due to the virus on Sunday, February 28. The remaining deaths are backdated futher. Two deaths dating back to December, a woman in her 90s and a man in his 80s, and two deaths in January, of two man in their 80s and 70s, were included on Tuesday's report. Two men in their 90s and 60s and a woman in her 80s died in early February. In the daily briefing, which was held before the Governor's announcement, Webb County Judge announced that he would soon be drafting the order to open up bars throughout the county. The decision was made after the COVID-19 hospitalization rate for the Laredo hospital region showed a dramatic improvement in recent days. The Texas Department of State Health Services currently reports a rate of 7.83% based on data from February 28. The rate is the lowest seen since June of 2020. Laredo previously held the top rate in the state, nearly reaching 50% at the start of 2021. According to the Governor's previous order, county judges are allowed to make the decision as soon as a rate below 15% has been reported for a seven-day period. Monday marked the seventh day, allowing Tijerina to make the decision. The Governor's new order works in an opposite manner. All Texas businesses will be allowed to open at 100% capacity starting next Wednesday. Should the hospital region see a rate above 15% for a seven-day period, county judges are then allowed to impose stricter measures. However, they cannot impose face mask restrictions or jail people for violations. While the true effect of repealing the measure will not be known until the effects are seen weeks from now, the city continues its work against the COVID-19 pandemic. Due to the decreasing numbers of active cases and hospitalizations, the city continues to demobilize state assistance in the Laredo area, fire chief and emergency management coordinator Guilllermo Heard said. Over 400 medical professionals have been deployed to the city, a number which will see an increase in upcoming weeks. The city plans to demobilize the professionals in coming weeks, pledging to return about 10-15% of the workers in upcoming weeks. The infusion center and alternative care will also be re-evaluated in weeks to come, at which point a decision will be made on wether to continue devoting resources to their operation. As of noon Tuesday, 303,958 tests for the coronavirus have been submitted in the Laredo area. OTTAWA - A majority of Canadians believe Ottawa will follow through on its plan to provide enough COVID-19 vaccine doses for everyone who wants a shot by the fall, a new poll suggests. A man receives his COVID-19 vaccine at a clinic at Olympic Stadium marking the beginning of mass vaccination in the Province of Quebec based on age in Montreal, on Monday, March 1, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Paul Chiasson OTTAWA - A majority of Canadians believe Ottawa will follow through on its plan to provide enough COVID-19 vaccine doses for everyone who wants a shot by the fall, a new poll suggests. Fifty-six per cent of respondents are confident the federal government can buy enough vaccine to ensure inoculation for those who seek it by September, according to an online survey by Leger and the Association for Canadian Studies. Canadians on both coasts and in Quebec were optimistic about their provinces' rollout plans as well as that of the feds. Respondents in Ontario and the Prairies were more skeptical, with just one in three Albertans expressing faith in their government's delivery scheme. The poll also found that most residents are in no rush to lift anti-pandemic lockdowns, with two-thirds saying restrictions should remain at least until half the population is immunized. Leger executive vice-president Christian Bourque says the ramp-up in vaccine shipments last week likely brightened Canadians' views of federal distribution efforts. Only two weeks ago, 69 per cent of respondents blamed Ottawa rather than provincial governments for delays in vaccine delivery, Leger found. "Theres been a bit of a change over the past couple of weeks," Bourque said in an interview. "The news we got about the doses coming in from Pfizer and the new doses acquired from (Moderna) plus the fact that we approved AstraZeneca all of these elements together have actually had some positive influence on Canadians confidence that we will get vaccinated before the deadline that the federal government set for itself." Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has repeatedly promised to secure enough doses to immunize all willing Canadians by the end of September. The Public Health Agency of Canada is currently expecting delivery of about 445,000 doses of various vaccines this week, following last weeks record high of 640,000 doses in a seven-day period. It's unclear when the first doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine approved by the public-health agency on Friday will arrive in the country, but a senior government official told The Canadian Press on background the first doses could land as early as mid-week, boosting the total. Now, attention turns to the provinces as shipments start to pour in and provincial administration is put to the test. Despite the challenges of ongoing public health restrictions, the more prudent strain of Canada's national character is visible behind the responses to the Leger survey, Bourque suggested. "The majority of Canadians are extremely careful about what should happen and when, depending on the pace at which we vaccinate," he said, referring to lockdown lifts. "Basically, theres no rush." This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 2, 2021. Solicitor General Michael Ellis was promoted to Attorney General today, to become the first MP to officially cover a minister's maternity leave. The Northampton MP will step up to become the Government's top legal officer as incumbent Suella Braverman takes time off around the birth of her second child. The move was only made possible by a change in the law earlier this year after it emerged antiquated rules governing senior ministerial posts would have forced her to quit in order to spend any time with her child and family. A Downing Street statement said: 'The Prime Minister gives the Attorney General his very best wishes for her maternity leave and looks forward to welcoming her back in the autumn.' The Northampton MP will step up to become the Government's top legal officer as incumbent Suella Braverman takes time off ahead of the birth of her second child. Mr Ellis, the MP for Northampton North since 2010, is a former transport and culture minister who has been Solicitor General since Boris Johnson became Prime Minister in July 2019. Mrs Braverman, who had a son, George, in July 2019, announced in November that she was expecting a baby 'early next year'. She is believed to be the most senior woman at Cabinet level to have a child in office. But outdated Whitehall rules would have prevented her from taking maternity leave, prompting an outcry from women's rights campaigners. Provisions were already in place allowing junior ministers to take maternity leave without quitting their frontbench roles. But there was no such provision in place for secretary of states or government law officers. It led the Government to introduce and pass the Ministerial and other Maternity Allowances Act 2021 last month. Mr Ellis, the MP for Northampton North since 2010, is a former transport and culture minister who has been Solicitor General since Boris Johnson became Prime Minister in July 2019. His promotion sees Lucy Frazer move from Prisons Minister to fill his post, having done the job under Theresa May. Downing Street said both changes were temporary until Mrs Braverman returns. Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-02 23:19:56|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close BEIJING, March 2 (Xinhua) -- The following are the updates on the global fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. - - - - KUALA LUMPUR -- Malaysia has granted conditional approval for the use of the COVID-19 vaccine made by Chinese biopharmaceutical company Sinovac Biotech, the health ministry said on Tuesday. The approval of the conditional registration would allow the vaccines to be used during an emergency, Health Ministry Director-General Noor Hisham Abdullah said in a statement. - - - - MINSK -- Belarus reported 869 new COVID-19 cases on Tuesday, taking its total to 289,136, according to the country's health ministry. New recoveries registered in the past 24 hours reached 788, adding to the total of 279,450, the ministry added. - - - - DHAKA -- Bangladesh reported 515 new COVID-19 cases and seven more deaths on Tuesday, making the tally at 547,316 and death toll at 8,423, the Directorate General of Health Services said. The official data showed that 15,325 samples were tested in the last 24 hours across the country. - - - - MANILA -- The Philippine military will be among the first groups in the country to get inoculated with the newly arrived Sinovac vaccines donated by China. Lieutenant Gen. Jose Faustino, the commanding general of the Philippine Army, received the first dose of the Sinovac vaccine CoronaVac during a ceremonial vaccination at army headquarters on Tuesday. - - - - TBILISI -- Georgia on Tuesday reported 461 new COVID-19 cases, taking its total to 271,379, according to the country's National Center for Disease Control and Public Health (NCDC). The NCDC data showed that 163 more patients recovered in the past 24 hours, taking the total number of recoveries to 265,686. Meanwhile, 12 people died in the last 24 hours, raising the death toll to 3,532. - - - - HONG KONG -- China's Hong Kong's Center for Health Protection (CHP) reported 13 additional confirmed cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday, taking its total tally to 11,032. The new cases included seven local infections, of which four had unknown origins, and there were also more than 10 preliminary cases, according to the CHP. It was the third straight day for Hong Kong's untraceable local infections to remain at a single digit. Enditem COLUMBUS, OhioNew concealed-handgun licenses in Ohio jumped 78% in 2020 over the previous year, while renewed licenses reached their third-highest annual total ever, according to the state attorney generals office. The high number of new and renewed permits reflects how tumultuous of a year 2020 was, with a global pandemic, protests and riots, and a hard-fought presidential election, among other things. Last year, Ohio sheriffs issued 96,892 new conceal-carry licenses the most since 2016 and the third-most in the last decade, according to the report from Attorney General Dave Yosts office. Meanwhile, 72,340 Ohio gun owners renewed their licenses in 2020, the report stated. While that marked the second straight year renewed licenses have decreased in Ohio, 2018 and 2019 were the top two years for renewed concealed-firearms licenses since such permits were first issued in 2004. Dean Rieck, executive director of the Buckeye Firearms Association, said the reason so many Ohioans sought conceal-carry permits last year was because a number of things happened in 2020 that made people uneasy. The coronavirus crisis, which started last spring, freaked out a lot of people and made them think more about their security, Rieck said. On top of that, he said, many gun owners got riled up by riots, including arson, vandalism and looting, that took place over last summer. The 2020 presidential race, in which Democrat Joe Biden unseated Republican Donald Trump, also played a role, Rieck said. Every time theres an election year where a Democrat might get elected, theres always going to be a rise in gun sales, and therefore theres going to be a corresponding rise in concealed-handgun licenses, he said. Rieck said he wasnt surprised that the number of renewed licenses fell last year, as the pandemic led many Ohio sheriffs to cancel license appointments and limit hours of operation. In some extreme cases, people were saying they couldnt get in (to renew their license) for nine months, 10 months, (or) a year, Rieck said. The coronavirus relief bill passed by state lawmakers last spring automatically extended concealed-handgun licenses until December of 2020. The Ohio General Assembly also passed a different law temporarily allowing residents to apply for a conceal-carry license in any county in the state, rather than only their home county or an adjacent county as state law usually allows. In addition, a record 1,777 conceal-carry license applications were denied in Ohio last year, according to the report. However, the number of license suspensions and revocations in 2020 each dropped to their lowest level in years, the report stated. Conceal-carry license suspensions fell from 1,956 in 2019 to 1,618 in 2020; revocations dropped from 939 in 2019 to 429 in 2020. Last summer, Yosts office found that 42 Ohioans had concealed handgun permits despite being declared mentally incompetent to have such a permit. In response, Yost and other state officials created an automated process to notify county sheriffs when someone has a conceal-carry permit who should not have one. Representative Image New Delhi [India], March 2 (ANI): Amid reports indicating the growing closeness between Turkey and Pakistan, Greek analysts have called for an Indo-Greek alliance, such that India and Greece formulate a new doctrine of cooperation that could counter the Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's dreams, reported Saudi Gazette. Speaking at a webinar titled "Indo-Greek Cooperation: Countering the Turkey-Pakistan Nexus" organised by Red Lantern Analytica, Andreas Mountzouroulias, editor-in-chief, Pentapostagma, Greece, called for an Indo-Greek alliance in the wake of Turkey supplying nuclear missile technology to Pakistan. He argued that to counter this alliance, India and Greece should consider joint production of weapons. In addition, Jonathan Spyer of Jerusalem Post also explained why the alliance between Pakistan and Turkey is coming into being in a rapidly shifting strategic landscape. The old post-Cold War US-led security architecture, and the assumptions that surrounded it can no longer be relied upon, reported Saudi Gazette. Turkey's ambitious President Erdogan is forging a strategic alliance with Pakistan in order to realise many of his aims. Also, in the major events of the region over the last decade -- the Syrian civil war, and the competition over gas resources in the Eastern Mediterranean -- the US has been notably absent as it recalibrates its priorities and modes of engagement. As a result of this absence, new connections and new power nexuses are emerging. From this point of view, the coming together of two states seeking major revisions of the current power balance in their respective neighborhoods, in their favor, makes logical sense. Both Turkey and Pakistan had indicated the ties would develop in every sphere with Erdogan, stressing during the last visit for the High-Level Strategic Cooperation Council (HLSCC) meeting, that Turkey will extend all help in Pakistan's socio-economic development, according to Pakistan's leading newspaper Dawn in a February 2020 report. Story continues Dawn reported that Erdogan had said: "Turkey is ready to provide all support in transport, energy, tourism, healthcare, education, and law enforcement, which will help in the socio-economic development of Pakistan." The paper also quoted Erdogan as saying that defence cooperation was the "most dynamic element" of bilateral cooperation. The two are bringing about new dynamics in their respective area of influence. They have already shown interest in arms purchasing while also holding joint drills. A recent joint military exercise dubbed "Ataturk XI-2021," involving Turkish and Pakistani Special Forces was held in Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, which borders Afghanistan. It is the latest manifestation of an emergent strategic alliance of these two countries, said the Jerusalem Post report. Moreover, Pakistan is in the process of purchasing four Turkish-built MILGEM corvette ships from the Turkish state-owned defense contractor ASFAT. It has also placed an order for 30 T-129 ATAK helicopters. The total cost of orders placed by Pakistan for the purchase of Turkish weapons systems is now in excess of USD 3 billion. Meanwhile, the growing closeness was also reflected in the diplomatic sphere. Pakistani senior officials have expressed support for Turkey in its disputes over gas exploration in the Eastern Mediterranean. A series of joint naval exercises in the Mediterranean, involving the navies of both countries and including violations of Cypriot and Greek territorial waters and airspace, took place over the last year. Similar joint exercises have also been held in the Indian Ocean, reported Saudi Gazette. Turkey, in turn, in development causing concern in New Delhi, has begun to support Pakistani claims in Kashmir. Erdogan said in February 2020 that the issue was as important to Turkey as it is to Pakistan. Referencing the events of the Turkish War of Independence, Erdogan said, "And now, we feel the same about Kashmir today. It was Canakkale yesterday and Kashmir today; there is no difference between the two." Turkey raised the issue of Kashmir at the UN General Assembly in September 2019, shifting from a policy of non-interference on an issue that India regards as an internal matter. The partnership between Ankara and Islamabad is also raising concerns in the nuclear realm. Turkey's plan to rope in Pakistan in the suspected development of atomic weapons shows aggressive intent as Ankara is already protected by a nuclear umbrella on account of its membership of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). Suspicion about Pakistan's covert support for Turkish nukes has been aroused by a recent meeting of the Turkey-Pakistan High-Level Military Dialogue Group (HLMDG). The assemblage took place on December 22-23, reported Saudi Gazette. There were other indications that the delegation held discussions about nuclear delivery systems. The visitors from Islamabad met top Turkish Army generals and bureaucrats dealing with missile production and aerial know-how. The report also indicated that transfer of nuclear missile technology to Turkey could have far-reaching ramifications for regional stability and security. Erdogan, with these provocative moves, hopes to emerge as a pre-eminent leader in the region. Turkey is banking on Pakistan to make it go nuclear. Both Turkey and Pakistan have a large standing army, with considerable air and naval assets. Furthermore, Turkey has been supporting terror groups in various parts of the Middle East. Hamas operates its cyber-warfare from Turkey, which also supports the Muslim Brotherhood. The Brotherhood has been a key ally of Turkey in Syria, Libya and other Middle Eastern hotspots, reported Saudi Gazette. Both the countries have been leading smear campaigns against Europe for being anti-Islamic. Erdogan has been in the forefront of leveling personal charges against French President Emmanuel Macron. Similarly, when the UAE decided to establish diplomatic relationship with Israel, Turkey campaigned against the UAE and its allies, while Pakistan did not take a clear stand. Pakistan's participation in the Armenia-Azerbaijan clash, despite reservations at home, is a clear sign of its alliance with Turkey is growing stronger. And, Turkey has been quick to please its strategic partner by supporting it at the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) meeting and on the Kashmir issue. The closeness between Ankara and Islamabad will add new dimension to the complicated geopolitical global chessboard with each region already having their unique problems, threatening peace and stability. This will create new regional problems that could develop into a new global issue. (ANI) Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup. Report from highly regarded research firm includes Voxco as a VoC specialist focused on healthcare, financial services, and retail sectors NEW YORK, March 2, 2021 /PRNewswire/ - Voxco, a global leader in cloud and on-premise omnichannel survey software, announced today that it has been recognized in the Now Tech: Voice-of-the-Customer (VoC) Vendors, Q1 2021 report published by leading independent research firm Forrester Research, Inc. Forrester based its analysis of the VoC market on vendor presence and functionality. Customer experience (CX) professionals can use the report to better understand the value they can expect from VoC providers. Among the report's takeaways: VoC tools help manage the complex challenges of a CX program by supporting six key competencies: research, prioritization, design, measurement, enablement, and culture. There are numerous vendors in the VoC space, and their size runs the gamut from small to enterprise-scale. There is no one-size-fits-all when it comes to VoC vendors. CX pros must work with key stakeholders to select the vendor(s) that best meet their organizational needs. With operations in North America, Europe, and Australia, Voxco serves some of the largest corporate, social, and market research organizations in the world. Voxco's omnichannel survey software is used to track and optimize the customer journey. "VoC is becoming increasingly important to organizations as they seek to differentiate themselves and build brand loyalty through the customer experience," said Jonathan Levitt, chief marketing officer at Voxco. "Forrester is a top resource for organizations looking to evaluate vendors prior to purchase, and we believe our inclusion in its report speaks to our credibility and platform functionality for building a successful VoC program." Voxco is coming off a strong 2020 that included expanding its client base and subscription revenue by more than 25 percent, expanding its employee base by 30 percent, and receiving a new round of capital from Pivoton Capital Canadian and U.S. private investors. Customers that signed with Voxco in 2020 include California State University at Sacramento, CHU Sainte-Justine Hospital, Columbia University School, Decathlon, Environnement Quebec, Mayo Clinic, New York University Abu Dhabi, Sephora, Societe de transport de Montreal, and others. About Voxco Voxco is a global leader in omnichannel cloud and on-premise enterprise feedback management solutions. The company provides global corporations, market research organizations, government & government agencies, and universities with a platform to collect data anytime and anywhere via online and mobile surveys, over-the-phone interviews, or face-to-face offline surveys. Founded over 45 years ago and with offices around the world, Voxco services more than 450 clients in over 40 countries through its Research Cloud. Learn more at Voxco.com or follow Voxco on LinkedIn or Twitter @Voxco. Media Contact: Kathy Berardi Carabiner Communications [email protected] 678.644.4122 SOURCE VOXCO Related Links http://www.voxco.com/ Speakers: Wang Zhigang, minister of science and technology Xu Jing, director-general of the Department of Strategy and Planning of the Ministry of Science and Technology Xie Xin, director-general of the Department of Resource Allocation and Management of the Ministry of Science and Technology Ye Yujiang, director-general of the Department of Basic Research of the Ministry of Science and Technology Wu Yuanbin, director-general of the Department of Science and Technology for Social Development of the Ministry of Science and Technology Chairperson: Chen Wenjun, head of the Press Bureau of the State Council Information Office (SCIO) and spokesperson of the SCIO Date: Feb. 26, 2021 Chen Wenjun: Ladies and gentlemen, good afternoon. Welcome to the State Council Information Office (SCIO) press conference. Innovation is the primary driving force behind high-quality development and the strategic underpinning for the fostering of a new development paradigm. Today, we have invited Mr. Wang Zhigang, minister of science and technology, to brief you on issues around making China a country of innovators and supporting the fostering of a new development paradigm, and to answer some of your questions. We also have with us four directors-generals at the Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST): Xu Jing, director-general of the Department of Strategy and Planning; Xie Xin, director-general of the Department of Resource Allocation and Management; Ye Yujiang, director-general of the Department of Basic Research; and Wu Yuanbin, director-general of the Department of Science and Technology for Social Development. Next, I will give the floor to Mr. Wang. Wang Zhigang: Ladies and gentlemen, friends from the media, good afternoon. First, I would like to thank our friends from the media for your interest in and great support of the science and technology sector. I am glad to meet with you before the annual meetings of the National People's Congress (NPC) and the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) to exchange information on building China into a country of innovators. At the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) in 2017, Xi Jinping, general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, clearly proposed making China a country of innovators. This is a requisite for building a modern country and a major task for implementing the new development concept and fostering a new development paradigm. During the fifth plenary session of the 19th CPC Central Committee, it was proposed that we should adhere to the core position of innovation in China's overall modernization drive, and taking self-reliance in science and technology as the strategic support for national development. This provides important guidelines for making China a country of innovators in the new era. During the 13th Five-Year Plan period (2016-2020), China made decisive achievements in building an innovation-driven country. Scientific and technological strength increased to a new level, reform of the science and technology system and governance were deepened, an enabling system for innovation was further developed, and the environment for innovation was improved. This provided strong support for economic development, improvements in people's livelihoods, and national security. Science and technology are playing an increasingly important role in implementing the new development concept and fostering a new development paradigm. It can be highlighted in the following six aspects. First, we have systematically promoted basic research and achieved breakthroughs in core technologies in key areas. China's science and technology innovation capacity have increased significantly. For the first time, investment in basic research accounted for more than 6% of spending on research and development (R&D), including setting up 13 national applied mathematics centers. Original innovations have been developed in quantum information, iron-based superconductivity, stem cells, amid other areas. Progress has also been made in the R&D of high-speed railways, key components and basic software. Breakthroughs have been made in major scientific projects such as the Chang'e-5 (lunar probe) and Fendouzhe (deep-sea manned submersible). The development of national laboratories has been accelerated. The system of key national laboratories has been restructured. A group of national technological innovation centers were established, with enterprises as the main players. Second, we have promoted the application of scientific and technological achievements in the development of the economy and society in an all-round manner, so as to foster "new growth drivers" for high-quality development. Remarkable development has taken place in key industries, led by major projects. Significant achievements have been made in mobile communications, new drug development and nuclear power. Technological support has been provided for major projects such as the large-scale application of 5G and the building of Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge. The Beidou navigation satellite network now provides global coverage. The application of new energy vehicles and artificial intelligence has been accelerated. The number of high-tech enterprises has exceeded 200,000. International science and technology innovation centers in Beijing, Shanghai and the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, 21 national innovation demonstration zones, and 169 national new- and high-tech development zones have helped speed up the formation of new areas of growth, growth belts and growth poles. Science and technology have supported the defining victory in the battle against poverty. Technicians have been sent to all registered poverty-stricken villages to offer technological assistance and promote business start-ups as a means to create more jobs. In 2020, around 167,000 college graduates were employed as research assistants. Third, we have increased the pool of qualified scientific and technological personnel. Talent development has been accelerated. The full-time equivalent of R&D personnel in China reached 4.8 million man-years. The national science and technology programs and key laboratories have bolstered support for young talented personnel. The number of scientific and technological leaders is increasing. A group of outstanding scientists have won important international awards such as the Fritz London Memorial Prize. A unified work permit and visa system for foreign talent has been adopted, and has handled nearly 650,000 work permits. Fourth, we have deepened reforms of the science and technology system in key areas and formed a "new ecology" for innovation and entrepreneurship. The reform targets have been preliminarily achieved in the management of science and technology programs, the application of scientific and technological achievements, and the sharing of resources. We have adopted an open competition mechanism in the first batch of pilot projects to select the best candidates. A science and technology innovation board was launched at stock market to provide a channel for connecting technology, industry and finance. Efforts have been made to reduce the burden on scientific research personnel and change the current academic evaluation system in key areas that is over-reliant on published papers, academic titles, educational background and awards. We have implemented a series of documents on promoting integrity and ethics in scientific research, which has brought about positive changes. WASHINGTON Information on the cause of Saturday evenings deadly barn fire, as well as the identity of the person killed, remain unknown Monday as officials continued investigating the devastating blaze. Firefighters responded to the fire at 7 Blackville Road around 6:15 p.m. and found a fully involved barn, which had been converted into a living space, on the nearly 9-acre property. Fire Marshal Thomas Osborne said the fire was called in by a Washington firefighter who was returning from a call to the firehouse blaze in Roxbury. We were on our way (to Roxbury) and they called us off, Osborne said. Everybody was leaving when this call came in, so it didnt take long to get to this fire. Shortly after arriving at the scene of the Blackville Road fire, firefighters determined someone might be trapped inside the barn, according to dispatch reports. With help from New Milford and Bantam, firefighters managed to stop the fire from spreading. They also discovered a body inside the barn. The body was taken to the state medical examiner for a positive identification, said Osborne, who did not have information on the individuals identity Monday. He said hes still waiting to hear back from the medical examiners office. State police said there is no connection between the Washington barn fire and a string of arson fires, including at the Roxbury firehouse, that led to a Torrington mans arrest Saturday night. Osborne said there have been no indications of wrongdoing found during his investigation into the Blackville Road fire. Przepraszamy! Ogoszenie na stanowisku: Assistant / Service Operations Officer in Static Data Team wygaso z dniem 2021-03-12 Ta propozycja bya zozona przez Nordea Bank Abp SA Oddzia w Polsce Mozliwe przyczyny wygasniecia ogoszenia to: propozycja zozona przez pracodawce zostaa usunieta z serwisu praca.egospodarka.pl rekruter zakonczy proces rekrutacji uzyskujac odpowiednia ilosc pracownikow ogoszeniodawca zmodyfikowa tresc ogoszenia i jest ono dostepne pod innym adresem WWW dostawca tresci usuna ogoszenie z bazy danych zy adres WWW ogoszenia Jezeli poszukujesz pracy w branzy Administracja biurowa, zajrzyj tutaj: Praca Administracja biurowa Jezeli poszukujesz pracy na stanowisku Assistant / Service Operations Officer in Static Data Team, zajrzyj tutaj: Praca Assistant / Service Operations Officer in Static Data Team Jezeli poszukujesz pracy w miescie: odz, zajrzyj tutaj: Praca odz Pamietaj, ze mozesz takze rozpoczac poszukiwanie pracy od strony gownej, kliknij tutaj. Inne ogoszenia, ktore mogy byc w kregu Twoich zainteresowan: NAPLES, MAR 2 - The owners of an apartment near Caserta refused to rent it out to a gay man, Green Europe regional councillor Francesco Emilio Borrelli reported Tuesday. Raffaele, 30, was refused the flat at Marcianese after the owners saw that he was gay, Borrelli said. "It is a sign of the cultural backwardness that the area still exhibits," he told a local broadcaster. (ANSA). Dallas rhinoplasty surgeon, Dr. Rod J. Rohrich "The meeting is significant in that many renowned rhinoplasty surgeons gather together and discussion focuses on what works to provide the best, optimal, long term results," -Dr. Rod J. Rohrich Dallas rhinoplasty specialist and Meeting Chair, Dr. Rod J. Rohrich, is pleased to announce the upcoming 2021 Dallas Rhinoplasty Meeting, to be held March 13th. Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic requiring global travel restrictions and for the safety of all participants, the meeting venue has changed to an all-day, virtual event. The annual Dallas Cosmetic Surgery and Medicine Meeting, taking place the following day on March 14th, will also be virtual. Both meeting will host attendees from around the world. Over its 38 year history, the Dallas Rhinoplasty Meeting has become a key international event for surgeons worldwide as a unique educational venue for sharing the latest techniques and advancements in preservation vs. precision rhinoplasty. The meeting has brought about crucial shifts in the field. The meeting also inspired the textbook "Dallas Rhinoplasty: Nasal Surgery by the Masters," now it is 3rd edition edited by Drs. Rohrich, Adams, and Ahmad and is used as the rhinoplasty textbook in plastic surgery educational programs internationally as well as Secondary Rhinoplasty by the Global Masters, also edited by Dr. Rohrich. The Dallas Rhinoplasty Meeting covers a wide range of topics from the fundamentals of nasal anatomy to complex surgical procedures and detailed analysis of revision rhinoplasty. Formats include lectures, discussion panels, video review, and Q&A sessions. "The meeting is significant in that many renowned rhinoplasty surgeons gather together and discussion focuses on what works to provide the best, optimal, long term results," says Dr. Rohrich. Topics to be covered in this year's meeting include preservation rhinoplasty, tip and alar base anatomy and refinements, cartilage conversion techniques, prevention and management of rhinoplasty complications, advances in cleft rhinoplasty, and non-surgical rhinoplasty, among many others. In the newly virtual format, live panels with the faculty will occur after each module, and lectures will be available to participants after the meeting. "Rhinoplasty truly epitomizes plastic surgery as a whole because it is a surgery of such great finesse and takes years to master." says Dr. Rohrich. "It is one of the most difficult procedures in all of plastic surgery, but also one of the most rewarding." About Rod J. Rohrich, M.D., F.A.C.S. Dr. Rod J. Rohrich is a board certified plastic surgeon in Dallas, Texas. He is considered one of the most influential surgeons in this century. Dr. Rohrich is a Clinical Professor of Plastic Surgery at Baylor College of Medicine. He was the Founding Chair of the Department of Plastic Surgery as well as the first plastic surgeon selected as a Distinguished Teaching Professor at UT Southwestern Medical Center. He graduated from Baylor College of Medicine with high honors, and completed his plastic surgery training at the University of Michigan Medical Center and fellowships at Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard (hand/microsurgery) and Oxford University (pediatric plastic surgery). He is Chair of the Dallas Rhinoplasty Meeting, Founding Chair of the Dallas Cosmetic Surgery and Medicine Meeting, Founding Member of the Alliance in Reconstructive Surgery, and a Founding Partner of the Dallas Plastic Surgery Institute. He is the Editor-in-Chief of the most respected global peer reviewed plastic surgery journal the Journal of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery. He is Founding Editor-in-Chief/Editor Emeritus of the first open access peer reviewed plastic surgery journal, PRS Global Open. Dr. Rohrich has published nearly 1000 peer reviewed articles and seven textbooks in plastic surgery including a recent best-selling medical book entitled The Facial Danger Zones. Dr. Rohrich also served as president of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS), the largest organization of board certified plastic surgeons in the world. He repeatedly has been selected by his peers as one of America's best doctors. He received the ASPS Special Achievement Award and on three occasions has received one of his profession's highest honors, the Plastic Surgery Foundation (PSF) Distinguished Service Award, which recognizes his contributions to education in plastic surgery. In addition, he has also been recognized by the PSF with the Plastic Surgery Foundation Distinguished Career Researcher Award for his contributions to plastic surgery research and innovations. HALIFAX, NS / ACCESSWIRE / March 2, 2021 / Metamaterial Inc. (the "Company" or "META") (CSE:MMAT) a developer of high-performance functional materials and nanocomposites, today announced that Scott Richards has joined the Company as Chief Marketing Officer (CMO). Mr. Richards is a growth-focused leader with 20 years of C-suite business and marketing experience. META also appointed Rob Stone as Vice President, Corporate Development and Communications. Mr. Stone brings 26 years of experience as a sell-side analyst covering a broad range of emerging growth sectors, including clean technology, advanced displays, and additive manufacturing. Additionally, META appointed Norbert Munzel as Country Managing Director, Switzerland. Mr. Munzel has over 30 years of experience in specialty materials for electronics, displays, and optical applications, including 25 years in C-level positions. The additions of Richards, Stone, and Munzel, which follow the appointments in December of Jonathan Waldern as the Company's new Chief Technology Officer and Ken Rice as the new Chief Financial Officer, will help to foster continued product innovation, global growth, and expansion. "META is well positioned to have a significant business impact on our customers and partners by helping them create and deliver the best possible nanocomposite solutions in a wide range of applications," said George Palikaras, President and CEO of META. "All key stakeholders will benefit from the collective experience, energy, and vision these three leaders bring to the table. We are thrilled to welcome them to the META team as we continue to drive innovation and build lasting relationships, creating a strong, stable platform for brand growth." From 1998 to 2009, Mr. Richards was President and COO of Venture Communications, a full service, strategy-led marketing services firm, providing business planning, marketing, public relations, design, and media solutions for regional and national brands. Since 2009 his engagements have included operating roles as, CEO, CMO, and COO in Canada, the Caribbean, the United Arab Emirates, and the United States. Mr. Richards joins META from Periwinkle Consulting Ltd., a company he founded in 2009. Mr. Richards holds a Bachelor of Commerce, from Saint Mary's University, and is a 2007 graduate of the Advanced Management Program at Harvard Business School. "I have known META management and been a supporter since the Company's inception. I am incredibly pleased to join the mission of creating products the world will love," said Mr. Richards. From 1992 to 2018, Mr. Stone was an analyst with Cowen and Company, where he served as a technology generalist and developed particular expertise in identifying and positioning unique or category creating companies. He holds a Master of International Management (MIM) from the Thunderbird School of Global Management and a BA in German from the University of Colorado Boulder. Mr. Stone is focused on assisting META with analytics in support of the Company's growth strategy and communicating the value of its broad technology platform to investors, customers, partners, and other stakeholders. Mr. Munzel is the founder of Lakeside Technology, a Swiss company focused on business support of technology start-ups. He served as CEO and Board Member of Interglass Technology AG (2017-2020) and as CEO of Rolic Technologies Ltd. (2006-2017). Previously, he held various CTO, GM, and R&D positions with units of Huntsman Chemical, Vantico, and Ciba Geigy. Mr. Munzel holds a Ph.D. in Physical Chemistry from Philips University Marburg and a Diploma in Chemistry. He will support META's business strategy in Switzerland and other EU geographies including the integration of Interglass assets and IP into the metaFUSION smart eyewear business. About Metamaterial Inc. META is changing the way we use, interact with, and benefit from light and other forms of energy. META designs and manufactures advanced materials and performance functional films which are engineered at the nanoscale to control light and other forms of energy. META is an award winning Global Cleantech 100 company with products that support sustainability by doing more with less; they encompass lightweight, sustainable raw materials and processes which consume less energy and offer more performance. META has a growing patent portfolio and is currently developing new materials with diverse applications in concert with companies in the automotive, aerospace, energy, consumer electronics and medical industries. META is headquartered in Halifax, Nova Scotia and has R&D and Sales offices in London, UK and Silicon Valley. For additional information on META, please visit www.metamaterial.com Media inquiries: media@metamaterial.com Investor inquiries: Mark Komonoski 1-877-255-8483 mark@metamaterial.com Forward Looking Information This release includes forward-looking information within the meaning of Canadian securities laws regarding the Company and its business, which may include, but are not limited to, statements with respect to the business strategies and operational activities of the Company. Often but not always, forward-looking information can be identified by the use of words such as "expect", "intends", "anticipated", "believes" or variations (including negative variations) of such words and phrases, or state that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would" or "will" be taken, occur or be achieved. Such statements are based on the current expectations and views of future events of the management of the Company and are based on assumptions and subject to risks and uncertainties. Although the management of the Company believes that the assumptions underlying these statements are reasonable, they may prove to be incorrect. The forward-looking events and circumstances discussed in this release may not occur and could differ materially as a result of known and unknown risk factors and uncertainties affecting the companies, including risks regarding the ability of the Company to effect its business strategies. Although the Company 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 to differ from those anticipated, estimated or intended. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements or information. No forward-looking statement can be guaranteed. Except as required by applicable securities laws, forward-looking statements speak only as of the date on which they are made and the Company does not undertake any obligation to publicly update or revise any forward looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise. The CSE has neither approved nor disapproved the contents of this news release. SOURCE: Metamaterial Inc. View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/632850/Metamaterial-Adds-Three-Senior-Executives-in-Key-Functions-to-Support-Continued-Global-Business-Expansion CLEVELAND, Ohio Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority board President Dennis Clough stepped down from his trustee position on Tuesday and the board later this month is expected vote on his replacement. The Westlake mayor has been on the board for 22 years and served as the bodys president for two-and-a-half years, replacing the disgraced longtime president, George Dixon III. Meanwhile, current board Vice President Rev. Charles P. Lucas, pastor emeritus of St. James AME Church, was advanced by trustees Tuesday as nominee to replace Clough as president. He has been on the board since 2016, and was the only member who expressed interest in the president position, trustee Leo Serrano said during a Tuesday meeting. Karen Moss, an immigration attorney and trustee since 2011, was the only one who expressed interest in the vice president position and likewise advanced as a nominee, Serrano said. The board is expected to cast formal votes on the nominations March 23. Clough was selected to succeed Dixon in June 2018. Dixon served in that role for 24 years, but resigned at the boards request amid a criminal probe into his failure to pay six-figures in insurance premiums. Dixon pleaded guilty in late 2019 to felony theft-in-office and later agreed to pay RTA $132,000 to cover the premiums he failed to pay for eight years. Clough, whose three-year term expired this month, was appointed to the board by the Cuyahoga County Mayors and City Managers Association, which has already selected Bay Village Mayor Paul Koomar as a replacement. He will be sworn in as a trustee on March 23. The association is responsible for appointing three members to the 10-member board. Four trustees are appointed by the Cleveland mayor (including Lucas) and three are appointed by the county executive (including Moss). BROWNSVILLE, Texas Miriam Izaguirre, a 35-year-old asylum-seeker from Honduras, crossed the Rio Grande at dawn Monday with her young son and turned herself in to the authorities. A few hours later she was released, and the first thing she did was take a rapid test for Covid-19 at the Brownsville bus station. They told her her test came out positive. "Right now we were tested for Covid and they separated about eight of us because we were positive," she told Noticias Telemundo Investiga. "We are waiting right now." She was waiting to catch a bus to Houston. Other migrant families who also said they had tested positive were waiting to go to other destinations: North Carolina, Maryland and New Jersey. The city of Brownsville administers these rapid tests at the bus station, after migrant families are released by the Border Patrol. A spokesperson for Brownsville confirmed that, since they began doing these tests Jan. 25, 108 migrants have tested positive for Covid-19, which is 6.3 percent of those who took the test. Image: Covid immigrants (Damia Bonmati / Telemundo Investiga News) In response to Noticias Telemundo Investiga, a spokesperson for the city said in an email that Brownsville does not have the authority to retain these migrants who plan to travel to dozens of cities throughout the country. The city assured that municipal workers recommend to those who test positive to keep quarantine as indicated by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The city employees suggest to families they go to nongovernment organizations (NGOs) and nonprofits in the the border area who can take them in and isolate them in order to keep quarantine. "The City of Brownsville continues to follow all guidelines provided by the CDC and DSHS for Covid-19. The migrants who test positive at the B-Metro facility are advised of quarantine procedures and are asked to socially distance," Felipe Romero, Brownsville's communications and marketing director, said in an emailed statement. DSHS refers to the state's Department of State Health Services. Story continues "There are several NGOs providing resources to a positive case," the email states. "For example, organizations help with quarantine either in a shelter or at hotel. Since the City started testing the migrants on January 25, there has been 6.3% of positive cases. The Cameron County positivity rate is 13.8%." Several of the asylum-seekers who tested positive told Noticias Telemundo Investiga they were planning to leave Brownsville for their destinations; one of them bought a bus ticket for the journey. Eva Orellana, 29, who is from Honduras and who tested positive, said she was going to take the bus to North Carolina with her 3-year-old daughter. "On the way, we were wearing a mask all the time, gel, washing our hands," she said. "Really, I don't feel anything." Those who tested positive and spoke to Telemundo did not have any document indicating their Covid-19 test results; they said they were simply told by the station workers after taking the test. They said the station workers told them to wait in a different waiting area than the rest of the migrant families, but they still had freedom to move, a few meters from the rest. Noticias Telemundo Investiga asked Customs and Border Patrol about the release of migrant families and Covid-19 testing. A spokesperson said in an email that CBP personnel conduct initial inspections for symptoms or risk factors associated with Covid-19 and consult as appropriate with onsite medical personnel, the CDC or local health systems. Suspected Covid-19 cases "are referred to local health systems for appropriate testing, diagnosis, and treatment," according to CBP. Image: Covid immigrants (Damia Bonmati / Telemundo Investiga News) At the station, Martin Fernandez, an Omnibus Express worker, said that the bus company where he works respects the protocols of federal authorities: passengers must wear masks on board the vehicle and use hand sanitizer gel. But they cannot, he clarified, ask passengers for Covid-19 tests before getting on buses. For years, bus stations have been at the the epicenter of the arrival of migrants to the border. Different administrations have released tens of thousands of immigrant families in these buildings and, from there, they buy tickets to reach the residences of their relatives in the United States. They are long routes, sometimes lasting days, crossing the country from station to station. Migrants are usually released with a permit called "parole" or under supervision with an ankle monitor. Once they are at their new destinations, they continue their asylum processes to try to stay in the United States. The last few weeks has seen an increase in the number of families who have been allowed to enter the U.S. and continue their quest for asylum, as Noticias Telemundo Investiga has verified. An earlier version of this story was originally published in Noticias Telemundo. Follow NBC Latino on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. The countrys largest trade union body has launched a last-minute attempt to block KKRs bid for Commonwealth Bank of Australias superannuation business, warning the US private equity firms aggressive track record for cost cutting will hurt members. CBA announced last May it had reached a deal to sell 55 per cent of its super fund, Colonial First State (CFS), to KKR for $1.7 billion giving it controlling ownership, as part of a strategy to focus on core banking services. CFS had more than 770,000 members totalling $144 billion in assets under management, representing around 4.7 per cent of Australias total superannuation assets. ACTU assistant secretary Scott Connolly has issued a last-ditch effort to block KKRs takeover of Colonial First State. Credit: Supplied The Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) has written a letter to Treasurer Josh Frydenberg claiming the deal portends a dark future for Australias superannuation system and calling for intervention. With the growing global interest in making available tariff-related information via web-based tools, the Liberia Revenue Authority (LRA) decided to embark on a project to implement an electronic tariff platform in the country. On 24 February 2020, a kick-off meeting to launch the project was held in Monrovia, Liberia, with the virtual attendance by representatives of the WCO, the ECOWAS Secretariat and technical experts specialized in the development of online platforms. The project is implemented in the framework of the EU-WCO HS-Africa Programme, funded by the European Union. The main objective of the project is to develop an electronic platform where all information related to applied rates of duties and taxes imposed in connection with trade transactions will be available in an easily accessible manner. This effort will contribute not only to the implementation of the HS, but will also support the ongoing work undertaken in Liberia to meet the WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement standards. The ECOWAS Secretariat representative Mr. Felix Kwame Kwakye expressed his great satisfaction with regard to the launch of the project, highlighting its importance for the ECOWAS region as an example of digital transformation of Customs work. He emphasized that the interactive nature of the electronic platform, its comprehensive coverage and its integration with the existing IT systems used by the LRA would make information available to all interested parties in a convenient and user-friendly format. A multi-disciplinary team has been assigned at the LRA to coordinate this project and will ensure close collaboration with the WCO and the ECOWAS. The new electronic platform is expected to go live in summer 2021. The EU-WCO HS-Africa Programme reiterated its pledge to support the LRA throughout the entire process of implementation of this important endeavor. For more details, please contact capacity.building@wcoomd.org. Police in Ireland confirmed officers were called to the Dublin Zoo to help zookeepers recapture a macaque monkey that escaped from its enclosure. ADVERTISEMENT The Garda Siochana, the Irish national police service, said officers were summoned to the Dublin Zoo when a Sulawesi crested macaque was found wandering outside of its habitat. The zoo said the macaque was only loose for a short time before officials were able to safely return it to the enclosure. The monkey escaped about 5:30 a.m. Friday and never left zoo grounds before being recaptured, officials said. The Dublin Zoo made headlines in January 2018, when it was revealed that three juvenile Sulawesi crested macaques had temporarily escaped their enclosure the previous October after a severe storm damaged the roof of the habitat. By Ashley Junkunc '21 The Ohio Arts Council honored two University of Dayton College of Arts and Sciences faculty Individual Excellence Awards for their respective creative work in filmmaking and graphic design. Jesseca Ynez Simmons, assistant professor of communication, and Misty Thomas-Trout 11, assistant professor of art and design, received the awards and $4,000 grants to develop their skills and advance their careers. The council awarded grants to 75 artists from across the state in art sectors that include crafts, interdisciplinary, media arts, design arts, 2D and 3D visual art and photography last year. Simmons submitted two documentaries for the award that symbolized her love of docu-fantasy an original, self-created genre that combines aspects of documentaries and experimentation. One of these films, Emerald Ice, explores the mind of American poet, Diane Wakoski. Thomas-Trouts winning design arts submission was called Atlas of Dayton: A City in Progress, a collection of maps, posters and visual representations of opportunity, equity and resource access issues in Montgomery County. This project represents her passion for graphic design the ability to shape information visually with a social justice agenda intended to reach broad communities. Watching the panel review my application was the greatest feeling, Thomas-Trout said. The way they spoke about my work brought me to tears ... I had my heart in that project. When I heard those words of affirmation from those highly recognized designers, I started crying. That was more valuable than receiving the message that I had won. The Ohio Arts Council (OAC), a state agency, works to fund and support quality art experiences to culturally, educationally and economically strengthen Ohio communities. Through funds from the Ohio legislature and the National Endowment for the Arts, the council is able to provide grant funding programs and services to help grow arts in Ohio. Individual Excellence Awards represent investment in imagination, artistry and talent by giving artists the resources to innovate, explore their art forms, develop skills and advance their careers, said Donna S. Collins, Ohio Arts Council executive director. These awards honor the outstanding accomplishments of Ohio artists, who we are proud to support as they continue to shape creative conversations in our state through their work in and mastery of their chosen disciplines and crafts. Simmons said arts funding is hard to come by. She scours the Internet monthly for opportunities to help offset the expensive cost of filmmaking. After stumbling upon the Ohio Arts Councils Individual Excellence Awards, she quickly bookmarked the page. One year later, she received news she was one of the recipients. You have to start somewhere to find these types of opportunities, Simmons said. The nature of experimentation is that you just dont know how its going to land. It was nice to get that validation and it was a big boost to morale, knowing that theres an audience for my work. Thomas-Trout has had her eye on the Ohio Arts Council since she graduated from the University in 2011, before going on to graduate school for graphic design. She heard about the award from a college professor who had been a previous recipient. Simmons and Thomas-Trout applauded the anonymity of the grants application process, with all submitted art judged solely on artistry and quality. A unique aspect of the award was the opportunity for professional feedback, made possible with the ability to watch the judging panel critique each submission live through Zoom video conferencing. I have great love for this grant program because it gives a variety of makers the possibility to go into that level of competition and feel recognized for what you put your heart into, Thomas-Trout said. Thomas-Trouts inspiration came from growing up in the village of Jewett, Ohio, where the limitations of access to resources created a culture that valued frugality, driven by necessity. She plans to use the grant money to purchase supplies, such as rolls of fabric, to print her projects on. Simmons work is focused on themes of nature, poetry, gender and female perspective. She will use the grant money to help fund her next feature film, Medusa, a documentary highlighting the story of Greek methodologys snake-haired woman. Im very grateful for this award, Simmons said. It is wonderful that the Ohio Arts Council is supporting artists. Four thousand dollars really can go such a long way, and Im very excited to put it to good use. For more information, please visit the faculty profile pages for Simmons and Thomas-Trout. Top of page (l to r): Misty Thomas-Trout and Jesseca Ynez Simmons. PLANS to celebrate Coleraines links with slave owner Hercules Mulligan should be withdrawn, the Alliance councillor who brought the proposal to council has said. Yvonne Boyle said she did not mean to cause offence to anyone when she brought a motion to the Leisure and Development Committee of the Causeway Coast and Glens Council. She asked for the erection of a Blue Plaque celebrating the areas connection to Hercules Mulligan but her proposal was amended by Ulster Unionist Councillor Richard Holmes, who suggested it would be more appropriate for council to include him in a heritage trail. This was supported unanimously by the committee two weeks ago and was expected to be fully endorsed at tonights full Council Meeting, however as the Belfast Telegraph uncovered most of the councillors on the committee, including Mr Holmes were not aware of Mulligans unsavoury past as a slave owner. Mrs Boyle, who was aware Hercules Mulligan was a slave owner when she brought her proposal to council, said the motion should now be abandoned and described the episode as a learning experience. She said: There is a saying, history is a messy business and there is never just one version of events. Hercules Mulligan was a complex character helping establish the New York Manumission Society but a census five years later now showing he still owned a slave. This issue was originally taken forward at the request of a constituent in good faith and it was not my intention to offend anyone. Further details of his slave-owning have emerged subsequently which were not in the public domain at the time. I have met with various groups since then and explained that in person. In light of the information which has come to light, I believe the amended motion should now be withdrawn by the UUP. We all must challenge perceptions of history as it has been written to date. This has been a learning experience for me and I hope for others. Councillor Richard Holmes said he made the amendment because he didnt think Causeway Coast and Glens Council should be in the business of erecting Blue Plaques which should remain the job of the Ulster History Circle. He said he was happy for the amendment to be withdrawn. The move has been welcomed by Limavady historian Stephen McCracken who shone a light on Mulligans past as a slave owner and said how inappropriate it would be for C,C&G Council to celebrate this. Mr McCracken said: I am glad Yvonne Boyle has now seen how inappropriate it would be to celebrate Hercules Mulligan even if this has been at the 11th hour. I, along with others, including members of the North West Migrants Forum have raised this over the past two weeks with the Alliance Party and Mrs Boyle and while other parties were quick to withdraw their support immediately this was not the case with Mrs Boyle but better late than never. Had this gone ahead it would have been an embarrassment for the council not least because celebrating a man who was a slave owner should never be acceptable. It is highly unlikely Hercules Mulligan was even from Coleraine at all. Eighteen Black Alabamians are among a list of more than 1,000 inspiring Black scientists, according to a recent list by Cell Mentor. Most of the scientists named have affiliations with the University of Alabama at Birmingham. It is truly an honor to work alongside such inspiring and hardworking Black scientists, said Selwyn Vickers, M.D., senior vice president and dean of the UAB School of Medicine in a press release. Their work is continuously pushing the boundaries of what we know about science. The list was compiled by The Community of Scholars, a group of scientists and educators aiming to increase diversity across all scientific fields, according to the release. The group is made up of postdoctoral fellows, instructors and more. According to the website, the list is in no way a complete representation of all the scientists across the country and world, but a stepping stone. This post is for the present, but it is also a foundation of the future. We hope that this post enables the next generation to fulfill their need to change the world, the post said. Scientists affiliated with UAB made the list multiple times, as well as scientists affiliated with Tuskegee University and Alabama State University. Heres the full list of all 18 Alabamians that made the list, along with what school they are affiliated with: Akinyemi I. Ojesina, MD, PhD | University of Alabama at Birmingham Audrey Napier, PhD | Alabama State University Foluso (Joy) Ogunsile, MD | University of Alabama at Birmingham Jeanette Jones, PhD | Alabama A&M University Michelle Gray, PhD | University of Alabama at Birmingham Roosevelt Calbert, PhD | Alabama State University Shuntele N. Burns, PhD | Alabama State University Walter A. Hill, PhD | Tuskegee University Kristen Allen Watts, PhD, MPH | University of Alabama at Birmingham Maigen Bethea, PhD | University of Alabama at Birmingham Ninecia Scott, PhD | University of Alabama at Birmingham Pamela N. Brady, PhD | University of Alabama at Birmingham Sharifa Love-Rutledge, PhD | University of Alabama, Huntsville Jakita O. Thomas PhD | Auburn University Clayton Yates, PhD | Tuskegee University Jennie Patrick, PhD | Tuskegee University Legand Burge, PhD | Tuskegee University Farah Lubin, PhD | University of Alabama at Birmingham To view the complete list of Black scientists, click here. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. DGAP-News: Molecular Health GmbH / Key word(s): Agreement Molecular Health and FALCO biosystems team up to provide genetic analysis services using MH Guide/BRCA and MH Guide/Mendel 02.03.2021 / 08:00 The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement. Molecular Health and FALCO biosystems team up to provide genetic analysis services using MH Guide/BRCA and MH Guide/Mendel MH Guide/BRCA and MH Guide/Mendel will assist doctors and human geneticists in making decisions about gene variant pathogenicity. Heidelberg, Germany, March 02, 2021 - Molecular Health GmbH announced today that it has entered into an agreement with Kyoto-based FALCO biosystems Ltd. under which FALCO biosystems will use the products MH Guide/BRCA and MH Guide/Mendel to evaluate inherited genetic variants of BRCA1/2 and other heritable cancer-associated genes. Inherited genetic variants can predispose an individual to cancer. Hereditary Breast and Ovarian Cancer (HBOC) Syndrome, for example, is caused by pathogenic mutations in distinct genes such as BRCA1/2, MLH1, MSH6, PMS2, respectively. Therefore, testing BRCA1/2 genes and other heritable cancer-associated genes is becoming increasingly important: both to evaluate the affected patient's individual risk of developing cancer[1],[2], and as a predictive biomarker and companion diagnostic test for certain drugs[3]. Whereas MH Guide/BRCA detects variants in HBOC-associated genes, MH Guide/Mendel can analyze large gene panels as well as whole-exome or whole-genome data, so that many different hereditary diseases can be identified at once. "With this collaboration in place, Japanese patients will benefit from state-of-the-art genetic identification of inherited diseases like Hereditary Breast and Ovarian Cancer and many other diseases. This will allow sooner diagnosis and potentially earlier therapeutic intervention", said Christian Meisel, MD, PhD, Chief Medical Officer at Molecular Health. Under the terms of this collaboration, FALCO biosystems will perform the next-generation sequencing (NGS) process and variant identification using blood samples provided by the patient. Molecular Health will then analyze the variant data using MH Guide/BRCA or MH Guide/Mendel. To accurately distinguish benign from pathogenic variants, MH uses an in-house proprietary database called MH Dataome, which integrates the Japanese reference genome ToMMo 3.5KJPNv2 (MAF >= 1%) for improved variant filtering and classification. Molecular Health gratefully acknowledges the contribution of Tohoku Medical Megabank. MH Guide/BRCA and MH Guide/Mendel are part of MH Guide, a registered in-vitro diagnostic (IVD) medical device in Europe. About Molecular Health Molecular Health is a Biotech-IT company dedicated to big-data capture, curation, integration, and analytics. Our mission is to enable precision medicine and generate novel, actionable insights on drug outcomes for stakeholders across the healthcare ecosystem. For more information, visit www.molecularhealth.com [1] https://www.cancer.net/cancer-types/hereditary-breast-and-ovarian-cancer [2] National Comprehensive Cancer Network. NCCN Guidelines: Genetic/Familial High-Risk Assessment: Colorectal. https://nccn.org [3] Pilie, P.G., Tang, C., Mills, G.B. et al. State-of-the-art strategies for targeting the DNA damage response in cancer. Nat Rev Clin Oncol 16, 81-104 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41571-018-0114-z Molecular Health GmbH Thomas Koenig Head of Marketing & PR thomas.koenig@molecularhealth.com Media Relations MC Services AG Katja Arnold, Eva Bauer, Laurie Doyle molecularhealth@mc-services.eu +49-89-210 2280 MH-20-075-1 Melissa Caddick's family face a series of grim choices in the days ahead Melissa Caddick's grieving family face wrenching decisions in the coming days with a looming financial timebomb - as a senior forensic expert reveals what will happen next with her remains. The fake financial planner, 49, had paid her mortgage on her $6.1million Dover Heights mansion in advance up to March 2021, allowing her husband Anthony Koletti some breathing room following her November disappearance. But Caddick's once big-living family now face the issue of her $19,000-per-month repayments - as well as the likelihood her receivers could sell her property to recoup investors' funds. Meanwhile, a court recently scrapped an allowance for Mr Koletti to pay for his usual living expenses - funds which had covered everything from the food they ate, the electricity they used and their $1,300 per month pet insurance bill. The mounting issues come as Caddick's family were given the harrowing news that her foot had been found washed up on the NSW South Coast last week. Soon there will also be the question of what happens next to her remains - a matter for the State Coroner, a NSW Police spokeswoman said. Caddick vanished from her $6.1million Dover Heights home about November 11 last year. She had paid the mortgage in advance up until mid March The mounting issues come as Caddick's family were given the harrowing news that her foot had been found washed up on the NSW South Coast last week (pictured with her husband) 'There's not really a rule book' for this sort of situation, said Professor Jo Duflou, the former longtime clinical director at the state's Department of Forensic Medicine. Generally speaking a person's remains would be released to loved ones once they're no longer required for investigative purposes. But Prof Duflou said there likely wouldn't be a problem with the remains staying in the morgue until the rest of Caddick's body - or as 'much of it as can be' - was found. Forensic pathologists are working to confirm whether other remains that have washed up along the coast in recent days are linked to Caddick. Police revealed late on Tuesday that a 'discoloured' torso found at a beach at Mollymook on Friday belonged to an unknown male. The DNA profile will be compared against the missing persons database,' a police spokeswoman said. Theories rage about what happened to Caddick in the meantime. One victim, who knew Caddick for two decades, told Daily Mail Australia he was open to the popular but extremely unlikely theory she was still alive. 'Everyone thinks she is alive and just kicking with one foot,' he said. 'She would have had an exit plan set up ages ago.' Criminal psychologist Tim Watson-Munro told News Corp: 'I believe she had a plan. It's unlikely on impulse she would have ended her life.' Superintendent Joe McNulty, commander of the NSW Police Force Marine Command, has said Caddick's shoe 'needs extensive analysis to see how long it was in the water.' The search expands: In the coming days, when the seas are calmer, police will search the ocean off Dover Heights for clues to Melissa Caddick's disappearance Caddick's decomposed foot was found in a grey and white Asics Gel Nimbus 22 at Bournda Beach, near Tathra on the NSW South Coast, the Sunday before last 'It's a vital clue where hopefully marine biology can provide some answers,' he told the Daily Telegraph. Supt McNulty has cast doubt on whether Caddick's Gel Nimbus 22 sneaker could have been in the water for three months and said he had never known remains to travel so far south. Assistant Commissioner Michael Willing has likewise suggested Caddick may have been on the run prior to her disappearance. That's even as police said their drift modelling appeared to show that her body could have hit the water at Dover Heights and travelled as far south as Bermagui, not far from where her body was found. Police will once again search near Dover Heights when seas are calmer. 'They (the searches) will occur in due course,' a spokeswoman said. At this point, police suspect Caddick has likely died by suicide, but aren't ruling out foul play. Daily Mail Australia revealed on Monday that Caddick had taken out a $120 per month life insurance policy prior to her disappearance. For confidential crisis support contact Lifeline on 13 11 14 EUGENE, Ore. Spencer is a young pit bull terrier mix ready for a family that will commit to some training to help him gain new skills and confidence. Spencer is a sweet dog who loves to run and play with toys. He will need a yard where he can burn off some of his youthful energy every day. Spencer should start out as the only dog in the family. He would do best in a household with older teenagers or in an adult-only home. He is shy when first meeting new people, and his ideal home will be a calm place where he has time and space to blossom. He will make a loyal companion for the right family. Spencer is 1 years old and weighs about 55 pounds. He arrived at Greenhill Humane Society from another shelter on Feb. 9. His fee is $200, which helps pay for shelter expenses such as vaccinations, microchip identification, spaying or neutering, a certificate for a free veterinary exam, post-adoption support and more. Spencer was Tuesdays Pet of the Week on KEZI 9 News. Every Tuesday, KEZI showcases a homeless pet on the Midday newscast at 11 a.m. and again at 4 p.m. If you are interested in Spencer or the other animals at Greenhill Humane Society, click here. Greenhill Humane Society is located at 88530 Green Hill Road and is open daily by appointment only from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Its phone number is 541-689-1503. Adoptions are also currently by appointment only. To ensure a good match is made, potential adopters must go to the animal shelter in person to meet with the animal and kennel staff. All family members should be present to ensure the animal is compatible with everyone in the household. The watch a video of Spencer click here. India's central bank wants banks to limit ownership stakes in capital intensive insurance companies at a maximum 20 per cent, less than half of what the current regulations permit, three sources with knowledge of the discussions told Reuters. (RBI) rules allow banks to hold up to 50 per cent stakes in insurers and on a selective basis equity holdings can be higher but must eventually be brought down within a certain period. The sources, who asked not to be named as the discussions are private, however said the central bank in 2019 unofficially advised banks seeking to acquire stakes in insurers, to limit such stakes to a maximum of 30 per cent, and more recently directed them to cap stake purchases in insurers at 20 per cent. "Unofficially, banks have been told that the regulator is not comfortable with lenders increasing their stakes because the insurance business is seen as a money guzzler," one source said. The RBI wants banks to focus on their main areas of business instead of locking away capital in non-core sectors. The central bank did not respond to a request seeking comment. The unofficial push suggests the RBI is looking for uniformity around ownership rules for lenders with exposure in the sector, following suggestions made in a working paper by an internal group released in November. Some lenders such as Kotak Mahindra Bank and State Bank of India have wholly-owned or majority owned insurance subsidiaries, and the paper had suggested that if any lender had more than a 20 per cent stake in an insurer, they should follow a non-operative financial holding company (NOFHC) structure which will ring fence ownership. Most lenders are not keen to adopt such a structure on concerns it will hurt shareholder value and limit their capital raising ability, one of the sources said. Recommendations made by the working paper are under consideration by the RBI and it is not clear when the central bank will act on or implement the suggestions. In light of this, the sources said the RBI was likely to stall on any requests by banks to boost or acquire new stakes in insurers. The move comes at a time when India is keen to woo foreign investment in its insurance sector. Last month, the government said it would allow foreign direct investment of up to 74 per cent in insurers, up from 49 per cent. Many foreign insurers are expected to explore the opportunity as insurance penetration continues to be low in India. With fears that banks' bad loans could double amid the Covid-19 pandemic, the RBI does not want banks to lock up money in capital intensive businesses, the sources said. The RBI may have reservations about banks having more than 20 per cent stakes in any non-core companies, one of the sources said. Federal Bank, which sought permission from the RBI to increase its stake in Ageas Federal Life insurance after its board approved the deal about a year ago, has still not received RBI approval, one of the sources said. Federal Bank did not respond to a request seeking comment. Last year, the RBI had also rejected Axis Bank's application to directly purchase a 17 per cent stake in Max Life. The transaction was only approved after Axis restructured it and agreed to purchase the stake with two subsidiaries, bringing down the bank's direct ownership share to less than 10 per cent. Axis Bank did not respond to a request seeking comment on whether it restructured the deal on the advice of the RBI. By Promise Twinamukye As the world celebrates Womens day on March 8, Nation Media Group Uganda will partner with International Hospital Kampala and UMC Victoria hospital to create awareness about Fibroids. The in charge Corporate Social Responsibility NMG Uganda Barbara Nyakaana, says during the month of March, the two hospitals will offer free and discounted tests and screening of fibroids to women. With 50 per cent discount, a number of women will be able to have abdominal scans, breast and cervical cancer scans and Pap smear with free consultations on fibroid-related conditions. The campaign follows an article published in the Daily Monitor on February 8 in which popular radio personality Robina Mbabazi a.k.a Bina Babie detailed her battle with fibroids and the misconception that even without going to hospital, one will get healed. This will be followed by an editorial driven campaign on fibroids from March 8 to 31. The focus of this campaign is to draw public attention to the devastation that fibroids can cause, addressing its risk factors, who can get fibroids and why, treatment options, financial implications of treating fibroids, how the discovery of fibroids affects relationships and how having fibroids can impact ones fertility. Readers will also share their personal experience of living with fibroids and the stigma that comes with it. On March 8, International Medical centre in Mukono District will provide free consultation on fibroids, family planning, blood pressure and blood sugar testing; breast and cervical cancer screening. Nyakaana, says conditions such as fibroids are common but society shies away from talking about it. Because of this, a number of women suffer with the disease opting instead to self-treat with herbal medicine. Often, women go to hospital when the condition has worsened yet with early diagnosis and treatment, a woman will be able to live a life without complications. All lives matter and we believe that womens health is paramount. We hope that through this campaign we will not only create awareness about the condition but we will be able to reach a number of women and offer them assistance, Nyakaana says. Advertisement Boris Johnson was blasted by a former standards tsar today over 'quite inappropriate' plans to launch a new charity backed by wealthy Tory donors to pay for the six-figure refurbishment of his official flat. Sir Alistair Graham, the former chairman of the Committee on Standards in Public Life, tore into a scheme said to be modelled on one used to bankroll the interior upkeep of the White House. It could be bankrolled by Tory benefactors - sparking potential conflict of interest fears if it is seen as a back-door way of providing a financial benefit to the Prime Minister. Mr Johnson has complained the cost of the refurbishment by Carrie Symonds over the past year was 'totally out of control', the Daily Mail has been told. He reportedly said during one meeting that the sum amounted to 'tens and tens of thousands'. On another occasion he said it was 'over a hundred grand'. He is said to have told one minister he was particularly alarmed by the cost of wallpaper chosen by Miss Symonds, saying she appeared to have ordered 'gold wall coverings'. Downing Street refused to comment on what it called 'speculation', but Sir Alistair told the Times: 'It looks like he is seeking to set up the charity for personal benefit rather than for the benefit of a wider group in need. 'I would quite like to set a charity up to refurbish my flat in York, but I don't think it's a practical proposition. 'That's not what charities are for: to provide enhanced living standards for the Prime Minister and his wife.' Boris Johnson is secretly trying to set up a charity to help pay for a costly makeover of his official flat by his fiancee Sir Alistair Graham, the former chairman of the Committee on Standards in Public Life, tore into a scheme said to be modelled on one used to bankroll the interior upkeep of the White House. The restyled decor is said to have been inspired by celebrated eco interior designer Lulu Lytle (pictured) The founder and director of Soane Britain 'designs and makes British-made furniture, upholstery, lighting, fabrics and wallpaper' (sample designs pictured) Top designer who inspired Carrie's chic makeover The woman said to have inspired Carrie's lavish makeover is Lulu Lytle one of the UK's most influential and successful interior designers. Her designs combine a riot of bold colours and showstopping old-fashioned glamour. Think oiled-oak shelving, rattan furniture, shimmering gold wallpaper and intricate textiles. A marble bathroom, perhaps, with wrought iron finishings. She is especially passionate about sustaining traditional British craftsmanship. She built up her Soane Britain interior design studio by scouring the country for the best artisan blacksmiths, cabinet makers, upholsterers and stone carvers creating furniture, lighting and fabrics using skills going back to the 18th century and beyond. In 2011, she put her money where her mouth is and bought the last rattan-weaving workshop left in England and started an apprenticeship programme. Prince Charles, himself passionate about sustaining traditional craftsmanship, visited the Leicester workshop a year ago, just before lockdown, to admire its creations. Soane's clients include five-star hotels and restaurants, private members' clubs, boardrooms, yachts and private houses all over the world. Mrs Lytle, 49, says her furniture, upholstery, lighting, fabrics and wallpapers all aim to 'contribute to the joyful atmosphere of any interior'. Born and raised in Worcestershire, the youngest of four sisters, Lucy Elizabeth Kottler, known as 'Lulu', developed a romantic passion for Egypt and took a degree in Egyptology. She met her husband Charles Patrick St John Lytle, known as Charlie, when he was training as a barrister. He is now a senior investment banker at Goldman Sachs. Mrs Lytle worked in antiques for four years, before starting Soane when she was 25, originally from the couple's one-bedroom flat in Notting Hill, west London. Her plan was clear and has never changed to create beautifully made contemporary furniture based on antiques. She said: 'The life of an object is endlessly fascinating, there's a depth to old things.' The Lytles moved to a flat in one of London's nicest squares, close to Hyde Park, in 1999. They then bought its neighbour and knocked through to create a 4million home, which is now a stunning exhibition of Mrs Lytle's interior design genius and often showcased in glossy magazines. It mixes old and new Soane pieces, along with textiles collected worldwide, paintings, maps and artefacts. Searing Chinese yellow walls make a study area dramatic, while hand-painted lapis lazuli rocks bring luxury to the master bedroom's Carrara marble ensuite bathroom. The couple share their home with their three children Tom, 20, Bunny, 18, and Xan, 15 as well as a greyhound named Panther and Hammy the hamster. By Sam Greenhill, chief reporter for the Daily Mail Advertisement He added: 'If you're making a donation, you're making it to a political party for the purposes of ensuring that party stays in power, you don't do it for the personal benefit of the leader of the party. 'It would seem to me an abuse of his position as prime minister. I cannot believe how it crossed his mind. If there is a need to do certain things in terms of maintenance, that should be paid out of government funds.' The Prime Minister's press secretary Allegra Stratton did not deny the accuracy of the report today, but told reporters: 'Downing Street is maintained to appropriate standards for the Grade I and II listed building that it is. 'The Cabinet Office sits in oversight of that. As things stand there is already a process in place for maintaining it to the right standard.' The PM's official spokesman referred journalists to the Cabinet Office annual report and accounts - which have yet to be published for the relevant period and may not be released until July. 'That is where we set out the details of what has happened,' the spokesman said. 'Downing Street is a working building as has been the case under successive administrations, refurbishment and maintenance are made periodically.' Mr Johnson has asked multi-millionaire financier and Tory peer Lord Brownlow, who has close links with the Royal Family, to run the charity. It is believed that an application to register it with the Charity Commission is under way. The official purpose of the charity is to raise funds to preserve No 10 and No 11 Downing Street for the nation on heritage grounds. But insiders say the proposal stemmed from the soaring cost of a makeover of the No 11 flat, which is preferred by prime ministers with families because it is bigger than the No 10 flat. The restyled decor is said to have been inspired by celebrated eco interior designer Lulu Lytle. The founder and director of Soane Britain 'designs and makes British-made furniture, upholstery, lighting, fabrics and wallpaper' based on 'traditional crafts including blacksmiths'. Prince Charles visited her rattan workshop last year just before the pandemic. Miss Lytle's fabrics start at 100 a metre. Work on refurbishing the No 11 flat is believed to have been completed in recent months. It went on for more than a year and was disrupted by Covid. Mr Johnson first expressed concern at the rising cost early last year. He is said to have commented there was 'no way' he could pay for it after being informed by the Cabinet Office that the maximum taxpayer contribution was 'around 30,000'. That left a massive shortfall. Despite his salary of 150,000 a year as Prime Minister, Mr Johnson has taken a big pay cut because he earned 500,000 as a newspaper columnist and author before entering No 10. In addition he has had an expensive divorce from his ex-wife, Marina Wheeler. This newspaper understands that there were several meetings in No 10 where Mr Johnson discussed the possibility of asking Conservative donors to bridge the gap was discussed, either directly or via Tory Party HQ. After being warned that could be unethical, his advisers came up with an alternative scheme. They said the most practical and ethical way to secure extra financial help to pay for the refurbishment was by establishing a new charitable fund. Its purpose would be to maintain not just the No 11 flat, but also other parts of Downing Street, including the state rooms. Floor plans show the second floor of the complex has a large number of bedrooms The Camerons' flat featured billowing light and black-and-white Vogue-style family photographs and the kitchen was dominated by Nigella-standard units and surfaces Bringing your work home: David Cameron working on one of his red boxes in the flat above Number 11, with Samantha Cameron in the kitchen Samantha Cameron, wife of then Prime Minister David Cameron, having breakfast in her 11, Downing Street apartment with Philip Kiley (left), eight, from Chorley in Lancashire, and Stevie Tyrie, eight, from Manchester, as part of her support for the charity Contact A Family which helps families with disabled children Lytle's designs (pictured) combine a riot of bold colours and showstopping old-fashioned glamour Soane's clients include five-star hotels and restaurants, private members' clubs, boardrooms, yachts and private houses all over the world That way, it way could be presented as having a wider heritage purpose that would benefit future prime ministers, not just Mr Johnson, he was advised. He is said to have agreed to the proposal. However, according to some sources, in reality the real purpose was to bail out Mr Johnson and pay for Miss Symonds' expensive tastes. It is believed that the new charity will be designed to allow money to be used to pay for the refurbishment. It is modelled on a similar scheme used to maintain the White House, where the US president's wife customarily plays a big role in interior design. Incoming presidents and their families are allowed to spend up to $100,000 (72,000) on restyling the Washington mansion. When David and Samantha Cameron occupied the No 11 flat, they paid the bulk of a 100,000 redesign by Mrs Cameron, including a new kitchen. Pictures of the flat during their residence provide the most recent look at the home. An ally of Mr Johnson last night defended the charity plan, saying: 'Downing Street is as iconic as Windsor Castle but is in danger of becoming tatty because the Civil Service does everything on the cheap. 'A new charity with privately raised money to preserve it in great shape for all time is great value for the taxpayer and a great idea.' Friends of Miss Symonds deny she has been extravagant. 'The makeover is appropriate for a building of such huge importance,' said one. 'Carrie has exquisite taste. It is classic, stunning, stylish and chic. She should be congratulated not criticised.' The Prime Minister's official country residence, Chequers in Buckinghamshire, is maintained by a trust with funds from Lord Lee, who gave the house to the nation a century ago. A No 10 spokesman said: 'The Downing Street complex is a working building, as well as containing two ministerial residences. 'As has been the case under successive administrations, refurbishments and maintenance are made periodically. 'Matters concerning works on the Downing Street estate, including the residences, are covered in the Cabinet Office annual report and accounts.' The spokesman declined to answer further questions from the Mail, including whether Mr Johnson had voiced worries about the cost of the refurbishment and whether he discussed asking Tory donors to help pay for it or asked Lord Brownlow to take charge of the proposed charity. The Charity Commission said it was not aware of any application to set up a Downing Street charity. Mrs Lytle, 49, says her furniture, upholstery, lighting, fabrics and wallpapers all aim to 'contribute to the joyful atmosphere of any interior' Born and raised in Worcestershire, the youngest of four sisters, Lucy Elizabeth Kottler, known as 'Lulu', developed a romantic passion for Egypt and took a degree in Egyptology Conservative Party HQ, the Cabinet Office, Lord Brownlow and Miss Lytle declined to comment. According to one insider the idea of creating a blind trust, an arrangement wherein a public figure's investments are handled by others whose identity is not disclosed to him or her to avoid a conflict of interest, was also discussed as a funding option. This is said to have been ruled out on the grounds that the identity of the Tory donors would almost certainly be known to the Prime Minister. Miss Symonds is involved in another charity controversy. She recently announced she was joining the staff of the Aspinall Foundation, whose financial governance is now being probed by the Charity Commission. Founded by the late John Aspinall, a friend of Lord Lucan, the foundation helps gorillas in the Congo and runs other conservation projects. The commission has launched a probe into concerns about 'financial management and wider governance'. She built up her Soane Britain interior design studio by scouring the country for the best artisan blacksmiths, cabinet makers, upholsterers and stone carvers The non-profit foundation allows its founder's son, gambling tycoon Damian Aspinall, to live in a 30-room manor for a fraction of normal market rates. He is charged just 2,500 a month for Howletts mansion, a Grade II-listed Palladian pile it owns in rural Kent. The charity is also shelling out large sums of money to Mr Aspinall's wife Victoria. Miss Symonds has suggested the Charity Commission's inquiry is all perfectly normal. She said: 'The commission made a number of ongoing routine inquiries at the end of last year as part of its regular checks.' However, commission sources told the Daily Mail: 'A routine check of their accounts in November raised a number of red flags, and these concerns are now being looked at.' Carrie casts out Sam-Cam era with vintage overhaul at No11: PM's fiancee swaps 64,000 minimalist and modern look left by David and Samantha Cameron for opulent decor as she stamps mark on Downing Street The flat at Number 11 Downing Street has seen extensive refurbishments in the past two decades before Carrie Symonds made her recent renovations, making further changes to those left by the Camerons. The 'glum' decor is said to have been removed in favour of vintage furniture restored by hand by Miss Symonds and the hall floors stripped and burnished - with the living area, often lit by candles, painted deep green. The flat was seemingly stuck in the 1960s until Tony and Cherie Blair began living there in 1997. When Mr Blair became prime minister he opted for the four-bedroom No 11 flat instead of the smaller one at No 10, and he and his wife spent 127,000 on refurbishments between 1999 and 2005, including 3,500 on a bed. However Gordon Brown, his wife Sarah and their two sons are not thought to have spent anything on upgrades after they moved into No 11 in 2007, being content with the changes made by the Blairs. Then David and Samantha Cameron took residence in 2010 which prompted the next series of major changes, including a 64,000 makeover which included extensive work on a bathroom, give a new floor and ceiling. Among the changes made by the Camerons to the kitchen were the installation of a 3,400 Britannia range cooker and a Dualit toaster and Gaggia coffee machine, worth about 200 apiece. Theresa May, who is a keen chef and owns more than 100 cookbooks, is not thought to have changed anything significant when she moved in with Philip - and would therefore likely have been happy with the new kitchen. Now, it has been claimed Boris Johnson is secretly trying to set up a charity to help pay for a costly makeover of the Cameron's flat by his fiancee Carrie Symonds after claiming the cost was 'totally out of control'. The scheme is based on one used by the White House to raise millions of dollars for interior design, antiques and art - a presidential charity which is bankrolled by private donors. The proposed Downing Street version is expected to be funded largely by wealthy Tory benefactors, but runs the risk of claims of conflict of interest if it is seen as a back-door way of providing a financial benefit to the PM. Mr Johnson is alleged to have been alarmed by the cost of wallpaper, saying Miss Symonds appeared to have ordered 'gold wall coverings'. The restyled decor is said to have been inspired by interior designer Lulu Lytle. Mrs Lytle is the founder and director of Soane Britain which 'designs and makes British-made furniture, upholstery, lighting, fabrics and wallpaper' based on 'traditional crafts including blacksmiths'. Prince Charles visited her rattan workshop last year and her fabrics start at 100 a metre. Work on refurbishing the No 11 flat is believed to have been completed in recent months, having gone on for more than a year. Walls are adorned with paintings by the Prime Minister, who said to be a surprisingly good artist, and handprints by baby son Wilfred, along with pieces by Mr Johnson's mother, Charlotte. There are also works by John Nash. One friend of Miss Symonds said: 'The makeover is appropriate for a building of such huge importance. Carrie has exquisite taste. It is classic, stunning, stylish and chic. She should be congratulated not criticised.' Here is a rundown of how the flat at No 11 has changed over the years as successive prime ministers moved in: Samantha Cameron speaks with then First Lady Michelle Obama before having tea at Number 11 Downing Street in May 2011, which she redesigned after moving in there with her husband David Cameron following his elected as prime minister in 2010 The restyled decor following the overhaul by Carrie Symonds after moving into Number 11 Downing Street is said to have been inspired by interior designer Lulu Lytle - with examples of her work pictured above. THE BLAIRS (1997-2007) - How Cherie Blair joked decor 'might have been state-of-the-art in the 1960s' and ordered in 70-a-roll wallpaper in what would become a 127,000 makeover over six years After Margaret Thatcher stopped a proposed refurbishment of the No 11 flat in 1979, saying the public would not be impressed with the expenditure, it remained a product of the 1960s until Tony and Cherie Blair arrived in 1997. 'I won't sleep in Ken Clarke's bed,' Mr Blair declared of the Conservative chancellor, the most recent tenant, when he became prime minister and opted for the four-bedroom No 11 flat which was bigger than the one at No 10. A new bed costing 3,500 was swiftly shipped in courtesy of Mrs Blair's close friend and lifestyle adviser Carole Caplin. In the Blair years, the flat above No 11, frequently littered with toys belonging to baby Leo, born in May 2000, had 127,000 spent on refurbishments between 1999 and 2005, according to official records. Mrs Blair's memoirs record her first impression of the flat as being a whiff of Mr Clarke's cigar smoke and 'a series of heavy mahogany wardrobes that smelt of cedar and mothballs' as her 'heart sank at the sight of the kitchen.' She added: 'It might have been state-of-the-art in the Sixties, but that was then.' In came 70-a-roll wallpapers, new artwork and a set of custom-made glass-fronted bookcases for Mrs Blair's office. The couple were pictured at their private flat by photographer Anthony Crickmay for a Christmas card in December 1998, which also saw them with children Euan, then 14, Nicky, then 13, and Kathryn, then ten. Tony Blair with his wife Cherie, and their children Euan (left), then 14, Nicky (right), then 13, and Kathryn (front), then ten, as they appeared on the Prime Minister's Christmas card in December 1998 which was taken at Number 11 Downing Street The downstairs area of Number 11 Downing Street is pictured in 2005. The four-bedroom residence is located upstairs Floor plans for Number 10 and 11 Downing Street show the second floor of the complex has a large number of bedrooms Number 11 Downing Street is pictured in 2005, eight years after Tony Blair became PM and opted for the four-bedroom flat Number 11 Downing Street, pictured in 2005, remained a product of the 1960s until Tony and Cherie Blair arrived in 1997 THE BROWNS (2007-2010) - How Gordon Brown was happy with an 'adequate' and 'old fashioned' kitchen for his wife Sarah to cook him 'homely' meals When Tony Blair and Gordon Brown moved into Downing Street in 1997, Mr Blair persuaded the then-single Mr Brown to vacate the Chancellor's flat at Number 11 to provide room for the prime minister's young family. And when Mr Brown had a family of his own with his wife Sarah, they were based in his own Westminster house, before moving into the Number 11 flat when Mr Brown became PM in 2007. And the Browns appear to have been perfectly content with the property, because there are no records that he spent a penny on upgrades. In 2010, a friend of Mr Brown described the Number 11 kitchen as 'perfectly adequate, but obviously not up to Notting Hill standards'. They added: 'It's very plain and bare. It's a bit old-fashioned a bit like a Sixties-style kitchen. It's quite spacious and it was fine for Gordon and Sarah and her homely cooking.' Gordon Brown is pictured in the kitchen of the Number 11 Downing Street flat in October 2008, after moving in a year earlier Number 11 Downing Street is pictured in 2009, at the time when Gordon Brown was living in the four-bedroom flat upstairs The staircase leading from the ground floor of Number 11 Downing Street to the living quarters is pictured in 2009 The boardroom at Number 11 Downing Street is pictured in 2009, when Gordon Brown was living in the four-bedroom flat Chancellor Alistair Darling has breakfast with his wife Margaret (centre) and Ann Coffey (left), his private secretary, in a different section of 11 Downing Street in April 2009. Mr Brown promoted Mr Darling to chancellor to replace himself in 2007 A ground floor meeting room at Number 11 Downing Street is photographed in 2009 CAMERONS (2010-2016) - David and Samantha Cameron made a series of refurbishments totalling 64,000 including a complete overhaul of the bathroom and installing modern kitchen appliances including 3,400 cooker In 2010, David and Samantha Cameron made a series of major refurbishments to the flat, which clearly fell well short of their standards they were used to at their home in Notting Hill. They got rid of a mirrored exercise room where Carole Caplin had put the Blairs through their paces, while old carpets were also ripped out and expensive black granite worktops were installed in a new private kitchen. As part of a 64,000 makeover, extensive work was carried out in a bathroom, with everything apart from a towel rail stripped out and a new floor and ceiling installed. Some of the costs were met from the flat's annual 30,000 maintenance grant, and the rest by the Camerons. The couple went for an ultramodern, minimalist design of brushed steel and floating shelves in the second kitchen. This left the original 1960sstyle kitchen in its original state. Modern appliances were installed including a Dualit toaster and Gaggia coffee machine, worth about 200 apiece, along with a 3,400 Britannia range cooker. The Camerons also let the cameras in to photograph the Prime Minister working in the sitting room and meeting foreign heads of state - and his wife hosting charity meetings around the breakfast table. David Cameron in his kitchen at Number 11 Downing Street in March 2015, which had a major refurbishment after he moved in David Cameron speaks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel at his flat at Number 11 Downing Street in February 2014 A tabbed-up image showing the fittings at the Number 11 Downing Street flat, where Samantha Cameron is pictured eating breakfast with children as part of her work with the charity Contact A Family in January 2015 Samantha Cameron, wife of David Cameron, hosts a breakfast for the charity Contact A Family at No 11 in January 2015 MAYS (2016-2019) - Theresa May bought a red three-seater sofa and glass coffee table but did not make any major refurbishments to the flat Theresa May is not thought to have made any major refurbishments to the flat, but did buy a bold three-seater red couch, chrome lamp and a glass-topped coffee table on which to place a 25 Elemis Revitalise Me scent diffuser. A photoshoot with the Sunday Times revealed her colourful sofa had been covered with brown patterned throw cushions, while the coffee table - in front of a marble fireplace - having been brought in from Habitat for 195. On her side table was a 100 Zachery chrome table lamp from John Lewis, which was next to an extravagant 42 rose-scented Diptyque candle. The photoshoot also saw her wear a 495 cashmere jumper by Amanda Wakeley. But a profile of Carrie Symonds in Tatler magazine said the planned overhaul of the flat by Boris Johnson's fiancee aimed to clear out the 'John Lewis furniture nightmare' reportedly left by Mrs May. Boris Johnson is allegedly secretly trying to set up a charity to help pay for a costly makeover of his official flat at Number 11 by his fiancee Carrie Symonds. The couple are pictured together at Number 10 in December last year And here's how Number 11 looked as a residence for chancellors in the 1980s and 90s before the Blairs moved in... Scientists have been left puzzled by a glow-in-the-dark shark after conducting the first experimental study of the deep-sea dweller. The researchers, from Belgium and New Zealand, found that the kitefin shark possessed bioluminescent sites along its belly, sides, back and dorsal fins which were controlled by hormones. Samples were collected from the Chatham Rise area of seabed east of New Zealand. The 180cm kitefin has been spotted swimming at depths between 50m and 1.8km but usually inhabits a zone below 300m, experts said. It is the largest known bioluminescent vertebrate. However, Dalatias licha does not have any predators so the usefulness of its camouflaged glowing belly with which, it is thought, it can counter-illuminate itself against weak sunlight filtering from above was not clear. Recommended Mutant baby shark caught by fisherman In constructing their hypotheses, researchers cited previous studies which said that although D. licha has one of the slowest cruising speeds known among sharks, it is believed to have a very high short-range burst speed. Evidence has shown it can eat fast-swimming fish as well as slower creatures that dwell near the sea bed. Therefore, the scientists believe, either luminescence might be used to illuminate the ocean floor while searching and hunting for prey, or to stealthily approach toward [fast] prey, using counter-illumination camouflage, before striking fast when close enough. They added: In both cases, the principle of counter-illumination would have been distorted to serve as a predation tool instead of an avoidance mechanism, a hypothesis already proposed for the cookie cutter shark. Further studies of live specimens are required, the scientists wrote. 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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. 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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 The study also looked at two other species, a pair of lantern sharks. These displayed a use of glowing skin that was more in line with previous knowledge of similar creatures, including for communication. Researchers wrote: The dorsal photophores, flank markings, and brighter pectoral fin and claspers are likely to be used for intraspecific communications, while the ventrally emitted light is likely to be used for counterillumination. The study was published in the journal Frontiers in Marine Science. Prime Minister Scott Morrison has called in the Australian Defence Force to help get the nation's coronavirus vaccine rollout back on schedule. Military personnel will be assigned to help vaccinate elderly Australians in aged care facilities in mainly regional and remote areas. Australia's vaccination program is behind schedule with only half the number immunised in the first week as the 60,000 person target. ADF doctors and nurses will undergo training this week. 'We're expecting the first of the ADF to commence next week, if not sooner,' federal Health Minister Greg Hunt told Nine News. 'They are very organised. We set out best expectations and they continue to beat them but next week is our expectation. The Prime Minister has enlisted the Australian Defence Force to assist with the nation's coronavirus vaccination rollout. Pictured is Gold Coast nurse Zoe Park getting the jab Beatrice Abrahams, 104, from the NSW Central Coast became the oldest Australian to be vaccinated so far on Tuesday. But as of Monday night, only 42,000 Australians have had their first dose, including more than 13,000 elderly residents in 158 aged care facilities. The federal government previously promised the program would reach 240 facilities in the first week. Mr Hunt has assured the progressive rollout will ramp up as more doses arrive. 'It's been done that way for reasons of safety and security,' the minister told reporters in Sydney on Tuesday. 'We will continue to roll it out and these arrivals of vaccines are very good and the continued expansion of the program is good.' He added more than 300,000 doses will be distributed across the nation in the coming days. 'Over the current 10-day period, we will make almost 300,000 doses available to the states and that will be the two distributions of Pfizer and one of AstraZeneca,' Mr Hunt said. Australian Defence Force personnel will continue to assist the federal government during the pandemic. Pictured are Australian Defence Force waiting for returned travellers to arrive at Sydney Airport Aged care resident Jane Malysiak (right) was the first Australian to receive the Pfizer vaccine on February 21 as Prime Minister Scott Morrison (left) watches on Federal Aged Care Services Minister Richard Colbeck said the target of vaccinating all aged care residents within six weeks of the rollout's start remained on track. All Australians are expected to be vaccinated by the end of October, which is seven months away. Experts have mixed views on how the the rollout's progress in its early stages. 'I've been saying for a while that October is a pretty tough deadline to meet,' Australian Medical Association president Omar Khorshid told the Nine Network on Monday. Dr Khorshid believes the end of the year is a more realistic target. Almost 42,000 Australians have received their first dose so far, well short of the 60,000 target. Pictured is aged care resident John Healywho was among the first to be vaccinated Infectious disease expert Sanjaya Senanayake is not concerned about the delay. 'This is going to take a long time, we talked about it being the end of October. But I suspect it will probably be by the end of the year,' he told Nine. 'You want to iron out wrinkles at the start so you start off slow and build things up.' Dr Senanayake believes the rollout can ramp up to more than 150,000 vaccinations a day at its peak. Only the Pfizer vaccine has been administered so far, with the AstraZeneca vaccine expected to become available within 10 days after 300,000 doses arrived in Australia on Monday. Pharmaceutical giant CSL is also manufacturing 50 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine at its facility in Victoria, where one million doses are ready now. 'We're close to making one million doses a week,' senior official Christopher Larkins told a parliamentary inquiry. While the U.S. and Europe focus on vaccinating their own populations, China and Russia are sending millions of COVID-19 vaccine doses to countries around the world. Why it matters: China's double success in controlling its domestic outbreak and producing several viable vaccines has allowed it to focus on providing doses abroad an effort that could help to save lives across several continents. The vaccines from China and Russia are the first to reach low-income countries that likely won't have broad access to vaccines until 2023, according to some projections. By the numbers: China has provided vaccines to 20 countries, including across South America and Africa, and has plans to send doses to at least 40 more, according to a Chinese foreign ministry statement sent to the Wall Street Journal. Poland is the latest European country to consider Chinese-made vaccines. Chinese companies and government officials have worked with local partners to create cold-chain infrastructure in Ethiopia to help transport and distribute vaccines. More than two dozen countries have authorized the use of Russia's Sputnik vaccine. Ten countries in Latin and South America have already received or will soon receive shipments, as have Slovakia, Hungary, and several other nations. Details: China's vaccines weren't as effective in clinical trials as some of those made in the U.S. and Europe, but they don't require ultra-cold storage, making them easier to transport and distribute. Last week, China approved two more vaccines, bringing the total number of Chinese-made vaccines to four. One of the newly approved vaccines only requires a single shot. Between the lines: With reported daily COVID cases often in the single digits, China's leaders face less pressure to quickly vaccinate Chinese citizens. Only about 40 million doses had been administered domestically as of Feb. 9, falling short of the 100 million doses Chinese authorities had promised by that time. On March 1, top Chinese disease expert Zhong Nanshan said authorities are now aiming to vaccinate 40% of the population by June. Meanwhile, the U.S. and Europe are focusing on vaccinating their own citizens first. The Biden administration has promised $4 billion in funding for COVAX, half of it available immediately but has also said the U.S. will vaccinate Americans before sending doses abroad. The European Union implemented limited vaccine export controls in late January, drawing criticism from the World Health Organization for "vaccine nationalism." What to watch: The early dominance of China and Russia in the global vaccine roll-out is likely to be relatively short-lived. Critics say that the armed forces used the facade of democracy to justify the sensitive cybersecurity and defense purchases from Western countries during Myanmars five years of civilian-military rule that ended with the coup on Feb. 1. Some of these technologies are now being deployed by the military to target opponents. Government budget documents reviewed by The New York Times catalog millions of dollars earmarked for technology that can mine phones and computers, track peoples locations and listen in on their conversations. New developments: New charges were brought on Monday against Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, the civilian leader who was deposed in the coup. She now faces up to nine years in prison. A hearing was held behind closed doors, and a lawyer for Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi said he was blocked from attending. Street-level protests: Photographers from The Times documented the anti-junta protests that have been regularly occurring for the past month. White House press secretary Jen Psaki speaks during a news briefing at the James Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House in Washington, on Feb. 9, 2021. (Alex Wong/Getty Images) Senate Democrats Suggest Moving Forward on CCP Virus Relief Bill Without Minimum Wage Hike White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters on Monday that the administration is not planning to overrule the parliamentarian on adding a raise to the minimum wage to the CCP virus relief bill. Thats not an action we intend to take, Psaki said. The Senate parliamentarian ruled last Thursday that raising the federal minimum wage to $15 per hour cannot be included in the Democrats proposed $1.9 trillion CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus stimulus package under the budget reconciliation process. Psaki also said that the Biden administration currently doesnt have a clear alternative plan on how to raise the minimum wage. We dont have a clear answer on what that looks like at this point, it just remains a commitment and something he will use his political capital to get done. Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) speaks during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington on Nov. 10, 2020. (Susan Walsh/Pool/Getty Images) Democrats in the House and Senate sought to fast track Bidens $1.9 trillion stimulus package by passing a budget resolution to start the reconciliation process that would allow the bill to move forward by simple majority votes, instead of needing 60 votes threshold to break any possible filibuster. Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) believes that the $15 minimum wage wont be included on the bill. If it takes 60 votes or a supermajority of some kind, its very difficult, obviously, Durbin told reporters on Monday. Durbin also said that its very unlikely that the parliamentarian can be overruled. I would recommend that we look for another thing. I support increasing the minimum wage, he said. Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) also told reporters that Democrats need to find another path. We need to find another path to a minimum wage requirement. Its a matter of basic human decency and fairness. And I am very, very optimistic that we will find another path, Blumenthal said. Even though we may not have the votes right now. All Democratic senators would have to vote in favor to pass the bill, however, Sens. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) have also expressed objections to including a boost to the federal minimum wage in the bill. Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin speaks to a reporter outside the Senate Chamber on Feb. 13, 2021. (Greg Nash/AFP via Getty Images) The Congressional Budget Office released a report projecting that an estimated 1 million people would be lifted out of poverty with an increase in the minimum wage, but the report also found that the change would result in the loss of 1.4 million jobs. Mimi Nguyen contributed to this report. FORT WORTH, Texas, March 2, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- From tiny houses to pandemic pods, small is in. It's the age of introversion, personal projects, and little pleasures. This is good news for prospective college students who prefer the small school experience. Today, many higher education institutions cater to the need for a more intimate learning environment. To that end, AcademicInfluence.com ranks the leading American colleges and universities with a student body of 5,000 students and fewer: Want an academically strong college education but prefer a more intimate setting and smaller classes? AcademicInfluence.com ranks the 50 best small colleges & universities for you. 50 Best Small Colleges and Universities of 2021 "Small schools with fewer students and faculty can still be highly influential in academics and thought leadership," says Dr. Jed Macosko, academic director of AcademicInfluence.com and professor of physics at Wake Forest University. "The schools in our ranking are powerhouses in their own right. They offer a tremendous opportunity to students looking to benefit from a college or university that packs a lot into an undergrad education without packing students into classes in enormous lecture halls." Criteria for the schools in this ranking include the 5,000-student upper limit, full accreditation, and operation as a nonprofit organization. The following schools feature in the ranking: Amherst College Bard College Barnard College Bates College Bennington College Bowdoin College Bryn Mawr College California Institute of Technology Carleton College The Catholic University of America Claremont McKenna College Clark University Clarke University Colgate University College of the Atlantic Connecticut College Cooper Union DePauw University Earlham College Fisk University Goddard College Grinnell College Hamilton College Hampshire College Harvey Mudd College Haverford College Kenyon College Middlebury College Morehouse College Mount Holyoke College Naropa University New College of Florida Oberlin College Occidental College Pitzer College Pomona College Reed College Sarah Lawrence College Scripps College Smith College Spelman College Swarthmore College Trinity College (Connecticut) Vassar College Washington and Lee University Wellesley College Wesleyan University Wheaton College (Illinois) Williams College Yeshiva University Visit the link above to view the final ranking order, find top schools by state, and see additional schools outside the top 50. "A tighter-knit college community, personalized studies, better student-to-faculty ratios, and greater access to professors and staffthese are just a few of the advantages of a smaller school," adds Macosko. "Students looking for colleges and universities that offer those elements, along with superior scholarship and influential academics, will find them in our ranking." Founded in October 2016, with funding assistance from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), Influence Networks developed the InfluenceRanking Engine, the machine-learning technology behind AcademicInfluence.com's advanced rankings. The InfluenceRanking Engine scans and analyzes the web, mapping the impact of a school's thought leadership across a variety of disciplines. For further details on the unique capabilities and advantages of this high-tech ranking system, see the AcademicInfluence.com About page . "Whether it's a small college, bustling megacampus, or online university, AcademicInfluence.com can help you find a higher ed option that suits you," says Macosko. "In addition, our College Strategist, Desirability Score, and Custom College Rankings tools can focus your search and introduce you to schools you might otherwise have overlooked but which align with your specific wants and needs." 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 Armenia ex-president Kocharyan gives interview to Russia newspaper Armenia acting deputy PM on unblocking of roads with Azerbaijan: There will be no troops standing there Nikkei: Toyota and Honda stop car production in Malaysia Armenia official on deploying international observers at Azerbaijan border: You will hear reaction on this matter soon USAID helps UN World Food Programme support displaced people in Armenia Armenia official: Work of trilateral working group on roads unblocking has stopped after recent incidents Russias Putin to Armenias Pashinyan: Relations between our countries are developing very successfully Armenia health minister: Improper storage of fallen soldiers bodies, remains was my omission 108 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia Armenia President to children: I believe that you will make our country much better Armenia CEC publicizes complete lists of political forces registered to run in snap parliamentary elections World oil prices going up Queen Elizabeth turns down PM's offer to name new royal yacht after Prince Philip Armenia parliament discusses 2020 state budget report Newspaper: Armenia acting FM resigns after 3rd attempt Newspaper: Yerevan mayor to leave office Israel, UAE sign tax treaty Newspaper: Even vagrants are persuaded, taken to Armenia acting PM Pashinyans rally in Vanadzor Swedish defense minister demands explanation from Denmark over spy scandal Acting Deputy PM: Armenia has not discussed and will not discuss issues within logic of "corridor" Armenia Central Electoral Commission determines numbers of political parties for elections Armenia 2nd President visits Cathedral of the Holy Mother of God in Gyumri (PHOTOS) Opposition Armenia bloc representative: We're running in elections to win Azerbaijan MFA comments on calls for release of Armenian POWs with infinite hypocrisy EC: Vaccinated citizens should be exempted from tests, quarantine when traveling within EU Armenia Ombudsman discusses rights of 6 captured Armenian servicemen with ICRC Delegation head EU ready to use all the tools at its disposal to change Turkey's behavior Yerevan court obliges to abolish violation of rights of Armenia Supreme Judicial Council ex-chairman Greek and Turkish leaders to meet in June on sidelines of NATO summit Armenia Central Electoral Commission to set up 2,008 polling stations for snap parliamentary elections Iranian companies to participate in reconstructing territories under Azerbaijan's control Opposition Armenia bloc's representative on acting PM's invitation to debate with 1st and 2nd Presidents Armenia acting FM dismissed upon presidential decree Body of brother of Armenian criminal authority "Don Pipo" found under bridge 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 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. James Gennaro was planning to get married in April 2020, but thanks to the coronavirus pandemic, that didnt happen. Instead, he and his wife, Wendy, settled for a much smaller event in September but time was of the essence, since he was planning to run for New York City Council. I said weve got to get this done, because I have a primary in June! Gennaro recalled. It was only days after we got married that rumors started to swirl that Rory might leave early. Sure enough, former City Council Member Rory Lancman stepped down in November to take a job in Gov. Andrew Cuomos administration, triggering a special election for Feb. 2, 2021. Gennaro, a Democrat, had to run for office even sooner than expected, but he was probably the most prepared candidate in the field, having previously represented his district in Eastern Queens from 2002 through 2013. Gennaro overwhelmingly won the special election and just started his second round in the City Council. City & State caught up with the former Environmental Protection Committee chair to talk about who he ranked on his ballot, why he won as a political moderate and the big project he wants to take on off the citys coast. You won the special election for Council District 24 in Queens to replace Rory Lancman on Feb. 2 and were sworn in Feb. 18 I couldnt do anything like hire staff or anything until youre actually a council member. Of course, after Feb. 2, I started getting constituent requests and all sorts of things. People think Im in office the morning of Feb. 3. Thats not the way it works. Youre up for reelection this year already. Do you expect to have a serious challenge in the June primary? Im certainly assuming theres going to be a primary. One of the people whos in the race (Mohammad Uddin) already has like $12,000 in his account. So Im assuming hes going to go. Well see who else circulates petitions, we just dont know. And I did get the county endorsement (from the Queens County Democratic Party), so I am the county candidate. I got the Central Labor Council (endorsement) yesterday. A lot of labor unions were holding back for the special. Now that the race is over did you rank on your ballot? Who else did you include? I will say what I said publicly during a debate. I ranked second Neeta Jain. But Im not going to go beyond that. But Ive got a very good relationship with Deepti Sharma. We saw her at an event the other day denouncing anti-Semitism and anti-Asian bigotry. I have a lot of respect for Deepti. I think shes really smart. Its not for me to say, but I think shes going to go pretty far in this business. One of these campaign funny things, Deeptis mother and my wife became real friends from campaigning. Like, OK, were going for coffee, want some? But I cant say enough about how much I think Deepti is really smart, really capable. I think she was a great candidate. A outside political action committee funded by real estate developers spent more than $220,000 in the race. I know youre not allowed to coordinate with them, but why do you think Common Sense NYC was so supportive of your candidacy? I dont know what their thinking was. I had no coordination with them. Theyve got their own reasons for educating voters about peoples positions. But beyond the statement I made (denouncing the PACs personal attacks on other candidates), I dont know. Its got nothing to do with me and I dont know their thinking. This is your second go in the City Council, starting your 13th year Before I was a councilman for 12 years, I was a staffer for 13 years. So I have 25 years experience with the body. I was the environmental policy adviser for the City Council for 13 years. And I knew that with the new speaker, whoever it was going to be in 2002, wasnt going to keep me around. Because by that time I had become a (then-City Council Speaker Peter) Vallone guy. I was sort of in the inner circle. Those are the first people to go when a new speaker comes in. So I said, you know what? Im president of my civic (association), Im a member of the local community board. I taught for years at Queens College. I said, Im just going to go run myself. It was run and get elected or get fired. Im going to go for door No. 2. With so many young candidates running now, you may end up having more years of experience working in the council than some of your future colleagues have been alive. I focused on this in my campaign a little bit. I talked about experience, I talked about moderation. I think I embody both those things. But its more simple than that. I think Im just a good fit for the district in terms of where I am on the ideological spectrum. And I had the benefit of having worked with every demographic group in the district and try to make things fair for people. Its just a moderate district (that) elected a moderate guy. I keep going over in my mind, trying to make it more complicated than that. I dont think it is. Its been seven years since youve been in the council. Do you have any bills you want to introduce? My core mission is environmental stuff, and should you have any problem with insomnia, I have a 14-page single-spaced compilation noting my accomplishments and awards. So one of my big things is following up on all the climate stuff that I got the ball rolling on. It helped the planet to some degree, speaking as a scientist, probably not a great degree. Were only 303 square miles out of the whole planet. And if we sent our carbon emissions to zero, it probably wouldnt make a big dent in the world (greenhouse gases) budget. However there are huge benefits to local air quality! Thats what really got me going on the climate change stuff. And something I tried to push at the (state level), and it wasnt able to get done, is storm surge barriers. Theres going to be a lot of yelling and screaming about trying to put up storm surge barriers, but this is not a brand-new technology. When you look at places like New Orleans, when you look at St. Petersburg, (Russia), when you look at the Netherlands, when you look at Venice theyve done it like all over the world and we need to do it here. I think its time that we gave the idea of storm surge barriers more of an in-depth study than theyve got thus far. But this is going to be a lot more huffing and puffing than putting up a new Tappan Zee Bridge, which was a lot of huffing and puffing. The council passed a bill last year capping building emissions, and now Gov. Andrew Cuomos budget proposal has as some people might say created a loophole for building owners. Are you OK with the addition in the budget? Theres a lot of moving parts with that. I am a proponent of Local Law 97 and that is a local government thing. But now were dealing with state government, and Ive been in state government and I understand the power of state government and the ability of local governments to flex on state governments. It doesnt work out all that well. I was surprised to hear of this development, of it being in the budget. But Im talking with people in the state Senate and the state Assembly about what is within the realm of the possible regarding where this ultimately goes. I can stand on the City Council floor and thump my chest and say its Local Law 97 or nothing, but now were dealing with state government, so now we have to see how to make the best of the situation. If I may say so, this is where experience comes in. Everything that Local Law 97 is about, that started with me. There wouldnt be a Local Law 97 but for me! Because I wrote the predecessor to Local Law 97. Im confident that Ill be able to bring a lot of value into that really important discussion. Youve served with Gale Brewer in the council before, and theres some discussionthat she may try to become the next speaker. Do you think the speaker could be somebody like her, who isnt currently serving? Let me say that Gale is a really terrific asset to the council. We served as staff to the council way back when. We go back that far. I think the best way to say it is, the class of 2022 is going to come in, and many of these people are holding out some hope that, someday, they may get to be speaker in their second term. And so if someone who is newly elected to the council gets elected as speaker, that means that all of the new people in the council have just voted against have really diminished the chances that they could ever be in a position to run for speaker. Theres a built-in disinclination for many people in the council to vote for someone whos newly elected, even as experienced as Gale, to be the speaker, because they just voted themselves out of any opportunity of ever being speaker. Someone like me, who has no aspirations to be speaker, its fine. I think Gale is great. And so it matters not to me. And of course, I know Gale. Ive known Gale forever. Were really good friends. I would do well if she was speaker of the council because she knows me and my work, but I do tend to think its probably going to be someone whos already on the council and running for their second term. Did any current City Council members come and campaign with you? I didnt seek the endorsement of other council members. So no other council members. I did seek the endorsement of other state officials that overlapped the district. And I did get one! I got (state Sen.) Joe Addabbo, with whom I go back. LAS VEGAS, March 02, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- via InvestorWire -- ISW Holdings, Inc. (OTC: ISWH) ("ISW Holdings" or the "Company"), a diversified portfolio comprised of essential business lines that serve consumer product demands in decentralized markets, is pleased to announce that, following the signing of hosting agreements with Bit5ive LLC, based in Miami, Florida, and Scrubgrass Generating Company, LLP, based in Kennerdell, Pennsylvania, the Company has successfully tripled its active cryptocurrency mining fleet with the addition of two (2) new POD5IVE datacenters. The Company now operates a total of three POD5IVE datacenter units and anticipates record acceleration in cash flows, revenue growth and profitability. The POD5IVE datacenter, produced in partnership with Bit5ive, is based on an evolutionary design. Specifications include: Active Mining Power: 62-92 Th/s depending on the miners. SHA 256 Hashrate: Currently 6,557.28 TH/s. Per POD5IVE quantity: 3x 280-360. Depending on each miner, 1x 280 and type of miner: 3x Up S17/T17, 1x up to S19/T19. Power capacity: Each POD5IVE can go 2x 800A, 2x 1000A or 2x 1200A. Total power capacity per POD5IVE: 4x 920,038.40 Watts (current site is using 800A fuse per service). Container Size: 40' x 8'. Shelving: 3x with 10 medium Racks, 1x with 4 large racks. Voltage: 415V 3 Phase. Ventilation: Passive airflow with a temperature-controlled evaporative cooler (133,000 CFM total each). Digital smart breakers, virtual power monitoring, auto rebooting and wattage protection. Door lock system (automated, warm air recirculation): Basic locks with keys. Purchase price per POD: $168,000. Manufacturing & delivery: 10-12 weeks. Master Capacity: 280 for S19/T19. Alonzo Pierce, president and chairman of ISW Holdings, commented, "We have now tripled our mining activity with the addition of two new POD5IVE mining pods. The Company will continue to significantly add to our fleet over the coming quarters. We are also building a valuable track record with our mining pods, which will validate the strong value presented when we enter our next phase and begin marketing the Proceso POD5IVE Datacenter as a self-contained, high-efficiency, low-maintenance cryptocurrency mining equipment solution." About ISW Holdings ISW Holdings, Inc., through its in-house operations and strategic partnerships, has invested in growing operations targeting the home healthcare, telehealth, cryptocurrency mining and supply chain management industries. The Company's expertise lies in strategic brand development, early growth facilitation, as well as brand identity through a proprietary procurement process. Management maneuvers its proprietary companies through critical stages of market development, which include conceptualization, go-to-market strategies, engineering, product integration and distribution efficiency. 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). Wire Service Contact InvestorWire 212.418.1217 Office Editor@InvestorWire.com India said on Tuesday that Pakistan, a country in dire economic situation, should stop state-sponsored cross-border terrorism and end institutionalised violation of human rights of its minority and other communities. Using its Right of Reply under the Agenda Item 2 at the 46th Session of the Human Rights Council in response to a statement by Pakistan's representative, India slammed Pakistan for deliberately misusing the forum for its malicious propaganda against New Delhi. "Pakistan, a country in dire economic situation, will be well advised to stop wasting time of the Council and its mechanisms, stop state-sponsored cross-border terrorism and end institutionalised violation of human rights of its minority and other communities," said Pawankumar Badhe, First Secretary of India's Permanent Mission in Geneva. "The members of this Council are well aware that Pakistan has provided pensions to dreaded and listed terrorists out of State funds and has the dubious distinction of hosting the largest number of terrorists proscribed by the United Nations," Badhe said. The Indian diplomat recalled that Pakistani leaders have admitted the fact that "it has become a factory for producing terrorists." "Pakistan has ignored that terrorism is the worst form of human rights abuse and the supporters of terrorism are the worst abusers of human rights," the Indian diplomat added. Badhe said the Council should ask Pakistan why the size of its minority communities such as Christians, Hindus and Sikhs has drastically shrunk since independence and why they and other communities such as Ahmadiyyas, Shias, Pashtuns, Sindhis and Baloch, have been subjected to draconian blasphemy laws, systemic persecution, blatant abuses and forced conversions. "Enforced disappearances, extrajudicial killings and arbitrary detentions of those who try to speak against the establishment are rampant in Pakistan and have been carried out by the State's security agencies with impunity," the diplomat said. India also rejected the Organisation of Islamic Conference's statement on Jammu and Kashmir, saying the bloc has no locus standi to comment on such matters. "We reject the reference to the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir in the statement of the OIC. It has no locus standi to comment on matters related to Jammu and Kashmir, which is an integral and inalienable part of India," the Indian diplomat said. Also read: Sharjah-Lucknow IndiGo flight makes emergency landing in Pakistan Conservative Methodists break away to form a new denomination adhering to Biblical views on the sexes, reports said. According to New York Daily News, the Methodist Church's conservative arm took another step toward breaking away from LGBTQ rights by creating a new denomination that focuses on the Bible's teachings, particularly what it says about marriage and the sexes. The new denomination, named Global Methodist Church, does not recognize same-sex marriage and strengthens bans on the ordination of LGBTQ people. It has unveiled its plan and a website. NY Daily News said that Global Methodist Church promises to be "ethnically and racially diverse" such that it will allow women to serve at all levels but adheres to the "traditional understanding of Christian marriage as God intended it to be: a covenant between a man and a woman for human sexual expression," the Associated Press noted. The breakaway is a result of the support for the LGBTQ such that there is already an ordained lesbian bishop currently in place in Methodist churches. Part of the plans of the Global Methodist Church is to implement its separation during the Methodist's General Conference that will be held August 29 to Sept. 2, 2022 wherein the Protocol of Reconciliation and Grace Through Separation will be conducted. The United Methodist Church, NY Daily News revealed, has 12.6 million members worldwide, of which 7 million are in the United States. Religion News Service, on the other hand, reported that the planned split was negotiated by 16 United Methodist bishops and advocacy leaders that created a Transitional Leadership Council to guide the creation of the Global Methodist Church. "Over the past year the council members, and hundreds of people who have informed their work, have faithfully and thoughtfully arrived at this point. They are happy to share with others a wealth of information about a church they believe will be steeped in the lifegiving confessions of the Christian faith," Transitional Leadership Council Chair Rev. Keith Boyette said. Boyette, who is also the Wesleyan Covenant Association President, said that the "primary mission of the Global Methodist Church will be to make disciples of Jesus Christ who worship passionately, love extravagantly, and witness boldly." The Wesleyan Covenant Association Website said that the Transitional Leadership Council is composed of theologically conservative Methodists that ensures "the new church" will come "into existence without delay" especially if "it becomes apparent that the leading bishops, centrists, and progressives who covenanted to support the Protocol no longer do so," meaning it will continue with the split no matter what the decision will be come their annual assembly a year and half from now. "The council said the new church will officially come into existence when a United Methodist General Conference adopts the implementing legislation for the Protocol for Reconciliation and Grace through Separation," the website said. "Local United Methodist churches, annual conferences, and central conferences will then be able to join the new denomination." Currently, the new denomination already has its mission, vision, name, logo, and a website that contains frequently asked questions and a downloadable "Transitional Book of Doctrines and Disciplines" in five languages. The Global Methodist Church is not a church just yet, its website stated. A 78-year-old Cork woman has petitioned the High Court to wind up an Irish firm owned by a collapsed German property company. Kathleen Dineen claims she is owed a total of 135,000 and, her counsel told the court, she has been consistently fobbed off when she sought repayment of her loan note investment. The German Property Group collapsed last year after taking more than 1bn from investors in Ireland, the UK, Asia and elsewhere. Money had been raised from over 1,800 Irish investors by way of issuing loan notes for the purpose of buying and renovating listed buildings in Germany with promises of annual returns of as much as 15pc. Yesterday, Bernard Dunleavy SC, for Mrs Dineen from Ballincollig, Co Cork sought the winding up of MUT 103 Ltd an Irish company with offices at Naas, Co Kildare which is linked to the German Property Group formerly known as Dolphin Capital. Counsel said his client is owed 127,000 along with interest of 8,000. He said Mrs Dineen has multiple sclerosis and suffered a stroke three years ago. The loan note was for three years and she was due to be repaid in February 2020. He said Mrs Dineen, through her son, had written seeking the money be repaid and a formal demand was made in August last year. She had also sought meetings with the company. Mr Dunleavy said there wasnt an acknowledgement from the company that the debt was owed and there had been no acknowledgement on behalf of the company regarding insolvency and a failure to pay. Mrs Dineen, counsel said, was consistently fobbed off and if the company had been straight and up front it would be a better position. The company did not alert her it could not pay her. She was told she had no claim which was patently incorrect. None of the promised meetings took place, Counsel said. In an affidavit, Mrs Dineen said she was an elderly woman and had asked her son Paul Dineen, who is a solicitor, to assist her in dealing with the company in an effort to recover the monies she said are due and owing to her. She said her son had engaged in extensive communications on her behalf with the company and its administrator Wealth Options Trustees Limited in which he raised multiple concerns in relation to the structure between the company and Dolphin Capital and requested payment of the alleged debt. She said the chief issue of concern to her the alleged debt was not addressed in any substantive way and no payment was received. Counsel for the company Peggy ORourke SC said it sought the petition to be dismissed, adjourned or stayed. She said there was a very complicated process involved and creditor meetings of Irish loan note holders to assess future options could start as early next week. Mr Justice Brian OMoore will give his decision on the winding-up application later in the week. On 12 February 1554, the 16-year-old Lady Jane Grey (15371554) approached the scaffold at the Tower of London, to be beheaded for committing high treason against Mary I of England. According to a contemporary diary, known as the Chronicle of Queen Jane, she held a boke in hir hande, wheron she praied all the way till she cam to the saide scaffolde. Containing prayers that should be read for adversity and grievous distress and strength of mind, this manuscript, identifiable as the pocket-sized prayer book Harley MS 2342, may have comforted her in her final hours. But Jane also used it to comfort others. In its empty margins she had scribbled farewell messages to her father, also imprisoned at the Tower, and to Sir John Brydges, Lieutenant of the Tower of London, who may have passed it on after her death. Lady Jane Grey by an unknown artist (c. 15901600) National Portrait Gallery, London; reproduced under a Creative Commons image licence Some abrupt events took place in the final year of Janes short life. In 1553, a dying King Edward VI, aged just 15, removed his Catholic half-sister Mary Tudor, his legitimate successor, from the line to the throne. Instead, he instructed that Jane, his Protestant cousin, should inherit the crown. On 10 July, she was proclaimed Queen of England, but only nine days later, Mary seized the throne with the aid of her supporters. Although Janes life was cut short, her messages in Harley MS 2342 and other writings associated with her imprisonment at the Tower of London helped create a long-lasting legacy. The opening page of the Chronicle of Queen Jane (England, July 1553 to October 1554): Harley MS 194, f. 1r Most of Janes surviving writings from the Tower concern spiritual advice. In her message to John Brydges, she encouraged him to live in stillness (without succumbing to the temptations of the world) by reminding him of the much greater spiritual joy that can be gained in the afterlife: I shalle as a frende desyre you, and as a Christian require you, to call uppon God, to encline youre harte to his lawes, to quicken you in his waye, and not to take the worde of trewethe utterlye oute of youre mouthe. Lyve styll to dye, that by deathe you may purchase eternall life [...] for as the Precher sayethe there is a tyme to be borne and a tyme to dye and the daye of deathe is better then the daye of oure byrthe - youres as the lord knowethe, as a frende Jane Duddeley Janes signature below her message to Sir John Brydges in her prayer book (England, 15391554): Harley MS 2342, f. 77r A Latin poem that Jane is said to have scratched with a pin into the wall of her cell at the Tower of London contains further advice. One manuscript version of the poem, which adds an English translation and opens with an English verse from one of her letters, claims that she wrote it for her husband, Lord Guildford Dudley (c. 15351554), who had been awaiting execution elsewhere in the castle. Her purported message offers words of advice, consolation and a caution against the vicissitudes of life that seem appropriate for a wider audience: Certen verses written by the said Lady Jane before hir deathe unto the Lorde Guylford Dudley hir husband who was executed apon the Scaffold at Tower hill [...] a litle before the death of the said Lady Jane: Bee constant, bee constant, feare not for payne, Christe hath redeamed thee, and heaven is thy gayn. Non aliena putes homini, qui obtingere possunt, Sors hodierna mihi, tunc erit illa tibi. Do never thincke it straunge, Though nowe I have misfortune ffor if that fortune chaunge: The same to the may happen. Post tenebras spero lucem Deo Juvante, nil nocet Livor malus. Et non Juvante, nil invat Labor gravis. Yf God do helpe thee: Hate shall not hurte thee, Yf god do fayle thee: Then shall not Labor prevayle thee A poem that Jane purportedly inscribed in her cell at the Tower of London (Cheshire, late 16th- and early 17th-century): Egerton MS 2642, f. 213v Although these writings may have been relatively unknown in the 16th century, several of Janes prison letters were published in print shortly after death. One is a letter to her younger sister Lady Katherine Grey (15401568), written on the night before her execution on the pages of a New Testament in Greek. A copy of this printed letter was subsequently entered onto the empty leaves of a 15th-century English manuscript (Harley 2370) containing a treatise known as the Ars moriendi (Art of dying). Like the latter work, Janes letter reminds the reader of the importance of leading a virtuous life while hoping for salvation in death: Lyve styll to dey, that you by deth may purchas eternal lyfe [...] And trust not that the tendernes of your age shall lengthen your liffe; for as sone (if God call) goith the yowng as the old: and laborre alway to lerne to dey, deney the world, defey the devell, and disspyse the flesh, delite yourselfe onely in the lord. Janes letter (exhortacyon) to her sister Katherine on the night bef[ore] she suffred (England, 16th century): Harley MS 2370, f. 39v But Jane did not only write spiritual advice. In two other letters published together with that to her sister, she eloquently defended the Protestant faith against the Catholic Church. One of these is a letter addressed to an anonymous man who had recently converted from Protestantism to Catholicism. A handwritten copy of it can be found in one of the volumes of the Protestant historian John Foxe (1516/15171587) that he used for his account of the persecution of Protestants under the Catholic Church, entitled Actes and Monuments and known as his Book of Martyrs, published in 1563. An Epistle of the Lady Iane, a righte vertuwes woman, to a lerned man of late fallen from the truth of Gods word for feare off the worlde (England, c. 1560): Harley MS 416, f. 25r In the other letter, Jane recounted her debate with John Feckenham (c. 15151584), a Benedictine monk sent by Mary Tudor a few days before the execution in order to convert her to Catholicism. In it, Jane details how she remained unmoved by and refuted Feckenhams attacks on her Protestant ideas. For example, she retorted to him, I grounde my faith uppon goddes word and not uppon the Churche for if the Churche be a good Churche the faith of the Churche must be tried by goddes worde and not goddes worde by the Churche. The dialogue was published in pamphlet form as early as 1554, but gained further circulation by its inclusion in Foxes Actes and Monuments. Janes debate with John Feckenham, entitled Perswasyons of Fecknam to turne the Lady Jane Dudley agaynst she shulde suffer deathe (England, c. 1570) Harley MS 425, f. 83r When Jane was writing, she cannot have expected her letters to reach an audience beyond their intended recipients. However, during Mary Tudors restoration of Catholicism and persecution of Protestants, her letters found a different audience among printers and readers. These publications made her the first female author whose spiritual letters were printed in England, and ensured that her letters survived into modern times. Clarck Drieshen Follow us on Twitter @BLMedieval Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi on Tuesday directed officials to invoke the Security Act (NSA) against all the four accused involved in the murder of Amrish Sharma, a resident of Hathras. Amrish Sharma was shot dead by the main accused, Gaurav Sharma and his friends. The deceased had filed a case against Gaurav Sharma in July 2018 for allegedly molesting his daughter at a village in the Sasni police station area on Monday, Uttar Pradesh police said. "Chief Minister Yogi directs officials to take strict action in the matter. He has also given directions to invoke the Security Act against all the accused involved in the case," the Chief Minister's Office (CMO) said in a statement. is an act that empowers the government to detain a person if the authorities are satisfied that he/she is a threat to security or to prevent him/her from disrupting public order. According to the police, an FIR has been registered against four accused, two of whom have been arrested. Vineet Jaiswal, Superintendent of Police (SP) Hathras said that Amrish Sharma was shot dead in his Nojalpur village by the main accused Gaurav Sharma along with his friends on Monday at around 4 pm. The SP said that the police reached the incident spot and an investigation was carried out on Monday. "During the investigation, it came to light that in July 2018, Amrish Sharma had filed a case of molestation against Gaurav Sharma, who was sent to jail but he came out on bail after one month. Both the families were having a dispute since then," Jaiswal added. Speaking about the incident, the police official said, "The wife and the aunt of the main accused Gaurav Sharma and both daughters of deceased had gone to temple in the village. They had an argument there over the old case. The accused and the Amrish Sharma came there later where they argued and the accused shot the latter, who died while being taken to hospital." The SP said that teams have been formed to nab the remaining accused and further investigation is underway. (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.) Lesson #1: God Uses Imperfect People Like Jacob, weve all failed God and were all stained with sin. If God only used perfect people there wouldnt be anyone serving him today. Isnt that encouraging! Jacobs faith in the Lord was still immature when he had his first Devine experience with God and he would continue to scheme, lie, and manipulate for a number of years, but God was still working on him and Jacob did eventually mature into a godly man. At the end of his life, he was known as a man of faith, It was by faith that Jacob, when he was old and dying, blessed each of Josephs sons and bowed in worship as he leaned on his staff. Heb. 11:21 Never think that God wont forgive and remake you into the man or woman hes always wanted you to be. For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of Gods glorious standard. Yet God, in his grace, freely makes us right in his sight. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins. Rom. 3:23-24 NLT Lesson #2: Gods Purpose and Plan Is Always Better than Ours Early in his life, Jacob trusted his own plans rather than relying on Gods plans. Even after his prophetic dream, he went on to lie and cheat his uncle Laban, who he worked for, to get what he wanted when he wanted it. But then he had another encounter with God in a dream when he was traveling back to the land God had promised him. That night Jacob got up and took his two wives, his two female servants and his eleven sons and crossed the ford of the Jabbok. After he had sent them across the stream, he sent over all his possessions. So Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him till daybreak. When the man saw that he could not overpower him, he touched the socket of Jacobs hip so that his hip was wrenched as he wrestled with the man. Then the man said, Let me go, for it is daybreak. But Jacob replied, I will not let you go unless you bless me. The man asked him, What is your name? Jacob, he answered. Then the man said, Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have struggled with God and with humans and have overcome. Jacob said, Please tell me your name. But he replied, Why do you ask my name? Then he blessed him there. So Jacob called the place Peniel, saying, It is because I saw God face to face, and yet my life was spared. Gen 32:26-30 Jacob finally got it. He was a changed man with a limp that would always remind him that God was in charge. Sometimes we figuratively wrestle with God because were sure we know whats best for us. But God says, For I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord. They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. Jer. 29: 11 NLT Photo credit: Getty Images/pcess609 ADVERTISEMENT President Muhammadu Buhari has expressed joy over the release of some abducted students of Government Girls Secondary School, Jangebe, Zamfara State. PREMIUM TIMES had reported how majority of the 317 female students abducted from the school were freed early Tuesday. Yusuf Idris, media aide to Governor Bello Matawalle of Zamfara, confirmed the release of the girls to this newspaper. The official said 279 schoolgirls were released around 4:00 a.m. on Tuesday. He said the girls were currently at the Zamfara Government House waiting to be reunited with their parents. He asked for more time to provide details on the remaining 38 girls. PREMIUM TIMES had reported how the students were abducted early Friday amidst the worsening security situation across Nigeria. The abduction in Zamfara occurred about two weeks after dozens of students and some staff members were abducted by armed bandits from a school in Kagara, Niger State. The students in Niger were released on Saturday morning. President Muhammadu Buhari had condemned the abductions, saying his government would not succumb to the blackmail of the bandits. Overwhelming joy In a statement by Presidential Spokesperson, Garba Shehu, the president said he was happy because the students ordeals ended in a happy note without any casualty. I join the families and people of Zamfara State in welcoming and celebrating the release of these traumatized female students Mr Buhari said. Being held in captivity is an agonizing experience not only for the victims, but also their families and all of us. While celebrating the release of the students, the president called for greater vigilance by the people so that human intelligence could be collected early enough to nip the bandits plans in the bud. The president warned that the time had come to reverse, completely, the grim and heartbreaking incidents of kidnapping. Ransom payments will continue to prosper kidnapping, he warned, while urging the police and the military to go after these kidnappers and bring them to justice, he said. Alibaba founder Jack Ma has lost the title of Chinas richest man, according to a Shanghai-based Hurun report. Ma, who is also the founder of Ant Group, tumbled to fourth place behind Nongfu Springs Zhing Shanshan, Tencent Holdings Pony Ma and Pinduoduo's Collin Huang. It is worth noting that Jack Ma and his family had held the top spot for Chinas richest in the Hurun Global Rich List 2020 and 2019, however, now he trails in fourth place because of scrutiny by Chinese regulators. The Hurun report said that Mas fall out of the top three comes after Chinas regulators reined in Ant Group and Alibaba on anti-trust issues. His woes were triggered by his speech in October in which he had blasted Chinas regulatory system, leading to the suspension of his Ant Groups $37 billion IPO just days before the fintech giants public listing. The Chinese regulators have since tightened anti-trust scrutiny on the countrys tech sector. READ: China Suspending Jack Ma's IPO Listings Has Political Connection, Says Report READ: Jack Ma 'reappears'; Missing Alibaba Tycoon Now Spotted Golfing In China's Hainan Highest concentration of billionaires in China Nongfu Spring's Zhong Shanshan, on the other hand, entered the list for the first time with an $85 billion fortune. Zhong had made his money on the $1.1 billion IPO in Hong Kong last year. Hurun reported that Zhong had made his first appearance at the top spot largely thanks to share price performances of his company and vaccine maker Beijing Wantai Biological Pharmacy Enterprise, which he also controls. Further, Tencents Pony Ma saw his wealth swell 70 per cent over the year to $74.16 billion. Pinduoduo's Huang's fortune grew 283% to 69.53 billion. Hurun reported that more than 200 billionaires were created in China last year and the country also added 490 new billionaires in the past five years compared with the 160 added in the US. The report said that six of the worlds top-10 cities with the highest concentration of billionaires are now in China with Beijing being the top city for the sixth consecutive year. (Image: AP) READ: Jack Ma Left Out From List Of Entrepreneurial Leaders Published By Chinese State Media READ: Jack Ma 'reappears' Amid Speculations Of Death Or Detention, Netizens Say 'he Is Back' (Natural News) Portuguese-speaking South American hackers have targeted the biomedical systems in a laboratory in the University of Oxford that is conducting research on the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19). Officials from Oxford confirmed that its Division of Structural Biology, known as Strubi, was targeted by a cyber attack sometime in mid-February. The university was quick to point out that, while Strubi was researching the coronavirus, it was distinct from the Jenner Institute, the laboratory that developed the coronavirus vaccine in partnership with pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca. Oxford was alerted to the breach in Strubi when screenshots of the attack were discovered inside the labs network. The hackers left these screenshots in one of their poorly secured servers. The screenshots showed what appeared to be possible laboratory machines, one of which had the ability to control pumps and pressure. These controls, which ran on the Microsoft Windows operating system, had timestamps that showed the hackers infiltrated the lab between Feb. 13 and Feb. 14. Alex Holden, the founder of Hold Security, a cybersecurity company based in Wisconsin, told Reuters that the hackers are Portuguese speakers operating out of South America, which means they are most likely from Brazil. Holdens firm was able to monitor the hackers online discussions, and found out that they were criminally motivated. Some of their conversations involved references to ransomware and demands for monetary payouts. Holden refused to discuss any other possible leads regarding the identity of the hackers. There has been no impact on any clinical research, as this is not conducted in the affected area, said the Oxford spokesman. We have identified and contained the problem and are now investigating further, he added. The National Cyber Security Center (NCSC) of the Government Communication Headquarters, the United Kingdoms intelligence and security agency, was immediately alerted to the situation and signed on to aid in the universitys investigation. The university has refused to name which specific facility in Strubi was affected by the cyber attack. The NCSC has refused to comment on the investigation, only saying that it was working to fully understand [the cyber attacks] impact. Alan Woodward, professor and cybersecurity expert at the University of Surrey, believes the hackers were searching Oxfords servers for data regarding the virus or the vaccine. As the attackers were selling access, it suggests it was probably not a nation-state but a group who thought nation-states or those working on valuable intellectual property might pay for, said Woodward. Many vaccine research organizations and government health agencies have been targeted by cyberattacks since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic. Many of these hacking circles are scrambling to secure the latest information regarding the development of vaccines and other coronavirus medication. (Related: Vaccine data from Pfizer and BioNTech possibly stolen in cyberattack against EU medicine regulation agency.) Some coronavirus hacking circles likely government-sponsored Some of these hacking circles are potentially government-sponsored. The intelligence service of South Korea believes it was recently targeted by North Korean hackers who attempted to steal information about the coronavirus vaccines and treatments. South Koreas National Intelligence Service informed the countrys parliament that North Korean hackers attempted to obtain information regarding the vaccine technology. While the NIS refuses to name which specific pharmaceutical corporation was targeted, Member of Parliament Ha Tae-keung told reporters that the hackers went after Pfizers vaccine data. North Korea stole Pfizer [vaccine information] and attempted to steal [technology] from South Korean vaccine and pharmaceutical firms, said Ha during a call with the Associated Press. Kwon Bo-young, Pfizers public relations manager in its South Korean office, said in a message that the division was double-checking Has claim with the global headquarters in New York City. A spokesperson for North Korea has denied the countrys involvement. But the nation has been linked to many previous and prominent cyberattacks in recent years, including a 2013 attack that paralyzed South Korean financial institutions, a 2014 attack against Sony Pictures and a 2017 worldwide malware attack. North Korea has a strong motivation to acquire information regarding coronavirus vaccines and coronavirus-related technology. The communist countrys healthcare system is crumbling, and many experts are very skeptical of the nations claim that it does not have any coronavirus cases. North Korea is expected to receive nearly two million doses of an Indian-manufactured coronavirus vaccine during the first half of the year. Learn more about the race to procure coronavirus vaccines, and the organizations desperate enough to try and steal information about them by reading the latest articles at Vaccines.news. Sources include: DailyMail.co.uk Standard.co.uk Reuters.com APNews.com New Delhi: The Delhi Police on Tuesday afternoon closed the Ghazipur border again, hours after it reopened a portion of NH-9 for traffic movement, officials said. The stretch was closed since January 26 when violence broke out during the farmers' tractor parade in the national capital on Republic Day. Delhi Police The one side of the road which goes towards Ghaziabad from Delhi was opened for traffic in the morning. Thousands of farmers, mostly from Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh, have been camping at the Delhi border points -- Singhu, Tikri and Ghazipur -- demanding a repeal of the three farm laws enacted by the Centre in September last year. Nicola Sturgeon today hinted that Scotland's lockdown exit will be speeded up as she hailed the more 'optimistic' situation. The First Minister struck a markedly more upbeat tone as she updated Holyrood on the battle with coronavirus. Confirming that schools will open up more from March 15, she said it might be possible to go 'further and faster' than she previously suggested. Ms Sturgeon's roadmap is considerably more cautious than Boris Johnson's, with the PM having set a June 21 deadline for all significant rules to have been lifted. Pubs, non-essential shops and restaurants are currently expected to have to wait until the end of April to open north of the border - while they can start to get back to business from April 12 in England. The SNP leader has faced a backlash over her vague approach with no firm dates beyond April for rules to be loosened. But she has dismissed Mr Johnson's June target date as 'made up'. In a statement to MSPs this afternoon, Ms Sturgeon said the Scottish government will consider over the next week whether easing can be accelerated. Nicola Sturgeon today hinted that Scotland's lockdown exit will be speeded up as she hailed the more 'optimistic' situation The Scottish First Minister said she was looking at whether the lockdown could be eased 'further and faster' She said: 'I have always said if we can go further and faster, then we will not hesitate to do so. 'All of us want to move on as quickly as possible and, as a priority, to see friends and family again. I hope that day is now not too far away. 'But to make sure we don't see any reverse in our progress that would put that in jeopardy, it is really important that, for now, we all need to abide by the lockdown rules. 'So please continue to stick to their letter and their spirit.' Ms Sturgeon said the Covid-19 data has been 'much more encouraging' in Scotland over the past week. The average new daily cases has dropped to 657 from 815 at this point last week. Ms Sturgeon said: 'Collectively, we are suppressing the virus, and saving lives. 'There is more reason to be optimistic now than at any time since early autumn. 'That said, we know we need to take care to avoid sending progress into reverse.' Mr Sturgeon has previously dismissed Mr Johnson's June target date for ending restrictions as 'made up' Ms Sturgeon confirmed the next phase of school returns in Scotland will go ahead as planned on March 15. Last week's strategic framework said all primary school pupils would return full time, if data supported the return. A phased return of pupils will take place between March 15 and the Easter break, with all pupils given at least some in-school teaching in that time, before full-time schooling returns after the holidays. However, when secondary schools return, face coverings will have to be worn at all times and physical distancing guidelines followed. Ms Sturgeon also urged school staff and older secondary pupils to take up the lateral flow tests being made available. She said: 'I would encourage as many staff and senior phase pupils as possible to use the tests when they return to school. It is a further important way in which we can ensure that schools remain as safe as possible.' Tom Holland has played Spider-Man for the past six years - but was nearly not cast in the iconic superhero role. In a new interview, Joe Russo - one half of the Russo brothers, who direct the current chapters in the Spider-Man franchise - explained that Sony - the studio that makes the movies - weren't keen on Tom, now 24, at first. 'We talked with [president Kevin] Feige at Marvel about Holland and he got excited and then we went to Sony' Joe told The Playlist. 'And they were like, "Let's think about it for a minute." Near miss: Tom Holland has played Spider-Man for the past six years - but was nearly not cast in the iconic superhero role 'We could tell we were meeting resistance from Sony. So we brought [Tom] back, brought him back, brought him back, and we were relentless in our pursuit of jamming him down the throat of the studio who owns this IP. 'It came down to a fight, yet Sony just kept dragging their feet.' Tom was first introduced to the Marvel Cinematic Universe in 2016's Captain America: Civil War, before he made his first appearance as the titular hero in Spider-Man: Homecoming. Joe went on: 'Coming into Civil War, Sony is looking at us going, "OK, so you guys have the Midas touch, here's our [Spider-Man] IP." Close call: In a new interview, Joe Russo - one half of the Russo brothers, who direct the current chapters in the Spider-Man franchise - explained that Sony - the studio that makes the movies - weren't keen on Tom, now 24, at first Resistance: 'We talked with [president Kevin] Feige at Marvel about Holland and he got excited and then we went to Sony' Joe told The Playlist. 'And they were like, "Let's think about it for a minute"' New boy: Tom was first introduced to the Marvel Cinematic Universe in 2016's Captain America: Civil War [pictured], before he made his first appearance as the titular hero in Spider-Man: Homecoming 'But, also, they were reticent, nervous, about handing off something that could ultimately cost them hundreds of millions of dollars, if not billions of dollars down the line.' Co-director Anthony Russo shared that Tom, who was a teenager at the time, also made the studio execs nervous. 'It was the first time Spider-Man had ever been cast as an actual teenager, right? Which was very important to us; there was a distinct nervousness of casting a kid,' he said. Joe added: 'There's a universe where Tom Holland is the last great movie star coming in underneath the wire of disruption. 'It takes a perfect storm of events to create a star: talent, timing, marketplace!' Big reveal: Tom joked about his tendency to spoil secrets while revealing the name of the next highly-anticipated superhero sequel on Wednesday - Spider-Man: No Way Home There it is! Zendaya and Jacob teased Tom in the official announcement clip on Wednesday, telling the English actor behind Peter Parker he was an expert at spoiling things as they walked past a whiteboard with the title written on it Tom and co-stars Zendaya and Jacob Batalon revealed the title to the latest Spider-Man sequel last week. The follow-up to 2019's Spider-Man: Far From Home has officially been dubbed Spider-Man: No Way Home. But keeping the name a secret was no easy task due to the leading man's notoriously loose-lips. Zendaya and Jacob teased Tom in the official announcement on Wednesday, telling the English actor behind Peter Parker he was an expert at spoiling things while they walked past a whiteboard with the title written on it. The Daily Beast Photo Illustration by The Daily Beast/GettyMike Lindell, the MyPillow CEO and Trumpist conspiracy-peddler, flew his private jet to the Republican Governors Association meeting the other day.The guvs promptly threw him out. But the incident got Molly Jong-Fast thinking: Does the MyPillow CEO think hes already a governor or something?Subscribe to The New Abnormal on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Amazon Music, or Overcast. To listen to our weekly members-only bonus episodes, join Beast Inside here. Already a member? You can listen here and sign up for new episode email alerts here.Spoiler: Making MyPillows does not make you my governor. Now, chances that Mike Lindell could actually become governor of a small Republican state, 80 percent, she quips on the latest episode of The New Abnormal. Like, its not even that hard for someone that famous and insane in the Republican party to become a governor.Lindell claims he wouldnt run to be a dogcatcher right now, because he doesnt trust the voting machines. Plus, hes from the blue state of Minnesota. So maybe the risk of a Governor Pillow isnt quite so high. But L.A. Times columnist Virginia Heffernan would like to quickly add something about Mike Lindell being a cosplay governor.I think we need to understand that being in politics leads to governing and governing is boring. It is not a PR operation, she says. And I feel like we have made these jobs celebrity roles. Public service should not beis notbeing on a reality show.Like, I feel like we need to really dial down the razzle-dazzle, really play up the drudgery, Heffernan continues. I just don't know why every single industrialist and every single lady with abs or gorgeous arms would want to be, of all things, a governor.Biden, Heffernan opines, is doing a pretty good job at the drudgerydollars going out, jabs going out, all leading to Trump signs going down. Sure, the Donald has his cultists, like Lindell. But, I don't think people can hold onto this much insanity for this long, especially when it's a tiny minority of people who believe it, Heffernan adds. Democrats need to know how to win.To which Jong-Fast replies, oh-so-gently: Are you freakin kidding me? With all of these Republican attempts to retcon the Capitol riots? To chop away at the right to vote? To instantiate their ability to overturn elections? All while Team Biden snoozes it away? The Democrats are bringing an ice cream sundae to a knife fight, Jong-Fast says.Plus! Politicos Tara Palmeri talks about her search to find Liz Cheney supporters in Wyoming. And Battle for the Soul author Edward-Isaac Dovere gives us a peek into how Biden sees the political landscape. The presidency that he has in front of him now, he knows, is so different from what he ever expected to have, Dovere says, And part of that is rethinking how he incorporates the progressivism within the party that took root and that was so much part of this campaign. And its just, its a really complicated evolution for him. Its not the presidency he thought itd be running in 2019 when he got into this race.Read more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more. Rev. Dr. Kwabena Opuni-Frimpong has urged President Akufo-Addo to prepare an L.I. which will stop the activities and advocacy of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Intersex and Queer (LGBTQ) in the country. The issue of LGBTQI has been a topical one in the past days following the opening of the groups office in Accra. After calls to speak to the issue, President Akufo-Addo gave the strongest indication that activities of LGBTQI are not going to be legalized under his administration. I have said it before, and let me stress it again, that it will not be under the Presidency of Nana Addo Dankwah Akufo-Addo that same-sex marriage will be legal, he said at the installation of the 2nd Archbishop of the Anglican Church held in Asante Mampong. However, Rev Dr Opuni-Frimpong says enough with the rhetoric. Speaking in a one-on-one interview on Neat FM's 'Me Man Nti' programme, he said if the President intends to leave a legacy which will protect "the sanctity of marriage and family value," he should ensure there are laws and policies against LGBTQI "Enough of the words; they must now translate the words into formulation of laws, policies and programmes. If Nana Addo wants to leave any legacy he should prepare an L.I to parliament. Just talking . . . we will be judged by our actions not just in our intention. It is now time for those having the mandate to work towards a future that protects the sanctity of marriage, and our family values. If they want the issues to come up so that we discuss them in the media and so on, they have not been fair to us . . . " he indicated. The former General Secretary of the Christian Council of Ghana reiterated; "we've had enough of the talks and grammar; let's put the conversation forward and get laws, policies to protect our society, otherwise our leaders have failed us". Listen to him in the video below Source: Peacefmonline.com Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Kiran Athota | CEO, FocalPoint Education Backpack literally reinvents the student data ecosystem. FocalPoint Education is excited to announce the formal release of FocalPoint Backpack for student credentials. Backpack literally reinvents the student data ecosystem, says FocalPoint CEO, Kiran Athota. It not only creates a student-centric model but promotes higher student engagement through micro-credentialing and badges. For those unfamiliar with blockchain in a K-12 education context, FocalPoint Chief Strategy Officer, John Randall Dennis and Dr. Wendy Oliver discussed it recently in District Administration digital magazine: Surf the Blockchain Wave Without Fear of Drowning. FocalPoint Backpack utterly eliminates data integrity concerns and makes security steady state not merely a goal, continues Athota. The Backpack platform provides seamless tracking of student learning progress on an ongoing basis. Districts, universities, and other public and private credentialing bodies control awarding academic credentials, but students own their blockchain data forever to provide for future access to education, prospective employers, and more. Within a Student Backpack, once applied to the students blockchain, no one can tamper or delete a students data. If a record is found to have an error, a new, corrected record must replace it by the conferring body. Once the education institution awards transcript data or course data to a students backpack, providing access to view the data is student-centered. Students or families have control over who has access to their blockchains, and since it is a distributed ledger there is no single point of failure that would put their data at risk - blockchain technology exceeds FERPA requirements. Data supports that badging and micro-credentialing motivates students, says Dr. Wendy Oliver, author of the Not Your Mamas Classroom book series. Intentionally using this motivation strategy clearly improves both engagement and outcomes for students. FocalPoints solution offers students all the benefits blockchain provides them, so its clearly not just your mamas transcript either! By leveraging Ethereum, FocalPoints Backpack identifies and verifies whether students meet their assigned objectives. Upon completion of each objective, students earn a personal, non-fungible ERC 721 token and certificate they award to their personal blockchain. Students adding the certificate to their blockchain is as easy as using the camera on their phone to capture a QR-code, says Athota. We have not only tested the solution, we are in a CTE pilot with one of the nations largest school districts, and others are inquiring to participate. An Info Sheet on the FocalPoint Backpack can be explored at https://www.focalpoint.education/districts, where other district-level solutions are available. For additional information, email hello@focalpoint.education or call +1 (866) 377-4265. ABOUT DR. WENDY OLIVER Wendy Oliver, EdD is a consultant who has dedicated her professional life to preparing children, parents, educators and learners of all ages to be competitive in a global economy. E: wendy.oliver@partnersfordigital.com ABOUT FOCALPOINT EDUCATION FocalPoint Education is a metro-Atlanta based firm with extensive experience in educational technology development. FocalPoint has successfully deployed bespoke enterprise statewide solutions for Georgia, Rhode Island, Maine and North Dakota, as well as school districts in 14 states. Their innovative solutions include LearningTree (an Adaptive Learning Platform leveraging next-gen technology), LENS (learning analytics with a recommendations engine and data warehousing) and AssessCloud (a solution allowing educators to develop and manage assessments). FocalPoint utilizes xAPI, Learning Record Store (LRS) technology and relevancy algorithms to deliver advanced learning analytics to drive student engagement, match digital resources with targeted student needs and support data-driven, personalized learning. All FocalPoint solutions seamlessly integrate with countless third-party edtech solutions. For more information visit http://www.focalpoint.education. Video: https://vimeo.com/479411515 ALEXANDRIA, Va., March 2, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- SBG Technology Solutions, Inc. (SBG) is very pleased to announce its award of the 5-year option period as a Prime Contractor for the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) under the Indefinite-Delivery, Indefinite-Quantity (IDIQ) Transformation Twenty-One Total Technology Next Generation (T4NG) contract vehicle. About T4NG T4NG is a highly sought after 10-year, IDIQ contract with a ceiling of $22.3 billion for a 5-year base period and one 5-year option period. SBG was just awarded the 5-year option period for T4NG as a Service-Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business (SDVOSB). The T4NG program was developed to give VA and other federal agencies the ability to acquire worldwide information technology (IT) services that will help ensure timely delivery of health care and benefits to our nation's Veterans. SBG and its teaming partners will now have an even greater opportunity to continue delivering healthcare transformational technology and services across numerous VA T4NG functional areas: Program Management, Strategy, Enterprise Architecture and Planning Support; Systems/Software Engineering; Software Technology Demonstration and Transition; Test & Evaluation (T&E); Independent Verification and Validation (IV&V); Enterprise Network; Enterprise Management Framework; Operations and Maintenance (O&M); Cyber Security; Artificial Intelligence; Training; and IT Facilities. Carlos Del Toro, President and CEO of SBG Technology Solutions and a 26-year Navy Combat Veteran, recently shared news of the T4NG award with all SBG associates by commenting, "The SBG Team is deeply honored to receive this award. We look forward to continuing our use of the T4NG contract vehicle at an increased capacity to continue providing VA and other government agencies the healthcare IT and benefit services needed worldwide to fulfill the commitment to our nation's Veterans and their families. We look forward to substantially expanding our services to deliver the best possible experience along the entire continuum of care." About SBG Technology Solutions, Inc. About SBG Technology Solutions: Founded in 2004, SBG is a Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business offering IT Governance, Systems Engineering, Enterprise Modernization, and Artificial Intelligence and Cyber Security innovation to federal and commercial clients nationwide. ISO 9001:2015 certified and CMMI-DEV Level 3-appraised, SBG provides expert services to a wide range of clients including the Department of Veterans Affairs, Department of Navy, Department of Army, Defense Threat Reduction Agency, Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board, as well as the private sector. Move forward smartly with a partner who delivers world-class solutions! For more information, visit: sbgts.com. Follow us @sbgts. SOURCE SBG Technology Solutions, Inc. Horseracing authorities are investigating footage of Irish jockey Rob James sitting on a dead horse, just days after a separate image of horse trainer Gordon Elliott emerged Horseracing authorities are investigating footage of Irish jockey Rob James sitting on a dead horse, just days after a separate image of horse trainer Gordon Elliott emerged. The Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board (IRHB) has said it is carrying out inquiries into the new footage which began circulating on social media overnight and shows a horse lying motionless on the ground surrounded by four men. Amateur jockey James, a winner at Cheltenham last year, has apologised for his stupidity and the embarrassment he has caused. I have become aware of a video circulating of me on social media, James told the Irish Field. "I would just like of apologise for my actions which were wholly inappropriate and disrespectful to a lovely five-year-old mare, who unfortunately suffered a sudden cardiac arrest while at exercise earlier that morning, April 30th, 2016. "I sincerely apologise to the owners of the mare, the staff who cared for her, the horseracing industry and all followers of horse racing for my actions. "To try defending my stupidity at the time would add further insult and hurt to the many loyal people that have supported me during my career. I have caused embarrassment to my employers, my family and most importantly the sport I love. "I am heartbroken by the damage I have caused and will do my best to try and make amends to those hurt by my conduct. While appearing to try and move the horse using heavy machinery and harnesses, James is seen putting his leg over the horse and sitting on it. During the brief clip the other men can also be heard laughing. This morning the IHRB said it is aware of further social media content circulating and the matter is under investigation. It comes just days after a separate image was widely circulated of trainer Gordon Elliott sitting on a dead horse at his Meath gallops. An investigation is continuing into this incident by the IHRB. The highly successful trainer has since apologised for the picture, saying he was taking a phone call when he sat on the horse. In a statement over the weekend Mr Elliott said: I appreciate that an initial viewing of this photo suggests it is a callous and staged photo but nothing could be further from the truth. I was standing over the horse waiting to help with the removal of the body, in the course of which, to my memory I received a call and, without thinking, I sat down to take it. Hearing a shout from one of my team, I gestured to wait until I was finished. It has led to widespread criticism and the British Horseracing Authority (BHA) have said it will not allow Elliott to race horses in the UK while the Irish investigation is continuing. The major development comes just two weeks before the Cheltenham festival is due to take place where several prestigious horses trained by Mr Elliott are due to race. In a statement the BHA said it will not allow him to race in the UK using "powers under its own rules to refuse to allow horses trained by Elliott to race in Britain pending consideration of the outcome of the Irish investigation. "The action taken by the BHA recognises that Mr Elliott is licensed in Ireland, whose regulatory body, the IHRB, is carrying out its own investigation. "However, Mr Elliott has entered horses to race in Britain, from which point the British Rules of Racing apply to him," they said. There has been widespread condemnation over the image and a petition for Elliott to be banned by British authorities has been signed almost 2,000 times. Betting exchange giant Betfair has also ended its involvement with him. Elliott and Gigginstown have had a lengthy fruitful partnership with Cheltenham Gold Cup success for Don Cossack in 2016 and successive Aintree Grand National victories for Tiger Roll among a string of high-profile prizes. In a statement Ryanair and Gigginstown boss Michael OLeary said he accepts that the photograph was a momentary lapse of judgement and not in keeping with their 15-year experience of his concern and attention to the welfare of their horses. We all make mistakes, and what is important is that we learn from them and ensure we do not repeat them. We accept Gordons profound, sincere and unreserved apology, and we will continue to support him and his team at Cullentra as they work to recover from this deeply regrettable incident, OLeary said. Green Party Cabinet Minister Pippa Hackett has said she found the photograph of Mr Elliot sitting on a dead horse quite sickening and welcomed the investment by the IHRB. Gordon Elliot has shown a very concerning and disturbing error of judgement and I look forward to a swift investigation by the IHRB, Ms Hackett told Independent.ie. The Minster of State in Department of Agriculture added that it is appalling to see a high-profile trainer behave in such a manner. The Green Party senator breeds races horses on her Offaly farm which have gone on to win high-profile races. Agriculture Minister Charlie McConalogue has said he is appalled by the photograph of Mr Elliott sitting on a dead horse. In a statement, Mr McConalogue said: The photograph is not reflective of the highest animal welfare standards we demand for the sector nor does it reflect the tremendous care horses receive in Ireland. It is not the kind of image we want associated with horse racing in Ireland. "I am aware of the investigation being carried out by the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Body (IHRB) and support the move. As this is an ongoing investigation, it is inappropriate to comment further, he added. The company believes its OPENeP solution will deliver measurable benefits to the District Health Boards and looks forward to extending these across the region on successful completion of the pilot. An initial pilot project will be undertaken to the value of $600,000 over 6 to 7 months. Ltd ( ) has signed a contract with New Zealands Te Manawa Taki (TMT) region District Health Boards (DHBs) for a pilot implementation of Betters OPENeP Electronic Medication Management solution. OPENeP, which was recently renamed Better Meds, supports full closed-loop medication management addressing the five rights right patient, right drug, right dose, right route and the right time. Alcidion, which was appointed as a reseller and implementer of the OPENeP solution in April 2019 for the UK, Australia and New Zealand, will provide DHBs with choices when selecting closed-loop medication management solutions to improve care delivery and medication safety. First in Southern Hemisphere This implementation represents the first deployment of the OPENeP solution in the Southern Hemisphere. It builds on the Alcidion and Better relationship in the UK and provides a reference site for further contracts in New Zealand and Australia. Excited to extend partnership Alcidion managing director Kate Quirke said: We are excited to extend our partnership with New Zealand DHBs beyond our Miya Precision, Patientrack and Smartpage products to the implementation of electronic medication management at Te Manawa Taki. We believe the OPENeP solution will deliver measurable benefits to the DHBs and look forward to extending these benefits across the region, on successful completion of the pilot. TMT region pilot project TMT region is in the middle of the North Island and stretches from Cape Egmont in the west to East Cape. It comprises five DHBs: Hauora Tairawhiti, Taranaki, Lakes, Bay of Plenty and Waikato. These boundaries take in the major population centres of Gisborne, New Plymouth, Rotorua, Tauranga and Hamilton. The integrated workflow addresses reconciliation, prescribing, clinical pharmacy review and medication administration, and has been developed in collaboration with clinical teams to align with their workflows and provides efficiencies, transparency and decision support to the critical care processes associated with medication management. Hawera Hospital first The pilot will begin with a project at Hawera Hospital, part of Taranaki DHB, and this initial pilot will be undertaken to the value of $600,000 over a 6-7 months period. Subject to the successful completion of the pilot and the approval of funding for each DHB, the implementation is intended to roll out across all five DHBs. Taranaki DHB CIO Steven Parrish said: This project is ground-breaking in that not only is it the first regionally-led e-medicine trial in New Zealand, but it will also be the first instance of OPENeP in the Asia-Pacific region. Of all TMT hospitals, Hawera was the logical location for the pilot due to its size and existing experience with eMedicine. Extending Alcidions existing footprint In the UK, Alcidion is implementing OPENeP at Dartford & Gravesham NHS Trust and a project with South Tees NHS Foundation Trust is soon to start. Both the Dartford and South Tees implementations of OpenEP are part of a larger project to roll out the full capability of Alcidions flagship platform, Miya Precision. This project will extend Alcidions existing footprint across New Zealand with their other products Miya Observations, Miya Assessments, Miya Access, Miya Command, Miya Flow and Smart page in use across seven DHBs. Betters OPENeP product manager Roko Malkoc said: At Better, we believe the digitisation of healthcare is a joint human effort: rather than a matter of one country, it is a matter of the whole world. The knowledge, collaboration and success stories arising from these projects, are there to be shared. With Alcidion, we have proof of this works. It has been a pure pleasure to work with the Alcidion team in the UK, and we are incredibly excited to start the digital transformation on the other side of the globe with them and healthcare professionals across Te Manawa Taki Region. Manchester, NH - August 15, 2019: President Donald Trump speaks during campaign MAGA rally at Southern New Hampshire University Arena On Sept. 27, The New York Times released a bombshell report on President Donald Trumps tax records. After looking through more than two decades worth of tax return data, the Times reported that Trump paid no federal income taxes in 11 of 18 years that were examined. According to the report, he did pay income taxes in 2016 and 2017 in the amount of $750 each year. Read More: What a Biden Presidency Means for Your Wallet Trump questioned the accuracy of the Times report in a Sept. 28 tweet: I paid many millions of dollars in taxes but was entitled, like everyone else, to depreciation & tax credits. Trump, like many other wealthy individuals, has taken advantage of some of the tax loopholes that can reduce his yearly tax burden. Find out what you might be able to write off to save more. Last updated: March 2, 2021 Beautiful, Building Exterior, Built Structure, Column, Estate Home, Florida, Florida Lifestyle, Flower, HOUSE, Lifestyles, Naples - Florida, Naples Florida, Ornate, Outdoors, Palm Tree, Residential Structure, Suburb, Tile, Tiled Floor, Tree, Waterfront, Wealth, door, luxury, mansion, nobody, real estate, real estate agent, residental, swimming pool, window 1. Claim Depreciation In his tweet, Trump calls out depreciation as a means of reducing his tax burden. So what exactly is it? For federal income tax purposes, depreciation is a deduction that allows you to recover the cost or other basis of certain property, tax expert Kelly Phillips Erb wrote in a post for Forbes. It can be tricky but generally, you begin to depreciate your property when you place it in service for the first time. The IRS considers property placed in service when it is ready and available for use, not when you actually begin using it. () You depreciate the cost of the item over its useful life (based on the kind of property) unless an exception applies. Find Out: What Can I Write Off on My Taxes? Rolls Royce Ghost in light green solid. How To Get the Deduction Depreciation can be claimed for both tangible and intangible property. Property that may be eligible for this deduction includes buildings, rental properties, machines, cars and trucks, furnishings, equipment, patents, copyrights and some kinds of software, according to TaxGirl.com. To qualify for the deduction, the property must meet three requirements: Its used for a business or income-producing activity. You own the property. It has a determinable useful life of more than one year. Depreciation claims are made in section 179 of your federal tax returns. For tax year 2020, the maximum expense deduction is $1,040,000. Take a Look: How To Avoid Paying Taxes Legally and the 11 Craziest Ways People Have Done It woman working at home and talking on phone 2. Deduct Business Expenses If you run a business, you might reap big tax benefits. Business owners who are filing taxes can claim potential tax deductions for some business expenses, including those tied to: Travel Vehicle Office supplies Work-related education expenses A home office Not every venture qualifies as a business entitled to such tax write-offs, however. To qualify, you must intend to try to make a profit in your business rather than engaging in what the IRS considers to be merely a hobby. However, sometimes the lines are blurred between business and personal expenses. For example, Trump has claimed residences, aircraft and $70,000 in hairstyling for television as business expenses on his tax returns, according to The New York Times. Among these residences is his familys Seven Springs estate in Westchester County, New York, which Trump has classified as an investment property, enabling him to write off $2.2 million in property taxes since 2014. Sales Tax by State: Heres How Much Youre Really Paying Man working at home with laptop computer. How To Get the Deduction How do you distinguish between a hobby that produces some income and a bona fide business? The IRS considers many factors that can be found on the organizations website. A few of them include: Whether you carry on the activity in a businesslike manner Whether the time and effort you put into the activity indicate you intend to make it profitable Whether you depend on income from the activity for your livelihood Check Out: Only 18% of Americans Believe Their Tax Dollars Are Being Spent the Right Way Two businessmen discussing project at meeting at office. 3. Hire Your Kids Business owners who turn their venture into a family affair can put more money back into their pockets. For example, hiring your kids offers potential tax benefits. According to the IRS: Payments for the services of a child under age 18 who works for his or her parent in a trade or business are not subject to Social Security and Medicare taxes if the trade or business is a sole proprietorship or a partnership in which each partner is a parent of the child. It can also help lower taxable profits. For example, Trump hired an unnamed consultant to aid with hotel projects in Hawaii and Vancouver, British Columbia. The amount paid to this consultant was identical to a payment Ivanka Trump received through her consulting company that year, The New York Times reported. These consulting fees reduced Trumps taxes because he was able to write them off as a business expense, lowering the amount of the final profit subject to tax. hire-your-kids How To Get the Deduction Instead of paying high taxes on your business income, transfer some of that income to your child as wages for services they perform. Your childs work must be legitimate, however, and the salary must be reasonable, said Gail Rosen, a Martinsville, New Jersey-based certified public accountant. man looking at smartphone and laptop 4. Roll Forward Business Losses Trump claimed a total of $1.4 billion in losses from his core businesses for 2008 and 2009, The New York Times reported. By rolling forward these losses, Trump was able to later claim a $72.9 million tax refund. How exactly this all works is a little complicated. Business losses are sometimes called net operating losses (NOL), Phillips Erb wrote in the Forbes post. An NOL generally results when your tax deductions exceed your taxable income. If that number is negative in one year but has been positive in other years resulting in tax payable that doesnt quite seem fair. The NOL exists so that you can balance that inequity. In other words, you can use the loss in one year to lower your taxable income and reduce your tax burden in another year. Concentrated woman reviewing financial documents at home. How To Get the Deduction Under existing tax laws, if you have an NOL, you first carry back the entire NOL amount for a number of years and if you still have an NOL remaining after you carry those losses back, you can carry the losses forward, Phillips Erb wrote. You can also opt not to carry back an NOL and only carry it forward for up to 20 years. A carry forward means that you can apply the loss towards your income in a future year. Trump was able to carry his losses back four years, which allowed him to recover taxes he paid when his business ventures including The Apprentice were profitable. By piling on losses (the legitimacy of which may be in question), he was able to generate a tax refund of $72.9 million (tax paid for 2005 through 2008, plus interest), Phillips Erb explained. businessman writing or sketching 5. Earn Income From Investments, Not Your Job Instead of working for their money, wealthy people can make their money work for them, said Pompano Beach, Florida-based accountant Eric J. Nisall, founder of AccountLancer, which specializes in accounting for freelancers. Investments that offer distributions such as real estate investment trusts (REITs) and master limited partnerships (MLPs) are set up in ways that can bring in a steady generated income. Invest in stocks or invest in real estate by purchasing rental properties. Remember youll have to make significant upfront investments before you start seeing returns. real-estate-investment How To Get the Deduction The tax on earned income can be as high as 37%. Invest in high-yielding dividend stocks and collect dividends that the companies pay at regular intervals. Later, you can sell the stock after it has appreciated and pay a relatively low capital gains tax rate. Depending on how much was earned in a particular year, long-term capital gains tax rates are 0%, 15% and 20% for 2019. If you own property that you rent out as a landlord, youll be able to deduct your property taxes. Remember, though, you have to find tenants who will pay the rent on time and wont trash your property. Urgent repairs and periodic improvements can be costly, as well. Other Money Tricks: Here Are 30 Ways To Retire Earlier house up for sale 6. Sell Real Estate You Inherit If you inherit a piece of property, you can minimize the capital gains taxes by taking advantage of the step-up in basis. Normally, if you buy a piece of land for $200,000 and then sell that land for $450,000, youll owe tax on that $250,000 gain. However, if your parents purchase the land for $200,000 and you inherit it, your new basis will be the fair market value of the property at the time you inherit it. If you sell it immediately, you wont owe any tax at all on that $250,000 gain. Shot of a young couple using a digital tablet while sitting at their kitchen table at home. How To Get the Deduction The stepped-up basis is an automatic process that happens to all property that passes by way of inheritance. For tax purposes, its like youre starting over, purchasing the property anew at the current price. In the previous example, if you inherit the property from your parents when they die, you wont be liable to pay capital gains tax on the $250,000 increase in the propertys value when you sell it using the step-up basis. Make sure your parents dont give the property to you before they die, however. If they do, theyll owe hefty taxes during their lifetime, and any financial benefit to you will be vastly diminished. Financial consultant presents bank investments to a senior couple. 7. Buy Whole Life Insurance You ordinarily associate life insurance policies with the need to provide for your dependents if you die. A secret strategy that the wealthy take advantage of is buying whole life insurance, however. Its a combination of an insurance policy and an investment account. Family Returning Home From Shopping Trip Using Plastic Free Bags Unpacking Groceries In Kitchen. How To Get the Deduction You can receive tax-deferred growth as your policy grows. Its also possible to receive tax-free distributions under certain conditions. The double benefit is that the wealthy policy owner gets this tax break during their lifetime. After their death, the amount of the policy benefit goes directly to the lucky beneficiary they named, who receives it tax-free. Consult a qualified and experienced financial planner or insurance agent. Also, consult an expert to find out if whole life insurance is right for you. Some experts believe its a bad investment, partly because of the expensive fees. Buy a Yacht or Second Home 8. Buy a Yacht or Second Home Most Americans dont have the cash to buy a boat or a second home. But having multiple residences can lessen a rich persons tax bill. buy-a-yacht How To Get the Deduction If you own a home and itemize your deductions on your tax return, you can usually deduct the property taxes and the interest you pay on the mortgage though there is an upper limit of $10,000 that taxpayers are allowed to deduct for property taxes. If you buy a second home, you can deduct the taxes and mortgage interest on that property, as well. The IRS notes that a yacht can qualify as a home, provided it includes sleeping quarters, a kitchen and a toilet. This strategy probably isnt practical for those who cant afford a second home particularly an expensive one that floats. But even if you own just one home, you should learn about the tax breaks for homeowners. Female middle-aged doctor using stethoscope to examine patient. 9. Open an HSA A health savings account is a tax-deferred account that was originally designed for healthcare expenses. However, when used properly, the account can become triple tax-free. For starters, contributions to an HSA are tax-deductible, even if you dont itemize deductions. Next, earnings in the account grow tax-free. Finally, distributions are tax-free if they are used for qualifying healthcare expenses, according to the same requirements as deductible medical and dental expenses on Schedule A. Distributions for nonhealthcare expenses generally trigger a 20% penalty. Theres one additional kicker that the rich and tax-savvy can also use to their advantage: After you turn age 65, you can withdraw your HSA money for any purpose at all without penalty, although youll still owe ordinary income tax if you spend the money on nonhealth expenses. Sort Out the Rest of Your Money: The Ultimate Financial Planning Guide Shot of a pharmacist assisting a young woman in a chemist. How To Get the Deduction You can get the HSA deduction by opening an HSA and making contributions. HSAs are not available to all taxpayers; you must participate in a high-deductible medical insurance plan. Contributions were limited to $3,450 for individuals in the tax year 2019, or $6,900 for family coverage. Report your HSA contributions, calculate your deduction, report distributions and figure your HSA taxes and penalties on Form 8889. lifestyles in Barcelona home one woman. 10. Open a Solo 401(k) Plan Most employees for larger corporations have heard of a 401(k) plan, which allows for tax-deductible contributions and tax-deferred growth of investment earnings. Those who contribute may be familiar with the annual contribution limit, which was $19,000 for the tax year 2019. If you work for yourself, you may think that youre out of luck when it comes to contributing to a 401(k). The truth is if youre self-employed, you should consider it a stroke of good fortune. Individuals can open up their own solo 401(k) plans, and they can also contribute up to a whopping $56,000 or even $62,000 if youre ages 50 and older. Men working in living room on some drawings. How To Get the Deduction Youll have to set up a solo 401(k) plan at a bank or brokerage account to get started. When you file your taxes, submit IRS Form 5500 to report your contributions. Handsome freelancer businessman working on laptop in cafe. 11. Defer Income You only pay taxes on the amount of income that you receive in any given year. Even if you complete work and are entitled to payment, if you dont actually receive the payment until the following year, you wont owe taxes on it until then. Thus, if you can defer receiving income even a single day, from Dec. 31 until Jan. 1 of the following year, you can wait another full year before you have to pay tax on it. Creative Colleagues Chatting About Work In Comfortable Co-working Space, Mid-adult businessman mentoring his young colleague. How To Get the Deduction This is probably the easiest deduction of all to claim. When you defer income into a future year, you simply dont include it in a given years income tax filing. For example, if youre due a bonus on Dec. 31 but ask your employer to pay it on Jan. 1 instead, you simply include that income on your following years tax return. Two women of the Millennial Generation are looking at a financial statement while eating lunch at a local sushi restaurant. 12. Harvest Tax Losses U.S tax law states that you have to pay capital gains tax on profits you take in taxable accounts. Worse still, if your gains are short-term in nature, meaning you held them for one year or less, youll have to pay tax at your ordinary income tax rate. If youre in the top federal tax bracket, that means youll owe 37% in federal tax alone on your short-term gains, according to the standards from tax year 2019. The smart away around this short-term gains tax is to harvest your capital losses to offset those gains. Close up of women's hands holding smartphone. How To Get the Deduction If you have any investments trading at a loss, you can sell them, realize those losses and use them to offset your capital gains. If your losses exceed your gains, you can even write off up to $3,000 of ordinary income using those losses. In this way, a paper loss on security can translate into thousands of dollars in tax savings if you use it to offset your gains. Youll have to report your capital transactions on Form 8949 before summarizing your capital gains and deductible losses on Schedule D. The wealthy might try to keep these and other tax strategies as their secrets. But, if used correctly, these tax breaks and tax loopholes can benefit everyone else in cutting state and federal taxes. More From GOBankingRates Gabrielle Olya contributed to the reporting for this article. This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: Tax Tricks and Loopholes Only the Rich Know By Lee Min-hyung Kakao has teamed up with Samsung Card for the launch of KakaoPay-labeled credit card, as part of the Kakao affiliate's move to tap deeper into the financial market. KakaoPay is a mobile payment operator growing rapidly based on the large user base of its mother firm, Kakao, the nation's leading mobile messenger provider. Under the partnership, both firms agreed to launch KakaoPay's private label credit card (PLCC) as early as May, the two companies said Tuesday. Last year, KakaoPay received applications for the project through a competitive bidding process, and Samsung Card, the nation's second-largest card firm, was selected as its partner. Both sides have since collaborated on every aspect of the process of launching the PLCC including its design, marketing and promotional benefits. The planned launch of the Kakao-labeled credit card comes as big tech firms are eyeing aggressive expansion into the financial sector. KakaoPay and Samsung Card will share profits in commissions generated from the cards. Early last month, Naver also partnered with Hyundai Card for the launch a the Naver-branded PLCC. Under the alliance, Naver aims to expand its financial influence here by generating synergy with Hyundai Card's expertise in branding and data science. Though the details are yet to be fixed, Naver, operator of the online payment service Naver Pay, aims to expand the user base of its Naver Plus Membership service through the PLCC partnership with Hyundai. Currently, customers who sign up for the membership service, paying a monthly fee of 4,900 won ($4.37), can receive a 5 percent discount on any transactions made through Naver Pay. The company attracted more than 2.5 million users for the membership service within only about six months of its launch in June 2020. Hyundai Card has been one of the nation's most active card firms in terms of launching PLCCs, while the KakaoPay PLCC marks a first for Samsung Card. Kakao also hopes to strengthen its mobile dominance by allowing Kakao PLCC users to receive benefits when making transactions on a series of Kakao platforms such as taxi-hailing service operator Kakao T and content provider KakaoPage. KakaoPay users can make transactions in about 600,000 online and offline stores by using the platform. They can also collect points and use them as replacements for cash when making online transactions. "We are going to build a KakaoPay point ecosystem after launching the card, and will keep solidifying our partnership with Samsung Card," KakaoPay Vice President Lee Jin said. As of the end of January, the number of KakaoPay users topped 35 million. The US continues to support efforts seeking to reach an agreement between Egypt, Sudan, and Ethiopia over the long-running dispute caused by the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), US State Department Spokesman Ned Price said in a press briefing on Monday. When asked about the latest updates on US involvement in the GERD negations, Price said Not since we last spoke about this. Weve talked about our decision to de-link certain assistance on Ethiopia from our policy on the GERD. We continue to support collaborative and constructive efforts by Ethiopia, Egypt, and Sudan to reach an agreement on the GERD, he noted. In September, former US President Donald Trumps administration suspended aid to Ethiopia over the filling of the reservoir of its disputed dam last summer despite a lack of agreement with Egypt and Sudan. However, Washington announced in February days after Joe Biden officially assumed the office it will de-link its pause on some aid to Ethiopia from its policy on the controversial Blue Nile hydropower dam, saying the resumption of assistance will be assessed on a number of factors. In a press briefing last month, Price told reporters that these factors will include whether each paused program remains appropriate and timely in light of developments in Ethiopia that occurred subsequent to the pause being put in place. The temporary pause on certain US foreign assistance to Ethiopia affects approximately $272 million in development and security assistance to Ethiopia. Price noted that President Joe Bidens administration will review US policy on the GERD and will assess the role the administration can play in facilitating a solution between the countries. Last year, Washington attempted to mediate a negotiated agreement between the three countries but failed after Addis Ababa refused to sign on a draft deal. The US Treasury Department and the World Bank hosted more than one round of tripartite talks from November 2019 until February 2020, before Ethiopia withdrew from the last session of talks and refused to sign on any binding deal. The US has also been acting as an observer in the currently stalled African Union (AU) sponsored tripartite negotiations, which have started last summer. The AU talks have not yet reached an agreement on the outstanding points related to the filing and operation of the dam. Ethiopia says the massive project, which it hopes will make it Africas largest power exporter, is key to its development efforts, a matter that neither Egypt nor Sudan oppose. Egypt fears the project will significantly cut its crucial water supplies from the Nile River, while Sudan has concerns on how the reservoir will be managed. There is an endeavor still in the making to revive the AU-sponsored talks, spearheaded by Sudan and backed by Egypt, to form an international quartet committee comprising the US, the European Union, the United Nations, and the African Union to mediate the negotiations. The efforts to resolve the crisis come amid worries over controversial plans by Addis Ababa to complete the second filling in July without reaching an agreement with Cairo and Khartoum first. Short link: Can SEBI Paper on Independent Directors Help Improve Corporate Governance? It is a well-recognised fact that corporate boards in India, with a preponderance of promoter influence, come under significant pressure when it comes to the appointment of independent directors and auditors. The consultative paper has come with a very commendable suggestion that independent directors can be appointed only in general meetings and only with a majority of non-promoter shareholders approving it. This takes a cue from the model followed in the UK and is certainly most welcome. The paper has also other recommendations which are quite timely but are not dwelt upon presently. To stay with the aspect of neutralising the influence of promoters in the appointment of directors and auditors, it will be useful if a few more measures are considered. To give teeth to the recommendation of independent directors being appointed by a majority of the non-promoter shareholders, it is essential that the non-promoter shareholders seize this space and play an active and vigilant role in populating the corporate boards with not just socially well recognised faces but persons who are truly independent of the promoters and, more importantly, representing very diverse backgrounds. It is definitely not the job of SEBI to keep reminding the institutional market players like mutual funds, Life Insurance Corp of India (LIC) and foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) that they have obligations that extend well beyond making money for their stakeholders and investors. Deepening and strengthening the framework of governance within which the promoters are kept in check and their latitude to cut corners is progressively narrowed down, is bound to boost growth in the corporate sector in the long run. Hopefully resultant burgeoning public confidence in the quality of governance in general can only help more public savings move into the capital market. It is quite possible that with the exception of LIC, other institutional players may not be individually holding substantial stakes. However, mutual funds collectively would have significant holdings in most large listed companies. It is necessary that they play a role in unison in this endeavour. Mutual funds have a common organisation in the Association of Mutual Funds in India (AMFI) that facilitates self-regulation. This agency can play a crucial role to seize the opening provided by SEBI in the consultative paper. AMFI can consider creating its own database of eligible independent directors (IDs) that can be drawn upon by companies wishing to appoint new IDs. It is equally vital that preference is given to persons who are not already on multiple boards, more so if they are IDs in related or group companies. Common director(s) in a clutch of companies identified as part of a group, whether as per any legal definition or otherwise, is an indication of appointment being made based on familiarity and should be discouraged. The other critical area, which the present paper doesnt cover, is the appointment of auditors. A fact that is seldom openly acknowledged is that audit committees have to contend with significant influence of the promoters and the chief finance officers (CFOs) in the choice of external and internal auditors. While the rotation of auditors may have created a once in 10 years opportunity to cut the umbilical cord between the company and a specific auditor, it doesnt address the fact that operating managements seek to unduly influence the choice of auditors and the remuneration payable to them. It is essential that this phenomenon is duly recognised by SEBI and new safeguards are brought in along with the measures that form part of the present paper. It is worthy of consideration if the audit committee is made to file a report with the National Financial Reporting Authority (NAFRA) on the process adopted in the choice of the auditors and in fixation of the remuneration. Since this is more or less a once in 10 years affair, it should not be seen as a big compliance burden for any audit committee to observe. NAFRA can come out with a model set of criteria for the process to be adopted by the audit committee in the choice of the statutory and internal auditors. The need to explicitly seek a report from the audit committee will, in a large measure, help its members to take more ownership in the process and be able to fob off (to dismiss or lie about an underlying issue with something easier to explain) the management influence citing its statutory onus and exposure. This short piece is concluded with a suggestion that SEBI should move towards developing model codes and best practices and update them once every three years or so. As a system, we should move away from mandated norms for achieving better corporate governance. Even the existing rules in the listing obligations and disclosure requirements (LODR) should be progressively subsumed in the model code. Let the market and knowledgeable investors send out the message to companies to tone up governance, than overburdening the rule book with ever so many provisions. It is unavoidable that, unless an expectation is created, most businessmen would not on their own put in place processes to ensure good governance. This is an unfortunate truth and public sector companies themselves are an example where many of the mandated governance practices are not observed. (The author is a CA and CS and retired as a partner at EY, Chennai heading tax and regulatory advice.) WATERLOO Kathy Yung has joined Bank of Monroe County as a Vice President and Bank Manager primarily working at the new Bank of Monroe County at 813 N. Market St., Waterloo, when completed. Yuing has 37 years of experience and will also handle business development with business and retail clients. I worked with Kathy for 13 years at a previous bank so I know her work ethic and dedication to the community firsthand, said Bank of Monroe County Market President Ryan Osterhage. Its so valuable to be able to have someone you can trust to hit the ground running. She will be a tremendous asset as we continue to grow our bank and develop our employees. Were really excited that she decided to join our team. Yungs community involvement includes the Smithton Chamber of Commerce where she was treasurer for eight years and twice voted Business Member of the Year. She has also served on the Waterloo Chamber and volunteers on events held by the Smithton Commercial Club. Ive always believed in the importance of community banks so Im very excited to work for a bank that shares those values, said Yung. Bank of Monroe County has the ability to make decisions locally and they care about their team members giving back to the community and being part of the community. Yung lives in Smithton with her husband on a 40-acre property. She is from Collinsville originally and still has ties to Madison County as well. Osterhage said in addition to Yungs manager roles within the Bank of Monroe County, she will also help mentor employees. Bank of Monroe County is a division of Bank of Belleville which recently eclipsed $250 million in total assets. It has had a single location in Belleville until 2020 but is now expanding with banks planned in Monroe, Madison and Clinton counties within the next year. For more visit www.bankofmonroecounty.com or call 618- 233- 6400. WASHINGTON A group of Democratic senators is urging President Joe Biden to support recurring direct payments to lower-income Americans, arguing that regular, additional cash assistance is necessary until the economy fully recovers from the pandemic-induced downturn. The proposal which likely would face an uphill climb to become law even if gained wide support within the Democratic Party would build on the means-tested, one-time $1,400 stimulus check included in Bidens coronavirus relief bill, which passed the House last week and is now under consideration in the Senate. Its an indication of how many party leaders have coalesced around the once-contentious idea of sending money directly to Americans during the ongoing pandemic. The senators, who also requested Biden support automatic unemployment insurance extensions, said they would like the president to include the ideas in a future economic recovery bill. This crisis is far from over, and families deserve certainty that they can put food on the table and keep a roof over their heads, a group of 10 senators wrote to Biden, in a letter obtained by McClatchy. Families should not be at the mercy of constantly-shifting legislative timelines and ad hoc solutions. The letter was signed by Sens. Ron Wyden of Oregon, Cory Booker of New Jersey, Sherrod Brown of Ohio, Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, Bernie Sanders of Vermont, Alex Padilla of California, Michael Bennet of Colorado, Ed Markey of Massachusetts, Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin and Kirsten Gillibrand of New York. The support from Sanders, Warren and Wyden three of the Senates leading liberals is an indication of the proposals popularity with the partys left wing. The senators letter did not mention many specifics, including the size of the assistance checks, which income brackets the payments would be directed towards, or what economic conditions would end the automatic extensions and direct payments. Any proposal to install recurring payments could also face long odds in the House and Senate, where some moderate Democrats might balk at additional major spending. But the senators are pairing their request with an effort from a liberal political group, the Progressive Change Institute and Economic Security Project, which is urging other lawmakers to sign on to the proposal. Georgia showed the political power of checks, and data shows these checks plus unemployment benefits keep millions of families out of poverty, said Adam Green, PCIs co-founder. President Biden could expect broad support throughout the Democratic Caucus if he includes recurring benefits in his Build Back Better long-term economic recovery plan. Democrats have rallied around the notion of sending direct payments to Americans after the Georgia Senate runoff elections in January, when both of the partys candidates, Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock, pledged to deliver additional financial relief. Their surprise victories, many Democrats believe, were proof of the proposals popularity. Biden himself campaigned for the additional funds, and has supported their inclusion in the COVID-19 relief bill. As you have said, now is the time for boldness, the senators wrote. As you prepare your Build Back Better plan for long-term economic recovery, know that we are ready to work with you in support of recurring direct checks and extended unemployment insurance benefits to support Americans who are still struggling during the pandemic. Earlier this year, House progressives also urged the president to adopt a plan that would institute recurring stimulus payments until the pandemic ended. --Alex Roarty/McClatchy Washington Bureau Tony Abbott says the current generation of politicians must accept that the Howard government was far superior to them because its senior members were in it for the country more than themselves. The former prime minister, who served in John Howards cabinet for nine years of his 11 years in power, marked the 25th anniversary of the former Coalition governments election win with a lament about the lack of stability and substantive figures in modern-day politics. Former prime minister Tony Abbott says the Howard government was better than the current government. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen Mr Abbott, now an adviser to the British governments Board of Trade, lasted just one year, 11 months, 28 days in office before he was ousted in 2015 by his long-term political rival Malcolm Turnbull. Now Scott Morrison has finally ended the political cannibalism of a dismal decade that did our polity so much damage, there is every chance that we can once again focus on what our country does well as in Howards time, Mr Abbott told a University of NSW event on Tuesday to mark the occasion. "If you could imagine a 10-year-old boy holding on to rabbit ear antennas of a black and white vacuum-tube technology TV watching the Apollo 17 mission, that was me." So says Jose Hernandez, the Mexican American NASA astronaut whose life story will be featured in the new Netflix film "A Million Miles Away," highlighting the inspiring journey that led him to space. BLACK NASA PIONEERS: Meet the Black Americans who shaped the U.S. space program. Hernandez told Chron he still remembers listening to Walter Cronkite talking about Gene Cernan walking on the surface of the moon in 1972. It was Cernan's historic walk on the moon that would inspire a young boy, working alongside his family as a migrant farmworker, to dream of becoming an astronaut. Hernandez's story inspired writer-director Alejandra Marquez Abella to put the tale out to the public via Netflix. "It's a very different story for a Mexican American," Abella said. "I think that's very important to portray Mexican stories in a different way." Jose Hernandez "A Million Miles Away" will chronicle the life of Hernandez as he persevered through rejection to become a part of the Space Shuttle mission STS-128 in 2009. "I was very attracted to Jose's story," Abella said. "It's an amazing dream achieved, in a very unlikely situation so I was drawn to try to tell this story right." The youngest of four children, Hernandez said he spent his childhood traveling with his family from Mexico to southern California, picking strawberries and cucumbers at farms along a route he calls "the California circuit." Another poignant moment for Hernandez came when he heard Costa Rican-born Franklin Chang-Diaz had been chosen to go to space. A Hispanic-American himself, Hernandez listened to the news on his transistor radio working in a field in Stockton, California. Jose Hernandez In 2004, Hernandez was selected as part of the 19th class of NASA astronauts. "This is after 11 tries," Hernandez said. "I was rejected 11 times before being selected on the 12th time." "I always took the approach of looking at the glass half-full, not half-empty," Hernandez said. "I would always pick myself back up after being rejected by NASA. I would ask myself what's the worst thing that could happen if you never get selected as an astronaut?' The rejections, Hernandez said, motivated him to gain many other skills by becoming an engineer, obtaining his graduate degree, becoming a pilot, learning a third language (Russian) and getting certified in scuba diving. "It motivated me to get a great job at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory," Hernandez said. "The consolation prize is not too bad, so I was okay with not being selected." Jose Hernandez I asked Hernandez if he could describe what being in space felt like after years of dreaming about it. "Describing being in space does not do it any justice, you have to be there to fully appreciate the beauty that you're seeing." Hernandez is also recognized for several pieces of groundbreaking research work, including co-developing the "first full-field digital mammography imaging system" that he says he is most proud of. "The toughest decision I ever made was to leave NASA," Hernandez said. He retired shortly after his only spaceflight to spend more time with his wife Adela Hernandez and their five children. Hernandez said his oldest son Julio is following in his footsteps and wants to be an astronaut after he finishes his doctorate in aerospace engineering. "My only advice to him was get ready for at least 11 rejections, oh, and read my book," Hernandez said. Today, Hernandez travels across the world as a motivational speaker and has authored several books, including an autobiography titled "Reaching for the Stars." Abella Hernandez Hernandez is also the President and CEO of Tierra Luna Engineering, LLC, in Stockton, California, and founder of the Reaching for the Stars Foundation, which encourages students in science, technology, engineering and math fields. According to Hernandez, the Netflix project should begin filming sometime later this year with an estimated release date in 2022. Bettina Gilois, the woman who wrote "McFarland, USA," developed the script for "A Million Miles Away" based on interactions she had with the former astronaut and his family, according to Hernandez "Unfortunately, Gilois passed away a few months ago," Hernandez said. "The movie is going to be dedicated to her." Abella, known for her 2018 feature "The Good Girls," said this is her first English-language film. Abella couldn't elaborate on any casting details. "My calling now is to tell people it's okay to dream big and then tell them my story in an effort to give them the tools to convert their own dreams to reality," Hernandez 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. Both she and her famous ex seem to have found love with new flames. And Kourtney Kardashian was seen posing with her youngest son with ex-partner Scott Disick on Monday, on the Instagram of her lifestyle brand Poosh. The reality superstar, 41, modeled her sensational figure in a pale pink bra and panty set, which she complemented with an open white dress shirt. Gorgeous mom and son: Kourtney Kardashian was seen posing with her youngest son with ex-partner Scott Disick on Monday, on the Instagram of her lifestyle brand Poosh Kourtney posed with her six-year-old son Reign Aston. The little boy had long flowing dirty blonde hair which hung over his shoulders. His mom had her dark hair up in a high half ponytail, and she wore rectangular amber sunshades. The eldest Kardashian sister also had small silver earrings on. Femme fatale: Kourt is used to making a splash on social media She puckered her lips in the mirror selfie, as she held her smartphone up to take a picture. Kourtney has recently made the news since she has started dating former Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker. She and Travis, 45, started out as friends, but the relationship is said to have turned romantic at some point over the last few months. Pretty in purple: Kourtney has recently made the news since she has started dating former Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker The pair went public with the relationship just after Valentines Day last month. And Hollywood Life reports that it was in fact Barker that made the first 'move' in taking things to the next level. 'He just finally made a move and thats how things went to the next level. He couldnt hide it anymore.' a source told the outlet, before noting that 'Shes had a thing for him too, but wanted to respect everyones boundaries, like with their exes.' On Sunday: Kardashian showed up at Barker's recording studio and posted two pretty purple-hued selfies on her Instagram from the visit And on Sunday, Kardashian showed up at Barker's recording studio and posted two pretty purple-hued selfies on her Instagram from the visit. As for Scott, 37, he is currently enjoying his time with his much younger girlfriend Amelia Gray Hamlin, 19. Scott showed up on Amelias Instagram stories over the weekend, in a selfie of the pair that the daughter of Lisa Rinna captioned 'my dream man'. A police station is not among the friendliest places that come to one's mind immediately and it is this image that Civil Police Officer PC Raghu wanted to change. The Kerala cop posted at the Kalamassery police station in Ernakulam district took a small step towards this by making arrangements for refreshments for the public coming there. BCCL Under Raghu's initiative, the cops raised money to install a coffee vending machine and RO water dispenser at the station, a move that was widely appreciated even within the department. But in a cruel twist of fate, Raghu has been handed a suspension order by DCP Aishwarya Dongre IPS. 'Not seeking prior approval' The reasons behind the unusual move are stated as not seeking prior approval from the seniors for installing the vending machine and talking to media without approval. However, local media quoting other cops reported that the suspension was the result of not inviting the DCP for the inauguration. In March 2020 Raghu had won applauds from the Police Department and beyond after he helped a group of French tourists who were left hungry after they lost their wallet. BCCL Not the first time This is not the first time Dongre IPS has found herself in unwanted controversy. In January this year, she had made headlines for 'punishing' a female cop for not recognizing her in civil dress. Dongre, the youngest IPS officer in Kerala who was transferred to Kochi in the first week of January went to the womens police station adjoining the Town North station to inspect a cleaning drive. Facebook However, as she was not in uniform and new to the city, the female cop who was on sentry duty stopped her and quizzed her about the purpose of her visit. The cop apologized after realizing that the woman in front of her was an IPS officer. But, Dongre insisted on seeking an explanation from the female CPO claiming that she should have at least noticed the official vehicle that had entered the compound. The CPO in her explanation stated that she failed to recognize her as she was in civil dress and cited COVID-19 rules for stopping her at the entrance. Dongre refused to accept the explanation and argued that the woman cop on duty at the station entry was found to be lacking adequate alertness and sent her on traffic duty for two days as a punishment. The move came under heavy criticism from within the force and Home Department had warned her not to resort to such activities in the future. CAMBRIDGE, England and UPPSALA, Sweden, March 2, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Secure Thingz, an IAR Systems Group company, today announced Compliance Suite, a set of tools and training specifically targeted to provide embedded developers with a simplified path to building applications that are compliant with the European EN 303645, UK & Australian 13 Best Practices, and the evolving US Cybersecurity Improvement Act (NISTIR 8259). Compliance is a challenge for every organization working in the fast-moving Internet of Things domain; given that most applications are unique, and that formal certification methodologies are both costly and time consuming. To this end the IoT Security Foundation, a non-profit industry association, developed their IoT Security Compliance Framework, enabling organizations to build a self-certification methodology that meshes with the 13 Best Practices captured in UK and European Secure by Design guidelines. The Compliance Suite from IAR Systems and Secure Thingz includes a set of development tools and Preconfigured Security Contexts that enables developers to rapidly implement core aspects of the guidelines, such as moving from passwords to certificate-based identification; the implementation of update policies; and the use of advanced device specific security enclaves to protect provisioned information. Coupled with these tools is a set of training and support resources linking the functional requirements with the certification requirements identified in the IoT Security Foundation Compliance Questionnaire, ensuring a rapid implementation that meets international requirements. "We are excited to enable our customers to meet the best practice certification provided by the IoT Security Foundation Compliance Framework," said Haydn Povey, CEO, Secure Thingz. "We believe that compliance with these best practices is critical in enabling IoT to be successful, in ensuring interoperability based on trust, and ensuring customer confidence." Compliance is a great step towards formal 3rd party certification, such as Global Platform Security Evaluation Standard for IoT Platforms (SESIP), and the Arm PSA requirements. By implementing the IoT Security Foundation Compliance Framework, developers are aligning their organizations with the best-in-class methodologies, enabling them to achieve and surpass the evolving industry requirements. "Helping the design community to implement good security for connected products is at the heart of the IoTSF's mission and we are very pleased to see organizations such as IAR Systems and Secure Thingz embrace our Compliance Framework", said John Moor, Managing Director of the IoT Security Foundation. "The ability to link advanced development tools directly into the framework is a further boost that ensures developers can achieve robust security functionality, while enabling them to focus on their core application requirements." The Compliance Suite from IAR Systems and Secure Thingz delivers a set of security development tools to extend the development toolchain IAR Embedded Workbench. The Suite includes the security development tool C-Trust, plus a set of Preconfigured Security Contexts for both mainstream microcontrollers and advanced security devices. It importantly also includes a suite of training covering secure implementation to achieve compliance and organizational vulnerability disclosure. More information about IAR Systems' security offering is available at www.iar.com/security. IAR Systems is participating in embedded world digital, March 1-5, 2021, to showcase its latest technology. Editor's Note: IAR Systems, IAR Embedded Workbench, Embedded Trust, C-Trust, C-SPY, C-RUN, C-STAT, IAR Visual State, IAR KickStart Kit, I-jet, I-jet Trace, I-scope, IAR Academy, IAR, and the logotype of IAR Systems are trademarks or registered trademarks owned by IAR Systems AB. All other product names are trademarks of their respective owners. CONTACT: IAR Systems/Secure Thingz Contacts AnnaMaria Tahlen, Media Relations & Content Manager, IAR Systems Tel: +46 18 16 78 00 Email: [email protected] Tora Fridholm, CMO, IAR Systems Tel: +46 18 16 78 00 Email: [email protected] This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com https://news.cision.com/iar-systems/r/iar-systems-and-secure-thingz-launch-shrink-wrapped-solution-for-organizations-targeting-en-303645-c,c3298671 The following files are available for download: SOURCE IAR Systems New Delhi, March 2 : Smartphone brand realme on Tuesday unveiled industry-leading 108MP camera with trendsetting features that will arrive in the upcoming realme 8 series. The 8 series smartphones will have sharper photo quality, world's first tilt-shift time-lapse video, starry time-lapse video, and new portrait filters. "The 108MP photo taken by realme 8 Pro has a well-balanced overall exposure with vivid colours and sharp details in both bright and dark areas. The details stay sharp even after zooming in," the company informed during a virtual briefing at its 'Camera Innovation Event'. In realme 8 Pro's camera, 3x mode activates a new 'In-sensor Zoom' which will only use the 12MP sensor mapped with the zoomed part to generate an image. The imaging process is faster because of the smaller size on the 12MP photo, enabling realme 8 Pro to take eight 12MP photos in a row and then input them into the clarity enhancement algorithm to further increase the image clarity, the company informed. After processing, a 3x photo from realme 8 Pro can be even better than some of the optical telephoto lenses in terms of sharpness. The company has also launched the world's first Starry Time-lapse Video on its smartphone. "Developing starry time-lapse video is challenging as it requires much-needed performance to handle the synthesis of the photos," said the company. realme has come up with an exclusive time-lapse video algorithm based on starry photos. With the new tilt-shift photography algorithm, the realme 8 series would be able to capture tilt-shift photos as well as 10 times faster tilt-shift time-lapse videos. -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... In November 1971, the Pollution Amendment was passed by a comfortable margin of voters in New Mexico. It became Article XX, Section 21 of the New Mexico Constitution and required the Legislature to make protection of New Mexicos air, land and water of fundamental importance. The League of Women Voters, in its special election Voter Guide, presciently noted the amendment did not grant any power that the Legislature did not already have, but the amendment should be viewed as a mandate from the people asking for more pollution control. The New Mexico voting public that passed this amendment 40 years ago should be very disappointed. Uranium mining is still harming Native American communities. Air pollution from oil and gas is harming the health and safety of New Mexican lives. Legislators have passed laws that allow toxic wastewater to be introduced into our environment. Our state is a serious source of climate changing emissions. Farmers and people are losing their health and livelihoods to water contamination from the man-made family of chemicals known as PFAS. The agencies with the responsibility to protect our environment were seriously underfunded during the prior administration and need additional resources to protect our environment. It is time that our New Mexico government officials have a clearer and stronger mandate from the people a mandate that makes clear that a right to clean water, air, land is something that all who live in New Mexico are entitled to and can expect. It is no longer good enough to simply say that our environment is of fundamental importance and then to leave environmental protection in the state to the vagaries of politics. That is why we propose to replace Article XX Section 21 with a constitutional amendment that will recognize and protect the rights of all our people to clean air, pure water, a stable climate and healthy environments and to the natural, cultural and health benefits of a healthy environment. In Pennsylvania and Montana, where environmental rights are enshrined in the state constitutional bill of rights, residents, township officials and environmental organizations have been able to successfully challenge legislation that would have put in place automatic waivers for the oil and gas industry and waived the obligation to notify owners of private wells of potential drinking water contamination; to challenge permitting for gold mining operations that would have inflicted irreparable harm on ecologically and economically valuable river systems; to press for passage of drinking water standards to address PFAS contamination and to protect the state from having to enforce a contract that could have resulted in contamination of an entire towns drinking water supply with dangerous toxins. ADVERTISEMENTSkip ................................................................ Senate Joint Resolution 3 will raise up to the level of enforceable civil and political rights, the rights of all the people in New Mexico to clean water and air, a stable climate, a healthy environment and the cultural and human health benefits of a healthy environment. Please call your representatives and urge them to support SJR 3 to let the people vote and raise their voice on the importance of our beautiful and fragile environment. MINNEAPOLIS, March 02, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Sunlight Solutions (Sunlight), a cloud-native provider of core administration technology and innovative insurtech services, is pleased to announce a new partnership with HazardHub, the fastest-growing provider of geospatial risk data in the U.S., which will make HazardHub's proprietary datasets, risk scores, and catastrophe models immediately available to Sunlight customers. A true digital insurance suite, Sunlight's flagship offering, Sunlight Enterprise, goes beyond the boundaries of traditional core (policy, billing, and claims) administration solutions. Using Sunlight Enterprise, daily insurance operations are easily automated, and the policyholder experience is further enhanced through fully-integrated producer/customer portals, connected objects, and parametric support services. A robust library of open APIs enables ease of integration with third-party data providers for more accurate underwriting and increased straight-through processing (STP). "Our existing and potential customers are looking for predictive insights into emerging risks among the five major hazard categories - earth, wind, fire, water, and manmade - which HazardHub basically owns," said David McFarlin, director of business development for Sunlight. "Backed by Sunlight's rating and rules engine, we provide business users the ability to configure advanced underwriting rules and create streamlined workflows. HazardHub compliments Sunlight's already powerful underwriting workbench with access to greater intelligence for risk analysis and the optimization of premium calculations." "For decades, point-in-time property risk information has been ransomed to insurance organizations in formats which made it difficult to consume and actually utilize," said Bob Frady, founder and CEO of HazardHub. "When combined with our unique risk scores and lightning-fast access, Sunlight P&C insurance customers will have the best lens possible for getting a comprehensive picture of any property risk in the U.S. and for ultimately making more accurate underwriting decisions. Integrating HazardHub data into Sunlight Enterprise will enable Sunlight's insurer customers to instantly be more competitive." HazardHub translates huge amounts of geospatial data into easy-to-understand, digital insights. The combination of HazardHub and Sunlight helps Sunlight's P&C insurer customers not only more accurately assess risks but keep up with rapidly changing risk or hazard information which could directly impact a premium or a claim. By embedding HazardHub's data into Sunlight Enterprise, insurers can better identify the best risks, and reduce the time and costs involved in acquiring the data needed for critical rating and underwriting decisions. About Sunlight Solutions (Sunlight) Sunlight Solutions is the provider of a game-changing digital insurance solution, Sunlight Enterprise. Built for property and casualty (P&C) insurance companies and managing general agencies (MGAs) around the globe, Sunlight combines the management of key insurance operations with forward-thinking insurtech services. Developed on modern, open technology and offering flexibility with rich functionality, Sunlight Enterprise untethers insurers from technology constraints and allows them to dream big, design, and deploy uniquely tailored products with rapid speed-to-market and better serve users, producers, and customers. For additional information, please visit www.sunlightsolutions.com (http://www.sunlightsolutions.com). About HazardHub HazardHub is your insurance policy against property risk. Air. Fire. Water. Earth. Man-Made. Property Characteristics - HazardHub spans the most dangerous perils in the continental United States. HazardHub translates huge amounts of geospatial digital data into easy-to-understand answers, providing easy to comprehend risk scorecards that are used to make real-world decisions. Our team of scientists provides comprehensive and innovative national coverage for risks that destroy and damage property. With more than 10,000,000 results returned to the market, HazardHub is fast becoming the industry's go-to vendor for property and risk data. For more information, please visit www.hazardhub.com (http://www.hazardhub.com/). [March 02, 2021] WebBank announces Parris Sanz named EVP-General Counsel WebBank today announced the appointment of Parris Sanz as the Executive Vice President-General Counsel. Mr. Sanz joined WebBank in January 2021, bringing more than 25 years of legal experience and over 16 years as a General Counsel and executive in the FinTech industry. Before joining WebBank, Mr. Sanz was General Counsel, Chief Compliance Officer, and SVP of Operations of Petal Card, Inc. Before Petal, Mr. Sanz was CEO of CAN Capital, Inc., where he was previously EVP, Chief Legal Officer, and Chief Compliance Officer for over 12 years. Previously, Mr. Sanz was an attorney in private practice at the law firms of Latham & Watkins, LLP and Paul Hastings (News - Alert) LLP, where he handled a wide variety of corporate, finance, and commercial transactions. Mr. Sanz received his J.D. from Harvard Law School and a Bachelor of Arts degree from U.C. Berkeley, High Honors and Phi Beta Kappa. About WebBank WebBank, a wholly owned subsidiary of Steel Partners Holdings LP, is a Utah chartered Industrial Bank headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah. As "The Bank Behind the Brand", WebBank is a national issuer of and capital provider to consumer and small business credit products through Strategic Partner (Brand) platforms, which includes retailers, manufacturers, finance companies, and financial technology (FinTech) companies. The Bank is a leading player in the digital lending space, driving innovation in financial products through Strategic Partner platforms. WebBank engages in a full range of banking activities including consumer and commercial loan products, revolving lines of credit, credit cards, private-label card issuance, auto-refinancing and more. The Bank is also a capital provider to Brand platforms, credit funds, and other lenders with a targeted focus on specialty finance assets. The Bank is also a leading provider of commercial insurance premium finance products through its wholly owned subsidiary National Partners. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210302006014/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] The Jerusalem International Airport, the oldest airport in Palestine, formerly known as Qalandia Airport, lies on a road connecting the cities of Ramallah and Jerusalem, near the town of Qalandia in the northern West Bank. It was built in 1920 during the British mandate on a land of 650 dunams (160 acres) initially. More than 50 years later, this very airport has turned into an abandoned site devoid of any luggage, planes or flight attendants. The cracks inside the concrete floor of the airport are now covered with dry and green grass. Israel seized the airport after it occupied the West Bank and East Jerusalem in 1967, and it annexed it in 1981 based on the so-called Jerusalem Law. Israeli airlines used it for commercial and domestic flights to and from Jerusalem until they closed it in 2000. Its name was changed to the Atarot Airport, of which only the runway, the control tower and the arrival and departure hall remain. Khalil Tufakji, head of the map department at Jerusalem's Arab Studies Society, told Al-Monitor, The largest Israeli settlement project that has been underway for several years now in Jerusalem seeks to seize and confiscate 1,300 dunams [321 acres] of the Jerusalem International Airport and the lands surrounding it. It aims at implementing Israels Greater Jerusalem project to expand the existing Israeli settlements and expel Palestinians to increase the number of Jews and settlers in the city of Jerusalem. He said, Since 1994, the Israeli authorities have set up the Greater Jerusalem project, which includes, according to Israeli plans, the settlements of Ma'ale Adumim, Givat Ze'ev and Gush Etzion. They have also controlled all roads leading thereto in order to cut off Palestinian neighborhoods from the Jerusalem municipality, such as Shuafat, Kafr Aqab and Anata, among others. Tufakji noted, The Israeli seizure of the Jerusalem International Airport primarily aims at killing the Palestinians dream of their capital Jerusalem given that the airport is located on lands belonging to the Palestinian capital. It also aims at tilting the demographic balance [in Jerusalem] toward the Israelis at the expense of the Palestinians. The Israeli control of the airport also aims at connecting the Israeli settlements that lie outside the boundaries of the Jerusalem municipality to the ones within it. He added, East Jerusalem includes 14 Israeli settlements that are home to 220,000 Israeli settlers. Those settlements account for 87% of the area of Jerusalem, leaving only 9,300 dunams [2,298 acres] for the Palestinians, estimated at only 13% of the area of Jerusalem. Through the so-called Jerusalem 5800 project for the year 2050, the [Israeli] occupation is looking to link the Israeli settlements in East Jerusalem with the settlements in the west by a network of railways and bridges and establish an international airport in Wadi Musa. Of note, the separation barrier in the West Bank is 712 kilometers (442 miles) long, which is double the length of the so-called Green Line that extends over 320 kilometers (199 miles). Meanwhile, in the vicinity of Jerusalem, the barrier extends over about 202 kilometers (125 miles), according to data from Israeli human rights organization B'Tselem. Ziad al-Hammouri, director of the Jerusalem Center for Social and Economic Rights, told Al-Monitor, The Israeli authorities took control of the Jerusalem International Airport after occupying the West Bank in 1967, and they subsequently used it to operate domestic flights from and to Jerusalem, Eilat and Tel Aviv. Israel closed it completely with the outbreak of the Palestinian uprising in 2000. He said, The airport was the lung through which the Palestinians would catch a breath and travel to the Arab world. Several planes took off from this airport to land in Lebanon, Jordan and some Gulf countries. But with the Israeli control over it, it turned it into a new settlement outpost that serves Israeli goals and plans aimed at controlling the West Bank as a whole, and not just Jerusalem." Hammouri noted, The new settlement project will witness the construction of 15,000 to 25,000 settlement units on the land of the airport, and these will be connected to the settlements of Maskiyot and Atrout through a tunnel to be built starting April. The tunnel dives deep below the Qalandia checkpoint, as it helps settlers avoid traffic jams when they move either from Ramallah, the Jordan Valley or the northern West Bank areas to Israel without the need to go through the checkpoint." He added, The Israeli authorities are working to encourage the immigration of Israelis to settlements near Jerusalem by establishing many infrastructure projects and huge commercial centers that would lure thousands of Israelis into living there. Consequently, the Zionist plans show that the Palestinian Authoritys bet on the Oslo Acoord was a failure, let alone the postponing of negotiations on several core issues, such as the Jerusalem issue, during the negotiations between the Palestinians and the Israelis. Nasser al-Hadmi, head of the Jerusalem Committee for Resisting Displacement, told Al-Monitor that the settlement projects the Israeli authorities are carrying out in the city of Jerusalem in particular and the West Bank in general go beyond the goal of garnering the support of a large segment of the Israeli community for the extreme right, which has been ruling Israel for several years. He said that the majority of Israeli society has become extremist and does not believe in the principle of peace or in a two-state solution between the Israeli and Palestinian sides. Hadmi noted, In 2021 the Israeli occupation intensified its attacks on the city of Jerusalem, as it demolished houses it claimed were illegal and prevented Jerusalemites from obtaining building permits. He said that the Israeli authorities grant only 4% of the population in Jerusalem permits for construction. Also, Israeli approvals usually require five to 10 years and cost $50,000 to $100,000 for one housing unit. Over the years, the Israeli authorities have issued several laws aimed at controlling and seizing the property of Jerusalemites, including the Custodian of Absentee Property Law, which aims at facilitating the Israeli control over the property of Jerusalemites who left Jerusalem in 1967 and never returned. This [law] allows the Israel Land Administration to control and transfer such properties to settlement associations that establish settlements and outposts thereon and hand them over to settlers, Hadmi concluded. Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain Italy's new government ordered more school closures Tuesday after data showed the majority of coronavirus cases to be of the more contagious British variant. All schools in the highest risk regions will switch to distance learning under new rules to come into effect from Saturday, whereas previously only secondary schools in so-called red zones were shuttered. Regional authorities will also have new discretion to suspend face-to-face teaching in areas within lower risk orange and yellow regions where the coronavirus situation is particularly bad, according to a decree lasting until April 6. New data from the national ISS health institute revealed that 54 percent of coronavirus cases in Italy were now of the so-called British variant, which is considered more contagious. "The British variant has a particular ability to penetrate the younger generation," Health Minister Roberto Speranza told a press conference. "This has led us to make a choice, which is that school of all levels in red zones will be distance learning." Under the latest classification that came into force Monday, only two of Italy's 20 regions were red: Basilicata and Molise in the south. Lombardy, which comprises the city of Milan, Marche and Piedmont are orange. When he took over last month, new Prime Minister Mario Draghi promised to use "all means" to deal with the pandemic which has claimed almost 100,000 lives in Italy and devastated the economy. On Monday, the former European Central Bank (ECB) chief put a senior military officer in charge of the coronavirus crisis. General Francesco Paolo Figliuolo replaced businessman Domenico Arcuri as Italy's special commissioner for the health emergency. The new decree also extends an existing ban on travelling between Italy's regions to March 27. In some good news, theatres and cinemas will be permitted to reopen from March 27 in yellow zones, albeit with 25 percent capacity, while museums will be permitted to open on Saturdays, not just weekdays. The government also unveiled a new "white zone" where most of the nationwide restrictions in place in recent months will be lifted, including the 6:00pm closure of table service at bars and restaurants. Only the island of Sardinia is designated white from Monday, and authorities there have opted for a phased reopening. Explore further Follow the latest news on the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak 2021 AFP There has been a significant drop in the number of new cases of Covid-19 in Laois, and across Ireland. This Tuesday March 2 the National Public Health Emergency Team has reported 'less than' five cases for Laois yesterday up to midnight March 1. Since the start of February Laois has mostly had at least 10 cases a day, rising to 29 at one point. However Laois remains at seventh worst position out of the 26 Irish counties for the number of cases per 100,000 population, in the past 14 days. The incidence rate has fallen to 249.7 today, compared to the national average of 201.2. Neighbouring county Offaly still has the highest incidence rate in Ireland of 401.5, but encouragingly also has less than 5 cases reported this Tuesday. SEE COUNTY BY COUNTY BREAKDOWN AT END OF STORY. The latest figures push to at least 3,168 the total number of cases in Laois since the first case broke in mid March 2020. National Figures The Health Protection Surveillance Centre has today been notified of 14 additional deaths related to COVID-19. 3 deaths occurred in March, 10 in February and 1 in November. There has been a total of 4,333 COVID-19 related deaths in Ireland. As of midnight, Monday 1st March, the HPSC has been notified of 359 confirmed cases of COVID-19. There is now a total of 220,630* confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Ireland. Of the cases notified today: 157 are men / 193 are female. 66% are under 45 years of age. The median age is 34 years old There are 159 cases in Dublin, 25 in Westmeath, 21 in Louth, 21 in Galway, 19 in Meath and the remaining 114 cases are spread across 19 other counties**. As of 8am today, 498 COVID-19 patients are hospitalised, of which 116 are in ICU. 28 additional hospitalisations in the past 24 hours. As of February 27th, 435,895 doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been administered in Ireland: 294,550 people have received their first dose and 141,345 people have received their second dose. Dr Ronan Glynn, Deputy Chief Medical Officer, Department of Health cautiously welcomed the drop in new cases. While the low number of cases reported today may be attributable to a weekend effect, it is nevertheless very welcome and represents the lowest number of cases reported on a single day since mid-December. While we continue to make good progress in Ireland, globally in the past week, the number of cases of COVID-19 has increased for the first time in 7 weeks. We must not allow this virus the opportunity to do the same here. Please hold firm to the public health advice and together we can continue to protect and build on the progress we have made over the last 2 months" The COVID-19 Dashboard provides up-to-date information on the key indicators of COVID-19 in the community including daily data on Irelands COVID-19 Vaccination Programme. The Louisiana Department of Health reported 550 more confirmed coronavirus cases and 16 more confirmed deaths in its noon update Tuesday. The number of hospitalizations stayed the same, and the number of patients in need of ventilators decreased by two. There are also 60,474 total "probable" coronavirus cases in Louisiana, according to the agency's dashboard. Gov. John Bel Edwards is scheduled to host a press conference at 1 p.m. to address the next steps in the state's coronavirus response. His current executive order expires tomorrow. He previously hinted that there could be changes to Louisiana's coronavirus restrictions this week. Click here to watch and follow the press conference +4 The true toll of coronavirus: How the pandemic led to Louisiana's deadliest year ever After a long career as a registered nurse, Melani Autin was the first person to advise people to follow the advice of doctors. These are another few key statewide statistics as of Tuesday: 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 Total confirmed cases: 370,797 Total "probable" cases: 60,474 Total confirmed deaths: 8,957 Currently hospitalized: 629 Currently on ventilators: 89 Vaccine series initiated: 657,265 (updated twice weekly) Vaccine series completed: 368,146 Presumed recovered: 408,463 as of Feb. 22 (updated weekly) Note: The Advocate and The Times-Picayune staff calculates daily case count and confirmed death increases based on the difference between today's total and yesterday's total of confirmed coronavirus cases and deaths. The Louisiana Department of Health releases a daily case count on its dashboard that includes probable cases as indicated by a positive antigen test. That case count can be different than the one listed here. +2 1M coronavirus vaccine doses later, what's next for Louisiana? A boost from Johnson & Johnson After nearly a year of grim milestones, Louisiana has reached a more hopeful marker in the coronavirus pandemic: over 1 million vaccines have Here are some of the parishes with the highest single-day increase in confirmed coronavirus cases, based on the Tuesday report: Jefferson: 75 Orleans: 61 Livingston: 41 St. Tammany: 39 Ascension: 39 Calcasieu: 36 East Baton Rouge: 33 You can view more graphs and charts breaking down the data by clicking here. Louisiana began reopening for Phase 1 on May 15-16 then moved to Phase 2 on June 5. Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards extended Louisiana's Phase 2 restrictions twice in August before moving the state to Phase 3 on Sept. 11. The governor then moved the state back to a modified Phase 2 near the end of November. This is a developing story. More details and analysis to come. ISRO successfully completed its first launch of 2021 on Sunday. The headline payload was Brazil's 637-kg Amazonia-1 optical earth observation satellite. Amazonia-1 was placed in orbit seventeen minutes after its lift-off aboard the PSLV-C51 rocket and a minute after the rocket's PS4 engine cut off. India's Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle-C51 (PSLV-C51) carrying Brazil's Amazonia-1 as its primary passenger also facilitated the launch of 18-other student satellites as part of its mission under ISRO's National Space Promotion and Authorisation Center (IN-SPACe ). Amazonia-1 along with the other satellites will monitor deforestation and study the diverse agriculture of Brazilian lands. The rocket journeyed for two hours and eight minutes as it placed all its satellites in orbits, in approximately four minutes. ISRO immediately took it to Twitter and announced the successful completion of the mission and wrote, "All co-passenger satellites separated from #PSLVC51. Mission accomplished.." READ | ISRO Successfully Launches PSLV-C51; Brazil's Amazonia-1 satellite Injected Into Orbit Hailing the efforts of Indian and Brazilian contributors for this mission, ISRO Chief K Sivan said "In this mission, India and ISRO, feel extremely proud, honoured and happy to launch the first satellite designed, integrated and operated by Brazil. I congratulate the Brazilian team on this achievement. The satellite is in very good health and I congratulate all for this and compliment the entire Brazilian team." Prime Minister Narendra Modi took to Twitter where he congratulated ISRO on its first dedicated commercial launch of PSLV-C51/ Amazonia-1 mission. Here's the tweet Congratulations to NSIL and @isro on the success of the 1st dedicated commercial launch of PSLV-C51/Amazonia-1 Mission. This ushers in a new era of Space reforms in the country. 18 co-passengers included four small satellites that showcase dynamism and innovation of our youth. pic.twitter.com/BbWYGLsyvo Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) February 28, 2021 The other co-passenger satellites onboard the Brazilian satellite Amazonia-1 include an Indian technology demonstration satellite 'SindhuNetra', a technology demonstration satellite from the US 'SAI-1 NanoConnect-2', and 12 satellites to establish two-way satellite communications that are named 'SpaceBEEs'. Brazil's Amazonia-1 Satellite The earth observatory satellite of Brazil's National Institute for Space Research (INPE) will fetch remote sensing data to users that will be further utilised to monitor deforestation in the Amazon region and the diverse agriculture across the Brazilian territory will also be analysed, said Marcos Ceaser Pontes, Brazil's Minister for Science, Technology, and Innovation at the launch event. Pontes stressed that the successful placement of Amazonia-1 in the orbit was very important for Brazil's overall development. He added "It represents a new era for the Brazilian Satellite Industry. There could be no better place than to bein India with all our partnerships and this is one step for the partnership that will be going to grow. We are going to work together, a lot. Today is the beginning of stronger relations between both countries." READ | ISRO To Launch PSLV-C51 On February 28 With 1 Brazil & 20 Indian Satellites Onboard The Twitter handle of INPE also acknowledged the successful placement of Amazonia-1 in the orbit and tweeted "Successfully launched Amazonia 1, the first national Earth observation satellite." Moreover, this is the first dedicated commercial mission by a company of the Indian government NewSpace India Limited (NSIL), under the Department of Space. The NSIL has undertaken the mission abiding by a commercial arrangement with America's Spaceflight Inc. INPE / Noticias - Lancado com sucesso o Amazonia 1, primeiro satelite nacional de observacao da Terra https://t.co/hlocn2O03N INPE (@inpe_mct) February 28, 2021 Meanwhile, a picture of Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been engraved on the top panel of the satellite as a promotion for PM's Aatmanirbhar (Self-reliant) initiative. The rocket is also embedded with an SD microchip that has Bhagavad Gita stored in it. READ | Satellite Images Show Fire Devastation On Afghan-Iran Border The U.S. moves were being taken in coordination with the European Union. The United States on March 2 announced sanctions on senior Russian government officials and Russian entities in response to what U.S. officials said was Moscow's attempt to kill opposition leader Alexei Navalny with a nerve agent. The announcement, made by senior Biden administration officials, marked a sharp turn away from former President Donald Trump's reluctance to confront Russian President Vladimir Putin, Reuters reports. "Russia's attempt to kill Mr. Navalny follows an alarming pattern of chemical weapons use by Russia," a senior Biden administration official told reporters on a call. The penalties, like those adopted by the European Union, target senior Russian law enforcement officials, as well as matching sanctions the EU and the U.K. imposed earlier on other Russians allied with President Vladimir Putin in response to the attempted murder of Navalny. Bloomberg wrote. Seven senior Russian government officials would face restrictions, such as asset freezes, while 14 entities associated with Russia's biological and chemical agent production, including 13 commercial parties and a government research institute, were levied punitive measures. The U.S. moves were being taken in coordination with the European Union. The officials reiterated Biden's call for Russia to release Navalny from prison. Read alsoRussia putting lives, ecosystem at risk by ignoring WW2 chemical poisons buried along Nord Stream 2 route SZRURussian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Tuesday before the U.S. announcement that Moscow would respond in kind to any new U.S. sanctions over Navalny, the Interfax news agency reported. Further sanctions are upcoming, as the United States assesses the Russian role in the massive SolarWinds cyber hack and allegations that Russia sought to interfere in the 2020 U.S. election and offered bounties to Taliban fighters to kill American soldiers in Afghanistan, the officials said, as per Reuters. Navalny: Background Navalny was arrested in Moscow on January 17, immediately upon his arrival from Berlin, where he had been undergoing treatment after an assassination attempt through poisoning with the Novichok nerve agent. Navalny claims the Kremlin is to blame for the attempt. On February 2, the court in Russia has sentenced Navalny to 32 months in a penal colony. The anti-corruption campaigner was charged with violating a 2014 suspended sentence for embezzlement by breaching parole rules while in Germany. Reporting by UNIAN President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky considers its important that the official visit of European Council President Charles Michel to Ukraine starts with visiting Donbas and thanks the European partners for expert assistance in implementing judicial reform. "Today, President of the European Council Charles Michel stays with us in Donbas. He visits Ukraine for the first time and, in my opinion, it is very important that the official visit begins with a joint trip to the contact line. However, it is no secret that European partners support us not only in ending the war in eastern Ukraine but in many other issues as well, including improving our judicial system and carrying out successful judicial reform," Zelensky said in a joint video address with Michel to the participants of the All-Ukrainian Forum "Ukraine 30. Development of Justice" from the Shchastia border crossing point in Luhansk region, an Ukrinform correspondent reports. He reminded that a three-year strategy for the development of judicial bodies and constitutional judicial proceedings had been presented at the Forum on March 1. "In order to implement it, I am set to sign a relevant decree in the near future," the President promised. At the same time, he thanked the President of the European Council and, in his person, the entire EU for the important expert assistance in forming a stable and independent judiciary in Ukraine. As reported, European Council President Charles Michel has started his two-day visit to Ukraine on March 2. ol A half-dozen Dr. Seuss books will soon be off bookstore shelves amid accusations of racist imagery. Dr. Seuss Enterprises, the company focused on preserving the Springfield authors work and legacy, announced Tuesday that it will stop publishing six Dr. Seuss books. These books portray people in ways that are hurtful and wrong, the company said in a statement shared with the Associated Press. Ceasing sales of these books is only part of our commitment and our broader plan to ensure Dr. Seuss Enterprises catalog represents and supports all communities and families. Dr. Seuss Enterprises said the decision was made after months of discussion with educators and experts in childrens literature. The works include: And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street If I Ran the Zoo McElligots Pool On Beyond Zebra! Scrambled Eggs Super! The Cats Quizzer The timing of the announcement coincides with Theodor Seuss Ted Geisels birthday. Geisel was born in Springfield on March 2, 1904. He died 30 years ago yet his works remain among the best selling childrens books. It is not the first time Dr. Seuss has been associated with racism. An image from Geisels first Dr. Seuss book, And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street, published in 1937, was removed from the The Amazing World of Dr. Seuss Museum in 2017 after complaints about the jarring racial stereotype. The character is described by Seuss in the book as a Chinese man who eats with sticks. Its removal came after authors Mo Willems, Mike Curato and Lisa Yee co-signed a letter calling for its removal. They described the imagery as a jarring racial stereotype of a Chinese man, who is depicted with chopsticks, a pointed hat, and slanted slit eyes. We find this caricature of the Chinaman deeply hurtful, and have concerns about childrens exposure to it. They declined to take part in the Springfield Childrens Literature Festival because of the mural. A week prior to this, a Massachusetts librarian across the state rejected then-First Lady Melania Trumps donation of 10 Dr. Seuss books as part of National Read a Book Day. Cambridgeport Elementary School Librarian Liz Phipps Soeiro turned down the books in an open letter, saying both that the donations should have gone to schools in greater need and criticizing Seuss as racist. You may not be aware of this, but Dr. Seuss is a bit of a cliche, a tired and worn ambassador for childrens literature, Soeiro wrote. Another fact that many people are unaware of is that Dr. Seusss illustrations are steeped in racist propaganda, caricatures, and harmful stereotypes. Open one of his books and youll see the racist mockery in his art. In her letter, Soeiro links to an article that suggest the character of the Cat in the Hat has roots in blackface minstrelsy. Geisel was a vocally anti-fascist during World War II, drawing cartoons that warned of the Nazi threat before America entered the war and criticized racial prejudice. But he also depicted anti-Asian propaganda in cartoons and in his childrens book. Related Content: Its likely that insured losses in Texas from Winter Storm Uri, which overwhelmed the state in mid-February, will climb into the $10 billion to $20 billion range, according to catastrophe modelers and insurance industry market analysts. Losses from Uri may be somewhat comparable to those from Hurricane Harvey, which was a Category 4 hurricane that made landfall on Texas and Louisiana in August 2017, according to S&P Global ratings. The market intelligence organization said in a Feb. 26 media release, however, that it was still too early to accurately quantify the insured losses given the complexity of the event. Catastrophe modelling agency Karen Clark & Co. has estimated insured losses from the storm at around $18 billion. Hurricane Harvey caused about $19 billion in insured losses in Texas and $30 billion across the U.S., S&P Global noted. AIR Worldwide said industry insured losses in Texas appear likely to exceed $10 billion and estimated average claims severity values of $15,000 for residential risks and $30,000 for commercial risks. The catastrophe risk modeling firm added, however, that the $10 billion figure could rise significantly due to a number of factors. Those factors could include a higher than expected rate of claims among those risks affected by prolonged power outage, whether utility service interruption coverages pay out, larger than expected impacts from demand surge, government intervention, and whether claims from mold damage start to emerge as a significant source of loss. In an article published by Bloomberg, Chuck Watson, a disaster modeler for Enki Research, estimated that losses from the extended freeze and power outages in Texas could reach $90 billion, with around $20 billion of those losses covered by insurance. Winter storm Uri left millions in Texas without power for days, and extreme low temperatures froze pipes, causing them to burst. Many locations experienced their longest-ever, continuous recorded freeze, according to AIR, with Waco as an example of one Texas city staying below freezing for 203 consecutive hours 53 more than the previous record. At the peak of the low temperatures, on February 15, the average temperature across Texas was just 12 Fahrenheit, or 6 lower than the average temperature in Alaska on the same day. In a report issued on Feb. 19, Potential Record Catastrophe Losses for Texas Insurers Due to Winter Storm Uri, AM Best said it expects the heaviest volumes of claims stemming from Uri to come from the homeowners, commercial property, and auto lines of business. The ratings agency also warned that a significant loss contributor will be the surge in demand for contractors and construction materials. In addition to property damage outside residential structures from snow and ice, claims will arise from water damage and flooding in building interiors resulting from frozen and broken water pipes. Depending on policy coverage terms, homeowners insurers may also be on the hook for hotel costs and additional living expenses for families that need shelter while their homes are uninhabitable due to cold temperatures, AM Best said. The same types of property damage experienced by residential structures will plague commercial property as well. Plus, commercial claims likely will arise from businesses that suffered losses due to the power outages, AM Best said. Extended power outages could create losses not only for primary insurers but reinsurers as well, AM Best added. Additionally, due to the heightened perils of traveling on slick, icy Texas streets, roads, and highways, personal auto insurers in Texas and other states will also likely face significant increases in claims from a spike in accidents, the ratings agency noted. The Texas Department of Insurance on Feb. 26 issued a data call to insurers for information on claims stemming from the severe winter storm that impacted the state Feb. 11 19. March 31 is the due date for the first report for data as of Feb. 28. Subsequent reports are due monthly, at the end of each month, TDI said. Homeowners/Farmowners Multiperil Companies with Large Concentrations in Texas Ranked by 2019 Texas Homeowners/Farmowners Multiperil DPW as a % of Total Company Homeowners/Farmowners DPW (Minimum 50% Share of Company DPW Comprised of Texas Homeowners/Farmowners DPW) ($ thousands) AMB # Company Name Texas US Texas % of US 001767 State Farm Lloyds 1,900,767 1,900,767 100.0 003312 Texas Farmers Insurance Company 855,383 855,383 100.0 010678 Allstate Texas Lloyds 325,343 325,343 100.0 004359 Texas Farm Bureau Underwriters 263,150 263,150 100.0 000892 Texas Farm Bureau Mutual Insurance Co 201,011 201,011 100.0 003566 Chubb Lloyds Insurance Company of Texas 177,746 177,746 100.0 001753 Foremost Lloyds of Texas 86,139 86,139 100.0 001743 Travelers Lloyds of Texas Insurance Co 85,095 85,095 100.0 011417 Metropolitan Lloyds Ins Co of Texas 76,479 76,479 100.0 012703 Texas FAIR Plan Association 53,217 53,217 100.0 012339 Auto Club Indemnity Company 142,033 142,056 100.0 012421 ASI Lloyds 227,903 243,342 93.7 013125 Homeowners of America Insurance Co 149,755 168,858 88.7 022605 Allied Trust Insurance Company 69,850 87,797 79.6 010681 State National Insurance Company, Inc. 65,851 90,595 72.7 003333 Meridian Security Insurance Company 118,670 169,992 69.8 003652 Allstate Fire and Casualty Insurance Co 118,054 193,154 61.1 022327 Clear Blue Insurance Company 87,876 147,163 59.7 012053 Safeco Insurance Company of Indiana 314,609 594,007 53.0 022321 Spinnaker Insurance Company 102,536 196,131 52.3 Source: AM Best data and research Commercial Multiperil Property Insurers with Large Concentrations in Texas Ranked by 2019 Texas CMP Property DPW as a % of Total Company CMP Property DPW (Minumum 50% Share of Company DPW Comprised of Texas CMP Multiperil DPW) ($ thousands) AMB # Company Name Texas US Texas % of US 001767 State Farm Lloyds 70,626 70,626 100.0 001734 The Hanover Casualty Company 29,003 29,003 100.0 002614 Hartford Lloyds Insurance Company 22,611 22,611 100.0 012570 Insurors Indemnity Lloyds 9,097 9,097 100.0 003297 Travelers Lloyds Insurance Company 8,926 8,926 100.0 012318 Utica Lloyds of Texas 8,375 8,375 100.0 003817 Hochheim Prairie Casualty Insurance Co 5,073 5,073 100.0 001709 American Modern Lloyds Insurance Company 4,010 4,010 100.0 001876 Union Standard Lloyds 1,442 1,442 100.0 001775 United Fire Lloyds 1,147 1,147 100.0 011021 Samsung F & M Insurance Co, Ltd USB 1,685 2,061 81.8 022328 Clear Blue Specialty Insurance Company 1,774 2,490 71.2 012472 ANPAC Louisiana Insurance Company 2,278 3,346 68.1 002422 Republic Underwriters Insurance Company 2,886 4,850 59.5 010611 Acceptance Indemnity Insurance Company 9,663 16,412 58.9 011783 American Property Insurance Company 1,250 2,146 58.2 Source: AM Best data and research Auto Physical Damage Insurers Wholly Concentrated in Texas 100% of 2019 Auto Physical Damage DPW in Texas (Minimum $10 Million in 2019 Texas Auto Physical Damage DPW) ($ thousands) AMB # Company Name Texas 003690 Progressive County Mutual Insurance Co 1,541,401 022059 GEICO County Mutual Insurance Company 998,243 004097 Farmers Texas County Mutual Insurance Co 626,143 012569 Liberty County Mutual Insurance Company 483,004 004682 Consumers County Mutual Insurance Co 234,024 001758 Auto Club County Mutual Insurance Co 181,176 003634 Foremost County Mutual Insurance Company 171,212 000892 Texas Farm Bureau Mutual Insurance Co 170,212 000764 Allstate County Mutual Insurance Company 130,682 010311 Home State County Mutual Insurance Co 130,372 010346 Colonial County Mutual Insurance Company 118,096 012564 Germania Select Insurance Company 107,865 013850 Texas Farm Bureau Casualty Ins Co 105,477 003382 Southern County Mutual Insurance Company 101,923 010360 Old American County Mutual Fire Ins Co 96,101 004359 Texas Farm Bureau Underwriters 92,464 003572 Infinity County Mutual Insurance Co 74,194 002476 State Farm County Mutual Ins Co of Texas 55,056 002661 Redpoint County Mutual Insurance Company 52,124 004286 Mercury County Mutual Insurance Company 38,933 011417 Metropolitan Lloyds Ins Co of Texas 36,270 011055 Unitrin County Mutual Insurance Company 34,660 003817 Hochheim Prairie Casualty Insurance Co 31,959 022111 Alinsco Insurance Company 31,272 003277 Dairyland County Mutual Ins Co of Texas 28,614 010445 Hallmark County Mutual Insurance Company 25,235 012107 Farm Bureau County Mut Ins Co of Texas 24,936 010574 CEM Insurance Company 21,015 002779 Germania Fire & Casualty Company 20,148 010255 American National County Mutual Ins Co 14,288 Source: AM Best data and research Topics Texas Profit Loss Windstorm Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-02 16:41:01|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close PHNOM PENH, March 2 (Xinhua) -- Seventy-one rare Royal Turtle eggs in five clutches were laid on an artificial sandbank at the Koh Kong Reptile Conservation Center (KKRCC) in southwest Cambodia's Koh Kong province last week, a conservationist group said on Tuesday. The Royal Turtle, also known as Southern River Terrapin, is one of the world's 25 most endangered freshwater turtles and tortoises, and it is listed on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List as Critically Endangered. Images obtained from camera traps confirmed that the eggs were laid by five head-started Royal Turtles, the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) said in a press statement, adding that this is the first time that Royal Turtles have laid eggs in captivity in Cambodia. "It's the first time that the captive female Royal Turtles have ever laid eggs since they were head-started at the center in 2006," said Som Sitha, WCS Koh Kong and Mekong Conservation Project manager. "The team will make artificial nests for incubation purposes or leave them as they are." Steven G. Platt, associate conservation herpetologist for WCS in Southeast Asia, said this is an incredibly exciting and important event, given the extreme rarity of this species in the wild. "Captive breeding is a conservation milestone for the recovery of the Royal Turtle in Cambodia," he said. "We anticipate soon being able to produce large numbers of Royal Turtles in captivity and releasing them back into the wild." Ouk Vibol, director of the Department of Cambodia's Fisheries Conservation, said he was pleased to see this great result. "We strongly encourage and support the continuation of these research activities for a better result in the future and we hope this species will survive for our next generation," he said. The Royal Turtle has been designated as Cambodia's National Reptile by a Royal Decree issued in 2005. Enditem Kid-Safe Mobile Advertising Expands with New App in New Territories ANGUILLA, BWI / ACCESSWIRE / March 2, 2021 / Kidoz Inc. (TSXV:KIDZ) (the "Company"), kid-tech software developer, and owner of the KIDOZ Safe Ad Network (www.kidoz.net), the KIDOZ Kid-Mode Operating System, and the KIDOZ publisher SDK, announced today that it has partnered with TopOn, a leader in ad mediation technology (https://www.toponad.com/monetization). Kidoz and TopOn have created an official plugin that any TopOn customer can use to easily activate Kidoz ads inside their app. TopOn is the owner of the TopOn Smart Mediation Tool that app owners use to optimize the advertising revenue that they can earn by enabling multiple advertising networks, such as Kidoz, in a custom waterfall of ads. TopOn clients requested a Kidoz plugin so they can offer Kid-Safe advertising inside their apps. The Kidoz Safe Advertising Network is COPPA & GDPR compliant, brand safe, fully hand curated, and reaches more than 300 million children every month. Leading brands such as Mattel, Lego, Disney, Crayola and more, create awareness with kids by launching Kid Safe ads on the Kidoz Network. TopOn is a leader in mediation technology in China and now thousands of new apps have the opportunity to access Kidoz ad inventory. Kidoz is certified compliant by Google and is one of the very few networks whose methodologies are compliant with Apple's strict advertising guidelines. "TopOn is a leader in smart mediation technology and is excited to bring kid-safe advertising opportunities to our app developers globally," said Harry Yang, CMO from TopOn. "TopOn focused on building a one-stop traffic management system for thousands of app partners globally. We are excited to bring a new advertising partner, Kidoz, to our app publishers, which can help publishers enrich the kid-safe demand source." "We are excited to partner with TopOn to be an officially supported plugin of the TopOn system," said Jason Williams, Kidoz Co-CEO. "The Kidoz system brings a unique inventory of advertisers that is both brand and kid safe. As the privacy and safety of children are increasing concerns for parents, governments, and app users partnering with TopOn was ideal as their Smart Mediation Tools are known and trusted by many app developers world-wide and we can increase our global usage when they activate our advertising inventory. Kidoz approval from Google and Apple have made Kidoz the most popular mobile network for Kid-Safe publishers and our growth is a result of our high performing media and highly engaged users. Our partnership with TopOn is excellent development for Kidoz and we look forward to working together." About TopOn TopOn, Guangzhou, China, is an ad mediation platform that helps global app developers to find a perfect fit for your monetization strategy. Based on the intelligent mediation management tool by big data, TopOn provides developers with convenient monetization management functions such as waterfall layering, header bidding, segment group, A/B test, cross-promotion, API management, etc., to quickly implement refined operation strategies. At the same time, it is equipped with multi-dimensional data reports, accurately compares the advertising platform API data and displays in detail key data such as user duration, advertising display frequency, DEU, LTV, retention, etc., to help developers maximize advertising revenue. On May 2020, TopOn announced the completion of tens of millions of yuan in Pre-A round financing. The investor was Shanghai Xianqin Venture Capital Co., Ltd. About Kidoz Inc. KIDOZ Inc. (TSXV:KIDZ) (www.kidoz.net) owns the popular Kid-Safe mobile network. Engaging more than 300 million kids a month across our leading mobile KidTech network, KIDOZ provides an essential suite of services that unites kids' brands, content publishers and families. KIDOZ is certified safe by Google and Apple approved for use in the App Store. Trusted by Disney, Hasbro, Lego and more, the KIDOZ Safe Ad Network helps the world's largest brands to safely reach and engage kids across thousands of mobile apps and sites. The KIDOZ OS solution helps carriers and brands such as Lenovo, Acer, and PBS Kids bring a kid-focused experience to their family devices, in a fully GDPR and COPPA compliant way. KIDOZ's Rooplay (www.rooplay.com) offers an interactive learning experience worldwide with original content featuring Moomin, Mr. Men, Little Miss, Mr. Bean and hundreds more kid-focused learning games. The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 provides a "safe harbor" for forward-looking statements. Certain information included in this press release (as well as information included in oral statements or other written statements made or to be made by the company) contains statements that are forward-looking, such as statements relating to anticipated future success of the company. Such forward-looking information involves important risks and uncertainties that could significantly affect anticipated results in the future and, accordingly, such results may differ materially from those expressed in any forward-looking statements made by or on behalf of the company. For a description of additional risks and uncertainties, please refer to the company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Specifically, readers should read the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K, filed with the SEC on April 22, 2020, and the prospectus filed under Rule 424(b) of the Securities Act on March 9, 2005 and the SB2 filed July 17, 2007, and the TSX Venture Exchange Listing Application for Common Shares filed on June 29, 2015 on SEDAR, for a more thorough discussion of the Company's financial position and results of operations, together with a detailed discussion of the risk factors involved in an investment in Kidoz Inc. For more information contact: Henry Bromley CFO ir@kidoz.net (888) 374-2163 SOURCE: Kidoz Inc. View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/633077/Kidoz-Partners-with-TopOn-to-Enable-Kid-Safe-Ads-in-TopOn-Smart-Mediation-Tool Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. First Sky Construction Limited, one of Ghanas leading roads and highway construction firms, has announced the appointment of Mr Oliver Acquah-Techie as its new Chief Executive Officer effective 1st March 2021. Mr Acquah-Techie is a thirty-six-year-old engineer who has worked with First Sky Construction Limited since 2014 when he first joined the company as a Project Engineer. A native of Gomoa Dunkwa in the Central Region of Ghana, Mr Acquah-Techie obtained a BSc in Civil Engineering from Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST). He preceded to do his National Service at the Ghana Highway Authority(GHA). He holds also a Master of Science degree in Engineering Project Management from Coventry University, United Kingdom. The newly appointed CEO is also currently pursuing an MSc. Business Management at the University of Ghana Business School (UGBS). Mr Oliver Acquah-Techie comes to the position with a wealth of experience from reputable international organisations such as the Shinsung Engineering and Construction Limited. A letter signed by the Executive Chairman of First Sky Group, Mr Eric Seddy Kutortse, states that Mr Acquah-Techie brings to the table a useful combination of youthfulness and expertise. These qualities and his conversance with what the company stands for, the Group Chairman notes, will ensure that the First Sky Construction continuous to hold firmly the core values of integrity, quality and timely delivery of all our project. Mr Acquah-Techie is a proven leader with hard-core engineering skills, business vision and acumen and ability to bring people together to achieve company objectives. These are qualities he has demonstrated in his capacity as a Project Engineer and management is not in doubt that he will shine in his new role, the Group Chairman said. He added, We are optimistic that the new appointment with this calibre of experience will successfully implement the strategy and create a synergy between the company and its stakeholders. First Sky Construction Limited is a subsidiary of the award-winning First Sky Group, which has other subsidiaries such as Serene Insurance, Volta Serene Hotel (in Ho) and First Sky Commodities Limited. Source: peacefmonline.com Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video If you were somehow able to travel back in time some 130,000 years and chance upon a Neanderthal, you might find yourself telling them about some of humanitys greatest inventions, such as spanakopita and TikTok. The Neanderthal would have no idea what you were saying, much less talking about, but they might be able to hear you perfectly, picking up on the voiceless consonants t, k and s that appear in many modern human languages. A team of scientists has reconstructed the outer and middle ear of Neanderthals and concluded that they listened to the world much like we do. Their study, published Monday in Nature Ecology & Evolution, found that Neanderthals had the anatomical ability to perceive a similar range of sounds as modern Homo sapiens, including upper speech frequencies that mainly involve consonant production. The authors believe this research has implications beyond the ear. Any insight into how Neanderthals heard can offer new clues into one of the most-debated, unresolved questions about the ancient hominids: whether Neanderthals spoke. Hearing and speech are often coupled in the animal kingdom, according to Dan Dediu, a language scientist at the Lumiere University Lyon 2 in France, who was not involved with the research. It would be meaningless for an animal to produce a frequency that cant be heard by conspecifics, he said. STEPANAKERT, MARCH 2, ARMENPRESS. The rescue service of Artsakh re-started the search operations for the bodies of the war casualties and MIAs. The search and rescue mission was halted since February 15, when Azeri authorities had banned the search operations in territories under their control. Artsakh Interior Ministry spokesperson Hunan Tadevosyan told ARMENPRESS that their rescuers re-launched the search operations in Hadrut, Varanda and Jrakan. Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan Litigation and Struggle Some Say Florida is Open About COVID Data Other States Do Better Creating New 'Death Narrative' 'Better Have Damn Good Reason' (TNS) For months, Thomas Hladish, a research scientist at the University of Florida's Emerging Pathogens Institute, asked the Florida Department of Health to let him use information from thousands of contact tracers the state had hired to interview Floridians who tested positive for COVID-19.He and his colleagues wanted to better understand where transmission was occurring in Florida so officials could put more effective policies in place.But Hladish, who was on FDOH's payroll for part of last year building statistical forecasting models about the disease, was stonewalled. He was then told not to even acknowledge the state had a set of data that showed when and where people tested negative for COVID-19 in Florida."They said, if it was brought to the attention of anyone that the data set exists, then the state has to release it," Hladish recalled last week. "It was presented to me that I should not acknowledge they have that data." As Gov. Ron DeSantis prepares to give his third State of the State speech on Tuesday when lawmakers convene for their annual 60-day session, many open government advocates say the state of Florida's sunshine laws are darker this year because of the governor's selective release of information and his attempt at times to actively shield critical details about the depths of the crisis from becoming public."This administration doesn't want to put negative information out there," said Pamela C. Marsh, president of the First Amendment Foundation. "If there's good news, we'll share it, and if there's bad news, we'll hold onto it for a while until we are pushed and shoved to release it."Most of the public isn't worried about people testing negative for COVID-19, but for researchers that data is an essential tool to understanding the path of the virus as it courses through Florida, killing more than 30,000 and infecting more than 1.9 million people."They're definitely not releasing everything," Hladish said last week. "It has a huge impact on scientists' ability to understand what's going on."Theinterviewed more than two dozen researchers, journalists and legislators about their experience with open records in the last year and the common conclusion was: Florida health officials are reluctant to release new data related to COVID-19 that contradicts the governor's upbeat narrative and they frequently withhold information until they are either threatened with a lawsuit, or convinced the trend lines have improved. (See: Timeline of Florida's Dark Year for Sunshine.)In addition to releasing only selective health data, the state has withheld millions of dollars in purchase orders signed by the state with vendors. Legislators also complained about the lack of transparency relating to how the state has spent nearly $5 billion in federal funds and the botched unemployment compensation system that took months to get money to eligible Floridians.Marsh said the motive for the secrecy "comes down to politics."DeSantis has passed the midpoint in his four-year term and is positioning himself for re-election in 2022. Many believe he also hopes to run for president in 2024, and his approach to the coronavirus has been shaped by both politics and unfounded scientific theories advanced by former President Donald Trump.He spent much of the summer and fall helping engineer Trump's win in Florida, playing up his own response to the virus and downplaying the summer surge in Florida's COVID caseload."I think we're at a low point as far as access to public information in this state," said Ben Wilcox of Integrity Florida, a non-profit research organization focusing on government accountability. "It was bad under Gov. [ Rick] Scott, but I would argue it's gotten worse under Gov. DeSantis."Wilcox said his organization often submits public records requests to the governor and his agencies to get basic information "that you would think would be online anyway but isn't.""There's no expectation they are going to be fulfilled in a timely manner," Wilcox said. "We get hit with fees for copying records, even though we request them in electronic form. There's the slow-walking of public records requests, and it's almost as if they hope we will just forget about it."Marsh, of the First Amendment Foundation, has been involved in helping news organizations and non-profit advocacy organizations obtain medical examiners' reports on COVID-19 deaths and DOH reports on COVID-19 cases in nursing homes, assisted living facilities, prisons, daycare centers and hospitals. They have sought data on testing, personal protective equipment and copies of contracts and purchasing. The latest quest for information has been to get the DeSantis administration to completely release details on vaccine distribution."We have had to litigate and struggle every step of the way to get every piece of data we've ever gotten," Marsh said, adding that in a handful of those cases, it took the threat or filing of a lawsuit to force the administration to comply.Florida's landmark public records law doesn't allow the state to decide which data set is public and which is not. Instead, the law states: "It is the policy of this state that all state, county, and municipal records are open for personal inspection and copying by any person."DeSantis, who rarely gives interviews to reporters from Florida news outlets and limits his questions at press conferences, has touted his "swift and decisive action to protect our state's most vulnerable populations, including those over the age of 65" and said those early actions "saved thousands of lives and have inspired similar policies in other states and at the federal level."Although the governor would not grant thean interview to discuss his approach to the Florida's Sunshine law, his spokesperson, Meredith Beatrice, responded: " Florida has been one of the most transparent states in the nation during the COVID-19 public health emergency," she said."Executive agencies provide daily updates regarding public health information, including the COVID-19 Data and Surveillance Dashboard through the Florida Department of Health; daily COVID-19 vaccination reports (both statewide and county level); and AHCA's Hospital Bed Capacity Dashboard. Additionally, regular updates regarding reemployment claims are made available through DEO's Reemployment Assistance Claims Dashboard."Not everyone is unhappy with Florida's COVID-19 data release.Jason Salemi, associate professor of epidemiology at the University of South Florida, commends FDOH for "releasing a lot of data that people like me can use to make sense of cases, testing, hospitalizations, deaths, and vaccines."But rather than rely on the data visualizations provided on the state dashboard, which many researchers consider incomplete and therefore misleading, Salemi has produced his own Florida COVID-19 Dashboard, using numbers augmented by federal data.One glaring example of where the failure to release records may have shaped public policy is in the area of contact tracing.According to the FDOH, the state's contact tracing program uses public health case investigators to interview people who have tested positive for COVID-19 to see who else they may have exposed with the virus. Contact tracers then create a list of people they've been in contact with and attempt to reach them to prevent further spread.Although many states do not have a good record of releasing contact tracing data, an NPR survey found that 14 states make contact tracing information public. By contrast, Florida's program has been particularly opaque.For months, theand other news outlets have made repeated requests for basic information about the contact tracing program. We have asked how many contact tracers have been hired, the contact rates and success rates, and we asked for details about their findings.With every request, FDOH has refused to release any of the documents, saying only the requests "have been received."Hladish said researchers have been stymied as well. Since April, he has been asking for aggregated contact tracing data to understand where transmission was occurring, how transmission was changing as the state reopened businesses, and to provide feedback on what policies were working.The goal, the UF researcher said, was to put a contact tracing program in place that could quickly inform policy makers about whether the decisions to reopen businesses, restaurants and gyms were exacerbating the spread of the virus or having an imperceptible impact."I was told the people in charge of the contact tracing strategy didn't have time to talk to me," Hladish said last week. He said that when he pressed them to explain why during conference calls with the team at DOH, "I was shot down."Other states had used contact tracing data to impose a more nuanced approach to lockdowns, tailoring restrictions to match outbreaks, or requiring restaurants to keep a tally of customers so they could be reached more easily to prevent the spread of the infection.In Washington, D.C., and Louisiana, for example, health officials list the settings where outbreaks are happening and how many cases are arising from those outbreaks. And in Maryland, the state web site provide detailed reports on contact tracing results, even providing testimonials from people who have been interviewed to overcome the mistrust arising from people who don't want to talk to the contact tracers.The experience in those states, however, may also explain why DeSantis didn't want the information collected or publicly released in Florida because it may have increased pressure on him to close down restaurants, fitness clubs or other businesses.Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzner, for example, said that the state's contact tracing data, along with scientific studies, led him to shut down indoor dining in October, the Chicago Tribune reported.When the Miami Herald obtained a copy of Miami-Dade County's contact tracing results for September and October, the data showed that despite the governor's claims that his policies had successfully protected the elderly, cases among that group rose 150 percent in Florida and investigators reached only half of the people ages 65 and up who had been exposed to the virus.Hladish said he and other researchers wanted the contact tracing detail to know if "poor people who may not have medical insurance and may be wary about what their expenses are going to be if they show up with symptoms at a hospital were not getting tested at the same rate as others."The goal was to try to shape policy for better outreach to those communities and for months he tried to get the data, he said."I was told FDOH was interested in this topic, but I wasn't able to get an answer about whether I was allowed to use that data," he said.Contrast Hladish's experience to that of Jennifer Cabrera, an electrical engineer and conservative blogger.For months, academics and public health experts had been trying to view death certificates that until Aug. 14 had been released by county medical examiners but the state would not make them available.Then, in October, the governor's office noticed a post Cabrera had made that echoed the narrative of then- President Trump and the governor: that scientists are blowing COVID-19 deaths out of proportion and, in Florida, the state may be over-counting COVID-19 deaths.The governor's office then leaked a month's worth of COVID-19 death certificates to Cabrera, and she wrote a post on her blog arguing that some people died with COVID-19 but not from COVID-19."We can tell you definitively that Florida is counting deaths that were not directly caused by COVID-19," she wrote.It was a meaningless distinction, according to public health experts who spoke to the Miami Herald. In fact, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control says that COVID-19 deaths are likely being under counted, not over counted, and people suffering from COVID-19, who died from other causes, in most cases should be counted as a coronavirus death.Then, there was the mysterious gap in COVID-19 reporting deaths in the days before the November election. The South Florida Sun-Sentinel found that with minor exceptions, Florida stopped including long-backlogged deaths in its daily counts on Oct. 24, 10 days before the Nov. 3 election, and resumed regular reporting of them on Nov. 17. Jason Mahon, spokesman for the Florida Department of Health, did not respond to multiple requests for comment."You're not supposed to be able to manipulate public records so that it matches the way you want to politically spin a situation like COVID," said Wilcox of Integrity Florida. "You at least should make the public records available, and then try to spin it. But unless the public has the basic information, it's really dangerous."Hladish said he learned the reason his DOH colleague firmly rejected his request for the contact tracing detail was because "he had proposed the same thing and been told by someone higher up that 'when they wanted his opinion, they would ask for it'.""That told me I'm not out in left field about the value of this data and the issue is someone higher up for reasons that are completely unclear to me is not going to use this data for a nuanced strategy," Hladish said. "We are going to stick to the sledgehammer approach to lockdowns."Sharyn Smith, the former chief judge at the Florida Division of Administrative Hearings who helped draft the 1976 Sunshine law relating to financial disclosure, said the public records provisions in the law were intended to be broad, and exceptions difficult to obtain."It's all about the public having access to accurate information to be able to make informed decisions," Smith said last week. "If you're going to deny them access to information, you better have a damn good reason for doing it because this is their information. It belongs to them. It doesn't belong to any politician. "Any attempt to shield information from the public "that could affect their ability to make the best decision possible, is a threat to our democracy,' Smith added. "That's how we saw it."For their part, the Republican leaders who control Florida's Legislature have been content to let DeSantis make all the decisions about what information is being released under Florida's public records laws during the pandemic, and when.Sen. Kathleen Passidomo, a Sarasota Republican and the Senate Rules Committee chair said it "would be my druthers to provide the information that you are legally obligated to provide and to do it as expeditiously as possible". But, for now, she added: "I'm giving the governor the benefit of the doubt." 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. Ice fishing shanties pop up across Michigan lakes once the temperature plunges each winter. And with over 11,000 inland lakes, there are plenty of places to give it a try. John Zakrajsek, a seasonal interpreter, for the Michigan Department of Natural Resources and helps teach ice fishing recommends that beginners find a mentor to teach them the ropes. If youre at all interested the best thing you can do is hook up with somebody that is an avid ice fisherman, Zakrajsek said. They can shorten your learning curve and make your learning experience a whole lot more enjoyable. If you dont personally know an ice fisherman to teach you the ropes, the DNR has an Outdoor Skills Academy and offers a few ice fishing classes each winter. The classes are based from the Carl T. Johnson Hunting and Fishing Center in Cadillac which has easy access to Lake Mitchell. The final class is at capacity for this season, but they are offered annually. Ice fishing can be dangerous if fishermen dont respect the ice. According to the Michigan DNR, no ice should be considered absolutely safe. The strongest ice will appear clear with a blue tint. Weak ice can appear milky in color. Snow covered ice should always be considered unsafe as snow can act as an insulating blanket and melt existing ice or prevent ice from forming. To see ice fishermen in action and to learn more check out the video above. Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-02 20:48:56|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close COLOMBO, March 2 (Xinhua) -- A Secretariat for Trilateral National Security Advisers (NSA) on Maritime Security Cooperation between India, the Maldives and Sri Lanka has been inaugurated at the Sri Lanka Navy headquarters in the capital Colombo, local media reported on Tuesday. The Defence Ministry in a statement said that in keeping with the discussions held at the previous National Security Advisor (NSA)-level trilateral meetings on Maritime Security Cooperation with India and the Maldives, a Secretariat for Trilateral National Security Advisors on Maritime Security Cooperation was established in Colombo on Monday. "The entire world is benefitted with this initiative, as the Indian Ocean is the lifeline of the entire world," said Sri Lanka's Foreign Secretary Admiral Jayanath Colombage during the event, while expressing his thoughts on the importance of the Indian Ocean. According to the Navy Commander, the fully-fledged new secretariat would be operated 24 hours, all days of the week. Sri Lanka's Defence Secretary Kamal Gunaratne, Foreign Ministry Secretary Admiral Jayanath Colombage, Navy Commander Vice Admiral Nishantha Ulugetenne and the Defence Attaches of India and the Maldives were present at the opening ceremony. Sri Lanka hosted the fourth NSA-level trilateral meeting on Maritime Security Cooperation with India and the Maldives on Nov. 27 and 28, 2020 in Colombo while Bangladesh, Seychelles and Mauritius represented the meeting virtually as the observer states, the Defense Ministry said. Enditem Brazil's state health secretaries on Monday called for lockdowns and curfews in many parts of the country because hospitals are running short of intensive care unit beds as COVID-19 daily kills more than 1,000 people nationwide. Brazil's National Council of Health Secretaries said in an open letter that there should be "restriction at the maximum level" in regions where more than 85 per cent of hospital beds are occupied and trending up so as to "to avoid the imminent national collapse of the public and private health care networks." "The return of the pandemic in several states is making their private and their public assistance networks collapse and has brought imminent risk of spreading it to all regions of Brazil," the council said, adding that the nation is experiencing its worst moment since the pandemic began. It also cited the slow pace of the vaccination programme. Last week was Brazil's deadliest since the beginning of the pandemic, with 8,244 confirmed deaths from the virus. The letter from the council, which represents the nation's 27 health secretaries, suggested lockdowns in cities where no ICU beds are available and curfews between 8 pm and 6 am in the rest. The council also said there is a "lack of coherent and unified national leadership in the reaction to the pandemic," and suggests the halt of all activities held in person, including religious ceremonies. Despite the warning, Sao Paulo Governor Joo Doria decided also on Monday that religious gatherings are to be considered essential activities in Brazil's most populous state. Doria is a former ally turned foe of Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro. Brazil's capital, Brasilia, entered a two-week lockdown on Sunday, and at least eight states adopted curfews over the past week due to the rise in cases and deaths from the virus. On Monday, hundreds protested near the country's presidential palace, carrying banners that read "We want to work." The governor of the Federal District, where Brasilia lies, is an ally of Bolsonaro. In several Brazilian cities, owners of private schools also protested against stricter social distancing measures. They argued children are not major spreaders of the disease. Less than 4 per cent of Brazil's population has been vaccinated against COVID-19. Almost 260,000 people are confirmed to have died from the disease in the South American country. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Employees are the bloodline of every company. Consequently, the success or otherwise of the company greatly depends on the talent the company has in its pool of employees. Knowing the right fit for your company is mostly the easiest to figure out. Finding talent with the best-fit job seekers is often not so easy. And as an HR manager, this could be frustrating. Likewise, job seekers are also faced with myriad problems when it comes to finding the right company that will value them for their skills, knowledge, and level of experience. Sending applications and not getting a single response to even acknowledge receipt of your application is common and easily results in frustrated job seekers. In view of the unique challenges in the Ghanaian system, the nature of the market, and best practices, TonatonJOBS has introduced a 360-degree solution for employers and job seekers alike. With the nature of the Ghanaian job market in perspective, Tonaton.com which has been the leading name in the classifieds market in Ghana launched a tailored platform to respond to the needs of both job seekers and recruiters. The platform, TonatonJOBS, connects job seekers and talent hunters in a seamless manner while addressing the challenges often faced by both parties in the recruitment process. TonatonJOBS platform has since been helping individuals and organizations to handle their recruitment without much of the hassle experienced before. TonatonJOBS has a pool of more than a million monthly views and lots of registered job seekers ready to apply. This has made TonatonJOBS a preferred platform. However, in the spirit of providing the best to their clients, membership, or free listings package, TonatonJOBS constantly seeks to provide the best of features and service. Here is What makes TonatonJOBS Special The platform relaunched with not just a bunch of new features but also a more focused purpose to help blue-collar job seekers and recruiters. Unlike other recruitment platforms which offer generalized solutions, TonatonJOBS brings their expertise in skill-based recruitment to the fore for the benefit of those who need it most. To be even more helpful, the company has added a bespoke service to help recruiters. They aim to help organizations with a broad spectrum of needs. Some organizations prefer to have candidates through the TonatonJOBS platform while others prefer to have their entire recruitment needs taken care of by trusted experts of TonatonJOBS so they can concentrate on their core business. TonatonJOBS introduced a flagship service to relieve organizations of their entire recruitment process called Staffing Solutions. The bespoke service, Staffing Solutions, will take care of the advertisement, ad posting, and initial screening of candidates. TonatonJOBS Staffing Solutions will then provide the employer with the best candidates for their own assessment and selection. The criteria for screening and selection are based on a clear understanding of the needs of the company, requisite skills, and experience level. Conclusion Tonaton continues to lead the classified market in Ghana as they attract millions of views each and every month. In the spirit of leadership and excellence, TonatonJOBS continues to help Ghanaian job seekers and recruiters to find what they need. Do contact them for assistance regarding any inquiries. 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 MINNEAPOLIS (AP) State health officials say more than 45,000 doses of the newly approved Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine should arrive in Minnesota this week. Minnesota Department of Health spokesman John Schadl says the order for the first shipment of the single-dose J&J vaccine was placed on Sunday night. He says usually takes a couple of days for processing and shipping. The new J&J vaccine should continue the upward surge of Minnesotas immunization effort, which documented its highest numbers late last week. The Health Department called it a game changer. LONDON, March 2, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- On Tuesday, February 23rd 2021, the Prime Minister of the Commonwealth of Dominica, Dr the Hon. Roosevelt Skerrit, took his first jab of the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine. Several other government ministers, officials and Office staff also joined him. Due to his dynamic leadership and diplomacy, he secured 70,000 vaccinations for Dominica from India. Displaying a kind gesture, the government of Dominica, in partnership with and Barbados, donated some of the vaccines they received to their sister nations and set an example of comradery in the whole Caribbean. The government also launched a website to get citizens registered and have the vaccination drive be carried out in a phased manner. Currently, Dominica is among the nations which have successfully curbed the pandemic and recorded zero deaths so far. The wise management of the Prime Minister has made the Nature Isle an example for countries worldwide, including CARICOM states, as COVID-19 severely impacts many. In a webinar that released this week, the Prime Minister emphasised the country's strong healthcare system. "Because we have had a very robust primary health care system, [it] helped us in containing the presence of COVID-19 in our country," he said. He also recognised the role of Dominica's Citizenship by Investment (CBI) Programme as a major sponsor in healthcare advancement. He said, "The Citizenship by Investment Programme has really been a very formidable contributor to our revenue base and also public sector investment programme." As the best country for citizenship by investment, according to the Financial Times' PWM CBI Index, Dominica is well known for making exceptionally good use of CBI contributions. In the healthcare sector alone, the CBI Programme was responsible for constructing many clinics, health centres, and a state-of-the-art hospital scheduled to be completed next month. Under the Programme, Foreign investors and their families can legally obtain second citizenship from Dominica within three-four months either by making a one-off contribution to a government fund or investing in pre-approved luxury and sustainable hotels. Firstly, though, all applicants must pass Dominica's thorough due diligence checks, deemed among the most rigorous of all investor immigration programmes. This guarantees the Programme's integrity for Dominica's sake, while investors can rest assured that their citizenship is for life and can safely be passed on to future generations. Economic citizens earn the right to live, work and study in Dominica, taking advantage of all the country's facilities, such as good healthcare, education, visa-free travel, safety and security for life. Contact: pr@csglobalpartners.com, www.csglobalpartners.com Have you seen that viral video of Tom Cruise doing magic tricks? Well, its not really the Syracuse-born actor, but its certainly a trick. The Times of London reports three videos that use artificial intelligence technology to make a TikTok user look like Cruise have gone viral on social media. The account, @deeptomcruise, already has 11 million combined views, 1 million likes, and 342,000 followers. Its the real thing, the supposed Cruise says. But none of them actually feature the Mission: Impossible star. Chris Ume, a video visual effects specialist from Belgium, told Fortune magazine that he created the videos but its unclear who is portraying the celebrity. Cruise impersonator Evan Ferrante told the publication Mic that he believes its another actor named Miles Fisher, who resembles Cruise and has done impressions of him in the past. Ive also been using deepfakes, working with the best people in the industry doing it, from Collider TV and Corridor Digital to just individuals who work with software and are the go-to technicians out there. But this one is getting a lot of acclaim, because again, the technology just keeps getting better and better. People are drawn to illusion and people are drawn to lookalikes for some reason, because people like to be fooled or question things, Ferrante told Mic. Deepfakes refer to media generated and manipulated by A.I., most frequently by swapping one persons head or face onto another persons body. In the case of video, images can be grabbed from multiple sources such as photos or clips from Cruises blockbuster movies to create the animated fake using machine learning to show how the face looks from multiple angles in different lighting and movements. MIT Technology Review says most deepfakes since late 2018 have been used for nonconsensual porn, such as putting an ex-girlfriends head on an adult film stars body. The technology has also been used to put Robert Downey Jr. and Tom Holland in Back to the Future and ancestry company MyHeritage uses it to animate old photos of relatives through a program called Deep Nostalgia. With our new Deep Nostalgia, you can see how a person from an old photo could have moved and looked if they were captured on video! Read more: https://t.co/ZwUwzJRQ26 #RootsTech #RootsTechConnect pic.twitter.com/LERXhrqiut MyHeritage (@MyHeritage) February 25, 2021 Another recent deepfake video convincingly inserted Stranger Things actress Millie Bobby Brown into Star Wars as Carrie Fishers character, Princess Leia. Hany Farid, a professor at the University of California at Berkeley who specializes in the analysis of digital images, told Fortune magazine that the Tom Cruise deepfakes are incredibly well done. In the video where Cruise seems to perform a magic trick with a coin, the only evidence theyre fake is when his eye color and eye shape as well as light reflected in Cruises iris briefly change at the end of the clip. TikTok told the Times that it does not allow digital forgeries that mislead users by distorting the truth of events and cause harm to the subject of the video, other persons or society. However, it allows deeptomcruise to remain active because the username makes it clear they were not trying to trick viewers. Still, the techs rapid growth has raised questions about copyright infringement, internet security, revenge porn, and political propaganda. Whats to stop someone from creating a video that looks like a candidate saying or doing something they didnt really say or do? Ajder said the Cruise videos are entertaining, but there is also a huge amount of really negative and malicious use cases. Rachel Tobac, the CEO of online security company SocialProof, told the New York Post that the Cruise videos are so well done that its implications are scary. Deepfakes will impact public trust, provide cover & plausible deniability for criminals/abusers caught on video or audio, and will be (and are) used to manipulate, humiliate, & hurt people, Tobac said, adding they had real world safety, political etc impact for everyone. Cruise, who was born in Syracuse, N.Y., in 1962, has not commented on the videos. Chinese female director Chloe Zhao won best film and best director awards at the 78th Annual Golden Globe Awards on Sunday night, making history as a major Chinese breakthrough. The film will debut in China in April. Chloe Zhao accepts the Best Director - Motion Picture award for "Nomadland" via video from Bryce Dallas Howard onstage at the 78th Annual Golden Globe Awards held at The Rainbow Room and broadcast on Feb. 28, 2021 in New York. [Photo/VCG] Zhao's feature film "Nomadland" won Best Motion Picture-Drama, becoming the first film directed by a woman to win the trophy in this category. The critically-acclaimed low-budget road-trip drama beat out "The Father," "Mank," "Promising Young Woman" and "The Trial of the Chicago 7" for the top prize in the motion picture drama category. The director, also known as Zhao Ting, further won the Golden Globe for best director of a motion picture for the film, becoming the first Chinese woman and woman of Asian descent to win this category. "I especially want to thank the nomads who shared their stories with us," she said when accepting the award, then reading a message about compassion from one of the nomads, Bob Wells. Zhao quoted Wells as saying, "Compassion is a breakdown of all the barriers between us. A heart-to-heart bonding. Your pain is my pain. It's mingled and shared between us." "Now this is why I fell in love with making movies and telling stories, because they give us a chance to laugh and cry together," she continued. "And they give us a chance to learn from each other and to have more compassion for each other." Then in accepting the best picture award, Zhao called the film "a pilgrimage through grief and healing." She added, "For everyone who has gone through that at some point, this is for you. See you down the road." Zhao also became only the second woman ever to win the director award. Barbra Streisand was the other for "Yentl" back in 1984. Based on Jessica Bruder's 2017 non-fiction book "Nomadland: Surviving America in the Twenty-First Century," the film stars Frances McDormand as an out-of-work woman who packs her van and sets off from her small town to travel around the vast landscape of the American West, exploring a life outside of conventional society as a modern-day nomad. Zhao, born in Beijing in 1982, is the second Chinese director to gain recognition at the Annual Golden Globe Awards after Ang Lee. A Chinese poster of "Nomadland" released on March 1, 2021. [Photo courtesy of Searchlight Pictures] Disney's Searchlight Pictures announced after Zhao's win that "Nomadland" will be released in China on April 23. In a special video released by The Walt Disney Studios on Sunday, Zhao greeted the Chinese audience and said, "This film brings together the enthusiasm and hard work of many people, even their own life stories, and I hope that through their stories, you will find your own life and become the author of your own life story." "Nomadland" has collected more than 90 awards so far, including the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival and the People's Choice Award at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2020, and will be the strong contender for Oscar best picture, scheduled to be held on April 25. As for Zhao, she also directed an upcoming Marvel superhero blockbuster "Eternals," which is set to hit theaters on Nov. 5, 2021. Her award wins would definitely help boost the confidence and anticipation for her next project. Run by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, the 78th Annual Golden Globe Awards honored the best in American television of 2020, as well as film in 2020 and early 2021. As the first major show of this Hollywood awards season, the virtual ceremony, which was postponed for nearly two months amid the COVID-19 pandemic, took place live from both New York City and Los Angeles. Here's the full Golden Globe Awards winners list: Best Motion Picture Drama "Nomadland" (Searchlight Pictures) Best Actress in a Motion Picture Drama Andra Day ("The United States vs. Billie Holiday") Best Actor in a Motion Picture Musical or Comedy Sacha Baron Cohen ("Borat Subsequent Moviefilm") Best Motion Picture Musical or Comedy "Borat Subsequent Moviefilm" (Amazon Studios) Best Director Motion Picture Chloe Zhao, "Nomadland" (Searchlight Pictures) Best Actor in a Motion Picture Drama Chadwick Boseman ("Ma Rainey's Black Bottom") Best Television Limited Series or Motion Picture Made for Television "The Queen's Gambit" (Netflix) Best Performance by an Actress in a Limited Series or Motion Picture Made for Television Anya Taylor-Joy ("The Queen's Gambit") Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Series, Limited Series or Motion Picture Made for Television Gillian Anderson ("The Crown") Best Actress in a Supporting Role in Any Motion Picture Jodie Foster ("The Mauritanian") Best Television Series Drama "The Crown" (Netflix) Best Motion Picture Foreign Language "Minari" (A24) Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series Drama Josh O'Connor ("The Crown") Best Actress in a Motion Picture Musical or Comedy Rosamund Pike ("I Care a Lot") Best Television Series Musical or Comedy "Schitt's Creek" (CBC) Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series Musical or Comedy Jason Sudeikis ("Ted Lasso") Best Original Score Motion Picture "Soul" (Pixar) Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross, Jon Batiste Best Original Song Motion Picture "Io Si (Seen)" from "The Life Ahead" (Netflix) Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series Drama Emma Corrin ("The Crown") Best Screenplay Motion Picture Aaron Sorkin "The Trial of the Chicago 7" (Netflix) Best Performance by an Actor in a Limited Series or Motion Picture Made for Television Mark Ruffalo ("I Know This Much Is True") Best Motion Picture Animated "Soul" (Walt Disney Pictures) Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series Musical or Comedy Catherine O'Hara ("Schitt's Creek") Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Series, Limited Series or Motion Picture Made for Television John Boyega ("Small Axe") Best Actor in a Supporting Role in Any Motion Picture Daniel Kaluuya ("Judas and the Black Messiah") WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. As a former firefighter, Randy Frye holds first responders in high esteem. His empathy for them led him to becoming a champion for a partnership between Purdue University Global and the Indiana Volunteer Firefighters Association (IVFA) that will afford all members of the association the opportunity to pursue bachelors degree offerings that will help advance their careers. The volunteer fire service in Indiana comprises the majority of firefighters, said Frye, who has served in the Indiana House of Representatives from the 67th district since 2010. The countless hours spent by these brave volunteers protecting us often goes unrewarded. Thanks to Purdue Global, we can now begin to offer additional college training for our volunteer firefighters, providing them with a clear path to a brighter future. (Frye discusses the partnership in this video). Purdue Global will provide a free portfolio assessment and capstone course to 250 IVFA members residing in Indiana who enroll with the university. We are proud to join forces with the Indiana Volunteer Firefighters Association to do our part in recognizing the tremendous sacrifice made by these selfless heroes across our state, Purdue Global Chancellor Frank Dooley said. These men and women sacrifice so much to serve their communities. We look forward to welcoming them to the Purdue family and seeing them realize career progression and personal growth. The portfolio waiver is valued at $1,500 and is open to the first 250 eligible members who submit their credentials for either Academic Prior Learning Portfolio (EL206) or Pathway to College Credit Portfolio Development (LRC100) for assessment. To qualify for the bachelors capstone tuition waiver ($1,680 in-state value), eligible individuals must first submit an experiential learning portfolio. The Indiana Volunteer Firefighters Association welcomes the partnership between our association and Purdue Global, IVFA President David R. Israel said. As we attempt to recruit new and younger members, this opens even more doors of opportunity. We will be able to not only ask members of our communities to join their local volunteer fire departments but be able to offer, in return, an opportunity for assistance with a college education. Our hope is that this might be the benefit that will attract our needed future, new and younger members to serve as volunteers in public safety. The launch date for the program is March 1. The Purdue Global course waivers are available to the first 250 IVFA members who are Indiana residents, complete a Purdue Global portfolio development course and submit a portfolio for review by Jan. 30, 2022, enroll in Purdue Global, and enter their bachelors degree capstone course no later than Dec. 1, 2026. The role of a first responder today is more challenging than ever before, said Joel Thacker, Indiana state fire marshal. This partnership between the IVFA and Purdue Global will help public safety personnel obtain the necessary education and training to meet the challenges now and in the future. About Purdue University Global Purdue University Global delivers personalized online education tailored to the unique needs of adults who have work or life experience beyond the classroom, enabling them to develop essential academic and professional skills with the support and flexibility they need to achieve their career goals. It offers a hyper-tailored path for students to earn an associate, bachelors, masters or doctoral degree, based on their work experience, desired pace, military service, previous college credits and other considerations no matter where they are in their life journey. Purdue Global serves approximately 36,000 students (as of January 2021), most of whom earn their degree online. Purdue Global is a nonprofit, public university accredited by The Higher Learning Commission. It is affiliated with Purdue Universitys flagship institution, a highly ranked public research university located in West Lafayette, Indiana. Purdue University also operates two regional campuses in Fort Wayne and Northwest Indiana, as well as serving science, engineering and technology students at the Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) campus. For more information, please visit purdueglobal.edu. About the Indiana Volunteer Firefighters Association With over 15,000 members throughout the state, the mission of the Indiana Volunteer Firefighters Association is to bring together its members to discuss ways and means of sharing information for the betterment of the fire service. The IVFA fosters and promotes unity among volunteer fire departments throughout Indiana. For more information, please visit ivfa.org/. Media Contact, Purdue Global: Tom Schott, 765-427-1721, tschott@purdue.edu Sources: Frank Dooley Randy Frye David R. Israel Joel Thacker Instacart, the grocery delivery company, said on Tuesday that it has raised another $265 million in a funding that values it at $39 billion, more than doubling its valuation for the second time in a year. Andreessen Horowitz and Sequoia Capital, which are existing investors in Instacart, participated in the latest financing for the eight-year-old start-up. Over the last year, Instacart has raised two rounds of funding totaling $525 million. It was previously valued at $17.7 billion. The pandemic has supercharged Instacarts growth. Customers eager to avoid shopping in stores are using the companys app-based grocery ordering service. Laid-off workers have also turned to gig-economy jobs, like Instacart shopping, to make money. Instacart now has 500,000 shoppers who work on contract. This past year ushered in a new normal, changing the way people shop for groceries and goods, Nick Giovanni, Instacarts chief financial officer, said in a statement. Bhopal, March 2 : Finance Minister Jagdish Deora presented the Budget for the 2021-22 in the Madhya Pradesh assembly on Tuesday. Now new tax has been levied in this year's Budget, nor any tax increased. The two lakh 41 thousand 27 crore Budget is being described as a step towards making the state self-reliant. Finance Minister Deora presented the budget in the Assembly, saying that the Budget has been made keeping all sections of society in mind. The emphasis in the Budget is on health, education, medicine, roads, employment, drinking water, etc. Reacting to the Budget, Congress leader and former CM Kamal Nath described it as 'a pack of lies'. "The Budget that the Madhya Pradesh government presented today is a pack of lies. It is directionless, hopeless and just a maze of data. It was expected that in this Budget, the government would reduce VAT to provide relief to the public from petrol-diesel prices and the Congress government's farm loan waiver scheme would be carried forward. There would be a concrete action plan on new employment opportunities, education and health. Besides giving DA and DR to government employees, effective measures should have been provided to to provide relief to industry in view of the Corona pandemic. But all this is missing in the document." He further said, "Surprisingly, the BJP government, which is in power for 15 years, is still talking about providing tap water to every household. Even after 15 years, besides showing false dreams of development, nothing has been done for farmers, the youth, generating employment or taking concrete measures to increase the per capita income of the residents of the state. Contrary to the expectations of the people, there is nothing new in this budget." THOMPSON A local man will spend 20 years in prison in connection with the kidnapping and sexual assault of a 12-year-old Massachusetts girl, according to federal prosecutors. Joshua Besaw, 37, was sentenced Monday by Judge Michael P. Shea in Hartford to spend 240 months in prison, followed by 20 years of supervised release. Besaw has been detained since his arrest on July 17, 2019. He pleaded guilty on March 12, 2020, to kidnapping and transportation of a minor to engage in illegal sexual activity. The Thompson man met the 12-year-old victim on May 31, 2019, at a park in Webster, Mass., and tricked her into getting in his vehicle, authorities said. Besaw, who identified himself as Chuck, drove the girl to a wooded area in Thompson, where authorities said he sexually assaulted her. After the assault, officials saw Besaw drove the minor back to Massachusetts and released her in a neighborhood that was unfamiliar to her and refused to return her cellphone. The girl borrowed a phone from a stranger to call her parents, who picked her up and brought her to police to report the incident. A sexual assault examination of the victim was done at a medical facility later that day. Besaw was identified as a potential suspect after an investigation led by Webster, Mass., police with support from Connecticut State Police. The investigation included analysis of surveillance video from multiple homes and businesses in Connecticut and Massachusetts. On July 10, 2019, investigators who were conducting surveillance of Besaw collected cigarette butts he discarded. Authorities said the DNA from those cigarettes matched the DNA evidence collected from the victim. 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. [March 02, 2021] Kraig Biocraft Laboratories Announces Spider Silk Patent Granted in Canada ANN ARBOR, Mich., March 02, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Kraig Biocraft Laboratories, Inc. (OTCQB: KBLB) ("the Company" or "Kraig Labs"), the biotechnology company focused on the development and commercialization of spider silk, announces that the University of Notre Dame has been granted a Canadian patent on spider silk technology developed pursuant to the collaborative research agreement with Kraig. This patent further protects Kraig's growing portfolio of spider silk Intellectual Property. Patent number 2,812,791, titled "Chimeric Spider Silk and Uses Thereof" was issued to the University of Notre Dame (UND) under the Company's exclusive license agreement. Under the terms of that agreement, the Company paid for the development of the technology and the costs of patents issued to UND in exchange for exclusive global licensing rights. This patent provides protection for the Company's proprietary recombinant spider silk through September of 2031. "Congratulations to both the researchers at the University of Notre Dame and Kraig's science team. Kraig Labs plans to continue building upon and protecting our position as a leading biomimicry company. This patent is an important step on the Company's path to remaining the premier technology and fber supplier in the spider silk space," said Jon Rice, the Company's Chief Operations Officer. "We've created multiple strains of high-performance spider silk fibers that we are excited about. Protecting our specialized materials in key end markets is a core component of our commercialization efforts." To view the most recent news from Kraig Labs and/or to sign up for Company alerts, please go to www.KraigLabs.com/news. About Kraig Biocraft Laboratories, Inc.: Kraig Biocraft Laboratories, Inc. (www.KraigLabs.com), a reporting biotechnology company, is a developer of genetically engineered spider silk based fiber technologies. Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Information Statements in this press release about the Company's future and expectations other than historical facts are "forward-looking statements." These statements are made on the basis of management's current views and assumptions. As a result, there can be no assurance that management's expectations will necessarily come to pass. These forward-looking statements generally can be identified by phrases such as "believes, "plans, "expects, "anticipates, "foresees, "estimated, "hopes, "if, "develops, "researching, "research, "pilot, "potential, "could" or other words or phrases of similar import. Forward-looking statements include future sales of SpydaSilk and descriptions of the Company's business strategy, outlook, objectives, plans, intentions and goals. All such forward-looking statements are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements. This press release does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any security. Ben Hansel, Hansel Capital, LLC (720) 288-8495 ir@KraigLabs.com [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Stock Market News RIO Shares - Rio Tinto to dispute extra tax demanded by Australian authorities 02-03-2021 01:14 Stock News headlines are gathered from financial news sources around the web. Views and opinions on each item are from their respective authors and website. They are not opinions of LiveCharts.co.uk Ahmedabad: The ruling BJP recorded a massive victory in the local body polls in Gujarat on Tuesday by winning a clear majority in all 31 district panchayats as well as in 196 out of 231 taluka panchayats and 74 out of 81 municipalities. The Congress, the main opposition party in the state, won a clear majority in only one municipality and 18 taluka panchayats, while AIMIM and AAP also made their presence felt. In six municipalities and 15 taluka panchayats, no party has got a clear majority. The BJP's success followed its victory in all six municipal corporations where polls were held in the first phase of local elections on February 21. In the second phase where polling was held for district and taluka panchayats as well as municipalities on February 28, the BJP again left the Congress far behind by winning 6,236 out of 8,470 seats for which results were declared. The position was not yet clear on four remaining seats. The Congress could win 1,805 seats, while the new entrants Aam Aadmi Paty (AAP) and All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) won 42 and 17 seats, respectively. Asaduddin Owaisi's AIMIM won nine seats in Modasa municipality in Aravalli district, one in Bharuch, and seven in Godhra in Panchmahal. The AAP won 31 seats in taluka panchayat, two in district panchayat and nine in municipality bodies. With the BJP emerging stronger in rural and semi-urban areas, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the results show that Gujarat remains firmly with the saffron party's agenda of development and good governance. "Results of the Nagar Palika, Taluka Panchayat and District Panchayat polls across Gujarat give a crystal clear message- Gujarat is firmly with the BJP's agenda of development and good governance. "I bow to the people of Gujarat for the unwavering faith and affection towards BJP," Modi said in a tweet. Results of the Nagar Palika, Taluka Panchayat and District Panchayat polls across Gujarat give a crystal clear message- Gujarat is firmly with the BJPs agenda of development and good governance. I bow to the people of Gujarat for the unwavering faith and affection towards BJP. Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) March 2, 2021 Union Home Minister Amit Shah tweeted that the people in rural parts of Gujarat and farmers have made the BJP victorious and put a seal of trust on the welfare policies of the government. He congratulated Chief Minister Vijay Rupani, Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel and state BJP President C R Paatil as well as party workers for the "grand victory". Chief Minister Rupani said the Congress is a sinking ship that is not fit for even being an opposition. "The manner in which the people of Gujarat have wiped out the Congress shows that Gujarat remains the stronghold of the BJP," he told reporters. The results of local body polls come as a boost for chief minister Rupani ahead of the 2022 Assembly elections. Questions had been raised about his leadership when the BJP scraped through in the 2017 Assembly polls. Following the party's debacle, Gujarat Congress president Amit Chavda and leader of opposition Paresh Dhanani sent their resignations to the party leadership. "Taking the responsibility of the election results as state Congress chief, I have submitted my resignation to party president Sonia Gandhi," Chavda told reporters, adding that he would work as a common party worker from now on. (Newser) Roger Kibbe, who was convicted in the deaths of at least seven women over two decades in the Sacramento area, was killed Sunday in his cell, California prison officials said. The serial killer, who became known as the "I-5 Strangler" because he seized most of his victims along the interstate, was found dead on the floor of his cell during an inmate count. His cellmate, Jason Budrow, 40, was present, officials said. The case is being investigated as a homicide, the Sacramento Bee reports. A cause of death was not released. story continues below Kibbe was serving multiple life sentences at Mule Creek State Prison. He was first convicted in 1991, per KABC, of strangling a 17-year-old runaway. In 2009, an investigator using updated techniques tied him to other killings; Kibbe pleaded guilty in those cases to avoid the death penalty. Budrow is serving a life sentence for murder without possibility of parole. Prosecutors said Kibbe would look for young women having car trouble, offer to help, then abduct them. He'd take them to isolated places, per ABC10, where he'd rape them and use their clothing to strangle them. (Read more serial killer stories.) ROCHESTER, Minn. - The Rochester community is rallying around a police officer who is battling Stage IV pancreatic cancer. Tony "TJ" Jacobsen was diagnosed a couple of months ago and doctors determined that he is a candidate for surgery to remove cancer from the pancreas and liver. The team set a GoFundMe goal of $18,000, and as of Tuesday more than $16,000 has been raised in a couple of days. You can find the GoFundMe page here. Jacobsen was named the 2018 National Alliance on Mental Illness of Southeast Minnesota's CIT officer of the year. G&T Crampton, the Dublin building firm famed for more than 100 years for the quality of its construction will seek to appoint a liquidator to two Irish companies at a meeting of creditors on March 12th. Declan McDonald of PwC has been nominated as liquidator of G&T Crampton (Holdings) Unlimited and G&T Crampton Unlimited Company, pending a vote of creditors at a meeting to be held on March 12th, according to notice posted yesterday. The 140-year-old, family-owned building firm is ultimately controlled via an Isle of Man company. Expand Close The American embassy in Ballsbridge / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp The American embassy in Ballsbridge The most recent accounts for both companies facing liquidation indicates relatively small debts that appear to be mostly made up of inter-company loans, but significant historic losses. Crampton built is considered a byword for build quality and the firms reputation in Ireland is probably unrivaled. Houses built by the firm in the first half of the twentieth century continue to command a premium on the market whether the homes were built for Dublin Corporation in Cabra or for the citys wealthy elite in Herbert Park, Dublin 4 and Foxrock. Expand Close Holles St maternity hospital / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Holles St maternity hospital The firm has also been involved in numerous nationally important building projects, ranging from the former University College Dublin on Earlsfort Terrace which is now the National Concert Hall to the redevelopment of Smithfield Square. G&T Crampton was also behind the National Maternity Hospital at Holles Street, the American Embassy in Ballsbridge and commercial schemes like Wynns Hotel in Dublin city centre which was rebuilt after being set on fire by incendiary bullets during the 1916 rising. A photographic archive of hundreds of projects on which G&T Crampton worked was donated to University College Dublin in 2017. As recently as the last boom, G&T Crampton was turning over 240m a year as a contractor, building on behalf of developers and for clients including the State. Expand Close G&T Crampton's Pembroke Library / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp G&T Crampton's Pembroke Library It has continued to sponsor the coveted Silver Trowel an annual prize for the countrys best apprentice bricklayer, but the firm has not been particularly active in recent years, even as the construction sector has ramped back up. The firms management could not be reached at its head office on Burlington Road in Dublin yesterday and Declan McDonald could not be reached for comment. Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-02 14:32:42|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close COPENHAGEN, March 1 (Xinhua) -- A formal letter of disapproval from the European Commission, sent to six European Union (EU) member states contravening the open border policy of the Schengen Treaty, has been met with silence or intransigence from government officials. All six EU states have 10 days to respond to the commission after receiving the letter on Feb. 22. According to the EU laws, if the member states fail to undertake necessary measures, the commission could take legal actions against them. CONCERNS OVER NEW COVID-19 VARIANTS The four-page document, sent to Germany, Denmark, Finland, Sweden, Belgium and Hungary, highlights the commission's concern that their unilateral border control measures to curb the spread of the pandemic risk "fragmentation and disruptions to free movement and to supply chains," according to Christian Wigand, a spokesperson for the commission. The German federal government has declared the Czech Republic, Slovakia and large parts of Tyrol in Austria as so-called "areas of variant of concern" since mid-February. The aim of its border controls is to prevent the more contagious COVID-19 variants from spreading into the country. Minister of State for Europe at the German Federal Foreign Office Michael Roth said that the German government's actions are "in keeping with Schengen," the rules of Europe's passport-free travel zone. However, the border restrictions have caused a diplomatic rift with the Austrian government, which recently summoned the German ambassador in Vienna to justify the "unnecessary measures that do more harm than good." In an interview with the German newspaper Munchner Merkur, Austria's Chancellor Sebastian Kurz repeated his plea against permanent lockdowns and for extensive testings and a Europe-wide vaccination certificate. "I hope that Europe will soon bring about a uniform procedure at the borders," said the chancellor. NO INTENTION TO RELAX Hungary has had its borders closed to nearly all foreigners since last September, following a spike of cases after the summer. In response to the EU's criticism, the Hungarian government said that at the current moment it was not proper to point fingers at one another. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said on Friday that the next coming days would decide how to alter the current rules. The further tightening of security at the borders is one concerned area. "At the borders, tightening is definitely needed due to the strong outbreak of the epidemic," Orban said. Denmark also reaffirmed its stance on border controls after receiving the commission's letter. Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen asserted that Denmark had no intention of relaxing border controls. "My position on border control is the same as it has been throughout. There in an epidemic, we need border control," said Frederiksen. The prime minister further explained that the rise of new variants is the reason why Denmark will continue to maintain its border restrictions. TIGHTENED NORDIC BORDER CONTROL Sweden has a stricter entry ban for foreign citizens traveling from Denmark, Norway and Britain. Facing complaints from many commuters crossing the Nordic borders for work, Anna Hallberg, Swedish minister for foreign trade and Nordic affairs, said she believed that "Nordic crisis management has broken down" and that "border cooperation requires more dialogue." "When the crisis came, we did not think of the Nordic countries, but we thought in terms of national crisis management. When the sun is shining, the cooperation works, but not when it is raining and stormy. We must learn from that," Hallberg said. Government officials in Finland have also cited the pandemic and the country's failure to find alternatives for border restrictions as grounds for maintaining their border controls. "We're not in any kind of normal and business-as-usual situation but in the middle of a global pandemic," said Finland's Minister for European Affairs Tytti Tuppurainen. She underscored that Finland is a supporter for the internal market and free mobility within the Schengen area. However, its response to the pandemic has been designed with an emphasis on the health of citizens, she said. "We think it (the border control) is ... important because the goal is to prevent the virus from spreading and especially the entry of these variants to Finland," said Tuppurainen. Enditem (Xinhua reporters Geza Molnar and Yuan Liang in Budapest, Shen Zhonghao in Frankfurt, Fu Yiming in Stockholm, Zhao Feifei in Vienna, as well as Chen Jing in Helsinki also contributed to the story.) BATTLE GROUND, Wash., March 1, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Pacific Northwest modular home builder Wolf Industries has announced today that construction of their new facilities has been completed and the staff has resumed production. At over twice the size of their last factory, the new location is nearly 21,000 square feet and will accommodate double the production capacity - as many as 2 homes per week. Aerial photo of Wolf Industries new modular tiny home factory. The company produces a 300 to 615 square foot unit per week. Derek Huegel, owner and president of Wolf Industries, says the change couldn't have come at a better time. "With about a 300% increase in demand, the new shop is everything we need to help meet a massively growing need for affordable housing." Much of the company's success, Derek says, is attributed to offering an 'turn-key' product. "We not only construct the home, we handle the site work, permitting, set up and delivery as well." Through the factory-assembled structures program in Washington state, Wolf Industries is able to produce homes built to IRC standards - the same specifications and requirements found in much larger and more expensive homes built on-site. Last year Wolf Industries announced they had finalized an agreement with the Vancouver Housing Authority to produce modular structures for transitional housing as part of a larger 'tiny home village' project by non-profit Community Roots. The project - which aims to place a total of 19 homes - was awarded an additional $2,552,488 grant through the State of Washington's Housing Trust Fund program. Though they've seen major growth in demand for multi-unit projects, Wolf Industries states that they continue to remain attentive to individuals that still need lesser services such as guest homes, accessory dwelling units and even hardships - commonly used for bringing aging parents onto a shared property. Interested parties can schedule in-person or virtual tours of their factory by appointment. "I really enjoy being able to hear about the ideas that people have for what they want to do with our tiny homes," says Sophia Stewart, the Sales and Marketing Coordinator. "I would love to show people around and get them excited about any projects they have in mind, or even if they're just curious what our houses look like." For additional information: Derek Huegel (360) 314-8037 [email protected] Related Images wolf-industries-modular-tiny-home.jpg Wolf Industries modular tiny home factory Aerial photo of Wolf Industries new modular tiny home factory. The company produces a 300 to 615 square foot unit per week. SOURCE Wolf Industries As Pennsylvanias hospitality industry anxiously awaits for COVID-19 mitigation orders to be relaxed, Gov. Tom Wolf on Tuesday offered a glimmer of hope. As we get vaccines rolled out, the warmer weather ... we are going to get back to normal at some point as quickly as possible, he said in response to a question about lifting the remaining mitigation orders on restaurants and bars. The governor appeared at a press conference to address allocating $145 million in grants for the states restaurants, bars and hotels. Starting March 15, owners can apply at the county level to receive up to $50,000 in financial assistance. The hard hit hospitality industry has been operating under orders including 50% capacity levels, 11 p.m. booze sales cutoff, no bar seating and required purchase of a meal with alcoholic beverage sales. Many restaurant owners, eager for the return of bustling dining rooms and increased revenue, have said they would like to see the governor share a timeline for reopening. READ MORE: Wolf said lifting mitigation orders is getting consideration and being talked about but the question is how fast can we move in a safe manner to get back to normal. He continued by saying the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has shared concerns that while COVID-19 cases are declining, the numbers are still unacceptably high. The CDC recently warned governors not to lift measures too quickly. Wolf added, so they want to take a little more time to see how this goes and I agree with that. On Tuesday the state reported 2,564 new infections, bringing Pennsylvanias total to 935,854 since the start of the pandemic a year ago. It reported 74 new deaths, raising the toll to 24,100. Wolfs press conference comes a day after he raised maximum indoor occupancy limits for gatherings to 15% and outdoor at 20%, regardless of venue size. He also lifted out-of-state travel restrictions. In a recent survey released by the Pennsylvania Restaurant & Lodging Association, 38% of restaurant operators do not expect to return to normal business conditions for at least seven to 12 months, while 14% reported business conditions would never return to normal. In addition, the survey showed 60% of Pennsylvania business operators reported they had to lay off or furlough employees in December or January. The latest U.S. government tally released in early February showed that restaurants and bars have lost about 2.4 million jobs since the pandemic hit. Researchers are working on developing an armband with three dry electrodes that could track heart rate. Credit: Caitlin Knowles North Carolina State University researchers took a step forward in the development of an armband that could track the heart's electrical activity without requiring bulky wiring or sticky gel on the skin. Specifically, the researchers determined the ideal placement for three electrodes in their band design, and how tightly the band needs to be worn, to best detect electrical signals from the heart. The findings are the latest advance in a multi-institutional effort to develop an armband that takes electrocardiogram, or ECG, measurements in order to track heart rate. They are ultimately envisioning a device that could be worn as an arm sleeve throughout the day, powered by energy captured from body heat or movement. "This study is the first step in identifying all of the components to make the armband a reality," said the study's first author, Braden M. Li, a Ph.D. candidate in NC State's Wilson College of Textiles. "We identified the ideal electrode location to gather heart signals and figured out how the armband pressure affects the electrocardiogram quality." In the study, the researchers studied the placement of electrodes in various locations on a volunteer's upper left arm in order to identify the best placement of three electrodes for tracking the heart's electrical activity. They identified the best placement from among 50 different combinations. While electrodes are conventionally used "wet," or along with a gel substance in ECG devices, researchers are working on a design that would use dry electrodes since they have the potential to be used over a longer period of time as part of a wearable device. They also measured the pressure and heart signal of three different sizes of the band in order to understand how tightly it needs to be worn. "If we don't have enough compression, then we don't get the same quality of data that we need," said the study's senior author, Jesse S. Jur, professor of textile engineering, chemistry and science at NC State. They made the band prototype by screen printing the electrodes into a plastic film through a method uncovered in a previous study in Jur's lab at NC State. Then, they heat pressed the electrodes on to a polyester and spandex fabric. "Screen printing is a very traditional process in textile manufacturing," Li said. "We wanted to choose a manufacturing process that could be easily translated into the textile process." The work is part of a multi-institution research effort conducted through the National Science Foundation-funded, engineering research-based Center for Advanced Self-Powered Systems of Integrated Sensors and Technologies (ASSIST). The researchers in the center are working to develop wearable devices that can be powered by the body's own thermal or mechanical energy. For the armband, they are working on the design to get the best heart signal while using the least amount of energy. They are designing the armband with three electrodes, rather than with 12, so that it could potentially be powered by the wearer. While increasing the number of leads could capture the heart's electrical signal with greater accuracy, they are working on a design that could be more easily worn, and by a person of any body type. "Part of the goal for the ASSIST center is to design self-powered, wearable electronics," Jur said. "We're always balancing how much power would be required for the sensors system, data processing and communication in order to match that for the power you might be able to harvest from the body." The study, "Influence of Armband Form Factors on Wearable ECG Monitoring Performance," was published online in IEEE Sensors Journal on Feb. 18, 2021. Explore further A design to improve the resilience and electrical performance thin metal film based electrodes More information: Braden M. Li et al. Influence of Armband Form Factors on Wearable ECG Monitoring Performance, IEEE Sensors Journal (2021). Braden M. Li et al. Influence of Armband Form Factors on Wearable ECG Monitoring Performance,(2021). DOI: 10.1109/JSEN.2021.3059997 Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-02 21:03:21|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close -- Southwest China's Wumeng Mountains span over 100,000 square km in the provinces of Yunnan, Guizhou and Sichuan. Most residents were marred by poverty, with their per capita income only a quarter of those living in the eastern coastal areas. -- The days of destitution are now over. Thanks to China's poverty alleviation efforts, the locals have bidden farewell to penury with their hometowns undergoing dramatic transformations. KUNMING, March 2 (Xinhua) -- The hinterland in southwest China's Wumeng Mountains had long been pauperized by a hostile environment, with more than 30 million people inhabiting the region reeling under treacherous terrain and water scarcity. The mountain ranges span over 100,000 square km in the provinces of Yunnan, Guizhou and Sichuan. Most residents were marred by poverty, with their per capita income only a quarter of those living in the eastern coastal areas. However, the days of destitution are now over. Thanks to China's poverty alleviation efforts, the locals have bidden farewell to penury with their hometowns undergoing dramatic transformations. A woman standing in front of her new residence shows photos of her houses before and after the relocation at the relocation site for poverty-stricken people in Huawu Village in Qianxi County, southwest China's Guizhou Province, Feb. 20, 2021. (Xinhua/Yang Wenbin) NEW ROADS, NEW HOMES Mou'se Labo's hometown in Atulieer Village of Sichuan Province is dubbed "cliff village" by locals due to its location on a cliff over 1,000 meters above sea level. In the past, villagers could only access the outside world through a narrow ladder made of vines and wood laid on the rugged, steep mountains. People had to use both their feet and hands to climb up and down while bearing the risk of slipping off the cliff. Recalling his ordeal, Labo said once his sister-in-law had suffered from dystocia and massive hemorrhage and had to be immediately rushed to a hospital outside the village. However, the journey was too long and she died on someone's back while being carried down the mountain. In August 2016, reconstruction work on the ladder kicked off as part of a poverty alleviation campaign. And eight months later, a firm, steel ladder with 2,556 steps took shape, built with some 6,000 steel pipes. Other facilities including communication base stations, power grids and optical cables were gradually installed. Refrigerators and washing machines were carried into villager's homes through the new ladder. Mou'se Labo steps down the steel ladder to pick up a tourist in Atulieer Village, Zhaojue County, Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture, southwest China's Sichuan Province, Nov. 24, 2019. (Xinhua/Jiang Hongjing) Meanwhile, Labo realized he is gifted with a unique talent of sliding down from the top of the ladder to the bottom in just 15 minutes, owing to his agility. He soon began showcasing this talent through livestream using his mobile phone. His videos also helped popularize the scenic views of the village among people outside. "Cliff village" soon went viral and boosted local tourism, prompting the local government to establish a tourism company and build a campsite. Labo was employed as a tour guide and keeper at the site, earning nearly 4,000 yuan (about 620 U.S. dollars) a month. Coming from a registered poverty-stricken household, Labo was determined to earn a better livelihood for his family. So, he joined a training program in hotel management in Dali, a famed tourist city in Yunnan Province, learning to be a professional in the hospitality industry. He said he is now eagerly awaiting the opening of a new highway scheduled to start operation in June. Leading directly to the campsite, the highway will encourage more people to visit his village. In Yunnan Province, the Wumeng Mountains have long been impeding the development of Zhaotong, a city with 97 percent of its landmass in mountainous regions. The city had the largest share of poverty-stricken residents across the country. Zhaotong launched a massive relocation project in 2018, building more than 370 relocation sites, in a bid to help some 360,000 people in the mountains move to more hospitable areas. Most new homes are equipped with televisions, refrigerators and other household appliances -- utilities that were perhaps only fragments of imaginations for many farmers in the past. Shao Guangqian from Yanjin County under Zhaotong said he is finally able to take a shower every day. Before moving to the relocation site, there was no tap water at home, and Shao could only shower once a week by fetching water from a stream. NEW INDUSTRIES FOSTER BETTER LIVES Dong Bao from Jing'an District, a large-scale resettlement area in Zhaotong, was seen busy distributing packages before the Spring Festival. Dong Bao (R) works at the package delivery store in Jing'an District in Zhaotong, southwest China's Yunnan province, Feb. 3, 2021. (Xinhua/Jiang Wenyao) In 2020, he had moved from a nearby village to the district and opened a package delivery store there. Today, hundreds of packages arrive and are dispatched from the store every day. The 26-year-old used to be a migrant worker in central China's Henan Province, but the relocation project has paved the way for him to live a better life near home. Zhaotong has also come up with ways to capitalize arable lands, woodlands and house sites in new relocation sites. Meanwhile, poverty-eradication workshops and industrial bases and parks have been established, providing nearly 50,000 jobs to locals. Aerial photo taken on Feb. 3, 2021 shows the view of Jing'an District, a large-scale resettlement area in Zhaotong, southwest China's Yunnan Province. (Xinhua/Jiang Wenyao) In the Guizhou section of the Wumeng Mountains, local governments have taken advantage of the unique ethnic cultures to attract more tourists. Huawu Village in Qianxi County had a poverty headcount ratio as high as 63.6 percent. However, it boasts splendid mountains views and vast water bodies, in addition to a unique ethnic Miao culture. Based on the resources, the village established a scenic area on the theme of "miles-long gallery" as a targeted measure to shake off poverty. "Many of our traditional Miao customs, such as singing folk songs in the mountains, appeal to visitors," said Yang Yan, a local villager. Besides, tourists are welcomed to join villagers at their homes to make Ciba, a round-shaped glutinous rice cake. Sales of traditional embroidery products are also on the rise. By the end of 2019, all households in Huawu Village had been removed from the poverty list. Women of Miao ethnic group make traditional costumes at a poverty-alleviation workshop in Huawu Village in Qianxi County, southwest China's Guizhou Province, Feb. 20, 2021. (Xinhua/Yang Wenbin) The village that once had no roads, tap water or electricity supply and was isolated from the outside world is now bustling with tourists. During this year's Spring Festival holiday, the village received nearly 200,000 tourists, with all the homestays and hotels fully booked, bringing in nearly 100 million yuan in revenue. (Video reporter: Pang Fengwei, Jiang Wenyao, Li Huaiyan Video editor: Zhou Sa'ang) Pope Francis has warned that mankind is facing a second great flood caused by climate change unless leaders act to fix corruption and injustice. The 84-year-old said that, in the story of the great flood in the Bible, God used his wrath to punish injustice and 'clean up' the world. He then added that humanity is facing another 'great deluge, perhaps due to a rise in temperature and the melting of glaciers. '[That is] what will happen now if we continue on the same path,' he said. Pope Francis has warned of a second great flood that could blight the world due to rising temperatures and melting glaciers caused by climate change Francis made the comments to Italian writer Marco Pozza, who is also chaplain of Padua prison, in a new book that is due to be published in March. An excerpt from the book - called Of Vice and Virtues - was published by Corriere della Serra on Sunday. In it, he also urges world leaders towards 'prudence', saying it is the role of governments to 'stop and think' before acting rashly. Prudence, he says, goes hand-in-hand with 'sympathy, with empathy, for situations, people, the world, [and its] problems.' He also calls for patience in faith, saying that it is a natural part of belief for Christians to have doubts in their faith and in God. But the truly faithful, he says, persevere in their beliefs despite their doubts and are in the end rewarded. While discussing justice, Francis brings up the example of the biblical flood which destroyed the world except for Noah - who was deemed virtuous enough to survive. The flood itself may have been a myth, Francis says, but it is used as an example to show how God uses wrath to punish injustice and right wrongs in the world. 'God's wrath is against injustice , against Satan,' he says. Francis warned the great flood of the Bible could repeat itself unless world leaders act to fix corruption and injustice (file image) 'It is directed against evil, not that which derives from human weakness, but evil of Satanic inspiration: the corruption generated by Satan, behind which single men, single women, entire societies go. 'God's wrath is meant to bring justice, to "clean up".' He then issues his warning about a second 'great flood', adding that wrath can also be a saviour if it convinces people to change their ways. Pozza's book, which is based on a series of conversations he had with Pope Francis, is due to be published today. The excerpt was published ahead of Francis's visit to Iraq this week - the first papal visit to any country since the Covid pandemic began and the first by any pope to the Middle Eastern country. Francis's visit is designed to bolster Christian communities in the Middle East that were devastated under ISIS, and find themselves under attack even after the fall of its so-called caliphate. The trip will include a meeting between Francis and Shiite Muslim leader, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, due to take place on Saturday. Francis will also visit a church in Baghdad where worshippers were massacred by Islamic extremist gunmen in 2010. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Cu Chi Tunnels site seeks UNESCOs recognition When people think of the most modern and crowded city in Vietnam, Ho Chi Minh City first comes to mind. The Cu Chi tunnels were the location of several military campaigns during the war (Photo courtesy of Cu Chi Tunnels) But the city, the country's largest, also has a great deal of historical value related to the wars of resistance against the French and American aggressors to offer interest to tourists as well as locals. One of the most fascinating destinations is Cu Chi guerrilla warfare tunnels, located about 70km from downtown HCM City. Built by South Vietnamese liberation forces as shelter from US and Sai Gon troops during the war, the site is known over the world, but even many locals have yet to visit the tunnels. Revolutionary spirit First formed in 1948 during the resistance war against the French colonialists, the original network of tunnels was in Tan Phu Trung and Phuoc Vinh An wards. Initially, the tunnels had only short paths and simple structure that were used to hide documents, weapons and resistance members deep inside the enemy-controlled area. Only during the anti-American war were the tunnels reinforced and widened. Beginning in 1961, when the Party Committee and headquarters of the Sai Gon-Gia Dinh Military Region of the liberation forces chose Cu Chi as an operating area, the tunnel system maximized its use for years, especially in 1966, against the Americans broadening the war in the South. With their indomitable strength, Cu Chis resistance forces and local people created a system of crisscrossing tunnels with multiple floors, with more than 200km of underground trenches in total. For a long time, the enemy attacked the base and the tunnel network relentlessly by pumping water into the tunnels, using German shepherd dogs to hunt and identify the tunnels then using bombs to destroy them. The US forces were involved in 5,000 attacks that aimed to wipe out the Cu Chi resistance base. In addition, thousands of tonnes of various chemical toxins were sprayed on the area. But, relying on the tunnel network, the Vietnamese liberation soldiers and Cu Chi locals were able to counter all the enemy attacks. Throughout the two resistance wars against the French and the Americans, the resistance army and the people of Cu Chi achieved outstanding victories. They engaged in 4,269 big and small fights, eliminated 22,582 enemy troops, destroyed and took over 5,168 military vehicles (mostly tanks and armoured vehicles), shot down and destroyed 256 airplanes (mainly helicopters), sank and burned 22 warships and boats, and captured 8,581 guns of all types. They also destroyed 270 enemy stations in Cu Chi District. Tunnel structure The Cu Chi tunnel relic site includes the Ben Duoc Tunnel (Sai Gon-Gia Dinh military base, Zone A), Sai Gon-Gia Dinh base (Zone B), and the Ben Dinh Tunnel (Cu Chi District base). The tunnel system runs in a zig-zag shape underground, and the main route branches out in multiple directions that connect in some areas, depending on the terrain. Many exits open to the Sai Gon River so that when emergencies occurred people could take river route to Ben Cat resistance base in Binh Duong province. The tunnel system is bulletproof and can withstand the weight of tanks and armoured vehicles. Some tunnels have structures that include two to three floors. Stairs between floors have lids that go to secret vaults. Inside the tunnels are areas that could prevent toxic chemicals sprays or the enemy's break-ins. There are pathways so narrow that people have to turn sideways to enter. The exits were well camouflaged to avoid enemy detection. Some of them were also designed as flexible combat and sniping spots to counter enemy attacks. Around the tunnel entrances, booby traps were placed to prevent enemy entry. Throughout the war, the tunnels in Cu Chi proved to be a source of frustration for the US and Sai Gon troops. The Vietnamese liberation soldiers were so well entrenched in the area by 1965 that they were in the unique position of being able to control where and when battles would take place. By helping to covertly move supplies and house troops, the tunnels of Cu Chi allowed Vietnamese fighters to survive and increase the US and Sai Gon military casualties until the US withdrawal from the South in 1973, and their final defeat in 1975. The Cu Chi Tunnels reflect the Vietnamese military arts and the revolutionary heroism and courageous mindset of the people. The tunnel architecture, with its outstanding innovations, played a part in the anti-American war. Today, the site educates people about the Vietnamese revolutionary tradition and patriotism and shows appreciation for the war heroes, war martyrs and previous generations who fought and died in the Sai Gon-Cho Lon-Gia Dinh area in two resistance wars. These values were cited when the Government officially named the site a national historic relic on December 23, 2015. Seeking UNESCO's recognition Recently, the city's authorities sent a proposal to the Ministry of National Defence to seek the UN culture agency UNESCO's recognition for the Cu Chi Tunnels as a World Heritage Site. Vietnam is home to eight UNESCO World Heritage sites, including Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park, My Son Sanctuary, Hoi An ancient city, the Complex of Hue Monuments, and the Citadel of the Ho dynasty in the central region. The other sites are Ha Long Bay, the Trang An Landscape Complex, and Thang Long Imperial Citadel, which are located in the north. If the Cu Chi Tunnels network is recognised, it will be the souths first UNESCO World Heritage Site. In 2015, the historic area was recognised as a special national relic site. For tourism purposes, more than 120km out of over 200km of the tunnels have been preserved. The tunnels have been a popular tourism landmark for years, attracting thousands of visitors each day. Visitors are able to experience the resilience and unyielding will of the people who lived in the tunnels during wartime. Dr Phan An, head of the Southern Institute of Social Sciences, said: The Cu Chi Tunnels' architecture is one of a kind. UNESCO World Heritage Site acknowledgement would not just introduce global friends to it, but would also be a chance for Vietnamese nationwide to appreciate the relic more. The site has not yet received the acknowledgement it deserves. Many HCM City residents have never visited the site despite its historical importance. Publicity is still limited, leading to inadequate attention for preservation of the relic site. Only a small part is preserved for visits and tourism. It runs a high risk of destruction from natural and human impact. So, if UNESCO acknowledges it as a World Heritage Site, local authorities and residents will be more responsible and collectively care for and preserve the entirety of the tunnels. At the same time, it would heighten public awareness about heritage sites like this. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Press Release March 1, 2021 Sponsorship Speech for Committee Report 186 Red-Tagging and Red-Baiting by Senator Panfilo M. Lacson More at: https://pinglacson.net/2021/03/01/sponsorship-speech-committee-report-on-red-tagging/ How the government sets a balance between promoting civil liberties and protecting the security of the state defines the foundations of our democracy. Mr. President, distinguished colleagues of this venerable chamber, I have the honor to report the result of the public hearings, in aid of legislation, conducted by the Committee on National Defense and Security, Peace, Unification and Reconciliation, on the issue on "red-tagging or red-baiting" as embodied in Committee Report No. 186. Without any exaggeration, I must say that this has been one of the most complex Senate inquiries that this representation has presided. For it involved parties from the opposite poles that defy the law of magnetism in that not only would never attract each other, but in fact ready to cut each other's throat. Nonetheless, the profuse bashing and criticisms from both political spheres - trolls included that your committee and its Chairman endured during and after the conduct of the three-day-long public hearings may probably be a testament that we did our best to objectively hear both sides, to ensure that we extract the best available information for the Senate and the public to digest and come up with well-informed decisions. The history of political activism in the Philippines has taken its course for more than a century, starting with the first recorded protest in 1903, staged by workers' union calling for an eight-hour working day and for the recognition of May 1st as a national public holiday. To say the least, the long narrative of our nation's revolts, protest actions and social movements, both peaceful and violent, has defined the character of the Filipino people. In our generation alone, Mr. President, we have witnessed how activists from various sectors and strata - from peasants, farmers, workers, women, LGBTQIA, media personalities, politicians, religious leaders, and students, among others--have taken to the streets to protest against poverty, injustice, disease, hunger, inequality and other social ills. Undeniably, such peaceful mass actions, driven by our people's right to dissent, freedom of speech, and free will, reflect the very fundamentals of democratic governance. No less than the 1987 Constitution guarantees free speech and free press, together with the right to organize and form associations, peacefully assemble, and petition the government for the redress of grievances. That said, the freedoms we enjoy should not infringe on the rights of others and should not be injurious to the welfare of the community or society. Hence, we recognize the sovereign "police power" to regulate these constitutional and civil rights and fundamentally, to promote the general welfare of the people. At the extreme end of the spectrum is the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP), with its armed wing, the New People's Army (NPA), and its political wing, the National Democratic Front (NDF). Founded in 1968, the Communist Party of the Philippines has been seeking to overthrow the government and establish a new democratic state led by the working class and devoid of United States' influence. A year later, the New People's Army (NPA) was organized. Thereafter, it has since been known as the CPP-NPA, founded by Jose Maria Sison who led the Maoist-oriented youth faction within the Partido Komunista ng Pilipinas (PKP) which was originally established in 1930. In 1973, a commission created by the CPP-NPA established the National Democratic Front (NDF) in an attempt to unify and coordinate various leftist groups. The NDF later served as the umbrella organization for the CPP-NPA and other mass revolutionary groups. Since the CPP-NPA was still illegal under the now repealed RA 1700 or the Anti-Subversion Act of 1957, the NDF was presented as the CPP-NPA's political wing. For over five decades, the CPP-NPA, with all the atrocities of its armed struggle, has earned the reputation of being the longest-running insurgency in the world. To put an end to the conflict with the communist insurgency in the Philippines, the government engaged the CPP-NPA-NDF in peace negotiations during the 1986 Aquino administration. However, the peace talks between the Philippine government and the NDF have been intermittent and inconclusive since then. Fast forward, by virtue of Executive Order No. 70 issued by President Rodrigo Roa Duterte in December 2018, the current administration introduced a whole-of-nation approach that aims to address the root causes of insurgencies, internal disturbances and tensions, and other armed conflicts and threats in pursuit of the country's peace agenda. Henceforth, the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) was created "to synchronize the utilization of the government's instrumentalities of power with the capabilities of private sector stakeholders to finally end the 50-year long deceit, lies, and atrocities committed by the communist terrorists against the people." Mr. President, without doubt, the NTF-ELCAC has been making headway in the performance of its mandate, which is centered on a clear "consolidate-hold-develop" approach geared towards the efficient delivery of housing, education, social protection, health, and basic utilities services to identified areas cleared of the presence and influence of the communist insurgents especially in the countryside. In fact, if I may boldly state, among the different programs under the Duterte administration, I consider the NTF-ELCAC's whole-of-nation approach as the most effective thus far. The controversy surrounding the issue of red-tagging was precipitated by the pronouncements made by Lt Gen. Antonio Parlade Jr., spokesperson of the NTF-ELCAC and Commanding General of the AFP Southern Luzon Command, when he urged high-profile celebrities Liza Soberano and Catriona Gray to abdicate the activist women's group GABRIELA, which he believed will lure them to join the CPP- NPA. And if they did not, they will suffer the same fate as Josephine Anne Lapira. It will be recalled that 22-year-old Josephine was killed in an encounter with the military in Nasugbu, Batangas on November 28, 2017. Further, Lt. Gen. Parlade's statements include: (1) his claim that former Bayan Muna Rep. Colmenares, as well as members of the Makabayan bloc in the House of Representatives, are under surveillance using the Anti-Terrorism Act as its legal cover; (2) naming 18 universities, later expanded to 38, as recruitment hubs of the CPP-NPA; (3) calling out Tetch Torres-Tupas of the Philippine Daily Inquirer to be "aiding the terrorist by spreading lies" and a "propagandist" relative to her article about the two Aeta men who were the first to be accused of violating the Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020; (4) public rebuke of Petitioners against the Anti-Terrorism Act in his apparent intimidating Facebook post which in part states: "The Day of Judgment is upon you and the Filipino people xxx Very soon, blood debts will be settled."; and (5) contending in his article published by the Manila Times dated 12 February 2021 that "whosoever wishes the demolition of the anti-terror law must be a friend, if not actually a supporter or member, of the communist and terror groups xxx." Donning a military uniform in his interviews and other public appearances, Lt Gen Parlade stands for the Armed Forces even in his capacity as the Spokesperson of NTF-ELCAC. Hence, his pronouncements are inevitably and instinctively attributable to the military sector in the same manner that these represent the policies of NTF-ELCAC. Mr. President, this Representation, as well as the other members of the Committee, have urged the officials of the NTF-ELCAC to bring their accusations before the courts should they have enough evidence to secure a conviction or at least get past the level of probable cause, which they agreed convincingly. Prominent officials of the security sector notably the NSA, SND, SILG and DG-NICA asserted during the public hearings that red-tagging is in no way part of the government's policies. This Committee recognizes the duty of the NTF-ELCAC to raise awareness against the CPP-NPA, considering the increase of child recruitment and deaths of young Filipinos in armed encounters between the military and police on one side, and the NPA guerrillas on the other. However, we stand our ground that such should not be construed as a justification for any arbitrary actions against the freedom of expression, which is protected under Section 4, Article III of the 1987 Constitution. Mr. President, if there is even just a single point that the security sector and the progressive groups must mutually agree in this course of public inquiries, it is the condemnation of the acts of aggression of the CPP-NPA-NDF in the strongest possible terms. The communist insurgency in pursuit of their cause propagates the notion that a people's war - comprising the toiling masses of people and peasants - should be waged against the government to achieve an independent, just, and prosperous Philippines. They capitalize on the ideal communist society with the machinery of armed struggle. This is how they influence and incite people to violence. This is how they recruit our youth into wielding arms. Mr. President, we have learned of the reported cases of students who were killed during encounters between the members of the CPP-NPA and the country's security forces in recent years. Their profiles bear similarities: all were promising students of state universities who became impassioned student-activists, later found in the midst of conflict areas, far from their homes, and at the forefront of the NPA's fighting force. The CPP-NPA-NDF has long been emphasizing the instrumental role of the youth in advancing the cause of the armed struggle. In a statement posted online by the Kabataang Makabayan, the CPP's youth wing, the group acknowledged the death of the following in pursuit of their revolution, and I quote: "xxx nagbibigay-pugay ang KM sa mga kabataang inialay ang kanilang buhay, panahon, at lakas para sa pagsusulong ng rebolusyon. xxx Walang anumang pangyuyurak ang babahid sa buhay na inialay nina Jo Lapira, Pamela Peralta, Justine Vargas, Zyra Ligad, Jevilyn Cullamat, Jay Ar Mercado, Andrea Rosal, at ng libo-libo pang kabataang tumangan ng armas upang pabagsakin ang paghahari ng mga panginoong maylupa at malalaking komprador." With due diligence, the Committee deemed it necessary to request from the heads of the security sector the official records that would validate their information that indeed, these students were associated with the universities mentioned in their testimonies and report. We also sent letters to the identified universities of the victims to either authenticate or invalidate the statements of the security sector. As of today, the Mindanao State University, West Visayas State University, University of the Philippines Manila, and University of the Philippines Los Banos, and UP Visayas verified through official documents that Ms. Kemberly Jul L. Luna, Mr. Remy J. Beraye, Ms. Josephine Anne Lapira, Mr. John Carlo Capistrano, Ms. Rona Jane Manalo and Mr. Malvin Christian Cruz were either former students or graduates of their universities. We wish to put on record that we have yet to receive any statements or responses from the DND Secretary, AFP Chief of Staff, and the other schools. The narratives of the former rebel returnees on the circumstances of their recruitment to the CPP-NPA also serve as a "cautionary tale." All of these student-activists hailed from state universities, save for Ms. Lady Desiree Miranda alias "Ka Shane" who was then an out-of-school youth. She bared that they were recruited by legitimate progressive organizations such as the College Editors' Guild of the Philippines (CEGP), League of Filipino Students (LFS), and Sandigan ng Mag-aaral para sa Sambayanan to join the Kabataang Makabayan, and later as members of the NPA guerillas. On the issue raised by the Makabayan bloc on the admissibility of testimonies presented by the security sector and their witnesses, Mr. President, we wish to reiterate that, as a rule in the conduct of inquiries in aid of legislation, the technical rules of evidence applicable to judicial proceedings which do not affect substantive rights need not be observed by the Senate Committees. To contextualize, the accounts of the alleged former rebel returnees were considered by this Committee because they revolved around the circumstances of their recruitment, what they personally knew about, and how they participated in both the legal and revolutionary fronts of the CPP-NPA. After all, our resource speakers from both parties had sworn their oaths to ensure that all testimonies elicited were made under the pain of perjury. We cover the same ground in our appreciation of the Makabayan bloc's testimonies, counter-arguments, and documentary submissions to this Committee. Mr. President, of these disputes, one thing is unassailable - the CPP-NPA's grave violations no longer demand the protection of freedom granted by the Constitution. Inarguably, their actions should not be abetted, condoned, or rationalized by any peace-loving Filipino. This Committee recognizes that the Makabayan bloc has no legal responsibility to disown and denounce the CPP-NPA, as freedom of expression includes the right not to speak. Yet, as elected representatives of a duly constituted government and as Filipinos who have moral obligations to our countrymen, they should work in unison with the national government and its duly constituted authorities, at the very least, in publicly condemning the atrocities perpetrated by the CPP-NPA. The people expect no less; especially at a time when they were alleged to be associated with these armed insurgents. To disassociate themselves from the violent recourse in pursuit of their legitimate advocacies, the progressive groups whose young members were killed during NPA encounters should be able to address the issues squarely with a strong rebuke of the violent armed struggle. They should also investigate and hold accountable those who were involved in the alleged rigorous recruitment of their members by the NPA, as testified by no less than the former leaders of these progressive organizations who later served as cadres of the CPP-NPA. Else, they would be remiss in their mandates as public servants in pursuit of reforms by way of peace such as legal protest, related mass actions, and participatory governance. Mr. President, in all important respects, the Committee exhaustively considers the possible damage brought about by the massive information campaign of the security sector. We sought to determine if the individuals and organizations subjected to the wrongful claims of being associated with the CPP-NPA have, in fact, no legal recourse. Considering the claims of the Makabayan bloc on the acts of the government officials that constitute the alleged "red-tagging," the Committee determines that sufficient legal remedies are already in place for the supposed aggrieved parties to avail of any of the following: a. Relative to the verbal or written statements released by the NTF-ELCAC that appear to be false and maliciously made which presumably would cause dishonor to a person, criminal cases for libel, slander, and cyber-libel, as the case may be, can be availed by the alleged victims. b. On speculations that red-tagging results in threats, illegal detentions and arrests, there are legal remedies available such as the filing of criminal cases for acts defined and punished under the Revised Penal Code such as grave threats, arbitrary detention, delay in the delivery of detained persons to the proper judicial authorities, among others. c. On the assertions that red-tagging violates human rights, we refer to the Philippine Act on Crimes Against International Humanitarian Law, Genocide and Other Crimes Against Humanity under RA 9851, a breakthrough in the enforcement of International Humanitarian Law and human rights. d. On the assertion of the Makabayan bloc that their reputations have been tarnished and they have been subjected to discrimination, they can seek recourse by filing a complaint on the violation of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act under RA 3019. The law considers as corrupt practice any act that causes undue injury in the discharge of official functions, to any person or entity through manifest partiality, evident bad faith, or gross inexcusable negligence. e. If it can be established that the alleged red-tagging by government officials and/or employees constitutes grave misconduct, administrative charges under the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees under RA 6713 and the Revised Rules on Administrative Cases on Civil Service (RRACCS) may likewise be filed. f. Civil actions, particularly indemnification for the damages caused, under Articles 19, 21, and 32 of the Civil Code may likewise be availed. g. The Judiciary also offers recourse to persons whose constitutional rights, particularly the right to liberty, have been violated by state agents. These are the writ of habeas corpus, the writ of amparo, and the writ of habeas data. The writ of habeas corpus is a known judicial remedy that safeguards the right against arbitrary state action. Meanwhile, the writ of amparo was promulgated to protect other fundamental human rights that are beyond the scope of the writ of habeas corpus. In fact, following the Rules, upon the filing of the petition for the Writ of Amparo or at any time before final judgment is rendered, the court, justice, or judge may grant any of the following interim reliefs: (1) temporary protection order; (2) inspection order; (3) production order; and (4) witness protection order. On the other hand, the writ of habeas data is a remedy available to any person whose rights are violated by an individual or entity engaged in the gathering, collecting, or storing of data or information regarding the person, family, home and correspondence of the aggrieved party. h. As for speculations that the state forces would invoke the Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020 to effect multiple violations of human rights, the law itself provides sufficient protections including imprisonment for up to 10 years for erring State agents. The Committee takes exception to the progressive groups' allegation that red-tagging is among the consequences of the passage of the Anti-Terrorism Act. This is unconvincing, to say the least, as red-tagging or red-baiting is in no way related to the recently passed law. Section 4 of the law is clear and explicit that it does not penalize advocacy, the exercise of the right to organize, and other forms of legitimate dissent. Notwithstanding, we submit that the issue on the constitutionality of the Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020 is already being deliberated and discussed before the Supreme Court and therefore should not be tackled in any other venue under the prevailing sub judice rule. Mr. President, as exhaustively discussed in the Committee Report, the remedies provided in these laws have already been availed by parties in the recent past before the Office of the Ombudsman such as: a. KARAPATAN's criminal and administrative charges against the high-ranking officials of the NTF-ELCAC and former PCOO Undersecretary Mocha Uson for alleged violation of RA 9851 or the Philippine Act on Crimes Against International Humanitarian Law, Genocide, and Other Crimes Against Humanity; b. Bayan Muna Rep. Zarate's Complaint against Lt. Gen. Parlade for the alleged violation of RA 3019 or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act; c. Kabataan Rep. Elago, together with other leaders from various progressive youth groups' administrative complaint against the ex-officio members of the NTF-ELCAC for the violation of RA 6713 or the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees with the Office of the Ombudsman. d. the Court, in several instances, has also granted petitions for the issuance of the writ of amparo. The first person to benefit from the writ of amparo is Rowil Munasque, an organizer of Bayan Muna in Mindanao. He was allegedly abducted by soldiers on the same day the writ of amparo was first promulgated. He walked out a free man from the Pagadian City RTC on November 7, 2007, after his family's petition was granted. Mr. President, with several courses of action available to parties who seek legal recourse to alleged transgressions of the state actors, it is our submission that various legal and institutional mechanisms are in place for the State to effectively and ultimately protect constitutional rights and civil liberties. In the course of the public hearings, exhaustive research, and analysis of all the documents submitted by both parties, the following are the recommendations put forward by your Committee: a. Legal remedies are sufficient and available for personalities or groups that have been the subject of the so-called "red-tagging," and which some of them have already availed of. Hence, the Committee is of the view that criminalizing "red-tagging" is no longer necessary since those who were or might be at the receiving end of red-tagging may avail of these legal remedies under existing laws protecting their constitutional rights. b. The Committee enjoins the members of the Makabayan bloc from the House of Representatives to openly and strongly denounce the CPP-NPA. Their public reproach against this group should bear the same tenacity they devote in calling out the administration on almost every aspect of governance. c. The security sector should give greater attention to the strengthening of its intelligence gathering and analysis capability to ensure that every piece of information is indeed verified and actionable. Legal course of action shall take precedence before any propaganda that may be defamatory to one's person. In the same manner, they should exercise caution in making public pronouncements as these carry with it a semblance of authority from the State which, if wrongly carried out, may result in polarization between the government and the people. d. The updates and accomplishments of the localized peace talks should be in the foreground to counter vilification campaigns targeting the genuine purpose of EO 70 while earning the support of the public towards lasting peace. The program, pursuant to its intent, should focus on its development-centered efforts against armed conflicts. e. As a matter of policy, we should prevent the potential conflict between the policies of NTF-ELCAC and the mandate of the security sector by not engaging a spokesperson who holds concurrent mandates, both in the active military service and a development-oriented entity such as the NTF-ELCAC. This would ensure that conflict situations will not arise between our anti-insurgency policy and our military's institutional confidentiality and intelligence-gathering. A clear policy by the AFP leadership must be made on how to deal with the accountability of a member of the chain of command who speaks on behalf of an entity outside the military organization's command structure. Mr. President, allow me to emphasize: the NTF-ELCAC, a key program of this administration to end insurgency, should be a departure from the intermittent, inconclusive, and unsustained peace talks at the national level with the CPP-NPA-NDF since efforts through local peace initiatives have so far been proven to be more effective. With its welfare programs such as the delivery of housing, education, social protection, health, and basic services to our people, we can address the crux of insurgency in the country, that is, social inequality and extreme poverty. Lastly, despite some isolated blunders, the Committee believes that the "whole-of-nation" approach spearheaded by the NTF-ELCAC, thus far, can be our most effective anti-insurgency program as evidenced by the continuous and consistent reduction of the influence and strength of the CPP-NPA. Mr. President, distinguished colleagues, in closing, I wish to share with you the words of Associate Justice Marvic M.V.F. Leonen in his concurring opinion in the case of Davao City Water District vs Aranquez, and I quote: "The constitutional right to freedom of expression belongs to all. But its exercise may be reasonably regulated. Those who chose public service embraced the public's interest with a priority higher than their own. Their oaths signify a commitment to public accountability." Thank you, Mr. President. Highmark Inc. said Tuesday it has officially merged with HealthNow, which provides health insurance in 21 New York counties. The new organization will be the fourth-largest Blue Cross-Blue Shield plan in the United States, Highmark said. The New York-based entities will be renamed Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield of Western New York and Highmark Blue Shield of Northeastern New York. Highmark had announced the planned affiliation a year ago, saying it had to obtain government approval. The combined organizations will provide health insurance for about 6 million people. Highmark, which is based in Pittsburgh, has about 3,500 employees in the Harrisburg region, with most based at the Highmark campus in East Pennsboro Township in Cumberland County. All told, Highmark has more than 30,000 employees in Pennsylvania when counting those who work for Allegheny Health Network, the western Pennsylvania hospital system owned by Highmark. The latest transaction marks the third time in a decade Highmark has absorbed another Blues plan, after having absorbed the former Blue Cross Blue Shield of Delaware in 2012 and the former Blue Cross of Northeastern Pa. in 2015. Highmark said Tuesday that Dave Anderson, the CEO of HealthNow, will retire at the end of 2021, although he will remain on the boards of directors of the New York-based entities. Highmark also said it has made unspecified commitments to preserve jobs in New York. Highmark further pledged to support the local identities of the New York entitles by allowing them to retain locally-based boards of directors. Highmark said it will provide financial resources and technological tools that will benefit the New York-based entities and their employees. With this affiliation, we begin our path forward to enhance customer and clinician engagement, create better health outcomes, control costs and improve affordability for members in Western and Northeastern New York, Highmark President Deborah Rice-Johnson said in a news release. Anderson called Tuesdays announcement a shining moment. As the integration of our companies begins, I will plan my departure knowing that weve positioned this organization for tremendous success in the years ahead, he said in the news release. During my tenure, we have always embraced improving health care for everyone we serve, and this affiliation will enable us to accelerate our efforts in improving health care while continuing to focus on our mission to serve the community. Highmark said the New York entities will spend $2 million annually for five years to address health disparities in their service areas. Correction: This article and headine was corrected to reflect that the merger creates the nations fourth-largest Blue Cross-Blue Shield plan. A ship carrying the slogan of "celebrating the 23rd anniversary of Hong Kong's return to the motherland" sails at the Victoria Harbour in Hong Kong, south China, July 1, 2020. (Xinhua/Lui Siu Wai) GENEVA, March 1 (Xinhua) -- Hong Kong people have bid farewell to riot-fueled lies, rumors and the resulting hatred and violence since the enactment of law on safeguarding national security in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) eight months ago, a Chinese delegate from Hong Kong said at a UN conference on Monday. Addressing the ongoing 46th session of the United Nations Human Rights Council, Henry Ho Kin-chung, delegate of the United Nations Association of China, said that after the enactment of the national security law in Hong Kong, "some people say the rule of law is dead and we no longer have freedom of protests. This is simply not true." Ho, also the chairman of Hong Kong-based One Country Two Systems Youth Forum, said that Hong Kong streets are now much calmer due to the social-distancing measures for fighting COVID-19, but peaceful protests can come back after the pandemic, on issues like housing or social welfare, but not on advocating "Hong Kong independence" or acts endangering national security. He told the council that Hong Kong is still practicing common law, saying all judges handling cases concerning national security law are existing judges of the HKSAR courts and, according to Article 89 of the HKSAR Basic Law, they may only be removed for inability to discharge their duties, or for misbehavior. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. 1. 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 A free-to-use service for sheep farmers and advisors could substantially reduce lamb mortality this spring, veterinary experts say. The Sustainable Control of Parasites in Sheep (SCOPS) has launched its web-based forecast to help producers monitor the nematodirus risk to their lambs. As February showed, the weather in early spring can fluctuate from extreme cold to warm sunshine within a few days. A cold snap followed by rapid warming can result in a sudden and significant challenge to young lambs, as nematodirus larvae hatch in large numbers. SCOPS' Nematodirus Forecast shows the nematodirus threat this spring and summer as new season lambs start to graze more grass. The interactive forecast map is updated daily using data from 140 weather stations around the UK. Users can zoom into their area, select the nearest or most representative weather station and act according to the predicted risk. The forecast provides general advice for sheep farmers, advisors and vets to use in partnership to decide the most appropriate approach for individual farms. Lesley Stubbings, of SCOPS, said nematodirosis was a 'particularly nasty' disease in lambs, causing a high number of mortalities and stunting the growth of many others "It is caused by the Nematodirus battus worm which, under certain climatic conditions can strike very quickly, with little or no warning. "Cold weather delays worm hatching so, when we get a sudden change in temperature, as is so common in spring, it can trigger a mass hatch. Dr Hannah Vineer of Liverpool University, who developed the forecast for SCOPS, said farmers should be mindful that risk varied from field to field. When the predicted risk increases in the local area, farmers should think about ways they can avoid or prevent infection to protect their lambs, for example by moving them to fields not grazed by lambs last year. "The forecast provides useful guidance to help farmers assess the risk of each group of lambs based on the history of the field, as well as instructions to adjust the risk level for your farm based on aspect and altitude. In addition to the main map and general guidance, the SCOPS Nematodirus Forecast includes historic data, allowing users to see when the risk level in their area changed. There is also the ability to report an outbreak that occurred before high risk was shown on the forecast, to help other users see when particularly high-risk scenarios occur. (Newser) Apparently the internet was excited about Seth Rogen's new venture, because the website for Houseplant crashed immediately after the actor launched the cannabis brand Monday. "If you know anything about me at all, I'm going to assume it's that I really love weed," Rogen said in a video announcing the brand's launch. "But what you probably don't know about me is that I've been working on my own weed company for the last 10 years." The video went viral, and the Houseplant site crashed, but Mashable notes it's now back up. Californians will be able to order weed (plus other goods including special vinyl mixes for whichever strain you're smoking, a tabletop lighter, and an ashtray) from the site starting March 11. story continues below Rogen and Evan Goldberg, his longtime creative and filmmaking partner, tell Fast Company that they fully acknowledge their privilege in launching Houseplantthey've never experienced any big negative consequences from their enjoyment of cannabis, the criminalization of which disproportionately affects people of color from low-income communities. As such, they will work with criminal justice and drug policy reform organizations to work on changing racist cannabis laws that still exist, they say, as well as provide funding to organizations including Marijuana Policy Project, Cage Free Cannabis, Cannabis Amnesty, and NORML and launch a mentorship program for underserved cannabis entrepreneurs. (Read more Seth Rogen stories.) Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Actress Kangana Ranaut on Monday was at her Bandra office for a meeting, and she tweeted to express that visit left her heartbroken. (twitter) Image Source: IANS News New Delhi, March 2 : Citing threats by Shiv Sena, ruling party in Maharashtra, Bollywood actress Kangana Ranaut and her sister Rangoli Chandel have moved the Supreme Court seeking transfer of cases pending against them in Mumbai to a court in Shimla. The petitioners said Shiv Sena will leave no stone unturned to eliminate them, due to Kangana's continuous outspokenness against the wrongs done by the Shiv Sena in collusion with big names of the Bollywood. The actress and her sister alleged that there is threat to lives, if the trial in cases against them proceeds in Mumbai, due to personal vendetta of Shiv Sena leaders against them. "Looking at the threat perception of the Petitioner No. 1 (Kangana) herein, the Petitioner No. 1 was granted Y-plus category of CRPF security by the Home Ministry. Therefore, it becomes quite evident that the Petitioners face serious threat to life and property and if the trial of the cases are not transferred out of Mumbai, the Petitioners life will be at risk", said the plea. The petitioners have argued that all the FIRs and complaints against them are frivolous and filed with a malicious intent to harass and malign their public image. The plea has emphasized that the Maharashtra government has malafide against the petitioners, and if they visit the state to attend the trials, there will be a constant threat to them from Shiv Sena and its government. "The Shiv Sena will leave no stone unturned to eliminate the Petitioners herein, because of the Petitioner No. 1's ( Kangana) continuous outspokenness against the wrongs done by the Shiv Sena in collusion with big names of the Bollywood", added the plea. The petitioners said that they apprehend if the trials are conducted in Mumbai, there will be a material threat to their life and property. "It is pertinent to mention that the Maharashtra government led by Shiv Sena has been harassing the Petitioners herein", said the plea filed through advocate Neeraj Shekhar. The plea seeks transfer of trial of FIRs and complaints registered against them, including a defamation case filed by veteran lyricist Javed Akhtar against Kangana, from Mumbai to a competent court in Shimla in Himachal Pradesh. The plea said Akhtar had alleged criminal defamation after Kangana in an interview to a news channel last year disclosed about a meeting with the lyricist in 2016. The plea also sought transfer of an FIR lodged in Mumbai by one Ali Kashif Khan Deshmukh in connection with Chandel's tweet where she expressed anguish over attack on doctors during COVID-19 pandemic. "Multiple proceedings on the same cause of action clearly demonstrates how the said complainant is just trying to harass the petitioners herein," the plea alleged. The plea has also sought transfer of another FIR lodged by one Munawar Ali for the alleged offences of sedition against them. The plea also claimed that Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) had illegally demolished a part of Kangana's Pali Hill bungalow. The plea said the Bombay High Court had declared the BMC's act as illegal. Alibaba and Ant Group founder has lost the title of China's richest man, a list published on Tuesday showed, as his peers prospered while his empire was put under heavy scrutiny by Chinese regulators. Ma and his family had held the top spot for China's richest in the Hurun Global Rich List in 2020 and 2019 but now trail in fourth place behind bottled water maker Nongfu Spring's Zhong Shanshan, Tencent Holding's Pony Ma and e-commerce upstart Pinduoduo's Collin Huang, the latest list showed. His fall on anti-trust issues," the Hurun report said. Ma's recent woes were triggered by an Oct. 23 speech in which he blasted China's regulatory system, leading to the suspension of his Ant Group's $37 billion IPO just days before the fintech giant's public listing. Regulators have since tightened anti-trust scrutiny on the country's tech sector, with Alibaba taking much of the heat; the market regulator launched an official anti-trust probe into Alibaba in December. Chinese regulators also began to tighten their grip on the fintech sector and have asked Ant to fold some of its businesses into a financial holding company to be regulated like traditional financial firms. Ma, who is not known for shying away from the limelight, then disappeared from the public eye for about three months, triggering frenzied speculation about his whereabouts. He re-emerged in January with a 50-second video appearance. China's current richest man, Zhong, made his first appearance at the top spot largely thanks to the share price performances of Nongfu Spring and vaccine maker Beijing Wantai Biological Pharmacy Enterprise, which he also controls. Tencent's Ma saw his wealth swell 70% over the year to 480 billion yuan ($74.16 billion) while Pinduoduo's Huang's fortune grew 283% to 450 billion yuan, the list said. In comparison, the wealth of Ma and his family grew 22%, to 360 billion yuan. Zhang Yiming, founder of TikTok owner ByteDance, broke into the top five rankings among Chinese billionaires in Hurun's Global Rich List for the first time, with an estimated personal wealth of $54 billion. 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. OTTAWA COUNTY, MI A 78-year-old bus passenger was hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries following a rollover crash Monday afternoon in Ottawa County. Deputies were dispatched to the scene, at 144th Avenue and New Holland Street in Olive Township at 2:50 p.m., Monday, March 1, a news release from the sheriffs office states. A preliminary investigation showed that a 25-year-old woman from Holland Township was eastbound on New Holland Street in a 2000 Honda CR-V when she failed to stop for the stop sign at 144th Avenue and crashed into a northbound 2018 Eldorado passenger bus. The bus overturned upon impact, the release states. The bus, owned by Pioneer Resources, was being driven by a 45-year-old Holland Township man and had one passenger, a 78-year-old man, aboard. The passenger, who was not wearing a seatbelt, was transported to Holland Hospital by AMR ambulance for treatment of undisclosed injuries. The driver of the Honda also sustained injuries in the crash. After being checked over by EMTs at the scene, she declined transport to the hospital, deputies said. The driver of the bus was not injured, the release states. The crash remains under investigation by the Ottawa County Sheriffs Office. Alcohol does not appear to have been a factor in the crash, deputies said. Also on MLive: 6 things you need to know about new Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine Michigan man accused of throwing ax at car with several children inside Draymond Green sets NBA standard for assists in February The Queen is unlikely to be able to see Prince Philip until he leaves hospital due to Covid regulations. The monarch, who is being kept regularly updated about her husband's condition, will not be permitted to visit him at St Bart's in London, where he was transferred on Monday. This is because visitors are currently excluded apart from a handful of 'exceptional' circumstances, including end of life. The Queen is unlikely to be able to see Prince Philip (pictured together previously) until he leaves hospital due to Covid regulations She did not visit him at King Edward VII's Hospital as she is always reluctant to cause disruption to any hospital's vital work and knows her presence would place unnecessary pressure on staff at the best of times. It means the Queen will have been parted from her husband of 73 years for at least three weeks. St Bart's said while they know it is difficult for patients and their families 'our first duty is to the patients we serve, and to maintain their safety at all times we need to control visiting'. The monarch, who is being kept regularly updated about her husband's condition, will not be permitted to visit him at St Bart's in London (pictured), where he was transferred on Monday It adds: 'We are only allowing visitors in exceptional circumstances. We understand that having a family member in hospital is distressing, and we work closely with relatives and friends to ease their concerns and find alternative ways of keeping in touch.' Buckingham Palace announced on Monday that Philip had been transferred to St Bart's for continuing treatment for an infection, as well as 'testing and observation' for a pre-existing heart condition. Although he remains comfortable and responding to treatment, they said, he will remain in hospital until at least the end of the week. ELK GROVE VILLAGE, Ill., March 2, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Porte Brown LLC, www.PorteBrown.com, a Chicagoland accounting firm, is pleased to announce they have received the highest rating possible following a rigorous, independent peer review of their system of quality control for the Accounting and Auditing practices. The reviewers concluded the firm's system of quality control for the accounting and auditing practices has been suitably designed and complied with to provide reasonable assurance of performing and reporting in conformity with applicable professional standards in all material respects. Porte Brown participates in the Peer Review Program, a practice-monitoring program approved by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA), the national professional organization of CPAs. A firm participating in the Peer Review Program must have an independent review of its accounting and auditing practice every three years. Firms can receive a rating of pass, pass with deficiencies, or fail. Porte Brown received a peer review rating of pass. "At the core of the Peer Review process is quality control," says Russell Wilson, Porte Brown Auditing Partner. "It's an acknowledgement of the men and women who make up this organization and an endorsement of their professionalism and dedication. It confirms they understand both the practices for delivering quality services and the methods to apply them accurately." "This independent peer review is yet another assurance we provide our clients," says Bruce Jones, Porte Brown CEO and Managing Partner. "It's essential Porte Brown clients remain confident and comfortable knowing their accounting, audit, and financial statement review engagements are performed accurately and meticulously. It also informs prospective clients that our staff members and methods meet the most rigorous professional requirements in the industry." About Porte Brown Porte Brown LLC is a full-service accounting and consulting firm headquartered in the Chicago suburb of Elk Grove Village, Illinois. For more than 75 years, Porte Brown has focused on providing the highest level of service to individuals, businesses, and organizations throughout the region. In addition to the traditional accounting services such as tax planning and preparation, audit, business valuations, and retirement plan administration. Porte Brown also provides strategic consulting and leading-edge technology implementation for clients in cloud and non-cloud environments. Wealth management services provided by Porte Brown Wealth Management LLC.* Porte Brown serves accounting and consulting clients from offices in Illinois, Indiana, and Texas. For more information, visit www.portebrown.com or call 847-956-1040. **Wealth Management Services provided by Porte Brown Wealth Management LLC. Securities offered through Avantax Investment ServicesSM, Member FINRA, SIPC. Investment advisory services offered through Avantax Advisory ServicesSM. Insurance services offered through an Avantax affiliated insurance agency. Contact: Pam Metzger [email protected] 847-956-1040 SOURCE Porte Brown The high-grade down-plunge extension to the Mon Ami deposit has highlighted the potential for further deposit extensions at a grade potentially suitable for future underground mining. The company will complete a mineral resource classification upgrade for Mon Ami in the second quarter of 2021. ( ) has intersected high-grade gold at depth during reverse circulation (RC) drilling at Mon Ami Gold Project in Western Australia, highlighting the underground potential. The drilling program was designed to test for possible depth extensions analogous to the 176,000 ounces at 22.8 g/t gold Ida H deposit, 8 kilometres north of Mon Ami, and to define and extend near-surface, high-grade gold mineralisation to the south, for incorporation into a targeted resource classification upgrade. A total of 14 RC holes were drilled for 1,601 metres with a standout deep intersection of 10 metres at 2.7 g/t gold from 241 metres including 5 metres at 5.2 g/t and a standout shallow intersection of 4 metres at 6.6 g/t from 8 metres including 2 metres at 11.6 g/t. Highlights underground potential The near-surface, high-grade gold mineralisation is expected to enhance open pit development. Great Southern Mining chief executive officer Sean Gregory said: We are very pleased with the results from the recent RC drill program at Mon Ami. This program was designed to resolve two key questions whether there is scope to improve the economics and confidence of the mineralisation inside the proposed mining envelope and whether there is underground mining potential. Both questions have been resoundingly answered in the affirmative. Depth extensions Two deeper RC holes were designed to test for depth extensions of the main lode at Mon Ami, with both holes intersecting gold mineralisation within a broad zone of chlorite-sericite alteration. The high-grade gold mineralisation intersected in one hole was 210 metres below the surface, 60 metres deeper than the current inferred mineral resource of 1.1 million tonnes at 1.7 g/t for 59,000 ounces of gold, which is limited to 150 metres below surface. The high-grade gold mineralisation at Mon Ami is now known to extend for at least 500 metres and is open along strike and at depth and the company is confident this demonstrates the potential for mineralisation to persist further down plunge along strike. Near-surface extension Twelve shallower holes were drilled into the southern portion of the deposit seeking to define and extend near-surface gold mineralisation, with best intersections including; 10 metres at 1.0 g/t from 18 metres and 8 metres at 1.1 from 47 metres; 10 metres at 1.4 g/t from 51 metres; 5 metres at 1.8 g/t from 55 metres; 4 metres at 1.4 g/t from 12 metres; 4 metres at 0.8 g/t from 33 metres; 4 metres at 2.5 g/t from 120 metres; and 4 metres at 6.6 g/t from 8 metres, including 2 metres at 11.6 g/t. These results have aided in the domaining of mineralisation and a main lode of coherent mineralisation is now well defined. Mineral resource update The drill results reported on August 12, 2020, also included several near-surface high-grade intersections and included 11 metres at 7.9 g/t from 26 metres including 4 metres at 15.9 g/t and 4 metres at 12.4 g/t from 80 metres (4-metre composite sample). These results, in conjunction with the recent shallow gold intersections, will be incorporated in an updated resource model for Mon Ami targeting an increase in JORC categorisation levels to support the mine development objectives at Mon Ami Project development on track The company is on track for targeted resource classification upgrade in quarter two of 2021 and mining approvals in the second half of the year. Gregory said: The recent results define a coherent main lode of mineralisation that is expected to enhance our upcoming resource categorisation upgrade and mining plans. The deeper high-grade drill intersections demonstrate the underground potential, which now justifies high-priority follow up drilling to delineate further. We continue to progress Mon Ami down the development pathway. This involves current resource and mining studies coupled with permitting processes targeted at obtaining mining approvals during H2 2021. Further assessment of the recent results is being undertaken for planning and design of a follow-up drill program. WASHINGTON - FBI Director Christopher Wray on Tuesday defended the bureau's handling of alarming intelligence leading up to the Jan. 6 mob attack on the U.S. Capitol, saying he has long warned about the rising tide of such threats as the domestic terrorism caseload roughly doubled over the past year. "We have significantly grown the number of investigations and arrests," Wray told the Senate Judiciary Committee, his first testimony since the riot involving supporters of President Donald Trump. The FBI director testified in September that the number of such cases was about 1,000. By the end of 2020, there were about 1,400 such cases, and after Jan. 6 the figure ballooned again, the director said. Domestic terrorism "has been metastasizing around the country for a long time now, and it's not going away anytime soon," Wray said. "Whenever we've had the chance, we've tried to emphasize that this is a top concern." Wray defended the bureau's handling of intelligence in advance of the attack carried out by Trump supporters intent on disrupting Congress's certification of Joe Biden's presidential win. The director said agents followed procedure by rapidly sharing what they were learning with other law enforcement agencies, but he conceded that FBI officials will review internal practices because what unfolded at the Capitol was not, in his words, "an acceptable result." Wray's appearance on Capitol Hill was the latest high-profile congressional hearing to examine security and intelligence failures leading up to the riot, and what the federal government will do to counter the growing threat of violence from domestic extremists. On Wednesday, FBI and military officials are slated to testify before a separate panel looking into the events of that day. The questioning of senior officials comes amid a sprawling cross-country Justice Department investigation into the failed insurrection, which resulted in five deaths and has already led to criminal charges against more than 270 people. Law enforcement officials estimate that about 800 people were in the mob that forced its way into the Capitol. Lawmakers questioning Wray were at turns supportive of his efforts, skeptical that the FBI had done all it could to prevent the riot, and concerned that further politically motivated violence could be unleashed in coming days. In testimony last week, the acting Capitol Police chief warned that extremists have discussed another attack on the Capitol during President Biden's first address to Congress. Sen. Richard Durbin, D-Ill., the Judiciary Committee chairman, pressed Wray on how the bureau shared a situational information report, prepared by the FBI's Norfolk, Va., field office a day before the riot, which warned of specific appeals for violence - including a call for "war" at the Capitol. The District of Columbia police chief and the former Capitol Police chief acknowledged last week that their agencies had received the warning, but they suggested the FBI should have more aggressively sounded the alarm. "I would certainly think that something as violent as an insurrection at the Capitol would warrant a phone call or something," District Police Chief Robert Contee III told lawmakers. Wray said the report was shared in three ways - sent by email to the FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force, which includes the District and Capitol Police; posted on a law enforcement web portal; and mentioned in a command center briefing in the District. "It was unverified," Wray said of the intelligence. "In a perfect world, we would have taken longer to be able to figure out whether it was reliable. But we made the judgment, our folks made the judgment, to get that information to the relevant people as quickly as possible." Wray did not specifically address why no one had phoned the District police chief, and said that he, too, had not been briefed on the information before the attack. Lawmakers did not ask Wray why it was that, in the aftermath, a senior FBI official said there had been no intelligence indicating the potential for violence that day. The FBI's warning, which was first reported by The Washington Post on Jan. 12 but has yet to be shared with lawmakers, warned of social media chatter indicating Trump's supporters were talking about creating a perimeter around the U.S. Capitol and storming inside. The document quoted one person urging other Trump supporters to go to Washington "ready to fight. Congress needs to hear glass breaking, doors being kicked in, and blood from their BLM and Pantifa slave soldiers being spilled. Get violent. Stop calling this a march, or rally, or a protest. Go there ready for war. We get our President or we die. NOTHING else will achieve this goal." BLM is a reference to the Black Lives Matter movement for racial justice. Pantifa is a derogatory term for antifa, a far-left anti-fascist movement whose adherents sometimes engage in violent clashes with right-wing extremists. Those comments and similar calls for violence were posted on TheDonald.win, a popular discussion board among Trump supporters strategizing how to keep him in the White House even though he lost the electoral college and popular vote by substantial margins, according to people familiar with the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss a still-unfolding investigation. While many of the senators seemed sympathetic to the difficulty of preventing acts of domestic terrorism before they occur, others found Wray's answers unconvincing. Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn. said the Norfolk report seemed to be "beyond aspirational." "It seems like some of these reports that we now know exist out there were specific in terms of these plans that were going on," she said, asking Wray if he felt sending an email to other law enforcement agencies was a sufficiently aggressive response. Wray said the bureau had also briefed the report in a command post, and suggested it is the responsibility of personnel assigned there to notify their superiors when intelligence of this nature is shared among agencies. "The whole idea is they're supposed to go back and pass it up their chain of command," Wray said, later adding, "I do not consider what happened on Jan. 6 to be an acceptable result. And that's why we're looking so hard at figuring out how can the process be improved." Overall, Wray sought to downplay the significance of the memo, despite the fact that many things mentioned in the document - out-of-state rally points, a mob surrounding the Capitol, breaking windows, pushing through doors, and fighting with police officers - wound up happening less than 24 hours after its distribution. When Sen. John Neely Kennedy, R-La., said, "I think we can agree that the FBI had credible information that there was likely to be violence on Jan. 6," Wray replied, "I don't know that we had assessed its credibility. We certainly had information that was concerning." Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., said he understood Wray's answers, but added: "What I don't understand is why this chatter, raw intelligence, didn't prompt a stronger warning and alarm going to the very top of the United States Congress, because clearly the United States Congress was under severe threat." Blumenthal also pressed Wray on the QAnon conspiracy theory that prosecutors say motivated some of the Capitol rioters, but Wray demurred when the senator tried to get the director to criticize elected officials embracing or encouraging such dark fantasies. "We're concerned about any source that stimulates or motivates violent extremism," Wray replied. Blumenthal said he was "frankly disappointed that you're not discouraging one of the sources of incitement, which is prominent public officials endorsing a theory that in turn resulted in storming the United States Capitol." Republicans pressed Wray on the FBI's response to the violence over the summer connected to racial justice protests, which Wray said remained of concern. The bureau, he added, had seen a "huge uptick" in anti-government extremism. Wray said the bureau's response was similar to the investigation of the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol. "We're trying to look at sources of funding, planning, coordination, trying to learn more about tradecraft and tactics and things like that so that we can be better prepared to prevent it and feed information to our state and local partners so they can be better prepared to prevent it," Wray said. Asked by Durbin if there was any evidence that some of the violence at the Capitol was committed by "fake Trump protesters," as some prominent conservatives have suggested, Wray said he had not seen evidence of that, nor had he seen evidence of left-wing "antifa" infiltration. "We have not to date seeing any evidence of anarchist violent extremists or people subscribing to antifa in connection with the 6th. That doesn't mean we're not looking and we'll continue to look. But at the moment, we have not seen that," Wray said. The committee's senior Republican, Sen. Charles Grassley of Iowa, said the FBI should pursue domestic terrorism "very broadly, to include all forms of political extremism." Wray's appearance before Congress was his first since the failed insurrection, and his first as a part of Biden's administration. Wray had a fraught relationship with Trump, who publicly attacked him and the FBI over its approach to racial justice demonstrations, election security, and the investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 election. Durbin has criticized the Justice Department and FBI over their approach to the threat of violence posed by right-wing extremists during Trump's tenure. In a letter to Wray last week co-signed by nine other Senate Democrats, he accused the bureau of having minimized "the threat of white supremacist and far-right violence, a grave concern that some of us have raised with you on numerous occasions in recent years." In federal law enforcement circles, some have argued that the events of Jan. 6 represent a drastic failure of security and intelligence-gathering, while others have maintained that it was not an intelligence failure as much as failure to act on the intelligence they had. Athens, GA (30605) Today A mix of clouds and sun during the morning will give way to cloudy skies this afternoon. High 84F. Winds light and variable.. Tonight Partly cloudy this evening with more clouds for overnight. Low 61F. Winds light and variable. Jasmin Bhasin and Aly Goni who were close friends before their stint on Bigg Boss 14, went on to confess their love for each other on the show. Ever since then, their fans had been rooting for them when it came to their whirlwind romance. Much to the happiness of the 'JasLy' fans, Jasmin also accompanied Aly to his hometown in Jammu, where the couple rang in the latter's birthday. Now, to celebrate these happy times of the couple, their fans have started trending, Jasmin Ke Ghar Hum Jayenge on Twitter. Aly Goni had also joined in the trend wherein he wrote, "Jasmin hi Mera Ghar Hai Lekin Fir Bhi JASMIN KE GHAR HUM JAENGE." Soon, many of their fans started trending the same wherein they showered immense love on the couple. Some of the fans even shared some adorable pictures of Jasmin spending a joyful time in Jammu. Take a look at Aly's tweet along with the tweets of their fans who trended the same. Jasmin hi mera ghar hai lekin fir bhi JASMIN KE GHAR HUM JAENGE Aly Goni (@AlyGoni) March 2, 2021 Myyy cuttessstttt bub,be readyyy hum aaarhe Hain;-) JASMIN KE GHAR HUM JAENGE pic.twitter.com/qnXD1ne2vG Meanest Girl (@Jasxloml) March 2, 2021 HOW'S THE JOSH GUYS???????? JASMIN KE GHAR HUM JAENGE WORLD OF JAS+ALY (@JasLyUniverse1) March 2, 2021 I still get goosebumps and a smile on my face when I read @AlyGoni sir's tweet: "Jasmin hi mera ghar hai" .....Ufffffff!! I can't even imagine how happy and special @jasminbhasin maam would have felt reading it! JASMIN KE GHAR HUM JAENGE PunitJPathak FC (@punitpathakfans) March 2, 2021 When Jas evicted Salman :Teary eyed When Jas come back Salman : chunry chunry Hum kya Salman sir bhi Jasmin ke ghar jaenge Woohoo JASMIN KE GHAR HUM JAENGE Namrata Bhalerao (@NamrataBhaler15) March 2, 2021 Meanwhile, some of the fans of Jasmin Bhasin have also been lashing out at Rubina Dilaik over the latter's animosity with the Dil Se Dil Tak actor. However, this did not go down well with the fans of the Shakti Astitva Ek Ehsaas Ki actor's fans who soon started trending, Stop Being Jealous Of Rubina. Rubina's fans mainly started taking a jibe at Jasmin while doing the same. Take a look at some of the tweets by the Bigg Boss 14 winner's fans. Go to latest section in tagline STOP BEING JEALOUS OF RUBINA and RT maximum tweets with your backups to increase tweet count and keep repeating this, Show your trendmaster josh here to shower love. More your Rt more will be the impact. Team Rubina Dilaik OFC (@RubiDilaikOFC) March 2, 2021 Sapolis and their obsession with rubina Ayee hayeee STOP BEING JEALOUS OF RUBINA Dia (@minnion1998) March 2, 2021 She wore her scars as her best attire. A stunning dress made of hellfire. STOP BEING JEALOUS OF RUBINA pic.twitter.com/3dkgYp38NT RUBINA DILAIK OFFICIAL FC (@RubinaDilaik_) March 2, 2021 #RubinaDilaik achievement in bb highest Trended TV personality in India 16.3m Number 1 on ormax from last 5 months won BBTM and Boss contest every week Highest voted contestant Highest watched promos song by @roachkilla1 STOP Being JEALOUS OF RUBINA pic.twitter.com/oLWlaX2bSU RUBINA DILAIK OFFICIAL FC (@RubinaDilaik_) March 2, 2021 This is not the first time that the fans of Rubina Dilaik and Jasmin Bhasin have clashed on social media. Ever since their friendship went downhill in Bigg Boss 14, their humongous fandoms have also locked horns with each other. However, Rubina surprised the fans recently when she called Jasmin a 'beautiful lady' on her chat session on Twitter. While Jasmin also took to her Twitter handle to share a positive tweet about letting go of all the negativity. Her recent tweet read as, "I know that all my fans love me madly and every day of mine is filled with happiness and positivity, my Bigg Boss journey is over and it was incredible because of your love. Now I want you all to let go of all the negativity and ignore and avoid what doesn't spread happiness." Also Read: Aly Goni: Jasmin Bhasin Is The Best Gift I Have Got This Year Also Read: Aly Goni Celebrates Birthday With GF Jasmin Bhasin & Family; Actress Calls Him Her Hero (Video) New Delhi, March 3 : Centre has directed all the states and union territories to utilize all private hospitals - empanelled under government insurance schemes in full capacity to achieve optimum number of vaccination. The decision was taken in a meeting conducted between Union Health Ministry officials and state family and welfare officials. The ministry said that the meeting was chaired by Rajesh Bhushan, Union Health Secretary while Dr R S Sharma, Chairman of Empowered Group on Vaccine Administration (Co-WIN) and member, National Expert Group on Vaccine Administration of Covid-19 (NEGVAC) with Additional Chief Secretaries, Principal Secretaries and Secretaries of States and UTs attended it through video conference. "They were directed to utilise 100 per cent capacity of all private hospitals empanelled under Ayushman Bharat - Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY), Central Government Health Scheme (CGHS), and State Health Insurance Schemes to enable them to effectively function as Covid Vaccination Centers (CVCs)," the ministry said. "Private hospitals not empanelled under the above mentioned three categories have also been permitted to operate as CVCs if they have adequate number of vaccinators, space for observation of the vaccinated, cold chain arrangement and arrangement for management of AEFI. States/UTs can proactively make efforts to use these private hospitals as CVCs too," it added. The ministry also said that it was reiterated to the states that there is no shortage of Covid vaccines. "Hence, adequate vaccine doses should be allocated to the CVCs. States/UTs should not store, reserve, conserve or create a buffer stock of the Covid vaccines at the state and district levels," its directions read. Meanwhile, all private vaccination centres were also directed to follow effective crowd management protocols along with facilities for seating, water, proper signage etc. for the beneficiaries coming there for the vaccination. "They should also ensure adherence of Covid-appropriate behaviour among the citizen beneficiaries. state and district administration would proactively facilitate this," the ministry said. Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19) -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... One of the many issues that has come into focus during the COVID-19 pandemic is the need for all workers to have paid sick leave. While this is particularly important to slow the spread of infectious diseases like the coronavirus, there are many other reasons that society as a whole benefits from ensuring that every employee has paid sick leave. Unfortunately, I see this need every day in my practice parents who have to choose between their paycheck and their childs health. These are hard-working parents who just happen to fall into the half of the states working population that does not have paid sick leave through their employer. We all get sick, and we should all have the ability of taking care of ourselves when we are. Parents especially need paid sick leave so they can stay home and tend to sick children. Many working New Mexicans are also relied upon by extended family for sick care as well. Fortunately, several bills that would require most employers to provide paid sick leave are being considered during the legislative session, with the most comprehensive one being HB 37. I can understand the hesitancy some employers express about this kind of legislation. Many of my colleagues operate small businesses that often have a razor-thin margin of profitability. But I cant imagine any one of them wanting staff members to come into the office when theyre sick. As a pediatrician, I see everything from cuts and scrapes to patients with severe immunodeficiency, so we work hard in my office to ensure it is as clean and free of pathogens as possible. The same should be true for restaurants and retail outlets, but unfortunately, food service and retail are two of the industries least likely to provide their employees with paid sick leave. Studies have shown paid-leave policies can actually be good for a companys bottom line. When employees receive benefits like paid sick leave, turnover is decreased, which saves on recruitment and training. Aside from the risk of having a sick worker spreading their illness to a customer or other employees when they are forced to come to work sick, they are simply not as productive as when they are well. Paying an employee to stay home one day in order to recover from an illness is better for business than having an employee whos unhappy and less productive for several days because they havent had the rest they need in order to shake their illness. And no employee who cannot be home to care for a sick child is able to put in their best effort at work. As a pediatrician, I wholeheartedly support HB 20 (Healthy Workplaces Act) and urge the Legislature to pass it to make New Mexico healthier for all. ADVERTISEMENTSkip ................................................................ Texas and Mississippi on Tuesday issued separate executive orders to lift their states mask mandates and give all businesses the green light to reopen at full capacity, casting off restrictions meant to curb the Covid-19 pandemic. We must now do more to restore livelihoods and normalcy for Texans by opening Texas 100 percent, Gov. Greg Abbott said in a statement announcing the executive order, which will take effect March 10. Make no mistake, COVID-19 has not disappeared, but it is clear from the recoveries, vaccinations, reduced hospitalizations, and safe practices that Texans are using that state mandates are no longer needed, he said. The announcements from the Republican governors come at a time when coronavirus cases and deaths have plateaued in the U.S., after hitting record numbers in January, and on the heels of good news for vaccination supply and distribution. Starting tomorrow, we are lifting all of our county mask mandates and businesses will be able to operate at full capacity without any state-imposed rules, Gov. Tate Reeves of Mississippi wrote on Twitter. Our hospitalizations and case numbers have plummeted, and the vaccine is being rapidly distributed. It is time! Over the weekend a third vaccine, manufactured by Johnson & Johnson, joined the countrys stable of vaccines authorized for emergency use, as vaccination rates are expected to well exceed President Joe Bidens goal of 100 million shots in the first 100 days of his administration. Several states across the country have taken these signs as justification to accelerate their reopening plans. Other states, including Montana and Iowa, have also lifted their mask mandates. In Massachusetts, Gov. Charlie Baker announced on Monday that restaurants in the state would no longer have to adhere to capacity limits, although other restrictions, such as its mask mandate, are still in place. However, health officials have warned against states taking too much action to loosen their restrictions or eliminate them altogether, as coronavirus variants continue to spread globally. Story continues Rochelle Walensky, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said on Monday that she was deeply concerned that the recent decline in cases had seemed to stall as daily cases are still around the 70,000 mark. 70,000 cases a day seemed good compared to where we were just a few months ago, she said at a news briefing. But we cannot be resigned to 70,000 cases a day, 2,000 daily deaths. Please hear me clearly: At this level of cases, with variants spreading, we stand to completely lose the hard-earned ground we have gained, she continued. These variants are a very real threat to our people and our progress. Now is not the time to relax the critical safeguards that we know can stop the spread of Covid-19 in our communities, not when we are so close. Certain states continue to do worse than others. A Feb. 26 internal briefing document from the Federal Emergency Management Agency showed that four states, including Texas and Mississippi, were in the red zone, defined as having a positivity rate over 10 percent. The other two states were Oklahoma and New Hampshire, according to the briefing, which cited CDC data and was obtained and reviewed by POLITICO. On Tuesday, Biden announced that there would be enough vaccine supply for all U.S. adults by May, shortening the timetable from a previous July target date. However, he reiterated his plea for Americans to wear masks despite the countrys progress in battling back the pandemic. Ive asked the country to wear masks for my first 100 days in office, he said in a speech to address the pandemic. Now is not the time to let our guard down. Peoples lives are at stake. Later Tuesday evening, Vice President Kamala Harris didnt mince her words while virtually addressing the House Democratic caucus: Real leaders agree. People still need to mask up and stay distanced. A senior administration health official told POLITICO that the White House believed the Texas and Mississippi announcements posted on Twitter within 30 minutes of each other were a coordinated effort by Republican governors, and that it expected to see similar announcements in the coming days. Clay Jenkins, the Democratic judge of Dallas County, said in a Zoom news conference after Abbotts announcement that the governor did not consult with local officials before the announcement, adding that he believed Abbott was bowing to political pressure on the right to lift the orders before it made sense for the state. It doesnt take much of a shift in [mask] compliance to set us back months and months, to set us back in herd immunity, he said. However, Dave Carney, Abbotts political consultant, told POLITICO that the Texas governor had intended to issue the executive order a few weeks ago, but that it was delayed by the deadly winter storm that plunged the state into freezing temperatures and caused widespread power failures. This has nothing to do with politics and had to do with what facts on the ground are, Carney said. The restrictions were put in place to deal with availability of ICU units. That is not an issue anymore. Abbott, who has served as governor of the nations second-largest state for the past six years, has long harbored national ambitions. But mask mandates and other coronavirus restrictions have become less popular among Republican base voters as cases have plummeted, and Abbott could end up competing with smaller-state governors who have championed a laissez-faire approach to the pandemic. This past weekend at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Orlando, Fla., the crowd of activists cheered Govs. Ron DeSantis of Florida and Kristi Noem of South Dakota two governors staking out possible 2024 presidential lanes for the more limited restrictions they have implemented over the past year. Carney, however, said that Abbott was not interested in running for president the next cycle, adding that the governor was focused on what is going on in Texas right now. He has done nothing secretly or publicly to get anything prepared for 2024. This is media myth, Carney said. If the governor were interested, he added, Abbott would have attended the conservative confab. DeSantis, whose state hosted the conference, described Florida as an oasis of freedom compared to other states during the pandemic. But while Abbott has taken a backseat to those governors in Fox News Channel appearances, he has broader political experience. Outside of former President Donald Trump, hes the Republican Partys strongest fundraiser: He had $38 million in cash on hand for his bid for a third term next year, as of the end of 2020. A former state attorney general for 12 years before ascending to the governorship, Abbott has been a statewide elected official in populous Texas since 2002 compared with DeSantis and Noem, who had brief, less remarkable careers in Congress before winning elections for governor in 2018. Steven Shepard and Erin Banco contributed to this report. A diamond-tipped probe that fixes faulty heart rhythms could cut the risk of stroke. The probe, which is slightly narrower than a straw, has three tiny gems on the tip. Once it is fed into the heart, through a tiny incision in the groin or wrist, the diamonds are heated up to about 70c. This destroys the rogue heart cells that are causing the faulty rhythms, and which may lead to a condition called atrial fibrillation (AF). More than one million people in the UK have AF, which develops when electrical activity in the heart goes haywire and causes it to beat irregularly. This can result in chest pain, dizziness and fatigue. But a significant number of those affected have no idea they are ill until they have a stroke. A diamond-tipped probe that fixes faulty heart rhythms could cut the risk of stroke The irregular heartbeat means blood which should get pumped around the body begins to pool inside the heart's upper chambers, which can cause clots to develop. If a clot then breaks away and travels up to blood vessels that feed the brain, it can result in a stroke. AF causes some 16,000 strokes a year in the UK. Treatments include the blood-thinning drug warfarin to stop clots forming, and cardioversion, where the heart is shocked back into a normal rhythm using electrodes. Cardiologists can also try ablation, in which probes tipped with platinum or gold are heated up to 50c to 70c. These are used to destroy the area of heart tissue that is generating the irregular rhythms. Although often effective, these techniques risk damaging the surrounding healthy tissue, because the area needing treatment may only be a few millimetres in diameter. Also, platinum and gold probes conduct heat relatively slowly, which means it's harder to precisely control temperatures at the tip. It also slows down the procedure because doctors must constantly monitor the temperature of the probe. Many ablation patients, therefore, spend longer under a general anaesthetic, which itself has potential complications such as nausea and even blood clots. RUDE HEALTH Eating nuts specifically tree nuts such as hazelnuts could improve your sperm count. In a study by the University of Rovira i Virgili in Spain, involving 72 young men, those who ate the nuts daily had higher sperm counts, according to research in the journal Andrology. Advertisement Diamonds, however, heat up more rapidly as they are a much more efficient conductive material. This cuts the procedure time and gives doctors more control of the tip's temperature, making collateral damage less likely. In a trial involving 482 patients across the U.S., Europe and Canada, the probe called DiamondTemp more than halved the time it took to eradicate rogue tissue compared to normal ablation techniques. According to results published in the journal Clinical Electrophysiology in January, it also fixed the problem in almost 80 per cent of patients, compared to 75 per cent with conventional ablation. There were fewer complications, too. The U.S. medical regulator, the Food and Drug Administration, approved the diamond probe's use in America earlier this year. Six NHS hospitals are currently trialling it. If these trials prove successful, the technology could be rolled out across the health service in the next few years. Martin Cowie, a professor of cardiology at Imperial College London, says although ablation can be 'very effective', it 'often takes hours to perform and has some risks'. He adds: 'This new technique looks promising when it comes to reducing the operation time, and perhaps also the risk of complications, helping both the patient and the cardiologist.' Oak gel eases discomfort of women's complaint Oak-based gel works as well as medication for the infection bacterial vaginosis, which affects up to a third of women. The imbalance of bacteria in the vagina causes symptoms including burning and abnormal discharge. Research on 84 women, reported in Complementary Therapies in Medicine, found the oak gel produced the same results as metronidazole. After five days both those using the oak gel and those taking the medication had no symptoms, according to researchers from Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences in Iran. The tannin in oak may have antibacterial benefits. The sleep hormone melatonin may prove an effective treatment for memory loss, according to a study from the Tokyo Medical and Dental University. The research, based on mice, showed a melatonin injection improved memory possibly because it has a protective effect on brain cells, reports the Journal of Pineal Research. Could chewing gum cut pain after gut op? Chewing gum could help with a common side-effect of bowel surgery, where the bowel cannot contract as normal. This prevents the normal movement of food and gas, causing pain (a condition known as ileus). Gum-chewing has been found to stimulate movement by triggering the release of the hormones gastrin and motilin, which increase intestinal contraction. In a study at Services Institute of Medical Sciences, in Pakistan, involving 100 patients undergoing bowel surgery, half were asked to chew gum for 30 minutes every eight hours for 24 hours; the others had no gum. The gum-chewers passed gas in half the time of the other group, reports the World Journal of Surgery. Scientific terms decoded. This week: Immunoglobulin JARGON BUSTER Scientific terms decoded. This week: Immunoglobulin Immunoglobulins are also known as antibodies these are molecules made by white blood cells in response to an infection caused by viruses or bacteria. A blood test can tell if you have higher immunoglobulin levels, which might indicate you are fighting an infection; or lower levels, which are a sign the immune system isnt working as well as it should. There are five types of immunoglobulin, each beginning with the abbreviation Ig and found in different areas of the body. IgG is the most common; IgE is the one that causes allergic reactions, triggering symptoms. TINY TWEAKS Listen to slow music to help you sleep. In a survey by the University of New South Wales, Australia, 161 participants were asked to identify the music that helped them nod off. Slower tempos and lower frequencies (such as a deep voice) were rated most effective, whether the music was classical or from other genres. Check the oven in a squat for hip mobility HOME GYM Regularly moving (which can include housework) is key to health, studies show. This week: Check the oven in a squat for hip mobility Crouching down to check how dinners doing? Take a yogi squat to do it. This pose will stretch out the glutes (muscles in your bottom), lower back and hip flexors (muscles between thigh and torso) and improve balance and mobility. As we age, we often neglect movement that includes a larger range of motion, says Chatty Dobson, the founder of FLEX Chelsea personal training studio in London. Yogi squats can reduce the tightening of hip flexors and hip joints in general. Stand with your legs hip-width apart and crouch down with your tailbone between your ankles and your hands in a prayer position at your chest. Continue to press your hands firmly together while pressing your elbows against your inner thighs to push them outwards. Hold for 30 seconds, breathing slowly. Premier Daniel Andrews insists billionaire Lindsay Fox has not received any special deals from the government, but declined to answer opposition questions about whether he would recuse himself from cabinet deliberations affecting the Linfox trucking magnate. The Victorian government is considering a proposal to build a quarantine facility at Avalon Airport, which is owned by the Fox family. Grilled by Liberal Party MPs in Parliament on Tuesday, Mr Andrews said government contracts were subject to stringent probity rules, and he deflected questions by goading Liberal leader Michael OBrien over speculation his party would turf him as leader. Premier Daniel Andrews on Tuesday fended off questions about his ties with the Fox family. Credit:Eddie Jim The Premier has a close personal relationship with Lindsay Foxs son, Andrew Fox, who is responsible for Linfoxs airport and property arms. Mr Andrews dined earlier this year at the Foxes Portsea home. The government is also considering rolling out COVID-19 check-in kiosks built by a company part-owned by David Fox, another of Lindsay Foxs sons. Welcome Guest! You Are Here: CBSC has appointed Jeslie Chui as Director of Business Development Asia Pacific Escondido, California--(Newsfile Corp. - March 2, 2021) - CB Scientific. Inc. (OTC Pink: CBSC) ("CBSC" or the "Company"), in an ongoing effort to expand its outreach in the Ambulatory Remote Cardiac Diagnostic Monitoring products and services market globally, is pleased to announce the appointment of Jeslie Chui as Director of Business Development Asia Pacific for CB Scientific Inc. effective March 1, 2021. In this position Mr. Chui will work to increase company recognition and awareness of CBSC and its subsidiary My-Cardia, identify and develop corporate strategies for expansion and the associated marketing platforms to support these strategies, and assist in corporate fundraising in the region. Through his various entrepreneurial roles in Hong Kong and China, Jeslie Chui has been instrumental in raising venture capital including financial advisory and business development for companies from a wide variety of industries throughout his career. Cannot view this video? Visit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rMUMauiRcVo For more than twenty years, Mr. Chui has been a renowned veteran financial market professional in the Asia Pacific region. His considerable knowledge and extensive work experience include new business development, IPO advisory, Deal structuring, private equity funding, and merger and acquisitions. Strategic management planning, product development, information system implementation and management, and legal compliance are other areas of his expertise. Throughout his career Jeslie has held positions with Mithera Capital, a US based Private Equity, as their Chief Marketing Officer and Head of Asia Pacific market; Chief Strategic Officer for Zhong Tai International Financial Holdings Ltd.; and Head of Wealth Management for China Galaxy International (a subsidiary of China Galaxy Securities) to name a few. In addition to his new role with CBSC, Mr. Chui also serves as the Head of Corporate Advisory Services for CCTH, a founding member of AG China. He has earned several academic degrees including a Master of Engineering in Electronic Commerce from The University of Hong Kong; Executive Master of Business Administration from The Chinese University of Hong Kong; Master of Science in Investment Management from The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology; Master of Law (LLM) in Chinese Business Law from The Chinese University of Hong Kong; and Master of Corporate Governance with Distinction from the Hong Kong Polytechnic University. Jeslie Chui is also an Adjunct Professor for the College of Business at the City University of Hong Kong and an Honorary Professor at Huashang College for the Guangdong University of Finance and Economics and has authored 24 books on investment products and corporate finance. Mr. Chui will work closely with our recently launched distributor Mango Wellness, in Thailand, and two distributors scheduled to be operational in the next few months in Malaysia and Singapore. He will help expedite the start-up process there, and working along with these distributors, identify other areas of expansion in the region for growth. In this new role he will also be a corporate liaison as part of our new Collaborative Partnership with Semacare and assist, as needed, in our ongoing efforts to complete the regulatory certification of our my-Cam device with the National Medical Products Administration (NMPA) in China. "We welcome Jeslie Chui to our company. As Director of Business Development, Jeslie will be instrumental in helping to promote awareness and increase corporate recognition of CB Scientific Inc. in the Asia Pacific region. Through his efforts there, we look forward to expanding our outreach by providing state-of-the-art Remote Cardiac Monitoring through our My-Cardia products and services to help reduce the impact of heart disease in this area of the world through early detection improving the quality of life for patients," said Charles Martin, President and CEO of CB Scientific, Inc. in a statement. CB Scientific plans to make further announcements to keep its shareholders, industry participants and the public markets informed through press releases and regulatory filings as new developments occur. CB Scientific Inc. Company Contact Information: 340 State Place Escondido, CA 92029 Telephone number: (888) 225-0870 Emails: General inquires: info@cbscientificinc.com Investor Inquiries: investor@cbscientificinc.com Company Website and Social Media Outlets: CB Scientific, Inc. website, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube, and Newsletter This information disclosure may contain forward-looking statements covered within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements relate to, among other things, plans and timing for the introduction or enhancement of our services and products, statements about future market conditions, supply and demand conditions, and other expectations, intentions and plans contained in this press release that are not historical fact and involve risks and uncertainties. Our expectations regarding future revenues depend upon our ability to develop and supply products and services that we may not produce today and that meet defined specifications. When used in this press release, the words "plan," "expect," "believe," and similar expressions generally identify forward-looking statements. These statements reflect our current expectations. They are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, including, but not limited to, changes in technology and changes in pervasive markets. This release includes forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 27E of the Securities Act of 1934. Statements contained in this release that are not historical facts may be deemed to be forward-looking statements. Investors are cautioned that forward-looking statements are inherently uncertain. Actual performance and results may differ materially from that projected or suggested herein due to certain risks and uncertainties including, without limitation, ability to obtain financing and regulatory and shareholder approval for anticipated actions. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/75775 Paris Hilton talked her wedding plans with sister Nicky Hilton on Monday. The 40-year-old perfume mogul revealed that she and her fiance Carter Reum will have a joint bachelorette and bachelor party because she is so in love with her future husband that she does not like to be away from him. 'If I go more than one hour without seeing him I miss him too much,' shared the blonde beauty on her This Is Paris podcast adding she is more in love with Carter than she has been with any other man in her life. Together: Paris Hilton talked her wedding plans with sister Nicky Hilton on Monday. The 40-year-old perfume mogul revealed that she and her fiance Carter Reum will have a joint bachelorette and bachelor party Nicky said she was fine with the combo party and was excited to help plan it. The New York author also asked about Paris' wedding dress and Paris said she wanted to keep that private. When the mother of two urged Paris to start having kids, the Simple Life star shared that she and Carter wanted to get married first because they are 'old fashioned.' Paris also talked about the proposal as she said she was totally surprised by Carter. Last month she shared images from the proposal on her website ParisHilton.com. It's love: That is because she is so in love with her future husband that she does not like to be away from him And Nicky shared that Carter told them first he was going to propose, even asking Nicky and her husband James Rothschild for permission, before he got down on one knee. 'So, we were at lunch and you got up from the table to go and use the bathroom, and he got up and came and sat next to me and said, "I have two quick questions,"' Nicky told Paris. 'Number one: Will you give me your blessing to marry Paris?' he asked. The second question would be if she and her husband would come to the beach. 'I quickly said yes to both and we got dressed and we were down hiding in the beach,' Nicky said. 'It was so funny because Paris is so late,' Nicky shared. 'I'm sure Carter's like sweating bullets, so nervous.' Her future husband: 'If I go more than one hour without seeing him I miss him too much,' shared the blonde beauty on her This Is Paris podcast adding she is more in love with Carter than she has been with any other man in her life Nicky was asked to hide in some bushes at 5pm. 'I was like, I am not sitting in the bushes, boiling at 5 p.m., because there's no way she's going to come down. Text me when you're going down and then I'll start heading over, because I know her,' she said. Paris was 45 minutes late. 'What I love about him is how much he loves his family. That is very important to us. We are all so tight. My aunts, uncles, cousins, siblings, we are so tight,' Nicky added. 'He definitely has that with his family and his siblings. I really like that. I think that's really cool.' 'Yeah, he does have amazing family values,' Paris commented. 'That's one of the reasons I fell in love with him.' Also on her podcast, Paris said she was still angry with comedian Sarah Silverman who famously trashed her at the 2007 MTV Movie Awards, while she was sat in the audience. Speaking on her This Is Paris podcast on Monday, alongside sister Nicky, 37, Paris said 'It was so disgusting and cruel and mean.' Paris had been due to check into prison hours after the awards for violating her probation in an alcohol-related reckless driving case and was mocked by Sarah. Wedding then babies: The Simple Life star shared that she and Carter wanted to get married first because they are 'old fashioned.' Paris also talked about the proposal as she said she was totally surprised by Carter Hilton said she had been nervous to go to the event, so when she was the butt of Silverman's jokes it was intolerable. And her sister Nicky has demanded that Silverman apologize to her sibling, 14 years on. Detailing her version of events, Paris said: 'I was so shocked and surprised because I had actually met her a few years before at an event and she was sweet. Not OK: Paris also said she is still mad at Sarah Silverman for humiliating her at the 2007 MTV Movie Awards Paris said: 'I was very nervous and knew I was about to check into a jail a few hours later, I put on a brave face and she literally pummeled me, so mean so cruel' (pictured at the awards) 'I was obviously very nervous and knew I was about to check into a jail a few hours later, I put on a brave face and she literally pummeled me, so mean so cruel. 'I was sitting there, wanting to die, I was holding back tears, I had tears in my eyes... I literally wanted to run out of the entire room. The whole audience was laughing and she would not stop. 'It was so painful especially with what I was going through in my life, it was really hard.' Sarah had said. 'I heard to make her feel more comfortable in prison the guards are going to paint the bars to look like penises, I am just afraid she is going to break her teeth on those things. Paris served three days of her 45-day prison sentence. Nicky said: 'Mom always told us you don't know someone until you have walked a mile in their she's and here Sarah was.... saying the most disgusting vile, awful hurtful things.' 'I understand she is a comedienne and she is there to be funny and make people laugh, but when you have to put people down and insult people to get a laugh it's not funny. I didn't think it was funny then and I certainly don't think it is funny now.' She then gave examples of how other comedians get laughs without being cruel. 'Look at Will Ferrell, he is funny but is not hurtful to others.' Nicky then said, 'Sarah really took the gloves off!' Sarah recently apologized for poking fun at Britney Spears. At the MTV Video Music Awards in 2007 Sarah called Britney's kids 'mistakes' and also put down her performance earlier that night. During the podcast, Paris also criticized famous host David Letterman who kept asking her about her time in jail when she was on his show, even though her spokesperson had demanded he not do it. In the interview, David repeatedly has asked Paris about her stint in jail after she had violated her probation by driving with a suspended license. She had called her time behind bars a 'really traumatic experience', and was visibly uncomfortable with him. Not impressed: During the podcast, Paris also criticized famous host David Letterman who kept asking her about her time in jail when she was on his show in 2007 Paris said: 'I felt it was a safe place because I had been going on Letterman for so many years. I thought he would keep his word on this and he was wrong. 'There was not supposed to be one question and he kept pushing me and pushing me. I was just getting so uncomfortable and upset. She pressed on: 'Nicky, you were backstage, I remember talking to you after and being up there. 'It was like he was purposely trying to humiliate me and during commercial breaks I would look at him like, 'please stop doing this, you promised me you wouldn't talk about this and that's the only reason I agreed to come on the show'.' 'He was like okay and then again [brought it up]. It was very cruel and very mean. After it ended I looked at him and said I am never coming on this show again, that crossed the line. 'I didn't tell him off because I'm not that type of person, but I got angry and he was apologizing and sent a case of Chateau Lafite Rothschild wine to our house.' Paris said unlike Silverman, she has since forgiven him. She added: 'I am so happy it's different today, I would never wish what happened to me on my worst enemy.' Nicky added: 'You know what would not happen today is Sarah Silverman going on stage at the MTV Awards, and making disgusting, vile, perverted statements about pop stars, about people sitting in the audience.' 'There were certain people they targeted. I would see that with myself, with Britney, Jessica Simpson. There was a certain type of girl they targeted that they'd never do that to a man.' Paris added she could deal with it because she had suffered so much as a teen when she was in boarding school in Utah for two years. Hilton said she was abused when at Provo Canyon. 'It's abuse,' she added of what Sarah did. Nicky said because Sarah apologized to Britney after she slammed her, she now needs to apologize to Paris. 'The sexual, disgusting remarks were so horrific, very, very, very disappointing, that should never of happened to a young girl sitting in the audience or anyone, you should not let a person be humiliated.' Nicky then admitted Paris was 'no angel' when she was young, but she was not doing anything 'malicious.' Paris and Nicky also said that their mother Kathy Hilton lied to them about doing Real Housewives Of Beverly Hills and they had to find out about her casting through People magazine. And they added Kathy is only doing the show because she became so bored from lockdown. Kathy will guest star on the show with her sister Kyle Richards. Washington The Federal Aviation Administration today selected Syracuses airport as one of five in the nation where companies will test technologies that detect and block drones that pose a threat to commercial airlines. Syracuses Hancock International Airport won a nationwide competition to be a federal test site, according to U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer and Rep. John Katko, who supported the airports application. The FAA plans to install, test and evaluate at least 10 different technologies and systems developed to detect and possibly disable or counter small drones that sometimes stray near airports that handle civilian passenger air traffic. Hobbyists must have FAA authorization to operate recreational drones near airports in the United States. But airports have reported a series of near misses between passenger jets and unauthorized drones on the approaches to airports in recent years. Londons Heathrow Airport, one of the worlds busiest, deployed a system to block drones from entering its airspace last year after a series of drone sightings by incoming pilots there and at nearby Gatwick Airport. The FAA plans to award Syracuses Hancock Airport grants totaling about $100,000 to offset the airports cost during the testing program, which is expected to last two years. Jason Terreri, the airports executive director, said passengers flying in and out of Syracuse will not be affected by the testing. Terreri told syracuse.com the idea is to see what works and what doesnt when it comes to detecting and blocking drones in a real-world environment. The public shouldnt see anything different, he said. The tests will be independent of those conducted by Syracuse-based Nuair, a consortium that operates a 50-mile drone testing corridor between Syracuse and Rome. The corridor is one of 10 national test sites for drone technology authorized by the FAA. More than 2,500 test flights have already been conducted in the corridor, ranging from unmanned planes the size of a Cessna to small drones similar to recreational quadcopters. The FAA began testing the airport drone detection and blocking systems last year at its technical center next to Atlantic City International Airport in New Jersey. Four more airports were added today: Rickenbacker International Airport in Columbus, Ohio; Huntsville International Airport in Huntsville, Ala.; Seattle-Tacoma International Airport in Washington; and Syracuse. The federal governments goal is to develop standards and guidance for airports to safely use counter-drone systems. Schumer, D-N.Y., said in a statement that the Syracuse airports selection for the tests will help solidify the regions repuation as a national test site for unmanned aerial systems (UAS), or drones. Safely integrating UAS into the national airspace has enormous economic and national security potential for the United States, Schumer said. This FAA selection proves that there is no better place in the country to harness that potential than right here in Central New York. Hancock Airport is also the first commercial airport in the United States to allow military drones to fly unescorted in its airspace. The New York Air National Guard flies its MQ-9 Reaper attack drones in and out of the airport on training missions. Got a tip, comment or story idea? Contact Mark Weiner anytime by: Email | Twitter | Facebook | 571-970-3751 As emissions from traffic and industries plummeted during the COVID-19 lockdown in Chinese cities, researchers grabbed the opportunity to understand a complex chemical reaction triggered by the uneven drop in air pollutants. Researchers have been struggling for a long time to understand why ground-level ozone rises when there is a drastic change in the concentration of pollutants in the atmosphere a phenomenon, impacting most Chinese cities for the last few years. In the war against air pollution, China has successfully reduced key pollutant PM2.5 by 40 to 50 percent, but the concentrations of nitrogen oxide (NOx), sulfur oxide (SOx) and carbon monoxide fluctuate. And the uneven reduction of these pollutants leads to chemical reactions, which releases ground ozone in large volumes. Ground ozone forms after a series of chemical reactions. It starts with the oxidation of volatile organic compounds (VOC) that releases radicals, which then triggers a reaction between NOx and VOCs producing ozone in the presence of sunlight. With NOx levels dropping by 60 to 70 percent, many expected a low concentration of ground ozone level during the lockdown. Instead, it skyrocketed in Beijing and Northern China Plain, according to a study by Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) and the Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology (NUIST), published in the journal PNAS on Tuesday. "The COVID-19 lockdown was an involuntary experiment in which the emissions decreased abruptly, and a lot of ozone appeared suddenly," said Daniel J. Jacob, corresponding author of the study. Prone to ozone pollution in summer months until five years ago the region with a population size of 300 million people recently started experiencing similar high concentration of the pollutant in early spring and late winter. The extension of the ozone pollution period has piqued the interest of many atmospheric researchers. A previous study by both universities found that PM2.5 acted like a sponge and absorbed VOC, preventing ozone formation during summer months. But what exactly conspired during the winter months was unknown. In the new research carried out during the COVID-19 lockdown, researchers explained that NOx also acts like a sponge to suck up VOCs, controlling ground ozone formation during winter months. But during the lockdown in January, NOx levels plummeted, and other chemical reactions led to a massive spike in ozone. "The COVID-19 experience helps explain the trend of increasing ozone pollution in the late winter and spring in China," said Ke Li, first author of the study. "As NOx emissions have decreased, the ozone season in China is getting longer." During the lockdown, the average ozone concentration hovered between 60 to 70 parts per billion against the World Health Organization's (WHO) recommended safe limit of 51 parts per billion. According to health experts, inhalation of ground-level ozone can trigger various health problems, including chest pain, coughing, throat irritation, and congestion. It can worsen bronchitis, emphysema, and asthma. Ozone can also reduce lung function and inflame the lining of the lungs, while repeated exposure may permanently scar lung tissue. The study, researchers say, highlights the need to understand VOCs' sources and species better and regulate their emissions. "VOC emission controls would stop the spread of the ozone season and have major benefits on public health, crop production, and particulate pollution," said Hong Liao, co-corresponding author of the study. IN the space of one month, the families of 326 people were left in shock and heartbreak after losing their loved ones to the Covid-19 virus. May 2021 was the deadliest month of the pandemic in Trinidad and Tobago and the month with the highest number of Covid-19 cases. Trusted Objects Jean Pierre Delesse, COO and cofounder of Trusted Objects, declares: to-security products and services aim at protecting high-value software content of electronic devices. In an always more global and connected word, tops plug&go is a new step forward to secure manufacturing. tops plug&go, which is part of Trusted Objects to-security offer, aims at simplifying and securing the interaction between firmware developers and their manufacturing subcontractors. tops plug&go service creates a secure link to monitor software programming operations, allowing all stakeholders to keep a full control of their asset at any stage of the manufacturing process of the electronic product. In a usual microcontroller programming process, the embedded software is at risk of being intercepted during the transmission to the subcontractor and during the programming operations. It is also difficult for product developers and IP owners to remotely control how many products have been programmed, and to know how the embedded software has been stored in the premises. In addition, production reports are often generated and communicated manually, which is a source of uncertainties and inconveniences. With tops plug&go, the firmware is sent to the manufacturer over a secure channel, thus protecting it against any wiretapping. It is stored in a secure environment at the production site before, during and after the programming operations which are secured thanks to leading edge technologies including cryptography techniques. tops plug&go controls the number of items that are manufactured as the production is ongoing, thus providing a protection against illegal copies, cloning and overproduction. Finally, the product developers and IP owners automatically receive authentic and signed reports at the end of each production batch. tops plug&go services are provided thanks to a trusted exchange application combined with a secure box that belongs to the embedded software developer, and that is connected to the programing equipment. It brings an automated and secure transfer of the developers software IP, secure storage and secure programming. In addition, tops plug&go can securely generate secret data such as passwords, keys and certificates at production site; these secret data are securely injected in the programmable microcontrollers. At the end of the programming operations, a complete, authentic and signed batch report is delivered to the product developer. tops plug&go services are compatible with most microcontrollers on the market. Another advantage is that tops plug&go is operated in a standalone mode, so there is no need to have a connection to an external server during operations. Jean Pierre Delesse, COO and cofounder of Trusted Objects, declares: to-security products and services aim at protecting high-value software content of electronic devices. In an always more global and connected word, tops plug&go is a new step forward to secure manufacturing. tops plug&go is the result of several years of R&D efforts leveraged by the company longstanding experience in cybersecurity. The service is already qualified and available on a pay-per-use business model. About Trusted Objects Trusted Objects is a leading independent player in cybersecurity technologies for embedded systems, providing innovative solutions including secure software and secure operations to dramatically enhance the security of electronic devices. Thanks to its longstanding expertise, Trusted Objects designs products and solutions that respond to market requirements, with a focus on ease of integration and user-friendliness, while complying with the latest standards in terms of security. Trusted Objects to-security products and services to protect IP in embedded software allow product designers to create trust all along the value chain. Trusted Objects IoT security solutions are fully optimized, certified and are positioned as the root-of-trust to meet the end-to-end security needs of the Internet of Things. https://www.trusted-objects.com O3 Mining (CVE: OII- OTCQX: OIIIF) CEO Jose Vizquerra joined Steve Darling from Proactive to share details the company has announced a 250,000-metre drill program for their projects in Val-d'Or, Quebec. Vizquerra talks about the program and where they will be drilling. He also talks about how they are getting their story out as they begin such a large campaign of exploration. Changing name to Graphex Group to reflect focus on Graphene Division Assessing expansion strategies Working with industry on emerging graphene applications Eco design division conferring with 8 major cities to architect recharge parks NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / March 2, 2021 / Earthasia International Holdings Ltd. (the "Company") ("Earthasia") (OTCQX:ETIHY) (HKEX:6128), a leader in graphene products and technologies and a manufacturer of spherical graphite and graphene technology for the renewable energy sector, is pleased to provide a corporate update. The recent Board approval to change the Company's name from Earthasia International Holdings Ltd. to Graphex Group is the first of a number of strategic actions to accurately reflect the Company's focus on graphene research, manufacturing and development and further capitalize on the opportunities the graphene sector presents. "Earthasia intends to fully leverage its Graphene Division's high-volume manufacturing capability and product technology, protected by 25 patents, to capitalize on the forcasted growth of EV and stored energy lithium ion batteries, in addition to developing future graphene applications," said Chan Yick Yan Andross, Chief Executive Officer and Director, Earthasia International Holdings Ltd. The demand for electric vehicles and energy storage are key demand drivers for lithium ion batteries and therefore the Company's material. According to Bloomberg New Energy Finance, annual passenger electrical vehicle sales are forecast to rise from 1.7 million units in 2020 to 8.5 million units by 2025, a compound annual growth rate ('CAGR') of 38%. By 2040, Bloomberg estimates that 54 million electrical vehicles will be produced per year, representing almost 60% of global car production (currently 92 million vehicles per annum). The Company is one of the largest manufacturers of spherical graphite, a key material for production of Lithium Ion battery cells, and believes there are powerful market drivers, which should provide robust demand for the Company's material and graphene technology over the next five years. The material is used to form layers of graphene in the anode of lithium ion battery cells. Lithium ion batteries are used in electric vehicles and energy storage solutions for renewable energy farms. The anode is a key component in the battery; charged energy is stored within the anode in the form Lithium Ions trapped between the layers of graphene. Each electric vehicle requires approximately 70kg of spherical graphite for its battery, or about 1 kg of spherical graphite per kWh2. As such, the annual demand for the Company's products, from the electric vehicle market alone, should rise from 119,000 tons to 595,000 tons by 2025. Lithium ion cells are also used to store renewable energy for wind farms and photovoltaic power stations. IHS Market Energy Storage Service forecasts that annual energy installations could increase to 47.8 GWh by 2025, a five-fold increase from 2019. The Company's graphene division represents the majority of the Company's trailing 12 months revenues of $32 million and generates a positive EBITDA ('Earnings Before Interest Taxes Depreciation and Amortization). The graphene sales channel consists of approximately 30 customers, some of which are distributors. The Company believes vertically integrating would be accretive by capturing downstream margins. The Company currently produces about 10,000 tons per annum of spherical graphite at a manufacturing facility in Heilongjiang Province, strategically located near one of the world's largest high-quality natural graphite mines. That is estimated to be about 5% of China's total spherical graphite output. "Given the highly favorable demand dynamics for our spherical graphite, we are assessing both output capacity expansion and vertical integration strategies," said Mr. Chan. "With proprietary knowledge in manufacturing spherical graphite, at volume, yield and with consistent high quality, we have the in-house skill set to efficiently implement a capacity expansion. In addition, the close proximity to our raw materials provides a large, stable flake graphite source. Further, our patent portfolio of 25 patents protects our manufacturing techniques and processes." In addition to lithium ion batteries, the Company is leveraging its graphene technology and research towards emerging applications. The unique physical properties of graphene, including its light weight, high strength, optical transparency, and thermal/electrical conductivity, presents a unique engineering solution. In addition to conducting its own research, the Company is working with institutions and customers to apply graphene for developing product applications and assessing a broad array of products, including structural composite panels, commercial lubricants, biomedical tissue scaffold, flexible mobile displays, membranes and ultra-thin solar panels. Separately through its eco-design division, the Company is working with eight major Chinese cities to design Recharge Parks. Recharge Parks combine landscaped green spaces, with mobile device and electric vehicle charging points. The parks would be partially powered by onsite renewable energy. The concept is to electrically recharge machines and devices, while mentally recharge the people who use them by providing an architecturally superior park space. About Earthasia International Holdings Ltd. Earthasia International Holdings Ltd. is a publicly traded company, listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange and the OTCQX Best Market. Based in the People's Republic of China (PRC), and strategically located near the largest supply source of high quality natural graphite anywhere in the world, the Company is a leading supplier of graphene products. Earthasia owns 25 patents in the PRC, including products, production methods, machinery design, and environmental protection. The Company's spherical graphite is an essential anode material for lithium-ion batteries. Media Contact: Gavin Davidson investrel@earthasia.com.hk This release may contain certain forward-looking statements regarding our prospective performance and strategies within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. The Company intends such forward-looking statements to be covered by the safe harbor provisions for forward-looking statements contained in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and are including this statement for purposes of said safe harbor provisions. Forward-looking statements, which are based on certain assumptions and describe future plans, strategies, and expectations of our company, are generally identified by use of words "anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "expect," "intend," "plan," "project," "seek," "strive," "try," or future or conditional verbs such as "could," "may," "should," "will," "would," or similar expressions. The Company's ability to predict results or the actual effects of its plans or strategies is inherently uncertain and based, in part, on third party market research which the Company's assumed to be accurate. Accordingly, actual results may differ materially from anticipated results. Some of the factors that could cause the Company's actual results to differ from its expectations or beliefs include, without limitation, the risks of its businesses, the assumed significant growth of graphene related products and spherical graphite products. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this release. The Company does not undertake any obligation to update these forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances that occur after the date on which such statements were made. SOURCE: Earthasia International Holdings Ltd View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/632921/Earthasia-International-Holdings-Ltd-ETIHY-Announces-Corporate-Update ST. PAUL, Minn., March 2, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- 3M (NYSE: MMM) today announced the following investor events: JP Morgan 2021 Industrials Conference on Tuesday, March 16, 2021 . Mike Roman , chairman and chief executive officer, and Monish Patolawala, senior vice president and chief financial officer, will speak at 8 a.m. EDT . on . , chairman and chief executive officer, and Monish Patolawala, senior vice president and chief financial officer, will speak at . Bank of America Global Industrials Conference 2021 on Wednesday, March 17, 2021 . Monish Patolawala, senior vice president and chief financial officer, will speak at 4:30 p.m. GMT / 12:30 p.m. EDT . These events will be webcast live and a replay will be available on 3M's Investor Relations website at http://investors.3M.com. About 3M At 3M, we apply science in collaborative ways to improve lives daily as our employees connect with customers all around the world. Learn more about 3M's creative solutions to global challenges at www.3M.com or on Twitter @3M or @3MNews. Investor Contact: Bruce Jermeland (651) 733-1807 Tony Riter (651) 733-1141 Media Contact: Tim Post (651) 733-9789 SOURCE 3M Related Links www.3m.com Mass insanity appears to have gripped nearly the entire nation of New Zealand, which has placed its largest city, Auckland, under its fourth lockdown requiring people to stay indoors at home (AKA "house arrest"), this time because one case of COVID was discovered (a second case followed after the lockdown was announced). The nation's leader, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, is blaming the victim for presumed rule-breaking, on the theory that the spread of a virus can be completely prevented if only people obey their leaders who are imposing radical confinement rules on them. The Guardian reports: New Zealand's prime minister, Jacinda Ardern, has reprimanded rule-breakers over the recent cluster of coronavirus cases, leading to further restrictions for Auckland. The city re-entered lockdown with level-three restrictions in place for at least a week from Sunday following the discovery of a community case of unknown origin. Health officials investigating over the weekend successfully established that the person, known as Case M, had been infected through contact with a family counted among the recent Papatoetoe cluster. (snip) Under level-three restrictions, everyone in Auckland is asked to stay at home. The rest of the country is operating at level two. In a must-read Twitter thread, Jordan Schachtel reports and comments on the madness: The latest from "success story" New Zealand, which is now in its 4th lockdown (this 1 because of 1 case): They're debating whether to punish people for getting infected with COVID-19. It must be "rule-breakers" causing these repeated lockdowns, they say. https://t.co/bz9yffZQ5y Jordan Schachtel (@JordanSchachtel) March 1, 2021 Yep. Almost the entire population has become convinced of the "killer virus" narrative. Fear and propaganda has manipulated the masses into demanding their own solitary confinement. NZ has transformed into a dictatorship, and the people are cheering it on. https://t.co/yZwPTJCr67 Jordan Schachtel (@JordanSchachtel) March 1, 2021 Quote from an MP today: "It is time to start knocking on people's doors & making sure they are ... isolating for 2 weeks." "And if they're not, let's appropriately punish them & make sure people know about that so other people don't do it as well." Yes, he said "punish them." Jordan Schachtel (@JordanSchachtel) March 1, 2021 In New Zealand, the people & the politicians are united behind a "Zero COVID" strategy that involves punishing & publicly humiliating ppl who acquire COVID-19. It's easy to brush off now, but it has the potential for a total catastrophe when the strategy fails in the long run. Jordan Schachtel (@JordanSchachtel) March 1, 2021 Not everyone in New Zealand is happy to cooperate with the latest mass imprisonment, as a later Guardian article reports: Ashley Bloomfield, New Zealand's director general of health, has called on the nation to "not let the virus divide you" amidst frustration with rule-breakers linked to recent coronavirus cases, as well as with the government's response. Auckland has been in lockdown since Sunday morning as a result of two cases of community transmission, which were found to have happened while level-three restrictions were in place threatening the fracture the unity of the "team of five million". P.M. Ardern is taking a much harder line: At a press briefing on Monday afternoon, the prime minister, Jacinda Ardern, expressed frustration with lockdown breaches and urged New Zealanders to hold each other to account. Though the decision on whether to prosecute rule-breakers rested with police, she said, the most recent cases were "facing the full judgment of the entire nation". "No one in cabinet, no minister, no politician, none of us that I've spoken to think that this is tolerable," she said. "What has happened here has been a clear breach and everyone is frustrated by it." Ardern's tone was seen as a marked departure from the compassionate messaging credited with New Zealand's success against the pandemic so far, and has been met with criticism that communities and even individuals are being unfairly singled out. While I can't claim deep expertise on the New Zealand national psyche, I did do some consulting work there long ago, and I got a strong sense of the mentality common in an island nation, about 1,300 miles from the nearest continent, where everyone seems to know each other, and all have a sense of being set apart from the rest of the world. New Zealanders call themselves "kiwis" after the flightless bird native to the islands, and they do seem to see themselves as completely different from everyone else, especially Australians, their closest Anglophone neighbors, whose 25 million population seems giant compared to their small nation. The very idea of isolating itself from the rest of the world, where a highly contagious virus spreads no matter what we do to contain it, must be a product of thinking itself as completely apart, a world unto itself. Graphic via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 license. Neither of the Guardian articles linked here explicitly addresses the single biggest demographic divide in New Zealand: between Caucasians and native Maoris and other Pacific islanders such as Samoans, whose economic standing is not at a comparable level. Caucasians account for over 70% of the population, with Maoris 16.5% and Pacific Islanders 9.0%. In Auckland, only 43% of the population is of European heritage. That may account for what is only hinted at by the Guardian here: Leaders within South Auckland have also criticised the communication with affected communities. Maori party co-leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer told Stuff that Case M had been "put out there" for the nation's condemnation while others were told, "If you don't behave the police will turn up''. Greens MP Teanau Tuiono, who grew up in South Auckland, said people failing to follow the rules reflected "policy failures of the people delivering the message". He added: "We've got to get down to the grassroots ... and also I'm mindful there's a massive language diversity in South Auckland." Manukau councillor Efeso Collins told Radio New Zealand the government needed to work with local organisations and leaders to communicate their coronavirus strategy. "The bureaucrats have to let this go. They will cost us the war if they don't let go of this now. They've got to let go of this power, and trust the community to get the information to our households." The government has defended its communications strategy, saying it had been working with the Ministry for Pacific Peoples, Te Puni Kokiri and Office of Ethnic Communities (OEC) to engage with affected communities across cultural or linguistic divides. Bloomfield also pointed to the high rate of testing of staff and students at Papatoetoe high school at the centre of last month's cluster as evidence that communications had been successful. South Auckland, as you might infer, is relatively poor, and has a higher level of Polynesian and Maori population than the rest of the city. In 2008, a columnist in the New Zealand Herald wrote: The phrase South Auckland frequently appears in the media these days, usually in association with some act of violence or criminality. The juxtaposition is so common that the phrase itself has become a term of pity or abuse. Race relations in New Zealand are not as idyllic as the scenery there suggests. When I was working in Auckland, my client's personnel advised me to stay off the streets after dark because roving gangs were attacking Caucasians at the time. Keep in mind that COVID has a survival rate in the high range of 99%, with only the elderly and those with co-morbidities seriously at risk. Putting an entire city or nation in virtual imprisonment in the futile hope of arresting a virus seems like madness to me, and yet so terrified of the virus are the kiwis that the two major parties outdo each other in advocating punitive lockdown measures. With a minority population starting to feel resentment, and perhaps a bit less compliant and with less of a sense of being on "a team of five million," there may be trouble ahead in Auckland, if the P.M. (who is in the capital, Wellington, not Auckland) continues with her harsh approach. In a world of brilliant turquoise views, ultra-sophisticated service, and effortless perfection, two women are at the helm of The Ozen Collection, making their mark in bringing alive this ethos of Refined Elegance. Maria Luisa Lalli and Henar Gil Rios, General Managers of Ozen Reserve Bolifushi and Ozen Life Maadhoo respectively, herald a fresh energy and culture of excellence across the brand. Leadership dynamics in the hospitality industry has been witnessing a change with more women in leadership roles. And, always at the forefront of embracing equal opportunity and gender diversity, The Ozen Collection has placed the reins of its two resorts in the capable hands of women managers. An industry forward thinker, Salil Panigrahi the CEO and Managing Director of The Ozen Collection said: Hospitality is a people-centric industry and I feel it can contribute a lot to equal opportunity in the workplace. At Ozen, we want to usher in a new culture of leadership one where equal opportunity is valued. Diversity is not only the order of nature, but also brings in fresh perspective into our work culture. Surveys show that a diverse workforce is more productive, and appointing women at key leadership positions that they genuinely qualify for should be a norm rather than an exception. Responsible for all the key operational and commercial aspects of the resort, the General Managers oversee the day-to-day operations while also driving the resorts performance with long-term vision and business strategy. Ozen Reserve Bolifushi, the brands newly launched, uber-luxe private island resort, is led by Maria Luisa Lalli. No stranger to the Maldives, Luisa is a seasoned hotelier from Italy with over eleven years of experience in the destination, as well as prior experience working and living in the United Kingdom and Sri Lanka. Her innately empathetic approach puts every guest at ease, building genuine connections that often result in repeat visits! She leads her team by example, inspiring every colleague to create authentic experiences for guests with an impeccable service culture and warm-hearted spirit. Henar Gil Rios, recently appointed as the General Manager at Ozen Life Maadhoo, also brings a wealth of luxury hospitality experience to OZEN. A native of Spain, Henar is in spirit a global citizen. She has lived and worked in the US, France, Asia, and Mexico. Motivated and highly driven, Henar is at her best working under high pressure using initiative, in-depth knowledge, and creativity to lead her team to success. Adding a touch of feminine grace to leadership and resort management, the two managers work with a common goal of delivering elegance in its most raw form through authentic, ultra-sophisticated experiences, both tangible and intangible, that complement the pristine, unspoilt beauty of the destination. TradeArabia News Service The Telegraph SIR Charles Moore makes reference to an article he wrote a year ago under the heading Was Covid-19 created in the lab?. In it he described work by two scientists, Angus Dalgleish and Birger Sorensen, who concluded that it was what is called a chimera it was built by human beings to see how infectious it could be to human beings. Lord Moore wrote that this does not mean that the purpose was to make people ill. He presumed it was to learn more about vaccines against viruses. A more disturbing interpretation might be that the research had a military purpose. Sir Richard Dearlove (a former head of MI6) was interested in the work of Dalgleish and Sorensen. As a teenager in the Fifties, I was invited to the microbiological research establishment at Porton Down by my uncle, its director. It was the height of the Cold War and he told me: Dont worry about nuclear war biological warfare is far more dangerous. Bill Filmer Lindfield, West Sussex SIR The Wuhan lab theory would make a plausible James Bond plot (which would be a first), but I find the species-leap theory more frightening. Michael Heaton Warminster, Wiltshire SIR With the genesis of Covid-19 still unclear, the accidental escape from laboratory theory may finally gain legs. Beijing still has much to explain with regard to the dreadful pandemic it appears to have inflicted on the world. It demonised whistleblowers when the virus emerged, then appears to have lied once person-to-person transmission was deemed likely and the epidemic gained pace. The World Health Organisation appeared to be both tardy and shy in conducting the necessary engagement. Members of its investigation team are said to have spent a mere three hours in the Wuhan laboratory. China is less than generous in welcoming outside scrutiny. That perhaps was to be expected. More disturbing is the stance taken by Facebook and others, which dismissed this theory far too readily at the outset. The time to seek the truth with all due rigour has now surely arrived. All evidence, no matter how unpalatable, must be objectively explored, to help prevent or mitigate the next time. The developing world in particular will struggle to cope with the lasting effects of this catastrophic event. While realpolitik may allow China to be an emerging superpower, it can still be held accountable for any lapses identified. Colonel Rob Davie (retd) Salisbury, Wiltshire SIR The lab theory was dismissed from the moment Donald Trump endorsed it. As with Brexit, the supposed intelligentsia could not countenance the possibility that Mr Trump, like Nigel Farage, might be right about something. Closed minds have costly consequences. Keith Phair Felixstowe, Suffolk The Johnson wedding SIR Boris Johnsons surprise confirmation of his status as a Catholic has raised many eyebrows, particularly in relation to his reputation with the ladies. However, I think Rome will provide a good home for him. Oscar Wilde, when questioned about his own late conversion to Catholicism, said that he was attracted to the faith because in this Church, Every saint has a past, and every sinner has a future. Anna Mackey Dublin, Ireland SIR When a Prime Minister is married for a third time, is it called a wedding or a reshuffle? Neville Stangroom Dereham, Norfolk SIR No, that was a fake wedding. The real one took place three days earlier, conducted in the garden of No 10 by the Archbishop of Canterbury with Dilyn as sole witness. Peter Thompson Sutton, Surrey SIR Typical! The Prime Minister gets married and Matt is away. Keith Macpherson Clevedon, Somerset SIR Bethan Holts report describes Carrie Johnson renting her dress as a very modern move, but I hired my wedding dress back in 1966. I chose a first hiring, even though it was more expensive, rather than a second, as I wanted to be the first to wear the dress. I couldnt afford a new dress, so was being practical. After all, my husband hired his morning coat. This year my husband and I celebrate 55 years of marriage. Lynda Burke Knowle, Warwickshire Beep, beep SIR Traffic reduction schemes, now known as low traffic neighbourhoods, are not that new. Portsmouth had a 20mph speed limit the whole way through. After an emergency trip I was directed home through Portsmouth. Seeing the first 20mph sign I stayed in second gear. Seeing more signs, I proceeded through the whole city in second gear, average speed 5mph. This meant every traffic light was green by the time I arrived at it. Very smooth. The traffic mayhem behind me was the citys problem not mine. Car engines do not like second gear. The pollution my car emitted must have been awful for residents. Maybe elected councillors are not familiar with car engineering. Sue Doughty Twyford, Berkshire Offended by the Duke SIR I have just read the report about Kings College. The idea of those staff members being offended by the Duke of Edinburghs photo is almost too much to bear. Can you imagine what traumatic lives these poor people must lead every day striving mightily from dawn to dusk, seeking out all offensive matter? The very idea horrifies me and has left me decidedly depressed. I am seeking an immediate appointment with Harrys therapist. Robert Chatterton Caythorpe, Lincolnshire SIR Cambridge has been worrying about micro-aggression. Should university lecturers or students found guilty of micro-aggressions receive micro-punishments? For example, someone found guilty of not giving eye contact could be stared at for five minutes. Brian Armstrong North Shields, Northumberland Abolished by the BBC SIR In his article Reform of the BBC must start at the very top, William Lewis suggests that a journalist editor-in-chief should be answerable to an independent editorial board. From 1990 to 1996 I was a member of such a board, the General Advisory Council (about 40 of us). We were supposedly a sounding-board for BBC policy. What usually happened was that the top managers told us how well they were doing, leaving precious little time for our questions. Under Sir Terry Heisers chairmanship we eventually insisted on setting the agenda ourselves. One result was that in 1993 we successfully challenged the director-general John Birts remuneration arrangements. It wasnt long before the BBC declared its Advisory Council redundant and abolished us. If an independent editorial board ever comes into being it will need a really strong mandate. The Earl of Northesk Elsworth, Cambridgeshire Tick-box banking SIR NatWest informed me that I could not have an appointment in a branch to open a new account because of Covid fears (Letters, May 31). Despite my husband and I having banked with them for over 40 years and currently holding, between us, eight different accounts with them, we had to spend nearly an hour on the phone trying to open a joint account. Having established who we were, was it then necessary for us to be treated as if we were new naive customers who had never had an account? We had to resupply information possessed by the bank about us, and were subjected to sales pitches for accounts we already hold. The hapless individual at the end of the phone was only interested in completing his script rather than applying a modicum of common sense. A face-to-face meeting might have avoided all of this. Dilys Taylor Birmingham Rude rhymes SIR That jingle from Aristophanes Frogs pinein kai binein, (Christopher Howse, The rudest word in Greek is no laughing matter, Comment, May 29), could be rendered in English as supping and tupping, or possibly boozing and floozing. Richard George St Albans, Hertfordshire A Saturday Derby lacks that holiday feeling Last week, Kshama Sawant, a leader of Socialist Alternative and member of the Seattle City Council, announced that she was joining the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) in the US. Sawants declaration followed a December 15 statement by Socialist Alternative announcing that it would be sending a significant section of its membership into the DSA. City council member Kshama Sawant speaking in 2016. (Image credit: Flickr/Seattle City Council) Sawant said that her decision was motivated by the need for a mass working class party, a stronger labor movement, and victorious struggles in our ongoing fight against the billionaire class. She added, In my view, to move forward we need to advance the Marxist ideas that will be necessary to win both immediate gains in the present crisis and a final victory over capitalisms exploitation and oppression. Because of the urgency to build a wider socialist movement, Sawant wrote, I am now joining DSA, while remaining a member of Socialist Alternative. The previous statement by the Socialist Alternative National Committee, Why Socialist Alternative Members are Joining the DSA, claimed that it was directed at building a viable alternative to the Democratic Party and its ruling class leadership. It is necessary, Socialist Alternative stated, to rebuild a fighting and democratic labor movement, struggles against oppression, and lay the foundations for a new mass working class party in the US. In fact, Socialist Alternatives effort to forge a closer alliance with the DSA is aimed at creating a new political trap. It takes place under conditions of an extreme and intensifying political crisis within the state apparatus, a growing radicalization among workers and youth, and the discrediting of the Democratic Party. Pseudo-left organizations in and around the Democratic Partyincluding both Socialist Alternative and the DSAare working out organizational forms to block the development of a genuine socialist movement. Socialist Alternative, the DSA and the Democratic Party There is a glaring contradiction in the statements of Sawant and Socialist Alternative. They claim that their aim is to build a mass working class party and an alternative to the Democratic Party, while having their members join an organization that is a faction of the Democratic Party. The DSA presently has five members in the US House of Representatives, all DemocratsAlexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Rashida Tlaib, Danny Davis, Cori Bush and Jamaal Bowman. The DSA representatives function as loyal members of the Democratic Party caucus. The DSA's most prominent congressperson, Ocasio-Cortez, has voted for bills to fund the US military and intelligence apparatus. In November, Ocasio-Cortez explained that she saw her role primarily as assisting the Democratic Party in whatever way possible, telling the New York Times that she had been begging the party to let me help them for two years, citing specifically her efforts to assist right-wing Democrats who launched an attack on socialism in the aftermath of the 2020 presidential election. The political activity of the DSA in the recent period has been centered on the promotion of the Democratic Party presidential campaign of Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, who, after his defeat in the primaries, served as a principal campaigner for Joe Biden. At one point, Sawant declares that the socialist movement in the past has unfortunately been derailed many many times by a failure to stand up against pro-establishment ideas and forces, a desire to get along with powerful progressive individuals, a lack of clarity about Marxist ideas, and by the influence of careerists within our ranks. However, the promotion of the fiction that socialism will be achieved through progressive individuals operating in the Democratic Party is at the heart of the political role played by both the DSA and Socialist Alternative itself. On its attitude toward the Democratic Party, Socialist Alternative has no principled differences with the DSA. Its entire orientation is and has been toward bolstering the Democratic Party, while formally remaining outside of it. As for the DSAs more open role within the Democratic Party, there is no indication the DSA made any political concessions on this matter as part of Socialist Alternative's entry arrangement. In a manner that is nearly identical to the DSA, Socialist Alternative endorsed and campaigned for Bernie Sanders in both the 2016 and 2020 presidential elections. In 2016, it launched #Movement4Bernie, hailing Sanders campaign as a historic breakthrough for the US left. After losing in the primaries, Sanders backed Hilary Clinton and performed his task of directing social opposition behind the Democratic Party. In the 2020 elections, Socialist Alternative again mobilized its organization to support the Sanders campaign, claiming that he was leading a political revolution before he ended his campaign and backed Biden. Last April 9, as Sanders ended his primary bid and prepared to campaign for Biden, Sawant wrote: We have no regrets about our stand based on the enormously positive elements of the movement he helped create. Going back to 2016, Sanders electrified millions because of his radical pro-working class platform. Most recently, in a February 1 article titled Bidens Big Promises, Socialist Alternative member Rebecca Green suggested that the new administration might continue the Democratic Party's pro-corporate, militaristic legacy, but it could also be pressured from below to carry out serious reforms relating to unemployment, "Medicare for All," a "Green New Deal" and other DSA-backed initiatives. We need real leadership, Green wrote, and figures like Bernie Sanders, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Cori Bush, Jamaal Bowman, and all the other members of the Squad will need to be unwavering in their commitment to fight for what is needed, refusing to settle for what Biden and the Democratic establishment say is acceptable, and refusing to let them whittle away their promises in the name of bipartisanship. Both Sawants recent statement and the previous statement by the Socialist Alternative National Committee place central emphasis on the organizations record in Seattle as an example of, as Sawant writes, using our elected office as a lever for the working class and marginalized communities to build movements to win historic victories. In fact, Sawant has worked closely with the Democratic Party in Seattle throughout her tenure on the Seattle City Council and welcomed the endorsement of local Democrats in 2019. Even though her mild reformist proposals have prompted harsh attacks and an active recall campaign by Democratic Party politicians, Socialist Alternative continuously orients itself towards the left wing of the Democrats. Socialist Alternative and the call for a new working class party In its maneuver to establish closer relations with the DSA, Socialist Alternative is arguing that it can provide assistance in maintaining the political domination of the Democratic Party, whether this is done formally within the Democratic Party or outside of it. Sawant indicates the real concern of Socialist Alternativeand of the Democratic Partywhen she writes: If socialists dont put forward clear strategies and tactics, and instead the Squad and other leaders continue to hesitate to go head-to-head with the Democratic Party to avoid a clash, we will lose. If socialists dont build powerful and fearless movements for a federal $15 minimum wage, Medicare for All, and a Green New Deal, the working class will look elsewhere for leadership. That is, if the DSA, Socialist Alternative and other pseudo-left organizations around the Democratic Party do not succeed in creating a political trap, the working class will turn to revolutionary politics, and, in particular, the Socialist Equality Party. The new organization that Socialist Alternative has in mind is one that is entirely beholden to the Democratic Party and, indeed, initiated by it. In June of last year, Socialist Alternative published a statement (Blazing the Path for a New Left Party, by Bryan Koulouris and Ginger Jetzen) that lays out the character of the organization it is proposing to create in alliance with the DSA. The statement calls for an alliance between sections of the AFL-CIO trade union apparatus with various left groups, including the DSA and the Movement for a Peoples Party (MPP). Unlike some small groups [a reference to the Socialist Equality Party], we do not think that the socialist left with less than 100,000 activists in a country of over 330 million people can launch a new mass left party by ourselves, they write. They propose, instead, a coalition with various groups in pulling together a critical mass, including the labor movement, to support the call for a mass left party. Those involved in this project would include like-minded activists in the DSA, the Greens, the Vermont Progressive Party, the California Progressive Alliance, and MPP. As they envision it, the role of Socialist Alternative would be to function as a left faction within this broader mass party. They write: While Socialist Alternative would advocate that a new mass working class party adopt a clearly anti-capitalist and class struggle approach, there would be contending ideas and strategy in a broad formation. Some would likely advocate a focus just on elections and reforming the system without raising the need for socialism. In order to test out these ideas in a living struggle, a new left party would need democratic structures with the right of all different trends of thought to organize in favor of their ideas. The model that Socialist Alternative has in mind is SYRIZA, the Coalition of the Radical Left, which came to power in Greece in 2015. The article by Koulouris and Jetzen acknowledges the actual outcome of the election of SYRIZA, noting that it ended up betraying the Greek working class, giving in to the dictates of the big banks, implementing a brutal austerity program. At the time of SYRIZAs election, Socialist Alternatives Greek affiliate, Xekinima, promoted the fiction that the coming to power of SYRIZA marked a historical turning point and that the organization could be pushed to the left under the pressure of the mass movement. Anticipating the criticism that what Socialist Alternative is proposing will play the same role as SYRIZA, Koulouris and Jetzen write, In order to avoid the fate of SYRIZA and the defeats and misery its leadership helped inflict on the working class, a new left party would need a clear socialist program and a tested Marxist leadership. But Socialist Alternative is proposing nothing of the sort. Indeed, Koulouris and Jetzen previously explained that what they are advocating is not a party with a socialist program and Marxist leadership, but a broad formation with various pro-capitalist tendencies, in which they would function as a loyal component. In her own statement, Sawant stresses that what she is proposing is a much broader organization of the working class beyond the socialist left. While proposing the creation of a party outside of the Democratic Party, Socialist Alternatives entire orientation is to forces in the Democratic Party that it hopes will take the initiative in creating this new party. One question that is often asked is where the forces for this new party will come from, Socialist Alternative member Tom Crean wrote on November 9. Our answer is that there is a massive potential pool of support from those who supported Sanders campaigns, progressive trade unionists, and young people active in the fight against racism, sexism and climate catastrophes. Crean stresses that for such a party to come into being, however, it will require significant figures and organizations to launch it. That is, it will be launched by the Democratic Party itself, along with a faction of the trade union apparatus. The left in the US has prominent figures like Sanders, AOC and the newly-elected Cori Bush, Congressperson from Missouri. We need them to hear from their supporters who have drawn the conclusion that the Democratic Party cant be reformed. We applaud figures like Cornel West, Nina Turnerpresident of Our Revolution--and RoseAnn DeMoroformer president of National Nurses United--who are already moving in this direction. We need the Democratic Socialists of America, which has grown to 70,000 members in recent years and has formally committed itself to supporting the formation of a workers party, to actually make this effort a priority. In other words, Socialist Alternative is calling on Democratic Party politicians to build a party that is ostensibly opposed to the Democratic Party. All the figures cited by Socialist AlternativeSanders, Ocasio-Cortez, Bush, West, Turner and DeMoroare longtime operatives within the Democratic Party, and all called for a vote for Biden in the 2020 election. Turner, a member of the Democratic Party National Convention Committee in 2020, and West are among those who have pushed the call for a Movement for a Peoples Party, spearheaded by Nick Brana, a founding member of the Sanders Our Revolution organization. At the time of the Peoples Convention to launch the MPP last August, the WSWS noted that Turner expressed the basic political orientation of the MPP when she said prior to the event that there are some progressives who want to #DemExit but there are some progressives who believe, Its my party, I can cry if I want to and Im going to stay inside and push. These two perspectives are parallel and the end is the same, she said. In other words, both those who are participating in the MPP, as well as those who are committed to formally staying in the Democratic Party, share the same strategy and perspective. One could say the same about Socialist Alternatives proposal for an alliance with the DSA. The capitalist politics of the International Socialist Alternative Socialist Alternatives entry into the DSA is part of a broader strategy being pursued by the International Socialist Alternative [ISA, formerly the Committee for a Workers International (CWI)], an international that facilitates the collaboration of national organizations with whatever left movement exists within their country. The December, 2020 Socialist Alternative National Committee statement refers to the maneuvers of ISA's national sections in other countries. Across the world, weve helped to build wider new left formations while openly and honestly putting forward our own Marxist politics, it states. The examples it cites include the Brazilian Liberdade, Socialismo e Revolucao (Freedom, Socialism and Revolution--LSR) and the German Sozialistische Alternative (Socialist Alternative--SAV). The predecessors of the LSR helped found the Partido Socialismo e Liberdade (Socialism and Liberty Party--PSOL), a pseudo-left coalition formed after members of the Brazilian Workers Party (PT) were expelled in 2003. The PSOL is a broad organization containing within it many pseudo-left tendencies, including the LSR, Esquerda Marxista -- affiliated with the International Marxist Tendency -- the Morenoite Resistencia and at least five other Pabloite and Morenoite factions. All of them share the common function of channeling disillusionment with the PT back into the framework of capitalist politics. Every one of these tendencies promoted the PT as the voice of the working class prior to the 2002 presidential elections, but the implementation of right-wing austerity policies by Lula Da Silva generated deep hostility in the working class, requiring PSOL and its fellow travelers to create a new organization that would essentially play the role of an external left wing of the PT. The real character of the PSOL is made clear by its recent election campaign, in which it stood at least 26 military or police candidates in municipal elections nationwide, running on a platform of nationalism, militarism and cooperation with capitalist politicians. Guilherme Boulos, the PSOL mayoral candidate in Sao Paulo, even stated his intention to hire 2,000 more cops at a meeting with the Sao Paulo police union. Despite this platform, the entirety of the pseudo-left praised his campaign, including the LSR and the DSA-affiliated publication Jacobin. The German SAV has seen its role as aiding the Left Party (Die Linke), which was formed in 2007 through a merger of ex-Stalinists and Social Democrats. In 2010, leading SAV figures were allowed into the Left Party as full members, after seeking to join for two years prior. At the time of their entry, members stated, We entered the party because we are convinced that the Left Party will play an important role in showing a socialist way forward and politically strengthen the resistance to the German government and employers in the course of the deepest capitalist crisis in decades. While the SAV argues that it is pushing the Left Party to build a genuine revolutionary party, the Left Party has established itself as trusted defenders of German imperialism and capitalism. It backed the corporate bailouts in both 2008 and 2020, supported the European Union, imposed austerity packages in Berlin where it has held power, and endorsed the Israeli attack on the Gaza Strip. Recently, the Left Party provided its full support to NATO and German war plans as part of its preparations for joining a potential federal coalition with the Green Party and the Social Democratic Party (SPD). In the midst of the coronavirus pandemic and the deadly response of the European ruling class, the Left Party backed the return-to-work policies in May, which allowed corporations to herd workers back into unsafe conditions to resume the generation of private profit. The perspective of International Socialist Alternative was summed up in the ISAs World Perspectives Document from February 2020, the first published since the split in the Committee for a Workers International in 2019. The international leadership writes: New left formations and figures will face enormous pressure to bend to the will of the ruling class the closer they get to governmental power. They can also face enormous pressure from below to go further than they intend. It will require a clear revolutionary leadership with authority in the working class to overcome this contradiction, the document continues, referring to themselves. This clarifies the central task that we have in our epoch: to build our forces. At the same time we take part in rebuilding the workers movement, the unions, the union left and new Left parties. As the role of the ISA groups throughout the world demonstrates, to overcome this contradiction means, in fact, to liquidate themselves into whatever bourgeois left formation is established to contain popular anger and opposition. Conclusion The reactionary role of the contemporary ISA sections directly flows from its historical origins and development. Ted Grant, who helped found the CWI in 1974, developed his positions in opposition to the fundamental principles of the Fourth International and in alignment with an opportunist tendency known as Pabloism. As the framework of bourgeois politics has shifted ever further to the right, pseudo-left groups like the CWI-Socialist Alternative tendency have shifted with it. They position themselves as a left flank of a right-wing political apparatus. Now, in its move to forge a closer relationship with the DSA, Socialist Alternative is responding to the unprecedented political crisis in the United States. The coronavirus pandemic has comprehensively exposed the reality of capitalism. The response of the ruling class to the pandemic has led to more than 500,000 deaths in the US alone. While the pandemic has been used to orchestrate an unprecedented bailout of the rich, tens of millions of people are unemployed and face poverty, hunger and eviction. Already before the pandemic there was a broad-based political radicalization of workers and young people. Polls have consistently shown growing support for socialism and opposition to capitalism and the two capitalist parties. The ruling class is responding with a further turn to the right and the preparation of authoritarian forms of rule. Former President Donald Trump incited and led a fascist coup on January 6 in an attempt to overturn the results of the election and effectively establish a presidential dictatorship. While the mob did not succeed this time, it had support from high levels of the federal police, among military personnel and a significant portion of the Republican Party. Downplaying the January 6 events and defending the Republican Party, Biden now presides over a right-wing administration of austerity, war and the continuation of Trumps deadly COVID-19 policies. The effort by Sanders, Ocasio-Cortez and the DSA to promote the fiction that the Democrats are an agent of social reform and that a Biden administration can be pushed to the left have been exposed in the first weeks of the new government. The two-party system, which has served for nearly 200 years in various stages to contain the class struggle, is in extreme crisis. Under these conditions, the ruling class needs to prepare new traps. That is what the calls for a new party are. Socialist Alternatives entry into the DSA is an attempt to facilitate the drawing together of all the forces they hope will constitute this new trap. They represent affluent sections of the middle class rushing to fill up the cracks in the dam of bourgeois politics, for which they hope to be remunerated in the form of seats in Congress and local government, access to resources, and positions in the AFL-CIO trade union apparatus. Their argument is: social opposition is inevitable in the working class. It will crash over the two parties like a tidal wave. Before this happens, we must build a new left party that is as big as possible so that when the wave comes, we will be there to catch it. Otherwise, workers will turn, God forbid, to the Socialist Equality Party and the International Committee of the Fourth International! By Yuka Obayashi TOKYO (Reuters) - Oil prices fell more than 1% on Tuesday, extending losses that began last week, as investors unwound long positions on concern that OPEC may agree to increase global supply in a meeting this week and Chinese demand may be slipping. Brent crude dropped 78 cents, or 1.2%, to $62.91 a barrel by 0138 GMT, after losing 1.1% the previous day. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude slid 74 cents, or 1.2%, to $59.90 a barrel, having lost 1.4% on Monday. Investors are worried the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies, a ... New Delhi: Seven people were killed after three vehicles hit by a landslide at Manali-Pathankot NH 154 near Padhar in Himachal Pradesh's Mandi in the wee hours of Sunday morning. Rescue operations are underway as many people are still stranded. Earlier, over 20 people lost their lives and 9 others injured after a bus fell down into a gorge near Shimlas Rampur in Himachal Pradesh on July 20. The bus was travelling to Solan from Kinnaur. Congress president Sonia Gandhi expressed her distress and profound grief at Shimla bus accident. She asked the state government to take immediate relief and rescue measures. ALSO READ: Landslide in Arunachal Pradesh kills 5, 9 still missing For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Please enable cookies on your web browser in order to continue. The new European data protection law requires us to inform you of the following before you use our website: We use cookies and other technologies to customize your experience, perform analytics and deliver personalized advertising on our sites, apps and newsletters and across the Internet based on your interests. By clicking I agree below, you consent to the use by us and our third-party partners of cookies and data gathered from your use of our platforms. See our Privacy Policy and Third Party Partners to learn more about the use of data and your rights. You also agree to our Terms of Service. As COVID-19 vaccine supplies ramp up across the country, most provinces and territories have released details of who can expect to receive a shot in the coming weeks. Here's a list of their plans to date: As COVID-19 vaccine supplies ramp up across the country, most provinces and territories have released details of who can expect to receive a shot in the coming weeks. Here's a list of their plans to date: Newfoundland and Labrador The province says it is in Phase 1 of its vaccine rollout. Health-care workers on the front lines of the pandemic, staff at long-term care homes, people of "advanced age" and adults in remote or isolated Indigenous communities have priority. Chief medical health officer Dr. Janice Fitzgerald has said Phase 2 will begin in April if vaccine supply remains steady. The second phase prioritizes adults over 60 years old, beginning with those over 80, as well as Indigenous adults, first responders, rotational workers and adults in marginalized populations, such as those experiencing homelessness. Adults between 16 and 59 years old will be vaccinated in the third phase of the rollout, and Fitzgerald has said she expects that to begin this summer. Nova Scotia Health officials in Nova Scotia announced Tuesday that vaccination rollout plans for the month included the province's first pharmacy clinics. Prototype pharmacy clinics will launch in Halifax and Shelburne on March 9, Port Hawkesbury on March 16 and Springhill on March 23. Nova Scotia plans to have vaccine available to at least 75 per cent of the population by the end of September 2021. Prince Edward Island Health officials in Prince Edward Island say they will shift their focus to getting a first dose of COVID-19 vaccine to all adults by July 1, even if it means delaying the second shot for some. Chief medical officer Heather Morrison has said people over the age of 80 will get a second dose based on their existing appointments. Going forward, she said, other residents will get a longer interval between their first and second doses, but she didnt specific how long that will be. New Brunswick The province is also focusing on vaccinating those living in long-term care homes, health-care workers with direct patient contact, adults in First Nations communities and older New Brunswickers in the first phase, which lasts until at least March. The next phase is scheduled to begin in the spring and includes residents and staff of communal settings, other health-care workers including pharmacists, first responders and critical infrastructure employees. The government website says once the vaccine supply is continuous and in large enough quantities, the entire population will be offered the shots. Quebec Quebec started vaccinating older seniors Monday, after a first phase that focused largely on health-care workers, remote communities and long-term care. In Montreal, mass vaccine sites including the Olympic Stadium opened their doors to the public as the province began inoculating seniors who live in the hard-hit city. The government announced last week it would begin booking appointments for those aged 85 and up across the province, but that age limit has since dropped to 70 in some regions, including Montreal. Quebec announced Tuesday it had reached a deal with pharmacies that will allow them to start administering COVID-19 vaccines by mid-March. Health Minister Christian Dube said about 350 pharmacies in the Montreal area will start taking appointments by March 15 for people as young as 70. The program will eventually expand to more than 1,400 pharmacies across the province that will administer about two million doses. The Montreal region is being prioritized in part because of the presence of more contagious variants, such as the one first identified in the United Kingdom, Dube has said. Ontario The province began vaccinating people with the highest priority, including those in long-term care, high-risk retirement home residents, certain classes of health-care workers and people who live in congregate care settings. Several regions in Ontario moved ahead Monday with their plans to vaccinate the general public, while others used their own systems to allow residents aged 80 and older to schedule appointments. Toronto also began vaccinating members of its police force Monday after the province identified front-line officers as a priority group. Constables and sergeants who respond to emergency calls where medical assistance may be required are now included in the ongoing first phase of Ontario's vaccine rollout, a spokeswoman for the force said. A day earlier, Toronto said the province expanded the first phase of its vaccination drive to include residents experiencing homelessness. The provincial government has said it aims to begin vaccinating Ontarians aged 80 and older starting the week of March 15, the same day it plans to launch its vaccine booking system, which will offer a service desk and online portal. It has said the vaccine rollout will look different in each of its 34 public health units. When asked about the lack of provincewide cohesion, Health Minister Christine Elliott said that public health units know their regions best and that's why they have been given responsibility to set the pace locally. She also says the province will soon share an updated vaccine plan that factors in expected shipments of the newly approved Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine. The province will do that after getting guidance from the federal government on potentially extending the time between first and second doses, like B.C. is doing, of the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines to four months, Elliott says She also says Ontario seniors won't receive the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine since there's limited data on its effectiveness in older populations. Manitoba Manitoba is starting to vaccinate people in the general population. Appointments are now available for most people aged 94 and up, or 74 and up for First Nations people. Until now, vaccines have been directed to certain groups such as health-care workers and people in personal care homes. Health officials plan to reduce the age minimum, bit by bit, over the coming months. Dr. Joss Reimer, medical lead of the province's vaccine task force, has said inoculations could be open to all adults in the province by August if supplies are steady. --- Saskatchewan The province is still in the first phase of its vaccination rollout, which reserves doses for long-term care residents and staff, health-care workers at elevated risk of COVID-19 exposure, seniors over the age of 70 and anyone 50 or older living in a remote area. In all, nearly 400,000 doses are required to finish this stage. The next phase will be focused on vaccinating the general population by age. It hopes to begin its mass vaccination campaign by April, but there if there isnt enough supply that could be pushed back to June. Saskatchewan will begin immunizing the general population in 10-year increments, starting with those 60 to 69. Also included in this age group will be people living in emergency shelters, individuals with intellectual disabilities in care homes and people who are medically vulnerable. Police, corrections staff and teachers are among the front-line workers not prioritized for early access to shots. The government says supply is scarce. The province said this week that it may follow British Columbia's lead in delaying a second dose of COVID-19 vaccine to speed up immunizations. The government says it hopes a national committee that provides guidance on immunizations will support waiting up to four months to give people a second dose. If that happens, the province could speed up how soon residents get their first shot. Alberta Alberta is now offering vaccines to anyone born in 1946 or earlier, a group representing some 230,000 people. Appointments are being offered through an online portal and the 811 Health Link phone line. Shots are also being offered to this cohort at more than 100 pharmacies in Calgary, Red Deer and Edmonton starting in early March and the government has said there are also plans to include doctors offices. Health Minister Tyler Shandro has said all eligible seniors should have their first shots by the end of March. But he said Monday that the province will not give Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine to anyone over the age of 65 after the National Advisory Committee on Immunization expressed concerned there is limited data on how well it will work in older populations. The first phase of the vaccine rollout also included anyone over 65 who lives in a First Nations or Metis community, various front-line health care workers, paramedics and emergency medical responders. Phase 2 of the rollout, to begin in April, is to start with those 65 and up, Indigenous people older than 50 and staff and residents of licensed supportive living seniors facilities not previously included. British Columbia British Columbia will extend the time between the first and second doses of COVID-19 vaccines to four months so all adults could get their initial shot by the end of July. Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry says evidence from the province and around the world shows protection of at least 90 per cent from the first dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines. The province launched the second phase of its immunization campaign Monday and health authorities will begin contacting residents and staff of independent living centres, those living in seniors' supportive housing as well as homecare support clients and staff. Seniors aged 90 and up can call to make their appointment starting next Monday, followed a week later by those aged 85 and over, and a week after that by those 80 and up. Henry says the approval of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine means some people will get their first shot sooner than planned. She says B.C. will focus its rollout of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine among essential workers, first responders and younger people with more social interactions who would have to wait longer to receive their first doses of the Moderna or Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines. It's now possible that all adults could get their first shot by July, Henry says. Nunavut The territory says it expects enough vaccines for 75 per cent of its population over the age of 18. After a COVID-19 vaccine is administered, patients will be tracked to ensure they are properly notified to receive their second dose. Nunavut's priority populations are being vaccinated first. They include residents of shelters, people ages 60 years and up, staff and inmates and correctional facilities, first responders and front-line health-care staff. Northwest Territories The Northwest Territories its priority groups such as people over 60, front-line health workers and those living in remote communities are being vaccinated The territory says it expects to vaccine the rest of its adult population starting this month. Yukon Yukon says it will receive enough vaccine to immunize 75 per cent of its adult population by the end of March. Priority for vaccinations has been given to residents and staff in long-term care homes, group homes and shelters, as well as health-care workers and personal support workers. People over the age of 80 who are not living in long-term care, and those living in rural and remote communities, including Indigenous Peoples, are also on the priority list for shots. This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 3, 2021. Don't let Sunrise host Sam Armytage hear you call her husband Richard Lavender a 'millionaire businessman'. Speaking on her podcast Something to Talk About this week, the breakfast TV host, 44, dismissed the way Richard's wealth had been described in the press. Sam was speaking to actor Hugh Sheridan about the media interest in his romance with Kurt Roberts when she alluded to the headlines about her own love life. Millionaire? Don't let Sunrise host Sam Armytage hear you call her husband Richard Lavender a 'millionaire businessman'. Speaking on her podcast Something to Talk About this week, the breakfast TV host, 44, dismissed the way Richard's wealth had been described in the press 'They keep calling Rich a "millionaire businessman",' she said, seemingly puzzled by the description. 'And he's like, "Where did that come from? I'm going to have a problem with the ATO!"' she added. Sam's comment was likely just a reflection of her prickly relationship with the tabloids, rather than her denying Richard is a millionaire. Remark: Sam was speaking to actor Hugh Sheridan about the media interest in his romance with Kurt Roberts when she alluded to the headlines about her own love life. 'They keep calling Rich a "millionaire businessman",' she said, seemingly puzzled by the description Richard is a stakeholder of Lavender Equestrian, which offers a variety of services for horses in the region, including breeding and training. According to property records, his 40-hectare farm in Berrima cost $1.95million when he bought it in 2007. Sam, who reportedly earns $500,000 a year, is likely worth at least a million herself. Sold! In July last year, Sam sold her North Bondi home in the 'early three millions' Property: In September, Sam put her five-bedroom, five-bathroom Burrawang cottage in the Southern Highlands for sale. It sold for a $3.1million In July last year, Sam sold her North Bondi home in the 'early three millions', according to Realestate.com.au. The three-bedroom home was on the market for less than two weeks, and sold well above the price guide of $2.8million. In September, Sam put her five-bedroom, five-bathroom Burrawang cottage in the Southern Highlands for sale. It sold for a $3.1million. Questionable: Sam raised eyebrows on Sunrise last year when she claimed someone earning $180,000 a year isn't rich. Pictured at the Logies in 2019 Sam raised eyebrows on Sunrise last year when she claimed someone earning $180,000 a year isn't rich. 'I guess it depends where you live in Australia as to whether or not you're wealthy on $180,000,' she said. 'In Sydney, probably not.' Canadian business leaders sent a list of recommendations to the federal government how to support economic recovery in Canada. Business council calls on Canada to budget for skilled immigrants Canadian business leaders sent a list of recommendations to the federal government how to support economic recovery in Canada. Business council calls on Canada to budget for skilled immigrants Canadian business leaders sent a list of recommendations to the federal government how to support economic recovery in Canada. Business council calls on Canada to budget for skilled immigrants Canadian business leaders sent a list of recommendations to the federal government how to support economic recovery in Canada. Shelby Thevenot Aa Accessibility Font Style Serif Sans Font Size A A On March 1, business leaders sent a list of pre-budget recommendations to the Canadian government, calling for a focus on long-term growth and job creation. The Business Council of Canadas open letter to Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland outlined seven key recommendations to promote economic recovery. Among these recommendations, the author, Goldy Hyder, touted the importance of facilitating immigration for skilled foreign workers. Hyder wrote: We need to cultivate and enhance our human capital by developing a more agile and adaptable workforce, doing more to help young Canadians build rewarding careers, and enhancing our immigration system to make our country an even more powerful magnet for international talent. The letter also called on the federal government to remove barriers to labour market integration. Specifically, they draw attention to foreign credential recognition, which prevents some skilled workers from working in their fields. An example of this could be a doctor who drives taxi instead of practicing medicine. Find out if youre eligible for Canadian immigration In addition, the letter reiterates how low-wage, immigrant, and racialized workers have been disproportionately affected by the pandemic. Hyder notes that many of these recently displaced workers will need to be retrained in order to return to work. The federal government should work with employers, provinces and territories to develop a comprehensive skills agenda that prepares displaced workers for new careers in sectors where talent is in high demand, Hyder said in the letter, calling for training initiatives that are business-led and results-driven. He specifically touted the models of Palette, a not-for-profit that offers training in sales and cybersecurity, and the Business and Higher Education Roundtable, which offers work-integrated learning. Earlier this year, Canada opened up to pre-budget public consultations for three weeks. Canadians were able to tell the government what they would like to see prioritized in the new budget. The federal government has not tabled a budget since March, 2019. The former finance minister, Bill Morneau, was set to table the new budget in March, 2020, but it was put off due to the sudden set-back in Canadas economic situation during the coronavirus outbreak. When Freeland launched the consultations in January, she did not talk about how Canada would approach the budget, but she did tell reporters that the focus on Canadas economic recovery would be around jobs, jobs, jobs, and growth. In the fall, the Liberal government committed to investing $15 million in 2021 and 2022 to scale up and expand existing supports for the labour market integration of skilled newcomers with a focus on in-demand sectors, such as health, IT, and skilled trades. In July, Canada allotted $72.1 million to the federal immigration department to modernize their processing system away from paper-based applications. Katherine Cuplinskas, a spokesperson for Freeland, cited these figures in response to the business councils recommendations on immigration. Attracting talented workers from around the world is an essential part of growing our economy and supporting Canadas recovery from the COVID-19 recession, Cuplinskas told CIC News. Canada will continue to welcome newcomers with skills to help grow our economy. Find out if youre eligible for Canadian immigration CIC News All Rights Reserved. Visit CanadaVisa.com to discover your Canadian immigration options. EIR LEAD EDITORIAL FOR TUESDAY, MARCH 2, 2021 Digital Dictatorship Can Make Us Tolerate Destruction of CivilizationDefeat It! March 1, 2021 (EIRNS)A social media ban has been clamped down on criticisms of the Nov. 3, 2020 perfect U.S. general election. The next target is emerging: stating the wrong conclusions about climate and energy technologies. A Feb. 23 article in the Washington Post amplified an attempt by the German Marshall Fund in Washington to call out for censorship, any statements that the failure of frozen-up wind turbines in Texas triggered the calamitous loss of power and heat by 10 million people and 40 deaths in the state. The Fund hooked up with the Post to identify, in particular, Fox News Feb. 17 interview of Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, who said that the failure of nearly all the wind power in the state caused the blackouts to begin. Like other elected officials in the parts of the country most affected by the polar vortex, Abbott called for more coal-fired power plants. This, the think-tank found, was widely followed and approved on Facebook and YouTube. The paper complained: The recent explosion of falsehoods related to the Texas power outages highlights how climate science and related topics like renewable energy are a ripe target for online propaganda. Tech companies have not been aggressive in stepping up their defenses against climate disinformation, despite increasing public pressure from environmental activists to do more. The Marshall Fund speech police and the Post bluntly advertised their completely political motives front and center: Researchers [from the think-tank] are especially concerned about the wind turbine claims because they werent completely fabricated.[!] Instead, they were manipulated to serve the political goal of undermining Democrats efforts to fund renewable energy sources.[!!] This kind of manipulative content can be even more pernicious because it maintains an element of truth, wrote Adrienne Goldstein and Eli Weiner of the Fund. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) was quoted threatening Facebook for allowing such statements as Abbotts: The future of our planet is at stake, and there should be no company too big, too powerful and too opaque to be held accountable for its role in the climate crisis. Facebook is no exception. In an astonishing slip, the Washington Post published a chart two days laterSource, Energy Information Administrationwhich showed, day by day, what happened to electricity generation in Texas from Feb. 8-20. They were exactly the facts the paper had just demanded be censored on social media as climate disinformation when uttered by elected officials or others. Those facts were also presented in the Feb. 23 EIR Alert Service and are in the March 5 EIR. The EIA chart, Power Generation on the Electric Reliability Council of Texas Grid, shows nuclear and coal-fired power (GW-hours/day) essentially constant for the entire period; wind power dropping away to near zero from late on Feb. 14th through the 15thwhen the blackouts beganand remaining there until the 17th; gas power ramping up on the 14th and part of the 15th to replace the missing wind power, then dropping sharply through the 17th. The disappearance of wind turbine power triggered the Texas disaster; no other conclusion is possible from this chart, or from the one like it (from a private data analysis firm) described in the Feb. 23 EIR Daily Alert. Will we, then, soon learn that we cannot repeat these facts or present anyone else stating them, without losing access to social media communication? There is already a comprehensive ban on any questioning of the conduct or results of the 2020 general election. Will this be extended to reasoned debate on energy and other carbon-based technologiesthe very basis of modern agro-industrial economy and civilizationso that opponents of the Green New Deal are banned from public speech on that subject as well? No, the entire double standard of the media, social media, and some governments, which accuse their political opponents of doing precisely what they themselves are doing, must be exposed and reversed. At issue is not only stopping the Great Reset or Green Deal; the vilification of Russia and China and the threat of global war which comes with it are based on this double-speak. Will the words Belt and Road Initiative be banned from British and U.S. media? The Schiller Institute will take this on as a major target of its full-day conference March 20, otherwise presenting cooperation for development among nations as the unique road to peace. Paris, TX (75460) Today Rain showers this morning with some sunshine during the afternoon hours. High 77F. Winds W at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 50%.. Tonight Some clouds. Low around 60F. Winds NW at 5 to 10 mph. Piers Morgan dropped a damaging attack against Prince Harry and Meghan Markle over their decision to sit-down with Oprah Winfrey. On March 7, the most-awaited first tell-all interview of Prince Harry and Meghan will be aired on CBS at 8:00 p.m EST. But not everyone is happy to see the two at all. On Monday, Morgan penned his latest op-ed for the U.K.'s DailyMail where he slammed the Duke and Duchess of Sussex. According to the "Good Morning Britain" presenter, he was baffled to learn about the Sussexes' interview. He noted that the move truly does not make sense, especially since they previously said they want privacy. He added that Prince Harry and Meghan repeatedly complained about the British press, so their move to publicize their lives is really absurd. "Sick of the constraints of royal life, sick of being criticized, and desperate for a new life in America that would free them from their terrible lives. Above all they wanted privacy," he went on, as quoted by Fox News. He even compared them to 1930s actress Greta Garbo who famously said on screen "I want to be alone." Aside from leaving Hollywood, Garbo made sure that she completely ditched press and interviews until she died in 1990. In addition, Morgan claimed that "being left alone" is the last thing the couple ever wanted. What Piers Morgan Thinks of Prince Harry's Interview with James Corden In the same op-ed, he noted the sickening statements of the royal prince about the toxic British press and how he has been blaming them for the death of his mother, Princess Diana. "I now see the same contradictory trait in Meghan and Harry - a furious presence that they hate media attention, but a constant willingness to use the media when it suits them," he explained. Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's contrasting words and actions have been subject to criticism since they left the royal family. The fact that they want to reveal their struggles amid the coronavirus pandemic is truly poor timing. Like many other commentators, the journalist believes that airing the tell-all interview would also compromise Prince Harry's grandfather, Prince Philip. The 99-year-old husband of Queen Elizabeth II remained hospitalized but was transferred to a specialist facility. The Duke of Edinburgh also needs to receive treatment for an infection. But for Morgan, he could not expect more from the couple who tried to lecture Queen Elizabeth II. See Now: Famous Actors Who Turned Down Iconic Movie Roles The prosecutor's office made the announcement in a press release on Monday. Kuzmyn is considered an important figure in a criminal organisation, which was active in the Grand Duchy in 2019 and renowned for stealing an extensive range of expensive cars with keyless locks. The organisation made use of a defect in the mechanism to break into the vehicles and start them without actually having the keys. They stole a number of cars in Luxembourg City, Dippach, Kayl, Bertrange, Rodange, Bridel, and Mamer. Since 2020, Kuzmyn has been considered one of "Europes most wanted fugitives". He was now arrested in Georgia by local authorities, who received help and intel from the Luxembourgish department for wanted fugitives. Since there is an arrest warrant for Kuzmyn in the Grand Duchy, he will be extradited, the prosecutor's office further announced. The Taos News delivered to your Taos County address every week for a full year! We offer our lowest mail rates to zip codes in the county. Click Here to See if you Qualify. Plan includes unlimited website access and e-edition print replica online. Your auto pay plan will be conveniently renewed at the end of the subscription period. You may cancel at anytime. At the BZA (meeting) there were questions raised by some of the members and by the audience we want to be able to appropriately respond to that, attorney Tim Kuiper said. Typically we have more than a week between the BZA meeting and the council meeting, but because of the way these meetings fell it was just barely a week. Texas Governor Ends Statewide Mask Mandate, Allows All Businesses to Fully Reopen The governor of Texas on Tuesday ended his statewide mask mandate while allowing all businesses in the state to fully reopen. With the medical advancements of vaccines and antibody therapeutic drugs, Texas now has the tools to protect Texans from the virus. We must now do more to restore livelihoods and normalcy for Texans by opening Texas 100 percent, Gov. Greg Abbott said during an address to the Lubbock Chamber of Commerce at Montelongos restaurant. Make no mistake, COVID-19 has not disappeared, but it is clear from the recoveries, vaccinations, reduced hospitalizations, and safe practices that Texans are using that state mandates are no longer needed. Todays announcement does not abandon safe practices that Texans have mastered over the past year. Instead, it is a reminder that each person has a role to play in their own personal safety and the safety of others. With this executive order, we are ensuring that all businesses and families in Texas have the freedom to determine their own destiny, the Republican added. Abbott signed an order in July 2020 requiring masks be worn in public spaces in most counties, with some exceptions, including for those younger than 10 years of age. Wearing a face covering in public is proven to be one of the most effective ways we have to slow the spread of COVID-19, he said at the time. COVID-19 is the disease caused by the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus. Texas is one of the most populous states in America, with nearly 29 million residents. Abbott on Tuesday said nearly 2.5 million Texans have been confirmed through laboratory testing to have recovered from COVID-19, and that health officials say the real number of recoveries is typically four to five times the number of those who officially tested positive and recovered. Mathematically, what that means is that approximately 10 million Texansor really morehave recovered from COVID and have the proven ability to beat the disease, he said. A customer exits a store with a mask required sign displayed in Dallas, Texas on March 2, 2021. (LM Otero/AP Photo) In addition, more than 5.7 million COVID-19 vaccine doses have been administered in the state, and the number of doses available is expected to ramp up in the near future with the recent approval of Johnson & Johnsons shot. Now all of these advancements and events have led to remarkable improvements. Hospitalizations are the lowest that they have been in four months. The number of active COVID cases is the lowest since November, and is less than half of what it was just a month ago. That means that far more Texans are recovering from COVID than contracting it. Also, today is the lowest positivity rate weve had in four months, he said in Lubbock. Abbotts new order states that if COVID-19 hospitalizations in any of the 22 hospital regions in Texas rise above 15 percent of bed capacity in that region for seven consecutive days, then a county judge may use different strategies to address the situation. He said he doesnt think the threshold will be met. Texas is one of a growing number of states loosening restrictions as the number of COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations, and deaths drop across the nation. But Dr. Rochelle Walensky, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention director, said Monday that she was worried about states rolling back restrictions. Please hear me clearly: At this level of cases, with variants spreading, we stand to completely lose the hard-earned ground we have gained. These variants are a very real threat to our people and our progress. Now is not the time to relax the critical safeguards that we know can stop the spread of COVID-19 in our communities, not when we are so close, she said. The authorities in Tanzania's semi-autonomous islands of Zanzibar have urged tourists to dress decently and respect the "sensibilities" of the local culture or they will be fined. Tourism Minister Lela Muhamed Mussa told BBC Swahili that some visitors walked "almost naked" on the streets. She said that tour guides will also be fined at least $700 (500) if their clients were not appropriately dressed. Ms Mussa said that restaurants and hotels should also advise visitors to adhere to "their code of conduct". "It's their role to educate the visitors so if they break the rules we will also fine them," she said. She added: "Our goal is not to fine the tourists but to ensure that people dress respectfully." Zanzibar is a popular holiday spot for western tourists. Source: BBC Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... Copyright 2021 Albuquerque Journal Hugs are a regular feature at the Transgender Resource Center of New Mexico. Normally, the center is filled with lots of talking, laughing and lots of hugs. For many, including Dante Olivas, its that familial feeling of the center thats so special, a feeling thats hard to recreate in a pandemic. ADVERTISEMENTSkip ................................................................ Its been really hard, Olivas said. That bit of human connection; a lot of our folks dont have a family that supportive. The resource center is one of only a few like it in the nation a place run for trans people by trans people said Michael Trimm, director of operations. But the COVID-19 pandemic has forced those at the center to rethink how they provide services for transgender people in the state. In the trans community, access to support groups and other services isnt just helpful it can be lifesaving. Adrien Lawyer, the resource centers co-founder and executive director, said the center is now open only three days a week instead of five. The center is now less about socializing and more focused on making sure people have what they need to survive. Its much more now about having to come and tell us what you need, we give it to you and then you have to go, Lawyer said. Its not the kind of home environment that weve spent all this time cultivating. The drop-in center has moved services such as free food, syringe exchanges and a clothing exchange to the parking lot when the weather allows. Other services, such as on-site laundry and a computer lab, have become much more limited. A doctor used to periodically visit the center, but COVID-19 forced that program to stop, which Lawyer said has been a big hit to trans people with little access to health care. The drop-in center really exists mainly to serve the needs of transgender women of color who are out on the streets of Albuquerque, he said. The loss of that is profound. What has been able to continue are the centers various support groups, which are all currently being conducted by Zoom to maintain social distancing. These groups have long been a way for members of the LGBTQ community to meet others with similar experiences and provide a safe space to express themselves. A 2019 study in the journal Transgender Health found support groups were an important addition to clinical care for trans people. For Jeri Cheney of Santa Fe, support groups became a vital part of accepting their trans identity. A longtime gay rights activist, Cheney, 64, was worried how others in the gay and straight communities would react when coming out as non-binary in 2015. I was really nervous, Cheney said. I wasnt even sure that all transgender people would accept me. Soon, though, Cheney got involved with the Santa Fe Trans, Non-Binary and Gender Non-Conforming Support Group, where people of various gender identities would gather to discuss their experiences. Finding that immediate support and camaraderie was really great, Cheney said. The switch to virtual support groups has been a difficult adjustment for some, especially some members of the centers youth group. Youth and Families Program Manager Wyatt Day said that for some trans youths, accessing support groups on Zoom isnt safe, especially if their parents dont accept their identity. Day said some members of the group no longer attend meetings. Its hard to know that there are young people out there that used to be part of our regular group attendance, who are no longer able to join us because of how their homes are, Day said. Even for those who can attend meetings, the lack of physical spaces for trans people does have an impact. Rhyannon Brightwater, a social worker in Santa Fe, said trans people already have anxiety existing in spaces dominated by cisgender people not being able to see other trans people can make it worse. I think (anxiety) might be exacerbated in our community, she said. But there have been some unexpected positives of virtual meetings. Day and other staff said they regularly get participants from all over the country, including Taos, Los Angeles and Colorado. Many of them live in places where resources for trans people are minimal at best. Lawyer said the center is mulling ways to keep virtual groups available after the pandemic, to ensure more people have that access. The centers staff, though, still eagerly awaits the day when the center can open fully, so that trans people in the Albuquerque area have a safe space. We cant hug right now, but we look forward to the day we can, Olivas said. Lawyers representing survivors of a chemical weapons attack in 2013 in Syria have filed a criminal complaint against Syrian officials whom they blame for the deaths of hundreds of civilians in a rebel-held area. France is home to thousands of Syrian refugees, and its investigating judges have a mandate to determine whether crimes against humanity were committed anywhere in the world. The case, which about a dozen people have joined, follows a similar one opened in Germany last year. It offers a rare legal avenue for action against the government of President Bashar al-Assad. Attempts by Western powers to set up an international tribunal for Syria have been blocked by Russia and China at the UN Security Council. ' This is important so that the victims have the possibility to see those responsible being brought to justice and held accountable,' Mazen Darwish, who heads the Paris-based Syrian Center for Media and Freedom of Expression (SCM), told Reuters. The SCM filed the complaint along with two other NGOs: the Open Society Foundations Justice Initiative and Syrian Archive. France's intelligence services concluded in 2013 that a sarin gas attack on the Eastern Ghouta region just south east of Damascas that killed 1,400 people had been carried out by Syrian government forces. The Syrian government denies it has used chemical weapons against its own civilians. The complaint is based on what the lawyers say is the most comprehensive body of evidence on the use of substances such as sarin gas in Syria. They include testimonies from survivors and defectors, an analysis of the Syrian military chain of command, and hundreds of items of documentary evidence, including photos and videos. ' We have compiled extensive evidence establishing exactly who is responsible for these attacks on Douma and Eastern Ghouta, whose horrific effects continue to impact survivors,' said Hadi al Khatib, founder and director of Syrian Archive. A UN commissioned investigation to identify those behind chemical weapons attacks in Syria concluded in 2016 that Syrian government forces had used chlorine and sarin gas. Darwish said he expected another case to be opened in Sweden in the coming months Short link: LONDON (dpa-AFX) - The Australian Taxation Office has issued Rio Tinto Limited with amended assessments of US$279.8 million primary tax and US$36.7 million of interest. It is in addition to the more than US$6.4 billion of Australian income tax paid during the relevant period. The assessments relate to the denial of interest deductions on an isolated borrowing used to pay an intragroup dividend in 2015. This borrowing was repaid in 2018. The company said it is confident of its position and will dispute the assessments. It will pay 50% of the primary tax up-front as part of the objections process. 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. Prestige TV diehards may recall the AMC series Breaking Bad, in which Bryan Cranston starred as an upstanding Albuquerque chemistry teacher who turns to crime to leave something for his wife and son after he is diagnosed with terminal cancer. Older fans may even remember the actors work in the comedy Malcolm in the Middle, in which he played a harassed father constantly picking up the pieces after his miscreant children. Cranston bows to no one in depicting the nuances of parental devotion. For Your Honor (Sky Atlantic), adapted from an Israeli series by Britains own Peter Moffat, Cranston exercises his exceptional dad skills once again. He is Michael Desiato, a well-respected New Orleans judge whose life becomes a nightmare when his son Adam (Hunter Doohan) is involved in a hit and run. I say involved: he does the hitting and running. Its a 10-episode mini series, which means theres no shortage of breathing room for the set pieces. The crash is a case in point. Driving through the impoverished 9th ward, Adam is intimidated by a gang and starts to panic. Distracted, he smashes into a motorcycle, sending its rider sprawling through the air. Adam, a conscientious young man, tries to perform CPR but its a hopeless case. He calls 911 but is too shocked to speak, so all we hear is the operator on the other end of the line. The boy dies. Its a gruesome, lingering, sequence, and the camera follows him as he drives home. Less believable is Cranstons initial grandstanding in the courtroom. He toys with a lying witness, a scene designed to show us he is not corrupt or racist but also hints at a flair for showmanship, which may come in handy later. After coaxing Adam into coming clean, Michael takes him to the police station, but before Adam surrenders himself, Michael learns that the dead boy is the son of a local crime lord, Jimmy Baxter (Michael Stuhlbarg). If Adam comes clean, hell be killed, so instead Michael must use his knowledge of the prosecution process to evade it. Your Honor is elegantly shot, with credible dialogue and a robust, well-made quality. Cranston and Doohan are a plausible duo. Michael, the upholder of justice, decides in a moment that his sons life takes precedence over the abstract concepts to which he has devoted his career. "I got you, buddy, Michael says, cradling his desperate son, and we believe him. Adam, used to taking his fathers word as the law, struggles with the change. Its a promising dynamic, but its not helped by the glacial pacing. When the BBC rattled through War & Peace in six hours, a single-narrative series has a lot to do to earn 10. Your Honor never spends a minute when it can spend two. The first episode establishes the core relationship at the expense of other characters. Just because the laws not running smoothly doesnt mean it cant be a bit dull. New Delhi, March 3 : The team of Crime Branch of Delhi Police arrested three members of a gang for attempting to siphon off Rs 68 lakh (approx) from the bank account of a nursing home in Northeast Delhi throguh fake cheques, the police said on Tuesday. The accused have been identified as Arvind Kumar, Kulbhushan and Lokendra Rao. The matter came to light when the Director of a hospital in Northeast Delhi lodged a complaint alleging that he received a message from his bank alerting him that a cheque of Rs 68.70 lakh has been presented for clearance. He immediately stopped the payment. When he enquired about the cheque, he got to know that forged cheque bearing his fake signature was used. During the investigation, the Branch Manager of Indraprashta Sehkari Bank Ltd said that the cheque was returned to account holder Arvind Kumar of "Care and Life Style Foundation". "A notice was sent to accused Arvind Kumar to produce the original cheque which was returned to him by Indraprastha Sehkari Bank Ltd but he neither joined the investigation and nor produced the original cheque," said Bhisham Singh, DCP Crime. The accused has been arrested and has been taken on two days police remand. During the interrogation, he revealed that he is the President of NGO "Life Style Foundation". In May 2019, he met Lokendra Rao through Kulbhushan, a resident of Paschim Puri, New Delhi. Rao told him that he had a cheque worth Rs 68.70 lakh, which he wanted to encash. If the said cheque is realised in the account of his NGO "Life Style Foundation", a huge amount of money would come which they can share. After some days Rao handed over a blank cheque of a Hospital of PNB Bank, for encashing the same. Rao was apprehended on the tip-off by Kumar. He disclosed the location of Kulbhushan following which the police arrested him also. Kulbushan revealed that the trio were involved in similar cases earlier also. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. FILE In this Feb. 22, 2021 file photo, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo speaks during a news conference at a COVID-19 vaccination site in the Brooklyn borough of New York. New York's attorney general said she's moving forward with an investigation into sexual harassment allegations against Gov. Andrew Cuomo after receiving a letter from his office Monday, March 1, 2021, authorizing her to take charge of the probe. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, Pool, File) NEW YORK (AP) A former aide accusing New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo of sexual harassment condemned him Monday as a manipulative predator, as another woman said the governor had left her shocked and embarrassed" after trying to kiss her at a 2019 wedding. The woman, Anna Ruch, became the third woman to publicly accuse Cuomo of offensive behavior, and the first who had not worked as a state government employee. She told The New York Times late Monday that she had met the governor for the first time at a September 2019 wedding reception. She said upon meeting her, Cuomo put his hand on her bare back, which she removed, and then put his hands on her face and asked if he could kiss her. I was so confused and shocked and embarrassed, Ruch, now 33, told the Times. I turned my head away and didnt have words in that moment. A photograph of the event shows Cuomo with his hands on Ruch's visibly uncomfortable face. An email seeking comment was sent to Ruch's business. Her social media accounts were private. An email was also sent to Cuomo's administration for comment. The sexual harassment allegations from the two women who had worked for the Cuomo administration led New Yorks independently elected attorney general to say she was moving ahead with an investigation Attorney General Letitia James received a letter Monday from Cuomos office authorizing her to take charge of the probe after a weekend of wrangling over who should investigate. The letter enables James, also a Democrat, to deputize an outside law firm to conduct an inquiry with full subpoena power. The findings will be disclosed in a public report, the letter said. Cuomo has maintained he had never inappropriately touched or propositioned anyone. The former aide, Charlotte Bennett, on Monday rejected Cuomo's attempted apology in which he excused his behavior as playful," saying in a statement that the governor has refused to acknowledge or take responsibility for his predatory behavior. Bennett, who alleges Cuomo quizzed her about her sex life and asked whether she would be open to a relationship with an older man, wrote that abusers particularly those with tremendous amounts of power are often repeat offenders who engage in manipulative tactics to diminish allegations, blame victims, deny wrongdoing and escape consequences. Cuomos support has plummeted amid dual crises, even among fellow Democrats. The harassment allegations come on the heels of accusations he covered up the true death toll of coronavirus on nursing home residents. Its quite a tumble for Cuomo, who had been widely celebrated for his leadership during the pandemic, particularly the daily news conferences where he sought to inform and reassure the public with charts, graphs and a machismo he dubbed New York tough. Mayor Bill de Blasio and other elected officials have said that while Cuomo is under investigation, he should cede emergency powers hes held since the pandemic began, nearly a year ago. The Legislature hasnt taken any steps to revoke Cuomos emergency powers set to expire April 30 despite a push from Republicans, some Democrats, as well as the SUNY faculty union. On Monday, Cuomo retained Manhattan litigator Elkan Abramowitz to represent him and his office in probes related to nursing homes. Abramowitz, who previously represented Cuomos office in a federal investigation into his 2014 decision to shutdown a state anti-corruption commission, said he is not representing Cuomo in the sexual harassment matter. Bennett, 25, came forward with her allegations in a story published Saturday in the The New York Times. She said that Cuomo told her he was lonely and looking for a girlfriend. Cuomo did not respond to Bennett's statement Monday. Former aide Lindsey Boylan said Cuomo made inappropriate comments about her appearance, kissed her without her consent at the end of a meeting and once suggested they play strip poker while aboard his state-owned jet. Boylan, who is running for Manhattan borough president, first accused Cuomo in a tweet last December and elaborated on the allegations in a Medium post last week. She tweeted Monday about Ruch's alleged experience with the governor, saying, This doesnt make me feel validated. It makes me feel sick. Cuomo has denied Boylan's allegations as untrue. In a statement Sunday, he acknowledged that he had teased people about their personal lives in an attempt to be playful" and funny. He said he had wanted to act like a mentor to Bennett. I now understand that my interactions may have been insensitive or too personal and that some of my comments, given my position, made others feel in ways I never intended. I acknowledge some of the things I have said have been misinterpreted as an unwanted flirtation. To the extent anyone felt that way, I am truly sorry about that, he said. His statement drew immediate backlash from critics who said he was throwing responsibility onto the women for perceiving his statements wrongly. The letter authorizing James investigation said that all state employees have been directed to cooperate fully with the review. Cuomo senior adviser Beth Garvey said she would facilitate interviews with witness and requests for documents from Cuomos office. Ross Garber, a lawyer who has represented former governors Mark Sanford of South Carolina and John Rowland of Connecticut, said Cuomo is essentially handing his reputation to an outsider and saying, Have at it. Go find whatever you want and publish a report to the public about whatever it is youve concluded that Ive done or not done. Bennetts lawyer, Debra Katz, said her client will cooperate fully with the attorney generals investigation. We are confident that no disinterested investigator who reviews this evidence would adopt the Governors self-serving characterization of his behavior as mentorship or, at worst, unwanted flirtation, Katz said. He was not acting as a mentor and his remarks were not misunderstood by Ms. Bennett. He was abusing his power over her for sex. This is textbook sexual harassment. Katz said the attorney general must investigate whether Cuomo subjected other women to a sexually hostile work environment, and whether anyone in the Cuomo administration enabled his behavior. Initially, Cuomo appeared wanting to retain a level of control over the investigation. His office said it was asking a former federal judge, Barbara Jones, to conduct the probe. Then, his office suggested that the attorney general and the states top judge work together to appoint outside counsel. Finally, on Sunday, Cuomo acquiesced to James demands that she take control. __ Villeneuve reported from Albany, New York. Associated Press reporter Karen Matthews in New York contributed to this report. __ On Twitter, follow Michael Sisak at twitter.com/mikesisak and Marina Villeneuve at twitter.com/ReporterMarina Scientists from Far Eastern Federal University (FEFU) together with Russian and German colleagues, continue studying antitumor compounds synthesized based on bioactive molecules isolated from a sea sponge. One of them fights cancer cells resistant to standard chemotherapy, and at the same time has an interesting dual mechanism of action. A related article appears in Marine Drugs. Scientists have tested the biological effect of the marine alkaloid 3,10-dibromofascaplysin on various prostate cancer cells, including those resistant to standard docetaxel-based chemotherapy. The compound was first isolated from the sea sponge Fascaplysinopsis reticulata and subsequently chemically synthesized in FEFU. The substance forces tumor cells to die via a programmed cell death mechanism. This process is called "apoptosis" and is considered the most favorable mode of action of anticancer drugs. "The examined compound, while killing cancer cells, even ones resistant to standard chemotherapy, simultaneously activates an enzyme (so-called kinase) protecting these tumor cells. However, it can't be considered as a "good" or "bad" effect. This is just a mechanism of action, an understanding of which suggests us to apply 3,10-dibromofascaplysin together with inhibitors of these enzymes," says Dr. Sergey Dyshlovoy, from the Laboratory of biologically active substances of FEFU School of Natural Sciences, senior researcher in the laboratory of the pharmacology of National Scientific Centre of Marine Biology (Vladivostok, Russia). According to the scientist, the synthesized compound in addition to its own activity, works well in combination with several already approved anticancer drugs, enhancing their antitumor effect. Next, scientists are planning to examine how 3,10-dibromofascaplysin affects non-cancer cells. They already run a related project supported by the Russian Foundation for Basic Research, aiming to report the outcomes during 2021. Fascaplysins are rather toxic to non-cancer cells. In our laboratory, we are trying to modify the structure of these compounds in order to reduce their cytotoxic effect on normal cells, while maintaining the necessary antitumor effect. The goal is to create a substance for targeted therapy, with a minimum of side effects for healthy cells of the body." Dr. Maxim Zhidkov, Head of Department of Organic Chemistry, FEFU School of Natural Sciences Commented on the time needed for the development of the on-the-shelf drug, scientists speak about the horizon of 10-15 years, given the necessity for long preliminary and further clinical trials. In the study took part specialists from the Far Eastern Federal University, A.V. Zhirmunsky National Scientific Center of Marine Biology (RAS, Vladivostok), Martini Clinic (Germany), University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf (Germany), V.N. Orekhovich Research Institute of Biomedical Chemistry (Russian Academy of Sciences), V.A. Engelhardt Institute of Molecular Biology (RAS, Moscow). The World Ocean is one of the priority research run in the FEFU. University scientists conduct research on bioactive molecules of marine origin, develop engineering solutions for Arctic ice platforms (exploration and production of minerals), underwater robotics, under-ice communications, etc. Start your reading engines early this month, because this month's book picks have heft - in number of pages, yes, but also in terms of thought and inquiry. Novelists consider the nature of borders and how substances (including oil and drugs) corrupt; journalists examine health care, feminism, genetics; and a young but already accomplished poet releases her first book. "The Soul of a Woman," by Isabel Allende (March 2) "When I say I was a feminist in kindergarten, I am not exaggerating," declares the acclaimed Chilean journalist, novelist and activist in this memoir that reflects on her upbringing - she was raised with her two sisters by a single mother - while pondering women's nature and women's needs. - - - "Infinite Country: A Novel," by Patricia Engel (March 2) A Colombian family splintered by borders tells its five-voiced story, as one daughter tries desperately to escape a correctional facility. Award-winning novelist Engel ("Vida," "The Veins of the Ocean"), a dual citizen of the United States and Colombia, uses Andean myths to punctuate a story about heredity, love and safety. - - - "The Committed: A Novel," by Viet Thanh Nguyen (March 2) In 2015, "The Sympathizer" electrified readers - and won a Pulitzer Prize - with its portrayal of a half-French, half-Vietnamese Army captain running espionage in Los Angeles. Now Nguyen takes his protagonist to Paris, where he turns to drug dealing with his "blood brother" Bon. - - - "We Begin at the End," by Chris Whitaker (March 2) Self-proclaimed outlaw Duchess Day Radley is 13 and ready to defend her 5-year-old brother and their single mom to the death. Duchess lives on the California coast, where her most important ally is Walk, the town's police chief. They'll both be tested - nothing new for a thriller. What is new is the protagonist's anguished, gorgeous voice, filled with rage and tenderness. - - - "The Hospital: Life, Death, and Dollars in a Small American Town," by Brian Alexander (March 9) Alexander investigates Bryan, Ohio's small-town, small-budget hospital. Bryan's population of 8,500 might be tiny by corporate standards, but its main health-care facility nevertheless requires many kinds of skill sets and technology. "The Hospital" shows how fragile our country's health care was even before the pandemic, and how that fragility affects staff and administration as well as patients. - - - "The Code Breaker: Jennifer Doudna, Gene Editing, and the Future of the Human Race," by Walter Isaacson (March 9) The author of "Leonardo da Vinci" and "Steve Jobs" sets his sights on another brilliant mind: Jennifer Doudna, whose high school counselor told her women couldn't become scientists. She wound up sharing the 2020 Nobel Prize for a DNA-editing innovation that may change almost everything about what it means to be human. - - - "How Beautiful We Were: A Novel," by Imbolo Mbue (March 9) Mbue's 2016 "Behold the Dreamers" contained hard truths about what immigrants face in America but also demonstrated hope for her characters. "How Beautiful We Were" has a harder edge. The author here writes about how a fictional American oil corporation corrupts and chokes the life out of an African village. Protagonist Thula tries to change her country's fate, to little avail. - - - "Festival Days," by Jo Ann Beard (March 16) In nine pieces, which include essays and two short stories, Beard shows her dazzling skill at finding universal truths in singular situations. Beard is not just a master of the short form - she's a master of phrase and sentence, too. - - - "The Hill We Climb: An Inaugural Poem for the Country," by Amanda Gorman (March 30) Many people around the world were electrified by the voice and words of a 22-year-old Black woman in a bright yellow coat whose poem helped usher in the Biden administration on Jan. 20. Now "The Hill We Climb," with an introduction by Oprah Winfrey, can be read and savored. - - - "Libertie: A Novel," by Kaitlyn Greenidge (March 30) Greenidge's second novel is technically Young Adult, but it's too urgent and too good to be overlooked by adult readers. Libertie, a Black woman born free in Reconstruction-era Brooklyn, feels stifled by the expectations of her physician mother. When she marries a Haitian man, he promises that life on his island will be different, more equal. Instead, she starts to question the true meaning of freedom. - - - Bethanne Patrick is the editor, most recently, of "The Books That Changed My Life: Reflections by 100 Authors, Actors, Musicians and Other Remarkable People." (L to R: writers Trent Roberts, Hannah Samuel, Marisa Nathar, David Hannam) Nickelodeon International and Network 10 have announced a new kids scripted comedy, Taylors Island (working title) to be filmed in Queensland. To screen on Nickelodeon in 2022, it marks the first-ever partnership between the two broadcasters, as part of ViacomCBS. Produced by Fremantle, with major production investment from Screen Australia, the 20 x 22-minute action-packed comedy follows Taylor Young, a girl who is fascinated by the phenomena surrounding a mysterious island, ever since her uncles disappearance there. With a gang of friends, including Nori, a wisecracking local rebel; Meesha, a tough-as-nails thrill seeker; Ellis, a hypochondriac and born worrier; and Taylors stepsister Lila, an aspiring vlogger, Taylor is determined to get to the bottom of the secrets and inexplicable events of the island. In the pursuit of the truth, the friends go on an adventure of a lifetime, facing endless beaches, hidden treasures, cryptic riddles, and thrilling legends waiting to be unraveled. Script producer is Stephen Vagg (Neighbours), with writers Sam Carroll (The Bureau of Magical Things), Alix Beane (Mustangs FC), David Hannam (Nowhere Boys), Marisa Nathar (Mustangs FC), Natesha Somasundaram (The Unlisted), Trent Roberts (Secret Bridesmaids Business) and Hannah Samuel (The PMs Daughter). Jules Borkent, Executive Vice President, Kids & Family, ViacomCBS Networks International said, This new partnership marks our first non-preschool Australian scripted live-action production for Nickelodeon channels around the world. As we continue to diversify our kids content pipeline, this is an exciting time for us to team up with ViacomCBSs own Network 10 to bring new content to kids everywhere. Beverley McGarvey, Chief Content Officer & EVP, ViacomCBS Australia & New Zealand, said: We are thrilled to be announcing our first partnership with Nickelodeon International to create Taylors Island. This new original live-action series further cements our commitment to premium childrens content. It will be a fantastic addition and complement our diverse, entertaining and accessible slate of childrens programming already available on Network 10s free to air channel, 10 Shake. Screen Australias Head of Content Sally Caplan said, Were thrilled to support this compelling and imaginative childrens series from the experienced team at Fremantle and an exciting group of established and emerging Australian writers. With its playful storylines and diverse cast of characters, Im confident it will engage young audiences here and around the world. As part of the agreement, Nordic Entertainment Group is also a partner, premiering Taylors Island as an exclusive Viaplay Original on their Viaplay streaming service in the Nordic and Baltic markets. Taylors Island is produced by Fremantle Australia, executive produced by Chris Oliver-Taylor, produced by Tim Powell alongside co-producer Jonah Klein. Chris Rose, VP Production & Development for Nickelodeon International and VIS KIDS is overseeing the show with Rachel Davis serving as the Executive in Charge of Production for Nickelodeon International in Australia. Additional executive producers include creators Matt Cooke and Vince Lund, and Michael Ford. Taylors Island has received major production investment from Screen Australia in association with Screen Queensland, with production commencing in July 2021. Related The Nagol is Back! VTOs guide to this years Nagol, plus where to stay and play in south, central and north Pentecost. Colorado Springs, CO (80903) Today Partly cloudy with afternoon showers or thunderstorms. Gusty winds and small hail are possible. High 64F. Winds NE at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 50%.. Tonight Partly cloudy skies. Low 46F. Winds WNW at 5 to 10 mph. The families of 9/11 victims are asking President Joe Biden's administration to release classified documents about the Saudi role in the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks. The request piggybacked on the government's decision to release an intelligence report Friday that said Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman approved the killing of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi. 'I don't understand how our government can release the documents on the murder of one man two years ago but not the documents on the murder of 3,000 people 20 years ago,' Brett Eagleson, a spokesman for the 9/11 families who lost his father in the World Trade Center, told Yahoo News, which first reported the families' request. President Joe Biden's administration is facing pressure from 9/11 families who want Biden and his attorney general pick, Merrick Garland, to release still-classified documents about Saudi involvment in 9/11, which were blocked during the Trump era The 9/11 families were inspired to act after the Biden administration released a report Friday that said journalist Jamal Khashoggi's (left) murder was approved by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (right) Nearly 20 years after the September 11, 2001 terror attacks, the victims' families still don't know the full scope of Saudi involvment The families sent a letter to Biden and Merrick Garland, the president's pick for attorney general who is expected to be confirmed by the Senate later this week. 'We implore you to stop this travesty of justice and ensure that the Department of Justice immediately provide the documents and cooperation we need so that we can finally hold Saudi Arabia accountable,' the letter said, according to Yahoo. Nearly 2,000 family members of 9/11 victims signed on. 'We pray that after almost two decades of seeking accountability, our struggle will finally end by the upcoming 20th anniversary of the darkest day in American history,' the letter continued. 'We have waited long enough.' The families' lawyer, James Kreindler, told Yahoo that the release of the Khashoggi report gives his clients fresh leverage to demand the 9/11 documents be released too. Those documents include a 2012 FBI report on the suspected links between Saudi government officials and the hijackers. The 9/11 families hit a bump in the road during the last administration when Attorney General Bill Barr and acting Director of National Intelligence Richard Grenell prevented the release of additional FBI disclosures that were sought as evidence in a civil lawsuit against the Saudi government. In April 2020, Barr, Grenell and other Trump administration officials used last-minute court filings to stop the release, arguing that the disclosures would imperil national security. They couldn't even reveal their justification for why the release could harm national security, because that could too, the officials argued, according to ProPublica's reporting. Another lawyer for the families, Steven Pounian, told ProPublica at the time, 'The extraordinary lengths that they're going to here suggest that there must be some deep, dark secret that they're still trying very hard to hide after almost 20 years.' 'But who are they protecting?' Pounian asked. 'Something might be a Saudi government secret. But how can these be secrets that still need to be kept from the American people after all this time?' The 9/11 families have allies in the Senate - Democratic Sens. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut and Bob Menendez of New Jersey - who in a separate letter urged the Justice Department to review the Trump administration's decision to withhold the material. Yahoo also reported that the U.S's government's Public Interest Declassification Board, which makes recommendations about potential disclosures, is expected to look into the 9/11-related material. That could come within the next few weeks. The 9/11 Commission's 2004 report found that while 15 of the 19 hijackers were Saudis, investigators found no evidence of the Saudi government funding or approving the attack. The 9/11 families first sued the Saudi government in 2003, but federal law at the time shielded the foreign government from lawsuits in American courts. Congress overruled President Barack Obama's veto to change the law in 2016. Veteran socialist Eamonn McCann has said he is resigning as a Derry City and Strabane councillor on health grounds. In a statement, the People Before Profit councillor said he has developed a neurological condition Ataxia after being diagnosed with epilepsy 15 years ago. He said he had not found his epilepsy diagnosis disabling in his work as a councillor but said his neurological condition had made it "increasingly difficult" to fulfil his duties towards his constituents. "I have made my intention known to my party, People Before Profit, and have asked the party to set in motion the procedure for selecting a new councillor in my place," he said in a statement on Monday evening. "I thank all those who voted for me in the last council election in 2019. I have done my best to deliver on the mandate given to me." Mr McCann (77) became well-known for his work at forefront of the civil rights movement in Northern Ireland and stood for Assembly election unsuccessfully for more than five decades. In March 2016, he was eventually elected in March 2016 at the age of 73 to the Stormont Assembly before losing his seat the next year as the result of a snap election. He returned to politics in April 2019 when he was elected to Derry City and Strabane District Council. Mr McCann said his party's performance in the Northern Ireland council elections showed that there is an appetite for politicians who want to represent "the interests of all the people at the bottom of society". In his statement, Mr McCann also thanked his fellow councillors and council staff, adding that it has been "a privilege to represent the Moor DEA, where I was born and reared". "I have confidence that PBP will nominate a diligent and efficient councillor in my place and that she or he, alongside Shaun [Harkin], will continue to serve the interests of the people of the Moor and contribute to the struggle against oppression and against capitalism, the never-ending source of all our political ills." The drizzle in late February could not stop farmers of Dong Cao Village in Hanois outlying district of Me Linh from pushing themselves to the fields to harvest vegetables. The more packs of tomatoes and lettuces are delivered, the bigger hope they see to get a break-even point. Dozens of beds of sugar beets were left unharvested while mustard greens were severely destroyed by pests. Tomatoes, easier to be consumed, were loaded into big bags, pilling up at a front yard of Dong Cao Village Cooperative while waiting to be shipped to the city center. Fresh produce is loaded to trucks for delivery to central Hanoi. Video: Ha Quan/Tuoi Tre Before Tet [Vietnamese Lunar New Year], I earned VND5-6 million [US$216-260] for every 24 square meters of sugar beets. Now, no one wants to buy them," said Thuan, a farmer in Dong Cao Village. Each crop of sugar beets takes 60 days. "As it passed day 90, we can do nothing but throw them away. A farmer gathers sugar beets to destroy as they are too old to be sold. Photo: Ha Quan / Tuoi Tre Song, another farmer, said the cooperative helped to connect them with traders. A truck loads some six tonnes of veggies to sell in cities, he added. A local landfill is covered up with thrown-away sugar beets. Photo: Ha Quan / Tuoi Tre Customers, however, can pay at their will, VND5,000, VND10,000 or VND20,000 ($0.22, $0.43 or $0.87), simply to help cover transportation fees. Some of them take a couple of bags for VND50,000 [$2.17]. Tomato price now stops at VND1,500 per kilogram [0.65 cents], but there is hardly anyone bothering to trade it, said Thuan. Dam Van Dua, director of the cooperative, said local agricultural products need help to access other markets. There are 100 tonnes of tomatoes and 200 tonnes of sugar beets waiting to be consumed. Dua said the cooperative was working to connect farmers with traders and food distributing companies. At present, some of these products have been delivered to Hanois biggest wholesale markets of Long Bien and Xanh. On February 27 solely, we sold 25 tonnes of sugar beets and tomatoes. We expect to bring the rest to the markets in the next few weeks, he said. To avoid the abundance that leads to devastating price drops, Dua said they would pay more attention to food processing and balance the allocation of seeds in the next crops. Me Linh Districts authorities have requested the Hanoi Department of Industry and Trade to introduce them to procurement agencies as well as setting up makeshift booths to help farmers sell vegetables. Dong Cao Village has 140ha of vegetable farming with some 200 farmers and 400 frequent buyers. However, under the impacts of COVID-19, traders from other provinces cannot enter the village, leading to slow consumption of agricultural products. Bags of vegetables, up to 10kg each, are stocked before being shipped to wholesale markets in Hanoi. Photo: Ha Quan / Tuoi Tre Mustard greens are severely destroyed by pests in Hanoi. Photo: Ha Quan / Tuoi Tre Trucks with banners saying joining hands to help farmers sell vegetables amid the pandemic run to and from Dong Cao Village in Me Linh District, Hanoi. Photo: Ha Quan / Tuoi Tre Trucks with banners saying joining hands to help farmers sell vegetables amid the pandemic run to and from Dong Cao Village in Me Linh District, Hanoi. Photo: Ha Quan / Tuoi Tre Bags of tomatoes are seen piling up in front of Dong Cao Villages cooperative in Me Linh District, Hanoi. Photo: Ha Quan / Tuoi Tre Tomatoes and sugar beets are ready to be delivered to central Hanoi. Photo: Ha Quan / Tuoi Tre Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! London, United Kingdom--(Newsfile Corp. - March 1, 2021) - Meridian Mining UK Societas (TSXV: MNO) ("Meridian" or the "Company") today announces that the board of directors of the Company has approved the grant of an aggregate of 3,335,000 options (the "Options") to purchase common shares in the capital of the Company to certain directors, officers, employees, consultants and advisors of the Company. The Options are exercisable at a price of $0.45 per common share for a term of five years, until February 26, 2026. The granting of the Options is subject to regulatory acceptance of applicable filings. The Options shall be exercisable, subject to the receipt by the Company of any required regulatory approval, four months after the grant. On behalf of the Board of Directors of Meridian Mining UK S Mr. Gilbert Clark Executive Chairman of the Board Meridian Mining UK S Email: info@meridianmining.net.br Ph: +1 (778) 715-6410 (PST) Stay up to date by subscribing for news alerts here: https://meridianmining.co/subscribe/ Follow Meridian on Twitter: https://twitter.com/MeridianMining Further information can be found at www.meridianmining.co ABOUT MERIDIAN Meridian Mining SE is focused on the acquisition, exploration and development activities in Brazil. The Company is currently focused on developing the Cabacal VMS Copper-Gold project in the state of Mato Grosso; exploring the Espigao polymetallic project, the Mirante da Serra manganese project, and the Ariquemes tin portfolio in the State of Rondonia Brazil. FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS Some statements in this news release contain forward-looking information or forward-looking statements for the purposes of applicable securities laws. These statements include, among others, statements with respect to the Company's plans for exploration, development and exploitation of its properties and potential mineralisation. These statements address future events and conditions and, as such, involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the statements. Such risk factors include, among others, failure to obtain regulatory approvals, failure to complete anticipated transactions, the timing and success of future exploration and development activities, exploration and development risks, title matters, inability to obtain any required third party consents, operating risks and hazards, metal prices, political and economic factors, competitive factors, general economic conditions, relationships with strategic partners, governmental regulation and supervision, seasonality, technological change, industry practices and one-time events. In making the forward-looking statements, the Company has applied several material assumptions including, but not limited to, the assumptions that: (1) the proposed exploration, development and exploitation of mineral projects will proceed as planned; (2) market fundamentals will result in sustained metals and minerals prices and (3) any additional financing needed will be available on reasonable terms. The Company expressly disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise except as otherwise required by applicable securities legislation. The Company cautions that it has not completed any feasibility studies on any of its mineral properties, and no mineral reserve estimate or mineral resource estimate has been established. Geophysical exploration targets are preliminary in nature and not conclusive evidence of the likelihood of a mineral deposit. The TSX Venture Exchange has neither approved nor disapproved the contents of this news release. 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. NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO U.S. NEWS WIRE SERVICES OR FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE U.S. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/75804 The World Trade Organization's (WTO) first female and first African Director General, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, officially took office on Monday, ending a six-month "leaderless" period of the organization, after former chief Roberto Azevedo stepped down on Aug. 31, 2020, a year ahead of schedule. "I am coming into one of the most important institutions in the world and we have a lot of work to do. I feel ready to go," she said. On arrival at the WTO's headquarters in Geneva, Okonjo-Iweala highlighted the importance of the organization. Addressing the General Council on her first day in the post, Okonjo-Iweala pledged to "bring all my knowledge, passion, experience and persistence to the task at hand, reforming the organization and achieving results." On Feb. 15, WTO members agreed by consensus to appoint the former finance minister of Nigeria as the new director-general. Her term, which is renewable, will expire on Aug. 31, 2025. Okonjo-Iweala, 66, has served as Nigeria's finance minister twice and briefly acted as foreign minister. She has worked for the World Bank for 25 years, including as managing director for operations. Also at Monday's General Council meeting, WTO members decided that the organization's 12th Ministerial Conference (MC12) will take place "in the week of 29 November 2021" in Geneva. The meeting was originally scheduled to be held on June 8-11, 2020, in Kazakhstan's capital, Nur-Sultan, but was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The WTO's Ministerial Conference, which is attended by trade ministers and other senior officials from the organization's 164 member states, is the organization's highest decision-making body. Okonjo-Iweala had said that the success of the MC12 is a "top priority" for all WTO members, underling that "we must reach agreement on some pressing issues and elaborate our work program for others." "Apart from the issues related to the pandemic, I hope that we finalize the fisheries subsidies negotiations, leaving MC12 as the venue to conclude on modalities for implementation," she said. By Tangi Salaun PARIS (Reuters) - Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy was found guilty of corruption on Monday and sentenced to three years in prison, a stunning fall from grace for a man who for five years bestrode the national and global stage. A Paris court found that Sarkozy, 66, had tried to bribe a judge after leaving office, and to peddle influence in exchange for confidential information about an investigation into his 2007 campaign finances. "He took advantage of his status and the relationships he had formed," presiding judge Christine Mee said. Sarkozy served as president from 2007 to 2012 and retains influence among conservatives, even after retiring. He is the second head of state in modern-day France to be convicted of corruption. He may not spend any time in prison, however. Two years of his sentence were suspended, and Mee said she was open to him staying out of prison tagged with an electronic bracelet for the remaining year, although that decision rests with another judge. The court found that Sarkozy had offered to secure a plum job in Monaco for a judge, Gilbert Azibert, in return for inside information about an inquiry into allegations that he had accepted illegal payments from L'Oreal heiress Liliane Bettencourt for his 2007 presidential campaign. Sarkozy left the court without speaking, but his lawyer said he would appeal, and prove his innocence. "This ruling is extremely severe and wholly unjustified," Jacqueline Laffont told reporters. ANOTHER TRIAL LOOMS Sarkozy had burst onto the world stage as a reformer full of ideas who wanted to break with France's stagnant past on the domestic front and restore the birthplace of human rights to a place of prominence in international affairs. He earned himself the nickname of the "Gallic Thatcher," undertaking market-driven reforms such as raising the retirement age, loosening the 35-hour work week and adjusting the tax system to encourage overtime. Story continues Outside France, he brokered a ceasefire to the Russia-Georgia war in 2008, and in 2011 championed a NATO-led military intervention in Libya to support an uprising against its autocratic leader, Muammar Gaddafi. Investigators had been wiretapping conversations between Sarkozy and his lawyer Thierry Herzog from 2013 as they delved into allegations of Libyan financing of Sarkozy's 2007 campaign. As they did, they learned that Sarkozy and his lawyer were communicating using mobile phones registered under false names. Sarkozy said he had become the victim of a witch-hunt by financial prosecutors who had used excessive means to snoop on him. Asked by Reuters if Sarkozys conviction could pose a risk to his position as member of Lagardere's supervisory group, a spokesman for the media group said: "We are delighted with Mr. Nicolas Sarkozy's contribution and personal investment in Lagardere's supervisory board." The former French president is also an independent director of French hotel giant Accor. Herzog and Azibert, who were on trial alongside him, were also found guilty of corruption and influence-peddling. "Such behaviour can only seriously undermine the legitimate trust that the public must have in the justice system," Mee said. Sarkozy and his centre-right party Les Republicains have long said the investigations against him are politically motivated. The only other president of the Fifth Republic to be convicted by a court was Sarkozy's conservative predecessor, the late Jacques Chirac, who was found guilty of corruption in 2011. Sarkozy is due in court again later this month, on charges of violating campaign financing rules during his failed 2012 re-election bid. Prosecutors are also investigating allegations that Gaddafi provided Sarkozy's 2007 campaign with millions of euros shipped to Paris in suitcases. Sarkozy denies both allegations. (Reporting by Tangi Salaun; Writing by Richard Lough; Editing by Gareth Jones, Kevin Liffey and Cynthia Osterman) (Natural News) On Thursday, Feb. 25, a spokesperson for the Department of State confirmed that American diplomats stationed in China were forced to take humiliating and invasive Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) anal swab tests. The State Department made the announcement after several diplomatic staff in the communist nation complained to higher-ups in Washington, D.C. about being forced to undergo the intrusive procedure. Chinese authorities have long claimed that the anal swab tests are much more accurate than nasal or throat-based testing methods. The State Department never agreed to this kind of testing, and protested directly to the [Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs] when we learned that some staff were subject to it, said a State Department spokesperson in an email to alternative news outlet The Epoch Times. The Department is committed to guaranteeing the safety and security of American diplomats and their families while preserving their dignity, consistent with the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, as well as other relevant diplomatic law provisions, added the spokesperson. Chinese health officials claim anal swab tests more accurate Anal swab tests were first deployed in Beijing in early January when medical authorities first gave them to people in quarantine sites who were in contact with confirmed coronavirus patients. After its supposed success in the Chinese capital, it was also rolled out in virus hotspots around the country, like Hebei, Shandong and Liaoning provinces. The test involves inserting a cotton swab soaked in saline solution about two to three centimeters into the anus and twisting slightly before retracting it. Chinese state media outlets have been vigorously promoting the new testing method by quoting supposed medical specialists, including one Dr. Li Tongzeng, a Beijing doctor specializing in respiratory diseases. Li gave television interviews in late January where he claimed that traces of the virus could remain in fecal matter for longer periods of time than virus traces in the respiratory tract. The National Health Commission, Chinas executive department responsible for formulating health policies, claimed that anal swabs can detect the coronavirus earlier than nasal swabs. And there are a small number of patients whose rectal swabs continue to test positive after their nasal swab has turned negative towards the end of their treatment, wrote the commission on its official WeChat account. Therefore, adding rectal tests can improve the detection rate, reduce false-negative results and avoid misdiagnoses. The Health Commission has not recommended anal swab tests for mass deployment because of peoples low acceptance of it. It said the test will not be rolled out nationwide and will not be made mandatory. Health officials also quoted a study done by the Chinese University of Hong Kong published last year that suggested stool tests may be more effective in detecting coronavirus infections in children and infants because their waste carries higher viral loads than adults. But the process has caused alarm among both Chinese citizens and foreign tourists because health workers would often violate patient privacy by performing the tests in front of other people. Many visitors have remarked that they would rather travel to other countries than be forced to receive an anal swab test in China. Chinese news portals have quoted several visitors from South Korea who were shocked that they were required to take the test upon entering the country. The children were no exception, said one tourist quoted by South Korean newspaper Kukmin Ilboi. The tourists said they were given the choice of either getting an anal swab or providing a stool sample to health authorities for examination. China says tests were given in error The Chinese foreign ministry has denied requiring the anal swab tests. The ministry did not dispute that the tests were given to American diplomats. To my knowledge China has never required U.S. diplomatic staff stationed in China to conduct anal swab tests, said foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian during a daily news briefing in Beijing. (Related: ITS A SCAM: Communist China is collecting American DNA through coronavirus testing.) Zhao later told reporters that the tests were given in error and that diplomatic staff were exempted from taking them. Chinese authorities have since informed American diplomats to decline the test if healthcare workers asked them to take it. A diplomat from a European country who is based in Beijing and wished to remain anonymous told the South China Morning Post that embassy and consulate workers in the country were asked by Chinese health workers during their quarantine periods if they wanted to take the anal swab test. The diplomat said they had the option to refuse. Relations between China and the U.S. have grown increasingly strained ever since President Donald Trump took office and immediately criticized the communist nation over issues such as trade, its handling of the coronavirus pandemic and its treatment of its own people, such as the pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong and the indigenous Uyghur Muslim ethnic minority in the northwestern province of Xinjiang. Newly-inaugurated President Joe Biden recently spoke with his Chinese counterpart, President Xi Jinping, by phone earlier this month. According to the White House, Biden raised fundamental concerns regarding Chinas coercive and unfair economic practices, crackdown in Hong Kong, human rights abuses in Xinjiang and increasingly assertive actions in the region, including toward Taiwan. Learn more about the coronavirus pandemic in China and the policies employed by the communist state to try and fight it by reading the latest articles at Pandemic.news. Sources include: TheEpochTimes.com NBCNews.com Bloomberg.com SCMP.com Reuters.com * Username This is the name that will be displayed next to your photo for comments, blog posts, and more. Choose wisely! The US Defense Department said Monday that one member of a pro-Iran militia was killed and two were injured in last week's bombing of a border station inside Syria. Pentagon spokesman John Kirby made no mention of possible civilian casualties, but said that nine buildings were destroyed in the pinpoint strike on the outpost near Albu Kamal. The US military said the location was used by Iran-supported Iraqi armed groups. "We believe right now there was likely one militia member killed and two militia members wounded," Kirby said. "We'll continue to assess ... and if that changes we will certainly let you know," he added. Shortly after the early Friday attack, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said 22 fighters from Iraq's state-sponsored Hashed al-Shaabi paramilitary force were killed. The strike was in retaliation for three recent missile attacks on installations used by US and coalition forces in Iraq. Those were believed launched by Iran-backed militias that operate under the umbrella of Hashed al-Shaabi. It was the first military strike by the administration of Joe Biden in the region and came as Biden seeks to resume negotiations with Tehran over limiting its nuclear program. Biden was "sending an unambiguous message that he's going to act to protect Americans," White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said on Friday. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said they were confident the target was being used by "the same Shia militia that conducted the strikes" in Iraq against US-used facilities. The administration has stressed that the action was meant as a warning and to avoid further escalation of tensions between Tehran and Washington. "This was really designed to do two things: to remove that compound from their utilization of it as an entry control point from Syria into Iraq," Kirby said. "And, two, to send a very strong signal that we're not going to tolerate attacks on our people and our Iraqi partners." Short link: Tajik native sentenced to imprisonment in Russia for facilitating Syrian terrorists flickr.com/ Jobs For Felons Hub 16:15 02/03/2021 ST. PETERSBURG, March 2 (RAPSI, Mikhail Telekhov) - The native of Tajikistan Isfandiyer Akramov has received 5.5 years behind bars for facilitating terrorist activities, the press service of the Federal Security Services (FSB) Directorate for St. Petersburg and Leningrad Region. The circuit collegium of the Second Western District Military Court has found Akramov guilty of inducing two migrants from Tajikistan to joining the Islamic State in Syria, a terrorist organization banned in Russia. Akramovs acts have been prevented by the joint operation of FSB and police. FOREST CITY, Iowa An idea born shortly after an historic event honoring Vietnam Veterans has taken a big step forward. The Winnebago Historical Society says it has appointed an executive board to lead the construction and fundraising for the Armed Forces Historical Center of North Iowa, a museum dedicated to displaying service artifacts and stories of veterans from all service branches and especially those from North Iowa. Housed in a WWII vintage barracks building in Heritage Park of North Iowa, organizers say the Center will preserve the stories of veterans and educate the public on their service and sacrifice. Renovation work on the barracks building began in December 2020 and the Center is expected to open by mid-summer. Appointed to the Executive Board are: Dave Kingland, Chair Brad Jones, Vice Chair Veronica Maas, Secretary Lee Lambert, Treasurer Keith Brcka, Property Committee Co-Chair Jared Kearney, Property Committee Co-Chair Loren Swenson, Fundraising Committee Chair Michael Brown, Long Range Planning Committee Chair Norma Hertzer, Marketing and Communications Committee Chair Troy Thompson, Operations Committee Chair Riley Lewis, Winnebago Historical Society Dan Davis, Winnebago Historical Society Dawn Arispe, Heritage Park of North Iowa Plans for the Armed Forces Historical Center of North Iowa began with discussions in the wake of Operation LZ in Forest City in the summer of 2014, an event that hosted over 30,000 veterans from across America. Donations are being accepted. Samsung had announced the 980 Pro SSD which is their first consumer grade PCIe Gen 4 SSD back in September last year. It had launched in 3 capacities 250GB, 500GB and 1TB but recently Samsung also announced a 2 TB version which we managed to test in this review. We have tested both the 500GB version and the 2TB version for the purpose of this review. Specifications Category Samsung SSD 980 PRO Interface PCIe 4.0 x4, NVMe 1.3c Form Factor M.2 (2280) Storage Memory Samsung 1xx-layer V-NAND 3-bit MLC Controller Samsung Elpis Controller DRAM 2GB LPDDR4(2TB) 1GB LPDDR4 (1TB) 512MB LPDDR4 (500GB, 250GB) Capacity 2TB, 1TB, 500GB, 250GB Sequential Read/Write Speed Up to 7,000 MB/s, Up to 5,100 MB/s Random Read/Write Speed (QD32) Up to 1,000K IOPS, 1,000K IOPS Management Software Samsung Magician Software Data Encryption AES 256-bit Full Disk Encryption, TCG/Opal V2.0, Encrypted Drive (IEEE1667) Total Bytes Written 1200TB (2TB) 600TB (1TB) 300TB (500GB) 150TB (250GB) Packaging and Box Contents The SSD ships in the familiar box which securely holds the drive and some paperwork. You dont get anything else in the box, and you would have to rely on your motherboard for the m.2 screw to secure the drive. You see a mention of 7000MB/s read speed on the front and the 5-year warranty on the back. The model we tested was the MZ-V8P2T0BW (2TB) and the drive was made in South Korea Test System AMD Ryzen 7 5800x 8-core CPU ASrock Taichi X570 Motherboard with PCIe gen 4.0 support 32GB DDR4 3200MHz RAM 750w SMPS Windows 10 Pro 64bit Design and Thermals The Samsung 980 Pro uses the new Samsung Elpis controller and is built on the newer 8nm process Samsung claims to have used a Nickel coating on the drive for better thermal performance. Most newer motherboards have good heat sinks for m.2 SSDs unlike in the past. The 980 Pro also features Dynamic Thermal Guard technology to reduce thermal throttling and sustained peak performance. Here is a comparison of drive temperatures. Drive Temperature Samsung 950 Pro NVMe SSD 50 Samsung 960 Evo NVMe SSD 45 Crucial P1 NVMe SSD 41 Samsung 980 Pro NVMe SSD 50 Samsung 860 Evo SSD 31 Samsung continues to use copper for heat dissipation on the back. Benchmarks Here are a few benchmarks of the drive :- Samsung Magician Samsung Magician is the companys own disk management software and lets you update the firmware, monitor the health and also perform benchmarks. It works only with Samsung SSDs. Here we see that the Sequential Read Speeds were over 6562 MB/s and write speeds were over 5180 MB/s. You can also see the 2X jump in performance when compared to a PCIe gen 3 drive for read and write speeds. CrystalDiskMark 8.01 Crystal Disk Mark is one of the most popular tools for assessing drive performance and the drive showed good sequential read(6.3GB/s)/write (4.9GB/s) speeds. Blackmagic Disk Speed Test In Blackmagic Disk Speed Test which is generally used to measure video editing capabilities, the Pro Pro came up with 5310 MB/S Read and 4334 MB/s write speeds PC Mark 10 Drive Benchmark In the PC Mark 10 Quick System Drive benchmark, the drive scored 2857 points. ATTO Disk Atto Disk is another good tool to measure sustained performance and the 980 Pro shows 5.97 BB/s read and 4.62 GB/s write speeds AS SSD Benchmark The Samsung 980 Pro scores 8692 in the AS SSD benchmark on the whole and 4067 for write and 3097 for read. In the file copy benchmark, the drive scored 2446MB/s in ISO copy, 837 MB/s in program and 1846 MB/s in games. Apart from benchmarks, the real world performance for applications which are very data intensive such as games, video editing and programming, the 980 Pro does offer a good experience. If you are planning to build a PC for gaming, the 980 Pro can be at the top of your list. Conclusion Ever since Samsung announced the 980 Pro, it expanded the market for PCIe gen 4 SSDs. Thanks to the popularity of the Ryzen platform, more and more consumers are looking to move towards these faster drives for improved performance. The market will grow further once Intel also joins the PCIe 4 bandwagon. The Samsung 980 Pro is not only one of the fastest NVMe SSD drives we have tested, it is also one of the best performing drives. The million dollar question here is, can you utilize all that performance for your workflow? The short answer for most consumers is no. But if you want to invest in the best NVMe storage for your workstation, the Samsung 980 Pro is one of the best offerings in the market currently. If you dont want to get the absolute best drive you can consider the Samsung 970 EVO Plus or 970 Evo as well which are not as fast but still offer a great value for money and great performance. Pricing and Availability The Samsung 980 starts at INR 10999 for the 250GB and goes all the way up to INR 56999 for the 2TB version. The India pricing is comparatively higher than US pricing due to import duties probably. This is more evident on the higher end SKUs compared to entry level ones. Samsung does offer a 5-year limited warranty for the drives in India so the cost the partly justified. But Samsung needs to get more aggressive on the pricing to increase adoption. Good news is that I did check with offline market and 500GB model is available for close to INR 12500 and the 1TB version is available for close to INR 20500 which makes the drive a more attractive offering. Capacity India Launch Price Current Price Link 250GB (MZ-V8P250BW) INR 10999 500GB (MZ-V8P500BW) INR 17999 14000 Amazon 1TB (MZ-V8P1T0BW) INR 27999 25750 Amazon 2TB (MZ-V8P2T0BW) INR 56,999 52999 Amazon Pros Really fast read and write speeds Samsung 980 Pro has an edge over competition 5 year warranty Cons Lower endurance versus Samsung 970 Pro A lot of PCIe gen 4 products are starting to hit the market at lower price points Bloomberg photo by Andrey Rudakov. Oil held steady just days before many of the worlds largest producer nations meet to discuss how much crude they should supply in the coming months. Crude futures in New York were trading near $61 a barrel. OPEC and its allies will meet on Thursday to decide if they will ease supply curbs further after Saudi cuts pushed the groups output lower last month. Ahead of the gathering, OPECs largest producer has urged members to take a cautious approach, despite headline prices having their best ever first two months of a year. Heidelberg, Germany, is at the forefront of a movement: the push to get rid of cars entirely. Heidelberg, a city of 160,000 people on the Neckar River, is one of only six cities in Europe considered innovators by C40 Cities, an organization that promotes climate-friendly urban policies and whose chairman is Michael Bloomberg, the former mayor of New York. (The others are Oslo, Copenhagen, Venice, and Amsterdam and Rotterdam in the Netherlands.) Eckart Wurzner, Heidelbergs mayor, is on a mission to make his city emission free, Jack Ewing reports for The New York Times. And hes not a fan of electric vehicles he wants to reduce dependence on cars, no matter where they get their juice. Heidelberg is buying a fleet of hydrogen-powered buses and designing neighborhoods to discourage all vehicles and encourage walking. It is building a network of bicycle superhighways to the suburbs and bridges that would allow cyclists to bypass congested areas or cross the Neckar without having to compete for road space with motor vehicles. Residents who give up their cars get to ride public transportation free for a year. If you need a car, use car sharing, Mr. Wurzner said in an interview. Battery-powered vehicles dont pollute the air, but they take up just as much space as gasoline models. Eckart Wurzner, Heidelbergs mayor, complains that Heidelberg still suffers rush-hour traffic jams, even though only about 20 percent of residents get around by car. After complaining that a proposed discussion about the history of the fight for voting rights wouldnt give voice to the other side, most members of the Lafayette Parish Library Board decided in January to reject a grant that would have paid for copies of two books on that history and for a pair of panelists to discuss the topic. Last week, as LSUs Reilly Center for Media & Public Affairs prepared to host an online discussion of the book The Religion of White Rage: White Workers, Religious Fervor, and the Myth of Black Racial Progress, state Rep. Ray Garofalo, R-Chalmette, told The Advocate, Are we presenting all sides, because I dont know. If we are making these types of presentations on campus, are we presenting an alternative viewpoint as well as making sure we have balanced presentations? The discussion of The Religion of White Rage, coedited by Stephen C. Finley and Lori Latrice Martin of LSU and Biko Mandela Gray of Syracuse, was part of a Reilly Center series called Racism: Dismantling the System. (Full disclosure: I was paid to participate in Black Representation in Mainstream Media Outlets, the October installment in that series, and in May, spoke as a panelist in a separate Reilly center discussion series called Communications & COVID-19.) Garofalo questioned the discussion in a letter to Louisiana Higher Education Commissioner Kim Hunter-Reed. He asked what system needs dismantling, and if the panel and series reflect the universitys official position. Racism: Dismantling the System is about as clear as one can get about what systems should be dismantled and why, Gray said during the panel, but Rep. Garofalos lack of attention to detail exposes a critical dimension of the religion of white rage, namely that rage rarely engages rationally, carefully or deliberately. One might have assumed as I did that the discussion would focus on the overwhelming majority of white evangelicals who aligned themselves with Donald Trump. However, Martin, who teaches sociology at LSU, broadly defined religion as the way people understand the world and their place in it. It wasnt White voters economic anxiety that caused them to vote for Trump, the books editors say, but their anxiety about where they fit in a changing country. If that is your worry, would you even have the capacity to engage in a thoughtful discussion about the history and ongoing opposition to voting rights? In the time between the library boards shameful refusal of that grant and Garofalos disturbingly meddlesome letter, five of the six men who represent Louisiana in Washington used their social media platforms to eulogize Rush Limbaugh, the high priest of White rage. It should be clear: The LSU series doesnt need to be balanced by any other side. It should, instead, be seen as one small attempt to counterbalance a mindset that leads public officials to describe voting rights activists as far-left radicals, claim ignorance of the existence of systemic racism and assert that Limbaughs noxious rhetoric was refreshing. Our country is a better place because of his profound voice, Republican Whip Steve Scalise, R-Jefferson wrote of Limbaugh on Twitter. He leaves behind an incredible legacy. Everybody in the Congressional delegation but U.S. Rep. Garret Graves, R-Baton Rouge, said something similarly positive. No, not incredible. Detestable. The world needs none of what Limbaugh brought to the microphone. He served to strengthen White Americans belief that they alone have any right to be angry. Our lawmakers in Washington have condemned the Jan. 6 invasion of the U.S. Capitol, but each of them has at some point validated or fueled the rage that preceded it. As recently as late February on ABCs This Week, Scalise declined Chief Washington Correspondent Jonathan Karls invitation for him to say that Novembers election wasnt stolen from Trump. Even on this side of Jan. 6, Scalise still wont stop validating the anger. Garofalo complained that last week's panel and the Reilly series as a whole ought to be balanced, but there arent nearly enough people or enough institutions calling out or challenging the rage that Garofalo himself tapped in his letter and in his interview with the press. A man read a title and took it personally, Gray said during Tuesdays panel. I just want us to think about that. We wrote a text to try to understand how to move forward, and a man read a title, took two words out and took it personally. Thats not the foaming-at-the-mouth rage that characterized the Jan. 6 mob, but because it questions the very legitimacy of questions about structural racism, it counts as rage, too. PSNI detectives warned the mother of Noah Donohoe they would serve her with a warrant over access to email accounts on the tragic schoolboys electronic devices, she has revealed. Heartbroken Fiona Donohoe told the Sunday World how the demand was made just a number of weeks ago after previously telling the family they had fully forensically investigated all her sons devices, including his laptop, last year. However, three weeks ago the mum was again contacted by investigators who said they had not looked at a number of email accounts on Noahs computer. After asking for access, which was verbally granted through her solicitor, Fiona said she was then warned that police could issue a warrant against her. She told the Sunday World: In August we were told in black and white from the police that they forensically checked Noahs laptop, phone and Kindle and his emails. Expand Close Musical memento: Fiona at home this week with Noahs cello in the background. Photo: Conor McCaughley / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Musical memento: Fiona at home this week with Noahs cello in the background. Photo: Conor McCaughley They exhausted everything and couldnt find anything. Three weeks ago, they came back and said, Oh sorry we havent checked all of Noahs emails. There are four emails, one of them is mine because I was a guest on Noahs laptop, and then there are three others. So, they only checked his, they didnt check mine or the two others. They wanted me, without my sister Niamh, to go to their office... me, my solicitor to meet four other police officers. How intimidating. Expand Close Noah Donohoe / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Noah Donohoe First they wanted me to remotely change the passwords on my sons email so they could get access. Then in the next sentence they said, do not hamper with any of the information as it may corrupt the evidence. Those are loaded words. Then they asked me to come down to the office, without Niamh, four police officers and [solicitor] Niall Murphy so I could give my consent. I told Niall that I verbally gave my consent to reset the passwords. A week later, they sent an email with another loaded word. They said they may have to issue a warrant to me to get the password. Expand Close CCTV footage of Noah Donohoe on his bike / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp CCTV footage of Noah Donohoe on his bike I gave my consent through my solicitor. Fiona added: They use the word warrant with me yet they cant get a warrant for the suspects and career criminals named by a witness as being involved in an assault. Its loaded wording. They also used the word warrant with the Department for Infrastructure to seize information from them, the two groups of people who want to help. Read More Earlier this month it was revealed how police had begun a corporate manslaughter investigation into the death of the Belfast teenager, whose body was found six days after he went missing on a bike ride across the city last year. The PSNI confirmed it was investigating access to the storm drain, which is owned by the Department for Infrastructure (DfI). As the Dfl is responsible for the network at Premier Drive/Northwood Road, it could be found liable. In a statement, the department said there was no case against them. DfI have been advised that an investigation into the offence of corporate manslaughter has been launched and the department is cooperating fully with all aspects of this investigation, a spokesperson said. No further comment can be made while these investigations are continuing. The PSNI said detectives were working in conjunction with the Health and Safety Executive and Public Prosecution Service. A coronial investigation into the circumstances of Noahs death is ongoing. This week his mother told the Sunday World she felt police were not adequately investigating the circumstances of his disappearance and death. Its so important that the police learn about the character of the individual, because if you know the character... They are going down the route of misadventure and the psychology of how Noah was feeling. That is the way they are swaying it, I believe. Ive looked at suicide, Ive had to looked at every perspective. They have only looked at one, this misadventure. The family were forced to launch their own campaign to find answers over Noahs disappearance and death last year. In the last eight months Fiona and her sister Niamh have spoken to witnesses, businesses on the final route throughout Noahs journey and those living in the area where he was last seen alive. Fiona herself even made contact with a search and rescue worker who helped in finding her sons remains. There was a complaint from the police about me contacting a person involved in the search. They said it was alarming, that was the word they used. Its just disgraceful. They are not giving us any information, but they will come to me with complaints and [mention of a]warrant. She added: Its eight months now, and we have no facts. Did something happen on the street where Noah was last seen as well? We dont know. You have to do your own investigation yourself, and you shouldnt have to. Me and Niamh are living and breathing this. The family have also revealed how they found much-needed support and guidance from investigative journalist Donal MacIntyre. The fearless 55-year-old has put together a team of top investigators, including Stephen Lawrence murder detective Clive Driscoll, to help the Donohoes in their fight for answers. The crack team will examine Noahs case in a documentary, which is currently in production. Said Niamh: We have done so much of this investigation ourselves but now we have Donal MacIntyre helping us and Clive Driscoll. Fiona added: We really feel we are getting guidance from Donal and Clive. Theres some things that are too terrifying to think about. As a parent, I think because Noah went through it, I should go through it. I am terrified and I have to bring myself out of it. But at some stage I will have to, because Noah went through it. You have to compartmentalise. You cant look at it all as it would be too much. "There are things which would never be clinical because there was just so much love. As far as the police are concerned, theres anger. Its fuelled with love for Noah, but there is anger. Expand Close Noah with his mother Fiona. / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Noah with his mother Fiona. He was my everything. I dont want this to happen to any other child and I dont want it to happen to a parent as well because your whole life... this investigation is Noah and thank God for the foundation. The Noah Donohoe Foundation was set up by Fiona to leave a lasting legacy for the son she says had so much potential. I was putting it to one side for a while because I was focusing on the investigation but its Noahs legacy. If we see one child in the future that had a talent but their parents couldnt afford a guitar, a cello, if that child gets what Noah got out of it, it would just be so beautiful. That is Noah living through them, he will live through their spirit. I would love someone to want to play the cello because they will have been inspired by Noah. He had so much potential. I sound so biased, but Noah was so humble. He would be embarrassed but he deserves for people to know what an amazing wee boy he was. And I know he would be so embarrassed by that. He did amazing in his schoolwork, he put everything into sports, his music. I am so blessed that I told him how amazing he was, and I am so grateful I did. I have no regrets as a parent because he knows how much I love him. Fiona added: I had a wee contract with Noah that he was going to build an annex and I was going to look after his children. That was our wee contract that I wasnt going to go into a care home. Noahs aunt Niamh said: Everyone who met Noah, he made such an impression on people. When my partner met him he said, where would you get a wee boy like that? He was just a wee dote. He was so special, and his potential knew no bounds. The sisters say it is the support of the public and Noahs Army that has pulled them through their darkest days. Expand Close Noah / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Noah Niamh knows every fine detail but see when it is tough on both of us, see just the support we see on social media, or seeing a blue heart on someones car or front door, or even the prayers, said Fiona. See the power of prayer, it really has given us the strength. Niamh added: There are days genuinely we are saying, how are we going to get through this? But then someone sends us a message. They dont realise the power of doing that. A PSNI spokesperson said: Police continue to investigate the circumstances surrounding the disappearance and death of Noah Donohoe on behalf of the Coroner. "At all times, we seek to work sensitively with Noahs loved ones and with their consent as we make inquiries. Citing the severe impact of the pandemic on children and on the workforce, President Joe Biden announced Tuesday that he would use federal powers to prioritize educators and child care workers for vaccine shots this month. Speaking at the White House, Biden described a general of students as being 'on the brink.' He brought up school openings an issue that has brought partisan attacks and that has provoked a split among Democratic-leaning teachers and some parents eager to get their children back in school. 'I'm using the full authority of the federal government. I'm directing every state to do the same,' Biden said. President Joe Biden announced a program Tuesday to get educators at least one coronavirus vaccine shot by the end of March Many states are already prioritizing teachers near the top of the line for vaccinations, but Biden said he would use federal authority to move them up as needed. Some schools seeking to reopen have also been contending with teachers and support staff who do not want to take the vaccine. 'My challenge to all states, territories and the district of Columbia is this. we want every educator, school staff member, child care worker to receive at least one shot by the end of the month of March,' Biden said. 'To help make this happen, starting next week and for a month, month of March, we'll be using our federal pharmacy program to prioritize the vaccination of pre-K through 12 educators, staff and child care workers. The program is one that the administration established to work with pharmacies nationwide to try to boost vaccine distribution. 'I want to be very clear. Not every educator will be able to get their appointment in the first week. But our goal is to do everything we can to help every educator receive a shot this month, the month of March,' he said. A bus drops students off as classes resume after teachers received the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccination, at Westwood Elementary School in Dayton, Ohio, U.S., March 1, 2021 Ryan, 5, drinks milk during a zoom class as the Westchester Family YMCA provides a safe distance learning environment for local students during the outbreak of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Los Angeles, California, U.S., March 2, 2021 Demonstrators hold posters reading 'Classroom No Zoom, Kids Matter' and 'Open Schools Now!' during a protest to reopen schools organized by 'Open Los Angeles Schools Now!' at the Arthur E. Wright Middle School in Calabasas, North West of Los Angeles, California 'This is a national imperative, that we get our kids back into the classroom safely and as soon as possible,' he said. Biden made the announcement after speaking to the toll school closings have had on both students and their parents. Economic studies have shown female workers are bearing the brunt. 'Right now, an entire generation of young people is on the brink of being set back a year or more in their learning,' he said. 'You can ask millions of parents, they understand. We're already seeing rising mental health concerns due in part to isolation. Educational disparities that have always existed grow wider each day,' he said. He echoed comments by the head of the Centers for Disease Control. 'Let me be clear. We can reopen schools if the right steps are taken, even before employees are vaccinated,' he said. His comments come days after President Donald Trump demanded schools reopen seizing on education as a potential campaign issue. Trump accused Biden of having 'caved to the teachers unions.' 'They're cheating the next generation of Americans out of the future that they deserve, and they do deserve this future,' Trump said. 'They're going to grow up and they're going to have a scar.' Biden used the event to pitch his $1.9 trillion coronavirus response plan, which passed the House without any Republican votes and is set to come up in the Senate. He said reopening schools will require new resources for cleaning, buses, and air filtration and circulation systems. 'Let's treat in-person learning like the essential service that it is,' he said. SAN JOSE, Calif., March 2, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- PayActiv, the only EWA Program to receive an Approval Order from the Consumer Financial Protection Board (CFPB), welcomes Hancock Whitney, the first bank to offer PayActiv's financial wellness solution to its bank clients. Starting immediately, Hancock Whitney will include PayActiv as an additional banking solution for its business clients. "We are pleased to offer PayActiv to our business clients with 100 or more employees. This solution aligns perfectly with our goal of helping clients achieve holistic financial wellness," says John Hairston, the chief executive officer of Hancock Whitney. With PayActiv in the workplace, businesses help their employees avoid costly service fees and charges associated with short-term payday loans. By accessing a portion of their already earned but unpaid wages, a PayActiv user can save up to hundreds of dollars in fees and charges. According to the CFPB, "the PayActiv EWA program is an innovative alternative to credit." "Hancock Whitney has shown leadership and lived its commitment to serve hard-working Americans. Their clients can now attract, retain and recruit talent with a powerful and innovative benefit," said Safwan Shah, CEO of PayActiv. "Businesses that choose Hancock Whitney can now help workers live the lives they've earned, navigate the ups, downs and unknowns in life and be able to participate more fully in the economy they helped create," Shah concluded. The EWA Program from PayActiv is the only one to have received an Approval Order from the CFPB and available across 50 states. PayActiv saved users $572 million in payday loan, overdraft and late fees and reduces turnover by up to 50 percent. About Hancock Whitney Since the late 1800s, Hancock Whitney has embodied core values of Honor & Integrity, Strength & Stability, Commitment to Service, Teamwork, and Personal Responsibility. Part of Hancock Whitney Corporation, Hancock Whitney offices and financial centers in Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, and Texas offer comprehensive financial products and services, including traditional and online banking; commercial and small business banking; private banking; trust and investment services; healthcare banking; certain insurance services; and mortgage services. The company also operates a loan production office in Nashville, Tennessee. BauerFinancial, Inc., the nation's leading independent bank rating and analysis firm, consistently recommends Hancock Whitney as one of America's most financially sound banks. More information is available at www.hancockwhitney.com. About PayActiv PayActiv Inc., a Public Benefit Corporation and Certified B-Corp, provides holistic financial wellness services that include on-demand access to already earned but unpaid wages, as well as savings and budgeting, bill payment and financial health measurement tools. Businesses that partner with PayActiv see significant cost reductions through increased recruitment, engagement and retention. Payactiv is the winner of the Innovative Payments Association's Consumer Champion Award for 2020, and also the winner of the Finovate 2020 Sustainability Award. Payactiv has also won best in class awards in both FinTech & HRTech and is the EWA provider to Walmart. In August 2020, PayActiv released a short film titled We Heard You . Learn more at, visit www.payactiv.com. SOURCE Payactiv Related Links http://www.payactiv.com (Natural News) Back in 2018 when President Donald Trump order strategic airstrikes against Syria to supposedly hamper the nations ability to attack Americas armed forces stationed in Iraq, virtually every Democrat lawmaker condemned the attack. However, now that Dementia Joe is bombing Syria, not a single Democrat is saying a word. Why is that, you might be asking? Because Democrats are partisan to the core. It does not matter if a Democrat president does the exact same thing as a Republican president. If a Democrat does it, there is no problem. If a Republican does it, all hell breaks loose. While such partisanship is present within the GOP as well, it is not nearly as prevalent as it is among Democrats. Democrat success is contingent, in large part, upon toeing the party line while attacking every single thing Republicans say or do. And amazingly, there are people that follow and support this insanity as if it was normal. Some went so far as to defend Bashar al Assad, writes Chastity Mansfield from the NoQreport about how Democrats responded to Trumps bombing of Syria. Others ignored Assad and focused on Syrias sovereignty. It all came down to one thing: President Trump made the call and every call President Trump made was opposed by Democrats. Joe Biden made the same call [on Feb. 25] and thus far has suffered from nearly zero attacks from these same lawmakers. China Joe is a war criminal To make matters worse, there is less reason to bomb Syria today than there was back when Trump did it. The Middle East is relatively peaceful, or so we are told, at least as it pertains to American interests. These airstrikes may or may not have been necessary, but theyre definitely less necessary than the ones President Trump ordered, Mansfield adds. Nonetheless, were not seeing the pushback. Both Kamala Harris, the alleged vice president, and Jen Psaki, the current White House press secretary, tweeted their outrage at Trumps decision to strike Syria. Neither of these two said anything when China Joe did the same thing, though. Also what is the legal authority for strikes? asked Psaki a few years back. Assad is a brutal dictator. But Syria is a sovereign country. The president needs to lay out a comprehensive strategy in Syria in consultation with Congress and he needs to do it now, declared Harris, referring to Trump. Did Beijing Biden consult with Congress before his recent decision to bomb Syria? Does Sleep Joe have some kind of comprehensive strategy in Syria that he has yet to present to the American people as justification for this aggressive military move? The answer to these two questions is no, of course. Hunters dad barely knows where he is at any given time, let alone why his regime is once again stirring the pot in the Middle East. If Trump was wrong for bombing Syria, then Biden is very wrong for doing the same thing at a time when doing so appears to be completely unnecessary as it concerns American interests. It was always the wrong move according to mainstream media, Mansfield says about the position long taken by CNN and MSNBC about bombing Syria. But as Biden puts troops back into Syria and orders similar airstrikes, major media outlets are practically bestowing Biden with a preemptive Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts. To Democrats, principles are not defined, she concludes. They are malleable to suit the given situation. Core beliefs are fickle and partisanship reigns supreme. They do not judge actions outside of the actor, which is a pitiful way of governing. More of the latest news about the Biden regime can be found at Corruption.news. Sources for this article include: NoQreport.com NaturalNews.com Ministers today admitted they are still searching for the unidentified sixth case of the Brazilian coronavirus variant in the UK as it emerged the strain has been identified in at least 15 countries not on the travel 'red list'. Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng this morning confirmed the person is yet to be found as he said 'we are still trying to work out exactly what has happened to that potential carrier'. Mr Kwarteng said the Government is 'still monitoring the situation very closely' as it scrambles to stop the variant from spreading. The strain, first discovered in the Brazilian city of Manaus, has spooked experts and ministers because it has mutations which are thought to increase transmissibility. There are also concerns that the variant can re-infect people who have previously had Covid and that it has the ability to lessen the impact of vaccines. The Government has deployed surge testing in South Gloucestershire after two cases of the variant were identified there WHAT DO WE KNOW ABOUT THE BRAZIL VARIANT? Name: B.1.1.248 or P.1 Date: Discovered in Tokyo, Japan, in four travellers arriving from Manaus, Brazil, on January 2. Why should we care? The variant has the same spike protein mutation as the highly transmissible versions found in Kent and South Africa - named N501Y - which makes the spike better able to bind to receptors inside the body. It has a third, less well-studied mutation called K417T, and the ramifications of this are still being researched. What do the mutations do? The N501Y mutation makes the spike protein better at binding to receptors in people's bodies and therefore makes the virus more infectious. Exactly how much more infectious it is remains to be seen, but scientists estimate the similar-looking variant in the UK is around 56 per cent more transmissible than its predecessor. Even if the virus doesn't appear to be more dangerous, its ability to spread faster and cause more infections will inevitably lead to a higher death rate. Another key mutation in the variant, named E484K, is also on the spike protein and is present in the South African variant. E484K may be associated with an ability to evade parts of the immune system called antibodies, researchers from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro said in a scientific paper published online. However, there are multiple immune cells and substances involved in the destruction of coronavirus when it gets into the body so this may not translate to a difference in how people get infected or recover. Do our vaccines work against it? There are concerns that vaccines might be less effective against the Brazilian strain, with trials of the Johnson & Johnson jab finding it was slightly less effective in Latin America at preventing mild or moderate cases. However, the trials found it still prevented hospitalisations and deaths. No studies have tested the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine against the P1 variant, while Moderna and Pfizer say their mRNA coronavirus vaccines should work against variants with the E484K mutation, with early results showing that these vaccines are only slightly less effective against the P1 variant. Advertisement The discovery of the six cases in the UK has prompted criticism of the Government's hotel quarantine policy, with Labour arguing it is not strict enough. Calls for the system to be toughened up are likely to grow after it emerged the concerning strain has been identified in at least 15 countries not on the 'red list'. The Guardian reported that a list of verified cases compiled by the World Health Organisation includes the US, Canada, France, Germany, Spain and Japan. The Government's 'red list' policy in England currently bans travel from more than 30 countries which have had variant outbreaks. UK citizens can still come back from those countries but they must spend 10 days in a quarantine hotel. Travellers returning from non-'red list' countries must self-isolate for 10 days at home. Labour has repeatedly called for the policy to be strengthened, arguing the Government's border measures are always 'too little, too late'. Health Secretary Matt Hancock last night defended the border arrangements as he argued that home quarantine measures were already in place and travel restrictions on Brazil had been imposed before the hotel policy was implemented. Mr Kwarteng was asked during an appearance on Sky News whether the sixth case had been found. He replied: 'I think we are still monitoring the situation very closely and you are quite right, I think there was one case of the Brazilian variant, as far as I know there are six cases, but there is one where the person involved didn't fill in the forms correctly and we are still trying to work out exactly what has happened to that potential carrier. 'But we are dealing with this situation and I would like to remind you also that we have the South African variant and we have been dealing with that too.' The missing person is thought to have been tested on February 12 or 13, possibly via a home postal test or a test collected from a local authority. In total, Public Health England has identified six UK cases of the concerning so-called P1 variant three in England and three in Scotland. Three cases are Scottish residents who flew to Aberdeen from Brazil via Paris and London, who all tested positive while self-isolating. Other passengers who were on the same flight to Aberdeen are now being traced. The other two cases in England are from the same household in South Gloucestershire after one person returned from Brazil on February 10 just days before the Government's hotel quarantine rule came into force. Two other people in the same household have also tested positive but are not currently included in the UK case total of six, while tests on their type of coronavirus continue. Officials are searching for passengers who were on the Swiss Air flight LX318 from Sao Paulo to Heathrow, via Zurich, which landed on February 10. Surge testing will now be carried out in the Bradley Stoke, Patchway and Little Stoke areas of South Gloucestershire to capture any potential spread in cases. Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said the discovery of the variant in the UK showed the Government had not 'secured our borders in the way we should have done'. Vaccines minister Nadhim Zahawi said any community transmission of the variant would be identified 'very, very quickly' through both regular PCR and lateral flow testing. Actor Rahul Raj Singh who was in a relationship with late actor Pratyusha Banerjee recently opened up about his plans to become a father. Rahul had tied the knot with actor Saloni Sharma in the year 2018. The actor expressed his wish to become a father soon but also hinted that he is still waiting for the right time for the same. Talking to The Times of India for the same, Rahul Raj Singh said he especially wants to embrace fatherhood when he sees his friends enjoying their phase of parenthood. However, the Mata Ki Chowki actor went on to say that he wants to prove himself before starting a family as he does not wish his children to go through difficult times in his life. Rahul also added that he does not want to be selfish and wants to consider the decision of his wife too, went it comes to starting a family. The actor said there is still time for him to become a father. Also Read: Kamya Punjabi Was Reminded Of Her Friend Late Pratyusha Banerjee After Rahul Vaidya's Song Rahul Raj Singh went on to say that he wishes to overcome his loss and move on with happy memories, referring to the phase when he was charged with abetment of suicide after Pratyusha Banerjee's death in the year 2016. He added that he wishes to lead a happy life. The Ajab Gajab Prem actor said that no one wants pain and sadness in their life, adding that despite being married for two years to wife Saloni Sharma, he is still waiting for the right time to start a family. The actor said that his parents and wife have a lot of hope in him and that he wishes to keep them happy as they stood by him in tough times. Also Read: Kamya Punjabi Slams Devoleena Bhattacharjee For Breaking Stuff In BB 14 House; Calls Eijaz Khan Bechara For the unversed, Rahul Raj Singh had denied the charges levied on him after Pratyusha Banerjee's demise. Rahul had also lashed out at actor Kamya Punjabi and producer Vikas Gupta for using the situation against him to gain publicity. The actor also mentioned that he is waiting for the day when karma will punish Kamya, Vikas and all the other people who misused Pratyusha's death to blame him and gain the limelight. Pratyusha and Rahul were seen together in the reality show, Power Couple. An ex-child star who had been the face of Nickelodeon adverts was found hanged after a 10-year relationship he had with the mother of his three-children came to an end, an inquest has heard. Marley Richards, who had appeared in numerous episodes of The Bill and adverts for Asda clothing range George, had set up his own electronics company and was said to be building his foundations before potentially pursuing a future as a YouTube personality. But the pandemic forced him to shut his business, and things began to spiral downward, a coroner was told today. Mr Richards, 28, had to declare himself homeless during the pandemic after the breakup forced him out of his home. After leaving his family home in Bedfordshire, he went to stay at a Holiday Inn in Elstow. The inquest was told that on June 30 last year, the manager of the hotel attempted to gain entry to the 28-year-old's bedroom after his worried mother, Eleanor, had not heard from him. The father-of-three was found hanged inside. Marley Richards, 28, was found dead at a hotel in Elstow last June. He had been left homeless after breaking up with his partner of 10-years, Francesca McIntyre Today's inquest heard how, as a promising young star, Mr Richards won awards after attending a course at the esteemed Sylvia Young Theatre School before appearing in the TV series The Bill multiple times. At 18, he fell in love with Francesca McIntyre and the pair went on to have three children over their 10 year relationship. Bedfordshire Coroner's Court heard how Mr Richards remained in 'high spirits,' despite being forced to live at a Holiday Inn after the break-up. But after receiving a concerned call from his mother, Eleanor, a manager was forced to unscrew the door to his hotel room, where they discovered Mr Richards' body. A police officer confirmed that Marley had last been seen leaving the home of his ex-partner Francesca at 8.30am on June 27. Assistant coroner Tom Stoates told the hearing how Mr Richards had been struggling with depression and anxiety for around five years, and that he had been feeling suicidal in 2019. Father-of-three Mr Richards had previously appeared in adverts for Nickelodeon and Asda brand George, as well as episodes of The Bill. An inquest into his death heard he had been struggling with anxiety and depression for around five years A GP stated how Mr Richards had visited last May to say he had been feeling low as the break-up had left him homeless and the coronavirus pandemic had forced his business to close. The inquest heard how Mr Richards left a note on his phone prior to his death. Reading an extract aloud, Mr Stoates said: 'I hate that I cannot take it anymore. I stayed on top of everything for more than two months, I am just so done with this world and this life. 'I am sorry to God for sinning and I am sorry that I was not strong enough to carry on.' The inquest was told that days before his body was discovered, Marley had met his friend, Paul King, where he expressed having suicidal thoughts following the break-up of his relationship. After offering him support, the friend reported a few days later that the pair were planning to move in together and start up a YouTube channel. In an emotional statement to the court, Marley's mother Eleanor Richards said: 'Everywhere he went people gravitated towards him. 'Growing up, he was the popular kid, the joker, the class clown, he would always have friends around. A police officer confirmed that Marley had last been seen leaving the home of his ex-partner Francesca at 8.30am on June 27 'Marley passed the scholarship to attend a private school and often won awards. He was a favourite at his model agency in London often being called for advertisements for Asda George and Nickelodeon. 'Marley won a scholarship after attending a boarding course at Sylvia Young and in his teenage years he appeared in The Bill TV series multiple times. 'People would describe him as a cheerful, radiant, vibrant, colourful, charming character - he was very bubbly, funny and full of humour. '(He was) sometimes naive with people's intentions, always seeing the good in people. 'Marley was often too forgiving and kind-hearted. 'We all made a fuss of him, he was treated like a celebrity by all of our family. Marley was a homebody, who loved nothing more than watching a movie with the kids or playing Xbox with them. 'He was very smart, diplomatic and had everything to live for, with many future plans.' Mr Stoates recorded a conclusion of suicide. If you are struggling, please call Samaritans on 116 123. The Joint Forces had to fire back, the report said. The Command of Ukraine's Armed Forces has reported seven violations of the latest ceasefire agreement committed by Russia-controlled armed groups in the Donbas warzone on Monday, March 1. "In the past day, March 1, seven 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 March 2, 2021. In particular, the occupation forces fired automatic grenade launchers near the village of Vodiane, and anti-tank grenade launchers near the town of Krasnohorivka and the village of Pavlopil. Also, they used heavy machine guns near Krasnohorivka, and automatic rifles near the village of Nevelske. "One member of the Armed Forces of Ukraine suffered a combat wound and another eight soldiers sustained combat-related injuries in the explosion of [their] military vehicle caused by an improvised explosive device near Pavlopil," the JFO HQ said. Read alsoRussia uses Donbas as testing ground for new sniper weapons intelThe soldiers were rushed to the hospital. Senior officers of the respective military unit and military law enforcers are working on the scene. A probe into the incident is under way, it said. What is more, Russia-controlled armed formations used automatic and hand-held anti-tank grenade launchers to shell Ukrainian positions near the village of Bohdanivka, as well as grenade launchers of various systems and heavy machine guns were used near the village of Luhanske. The Joint Forces had to fire back, the report said. Since midnight, enemy forces have not attacked Ukrainian troops. The Ukrainian military say the situation is under full control. Donbas ceasefire: Background Participants in the Trilateral Contact Group (Ukraine, Russia, and the OSCE) on the peace settlement in Donbas on July 22 agreed on a full and comprehensive ceasefire along the contact line from 00:01 on Monday, July 27, 2020. On the very first day of the newly-agreed truce, Russia's hybrid military forces mounted three attacks on Ukrainian positions in Donbas, eastern Ukraine. Ukraine has reported more such violations over the latest period. Reporting by UNIAN Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Democrats Pushing HR1 Reforms Through House Without Hearings, Few GOP Amendments Democrats pushed their H.R. 1 For the People Act to the House floor on March 2, while allowing consideration of only a handful of Republican amendments and after only a single perfunctory committee hearing. The massive proposal of nearly 800 pages would make federal laws out of many of the most controversial 2020 presidential election voter registration and voting proceduresmeasures that were originally implemented by state officials in response to the CCP virus pandemic and national lockdown. The virus is also known as the novel coronavirus. The House debated the bill most of the morning, then began consideration of 56 amendments allowed to be brought to the floor for votes. Only seven of the amendments were authored by Republicans. A vote on final passage is expected on March 3. Among the most hotly contested provisions of H.R.1 are those providing universal national mail-in balloting, registration of 16- and 17-year-olds, permanent early voting, minimal verification for online registration, legalization of ballot harvesting, federal matching funds to candidates for private contributions, and voting rights for felons upon completion of their sentences. But the proposal also contains major changes in a multitude of areas of American governance, including such constitutional issues as bureaucratic regulation of who can say what and when about a candidate for federal office. The Federal Election Commission (FEC) would be converted to a partisan-majority-rules entity rather than the present structure that requires bipartisan support for regulations. The proposal also allows federal candidates to draw salaries from campaign funds contributed by individuals and special interests concerned about proposals before Congress, a form of compensation that has never previously been legal. The proposal also transfers from the states the authority to determine their congressional districts to new independent commissions to be made up of academics, public officials, and private citizens. During the morning general debate on the bill, House Administration Committee Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.) said: The last election, conducted during a once-in-a-generation pandemic saw changes that made it easier for many Americans to vote. Reforms like absentee voting and early voting. It also put into stark focus what many of us already knew, deep inequities persist in our democratic system. Lofgren, who managed presentations by supporters, claimed the 2020 election had a record turnout with no credible instance of election irregularity, and we should protect access to the ballot, not restrict it. Rep. Rodney Davis (R-Ill.), the ranking Republican on the administration committee and manager of the opposition presentations, told the House during the morning debate that the bill is nearly 800 pages of provisions that take away election decisions from state and local and puts them in the hands of the federal government. It attacks Americans First Amendment rights to free speech and it publicly funds members of Congress campaigns using corporate dollars H.R. 1 would launder corporate dollars through the U.S. Treasury and use those dollars to publicly fund congressional campaigns. I know when I speak with my constituents back home, establishing a program that helps me acquire more money for my campaign is not what they think the federal government should be working on. Rep. Debbie Lesko (R-Ariz.) described the bill as not for the people, its for the politicians. The bill weaponizes the Federal Election Commission, infringes on states rights, and drastically limits freedom of speech. At one point during the proceedings, Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) asked: Why dont we have a debate here on the problems and potential concerns with mail-in ballots that is part of a nonpartisan concern? Why do we not have the debate robustly here on the floor for the American people to see? House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) responded: Thats a legitimate debate to have and I think weve been having that debate and very frankly, I tell my friend from Texas, I think weve won that debate. Weve won it in the courts over and over and over again. Lofgrens panel, which has jurisdiction over federal election oversight authority, held a Feb. 25 hearing on H.R. 1 that Republicans described as much less than should be devoted to a legislative proposal of such magnitude. Davis told the hearing that he and his two GOP colleagues on the panel have submitted a total of 25 amendments here today. Weve submitted these amendments because the majority decided not to go through regular order and deny the minority and many Americans a voice in this legislation. Not only did this bill not go through a markup, but our committee only held one hearing on this nearly 800-page bill. The hearing was four days ago. During the hearing, the Minoritys witness was the only person on the panel who has actually administered an election. He testified that H.R. 1 would not only be difficult for many states to implement but it would undermine many policies states are putting in place to improve the election process for the unique needs of their voters. The House is expected to continue debating the 56 amendments for the rest of the day. Updated at 4:20 p.m. ET on 2021-03-01 Southeast Asian foreign ministers will hold a special meeting on Tuesday on the political crisis in Myanmar, the Indonesian foreign ministry said, as the regional and international community condemned a deadly weekend crackdown against pro-democracy protesters. The online meeting was scheduled to begin at 3 p.m. Jakarta time (8 a.m. GMT) and would be hosted by Brunei, this years chair of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), Indonesian foreign ministry spokesman Teuku Faizasyah said on Monday. We are making preparations for the meeting, Faizasyah told BenarNews, an RFA-affiliated online news service. Indonesia and Malaysia were the first ASEAN nations to call for such a meeting on the Myanmar militarys ouster of the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi on Feb 1. A special ASEAN foreign ministers meeting will be convened via video conference tomorrow and where we will listen to the representative of the Myanmar military authorities, Singapore Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan said in parliament on Monday, according to a transcript of his remarks on the foreign ministry website. "We therefore call on all parties in Myanmar to engage in discussions and to negotiate in good faith, to pursue a long-term peaceful political solution to achieve national reconciliation, including a return to the path of democratic transition," Balakrishnan said. "And we believe this can only begin if President U Win Myint, State Counsellor and Foreign Minister Aung San Suu Kyi, and the other political detainees are immediately released," he added. On Sunday, Myanmar clearly ignored Indonesias recent call to exercise restraint and avoid bloodshed. At least 18 people were killed and more than 30 wounded on Sunday across Myanmar, as security forces shot flash-bang and stun grenades and fired live and rubber bullets at protesters. The violence occurred days after Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi told her Myanmar counterpart in a face-to-face meeting in Bangkok that the safety and well-being of the Myanmar people was an utmost priority. Following Sundays bloodshed, Indonesia said it was extremely concerned about the escalating violence in Myanmar, in a rare comment by an ASEAN country on the internal affairs of a fellow member of the 10-nation group, Indonesia calls on security forces to exercise restraint and not to resort to violence to avoid further loss of lives and prevent the situation from worsening, the foreign ministry said in a statement on Sunday. Inexcusable use of lethal force on civilians Other ASEAN neighbors on Monday also joined calls for an end to violence in Myanmar. We are deeply concerned over the loss of innocent lives and injuries during the ongoing situation in Myanmar, Malaysian Foreign Minister Hishammuddin Hussein said in a statement. All relevant parties must exercise utmost restraint from the use of violence that could affect the safety of members of the public and further escalate the situation in the country, he said, after talks with his Brunei counterpart Erywan Yusof in Bandar Sri Begawan. Amid criticism that ASEAN countries are not taking a uniform and strong stand on the Myanmar coup, Hishammuddin said the regional bloc must play a more proactive role to contribute toward the return to normalcy in the country. It is crucial that ASEAN leads a sincere discussion and constructively engages with Myanmar and all stakeholders to show that ASEAN is effective as a cohesive regional grouping, in addressing the expectations of our external partners, and in avoiding unnecessary unilateral responses that may affect the region unfavorably, he said. Myanmars use of lethal force against civilians, was inexcusable, Singapore's top diplomat, Balakrishnan, said in parliament on Monday, according to regional media. We are appalled by the violence and we will say that tomorrow, the minister said in an interview on Mediacorp Channel 5s News Tonight, about Tuesdays scheduled meeting. ASEAN foreign ministers will remind the Myanmar military that the coup will cause grievous damage to the country, Balakrishnan said. Retno and her Thai counterpart Don Pramudwinai met in Bangkok last Wednesday with the Myanmar juntas foreign envoy, Wunna Maung Lwin, prompting criticism from activists who said that doing so gave legitimacy to the generals in Naypyidaw. Retno defended the meeting, saying to do nothing is not an option. Singapores Balakrishnan said that ASEAN can play a constructive role in helping a return to normalcy and stability in Myanmar even though the blocs foundational principle is non-interference. Still, this could only work if Myanmars junta releases Suu Kyi and other political detainees, Balakrishnan said. More than 1,100 people have been arrested, charged, and sentenced since the military declared a state of emergency a month ago, according to the Thailand-based Assistance Association for Political Prisoners. U.S. condemns abhorrent violence United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres strongly condemned the Myanmar violence. The Secretary-General urges the international community to come together and send a clear signal to the military that it must respect the will of the people of Myanmar as expressed through the election and stop the repression, Stephane Dujarric, Guterres spokesman, said in a statement on Sunday. Myanmars people have the right to assemble peacefully and demand the restoration of democracy, U.N. Human Rights Office spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani said on Sunday. These fundamental rights must be respected by the military and police, not met with violence and bloody oppression, she said. Meanwhile, the United States may impose additional sanctions on those responsible for the violence in Myanmar, U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said in a statement on Sunday. The U.S. Treasury Department on Feb. 11 had announced financial sanctions against ten individuals and three entities connected to the military apparatus responsible for the coup. We will continue coordinating closely with allies and partners in the Indo-Pacific region and around the world to hold those responsible for violence to account, and to reinforce our support for the people of Burma, Sullivan said on Sunday. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken also condemned the abhorrent violence by Myanmar's security forces against the protesters. We will continue to promote accountability for those responsible, Blinken said on Twitter. Reported by BenarNews, an RFA-affiliated online news service, and by RFA's Myanmar Service. Bill Burr has spoken out in support of his former Mandalorian co-star Gina Carano, three weeks after she was fired from the Disney+ series over her social media posts. The conservative actress, 38, was let go by bosses on February 11 after she shared a post comparing the current political climate to that of Nazi Germany. Fans of Carano claim she is a victim of cancel culture at the hands of a vocal 'woke mob' - and many have come to her defense. Her supporters include comedian Joe DeRosa who appeared on Burr's Bill Bert podcast last Wednesday to discuss the issue - prompting Burr to express support for his former co-star. DeRosa stated: 'You can say that her post was stupid or clumsy, but the reaction to it was so crazy. 'Whether you agree, disagree, whatever, I just don't get this place that we're in where there's no room for discussion about anything. Burr - who plays Miggs Mayfield on the Star Wars spin-off series - concurred, saying: 'It's a weird time... She [Carano] was an absolute sweetheart. Super nice f*cking person.' Burr added that he now has to censor himself given that he has a spot on the hit show. 'I'm on that f*cking show. Now, I gotta watch what the f*ck I say,' he stated. 'Someone will take this video and they'll make me say something else and try to get rid of my [Mandalorian] action figureIt's how it is out there. It's f*cking crazy times. People just waiting, laying in the weeds.' Bill Burr is speaking out in support of his conservative Mandalorian co-star Gina Carano, three weeks after she was fired from the Disney+ series for expressing her political views. The pair are pictured together on the hit Star Wars spin-off show Last Wednesday, comedian Joe DeRosa (bottom) appeared on Bill Burr's Bill Bert podcast expressing shock at Carano's firing, prompting Burr (top left) to express support for his former co-star The 38-year-old actress was let go by bosses on February 11 after she shared a social media post comparing the current political climate to that of Nazi Germany Burr's statements come less than a week after Carano broke her silence following her firing. In a sit down interview last Sunday, the actress told Ben Shapiro that she felt that she was a victim of double standards because her liberal co-stars were free to express their political beliefs. 'They'd been all over me and they'd been watching me like a hawk,' Carano said of the studio executives. 'And I'm watching other people on the same production and they can say everything they want, and that's where I had a problem.' During the interview, Shapiro noted that Carano's co-star - left-wing lead actor Pedro Pascal - had also previously used Nazi comparisons in a social media post. Back in 2018, Pascal shared an image to his Twitter account comparing US ICE detention centers to Nazi concentration camps. Carano claimed that Pascal had been able to get away with such an act because he was a liberal, while she was punished because she was conservative. However, she stated that she still was firm friends with Pascal in spite of their political differences. 'I adore Pedro,' Carano stated. 'We had an agreement after we realized we were a little bit politically different. We had an agreement that, first and foremost, you're a human being. And you're my friend first.' Carano, who played Cara Dune in the first two seasons of the series, was fired on Februay 11 Carano, who played Cara Dune in the first two seasons of the series, was fired on Februay 11 after igniting an uproar on social media over an Instagram post invoking the Holocaust. She shared a message on Instagram Stories which stated: 'Jews were beaten in the streets, not by Nazi soldiers but by their neighbors.... even by children.' 'Because history is edited, most people today don't realize that to get to the point where Nazi soldiers could easily round up thousands of Jews, the government first made their own neighbors hate them simply for being Jews. 'How is that any different from hating someone for their political views?' The hashtag 'fire Gina Carano' soon began circulating. Carano told Shapiro that she wasn't the only one who felt 'bullied' on set for their political beliefs, and claims others who held conservative views were reluctant to speak out Carano told Shapiro that nobody at Disney or Lucasfilm spoke with her personally to inform her that she would not be returning to the hit streaming series. 'How I found out [that I was fired] was that I looked on the internet, and you know, you check your Twitter and I'm trending and the 'fire Gina Carano' hashtag worked,' she said. Carano said that she was accidentally sent an email by a Disney employee. She said the email revealed that there were those in the company who 'went to bat for me' but 'they didn't win out at the end.' The star insists she wasn't the only one who felt 'bullied' on set for their political beliefs, and claims others who held conservative views were reluctant to speak out. 'I'm not the only one that's ever been bullied by this company, and I know that so deeply.' 'I've seen the bullying that takes place, and so when this started, they point their guns at you, and you know it's only a matter of time.' She added: 'I've seen it happen to so many people, and I just thought to myself () 'you're coming for me, I know you are.' 'They're making it very obvious through their employees who were coming for me, and so I was like, 'I'm going to go down swinging and I'm going to stay true to myself''. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Many KY Businesses Can Increase To 60% Capacity By West Kentucky Star Staff FRANKFORT - On Monday, Governor Andy Beshear announced that restaurants, bars, theaters and 15 other businesses can increase capacity to 60 percent as the state completes its seventh straight week of declining COVID cases.Beshear confirmed the lowest number of new cases since September 28, and the lowest positivity rate since October 18. Kentucky's positivity rate currently stands at 4.84 percent."We've never seen what we are seeing now in terms of a downward trend," said Gov. Beshear. "COVID hospitalizations, ICU admittance and those needing a ventilator have either decreased or stabilized. We will watch and see to ensure we don't see a corresponding increase in cases."Under the new guidelines, the following businesses can increase capacity: Indoor auctions Barbershops/cosmetology/hair salons Bars and restaurants Bowling alleys Indoor educational and cultural activities Fitness centers Funeral and memorial services Government offices/agencies Massage therapy Movie theaters Nail salons Office-based businesses Places of worship (recommendation) Retail Tanning salons Tattoo parlors Vehicle and vessel dealerships Venues and event spacesBeshear has also signaled his support for increasing child care capacity to regular group sizes on March 15 if the current trends continue.On Monday, Beshear confirmed 509 new cases and 15 deaths. McCracken County was included on the list of top counties with the most positive cases.You can see Beshear's full update below.On the Net: (Reuters) - Some of Myanmar's neighbours pressed its ruling junta on Tuesday to release ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi and cease using lethal force against opponents of their Feb. 1 coup to work out a solution to the crisis. The calls from fellow members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) came as Myanmar police again opened fire to disperse crowds after weeks of demonstrations against military rule. Several people were wounded, witnesses said. ASEAN foreign ministers held talks with a representative of the junta in a video call two days after the bloodiest day of unrest since the military overthrew Suu Kyi's elected government. At least 21 people have been killed since the coup, which Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said in an interview with the BBC was a "tragic" step back for Myanmar. The foreign minister of Indonesia, which has been pushing a regional diplomatic effort, urged Myanmar to "open its doors" to the ASEAN bloc to resolve the escalating tension, but said there was little it could do if it did not. Retno Marsudi, called for the release of political detainees and for the restoration of democracy, while pledging that ASEAN countries would not break their pledge of not interfering in each other's affairs. "Restoring democracy back on track must be pursued," Retno said. "Indonesia underlines that the will, the interest and the voices of the people of Myanmar must be respected." The foreign ministers of Malaysia and the Philippines also called for the release of Suu Kyi. But some countries were less emphatic and a statement from the group said "all parties" should refrain from instigating violence and that ASEAN stood ready to help. ASEAN groups Myanmar, Singapore, the Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Malaysia, Brunei and Vietnam. The bloc's effort to engage with Myanmar's military has been criticised by supporters of democracy, with a committee of ousted Myanmar lawmakers declaring the junta a terrorist group and saying ASEAN's engagement would give it legitimacy. Story continues Sa Sa, a senior member of the committee who has been anointed as its representative to the United Nations, said ASEAN should have no dealings with "this illegitimate military-led regime". Myanmar's own representative to the United Nations denounced the coup last week and after the junta announced he had been fired, he staked a formal claim as the legitimate representative, according to letters seen by Reuters. CONDEMNATION The coup halted Myanmar's tentative steps towards democracy after nearly 50 years of military rule and has drawn condemnation and sanctions from the United States and other Western countries. Singapore's Lee said sanctions would not affect the junta but hurt the people and the way forward was to free Suu Kyi and work out a solution - describing the takeover as "an enormous tragic step back". "To use lethal force against civilians and unarmed demonstrators, I think it is just not acceptable. That is disastrous not just internationally, but disastrous domestically," said. Hundreds of protesters, many wearing hard hats and clutching makeshift shields, gathered earlier behind barricades in different parts of Myanmar's main city of Yangon to chant slogans before police moved in firing stun grenades. There were no reports of injuries in Yangon but four people were wounded in the northwestern town of Kale, where police fired live ammunition to disperse a crowd after protesters threw objects at advancing police, witnesses said. State television MRTV later said security forces used stun grenades, rubber bullets and other non-lethal measures. "They were acting like they were in a war zone," a teacher at the protest who declined to be identified said of the police. MRTV said that crowds were being instigated through social media by illegal organisations and causing instability. It said 12 "riotous protesters" had been detained in Yangon. After the use of force by security forces on the streets, people protested from their balconies after dark across Yangon, chanting "the revolution must succeed" and calls for Suu Kyi's health. The military justified the coup saying its complaints of fraud in a November election won by Suu Kyi's party were ignored. The election commission said the vote was fair. Junta leader Senior General Min Aung Hlaing has pledged to hold new elections and hand power to the winner but has given no time frame. Suu Kyi, 75, appeared at a court hearing via video conferencing on Monday and looked in good health, one of her lawyers said. Two more charges were added to those filed against her after the coup, the lawyer said. More than 1,100 people have been detained, according to activists, among them six journalists in Yangon, one of whom works for the Associated Press, which has called for his release. (Reporting by Reuters Staff; Additional reporting by Tom Allard, Jospeh Sipalan; Writing by Martin Petty and Rob Birsel; Editing by Stephen Coates, Simon Cameron-Moore and Nick Macfie) Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full 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 President Donald Trump addresses the Conservative Political Action Conference on Sunday in Orlando, Florida. Joe Raedle/Getty Images Trump spoke at CPAC on Sunday in his first major speech since leaving the White House. The former president hinted at a 2024 run and railed against President Joe Biden. We fact-checked his false statements, including his claim that he won the election. Visit the Business section of Insider for more stories. Former President Donald Trump spoke at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Orlando, Florida, on Sunday, his first speech since leaving the White House. Trump hinted at a 2024 run, said he would not form a new party, and targeted Republicans who had supported his impeachment. He criticized Democrats, cancel culture, and big tech - and especially President Joe Biden. He also made several statements that were false or misleading. We've fact-checked them here. "As you know, they just lost the White House," Trump said about Democrats. "Who knows, I may even decide to beat them for a third time." Trump repeatedly said he won the 2020 presidential election and repeated many of the unsubstantiated claims he has made since Election Day. Biden won the election and was sworn in on January 20. Trump and his allies lost virtually all of the dozens of lawsuits challenging the result of the election. Attorney General Bill Barr said the Justice Department and the FBI had found no evidence of widespread fraud that would've altered the result. "What has taken place over the last year under our administration would have taken any other president at least five years," Trump said of the vaccine creation. "We also put up billions and billions of dollars, $10 billion, to produce the vaccines before we knew they were going to work. It was called a calculated bet or a calculated risk. We took a risk because if we didn't do that you still wouldn't have the vaccines." The two coronavirus vaccines that were authorized for use in the US last year were made by Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna. Pfizer did not accept any government money to develop or test the vaccine from Trump's Operation Warp Speed, The Associated Press reported. Story continues "Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine development and manufacturing costs have been entirely self-funded," Jerica Pitts, a Pfizer spokeswoman, said in November. "We decided to self-fund our efforts so we could move as fast as possible." In July, the US agreed to buy 100 million doses worth about $2 billion from Pfizer, but only if the vaccine development succeeded and the Food and Drug Administration approved it for use. "Joe Biden is only implementing the plan that we put in place," Trump said about vaccine distribution. The Trump administration fell far short of its goal to vaccinate 20 million people by the end of 2020 - As of December 30, fewer than 2.8 million people had received their first shot, and about 12.4 million doses had been shipped. Experts told Insider that the absence of clear federal guidance delayed vaccine rollouts and led to a patchwork response that varied by state. Biden made several changes including enlisting the Federal Emergency Management Agency to open 100 federally supported mass vaccination sites across the country. FEMA said that since January 20 it had directed about $4 billion to vaccination efforts and opened or expanded 440 community vaccine centers across the country. "Yet Biden said just a few days ago that when he got here, meaning the White House, there was no vaccine," Trump said. "Now I don't think he said that, frankly, in a malicious way. I really don't. I actually believe he said that because he didn't really know what the hell was happening." Trump was referring to an interview with CNN's Anderson Cooper in which Biden said: "When you and I talked last, we talked about - it's one thing to have the vaccine, which we didn't have when we came into office, but a vaccinator - how do you get the vaccine into someone's arm?" Kayleigh McEnany, Trump's former press secretary, seized on the comment, tweeting that it was false and asking, "How does Joe get away with this?" But a couple of minutes before Biden made that remark, he said, "We have - we came into office, there was only 50 million doses that were available." "In addition, he's already increased refugee admissions by nearly 10 times," Trump said of the president. The AP reported that Biden wanted to admit four times as many refugees as Trump, not 10 times. Trump's annual limit of 15,000 refugees was a record low. Biden wants to increase that to 62,500. "Frankly, we have the cleanest air, the cleanest water, and everything else that we've ever had," Trump said, suggesting it was unnecessary to join the Paris climate agreement. Trump has repeatedly said that the US had the cleanest air and water ever under his administration. Federal data indicated that the air in the US got dirtier and more dangerous to breathe under his administration. Trump said of wind power: "It's such an expensive form of energy. It's so bad for the environment. It kills the birds. It destroys the landscapes." Trump was presumably referring to the power outages in Texas in February as a result of severe winter storms. Conservative pundits made misleading claims about renewable energy sources, saying that Texans lost power because wind turbines froze. However, most energy sources that went offline during the storms were power plants that run on fossil fuels including natural gas. The agency that manages the state's energy grid expected wind farms to produce only 7% of its energy this winter. Trump has also said before that wind turbines are killing "all the birds." But wind turbines are not a significant cause of death for birds: Wind turbines kill about 234,000 birds every year, while cats kill 2.4 billion birds. You can watch the full speech here. Read the original article on Business Insider Still more questions than answers on SolarWinds attack At a Feb. 26 hearing on the hack linked to vulnerabilities in SolarWinds' IT management software, members of Congress learned the hackers were particular about what they were looking for. According to information shared by Rep. Jim Langevin (D-R.I.), about 77 individual email accounts were accessed in the hack -- quite a small number when compared to the total number of accounts across the thousands of organizations that installed compromised SolarWinds' code. "I think that was indicative of the stealthy practices that this actor tends to deploy, namely, to take great care to be very discreet," Microsoft President Brad Smith said. The damage assessment's going to be based on the content of the emails," FireEye CEO Kevin Mandia said. "How that information is intended to be used -- we dont know. That's the problem. We have to get our arms around all the content, and all the potential use and misuse of all that content." SolarWinds CEO Sudhakar Ramakrishna, said his company is closer to understanding how the malware was injected into updates for its Orion IT management software product. They're focused on three possibilities, he said. One is the password spraying; the next, credential theft, and the third is through a vulnerability in third-party software used by the company in their on-premise infrastructure. "Just like other companies on this witness stand, we use a lot of third-party software as well, and we are looking at it in those three dimensions at this point. We are evaluating several petabytes of data to be able to sift through this in the hopes that we can pinpoint patient zero in this context," Ramakrishna. Witnesses told lawmakers that once hackers were in a network, they were able to take advantage of lapses in basic cybersecurity practices to expand their reach. Its likely they were able to access Justice Department accounts using methods like stealing passwords, Smith said. Some lawmakers also asked questions about threat hunting, the practice of proactively looking for cyber threats in a network. The ability for the Cybersecurity and Information Security Agency to conduct threat hunting on federal agency networks, as provided by the 2021 National Defense Authorization Act, is "exactly the right thing to do," Mandia said. Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.) asked how the federal government can support private companies that threat hunt on federal networks. The most important step will be centralized cyber breach reporting, Smith told him, as well as sharing information back out to the private sector. The area will need more legislation, he said. One hurdle Congress will also need to address is the ways that agencies restrict contractors from sharing their cybersecurity information about what they are seeing with other parts of the federal government. "One of the specific things that we had to do in December was go to each agency, tell them that we had identified that they were a victim of this and then we had to say, 'You need to go over to this person in the other part of the government to let them know. Please do that, we cannot do that for you,'" Smith explained. "Some of the largest companies in our industry, that are well-known to have been involved in this that still have not spoken publicly about what they know," Smith said. "There's no indication that they even informed customers. And I'm worried that to some degree some other companies, some of our competitors even, just didn't look very hard." To address that gap, Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas) announced that he and Langevin are working on a bill that would establish CISA as a kind of clearinghouse for breach notification. By removing sources, methods and company names from reporting data, the legislation would protect companies from market repercussions, McCaul said. This article was first posted to FCW, a sibling site to GCN. KABUL In a phone call today, the Foreign Ministers of Afghanistan and Japan discussed the Afghan peace process, continuation of Japanese assistance to Afghanistan, aid effectiveness and the fight against corruption, the investigation into the assassination of Tetsu Nakamura, and the expansion of bilateral relations between the two friendly countries. The Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan Mohammad Haneef Atmar called Japan a trusted and generous partner and expressed gratitude for Tokyo's continued assistance. Mr. Atmar shared the latest developments in the peace process with his Japanese counterpart, including the Taliban's breaches of their commitments. He briefed the Japanese Foreign Minister about the Government of IRoA's commitment to advance the peace process and fulfill its obligations in this regard. The Japanese Foreign Minister condemned the targeted killings and car bombings in Afghanistan, calling for a reduction in violence and making progress in the peace process. Mr. Toshimitsu Motegi assured Mr. Atmar that Japan would continue to provide aid assistance to Afghanistan until 2024 and help our country fight the Covid 19 pandemic. He highlighted the effectiveness of aid assistance and stressed the importance of combatting corruption in this regard. Mr. Motegi also thanked Afghanistan for investigating the murder of late Mr. Tetsu Nakamura. In the end, both sides placed great emphasis on the expansion of bilateral relations between the two friendly countries. Prior to joining The McChrystal Group, Wood was the Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer of Chemtura Corporation, a specialty chemicals company, from 2004 until 2008. He also served in various senior management positions over a 27-year career at Dow Chemical Company before joining Chemtura. Wood previously served as a director at Praxair and Jarden. "Bob brings a wealth of experience to Hyperion through his many years in leadership roles at world-class specialty materials companies," said Ron Voigt, CEO of Hyperion. "We are focused on deploying and developing talent throughout the organization, and Bob's background brings a unique set of skills to help enable Hyperion to achieve our strategic goals. We are thrilled to have him join our Board of Directors." "We are pleased to welcome Bob to the Board," said Josh Weisenbeck, KKR Partner who leads KKR's Industrials investment team and Director on Hyperion's Board. "Bob is an experienced business executive, having led large, global businesses through complex markets over the course of his career. As Hyperion continues its growth strategy, we look forward to the valuable insights Bob will bring to the organization." "We are thrilled to add an experienced Board member such as Bob Wood to our North America Private Equity portfolio," added Pete Stavros, Co-Head of Americas Private Equity at KKR and Chairman of Hyperion's Board. "At both our private and public portfolio companies, our North America Private Equity franchise will continue to use our boards to support our portfolio companies on their key strategic goals and operational initiatives with unique and seasoned talent like Bob Wood." About Hyperion Materials & Technologies Hyperion Materials & Technologies is a global leader in hard and super-hard materials with more than 60 years of experience in cemented carbide, diamond and cubic boron nitride technologies. To learn more, visit HyperionMT.com or check out Hyperion's profiles on LinkedIn or YouTube. Media Contact: David Means [email protected] SOURCE Hyperion Materials & Technologies Related Links https://www.hyperionmt.com/ Once again, a man has been caught up between two women, with the blame and backlash being directed towards the mistress. This is the case for former Nairobi Woman Representative aspirant Karen Nyamu, who over the weekend finally came clean on the worst-kept secret about the paternity of her secondborn son. After months of denying her apparent affair with Samuel Muchoki alias Samidoh, Karen Nyamu on Saturday shared a video of the married Kikuyu benga musician cuddling their son, Sam Junior, at her home. She bragged: A dad doesnt tell you that he loves you, he shows you #muchokis. The video effectively opened a can of worms as social media users quickly bashed Nyamu for dating a married man. It also happened to be the same day that Samidohs wife, Edith Edday Nderitu, was apparently involved in a road accident. Hours after Nyamus post, Edday took to social media to describe the accident as a close shave with death. Thank God for saving my life and that of my friends, aki nimeamini Leo devil is a woman, the mother of two posted. This further galvanized fans into criticizing Nyamu, accusing her of being a homewrecker. One fan, using the username hadassahnjagzz, wrote on Nyamus video: So what!! Sio wewe wamwisho The truth is youll remain a mistress woman! Dont think he will leave his wife and marry you and by the way, take care of your child! To which Nyamu responded: @hadassahnjagzz listen, Im not a petty woman like you to be happy with a man who can leave his wife. Thats a boy. Does it pain you so much that he is taking care of his son? Kama chungu tema. Another netizen, Jane James, posted: Youre dating a married man and think he would never cheat on you. Karen replied: Hehehe hio nayo imetoka wapi. Mimi ndio sijui kucheat? Nyamu further took to her Insta-stories to address her critics in a series of posts. She wrote: A bunch of extremely bitter women frothing at the mouth when they see a child bonding with their Dad. Sasa Nyinyi Dua la Kuku halimpati Mwewe, sio mimi nimesema ni Wahenga. Nyamu, whose campaign slogan in 2017 was Bae wa Nairobi, further declared: I will never stop posting my family! I have nothing to hide in my life now She added: Ati ooh why are you posting kama anakupenda akupopst? Basi Hanipendi!! Posting posting is for boys and women?. Kama Chungu immediately and without further [email protected] Blood is thick!! Here are some screengrabs. Kamloops, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - March 2, 2021) -Advance Gold Corp. (TSXV: AAX) ("Advance Gold" or "the Company") is pleased to announce that, its wholly owned Mexican subsidiary, Advance Gold S.A. de C.V., ("Advance Mexico"), has signed a purchase agreement to acquire a series of 13 lithium-potassium-boron prospective salars in central Mexico. Additionally, it will acquire a pilot plant designed and built under the guidance of Dr. Roberto Perez Garibay, an expert in mineral recovery, and a patented extraction method. Terms of Deal Advance Gold has the right to purchase 90% interest in 13 lithium-potassium-boron prospective salars in the states of Zacatecas and San Luis Potosi, Mexico from Hot Spring Mining a private Mexican company; Hot Spring Mining will retain a 10% carried interest through to production that will convert to a participating interest upon commercial production; Advance Gold will pay 5 million shares upon regulatory approval of the deal; Advance Gold will purchase the test plant, built by Hot Spring Mining designed by Dr. Roberto Garibay, for $150,000 USD within 2 years; Advance Gold will have exclusive rights to proprietary lithium extraction method that has been patented; In the event of a sale of either the mining rights or Advance's subsidiary, Advance Mexico, 75% of the proceeds will go to Advance Gold and 25% to Hot Spring Mining. Allan Barry Laboucan, President and CEO of Advance Gold Corp. commented: "We are excited to diversify our portfolio of projects with a group of lithium-potassium-boron prospective salars in central Mexico. There is a strong investor appetite for lithium projects due to the quest for alternative energy sources, with the new Biden administration in America, and worldwide. What makes the salars impressive is that Dr. Roberto Perez Garibay, at the prestigious Center for Research and Advanced Studies of the National Polytechnic Institute (Cinvestav) Saltillo Unit, Mexico, an expert in mineral recovery, has done studies to test material from salars in central Mexico. In his research he concluded that they are amenable to magnetic and heavy mineral separation, creating a concentrate that reacts very favourably to common leaching methods for lithium recovery over short periods of time measured in hours with high recoveries. In addition, as part of the transaction, a test plant will be purchased which was built under the guidance of Dr. Roberto Perez Garibay. The first order of business will be to begin bulk sampling of material from our salars, putting it through the test plant to further understand the economics of magnetic and heavy mineral separation and leaching characteristics. These salars give us the potential for near-term lithium production and complement our efforts in precious metals exploration. Having new battery metal projects gives the Company options, possibly spinning it off to shareholders in the future." Dr. Julio Pinto Linares is a qualified person, doctor in geological sciences with specialty in economic geology and qualified professional No. 01365 by MMSA for Advance Gold and is the qualified person as defined by National Instrument 43-101 responsible for the accuracy of technical information contained in this news release. About Advance Gold Corp. Advance Gold is a junior exploration company focused on acquiring and exploring mineral properties containing precious metals. The company acquired a 100-per-cent interest in the Tabasquena silver mine in Zacatecas, Mexico, in 2017, and the Venaditas project, also in Zacatecas state, in April, 2018. In addition, Advance Gold holds an 11.79% interest in strategic claims in the Liranda Corridor in Kenya, East Africa. The remaining 88.21% of the Kakamega project is held by Shanta Gold Limited (project previously owned by Barrick Gold Corporation, for details see Advance Gold News Release dated 2020-08-26). For further information, please contact: Allan Barry Laboucan, President and CEO Phone 492-238-5282 (Direct-Mexico Cell) Email: allan@advancegold.ca www.advancegold.ca 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 the Company believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results may differ materially from those in forward based on the beliefs, estimates and opinions of the Company's management on the date the statements are made. The Company undertakes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements in the event that management's beliefs, estimates or opinions, or other factors should change, except as required by law. Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/75749 Since 2019 the World Customs Organization (WCO) and the European Union (EU) are partners in a Project called COLIBRI: monitoring and controlling general aviation along the cocaine route. The Project aims to step up international coordination and efforts with the aim of combatting organized crime and the challenges posed by drug trafficking. The flexibility offered by General Aviation (GA) is exploited by organized crime. In order to strengthen controls over this mode of transport, COLIBRI presents a new IT tool: the Geoportal and its mobile application. The new IT Portal comprises a database and a communication tool to share information to aid the control and monitoring of GA in coordination with partners around the world. Technology can help specialized services to monitor General Aviation activities, including clandestine flights, by geo-mapping events such as seizures and crashes involving aircraft, tracking flights where possible, and gathering knowledge. This new IT tool is also very important for strengthening cooperation between law enforcement agencies in Latin America and the Caribbean, Western and Central Africa and Europe. The development was divided into two phases. Phase one, November 2019 February 2020, was aimed at defining what needed be implemented through the analysis and assessment of needs. Phase two, development, started in March 2020 and lasted until February 2021. The months of April and May 2020 were dedicated to the development and incorporation of data and the presentation of the first version of the application. The Geoportal is composed of: a secure web portal, a document management system, and a mobile application for consulting information on the ground and adding information on seizures, incidents, etc. The focal point of the project is the database, through which all the information is centralized, and the administrators will manage all the information which can be consulted through a secure channel. The Geoportal, its database, and the mobile application, will help with risk analysis and in developing control and operational strategies. Through the Geoportal, administrations will be able to collect information and send it to operational units regardless of their location. The Geoportal will make it possible to overlay information on a map and to take measures to plan a mission. The Geoportal was developed by a consortium selected following a call for tender and it will be available in four (4) languages, English, French, Spanish and Portuguese, and will be accessible from and adaptable to any device. The presentation of the Geoportal is a key milestone for the Project and the main purpose of strengthening the ability for law enforcement administrations to control and monitor general aviation. 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. 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. Ivanhoe Cambridge develops and invests in high-quality real estate properties, projects and companies that are shaping the urban fabric in dynamic cities around the world. It does so responsibly, with a view to generate long-term performance. Ivanhoe Cambridge is committed to creating living spaces that foster the well-being of people and communities, while reducing its environmental footprint. Ivanhoe Cambridge invests internationally alongside strategic partners and major real estate funds that are leaders in their markets. Through subsidiaries and partnerships, the Company holds interests in more than 1,000 buildings, primarily in the industrial and logistics, office, residential and retail sectors. Ivanhoe Cambridge held C$64 billion in real estate assets as at December 31, 2019 and is a real estate subsidiary of the Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec ( cdpq.com ), one of Canada's leading institutional fund managers. For more information: www.ivanhoecambridge.com About Embassy Group EMILY ST. LAWRENCE, Chariho girls lacrosse, senior: St. Lawrence tied a school record for goals in a game with nine in a win over Smithfield. St. Lawrence scored 17 goals for the week and has 32 for the season. CARLY CONSTANTINE, Stonington softball, sophomore: Constantine singled home Shea OConnor with the winning run to hand Waterford, the states No. 2 ranked team at the time, its first loss of the season. For the week, Constantine was 5 for 15. GREG GORMAN, Westerly baseball, junior: Gorman, a junior, hit a massive home run in a win against Barrington. The homer went over the fence in center field and landed in a nearby road. Gorman was 3 for 3 with four RBIs in the game. He is hitting .571 with 10 RBIs for the season. BRADIN ANDERSON, Wheeler baseball, freshman: Anderson, a freshman, pitched a complete-game shutout to beat Grasso Tech. Anderson struck out three to earn the first win of his varsity career. Vote View Results You have permission to edit this article. Edit Close [March 02, 2021] Toronto Specialty MGA Rebrands as TruStar It has been announced today that Merlin Underwriting, a Toronto-based Managing General Agent (MGA), has rebranded as TruStar, effective immediately. TruStar is an independently owned MGA that deploys some of the world's strongest insurance capital. It offers a portfolio of specialty insurance solutions that span across the commercial, professional, and financial line segments. Led by CEO Daniel Moses, TruStar is focused on evolving the traditional MGA model to meet the industry's emerging demands. "The past year has exposed several blind spots in the industry. As the market hardens and risks become more challenging to solve, brokers and insurers are looking for technical experts and partners they can trust," says Moses. "We pride ourselves on bold vision, technical expertise, and service leadership. Our purpose is simple; we want to provide our partners the most consistent and trusted specialty underwriting experience in Canada. The launch of TruStar represents this commitment." The rebranded organization will focus on building digital tools that enhance underwriting precision and portfolio analytics as well as enable a collaborative sales experience forbrokers. This approach aims to simplify the delivery of specialty insurance products to the customer, a process that typically requires extensive underwriting and intimate broker servicing. Through continued investment in its product shelf and service capabilities, TruStar is well-positioned for the future of the specialty insurance market. "Since the beginning, we have always challenged ourselves to innovate. If there's a better way to do something, we want to discover it," says Sarah Gibson, COO at TruStar. "Creation is in our DNA and one of the most defining principles of our culture. We are proud of all that this transition represents. We look forward to continuing to optimize the broker experience and are excited to share a number of new capabilities over the coming months." To learn more about TruStar, visit trustar.ca and follow TruStar on LinkedIn or Twitter (News - Alert) at @TruStar_Canada for industry perspectives and future announcements. ABOUT TRUSTAR Established in 2018, TruStar Underwriting Inc. is an independently owned specialty Managing General Agent headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The organization offers disciplined underwriting services across its three practice groups and is trusted by leading domestic and global insurance providers. TruStar believes in exceptional and equitable service and is committed to building impactful relationships with its trading partners. TruStar is a member of the Canadian Association of Managing General Agents and is licensed to conduct business in all provinces and territories. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210302005335/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Our directory features more than 18 million business listings from across the entire US. However, if we're missing your business, add your business by clicking on Add Your Business. The Appointment Committee of Parliament would continue its hearing to consider three more of President Akufo-Addos nominees for ministerial roles. Mr Henry Quartey, Mr Seth Acheampong and Mr George Boakye, Ministers Designate for Greater Accra, Eastern and Ahafo Regions respectively are expected to appear before the Committee for vetting. The three nominees who have been nominated by the President Akufo-Addo were persons who held positions in his first term in office. The first nominee to appear before the Committee would be Mr Quartey, former Deputy Minister for Interior and Member of Parliament (MP) for Ayawaso Central. The nominee who served as Deputy Minister of Interior in the Presidents first term has now been elevated to be the Greater Accra Regional Minister. Also, Mr Seth Acheampong, former Member of Parliament (MP) Mpraeso who served as the Chair of the Defense and Interior Committee of Parliament has been nominated by President Akufo-Addo for ministerial portfolio as the Eastern Regional Minister. The nominee was instrumental as Chairman of the Defense and Interior Committee to ensure the passage of many important legislation for the sector. Further, Mr George Boakye, former Member of Parliament (MP) for Asunafo South has been appointed by President Akufo-Addo to serve as the Regional Minister for Ahafo one of the newly created regions in the country. Source: GNA Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video New Braunfels, TX (78130) Today Thunderstorms likely, especially this morning. High 83F. Winds NNE at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 70%.. Tonight Variably cloudy with scattered thunderstorms. Low 68F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 60%. While longstanding favorite food trucks Life Raft Treats and Holy Rolly have been dishing out popular desserts since 2018, they were among the few sweet options to infiltrate the Lowcountry's armada of savory mobile operations. Now, though, they have company. According to the city of Charleston's list of approved mobile vendors, around 20 dessert food trucks received a permit during the pandemic. That's partly in response to the increase in demand from neighborhood associations for food trucks to entertain their quarantined residents while large events and festivals are off the table. And those residents want a full meal, not just an entree. "A lot of communities took this time to organize food truck nights, where they were able to actually bond as a community while still practicing social distancing," said Crystal Singleton, owner of Sweet Manna Creations. She said she's worked 105 neighborhood gigs since June and would have worked even more if she hadn't taken maternity leave. Julie Johnston, owner of The Holy City Cupcakes food truck among those to receive a permit in the last year worked more than 250 events in 2020 alone. "During the onset of COVID-19, we were a bit unsure of the direction we would take," she said. "The interest in neighborhood events were immense and that became the focus." Allison Carter, a 10-year resident of the Cane Bay neighborhood complex in Summerville, said each individual neighborhood has its own food truck night and social media pages for residents to weigh in on what trucks they want that week. "It's a fun alternative to cooking at home," she said. Sign up for our food & dining newsletter. We publish our free Food & Dining newsletter every Wednesday at 10 a.m. to keep you informed on everything happening in the Charleston culinary scene. Sign up today! Email Sign Up! And variety is key. At those food truck gatherings, there are almost always two savory and one sweet option, said Carter. The rise of dessert food trucks in particular is long overdue, said Janet Smith, owner of Tasty Waves. "We've never had enough sweet trucks," Smith said. "People are always calling for them for events and pop-ups, and now the food trucks are starting to listen." Smith also operates hot dog truck Dean's Meaner Weiners and was actually looking to open another savory truck. Then, while out at breakfast with her husband one morning, she looked down at her syrup-saturated pancakes, remembered all the requests for a summer ice cream cone she'd received while working the hot dog truck and revised her business plan. "With Deans Meaner Weiners, sales actually go down when it gets really hot, because not everyone wants to eat in the heat," Smith said. "We wanted to counteract that." The idea also came to her when drive-in movies began popping up across the Lowcountry in response to shuttered indoor theaters. So, her "Jaws"-themed ice cream came to fruition, with menu items like a banana boat dinghy, caramel sand shark and cookie dough buoy. According to Smith, the Cane Bay and Nexton areas in Summerville particularly exploded as a food truck scene. She estimates her gigs at least tripled through last summer and fall. She expects to maintain that busy schedule this season as well. 'A lion of a man': Advocates worldwide honor martyr Shahbaz Bhatti 10 years after assassination Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment A defender of religious freedom and Christian martyr, Shahbaz Bhattis legacy lives on 10 years after his death, though religious oppression in Pakistan has heightened in the decade following his assassination. International religious freedom advocates, legislators and religious leaders from across the globe on Tuesday participated in a virtual observance of the 10th anniversary of Bhattis death to honor the legacy of the first-ever Pakistani minister for minorities affairs and discussed the future of religious liberty for minorities in Pakistan. The virtual event was hosted by the Religious Freedom Institute, International Christian Voice and Institute for Global Engagement. Bhatti was killed at the age of 42 on March 2, 2011, after facing years of death threats for his outspoken opposition to the countrys corrupt blasphemy laws and other injustices in the Muslim-majority nation. Bhattis brother and founder of International Christian Voice, Peter Bhatti, said his brothers sacrifice will not go in vain. Some of us must make small sacrifices in the fight of justice and equality, Peter Bhatti said. My brother made the ultimate sacrifice of his life. After the Shahbaz Bhatti martyrdom, either we give up on his mission and allow our enemy to claim victory or to follow in his footsteps. Letting his enemy win is not an option. It is the duty of all of us to carry on his mission. Bhatti, the former federal minister for minorities affairs and first Christian member of the Pakistan presidents cabinet, was shot through a car window multiple times. No one was ever held accountable for his murder. The fatal attack was in response to Bhatti's demand to review the controversial blasphemy case of the Christian mother of five, Asia Bibi. Bibi was acquitted by the Supreme Court of Pakistan in 2018 after being imprisoned for over a decade based on false allegations that she insulted Islam. She now lives in Canada with her husband and children. Bibi shared a heartfelt video tribute to Bhatti and urged people never to forget him. She said he did not die since he is still alive in our hearts. She urged the community to come forward against injustice and inequality to protect our coming generation from these miseries. Bhattis nephew, David Bhatti, shared memories of visiting his uncle in Pakistans capital Islamabad. He remembers that his uncle was everyones favorite. He dedicated his entire life to fighting persecution, intolerance, discrimination and inequality of the religious minorities of Pakistan, Bhatti said. He challenged the forces of violence and darkness and refused to be silent. Bhatti said his uncle empathized with the persecuted and felt their pain daily despite the joy he radiated. Although he always radiated such happiness, he always carried the grief of the innocent lives lost to another suicide bombing at a place of worship, the nephew recalled. Or he was harboring the heartache of wrongfully incarcerated prisoners who were languishing cold and alone, without any hope. Or he was experiencing the weight of the agony felt by villagers whose entire homes were burnt to the ground simply because they were religious minorities. Bhatti said his uncle remained a patriot and did not give up on the country he loved, despite his challenges and the injustice he experienced. For him, challenges were opportunities. Opportunities to lead by example, Bhatti said. He empathized with the persecuted and oppressed deeply and to effect real, lasting change for this generation and for the next. He dreamed of seeing not just a Pakistan, but a world in which the dignity and worth of every human being was respected, valued and celebrated. Bhatti said his uncles death is easier to accept, knowing how he inspired people worldwide. My uncle believed that to despair is to accept defeat, Bhatti said. For him, silence is never an option. The legacy he leaves behind is a call to action: to be uncompromising in our principles, to name injustices wherever we see them and to be fearless in our pursuit of the truth. Other speakers included the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, former Archbishop of Karachi Cardinal Joseph Coutts and other leaders who promote religious liberty around the globe. Statements from several U.S. senators and international leaders were also featured during the event. U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom Chairwoman Gayle Manchin shared that violent extremism has increased and religious minorities remain a target in the years following Bhattis death. Pakistans blasphemy laws are still being enforced vigorously with dozens of innocents languishing on death row and others serving lengthy prison terms, Manchin said. Now, more than ever, the U.S. government must send a message that there will be consequences for these egregious abuses. Manchin said the world continues to gain strength from Mr. Bhattis legacy. He defended a vision of a diverse, multicultural, and multi-religious society, the USCIRF chairwoman added. He opposed Pakistans blasphemy laws as a stark contrast to that vision, and he paid the ultimate price for that courage. Mr. Bhattis death was not in vain, and it will inspire and encourage us to keep pressing on until his vision is realized. Former U.S. Rep. Frank Wolf, R-Va., known by many as an impassioned advocate for international religious freedom, knew Bhatti as a giant in the Christian faith. He was a martyr and he was one of the most courageous and dedicated men I have ever known, Wolf shared in his video statement. Jesus said, This is my commandment that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this that someone lay down his life for his friends. Shahbaz Bhatti did this. In the final interview before his death, which was shared in the virtual event, Bhatti said he understood his life was on the line for his stand against a radical philosophy and call to abolish blasphemy laws that oppressed minority faiths. But I want to share that I believe in Jesus Christ who has given his own life for us, Bhatti said I am ready for a cause for my community and suffering people and I will die to defend their rights. I would prefer to die for my principle and for the justice of my community rather than to compromise on these threats. A decade later, Pakistans blasphemy laws still lead to persecution of Christians and faith minorities. Under section 295-C of Pakistans penal code, blasphemy is punishable by death. Muslims often abuse the law to settle personal scores with religious minorities. Pakistan ranks as the fifth most dangerous country in the world for Christians, according to Open Doors USAs 2021 World Watch List. Under 2% of the country of over 200 million people is Christian. In a panel discussion moderated by Rehman Chishti, a member of the United Kingdom House of Commons and senior fellow of the Religious Freedom Institute, panelists discussed the lack of religious freedom for minorities in Pakistan, the oppressive nature of blasphemy laws and how to enact the change Bhatti dreamed of and fought for. Panelists included Peter Bhatti, former member of Pakistan Parliament Farahnaz Isaphani, former European Union Special Envoy Jan Figel and former Special Advisor in the Near East and South and Central Asia at the U.S. Department of State Knox Thames. Moving forward, strengthening religious freedom in Pakistan will include external pressure persisting on reform and enacting change in the education system. Isaphani, who served with Bhatti in Pakistan's Parliament, remembers him as a lion of a man. Getting rid of blasphemy laws will be an interfaith global effort, Isaphani said. She said that even though politicians are afraid to talk about it, reform can still occur. Thames said the blasphemy laws empower the most extreme and violent voices. Pakistan must rediscover its roots or oppression will consume the country, he said. In the month before his death, Bhatti shared with The Christian Post in an interview that he had received death threats for speaking against Pakistans blasphemy law. "But I will continue to follow the principles that I believe. I will continue to raise the voice of the voiceless, Bhatti had told CP in the Feb. 11, 2011 interview. And I will not feel fear because of these threats because I follow Jesus Christ who has given his own life for us. So as a follower of Christ, my destiny is to speak up for those who cannot speak up for themselves. The full video tribute and supplemental videos for Bhattis commemoration can be found here. Bank of Ireland branch closures are devastating for older people in rural areas, not good for farmers or people with bad broadband, according to Laois Offaly based Minister who sits at Cabinet meetings says Minister of State Pippa Hackett said work needs to begin on other types of public banking following Bank of Ireland's axing of 103 branches including six in Laois and Offaly. It is really devastating for older people in rural Ireland to lose their bank branch services. Its also difficult for people who dont have good broadband services. "Many farmers, for instance, prefer to do their banking in-person, in a branch. I realise that online banking has diminished the role of retail banking, as weve also seen with Ulster Bank pulling out of the Republic of Ireland.," she said. The Green Party Senator suggested change must be explored. "The Green Party supports the concept of a public banking model and I think this is something we should now look at. "We also need to support Credit Unions and An Post to offer the financial services that people need," she said. Bank of Ireland is shutting Ratdowney, Mountrath and Durrow branches in Laois and axing Banagher, Clara and Edenderry in Offaly where the Green Party minister lives and farms. The governing body of Libyas telecoms sector is seeking cooperation with American tech firms in a bid to increase overseas investment in the market. As reported by the Libya Herald, Faisel Gergab - chairman of the Libyan Post, Telecommunications and Information Technology Company (LPTIC), which oversees all state-owned firms in the sectors met with a number of representatives from the US on 26th February to discuss the matter. TeleGeography reports that among those present were the US embassys Commercial Attache Daniel Liss, US Director of the American Chamber of Commerce in Libya (AmCham Libya) Debbie Hirst, and a number of telecom and technology companies from the US. In a bid to demonstrate Libyas development plans and encourage overseas investment, Gergab outlined plans for 2021-2023, stating that international companies are considered strategic partners in development and investment in Libya and LPTIC is looking forward to more cooperation between the US and Libya. Liss welcomed the overture, noting that advances in telecommunications technology, coupled with political stability, will open greater economic opportunities for Libyans and make Libya a stronger investment partner. Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo accused Gov. Greg Abbott of lifting the Texas mask mandate for "political expediency." Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner also blasted Abbott for the decision, saying the governor was trying to appeal to his base by recalling the mandate and allowing businesses to open at 100 percent capacity. THE LATEST: Abbott announces end to mask mandate Both decisions take effect March 10. "Maybe he's trying to appeal to a group that will find favor with saying 'take the mask down,'" Turner said. "But what about the rest of us?" He went on to say he will fight to mandate masks where he can, including in city venues and buildings like libraries and stadiums. "The people who are vulnerable to this virus, get this virus and end up in the hospital and end up dying, those are the ones I'm speaking for," Turner said. "He's the governor. But even the governor should be held accountable, and he should be called out when he makes the wrong decision." The most recent COVID-19 numbers are relatively promising but can change at any moment, Hidalgo said. "Theres a light at the end of the tunnel," Hidalgo said during a press conference streamed by KHOU. "But were not quite there yet. Were far, way off from that. This is not the time to give up. This is not the time to promote more infections, more hospitalizations, to promote more deaths for the sake of political expediency." She says Abbott's announcement which also happens to coincide with Texas Independence Day was timed to pull pressure off the investigation into the Electricity Reliability Council of Texas and the state's failed power grid that left millions of Texans in the cold. "This sure is a good story to distract from them (from the power outage scandal)," Hidalgo said. "Youre putting the health of my community at risk." She also urged Harris County residents to continue wearing masks when out and about, which is still the recommendation of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Randy and Jenny Boyd, with the Boyd Foundation, are once again awarding 16 communities across Tennessee with $25,000 prizes in 2021 through their Dog Park Dash initiative. Applications are now open for communities of all sizes to apply and win grants to build new dog parks or enhance existing dog parks. Applicants are encouraged to work with community leaders to fill out the application online that opened Monday, March 1. The deadline to apply is April 15. Qualified applicants will be notified and then encouraged to gather community support during a social engagement period from May 1-31. Winners will be announced by June 15. Our Tennessee Dog Park Dash encourages people to come together to make their community a better place for both people and pets. Jenny and I are honored to be able to help, said Mr. Boyd, co-founder of The Boyd Foundation. And we hope the Dog Park Dash takes us one step closer to making Tennessee the most pet-friendly state in the nation. In 2018, the Boyd Foundation announced a commitment of $3 million and launched the Dog Park Dash to build 100 dog parks across the state of Tennessee. To date, Dog Park Dash has already awarded 67 deserving communities with their local grants. A full list of previous winners can be found at dogparkdash.com. Dog parks not only improve the health and quality of life for our pets, but for their owners too, said Harrison Forbes, grant administrator for Dog Park Dash and pet expert. We believe every community should have the opportunity to have a dog park, no matter their size. Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-02 20:04:02|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close ADDIS ABABA, March 2 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations' sexual and reproductive health agency, the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) on Monday evening disclosed it has recorded six COVID-19 related cases and one COVID-19 related death in Ethiopian refugee camps in Sudan. In a situation report it published on Monday evening, the UNFPA said in addition to several COVID-19 cases, all Ethiopian refugee camps in Sudan have had outbreaks of communicable disease. "Across all refugee sites, acute respiratory infections, malaria and dysentery among the most common diseases affecting Ethiopian refugees in Sudan," the UNFPA said. The UN said 61,307 Ethiopians have so far fled to neighboring Sudan, fleeing fighting in the country's northern Tigray regional state. Nearly four months of fighting in northern Ethiopia's Tigray regional state between the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) which used to rule the region until November and the Ethiopian Defense Forces has left thousands dead, hundreds of thousands displaced and millions in urgent need of humanitarian assistance, media reported. Separately, several thousand Ethiopians have fled from the country's western Benishangul- Gumuz regional state to Sudan, fleeing escalating communal violence. In recent months, deadly inter-communal violence in the Metekel zone of Benishangul-Gumuz regional state has killed thousands of civilians and displaced more than 100,000 others. The violence is mainly over access to power and land resources. Benishangul-Gumuz regional state, located along the Ethiopia-Sudan border, hosts Ethiopia's largest development project, the 5,150 Megawatts (MW) the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, which is under construction on the Blue Nile River with a construction cost of close to 5 billion U.S. dollars. Enditem With the enormous paradigm shift caused by the Covid-19 pandemic we wanted to be certain that we never take our clients loyalty for granted. LKCS' NPS score reflects our teams incredible dedication to each and every client. LKCS, a leading financial marketing agency, again achieves a Net Promoter Score (NPS) of 91 on its recent client satisfaction survey. The score highlights that the success of LKCS We do that culture continued throughout the turbulence of the Covid-19 pandemic. The NPS is used to measure each clients willingness to recommend a companys products or services to others, to determine the customers loyalty to the brand, and as a way to measure overall customer satisfaction with the companys products or services. Net Promoter Scores can range from -100 to +100. A positive score, or an NPS above 0, is considered to be good. Any scores greater than 50 are excellent, with scores anywhere above 70 considered to be world-class. We decided to survey our clients during the Covid-19 pandemic because a significant number of both our own staff and our clients staff were working from home. While we believed we were giving the same high-level of customer service clients were accustomed to, we wanted to be sure, said Sid Haas, Vice President of Business Development at LKCS. Serving our clients is our number one priority and their experience is at the heart of all we do." With a survey response rate of 23.4%, the vast majority of LKCS clients are clearly indicating that they are loyal and enthusiastic promoters of the company. We were surprised and very pleased that we once again achieved an NPS score above 91%, says Rose Pollard, LKCS Chief Financial Officer. With the enormous paradigm shift caused by the pandemic we wanted to be certain that we never take our clients loyalty for granted. I firmly believe our NPS score reflects our teams incredible dedication to each and every client. Net Promoter, NPS and Net Promoter Score are trademarks of Satmetrix Systems, Inc., Bain & Company and Fred Reichheld. About LKCS: Based in Peru, Illinois, LKCS is the leader in providing omni-channel marketing, graphic design, commercial printing, direct mail, web development, and statement processing services to financial institutions nationwide. Combined with over 60 years of financial marketing expertise, LKCS leverages the latest technologies and techniques to improve marketing results and return on investment for our clients. We do that. Additional information about LKCS can be found at https://www.lk-cs.com. 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 former political candidate and personal trainer allegedly groomed a vulnerable 14-year-old girl while offering her free one-on-one workout sessions, a court has heard. Joey Myer, also known as Jarreau Terry, allegedly raped the teenager on January 4, 2019, almost a full year after meeting her and her family through the gym he was employed at on the Sunshine Coast. Myer is also accused of indecent treatment in relation to the same girl on seven occasions between October 1, 2018 and January 6, 2019. He has pleaded not guilty to each charge. The victim and her parents trained with Myer up to five days a week both inside the gym and on outdoor circuits that he would promote. Joey Myer, also known as Jarreau Terry, was training the family-of-four for a tough mudder competition (pictured, after he competed in 2013) Myer, who ran as an independent candidate in the 2013 federal election, allegedly offered to train the young girl free of charge to help her 'achieve her goals'. Her parents testified in Maroochydore District Court on Tuesday that they were initially hesitant because she was at a 'vulnerable age' and struggling with body image, but after discussing the matter with her, agreed to trial some classes. The young girl, who cannot be named, appeared to do well in the classes and after several months of one-on-one sessions, Myer took on several other young students. He offered to take on the victim's older sister, but she was not interested in regular classes. He developed a close relationship with each of the families and often socialised with them outside of training sessions, the court heard. Myer ran as an Independent candidate for Fisher in the 2013 election, but also worked as a personal trainer The victim's mother claimed under oath she discovered inappropriate messages sent from Myer to her then-14-year-old daughter on January 6, two days after the alleged offending occurred. The mother-of-two, her husband and both of her daughters were having a family day at the beach when Myer allegedly said he would join them. '[My daughter] was in contact with Joey telling him where to meet us and directing him as to where we'd be,' the woman explained. But some time later, her daughters and husband went into the surf and she realised that Myer would have no way to find them given the victim's phone remained on the sand. 'I grabbed her phone just to respond to him while she was in the surf and at that point I saw messages which were obviously of huge concern to me,' she said. Myer is also accused of indecent treatment in relation to the same girl on seven occasions between October 1, 2018 and January 6, 2019 The woman wiped away tears as the text messages were presented to her again in front of a jury. Crown Prosecutor Christopher Cook told the court Myer had written 'please tell me you're wearing that yellow bikini' and said the teen would be 'dripping wet' when she asked about the weather. In a separate message, the girl asked to keep the conversation PG before Myer allegedly responded 'R18 plus when you're with me'. The text messages appeared to stop and 'looked as though they'd been deleted', so the mother took photos of them on her own phone before gathering her family from the water. When she and her husband approached her daughter about the alleged messages, the 14-year-old 'broke down in tears,' the court heard. 'She was hysterical. I was trying to ask her if she could tell us about the messages but she really couldn't at that point.' Myer was considered a friend to the family prior to the allegations of sexual assault Given Myer was on his way to join the family at the time, the woman said she quickly bundled her girls and belongings up and rushed home. Once home, the shattered family tried to piece together what they could of the alleged events before calling police to report Myer. The victim was unable to give a lengthy explanation, but did tell her mother Myer 'touched her, kissed her and tried to insert his penis inside her but that she tried to push him away and tell him no'. Police allege that on seven other occasions Myer indecently treated the girl by putting her hands on his penis, exposing himself to her and touching her sexually. Crown prosecutor Christopher Cook previously told the court 'he told her he didn't view her like a 14-year-old and was so mature and developed just like a 20-year-old'. 'He was a trusted friend,' the alleged victim's dad said when he took the stand on Tuesday. The trial continues. A Toney man is in custody and facing a warrant for attempted murder after law enforcement says a shooting in Giles County, TN, led to a high-speed chase that included other vehicles being hit before it ended in Limestone County. Adam Taylor, 25, is charged with attempting to elude, reckless driving, and assault. Taylor is being held in the Limestone County Detention Center, and no bond has been set. Taylor could be facing additional charges for possession of a firearm that was recovered from his vehicle, according to the Limestone County Sheriffs Office. The Giles County Sheriffs Department reports deputies and investigators there have issued multiple warrants for Taylor pending his release from Limestone County, including attempted murder, aggravated assault, evading arrest, felon in possession of a handgun and reckless endangerment. This all began Monday when the Giles County Sheriffs Department responded to a shots fired call on Cedar Hurst Lane about 3:36pm. From Giles County: Dispatch advised the shooter fled the scene in a blue Scion. Deputies made contact with the suspect vehicle at Highway 64 and Hwy 31 attempting to stop the vehicle, which failed to stop, eluding deputies northbound on Hwy 31. The vehicles driver, later identified as Taylor, fled from deputies driving through fields in the area of Vertafore and Sheila Frost Drive, returning back to Hwy. 31 southbound. The lead vehicle following Taylor reported the suspect to be driving extremely erratic tossing multiple items out of the window of his vehicle, passing vehicles in a reckless manner and reaching speeds exceeding 120 mph. Taylor struck a vehicle, while evading police, causing minor damage on Hwy. 31 in the area of the Elkton Boat Ramp. This accident is being investigated by the Elkton Police Department and multiple charges to follow. The Tennessee Highway Patrol was alerted and spike strips were deployed in the area of Exit 1 on Hwy. 31. Taylor swerved to miss these strips, exiting the roadway, returning back to Hwy. 31 and exiting southbound on Interstate 65. The Alabama Highway Patrol and Limestone County Sheriffs Office took over the pursuit at the Alabama State line. Limestone County Sheriffs Office reports that Taylor exited I-65 at MM 354, looping around and began to exit the wrong way utilizing an oncoming traffic ramp striking an elderly couple driving a Dodge Ram head on. The couple sustained minor injuries and were transported to Limestone Athens Hospital for treatment by emergency medical services. After a brief foot chase, Limestone County Deputies placed Taylor into custody. Investigators report one victim who sustained a single gunshot wound to the left upper thigh at the initial scene. That victim was reported to be in stable condition and transported by the Giles County Ambulance Service to Vanderbilt University Medical Center for trauma treatment. In "Vaccines for Older Adults: Overcoming the Challenges of Shared Clinical Decision Making," a new white paper from The Gerontological Society of America (GSA) National Adult Vaccination Program, a team of experts outlines a set of recommendations to encourage better definition and increased understanding of how health professionals talk with their older patients about the need for certain vaccines. Shared clinical decision making, a recently added category of recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), involves an informed discussion between the patient and health professional and a collaborative decision on whether to use the vaccine in that patient. This is a new approach for vaccines that have previously been universally recommended based on age or risk factor, and for health professionals who have previously been encouraged to use a presumptive recommendation to encourage vaccination. Currently four vaccines have been added to the shared clinical decision making category -- meningococcal B, human papillomavirus, hepatitis B, and one of the two pneumococcal vaccines licensed for use in adults -- and this has led to questions in practice about when to initiate a conversation about vaccination and with whom. Decades of research on shared decision making for palliative medicine and oncology offers some help, recognizing the technique was created for situations where there is not a "right" decision. In developing the white paper, GSA assembled feedback from a group of thought leaders on vaccines, communicating with older adults, and shared decision making -- to identify gaps in knowledge and specific tactics for health professionals to use in successfully implementing shared clinical decision making as recommended by ACIP for vaccines for older adults, with a focus on pneumococcal vaccines recommended for adults aged 65 years or older. "We recognized that past goals to increase vaccination rates may not align with shared clinical decision making," said Sherry Greenberg, PhD, RN, GNP-BC, FGSA, FAANP, FAAN, one of the stakeholders who provided input. "The new goal is to ensure that older adults have access to information and a conversation about options including whether or not a vaccine is right for them." The thought leaders identified several recommendations to better support health professionals who are tasked with shared clinical decision making, including: Recognize patients with whom a conversation about pneumococcal vaccines should be initiated. Create unambiguous specifications of shared clinical decision making for prompts in electronic health record systems and clinical decision support systems. At the health-system level, include time during encounters with older adult patients, such as the Welcome to Medicare preventive visit and other wellness conversations, to recommend vaccines -- and use appropriate codes to ensure payment for the additional time. Explain the logic behind the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices recommendations in order to build trust with health professionals. Shared decision making has emerged in medicine as a model for focusing on patient-centered health care, and vaccines have been proven to play a vital role in reducing morbidity and mortality in people of all ages. In older adulthood, age-related decline of the immune system creates greater susceptibility to pathogens. Vaccines provide important boosts for the immune system in order to avoid infectious diseases and their complications. While vaccination may not be the ultimate outcome in the process of shared clinical decision making, sharing information, discussing risks and benefits, and making decisions together serve as the foundation for patient-centered care. "While this model is new to vaccinations, it is not new for health professionals who work with older adults," said Aisha Langford, PhD, MPH, who also contributed to the white paper. "Despite potential challenges to implementation, especially during initial rollout, using this model can ultimately contribute to increased confidence in the vaccination decision." ### The Gerontological Society of America (GSA) is the nation's oldest and largest interdisciplinary organization devoted to research, education, and practice in the field of aging. The principal mission of the Society -- and its 5,500+ members -- is to advance the study of aging and disseminate information among scientists, decision makers, and the general public. GSA's structure also includes a policy institute, the National Academy on an Aging Society. Altona Rare Earths Plc - Appointment of Broker 2 March 2021 ALTONA RARE EARTHS PLC ("Altona" or "the Company") APPOINTMENT OF BROKER Altona (AQSE: ANR.PL), a mining exploration company with a focus on Rare Earth Elements mining projects in Africa, is pleased to announce the appointment of Optiva Securities Ltd ("Optiva") as broker with immediate effect. The Company has appointed a broker at this time, in-line with its planned application to the London Stock Exchange Standard market, where it will look to raise new funds for the rare earths mining exploration work it is committed to. The Company is hopeful that the LSE listing will take place in Q2 2021. Christian Taylor-Wilkinson, Chief Executive of Altona Rare Earths, commented, "We are delighted to welcome the team at Optiva to act as Altona's broker in this crucial stage of our development. We believe that Optiva fully meets the requirements of the Company and we are looking forward to working closely with them to obtain the levels of funding we require to execute our rare earths mining strategy in Africa." -ends- For further information, please visit www.altonaenergy.com or contact: Altona Rare Earths Plc Christian Taylor-Wilkinson, Chief Executive +44 (0) 7795 168 157 Martin Wood, Non-Executive Chairman +44 (0) 7880 787 080 Alfred Henry Corporate Finance Ltd (AQSE Corporate Adviser ) Jon Isaacs / Nick Michaels +44 (0) 20 3772 0021 Company Information Altona Rare Earths Plc is a mining exploration company focused on the evaluation, rapid development and extraction of Rare Earth Element (REE) metals in Africa. The Company was admitted to trading on AIM on 10 March 2005 and was subsequently admitted to Aquis Stock Exchange on 1 February 2019. A copy of its Admission documents dated 4 March 2005 can be accessed on its website, www.altonaenergy.com. This website is where items can be inspected under Rule 75 of the Aquis Rules for Issuers. DUBLIN, March 2, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The "5G IoT Market Share, Size, Trends, Industry Analysis Report, By Radio Technology; By Range; By Vertical; By Regions; Segment Forecast, 2020-2027" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. The global 5G IoT market size is expected to reach USD 11.35 billion by 2027 5G network provides a smooth communication and networking functions and works under a wireless high-frequency technology. In addition, the technology provides an advanced, improved flexibility of wireless services, higher network speed, and reduced latency. IoT devices such as wireless sensors, computer devices, software, actuators, and others largely depend on prompt communication and data transfer services, which is provided through this technology. Moreover, it offers improved flexibility of wireless services and are largely dependent on instant communication & data transfer provided through 5G technology. It plays a vital role in the evolution of communication as well as in the businesses and society in the market. For instance, in order to obtain measurements from a boiler or other equipment in manufacturing industry, 5G IoT offers ultra-reliable communications for several time-sensitive communications processes. Increased demand for manufacturing & adoption of this technology will not only provide reliable networks but also deliver fantastic secure connection for Industrial IoT by assimilating security into the network architecture. Moreover, factors such as rise in demand for processing of collected data via sensors, analyzing, and real-time tracking of business operations & other activities across several industrial sectors are some of the other factors fueling the market growth. Furthermore, with providing backing operations that require real-time access to data changes instantly and increased demand for ultra-low latency from numerous sectors are some of the factors driving the market growth. However, lack of research and innovation and high upfront costs for infrastructural establishment are limiting the market growth. On the contrary, consumer landscape and changing business environment are expected to provide lucrative opportunities to the global market in the upcoming years. For instance, in 2019, Microsoft has announced a partnership with AT&T, which is a multinational conglomerate holding company in order to unlock 5G scenarios via its Azure Edge Zones. In addition, the partnership aimed at operating and extending its service using 5G and LTE networks. The Azure Private Edge Zones solutions helps in providing high-security applications such as factory IoT & robotics management, private smart grid for hospitals, among others. Market participants such as Anritsu, AT&T, Bell Canada, BT Group, Ericsson, Etisalat, Huawei, Juniper Networks, Inc., Nokia, Palo Alto Networks, Inc., Qualcomm Technologies, Inc., Rogers, Sierra Wireless, Singtel, Sprint, Syniverse Technologies LLC, Telefonica, Telenor Group, Telstra, Telus, Verizon, and Vodafone, among others. are some of the key players operating in the global market. Key players in the market are focusing on launching new products & developing existing offering and have adopted various strategies to expand their foothold in the market. Also, governments in countries such as U.S., South Korea, China, Japan, among others are expected to largely adopt & implement 5G IoT technology in the coming years. For instance, Nokia and Korea Telecom (KT) has collaborated to conduct trails of 5G NFV and network slicing which will allow to provide innovative services, including virtual reality, smart factory, IoT use cases and connected cars. Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. recently announced 212 LTE IoT modem, single mode, NB2 IoT chipset which allows for less power consumption. Key Topics Covered: 1. Introduction 2. Executive Summary 3. Research Methodology 4. 5G IoT Market Insights 4.1. 5G IoT - Industry snapshot 4.2. 5G IoT Market Dynamics 4.2.1. Drivers and Opportunities 4.2.1.1. Surge in installation of 5G networks 4.2.1.2. Favorable government initiatives 4.2.2. Restraints and Challenges 4.2.2.1. Operational issues 4.3. Porter's Five Forces Analysis 4.4. PESTLE Analysis 4.5. 5G IoT Market Industry trends 5. 5G IoT Market Assessment by Radio Technology 5.1. Key Findings 5.2. Introduction 5.3. 5G NR Standalone Architecture 5.4. 5G NR Non- Standalone Architecture 6. 5G IoT Market Assessment, by Range 6.1. Key Findings 6.2. Introduction 6.3. Short Range IoT Devices 6.4. Wide Range IoT Devices 7. 5G IoT Market Assessment by Vertical 7.1. Key Findings 7.2. Introduction 7.3. Manufacturing 7.4. Energy & Utilities 7.5. Government 7.6. Healthcare 7.7. Transportation & Logistics 7.8. Mining 8. 5G IoT Market Assessment by Geography 8.1. Key findings 8.2. Introduction 8.2.1. 5G IoT Market Assessment, By Geography, 2020-2027 (USD Million) 9. Competitive Landscape 9.1. Expansion and Acquisition Analysis 9.1.1. Expansion 9.1.2. Acquisitions 9.2. Partnerships/Collaborations/Agreements/Exhibitions 10. Company Profiles Anritsu AT&T Bell Canada BT Group Ericsson Etisalat Huawei Juniper Networks Inc. Nokia Palo Alto Networks Inc. Qualcomm Technologies Inc. Rogers Sierra Wireless Singtel Sprint Syniverse Technologies LLC Telefonica Telenor Group Telstra Telus Verizon Vodafone For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/op9gax 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 FORT WAYNE, Ind., March 2, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- PracticeProtection Insurance Company ("PracticeProtection") is pleased to announce that the Indiana Dental Association ("IDA") exclusively recognizes the professional dental liability program of PracticeProtection as its official provider. "PracticeProtection is an Indiana company focused on the liability insurance needs of dentists," remarked Dr. David Wolf, President of the IDA. "PracticeProtection's business model is in perfect alignment with our mission." W. Saunders Bliss, Vice President and General Counsel of PracticeProtection, said, "We are thrilled the IDA has selected PracticeProtection as the exclusive official provider of professional dental liability insurance of the Indiana Dental Association." PracticeProtection is one of the fastest-growing dental professional liability insurance companies in the nation and is dedicated to the prevention of claims through ongoing risk management services as well as the provision of superior dental professional liability insurance coverage with responsive and aggressive defense of its members. "PracticeProtection's mission is to prevent, protect and reward its members by providing unsurpassed protection at an industry-leading value through a team of dedicated experts," said Michael J. Wallace, President & Chief Executive Officer of PracticeProtection. "We look forward to serving Indiana dentists in the years to come." About the Indiana Dental Association The Indiana Dental Association serves over 83 percent of Indiana's dentists, more than 3,000 members. The IDA is headquartered in downtown Indianapolis, IN and is comprised of 15 component societies, which serve each of Indiana's 92 counties, and is a constituent society of the American Dental Association. For more information, visit www.indental.org or call (317) 634-2610. About PracticeProtection Insurance Company PracticeProtection Insurance Company (a Risk Retention Group) is dentist-owned and was founded by dentists, dental industry experts and professional liability insurance professionals. PracticeProtection was created to provide the ultimate solution for the protection of America's dental professionals and their practices. With a conservative underwriting philosophy and outstanding litigation management, PracticeProtection provides dentists with the comfort and protection they need at a competitive price. PracticeProtection is backed by a strong reinsurance program provided by Swiss Re, an international reinsurance company with a financial strength rating of A+ (Superior) from A.M. Best For more information, visit www.PracticeProtection.com/dentists or call (888) 217-2779. Michael J. Wallace, President & CEO PracticeProtection Insurance Company 1021 S Calhoun St, Suite 1 Fort Wayne, Indiana 46802 (888) 217-2779 www.PracticeProtection.com/dentists Related Images practiceprotection.jpg PracticeProtection PracticeProtection Logo image2.png Related Links www.practiceprotection.com/dentists SOURCE PracticeProtection A software services company has announced it is investing 1.5m and creating 15 jobs in Belfast and Enniskillen. Average salaries for the 15 positions in software development, testing and sales will be 45,000, according to economic development agency Invest NI. It has offered the company 97,500 to support the creation of the jobs and for developing markets. Belfast-headquartered Anaeko, incorporated in 2002 and with 22 employees in 2020, including directors, provides cloud services to technology companies. Denis Murphy, Anaeko chief executive, said: "Over the last number of years we have steadily grown our business by focusing on the fastest growing cloud technologies, and in 2017 opened a second office in Enniskillen to help us achieve our growth plans. "We're now looking to increase our sales in the UK public sector, particularly in central government and healthcare and with US based technology companies. "To capitalise on these significant opportunities, we are moving quickly to recruit a highly skilled and experienced workforce who will work across both of our Northern Ireland offices." The company's data optimisation and analytics services are used across various sectors, including health and life sciences, government, media, finance and telecoms. It is also eyeing other opportunities in the US and Canadian markets, with support from the Department for International Trade and Invest NI. Invest NI's financial support is on top of an earlier announcement in 2016 that created 15 jobs in consultancy services and market support. "These new jobs will include roles in software development, testing and sales," said George McKinney, Invest NI's director of technology and services. "With average salaries of over 45,000, they will contribute over 700,000 annually to the local economy, which is great news for both the Belfast City and Fermanagh and Omagh District Council area." Mr Murphy was named Catalyst Inc's Innovation Founder of the Year in 2019. As well as Anaeko, he also founded Mobile Cohesion and telecoms software company Apion. Apion became a European leader in wireless mobile network software and employed over 200 people before its sale to Phone.com in 1999 for $239m. Sanders Plans to Defy Parliamentarian and Force Vote on $15 Minimum Wage Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) said on Monday that the Democrats should defy a ruling by the Senate parliamentarian and vowed to force a vote on to add the $15 minimum wage mandate back into the pandemic relief bill. Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough had ruled last week that the $15 minimum wage provision could not be enacted through the budget reconciliation process, which the Democrats are using to push through the gargantuan $1.9 trillion relief package without the support of any Republicans. My personal view is that the idea that we have a Senate staffer, a high-ranking staffer, deciding whether 30 million Americans get a pay raise or not is nonsensical. We have got to make that decision, not a staffer whos unelected, so my own view is that we should ignore the rulings, the decision of the parliamentarian, democratic socialist Sanders said. The budget reconciliation process is not subject to a Republican filibuster in the Senate, allowing the Democrats to push through measures with a simple majority. But whether the minimum wage mandate was eligible for reconciliation was always in question because the Senate rules limit what can be enacted using the process to measures that have a direct impact on the federal budget. Sanders also called for the end of the legislative filibuster, a longstanding Senate rule which ensured bipartisanship. Given the enormous crises facing this country and the desperation of working families, we have got to as soon as possible end the filibuster, Sanders said. We cannot have a minority of members define what the American people want. Sanders said there will be a vote on the minimum wage. To the best of my knowledge, there will be a vote on the minimum wage, and well see what happens, Sanders said. If we fail in this legislation, I will be back. Were going to keep going. Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) told reporters on Monday that he will never support ending the filibuster. Never! What dont you understand about never, Manchin said. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) said she supports overruling the parliamentarian and ending the filibuster. White House press secretary Jen Psaki said on Feb. 28 that President Joe Biden remained committed to raising the minimum wage after MacDonough declared the provision ineligible for the budget reconciliation process. Were going to spend the next few days and weeks looking for the best path forward, Psaki said. The Congressional Budget Office has estimated that raising the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour would result in the loss of 1.3 million jobs. Republicans claim that only 9 percent of the funds in the pandemic relief package are targeted toward dealing with the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, commonly known as the coronavirus. Armenia ex-president Kocharyan gives interview to Russia newspaper Armenia acting deputy PM on unblocking of roads with Azerbaijan: There will be no troops standing there Nikkei: Toyota and Honda stop car production in Malaysia Armenia official on deploying international observers at Azerbaijan border: You will hear reaction on this matter soon USAID helps UN World Food Programme support displaced people in Armenia Armenia official: Work of trilateral working group on roads unblocking has stopped after recent incidents Russias Putin to Armenias Pashinyan: Relations between our countries are developing very successfully Armenia health minister: Improper storage of fallen soldiers bodies, remains was my omission 108 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia Armenia President to children: I believe that you will make our country much better Armenia CEC publicizes complete lists of political forces registered to run in snap parliamentary elections World oil prices going up Queen Elizabeth turns down PM's offer to name new royal yacht after Prince Philip Armenia parliament discusses 2020 state budget report Newspaper: Armenia acting FM resigns after 3rd attempt Newspaper: Yerevan mayor to leave office Israel, UAE sign tax treaty Newspaper: Even vagrants are persuaded, taken to Armenia acting PM Pashinyans rally in Vanadzor Swedish defense minister demands explanation from Denmark over spy scandal Acting Deputy PM: Armenia has not discussed and will not discuss issues within logic of "corridor" Armenia Central Electoral Commission determines numbers of political parties for elections Armenia 2nd President visits Cathedral of the Holy Mother of God in Gyumri (PHOTOS) Opposition Armenia bloc representative: We're running in elections to win Azerbaijan MFA comments on calls for release of Armenian POWs with infinite hypocrisy EC: Vaccinated citizens should be exempted from tests, quarantine when traveling within EU Armenia Ombudsman discusses rights of 6 captured Armenian servicemen with ICRC Delegation head EU ready to use all the tools at its disposal to change Turkey's behavior Yerevan court obliges to abolish violation of rights of Armenia Supreme Judicial Council ex-chairman Greek and Turkish leaders to meet in June on sidelines of NATO summit Armenia Central Electoral Commission to set up 2,008 polling stations for snap parliamentary elections Iranian companies to participate in reconstructing territories under Azerbaijan's control Opposition Armenia bloc's representative on acting PM's invitation to debate with 1st and 2nd Presidents Armenia acting FM dismissed upon presidential decree Body of brother of Armenian criminal authority "Don Pipo" found under bridge 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 A Melbourne father-of-two is taking on tech giant Apple after suffering second-degree burns when his iPhone exploded in his pocket. Carbone Lawyers Tony Carbone, told 7NEWS Australia that they're representing a second Melbourne man who claims he was left with a burnt wrist after his Apple Watch overheated. Two lawsuits have been filed with the County Court and Apple will now start preparing a defense. To recap the incident, the report stated that "Scientist Robert De Rose was sitting in his office when he felt pain in his leg and heard a fizzing sound coming from his pocket.' I heard a faint pop sound, followed by a fizz and then I felt intense pain on my right leg, so I immediately jumped up and realized it was my iPhone." His iPhone at the time was just over a year old. De Rose suffered second-degree burns to his thigh during the 2019 incident. WILMINGTON, Del. TC Energy Corp and two former Columbia Pipeline Group Inc executives must defend against a lawsuit claiming the companies $10 billion merger in 2016 shortchanged Columbia investors, a Delaware judge ruled on Monday. Vice Chancellor Travis Laster of the Delaware Chancery Court refused to dismiss the lawsuit by former Columbia shareholders, led by the Public Employees Retirement System of Mississippi. Former Columbia Chief Executive Robert Skaggs and Chief Financial Officer Stephen Smith were accused of engineering a spin-off of Columbia from NiSource Inc, and then selling Columbia to TC Energy at a lowball price to obtain lucrative change-of-control payments, known as golden parachutes. Laster said it was reasonable to infer that Skaggs and Smith breached their duty of loyalty to Columbia by agreeing to sell their company for $25.50 per share, below the $26 per share proposed by TC Energy, then known as TransCanada Corp. Laster also said the Canadian company could be liable for aiding and abetting that breach. The defendants could face damages for the difference between the sale price and what Columbia might have fetched had it held out for a higher price. A lawyer for TC Energy, Skaggs and Smith declined to comment. The investor lawsuit is the fourth over the sale of Columbia, which created one of North Americas largest regulated natural gas transmission businesses. Two of those lawsuits were dismissed in the early stages. In the third, known as an appraisal case, Laster found that the $25.50 per share takeover price was fair. The defendants said that decision should have precluded the fourth lawsuit, but Laster said the legal questions and standards were different. Advertisement New pictures show Facebook's gargantuan new data center taking shape beneath snow-capped mountains in Utah - with plans already being made for a further expansion. The Eagle Mountain Data Center will house some of Facebook's vast network of servers, joining other sites belonging to the tech giant in the United States, Denmark, Sweden, Ireland and Singapore. Construction began in 2018, with 12,000 tons of steel and 100,000 cubic yards of concrete being hauled into place to put together three buildings which Facebook says will eventually be solar-powered. And even though construction is not yet complete, Facebook announced last month that two more buildings will be added to the Eagle Mountain complex, expanding the site's footprint by a further 900,000 square feet. Under construction: Scaffolding and equipment are seen at the site of Facebook's new data center in Eagle Mountain, Utah on Monday after the social media giant announced a massive new expansion before the data farm is even complete In the mountains: The site in Eagle Mountain, Utah is one of several under construction across the United States, while other Facebook data servers are housed in Denmark, Sweden and Ireland, and another is under construction in Singapore Taking shape: Construction vehicles sit by the wall of the data center in Utah, where Facebook has not said how much data will be stored but where an NSA data center elsewhere in the state is thought to store millions of trillions of bytes Facebook built its first data center in Prineville, Oregon, where the first 300,000 square-foot site opened its doors in 2011 and where Apple also houses some of its servers. Since then, Facebook has built and opened similar data farms in Los Lunas, New Mexico; Papillion, Nebraska; Altoona, Iowa; Fort Worth, Texas; and New Albany, Ohio; and Forest City, North Carolina. In addition to the Utah project, other data centers are under construction in DeKalb, Illinois; Gallatin, Tennessee; Huntsville, Alabama; Henrico, Virginia; and Newton County, Georgia. Other sites are already online in Clonee, Ireland; Odense, Denmark; and Lulea, Sweden; while Facebook's first custom-built data farm in Asia is currently under construction in Singapore. At Eagle Mountain, some 1.5million square feet of storage capacity is already under construction, according to media reports, in addition to the further expansion announced in February. According to the Deseret News, Facebook hopes to switch the servers online before the end of 2021 with two of the three buildings said to be nearing completion. In operation: A crane works by the side of an under-construction building at the Eagle Mountain site in Utah which will store some of Facebook's servers but is expected to require only a small number of staff to operate it when finished Perimeter: A view of the Eagle Mountain site where construction began in 2018 and where Facebook hopes to switch some of its servers online before the end of 2021, before a further expansion gets underway In place: Construction began in 2018, with 12,000 tons of steel and 100,000 cubic yards of concrete being hauled into place to put together three buildings which Facebook says will eventually be solar-powered While Facebook has not said how much data will be stored there, a similarly-sized NSA data center elsewhere in Utah is thought to house multiple exabytes of data - each one worth a million trillion bytes. Facebook is quicker to boast of its green credentials, saying the plant will be powered entirely by solar energy generated in Utah and saying it has invested in a project to restore water to the Provo River. It also touts its support from local politicians, with Utah's Republican governor Spencer Cox praising the tech giant for bringing a 'tremendous boon to the local economy'. But while Facebook says 1,500 workers will be on site 'at peak', it is expected that only small numbers of staff will be required to operate the massive data farm once it is complete. And Facebook's data storage has long been under scrutiny by other politicians, while the site has also been embroiled in other controversies over election disinformation and hate speech. Parking lot: Security personnel check in a truck at the entrance of a completed section of the Facebook data center in Utah Heavy equipment: A digger at the site of the plant which Facebook says will eventually be expanded by 900,000 square feet Thousands of words have been spilt over the plight of Australians stranded overseas. One expert points hacker may have the answer. For those brave enough, that is Immanuel Debeer, founder (and chief points nerd) at Flight Hacks recently took to Instagram with a radical proposed route of getting to Australia, if you are currently languishing abroad. If youre stuck overseas and are game to travel hack your way back to Australia in style this ones for you. Heres what you need to do, Debeer wrote on Instagram. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Immanuel Debeer (@flighthacks) Head over to Expedia.it (yes the Italian site, more on that later). Run a multi city search: KRT-DXB-(your Australian city of choice) in business. Buy a ticket to Dubai from wherever you live (no need to use Expedia.it, whatever is cheapest). This is your positioning flight. Could use points for this as it offers extra flexibility. Total cost will be around 1500, depending on how much it costs to fly to Dubai. (Dubai to Sydney is 722 with this hack!) Heres the cool part. Naturally, you dont want to go to Sudan to start the itinerary. Good thing is that our Italian bureaucrats are batting for your team! As long as your ticket is sold in Italy you can skip legs of your flight without the whole flight being cancelled! This means you can no-show for KRT-DXB, call the airline and explain you missed the flight but will catch the Dubai-Australia one instead. Boom [youre] now youre on your way to enjoy 2 weeks prison camp in Australia. Debeer admits there are potential risks to his plan (my theory might be completely wrong) and says, Emirates might cancel your flight last minute meaning you spend money to get to Dubai for nothing. Etc etc. Any way, who knows. This might help some crazy person. Bookings available starting at the end of April from what I can see. Some Instagram commenters on Debeers page loved it, others remained unconvinced. Looks good, one wrote, but I think it will be very difficult to get the itinerary restored after you miss the first leg. Thats why you need to book with Expedia Italy and preferably on Emirates because they specifically acknowledge the Italian law which allows you to skip legs, Debeer responded. However youre right. If they cancel your flight there might be no tickets with the same pricing available. In other words: risky but possible. As for the amount of interest from actual stuck-abroad expats, Debeer told DMARGE he has had a few messages but hes not sure they will actually try it. When DMARGE attempted to follow the steps outlined above on Friday the 26th of February, just days after Debeers post, every date we tried from the end of April gave us the following message. RELATED: Business Class Slammertime Ritual Sparks Outrage At 40,000ft We searched for flights operated by the over 400 airlines we work with, but we couldnt find any Business flights matching the criteria set. There were one way Dubai to Sydney tickets still available in business class (at the time of writing), but the cheapest of these we could see cost 1,672 euros. So: it appears either Debeers deal is no longer valid (these loopholes are often short-lived) or hundreds of expats got in before us and jumped on the offer (unlikely, but who knows). With thousands of Australians abroad having been inexplicably shafted by airlines and forced to book business class anyway (to have a hope at getting home), maybe Debeers strategy isnt as mad as it seems? The wait for the next hack continues. Read Next A man was detained Tuesday in connection with the shooting deaths of his grandmother and younger brother at a south Houston residence, police said. Officers responded around 11 a.m. to a reported shooting on the 11100 block of Cayman Mist Drive where they found the two deceased victims, said Commander Matt May of the Houston Police Department. Millions of Americans are awaiting the COVID-19 vaccine. But making sure the vaccine is delivered efficiently and safely is a challenge in itself. The supply chain requires quick adaptation and decision-making, as both the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines must be stored at extremely cold temperatures to remain effective. This unique requirement is causing hospitals across the country to purchase special refrigerators to store the vaccine. Rural hospitals typically can't afford ultra-cold freezers to store the vaccine. These freezers can cost anywhere from $10,000 to 20,000. For hospitals in underserved communities that are operating on slim margins, this is a problem. During nonpandemic times, vaccination rates in rural communities are much lower than in metropolitan areas. Rural counties have the lowest flu vaccination rates. As a rural county family physician and the Wilson County health officer in Fredonia, Kansas, Dr. Jennifer Bacani McKenney, explains, "we don't have the convenience of jumping into a Walgreens, CVS, or Walmart and getting our flu shot. Our nearest Walgreens and Walmart are 30 miles away. Because of financial, storage, and staffing issues, none of the providers in our county and many private providers across the state do not provide in-clinic vaccinations, so the patient is required to make an additional appointment to get vaccines at a health department." One inhibiting factor limiting access to these vaccines is the overreaching Certificate of Need (CON) laws on the books. Currently, 35 states are bound by CON laws, which have negatively impacted the medical marketplace. The intent is good, but the outcome is higher costs, less access, and less innovation. CON requires the state or executive board to determine need in any hospital expansion, including aspects like number of beds and storage freezers. According to research by the Mercatus Center, states operating with CON laws have fewer rural hospitals and ambulatory surgical centers. States with CON laws are also less adaptable. As we have seen in 2021, adaptation in the medical marketplace is of utmost importance. These laws also undermine patient choice and put the interests of large hospitals over individual patients. CON laws are inherently anticompetitive, and repealing or reforming CON within rural areas would increase competition in underserved communities. As we know, competition results in better products and services at a lower cost for consumers. The United States continues to lead the world in health care innovation. Yet states operating with unnecessary CON laws limit health care expansion. These antiquated laws lack transparency and political accountability. Legislators should aim to reduce health care costs, increase access, and improve quality. CON laws negatively affect all these goals. If anything, 2021 offers a great opportunity to repeal these outdated policies. If a full repeal is not a viable solution, reforming current CON statutes to decrease the scope in which these laws impact the industry is at least a good first step. Christina Herrin (cherrin@heartland.org) is the government relations manager at The Heartland Institute, a nonpartisan, free-market think-tank headquartered in Arlington Heights, Ill. Image: PxHere. ANN ARBOR, MI When Megan and Brian Fenech decided to build a new garage behind their Ann Arbor home a few years ago, they committed to adding an apartment above it. A door on the side of their new garage now leads to a staircase for an accessory dwelling unit, also known as an ADU, complete with a living room, kitchen, bedroom and bathroom. It took about a year and a half to go from applying for permits to getting it approved, built and certified for occupancy, Brian Fenech said, noting he did a lot of the work himself. As of about a year ago, its officially recognized by the city as a living space that can be rented out, as long as the Fenechs also live on the property, a city requirement. The apartment above their garage is now one of 23 ADUs submitted for review and approval since 2016, said City Planner Chris Cheng, who showcased it as an example at a recent city planning meeting. That does not mean all of them have been built and received a certificate of occupancy, he said. Some are still under review and additional information is required. Ann Arbor officials are now exploring ways to remove barriers to creating ADUs to allow more of them in neighborhoods throughout the city, as one small way of chipping away at increasing the citys housing supply. Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Brian Fenech said the ADU above his garage has served as an attractive option for University of Michigan students who did not want to do full-year leases. The last three tenants have been graduate students or recent grads who needed a place to live for a couple months. The Fenechs havent heard any complaints from neighbors about the ADU, they said. Rather, neighbors have said the new garage looks nice and some have asked how they could do something similar on their own property. I feel like weve been fortunate in that weve already had three long-term rentals or renters, Megan Fenech said in a recorded interview with Cheng shared at a recent city meeting. But there were people we had to turn away that wanted a shorter-term stay, so I feel like the 30-day minimum is a bit of a hurdle for renting it out, she said, referring to city rules prohibiting short-term rentals of ADUs. I can think of a family who I think one of their children was having surgery at the university hospital and they wanted a place to stay, but it was only for 10 days, she said of some of the people theyve had to turn away. ADUs are not super affordable to build, so not having the option of short-term rental income can be a deterrent to building one, Brian Fenech said, noting other Ann Arbor homeowners are allowed to do short-term rentals of their houses. The disparate treatment between owner-occupied short-term rentals and ADUs not only in the way that theyre allowed to operate, but also the way that theyre taxed I think is a deterrent for many as well, he said. Because as it stands right now, if you have an ADU, the portion of your property thats an ADU, you lose your homestead exemption for that. They say its not your principle primary residence ... and then obviously your taxes go up from being assessed as well, or reassessed on the entire property. He declined to say how much it cost to build the ADU or how much it rents for, but he said its rented at a reasonable rate. Ann Arbor officials are now taking a closer look at ADU and short-term rental regulations. The Planning Commission is considering proposed changes Tuesday night, March 2. That includes allowing continuation of short-term rental properties such as dedicated Airbnb houses that are not owner-occupied in residential zones, as long as they were established prior to March 1, 2021. Airbnb property investors may sue Ann Arbor if council doesnt lift pending ban As for ADUs, officials are considering tweaks to rules put in place several years ago. City Council adopted an ordinance in 2016 that allowed homeowners to create ADUs separate apartments on their properties and rent them to non-family members, but they can only be part of a primary house or in a detached structure built by Dec. 31, 2016. Existing accessory buildings, like an old garage, also can be replaced or modified and used as an ADU, which is how the Fenechs were able to do theirs. The changes now proposed would allow ADUs in all residential zones except mobile home parks, rather than just single-family zones, and remove a 5,000-square-foot minimum lot size requirement, and allow homeowners to build new detached ADUs on their properties without the requirement of structures existing prior to Dec. 31, 2016. Officials also are considering eliminating parking requirements and the rule that an owner must reside on the property. Officials also are proposing eliminating requirements that ADUs must be designed to maintain the appearance of single-family residences with entrances on the side or rear of a building. Under whats proposed, for residential properties up to 7,200 square feet in size, an ADU of up to 600 square feet could be built. And for properties bigger than that, the maximum size of an ADU would be 800 square feet. Before the Planning Commission votes on recommending ordinance changes to City Council, it will hold a public hearing when it meets at 7 p.m. Tuesday. To participate, call toll free at 877-853-5247 or 888-788-0099 and enter meeting ID 929-1620-2435. Input also can be submitted in advance by emailing planning@a2gov.org. Brian Fenech said hes glad officials are exploring the issue and he hopes it results in equitable treatment of ADUs and short-term rentals. Im for them taking a deep dive into this and really looking at it from all angles and creating policy that makes sense from a few different standpoints, he said. MORE FROM THE ANN ARBOR NEWS: Should police respond to mental health emergencies? Ann Arbor exploring alternatives The story of Albert Wheeler, Ann Arbors first and only Black mayor Ann Arbors new affordable housing goal and progress so far summed up in one chart $5.1M from new Ann Arbor affordable housing tax could go toward downtown high-rise Ann Arbor officials want to increase diversity of citys mostly white population While your travel plans may be on hold, you can pretend youre somewhere new for the night. Around the World at Home invites you to channel the spirit of a new place each week with recommendations on how to explore the culture, all from the comfort of your home. Its a land of mangroves along the Caribbean Sea, home to some of the earliest astronomers, and an inviting day trip back in time to ancient cities like Chichen Itza, a Unesco World Heritage site. Known as the Riviera Maya, the perennially popular vacation corridor south of Cancun to Tulum draws legions of revelers to its white sand beaches. Gatherings, of course, are unsafe these days, but with a bit of imagination you can relish the regions culture and cuisine from home. A violent and abusive father who orally raped his daughter and then claimed she was lying to get revenge on him, has lost an appeal against the severity of his sentence. The man also claimed that he couldn't have orally raped his daughter because she didn't notice plastic implants in his penis. In a ruling delivered on Monday, the Court of Appeal upheld the sentencing judge's finding that a single count of attempted rape was more serious than numerous counts of oral rape and warranted a 12-year headline sentence as opposed to the ten-year term imposed for the other offences. Ms Justice Mary Rose Gearty, who wrote the judgement on behalf of the three-judge court, said an attempted penetration of the vagina can attract a more serious penalty than the actual penetration of the mouth. She added: "The headline sentence of 12 years for attempted rape was within the range of penalties open to the Sentencing Judge in the circumstances of this ongoing offending on his young daughter, against a background of familial violence and threats, and considering his sarcasm and taunts in the immediate aftermath of the attempt." It emerged during the trial that following the attempted rape the man taunted his daughter, saying he had taken "half your virginity". Ms Justice Gearty said the sentencing judge was well placed to gauge the impact of the attempted rape and its seriousness. There was, she said, no error in principle and therefore the appeal court refused to interfere in the sentence. The court also dismissed arguments by the man's lawyers that the trial judge did not give enough credit to their client for stopping the attempted rape. Ms Justice Gearty said the evidence was that he stopped when she screamed and pushed him away and that he then taunted her about her virginity. She added: "In those circumstances the argument has very little weight as the apparent mercy shown does not appear to have been due to any sympathy for his victim." She added that the fact the rape is not completed cannot logically be a mitigating factor in an attempted rape case. She also dismissed a suggestion that the trial judge should have given more weight to a letter of apology penned by the abuser in which he said he was sorry for the years of physical abuse his wife had suffered at his hands. Ms Justice Gearty pointed out that he did not apologise for sexually abusing his daughter and maintains his innocence in relation to those offences. She said: "The defence to the charges was that the victim had made up the allegations because she was angry about the violence meted out to her mother. To apologise for the physical violence in this context and seek anger management help is of minimal assistance in terms of mitigation, particularly when the violence had to be admitted as part of a defence strategy, namely, that the allegations were fabricated as revenge for that violence." She said his offer to undertake anger management and apologise for physical abuse, "does not begin to address the real problem here which is the repeated and serious sexual abuse of his own daughter." Ms Justice Gearty sat with President of the Court of Appeal Mr Justice George Birmingham and Mr Justice John Edwards. Background The 52-year-old was convicted by a Central Criminal Court jury of 22 counts of sexual abuse, oral rape, child sexual exploitation and attempted rape in the family's Dublin home on dates between October 2009 and July 2011, when the girl was aged between 13 and 15. On January 14, 2019, following conviction, Ms Justice Tara Burns sentenced him to 12 years in prison with the final six months suspended. Last year the man, who cannot be named to protect his daughter's identity, lost an appeal against his conviction. His legal team had argued that the case was "truly exceptional" by reason of the inconsistency between the presence of visible implants in the man's penis and his daughter's evidence that there was nothing visible there at the time of the offences. The Court of Appeal found that the obvious explanation was that the child, who was seeing a male adult penis for the first time in the stressful context of being abused, would not have known the difference between it and a penis which did not have such implants. Sentencing Passing sentence after the trial, Ms Justice Burns said the man had abused his daughter for his own sexual gratification in the atmosphere of fear and power he exercised in the house. In a victim impact statement, the then 22-year-old woman told the Central Criminal Court that she felt like her father killed her inside. I see his face and smile every time I look in the mirror. I look at myself and my body like I'm ashamed, she said. I see my father's face and feel his breath when I get intimate with a man, she continued. The woman said she was not scared of her father any more and turned to face her father in court to tell him: you made me feel I was worthless and you made me feel like it was my fault. You killed me inside and I will never forgive you for that. You didn't feel guilty and you didn't feel any remorse to me or the woman you abused for 20 years. I am no longer the powerless girl I once was, I got the justice I finally deserved. Make way for the newest star kid on the block! Suniel Shetty's son Ahan Shetty is all set to make his Bollywood debut opposite Tara Sutaria in Milan Luthria's upcoming film Tadap. For those unversed, the film is a remake of the 2018 Telugu film RX 100 which starred Kartikeya Gummakonda and Payal Rajput in leading roles. Bollywood superstar Akshay Kumar who shares a great rapport with Suniel Shetty, took to his Twitter page to unveil the first poster of Ahan's debut film. His tweet read, "Big day for you Ahan...I still remember seeing your father, @SunielVShetty's first film, Balwaan's poster and today I'm presenting yours.... so happy and proud to share the poster of #SajidNadiadwala's #Tadap *ing #AhanShetty and @TaraSutaria, releasing in cinemas on 24th Sept!" Have a look. Big day for you Ahan...I still remember seeing your father, @SunielVShettys first film, Balwaans poster and today Im presenting yours.... so happy and proud to share the poster of #SajidNadiadwalas #Tadap *ing #AhanShetty and @TaraSutaria, releasing in cinemas on 24th Sept! pic.twitter.com/UQZWV7i4Pm Akshay Kumar (@akshaykumar) March 2, 2021 Ahan shared the first look poster on his Instagram handle and wrote, "Yeh pyaar ki #Tadap ab anjaam tak le jayegi Thank you #sajidnadiadwala sir for giving me this opportunity and Milan sir for believing in me... #Tadap releasing in cinemas on 24th September!" The debutant also shared another poster featuring him as a rebellous lover. He wrote, "He is Fierce, He is Rebellious, and he's a Lover!" Beyond grateful for this #sajidnadiadwala sir Thank you @milan.a.luthria for helping me bring this character to life #Tadap releases on 24th September 2021." Speaking about Tadap, director Milan Luthria had earlier shared, "The plot of the film is very intriguing. It is a love saga which will leave the audience surprised. It's a stark love story, with both the leads having strong parts." Produced by Sajid Nadiadwala, Tadap is scheduled to release in theatres on September 24, 2021. ALSO READ: Tara Sutaria Wants To Enjoy Every Bit Of Work This Year, After Not Having Worked In Last 6-7 Months ALSO READ:Tara Sutaria Reveals She Is Doing Something People Would Not Expect In Her Next Film Tadap Teijin and its joint development partner Applied Electric Vehicles have developed a polycarbonate solar roof for future mobility applications. The new solar roof uses Teijins Panlite polycarbonate resin glazing for its surface. Solar roof Teijin used its proprietary know-how in polycarbonate resin glazing and technologies to integrally mold the roofs curved surface into an ideal shape, an extremely challenging process in the case of using glass. Not only is the Panlite glazing roof optimally shaped, it achieves the strength and rigidity required for the vehicle roof. Conventional polycarbonate resin offers excellent impact resistance, but it must be specially processed to realize the level of weather resistance needed for long-term outdoor use. Teijins Panlite glazing, however, can easily be given a proprietary hard coating to achieve the 10-year weather durability required for automobiles. Teijin and Applied EV deployed the solar roof on a prototype EV passenger pod, that was installed on the Blanc Robota zero-emission robotic vehicle platform developed by Applied EV using materials and technical support from Teijin. In testing conducted by Applied EV in Australia, the solar cells mounted on the Panlite roof achieved output of about 330W, which is equivalent a conventional solar panel housed under glass. Blanc Robot with solar roof Because the vehicle is light and very energy efficient, the benefits of solar charging the Blanc Robot are much greater than the results that can be achieved on a typical EV. Applied EV tests suggest that the solar array can contribute up to 30% of the vehicles energy budget in ideal conditions and around 15-20% on a typical day. Under the right conditions this could extend vehicle range for the Blanc Robot by between 30 and 55 kilometers, compared to the same vehicle without a Panlite roof. Teijin and Applied EV continue to collaborate on the use Teijins various material technologies in the development of further EV components, including structural elements, glazing and exterior body panels, with the intention of commencing high volume production in the latter half of 2022. These initiatives, together with ongoing efforts to further enhance the new solar roof, are expected to contribute to the ultimate goal of achieving Japans Well-to-Wheel Zero Emission policy, which calls for a 90% reduction in 2010-level greenhouse gas emissions per passenger car by 2050. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Teton County Reporter Previously the Scene editor, Billy Arnold made the switch to the county beat where he's interested in exploring Teton County as a model for the rest of the West. When he can, he still writes about art, music and whatever else suits his fancy. [March 02, 2021] Terracon Enhances Mid-Atlantic Presence with GET Solutions, Inc. Acquisition OLATHE, Kan., March 2, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Terracon is pleased to announce it has acquired GET Solutions, Inc. (GET). As their name represents, GET is a full-service Geotechnical, Environmental, and materials Testing firm serving public- and private-sector clients throughout the mid-Atlantic region. Headquartered in Virginia Beach, Virginia, GET also has office locations in Williamsburg, Virginia, and Elizabeth City and Jacksonville, North Carolina. GET's services include in-house drilling capabilities and certified soils and concrete testing laboratories. "GET has built a strong presence in Virginia and throughout the mid-Atlantic, based not only on technical expertise, but on a strong commitment to outstanding client service," said Gayle Packer, Terracon president and CEO. "Adding GET as a part of erracon increases our regional bench strength to continue providing nimble, responsive support for our clients' projects." GET's 95 employees will immediately become part of Terracon. The firm will continue to operate locally as GET Solutions, Inc., A Terracon Company, and the transition will be seamless for clients. "GET Solutions has always been committed to providing the highest-quality services to our clients and career growth for our employees," said Camille Kattan, P.E., GET president and CEO. "Joining with Terracon allows us to take these commitments to a new level, offering the same excellent service but with expanded access to Terracon's national resources and employee career opportunities." The new acquisition is supported by Terracon's existing offices in Virginia, North Carolina, the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area, and others. GET joins three other recent Terracon acquisitions in the mid-Atlantic: TAM Consultants Inc. of Williamsburg, Virginia, in 2021, Skelly and Loy of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, in 2020, and GeoConcepts of Ashburn, Virginia, in 2017. Terracon is an employee-owned consulting engineering firm with more than 5,000 employees providing environmental, facilities, geotechnical, and materials services from more than 150 offices with services available in all 50 states. Terracon currently ranks 22nd on Engineering News-Record's list of the Top 500 Design Firms. For additional information about Terracon, visit terracon.com. View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/terracon-enhances-mid-atlantic-presence-with-get-solutions-inc-acquisition-301238733.html SOURCE Terracon [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Crude oil futures on Tuesday fell by 0.7 per cent to Rs 4,420 per barrel, as participants reduced their positions on low demand. On the Multi Commodity Exchange, crude oil for March delivery eased by Rs 31, or 0.7 per cent, to Rs 4,420 per barrel with a business volume of 4,403 lots. West Texas Intermediate crude oil was trading 1.17 per cent lower at USD 59.93 per barrel, while Brent crude was quoting 1.21 per cent down at USD 62.92 per barrel in New York. Also read: Indian Oil share gains 3% as firm to invest Rs 32,946 crore on Panipat refinery ABU DHABI, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News / WAM - 02nd Mar, 2021) The UAE has strongly denounced the Iranian-backed Houthi terrorist militia's attack with a missile towards a border village in Jazan, Saudi Arabia, which resulted in a number of civilian casualties. In a statement , the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation (MoFAIC) renewed its full solidarity with Saudi Arabia against these cowardly terrorist acts and the UAE's unwavering commitment to oppose any threat against its security and stability, confirming its support for any measure it takes to preserve the safety of its citizens and residents. MoFAIC also affirmed that the security of the UAE and that of Saudi Arabia are indivisible, and any threat facing the Kingdom is a threat to the security and stability of the UAE. The statement said the continuation of these attacks demonstrates the danger the Houthi coup poses to the region and further illustrates the militia's aim to undermine regional security and stability. 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. Three people were arrested after gardai broke up a student street party in Limerick. Videos that appeared on social media on Tuesday night showed a large crowd of revellers in the Castletroy area of the city. Higher education minister Simon Harris branded the scenes that unfolded in Carysfort Avenue in the College Court student area as completely unacceptable. The University of Limerick warned that strong disciplinary action would be taken against any student who breached coronavirus regulations. Two men in their 20s were arrested on suspicion of public order offences and another, also aged in his 20s, on suspicion of misuse of drugs. UL will take action with strong disciplinary measures against any student who has been found to have breached public health guidelines. Students at UL are subject to a Code of Conduct. University Of Limerick (@UL) March 2, 2021 Gardai also issued approximately 30 fixed payment notices for Covid-19 regulation breaches. The Garda said a significant number of its units attended the scene and gardai initially attempted to engage with the young people who had gathered. A Garda statement said following continued and orchestrated non-compliance with public health regulations and failure to comply with Garda direction, gardai intervened around 7.15pm. Gardai have commenced an investigation into identifying the organisers of this event, and as with all breaches of the public health regulations a file will be prepared for the Director of Public Prosecutions, said a Garda statement. Students like everyone have suffered a lot with #Covid19. The scenes in Limerick tonight are completely unacceptable & a slap in the face to everyone sacrificing so much. It does a real disservice to all students who abide by the rules day in and out. I have spoken to @UL tonight Simon Harris TD (@SimonHarrisTD) March 2, 2021 The Garda insisted it would continue to maintain a close and positive working relationship with those associated with the University of Limerick. Gardai in Limerick will continue to provide high visibility patrols in the vicinity of the University of Limerick campus and surrounding residential areas to check compliance to Covid-19 regulations and keep the community safe, the statement added. The Covid-19 pandemic remains a public health crisis and An Garda Siochana continues to appeal to all citizens to demonstrate personal and social responsibility to comply with public health guidelines and regulations in order to continue to save lives. Mr Harris tweeted: Students like everyone have suffered a lot with #Covid19. The scenes in Limerick tonight are completely unacceptable & a slap in the face to everyone sacrificing so much. It does a real disservice to all students who abide by the rules day in and out. The minister said he has spoken to the University of Limerick. He added: My understanding is a full investigation is underway by both the Gardai and by the university authorities. Any student in breach of restrictions and regulations must & will face serious consequences. The university tweeted: UL will take action with strong disciplinary measures against any student who has been found to have breached public health guidelines. Students at UL are subject to a Code of Conduct. BOSTON, March 2, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The IDTechEx report, "Thermoelectric Energy Harvesting and Sensing 2020-2030", shows how remarkable new applications are driving the increase in interest in thermoelectric power generation. The Matrix smartwatch is one but here is something completely different. Unmanned underwater vehicles UUV are unmanned electric craft that carry out a host of tasks from inspecting oil rigs and whale populations to seafloor prospecting for minerals. They divide into swimmers and gliders. Swimmers look like torpedoes. They are charged, sometimes underwater, then they go a few kilometers doing their tasks such as emergency rescue. Gliders are designed to last much longer, some being like hinged surfboards that surface to recharge using sun and waves when necessary. They criss-cross the Pacific Ocean, for example, but only manage one or two knots speed. Manta Ray is one that has appeared from Scotland to Australia, being used for long-range anti-submarine patrols and other more clandestine missions. Can it last even longer with thermoelectric power? In February 2021, The US agency DARPA awarded contracts to Northrop Grumman Systems Corporation and Martin Defense Group (formerly Navatek) to build demonstration versions of the new Manta Ray unmanned underwater vehicle. They also awarded a separate contract to Metron for Manta Ray's most important feature: an energy-harvesting system to power it indefinitely, allowing the robot submarine to carry out missions lasting months or years without returning to base or refueling. Thermal rise-and-glide methods exist but going in a straight line thermoelectrically is also on the table. Appropriate thermoelectric modules were recently demonstrated by researchers from the University of Glasgow in Scotland. These use the temperature difference between different parts of the vehicle to produce a small but significant electric current enough, the researchers say, to power an unmanned underwater vehicle. Boeing, which is building the Navy's Orca unmanned submarine, is active in this area. Another option is underwater kites exploiting different currents and various depths, but multiple solutions, including thermoelectric, are on the cards meaning no one winner is a possible result. Either way, it should transform the field of underwater warfare. A large, manned, nuclear-powered submarine may not be needed to maintain a permanent presence in disputed waters. Think shoals of lurking Manta Rays. "Manta Ray performers have each taken unique approaches to solving the wide range of challenges related to UUV endurance," program manager Commander Kyle Woerner said in the statement that details the latest contracts. "To me, this is a clear sign we are tackling a complex problem without a clear 'one size fits all' solution." For the big picture of the burgeoning energy harvesting business, see the IDTechEx report, "Energy Harvesting Microwatt to Gigawatt: Opportunities 2020-2040". For the full portfolio of Energy Harvesting & Off Grid research available from IDTechEx, please visit www.IDTechEx.com/Research/OffGrid. About IDTechEx IDTechEx guides your strategic business decisions through its Research, Subscription and Consultancy products, helping you profit from emerging technologies. For more information, contact [email protected] or visit www.IDTechEx.com. Media Contact: Natalie Moreton Digital Marketing Manager [email protected] +44(0)1223 812300 Social Media Links: Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/IDTechEx LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/idtechex/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/IDTechExResearch Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/478371/IDTechEx_Logo.jpg SOURCE IDTechEx Sudan flag Khartoum [Sudan], March 2 (ANI/Sputnik): Egypt and Sudan on Tuesday signed an agreement for military cooperation throughout a visit of Egypt's army chief of staff, Mohamed Farid, to the Sudanese capital of Khartoum, a Sputnik correspondent reported. "We reached a goal regarding the national security of the two countries to build experienced armed forces," the Sudanese army chief of staff, Mohamed Othman al-Hussein, said, thanking Cairo for standing by Khartoum in difficult times. The Sudanese official welcomed the output of the two countries' joint military committee. Cairo seeks to "consolidate ties with Sudan in all fields, especially in the military and security spheres, and solidarity as a strategic approach within the framework of the regional and international environment," according to Farid. (ANI/Sputnik) Licensed professional counselor Theresa Summer of Huntsville, Alabama, has heard plenty of people question their identity, but lately she's seeing a new trend. "In previous times the idea may have been, you make your bed for the first half of your life and then you lie in it for the second half, she says. It is more common for a client to come in now and say, I just don't think this is who I am anymore. They want a different bed metaphorically and, sometimes, literally." Crafting a different future Christine Lasher, 53, can relate. "The pandemic has provided a really important stillness for me, she says. It's forced me to be with myself in ways I didn't have to before." Lasher, of Fairport, New York, has always been a caregiver first to her three siblings when her father passed away at age 37 from a heart attack, then to her four children, for an ex-husband and a few wretched boyfriends, and for her mother with health concerns. But when COVID-19 hit, Lasher decided to start taking care of herself. She began therapy. She started meditating, writing fiction and painting, and lost 30 pounds. "This is the first time I'm choosing me in my whole life, Lasher says. I'm crafting what my future looks like. She has also chosen unequivocally not to be around toxic people and to surround herself instead with people who are genuinely happy when things go well for her. "Life is a journey of discovering yourself, Lasher says, and every single thing that we do shines some light on who we are and who we are not." Mid-life reflection leads to identity questions Becky Bolen, a licensed master social worker in Powder Springs, Georgia, prefers midlife reflection or evaluation to crisis, for those assessing whether they need to make a change. Many have followed a path from formative years into adulthood, and have continued on it for decades, either out of convenience or to satisfy outside expectations. And they are ready to shift gears even if they can't quite articulate it. Her clients usually describe this period as a vague unhappiness, a feeling of something being off, says Bolen. They can't quite put their finger on it. They just know that they don't like it." Bolen tries to help by suggesting people make a list of what has brought them joy and meaning throughout their lives. Do more of what's on that lis, and more of those opportunities start showing up, she says "Just do the next true and right thing. Even if it feels silly or doesn't make sense especially if it feels silly or doesn't make sense, she says. Joy and purpose lie where we least expect them." When people make life choices based on what others expect of them, they can find themselves faced with a case of mistaken identity, according to Daniel Garcia, a psychologist and executive director of The MendCenter mental health treatment center in Houston, Texas. Through therapy, they can create the identity they currently desire as opposed to an ideal that was impossible to achieve. In this way, the coronavirus has allowed even forced the opportunity to reevaluate values, priorities, motivations and goals. With all the fear of death that COVID-19 brings, it also is helping people recognize the possibility that they are not truly alive to begin with, Garcia says. Continuing to push the line' No matter what age you are, your best years don't have to be behind you. In fact, you're never too old to pivot directions and, at last, authentically peak. After the House of Representatives approved President Joe Biden's $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill, it is being transferred to the Senate. The legislation passed by the House the previous week involves $1,400 stimulus checks for individuals earning up to $75,000 per year and married couples earning up to $150,000 per year. Third Stimulus Checks to Proceed to Senate The package was approved on Saturday along party lines. All but two Democrats voted in favor. It will now be taken up by the Senate, where it will face more resistance. However, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has pledged to pass it as soon as possible, but first, he must keep the party in unison in support of the bill. Schumer is vowing that lawmakers will meet a deadline in the middle of March. President Biden said that there is no time to waste, reported Yahoo News. The $1,400 stimulus check is all but certain. The date it could come to people is anything but determined. Right now, we are hearing that the Senate could pick up the $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package as soon as Wednesday, reported CNET. With the bill now up to the Senate, lawmakers are discussing making alterations to the legislation that passed the House. According to Democratic Sen. Robert Menendez after the House vote, "We must move swiftly and pass it in the Senate. The people need help now," reported NJ. President Joe Biden has been vowing to provide meaningful relief to the public as one of his first actions in office. Now, it appears it is becoming closer to fruition. According to a New York Times poll, 72% of Americans support the COVID-19 relief plan. But until the Senate passes the most recent bill and Biden signs it, the third stimulus check amount and eligibility are open for negotiation. Also Read: House Passes $1.9T Biden Relief Bill With $1,400 Stimulus Checks The new plan has a more hasty phase-out than in earlier proposals. It caps payments at $100,000 for individuals and $200,000 for couples. The bill would also extend the child tax credit for couples to $3,600 per child under six years old and $3,000 for children from six to 17 years old. The legislation is Biden's first major agenda item. It is a sprawling relief package aimed at amping up vaccine distribution, stabilizing the economy, and providing millions of Americans with $1,400 stimulus checks. The package comes less than three months after Congress passed a $900 billion COVID-19 relief plan. If events escalate to go as planned, you could have more money to take care of bills, pay down debt, invest, build up your emergency savings, or just splurge within a matter of weeks. However, a few potential roadblocks remain. As the Senate picks it up, it would kick-start the process of debating the contents of the bill, including the contentious $15 minimum wage hike and any details about the third stimulus check or the $400 federal unemployment insurance or that comes up. Any delay during this process could also delay your payment. The bill that will emerge from the Senate will be altered compared to the one the House sent the chamber. A number of senators have already discussed making changes. There will be other amendments as the bill winds its way through the various committees. Related Article: $1,400 Stimulus Checks to Be Voted on Friday, Gets Unprecedented Push @ 2021 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. The honeymoon period appears to well and truly over for Married At First Sight newlyweds James Susler and Joanne Todd. Despite appearing content at the show's first dinner party on Monday, they were spotted looking tense just a few days later in Sydney. In images obtained by Daily Mail Australia in October, millionaire James appeared to keep his distance from 'wife' Joanne as they filmed for the series. Scroll down for video The honeymoon is over! Married At First Sight millionaire groom James Susler appeared tense with 'wife' Joanne Todd during filming for the show back in October The prestige car company owner, 44, kept his arms firmly crossed as he waited with crew to travel to a filming location with Jo. A source claimed the TV couple refrained from talking to one another outside of their apartment complex, instead interacting with producers and camera operators. 'They didn't look happy and really kept their distance until the cameras started rolling,' they claimed. Barber Joanna, 39, who was wearing activewear, also stood a few metres away from James on the sidewalk. Not happy: In images obtained by Daily Mail Australia in October, James appeared to keep his distance from 'wife' Joanne as they filmed for the series Love lost? The prestige car company owner, 44, kept his arms firmly crossed as he waited with crew to travel to a filming location with Jo Far apart: Barber Joanna, 39, who was wearing activewear, also stood a few metres away from James on the sidewalk James, who made his 'first million' in his late 20's, appeared treated the pair to a cheeky McDonald's drive-thru run after filming Monday's dinner party. However, their frosty display during filming appears to hint something will happen between the pair in the coming episodes of the show. Resident 'love expert' John Aiken revealed on Monday that the couples would be moving in together immediately, adding the 'honeymoon is now well and truly over'. 'You will need to get along with one another, learn about personal space and really get into the nitty gritty of your relationship,' he told the couples at the dinner party. The couples were photographed moving into SKYE Suites Sydney in late September, and remained there until the final vows were filmed in December. Not happy: A source claimed the TV couple refrained from talking to one another outside of their apartment complex, instead interacting with producers and camera operators 'The honeymoon is well and truly over': Their frosty display appears to hint something will happen between the pair in the coming episodes of the show. Resident 'love expert' John Aiken revealed on Monday that the couples would be moving in together immediately, adding the 'honeymoon is now well and truly over' While moving in together could begin a relationship breakdown for the couple, an explosive new therapy session could also be behind their tension. The 2021 brides and grooms will have their trust tested during a new 'confession week' segment, when they are forced to 'rank' other people in the experiment. According to TV Week Magazine, couples Coco Stedman and Sam Carraro and Jo and James both come unstuck due to the eyebrow-raising game. Hairdresser Jo is believed to trigger James' trust issues in the experiment by listing hunky groom Jake Edwards above him. 'My type is very rugged, unshaven, messy hair, tattoos and piercings,' she reportedly says in the upcoming episode. James is said to become suspect of her interest in Jake amid the confession. Breaking point? The 2021 brides and grooms will have their trust tested during a new 'confession week' segment, when they are forced to 'rank' other people in the experiment Getting on with it: Last week, just hours before her wedding aired on Nine, Jo was spotted without her wedding ring as she shopped at a local Melbourne Kmart with her two young sons Last week, just hours before her wedding aired on Nine, Jo was spotted without her wedding ring as she shopped at a local Melbourne Kmart with her two young sons. Over the past weekend, after the wedding aired, James seemingly confirmed he didn't find love with the blonde this season. In footage obtained by Daily Mail Australia, James was seen packing on the PDA with a mystery blonde at Bond nightclub in Melbourne. The newly single father-of-three couldn't wipe the smile off his face as he danced and locked lips with the mystery woman. Married At First Sight continues on Tuesday from 7:30pm on Nine The Bachelor Peter Weber, also known as Pilot Pete, got his start on Hannah Browns season of The Bachelorette. While Brown broke his heart, he got his shot at being the lead, though his season proved messy. Now, hes known for his on-and-off relationship with Kelley Flanagan, though he may be steeped in additional controversy due to an outing at a New York City bar. Heres what people are talking about. Why did The Bachelor Peter Weber move to New York City? Bachelor Peter Weber has quite a controversial past with the reality TV franchise, but he looked forward to moving to New York City. He and Kelley planned on moving to the Big Apple together, though they split in December 2020, thwarting their plan. Even so, Pilot Pete decided hed take matters into his own hands and move there anyway. So, why did Peter want to move to New York? I had actually made it a goal of mine when I turned 20 that I wanted to live in New York City before my 20s were up and Im just barely crossing it off the list! the 29-year-old shared with his social media followers, according to E! News. At the time, he also mentioned he was grateful Kelley was on board, though the two have since broken up. Despite the split, it looks like Kelley planned on moving to New York City as well. Ill be in the Florida Keys until March then still making the move to New York! she wrote to Instagram on Jan. 10, 2021. In the meantime, I am trying to figure out my future living situation in New York (searching for a roommate and apartment), spending time with my friends and family, and focusing on my career! Pilot Pete was spotted in a crowded bar during the pandemic Pilot Pete and Hannah Ann Sluss discuss their relationship at the end of The Bachelor | John Fleenor via Getty Images RELATED: The Bachelor: Kaitlyn Bristowe Asked Hannah Ann Sluss if She Felt Manipulated to Fall in Love With Peter Weber It looks like Bachelor Peter is making the most of his adventures in New York. On Feb. 18, he posted a photo of him and his dog on a plane to his new home. And Dustin Kendrick, another Bachelorette alum, is his roommate. While the two reality stars are enjoying their time, it sounds like theyre also hitting the town. The Bachelor Party podcast hosts talked about fans allegedly spotting Pilot Pete out at a crowded bar in the city. Side note I saw an Instagram of Peter in a very crowded bar in New York, and its fine, the host noted. Do whatever you want, Peter. Get Covid or dont. I think he already had it, so whatever. But I was just like, where is this bar? What is this bar thats crowded? The host then went on to reiterate that the bar was crowded and certainly not at 25% capacity. Those types of people find their ways to each other, those types of people who dont care, Bachelorette alum Rachel Lindsay added. Peter lives with Dustin, so it was Peter and Dustin together, the host added. Is Bachelor Peter Weber still with Kelley Flanagan? Peter Weber and Kelley Flanagan Are "Working on Their Relationship" as They Reunite at Super Bowl Event https://t.co/HPuavjyQ4G E! News (@enews) February 7, 2021 While Bachelor Peters behavior in New York is certainly turning heads, many are also wondering whats going on with him and Kelley. While the two arent officially back together, they are going to be in the same city quite soon. And theyre reportedly working on their relationship. They looked happy and were having fun drinking and dancing together and with their friends, a source revealed in February 2021, according to E! News. Peter and Kelley knew they were both planning to be in Tampa for the Super Bowl and had plans to meet up. They have been in touch and are working on their relationship. The source also noted Pilot Pete regrets their breakup. Its unclear exactly where the two stand, as Peters gained a reputation for being wishy-washy about his relationships. But it looks like the two are moving in a positive direction while in New York. Check out Showbiz Cheat Sheet on Facebook! As storm clouds blanketed the Brisbane CBD late on Tuesday, severe thunderstorms forecast for south-east Queensland had dumped more than 70 millimetres of rainfall in some regions. The Bureau of Meteorology warned that just before 5pm severe thunderstorms were detected on the weather radar near Redbank Plains, Wacol and Greenbank, moving towards the north. Storm clouds cover Brisbane late on Tuesday. Credit:Fairfax Media The Brisbane inner city, Upper Brookfield and Enoggera Reservoir were expected to be hit by 5.20pm, while the storms were expected to reach Strathpine, Boondall and Lake Samsonvale half an hour later. Strathpine, Kallangur and Dayboro is expected to be hit by 6pm and Caboolture, Mount Mee and Wamuran by 6.30pm. Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-02 15:11:16|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close by Xinhua writer Fu Yiming STOCKHOLM, March 1 (Xinhua) -- China-European Union (EU) Geographical Indications (GIs) Agreement took effect on Monday, injecting a dose of stimulus into bilateral trade, and marking another milestone in cooperation between China and the EU. GI is the label used for identifying the geographical origin of a product, and is also an important type of intellectual property right. According to the agreement, 100 GIs from each side, involving liquor, tea, food and farm produce, came under protection on the same day, which means consumers from China and the EU could buy authentic specialities of each other without worries about the inferior and fake goods. As "China's first comprehensive, high-level bilateral agreement on GIs, its coming into effect fully testifies to China and the EU's commitment to upholding free and open trade, and supporting rules-based multilateral trading system," China's Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Wang Wenbin said on Monday. "It will provide new impetus to China-EU economic and trade cooperation and be conducive to cementing the foundation, economic- and trade-wise, of China-EU comprehensive strategic partnership," he noted. GENUINE QUALITY GUARANTEED Together "with our Chinese counterparts," the "100 + 100" model offers better protections for various GIs, said Vincent Perrin, director general of Comite Interprofessionnel du Vin de Champagne, a trade association that represents the interests of independent Champagne producers and Champagne Houses. "China increasingly recognizes the value of geographical indications: it has a very rich heritage of food and artisanal know-how, and consumers are increasingly looking for guarantees of authenticity," Perrin told Xinhua. "This agreement will guarantee the protection of 100 EU agri-food GIs on the Chinese market. This is a further step which testifies to the will of the European Union and China to work closely together," Rodolphe Lameyse, chief executive officer of Vinexposium, a wine and spirits events organizer, told Xinhua. He added that it is important to protect European GI products, renowned for their "quality and diversity," at both EU and global levels "in order to guarantee their authenticity and preserve their reputation for the satisfaction of Chinese consumers." "The agreement... is extremely important for Europe and China since in return China will be able to use the European logo for its GIs as well. This recognition will allow Chinese producers to benefit from the economic development that a GI allows," Lameyse said. Wines from the DOQ (denomination of qualified origin) Priorat are among the Spanish brands included in the agreement. Salus Alvarez, president of the DOQ Priorat, told Xinhua, "We aim to show a high level in terms of quality and guarantee of origin, so what this agreement does is consolidate what we are and what we want to become." BILATERAL TRADE INTENSIFIED According to the Chinese Ministry of Commerce, the agreement will inject new impetus into China-EU economic and trade cooperation, potentially benefiting businesses and consumers on both sides. It "will help producers protect local competitiveness, improve the quality and reputation of goods, and protect consumers from counterfeiting ... and helps high-quality Chinese food enter the homes of ordinary people in Italy," Livio Mazzanti, area manager China for Italian winemaking company Marchesi Mazzei, told Xinhua. "I like a lot of Chinese food in the agreement, and tea has a big market in Italy. As these origins are protected, Italians can purchase Chinese food with greater confidence," Mazzanti added, noting "it is expected that the sales of Chinese food in Italy and Europe will grow rapidly." Jose Luis Benitez, general director of the Spanish Wine Federation, told Xinhua that he believed the forecasts for wine exports to China are showing a growing trend. "China is currently Spain's fourth largest market for bottled wines. However ... there are predictions that China could end up becoming the second largest market for Spanish wines," he said. HUGE POTENTIAL TO BE TAPPED In addition to the 100 GIs protected from each side respectively, 175 additional products from each side will be added to the GI list in the upcoming four years. In the extended list, GIs such as Xuan Paper, Huangmei Cross-stitch, Shu Brocade, and Qingshen Bamboo Weaving that represent traditional Chinese culture will also be included, potentially contributing to bilateral exchanges of culture as well. Analysts believe that the huge potential of the agreement is of special significance especially against the current backdrop of uncertainties characterized by unilateralism, trade protectionism, and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Among the EU's 175 products that will be included in the list are wines from the northeastern Spanish Priorat region, which are internationally recognized for their quality. "There are increasingly more Chinese companies interested in Priorat wines, and there are increasingly more of Priorat's small family wineries interested in that contract," said Alvarez. Although the impact of the pandemic has dampened the growing commercial ties between Priorat wine sellers and the Chinese market, Alvarez is confident that business will soon pick up. "We predict that 2021 will see a reunion with the Chinese market and the link that is being established in terms of friendly relations and of trust is very strong," he said. Polish Vodka has also been included in the list of the 100 European geographical indications under protection in China. "China is an enormous market and a great opportunity for producers of Polish Vodka," Andrzej Szumowski, president of the Polish Vodka Association, told Xinhua. "The Chinese market has enormous growth potential when it comes to food and drink from Europe," Szumowski stressed. Enditem (Xu Yongchun and Liu Fang from Paris, Feng Junwei and Meng Dingbo from Madrid, Chen Zhanjie from Rome, Zhang Zhang from Warsaw, Li Jizhi from Brussels and Zhang Huaying from Fuzhou, China also contributed to this story.) Parents have slammed Jaguar Land Rover for offering work experience sessions to girls and non-binary pupils only. The motoring giant has excluded boys from the two-week virtual classes for secondary school children aged 10-13. The female and non-binary work experience programme is set to coincide with International Women's Day on 8 March. But parents have been left unimpressed by the initiative, with one branding it 'downright discrimination.' The female and non-binary work experience programme is set to coincide with International Women's Day on 8 March. Pictured, the company's work experience advert Carr Hill High School in Kirkham, Lancashire, told parents the sessions were only open to female or non-binary students Parents have been left unimpressed by the initiative, with one branding it 'downright discrimination.' Hundreds of schools across the UK were sent the invites last week for the design, technology, engineering and manufacturing sessions which start next Monday. One parent of a child at Carr Hill High School in Kirkham, Lancashire, said: 'The schools emailed about an opportunity to do some project work with Jaguar Land Rover. 'This was quickly curtailed by a correction email stating JLR were only interested in girls and non-binary pupils. 'This is downright discrimination. If it stated 'males only' there would be outrage. I'm still in a state of shock at how bad this stance is. My lad was really looking forward to it too.' Other parents took to social media to express disappointment. Diane Wills said: 'I feel this is not supporting equal opportunities and is very gender specific. It should be equal to ALL but to say female only is unfair. Sarah Rhodes added: 'It's great that these opportunities are available. But unfortunately this is a clear case of positive discrimination.' In an email, the school said: 'Please be aware that the Jaguar Land Rover work experience is only currently open to girls and non-binary. 'This was not made clear by the company, please accept my apologies for sending this opportunity out to all students.' The work experience invite reads: 'Only 11 per cent of engineers in the UK automotive industry are female. 'Jaguar Land Rover is tackling the attitude that engineering is a male-dominated industry head-on by inspiring more young people to explore the next generation of exciting career opportunities in science, technology, engineering and maths. 'To apply for this programme you must identify as female or non-binary, attend a school or college in the UK and be in years 10-13.' In an email, the school said: 'Please be aware that the Jaguar Land Rover work experience is only currently open to girls and non-binary' A Jaguar Land Rover spokesman said: 'Our work experience programme for female and non-binary students is just one of a number of opportunities offered by Jaguar Land Rover as part of our broader education activities. 'We normally offer two work experience programmes which are open to all students, providing they meet entry criteria such as home location, academic grades and age. 'Whilst the broader education activities were placed on hold during Covid-19, we are now in a position to restart those. 'The female/non-binary work experience programme will be the first, timed to align with International Women's Day on 8 March. 'Other programmes, as outlined above, will follow over the coming months. 'Around 500 students participate in a work experience placement with Jaguar Land Rover each year. 'Jaguar Land Rover is committed to recruiting from the widest pool of talent. It is key to our future productivity and performance. 'Through our broader education programme of activities we offer opportunities to all young people, regardless of gender, or any other identifier, to engage with our organisation and explore the variety of career opportunities available in automotive engineering, manufacturing and design.' In October last year, Jaguar Land Rover gender-fluid engineer Rose Taylor was awarded 180,000 in a discrimination case after being bullied. An employment tribunal heard how she suffered insults and abusive jokes at the hands of cruel co-workers after she started wearing women's clothes. More than half of all the branches operated by the main banks in Northern Ireland have closed in the last decade. It was confirmed on Monday that 15 Bank of Ireland outlets are to shut here. And it means the total number of "big four" branches will be 114 - compared to 236 in 2010, based on an analysis of published figures and announced closures. BoI will be operating just 13, down from 44 branches 10 years ago. Over 100 branches will close across the island of Ireland, the company announced on Monday, with its chief executive blaming a "seismic shift" towards digital banking over the last year of the Covid-19 pandemic. Politicians and business representatives have criticised the move, which will mean the closure of the last brick and mortar banking service in at least one town - Keady in Co Armagh. Expand Close Roger Pollen of the Federation of Small Businesses / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Roger Pollen of the Federation of Small Businesses "This is a grim day for business banking provision in Northern Ireland," said Roger Pollen, head of the Federation of Small Businesses Northern Ireland. The company has confirmed 120 Northern Ireland employees will be affected, but it is hoped they can be redeployed within the company, chief executive of Bank of Ireland UK Ian McLaughlin said. He added: "We need to adapt and we need to change. We still will have a branch in every county. Access to cash and access to banking services will still exist." But analysis shows the steady decline of banks in our towns and villages. Some 122 branches of the four main Northern Ireland banks - Ulster, Danske, AIB First Trust and BoI - have closed over the last decade. Ulster had 90 branches 10 years ago and now has 44, Danske, still named Northern at the start of the decade, has dropped from 72 to 42, while AIB has shuttered half its outlets, from 30 to 15. The BoI closures, which will bring the number down from the current 28 to 13, will begin in June and continue to "the end of 2021", with more specific dates for branches released "in due course". Expand Close Bank of Ireland closures across Northern Ireland / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Bank of Ireland closures across Northern Ireland Mr Pollen, of the FSB, added: "This decision has been met with shock and disappointment from Bank of Ireland's small business customers. "While we accept that banking practices are changing, the decision by Bank of Ireland to close more than half of its Northern Ireland branches effectively removes choice from large swathes of customers who wish to bank in a branch rather than online. "The commitment to 'one branch per county' does little to provide reassurance of their long-term commitment to customers. "While Bank of Ireland have cited the availability of services to be delivered in Post Offices, these very often lack the privacy and familiarity which a small business owner develops with their local bank branch and which they need to operate effectively." Francesca McDonagh, chief executive of BoI, which reported a net loss of 742m (642m) for 2020, said "the trend to digital banking has been evident, with customers using branches less and less". "Covid-19 has accelerated this changing behaviour, and we've seen a seismic shift towards digital banking over the past 12 months," Ms McDonagh told the Irish Times, while also announcing the bank's UK headquarters will relocate from London to Belfast. In a statement, the company added: "Digital banking is growing fast, while branch footfall is dropping sharply. We've now reached a tipping point between online and offline banking, and that's why we've announced changes to our branch network. However, our agreement with the Post Office means we continue to protect local access to physical banking for those who want it. "We know news like this can cause concern for some customers. We're not making these changes immediately, giving us time to communicate fully with all our customers about every option available to them - online, in an alternative Bank of Ireland branch, or at a local post office." SDLP economy spokesperson Sinead McLaughlin described the decision as "deeply concerning". "Bank of Ireland's review of its operations in Northern Ireland has caused anxiety for staff and personal and business customers," she said. "I am deeply concerned at the implications of the decision to cut back its branch network which will have a devastating impact for staff, customers and also the high streets where these operate." Retail NI chief executive Glyn Roberts added: "The closure of these 15 branches will have a negative impact on our local high streets with less footfall for nearby retailers when lockdown ends. "I have also particular concerns of the impact on rural communities, with further reduced ATM provision and the ability to access cash. "Our high streets face a huge task in recovering with so many businesses closing their doors which will lead to a growing problem of dereliction and shuttered shops." [March 02, 2021] LMS365 and Microsoft Viva Improve Employee Experience and Learning Company welcomes Microsoft's new Employee Experience Platform as an aid to connecting remote workers with a culture of learning and collaboration AARHUS, Denmark, March 2, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Today LMS365 announced its commitment to seamless integration with Microsoft Viva to provide a complete Learning Experience Platform (LXP). LMS365's existing integration with Microsoft Teams already enables its customers to take full advantage of Viva. Used together, these tools will enable organizations to improve employee engagement and learning in today's remote and hybrid work environments. Click to Tweet: @lms365 and @Microsoft Viva Improve Employee Experience and Learning: https://www.elearningforce.com/the-future-of-engagement-and-learning-microsoft-teams-lms365-and-viva/ #remotework #LandD Micosoft Viva unites communications, knowledge, learning, resources and insights into an integrated experience that empowers individuals and teams to communicate, collaborate and learn. One of Viva's four pillars is Viva Learning, which will focus on the importance of creating a learning culture that supports the need for an engaging, effective and accessible learning experience. Already seamlessly integrated with Microsoft Teams, LMS365 fully supports this vision to work smarter and learn better within the flow of work. By combining LMS365 and Microsoft Viva, learners will have access to the complete learning experience platforms with all the functions they need, entirely built and operated in Microsoft 365 and Azure. Since the shift to remote work, maintaining quality employee experience has been a great challenge for organizations across the boardwhether this be in onboarding new members or training employees for best practices using new technology. One of the biggest challenges to offering these services remotely in a meaningful way has been finding a user-friendly platform that empowers users rather than confusing and frustrating them. Through Microsoft Teams, organizations can leverage Viva and LMS365 to deliver seamless digital learning and employee experience platforms to remote workers, allowing them to continue learning and collaborating with ease. The platforms offer benefits to the following stakeholders: Learners Employees will use the tools and resources brought by Viva and LMS365, stored on Sharepoint with easy accessibility from Microsoft Teams for seamless learning and collaboration. Employees will use the tools and resources brought by Viva and LMS365, stored on Sharepoint with easy accessibility from Microsoft Teams for seamless learning and collaboration. Human resources leaders Human resources teams will leverage Viva and LMS365 to roll out the training, tools and resources needed to train and onboard employees, all within Microsoft Teams. Human resources teams will leverage Viva and LMS365 to roll out the training, tools and resources needed to train and onboard employees, all within Microsoft Teams. IT teams IT teams will benefit from consolidating operations into Microsoft infrastructure, simplifying the troubleshooting and issues that come with disparate infrastructures. Christopher Rousset, managing director of Americas & vice president of global alliances, LMS365, said: "Employees often report that remote work makes them feel disconnected from their organizations and coworkers. Using a learning and communication platform helps organizations and their employees remain resilient and flexible. The combined features of LMS365 and Microsoft Viva embed a learning culture into daily work life and enhance the onboarding process. We look forward to teaming up with Microsoft Viva as features roll out this year." About LMS365: LMS365 has 800+ enterprise and public customers with over 4 million users. 50+ trusted partners have implemented the solution in more than 40 countries, with customers in all sectors, and deployments ranging from a few hundred employees to 50,000+ employees. LMS365, a Microsoft Preferred Solution, is one of the fastest-growing cloud-based Learning Management Solutions in the market today. LMS365 provides a modern, integrated, and familiar learning experience as learning is now made possible within Microsoft Teams, Mobile and SharePoint Online. LMS365 is fast to install, highly configurable, easy to use and fully integrated with the rest of your digital workplace, including Microsoft 365, SharePoint & Teams. Website: LMS365.com PR Contacts: Shyna Deepak Nadel Phelan, Inc. 831-440-2408 shyna.deepak@nadelphelan.com Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1138737/ELEARNINGFORCE_Logo.jpg [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] DOUGLAS COUNTY, Ore. A man accused of using a fake nonprofit to defraud people in several states was arrested in Oregon last week. Tyrone Powell, 40, was arrested when Douglas County Sheriffs deputies served search warrants in Elkton and Cottage Grove on Feb. 26 following a five-month investigation. Powell reportedly scammed an elderly victim in Elkton out of 30.8 acres and a shop using the guise of a nonprofit called the Impossible Roads Foundation, which claimed to be building tiny homes for disabled veterans. Deputies said Powell assumed the property as his own after the transaction. Then, the suspect reportedly obtained restraining orders against the victim and filed criminal reports accusing the victim of crimes such as burglary and theft under his alias, John Hope, deputies said. Powell, who grew up in California and attended Yale University, lived in Arizona, where he allegedly became involved in fraudulent activity and operated separate false nonprofits under the names of The Missing Piece Foundation, True Story World, The Missing Piece Foundation Endowment, Machine Seven Super Car Tour and Love. In 2009, Powell was arrested in Arizona for altering a VIN on a vehicle and was involved in a civil litigation for defaulting on loans, deputies said. At the time, Powell told authorities he was the victim of identity theft. A couple of years later, he reportedly left the state and is believed to have traveled to Alaska and then Washington, where he assumed the identity of John Hope and started the fake Impossible Roads Foundation, deputies said. Using this organization, Powell reportedly obtained large donations from companies like Home Depot. Deputies travelled to Bellingham, Washington, in January 2021 and interviewed multiple people familiar with Powell under his alias. Authorities also reportedly learned a majority of donated items were not being used and were abandoned, and shipping containers provided for use as tiny homes had been sold. Powell was taken to the Douglas County Jail on charges of first-degree aggravated theft by deception, first-degree identity theft and forgery, two counts of perjury, two counts of false swearing, first-degree criminal possession of a forged instrument, unlawful possession of a fictitious identification, and fraudulently obtaining a signature. Additional charges may follow. If you have any information, contact the sheriffs office at at dcso.pio@co.douglas.or.us or through the tip line at 541-957-2099. Copyright 1995 - . All rights reserved. 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DGAP-News: ADM Energy PLC / Key word(s): Miscellaneous ADM Energy PLC: Notice of Investor Call 02.03.2021 / 08:45 The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement. 02 March 2021 ADM Energy Plc ("ADM" or the "Company") Notice of Investor Call ADM Energy (AIM: ADME; BER and FSE: P4JC), a natural resources investing company, gives notice that it will host an investor presentation, via webcast, on 12 March 2021 at 11:00 GMT. The call will be led by the Company's CEO, Osamede Okhomina, and will include a Q&A session at the end. The Company will provide an update on the business and its views on the drivers behind the current market. Further to the announcement on 18 February 2021, discussions are ongoing regarding an investment opportunity in an existing discovery in Nigeria, and with one of its funding partners and certain other potential investors in respect of a possible subscription. The Company will only use publicly available information for the call and will not be in a position to provide further information on the investment opportunity unless further details have been announced in advance. The online presentation is open to all existing and potential shareholders. Interested parties can register their interest and pre-submit questions at the following link: https://admenergyplc.com/investors/register-for-investor-call/ Participants are requested to submit questions in advance by 11:00 GMT on 11 March 2021. Enquiries: ADM Energy plc +44 20 7459 4718 Osamede Okhomina, CEO www.admenergyplc.com Cairn Financial Advisers LLP +44 20 7213 0880 (Nominated Adviser) Jo Turner, James Caithie Arden Partners plc +44 20 7614 5900 (Lead Broker) Paul Shackleton, Dan Gee-Summons Hybridan LLP +44 20 3764 2341 (Joint Broker) Claire Louise Noyce Oddo Seydler Bank AG +49 69 920540 (Designated Sponsor) Michael B. Thiriot Luther Pendragon +44 20 7618 9100 (Financial PR) Harry Chathli, Alexis Gore, Joe Quinlan About ADM Energy PLC ADM Energy PLC (AIM: ADME; BER and FSE: P4JC) is a natural resources investing company with an existing asset base in Nigeria. ADM Energy holds a 9.2% profit interest in the Aje Field, part of OML 113, which covers an area of 835km offshore Nigeria. Aje has multiple oil, gas, and gas condensate reservoirs in the Turonian, Cenomanian and Albian sandstones with five wells drilled to date. ADM Energy is seeking to build on its existing asset base in Nigeria and target other investment opportunities across the West African region in the oil and gas sector with attractive risk reward profiles such as proven nature of reserves, level of historic investment, established infrastructure and route to early cash flow. 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. Editor: We put a man on the moon more than 50 years ago. We mastered nuclear weaponry more than 70 years ago. Currently, a NASA orbiter is near the planet Mars. A rover on Mars will release a helicopter to take pictures and send them back to Earth. So, why for the love of ingenuity cant we figure out how to fix the health care system, find a definitive cure for cancer, heart disease and diabetes, or at the least, equitably and quickly distribute COVID-19 vaccines? How about merely helping millions of people with their aching backs? I think were being duped. Someone must have the answers to this. SANDRA NEWAK MAYFIELD Editor: The difficulties we have encountered with the rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine are a direct result of former President Donald Trump. His failures in vision, planning, leadership and concern for the common citizen are the roots of this problem. As of Feb. 11 Lackawanna County was issued just shy of 1,000 doses of vaccine for that day, according to state information. Yes, theres not always a lot of it to go around due to demand. The issue is that there is only one community health location for many to have an opportunity to get the shot. It is the only outlet to get immunized and you supposedly must be a patient of the health center to get it. To add insult to injury it reportedly takes two to three weeks to become a patient of this practice. Its just not fair. To make vaccine distribution exclusive, to make it a special class, is a bad way to distribute it. It separates us. Trump sows many seeds of division to split us into different groups and classes and this is a hangover of his poor leadership. He had no distribution plan, or a bad one at best. I pray the new administration has a plan. We are all in this together. COVID-19 is everyones virus; it is societys illness. A fair and equitable way is needed to distribute the coronavirus immunity to all the people. Together is the only way to go. JOHN CHICHAK PECKVILLE Editor: The government is not handling the coronavirus efficiently. Using doctors offices would be the logical way to defeat this virus. As the saying goes, use it or lose it. Also, eliminate the interest on student loans. The interest keeps piling up until some students just give up and do not pay. The way many people handle credit cards is to pay up front and avoid any interest. Another way to administer coronavirus shots could be through pharmacies. They should be used to the maximum extent possible. Another way of handling the student loan issue would be to have students work at the schools they attend, which would significantly reduce their debt. Students with wealthy parents can pay the loans. Tuition is grossly out of control. Gone are the days of low tuition rates. Lets do the right thing for the health and wealth of our nation. JAMES W. PATTERSON ROARING BROOK TWP. Editor: A reader wrote to thank Sen. Pat Toomey for voting to convict former President Trump at his recent impeachment trial (Toomey praised, Feb. 20). I have three words for Toomey: Et tu, Brute? GIULIO CAVALLARO CLIFFORD TWP., SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY Editor: NASAs Perseverance rover will scoop up rocks from the surface of Mars to be returned here for research and study. As Earth is in the throes of a pandemic and several variants, would that really be a good thing? What if theres a strain of some strange Martian virus on those rocks? It could spread down here and cause earthlings to become so delusional that they do idiotic and dangerous things like invade the Capitol with the blessing of an orange humanoid con artist and attempt to halt the certification of an honest election; or believe that Democrats run child sex rings in the basements of popular pizza parlors. Wait a minute. ... Forget about invaders from our southern border; the Martians are coming! VINCE MORABITO SCRANTON Editor: The severe winter storm in Texas recently is a reminder that disaster can strike at any time, often with little warning. Millions of Texans lack access to clean drinking water and hundreds of thousands were without power. Texas officials placed 13 million people more than one-third of the states population under a boil water advisory. With grocery store shelves wiped out in many places in the state, this experience serves as another example of the importance to prepare your home for the unexpected. Ready.gov recommends having one gallon of bottled water per person per day for at least three days on hand for drinking and sanitation. Families should prepare their pantries with a three-day supply of nonperishable food for each member of the household. These can include ready-to-eat canned meats, fruits and vegetables, protein bars, peanut butter, nonperishable pasteurized milk and food for infants. Medicines and other essential items, such as batteries and flashlights, should also be stockpiled. If the last 12 months have taught us anything, its that we can never be too prepared. Whether its coming up with an evacuation route, shelter plan, or re-evaluating the contents of your emergency stash, make sure you and your family are prepared in the event of a disaster. For more suggestions and information, visit DisasterChecklist.org. JAMES BOWERS DISASTERCHECKLIST.ORG WASHINGTON, D.C. New Delhi: The Ministry of Communications on Tuesday (March 2, 2021) informed that the spectrum auction 2021 fetched bids worth Rs 77,814.80 crore, which according to them was 'better than expected'. The second and the concluding day of the spectrum auction witnessed incremental bids for Rs 668.20 crore. "The value of the spectrum for which there are winning bids is Rs 77,814.80 crore. Hence, incremental bids for Rs 668.20 crore were made today", said Anshu Prakash, Secretary, Department of Telecommunications, Ministry of Communications. The auction began on Monday and concluded on Tuesday at 12.45 PM, after a total of 6 rounds of bidding. The e-auction was based on the Simultaneous Multiple Round Ascending Auction (SMRA) methodology. Anshu Prakash also informed that bidding took place for spectrum in 800 MHz, 900 MHz, 1800 MHz, 2100 MHz and 2300 MHz bands. The total quantity of spectrum for which right to use has been acquired in these bands is 855.60 MHz. The participants did not bid in 700 MHz and 2500 MHz bands. Three bidders Bharti Airtel Ltd, Vodafone Idea Ltd, and Reliance JioInfocommLtd participated in the auction. The bidder-wise details of the quantity of spectrum acquired and amounts payable are as follows: According to the Ministry of Communications, a total quantity of 2308.80 MHz spectrum was put to auction, including spectrum that is expiring up to December 2021. Of this quantity, bids were received for 855.60MHz of the spectrum. Excluding spectrum in 700MHz and 2500MHz bands, this is about 60% of the spectrum put to auction. In the 2016 spectrum auction, where there were seven bidders, the spectrum sold was 41% by the quantity and 12% by value of the total spectrum put to auction. The corresponding figures in the 2021 spectrum auction are 37% and 19% respectively, with 3 participants. The quantity of spectrum put to auction and the spectrum acquired in different bands is as follows: The Ministry of Communications informed that the Spectrum Usage Charges (SUC) for the spectrum acquired in this auction will be payable at the rate of 3% of Adjusted Gross Revenue (AGR) of the licensee, excluding revenue from wireline services. "The auction is concluded and these provisional results are subject to scrutiny and approval by the Government," it added. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Some of us old timers who grew up in Southern California recall the inversion layers of particles in the valleys that trapped smog. We later learned that the haze we saw (which was then called 'smog') was ozone, created primarily from vehicle emissions. That was bad ozone. There also was naturally occurring (good) ozone, generated by the suns reactions with naturally emitted hydrocarbons (e.g. pine trees) that one sees over the Great Smoky Mountains. Ozone is important, since its layer in the stratosphere protects us from intense UV radiation that is associated with skin cancer. So, years ago, the worlds leaders got together to stop the degradation of the ozone layer by ending use of ozone-depleting chemicals. I wrote about that at American Thinker last October, in an article titled, Whats the Endgame with Ozone. What I want to do now, is show that it's still the ozone-depleting chemicals, rather than the now-vaunted carbon dioxide, as what's most critical to what happens with climate. Once upon a time, the global bodies had been on the right track. On Sept. 16, 1987, 46 countries signed the Montreal Protocol to stop using ozone-depleting chemicals (ODCs). There are 200 countries that have eventually endorsed the Montreal Protocol. Developed countries were to lead the effort to roll back ODCs while developing countries were allowed a more relaxed period to stop their use. I believe that the Montreal Protocol was a trial balloon for the Kyoto Protocol, which was all about carbon dioxide emissions. The Kyoto Protocol was actually an international treaty which extended the 1992 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) that committed state parties to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, based on the scientific consensus that (part one) global warming is occurring and (part two) it is extremely likely that human-made CO 2 emissions have predominantly caused it. The Kyoto Protocol applies to the six greenhouse gases: carbon dioxide (CO 2 ), Methane (CH 4 ), nitrous oxide (N 2 O), hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), perfluorocarbons (PFCs), and sulfur hexafluoride (SF 6 ). The Kyoto Protocol was considered unsuccessful, since developing countries were not signatory to it. They emit at least half of the worlds greenhouse gases. Then the UNFCCC tried to put lipstick on a pig (authors opinion) by then developing the Paris accord. The Paris agreement a.k.a., the Paris accord is a legally binding international treaty on climate change. It was adopted by 196 Parties at COP 21 in Paris, on 12 December 2015 and entered into force on 4 November 2016. Its goal is to lower global warming to well below 2, preferably to 1.5 degrees Celsius, comparable to pre-industrial levels. To achieve this long-term temperature goal, countries aim to reach global peaking of greenhouse gas emissions as soon as possible to achieve a climate neutral world by mid-century. Note the enforcement date was four days before the national elections when Donald J. Trump was elected our 45th President. Shortly after being elected, President Trump removed the United States from the constraints of the Paris accord. As expected, shortly after Joe Biden took office, he reversed President Trumps actions on the Paris accord. Since this is a treaty, the Senate is required to vote on its ratification, requiring 67 senators to vote 'yes' to encumber the United States to this international treaty. Will the Senate under Chuck Schumer take this up quickly since it is such an emergency for the progressive socialists? The basic premise for these protocols a.k.a., international treaties, is that global warming, synonymous with climate change, is caused by greenhouse gas emissions. The following from Wikipedia is a simplified example of the greenhouse effect: Light energy (white arrows) emitted by the sun warms the earth's surface, which reflects the energy as heat (orange arrows) that warms the atmosphere. Much of the heat is captured by greenhouse gas molecules such as water, carbon dioxide, and methane. Solar radiation keeps the earths average temperature at approximately 59 degrees Fahrenheit. But the greenhouse gas molecules in the atmosphere absorb some of the incoming infrared radiation from the sun. When the sun sets, these heated gas molecules transmit heat back to earth and to space. This phenomenon is called black body radiation. Note that heat moves from a warmer body to a colder body according to the Second Law of Thermodynamics. Resistance to this heat flow is insulation such as other layers of gases that might impede or slow down the flow. Ask yourself what the prior to sunrise temperature is versus the high temperature for the preceding day. Now think about the outside temperature that the airline pilot tells you it is at while you are flying at nearly 40,000 feet. Does about -40 F ring a bell? The propensity of a warm object to flow to a colder object increases the greater the temperature difference, right? Lets return to the Montreal Protocols purpose. The world needed to stop using ozone-depleting chemicals (ODCs) since their emission into the atmosphere destroyed the ozone layer that protects us from severe ultraviolet rays. The University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR) located in Boulder, Colorado, synthesizes work done by the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) under sponsorship of the National Science Foundation (NSF). NSF provides research grants (federal money) to colleges and universities to conduct atmospheric research. NCAR administers this funding. UCAR takes the results and simplifies them for redistribution to the public. UCAR issued a brief article in 2018 titled, Some Greenhouse Gases Are Stronger than Others. They discuss the relative heat-trapping characteristics of target substances: carbon dioxide (CO 2 ), Methane (CH 4 ), nitrous oxide (N 2 O), and hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs). The relationship of heat trapping characteristics are: CO 2 1 CH 4 30 N 2 O 300 HFCs 23,000 According to the 2016 U.S. greenhouse gas emissions data, the distribution is: CO 2 82% CH 4 10% N 2 O 5% HFCs 3% Imagine yourself in a room in a house that was completely closed off. Also imagine that the relative heat characteristics are quantified as candles. Therefore, you would have 82% of 1 candle (0.82 candle) due to CO 2; 3 candles due to methane (CH 4 10% times 30); 15 candles due to N 2 O (5% times 300); and 690 candles due to HFCs (3% times 23,000). This means that you would have about 709 candles in the room. Do you think removing the less than one candle (CO 2 ) would have an impact on the heat trapped in the room by the candles? What about the 3 candles represented by methane? The United States has phased out the use of hydrofluorcarbons due to agreements reached over three decades ago and yes, there is some persistence of them in the atmosphere. They just dont disappear overnight. But the developing countries, the largest being China, were given a relaxed schedule to phase out HFCs. According to Kiran Pandey at downearth.org (in India) on May 23, 2019, China was emitting between 40% and 60% of the global emissions of CFC-11 (a.k.a., trichlorofluoromethane), one of the banned HFCs from the Montreal Protocol. Wow, and as of this writing there is an article from the India Times by Sarthak Dogra that the Earth's Ozone Layer is healing as China stops its CFC-11 Emissions. Is Joe Biden committing ourselves as a nation to economic doom with other progressive socialist leaders chasing the modern day Quixotic windmills of man-induced climate change? American Thinker published an article on Feb. 21, 2021 titled, The irony of Texass massive power outrages during winter weather, by Andrea Widburg. Andrea reports about the frozen wind turbines in west Texas that have caused power outages throughout the state. Friends in Houston and Dallas shared photos with us about rare snowfall there this past weekend. Our friends in Athens, Greece have also shared photos of recent snowfall there, too. Climate change was the evolution of human-induced global warming vis-a-vis emissions from burning fossil fuels. I do not think that I am the only scientist that believes that carbon dioxides slight rise in atmospheric concentration has extremely little to do with climate change. The international bodies took their eye off the ball when they quit focusing on ozone. I think it is absurd that ignorant politicians with zero grounding in science let alone critical thinking, gamble our future on the replacement of the responsible combustion of abundant fossil fuels with so called green energy. Protect the ozone layer, of course. Image credit: A Loose Necktie, via Wikipedia // CC BY-SA 4.0 To be eligible to claim tax exemptions from the IIA on your tax return, you must be a "bona-fide resident" of Puerto Rico. The following three factors must be true for a taxpayer to be deemed as a bona-fide resident: The taxpayer resides in Puerto Rico for a minimum of 183 days of a taxable year The taxpayer cannot possess a tax home in another country during the taxable year The taxpayer cannot have closer ties to the United States or another country besides Puerto Rico Benefits available to bona-fide residents of Puerto Rico that are eligible under the IIA include: Tax exemptions on all dividends from income taxes Tax exemptions from income taxes on interest Tax exemptions provided on income taxes short- and long-term capital gains earned AFTER the taxpayer has attained bona-fide resident status in Puerto Rico Despite being a U.S. territory, being a bona-fide resident of Puerto Rico means that a taxpayer would not have to report income that is gained from sources WITHIN the country. However, as a U.S. person, a taxpayer who lives in Puerto Rico is still subject to federal income tax on income earned from avenues OUTSIDE of Puerto Rico. This means that cryptocurrency income that is derived from a U.S. source will be subject to federal income taxes. The reason why many taxpayers are being targeted by the IRS for repatriating to Puerto Rico for the IIA is that every taxpayer that filed under the Act may not be legally considered a bona-fide resident. See the full version of this article here. Public Contact: Dave Klasing Esq. M.S.-Tax CPA [email protected] SOURCE Tax Law Offices of David W. Klasing, PC Related Links klasing-associates.com WASHINGTON: The United States on Tuesday announced sanctions on senior Russian government officials and Russian entities in response to what U.S. officials said was Moscow's attempt to kill opposition leader Alexei Navalny with a nerve agent. The announcement, made by senior Biden administration officials, marked a sharp turn away from former President Donald Trump`s reluctance to confront Russian President Vladimir Putin. Navalny fell ill on a flight in Siberia in August and was airlifted to Germany, where doctors concluded he had been poisoned with a nerve agent. The Kremlin has denied any role in his illness and said it had seen no proof he was poisoned. The officials said Navalny was targeted for his activism in trying to raise questions about what they called Russian corruption. "Russias attempt to kill Mr. Navalny follows an alarming pattern of chemical weapons use by Russia," a senior Biden administration official told reporters on a call. The officials said seven senior Russian government officials would face sanctions, such as asset freezes. In addition 14 entities associated with Russia`s biological and chemical agent production, including 13 commercial parties and a government research institute, were levied punitive measures. The U.S. moves were being taken in coordination with the European Union. The officials reiterated Biden`s call for Russia to release Navalny from prison. Biden has taken a tougher approach to Russian President Vladimir Putin than Trump. The United States is neither seeking to reset our relations with Russia, nor are we seeking to escalate," one official said. "We believe that the United States and our partners must be clear and impose costs when Russias behavior crosses boundaries that are respected by responsible nations, and we believe there should be guard rails on how these adversarial aspects of our relationship play out," the official said. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Tuesday before the U.S. announcement that Moscow would respond in kind to any new U.S. sanctions over Navalny, the Interfax news agency reported. After his medical treatment in Germany, Navalny, 44, returned to Russia in January. He was arrested and later sentenced to more than 2-1/2 years in jail for parole violations he said were trumped up. Further sanctions are upcoming, as the United States assesses the Russian role in the massive SolarWinds cyber hack and allegations that Russia sought to interfere in the 2020 U.S. election and offered bounties to Taliban fighters to kill American soldiers in Afghanistan, the officials said. Click here for updates on this story SACRAMENTO, CA (KOVR) -- A wheelchair-bound, retired Coast Guardsman who had been holed up inside his home, finally got outside Sunday for the first time in two years it was all thanks to volunteers who made this incredible moment possible. It was the sound of success as Chuck Wood rolled down his new wheelchair ramp and onto the sidewalk. Wood said he loves being outside and it was a moment he could only dream about until now. Im great now because I can get out and go around, talk to people and yeah it feels great, he said. Richard Randall is president of the Veterans of All Wars Motorcycle Riders, who made this day possible. Hed been stuck in his house for two-and-half years, Randall said. Wood was even given a new wheelchair, in addition to the ramp. I told him, Were here to build a ramp, and were going to be here until the end, Randall said. Wood, who lives with a partially amputated leg, had been unable to get his old wheelchair over his doorway onto the porch. Now he has a chance to see his own neighborhood in a new way. Ill kind of go around and look at how things have changed, Wood said. This retired Coast Guard veteran was confined for too long but is now free from his own front door. Researchers are using this month's asteroid flyby to hone their skills at planetary defense. There is no imminent threat of an asteroid hitting Earth any time soon, but scientists are making use of the opportunity provided by the asteroid Apophis to focus on identifying potential threats, according to Meghan Bartels with Space.com. MARCH MADNESS: An asteroid the size of the Golden Gate Bridge will pass by Earth in March When data shows an asteroid coming too close to Earth for comfort, planetary defense skills come into play mapping the exact path of the asteroids and comparing their orbits to Earth's, according to Bartels. Spotting an asteroid in advance before it can cause any damage takes skill. To date, scientists have identified over 25,000 "near-Earth asteroids," Bartels wrote. Most of the asteroids that fly by aren't large enough to trigger any real threat, like the space rock the size of the Golden Gate Bridge due to pass Earth on March 21. There is precedent, however, in asteroids hitting the planet and causing extinction-level events, making asteroid-hunting still essential. "If humans identify a dangerous asteroid long enough before impact, we could theoretically do something to divert it," Bartels said. Apophis first came on the scene when it was discovered in 2004 by scientists. According to NASA, the Apophis is "more than 1000 feet (over 300 meters) in size and will harmlessly pass close to Earth on April 13, 2029." Scientists are confident that Apophis poses no threat for at least a decade, but its early flyby of Earth on March 5, puts it in a prime position for researchers to get a closer look at it, according to Vishnu Reddy, a planetary defense expert at the University of Arizona. "The goal is to basically wrangle all the scientists from around the world, kind of the coalition of the willing," Reddy told Space.com. "Then we go on this months-long campaign, trying to observe this object." You can imagine these asteroid campaigns as "planetary defense rehearsals," Bartels wrote. The goal is to act as if the scientists have no information about the object to determine where they need to improve and "also identify the human factor," Reddy said. Scientists also have the ability to use space-based instruments such as the NEOWISE to aid in identifying potentially dangerous asteroids, Bartels wrote. "Altering the asteroid's trajectory lets planetary defense specialists practice each stage of the asteroid response process, the point, after all, of the campaign," Reddy said. Washington: When the US began rolling out coronavirus vaccines late last year, there was a lot of concern about vaccine hesitancy among African-Americans. Multiple polls showed that black Americans were significantly more sceptical about getting the jab than white or Hispanic Americans, reflecting a history of disturbing government experiments on black patients. But as the vaccine rollout progressed and more information became available, African Americans confidence in the coronavirus vaccine grew - a development that has pleased public health experts. Donald Trumps speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference showed they he remains revered by the Republican base. Credit:AP But one demographic group in America remains stubbornly and disturbingly wary of getting the vaccine: Republicans. New Braunfels, TX (78130) Today Thunderstorms likely, especially this morning. High 83F. Winds NNE at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 70%.. Tonight Variably cloudy with scattered thunderstorms. Low 68F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 60%. Rankings.io If you start to rank nationwide and you rank in the top spot, youre perceived as the best. Rankings.io, the search engine optimization (SEO) agency of choice for personal injury law firms, has released a new case study video explaining how they got Sibley Dolman Gipe to rank number one nationwide for thousands of terms for car accident lawyer, the most difficult term in the nation. The video is hosted by Chris Dreyer, CEO and founder of Rankings.io. Dreyer explains in detail the unique four-step approach he and Matthew Dolman, partner of Sibley Dolman Gipe, took to achieve this remarkable feat. It started with analyzing the competitions pages. What are the top five to 10 sites doing that I'm not doing? That's what Chriss team will do for you, says Dolman. In partnership, they proceeded to create the framework for Dolmans page, to which they wanted car accident lawyers from around the country to contribute their considerable expertise on the subject, boosting the pages authority and trustworthiness with Google. Finally, they executed the plan, getting more than 30 attorneys to contribute and promote the result. Throughout the video, Dreyer describes the different tools and complex techniques used in this approach to properly code and optimize the page. A first page ranking benefits Sibley Dolman Gipe because most people will click on the results on the first page of a Google search. If you start to rank nationwide and you rank in the top spot, youre perceived as the best, iterates Dreyer. Consumers who dont know you tend to automatically trust the individuals at the top. Sibley Dolman Gipe doesnt just lead the nation in searches for car accident lawyerDreyer notes that it ranks for more than 1,000 phrases that potential clients search for when looking for a car accident lawyer. That, in turn, has lifted many of the firms other pages in Googles rankings, making the Sibley Dolman Gipe one of the biggest personal injury law firms in the nation. Not only does ranking for a keyword segment like car accident lawyer that incorporates thousands of phrases help establish authority for a law firms website, but it can lend itself to an increase of case revenue, referral opportunities, inbound links, and web traffic. The traffic itself and the links it creates will help your other pages rank as well, says Dreyer, so it makes it easier to rank other practice area pages. Watch the full video here to learn how these four steps can apply to any business looking to attract customers through Google search. By Estelle Shirbon LONDON (Reuters) - Three men and a woman pleaded not guilty on Tuesday to a charge of criminal damage over their alleged role in the toppling of a statue of 17th century slave trade magnate Edward Colston in Bristol in southwest England last year. The statue was pulled down and tossed into Bristol harbour during an anti-racism demonstration on June 7 that was part of a global wave of Black Lives Matter protests. The toppling of the statue led to other memorials of figures linked to the slave trade being taken down or their future being debated, triggering a backlash from government ministers who said this amounted to censoring history. Rhian Graham, Milo Ponsford, Jake Skuse and Sage Willoughby, all in their 20s or 30s, were charged with criminal damage in December and appeared at Bristol Crown Court on Tuesday. After hearing their pleas of not guilty, judge Peter Blair set Dec. 13 as the start date for their trial, which is expected to last seven or eight days. Noting that defence lawyers had indicated they would be invoking the European Convention on Human Rights, the judge said he was "puzzled" by that. "I'm struggling to see how the Criminal Damage Act might be said to be interfering with someone's right to free assembly or expression or freedom of thought," he said, adding that the defendants risked extra costs if they were found to have run "wholly unmeritorious" arguments. Colston has long been a subject of heated debate in his home city of Bristol, where he donated lavishly to charitable causes, using the fortune he made investing in the slave-trading Royal African Company. Years of calls by anti-racism campaigners for his statue to be removed had met with fierce local resistance, until protesters took matters into their own hands last June. After a few days at the bottom of the harbour, the statue was retrieved by city authorities and put into storage. It is expected to eventually be exhibited in a museum. In September, a concert hall that was named after Colston renamed itself the Bristol Beacon. (Reporting by Estelle Shirbon; editing by Michael Holden and Paul Sandle) ADVERTISEMENT A High Court sitting in Abeokuta, Ogun, on Tuesday, sentenced a 39-year-old labourer, Mohammed Ibrahim, to death by hanging for the murder of a two-year-old baby. Ayokunle Rotimi-Balogun, the judge, also found the convict guilty of an attempt to kill one Rabi Yakubu and accordingly sentenced him to life imprisonment. The convict was tried and convicted on a two-count charge of murder and attempted murder. The judge held that the prosecution proved the charge of murder beyond all reasonable doubts. She held that the convict was guilty of both charges which contravened Section 320, 316(1) and 319(1) of the Criminal Code, Laws of Ogun, 2006. Earlier, the prosecuting counsel, Oluwabumi Akinola, had told the court that the defendant committed the offence on April 12, 2014, at Ofada town, Owode Egba in Abeokuta. Ms Akinola said the defendant had followed Mrs Yakubu, who had her two-year-old son strapped to her back, as she wanted to ease herself. On getting into the bush she dropped her baby on the ground for her to defecate, when Ibrahim attacked her with a knife, attempting to cut off her neck. The complainant, the mother of the two-year-old boy, struggled with Ibrahim and escaped to call for help without carrying her son. When Ibrahim realised he did not succeed in cutting off her head which he needed for sale, he then cut off the complainants sons head, she said. Ms Akinola told the court that the defendant made a confessional statement that his intention was to kill the woman and cut off her head. She said the convict had negotiated with a woman at Ibadan in Ibode market, who was ready to pay him N120,000 for a human head. Unfortunately for him when he took the babys head to the buyer, she refused to pay the amount as promised. So he collected the head back and went to bury it, she said The prosecutor said police later apprehended the defendant, following Mrs Yakubus lodgment of the case at the police station. (NAN) 10:29 | Puerto Maldonado (Madre de Dios region), Mar. 2. During the meeting, held on Monday at the Regional Emergency Operations Center (COER), the Executive Branch representatives met with Madre de Dios Governor Luis Hidalgo and his management team to gain insight into the situation and demands of the people affected due to the overflow of Inambari, Tambopata, and Madre de Dios rivers. At the meeting, the Environment sector's head stated that immediate response involving the delivery of humanitarian goods was positive. "We are working to speed up the efforts in view of this situation. The amount of humanitarian aid that has been collected is even higher. We have received 83 tons, more than the 53 tons that we expected," he pointed out. Moreover, he stressed the need of a medium- and long-term land-use planning approach to prevent future events. Delivery of humanitarian goods A total of 83.7 tons of humanitarian aid goods has so far been delivered to the people affected by floods in Madre de Dios, through the National Civil Defense Institute (Indeci) Rep. Annette Glenn, R-Midland, is calling on Gov. Gretchen Whitmer to revoke a more than $155,000 payment to former Health and Human Services Director Robert Gordon, stating taxpayers should not foot this bill. Glenn, in a press release Tuesday, claimed the $155,506 payment as part of Gordons separation agreement is taxpayer-financed hush money and she is looking to prevent Whitmer from continuing to use tax dollars as hush money when department heads or employees leave state regulatory agencies. Gordon voluntarily resigned as director of the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services on Jan. 22, without explanation, amid the COVID-19 pandemic. After Michigan Supreme Court ruled against Whitmer's executive orders in October, it was Gordon who began issuing orders under the Public Health Code for the state's health department. His separation agreement, signed Feb. 22 by Gordon and Chief Legal Counsel Mark Totten, details the $155,506.05 payment is nine months of salary and COBRA (health insurance) payments and is for consideration for releasing all claims against (the state) arising out of his employment. The contract also includes a confidentiality agreement. In the interest of protecting deliberations among government officials, the parties agree to maintain confidentiality regarding (Gordons) departure from employment unless required by law to release such information, the contract states. In response to a Freedom of Information Act request that specifically references (Gordon), (the State) will inform (Gordon) when a determination has been made that all of the conditions have been met for the release of documents. Deputy Press Secretary for the governor, Chelsea Parisio, told the Daily News Tuesday that executive separation agreements that include confidentiality terms and release of claims are fairly standard practice. Per the terms of the agreement, we cant comment further on a personnel matter, she stated in an email. Glenn, who is also chair of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy, is calling for more transparency within the state administration and for the payment to be revoked. She said the agreement cant help but raise questions about what Gov. Whitmer doesn't want former Director Gordon telling lawmakers and the public. Glenn stated she will propose that her subcommittee add language to the budget of the state Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy to prohibit using tax dollars for such payoffs if designed to silence departing officials. She'll also encourage all other appropriations subcommittee chairs to add the same language to all other state agency budgets, she said. "When it comes to state agencies responsible for decisions that put public safety and people's lives and livelihoods on the line, the people of Michigan have every right to full disclosure and transparency," Glenn said. "Gov. Whitmer should not be allowed to use state tax dollars to pay 'hush money' to departing state regulators, and now that it's been revealed, she should reverse her attempt to force taxpayers to foot the bill for buying Mr. Gordon's silence." At a COVID-19 update press conference Tuesday, a couple reporters asked Whitmer about the agreement, to which she said there were not any improprieties with Gordons work, but couldnt elaborate further due to the terms in the agreement. She was also asked why she gave him the money in the first place and whether it was hush money, as Republican lawmakers allege. I really bristle at that characterization, Whitmer said. It is the nature of a separation agreement when someone in a leadership position leaves is that you know, there are terms to it, and you cant share every term to it. And thats simply what it is. Just before that she said, the former director resigned, I accepted it and we were continuing to move forward because we got a lot of tough work to do. Transparency with the State Glenn said prohibiting "hush money" contracts is all the more important because of Gov. Whitmer's past actions, noting her veto on the bipartisan legislation that would have protected state employees when communicating concerns to lawmakers. "Now she's doubling down on this troubling keep-taxpayers-in-the-dark mindset even more by forcing taxpayers to finance keeping state employees quiet after they're no longer working for the state," Glenn said. "Why these brazen, ongoing, escalating in-your-face schemes to keep people quiet at all costs, even if she has to use taxpayers' money to do it? The people of Michigan have a right to know." Glenn introduced legislation to establish an ombudsman's office that state whistleblowers could contact without having their identities disclosed, which won support in the House. In addition, Michigan is one of the only states in which the governor's office is not subject to Freedom of Information Act requirements to make all official records, communications, and deliberations available to the public. Glenn noted that her first bill as a legislator was part of a legislative package to subject the governor's office and the Legislature to FOIA-type disclosure requirements making all internal communications and decision-making available to the public. It overwhelmingly passed the House but was not taken up by the state Senate. Glenn has reintroduced the whistleblower legislation and plans to soon reintroduce FOIA-related legislation. KANNAPOLIS, N.C., March 2, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- GENIXUS , a pharmaceutical company focused on transforming acute and critical care medicines, today announced the addition of two new members to its executive team: Seth Coombs joins as Chief Commercial Officer and Don Anthony J.D. Ph.D. as Executive Vice President, Global Head of Intellectual Property. "We are extremely fortunate to welcome Seth and Don to the GENIXUS team as we continue to build a leading essential medicines company," said Kendall Foster , Founder & Chief Executive Officer of GENIXUS. "Seth and Don each bring more than 20 years of critical experience in the Biopharma space. Their leadership, creativity, and passion for healthcare innovation are perfectly aligned with our mission to transform medicines within acute and critical care." Mr. Coombs joined from Novartis, where he spent time in roles of increasing responsibility across 3 divisions. Most recently, he was at Novartis' Sandoz division, serving as Vice President, Commercial Operations & Alliance Management building a stealth start-up focused on the hospital space. Prior to this he served as Vice President, Oncology & Injectable products for Sandoz U.S and held several senior roles within Novartis Vaccines & Diagnostics. Mr. Coombs holds a BA in Journalism from the University of Iowa and an MBA from Columbia University in New York. Dr. Anthony is an attorney focused on intellectual property and commercial pharmaceutical law. He has held a number of increasingly senior positions at various pharmaceutical companies, most recently as Senior Vice President of Intellectual Property at Mayne Pharma, advising on numerous patent, regulatory and antitrust issues relating to both branded and generic products. In his new role with GENIXUS, Dr. Anthony will continue to oversee the company's intellectual property matters and provide legal guidance on related matters. Dr. Anthony holds a J.D. from Georgetown, a Ph.D. in Chemical Physics from Michigan State University, and a Bachelor and Master of Science in Chemistry from Simon Fraser University. About GENIXUS GENIXUS is a development stage pharmaceutical company working to transform acute and critical care medicines through advanced manufacturing and innovative delivery systems. Leveraging the highest-quality biopharmaceutical manufacturing standards and innovative point-of-care design, GENIXUS is changing care delivery and helping healthcare professionals to achieve better quality outcomes for patients. For more information, visit www.genixus.org and follow the company on LinkedIn . SOURCE GENIXUS Related Links https://www.genixus.org Japan's health ministry has allowed the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine to be transported and stored at temperatures commonly found in pharmaceutical freezers. The ministry gave the green light on Monday, after examining data from the US pharmaceutical giant. Pfizer had asked that the vaccine -- which was authorized for use in February -- be kept at around minus 75 degrees Celsius in special freezers for long-term storage. The ministry had authorized the use of cool bags when doses are being transported to clinics. But experts warned that, if unfrozen vials of the vaccine are subjected to vibrations their quality and efficacy could be affected. Pfizer now says the vaccine remains stable for a period of up to two weeks even when it is stored at minus 15 to minus 25 degrees Celsius. The ministry plans to circulate the Pfizer data among municipalities in Japan, which will, in turn, allow them to use delivery companies' refrigerated vehicles to transport the vaccine. Last Thursday, the US Food and Drug Administration loosened rules for the Pfizer vaccine to allow its vials to be transported and stored at conventional temperatures commonly found in pharmaceutical freezers. Paris, TX (75460) Today Rain showers this morning with some sunshine during the afternoon hours. High 77F. Winds W at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 50%.. Tonight Some clouds. Low around 60F. Winds NW at 5 to 10 mph. The Daily Beast Photo Illustration by The Daily Beast/GettyMike Lindell, the MyPillow CEO and Trumpist conspiracy-peddler, flew his private jet to the Republican Governors Association meeting the other day.The guvs promptly threw him out. But the incident got Molly Jong-Fast thinking: Does the MyPillow CEO think hes already a governor or something?Subscribe to The New Abnormal on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Amazon Music, or Overcast. To listen to our weekly members-only bonus episodes, join Beast Inside here. Already a member? You can listen here and sign up for new episode email alerts here.Spoiler: Making MyPillows does not make you my governor. Now, chances that Mike Lindell could actually become governor of a small Republican state, 80 percent, she quips on the latest episode of The New Abnormal. Like, its not even that hard for someone that famous and insane in the Republican party to become a governor.Lindell claims he wouldnt run to be a dogcatcher right now, because he doesnt trust the voting machines. Plus, hes from the blue state of Minnesota. So maybe the risk of a Governor Pillow isnt quite so high. But L.A. Times columnist Virginia Heffernan would like to quickly add something about Mike Lindell being a cosplay governor.I think we need to understand that being in politics leads to governing and governing is boring. It is not a PR operation, she says. And I feel like we have made these jobs celebrity roles. Public service should not beis notbeing on a reality show.Like, I feel like we need to really dial down the razzle-dazzle, really play up the drudgery, Heffernan continues. I just don't know why every single industrialist and every single lady with abs or gorgeous arms would want to be, of all things, a governor.Biden, Heffernan opines, is doing a pretty good job at the drudgerydollars going out, jabs going out, all leading to Trump signs going down. Sure, the Donald has his cultists, like Lindell. But, I don't think people can hold onto this much insanity for this long, especially when it's a tiny minority of people who believe it, Heffernan adds. Democrats need to know how to win.To which Jong-Fast replies, oh-so-gently: Are you freakin kidding me? With all of these Republican attempts to retcon the Capitol riots? To chop away at the right to vote? To instantiate their ability to overturn elections? All while Team Biden snoozes it away? The Democrats are bringing an ice cream sundae to a knife fight, Jong-Fast says.Plus! Politicos Tara Palmeri talks about her search to find Liz Cheney supporters in Wyoming. And Battle for the Soul author Edward-Isaac Dovere gives us a peek into how Biden sees the political landscape. The presidency that he has in front of him now, he knows, is so different from what he ever expected to have, Dovere says, And part of that is rethinking how he incorporates the progressivism within the party that took root and that was so much part of this campaign. And its just, its a really complicated evolution for him. Its not the presidency he thought itd be running in 2019 when he got into this race.Read more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more. Man found hanged from tree in Cherng Talay PHUKET: Police are investigating the death of a man who was found hanged from a tree in Ban Kok Tanot in Thalang this morning (Mar 2) in what is believed to be a case of suicide. deathsuicidepolice By Eakkapop Thongtub Tuesday 2 March 2021, 04:47PM The mans body was discovered by a local resident and was later named as 30-year-old Thai national Surachai Wiangklong. It is believed that bad debts drove him to take his life although suicide has yet to be confirmed by police as the cause of death. Lt Kansuda Keawka from Cherng Talay Police and rescue workers from Kusoldharm Muang Mai Foundation were called to the scene in Moo 6, Tambon Cherng Talay in Thalang at around 8:30am this morning. At the scene, police found a white Roi Et-registered Yamaha Fino motorbike and a mobile phone in the pocket of the mans trousers. Mr Surachais older brother, Mr Kwanchai Wiangklong, said that his brother had been missing for two days so last night at around 10pm he went to file a complaint at the Cherng Talay Police Station, Lt Kansuda said. Mr Kwanchai later heard from a local resident that his brother had been found hanged from a tree, so he called police to visit the scene, she added. Mr Kwanchai said his younger brother had moved from Roi Et to Phuket about six months ago to work as an electrician. He had many gambling debts as he liked to get involved with online gambling, Mr Kwanchai said. I had warned him about the dangers of gambling many times but I never thought that he would end up committing suicide, he lamented. Mr Kwanchai confirmed he had to speak with his family first before it was decided whether funeral arrangements should take place in Phuket or Roi Et. Police later confirmed that Mr Surachais body had been taken to Thalang Hospital for an autopsy to determine the exact cause of death. If you or anyone you know is in emotional distress, please contact the Samaritans of Thailand at their 24-hour hotline 02-713-6791 (English), 02713-6793 (Thai) or Thai Mental Health Hotline at 1323 (Thai). New Delhi, March 2 : Amid a worrying upward trend, India registered 12,286 new coronavirus cases and 91 fatalities in the last 24 hours, which pushed the overall infection tally and death toll to 1,11,24,527 and 1,57,248, respectively, the Union Health Ministry said on Tuesday. The positivity rate has on the rise, pushing it to 1.51 per cent. As per the Ministry's data, there are currently 1,68,358 active cases after 12,464 patients were discharged in a day. According to experts, a number of possibilities which could be attributed to the concerning situation ranging from lax attitude of people towards following Covid protocols to the likeability of "mutations and new strains", as has been studied by the laboratories involved in virus detection across the country. In mid February, officials had said that the average daily new infections oscillated between 9,000 to 12,000, while the deaths were between 78 to 120. On February 9, India had reported 9,110 new cases, the lowest this year so far. In 2020, the lowest 9,633 cases were recorded on June 3. Till now, 1,07,98,921 persons have been discharged. The recovery rate has reduced to 97.07 per cent. Last week, around 90 per cent of the weekly average cases came from six states -- Maharashtra, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Punjab, Karnataka and Gujarat. Central teams have been rushed to these states as well. The Ministry also informed that 7,59,283 samples were tested on Sunday. The cumulative tests carried out by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) so far stands at 21,76,18,057. Till now, 1,48,54,136 doses of corona vaccine have been administered in the country since the mass inoculation drive began on January 16. The third phase of vaccination against Covid-19 pandemic began on Monday covering 27 crore of people above 60 and those above 45 years of age with comorbidities at 10,000 government and over 20,000 private vaccination centres. While people will be vaccinated free of cost at government hospitals, those taking the shots at private hospitals will have to pay. Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19) -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text Sometimes it is no use looking for subliminal meanings, coded messages or the counterintuitive. Sometimes a politician can be so in-your-face that theres no possible alternative explanation for what you see before you. So it is with the latest public information video from HM Treasury, presumably paid for with taxpayers hard-earned (or borrowed) money. It is nothing more or less than a Rishi Sunak propaganda film of such blatant intent that it would make Kim Jong-un think that the comms team were pushing things a bit. The clip, which runs for slightly over five excruciating minutes, contains a Kim-rivalling 134 images of Sunak. The only possible scenario missing from this North Korean-inspired production is a scene in a tractor factory or a pig farm where Little Rishi is earnestly and randomly pointing at stuff, and giving what they call in Pyongyang on-the-spot guidance to suitably awed generals and factory managers, making careful notes of the dear leaders wisdom. Maybe next time, Jesse Norman and Steve Barclay can be roped in to give first-hand accounts of the work of the diminutive genius of No 11. Budget 2021 is really quite a grandiloquent miniature picture show. Leni Riefenstahl couldnt have done a better job; Robert Mugabe would have rejected it as a bit too self-centred; Donald Trump would blush but run with it. This, let us not be in any doubt, is the latest escalation of the cult of Rishi, a long-term leadership campaign, and the most remarkable thing about it is that there is zero attempt to hide the fact. There are no other Tory figures in the film, and Boris Johnson, though briefly heard, is neither named nor seen. It is all about Sunak, including a toe-curling, buttock-clenchingly unwatchable moment when he describes how it felt to be offered the job of chancellor. No mention, obviously, of his predecessor, Sajid Javid, or indeed of Dominic Cummings, who forced Javid out when he got Johnson to try and take over the Treasury. In those days, only a little more than a year ago, Sunak was supposed to be installed as Cummingss puppet. He seems to have outgrown that role, and the Treasury seems as powerful and independent as ever. The little puppet Rishi is turning into Sunak the puppeteer, such is his influence and prestige these days. Photo: The Canadian Press Meng Wanzhou, chief financial officer of Huawei, arrives at B.C. Supreme Court in Vancouver, Monday, March 1, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward Staff at international bank HSBC were well aware of telecom giant Huawei's control of another company whose business in Iran lies at the heart of fraud allegations against Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou, the British Columbia Supreme Court heard Monday. Frank Addario, one of Meng's defence lawyers, told the court that the United States has provided the court with a "manifestly unreliable" description of the case against her and said he has evidence to prove it. Addario is asking the judge to admit affidavits including emails and bank account information into evidence to support the defence team's case at Meng's committal hearing, scheduled for May. "We have evidence showing the picture painted for you about (HSBC's) global risk committee's state of knowledge is unreliable and misleading," Addario said. Meng is accused of misrepresenting Huawei's relationship with Skycom during a 2013 meeting with HSBC, putting the bank at risk of violating U.S. sanctions in Iran. The U.S. alleges Meng called the meeting to reassure the bank and distance Huawei from Skycom after Reuters published articles suggesting HSBC could be at risk. Meng was arrested at Vancouver's airport in 2018 at the request of the United States and remains in Canada on bail while the extradition process is underway. Huawei and Meng, who is the company's chief financial officer and daughter of its founder, deny the allegations. A lawyer for Canada's attorney general, who represents the United States in the case, accused Meng's team Monday of confusing the limits of an extradition case. It is inappropriate to ask the judge to weigh things like witness credibility at this stage, Robert Frater said. "An extradition hearing is not a trial," he said, adding that Addario's language asking for evidence to "balance" the picture betrayed him. "The very suggestion is one that leads you to consider competing inferences, which the case law says you cannot do," Frater said. "That is not your role." One of the principles of extradition law is that there is a strong presumption of good faith with respect to the case put forward by the requesting state, he said. Another is that a person charged with a crime will answer to those charges. He accused the defence of "cherry-picking" evidence and making an argument of "he must have known" that isn't necessarily supported. "All of what my friend put to you today, in my respectful submission, is in pursuit of an invitation to you to go beyond the limited function of an extradition judge." Addario acknowledged that extradition hearings are not the place for "credibility contests," nor do extradition judges typically weigh competing accounts of what happened. However, he said it's important that the Canadian court not make any decisions based on misleading information from the requesting state. "Although your powers are limited, there are cases where the inference is so dubious or the evidence is so unreliable that you must admit contrary evidence," he said. Addario told the court at least a dozen emails prove HSBC staff "fully knew" that Skycom was sold to Canicula Holdings in 2007, that Canicula was Skycom's parent company and that Huawei controlled the Canicula accounts. A senior banker overseeing HSBC's relationship with Huawei was also included on several emails describing Canicula "in terms that can only be understood as Huawei controlling the account," he said. Meng's team also wants admitted to evidence a listing of 188 Huawei bank accounts at HSBC from 2011 showing that two were named "Skycom" and "Canicula." "The relationship between these three entities was open knowledge," Addario said. This week marks the beginning of about seven weeks of argument between March and May in Meng's case. Ahead of the actual extradition or committal hearing, Meng's team will argue proceedings should be stayed because she was subjected to an abuse of process. The team alleges the abuses occurred in four different ways and if any is proven, then Meng should be released. The first branch of the abuse of process arguments begins Wednesdayand hinges on public comments made by former U.S. president Donald Trump during his time in office. Meng's team alleges Trump used her as a bargaining chip in trade negotiations with China, but Canada's attorney general has countered that the argument is irrelevant now that Trump is out of office. The court will also consider arguments that Meng's arrest at Vancouver's airport on Dec. 1, 2018, was unlawful, that the United States misled Canadian officials in its summary of the allegations against her and that the case doesn't qualify under international law because Meng had no meaningful connection to the United States. A police officer has died two days after being gunned down while trying to stop two men during a high-speed chase in Georgia. Lt. Justin Bedwell was fatally injured as he and other officers joined a pursuit on Saturday after the driver of a 2500 Chevrolet pickup truck with a Florida tag refused to pull over for reckless driving. Bedwell succumbed to his injuries two days later after being airlifted to hospital. Lt. Justin Bedwell was fatally shot during a pursuit on Saturday after the driver of a white pick-up refused to pull over for reckless driving Bedwell leaves behind his wife and stepdaughter. The GA Bureau of Investigation paid tribute to Lt. Bedwell on Twitter, saying: 'Our prayers go to the family, both blood & blue, of Lt. Justin Bedwell of the Decatur County Sheriffs Office' According to a statement from the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, the incident was sparked when a Seminole County deputy attempted to conduct a traffic stop of two suspects. They refused to stop and the chase ensued. The men opened fire on the officers chasing them, prompting Seminole County deputies to return fire. The deputies continued the pursuit into Decatur County, where local deputies also responded. The suspects attempted to gain access into a home by 'shooting through the door', the statement said. They fled the property after the homeowner returned fire. Decatur County Deputy Bedwell was shot as he arrived on the scene in his police vehicle. He was airlifted to Tallahassee hospital in a critical condition but succumbed to his injuries on Monday morning. Troy Arthur Phillips, who was arrested some time after the chase. He and Brad Phillips, 41, have been charged with several offences, including felony murder The suspects fled in their truck and wrecked the vehicle a short time later in a wooded area. A Georgia State Patrol helicopter and crew responded to the area of the wrecked truck. One man, identified as Brad Phillips, age 41, was taken into custody without further incident. Another, Troy Arthur Phillips, was arrested following a short manhunt. He was airlifted to Tallahassee hospital in a critical condition but succumbed to his injuries on Monday morning Our prayers go to the family, both blood & blue, of Lt. Justin Bedwell of the Decatur County Sheriffs Office who died this morning after being shot in the line of duty. He paid the ultimate sacrifice, and we thank him for his service. pic.twitter.com/RfOfN7mQd6 GA Bureau of Investigation (@GBI_GA) March 1, 2021 They have been charged with felony murder, aggravated assault of an officer, party to the crime of murder, attempted home invasion and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon among others. The GA Bureau of Investigation paid tribute to Lt. Bedwell on Twitter, saying: 'Our prayers go to the family, both blood & blue, of Lt. Justin Bedwell of the Decatur County Sheriffs Office who died this morning after being shot in the line of duty. 'He paid the ultimate sacrifice, and we thank him for his service.' The officer leaves behind a wife and stepdaughter. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. ASTRO member and "True Beauty" actor Cha Eun Woo may return to the drama scene with a new exciting project! After his successful portrayal as Lee Su Ho in the webtoon-based series "True Beauty," Cha Eun Woo is again considering a new potential project that is set to air this 2021. According to a media report on March 2, ASTRO's Cha Eun Woo is in talks to star in OCN's forthcoming drama "Island." ASTRO's Cha Eun Woo is Considering to Join in the Drama "Island" In response to the news, the ASTRO member's home agency Fantiago released their statement "Our artist Cha Eun Woo received an offer to star in the upcoming drama 'Island' and he is positively reviewing it." This will be Cha Eun Woo's next potential drama project following his romantic-comedy-drama "True Beauty," which was also based on webtoon. With his busy schedules from being an idol to being an actor, Cha Eun Woo is indeed one of the most hardworking young artists today. The year is just starting in, and the idol-turned-actor is always ready to make the most out of everything. If the 24-year-old actor confirmed his participation in the project, he would be portraying the character of Kang Chan Hyuk, also known as John. A hip exorcist priest who grew up in the United States but is actually a Korean. In order for him not to forget his mother tongue, Kang Chan Hyuk immersed himself in watching Korean dramas. Even though he is a bright character, he hides some secrets from his dark past. Cha Eun Woo, Seo Ye Ji & Kim Nam Gil in a Fantasy Drama? OCN's upcoming fantasy drama will depict the story of Pan, a man who needs a woman to end his cursed immortal life, and a daughter from a rich family named Won Mi Ho is being attacked by goblins. Pan and Won Mi Ho will then meet the exorcist priest John, who is still living with guilt after not being able to protect one girl from his past. The series takes place on an island that is known for having a beautiful and picturesque place, hiding an evil darkness that not everyone knows. The three characters who don't get along at first due to their differences will soon find the strength to help and protect each other against the evils. Meanwhile, earlier this year, actor Kim Nam Gil and "It's Okay to Not Be Okay" star Seo Ye Ji confirmed to play the main leads as Pan and Won Mi Ho. It also has been reported before that Im Si Wan is in talks of considering the role of John, but nothing has been confirmed yet. The fantasy drama "Island" will start filming this spring and is expected to kick off in the second half of 2021. Details about the other confirmed cast are yet to be announced in public soon. Who do you want to play the character of John, Im Si Wan, or ASTRO's Cha Eun Woo? Let us know in the comments! For more K-Drama, K-Movie, and celebrity news and updates, keep your tabs open here at Kdramastars. Kdramastars owns this article. Written by Shai Collins. A man has been charged with a series of offences after allegedly preying on four different young women in one afternoon on trains and in train station toilets. The 26-year-old is accused of starting his spree by sexually touching a 17-year-old girl as she was getting off a train at Sydney's Central Station about 11am on Monday morning. Police said she got away from the man before reporting what happened to station staff. A man has been charged with a series of offences after allegedly preying on three 17-year-old girls and a 21-year-old woman in one afternoon across Sydney's train network (stock image) The man allegedly then boarded another train bound for Newcastle 20 minutes later before approaching a 21-year-old woman and making her feel uncomfortable. He left the train at Epping Railway Station, while the woman reported the incident at Gosford Railway Station. About midday, a 17-year-old girl was leaving a bathroom at Macquarie University Metro Railway Station in the city's north-west when the man allegedly pushed her back inside. She pushed the man away and reported the matter to police later in the day. Then at 12.30pm, he allegedly dragged another 17-year-old girl back into a toilet block at the same station when she tried to leave. She too contacted police - who were called to the station and arrested the man on the platform. The accused sex pest allegedly pushed a 17-year-old girl back inside a toilet at Macquarie University Metro Railway Station (pictured) when she tried to leave Officers from the Police Transport Command North/Central established a link between all four incidents after monitoring CCTV and liaising with other PTC officers across the network. The man from Koonawarra in Wollongong has been charged with offences including three counts of sexually touching another person without consent, resisting a police officer in the execution of duty and possessing goods suspected of being stolen. He was refused bail to appear before Hornsby Local Court on Tuesday. UTICA, N.Y. -- Members with the Utica Fire Department responded to a fire within an apartment building early Tuesday on the 800 block of Oswego Street. Initial calls of a room filled with smoke came in shortly after midnight. According to Utica Fire Chief Scott Ingersoll, crews battled flames coming from the third floor of an apartment building. No injuries were reported as residents were each evacuated by fire personnel. The American Red Cross is assisting those displaced, as fire officials say at least 3 of the 12 apartments are not liveable. Utica Fire Chief Scott Ingersoll says if it were not for the quick actions of his crew, matters may have gone worse, as the high winds overnight could have worked against them. The cause of the fire is under investigation. This story will be updated as more details are released. Valencia Hotel Group's collection of retro-inspired, court-style hotels including Texican Court in Irving, TX, Lone Star Court in Austin, TX, Cavalry Court in College Station, TX, and the newly opened Cotton Court in Lubbock, TX, are welcoming guests back with a loaded schedule of programming tailored for their four-legged companions throughout spring and summer. The line-up of activations includes: BARKS & BREWS (March & April): The rotating schedule of events will begin with a Barks & Brews happy hour series throughout March and April. Every Thursday from 5-7 p.m. at each property, guests can enjoy pet-friendly treats and discounted beers on the restaurant patios and throughout the spacious courtyards complete with outdoor fire pits, lawn games and more. A portion of all Barks & Brews drink sales will be donated back to local, animal-focused nonprofit organizations. Those organizations include: DFW Humane Society, Haven Animal Care Shelter, Aggieland Humane Society and Austin Humane Society. YAPPY HOUR (May & June): Throughout May and June, guests can partake in a weekly Yappy Hour every Thursday from 5-7 p.m. In addition to again offering pet-friendly treats and drink specials for owners, guests and their furry friends can peruse a curated Pup-Up Shop of goods from local vendors. PETS STAY FREE (July & August): Back by popular demand, guests can take advantage of the Pets Stay Free package available throughout July & August at all of Valencia Hotel Groups court properties. The package includes a waived pet fee, retro-style accommodations, curated amenities and more. With plenty of outdoor acreage, both guests and their pets can indulge in a relaxing summer getaway. For more information on Valencia Hotel Group or to book a stay at one of the court properties, please visit http://www.valenciahotelgroup.com. About Valencia Hotel Group Houston-based Valencia Hotel Group is a fully integrated hospitality company that provides management, development, branding and repositioning services for independent, full-service hotels owned by the company, in addition to third parties. Exceptional service, style and location have become brand trademarks. Earning both national and international recognition for their distinctive designs, amenities and settings, Valencia Hotel Group properties are destinations and gathering places within their respective communities, some further benefitting from and enriching their space within the cultural heart of a city. The company continues to forge a niche with hotels that anchor and add value to urban, mixed-use environments, which further support or enhance the guest experience with superior residential, restaurant, retail and office components. The Valencia Hotel Group portfolio currently includes : Hotel Valencia Santana Row in San Jose, CA, Hotel Valencia Riverwalk in San Antonio, TX, and The George in College Station, TX. The Court concept brands include Lone Star Court in Austin, TX, Cavalry Court in College Station, TX, Texican Court in Irving, TX and Cotton Court in Lubbock, TX. For more information, please visit http://www.valenciahotelgroup.com. We're always interested in hearing about news in our community. Let us know what's going on! Go to form 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 Nostalgia website MyHeritage has launched a new service that allows you to create lifelike animations of faces in still photos. The AI-powered service called Deep Nostalgia, launched last week, is free to try and is remarkably accurate in depicting how a person would look if captured on video. Their eyes blink, their head moves and their mouth forms a smile. "You'll have a 'wow moment' when you see a treasured family photo come to life with Deep Nostalgia," Gilad Japhet, founder and CEO of MyHeritage, said in a statement. "Seeing our beloved ancestors' faces come to life in a video simulation lets us imagine how they might have been in reality, and provides a profound new way of connecting to our family history," he added. Created with Deep Nostalgia | Credit: John P. Mello Jr. To create Deep Nostalgia, MyHeritage teamed up with D-ID, an Israeli company focused on deep learning and synthetic media. "I like the partnership with them because both of us really care about the sensitivity of animating people who are no longer with us," said D-ID cofounder and CEO Gil Perry. He noted that it has taken his firm years to cross the "uncanny valley" in synthetic media. "With synthetic media, you reach a level where it looks good, but a viewer still senses something is wrong," he told TechNewsWorld. "We've managed to cross that uncanny valley," he continued, "and create perfect synthetic media." Creepy? MyHeritage explained that Deep Nostalgia uses several prerecorded driver videos prepared by the nostalgia firm, which direct the movements in the animation and consist of sequences of real human gestures. A preferred driver is automatically selected for each face based on its orientation, and then seamlessly applied to the photo. To achieve optimal results, the photos are enhanced prior to animation using the MyHeritage Photo Enhancer, which brings blurry and low-resolution faces into focus and increases their resolution. Users can animate several photos for free, regardless of the number of faces in the pic. Beyond that, continued use requires a subscription. The video animation can be downloaded as an MP4 file and shared on social media. While some folks may be charmed by adding new life to old photos, others may find the practice a bit creepy. "Calling this creepy seems extreme," said Daniel Castro, vice president of the Information Technology & Innovation Foundation, a research and public policy organization in Washington, D.C. "We've seen a lot of interesting advances in AI that allow for reconstruction of images and videos, such as adding color to black-and-white photos or creating high resolution videos from old, grainy videos," he told TechNewsWorld. "This latest example is another similar advance that allows for more advanced image generation." Tip of the Ice Berg "There's no simple or single answer to whether this type of deep fake is creepy or fun," added Jean-Claude Goldenstein, CEO of CREOpoint, a brand and reputation protection provider in San Francisco. "As a son, I imagine I'd be in favor of a robot with a deep fake of my mother if she could not assist my dad who had Alzheimer's," he explained to TechNewsWorld. "But Imagine a deep fake of the CEOs of Citadel and Robinhood colluding against Reddit retail investors," he continued. "That would be very far from fun in the run-up to Robinhood's IPO." Castro noted that there are a lot of interesting applications for the technology in Deep Nostalgia, such as in video editing and video conferencing. "Video conferencing services can reduce bandwidth usage if they can instead replicate certain movements on their own, or they can allow video interactions to appear seamless on a weak connection," he explained. Perry added that Deep Nostalgia is just the tip of the ice berg for his company's technology. For example, it can be used by filmmakers to reshoot scenes without bringing actors back to a set. They can be at a remote location and be inserted into the scene. The company is also working on synthesizing mouth movements so when a film is dubbed, the actor will look as if they're speaking in the dubbed language. Deep Fake Threat While there are many worthwhile applications for synthetic media, Castro asserted that deep fakes remain a serious concern. "But it is one that should be addressed through legislation aimed at particular harms, such as election misinformation, harassment, or other harmful acts -- such as distributing fake nudes about someone without their consent," he said. Avivah Litan, a security and privacy analyst at Gartner, maintained that it's relatively easy to create deep fakes now. "The services are available on the Internet," she told TechNewsWorld. "You can just go get them." "Right now, it's being mainly used in the porn industry for revenge porn," she said. "The porn industry always leads in innovation," Litan joked. Although far from mature, deep fakes have already proven to be hard to detect. "The detection rate will probably end up at 50 percent, but even right now Facebook has only been 65 percent accurate in catching deep fakes," she observed. "It's a big threat looming on the horizon," she warned. Tool for Account Takeover In a research note by Litan, she predicted that by 2023, 20 percent of successful account takeover attacks will use deep fakes to socially engineer users to turn over sensitive data or move money into criminal accounts. She explained that criminals take over user accounts to gain access to sensitive information and intellectual property, as well as to steal funds from financial accounts. Most theft of money and information starts with user account takeover, as criminals leverage weak security controls typically guarding these accounts. "Enterprises are incented to raise the security bar and incorporate biometric assurance and verification into their multi-factor authentication applications," she wrote. "This uses facial and voice verification from life images, voice recordings or videos that users present in a live session to the authenticating organization so that it can verify the legitimate user's 'liveness' and authenticity." "Ominously," Litan continued, "deep fakes will render most biometric authentication and verification useless as criminals can easily mimic user voices, images and videos." "Most existing biometric user authentication must be upgraded to incorporate technologies that can detect the presence of a deep fake imposter, and assure the presence of a legitimate user," she added. 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. CHICO, Calif. - Millions of Californians are coping with continuing back log in the states troubled unemployment system. EDD reports anywhere from 11 billion to 30 billion dollars was sent out to fraudulent accounts. Action News Now spoke with Senator Jim Nielsen to talk about unemployment and the Employment Development Department. Nielsen put out a press release on Friday, Feb. 26, 2021, saying, Riddled with systemic mismanagement, the California Employment Development Department (EDD) is failing miserably at its mission to serve the people of California in their most crucial time of need. EDDs negligence and lack of protection against fraud cost taxpayers billions that could have gone into households desperately needing help. He said that Republican lawmakers want laws and statutes to be changed for good. The press release said this would ensure the crisis at EDD does not continue to happen or happen again. RELATED: Fraud overwhelms pandemic-related unemployment programs Nielsen said he helped introduce legislation to change EDD and is sending out a letter as soon as possible to try and get people the help they need. Right now, Senator Nielsen said the best thing people can do is go to their local lawmakers and ask for help and change. "What we have got to do generally as a society, we have to get control from the agencies, back into the hands of the citizens themselves," said Nielsen. "This legislature and these agencies work for those citizens." In January, Californias Employment Development Department (EDD) set up a new call center to deal with tax issues thousands of Californians will face. The issues are the result of fraud the EDD let get by them. EDD did say in one day, the new call center received 10,000 calls. Nielsen spoke to Action News Now Reporter Amy Lanski about a potential timeline, and about if fraud is playing a role in people missing out on their money. Watch the interview in the video player above. 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. SEATTLE, March 2, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Graduway, the leading provider of career services, alumni relations and fundraising software, announced today the appointment of Brittany N. Shaff as Vice President, Fundraising. She will join the company's Executive Leadership team and lead all aspects of Graduway's global fundraising strategy and execution, including thought-leadership, Go-To-Market strategy, and product development for it's digital fundraising platform. Prior to joining Graduway, Brittany Shaff most recently served as the Assistant Vice President of Digital Engagement + Philanthropic Giving at the University of Miami. In her role, she oversaw a team that focuses on creating personalized and measured experiences supporting all fundraising units across the University and the University of Miami Health System. At Miami, she created an innovative team that blends digital engagement and marketing tactics -- social listening, demand, lead generation, and traditional philanthropic (annual) giving approaches. Prior to Miami, she has served in various fundraising, marketing, and analytics positions spanning independent schools, medicine, and higher education, including at The Hamlin School, Towson University, and Johns Hopkins University. Recognized as a thought leader in fundraising and analytics, she has received over a dozen awards from CASE and other organizations. She regularly consults in higher education on fundraising and digital engagement initiatives. "We are thrilled to welcome Brittany to the Graduway team. Brittany is a demonstrated leader within the world of fundraising. Her knowledge and experience at leading institutions will empower us to further provide our customers with a best-of-breed suite of digital fundraising solutions and best practices to maximize their digital fundraising efforts." said Daniel Cohen, Graduway's Founder and CEO. Brittany Shaff commented "Graduway is at the forefront of the digital fundraising space. As a Graduway customer, I have seen first hand the impact of the Graduway platform in maximizing my digital fundraising efforts at the University of Miami. I am excited to join the team at Graduway where I will focus on partnering with Graduway customers in providing strategies, best practices and product innovation that will continue to push the bar in their digital fundraising." This appointment further cements Graduway's standing as the market leader in digital fundraising software supporting 2000+ leading institutions including Columbia University, Boston University, Wisconsin University, University of Pittsburgh, Rutgers University and University of Florida. Headquartered in the U.K. with operations in the U.S., Canada and Israel, Graduway is trusted by 2,000+ educational institutions and non-profits to power their career, alumni and donor networks, including UCLA, Tulane University and the University of Oxford. Founded in 2009 by Daniel Cohen, author of 'Alumni Therapy' and 'The Mentoring Revolution', Graduway exclusively hosts the Graduway Leaders Summit as a key gathering of leaders and executives from Career Services, Alumni Relations and Advancement. Visit Graduway at www.graduway.com. Contact: David Whitefield [email protected] , SOURCE Graduway The increased focus on the executive, Allen H. Weisselberg, could step up pressure on him to cooperate with the investigation if the prosecutors unearth evidence of wrongdoing on his part. He has served as the Trump Organizations financial gatekeeper for more than two decades and could be a vital source of information for the government about the inner workings of the company. A man who was driving drunk, crashed into another car and killed its driver was sentenced Monday to five years in state prison, authorities said. Douglas Thompson, 56, of Jackson, pleaded guilty on Nov. 19, 2020 to death by auto in exchange for the sentence, the Ocean County Prosecutors Office said in a statement. A judge also ordered Thompsons driving privileges be suspended for life. Thompson rear-ended a car driven by Thomas Marciano as Marciano was stopped behind a vehicle making a left turn at the intersection of Stevens Road and Route 9 on Oct. 15, 2019, authorities said. Marciano, 65, of Toms River, died of his injuries at Jersey Shore University Medical Center in Neptune 13 days later. A chemical breathing test taken following the crash revealed Thompson had a blood alcohol content of .17 more than twice the legal limit of .08. Thompson was indicted in February 2020 on charges of vehicular homicide, strict liability vehicular homicide and causing a death while driving with a suspended license. Thank you for relying on us to provide the journalism you can trust. Please consider supporting NJ.com with a voluntary subscription. Chris Sheldon may be reached at csheldon@njadvancemedia.com. Geneva, Switzerland (PANA) - After six consecutive weeks of decline, COVID-19 cases worldwide increased last week for the first time, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Monday Formal takeover offer for Royal Wins PTY Ltd. filed in Australia Planned private placement of $4.5M at $0.30 per unit Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - March 1, 2021) - 10557510 Canada Corp. ("Canada510" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that it has executed a takeover implementation deed and formally lodged an offer (the "Offer") to acquire all issued and outstanding shares of Royal Wins PTY Ltd ("Royal Wins"). The Company filed its Bidder's Statement detailing the terms of the offer with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission ("ASIC") and subsequently mailed the required documentation to all shareholders of Royal Wins on February 26, 2021. Through this acquisition, Royal Wins - the first fully Licensed, Pure Skill, real money gaming platform in the World - will provide Canada510 with instant, operational wagering capabilities in over 140 countries around the world. Key Acquisition Details The acquisition of Royal Wins is expected to close on or around March 31, 2021. Under the terms of the Offer, Canada510 will acquire up to 100% of the issued and outstanding shares of Royal Wins for consideration of 75,517,445 Common Shares of the Company (the "Share Consideration") valuing Royal Wins at $22.6-million (AUD 23-million) on the basis of one one-half of one common share of Canada510 for each ordinary share of Royal Wins outstanding. The minimum tender condition is 90% of the outstanding shares and if this is reached and the Offer is completed, applicable law in Australia allows the Company to acquire the remaining shares on the same terms. As part of the acquisition, Canada510 has agreed to increase the Company's board to five members (from the current four members). Further, two of the Company's current Directors have agreed to step down to allow Royal Wins to nominate a total of three Directors to join the the remaining two current Directors of the Board. At the meeting of Canada510 Shareholders held on January 12, 2021, the Company received the necessary approvals to change the Company's name - which will be effected in prior to the completion of the Offer and to split the common shares of the Company on a basis of 2 new common shares for each issued and outstanding old common share. This split of shares was completed and announced on February 26, 2021 following a Record Date of February 24, 2021. Royal Wins PTY Ltd Highlights: Royal Wins is the first licensed real money, Pure Skill gaming platform 36 hypercasual games and AI-supported platform developed completely "in house" Pro forma CAD$10.4 million in revenues expected in the 2021/22 fiscal year Royal Wins is an innovative digital games studio pioneering skill game wagering and betting on mobile casual games. Established in 2014, Royal Wins designs, develops and operates real money wagering skill games, to disrupt and dominate the online gaming space such that all players of legal age can play and win life-changing jackpots and prizes on their skill instead of only on chance and odds. Royal Wins developed advanced gaming platforms, wagering algorithms and proprietary intellectual properties to champion the creation of real money games of skill - significantly in the areas of dynamically maintaining the Return to Player (RTP), difficulty balancing, global and progressive jackpots in skill wagering games. Royal Wins has released a suite of pure skill mobile games on Android and iOS mobile/tablet platforms via their skill gaming app, the Kash Karnival. Royal Wins founders and the management team are gaming veterans, thought leaders and industry leading developers. They bring an operational expertise rarely found in the upstart public markets and together with their Directors and Advisors, Royal Wins is equipped for strong business growth in online gaming and eSports. Royal Wins Key Drivers: Royal wins is the first licensed real money pure skill gaming platform (Kahnawake Gaming Commission) License allows Royal Wins to legally operate in over 140 countries Gaming portfolio over over 36 games with two (2) new games released per quarter Proprietary AI technology built by Royal Wins 1.6 million global subscribers and growing Pro-forma Revenues of CAD$10.4 million during fiscal year 2021/22 Royal Wins Management: Peter Gan, President & Chief Executive Officer, Director: Mr. Gan holds an Engineering degree (Hons) and Master of Business Administration from the University of New South Wales, Australia. He is registered to provide financial advice and deal in securities (RG 146 and RG 105) and is currently reading Law at the University of Sydney, Australia. He has held Senior Executive roles over the last 15 years in publicly listed companies (ASX, AIM, PLUS), private and institutional fund companies. Mr. Gan has expansive experience leading small to medium sized companies in multiple industries including online gaming, energy markets, technology start-ups and financial services. His experience comprehensively straddles the capital markets and corporate management. Robert Fong, Chief Operating Officer and Director : Mr. Fong holds degrees in Architecture (Bachelor and Masters) Hons) from the University of New South Wales, Australia. He has lectured extensively on the subject and was named one of Australia's top 40 architects under 40 in 2006. His technology career has been decorated with senior management success including positions held with Frankfurt based E-Gal and E-Dynamics Group based in Switzerland. Mr. Fong founded and oversaw Morf Media, which was selected as one of 3 start-ups from Australia backed by Price Waterhouse Coopers to attend the Global Technology Conference in Palo Alto in 2012. John-Claude Petter, Director : Mr. Petter is the retired CEO of private banking corporation Julius Baer Group AG, founded and based in Switzerland. Established as a traditional private bank, it provides investment management, real estate financing, wealth management, and select offerings in sales and trading based on an open and managed architecture. Located in 28 countries, Julius Baer employs a staff of over 6,700 worldwide. Mr. Petter currently serves as the Vatican's Ambassador to Dubai. Private Placement Canada510 also announces two non-brokered private placements totalling 15,000,000 units ("Units") in a combination of Equity Units and Subscription Receipts at a price of $0.30 per Unit for a gross proceeds of $4,500,000. Each Unit will consists of one (1) common share and one half of one () common share purchase warrant. Each full warrant will entitle the holder to purchase one additional common share at a price of $0.40 for a period of twenty-four (24) months from the date of issue. The Company will pay finders' fees consisting of 7% cash and 7% non-transferable broker warrants in connection with the financings. The use of proceeds will be used for funding of game development, consumer acquisition, and general working capital purposes. For more information please contact: 10557510 Canada Corp.: Nicholas Konkin Communications Director Phone: 1 416 642 1807, ext 312 E-mail: investors@grovecorp.ca Forward Looking Statements Statements in this news release that are forward-looking statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties concerning the specific factors disclosed here and elsewhere in the Company's filings with Canadian securities regulators. When used in this news release, words such as "will, could, plan, estimate, expect, intend, may, potential, believe, should," and similar expressions, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements may include, without limitation, statements regarding the Company's unaudited financial results and projected growth. Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking statements, there can be other factors that cause results, performance or achievements not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended, including, but not limited to: dependence on obtaining regulatory approvals; investing in target companies or projects which have limited or no operating history and are subject to inconsistent legislation and regulation; change in laws; reliance on management; requirements for additional financing; competition; hindering market growth and state adoption due to inconsistent public opinion and perception of the medical-use and recreational-use marijuana industry and; regulatory or political change. There can be no assurance that such information will prove to be accurate or that management's expectations or estimates of future developments, circumstances or results will materialize. As a result of these risks and uncertainties, the results or events predicted in these forward-looking statements may differ materially from actual results or events. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements in this news release are made as of the date of this release. 1055710 Canada Corp. disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise such information, except as required by applicable law, and the Company does not assume any liability for disclosure relating to any other company mentioned herein. No securities regulator or exchange has reviewed, approved, disapproved, or accepts responsibility for the content of this news release. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/75802 By providing our North American ZX customers with a local service center, we can help further maximize Lidar operational uptime through shorter service turnarounds and support from knowledgeable Lidar experts in a nearby time zone. - Gregory Erdmann, NRGs Vice President, Global Sales NRG Systems, Inc., a designer and manufacturer of smart technologies for a range of wind, solar, and meteorological applications, announced today the opening of North Americas ZX Lidars service and support center at its headquarters in Vermont, USA. NRG Systems introduced the UK-based Lidar OEMs technology to North America in 2019, expanding distribution of ZX remote sensors to the global wind market through its Value Added Reseller network less than a year later. Gregory Erdmann, NRGs Vice President, Global Sales, said, Since adding ZXs industry-leading technology to our Lidar portfolio, NRG has continued to broaden its relationship with ZX Lidars to offer the best possible customer experience. By providing our North American ZX customers with a local service center, we can help further maximize Lidar operational uptime through shorter service turnarounds and support from knowledgeable Lidar experts in a nearby time zone. The introduction of the NRG ZX service center coupled with the vast Lidar experience our team has accrued working with remote sensing technology over the past decade is a benefit for all ZX users in North America. NRG Systems will now support all generations of ground-based ZX Lidars, including the ZX 300 for onshore vertical profiling applications, the ZX 300M which NRG sells and supports for near-shore or platform-based offshore campaigns, and legacy ZephIR-branded models (ZX Lidars rebranded from ZephIR Lidars in 2018). Offerings include routine major services; an inspection and update service complete with an overall health assessment and relevant free software updates; Lidar-to-Lidar validations against an IEC- compliant reference unit to confirm performance metrics; and the facilitation of validations against an offsite, IEC-compliant met tower by one of several independent third-party options including DNV GL and UL. NRG also offers a logistics service to manage getting customer units to its Vermont headquarters for a flat fee within the contiguous 48 states. Ian Locker, Managing Director of ZX Lidars, added, The approach to Lidar support is no different to what you expect of your car or bike; low-cost, local, planned maintenance to ensure a decade of reliability and system robustness. We are delighted to extend our global support to the North American wind industry through our Trusted Service Provider and now Service Center Operator, NRG Systems. We remain directly available to any of our clients, at any time, and that position is further strengthened with local expertise and availability such as NRG. Please contact sales@nrgsystems.com for more information. ### About NRG Systems, Inc. NRG Systems, Inc., a subsidiary of ESCO Technologies Inc. (NYSE: ESE), revolutionized the way wind resource assessment was done more than 36 years ago. Today, this heritage of innovation drives everything they do. The company is dedicated to designing and manufacturing smart technologies for a more sustainable planet that means more renewable energy, cleaner air, and a safer environment for all. Their measurement systems, turbine control sensors, Bat Deterrent Systems, and Lidar remote sensors can be found in more than 170 countries. For more information, please visit nrgsystems.com. About ZX Lidars ZX Lidars provides industry-leading wind lidar products, ZX 300, ZX 300M and ZX TM for wind energy and meteorological applications. These Lidars deliver accurate wind measurements in both onshore and offshore applications at measurement heights / ranges across the full swept area of the blades of modern wind turbines, and beyond. With more than 30 million hours of operation in the field and over 8000 deployments (and counting), ZX Lidars has pioneered the use of Lidar in the wind industry. The company is proud of the many world firsts it has achieved with customers including: upwind measurements from a turbine nacelle, turbine wake studies, offshore deployments of both fixed and floating wind lidar, an industry-accepted validation process, re-financing and re-powering of a wind farm, successful demonstration of measurement accuracy in a wind tunnel and total wind project financing from a lidar without need for a met mast. For more information, please visit zxlidars.com. .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... Copyright 2021 Albuquerque Journal More than 17,000 doses of the newly approved Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine are expected to arrive Wednesday in New Mexico, marking a near 30% increase in the states recent weekly vaccine allocation. And thats good news, potentially, for Tom Robinson, the only pharmacist at the Bestcare Pharmacy in Tucumcari, where some customers currently have to drive up to an hour to get a vaccine and must return weeks later for the booster shot. ADVERTISEMENTSkip ................................................................ I think more people like it because that means they only have to get one dose, Robinson said. The Johnson & Johnson vaccine on Saturday became the third to receive approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for emergency use in fighting COVID-19. In recent weeks, state Department of Health officials reported receiving about 60,000 doses of the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines a week. DOH officials said the state is expected to receive 17,200 doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine Wednesday but havent specified how the shipment might be allocated around the state. State Health Secretary Tracie Collins recently told a legislative committee, The wonderful thing about Johnson & Johnson is its one dose, it has a good shelf life, theres not the ultra-cold storage issue. It can be stored at normal refrigerator temperatures for months at a time. That type of vaccine could be best for people who are hard to reach, transient, who dont stay in one place long enough, those populations, Collins told the Senate committee last month. DOH officials have also mentioned that the one-dose vaccine could be most helpful in rural areas of the state where access might be an obstacle. Robinson said his pharmacys headquarters in Albuquerque has ordered the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, but he wasnt sure how much the Tucumcari location would get or when. But Robinson, who gives 12 to 14 Moderna COVID-19 vaccines a day, along with filling prescriptions and other duties, said he believes the new one-dose vaccine would probably make his life a little easier. Nowadays, he has to get to work early to unfreeze the days vaccine. His pharmacy attracts customers from Conchas, Mosquero and Logan, some of whom have to drive 45 minutes to an hour to get there. Were very remote, he said. Johnson & Johnson is expected to begin shipping nearly 4 million doses nationwide this week, with the vaccine allocation based on a states population. An international study found the vaccine to be 66% effective in preventing moderate to severe cases of COVID-19, in contrast to Pfizers and Modernas higher figures of 95% and 94%, according to National Public Radio. The New York Times reported the vaccine had an overall efficacy rate of 72% in the United States. But vaccine trials we re conducted at different times during the pandemic and in different countries with different transmission rates, making direct comparisons nearly impossible, experts say. All available vaccines in the U.S. including Johnson & Johnsons prevented 100% of COVID-related hospitalizations and deaths in clinical trials, state health officials say. The states current allotment might change in the near future, according to The New York Times, which reported Monday that 3.9 million shots will be delivered this week in the U.S., but none the week after. By the end of March, the company said it expects to ship another 16 million more doses. Meanwhile, on Monday, the state DOH reported 166 new additional COVID-19 cases statewide with Bernalillo Countys number taking a dive to 55 new cases and 13 virus-related deaths. With a total of 185,297 cases reported as of Monday, the rolling seven-day average of new daily cases was 325. 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. Kamala Harris's stepdaughter Ella Emhoff is continuing to take advantage of her newfound fame with the launch of her upcoming knitwear collaboration with designer Batsheva Hay. The 21-year-old, who is the daughter of Harris' husband, Doug Emhoff, and his first wife, Kerstin, has gone from a fine art student to fashion a darling less than two months after she donned a stylish Batsheva dress and Miu Miu coat to President Joe Biden's inauguration. Emhoff announced her knitwear collaboration during a conversation with Hay on the latest episode of Good Morning Vogue, just weeks after being signed by IMG Models and making her runway debut during New York Fashion Week. Scroll down for video Big deal: Kamala Harris's stepdaughter Ella Emhoff, 21, announced her upcoming knitwear collaboration with designer Batsheva Hay in the latest episode of Good Morning Vogue Moment: The fine arts student met Hay for the first time on camera. She previously worked with the designer to create the dress she wore to President Joe Biden's inauguration The episode began with her having a conversation with her friends Fifi Hodgkinson and Irene Hayes about her meteoric rise to fame following the inauguration. 'I remember a few days before the inauguration we were talking about what you were going to wear and we were very excited I was joking that you were going to become a style icon,' Hodgkinson recalled, and that's exactly what happened. When Emhoff attended the ceremony wearing a tartan coat with crystal-encrusted shoulders and a wide collar over a burgundy dress, social media took notice and the fashion world followed. The senior at Parsons School of Design in New York City went from having about 50,000 followers on Instagram the day before the inauguration to nearly 400,000. 'I have to be honest, I wasn't expecting this,' she admitted. 'I think life really did a 180.' The episode gave viewers a behind-the-scenes glimpse of the Brooklyn apartment that she shares with Hodgkinson and Hayes, which has three-knitting looms for her to work. Artist's work: The episode gave viewers a behind-the-scenes glimpse of Emhoff's Brooklyn apartment that has three-knitting looms Sneak peek: While there's little known about their knitwear collaboration as of yet, they talked about shapes and textures that they were interested in creating during the meeting While most budding designers have to wait for their big break, people have been clamoring to work with Emhoff since her stepmother's vice-presidential campaign and subsequent win thrust her into the spotlight. Emhoff's friends insisted that she hasn't changed who she s with them, but she noted that for her, personally, 's**t's different' than it was before. Before meeting Hay in person for the first time at her garment-district studio, she reflected on how she got to work with the Batsheva designer on her inauguration day dress. 'It's so weird because I've followed her for a really long time, and then I was thinking about what to wear for the inauguration. I got to meet her on Zoom and I was like, okay,' she recalled. 'So many of her designs are so cohesive to my personal wants and needs.' Hay was just as excited to meet Emhoff, and she made it clear that she is a fan of the rising fashion star during their sit-down. Family event: Emhoff attended the inauguration with her father, Doug Emhoff, and her stepmother, Harris, and quickly became a fashion star Attention! Emhoff stood out in a Miu Miu tartan coat with crystal-encrusted shoulders and a wide collar Bringing looks: Under her statement-making coat was a burgundy dress by Batsheva 'Obviously we got connected through me dressing you, but then, that also opened my eyes to just kind of fangirl-ing on your stuff and seeing what you're doing,' Hay said. 'You know, even though my stuff is more traditional femininity, I think that you're also doing something playful and playing with femininity too, in colors and shapes and all of that kind of stuff.' Emhoff, who recently released a five-piece knitwear collection on the e-tailer Mall that sold out in one day, agreed with Hay. 'That's what's so important about designing, especially to me, is being able to create things that you like without the outside influence of what you think the fashion industry wants. Which is why I'm so excited that we're collaborating,' she said. While there's little known about their knitwear collaboration as of yet, they talked about shapes and textures that they were interested in creating during the meeting. The video ended with them taking winter night's stroll through Washington Square Park with Hay offering Emhoff advice. The designer warned her not to compare her work to others, explaining that 'competition will crush creativity,' and the student agreed. Big break: Emhoff recently released a five-piece knitwear collection on the e-tailer Mall that sold out in one day Still learning: Emhoff's focus at Parsons School of Design textiles, and she often shows off her knitwear on her Instagram, which has nearly 400,000 followers 'My therapist always says, "Compare and despair,"' Emhoff said. 'It's one of those things, like just comparing yourself, even if it's a good comparison, at a certain point, it might just cause you a lot of pain and just over-thinking that is just not necessary.' The news of Hay and Emhoff's design collaboration comes less than a week after Harrris' stepdaughter stormed the runway for Proenza Schouler in three different stylish looks during New York Fashion Week. According to Vogue, the fashion show was actually filmed two Sundays before on Long Island, but everyone involved including designers Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez kept Emhoff's involvement a secret until the video and imagery from the event were posted online. The appearance marked her first professional modeling gig since signing with IMG in late January, joining the ranks of Gigi Hadid, Kate Moss, and Alek Wek, who are also signed by the agency. 'It's not really about shape, size or gender any more,' said Ivan Bart, the president of IMG Models. 'Ella communicates this moment in time. There's a cheekiness and a joy she exudes.' Voila! Emhoff appeared in her first designer fashion show last month, just three weeks after it was announced that she had signed with IMG Models Model moment: She stormed the runway for Proenza Schouler in three different stylish looks Chatting: Emhoff also participated in a Q&A with the Proenza Schouler designers Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez on February 15 He said his response to seeing her at the inauguration was: 'Wow, she's communicating fashion.' Ella said the approach from Bart took her back, even though she had been dabbling in modeling for a smaller agent. 'I was pretty surprised when everything with IMG was happening because when I was younger, I never saw that as being part of my timeline,' she told The New York Times. 'As someone who, like a lot of young girls out there, had self-confidence issues, it is intimidating and scary to go into this world that is hyper-focused on you and the body.' Exciting news: 'Ella communicates this moment in time. There's a cheekiness and a joy she exudes,' said Ivan Bart, the president of IMG Models, after she was signed to the agency Superstars: Karlie Kloss (left) and Gigi Hadid (right) are among the famous faces to be part of the IMG lineup She said she was encouraged by the diversity of models working today, and the opportunity to be 'part of that change.' 'I've obviously got a bigger platform now, and I'm excited to share a lot of things I really care about, and do some good,' she said, adding that she was 'excited to do things like wear fun clothes' and 'to bring a bit of Bushwick into the high fashion realm.' She also hoped to fundraise for knitwear artists, adding: 'There are a lot of people out there that need a lot of help,' If I can do anything to help with that, I want to, and I think this opportunity will be really beneficial toward that.' Emhoff isn't the only family member who is cashing in on the family's newfound fame. The vice president's influencer niece Meena Harris put on an at-home fashion show for Prada, just days after White House told her to stop using her aunt's name and likeness to build her own brand. The 36-year-old posted an Instagram video in which she is seen modeling a Prada outfit and bag on her couch for the brand's Milan Fashion Week show. Loving the spotlight: Harris' influencer niece Meena recently cashed in on her connection to the VP by modeling in an Instagram video for Prada Connections: White House lawyers reportedly told Meena (pictured left with her aunt and her mother Maya) to stop using her aunt's name to promote her brand after the November election It is unclear whether she was financially compensated for the video; she did not use a sponsored or ad hashtag while sharing it on Instagram last Thursday. Meena likely received the outfit and bag which are worth a total of $6,340 for free in order to model it at home. Her fashion post came ten days after it was revealed White House lawyers had told her to stop using Kamala's name and likeness to build up her own brand. Her company, Phenomenal, previously released a range of designs that featured the 'I'm speaking!' quote that her aunt famously said to Mike Pence during a debate The website for the brand also featured numerous references to and quotes from Kamala, although these have since been scrubbed. Promotion: Meena has her own brand, called Phenomenal, and she has used quotes from her aunt on clothing designs Taking advantage: Her Phenomenal line includes several pieces with feminist messages, and previously included descriptions that referenced her famous aunt Speaking to the Los Angeles Times earlier this month, a White House official scolded the influencer, insisting that her 'behavior needs to change.' 'Some things can't be undone. That being said: behavior needs to change,' the unnamed insider said. In a statement given to the publication by Meena's PR firm, she insisted that she had 'upheld all legal and ethical standards' since the start of the Biden-Harris campaign. 'Since the beginning of the campaign, I have insisted on upholding all legal and ethical standards and will continue to strictly adhere to the ethics rules of the Biden/Harris White House,' she said. 'With regards to Phenomenal, it was always our plan to remove the likeness of the Vice President from the website before the Inauguration, and refrain from using her likeness in any products or campaigns going forward.' 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. AllPro Recruitment, based in Axis Business Park in Tullamore, have announced the appointment of Andrea Scally as Commercial Director of Operations. A native of Kilclonfert, Co. Offaly, Andrea has been with AllPro Recruitment since its inception in 2016. David Gleeson, Managing Director of AllPro Recruitment said, Andrea has a wealth of experience and has been a tremendous asset to AllPro Recruitment from day one. From the beginning, Andrea took ownership of her role and has been crucial to the companys success. "With over 15 years experience in recruitment, sales, training and business administration Andrea has an excellent understanding of employers and jobseekers needs. She has driven AllPro Recruitment forward by finding the best and brightest candidates for AllPro Recruitments clients across various sectors. "Within AllPro Recruitment, Andrea works with a team of expert recruiters who work collaboratively with employers as trusted partners to find them the very best candidates, who are the right fit with their company." AllPro Recruitment is an independent recruitment agency who specialise in permanent and temporary hiring for businesses in the Midlands of Ireland. Established in 2016 by Blueball native, David Gleeson, AllPro Recruitment will be celebrating their 5th anniversary this year. With Covid-19 restrictions being extended and business owners finding it difficult to make key investment decisions in people due to these turbulent times, AllPros clients have started to book in temporary staff for when the country reopens in April. Going forward in her new role as Commercial Director of Operations, Andrea will be further driving AllPro Recruitments focus on customer service. Working in hand in hand with clients and candidates, Andrea will be leading the expansion of AllPro Recruitment into new markets and further cementing AllPros reputation for excellence. Ombudsmen of Russia and Qatar sign memorandum of cooperation RAPSI, Vladimir Burnov 15:54 02/03/2021 MOSCOW, March 2 (RAPSI) Russias Human Rights Commissioner Tatiana Moskalkova has signed a memorandum of cooperation with the chairman of the National Human Rights Committee of Qatar, Ali bin Samikh Al Marri. The Memorandum is designed to facilitate the exchange of experience in human rights activities between our countries, and most importantly, to strengthen the guarantees for the protection of the rights of our citizens, Moskalkova said. The Qatari counterpart supported the Russian Ombudsman, stressing that the problems they face in their daily work are very similar. Al-Marri expressed his strong support of regional cooperation between the countries. One of the important areas of work within the framework of the memorandum will be mutual information and assistance in cases of violation of the rights of citizens of the Russian Federation in the territory of Qatar and citizens of Qatar in the territory of Russia. I dont think that ignoring it makes it go away. Helen Haines, the independent MP for the Victorian seat of Indi, said the conjecture was so intense that the cabinet was being compromised. Loading Replay Replay video Play video Play video So the nation will be best served if the minister makes a public statement, she said. Tasmanian Senator Jacqui Lambie said the minister should suck it up and make a public statement. Every man and his dog knows [who it is] so hes only digging his hole deeper, she said. Loading If he has nothing to hide then come out and face the music. Labor leader Anthony Albanese has not called for the cabinet minister to step aside or face an independent inquiry, saying the decision was up to Mr Morrison. The strong views on the crossbench raised the prospect that someone would name the minister in Parliament when it resumed on March 15, setting a deadline for the government. The accused minister knows who he is, the entire parliament knows who he is, Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young said. If he is innocent he should step forward and declare it. The integrity of his ministry and the entire government is now in question while he remains in hiding with such a grave allegation levelled against him. Senator Hanson-Young was one of several politicians including Mr Morrison, Labor Senator Penny Wong and Liberal MP Celia Hammond who received an anonymous letter last week about the womans claims. A public statement by the cabinet minister would seek to follow the precedent set by Mr Shorten when he stood alongside his wife, Chloe, and announced in August 2014 the Victorian Police had closed its investigation. I will not go into details, except to say the allegation was untrue and abhorrent, Mr Shorten said at the time. The Labor deputy leader at that time, Tanya Plibersek, said Mr Shorten couldve carried on without ever expressing the fact the report was about him, and she said his statement would draw a line under the matter. Richard Marles, now the Labor deputy leader, described the statement as a courageous step and said the result made it clear there was no case to answer. The woman who alleged the cabinet minister raped her made her claim to the NSW Police in February last year, but the state investigation was suspended in June when she took her own life. The South Australian Police is investigating the womans death in her home city of Adelaide on behalf of the state coroner. There is no public timeframe on that process and no decision on whether to hold an inquest. With claims about the case being referred to federal and state police, NSW Police Commissioner Mick Fuller sought legal guidance on the investigation and received formal advice it could not continue. The NSW Police statement said the woman did not detail her allegations in a formal statement last year and other documents were not enough to continue the case. Following the womans death, NSW Police came into possession of a personal document purportedly made by the woman previously. NSW Police have since sought legal advice in relation to these matters. Based on information provided to NSW Police, there is insufficient admissible evidence to proceed. As such, NSW Police Force has determined the matter is now closed. Australian Federal Police Commissioner Reece Kershaw played down the options for the federal agency to investigate further, given the accusation of rape was a state matter. The AFPs role is to liaise and support and provide whatever advice those jurisdictions need in this matter, he said. Crossbenchers were divided on whether to name the cabinet minister if he did not make a public statement. Loading I am only aware of the person via rumours, so no, Centre Alliance Senator Stirling Griff said when asked if he would name the man. South Australian Senator Rex Patrick said parliamentary privilege had to be used very carefully but he supported steps to identify the man. I think there is public interest in the minister being named. But I think in order to do that the person who does the naming must have first-hand knowledge, Senator Patrick said. New Delhi: BJP president Amit Shah on Saturday formally invited Bihar Chief Minister and JD(U) chief Nitish Kumar to join NDA. The development comes a day after Nitish Kumar met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Amit Shah. Friday was Kumars first visit to the national capital after he jettisoned the alliance with the RJD and the Congress, and sealed a tie-up with the BJP on July 26. He told reporters after meeting Modi that it was a courtesy call and he will visit Delhi again this month end to discuss Bihars developmental issues with the prime minister. He later had a luncheon meeting with Shah in which both leaders are believed to have discussed ongoing political developments and other issues related to the state. JD(U) sources said the party is expected to announce its decision to formally join the BJP-led NDA in its national executive meeting on July 19 in Patna.Asked if the party will also join the Modi cabinet, a JD (U) leader said such a decision will be natural. Read | JD(U) suspends rebel leader Ali Anwar from party for attending meeting of Opposition parties When we are together in government in Bihar it is only natural that our party joins the Union government, he said. However, he added that such a decision will be taken by Kumar and the party had not deliberated over it yet. The JD(U) has 12 members in Parliament, two in the Lok Sabha and 10 in the Rajya Sabha. Shah has also asked Nitish to be co-convener of the ruling-alliance. JDUs leader in the Rajya Sabha Sharad Yadav has rebelled against the alliance with the BJP but apparently does not enjoy much support among other partys lawmakers. Kumar almost shut the door on any reconciliation with Yadav, saying he is free to take any decision as the alliance with the BJP had the entire partys nod. He (Yadav) is free to take his decision. As far as party is concerned, it has already taken its decision. The decision was not mine alone and it was taken with the consent of the party. If he keeps a different opinion, then he is free to do so, Kumar said. Read | Grand alliance row in Bihar: CM Nitish Kumar says Sharad Yadav is free to take own decisions For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. The book focuses on five core areas that are critical to success: vision, building your team, understanding politics, understanding your data, and strategic planning. GAITHERSBURG, MD / ACCESSWIRE / March 2, 2021 / New and experienced school principals in search of essential insights to leadership success are encouraged to read Dr. Shawn Joseph's top-rated book "The Principal's Guide to the First 100 Days of the School Year: Creating Instructional Momentum" (Routledge). Dr. Shawn Joseph is the Founder of acclaimed education and equity consulting firm Joseph and Associates. His contributions to the education sector have earned him numerous distinctions and accolades, including the Met-Life Middle School Principal of the Year for the State of Maryland, the American Educational Research Association's Outstanding Dissertation Award in the area of Educational Leadership, and the Ambassador Andrew Young Leadership Award. He also serves on the Board of Learning Forward, an international professional association that helps leaders plan, implement, and measure high-quality professional learning, and ultimately foster success across systems, schools, teachers and students. The Principal's Guide to the First 100 Days of the School Year: Creating Instructional Momentum provides principals with detailed timelines, practical advice, and ready-to-use resources to build momentum during the start of the school year, and continue that dynamic forward. The book, which has been developed to align with the Educational Leadership Policy Standards and the National Board Core Propositions for Accomplished Educational Leaders, respectively, focuses on five core areas: vision, building your team, understanding politics, understanding your data, and strategic planning. As explained in the book by Dr. Shawn Joseph: Vision: Understanding the power of developing a shared vision of excellence, and communicating your beliefs to your constituency, is critical to your initial success. The power of your school's shared vision will propel you into the future. As the leader of the school, you will need to create the conditions necessary to revisit or to create a shared vision of excellence. Building Your Team: Your success as a leader will ultimately depend on the quality of leaders you choose to keep around you. You will discover how to assess your initial leadership team, and how to effectively work with your colleagues. Understanding Politics: Principals must understand the politics of their positions, and the work you will need to do to build relationships with key constituencies. Understanding Your Data: All data tells a story. What is the most critical data for you to understand? How do you build systems and processes to monitor critical data points? Strategic Planning: Most schools do not fail because they have poor plans. Schools fails most often due to poor execution of plans. You need a framework for looking at strategic planning and accessing a timeline of activities to consider, as you work continuously to achieve student success. Each chapter concludes with a list of activities and a timeline, which can be modified by each principal based on their respective local situation. The appendix also contains a Master Timeline for the first 100 days of the school year, and a list of sources for additional learning. Comments Dr. Shawn Joseph in the introduction to his outstanding and important book: "Our children deserve quality schools led by quality principals. Our collective collaboration will move us closer to this reality." The Principal's Guide to the First 100 Days of the School Year: Creating Instructional Momentum is available from Amazon.com in Kindle, paperback and hardcover editions. About Dr. Shawn Joseph Dr. Shawn Joseph is the Founder of acclaimed education and equity consulting firm Joseph and Associates. His contributions to the education sector have earned him numerous awards and accolades. In 2020, he was selected as the Person of the Year by Nashville's Tribune newspaper, and in the same year he was honored with the Greater Nashville Association of Black School Educator's Trailblazer Award. Dr. Joseph also serves as a Board Member for several organizations including Learning Forward, the American Heart Association of Middle Tennessee, and Junior Achievement of Middle Tennessee. Contact Joseph and Associates Phone: 240-644-4524 Website: drshawnjoseph.com Email:Shawn@Josephandassociatesllc.com https://www.facebook.com/Joseph-Associates-103670841726524 https://www.linkedin.com/company/joseph-and-associates SOURCE: Dr. Shawn Joseph View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/632947/Dr-Shawn-Josephs-The-Principals-Guide-to-the-First-100-Days-of-the-School-Year-Creating-Instructional-Momentum-a-Must-Read-for-New-Experienced-Principals China has pledged to deliver 400,000 doses of Sinopharm's COVID-19 vaccine to Afghanistan, Afghan officials said on March 1, in a boost for an immunization campaign begun last week. "China's ambassador to Kabul said in a meeting with health officials that his country would provide Afghanistan with 400,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccine," said Ghulam Dastagir Nazari, the Health Ministry's head of the immunization program. The Sinopharm vaccine produced in China has been approved by the World Health Organization, but it is unclear when it will be delivered, Nazari said. So far just over 12,000 health workers have received the vaccine in all 34 provinces of Afghanistan, he said. The vaccination of members of the security forces has also begun, according to another official, who spoke on condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to speak to media. Afghan government forces are facing intensified attacks, blamed on Taliban insurgents, since September, when the two sides entered U.S.-brokered peace talks hosted by Qatar. The Taliban has largely denied responsibility for the rash of violence. The militant group has also said it supports the vaccination campaign. Afghanistan has already received 500,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine from India, which enabled the nation to launch its vaccination drive on February 23. Afghan health officials have said the international COVAX program, which is aimed at improving access to the COVID-19 vaccine for developing countries, would provide vaccines to cover 20 percent of the country's 38 million population. Afghanistan has registered 55,733 infections and 2,444 deaths. But experts say cases are significantly underreported due to low testing and limited access to medical facilities in the war-torn country. TDT | Manama The Daily Tribune www.newsofbahrain.com Two students from Bahrain public schools won the Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum Award for Distinguished Academic Performance in its twenty-third session. On this occasion, Education Minister HE Dr Majid bin Ali Al Nuaimi affirmed the ministrys interest in the annual participation of this award, within the framework of the close relations between the Kingdom of Bahrain and the UAE in many fields, including education, thanks to the directives of the wise leadership in the two brotherly countries and the distinguished fraternal relations that unite them, noting the importance of the role that this award plays in motivating distinguished schools, teachers and students in the GCC countries. He explained that the ministry places among its priorities the participation of students in local and foreign competitions. This came during the Ministers reception of the two winning students, Ola Al-Ajimi from Jidhafs Secondary School for Girls, and Osama Fathy from East Riffa Secondary School for Boys, where he congratulated them on this honourable achievement and praised the efforts they made to obtain this important educational award, and for their academic achievement. It is worth noting that, in addition to school academic excellence, students have distinguished achievements in terms of student activities, such as obtaining shields of excellence and certificates of appreciation, and many participations in conferences, seminars, workshops and various competitions at home and abroad. 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. Police in South Jersey are asking for the publics help in locating a man reported missing last month. Randy Haywood, 39, was last seen on Feb. 10 in Penns Grove, according to borough police. Hes about 5 feet 10 inches tall, 180 pounds and has close-cropped black hair and brown eyes. Haywood was last seen wearing all-black clothing. He may answer to Popa, Rover or Roger, police said. Anyone with information is asked to contact Penns Grove Police at 856-299-0055 or Detective Jesse Thorn at 856-299-0304. Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com. Matt Gray may be reached at mgray@njadvancemedia.com. New Delhi, March 2 : Close to 40 lakh people have registered themselves to receive the Covid vaccines shot on the CoWIN portal till Tuesday morning, the Union Health Minister Dr. Harsh Vardhan told reporters on Tuesday. "It includes 34 lakh of those who were registered on Monday while the last I checked in the morning, more than 5 lakh people had registered themselves on the portal," he informed. However, the minister said that the actual number of registration could be higher. "As you know that from a single number, a person can register as many as four beneficiaries. Even if we reduce it to two, the number of actual registration may have gone beyond 70 lakh," he guessed. Vardhan revealed the information after interacting with the media after taking his vaccine shot at the Delhi Heart and Lung Institute. He came along with his wife who also received the shot. The couple chose the private hospital where they paid Rs 250 each for the doses received. By choosing a private facility over a public, Vardhan sent out a clear message which he reiterated that a person having the capacity to afford the costs of the vaccine, must get inoculated in a private facility. "I want to appeal to everyone that those who can afford the vaccine, should get it from the private hospital nearest to the home," he said. Meanwhile the minister also spoke about the "vaccine maitri" programme of India in which the country has sent and continues to deliver lakhs of Covid vaccine doses to other nations. "We have sent our vaccines to around 40 countries and about three to four dozens of nations will receive them shorty as well," Vardhan informed. Earlier, in an exclusive interaction with IANS, Minister of External Affairs S Jaishankar had told IANS that the ministry will dispatch Covid vaccines to 36 nations scattered across the globe. "It includes our neighbouring countries, South Asian nations, countries in the Gulf region, small islands near Australia, and South American countries. So I'll say that we are reaching out to nations across the globe," Jaishankar had informed IANS. Vaccines are being provided free of charge at the government health facilities and on a payment basis in the private health facilities. All private hospitals can charge Rs 150 for vaccines and Rs 100 for service charges fixed by the central government. Around 10,000 hospitals empanelled under Ayushman Bharat-PMJAY and 687 hospitals under CGHS can be used by states as Covid Vaccination Centres (CVCs). Phase three of Covid vaccination covering 27 crore of population above aged above 60 and those above 45 with comorbidities started from Monday. The previous two phases were started with vaccination of around three crore of healthcare and frontline workers in India. Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19) -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text Two brothers admitted in court Thursday to setting fire to their hookah lounge as they struggled with business losses, causing more than $20 million in damages to a retail block in Philadelphias historic area. Federal prosecutors say 32-year-old Imad Dawara, of Swarthmore, and 40-year-old Bahaa Dawara, of Woodlyn, had taken out $750,000 in insurance weeks before the blaze. The February 2018 fire burned for nine hours and left the block of restaurants, retail stores and apartments in Old City shuttered for months. Approximately 160 people were displaced, and a few of the businesses never reopened. The Dawaras, who used gasoline to start the blaze, would serve nine years in prison and pay $22 million in restitution under the terms of the plea agreements entered Thursday. Their sentencing is set for June. U.S. District Judge Juan Sanchez expressed concern about their ability to pay such a staggering sum, but the brothers insisted they could, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported. The first $500,000 payment was due Thursday. Defense attorney Stephen Patrizio said some of the payment would come from the sale of Imad Dawaras suburban home, the newspaper said. Copyright 2021 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. by Francis Khoo Thwe Clashes with security forces in Yangon. Rumours of two deaths. One dead and several wounded in Kale. Following global protestations, the military leaders ask security forces not to use lethal weapons. ASEAN runs for cover. Singapore: No to violence, free Aung San Suu Kyi, dialogue for peace. Democratic leader charged with two other violations. Yangon (AsiaNews) - Security forces once again opened fire in Yangon this morning with bullets and grenades. Demonstrations against the military coup were held in at least four places in the city. There has been no official confirmation of reports on social media that in addition to many injured, two demonstrators were killed. Instead, one death was confirmed in Kale (in the north-west of the country), where the police fired on the crowd to disperse the demonstration. Here too there are several injured in serious condition. There have been dozens of deaths since the demonstrations against the coup d'etat began. The bloodiest day was February 28, when 18 people were killed. Police say one person died in the first days of the demonstrations. Yesterday the military leaders announced on television that they had asked the security forces not to use lethal bullets. However, at the beginning of the demonstrations, Gen. Min Aung Hlaing had threatened all those who participated in gatherings, which are considered illegal, that they did so at the risk of their lives. The "pacifist" tone of the leaders follows on the heels of UN denunciation of the violence that took place two days ago which, in addition to the death of 18 demonstrators, caused at least 30 injuries. The military leaders attempt to prove their innocence is also the result of international protests. So far the United States, Great Britain, Canada and the European Union have enacted targeted sanctions against military leaders. The ASEAN foreign ministers will hold a virtual meeting today to discuss the Burmese crisis. Asean (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) in addition to Myanmar, includes Singapore, Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Malaysia, Brunei, Vietnam. Until now, ASEAN has been criticized for its aloof behaviour. One of the principles on which it is based is non-interference in the internal affairs of partner countries. Especially Singapore, the largest investor in Myanmar ($ 24.5 billion in 2020) has been criticized for its overly favourable attitude to the junta. The persistence of demonstrations, civil disobedience and strikes that have rendered Myanmar's economy increasingly fragile is compelling the countries of Southeast Asia to find ways to restore "stability" to the country, fearing that the economic and political crisis may also spread across the border. In a televised interview yesterday, Singapore's Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan said he wanted to encourage dialogue between the junta and Aung San Suu Kyi. He also said he was "shocked" by the violence against the population and asked the military to stop the violence and free Aung San Suu Kyi and President Win Myint. Even the premier of Singapore, Lee Hsien Loong, interviewed today by the BBC, said that the use of force by the military is "disastrous" and that the only way left is to "free Aung San Suu Kyi, negotiate with her and her party and trace a peaceful path for Myanmar. Yesterday Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been under house arrest since the coup, first appeared on video as she appeared in court. In addition to violations of strange commercial (purchase of walkie-talkies) and health rules (rallies without social distancing), she has also been accused of "inciting public unrest" and violation of telecommunication laws. Remember Michelangelo? Not the Renaissance painter but the early 1990s computer virus? The bug infected millions of computers and stealthily waited until March 6, the birthday of its namesake, to break out and wreck everyones machines. This was before the internet went mainstream, and people worried more about protecting their floppies than someone hacking the net. In a March 4, 1992, article, Express-News writer Chuck McCullough described how like the deadly human disease, Michelangelo is spread from computer to computer by using infected floppy disks, much as AIDS is spread among drug addicts sharing infected hypodermic needles. He added there were even computer condoms to protect software from infection. Computer security, of course, became more sophisticated over the years. Not long after the Michelangelo ruckus, a group of military officers left the service, and their jobs at the unit formerly known as the Air Force Information Warfare Center at Kelly AFB, to start the WheelGroup cybersecurity firm in 1995. Three years later, the Wheelies crew cashed out in a $124 million-in-stock deal with Cisco Systems, which moved the firm to Austin. Related: Accelerator: What happened to TechBlocs chief talent and recruitment officer? One of WheelGroups co-founders, Lee Sutterfield, later launched SecureLogix, a network security company that remains an important San Antonio cyber firm. WheelGroup marked the start of San Antonios commercial cybersecurity rise. Now, 26 years later, weve seen at least two of the citys old-line cyber firms selling to out-of-state companies over the last year. In July, HelpSystems LLC, an Eden Prairie, Minn., software company, bought San Antonio-based Globalscape in a $217 million deal. Six months later, HelpSystems bought another local firm, Digital Defense, for an undisclosed amount. The acquisitions hinted that something is changing in the citys network security industry. Whats next? Are these buyouts a sign of healthy and maturing cybersecurity sector in San Antonio? Do they hint at more sales on the horizon? Or do they signal that San Antonio is becoming a branch office city, not a headquarters city, for big cybersecurity companies? Will Garrett, director of cybersecurity development at Port San Antonio, sees the acquisitions as a sign of the industrys vitality in San Antonio. Successful mergers, acquisitions and exits a hundred percent talk to the strength of an industry it (speaks) to national interest of the technology and products that are coming out, Garrett said. It also validates that we need to double down on our focus of how do we continue to build a strong bench (of tech talent). But before knowing where were going, we need to know where we are. On ExpressNews.com: Minneapolis IT firm acquires Digital Defense, its second San Antonio tech company in 6 months David Heard, CEO of TechBloc, San Antonios nonprofit tech advocacy group, said he remains bullish on cybersecurity as a segment of strength within the tech industry for San Antonio. By most measures, he said, the city remains No. 2 in the country in terms of a concentration of a skilled, talented cybersecurity workforce behind the Washington, D.C., area. Garrett echoed this talking point: Weve commonly said for the better part of a decade that we have the second-largest ecosystem of cyber assets next to the greater D.C. area, including northern Virginia and central Maryland. Despite the optimistic talk, San Antonio rarely cracks the top 10 in national surveys about the tech work scene. There was that 2020 Zillow report that ranked San Antonio sixth in the top-10 markets for future tech growth, ahead of eighth-ranked Austin. But more often, if San Antonio makes the top 50, it lands in the bottom third. Last month, Dice, a tech recruiting firm, published its 2021 Tech Salary Report, which left out San Antonio. Between the well-established tech scene in Austin and the emerging hubs in Houston and Dallas, the report stated, Texas continues to jockey to become a premier tech state on the scale of California. Not even an emerging hub nod? The same report listed cybersecurity engineers as the fourth highest-paid IT workers behind management, systems architects and cloud engineers. Cybersecurity analysts nabbed first place for occupation with the fastest-growing salaries. On ExpressNews.com: Minnesota company acquiring San Antonio software company Globalscape for $217M According to Heard, who also serves as SecureLogixs chief marketing officer, the national studies dont account for the citys federal and Department of Defense cybersecurity workers. Roughly a third of our workforce in the tech industry in San Antonio is related to either directly DOD and federal command work or contractors that work on those projects with them, he said. We get disproportionately punished, if you will, in terms of our rank on the cybersecurity, federal and DOD side. And Garrett said the real size of the cybersecurity workforce is difficult to capture because those jobs often get rolled into overall IT numbers at non-cybersecurity companies. Currently, San Antonio is home to about 100 cybersecurity companies, according to Garrett. Itd break down heavier on the federal side, at least federally focused-companies versus commercial, he said. According to Heard, well get a better understanding of San Antonio cybersecurity industrys health in an economic impact report TechBloc and Port San Antonio plan to release later this year. Related: Accelerator: Tech companies and their sound of silence Weve been able to do some surveying of the various DOD and federal commands that have cyber resources, Heard said. These are numbers of employees and workers in the cybersecurity space that dont really get tracked by the Texas Workforce Commission or census data because theyre national security-related positions. Neither Heard nor Garrett were willing to share any details from the report thats apparently complete and awaiting its unveiling. Heard said theyd have released the report already but like so much else this past year COVID. So thats something to look forward to as we think back on simpler times, when all we had to worry about was an unprotected encounter with Michelangelo. 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 You have permission to edit this article. Edit Close Leading Brazilian EPC Andrade Gutierrez to build 830 MW Janauba PV plant in state of Minas Gerais using NX Horizon bifacial optimized solution SOROCABA, Brazil, March 2, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Nextracker, a Flex company, announced that it has been selected by leading Brazilian EPC firm Andrade Gutierrez and developer Elera Renovaveis (formerly Brookfield Energia Renovavel) to supply 830 MW of its world-leading solar tracker technology, NX Horizon for Phase I of the Janauba solar complex located near the city of Janauba, Minas Gerais, Brazil. When completed, the plant will be the largest of its kind in South America and is scheduled to become operational by early 2022. "We are delighted to be working with Nextracker on the Janauba solar plant," said General Manager for Renewables, Patricio Pavez at Andrade Gutierrez. "Nextracker's extensive expertise in wind design R&D and engineering and proven bifacial gains were ultimately what led us to select the NX Horizon smart solar tracker." "We look forward to working together with Nextracker to cement Brazil's position as the leader in the solar energy sector in Latin America," said Beverly Martinez, Technical VP at Elera Renovaveis. Built with field-proven quality and reliability, NX Horizon is the single-axis solar tracker of choice on over 45 GW of projects around the world and will help Elera Renovaveis to maximize the Janauba plant's performance while minimizing operational costs. Nextracker's regional office in Brazil will fully support the project with engineering advisory as well as commissioning, asset management and advanced data analytics services for preventive maintenance. Installation crews will benefit from Nextracker's PowerworX Academy installer training program to learn best practices on site and at the company's training center in Sorocaba, Sao Paulo state. "We are honored to work side by side with our partners, Elera and Andrade Gutierrez to deploy Brazil's largest solar tracker project," said Marco Garcia, Chief Commercial Officer at Nextracker. "Nextracker's expert local staff combined with our company's cutting-edge solar tracker and software technologies will ensure that this historic project will perform to its full potential." Brazil is one of the fastest-growing solar markets in the Latin American region, due in part to its high irradiation levels and solar-friendly policies. The country has 7.4 gigawatts of cumulative solar installations to date. Minas Gerais is the top Brazilian state for solar power capacity in the nation. Nextracker is the chosen PV system technology and smart solar tracker provider for some of the largest solar power plants in the world, such as the 1 GW Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park in the UAE, the 838 MW plant in Villanueva, Mexico, and the 460 MW Western Downs installation in Queensland, Australia. Resources: Download Nextracker's latest white papers for more information on wind engineering design and bifacial technology. About Nextracker Nextracker, a Flex company, is a leader in the renewable energy transition, providing critical yield enhancing PV system technology, expertise and strategic services to capture the full value and maximize the efficiency of solar plants. Delivering the most comprehensive portfolio of intelligent solar tracker and control software solutions for solar power plants, Nextracker is transforming PV plant performance with smart technology, data monitoring and analysis services. For more information, please visit Nextracker and follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn. Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1447557/powerworx_feb_302.jpg Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/506736/NEXTracker_Flex_Company_Logo.jpg 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. German scientists have improved the scribing method to interconnect perovskite PV cells, in order to then upscale them into mini PV modules. They established suitable laser fluence ranges for nanosecond and picosecond lasers and found that the former results in higher efficiency levels.Researchers from HTW Berlin and Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin (HZB) have investigated the influence of the laser pulse duration for P3 patterning for interconnecting perovskite solar cells, so they can then upscale them into mini photovoltaic modules. They analyzed the electrical and compositional properties of the scribe ... 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. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Posted Monday, March 1, 2021 4:45 pm Our uneducated state Senate has passed SB 5066, which is dead on arrival when it comes to effectiveness. Subject is a peace officers duty to intervene, intended to prevent excessive use of force, further wrongful actions by law enforcement getting carried away by emotions, anger, racism, not knowing their own strength or even plain meanness, when stopping or apprehending a person. It is hard to believe a legislative bill needed to be written and taxpayer funds used to train police to be able to tell fellow officers, Stop it! You are out of control and harming this person. Apparently, they do not currently possess this ability to act. Actual SB 5066 text is here: https://legiscan.com/WA/text/SB5066/2021 The only word, according to the U.S. Supreme Court, that creates an obligation and necessity to act, is must. After the failures of sheriffs and police to enforce public health laws, which clearly stated must be enforced, and followed it up with maybe, police discretion came immediately into play. Legal reference books like the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure no longer use the word "shall." Even the Supreme Court ruled that when the word "shall" appears in statutes, it means "may." After reading the PDF text of SB 5066, law enforcement has no worries. All supposed strict requirements are written as shall intervene, shall report, shall render aid, and best of all, may be grounds for disciplinary action. Really? This level of ignorance is appalling. According to Laurel Demkovichs Spokesman-Review article, Sen. Jeff Holy, R-Cheney, said the bill puts everybody at risk and "scares cops." Be not dismayed, Senator Holy, it is weakly written and has no teeth. There is no legal requirement. Yes, the U. S. Supreme Courts directive is to use must for a law to require enforcement. The same court also states a long standing tradition of police being allowed to use discretion. This is what the state supreme court jumped on when rejecting the recall of the Thurston County sheriff. Tradition of discretion prevails over weakly written law. The bill also mentions duty to intervene as part of the new training, which apparently will take nearly two years to implement. Why will it take so long? Arent law officers supposed to be able to recognize wrongful actions already? Seriously? Now, we have to pay to teach them it is wrong to abuse or murder a person? What puts everybody at risk, Senator Holy, is having police without the inherent ability to know a line has been crossed, excessive force and wrongful conduct is occurring, and immediately intervene. So, the wording of this bill as it is passed into law must incorporate must and will or it is a pointless waste of time, effort and taxpayer investment in law enforcement and legislation, or once again, tradition of police officer discretion will allow them to ignore the law. Rick Yearout Morton Alabama will receive more than 40,000 of the one-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine, according to the states health agency. The Food and Drug Administration issued an Emergency Use Authorization for the J&J vaccine over the weekend. The vaccine has been approved for individuals 18 years and older. It joins vaccines made by Moderna and Pfizer, both of which require two doses. Alabama will receive 40,100 J&J doses this week. The vaccine will not be used to target a specific population, ADPH said, but will go through our normal allocation process of identifying providers that are next in line to receive a vaccine. This weeks shipment is a one-time allotment and state officials said they do not know when it will receive additional J&J vaccines. As of today, Alabama has had 493,769 coronavirus cases, 9,931 deaths and 45,562 hospitalizations. The state has administered 920,566 COVID-19 vaccines, roughly 68% of its total allotment of 1.35 million doses. Alabama is currently offering vaccines to healthcare workers, workers and residents of long-term care facilities, first responders, people age 65 and older and certain critical workers, including teachers and those who work in food distribution and manufacturing. .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... Copyright 2021 Albuquerque Journal The researchers charged up the Z machine, and in a blink of an eye its fist-size target plate was moving faster than 30 kilometers per second before exploding into a sample of bridgmanite an elusive material found in the center of the Earth. The experiment, carried out at Sandia National Laboratories, was part of a project that is giving scientists insight into the bellies of planets hundreds of light years away insights that may help them answer the age-old question: Is there life beyond Earth? ADVERTISEMENTSkip ................................................................ Or at least whether theres a distant planet somewhere capable of sustaining life as we know it. The groundbreaking research was recently featured in an article in Nature Communications. The article, authored by a team that included several Sandia scientists, delved into experiments on bridgmanite conducted at the labs Z Pulsed Power Facility, or Z machine. The focus on the Sandia research comes as the worlds attention is once again fixed on the heavens. Last month, NASA landed a rover on Mars that will spend the next two years drilling in search of any evidence that microscopic life ever lived on Earths neighbor. The Sandia study is trying to figure out if a planet could sustain life. One step was to find bridgmanites melting point and other traits. By knowing more about bridgmanite, scientists may be able to ascertain what its like on the surface of faraway planets, and which ones most closely resemble Earth, said Joshua Townsend, a Sandia physicist who was part of the study. The team made a short list of seven super-Earth planets between 21 and 1,500 light years away that could have atmospheres similar to Earth. These are not planets that you and I are ever going to see. But its still important to ask these questions and find answers, Townsend said. If we can do this and find out which planets we think are habitable or Earth-like that helps us focus our attention on planets that we think may hold life. The Z machine is a 30-meter-diameter circle, with what look like florescent capillaries snaking across it. Its outer walls can store energy and force it into its center, which produces high temperatures, almost unfathomable amounts of pressure and powerful X-rays. That creates conditions found nowhere else on Earth, allowing researchers to perform what Sandia calls high energy density science. From late 2016 to late 2018, Sandia researchers placed pieces of bridgmanite at the center of the machine seven times, and took what the team called Z shots at the samples. While one of the most abundant materials on the planet, bridgmanite is next to impossible to find naturally. Its found in the core of the Earth, and likely deep inside other rocky planets. It can also be found in meteorites, said Sandia scientist Chris Seagle, who proposed studying bridgmanite using the Z machine. By learning more about bridgmanite, such as when it melts and how it responds to intense pressure, scientists can draw conclusions about planets even if they are light years away from Earth. To complete the study, the Sandia team partnered with the Carnegie Institution for Science in Washington, D.C., where Yingwei Fei, a scientist and co-author of the article, makes bridgmanite in a lab. Using the Z machine, the scientists collected precise measurements on bridgmanites characteristics that werent previously known. Through the experiments we did on the Z machine, we were able to study, with really incredible precision and accuracy, the properties of this material at very high pressure, like you would expect to find inside these big planets, Seagle said. And, more importantly, we found when this material melts. Why is the melting point so important? Of the millions of super-Earths throughout the galaxy, Seagle said the only ones that could theoretically sustain life are those with a liquid core. Whether a planets inside is liquid or solid has a really big effect on a lot of other really important properties of a planet, (including) whether it can sustain an atmosphere, he said. The search for life should focus on planets that likely have a liquid core, Seagle said. We know from the Earth that the liquid motion in the core is what creates a magnetic field, Seagle said. If a planet has a magnetic field, that magnetic field protects the planet from solar winds or a nearby stars stellar wind. Without that protection, a planet would be stripped of anything needed to sustain life, he said. So if scientists know things like the melting point of bridgmanite, and how it behaves under intense pressure, finding out which planets have those conditions inside them is a matter of physics. When you know the mass and radius of a planet you can calculate its density, Seagle said. If you know the density, and how various materials behave as a function of pressure and temperature, then you can start to build up a model and figure out what these planets are made of. Townsend said the data from the research project could guide future scientists searching for life beyond Earth. Whats been missing is an understanding of the interior of the planets. Thats what were trying to comment on, Townsend said. Heres the list of planets you care a lot about. Heres how our results can help you understand better what might be going on on these planets. Finance house Greensill Capital has lost Telstra and CIMICs UGL as key clients with both major companies in the process of exiting their relationship with the Anglo-Australian supply chain finance group which is now teetering on the brink of collapse. London-headquartered Greensill has sought key insolvency protections, known as safe harbour protections, in Australia to allow it to continue to trade in the event it is insolvent while protecting its directors from criminal liability. Grant Thornton is advising the group. Lex Greensills supply chain finance business had been planning an initial public offering. Credit: Greensill was left scrambling on Monday night after its financial backer Credit Suisse froze billions of dollars of funds the supply chain finance group had relied on as buyers of the debt securities it issues. Greensill provides a service that allows suppliers to big companies to be paid earlier for a fee. These financing arrangements are then packaged up and rolled into securities that are sold by Credit Suisse. New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has refused to apologise after calling out the sister of a student infected with coronavirus for going to work at a KFC rather than self-isolating. The woman worked at the fast food chain's restaurant in Botany Downs in Auckland's eastern suburbs on February 22 and 23 three days before testing positive for Covid-19. Her sister tested positive on February 23 after being considered a casual contact of a confirmed case at Papatoetoe High School - the centre of a cluster of cases in South Auckland. The family has since been ridiculed online after Ms Ardern criticised the sister, who claimed she never received instructions to get tested. Auckland on Sunday entered a week-long Level Three lockdown after the prime minister blamed rule-breakers for causing the city's latest outbreak. New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has refused to back down after calling out the sister of a student infected with Covid-19 for not getting tested when told to do so 'It's not fair on our end that we're getting all this backlash for something that we haven't actually done,' the sister - known only as Case L - told Newshub. 'If they tried to contact us multiple times and send us letters and stuff, where is this evidence.' Case L said Ms Ardern should apologise as her comments were 'upsetting'. Ms Ardern said the family was told via letters on February 17 and 19 they needed to get tested. On Tuesday, she defended how the government communicated with them - saying the student's family were contacted 15 times through texts and phone calls telling them to get tested. 'I cannot answer whether or not those were received, but certainly you can see attempts were made,' she said. 'I'll go back to look at what we could have done in addition to that message. The under-fire KFC worker was the sister of a student at Papatoetoe High School (pictured), where the south Auckland cluster originated. The family have claimed they never received the order to get tested 'In my mind everyone at Papatoetoe High School getting a test felt really clear to me.' ACT MP David Seymour has called on Ms Ardern to release the complete correspondence between the government and the family. Authorities are meanwhile searching for Aucklanders who went to City Fitness Papatoetoe on February 26 between 3.25pm and 4.30pm - at the same time an infected 21-year-old visited the gym. Pictured: A Covid-19 testing station at Papatoetoe High School on February 15. Ms Ardern said the student's family were contacted 15 times by health officials about the need to get tested Motorists wait to enter a temporary testing center for COVID-19 at Papatoetoe High School in Auckland on February 15 Pictured: A woman stuck in hefty traffic took a selfie and posted it to Twitter on Sunday afternoon Checkpoints have been set up along major highways leading into the city which were packed with motorists who spent hours in their cars on Sunday trying to enter Auckland. Police told residents to be patient and prepare for 'significant delays', but Kiwis described the situation as a 'mess' - with some claiming they saw drivers squatting on the side of the road due to a lack of facilities. One man who tried to make the two-hour trip from Hamilton to Auckland spent double that time just getting to the halfway point near Meremere. Pictured: Traffic jams on the highway heading in to Auckland in New Zealand, as residents wait at Covid checkpoints Another spent three hours stuck in the same spot in Hampton Downs - just 44 minutes away from the city centre. 'It's a f**king mess,' he told the NZ Herald. While pet owners and livestock truck drivers took to exercising their animals on the side of the road, residents with sick passengers were furious about the hefty delays. Pictured: Lines of traffic on a motorway heading in to Auckland in New Zealand after the city was plunged in to Stage Three lockdowns Some people stuck in traffic said they could hear babies crying from cars nearby. 'I feel sorrt for the poor babies and their families stuck in this heavy traffic' one Twitter user said One woman travelling with her terminally ill husband attempted to drive from Hampton Downs to Pokeno, about 45 minutes out of Auckland. It took the couple four hours to drive little more than 5km down the road when the trip which should have taken 12 minutes. Police had warned motorists they would be stopped and questioned about why they were travelling once they reached a checkpoint. Pictured: A Google Maps image showing heavy traffic on highways leading in to Auckland on Sunday Some residents were confused about why people from outside Auckland, where there are no Covid cases, are being screened so heavily. 'Explain the logic behind not being able to come in to Auckland,' one woman tweeted Prime Minister of New Zealand Jacinda Ardern (pictured) has announced Auckland will go into lockdown for one week, after just one new local case of Covid-19 The rest of New Zealand faced Level two restrictions from Sunday at 6am. Pictured: Testing station in Auckland on February 15 Level Three restrictions mean people are confined to their household bubble or an exclusive extended bubble - which may include close relatives or isolated people. People must work from home if possible and businesses must not offer services requiring close personal contact, unless it is an essential service or emergency. Public venues are closed but low-risk recreation activities are allowed within bubbles, such as bike riding, swimming or going on a picnic with other household members. For the rest of New Zealand under Level Two restrictions, people can socialise in groups of up to 100, shop and travel domestically. The cluster is centred around Papatoetoe High School, and the new case, a 21-year-old male, is reportedly the older brother of a student at that school. Pictured: A Covid-19 station set up outside the high school on February 15 Schools will remain open and groups over 100 are allowed in cinemas, casinos and stadiums as long as groups of 100 and less do not mix with each other. Ms Ardern said she was disappointed in those who have not followed the rules and put the community at risk. 'We do have the ability to take enforcement action if we need to,' she said adding that people needed to feel comfortable coming forward. 'We still need an environment where people will speak up and come forward and be tested.' The latest restrictions come after the city of 2million people entered a three-day lockdown on February 15 when three people from one family - a Papatoetoe High School student and her parents - tested positive for Covid-19. Turkmenistan has introduced visa preferences for the UN staff and its specialized bodies. President of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov signed a decree to this effect. According to the decree, beginning 2 March 2021, foreign citizens holding UN passports are allowed to enter Turkmenistan without a visa, stay in the country for up to 30 (thirty) calendar days, leave the country and transit its territory. Foreign citizens employed by the UN or its specialized bodies accredited by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan, as well as their family members are also exempted from obtaining a visa for the period of work in Turkmenistan. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan was instructed to inform the United Nations about this decision. According to the presidential decree, these measures aim to further strengthen Turkmenistans relations with the UN and its bodies and create optimal conditions for the staff of this organization in accordance with the 1946 Convention on the Privileges and Immunities of the UN. TURKMENISTAN.RU, 2021 Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Tuesday, March 2, 2021 Bookpleasures.com ispleased to have as our guest, Margaret Wolff. Margaret is theauthor of 21 books, including In Sweet Company: Conversationswith Extraordinary Women About Living a Spiritual Life and hermost recent tome, Coming Home: Finding Shelter in the Love andWisdom of Paramahansa Yogananda. She has written 150+blogs, stories, interviews, and essays for outlets rangingfrom Beliefnet to Yoga International to the ChickenSoup for the Soul series to the Collective Womens Initiativeand Feminist.com. She earned degrees in ArtTherapy, Psychosynthesis, and Leadership Studies and uses herpassions for storytelling and conversations that matter ascatalysts that help others connect with their best instincts andchart the life they long to lead. She has facilitated morethan 250 keynotes and retreats for organizations such as TheParliament of World Religions, UCLA Neuropsychiatric Institute, andAmerican Montessori Society, and served as a delegate to the UnitedNations conference, The Global Peace Initiative of Women, inGeneva. Norm: Good day Margaretand thanks for participating in our interview. You have authored over 21books, what motivates you to write? Margaret: I cant notwrite! Its as natural to me as breathing. Though I am an ArtTherapist by training, I am a storyteller by birth. Its a cellularthing. I think in stories, its how I see the world, how I movethough my days. Sometimes, I write about experiences, events,challenges that move me; something catches hold in my heart or mindand becomes the breadcrumbs I follow into a story. Sometimes, a firstsentence just drops in my mind. Once I put it on paper, it takesoffas if it has a life of its own and was waiting for me toreceive it. Norm: How do you live withthe way people interpret and analyze your books? Margaret: Happily!Im honored to tell the stories Im telling. I love the adventureof watching where a story goes, who it reaches and how it isinterpreted in light of the readers own life experience. Once Imdone writing a book, I lose my attachment to it. Its as if thebook no longer belongs to me. I am a good steward of the ideaand the process when Im writing something, and I do what it takesto make the book available to readers, but once its published andout in the world, how others respond to it is not my responsibility. Norm: How many timesin your career have you experienced rejection? How did they shapeyou? Margaret: Rejectionis a part of a writers life. I try not to take it personally.Sometimes, a book may not be right for someone (particularly apublisher or an agent) because it is not their particular genre. Butif someone doesnt like the content of the piece, I use thecriticism they give me to refine my work or myself. Norm: What do youconsider to be your greatest success (or successes) so far in yourcareer? Margaret I neverthink about success. I think about the beauty of theworkwhether its true and goodand how to bestshare it with others. Ive really enjoyedwatching what others do with what I write; how it changes or inspirestheir own life. For example, IN SWEET COMPANY became the inspirationfor a musical benefit concert, a class at Harvard, the format for awriting program in 3 womens prisons, and was smuggled intoAfghanistan during the Gulf War so it could be read by womenstruggling to find a way through the horrors of the war. I love thatwhat I write makes a difference in peoples lives. Norm: What has been yourgreatest challenge (professionally) that youve overcome in gettingto where youre at today? Margaret: In 1997, Iwas in a serious car accident and ended up with a traumatic braininjury. I couldnt string a sentence together to save my soul. Ihad to teach myself how to write all over again. Hopefully, Ivedone a good job with that! Norm: What is the mostchallenging about writing? Margaret: As I age,my mind and body are less able to sit at the computer for hours at atime. Norm : Has a readerever told you something about your books that surprised you? Margaret: Itssurprising to me that readers frequently end up telling me personalstories about their own lives that somehow relate to themes in thebook. Its the kind of storytelling that occurs between closefriends. I think this happens because once they read something Ivewritten, they feel close to me and want to share a bit of their ownlives with me in return. Norm: If heaven reallyexists, what would you want God to say to you at the pearly gates? Margaret: Hi Darlin!Good job down there! Norm: If you can relive amoment in your life, what moment would you choose and why? Margaret: There are thingsfrom my past I would have done differently. And there are momentsthat are sacred. But what really interests me is whatis to come. Ilove the adventure! Norm: For the past twoyears we have witnessed a world-wide pandemic that will have longlasting ramifications. Has this ushered in an era of renewed yearningfor something to believe in? If it has, how do you believe it shapedthis new sense of spirituality? Margaret: In a recentstudy by the Fetzer Institute, 86% of the respondents identify asbeing spiritual, 60% aspire to be more spiritual, and 50% haveregular transcendent experiences. The clarion call sounded: Tothrive, we must live at the hub of the wheelcareening round therim will no longer do. All of us have moments of connection toSomething More, experiences of grace that we let pass us by. Dowe continue to wait for circumstances outside ourselves to change ordo we move to the hub of the wheel and harvest the life that iscalling us as the storytellers in COMING HOME have done? Norm: If someone wasinterested in embarking on a spiritual path, what suggestions do youhave for him or her? Margaret: Pay attention to what youare noticing within and around you; to what rouses your curiosity; towhat calls your name.Take conscious,responsible steps forward. Have your yes and have your no.Be just a titch bolder than youve ever been before. It feels goodto stretch yourself! Every worthwhile effort is noble. Ask questions ofothersfellow travelers who are actually living a spiritual lifeyou admire. Watch for the light in their eyes, the peace in theirhearts. Listen to their stories. Tell them your own.Visit various churches andtemples. Does the sermon move you? Do parishioners seem happy? Doesthe organization run smoothly? Do they respond to your questions? Howdo you feel when you are there? Keep a journal to yourHigher Self. Tell it everything. Everyone needs a buddy you can sayanything to. Why not your soul? As you step into yourfuture self, bring your past to what cultural anthropologist AngelesArrian called an honorable closure. Dont run from your past;make peace with it. Withhold self-judgement, blame and guilt. Makewhatever reparation is appropriate. Do your best, say thank you forthe lessons and gifts your life has given you, then let go. Seek until you find whatyou are looking for. Writer Anais Nin said, And the time came whenthe risk it took to remain in a tightly closed bud became infinitelymore painful than the risk it took to blossom. Norm: How did you beginyour own spiritual path and how did it lead to Yogananda? Margaret: When mymother died in 1974, I began asking The Big Questions: What happenswhen we die? What is life all about? Who am I really? A childrensbook I wrote to untangle my mothers death for my daughters waspicked up by a prominent agent, then dropped out of the blue on theday I delivered the final manuscript. I was stunned. After I left her office, Ihad a strong pull to go to the American Bookseller Expo held thatyear, that week, at a hotel down the street. I walked the floorhoping to find a publisher for my book and at the end of theafternoon, found myself standing in Self-Realization Fellowshipsexhibit space starring at Yoganandas face on the cover ofAutobiography of a Yogi. I read the Autobiography in two days and allmy questions were answered. Signs and wonders ensued that convincedme I had come home spiritually, and I began practicingParamahansa Yoganandas teachings. And do so to this day. Itsthe best decision I ever made in my life. Norm: How did youbecome involved with Coming Home: Finding Shelter in the Loveand Wisdom of Paramahansa Yogananda? What criteria did you use inyour choice of writers that have contributed to the book? Margaret: COMINGHOME is a book I felt compelled to write. One minute I wasntthinking about it at all, the next minute I was immersed in it. I focused on telling thestory of what it feels like to find the spiritual path that is yoursto follow the power and joy and adventure of that. I told thatstory through the lens of Self-Realization Fellowship because it isthe path I know best. I knew I wanted to interview people of allages, races and backgrounds, but I did not choose the storytellers, Irecognized them as the right people to be in the book. It was a veryintuitive process. They were the ones who belonged to the book. Norm: If someone canonly buy one book this month, why should it be Coming Home:Finding Shelter in the Love and Wisdom of Paramahansa Yogananda? Margaret: Everyhuman being, whether they realize it or not, is waiting for themoment when they can finally say a resounding Yes to the Beautyinside themto the Joy, the Peace, the Truth of who we really are. No matter what your path is, no matter who you turn to for support,the coming home experience confirms that you are part ofSomething Greater, that you are cherished, that your life has beenand can continue to become what maymeaningful. The reawakening andreinstatement of your soul, that familiar Self you always knew wasthere but could not corroborate, is a profound and sacred validationof who you really are. As Dorothy said in The Wizard of Oz, Theresno place like home. If this speaks to you,read the book!! Norm: What were yourgoals and intentions in this book, and how well do you feel youachieved them? As a follow up, what purpose do you believe yourcollections of stories serve? Margaret: People have beenlooking for answers to big questions since the beginning of time.COVID showed us that all the external things we thought answeredthose questions are transitory. We are a nation now examining whatmatters most. And we have begun to look inside ourselves foranswers. My intention was topresent other options. The narratives in COMING HOME are not juststories, they are actual experiences of Divine Grace. Theycreate order: build bridges of thought (synapses) within us and tonew opportunities in the world. They create a joyful detachment thatallows us to mythologize rather than catastrophize our challenges.They give us courage. They prove we are not alone in our sorrow.These are things we all need now. Stories are richer thanexplanations. COMING HOME demonstrates that when we let our storieshappen to us as the storytellers in the book did, we can grow intothe depth, and breadth and height our souls can reach. Gracecan happen to anyone who sincerely wants to change their driftinginto pilgrimage, their fear into confidence and calm, theirquestioning into the self-realization that finally satisfies thesoul. Readers love the book, so it seems it hit the mark. Norm: What is theSelf-Realization Fellowship (SRF) and how does it help individualssearch for God and find the divine potential that exists within everyhuman being? Margaret: Known asthe "Father of Yoga in the West," Paramahansa Yogananda1893-1952) came to America to Boston in 1920 and spent the next 30years bringing Indias ancient meditation techniques tothousands of seekers of all religions whothen as nowweresearching for the true meaning of life and the means to live fromones highest potential. Regarded as one of the preeminentspiritual figures of our time, Yoganandas Autobiography of a Yogiis hailed as one of the 100 Best Spiritual Books of the TwentiethCentury and continues to inspire millions of spiritual seekers aroundthe world 70 years after his passing. Yoganandas workcontinues under the auspices of Self-Realization Fellowship (SRF)thenon-profit, non-sectarian spiritual organization he created in 1920to disseminate among the nations a knowledge of definitescientific techniques for attaining direct personal experience ofGod. (www.yogananda.org) Meditation is not just somethingSRF members just do twice a day, its a way of life, a way oflooking at the world that empowers you, that gives you hope. Day byday, step by step, breath by breath SRF members still their minds andopen their hearts to God. The deeper you go, the richer the harvest.Meditation is the adventure of a lifetime! Norm: Are you working onany books/projects that you would like to share with us? (We wouldlove to hear all about them!) Margaret: Thanks forasking. I always have ideas cooking. Ill keep you posted. Norm: Where can ourreaders find out more about you and Coming Home: Finding Shelterin the Love and Wisdom of Paramahansa Yogananda? Margaret: Please visit my WEBSITE Norm: As this interviewcomes to an end, if you could invite three writers, dead or aliveinto your living room, who would they be and why? Margaret: Id have teawith Paramahansa Yogananda, with the Persian mystic and poet Hafiz,and with poet and philosopher David Whyte. Id also inviteYoYo Ma to play his cello. All for the joy of it. Norm: Thanks once againand good luck with all of your future endeavors Follow Here To Read Norm's Review of Coming Home WAYLAND TOWNSHIP, MI - A horse named Missy was trapped in an icy pond for an unknown amount of time before the local sheriffs office and fire department freed her last week. On Friday, Feb. 26, Allegan County Sheriffs Offices animal control officer responded to a Wayland Township residence for a report of a horse stuck in the homeowners pond, according to information released by the department via Facebook on Tuesday, March 2. The duration that the horse was stuck is unknown. While en route, the deputy requested assistance from the Wayland Fire Department. It took the firefighters less than 30 minutes to free Missy from the ice. They cut the ice and removed it to make a path for Missy to walk out of the pond. READ MORE: Dog missing for 43 days rescued from bottom of old grain silo Time lapse satellite video shows Michigans beauty during bitterly cold February Hanging KKK flag next to Black familys home unfortunately not a crime, prosecutor says Michigan police officer resigns amid investigation into racist social media post Main darne wali nahin hoon: Kangana Ranaut on another FIR India oi-Ajay Joseph Raj P Mumbai, Mar 02: In a recent development, the Karnataka High Court on Tuesday refused to stay the proceedings initiated against Bollywood actor Kangana Ranaut over her tweet calling farmers "terrorists". On September 21, Kangana had tweeted, "People who spread misinformation and rumours about CAA that caused riots are the same people who are now spreading misinformation about farmers' bills and causing terror in the nation, they are terrorists." TN Elections 2021: DMK unhappy on seat allocation; No promises made with Left, Congress On September 28, advocate L Ramesh Naik filed the complaint against the actor in the Tumkur court after police refused to entertain his complaint. A Judicial Magistrate (First Class) Court at Karnataka's Bengaluru on October 9 directed police to file an FIR against Kangana for her tweet. However, Kangana later moved the High Court seeking to quash the FIR. On October 13, 2020, the Tumkuru district police filed a case against Kangana for her tweet against farmers. On Tuesday, taking to Twitter, Kangana said, "Another day another FIR, yesterday Javed chacha with help of Maharashtra government got a warrant issued for me and now another FIR for supporting farmer's bill, meanwhile those who spread lies about this Bill and Farmer's genocide also caused riots, face no consequences. Thanks." In another tweet, she said, "No matter how much you torture me, demolish my house or send me to jail, or malign me by spreading lies. I am not afraid....I was born as a rebel and will remain one." Farmers Protest: Road connecting Ghaziabad via Ghazipur reopens for vehicular traffic On Monday, a Mumbai court issued a bailable warrant against Kangana after she failed to appear before it in connection with a defamation complaint registered against her by lyricist Javed Akhtar. The Andheri metropolitan magistrate's court had on February 1 issued summons to Kangana, asking her to appear before it on March 1. Farmers' Protest: Delhi's Ghazipur border partially opens for vehicular traffic| Oneindia News However, when Ranaut did not appear on Monday, Magistrate RR Khan issued a bailable warrant against the actor. ALBANY The woman who in a recent New York Times article said Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo sexually harassed her will not allow him to "rewrite history and to recast his abusive behavior" by attempting to portray his actions as mere inappropriate office banter. Instead, Charlotte Bennett said in a statement released Monday that Cuomo's behavior was that of "an individual who wields his power to avoid justice." Bennett, 25, has alleged that Cuomo questioned her about her sexual history, asked her if she'd ever been with an older man, and told her he'd be interested in being with a woman her age, which the former Executive Chamber staffer said made her uncomfortable and communicated to her that the governor wanted to sleep with her. On Monday, she took aim at Cuomo's own statement released late Sunday afternoon, in which he apologized for "being playful" and that his comments might "have been misinterpreted as an unwanted flirtation." The governor has refused to acknowledge or take responsibility for his predatory behavior," Bennett said. "As we know, abusers particularly those with tremendous amounts of power are often repeat offenders who engage in manipulative tactics to diminish allegations, blame victims, deny wrongdoing and escape consequences." She said coming forward with her allegations was an excruciating decision. I decided to share my story because I had faith that I would be supported and believed. This is often not the case. Sharing my experience was only possible because of past survivors who stood up and told their stories. I hope that my story helps other survivors feel like they can stand in their truth." Bennett is the second woman to accuse Cuomo, with former staffer Lindsey Boylan initially coming forward in December and then posting an online essay last week detailing her allegations that the governor kissed her without her consent, asked her to play strip poker during a ride on government aircraft, and singled her out inappropriately for attention that made her uncomfortable. Monday night the New York Times published an account from a woman, Anna Ruch, who was at a wedding Cuomo spoke at in 2019 in New York City. Ruch, who is not a state employee, alleged the governor put his hand on her bare lower back, and then he face in an attempt to try and kiss her. She physically removed his hand from her back and moved out of the way before the unwanted action ensued, she alleged. A photograph the woman said that was taken at the same moment, published with the story, shows her with a nervous look on her face as Cuomo is standing close to her smiling. The statement from Bennett came shortly after it was confirmed that an investigation into the sexual harassment allegations is set to begin after state Attorney General Letitia James received the necessary referral letter from Cuomo. James' statement acknowledging the receipt of the referral on Monday marked the end of a back-and-forth that began Saturday evening, when the Times posted its story detailing Bennett's allegations. Cuomo initially suggested an investigation by a lawyer of his choosing, then under immense political pressure said he'd allow a "review" to take place by a person chosen by James and a Cuomo-appointed judge. After James rejected both proposals, Cuomo finally agreed to refer the matter to James for a full investigation with the authority to issue subpoenas and compel testimony. James will now select a law firm that will be deputized by her office to conduct the investigation. Cuomo's legal counsel, Beth Garvey, signed the letter sent to James. Garvey said she would be the point of contact for the governors office on any matters related to the investigation, including providing any records in response to subpoenas. All state employees had been directed to cooperate fully with the probe, Garvey said. Bennett's statement was issued by her attorney, Debra S. Katz, who represented Christine Blasey Ford, the California academic who in 2018 accused U.S. Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh of sexually assaulting her decades earlier. Her testimony nearly upended Kavanaugh's nomination. Cuomo "was not acting as a mentor and his remarks were not misunderstood by Ms. Bennett," Katz said in her own statement. "He was abusing his power over her for sex. This is textbook sexual harassment. If, as the governor now acknowledges, he talked to young women who worked for his administration in this manner, the problem is a systemic one and the (New York) attorney general must investigate whether other women were subjected to a sexually hostile work environment." Katz also called on James to investigate if other staffers "enabled" Cuomo's alleged behavior. We call on the attorney general to investigate the failure of Gov. Cuomos chief of staff and special counsel to fully investigate Ms. Bennetts allegation," Katz wrote. "They had a clear legal obligation to do so. Bennett closed her own statement with a message to other victims. To survivors reading this: I believe you. I see you. I hear you," she said. "Your story is valid, your pain is real and your anger is justified. ... To the governors survivors: I am here. Lindsey (Boylan) is here. You do not have to say a single word. But if you choose to speak your truth, we will be standing with you. I promise." Svetlanais/iStockBy EMILY SHAPIRO, ABC News (BOSTON) -- As Saint Patrick's Day approaches, Boston's mayor is urging residents to avoid large gatherings, warning that they could become super-spreader events that would set back progress made in the fight against COVID-19. "There should be no large gatherings of any kind for Saint Patrick's Day," Mayor Marty Walsh said at a news conference Monday. "We are so close to a finish line here that what we don't need now is a step backwards." "We're trying to open more businesses, we're trying to get fans in the stands at Fenway and the Garden," Walsh said, referring to the homes of the Red Sox, Bruins and Celtics. He went on, "But events like Saint Patrick's Day ... can throw us back. They can become super-spreader events and we can be in the situation where we're shutting everything down again." The mayor said private gatherings are limited to 10 people indoors and 25 people outdoors. Spacing requirements and time limits will still be enforced at restaurants, and there will be no alcohol service without food, Walsh said. Lines outside restaurants are also prohibited, he said. Last March, just as the U.S. was shutting down, there were lines of bar-goers outside Boston restaurants during Saint Patrick's Day celebrations, Walsh said, and restaurants took it upon themselves to shut down and lose business -- which the mayor said he doesn't want to happen this year. Boston's Saint Patrick's Day parade is also canceled again this year. "Hopefully a year from now, Saint Patrick's Day, there will be no real rules or regulations in place and we'll be able to have the fun and the celebration we all want to have," he said. Copyright 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved. Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon today gives evidence to the inquiry into the Alex Salmond affair with her job hanging in the balance. Here, the Scottish Daily Mail analyses the six key questions that Ms Sturgeon MUST address if she has any hope of resurrecting her career... Q: Why were meetings and conversations with Alex Salmond kept secret from the public? Miss Sturgeon met her predecessor at her home on April 2, 2018, when she claimed to first become aware of the government investigation into complaints about his conduct. She held two further meetings, on June 7 and again at her home on July 14. She also spoke to him twice by phone, in April and July. Despite government business being discussed on those five occasions, there was no mention of those meetings in her list of ministerial engagements, no civil servants were present and no minutes were taken. Was this a breach of the ministerial code? Q: Which account to MSPs was wrong - Miss Sturgeon's or her husband's? In his oral evidence Peter Murrell, SNP chief executive and husband of Miss Sturgeon, said her meeting with Mr Salmond related to a 'Scottish Government matter' and to 'Scottish Government business'. Yet she has said she felt the meeting regarded party business, as she thought he may be about to tell her he was resigning from the SNP. Whose account is correct, and which one is false? Q: Has parliament been misled on meetings? Miss Sturgeon told MSPs she found out about the complaints from Mr Salmond himself at the meeting on April 2, 2018. Yet she later admitted in written evidence she met his former chief of staff, Geoff Aberdein, on March 29. He told her Mr Salmond wanted to see her urgently and 'the matter might relate to allegations of a sexual nature'. Was she really in doubt about the subject of the meeting? Q: Taxpayers were landed with 500,000 bill after judicial review defeat. Could this have been averted? The Scottish Government's investigation into allegations about Mr Salmond was declared 'unlawful' in January 2019. Legal advice published last night revealed senior counsel warned the Government more than two months earlier that the issue of prior contact between an investigating officer and a complainant was a real problem which could have repercussions for the entire case. He said he discussed the issue with the Lord Advocate, who shared his concerns. Why was the case not conceded then, when that could have saved taxpayers hundreds of thousands of pounds? Q: Did a Sturgeon official leak complainer name? In his evidence, Mr Salmond said the name of a complainer was given to his chief of staff, Geoff Aberdein. His claim was corroborated by Duncan Hamilton, QC, who last night wrote to the inquiry to say Mr Aberdein told him a senior Scottish Government official shared the name in April 2018. Miss Sturgeon denied this at First Minister's Questions last week - was she telling the truth? Q: Mr Salmond now has corroboration for many of his claims - does Miss Sturgeon? The evidence by former SNP director of communications Kevin Pringle and Mr Hamilton backs up many of Mr Salmond's key claims. Mr Hamilton says he is prepared to make his comments under oath. Will Miss Sturgeon swear under oath that their claims are false? BLOW-BY-BLOW: THE SEVEN WARNINGS NICOLA STURGEON'S GOVERNMENT IGNORED THAT THEIR CASE WAS DOOMED by JACK WRIGHT for MailOnline Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon is facing calls from Opposition MSPs to resign after her Government published bombshell legal advice relating to its botched probe into allegations of sexual harassment by Alex Salmond. Deputy First Minister John Swinney agreed to hand over the papers under threat of a no-confidence vote, and admitted 'reservations were raised' by lawyers about the way allegations about Mr Salmond were investigated. The Scottish Government launched an investigation into allegations of sexual harassment by the former First Minister which was found to be unlawful, unfair and 'tainted by apparent bias' because of prior contact between the Investigating Officer and two of the women who complained. Redacted legal advice published by Mr Swinney last night showed that SNP ministers were warned they had 'a very real problem' defending their legal battle with Mr Salmond more than two months before it finally collapsed. Advice given to the Scottish Government on October 31, 2018 said there was 'an extremely concerning' issue that could gut their entire case - and that the 'least worst option' would be to concede the petition. They wrote: 'We understand how unpalatable that advice will be... But we cannot let the respondents sail forth into January's hearing without the now very real risks of doing so being crystal clear to all concerned.' MailOnline has gone through each document published by the Scottish Government to help you make sense of the political scandal which is rocking the nation. SEPTEMBER 27, 2018 : 'RISK IS THAT WITNESS STATEMENTS AND INITIAL REPORT BY INVESTIGATING OFFICER WERE NOT SHARED WITH SALMOND' In his letter published to Linda Fabiani, MSP chair of the Committee on the Scottish Government Handling of Harassment Complaints, Mr Swinney said legal advice from September 27, 2018 from senior and junior Counsel 'sets out an assessment of the merits of the petition brought by Mr Salmond and the Government's prospects of defending the proceedings at that point'. In a 13-page document to the SNP administration, the Government's lawyers were asked for their 'views on the merits of the petition [brought by Mr Salmond] and the prospects of successfully resisting the judicial review proceedings that have been raised' In a 13-page document to the SNP administration, the Government's lawyers were asked for their 'views on the merits of the petition [brought by Mr Salmond] and the prospects of successfully resisting the judicial review proceedings that have been raised'. The assessment explains that some of the grounds of challenge concern the validity and fairness of the Procedure for handling complaints against ministers and former ministers that was put in place in early 2018, while others concern the way in which the Procedure was applied to Mr Salmond. The lawyers say that 'several grounds of challenge are in our view 'time barred', arguing that 'complaints about the validity and fairness of the Procedure itself... should have been brought within 3 months of 7 March 2018, being the date on which the petitioner first became aware of the complaints and the investigation'. Though they say they believe that 'the majority of the grounds of challenge are weak and should be capable of being resisted successfully', they crucially concede: 'We think that there is a real risk that the Court may be persuaded by the petitioner's case in respect of the ground of challenge based on 'procedural unfairness''. They conclude: 'We consider that the areas of greatest risk are in relation to the fact that witness statements and the initial report prepared by the investigating officer were not shared with the petitioner'. In his letter to the Committee, Mr Swinney spun this by saying that the advice 'confirms that the majority of the grounds of challenge raised by Mr Salmond were assessed at that time as 'weak' and were considered capable of being resisted successfully'. He added: 'The document confirms that the Scottish Government was justified in defending the judicial review brought by Mr Salmond.' OCTOBER 30-31, 2018 : 'IT MAKES LITTLE SENSE TO CONTINUE TO DEFEND THE INDEFENSIBLE' Writing to the Committee, Mr Swinney said legal advice to the Scottish Government between October 30-31, 2018 demonstrated 'the development of Counsel's concerns around the issue of prior contact between the Investigating Officer and the two [Salmond sexual harassment] complainers and whether this could be reconciled with the text of paragraph 10 of the Scottish Government's Harassment Procedure'. Senior Counsel for the Scottish Government Roddy Dunlop QC of Axiom Associates then raised the prospect of conceding the point on October 31, describing the issue as 'concerning' After Mr Salmond's lawyers asked for information from the Scottish Government 'when, by what means and in what terms the complainers first initiated their complaints', lawyers advising the Scottish Government raised 'a discussion between the IO [Investigating Officer] and Complainer B'. Senior Counsel for the Scottish Government Roddy Dunlop QC of Axiom Associates then raised the prospect of conceding the point on October 31, describing the issue as 'extremely concerning'. He warned: 'The concern that arises is that the answer to the question 'when, by what means and in what terms the complainers first initiated their complaints' is that Complainer B, as I understand the position, first made her complaint to Judith McKinnon, Deputy Director of the People Directorate, in December 2017. 'That is of concern because it was, of course, Ms McKinnon that was subsequently appointed as the Investigating Officer under the Procedure which is presently under challenge. [...] I am told that it was thought that this did not present a problem to Ms McKinnon's appointment, as she had no prior involvement with the events giving rise to the complaint. 'I regret that I do not read the procedure in that way. [...] As presently advised I consider that this presents a very real problem indeed. The Petition is resisted on the basis that a fair Procedure was instituted and then followed. 'If I am correct... then the Procedure was not followed: rather, an express embargo was ignored in a way which may well vitiate the entire proceedings.' He went on: 'A swift decision is going to have to be taken thereafter as to whether (a) the issue is disclosed and any argument based thereon resisted, or (b) the issue is disclosed and the Petition is then conceded thereof. 'I can well understand the angst that even suggesting (b) will provoke, but if the proceedings are vitiated then it makes little sense to continue to defend the indefensible.' DECEMBER 6, 2018 : 'THE LEAST WORST OPTION WOULD BE TO CONCEDE THE PETITION' A letter written to Lord Advocate James Wolffe QC on December 6, 2018 stated that: 'Counsel are of the view that the 'least worst' option would be to concede the Petition. They understand how unpalatable that advice will be, and they do not tender it lightly'. Advice to the Scottish Government by Roddy Dunlop QC and Solicitor Advocate Christine O'Neill warned of 'substantial further development of the pleadings, accompanied by disclosure of a volume of information about, among other things, the discussions that took place Complainers A and B prior to them making formal complaints'. They argued that after Mr Salmond's lawyers introduced new grounds of challenge based on the Investigating Officer's prior contact with the complainers, 'with regret, we are now jointly of the view that those grounds are more likely than not to succeed'. 'At the outset, we recognise the dismay that this advice will cause,' they wrote. 'However, we feel it necessary to tender this advice, and the reasons for it, given the views which we have, independently at first and now of consensus, taken in this regard'. According to Mr Swinney: 'As the case progressed during November and early December, this issue was identified as the greatest area of risk for the Government's prospects in the judicial review.' DECEMBER 11, 2018 : LORD ADVOCATE - 'THERE ARE GOOD POLICY REASONS TO DEFEND THE CASE' The Deputy First Minister published documents showing that advice from December 6 was discussed in consultation with the Law Officers on December 11. It states that in a meeting with Lord Advocate James Wolffe (LA), the top Government lawyer was 'very clear that [there was] no question or need to drop the case' and that 'even if prospects are not certain it is important that our case is heard'. Senior Counsel Roddy Dunlop QC is said to have 'made clear that his note was not intended to convey that he didn't think we have a stateable case... They tested most of the arguments including the appointment of the IO [Investigating Officer] and concluded that we have credible arguments to make'. It went on: 'The argument on the appointment of the IO will turn on the extent to which we can persuade the court that there is an credible alternative to the objective reading test of para 10 of the procedure which is that what we had in mind was that the IO should not have had any prior involvement in the 'matters under investigation' i.e. the events being complained about.' The document also reveals that 'Counsel followed up the question of what Perm Sec [the Permanent Secretary] knew about the approaches from staff by late November'. 'While we are clear that there isn't a procedural bar to her knowing the detail at any point they are constructing an argument to the effect that early exposure to the detail resulted in her being predisposed to find against [the] FFM [former First Minister]', the emails state. 'The paper work doesn't shed much light on that.' Mr Swinney in his letter said that the minutes of December 11 showed 'that there remained good public policy reasons for continuing to defend the case and benefits in securing the clarity of a judicial finding from the Court'. DECEMBER 19, 2018 : EVIDENCE OF THE INVESTIGATING OFFICER'S PRIOR CONTACT WITH THE COMPLAINANTS 'MAKES A DEFENCE OF APPOINTING THE IO UNSTATEABLE' An extraordinary document presented to the Scottish Government by its lawyers showed that SNP ministers were warned that 'maintaining a defence of the appointment of the IO may be unstateable'. That morning, at the start of the first part of the Commission, the Government's lawyers said that they 'experienced extreme professional embarrassment as a result of assurances which we have given, both to our opponents and to the court, which assurances have been given on instructions, turning out to be false as a result of the revelation of further documents, highly relevant yet undisclosed'. New documents not handed to the Government's lawyers showed that the Investigating Officer had had contact with both complainants. The first document was a letter dated January 17, 2018 which stated: 'We met on 16 January 2018 to discuss your experience about the alleged misconduct of a former minister. Following this meeting you submitted a formal written complaint... I have been designated at the IO... The purpose of this letter is to invite you to a meeting to discuss your complaint in more detail'. A document presented to the Government by its lawyers showed that SNP ministers were warned 'maintaining a defence of the appointment of the IO may be unstateable' Legal advice warns: 'This letter suggests that there must have been other communications with Ms A in advance of the meeting of 16 January'. The second document referred to an email thread which showed that there 'must have been further contact undocumented in which the IO agreed to meet [complainant] Ms B. It is unclear whether this preceded or post dated the making of the complaint'. The lawyers told the Scottish Government: 'The complaint had only just been made. No one had appointed an IO for this complaint. The IO has effectively appointed herself in that regard. 'It seems inevitable, unless very prompt action indeed had been taken, [Redacted] see Ms B [Redacted] before the complaint was actually made, and accordingly before the IO could have had any legitimate interest in speaking to Ms B'. The lawyers then warned: 'As to the late nature of the revelation, this is unexplained, and frankly inexplicable. Given the nature of the searches described by as having been undertaken, we regret that we simply cannot understand why these documents have been made available only now. 'All of this gives rise to two concerns. First, we are now in a position where we think that maintaining a defence of the appointment of the IO may be unstateable. 'Given the timescales we are reluctant to take a final view on this, but there is a real risk that we so conclude. Second, we are each in a position which is, so far as dealings with the other side and the court are concerned, close to untenable'. According to Mr Swinney: 'Counsel's advice of 19 December following the Commissioner hearing that day... reflect[ed] the pressurised atmosphere of the process of identifying and handing over documents. 'As has been acknowledged in evidence to the Committee, the Scottish Government's handling of that process was flawed and this is regrettable. This, along with the subsequent Commission hearing on 21 December, was the moment at which the Scottish Government's case became no longer stateable.' DECEMBER 29, 2018 : LAWYERS OFFICIALLY ADVISE SNP MINISTERS TO CONCEDE SALMOND'S PETITION AFTER 'WATERSHED' HEARING Legal counsel advised the Scottish Government to conceded Mr Salmond's petition against its handling of its probe into sexual harassment allegations. They said: 'As you are aware, Counsel has offered advice on a number of occasions in relation to the prospects of the Scottish Government's (SG's) arguments prevailing in court. This advice has principally turned on Counsel's views on the appointment and actions of the Investigating Officer. Legal counsel advised the Scottish Government to conceded Mr Salmond's petition against its handling of its probe into sexual harassment allegations 'The key point to note is the 'watershed moment' of last Friday (21st December 2018), at which point the SG's case became, in Counsel's view, unstateable, given what emerged that day about the degree and nature of the contact between the IO and the prospective complainers prior to their formal complaints having been made. 'This information was contained in documents which were identified and produced for the Commission and Diligence Hearing last week, and had not been elicited by previous document searches. 'While there is no reason to believe that the IO was motivated by anything other than her desire to fulfil her role properly, we recognise that her actions give rise to a perception that there was an unfairness in the operation of the procedure in this case.' They also note that: 'The Lord Advocate and the Director of Legal Services share the view of Counsel about the likely prospects of success in defending the decision at Judical Review and the consequent advisability of conceding the petition at the earliest possibly opportunity.' The lawyers conclude: 'Having reviewed the material contained in this note, you may conclude that the Scottish Government is in a position where the only sensible and defensible action is to concede the petition and to plan for managing the attendant reputation and legal risks. The risks associated with proceeding to defend the Judicial Review could appear to be greater.' According to Mr Swinney: 'This was a shared view of both internal and external legal advisers. The case was reviewed and conceded quickly after this, taking account of further internal legal advice on the terms of the concession, which we are also sharing.' DECEMBER 31, 2018 : LORD ADVOCATE RECOMMENDS 'CAREFUL' CONCESSION OF SALMOND'S PETITION Lord Advocate James Wolffe told SNP ministers that 'the concession should be narrowly framed to reflect accurately and carefully the legal basis upon which Ministers are conceding the petition; and the basis of the concession should be explained as fully as it can be'. 'It may be unlikely that it will be possible to avoid the phrase 'apparent bias' being used at all, in all communications (including with the court),' Mr Wolffe went on. 'However, the use of that phrase should, in my view, be minimised, and should always be coupled with an appropriate explanation, intelligible to a lay person, of what that means - ie that the process must be seen to be impartial as well as actually impartial - and what it does not mean (ie that the process was actually tainted by bias).' Writing yesterday, the Deputy First Minister insisted: 'The documents published today demonstrate that the Scottish Government did not ignore legal advice in continuing to defend the judicial review, contrary to the terms of the Scottish Ministerial Code or the Civil Service Code. 'The documents demonstrate that there was no 'malicious' intent against Mr Salmond. The Scottish Government was within its rights to defend a judicial review raised against it by Mr Salmond and to continue to defend it whilst it still had a stateable case. There were good public policy reasons for continuing to defend the case and to seek a determination from the Court. 'Once it became clear that the Scottish Government no longer had a stateable case after the Commission hearings in late December 2018, the Government quickly reviewed the position and conceded the case. 'The view that the Government no longer had a stateable case was agreed by both internal and external advisers.' Police in California have released dramatic footage showing teenage robbery suspects, including a 14-year-old boy, leading officers on a chase in a stolen car and exchanging gunfire with them. The chase was sparked after the five teens allegedly forced their way into a motel room armed with an arsenal of weapons including an AR-15 pistol and robbed a guest there at gunpoint. The home invasion and officer-involved shooting took place in Fremont in the San Francisco Bay Area on February 9. Following a vehicle pursuit and a foot chase involving K-9 dogs, police apprehended four boys, ages 14, 15, 16 and 17, and a 16-year-old girl. Police in Fremont, California, have released video detailing the arrest of five minors in connection with a hotel robbery, four of whom were spotted fleeing in this stolen BMW An officer pursued the stolen car on February 9 in Fremont, until it reached a dead end The occupants of the BMW jumped out and fled on foot into an open field. Cops followed on foot and were shot at by one of the teens Four boys, ages 14 to 17, hid in this field from the police. Two of them surrendered within the first 20 minutes The 17-year-old male suspect from Hayward was charged in juvenile court with attempted murder and assault with a firearm of two police officers, first-degree residential robbery and personal use of a firearm in commission of felonies. Two of the suspects, ages 15 and 16, both from East Palo Alto, were charged with home invasion robbery and personal use of a firearm in commission of a felony. The 14-year-old boy, also from East Palo Alto, is facing counts of home invasion robbery and felony evading, while the 16-year-old girl, from Hayward, is being held on charges of home invasion and possession of stolen property. According to a detailed video statement from Fremont Police Chief Kimberley Petersen, the incident began unfolding at around 4.45pm on February 9 in the area of Cushing and Auto Mall Parkway, when officer Andrew Dennis saw a grey 2003 BMW speeding from the parking lot of a shopping center. The car was found to have been reported stolen in Redwood City four days earlier. Three hours later, SWAT teams accompanied by K-9 arrested the other two boys Cops seized an AR-15 pistol, a Glock handgun and a .22 caliber Mossberg 715P rifle Police deployed this less than lethal weapon to arrest a 15-year-old suspect Dennis and additional patrol units pursued the BMW along Stevenson Boulevard until it reached a dead end. At that point, four suspects jumped out of the car and ran into an open field. Dennis and officer Jeffrey Carter followed the fleeing teens into the field on foot. As the pair rounded a fenced corner, one of the suspects allegedly turned to face the officers with a firearm drawn and fired 'multiple' rounds at them. Dennis and Carter returned fire and then ran for cover. More police converged on the area to hunt for the suspects, one of whom, the 16-year-old boy, surrendered immediately. The 17-year-old boy turned himself in to the police at the scene about 20 minutes later. After an intense three-hour search involving multiple SWAT teams, K-9 units, armored vehicles, planes and drones, police tracked down and apprehended the 14-year-old boy. A fourth suspect, aged 15, continued to hide and refused to comply with multiple commands to surrender, Chief Petersen said. A K-9 dog was sent in to apprehend the teen, but he allegedly continued to resist and tried to run away. Officers then shot him with a 40mm less lethal foam projectile, which allowed them to arrest him. The teens are suspected of barging into a man's room at Good Night Inn, where he had been staying with a woman The victim was forced into this bathroom at gunpoint, after which the suspects stole his phone and keys to his Chevy Cruze He was treated for dog bites at a hospital and booked into a juvenile detention facility that same evening. Police recovered at the scene an AR-15 pistol, a Glock handgun and a .22 caliber Mossberg 715P rifle. 'We are shocked to be dealing with violent individuals of such a young age who are armed in this way and willing to shoot at police,' Petersen said. While the search for the suspects was still in progress, detectives from the Fremont Police Department learned that the group of teens had allegedly committed a robbery at Good Night Inn hotel just minutes before being spotted by officer Dennis fleeing the scene in the stolen BMW. The following day, police pulled over the stolen Chevy and found inside a 16-year-old female suspect Cops recovered the hotel guest's stolen Samsung cellphone from the car According to the police chief, the victim of the robbery told detectives that he had been in his room with a female companion when three intruders barged in and robbed him at gunpoint. The suspects forced the hotel guest into the bathroom and ordered him to stay there. After the intruders had fled and the victim emerged from the bathroom, he found that his cellphone and his 2005 Chevy Cruze had been stolen. His companion was gone, too. The following day, police pulled over the victim's stolen Chevy in Fremont and found inside the 16-year-old female suspect, who they say was 'present and directly involved with the home invasion robbery.' The victim's stolen cellphone was found inside the car. Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) stands on stage in an empty Mellon Auditorium while addressing the Republican National Convention at the Mellon Auditorium in Washington on Aug. 24, 2020. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images) Trump Endorses Sen. Tim Scott for Reelection Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) received an endorsement from former President Donald Trump on Tuesday for his reelection bid in 2022. It is my great honor to give Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina my complete and total endorsement, Trump said in a statement via email. He is both an outstanding senator and person who works tirelessly for the people of his great state, and the USA. Strong on the military, law enforcement, loves our vets, protects our Second Amendment and our borders. Tim will continue to do an OUTSTANDING job for our country! Scott, a first-term senator, is expected by many forecasters to easily win his reelection as South Carolina is a deep red state. Its not clear if he will face a GOP primary challenge. Separately, the former president last week endorsed Sen. Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) for his 2022 reelection bid. Senator Jerry Moran is doing a terrific job for the wonderful people of Kansas. Strong on Military, Vets, the Border, and our Second Amendment, Jerry has my Complete and Total Endorsement for his re-election in 2022! Trump said in a statement, also through email. Both Moran and Scott voted to acquit Trump during the Senate impeachment trial last month. Scott, in media appearances, defended the former commander-in-chief. The Democrats should put the blame where it stands, where it should be, Scott said. And it does not have to do with the president who said go peacefully to protest. The Constitution does not clearly state whether a former president can be tried for impeachment by the Senate, but I believe the impeachment process is intended to be used for considering whether or not The President should be removed from office, Moran said in a statement of his own on Feb. 13. Because former President Trump is no longer in office, I voted to acquit. Establishing the precedent that the Senate has jurisdiction to convict a former president would cause extreme damage to our country and the future of the presidency. The former president, in a statement criticizing Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), suggested that he will not back primary GOP candidates who dont endorse his agenda. During his speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) on Sunday, he also called out all the GOP lawmakers who either impeached him or convicted him. Meanwhile, Trump has endorsed former aide Max Miller in a GOP primary bid against Rep. Anthony Gonzalez (R-Ohio), who voted to impeach the former president. Max Miller is a wonderful person who did a great job at the White House and will be a fantastic Congressman. He is a Marine Veteran, a son of Ohio, and a true PATRIOT, Trump stated. Current Rep. Anthony Gonzalez should not be representing the people of the 16th district because he does not represent their interest or their heart. Max Miller has my Complete and Total Endorsement! KYODO NEWS - Mar 2, 2021 - 16:13 | World, All Protests against the Feb. 1 military coup in Myanmar continued Tuesday, but on a smaller scale than those in previous days following the crackdown Sunday by security forces that killed at least 18 demonstrators and wounded over 30 others around the country. Defying the military suppression, people still turned out in some areas on Tuesday, including the country's largest city Yangon, calling for the release of the ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi and other members of the National League for Democracy. The party won the November general election but the results have been disputed by the military, who called them fraudulent. Regarding the demonstrations on Sunday, state media said Monday night there were protests in 247 townships of the 330 across the nation and 1,261,465 people joined the rallies. The state media also said 300,600 citizens, or 3.8 percent of the region's population, participated in the Yangon region, while 198,730, or 3.2 percent of the population, protested in the Mandalay region. Myanmar state media added police arrested a total of 1,334 people following "unlawful and aggressive protests" at over 170 different townships. Meanwhile, Suu Kyi, who has been detained by the military, faced additional charges Monday when she appeared for a court hearing by videoconference, according to a member of her defense team. Suu Kyi was initially charged with illegally importing walkie-talkies and with flouting coronavirus restrictions. The two additional charges against her concern use of the illegally imported walkie-talkies and allegedly spreading information that fanned social unease, her lawyer Khin Maung Zaw told reporters in the capital Naypyitaw. Other countries have continued to condemn the violent crackdowns on the protesters by the Myanmar military and the new U.S. ambassador to the United Nations said Monday the international community should ramp up pressure on the military to restore democracy. Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the ambassador of the United States, which presides over the U.N. Security Council in March, said at a press conference Monday that the council plans to hold discussions on the situation in Myanmar later this month. Related coverage: 18 anti-coup protesters killed in Myanmar: U.N. Myanmar's detained leader Suu Kyi faces additional charges: lawyer Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full 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 woman accused of leaving a newborn baby in a trash barrel in Boston shortly after giving birth last week was arraigned Monday on charges of attempted murder and reckless endangerment of a child , authorities said. The newborn was safe and recovering Monday as Marie Merisier was arraigned in the Dorchester Division of Boston Municipal Court. Her bail was set at $100,000, and she was ordered to stay away from and have no contact with the baby and any witnesses, remain under home confinement and submit to GPS monitoring if shes released on bail, according to Suffolk District Attorney Rachael Rollins office. Assistant District Attorney Audrey Mark, chief of Rollins Child Protection Unit, detailed in court how Merisier gave birth at a Dorchester apartment Friday and how as she prepared to leave the home, a resident heard the baby crying inside her leather bag. The neighbor asked if Merisier required an ambulance, prosecutors claimed, though she declined the offer. The resident called 911 after she left. After leaving the apartment, Merisier was captured on security camera removing something from her bag and placing it in a trash barrel outside a Dorchester Avenue restaurant, according to a statement from Rollins office. A passerby heard a baby crying inside the trash bin and flagged down a nearby ambulance for help. EMS workers found a knotted plastic bag with the newborn inside. The child was taken to an area hospital. Merisier was also hospitalized, authorities noted. Although some may not be able to imagine the amount of pain, fear, disassociation or mental anguish one must be experiencing to engage in the behavior we alleged she did, it is very real, Rollins said in a statement. And it is important that parents know that if they are feeling overwhelmed or scared there are resources available to them. If parents are unprepared or unable to care for a child, they can legally surrender a newborn seven days old or younger at any hospital, police station or open and staffed fire station under the Safe Haven Act of Act, which has been around since 2004. In addition, Rollins office noted, services are available to help new and all parents. The Parental Stress Line, 1 (800) 632-8188, is staffed 24/7 in all languages, and the National Safe Haven Alliance has a 24/7 crisis line at (888) 510-BABY. This situation did not have to happen, Rollins said. But we need to make sure that parents of newborns know they have options if they feel hopeless, depressed, an inability to bond or are having thoughts of harm to themselves or the child. Nobody should ever suffer in silence, but no harm should ever come to any child either. The prosecutor offered her deepest thanks to the two individuals who sought immediate help for this baby at the first sign of crisis and to the first responders who rushed into action to assist and protect the child. It is because of all of these swift actions that this beautiful newborn is alive and now hopefully able to thrive, Rollins said, noting how as a district attorney, mother, auntie and licensed emergency foster care provider, her focus immediately went to the safety and wellbeing of the newborn. I had the opportunity to briefly visit the baby on Saturday and was so happy to see nurses pampering, spoiling, and singing to, feeding and generally pouring love and affection into this beautiful child. Authorities urged witnesses of any crime to call 911 in an emergency. Anyone who believes that a child in Massachusetts may be the victim of abuse or neglect can also call the Department of Children and Families Child at Risk Hotline at 1 (800) 792-5200. Merisier is expected to return to court March 29. Related Content: Newborn baby found in trash bin in Dorchester; Boston police say infant is uninjured 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 recent study revealed that using smartphones will not always yield bad and adverse effects on your health, specifically your eyesight. People always believe that using the said devices will harm your eyes, but researchers said it could improve your vision. Smartphones Can Positively Impact your Glaucoma Blindness by Preventing it According to the Glaucoma Research Foundation, glaucoma is the main culprit why people go blind. In line with this, the English researchers unlocked that smartphones could fill the gap in solving the health problem. Researchers from the University of Birmingham have been successful in conducting a study about this research. They used an eye model and sound waves that are both important components to do the mobile measurement method. According to the press release, this technique will help in detecting the Intraocular pressure (IOP) in the eye. When the levels of the IOP are high, this could lead to the imbalance of the fluid inside the eyes called the aqueous humor. Scientists said that the early diagnosis of the IOP will also mean early treatment. It is estimated that over 3 million people have glaucoma in America, yet only half detected the condition. It is six to eight times more prevalent among African Americans compared to its European counterpart, the Caucasians. Furthermore, the cataract is still the leading cause of blindness among the former race, but glaucoma mustn't be underestimated despite that it is only behind the cataract when it comes to causation. Read Also: OLED Tattoo Not Only Sparkles as Decoration as It Can Also Monitor Health and Signal Dehydration In the same press release, the experts noted that long-term monitoring of a person's IOP can heighten the chances of the patient retaining his/her vision. "We discovered a relationship between the internal pressure of an object and its acoustic reflection coefficient," the Advanced Manufacturing Group director Dr. Khamis Essa said in a statement. In addition, the co-author of the study stated that smartphones could be a component in measuring IOP with accuracy, even if the patient is staying at home. The Possible Lapses in the Study While applanation tonometry is said to be a reliable technique for IOP measurement, it could still be possible that measurement errors cannot be avoided. Applanation tonometry aims to test the eye's fluid pressure while the patient comes in contact with a flat-tipped cone that will touch the cornea. The process also involves equipment that supports the chin and forehead. Moreover, this method's objective is to know the amount of force required to flatten a portion of the eye's cornea. The scientists concluded that using smartphones is a potential way to measure the soundwaves via an app called "Tone generator." It is deemed that the device that we commonly use daily will provide a suitable result for the study. To access the full study entitled "Smartphones could help to prevent glaucoma blindness," visit the official page of the University of Birmingham for more details about it. Related Article: Injecting Semaglutide Weekly Can Help You to Lose Weight Faster This article is owned by Tech Times. Written by Joen Coronel 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - EQT said that EQT Private Equity, through the EQT Mid Market US fund, has agreed to sell Dorner to Columbus McKinnon Corp. (CMCO) for an Enterprise Value of $485 million. Founded in 1966 and headquartered in Hartland, WI, Dorner is a provider of high precision conveyor solutions for high growth and resilient end markets including e-commerce, life sciences, food & beverage, industrial automation, packaging, and CPG. The transaction is subject to customary conditions and approvals and is expected to close in the second-quarter of 2021. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann. John Pelletier is director of the Center for Financial Literacy at Champlain College. The centers free training is made possible by grants from Northfield Savings Bank Foundation, the National Life Group Foundation and Next Gen Personal Finance. The opinions expressed by columnists do not necessarily reflect the views of the Brattleboro Reformer. Shane Claiborne urges churches to remove US flag from altars or add flags of other 195 countries Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment Progressive Christian activist and author Shane Claiborne has called on churches to remove the United States flag from their altars or consider adding the banners of other nations. In a post on Twitter last Saturday, Claiborne stated that every pastor who has a flag on the altar should please consider removing it or add the flags of the other 195 countries of the world. To be part of the Body of Christ is to transcend nationality, the Red Letter Christians co-founder and leading figure in the New Monasticism movement argued. Thats part of what it means to be born again. As of Tuesday morning, the tweet compiled over 2,400 likes and over 300 retweets. In an interview with The Christian Post Monday, Claiborne explained that he was very concerned about this version of American nationalism that is camouflaging itself as Christianity. Jesus inviting us to be born again means that we think beyond biology, beyond nationality, and have a broader compassion, Claiborne argued. The Bible does say 'God so loved the world,' not 'God so loved America.' "I think its always a good thing to have compassion, not be confined to borders or nations, the co-founder of the Simple Way community in Philadelphia continued. So if that helps someone, then I think that's great." Claibornes tweet also included a link to a statement released last week signed by hundreds of evangelical leaders denouncing Christian nationalism and claiming it played a role in the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. We urge all pastors, ministers, and priests to boldly make it clear that a commitment to Jesus Christ is incompatible with calls to violence, support of white Christian nationalism, conspiracy theories, and all religious and racial prejudice, the statement reads. We urge faith leaders to engage pastorally with those who support or sympathize with these groups, and make it clear that our churches are not neutral about these matters: we are on the side of democracy, equality for all people, anti-racism, and the common good of all people. The question of national flags in churches has been a source of debate for some time, with some arguing that it is out of respect for the U.S. that flags be on display in the sanctuary. Mike Holloway, the senior pastor at Ouachita Baptist Church in West Monroe, Louisiana, penned a column in 2019 arguing that American flags should be in sanctuaries out of gratitude. Holloway slammed what he called an unpatriotic movement among many Christian churches today who are removing the American flag because [it] may be offensive to someone. I cant think of another country I would rather live in, or I would move to that country. This is still [the] greatest and freest nation on earth. Therefore, I love it and pray for it and seek to make it a better place, wrote Holloway. as a nation built on Judeo-Christian values that promises freedom not only for our nation but helps others around the world who desire freedom, the flag represents a nation that pushes for freedom. During a webinar on Christian nationalism earlier this year, Episcopal Church Presiding Bishop Michael Curry spoke of a flag display debate on his childhood churches back in the 1960s. Curry explained that many members of his church came from the West Indies, and so some argued over whether the sanctuary should display the American flag or the United Kingdom flag. The compromise was that both the American flag and the Union Jack were both put up on a balcony, he recalled. They werent upfront where the altar was. Andrew Whitehead, an associate professor of sociology at Indiana UniversityPurdue University Indianapolis, also spoke during the webinar and defined Christian nationalism as a cultural framework that idealizes and advocates a fusion of Christianity with American civic life. He shared polling information that indicated that about 80% of white evangelical Protestants were either ambassadors or accommodators of Christian nationalism. At the same time, half of the mainline Protestants surveyed also identified as ambassadors or accommodators of Christian nationalism. John Stonestreet and Timothy D. Padgett of the Colson Center for Christian Worldview argued in a recent column that Christian nationalism is too often being used as a scare label to dismiss any policy or person more conservative than whoever is using the term. were all but guaranteed for the near future that anything vaguely traditional or moral, and any appeal to anything higher than the latest cultural fad, will be smeared with this label, they wrote. Its silly. Even more, its dangerous. Even so, Christians must not abandon the public square just because people say mean things about us. Armenia ex-president Kocharyan gives interview to Russia newspaper Armenia acting deputy PM on unblocking of roads with Azerbaijan: There will be no troops standing there Nikkei: Toyota and Honda stop car production in Malaysia Armenia official on deploying international observers at Azerbaijan border: You will hear reaction on this matter soon USAID helps UN World Food Programme support displaced people in Armenia Armenia official: Work of trilateral working group on roads unblocking has stopped after recent incidents Russias Putin to Armenias Pashinyan: Relations between our countries are developing very successfully Armenia health minister: Improper storage of fallen soldiers bodies, remains was my omission 108 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia Armenia President to children: I believe that you will make our country much better Armenia CEC publicizes complete lists of political forces registered to run in snap parliamentary elections World oil prices going up Queen Elizabeth turns down PM's offer to name new royal yacht after Prince Philip Armenia parliament discusses 2020 state budget report Newspaper: Armenia acting FM resigns after 3rd attempt Newspaper: Yerevan mayor to leave office Israel, UAE sign tax treaty Newspaper: Even vagrants are persuaded, taken to Armenia acting PM Pashinyans rally in Vanadzor Swedish defense minister demands explanation from Denmark over spy scandal Acting Deputy PM: Armenia has not discussed and will not discuss issues within logic of "corridor" Armenia Central Electoral Commission determines numbers of political parties for elections Armenia 2nd President visits Cathedral of the Holy Mother of God in Gyumri (PHOTOS) Opposition Armenia bloc representative: We're running in elections to win Azerbaijan MFA comments on calls for release of Armenian POWs with infinite hypocrisy EC: Vaccinated citizens should be exempted from tests, quarantine when traveling within EU Armenia Ombudsman discusses rights of 6 captured Armenian servicemen with ICRC Delegation head EU ready to use all the tools at its disposal to change Turkey's behavior Yerevan court obliges to abolish violation of rights of Armenia Supreme Judicial Council ex-chairman Greek and Turkish leaders to meet in June on sidelines of NATO summit Armenia Central Electoral Commission to set up 2,008 polling stations for snap parliamentary elections Iranian companies to participate in reconstructing territories under Azerbaijan's control Opposition Armenia bloc's representative on acting PM's invitation to debate with 1st and 2nd Presidents Armenia acting FM dismissed upon presidential decree Body of brother of Armenian criminal authority "Don Pipo" found under bridge 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 VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / March 2, 2021 / FALCON GOLD CORP. (TSXV:FG)(GR:3FA), (OTC PINK:FGLDF); ("Falcon" or the "Company") reports the Company has received the preliminary gold analyses for the balance of drill hole CC 20 - 12 and for all of holes CC 20 - 13 and - 14. The Company has recently delivered an additional 308 samples from drill holes CC 20 - 15, - 16 and - 17. In addition, Falcon's geological team is re-examining the core from holes CC 20 - 04 to - 07 and sampling several intervals of mineralized and altered felsic porphyries that may contain important gold zones previously not recognized. For example, at 114m, drill hole, CC 20 - 07, intersected 1m grading 7.23 grams/tonne gold ("g/t Au"). Upon re-examination, this vein was found to contain fine visible grains of gold that prompted the geologists to sample intervals above and below the vein and to extend in fill sampling of the core to the end of the hole at 200.8m. Table One. Summary of the of significant intersections of Falcon's 2020 drill holes, CC 20 - 12, 13 & 14 on the Central Canada gold property. In its release of February 18, 2021, Falcon reported on the upper half of drill hole, CC 20 - 12 where the Central Canada main zone was intersected from 89.6m to 104.4m averaging 1,570 ppb gold. This intersection also contained a 30cm vein that exhibited visible gold grains and assayed 20.50 g/t Au. Within the current results, another high-grade vein was identified in CC 20 - 12, occurring just 2.2 meters below the main zone and hosted in an altered gabbro. This intersection returned 10.80 g/t Au over a length of 30 cm. In terms of overall strike length, Falcon has drilled the Central Canada mine trend for a surface distance in the order of 275m. The collar for drill hole, CC 20 - 14, was located approximately 45 m south and east of the Central Canada shaft. The mineralization intersected by hole CC 20 - 14 occurred between 79.2m to 91.9, in which individual veins assayed 3.09 g/t Au over 40cm and 7.06 g/t over 60cm. As there are assays pending for certain mineralized sections including from 71.0m to 79.2m (above the main gold zone) and from 81.5m to 89.0m. It is possible the breadth of the drilled main zone is much wider than today's report. Mr. Karim Rayani, Falcon's Chief Executive Officer, commented, "We are continuing to expand and test new boundaries while building a data and knowledge base for a better understanding of the Central Canada gold zones in the mine shaft area. In terms of overall strike length, we have drilled the Central Canada mine trend for a surface distance of 275m plus, while hitting mineralization to new depths. There remain a material number of core samples from the drilling that we are awaiting the results of. We have begun the planning stage of phase 3 of the 2021 exploration program and look forward to commencing shortly." Next Steps for 2021 Work Programs The Central Canada property hosts two dominant types of exploration targets; the high-grade gold zones on which the 2020 drill campaign was focused and Quetico Fault-hosted copper-cobalt sulphides associated with massive iron sulphides and oxides. With respect to the 2021 drill program, the Company anticipates collaring up to 20 diamond drill holes, targeting the gold mineralization in the shaft area and to test other excellent gold zones such as mineralized quartz-feldspar porphyries and the Northern Vein also known as the No. 2 vein. Collar sites will be laid out following the completion of the analyses of the 2020 core samples and digital modeling. Falcon's management believes this may lead to a preliminary resource estimation in addition to sighting areas for additional drilling. Historical work established the existence of both oxide and sulphide iron formation in the vicinity of and within the claims optioned by Falcon. At the west end of Sapawe Lake is the Staines Cobalt Occurrence which is reported in the 1985 Ontario Geological Survey, Open File Report 5539 as: "a massive sulphide zone located beneath Sapawe Lake. Recent exploration has outlined two parallel sulphide zones at the west end of the property. The lenses or irregular masses of sulphide occur within a volcanogenic environment. There is an ultramafic to mafic intrusive associated with some of the massive sulphide zones. Sulphide mineralization consists mainly of pyrite, pyrrhotite, magnetite, chalcopyrite, sphalerite with associated pentlandite and carrollite." The Staines Cobalt mineralization is described in the same open file report as: "The main sulphide zone has been outlined to be 1,155 metres long and 76 metres wide. Analyses of earlier drill holes returned values of 32.7 percent soluble iron, 0.23 percent copper and 0.71 pound per ton cobalt over an estimated true width of 25 metres." Historical regional airborne geophysical surveys suggest that Falcon may have a significant zone or zones of conductive massive sulphide mineralization having an east northeast trending strike length of more than 3km. Late in the 2020 work program, Falcon engaged Prospectair of Gatineau Quebec to conduct heliborne High-Resolution Magnetic and Time-Domain Electromagnetic Surveys over the Central Canada project area. The preliminary results are undergoing detailed analyses to identify the highest priority drill targets for the 2021 work program. The preliminary results of the Company's new geophysical surveys appear to confirm this significant anomaly and the on-going follow-up analyses of the survey data is anticipated to offer several drill targets to compliment the 2021 program on the above-mentioned gold targets. Qualified Person The technical content of this news release has been reviewed and approved by Steve Brookings, P.Geo., who is a Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101, Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects. About Falcon Gold Corp., the Central Canada Gold Mine Project, and Jack Lake Trend Falcon is a Canadian mineral exploration company focused on generating, acquiring, and exploring opportunities in the Americas. Falcon's flagship project, the Central Canada Gold Mine, is approximately 20 km south east of Agnico Eagle's Hammond Reef Gold Deposit which has currently estimated 3.32 million ounces of gold (123.5 million tonnes grading 0.84 g/t gold) mineral reserves, and 2.3 million ounces of measured and indicated mineral resources (133.4 million tonnes grading 0.54 g/t gold). The Hammond Reef gold property lies on the Hammond shear zone, which is a northeast-trending splay off of the Quetico Fault Zone ("QFZ") and may be the control for the gold deposit. The Central Gold property lies on a similar major northeast-trending splay of the QFZ. History of Central Canada gold mine includes; 1901 to 1907 - Shaft constructed to a depth of 12 m and 27 oz of gold from 18 tons using a stamp mill. 1930 to 1934 - Central Canada Mines Ltd. installed a 75 ton per day gold mill. Development work included 1,829 m of drilling and a vertical shaft to a depth of 45 m with about 42 m of crosscuts and drifts on the 100-foot level. In December, 1934 the mine had reportedly outlined approximately 230,000 ounces of gold with an average grade of 9.9 g/t Au. 1935 - With the on-going financial crisis of the Great Depression, the Central Canada Mines was unable to fund operations and the mine ceased operations. 1965 - Anjamin Mines completed diamond drilling and in hole S2 returned a 2 ft section of 37.0 g/t Au and hole S3 assayed 44.0 g/t Au across 7 ft. 1985 - Interquest Resources Corp. drilled 13 diamond holes totaling 1,840 m in which a 3.8 ft intersection showed 30.0 g/t Au. 2010 to 2012 - TerraX Minerals Inc. conducted programs that included line cutting, geological surveys and 363 m of drilling. 2020 - Falcon Gold Corp. completed its inaugural 17-hole program totaling 2,942.5 m of core. The Company holds 5 additional projects. The Camping Lake Gold property and the Springpole West Property in the world-renowned Red Lake mining camp; a 49% interest in the Burton Gold property near Sudbury Ontario; and in BC, the Spitfire-Sunny Boy Gold Claims and the Gaspard property. CONTACT INFORMATION: Falcon Gold Corp. "Karim Rayani" Karim Rayani Chief Executive Officer, Director Telephone: (604) 716-0551 Email: info@falcongold.ca Cautionary Language and Forward-Looking Statements 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, 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. Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. SOURCE: Falcon Gold Corp. View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/632910/Falcon-Reports-Gold-Intersections-in-Holes-CC-20--12--13-and--14-and-Provides-Outline-for-2021-Exploration-at-the-Central-Canada-Mine-Property-NW-Ontario Shares of public sector undertaking (PSU) firms continued to be on a roll with the S&P hitting a 16-month high in Tuesday's intraday trade. The index has rallied 27 per cent since February 1 as the PSU companies and banks got a new lease of life after the government presented the budget for the financial year 2021-22 (FY22). The S&P hit an intra-day high of 7,292, its highest level since November 2019. In the month of February, the PSU index had posted its biggest monthly gain in nearly seven years. The index rallied 22.5 per cent in February 2021, recording its biggest monthly rally since May 2014, when it had zoomed 24.05 per cent. Investors have been buying after the government announced a plan to privatize two PSU banks and increase spending on infrastructure, healthcare and farm sectors without resorting to higher taxation. In the Union Budget FY22, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced a capital expenditure of Rs 5.54 trillion for FY22, up 26 per cent, as against Rs 4.39 trillion for FY21. Further, she announced the FY22 disinvestment target of Rs 1.75 trillion. The budget also outlined the additional financial avenues to attain the same, through setting up Development Financial Institution (DFI), monetization of infra assets and divestment plans of a non-core asset. Meanwhile, speaking at a webinar on privatisation by the Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM), Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that the government has an ambitious plan to monetise around 100 government-owned assets as part of the monetisation plan. Among the individual stocks, in the past one month, the market price of Hindustan Copper has zoomed 146 per cent on improved outlook. For the first nine months (April-December) of the financial year 2020-21 (9MFY21), Hindustan Copper posted a consolidated net profit of Rs 147 crore against a net loss of Rs 55 crore during the same period of last fiscal. In the entire previous financial year 2019-20 (FY20), the company had posted a consolidated net loss of Rs 569 crore. Growing demand from the power sector in view of the government laying thrust on renewable energy and increasing demand from the households for consumer durables increased demand for copper in India. The manufacturing of electric vehicles (EV) also augments well for the consumption of copper as EV use four times more copper than traditional internal combustion engines. Shares of Rashtriya Chemicals and Fertilizers (RCF) have rallied 76 per cent in the past one month. Last week, the rating agency ICRA reaffirmed credit ratings of the companys instruments and revised outlook to 'positive' from 'stable'. The revision in outlook to Positive factors in the disbursal of additional subsidy announced under the Atma Nirbhar Bharat Package 3.0 for the fertilizer sector which is expected to reduce the subsidy arrears of RCF which would, in turn, lead to a decline in short-term borrowings and interest costs and consequently, strengthen the debt coverage metrics, ICRA said in rating rationale. Among the other individual stocks, MMTC, NBCC, Indian Overseas Bank, Bank of Maharashtra and Bank of India were rallied between 50 per cent and 76 per cent in past one month. In comparison, the S&P BSE Sensex was up 0.94 per cent during the same period. SCHENECTADY Former City Councilman Ed Kosiur is back on the Schenectady County payroll after a short-lived retirement. Kosiur, who earlier this winter resigned from the council and retired from his full-time job as assistant to the commissioner of Social Services for Youth Development in the county Youth Bureau, told the Times Union Monday that he now works about three hours a day delivering mail to county offices. Im getting paid $17.50 an hour to do a mail courier job, he said. The job entails picking up and dropping off mail at county-run buildings, including the Glendale Home, Board of Elections and 911 call center. Kosiur's return to the payroll comes after he retired from his $95,747-a-year full-time job and his post on the council which paid $14,000. At 15 hours a week, Kosiur's new job will pay him close to his salary for serving on the council. The Democrat's prior government work qualifies him for a state pension too and he'll be able to collect that while working in the part-time job. On Monday, a spokeswoman with the state comptroller's office said that Kosiur's state pension payment was not finalized. Schenectady County Legislator Brian McGarry said Tuesday that he was not surprised about Kosiur's new gig. "He's very popular with the majority, he's a good friend of Gary (Hughes), Chris Gardner and Tony (Jasenski, who chairs the Legislature), this is old news," said the Rotterdam Republican; the county legislature is a Democratic majority. "I'm not surprised, they (Democrats) find spots for people." Gardner is the county attorney while Hughes and Jasenski are the legislature's majority leader and chairman respectively. Hughes and Jasenski did not immediately return a call Tuesday seeking comment. Kosiur, 65, noted Monday that Tom Bellick, his longtime friend and chairman of the Schenectady County Democratic Party, is his boss. Kosiur, who is married with two adult daughters, has earned a reputation as an advocate for youngsters and seniors during stints on the school board and the county legislature where he held leadership posts. He has also run unsuccessfully for state Assembly. Last year, a lawsuit filed in state Supreme Court in Buffalo accused Kosiur of sexually abusing two children under his care in the early 1970s. Through his attorneys, Kosiur has denied the allegations. Kosiur, who was once a minor league umpire, is accused of abusing the children, according to lawsuits filed in August under the state Child Victims Act. The law passed in 2019 allows lawsuits alleging sexual abuse that were once time-barred to be filed through 2021. Current Print Subscribers will be prompted to either login to their current site user account or to create a new one. A confirmation email will be sent when a new user account is created, which must be confirmed within three days in order to provide uninterrupted online access through your Print Subscription. Once the email address is confirmed please provide your Account Number to activate your Print Subscription Service. New pop-up blood donation centres are being launched to help a study into why some people become very ill with Covid-19 while others do not. The GenOMICC Covid-19 Study analyses the genes of people who have had the virus to discover why some experienced no symptoms while others became extremely ill. Researchers said that for the study to continue to make progress and generate meaningful results they need to recruit more people from all backgrounds across Scotland, and especially from the countrys South Asian and Pakistani communities. Pop up blood donation centres are now being set up in Glasgow and Edinburgh, with support from Muslim leaders, to make it easier for people to give blood samples to help the research. Dr Kenneth Baillie, the studys chief investigator, said: Were issuing an urgent appeal for more volunteers from all walks of life and in particular for people from South Asian and Pakistani communities to come forward and register as soon as possible. We need to find people who tested positive for Covid but experienced either mild or no symptoms and didnt require hospital treatment. For comparison purposes, its important that these volunteers are similar in age, gender and ethnicity of those people who were severely affected and hospitalised. Through my work as a consultant in intensive care in Edinburgh, Ive met many patients and their families who have agreed to participate in this research to help others, at one of the most difficult times in their lives. Many of these patients were from South Asian and Pakistani backgrounds thats why we urgently need suitable people from these communities to join the study to provide a comparison. Eligible volunteers will be able to donate a blood sample at temporary Covid-secure centres at Mercure Glasgow City Hotel in Ingram Street while participants in Edinburgh can donate at the Hilton Edinburgh Carlton Hotel in North Bridge. If people dont wish to travel, the scheme also offers volunteers the option of making an appointment for a nurse to visit their home. Local Muslim communities have backed the scheme, with leaders in both cities helping distribute thousands of information leaflets and posters translated into Urdu, Bengali, Gujarati, and Punjabi to its members. Irfan Razzaq, general secretary at Glasgow Central Mosque, said: Tragically, the pandemics effect has been more widely felt among all ethnic communities including some who worship here so its important we help those who are making such an important contribution in the fight against Covid. The results from the study will not only help us here in Scotland, theyll be shared internationally and offer more protection to some of the most vulnerable groups of people around the world. The GenOMICC consortium is led by the University of Edinburgh and is working in partnership with Genomics England to analyse the whole genome sequences of people who were severely affected by Covid-19 and compare with those who only had it mildly. The Covid-secure sample collection sites in Glasgow and Edinburgh will open from Thursday, March 4, with additional sites opening across Scotland in the coming weeks. The research project is open to anyone who tested positive to Covid but experienced mild or no symptoms and didnt require hospital treatment and people can register online at https://covid.genomicc.org/ IN the space of one month, the families of 326 people were left in shock and heartbreak after losing their loved ones to the Covid-19 virus. May 2021 was the deadliest month of the pandemic in Trinidad and Tobago and the month with the highest number of Covid-19 cases. A severe storm has hit Brisbane, leaving up to 18,000 homes without power and flooding the Pacific Motorway in the CBD. Greenbank, south of Brisbane, recorded 73mm in the 30 minutes to 5pm while Michelton recorded 61mm in half an hour. 'These thunderstorms are moving towards the north to northeast,' the Bureau of Meteorology said about the severe storm hitting Brisbane. A severe storm has hit Brisbane, leaving up to 18,000 homes without power and flooding the Pacific Motorway in the CBD As rain belted down on Brisbane, areas to the northwest of the city were issued with severe weather warnings as the worst of the storm moved through 'They are forecast to affect Narangba, Burpengary and Beachmere by 6.20pm and Caboolture, Wamuran and Beerburrum by 6:50pm.' Greenback, The Gap, Everton Hills and Kenmore are regions most affected by the wild weather. Wacol Railway Station in Brisbane's south-west was hit by flash flooding, impacting motorists and trains on Ferny Grove line in Brisbane were suspended. Southeast Queensland SES said it received 85 calls for assistance relating to fallen trees and flash flooding, nearly half of which came from around Ipswich. Rain clouds gather over Mount Coot-tha in Brisbane's west on Tuesday Southeast Queensland SES said they had received 85 calls for assistance relating to fallen trees and flash flooding, nearly half of which came from around Ipswich Woody Point, north of Brisbane, confronts the storm with dark clouds passing overhead There were about 100,000 lighting strikes during the storm, and trees reportedly fell on train lines, vehicles and houses. Residents of Somerset Council were warned by the Bureau of Meteorology of severe thunderstorms near Toogoolawah. BOM said the area would likely see 'damaging winds, large hailstones and heavy rainfall that may lead to flash flooding.' A huge cyclone affects Far North Queensland with torrential rain and high winds already causing flooding and leaving 40,000 homes without power. The Bureau warned that Cyclone Niran is going to get more vicious over the next two days. With winds at 95km/h on Tuesday afternoon, the cyclone is at category two and a forecast map (pictured) shows it is expected to develop into category three by Thursday 7am With winds at 95km/h on Tuesday night, the cyclone is at category two and a forecast map shows it is expected to develop into category three by Thursday 7am. 'It is a category two system and it is expected to intensify into a category three system tomorrow,' senior meteorologist Laura Boekel said. Ms Boekel said the cyclone was causing high winds, rainfall and abnormally high tides and she expected the cyclone would move off the coastline on Thursday. 'That's when we'll start to see impacts easing for residents in Queensland.' An emergency warning has also been issued for Palm Island residents by the Queensland Government's Local Disaster Management Group. The region is impacted by heavy rain and gale force winds, and residents are advised to cancel travel, secure their premises, find a safe place to shelter and stay at home. At least 40,000 homes are left without power by a devastating cyclone which is causing flooding in some areas. Pictured: Far North Queensland home The wild weather forced 38 schools in Far North Queensland to close on Tuesday but Cairns Deputy Mayor Terry James told Sunrise the weather had died down. 'The conditions here at the moment is pretty typical in Cairns, beautiful one day and perfect the next,' he said. 'These things are very unpredictable. So we are saying to the people in the area just be vigilant, keep the eyes and ears open and listening to the forecast, listen to the radio and be prepared.' Six state and eight Catholic or private schools remain closed by the storm. BOM said as of 4pm on Tuesday afternoon, winds near the centre of the storm were about 95 km/h and wind gusts are reached up to 130km/h. While coastal crossing is not expected, as it develops or if it drifts westwards it may cause gales of 100km/h about the exposed coastal and island communities between Cape Flattery and Innisfail. Further south to Lucinda or between Cape Melville and Cape Flattery may also be impacted by gales on Wednesday night. From Thursday the whirlwind is expected to take a southeasterly track away from the coast, relieving locals. Cyclone Niran is moving slowly at 8km/h, with wind gusts reaching up to 130km/h at 320km northeast of Cairns, Queensland (pictured) on Tuesday at 4pm Far North Queensland (pictured above) is on cyclone watch as a tropical low threatens the coast of Cairns Motorists were advised to avoid parking their cars in low-lying tidal areas and to not drive through floodwaters in case of more heavy rainfall or flash flooding. 'Soils and catchments are already saturated after weeks of rain on the north tropical coast,' said Bureau of Meteorology expert Jackson Browne. 'Flooding could extend as far south as Mackay as the low strengthens.' On Monday morning, commuters endured lengthy delays on the Captain Cook Highway driving south towards Cairns. The cyclone was causing high winds, rainfall and abnormally high tides and is expectedto would move off the coastline on Thursday The wild weather forced 38 schools in Far North Queensland to close on Tuesday but Cairns Deputy Mayor Terry James told Sunrise the weather had died down A tropical cyclone formed around north Queensland on Tuesday. Pictured: Weather map show the cyclone forming in Far North Queensland A number of trees fell across the Gillies Range Rd at Gadgarra in Queensland's Tablelands Region, resulting in further delays after traffic was reduced to one lane. Meteorologist Michael Gray revealed the extreme weather in far north Queensland was due to the development of a monsoon trough as well as a reach of high pressure along the east coast. 'Since 9am on Saturday, we have seen rainfall totals up around 100mm around the Proserpine River and over 50mm through large parts of an area from about Mackay up towards Cairns,' he told the Courier Mail. 'We will still see fairly significant rainfall (from Mackay to Cairns) that will continue at least to Wednesday... or possibly through to later in the week.' WEATHER IN YOUR CITY SYDNEY WEDNESDAY: Min 17. Max 23. Shower or two. THURSDAY: Min 17. Max 25. Partly cloudy FRIDAY: Min 16. Max 25. Partly cloudy. BRISBANE WEDNESDAY: Min 23. Max 29. Shower or two. THURSDAY: Min 21. Max 28. Possible shower. FRIDAY: Min 19. Max 28. Partly cloudy. ADELAIDE WEDNESDAY: Min 12. Max 25. Mostly sunny. THURSDAY: Min 12. Max 26. Sunny. FRIDAY: Min 15. Max 29. Partly cloudy. CANBERRA WEDNESDAY: Min 10. Max 24. Partly cloudy. THURSDAY: Min 9. Max 27. Sunny FRIDAY: Min 11. Max 27. Partly sunny. MELBOURNE WEDNESDAY: Min 12. Max 18. Partly cloudy. THURSDAY: Min 12. Max 20. Cloudy. FRIDAY: Min 15. Max 20. Cloudy. PERTH WEDNESDAY: Min 19. Max 27. Partly cloudy. THURSDAY: Min 20. Max 28. Possible storms. FRIDAY: Min 19. Max 27. Cloudy. HOBART WEDNESDAY: Min 9. Max 19. Cloudy. THURSDAY: Min 13. Max 21. Cloudy. FRIDAY: Min 11. Max 18. Partly cloudy. DARWIN WEDNESDAY: Min 25. Max 32. Partly cloudy. THURSDAY: Min 26. Max 33. Partly cloudy. FRIDAY: Min 26. Max 33. Partly cloudy. Source: Bureau of Meteorology Advertisement The next-generation of billionaires families own trillions of dong worth of stocks and run large businesses. Do Huu Duy Anh of Duc Giang Chemicals (left) The successor of Duc Giang Chemicals Do Huu Duy Anh works for his family-run company, Duc Giang Chemicals Group JSC. Before studying abroad, Anh was sent by his father to the factory in Long Bien district in Hanoi to work as a construction worker. Returning to Vietnam, he became the assistant to the CEO and two years later became deputy CEO of the company at the age of 25. He took the office as CEO of Duc Giang six years later. Now Anh, 33, holds VND300 billion worth of shares. Anh said it is unreasonable to consider Duc Giang a family-run company, because it lists shares on the bourse. Only the president and CEO are family members, while factory directors are not. The son of US dollar female billionaire In 2019, Tommy Nguyen, the son of Nguyen Thi Phuong Thao, the only female billionaire in Vietnam, became the co-founder of Swift 247, a technology startup operating in the field of logistics and forwarding. When he was at school, he decided to do something different regarding the mode of transport in the Vietnamese market. He found that Prime Amazon could ship goods in 29 states in the US within two days, while there were many problems in logistics services in Vietnam and Asia in the context of the e-commerce boom. That was why his startup was established. In September 2020, Vietjet announced the restructuring and development of cargo transport by air using digital technology and e-commerce via an M&A between Vietjetair Cargo and Swift247. In November 2020, Swift247 changed its business registration with charter capital of VND47 billion. The company shifted from a limited company into a joint stock company. Vietjet is the shareholder with controlling stake (67 percent of capital). Young banker owns trillions of dong ACB shares have seen prices increase by VND4,300 per share, or 16.04 percent, since early February. With the share price increase, the stock assets of Tran Hung Huy, chair of ACB, and his family members, have increased sharply. The 2020 report released by ACB showed that Huy owns 74.07 million shares, or 3.43 percent of the banks chartered capital. Dang Thu Thuy, a member of the board of directors, holds 28.82 million shares, or 1.19 percent. Prior to that, at the annual general meeting of shareholders in April 2018, the group of shareholders related to Nguyen Duc Kien, or "Mogul Kien", was holding over 10 percent of ACB shares. Of this, Kien had 31.57 million shares, while Dang Ngoc Lan, his wife, had 38.5 million shares. After the trading session on February 20, the assets of Kien and his wife increased by VND137 billion and by VND301 billion, respectively, compared with early February, to VND2.193 trillion. Meanwhile, the assets of Tran Hung Huy and his family members increased by VND371 billion on February 19 and by VND818.2 billion, respectively, compared with early February. Boss Hiens son Do Vinh Quang, born in 1995, is the son of Do Quang Hien, who is chair of the board of directors of Trang Thi Trade and Service. He has been in this post since November 2020. After becoming chair of the board of directors, the company organized an extraordinary shareholders meeting on the issuance of 40.5 million shares to existing shareholders at VND30,000 per share. The issuance will be implemented in first and second quarter after which the companys charter capital will rise from VND135 billion to VND540 billion. The capital to be mobilized from the bond issuance, about VND1.215 trillion, will be used to develop business activities, increase working capital, contribute capital and buy into other legal entities, develop real estate projects, and expand business scale and business fields. Hoa Sen Group Hoa Sen Group of Le Phuoc Vu has announced information related to the delay of a plan to buy 22 million treasury stocks and sell all the treasury stocks it had bought prior to January 1, 2021. HSG owns 327,100 treasury stocks bought from workers who resigned. HSG share prices have increased sharply, now hovering around VND25,000 per share. HSG value has increased by five times compared with one year ago and has brought VND9 trillion more to shareholders. Thu Ky VN billionaires make money by recovering heat, collecting emissions from production plants There are many ways to make money in the 4.0 industrial era with the support of high technologies. The rapid spread of the coronavirus offers a ready metaphor for rapid transmission of another public problem secrecy in government. In December, for example, Lackawanna Countys commissioners imposed a preposterous fee of 50 cents per minute, plus a $25 initiation fee, for members of the public to search public records that they already own. That vastly would have reduced public dissemination of government information. In doing so, the commissioners explained that, well, other counties had done it. They quickly rescinded the fees when faced with substantial public blowback. So, herewith a cautionary tale about another county, Chester, clamping down on the release of public information, in case it also becomes viral. Two months after The Philadephia Inquirer relying partly on leaked information reported on major problems with a no-bid $13 million contract with a politically connected company for COVID-19 testing, the Chester County commissioners issued a new ethics policy. Some of the provisions, such as a ban on accepting gifts, are sound. But it forbids county employees from discussing any aspects of their jobs with anyone, including their friends and families, and precludes disclosing any information of any kind other than standard public information. Typically, government ethics bans preclude public employees from disseminating public information for their own profit, which is a legitimate ethics matter. As for the no-bid contract exposed by the Inquirer, the county has notified many county residents that their COVID-19 test results might be wrong, and has filed a lawsuit seeking to recoup $11 million of the $13 million contract price. The gag order tramples free speech, quite likely is unconstitutional, and is certain to expose taxpayers to further litigation costs. The state Legislature, which has been quick to prevent local governments from enacting local gun control measures, should act just as aggressively to prevent local governments from violating workers free speech rights. SALEM, Ore. The Oregon Health Authority says that it has identified the first known case in Oregon of a coronavirus variant originally detected in Brazil. The agency said that it was notified on Monday that a Douglas County resident had tested positive for the Brazil strain of COVID-19. Data continue to show that rates of #COVID19-associated hospitalizations are falling after a peak in early January. While rates are going down, theyre still too high. Help slow the spread: Wear a mask. Stay 6 feet apart. Avoid crowds. More: https://t.co/iDFoVd3znf. pic.twitter.com/YHV0YNKzR5 CDC (@CDCgov) February 26, 2021 In South America, the Brazil variant of the virus also called strain P.1 has been linked to higher infection rates and is believed to be more capable of reinfecting those who have already recovered from an earlier strain. According to OHA, the Douglas County resident had known travel history before testing positive for the new strain. The individual is working with local public health officials and is following recommendations to self-isolate. Since January, state officials have reported several known cases of the U.K. strain of coronavirus, B.1.1.7, in northeastern Oregon counties. An ongoing Oregon State University program that monitors evidence of coronavirus in city wastewater has detected several other variants, most of them considered to be more benign than the U.K., South Africa, and Brazil strains. Cases of both the Brazil and South Africa strains were identified in the U.S. in January, with the U.K. strain detected in December. Positive coronavirus cases have been dropping across the U.S. over the past two months amid the gradual roll-out of vaccines. However, the newer variants have become of increasing concern to health officials due to the possibility that the current vaccines will prove less effective in preventing infection or serious illness particularly if the variants begin to spread widely. Vaccine maker Moderna announced last month that the emerging strains of greatest concern appeared to have "no significant impact" on the efficacy of its product. "The ability to evade vaccine-induced immunity . . . would likely be the most concerning because once a large proportion of the population is vaccinated, there will be immune pressure that could favor and accelerate emergence of such variants by selecting for 'escape mutants,'" the CDC said of emerging strains at the end of January. "There is no evidence that this is occurring, and most experts believe escape mutants are unlikely to emerge because of the nature of the virus." U.S. and Korean soldiers working together, published in The Korea Times Jan. 1, 1978. / Korea Times Archive By Martin Limon I think of myself as the Forrest Gump of Korea. During five tours, starting in 1968 and ending in 1986, I stumbled into such a vast array of experiences that it provided me, I believe, with a unique view of not only the secretive and insular life of the 8th United States Army but more importantly an insight into how we lowly enlisted G.I.s interacted and often clashed with the broader Korean culture. Author Martin Limon in 1975, left, and in the 21st century / Courtesy of Martin Limon Over the years, my military duties were unusually varied. I worked in the 8th Army Public Affairs Office, wrote bylined articles for the Stars and Stripes, routed top-secret messages at the Yongsan Compound communications center, edited a small unit newspaper for the 1st Signal Brigade, served as a 105mm Howitzer gun crew chief near the DMZ, evaluated aerial imagery of North Korean military deployments and, finally, managed the enlisted club at Camp Red Cloud in Uijeongbu. In my off-duty time, I developed skills as a blackjack card counter that not only supplemented my income but allowed me even more opportunity to travel. Tourists visit the South Korean side of the Joint Security Area, published in The Korea Times Sept. 20, 1986. / Korea Times Archive These experiences have been the basis of the 15 novels and over 50 short stories that I have published during the past 30 years. U.S. soldiers run on a U.S. military base in Korea, published in The Korea Times Jan. 1, 1978. / Korea Times Archive Probably my greatest honor was being allowed, as a very young reporter for the Stars and Stripes, to interview Dr. Frank W. Schofield, a Canadian veterinarian who had participated in the 1919 March 1st Movement. After many years of absence, he had been invited by the Korean government to return to Seoul to attend the 50-year commemoration on March 1, 1969. I interviewed Dr. Schofield in a downtown Seoul hospital. Through his writings he had brought international attention to the Korean protests against Japanese occupation but he refused to talk about himself and spoke mostly about his respect for the Korean people's struggles and his high hopes for their future. A little more than a year later, he succumbed to illness and became the first foreigner to be buried in the Korean National Cemetery. Yongsan's Knight Field, published in The Korea Times June 3, 1976. / Korea Times Archive I received an over-the-top reprimand from a colonel back in 1969 for comparing North Korean rhetoric (capitalist running dogs) to the rhetoric used by the U.S. Forces Korea (lawless communist bandits) when reporting on a Military Armistice Commission meeting at Panmunjeom. Since an article referring to that 50-year-old scolding was , I've been asked why that colonel's anger seemed disproportionate to the alleged offense. For decades, I didn't know the answer. The Joint Security Area between North and South Korea, published in The Korea Times Nov. 1, 1996. / Korea Times Archive Finally, while reading a book published in 2013, "ACT OF WAR" by Jack Cheevers, an account of the hijacking of the USS Pueblo by the North Korean navy, I solved the riddle of that colonel's explosive rage. In the photo section, there he was, serving in Korea at the time while 82 U.S. sailors were held captive in North Korea. No mistake. I remembered him clearly. The book explained the raw nerve I had unwittingly stepped on. More importantly to me, the incident also inspired a similar but different character who I used to advance the plot of my 2018 novel, "The Line," featuring 8th Army CID agents George Sueno and Ernie Bascom. The captured USS Pueblo is seen in Pyongyang in August 2010. / Courtesy of Jon Dunbar I hope to show how all those years spent in Korea and in the U.S. Army somehow coalesced into a desire, finally, to write. A desire that hasn't left me in all the years since. And with any luck, never will. Martin Limon is a full-time writer having published 14 novels set in Korea's modern past, featuring . He spent 20 years in the military, 10 of which were in Korea on three tours: 1968-69, 1973-76 and 1977-80. Limon will give a lecture for Royal Asiatic Society (RAS) Korea about his experiences that helped lead to his prolific writing career. The talk begins at 7:30 p.m. on March 9 and is free to attend, although donations are welcomed to support the society. Visit raskb.com for more information. CITEG Ghana, a Civil Society Organization (CSO) that believes in the ideologies of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) led by its Founder and President, Alex Kweku Tetteh, has made a strong case for the candidature of Alan Kyeremanteng, as the perfect and next NPP flagbearer to succeed Akufo-Addo in 2024. According to Mr Tetteh, the NPP flagbearership race has already been settled since delegates already know that Alan stands tall above any other candidate that will seek to contest including Vice President Dr Bawumia. He revealed that Alans loyalty dates back to the days of his father as a true patriot following in the footsteps of Danquah Dombo political tradition. Alans father supported NPP and President Kufuor including leading members of the NPP leadership are very much aware of this. I am therefore urging Vice President Bawumia to lend his full support to Alan while he waits for a better time to bounce back to the political scene. Kufuor told Akufo-Addo when the NPP won in the year 2000 that Aliu Mahama should be given the chance. He added, Akufo-Addo kicked against it and told Kufuor in the face that when you finish your term 8 years, go with your Running Mate so President Akufo-Addo should also exit with his running mate in 2024. He recalled that during the 2007 Legon NPP congress to elect the flagbearer, Alan sacrificed and submitted by conceding to save the party needless rounds of voting. This is the covenant that Alan created since that time and it still holds so NPP shouldnt make any mistake by bringing Dr. Bawumia. Alan has contested the NPP race twice and should be given the nod on his 3rd attempt, the CITEG President and Founder stated. 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 Union Health Minister Dr. Harsh Vardhan has said that more than 29 lakh beneficiaries have registered via the online or offline modes on Monday. Out of these, 1,28,630 beneficiaries above 60 years of age and 18,850 aged between 45-59 years with comorbidities took the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine as the cumulative number of vaccine doses administered in the country crossed 1.47 crore. The country-wide vaccination drive, which began on January 16 by inoculating healthcare workers, entered its second phase on March 1. The Union Minister also suggested that this number could be much higher as each individual who registered could add up to four others. "I had checked the data before speaking with you... till 08:30 pm over 29 lakh people have registered on the platform. And, you see, if one person registers, s/he has the facility of registering for four family members. So, if you take the average of one person registering for two, then it becomes almost 60 lakhs. And, if you think everyone is registering for four of his family, then it crosses one crore," Dr. Harsh Vardhan told NDTV. The cabinet minister, who is slated to get vaccinated at Delhi's Heart and Lung Institute today, has said that there is no link between the new COVID-19 strains and surge in cases. He further urged people to not become complacent despite nationwide vaccine rollout and people should follow coronavirus protocol for "at least for a few months more". The focus of mass immunisation "is to ensure that more and more people have antibodies, which you can either from being infected or the vaccine" the minister said. He added that this move will strengthen herd immunity. The aim of the vaccination is to protect people against COVID-19 at an individual level and at the community and society level, he said. Also read: Amit Shah receives first dose of COVID-19 vaccine Also read: COVID-19 vaccination phase 2: 92% failed to register on CO-WIN website on Day 1, says survey She hinted she'd had enough of living in Los Angeles when she took aim at 'ultra-zombies walking around Hollywood' last month. But Lady Victoria Hervey appeared happy and relaxed as she left the Chateau Marmont in West Hollywood on Monday. The British socialite, 44, wore a statement 'Epic' jumper and classic white skinny jeans as she headed out with her pet pooch. Feeling epic: Lady Victoria Hervey wore a statement 'Epic' jumper and classic white skinny jeans as she left the Chateau Marmont in West Hollywood on Monday The heiress toted an eye-catching electric blue handbag with a neon orange pom-pom keyring. Her blonde locks fell freely around her shoulders as she sported minimal make-up to make the most of her enviable winter tan. Lady Victoria completed the look with a pair of sheepskin boots, which were turned over at the top to display their cosy lining. Last month, it seemed as though Lady Victoria had had enough of living in Los Angeles. Keeping it casual: The British socialite, 44, toted an eye-catching electric blue handbag with a neon orange pom-pom keyring as she walked her pet pooch The daughter of the 6th Marquess of Bristol said on Instagram: 'Hollywood is like a bunch of ultra-zombies walking around, 'I used to watch CNN and believe what I saw. BLM [Black Lives Matter], global mass voter fraud, Hollywood's dark satanic cults, Wall Street, the federal reserve are finally being exposed. The cabal is falling enjoy the ride.' Despite her disenchantment with American politics, the socialite appeared upbeat as she took a stroll in the Californian sunshine. Lady Victoria has previously revealed she froze her eggs at a fertility clinic, costing her 11,000 in the hope of becoming a mother before she reaches the age of 45. Speaking in January 2018, Victoria told The Mail On Sunday: 'I had six eggs removed from my ovaries and frozen in a fertility clinic. Puppy love: The socialite completed the look with a pair of sheepskin boots, which were turned over at the top to display their cosy lining 'At the end of this month, I intend to go through the exhausting procedure again in the hope that I will produce another half-dozen or so eggs. It will, I hope, fill what has become rather a hole in my life.' The socialite said she would like 'two children' and turned to freezing her eggs amid fears she had 'left it too late' to become a mother. Explaining she wants the 'emotional aspect' of a relationship, rather than favouring a sperm donor, Victoria added: 'I'm hoping science might be able to stop the clock until I find the right man to be a father to my babies. 'A major part of the problem is that I'm still single. Despite some intense relationships in my early 20s, they all fizzled out eventually. I do have a back-up plan if my Prince Charming doesn't materialise. 'I've got friends who've said they'd be prepared to father my child, and I'm considering that option very seriously.' The U.S. Department of Education has advised states to go ahead with standardized testing as half of the nations public K-12 students continue their courses virtually amid the COVID-19 pandemic.In a Feb. 22 memo to state officials, the department announced that states must once again issue standardized tests and report results to gauge student progress. The move to reinstate testing comes after states, including California, New Jersey, New York, Illinois, Michigan and Georgia, have discussed cancelling standardized testing altogether this spring, citing concerns about testing students during remote and virtual learning.However, department officials argue in the memo that state assessments and accountability systems play an important role in advancing educational equity, identifying student needs, and targeting the resources to address them.The department waived testing requirements in March 2020 in response to school closures and concerns about how the lack of in-person instructional time could make it difficult to assess students. To mitigate concerns, federal education officials will allow states a degree of flexibility in how they administer the tests, including extending the testing window to the summer and fall, giving remote tests or shortening the assessment. States can also request waivers to exempt schools from the current 95 percent participation requirement."The Department of Education is committed to supporting all states in assessing student learning during the pandemic to help target resources and support to the students with the greatest needs," Ian Rosenblum, acting assistant secretary for the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education, said in a statement. "We also recognize that at a time when everything in our education system is different, there need to be different ways that states can administer state tests like moving them to the fall so that precious in-person learning time this year can be spent on instruction. Balancing these priorities is the best approach."Proponents of standardized testing believe it's the best way to measure student growth, while critics have denounced accountability measures that penalize schools with poor performance and negatively affect funding for failing schools. Critics also believe administering and planning for standardized testing cuts into valuable instructional time in schools.Education policy organizations and teachers' unions have expressed displeasure with the move to resume testing. Some states are still pushing for federal waivers altogether.The California Teachers Association (CTA) submitted a letter to the State Board of Education, urging the California Department of Education to submit a waiver requesting the U.S. Department of Education to suspend standardized testing for the 2020-21 school year. Shortly after the federal memo was released, the association sent a letter to Acting U.S. Secretary of Education Phil Rosenfelt, joining other states asking federal education officials to issue assessment waivers to states as soon as possible.Given widespread inequities in student access to technology and the Internet, as well as the concerns both educators and parents have about the value of any data gathered from traditional annual testing in the midst of a global pandemic, we firmly believe testing would be detrimental to students, and of little use to teachers and school districts. These factors lead us to urge policymakers to instead focus on providing support to students in distance learning and their safe return to physical classrooms instead of on assessments of little value, CTA President E. Toby Boyd said in a CTA news release Prince Harry returned to an old favourite outfit as he donned his signature style grey suit with a pair of brown desert boots for the Oprah Winfrey interview. The Duke of Sussex, 39, says that leaving the Royal Family was 'unbelievably tough' and Oprah claims the couple both say some pretty shocking things in the bombshell interview that is expected to upset the Queen, Prince Charles and Prince William when the show is broadcast on Sunday, March 7. The father-of-one wore a smart white long-sleeve shirt with a grey suit jacket and matching trousers from J.Crew believed to cost 460 and finished off the outfit with a pair of tan lace-up shoes. The royal has worn a similar style of shirt on a multitude of occasions in the past few years, including to introduce baby Archie to the world in May 2019 and for a visit to Sussex in October 2018. Prince Harry, 36, returned to an old favourite outfit as he donned his signature style grey suit with a pair of brown desert boots for the Oprah Winfrey interview The outfit is one the Duke of Sussex has worn on many occasions throughout the years, including his son Archie's photocall in May 2019 (left) and a royal visit to Sussex in October 2018 (right) The Duke is fast-making the combination his signature style, having worn it on more than six other royal occasions. He has worn the outfit on a whole host of occasion in the past 18 months, initially wearing the combination for an official visit with the Duchess to Sussex in October 2018. He opted for the outfit again during his tour of Morocco in February 2019, wearing the grey combination as he and Meghan touched down at Casablanca airport. Months later, the royal donned the same suit and shoes with an almost identical pair of brown shoes with purple laces, to introduce his son Archie to the world in May 2019. The ensemble appears to be somewhat of a uniform for the Duke, who has previously worn the same grey suit and brown shoes at royal events in July 2019 (left) and during the royal tour of Morocco in February 2019 (right) Prince Harry showed off what appears to be the same suit and shoe combination while attending an event in July 2019 In June 2019, he wore the same outfit for a third time, this time adding a light pink tie, as he joined a Commonwealth Youth roundtable. Meanwhile he also opted for the fail-safe ensemble as he attended The Diana Award National Youth Mentoring Summit at Banking Hall in London. While Prince Harry has repeated this uniform for a host of royal appearances over the year, his wife Meghan has rarely been snapped in the same outfit twice. In the clips released last night, Meghan placed a hand on her bump while fielding questions from 67-year-old TV mogul Oprah - who asked her about her brief time as a royal, and her decision to quit palace life with her husband last year. The Duke of Sussex, 39, says that leaving the Royal Family was 'unbelievably tough' in the bombshell interview that is expected to upset the Queen, Prince Charles and Prince William when the show is broadcast on Sunday, March 7 Meghan says nothing in either of the short teaser clips that have been released, however Oprah's line of questioning makes clear the sensitive topics that will be covered - some, if not all of which will likely send fears through the palace over what potentially-uncomfortable revelations may come to light during the primetime sit-down. In what could be seen as a warning to the royal family, Oprah reminds viewers that 'there is no subject that is off limits' while sitting opposite the former Suits star, who simply nods her head in agreement with the bold statement. Oprah then asks a somber-looking Meghan: 'Were you silent or were you silenced?' in what appears to be another jab at the royal family - this time over the palace's treatment of the Duchess. Later in the interview, Oprah refers to comments Meghan appears to have made about life in the royal family being 'almost un-survivable.' Although Meghan says nothing during the two teaser clips that have been released, the videos are likely to prompt fresh fears within Buckingham Palace about what revelations she may bring to light during the interview, particularly when it comes to her experiences of life within the royal family. Saratou and her seven children fled their village in Nigeria to the border area in Maradi, Niger, after attacks by criminal gangs. UNHCR/Selim Meddeb Hamrouni UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, is alarmed at surging violence in north-west Nigeria which has fuelled displacement into neighbouring Nigers Maradi region, where violence is also on the rise. Fearing armed groups and communal clashes, more than 7,660 refugees have fled Nigeria into Maradi this year and another 3,500 citizens of Niger have been displaced inside the country. Most of the refugees are women and children, displaced following recent attacks in Nigerias Sokoto state. The Maradi region, in southern Niger, now hosts nearly 100,000 displaced people, including 77,000 Nigerian refugees, who have fled relentless attacks in Katsina, Sokoto, and Zamfara states. UNHCR commends the generosity of Niger as it continues to grant access to asylum, despite border restrictions brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. UNHCR teams in Niger have recorded a spike in deadly violence inside Maradi itself, with more casualties and serious incidents reported in January and February 2021 than in the second half 2020. Refugees describe gruesome murders, kidnappings for ransom, and looted villages. Many have also been caught up in clashes between farmers and herders as well as vigilantism, as self-defence groups are being set up in most villages. People fleeing are in urgent need of water, food, shelter, and health services. Most have fled empty handed in the rush to save their lives. UNHCR is providing life-saving assistance and protection and has scaled up border monitoring activities. Our teams are also registering new arrivals to identify people with vulnerabilities and other specific needs. We are working closely with Nigerien authorities to relocate refugees away from the border and into safer localities where basic assistance and services are available. Since October 2019, some 11,320 refugees have been relocated to other villages where UNHCR and its partners have strengthened water, health, sanitation, and education infrastructure for the displaced and their hosts, helping to ease pressure on communities who have shown incredible generosity but have limited means. Armed groups in the Sahel and Lake Chad regions have been fuelling one of the worlds fastest growing displacement and protection crises. To date, more than 3.2 million people have been displaced by violence in the Lake Chad Basin. Humanitarian efforts to respond to the emergency are dangerously overstretched UNHCRs Lake Chad Basin operation requires US$128.6 million and is only 10 per cent funded. UNHCR is urging the international community to boost support for the region and to help governments root out the causes of this forced displacement and to boost strategic and sustainable development. News footage is available below for media and broadcasters. Rampant attacks in north-west Nigeria displace thousands in first two months of the year - BROLL: https://media.unhcr.org/Share/tlqr1s662s2k120ei6rs4l4w35tf25l0 For more information on this topic, please contact: Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Based in Lausanne, the SVBG, the first of its kind founded by Vietnamese expatriates in Switzerland, has been set to focus on offering trade information via workshops, forums, and internal bulletins; providing legal consultations and guidance; developing links for technological transfers and improvement; and introducing quality human resources. It will also make recommendations for more favourable business climate to competent agencies of both nations, while organising socio-cultural activities serving its goals. Speaking at the debut ceremony, Vietnamese Ambassador Le Linh Lan stressed the group came into being at a special time as Vietnam has placed the COVID-19 pandemic under control and prepared best conditions possible to welcome Swiss investors. In 2020, Vietnams economy grew 2.91 percent, making it one of the few countries that have maintained positive GDP growth while many others in the world fell into severe recession. Also in August last year, the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement took effect, opening up huge trade and investment opportunities for both sides. In last November, as the Chair of the ASEAN, Vietnam successfully pushed the signing of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), establishing the biggest free trade area worldwide. Lan stressed the embassy supports the operation of the SVBG. According to the diplomat, Switzerland is the 6th largest European investor in Vietnam, with its investment totaling US$2 billion, mostly in manufacturing processing and electricity. Currently, close to 100 Swiss firms are operating in Vietnam. Meanwhile, Vietnam is the four biggest trade partner of Switzerland in ASEAN, with bilateral trade exceeding US$3.6 billion in 2019. Since 2012, Vietnam and the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) the intergovernmental organisation of Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland began negotiations for a FTA, which is expected to be signed this year. As scheduled, the SVBG will make debut to its Swiss partners at the Webinar Market Focus Vietnam that the group co-hosts with the embassy and the Geneva Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Services. Advertisement Ivanka Trump and her husband Jared Kushner enjoyed some fun in the sun on a boat in Miami's Biscayne Bay with their family last Sunday after returning to Florida following her trip to New York City. The 39-year-old showed off her figure in a black bikini while jumping off the back of the chartered boat into the crystal blue water with her nine-year-old daughter Arabella. Ivanka's sons Joseph, seven, and Theodore, four were already playing on a raft in the water when they took the plunge. The family was also joined by Jared's notorious father Charles Kushner, who was jailed for 14 months in 2005 after pleading guilty to 18 counts of tax evasion, witness tampering, and making illegal campaign donations. In December 2020, Charles received a full pardon from his son's father-in-law former President Donald Trump before he left office. Out and about: Ivanka Trump and her husband Jared Kushner enjoyed some time with their children on a chartered boat in Miami's Biscayne Bay last Sunday Having fun: The former First Daughter donned a black bikini and was seen jumping off the back of the boat into the water with her nine-year-old daughter Arabella Splashing around: Ivanka's sons, Joseph, seven, and Theodore, four, were already playing on a raft in the water when they took the plunge At the center of the trial was the revelation that Charles had hired a prostitute to seduce his brother-in-law, who at the time was cooperating with federal officials in an investigation into possible campaign finance violations committed by Charles. The real estate developer then filmed the encounter between his brother-in-law and the woman, who was paid $10,000. Jared, 40, and Charles, 66, were photographed sitting on the back of the boat while they watched Ivanka and Arabella jump into the water, though the latter was on a phone call and appeared to be preoccupied. The former First Daughter had on a sporty, yet skimpy two-piece that showed off her curves, while Arabella donned a hot pink one-piece with a ruffle top and goggles on her head. The little girl excitedly held her mother's hand as they jumped together while her younger brothers watched them. Background: The chartered boat featured the Turkish flag and was named 'Alara,' which is a Turkish name The more the merrier: The family was also joined by Jared's father Charles Kushner (top right) Busy: Charles, 66, was on a phone call and appeared to be preoccupied when Ivanka and Arabella jumped into the water Making memories: The Trump-Kushner family seem to be enjoying their new life in Miami after moving to Florida from Washington, D.C. in January Both mother and daughter had wet hair, suggesting that they had had already been in the water earlier in the day. Like Arabella, Joseph was also wearing goggles, and he had on a rash guard to protect him from the sun's rays. While he sat comfortably on top of the blue raft, Theodore was in the water holding onto both the boat's ladder and the corner of the raft. The chartered boat featured the Turkish flag and was named 'Alara' which, in Turkish mythology, is the name of a water fairy. Ivanka was later seen walking around the top deck of the boat with a towel wrapped around her waist while a shirtless Jared was laying in the sun in his swim trunks. The former White House advisors seem to be enjoying their relaxed life in Miami after leaving Washington, D.C. and moving to the Sunshine State in January. Heads up: Ivanka and Arabella made a splash when they jumped into the clear blue water Drying off: Ivanka was later seen walking around the boat's top deck in a fluffy white towel Relaxing: While she was drying of, a shirtless Jared was laying in the sun in his swim trunks Relaxed: The former White House advisers have been kicking back since leaving D.C. Working up a sweat! Ivanka and Jared went jogging together in Miami on Saturday, after the mother-of-three returned from a quick trip back to New York City earlier in the week The Trump-Kushner family is living at the luxury apartment Arte Surfside, one of the most expensive complexes in the neighborhood, with an average rental price of nearly $47,000 per month. Its penthouse sold for $33 million to an unnamed private equity executive from New York earlier this year. It looks as though Ivanka and her family have quickly settled into Miami life in the weeks since they moved into their new apartment. It has been reported that the couple has leased the home for a year while they build a more permanent property on a plot of a two-acre plot of land that they purchased on Indian Creek Island also known as the 'Billionaire Bunker' for $31.8 million last year. Their temporary apartment is located just over an hour away from Trump's Palm Beach resort Mar-a-Lago, which is where he and his wife Melania are now living with their son Barron. While Ivanka appears to be happy in Miami, she returned to her home state of New York for a few days last week. The born and bred New Yorker was first spotted in Manhattan last Wednesday when she was seen heading to Trump Tower wearing a long black wool coat and straight-leg jeans. She was likely listening to music or a podcast as she had a pair of earbud headphones in her ears and her iPhone in her hand. Keeping it casual: Ivanka returned to New York last week for the first time since she left D.C. She was seen heading to Trump Tower wearing a long black wool coat and straight-leg jeans last Wednesday On the go: Ivanka was seen out and about in New York City on Thursday with her Secret Service agents in tow Outfit of the day: The former First Daughter was dressed casually in a chambray shirt paired with a black turtleneck and skinny jeans when she stopped by her mother Ivana Trump's townhouse to drop off a belated birthday gift The mother of three, who has taken on a more casual appearance since leaving her role as a White House senior adviser, topped off her outfit with a pair of black flats a far cry from the heels she used to wear in Washington, D.C. When she lifted her arm to hold her coat closed, she exposed the red string bracelet that she almost always wears on her left wrist. Though she hasn't spoken about the purpose of the string, it does bear a resemblance to the type of red string that Kabbalah practitioners wear to ward off the 'evil eye.' Ivanka was escorted by two Secret Service vehicles and was seen getting dropped off in front of the building. She said hello to the doorman before making her way inside. It's unclear when Ivanka had arrived in New York and whether she followed the state's COVID-19 restrictions. She and her husband Jared were seen holding hands on the beach in Miami just four days prior. Catching some rays! Ivanka and her family are living at the luxury apartment building Arte Surfside, one of the most expensive complexes in Miami. She is often seen hanging out on her balcony enjoying the sunshine Testing, testing... Ivanka was seen trying out special privacy glass for the balcony of her Miami apartment last month Options: She chatted about her options with two workers, who stuck up samples of different adhesive that can be added to the glass to make it more opaque New York's COVID-19 travel restrictions require all travelers to the state who want to opt out of the mandatory 10-day quarantine to produce a negative test at least three days before arrival. They still must quarantine for three days before taking a second COVID-test. If both tests are negative, they can exit quarantine early. Ivanka was out and about on Thursday, the day after she was spotted in the city, and while it's possible she was getting a COVID-19 test when she stopped by a doctor's office, she didn't go straight home after. The former businesswoman was later seen taking a carefully wrapped present to her mother Ivana's townhouse, where she stayed for about an hour. Ivanka had missed her mother's 72 birthday on February 20 by five days. The mother of three was dressed casually in a black turtleneck and black cropped skinny jeans that she paired with an open chambray button-up shirt for an extra layer of warmth and comfy black flats. She had on a blue face mask when she walked into her mom's home, but it was off when she left. It's unclear when Ivanka flew back to Miami after her short stay in New York. Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup. 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. [March 02, 2021] Insurance Solutions Industry Veterans Launch Spear Technologies CORTE MADERA, Calif., March 2, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Insurance solutions industry veterans, Jose Tribuzio and Brian Mack, today announced the launch of Spear Technologies. After seeing that existing systems in the property and casualty (P&C) market were outdated and required expensive customizations, these co-founders made it their mission to deliver flexible, extensible insurance solutions developed on the Microsoft Power Platform. Today, the company launches its first solution: SpearClaims, a multi-line claims management system including workers' compensation, general liability, auto, and property for both commercial and personal lines. "Brian and I have been in the insurance solutions business for more than 20 years. Last year, we saw an opportunity to disrupt the market," said Jose Tribuzio, CEO at Spear Technologies. "Many insurance companies and claims organizations feel stuck in time with their current systems. They're trying to resolve tomorrow's business challenges with yesterday's technology. With SpearClaims, they see how a claims solution developed with the Power Platform can be transformative for their operations." "We already have commitments from two clients for SpearClaims, which we'll announce soon," said Brian Mack, CRO at Spear Technologies. "Companies are attracted by two things: our in-depth knowledge of the claims process and the power of our low-code/no-code platform. With easy drag-and-drop configuration, our claims system gives them an unprecedented level of control and speed to achieve competitive differentiation in today's challenging business climate." Using SpearClaims n the Microsoft Power Platform, customers can take advantage of the following benefits: Extensibility. Organizations achieve tremendous control. They can easily configure and extend SpearClaims to support specific business needs. And using Power Apps, they can deploy even more capabilities. Organizations achieve tremendous control. They can easily configure and extend SpearClaims to support specific business needs. And using Power Apps, they can deploy even more capabilities. Performance. Companies bask in the simplicity of one user interface (UI) across a variety of devices, from desktop to mobile. A superior software-as-a-service (SaaS) data service translates into a solution that's easy to use, easy to manage, compliant, secure, fast, scalable, and globally available. Companies bask in the simplicity of one user interface (UI) across a variety of devices, from desktop to mobile. A superior software-as-a-service (SaaS) data service translates into a solution that's easy to use, easy to manage, compliant, secure, fast, scalable, and globally available. Intelligent Automation. Everyday business users may use tools like AI Builder and Power Automate to implement unique workflows and business processes with ease. These citizen developers, as well as other trained resources, can launch capabilities quickly, effectively and at a lower cost. Everyday business users may use tools like AI Builder and Power Automate to implement unique workflows and business processes with ease. These citizen developers, as well as other trained resources, can launch capabilities quickly, effectively and at a lower cost. Digital Engagement. Providing insureds and claims stakeholders with the information they need is vital to an efficient claims operation. Using Portals and Virtual Agents, organizations can launch their own portal and use bots to enable and streamline virtual interactions. Providing insureds and claims stakeholders with the information they need is vital to an efficient claims operation. Using Portals and Virtual Agents, organizations can launch their own portal and use bots to enable and streamline virtual interactions. Integration. Insurance companies often have hundreds of data sources and applications. Now with an extensive library of pre-defined connectors, they can easily integrate SpearClaims with their other solutions. Insurance companies often have hundreds of data sources and applications. Now with an extensive library of pre-defined connectors, they can easily integrate SpearClaims with their other solutions. Analytics. Customers can build and customize their own dashboards using Power BI. By consolidating and visualizing key performance metrics in one place, they have the insights to target problem areas and improve overall outcomes. Customers can build and customize their own dashboards using Power BI. By consolidating and visualizing key performance metrics in one place, they have the insights to target problem areas and improve overall outcomes. Trusted Cloud. These days more companies are moving to the cloud. Spear customers benefit from cloud hosting on Azure. This is backed by the Microsoft Trust Center, which ensures security, privacy, compliance, reliability, and resiliency. All of this helps keep a company's intellectual property protected. About Spear Technologies Spear Technologies aims to provide property and casualty insurance companies with an enterprise claims management system for the future. Developed on the Microsoft Power Platform, SpearClaims delivers unparalleled control, speed, and results. By leveraging this top-rated low-code/no-code development platform, Spear Technologies empowers companies with the ability to easily and quickly configure and tailor SpearClaims to meet their unique needs. SpearClaims' architecture provides the capabilities for using built-in AI and automation tools to extend capabilities for competitive differentiation and results. For more information, visit www.spear-tech.com. Contact: Brian Mack 925-366-9296 Email: info@spear-tech.com View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/insurance-solutions-industry-veterans-launch-spear-technologies-301238061.html SOURCE Spear Technologies, 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. Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton arrives at the U.S. Capitol ahead of the inauguration of President Joe Biden in Washington on Jan. 20, 2021. (Melina Mara/Pool/Getty Images) Hillary Clinton Says Cuomos Accusers Deserve Answers The women accusing New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo of sexual harassment deserve answers, former Democrat presidential nominee Hillary Clinton says. These stories are difficult to read, and the allegations brought forth raise serious questions that the women who have come forward and all New Yorkers deserve answers to, Clinton said in a statement. Im glad to see that there will be a full, independent, and thorough investigation, she added. Clinton lives in New York and has long been a supporter of Cuomo, a fellow Democrat who has governed the state since 2011. Three women have in recent days accused Cuomo of harassment, with one claiming he kissed her suddenly on the mouth in a meeting and another alleging he asked her for a kiss at a wedding. The third woman emerged on Monday, with accusations bolstered by a photograph that showed Cuomo placing both hands on her face. Lindsey Boylan, a self-described progressive who is running for Manhattan borough president, was the first woman to come forward. In a tweet last week, she wrote that she was grateful for support shes received from across the country since then. When we show up & support victims, we make it easier for others to come forward. Only by shining a light on this kind of abuse will we be able to end it, she said in a tweet. Cuomo on Sunday said that he at work is sometimes being playful while cracking jokes that he believes are humorous. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo talks to people after a press conference in New York City on Feb. 24, 2021. (Seth Wenig/Pool/AFP via Getty Images) I do, on occasion, tease people in what I think is a good natured way. I do it in public and in private. You have seen me do it at briefings hundreds of times. I have teased people about their personal lives, their relationships, about getting married or not getting married. I mean no offense and only attempt to add some levity and banter to what is a very serious business, he said. To be clear I never inappropriately touched anybody and I never propositioned anybody and I never intended to make anyone feel uncomfortable, but these are allegations that New Yorkers deserve answers to. New York Attorney General Letitia James on Monday said her office is moving forward with an investigation into the sexual harassment claims after receiving a referral letter from Cuomos office granting her request to probe the accusations. James plans on appointing a special deputy to conduct the investigation. This is not a responsibility we take lightly as allegations of sexual harassment should always be taken seriously. As the letter states, at the close of the review, the findings will be disclosed in a public report, 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. Farmers raising fowl and growing pomelo and litchis are earning tens of trillions of dong in Bac Giang Province by using high technology in agricultural production. Quy earns VND2 billion a year from fowl farming Pham Van Dung, director of the Hong Xuan Production and General Service Cooperative in Luc Ngan, said though market prices had decreased sharply, he still could sell oranges and pomelos at stable prices at supermarkets. Prior to 2013, Dung and other households in the localities, which are now members of the cooperative, grew fruit trees based on their experience and did not follow any principles. As a result, the quality of products was unequal and they were always very cheap with prices set by merchants. In 2013, he began cultivating fruits in accordance with VietGAP standards. The cultivation requires much labor, but the cost is the same. The products can go for better prices, he said. His cooperative has been granted a growing area code and QR for traceability, and the products meet requirements for distribution in supermarkets. The cultivation of lichis is also organized the same way. This allowed farmers to sell litchis well in mid-2020, despite Covid-19. More than 350 tons of litchis of the cooperative were sold via supermarkets. As supermarkets committed to take all the output, I did not have to go to market to sell fruit, he said, revealing that the cooperatives revenue reached VND20 billion last year. Nguyen Van Lan, a farmer in Lam hamlet of Nam Duong commune, also was happy about his revenue from his litchi orchard. With products meeting standards for export to Japan, he could sell litchis for export at VND30,000 per kilogram, which was higher than the average market price. With three hectares of litchis, which produced output of 40 tons, Lan collected VND1.1 billion and made a profit of VND900 million last crop. Nguyen Huu Quy in Dong Ky commune of Yen The district decided to get rich by raising fowl in accordance with VietGAP standards. He raises fowl in a semi-natural way which produces chickens suited to Vietnamese taste. The demand is always very high. I sell 33,000-36,000 chickens a year. With the average price of VND50,000 per kilogram, we can get revenue of VND5 billion a year and make a profit of VND1.7-2 billion, Quy said. Duong Thanh Tung, director of the Bac Giang provincial agriculture department, said the total farm, forestry and seafood produce in the province in 2020 was estimated at VND31.527 trillion. More and more multi-billion dong hamlets have appeared and there are numerous dong billionaires who got rich thanks to hi-tech agriculture. Farmers have shifted from traditional production to chain-based production with high farming technologies and traceability, thus creating high-quality products meeting demand for domestic consumption and export. The Yen The Hill Chicken area, for example, can collect VND1.5 trillion a year from fowl raising a year, while the Luc Ngan citrus fruit growing area VND1 trillion. Litchis alone brought revenue of VND7 trillion last year. Changing way of thinking Tung said the achievements show success in agricultural restructuring. Farmers have shifted from traditional production to chain-based production with high farming technologies and traceability, thus creating high-quality products meeting demand for domestic consumption and export. In the past, farm produce sometimes went unsold and farmers had to shout for help. Farmers grew crops and then chopped down plants when the products could not sell. This occurred because the production scale was small, and it was every man for himself, which created products with unequal quality. Five years ago, Bac Giang decided to restructure local agriculture. The provincial authorities stressed that farmers need to choose to raise suitable crops and animals to exploit the local advantages and develop local specialties. Farmers are also required to apply high technology in production in accordance with VietGAP standards and organic production. As a result, Bac Giang has not had to ask for help to sell farm produce in recent years. Tam An Digital transformation future of Vietnams agriculture Growing tomatoes via smartphones and sitting on the top of mountain selling vegetables to the US from a distance are what some Vietnamese farmers are doing today. A year after ending her six-season run on the ABC sitcom Fresh Off the Boat, Constance Wu is returning to the small screen. The 38-year-old actress has signed on to play the female lead opposite Chris Pratt in the new Amazon action-thriller series The Terminal List, via Deadline. Taylor Kitsch also stars in the new series, based on the best-selling 2018 novel by Jack Carr, which has spawned a book series. New role: A year after ending her six-season run on the ABC sitcom Fresh Off the Boat, Constance Wu is returning to the small screen Book: The 38-year-old actress has signed on to play the female lead opposite Chris Pratt in the new Amazon action-thriller series The Terminal List, via Deadline Co-star: Taylor Kitsch also stars in the new series, based on the best-selling 2018 novel by Jack Carr, which has spawned a book series The series follows James Reece (Pratt), who returns home to his family after his Navy SEAL team was ambushed, leaving him with conflicting memories of the assault. As more evidence comes to light, Reece comes to learn that dark forces are at play and working against him, endangering him and his family. Wu will portray a war correspondent named Katie Buranek, who finds an 'unlikely ally' in Reece. Chris' character: The series follows James Reece (Pratt), who returns home to his family after his Navy SEAL team was ambushed, leaving him with conflicting memories of the assault Buranek is described as a 'risk-seeking' journalist who uses her byline, 'to speak truth to power.' She is at a crossroads in her journalistic career, having left her prestigious news outlet so she can work on her own terms. The writer hopes to make her way back to the mainstream media by telling Reece's story and exposing the conspiracy he's fighting against. Conspiracy: The writer hopes to make her way back to the mainstream media by telling Reece's story and exposing the conspiracy he's fighting against David DiGillio (Traveler, Strange Angel, Crossbones) is writing the series and serving as its showrunner, with Pratt also serving as executive producer with John Schumacher through their Indivisible Productions company they launched in 2020. Antoine Fuqua (Training Day) is slated to direct and executive produce through his Fuqua Films banner, alongside author Carr and Daniel Shattuck. The series will be a co-production between Amazon Studios and Civic Center Media in association with MRC Television. New series: The series will be a co-production between Amazon Studios and Civic Center Media in association with MRC Television Wu will voice Mom in the upcoming animated adventure Wish Dragon, which doesn't have a release date at this time. She also starred in I Was a Simple Man, which debuted at the end of January, and she is attached to another upcoming series, Solos. She'll next be seen on the big screen in the upcoming Low Budget Ethnic Movie for director/star Daniel Yoon. New Delhi: At least three terrorists were killed and two soldiers martyred in an overnight encounter between security forces and terrorists in Awneera village of Jammu and Kashmir's Shopian, an official said. The encounter broke out on Saturday evening and ended around noon on Sunday. Search operation is still on. IGP Kashmir on Sunday confirmed that three terrorists were killed, while two army jawans lost life in service in the incident. "However, information was of the presence of 5 terrorists out of whom two are believed to have escaped. Firefight ended searches still on," he said. The encounter also resulted in injuries to three soliders. ALSO READ: J&K: Woman killed in ceasefire violation by Pak army in Poonch #Visuals Cordon&search Op begins in Shopian's Awneera village ;security forces suspect presence of terrorists in the area (Visuals deferred) pic.twitter.com/or8BW3ggIH ANI (@ANI) August 12, 2017 Updates: # Earlier among three militants police identified one militant as Adil Malik, but after proper verification, it has come forward that he is not among killed one. Third militant as per Police Shopian is Probably Yasin Yatoo Alias Mehmood Gaznavi (chief operational commander HM). #11:15 AM: IGP Kashmir has confirmed that total 3 terrorists have been killed in the encounter. However, information was of presence of 5 terrorists out of whom two are believed to have escaped. Firefight ended searches still on. Earlier 2 soldiers killed and 3 were injured in same operation. J&K: Sepoy Ilayaraja P and Sepoy Gowai Sumedh Waman - the two soldiers who lost their lives in the encounter in Shopian pic.twitter.com/LRzIFpXkWb ANI (@ANI) August 13, 2017 Details of Shopian encounter martyrs LATE SEP ILAYARAJA P DOB: 18 May 1992 NOK: Smt Selvi R (Wife) Details of Family: Sri Periasamy (Father) Smt Meenakshi(Mother) Smt Selvi R, (Wife) Home: Sivagangai, Tamil Nadu LATE SEP GAWAI SUMEDH WAMAN DOB: 01 Aug 1992 NOK: Smt Mayawati Waman Gawai ( Mother) Details of Family: Shri Waman Gawai (Father) Smt Mayawati Waman Gawai (Mother) Home: Akola, Maharashtra Two security personnel martyred, while three injured. One terrorist eliminated and two still hiding in adjoining house: J&K DGP SP Vaid ANI (@ANI) August 13, 2017 #8:30 AM, Sunday: One terrorist killed, Operation continues: SSP, Shopian (ANI) From Saturday: # Five soldiers injured in encounter at Shopian # Exchange of fire underway between security forces & terrorists in Awneera village of J&K's Shopian; as per reports 2-3 terrorists trapped # Cordon-and-search operation begins in Awneera village of J&K's Shopian; security forces suspect presence of terrorists in the area Exchange of fire underway between security forces & terrorists in Awneera village of J&K's Shopian; as per reports 2-3 terrorists trapped ANI (@ANI) August 12, 2017 READ: Amid Doklam dispute, India-China Army hold BPM meet at Nathu La #FLASH: Cordon-and-search operation begins in Awneera village of J&K's Shopian; security forces suspect presence of terrorists in the area pic.twitter.com/Aw8cMwU0tB ANI (@ANI) August 12, 2017 For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Russian Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine's use has been approved in Slovakia, the country's Health Minister Marek Krajci said. The country could start using the shots for volunteers in two weeks at the earliest, after inspecting the first batches. A military cargo plane with 200,000 doses of Russia's vaccine landed in the Slovakian city of Kosice on Monday. Slovakia has signed a deal to acquire 2 million doses of the Russian jab but the purchase was kept secret until this first delivery. The Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) said yesterday that Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine has been authorized for use in Slovakia. Daan Roosegaarde and his team of designers, external experts, and scientists challenged themselves to discover how the power of light can be used to combat viruses and therefore enhance our well-being. Research shows that though traditional 254nm UV light is harmful, the new far-UVC light with a wavelength of 222 nanometers can actually sanitize viruses safely. Urban Sun, a project in development by Studio Roosegaarde, shines a large circle of this far-UVC light into public spaces, cleaning those spaces of the coronavirus. It acts as an additional layer of protection to current government rules. Urban Sun aims to inspire hope. It combats the negative impact of social isolation by aiming to improve cultural gatherings, sporting events, public squares, and schoolyards. Urban Sun debuts as a premiere at StudioRoosegaarde.net with the potential for future exhibits. The project is supported by the Dutch Council of the Public Health & Society Board. Urban Sun is created by Roosegaarde's team, together with external experts and scientists from the Netherlands, the US, Japan, and Italy. The Urban Sun's far-UVC light source is measured and calibrated by the Dutch National Metrology Institute VSL. Urban Sun meets the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP) safety standards. Professor Karl Linden, award winning innovator in UV technologies and founding board member of the International Ultraviolet Association: "Urban Sun is inspiring. It will make enjoying public spaces safer and I look forward to visiting locations where this far-UVC sun is shining." Designer Daan Roosegaarde: "Suddenly our world is filled with plastic barriers, our family reduced to pixels on a computer screen. Let's be architects of our new normal and create better places to meet." The science behind Urban Sun is based on multiple peer-reviewed articles authored by scientists from Columbia University and Hiroshima University. Research shows that 222nm far-UVC light can reduce the presence of viruses, including various strains of coronavirus and influenza, up to 99.9%. More information: https://www.studioroosegaarde.net/project/urban-sun Contact: Annabella Rijksen, Team Studio Roosegaarde [email protected] T: +31 (0)10 30 70 909 SOURCE Studio Roosegaarde One in five Chinese Australians say they were physically threatened or attacked because of their Chinese heritage in the past 12 months, with most blaming the COVID-19 pandemic and the breakdown in relations between the two countries. More than a third (37 per cent) of people in Australia with Chinese heritage surveyed by the Lowy Institute reported being treated differently or less favourably and 31 per cent said they were called offensive names. Osmond Chiu, a research fellow at Per Capita, says the Lowy reports findings are deeply concerning but come as no surprise. When asked about factors that contributed to these experiences, 66 per cent pointed to the COVID-19 pandemic and 52 per cent to the state of Australia-China relations. Osmond Chiu was one of three witnesses with Chinese-Australian heritage asked last year by Liberal senator Eric Abetz to unequivocally condemn the Chinese Communist Party during a Senate inquiry into issues facing diaspora communities in Australia. He later described the questioning as demeaning, saying it felt like a gotcha loyalty test. HOUSTON, March 2, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Binford Supply ("Binford"), a portfolio company of private equity firm Building Industry Partners, today announced its partnership with Fencing Supply Group ("FSG"), a group of industry-leading, fencing distributors. Binford, one of the fastest growing fencing distributors in the country, is a leader in the Texas, Oklahoma, and Colorado markets with 11 branches and 2 complementary manufacturing facilities. Founded in 2021 by The Sterling Group, an operationally focused middle market private equity firm, FSG is the national leader in fencing supply distribution. FSG businesses serve professional fencing contractors who provide new, improvement, and repair fencing services across residential, industrial, commercial, and infrastructure end markets. "Joining the FSG family of fencing distributors was the right next step for our entrepreneurial, customer-focused company," Jeff Cook, President of Binford said. "We look forward to working towards the shared vision of growth in each of our businesses." "Binford is the perfect addition to FSG because of its strong brand, its legacy of wood fencing leadership, its customer service model, and its passionate and dedicated team members. We are very excited to have Jeff and the entire Binford team join the FSG family," said Brian Henry, Partner at the Sterling Group. Sterling has deep experience in the building products distribution industry, having previously partnered with entrepreneur owners to build Roofing Supply Group, Construction Supply Group, and Artisan Design Group. Fencing Supply Group and Sterling intend to continue to support the platform through organic growth initiatives as well as an active acquisition strategy. Binford is the second acquisition for the Fencing Supply platform. FSG acquired Merchants Metals on February 26, 2021. About Fencing Supply Group Founded in 2021, Fencing Supply Group ("FSG") is a group of industry-leading, fencing distributors. FSG is the largest wholesale distributor of fencing supplies in the United States. FSG businesses serve professional fencing contractors who provide new, improvement, and repair fencing services across residential, industrial, commercial, and infrastructure end markets. The FSG model combines local relationships, service, and expertise with national scale and resources for the benefit of customers, employees, and suppliers. Current FSG companies include Merchants Metals and Binford Supply, which collectively operate 46 branches across 29 states. About The Sterling Group Founded in 1982, The Sterling Group is a private equity and private credit investment firm that targets investments in basic manufacturing, distribution, and industrial services companies. Typical enterprise values of these companies at initial formation range from $100 million to $750 million. Sterling has sponsored the buyout of 58 platform companies and numerous add-on acquisitions for a total transaction value of over $14.0 billion. Sterling currently has over $4.0 billion of assets under management. For further information, please visit www.sterling-group.com. SOURCE The Sterling Group, L.P. Related Links http://www.sterling-group.com Gabunia: Vaccination may begin by the end of March with AstraZeneca vaccine By Veronika Malinboym Despite the repeated promises of health officials, Georgia did not receive the first doses of vaccine via the Covax platform in February. The platform released a statement in which it explained that only the countries that were able to meet all the requirements managed to receive the first doses of vaccine last month:The national regulator of all participating countries must authorize the vaccine to be imported; Also, all participants must sign a compensation contract with the vaccine manufacturers in order to be able to receive doses from the Covax platform, reads the statement.In response to the Covax statement, Deputy Health Minister of Georgia Tamar Gabunia explained that the delay in receiving vaccines was caused by the additional requirements put forward by the Covax platform, and which Georgia did not manage to meet. She clarified that the additional requirements are not related to the technical capacity of Georgia to store and initiate vaccines, but rather the financial reinsurance of the countrys liability, put forward by the vaccine manufacturer, Pfizer:We have already made an inquiry to the Covax platform, and the answer we received states that the reason for the delay is related to Pfizers additional requirements, said Gabunia.In her statement, the Deputy Health Minister also reminded that Georgia is currently negotiating the purchase of AstraZeneca vaccines, which may be delivered to the country by the end of this month, and, in the meantime, the Pfizer vaccine may also appear in the country.Earlier last month, it was announced that the first stage of the anti-coronavirus vaccination program was expected to begin in mid-February. The first batch of the Pfizer vaccine, which was supposed to be acquired via the Covax platform, was to be administered to health workers. The Georgian government has already announced that it plans to vaccinate approximately 3.7 million people or 60% of the Georgian population by the end of 2021.As of the last 24 hours, 160 new cases of COVID-19 were detected in Georgia, 409 patients recovered, and 10 died. A total of 270, 918 cases have been detected in Georgia since February 2020; 265,523 have recovered and 3,520 have died of the virus. Credit: University of Oregon Using high-resolution imaging and 3-D computer modeling, a University of Oregon research team has found that the branching arms of neurons weave through space in a way that balances their need to connect to other neurons with the costs of doing so. The discovery about how these dendrites behave came as Richard Taylor's team sought to understand the fractal nature of neurons as part of a project to design fractal-inspired electrodes to connect with retinal neurons to address vision loss due to retinal diseases. The research, detailed Jan. 27 in Scientific Reports, could be important, Taylor said, in creating electrodes with a welcoming runway for neuronal dendrites. "The challenge in our research has been understanding how the neurons we want to target in the retina will connect to our electrodes," said Taylor, a professor and head of the Department of Physics. "Essentially, we have to fool the neurons into thinking that the electrode is another neuron by making the two have the same fractal character." In the project, the UO team and collaborators at the University of Auckland and University of Canterbury in New Zealand used confocal microscopy, which provides an optically enhanced 3-D view that allows for precise measurements, to examine neurons from the hippocampal region of rat brains. That revealed an intricate interplay of branches that weave through space at multiple size scales before connecting with other neurons. That, Taylor said, raised the question, why adopt such a complicated pattern? With the help of UO postdoctoral researcher Saba Moslehi, doctoral students Julian H. Smith and Conor Rowland turned to 3-D modeling. They explored what happens when they manipulated the dendrites of more than 1,600 neurons into unnatural forms, straightening them or curling them up. "By distorting their branches and looking at what happens, we were able to show that the fractal weaving of the natural branches is balancing the ability of neurons to connect with their neighbors to form natural electric circuits while balancing the construction and operating costs of the circuits," Rowland said. Using a fractal analysis known as the box-counting technique, the researchers assigned fractal dimensions, or D values, that assess the relative contributions of the coarse- and fine-scaled dendrites to a neuron's fractal pattern. These D values, Taylor said, will be useful in optimizing his team's tiny electrodes for implanting at the back of eyes to stimulate retinal neurons. "Our implants will have to accommodate the neurons' weaving branches through careful selection of their D values," said Taylor, a member of the UO's Materials Science Institute. "Unlike building a straight runway so a pilot can land efficiently, our electrodes will need to act like a weaving runway so that the neurons can connect without changing their behavior." Nature's fractals benefit from how they grow at multiple scales, said Taylor, who has long sought bioinspiration from fractals. While trees have the most-recognized form of fractal branching, this work, he said, highlights how neurons differ. "Whereas the fractal character of trees originates predominantly from the distribution of branch sizes, the neurons also use the way their branches weave through space to generate their fractal character," Taylor said. Taylor, a Cottrell Scholar of the Research Council for Science Advancement, was granted a sweeping U.S. patent in 2015 for not only his development of artificial fractal-based implants related to vision but also to all such implants that link signaling activity with nerves for any purpose in animal and human biology. Taylor's team also raised the possibility that D values of neuronal networking may benefit research on brain-related diseases. For Alzheimer's disease, Taylor said, they could be a measure for understanding declines in connectivity between neurons. "A lot of diseases result in losing connectivity, and neuron D values may be dropping as they move into a pathological state," he said. Explore further Simulations signal early success for fractal-based retinal implants More information: Julian H. Smith et al. How neurons exploit fractal geometry to optimize their network connectivity, Scientific Reports (2021). Journal information: Scientific Reports Julian H. Smith et al. How neurons exploit fractal geometry to optimize their network connectivity,(2021). DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-81421-2 A state border is all the difference between election workers who can get vaccinated now against COVID-19 ahead of the spring elections, and those who are still waiting. New Jersey poll workers are considered essential workers and are eligible now for the COVID-19 vaccine. Without question ... poll workers are essential workers. Period. Thats a no brainer, Gov. Phil Murphy said during a Feb. 12 news conference. While New Jerseys 2020 elections were held primarily through mail-in ballots, the governor has said the state would return to in-person voting this spring. Pennsylvania is a different story. The Keystone State is still in its 1A phase of the COVID-19 vaccination plan, and poll workers are not eligible until the 1C phase. Asked last week if Gov. Tom Wolfs administration would open COVID-19 vaccine eligibility for poll workers ahead of the May primary election, Department of State spokeswoman Wanda Murren said there continues to be discussions on that topic with Department of Health. Many election officials and poll workers will qualify for groups earlier than 1C, she said. With three months to go until the primary, many more people will be vaccinated during that time, Murran said. On Tuesday, Wolf indicated teachers and other front line workers would be moved up for eligibility since the release of the one-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine. While the governor said more information would be released Wednesday, he did not include poll workers and election staff in the list he gave in his brief comments about the news. Lehigh Valley officials have expressed frustration about poll workers not being eligible before the primary. Lehigh County Chief Clerk of Elections Tim Benyo said poll workers have asked if they could move up the vaccination list if they are working the May 18 election. Unfortunately, they cant, he said. It would be nice. It would be something we wouldnt have to worry about moving forward, Benyo said. Everyone would have more of a sense of safety. Phase 1A includes long-term care facility residents, health care personnel, people ages 65 and older, and people between the ages of 16 and 64 with certain high-risk conditions. In addition to poll workers, Phase 1C includes workers in government and the courts, public safety, transportation, energy, water and wastewater, food service, housing constriction, finance, communications and media. Because of the coronavirus, the 2020 Pennsylvania primary was postponed from April 28 until June 2. The November election went ahead as scheduled, but county election offices were inundated with people wanting to vote via mail-in ballot. Benyo said on the last day to accept mail-in and absentee ballots for the November election, his workers dealt with 700 people. Im so surprised no one got sick, he said. We were so thankful no one got sick. Each state is different in its vaccine eligibility requirements. Last month Louisiana made poll workers eligible, meanwhile election staff are not yet eligible in New York state. On Tuesday, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said the state should change its vaccine eligibility requirements for a number of essential workers, including board of elections staff. .@NYCMayor says the state is not keeping up with the need to update vaccine eligibility categories. The people below are not eligible yet but should be, the mayor says: pic.twitter.com/vLMbXaNSvd katie honan (@katie_honan) March 2, 2021 Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to lehighvalleylive.com. Sarah Cassi may be reached at scassi@lehighvalleylive.com. Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-02 19:59:09|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close TEHRAN, March 2 (Xinhua) -- Talking about diplomacy to settle problems is "hypocritical" as long as the United States has not lifted the sanctions on Iran, Iranian government's spokesman Ali Rabiee said on Tuesday. The U.S. government's claim that it believes in diplomacy is mere "hypocritical rhetoric and unacceptable" without the practical removal of the sanctions on Iran, Rabiee was quoted as saying by Tasnim news agency. "We believe in diplomacy as the only way out of the impasse created by Washington. But the least thing to prove goodwill is that the U.S. should honor its primary commitments which it has reneged on under the UN Security Council Resolution 2231," he said. He urged the U.S. President Joe Biden not to follow the legacy of his predecessor who exerted maximum pressure of sanctions against the Islamic republic. Iran's Foreign Ministry on Sunday said that time was "not appropriate" for an informal meeting between Iran, Europe and the United States. Last week, the European Union offered to attend an informal meeting between Iran and other parties to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), with the United States also attending as a guest. Enditem This now-iconic dish started with Irish immigrants in Jewish neighborhoods in Boston and New York, cooking corned brisket from the deli Irish-style: in a pot with cabbage and potatoes. (Elena Veselova/Shutterstock) How Corned Beef and Cabbage Became an American Irish Delicacy I have always lived among the Irish. I grew up in Boston, a legendary Celtic hub, and settled in Missoula, Montana, 100 miles downstream from Americas most Irish city per capita: Butte. I used to credit my affinity for that feisty tribe to this coincidental geographic overlap, but now I see a deeper connection. And you can see it by looking no further than the nearest bowl of corned beef and cabbage. For a time, Ireland exported some of the worlds finest corned beef. It was a pricey treat, and it never caught on in the with the frugal Irish, who preferred lamb and pork to beef anyway. Corned beef and cabbage became an American Irish delicacy in Boston and New York, where immigrants from the Emerald Isle found themselves in Jewish neighborhoods, with the means to bring home a corned brisket from the local delicatessen once in a while and cook it Irish style: in a pot with cabbage and potatoes. As such, it resembles a meaty version of a cabbage-based borscht my Jewish ancestors made in Ukraine. Leopold Bloom, the co-hero in James Joyces Ulysses, was a lot like a bowl of corned beef on St. Paddys Day. Like the dish, Mr. Bloom was the product of Jewish and Irish parentage, which Joyce used to illuminate the parallels he saw in the struggles of the Irish under British rule and the Jews trying to escape Egypt. In the United States, the Irish Americans and Jews shared a sense of exile from their respective homelands. Corning was traditionally a way to preserve meat before refrigeration: Tough cuts were cured in sugar and salt, the grains of which were the size of corn kernels. (Elena Veselova/Shutterstock) And with their North American countrymen, those same Irish Americans shared a resentment of British rule, which helps explain their apparent enthusiasm for American Revolutionary history. How else can we explain the obsession, among the Irish of Boston, with Evacuation Day, which was signed into law in green ink in 1941? Evacuation Day commemorates the end of the 11-month siege of Boston by the British, when Gen. George Washington fortified Dorchester Heights and sent the Continental Army packing to Nova Scotia. The official date of this evacuation was March 17, an extremely fortuitous coincidence for anyone wishing to skip work for St. Patricks Day, but stymied because its not a federal holiday. The Irish of Montana, meanwhile, are a bit more Wild West. Rather than organize to lobby for legal holidays, they simply skip work and walk around with their beers. The gold rush of 1862 had brought them to Butte, which sits on the continental divide, and was once Americas largest city west of the Mississippi. As a young reporter in Missoula, I felt like Id struck gold myself when I was assigned a story on Buttes St. Patricks Day festivities. After the parade, revelers raised their pints in massive beer halls and howled in festive crescendos, like the wave going around a stadium. It was there that I sidled up to the bar and ate my first bowl of corned beef and cabbage. Corning was traditionally a way to preserve meat before refrigeration. Tough cuts were cured in sugar and salt, the grains of which were the size of corn kernels. It was a delicacy in England, but since Ireland had lower salt taxes for a time, it became corn central. Today, corned beef comes in a special can with a key on the outside, which you turn until the can opens. Inside a typical can, youll find what would be considered cat food in any other context. Amazingly, it can be made palatable when heated, for better or for worse. But once you try the salty, stringy taste and texture of home-corned brisket, youll no sooner go back to tinned than the British went back to Boston. Corned Beef Brisket Like most contemporary corning recipes, this one calls for a nitrate salt to help tenderize the meat and give it a bright red hue. 1 brisket, about 4 pounds, preferably marbled with fat 3 quarts distilled or spring water 1/2 cup canning/pickling salt 1/2 cup tenderizing salt (it has nitrate in it) 1 cup sugar 2 tablespoons pickling spices 2 bay leaves 8 whole peppercorns 2 minced garlic cloves Add everything but the brisket to a gallon pot and heat to a boil. Turn it off and let cool to room temperature. Place the meat in the pot with a weight on top to keep the meat submerged. Let it brine, refrigerated, for about a week. Irish Borscht (Corned Beef With Roots and Cabbage) 1 recipe corned beef 2 pounds medium-sized potatoes, uncut and unpeeled 1 large onion, sliced in half end to end 1 pound carrots, cut into 1/2-inch-thick rounds 1 whole green cabbage, cut into 8 wedges Drain the corned beef and replace the water. Bring to a simmer and replace the water again, to remove the salt. Bring to a simmer again and cook, covered, until tender, about 3 hours. Add the potatoes and onion and cook until the potatoes are tender. Add the carrots and keep cooking until the carrots are tender. Add the cabbage wedges and simmer for another 15 minutes. Slice the meat and serve in a bowl with vegetables and broth. Final destination: Turn leftover corned beef and potatoes into corned beef hash for breakfast. (Ari LeVaux) Corned Beef Hash and Eggs In Missoula, my favorite breakfast joint serves corned beef hash, aka chopped corned beef and potatoes, fried until brown and tossed with scrambled eggs. That, I realized, is the final destination when first we dunk a brisket in that sweet and salty brine. Eggs Leftover corned beef and potatoes Oil Parsley as a garnish Scramble the eggs and set aside. Fish out some meat and potatoes from the pot. Cut them into 1/2-inch cubes. Heat a pan on medium and add the beef cubes first, along with some oil if theres not enough fat in the beef. When you smell the beef starting to brown, add the potatoes, and fry for about 10 minutes. Toss in the scrambled eggs, and serve garnished with a four-leaf sprig of parsley. Ari LeVaux writes about food in Missoula, Mont. WASHINGTON, March 2, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Astra Veda Corporation formerly known as WorldFlix, Inc. (OTC PINK: WRFX), would like to address shareholders and the investment community in response to recent exploitive attempts by others to manipulate our stock value. We discovered unfounded social media rumors disseminated during the past several months by unscrupulous traders in attempts to "pump up" our stock as well as many others. The Company emphatically asserts that we do not pay to promote our stock and believe the value of our shares should reflect the facts and disclosures provided by the Company. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) reached out to the Company last week for confirmation that WRFX was still in business and not defunct. Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Mick Davis stated, "we are still in business and remain an ongoing concern", to avoid being swept up in the recent SEC suspensions. With the assistance of competent legal counsel, we are now preparing to make accurate financial disclosures. We explained to the SEC that our deferral of disclosures was due to the lack of factual cooperation by the former CEO and the COVID-19 delay of legal due process in litigation with the former Board of Directors. To exacerbate the delay, our updated application to OTC Markets has been on a processing hold. The Company is appealing for an exception to their hold so we can submit financial disclosures while waiting for FINRA to finish processing our renewed corporate action for a name and ticker symbol change. The executive team has nearly finished reconstructing our finance and accounting ledgers which provide the rigor and financial controls necessary for consolidated ledgers of multiple companies. Investors and stakeholders expect fidelity in reporting from management overseeing more than one subsidiary. The Company designed our monetary inflow processes to accommodate tens of thousands of customers. The management will be handling varied revenue models including processes for supporting recurring revenue management streams from multiple subsidiaries. We are proud of this accomplishment with that investment in time and resources. The company has chosen and deployed NetSuite ERP which is favored by external auditors and widely preferred by Public Company Accounting Oversight Board auditors who oversee and verify the outcomes of independent external auditors. In the meantime, the Company is working diligently to correct the final list of past defects and enable growth. We have developed a pilot program to provide our advanced operations management platform (Punchzee.com) free of charge to a select chapter of the National Association of Women in Construction (NAWIC) as we integrate our onboarding, referrals, and sales processes, empowering the next generation of skilled trades workforce. Today the NAWIC has more than 115 chapters in 47 states. The Company recently signed letters of intent with two prominent inventors with established patents, trademarks, and production trade secrets within the ballistic materials domain. The agreement is enabling cost effective bullet resistant barriers to be mass produced, fulfilling an existing demand of purchase orders by a number of government customers. This established set of relationships will leverage disruptive, creative innovation with unique business relationships and links an agile production capability for product development and delivery. The Company anticipates finalizing the agreement within the next 30 days. THE LEADERSHIP IS EXCITED FOR THE FUTURE AND WILL UPDATE SHAREHOLDERS AS THE ISSUES AND FACTS WARRANT. ABOUT ASTRA VEDA CORPORATION Astra Veda Corporation (OTC PINK: WRFX), formerly known as WorldFlix, Inc is a Wyoming corporation bringing disruptive and innovative technologies to market through a rigorous due diligence and opportunity assessment program called the Astra Star Gate. Through our subsidiary co-investment and affiliate partnerships, Astra Veda provides a variety of unique processes, products, tools and software applications that innovative resources for customers and partners to enhance and secure existing platforms. For more information, visit https://www.otcmarkets.com/stock/WRFX/overview FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS: "Safe Harbor" statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: This press release may contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements may be based on current expectations and are uncertain. Words such as expects, anticipates, intends, believe, plan, will, and similar words are expressions intended to identify these forward-looking statements. These statements may involve risk and subsequently are difficult to evaluate. Actual results may vary from descriptions herein due to many factors including but not limited to changes in business conditions, changes in laws and regulations, problems encountered in exploration and obtaining permits, changes in the competitive environment, technological advances, shortages of skilled workers, the need for additional capital and other risks listed in the company's Securities and Exchange Commission filings under "risk factors" and elsewhere. Forward-looking statements may speak only as of the date they were made, and the company is under no obligation to update them. CONTACT INFORMATION Astra Veda Corporation. (OTC: WRFX) [email protected] and www.astra-veda.com SOURCE Astra Veda Corporation Related Links https://www.astra-veda.com The minister says the president has actively been counteracting Russia's fifth column in Ukraine. Ukrainian Interior Minister Arsen Avakov says an independent Ukraine is nonsense to Russian President Vladimir Putin. "An independent Ukraine is nonsense to Putin," he told Ukrainian TV channel 1+1. Avakov recalled that late in 2019, when a Ukrainian delegation was going to the Normandy Four summit in Paris, he anticipated Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky would unlikely come to an agreement with his Russian counterpart. Read alsoUkraine's envoy links increased shelling in Donbas with sanctions against MedvedchukAt that moment, Zelensky was determined to do everything possible and try to negotiate with Putin, the minister said. "He is a critical thinker and he saw it was impossible. And if earlier it was a kind of tactics of his behavior, now his behavior is based on his principles. I hope so," Avakov said. Meanwhile, TV host Natalia Moseichuk said some media outlets call Zelensky a "ball with a displaced center of gravity," which "hits" both pro-Russian MP Viktor Medvedchuk, who is an ally of Putin in Ukraine, and pro-Ukrainian activists. She asked whether there was any logic behind such actions by the Ukrainian president. "One cannot compare the strength used to hit Medvedchuk, a pro-Russian fifth column, and the activists... It's a matter of the principles formulated by Zelensky for himself, which he now adheres to, and he is on track. He just cannot make everyone happy," the minister said. Avakov says he hopes the president will not abandon his principles. Sanctions against pro-Russian forces in Ukraine On February 2, 2021, President Volodymyr Zelensky enacted a National Security and Defense Council (NSDC) decision of February 2, 2021, to impose sanctions on Member of Parliament Taras Kozak and a number of TV channels Kozak owns, such as 112 Ukraine, NewsOne, and ZIK. After that, the channels were immediately disconnected from broadcasting. On February 19, 2021, the NSDC decided to impose sanctions on 19 legal entities and eight individuals. In particular, sanctions shall be applied to MP from the Opposition Platform - For Life Party Viktor Medvedchuk and his wife Oksana Marchenko. All their property and assets are subject to the sanctions. According to NSDC Secretary Oleksiy Danilov, the SBU Security Service of Ukraine has been investigating a case under Part 5 of Article 258 (financing of terrorism), and the latest sanctions were applied to Medvedchuk, Marchenko, and other persons precisely in connection with the said probe. The NSDC also made a decision to nationalize part of the Samara Western Direction fuel pipeline, now owned by Prykarpatzakhidtrans, which is said to be linked with Medvedchuk. On February 26, Ukraine's NSDC decided to impose sanctions on high-ranking officials and senior officers who betrayed Ukraine during the events of 2014 and supported Russia's aggression. Ten people were put on the sanction list; they were stripped of state awards and military ranks. Reporting by UNIAN The Co-WIN portal, the backbone of covid vaccination drive in the country, has seen more than 5 million registrations in the last two days, R S Sharma, chairman of the empowered group on vaccination told reporters on Tuesday. Stressing that there were no glitches with the Co-WIN portal, Sharma said that going forward people would be allowed to book slots online depending upon the capacity of the hospitals. Around 15 million people have received at least one dose of vaccine so far and more than 200,000 doses have been given to citizen beneficiaries those above 60 years and over 45 with comorbidities. Currently, Co-WIN provides forenoon and afternoon slots to beneficiaries which causes crowding on vaccination centres. Co-WIN 2.0 has done away with 9am to 5pm vaccination sessions. If a hospital has the capacity, then the system permits holding vaccination sessions beyond 5pm, Rajesh Bhushan, health secretary said. Many users complained they didnt get the OTP while others werent able to see their names on the list on the CO-WIN website after the launch of the new version on Monday. Hospitals too said that the system was extremely slow in uploading the data of each beneficiary. ALSO READ: RBI Governor expresses optimism about Covid following roll-out of vaccines Sharma said that there were glitches in the earlier version of Co-WIN launched on January 16 and they rectified. He said that many users went searching for a Co-WIN app which does not exist and therefore faced issues. He added however, the new version has a demand driven approach and that scalability of Co-WIN is a concern. We see no problem in scaling up. It should be able to take a huge amount of load...The number of transactions will be large...We also want data to be safe and secure. As Indias vaccination drive now reaches the general public, health ministry said that 50 million doses and 4.6 million vials of vaccine had so far been moved around the country. It has been a huge and complex logistical challenge, Bhushan added. There are four union governments medical store departments in the country, 60 consignee points and 29,000 cold chain points across the states. In many places, such as between Itanagar to Guwahati the vaccine has to take a seven hour long road journey on a reefer truck to reach the vaccination centres. Even as vaccination kicks off, the government is concerned over rising cases in Maharashtra, Kerala, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Haryana. Government feels that the recent surge has not been caused by any of the new mutations. Many states have seen the wedding season, big parties where large numbers of people have gathered which could have caused the increase, V K Paul, member-Health, NITI Aayog said. CHISINAU (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 02nd March, 2021) Moldova intends to urgently buy 1 million doses of coronavirus vaccines, the country's cabinet said in a statement. "Moldovan Parliament President Zinaida Greceanii summoned members of the government led by acting Prime Minister Aureliu Ciocoi to a working meeting, she called to urgently find an opportunity to purchase a batch of 1 million doses of vaccine to immunize citizens," the cabinet said. "Ciocoi said the request would be considered urgently, after which the procedure for public procurement would begin," it said. On February 26, the Moldovan drug agency registered three coronavirus vaccines - Pfizer, AstraZeneca and Russia's Sputnik V. Officially, vaccination in the country starts on March 2. Romanian President Klaus Iohannis, during an official visit to Chisinau at the end of last year, vowed to provide Moldova with 200,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccine as humanitarian aid; the first batch of 21,600 doses of AstraZeneca vaccines arrived in Chisinau on February 27. Moldova also plans to receive a vaccine from Lithuania free of charge. In addition, in the coming days, the country will receive the first batch of AstraZeneca vaccine (14,400 doses) through the COVAX platform. 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 Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - March 2, 2021) - Better Plant Sciences Inc. (CSE: PLNT) (OTCQB: VEGGF) (FSE: YG3) ("Better Plant" or the "Company") is pleased to announce the appointment of Gabriel Villablanca as its Vice President of Marketing. Villablanca previously held the position of Director of eCommerce and will assume duties as VP of Marketing immediately. In this role, he will be responsible for leading marketing strategy as Better Plant's brands continue to expand. Better Plant Appoints Gabriel Villablanca as Vice President of Marketing To view an enhanced version of this image, please visit: https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/6377/75790_e6d0c14f742d6a4c_001full.jpg "Gabriel's extensive experience in eCommerce and digital marketing across an array of brands is a huge asset to Better Plant," said Penny White, CEO of Better Plant. "We have plans to expand our offering of plant-based products while building a more entertaining, customized and rewarding digital experience for our customers. eCommerce is a key aspect of our sales strategy and Gabriel will play a crucial role in elevating our marketing programs across all platforms." Villablanca brings more than 13 years of expertise in directing digital marketing efforts for B2B and B2C brands across North America, Europe and Australia with a proven track record of driving business results through innovative campaigns and building high-performance teams. Most recently, he held the role of Digital Marketing Director for O2E Brands for over six years. During his time there, he led digital marketing efforts for a range of well-recognized consumer brands including 1-800-JUNK?, You Move Me, WOW 1 DAY PAINTING and Shack Shine. "I am incredibly excited to take on this new role with the Better Plant team as Vice President of Marketing," said Villablanca. "In the coming months I will focus on fine tuning our marketing processes in several major areas: refining our customer journey, core values, acquisition strategies, and how we can further use data to make better marketing decisions." About Better Plant Sciences Inc. Better Plant offers plant-based products for optimum health and wellness. It is a vertically integrated company with a team whose complementary experience enables acquisition, development, manufacturing, and direct-to-consumer distribution of its products. Its all-natural products vary from juice cleanses to home products to personal care products, all without chemicals or harmful ingredients. It has an extensive catalogue of over 400 proprietary plant-based product formulas. Better Plant currently has over 70 plant-based products for sale through eCommerce and/or in retail stores under the brands Jusu, Urban Juve, and Wright & Well. Better Plant also offers operational and support services to companies in which it has an equity interest. Better Plant also owns approximately 27.7% of NeonMind Biosciences Inc. (CSE: NEON). For more information on Better Plant, visit betterplantsciences.com or follow @betterplantsciences on Instagram. Penny White, President & CEO penny@betterplantsciences.com 1-833-515-2677 Investor Relations: Alexandra Dumanski invest@betterplantsciences.com 1-833-515-2677 The Canadian Securities Exchange has not reviewed, approved or disapproved the contents of this news release. Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements This press release includes forward-looking information and statements (collectively, "forward-looking statements") under applicable Canadian securities legislation. Forward-looking statements are necessarily based upon a number of estimates, forecasts, beliefs and assumptions that, while considered reasonable, are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors which may cause actual results and future events to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such risks, uncertainties and factors include, but are not limited to: risks related to the development, testing, licensing, brand development, availability of packaging, intellectual property protection, reduced global commerce and reduced access to raw materials and other supplies due to the spread of COVID-19, the potential for not acquiring any rights as a result of the patent application and any products making use of the intellectual property may be ineffective or the company may be unsuccessful in commercializing them; and other approvals will be required before commercial exploitation of the intellectual property can happen. Demand for the company's products, general business, economic, competitive, political and social uncertainties, delay or failure to receive board or regulatory approvals where applicable, and the state of the capital markets. Better Plant cautions readers not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements provided by Better Plant, as such forward-looking statements are not a guarantee of future results or performance and actual results may differ materially. The forward-looking statements contained in this press release are made as of the date of this press release, and Better Plant expressly disclaims any obligation to update or alter statements containing any forward-looking information, or the factors or assumptions underlying them, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/75790 OTTAWA - Canada's chief public health officer says new COVID-19 cases are starting to tick back up after a month-longdecline, giving urgency to the question of who should receive doses of the newly approved Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine due to arrive in Canada Wednesday. A nurse assistant prepares a dose of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine for COVID-19 during a priority vaccination program for health workers at a community medical center in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Wednesday, Feb. 3, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP-Andre Penner OTTAWA - Canada's chief public health officer says new COVID-19 cases are starting to tick back up after a month-longdecline, giving urgency to the question of who should receive doses of the newly approved Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine due to arrive in Canada Wednesday. The "moderate increase" at the national level noted by Dr. Theresa Tam is in keeping with models forecasting a spike in cases over the next two months unless stricter public health measures are imposed to combat more contagious strains of the virus. "The concern is that we will soon see an impact on hospitalization, critical care and mortality trends," Tam said Tuesday. Canada saw 2,933 new cases on average over the past week, a figure similar to last Friday's numbers that revealed week-over-week increases of between eight and 14 per cent in Ontario, Alberta and British Columbia. The uptickcomes as provinces figure out how to allocate their various vaccines, especially as Canada receives 500,000 doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine produced at the Serum Institute of India. About 445,000 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine are also arriving this week, said Procurement Minister Anita Anand. Guidance on the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine has caused some confusion. Health Canada authorized its use last week for all adults but the National Advisory Committee on Immunization recommends it not be administered to people 65 and over. The advisory committee cites concern over limited data from clinical trials for older patients. Health Canada also acknowledges that issue. But the advisory panel, which recommends how vaccines should be used, says the limitation means seniors should take priority for the two greenlighted mRNA vaccines Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna where dearth of data is not an issue. "If the AstraZeneca vaccine will prevent you from getting really sick that's still a win for you." Caroline Colijn Alberta's health minister said Monday the province will not give Oxford-AstraZeneca's vaccine to anyone over 65. British Columbia, Saskatchewan, Ontario and Prince Edward Island are on similar courses,though details on who will get those jabs is not always clear. "With clinical testing of AstraZeneca limited to those under 65, we will need to adjust our plan to look at a parallel track for some of these more flexible vaccines in order to cast the widest net possible," the B.C. health ministry said in an email. Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry said B.C. will use the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine to target younger people who have more social interactions and who would have to wait much longer for the other vaccines. Ontario Health Minister Christine Elliott characterized Oxford-AstraZeneca as "very versatile " because it lacks the same cold-storage requirements as the two other vaccines in use in Canada. It won't go to seniors, but she said shots might be administered in correctional facilities for that reason. P.E.I. will target AstraZeneca at "healthy younger individuals who are working in certain front-line, essential services," said Dr. Heather Morrison, the province's chief medical officer of health. Health officials in Quebec and New Brunswick say they await further advice from health authorities and are taking time to examine how to deploy the latest vaccine. Nova Scotia's chief medical health officer Dr. Robert Strang said the province has yet to give an answer to Ottawa "about whether we actually want to take the vaccine." All provinces must provide a response by midday Thursday, he said. Two experts say essential workers who are more likely to contract and transmit COVID-19 should be prioritized for immunization with the Oxford-AstraZeneca doses. Caroline Colijn, a COVID-19 modeller and mathematician at Simon Fraser University, and Horacio Bach, an adjunct professor in the division of infectious diseases at the University of British Columbia, also say the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine could be better promoted by provincial health officials as a strong alternative to the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines. Oxford-AstraZeneca reported their vaccine is about 62 per cent effective at preventing COVID-19 while Pifzer-BioNTech and Moderna have said the efficacy of their vaccines is about 95 per cent. But Colijn and Bach say the fact there have been no hospitalizations from severe illness and no deaths among those receiving the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine needs to be underscored because people awaiting immunization seem to be fixated on the higher efficacy data for the first two vaccines approved in Canada. "If the AstraZeneca vaccine will prevent you from getting really sick that's still a win for you," Colijn said. "I see this huge, huge benefit of vaccinating young people, particularly people with high contact, essential workers, sooner." No province has been spared from the increase in new variants circulating across the country, though several continue to ease anti-pandemic restrictions. Modelling from the Public Health Agency of Canada projecteda steep surge in new cases starting late last month and reaching 20,000 new cases a day before May if public health measures weren't tightened. Since that Feb. 19 forecast, restrictions in many regions have loosened as Canadians return to restaurants, cinemas and hair salons. But Tam said Canada is gaining ground on "the vaccine-versus-variants leg of this marathon" every day. "Canada is prepared, and Canada remains on track," she said. Provinces have now reported 1,257 cases of the B.1.1.7 mutation that was first identified in the United Kingdom, 99 cases of the B. 1.3.5.1 strain first identified in South Africa, and three of the P. 1 variant first identified in Brazil. There have been 870,033 cases of COVID-19 in Canada and 22,017 deaths as of Monday night. There were 30,430 active cases across Canada, with an average of 42 deaths reported daily over the past week. Provinces are also figuring out whether to stick to the original injection schedules or extend the interval between doses beyond three or four weeks. The national advisory committee is expected to update its recommendations this week. Ontario is waiting for that guidance, while B.C. is pushing ahead with its plan to prolong the interval to four months. Dr. Bonnie Henry, B.C.'s provincial health officer, said Monday the decision was based on local and international evidence that shows the first dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines provides "miraculous" 90 per cent protection from the virus. This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 2, 2021. With files from Camille Bains, Kevin Bissett, Laura Dhillon Kane and Holly McKenzie-Sutter. 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. You are here: Arts Turkish police on Monday seized a valuable ancient Greek coin in an operation in the southwestern part of the country and detained six suspects, local media reported. The police launched an operation to an address in the province of Mugla to seize the coin, which has a market value of 1 million U.S. dollars, the Sozcu daily said. Six suspects were reportedly detained while trying to sell the coin to police officers disguised as potential buyers. The piece, known as the Athens Decadrachm coin, is dated back to 467-465 B.C., according to press reports. The coin has an image of goddess Athena on the obverse and an inverted owl on the reverse. An Amazon delivery driver scans bags of groceries while loading a vehicle outside of a distribution facility in Redondo Beach, Calif., on Feb. 2, 2021. (PATRICK T. FALLON/AFP via Getty Images) Epoch Times Readers Overwhelmingly Oppose $15 Federal Minimum Wage More than 94 percent of Epoch Times readers who responded to a survey said they dont support a federal minimum wage hike to $15 per hour. The federal minimum wage has sat at $7.25 since 2009. President Joe Bidens economic relief plan includes a proposal to increase the minimum wage to $15 per hour over five years. However, the Senate parliamentarian on Feb. 25 ruled that the minimum wage increase is not eligible to be included in Bidens plan. Democrats could still ignore the ruling and proceed, but an aide for Vice President Kamala Harris has said that they would respect the Senate ruling. Only 2 percent of the more than 27,000 survey respondents said the federal government should be the entity to set the minimum wage rate. There is nothing in the U.S. Constitution granting the federal government the power to set wages for non-government related work, one respondent said. More than 43 percent of respondents said businesses should decide, while a further 35 percent said it should be up to state governments. Twenty percent chose other, many of whom then specified that it should be left up to the free market. Janice Baldwin from Texas said she believes the federal government should set the minimum wage rate, as it has national ramifications. However, she doesnt think it should be set at $15, as employees will lose their jobs. Businesses of all sizes will lay off people if this law passes because they cannot [afford] this wage rate and their customers will not allow them to pass onto their pricing all of the wage increase, Baldwin wrote. Another respondent from Texas said the minimum wage is supposed to be an entry level pay rate to provide first-time work experience for unskilled, inexperienced people. Not a living wage. It should motivate one to strive for a better job while filling employment needs of small businesses. A respondent from New Mexico said minimum wage jobs werent meant to be jobs to support a family. While Walmart can sustain $15 an hour, small businesses cannot and will merely pass the cost along to their customers, which may drive their remaining customers to Walmart, the respondent wrote. Biggest Winners and Losers When asked who would benefit most and who would suffer most under a federal wage hike to $15 per hour, most survey respondents (53 percent) said no one would benefit, while almost 20 percent said big corporations would be the biggest winners. Almost 14 percent said employees would benefit most, and a further 13 percent selected Other, of whom many went on to specify that politicians and the government would be the only beneficiaries. As we have seen in Colorado, when the minimum wage is raised by such a drastic amount, employers cannot afford to pay the wage and benefits, so many jobs are reduced to part-time, thereby nullifying the wage increase, wrote Colorado resident Lisa Bird. Prices for goods and services increase across the board as businesses seek to maintain their profit margins. It doesnt help the worker, since the wage increase is consumed by the increased cost of living. The largest portion of respondents (42 percent) said small businesses would suffer most, closely followed by everyone (37 percent). I own a small pet business, and this would put me out of business or I would have to raise my prices so much that I would no longer be able to compete with big business such as Petco, Petsmart, etc., wrote Tracy Montgomery, a business owner from Utah. People want a competitive wage, but the business has to be able to survive within its budget, wrote a respondent from California. If the business is forced to pay $15 an hour, it will do what it has to do to survive, which would be laying off employees. Angelina Jolie just sold a painting by Winston Churchill given to her by ex-husband Brad Pitt, a painting he originally bought from New Orleans antique dealer M.S. Rau, Page Six reports. The "Tower of Koutoubia Mosque" was purchased for a record-breaking $11.5 million Monday at Christie's "Modern British Art Evening Sale" auction in London, according to The Art Newspaper. Pitt's interest in the painting was due to his role as Lt. Aldo Raine in the World War II drama, "Inglourious Basterds," directed by Quentin Tarantino. The painting has increased in value considerably the last couple of times it changed hands. Pitt initially bought it from M.S. Rau for $2.5 million in 2011, and its value was estimated at $3.4 million while Jolie had it, only to skyrocket when she decided to sell it. Owner Bill Rau told Page Six that M.S. Rau got "a fair price for such a historic work" when selling the painting to Pitt. However, "the fact that it sold at auction for ($11.5 million) just goes to show you that important pieces will continue to be coveted and fetch top dollar. "The painting has had an unprecedented journey, from being gifted to a US President (Churchill gave it to Franklin D. Roosevelt), to being hidden away in a closet for nearly half a century, to being owned by the most famous couple in Hollywood. Im thrilled that M.S. Rau was able to bring this amazing piece back into the spotlight. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Investigations editor Larry Parnass, investigations editor, joined The Eagle in 2016 from the Daily Hampshire Gazette, where he was editor in chief. His freelance work has appeared in the Washington Post, Boston Globe, Hartford Courant and CommonWealth Magazine. United States Begins Distribution of Third COVID-19 Vaccine Doses of the new Johnson & Johnson vaccine could be received as early as March 2. The Johnson & Johnson vaccine was approved for emergency use authorization by the Federal Drug Administration over the weekend and the process of distributing the vaccine around the country has already begun. Nearly 3.9 million doses of the J&J vaccine will be distributed to states around the country, a senior Biden administration official said on Sunday. The doses could be delivered as early as Tuesday morning. The J&J vaccine has shown a 72 percent efficacy rate against mild to severe/critical disease amount U.S. trial participants. It is more effective against severe forms of disease, with about 85 percent protection. Health experts say Americans should not be deterred by J&J's slightly lower numbers. Its vaccine was tested later than the other two vaccines, when infections were already surging and new variant strains were spreading more widely. There are advantages to the new J&J vaccine. The vaccine requires the recipient to have to take just one shot, rather than have to return for a second dose at a later time. In addition to the convenient distribution method, the vaccine does not need to be kept in a freezer and can be stored at refrigerated temperatures. The single-dose shot comes at a critical time in this pandemic. The country had been in a steady decline of cases for weeks, but the numbers have since plateaued, leaving experts to wonder if highly contagious variants could take hold of U.S. citizens, making the path to victory against this pandemic more lengthy and chaotic. Dr. Eric Rubin, a professor at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health described Americas COVID-19 situation as urgent. Because there are new viral variants coming out right now, with some chance that some of them could eventually become somewhat resistant to the protection provided by vaccines it is really important to get [the J&J vaccine] out there fast, Dr. Rubin said. Armenia ex-president Kocharyan gives interview to Russia newspaper Armenia acting deputy PM on unblocking of roads with Azerbaijan: There will be no troops standing there Nikkei: Toyota and Honda stop car production in Malaysia Armenia official on deploying international observers at Azerbaijan border: You will hear reaction on this matter soon USAID helps UN World Food Programme support displaced people in Armenia Armenia official: Work of trilateral working group on roads unblocking has stopped after recent incidents Russias Putin to Armenias Pashinyan: Relations between our countries are developing very successfully Armenia health minister: Improper storage of fallen soldiers bodies, remains was my omission 108 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia Armenia President to children: I believe that you will make our country much better Armenia CEC publicizes complete lists of political forces registered to run in snap parliamentary elections World oil prices going up Queen Elizabeth turns down PM's offer to name new royal yacht after Prince Philip Armenia parliament discusses 2020 state budget report Newspaper: Armenia acting FM resigns after 3rd attempt Newspaper: Yerevan mayor to leave office Israel, UAE sign tax treaty Newspaper: Even vagrants are persuaded, taken to Armenia acting PM Pashinyans rally in Vanadzor Swedish defense minister demands explanation from Denmark over spy scandal Acting Deputy PM: Armenia has not discussed and will not discuss issues within logic of "corridor" Armenia Central Electoral Commission determines numbers of political parties for elections Armenia 2nd President visits Cathedral of the Holy Mother of God in Gyumri (PHOTOS) Opposition Armenia bloc representative: We're running in elections to win Azerbaijan MFA comments on calls for release of Armenian POWs with infinite hypocrisy EC: Vaccinated citizens should be exempted from tests, quarantine when traveling within EU Armenia Ombudsman discusses rights of 6 captured Armenian servicemen with ICRC Delegation head EU ready to use all the tools at its disposal to change Turkey's behavior Yerevan court obliges to abolish violation of rights of Armenia Supreme Judicial Council ex-chairman Greek and Turkish leaders to meet in June on sidelines of NATO summit Armenia Central Electoral Commission to set up 2,008 polling stations for snap parliamentary elections Iranian companies to participate in reconstructing territories under Azerbaijan's control Opposition Armenia bloc's representative on acting PM's invitation to debate with 1st and 2nd Presidents Armenia acting FM dismissed upon presidential decree Body of brother of Armenian criminal authority "Don Pipo" found under bridge 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 Burma Myanmar Security Forces Beat Pregnant Woman, Loot Her Home During Rampage in Myeik The pregnant woman who was beaten in the head. YANGONA pregnant woman was reportedly beaten and her home looted, and a teenager was shot in the face as police and military personnel went on a rampage in Tanintharyi Regions Myeik on Monday, ransacking and damaging homes and beating civilians. In a video shared by Myeik residents on social media, the pregnant woman said soldiers and police broke into her house and destroyed the furniture. She claimed she was hit in the head by police and soldiers, who also took over 400,000 kyats (US$283) and an ATM card. The Irrawaddy was not able to contact the woman, but her husband wrote on his Facebook page: They took over 400,000 kyats, which we had saved to repair our house. In at least three wards in Myeik, police and soldiers shot at houses with guns, destroyed furniture and smashed windows and motorbikes. A resident from Shwepyitan Ward who requested anonymity said: Two groups consisting of around 30 soldiers and police came into our ward and smashed motorbikes parked outside houses. Six motorbikes were smashed near my house. They also beat a pregnant woman in Thukha Street, and took 400,000 kyats from her house. A teenager suffered a gunshot wound to his cheek in Shwepyitan Ward on Monday. Locals in Myeik have been taking to the streets to protest against the military regime for more than 20 days. A man was killed and several others injured when police and soldiers carried out a crackdown on anti-military regime protesters there on Sunday. In response, protesters on Monday put up barricades against the police and soldiers, made from any available materials. Police and soldiers stormed the barricades, however, and hunted down protesters in the wards, ransacking houses. Mondays shooting left several bullet holes in at least three houses in Inle Myaing Ward of Myeik. Police and soldiers also smashed furniture and windows of a number of houses in the ward. Residents in this neighborhood have stayed away from protests. It was not that protesters ran into houses to hide. Police and soldiers just broke open the doors for no reason, and smashed the furniture. Women were also beaten, said a resident of Inle Myaing Ward who asked not to be named. In another ward, police and soldiers reportedly beat civilians and detained four men. Eyewitnesses said they saw police and soldiers warning residents, If you dare to do it again. We will not just beat you. We will burn your house down. You may also like these stories: Twin Brother of Young Protester Slain by Myanmar Security Forces Calls for Justice Myanmar Military Sues Suu Kyi and President with Further Charges Ten Journalists Being Held by Myanmars Regime for Protest Coverage It still seems that despite our mainstream success, Texas remains a small footnote in hip-hop's overall landscape, and it shows with documentaries like FX's "Hip-Hop Uncovered." HIP-HOP DOCUMENTARIES: New DJ Screw documentary to be produced by Emmy-winning producers Producer Malcolm Spellman and director Rashidi Natara Harper take a different approach to the hip-hop documentary. Instead of placing their focus on industry giants, they focus on the power brokersthe people who are making things happen behind the scenes. Via FX Networks The docuseries is nothing short of informative and I even enjoyed watching the stories unfold of powerful music executives and their respective journeys to the top of the ladder. "Hip-Hop Uncovered" features Deb Antney, mother to Atlanta rapper Waka Flocka Flame, who also worked as Gucci Mane's and Nicki Minaj's former manager. In Detroit, Trick Trick, the founder of the Goon Sqwad and collaborators with Eminem was the focus. Los Angeles takes a look at Big U, the street-gang-leader-turned-music-executive whose proteges include the late Nipsey Hussle. Last but not least, the show highlights the man and the myth, Haitian Jack the public figure who can be closely tied to many mega-celebrities like Madonna and Tupac. "Hip-Hop Uncovered" really showed how the music industry and the streets of the ghetto parallel, and how these music executives were able to turn street smarts into successful businesses. The show also manages to touch on the intensity of police brutality across the nation, and how music was able to become a response to it. REMEMBERING GEORGE FLOYD: George Floyd honored with street mural in front of Jack Yates High School The documentary only highlights certain regions, however. Don't get me wrong, these stories deserve to be told. They're a part of history. But Houston has history too. Interestingly enough, The Geto Boys still manage to get a mention in the docuseries. When Detroit's Trick Trick is on his way to court he recalls the song playing on the radio. J. Prince and The Geto Boys arguably put Houston on the map as a music city, but the history doesn't just stop there. While we most notably know about J. Prince, there was Tony Draper, the Founder of Suave House Records. Suave House was responsible for breaking the acts 8ball & MJG, Tela and more. Houston has a story that deserves to be told in-depth. So the question then becomes "Who is going to answer the call to faithfully document our history on the national stage?" Only time will tell, but Houston's hip-hop landscape deserves so much more. Paris, TX (75460) Today Rain showers this morning with some sunshine during the afternoon hours. High 77F. Winds W at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 50%.. Tonight Some clouds. Low around 60F. Winds NW at 5 to 10 mph. More Research Needed for Rare Diseases On Rare Disease Day 2021, Indian Society for Clinical Research (ISCR) called upon all research stakeholders to invest in research across the spectrum so that rare disease patients and their caregivers can look forward to a better quality of life. Rare Disease Day takes place on the last day of February each year to raise awareness amongst the general public and decision-makers about rare diseases and their impact on patients' lives. Research can lead to the identification of previously unknown diseases, increase understanding of diseases, enable doctors to provide a correct diagnosis, lead to the development of new innovative treatments and possibly even a cure, reduce costs for healthcare systems, and improve the quality of life of patients and their families. Noting the need for more research into rare diseases, Chirag Trivedi, President, ISCR said, According to available data, 1 in 20 people will live with a rare disease at some point in their lives. The large number of rare disease patients living without access to treatment and management of their conditions either because of lack of awareness, lack of appropriate diagnosis and lack of treatment options should be a wake-up call for the clinical research community. The UN 2030 Agenda and its Sustainable Development Goals is addressing the needs of patients that are diagnosed with rare disease through their pledge to leave no one behind. Furthermore, the future goal of Rare Disease Day over the next decade would be to increase the equity for people living with a rare disease and their families. The has to change and be humble to fight the arrogance of the BJP, leader said on Tuesday, asserting that after 2014 the opposition is fighting the battle for India and not for getting power. In a conversation with India's former chief economic advisor Kaushik Basu, now a professor in the Cornell University in the US, Gandhi said the party has to open itself to the people and submit itself to them, bringing together the resistance against the Modi government. Asked what is his vision for the Congress in the face of recent electoral defeats, the former Congress chief said, "Gather the resistance. Bring together the resistance. There is resistance across all fronts, many different types of people, many different types of ideas and the Congress party has to have the humility, flexibility and respect to absorb them." "It has to change itself, it has to transform itself to playing that role. Remember when we started the Congress party, it was basically bringing together the resistance, we used to call it passive resistance in those days because we are not into the violent kind of resistance, we still are not, so we will never do anything violently, anything aggressively, anything nastily, all polite, all nice, but we will bring together India's power," he asserted. Gandhi said the Congress has to open itself to the Indian people and submit itself to them going forward. "It has to be humble, because it is fighting arrogance. So that is what the Congress party has to do. It is not an easy transformation, it is a difficult transformation," he noted. Gandhi said a lot of people are not happy with what is going on in the country currently and the Congress has to carry all these forces together. "I actually believe that not just the Congress party, the opposition after 2014 is no longer fighting for power, we are fighting now for India. For me we are now fighting a battle for India," he said. "Before 2014, we were fighting elections to win elections, we were fighting for power, now that game has changed, because the rules now have completely changed. We don't have the institutions to protect us," he alleged. Gandhi said India essentially was about a "negotiation" in which India decided that it is going to have a free and fair fight for power and that is what happened till 2014. "You mentioned that there was the brief period of Emergency where the Congress party was wrong, I am the first to say it. But that changed in 2014 (with the Modi government coming to power). That is not happening anymore. There is no free fight for power in India anymore which means now we have to fight for India," 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.) NISKAYUNA Scientists at General Electric Co's research lab here are learning how to make vaccines on demand as part of a project that could one day help the military craft thousands of doses in hard-to-reach places in just a matter of days. GE Research is part of a larger team of scientists from the Broad Institute in Cambridge, Mass., the University of Washington and elsewhere that were recently awarded $41 million to help create components of a mobile vaccine manufacturing system for the Defense Department that would build upon the ribonucleic acid, or RNA, technology used in Pfizer and Moderna's COVID-19 vaccines. GE's team is led by John Nelson. We think the world really needs this kind of advance to be prepared for unexpected challenges like what we have seen recently with COVID-19," Nelson said. "Having the ability to produce small batches of ready-to-use vaccines in under three days at the site of need would enable widespread deployment of doses at an unprecedented speed. The research grant is coming from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, or DARPA, which is developing mobile medicine manufacturing through its biological technologies office for what it terms "stabilization and humanitarian" missions. The Pfizer and Moderna vaccines were not only the first two coronavirus vaccines to be approved for use in the U.S., they were also the first vaccines to be based on using so-called mRNA, or messenger RNA, to help the body resist the virus. Such vaccines, which use lab-made RNA, can be easily modified to fight different strains of the virus if needed. Nelson's team specializes in making synthetic RNA and DNA that could be used to make vaccines on the fly. They are known as the Run Fast Team, which stands for Rapid Universal Nucleic Acids using Fieldable Automated Synthesis Technology. (GE and the Defense Department make frequent use of acronyms to identify research programs.) "Our team has experience and expertise using enzymes to make DNA synthetically instead of purifying it from living cells," Nelson said. "This eliminates the requirement for bacterial cultures and the purification steps that entails. We believe that this reaction can be scaled easily in size, and because it doesn't use living cells that need to be fed and cared for and cleaned up after, can be automated." DARPA funding often gets many cutting-edge technologies off the ground, Many are best known for their commercial rather than military use. For instance, Moderna received early-stage funding from DARPA years ago as it was developing its vaccine technology that eventually was used to make its COVID vaccines. Back in October, Moderna was awarded $56 million through the same DARPA program that funded the GE vaccine project. DARPA says its vaccine-on-demand program is also aimed at "newly emerging or engineered pathogens" that soldiers or civilians face. The U.S. government's deployment of vaccines abroad hasn't always been without controversy. The Obama administration said in 2014 it ended the CIA's use of vaccine programs as a cover for spying operations. One such program allowed the U.S. to track down Osama bin Laden in Pakistan in 2011. WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Sen. Rob Portman on Tuesday revealed that he was one of the first people in Ohio to get Johnson & Johnsons new coronavirus vaccine as a participant in a clinical trial that determined its effectiveness. He also urged his fellow Ohioans to get the vaccine, which he deemed safe and effective. Portman said he didnt know whether he got the actual vaccine or the placebo in November, when he agreed to participate in its clinical trial at CTI Clinical Trial and Consulting Services Cincinnati research center. He was subsequently told he received the vaccine. More than 39,000 people in the United States, South America, Mexico and South Africa participated in the trial. Id always assumed that I had received the placebo because I had no reaction at all, not even pain in the arm, the Ohio Republican said. I say that, in part, to encourage people to get vaccinated ... Some people do have reactions to the vaccines, as you know, but I had no reaction at all. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Saturday issued an emergency use authorization to allow administration of the single-dose vaccine to fight COVID-19. It is the third vaccine approved to address a pandemic thats caused more than 500,000 deaths in the United States and millions worldwide. Experts say the new vaccine is 85% effective at preventing severe disease and 100% effective at preventing hospitalization and death, as demonstrated by the clinical trial Portman participated in. Im really glad that all that data is now being used to show that its safe and effective, Portman told reporters. It is a good vaccine, Im glad I did it. I got a lot of other people to join these trials. Portman said that vaccinations are key to acquiring herd immunity that will finally stop the coronavirus from spreading. He predicted availability of vaccines will improve in the next few months. Its starting to finally be something that is more widely available and my hope is that, in March and April, this month and next month, well be able to have enough vaccines out there that people who want to get one can get one and certainly by the end of June, it looks like well have a lot more, said Portman. Read more: Former Donald Trump aide Max Miller announces GOP primary bid against U.S. Rep. Anthony Gonzalez claiming endorsement from Trump House to pass coronavirus rescue plan with minimum wage increase and $1,400 stimulus checks: See whats in it for Ohio House passes ban on LGBTQ discrimination over objections from Republicans led by Rep. Jim Jordan President Biden signs executive order to secure U.S. production of semiconductors and other essentials after meeting with Sen. Rob Portman Congress members including Ohios Jim Jordan and Bob Gibbs grill postmaster general at hearing on mail delays Capitol Hill police blame intelligence failures for Jan. 6 riot breaches, Sen. Rob Portman cites training failures Jane Timkens Senate bid gains endorsement from Rep. Bob Gibbs Sen. Sherrod Brown wants pension fix included in coronavirus relief bill Senate to hold hearing on security failures behind U.S. Capitol riot Rep. Jim Jordan, in move dismissed by Democrats, questions whether House Speaker Nancy Pelosi should shoulder blame for Capitol Hill riot security failures Rob Portman votes to acquit Trump, Sherrod Brown votes to convict: Read their statements The official Twitter account of Sputnik V tweeted the PM's words about Russia being a stable partner. Id like to thank Russia for its correct approach. I believe that by meeting the deadlines and promised supplies, Russia will prove that its a stable partner we can rely on in these hard times. Slovak PM Igor Matovic made this statement when he was welcoming Russian vaccines at Kosice airport on March 1. It was tweeted by the official account of Sputnik V. We have started to buy SputnikV vaccines from Russia without waiting for its registration with the EMA because we have no time to waste. There are not enough vaccines in the country, every day dozens of our citizens die from COVID-19, another tweet quoted the PM as saying. Slovakia's purchase of Russian vaccines is one of the main news stories in Russian media. The Dennik N daily reported that pro-Kremlin and also independent Russian media informed that Slovakia became the 39th country in the world and the second in the EU after Hungary that approved the use of the Sputnik V vaccine. Russian TV Rossija-24 showed an illustrative picture of Bratislava castle and then Matovics status life is important in Russian. It stressed that supplies from western producers of vaccines are delayed and there are fewer of them than originally agreed. Some Russian media noticed that Slovakia purchased Sputnik V even though it is not registered in the EU, the Dennik N reported. Mired in chaos Several European media reported on the purchase of the vaccines as well. Politico also reported that MP Tomas Valasek left the parliament in reaction to the vaccine purchase. The country, which recorded the highest per-capita death rate related to COVID-19 in the past week according to the Our World in Data website, is following Hungary in rolling out the Russian vaccine even though it lacks approval for emergency use in the European Union, Reuters wrote. Deutsche Welle wrote that the coalition with its chaotic strategies during the coronavirus pandemic has pushed the country into a healthcare emergency. Because of its chaotic health management, the government's reputation has plummeted, the OLANO movement, in particular, has dropped in the polls, putting a breakup of the coalition within the realm of possibility, Deutsche Welle wrote. The coalition is currently at loggerheads over the purchase of Russia's Sputnik V vaccine, which with the exception of Hungary has not yet been approved in the EU. Matovic wants to use it but his coalition partners are strictly opposed, DW reported. Matovic kept the deal secret Matovics coalition government originally rejected a plan to acquire Sputnik V on February 18 after one of his four coalition partners vetoed the move, AP wrote. Matovic kept the deal secret, announcing it on Monday only after a military cargo plane with 200,000 doses of the vaccine landed in the eastern Slovak city of Kosice, AP noted, adding that the move will likely cause further tensions in his center-right coalition. 2. Mar 2021 at 11:41 | Compiled by Spectator staff Please enable cookies on your web browser in order to continue. The new European data protection law requires us to inform you of the following before you use our website: We use cookies and other technologies to customize your experience, perform analytics and deliver personalized advertising on our sites, apps and newsletters and across the Internet based on your interests. By clicking I agree below, you consent to the use by us and our third-party partners of cookies and data gathered from your use of our platforms. See our Privacy Policy and Third Party Partners to learn more about the use of data and your rights. You also agree to our Terms of Service. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. The emergence of new strains of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), causing the ongoing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, pose a serious potential challenge to attempts at curbing its spread. A new preprint, released on the bioRxiv* server, compares the pathogenicity and infectiousness of one such variant, the VOC 202012/01 (B.1.1.7 lineage) from the United Kingdom, with the globally dominant D614G mutation-carrying strains. The UK variant The UK variant carries 23 defining mutations involving changes in the spike protein of the virus that interacts with the human host cell receptor, the angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2). The spike mutations include the deletions (69/70,144Y) and substitutions (N501Y, A570D, D614G, and P681H). The N501Y affects the receptor-binding domain (RBD) of the spike protein and has been estimated to increase the binding affinity of this protein for the ACE2 receptor ten-fold relative to the wildtype RBD. The implications for increased infectivity and transmissibility are clear. Since 90% of neutralizing antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 are formed against the RBD, the immune evading effects of these mutations also deserve serious attention, particularly when they are found together. Preliminary research from the New and Emerging Respiratory Virus Threats Advisory Group (NERVTAG) suggests that this variant could be associated with a higher mortality rate. The current study explores the ability of the UK variant to cause disease in the golden Syrian hamster and the viral shedding profile of this variant, compared to the D614G variant. Infection leads to transient weight loss The researchers found that VOC-202012/01 inoculated into hamsters intranasally produced weight loss but no clinical illness. The weight loss worsened over seven days from infection to a mean of 7% and then tended to reverse itself to the end of the study period, at day 14. Controls showed a loss of 3% and then a gain of 6% until the end of the study. Immune response The infected hamsters developed a predominant anti-SARS-CoV-2 immunoglobulin (Ig) G2 antibody response, observed on the seventh day from infection. This continued up to day 14. Neutralization titers remained similar against both variants, even though, on day 5, titers against VOC 202012/01 were higher. Viral load The researchers found high viral genomic RNA (gRNA) in the upper and lower respiratory tract, with the load being highest in the lungs and the lowest in the throat swabs. Nasal and tracheal samples were intermediate. From day 3 to 14, the gRNA load in the nasal wash, tracheal, and throat swabs showed a decreasing trend. However, lung and nasal turbinate specimens showed a peak at day 5, but then went down until day 14. Infectious virus was found in various tissues up to day 7, but on day 10 and day 14, infectious viral particles were not found. Subgenomic (sg) RNA was found in the lungs and trachea of all hamsters on day 3, but not in the nasal wash or nasal turbinates at this point. By day 5, only lung samples were always positive. Some animals showed the presence of gRNA in other tissues as well, but not sgRNA. The lack of the latter confirms that the virus targets the respiratory tract primarily. Lung pathology Infected hamsters showed signs of consolidation, exudation and other signs of pneumonia with both variants. Serum cytokine profiles were also comparable. Viral shedding Hamsters infected with VOC 202012/01 showed persistent gRNA in the throat, nasal wash and feces. Nasal wash levels were highest. All tissues showed decreasing levels until day 14. The peak levels were on days 4, 6 and 8 following infection. However, virus titers remained comparable between the two variants. What are the implications? The study confirmed the pathogenicity of the VOC 202012/01 variant, with a higher body weight loss caused by infection with this strain compared to the earlier D614G strain. VOC 202012/01-infected hamsters showed the ability to produce antibodies that neutralized the earlier variant, indicating that this cluster of mutations did not produce significant immune escape from antibodies produced following either natural infection or vaccination. The high gRNA load in the nasal turbinates and lungs on day 3 in hamsters infected with the D614G variant was not replicated here. Instead, the peak was observed on day 5 following infection with VOC 202012/01. This may indicate delayed viral clearance with the newer strain. Viral clearance appeared to be correlated with increasing neutralizing antibody titer, from day 7 following infection. Again, the D614G variant was associated with the live virus in the lungs and nasal turbinates only up to day 5 following infection, but with VOC 202012/01, up to day 7. This indicates that this variant may prolong virus persistence in the respiratory tract, perhaps accounting for its higher transmission. Interestingly, the viral gRNA loads in the respiratory tract were higher with the newer variant, but the lungs showed signs of only mild pneumonia. This belied the more severe loss of body weight, and also disagrees with earlier findings of more severe human disease following infection with VOC 202012/01, as reported by NERVTAG. Viral shedding was also high in nasal samples throughout the first week, but not higher than that observed with the earlier variant. The higher viral RNA loads may correlate with the higher transmissibility of the virus. Overall, increased lung pathology was not observed despite the decrease in body weight. Further studies will be required to explore this seemingly paradoxical relationship. *Important Notice bioRxiv publishes preliminary scientific reports that are not peer-reviewed and, therefore, should not be regarded as conclusive, guide clinical practice/health-related behavior, or treated as established information. Coronavirus patients in a Damascus hospital have increased by almost a third in recent days, writes Sowt Al-Asima. The Mouwasat University Hospital in Damascus announced that new coronavirus cases have increased by 30 percent over the past few days. The General-Director of the hospital and member of the Corona Committee Essam al-Amin said that the increase in the number of incoming patients called for the mobilization of medical cadres to deal with the situation, according to what was reported by Al-Watan newspaper on Monday. He added that the number of beds and care rooms designated to accommodate coronavirus cases has been increased to 35, and if the curve continues to go up, the number will be increased to 50 beds. While Syrian doctors warned of a new mutation of the virus in the country, Amin said, there is no accurate scientific evidence or laboratory technology present in Syria that confirms the existence of a new mutation recorded during the past few days. A few days ago, a member of the advisory board to address the coronavirus pandemic, Dr. Nabough al-Awa, confirmed that the high infection rate is an indication of the beginning of the third surge of the virus in Syria. Awa said that the third wave is the worst of its kind, as it can affect 60 people at once, adding that it will certainly reach Syria, after its appearance in Lebanon and Iraq, according to what was reported by local radio station, Melody. Awa said that children are not immune to infection with the third mutation of the virus, unlike the second mutation, in which they were carriers only and had mild symptoms, indicating that the new mutation would result in apparent symptoms and that they would be contagious. According to him, the autoimmunity that people develop after they recover from the coronavirus does not last for more than three months, noting that the period differs from one person to another, warning against possibly reaching a worse reality. The Ministry of Health recently recorded an increase in the number of visits to emergency rooms by patients who suffer from acute respiratory symptoms, indicating that the latter appear without warning, unlike previous cases. 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. Please enable cookies on your web browser in order to continue. The new European data protection law requires us to inform you of the following before you use our website: We use cookies and other technologies to customize your experience, perform analytics and deliver personalized advertising on our sites, apps and newsletters and across the Internet based on your interests. By clicking I agree below, you consent to the use by us and our third-party partners of cookies and data gathered from your use of our platforms. See our Privacy Policy and Third Party Partners to learn more about the use of data and your rights. You also agree to our Terms of Service. WASHINGTON - FBI Director Christopher Wray bluntly labeled the January riot at the U.S. Capitol as domestic terrorism Tuesday and warned of a rapidly growing threat of homegrown violent extremism that law enforcement is scrambling to confront through thousands of investigations. FILE - In this Oct. 28, 2020, file photo, FBI Director Christopher Wray speaks during a virtual news conference at the Department of Justice in Washington. Wray is set to testify for the first time since the deadly Jan. 6 deadly riot at the U.S. Capitol. (Sarah Silbiger/Pool via AP) WASHINGTON - FBI Director Christopher Wray bluntly labeled the January riot at the U.S. Capitol as domestic terrorism Tuesday and warned of a rapidly growing threat of homegrown violent extremism that law enforcement is scrambling to confront through thousands of investigations. Wray also defended to lawmakers his own agency's handling of an intelligence report that warned of the prospect for violence on Jan. 6. And he firmly rejected false claims advanced by some Republicans that anti-Trump groups had organized the deadly riot that began when a violent mob stormed the building as Congress was gathering to certify results of the presidential election. Wray's testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee, his first before Congress since the insurrection, was one in a series of hearings centred on the law enforcement response to the Capitol insurrection. Lawmakers pressed him not only about possible intelligence and communication failures ahead of the riot but also about the threat of violence from white supremacists, militias and other extremists that the FBI says it is prioritizing with the same urgency as the menace of international terrorism organizations. Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., listens as FBI Director Christopher Wray testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, March 2, 2021. (Mandel Ngan/Pool via AP) Jan. 6 was not an isolated event. The problem of domestic terrorism has been metastasizing across the country for a long time now and its not going away anytime soon, Wray told lawmakers. At the FBI, weve been sounding the alarm on it for a number of years now. The violence at the Capitol made clear that a law enforcement agency that remade itself after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks to deal with international terrorism is now labouring to address homegrown violence by white Americans. President Joe Bidens administration has tasked his national intelligence director to work with the FBI and Department of Homeland Security to assess the threat. And in applying the domestic terrorism label to conduct inside the Capitol, Wray sought to make clear to senators that he was clear-eyed about the scope and urgency of the problem. In quantifying the scale of the FBI's work, Wray said the number of domestic terrorism investigations has increased from around 1,000 when he became director in 2017 to roughly 1,400 at the end of last year to about 2,000 now. The number of arrests of white supremacists and other racially motivated extremists has almost tripled, he said. Many of the senators' questions Tuesday centred on the FBI's handling of a Jan. 5 report from its Norfolk, Virginia, field office that warned of online posts foreshadowing a war in Washington the following day. Capitol Police leaders have said they were unaware of the report at the time, and the former chief of the department has said he received no intelligence from the FBI that would have led him to anticipate the sort of violence that besieged them on the 6th. FBI Director Christopher Wray testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, March 2, 2021. (Mandel Ngan/Pool via AP) Five people died that day, including a Capitol Police officer and a woman who was shot as she tried to climb through a smashed window into the House chamber with lawmakers still inside. Wray said the report was disseminated though the FBIs joint terrorism task force, discussed at a command post in Washington and posted on an internet portal available to other law enforcement agencies. Though the information was raw, unverified and appeared aspirational in nature, Wray said, it was specific and concerning enough that the smartest thing to do, the most prudent thing to do, was just push it to the people who needed to get it. We did communicate that information in a timely fashion to the Capitol Police and (Metropolitan Police Department) in not one, not two, but three different ways, Wray said, though he added that since the violence that ensued was not an acceptable result, the FBI was looking into what it could have done differently. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., speaks as FBI Director Christopher Wray testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, March 2, 2021. (Graeme Jennings/Pool via AP) He said he was reluctant to armchair quarterback anyone else in their jobs, but the FBI was determined to prevent a repeat of Jan. 6. We find it personally infuriating any time we are not able, as I said, to bat 1,000. And were going to keep working to get better, he said. The sprawling Justice Department investigation into the riot has already produced hundreds of charges, including against members of militia groups and far-right organizations. The crowd in Washington that day ranged from protesters who did not break any laws to a smaller group that arrived determined to commit violence against police and disrupt Congress from its duties, Wray said. Some of those people clearly came to Washington, we now know, with the plans and intentions to engage in the worst kind of violence we would consider domestic terrorism," he said. Asked whether there was evidence that the attack was planned or carried out by antifa an umbrella term for leftist militants or by Trump opponents posing as his loyalists, Wray said that there was not. Some on the right have made such false contentions. Even as the FBI prioritizes its efforts to counter domestic violent extremism, there are challenges confronting law enforcement, including in separating mere chatter from actual threats and in First Amendment protections that give ample leeway to espouse racist or otherwise abhorrent viewpoints. "The amount of angry, hateful, unspeakable, combative, violent even, rhetoric on social media exceeds what anybody in their worst imagination (thinks) is out there, Wray said. Wray has kept a notably low profile since the Capitol attack. Though he has briefed lawmakers privately and shared information with local law enforcement, Tuesday's oversight hearing marked his first public appearance before Congress since before November's presidential election. ____ Follow Eric Tucker at http://www.twitter.com/etuckerAP. South Africa: More information needed on N West intervention The Ad Hoc Committee on section 100 Intervention in the North West province has requested more information from law enforcement agencies about the work they are doing which is linked to the intervention in the province. In a statement on Tuesday, Ad Hoc Committee Chairperson China Dodovu said the committee is of the view that the information provided by the National Prosecuting Authority, Special Investigating Unit and the Directorate for Priority Crimes Investigation (DPCI) needs to be augmented to enable the committee to effectively carry out its mandate of oversight. The foremost concern for the committee has been the slow pace of prosecution by law enforcement agencies against people identified by various reports, including the Auditor-General report into the financial management within the province and the diagnostic report that necessitated the intervention, Dodovu said. The committee also raised concerns over cases the agencies reported, that focused more on municipalities and less on departments that have been put under administration. The committee further raised concerns about the capacity within the law enforcement agencies to enable them to conclude cases through the criminal justice value chain, from reporting a case to its successful prosecution. Although the committee had a meeting with the law enforcement agencies on Monday 22 February 2021, it is of the view that it requires more information from the agencies to have a clearer picture of consequence management in the North West Province. To that end, it has scheduled two more interactions with the law enforcement agencies to create enough time to interact with their reports, Dodovu said. He said that the committee has resolved to send specific questions to individual agencies in order to guide their collective interactions. Strengthening law enforcement capacity The committee has recommended that the capacity of law enforcement agencies that are dealing with the North West matter to be strengthened to fast-track investigation and prosecution of cases. It also requested information on the cases that have been withdrawn and reasons for their withdrawal. More needs to be done to accelerate legal process In addition to its concerns, the committee has also noted that the criminal justice value chain process is often protracted and that may take a number of years to conclude. The chairperson said the committee is of the view that more needs to be done to accelerate the legal process to ensure that justice is served and is seen to be served. In spite of all this, Dodovu said the committee is cognisant that the law enforcement agencies are independent and are created according to laws. We continue to respect the independent nature of our law enforcement agencies, but at the centre of our preoccupation is to ensure that consequence management is implemented against perpetrators of malfeasance, Dodovu said. SAnews.gov.za This story has been published on: 2021-03-02. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. Recognized for Closing the Gender Gap in AP Computer Science Principles Mercy High School in Middletown has earned the AP Computer Science Female Diversity Award from the College Board for achieving high female representation in the Advanced Placement (AP) Computer Science Principles course. Schools honored with the AP Computer Science Female Diversity Award have expanded girls access in AP Computer Science courses. Mercy High School was one of 831 schools across the country recognized in the category of AP Computer Science Principles for the 2019-20 school year. During an unprecedented year, Mercy students have demonstrated perseverance and dedication in their study of AP Computer Science, said Melissa Bullock, Principal of Academics and Technology at Mercy. We could not be more proud of our students for staking their claim as the next generation of STEM and computer science professionals. We cant wait to see their passion for next generation technology lead to lifelong success. AP Computer Science Principles is a full-year introductory college-level computing course that introduces students into the field of computer science through hands-on, project-based, collaborative learning. The course introduces students to the creative aspects of programming, abstractions, algorithms, large data sets, the Internet, cybersecurity, and how computing impacts our world. Students develop the computational thinking skills needed to fully exploit the power of digital technology and help build a strong foundation in core programming and problem-solving. Young women deserve an equal opportunity to become the next generation of entrepreneurs, engineers and tech leaders. Closing the gap in computer science education empowers young women to build the future they want, said Stefanie Sanford, College Board chief of Global Policy and External Relations. Mercy students need the power to shape technology, not just cope with it. Providing female students with access to computer science courses is critical to ensuring gender parity in the industrys high-paying jobs and to drive innovation, creativity, and representation. The median annual wage for computer and information technology occupations was $88,240 in May 2019. However, a code.org analysis of 2017 Bureau of Labor Statistics data finds women represent just 24 percent of the 5 million people in computing occupations. This is the third consecutive year that Mercy has received the AP Computer Science Principles Award, Alissa DeJonge, President of Mercy High School. AP Computer Science Principles is a great introduction to computer science, providing a in-depth exploration of the fundamentals of the field and an awaress of the varied career potential. We are immensely proud of the dedication of our students and their noteworthy achievement. Additional AP classes in the Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) fields offered to students at Mercy High School include Biology AP/ECE, Chemistry AP, AP Computer Science A, Physics 1 AP, and Physics 2 AP. In addition, Mercy offers extra-curricular coursework in Robotics. College Board is the nations largest college-going organization, helping millions of students navigate the transition from high school to college each year. According to College Board data, female students who take AP CSP in high school are more than five times as likely to major in computer science in college, compared to similar female students who did not take CSP. The study also finds that for most students, AP CSP serves as a stepping-stone to other advanced AP STEM coursework. The schools that received this years AP Computer Science Female Diversity Award should serve as inspirations and models for all American high schools, where overall, female students remain under-represented in computer science classes, comprising just 34 percent of AP Computer Science Principles participants, according to the College Board. These findings make it all the more imperative, the College Board points out, that schools nationwide achieve gender parity in AP Computer Science classrooms. Currently, less than half of the nations high schools teach foundational computer science, a clear opportunity to be addressed by strong partnerships between policymakers, the tech industry, and educators. The College Board noted the increasing number of students taking the AP Computer Science Principles exam since it was first offered in 2016-17. Overall last year, more than 116,000 students took the AP CSP Exam - a 21 percent increase over the previous year. In 2020, 39,570 women took the AP CSP exam, nearly three times the number who tested in 2017. Mercy High School is an AP Capstone Diploma, Catholic diocesan college preparatory high school for young women, where each student is encouraged to recognize the abilities and strengths that will enable her to achieve her potential. The top-rated private high school is committed to providing a challenging educational experience in a safe and nurturing environment. Mercy High School responds to individual needs and provides students with the technological and social skills needed in the 21st Century. Students attend from across Connecticut, from communities in Hartford, Middlesex, New Haven, and New London counties. Washington: US President Joe Biden says the US expects to take delivery of enough coronavirus vaccines for all adult Americans by the end of May, two months earlier than anticipated. His administration also announced that drugmaker Merck would help produce rival Johnson & Johnsons newly approved shot. The announcement comes as the White House looks to speed the production of the single-dose J&J vaccine and accelerate the nations plans to reach herd immunity and begin restoring normalcy. Biden noted that vaccine supply was only one bottleneck towards that goal, and that the new challenge would be inoculating people as swiftly as possible. Plus, Bill's Message of the Day, say goodbye to law and order Joe. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices RESTON, Va., March 2, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The Leidos Partnership for Defense Health today announced it successfully delivered the MHS GENESIS electronic health record to nearly 6,000 additional clinicians and other providers as part of its most recent Wave deployment. The Leidos partnership has effectively developed and deployed MHS GENESIS, the Military Health System's new electronic health record, providing program management and technical expertise to the Program Executive Office Defense Healthcare Management Systems (PEO DHMS) since 2015. The program is on track to replace the military's existing health records software with a single, common record connecting the Department of Defense, Department of Veterans Affairs, U.S. Coast Guard and private-sector health care providers. When fully deployed, MHS GENESIS will provide a single solution for millions of service members and their families. "Now more than ever our military needs the most advanced healthcare delivery system," said Liz Porter, Leidos Health Group president. "We remain diligently focused on meeting the implementation schedule for this vital program and are proud of the team's ability to continue delivering during these challenging times." MHS GENESIS is currently live and operational across 20 military treatment facility commands with approximately 20,000 active users. "The progress to date demonstrates our team's focus and commitment to ensuring we have the right people in the right places to get this done," said Holly Joers, acting program executive officer for the Defense Healthcare Management Systems (PEO DHMS). MHS GENESIS is deploying across the continental United States and overseas through a total of 23 waves. Each Wave will target a specific region over one year, with an average of three hospitals and numerous physical locations for each Wave. This approach enables the DOD to take full advantage of lessons learned from prior Waves to maximize subsequent Waves' efficiencies. Full deployment of MHS GENESIS is expected by the end of calendar year 2023. About Leidos Leidos is a Fortune 500 information technology, engineering, and science solutions and services leader working to solve the world's toughest challenges in the defense, intelligence, homeland security, civil, and health markets. The company's 39,000 employees support vital missions for government and commercial customers. Headquartered in Reston, Va., Leidos reported annual revenues of approximately $12.30 billion for the fiscal year ended January 1, 2021. For more information, visit www.Leidos.com. Statements in this announcement, other than historical data and information, constitute forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. A number of factors could cause our actual results, performance, achievements, or industry results to be very different from the results, performance, or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Some of these factors include, but are not limited to, the risk factors set forth in the company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the period ended January 1, 2021, and other such filings that Leidos makes with the SEC from time to time. Due to such uncertainties and risks, readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date hereof. Contact: Melissa Duenas (571) 526-6850 [email protected] Thomas Doheny (571) 474-4735 [email protected] SOURCE Leidos Related Links http://www.leidos.com Shanghai (Gasgoo)- Chinese EV startup Xpeng Motors announced it delivered 2,223 new vehicles in February, traditionally an off-season for car shopping in China. Xpeng P7; photo credit: Xpeng Motors For the first two months of 2021, the company boasted a precipitous surge of 577% year on year with 8,238 smart EVs delivered in total. Last month, 1,409 consumers took delivery of the Xpeng P7s, resulting in a cumulative delivery volume of 20,181 units. Xpeng Motors said it made progress on businesses of export, charging service and autonomous driving solution. Its second batch of Xpeng G3 SUVs to be sold in Norway departed from Guangzhou on Feb. 4. This came after the successful customer delivery of its first batch of G3s for the Norwegian market in December 2020, marking another step in the company's global market offensive. On Feb. 8, Xpeng Motors announced it was about to launch 15 supercharging stations across 12 Chinese cities to offer Xpeng's car owners dedicated supercharging services. The EV manufacturer claimed that the Navigation Guided Pilot (NGP) function was driven for a cumulative distance of 1,023,884 km within its first 25 days. It took NGP's users 15 days to accumulate driving distance of 500,000 kilometers, and completed next 500,000-km range within only 11 days, reflecting consumer's strong acceptance of the function. As a key part of Xpeng's XPILOT 3.0 autonomous driving package, the NGP's public test version was launched to consumers in China on Jan. 26. Powered by the NGP, vehicles are available for point-to-point navigation assisted autonomous driving based on the navigation route set by the driver. Biden said there will be enough vaccine doses available for all adults by the end of May. The governor of Texas says the state can reopen fully next week despite C.D.C. warnings to governors against easing restrictions. A global study found that health care workers faced widespread violence during the pandemic, in which some were beaten, kidnapped or even shot. Get the latest updates here, as well as maps and vaccines in development. The rapid rise of P.1 Three new studies into the coronavirus variant that first arose in Brazil, known as P.1, depict it as an alarming double threat capable of both spreading more rapidly and evading antibodies. The new research tracked the variants destructive rise in the Amazonian city of Manaus, which was hit particularly hard in the spring, but seemed to have gotten past the worst of the pandemic by April. (Some scientists believed that the city had reached herd immunity.) But sometime probably around November, P.1 appeared in Manaus, sparking a record-breaking surge in cases. The variant was particularly devastating because of its increased contagiousness; researchers found it to be 1.4 to 2.2 times more transmissible than other lineages of coronaviruses. More troubling perhaps was the fact that the variant also gained the ability to infect people who had immunity from past Covid-19 infections. Researchers estimated that out of 100 people who were infected with non-P.1 variants in Manaus last year, between 25 and 61 of them could have been reinfected if they were exposed to P.1. SoundCloud says it was easy to implement the change and will better support independent artists SoundCloud announced Tuesday it would become the first streaming service to start directing subscribers' fees to the independent artists they support, a move welcomed by musicians campaigning for fairer pay. At the moment, streaming services like Spotify, Deezer and Apple put royalty payments into one big pot and dish them out based on which artists have the most global plays. Many artists and unions argue this system is grossly unfair, giving a huge slice of the pie to mega-stars like Drake and Ariana Grande while leaving almost nothing for lesser-known musicians. From April 1, SoundCloud will start directing royalties due from each subscriber only to the artists they stream. However, this will only apply for the roughly 100,000 independent artists who monetise directly through the site. Artists licenced from major labels will continue to be paid via the traditional pooled method. SoundCloud said the new payment systemknown as "fan-powered royalties" or a "user-centric model"would empower listeners and encourage greater diversity in musical styles. "Artists are now better equipped to grow their careers by forging deeper connections with their most dedicated fans," the statement said. "Fans can directly influence how their favorite artists are paid." 'Distortion in value' Major record labels are thought to be resistant to "user-centric" payments, in part because the current system allows them to generate massive profits through a relatively small number of huge stars. Many artists and unions argue this system is grossly unfair, giving a huge slice of the pie to mega-stars like Drake and Ariana Grande. A study by France's Centre National de la Musique (CNM) earlier this year found that 10 percent of all revenues from Spotify and Deezer go to just 10 artists at the very top. That has allowed the major labels to amass record revenues over the past year, just as most musicians were thrown into crisis by the cancellation of live tours due to the pandemic. Earlier this year, label bosses told a British parliamentary commission investigating the streaming economy that it may be too complicated for platforms to shift to fan-based royalty payments. But SoundCloud, which has been trialing the new model for months, said this was exactly wrongthat its computing calculations took just 20 minutes for user-centric, compared with 23 hours for the pooled model. "The most important takeaway from SoundCloud's data is that none of the previous modeling has been accurate, that when you actually run a user-centric system, the rewards to artists that have an audience are significantly improved," said Crispin Hunt, chair of the British Ivors Academy. The Academy has been running a campaign to "fix streaming". "It proves the distortion in value that the existing model delivers," he said. 'Interesting initiative' The CNM study, which only used data from Spotify and Deezer, found that changing to fan-based royalties would make only a slight difference to the income of smaller artists. It would take around 4.5 million euros from the top 10 but distribute it very thinly around lower tiers, it said. Streaming services like Spotify, Deezer and Apple put royalty payments into one big pot and dish them out based on which artists have the most global plays. Many artists and unions argue this system is grossly unfair, giving a huge slice of the pie to mega-stars like Drake and Ariana Grande. SoundCloud however, found it made a significant difference. Using the example of an artist with 124,000 followers, it said they would see an increase in royalties from $120 to $600 per month. It said the overall effect was that 90 percent of royalty pay-outs would now be driven by 90 percent of listeners, rather than just 40 percent of listeners under the existing model. CNM president Jean-Philippe Thiellay said it was "an interesting initiative". "Things are moving a lot in the world of streaming. It's a good thing. We'll have to see what it does for artists." SoundCloud said its positive data may be linked to the particular nature of its users, who tend to be "younger and much more active". It was launched in Berlin in 2007 as a sort of YouTube for music, allowing anyone to upload their music, from scrappy garage band covers to dubstep DJ sets. This made it hugely popular, with some 175 million users by 2019. But it struggled to generate revenues and landed in legal trouble over the number of unauthorised remixes and covers on the site. In 2016, it shifted strategy, signing deals with the major labels to provide a premium service with a catalogue similar to those of its rivals. But it has remained a long way off the customer numbers of Spotify, Amazon and Deezer. Explore further Should Spotify payments go to artists you actually listen to? 2021 AFP Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 3) Business tycoon Manny Pangilinan has officially offered to buy Shell Philippines Exploration B.V.s 45% stake in the Malampaya gas facility. "We have submitted a final non-binding offer to Shell," Pangilinan said, referring to First Pacific Company Ltd., during Meralco's virtual briefing on Monday. Pangilinan is chief executive officer of the Hong Kong-based investment management and holding company. The Meralco chairman added that the offer, which was submitted 5:01 p.m. last Friday, was a group effort. "It's not just First Pacific. Philex Mining was part of that group that made a joint offer because Philex Mining is part owner of PXP Energy, which owns 70% of Forum [Energy]," Pangilinan said. "One or two other" banks were also part of the group, he added. Philex Mining told the local bourse Wednesday it is not directly involved in discussions on the acquisition of Shells stake, clarifying its only involvement is through its associated company PXP Energy. The offer remains subject to the final outcome of the bidding process, further discussions between the parties, and obtaining all applicable regulatory, corporate and other approvals, the mining company added. PXP Energy, also led by Pangilinan, confirmed last October their plan to acquire Shell's stake in the natural gas project. Prior to this, San Miguel Corporation and Petron president Ramon Ang and Phoenix Petroleum owner Dennis Uy also expressed interest in Shell's stake. Shell is seeking a buyer for its stake in the reservoir as it hopes to preserve its financial footing. Uy's Udenna Corporation already owns 45% of the gas-to-power project after it purchased Chevrons stake in Malampaya. State-led PNOC Exploration Corporation holds the remaining 10%. PXP Energy likewise has an operating interest in Service Contract 72, which refers to its project in Recto Bank. "We hope that SC 72 could get developed as an oil field. And once we start developing, we have to connect to Malampaya because we need our facilities to process the raw gas then pipe it to Batangas," Pangilinan said. He added Meralco should already get into gas plants. PXP Energy's United Kingdom-based subsidiary Forum Energy, meanwhile, bagged SC 75 which pertains to its project in Northwest Palawan. Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi earlier said the Malampaya facility is only good until 2027, with its contract with the agency set to lapse in 2024. LONDON, March 2, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- LiteForex was recognised as the "Best ECN Broker, Africa", "Best Copy Trading Platform, Southeast Asia" and "Best Retail Forex Trading Platform, MENA" by Global Brands Magazine during the 2020 Forex Awards Program. LiteForex was chosen by Global Brands Magazine's jury among tough competition and was recognized for being a reliable Forex trading platform across many continents. The Global Brand Awards is an annual event held by Global Brands Magazine (GBM), an international publication headquartered in the UK. The award aims to recognize global brands achieving excellence in performance across a broad range of sectors while keeping its readers updated on key trends surrounding the branding world. LiteForex was evaluated based on customer service, satisfaction, innovation, consistent growth and quality of service. Aleksey Smirnov, CEO at LiteForex commented: "For over 15 years, LiteForex has been providing its clients with the opportunity to trade in the financial markets. The broker maintains a leading position in this area. I confidently declare that at the moment we have one of the best platforms for trading and copying trades, and I am glad that it has got such a prestigious award. Our team is constantly developing and improving the platform, working on new services and keeping the already functioning one up to date. We always pay special attention to the development of technologies and the security of our clients' funds. We are grateful to our clients for the inspiration they give us and we always try to anticipate the needs and desires of our traders and affiliates. We want to thank you for choosing LiteForex as your broker." The LiteForex ?ompany firmly expands its services and regularly opens new offices. LiteForex now has representative offices in over 15 countries. The number of partners willing to represent the LiteForex brand is only increasing. LiteForex is represented in 216 countries and clients can get assistance in their native languages wherever in the world. Everyone can be a part of LiteForex. It's easy and fast; to start Forex trading with LiteForex. The registration process is smooth, and the low initial deposit lets anyone become a fully-fledged market participant. About LiteForex We've found LiteForex to be a highly reliable Forex broker with an excellent reputation. Having been founded in 2005, it is now one of the foremost Forex companies in the world. Its clients enjoy raw spreads from 0.1 pips, low trading fees and affiliate commissions of 70% of markup. With LiteForex, you can trade more than 150 financial instruments including metals, oil, cryptocurrencies, shares and stock indexes. Orders are executed at a speed of 0.1 second without delays. LiteForex is sure to win the hearts of beginners as well as professional traders with its unique platform with tools both for accurate technical analysis and for comprehensive fundamental analysis. About Global Brands Magazine (UK) Global Brands Magazine (GBM) has been on the forefront, bringing news, views and opinions on brands that are shaping the future of their industry. The UK-based magazine provides its readers with the latest news and information on 'best-in-class' brands across the globe. Each year, GBM develops a series of awards for companies that stood out having a unique vision, exceptional service, innovative solutions and consumer-centric products, among their industry leaders. About Global Brand Awards: Global Brand Awards honours brands for their excellence in performance and rewards companies across different sectors for the quality of their services. The Brand Awards highlight accomplishments of organizations that have performed remarkably well in the field of Finance, Education, Hospitality, Automobiles, Lifestyle, Education, Real Estate, Technology and several more. The GBM Brand Awards recognize key players who make progress toward excellence by providing a platform to acknowledge their efforts. In addition, GBM strives to create awareness concerning the significance of such organizations and reward them for their notable efforts with the ultimate global recognition. Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1250180/GBM_Logo.jpg The Alamo is showing a sampling of items from the Phil Collins Collection that the British rock star has donated to the historic mission and battle site. Five of the more than 200 items Collins donated for public viewing are on exhibit through April 25. The exhibit opened Tuesday for Texas Independence Day. On ExpressNews.com: Alamo now armed with Phil Collins Collection The exhibit allows visitors to glimpse a selection of priceless artifacts graciously gifted to the state of Texas by musician and historian Phil Collins, the Alamo said in a release. The Phil Collins Collection Preview features a brass cannon used by the Mexican Army during the Battle of the Alamo; the original battle orders from Gen. Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna for the early morning attack on the fort on March 6, 1836; and other precious historic artifacts from the battle. The public has been very interested in seeing the Collins Collection. It has been an honor to care for and preserve these artifacts over the years, said Kristi Miller Nichols, director of archaeology, collections and historical research at the Alamo. Collins announced the donation of his collection in June 2014. On ExpressNews.com: Collins touched on Alamo in tell-all autobiography The items are on display in the Alamo Exhibit Hall on the south end of the Alamo grounds. Visitors can book access to the exhibit at theAlamo.org or at the Alamo Welcome Center in Alamo Plaza. The exhibit was free Tuesday. It then will become part of the audio tours at the state-owned complex, which are priced at $7 per person. The exhibit offers a sampling of what will be on display in the new Alamo Exhibition Hall & Collections Building, set to open on the grounds in the spring of 2022. The building will serve as a curatorial facility, and provide additional gallery space to complement a planned Alamo museum and visitor center, now in developmental stages, the Alamo said. shuddleston@express-news.net Dr. Oz reportedly saved the life of a man after he collapsed at the Newark, New Jersey airport on Monday evening. The television host began giving him CPR before using a defibrillator after a man fell to the ground at baggage claim, according to TMZ. Oz who's full name is Mehmet Cengiz Oz was at the right place at the right time as the man 'flatlined' while the doctor 'shocked him back to life as a huge crowd watched' from the terminal. 'Last night, a man collapsed near me and my family after we arrived at Newark Airport,' Dr. Oz said in a statement to DailyMail.com. 'I performed CPR with the help of a Newark Port Authority police officer and cleared the man's airway. Helping hands: Dr. Oz reportedly saved the life of a man after he collapsed at the Newark, New Jersey airport on Monday evening; seen in February 2020 'Thankfully, Newark Airport had a defibrillator nearby that we were able to use to save his life. As a physician and a human being, it's our responsibility to jump in when theres a medical emergency.' Adding: 'Another critical reminder of how important it is to take the time to learn how to do CPR and use a defibrillator. You could save a life.' The doctor reported that the man 'was turning a horrible color and had foam coming out of his mouth when he started doing CPR.' One Twitter user witnessed the events at the airport and tweeted a photo along with the caption: 'Holy sh** that was dr oz on my flight?!? dude his daughter yelled out dad!!! and he ran into action A Port Authority police officer reportedly helped Dr. Oz continue CPR and cleared the man's airway. Law enforcement officials confirmed the man was 60-years-old and the defib was used on the highest possible power. The man was taken to a local New Jersey-area hospital and is doing 'okay' pending lab results, but may have suffered a heart attack. Right place at the right time: TMZ reported Oz has been in touch with the man's wife who he was traveling with at the time TMZ reported Oz has been in touch with the man's wife who he was traveling with at the time. One Twitter user witnessed the events at the airport and tweeted a photo along with the caption: 'Holy sh** that was dr oz on my flight?!? dude his daughter yelled out dad!!! and he ran into action. 'mad props and respect @DrOz and the Port Authority police at Newark Airport. Varde Partners, a leading global alternative investment firm, today announced it has agreed the forward sale of its One Parc Central office development in Barcelona to DWS for 128 million. The sale was agreed through Dospuntos Asset Management, a Varde-controlled real estate company in Spain, formed in December 2017 following its carve-out from the residential developer Via Celere. Located in the 22@ region in Barcelona, the 23,500 square meter office tower forms part of the city's major urban transformation project which seeks to establish a new technology and innovation hub in the former industrial area of Poblenou. Construction began in the third quarter of 2019 and is expected to be completed in the third quarter of 2022. "The land purchase in late 2017 reflected our long-term conviction in the 22@ region and Barcelona's strength as a destination for international business, in a market that continues to show fast absorption of high-quality office space," said Hector Serrat, Managing Director at Varde. "We have a long history of investing in Spanish real estate across different sectors, and remain focused on opportunities to develop and manage assets where we can seek to create and unlock value for our investors." Dospuntos Asset Management initially acquired the land in October 2017, before securing planning and licensing approvals for a total of 53,000 buildable square meters, including office, student housing and residential uses. One Parc Central will be 14 stories high with 2,158 square meters of terraces, with a view of the Parc Central de Poblenou and Avenida Diagonal. It will have three underground floors, with 154 parking spaces for cars, 133 spaces for motorcycles and 122 for bicycles. Construction of a second office tower next to One Parc Central will begin imminently and ultimately include a gross lettable area of 23,000 square meters and 190 parking spaces. Dospuntos Asset Management owns additional land in the Parc Central area, where a 7,000 square meter student housing project and a 2,500 square meter residential block will be developed. Alfredo Laffitte, Director General of Dospuntos Asset Management, said: "The One Parc Central construction is at the forefront of a major transformation in the 22@ area, and we're pleased the development's ESG features have been recognized with LEED Gold and WELL Silver ratings. The purchase by DWS demonstrates the attractiveness of the project as we begin construction of the second office tower." About Varde Partners Varde Partners is a leading global alternative investment firm with roots in credit and distressed. Founded in 1993, the firm has invested $75 billion since inception and manages more than $14 billion on behalf of a global investor base. The firm's investments span corporate and traded credit, real estate and mortgages, private equity and direct lending. Varde employs more than 300 professionals worldwide with offices in Minneapolis, New York, London, Singapore and other cities in Asia and Europe. For more information, please visit www.Varde.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210302005825/en/ Contacts: Andrea Raphael Global Head of Communications Public Affairs +1-212-321-3784 communications@varde.com On June 1, as protests intensified across the US following the police killing of George Floyd, Richard Cummings, a freelance photojournalist in Worcester, Massachusetts, saw dozens of police officers assembling in riot gear, even though the days main demonstration had wound down. He started to film them and take pictures. Worcesters never had anything with riot gear before, Cummings told me recently. It looks like the end of the world. It was crazy. A few officers, Cummings said, were cracking jokes, including about shooting members of the public with their pepper guns; eventually, they noticed Cummings, who turned away. I didnt want to pry into anything, or get anyone angry, he said. A different officer had given Cummings permission to stand nearby after he identified himself as a journalist, but after that officer moved on, the cops that Cummings had been filming tackled him. According to Cummings, who described his experience to me, one pinned him to a brick wall, twisted his arms and screamed about breaking them, called him a homophobic slur, cuffed him so tightly his arms bled, and dragged him over to a van carrying other detainees. Cummingss mask came off; the officer refused to help him put it back on. Police also confiscated Cummingss phone; when he eventually got it back, he noticed that videos had been deleted. It really did freak me out, he said. I didnt have any idea that there was even a chance Id be arrested for anything. Cummings was subsequently charged with disorderly conduct, disturbing the peace, and failure to disperse. Two-and-a-half months after his arrest, he pleaded not guilty to all three charges. Five-and-a-half months after his arrest, a judge dismissed the first two charges against him. He still faces the third. Next week, a court will hear his attorneys motion to dismiss the case, on the grounds of police misconduct and lost exculpatory evidence. Another court date is set for late April. Cummingss lawyer, who is representing him pro bono, told me that he is confident in his case, especially in light of the video evidence that Cummings still has in his possession. If the charge is not dismissed, its not cleardue to pandemic-induced delayswhen Cummings might get a trial. It seems like theyre just waiting everybody out, Cummings told me. Its been going on forever, for almost a year. (A spokesperson for the Worcester Police Department referred me to the district attorneys office, which declined to comment on an open case.) ICYMI: When a word starts to smell Cummingss is not a unique case. According to data maintained by the US Press Freedom Tracker, more than a hundred and twenty-five journalists were arrested or detained in the US last yeara twelve-thousand percent increase over 2019and at least forty-three of them were also assaulted. Cummings was one of at least seventy-one journalists to be arrested in the week spanning May 29 and June 4. Most of those affected faced no ongoing legal consequencesbut, as of the end of last year, the Tracker listed eighteen journalists, including Cummings, whose cases were still pending. In recent days, Ive reached out to all eighteen to find out where they stand now. Four of themChae Kihn, who was arrested in New York; Robert Spangle and Pablo Unzueta, who were both arrested in Los Angeles; and Brendan Gutenschwager, who was arrested in Wauwatosa, Wisconsintold me that their charges have now been dropped. Four didnt respond to multiple inquiries. Ten confirmed that their cases are still pending. Some declined to comment further; others described a long-term limbo, exacerbated by a pandemic that has gummed up the legal system, and, in a couple of cases, by the confiscation of equipment and ongoing harassment by law enforcement and members of the public. Some will soon face days in court. Others must continue to wait. Of the journalists still facing charges, a few have institutional affiliations. In the most high-profile of these cases (even if its profile is still not high enough), Andrea Sahouri, a reporter with the Des Moines Register who was pepper-sprayed then cuffed with zip ties while covering a protest on May 31, will go on trial next week, charged with failure to disperse and interference with official acts. She declined to be interviewed this close to trial; last week, the Register wrote, in an editorial, that the charges are a clear infringement on the freedom of the press. April Ehrlichwho works for Jefferson Public Radio, in Oregon, and who wrote recently for CJRwas arrested in September, while she was covering police evictions at an encampment for the unhoused in Medford. She was charged with trespassing, resisting arrest, and interfering with a peace officer; the latter charge was dropped, but the first two werent and she faces a pre-trial hearing in two weeks. In October, police in North Carolina arrested Tomas Murawksi, a reporter with the Alamance News, who had been covering a poll march that ended with officers pepper-spraying participants, including children; he was charged with resisting, delaying, or obstructing a public officer, and also has a court date later this month. Veronica Coit is a freelance journalist in North Carolina, but had been working regularly for the Asheville Blade when they were arrested at a protest against police brutality, in August. They were charged with failure to disperse and impeding the steady flow of traffic. Their court date is set for early May. The majority of those who still face charges are freelancers who either work for a multiplicity of clients or were just out documenting events for themselves when they got into trouble. In some cases, that status has caused them additional problems, including a relative lack of attention to their cases. Today, Lynn Murphyan independent reporter who was arrested while covering a racial-justice protest in Richmond, in Septemberfaces a hearing related to her misdemeanor charge of obstructing free passage. Murphy told me that her charge would likely have been dropped already, but that her lawyers wanted extra time to challenge a police search of her phone. She says that the lingering charge cost her a paid reporting job at a local outlet, and, initially, barred her from leaving the state, meaning she couldnt travel to events she had planned to cover in Washington. A charge filed against Ronald Weaver II, an independent filmmaker who was arrested at an anti-ICE protest in New York in September, is still pending, as is a charge against Blair Nelson, who was arrested at a protest in Wauwatosa in October. Vishal Singh and Sean Beckner-Carmitcheltwo videographers who were arrested at protests in Los Angeles around the election, in November, for unlawful assembly and failure to dispersetold me that they still dont know if theyll face formal charges; both must appear in court next week. Beckner-Carmitchel, who was arrested twice on successive days, has been identified in press reporting as an activist, as well as a videographer, but he told me he has transitioned firmly into journalism. Besides, he said, the police dont get to decide who is and is not press. Sign up for CJR 's daily email The Press Freedom Tracker operates on a relatively broad understanding of who is and isnt press; what matters, it says, is whether the person was performing an act of journalism when they were targeted. When Cummings was arrested, in Worcester, he was out in a neighborhood that hes been capturing for a longer-term book project. His arrest, he told me, has affected him ever since, triggering anxiety and panic attacks. Its just like this weird, uneasy, uncertain dark cloud that has been following me around for a whole year, he said. I know Im not gonna do any hard time or anything like that. Thats not really what Im scared of. Im more scared of, I guess, the fact that it can happen at all. His work has helped him get through it. Taking photographs, he told me, has just been like a coping mechanism, to the point where, like, its all I do. Below, more on journalists and the police: Other notable stories: ICYMI: Press freedom comes second to self-interestagainas Biden lets MBS off the hook 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. By Nam Hyun-woo Hyundai Motor Group said Tuesday it broke ground for a fuel cell plant in Guangzhou, China, marking the group's first overseas manufacturing facility dedicated to hydrogen fuel cell systems. According to the automotive conglomerate, it held an online "groundbreaking" ceremony for HWTO Guangzhou. The ceremony was participated in by Hyundai Motor Group Chairman Chung Euisun, Guangdong Province Secretary Li Xi, Guangdong Province Governor Ma Xingrui and Consul General of Korea in Guangzhou Hong Sung-wook. With the goal of completion in the second half of 2022, HTWO Guangzhou will occupy a 207,000-square-meter site in Guangzhou and will be comprised of a fuel cell system plant and an R&D facility. The facility will produce 6,500 fuel cells annually, and will be subject to further expansion depending on the local market circumstances and government policies. Hyundai Motor Group signed an MOU with the Guangdong provincial government in December 2019 for the establishment of HTWO Guangzhou. After spending a year on market research and location selection, the group signed an investment deal in January this year. Hyundai Motor Group will fully own HTWO Guangzhou. "Based on our world-leading technologies and hydrogen expertise, Hyundai Motor Group will strengthen partnerships with Chinese partners to lead clean mobility innovations," Chung said during the ceremony. "With both countries' support, the business will be able to provide greater opportunities with clean and eco-friendly infrastructure." The partnership came amid a positive outlook for the Chinese hydrogen market. Last October, the China Society of Automotive Engineers, which is an advisory group to China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, suggested the Chinese market would have more than 1 million hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles by 2035. To preemptively occupy the global hydrogen market, Hyundai Motor Group has been striving to expand its hydrogen businesses under Chung's leadership. The group will complete its second hydrogen fuel cell plant in Chungju, North Chungcheong Province, next year, raising its domestic hydrogen fuel cell capacity to 40,000. The group seeks to produce more than 500,000 fuel cells annually by 2030. 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 Photo: (Photo : Facebook of Christina DePino) The Michigan woman, Christina DePino, spoke about her itching in a Facebook post during her pregnancy in 2017. Her friends cautioned her that this simple itching could be cholestasis. Thanks to that post, Christina was diagnosed earlier, and it may have saved her then-unborn baby from dying. The Facebook Post DePino only complained on her Facebook about the itching that she had. According to her, it only started as an all-over itch. However, this itch became more unusual on the palms of her hands and her feet' soles. She said, "It got to the point that I could no longer sleep at night ... my arms and legs were bleeding from all the scratching." That was when she decided to share her experience on Facebook. ALSO READ: Kindergarten Teacher Gets Chemotherapy and Teaches Virtually at the Same Time Facebook Post Potentially Saved a Life During that time, DePino was 35 weeks pregnant. After sharing the post, some of her friends commented about how it could be cholestasis of pregnancy. She said, "Thanks to a little Facebook complaining & the urging of Jennifer, Britney & Monica, I got the itch checked out & found out I had pregnancy Cholestasis." According to the Michigan mom, the early diagnosis potentially saved her baby's life. ALSO READ: Mom Who Survived COVID Coma and Gave Birth Prematurely, Discharged from the Hospital What is cholestasis? According to the Mayo Clinic, "Intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy, commonly known as cholestasis of pregnancy, is a liver condition that occurs in late pregnancy." One of the symptoms of cholestasis of pregnancy is itching without a rash. The Mayo Clinic also indicated that the itch could cause some women to have difficulty sleeping. Aside from itching, other symptoms of cholestasis of pregnancy include loss of appetite, nausea, and jaundice. Some of the risks of this condition are lung problems, early birth, and even stillbirth. That is also why the Michigan mom thought that the Facebook post is a life-saver to their then-unborn baby girl. ALSO READ: Florida Woman Survives Three Heart Surgeries, Now Delivers Miracle Baby Michigan Mom Thanks Friends and Warns Others DePino is grateful to everyone who convinced her to have her symptoms checked. She said, "Thanks, guys, for giving some amazing advice which may have just saved our precious girl's life! Yeah, We are SO BLESSED & in awe!" In a Facebook post after giving birth to her baby girl, DePino included a link to an organization that spreads awareness about pregnancy cholestasis. ICP Cares also shares stories of mothers who suffered from Intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy. Also, the organization has Facebook groups where tips, support, and advice are provided to mothers. Their goal is to be able to save the lives of unborn babies and their mothers. ALSO READ: Miscarriage and Stillbirth Can Be Linked to the Father's Health, Study Reveals We would like to formally state that while Facebook has its benefits as an information-sharing network, it is always best to consult medical professionals if you feel that you may be experiencing a medical problem. A prominent columnist has called for Bill Shorten to be kicked out of parliament over historical claims of sexual assault. Nine commentator Jessica Irvine clashed with Nationals senator Matt Canavan on the Today Show on Wednesday, arguing no minister who has been accused of sexual misconduct should be allowed to keep their job. Mr Shorten has denied rape allegations dating back to the 1980s. He was never charged by Victoria Police following a 10-month investigation which was later closed. The woman made the allegations in 2013, claiming Mr Shorten had raped her at a Young Labor camp near Geelong in 1986. 'I will not go into details, except to say the allegation was untrue and abhorrent,' he said at the time. When asked by Mr Canavan if Mr Shorten should remain in his job, Ms Irvine responded: 'no... I would say no'. 'We need to change the standard of behaviour [of politicians],' she said. 'We do not want people who have been accused of such things [being allowed to stay in parliament].' Commentator Jessica Irvine slammed the former Labor leader in an extraordinary outburst on the Today Show on Wednesday morning When asked by Senator Matt Canavan if Mr Shorten should remain in his job, Ms Irvin responded: 'no, I would say no' Mr Canavan responded: 'Well that means basically get rid of everybody'. 'Is everybody an accused rapist in parliament?' Ms Irvine shot back. The discussion comes just hours before a senior federal cabinet minister accused of raping a 16-year-old girl three decades ago will identify himself and deny wrongdoing. The woman last year told police he raped her in Sydney's Kings Cross after a night of drinking and dancing in January 1988, but took her own life months later. 'This makes me really angry that we are going to give a national platform to a man who's been accused of rape,' Ms Irvine said. 'As an Australian woman, I find it sickening that this woman can't speak for herself, she's taken her life. 'And today we're going to hear from a man in an incredible position of power who's going to be able to plead his case and elicit sympathy for his situation. 'We need to guard against members of parliament conducting themselves in ways that are inappropriate.' Mr Canavan then accused Ms Irvine of assuming the minister, whose identity will be revealed today, is guilty. 'You seem to be assuming he's guilty and that's a reverse of our normal standard of innocent until proven guilty,' the senator said. Host Karl Stefanovic echoed Mr Canavan's sentiments, saying the minister in question could be innocent. Bill Shorten (pictured with wife Chloe) has previously denial rape allegations dating back to the 1980s after Victoria Police closed an investigation into him in 2014 The senior federal cabinet minister accused of raping a 16-year-old girl three decades ago will today publicly declare his innocence (stock image) Bill Shorten rape allegations Bill Shorten was accused of rape by a woman who claimed the former Labor leader assaulted her in 1986 during a Young Labor conference in Portarlington, near Geelong, Victoria. Victorian police did not lay charges and on August 21, 2014, Mr Shorten released a brief statement confirming police had dropped their investigation into the claims. The accusation surfaced in September, 2014, after the woman posted a message on Kevin Rudd's Facebook page, beneath his farewell message to the nation. She wrote that Shorten: 'did things to me without my permission' at a camp in Victoria 27 years earlier. 'You probably get crazy messages all the time,' she added, 'but I need help. Thank you again for everything and I am sorry that the ALP did this to you, too.' Her comment was picked up by cartoonist Larry Pickering and published online. She claimed she had been 16 when the 19-year-old Shorten had allegedly raped her in the bathroom of one of the cabins after drinking and smoking marijuana. The woman claims she complained to police once in NSW in 2004, and again in Queensland in 2006. She abandoned both complaints. After 10 months' investigation Victorian police decided not to lay charges and on August 21, 2014, Mr Shorten released a brief statement in Melbourne which confirmed police had dropped their investigation into the claims. 'I will not go into the details, except to say that the allegation was untrue and abhorrent,' Mr Shorten said at a press conference. Advertisement 'It's a cornerstone of our law that you have the presumption of innocence,' he said. Ms Irvine argued that no MP on either side of politics is that 'good enough at their jobs that they're irreplaceable'. 'I want the prime minister to take a stronger stance on this,' she said. Scott Morrison has been under pressure to out the minister, stand him down, and launch an inquiry since detailed allegations were sent to his office. He said the politician told him the allegation was not true, but the minister has now agreed to make a statement on Wednesday. Police on Tuesday closed the investigation as it had insufficient admissible evidence to proceed after the woman's suicide last June. The minister was hoping to keep the matter a private one for police to deal with but rumours have circled in Canberra and on social media over the past week. He is expected to unequivocally deny the allegations and refuse to stand aside or quit parliament, and Mr Morrison and the government to stand behind him. Such a self-outing would be similar to former Labor opposition leader Bill Shorten's denial of sexual assault allegations in August 2014 after Victoria Police closed a historical investigation into him. 'I will not go into details, except to say the allegation was untrue and abhorrent,' he said at the time. The statement was intended to draw a line under the matter and Wednesday's is expected to attempt to do the same. An anonymous sender said they were inspired to write a letter (pictured) detailing the woman's allegations after former Liberal staffer Brittany Higgins went public with an allegation Mr Morrison said he did not read the letter but forwarded it to Australian Federal Police Commissioner Reece Kershaw (pictured) Further pressure to come forward was made by former PM Malcolm Turnbull who insisted on TV that he go public because 'everyone knows' who he is. The minister is said to have taken advice on defamation after Mr Turnbull's comments along with thousands of others on social media and blogs. Crossbench MPs also piled on, some demanding an independent inquiry that Mr Morrison has so far resisted. There were even fears an MP could use parliamentary privilege to out him with impunity when both houses sit again on March 15. Tasmanian Senator Jacquie Lambie claimed he should 'suck it up' and make a statement because 'every man and his dog knows, so he's only digging his hole deeper'. 'If he has nothing to hide then come out and face the music,' she said. Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young, who along with Senator Penny Wong and Mr Morrison was last week sent a letter from a friend of the woman that outlined her allegations in detail, agreed. 'The accused minister knows who he is, the entire parliament knows who he is,' she told the Sydney Morning Herald. 'If he is innocent he should step forward and declare it. The integrity of his ministry and the entire government is now in question while he remains in hiding with such a grave allegation levelled against him.' 'The matter is now closed': NSW Police statement In November 2019, a woman then aged 48, attended an Adelaide (South Australia) police station seeking advice about reporting historical sexual offences, which allegedly occurred in 1988 in Sydney (New South Wales). The matter was then referred to the NSW Police Force and an investigation by the Child Abuse and Sex Crimes Squad commenced under Strike Force Wyndarra. NSW Police Force has been the lead agency in respect to this investigation since February 2020. For various reasons, the woman did not detail her allegations in a formal statement to NSW Police. The woman passed away in June 2020. Following the woman's death, NSW Police came into possession of a personal document purportedly made by the woman previously. NSW Police have since sought legal advice in relation to these matters. Based on information provided to NSW Police, there is insufficient admissible evidence to proceed. As such, NSW Police Force has determined the matter is now closed. Advertisement The rape allegation: A timeline 1988: Rape allegedly happens at event in Sydney when woman is 16 Late 2019: Woman engages lawyers and prepares a statement February 2020: Woman reports allegations to NSW Police March 2020: Police postpone trip to visit her due to Covid-19 June 2020: Woman dies by suicide February 24, 2021: Anonymous letter is sent to PM detailing allegations March 1, 2021: PM says minister completely rejects the allegations March 2, 2021: NSW Police close the case Advertisement The woman's allegation became public last week after Scott Morrison received a letter from a mystery sender which included the statement. Police were due to travel to her home in Adelaide in March 2020 to take her statement but their trip was postponed due to Covid-19. In June the woman withdrew her allegation and died by suicide the next day, causing the investigation to be suspended before it was officially closed this week. According to Four Corners which first reported the allegation on Friday, the woman had bipolar disorder and had attended a psychiatric hospital in Melbourne in the months before her death aged 49. Friends say she was 'beautiful and clever' but 'consumed with trauma'. As well as leaving her prepared statement, the woman made a 45-minute recording in which she talked about her allegations, according to the Herald Sun. In a letter to a friend she wrote: 'I guess I just worry that a trial has the potential to be an emotional bloodbath, particularly for me and anyone who appears as a witness in the case.' NSW Police said officers have sought legal advice about a 'personal document' made by the woman. The woman had told several family and friends about her allegation. It was presumably one of them who sent the letter to Mr Morrison, Liberal MP Celia Hammond and two South Australian senators, demanding an investigation. The anonymous sender said they were inspired to write the letter after former Liberal staffer Brittany Higgins went public with an allegation she was raped by another staffer in Defence Minister Linda Reynolds' parliament office in 2019. Ms Higgins' allegations dominated the past two sitting weeks of parliament as ministers were repeatedly grilled over who knew about her claims and when. The sender demanded an inquiry into the 1988 allegation, writing: 'There will be considerable damage to community perceptions of justice... and the parliament when this story becomes public if it is simultaneously revealed that senior people (like yourselves) were aware of the accusation but had done nothing.' The identity of the cabinet minister is known among the media and politicians but cannot be disclosed for legal reasons. The ministerial code of conduct requires a minister to stand aside if charged with a crime. Former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull has urged the minister to reveal himself and said it is 'impossible for him to function in that cabinet'. Ms Higgins (pictured) alleged she was raped in Parliament House after a boozy night out Mr Morrison said he spoke to the minister on Wednesday evening and he 'vigorously rejected the allegations.' He said he did not read the letter but had been briefed on the contents of the allegations. Asked if he would set up an inquiry, he said: 'I'm not the police force. I have given it to the police to investigate.' Mr Morrison said AFP Commissioner Reece Kershaw had not advised him to take any action. He refused to sack the minister, saying: 'We can't have a situation where the mere making of an allegation and that being publicised through the media is grounds for, you know, governments to stand people down simply on the basis of that. I mean, we have a rule of law in this country.' Mr Morrison said the first he substantially heard of the allegation was last week. Before that he had only heard rumours of a journalist making inquiries, he said. The prices of six Dr. Seuss children's books are now skyrocketing online after it was announced that no further copies will be published because Seuss Enterprises said they contain racist and insensitive imagery. Dr. Seuss Enterprises, the company that preserves and protects the author's legacy, announced early Tuesday that the six books would no longer be published. The six books that will no longer be printed are: 'And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street', 'If I Ran the Zoo', 'McElligot's Pool', 'On Beyond Zebra!', 'Scrambled Eggs Super!', and 'The Cat's Quizzer'. Almost immediately after the announcement, the prices of those books surged hundreds of dollars on eBay as people placed dozens of bids for new and vintage copies. A vintage copy of 'If I Ran the Zoo' was priced at $510 after receiving 54 bids, while a copy of 'Scrambled Eggs Super!' was at $565 after 58 bids. A copy of 'The Cat's Quizzer', which the seller marketed as brand new, was going for $630 after receiving 48 bids. The move to cease publication of the books drew immediate reaction on social media from those who called it another example of 'cancel culture.' The prices of six Dr. Seuss children's books are now skyrocketing online after it was announced on Tuesday that no further copies will be published because the company that owns the rights to them said they contain racist and insensitive imagery Almost immediately after the announcement, the prices of those books surged hundreds of dollars on eBay as people placed dozens of bids for new and vintage copies. A vintage copy of 'If I Ran the Zoo' was priced at $510 after receiving 54 bids 'We've now got foundations book burning the authors to whom they are dedicated. Well done, everyone,' conservative commentator and author Ben Shapiro tweeted. Others, however, approved of the decision. 'The books we share with our children matter. Books shape their world view and tell them how to relate to the people, places, and ideas around them. As grown-ups, we have to examine the worldview we are creating for our children, including carefully re-examining our favorites,' Rebekah Fitzsimmons, an assistant teaching professor at Carnegie Mellon University, tweeted. Those angry about the decision also directed their fury at President Biden after he omitted Dr. Seuss from Read Across America Day, which is held annually on the children's author's birthday on March 2. Biden broke presidential tradition when he left out any mention of Dr. Seuss during his proclamation on Monday. Both former presidents Barack Obama and Donald Trump have recognized Dr. Seuss' contributions several times in their proclamations each year. Dr. Seuss, whose real name is Theodor Geisel, had been the face of the annual Read Across America day for more than 20 years. Explaining the decision to stop the publication of the six books, the company said: 'These books portray people in ways that are hurtful and wrong.' In 'And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street,' an Asian person is portrayed wearing a conical hat, holding chopsticks, and eating from a bowl. 'If I Ran the Zoo' includes a drawing of two bare-footed African men wearing what appear to be grass skirts with their hair tied above their heads. 'Ceasing sales of these books is only part of our commitment and our broader plan to ensure Dr. Seuss Enterprises' catalog represents and supports all communities and families,' the company said. The decision to cease publication and sales of the books was made last year after months of discussion, the company said. 'Dr. Seuss Enterprises listened and took feedback from our audiences including teachers, academics and specialists in the field as part of our review process. We then worked with a panel of experts, including educators, to review our catalog of titles.' Random House Children Books, Dr. Seuss' publisher, issued a brief statement on Tuesday: 'We respect the decision of Dr. Seuss Enterprises and the work of the panel that reviewed this content last year, and their recommendation.' As adored as Dr. Seuss is by millions around the world for the positive values in many of his works, including environmentalism and tolerance, there has been increasing criticism in recent years over the way blacks, Asians and others are drawn in some of his most beloved children's books, as well as in his earlier advertising and propaganda illustrations. His step-daughter, Lark Grey Dimond-Cates, came out on Tuesday to say he didn't have 'a racist bone' in his body. 'There wasn't a racist bone in that man's body - he was so acutely aware of the world around him and cared so much,' she told the New York Post. Dimond-Cates, whose mother Audrey Geisel was Dr. Seuss' second wife, said she was informed a day earlier about the decision to pull the six books. 'I think in this day and age it's a wise decision,' she said. 'I think this is a world that right now is in pain, and we've all got to be very gentle and thoughtful and kind with each other. 'We're taking that into account and being thoughtful. We don't want to upset anybody.' She said she's hopeful the books can one day go back into print. The National Education Association, which founded Read Across America Day in 1998 and deliberately aligned it with Geisel's birthday, has for several years de-emphasized Seuss and encouraged a more diverse reading list for children. School districts across the country have also moved away from Dr. Seuss, prompting Loudoun County, Virginia, schools just outside Washington, D.C., to douse rumors last month that they were banning the books entirely. 'Research in recent years has revealed strong racial undertones in many books written/illustrated by Dr. Seuss,' the school district said in a statement. In 2017, a school librarian in Cambridge, Massachusetts, criticized a gift of 10 Seuss books from first lady Melania Trump, saying many of his works were 'steeped in racist propaganda, caricatures, and harmful stereotypes.' In 2018, a Dr. Seuss museum in his hometown of Springfield, Massachusetts, removed a mural that included an Asian stereotype. 'The Cat in the Hat,' one of Seuss' most popular books, has received criticism, too, but will continue to be published for now. Dr. Seuss Enterprises, however, said it is 'committed to listening and learning and will continue to review our entire portfolio.' These six Dr. Seuss books will no longer be published because of racist and insensitive imagery, according to the company that preserves and protects the author's legacy It comes just one day after President Biden omitted Dr. Seuss from Read Across America Day, which is held annually on the children's author's birthday on March 2 Books by Dr. Seuss, who died in 1991, have been translated into dozens of languages as well as in braille and are sold in more than 100 countries. He remains popular, earning an estimated $33 million before taxes in 2020, up from just $9.5 million five years ago, the company said. Forbes listed him No. 2 on its highest-paid dead celebrities of 2020, behind only the late pop star Michael Jackson. The decision to stop publication of the six books was announced just one day after President Biden broke with tradition and left Dr. Seuss out of the 2021 Read Across America Day proclamation. The White House has not explained why Dr. Seuss was left out of this year's proclamation. Read Across America Day had traditionally featured on Dr. Seuss books including classics like The Cat In The Hat and The Grinch. In Obama's 2014 proclamation, he had said: '[Dr Seuss'] tales challenge dictators and discrimination. They call us to open our minds, to take responsibility for ourselves and our planet.' In 2015, Obama stated: 'The works of Theodor Seuss Geisel, better known to us as Dr. Seuss, have sparked a love for reading in generations of students. His whimsical wordplay and curious characters inspire children to dream big and remind readers of all ages that 'a person's a person no matter how small.' This image appears in the 1937 book 'And To Think I Saw It On Mulberry Street', which shows an illustration of a 'Chinaman who eats with sticks' - a caricatured picture of an Asian man with slits for eyes carrying a bowl of rice 'If I Ran the Zoo', which was published in 1950, includes a drawing of two bare-footed African men wearing what appear to be grass skirts with their hair tied above their heads The following year, Obama said in 2016 that Seuss was 'one of America's revered wordsmiths' who 'used his incredible talent to instill in his most impressionable readers universal values we all hold dear.' Former first lady Melania Trump celebrated Read Across America Day in 2017 by reading Dr. Seuss books to hospitalized children. 'Dr. Seuss has brought so much joy, laughter and enchantment into children's lives all around the globe for generations,' Melania said at the time. 'Through his captivating rhymes, Dr. Seuss has delighted and inspired children while teaching them to read, to dream, and to care.' Trump, in his 2018 proclamation, urged Americans to 'always remember the still-vibrant words of Dr. Seuss: 'You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose.' Trump also referred to Dr. Seuss in his 2019 proclamation. Numerous other popular children's series have also been criticized in recent years for alleged racism. In the 2007 book, 'Should We Burn Babar?,' the author and educator Herbert R. Kohl contended that the 'Babar the Elephant' books were celebrations of colonialism because of how the title character leaves the jungle and later returns to 'civilize' his fellow animals. One of the books, 'Babar's Travels', was removed from the shelves of a British library in 2012 because of its alleged stereotypes of Africans. Critics also have faulted the 'Curious George' books for their premise of a white man bringing home a monkey from Africa. And Laura Ingalls Wilder's portrayals of Native Americans in her 'Little House On the Prairie' novels have been faulted so often that the American Library Association removed her name in 2018 from a lifetime achievement award it gives out each year. There has been increasing criticism in recent years over the way blacks, Asians and others are drawn in some of Theodor Geisel's most beloved children's books, as well as in his earlier advertising and propaganda illustrations Presidents Clinton, Obama and Trump have all mentioned Dr. Seuss in conjunction with Read Across America Day, which is designed to encourage school children to read more. The Obamas are pictured in April 2010 In 2017, a school librarian in Cambridge, Massachusetts, criticized a gift of 10 Seuss books from first lady Melania Trump, saying many of his works were 'steeped in racist propaganda, caricatures, and harmful stereotypes.' Dr. Seuss once wrote shockingly racist and misogynistic cartoons and REFUSED to apologize decades later, blaming the backlash on feminists wanting to 'clean up everything' As adored as Dr. Seuss is by millions around the world for the positive values in many of his works, there has been increasing criticism in recent years over the way blacks, Asians and others are drawn in some of his most beloved children's books, as well as in his earlier advertising and propaganda illustrations. As well as children's books, Dr. Seuss produced political cartoons and advertisements that contained controversial images. In some of his early work, Geisel portrayed black people as if they were slaves being sold off at a white-owned department store. He also used the N-word to refer to African Americans and described women as 'insignificant and helpless', according to the book 'Becoming Dr. Seuss: Theodor Geisel and the Making of an American Imagination' by Brian Jay Jones. Racist drawings and shocking cartoons: Why Dr. Seuss's legacy is in question Dr. Seuss's reputation has been called into question in recent years because of racist imagery in his children's books, including stereotyped cartoons of Chinese and Japanese people that he drew in the 1930s and 1940s. One such illustration appeared in the 1937 work And To Think I Saw It On Mulberry Street, which includes a drawing of a 'Chinaman who eats with sticks' - a caricatured picture of an Asian man with slits for eyes carrying a bowl of rice for no apparent reason. Drawings in If I Ran The Zoo, published in 1950, includes African characters resembling monkeys and an Arab chieftain on a camel with a caption suggesting he too should be in a zoo. As well as children's books, Dr. Seuss produced political cartoons and advertisements that contain controversial images. A 1929 drawing showed black people for sale to whites and adapted a racially charged phrase to say: 'Take home a high-grade [N-word] for your woodpile'. During World War II, he drew cartoons of Japanese people, including one showing them queuing up for supplies of TNT and suggesting they were waiting for the 'signal from home'. The wartime cartoons, published in New York newspaper PM, are also credited with 'railing against isolationism, racism and antisemitism' as he urged people to help the effort. A 2019 article called The Cat Is Out Of The Bag: Orientalism, Anti-Blackness, and White Supremacy in Dr. Seuss's Children's Books, said the author had published 'hundreds' of racist political cartoons, comics and advertisements. A collection dedicated to Dr. Seuss's art acknowledges that some of his early drawings 'were hurtful then and are still hurtful today'. However, it says that he later amended his works - for example changing 'Chinaman' to 'Chinese man' - and wrote about equality during the 1960s civil rights movements. It also defends him by saying that his drawings reflected stereotypes which were widely held at the time. Geisel himself is quoted as saying later in life that the cartoons were 'just the way things were 50 years ago'. The fresh scrutiny of his works has seen the Mulberry Street illustration removed from a Dr. Seuss museum in 2018 - a decision which his great-nephew said was 'extreme'. Last month a Virginia school district distanced itself from the author, saying his books would no longer be the 'emphasis' of Read Across America Day. 'Research in recent years has revealed strong racial undertones in many books written/illustrated by Dr. Seuss,' it said. He has now also gone missing from the White House celebrations after Joe Biden broke with a tradition continued by both Barack Obama and Donald Trump. Advertisement In 1924, Geisel was appointed editor of the elite Dartmouth college student magazine Jack-O-Lantern and frequently got 'cheap laughs' about women. Jones dryly noted that his views on women 'would evolve slowly'. One of his cartoons showed an attractive woman standing before a balding hotel desk clerk who looks at her lecherously. She says that there is something wrong with the keyhole in her door and he says he will 'look into it tonight'. In one of his first pieces as editor at Jack-O-Lantern, Geisel wrote: 'For what is more pleasant than to see five husky college men make some silly girls realize how insignificant and helpless they are?' After winning a prestigious fellowship to study at Oxford University in England, Geisel moved back to Springfield, Massachusetts, in 1927 and committed himself to becoming a cartoonist and began getting published in satirical magazines like Judge. Geisel, who used the name Dr. Seuss because he liked the mock scientific credibility, came to the attention of Lincoln Cleaves, the executive in charge of the McCann-Erickson advertising firm that hired him on the spot. At the time, Geisel was still writing jokes that by today's standards would seem crude, especially on race. Among them was a 1929 Flit cartoon that showed a black husband leaning back in his chair and smoking a pipe while his wife does laundry and complains about him not being able to find a job. She tells him: 'Say, n*****, when you all hold a job a week mosquitoes will brush their teeth with Flit and like it'. He also did a full page cartoon in Judge in which Geisel drew a 'Cross Section of the World's Most Prosperous Department Store'. The products included items needed for cliches like a fly to put in some ointment and a needle for a haystack. The final 'joke' was a large room where shoppers could 'take home a n***** for your woodpile'. The shocking cartoon showed the white owner in a tuxedo gesturing to a room full of black men with big lips who wait patiently to be bought. During the Second World War Geisel's cartoons became more political and he took aim at Virginio Gayda, the Italian fascist, and aviator Charles Lindbergh for his anti-Semitism. His most memorable political cartoons include an American eagle with a sign dangling from its beak saying: 'I am part Jewish'. Another was about Adolf Hitler and was called Adolf and the Wolf and included the line: 'The wolf chewed up children and spit out their bones, but those were foreign children and it didn't really matter'. Geisel also enlisted in the Army where he helped craft propaganda under the command of photographer and director Frank Capra, who was in charge of his unit. One of Geisel's cartoons caused a storm when it mocked the pacifist minister John Haynes Holmes for saying that the Japanese were America's 'brothers' even though they were at war with them. Critics said that it was an unfair attack on Holmes because he a Christian man who was trying to make a broad point about fellowship in a time of war. In a half apology Geisel wrote: 'If we want to win we've got the kill the Japs whether it depressed John Haynes Holmes or not. 'We can get palsy-walsy afterward with those that are left'. Geisel embraced the paranoia about the Japanese invading America at a time when hundreds of thousands of Japanese Americans were being relocated and incarcerated in the wake of the Pearl Harbor attack. One of his cartoons was captioned: 'Waiting for the signal from Home' and showed a long line of Japanese Americans stretching down Pacific coast queuing up to receive blocks of TNT. During the Second World War, Geisel succumbed to the paranoia about Japanese Americans and wrote a cartoon showing them lining up to get explosives to bomb America (pictured). In response to criticism he said bluntly: 'If we want to win we've got the kill the Japs' Theodor Geisel, who was behind children's classics like The Cat In The Hat under the pen name Dr. Seuss, wrote racist and misogynistic cartoons. In this full page cartoon, Geisel drew a 'Cross Section of the World's Most Prosperous Department Store'. The products included items needed for cliches like a fly to put in some ointment and a needle for a haystack. The final panel was a large room where shoppers could 'take home a n***** for your woodpile' They were drawn like stereotypical Japanese with bowler hats and black jackets with eyes represented by small slits. His famous children's books have also ignited questions over Geisel's sexism and racism, including his 1937 work And To Think I Saw It On Mulberry Street and his 1950 book If I Ran The Zoo. Some took issue with his portrayal of Asians in Mulberry Street given the characters were wearing conical straw hats and had slanted slits for eyes. The final two page spread in Mulberry Street referred to an Asian dismissively as a 'Chinaman who eats with sticks'. Drawings in If I Ran The Zoo, published in 1950, includes African characters resembling monkeys and an Arab chieftain on a camel with a caption suggesting he too should be in a zoo. In 1987 around the 50th anniversary of Mulberry Street Geisel began to worry that his early works would be eclipsed by their racist messages. In one interview he claimed that it was 'just the way things were 50 years ago' but 10 years earlier he had quietly changed the word 'Chinaman' in Mulberry Street to 'Chinese Man'. He had also asked publishers Random House to remove the character's yellow skin tone - rather unhelpfully he said later that the character now 'looks like an Irishman'. Criticism continued after Geisel's death in 1991 and in 2017 a Mulberry Street mural at the Dr. Seuss Museum in Springfield, Massachusetts, sparked a row because it included the original Asian character. Others tore into Geisel for including so few women and he responded by snapping back at what he considered nitpicking. He said in one interview: 'I'm in favor of women's lib but a lot of (them) have decided they're going to clean up everything'. When New York Review of Books critic Alison Lurie wrote a critical piece about him, Geisel responded that he was merely writing about fantasy creatures. He said dismissively: 'If she can identify their sex, I'll remember her in my will'. Amaravati, March 2 : Andhra Pradesh Governor Biswa Bhusan Harichandan and his wife Suprava Harichandan received coronavirus vaccine shots on Tuesday in the third phase of vaccination. They received the first doses of the vaccine at the new government hospital in Gunadala, Vijayawada. Harichandan said he did not feel any inconvenience in getting inoculated and advised all eligible people to come forward and take the vaccine as it helped in curtailing the spread of the virus. The Governor and his wife were administered Covaxin, manufactured by Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech pharma major. "Indian scientists have demonstrated to the world the country's capability in the field of vaccine research and development," he said. Harichandan appreciated the scientists responsible for the development of Covaxin in such a short period of time and enabling saving the lives of the people. Following the vaccination, doctors informed the Governor that the date for their second dose of vaccination will come after March 30. Meanwhile, a health official said that eligible people interested in going for vaccination can register themselves in any of the 456 government hospitals and 90 private hospitals networked to the Arogyasri scheme listed on the CoWin website. The state continues to vaccinate healthcare and frontline workers for the virus. Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19) -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text HealthyChildren.org St. Patrick's Day Sweeps HealthyChildren.org, the official parenting website of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) encourages parents to try their luck in the site's 2021 St. Patrick's Day Sweepstakes event. Seven lucky winners will receive a $300 gift card. The contest begins March 11 and ends on St. Patrick's Day, March 17, 2021. Registered users may enter once each day during the event. Winners will be drawn daily and announced on Facebook. Full rules and more information can be found here. About HealthyChildren.org The only parenting website backed by 67,000 AAP member pediatricians, HealthyChildren.org offers trustworthy, up-to-the-minute health advice and guidance for parents and caregivers, along with interactive tools and personalized content. Registered users enjoy a customized home page that features articles geared to the ages of their children. The site also offers a Find a Pediatrician service, an Ask the Pediatrician tool, the KidsDoc Symptom Checker, and more than 5,000 articles on childrens health and safety in English and Spanish. A glance at some of the day's highlights from the Proactive Investors newswire ( ) said its focus on properties that have omnichannel potential has been validated by the surge in online grocery sales during the pandemic. Next Fifteen Communications PLC ( ) said it will repay 1.4mln of cash received from the government furlough scheme - reflecting its strong trading performance and robust balance sheet. (LON:MXC, ASX:MXC, ) said distributor Swiss has increased by 85% its initial order volume for ArtemiC Rescue, an anti-inflammatory product targeting COVID-19. ( )( ) has completed its flotation pilot plant programme for the Songwe Hill rare earths project in Malawi. The programme was completed at ALS Metallurgy in Perth, Australia, and was effective in scaling up a new, optimised flotation regime for the project. Shanta Gold Ltd ( ) generated revenue of US$147.4mln from its gold production operations in Tanzania during the year to 31 December 2020, up significantly from the US$112.8mln generated in 2019. Neuro-imaging specialist ( ) has been brought in by new client Cyclerion Therapeutics to support the latters phase II trial of a treatment for Alzheimers. ( ) is planning to launch a non-fungible token (NFT) technology development studio in Gibraltar. In partnership with Indorse, a Singaporean company, it plans to develop smart contract systems for NFT applications including a bridge for NFTs on Bitcoin using Rootstock (RSK) blockchain technology. Sirius Real Estate Limited ( ) announced it has completed the acquisition of a mixed-use business park in Fellbach, near Stuttgart, for 9.2mln. ( ) has acquired a modern purpose-built primary care centre in Shankill, Co. Dublin, Ireland for 3.8mln. ( ) has made progress towards completing the purchase of the remaining interest in the Mikei gold project in Kenya. ( ) told investors that rig mobilisation for the Merlin-1 exploration well is progressing well and has seen only minor weather-related delay. Chariot Oil & Gas Limited ( ) signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Moroccan authorities committing to support the development of the Anchois Gas Development project. ( ) has launched a new directional drilling system, called SABER, which it describes as a disruptive alternative to traditional rotary steerable systems (RSS). Deepverge PLC ( ) said the Ecological Water Operating System, known as EcowaterOS, will begin its launch in China with an introduction via an industry webinar on March 17 and 18. ( ) has sold 19,634.15 SDT tokens in the Stake DAO (SDT) project, generating proceeds of US$255,542. The tokens were sold at an average price of US$13.02 each. ( )( ) has closed the 4mln placing it announced in mid-February, with just over 9.5mln shares issued at a price of 42p. ( ) is planning to list on AIM, a market to which the companys board believes it is more suited. Emmerson is about to enter into a pivotal period, with the commencement of mine construction at the Khemisset potash project in Morocco expected by the end of 2021. Redx Pharma (LON:REDX) chairman Iain Ross said the board has decided that a US-based chief financial officer is needed as the company continues to progress its pipeline and expand its operations. James Mead will continue in his role as CFO until a new appointment has been made at which point he will become chief operating officer. Mead is stepping down from the board with immediate effect, meaning the board will consist of five non-executive directors supporting the CEO as the single executive director. ( ) updated on its court case in the Bahamas reporting that, yesterday, the Honourable Justice Petra Hanna-Weekes allowed the company's application and ordered the applicants to post $200,000 security for costs within 30 days, pending which the proceedings will be stayed. ( ) notified investors that chief executive Richard Petti and chief financial officer Haywood Chapman will provide a live presentation relating to the company's preliminary results via the Investor Meet Company platform on 25 March at 4.30pm GMT. The presentation is open to all existing and potential shareholders. ( ) will host a webcast of an investor presentation on 12 March at 11am GMT. The call will be led by chief executive Osamede Okhomina, and will include a Q&A session at the end. The company will provide an update on the business and its views on the drivers behind the current market. ( ) announced that chief executive Dr Markku Jalkanen will present in a pre-recorded presentation at the virtual HC Wainwright Global Life Sciences Conference that will be available on-demand starting Tuesday, March 9, at midday London time. An audio webcast of the presentation will be available in the investors section on Faron's website. ( ) has made a new company presentation available to view on the company website, though it stressed that no new or undisclosed information is included in this presentation. The UAE-based International Holding Company (IHC) has revealed that the company had purchased a 94% stake in Falcon CI IV LP, a Cayman Island-based private equity fund that has invested in California-based aerospace company, SpaceX. The purchase was done in the second half 2020, IHC said in a statement. SpaceX confirmed, via a US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filling on February 23, 2021, it has completed an equity funding round of $850 million, which sets the companys valuation at roughly $74 billion. This represents a jump of about 60% in the companys valuation from its previous round in August 2020, when SpaceX was valued at $46 billion, it said. SpaceX designs, manufactures and launches advanced rockets and spacecraft. It is currently building new prototypes of its Starship, a next-generation re-usable rocket; it has two active spacecraft Dragon and Falcon 9; and is building out Starlink, a global broadband internet satellite constellation which will have more than 12,000 satellites for world coverage. Peter Abraam, Chief Strategy & Growth Officer, IHC, said: There are a number of venture capital deals that we have invested in as part of our mandate to secure interests in fast growing, scalable technology, media and biotech ventures. We were able to gain exposure in SpaceX via our fund acquisition in Falcon CI IV while other deals such as Oxford Nanopore Technologies, Multiply Marketing and YieldMo were done directly through acquisition or financing rounds. Our leadership team are hands-on with consistent engagement in all our portfolio companies, building true partnerships with founders and helping their companies grow. We remain opportunistic for further deal flow as we aim to develop our venture platform further. IHC was founded in 1998, as part of an initiative to diversify and grow non-oil business sectors in the UAE. Adhering to Abu Dhabis Vision 2030, the ADX listed company endeavours to implement sustainability, innovation, and economic diversification initiatives across what is now one of the regions largest conglomerates, the statement said. - TradeArabia News Service Gov. Greg Abbott announced Tuesday he is lifting the states coronavirus restrictions, as vaccinations rise and severe infections from the pandemic decline. Too many small business owners have struggled to pay their bills, he said, sounding celebratory. This must end. It is now time to open Texas 100 percent. The rollback will begin next Wednesday, with businesses across the state able to open at full capacity. Abbotts statewide mask mandate is also being lifted. Both measures quickly drew concerns from the public health community. Under the changes, local officials can impose limited restrictions again if their hospitalizations from COVID-19 rise above 15 percent for at least a week. Businesses will also be able to require their own safety standards for employees and customers. The Texas Education Agency said it will update its guidance to schools later this week. TEXAS TAKE: Get political headlines from across the state sent directly to your inbox Speaking to business leaders at a packed restaurant in Lubbock, the Republican governor cautioned Texans to continue following recommended guidelines, including distancing and wearing face coverings. Few of the attendees appeared to be following either recommendation. Gov. Abbotts new order Masks: A statewide mask mandate is lifted. Businesses can continue to require face coverings for employees and customers. School districts also appear able to require masks, though the Texas Education Agency said it will provide updated guidance later this week. Capacity limits: Beginning next Wednesday, businesses are allowed to open at full capacity, including restaurants and bars. Local rules: Local officials can impose limited restrictions if coronavirus hospitalizations rise above 15 percent of total hospitalizations in their region. Penalties for not wearing masks are prohibited, and businesses must be allowed to remain open at least at half capacity. Keep your distance: Fask masks, social distancing and other health and safety measures to slow the spread of infections are still recommended. See More Collapse This does not remove personal responsibility, Abbott said. Personal vigilance is still needed to contain COVID. Its just that now, state mandates are no longer needed. The announcement comes as Abbott is under new scrutiny from statewide power outages last month, which contributed to dozens of deaths and left millions of Texans without power or water for days. Local officials are still waiting to see whether the blackouts, which forced many households to shelter with friends and family, could lead to new coronavirus outbreaks. The move also follows rollbacks in several other states, with vaccine doses becoming more widely available. Nearly 20 percent of the nations adults have received at least one shot, and 10 percent have been fully vaccinated 2 1/2 months into the nationwide campaign, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In Texas, more than 3.5 million people have received at least one dose, and nearly 2 million have been fully vaccinated, out of a population of 29 million. The state ranks among the lowest for the percentage of people vaccinated, at 13 percent. Hospitalizations from the disease have meanwhile fallen by more than half from their high over 14,000 in January. REACTION: Harris County judge accuses Abbott of lifting mask mandate, biz restrictions to distract from power outages Republican state leaders including House Speaker Dade Phelan, R-Beaumont, welcomed the rollback. Todays action marks an important step in the reopening of Texas, improving the mental health of our students, increasing the reporting of domestic violence and child abuse, and revitalizing our business climate, Phelan said in a statement. Vaccine shipments accelerating Over the weekend, Johnson & Johnson shipped out nearly 4 million doses of its newly authorized, one-shot COVID-19 vaccine to be delivered to states including Texas for use starting Tuesday. The company will deliver about 16 million more doses by the end of March and a total of 100 million by the end of June. That adds to the supply being distributed by Pfizer and Moderna and should help the nation amass enough doses by midsummer to vaccinate all adults. The White House is encouraging Americans to take the first dose available to them, regardless of manufacturer. But the efforts come with strong warnings from health officials against reopening too quickly, as worrisome coronavirus variants spread. Young adults, who have been major drivers in past outbreaks, are not expected to be eligible for the vaccine for months, and many Texas teachers who have been ordered to return to the classroom are similarly not yet allowed to receive it. Earlier this week, Houston was the first city to record every major variant of the novel coronavirus many of which are more contagious than the original strain. Why now, at this stage, would we take away the requirement to wear a mask? said Rebecca Fischer, an epidemiologist and assistant professor at Texas A&M. We know that aerosol droplets are the primary way this virus spreads, and that it spreads like wildfire. Masks are one of the only tools we have to prevent that. On Monday, the head of the CDC, Dr. Rochelle Walensky, warned state officials and ordinary Americans not to let down their guard, saying she is really worried about reports that more states are rolling back the exact public health measures that we have recommended. I remain deeply concerned about a potential shift in the trajectory of the pandemic, she said. We stand to completely lose the hard-earned ground that we have gained. Democrats take aim at Abbott Frustrated Democrats accused the governor of risking lives for political points with conservatives, some of whom have been critical of his previous emergency orders. More than 43,000 coronavirus deaths have been recorded in Texas. Its reckless and dangerous for Governor Abbott to intentionally undermine public safety because he thinks its good politics, U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro said in a statement. Clearly this announcement is a desperate distraction from the governors dereliction of duty during the massive power and water outages, for which he has never accepted personal responsibility. Infections spiked last summer after Abbott ended an initial statewide lockdown, and they exploded again last fall after he allowed restaurants and bars to open at increased capacity. Local officials said at the time that it was difficult to enforce even the modest restrictions the governor would allow them to implement. Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff, a Democrat, called the local restrictions available under the new order meaningless. He doesnt give us to authority to do anything really, he said in an interview with KENS 5 in San Antonio. He just comes along and says you cant have a penalty for not wearing a face mask. You cant mandate customers or employees to wear one. Some medical employees were also disheartened. Dr. Matt Dacso, an internist at the University of Texas Medical Branch, said the order was a huge hit to morale, coming almost exactly a year after the first recorded case in New York. His team had been celebrating the progress made since then until they heard about Abbotts latest move. I had a pretty strong visceral reaction like PTSD, Dacso said. I can think of no other word but incomprehensible ... Everybody is hurting, but gosh, man. The masks were doing a lot for us. Staff writers Lisa Gray and Robert Downen contributed to this report, which contains material from the Associated Press. jeremy.blackman@chron.com English French Tuesday, March 2nd, 2021 RCI Banque discloses updated binding MREL (1) requirement RCI Banque has received the notification from ACPR, the French Prudential and Resolution Supervision Authority, implementing the decision of the Single Resolution Board (SRB) and discloses its updated binding minimum requirement for own funds and eligible liabilities (MREL(1)). MREL requirement is no longer defined on consolidated basis but has been set on an individual basis for both RCI Banque S.A and its French subsidiary DIAC S.A. RCI Banque S.A. MREL requirement has been set at 8% of total risk exposure amount (TREA(2)) and 3% of leverage ratio exposure (LRE(3)) As of today, RCI Banque S.A. already complies with this MREL requirement. Future requirements will be subject to ongoing review. (1) MREL: Minimum Requirement for own funds and Eligible Liabilities. The Bank Recovery and Resolution Directive (BRRD) requires European banks to maintain a minimum amount of Own Funds and Eligible Liabilities that could absorb losses and allow them to restore their capital position, allowing banks to continuously perform their critical economic functions during and after a crisis. MREL represents one of the key tools in enhancing banks resolvability. The purpose of this buffer of own funds and eligible liabilities is to avoid banking authorities having to resort to public funds. The MREL is set by the Single Resolution Board (SRB) on a per institution basis. The MREL requirement for RCI Banque is defined at an individual level. (2) TREA means the total risk exposure amount calculated in accordance with Article 92(3) of Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 (3) LRE or leverage ratio exposure means the total exposure measure calculated in accordance with Articles 429 and 429a of Regulation (EU) 575/20137 Contact Analysts and Investors Financial Communication + 33(0) 1 76 88 81 74 contact-investor@rcibs.com About RCI Banque S.A. Created and wholly owned by Groupe Renault, RCI Banque S.A. is a French bank specializing in automotive financing and services for the customers and dealership networks of Groupe Renault (Renault, Dacia, Alpine, Renault Samsung Motors and Lada) worldwide, the Nissan group (Nissan, Infiniti and Datsun) mainly in Europe, Brazil, Argentina and South Korea and through joint ventures in Russia and India, and Mitsubishi Motors in the Netherlands. RCI Bank and Services has been the new commercial identity of RCI Banque S.A. since February 2016. With 3,800 employees in 36 countries, the group financed over 1.5 million contracts (for new and used vehicles) in 2020 and sold more than 4.6 million services. At end-December 2020, average performing assets stood at 46.9 billion in financing and pre-tax income at 1.003 million. RCI Bank and Services has rolled out a deposits collection business in six countries since 2012. At end-December 2020, net collected deposits totaled 20.5 billion, or 43% of the company's net assets. Find out more about RCI Bank and Services: www.rcibs.com Follow us on Twitter: @RCIBS Attachment On Wednesday, May 5, residents of the Meadows-Waverly ward will be going to the polls to elect their new representative to Brandon City Council. Advertisement Advertise With Us On Wednesday, May 5, residents of the Meadows-Waverly ward will be going to the polls to elect their new representative to Brandon City Council. The date for the byelection to replace departed councillor John LoRegio, who left the position to focus on his health as he battles multiple myeloma, was announced at Mondays Brandon City Council meeting. City clerk Heather Ewasiuk laid out the dates and rules for the byelection, which will include some accommodations because of COVID-19. To run in the byelection, a candidate must be a Canadian citizen who is 18 years old as of election day. They must also be residents of both Manitoba and Brandon. If an employee of the city or a member of a city committee or board wishes to run, they must take a leave of absence from their responsibilities. Reeves or councillors of other municipalities are ineligible to run, as are school trustees, members of the Legislative Assembly, House of Commons or Senate. Provincial judges, justices of the peace, judges on the Court of Queens Bench or on the Court of Appeal are ineligible, as are people who have previously been convicted of election-related offences or have failed to pay fines after being convicted of offences under the Municipal Act or any other act. All candidates must register with Danielle Carriere, the citys senior election official, or her designate before collecting donations or making election-related expenditures. This requirement has been in place since 2014. Campaigns must also set up a campaign account at a registered financial institution. This account must only be used for election purposes, with candidates being required to send in a financial report to the city clerk. Registrations start today and end on March 30, with forms available from the senior election official at Brandon City Hall. The nomination period starts on March 24 and runs until March 30. Aspiring candidates must make an appointment to file paperwork with the senior election official during regular business hours. Both registration and nomination paperwork is obtained from the senior election official, who can be reached by phone at 204-729-2236 or by emailing brandonvotes@brandon.ca. Nomination papers must be signed by at least 25 voters from the Meadows-Waverly ward and must be accompanied by a statement of qualification. Voters must meet the same requirements that aspiring candidates do, except they must also live or own a home in the Meadows-Waverly ward. To vote in the byelection, a resident of the ward must have lived there for six months prior to election day. One piece of photo identification with name, address and photograph or two documents that provide proof of identity must be shown to polling officials before voting. Because of fears surrounding COVID-19, the city will be working with employees of Hillcrest Place Personal Care Home, which is located in the ward, to ensure that residents have the chance to vote. Ewasiuk strongly recommended that voters consider applying for a mail-in ballot, to reduce instances of physical contact at polling places. Requests for a mail-in ballot can be made in person or by mail and must be received by city hall no later than April 30. Polling places will be set up at Richmond Park Church at 1525 26th St., First Baptist Church at 388 Park Ave. and a drive-thru site at the southeast parking lot of the Keystone Centre. Voters can vote at whichever polling place they prefer. Voting hours on election day will be between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. Advance voting will take place on Thursday, April 29 at Brandon City Hall from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Voters at polling places will be required to wear a mask and use hand sanitizer. The city plans on having the winner of the byelection get sworn in for the May 17 council meeting. cslark@brandonsun.com Twitter: @ColinSlark ARMYs something to look forward to in the coming days! On Tuesday, March 2, it was revealed that BTS has collaborated with KBS2 for a very special talk show in 2021. BTS Set to Star in a KBS2 Talk Show Special Titled 'Let's BTS!' After making waves in audio streaming sites and numerous music charts worldwide, new reports suggested that Jin, Jimin, Jungkook, J-Hope, Suga, RM, and V are set to dominate the small screens very soon. It was confirmed that Shin Dong Yup would be hosting the "Let's BTS" talk show, which will reveal the never-before-seen sides of all BTS members. Devoted followers of the South Korean boyband could expect BTS to open up about their personal lives and careers. Jin, Jimin, Jungkook, J-Hope, Suga, RM, and V would also be given a chance to interview each other as they show their avid followers a more personal side of them through unique challenges and games. Aside from that, "Let's BTS" is also projected to feature some special and never-before-seen live stage performances of Jin, Jimin, Jungkook, J-Hope, Suga, RM, and V. Besides Shin Dong Yup, speculations are rife that comedian Jang Do Yeon would also be joining the fun as he would host some quirky segments of the upcoming KBS2 show. "Let's BTS" is set to premiere on March 29, 2021, at 10:40 p.m. KST. So, devoted supporters of Jin, Jimin, Jungkook, J-Hope, Suga, RM, and V should stay tuned for more spoilers and updates. BTS' 'Map of the Soul: 7' and 'BE' Albums Extend Streak on Billboard 200 Meanwhile, recent music tallies seem to confirm that BTS is a worldwide phenomenon. As a matter of fact, the "Map of the Soul: 7" album of Jin, Jimin, Jungkook, J-Hope, Suga, RM and V has extended its placement on the Billboard 200 chart. As of this writing, it already spent 53 weeks on the said tally. "BE," also by BTS, reappeared on this week's Billboard 200 chart at No. 7. Previously, the second album of Jin, Jimin, Jungkook, J-Hope, Suga, RM, and V in 2020 peaked at No. 1. As of press time, it already spent a total of 14 weeks on the said tally. BTS' multi-awarded song called "Dynamite" has also continued its dominance on the Billboard Hot 100 chart as it entered its 27th week on the said tally. The same track re-appeared on the Billboard Global 200 Excl. U.S. and Billboard Global 200 charts at No. 4 and No. 8, respectively. On the Billboard Artist 100 chart, BTS re-peaked at No. 1 this week. The South Korean group fell from the top spot in the last few weeks. Fortunately, they were able to regain supremacy anew. All in all, Jin, Jimin, Jungkook, J-Hope, Suga, RM and V have spent a total of 229 weeks in the said tally. In other news, BTS is announced to be part of the incredible lineup of "Music On A Mission" event performers. Other artists confirmed to perform and appear on the show include John Legend, Usher, Carole King, Jonas Brothers, Shakira and more! The virtual concert is set to happen on March 12, 2021, at 8 P.M. ET. To secure a ticket, click here. For more K-Pop news and updates, always keep your tabs open here on KpopStarz. KpopStarz owns this article. Written by Nica Vaughn International Association of Registered Financial Consultants Just as they serve their clients in promoting their financial future, they collectively inspire others to become members and adhere to the Associations Code of Ethics... IARFC Trustee Chair and CEO, H. Stephen Bailey, Ph.D., MRFC. The IARFC Mission fosters and enhances the growth of the Association for the benefit of the members and the clients they serve by providing a continuing source of information, education, and networking. The Association strengthens the financial services profession at large through adherence to and promotion of ethical behavior by their members and a focus on continuing professional education. The criteria for the Ambassador Award are: IARFC member for more than 1 year Current Ethics Approved status or in good standing Successfully supported the goals of the Association and has served with extraordinary efforts of time, service and dedication The recipients so designated for 2021 are: Pete DArruda, MRFC, Capital Financial Advisory Group, LLC in Apex, NC Michael Markey Jr., MRFC, Legacy Financial Network, in Kentwood, MI Rick Stanzione, RFC, R & R Group Inc. in Washington Terrace, UT All three represent a leadership presence in the Association as together they have charted the course of the IARFC both in the US and Internationally. Serving on the Board of Trustees as Treasurer is Michael Markey Jr, MRFC. Assuming the President position on the US Chapter Board is Rick Stanzione, RFC. Representing a past President of the Board is Pete DArruda, MRFC. These three individuals continue to contribute their expertise, attention, and imagination to promote the IARFC goals. Ambassadors who give freely of their time and talents are indicative of individuals who are passionate about their lifes calling, stated IARFC Trustee Chair and CEO, H. Stephen Bailey, Ph.D., MRFC. Just as they serve their clients in promoting their financial future, they collectively inspire others to become members and adhere to the Associations Code of Ethics. For more information on the Ambassador Awards and our 2021 recipients, visit the IARFC website. Our Ambassadors continue to represent the Association admirably, continues Bailey. As Trustee Chair, I thank them for their service to the IARFCs Mission. Commerzbank-backed VC Fund CommerzVentures Joins Round, Strengthening FinTech Ties LONDON, March 2, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- WeGift closes additional financing in $12 million funding round and welcomes new investor CommerzVentures , the FinTech-focused venture capital fund backed by Commerzbank. CommerzVentures joins existing investors, AlbionVC , who led the fundraise, as well as Stride.VC, SAP.iO Fund , and Unilever Ventures . WeGift has already captured significant market share in the B2B digital rewards industry with customers like Habito, Perkbox, Seated, and Vodafone. They plan to invest heavily in go-to-market hiring, product development, and expanding into the U.S. This round will establish WeGift as the universal digital payouts platform for businesses. "Currently payments are a one-way street," said WeGift Founder and CEO Aron Alexander. "Existing solutions enable businesses to take money from consumers, but they don't let them easily send it back. They're stuck using banking and credit card networks that are slow, expensive, and poorly-suited for payouts. We help companies instantly transfer value to the people they care about," he added. The funding round occurs at a time when companies across all industries are looking to create digital-first experiences with their global audiences, whether external-facing like customers or internal-facing like employees. By removing friction from the payouts process, WeGift's cloud-based platform and open API solution serve a broad set of needs for medium and enterprise businesses, including acquisition, retention, recognition, and reimbursements. "The $700 billion rewards and incentives industry is ripe for disruption," said CommerzVentures Partner Heiko Schwender who will serve as a WeGift board advisor. "With the mass adoption of all-digital, work-from-everywhere and live-from-anywhere, there's an even greater need for a global, on-demand, instant payouts solution," he added. The CommerzVentures portfolio includes banking infrastructure leaders such as Marqeta and Mambu, and will be instrumental in shaping the future of global financial services. About WeGift Sending disbursements, incentives, and non-cash payouts is manual, expensive, time-consuming, and error prone. WeGift changes this by removing friction from the payouts process, so businesses can instantly transfer value to build relationships with the people they care about. Operating in more than 30 countries, and dozens of languages and currencies, WeGift's digital payouts platform and open API solution is directly integrated into every brand on its platform, offering corporate buyers the only true global network with direct access to more than 700 brands. Habito, Perkbox, Seated, Sodexo, Vodafone, and Vouchercodes all rely on WeGift to digitally engage their audiences. About AlbionVC AlbionVC helps build the future of enterprise software. With 20+ years of experience in technology investments, the team focuses on B2B software and healthcare at Series A. AlbionVC manages 500m of venture funds, currently invested in over 50 companies. AlbionVC is the technology investment arm of Albion Capital Group LLP, which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. About CommerzVentures Launched in 2014, CommerzVentures is a specialist fintech investor with 250m under management. CommerzVentures backs early and growth stage companies in the areas of financial services and insurance (and related technologies) across Europe, Israel and the US. Portfolio companies have scalable and attractive business models, show success in their markets and need investments to support further growth. The US Defense Department said one militia member was killed and two were wounded in an airstrike last week on an outpost in eastern Syria used by Iran-backed groups. That assessment aligns with a claim by Kataib Hezbollah last week that an Iraqi national named Rahi Salam Zayed was killed in the air raid. Pentagon officials last week said that two US F-15s dropped guided bombs on an Iraq-Syria border crossing facility frequently used by Kataib Hezbollah and Kataib Sayyid al-Shuhada, both pro-Iran militias in Iraq. Press Secretary John Kirby acknowledged last week that the United States believed there were casualties, but said at the time the damage assessment was ongoing. He could not confirm the victims nationality on Monday. The nighttime strike marked the first combat operation authorized by President Joe Biden since taking office in January. It was ordered in response to a series of rocket attacks on Baghdad's Green Zone and US-led coalition and Iraq bases last month. Breaking with the Trump administration, current US officials refrained from immediately blaming Iran-backed militias for the barrages, but vowed to hold those involved accountable, including potentially Iran. The militiaman killed in the strike was reportedly a member of the 46th Brigade of Iraqs Popular Mobilization Units, a unit believed to be affiliated with Kataib Hezbollah, which is backed by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Both Kataib Hezbollah and Irans government denied roles in the recent attacks in Iraq. Iran-linked targets in Syria have been subject to years of sporadic airstrikes by Israel which, in coordination with the United States, has sought to prevent Tehrans proxies from moving weapons too close to Israels borders. Pentagon officials said last week that intelligence gathered by Iraqi and Kurdistan regional authorities helped the United States determine which groups were behind the recent rocket barrages in Iraq. Iraqs Defense Ministry sought to distance itself from a statement by Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin last week that Baghdad provided intelligence that enabled the US strike in Syria. It was very much a team effort, Kirby said Friday, before clarifying that Iraqi authorities only partook in identifying the groups that launched the attacks in Iraq not in targeting the group in Syria. Kirby described the strike as little more than a pinprick on Monday. Nonetheless, it has drawn renewed scrutiny from lawmakers amid a broader push to rein in two decades of expansive US military authorities following the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. The Biden administration is seeking to reenter negotiations with Iran in order to limit the latter countrys nuclear program. The Trump administration abandoned the original Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action agreement in 2018 in favor of economic sanctions designed in part to cripple Tehrans financial ability to support proxy militias in the region. Irans Foreign Ministry on Sunday rejected a proposal to engage directly with the United States and the European Union on the issue, marking another snag in the albeit early preliminary diplomatic dance. Another US partner state, Saudi Arabia, has also come under renewed attacks in recent weeks by projectiles fired by Yemens Houthi rebels. Last week, the head of all US military forces in the region, CENTCOM commander Gen. Kenneth Frank McKenzie said the Houthis weapons dont spring from the ground in Yemen, and that some of the weapons are supplied by Iran. I recognize it is a problem and we will continue to get after it, he said. Police are investigating the theft of a truck in Auburn that was abandoned in Geneva after a high-speed chase last week. The Auburn Police Department said the truck was reported stolen Feb. 23. The owner, Erik Winks, said in an interview with The Citizen Tuesday that the vehicle has been recovered but the thief remains at large. Winks said that around 6:20 a.m. Feb 23, he got inside his truck and started it, realized he forget his lunch and ran back inside his home to grab it. When he came back out, the truck was gone. Winks said the camera outside his home captured the person taking the vehicle in a 35-second period when Winks went inside. He said the incident caused $600 in damage to his truck the perpetrator destroyed the vehicle's brake system and $4,100 in items in the truck were never recovered, including his cell phone and multiple tools. Insurance is set to cover the losses besides a deductible, Winks said, but he believes his rates will likely go up now and he will still have to replace his stolen tools. Winks said he doesn't want this individual to steal from anyone else. "Knowing that somebody was going through all of my personal belongings in my truck, I feel violated," Winks said. The Michigan Legislature passed $45 million in funding in December to give $1,650 grants to laid-off hospitality workers. But eligible residents are getting less than half of that $1,650 because more people applied than lawmakers anticipated. The Employee Assistance Grants have been awarded to 55,961 people split evenly at $793.41 per person. And some, like Cathy Hinsberg, arent getting money at all. More than 90,000 people applied, meaning only about 62% of applicants are getting money. Hinsberg is one of many applicants who were surprised by a denial email last week. Shes worked at a bar called Andrews on the Corner in Detroit for 21 years and was laid off Nov. 18, at the start of the dine-in ban. The governor I love her, but when she said to apply for it, she really sounded like it was a given that everybody was going to get it, Hinsberg said. So I was disappointed. The money was meant for people like Hinsberg who lost their jobs because of Michigans partial shutdown this fall and winter. The Michigan Restaurant and Lodging Association administered the grants on behalf of the state, but didnt tell denied applicants specifically why they were rejected. All applicants should have received an email Friday, Feb. 26, saying whether they received the grant or not. Funds wont be sent out until late March and will come via check. The money will be taxed, but doesnt count as income for unemployment purposes. Denied applicants like Hinsberg took to social media with their frustration many unsure why they were denied. They keep talking on the news about help for small businesses. Well what about the little people who work for small businesses? Hinsberg said. They think the unemployment is a lot, but our tips were way more. Many applicants were rejected because people didnt submit the correct documentation, they werent from Michigan or their Social Security number didnt match IRS records, according to the MRLA. Click here for more about why applications were denied. The MRLA also used LexisNexis, which uses 28 databases to assign a risk assessment score to applicants. People scoring less than 20 out of 50 were denied the grant because they were considered a high risk for potentially being fraudulent since documentation wasnt matching up. Because they were disqualified for that does not mean that they were fraudulent, said Amanda Smith, executive vice president of the MRLA. Its not a personal judgment. That was a tool that we used to identify risk to protect and ensure that the people who got the money were indeed of the industry. LexisNexis recommended making the cut-off point higher than a score of 20 meaning fewer people would have been eligible, but more fraud would potentially be rooted out. But the MRLA decided to lower the bar in hopes of denying fewer honest applications, Smith said. There were some clearly fraudulent attempts at getting the money, Smith said. In one case, there were 78 applications from the same exact address in a small Michigan town. They were all denied after their alleged employer confirmed these werent employees, Smith said. The grants were not awarded on a first-come, first-served basis. Everybody who was eligible and had a LexisNexis risk score above 20 was given the grant. People had to have lost their job from a limited list of industries to be eligible like restaurants, hotels, theaters and casinos. Its too late to overturn grant denials, Winslow said, since the list of awardees has been finalized and turned over to the Michigan Treasury. Leaders are in talks of future grants to help workers affected by COVID-19 restrictions, said MRLA President and CEO Justin Winslow. Applicants who didnt get an email or want more clarification on why they were denied can call 517-377-3938 or email grants@mrla.org. The MRLA has retained temporary staff to help answer questions this week. While nearly 56,000 people did get the grant, some were surprised they didnt get the full $1,650. The MRLA decided to split the approximately $45 million among everybody who was eligible, instead of picking winners and losers and only giving the full grant to select people, Winslow said. The response was so overwhelming, Winslow said. Im not sure those who crafted the budget language assumed that there would be this many applicants. In December 2019, Michigan had 434,000 leisure and hospitality employees. As of December 2020, there were 229,000 a drop of more than 200,000 jobs. RELATED STORIES What could Joe Bidens economic plans mean for Michiganders? Michigan loses estimated 60,000 leisure, hospitality jobs in December COVID-19 shutdowns dont have long-term effect on jobs, study finds Michigan starts giving extra $100 in unemployment, but few are eligible Cannes Lions and its official representative in South Africa, Ster-Kinekor recently announced this year's jury. With only one month to go until two years' worth of Lion-winning work is awarded, we touched base with some of the local jury members for a preview of what to expect. Next up, Lufuno Mavhungu... US removal of Houthi terror designation may heighten Yemeni Christian persecution: Open Doors Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment The U.S. government's decision to remove the terror designation from the Iran-backed Yemeni Houthis could lead to heightened Christian persecution, according to the head of a prominent international Christian human rights organization. After the Biden administration removed the Houthi organization, known as Ansar Allah, from the list of foreign terrorist organizations early last month, two Saudi-influenced newspapers reported Yemens Houthi militia is threatening Christians with extended detainment. David Curry, the president of the Christian persecution watchdog organization Open Doors USA, told The Christian Post in a recent interview that removing the terror designation applied by the Trump administration in 2018 is a mistake that will only embolden Houthi militia. What we are seeing now is what would amount to an escalation, Curry, whose organization monitors persecution in over 60 countries, explained. It sets a legitimacy to the Houthis that they have the right to do this. We gravely disagree with that. The State Department released a statement on Feb. 7 condemning the Houthis and called them to immediately cease attacks impacting civilian areas and halt any new military offenses inside Yemen. On Saturday, Saudi Arabia said it intercepted a missile attack over its capital city and bomb-laden drones that it blamed on Houthi rebels. On Sunday, the State Department condemned the reported attacks on population centers in Saudi Arabia and called on Houthis to end these egregious attacks and engage constructively with United Nations Special Envoy Martin Griffiths and U.S. Special Envoy Tim Lenderking to bring peace to the Yemeni people. In making its move to remove the terror designation from Houthis, a State Department official argued in a remark to the Associated Press that the prior administration made a last-minute designation that international bodies and human rights groups argue would accelerate the worlds worst humanitarian crisis. I would say that removing the terrorist designation from the Houthis is a mistake, Curry told CP. It is going to embolden them. It is meant to be a signal to Iran that we [have] shifted our allegiance from the previous administration to balance over to Saudi Arabia down to favoring Iran and their Islamic regime. Curry, who has met with and advised policymakers from both sides of the political aisle in Congress, the White House and the State Department over the years on various international issues, said he believes there will be consequences in the region because of this move. You have the crumbling infrastructure of a five-year Civil War. You have religious extremists. You have the danger of this Houthi political agenda against Christians, Curry warned. They are detaining [Christians]. Theyre torturing pastors and leaders in the country, so its a complicating factor. Mushir Khalidi, a 50-year-old priest in Yemen, has been detained by the Houthis intelligence service for four years, according to Saudi-based English newspaper Arab News. Prisoners released from the Houthi detention centers have revealed Houthis are targeting Yemenis suspected of being Christian. Many Yemeni Christians have already fled the country, and the militia has also oppressed Jews and Bahais for many years, the London-based newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat reports. They are using discrimination against Christians to try to gain control, to enforce terror in some of these communities, Curry said. The Church and Christian minorities [are] being caught in the crosshairs of this. You have several thousand Christians there. But you have so many factors of oppression, discrimination, and violence against them that just makes it very, very difficult. Curry believes the removal of the terrorist designation from the Houthis was an attempt for the U.S. to have more peaceful relations with Iran. The Biden administration, I believe, is coupling this with other agreements with Iran, Curry explained. They want to be on friendlier terms and strengthen Irans influence in the region, and this would certainly do that. I dont think thats going to be helpful, but I think thats the strategy. Open Doors USA ranks Yemen as the seventh-worst country globally when it comes to Christian persecution on its annual World Watch List. In addition to persecution from authorities, the organization reports that Islamic militant groups threaten Christians from a Muslim background with death, and tribes may kill or banish anybody converting to Christianity. International Christian Concerns Regional Manager for the Middle East Claire Evans told CP she believes removing the Houthis terrorist designation may be two-fold. Evans explained the first reason could be to allow more humanitarian aid to reach Yemen. Since the Houthi militia is largely located along the coastline, it is hard for aid to arrive if Houthis are designated as a terrorist group. Another reason for the U.S. to make this decision could involve the Iran Deal. It is emboldening to Iran, Evans said. It is emboldening to the Houthis to have this terrorist designation removed. To have terrorists emboldened, things tend to get more violent more aggressive, so we do have to be more concerned about that. Yemen is in the middle of a civil war, a proxy war between Iran and Saudi Arabia. The United Nations considers Yemen the worlds worst humanitarian crisis and estimates that almost 250,000 people have died from fighting and war-related problems like hunger. Only several thousand Christians live in Yemen, though the number is uncertain due to the secretive nature of the religion because of the persecution threat. Most of Yemens Christians are Muslim background believers, and the church operates primarily underground. 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. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full 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 her opinion, Seminara-Schostok said if the six Republican candidates who sued to get on the ballot had a problem with the caucus held, they should have followed procedures established in state law. They needed to file their candidates with township clerk, who serves as a gatekeeper to the ballot certification process, or take their dispute before an electoral board, she said. Advertisement Despite the accelerating rollout of vaccines in the US - and the addition of Johnson & Johnson's shot - which has seen nearly 77 million Americans get one or more doses, the nation is seeing diminishing declines in new infections, with 58,812 new infections reported Monday. CDC director Dr Rochelle Walensky warned yesterday that she is 'really worried' about states reopening as cases plateau and holes in immunity offer an opportunity for dangerous new variants to derail American progress against the pandemic. But that is not stopping states. Massachusetts on Monday made it much easier to grab dinner and a show. In Missouri, where individual communities get to make the rules, the two biggest metropolitan areas - St Louis and Kansas City - are relaxing some measures. Iowa's governor recently lifted mask requirements and limits on the number of people allowed in bars and restaurants, while the town of Lawrence, home to the University of Kansas, now lets establishments stay open until midnight. The precipitous decline in new infections over the past few weeks was treated as a blessing and a curse by public health officials like Dr Walensky, who said she was encouraged by the somewhat mysterious trends, but cautioned that it was not yet time for the US to relax. Experts struggled to explain the downturn, attributing it in part to the number of Americans who now have immunity from prior infection, in part to people getting serious and following restrictions and, to a lesser degree, the early effects of vaccinations. More than 15 percent of Americans have now had at least one dose. But now their fears seem to be coming true. The seven-day rolling average of new infections was up on Monday, to 64,794, according to a DailyMail.com analysis of Johns Hopkins University data. Yesterday, 1,566 Americans died of COVID-19. That still marked a 3.5 percent decrease over a week but, by comparison, fatalities fell nearly 23 percent between the preceding two Mondays (February 15 to February 22). Hospitalizations fell to their lowest level since November 1, 2020, with 46,738 people in inpatient for COVID-18 in the US. But scattered upticks in hospitalizations are being reported. Norman, Oklahoma has seen a slight increase in its number of hospitalized coronavirus patients. Iowa saw an increase of eight percent over the weekend. After declining on a steep slope from the January peak through mid-February, new daily COVID-19 infections have plateaued in the US, with 58,812 new cases and 1,566 deaths on Monday, raising fears among health officials that states may relax restrictions too soon and fuel a fourth wave As vaccinations ramp up in the US, with 1.8 million being given a day, according to Bloomberg, states are beginning to relax restrictions, despite warnings from officials like CDC director Dr Rochelle Walensky that it's too soon In hard-hit California, diners sit close together outdoors. Governor Gavin Newsom lifted lockdowns on Southern California in late January A year into the pandemic, public health experts admit that lockdowns may no longer have a place in the US response, and the need to get Americans back to work - safely - is hard to deny. But they're also seeing a familiar pattern that has set the US back in the past. 'We've been here before!' Dr William Shaffner, a Vanderbilt University public health professor told DailyMail.com during a recent interview when asked about the promising downturn in COVID-19 cases. 'Once again, we may be in that upward swing of the rollercoaster. I understand that it's imperative to open up the economy, but we have to control the virus first. 'I do have concern that here in the US, as cases have diminished , once again some political leaders are reflexively trying to open things up, saying we don't need to wear masks...that is D-U-M, DUM. If they haven't learned that by now, they're incapable of learning.' Of course, things aren't exactly the same as they were last spring, when states started relaxing restrictions amid a lull in new infections during the warm season. At that point in the pandemic, there were no authorize treatment for COVID-19, scientists were still learning just how transmissible it was, and why it was so deadly, and vaccines were in their early phases of development. Fast-forward 10 months, and the US has three authorized COVID-19 vaccines. Nearly 77 million Americans have had at least one dose and Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson are on track to provide the nation with enough doses to inoculate every adult by July. Already, the effects of the accelerating vaccine rollout are evident in nursing homes, where COVID-19 cases and deaths plummeted by 75 percent since the vaccine rollout began in mid-December. Dr Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said on Monday she was 'deeply concerned' as some states roll back COVID-19 restrictions Three-quarters of nursing home residents have had at least one dose of vaccine too, according to the CDC. And access is expanding to other Americans. Vaccinations are open to anyone over 65, as well as health care workers and nursing home residents across the country. Many states have moved into their phase 1B stages, vaccinating additional groups like people with underlying conditions, teachers or other essential workers. Mike Lee, who owns Trezo Mare Restaurant & Lounge in Kansas City, said he hopes increased vaccine access, combined with warmer weather, will improve business. 'I think that people are excited to put this past them and be able to start to get back to their ways of doing things,' Lee said. But vaccinations aren't proceeding uniformly across the US, with some states lagging behind. In Missouri, where Lee's lounge is located, just 14.6 percent of people have been vaccinated, below the national average of 15.3 percent. The push to reopen comes as COVID-19 vaccine shipments to the states are ramping up. More than 15 percent of the nation's adults - or over 76 million people - have received at least one dose of vaccine, and nearly eight pecent have been fully inoculated two-and-a-half months into the campaign to snuff out the virus, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Johnson & Johnson shipped out nearly 4 million doses of its newly authorized, one-shot COVID-19 vaccine Sunday night to be delivered to states for use starting on Tuesday. The company will deliver about 16 million more doses by the end of March and a total of 100 million by the end of June. That adds to the supply being distributed by Pfizer and Moderna and should help the nation amass enough doses by midsummer to vaccinate all adults. The White House is encouraging Americans to take the first dose available to them, regardless of manufacturer. In New York City, where limited indoor dining has resumed, officials said the J&J vaccine will help the city to inoculate millions more people by summer, including through door-to-door vaccinations of homebound senior citizens. But the efforts come with strong warnings from health officials against reopening too quickly, as worrisome coronavirus variants spread. On Monday, the head of the CDC, Dr. Rochelle Walensky, urgently warned state officials and ordinary Americans not to let down their guard, saying she is 'really worried about reports that more states are rolling back the exact public health measures that we have recommended.' 'I remain deeply concerned about a potential shift in the trajectory of the pandemic,' she said. 'We stand to completely lose the hard-earned ground that we have gained.' Employees with the McKesson Corporation scan a box of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine while filling an order at their shipping facility in Shepherdsville, Ky., Monday, March 1, 2021. (AP Photo/Timothy D. Easley, Pool) Cases and hospitalizations have plunged since the end of January, and deaths have also dropped sharply, but they are still running at dangerously high levels and have even risen slightly over the past several days. 'We cannot be resigned to 70,000 cases a day and 2,000 daily deaths,' Walensky said. Overall, the outbreak has killed more than a half-million Americans. The vaccine already is contributing to a decrease in severe cases and deaths among older people, and is 'quickly becoming a bigger contributor' nationally, Justin Lessler, an expert in infectious diseases at Johns Hopkins University, said in an email. 'I suspect we will see it overtake natural infection as the biggest driver of immunity late spring earliest, more likely midsummer,' Lessler said. Dr Amesh Adalja, an infectious disease specialist at Johns Hopkins University, said he believes states and cities have leeway to ease some restrictions because hospitals no longer are at capacity in most communities. But 'I do think that masks are likely going to need to be kept in place for some time until we get more of our vulnerable populations vaccinated,' he said. 'It is important for restaurants who are increasing their capacity to remember that we are still in a pandemic and to continue to follow some of those rules,' Adalja said. The Biden administration wants to see all three vaccines distributed evenly, while also acknowledging that the easy-to-handle J&J vaccine will be used in pop-up mobile sites and locations without freezer storage capacity. An employee with the McKesson Corporation packs a box of the Johnson and Johnson COVID-19 vaccine into a cooler for shipping from their facility in Shepherdsville, Kentucky on Monday. The first four million doses shipped Sunday night, with 16 million expected by the end of the month States are hoping that the surging vaccine supply will help tamp down new infections. In Massachusetts, Governor Charlie Baker lifted restaurant capacity limits entirely. Theaters can open at 50% capacity, with a maximum of 500 people. And capacity limits across all businesses have been raised to 50%. Las Vegas on Monday became the latest of the nation's largest school districts to return children to classrooms. Pre-K children to third graders will go back two days a week, with other grades to be phased in by early April. And in California, Governor Gavin Newsom and legislative leaders reached an agreement aimed at getting most children back in classrooms by the end of March. Under the deal announced Monday, school districts could receive up to $6.6 billion if they reopen by March 31. The U.S. ranks fourth in the world, behind Israel, the United Arab Emirates and Britain, in the number of doses administered relative to the population, according to data compiled by the University of Oxford. President Joe Biden fell well short of his goal of setting up 100 new federally operated mass-vaccination sites by the end of February, with just seven up and running. White House vaccination coordinator Jeff Zients also acknowledged that scheduling of vaccination appointments ' remains too difficult in too many places.' But he said the White House is working with states to improve scheduling systems and is exploring federal support for call centers to make it easier for people to get appointments. The radicalisation menace in Tamil Nadu was brushed aside for too long, until the NIA exposed it in 2014 India oi-Vicky Nanjappa New Delhi, Mar 02: The rise in radicalisation in Tamil Nadu has been a key concern for the security agencies. The topic has been for long brushed under the carpet and it was only in 2014 that the National Investigating Agency began a sustained campaign, following which several modules were busted and many were arrested. Of the 177 arrests made by the NIA since 2014 in Islamic State related cases, Tamil Nadu at 34 accounted for the highest. Maharashtra 26 and Uttar Pradesh at 25 were the second and third. Kerala saw 19 arrests, while in the case of Telangana and Jammu and Kashmir, it was 17 and 11 respectively. It is a well known fact that the first known ISIS related case was reported from Tamil Nadu in 2015. Intelligence Bureau officials tell OneIndia that there are several factors behind the rise in radicalisation in Tamil Nadu. One key factor is that the issue was brushed under the carpet and for years, the radicalisation took place unabated. MHAs decision to sanction NIA branch in Chennai is perfect answer to fighting radicalisation in TN The first known ISIS recruit from India was in fact a resident of Cuddalore. Haja Fakkruddin, it may be recalled had in early 2014 left for Syria through Singapore to be part of the ISIS. This was followed by a series of events related to the group and there was an image on the social media that went viral, in which several youth were seen posing with ISIS merchandise. The threat of the ISIS has been looming large in the state and there are several pockets where the problem is severe. While looking into Haja's case, it was found that he was radicalised by a Cuddalore based group, . Haja is not the only operative from Cuddalore to have joined the ISIS. A computer engineer was deported recently from Singapore. He said that it was he who had introduced Haja to this organisation, following which he was radicalised. During the various searches, literature relating to the ISIS had been found. Speeches of the 20th century Islamist thinker Abul Ala Maududi have been found in the possession of several youth. Further the police have also seized compact discs which had the speeches of radical elements such as Anwar Al Awlaki and Abdul Raheem Green. The first known ISIS recruit from India was in fact a resident of Cuddalore. Haja Fakkruddin, it may be recalled had in early 2014 left for Syria through Singapore to be part of the ISIS. This was followed by a series of events related to the group and there was an image on the social media that went viral, in which several youth were seen posing with ISIS merchandise. The threat of the ISIS has been looming large in the state and there are several pockets where the problem is severe. While looking into Haja's case, it was found that he was radicalised by a Cuddalore based group. Haja is not the only operative from Cuddalore to have joined the ISIS. A computer engineer was deported recently from Singapore. He said that it was he who had introduced Haja to this organisation, following which he was radicalised. Alarming rise of ISIS in South linked to seeds of radicalisation sown in Kerala 30 years ago During the various searches, literature relating to the ISIS had been found. Speeches of the 20th century Islamist thinker Abul Ala Maududi have been found in the possession of several youth. Further the police have also seized compact discs which had the speeches of radical elements such as Anwar Al Awlaki and Abdul Raheem Green. 2021-03-02 Maeci The Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Luigi Di Maio, participated today by videoconference in the informal meeting of the EU Foreign Affairs Council Trade dedicated to the European Commission Communication on the Unions trade policy review. At the outset, Minister Di Maio thanked EU Commission Vice-President Dombrovskis for his briefing to the Italian Parliament on this Communication, an ambitious document, which marks a break with the past, reflecting Europes growing awareness on the issue of environmental and social sustainability. Openness to international trade, EU competitiveness, reform of the WTO, and guaranteeing a level playing field, sustainable development, social and gender issues, and the participation of SMEs in international trade are key topics not just for the EU but also for the Italian G20 Presidency. Italy supports the European Union's line on trade policy, trusting that it may support our vocation to export and ensure the regular supply of raw materials, but also strengthen the common trade defence instruments and promote compliance with obligations by our partners and addressing any unfair practices. Minister Di Maio also reiterated to his European colleagues that Italy supports both the deepening of relations with neighbouring countries and the African continent, and the broadening of the network of free trade agreements with the Asia-Pacific region and Latin America, as well as reviving the transatlantic agenda with the new US administration. COTU Secretary general Francis Atwoli has thrown his weight behind proposals by Garissa Township MP Aden Duale seeking to tame pornography in Kenya. The proposed law to be cited as the Computer Misuse and Cybercrimes (Amendment) Act, 2020 is set for publication and introduction in the National Assembly for consideration this week, the Star newspaper reports. Duale wants stricter laws outlawing possession and publishing of pornographic content in any computer system or data storage device. Additionally, Duale wants the government through the National Computer and Cybercrimes Coordination Committee to block access to porn websites by persons within Kenya. A person shall not knowingly download pornography, distribute, transmit, disseminate, circulate, deliver, exhibit, lend for gain, exchange, barter, sell or offer for sale, let on hire or offer to let on hire, offer in any way, or make available in any way from a telecommunications apparatus, the Bill reads in part. The Bill seeks to amend the Computer Misuse and Cybercrimes Act to introduce harsh penalties for any violations. Should the Bill pass, persons found in possession of pornographic material in their phones or computer devices or publishes the same on the internet social media platforms will face a Sh20 million fine or 20 years in jail. The proposed law defines pornography to include data visual or audio that depict persons engaged in sexually explicit conduct. In a statement on Monday, Atwoli said the production and promotion of pornographic materials have an impact on the social well-being of the youth, workers, society at large and sexual health. This is an issue of public health concern and not freedom of speech and or access to information as provided in the Bill of Rights, the trade unionist said. Censorship of pornography will go a long way in also promoting and ensuring workers demonstrate good ethical behaviour at their place of work, he added. Atwoli noted the pornography bill was of importance since workers safety is a major concern to Cotu and its tripartite partners: Federation of Kenya Employers and Ministry of Labour and Social Protection. Finally, and because we should, at all times, be concerned about the future generation, this censorship will go a long way in protecting our children who are currently being exposed to pornographic content whilst on the internet. Over and above this, the Bill will address the now common menace among our children that has been escalated by pedophiles, Sorry! This content is not available in your region Britain is drastically cutting its aid contribution to war-torn Yemen, it was announced yesterday. Ministers will only commit to providing 'at least' 87million this year down from 214million last year. Tory MP Andrew Mitchell, a former international development secretary, said the 'unimaginable' move would 'condemn hundreds of thousands of children to starvation'. More than six years of war have seen the impoverished nation descend into what the UN describes as the world's largest humanitarian crisis. But a Foreign Office spokesman said yesterday that the UK remained 'one of the biggest donors of lifesaving aid' to the country. Britain is drastically cutting its aid contribution to war-torn Yemen, it was announced yesterday. Pictured: Displaced Yemenis sit near their huts at a camp for Internally Displaced Persons Shadow foreign secretary Lisa Nandy said the move represented the UK 'abandoning our moral obligations'. The cut came as Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab argued that the UK should be a 'force for good in the world', highlighting the Government's funding for the Covax coronavirus vaccine programme in poorer countries. The cut in aid funding for Yemen was confirmed by Foreign Office Minister James Cleverly at a United Nations pledging conference. The damage done to the UK economy by coronavirus has led the Government to shelve its commitment to spend 0.7 per cent of national income on overseas aid, cutting spending to 0.5 per cent despite a Conservative manifesto commitment to the higher target. Tory MP Andrew Mitchell (pictured) branded the move as 'unimaginable' Mr Mitchell said: 'The Government have today announced the unimaginable decision to cut aid by more than half for the greatest humanitarian crisis on Earth - and in the middle of a global pandemic. 'Britain is the lead country at the UN on Yemen, yet this decision will condemn hundreds of thousands of children to starvation. 'It makes no foreign policy sense at all. Rather, it is the consequence of breaking a promise made in our manifesto. 'We have become the only G7 country to cut aid this year, while other G7 countries are ramping up their humanitarian support. 'The Government should urgently put this issue to a vote in the House of Commons before they cut any more lifesaving projects which are clearly in Britain's national interest.' Miss Nandy added: 'Despite all the talk of global Britain this is us abandoning our moral obligations, pulling further away from our allies and stepping back just as the USA steps up.' UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said only a 'disappointing' $1.7 billion (1.2 billion) was pledged by countries for humanitarian aid in Yemen yesterday. This is less than half the $3.85billion (2.8billion) the UN was seeking for 2021 to avert a large-scale famine. Mr Guterres warned: 'Cutting aid is a death sentence.' More than six years of war in Yemen - widely seen as a proxy conflict between Saudi Arabia and Iran - have sent the impoverished country spiraling into what the UN describes as the world's largest humanitarian crisis. Some 16 million Yemenis - more than half the population of the Arabian Peninsula country - are going hungry. Of those 5 million are on the brink of famine. Huawei exec's extradition fight enters final round As the case enters its final months, Meng Wanzhou's defence lawyers are set to assert that abuses by Canada and the US have denied her the right to a fair process. Photo: AFP Chinese Huawei Technologies executive Meng Wanzhou was back in a Canadian court on Monday to fight a final round against extradition to the United States, her lawyers challenging the crux of the case - that she allegedly hid business dealings in Iran. The daughter of Huawei founder and chief executive Ren Zhengfei faces charges in the United States of bank fraud and conspiracy over the commercial activities of a former Huawei subsidiary alleged to have violated US sanctions against Iran. Meng, 49, is accused of having lied to the HSBC investment bank about Huawei's relationship with subsidiary Skycom, putting the bank at risk of violating US sanctions against Iran as it continued to clear US dollar transactions for Huawei. If convicted, she could face more than 30 years in a US prison. Meng and Huawei both deny the charges. Huawei is the world's largest telecommunications equipment manufacturer. As the case enters its final months, Meng's defence lawyers are set to assert that abuses by Canada and the United States have denied her the right to a fair process. On Monday, defence lawyers argued that Meng could not have deceived HSBC executives at a 2013 Hong Kong tea house meeting because the bank "fully knew" Huawei still effectively controlled Skycom, despite having sold it in 2007 to shell company Canicula Holdings. "The bank knew that Skycom sold its shares to Canicula, and the bank knew Huawei controlled Canicula's bank account... (and) Huawei continued to control Skycom from 2007 onward," defence lawyer Frank Addario told the Supreme Court of British Columbia. He said US claims that Meng "was deceptive about Skycom" or "was trying to hide something about that relationship" are "misleading and unreliable." Crown attorney Robert Frater countered that these arguments should be made at trial, and not at the hearing. Huawei last month sought access to HSBC's internal documents - including a copy of Meng's full presentation to bank executives - to support the claim, but a British court rejected the disclosure application. The case has roiled Canada's diplomatic relations with China, its second largest trading partner behind the United States. Two Canadian citizens - former diplomat Michael Kovrig and businessman Michael Spavor - remain imprisoned in China. They were detained days after Meng's December 2018 arrest during a stopover in Vancouver, and after Beijing threatened Canada with severe consequences over what Vice Foreign Minister Le Yucheng called Meng's "unconscionable" detention. Ottawa has long maintained Kovrig and Spavor were "arbitrarily" jailed in retaliation for Meng's arrest, while affirming the independence of Canada's judicial system in dealing with the US extradition request. Beijing, meanwhile, has called the charges against Meng "completely political," and part of a plot to crush its top global technology firm. Washington last year banned US semiconductor chipmakers from selling to Huawei, which it accuses of stealing American trade secrets. The latest hearings begin just days after US President Joe Biden publicly demanded the two Canadians' release, saying on Tuesday during a virtual meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, "Human beings are not bartering chips." Ottawa also recently unveiled a declaration signed by 58 countries against "arbitrary detention in state-to-state relations." And when the Canadian parliament denounced China's treatment of its ethnic Uighurs as genocide, Beijing angrily slammed it as a "malicious provocation." "The Canadian side's attempt to pressure China by using 'Megaphone Diplomacy' or ganging up is totally futile and will only head towards a dead end," China's embassy in Canada said. In the extradition hearings, Meng's lawyers are expected to also argue that former US president Donald Trump "poisoned" the case when he said he might intervene in her prosecution in exchange for Chinese trade concessions. Lawyers for Canada's attorney general have urged the judge to dismiss the allegations, saying in court filings that the remarks were made by "a president no longer in office, about a possible intervention in this case that never occurred." Defence lawyers will then charge that Meng's rights were violated during her Vancouver airport detention and interrogation and that the United States misled Canada when it requested her arrest by omitting possibly exculpatory portions of her 2013 presentation to HSBC. They will also say that extraditing her would break international law because none of Huawei's alleged crimes had any direct connection to the United States. Meng remains under house arrest in her Vancouver mansion. Her extradition trial will resume on Wednesday and is scheduled to wrap up in mid-May, barring any appeals. (AFP)